tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40292129163885905502011-12-13T06:06:20.797-05:00Computing tips, tricks, reviews, news and links for my friends, family and customersVince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.comBlogger781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-86275468159368141142009-02-14T12:45:00.001-05:002009-02-14T12:55:51.938-05:00

OS 9 had it, and Windows has always had it: the ability to select an item from the Trash, and restore it to its original location – wherever it was you originally deleted it from. But for some reason, Apple dropped this incredibly useful functionality (along with window shades). Instead, you can only grab things out of the trash and move them manually to some other location. If you can’t

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-24825047694469709672009-02-12T20:00:00.000-05:002009-02-14T13:43:49.015-05:00

I’m a photographer, not a painter. But I’ve always been intrigued by Photoshop techniques that can give photos new life – make them look like paintings, charcoal sketches, line drawings, etc. I never really like the default effects in PS, and I sorta kinda know how to achieve some of these effects manually. But it can be a long, arduous process. Enter Topaz Simplify and Topaz Adjust, two

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-68557749351056981992009-02-11T23:26:00.000-05:002009-02-11T23:26:00.687-05:00

 Ars.Technica recently posted an article about a new phishing scam that actually sounds like it has a chance of bamboozling many users: Bogus emails, purporting to be from Apple, which prompt you to update your .Mac / MobileMe account information: “As usual, the e-mail is disguised to look like a legit message coming from Apple, but clicking on the provided link (so that users can "update" their

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-64136567921954503052009-02-11T07:01:00.001-05:002009-02-14T17:30:48.210-05:00

We don’t know exactly when Windows 7 will be done, or what it will cost. But we do know that there will be six– yes, count ‘em – six different versions of Windows: Windows 7 Starter Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Professional Windows 7 Enterprise Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows 7 Home Basic Luckily for you, you only really need to worry about deciding between two of them,

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-21382198856451548232009-01-31T09:21:00.001-05:002009-01-31T09:23:36.093-05:00

Apple or the record labels or whomever could make the decision came through for once. You can now selectively upgrade your iTunes purchases to 256k, DRM-free versions! If you’ll recall, I did some serious lamentin’ about having to upgrade my entire library in one shot at a cost of almost $500. So, I upgraded nothing. Now, a trip to the iTunes Plus page shows an upgrade button next to individual

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-19982234200187123452009-01-23T07:15:00.001-05:002009-01-25T11:03:23.518-05:00

There’s a derogatory term used on discussion forums for people who blindly support an operating system and poo-poo its shortcomings and weaknesses, despite all reasonable evidence to the contrary: Fanboy. I’m no Apple fanboy. Yes, it’s my operating system of choice, and I recommend it to people whenever I can, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things about it that make me nuts. Now, I’m in “

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-11763551583873528372009-01-21T20:22:00.001-05:002009-01-21T20:22:33.029-05:00

I’ve been using an Elgato EyeTV tuner for about a year now, and just realized that I should probably share a great product like this with y’all! Not literally, mind you. I love mine way too much to part with it. Anyways, the EyeTV is a small, simple USB device. Plug-in your coaxial cable and hook it up to your computer via USB, and you basically turn your computer into a TV. On my monitor, a

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-28737125201033549722009-01-17T15:57:00.000-05:002009-01-17T16:59:06.448-05:00

One thing I stumbled across when trying out Windows 7 was Windows Live Writer, part of the Windows Live Essentials collection which you can download for free from Microsoft. The Essentials collection, by the way, also contains Microsoft’s email, instant messenger, Movie Maker, and Writer programs for Windows 7. Those programs apparently will not be included by default with Windows 7, unless this

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-88544567471981959032009-01-13T21:16:00.009-05:002009-01-17T16:54:03.768-05:00

I don’t think there’s a single Windows-using tech support customer of mine out there who hasn’t heard me talk about Windows “OS Rot.” I’ve even blabbed about it in other blog posts. There’s a great piece by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes at ZDNet called “Windows Bit-Rot: Fact or Fiction?”  He takes a look at whether OS Rot is real, imagined, or mainly just used as a way to justify getting a

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-10374675916028098562009-01-08T18:16:00.006-05:002009-01-13T23:09:37.316-05:00

Not so fast there, my pioneering amigos and amigas. If your computer is running Windows XP fairly well right now, you might want to skip Vista and wait for the Next Big Thing from the folks in Redmond: Windows 7. Windows 7, scheduled to be released either later this year or early 2010, is getting some pretty good reviews. Although it’s available in public beta right now, I haven’t downloaded

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-62601780800517500152009-01-06T22:08:00.004-05:002009-01-13T22:51:25.864-05:00

So another Macworld has come and gone, with less fanfare than usual because Steve Jobs wasn’t there. Oh, and there weren’t any bombshell product announcements. But mainly, His Steveness wasn’t there. But something pretty significant did happen that will affect millions of consumers - and maybe you, too: the iTunes store has gone totally DRM-free with all its music offerings. Well, almost. 8

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-83242657437699096022008-12-06T18:32:00.006-05:002008-12-06T19:13:57.541-05:00

The new Macbooks are pretty sweet.They've improved in almost every category: better screen (with LED backlighting); svelte, lighter aluminum bodies; and of course faster processors and video cards. Oh, and there's that really cool-sounding enlarged iPhone-ish trackpad thingie. I say "cool sounding" because I really haven't had a chance to play with one yet.One thing, however, has a lot of the

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-29528261187423509412008-12-06T14:21:00.004-05:002008-12-06T14:38:12.908-05:00

Parallels and Fusion are great applications for running Windows programs on your Mac, but how about this:There's also a way to run Windows programs on your Mac...without Windows!It's called Crossover, and it's based on WINE technology. WINE is not the same thing as virtualization; it stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator." I guess it doesn't matter to you or me what the technical distinctions are,

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-9176037149985352602008-12-01T21:09:00.001-05:002008-12-06T15:59:40.168-05:00

"I want a digital camera - but I'm not sure what to get? Should I get one of those fancy DSLRs or will a point-and-shoot (compact camera) be enough for me?"I get this question a lot - but never as much as when the Christmas holiday is approaching.The answer depends on a lot of factors - but mainly, it comes down to how you plan on using your camera. What kind of photos, and in what sort of

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-91019246167185784042008-11-28T22:01:00.000-05:002008-12-06T17:57:59.451-05:00

If you're a Parallels user at version 3, I think you'll find the Version 4 upgrade well-worth the price. (Note that if you bought Parallels after September 1st, 2008, you get the upgrade for free.)If you're not familiar with Parallels, it's a program for the Mac (intel-based Macs only; it doesn't run on G5s or G4s) that lets you run Windows on the Mac. And it works very, very well. For most

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-58326454606932546922008-09-04T07:21:00.000-04:002008-09-05T11:16:23.935-04:00

It's not often that I'll buy something based on an email advertisement. But I was intrigued when the Flip4Mac people sent me one announcing three new products for sale, all resulting from a recent acquisition they made. (Flip4Mac is the company that makes the free plug-in for Macs to let them play Windows Media Files, among other products).Anyways, their write-up of newly-acquired ScreenFlow

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-27902994579346781192008-09-02T12:15:00.003-04:002008-09-05T09:26:32.658-04:00

As if there weren't already enough Web browsers to choose from - and as if Google didn't already have its paws wrapped tightly around our computing lives...along comes Google with its very own new Web browser, Google Chrome.Of course, the tin-foil hat types are already going on and on about how this new browser, in its first beta release, is in truth an insidious effort to wreck everybody's

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-20934275210943751612008-08-26T18:04:00.004-04:002008-09-05T11:31:39.506-04:00

If you struggle trying to get large files to-and-fro over the Interwebs, check out my blog post on Godfrey's B2B Insights area. It's about YouSendIt, a great service to help you move large files around - files that might be too big for email attachments.Yes, I know - I wrote about this service here in March 2008. The point of my Godfrey piece, however, is that a service like YouSendIt is

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-74431064768165110092008-08-20T19:22:00.000-04:002008-09-05T11:17:18.113-04:00

If I've ever helped you with virus problems on your PC, chances are one of the issues was that your old antivirus software was outdated, expired, ineffectual, or resource-heavy. That's when I probably recommended AVG Free antivirus. The price is nice: free for personal use, without sacrificing the basic protection most users need.For businesses, an AVG commercial version is also a good choice -

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-20470812999310043082008-07-19T11:06:00.004-04:002008-07-19T11:13:07.418-04:00

A friend from work mentioned he was in the market for a new monitor at home. Seems his trusty old 17" CRT monitor finally bit the dust, and he was ready for a flat panel. "Should I get a regular one? Everything seems to be high-def these days - maybe I should get one of those, instead? But I don't watch movies, so I don't necessarily NEED widescreen."His question belied some confusion about

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-66435922678573696532008-07-17T18:55:00.002-04:002008-07-19T11:29:16.211-04:00

Adobe CS 3.3 ReleasedThe Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 upgrade hit my doorstop this past week. (I talked about CS3 in an earlier post). The only thing the CS3.3 Design Standard upgrade offers, really, is an upgrade from Acrobat 8 to Acrobat 9. I'm not sure yet what Acrobat 9 is all about, but from my brief reading/skimming I've come to the understanding that it beefs up forms and multimedia support.

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-87480615670670500152008-07-15T22:41:00.003-04:002008-07-19T12:05:47.656-04:00

Haven't been brave enough yet to install the new iPhone software? Well, I can only speak for myself, but my upgrade went fine. It took a while for the phone to do its upgrading thang, but when it was done - and after I updated my Mac's software as well - all kinds of neat new settings were available. And, I can finally work with our company's Exchange server! I haven't decided yet if this is a

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-15493617585532108132008-07-09T11:11:00.006-04:002008-07-09T12:04:09.096-04:00

A customer and friend recently asked what he could try on his own to remedy a slow Windows computer,before possibly scheduling an appointment for me to come out and look at it.I get this question often. On the surface, you might think that I’d be hesitant to answer it in any substantial way. After all, if told him how to get his computer running faster - and it worked - he wouldn’t need me.

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-51912832557367726642008-07-06T20:04:00.001-04:002008-07-09T12:11:06.699-04:00

Somehow about one in three of my posts end up having to do with photography or digital imaging. Well, I guess that's natural because it's my main hobby. This time, the topic is SmugMug. I'm mixed on the name, but sold on the service. SmugMug is a Web service where you can host your photos for others to come and see.There are lots of other services like SmugMug, but SmugMug offers a few

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-85082893118463179232008-06-27T18:34:00.008-04:002008-06-27T23:06:52.466-04:00

Some tidbits on the Adobe Creative Suite 3...(Note: If you don't know what the Adobe Creative Suite (CS) is, you probably don't need it. It's an expensive collection of the Adobe professional apps, and there are several flavors of it. The main two are Standard, for designers; and Premium, for designers who also get into Flash animations and Web stuff. The various suites' programs include

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-5932542584749084722008-06-21T16:14:00.007-04:002008-06-21T17:01:05.649-04:00

We're all photographers these days, aren't we? People love taking photos, with digital cameras and cell phones making it easy to accumulate loads of snapshots without all the cost of getting film developed. Add to that all the free Web photo hosting services out there and you've got a world crazy about photos. I wonder how many pictures are taken and shared each and every day?Anyhow, what I

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-43009199604424242212008-06-17T23:55:00.000-04:002008-06-21T16:10:06.628-04:00

I've recommended the Firefox web browser (available for Mac and Windows) to a lot of people. After spending about a week using this latest, greatest version 3, I can tell you that it's an even easier recommendation to make. Why's that, you ask?First, it's definitely more responsive, and tests show that it has a lower memory footprint. That means it uses less RAM for the same tasks, freeing up

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-66848503988159026772008-05-31T13:04:00.005-04:002008-05-31T13:15:34.183-04:00

I did warn you earlier that it would be a while before I posted again, ha ha. Things are a little calmer now and Little League season is over.Somehow, though, I'm back to having three new Web site projects in the hopper along with some other gigs. Word of mouth is a wonderful thing.But at least I've managed to (mostly) finish up a couple of other projects first:The Zink Bippus Tennis Camp site

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-45616968067854674062008-05-30T21:45:00.001-04:002008-06-27T23:32:36.729-04:00

Your favorite two operating systems each have major new revisions/service packs awaiting your download and install.On the Mac side, Leopard users can download 10.5.3, a “long-awaited” update which is supposed to fix a lot of bugs and problems that have been with Leopard since day one. Depending on what type of Mac you have, the update is anywhere from 120-some megs to a whopping 420 megs.

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-43306019161132015222008-05-29T23:45:00.001-04:002008-05-31T16:45:11.235-04:00

I’ve never been much of a flash photography guy. I do a lot of nature and outdoor sports photography, so most of my lighting is geared around natural or available light subjects, and I spend a lot of time finding the best ways to shoot in low-light situations without flash.Recently, though, I had to quickly become better acquainted with my flash system to handle some indoor event photography. One

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-68238819715085777222008-05-15T06:00:00.000-04:002008-05-15T08:13:32.965-04:00

I posted a blog about using Gmail back in April. I’ve taken that one step further, and started using Google for Domains. I've been telling my geek friends about it, and basically they all have said to me "Calm down, you're totally spazzed-out!" I get excited about these kinds of things, what can I say?Google for Domains is part of the Google Apps family (Google Docs, Google Calendar, etc) and

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-1871047211416013582008-05-14T22:00:00.002-04:002008-05-15T10:07:18.983-04:00

Just another quick mention of another new Web site project I recently completed: Catering Concepts Unlimited.Owned by James Myers of Character’s Pub fame, Catering Concepts is a top-notch catering and food service company. Be sure to check out their custom BBQ sauce, too - I've got a few bottles of my own which I can't wait to try out...

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-61816969872179587832008-05-10T11:39:00.009-04:002008-05-11T00:47:50.638-04:00

If you know me at all, you know that my number one favorite hobby is taking pictures. I just love photography - all aspects of it, from finding locations to shooting technique to lens mastery - and even post-processing and printing. And of course sharing photos with friends, family and co-workers (whom have all been very supportive over the years).A photo of me playing photographer, by Scott

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-55813337110118287112008-05-09T11:58:00.004-04:002008-05-10T12:05:26.759-04:00

Just a quick bit of self-promotion: One of several web site projects I'm working on just launched today. I did all the graphic design and programming. The site is www.garikow.com, and it's a really fascinating story about Russian painter Ivan Garikow, featuring a gallery of his works and extensive biography written by local writer Steven Nesbit. We're at Phase One right now, and I hope to help

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-81901699195633505592008-05-08T11:52:00.000-04:002008-05-10T11:57:58.874-04:00

Are you seeing a bunch of email bounces in your inbox - bounces from emails that you never sent in the first place?For example:From: Some System AdministratorUndeliverableSubject: Your message "Swanky Rolex Watches" could not be deliveredError 1234; see attached for detailsI am.Fortunately, it (probably) doesn't mean that somebody has hijacked your email account and is sending email as you,

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-63279649008987490542008-04-28T20:08:00.007-04:002008-04-28T21:11:45.098-04:00

I’ve got a fairly capable printer at home, an HP Photosmart that can handle up to 19” prints. But sometimes you just want to go bigger - and maybe try something totally different.Try outsourcing the job to mpix.com next time you need an enlargement. I’ve sent them several print jobs, and have been very impressed with the quality and turnaround each time. The prices seem reasonable, too. (BTW I

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-45866169971181769192008-04-27T11:33:00.005-04:002008-04-27T11:51:28.611-04:00

Ars.technica recently wrote a very promising preview of Realmac Software’s RapidWeaver application, a graphical Web page editing program. I spent a fair amount of time using Rapidweaver 3. It's pretty good, but not quite there yet because of some major annoyances . RapidWeaver 4 looks like it’s gonna up the ante with some great improvements. It'll be out for beta testing within the next month or

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-22531779010816491272008-04-26T06:19:00.005-04:002008-04-27T11:54:50.038-04:00

I know, I haven’t posted any blog entries in a while. Been busy like crazy with projects, and this time of year it’s even harder with the start of our Little League team and also all the yard work that has to be done early spring. At least tax season is behind us.Anyway, let’s see...what’s the latest tech tip I can share with you? The coolest thing I’ve tried lately is Gmail’sHere’s how I have

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-25744584696323049602008-04-05T21:08:00.005-04:002008-04-05T21:19:54.230-04:00

OK, I admit I’ve been a little harsh with Leopard lately. Hatin’ on it, even. It’s just that Apple set such a high bar with Tiger. And there are just enough small annoyances to really sour me while overlooking some of the nifty new things which, yes, I’d miss if I reverted to Tiger. So, I thought maybe I should focus on some positive things once in a while.Here’s something really neat you can do

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-71709728731277216522008-04-03T23:34:00.002-04:002008-04-05T21:23:53.670-04:00

Holy cow has spam been annoying lately. Don’t know about you, but mine’s up by at least 10%. I’m seeing a lot of phishing-based spam, too - the kind that tries to get you to “update your account info now.” Today I’ve seen three or four claiming to be from Wells Fargo.Yes, Wells Fargo is ever-so-nice and helpful, giving me this chance to help them “ensure the integrity and security of our online

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-4907650824222220102008-03-30T11:08:00.004-04:002008-03-30T11:20:25.998-04:00

I fell victim, along with apparently a lot of other Mac users, to a recent buggy Mac update. One of the late February updates, probably "Security Update 2008-002," totally hosed our family room iMac (17" intel version). Safari, Software Update, and several other programs just crashed upon startup, and the whole thing would CRAWL for a few minutes, be OK for a few seconds, crawl again, etc.One

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-62388927751462962302008-03-25T07:31:00.008-04:002008-03-25T07:48:48.426-04:00

If you use Entourage for your email on the Mac, shame on you! Apple's mail program is so much better. But I understand. Of course you have a good reason why you must use Entourage. (if you want a list of why Entourage is horrible, email me and I'll make it happen).Quick warning, however:  A recent patch on the Windows side of life can cause attachments sent by Mac Entourage 2004 users to become

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-68927018601302938682008-03-24T21:40:00.005-04:002008-03-25T07:49:35.429-04:00

If you frequently need to send large files to others, check out YouSendIt sometime. It's kinda like FTP, but not really. Through their service, you upload a file and enter your recipient email address. The recipient gets a notice with a handy link for downloading the file. They click and download, everybody's happy - and nobody's email bombs-out because of attachment size problems.  And nobody

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-52239207762865898172008-03-22T10:00:00.004-04:002008-03-25T07:52:22.082-04:00

I left Safari for a while.I had switched over to Firefox 2.0, and hadn't really thought about it much until I read something about Safari 3.1 offering huge speed improvements. So I did what every other self-respecting computer geek would do - downloaded Safari 3.1 and decided to live with it for a while. I'm finding a lot to like with Safari 3.1. For starters, it's definitely the fastest thing

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-82323918242515966302008-03-22T07:10:00.003-04:002008-03-25T07:25:09.770-04:00

I recently wrapped up a trial at lynda.com, which is a great online learning resource.  So graet, I'm thinking of subscribing. They've got thousands of video tutorials, ranging from digital photography to Photoshop and Flash to Microsoft Office. If you subscribe to the premium edition, you get the course files to download to your own computer. This is very useful for learning programs like

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-5031247669147968682008-03-11T09:01:00.007-04:002008-03-11T14:09:08.420-04:00

Widescreen monitors are quite popular these days. Instead of the "old school" 4:3 aspect ratio which resembles a square, they're designed with a 16:9 aspect ratio which is rectangular. I'm guessing that one of the big reasons for the prevalence of widescreen monitors is the rising popularity of watching movies and TV shows on your computer. And, well, everything else just seems wider these days,

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-16252907167208258602008-03-08T07:22:00.004-05:002008-03-11T18:01:15.820-04:00

I've been using Office 2008 for Mac off-and-on at home, and I must say that I'm sorely disappointed with how badly Microsoft missed the boat on this one. Save your money. There's just not a whole lot to recommend it at this point. Coupla notes, short of writing a full review:Yes it's written as a Universal app, so in theory it should be able to leverage those spiffy intel processors you're

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-14317500160147928812008-03-04T10:14:00.005-05:002008-03-04T10:29:37.463-05:00

In a previous post I discussed using Windows Explorer to burn CDs, instead of those complicated and often massive burning "suites."Programs like Nero install tons of services and add-ons - everything from video conversion utilities to CD drive diagnostics and so forth. Anybody know what "Nero Scout" is and why it suddenly shows up at the "My Computer" level after installation?Windows disc burning

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-50680500886897818082008-03-03T20:01:00.009-05:002008-03-04T10:40:53.916-05:00

The iTunes store is, rightfully, a powerhouse in the for-pay digital download world. Friends have said to me, after their first experience purchasing something via the iTunes store, "That was almost TOO easy. I could get myself in real trouble with this." It's easy to use, has a huge selection, and works very very well with the Mac OS and with iPods, iPhones, etc.Don't overlook the Amazon music

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-3280225666476129632008-03-01T23:05:00.002-05:002008-03-04T10:50:15.115-05:00

No, I didn't get one.I'm talking about Jason Snell's Macbook Air (MBA) review on the Macworld Web site.If you're thinking of getting an MBA, it's well-worth your time to read his extensive review. He covers just about every fact of the MBA, from technical considerations such as ports and screen resolution to other ponderables such as the MBA's lack of a removal battery and what that means for

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-78739252778247440142008-02-23T09:22:00.005-05:002008-02-23T09:48:24.967-05:00

If you've recently switched from Windows to Mac, congrats!Easy as the Mac operating system is, however, there are a few things that can confuse long-time Windows users. Here's a great piece from the Houston Chronicle that covers the top points of confusion. Among other tips, it addresses keyboard shortcuts and menu bars.Even those of you who have been with your Mac for a little while might find a

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-46055741184586977662008-02-22T23:36:00.002-05:002008-02-23T11:30:08.221-05:00

I know people who have CD burners in their PC desktop or laptop computers who have never once actually burned a CD - all because it seems intimidating on the surface. Sometimes the CD burning "suites" that come with PCs are in fact overwhelming, with lots of options and modes and so forth. Nero comes to mind. Nero used to be a great CD burning application for Windows, but over time got really

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-66409715435342635322008-02-22T12:35:00.000-05:002008-02-23T09:22:23.100-05:00

If you use the Firefox Web browser on Windows (which I highly recommend), there's a great plug-in for taking browser screen grabs called, what else, ScreenGrab. It lets you take a screen shot of the entire Web page (even if parts of it aren't visible without scrolling), take a snap of just the visible portion of a page, or select the precise area to capture.ter it's installed and you restart

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-88403810021887523502008-02-18T16:34:00.006-05:002008-02-18T17:51:43.743-05:00

Anybody have one of those digital picture frames? I've always thought they were pretty neat. Being one who finds dealing with printing a real chore, I've come close to getting one more than a few times. I wonder if they come with a digital version of the stock photography family that always looks so happy, frolicking in the park under a shady tree, like the "regular" frames have?Turns out that

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-63239032499734071092008-02-08T23:01:00.001-05:002008-02-08T23:28:00.351-05:00

It's been a while since I tried Google's Picasa photo software. Being a Mac guy and advanced amateur, I use Adobe's Lightroom program for developing and printing digital photos. But, I'm helping a friend tomorrow with her digital camera and Picasa (hey Rhonda!), so I thought I should brush-up a bit.Leave it to Google to provide lots of awesomeness, for free. Picasa is speedy, intuitive, and

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-13343397111840412192008-02-07T19:00:00.000-05:002008-02-07T19:52:51.146-05:00

One thing I see a LOT when helping people with their Macs or PCs is DUST. That’s because while a lot of people might keep the outside of their systems relatively clean, they probably don’t think much about what might be going on inside. Why would it be dirty in there?Fact is, any tower-based system is a dust collection bin. The fan in the back that blows out warm air…where do you suppose that

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-30290405807048331682008-02-06T12:50:00.000-05:002008-02-07T19:31:38.653-05:00

Friends and family are always asking me what I think about Apple’s latest and greatest products, usually within a few days of them being released – as if Steve Jobs send me samples in advance of the general public. Don’t I wish.I got more questions about the newest iPod touch models than probably anything else, but the Macbook Air is closing in. Anyway, I don’t own an iPod touch, but I do own an

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-74866621231838476612008-02-05T23:00:00.000-05:002008-02-07T20:27:09.348-05:00

Did you check out any of the GTD stuff I linked to in my post about Nozbe and the Getting Things Done system?No? That’s OK, I’m sure you’ll get to it eventually. You’ve made a mental note to check it out sometime, right? Hardy har.Well, if you have started looking into it, you’ve probably discovered that one of the first steps of implementing a good GTD system and increasing your productivity is

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-39051167101859207712008-02-04T12:23:00.000-05:002008-02-04T14:17:50.224-05:00

If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know that I’m somebody who keeps a lot of irons in the fire. I’m not bragging – I don’t always know if it’s a good thing or not.But one thing I do know is that if it weren’t for David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) book and productivity system, I’d be struggling to keep up with everything. Allen’s two books, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-49467615100781678562008-02-02T07:21:00.000-05:002008-02-04T13:02:25.859-05:00

I've been moving domain names as they come up for renewal, away from Register.com to GoDaddy.I hate GoDaddy's name and dislike its cheesy advertising, but I gotta say this - they are a TON cheaper, and those dislikes are not strong enough for me to hurt my own bottom line.Fact is, for somebody like me who doesn't need Web or email hosting (sure is nice having my own server!), there is literally

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-5045315226767264852008-01-27T16:34:00.000-05:002008-01-27T18:08:03.560-05:00

You've all heard ad-nauseum about how important it is to backup your computer files. I submit that a data or file backup is just one part of the equation. The other is cloning.Cloning is a much different type of backup. Let me compare/contrast for a moment. With "standard" backups, you run jobs to create copies of your most important files - your precious digital photos, word processing

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-73601935686214013212008-01-21T16:18:00.000-05:002008-01-21T16:23:03.807-05:00

Check out Skitch sometime - a great new screen capture and quasi file-sharing app for the Mac.It's kind of hard to describe what's so great about it above other screen snap programs, but I'll try:It's freeYou can easily annotate and draw over your captures - the text and the arrow on the capture above took all of 5 seconds, no need to open an entire full-fledged imaging app such as Photoshop or

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-16949817097643212662008-01-05T17:35:00.001-05:002008-01-05T17:54:14.909-05:00

If you're the sort to mess around with digital photography from time to time, you've probably experimented with ways to fix problems in your images. Red-eye removal, for example, or maybe a little sharpening to make things a bit crisper. Using a blur effect, believe it or not, can also fix problems in photos. There are two main areas where this can work. One would be working with an image file

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-43060058319845152682008-01-04T18:03:00.000-05:002008-01-05T18:20:25.119-05:00

If you've got a Mac Pro tower and you're thinking of upgrading to Leopard, know that Leopard apparently pushes graphics cards in ways Tiger did not. Unfortunately, as a result, certain viddy cards that were marginal on Tiger suddenly become problematic on Leopard.It's bad enough that Apple offer few video card options in its high-end towers, and what it does offer is often weak and lagging behind

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-15997579378345697122007-12-16T21:36:00.000-05:002007-12-18T06:45:53.047-05:00

Shopping for gadget guys can either be really easy, or really hard. It's easy when there's a glittering, gleaming jewel of a new gadget that your significant other has talked about non-stop for the past few months. A Wii perhaps, or an iPhone. You know he doesn't have it, mainly because he drops not-so-subtle hints at every opportunity and talks about how his life has been empty and meaningless

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-50941387438665232632007-12-13T06:46:00.000-05:002007-12-18T07:32:06.293-05:00

I didn't used to think bitrates mattered that much for mp3s. But when Apple started offering 256k music on its store in addition to its long-running standard of 128k, it got me thinking. Most of my considerable music collection is encoded from CD at the 128kbps bitrate setting, and of course iTunes store downloads are 128k as well.  For kicks, I re-imported some of my all-time favorite stuff at a

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-46972643278862267522007-12-10T17:53:00.000-05:002007-12-10T18:14:03.045-05:00

Here's a link to my latest post on Godfrey's B2B Insights Blog. Even if you're not in Godfrey's target market for advertising, there is a TON of great content here about branding, Web strategy, media, and integration. I'm not just saying that because I work there - my coworkers are very skilled and knowledgeable, and this company continuously amazes me with its depth of bright, skilled talent.

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-42355800382978375162007-12-10T13:50:00.001-05:002007-12-10T18:14:27.962-05:00

I don't make any commission from this, so let's get that out of the way. But I've been asked before to recommend a good "email blast" service - a service you can use to send out emails to customers and prospects. For really heavy-duty applications, my friends over at Listrak are top-notch. For the rest of us, Constant Contact is a great choice. It's super-easy to manage. You can upload an Excel

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-70707786673694287022007-12-08T09:09:00.000-05:002007-12-08T09:32:58.082-05:00

It's been quite a busy week. Haven't been any posts this week because blogging is the first thing to be neglected.Anyway, I received and installed Final Cut Studio 2 at work yesterday and thought I'd provide my initial impressions. I've only spent about 6 hours with it, so there will be more to come later.First, packaging is about 15-20% smaller, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-8876746581267221722007-12-04T16:14:00.000-05:002007-12-04T16:27:13.371-05:00

IT guys like me are always harping about how you should back up more frequently.  I've probably said 100 times, "CDs are cheap, and backing up your files to a permanent CD is so easy it's foolish not to!"I still advise that, but one side of this issue that doesn't get talked about a lot is: How long will those CDs last? I can picture some of you thinking, "Wait, don't they last forever? Isn't

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-33942896956525786892007-12-02T09:39:00.000-05:002007-12-02T09:44:37.598-05:00

Many thanks to the Mac OS X Tips Web site - they posted a list of “Hidden Settings for Leopard,” and I found one that does something I’ve wished I could do for a long time... “Hidden setting” usually means a setting you can’t make using the System Preferences control panel. Rather, you enter special text commands in the Terminal to change how the operating system works. (Terminal is the way you

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-51350815557376525762007-12-01T19:25:00.000-05:002007-12-02T09:43:28.905-05:00

Laptops are great - I know I’ll appreciate having one this winter;  my basement office gets drafty and gas for the stove is just too expensive to crank it the way I’d like to. So, I’ll be using my trusty Macbook upstairs at the dining room table quite a bit. Like right now. If you take your Macbook or Inspiron or Thinkpad on business trips, traveling, or even to your local coffee shop, things

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-22781330654741965242007-11-29T17:08:00.000-05:002007-11-29T19:29:12.871-05:00

Anybody who’s been online with high-speed access has probably experienced the thrill of trying out a peer-to-peer program such as Limewire or Gnutella or, back in the day, Napster. All those mp3 songs, free for the taking!An example of a Limewire session. (For the uninitiated, these peer-to-peer or P2P programs let you search collections of files hoarded by other P2P users, and download their

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-80590909434097837032007-11-29T07:21:00.000-05:002007-11-29T13:22:13.372-05:00

I don’t remember exactly how I learned of the Drobo, to be honest, but I’m glad I found it. A Drobo is a really cool external storage device. It’s not a hard drive, but an enclosure into which you put hard drives. Then, you plug this thing into your computer via USB. What’s so neat about it? Well, it has four slots. If your storage needs are moderate to begin with, maybe you buy a drobo and put

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-87966628806077679552007-11-28T23:11:00.000-05:002007-11-29T19:31:45.136-05:00

My friend Dean over at Sage Advice recently launched a new blog of his own, and took the opportunity to share his experiences with the new Mac Leopard operating system (10.5 if you're a numbers sort of person). It's interesting to see his reactions at the beginning (some negatives), and how it's progressed since then. Check it out at www.sageadviceltd.com.Here's the text of one of the replies I

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-84253474341440091392007-11-11T23:31:00.000-05:002007-11-29T13:24:59.416-05:00

Word of caution - virus and spyware activity continues to rise, and a great deal of it gets generated via email. If you haven't checked your antivirus update definitions or renewed your subscription, better not wait until New Year's to make a resolution to deal with it. I often get asked what kind of anti-virus software I use. I don't use any - I use a Mac. (that's a completely separate

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-50416427238206237172007-11-01T23:25:00.000-04:002007-11-28T23:30:09.230-05:00

One of the most common questions I get from customers is: "I got this letter from such and such a company, saying that my domain name will expire if I don't renew with them. What do I do?"Be aware that there are unscrupulous companies out there who send baiting letters trying to get you to "renew" with them, when in fact they don't hold your domain in the first place. Domain names are public

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029212916388590550.post-45739345728733120912007-10-05T19:09:00.000-04:002007-11-29T19:15:53.765-05:00

A podcast is kind of like an episode of a radio program.  I’m told that in the “olden days” folks would gather around these enormous mahogany (or maybe they were faux mahogany, I guess it would have depended on your station in life) radios with gigantic steel knobs, and listen to the latest episode of the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Here's the breakdown today: Somebody with some content - a music

Vince DiStefanonoreply@blogger.com0