The biggest issue with mobile devices is that, security risks aside, they all require the occasional sojourn to an electrical outlet. Particularly when you’re on the road, this can be something of a pain: sometimes you don’t have time to stop and search for a spot to charge your cell phone or tablet. Sometimes, you just need it to work....

Human beings are curious, nosy animals. It’s in our nature to want to know things: what our friends are up to, what that neighbor across the street is dragging into his basement, what that guy in the coffee shop is doing on his laptop…you get the idea. As a result, if you’re typing or working on something in a public place, you might not always...

Got another means of protecting yourself against scam and fraud, both online and off. If there’s a sucker born every minute, there’s a scam artist born every two. You should always be on the lookout for somebody who’s looking to make a quick buck at the expense of others. Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy to tell when...

Nowadays,  having a smartphone (or, at the very least, a cell phone) today is akin to having a TV back in the 80s or 90s: everybody simply did, and anyone who didn’t was considered “odd,” “backwards” or “behind the times.” Particularly since the development of the iPad in 2010, mobile devices have become a common...

Gesture control is all the rage these days. After all, there’s something inherently cool about being able to control your computer with a wave of your hand. It’s the sort of thing once reserved for the realm of science fiction, right up there with holographic user interfaces. While the latter is still a bit out of reach for the average user, the...

Some people love the Windows 8 UI. While it certainly takes a bit of getting used to, they’re right at home with it not long after picking up the new operating system. I’m not one of those people – quite the opposite. Windows 8 isn’t my cup of tea, and as such, I’m quite thankful that I’m still using Windows 7, and I plan to...

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...

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...

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...