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• Tip of the Week:  Fashion Your Firefox 
• Headwhack of the Week:  Intermittent problems? Could be a blown cap! 
• Geek Speak of the Week:  Troll
• Security: Sniffing keystrokes via laser and keyboard power
• News: Ode to Vintage Ports — Farewell, Sweet FireWire 
• News: Top 10 Electronic Reminder Services
• Data Doctors Video on Cnn.com: Flash drive encryption
• Opinion: 9 Reasons E-Mail Is Dead
• Weekly Advice Column: Video webcasting made easy 
• This Week's Show: Netbooks vs Notebooks

Tip of the Week: Fashion Your Firefox

Firefox has lot's of unique features including the ability to 'add-on' lots of additional items.  Personalizing your browser won't make the Internet any faster, but it could make viewing the web more personalized, so if you want to spice up your window to the web, check out the Fashion tips from Firefox! (make sure you are using Firefox when you click on this link...)

Headwhack of the Week: Intermittent problems? Could be a blown cap! 

Intermittent problems are the most difficult computer issues to diagnose because you don't ever really know if the problem was solved or just hasn't returned when you try a possible solution.  Many novice computer troubleshooters will jump right into the software side of the system (operating system, viruses, etc.) and overlook one of the most common causes of erratic computer behavior: blown, leaking or bulging capacitors.

Capacitors serve a simple function; store and discharge energy (Ok, you engineers know it's much more complicated than that, but work with me!), but when they are asked to store too much energy, they can expand or leak.  A blown cap won't cause your computer to completely stop working, they just cause your computer to act crazy for no particular reason.  The next time you have intermittent problems, make sure you or your service provider starts by doing a thorough physical inspection of your motherboard to make sure that a blown cap is not the source of your PAIN!.

Here are some links to pictures that will help you know what to look for: Leaking cap,    Bulging cap vs a Normal Cap,    Swelling & blown from the bottom,    Completely blown caps.

Geek Speak of the Week: Troll

Internet slang for someone who posts controversial, inflammatory irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community. Internet trolls are primarily interested in provoking others or creating disruption for no particular reason.

Security:  Sniffing keystrokes via laser and keyboard power

Using equipment costing about $80, researchers from Inverse Path (presenters at the CanSecWest Security conference) were able to point a laser on the reflective surface of a laptop between 50 feet and 100 feet away and determine what letters were typed.

News: Ode to Vintage Ports — Farewell, Sweet FireWire

Remember when 'Firewire' (or IEEE 1394) was hailed as the ultimate interface by the folks at Apple in the mid 90's.  From a specification standpoint, it ran circles around the first generation of USB interfaces and looked like it would become the 'port of choice'.  Well, the Firewire port is conspicuously missing from the latest Macbooks...could it be going the way of the RS-232, parallel and SCSI interfaces?

News: Top 10 Electronic Reminder Services

Ever get halfway to the grocery store and realize that you forgot your shopping list? Perhaps you missed an important doctor's appointment because you just couldn't remember when it was. Or worse—you forgot to meet your date for dinner. Whatever the case may be, you're probably in need of some organization—and a better memory, at that—in your life.