The Old Switcheroo

Windows 7 has a ton of great features, most of which are really obvious—but there’s also some great features hidden away that you might not know even exist. One of these is that Windows 7 can automatically change your default printer based on which network you’re connected to.

A Tangled Web We Weave

There is no computer program used as often as a Web browser. Yet too many users never give the browser any thought, spending years with the default program installed on a once-new computer.But users have options, some of which could open up the Web in a whole new way.Each browser has its own list of features and some run faster than others, making the choice paramount to any frequent surfer.

It's a competitive time in the browser field, too, with both Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox releasing new versions in the past few weeks.So, with these two new top contenders, there hasn't been a better time to take a step back and decide which browser is best for you and your computer.

Here's a look at the top four browsers on the Web.

More for Less

Tired of spending big bucks every time Apple releases a new version of your go-to gadget? (Hint: this happens every year). Then stop. It’s easy to save on everything, from cell phones to laptops, if you know where to look. Frugal tech-shoppers use iPhone apps and police impound sites to score the best and newest gadgets for cheap.
Here are five ways to find discounts on all the gadgets you want.

Be True To Your School

3M Digital Oral Care Provides Leading Digital Impression Systems to
University of Michigan School of Dentistry


ST. PAUL, Minn. – (April 27, 2011) – University of Michigan dental students will soon be working with some of the most advanced technology in the industry, thanks to a new agreement between the school and the 3M Digital Oral Care Department. 3M and its dental division, 3M ESPE, provided the school with a number of the company’s digital impression-taking systems and related technologies to help prepare dental students for the increasing digitization of patient care activities. The tools will be deployed in the predoctoral curriculum of the School of Dentistry as it continues its commitment to preparing students for a successful future after graduation.

3M ESPE’s digital impression-taking system, the Lava™ Chairside Oral Scanner C.O.S.,
makes up the foundation of a new digital workflow in restorative dentistry. 3M ESPE provided the School of Dentistry with 14 of these units. The technology is so new that it is not yet used by many dentists in practice, but it is projected to play an increasingly vital role in dental offices and labs. Dentists who use the tools report increased efficiency, lower remake rates, and better patient satisfaction, all of which can make a significant impact on the success of a dental practice. By gaining experience operating the system prior to graduation, the University of
Michigan dental students will be prepared to implement digital technologies in practice and help their offices run more efficiently.

The School of Dentistry’s 439 students will be trained to use the equipment as part of their preclinical and patient care experiences. The Lava C.O.S. system will be implemented in the preclinical program for second year students as part of their all-ceramic dental restoration curriculum. Students will use the digital impression-taking system during patient care as a part of the third and fourth year clinical program.

“This agreement helps us add yet another dimension to the exceptional learning
experiences we provide students at Michigan,” said Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, DDS, PhD, clinical associate professor and associate dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. “These technologies will support students’ learning and clinical decision making, improve confidence in capturing impressions, and prepare them for contemporary dental practice. By exposing all of our pre-doctoral students to these tools we can ensure that all students will graduate with valuable, hands-on experience using some of the most advanced technologies available to the profession.”

The revolutionary technology of the Lava C.O.S. captures dental impressions with digital precision, and allows dentists to view continuous 3D video images of the digital impression in real time on a touch-screen monitor. The recent Lava C.O.S. 3.0 software upgrade gives the system powerful new tools for easier scanning, a scan rewind option, and an occlusal reduction tool. The Lava C.O.S. makes the impression taking procedure more comfortable for patients and provides a unique, interactive experience.

In addition to the Lava C.O.S. units, 3M ESPE provided the School of Dentistry with the Lava™ Scan ST, which can convert a traditional impression into a digital format, allowing the lab to use accurate digital tools to design simple or complex restorations. Ten computers will be provided that are equipped with software to mark the margins of a restoration and perform other design functions to help create a precisely fitting restoration.

“We are pleased to help the School of Dentistry prepare its students for the new world of digital impression taking,” said Mark Farmer, general manager of the 3M Digital Oral Care Department. “As digital tools continue to increase efficiency and improve patient comfort in dental offices, these students will play a role in revolutionizing the profession.”

3M ESPE has long been a pioneer in the field of digital dentistry, combining its expertise in computer-aided design and manufacturing with digital materials‚ digital impressions‚ and other related solutions. The agreement with the University of Michigan School of Dentistry furthers the company’s commitment to education as the dental industry continues to evolve.

To hear from the students at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, visit:
http://bit.ly/LavaCOS

Welcome Back

If you've managed to delete important photos, crush a partition, or otherwise go wiping out data where you weren't supposed to, add MiniTool's free data recovery app to your list of last resorts.

Zoom Zoom

Windows Magnifier tool is something we've occasionally activated by accident. There's a lot more to Magnifier in Windows 7 then just a big box that shows pixellated mouse movement, however.

Go-Go

If you're like many dental practices, you are always on the go but need contact access to your critical data. There's only so much work you can do at the office before you go insane. If you need a change of scenery, here are ten ways to make the best of your mobile workspace.

Gone But Not Forgotten

We all know how critical it is to backup your data. What can complicate things, though, is that your choice of backup media may go the way of the dodo. For every successful computer data storage format, there are a handful of outcasts that are best left forgotten. Here are 10 of the weirdest media types to have ever graced the world of personal computers.

On the Go

As all research as shown me, more and more dentists are using their mobile devices to gather information and help run their practices. And, as any mobile user knows, it's all about the apps. Here's how the major app stores compare to each other.

Drop in the Bucket

Many of you know I'm a huge fan of Dropbox, the service that allows you to sync files over multiple computers. But, why stop there? With the popularity of Dropbox, there were bound to be add-on programs that allow you to use Dropbox for things like listening to music and building a website. Here are 3 Unique and Creative Uses for Dropbox.

Crazy 8's

So, you're just now getting into Windows 7 and think you're ahead of the curve? Well, don't get too comfortable, Windows 8 is probably coming out within a year. Here's what to like about the next operating system from Microsoft.

Heavyweight Battle

If you're thinking about a Tablet PC, the 2 major contenders for 2011 are the iPad 2 and the Motorola Xoom. Here's how the battle shakes out.

Slow Motion

Is your PC stuck in neutral? Not as fast as the day you bought it? Here's a good article on what could be causing it and how to fix it.

Hack Attack

We've all heard of worms, Trojan horses, phishing, and other common computer security attacks that aims to infect your system and steal your data. But what about bluebugging, smishing, and scareware? Brush up on your computer security terminology with these lesser-known attackers.

Pass the Remote

Being able to remotely control your computer is an age old trick. But what about changing BIOS settings or installing an operating system remotely? With Intel AMT KMS this is within reach for any geek with the right hardware.

Intel vPro is a management platform built into Intel processors and other hardware that allows companies to manage their desktops and laptops out-of-band (OOB). That means the computers can be managed no matter if the computer in on or off, and even if the operating system has failed or there is no hard drive present.

With Core processors Intel introduced Active Management Technology (AMT) 6.0 which introduced a slew of new features including Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) Remote Control. This means that with the right hardware configuration you have full remote access to your computer no matter what state it’s in.

Most of my clients are familiar with VNC software that runs inside your operating system, but Intel AMT KVM runs at a hardware level which allows you to go remote with your computer in the case of a total system failure or even without an operating system installed. Let’s get started and set up Intel AMT KVM so you can go remote with your computer.

Time Warp

Previous Versions is an incredibly useful feature built into Windows 7, which allows the OS to record and view earlier versions of files without a flux capacitor. Here’s a detailed guide to using this excellent feature.

Mr. Freeze

When a hard drive crashes, you can lose all your data. Corrupt hard drives happen out of the blue and for seemingly no good reason. If your hard drive fails, what can you do?

One option is to call a hard drive recovery company. If your data is worth a lot of money to you, you can pay a forensic computer company to get the data off your hard drive. Before you write a check though, try a little Do-It-Yourself first...frozen style!

Outside Looking In

Whether you are running your own home web server, need to remotely access your machine, or even were just curious, you may have found the need to find your system's current external IP address. Many people use whatismyip.com to find out this information, however over the past few years others been using an alternative service named icanhazip.com.

The tongue-in-cheek name is easy to remember and gives you your IP address reliably and without ads covering the screen.

True to Form

“ASK YOUR DENTIST ABOUT….”-TYPE CONSUMER MEDIA BLITZ TO RAISE PATIENT AWARENESS OF RADIATION HYGIENE, TRU-ALIGN SOLUTION

Interactive Diagnostic Imaging is going direct to patients with a far-reaching PR campaign to explain the importance of dental x-rays in early diagnosis of dental disease and how its Tru-Align x-ray add-on provides an effective method to help dentists reduce patient exposure while improving the quality of the x-ray image.

Dental patients will be encouraged to “Look for the Green Ring” as part of an upcoming educational and awareness-raising PR campaign announced by Interactive Diagnostic Imaging (IDI) following the introduction of the Tru-Align x-ray add-on that dramatically reduces radiation exposure. Similar to the “ask your doctor about” style of direct-to-consumer advertising popular with pharmaceutical companies, the media blitz will explain to patients why x-rays are an important and necessary diagnostic tool for early detection of dental disease. The campaign will stress that although dental x-ray exposures are very low the absorption is cumulative over time and how the Tru-Align reduces their exposure by 60 to 70%. This dramatic reduction in exposure to ionizing radiation actually improves the diagnostic quality of the images the dentist needs to make early stage intervention in the disease process.

“The purpose of the blitz,” said Dr. Michael Razzano, CEO and founder of IDI, “is to inform patients that there now is a way for dentists to reduce patient exposure to ionizing radiation by as much as 70% by adding an inexpensive device to their existing X-ray machine. Tru-Align is a positive response to the many concerns about radiation raised in the popular press.

“We also want to promote the concept of Radiation Hygiene as a key component of a dental practice’s universal precautions for infection control and safety,” added Dr. Razzano.

The Tru-Align simply retrofits onto the end of a standard x-ray cone and features a distinctive green ring. Patients will immediately be able to identify the device by the green ring and know that their dentist is practicing the ultimate in Radiation Hygiene to ensure patient safety. Additionally, each Tru-Align will include two window stickers showing the Radiation Hygiene seal along with a countercard and holder explaining to patients that the office has taken steps to reduce their exposure to excessive radiation.

Another component of IDI’s patient outreach will be a comprehensive web site, www.RadiationHygiene.com, to familiarize the public and profession with the Radiation Hygiene concept and its terminology, issues, protocol, and more.
Complete details on Tru-Align are available at www.IDIXray.com or by calling toll-free 855-IDI-XRAY.

Take 2

Since many of you are probably getting your shiny new iPad 2, here's some great tips and tricks for using it.

Lockdown

You share and access some of your most sensitive data through your web browser, so it doesn't hurt to add a little extra security to your browsing session. Here's a look at five of the best, most popular security extensions out there.

A Real Turn Off

We all know your screen is one of the biggest battery drainers on a laptop, but some laptops don't have a built-in button that puts the display to sleep. This little app will do it for you.

Buenos Dias

Curve Dental, developers of Web-based dental software, announced the release of a Spanish language option for CurveEd, free Web-based patient education software available to all dental professionals. Accessed at www.curveed.com, the software includes more than 60 professional 3D videos and can be viewed on a PC, Mac, iPad, or iPhone. More than 8,300 dental professional have registered to use CurveEd.

Score One for the Good Guys

If you've been bothered by spam (and who hasn't??), your spam emails may have just dropped by 40% as Microsoft has closed down the world's largest spam network, Rustock. You can read the details here.

Speed Zone

More and more dental offices are using Smartphones to integrate with their office computer systems. For most, speed is king, but if you're thinking about switching networks when you get that 4G phone or modem, you might be basing it on who's faster. Here's how the networks stack up against one another.

Home Sweet Home

Wi-Fi provides a convenient way to connect the computers in your home without dealing with the hassle of wires, but Wi-Fi is also slow and unreliable compared to a wired connection. Wireless may be the way of the future, but here are some of the best ways to go wired where it counts.

Home on the Range

Windows 7 rocks a new method of file and print sharing that’s a departure from the frustrating file and print sharing found in earlier versions of Windows. What is it and how can you benefit from it? Read on!

Air Apparent

AVG is getting into the cloud sync and storage game, and now you can take the company's beta app for a test drive. You'll need to fill out a brief survey and a registration form, but then AVG will fork over 5GB of cloud storage into which you can sync anything you choose from your Windows systems.

Once the service exits beta, you'll be able to pay for additional storage. It's also worth knowing that AVG AirSpace (or LiveKive, whichever name the company settles on) functions both as a sync and a backup utility. You can even back up multiple machines' data into the same storage account.

AirSpace also offers a way for you to share uploaded files with your friends and colleagues, just like Dropbox. Unfortunately, at least for the time being, there's only a Windows AirSpace installer -- Mac and Linux aren't supported, and no mobile apps are available either.

Share and Share Alike

With many dental offices/homes using both Macs and PCs, the day will come when you need to be able to share files between them. Here's a How-To guide on how to do this.

Oops!

We've all done it before: hit the wrong button or pressed "send" too early and dispatched an email with disastrous results. Here are the most common gaffes and what to do the next time your electronic correspondence lands you in the doghouse.