Software

Somehow the Teachers Always Get Blamed

Kinda Gay

TurboTaxed

So It's Govt' Money -- Don't Have a COW

Yahoo Lyrics Link

Music of (Angry) India

The sudden cancellation of a KPFT staple stirs Subcontinental trouble

The Passionate Pilgrim

He owns a baseball team, he's spent millions to wipe out a devastating Third World disease, and now he's out to save pro football for Houston. But what does John Jay Moores really want?

Besieged by the Bay

Beset by skyrocketing tax assessments and wary of encroaching development, property owners in San Leon-Bacliff wonder if their "poor man's Riviera" may soon go the way of other waterfront zones along Galveston Bay.

Computer Terror

Duane Franklet programs a cyberthriller into Houston

Contributing Factors

Debra Danburg swears she'll defend your right to open government. But when it comes to Internet campaign finance reports, ignorance is bliss.

State of the Art

Compaq, then and now

The Search For A Lonely Houston Web Phenom

This is the story of an overweight, lonely, possibly lesbian, cheating, married, Christian and, at the moment, anonymous Houston woman. She was one of 650,000 AOL users whose Internet queries were publicly posted by the company for three days in 2006. By the time AOL removed the data, it was too lat ... More >>

HISD's $2 Million Man

A shadowy California consultant rakes in school district cash

Diggin' on Digital

A shadowy California consultant rakes in school district cash

Letters to the Editor

A shadowy California consultant rakes in school district cash

Wize Guys

Here's your chance to get rich quick -- or lose your shirt, in which case, GlobalTec disavows all responsibility for, well, anything

Million-Hour Madness

Religious charities discover state welfare reform savings are based in part on their backs

The Blog Age

Matt Mullenweg helps usher in the real information revolution, one Web log at a time

History for Dummies

Neil Bush touts a school curriculum for guys like himself

Devil in the Details

Local government contractor Fred Martinez credits God for his success. His critics cite more earthly forces.

Laptop Liberaces

Trax in Space adds another dimension to the music galaxy

All's Dell

So long to slackers and laid-back lifestyles. Now that cash-rich techies have taken over, can Austin survive the great digital divide?

Soul Machine

The Apple II computer: Some still consider it the wizard of Woz

Bad Cash Investments

The Apple II computer: Some still consider it the wizard of Woz

ISO A Femme Fatale? Jail Babes Has The Hook-Up

​Can't find a match on Match.com? Can't get it in tune on eHarmony? Desperate for a young hottie, but not exactly a catch yourself and unable to fly to Russia for a mail order bride? We've got a dating sight for you: Jailbabes.Jailbabes is just like any other dating site, except all of the women ... More >>

Computer Driven

The new HISD credit recovery program matches students with a software program and a coach to get them fast-tracked to graduation.

It's A Workout Deciphering TEA's Latest Instructions On Its "Fitnessgram"

Hair Balls believes intensely and fully in the physical fitness benefits of wind sprints, pumping iron and teamwork camaraderie. But even we took pause at an end-of-the-month missive sent out to school districts around the state from the Texas Education Agency, passed on to us by a Friend of Hair Ba ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: John Ly of Strata Restaurant

​We met with Executive Chef John Ly of the new Strata Restaurant in the Champions area, and he shared some tips for young aspiring chefs. Eating Our Words: So I understand you started off pursuing a computer science degree. Tell me about that. Ly: Yeah, I went pretty far towards getting my c ... More >>

Presenting... Theremin Hero!

Every day Rocks Off trolls the tubes of you in search of videos deemed worthy to share. If you have something you think deserves to be video of the day, send a link to jef_rouner@yahoo.com. ​You're thinking, "It's a joke or a parody or a trick," but you are so, so wrong. Grieg Stewart has act ... More >>

Outsmarted By Your Smartphone? T-Mobile Wants To Help

Photo by Flickr user tomsunThese are not the Droid apps you are looking for.​What's so great about the holidays? You never wear those horrendous sweaters from Grandma, all the money you get burns a hole in your pocket, and you forget to use all of your gift cards, which eventually expire. Don' ... More >>

There's an App for That: SeamlessWeb Takes Aim at Food Delivery

A list of available restaurants in the 77027 area code.​For those with a love of food and obsession with their smart phones, these are amazing times. There are apps that give iPhone and Android users all sorts of options when it comes to food, from finding happy hours to ranking restaurants. ... More >>

App of the Week: Five Ways to Improve the Facebook App

​Dear Mark, please improve the Facebook app. Sincerely, Everyone.​​App: Facebook Platforms: All Smart Phones Web site: Facebook.com Cost: Free Facebook has become such a part of the way most people connect online, it's hard to imagine that the app Mark Zuckerberg and company produce coul ... More >>

Houston Rodeo: Now There's an App for That

Houston Rodeo: Where high tech meets low tech.​Last week members of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's marketing and public relations team held a press conference to present some of the rodeo's new-for-2011 offerings, chief among them a feature-rich smartphone app meant to improve all aspe ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Video Poker Edition

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

App of the Week: Alfred

A quick search using Alfred yielded really helpful results.​App: Alfred Platforms: Mac OSX Web site: Alfredapp.com Cost: Free (Power Pack add-on for about $20) Normally, this space is reserved for apps for the phone and the occasional Web site. This week, we're going to talk directly to M ... More >>

App of the Week: Four Apps to Ease Your Summer Airline Travel

Use these apps to help you survive summer travel and keep your face intact.​App: FlightTrack Platforms: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm Web site: Mobiata.com Cost: $3.99 (Pro for $9.99) App: FlightBoard Platforms: iPhone, Android Web site: Mobiata.com Cost: $3.99 App: Skyscanner P ... More >>

App of the Week: MySocialMania

It doesn't get much easier than this.​App: MySocialMania Platforms: iPhone Web site: Apple Link Cost: $0.99 Mania seems to be an appropriate word when discussing the crazed use of social media by millions worldwide. From Twitter to Facebook to Flickr to MySpace (God help us), millions of ... More >>

App of the Week: Three Hurricane Tracking Apps Just in Time for Hurricane Season

Hurricane is about as good as it gets for tracking storms on your phone.​App: Hurricane Platforms: iPhone Web site: Apple Link Cost: $3.99 App: iHurricane HD Platforms: iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile Web site: Download Link Cost: $2.99 App: Hurricane Tracker Platforms: iPhone Web ... More >>

App of the Week: Pageonce, Organizing Your Finances So You Don't Have To

Track all your money and bills using Pageonce.​App: Pageonce Platforms: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Web site: Pageonce.com Cost: Free (ad supported), $12.99 (pro version) - monthly and annual subscriptions also available I will fully admit that I have struggled at times to keep t ... More >>

The Five Biggest Google Fails and Wins

​Google launched with much fanfare recently and, quickly, the reviews poured in. We even wrote about the things we thought Google would need to do to beat Facebook and we have since had a chance to look around inside the social networking platform. It does appear to be easier to use than Fac ... More >>

Council Candidate Allegedly Sends Out E-Mail Ripping Jolanda Jones, Even Though He's Not Running Against Her

Bolivar Fraga could easily prove it wasn't him, but won't.​An anonymous, widely distributed e-mail criticizing Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones appears to have come from the campaign of council candidate Bolivar Fraga. Fraga and Jones represent different districts; however, Fraga was j ... More >>

The Nine Best Mobile Apps for Fantasy Football Enthusiasts, Ranked

Foster may hate you, but he was still #1 on your draft board this year​Thursday night marks the opening of the NFL season and fantasy nuts are gearing up with Red Bull, nachos, paid NFL television subscriptions and, you guessed it, technology. While I am not in a fantasy league (I have been a ... More >>

IWatch Harris County App from the Sheriff's Department Poorly Designed

The IWatch welcome screen.​The best smartphone apps meant for functionality rather than entertainment fill a need, are easy to use and provide appropriate functionality for the task at hand. The Harris County Sheriff's Department IWatch Harris County app delivers about one-and-a-half of those ... More >>

Cuban Tacos: There's an App for That...Almost

El Rey's app would have benefited from more testing.​Many of us find ourselves rushing between work and home on weekday evenings with little time for determining take-out options, let alone actually cooking, which is why I was so stoked to see the flyer taped to the El Rey drive-thru window an ... More >>

Three Ways Steve Jobs Made Technology Cool, Stylish and Accessible

​This morning I was scheduled for a conference call with one of my clients and I knew I was running a few minutes late. My laptop was not with me and I didn't know the client's email address by heart. Fortunately, I had my iPhone. I opened it up, found a recent e-mail exchange between myself a ... More >>

Evernote Food: An App That Helps You Record Your Meals

​Note-taking smart phone app Evernote is widely considered one of the best productivity apps on the market, particularly if you do a lot of note taking. I ranked it as my number one app of the year and find it indispensable for keeping track of everyday tasks. The company that produced Everno ... More >>

App of the Week: Dragon Dictation and Dragon Go!

​App: Dragon Dictation and Dragon Go! Platform: iPhone, Android Website: http://www.nuance.com Cost: Free So, let's say you decided earlier in 2011 that you were going to upgrade your iPhone 3GS to an iPhone 4. Let's also say that you were impatient and had no desire to wait until, supposedly, ... More >>

Google Shuttering Popular Photo Editing Tool Picnik: Top 8 Alternatives

​Google announced that as of April 19, it will shut down Picnik, an online photo editing tool acquired by the company in 2010, and bundle some of the editing tools into their over-arching Google platform. The staff of Picnik remains with Google and apparently is working to add features from t ... More >>

App of the Week: App Shopper

​App: App Shopper Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac Web site: AppShopper.com Cost: Free The iPhone may be good for many things -- most of those may be the result of cool little apps that extend its features -- but finding cool apps via the App Store is not one of them. Calling the App Store utilit ... More >>

App of the Week: WeatherBug Elite

​App: App Shopper Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows, Palm Web site: WeatherBug Website Cost: $0.99 People who know me know I'm a weather nerd. I love reading about it and talking about high pressure areas, cold fronts, hurricanes and the like. The doppler radar plays a pro ... More >>