Well, folks. That’s it – we’ve reached the end of the line. The last days of 2012 have finally passed us by, and we’ve moved forward into 2013. Everybody’s looking forward now – making New Years Resolutions and predictions about the cool new stuff we might see in the coming year. We’ll get to that soon – for the...

So…Google’s Chromebooks didn’t make as big a wave as they were hoping – which is to say that they’ve barely even made a ripple. It was definitely a cool idea, to be fair: unfortunately, it was one which only caught the interest of a very niche market. The problem, after all, with an ultra lightweight notebook like the Chromebook is...

In today’s issue, we’re going to look at some of the more common file types that appear on the Windows Operating System. Bmp: Stands for Bitmap. One of the most basic types of image storage, Bitmaps tend to be larger than JPEGs, as they’re completely uncompressed. The pixels of a bitmap are resolution-dependent, so it’s very difficult to...

A lot of the people who claim that Online Privacy is dead point to Facebook as an example. After all, Zuckerberg and his boys haven’t exactly proven adept at handling the personal information of other people with a great deal of integrity. Facebook’s got a long, colored history of privacy failures under its belt; one which seems to become more...

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” right? Most everybody out there loves Christmas; if not for the consumerism, then for the time spent with friends and family. It’s a time for holiday cheer, for celebration and gift giving and shopping and delicious, delicious food. It’s also identity theft prime-time. Today’s...

It’s Christmas Eve Day. Have you gotten all your Christmas shopping out of the way? Although a rather staggering number of people purchased their gifts online this year(myself included), I’m sure there’s still a fair chunk of you who haven’t yet made your way to the store. Maybe you’re waiting for a last minute deal or two. Maybe...

In today’s issue of Layman’s Terms, we’re going to have a look at some terminology related to power and energy. Power Cycling: Essentially, power cycling is a fancy way of saying ‘hard reset.’ It involves cutting the power to a device, then restoring the power. You can either do this by manually cutting the device off from...

Need to send an extra big file to somebody? Well, if you’re like a lot of people, you’ve got a bit of a dilemma. Can you email something that big? Well, maybe not. For example, Gmail has a maximum email size of 25MB, and that’s only internally to Gmail. So, if you’re on Gmail and the person you’re sending to isn’t, they...

The typical user of Windows uses Internet Explorer as their web browser just because it is there. They don’t know any better, really. To the geekier types, Internet Explorer has, well… a reputation. For sucking. People flee to the many alternatives like Firefox, Opera, and these days, Chrome. Well, Microsoft is fighting back in an odd way. To...

To be fair, this one’s a little late. Probably would have been a good idea to get it posted earlier in the month. Still, there’s some valuable information here – it shouldn’t be discounted just because it’s a little dated. Anyway, enough rambling; let’s get right to the point. Christmas is nearly upon us. Like every year, the...

A pretty good chunk of the new computers being sold (or built) these days are using the Intel i5 or the i7 processor. The i5 costs less, but what is the real difference here – in plain English? Does the extra dough you have to pony up for the i7 actually get you anything that you’re going to need? Well, thanks to Intel, they didn’t exactly make...

The best thing about indie games development – and what separates it from AAA development – is that you’re considerably more likely to come across unique, unusual, and interesting ideas. It’s tough to say why that is. Maybe it’s because smaller developers need to try harder to be noticed. Failure is definitely a distinct...

In today’s issue of In Layman’s Terms, we’re going to be looking at a few pieces of terminology related to authority in the computer world. Those of you who are looking for a highly technical piece should probably look elsewhere- today’s issue’s going to be a pretty simple affair. Let’s get started. Administrator: Where...

Last night – late – the new, native Google Maps application dropped into the App Store for iOS. And, look at this… within hours, it has over 7,000 extremely positive ratings:Clearly, iOS users were pretty pissed off about Apple Maps and wanted Google Maps back. In fact, this is one of those rare occasions where Apple actually issued an...

Advances in technology have affected the way we work, communicate, date and play. Now these same advances in wireless connectivity and smartphone ubiquity are helping homeowners to monitor and automate tasks in the house. Can you imagine using your smartphone to be able to turn your home lights on or off, or monitor your home heating/cooling system? It’s...

Another quick tip for everyone today. The Internet can be a dangerous place. Cyber-criminals are getting smarter; the tools they use to infect other systems are becoming more sophisticated. You’ll want to do everything in your power to protect yourself. Active X Blockers, virus scanners, and ad blockers are just the tip of the iceberg. What if you want to...

Just a quick tip for you today, folks – a bit of troubleshooting for some of the more finicky programs and games you’ll be running on your computer. See, the way Windows 7 sets up its User Account Control, the majority of programs on your system aren’t configured to run with administrative privileges. Unfortunately, while this does shield you...

Launchpad is one of those features of OS X Lion that makes you scratch your head a little bit. It brings the app screens from iOS over to the Mac.Now, some Mac users will just openly accept this because, well, it came from Apple. Others (like me) find it annoying that Apple is trying so hard to make a Mac operate like an iPad. And, Windows users probably just...

Today, I’ve got a trio of infographics for you, all centered around a lovely little video site called YouTube. I’m sure you’ve all heard of it – after all, it’s kind of a big deal. It’s the third most visited website on the Internet, with hundreds of millions of monthly unique visitors, and the equivalent of over 150,000...

David Risley, here. I’m the founder and owner of PCMech.com. And, I sat down and recorded a quick video from my desk…To answer a question that is bound to come up here… yes, Rich is still with PCMech. He’s still authoring the weekly newsletter as well as a couple of articles for the members-only PCMech Insider each week. So, the...