Finally, there's a Blackberry model with a trackball, so you can easily scroll vertically or horizontally. This innovation alone would make the Blackberry 8800 a keeper. It also provides GPS capability, with the Blackberry Maps application pre-loaded. With BlackBerry Maps, finding your way couldn't be easier. Check maps and get turn- by-turn directions quickly and conveniently, wherever you are. You can launch maps by typing or pasting in an address, or simply by clicking on an address in your address book.

The keyboard on this model features clever cut-off corners that make it easier to type. At this time, the Blackberry 8800 is only available on the Cingular network.

Naturally, you can drag videos and MP3s from a Mac or PC and play them on the Blackberry 8800, and there's a free video conversion program.

Overall, the 8800 is a good mix between the Pearl and the traditional Blackberry. It sells for $299.99 with Cingular activation, and you can view it here.

You've probably had a wireless connection fail at some point in your career. Often the culprit is a crowded bandwidth-when many routers or cordless telephones are using the same channel.

PassMark has developed software to help you find a less busy channel where you'll get better, more reliable performance. You can download the free evaluation version of this software.

The program will show you available channels and their availability by color. Red channels are busy, while blue ones are free from heavy use.

A lot of applications I never use are crowding my system tray. How can I stop them from running automatically, and get their icons out of my tray?

Fortunately it's not hard to de-activate these unnecessary applications. And you can still open them in the future, if you ever choose to use them.

The one that gets the most complaints is Windows Messenger. To stop it, click on Settings | Control Panel from the Start menu. Click on Administrative Tools and then double-click Services. Scroll down until you find Messenger, double-click it, and click Stop. From the drop-down menu in the "Startup Type" field, select Disabled.

If Real Player keeps running when you don't need it, right-click the icon. Click on Set Real Message Center preferences... and uncheck all the boxes. When the "Warning!" screen comes up, click "Yes."

To remove the Apple QuickTime icon from your tray, right-click it. Select QuickTime Preferences and click Advanced. Uncheck the box marked Install QuickTime icon in system tray.

For other applications, click Start | Run... Type in msconfig and click OK. Click on the Services tab and uncheck the boxes of the programs you don't want. Click "OK" and the changes will take place the next time you reboot your PC. Warning: Be very careful when doing this. If you disable the wrong program you could create serious security and/or performance issues.

We strongly recommend that you take advantage of automatic updates, to keep your PC secure and efficient. However, there are times when a Windows update may interfere with other applications that you use. Here's a way to address the problem:

Open your Control Panel, and click Security Center | Automatic Updates. Select the option, Notify me but don't automatically download or install them. With this option, you'll know what Microsoft wants to install on your PC, and you can accept or reject updates on a case-by-case basis.

Turn off Vista's Annoying User Account Control Pop-ups

If you're tired of being continuously prompted for permission to access resources on your system, you can turn off Vista's User Account Control Pop-ups and end what is probably the new Windows' most annoying feature.

From the Start menu, go into Control Panel and open User Accounts. Click Turn User Account Control on or off, and select Continue. On the next screen, uncheck the box for Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer, then click OK.

Restart your computer, and be ready to work with fewer interruptions.

According to the FBI, nearly 300,000 laptops are stolen each year. If you have sensitive data on your laptop, it's critical that you protect it.

There are products in the $100 range that can make this almost effortless. Two that we recommend are SecurStar Drive-Crypt Plus and PGP Whole Disk Encryption.

The beauty of this software is that your files are only encrypted on your hard drive. You won't need to send a password every time you email a sensitive document, because the recipient will get an unscrambled version.

One caveat: These products let you select individual files, batches, or the entire hard drive for encryption. While you may feel tempted to secure your entire hard drive and have done with it, keep in mind that this will slow down your performance.

But when you need to add a strong layer of security for your most critical private information, encryption is a powerful tool.