This past week, Blizzard filed a suit against a group of open source software developers who reversed engineered a portion of Blizzard’s Battle.net multi-player gaming service (against the fine print of the EULA customer license). The result was a separate, independent application called “BNetD”.  This application performed a similar...

When you’re in any line of work, you’re bound to come across any number or interesting things that happen on the job.  A few weeks ago, I had a client who’s CD-ROM drive died after a few years worth of steady (almost daily) use.  So, he decided to take the opportunity to upgrade to a CD burner.  I ordered him a Lite-On CD-RW SOHR-5239S for...

There comes a point in time when you reach your maximum endurance point and you just have to rest. Sports, work, club hopping…whatever it is that you do the most–you just need to take a break, rest up, and do something else for a while. Guess what? I took a week off from my regular job. Having a bit more time than usual on my hands, I took this...

Microsoft induced a flurry of activity industry, letting loose a beast that brought untold chaos upon the computer industry. It only took two written words before women and children began weeping and men began gnashing their teeth, ready to flee from their computers in horror. Those two words were Windows Vista. The general consensus is that there are two main...

Welcome back! This is our third week for “Kudos & Calamities”, and kudos to you for taking 10 minutes out of your busy schedule to read this twaddle. No, seriously, if you’ve read this far, you’ve more then done your part. Really! You don’t need to read past here. I’m not kidding; it’s really not worth your time. You...

It’s been several years since I’ve walked through the doors of PCMech, as an inexperienced tech looking to expand his horizons.  Yes, it’s true; I too was once a n00b.  Everyone starts somewhere, even the experienced techs who have been in the trenches removing Billy Bob’s spyware before his wife comes home and figures out how...

Spyware in GeneralSpyware: a term computer users have been hearing about more and more often during their travels through the World Wide Web, or through visits to the repair shop.  Spyware is something that has been becoming increasingly common on systems.  A system brought online with no protection is completely vulnerable within the first few minutes...

If you are reading this, it’s a fair bet that you have a computer sitting in front of you, be it a PC, laptop or Mac.  You use it, and so it sits; fans whirring or water pumps humming.  The average user just leaves the machine alone and lets it do its thing.  It’s sometimes the case where these users have been told or have read at one time or...

Who doesn’t want a system that’s better, stronger and faster without having to shell out six million dollars? These Windows 2000 and XP Operating System tweaks will make your system feel like the Six Million Dollar Man without spending a dime. Optimizations take advantage of the dozens of options and features available in the Operating System....

As fate has it, you wake up one morning to discover your machine will not boot. “Of course this can’t happen to me, it only happens to ‘other people’.” No matter what you think, hard drive failures can happen to anyone. You. Me. The neighbor down the street. The business owner downtown. It doesn’t matter. It happens eventually. Whether your system...

Just starting sound editing? Or have you been dabbling in it to for a while? In either case, GoldWave is one of those programs that it is easy for the beginner to learn to use, while still meeting the expectations of the more experienced editor. In addition, it’s shareware, so you can use it for free with minor limitations. User Interface The best quality of...