January 2007, Week 2 -- That's Entertainment

   Several decades ago, Bob heard an interesting story from an aide to a newly elected Philadelphia congressman. When the congressman got to Washington, D.C., he asked his aide to buy him a TV in Philadelphia and bring it to Washington. "But you can get TVs in Washington," said the aide. "Yes, but I want to pick up Philadelphia stations."

   At last, the congressman's wish has come true. You can be anywhere in the world and get stations from back home.

   With a Slingbox (Slingbox.com), you can transfer any TV show to a computer that's connected to the Internet anywhere else in the world. We found the Slingbox Tuner for $166 and Slingbox Pro for $213 from Amazon.com.

   You can also do the opposite: send whatever is on your computer to your big-screen TV nearby. Why would anyone want to? Well, for one thing it gets you out of the office for a while. And as for other possibilities: Bill Gates, for example, sometimes likes to watch old basketball games that are available through the Internet. Someone we talked to at Netgear likes to watch Australian football, and you can subscribe to those broadcasts for free through the Internet instead of having to pay a cable TV provider. You can also listen to Internet radio, watch family photos, do a wide audience screening of a presentation, etc.

   Start with the Netgear EVA700 Digital Entertainer from netgear.com and a wireless router that will broadcast Internet content to any compatible receiver within a couple of hundred feet. (Be sure to set the router's privacy code to "on," or anyone in range can follow whatever you do on the Internet.)

  If you don't want to use a wireless network, either because of the potential security problems, or you're just plain sick of being blasted with radio waves, you can wire ports directly into the wall, or as a more practical solution, use your building's own electrical wiring. Several companies make equipment for turning your house wiring into a network. We used Netgear's  own Netgeear HD Ethernet Adapter Kit. It comes with two units for $160 from Amazon.com.

   You need two units so that you have one plugged into the wall outlet by the router that receives the incoming Internet signal and the other plugged into the wall wherever you want to pick up that signal again. Each of those wall plug units will have a port for an Ethernet cable and a cable comes with the EVA700 unit. We found the Netgear EVA700 for $217 at Amazon.com.

Keeping the Bad Guys at Bay

   Just blink and there's some new security software out there. This latest one is called Blink and the "personal" version is free from eEye.com.

   Blink protects the user from inadvertently going to a site posing as the intended one. Shortly after installing Blink, Joy did a Google search on a tech support question and when she clicked on one of the hits, Blink prevented her from going there. It posted a note that the site address she had been directed to did not match the one listed in her Google search. It was, in fact, an imposter. How then to get to the true site? You have to type the site's address directly into the search field of your browser. Then you can be taken to only that site.

   Blink also provides a firewall, intrusion protection and guards against identity theft, and tells you about vulnerabilities in your system. The Professional version of Blink costs $59 and adds desirable features for business, like support for the Windows Server System, centralized management and round-the-clock technical support.

Internuts

   1. AskSam is a well-known and well-regarded random access database, but the company also operates a Web site, askSam.com, that lists hundreds of databases, each divided into areas called "Surf Reports." Each of those reports, like "Science," "Health," "Biographies," "Government," etc., has links to dozens of sites related to that topic. Think of it as a bibliography of pre-screened Web sites.

   2. Travelistic.com lets you explore the world through short travel videos. Most are supplied by advertisers and tourist bureaus and have little feel of what the place is really like. But a few are created by individuals who actually know the area. We really liked the ones by a young woman who shows you a bit of what Newport Beach and Palm Desert, Calif., look like. She was as charming as the Travel Channel's popular Samantha Brown.

Online Collaboration

   Small businesses that don't want to spend thousands of dollars for Microsoft's Exchange Server and tech support can get some of that service for free from Google.com.

   It's called Google Documents and Spreadsheets, and you get there by going to Google.com/accounts. Then sign in, or sign up and click on the "documents and spreadsheets" link. Click "more" and a long list of special features and products appears. One of these is "docs and spreadsheets." You can then collaborate with anyone else you invite to join.

   You can upload a spreadsheet or document, and all the familiar formats are supported. Collaborating on spreadsheets has a few extra features: A chat window appears off to one side of the spreadsheet, and you can type things like "Let's fix the error on line 3" or just chat about anything you want. You can also call up formulas for use with spreadsheets and do formatting changes.

NOTE: Readers can search several years of columns at the "On Computers" Web site: www.oncomp.com. You can e-mail Bob Schwabach at bobschwab@aol.com and Joy Schwabach at joydee@oncomp.com.