The Lance J. Technoweb

With Windows, the stock OS software is far from having everything I need. So you may ask me, "LanceJ, what is the best PC software you like to install?" Here's my list. The following software products are not offered by me; I'm just telling you that I use these products often. I find some of these products very useful. I've published this list mostly for my own personal benefit, so I don't have to go scrounging the web each time I need to install these for someone. [ I originally wrote this post in 2006 and updated it in 2008. I'm leaving this post up for history's sake, but I have an updated version .  - LJ ] Critical Software Packages for Windows I like these installed on all Windows computers I have to deal with: Avast! Anti-Virus (Home Edition). Free anti-virus software. Spybot Search and Destroy . Detects and removes spyware. CCleaner. Cleans junk off your PC. FireFox , an awesome web browser for Windows. Thunderbird , an awesome em...

It's been a long time since I wrote this article, but the fact remains: The good old eMac can still be useful if you take the simple steps to keep it as good as it can be.  All can run Tiger, and most can run Leopard - great operating systems for their day with a bit of useful life.  This article describes the procedure I used to upgrade my old eMac, including: Replacing the internal hard disk with a large capacity drive. Increasing the memory for performance Upgrading the operating system Here I'm upgrading a 700 MHz eMac, but the procedure and tasks for upgrading other eMac models should be almost identical. Upgrading versus Replacing My sister's eMac is of the 700 mhz variety, with 256 MB of memory. The machine seemed to be getting "slower", and the original 40 GB disk was becoming jammed packed with photos and iTunes, and within a few months she'd be out of disk space. There were two options to address the problems: upgrade the eMac, or go o...

If you're like me, you have a large collection of vinyl LP records that rarely get played because CDs and MP3 players are so much more convenient. And if you're like me, you want to move all of your audio assets into a more accessible format - your iPod - so that you can finally put that turntable away. Ripping Vinyl to your iPod The solution, of course, is to rip your LPs and cassettes. This entails playing each recording, digitizing the music as it plays, and then putting the digitized music into a form that any iPod can use. My goal during this project was to develop an easy, repeatable, and very high quality process to digitize LPs. This article explains the process. The Rules of High Quality Vinyl Ripping Accuracy . On your home hifi system, you look to hear the best sound in your ears. The digitization process is fundamentally different. Digitization is all about capturing the source analog signal as accurately as possible. Do you have a fancy $5000 A/V receiver?...