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Today, you're going to see a variety of topics ranging from the entry level needs to the geekiest news a geek could ever pine for. Without boring you with a long-winded introduction, enjoy this week's news:

In the ongoing efforts to help keep your system clean of whatever ails it, someone has created a very slick program called Ccleaner. The program removes the excessive, unused data from Windows, ranging from the temp directory to dead extensions and associations. It also provides a means of backing up whatever changes it makes in the registry. The program is free, but the author has no problem accepting payments via Paypal. I use this program in conjunction with Ad-Aware and Grisoft's AVG. These three programs keep almost any system running Windows in pretty tip-top shape.

I installed Skype a few years ago, but never had much use for it. Recently, a friend of mine told me about it and I commented that I've had it installed for some time. "Why didn't you tell me!?" she asked, understandably perplexed why I wouldn't inform her of the rather useful tool. That gave me pause for thought. So, just in case this could be handy for someone else: Skype is a program you use to communicate with others over the Internet using speech. Think of it as a phone using your computer. So if you have a headset and mic or a microphone and speakers on your system, you can use Skype. It doesn't matter where in the world they are, since you're just using the Internet to call them. The free program will let you call anyone who has the same program installed on their system and is online. If you pay for the program, you can even call people, using Skype, who just have regular phones. I just use the free version. You can even do conference calls with it. They have versions of Skype for Windows, Linux and the Mac.

I'm not sure how many people are aware of this resource, but I've been using Wikipedia for some time now and find it very handy when looking for information on subjects, be it the Palestinian/Israeli conflict or the origin of glasses. Wikipedia is an open Encyclopedia. That is, anyone can contribute. Most people are diligent in posting the information they have, but one does have to read the data with an open mind; that is, it could seem quite right, but if there is any chance of the poster being biased, read carefully and with discernment. Mind you, chances of someone telling fables over the advent of eye-glasses would be pretty -- ahem -- short-sighted.

For those of you wanting more room on your laptop drives or wanting to use laptop drives for backups but want more space, Fujitsu has just announced a 120 gig laptop drive. The days are coming when there will be no room left for tape backups and, instead, we can all comfort ourselves in the speedy world of hard drive backups. They start shipping in May and come with a three year warranty. Beautiful!

This is news, only because it's not really news: Microsoft is offering compensation for any lost data due to their negligence. The maximum allowed compensation is $5. This isn't a typo. Click here to verify it for yourself.

Speaking of Microsoft, it seems that their new AntiSpyware (beta) is now advising users to remove Firefox on their computers. A Zeropaid.com thread shows the offending screenshot in action. Click the image to the right for the full image. Ironically, it is Internet Explorer that allows so much spyware into your system.

On the upside, Microsoft Canada is pressing the idea to educational institutions that more females should work in IT. Now, I'm not one to push something on people if they really don't want it. You don't see drives to get more males in nursing. The understanding is, "If they want it, they'll go for it." Having said that, there's no reason women should feel deterred to enter the field. It's a highly sociable climate with a lot of rewards (particularly the reward of accomplishment). The first woman I met who was in IT did very well in the field, technically (I think she programmed in 4 languages) and happened to be of particular ease on the eyes. Every female in the field I've seen since has taken everything they do quite seriously. Time to mix things up in the field, I say.

Last bit about Microsoft in the news: Microsoft's free software can come at a price for those who do not have XP SP2. Their new version of Internet Explorer will only run on Windows XP service pack 2. This means if you're running Windows 98, M.E., 2000 or even XP sp1, you can't run Internet Explorer 7. Does Microsoft want you to pay for a whole Windows operating system just to use Internet Explorer? Of course. More in their coffers. To that sentiment I say: Welcome to Firefox. Available for any version of Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

If you are an administrator and haven't heard of VMware, it's about time you have. VMWare allows you to run multiple operating systems within an existing, called a "host", operating system. The guest operating systems don't touch the partition your host sits on; instead, they use a file on your partition. Anything that happens from that virtual partition stays within that virtual partition. Your host operating system is never affected. One particularly beneficial use for this is when you are supporting multiple operating systems that use the x86 (IBM-compatible) hardware. In the screenshot on the left, if you click on the image, you will see Suse 9.2 with the network browser and Open Office running in a VMWare session while Windows is running as the host. The guest OSes only use resources as long as they are powered on. You can watch the boot from the virtual POST to the complete loading time. I've had 5 operating systems on one machine. They all share the same hardware, of course, but can use different IP addresses for the network card. The potential for this tool is HUGE. I think it's the best thing since Ghost or Partition Magic.

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Next week, you will see what makes a games machine stand out from your regular machine. Be prepared to be in awe over the lengths people go through to get the maximum power out of a (approximately) 2 cubic foot space. If you want a PC that is high on power and won't be lacking in performance any time soon -- or just want to know what it takes to get one of these -- this will be edifying.

If you have any comments, questions or concerns about this newsletter, feel free to e-mail me at sean@beggs.ca.