Entries in " Tips"

Working with multiple computers

Most of us use computers at work and at home. In addition, we often use more than one computer at each location. When we go to conferences and meetings, we may use a computer provided at the site. We also may use a colleague or friends computer.
This situation leads to special problems:
1. Remembering URLs of the various web sites (e-mail, finance, news, references, etc.)
2. Remembering our log in information for these sites
3. Accessing our documents and other files when required
4. Security concerns about leaving bits of our files and log in information, sites visited, etc on the various computers we use.
5. There is also the ever present risk of having your portable devices (laptop, USB drive) stolen with loss of information.

So what are the possible solutions to this problem?
1. Use an online bookmarking solution like Google Bookmarks. You can then get access to these bookmarks in several ways
- On computers that you can install stuff you can use Google Toolbar, or you can use an add on for Firefox called Google Bookmarks Button.
- On a friend's computer or at a conference you could just go to the Google Bookmarks page or add Google bookmarks to your iGoogle page and access all your bookmarks from iGoogle.
2. Use a USB browser like the Firefox you can get at Portable Apps. You can store all your favorites on that browser like you would on a browser on your computer except you take this with you on your USB drive. The good news is that you don't leave anything behind on the host computer. You could keep your passwords too on the browser (Tools>> Options>> security)on your USB drive. Clearly you would want to enable the security on the USB drive so none but you can use it. Make sure you also enable and use a strong master password if you store passwords on a portable browser on your USB drive as these have a tendency to get lost or fall into the wrong hands.

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Wii tennis

Tennis is my favorite of the 5 Wii Sports and that is even without having a second wiimote.

You start off just getting the timing right and playing with just the back court player. Soon you realize a few things:


  • You can play with the net player if you swing your wiimote (racquet) just as the ball is passing him/her.
  • Hit the ball early for cross court shots and late for down the line shots
  • Hit the ball at the apex to get a fast serve
  • Use a chopping action (like a Karate chop) to hit a low fast shot and with a top spin action to hit a lob. This is movement at the wrist rather than at the shoulder which is not like real tennis.
  • As you (and your opponents) get better the only way to win will be to create sharp angles to drive the opponent (specially the back court player) into the corner and then hitting the return to the opposite side. Use either the net or back court player to set up and use the net player to hit the winner.
  • Be prepared for superfast serves when receiving and also for fast returns of your superfast serves as you and your opponents get better.
  • Beyond a 1000 points, the opposing net player starts coming more into play - be prepared for a reflex volleying battle with your net player or hit a lob using your back court player.
  • It is possible to spin the ball but apparently this is does not confuse the computer player - have not figured out how to do this consistently. Read here for a description.
  • Takes some courage to hit the sharp angled shots as there is increased risk of hitting outside the court. Keep practicing so you get comfortable. Also be patient, take your time to set up the winner.

Am looking forward to getting a second Wiimote so I can play with a human.

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