Wi-Fi On Radar

Here’s a wireless utility with a difference. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor generates a radar-like display to show all of the wireless networks in range of your laptop. By translating relative signal strength into range it shows, in a rather eye-catching way, which ones are likely to give you the best connection. For obvious reasons – unless you have a rotating and highly directional Wi-Fi antenna on your PC the display cannot tell you which direction the access point actually is, but it looks great. Versions of Wi-Fi monitor are available for Windows Mac and Linux, and the only catch is the XP version requires that you install Yahoo Widget Framework, which adds another 15Mb to the download, (the Vista version installs as a sidebar Gadget)

Seeker and Ye Shall Find

Have you ever lost a file or forgotten where you’ve put it on your hard drive? Of course you have, we’ve all done it, and if you’re lucky you may even have found it by searching through folders, or using the Windows Search facility. The one in Vista is actually quite good, but even that won’t be able help you if you can’t remember what the file was called.

Here’s something else to try, it’s called Seeker and in addition to searching for files by all or part of the name, it also looks inside files, for keywords or phrases. Again it’s something Windows can do, but this search tool is fast, very fast in fact, thanks to a powerful algorithm and an unusually flexible range of search criteria. Read More »

NBC Olympics Coverage on Windows Media Center

The 2008 Summer Olympics takes place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24. With a free download service1 called NBC Olympics On The Go,2 you can catch up on TV coverage from NBC Sports. Select your favorite sports and NBC Olympics On The Go will automatically download the right events to your Windows Media Center-based PC. You can watch your selected events in up to HD quality, even when offline, and you can pause, rewind, or fast-forward the video.

Download NBC Olympics On The Go

To get NBC Olympics On The Go, start Windows Media Center and scroll to the Online Media menu. You’ll see an NBC Olympics graphic. Read More »

Introducing the Firefox 3.0 CD

The gold bits of Firefox 3.0 went live on June 17, 2008, over half a year past the initially planned launch which was targeted for the end of 2007. At just a few days short of the first two months on the market for the successor of Firefox 2.0, users of Mozilla’s open source browser now have access not only to the download version of Firefox 3.0, but also to the CD. Via Mozilla’s store, Firefox 3.0 CDs go for $4.20 a pop in the U.S. and £3.00 per item for additional international markets.

“With more than 15,000 improvements, Firefox 3 is faster, safer and smarter than ever before,” reads a fragment from the description of the browser. “Dozens of new features including the “awesome” bar, one-click bookmarking, full zoom, advanced tabbed browsing and blindingly fast performance. Instant Web Site ID and other security features keep you safe from scammers and spammers. Over 5000 add-ons let you customize your web experience to your personal needs.” Read More »

The Dell Studio Hybrid’s been released!

This is so cool it’s sick:
Introducing the Dell Studio Hybrid.

* IT’S SMALL
Same footprint as a Mac Mini Combo.
* IT’S MORE AFFORDABLE
Cheaper than a Mac Mini Combo. ($499)
* IT’S MORE POWERFUL
1.86Ghz Dual Core Pentium, 2GB memory (twice that of Mac Mini Combo), 250GB hard drive. (3x that of Mac Mini Combo) And it comes with Windows Vista Home Premium. Read More »

Learn about Windows games

Windows comes with a small set of games that you can play whenever you’re in the mood for a bit of fun. This article gives a brief overview of each game. For more specific instructions, click View Help on the game’s Help menu.

The games that come with Windows are located in the Games folder, the central location for games on your computer.

To open the Games folder, click the Start button Picture of the Start button , and then click Games in the right pane. To open one of the games in the folder, double-click its icon.

Note: Windows games are not installed by default in Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise. To install them, click the Start button Picture of the Start button, click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Turn Windows features on or off. In the Windows Features dialog box, select the Games check box, and then click OK. Administrator permission required If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Read More »

Stick it Out

Windows application launchers come and go, and I must have used scores of them in my time, but this one, called Stick, is one of the best, and certainly one of the easiest to use. Basically it puts a series of tabs along the top of the screen and when you click or hover on it, it opens the chosen program, folder or applet. It’s highly configurable, easily customisable and you can also access tabs using Hot Keys. Needless to say it’s free, and it works on both XP and Vista. Give it a try; you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it…

Window XP Reprieved until 2010

Microsoft has announced that Windows XP, which was expected to reach the end of its life later this month, has been given a reprieve and will continue until 2010. However, before XP fans start celebrating it’s worth reading the small print. It turns out that MS is basically extending the deadline for manufacturer’s to sell licences for XP, mainly for use on low cost and ultra-compact laptops like the eee PC and OLPC (one laptop per child project). There’s also provision for XP to continue on low-cost desktops or ‘nettops’, which are essentially simple web-surfing machines. On the plus side this means XP will be supported for a while longer, probably well beyond 2010, but the chances are the next over the counter or mail order PC you buy will have Vista pre-installed, but there’s nothing to stop you wiping the disc and installing XP, if that’s what you really want.

Tour Space With Microsoft

It’s okay, Bill Gates hasn’t bought NASA, at least not just yet, but Microsoft is giving away a free virtual tour of space with a new web-based application called Worldwide Telescope. Be warned, you’ll need a reasonably quick PC, preferably with a dual-core CPU, and ideally running Vista, though it will still plod along under XP. The images are stunning and based on actual ground and spaced based telescopes, you can zoom in on astronomical features, explore the solar system and warp across the Milky Way. Okay, so it’s a bit like Google Sky, but there’s a bit more depth to it, better controls and it looks like it could become a very useful educational tool.

XP Gets All the Love, Just Leftovers for Vista

It’s nothing but love for Windows XP and all scraps, crumbs and leftovers for Windows Vista. One inherent consequence of having an operating system dig its roots into the market for five years, is the creation of not only a loyal user base, but also of a community of developers that find it equally difficult to transition to a new platform. Additionally, Windows Vista has virtually changed the rules for software developers with the introduction of the User Account Control, forcing them to rethink products in order to run with standard user privileges. This has caused developers to steer clear of Vista, as long as XP still has a strong grip of the operating system market, a situation illustrated amply by Evans Data’s Spring 2008, North American Development Survey. Read More »