TechBite by Steve Bass: Newsletter Archives

• 49 No TechBite Newsletter? What's Up with That?

  Message from Bass Headquarters
  A month ago I learned I had a full-time job with two new kids -- my
  86-year-old mom and 88-year-old dad. If you've had this
  oh-so-very-challenging, and time intensive experience, you know what
  I'm facing.
  For the next month or so, I may be sporadically AWOL (you'll
  recognize...

• 48 5 Free Tools to Tickle Your PC's Fancy

  --------------------advertisement--------------------
  Ad Muncher Removes Ads. Period.
  New Version 4.8 Available Now
  Had enough of annoying banners that move across the screen and
  block your view? Are you weary of seeing advertisements come on
  screen before content? Join the thousands of Ad Muncher users who
  browse...

• 47 33 Web Tools for People Searches

  How to Find Anyone
       The "Find Anyone" Search Tools to Use
       Small World Department
       What You Had to Say
  Time Wasters
  Image of the Week 
  Hey, Here I Am
  -------------------advertisement-------------------- 
  Free PC Performance Scan
  Since 2004, over 150 million scans have been run at PC Pitstop,
  making Optimize...

• 46 Use the Web to Find Anyone in the World

  Find Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime (Almost)
  Special Note to EarthLink Users
  Find Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime (Almost)
            Just the Facts, Please
            Techniques, Clues, and Patterns
            Honing in on Jan L. Shephard
  What I'm Reading: Harry's Ugly PC Contest
  Tech Tool: Quick Scanner Copies
  Time Wasters
  Image of the Week: Traffic Jam
  Find Me...

• 45 Five Killer Word Tricks

  In This Issue
  Have It Your Way
            Tabs for Word. Cool!
            Work Menu: Favorites for Word
            Take Control of Your Formatting
            Snappy Toolbar Changes
            Brush Up with Format Painter
  Tech Tool: Classic Menu in Office 2007
  Time Wasters
  Image of the Week: The Internet Claims Another Victim
  Open...

• 44 11 Sites to Watch and Download Free TV and Movies

  In This Issue
  MediaGate's Portable M2TV
  Free TV and Movies
  What About Pirated Movies?
  Tech Tip: Unlock PDF Files
  Tech Tool: John's Background Switcher
  Time Wasters
  Image of the Week
  Stop Flipping
  --------------------advertisement--------------------
  Free PC Performance Scan
  Since 2004, over 150 million...

• 43 Stream Movies from Your PC to Your TV

  In This Issue
  Note from Steve
  Watching Downloaded Movies on Your TV
          Making the PC-to-TV Connection
          Connections: Pros and Cons
          How Well Do They Work?
          MediaGate MG-800HD
          Sling Media Sling Catcher
  Follow-up: Secunia PCI Install Problems
  Time Wasters
  My Home Phone Number
   
  Watching...

• 42 PC Annoyances; Security Updates; Super Security Key

  In This Issue
  PC Annoyances
          Louder. No, Quieter
          Need a Quick Print? Just Right-Click
          Leave My Freakin' Icons Alone     
  Product of the Week: Super Security for Your PC
  Tool of the Week: Secunia PSI
  Goofy Web Service of the Week: Polaroid Pix
  Time Wasters
  Image of the Week: You...

• 41 Google, Printing, Security Alerts, and California Wildfires

  In This Issue
  Special note
  Follow-Up: Google Tricks
  Follow-Up: Save Money on Printing 
  Tool of the Week: Proactive Security Auditor
  Holy Mackerel: Microsoft says, "Screw Google"
  Time Wasters
  Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
  Special note: As some of you know, we live close to the Station
  fire in southern...

• 40 Smart Google Tools; IE and Firefox Backup Tools

  6 Smart Google Tools; Backup IE and Firefox
  In This Issue
  6 Useful Things You Can Do with Google
  PC Annoyance: Hibernation Blues
  Tools of the Week: IE and Firefox Backup
  Holy Mackerel: Who Has the Most Secure Browser?
  Google Time Wasters
  Time Wasters
  Search Me!
  6 Useful Things You Can Do with Google
  You use Google, sure, but if all you're doing are...

• 39 PC Annoyances and Fixes; Easy BitTorrents; Swoopo Risks

  In This Issue
  PC Annoyances and Fixes
          IE: Stop Remembering My Passwords!
          How's Your Notebook's Battery Doing?
          My Quick Launch Toolbar Is Missing
          Take Control of the Recycle Bin
  I'm Squeamish About Swoopo
  Techy Tool of the Week: torrent2exe
  Time Wasters
  More Time...

• 38 Save Printing Ink -- and Money

  In This Issue
  Printing? Save Ink (and Money)
            Color No, Monochrome Yes
            Money-Saving Draft Picks
            Zap Ads and Images
  Tool of the Week: Lazarus Form Recovery
  Techy Tech Tip: Drag and Drop to DOS
  Time Wasters
  Free Inkjet Cartridges
   Printing? Save Ink (and Money)
  Are you replacing printer cartridges...

• 37 Economy Worries? 5 Net Tricks to Save You Money

  In This Issue
  Frugal? Thrifty? No, Cheap!
  Tech Tool: PC Essentials for New XP Installs
  Techy Tech Tip: DOS TAB Shortcut
  Time Wasters
  Whatcha Doing?
   Frugal? Thrifty? No, Cheap!
  "You're a bargain hunter," one of my more polite friends says. My
  wife's more to the point: She calls me a cheapskate. I like...

• 36 10 More Super-Duper Firefox Extensions

  In This Issue
  Firefox: Did I Get Mail
  10 Super-Duper Firefox Extensions 
  Tool of the Week: CFi Lockdown!
  Time Wasters
  Quick, Do This Now
  Firefox: Did I Get Mail
  I love it when you write and pass along handy ideas. I received
  hundreds of messages (okay, 50, but who's counting) sharing Firefox
  add-ons, extensions,...

• 35 Try These 14 Smart, Handy, and Free Web Sites

  In This Issue
  Smart, Handy, and Free Web Sites
  Tech Tip: Alphabetize E-Mail Folders
  Geeky Tech Problem: Flash Video "Press Esc to ..."
  Holy Mackerel: Apple Downplays Fiery iPod Incidents
  Time Wasters
  Look, Honey, It's That Time Again
  Smart, Handy, and Free Web Sites
  I have some Web sites for you that are...

• 34 7 Tools to Make Firefox Shine

  In This Issue
  Goodbye IE; Hello Firefox
         7 Add-ons to Make Firefox Jump Through Hoops
  Tech Tip of the Week
  Tool of the Week: Notepad++
  Time Wasters
  Protect Your Friends
  Goodbye IE; Hello Firefox
  Clear the decks, I'm now an avid Firefox user. It took me a long
  time to give up my treasured Maxthon, an Internet Explorer...

• 33 Bass Buys an iPod touch; PDF Converters; Finetune Player

  Bass Buys an iPod touch; PDF Conversions; Fine-tune Player
   In This Issue
  I'm an iPod touch Owner!
          The Apple Phenomenon
          Look Out for iTunes
          This Just In: Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks
          Want to Buy a touch?
  Three Essential iPod Tools
  Tool of the Week: PDF to Word
  Web Site of the Week: Finetune Player
  Time Wasters
  Guess Who  
  I'm...

• 32 An SLR in Your Pocket; Plus Decision-Making Software

  In This Issue
  Let the Newsletter Resume
  Canon's G10: An SLR in Your Pocket
  G10: What's to Like 
  G10 Designers: What Were They Thinking?
  Holy Mackerel: Microsoft and Bass
  Tool of the Week: ChoiceAnalyst
  Web Site of the Week: Outlook's Broken!
  Time Wasters
  Knock Knock
  *Let the Newsletter Resume*
  No,...

• 31 Hard Drive Tools, Nifty Search Engines

  In This Issue
  TechBite: On Vacation
  How's Your Hard Drive Doing?
  Free Microsoft Technet Subscription
  What's on the Radio?
  Tech Tip: Two New Search Engines
  Tool of the Week: PC DeCrapifier
  Time Wasters
  Someone's at the Door
  How's Your Hard Drive Doing? 
  Hard drives are about as dependable as a teenager promising...

• 30 Pry Loose Stubborn Programs

  In This Issue
  Brute Force Uninstalls
  Uninstalling Stubborn Programs
  Tech Tip of the Week: Can You Hear Me?
  Holy Mackerel: Trouble at PC World
  Time Wasters
  Can You Hear Me Now?
  Brute Force Uninstalls
  Here's a quiz: When's a program a permanent fixture on your
  desktop? When you can't find a way to uninstall it. 
  You've probably...

• 29 Free Super Sites and Tools to Test Your PC

  In This Issue
  PC Pitstop: The Best of the Best
  Want More? Other Tests to Try
  Fix Those Test Site Problems
  Tool of the Week: What's Running
  Time Wasters
  Testing, 1-2-3
  Are you sure your PC's healthy? Think back to when you heard that
  kerchunk sound coming from your hard drive. Or the last time your
  Internet...

• 28 Save Your PC's Bacon: Back Up the Registry

  In This Issue
  Hello ERUNT, Adios System Restore
  Why System Restore Isn't So Hot
  My Love Affair with ERUNT
  Test of the Week: ISP BitTorrent Monitoring
  Tool of the Week: Aviary Tools
  Product of the Week: SanDisk Ultra Backup Flash Drive
  Give This a Whirl: Faxes Over VoIP 
  On My Radar: Driver Update Sites
  Time...

• 27 WinPatrol 2009: A Must-Have (and Free) Tool

  In This Issue
  WinPatrol, My Protector
          Keeping Track of Risky Files
          WinPatrol Flavors
  Tech Tip of the Week: Disable Services
  Tool of the Week: Update Notifier
  Product of the Week: Locking HDMI Cable
  What I'm Reading: The Ins and Outs of Vista
  Time Wasters
  Something's Loading Without Permission
  WinPatrol,...

• 26 Five Cool Web Services You Have to Try

  ...

• 25 Enough Already: Stop Malware, Spyware, and Trojans

  In This Issue
  How's Your Protection?
  Blockade, Barricade, and Fortify
  Permanently Delete Norton and McAfee
  Tool of the Week: SoliCall Noise Reducer
  Time Wasters
  Sit Down and Take This Test
  They're out to get you: Sleaze balls writing devious, sneaky
  programs that load you system with junk. I'll show...

• 24 Posterous: A Cool Web Repository

  Posterous: a Cool Web Repository
  In This Issue
  Post Almost Anything on Posterous
  Tool of the Week: CraigsList Reader
  Tech Tip of the Week: Disable Windows' "Reboot Now"
  In the Spotlight: Brother Inkjet Printers
  Holy Mackerel: EBay Sells Skype
  Time Wasters
  Read This on Craigslist
  Post Almost Anything on Posterous
  I get e-mails with PowerPoint and other...

• 23 10 Super-Duper (and Free) Tools

  In This Issue
  Tools You Can Use
            Greased Lightning Finds
            Wizmo -- Steve Gibson's Nifty Tool
            Capture and Record any Sound
            Multi Monitor Mouse
  Tech Tip of the Week: Stop Errors
  Product of the Week: Genius Portable USB Speakers
  Holy Mackerel
  Time Wasters
  Don't Miss This
  Tools You Can Use
  I've been bingeing on free...

• 22 Deleting Fonts, Ripping Music, Hiding Files

  Dump extra fonts, talk on a Jabra headset, hide and encrypt files,
  and Internet Cleaning Day. Plus the usual batch of time wasters.
  In This Issue
  Hassle Central
            Too Many Fonts
            Ripping Music from YouTube
            Internet Cleaning Day
  Tool of the Week: SafeHouse Explorer
  Tech Tip of the...

• 21 Natural Disaster? Go to the Web for Help

  Tech Tips for Hurricanes, Fires, Earthquakes, and Other Disasters
  In This Issue
  Disasters: Duck and Take Cover
      Listen to Live Feeds on the Net
      Put Together a Disaster Kit
      Disaster Equipment to Keep Handy
      What Subscribers Have to Say
  Tool of the Week: Google SketchUp 7
  This Week's Tech Tip
  Time Wasters
  Make It Disaster Proof
  Read the...

• 20 Like Action? Listen to Police and Fire Scanners (Wow!)

  Tune in to police and fire departments, learn about TechBite
  membership, and dig into a truckload of time wasters.
   
  In this issue:
  Online Scanners: Listen In
  Errata, Feedback, and TechBite Membership
  Time Wasters
  Now Listen to This Scream
  Online Scanners:Listen In
  I started to write about ways...

• 19 Six Handy Web Tools -- Plus a MagicJack Follow-Up

  Six Handy Web Tools -- Plus a MagicJack Follow-up
  Some terrific tools, magicJack flack, and loopy time wasters.
  In This Issue
  The Web, I Can't Live Without Ya
            WireWize
            Viewing Distance Calculator
            Answers and AskNow
            Down for Everyone?
            Rminder
  Reader Comments about MagicJack
  Time Wasters
  Spread the Word
  Read...

• 18 Seven Smart (and Free) Tools to Keep Your PC Smiling

  Tools you can use: Delete duplicate files and MP3s, printer
  smarter, plus a follow-up on passwords, and more time wasting
  nonsense.
  In this issue: 
  Tools to Make Your PC Smile 
            Dump the Dupes 
            The Bane of MP3 Duplicates 
            Nifty Selective Web Printing Tool 
            Zap...

• 17 Password Disaster: My PayPal Account Was Hacked

  Tips for secure passwords -- and managing your passwords. Plus a
  nifty Web printing tool and a few ways for you to waste your time. 
  In this issue: 
  My PayPal Account's Been Hacked
            Quick Password Tips  
            Who's Got My Password?
            Password: z24x680uBS4!44
            Generating...

• 16 magicJack: No-Brainer Money Saver, The

  Save more than chump change by using magicJack. Plus magicJack
  quibbles and hacks. And as usual, time wasters. 
  In this issue: 
  Making the Switch to magicJack
            Hey, I'm Connected
            What's The magicJack Catch?
            Is magicJack For You?
            Two Not-So-Magic Quibbles
            magicJack...

• 15 5 Free (and Smart) Tools to Keep Your PC Humming

  Five Smart (and Free) Tools to Keep Your PC Humming
  Smart, free tools to make your computing life easier. Plus the
  usual array of time wasters. 
  In this issue: 
  Like Freebies? Here Are Plenty
       Save Files Where You Want Them Saved
       Find Files and Folders Fast
       Save Money With Selective Printing
       Organize Your Desktop Icons with Fences
  Time...

• 14 Get Read: Cardinal Rules of E-Mail (Part 2), The

  Smart Ways to Write E-mail 
  In last week's newsletter I showed you how to stop sending e-mail
  that no one bothers reading. This week I have a bunch more tips
  that you can use -- pay attention now -- the very next time you
  send me a message. 
  In this issue: 
  Smart Ways to Write E-Mail 
  Holy Mackerel 
  What...

• 13 Get Read: Cardinal Rules of E-Mail, The

  Want me to ignore your e-mail? Can do. Just leave the subject line
  blank, stick your entire message into one, long, 300-word sentence,
  or use cutesy, curlicued fonts I can't decipher. Oh, yeah, make
  sure you use a lavender background and neon green type.
  In this issue: 
  Read My E-Mail
  Expert Help Follow-up 
  Holy...

• 12 Help Is on the Way

  Strategies for finding answers to your PC hassles, a wacky
  photographer's dilemma, a cool travel site, and more ways to waste
  your time. Read the newsletter online at
  http://www.aweber.com/b/lfvp

• 11 Flash: Getting YouTube Videos to Play

  ...

• 10 New Year's Time Wasters

  It's the second week of the year-end holidays and I know you're
  goofing off. (I know I am.) So I filled the newsletter with things
  that won't make you a better person (or your PC any faster), can't
  help you with the recession, and who knows, may even rot your
  teeth. 
  Read the rest of the newsletter online:
  http://www.aweber.com/b/109GZ...

• 9 Time Wasters for the Holidays

  Extreme snowboarding, mind-numbing puzzles, sing-along with Elvis,
  and a bunch more ways for you to kill some time.
  It's a holiday week, two in a row, actually. The tradition is that
  I fill the newsletter with things to keep you amused, challenged,
  and with some of the videos, laughing out loud. Let's get started.
  Read...

• 8 Free: Speed Up and Protect Your Internet Connection

  Take two minutes to goose your connection, a quick "is the site
  working for you?" check, Seagate's nifty drive, and some unusual
  ways to kill some time. 
  In this issue:
  The Lowdown on Domain Name Servers 
  Is It Working for You? 
  What I'm Reading 
  Product of the Week 
  TechBite: Behind the Scenes 
  Time...

• 7 Using a Cell Phone? You're Paying Too Much!

  TechBite Technology 
  Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
  
  A cool way to save dough on your cell phone service -- plus
  adrenaline-pumping time wasters.
  In this issue:
  Understanding Prepaid
  Experts Agree About Prepaid
  TracFone, My One and Only
  Tracfone Downsides 
  Quick Tech Tip: Delete .LOG Files
  Time Wasters
  Call...

• 6 Registry Cleaners, More on CCleaner

  TechBite Technology
  Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
  December 3, 2008
  TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the
  technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most
  out of
  them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery.
  : An answer to the burning
  question about Registry cleaners,...

• 5 Bass Backstory, The

  If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail, view it online.
  TechBite Technology 
  Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
  October 29, 2008
  
  TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology
  products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and
  the
  gotchas that can cause computing misery.
  
  Hey, I'm...

• 4 Cheap Landline Long Distance Plans

  If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail, view it online.
  TechBite Technology 
  Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
  November 5, 2008
  
  TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology
  products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and
  the
  gotchas that can cause computing misery.
  Cheap Landline Long Distance...

• 3 Help -- I Can't Get Online!

  If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail, view it online.
  TechBite Technology 
  Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
  October 29, 2008
  
  TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology
  products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and
  the
  gotchas that can cause computing misery.
  
  Can't...

• 2 Have a Slow System? Try These Free Fixes

  If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail, view it online
  [http://www.aweber.com/b/1IElx].
  Received this from a friend? Click here [http://www.techbite.com/]
  to subscribe.
  
  Tips to get your system to run faster, a turkey carving video,
  heartwarming time wasters, and a Holy Mackerel. 
  In this issue:
  Oh, my system...

• 1 [TechBite: Steve Bass] A Fix for ’My Video Won't Play!’

  A Fix for "My Video Won't Play"
  TechBite Technology
  Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
  November 19, 2008 (formerly the November 12, 2008 newsletter)
  TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the
  technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most
  out of
  them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery.
  A Fix for "My...