Going home now. Busy busy RITS day. What’s the RITS you ask, well if you ask you don’t really need to know - muhahahaha!

Well more emails hit my inbox since the last column about my favorite sites to watch, Hollywood.com and TVGuide.com.  The most popular question was why I don’t use the Comcast.com site to get my TV listings.  OK, here you go.  I pay the minimal amount you can for cable.  Like I said before I don’t watch much TV.  Since I pay the smallest amount for cable possible I do not receive the TV Guide channel.  I can “watch” channel 17 (TV Guide)), cut the sound off to get rid of the loud static sounds and squint through the static on the screen.  Then I can make out most of what is on at that time.  But I don’t want to mess with my volume controls and I also don’t like to squint. Online I can look at any time during today or many days in the future.  I like that.

Now let’s get on with a look at another of my favorite sites.  I use Major Geeks (majorgeeks.com) for finding and trying out new freeware programs.  For instance, I originally learned about “Eraser” by Heidi Computers Ltd. (a great total file erasing application), AVG Anti-Virus program, KeePass Password Safe and a large number of others at Major Geeks.  By-the-way, try those out and see if you like them.  The price is really right…free!

While there you can search specific categories for software you are looking for and read a fairly comprehensive review of what the programs do.  I will warn you that although most of the software is free some of it is shareware and only allows you to try it for a short time period.  You then must pay to keep it.  Others are free; however, if you want the full grown version that will do more things you have to pay for an upgrade.  So, as in all things…caveat emptor. 

Next, I have a sneaky little site for you called, Jetable (www.jetable.org/en).  Here is how Jetable works.  Let’s pretend that you are signing up for something on the internet and they need your email address to verify that you are a real person.  This is required before your “membership” is complete.  If you are the least bit like me you don’t like giving out your address to everyone in the world because you know there is a good chance that it will generate hundreds of spam emails in the future.  Jetable provides you with a “throwaway” email address.

You can set Jetable to give you this throwaway for an hour, a day, a week up to a month before it stops working.  The address it assigned me was “gh15z77l3o3uf@jetable.com“.  So if you sent email to that address it would go to my actual email account for the one hour I set it up for after that it would never work again.

That is a great feature and the more you use the internet the more you realize how nice it is to use. 

Next week we will look at a few more interesting and hopefully helpful sites.

Tags: jetable.com, Ron Doyle, sneaky, throw away email, toss

looking forward to the weekend and a short break from work.

I got a large number of positive responses from the Wakoopa website review that I did last week.  Due to the requests for more like that I do several weeks of site reviews that I often visit.  They are usually worthwhile to me and I hope they will be to you.  Today we will start with things to watch.

Since my kids grew up and moved out it seems we have more time where we don’t have to be running as many places so we have time for taking in an occasional movie.  When I was young I used to be able to keep in my head movie synopsis, stars, starting date and even running times.  As I move into a more mature time of life my brain has determined that “junk” really isn’t needed any longer, so I never know what’s out there anymore.

Yes you can check the movie times in many places including the newspaper.  I also visit a movie website called, “Hollywood.com“.  That is an appropriate name since that is also its URL.  When you arrive there you can enter your zip code and can select either the theater you are interested in or the specific movie. 

At the theater location your get the basic movie names, show times and ratings.  However, when you click on the movie name link you get a boatload of information about the movie.  You can read a synopsis, order tickets online, see trailers, look at photos, examine reviews, see cast interviews and much more.  More by-the-way than I can appreciate but information is available there awaiting your mouse clicks.

Next, on to TV shows.  I don’t really watch a lot of TV.  There are two or three that I do watch when I have the time.  I hate to say it but, yes, “American Idol” is one of them along with other, better ones.

If you go to the TV Guide site (www.tvguide.com) go to “What’s On TV” and then “TV Listings” you can view what is there or click on the Edit Location link and enter your zip code.  From there you can choose either your Cable Provider, Satellite Provider or National Listings to view the specific numbers on your tuner and, of course, times.

As you hover over the show you are interested in you will get a popup that allows you to read about that show with maybe a synopsis and most likely an ad to buy something related to the show.

You will also see areas that list specific shows that you may be interested in.  These give episode listings, cast interviews and areas to discuss the shows along with many others.  Of course there is also a category titled “Shop”…hmm, I wonder what could be there.

Now before I get a lot of email asking why I didn’t mention other sites that do the same thing please note that these are the two that I use and by no means the only or best ones out there.

Tags: celebrity, hollywood, junk, movies, Ron Doyle, see programs, stars, synopsis

Elyod: a test from pownce again…forgot all about it. http://tinyurl.com/2kob3b

Found and enjoyed a new cigar today at the shop. St. Luis Rey, Series G, thanks to my buddy Mitch.

This week I wanted to tell you about a neat little website that I came across recently.  I would tell you how I found it but I don’t remember.  It may have been one of the many emails which I have received from readers.  I appreciate your emails so keep them coming with comments about columns, suggestions about sites or software you like and plain old questions.  I appreciate them all!

I am not a real fan of social networking, which I have mentioned in this column many times in the past.  But this is a different type of network - it is a software network.  No one tells you what they think about life, their jobs, their other halves and thank goodness, politics.

Wakoopa (wakoopa.com) is a little strange sounding word as it trips off of your tongue but the site is something that I have never thought of.  How would you like to know what software other people are using?  This is sort of what the name means according to the developers blog site (blog.wakoopa.com); Where - All - Kinds - Of - Original - Programs - Appear.

Take a visit to Wakoopa and see what shows up.  I imagine the first thing you will notice is an area near the top where many different icons are scrolling past.  These are the most recently used software applications according to the tracking information installed on users computers…like mine. 

Below that you will see, “Most used software” which indicates Firefox as number one.  When you click on the Firefox link you will read, “Used by 11,778 people for 596523 hours, 14 minutes and 7 seconds”.  Internet Explorer (www.Microsoft.com/IE7) is ranked second with 10,911 people for over 173,764, of which I am one.  And the list goes on, like my favorite browser, Maxthon is ranked 40th.  I need to install that on my new computer and get its numbers up, yeah right.

Once at a specific software’s page you see the overview, versions (interesting but not really useful), Reviews (my favorite regarding software I have never used), Users (see who is using the software) and Teams (people who are related in some way and the software that they use, for instance there is one called, “Slovakia” which states, “The official Slovak team! If you are a Slovak, or live in Slovakia, come and join us!”)
 
If you care to, drop by my Wakoopa page at “wakoopa.com/elyod” and see what software I have running on my system.

Having a great day! Philippians 4:11

I have had a few questions pop up about recent columns so today I will take a break and not create a new column but answer some of those.

I will start with the oldest columns first so about Picnik.com, the online graphics editor…I was told by a professional graphics person that it really doesn’t have that much available.  However, as I mentioned in the column, for me it does everything I need.  I am not a pro but I use it for removing red eye, enhancing colors, sharpening photos, changing photos to black & white (I know I’m weird but I like B&W photos, check DoubleClicks.info and see what I mean) and other basics.  Like I said, I think average users can really enjoy using this online editor and get a lot out of it, but professionals should stick to the high-end applications.

Next, “Why didn’t you write about tax prep software?”  In past years I have written about the different tax programs many times before April 15 and decided to take a break this year.  As far as I know not much has changed on them other than, I am sure, some special enhancements.  Next year I will pick up the task again.

Now the one that generated the most email.  OK, so I bought a Dell computer, “Why didn’t I buy a Compaq (HP), eMachine” and on and on.  Also, “No!” I don’t get kickbacks from Dell for mentioning them…I wish I did, but if I did I would only mention them if they were good.  Next, they are the ones that I have the closest association with as they are the default machines at work.  In my opinion they are the best buy for the buck and that is usually how I shop for larger ticket items.  In five years there may be something better but right now Dell really works for me.  And as an update to that column, I have had absolutely no problems and everything runs just perfectly.  I am learning some neat tricks from some of you VISTA users who have sent them to me, so keep the tips coming.

From last week, “Cloud Computing May Challenge Office Software” the question regarded why I wrote about Google Docs more than Zoho, when I said, “Zoho…which offers even more applications.”  Well, I almost exclusively use Microsoft Office 2007.  I occasionally use Google Docs and in last place, not because it is inferior but because I discovered it not long ago, I use Zoho.

My last comment today is that I received an email from someone whose last name, I believe, was Zayher or Sayer (my memory is shot).  I read the email on my phone and accidentally deleted it, so if you write me again I promise to be more careful and answer your question.

Long day at work. I’ve been here for 8.5 hours and it feels like 14+. But that’s OK, I like to eat and live in a house, so I need to work.