Then I go look. And look. And look.

And then there are the tapes to consider.

Yes, I, your friendly neighborhood tech girl, still watch videotapes. And yes, I still use an actual VCR with actual tapes to record my can't-miss shows. (In airing order "Heroes," "House," "Lost," "Smallville," "Supernatural," "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives" and "Battlestar Galactica." My boss periodically gives me a good-natured hard time over that last one, but it's a great show.). OK, so they're not all can't-miss. I'm not that much of a TV junkie, but they're the ones I like to keep up with.

One of these days I'll graduate to TiVo or digital cable, but right now, it's just not in the budget. (I'm going to Greece in October, so saving money is top priority.)

But I digress.

Oh, look! Something sparkly! Please forgive my odd stream-of-consciousness typing today. All of this Valentine's Day stuff is distracting me. You know how I feel about Valentine's Day. Happy Statehood Day. Enough said.

Back to my DVDs and tapes.

I wanted an easy way to catalogue my collection so I fired up Google and went surfing.

I found a great solution -- except for one snag, which I'll get to in a minute. It's a program called DVD Profiler by InterVocative Software. It's not a new program, but it is a good one. Very good.

You can download an ad-supported version for free or pay $29.95 for a premium version.

I stuck with the free version. (Greece.)

DVD Profiler is very easy to use. All you have to do is enter the UPC code and the program does the rest. It goes online (Yes, you need an Internet connection.) and digs up all kinds of great info on your movie. Cover art. Synopsis. You name it, DVD Profiler finds it.

Not only is there a list for DVDs you own, there's also one for discs you've ordered and a wish list. (I used the ordered list for VHS tapes.)

If you're like my friend Dave, your collection is big enough to rival your local Blockbuster. He's always loaning DVDs to people so he uses DVD Profiler to keep track of who has what, and how long they've had it.

Once you've entered your collection, all it takes is a click to upload it to InterVocative for all to see. Or not. You can set visibility to one of three options: private, semi-public or public. Here's my collection as listed with DVD Profiler.

So, here's the snag. I have a PC, but I rarely use it. I spend the vast majority of my time working with Nahla, my beloved little iBook. (I've been using Apple since the Apple IIE.) InterVocative doesn't have a Mac version of DVD Profiler.

From their Web site -- "With apologies to our Mac fans, at this time there is no Macintosh version, and no firm plans to create a Mac version."

Boooo.

Back to Google.

While I didn't find anything I like as much as DVD Profiler, there were several options. I settled on DVDPedia by Bruji. (There are separate-but-similar programs designed specifically for books, games and CDS, too.) You can try it for free, adding up to 10 movies. After that, it's $18.

With an interface reminiscent of iTunes, this one is fairly easy to use, as well, although not quite as elegant as DVD Profiler. DVDPedia requires a bit more work on the part of the user.

You can search by UPC code, but I've had better luck going by title.

Like, DVD Profiler, DVDPedia also keep track of loans.

It also has a nice little feature that allows you to create special collections within your library. You can create a Smart Collection that the program will automatically add to based on filters you set up or you can do it manually. I have a SmartCollection that sorts based on media type, DVD or VHS. I have another for Disney movies.

You can't upload directly to the Web with DVDPedia. But you can export information about your collection in several formats, including HTML. All you have to do then is upload it, which means you have to have Web space somewhere, but these days, that's not too hard.

Given the choice, I'd go with DVD Profiler, but because I insist on remaining in the Mac minority, DVDPedia serves my needs nicely.

Now when people ask me, "Do you have 'The Devil Wears Prada,'?" I can answer in the time it takes to click the mouse. Nope. Or I can just send them to online to find out for themselves.