utilities

Microsoft Office is a large and expensive software package. If you buy it, it's wise to save your Product ID and CD Key codes, preferably in a secure yet accessible place. The same goes for SQL Server and Exchange Server, and throw Windows in while you're at it. Failure to do so can result in elevated stress levels, should you need to repair or reinstall the software. If you didn't jump through all the hoops in the proper order, you're probably going to have to telephone Microsoft, and we know how you feel about that.

That'… Read more

Cookies are tiny files that are placed on your computer when you're surfing the Internet, letting the sites you visit remember your preferences, log-in information, and more. Although most cookies are benign, they're occasionally the subjects of privacy concerns. If you want to view and manage the cookies you've accumulated while using Internet Explorer, try IECookiesView. This simple utility makes it easy to keep tabs on cookies and ensure that you're only sharing information with sites you trust.

The program's interface is plain and easy to navigate, with menus and buttons across the top. A … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates for some popular maintenance tools, a few file management and search utilities, and a couple of hardware management suites, including a relatively good software monitor calibrator.

Maintenance With OS X Lion's release the various maintenance … Read more

One of the hot topics regarding OS X Lion has been the lack of a physical installation drive that be used in troubleshooting problems and to recover or reinstall the operating system. We have reported extensively on this and the options for handling it, which have included mirroring the Lion recovery partition on an external drive, and creating your own Lion installation disk from the Lion installer that you download from the Mac App Store.

Apple has apparently taken people's concerns to heart, and has released a Lion Recovery Disk Assistant tool that you can use to create your … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates for a couple of popular maintenance utilities, some file recovery and management tools, and a package manager and system monitor.

Maintenance Two maintenance utilities were updated this week: the popular MacCleanse and OnyX tools for running … Read more

Illinois utilty ComEd today released a study that found smart meters yielded larger-than-expected financial benefits on operating efficiency alone.

The report, prepared by energy engineering and consulting company Black & Veatch, said smart meters eliminated the need for manual meter reading. The two-way communications of smart meters also cut down on energy theft and unpaid bills, costs which are now passed on to customers.

Projecting from the utility pilot's program, the report estimates that a full-scale smart-meter program would save between $2.8 billion and $3 billion over the 20-year life of the meters.

The meters can alert the … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates for a few system monitoring utilities, maintenance programs for Lion, and a few search and file management utilities.

System monitoring If you need to monitor the CPU, drive, and memory usage of your system then Activity … Read more

Utilities stand to save money in operational costs after an initial large investment in smart-grid infrastructure, but the rest of the savings will depend on consumers.

That's according to a 38-page white paper (PDF) released this month by the Institute for Electric Efficiency.

The IEE group did a cost-benefit analysis using real-world numbers for things like equipment costs, energy prices, and usage statistics to estimate the costs and benefits to four different types of prototypical utilities managing a service territory of one million residential electricity consumers.

Implementing smart grids, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and associated energy management technologies would … Read more

A simple display connected to a smart meter has effectively helped consumers trim energy use, a smart-grid pilot showed.

Electric utility CenterPoint Energy and the Department of Energy yesterday announced the results of a pilot program with 500 residential electricity customers in the Houston area. Overall, it found that the regular feedback on energy use prompted people to lower consumption.

The in-home display is a battery-powered device which can be placed on a table top or attached to the refrigerator. Getting information from a smart meter, it displays real-time power use, a forecast of the monthly bill, and changes to … Read more