It’s no good creating a secure password if the website you’ve signed up for doesn’t bother protecting your information. Sadly, it seems as though a lot of people have been learning this the hard way, of late. The number of password leaks that have surfaced just over the past two months has been positively staggering, and the revelation that...

Game Selection: Winner: Steam While it’s certainly something of an unfair comparison at this point (after all, Origin’s still very much the new kid on the block as far as digital distribution’s concerned), it’s still something a lot of people are judging Origin on. while Steam has a massive library comprised of thousand upon thousands of...

You’d think that, with all the advances we’ve been making in the world of computing, with all the new manufacturing techniques and cost-cutting methods being employed by OEMs, people would be packing increasingly powerful hardware into their systems, right? After all, reduced costs means that those who plan to shell out for a gaming PC can,...

Many folks have taken to referring to hackers by the theoretical color of their hat- white, black, or gray. But what, exactly does all that mean? How exactly does one categorize a ‘hat?’ Believe it or not, that’s actually incredibly simple- and nowhere near as complex as some of the other terminology we’ve covered. Let’s get...

So you want to create a guild, do you? That’s not exactly an easy task to accomplish- particularly if you’re looking for your guild to gain any sort of recognition or power on your server- it’s not as simple as knowing how the in-game guild creation system goes or inviting a few friends along for the ride. In a lot of ways, it’s almost...

Minecraft’s a pretty awesome game to play, but what makes it truly awesome- what makes the game truly enjoyable- is the online play. There’s something uniquely satisfying about logging in and seeing an entire city stretching out before you, with the knowledge that you helped build it. There’s something undeniably enjoyable about collaborating...

Patent troll. There are few words that inspire more ire, few phrases which provoke more disgust in someone who knows anything about copyright law. Patent trolls are the bottom-feeding scum of the industry. They purchase, acquire, or invent ludicrously general software patents- for example “a security solution which makes remote license check to a remote...

Another quickie today, folks. I’d like to draw your attention to a nifty tool for benchmarking your PC, by Passmark Software. It’s not really all that difficult to determine if one graphics card(or PC, for that matter) has more power than another. In a lot of cases, you can simply look at how much video memory it’s got. Plus, it’s a safe...

Today’s issue of Layman’s Terms is going to look at some of the terminology related to application development. Native Applications are programs coded in the “native language” of an operating system. For example, the native language of iOS is Objective C. Any applications coded in that language are considered native applications....

The recent fiasco with SOPA and PIPA, and now ACTA has thrown into sharp relief the question of online privacy and freedom. Who controls our personal data? Who has access to it? How do we know someone’s not tracking us online? Who can we actually trust? What can we actually share?  These questions were already pertinent and if ACTA passes, they’ll...

It’s not enough to just have a secure password, sadly. Even if you have the most brilliantly designed, complicated password in the world, it can still be cracked. No system is secure, and all it takes is a determined enough hacker or a key-logger. Thankfully, most businesses seem to understand that and provide their users with a plethora of advanced...

League of Legends is one of the most popular Free To Play games around – and why shouldn’t it be? Riot games, the company behind the the spiritual successor to the Warcraft 3 mod “Defense of The Ancients,” has rather outdone themselves. With new content every few weeks, a huge roster of characters to choose from, a plethora of...

Most of you have probably heard of Google Docs by now, right? You know, the online, free-ware alternative to Microsoft Office? Given that it’s completely online and all files are stored in the cloud it shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of you that it’s pretty much perfect for working on collaborative projects. Got a presentation you’ve...

Hey there, folks. In today’s issue, we’re going to have a look at a few terms and phrases specifically related to graphics and graphics cards. Naturally, we don’t have enough space to cover all of them in one article, so this is probably something we’re going to be revisiting at a later date. Ambient Occlusion: You’ve probably...

You can tell a lot about a person through observation. How they dress, how they behave in public, how they talk, how they move…and apparently, how they surf. Well, sort of. According to a study which will be published in an upcoming issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, one’s browsing habits on the web are largely indicative of one’s...