Holy home runs, Batman! Google Calendar just got a lot more useful. The free Web-based service recently added a mammoth library of sports schedules, meaning you can easily keep tabs on your favorite teams' games.

Assuming you already have a Google account, just head to Calendar and click New: Sports calendars in the upper-right corner.

I'm a bit of a news junkie, but the experience of reading news online, well, bites. Sure, you can aggregate your favorite news sites into an RSS reader, but that's hardly the same experience as, say, leafing through a newspaper or magazine.

Enter Fast Flip, a new service from Google Labs. It offers a clever interface for searching, browsing, and discovering Google News content. And while it definitely has a few rough edges (remember, it's just an experiment at this point), it's already my favorite way to consume news online.

Is your Facebook profile picture just a boring old headhshot? Looking for a fun, unique avatar to use in message boards and other online forums? Head to Simpsonize Me and turn yourself into a bona fide Simpsons character.

All you need is a color photo of your face, preferably in JPEG or PNG format, with a minimum resolution of 640 by 480 pixels. (Simpsonize Me doesn't offer any cropping tools, so if you need help creating a photo with the proper specs, I recommend freebie image-editor IrfanView.)

My wife's computer came with a trial version of Microsoft Office 2007, but I installed IBM Lotus Symphony instead--in part because it's free, and in part because I think it's easier to use.

However, when the missus tries to open certain file types, like Docx and RTF, up pops Office 2007--the trial for which has long since expired. Why don't these files open in Symphony instead?

Mom? Dad? Have I got a site for you. It's called TechPosters, and it's home to hundreds of quick-reference guides for Windows, Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and even Google.

Actually, the site wasn't designed with novices in mind, as evidenced by its tagline: "Technical Posters and Cheats for IT Guys." And it's easy to be thrown by some of the seriously techie subjects you'll find on the home page.

So you're all set to buy that Widget Pro from Amazon, but just before you add it to your cart, you stop and think: "Am I getting the best price?" PriceTrace, a new add-on for Firefox, aims to give you a one-click answer.

It's not perfect, and I should tell you right up front that it adds yet another toolbar to your browser. If you can live with that, you'll probably love the convenience it affords.

Good news for Yahoo Mail users: If you've had trouble sending large files, help is at hand. A new Drop.io application lets you send attachments as large as 100MB.

By default, Yahoo allows attachments no larger than 25MB. That's pretty decent, but it probably won't cover a video, big batch of photos, or the like.

When reader Sarah joined her neighborhood association, she inherited the old neighborhood directory--in Microsoft Publisher format. She wants to update the directory, but doesn't own a copy of Publisher (and doesn't particularly want to, either).

My first thought? Zamzar, the Web-based file-conversion service. I've used it in the past when I needed to bring old documents into newer programs.

Has this ever happened to you? You fire up your laptop at the local coffee shop (or library, airport, or any other Wi-Fi hotspot), only to get a barrage of error messages from various programs.

Don't panic! There's a very simple explanation for this: When you boot your system, some startup programs require immediate Internet access--and when they don't find it, they produce errors (and often-cryptic ones at that).

Show of hands if this has happened to you: You step away from the computer for a little while, and when you come back, all your windows and work are gone. Why? Because Windows downloaded some updates and took it upon itself to reboot without your permission.

Gah! This happened to me just yesterday, and I lost some in-progress work as a result. (Note to Microsoft: beyond inexcusable, guys. Beyond inexcusable.)

Uh, remember yesterday when I called iTunes 9 out for failing to add folder monitoring? Well, it turns out I was wrong. Sort of.

See, if you peek inside C:\Users\[Your Username]\iTunes\iTunes Music, you'll find a new addition: a folder called Automatically Add to iTunes.

Well, iTunes 9 is finally here, and with it comes a boatload of highly anticipated features. Interface redesign? Uh...no. A music-subscription option? Uh...no. Smaller footprint? Nuh-uh. Well, surely iTunes can finally monitor folders, right?

Sigh. No.