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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
“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 infographic presents some [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 possibility, [...]
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 websites, webforums, and online [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
