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'Tech What?' is a blog containing information about various, helpful uses of technology to make your life, well, simpler. Of course, all information is supplied for you to use at your own risk.

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Tech What?
This is a blog containing information about various, helpful uses of technology to make your life simpler. Of course, all information is supplied for you to use at your own risk.

Feedity + Pipes = Awesome
When it comes to tech stuff, I'm the kind of person that is all about trying new things ... the problem is that I usually need a reason for it. I discovered Yahoo! Pipes a little bit ago, but never had a real reason to do anything with it. Well, I did, but I guess it didn't quite work the way I had hoped. My fiancee is actively pursuing employment and regularly monitors 50+ sites (mad kudos

Virus Lock Part 2: SATA Drives
Earlier in the year I did a blog on the wonderful contraption of Virus Lock. I had to retire the device because I've moved on to SATA drives and this is only for IDE drives. Back up for a second - the concept for the Virus Lock is that you are able to have two different machines in one tower ... two hard drives separated by a physical switch that allows only one (or both depending on the

Virtual PCs Part 2
In March I did a blog about Virtual PC 2007. I'm going to revisit that briefly because there are some updates that I'd like to add to that. For starters, I discovered Virtual Box and had a chance to go at it. It too is free and open source and worth looking into for a variety of VM needs. I really like the idea of having a Linux box of some kind and having a guest OS. I really like the idea

Coupon Codes
I stumbled upon this little nugget while reading some publications for work. A coupon codes (for online purchases) via web site or internet browser plugin. I bring you Registered Coupons I was only able to test some of them ... most online vendors want you to either create your account or log into your account before you can get to the coupon code section. I was kind of paranoid about

Real Time Traffic Alerts
I'm considering this Stage 1 in regards to my traffic alert voyage. I'll probably have it down to an art just before traffic alerts are sent to us ... "smartly" ... that's where "Stage 2" will come into play. I am happy to announce that I've come up with a way (if you are in PA, MD, or DC) to receive real time traffic updates via text message at no cost (unless of course your mobile provider

Virtual PCs - VMWare, Virtual PC 2007
The concept of virtual machines has been around for quite some time now. I haven't really had a chance to see it in action until using Parallels at work. Today I was reading in PC World about Virtual PC 2007. One of the big selling points (for me) is that it's free. As it's getting time to upgrade my desktop, I've been kicking around quite a few ideas. The main problem is that I have several

Sketch Up/Street View
I can't justify doing a single post on Sketch Up, so I'm lumping it in with Street View. Sketch Up is a Google application that allows you to do some 3D renderings. Combined with Google Maps, you can see renderings of various buildings that other people have made. It's pretty neat if that's your thing ... I'm more impressed with Google's "Street View". Go to Google Maps, click "Street View"

Mac Shutdown
This is a REEEEEALLY easy gem that I just discovered. Bear in mind ... I grew up on PCs, so this is a HUGE step for me. I'm all about key commands. When it comes to shutting down the PC, it's [start button key], U, [enter key]. I've longed for that when it comes to a Mac ... but I was unable to find anything ... ... until today! Shutdown your Mac quickly [command key], [eject button].

Price Protectr
With the holiday season coming up, I thought I'd pass along this little gem that I've discovered. A lot of times when you make a purchase, you are entitled to receive money back should the price of the item drop after you make the purchase (within a certain time frame of course). Well, Price Protectr.com is a web site that watches for these fluctuations in price. From their web site "We watch

Multiple Home Pages
I recently had to download Internet Explorer 7 as part of the compatibility check that I do when designing web pages. I found one really cool feature (and discovered that it also exists in Firefox 2) ... multiple home pages. This is really convenient if you find yourself going to the same pages at the beginning of your surf cycle. First, pick your browser of choice. Next, open in new tabs

Computer Clean Up
Here's another little gem that I stumbled across but haven't had the opportunity to actually test out ... There's an application called 'Decrapifier' (PC only). This is great to use on new computer systems because a lot of the times, these systems ship with all kinds of applications that you don't need and, more importantly, don't want. Going through Add/Remove Applications (Settings->Control

Reclaim Your Cell
I recently purchased a 'Chocolate' from Verizon. I am very happy with the purch. Initially it was a little counter-intuitive to use, but I really think any phone would be after using the same one for 2 years. I am all about customizing things ... whether it's my laptop, my iPod, or my cell. It's important that it becomes 'mine'. I opted to purchase the 'Music Essentials' kit which included a

Disposable Email Addresses
I was searching tonight and looking for information on increasing my design skills and I stumbled across this little nugget - Email Warden. It takes the idea that American Express(?) had with disposable credit card numbers and brings it to email. A lot of times you need to give an email address to register for something. With Email Warden, you can simply generate an email address alias that

Move Over Driving Directions
The other day (err, last week) I was looking for directions for a wedding. I found something VERY cool on Google maps. At first glance, it's a typical "Point A to Point B" sort of driving directions. However ... if you look above the directions, there is a link that says "Customize Your Route". By dragging the line connecting the endpoints, you can opt to go different ways and the directions

Del.icio.us
Social networking is currently as the craze. While there are probably some great hindrances, there are also some great benefits. One item that came out of the social-networking hype is a web site called, or as I call it, Delicious ... though it's technically del.icio.us It's a social networking site with a twist. It's a social-BOOKmarking site. One of the great features about it is that you