By now most if not all who read this have tried automotive GPS at some point, either by owning a GPS device yourself, maybe trying it in a rental car, using it through a cell phone app or what-have-you. "Basic GPS" when it comes to a car basically means that all the device does is route. It does not do Bluetooth, meaning it won’t pair to a...

An article that’s been making the rounds is 7 Gadgets That Won’t Be Around in 2020. You can read that article if you wish, but this is the list of things predicted to be gone by that year:Standalone GPS Systems E-Readers Feature Phones Low-End Digital Cameras DVD Players Recordable CDs and DVDs Video Game ConsolesHere’s my opinion...

Leonard writes: I would like a manual for Windows 7, where can I find one?Now before any of you say, "it’s in the Help and Support section of Windows 7", this is true – but that assumes Leonard actually has Windows 7, which he may not. Some people would prefer to download a detailed manual before buying a license of Win7 or buying a new...

Most people believe email started with the BBS in 1978, but seven years before than in October 1971, Ray Tomlinson developed SNDMSG ("Send Message") that allowed a message to be sent from one computer to another. He’s also responsible for the @ in an email address because he believed it created a sense of place. The Good I still to this day get a...

In this, the first edition of reader mail, I cover a question asked by Steve, and it’s a doozy because it’s very "involved", as they say. Hey Rich, you got some great stuff. My question is this. I use to have outlook express for my email. I just got a new cpu w/windows 7 and now they want me to use Windows Live for my email. I have not (as...

While assuming is never a good thing (how often have you heard "Assume makes an ass-out-of-u-and-me"?), there are certain things I can safely assume the PCMech audience knows without having to overly explain it. For example, if I say "USB device", you know that’s a piece of hardware that plugs into a USB port, and furthermore you know...

The death of Steve Jobs this week has brought about a ton of stories about the life and times of the man in the technology industry. Apple as a company brought about several game-changer products including iPod, iPad and iPhone, but before all the i’s, the one that started it all was the Macintosh. Now granted, the preceding Apple II line of computers was...

Back in the 1980s, hard drives were prohibitively expensive, so electronics companies (particularly the ones that made computers) had to find ways for people to store data without spending the price of a small car. The answer was floppy diskettes and compact cassette. The most popular example of data on compact cassette was the once-ubiquitous Commodore 1530...

The job interview. Exciting, but stressful. Actually, nerve-wracking would be a better descriptor. Interviewing for an IT position is pretty much the same as any other office-type job you’d apply for with the following exception: Human Resources knows nothing about computers. The people in HR have never understood computers, nor will they ever. They are...

The Tampa Bay Area of Florida (where PCMech is based and where I reside) is recognized as "Lightning Capital Of North America", because we get more cloud-to-ground bolts than anywhere else on this continent. What I’m about to tell you is an extreme example of the situation that even if you have all the electrical protection you can get,...