By Steve Bass

I know you like new tools to try (I do too), so here are a stack. Play with them, see if they fit your working style, and maybe you'll find a couple of keepers.

By Steve Bass

Have It Your Way
Microsoft Word: I can't think of another application I'd like to have re-written to meet my needs. I'll kvetch some more another time. Today, I have five tricks to fire up the way you use Word.

By Steve Bass

Watch movies on my PC? No way." I was talking to one of my cousins, not one of the brightest bulbs in the family. It took me a few minutes to explain how he could send downloaded movies -- as well as other Internet content, such as TV shows -- to the TV in his living room.

For the last few months, I've tried two devices that sit near your TV and grab video content from your PC. Even in this dreadful economy, neither one I tried is terribly expensive -- and there are no monthly charges.

This week I'll cover the hardware; next week I'll tell you where to find movies and TV shows on the Internet. I'll also tell you about a MediaGate portable media player.

By Steve Bass

You use Google, sure, but if all you're doing are searches, you're just scratching the surface. Here are a few things you might not know about Google.

By Steve Bass

I have some Web sites for you that are kick-in-the-butt cool; others are just plain handy, the kind of thing you save for only occasional visits. How about an image resizer and a nifty online walkie-talkie? And I use TimeZone Converter to find out what time it is in Singapore (so I can call my friend at 2:00 a.m. his time to see if he's in yet from club hopping).

By Steve Bass

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, and tips -- and I'm successfully using many of them. Here are some of the most useful of the bunch.

By Steve Bass

Firefox users? Clear the decks -- I have cool extensions for you to download! Here are a few of the cooler Firefox add-ons I'm using. Give them a whirl and let me know what you think.

By Steve Bass

Hard drives are about as dependable as a teenager promising to come home by midnight. The more you know about your drive--the brand-specific idiosyncrasies and the diagnostic sounds that drives produce--the better prepared you are for the inevitable crash.

By Steve Bass

You've probably noticed that some programs you install never make it to the Windows Add/Remove applet; other apps simply disappear from the list. This week I'll show you a brute force way to dump those annoying apps into the bit bucket.

By Steve Bass

System Restore is a recovery tool built into Windows that backs up and restores the Registry. System Restore takes a snapshot of your computer -- called a restore point -- once a day, as well as before you perform certain tasks, such as installing a new program. If all goes well, you can use a restore point later on to bring your PC back to the state it was in when the snapshot was taken. But remember, we're talking about computers.