I find it helpful to keep a list of the things that I need to install on a new or re-installed Windows system.  I am going to list the specific apps that I install but also talk about them in a generic sense in terms of their function.  Please feel free to comment on deficiencies of this list, or also why some of these things may not be needed.

1. Perl.  Or some other scripting language that you may wish to use.  Not all of us are programmers or have the desire to automate system functions, but I find it very …

Gmail IMAP on the iPhone, Quirky but Awesome!

Finally!  Gmail finally rolled IMAP out to my account.  I have been a Gmail user since the first days of its inception, back when you needed an invitation and they weren’t so easy to come by.  So why they decided to put me at the back of the line for the rollout is a mystery to me, but whatever.

In any case, it’s here and it’s glorious!  But it has some quirks.  Mainly, there is only a loose paradigm connection between the “folders” ideology and Gmail’s labels.  But I am confident that once I …

Okay, I broke down and got an iPhone, against my better judgement.  But I played with it at the store and it was just so slick and fun to use, I couldn’t resist.  But there are caveats, my friends!

Well, my Windows Mobile phone ticked me off for the last time on Saturday.  Add to that the fact that I live a mere 565 yards from the Apple Store, and the next thing you know, I have an iPhone.  There are goods and there are bads.  Here are my thoughts.

iPod: Apple says this is the best iPod they’ve ever produced.  Malarkey!  …

Okay, I’ve been using Windows Vista on a few of my computers for the last few months, and I have to say, it’s growing on me.

The first thing that grabs any hardcore user of PCs is the file manager and the changes there.  Vista adds several features that should have been there in XP.  For instance, the “burn” button.  This allows you to select something and press this button to put it on a CD-R(W).  Of course, all this really does is copy it to the CD drive’s temporary folder for burning.  It’s nothing more than an easier way to …

As a road warrior, I rely heavily on email.  I use it to keep in touch with friends and family as well as to get work done.  But I still can’t find the perfect email solution.

I love Gmail.  Unabashedly.  I admit it.  I think it is one of the greatest online apps ever to come about, the one that everyone else is copying.  It is intuitive, easy to use, has great spam filtering (thank God), and can be accessed from anywhere.  Well, almost anywhere.

The 2GB of storage is what I love most about Gmail.  It’s free, too.  But as a …

If you are like me – a frequent computer user – you are likely getting bombarded of late by spam email. It’s never-ending it seems.

The problem has gotten so out of hand of late that a recent study found spam email to be more annoying than postal direct mail. When you think about it it’s not really that surprising given you check your “snail mail” once a day whereas many of us check our email every hour if not every minute. Meaning plenty more chances to get annoyed.

So how do you fight all this spam onslaught? Here are …