2006 May

Ponzi felt compelled to write about a laptop case that someone offered to send her for review. Upon reading her review, I felt compelled to share it with you. As to whether or not the review is compelling, that’s for you to decide. WARNING: the word “cute” is used in her review. Of course, she […]

I usually dump all my music into one folder. I guess it was a bad habit that I never really broke myself from. With all these music files dumped into one big folder, my naming of all the files wasn’t exactly neat. I needed to find a free program that would help […]

Video gaming has gone from a casual distraction to a blockbuster industry that entices all ages in a very short amount of time. When you think of video games these days, you probably think of the mega-super-huge franchises such as Halo, Zelda, and so on. True, those titles do have a lot of money […]

There are two ways that you can number the cells in a table. You can manually number each cell which is fine if you have a relatively small table. Alternatively, you can number the cells automatically using the Numbering button on the toolbar.
To automatically number the cells in a table:

Select the cells you want to […]

There are many different ways that you can spice up your Word documents. You can add graphics, tables, charts, backgrounds, borders, and so on. Another way that you can make you document look more visually attractive is to add horizontal lines to create sections.
To add a horizontal line to your document:

Place the cursor where […]

“I have Windows XP and the system has gotten very slow and flaky. I would like to learn how to reformat the drive. Can you teach me in simple English how to completely format the drive and then re-install the operating system?”
Yes, but… you might want to think about some alternatives first.
Be forewarned, formatting a […]

A wonderful yet poignant human interest story, of particular relevance if you are both a woman and librarian, is the life of the last great librarian of classical civilisation, Hypatia of Alexandria. This heroic woman’s story, if nothing else, will put the stresses of the current era and your particular working environment into perspective.
A basic […]

Perhaps you were watching baseball in mid-May and noticed that some of the players were using pink bats.
Now what could THAT be all about?
Well, some major leaguers volunteered to swing pink Louisville Sluggers in order to bring the public awareness of breast cancer.
And I’m not going to swing a pink bat, but I am doing […]

First, it came time for a hard drive upgrade. Then, we told you about a great new Internet hard drive. Now, we’ve got more hard drive software feedback than we can humanly handle!
Bob Kubichek - I would use Acronis because; (1) It is much easier to use than the latest version of Norton Ghost or […]

Perform common tasks - like opening Web sites and applications and typing commonly-used text - just by typing a regular word. For example, no matter what you are doing on your computer, in any application, you could just type “word\” and immediately Microsoft Word would open.
Similarly, type excel\ and gasp in amazement as Microsoft […]

I am always looking for new and neat looking wallpaper. Sometimes I think I might have more than I can handle. Changing my wallpaper once a day or once a week can become a real hassle. Maybe I forget? Maybe I just do not have the time to get it done? […]

Portals are the first step into an abundance of possibilities. Once you go through that doorway, you’re provided with a lot of new options. To many people, that word implies that new things will be seen, observed, and learned. Likewise, on the Internet, a portal represents a gateway that leads you to seemingly limitless information. […]

In a previous article, I showed you how to use the Find and Replace option to not only replace specific text but to also delete text. Another function of the Find and Replace option is that it can be used to add text to existing text. For example, you can use Find and Replace to […]

When you open a new Word document, it automatically inherits settings from the default template. If you need to use a different template, you can open Word, then open a document based on the appropriate template.
If you frequently work with different templates, you may want to create a shortcut on your desktop to a specific […]

I live in an area that’s not served by wired broadband providers such as DSL or cable. Am I really stuck with only dialup? It’s so slow!
Surprisingly I can say this with all honesty:
I feel your pain.
OK, not the exact same pain, but my options are also limited, and it’s frustrating.
Let me throw out the […]

In 1869, Mendeleev pushed around pieces of paper and discovered that the known elements could be grouped by their physical and chemical characteristics.
You can take a look at Mendeleleev’s table here.
The table led directly to the discovery of the elements that were “missing,” as chemists were able to look for the expected characteristics that the […]

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
Longfellow held the blacksmith trade in high regard, as it was a vital part of nineteenth-century commerce. Every village had at least one blacksmith.
Today, blacksmiths are no longer essential […]

Are you ready for Carbonite? I just found out about it this weekend, and figured it’d come in handy for some of you. My guess is: (a) you have a lot of files sitting on your hard drive; (b) you haven’t backed anything up lately; (c) you can’t find the right software to do backups […]

What have your neighbors been downloading?Here are the hottest five (as selected by PC World): Security and tuning programs, spyware stoppers, and a file sharing program.

Ever find important information online but later couldn’t remember where? AimAtSite IE Toolbar will solve this problem. Ever collected a large list of favorite links and found it difficult to navigate through the resulting clutter? AimAtSite IE Toolbar will solve the problem. Like to search the most popular search engines, dictionaries, and encyclopedias quickly and […]