Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

Old hard drives should not be just pitched in the trash. Now for those of you who consider the hard drive the entire case (don’t deny it, many of you do); the hard drive is the area where your data is stored. It looks like the picture labeled hard drive with cover on. This is mounted in your computer case and is where the data is stored. The problem is when you get rid of your old computer, many people just give it away or trash it without removing their personal data. Deleting your personal data does not get rid of it. Any knowledgeable person (practically anyone under 25) can probably retrieve your data that you thought you deleted. If you are going to give away or throw away your computer you should make sure your data is gone. You can do that by purchasing disk cleaning software such as Evidence Eliminator or CyberCide. You can down load software for free such as SureDeleteDriveWiper or KillDiskSuite. These software products normally will overwrite your data to the point that retri...

My wife got this email as one of those ubiquitous forwards we all receive. She usually deletes them on my advice as so many forwards have been contaminated by malware. She opened this one, read it and thought I would want to read it. She forwarded it to me, I did read it. I pulled it out of the email, cleaned up the formatting and am posting it. I don’t know who wrote it. I don’t know if it is true or not. Even as fiction, it makes a good point. I am not sure I agree with the author as to the disappearance of honor. His actions defy his assertion. Many, perhaps most people today respect the sacrifices our troops and their families are making. We may not agree with why they are in foreign locales but we HONOR their willingness and commitment. The Sack Lunches I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read, perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought. Just before take-off, a...

Discovering I could get high def through the Internet was truly a treat. I had no idea. I added a EVGA GeForce 6200 256MB 64-bit DDR AGP-8X DVI/VGA/TV Out Video Card to my TV attached computer. (See my blog on the Toshiba 40” LCD.) I got the card at Buy.com for a whopping $39.99 including shipping. That was way cheaper than many 128mb video cards I found. The card interfaced easily, the software on the CD loaded and gave me all the options I needed. My TV computer is an old P4-3ghz running XP. It only had 512mb of RAM so I goosed up the RAM to 1.5gb by adding a Kingston Technologies 1GB DDR SDRAM Desktop Memory (KVR400/1GR). This is a PC2700, 184pin, DDR memory stick running at 400mhz but downward compatible to 333 and lower. I popped it in and fired up the CPU and it worked as advertised. Now my TV computer had the specifications to attach it to my new Toshiba LCD and pull down High Def from the Internet. I got a Link Depot Cable 6 Hdmi Male To Dvi-D Male for $3.57 plus shipping &...

Cloud computing is synonymous with confusion. Due to the lemming nature of the computer industry, if something sounds good, attach that label to your product and hope it improves sales. Too many people are claiming a relationship to cloud computing and it is just adding to the confusion. Simplistically cloud computing is a method that end users may get services over the Internet. Those services can range from use of software without buying it, storage of data remotely or the use of outsourced customer service. Since outsourcing has become the magic buzz word for saving corporate dollars there is speculation that cloud computing will take over the industry. If each and every business had the same exact needs that might be possible. Since practically every business may approach the same scenario in a different manner, it is unlikely that cloud computing will be the single unique panacea for the masses. The number of differing vendors of cloud computing offer the potential for rampant inc...

The adage you get what you pay for sometimes is actually true. Iomega has a rugged hard drives that is actually rugged. We all know that a “light” description on food doesn’t necessarily indicate that it truly is low in calories or fat, often just “light” in taste. Well the same advertising gimmicks are used for “ruggedized” computer equipment. Somebody paints it with a camo pattern and calls it rugged. In this case, the drive is apparently rugged in spite of the Camo paint job. Popular Mechanics tested several drives and the Iomega eGo survived a 15 foot drop, was run over by an SUV and continued to work. So for the rest of us who don’t plan on being quite that abusive, the drive is probably going to hold up very well in everyday use. 250gb USB portable drive for $85.00 at Staples is a pretty good deal. Tech Specs Preformatted and hot plug-and-play No AC adapter needed Compatible with PC and Mac® USB 2.0/1.1 compatible Transfer rate: 480 Mbits/s One-year limited warranty What You Nee...

Why, pray tell, am I writing about a TV series. I enjoy it but how does it fit in this venue. Partly because it is good but also because I want to reiterate the availability of video on the internet and how good it can be, not just content good but also quality good. I watched episode one of this series at high quality and was impressed. It was as good as running it off of a DVD. I sat at my desk with my wireless headphones watching my own TV show while 3 feet away my darling bride was watching American Idol. (I won't go into how wrong I think that whole TV show is.) I digress, the future is now. We can watch what we want, when we want to without the TV programming geniuses deciding on when and what we can watch. Moreover, it is free if you are already online with broadband. You don't pay one thin dime more to watch on your schedule instead of someone else's. That is why I am writing about a TV show. This isn’t a book but it is based on the Sword of Truth series by Terry Go...

This is a task that many of you know how to do and some of you don’t have a clue as to what I am talking about. Temporary Internet Files in Microsoft Internet Explorer cache (or keep) pages you visit frequently. This enables those pages to load faster. Theoretically they enable you to browse faster. They also tend to accumulate if you do a lot of surfing. The negative aspect is that they also show everywhere you have been. If you are in a relationship that is shaky in the trust area and don’t want your significant other to see you have been visiting findahotdate.net, you may want to clear your Temporary Internet Files periodically. Nepotism being what it is, here is a link to a video that my brother has on his site with instructions on how to clean up those pesky Temporary files, Memory Helper . Brother John (fraternal as opposed to monkish) has been a dyed in the wool geek for well over 20 years. He has a consulting business that is noted on his site at http://www.bentrim.net/ . Qui...

I guess everyone has their own take on stuff like this. I like to think that I look at women as friends and partners rather than objects. Admittedly I look at women different than men, mostly based on personal preference. I won’t launch into an ode of what I love but my life would be infinitely more bleak without the woman with whom I share it. Perhaps I should say women since I am lucky enough to have many women in my life. I stand in awe of some of their accomplishments and their ability to be so much to so many people. I lament over my brethren (by gender not necessarily by choice) who see women as less than themselves. Truth be told if that is their belief then they have demeaned themselves, their gender and the women around them. Women of the world, I salute you! I hope that countries and societies where you are treated as less than equal that you will triumph over your adversity and win your freedom. In my own society I suggest that those of you, both men and women, who feel that...

In these tough times any ideas on how to pick up a few extra bucks are well worth the time to read them. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I got these ideas from the AARP magazine. If you want more details I suspect you can go to aarpmagazine.org. 1. Home Parties such as Avon, PartyLite, Simply Fun, Tupperware etc. can put some extra money in your pocket. 2. Pet Jobs, even in this economy some people are still traveling. Many pet lovers will not board their pets so there is an opportunity to pet sit. Dog walkers can make decent cash too. 3. Teaching your skills can be particularly lucrative. Adult evening school or even private teaching of all sorts of craft and art skills as well as cooking, archery or computers. 4. Tutoring kids can be both fun and financially rewarding particularly if you like kids. 5. Rent out your extra rooms. This can be very good if you are in a college town. Check your insurance and your renters references very carefully and get a good security deposit. 6. Per...

The Wii’s Internet access has been underutilized primarily due to the fact that most owners don’t know there is a wireless keyboard available. Not only that but the Logitech Wireless keyboard is currently, for the next 4 days, getting a $20.00 rebate. I was going to go on about this but I found a guy who already blogged on it so here is a link to CrunchGear where you can get more details.