Digital Bits Technology Column

Wireless networking setup for your laptop, desktop or home may seem daunting. Honestly, it’s not that bad. Take advantage of your home’s high-speed Internet connection and all the free wireless Internet hotspots in coffee houses, airports and hotels. All you need is your laptop computer and a little know-how, and you can be happily browsing […]

Free and commercial spyware, adware, and virus protection and removal software

Not long ago, sick computers gave us little warning. The problem may have been physical, like a bad hard drive. Or there could’ve been software causing problems. Whatever the cause, the result was dramatic and obvious. You’d have a complete system freeze, perhaps accompanied by the legendary Microsoft “blue screen of death”. Today’s computers give […]

Protect important data with free unbreakable encryption software

he stereotypical movie hero visits his stereotypical hacker friend. The room is poorly lit, but the audience can still see many cans of a popular soft drink. Oddly, all product labels are rotated towards the camera. Our hero whips out a floppy disk and tosses it to the hacker. “I’ve got this file, but it’s […]

Collectorz book collection software review

From Adams to Zelazny, I have a lot of books. If all my books were recycled, I wouldn’t be saving trees, but entire ecosystems. That’s my lifestyle: I’m a pack rat who loves to read. I have a pretty good idea of perhaps fifty percent of my book collection’s contents. The rest are either literature […]

Cheap cellphone recommendations

The cameras begin clicking furiously as your chauffer opens the door. You stand up and smile confidently, wading through a sea of photo flashes. You strike a cool pose, flip open your phone, and take a self-portrait of yourself backed by clamoring fans, security staff, and TV and newspaper reporters. You email the photo to […]

Online role-playing games and MMORPGs: Take a lot of time and enjoy

I was thrilled when I opened a present from a friend and saw the video game “EverQuest”. This was one of the original super-popular “Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games“, or “MMORPGs“. As the name implies, play consists of groups of people getting together via the Internet to immerse themselves in a magical world of […]

Digital voice recorder review

So you want to record yourself talking? Then listen up. Micro-cassette tape recorders have their place, but lawyers, doctors, podcasters, students, writers and composers can benefit more with a high-tech digital voice recorder (DVR). A DVR is similar to a cassette recorder in functionality, but the recording is made without audio tape. These recordings can […]

Transfer your PC MP3s and audio to cassette tape

Podcasting, shmodcasting. What if you don’t have an MP3 player welded to your side? What if your car only has a cassette deck, no CD-player, and you’ve just gotta listen to your music and podcast collection? It’s easy to convert PC sound to cassette tape, though you’ll need some special equipment. The non-Andy-recommended way (we’ll […]

Network neutrality a polarizing issue

Network neutrality owes a good portion of its popularity to Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). His misunderstanding of what he was talking about inadvertently brought to light a confusing but important issue. “The Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It’s not a big truck. It’s a series of tubes. And if you […]

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