Ricky Says

I upgraded my wireless home network this weekend from an old Netgear 802.11b router to a shiny new Linksys WRT120N router sporting the latest 802.11n technology, and a much sleeker design.

The network speed difference is very noticeable and significantly faster on the newer router, and the units were on sale for only $39 at Fry's so it seemed like a steal of a deal... until I tried to install it.

I have Comcast internet at home with a standard-issue Motorola cable modem, and it turns out that Linksys routers don't naturally connect directly with these modems.

The Network Magic software that comes with Linksys routers failed on the first setup screen with an "Error 321", claiming it could not detect my ethernet network adapter. Apparently the Linksys routers require you to connect through a separate router that sits between the Comcast modem and the Linksys router (or at least that's what I found hidden somewhere in the documentation) - and in fact, it worked fine if I connected through my old Netgear router to the Comcast modem.

I was also able to connect directly from my computer to the Linksys router, which I was able to verify by running ipconfig and seeing the IP address assigned by the router. I was also able to log into the router's admin console screens by opening a web browser and entering the IP address of the router - http://192.168.1.1 using admin/admin for the username/password.

I've been snapping pictures left and right with my new Canon Powershot, especially now that the holiday season is underway and I've been on vacation all week - plenty of photo opps with Thanksgiving dinner and the kids helping me put up Christmas lights.

I wanted a way to share these pictures with friends and family using all free tools (preferably a single software program), and what better place to do that than Facebook?

Google's free Picasa photo editor can import photos from your camera's SD memory card, and you can install a plugin that will let you upload photos directly from Picasa to Facebook (notice the Facebook button in the Picasa toolbar shown below).

Here's how to install the Facebook plugin in Picasa so you can upload photos directly from Picasa to Facebook:

1. Open Facebook in your web browser and click "Applications" in the lower left side of your Facebook home page. Then click "Browse More Applications" in the popup menu.

2. Enter "picasa" in the application search field on the top left of the page, and select the first match named "Picasa":

3. Click on "Go to Application" to configure the Picasa plugin.

4. Install the Picasa plugin, which will install the Facebook button in Picasa.

I recently downgraded from Vista back to XP for performance and stability reasons, but forgot that XP doesn't have the Windows Photo Gallery that I had grown to love on Vista (that made it easy to import pictures from an SD digital camera memory card).

You can still import pictures in Windows XP using the built-in Scanner and Camera wizard, and can view them using the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer - both free utilities that ship with Windows XP.

Here's how you can import digital camera photos in Windows XP:

1. Remove the SD memory card from your digital camera and plug it into your computer's memory card reader slot, or plug the data cable that came with your camera into your computer's USB port.

Windows XP will recognize the new card or data cable and will ask you what you'd like to do:

If you don't have a memory card reader built into your system, you can buy an adapter from Amazon for about $10 (including a 4 GB SanDisk memory card).

2. Choose the option to "Copy pictures to a folder on my computer using Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard".

I've built up a respectible arsenal of gadgets and devices while logging almost 200,000 miles in frequent flier miles this year.

Some are necessities, and some are just for fun. Some are just to keep my sanity on longer trips like the one I'm taking this week to Cologne, Germany.

My geeked out road warrior survival pack includes everything from a lithium-ion battery pack that gives my iphone 2 extra charges, to a sleek pair of noise canceling Bose headphones that block out the majority of jet airplane engine noises.

It also makes a great Christmas shopping list for the business traveler or technology addict in your life ;-)

Here's my Letterman's countdown of top ten must-have gadgets when traveling for business or pleasure:

10. Starbuck's Via 3-pack. Technology aside... Let's face it - hotel room coffee tastes horrible no matter what brand they use.

I really need a good cup of coffee to start the day off right (especially for east coast trips where it feels like I'm getting up at 4 a.m.) and these instant coffee packs from Starbucks are just as good as the real thing. You can get hot water from just about anywhere, including an in-room coffee maker without the coffee grounds.

9. iPod nano with armband. Yes, I have an iPhone too (see #1 below) but a small ipod is more convenient for working out, and also provides more hours of music for helping long flights go by faster.

8. Camera. I bring my Nikon D50 DSLR camera along with a 300mm zoom lens when I want to be sure and capture the city views in high quality (and I usually have some time after business hours for touring the city).

Question: I have lots of songs in Windows Media Player that I want to copy to iTunes (I have just bought an iPod). How do I do this?

Answer: I hope you like your new iPod and you can easily import music from Windows Media Player into iTunes by following these steps:

1. Open iTunes and select the File -- Add Folder to Library menu.

2. Browse to your Windows Media Player music folder. iTunes will ask you where your songs are located, which by default will be in your My Music folder on Windows XP, or in your Music folder on Vista.

3. Convert Windows Media Player songs to AAC format (.m4a). iTunes actually does this for you, and it will automatically prompt you to convert the songs after you click OK in the dialog from Step 2 above.

iTunes doesn't modify your original music files from Windows Media Player. It leaves those songs in their original location and makes copies in your iTunes music folder, converting them to AAC format along the way.

Once your songs have been imported into iTunes, you can plug in your new iPod and drag and drop the songs from iTunes to your iPod.