Lou Dolinar

Lou Dolinar 12/20/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: For last-minute shoppers: online gifts you can e-mail

You can buy anything online today, from cars to coffee, and ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/22/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: A primer on switching to Linux from Windows

What's involved in a switch from Windows to Linux? An ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/8/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: Comparison shopping for the budget-minded

Ever wonder how much money you could save on computing if ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/25/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: Open Office improves upon itself yet again

The final version of Open-Office.org 3, the open source ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/11/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: From this Vista, it looks like same old Microsoft

Just when you thought it was safe to convert to Windows ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/20/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: Using GOS3.0 to access host of Google programs

Before recent fuss over the new Google Chrome browser, I ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/6/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: Privacy features let you erase tracks online

Enough about "porn mode" in Internet Explorer 8.0. ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/5/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: IBM�s Office alternative seems poised to succeed

It's arguably the prettiest alternative to Microsoft ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/21/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: Choosing software sides in 'open' data format war

Why doesn't free trump expensive? ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/7/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: Throwing a little light on some cell phone tricks

A few months back, there was a flurry of interest in a ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/1/08 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

If you read this space regularly, you know I'm a fan of old ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/5/08 Didn�t get socks?

The Dolinar household had a lovely Christmas. ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/20/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: Automatic updates let PCs run wild, and better

Ever wonder what your dog does when he runs off and comes ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/29/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

One of the least visible milestones in computing came this ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/15/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

If you've been around computers for a while, you're more ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/21/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Is it time to be brave, crawl out from under the bed and ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/30/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

The computer industry has made great strides toward ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/16/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Why all the fuss about browsers? Most are free to the ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/2/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Ever notice how computers tend to create more work for ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 4/14/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

No one - not Apple, not Microsoft, not the cable companies ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/31/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft has a comprehensive plan to change the way you ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/17/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

So who's going to wire the connected home of the future? ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/3/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Contrary to what Microsoft and Apple would have you ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/6/07 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

One of the more frustrating experiences you can have with ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/18/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Cheap digital cameras are the wonders of our age. Combining ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/4/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Trying to eke out that last little bit of quality your ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/14/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Does your PC have a future as an electronic picture frame? ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/30/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

In the last column, we showed you how to display slides, ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/16/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

I was having one of these I-hate-computers weeks. ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/2/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

So, have you managed to use an online spreadsheet yet? In ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 8/19/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Feeling hopeless when it comes to setting up a complicated ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 8/5/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Spreadsheets aren't just for math. We've had a brief tour ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/22/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

I promised last time that I'd give you a crash course in ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/8/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

So why wasn't there more of a stir when Google released an ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/17/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

So my daughter Ann's finals paper on mythology is finished ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/3/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Fixing broken computers is the main theme of this column. ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 4/1/06 Unravel the Web of e-mail options

Looking for a better way to manage your e-mail? If you ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/18/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

My column a month ago about Nvu, the open-source Web page ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/11/06 Getting started on portable apps

Are portable applications - programs you can run from one ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/4/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Way back in 1981, I bought my first computer, an Osborne I ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 2/18/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

You don't have to buy software anymore. ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 2/11/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

You know what I like about the open-source software ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/28/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Though it was overshadowed last week by news that Google is ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/21/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Ready for LouPak? ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/15/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

So what's the big deal about Google Pack? Introduced this ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/7/06 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Last week's column on DSL Linux generated so many letters ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 12/31/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Now that you've unwrapped and fired up that new Christmas ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/12/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Hacking has gone mainstream. In recent columns we've looked ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/29/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Your PC can reveal a lot you may want to keep private, from ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/15/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

The Victorians dubbed it "smash and grab" - a thief strolls ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/1/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

User-friendly software isn't just for word processing ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/3/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Another day, another computer virus, another couple of ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/23/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Don't these people really, really irk you? ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/22/05 Photo retouching tools at your fingertips

Fourth in a series ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/15/05 Know-how can make retouching photos a snap

Third in a series ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/9/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Does your computer have the blahs? Starts slow, runs slow, ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/8/05 Digital scanners: art and science

Second in a series ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/1/05 Scanner gives new life to slides of yesteryear

Two weeks ago, in conjunction with our cover story on how ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/25/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

I love living in the future. Whoda thunk, oh, 20 years ago, ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/11/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

This week's column, contrary to my earlier promise, isn't ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 4/3/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

The iPod has demonstrated that millions of people want to ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/20/05 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Say "file sharing," and most folks these days assume you're ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/8/05 Guarding, enhancing a new computer

Got a PC for Christmas? Let's hope you're not too late this ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/20/04 Big mess, or no-muss? Windows XP upgrade polarizes our readers

Apropos of home computers, I'm often reminded of that ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/13/04 Now that you want some backup, here are some ways to go about it

Still hanging back on Service Pack 2? Microsoft gives ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 11/6/04 Windows XP Service Pack 2: an upgrade of choice for the pioneers

I finally got around to installing Windows XP Service Pack ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/30/04 Bloggers adopt a revenue stream more lucrative than panhandling

The odds of making a living by writing a blog are a lot ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/23/04 Looking to blast into the blogosphere? You need to orbit and observe

The good news about blogging, as we showed you last week, ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/16/04 Let your voice be heard: Launch your own blog in just a few minutes

Maybe you're mad as hell and can't take it anymore. Maybe ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/9/04 In the cyberspin zone, sites to separate true facts from the other kind

On the Internet, the typical blogger, ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 10/2/04 What's your TrueType personality? A look beyond your typical fonts

Most of the time, we can safely ignore one of the more ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/25/04 It's difficult to dupe publishing experts, even if Bush isn't their type

Every 10 years or so, I get a nice juicy scandal here on ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/18/04 Software for recovering lost CD data can save the day - just maybe

Recordable CDs are supposed to last a lifetime, but many ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/11/04 How to avoid getting burned when you do the same to one of your CDs

Did this ever happen to you: You've burned a CD, backing up ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 9/4/04 There's a lot to GAIM with alternate IM clients (and a downside, too)

Want something different in the way of instant messaging? ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 8/28/04 Some berry, berry good e-mail options without buying a BlackBerry

Ever looked with envy at those nifty little Blackberry ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 8/21/04 Shedding light, from Windows updates to e-mail servers to flashlights

We heard from readers this week on a couple of timely ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 8/14/04 E-mail for all occasions: How to set up and hang on to your account

Were I any less public a person, I would have changed my ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 8/7/04 Get savvy on e-mail: forwarding and accessing many accounts

E-mail must be useful. If it wasn't, we'd never put up with ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/31/04 A few stand-alone e-mail options to Microsoft's Outlook Express

Looking for alternatives to Microsoft Outlook Express? This ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/24/04 Web-based e-mail serves individuals better than corporations

Web-based e-mail is a doubled-edged sword. With popular ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/17/04 In the next blackout, will you be one of the e-powered or e-powerless?

Don't say I didn't warn you. An impressive electrical storm ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/10/04 To avoid computer invasion, consider changing e-mail allegiances

Much as we love our e-mail, there's no question that it is ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 7/3/04 OpenOffice is a workable and flexible alternative to Microsoft Office

This is the third installment in Lou Dolinar's summer ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/26/04 Netscape: the long, strange journey of an anti-Microsoft Web browser

We're continuing our summer vacation from Microsoft this ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/19/04 Applying in-between alternatives to your all-Microsoft,all-the-time world

There's a lot to be said for using all Microsoft, all the ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/12/04 Just like a good hotel, Windows registry can be worth checking into

I had my monthly run-in with the Windows registry last ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 6/5/04 Microsoft wakes up to worm and virus blight with Windows XP shield

Is Microsoft finally going to get its act together on ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 5/1/04 Making the case for choosing a lower-power microprocessor

For years, microprocessors have grown faster - as well as ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 4/24/04 Smaller PCs attracting bigger share of interest

Small computers are . . . BIG! ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 4/17/04 Searching for the ideal e-mail query that's fast and organizes, too

You probably caught the buzz a couple of weeks back on the ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 4/10/04 E-mailbag brings a Linux love letter - and a word of caution

Time to catch up with e-mail this week. After our last four ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 4/3/04 Linux solutions for you newbies - and for us cheapskates to boot

Much as I like the for-fee Xandros version of Linux, ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/27/04 Linux can help you appreciate the simple things on your computer

I like Linux because it is stable, secure and cheap. About ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/20/04 Xandros is the way to go, right out of the box, to install Linux

I keep a museum-quality collection of PCs around my house. ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 3/6/04 Linux offers an alternative to a landscape dominated by Microsoft

Imagine an alternate universe where there's no Microsoft. ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 2/28/04 Remember that more computer memory boosts performance

When computer manufacturers try to keep prices down, they ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 2/16/04 Elbow Through Wireless Interference

As wireless networks proliferate, we're seeing a new ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/12/04 Stocking Numbers in a Cell Phone

Have you noticed that your cell phone is getting to be more ... Read more »

Lou Dolinar 1/5/04 Tech Support Goes Out the Windows

Well, the New Year brings us a classic good news/bad news ... Read more »