Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time

Replace Your Hard Drive Using Free Windows 7 Tools

Read my latest article on LabMonkeys:

Creating a Default User Template in Windows 7

Occasionally it can be very useful to create a screen capture, particularly if you are trying to demonstrate how to do something. Showing and telling can be more effective than pages of instructions. There are various pay and free ways to do this, but I recently discovered that Microsoft offers a free version of their media encoder. Check out Expression Encoder 4 Free Edition. I have tested it out and it seems to do the job well.

For desktop computing I am an advocate for having a dual-monitor setup. At work I would go nuts if I only had one monitor. Of course with laptops, phones, and other portable devices this is a completely different situation. But if you are using a desktop and use one monitor you might want to learn how to Set Up Multiple Monitors.

I recently joined the smartphone bandwagon and got a Droid X. So far I have been impressed with the functionality of the phone in general and with the Google integration of the Android in particular. Since I already use Google for my email, calendar, and tasks it was simplicity to set those on my phone.

I have to admit that while I tend to view technology as a tool, having a smartphone is also a neat gadget. I do primarily use it as a tool, but there are fun things like games and such that also make it fun. Plus, for the geek in me it is very tricorder-like.

Go read my first article on Lab Monkeys!

Features of Windows 7 unattend.xml for Lab Administrators

NPR had a good article, The Zombie Network: Beware ‘Free Public WiFi’, that reminds us to exercise caution when connecting to public wifi. The instance referenced in this article isn’t actually a wifi hotspot but an ad hoc network put together by an unpatched Windows XP machine. Unfortunately this can very easily be used for nefarious purposes. The underlying message is to always be careful when connecting to unknown networks.

So Google has finally given us the option to unthread our email in Gmail. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I hate conversation view. Outlook added conversation view, probably to look more like Gmail and now Gmail has added traditional view, probably to look more like Outlook. Choice is good and I’m glad that Google has finally given us the choice to view our email the way we want to not the way they think we should.

Here is a handy guide for those of you who own, or are planning to own, and Android based device:

The Complete Android Guide

If you use Google’s GMail for your email this may be of some interest. GMail recently introduced Priority Inbox as an automated tool to help you sort your email. I gave it a try and it does not work well for me since I already have a significant number of filters set up and very few messages wind up in my inbox. However, if you do not filter your mail and keep pretty much everything in your inbox, this might be something very useful for you.

Email Overload? Try Priority Inbox

Priority Inbox – GMail Help