Above is a screenshot (with a fancy perspective effect applied via GIMP) showing what my Firefox 18.0.2 ordinarily uses with just a few tabs open. And no, I do not run a ton of add-ons, nor do I use any custom themes or anything like that. Firefox, put simply, is a pig on memory and ...…
For those not aware, Dave has a Twitter account (@davidrisley) as do I (@richmenga). Dave has been using his regularly for a long time, and I just recently got back into using it. Small note before continuing: No, you do not have to use your real name to use Twitter. Dave and I do just ...…
It should be no secret by now that most of us don’t really have a great deal of control over how our personal information is used online. Privacy law where the Internet is concerned has lagged horrendously behind, as the Snail’s pace of lawmaking tries desperately to keep up with the breakneck speed of technological ...…
If one was to say that the Internet has become a vital aspect of our society – that it’s virtually impossible for most of us to live without it – I don’t think they’d find many who’d argue with them. The degree to which Internet use has been normalized, the extent to which its penetrated ...…
In 2012 I bought a Crucial CT256M4SSD2 SSD direct from Crucial.com. Why direct? As it turns out, they had the best price, and their hardware-matcher ensured the SSD was 100% compatible with the laptop I installed it into. If you’re thinking about SSD, I do honestly recommend heading over to www.crucial.com and taking a look. ...…
Something that’s been around for quite a long time in Windows was (yes, was) the ability to record the “Stereo Mix”. Sometimes, this is labeled in the mixer as “What You Hear”. You’ll notice in newer laptops with Windows that this feature is conveniently absent and that it is very difficult (usually with some registry ...…
One of the most often-complimented things I wrote about back when I was posting daily articles for the main PCMech site was “Retro Friday”. Well, this is one of those because there are a ton of you who have an older computer (probably in the closet or the basement) that you’d like to use again, ...…
This is something that mainly happens only on laptops and not PCs with Windows 7, although there is the slight possibility it may also happen on a PC, depending on the way it’s configured. For certain applications (as in programs) you launch, Windows 7 may suddenly and without warning decrease the volume by as much ...…
Some rather disturbing news from Google yesterday- evidently, governments across the world have been requesting more data from the search giant with greater regularity. Since 2009, user data requests of every type have increased by 70%. As reported by Google in its biannual “transparency report,” the organization has received somewhere around 21,389 information requests for ...…
Windows 8 seems to follow the tried and true “Microsoft Pattern” wherein Microsoft releases an operating system all their users love; followed by an OS all their users love to hate. Three guesses as to which camp 8 fits in. The thing is, it’s not a terrible operating system – it’s just so wildly different ...…
In the last article I wrote, I mentioned the Lenovo ThinkPad that happens to house a third-generation Intel Core i5 processor, that being the i5-3210M, with the “M” meaning “mobile”. Mobile processors aren’t the same as desktop CPUs because they’re designed in a way so that they don’t blast out as much heat when inside ...…
If you’re in the market for a new laptop right now and aren’t sure what to get, I’ll make it really easy for you: Buy a laptop now, get it with Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, and make sure it’s a 14-inch or 15.6-inch screen. Now I’m going to tell you a few things that’s going ...…
