Three Times the Charm

I've been testing the latest beta of Firefox, 3.5, over the past few months and it seems really stable with some nice new features. Want to get the latest version but worried about beta software? Well, your wait is over...looks like the latest version should be available sometime today.

Smiling Faces

One again, Care Credit continue to support one of the best organizations out there, the Give Kids a Smile program.

Here's the press release:

COSTA MESA, CALIF., JUNE 2009 — Five grant recipients of the GIVE KIDS A SMILE Program Growth Fund were honored at the American Dental Association Foundation Annual Awards Gala held recently in Washington D.C. at the Library of Congress. For the second year in a row, CareCredit’s annual $100,000 donation to the Fund has enabled five key programs to expand services and access to care for children in underserved communities.

The 2009 grant recipients each received $20,000 and were chosen based on their superior vision and leadership in dentistry, demonstrated through the success of their existing outreach programs. By supporting existing programs that have both untapped potential and organizational strength, the goal of providing care for more kids will be more quickly realized.

GIVE KIDS A SMILE grant recipients include:
 Program Champion grantees – the America’s Dentists Care Foundation (Missions of Mercy) and TeamSmileTM.
 Program Growth grantees – the Hispanic Dental Association, the National Dental Association (NDA), and Oral Health America.
The grants will be used by these organizations to fund school and community oral health projects, school-based mobile dental vans and increase access to restorative dental care.

“Access to care is a top priority for CareCredit. We are able to fulfill this objective in a meaningful way as the Founding Donor of the GIVE KIDS A SMILE Fund and by working in partnership with the American Dental Association to expand access to care for underserved children,” said Cindy Hearn, GIVE KIDS A SMILE Advisory Board Member and Senior Vice President of Marketing at CareCredit. “We’ve had the privilege of providing greater access to dental care for over 20 years and helped over seven million patients get treatment by providing comfortable payment options.”

Today, CareCredit is at work in more than 120,000 healthcare practices. CareCredit is exclusively selected for their members by most state and national dental associations, including ADA Business ResourcesSM, AGD, AAOMS, and AAP, and is also recommended by leading practice management consultants. For more information on CareCredit, call 1-800-300-3046 ext. 4519 or visit www.carecredit.com. Information on the GIVE KIDS A SMILE® program can be found at www.givekidsasmile.ada.org.

Cleaning Out the Cobwebs

If you use a PC, then over time, you'll find that "junk" build up in it. I'm talking about software junk, such as Temporary Internet files, stray Registry settings, log files and leftover files, etc. Here are Six Great Free Cleanup Utilities for Windows.

Back Again

Sometimes, even your best efforts will not be able to get your computer working properly from a virus infection or other problem (having an active 2-year-old at home, I know all about this!). In those cases, a complete system restore is needed. The System Restore built into Windows is ok, but not great. Here are the Best Free System Restore Tools. I've used Macrium Reflect, but there are some others here I plan to check out.

Deal or No Deal

Microsoft announced today that they are now accepting preorders for Windows 7 upgrades for around 1/2 off their expected retail price when it ships in October. If you plan to upgrade (and, from my months of testing, I would definitely recommend this), now's a great time to get a good deal.

Cheapskate

I was pleased to see that some Best Buy employees "accidentally " leaked details of the pricing for Windows 7. Even better news is that it's going to be pretty cheap to upgrade. Most of us will be looking at a range of $50-100 at most, and in many cases, it will be free. Sweet!

Close...but No Cigar

As many of you know, the new iPhone, the 3GS, was released recently. While I have yet to be swayed to the iPhone (based primarily on it being exclusive to the sucky AT & T network), it does invoke some envy in me. However, it still is short of perfect. Here are Five Things Missing from the iPhone 3GS.

The Monster Mash

There are few things I like more than apps that enhance the Windows experience at no cost. But while those apps work great on their own, some killer programs and services perform even better when combined with other software. For example, Dropbox excels as a standalone application, but when used in concert with the little-known Mklink command, its potential is exponentially expanded. These unions are called "software mashups" -- the use of two apps for utility that's greater than the sum of their parts. Yes, 1 + 1 can equal 3. And the best part: every program in this article is free.

New and Improved

With Windows 7 slated for a winter releases, I'm starting to get excited about it. Windows 7 has received plenty of attention from the tech press, but much of the focus has been on interface changes, such as the redesigned taskbar, and new file management features, such as libraries. Some improvements are less obvious — like the new or enhanced tools that are included with the OS. Here are 10 of these cool tools that make the computing experience easier.

Plug it In

I've been using Firefox for quite some time and consider it to be the best browser out there. One thing I love is the number of plug-ins that you can install to make the software better for you. Here are 10 Firefox Add-Ons you Must Have.

Cut the Fat

If you want to read PDF files, then you need Adobe Reader, right? Wrong...I can't stand that software. It's bloated, slow, and not all that secure. Here are Four Light Alternative to Adobe Reader. I currently use PDF XChange Viewer...love it!

Fly the Friendly Skies

Here's a nifty little service: Files Over Miles. Basically, it allows you to send large files to someone else without dealing with all the typical hassles of ISP limits, security, etc. Free to use and is really fast!

Save the Date

Well, it's official, and earlier than I thought: Windows 7 will officially be available on October 22, 2009. I've posted many previous articles on why you should consider switching to Windows 7. Like many in the IT world, I'll have a full working copy long before October 22 and will keep you posted.

Phree Photos

Royalty-free stock photos and Textures are very useful in every graphic project for web or print, especially if they are free. There are many websites where you can find royalty-free stock photos and textures, but the problem is most free stock photos are of poor quality and low resolution.Where can you find royalty-free stock photos and textures? Here is a list of 25 of the best sites to download royalty-free stock photos and textures .

Tune Up

While I'm not a huge iTunes fan, most of the world is, so anything that I can offer to help would likely be beneficial. Here are Essential Tips to Get the Best from iTunes.

Totally Free

I'm always on the lookout for good, free applications I can pass along to the customers I support. Over the years I've learned that - in general - the simplest solution is usually the best. For CD and DVD burning software, it doesn't get much more straightforward than Totally Free Burner.

As you'd expect from a minimalistic app like this, it's also tiny (under 2Mb download). Unlike Nero's popular-but-cluttered SmartStart, TFB presents only four options: audio CD, video CD, data, and image/video DVD.The interface is kept simple throughout.

Tiny Bubbles

Most of the buzz in computer hardware has been about a new class of laptops called netbooks, computers that are small and cheap but still pack a punch. Here's a review of five of them.

Used Up

It's usually pretty obvious when one of your Windows applications goes rogue and starts consuming more resources than it should. Your system becomes sluggish and unresponsive,

Usage Monitor is a small, free program that allows you to watch processes for excessive use of memory and GDI/user objects. Set a target on a process - say, 300Mb memory on Firefox - and Usage Monitor can alert you a number of different ways. You can choose system tray popups, message boxes, flash the UM taskbar icon, or even launch a task when an alert takes place.

Easy as Pie

While I normally recommend a sophisticated backup system for our clients (and anyone else that is interested), I realize that some people prefer to manage it themselves. The hang up for many is that it's not easy to do. Backup Maker is probably the easiest backup program I've ever used, and the fact that it's free means that NOBODY has an excuse to not backup any longer!

Tune Them Out

While I happen to love the Ipod and iPhone, I'm not a huge fan of iTunes and their draconian restrictions. I just got a new computer and installed my previous iTunes collection...and got a warning that this was the 5th and last "activation" I was allowed. Huh?!? For music and videos I already paid for?

Fortunately, there are many other options out there. Here are 6 Ways to Sync Music to your iPhone Without Using iTunes.

Gold Digger

I'm not normally a fan of many of the free data recovery programs as, frankly, most don't work well or are a nightmare to navigate. A recent one I've been playing with, DiskDigger, is changing my mind. The interface is super easy and the program seems to do a really good job of restoring files that were accidentally deleted.

Elitist

Another product that I forgot to mention in my newsletter but was very much there at CDA was the new Schick CDR Elite sensor. The design is very much like their Pluswire sensors with the detachable cable but everything is now color coded. The images that I saw from the new sensor are quite good. Schick has always had one of the best return policies in the business.

X Marks the Spot

One product that I saw at CDA that I forgot to mention in my newsletter is the X-pod Wireless Digital System. Pretty cool idea: a wired sensor that connects to a handheld device which can syn with a computer. The handheld screen wasn't ideal, but I'm sure it will improve over time.

Platform Heels

If you run multiple computers with multiple operating systems, then you know how hard it can be to have to adjust to different browser settings on each computer. Here are three cross-platform tools to keep your web browser in sync.

Pre-amble

The latest phone to try to knock off the iPhone, the Palm Pre, is being released today. Since it's available on Sprint (which I wouldn't use if my life depended on it!), I won't be getting it anytime soon. However, it looks pretty slick and has some nice features. You can read all about it here.

Gadget Envy

I'm a real gadget freak and always love to play with the latest and greatest. As much as I wish it were different, many of these new toys are not available here, although that may change. Here are 10 Amazing Gadgets you Can't Get Here.

CDA Recap

My annual CDA Recap will be in my newsletter in a few days. Here's a teaser:

Product of the Show, 2009

While the CDA isn’t known for new product releases, there were still many great products to evaluate. The ones that impressed me the most were the new XDR sensors, and they have earned my recognition of Product of the Show. It’s always a challenge for a company to release a new sensor that can compete with the existing product, but they seemed to mange this very well. The new sensor has more rounded corners and a thinner cable. The cable is repairable and this is a great benefit: most digital x-ray users know that the junction of the cable and the sensor is traditionally the weakest point. They have also eliminated the need for a USB interface box with its proprietary connection. Finally, while the old images were certainly nothing to complain about, the new images are very clear and sharp to me. The new sensor comes with a minor price increase but the system is still priced well below what many systems cost.ealth of your staff. A very deserving recipient this year of my 2008 ADA Product of the Show.

Movin' Up

Since many of you will likely be upgrading to Windows 7 when it comes out, here's a great review of how the process will work whether you have XP or Vista.

Easy Does It

I'm always looking for websites that will make my computing experience easier. here are 13 Useful and Free Websites to Make Your Life Easier.

Up in the Clouds

With all the talk about cloud computing, a natural application for this is antivirus protection. Panda has just released the beta version of their free cloud antivirus...check it out.