Howto: Using Ogg Vorbis. “TuxPPC has done a small Ogg Vorbis HowTo on how to use the free audio codec to store and play your music data as an alternative to Mp3.” [I refuse to use an audio format which doesn't roll off the tongue. Ogg Vorbis?]

For the Geek in Me. Get your favorite geeks some errorwear: embrace your computer problems. These crack me up. [I wish I could get away with wearing this stuff on CFH. It's mostly reserved for Megan at this point. Eh, they look better on her, anyway.]

“The Matrix” Website Updated. Click on the keyboard twice, and enter the password “reload” to get to the new material. There's QuickTime VRs, on the set shots and most likely a slew of new hidden stuff. Happy searching. [Gretchen just gave me a red pill. I wonder what that means?]

Fire up that Google indexing. This is a drinking game we used to play all of the time in college – “What's the best porn…” [Hey, when I was in college, we didn't need Google to find pr0n. We knew exactly how to download it from the newsgroups, combine and uudecode the 170 posts, then use cview to enjoy the 256-color, non-animated, dithered action.]

Can AOL Make Money from IM? Analysis: Now that instant messaging has taught us all to “lol” and “brb,” there is a high-stakes race on to monetize the popular application. Can America Online's AIM win that race? [Why don't they figure out how to monetize the client in another way? Like appending a text advertisement at the top of each IM? That way, Trillian's popularity won't be a hinderance.]

Spell checking your e-mails. Quite honestly, there's no excuse for spelling errors anymore. Typos were frequent in the days of the typewriter; misspellings were common in the handwritten letter era. Though, there's virtually no quick way to spell check a word when you're in anything other than a “Microsoft Office Spell Checker” supported application. Lockergnomie Tom Maenner had issues with the feature in Outlook Express after he upgraded to Windows XP. “I had to locate 'csapi3t1.dl_' on the Windows XP CD and expand it as 'csapi3t1.dll' in this directory: C:\ Program Files \ Common Files \ Microsoft Shared \ Proof. Worked like a charm.” I'm not certain if this will work on every machine, but it's worth trying if the tool isn't operational for you. If you dork up words every other minute, consider turning on the “Spell Check before Sending” feature in your default e-mail client. It's and its, than and then, their and they're, or any other homophone may slip through the cracks. Butt at least you won't look like a total fool – just a parshal one. Even online, credibility counts.

Software lets Intel servers divide. Improved software hands Intel servers some valuable features of higher-end Unix systems and mainframes, letting a single machine “partition” and act like several computers. [Just stay the hell away from their application accelerator. Even the newest version is causing problems, as evidenced in the Lockergnome newsgroups.]

Cuppa Joe, Easy on the Tummy. If coffee gives you an ache in the gut, try The Considerate Coffee, which claims to remove the irritants that aggravate the digestive system. But does it really do what it says? [I don't care if it's good or bad for me, I'm still going to drink it. I brewed my own this morning, but the beans were too old. We ended up flailing to Peet's this afternoon.]

Turning into digital goldfish. Digital distractions like the web and e-mail can leave you with the attention span of a goldfish, nine seconds. [That's not true. I pay more attention to my computer than I do any other object on this planet. And since I don't treat my wife like an object, she doesn't count. Nyeah.]

24x Pro CF cards. Lexar Media has today announced new 24x professional Compact Flash cards. Lexar claim a throughput of 3.6 MB per second (although they don't specify which camera this was tested on) where 1x is 150… [Sounds wicked ass cool. I just got my 256 Viking CF card today. I copied WMAs from four BNL CDs: Maroon, Maybe You Should Drive, Born on a Pirate Ship, and Rock Spectacle.]

RADIO – Pay to stream. Federal regulators Wednesday set the rate Internet radio stations must pay for the right to stream music online. [One day, we'll stream our radio show live over the Internet. One day.]

Life without JavaScript. Recently, I have been reviewing and judging many Web sites and put them to the test by turning off JavaScript in one browser. The results of non-JavaScript surfing were amazing…. [I try not to rely on JavaScript, but sometimes you just can't help it.]

Pervasive Computing – Where's the Off Switch? Almost everyone supports or is looking forward to pervasive computing. But that which can be used also can be abused, and this sort of technology is the stuff of nightmares for many who fear for their privacy and individuality. [It's like when your wife can't use her computer - she wants to use yours. And you don't have the heart to tell her that if she so much as looks at your keyboard, you'll recursively delete her entire Windows folder hierarchy.]

Apple iMac: Bold New Look Even jaded veterans of the platform wars stopped by to admire the machine's innovative design, attractive hardware complement, and excellent software bundle. [Myself included. I asked if we could squeeze one into the budget, and Gretchen told me that we'd have to wait until we paid off the IRS. Yeah, we owe quite a bit in back taxes because of an accounting error. That won't happen again.]