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Sometimes little tweaks can make a big difference, and that's definitely the case with AlwaysMouseWheel. This little utility allows you to scroll in windows that aren't active using your mouse wheel. It might not seem like a big deal, but it's a surprisingly useful feature to have when you do a lot of work that involves switching between windows.

The program's interface is no-nonsense; with radio buttons you select whether you want the program to bring the selected window to the front using the mouse wheel or just scroll the selected window while leaving it in … Read more

Lots of free fixes are available for common Windows problems, most of them either built into Windows (but in out-of-the-way corners) or freely available from Microsoft or other developers. We've seen (and used) several freeware collections of these tools, including 7 Quick Fix from leelu soft. It packs 108 different Windows 7 fixes and tweaks, everything from enabling or disabling common features to opening the Registry Editor or Task Manager when your system is under duress. This portable freeware tips the scales at a mere 1.1 MB.

We opened 7 Quick Fix when the installer finished, but a … Read more

Firefox Profile Manager Plus Extension (FPM+) is a useful extension that lets you create individual password-protected user profiles in Mozilla's Firefox Web browser. Each profile has its own log-ins, passwords, preferences, history, bookmarks, and other personal data. It's an ideal solution for allowing multiple users to access the Internet using Firefox on one computer, but it's also a great way for individual users to keep separate, secure user profiles for accessing the company network from home, billable activity, and maintaining privacy.

FPM's installation process is more involved than the typical Firefox extension, requiring specific steps to … Read more

In Silicon Valley time, it's been eons but USB 3.0 support has finally landed in Intel chips.

Intel -- somewhat stealthily -- announced today that its 7-series chipset family is now available and "shipping in mobile and desktop OEM systems and motherboards worldwide...[and] they also integrate USB 3.0."

The new chipsets -- companion silicon to the main processor -- support both 2nd Generation Intel Core processors, aka Sandy Bridge, and 3rd Generation Intel Core chips, aka Ivy Bridge.

With today's announcement of availability, it's been roughly ten years since Intel announced support … Read more

The ceaseless succession of new Canon and Nikon SLRs has a certain predictability, but an unusual model came out of left field today: Canon's astrophotography-oriented EOS 60Da.

The 60Da is a close cousin to the Canon EOS 60D, a higher-end 18-megapixel model geared for enthusiasts. But the 60Da has one big difference: its infrared filter has been modified so it doesn't screen out so much "hydrogen-alpha" light, a deep-red 656.28-nanometer wavelength of light produced by excited hydrogen atoms.

By letting in about three times the amount of hydrogen-alpha red as a regular 60D, the $1,500 60Da can capture much better photos of energetic nebulae, Canon said. It's due to go on sale this month. … Read more

What do "Prince Harry London" and "Nixon Resign" have in common? Would you believe the Bible? According to DivineCoders, an online community that is dedicated to searching for equidistant letter combinations in the Bible, word combinations like these can be found in the form of code that can be discovered and deciphered with the help of software such as DivineCoders' Bible Code Software. Some people interpret the results as conveying messages of possibly divine origin. Users can share their findings online in a forum for commentary and analysis.

Bible Code Software is free for noncommercial use, … Read more

Folks interested in buying movies can either get them at brick-and-mortar stores or online. Now the film studio Twentieth Century Fox is trying a new tack aimed at combining the two, albeit in a convoluted fashion.

Fox has partnered with Taubman Centers, which operates shopping malls across the country, to create virtual storefronts in Taubman's physical shopping malls.

The storefronts are "wallscapes" that feature photos and titles from Fox movies. Users can scan a QR code found on the wall using iPhone or Android phones that will direct them online to finalize their purchase. After that, the … Read more

Barnes & Noble hasn't officially dropped the price of its $99 Nook Simple Touch e-reader, but you can save $20 until March 18 if you buy it with a MasterCard. The deal is available at all Barnes & Noble's stores nationwide and online at BN.com and also applies to the Nook Color, which can be had for $149.

The Nook Simple Touch is an e-ink e-reader that competes with Amazon's Kindle Touch, which starts at $99 for the ad-supported model. Both products have received Editors' Choice awards from CNET. Amazon sells the standard, non-touch-screen version of … Read more

Have consumers forsaken the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? Not at one large Canadian retailer.

In a tweet on Friday, RIM linked to a Future Shop tweet that cited the PlayBook as the bestselling tablet this week. Future Shop is a major Canadian reseller.

That may have something to do with the price, of course. The 16GB PlayBook is selling for $199 in Canada, as it is in the U.S. at retailers like Best Buy.

Like Future Shop, Best Buy is also selling the 32GB model for $249.99 and the 64GB model for $299.99.

The low price isn't … Read more