customizing

Coveroos take your phone very personally

Wish you had a snazzier-looking phone to go along with that Vivienne Tam notebook?

A new product called Coveroo lets you turn your looks-like-everyone-else's BlackBerry into a Homer Simpson tribute--or a nod to Madonna, AC/DC, The Beatles, snowboarding, Gucci, snowflakes, your cat, dog, kid, crush...

Coveroos replace the original back cover of a mobile device--the removable part that hides the battery--with a customized plastic or metal cover featuring laser-created artwork. The covers start at $19.95, and depending on their complexity, can generally be etched and ready to snap on within half an hour.

The product, which officially … Read more

Dear Dell: Customer service should be free

I never thought I'd be writing this, but Dell (yes, Dell), is charging customers a monthly fee to have access to its United States-based customer service representatives.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the PC maker is charging customers with a Dell account $12.95 per month to have access to an American agent or $99 per year for customers who buy a new PC from the company.

Those who don't pay the sum will be contacting center agents in India or the Philippines. But before you start your bellyaching, Dell is sweetening the pot: wait times are guaranteed to be 2 or fewer minutes!

Great. Thanks, Dell.

A Dell representative told the Post that the company has "heard from customers that it's hard to understand a particular accent and that they couldn't understand the instructions they were getting." Because of that, the company has instituted the policy to "illustrate Dell's commitment to customer choice."

This mouthpiece (and Dell, for that matter) is kidding, right? The company is charging us for access to American customer support agents on products we purchased from it that went wrong? What a joke.… Read more

Zune 120 goes red and blue (what, no white?)

If last week's Zune vs. iPod Prizefight has you thinking about grabbing a Zune 120 for the holidays, you've now got a few extra color options to consider. Blue and red versions of the Zune 120 have been added to Microsoft's Zune Originals online store, offered at the same $249 price as the original black model.

If you want to get hands on one of the new Zune colors in time for the holidays, you'll have to order direct and you'll need to place your order by December 19th (let's hope there isn't … Read more

Homeland Security: The reality show

Queue the music: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is about to get its own reality show.

On Thursday, ABC announced a mid-season replacement show called "Homeland Security USA." From Arnold Shapiro, the Emmy-winning producer of such documentaries as Scared Straight," the network said the series will give viewers an unprecedented look at the work of the men and women at the DHS "while they use the newest technology to safeguard our country and enforce our law."

The 13 hour-long episodes were shot entirely on location throughout the United States.

ABC says the producers … Read more

Salesforce.com posts 43 percent revenue jump

Salesforce.com announced Thursday a 43 percent increase in third-quarter revenue, beating Wall Street's expectations.

Shares of Salesforce.com rose about 11 percent in after-hours trading to $25.30 a share. It closed the regular trading session at $22.83 a share, up nearly 4 percent.

In the period ending October 31, revenue reached $276 million, fueled by growth in the company's subscription and support business. Wall Street had been expecting Salesforce.com to generate $273.5 million, according to analysts' estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.

The online customer relationship management (CRM) software developer posted net income of $… Read more

Three good reasons to venture into Windows' Registry

I approach the Windows Registry the same way I approach my dentist's office. I enter both places only when necessary.

Sometimes, the fastest, most efficient way to make your PC more usable is to venture into the belly of the Windows beast via the Registry Editor. Before you make any Registry changes, create a backup by setting a restore point via System Restore.

Put the brakes on stalled apps Programs crash: it's a simple fact of PC life. But you don't have to wait for Windows to spin its wheels while it waits for the stuck process … Read more

Four essential tweaks keep Outlook simple and safe

You can't expect any application as complicated and full-featured as Microsoft Outlook to suit you perfectly right out of the box. Here are the Outlook adjustments I rely on to make the program safer and easier to use.

Send and receive mail in plain text In a previous post, I described how to make sure Outlook shows all incoming mail as plain text. Quick recap: in Outlook 2003, click Tools > Options > Preferences > E-mail Options, and in the Message Handling area, check "Read all standard mail in plain text." To do the same in Outlook … Read more

Add page numbers to half-size pages in Word

Jdjazz asked me to elaborate on a previous tip about formatting Word documents with two columns:

"I am trying to do a landscape two-column template with page numbers for each column [on] half sheets that I cut for speaking. When I choose Insert > Page number, it goes to the center in the headers over the two columns. How can I get a page number for each half page?"

In Word 2007, click the Page Layout tab, choose Size in the Page Setup area, and click More Paper Sizes at the bottom of the dialog box. In Word … Read more

Trick your ride

WindowBlinds offers a generally compelling way to add some panache to Windows XP or Windows Vista. It lets you skin your graphic interface, offering a number of preconfigured themes that range in styles and change the entire look of your desktop. You also have the ability to make some serious tweaks to each theme, should it be close to what you want, but just not quite right. No matter what skin you choose, though, we doubt you'll have any complaints with the appearance of the polished, attractive themes.

You also choose from several toolbar icon sets to match your … Read more