Hewie's Views and Reviews
By Hewie Poplock

Welcome to this issue of Hewie's Views & Reviews. Be sure to visit Hewie's Favorites at http://www.hewie.net/ .

++++ Your own Search page
++++ Computers very Mainstream
++++ Burgers and Computing
++++ A Program not to use
++++ New additions to Hewie's Favorites

++++ Your own Search page

I use Google as my home page in Internet Explorer. I found a fun way to personalize the page. Try this link http://www.logogle.com/ggl.php?hl=ja&lo=Hewie's%20Search and then make the changes to personalize for yourself. Remember that "%20" indicates a space.

++++ Computers very Mainstream

Several years ago I was in the computer business. When the office supply chains and the computer /appliance chains came to town, we small computer businesses suffered. Then the discount department stores started to carry computers and accessories. Last month I snapped a picture of a Walgreen's outside sign advertising LAN cables. That convinced me that getting out of the computer retail business was a good idea.

++++ Burgers and Computing

In a recent newsletter I stated that several of the free wi-fi access points were beginning to dry up. The Starbucks and bookstores utilize the $10 a day or a little less for an hour's use. However, many McDonald's have free Internet access and the Krystal burger chain has announced that they are adding free wi-fi in most of their Southeast locations. You can find which ones have wi-fi by going to their website http://www.krystal.com/about/WiFi.asp . Most of Florida Krystals are waiting for you to have a bunch of burgers and send that e-mail.

++++ A Program not to use

I found a free program that would create HTML pages to replace Windows Explorer. The program, dirHTML, did not require installation, so I tried it. It was a great way to move around my hard drive. However, once I looked at my drive, I discovered that the program placed an HTML file in every folder and subfolder. Each file had the same name and it changed the folder date. The program required manual re-running to update lists.

I really objected to the date change to every folder. This affects backups, as well many of the sorting and searches that I do on my drives. If the program created HTML pages and kept them in its own folder, I might use it. To get it out of my system, I did a search on the one file name and deleted the 3,500 plus files. However, I was unable to change the folder dates back to the original date. I was not a happy camper.

There are so many programs that are free or have trial versions and to simply run them or install them may make changes to your system that may not be easily undone. Be careful when trying new software. It might even mean restoring from a backup or a complete install when just trying a program that sounds good.

++++ New additions to Hewie's Favorites

Daily Interesting Links
http://www.di-links.com/
Videos, news stories, pictures. All submitted daily. Lots of funny stuff

broadband
http://www.dslreports.com/tools
Testing your broadband connection DSL, ADSL, cable

Greater Orlando Linux User Group
http://www.golug.org/
GoLUG is Orlando's shiny new LUG

Xtention
http://www.teamxtend.com/
Learning management systems and other human resource software

Podfeed.net
http://www.podfeed.net/
Podcast directory, podcast and podcasting resource on the web

AnnualCreditReport
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
Allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies

mydealnews
http://dealnews.com/mydealnews/
Never miss a hot deal again

I Like Your Colors
http://www.redalt.com/Tools/ilyc.php
Choose any URL you want to extract colors from Red Alt

ImageShack®
http://www.imageshack.us/
Intuitive and easy-to-use free image hosting solution. It can be used to share pictures with friends, as well as post images on message boards and blogs. It can also be used to direct link images on your personal website or online auction

Photobucket
http://photobucket.com/
Image hosting and photo sharing service for users who want to host pictures and create free online photo albums

Bits & Bytes Radio Program
http://www.bitsandbytesradio.com/
Dave and our friends in Sarasota, Fl present a great Computer show on radio and the Internet

geekBlue
http://www.geekblue.net/
New Color of Technology Technology News and Reviews

Freeality Reverse Lookup
http://www.freeality.com/finde.htm
Reverse lookup and Phonebook, find e-mail addresses

MSN Virtual Earth
http://virtualearth.msn.com/
online mapping and local search

Shadows
http://www.shadows.com/
Shadows helps you remember the web, share it with others, and discover new and interesting pages. Make your own search engine using tags See what others think of the page, related sites, and even discussions and comments

Excel add in ASAP Utilities
http://www.asap-utilities.com/
This FREE addin is probably one of the world's most popular FREE excel addins for MS Excel, Contains over 200 useful and powerfull utilities to fill the gaps in Excel, and automate frequently used tasks

Freeware Tools and Utilities for Windows
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/index.html
Unique collection of freeware utilities and freeware password recovery tools

TopShareware
http://www.topshareware.com/
Download freeware and shareware. You can also submit your products

Bart's Preinstalled Environment
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
BartPE bootable live windows CD/DVD

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Tweaks and Fixes for Windows XP

Windows XP Tips and Tricks
http://freepctech.com/pc/xp/xpindex.shtml
Free assistance with PC problems and to educate anyone wishing learn about PCs