The Windows Vista Sidebar looks very similar to the desktop icons the mac has had for years.  It is a vertical toolbar that has icons, now called gadgets, on it.  It displays everything from the current time, notepad, pictures, and games.  The cool part about the sidebar is that you can add dynamic gadgets (icons) to it, such as news/sports updates, weather, announcements, stocks, and more. 

These are not just the static icons that you have to click for updates.  These gadgets will update on their own.  How does this work?  Well, if you want constant news updates from NBC, you set up a gadget for this and then the gadget continually links the gadget to the NBC website for ongoing news.  As news stories unfold, the gadget displays the latest news.  It’s almost like a stock ticker, but it does stream so you have to follow it.  The image stays in place and just shows you the updates almost like a TV.

How do you set up a new gadget in the sidebar?  Right-click the Windows Sidebar icon on the taskbar -> Choose Add Gadgets -> Click Download to Sidebar -> Double-click gadget

This is a fun way to customize your desktop.

Surely, you’ve surfed on a lot of websites.  And maybe you don’t want anyone to see where you’ve been going to.  It is actually good practice to clean your website history to create space and to protect your privacy from other others.  For privacy reasons, if you share a computer or bring your computer to public places, you should remove your browsing history so that others may not find personal information, such as credit card information or saved website log-in information.  Typically, when you enter your username and password into a website, such as your e-mail, it saves your log-in credentials, making it easy for someone to view your e-mail with easy access to your computer.

In Internet Explorer 6, you go to Tools - > Internet Options -> Clear History

In Internet Explorer 7, you go to Tools -> Delete Browsing History

You should clean your browsing history in IE at least every few months.  This will ensure your computer is safer to potential hackers.

Websites have been allowing all walks of life from all parts of the world meet up on the Internet.  Commonalities have been similar personalities, cultures, hobbies, and sports.  Now, there is another type of mutuality that can bring people together:  DanceJam.  MC Hammer, the ultimate dance machine, has joined up with others to create a dance site.  This site is geared towards hip hop and is like uTube, but goes a step further to teach dance, provide constant videos of celebrities and commoners showing off their favorite moves.  When you log in, your favorite dance move is flaunted to your buddies.

DanceJam also allows people to join up to compete against others in genres of dance.  So, it will become an online reality show for dancers, similar to dancing with the stars but the online version.  This is way for the site to differentiate itself with uTube and Facebook, however, MC Hammer plans to showcase the best dancers on uTube for more exposure.

The site is currently in beta mode and by invite only.  You may sign up now to attain a pre-release code to get an early dance on the competition.   If you do decide to dance, we recommend backing up your files first since you should be prepared if your left foot trips into your computer.

Are you off from work and want to stay updated on the Veteran’s Day activities?  In our tribute to this special day of those who put their lives first for our freedom, we’d like to provide helpful sites to learn more about what this day signifies.  Below are 5 must-see sites during Veteran’s Day 2007.

1. Watch the 25th Anniversary Wall Celebration with Colin Powell
2. Check out all of the activities, resources, and events from by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
3. Here’s a nice slideshow of Veteran’s Day pictures.
4. See the NYC activities, parade, and timeline of Veteran’s Day.
5. Listen to 1010 WINS Radio for live reporting from today’s events.

Show ownership of your document, logo, or name.  You may do so by adding a copyright or trademark symbol to your word document.  This comes in handy if you have a business, invention, or name that is owned by you.  By symbolizing this within a word document when writing to others, it conveys that it is copyrighted or trademarked and cannot be used by others unless they have your authority.  Basically, it protects your own interest.

Here’s how to add a copyright or trademark within Microsoft Word 2007:

1. Choose the “Insert” tab on the top.

2. Go to the “Symbols” group and select “Symbol”

3. You may select the TM for Trademark and © for Copyright

Of course, there are other symbols you may use.  Other types of symbols may be selected by going to the Subset drop-down box at the top-right.

There are many ways to watch movies nowadays.  Obviously, the traditional way is to go to the movie theatre when the film comes out.  However, our culture of more convenience when you want it how provided other options.  Others might claim our culture is getting lazier, but we like to think of it as more selective consumerism allowing such convenience.

Netflix has been the market leader of movies where you can order movies online to be delivered to your door.  Don’t take a step out of your door - let Netflix deliver to you. 

On Demand Cable is one of NetFlix’s competitors since all you have to do is click a movie on your TV Cable and you begin watching your movie.  No exchanging or returning the movie for another one like NetFlix.  Once you’re done watching, you’re done. 

So, what is the big option out now for watching movies.  You can go online to watch movies which is similar to On Demand if your hard drive is big enough and your monitor screen is wide enough to make it enjoyable.  Some good movie sites are: My Video Lib, Movie Flix, Vongo, and Flix Dump.   

As Blockbuster is being pushed out of the movie market, you might want to think of upgrading your computer’s specifications to handle the new trend of downloading movies online.  This is one of the most convenient ways to view movies and if you are a big movie buff, you should be prepared.

The first bug found with Leopard is possibly losing data if you “move” files rather than “copy” them over to Leopard.  Well, this is not really a bug as much as it is a possibility of losing files.  It has been found that if you are moving files from your current Mac or PC, you have a possibility of losing all or some of your files on the transfer.  Leopard doesn’t verify that files are fully copied over when performing a “move” transfer.  Windows, in contrast, verifies that the files is intact and transferred over 100% when performing a move so this process is safer.  However, Leopard only verifies the initial header or first instance of the files when performing a “move.”  This could and already has left room for error for some users. 

Data loss is possible when moving files rather than copying from a PC or Mac to Leopard because Leopard doesn’t wait for the files to fully finish transferring before it verifies and makes a copy of it.  Thus, you should perform a “copy,” not “move” when transferring your files to Leopard.  It is good practice anyway to perform a “copy” as this is safer because if your transfer doesn’t work, you can perform it again since the source files are still available.  With a “move,” your source files are moved and if disaster strikes, you have no going back.

Holiday time is around the corner, and you might want to send a group e-mail to clients or family and friends to wish them a happy holiday season.  You can simply just type your e-mail, add your numerous recipients, and then click send.  However, there are four things to watch out for to ensure your e-mail goes out smoothly.

1. BCC your recipients - This will anonymize your recipients so their e-mail addresses are kept confidential and you will remain discreet with your mailing.
2. Copy/paste from word if long - If your e-mail is long, some recipients might not see the same formatting as you’ve creating, leaving a cluttered view.  If your e-mail is long, it is good practice to write it first in a word document, and then paste it to your e-mail to retain the formatting settings you’ve created.
3. Use external bulk e-mail provider if many recipients - Some Internet or e-mail providers have a limit to how many e-mails you may send in one e-mail as well as daily.  Verizon, for instance, limits 250 - 500 per email depending on the plan.  If you go over the email allowance, you might be targeted as a spammer and, in turn, blacklisted.  Blacklisted means you won’t be able to send to certain recipients again. So, if your e-mail list is around 250+, check into your Internet provider (if you use an internal company e-mail system i.e Microsoft Exchange) or e-mail provider (i.e. Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, MSN, GoDaddy) to ensure you are not going over your e-mail capacity per email or day.  If you are going over this limit, you may choose to have a bulk e-mail service via the Internet send your e-mails through their mail server to avoid any e-mail restrictions.
4. Test your holiday e-mail first.  It is recommended to send a test e-mail to another one of your e-mail addresses or to a friend to analyze your e-mail first before sending to a list of people.  How you create it is not always how it looks on the other side.

We’ll all save an extra hour tonight, but does your computer know this?  Companies typically have servers updating the network computers for the time change, but individual computers won’t be ready unless it has the latest updates.

To ensure your PC is ready for the time change, get the latest Windows updates by going to the Windows site.

Mac users may get the latest updates at the Apple site.

What if your computer time is an hour off?  Your e-mail software, such as Outlook, will keep inaccurate calendar and e-mail times and your Palm, Treo, Blackberry, or other handhelds might also keep inaccurate time records.  If your computer time is inaccurate for a long period of time, it could degrade the performance of the computer over time due its time compatibility with other programs.

Whether you’re mobile, need a light computer to move around, Asus’ Eee PC 4G provides a great solution at a reasonable price.  The Eee was first created internationally for children to play with.  It weighs just 2 lbs, has a 7″ display, holds 512MB RAM, built-in wireless, camera, and 4GB of storage. 

This tiny laptop is perfect for the following uses:

• access the Internet anywhere
• writing, editing, drawing, scheduling
• easy plug-in for projector presentations
• convenient replacement for a notepad
• nice starter laptop for children

The best part about this little laptop is it costs only $399 and is now available via the Asus website, and will be soon available at Costco.