This is a little off topic, but since I have spent 2 days restoring my laptop after a Windows Update issue gone bad, I figured I would share some nifty widgets.

Backup your data. SD cards are 4GB and cost $30. That's where I keep my Outlook pst file now. (I still have to find a way to backup my Thunderbird mail. At coffee with Jack Brandt (of Register.com), Jack said to get an iDrive account. There are others like Box.net and MyFabrik. Jack says that iDrive is automatic backup in the background. Yeah!

With having to re-install all my software, I use Trillian for IM, but looked at Meebo. However, meebo is a multi-platform IM website. No download. Connect via a website (or a Firefox add-on).

Other Firefox add-ons I like are TinyURL, Adblock, Flashblock, and Image Zoom. Jack says to try Foxmarks to sync bookmarks between computers.

And as long as we are talking sync, how about synching my Outlook Calendar with my Google calendar? I tried SyncMyCalc, but it locked up my Outlook too often (even with the purchased edition). Now I am using gSyncIt from davidswebsite.

I noticed that Google pack includes more stuff now, like RealPlayer, Skype, Spyware Doctor, GoogleTalk, Firefox, StarOffice, Norton Security Scan, and Adobe Reader --- all in one easy download. Now that was EZ! I like easy. So if you have any widgets or ideas on software to make things easy, drop me a note at rad at virtual-cio.com. Thanks!