Affinity Law Office Technology Blog

Windows XP Not Quite Dead Yet

Laptop Magazine has posted an informative FAQ on the official demise of the Windows XP operating system. 

Among the useful nuggets of info in the FAQ is a summary of "downgrade" options.  If you order an new PC with Vista Business or Vista Ultimate, the computer maker is permitted by Microsoft to offer you the option of downgrading to Windows XP Professional:

OEM versions of Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate provide the end user with downgrade rights. What that means is that under the license terms (i.e. the EULA), users have the right to downgrade from Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate Edition to one of the following: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows Professional x64 Edition, and Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP MCE both come to an end of life on June 30, 2008.

Although neither the OEM nor Microsoft is obligated to supply earlier versions to end users under the end user licensing terms, Microsoft is enabling OEMs who manufacture OEM Activation-enabled Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate systems to order Windows XP media so they can include the disks in-box.

How will computer giants Dell and HP implement the downgrade option?  The FAQ states:

Even before June 30, Dell ceased selling laptops and desktops with Windows XP installed as the primary and only OS (without getting it via a downgrade right program). The absolute deadline for all system builders manufactures to stop selling systems with Windows  XP as their primary OS is June 30.

However, Dell will still offer Windows XP Professional by purchasing a PC with “Windows Vista Business BONUS” or “Windows Vista Ultimate BONUS”, which allows Dell to exercise "Windows Vista downgrade rights" by preinstalling Windows XP Professional and providing the installation disc for either Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate.  This is so users can transition to Vista when they are ready.

HP tells us that they will continue to offer the downgrade to XP Professional option on its business systems through at least July 30, 2009. These systems are pre-installed with XP Pro, and the customer receives a Vista license so that they can upgrade to the new OS when they are ready. The HP systems come with restore discs for both operating systems.

This is good news, sort of, for those who remain Vista skeptics and are trying to get by until the release of Windows 7.

Sync Your Google Calendar with Outlook - For Free

We firmly believe that lawyers benefit greatly from practice management software designed expressly for law firms.  Ordinary personal information managers (PIM's) such as the Palm Desktop or Microsoft Outlook, even when they share info over a network or the Web (which may be difficult or require additional hardware, software, or services), come up short primarily for one reason:  They have no ability to organized information based on a case or matter.  Instead, they organize information based on contacts.  That is not how firms organize their files.  Look in your file cabinet.  Your files are likely organized by case or matter, not by contact.

Because of this organizational shortcoming (and for other reasons as well), programs like Amicus Attorney and Time Matters (Lexis-Nexis Front Office) are much more useful.  However, if you decide for cost or other reasons to stick with Outlook as your PIM, you can still share a calendar over the Web with your partner, associate, legal assistant, and/or secretary even if you don't have an Exchange Server.  All you need is a free Google account.  A Google account includes nice features such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar.  Your Google Calendar can be shared with others.  Those with whom you share your Calendar, such as others in your office, can be given viewing rights only, or you can grant them the right to change, add, or delete appointments. 

Although the Google Calendar is Web-based, requiring a live Internet connection to access it, you can automatically sync your Google Calendar with the Calendar module in Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007.  All you need is the free Google Calendar Sync utility.  It is easy to download, install, and configure.  You can set sync intervals after you install the utility.  You can also choose between full 2-way synchronization or a 1-way sync in either direction.

Google Calendar and Google Calendar Sync will let your assistant view and manage your Calendar from the Google Calendar web interface.  When events are added, deleted, or changed by your assistant, they will automatically by synchronized with your copy of Outlook.  If you don't have your computer with you, you can log into your Google account from any computer with Internet access and instantly see those changes.  Once you are back at your computer, the Google Calendar Sync utility will make sure the changes in your Google Calendar also appear in your Outlook Calendar.  If you sync a Palm or other device with Outlook on your PC, the changes in your Outlook Calendar will then be transferred to that device at your next hotsync. 

If you opted for 2-way synchronization in your Google Calendar Sync options, changes you made in Outlook will automatically appear (once you reach your next sync interval) on your shared Google Calendar for your assistant to see.  If you make changes or additions to your Calendar on your Palm or other handheld device that syncs with Outlook, then perform a hotsync, those changes will go into Outlook and then to your Google Calendar at the next sync interval. 

Note that the default Google Calendar Sync interval is 120 minutes.  If you want more frequent synchronization, shorten the interval.

Although practice management software offers many advantages over traditional PIMS, it is possible to combine free software and services with Outlook to make it a more useful PIM for your law practice.     

Law Office Tech Deals for Week of June 29

Radio Shack has the well-reviewed budget-priced MIO Moov 200 and MIO Moov 300 (widescreen) GPS units on sale for $129.99 and $169.99, respectively.  Both have text-to-speech for audible and well as visual driving directions. 

If you want a sleek portable USB hard drive to back up your notebook PC, Best Buy has the Western Digital My Passport Essential III USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive in black or sun yellow on sale for $79.99.  The 160 GB capacity closely matches the size of most notebook PC hard drives.

If you need more screen space to see every application window you keep open on your PC, step up to a 22" wide-screen LCD monitor.  Circuit City has the LG 22" widescreen on sale for $269.99.  This monitor received excellent user reviews.   

Palm Centro Finally Reaches Verizon Wireless Customers

For a company that touts the best wireless network, Verizon Wireless sure has a slow product-release cycle.  Many months after other wireless carriers began offering the Palm Centro smart phone, Verizon has finally caught up.  Although Palm's aging operating system is hardly state-of-the-art, it is intuitive, stable, and (most importantly) compatible with leading practice management software.  My new Windows Mobile 6 smart phone will do some things that are impossible on a Palm OS-based smart phone, but it is more complicated to use.  Lawyers looking for simplicity, yet sync-ability with Amicus Attorney and other law office software, in a small and inexpensive package, should look at the Centro.  At $99.99 with a two-year contract, the Centro is the cheapest truly useful smart phone offered to Verizon Wireless customers.

   

Windows Mobile extras from Microsoft

As a recent convert from a Palm OS-based Treo to a Windows Mobile 6-based smart phone, I am slowly exploring this strange operating system.  WM6 seems to do more, but not as simply or intuitively as the more basic Palm OS. 

Microsoft has recently updated its Windows Mobile web site, now calling it Total Access.  Once you create a free account, there are many no-cost add-ons available there from themes to wallpaper and software.  I found several color/graphic themes that are pleasing to the eye and enhance the readability of the on-screen text on the "Today" screen, which is the WM6 home page.  I also downloaded an installed Viigo, which is a neat RSS reader for Windows Mobile that automatically updates content for a wide variety of channels you are able to select.  It is a great (and free) way to keep up to date with news, politics, technology, or almost anything else.      

Is that a projector in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Projectors have been common-place for training and trial presentations.  They have also been used with notebook PC's for smaller-scale mediation and arbitration proceedings.  But even the smallest projector requires bringing a separate carrying case or finding room for it in a larger wheeled case.

Texas Instruments is now showing pre-production models of its sub-$400 Pico Projector.  A recent preview by Laptop Magazine shows how tiny this device is (about the size of a smart phone).  Although you wouldn't use it in a large room for dozens of people, you could use it in a conference room to display a presentation for an ADR hearing or to train small groups.  It will connect and display images from an iPod and many smart phones. 

This could help many lawyers take their show on the road without carrying anything more than a smart phone and a similarly sized projector.  In the next few years we may see the Pico projector actually built-into smart phones and digital media players.   

Law Office Tech Deals for Week of June 22

As summer travel season hits (assuming you can afford to travel by car with $4 plus per gallon gas), there are many good deals on portable GPS navigation devices.  One of the best budget-priced GPS devices, the TomTom One, is on sale at Office Depot for $129 after a $50 mail-in rebate.  TomTom GPS devices usually get high ratings for their easy-to-use interface and free map updates.  Another well-reviewed budget GPS is the Mio Moov 200 on sale at Kmart for $129.99.  If you want to take a step up to a widescreen GPS device, the Garmin Nuvi 200W is on sale at Office Depot for $199.99.  All of these units have on-screen and spoken word turn-by-turn directions.

If you are an AT&T wireless customer or willing to switch, you can get a great deal on one of the most compact smart phones on the market, and one likely to sync with your practice management or time/billing software.  The Palm Centro is just $29.99 at your local Radio Shack store with a two-year AT&T cellular contract. 

I love Skype's voice over Internet protocol telephone (VoIP) service.  The basic (computer to computer) service is free, but you can add the ability to make unlimited calls to any regular or cell phone in the U.S. and Canada for just $2.95 per month.  Go world-wide for only $9.95 per month.  If you have an international practice or clients who travel abroad, this is a bargain.  If you install Skype on your notebook PC, you can make free calls anywhere you can find a Wi-Fi connection and save your cell minutes.  Skype is much more pleasant to use when you wear a computer headset with built-in microphone.  I use the Radio Shack Gigaware VoIP USB Headset.  It is half-price at $14.99 after a $5 discount and a $10 mail-in prepaid card that can be used anywhere that credit cards are accepted.  It comes with the Skype software on a mini-CD.  On-line reviews of the headset have been mixed, but it works very well for me, and the price is hard to beat.         

ScanSnap S510 Initial Impressions

Two recent appeals with especially long transcripts led me to conclude that the scanner built-into my trusty Brother all-in-one laser printer was too slow for large jobs such as scanning in thousands of transcript pages.  I'd used and supported Visioneer and Xerox DocuMate scanners in the past.  They are identical but for cosmetics and (sometimes) software bundles.  So I was initially tempted to go that route.  Then I began researching small home-office document scanners on-line (as I always do before an important purchase).  There were rave reviews about the Fujitsu ScanSnap series and particularly the S510 model.  Those reviews, and a $50 main-in rebate (through June 30), led me to give the S510 a try. 

The box arrived from NewEgg.com with some damage, but nothing inside seemed affected.  I opted for the deluxe bundle, which adds the Rack2-Filer scan management software.  Rack2-Filer seems to do what PaperPort does for the Visioneer and Xerox scanners.  I have not fully explored it yet, so my comments here will not include the Rack2-Filer software. 

In addition to Rack2-Filer, the software bundle includes the ScanSnap manager software (drivers, a configuration utility, and a "Scan2" utility that allows you to save your scans to folders, email, etc.), Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard, and Abbyy Fine Reader OCR software.  Installation went smoothly and when the scanner was plugged in (do this only after all of the software is installed), the drivers installed and I was set to get to work. 

My first batch of scanning, transcripts from a child custody appeal, did not go well.  I could tell from handling the paper that there was something odd about it.  The ScanSnap thought so too, repeatedly pulling multiple pages.  Each time it did so, I had to start over.  I began to think I made a mistake not going with the Visioneer or Xerox scanners.  The ScanSnap has a 50 page document feeder, so I decided to load 45 pages at a time just to be safe.  After a few failures, I tried gently resting my hand at the top of the paper stack in the autofeed to provide some downward force.  With the odd paper, that worked and I finished the first transcript (the shorter of the two appeals at around 1200 pages) quickly. 

As it turned out, it was the paper, not the scanner, causing the autofeed problems.  The next batch of transcripts, and by far the largest, was on what felt like regular copy paper.  I scanned-in about 2000 pages for that appeal.  There was only one misfeed, and that was on a cover page that was torn on the leading edge (perfectly understandable).  When I ran it through again after straightening the torn section, if fed through without a problem.

I used the configuration setting to automatically convert scans to searchable PDF format.  At the end of the physical scanning process, there is a delay while the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) needed for the searchable PDF format is performed.  Once the OCR is done, the manager software pops up and lets you select where you would like to save the scanned document or what you would like to do with it (such as email it).  I chose to save it over the network to the drive where I store my client documents.  The save process happens very quickly, even to a network drive over a wireless connection.

Physically, the S510 is tiny.  And unlike the Visioneer and Xerox scanners I've used, the input and output trays are designed to fold over one another onto the scanner housing for easy transport.  Nothing needs to be removed.  That process also shuts off the power to the scanner (although there is also a dedicated power button on the front panel if you decide to leave the trays extended while the S510 sits on your desk, but want to power the scanner off during periods when it is not being used).

But for the S510's problems with the strange paper from the first transcript, I am impressed.  Hopefully it will turn out to be as reliable as the Visioneer and Xerox document scanners I've used in the past.  So far, the S510's lack of TWAIN compliance does not seem to be a problem.  But if you must use software that requires a TWAIN-compliant scanner, the Visioneer or Xerox would be a better choice.         

The new mini-notebook champ?

The ground-breaking Asus Eee gets the most press (I have one myself and love it), but there are other mini-notebooks, also known as Ultra Mobile PC's or UMPC's, on the market that may be a better choice.  Laptop Magazine, usually the best source for information about mobile computing. 

Laptop Magazine's UMPC Editor's Choice is MSI Wind running Windows XP Home.  At $499, it is $100 more than my Linux-based Asus Eee 701 (or the XP variant of the same machine), but it features a noticeably larger 10 inch screen and roomier keyboard for touch typing.  It is also very fast and has plenty of storage for a UMPC.  It features the new Intel Atom processor and an 80 GB 5400 rpm hard drive.  Battery life is excellent at just over 4 hours with Wi-Fi and 5 1/2 hours with the radio turned off.   

This is the UMPC of choice (until the next "best thing" comes along). 

Law office tech deals for the week of June 15

Color touch-screen GPS units for in-car use are all the rage these days.  With gas now topping $4 per gallon, you can't afford to get lost and drive around searching for your destination.  Just as Radio Shack's sale on the budget-priced but full-featured Mio Moov 200 GPS ended, Sears and its sister store, Kmart, placed the same model on sale for $149.99. 

My favorite wireless notebook mouse (which I've been using for the last two years without a single problem), the Microsoft Wireless Laptop Mouse, is on sale at Circuit City for only $14.99 after a $15 mail-in rebate.

I've been very impressed with my Wenger Swiss Gear notebook backpack.  Wenger also offers a more traditional Swiss Gear notebook case for those who need something more formal than a backpack.  The Impulse notebook case fits 15.4 inch notebooks.  It is on sale at Circuit City for $39.99.  The on-line user reviews are very positive.  It appears to be a stylish, rugged, and practical case at a very good price.

It may be time to take your wireless network to the Nth degree (in other words, upgrade to the draft 802.11n standard).  The compact, nicely-styled, and well-reviewed Linksys Wireless N Ultra RangePlus Router is on sale at Circuit City for $79.99.  It is backward compatible with wireless B and G devices, but the real magic in terms of speed and range comes when you mate it with a Wireless N network adapter on sale for $69.99.

Add huge file storage and remote access to your network with the Western Digital 1TB My Book World Edition external hard drive on sale at Best Buy for $229.99.  Unlike other external drives that attach to a USB port on one of your PC's, this drive connects via Ethernet cable directly to your router or switch.  1 Tera-byte of storage is huge at this price point. 

Two words of caution about this drive.  Make sure you update the drive's firmware from the Western Digital web site and you may want to skip the Mionet remote access software installation if you don't need it.  Go to Appendix A in the manual instead.  You'll find that the drive has a browser accessible control software embedded on the drive that lets you set this drive up in a snap.   

Bargain-priced GPS unit

Most lawyers have schedules packed wall-to-wall.  We can't afford get lost while finding our way to a meeting, deposition, or court appearance.  A portable GPS (Global Positioning System) unit is helpful in getting us to our destination on time.  But many GPS units from leading manufacturers are pricey.  The new MIO Moov 200 isn't.  At a list price of only $179.95 and a street price of only $150 at your local Radio Shack store and many on-line retailers, it is a bargain that doesn't omit important features such as spoken turn-by-turn directions.  The Moov 200 has received good reviews by Navigadget and PC Magazine.  If you need a GPS unit but don't want to spend much, the Mio Moov 200 should do everything you need it to do. 

Free antivirus program gets better

For years, Grisoft's AVG antivirus program has been the most popular free protection for use on personal (as opposed to business) computers.  But there are other alternatives, including Avast! Antivirus, which I have been using on my home desktop PC for two years.  Avast! has released its new version 4.8 Home Edition, which remains free for personal use.  It now has spyware and malware protection in addition to blocking viruses.  A recent PC Magazine review gave it a rating of 4 out of 5, which is very good for a free program.  Business users can opt for the professional version for $39.95 after a 60-day free trial.  There are discounts for multiple licenses.

PC World's 100 Best Products of the Year

PC World Magazine announced its 100 best products for 2008.  Some of these products will be of interest to tech-oriented lawyers.  Depending on the nature of your practice, your hours may be irregular or require working at night while your favorite TV show is playing.  We all know about time-shifting via VCR (old-school) or DVR (newer tech).  But the newest tech is web-based video streaming of TV shows and movies via sites like Hulu, the number 1 tech product for 2008.  Hulu is a free site sponsored by NBC Universal and News Corporation.  The selection is wide, varied, and growing.

You are almost out of time to order a new PC with the Number 4 pick this year, the Windows XP operating system.  Microsoft officially stops selling Windows XP Pro (the version most lawyers will want) on June 30, but many PC makers are setting earlier order cut-offs.  The partly good news is that XP Home will continue to be available on a number of low-price Ultra Mobile PC's (UMPC's) for the next couple of years.  There may also be options to buy Vista and "downgrade" to XP Pro.   

If you or a family member is into digital photography, you know that the least enjoyable part of the process is transferring images from the camera to your computer or photo storage/sharing web site.  Number 7 on the list is a marvel of miniaturization, the Eye-Fi.  The Eye-Fi comes in three different versions ranging from $80 to $130 depending on the extend of web-based services you desire.  It combines a 2GB SD storage card with a Wi-Fi radio.  Amazing and convenient.  Your photos can be up on a photo sharing site like Flickr before you have moved on to your next destination. 

Lawyers need to be well-informed, but what news sources can you trust.  Cable news networks all seem to have an agenda.  The answer may be Number 23 on the list, NPR.org.  It is the online home of NPR's lauded national news coverage and commentary, special reports, and documentaries. NPR's site has done a lot in a short time to convey its rich content in compelling digital formats such as podcasts and live and recorded streams.

If you are a solo or very small firm without an Exchange Server to host your own email, you may be stuck with a woefully inadequate free email account from your ISP.  Some of these accounts have Inbox storage limits of as little as 10 MB.  If you receive a couple of large file attachments (PDF scans, images, etc.), your Inbox will be full and your incoming mail will start bouncing back to the sender.  Not a good thing is you depend on email (as most of us do).  A solution is at Number 41, Google's free Gmail service.  It has tons of storage, works with desktop email clients like Outlook and Thunderbird, and now has IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) to keep your email in sync between your office PC, your notebook PC, your home PC, and your mobile phone.  It is not quite as seamless as Exchange, but a whole lot better than regular POP email. 

Speaking of Outlook, if you are tired of the bloat and expense of this Microsoft offering, Mozilla's free Thunderbird email client does just about everything Outlook does (except directly sync with certain practice management programs), especially when you install some of the many free add-ons available on the Web.  Thunderbird is Number 43 on the best of 2008 list.

If you need to add storage to your small firm network, Number 57 on the list may be the right choice.  The NetGear ReadyNAS Duo has room for a second hard drive to create a duplicate copy of all your data in case the primary drive fails.  It connects directly to your network and works with Windows and Mac computers.

If you are tempted to make the switch to a Mac, but have Windows software you need to run, Number 79 on the list will solve the problem.  VMWare Fusion is rated the simplest and easiest way to run Windows programs on a Mac.

Finally, at Number 99 is a continuous source of time-management tricks, productivity downloads, and easier ways to get done what needs to get done.  Yes, we are talking about the Lifehacker blog.  And not all of the tips are tech-related.       

Sirius Radio on a Cell Phone?

Practicing law can be stressful.  We all find different ways to relax and cope with the stress.  For many of us, music helps reduce stress.  But with media consolidation, the choices on commercial FM radio can be limited, unless you are lucky enough to have a public or community radio station within range.  But if you have a Windows Mobile cell phone with a broadband data plan, you can listen to Sirius satellite radio's Internet streaming service.  All it takes is a Sirius subscription and a free player from Geeks Toolbox.  You have to register on the site to download the application, called SiriusWM5, and donations are accepted via Pay Pal. 

I tried this software on my phone and it worked very well.  So far, no lagging or loss of the audio stream.  And Sirius provides more than just commercial-free music.  There are also many comedy, talk, and news channels.   

Staying Connected and In Sync with a Windows Mobile Smart Phone

As a recent convert from a comparatively ancient Palm OS-based Treo 650 to a Windows Mobile 6-based Samsung i760 phone from Verizon Wireless, I have been exploring software and services that work with my new device.  As a solo appellate practitioner, my practice management needs may differ from larger firms or those with trial court practices, so these suggestions may not apply to your practice.  I have begun using several free applications and services to keep my practice (and life) organized.

I dumped MS Outlook on my primary desktop PC for Mozilla Thunderbird and its Lightning calendar add-on.  I also use Gmail as my primary email program and the free on-line Google Calendar to check my schedule and add/revise appointment when I am away from my home/office.  The free Provider for Google Calendar automatically syncs my Lightning calendar with my Google Calendar.  Changes make in either calendar appear in the other within minutes.  Then I use Zindus (also free) to sync my Thunderbird contacts with my Gmail contacts. 

The final piece of the puzzle is not free, but essential.  I use GooSync to synchronize my Google Calendar and Gmail contacts with my phone.  I now have three ways to access my information (phone, desktop PC, and web from any PC or device).  So far, so good.    

New respect for iPod Touch

I've lived most of my adult life in the Windows world.  My kids, who just graduated from high school last night, were issued Mac notebooks at school for 3 of their 4 high school years.  So I had some exposure to OS X, but never really warmed to it. 

We took my daughter to her freshman orientation last week at a large state university.  Their on-campus computer store had a variety of notebooks including Windows offerings from Dell and Sony as well as the MacBook and MacBook Pro.  My daughter opted for a MacBook, causing me some consternation knowing that I would be of minimal help to her if she needed assistance (which of course will happen the night before a major paper or project is due).  As a promotion, Apple is offering a free iPod Touch (8 GB) when you buy a Mac computer for college.  Yes, you have to pay the $299 up front, but it is sent back to you (they promise in about a month) via a rebate. 

My daughter had an iPod Nano for a short time a couple of years ago.  But she made the mistake of taking it to school and leaving it exposed in her open backpack.  It was stolen.   Since then she's enjoyed her Sansa e260 very much.  So it was in comparison to the Nano and Sansa that I was prepared to evaluate the Touch. 

With that frame of reference going in, I must admit that I was blown away by the Touch, and especially with the way it integrates with the the iCal and Mail on the MacBook.  The calendar and email sync automatically (along with iTunes music) when she connects the Touch to her MacBook via a USB cable.  The Touch has Wi-Fi as well, so my daughter can send and receive email using her Gmail account any time she can find a Wi-Fi hotspot.  Once the Gmail program was setup on the MacBook (a totally automatic process once you enter an email address and password), it is also configured on the Touch during the initial sync.  Very slick!

The Touch works very well as an Internet tablet using its own version of Safari (Apple's Web browser).  There is also a button to go directly to YouTube videos, which play very well on the Touch's screen. So the Touch is a digital audio player, but it is also a PDA with calender and email sync (I have not tried the contact sync), and an Internet tablet.  It is basically an iPhone without the phone.  For free, it is hard to beat.  But I suspect it may be well worth its regular $299 price based on the days we've had it in our household.  And notice I didn't once mention its touch screen.  It is a gee-whiz interface, but functionality is where it really shines.    

I was also relieved to discover that LogMeIn and Skype work just fine on the MacBook.  So if my daughter calls for help from college, she can get ahold of me using Skype and I can remote in using LogMeIn and (at least try) to assist her with any computer issues she may be having.  So far so good with this initial exploration into alien (Mac) territory. 

Wide-sceen monitor at bargain price

If you are looking for a highly-rated 19-inch wide-screen LCD monitor, browse to NewEgg's web site where you can pick up the Acer AL1916WAbd for only $149.99 with free shipping. 

Speed-up tricks

If you have an older desktop or notebook PC that just isn't cutting it anymore, performance-wise, you can squeeze a bit more life out of it with Actual Booster.  It works by boosting the priority of whatever program is running in the foreground window.  Whatever program you are currently using gets a bigger slice of your computer's resources and will run faster.  If you are currently using Word then Word will run faster. If you switch to an Outlook window then Outlook will run faster.  The trade-off is that Word will then slow down. But it doesn’t matter if Word slows down because you are not currently using it. 

If you have a new Vista PC, but are disappointed in its performance (a common complaint), the slowness may be due to Vista's built-in Indexer that constantly catalogs the content of your hard drive(s).  The good news is that you can disable the Indexer.  Go to Add/Remove Programs, click Add/Remove Windows Components in the left panel.  Then deselect Indexing services.  Finally, click Next.  If you need indexing, select any number of independent indexing tools.  One of the higher-rated indexing tools is Copernic Desktop Search. 

Must have applications for Windows Mobile Phones

As a very recent convert from the Palm-OS based Treo smartphone, I have been learning how to use my Samsung SCH-i760 from Verizon Wireless.  It runs on the Windows Mobile 6 Professional (touch screen) operating system.  Windows Mobile 6 is much improved over earlier versions, but it remains a more complex and (to a newcomer) less intuitive operating system than Palm.

I discovered a few applications that are essential for my enjoyable and productive use of a Windows Mobile 6 device.  First, make sure you download and install Live Search for Windows Mobile.  From your phone's browser go to  http://wls.live.com/ to get the download.  Once installed, Live Search works much like Tryda (formerly Directory Assistant) for the Palm OS.  It connects to the Internet to find business, phone numbers, maps, and driving directions.  On my phone, it works with the voice command feature to allow me to speak "pizza" and almost instantly get a list of all pizza restaurants in my area, with phone numbers, driving directions, and maps just a screen tap away.  Live Search is free, but invaluable.

Next is The Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP).  It is discontinued, but still available for download here.  Don't delay getting your copy, as its availability could end at any time.  This free application will play many more file formats (audio and video) that the Windows Media Player application that comes with Windows Mobile 6. 

Finally, the Internet Explorer web browser that comes with Windows Mobile 6 is showing its age.  It is slow and doesn't handle Flash, limiting its usefulness on some web pages.  For that capability, download a 30 day free trial from the Opera Mobile web browser along with the Macromedia Flash Player.  If you decided it works for you, pay $24 to register your copy.            

Save electricity, reduce noise and heat

We don't usually think of desktop computers as power hogs, but they can be.  A PC with an older and less efficient power supply can add $10 to $25 to your monthly electric bill, more if it runs 24/7 like mine.  A few months ago I upgraded the power supply in my primary desktop PC to an Antec earthwatt model.  My monthly electric bill has dropped about $15 and the power supply is much quieter than my old one.  It also generates noticeably less heat. 

NewEgg has the Antec 500 watt earthwatts EA500 on sale for $54.99 with free shipping.  This power supply has enough capacity for a desktop system with multiple drives and a high-end graphics card.