Every month, most Microsoft Windows users receive a small prompting. It may be in a small yellow shield in the System Tray (part of the Taskbar) or a prompt to restart the computer. This is only a reminder of the bugs and errors that Microsoft is constantly fixing; also known as patches.

A few weeks ago, Hulu.com made its move from being privately tested to open to the public. Hulu.com is a video site. Video sites come and go on a daily basis. What makes this one special? Hulu.com is the combine efforts of various television networks and movie studios to compete with the YouTube and YouTube look-a-likes. One of the major struggles between major networks and video content sites is the control of copyrighted content. People want to be able to post clips and mash ups of their favorite shows whereas networks want to make money from their copyrighted material. If the networks can't control the content, how can they monetize on the material?

Over the decades, the perception of the individual has shifted. This can be seen in the technologies that we use. For instance, in the past, more people relied on mass transit systems to get around. This meant that people were at the mercy of the schedule and routes of mass transit. If we shift the same thought to media, radio was the commonly accepted way to listen to music. However in that category, if you wanted to listen to a specific song, you needed to wait until it was played. In this modern age, we've learned how to adapt technology to provide us with comfort and ease of movement. Personal cars allow us to go from point A to point B at our own leisure. The introduction of personalized CDs, iPods and MP3 players allow us to listen to what we want, when we want. The bottom line is that the world where we were small and insignificant is gone. We no longer revolve around our world, it revolves around us.

I just recently rewired my network in my family's living room. As a result, our Xbox 360 is now permanently connected to the Internet. After booting up the unit, I started playing with a few of the new features introduced by Microsoft. Amongst the updates, I was pleasantly surprised to see that movies and TV episodes can be purchased for viewing on the Xbox 360. Microsoft is moving in the right direction and I believe they could storm the market if they approach the average user in the right way.

Image this. You've just come home from work. After a nice evening meal, you head to your trusty computer to pay bills and update your finances. Oh, the trusty computer. You've been using it to watch your bank accounts and credit cards. You've even used it to handle your taxes for the past five years. You sit down in your comfy computer chair and hit the power button. However, instead of a soft hum as the machine powers to life, you hear a very shill and blood curdling grinding noise. There's a slight smell of smoke and burnt plastic. That's your hard drive and it's now toast. What do you do at this point? What's your plan of action? When was the last time you made a copy of all your important details? If you can't answer any of these questions, you have a choice. You could stop reading right now under the presumption that this crisis will never happen to you. Your other option is to write these questions down and start searching for the answers. In this article, I'll touch the basic concepts you'll need in ...

I've never trusted a Internet Explorer or any other web browser to store my personal information. Not forms, not credit card information and especially not passwords. Microsoft made a feeble attempt in order to keep track of this information for you. When I set up Internet Explorer, the first thing I do is disable the form filling and password saving tools that it comes with. It's all to easy for someone to grab that information. It isn't even encrypted! Due my inability to unconditionally trust Internet Explorer (or any other web browser), I've relied on different methods for keeping track of my fifty plus usernames and passwords which I use as I stroll around the Internet. A little over two years ago, I was introduced to Roboform, which came bundled with Maxthon (a web browser that I throughly enjoyed at the time). I researched it and like what I saw. Today, I would be unable to part with it.

Many moons ago, the United States government decided to move up Daylight Savings. The change happens this weekend. (Please be sure to wake up at 2am on Sunday to set your clock forward one hour.) In addition, Daylight Savings has been extended. It now ends two weeks after it normally ends. (Mark down November 7th on your calendar.)

E-mail has become the most popular messaging medium. It's faster than Postal Mail (snail mail) and best of all, it's free. When you send an e-mail, the recipient doesn't need to be on the other end to get your e-mail right away. It'll be there when he or she gets around to checking their e-mail. E-mail makes our lives much easier, but in some cases, this can be its downfall.

Just about every home has the Internet. It may come via DSL, Cable Company or even *shudder* Dial-Up. The company which provides you with Internet access is called an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The ISP commonly provides you with e-mail accounts of your own choosing. You may be bob@comcast.net or even alice@aol.com. While seemingly convenient, using e-mail addresses provided by through your ISP should be avoided.

Say it out loud. Spyware. Malware. Adware. Sounds like something you'd find at a Department Store. While department stores easily clog up credit cards, Spyware and it's brethren clog up computers on an even larger scale. Everyone inherently knows that slight mention of these terms cause a bright shiny neon red flag to appear in the brain. However, so few understand what these terms mean. Let's understand why!