IndyStar.com: Erika Smith
Indiana's leading news source for all the top stories, local news, sports and weather.
Web sites let users have a little fun
Ever wonder how much Google knows about you? If you have a Gmail account, watch videos on YouTube, store presentations on Google Docs or make calls through Google Voice, it’s no wonder. The first Web site on this month’s Seven Sites list...
Small problems can be annoying with HTC Droid Eris
By now, most of you, even if you aren’t a techie, probably have heard of the Motorola Droid. The touch-screen phone from Verizon Wireless that runs Google’s Android operating system went on sale last week, capping a flurry of ads touting...
Droid may take bite out of iPhone
Resistance is futile. I am truly impressed with the Motorola Droid, the first phone born of the partnership between Web and mobile software developer Google and carrier Verizon Wireless. I say this even though I’ve sworn up and down in this...
In the main, Windows 7 gets it right
At long last, Windows 7, the latest version of Microsoft’s computer operating system, is here. Users of Windows Vista — Microsoft’s bloated, confusing excuse for an operating system that preceded Windows 7 — should be...
Web sites have some very good odds
I always wondered what the odds were of having the last name Smith. Now, thanks to the first Web site on this month’s Seven Sites list, I know. 1. www.bookofodds.com : This Web site will give you the odds of just about anything you can think of...
Microsoft smartphone OS is a hard sell
Poor Microsoft. Amid all the talk last week of a “groundbreaking” partnership between Verizon Wireless and Google, word of Microsoft launching its revamped operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, and Verizon introducing one of the first...
ChaCha serves up online coupons
With the economy in the dumps, just about every consumer is looking to save more money, and just about every company is looking to make more money. I really wasn’t surprised then to learn that ChaCha, the Carmel-based search engine startup...
New Twist phone ramps up cool meter
Sometimes I feel more like a secret shopper than a technology columnist. Not a week goes by when I don’t have a conversation with somebody who corners me and says: “I’m coming up to the end of my contract, and I want to buy a new...
Bacon site, others may be worth their salt
Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the Facebook quizzes that purport to determine your superhero name, what brand of beer you are and your real race? Then check out the first entry in this month’s Seven Sites column. 1....
Radio tunes in to iPods, looks to phones
Erika D. Smith Is radio mounting a comeback? Six months ago, I never would’ve thought that, much less typed it. But changes may be afoot, and battered broadcasters seem ready to take advantage of any opportunity. I’ll start with...
Signals lets students know how they stand
At the ripe old age of 32, it has been a while since I’ve been a college student. I graduated before the Internet commandeered just about every aspect of academic and campus life — although the trend was clear even then. Today, students...
Seven Sites: Walk on wild side, moonwalks
You can file this column under the heading of better late than never. Here’s this month’s Seven Sites list. 1. www.siteadvisor.com: If you’re a person who speeds through the Internet without ever slowing to take stock of your...
Keyless entry can come from your phone
When I was a kid, I remember my mother would take me on tours of mansions that no one we knew could afford. In addition to the obvious amenities of huge rooms, swimming pools and high ceilings, each home always was wired with the latest technology....
Web sites for the geek in all of us
As a geek, it doesn’t take much for me to get excited. Throw in some nice graphics, sound effects, online social networking and I’m happy. The first Web site on this month’s Seven Sites list has all of that and more. So, as you...
Booming ChaCha has its finger on pulse of search
Take all the hoopla over Twitter and the ability to search for topics in real time that comes with it. Add that to most Americans’ brainless habit of turning to Google for everything else, and it’s easy to forget that other search engines...
Some helpful tools and fun time-wasters
The iPhone 3GS may be the coolest new cell phone on the market. But the App Store, via Apple’s iTunes, isn’t the only place where you can find and download great software applications to make your life a bit easier — or a little...
Verizon's MiFi lets you make your own Wi-Fi hub, for a price
No matter how many new and cool gadgets enter the market begging you to replace the now not-so-new and not-so-cool gadgets in your collection, there will always be a need for another gadget to link them to the Internet. Even those Apple fanboys and...
Sites help you find info, books, pics, music
If you turned on your TV last week, adjusted your rabbit ears and saw nothing but snow, it sounds like you need a digital converter box. Analog TV signals are gone. Go buy a converter and hook it up using the instructions found on the first Web site...
Indianapolis 500 event promotes eco-friendly education
Talk about the Indianapolis 500, or racing in general, and most people will never think of the phrase “eco-friendly.” But with the price of gas rising along with the concerns about excessive emissions contributing to global warming, there are a...
E-book readers, smartphones and green electronics
Every spring — well, every spring since I’ve been in Indianapolis — I get a visit from the Consumer Electronics Association’s gadget guy. Jim Barry’s his name, and he comes hauling a bag full of electronics. He shares...
Verizon's gift idea for the hub of your family
Back in the day, buying a Mother’s Day gift meant picking out an eloquent card and some pretty flowers. Somewhere along the way, that changed. These days, Mother’s Day — which is less than two weeks away on May 10, people —...
7 sites: For those who tweet and those who don't
I admit, I was a bit disgusted when I heard last week that actor Ashton Kutcher became the first Twitterer to collect 1 million followers. The tally narrowly topped the number of those following CNN’s breaking-news feed. Ashton Kutcher? Really,...
Conficker gotcha? Here's what you can do
Remember Conficker? It’s the sleeping computer worm that was widely expected to wake up April 1 and mount some sort of an attack on the world — or at the very least, an attack on the Internet that we all hold so dear. Well, it...
Low-powered netbooks come on strong
I wanted to cry when my trusty old Apple iBook died this year. It wasn’t just that it had served me well, and it was my only Mac. It was that I knew replacing it was an expensive proposition in an economy and a job market that, well, stink. But...
Wider 3G sounds nice, but here's the reality
For most of my life, I’ve lived in an urban bubble. I can’t remember a time when accessing the telecommunications technology of the day, whether it was dial-up or broadband Web service, was a problem. So, it dumbfounds me when readers...
Cybercrooks set sights on companies, execs
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how more and more consumers are becoming victims of identity theft and fraud, partly because the recession is creating desperate criminals. Well, misery apparently loves company — or companies. Turns out the...
Helpful information, and a way to erase it
From time to time,readers have asked me about the best way to wipe a computer’s hard drive so all of the data is gone. Well, I found the perfect Web site for that. It’s the first entry on this month’s Seven Sites list....
Digital TV: Be proactive, or you might get static
It looks like the nation's switch from analog to digital television signals might be on for Feb. 17 after all.I repeat, might.The flurry of legislative activity over whether to impose a four-month delay isn't over just yet.A week ago, the Senate...
CES trade show rings in tech new year
It's a new year, and for gadget fanatics with money to spend, it promises to be a happy new year, indeed.This week, the International CES trade show opens in Las Vegas, and recession or not, nearly 3,000 companies are attending to show off their...
Some sites for sore wallets to end 2008
There's nothing better than free -- especially when you're broke because you spent all of what little money you did have on gifts for family and friends.So treat yourself with the first few Web sites on this month's better-late-than-never Seven...
