Stories by Rick Broida

Reverse 'uh-oh' moments with Undo

Computer boo-boos happen all the time. Just this morning, an accidental graze of my laptop's touchpad inadvertently selected a big chunk of text in Word--which I then overwrote as I continued typing on autopilot.

ZumoDrive

Not enough space on your Apple iPhone for all your music? Need more storage for your tiny netbook hard drive? ZumoDrive promises to solve conundrums like these by keeping your files in the cloud but making them accessible in real-time, just as though...

Keep kids safe online

My nine-year-old daughter knows how to use Google. And as someone who just accidentally landed on a porn site after typing what he thought was the URL for a sporting-goods store, I realize it's time to take steps.

Keep kids safe online: The OpenDNS alternative

Last, Wednesday I showed you kid-friendly search engine Quintura, and we also looked at the kid-friendly Web browser KIDO'Z. Today it's time for the big gun: OpenDNS. It's a server-level filter that promises to protect your kids from online violence,...

Three ways to install Windows 7 on a netbook

By now you know that you can download the Windows 7 Release Candidate free of charge from Microsoft and use it for nearly a year.

Save ink and paper every time you print

Here's a quick trick to cut down on printer consumables: downsize your output so that two pages fit on single sheet of paper.("Honey, I shrunk the Word document!") It's easy to do, and it can save you up to 50 percent on your printing costs.

Check the strength of your password

A good password can mean the difference between identity safety and identity theft. Unfortunately, too many otherwise intelligent people rely on ridiculously weak passwords, the kind that make hackers rub their hands with glee.

Fast-and-easy Linux

Want to resurrect an old PC that's collecting dust? Wish you could insta-boot your laptop or netbook for a quick peek at your e-mail or a Web page? Presto promises exactly that kind of convenience.

Turn photos into wall-size posters

Looking for a dirt-cheap way to add art to a wall? Rasterbator is a free tool that turns any image into mammoth, "rasterized" posters.

Cheap printing: 5 ways to save bucks on ink and paper

Nobody likes buying more printer ink. Follow these tips and you won't have to do it nearly so often.

Turn your caps-lock key into a mute button

Ever wish you could mute your PC's speakers an in instant, like when the phone rings and you need to silence your iTunes tunes? Granted, some keyboards have a Mute button for exactly that purpose, but not all of them do.

Four online alternatives to Microsoft Encarta

As you may have heard, Microsoft plans to pull the plug on the Encarta Web sites and software later this year. Bummer! I can't say I used the service all that much, but I'm saddened to see the demise of such a well-known reference resource.

Disk Defrag Help From Hassle-Free PC

For the last couple months I've been troubleshooting a vexing problem on my new quad-core HP desktop: Roughly once per week, the machine would start running as slow as molasses.