Black Hills-Beauty & Technology

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-09-19T14:41:00.001-06:00

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-09-06T22:53:00.001-06:00

Big Stretch...

2007-06-17T23:56:00.000-06:00

Favorite Free Files

2006-03-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

Wings 3d is a less powerful 3d creation program, but the learning curve is considerably less. So if you want to get started in the 3d world, this may be the program for you.
Blender3d is a wonderful software for 3d modeling, animation, rendering, post production work, interactive creation and playback.
IZArc is a comprehensive archive utility..Extensive list of formats supported including Zip, Rar, Iso, Cab etc.
Essential PIM is a personal information manager. It offers a contact manager, calendar, to do list, notes and more. So get organized...
Firefox is a clean, lean totally customizable web browser. Protect yourself better from adware, spyware and malware by using this Internet Explorer alternative...
Flick r is an online photo sharing site. Simple to use, keep your photo collection organized and easily share with friends and family...
Itunes is more than buying music. Use it to organize all your music, subscribe to podcasts and vidcasts, listen to online radio, create personal playlists and more. Not just for Mac users...
Picasa is a great photo organizer and editor. You won't be sorry you have this...
Google Talk is a clean, lean, talking machine. Talk or instant message friends and family. Quick, uncomplicated application. Check it out...
AVG Anti Virus is a free anti virus program that will help to keep your computer safe. Don't be caught without it...
OpenOffice is a full featured office suite. Fully compatible with Microsoft documents. So create those spreadsheets, databases, word documents and more...
Movie Track is a simple to use DVD/VHS database that collects information from the Imdb website about your movies. Let it do the work for you...
Google Maps will help you find addresses, print directions and more...
Azureus is a great bittorrent client. Find a file you want and go get it...
Hello is a wonderful application from Google. It integrates well with Picasa and allows you to instant message and send full resolution photographs to your contavts quickly and easily. So stop emailing degraded photos to your friends and family, just say Hello...
Ad-Aware is a great little app to find and dispose of adware, trackers, spyware and more that sneaks onto your computer and lurks in the background...
Spybot Search & Destroy is another indespensible program for seeking out and destroying spyware, adware, malware, trackers and more...
Audacity is a small application used for audio editing that is chock full of features. Just about anything you want to do from recording to editing. Handles most formats...
Windows Defender (formally microsoft antispyware) is a very good spyware protection program. Used in conjunction with Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy, you will have a good chance at keeping malware at bay...
GIMP is a wonderful photo editing program. Does many of the same things that Photoshop does but for free. So make those ordinary photos look extraordinary...
PhotoFiltre is also a photo editing program. Many advance features, familiar interface and additional specialized plugins makes this a must have...
Divx Play Bundle is a wonderful little package that includes the divx codec. Start enjoying high quality video with a small footprint for easy downloading...
Cobian Backup is a small easy to use backup program...Keep your important information safe and backup today...

Have Fun With Flickr...

2005-11-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Having fun with Flickr, the photo sharing site, already...Well, be prepared to have even more. Thanks to the Flickr community and their never ending ingenuity, we have 3rd party applications that take your experience to other dimensions. I will be adding links to apps and other sites for your use and enjoyment...

Tech Tip #3

2005-11-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

Tip #3 is so common sense oriented its scary, but still we all hate to do it! Backup, backup, backup.. I know, it's a pain in the butt, but I assure you, the pain will be worse when you lose everything you hold precious that is stored in the computer.

Your computer is a machine, machines fail for whatever reasons. Backing up is now simple to do and fairly quick. Win Xp comes with a built in backup tool or use a free one like Cobian Backup. You can backup to cd or dvd but nowadays it is best to use a large capacity external harddrive. They are reasonably priced for what they offer and can be used for more than just backing up. I do not recommend a tape backup system for home users, too expensive and limiting.

Before creating a full system backup, make sure to clean out your harddrive. Use at a minimum Win Xp disk cleanup utility and defragmenter. If you are only backing up certain files or folders this is not neccessary but should be part of a regular maintenance program, say quarterly.

Tech Tip #2

2005-11-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Tech tip #2 is a very hard step for most people...But if you truly want a well oiled machine, I recommend a complete clean install of your operating system once a year. Through no fault of your own, windows inherently becomes a messy OS. As you add and delete programs, threads are left all over which eventually muck up your system and slows it down.

So, back up all your pertinent information, get out that Windows cd and start the install procedure. When it asks you, click on clean install, reformat your hard drive, and let windows do its thing. Don't forget to turn on the windows firewall before connecting to the internet, download and install the patches from Microsoft, reinstall your programs and your backup files, sit back and enjoy!

Tech Tip #1

2005-11-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

Tech tip #1 is to help everyone to understand security and your computer. Much testing has been done on antivirus programs, adware, spyware and malware in general. The results may shock you but are understandable. Most of the malicious programs created are a nuissance but relatively unharmful. But God help you if you get a bad one, it will take your system down to an unrecoverable state. So be cautious, be prepared and by all means be up to date! Don't fall into a sense of security just because you have installed an antivirus or spyware program. YOU MUST KEEP THESE PROGRAMS UPDATED!!!! If you install them and never update the definitions you are just as unprotected as if you didn't have anything installed in the first place. Viruses and malware are created and distributed everyday hourly.

Also, a good antivirus program like AVG (see free files) is free to use and update, so get it. Then there are the spyware and adware programs (see free files). Don't use just one, install all 3. It has been proven over and over that not one program will catch all malware, but you have a better chance catching most with multiple programs. So, install adaware, spybot and microsofts free antispyware programs. Set them up to automatically update and run them often.

Remember, email is the number 1 way to catch these little nuisances and you will never see them coming. Don't open attachments from unknown or unsolicited sources. When you browse the internet, make sure you don't click through on popup boxes. Many times they will install bad things behind your back. Just because something looks cute and innocent doesn't mean it is. Browser hijackers are a common problem. They get deep into your system and are very difficult to get rid of. Browser Hijackers will change your homepage and other settings, install needless toolbars, you name it. Just beware of what you are doing.

Bottom line is being careful does not mean you stop having fun with your computer. It means you will have more fun with a clean well running machine.

Blog Search

2005-11-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

Blog Search is a great option for finding blogs on your favorite topics from google. It concentrates on blog sites and not the general web. Once you blogs that you enjoy, I recommend signing up for a free Bloglines account. It's an online blog aggregator that collects new information from your subscribed blogs and lets you keep updated without having to visit each blog seperately...

IPTV & What it Means For You

2005-11-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest up & coming sectors of the internet is IPTV. With broadband connectivity reaching greater numbers of homes, IPTV is reaching out for new and growing audiences. In the early stage, this was done through vidcasting, which is also gaining in popularity. Vidcasting is basically a podcast turned video. IPTV takes it one step further on the evolutionary road by producing shows on a schedule and offering live streaming as well as back episode downloads. Many streamed shows encourage audience participation with question and answer segments. Home multimedia centers with internet connection can be programmed to capture these shows just as it does with broadcast and cable tv. So, check out some IPTV, start creating your own show lists, and start watching tv that you are interested in and not what the broadcasters think you should be watching.

Favorite Vidcasts

2005-11-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

DigitalLife TV-with Patrick Norton
OpenAlphaTV-with Jenn Cutter

Favorite Podcasts

2005-11-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

This Week in Tech (TWIT) with Leo Laporte and friends
CommandN with Amber & Mike
Security Now with Leo Laporte & Steve Gibson
Diggnation with Kevin Rose & Alex Albrecht

Technology is Wonderful & Free!

2005-11-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we have finally gone in a complete circle. In the beginning, programmers worked out of their garages, hammering away at the keyboard. What they created was then rushed through the phonelines and uploaded to BBSs' everywhere. Once the file arrived at your favorite Bulletin Board System, it was downloaded by everyone, tested by the users, suggestions shot back and forth about improvements that would later be implemented and everyone was thrilled...
Thanks to open source, that atmosphere of creating and sharing is among us again in full force. Programmers around the world are busy creating great applications and submitting them to the world wide web for our use and enjoyment.
So, if you find yourself needing an app for one thing or another, such as keeping your football stats on a spreadsheet, a DVD database, or a picture editing program, you're sure to find a free program to fit your needs. I will even help you out with links to my favorite freebies...
Take that computer and start using it to its' full adavantage and don't spend tons of money doing it!!!