It’s always kind of surprising to me how many people don’t really bother to maintain their PC.  A lot of folks seem to think that they can simply let their computer run. Trouble is, it doesn’t work that way. A computer’s a complex, intricate machine, and it needs to be well-cared for in order to properly function. What’s more,...

When it comes to "the main computer" that PC builders use for their daily computing tasks, it’s rare that the box is comprised of stuff that’s all the same age. For example, on my PC, the oldest part is the case itself. The second oldest thing is my now-secondary (and has been secondary for a while) 250GB hard drive. It wouldn’t...

Yes, I know, some of you out there are still using CDs, however this media format has been around since the mid-1970s if you can believe it; that’s retro as far as I’m concerned. Small note before continuing: If you use anything that still uses CDs and not DVDs, I strongly suggest picking up a quality brand 100-pack of CD-R discs. In the possible...

On Reddit I saw this thread which may be of interest to some. As far as I’m aware, it lists all the web sites out there that people (meaning anyone) can use to perform background checks. Some don’t mind being listed on sites like these while others really take offense to it. No matter what side of the fence you’re on, it’s good to know...

It’s easy enough to tell when a hard drive is beginning to fail because the way in which it happens at least gives you warning signs. You’ll either hear the infamous click-click-click or maybe a click-whirr-click-click, or in more brazen fashion a CLICK that sounds almost like a slap right before the drive dies for good. Flash memory on the other...

Recently I was checking out the latest openSUSE 11.4 distribution, which uses the KDE desktop environment by default. This is a very modern, very nice looking way to compute, no question. However there are two other environments openSUSE has installed by default, IceWM and twm, both of which are the absolute definition of a minimalist Spartan desktop...

This one’s really easy. Most people are familiar with the Windows Task Manager, where you can see all currently running processes, how much memory they’re taking up and so on. The Linux equivalent of this is top, and to the best of my knowledge works in every Linux distro there is. Simply run a terminal, type top, press Enter. That’s it. See...

A short while ago I did a quick review of the PCLinuxOS “KDE MiniMe”, a slimmed-down edition using the KDE desktop environment. Phoenix Edition uses XFCE, which runs lighter and faster than KDE does. Phoenix is definitely light on its feet and a breeze to use. See video below for...

This isn’t useful or productive at all – it’s just fun. In VLC’s preferences in the Video section / Output, there is the option to have video rendered as color ASCII:After you choose this setting, restart the player and any video played will look like this:To put it back the way it was, go back to where you chose Color ASCII output...

  Got a short, simple, and sweet tutorial for all you guys and gals. Today, I’m going to offer you all a brief walkthrough of opening .crx files in Windows. But first, you’re probably going to want a plain English explanation of just what we’re going to be doing here. Do note that if you’re not using Chrome, there’s probably...

If you’re a Hotmail user and use Rules, you may have noticed recently that the "New" button for a new rule doesn’t work. At all. Click-click-click-click-click, and. . . nothing. Why Microsoft is leaving this completely broken for the time being is a mystery. There is a workaround however. It’s slightly tedious and totally stupid you...

Whether you have a smartphone or a featurephone (a.k.a. "plain" or "dumbphone"), to the best of my knowledge every cell phone has the ability to text – even if you have a dirt cheap off-the-shelf prepaid phone bought from a convenience store. The key to knowing what your cell phone’s email address is to know its SMS (simple...

If you’re over 30, you’re going to feel your age a bit after reading this. I read a quick article about Apple OS X Lion where tech journalists are – and there’s really no other way to say this – bitching up a storm about Apple’s new OS being too overly heavy with its iOS influence. What caught my eye however is a comment made...

In the November 1982 issue of InfoWorld, it was announced that Tandon had developed a "tiny" 3½-inch micro-floppy disk drive called the TM35 Microline, providing 875k on two sides of a 3½-inch diskette. The cost was stated to be "in the $200 to $225 range". Deliveries of the unit happened in the first quarter of 1983. Side note before...

When you’re typing an address into the address bar, Google Chrome will often suggest websites to you. While I myself find this feature pretty handy, I can see why some folks wouldn’t. Maybe the suggestions it offers are so off-base that they aren’t even worth checking out. Perhaps you don’t like the fact that the entire address bar...

“Bandwidth conservation” is becoming more of a reality for many with more ISPs imposing strict bandwidth caps. It’s easy enough to instruct a browser not to download images or Flash content, however the way in which it’s done is inconvenient at best. The video below shows how to use a combination of two Firefox add-ons, Flashblock and...

Mac OS X Lion has caused a lot of hub-bub in the Mac community namely because Lion as far as I’m aware will not come on a disc. Download? Yes. USB key? Yes. DVD? No – although you can roll your own if you’re willing to do it in, dare I say, a PC-like nerdy way just to get it. (Seriously, you have to admit the way to make an OS X Lion boot DVD...

Some of you who have a passing interest in tech news have probably heard terms like “Canary,” “Dev Channel,” “Aurora,” Or “Nightly” tossed around. You’ve probably got an inkling about what these are – they’re different channels through which each respective company releases different builds of...

HP has a very good article on the replacement for BIOS, UEFI. It’s definitely a good and informative read, particularly the parts where it explains the existing shortcomings of BIOS, namely: ...BIOS is physically unable to boot from hard disks with more than 2.1 TB. The problem lies within the old MBR (Master Boot Record) system used by most BIOSes. The...

Unless I’m mistaken (and I may be), there are three major types of Unix-like kernels you can download and use for free right now. There’s GNU/Linux, BSD and one you probably haven’t heard of, GNU Hurd. What’s the Hurd? According to its web site, it’s described as "…the GNU project’s replacement for the Unix kernel....