Clean your expensive LCD, TFT, and HDTV screen properly

I use my notebook computer a lot and drag it from place to place, including my night classes. I wipe the screen off occasionally, but lately I notice that it has some scratches and marks that don't seem to come off. -GS

In the old days (2-3 years ago) you could clean your glass CRT monitor with a piece of dry, lint-free cotton cloth. But the LCD screens on newer desktop computers and notebooks have a much more sensitive display surface that is likely to get scratches from dust particles or fingerprints if you use a cloth alone to clean them.
Of course, you could use expensive LCD monitor cleaner solutions or monitor wipes that are available. In fact, Ask Yahoo and Answerbag offer some other options. But, if you have some vinegar on hand, then you already have much of what you need to clean your monitor. Here's how:

1. Turn your monitor off so you can easily see the dirty areas of your screen.


2. Dilute the vinegar with distilled water [1:1] and spray or drip the liquid onto a microfiber (or cotton) cloth, not onto the LCD screen. (Tap water can be used, but it might leave white marks on the screen.)


3. Using light pressure, wipe the screen in one direction from top to bottom.

Be sure that the LCD screen on a notebook is dry before closing it. This method should apply to HDTVs, projection TVs and Plasma TVs you might have at home, too.

USB Flash drives that keep your data private: Sandisk Cruzer Biometric, Corsair's Flash Padlock

Removable USB Flash drives for your computer are nothing new. With increasing storage capacity and falling prices, it's easy to shuttle around tons of important photos, presentations, spreadsheets and documents. The trouble is that the more you carry, the more you risk if you misplace a drive or leave it plugged into a public computer somewhere. Whether you transport sensitive data, figures or passwords, or want to add a strong layer of security in the event of loss, here are two recommended products.

Sandisk Cruzer Biometric USB Drive - At about $30 street, this is a 1 Gb capacity removable drive that uses built-in fingerprint identification technology to restrict access to the designated user of the unit. PROS: robust protection at a low cost. CONS: Two-piece design can be inconvenient to carry and use. Can't be shared among a team if that's your interest.

Corsair's Flash Padlock USB Flash Drive - At about $30 street for the 1 Gb capacity/$40 for the 2 Gb capacity, this newer approach allows the user to program in a PIN, much like an ATM machine. PROS: Robust protection at a low cost. Larger capacity options. Lock/unlock indicator lights. Auto locks when unplugged. CONS: None.

Tip: If you plan to use this hardware with Windows Vista, visit the manufacturer's site for compatibility information.

Google Search Tips - Top 10 Advanced Things to Know

Already mastered the basics? Then you're ready to move on to:

Top Ten advanced things to know about Google Search:

1. While Google ignores common words such as where, entering where new york will also yield maps and hotel guides.
   
2. Quickly look up definitions -- define: rss will yield several explanations for Rich Site Summary (Or, get even more dictionary definitions via Dictionary.com)
3. You can find synonyms of words -- entering ~house will also yield pages with home on them.
   
4. Google will recognize some natural language expressions -- weather philadelphia, pa produces and up-to-date local weather report.
   
5. Using the lesser known “numrange” operator -- 2000..2005 (that’s two dots in between two numbers) will find pages with 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 in them.
   
6. Use Google for Q&A -- enter Population of USA and the answer 298,444,215 will be displayed in addition to page results.
   
7. Use an upper case OR for special searches - eagles win OR lose will find Philadelphia Eagles-related pages about wins, or those pages about losses . Lower-case won’t work in this situation, and would
   simply search for occurrences of the word “or”.
   
8. Find backlinks by using Google Blog Search or by using the link-operator, for example, link:blog.searchenginewatch.com
   
9. You can restrict your search to certain types of domains and servers -- apply site:.edu will yield apply pages on college and university "edu" domains. Also try Google Scholar, or use Google UncleSam, to limit your search to material from government sites.
   
10. Finding out who links to a Web page -- link:www.cnn.coom will yield a list of sites that link to the home page of CNN.
    
    ... and Web developers especially will want to know:
    
    
11. Some documents are not completely indexed by Google. Indexing of the text in Web pages stops after the first 101Kb (For PDF, it's 120Kb.)
    
12. Not every Google version offers all of Google's features. For example, using Google on the Washington Post site does not offer the cache or similar page options.
    
13. Limiting by date can be a problem. Date searching is reliable only when Google can consistently identify them as it does with Usenet message (Google Groups) and news (Google News).

Windows: Upgrading to Vista; Using XP and Vista on the same PC (multiboot)

I'm using Windows XP Pro and have lots of design software applications installed that I use frequently -- many I've purchased myself. Our organization is moving everyone to Microsoft Vista in a few months and I've heard that some of my software might not work when that happens. How can I tell what software upgrades I'll need to purchase? Can I run Windows XP and Vista at the same time? - B.S.

There are some big questions to answer here, but you're not alone -- many people are trying to figure out if the move to Vista is right for them, or what they'll have to buy to get there. Know that if you plan on working in the Windows operating system over the next several years, you really have no choice but to upgrade. Microsoft will ultimately cease offering upgrades and support for older versions of Windows as time goes on. So, it's only a question of when you need to upgrade.

I'll assume that your organization will probably require or provide the edition of Vista you'll ultimately use, and may do the same with hardware. But if options are open to you, let's address the first question by going to the source -- Microsoft. Use the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor tool to determine if your PC system is ready for the upgrade, then spend a few minutes deciding on which of the five editions is right for you by comparing the various options and features. Personal opinion: Windows Ultimate may be overkill for you current computer, your everyday needs, and your wallet.

Next, you'll have to do some research to plan for the software upgrades you'll likely need as you move to Vista. Sure, you could consult the Microsoft compatibility guides. But instead, I recommend visiting the web site of each software application you currently use. You may find free or minimally-priced Vista upgrades (or if you're really lucky, learn that an upgrade isn't needed). At the same time, try to decide if you really need all of your old software. For example, you may no longer need the application you use to play and burn DVD/CD discs and opt to use the improved Windows Media Player instead. Or, you may be able to get along with Vista's own clip tool and skip your next upgrade to TechSmith's Snag-It screen capture program.

The second question is both easy, and hard. Yes, you can configure your computer to run "either" XP or Vista on the same machine (called a dual or multiboot). But, it may tax your your patience and technical abilities. The procedure to do this is beyond the scope of this column, but there are many well documented sources to consult if you want to pursue this. I recommend browsing some of the better documented approaches from TechRepublic , PC Magazine, and APC Magazine. Of course, you can always bring your system to a consultant and hire them to do the work. In either case, you should consider the future. Someday you will outgrow this situation and will have some additional technical work ahead of you to undo this dual boot approach.

Google Search Tips - Top 10 Basic Things to Know

If you've glanced at "Google Search Tips - Before you begin", then you're ready for:
Top Ten basic things to know about Google Search:

1. Google searches are NOT case sensitive -- so just use lower case. (Exception: see the OR case in an upcoming post).
   
2. Google allows you to enter up to 32 words within the search query.
   
3. Google returns pages that include all of your search terms -- so, don't bother using and unless it's part of a phrase.
   
4. Be specific in choosing your terms -- luxury hotels Maui is better than tropical island hotels.
   
5. The order of your terms matters, too -- vacation beach fishing yields different results than fishing beach vacation.
   
6. Google ignores common words and characters such as where and how,as well as single digits and single letters, If a digit or letter is essential to your query, include it by putting a space then a "+" sign in front of it, or put quotation marks around two or more words. Example: star wars episode +i or "star wars episode i"
   
7. Phrase searches are particularly effective if you're searching for proper names ("george washington"), lyrics ("the long and winding road"), or other famous phrases ("this was their finest hour").
   
8. You can use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard. Example: "george * bush" finds George W. Bush. Example: "to * * * to be" finds "To be or not to be". You can also use this to find email addresses: "email * * ", or for example "email * * cnn.com"
   
9. Avoid a word or concept by putting a space then a "-" sign in front of it. For example, bass -music will find more mentions of bass fishing, while bass -fishing will yield pages related more to music and guitars.
   
10. Consider limiting the scope of a search by using the syntax for file type (filetype:). For example, filetype:ppt TechTaming finds mention of TechTaming in PowerPoint slides. Other formats include .pdf (Adobe Acrobat), .doc (Word) and .xls (Excel). Other search engines also let you query these formats.

Google Search Tips - Before you begin

Before I proceed, I should emphasize that Google is not the only Web search tool out there. Take a look at Ask, AllTheWeb and Vivisimo or MSN search. Also, Search.com is a metasearch engine that spans dozens of leading search engines at once. Of course, there are specialized search databases too --LawCrawler is for all things law related, The Wayback Machine archives web sites, images and text, and SMEALSearch indexes freely available scholarly business information, to name just a few.

Google offers step-by-step instructions for searching and browsing its products on its Help and Basics of Search pages, and there are third-party sources such as Nancy Blachman's Google Guide if you want them.

The following two segments are a concise combination of the most useful information you'll find there, plus many more suggestions I've found and can recommend that you won't find there.

Podcasting: File format for posting to an Intranet

What format would you normally save audio/video in to stream it on a corporate Intranet – avi, move, wms, other? I’m clueless on this podcast and need to have our agency produce this for us. Any help is appreciated. -B.D.

The term "podcast" is used to widely to mean audio (and sometimes video) content that is updated frequently for subscribers to view online or download it to a portable player. Video files produced for general viewing (not suitable for broadcast) are posted to a site in .FLV format, then streamed within a page using an embedded Flash player. Example: http://www3.lehigh.edu/about/news/vidmenon.asp. Adjacent to this example, note there are downloadable videos in iTunes (.MP4) and Windows Media Player (.WMV) as well.

However, it seems like you want to post a web video file for a select audience to download and play on their desktop/notebook computers. I assume you just want the people to view it, and don't intend for anyone to rebroadcast it professionally in any way. If so, that should be relatively simple to direct. Record video digitally to .AVI format as a source for the agency. If your Intranet audience is made up of predominantly Windows users, have the agency convert to .WMV and post that file. If that audience is made up of predominantly Mac users, have the agency convert to .MP4 and post that file. (Or you could offer both.) In either case, your agency can reduce the video aspect ratio proportionately down to 320 x 240 pixels if resulting files sizes are too large and unwieldy at the original size.