This is not a review of Windows 7 the operating system, but rather www.windows7sins.org. I suggest reading thru that web site before reading this article. Some will agree with every point made on that site while others will say, "Um.. I don’t think so." Here’s my two cents on each "sin". 1. Poisoning education I disagree solely...

On a day to day basis, I probably use copy-pasting of text at least a couple of dozen times. While selecting/highlighting text using the mouse is quick in most cases, if you have to be precise or need bulk selection, nothing beats keyboard shortcuts. For a handy list of universal shortcuts, check out this article. I use the combinations listed quite a bit and...

As an appropriate follow up to yesterdays post about an alternate PDF viewer, today I I figured a link to an alternate PDF creator is in order. The software is doPDF which does what you would expect from a PDF printer: doPDF  installs itself as a virtual PDF printer driver so after a successful installation will appear in your Printers and Faxes list. To...

Many people do not like Adobe PDF Reader because it is extreme overkill for the simple task of reading PDF’s. As a result, said people use an ‘alternate’ PDF viewer (such as Foxit Reader), however if you are looking for the ultimate lightweight PDF reader then you need to check out the open source program Sumatra PDF. To quote their...

As mentioned before, Dave bought a netbook. I went with the Dell mini 10v, he went with the Asus EeePC 1000HE. Both are almost identical as far as specifications are concerned (CPU speed, screen size/resolution, etc.) What it really boils down to when choosing one of these are the details, such as the keyboard layout, power supply type, battery options, RAM...

I’ve messed around with more than a few ISO extraction utilities, such as PowerISO, MagicISO and so on. Utilities like that do what they do very well, but you have to pay for it. And being the only real thing I need with an ISO utility is either to mount drive letters (ex: ISODisk, Daemon Tools, Virtual Clone Drive, etc.) or extract specific files from, I...

If you run a blog and do not like using the built in web editor which comes with the system, a desktop editor is the way to go. You have probably seen Microsoft’s Live Writer mentioned on this site as some people’s editor of choice, but another client to consider is BlogJet. BlogJet offers loads of features (listed on their website) and praised by...

Last night on the PCMech LIVE show there was someone in chat who was having a not-so glorious time with Thesis, a theme for WordPress. This theme costs $87 so it’s not cheap. Actually, not-so glorious really doesn’t accurately describe his experience. He hated it. Why? Because when he tried it, it didn’t work. Unfortunately it’s very...

Google’s built in spam protection in their Gmail system is very good. However, some messages manage to get through and clicking ‘Report Spam’ removes it from your inbox but does not necessarily prevent future messages from the sender. The solution is using a blacklist, but unfortunately this is not immediately offered by Gmail. The solution is...

A few weeks ago, I was in the living room on the laptop surfing the Internet. You know, the casual, pointless kind of web surfing because what’s on TV is less interesting. I ended up on Facebook and was tracking down some of my old childhood friends. Not all of my old friends are on Facebook, so I wondered if I could find them anyway. Specifically, I was...

Rarely do I come across a utility that is absolutely ridiculously easy to use, is efficient and just plain works. ISODisk is one of them. ISODisk is so easy you’d think there would be more to it. This app simply mounts ISO images as drive letters, and creates ISOs from CDs or DVDs. There are no options in the software; it doesn’t need them. For any...

If you ever have the need to compare a couple of old CPU’s to see which one is “faster”, a good resource is PassMark’s CPU Benchmarks chart. This chart lists almost any older CPU you can think of and is compiled based on actual scores submitted by users. While certainly not definitive, this gives you a quick comparison of the relative...

The netbook has been getting really popular lately with the “good enough” crowd. Rich recently joined them, and now so have I. Rich grabbed a Dell Inspiron Mini 10V. I just purchased an Asus Eee PC 1000HA from Newegg. I just wanted to take a gauge of the PCMech readership. So, I wet my finger, stick it into the wind, and just ask. Do you want a netbook? And...

Google seems to have an odd way of deploying their Chrome browser. The first reaction when it appeared was, "Hey! Where’s the Mac and Linux versions? What gives?" It was nothing short of strange why Google seemed to concentrate on Windows so much concerning their own browser offering. Granted, Windows is the most-used desktop operating system in...

Firefox users who frequent YouTube, may be interested in the extension: Better YouTube. [This extension] enhances YouTube with Greasemonkey user scripts, that offer options like the FlowPlayer “doesn’t start till you hit play” viewer, clean “theater” view, and links to download the video automatically. With this add-on installed,...

In the past I have posted several tips about tricks and utilities which allow you to copy text and paste it without any formatting. Typically this involves either a specific setting or plugin which is unique for the respective application. Now you can do this globally with the free program, PureText. Have you ever copied some text from a web page or a document...

Texas Legislature House Bill 55 gives its cities and counties the choice (keyword there) of whether or not to ban cell phone usage in designated school zones. In order for this to be enforced, signs must be posted. In addition, to be fined (which is $200 per infraction), the cell phone must be to your ear and your vehicle must be in motion. This means...

You’ll notice that the title of this article does not say format a hard drive but rather erase. Most people are under the assumption that formatting a hard drive erases everything on it. Not true. A formatted drive can have its data recovered easily with utilities like this one. Residual data that remains on a hard drive after it’s been formatted is...

The vast majority of times when I post tips to software, the respective product is free. However, just because it is ‘free’ doesn’t mean it has no restrictions as there are different models of free software. The primary ones are freeware, shareware and open source. It is a good idea to know the difference between these release models. For a...

When you have a folder full of pictures, using the preview/thumbnail view of Windows Explorer is really useful for finding a specific picture or just browsing. If you have ever wanted to change the size of these thumbnails, here is how. This simple walk-through shows you how to use Tweak UI to make the change as well as what the results look like. Making the...