EVDO, Evolution-Data Optimized, is known as mobile broadband. That's a sort of cell phone for your laptop that receives data rather than voice. A year ago I looked at mobile broadband. This year, my eldest son, a field agent for a government agency, elected to make EVDO his sole broadband connection at home and on the road because his cellular provider was willing to discount the monthly fee to about $39. My son is a long-time mobile customer with them. He and his wife use the Internet mainly for research and communicating with family. They do little downloading and almost no...

Isn't running backup software a huge pain in the fusteris? Of course it is, but backing up your data regularly is the smartest thing you can do to avoid massive headaches when your hard drive crashes, (and it will) or you lose something you need, or in any eventuality. Backups are necessary. Backing up is not optional. Back up software is, actually, easy and inexpensive. Backup is pretty much automatic, too. Why Back Up Your Data? Once upon a time, I was away on a business trip and my mail and calendar programs crashed. I couldn't get the data back. I couldn't...

Technology has created a new niche for some of us baby boomers. Northerners who followed the sun to Arizona, Florida or Tahiti and then moved back to Tennessee or Kentucky to be closer to family were dubbed "half backs." Those who go south in winter are "snow birds." Now, those of us with more than one residence, those who work and play in multiple locations, are being called "splitters." It's not clever or catchy, but it tells the tale. Some boomers live part time in Chicago, for example and maybe part time in Gulfport, MS for Gulf breezes, warm winters and,...