TechByter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) with Bill Blinn

After a first look at Windows 7, I think I'm going to like it. Adobe's video applications bring a $200,000 video suite to your desktop. In Short Circuits, The feds call for a cyber tsar, AOL to be spun off, and Microsoft Bing.

Xara's magic Web Designer offers a surprising blast of power for not a lot of money. How to find free WiFi when you travel. A utility that unlocks files that you're trying to delete. In Short Circuits, my first experience with Windows 7 and a report on worldwide broadband service.

Anyone who has more than a couple of tasks that need to be repeated from time to time is a candidate for Macro Express. If you have Microsoft Office 2007, a gigantic update is coming your way. Google Earth 5 offers you more than just a single planet. In Short Circuits, a network glitch make Google appear to vanish and Intel has been told to obey the law in Europe.

What I thought would be an easy Linux upgrade wasn't, but the one that should have been harder was easy. IE8 goes critical. How to build an important system recovery utility CD. In Short Circuits, a really dumb phish and Windows 7 approaches one of my computers.

Tax time was a little more than half a month ago and if you're thinking of being more prepared next year, you'll want to hear today's program. Remember when Stacker could double your disk drive? In Short Circuits, a new service from Google and Windows 7 release candidate is available.

The Internet may be slow because the United States is so large. Last week, I said Linux could never win on the desktop; this week, I reverse that position. Two DVDs in my desktop disappeared. In Short Circuits, Sun fades, Gates is right, and the jackalope rules.

I'll be the guest speaker at the Licking County Computer Society in April and at the Columbus Computer Society in May. Patch Tuesday may have kept you busy beyond Tuesday this month. Linux still can't seem to get any traction and I think I know why. In Short Circuits, a report card for PC manufacturers and something new from YouTube.

It's hard to beat the free KeePass application if you need to create, store, and use passwords. An offer to test my PC's security turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. In Short Circuits, a look at the most photo-friendly cities, the Conficker worm awakens, telephone vandalism wreaks havoc near Silicon Valley, and Microsoft is ordered to pay a big fine.

LONG PROGRAM: Google isn't free and its cost is measured in personal information; we'll talk with author Greg Conti. How to remove 3 XP annoyances. Your computer has millions of transistors; less than 50 years ago, a radio with 7 transistors was remarkable. In Short Circuits: Conficker flops and SGI to be sold.

This week, I've stuck my nose into the spam litter box and dragged out some of the more laughable attempts by fraudsters. On a more pleasant note, let's look at libraries and how they've changed to keep up with the times. Next Wednesday a proposed Internet protocols turns 19 and it remains unimplemented. In Nerdly News, a security conference on browser cracking and another silly "end of the Intern...

A standard-issue Nigerian scam e-mail arrived from South Africa by way of South America; I have an early review of the upcoming ThumbsPlus Release, how to rename your computer, and some funny stuff; and in Nerdly News, Adobe issues an important security patch, the Conficker worm prepares to strike, and Microsoft releases IE8.

Stand back, please; last week's cold is hanging on. We'll take a walk around the Microsoft Office for Mac users, consider HTML e-mail, keep an eye on a hot video (card) and, in Nerdly News, learn about new battery technology from MIT and price fixing by LCD manufacturers.

If designers aren't dancing in the streets, the CS4 versions of InDesign and InCopy should certainly cause them to. I've turned down a "Mystery Shopper" invitations. This week we have questions and answers and in Nerdly News, a warning about unexpected invitations and a new place to get books for your Iphone.

Network Magic keeps your network connected and helps you monitor it. If you're looking for a new firewall, you have quite a choice these days. I'll describe my search for a computer killer. And in Nerdly News, an Adobe Update squashes some dangerous bugs and it seems that "old folks" (those older than 35) have discovered YouTube.

Warning: This program is considerably longer than usual. We talk about security with the authors of a book on the subject. If you think there's malware on your computer, I offer some tools to help you check. In Nerdly News, Microsoft decides to open Microsoft Stores and Microsoft's Mac business unit has a beta version of Entourage ready to go.

The latest version of Adobe Illustrator not only brings the application up to date by adding long-missing features, but charges ahead with some surprising new tools. Opera has a new version, too; I like it, but probably won't use it much. When it was time to replace a notebook computer recently, I had some interesting decisions. In Nerdly News, a space crash, free Windows 7 (maybe), and Google (su...

This week, I have some tips for improving the response of Windows XP, a look at the latest versions of The Bat and Thunderbird e-mail programs, a series of shorts in the "remnant bin" and, in Nerdly News, a summary of last week's Google problem and a new network speed analysis tool that's being tested.

Warning: This program is much longer than usual. Adobe makes two applications for recording and editing sound and one of them is so easy to learn that anyone can edit audio almost like a pro. We'll also take a look at JAlbum, a photo-sharing program. In Nerdly News, turbulence for Microsoft Flight Simulator and Internet Explorer 8 is almost ready.

Backup is important, but too few people do it. It need not be hard or expensive. Today's computers contain hundreds or thousands of documents that, in an earlier time, would have been a physical object. That's why you need backup. In Nerdly News, mostly bad news for the IT industry and LG offers a couple of plasma screens with suspicious specs.

Nero 9 is out and ready to help you organize your old video and audio files, but it might also help save pictures from your digital camera. A phishing attack that claimed to be from the US government leads to a porn portal. An incident in December illustrates how fragile the Internet is. In Nerdly News, low-capacity high-cost disk drives will be a big seller and a spam claims to be from the FBI.

The latest version of Dreamweaver hits the Web running. If you can't afford an extra screen, you can at least have an extra desktop or two. After installing a Microsoft update more than 20 times, I gave up. Where is your software from? In Nerdly News, the end of the big show and thanks for the feedback.

If you've ever accidentally overwritten or otherwise lost a file, meet your new safety net: AlwaySync. Networked computers spend a lot of time talking and CurrPorts can let you listen in. I'll give you the lowdown on the site's new look for 2009. In Nerdly News, spam volume is still down and Intel is pushing the I7 processor. NOTE: This week's audio is a bit substandard because of technical proble...

Is this the year of Linux? TechByter Worldwide is now more than 125 episodes old. TechByter takes a brief break. In Nerdly News, it's Macworld without the Mac and Smashing Pumpkins says NO to CDs.

A helpful disaster allowed me to upgrade my Vista computer to XP and Linux without losing any files. If you want a free credit report, avoid "freecreditreport.com". Amazon kills its charitable giving option. In Nerdly News, another Firefox version approaches and Yahoo receeds.

Sometimes just getting a picture is more important than getting a great picture. These are the times when you need a camera that's simply "good enough" to do the job. Once you have that "good enough" image, head off to Adobe Photoshop CS4 to see what you can do with it. In Nerdly News, Vista is 2 but nobody's celebrating and the latest version of Ubuntu Linux is earning great reviews.