I keep only OS and programs on my 'C' drive while data rests on another partition. I threw the AV out and have been using PowerShadow or Returnil for about 2 years. A simple reboot puts my PC back in pristine condition. These so-called "Security Suites" are memory/cpu hogs and are a general pain in the rear. Learn how…

Magic DVD Ripper

Q-Jot

Another Andy fan here. After a long and distinguished career in day-in and day-out journalism, Andy Rooney has become a great American humorist. There are few left. Late-night comedy, with staff writers and schlock, can't hold a candle to Andy Rooney and his self-written commentaries that are gifts that,…

Another vote here for the ease of use with Amazon's UnBox. It's a great service. (As is, btw, their new mp3 digital downloads .89/.99 and DRM-FREE!)

@can-car: That's simply not true. Your broad statement about how the, "brain works better," in the morning is not - in any way - supported by science. The whole, "Get Up Early To (fill-in-the-blank)" has become a very popular topic in productivity blogs, but the fact is - there is no scientific consensus to support…

Those of you testing out desktop readers should check out BlogBridge. I absolutely love it. www.blogbridge.com

I've been blown away by the simplicity and nice design of [drop.io] (I think they're calling it 'Drop Yo'). Check it out and be sure and notice how you can create one-time url's to share your stuff - and even password protect it. I've found myself using it a lot. People always comment on it when I send them something…

I use a paper notebook for collecting information. The important "gotta keep" stuff goes to OneNote - the ONLY Microsoft product I could rave about all day.

Like the article suggests, I keep all documents related to a Project, a Subject, a Vacation etc. in individual folders with subfolders for type of document. It looks something like this:

I keep a Moleskine weekly Planner/Notebook with a PocketMod slid in the correct week. The PocketMod works perfectly for me as a "daily notes" or "scratch sheet" kind of thing. PocketMods can be created and printed out from their website very easily. I make 50 or so at a time.

Important data can go in an encrypted Truecrypt container - which can then be uploaded to your own web server space, Box.net, anything. The contents are protected. To pay extra for those who promise encryption and rely on THEIR encryption and methods, etc. does not compute for ME. A good backup program, a Truecrypt…

@EricL: Eric: Roboform has a portable version. You can find it at:

Projects/Notes: GSNotes (love it!)

I tried ALL of the above mentioned software, with no luck. They all considered the data "unrecoverable." I was crushed. It was my daughter's trip to Las Vegas. I then was told of PhotoRescue. Of the 76 "unrecoverable" .jpg files, PhotoRescue recovered 67 of the pictures. They also let you download the software and see…

@ the furnace: I disagree with you strongly about the privacy issue. I think it is VERY important. Your comment, "stop doing naughty things and you don't have anything to worry about," shows you simply don't understand the ramifications of information falling into the wrong hands. My personal communications being mine…

Save, save, save, save and save some more.

I have to give Dell credit for one thing. When I ordered my new PC, I called (instead of using the online configurator and ordering) and the I told the rep I wanted just the Operating System on my new PC and nothing else. She said, "no problem." My new system arrived with nothing but the OS. I doubted it when she said…

Mike Panic pointed to a Lifehacker post about lost thumbdrives and a nifty solution. This whole thread (that the LH thread pointed to) was an interesting read:

I'm confused, is this a new service? On their website they say that [boxesandarrows.com] has been using PublicSquare since December 2005. But a Google search for "Powered by PublicSquare" returns exactly ONE site: [boxesandarrows.com] ....