Rough Drafts

The Web has outgrown the ability of most people to use it effectively. Trying to find useful information via Google requires search savvy that most people don’t have. Even if you know what you’re looking for, there are problems with spam, advertising, and context (for example, “haiku” gives you resu

If you ever have arguments with people of the opposite sex, the following may be the most valuable advice you will receive all year. In humans, strong emotion starts with physiological changes in your body, not with an awareness of the emotion in your brain. So when somebody pisses you off, your hea

My very idiosyncratic list: Scariest product: Security Spy Direct was demonstrating a combination flashlight/taser. As the brochure says: “Your opponent’s eyes will literally POP OUT OF HIS HEAD when you send 500,000 volts of stunning electrical power into his body with our stun guns.” Then you can

It’s a new year, and it’s time for pundits — even part-time pundits like me — to make their predictions. For someone who loves tech products, it’s an even more titillating time, because CES will bring an avalanche of them. So here are 7 key tech trends for 2007, and a measurable index (my prediction

You’d think after 5 years and millions of users, Blogger would be sporting some significant improvements now that it’s finally out of beta. Unfortunately, what I notice most is what’s broken: My “BlogThis!” button no longer works. The site sometimes gets hung up on the “publishing” page (even though

Pre-rolls — the short 10-15 second commercials that some video sites often make you watch before you get to the actual content you want to watch — are a bad idea. Here’s why: When you’re flipping the channels on the TV and you come to a channel with a commercial, do you stop and wait […]

Banjo!

Last week EBay’s Skype announced a new “unlimited calling” plan. Starting in January, the company will charge $30 for a year of unlimited SkypeOut calls to any phone numbers in the U.S. and Canada. (They’re offering an introductory rate of $15 if you sign up before the end of January.) This brings a

In which I make a fool out of myself by pretending to be a headbanger. PCMagCast Tech Tips Video: Sync Your iPod with Outlook More PCMagcast videos

I’m amused by this author “bio” on Harpers.org, which was clearly created by a computer geek in love with taxonomic classifications: This is Ford, Paul, an author and a human being. He is part of Authors, which is part of Human Beings, which is part of Connections, which is part of Harpers.org. Read

I may be way off base here, but isn’t Ms. Dewey uncannily similar to Microsoft’s earlier pathetic attempt at humanizing the computer, Clippy? Sure, one is a babe, and the other is a cartoon paperclip. But work with me here: They both have a pretentious, officious manner. They both rap on the glass t

The first installment in a series of short (2-3 minute) how-to videos from PC Magazine and PCMagCast, starring yours truly. In this video, I show you how to get rid of that animated puppy that pops up when you’re searching for files on a Windows XP machine. PCMagCast Tech Tips Video: Search Smarter