Technology Guides

Everyone knows that Microsoft Windows Vista is pretty slow, especially when you have all the add-ons but there are a few things you can do to help speed it up. 

Sidebar

The sidebar is nice and all, but do you really need another clock, an RSS feed or some random stock prices? Not really. So right click the sidebar, and click properties. At the top, uncheck start sidebar when Windows starts. At the next boot, you’ll get rid of the CPU draining sidebar.

Visual Effects

In the system properties box, (from Control Panel–>System & Maintenance–>System–>Change Settings. At this point click the Advanced tab and then the Settings button. From here, you can choose which parts of Vista’s visual effects you’d like to take off. I personally have only “Enable desktop composition” and “Use visual styles on windows and buttons “. 

Always remember to take out programs you don’t need, removing them from the start menu so they don’t load when your computer boots. If you go to Windows defender, you can change the start up programs so they don’t load at the beginning. Virus software should always be loaded, but not Windows Messenger. 

Hopefully these tips will help you speed up your computer and if you have any more to share then please feel free to comment away.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I’m a big fan of Hewlett-Packard (HP) and for good reason. They are forward thinking. On that note, I give you two new HP desktops that grace the green market. The two new desktops are called the Pavilion Verde and the Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition. HP claims that these two systems are 45% more efficient that comparable PCs and they come in special packaging that is recyclable and adds a bit of flair with a green design. Now recycling packaging might seem like something small, but really, if you think about it, it is so important in our world today. Technology moves so fast, that our electronics become obsolete in no less than 3 months, and where do you think that packaging goes? We need recycled materials more now than ever. 

HP Pavilion Verde

These desktops achieve a high level of efficiency without making use of any power management technology which is critical to reducing the costs for the consumer. They don’t just sip power, but they have great stats to back it up. The Pavilion Verde houses an AMD Athlon X2 4850e dual-core processor, a 500 GB hard drive, 5 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE graphics processor with 128 MB onboard video memory, a DVD SuperMulti drive with Lightscribe, and Windows Vista Home Premium.

HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition

The second green desktop, the Phoenix Special Edition, comes with the same as the Verde but with these few upgraded or extra features: an AMD 9150e quad-code CPU and a 640 GB HDD. 

The prices for these two are $579 and $659 respectively. 

Conclusion

My opinion on these two desktops can be summed up in one word: great. I think a 45% gain in energy effiency is amazing and it does it all with class and a low price. I’d personally pick one up myself if I had a home to store it in. For now I’ll stick to laptops, and small ones at that.

Popularity: 1% [?]

This week, Bell and Telus decided to put their differences aside and join forces to offer a HSPA network that will span the length of Canada. This is the first major annoucement after the wireless spectrum auciton that was held back in the Summer of 2008. With this announcement, we will see in 2010 a major shift in consumer pricing for cell phone plans and cell phones. In the meantime, Globalive will hopefully help shake up the marketplace especially since its website inception, Wireless Soapbox, launched on September 4, 2008. This website is helping Canadians voice their displeasure on our current wireless market. On here, Globalive has let us wireless users let them know what’s wrong and it seems they are listening. I believe they are at least trying since it’s one of the first times, big business has come down to the level of consumers and asked the people who pay their bills, their opinion through a more community based way. 

Telus Logo

Back to Bell and Telus. Gearing up for the Vancouver 2010 games is not only the governments job, but also an incentive for wireless carriers to shift their pricing plans. By the time the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games roll around, Bell and Telus will have set up their new network that will start charging for roaming while sending data. This will be a huge money maker since most people visitng Canada for the Games will want up to date results on how their country is doing in compeitions.

This is good for Canadians in general though because it offers another two companies who can now officially directly compete with Rogers and Fido. Now Telus will be able to market the same high-tech phones Rogers does and be able to get those phones at a cheaper price per unit. To do this, they will overlay their current CDMA network with the new HSPA network. The HSPA overlay will also help speed up the transition into the 4G Long Term Evolution standard, expected to be in use by 2012, which will offer record download speeds and eliminate the division between GSM and CDMA. This transition is where Europe is going so it only makes sense that Canada follows suit.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I downloaded Windows Folder Share in a bid to sync my computer with my one downstairs almost instantly. After trying and failing with many other applications, I was pleased to find this was set up nicely in the beginning. First off, you need to download the application, FolderShare, for all of the computers you want access to and be able to sync with one another. With this, you need a user account that surprisingly does not have to be a Live account. The great thing, and drawback is you don’t sync the whole computer, rather you sync individual folders.

Once the account was created, and the application was downloaded on both my laptop and desktop, I found an easy to use interface that showed me the computers that were online and what I could do with them. With FolderShare, you can share folders not only with your computers, but you can share folders with friends. Basically there are two things you can do right off the bat from the main menu: sync folders with your friends or your computers.

Sync With Friends

First create a personal library to share with your friends. This really means, pick the folder which you’d like to be able to share with your friends. You can choose from any of the computers that are online at that time. All of your computers might not be available because they might be turned off and therefore you won’t have access to them at that time. Then you’ll click the folder which you’d like to share and at the bottom hit “Create Library Here”. Then add all the emails and their associated permissions (4 to choose from) and send out those invitations. They would then download the application and then pick where they’d like to sync your folder, on their computer. Once they’ve chosen it will start syncing intitially as Foldershare placeholder file and then over a short period of time they will become their true files. In literally seconds, files will automatically show up if you change it on one computer which is amazing for a free beta program.

Sync Across Your Computers

To sync across your computers you do need the application on both computers but it’s very easy to do. First on one computer choose the folder you’d like to share and hit “Create Library Here”. Then choose the other computer you want to sync with that folder. You’re done and automatically the files will be there next time you go to that computer.

At first, it might be a little daunting to understand how it works because the new language “library” might be confusing. Another improvement that might be in the works is the folder selection. For example if you want to share the folder called “Pictures” you have to click it and then hit “Create Library Here” even though it shows no files or folders.

Popularity: 1% [?]