I say, “Not”!  And this article from TechRepublic writer, Debra Littlejohn Shinder gives my reasoning exactly.  I am especially in agreement with the even numbered items in the list.

I would add an 11th reason to the mix and that is I never want the first version of anything.  That includes tech stuff, cars, phones, etc.

The engineers and developers never consider every option and everything you and I can do with the device.  I have found that the 1st of anything is usually the poorest of the versions with more issues.

I would like to add that even though I have been reading the TechRepublic site for years to great techie benefit, I will have one of my articles appearing there within the next month or so.  It does require a membership to read all of the information and articles there.  However, it is free and I have never gotten spammed from them.

They send me updates on the specific parts of the site that I want to receive them for.

Tags: Apple, computer, desktop, iPad, iPod, Mac, not ready for prime time, storage, zune

Several of you continued the USB line of thought from the last column and mentioned portable applications.  I thought I had written about these years ago.  However, after a search of over 750 columns I’ve written I realized that I had not mentioned them, so here we go.

A quick definition is needed here for what portable applications are and how are they used.

A portable application is a “stand alone” program that does not need to be installed on a computer’s hard drive.  When you install a regular program there are files that are written all over your computer.  For instance, many entries may be made in your windows’ registry file along with other folders somewhere else.  A portable application is installed in one main folder and no other entries are written anywhere else on the system.  This is like a step back in time.  In the DOS days and the originating days of windows all programs were installed like this; however, things are now different.

The first and predominate portable applications site is called, appropriately enough, “Portable Apps“.  If you go there you can install the basic program on your USB stick and it will provide a lot of good “little” programs.  It creates a menu system so that when you plug your USB stick in it will pop up and you can run your portable applications from there.

There are three different Portable Apps from which to choose.  The differences are in size and  what programs you get with each one.  The first choice, “Platform Only” will only install the basic program.  I don’t find this one to be very useful.  It  is only 1.3MB in size but it doesn’t do much to help you out.

The other two installs are called “Suite Lite” and “Suite Standard”.  These two are respectively 150MB and 355MB in size.  The minimum recommended sizes for your USB device is 256MB and 512MB, again depending on which version you choose.

Each of the larger versions include most of the Mozilla apps like the FireFox browser, Thunderbird email, a messaging program, an antivirus program and several other apps.  The difference between the two is that the larger version includes Open Office Portable version.  That is an excellent substitute for Microsoft Office on a budget…it is free as are all of these apps.  You can look for other portable programs online too.

Why would you want to install these or a USB stick?  You go to a friend’s house and want to do some work on your newspaper column or your personal budget.  You can perform everything you need to on your USB stick after plugging it into their computer.  None of your information is left behind on their computer since you have used your portable “system” to do your work and store your files.  You can check your email, surf the web, etc. without leaving behind any of your private information on someone else’s system.

It provides a good use for your USB thumb drive other than using it for storage only.  There are other portable app sites online – Google for them.  Even so; “Portable Apps” is the first, and in my opinion the best.

Tags: computer, Firefox, google, iPod, memory, Portable Applications, Ron Doyle, thumb drive, usb

This is the first Double Click column of 2010!  It is hard for me to believe but this is the beginning of the ninth year I have had the honor and pleasure of writing Double Click for all of my readers.  I am happy to continue as long as you like.  Please shoot me an email occasionally to let me know!  As usual…for my first column of the year and at the request of many emails I received, we will look at all of the Internet sites I mentioned last year.  So sit back and get your fingers ready.  By-the-way, if you are a clicker you can go to the DoubleClicks.info site and read the column the day it is published in the paper and actually click the links.

Here they are in their order of their appearance with short descriptions if needed.

• Open Office, a good free Microsoft Office substitute.
• Windows Live Mail, Microsoft’s free online email application.
• Thunderbird, another free email application.
• Avast!, a free antivirus and anti-spyware program.
• Windows Defender, Microsoft’s free application to protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats.
• Spyware Blaster, another app to protect against spyware, adware, browser hijackers, etc.
• Advanced System Care 3, free program used to maintain ands keep your computer running smoothly.  Note: some readers reported issues with this although it has worked well for me.
• Cuil.com, GoodSearch.com, Yahoo.com, Google.com, Live.com (now Bing.com) & Melzoo.com, various search engines (you know my favorite if you have read the column much).
• MySpace.com, Facebook.com & Twitter.com, three of the most popular social networks (twitter.com/rondoyle is the one that I use).
• Microsoft.com, the name says it all.
• Google Toolbar, the best of many browser toolbars, others mentioned; Alexa, AOL, Ask, Dictionary.com, Dogpile, eBay, MSN, Yahoo and Groowe).
• Google Desktop Search, Google application which enables you to very quickly and accurately search your local computer.
• TrueCrypt, application that allows you to encrypt your files for security purposes.
• Wallpaper Changer, allows you to change your desktop background at a specified interval. If you have Windows 7 you no longer need this.
• OnlineConversion.com, converts between most any type of measurements.
• Carbonite.com, Mesh.com & SkyDrive, cloud file storage; last two are owned by MS and are also free.
• Netflix & Blockbuster, DVD and digital movie rental sites.
• PayPal, eBay, iTunes , online payment and purchase sites.
• Hallmark & Dayspring, online e-card companies.
• Hamachi, a free hosted Virtual Private Network service that can securely connect computers on a network.

Next week we will visit part 2 of last year’s links.

Tags: 2009, google, internet, iPod, last year, microsoft, new computer, newspaper column, Ron Doyle, twitter, Urban Legend

Shannon and I were talking about our trips to work. He travels one way for a little over ten minutes and I travel about 40 minutes to work each day. He said he would go crazy having to go that long to work. Well the gas prices are driving me crazy but the time I find very useful.

From age 16 until recently I read two or three books a month but regrettably life is way too busy now. I have found in recent years I just don’t have the time to sit down and enjoy a good book very often. That is one of the things I use summer vacation for – time to read a book.

I have written before about listening to podcasts frequently but I won’t go into that again today. I have never mentioned audio books to you before. There are a couple of great sources for them online. If you like to read, have an mp3 player or want to burn them to CD and don’t have the time to read a book here are some I would like to suggest.

The first is named, “Audible“. These books are not free but if you are an avid reader of current authors try it out. They have had a deal on it for quite a while for your first book being free if you use a secret code (audible.com/night, thanks to Leo Laporte). Their standard offer is $7.49 for the first three months and then $14.95/month afterward for one book/month. They also have other offers but these are the least expensive. You can get most any current author in a wide range of categories from adventure to science along with some free mp3s. The quality of these recordings is excellent. The books last anywhere from four to 24 hours.

The other site that I like (since my pockets aren’t usually very full) is, “Podiobooks“. All of the audio books here are free, but the large percentage of these books have not been published on paper yet.

These are usually written by unknown authors who have never gotten contracts from the big publishers. You will have to search for them by the types of books you are interested in. I have found some excellent books here and some that I listened to for 20 minutes and then gave up. They are all originally done as weekly/monthly podcasts, read by the authors. Sign up with your email address to be notified each time another “chapter” has been posted to the site. However, if you are like me and want an entire book “right now”, search for the “completed” books and grab all of the podcasts at once and listen to them at your convenience.

One final site is, “The Gutenberg Project” where there is a very large collection of eBooks to be read on a computer or book reader. There is also a collection of books in audio formats, some read by humans (decent quality) and others read by computers (poor). These books have expired copyrights; therefore, they are free. So at TGP you can get most of the old classics.

If you have a long commute or a friend who likes to read but can’t see well enough to read well, these sites are great ways to go.

Tags: audio, books, computers, Firefox, google, iPod, mp3, mp3 player, Ron Doyle, zune

Around Christmas time I was in the market for a new MP3 player and had decided on the Microsoft Zune (www.zune.net).  I know that this was against most of the commercial wisdom of the day since I heard recently that 59% of all MP3 owners have an iPod (store.apple.com).

A day or two after I ordered the Zune online through Microsoft I received an email from them saying that it was on backorder and I would get it sometime in the next couple of months.  Being driven by instant gratification right that minute, I decided to go to the local stores and buy one.  However, since it was right after December 25th they were all out.

I did; however find an Apple iPod locally.  After talking to all of my iPod friends and checking out how they work…I switched and became an iPod owner.

Armed with my 80Gb iPod Classic I loaded onto it every CD my wife and I owned (about 100 hours worth).  Then I added five movies, three or four unabridged books, my standard seven podcasts and hundreds of digital family photos.

After doing all of that I checked and had used less than 20% of the hard drive space on the iPod.  I thought, “Hmm, what else can I do with all of that empty computer space?”

A friend then told me about free software out call “MojoPac For Individuals” (mojopac.com).  This software allows you to carry data files and computer applications (such as Word, Excel, Solitaire, Firefox, Maxthon, many games, IMs, etc.) on most any USB storage device or iPod. 

What is neat is that once those programs are installed on your device you can then plug your USB device into another computer and run the device as your own computer.  For instance, I could be traveling and need a spreadsheet from work off of my work computer.  As long as I have copied it to my iPod using MojoPac, I can hook up to the hotel computer and open that file in my own Excel (must be licensed) then edit/save that file and even email it right from my iPod.

I don’t really need to lug around my notebook computer any longer (which only has a 40GB drive), as long as I have access to another computer.  I know this is hard to believe for some of you geeks out there but go to the site and check it out.  You don’t even need an iPod.  I first installed it on my 2GB flash drive to test it out and it worked like a charm, I just ran out of space.

P.S. Microsoft delivered my Zune 5 days after they told me it could be a while but I stuck with the iPod.  Also, MojoPac will work with the Zune too!

Tags: Double Click, iPod, microsoft, mp3, mp3 player, Ron Doyle, zune