The pairing process baffled me because my Mac could actually “see” my mouse. The Bluetooth Setup Assistant would show the mac address of my mouse in the detection window but it would not go any further. The pairing process would fail. Since the mouse was working fine right up until I installed Snow Leopard, it was fairly obvious it was a software problem. I was worried that my old bluetooth mouse was no longer compatible with Apple’s latest bluetooth stack. Luckily, an idea popped into my head that fixed the problem.

When you run the Bluetooth Setup Assistant on a Mac, it displays any bluetooth device it finds in the detection window. The normal sequence is that it sees the mac address of the mouse and then it changes to the actual name of the mouse. In my case, it should change to “Kensington Mouse,” but it never would get to that point with Snow Leopard. I began to wonder if I could somehow manually type in the name of the mouse to see if that would help things along. Thankfully, the answer is yes.

I started the Bluetooth Setup assitant, and when the first window appeared, I clicked on the “Specify Device” button. I typed “Kensington Mouse” in the dialog box and clicked “OK.” Amazingly enough, it worked perfectly!

Give this method a try if you are having trouble using a bluetooth mouse with Snow Leopard. The name you type in the “Device Address” box must be the exact name that would display if detection was working properly. I was lucky enough to remember the name of mine.

–Kevin

My advice: Windows 7 is the best operating system Microsoft has ever created. Run, don’t walk, to the pre-order site and get the great pricing and ditch Vista and XP.

The Waterfield Sleeve Case from sfbags.com is a unique take on the standard “sleeve” type laptop case. It can be customized in several different ways and the quality of workmanship is very high. This is the second bag I have purchased from sfbags.com and I have been extremely pleased each time. Please view the above video for more information.  Click here to see a larger version.

Edit: One correction to the video: I stated in the video that you don’t get the D-rings if you don’t order the shoulder strap. That is incorrect. You can order the rings without the strap.

The Lacie Iamakey is a USB thumb drive in the shape of a key. Please see the above video for more information. Click here to see a larger version.

Google Sync is free, so I wanted to see if it would be worthy enough to replace my MobileMe service, which costs $99 per year. Google Sync offers push contacts and calendar from Gmail to your mobile phone and it performs those tasks very well. I tested the service on my iPhone 3G and it works as advertised. Once it is setup on your phone, any change you make to your contacts or calendar automatically gets updated in the cloud and on your phone. Unfortunately, push email is not offered as yet, but the button to turn it on is there, so they will probably offer that feature soon.

Updates to my Gmail contacts and calendar were quick and painless. Changes to something in Gmail was almost instantly changed on my phone and vice versa. I never had a problem with functionality and everything worked very well. The only downside that I noticed was that the push feature used more of my iPhone’s battery.

Okay, so if Google Sync works as advertised, why did I stop using it? Quite simply, MobileMe has spoiled me. MobileMe allows me to sync my email, contacts, and calendars to my phone and all my computers. You can use a program called Spanning Sync (for a Mac) to get all of that functionality with Google Sync, but that costs money and is something extra you need to install. I also found software that will sync Google with Microsoft Outlook, but again it costs money. In the end, it is worth it to me to pay for the extra convenience.

If all you need is contacts and calendar syncing between Gmail and your phone, then Google Sync is a no-brainer. It is free, fast, and works very well. If you need to also sync your email and have everything the same across phones and computers, you will need to look elsewhere or deal with the extra paid software. If you use PC’s, I would recommend looking at a company that offers Exchange support.

Google Sync has made a good start. I would definitely give them another try if they were to begin offering features that allow me to sync my data across all my phones and computers. Until then, MobileMe is my choice.

I’ll say it again: if you buy an expensive item at Best Buy, open the box right there in the store and make sure you are getting what you pay for. It could save you a huge headache.

How in the world can Microsoft be so anti-user as to offer this junk? Limitations like this will only frustrate and annoy users to a point where they might go look for other alternatives. I try to be fair to both sides, but this makes me even more happy to use a Mac as my main computer. Apple has it right when they say that they only offer one version of their operating system – the Ultimate Version. It has no limitations and every feature is included for a price much less than Windows.

Windows 7 is looking better than Vista, but Microsoft has made a big mistake with this decision.

You should never leave your computer on your car seat without it being in a case. It would soften the blow if something like this accident happens to you, but it also protects your computer from sunlight and serves as semi-camouflage from thieves. If you must leave your laptop in the car, I recommend placing it on the floor behind the front seat. Keep in mind that heat can negatively affect battery life in computers and cell phones, so don’t leave them in your car for long.

So be safe out there and secure your gadgets.

One terrabyte is 1,000 gigabytes. That is a massive amount of storage! For $70 you can add all the storage you’ll ever need and never worry about running out of space again. This is great for people who download lots of music or videos, or for people who create their own content. High definition video, music, and large photos are big space eaters, which can quickly fill up the smaller hard drives that come with most computers these days. If your hard drive is starting to fill up, consider a hard drive upgrade now. If you don’t need 1TB of storage, there are other great deals on smaller drives, too.

Windows XP has served us well , so don’t free too much over it. The venerable OS has been on the market for over seven years. Microsoft usually only offers five years of mainstream support. They will still provide free security patches via Windows Update, but no new features will be added nor old ones fixed. More information can be found in this article over at Computerworld.

My advice: don’t buy a new computer until Windows 7 (the successor to Vista) comes out. Windows 7 is what Vista should have been. It will be worth the wait and you won’t need to suffer through Vista’s many annoyances.

This program saves multiple clicks by adding a button to the System Tray that takes you right to your files. It is a small program and uses very little resources to run.  It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

]]> http://www.casualtech.net/2009/04/12/view-hard-drive-contents-from-system-tray-or-menu-bar/feed/ 0 http://www.casualtech.net/2009/04/12/best-buy-sells-old-hard-drive-as-new/ http://www.casualtech.net/2009/04/12/best-buy-sells-old-hard-drive-as-new/#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:02:07 +0000 Kevin Teague http://www.casualtech.net/?p=416 I saw this story over at Gizmodo and though it was worth talking about here.  It seems a guy purchased what he thought was a brand new Western Digital 1TB hard drive. When he got it home and opened the package, he instead found a 9-year-old 30GB drive. When he took it back to get what he paid for, Best Buy refused to replace it or give him his money back.  Once again, Best Buy shows its true colors.

This is not the first time that something like this has happened at Best Buy (as well as many other stores). Clearly, someone else bought the hard drive, replaced it with an old one, and returned it to the store for a refund.  My guess would be the store clerk took the return without paying any attention and just re-shrink wrapped the box and put it back on the shelf for sale.

It is a shame that Best Buy treats its customers this way, but there is a way that you can avoid such problems. After you purchase an item that comes in a box you can’t easily open or is shrink-wrapped, open the item right there in the store next to a sales clerk. They can’t deny what they see with their own eyes.

Why make the switch? The first reason is that Google offers most of the features that MobileMe provides. The second reason is that Google does not charge for this service. Gmail, Gmail Contacts, and Google Calendar can now sync with cell phones and computers. Amazingly, Google calls this service Google Sync.

The process you have to go through to switch email providers is never super simple, but Google does a good job of making the transition as painless as possible. They may not do things as slick as Apple does, but I am finding it fairly easy to do. They provide ways to send your contact list and all your email to them, so you don’t have to go through hoops to get that done. You then need to setup Gmail on your computer and/or phone so that you can retrive all your info.  Again, Google provides easy to follow instructions on how to do this. The last step is to let everyone know what your new email address is.  I would give plenty of time before shutting off your old email services so that the stragglers get used to sending you mail to the correct address.

I will go more in-depth with this process once I have used it for awhile so that I may give it a proper review. Stay tuned for further updates.

Luckily, there is an easy way to tell if your computer has the Conficker worm. Simply go to the Conficker Worm Eyechart page and you will instantly know the answer.  The website is safe and simple.

The Conficker worm blocks computers from going to certain sites, so the Conficker Eyechart page attempts to load images from those sites. You are Conficker free if you see all six images at the top of the page. If some of the images are missing, then you need to take action immediately. Taking action means making sure your anti-virus software is up to date.  Once upated, have your anti-virus software run a full system scan on your computer. If it does not find anything, then you’ll need to consider other Conficker removal options. The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool would be your best option.

If you own a Mac (like yours truly!) then you do not need to concern yourself with this virus.