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2006-06-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

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Artcyclopedia

2005-12-29T17:29:00.000-05:00

Can you tell your abstract expressionists from your post impressionists? Then point your paintbrush this way.

Flying High, and Low

2005-12-29T17:27:00.000-05:00

Time might really fly by if you spend too much time on this addictive site. Another example of how the simplest gameplay can often be the best. Tell us your high score! My high is 1285 and I just tried a few times.

Tagworld

2005-12-22T18:13:00.000-05:00

Described by its developers as one part iTunes and one part MySpace, this site uses tags to help you find folks who share your interests in music, photos and blogs.

Think Fast

2005-12-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

Like trivia? Match your memory of minutiae with challengers from around the world in tournaments, take some quizzes and try some crosswords. Check it out!

Every Day A Holiday

2005-12-18T15:29:00.000-05:00

The Earth Calendar lets you know there really is something to celebrate every day. It offers a daybook of holidays and festivities around the world.

Web As Your Canvas

2005-12-18T15:27:00.000-05:00

Now you can doodle on a virtual canvas. You'll need Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari to check out this handy tool that lets you play your drawings as simple animations. Check it out!

In The Film Loop

2005-12-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

Learn how to photocast: a fun new way of distributing your favorite images a la podcasting. Download this free player and set up a network of family and friends.

Zoom And Go

2005-12-17T16:44:00.000-05:00

Looking for videos to watch on your new iPod? It's easy to download thousands of clips from destinations worldwide. Check out the 10 most popular here.

What's on your X-Mas List

2005-12-15T18:28:00.000-05:00

Tell us what you are looking forward this holiday!

Frappr

2005-12-06T11:50:00.000-05:00

Love those cool Google Maps mashups popping up around the Net? This site lets you create one of your own; you can even share photos and messages through it.

iPod-Time Stories

2005-12-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

Download free audio books, such as Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, and listen to them on your portable digital music player. You can also volunteer to make recordings for the site. Check it out!

Pesonalized Maps

2005-11-28T13:29:00.000-05:00

Show friends your favorite places to drink beer or eat pizza by plotting locations on Google Maps. It's all possible with this new (and free) sharing service. Check it out!

Goodbye, Dewey Decimal

2005-11-14T11:10:00.000-05:00

This handy, free web-based service can keep an eye on your local library, letting you know when your books are due or when items you've requested have arrived for checkout.

Note to future self

2005-11-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

Surprise yourself down the road with an e-mail blast from the past. Write your missive, schedule a future delivery date and wait for your time capsule to come. Check out it out!

Lost My Laptop

2005-11-08T18:22:00.000-05:00

If anyone picked it in Massapequa Park today, please return it. Email me! Thanks!

Password Maker

2005-11-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

Using the same password on every site you register for isn't the most reliable way to protect your identity. This free tool can help you maintain unique passwords. Visit Password Maker!

Ping Service

2005-11-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

I use this and wanted to share this great ping service: Ping-o-Matic.

Pinging lets dozens of services know you've updated your site and increases traffic to your blog. Most modern blogging packages ping at least one update service out of the box, and there are likely plugins or extensions to ping more, but often this requires more work on your part and can slow posting down to a crawl if the service is slow to respond. If you bookmark the Ping-O-Matic ping results page you can simply load that directly and have fast pinging of almost a dozen services a single click away. Also, you may want to ping when you make an edit a post to update it, and most blog packages are set up to ping only when there’s a new post. If your blog software (like Movable Type) lets you choose URIs to ping, put http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ in there. Note that this is not the same thing as trackbacking, this is weblogs.com-type update notification.

Another FORUM

2005-11-03T18:52:00.000-05:00

Started another forum. Tell us how your day went or whatever you want to talk about. :)

Featured Site of the Week

2005-11-03T14:15:00.000-05:00

Take a second and look on the sidebar near the bottom. There you will find a RENT MY BLOG NOW section. Basically, you can set up offers to rent space on your blog to others. So check out the site that is featured. Right now, The Weather Observer is the featured site of the week. Click on the thumbnail to take you to the site. :)

Get Your Site Rockin'

2005-11-02T19:42:00.000-05:00

Jazz up your Web page with free music videos. Grab the code for videos from acts such as Norah Jones, U2, 50 Cent, Blink 182 and yes, Devo!

It's that easy, at no cost. In no time, you will have a smooth video running on your own page, thanks to your friends at MVSpot.com!

'Frankenstein' Attack Hits AIM

2005-11-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

For all you AIM users: BEWARE!

A potentially destructive new worm is targeting users of the America Online instant messaging service.

Called W32/Sdbot-ADD by Facetime Security Labs, the vendor that first reported its existence in a less harmful version some weeks ago, this is a worm with a troubling and innovative twist--it installs a rootkit-like backdoor on any machine it manages to infect.

The researcher who discovered the new and dangerous W32/Sdbot-ADD malware bundle, describes it as being a low to medium risk, but one the company is publicizing because of its dangerous effects. If it infected a PC, he would consider reformatting the machine from scratch, he said.

How it Works

An attack starts with an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) user being asked to open a link, apparently at the request of an AOL "buddy" or contact. Clicking on this initiates the infection sequence, which starts with the dropping of a number of adware files, and the rootkit software itself, lockx.exe.

Once on the PC, the malware attempts to shut down antivirus software, install software that allows the PC to be remotely controlled by IRC, and open a backdoor for future attack. It also contains an SMTP engine with which to collect e-mail addresses.

Apple sells a million videos in new service

2005-11-01T20:05:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer on Monday said its iTunes online service has sold a million videos in under 20 days.

iTunes, the most popular online music store, began selling about 2,000 music videos and episodes of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" for $1.99 (1.12 pounds) on October 12.

The debut coincided with the launch of a new generation of Apple's iPod digital music player that can play video on its 2.5-inch color screen.

Topping the list of big sellers were music videos by Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim and Kanye West, as well as episodes of ABC shows.

Apple Upgrades OS X Tiger

2005-11-01T20:03:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer has released an upgrade to its Tiger operating system. The update includes several bug fixes and some entirely new features.

Podcasts at Yahoo!

2005-10-29T21:32:00.000-04:00

Check out Yahoo's new podcast directory podcasts.yahoo.com.

FREE Sticker

2005-10-28T16:24:00.000-04:00

For those that have requested your sticker already, you should receive them in the mail soon. Sorry about the long delay. For those that would like a FREE Girl Techies sticker, please click on the Buy Girl Techies Clothing, and More... link found right here or on the sidebar.

Share Your Favorites

2005-10-28T14:31:00.000-04:00

Wanted to share another cool site: Blinklist.

Sharing your favorite online discoveries just got easier thanks to this free Web service that lets you tag and publish your bookmarks. Keep track of friends' favorites, too.

Blinklist allows you to save and keep track of all the important or interesting pages you find online. Are you still using the Favorites menu in your browser to save bookmarks? Forget about it! Blinklist expands on this concept in many powerful ways.

First, you can store your links online and access them from any computer. You can even make them public and group them using tags and share them with friends.

Second, we use a classification system called "tagging" that makes saving and finding your links so much faster and easier. Screw folders! Our tagging engine is based on newer models of storing and representing data on the web.

Third, our clean user interface and tag manager are considered the best in the social bookmarking world. Go ahead and compare us with the competition.

So, the next time you want to save a link to a great site, article, or blog, just blink it and tag it (mark it with multiple keywords and phrases) so you can quickly find your information again. Using tagging, a tag manager, and the ability to star your favorites (tags, links and users), BlinkList offers a far superior way to save, share, and access all the content you discover online.

Rent My Blog

2005-10-27T12:09:00.000-04:00

Wanted to briefly mention a new feature from Blog Explosion. Take a second and look on the sidebar at the bottom. There you will find a RENT MY BLOG NOW section. Basically, you can set up offers to rent space on your blog to others. So check out the site that is featured. Right now, Amelia's Diary is the featured site. Click on the thumbnail to take you to her site.

Instructables

2005-10-25T09:13:00.000-04:00

I just came across the site and I love it already. Check it out!

Instructables is a venue for showing what you make and how others can make it.

Making things is part of being human. Whether you make bikes, kites, food, clothing, protocols for biology research, or hack consumer electronics, good instructions are critical.

Instructables is a step-by-step collaboration system that helps you record and share your projects with a mixture of images, text, ingredient lists, CAD files, and more. We hope to make documentation simple and fast. Show your colleagues how to operate a machine, show your friends how to build a kayak, show the world how to make cool stuff.

iWay

2005-10-22T09:09:00.000-04:00

Yahoo Maps and iPod are used together to bring you an exciting online service called iPod-iWay. What is iPod-iWay? iPod-iWay is a powerful step-by-step directions saving tool that will export online driving directions from results by Yahoo Maps and import them into your iPod Photo. It’s an easy solution for getting Yahoo Map directions saved and displayed onto any iPod Photo or Nano, and without the need of additional software!

How it works?
The website www.ipodiway.com is very simple to use. Just like using Yahoo Maps, you would enter your starting and destination address in the corresponding online form. Once you have entered your start and destination information, simply click on “Verify Directions” to make sure that you’ll be given correct and accurate driving directions. Your very last step is to click on the button “Get Directions” and the website will prompt you to download a ZIP* file that contains your driving directions. All that’s left to do is to make sure you extract the ZIP file to your iTunes photo folder, connect your iPod to your computer, sync your iPod and then you’re ready to roll!

This program is easy to use for any event when you are in the need for driving directions to any location in the US or Canada, and best of all, it’s FREE!

Lap Locker intros PodLock iPod locking case

2005-10-19T19:41:00.000-04:00

Lap Locker has announced its PodLock iPod locking case. The case is designed to fit all full-size iPods except the 30GB 3rd generation model, original 20GB iPod photo, and the 40-60GB iPod photo. The system consists of a tapered aluminum frame to contain the iPod and a Master Lock carabiner-style combination lock. The lock allows the case to be secured to belts, backpacks, purses, and, using a clamp-lock device, the case can be locked to a table or desk. The PodLock allows access to all the iPod’s controls and ports. The PodLock is available now and sells for $39.99.

New Forum

2005-10-18T17:22:00.000-04:00

Started a new forum. You can discuss assignments, homework problem discussions.

Discuss Assignments, homework problem discussions

New iMac G5

2005-10-18T16:39:00.000-04:00

What if you could command an entire world of music, photos, movies and DVDs — all from your sofa? Now you can share the good life with friends and family on a 17- or 20-inch new iMac G5 featuring Front Row software and Apple Remote. Slimmer than ever, the gravity-defying enclosure also houses built-in iSight, SuperDrive, wireless and the easy-to-use software that brings it all together. Modern living starts at only $1299. (Mighty Mouse not sold separately.)

Welcome to the Front Row

You’ve got the best seat in the house. The full-screen Front Row media experience — with its intuitive menus, large text and brilliant graphics — lets you browse the music, photos and videos on your iMac as easily as you browse music on your iPod. And the new Apple Remote lets you do your browsing from anywhere in the room. So gather your friends and dazzle them with a slideshow of your vacation pics, a home movie or a DVD. iMac G5 was born to entertain.

The iTunes Connection

With iTunes, you’re never more than a click away from the world’s most popular source of music, audiobooks and podcasts. Now the digital revolution strikes again — you can also purchase your favorite music videos and selected TV shows. Download those episodes of Lost or Desperate Housewives that you missed. Or sync your videos with the new iPod and watch them anywhere.

Video Chatting Made Easy

There’s an iSight camera built into every new iMac, so you can start a video chat (or join one) at a moment’s notice. There’s nothing to buy, nothing to attach, no cords to fumble with, no software to install or configure. Simply start up iChat AV, click your buddy’s video icon and you’re ready to chat with sight and sound — with up to three friends at once. Proper attire suggested.

Say Cheese

The new Photo Booth application (included) turns your iMac into a modern-day arcade photo booth (minus the coin slot). Just pick a special effect like sepia tint, x-ray, bulge or squeeze. And smile. Presto — instant high-quality photo. Once you have the perfect pic, take advantage of Photo Booth’s connections to share it via Mail, save it in iPhoto or use it as your Address Book or iChat buddy picture.

The Beast Within

Behind its breathtaking 17- or 20-inch widescreen display, iMac G5 displays some monstrous power — with a 1.9GHz or 2.1GHz G5 processor, a sizzling new PCI-Express ATI Radeon X600 Pro or XT graphics processor with 128MB of dedicated video memory and a new high-bandwidth system architecture. These technologies, coupled with Mac OS X Tiger (the world’s most advanced operating system), simply make iMac G5 a joy to drive. Whether you’re exercising your creativity, surfing the web, playing compute-intensive games or just staying in touch with friends.

It’s a Wonderful iLife

iMac G5 has the power — and the brains — to be the center of your digital universe. It comes with iLife ’05: a suite of easy-to-use applications that make the spectacular part of your everyday life. Enhance, organize and share your photos via iPhoto. Make an epic starring your kid in iMovie. Turn your photo and movie creations into professional DVDs with iDVD. Create original music in GarageBand, even if you can’t carry a tune.

Ready to Roar

Like any modern computer should, iMac G5 comes ready with software preinstalled to use your digital devices right away. Just plug them in. With a plentiful passel of ports — USB 2.0, FireWire 400, composite and S-video outputs, audio in and out — you can connect just about any device, from cameras and camcorders to hard drives, stereos and the Mighty Mouse included with every iMac G5. With the forward-thinking Scroll Wheel, you can move around your digital life with 360° of freedom. And with built-in Gigabit Ethernet, you’re all set for wired networking.

Cut the Cords

Better yet, eliminate the desktop clutter. iMac G5 comes with a pre-installed AirPort Extreme Card, so you can hop onto the Internet wirelessly up to 150 feet from an AirPort Extreme Base Station. Or you can add an AirPort Express with AirTunes to stream music to your stereo and send documents to your printer. iMac G5 also includes an internal Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for the latest wireless devices, like the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse. You can even sync your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone so your numbers are always up to date. Impress your friends, confound your enemies — wireless only looks like magic.

Groovin' Online

2005-10-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

eJamming, being unveiled today at Digital Life in New York, has created a way for musicians anywhere in the world to jam with each other in real-time over the Internet.

Say you live in LA and the friends you love to jam with live in San Francisco, Austin and Seattle. Or you're in New York, and your band mates live in Nashville, Miami and Chicago. How can you make music together when you're so far away?

Just plug any MIDI-enabled instrument into your computer, fire up the eJamming™ Station and you're connected to your friends, making music together over the internet in real time - no matter if they live a thousand miles away.

And, you can talk to each other, record your jam, play it back with all the nuance and pitch bends in place, add vocals locally and even exchange your eJamming™ Session recordings with your friends.

You can organize an eJamming™ Session for just you and your pals. Or you can hang out at eJamming™ and meet new people to play and write with.

The new iPod is unveiled

2005-10-12T14:24:00.000-04:00

Witness the evolution of the revolution. First it played songs. Then photos. Then podcasts. Now iPod plays video, changing the way you experience your music and more. Again. In lighter, thinner 30GB and 60GB models starting at $299, the new iPod is music to your eyes.

Better Yet

Time for the world’s best music player to take the stage for another encore. In 30GB and 60GB⁽¹⁾ models that hold up to 15,000⁽²⁾ songs, full-color album art and up to 25,000 photos⁽³⁾, the new iPod makes the most of your music and more. Yeah, you’ve heard that tune before. Only now, you can watch it, too. With support for up to 150 hours⁽⁴⁾ of video and a 2.5-inch color display, the new iPod lets you take music videos and TV shows on the road.

More and Less

The new iPod boasts up to 20 hours of battery life⁽⁵⁾, five hours more than before. Plus, you get a bigger display and one more iPod color — sleek black. But here’s the kicker: At under half an inch thin, the new 30GB iPod takes up about 45 percent less room than the original iPod. Even the new 60GB model is 10 percent thinner than the fourth-generation 20GB iPod. More features in less space? Sounds like iPod.

Hold Everything

Now you can put all your music in your pocket and still have room for, well, practically everything else. Catch up on your reading with audiobooks. Browse your memories with photo slideshows, complete with music. Watch video podcasts, music videos and your favorite TV shows. Consult your calendar or look up an email address. Even check the time in another city or time your fastest lap. The new iPod keeps it all close at hand.

Spin Some Tunes

The Apple Click Wheel gives you access to your entire music, photo and video library — from one thumb. Control volume and browse using the touch-sensitive surface. Play. Pause. Rewind and fast-forward. Rate your favorites. Create playlists on the go. Launch photo slideshows. The Click Wheel puts everything at your fingertips, so you can keep your eyes and ears on the music.

Sync, Look and Listen

Playing your iPod is only half the fun. Try filling it with downloads from the iTunes Music Store. Choose from over 2 million songs, 20,000 podcasts, 2,000 music videos or your favorite ABC and Disney television shows, download them to your Mac or PC and sync them to your iPod. Add an optional audio cable to play music from the iPod to your home stereo or use an optional S-video cable with iPod to play VJ on your TV. You can perform the same big-screen feat with iPod photo slideshows. Oh, and you can do it all from across the room using the optional Universal Dock and handy new Apple remote.

Yahoo to Introduce Tools for Podcasts

2005-10-10T21:49:00.000-04:00

Hoping to tune into the latest craze in digital media, Yahoo is introducing tools for finding, organizing and rating "podcasts" — the audio programs designed to be played on Apple Inc.'s iPod and many other portable music players.

Yahoo plans to begin testing the new service Monday at http://podcasts.yahoo.com.

Although it can do several things, the free service focuses on making it easier for people to sift through the tens of thousands of podcasts currently available on the Web to find the programming best suited to their personal interests.

Yahoo isn't the first Web site to search podcasts. Specialty Web sites such as Odeo.com and Podcast.net already do the same thing.

Yahoo's service is built strictly for listeners. Unlike Odeo's site, Yahoo isn't providing any tools for creating podcasts, although there are plans to do so eventually.

Apple Expected to Unveil Video-Enabled iPod

2005-10-08T13:11:00.000-04:00

A new video-enabled iPod is expected to be unveiled by Apple Computer Inc. during a press conference next week.

Apple e-mailed invitations that included the words "One more thing..." printed over a background photo that appears to depict theater curtains. The company, which has pocketed a fortune from the sales of its iPod digital music player, said nothing else in the e-mail, other than to say the press event would take place in San Jose on Oct. 12.

"From our checks with industry and channel sources, we believe Apple will release a first-generation video-capable iPod," American Technology Research said in a report Wednesday.

Bank of America analysts also are looking for Apple to launch a new video-playing iPod, saying it would help support iPod's prices and "cause investors and consumers to think about Apple's growing position in the digital home."

Consider the Web as your worldwide homework helper

2005-10-03T17:41:00.000-04:00

School's in full swing and that means one thing — homework. Fortunately, the Internet is loaded with free programs and sites to help students and parents.

Writing is an integral part of most schoolwork, so a good place to start is with a few tools to spruce up your words. Most word processors like Microsoft Word have built-in spelling tools, but there are other tools beyond your word processor to help you check your spelling or define words. Windows users can turn to Tinyspell (www.tinyspell.m6.net) and Wordweb (www.wordweb.info/free), which work independently of other programs.

Tinyspell is a program that sits in the corner of your screen and monitors typing. If you misspell a word, it sounds an alert. Click the icon to see suggested spellings or to add a word to its dictionary. WordWeb is a program that provides definitions and synonyms. Enter your word in the search box and click a button.

Mac owners running OS X Tiger have a dictionary widget. If you're using OS X 10.2 or 10.3, you'll find dictionary widgets at Konfabulator (www.konfabulator.com). You'll need to install Konfabulator's software to use the widgets, though. Or, you can just visit Merriam-Webster (www.m-w.com), OneLook Dictionary Search (www.onelook.com), or YourDictionary (www.yourdictionary.com) to find definitions. Some dictionary sites also offer a thesaurus as well as access to foreign language translation and other dictionaries.

Online translators can help students studying a foreign language. They're not perfect — a teacher would be able to spot a translation generated by one of these — But they can help students understand difficult passages. Three translation sites include AltaVista's Babel Fish Translation (www.world.altavista.com), Google Language Tools (www.google.com/language_tools) and World Lingo (www.worldlingo.com).

Math and science

For help with mathematics from basic math to the most advanced math likely to be encountered in school, go to Math.com. For similar science help, try Sciencehelp.com.

To plot math and science projects on paper, Mathematics Help Central (www.mathematicshelpcentral.com/graph_paper.htm) has a variety of printable graph papers. All you need is the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and a printer to view and print the downloaded papers. If you need something more complex, download the Graph Paper Printer Program, which creates custom graph papers to exact specifications by allowing you to modify the line colors, widths and spacing. It also creates specialty papers for music and handwriting.

To help with the actual work, you'll need a good calculator. Microsoft offers a couple that improve upon the basic Windows calculator included with the operating system. Both require Windows XP.

The Power Calculator (www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx) graphs functions and solves equations in addition to computing basic calculations. It also has the ability to perform conversions, but options are limited. For advanced conversions, including currency conversions, try Microsoft's Calculator Plus (http://tinyurl.com/ch856).

Mac users will like Tiran's Calculator+ for Mac OS X (tiran.netfirms.com). Billed as a "lightweight scientific calculator," it keeps a history of your calculations, has multiple memories and will help with algebra and trigonometry.

History and geography

For history and geography projects, National Geographic's MapMachine (plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine) is invaluable. It features world maps and satellite photographs, as well as topographical maps, historical maps and climate maps. You can also access facts and histories of specific countries.

Bartleby (www.bartleby.com) is a virtual library. There are a number of encyclopedias, in addition to style guides and other reference books. You'll also find classic works, including a selection of Shakespeare's plays and poetry. An even more extensive library can be found at Refdesk.com, which also offers a tremendous set of homework helper links (www.refdesk.com/homework.html).

FreeLunch (www.economy.com/freelunch) is an excellent source for statistical information. The financial and demographic information might be too advanced for younger students, but it could help older students beef up school projects.

FreeLunch is especially helpful for creating reports, putting valuable information all in one place. The charts are free to download, but you need Microsoft Excel or an Excel-compatible spreadsheet program to view them. If you don't have one, download the free Openoffice.org (www.openoffice.org) office suite, which, by the way, is an excellent alternative to pricey Microsoft Office.

Thanks to Kim Komando

Disney to sell "Mix Sticks" digital music players

2005-10-03T11:04:00.000-04:00

Walt Disney said on Thursday said it would start selling $49.99 portable music MP3 players for kids.

Disney Mix Sticks, about the size of a pack of gum, hold about 60 songs on an internal 128 megabyte storage card and can hold additional 1-gigabyte memory cards. They also can play songs sold on small memory cards.

Apple is the biggest seller of portable digital music players but others are crowding into the market. Disney said its players, in four styles including Forever Princess and Sassy Pixie, would be available at Target, Sears, Limited Too, Wal-Mart.com and at Disney's online store in mid-October.

Girl Techies Online Store

2005-09-26T19:38:00.001-04:00

Come visit my store on CafePress featuring T-Shirts, Mugs, and more! Very cool.

Opera Makes Its Browser Free, With No Ads

2005-09-21T20:52:00.000-04:00

Before the availability of Opera version 8.5 this week, users who downloaded the browser had to either pay $39 or view ads while browsing. Its competitors, including Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox, carried no such requirement.

Dell Launches New Music Player

2005-09-21T20:38:00.000-04:00

Dell Inc., the world's biggest personal computer maker, announced out six new products on Tuesday including two printers and a digital music player aimed at the iPod Shuffle.

The DJ Ditty weighs 1.29 ounces and its 512 megabytes of storage can hold as many as 220 songs and has a 1-inch screen for managing playlists, starts at $99.

By contrast, the 512-megabyte version of Apple Computer Inc.'s shuffle, which also costs $99, stores 120 songs; a 1-gigabyte version sells for $129 and holds 240 songs, according to the company's Web site.

The Ditty follows Dell's Pocket DJ, introduced last year to challenge Apple's iPod mini. The Pocket DJ holds up to 2,500 songs and costs $199.

Dell also introduced two new printers: the Photo All-In-One Printer 924 and 944, which have improved photo-printing capabilities, designs and wireless options, the company said.

Have an iPod nano

2005-09-16T16:29:00.000-04:00

Tell us about it.

iTunes to Sell Downloads of Harry Potter Novels

2005-09-08T19:42:00.000-04:00

The digital audiobooks are being released by the Random House Audio Trade Group. They can be purchased through Apple's iTunes store, for prices ranging from US$32.95 for a single book to $249 for the whole series, which, according to Random House, includes a "full color digital booklet" and "previously unreleased readings" by J.K. Rowling.

New iPod Nano

2005-09-08T19:22:00.000-04:00

Apple just released the iPod Nano.

Take everything you love about iPod and shrink it. Now shrink it again. With 2GB (500 songs) and 4GB (1,000 songs) models starting at $199, the pencil-thin iPod nano packs the entire iPod experience into an impossibly small design. So small, it will take your music places you never dreamed of.

Believe Your Ears

Call it astonishing. Unbelievable. Impossible, even. Then pick it up and hold it in your hand. Take in the brilliant color display. Run your thumb around the Click Wheel. Put on the earbuds and turn up your music. That’s when everything becomes clear: It’s an iPod.

It holds up to three days’ worth of music. It plays for up to 14 hours between battery charges.⁽¹⁾ It displays the color album art for the song you’re listening to right now. It carries your photos, podcasts and audiobooks. It syncs seamlessly with iTunes. It connects to a host of iPod accessories. Simply put, iPod nano is 100-percent iPod. And then some.

Touch and Go

iPod nano’s Click Wheel puts music under your thumb. Click to fast-forward, rewind, play, pause or access menus. Use the touch-sensitive surface to control volume or browse music. You can do it all without looking. But with an iPod this beautiful, who’d want to?

Song Stylings

Add accessories to your iPod nano via the Dock connector and headphone jack and your music will always keep up with you — at home, on the go, even in your car. Of course, in either signature white or sleek black, iPod nano itself makes the ultimate accessory.

Up to 4GB⁽²⁾ of skip-free storage on a featherweight iPod means you can wear almost three days’ worth of music around your neck. Or jog with 1,000 songs on your arm. Now that you can take your music everywhere, there’s no limit to where it will take you.

Download Now: The Free iPod Book and Back to School Guide

2005-08-24T15:48:00.000-04:00

It’s here: The Free iPod Book & Back to School Guide, by iLounge.com. Covering all things iPod and iTunes, our first book includes exclusive sneak peeks at new iPod accessories from JBL, Belkin, Griffin, Oregon Scientific, Blumac and Sumo Cases, plus tutorials, contests, and more.

Free Offers that REALLY work

2005-08-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

My friend from college just called and she told me she just received a free Mini Mac. I knew how she did it and I will explain it later but I didn't realize these offers really worked. So I am decided to participate as well. Basically, you can earn many things for signing up with a site. The sites I am participating in will give you free items if you give them a referral.

A referral is when I refer someone to their site and that person signs up to one of their offers.
Here is an example of a site I am participating in that is not a scam and is a legimate company:Gratis.

Gratis is a company that will give away free items if you sign up with them. Located in Washington, D.C, Gratis is a well-trusted and reputable site out there now. If you ever see Free iPod giveaway pop-ups, always make sure the company is approved by the Better Business Bureau. Graits is approved by the BBB and has given away over 4 million dollars in items to people that work for them. And I'm sure you are wondering how this is possible; well it's quite simple: For every one referral you give them, Gratis receives $90 from companies such as well-known companies Blockbuster and MasterCard. These companies will pay Gratis when someone signs up to complete an offer.

Basically when you sign up for a deal with a reputable company, you give them your mailing address and don't worry, they will give out your address to other companies; in fact they participate in the Trust E Foundation, you then give them you email address; again no worries-they will not give your email address to spammers,and finally they send you a verification email and then you are on your way to earning free items. Once you get started, complete an offer, and pass it along to friends to do the same. After approval and verification from the company that you have not cheated you will receive your free item of choice.

Of course, there are some requirements:
-Must live in the United States
-Must be at least 18 years old
-Must provide your email address for proper verification
-Must use a credit card, phone bill, or checking acct to complete an offer with reputable companies such as Columbia House, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal

Click on the following link to see pictures of those who have received free items:

Photo Gallery of those that have received free stuff!

They also has some picture and video proofs with G4 tech TV and NBC: I will post the link shortly.

There is also something you need to know. If you try to cheat their system you will not win. Here are a few tips to help ensure that your account does not get put on hold:

1. Make sure that all of your referrals are unique users, and that one person (including yourself) does not sign up under 2 or more accounts.

2. Make sure that you don't have more than one member of a household sign up.

3. Make sure that you don't have more than one person sign up from any given IP address. Example: if you sign up from work, and your office is connected through one router, don't have your fellow employees sign up from the office.

4. Do not sign up under someone else's account from the computer that you or someone else signed up from. (This may cause a problem) .

So ready to get your item! Here are some sites that I am doing (all by Gratis) to get my item. But first, here is some good info on some offers you can do.

-eFax: Thi is a useful offer. With eFax, get your own local or toll-free fax number and your faxes delivered by email. It takes around 1-2 days to receive credit that you did it. You get a free 30 day trial.

-Video Professor: This offer costs some money, yet compared to the cost of the item you are gonna get, it is a small sacrifice. You get instant credit for completing an offer.

-BlockBuster: This is a nice one to do if you want online movie rentals. You wil get a two week trial. I like using Blockbuster than Netflex. Although it takes around 1-2 weeks for you to get credit.

-Infone: This is the best offer you can do. It is easy. You sign up for their phone service, but never use it . Once you sign up, you have to call and verify anyway that you want their service. Just don't call. Then cancel once you get credit. And credit is instant. I did this offer and it was awesome how easy it worked out. Unfortunately, this offer doesn't show up much. It is said that it comes around late at night sometimes though.

There are many more offers ranging from skin care, vitamins, enrolling for credit cards, and more. For every site you sign up to, you have to do a different offer.

Here is the list of the many sites you can sign up to and get your item:

Free Mini Macs: It's an offer for the newest Apple product: the Mini Mac. Sign up and complete one offer then get ten friends to do the same.

Free Desktop PC: It's an offer for a Desktop PC; you get to choice from 4 computers. Sign up and complete one offer and then get ten friends to do the same.

Free Photo iPod: It's an offer for a Photo iPod. I'm actually close to getting one. Sign up and complete one offer and then get ten friends to do the same.

If you do not wish to share your credit card, there are options available.
Many banks will sell you "charged" cards that have a certain amount of funds on them. Additionally, PayPal Premium Business customers may use a "Virtual Credit Card" to register for one of the above. You can purchase a charged-value credit card at Coinstar stations (usually at grocery stores) for a $9.95 service fee. Finally, MySimon and WebCertificate both sell online charged-value credit cards. Note that webcertificates can be loaded with under $20, even though it says that that is the minumum. Their service fee is $2.95.

Great articles on some of the sites that I had mentioned:

Wired News
Engadget

Thinking about getting an iMac....

2005-08-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

...but I'm not sure. Everyone I know owns a PC...everyone! I simply love the design of an iMac and the 20 inch widescreen LCD is sweet. When I was an undergrad at Penn State, I would avoid the computer labs with Macs just because I hated the one-button mouse. I would love to hear from the Mac users out there and tell me about your experiences with your iMac.

Mac vs. PC

2005-07-21T14:43:00.000-04:00

Cast your vote today!

iTunes Music Store Hits 500 Million Downloads

2005-07-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

Never did downloading a song from the iTunes Music Store make one so happy as it did Amy Greer of Lafayette, Indiana this weekend. Being the 500 millionth download from the store, she won the 10 iPods, the gold 10,000-song gift card for the iTunes Music Store(in addition to 10 50-song gift cards included with each iPod) and four tickets to see Coldplay on their world tour.
I know I tried to download the 500 millionth song. Did anyone come close to winning? Let us know!

Apple Takes Podcasting Mainstream With iTunes 4.9

2005-06-30T15:10:00.000-04:00

With the release of iTunes 4.9 this week, Apple users now have access to subscribe to over 3,000 free Podcasts, and even have the ability to have each new episode automatically delivered over the internet to update their computer and iPod. In a follow-up to an earlier story this week about the revamping of the iPod line to include an all-color lineup, iTunes is offering a huge boost in functionality to the devices with this latest release. The new Podcast Directory in iTunes 4.9 features Podcasts from sources such as ABC News, Adam Curry, BBC, Clear Channel, The Dawn and Drew Show, Disney, Engadget, ESPN, Newsweek and NPR member stations.

GoCyberCamp

2005-06-17T16:22:00.000-04:00

Have you always wanted to go to summer camp? Well, here's your chance! If you like playing with food like we do, go to the Canteen to try some fun games using a microwave and vending machines. Or strap on your hiking boots to learn about the different ecosystems in nature. You'll learn tons about science and nutrition while you play. GoCyberCamp is open to all kids between the ages of 8 and 12. Let us know what you thought of your GoCyberCamp experience.

Google Launches Mobile Search Engine

2005-06-17T15:23:00.000-04:00

Google has launched a new mobile version of its popular search engine to complement the Google Mobile service introduced in the US and Canada earlier this year. Google Mobile search supports WAP, XHTML and iMode handsets, and offers web and images searches. The service searches for pages written in extensible HTML, which are pages optimized for mobile internet users with pages designed to be viewed on a phone-sized screen.

Users will access the Google home page, and when they type in their query, they will select 'Mobile Web (Beta)' as the search option. The results are presented in a clean interface with a top 10 list for web searches, and a top 3 list for image searches.

AOL Launches 2GB AIM Mail Service

2005-06-09T18:39:00.000-04:00

America Online has announced the official launch of its AIM Mail service to compete directly with Google's GMail service, MSN's Hotmail, and Yahoo! Mail service. AOL is providing 2GB of storage along with virus and spam protection to AIM users. The company says that the service will be fully integrated with AOL Instant Messenger along with users being able to use their existing screen name for an e-mail address. AOL is starting system upgrades next week to roll out the new service to the nearly 22 million current AIM users.

Sprint, Yahoo Team On Mobile Push E-Mail

2005-06-09T18:22:00.000-04:00

Sprint and Yahoo! said they are teaming to provide a push-like e-mail service to Sprint's subscribers. Sprint will charge $2.99 a month for basic e-mail service but it will cost extra for the push-like ability to be notified of new e-mail in real-time. However, the company didn't say how much extra that service would cost. The service will be available on palmOne Treo devices as well as phones from Samsung and Sanyo, Sprint said.

Do you want to write for us?

2005-06-04T19:12:00.000-04:00

Looking for young tech writers to add to our blog. Send us an email on why you want to join our team.

Mr. Picasso Head

2005-05-27T20:52:00.000-04:00

I just found the coolest site where you create your own Picasso Head. You can even submit your finished work to the Gallery. Let us know when you have posted your work so we can check it out! Here's what I made:

It actually should say Cocktails 4 Two. Not sure what happened. :)

An Xbox 360 to be Given Away Every 10 Minutes

2005-05-27T13:08:00.000-04:00

Almost forgot to mention this during the ongoing madness that is E3 but, Microsoft and PepsiCo confirmed yesterday that they will indeed be doing a massive Xbox 360 promotion later this year where they’re giving away a console every ten minutes for nine weeks beginning in August.
Hope you really like Mountain Dew, because to win you’ll have to use codes found under bottle caps of specially marked bottles of Mountain Dew to enter these regular online drawing they’re going to be holding at Every10Minutes.com

Microsoft Launches Anti-Spam Site

2005-05-27T13:00:00.000-04:00

Microsoft’s MSN Postmaster Web site has officially been launched this week. Postmaster is an online resource for those wishing to get in the know about combatting spam, as well as offering tools to fight the unwanted eMails.
The site is combined with Microsoft’s Smart Network Data Services, a tool used to track the spam being sent to Hotmail users. This service will be used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to help them deal with spam being sent from their servers.
Hotmail’s product unit manager announced the Postmaster launch, stating: “MSN Postmaster and Smart Network Data Services represent a move… toward broader, more comprehensive and transparent information-sharing with ISPs and email senders."

Yahoo PhotoMail Lets Users E-Mail 300 Photos

2005-05-27T12:54:00.000-04:00

Instead of the attachment approach, Yahoo's new service lets users easily embed photos in a mail message.

The arrival of PhotoMail for Yahoo's mail users takes a drag and drop approach to sharing images with friends or family.

Those images can be residing on a computer, the Yahoo Photos picture sharing service, or from results of a Yahoo Image Search. PhotoMail runs on Windows PCs with the 2000 or XP ooperating system in place along with IE 5.5.

The Sunnyvale-based portal and search engine company touts the PhotoMail service as allowing for unlimited photos to be stored on its computers. Included with the PhotoMail service will be a piece of software called a Quick Select Tool. The company claims the tool will make attaching any type of file to an e-mail easier.

Along with inserting photos into an e-mail message, users will be able to add captions to each photo or adjust the borders as needed. As the service has been integrated with the existing Yahoo Photos service, PhotoMail users will be able to view the full size photos or even order prints online.

With all of these functions enabled within the auspices of the Yahoo portal, the company benefits from keeping users on the site. That benefit comes from being able to display more ads, a significant revenue generator of Yahoo's business.

Unfortunately, Quick Select Tool and PhotoMail are not available for Firefox, Netscape, and Macintosh users. I'm sure it will be available to us soon. If you can't wait like me, go ahead and open up Internet Explorer and test PhotoMail out.

Support Girl Techies

2005-05-27T09:44:00.001-04:00

You can link me wherever you want, your site, your journal or even your AIM profile.
Just pick out one of these cool banners.
All I ask is to put the banner on your server and under the comments section tell us your site so we can check it out!

Girl Techies Sticker

2005-05-25T15:07:00.000-04:00

Finally! Email us if you would like to have a sticker. We are offering them for free right now.

Apple to make iPod podcast-friendly

2005-05-23T21:14:00.000-04:00

Has anyone heard of podcasting before? I recently discovered podcasting and was upset that I didn't find it sooner.

Basically, think how a desktop aggregator works. You subscribe to a set of feeds, and then can easily view the new stuff from all of the feeds together, or each feed separately.

Podcasting works the same way, with one exception. Instead of reading the new content on a computer screen, you listen to the new content on an iPod or iPod-like device.

Think of your iPod as having a set of subscriptions that are checked regularly for updates. Today there are a limited number of programs available this way. The format used is RSS 2.0 with enclosures.

You can even subscribe to local movie listings, check out the week's weather, and read your horoscope.

Apple Computer Inc. will support and organize podcasts in the next version of its iTunes and iPod software, an analyst said Monday.

This will be great. The updates version will organize the podcasts within the iTunes store.

Microsoft unveils new Xbox!

2005-05-12T22:15:00.000-04:00

Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360 on Thursday, taking aim at Sony in the video game console market with a machine sporting high-definition graphics and features that make it an entertainment hub for the living room.
The world's largest software maker said its second generation Xbox will be on store shelves well in time for the 2005 holiday season that begins in late November, but it did not say how much the white-and-silver concave console would cost.
Among the other features are a detachable 20-gigabyte hard drive, a remote control for accessing music and video functions on the Xbox 360 and the ability to customize the machine's front panel with detachable face-plates.
Let us know what you think!

Mozilla Firefox

2005-04-30T20:31:00.000-04:00

I have been using Mozilla Firefox for quite some time now, but I recently discovered what they call extensions. Extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Firefox. They can add anything from a toolbar button to a completely new feature. They allow the application to be customized to fit the personal needs of each user if they need additional features, while keeping Firefox small to download.
I downloaded a bunch of them already and I cannot believe I haven't discovered them sooner. For example I downloaded Dictionary Search and it basically looks up any word that you highlight.
I definitely recommend downloading Firefox. Firefox empowers you to browse faster, more safely and more efficiently than with any other browser. Happy browsing with Firefox!

Google Rolls out Test of Personalized Search Tool

2005-04-24T23:06:00.000-04:00

Google Inc debuted a test service called My Search History that analysts said is a move closer to personalized search, widely considered the Holy Grail for the Web search leader and its rivals.

Don't take this personally, but Google wants your Web search history.

A new feature offered by the Internet search leader invites people to save and view all the Web searches they conduct at Google.

Launched in trial form Wednesday, Google's "my search history" is designed as a kind of Internet memory aid, giving people new ways to find information they previously saw online and to repeat previous searches.

The search history is an optional feature that requires people to sign in, so Google can store their searching histories online and make them available later from any computer where they might sign in. People who already have an e-mail address from Google's Gmail site or have registered at its Google Groups site can use those log-ins; anyone can also sign up for a new account (www.google.com/searchhistory).

This history feature is surprisingly detailed, showing not only what terms you entered into Google's search box before, but also which matching Web sites you clicked on, along with date and time stamps. A calendar view lets you browse through previous searches chronologically as well.

While Google tracks your searches whenever you are signed in, you can ask it to avert its gaze temporarily by clicking a "pause" button. You can also sign out entirely to stop all recording activity until you sign back in. A "remove items" button will erase all or some of your prior searches.

Google is far from the first Internet service to save people's searches, though it offers a few more choices with its implementation. Yahoo, America Online, Ask Jeeves and Amazon.com's A9.com also offer search history services.

All provide a basic ability to scan through prior search histories while people are signed in, allowing them to limit a new search for, say, "cave men" to all the previous pages Google has shown them in response to prior queries.

Make your Own Button

2005-04-15T16:45:00.000-04:00

Ever see those cool buttons on websites and wonder how you can make one. These 80x15 buttons seem to be getting incredibly popular with bloggers. Steal These Buttons has tons of them, and they can be found on hundreds of sites around the web.

Adam Kalsey has whipped up a great user interface to make your own button. Definitely check it out.

Need a Yahoo 360 invite?

2005-04-13T17:33:00.000-04:00

If anyone wants an invite let me know and I can send you one via email.

Sudoku: A Japanese Game

2005-04-06T12:59:00.000-04:00

All I have to say is I cannot believe I just discovered this game this week. And yes, I have become totally, helplessly addicted to Sudoku, a Japanese logic puzzle which can be anything from ridiculously easy to fiendishly difficult. According to the NY Post, Sudoku is a puzzle game popular all over the world. The concept is simple: take a nine-by-nine grid of squares and divide it into nine three-by-three squares using bold lines, chuck in a few numbers to start off with and off you go. Each row, each column and each three-by-three block must contain all the digits from one to nine. It sounds simple and it is, with the easy puzzles giving you plenty of information to start you off. The more challenging ones give you fewer numbers to start with and have them carefully arranged to cause maximum headaches.
A tip for the beginner-Resist the temptation of guess and use logic instead!
Email us with any questions or tips.

Yahoo 360 takes spin through blogosphere

2005-04-04T08:11:00.000-04:00

Yahoo is stepping into social networking and blogging, with a new service that promises to offer a simpler way to keep in touch with people.

Dubbed Yahoo 360, the new service is accepting invitation-only beta testers for now, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Web giant said Wednesday. The test will be opened to a broader audience on March 29.

Yahoo 360 combines a new blogging tool along with several longtime Yahoo products, including instant messaging, photo storage and sharing, and Internet radio. It also offers tools for sharing recommendations about places to eat, favorite movies, music and so on.

"It's really about keeping connected to people you know," said Julie Herendeen, vice president for network services at Yahoo. "Yahoo 360 allows consumers to conveniently connect with the people they care about by creating and sharing blogs, photos and other content across Yahoo."

Google Doubles E-Mail Space

2005-04-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

A year after unveiling a free e-mail service with a full gigabyte of storage, Google Inc. is doubling the capacity of each account and plans to keep bumping up the limit in the future.

Now, Gmail users will be able to store up to 2 gigabytes of e-mail and attachments for each account. Even more capacity will be made available after that as it becomes feasible, the company said.

Just last week, Yahoo Inc. said it would offer 1 gigabyte of storage to users of its free service. When Google introduced Gmail, Yahoo was providing just 4 megabytes of storage. Microsoft Corp.'s Hotmail now offers 250 megabytes, up from 2 megabytes at Gmail's launch.

Yahoo Ups Free E-Mail Storage to 1 GB

2005-03-24T09:19:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! said on Wednesday it will soon begin giving users of its free Web e-mail service 1 gigabyte of storage, four times more than it now offers, amid intense competition. I have to admit that I have been anti-Yahoo! for allowing my Bulk Mail folder to fill up with over 200 emails a day of junk mail!

Gamers Line Up for Sony PSP

2005-03-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today is launch day for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Portable, the new mobile video-game-playing device from the consumer electronics giant behind the popular consoles PlayStation and PlayStation 2.

Sony had stocked North American retailers with 1 million units for Thursday's launch, and many stores scheduled midnight hours to meet demand from gamers, the company said Wednesday.
Sony hopes the sleek, portable system — which allows users to play games, view movies and pictures and listen to digital audio — will transcend the traditional young, male gaming demographic.

Both storefront and online retailers have taken pre-orders for the system since it was announced in September. And Sony has sold more than 1.2 million units in Japan since the system's launch there on Dec. 12.

"We will have 1 million units on store shelves starting tonight at midnight, and expect them to sell those units very quickly," said Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold. "We have additional supplies, even if the initial units are sold out on the first day."
By the middle of the year, the company plans to increase production to 2 million units per month.

The PSP Value Pack will retail for a suggested price of $250. That buys the gaming unit, stereo headphones, a 32-megabyte Memory Stick Duo, battery and charger, a wrist strap, a soft carrying case and a Universal Media Disc featuring the movie "Spider-Man 2."
A library of about 17 games — down from the 24 originally promised — will be available at launch, with titles from developers Electronic Arts, Konami and others. Prices will be in the $40 range.

GameStop spokeswoman Lori Milovich said most of the chain's approximately 1,800 outlets were planning midnight launches or early openings. Best Buy stores nationwide were opening two hours early for the release, with plans to issue tickets to customers waiting in line to buy the new handheld system.
Give us your thoughts if you have purchased one!

Apple Releases New iPods, Cuts Prices

2005-02-23T19:55:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer Inc. released new versions of its popular iPod digital music player Wednesday, cutting prices and expanding memory capacities. The price of the 4-gigabyte iPod mini was cut $50 to $199. A new 6-gigabyte version will sell for $249.

The battery life of the second-generation mini models has also been improved. The playback time on a single charge is now 18 hours, up from 8 hours of previous models.

The 60-gigabyte "iPod photo," first introduced in October, which can display photos on its small color screen or when connected to a TV set, was cut from $599 to $449. A new 30-gigabyte model for $349 replaces a 40-gigabyte version for $499.

Apple also said it expects to start selling a cable that allows the transfer of photos straight from a digital camera to an iPod photo, eliminating the need for a computer. The iPod Camera Connector is expected to be available in late March for $29.

Apple officials said a free software update will be available so owners of older iPod photo models can also use the Camera Connector.

The iPod has helped boost Apple's fortunes and remains the top-selling portable music player despite increased competition. The slim and colorful line of minis, first introduced in January 2004, played a key role last year in doubling Apple's share in the portable music player market from 30 percent to 60 percent, said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of hardware product marketing.

In all, more than 10 million iPods have been sold since its debut in October 2001. The portable devices work with both Macintosh and Windows-based PCs.
"We've done very well, but we're not resting on our laurels," Joswiak said. "And we're going to continue to be very aggressive in this market."

Disabling XP Services

2005-02-14T10:14:00.000-05:00

Services you can safely disable include:

ClipBook: This service lets information in a clipboard to be shared across networked computers. Chances are slim you'll ever need it.

Error Reporting Service: When a program crashes, Windows will use this service to send an error report to Microsoft (which, according to Microsoft, doesn't contain any identifying information). I don't like my computer sending anybody anything about it, so I disable this service.

Fast User Switching: Much ballyhooed by Microsoft when XP launched, this service allows you to navigate from one account on the computer to another one without closing the first one. It's handy if you have a houseful of users with their own accounts, but if there's only one account on your PC you don't need this service running.

IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service: This service is only necessary if your computer is equipped with a CD-ROM burner. If not, you can safely disable it.

Indexing Service: Disable this system hog. It keeps a record of data about files and their contents in an index, which it uses to speed up the Windows search function. It uses lots of memory and unless you search your PC frequently you won't miss it a bit.

Messenger: This service is necessary in order to send message between client and server PCs. It's all but useless on single PCs and even peer-to-peer home networks.

Print Spooler: Another memory hog, this service is nevertheless necessary--if you want to print with your computer. Since I never print with my gaming rig, I've disabled this service. If you find yourself in a similar situation, do the same.

For an exhaustive list of services, their functions, and recommended settings, visit Black Viper's Web site.

The Sims Turn 5

2005-02-13T21:18:00.000-05:00

Electronic Arts recently revealed that The Sims will be celebrate its fifth anniversary this month. Since the series launch in 2000, the franchise has spawned 7 expansion packs, been translated into over 17 languages and has sold more than 54 million units worldwide. The Sims 2 has achieved a similar sort of success. Since shipping in September 2004, The Sims 2 has quickly become the fastest-selling PC game, selling over 4.5 million units worldwide.

"The Sims changed the way people play videogames and also changed the kinds of people who play videogames," said Bing Gordon, Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts.

The first expansion for The Sims 2, titled The Sims 2 University, should be available on March 11, 2005.

Yahoo Tests Toolbar for Firefox Browser

2005-02-10T11:23:00.000-05:00

It's about time! Yahoo said late on Wednesday it has released a test version of its toolbar for the Mozilla Firefox Web browser. Toolbars from companies such as Yahoo enable users to go directly to particular services, such as e-mail or Web search, by simply clicking on an icon.

Amazon.com's A9 search unit also offers a toolbar for Firefox, an open source browser that is gaining in popularity as an alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) dominant Internet Explorer.

Yahoo rival Google Inc. recently hired the lead engineer of the Firefox Web browser, fueling speculation that Google will create its own version of Firefox to take on Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Need a Gmail Acct

2005-02-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

Let us know why you would want one.

Google Bans Gmail Swaps

2005-02-08T15:33:00.000-05:00

This announcement made this week is somewhat annoying as I have taken advantage of Gmail swaps but I totally see Google's point of view on those that abused the system. According to Google's new policy, altered Monday, the Web search company prohibits Gmail subscribers from selling, trading or transferring the free e-mail accounts "for any unauthorized commercial purpose." It also bars people from setting up multiple accounts in violation of the policy.

The changes are designed to deter people from creating multiple e-mail accounts with the purpose of reselling or trading them, according to a source at the company. The policy alterations do not target people trying to barter Gmail invitations, which allow people to sign up for a new membership.

The Mountain View, Calif., search company was likely responding to instances of individuals and commercial ventures attempting to profit from the popular, yet not widely available, service. For example, an eBay auction for Gmail account names "Bush04@gmail.com" or "Kerry04@gmail.com"--for the respective campaigns of the top Republican and Democratic presidential candidates--could violate the rule.

Google began publicly testing Gmail in late March, in a move that rattled rival e-mail providers with promises of vast improvements to free Web-based e-mail. Gmail, for example, offers users a whopping 1 gigabyte of storage and lets people search unlimited archives of conversations. At first, Google let only select family and friends open accounts, yet it has slowly opened up membership more broadly to friends of those already holding accounts.

Yet the clublike demand for accounts has inspired entrepreneurs. Online auction site eBay has as many as 2,000 listings for Gmail invitations for sale, ranging from 1 cent to as much as $30 for 10 accounts. Web operations like Gmail Swap have cropped up to help people exchange invitations for goods and services. And the Institute for Spam and Public Policy recently started a Web site and campaign called Gmail 4 Troops to encourage people to share their Gmail invitations with military fighting in the Iraqi war.

Potentially more concerning, however, could be people who sign up for Gmail accounts with a common or company-trademarked name with a profit motive. The practice is similar to parties who purchase potentially lucrative, trademarked domain names and attempt to sell them to the owner, a practice called domain squatting.

Google's Gmail also has sparked criticism from privacy advocates because it involves scanning the contents of e-mail and delivering related ads. The California Senate passed a Gmail bill that seeks to limit companies' ability to survey e-mail for advertising purposes.

Gifts and then some...

2005-01-27T13:43:00.000-05:00

Let us know what you received for the holidays and give us a review.

ABC's of MP3's

2004-12-17T14:18:00.000-05:00

Have you just started downloading music or have heard about mp3's but you were not sure what exactly mp3's are or confused about mp3's are really about. Well you are not alone! And we will teach you the ABC's of mp3's:

What MP3 is:
MP3 is just a method of compressing audio files so they are small enough to send over the Internet. A four-minute song on a CD consumes about 40MB of space, but an MP3 of the same song could be 4MB or even smaller.
Having all your music in MP3 format makes it easy to organize. You can create "playlists" of your favorite music to suit any mood or occasion. You can also download this music from your computer to a portable player.

How to Play and Create MP3 Files:
Your computer can probably play MP3 files already, using either Windows Media Player (for the PC) or QuickTime (on the Mac).
The process of converting CD tracks to MP3 files is called "ripping." The most popular ripping program is MusicMatch Jukebox, which is also great for cataloging your music. Windows Media Player can also rip songs. It uses Microsoft's WMA format instead of MP3, but the result is similar. MusicMatch and Windows Media Player both work with most popular models of portable players.

Where to Find Files:
If the music you want isn't already in your CD collection, you can find it online. Some very good music is available from free online sites, but you usually have to pay for popular music. Luckily, the online music stores now offer legal music downloads at very reasonable prices.
Sharing copyrighted music is illegal, but file sharing programs continue to be popular. My advise is to stick with the legal music sources.
Still have questions? Ask us questions and/or share ideas with fellow online music fans by adding a comment/question to this article.

Online Reading Room

2004-12-15T14:04:00.000-05:00

Google has just announced that they are creating an online reading room. How cool is that? They are in the process of scanning thousands of books, including hard-to-find books into their widely used search engine. This will make school projects/papers easier.
Scanning books so they can be read through computers isn't new. Both Google and Amazon.com already have programs that offer online glimpses of new books while an assortment of other sites for several years have provide digital access to some material in libraries scattered around the country.
But Google's latest commitment could have the biggest impact yet!
As it does with new books already included in its search engine, Google will only allow its users to view the bibliographies or other snippets of copyrighted books scanned from the libraries from Oxford, Harvard, and the New York Public Library to name a few. The search engine will provide unrestricted access to all material in the public domain — work no longer covered by copyrights.
KUDOS TO GOOGLE!

New Computer Virus

2004-12-15T13:54:00.000-05:00

No surprise that there is a new virus/worm for us this holiday. This worm is disguised as a multilingual electronic Christmas card. In fact, the card comes in 15 different European languages. The virus, dubbed Zafi.D, is a traditional Internet worm infecting computers by e-mail and distributes itself by using e-mail lists on contaminated personal computers.
Its Christmas greeting is in the language of the recipient, decided by the country code -- like ".fi" or ".fr" -- at the end of the e-mail address, making it all the more dangerous. It also opens a back door on infected PCs, making it possible for outsiders to use them to distribute unsolicited bulk e-mail advertisements, or spam. Speaking of spam, I may have to close my Yahoo! acct. I receive about 100 spam emails a day. It is absolutely outrageous!
Finally, the earlier variants of the Zafi Internet worm family were highly dangerous viruses, with the B variant still among the top 10 most virulent bugs several months after it was launched. Please email us with any questions.

Da' Sims

2004-12-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

Anyone play the Sims? I have been playing the Sims from the beginning. Yes, back in 2000. That's right. The Sims came out over 4 years ago. After Unleashed came out is when I actually stopped playing. I became so frustrated with Maxis.
It was an absolute nightmare! The game continually crashed because my objects/skins that I downloaded over the yrs were not compatible. At least at that time there was nothing to do about it, but I'm sure someone has found a solution already to my mentioned problem.
I have been keeping up or at least reading about the new expansion packs and I'm still amazed at how they continued to come out with a new expansion pack after another. And now Maxis came out with Sims 2 and now The Urbz. Tell us about your Sims gaming experience.

How to Kill Really Stubborn Spyware

2004-12-02T09:26:00.000-05:00

The frustrating thing about spyware is how astonishingly persistent some of the nasty little apps can be. You think that you've cleaned them off with a squirt of some reputable anti-spyware utility; but the next time you boot up, they're back again. If you want to get rid of them permanently, who you gonna call? HijackThis.

HijackThis is a free tool of last resort, something you should turn to only after you've exhausted both Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy--and a full system antivirus scan as well. But if your PC has been infected with spyware, HijackThis can look deep within the places in Windows where spyware apps dig in their roots, and help you figure out how to yank the weeds.

HijackThis is different from a lot of anti-spyware apps. It doesn't attempt to identify which code it thinks is spyware, and it won't offer to remove the bad stuff automatically. To use HijackThis effectively, you'll probably need advice from experts, unless you can spot a spyware program by the names of its Registry keys and DLL files. One good resource is the large group of dedicated volunteers on the TomCoyote Forum.

Because it's a powerful tool, HijackThis could kill a critical part of Windows, rendering your PC unbootable. Your best course of action is to perform a full system backup beforehand. If you're running Windows XP, at least create a system restore point so that you can back out of any changes you make. To do this, click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore, select Create a restore point, click Next, and follow the instructions.

Running the program is easy: Double-click HijackThis.exe, and then click the Scan button in the lower-left corner to start the analysis. The program gives you an inventory of everything it has found in 34 different locations where spyware can live. Click the Save Log button (it replaces the Scan button after the scan is complete) to create a text file of your results. Post that file, along with a description of your PC's symptoms, on the message board at TomCoyote Forum or another forum dedicated to spyware.

Getting rid of the spyware-related entries in HijackThis isn't always equally easy. After a volunteer makes a recommendation, rerun HijackThis and fill in the check boxes next to the entries that the volunteer recommends you delete. When you click the Fix Checked button, those Registry entries get deleted--but sometimes those keys can be restored the next time you reboot. In those circumstances, the volunteers will give further recommendations.

Using HijackThis can be tricky, but when a really nasty strain of spyware invades your system, you'll be glad you have it.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

2004-11-25T12:51:00.000-05:00

The staff @ Girl Techies would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Watch Out for Scams

2004-11-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

"Phishing," the widespread practice of stealing personal information via e-mail, is a major problem. One estimate earlier this year suggested 2 million had fallen for the trick in the prior 12 months, and con artists continue to be more crafty about the way they construct the look-alike e-mails. Just in the last two weeks, staff @ Girl Techies have received numerous of these "phished" emails from eBay to Washington Mutual Bank asking to update personal records and files. Basically, if a company or an individual representing a company asks for personal information such as your address or Social Security number, DO NOT hand it out. Now, if you have logged in your account; i.e. eBay and you have a change of address, simply change it. Companies such as eBay should never ask for your Social Security number or anything personal via an email or even phone call for that matter. When in doubt, email the company and always forward them the email that you are not sure about and have them check into it.
Email us @ girltechies@gmail.com with any questions!

BOOM: Exploding Cell Phones!

2004-11-24T13:07:00.000-05:00

Last night, I heard on the news that exploding cell phones is becoming a growing problem due to batteries and/or chargers. The problem I have is that I didn't even know of a single case of an exploding cell phone.
Has anyone? If so please share your story with us!

Christmas Wish List

2004-11-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

What is on your Christmas Wish List? Share with the staff @ Girl Techies!

Free Online Internet Calls

2004-11-23T13:22:00.000-05:00

Kazaa announced on Monday that it has launched its latest version which enables users to make free online calls anywhere in the world. Can you believe that?! Kazaa v3.0 includes the integration of Internet telephony software from and also offers advanced search capabilities and a free weblog trial. Now that is pretty cool.

iPod socks

2004-11-15T22:07:00.000-05:00

I am not surprised at all. That's right Apple introduced iPod socks in October at a special event. Now the socks are available for pre-order from the Apple Store for US$29. Apple plans to ship the iPod holders in early December. iPod Socks ship six to a box, and come in hues including green, purple, grey, blue, orange and pink. The knit holders fit all iPod models, according to Apple. I just pre-ordered mine...they are too cute!
Tell us what you think of them?

Gmail and Yahoo Services

2004-11-15T21:46:00.000-05:00

Google has just announced Wednesday it will soon make it possible for users of its Gmail service to check their e-mail via Microsoft Outlook or on certain handheld devices such as mobile phones. THANK GOD! Basically, we can check our POP email account(s) online and even offline.
Give feedback on why you like or dislike Gmail?
Also, Yahoo announced that it is increasing it's storage space from 100MB to 250MB. That's pretty cool considering Yahoo provided users only 4MB several months ago and then increased it to 100MB. I have been using Yahoo for yrs now and all of a sudden I have been hit with spammers left and right. It's so overwhemling especially when you cannot get removed from their lists because of broken links or no instructions on how to unsubscribe.

U.S. Games Sales Up 35 Percent

2004-11-12T16:17:00.000-05:00

According to Reuters, video game sales rose 35 percent in the United States in October, analysts said on Friday, as the blockbuster criminal adventure "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" sold more than 2 million units in just five days of release. Speaking of video games, anyone wait overnight to buy Halo 2? If so, let us know your thoughts on this highly anticipated game.

Under Construction...

2004-11-11T22:39:00.000-05:00

This site is still under revisions. We apologize if some of the links do not work.

Ideas and/or suggestion?!

2004-11-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

Please let us know if you have any ideas and/or suggestions! Please email staff @ girltechies@gmail.com

Girl Techie of the Month

2004-11-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

The staff @ Girl Techies thought it would be neat if we could feature a "Girl Techie of the Month." Submit yourself or a friend. Tell us why you or your friend should be featured.