Tech Speak
Mount Rainier
A standard that provides background formatting and defect management for storage on CD-RW and DVD+RW. On Mount Rainier drives you can drag-and-drop files to the RW disc and the real formatting of the disc is done in the background.
Tech Q&A
Q: I attempted to use my laptop at a Wi-Fi hotspot, but it wouldn’t work. A friend told me to enable the receiver switch. What is he talking about?
A: Laptops with Wi-Fi built-in capabilities commonly have such switches that turn the radio on and off. They are great for saving battery power, which is crucial with laptops. Look for a button or slider with an antenna symbol. If you can’t find it, check your manual. You probably have a switch somewhere.
Gizmo
MyDVD 8 Premier
Price: $70
You can jazz up your video collections of school plays, soccer games and other special moments with this new video editing software. With the help of easy-to-navigate templates, you can make polished edits, create smooth transitions, create a picture within a picture, and add special effects, such as music and titles.
Hot Sites
The incomparable James Lileks adds a new collection of hysterical commentary to his previous rants about ‘60s and ‘70s home decor and food faux pas with this nostalgic look back at early advertising for computers.
www.lileks.com/institute/ compupromo/index.html
NOVA has unveiled a companion Web site ahead of tomorrow’s premiere on PBS of “The Great Robot Race.” The site features exclusive video clips, film outtakes and other interactive features about the race, in which driverless vehicles race across 130 miles of the Mojave Desert.
http://pbs.org/nova/ darpa
We’ve heard more than our fair share of dish about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. But how about Teri Hatcher and Ryan Seacrest? This new Web tracker, which describes itself as an “automatic dirt digger,” promises to keep you in the know about the latest celebrity gossip.
Writely, the Web-based word processor, is so popular that Google bought it. Now let’s see if the Internet behemoth will do the same with this slick spreadsheet that you can use with just a Web browser.