Your mobile devices have secrets, which is why you should require an unlock code before each use. But if you're especially nervous about onlookers seeing your screen over your shoulder, the same kinds of laptop privacy screens are also made in mobile phone sizes.

While I normally want LCDs to be readable from wide angles, these overlays restrict the perspective on the periphery, leaving things mostly the same in the center. I tried one from 3M on my iPhone, and it works as designed, although it adds a little bit of texture that I didn't mind. People on the sides of the device can't see my passwords or read my email, just as designed. The main drawback is that it slightly darkens the screen overall.

I've got a desk full of USB flash disks that I'm prone to lose. I don't care too much about losing the hardware--most are small freebies from tradeshows. But I do care about the data. Here's how to use TrueCrypt to create an encrypted area on a drive. It's like buying a fancy, off-the-shelf, encrypted USB thumb drive, but with a little more hassle and less cost. Now my data stays protected even if lost.

First format a USB flash disk if desired; I like to start fresh. (Right-click the disk, and pick Format.) Install TrueCrypt to the USB drive. (Keep things neat by installing it within its own folder.) Open TrueCrypt, and pick Create Volume. Leave the first option, Create an encrypted file container selected, and pick Next. Choose the Standard TrueCrypt volume, and click Next. Navigate to the root of the USB flash drive, and type a file name that will house the encrypted items. Click Save.

Your PC likely asks for your username and password to grant access to Windows, a nice security measure, but ineffective if someone has physical access to your hard drive. (They'll just install it in another PC and boot from a different disk.) You should enable hard drive encryption for the best protection against data thieves. But also use additional BIOS tricks enable more layers of security, asking for another password to boot, access the drive, or change BIOS settings. Here's how to adjust those system settings.

Enter the BIOS configuration when starting PC. Press the prompted key; often, it's an F-Key, Delete, or ESC. Navigate with the arrow keys, select with Enter, and back out with ESC. Different BIOS interfaces vary, but look for the security settings. Here's how the options on a common PhoenixBIOS system work.

I've always wanted to check e-mail when I'm driving and bored. And as far as you know, I never have--not even while stopped in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Instead of driving and tapping, you can have a voice service manage messages in response to your spoken commands. Some of these services still have rough edges, but they can pay off if you're patient.

PC World has already given Jott a lot of love. You call a number and speak a short message for up to 15 or 30 seconds (depending on your account level). Jott transcribes it and sends it wherever you want. The service recently shifted to a paid model with a few tiers. But it's a useful way to send messages from any phone.

Your PC includes a simple interface for launching applications when you start it up. You can also configure it to wake up or power on automatically just before you get to work. Save a little power and time with these tips.

There are two main approaches to these tweaks: Add items to the Startup Folder directly, or run the Scheduled Tasks wizard. Here's how to do both.

Either your customers already use social networking tools or you have an untapped, online audience. So get out there and network on Facebook, MySpace, and any of the other popular destinations. But do it on your own terms with whatever feels right; everyone can see through a business trying to co-opt new media. Here's how to make the most of one of the current favorites, Twitter.

Be yourself. Twitter lets you post blurbs of up to 140 characters; it's good for a quick note about what you're doing. But you can also use it to build buzz within a fanbase by referencing things that aren't quite public. (Or let customers track your sales.) People will follow you on Twitter if they think you'll reveal news first, and that audience is likely to blog about it somewhere.

When you right-click a file, a pop-up menu offers a few initial, obvious options to open the item, access properties, delete it, and more. But the Send To choice can actually save you time, even if in small increments.

Sometimes I create an outgoing email message with the right-clicked item as an attachment; just pick Mail recipient. If your PC is capable, the Bluetooth device item begins transmitting a file. And you can customize the menu to send files to specific locations.

It's official: Steve Jobs is stepping down--temporarily--from his post at Apple Computer, taking a medical leave of absence to deal with a health problem that has turned out to be "more complex" than the celebrity CEO had originally disclosed prior to the Macworld Expo event earlier this month. On a personal level, I can't help but have a great deal of sympathy for Jobs and his family at this undoubtedly difficult time. But as a longtime Apple observer, Mac user, and general technology wonk, I can't help wondering what might come of Apple if and, inevitably one day, when Jobs eventually retires permanently from his role as the company's spiritual and temporal leader.

A whole lot of notions come to mind when you think of Steve Jobs. He's a charismatic figure, of course, one of the true tech visionaries who saw the role that computers would ultimately play in our personal lives many years before any given computer was capable of living up to his vision. He's an innovator, pushing incessantly to bring new ideas to market, sometimes for the worse (like that toilet-seat iBook), but often for the better (iPhone, anyone?).

For today's Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released critical fixes for holes that could allow worms to run rampant through business networks, reminiscent of yesteryear's Blaster and Sasser scourges. Not to be outdone, Oracle will release a whopping 41 patches, including ten that can be "exploited remotely and anonymously," according to Symantec.

The Microsoft fixes, gathered under Security Bulletin MS09-001, close holes in the Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol. Shavlik Technologies' Eric Shultze writes that attackers could write worms that use NetBIOS connections to attack this flaw and spread themselves throughout networks. Such connections are often allowed through firewalls when they come from computers on the same corporate network, so business PCs are much more at risk from this flaw than home PCs.

An advanced Google search technique can look within a single site, which is often a major help versus an internal search engine. (Recap: type your query, and then type "site:[domain]" such as "laptops site:pcworld.com" to look only at PC World.) But sometimes, I want the results from a site's own engine without having to click over to that site first. For example, a Wikipedia query that perfectly matches an entry will automatically load that page; Google won't. Here's how to customize the search bar in Firefox and Internet Explorer, adding direct searches on a range of sites.

In Firefox, click the pull-down menu in the upper-right area, showing the logo of the current search engine. Choose Manage Search Engines. Click the following link, Get more search engines. Scroll through or search for your favorite business, websites, or other regular destinations. I like adding IMDB for quick movie and TV results. Click Add to Firefox, and click Add. Pick between the engines through the original pull-down menu, and remove unwanted tools with Manage Search Engines.

I love the concept of tablet PCs. To me, the medium-sized handheld form factor seems like the natural next step in the evolution of notebook PCs. I can envision all kinds of uses for tablets, from applications for vertical businesses, to education, to e-book reading, to casual Web surfing on the couch.

So why don't I own a tablet PC? For the same reasons you don't, most likely. Past tablets have seemed to want to be all things to all people -- which meant they were too heavy, too bulky, too underpowered, and worst of all, too expensive. That's why I was excited to learn that an upcoming entry in Asus' popular Eee PC netbook line will take the form of a convertible tablet.

Online meeting software bridges clients and telecommuters in different locations. Many options are available, but they often include hassles, requiring a separate voice conference or software installation. I recently saw a demo of Fuze that makes this service stand out, especially for businesses that rely on video collaboration. But best of all, clients--and even hosts--only need a web browser and Flash.

Whether PowerPoint docs, high-resolution photos, high-definition videos, or any other file type, the Fuze servers act as an intermediary. This process provides smoother playback than requiring one of your computers to act as the host. In that self-hosting situation, your upstream would be the limiting factor to all clients. With Fuze in the middle, you only need a moderate downstream speed to stay in sync.

Amid the flurry of sleek, slim, sexed-up gadgets taking the stage at CES this year, some more buttoned-down business hardware is also making a good showing. On the productivity front, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 boasts a host of new document handling features to help users get more organized with fewer hassles.

Taking credit card payments on the road--whether it's door-to-door or on a trade show floor--can be a frustrating task. Old-fashioned mechanical readers (known as addressographs) are insanely bulky, and leave you with a mass of paper to contend with at the end of each day. Dedicated electronic card readers, meanwhile, tend to be even bulkier, and often require a power source and Internet connection to function. These hassles make the ProPay MicroSecure Card Reader look pretty inviting.

I work across platforms, but I've never bothered with productivity software beyond Microsoft Office. It always seems like it does a good enough job, plus everyone else uses it, facilitating easy file sharing. Although I'm embarrassed having typed that out; can't I pick productivity software that I actually... like?

At the Macworld Expo, Apple released its latest productivity suite, iWork '09. A few of its new features have grabbed my interest. I'm still skeptical, but I'm going to try out this Mac-only software over the next week or two to see if it can actually replace my Office use.

Amid news of worsening economic turmoil in markets worldwide, rumors persist that Microsoft may be readying the first formal round of layoffs in the company's history. The latest buzz suggests the Redmond-based software giant may eliminate as many as 15,000 jobs -- though cooler heads say the cuts will come more from attrition and expired contracts than from actual pink slips. Whatever the case, look to January 15 for the big announcement, sources say.

News that Microsoft may be tightening its belt certainly comes as no surprise. It's not the only company to do so -- Yahoo trimmed 10 percent of its workforce in December, for example, while IBM is rumored to be planning layoffs of its own. But it's tempting to speculate whether there may be more behind Microsoft's cost-cutting measures than just a response to the current recession, especially in light of reports that core Microsoft products have lost significant market share in recent months.

Gestures can say so much without any words, whether you've just been cut off in traffic or you're trying to execute a PC command. Instead of reaching for a menu or even typing a key shortcut, use mouse gestures to activate these commands. You could make a loop to print, a "Z" shape to open the PC World website, slide up-then-down to close a window, and more. Some PCs, especially laptops, are beginning to read these kinds of commands in their mouse drivers. Here's how to add the functionality to any PC.

You have several gesture programs to choose from, including gMote and StrokeIt. I like gMote especially because it doesn't need any deep installation; it's just active when running, like a normal application. By default, you'll hold Ctrl and Shift while making gestures. Match a shape that the application recognizes--or one that you recorded--and it triggers a corresponding function.

I use Google many times a day, a big part of answering work questions, doing research, or otherwise finding information online. This search engine became a mainstream tool partly because of its simple, powerful results. But hidden, advanced techniques can get you better information with less hunting.

These are some of my favorite Google tricks, among many. Just enter your terms in a browser's Google search bar or directly at the site.