PCIN.net Update

Archive for the ‘Recommended Web Sites’ Category

You may have heard of this before, but Mike Nolet posted a page where you can analyze your browser history and it tells you whether you are likely a male or a female. I just did it, and it said there was a 30% change I’m female and 70% change I’m male (which is correct).

I’ve posted before some links to sites that help you download videos from the web. Another one is Splandoo. The dropdown box lets you choose from over a dozen different video providers.

Note: The video providers are often changing their web sites, so some videos may download correctly, but others may not.

Do you have some time to kill? Do you like trivia? If so, then you should check out Sporcle. The site describes itself in this way:

Founded in early 2007, Sporcle came to life with the response to its first quiz, naming the U.S. Presidents. As avid crossword, Jeopardy! and trivia fans, we created that original quiz not only to test knowledge, but also as a way to learn a piece of information that seemed to come up again and again.

Since then, Sporcle has continued to create quizzes for entertainment, memory and diversion (don’t worry, we won’t tell your boss). You can play one of the thousands of quizzes (and increasing daily) or make your own!

One of the blogs I follow is the Workers’ Edge blog by Dennis O’Reiley of CNET News. Dennis offers “tips and tricks for the cubicle-dweller”. I don’t work in a cubicle, but I do appreciate some of the productivity software tips he gives.

A couple of the most useful Outlook tips were:

• Remove the attachments from your Outlook e-mail
• Clear duplicate files from Outlook the free and easy way

If you work in a corporate environment and have a quota on your mailbox, then both of these utilities might help you free up some space (although if you are in a corporate environment, you may need your administrator to install them for you.

From Digital Photography School:

Digital Cameras seem to be one of the gifts of choice this year for Christmas if the questions in my inbox are anything to go by.

As so many new camera owners are starting out with photography in the new year I thought I’d compile a list of photography tips and techniques that new camera owners might like to work through in the coming weeks.

Some are very basic while others go a little deeper – but all have been selected from our archives specifically for beginners and new camera owners. Enjoy.

I’m not sure if this is official (I think it must be), but there is a site where you can enter some information and have a customized video made about your upcoming trip to a Disney Park.

The video is done as if it is a news broadcast. A woman is on site announcing that for the entire year the theme park will be dedicated to one person. The video is a couple of minutes long, and there are clips of various things that have the name of a person that you have entered. It is very well done. It’s hard to explain, but if you give it a try, you’ll certainly find it to be entertaining.

From PCWorld.ca:

Is your PC tired and sluggish? Has its get up and go got up and went? If you want a faster system, you could certainly break the bank and buy a new machine. Or you could read this article instead.

We’ve found 50 downloads that will make your PC run more quickly and smoothly, help you use the Internet more effectively, and push Windows to work at optimum speed with the interface you want, not what Microsoft gave you.

From PCWorld.ca:

Imagine how different the computing world would be if IBM had used proprietary chips in the original PC, rather than off-the-shelf components. The PC clone market would never have happened, and IBM, rather than Microsoft, might have emerged as the leading company of the computer revolution.

Or if Steve Jobs had never taken his fateful tour of Xerox PARC? Had he not seen PARC’s GUI in action he might never have created the Macintosh. And then where would Windows be today?

In every industry there are key milestones that mark a change in the course of history, and the fast-moving technology field has more than its share. Presented here are 15 turning points that shaped the computing world as we know it today, including some that still continue to influence its direction for years to come.

LIVEdigitally had a posting about words that we used to know, but that the Internet has made obsolete:

I’m noticing that a few very common words are losing their meaning, specifically due to their various implementations online (warning: much sarcasm and cynical writing follows, don’t take it too seriously if you are easily offended)…

PCWorld.ca had an article about how to do things faster on your computer:

22 smarter, more efficient ways to make short work of common tech tasks–from reinstalling Windows to crushing spyware to setting up a Web site.