Email Author Brendan I. Koerner

2003 Stories by Brendan I. Koerner

• Ruff Language

  published December 30, 2003

  Q: I've been getting all these spams about a gizmo that ostensibly translates your dog's yaps into the queen's English. Sounds like an amusing... More >>

• Dis N-Gage

  published December 23, 2003

  Q: I've been a faithful Nintendo Game Boy customer since the days of monochromatic Tetris. But I've gotta say, those ads for the new Nokia... More >>

• Battle Chips

  published December 16, 2003

  Q: I'm looking to buy the family a new PC for Christmas, and I'm right flummoxed by all the microchips out there. Pentiums, Celerons, Athlons,... More >>

• Radar Love

  published December 9, 2003

  Q: Maybe you can settle an argument my brother and I had on Thanksgiving: He kept saying radar detectors work great, and I kept countering "no... More >>

• Buy the Book

  published December 2, 2003

  Q: I'm not a total newbie when it comes to computers, but I'll admit I get stuck a fair amount—I mean, does Microsoft expect we're just... More >>

• Over Hill? Over Dell.

  published November 25, 2003

  Q: I'm planning this long trip through Southeast Asia, and I'd like to haul a laptop along for journal keeping, digital photos, and the... More >>

• Higher Calling

  published November 18, 2003

  Q: On a recent flight from Milwaukee to LaGuardia, I accidentally left my cell phone on inside my carry-on. As the mere existence of this note... More >>

• Phish Bait

  published November 11, 2003

  Q: My "credit card company"—the quotes are intentional—just sent me an e-mail alert, saying there's been some unauthorized activity... More >>

• Laptop Dancer

  published November 4, 2003

  Q: Lately I've been using my old laptop as a jukebox of sorts, hooking it into my stereo so I can blast my MP3 collection. But the sound... More >>

• Screeching Halt

  published October 28, 2003

  Q: When I've booted up my computer lately, it emits this horrific screeching sound for about two or three seconds—sort of like a pack of... More >>

• Higher Fidelity

  published October 21, 2003

  Q: Just got done reading this magazine paean to the MP3Pro format. The article said an MP3Pro song takes up just half the space of a... More >>

• Trojan XL

  published October 14, 2003

  Q: Having major problems with Internet Explorer over here. Whenever I try to access Google, I get this weird page that says, "Are you trying to... More >>

• They've Got Your Number

  published September 30, 2003

  Q: I've been itching to ditch my crummy wireless carrier for months, but the whole chore of changing my number has always stopped me short. Now... More >>

• Cheap Beats

  published September 23, 2003

  Q: I'm in the market for a new MP3 player, and the wallet ain't fat enough for an iPod. I've found some off-name bargains, but I'm worried I'll... More >>

• Read, Write, Retouch

  published September 16, 2003

  Q: Just joined the digital-camera revolution, and now I'm itching to start Photoshopping all these precious memories. But the program's a lot... More >>

• Despise 'Ware

  published September 9, 2003

  Q: A few weeks back, I downloaded a game called Blasterball 2 from Shockwave.com. Before I could save it... More >>

• DVD Playas

  published September 2, 2003

  Q: On a recent trip to London, I plunked down several quid on the latest Ali G DVD. Imagine my horror when I popped it into my DVD player back... More >>

• Sun Cell

  published August 26, 2003

  Q: Despite Con Ed's reassurances to the contrary, my hunch is we're due for another blackout sooner rather than later—those Eisenhower-era... More >>

• Blog the Vote

  published August 12, 2003

  Q: Maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit, but I'm starting to take a real interest in the next presidential election. I know Howard Dean's been using... More >>

• Mac Daddy

  published August 5, 2003

  Q: So I'm flipping through the channels the other day, and I catch this ad for the Mac G5. Got me pretty pumped, since I've been a devoted... More >>

• Pixel This

  published July 29, 2003

  Q: I'm shopping around for a digital camera, and I'm pretty mystified as to how many megapixels I need. All the salesmen have been pushing... More >>

• Credit Retort

  published July 22, 2003

  Q: I've been hearing all these radio ads for a website offering free credit reports. Sounds too good to be true, but the site's got this hard... More >>

• Flight Risk

  published July 15, 2003

  Q: Now that the weather's finally turned decent, I've been surfing the Net outdoors whenever possible—at Bryant Park, outside coffee... More >>

• Fits to Print

  published July 8, 2003

  Q: My Epson printer's always telling me the ink cartridges are empty after, like, only four weeks. But when I pop 'em out and shake 'em up, I... More >>

• Wing and a Prier

  published July 1, 2003

  Q: A few months back, I read about this government plan to link airline computers to credit reports. Or something like that—it all seemed... More >>