How Now Brown Cow

One of my favorite sites to technology information is Lifehacker. One of the best features of the site is their How-To Guides, as they are usually very well written. Rather than search through the site for these, here are the Most Popular How-To Features of 2008.

All for One

Here's a great little utility that I will definitely start using: AllOff. It goes beyond the Windows sleep function by turning off your computers based on preset criteria, such as no disk activity for 30 minutes. This is great for offices that forget to close out of programs before running their backups.

Looking Forward

While 2008 was a great year for technology, 2009 is looking even better. Here are the predictions for the Hottest PC Technology in 2009.

Best of the Best

This time of year there's no shortage of sites that produce their "Best Of..." awards for 2008. Well, how about a site that reviews the Best of the Best of Awards? PC World has their Just The Best Tech Lists of 2008.

Bring it Back!

Accidentally deleting important files...probably one of the worst things that can happen, especially if you don't have a recent backup. In my quest to evaluate utilities, I came across a really nifty program called Recuva. It's free and has an easy interface and as far as I can tell, actually works quite well. Free to download and use.

Quick and Dirty

There are literally millions of "how to" guides online. The problem is that many of then take way too lomng to read. One of the requests I get from many offices is to teach them how to share and move files around. Rather than give you an hour lecture on it, here's The 10 Minute Guide to Sharing Files and Docs.

Cleaning Up the Mess

One of the things that can really slow down your computers is the mass of temporary files that accumulate whenever you surf online, temporary Windows files, prefetch files, etc. Sure, if you have a good memory, you can remember to remove these each day. Or, if you're like the rest of us, install Cleano, which does all of this automatically for you.

Zapped!

There are dozens of free file sharing sites online, but the knock against many of them is that the person you want to share with has to install software on the computer first. Zapr is a nice alternative that doesn't require this...you just send them the link to access the file. Free to use.

Net-working

As I've mentioned in a few previous articles, the new rage in computing are called netbooks, small laptops with even smaller price tags, most under $500. If you only need basic websurfing, email, word processing,,,then these are a nice alternative. USA Today did a recent article reviewing the better known systems out there. If you travel a lot or just want a cheap laptop in your private office, these are certainly worth a look.

Shiny and New

This is the time of year when people start to look back and make "Best of" Lists. 2008 was a good year for technology and while many products were released, a few started out as duds. However, some of those dud were able to get their act together and produce something really good by the end of the year. Here's the Best New and Improved Software of 2008.

Blazing Saddles

There are a gazillion online backup services for both your home and office, many free or cheap. The problem with all of them is that they are not smart. You need to tell it what to backup and if you forget to add something to the list, you're out of luck. That's where Backblaze fits in: they are a smart online backup that knows what you need to backup and does it for you automatically. Not free but at $5/month, not hard to stomach. I would not recommend this for an office, but it's perfect for home computer backup.

Burn Baby Burn

While many of us have turned to online methods to share data and media, that doesn't mean that burning to CD or DVD is dead. The discs are cheap and it's easy to do. All you really need is some decent software. Here are the Five Best CD and DVD Burning Tools.

Dead as Dirt

There's nothing worse than realizing that you hardd rive with all your critical files has just crashed. What few people know, though, is that often you can restore the drive yourself with some simple tools. Here's a great comprehensive guide to recovering your data and where to send it when you cannot.

The New Deal Economy

With the economy in the tank, it's important to look at software options that don't break the bank but still offer great features. CNET did a nice article on the Best Windows Software for a Hard-Hit Economy and offers 11 great choices.

Fourrth Time's the Charm

Dentrix has announced the official release of their latest version, G4. Here's the press release:

HENRY SCHEIN ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF DENTRIX G4

New version of Company’s leading practice management system driven by customer feedback and suggestions

MELVILLE, N.Y., December 17, 2008 --Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the largest distributor of healthcare products and services in the combined North American and European markets, today announced the release of DENTRIX G4, the latest upgrade to its market leading practice management software system. DENTRIX is the most widely used practice management system for dental professionals and is currently used by 26,000 practices in the United States.

“Practitioners will greatly benefit from the numerous enhancements to our system, which reflect a year of designing and testing based on customer feedback and our leading technology expertise,” said Kevin Bunker, Vice-President and General Manager of Henry Schein’s Practice Solutions division. “We believe that our customers are our best resource for input in helping us to develop the most effective practice management tools to help the doctor improve efficiency and focus more on patient care and satisfaction.”

There are many time saving, productivity enhancements in the new version of DENTRIX G4, including:

* Family Alerts: A practice can now choose to apply an alert to the patient’s entire family or to specific family members, so only one alert is created. Other time-saving features include custom alert note tem­plates and the ability to insert alert datelines and creation dates.
* Default Payment Allocations and Payments: The practice can set a default payment allocation to either the guarantor’s provider or a split payment option, allowing this task to be completed

quicker than ever before. And for faster searching, the practice can now search for specific payments by check number, amount, date, insurance carrier, or guarantor, and a report of the results can be printed.

· Billing Statements and Insurance Claims: Administrators can now specify whether to send billing statements to batch and print at anytime or electronically, as well as send insurance claims electronically by default and receive a real-time notice when submitting real-time electronic claims.

* Personal Preference Customization: Create and manage custom procedure button sets for the Tooth Chart as well as personal preferences that will appear on any computer in the network.
* Quick Access to Training Resources: Customers subscribed to a customer service plan now have one-click access to41 different topics that are perfect for new staff that may need basic training at www.dentrix.com and access the online knowledgebase for technical assistance 24/7.

DENTRIX G4 will be automatically shipped to customers subscribed to a customer service plan. Unlimited, toll-free technical support, upgrades, electronic backup, a basic Website, access to knowledgebase resources, online training courses, discounts, and more are included with the DENTRIX customer service plan. Practices that are not subscribed to a customer service plan can call 1-800-DENTRIX to learn how they can upgrade.

Webbed Feet

The future of all software is web-based, whether we like it or not, so learning what's out there would be a great start. Here are 17 Online Free Web Based Applications...some are pretty useful.

Fly the Friendly Skies

In case you hadn't heard about it, Wi-Fi Internet access is coming to air travel in the next 12 months. Virgin Airlines is already in beta testing and US carriers will be following suit shortly. Here's 10 Things You Need To Know About In Flight Wi-Fi, written by someone who actually tested the Virgin in-flight Wi-Fi.

Another Reason to Consider Firefox

Looks like there is ANOTHER security flaw in Internet Explorer that Microsoft has failed to fix as of today. You can read about it here. I converted to Firefox about 6 months ago and haven't looked back.

Junk Busters

I download tons of programs on a daily basis but with limited time, I don't have a chance to try all of them. It's pretty reasonable to expect that if I don't try the program within a few weeks, I probably never will. Wouldn't it be nice to delete all of those files after a certain time frame if I don't plan to use them? That's exactly what Auto Delete does. You can customize it to delete files automatically at any time frame you specify. A great way to get rid of stuff you never use anyway.

Foxy Lady

I've been a huge fan of Fox-It Reader, the best alternative to slow and pokey Adobe Reader. Well, now I have more reason to love them: you can now open up PDF files directly within the Firefox browser. This is a huge time saver for me.

Video 101

I work with video all the time, from my lectures to ripping DVDs to my iPod to my AppleTV. There's no doubt that trying to learn the entire alphabet soup when it comes to video standards can be a daunting task. Here's a good article that explains, in lay terms, Every Video Format You Need to Know.

Flash in the Pan

The new solid-state drives (SSD) have been all the rage lately, as there are no moving parts and the drives will survive a fall more easily than standard drives, making them a good option for laptops. One of the main issues, besides the high cost, has been the relatively low capacity they offer. Not for long. Samsung just announced new 256 GB drives that should be in production in a few months. I've been saying for years that these drives are the future, and the future is almost here.

Rip It Good

While many of play DVD's on our TVs, there are many, many other things you can do with a DVD. Here are the Top 10 Things You Can Do With a DVD.

Use Me Up

While I've always recommended that dental ofifces buy new computers, there are many good arguments for geeing laptops that are used. Here's a great article that explains Why You Should Buy a Refurbished Laptop.

Zip It Up

If you are sending large files, or just need to know how to open that obscure compressed file you just got, then you'll need a file compression utility. Here are the Five Best File Compression programs. Scroll down to get more ideas from other readers.

Not Dead Yet

Anyone who owns an inkjet printer knows that the cost of the printer is nothing compared to the cost of the ink. Have you ever wondered if that low ink warning on your inkjet printer may not be entirely accurate? Well, wonder no longer. In many cases, ink cartridges are more than 40% full when they issue that warning and many refuse to print more pages. PC World did an interesting study of all the major printer companies and various ink cartridges to see which may be most cost effective.

A Storm is Brewing Redux

A few weeks ago, I posted about my excitement over the newest Blackberry, the Storm. The list of features is amazing. After playing with the phone and seeing all the online reports, the verdict is in: this phone sucks. It really seems they need a new operating systems that takes advantage of the touch screen. My best advice when it comes to the Storm so far? Stay away.

Damaged Goods

Of all the programs I install, getting rid of antivirus programs is the most difficult, especially ones where the installation is botched. Here's 5 Windows Tools to Remove Damaged Antivirus Programs.

Lock Box

Probably one of the biggest annoyances I used to face is when I tried to delete a file and got an error that the file was in use. I would go through Task Manager and other programs but couldn't figure out why the file was locked.

I say used to face because once I installed the free Unlocker program, the problems were easy to fix. I know can not only see which programs are using a file, but can unlock or delete the file right away. Probably one of the most important programs in my toolbox.

Batten Down the Hatches

Most of us have dozens of programs we use on our computers, and almost all of them have regular updates. One of the main reasons for the updates are to correct security flaws, but many of us aren't aware of what flaws exist and updates that are needed. That's where Secunia's Personal Software Inspector is so valuable, as it will tell you what vulnerabilities exist, and what updates to each program you need to install.

New York, New York

I just completed my first day at the GNYDM and I have to admit that once again, as has been the theme the last year, I'm positively underwhelmed. I heard the booth traffic was good on Sunday but it was pretty empty today. I really didn't see a lot of exciting new products and while I will have a full recap in my newsletter next week, I'm debating about which product will be my Product of the Show.

Photo Phun

While there's little doubt that Photoshop is the gold standard for image editing, the high price and even higher learning curve puts it out of reach for many dental offices. However, there are more an more online photo editors, many of them free, theat have many of the features and power of Photoshop. Here are 20 Great Online Image Editors.