WTVN Radio • Columbus, Ohio • Sunday morning from 8 until 9

Is this information useful? If so, consider
making a contribution, please.

Random thought:

Quicken 2003 gets you off to the right financial start

When a program is working well, you can forget about upgrading to the latest version. Any upgrade has the potential to disrupt your procedures and updates often have bugs, but sometimes it's worth the risk to get the new features.

Quicken 2003 is one of these. It had been a couple of years since I had upgraded, so the first thing I noticed was a completely new interface. The second thing I noticed was that I liked the new interface. The folks at Intuit have been busy adding new features.

Added to Quicken 2001

• Proactive Missed Bill Reminders
• Improved Tax Planner
• Support For Capital Losses
• Improved 401(K) Tracking
• 30+ New Portfolio Performance Indicators
• Improved Transfer To TurboTax (Sold Separately)

Added to Quicken 2002

• Automatic Categorization
• Automatic Reconcile
• Portfolio Analyzer
• Easier, More Flexible Budgeting
• Improved Capital Gains Estimator
• More Accurate Tax Forecasting
• 7 New Reports & Graphs
• Improved IRA Tracking

Added to Quicken 2003

• Step-By-Step Guided Setup
• Easier Setup to Connect to Your Accounts to Download Data
• Scheduled Online Updates
• Enhanced Encryption Technologies
• Capital Gains YTD Snapshot
• Investing and Tax Insights
• Schedule A, B and D Tax Reports
• Investment and Sale Optimizer
• Step-By-Step Investing Tutorials
• Buy/Sell Preview
• Improved, More Flexible Investment and Paycheck Setup
• Fresh, More Insightful Design

Some of the new features require that you install Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6, and upgrade that occasionally causes problems with other installed software. If you dislike the Microsoft browser, you may need to forego this upgrade; my default browser is Microsoft's, so this requirement isn't a problem for me.

The most critical functions are ones that Intuit mastered years ago: Keeping track of multiple accounts and moving money from one account to another. But beyond that, the program helps you to keep track of stocks and other investments, real estate, credit cards, and the rest of your finances.

Quicken learns, too. When I was a few weeks behind entering checkbook data, I noticed that -- without being asked -- Quicken was asking me about payments that I usually make: Ameritech, Sprint, Roadrunner, and some insurance payments. The program didn't enter the payments, but it did exactly what an intelligent assistant would do without being asked. That's a level of service that's significantly beyond "Billminder".

Quicken comes in 3 variants, from $50 to $80. Here's the product comparison from the Quicken website:

For more information, see http://www.quicken.com/.

Give your desktop some power with PowerDesk

Microsoft's Windows Explorer is fine as far as it goes. The problem is that sometimes it doesn't go far enough. When you're leafing through a directory of digital images, it would be nice to be able to see a large view of the each image without having to launch an applications such as ACD See or Thumbs Plus. In a directory full of MP3 files, it would be handy if I could preview some of the tracks without having to run MusicMatch or WinAmp. In a directory of images, it would be helpful to know how large the image is (in pixels, not bytes). And wouldn't it be handy to be able to attach a note to any file in any directory? And if you're a power user, wouldn't it be helpful if the Windows Explorer could use the FTP protocol to copy files? Or if you could tell the Explorer to make two directories (either on the same computer or on a network) have the same contents?

Have you ever wished for those capabilities?

Well, wish no more. Take a look at V-Com's PowerDesk Pro. The program is available in two flavors: PowerDesk (free) and PowerDesk Pro ($30). Support is not available for the free version and it omits the power-user features such as FTP, file viewer, notes, group rename, digital music support, folder synchronization, and the "cool bar" application launcher. That sounds like a lot is missing, and a lot is missing, but the free version is still more powerful than the Windows Explorer.

It's probably enough to get you hooked on the features and to get you interested in the advanced features that can be yours for just $30. If you want a box (which you'll throw away) and a CD (which you'll file), you can have that, too, for $10 more. Oh, and the Pro version also supports Zip and most of the other compression systems so that you can just drag a file to or from a Zip file without having to open WinZip.

This is an application that can better be described with pictures than with words. So ....
CLICK ANY OF THE IMAGES BELOW FOR A LARGER VIEW

Here's a directory with some MP3 files. To the right (and out of sight) is a column with additional information about each selection. Note the PLAY button in the viewer panel at the bottom. This is not a full-fledged player such as WinAmp or MusicMatch, but it's a quick and easy way to preview a selection. The music will continue to play as long as the selection has PowerDesk's focus (but PowerDesk does not need to be in the foreground).

Directories full of images (such as this directory with a picture of Scampi the Hacker Cat sitting on a box that contains a replacement monitor for the NEC MultiSync LCD 1830 that died over the holidays) show each image as it is selected. To the right (and again out of sight) is a column with the size of each image in pixels.

Here is a directory with MP3 files and two JPG files that represent the album cover art. I've added a note to "folder.jpg" as a reminder of what the file is.

You can view more than one directory simultaneously. Here we have one directory above the other, and note that the display configurations are different, too. The selected file is being previewed in the preview window. Since it's an executable file, PowerDesk displays information from the file's header data.

This view is similar to the one above, except now the directories are side by side and I've selected a dynamic-link library (DLL) file. As with executable files, the DLL's header information is shown in the preview window.

By now you should be interested in finding out more about the product. That's easy. Just click here:
http://www.v-com.com/product/pd_ind.html

Sharpening the tools:
How to rip the OS out by the roots

Craftspeople say that time spent sharpening tools is time well spent. I believe that is true, so on Christmas Eve, I got out the "sharpening stone" and started working on my tools. The sharpening stone is a stack of CDs and the tool is my computer.

As you might imagine, I spend a lot of time with the computer and a sizable number of applications arrive, are installed and evaluated, and are then removed each year. So many that the computer begins to suffer from operating system entropy. ("If entropy is increasing, where is it coming from?") This is not a problem that is unique to Microsoft operating systems, but it is exacerbated by Microsoft operating systems because of decisions Microsoft made when disk storage space was expensive.

When programs are installed, they usually create their own directory. Files stored there can safely be deleted when the application is removed. But most programs also store dynamic-link library (DLL) files in the Windows directory or a subdirectory. These are supposed to be the latest versions of the shared files and no program is ever supposed to overwrite a newer version of a DLL with an older version.

When a program is removed, it can and should delete all files from its own directory. But what about the shared DLLs? Does some other application need the DLL? When I remove an application, I always take the conservative approach: any shared DLL the application installed is left in place. While this is generally safe, it can contribute to detritus in the Windows directory. And sometimes the later version of a DLL, which is supposed to be compatible with earlier versions, actually causes some applications that depend on the earlier version to fail.

The computer as a time bomb

It's no surprise that after 6 months or so my computer seems to take on a life of its own. Windows 2000 and Windows XP are both far more capable of dealing with this constant change than Windows 9x was, but the computer still needs to be stripped down and reworked every year or so.

The motherboard and CPU in my primary computer are 2 years old. Originally the system ran Windows 2000, but I upgraded to Windows XP. A few months ago, when I removed Norton Antivirus in favor of another application, the system developed serious malfunctions. The temporary fix was to reinstall Windows XP on top of the existing installation. The computer worked, but some applications didn't function quite right. The system limped along, waiting for me to find time to do what needed to be done.

I set aside part of Christmas day and the next couple of days to format the C drive and reinstall Windows. That would wipe out the Registry, meaning that I would have to reinstall every application on the system. Because I keep data on drive D, formatting the disk put very few files in jeopardy. Knowing there would be configuration files and some data files that I would want later, I used Backup My PC to create a full backup of the C drive on the D drive as well as on a removable hard drive backup device. Drives D, E, and F were already backed up. Drive J contains no valuable data. (G and H are CD drives.)

Critical applications

I use e-mail to keep in touch with friends and clients, so I wanted to restore The Bat first. That meant that I would also have to restore NOD32 Antivirus and the Zone Alarm firewall. Instead of starting on Christmas, I started at 11pm on Christmas Eve. (Why? I was up. I wouldn't be getting up early. I had a few hours to spare. "It seemed like a good idea at the time.") After confirming that I had good, readable backups and confirming that the drive I wanted to format was the 12GB partition #1 on IDE drive #0, I slipped the Windows XP CD into the drive, restarted the computer, and set off on the quest.

Installing Windows XP takes about an hour on my 1.1 GHz computer (and I remember when that was considered fast). By 12:15a.m., I was creating user accounts. I then installed Office XP and the service packs for Windows and Office. An hour later, I had installed and configured Zone Alarm, NOD32 antivirus, and The Bat. I had been out of touch with the world for slightly more than 2 hours. The next several steps involved downloading and installing all of the Windows XP security patches that have been released since Windows XP shipped. That took until 3. I was ready for bed.

A few more hours on Christmas, a few more on the day after Christmas, and still more the day after that got most of the applications back and running, with many of them modified for use the way I prefer them.

Yes, this took a lot of time. Yes, this was a lot of work. No, I don't recommend this course of action to casual users who don't add and remove a lot of software. For me the process was worthwhile. Applications are better organized. The system is more responsive than it's been for months.

Typeface changes

I'm not certain yet that one change that I've made was wise. We'll see. Because some work for clients must go to service bureaus to be imaged for printing presses, I have always used only Postscript "Type 1" typefaces. Windows uses TrueType faces and, increasingly, OpenType faces. Some applications automatically install typefaces (always TrueType) and it's difficult to limit TT faces to just those that are required by Windows.

Creating a Postscript output file on a system that has duplicate TT and T1 faces loaded is a recipe for disaster. When the resulting file gets to the service bureau, it won't print. While TT faces are theoretically less efficient than T1 faces, most people who have used them for high-resolution output have been pleased with the results. When I reinstalled the typefaces, I selected only TrueType faces. Later, realizing that some of the faces I consider essential were available to me only as T1 faces, I reinstalled the T1 sets. But then I worked my way through 4000 typefaces to eliminate any T1 instances of faces that had been installed as TT faces.

It's been only a few days, but so far I've seen no problems with output files and the problems I had been encountering because of duplicate typefaces are gone.

A few problems

Any project this complex will always have problems. The most serious was with V-Com's CD Anywhere application. This is a wonderful program that creates a CD image on hard disk and allows the computer to refer to it as if it was a standard CD drive. On this computer, boot time exceeds 10 minutes when the program is installed and the system is unacceptably slow - probably because several SCSI devices are present, including a CD writer. CD Anywhere virtual drives are SCSI devices. On computers without SCSI devices it works fine.

This problem will be resolved when I replace all the SCSI devices. The much maligned IDE interface has been improved so much that IDE disks rival all but the fastest SCSI disks - at about half the price. Disks can connect via Firewire (IEEE 1394) and USB2 connections, too. Even Apple has abandoned SCSI in favor of IDE, Firewire, and USB2.

Some installation CDs were unreadable, meaning that I'll have to get them replaced. Fortunately, all of the applications I consider critical were on CD or download files that were intact.

So far, I'm delighted with the results of sharpening the blade. With luck, I won't have to do this again for another year - maybe longer.

If you decide to take the plunge

The most important part of reinstalling the operating system is planning the operation. Make sure you know which files must be preserved and be absolutely certain that they are backed up.

Many years ago when I was updating a Windows 9x system, I replaced a CD-ROM drive at the same time and found myself with a non-bootable disk drive and a CD reader that needed a driver than was on a CD. It was the perfect catch 22 situation: I couldn't read the CD with the necessary driver because the CD reader wouldn't work without the driver.

The solution involved a lot of muttering under my breath as I took out the new CD reader and re-installed the old CD reader, formatted the drive, installed the driver for the new reader, and went on with the installation. A little planning would have avoided that entire situation.

My current installation still suffers slightly from a decision I made when I installed a "big" 30GB drive. I made the C partition "just" 12GB, which isn't enough to install all the programs that I use regularly or test. As a result some applications are installed on the C drive and others are on the D drive.

Next time, I'll put all applications on the D drive because then I can format the C drive, reinstall the operating system, reinstall all the applications, and expect to have most of the configuration files in place. Restoring configuration files from backup is easy enough, but the process would be even easier without this step. It's not the applications that become confused, but the Windows Registry. A machine with just the OS and the Registry on C could be cleaned and restored faster than a system with a lot of applications on drive C.

If you want to feel a bit nostalgic, think about when 10MB disk drives cost $1000. My new Western Digital 120GB drive set me back about $220. Good 'ol days? I don't think so!

Nerdly News

Wow! What a winner from Apple

A couple of years ago, I bought an Apple iBook because I wanted to make sure that websites I designed on a Windows machine would still look OK on a Mac. And I thought it would be good to know a little more about Macs.

This week Apple announced a couple of new PowerBook notebook computers, one of them with a 17-inch (diagonal) monitor. If you want to use this notebook computer in an airplane, you'd better be sitting in first class. The largest screens on notebook computers so far has been slightly more than 15 inches diagonally. My iBook has a 12-inch screen.

If you're an Apple user with close to $3500 that's trying to burn its way out of your pocket, this is your computer. These computer use a G4 processor, of course, and you can get a 1GHz G4. Folded, the PowerBook is 15.5 inches wide, 10.25 inches deep, and just 1 inch thick.

The monitor displays 1440 by 900 pixels, so it's a good format for watching widescreen DVD movies. Apple chose nVidia for the video card, includes 802.11g wireless connectivity, Bluetooth, Firewire, and USB. The whole thing is packaged in an aluminum alloy case.

This wouldn't be an Apple if it didn't come with something that, at first, seems like a goofy idea but may, long term, prove to be a goofy idea. You've seen cars with neon lights on the underside? Apple does that with the keyboard. And as much as I keep thinking this is an example of doing something simply because it could be done, I wonder if it might not be useful.

I've tried using a computer in a dark room before and it's difficult. The screen puts out so much light that the keyboard disappears into the darkness. For those who use computers in dark places, this might prove to be a plus.

For those with less money, there's a version of the PowerBook with a 12-inch screen (which is about the right size if you plan to use the built-in keyboard) for under $2000 and a 15-inch screen version for about $2800. You can spend more on each, of course.

For more details (and do not go here if you have no willpower) see http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index17.html.

Microsoft, the hardware company

First it was keyboards and mice. Then Microsoft moved on to games. Now they're pushing watches and portable media players.

At the Comsumer Electronics Show, Bill Gates was talking about the media player and a radio-linked wristwatch. The company calls these devices "smart objects". Microsoft isn't out to put Timex out of business (yet) but Gates told the Reuters news agency, "If we get five percent or 10 percent of the people who have watches, it's a huge, huge number."

The smart watches will receive data over FM radio spectrum leased by Microsoft, a system the company calls DirectBand.

The watches could start at $150 and would also have features like auto-updating time through an atomic clock. There's no word yet on what the monthly fee would be. (A monthly subscription fee for a watch?)

Microsoft and Intel are working on "Media2Go" devices that would hold at least 12 hours of audio or 6 hours of video. These are expected to be on store shelves by the end of the year. But if you're looking for a portable XBox, you'll have to wait. Gates says that probably won't happen for several years.

Let us know what you think about this program! Write to:
Bill Blinn --
(wtvn@blinn.com still works)
Joe Bradley --

Joe
(Photo by Sally)

Bill
(Photo by Scampi)

Privacy Guarantee:

I HATE SPAM and will not sell, rent, loan, auction, trade, or do anything else with your e-mail address. Period.

As if you didn't already get enough weather on the radio!

If you do not see a Weather Underground banner above and you use ad-blocking software, please set your application to allow images from "www.wunderground.com" to appear.

Annoying legal disclaimer
My attorney says I really need to say this: The Technology Corner website is for informational purposes only. Neither Joe nor I assume any responsibility for its accuracy, although we do our best. The information is subject to change without notice. Any actions you take based on information from the radio program or from this website are entirely at your own risk. Products and services are mentioned for informational purposes only and their various trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Technology Corner cannot provide technical support for products or services mentioned on the air or on the website.