Carl Tyler of Epilio recently wrote, “How big is small?” referring to the definition of small and medium businesses (SMB).
This is an interesting question given that large established companies often have very different definitions. Microsoft, who makes the bulk of its revenue from consumers, markets SMB as 25-500 computer seats. Whereas IBM, who makes the [...]

I had to nuke my T40 today and dig out the OEM Windows XP CD. I figured it would take me a couple of hours … I never learn !
I was 34 minutes into the install and I didn’t have the key with the CD so I spend a half hour digging thru my old [...]

If you use more than one computer and they are not complete duplicates when it comes to the tools installed on each, then you may need (or just want) to share clipboard content. I have my writing and graphics tools on one machine while I have software development tools on another. I often need to [...]

We use Lotus Notes for our business email. I started using the new Lotus Notes 8 starting with their public betas. I really like the integrated email, instant messaging, news reader, and activities. I also had a chance to try out a few other Eclipse plug-ins integrated and extending the total experience.I really liked [...]

I’m the family IT specialist. It’s not a title are really deserve and given my geography, it’s not an easy role to fill. For the past year, the biggest problem has been all the spyware, adware, and malware. My answer to combat these problems has been to change operating systems.  The two choices are [...]

I’m old enough to remember when Microsoft was not the only player in the word-processing / spreadsheet / presentation market. I’ll admit that there are alternatives out there like OpenOffice.org but when you look at shear numbers, it’s Microsoft. The old time competition from Lotus and Borland and Harvard, is just a footnote in [...]

Over the past month, I’ve done a lot of “experimenting” with Linux for personal computers. I have come to the conclusion it is too much work for the “common man”. Further, I am of the opinion that Linux would not even be possible if it were not for the Internet and more significantly, Google, Yahoo, [...]

I have settled on using Ubuntu as my primary operating system on both my personal laptop and my work machine(s). There were two three four driving forces behind the change.
First, I needed a non-Windows solution for my parents. Windows is just too susceptible to viruses, malware00% , spyware, adware, and Internet gunk. A Mac was [...]

I have become a personal disaster recovery zealot. I’m like the former smoker railing against smokers - so I’ll try not to preach too much.
When I used Windows on all of my machines, I did the occasional random image backup. To be honest, these occurred about once every 3 to 6 months. Not good. When [...]

There has been a lot of news and internet traffic on the topic of traditional “office suite” software installed on your PC vs on-line web applications. Put another way - Microsoft Office vs Google Apps. How about having your cake and eating it too !
If you subscribe to the 80/20 rule where 80% of [...]

I decided this year I would finally send out holiday greeting cards. I used those photo print cards you can do at most department store and pharmacy chains. They came out “OK” - the color matching on most of these types of systems are marginal at best so the colors don’t always do the original [...]

Today, Sun announced its intent to acquire MySQL AB. This is a very interested announcement for a number of reasons.
I’ve been curious when MySQL would be acquired. I have read a number of accounts that it would not happen and MySQL AB would rather go public. I bought most of the arguments in favor of [...]

Well, in a week’s time, I will no longer use Ubuntu for my work laptop. I really like the clean efficient experience I get from Ubuntu but my corporate support and the applications I need for work just don’t give Linux the same credence that comes to Windows XP. The downfall came in three parts:

I [...]

My primary work machine these days is a Thinkpad X60 with only a 1024×768 screen. This means I must be diligent to keep “always on” applications to their bare minimum size.
I got rid of all the cool UI space hogs like Docks. I added a virtual desktop solution (VirtuaWin) and my taskbar is only one [...]

I have not written about the OLPC project for many months. The reason is there has been little to write about. The hardware has not changed. It is still amazing. The software has not changed (other than a number of development releases) and still is missing critical function and numerous fundamental bugs. Most of [...]

Yes, I finally decided to give an evaluation copy of Microsoft Vista a try. 28 hours later, I am SOOOOO ready to re-install Windows XP Tablet !
The target of my attempt was my “new to me” Toshiba M200. I rally like the machine but I discovered the Toshiba Hard Drive was failing. Fortunately [...]

I’ve been told that in the broadcast media, there are contract clauses that stipulate what ads can run side by side. For instance, if you are Honda, you probably don’t want the TV network running a Toyota Prius ad right next to your Civic Hybrid spot.
I’m guessing the same rules do not apply to web [...]

I may be late to the party as I just discovered, if you have a Windows folder of links to websites and you switch to “thumbnails” view, you actually get thumbnails of the web sites !
I like a clean desktop. However, I occasionally want to grab a URL off a website to be [...]

s mentioned previously, I’ve been taking a number of fractional images and then having to stitch them together on the computer. I was using a utility that came with my Canon point-n-shoot. Simply put, I have not likes the results. But, given I am frugal (outside of the farmhouse project), I was not about [...]