Kevin’s Stories and Columns

My landlord came to me with his wife’s laptop, which is running Windows Vista. She bought it a few months ago and was just getting around to really using it. Trouble is, she forgot what her password was, and was unable to access her Windows profile, and her data.

Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista, is predicted to hit store shelves in late 2009 or early 2010, but it seems that many are saying it’s what Windows Vista should have been. In addition, the hype surrounding it seems to be positive this time around.

As more people use computers on a daily basis, some are beginning to truly use the internet to their advantage, and not just for email, Facebook, or checking the latest news. Some users are using modern websites to backup their data, syncronize files between computers, and even replace desktop programs with web-based applications that they can access from anywhere.

Smart phones are changing the cell phone market with their abundance of features and intuitive designs. They are handheld computers, and are designed for more than just making a phone call.

If you have ever wanted to rent movies from the comfort of your couch or computer, you can now do so with ease, thanks to numerous online services that allow you to skip the movie store.

In Canada, it would seem online rental services are not damaging local video stores; likely because several companies have created their own internet-based rental systems in recognition of the demand.

With more people, especially the younger crowd, turning to the internet for most of their education and information needs, some may wonder if choosing to listen online is hurting local radio.

It seems local stations providing online audio streams isn’t hurting local listenership at all, in fact, it’s helped boost it to unprecedented levels.

Since this is my last column for this school year, it makes perfect sense to me that I share some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the last year that have made the hours per day I spent on computers much easier, and I hope they do the same for you.

When you go to buy a car, some of the things you want to know are how good the gas mileage is with the cost of fuel, how well it handles, and the safety features included if you ever get into an accident.

You may have seen it being talked about or used on CBC or CNN, or as a blue icon or bird logo on many popular websites or blogs. If you’re not tech-savvy, you likely just ignored it, thinking of it as just another tool on the internet, which it is, but it’s one of the more useful tools, and it’s seriously worth taking a look at.

The most desired phone on the market is the iPhone, even though it’s one of the most expensive. It started off as a toy for geeks, but with improvements, and third party applications now available, it is growing in popularity, and for good reason, it’s actually easy to use.