the 3 Best Online PDF to JPEG Converters (TIFF/ JPG/PNG): Review

When you need to modify a PDF file before using it, it is often necessary to convert it to another format. This happened to me recently as I downloaded an old IRS form, and discovered that the version available on line could not be scanned by IRS computers. How do you convert a PDF file into another format?

1. Web Applications - uploading your file for conversion: Zamzar

Every application you install on your computer is a little bit more destabilizing to your operating system. If you do it often enough, you will eventually need a reinstall - it is only a matter of time. So, unless this is a workflow that is truly often needed, it is in general best to look for web app solutions. We should all carry a fairly strong preference for doing what we need to do off the desktop.

It turns out that there is an excellent web app for converting PDF files to JPEGs (or to other formats) on line: Zamzar allows you to upload a file, choose an output format, and give your email address to receive the converted file. A 50kB PDF file (the maximum is 100MB) typically takes 7 minutes to make it to your inbox, varying from 2 minutes to 15 minutes. In order to avoid too much spam mail, I use a consumable address for such uses, which I change every few years, when spam has become too much.

Other web apps that we tested, Neevia's Document Converter Xpress, ConvertPDFtoImage, and YouConvertIt, have not been reliable.

2. Printer driver conversion: ImagePrinter

A printer driver is easy to install to your computer, and reasonably painless to remove as well. A little- known virtual printer driver, ImagePrinter, allows you to convert a PDF to several graphical file formats. It is invoked as a printer from any Windows application. Once you have installed it, to set up the output format, look for ImagePrinter in your Startup Menu, select Options, ImagePrinter, open the File Format tab, then pick your format and compression. To set up the output target directory, pick the System tab, then browse to the target directory (the default is the My Documents folder). Make sure, in the same System tab, to select "save original name" otherwise it will use a default name for all. To convert the file, open with your PDF viewer, click Print on the File Menu, then select the ImagePrinter printer, and print.

Another driver frequently mentioned, the Universal Document Converter, while powerful, adds in a watermark to the output file in its free version.

3. Desktop utility: PDF Xchange Viewer

This efficient, feature-laden PDF viewer and annotator deserves to be much better known than it is today. PDF Xchange Viewer, once installed, can open your PDF file. By selecting Export under the File Menu for this utility, you can specify the output format, quality, target directory etc. This utility can do much more than file conversion, although its power comes with a significant learning curve - it is less than intuitive. Be extremely watchful, however, in the install process, as default options will install bloatware, self updating utilities, and browser bars.

Omniformat, and Office Convert PDF to JPG JPEG TIFF, other desktop utilities, were not reliable when tested and are not recommended. We had more success with PDF2Image, a $59 commercial utility with a 30-day trial period.

4. Doing it by hand: PrintScreen

The old-fashioned way of doing it is to capture the screen with the native Windows tools or with third party tools, then to import the result into a simple image editor such as Windows Paint, and finally to save in the required format. This may, however, possibly compromise the original print resolution.

Prostate Cancer: Screening, Treatment Worse Than Disease?

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has just released its latest guidelines on prostate cancer screening. The changes in these guidelines are driven in part by the findings of two major studies, on either side of the Atlantic, whose results seem to question the benefits of early screening.  There is much debate from different health authorities on these guidelines and its changes - some of these discussions can be found in the LA Times, CBS News, or WebMD.

image by Phillie Casablanca 

The main issue focuses on the need for early screening, and the age at which such screening should occur. The original guidelines called for, among other things, general screening for all men starting at age 50. The revised guidelines suggest that men should start discussing the need for screening with their doctor at age 50, although those men at high risk for prostate cancer should start he process earlier.

Several issues conflict in this matter. On the one hand, early screening normally benefits patients, as cancers caught early are more treatable. But the actual test which is recommended by the ACS, PSA screening, may suffer from sever weaknesses, as discussed by the actual discoverer of PSA (prostate specific antigen), Richard Ablin, in an Op-Ed at the New York Times.

The problems with the test are compounded by the fact that prostate cancer generally (although not always) evolves very slowly. Aggressive treatment often comes with nefarious consequences for the patient, including impotence and incontinence. It is not always recommended, simply because you might sometimes die of old age before the cancer kills you. In fact, according to WebMD, prostate cancer is diagnosed in an estimated 80% of men at age 80, although it clearly will not kill most of them. As a result, a significant number of experts, including Dr. Ablin himself, argue against early screening for the general population.

The risk, however, is that, by delaying screening, you may miss the small number of prostate cancers that evolve quickly and may kill the patients. There is, unfortunately, no test that specifically targets these fast evolving cancers.

If you get tested and have a positive result, the treatment that you may receive is also subject to great uncertainty. In fact, a recent study (discussed here and here) and states that the treatment you receive largely depends upon which specialists you will see. Statistically you are more likely to get surgery if you see a urologist only, and radiation therapy if you see a radiation oncologist. To the man with a hammer everything looks like a nail...

Should you get screened? This is a topic of discussion between you and your doctor. But - for sure - do it while fully informed. And - if the test should come out positive - be careful to weigh all pros and cons before engaging into an aggressive treatment - or any treatment. For prostate cancer screening and treatment, it seems that the best approach is to educate the patient first.

Some more reading: the NYT editorial by Richard Ablin is  a must-read, and the Harvard  Medical School just came out with its 2010 report on prostate diseases (unfortunately needs to be purchased).

Best Computer Tech Support

Consumer reports just released their new ratings for desktop and laptop tech support, based on their subscribers' experience.

image by psd

Apple hammers all of its competitors by a huge margin, both in laptops and desktops. In the desktop category, Dell, then HP follow, at a very significant distance. - Acer ranks last. For laptops, Lenovo comes second, also far behind Apple, followed by Dell and HP - Acer ranks last again. The full report is available to Consumer Reports subscribers.

The gap between Apple and its competitors is staggering. I wonder what they are doing differently. Either way, the outcome is - according to Consumer Reports your support experience with Apple should be radically superior to that of any other brand tested.

We are big fans of Consumer Reports and have been subscribers for many years - join them as a member and enable more good research!

Biking Directions on Google Maps!

Google just added bike directions AND large quantities of bike trail data on Google Maps. Bike directions include minimizing hills -wow! Google added over 12,000 of bike trails, and information about bike lanes in over 150 cities in the US.

image by faster panda kill kill

 
Check it out at http://maps.google.com/biking. PC Mag has already published a hands-on test - we can't wait to try... Now the big question is - when will it be available for Google Maps for Mobile?

original Google blog  

Securely Erase Data From Storage Drives [Windows]

Identity theft from discarded hard drive and flash drive data is rampant, as shown by multiple studies (an example here). What can you do to protect yourself? Simply deleting a file is not enough, even if you empty the recycle bin, as it can be easily recovered from your drive with disk recovery tools.

image by Justin Ruckman

Gizmodo just published an excellent article on the topic. It is however not totally easy to exploit, especially if you don't have good technical skills, due to the nature and choice of the tools the writer investigates. To make it a bit easier, we are selecting here the most usable tools to wipe data clean with the least possible pain, using free utilities - good ones are surprisingly hard to find for this application. The tool selection was optimized for ease of use and reasonable security: it is possible to use tools that result in a higher guarantee of secure disposal (check the resource guide at the end).

Remember that you cannot wipe the drive from which you are running your program, and that, because the process is long, you should run a laptop on wall power if you are using one... Also remember (I know some people who made that mistake) that, if you wipe your system disk, your computer will not be able to function until you have reinstalled the OS:-)

Simple utilities for data wiping

There are four primary uses for data wiping: periodic wiping of free space (to securely erase previosuly deleted files),  cleaning up a flash drive before using it for new purposes, wiping a whole hard rive clean before getting rid of it (or reusing it), and securely erasing selected files and folders. 

1. Periodically wiping free space in your disk drives: ccleaner

It is a good idea to periodically wipe securely the free space in your drives, so that obsolete, but still confidential data cannot be recovered. The commonly used utility ccleaner can wipe all the deleted files in free space.  Be aware of the (small) limitations listed  here, and of some user stories (it can take a while). Altogether, the use of ccleaner for periodic free space wiping appears safe.        

2. Wiping clean a flash orUSB drive: DiskWipe

DiskWipe by Roadkil.net will totally wipe a flash drive and replace all data with zeroes or with random data. Be aware that you will need to reformat the flash drive after wiping. Gizmodo verified that the wipe was secure.

3. Wiping clean a full hard drive prior to reuse or disposal: Eraser, DiskWipe

Eraser is the only free based utility frequently mentioned in most data destruction policies for universities with prestigious software departments (all others. It provides mil-spec secure disposal. It can also securely delete existing files and folders. It is powerful and offers many choices.  DiskWipe mentioned above is another candidate, with less options (in particular no ability to dispose of files and folders), but simpler to use for the purpose of wiping a full drive.

4. Securely erasing files and folders: FileShredder

 File Shredder is a good simple choice for file and folder level disposal. 

What you need to know about secure data deletion on storage media

It is possible to easily recover previously deleted files, even after disposal of the recycle bin. The only way to get rid of data for good is by overwriting it with different data. 

There is some controversy about how many times you need to wipe it clean. While several DoD directives and policies prescribe multiple overwrites (the Gutman method asks for 35!), other reputable research centers, such as the Center for Magnetic Recording Research (CMRR) at UCSD, consider that a single overwrite is enough for almost all purposes. The single overwrite method as been validated by  many how-to sites, such as Antiforensics.com here and here, and is probably enough unless you have very specific reasons to fear the use of sophisticated forensics on your data.

Your hard drive includes a Secure Erase command. There is no general purpose utility to access this command for all drives. The CMRR Secure Erase utility discussed below accesses it for some drives.

All secure wiping methods take long stretches of time, except for one method recommended by the CMRR, which directly addresses a specific secure earse command on the drive. Unfortunately the CMRR does not maintain its utility any more (you can find it in the Resources section below). 

If you data is extraordinarily critical, be aware that physical destruction may not be enough, as bits and pieces of your drive platters may actually be readable (the CMRR, in some articles, mentions that they actually did so, but in some other articles assume that it is not practical). Degaussing (using a strong magnet) does not work on SSDs or Flash drives, and may not work in future generation drives. You probably should go to the next level in secure disposal (as opposed to what is presented above), using more powerful tools but with less ease of use. For this, the most frequently recommended utility (mentioned in practically EVERY relevant article) is  Darik's Boot and Nuke, which will require you to create a bootable CD from which to run your software.

SSD drives have special challenges, and we have no encountered a general solution for all of them.

More resources

The  Center for Magnetic Recording Research at UCSD has solid research that it quotes in its documents, and which can be trusted. It developed a Secure Erase utility, unfortunately no longer supported but still operational for many users. Robin Harris from ZDNet lists some issues with the CMRR  Secure Erase utility. 

A free command line utility provided by Microsoft, SDelete from MS, is also frequently referenced as a good way to wipe drives, although with some limitations. Another free utility, recommended by some, but that we were not able to validate in the security literature, is HDD Wipe Tool  from HDDGuru.com. It is however possible for you to validate the cleanliness of a wipe by any utility, by using the simple winhex, which reads the sectors of your drive to verify erasure. The excellent Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN), already mentioned above, is a part of the excellent freeware ultimate boot CD (UBCD), which also comes with many other diagnostics utilities, and which may be an easier path (it still requires you to create a Boot CD). An alternative to DBAN or UBCD, also requiring a Linux boot CD, is an old, but still interesting, engadget how-to.

There are some excellent commercial utilities to do mil-spec data wiping, which cost form $30-$60 for home use. The most commonly mentioned are  BCWipe (free trial) and WipeDrive. KillDisk also appears highly rated, but its web site does not inspire confidence. 

There are many other interesting reviews of wiping software. Some examples are TechSupportAlert and TheFreeCountry. Bruce Schneier, with a data security blog, is one of the recognized security experts who discuss this topic. Finally, it is interesting to see what universities with good software engineering programs practice and recommend, and here are some of them:

• U Minnesota data destruction policy with lists of recommended utilities
• Stanford U data destruction policy
•  Carnegie Mellon data destruction policy  with lists of recommended utilities
• U Penn wiki on Data Wiping with lists of recommended utilities 

Gizmodo's article which inspired this post

Should you Ad-Block? Ars Technica Says No

It is now possible to use extensions that will simply block the display of all ads around the page, allowing you to focus on the content. Great progress for some, but, in the long term, is it right for the ecosystem?

Ars Technica's editor in chief, Ken Fisher, pens an eloquent appeal about the risks of ad-blocking. Simply put, most of the data you get on the web is free - because the bill is paid by the advertisers. Most sites are paid by their advertisers per views, not per click. When you remove this, you take out money, dollar by dollar, that your favorite sites are using to fund their publication. In the short term you are damaging your own savorite sources of information.

We agree with Ars Technica, and will not recommend any general Ad Blockers outside of standard pop-up blockers, already included in most browsers. What do you think?

Ken Fisher's Ars Technica article

Is it Time to Invest in USB 3.0?

USB 3.0, also called Superspeed USB,  is the latest generation of the ubiquitous USB port, typically available today as USB 2.0. It brings a 10x improvement in transmission speed, and is backward-compatible with USB 2.0. It consumes less power during data transfer operations. It accelerates battery recharge times by providing more current to peripheral devices.

A this time, however, neither Intel nor Microsoft support it in the present releases. It is a real pity because we all are yearning for faster transfer speeds. Gigabyte and Asus have, in the past month, introduced new motherboards that support USB 3.0, and a small number of devices are just now becoming available.

Should you make the jump now? Unless you are a true early adopter, you are better off waiting for much larger device availability, and, if possible, support by Microsoft and Intel. Right now, Intel and Microsoft are roadmapping USB 3.0 support in 2012 - this just seems really late. It is possible that they will be rushed into earlier adoption if the market shows strong customer support, in which case we might all be able to upgrade easily next year.

More resources

• a good primer from techspot
• another one from everythingUSB
• an intro by PC World
• updated timing by everythingUSB

Best Smartphone Operating Systems: Which to Pick?

Best Wireless Cell Phones Part 5

In Part 4, we discussed what frequency band combination to pick, if at all possible, in order to pick the best cellphone. We can divide cell phones into two categories - smartphones, and others. Smartphones carry an operating system (OS). Their operating system, a complex piece of software, gives them extended capabilities, but also require more performance from the hardware, and result in higher prices. What are the primary smartphones operating systems?

image by eraserhead1

• Symbian is the operating system for all Nokia cellphones, and represents approximately 47% of the smartphone market - a very high share. It is an open source platform, obviously heavily driven by Nokia. Symbian is an efficient operating system, with an emphasis on conserving resources, which enables smaller devices. Symbian phones can download applications from Nokia's Ovi Store, launched in mid 2009. The Ovi Store carries many high quality applications, most of which ported from the Apple App Store, but does nto have the runaway success of the Apple equivalent.
• BlackBerry OS is the operating system for Research in Motion, the #1 provider of business phones. A powerful and highly usable OS, it focuses on email, multi-tasking, and enterprise capabilities. It requires a separate subscription to RIM's email service. The BlackBerry OS powers 21% of all smartphones.
•  The iPhone OS, used by the Apple iPhone, needs no introduction. It powers the most runaway success in the history of wireless communications. It is focused on an excellent user interface, intuitive, easy to use. It permits the use of finger gestures against a touch screen to allow complex manipulations. It does not allow multitasking. The Apple App Store allows users to download third party applications for their iphone, and has also be incredibly successful, counting way over 100,000 applications. The Apple OS is proprietary and tightly controlled, and has a 15% share of the total smartphone market.
• Windows Mobile is Microsoft's operating system for mobile devices, a direct inheritor of Microsoft's embedded operating system, and, as such,  has gone through 20 years of development. it carries approximately 9% of the total smartphone market.
• Android is Google's entry into the wireless arena - although it is officially part of the Open Handset Alliance, which groups many cellphone manufacturers and wireless operators. It is derived from Linux, and is also open source. Android is now experiencing very fast growth in the number of handsets that it powers (today 5% of the all smartphones), and is also seeing significant growth in the number of applications available for download.
• webOS is the newest proprietary OS for Palm, and is also derived from Linux. It is only available today on the Palm Pre.  

How do they compare?

Because the life cycle of a cellphone is short, the choice of an operating system is not as critical as it can be in other areas, such as computers. Yet other factors make it an important dimension: inherent capabilities, device choices, performance requirements, and applications choices - smart phone does a lot more than phone calls...

When looking at market shares in the smartphone market, the two OSs gaining significantly today are iPhone OS and Android.  A the opposite end, Palm's webOS and Microsoft Windows Mobile appear totally stalled, despite Palm's recent introduction of the Palm Pre and MS's release of the powerful Windows Mobile 7. Both Symbian and BlackBerry keep leading shares of the market but see their relative positions erode.

The iPhone is still the phenomenon in the smartphone market, presenting a fully thought out paradigm for what a smartphone should be. Its only weaknesses are its tight control by Apple, which restrict choices and may, in the future, limit some of its innovation, and the high price of its devices. Android , fastest growing of all  right now, could become the open source iPhone, if it fulfills its promises - but it is not quite there today, either in UI maturity and robustness, or in breadth of applications. The largest potential danger ahead for Android is the issue of multiplying versions, which compels developers to test against more and more versions for every release, and which Google needs to address quickly before it becomes a barrier that developers will not want to confront.

Symbian carries excellent functionality in the fundamentals of communications (calls, SMS, email) as well as good robustness and maintainability - it needs, however, to expand quickly in other areas where iPhone and Android have been making inroads, and to ensure applications breadth in the Ovi Store, a tough challenge. BlackBerry is still unchallenged as the enterprise leader, but its lead depends upon the capabilities that it gives enterprise It departments more than the functionality that it provides to end users. It has not been successful so far at matching new user functionality developments from other providers. 

Microsot has just released the excellent Windows Mobile 7, but it might not be enough to stop its precipitous decline of the last few years, and its market share is still shrinking quickly. It is simply powering very few new devices. Finally, Palm's recent introduction of its new webOS on the Palm Pre may just be too little, too late.

Smartphone OS winners and losers for a purchase decision in 2010

• iPhone OS - winner. It is still rapidly gaining share, and offers an unprecedented access to third party applications. It is a strong technology with an excellent UI, and a big winner. The drawback of Apple's tight control is the very high cost of all of its devices, and the lack of choice out of Apple.
•  BlackBerry - winner if you are a business user - enterprise market only. RIM is still the acknowledged leader for enterprises, where full solutions are simply missing from other providers. But its offering remains weak for non-enterprise users. The present is still good, but the future looks darker, and many of its users seem ready to switch away.
• Android - winner with caution. It shows very strong growth and promise, but keeps large areas of immaturity in its UI, code and architecture. It is already the second largest Applications platform, gaining quickly. A conservative approach might be to look at purchasing an Android phone in one or two years.
• Symbian - winner with caution. Nokia's dominating market share and excellence in traditional functionality cannot be ignored. A the same time, we should be aware that it is losing market share quickly to newer competitors, and that its choice of applications is very limited compared to Android and the iPhone.
• Microsoft, Palm - losers. While, at this time, we would not rule out any cellphone purchase solely due to the OS in use, the lack of market success for Palm and Microsoft definitely downgrades their offerings, and purchasing a handset powered by either should be approached with caution.In particular, Palm could altogether go under some time in the next 6 quarters.

Come back soon to see our upcoming picks for best smartphone and best cellphone!

 << Previous Page         

The Best Web Browser for 2010: Time to Switch?

Odds are your internet browser is probably the most significant software tool you use every day. It has large impact to your productivity and efficiency, at home and at work. Are you using the browser that maximizes your options? Should you make the plunge today and switch?

image by cogdog

What you need to know about browsers

• Browser market share: each browser is slightly different in terms of how it renders sites, and of what it can render. Site programmers need to specifically test their pages with each browser to ascertain that their site will work with it - all the more if they provide more powerful or cutting edge functionality. They will test the browsers with large market share - not all the others.
•  Security: browsers can be more or less secure, and may leave open cracks for malware to reach your computer. In addition, the more market share a browser has, the more likely it is to be targeted by hackers.
• Speed: not all browsers are equal. They render regular HTML pages, along with javascript (a programming language that gives instructions to your browser from the site your are viewing), at different speeds. 
• Memory footprint: browsers use widely varying amounts of memory, of which you have a finite resource on your computer.
• Extensibility: some browsers allows for extensions to be added to the core of the application. In fact, many users depend upon these extensions and add-ons for their daily workflow. 

What are the most significant browsers?

• Internet Explorer is known by all. Produced by Microsoft, it ships (right now) with Windows by default (although this will change in Europe soon). Because of its inherent advantage (shipping with Windows) it has had the largest market share since the demise of Netscape, that is for many years. It was a quasi monopoly for so long that, as a consequence, it ended up with little innovation for several years until it encountered some significant competition in the form of Firefox.

• Firefox has been driving competition in the browser market for several years. It is driven by an open source organization, Mozilla. Most if the innovations in the browser market have come through Firefox, and progressively shown up in other browsers. It has a strong emphasis on general architecture and extensibility.

• Chrome, Google's browser, is the latest entry in browsers,. Introduced in September 2008, it has climbed up the ranks quickly and shown interesting technologies and directions. It is the fastest growing browser today. It reserves most of its real estate to the actual site, and focuses on security and speed.

• Safari is the native Apple browser. It shows the usual Apple approach: tight, fairly closed code base, elegant user interface, rare releases. Safari is also available for Windows.

• Opera is a long time platform with an excellent track record and a small community of highly committed users.

How do they compare?

1. Market Share

 image by Net Applications

Net Applications is a trusted source for browser market share, which they average across 40,000 sites in multiple countries, and approximately 160M unique visitors per month. From March 2008 to February 2010, Net Applications reports IE going from 77.4% to 61.6%, Firefox going from 17.2% to 24.2%, Chrome (not launched in March 2008) going from 0% to 5.6%, Safari (Apple's browser) going from 2.7% to 4.%, and Opera going from 1.8% to 2.4%. Based on market share, we can expect that all sites will test for IE, and most (but not all) for Firefox. Quite a few more advanced sites will not work properly for Safari or Opera (although run-of-the-mill sites should be fine).

2. Security

Because of its large market, and possibly because of its architecture, IE has been traditionally targeted by hacker, and has yielded the largest number of vulnerabilities. (although, to be fair, we should add that Microsoft and NSS Labs disagree with that statement). The other browsers have not shown large numbers of security issues yet. Chrome, in particular, has been specifically architected with security in mind, and has an interesting sandbox approach to browser security (see ComputerWorld security blog here). Standard hacking competitions such as this one target browsers every year and give a vivid illustration of browser weaknesses: last year, Safari was cracked first, and Chrome was the only browser to resist hacking. Browserscope, an open source project, scores browsers in real time (for security and other things) and scores Chrome 5 tat the op in security.

3.  Speed

Comparisons change at every release - an releases are frequent... In addition, benchmarks have shown slight differences in results. However, there is no doubt right now that Chrome and Opera are faster, that Safari and Firefox come next, and that IE trails the speed race. Check the latest benchmarks at Tom's Hardware, which gives its first Best of Tom's Hardware Browser Award ever to Chrome. You may also want to look at Lifehacker's browser performance benchmarks from January 2010.

4. Memory Footprint

We are all caught into the life cycle of daily-use computers, which means that, at any given time, about 1/3 of us will be using computers with relatively low memory, and 1/3 or us will be "just OK" (assuming 3 year life cycles). Browsers are large users of memory. If your computer is not brand new and well supplied with memory, you might be particularly interested in how well your browser conserves memory. Looking at Toms' Hardware memory tests, you quickly find out that Opera and Chrome performance are, in part, due to a very high amount of memory consumption when opening multiple tabs - IE is close behind... The big winner in memory footprint is Firefox. Lifehacker's performance tests confirm the memory consumption of multiple tabs, and discover the same issue with multiple extensions in Chrome's case, where increased security also pays a price in memory use.

5. Extensibility

Firefox has, for a long time now pioneered the use of extensions, and their extension/ add-on library is second to none. Chrome only added extensions in December 2009, but, probably because of its easy add-on process, has seen its list of available extensions grow dizzily fast, as seen on Tech Crunch. Safari and IE have significantly smaller lists, while Opera does not easily support extensions.

Conclusion: Should you Switch?

Because of the risk of compatibility issues due to low market share, it is best at this time to avoid Safari and Opera (unless you are willing to use multiple browsers to be able to access all the sites you need to go to).  Extensions are now so valuable that their wide availability makes a huge difference to browser functionality, favoring Firefox and Chrome. Learning curves on all browsers are very gentle, and there is really no reason today to stay with IE.

If your computer has plenty of power and lots of memory, then Chrome will give you the best speed, and is mature enough to warrant being picked as your main  browser. If, on the other hand, you are using an older computer with limited memory and power, Firefox is your natural choice, and will make you very happy.

WINNERS:

• Chrome: new computer, lots of memory

• Firefox: old computer, short on memory

Best Neck Support Travel Pillow: Review

Getting up with a neck creak after a redeye flight a few hours before an important meeting is not a good way to start a business trip. As many of us have experienced, bringing along just any neck or support travel pillow does not always work, and many reviews complain about the poor comfort of many models. 

When looking for a travel pillow, we look for a specific set of important attributes:

• Small weight and volume: by now most of us only use carry-ons, and we are very limited in both size and weight. This really implies that a travel pillow needs to be inflatable and stow, deflated, in a very small volume.
• Comfort: otherwise why carry it?
• Good surface feel: raw plastic is a terrible surface to sleep on. Conversely, too plush a surface often makes a pillow too warm in a plane where temperature adjustment is not often possible.
• Adjustable inflation: making the pillow just right for your anatomy and the space available is critical to actually being able to sleep well and comfortably
• Longevity and reliability: travel gear sites are riddled with reviews complaining about leaking inflatable pillows.

 While there is significant choice in inflatable pillows, a thorough review of all pillows available online uncovers numerous complaints for most: unreliability, lack of comfort, surface too soft or too harsh... There is one model, however, with a very solid set of numerous positive reviews, and which satisfies all of our critical criteria: the Air Comfort Pillow, by Lewis N Clark, available on Amazon, is the Best Travel Pillow available online, and a very good choice. This pillow is listed by Lewis N Clark on its web site as the 520-Adjustable Neck Pillow, but is typically not found under this name on distributors' web sites. 

Be careful, however, when purchasing, as there are numerous models available from Lewis N Clark, with almost the same name, which are not comparable. The best way is to identify the model by its characteristic picture, which includes a large inflatable valve (see above). As a note, Magellan's On Air Comfort Pillow appears, from the picture, to be the same item. Magellan is an excellent online retailer of travel gear with a good user community of product reviews, and typically carries good merchandise.

Gmail Finally Multitasking - Fast New Windows

Not being able to easily open multiple windows of Gmail is one of my biggest frustrations. Gmail just pushed out an update that allows you to open a new window quickly (no more load bar...) from the Compose screen (see above) or from the main screen (see below).

 

This makes a big difference in efficiency: no more need to open a new tab with a Gmail URL. Check out the original Gmail blog post which more information!

images by Google

Skype Now Available on Symbian/ Nokia Phones!

For all of us heavy Skype users, we can now use Skype on our Nokia phones - most of the newer models are covered. Skype is now an official download from the Ovi store (Nokia's App Store for Symbian). Symbian represents close to 50% of the smartphone OS sales today - this must open a serious market for Skype.

As for me, I am looking forward to doing most of my international travel calls from a free WiFi point with my new E72:-)

Skype Blog  (through Mobile Magazine)

Where to Recycle Old Batteries

I always find it hard to find out where to recycle these old batteries. There is now a manufacturer-funded site, Call2Recycle, which gives you zip code look-up to find where to get rid of old rechargeable batteries - and - it turns out that almost all of these recycling points also take regular batteries. Look it up here.

image by moria

Call2Recycle.org

Booking Cheap Vacation Flights

  (image courtesy of grandpapa2006)

This really applies to any flight... The Frugal Traveler, one of our favorite blogs (recently on featured on Jeopardy, out of all places...), recently came out with its best description yet of how to book a cheap flight. We use a simplified version of his process. This is how it goes (there are two processes, one for domestic, one for international):

Domestic Flights:

1. Check options on Kayak (the best and clearest rate checking site at this time) and find the best suited flight
2. Once the best option is found, find out from TravelCast (now part of Bing) whether the fare is likely to drop: pick origin, destination, date, search, and look for the PRICE PREDICTOR under the itinerary title. Of course, prediction is not guaranteed:-)
3.  If the recommendation is WAIT with more than 60% certainty, go to Yapta, and subscribe to the price drop alerts for the flight in question. Some time or another, it will be necessary to decide when to stop waiting...
4. Otherwise check the flight found on Kayak on the actual airline site, and buy it there with your frequent flier number, to make sure that, if there is a problem later, the airline totally owns up to the issue.
5. Before picking your seat, check what area of the plane is best on SeatExpert.

International Flight:

1.  Check options on Kayak. When you fill the origin, destination and date, before you click the search button, a price grid for that month will appear on the right on the page. The grid shows you lowest prices previously found for this origin and this destination, for your month of travel. If you find a cheaper alternative in a date that works for you, it is possible to select it there.
2. Double check rates for your dates on Vayama.
3. Book, if possible, on the actual airline site with your frequent flier number
4. Before picking your seat, check what area of the plane is best on SeatExpert. 

More tips from the Frugal Traveler:

• Tuesdays and Wednesdays tend to have lower rates and less crowded planes
• cFares, for an annual fee of $50/year, gives you small rebates (when you book through them) that will save you money over a year if you travel several times a year
• if you are willing to use a more complex site for domestic fares, you can double check your kayak finds on ITASoftware.

If you are based in Europe, SkyScanner spiders all discount airlines, and also gives you best-day-of-the-month travel grid, with a very clean interface.

Or - if you'd rather not do any of this and pay a slight fee to have somebody else do it all for you, call your trusty travel agent, or, for $50 per trip, have CrankyConcierge do it all for you -we are planning a post on Cranky soon...

The original article on Frugal Traveler

Northern Paper Caught Short-Rolling its Customers

In researching an upcoming review on toilet paper (...) we stumbled upon some delightfully funny news through the Consumer Reports blog. Northern Paper recently decided to reduce its toilet paper size and number of sheets per roll, accidentally forgetting to inform its customers:-)

(Image courtesy of Consumer Reports)

The original news story from Consumer Reports