Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle
[PREMIUM]- So you’ve got a laptop, really love it and don’t want to let it go. It’s still fairly new but just out of warranty and the LCD monitor on the monitor is busted. You’ve either got a flickering screen, solid-colored horizontal or vertical lines or “blocks” of colors, however when you output the laptop to a regular monitor you know the computer is still working.
Can you fix this yourself?
Yes. Read More
Literally defined, a "killer application" a.k.a. a "killer app" is software that is revolutionary and popular (must be both).
In layman’s terms, a killer app is the software giving you the reason to use a computer (or possibly a specific computer) in the first place.
The history of killer apps basically have two generations, that being pre-internet [...]
If you are trying to track down a specific process you think might be hogging your CPU power, rather than doing isolated ‘unit testing’, simply use Process Explorer to track down the culprit.
The steps are simple:
Open Process Explorer.
Locate the suspect process in the list and double-click it.
In the properties dialog, go to the ‘Performance Graph’ [...]
In the past I have posted links to several older/classic games which you can either download or play online, so today I am going to do the same with one exception: the game I am linking to is the open source version of the greatest game ever made, Civilization (this isn’t opinion… it’s a fact [...]
I don’t like Google Docs. I don’t like Microsoft Office Live either. But I do like OpenOffice. A lot. Wondering if there was any means of using the OO suite online, I did some searching and found that yes, there is a way. It’s done thru Ulteo’s web site.
After signing up for a free account [...]
Very impressive are the reports I am seeing across the Internet about the percentages of users who are now using Google Chrome. Techcrunch, for example, reports 6.23% usage on their site.
So, I thought I’d check for PCMech.com. I went into Analytics, set the report to be from this last Tuesday (since that’s when Chrome was [...]
Giving credit where credit is due, the GOOG updated their Terms of Service for the Chrome browser. Section 11 now reads:
11. Content license from you 11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.
For [...]
To those using the Technical Preview version of Windows Live Writer (such as yours truly), you probably noticed a 30-day expiration notice.
The WLW team has stated this is a false expiration. You can continue on using the Tech Preview version just by clicking "Ask Me Later" and not worrying about it.
I’m glad this is [...]
There will be times when you have to call customer service, a.k.a. customer support a.k.a. the help desk.
If you are educated on how call center environments operate you will get better results.
Let’s start off with this:
The Big Question: Does asking for the manager really help?
NO. Speaking to a "higher level" will rarely get your issue [...]
The Hacker's Nightmare gives you everything you need to know to protect your machine, in plain-English. Too important to make it complicated! Find Out More.
If you print often, most likely you encounter the ‘useless page’ (the page with 2 lines at the end, a banner ad, etc.) quite frequently. These pages are a waste of ink and, more importantly, paper (trees). To help alleviate this problem, give GreenPrint a look.
GreenPrint’s approach is simple: it intelligently determines which pages are [...]
One of the things about being a geek is that we like finding odd ways to use existing technology. Google Docs has been around for a little while now and I am a fairly avid user. Part of the Google suite I don’t use much, though, is Spreadsheets. But, what uses might there be [...]
By default when you use the OpenOffice Writer application it does not have page numbering enabled (much like all other word processor applications). To enable it only takes a few clicks for some footer configuration and inserting the appropriate field. It sounds confusing but it’s actually very simple to do.
Please Login or Register to [...]
I used to be a big fan of the Azureus BitTorrent client. Unfortunately, since it was rebranded to Vuze and became a BitTorrent client/media player/digital library/web browser/OS (exaggeration to prove a point) I’ve ditched it in favor of a more lightweight and a “does one thing well” approach BitTorrent client: BitTornado.
BitTornado is a minimal, yet [...]
Everybody has been talking about Google Chrome this week. First they announce using a comic book on Labor Day (slow news day), then they launch yesterday and it seemed everybody and their family was giving it a try. Some have gone so far as to make it their new default browser. Some even uninstalled [...]
Google Chrome is a web browser very recently released by Google. While Dave concentrated more on the “guts” of the browser, I concentrated more on its usability. What I discovered is that while Gmail and Yahoo! Mail work, the full version of Hotmail does not. The bookmark import from Firefox on initial install didn’t work. [...]
So you want to create your own forum. You’ve seen others (maybe the PCMech forums?) and thought “Hey that’s a good idea, I could use one of those.” After doing some quick research you probably found out that setting one up is a huge pain in the rump.
Not to worry, here’s the 101 on how [...]
Like everybody else in the world of early adopters of new technology, I downloaded and installed the new web browser: Google Chrome. Yes, while Google is the chief backer of Mozilla Firefox, they have decided to branch out and create their own web browser. It is available as of today for Windows only.
A computer technician spills the beans and makes available the knowledge he has charged clients hundreds in service fees for. It is Computer Secrets Unleashed. Find Out More.
The search engine Google has a ton of different operators you can use to find stuff faster and easier. I will say up front that only the very few have all of them committed to memory (and if you do, you use Google way too much). No, you don’t have to know all [...]
One of the new features added to Internet Explorer 7 was a built in RSS reader. This functionality is great for simply subscribing to and reading feeds without the need for an additional program. If you make use of IE7’s built in feed reader, then you should take a look at the RikReader add-on.
From their [...]
If one were to ask me what I believe are most innovate computer inventions, USB is definitely one of them. The reason is because USB is the Swiss Army knife in the computer world. It can basically do just about anything. USB can transfer data, audio, video, access storage (i.e. flash memory), access power, be [...]
One of the most exciting things you will ever read in the world of technology is a keyboard review. I was, however, super interested because my Microsoft keyboard failed - yet again. What to replace it with? And this time, no Microsoft crap.
SkyDrive is a Windows Live service that offers a free 5GB of online storage. If you have a Hotmail, MSN or Live account you can access this right now. If not it’s free to sign up for it.
This is one of the few Live services I haven’t used so I tried it out to see [...]
A freeware utility called Rename Master is all you need to mass-rename any type of file you want to in Windows XP or Vista. While it’s true you can mass-rename file extensions from the command line in Windows, it’s not so easy to touch a specific part of a filename. But with Rename Master you [...]
Getting Started with Ubuntu Linux
2 DVD Course To Get Even The Beginner Going with Ubuntu Linux.
September 3, 2008
How-To: Mass Rename Files in Windows XP/Vista
September 1, 2008
PCMech was founded by David Risley. David continues to operate the site today. David is assisted by Rich Menga, who does our videos and is a regular writer as well. More Info on our About Page.
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9/3/08: Chrome, Twitter and Picasa 3.0 [3:17m]: 
