Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to remote-control someone else’s PC? Maybe you’re the family “go-to” guy when it comes to computer problems. Maybe you’re a tech-support guy in your company. Maybe you’ve been in situations where it would just be easier to show someone how to do something rather than to try to explain how to do it. There are many ways to remote-control a user’s PC but few are as simple to set up as CrossLoop and LogMeIn Free. I’ve already written an article on using LogMeIn Free so this time we’ll check out CrossLoop.

[Read more →]

You may have heard of MythTV, the free TiVo-like application that can handle just about all of your multimedia needs. It can record and play back TV shows, including HDTV programming. It can be used to view your pictures, your weather forecast, and your favorite RSS feeds. It can rip and play back your music CD’s and your DVD’s. It can even display the list of movies you have in your NetFlix queue.

And it only runs on Linux.

So what if you’re a Windows user who wants to find out what MythTV is all about? Up until recently you couldn’t, but now you can. Here’s how.

[Read more →]

Watch HDTV on your computers, not just on your TV

How many devices do you have in your house that are capable of displaying high-definition content but have no way of getting high-definition content? If you have an HD television you can use your TV’s tuner (or external cable/satellite box) to tune the HD signal. But what if you also have a computer? Or two? Or three? Those devices are probably also capable of displaying HD content but have no easy way of actually receiving HD content. So how do you get that HD content to each of them without having to buy a separate HDTV tuner card for each PC? [Read more →]

The free VMWare Player is a very powerful and simple way to run virtual machines on your PC. You install the VMWare Player software, download some pre-configured virtual machines, and can run just about any other operating system from the comfy confines of your favorite operating system (Windows or Linux) without ever having to worry about messing up your favorite operating system. (You can read a more in-depth description of the VMWare Player from one of my previous posts, “VMWare: See How the Other Half Lives“)

VMWare also makes the VMWare Server software, which gives you a lot more control over your virtual machines, including a wizard that you can use to create your own virtual machine. VMWare Server is also free but may be a bit too complex for the user who simply wants to try out a different OS.

That leaves us with the choice between the simple VMWare Player, which you use to run pre-configured virtual machines, and the more complicated VMWare Server, which allows you to create your own virtual machines. But what if a user wants the simplicity of the VMWare Player and the ability create their own virtual machines from scratch? It’s actually quite easy to do.

[Read more →]

This is the second in a series of posts about the Excessive Use of Technology to Make Simple Tasks Difficult (or “EUTOMASITAD”, for short) You can find the first post here or the complete series here.

When I first stumbled across the description of MojoPac on their website it seemed too good to be true. Here was a piece of software that promised to allow you to create a PC on any USB-enabled device (memory stick, USB hard drive, iPod, cell phone), install all of your applications and data onto that USB-housed PC, and be able to use that PC on any machine running Windows XP. And it could do all of this without having to install any software onto the “host” PC and without leaving any trace that it had ever been there. Based on that description I first assumed that MojoPac just another type of virtualization, like VMWare or VirtualPC. It’s not, and that’s what makes it unique. [Read more →]

I’m not really sure how to classify the new Storm Launcher from AirHogs. It’s fun to drive around on the ground (even on grass). It’s fun to pilot around on the water. And, most importantly, it’s fun to fly. So, do you classify it as it a car, a boat, or a plane? I guess it’s really all three, which explains why I’ve found it next to other R/C cars, boats, and planes, depending on which store I’m in. [Read more →]

Trojans, spyware, viruses, keyloggers, rootkits — it’s pretty dangerous out there on the Wild Wild Web. There are countless sites out there that have the capability of installing software onto your PC without your knowledge and then stealing your data or using your PC to infect other PC’s (or both). In order to surf safely you have to make sure that you’ve taken precautions against becoming another zombie server for spyware, spam, and other unpleasantries. To combat these risks you should, at the very least, be running a firewall and a virus scanner. Even better would be to run a bowser other than Internet Explorer (I use Flock and Firefox). Want even more protection? Check out SandboxIE. [Read more →]