PCMech » Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com Tech Powered Life... Simplified Wed, 15 May 2013 16:29:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Check If A Website Is Down For Everyone Or Just You http://www.pcmech.com/article/check-if-a-website-is-down-for-everyone-or-just-you/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/check-if-a-website-is-down-for-everyone-or-just-you/#comments Thu, 12 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/check-if-a-website-is-down-for-everyone-or-just-you/ Whenever you try to visit a website and it doesn’t come up, it means the site is either totally down or some aspect of your connection (ISP, DNS, etc.) has a problem. As a very simple way to test where the problem lies you can use the appropriately named site: Down For Everyone Or Just Me.

Usage is simple, just type the URL you are having problems with and this site will attempt to make a connection to it. If it can, then the problem is on your end.

I guess the only question here is what happens if this site is having ISP or DNS issues…

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/check-if-a-website-is-down-for-everyone-or-just-you/feed/ 1 See Where Your Firefox Memory Is Going http://www.pcmech.com/article/see-where-your-firefox-memory-is-going/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/see-where-your-firefox-memory-is-going/#comments Sat, 07 May 2011 14:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/see-where-your-firefox-memory-is-going/ It is a well known fact that Firefox can consume quite a bit of memory during normal usage. If you are so inclined to see where/how this memory is being used, simply visit the following URL:

about:memory

This works in the newer versions of Firefox and shows, in great detail, the breakdown behind the usage. If you are curious about what a certain column means, you can Google it for a quick answer.

The main number to look at is the top value "Memory mapped" which is the amount of memory (physical + virtual) which Firefox is using. This value will match the "Commit Size" in Windows Task Manager.

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/see-where-your-firefox-memory-is-going/feed/ 2 What The Columns Available In Task Manager Actually Mean http://www.pcmech.com/article/what-the-columns-available-in-task-manager-actually-mean/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/what-the-columns-available-in-task-manager-actually-mean/#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 17:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/what-the-columns-available-in-task-manager-actually-mean/ When you open Windows Task Manager and go to the Processes tab, there is a great deal of information available to you about the items currently running on your system. In addition to the default columns which are displayed you can view lots of other information by going to View > Select Columns. However, if you want to know what the values in these column actually mean, here is a table on Microsoft’s site which explains each.

While many of the columns are obvious, you may be curious, for example, about what each of the memory values mean. This is very valuable information to know if you want to get a bit more insight into your system without getting into very advanced tools.

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/what-the-columns-available-in-task-manager-actually-mean/feed/ 1 Email: When To Archive And When To Delete http://www.pcmech.com/article/email-when-to-archive-and-when-to-delete/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/email-when-to-archive-and-when-to-delete/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 17:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/email-when-to-archive-and-when-to-delete/ When it comes to email, whether you use an online provider (i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) or a traditional POP client, storage is virtually unlimited. With this being the case, many believe you have no reason to ever delete an email. While I can certainly understand the logic, I have rethought this over the past few months and I now ask myself a couple of questions which determines the proverbial fate of an email.

  • Is it something I want to appear in a search result when I query my email?
  • Is it important to where I may need the email in question to "prove" something?

If I answer no to both of these, I trash the email. I came to this realization after trying to dig up an email from a couple of years ago and while searching I had to wade through several pages of messages which were complete junk (i.e. old newsletters and conversations from 5 years ago which I never would need to look at again).

To me, the case for archiving over deleting is simply answered by "will I ever need to see this again?" and if I know there is absolutely no way I will, into the trash it goes. If it turns out I do need the message, I still have a month to change my mind before it is gone forever.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you keep everything regardless or do you have some other methodology for determining what stays and what goes?

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/email-when-to-archive-and-when-to-delete/feed/ 2 Block The Royal Wedding And Other Unwanted Topics From Your Twitter / Facebook Feeds http://www.pcmech.com/article/block-the-royal-wedding-and-other-unwanted-topics-from-your-twitter-facebook-feeds/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/block-the-royal-wedding-and-other-unwanted-topics-from-your-twitter-facebook-feeds/#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/block-the-royal-wedding-and-other-unwanted-topics-from-your-twitter-facebook-feeds/ If following the Royal Wedding isn’t really something you are interested in, but your friends on Twitter and Facebook are inundating you with messages about it, here are some browser plugins and applications which allow you to filter your social networking feeds. Of course, this same procedure can apply to any unwanted topic you have no interest in following:

It’s not easy to keep it out of your face, but it’s also not impossible, especially when it comes to social media. We’ve put together a bunch of ways to keep the [unwanted topics] out of your way, using third-party clients, Twitter helpers, and browser extensions that will keep the [them] out of your feeds.

Many of your who heavily use Twitter may already use one of these clients, but for the casual user some of these applications and plugins may be of interest.

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/block-the-royal-wedding-and-other-unwanted-topics-from-your-twitter-facebook-feeds/feed/ 1 Secunia Personal Software Inspector Automatically Alerts You When Your Programs Are Patched http://www.pcmech.com/article/secunia-personal-software-inspector-automatically-alerts-you-when-your-programs-are-patched/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/secunia-personal-software-inspector-automatically-alerts-you-when-your-programs-are-patched/#comments Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/secunia-personal-software-inspector-automatically-alerts-you-when-your-programs-are-patched/ Like many of you, I have dozens of applications and utilities on my system. However, keeping track of new releases for each product isn’t really something I am interested in… unless the new release patches security issues. So for the past few months, I have been using Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) on my system to keep an eye on these releases for me.

The product is described like so:

The Secunia PSI is a FREE security tool designed to detect vulnerable and out-dated programs and plug-ins which expose your PC to attacks. Attacks exploiting vulnerable programs and plug-ins are rarely blocked by traditional anti-virus and are therefore increasingly "popular" among criminals.

The only solution to block these kind of attacks is to apply security updates, commonly referred to as patches. Patches are offered free-of-charge by most software vendors, however, finding all these patches is a tedious and time consuming task. Secunia PSI automates this and alerts you when your programs and plug-ins require updating to stay secure.

One thing I really like about this tool is that it not only detects and monitors installed applications (i.e. Office, Flash, etc.) but it also tracks portable utilities and browser add-ons as well. Additionally, many of the programs can be updated directly through PSI so it does all the downloading and installation for you.

For those of you who like to keep everything up to date on your system, I would highly recommend giving PSI a look.

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/secunia-personal-software-inspector-automatically-alerts-you-when-your-programs-are-patched/feed/ 1 Microsoft Launches An Online Malware Scanner http://www.pcmech.com/article/microsoft-launches-an-online-malware-scanner/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/microsoft-launches-an-online-malware-scanner/#comments Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/microsoft-launches-an-online-malware-scanner/ Many of the major security software vendors offer some form of an online scanner which allows you to take advantage of their respective anti-malware engine to detect threats without installing the client on your machine. This is a great tool because it allows you to get a "second opinion" on your system if you suspect a threat.

Microsoft now offers their own online scan, dubbed the Microsoft Safety Scanner. This tool, as you can probably guess, utilizes the Security Essentials scanning engine. Considering it gets pretty good overall reviews, if you utilize an alternate security suite this can be a good place to double check your system.

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/microsoft-launches-an-online-malware-scanner/feed/ 2 Google Search Easter Egg In Mobile Devices http://www.pcmech.com/article/google-search-easter-egg-in-mobile-devices/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/google-search-easter-egg-in-mobile-devices/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/google-search-easter-egg-in-mobile-devices/ If you are looking to have a bit of fun with a Google search on your mobile device, try searching "tilt". From this post on the Google Operating System, it appears that your search results will be displayed… tilted.

Additionally, per the user comments, if you visit the mobile search URL (http://www.google.com/m/search?q=tilt) inside of the Google Chrome browser, the results will be displayed slanted as well.

I still have a "dumbphone" (and love it) so I can’t give it a try, but if you do have a smartphone handy see what happens.

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/google-search-easter-egg-in-mobile-devices/feed/ 1 Free Utility Cleans Flash/Super Cookies Off Your Windows System http://www.pcmech.com/article/free-utility-cleans-flashsuper-cookies-off-your-windows-system/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/free-utility-cleans-flashsuper-cookies-off-your-windows-system/#comments Sat, 23 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/free-utility-cleans-flashsuper-cookies-off-your-windows-system/ Unlike standard cookies which can easily be controlled and cleaned by your respective browser, cookies set and used by Flash are a different animal altogether. Because Flash works outside of your browser, it has the ability to store cookies (aka LSO’s) in various folders throughout your system which is the foundation of how the "super cookie" you may have heard about works.

So essentially, when you are deleting browser cookies, Flash cookies are not deleted and can easily be "respawned" as browser cookies. To get rid of them, you have to clean them separately. Firefox offers the BetterPrivacy add-on which does this automatically, but if you don’t use Firefox a utility which can do this for you is the appropriately named Flash Cookies Cleaner. (As a side note, I believe CCleaner will remove Flash cookies, but I am not 100% sure.)

If you are concerned about your online privacy, cleaning Flash cookies has become a must.

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/free-utility-cleans-flashsuper-cookies-off-your-windows-system/feed/ 2 A Simple Trick To Resize Icons And Text Easily In Windows 7 http://www.pcmech.com/article/a-simple-trick-to-resize-icons-and-text-easily-in-windows-7/ http://www.pcmech.com/article/a-simple-trick-to-resize-icons-and-text-easily-in-windows-7/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Jason Faulkner http://www.pcmech.com/article/a-simple-trick-to-resize-icons-and-text-easily-in-windows-7/ A very simply trick you may not know about is the ability to easily resize text and elements in Windows with a simple shortcut: hold the Ctrl key while scrolling the mouse wheel up or down.

Here are some examples of what happens when you do this in particular location:

  • On the desktop: Icons grow or shrink accordingly.
  • In a Windows Explorer folder: File view is toggled between icons/detail/list views.
  • In a browser: Font sizes grow or shrink.

I have tested these cases in Windows 7, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it works in other versions of Windows (or other OS’s) as well.

Are there any additional locations you have utilized this functionality?

]]> http://www.pcmech.com/article/a-simple-trick-to-resize-icons-and-text-easily-in-windows-7/feed/ 2