Essentially Free

Microsoft's version of free antivirus and antimalware, Security Essentials, is no longer in beta and is available for public download as of today. This seems to be a decent antivirus system and you can't beat the price. You must have a full qualified version of Windows to run it.

Toss it Out

I've talked about the benefits of disposable emails that you use online...they are only good for a short period of time so that you can avoid constant spams. Well, why don't they have something like this for phone numbers? (You already know where this is going...:-)). Check out inumber, which let's you have a disposable number that's good for either an hour, a day, or a week. Very useful and free.

Mix and Match

Nothing is more annoying than having a file in one format that you need in another. Here are Five of the Best File Converters.

Ahoy Matey

One thing that I've been doing for years is downloading programs and entertainment through BitTorrent trackers. One of the most popular ones, Pirate Bay, is on its last legs...here are 25 Great Alternatives.

The Keys to Success

By many definitions, I guess I'm a computer power user...I work very efficiently and quickly when I'm sitting at my computer. One way I do this is to use keystrokes for many common functions that would require multiple mouse clicks and movements. Since I often have multiple windows open at once, dealing with them can be a real hassles. A great utility I've found to deal with this is called WinLayout, and it's definitely worth downloading and checking out.

Singin' in the Rain

One of the fastest but often overlooked browsers, Opera, has just released version 10. This is the fastest browser I've tested and it has some nice perks as well.

Command Performance

Commands in Demand is a nifty little Windows app that lets you run about 70 different Windows commands and tweaks. Some of the most basic stuff it'll let you do is launch a command prompt, run a disk cleanup operation, or kill a non-responsive application.But it also includes a number of hidden gems that you'd normally need to tweak some registry settings to get at, like the ability to change the transparency level of the Windows taskbar or desktop icons. Free to use.

Click It

Buffalo Grove, Illinois October 1, 2009: ClikTech, Inc. a manufacturer of dental sensor holders, sensor covers and related items, announces the release of the ClikStik™ CCD Complete Universal System: The complete holding system for most size 1 and 2 digital sensors along with Dexis sensors. The ClikStik™ CCD is a truly universal system with newly developed single piece biteblocks. These are made of a highly flexible material which allows the holder to be flexed outward to fit thicker sensors or inward to accommodate thinner sensors. The new biteblock holders are available in anterior, posterior and both vertical and horizontal bitewing configurations for both size 1 (yellow) and size 2 (blue). Included with the CCD system is the revolutionary single rod and ring ClikStik™

The ClikStik™ is a fully autoclavable, twin head holder for use with ANY x-ray film or digital sensor bite-blocks. One system can take anterior, posterior and bitewing views with a simple straight rod and one single ring with no metal rods ever in contact with the oral cavity. Eliminating a multitude of rings and bent rods, now a complete series of radiographs has become a simple one ring process saving time and money for every office. This revolutionary device allows the use of ANY Bite-Block and Bite piece in addition to the new ClikRay biteblocks; anterior, posterior and bitewing, from ALL manufacturers such as RINN™, Flow™’, Schick ™, Dexis™ and others with just one instrument, one ring and one simple rod. The dental office now has the simplest, easiest and most economical instrument to best serve their needs with the ClikStik™.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, the ClikStik™ CCD Complete Universal System
will be sold in pink with a portion of the proceeds to be donated to the Susan G. Komen Walk For The Cure.

Now available at select dental dealers, the ClikStik™ CCD Complete Universal System system, comprised of the ClikStik™, iRod, ClikRing and ClikRay BiteBlocks, is both patented and patent pending.

Double Vision

I've been advocating dual monitors for well over 5 years...I couldn't imaging working without them. This has never been an option with laptops...until now. The gScreen will be one of the first dual screen laptops when it ships (hopefully) by the end of the year. Very cool!

Cleaning Up After Yourself

There's little doubt that when we use our computers and go online, we leave a real mess behind us. One of the biggest problems is that files becomes fragmented...what is supposed to be in one location is spread out over the drive, slowing things down. Here are the Five Best Disk Defragmenters.

More than Just Mail

Many of you are using GMail accounts...but few know that there's a LOT more you can do with GMail than just mail. Here are 11 Useful Windows Apps that Tie In to Your GMail Account.

Sreening Room

A tool that many of us could use is a screen capture to video utility. For example, you could show a patient their charting and images, record your voice, and then burn the whole shebang to a DVD for them to view later. Probably the best free program I've found for this is called, not surprisingly, Free Screen to Video. A definite download.

Mergers Again

Looks like one of my favorite companies, PlanetDDS, has merged with QSI. As far as I can tell, QSI will take over the multi-location part of the business and Denticon.com will be limited to single location practices.

Here's the press release:

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:QSII) and Planet DDS, Inc., both located in Irvine, Calif., announced today that the companies have aligned to deliver hosted, web-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) practice management and clinical software solutions to the dental industry.

The SaaS dental software application, developed by Planet DDS and available for dental practices on a monthly subscription basis, provides automation of all billing and clinical aspects of dental practices. The companies are collaborating on marketing and development efforts, with each focusing on separate market segments.
The Quality Systems (QSI) Dental Division, which for many years has dominated the dental group practice software market, will direct its efforts towards developing, marketing, implementing and supporting the software solution under the name NextDDS. NextDDS will primarily focus on meeting the needs of multi-location dental group practices while Planet DDS’ emphasis will be to deliver the solution under the Denticon brand to solo dental practices.

“We are excited to add an enterprise-capable SaaS offering to complement the other products and services we currently offer our customers. This hosted, Web-based product expands our dental product offerings and allows us to target group practices that may be interested in such a solution that allows them to implement a centralized, feature-rich option via the Internet. It is a highly cost-effective technology that should fit the needs of many practices. All that is required to utilize this software solution is a PC with Internet access. We will continue to offer our server-based solutions for those customers whose needs are best met by that technology,” said Donn Neufeld, senior vice president and general manager of the QSI Division.

According to Richard Lee, chief executive officer of Planet DDS, “While we developed the application with enterprise customers in mind, we lacked expertise of a company like Quality Systems to make significant inroads into the large practice group segment of the dental sector. Now, with this alliance, we believe we will see greater adoption of the technology and an application that will continue to evolve and meet the needs of a range of dental practice organizations.”
Both companies agree that Internet-based applications and the emergence of cloud computing have the potential to completely re-make the landscape of software delivery in the healthcare industry. “Now we are positioned to lead that transition,” concluded Neufeld. QSI’s NextGen division announced a subscription-based SaaS offering for the medical industry in April 2009, also demonstrating Quality Systems’ commitment to this platform.

No Need to Wait

With Windows7 coming out in a few months, many people are excited about the new features, such as Windows Search, the new Paint program, and ISO burning. But, few people know that you can already have these features today with XP or Vista machines. Here are Windows XP Features on a Vista or XP System.

Hack and Slash

The inner geek in me is constantly curious about what exactly is going on under the hood of my computer; the trusty ol' Task Manager is usually pretty good at letting me keep an eye on things. Sometimes, however, said inner geek needs a little bit more control over his not-always-well-oiled machine.

Process Hacker is an open source application that incorporates all of Task Manager's features while adding a plethora of other functions, charts, and options. Included in Process Hacker's features are things such as a tree view to see where active processes came from, detailed graphs displaying each process's resource usage and statistics, and (my personal favorite) over a dozen different ways to kill a process.

Time After Time

Do you sometime feel like you've sat at the computer all day but not sure what you spent your time doing? Here's a neat little program, ManicTime, that can track what programs you use and for how long. Pretty frightening to see how much time I spend in a web browser each day!

Tinkering Around

When my computer slows to a crawl, I often want to know why. That's where a process monitor is helpful and the one that I use the most recently is called, interestingly, Yet Another Process Monitor.

Apart from showing task manager-esque information about running processes, YAPM also provides details about Windows services and your network activity. The system information panel provides realtime monitoring of processor, memory, and disk activity.

The coolest feature is the link to online info about the processes. Don't recognize a specific process (say, for example igfxpers.exe)? Highlight it and click the internet search button to be taken directly to Google's results for clarification. You can also put YAPM's Kung Fu to use monitoring remote machines on your network.

In all honesty, there's so much built in to YAPM that you really need to download it and give it a try - assuming you want a better system monitor. It's free to use.

Free Wi-Fi

I rarely use Wi-Fi when I travel since I have EVD0 (wireless through my cellphone) built into my laptop. However, for many people, being able to get Wi-Fi free and quickly is often critical. Here's the Definitive Guide to Finding Free Wi-Fi.

Scam the Sham

If you have an email account (is there a human being alive in this country who doesn't?), then you you know that not all emails you get are on the up-and-up. Here are The Top 5 Email Scams You Should Know About.

Clean as a Whistle

Here's a really cool application that I think will be good for offices that take a lot of photos: SmillaEnlarger. You know what happens when you try to enlarge or crop a portion of a digital photo? Often, the enlarged portion is very block and pixelated, as that's what happens when you zoom into to digital images. SmillaEnlarger corrects that problem and is able to create some nice enlargements.

Cat O' Nine Tails

Apple released their newest version of iTunes, iTunes9, yesterday. I like the new Apple Store and I really like how you can now share your files to other computers on your network, called Home Sharing.

Back to the Beginning

Just a side note...this may be the luckiest day of my life. 9 is my lucky number, and today's date is 9-9-09. Back to the good stuff now....

While I try to post any information that I think will be valuable to my readers (and with over 800 of you subscribed and another 250 daily visitors, I guess it's working), much of it is somewhat advanced, and I forgot from time to time that many of you are still relative beginners. Here are 16 Beginner Computer Tips that are Often Neglected.

Serve and Protect

If you've been following technology the past year or two, then you probably have come across this term of "cloud computing". Basically, it's software that runs from the Internet rather than installed on your computers. One of the most logical systems for this is antivirus, and we're starting to see some coming down the pike. Immunet Protect is easy to use and doesn't eat up your system resources.

Gearing up for 7

With Windows 7 just a few weeks away, I've been thinking about how I want to customize my desktop. Windows 7 makes it a lot easier to use custom themes to personalize how you work and play. Don't feel like doing it yourself? No problem...here are 26 Awesome Windows 7 themes.

All in the Family

Here's a great deal that I just heard about: when Windows 7 comes out in October, you can purchase a family pack of Home Premium licenses, which cover 3 computers, for just $150. That's a great deal! For the record, from the results of our testing, we'll be ordering Windows 7 for our customers once the dental companies support it...likely 3-6 months after release.

Three Times the Charm

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jake! You're the joy in our lives and we love you.

Cut the Cord

Here's a fantastic idea that will be great if you travel a lot. Many of us use WiFi hotspots when we travel, but at $10-15/day, it can add up. What if you had your own hotspot? That's basically what MiFi does. It connects to your cell provider's 3G network and acts as a hotpsot for devices like laptops and iTouchs that are within 30 ft. At $50-60/month, it will save you a lot, especially if you have multiple devices that need to get online.

Resixe Does Matter

Sometimes you just want to quickly resize photos without retouching or cropping. Resize My Photos aims to do just that—and quickly.

Once installed, Resize My Photos adds an entry to your right-click context menu when you click on any single photo or multiple photo selection. Once you fire it up, you can add/remove files, add/remove directories, and change options—resize method, naming method, image quality, and output directory. Choose your preferences, click start, and Resize My Photos quickly takes care of the rest.

Windows on the World

Unless you've been hiding in a cave (and not reading my blog!), then you know that the newest version of Windows, 7, will be released on October 22 of this year. There are many people who are using XP or Vista that cannot decide if they should switch. Here's the best article I've seen to date that explains the main differences and benchmarks them all in speed tests...great reading.

Sweet 16

I'm a big fan of the Firefox browser. One thing that I really enjoy is how easy it is to customize the browser to my liking. The latest version of Firefox is 3.5, and here are The 16 Most Essential Firefox 3.5 Add-Ons.