CyberCoyote — December 3, 2009

NEWS and NOTES
Windows 7

We finished exploring The 7 Secrets of Windows 7 today. The aim of the series was to get a handle on what's new in Windows 7, and how it's organized. Microsoft did a pretty good job of making it quick and easy to work with a very complex system — if you know the secrets.

You'll find the notes for the series on our website. They are rough, but I hope they serve to remind you of most of what we talked about. Also see my collection of excerpts, with links to articles on moving to Windows 7.

If you hover over the border between the index and content frames, you'll discover that you can drag the border over to bring the content fully onscreen. Or you can download the better behaved ebook version.

TECH TOPICS
Disposable email addresses

Email is amazing. There're better alternatives, and it's plagued with spam, but we still rely on it. Mostly because it's simple and universal. Reminds me of floppy disks.

There's no technical solution to the email spam problem. Even Bill Gates gave up on finding one. But there are ways to be spam free.

The best spam avoidance strategies rely on disposable email addresses. Heinz Tschabitscher at About.com has identified the top 8 disposable email address services.

I use Spamex for disposable addresses. They've been around for a long time, and have performed flawlessly for me for about 10 years.

My page on spam-proof email describes how I use disposable addresses to remain virtually spam-free (two or three spam messages a year).

Chrome OS?

You may or may not have heard of it. Here's how I might explain it: Chrome OS is a secure, bare-bones operating system running only one program — a blazing-fast version of the Google browser. The OS will show up first on netbooks. Everything you do on one will be powered by the Internet.

All your other programs, as well as your data — even system and security updates — reside in or originate from the cloud. You'll email, create documents, listen to music, watch videos, and network with your friends using Web-based applications.

The proposition is that it will be a faster, safer, richer way of accessing the Web than a laptop, or a smartphone. [Adoption of Google OS] depends on the execution from not only Google but their hardware partners. —Gartner analyst Ray Valdes, talking with eWEEK.

Google has illustrated their vision for their operating system with a nice little video that I think explains it pretty well [3 minutes]. Chrome OS is not software you'll download to run on your current laptop or PC. It will come pre-installed on netbook-like "devices" that Google and its hardware partners are already working on. Expect them around the end of next year.

Don't worry though. Google computers won't make your new laptop look silly. Sometimes you need a real computer. But Windows computers have always been overkill for many people and many situations. We'll see how it plays out. [details]

WEB PICK
Free software galore

61 Free Apps We're Most Thankful For — from Lifehacker:

Earlier this week we asked you to share the free apps you're most thankful for, and after rounding up thousands of your suggestions, considering our own favorites, and performing a little spreadsheet magic, we've cooked up our own cornucopia of excellent free software and webapps we're extremely thankful for.
ODDS and ENDS
A montage of movie quotes...

taken from the American Film Institute's Top 100 list. Watch this when you have 10 minutes to travel back to a former time.

Do you know how to open doors?

See if you can get past 4th level of this puzzle. There're more puzzles there if this one stumps you.

That's all, folks.