I played around with Gmail today to see if I could have it automatically delete spam and this is what I come up with. Warning: By adding the filter below Gmail will permanently delete all emails that it "thinks" is spam. This means you will no longer be able to check the spam folder to see if it was incorrectly identified because it will be gone.

1. Log into your account and then access Settings in the upper right hand corner of the page.
2. On the settings pages select Filters.
3. Click Create a new filter.
4. In the Has the words box type:
   

   is:spam

5. You will receive a warning letting you know this is not a good idea. Click Ok and throw caution to the wind.
6. On the next screen put a check in the box for Delete it and select Update Filter.

This Sunday, March 11 at 2 a.m. Daylight Saving Time begins. This year, Daylight Saving Time is four weeks longer than last year with the passage of the Energy Policy Act in 2005.

Although operating systems like Windows XP will automatically spring forward for you as normal, they will fall back 4 weeks to soon. You'll need Windows Update KB931836 to correct the problem. I've provided the patch for Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional below. Service Pack 2 is a requirement for the patch.

If you create a macro for any of the Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc) and you are running Office with the default security settings, you will be unable to run your own macro. One option would be 'Enable all macros', but this setting could also allow potentially dangerous macros to run on your system as well. A better option would be to sign your own macro with SelfCert.exe.

I made myself use a Mac a while back for about a month, just to see what the Apple camp is up to. OS X has a cool application launcher called Quicksilver. Launchy is the Quicksilver likeness for Windows. Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, programs, folders, or bookmarks with just a few keystrokes. If you want to spend a little more time with it, you can customize the folders and file types that it indexes. Check out the tips section too!

Most cellular providers provide an email to SMS gateway that allows you to send text messages to cell phones using your email client. Besides being able to text your friends from your computer, you could setup your computer to send you reminders. Here are email address for cellular providers in our area. Use 10 digit phone number in place of phonenumber.

• T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
• Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
• Cingular (Now AT&T): phonenumber@cingularme.com
• Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
• Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
• Nextal: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com

This document provides basic instructions on installing the VMware Tools on an Ubuntu guest OS.

Host OS: Windows XP SP2
VMware Workstation: 5.5.3 build 34685
Guest OS: Ubuntu 6.10

This document provides basic instructions on installing the VMware Tools on a base Debian 3.1 Sarge installation (no desktop). For my install I used Debian 3.1 r3 base installation (no packages) and VMWare Workstation 5.5.

Host OS: Windows XP SP2
VMware Workstation: 5.5.2 build-29772
Guest OS: Debian 3.1 r3 (No Desktop)

I made up some pure batch files to use WinRAR for simple backups. Uses WinRAR's timestamp switch to append date. Just copy the 4 included files to a new folder, edit the !backup.ini and !backup.lst files with the appropriate details and then run !backup.cmd to create a backup or !restore.cmd to restore the most recent copy.

You can create them yourself with the instructions below or alternatively, just jump to the bottom and download an archive with all four files inside.

Which computer should I buy?  As most everyone has a computer today, the average consumer inevitability will have to make this choice.  Many people have a common misconception that the big name brand manufacturers can offer a better computer at a better price than your local computer store.  This is simply not true.  A computer is just a sum of parts.  The big guys don't create a computer, they just purchase the parts from a host of other companies and assembly them all together in one box.  A small local store has the advantage to do this better and more efficiently.

Last Updated: 2006-07-01

The "Software A-List" is a short list of essential applications.  Some software categories have both free and commercial alternatives.  Commercial alternatives aren't listed if the free stuff is better.