I never buy anything unless I really, really need it.  Most recently that's meant biking gloves and a rake.  But my wife was recently in need of maternity pants, and hit the web in search of a deal. Here are her 7 tips for online shopping, which originally appeared on

After 15 years, Winamp is shutting down. I actually wrote the obituary for Winamp back in 2004 when it was widely beleived AOL was abandoning the player, but it seems I was 9-years early. Winamp was my preferred player for MP3 files for years because it was so light on

Back in March, Google announced they were shutting down Google Reader on June 30.  I'd call myself a power user of Google Reader, so I started looking at alternatives. I'm pleased to announce that Feedly has won the battle to replace Google Reader.  In fact, in some ways, Feedly is

I was having issues logging into Google Analytics and Google Adwords this week. This is what I saw when I logged into Google Adwords. This is what I saw when I logged into Google Analytics. I logged out and back in, I restarted, I tried different machines with different operating

If you're a Gmail user and you visit this page, you'll get an error message and Gmail will redirect to a page that shows the oldest messages from your account.  This is the oldest message from my account: Gmail was launched on April Fool's Day of 2004 and that first

My brother likes to text.  I'm far more likely to get a text from him than an email or instant message, and there's no fear of getting a tweet or Facebook message from him, as he outright rejects social media.  He texts me. I'm not a big fan of texting.

I just Googled 'leafs'.  Here's the top half page of the results. Probably the top 10 questions are answered without requiring any further clicking.  There's details of the last game, the next game, the current standings, the championship seasons, current news and more, all served up before we even get

Google is shutting down Google Reader, their RSS reader I use several times a day.  I'm sure I'm not alone.  Just about every blog, news service and site I follow has an RSS feed I subscribe to in Google Reader. As a power user and super fan, this decision by

Sales of desktop computers have slowed while sales of laptops and tablets have taken off.  Welcome to 2013. I'm here to claim the desktop isn't dead.  Although I'm writing this entry from a MacBook Pro, the bulk of my 9-5 work is performed on a desktop PC.  It's my most

Instagram users are a little ticked off after learning they're changing their terms and conditions so they can now use and sell your photos without your permission or paying you.  Eek. I take lots of pictures.  As a natural born archivist, I always feel like capturing the moment with a

In July 2011, I urged you all to try Google+.  It's a great interface, it's intuitive and your privacy issues are eliminated. Almost a year and a half later, I can see you didn't listen.  Google+ is practically a ghost town.  There's so few people there, there's no reason to

I don't love Facebook, but acknowledge it's important to be there.  Whenever I flirt with the idea of deleting my Facebook account I remember that's the main way I now keep in touch with friends and family.  When a friend gives birth, I'll learn about it and see the pictures

Below are 8 great tips for staying safe and secure when shopping online.  My friends at Dell sent this over and with Cyber Monday and all the holiday shopping coming up, this is a great time to make sure you're ready. Make sure your computer is up-to-date with anti-virus and

I bought a new television about 18 months ago from LG. I'm not loyal to LG by any means, but it had the right specs, was the right price and so far, so good. Once you see the LG logo morph into Pac-Man, you cannot unsee it.  Continue reading, if

Disney bought Star Wars, and some are upset.  There's fear the Star Wars franchise will become Disneyfied and Episode 7 will feature music by Miley Cirus and will star Justin Beiber as Luke Skywalker's son. Fear not, my nerd readers.  This acquisition by Disney doesn't matter, in fact, it might

My Twitter feed was jammed yesterday with news about the new iPad Mini Apple has unveiled.  You can think of it as a smaller iPad or a larger iPod Touch.  Here's a picture of the new iPad Mini: The cheapest version will sell for $329.  That's a pretty big chunk

I recently wrote about my new Neil Young CD, the first "purchased" CD to cross my path in almost a decade.  Then, I listened to Twilight of the Gods, a five-part radio documentary series that aired on CBC's Inside the Music.  You can listen to it here. In part five

I just took a snapshot of the browsers used by the last 100 visitors to this site.  Microsoft's Internet Explorer won easily, with most using an older version like 8, 7 or (gasp!) even 6.  Here's a pretty chart for you. For those of you using IE by choice, I'm