In a previous post I talked about the benefits of OpenID-enabled web sites. In a nutshell, OpenID promises to let you use the same logon credentials across multiple sites rather than having to create a new username and password at each site you visit. If you manage your own web site (or even a page on a web site) you can use your site’s URL instead of your OpenID provider’s URL. That means that you can log to OpenID-enabled sites using a “friendly” OpenID name (something like “techwandering.com”) instead of your OpenID provider’s name (like “techwandering.myopenid.com”). Here’s how. [Read more →]

Here’s an easy way to make your web surfing faster and safer at the same time. It doesn’t require you to install any software on your PC and it’s compatible with just about any version of any operating system. It’s called OpenDNS. Let’s see how it works. [Read more →]

I’ve had a DVR (”digital video recorder”, such as TiVo) in my home theater for years. My DVR allows me to schedule TV recordings and watch them at a later time, freeing me from being a slave to the TV network broadcast schedules. In fact, I’ve become so accustomed to this way of watching television that I don’t even really know when the shows I watch are actually broadcast. When I sit down to watch my television shows I’m shown a list of recordings which my DVR has made for me and I choose a show to watch from that list.

Now what if I told you that there was a way to do that same thing with much of the video which you watch on the internet? There is, and its name is Miro. Let’s take a closer look. [Read more →]

One of the annoying things about surfing around the web is that just about every website you visit wants you to create an account for yourself. To make matters worse, all of those accounts want to know a lot of the same information about you: your name, your address, your phone number, etc. Not only is typing that information over and over again more likely to result in a typo, it’s also tedious.

Most websites also make you choose a username and password so that you can log in when you visit the site. If you’re like 99% of the other web surfers out there you make your username and password the same for all of the sites you visit. From a security perspective that’s a dangerous thing to do since it means that if any of those sites get compromised it may be possible for a hacker to learn your username and password and log into any of those other sites while masquerading as you.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could create your account information once and have that information shared across all of the websites you visit? How about logging into your account once and not having to log in again as you surf around the web? OpenID is an open-source technology which may someday be able to turn that promise into a reality. How does it work? Let’s check it out. [Read more →]

We’ve heard for years that web-based applications accessed through a web browser (think the Writely word processor and GMail mail service) are soon going to replace applications installed on your PC (think Microsoft Word and Outlook). These thin-client applications hold the promise of allowing us to run complex applications on any operating system using any browser without having to install any bloated software.

Well, that’s the theory, at least. In reality things are a little more complicated. Many of these online applications require specialized plug-ins which means that they’ll only work on specific browsers running on specific operating systems. And, although these online applications are becoming more robust, they still have nowhere near the same feature sets that their thick-client cousins have. Still, though, those problems aren’t insurmountable. The plug-in problem is being addressed as more and more applications incorporate AJAX, and most of us use only the basic features of those applications, anyway.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle with using online applications is that, by definition, they’re only available when you’re online. Want to do some work during your 3-hour flight to Cleveland? You’re not online when you’re flying so you have to use the applications installed on your laptop instead of their web-based equivalents.

But what if there was a technology that would let you use your web-based applications when you weren’t connected to the web? There is, and it’s called Google Gears. Let’s take a look at what it is, what it isn’t, how it works, and what it can do. [Read more →]

Once in a while I wander across a PC utility that really saves me a lot of work. Recently I discovered a piece of software called “What’s Running?” which I now use instead of the collection of PC monitoring tools that I had been using. How’s it possible to replace an entire suite of tools with a single piece of free software? Let’s take a look.
[Read more →]

There have been a number of attempts to stream television shows and other types of video programming over the internet. All of these efforts have run into problems of one form or another - some technical, some legal, some monetary, and some a combination of all of the above. All of these attempts had one thing in common, however: they offered poor-quality internet TV service containing little or no compelling programming.

The latest attempt to deliver quality TV over the internet is called Joost. It’s still in beta but it’s far enough along to demonstrate that its creators have learned from the mistakes of their predecessors. Joost may even offer a glimpse at the future of television.

Let’s take a look at what Joost is and what makes it different.
[Read more →]

I can’t cook.

Well, I suppose that’s not completely true. I can cook a bit, but only if I can follow a set of simple directions or a basic recipe. If I have to somehow deviate because I have a 9″x13″ casserole dish instead of an 8″x12″ casserole dish or because I can’t find the oregano I’m in trouble.

My wife, on the other hand, knows how to cook. She uses a recipe as more of a vague suggestion rather than as a detailed set of instructions. If she can’t find a specific ingredient she can simply substitute something else using logic like “It’s in the same family” or “It’ll work — they’re both red”.

When my wife looks into the pantry she sees a hundred different meals just waiting to be made. When I look into the pantry I see a bunch of ingredients without knowing how they could possibly combined to make anything.

I find this ironic because, when it comes to technology, I’m the cook. I can look at all of the “ingredients” that I have (hardware, software, network) and have no problem coming up with ways to combine them to make a technological meal. Sometimes I can even make a meal and a dessert. [Read more →]