Stories by Liane Gouthro

I-Drive Gives Floppy Disks the Boot

It's hard to be a floppy disk person in a Web-based world. I've had trouble parting with those little beige and black disks in favor of Web storage. But the latest upgrade to I-drive.com could change all that.

Advice Resides in Expertcity

Your computer is acting up. Who are you going to call? If you don't want to sit on hold forever, the Web offers an around-the-clock option at Expertcity.com.

MyIVAN: A Web Helper in Training

The lease on my apartment forbids animals, so instead of getting a cute puppy or kitten, I turned to my PC and got an IVAN. Specifically, I turned to One Voice Technologies Inc. and its new downloadable tool, myIVAN.

Staples.com Gets Personable

Life isn't easy for small businesses, especially when it comes to buying software. You want the brand name applications, but you don't have the funds, right? Staples.com wants to meet you. Through a partnership with Personable.com, an online application provider, the office supply site is offering software applications by subscription over the Internet.

ItRings Ends the Busy Signal

I'll admit it: I still connect to the Internet using a dial-up modem, so if I want to surf the Net, I can't receive phone calls. My callers get a busy signal, and I don't get important calls.

EBay Outage Leaves Users Out of Luck

Helen Forbes expected a busy auction day on EBay Inc. Monday. She was selling mostly low-cost items, including plates, a candy dish, and a salt-and-pepper shaker set. Ten of her auctions were scheduled to end Monday night. But most of her items received no bids, and those she sold went for opening bid.

Add Another Dimension to Your Desktop

Let's face it: Your Windows desktop is nothing special. Sure, you can dress it up with colorful wallpaper and background designs. You can even paste your favorite pictures in the background. But there's no getting around it--your desktop is, well, flat.

Have Yourself an Online Garage Sale

You can find almost anyone on the Web these days. Whether it's your company, your dentist, or even your grandmother, almost everyone has a Web site. And there are plenty of simple site-building tools that make putting together a professional looking site a snap.

Hey Anita Can Surf by Phone

Soon, you won't need to boot up your PC to get information from the Internet; you'll be able to just say, "Hey Anita," instead.

Visto Builds a One-Stop In-Box

A Web-based personal information manager can't do everything, but Visto Corp. wants to try. The online organizer and communications platform has added unified messaging and Web-to-telephone calls to its existing arsenal of services, and unveiled the update at PC Expo here this week.

MemoryMountain Tells Your Story

We all deserve to tell our life stories. And if you want to preserve the tale for generations, where else but on the Internet?

Driveway Smartens Up Web Storage

Online storage used to be just a place to stash files and documents. Not anymore. Web-based storage spaces have added features that help you organize, share, and manage what you keep there.

Buy Tickets Online, Not in Line

It's Memorial Day weekend--time for cookouts, trips to the beach, and waiting in line for tickets to see Mission: Impossible 2. Hmmm, better skip the beach and the cookout if you want to have a chance to see Tom Cruise in all his glory, right? Those ticket lines at the theater can take forever.

Stay in Touch with a PlanetID

Moving is an incredible hassle. Packing alone keeps you busy for weeks. And don't forget about passing your new address and phone number to friends, relatives, coworkers, and the credit card company.

I-Drive Spruces Up Web Storage

Web-based storage is great to, well, store stuff. But if you're looking for more than just a virtual disk drive, consider I-drive.com, recently enhanced with tools to use the stuff you've stored there.