FilzMail

Last week, I set up a new user account on my computer for my oldest daughter who is almost 10. She has been after me to get her own user account for about a year or so. I told her if she could compute responsibly and not cause any significant registry damage, I would go along with her request. She has shown excellent computer resonsibility and so I followed through and set up her own user account.

Along with the user account she also wanted her own email address. I was somewhat indecisive if I should or not but ultimately set one up for her at Gmail.

Gmail is a real pain to set up if you don’t have another email address (non gmail). They wouldn’t let me use my pop3 email address because it was already being used for my wife’s gmail account.

So I’m thinking, wow. I need a disposable email address.

Enter FilzMail. After doing a little research on the web, I came across this simple web application that gives you a free email address that self destructs after 24 hours. Using it to set up my daughter’s email account worked fabulously.

In this world of spam, if you come across something that you don’t want to give your regular email address to, head on over to FilzMail and create a disposable email.

Windows Directory Printer

The other day, I needed to send someone a printout of my vast music and video collection. Windows doesn’t have a simple way of printing just the names of the folders / files in a list unless you are feeling geeky and want to go into the command prompt.

So, off to the web I went a hunting. I found and downloaded “Karen’s Directory Printer” which handily did the trick.

The user interface is very simple and makes it easy to not only print folder and file lists, but can print about every attribute of a file and/or folder.

If you have the need to print a folder / file directory, head on over to Karenware and download this little gem.

Google Voice Today

The wait is finally over.  At precisely 6:37 PST yesterday, I received my official invite to join Google Voice.

I first signed up for this service about 7 months ago. I have spent most of the this morning setting it up and running it through its paces.

If you are a Google fan (like yours truly), the setup procedure will be nothing new to you. It is as easy to set up as Gmail or any other of the fine Google products. It took me all of about 15 minutes to learn what needs to be done to make it work.

Email Misunderstanding

Those that know me, know I’m a diehard Google fanatic. I like useful things and Google just seems to hit on all cylinders.

I use iGoogle for my homepage, Google Chat, Google Notifier, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Video, Google Desktop, and my big favorite – Google Gmail.

I’ve been a faithful user of Gmail since they started it. Even though it is still in “beta”, there is a good reason. It is constantly in development. Always getting better and more usable.

So when you email me from the likes of your Yahoo account, or Hotmail, or other web based email platforms, it makes me wonder what is wrong with you. I just don’t understand you. Why on earth are you using a web based email platform that isn’t Gmail? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not speaking from inexperience with these non Gmail email platforms. At one point in time or the other, I have used them all.

And for your information, none of them even comes close to the form and function of my coveted Gmail.

Gmail makes it so easy to convert. It practically walks you through the process of importing all of your contacts, forwarding your account, etc. So what are you waiting for? Make the move to Gmail and you won’t be disappointed! In fact, you will discover a whole new world of emailing. In a nutshell, Gmail is fun to use.

Gmail is free and with over 7gb of free storage space, there is plenty of space to archive all of your messages.

Take it from me, my life is about form and function and getting the job done. Gmail is a great tool that should be used by everyone.

So head on over to Gmail and take it for a test drive.

Microsoft Wireless Laser 8000 Mouse Review

If you are in the market for a new mouse, I have to recommend you check out Microsoft’s Wireless Laser 8000 Mouse.

Recently my Microsoft bluetooth mouse finally stopped functioning after many years of great service. It took me the better part of a month of mouse searching to replace it because I am very fickle about mice.

That search ended with the purchase of the 8000.

Pro’s

• Laser Tracking
• Wireless
• Adequate distance from receiver
• Fits both hands and is very comfortable
• Sidescrolling
• Rechargable – Takes AA batteries
• Comes with rechargeable base
• Battery life indicator
• Battery life about 2 weeks in between charging
• Mouse shut off switch when not in use (preserves battery life)
• Free scroll mouse wheel

Con’s

• None

Price as tested – $50 from Amazon.com

As I said, I highly recommend this mouse if you are in the market.

Western Digital WD TV Review

If you are a computer media junky like your’s truly, getting that media to your analog and digital television can present a challenge. Like in, how does one do it?

Wonder no more my friends. Western Digital has a great affordable answer to this challenge.

I bought the Western Digital WD TV set top box about a month ago and have been putting it to the test with various types of computer type media. To put it bluntly, I’m impressed with this unit. In the past 30 days, I have yet to throw a file at it that it won’t play or view.

For those of you with analog tv’s, it features a composite cable output. For those of you with up to 1080P high def tv’s, the WD comes with an hdmi hookup.

Because my tv’s are somewhat older and don’t utilize an hdmi input, I have been using the composite cables to view the media. Once you have the WD TV hooked up, you need only to copy your media files to a flash drive (thumb drive) or any usb connectible storage medium. I have tried it on both a portable WD hard drive and a flash drive and both work flawlessly.

Types of media:
Music
Video
Pictures

Pro’s:
Plug and play. If you can hook up the cables, this thing pretty much guides you to the point of playing your media. Very user friendly.
View’s nearly every media format out there. I have yet to have it reject any media.
Comes with remote
Small footprint

Con’s:
Remote is small – you could lose it.
Slight delay sometimes with selecting media with remote – this is a very minor con.
If you lose the remote, you will have to buy a new one because it is the only way to control the unit.

Rating: 10/10. Simply put, WD TV hits on all cylinders. It is simple to use, plays almost all formats of media, and is very affordable for what it does. Highly Recommend.

Price as tested: $90 from Newegg.com