Jul 24

Today's Featured Post

Thursday

Windows Vista may have improved in the last year, but there is no doubt that the latest Microsoft operating system suffers from the initial problems with it’s launch. And, for many, those problems persist. For one reason or the other, Windows Vista still manages to annoy many. Some like it. Others wish they could go back to XP.

Read More

Fire Your Computer Guy!

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.

Jul 24

A Small Example Of What Lightning Can Do

By Rich Menga | comments(2)

I can guarantee that most long-time computer users that read PCMech have a lightning story or two (or more). If you’ve used computers long enough you will inevitably get something zapped. For example, years ago dial-up modems would commonly get zapped - thru the phone cable. Enough of a charge would travel across the wire [...]

Jul 24

“Free Program” Update Notifier

By Jason Faulkner | comments(0)

Everyone likes free programs. Odds are you are probably running at least one on your computer right now. If so, keeping many of them on the latest version requires you to occasionally go check each application’s web site for an update or you can use my earlier tip of subscribing to the RSS feed. Well [...]

Jul 24

Day 18: Understanding Internet Advertising

By David Risley | comments(0)

Buying advertising online is certainly a pretty guaranteed way to build up not only traffic on the Internet, but also your brand. And many times, building brand awareness is every bit as valuable as building raw traffic numbers to your website.
If you’re going to explore the area of advertising, though, you need to be aware [...]

Jul 23

Links to Reviews for July 20-23

By Sara | comments(0)

GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 Motherboard
“…They’ve brought us features like Dynamic Energy Saver, complete solid state computing, and some of the most consistent extreme overclocking to date. These kinds of features have culminated in to two recent Best Choice Awards at Computex 2008 for the GA-EP45-DQ6 and GA-EP45-DS5 Motherboards. All of that and more have been combined once [...]

Jul 23

How-To: You @ YourDomain.com E-Mail For $15 A Year

By Rich Menga | comments(0)

In this tutorial I will instruct you how to get a you@your_domain.com e-mail address for $15 a year. There are no catches, no strings attached, no nonsense. You can get reliable domain-style e-mail this cheap and you don’t even need a web host.
The steps below will instruct you how to do this.
Please Login or [...]

Jul 23

Protecting Yourself From Flash Exploits

By Jason Faulkner | comments(1)

Flash (in my opinion the worst thing that has happened to the Internet, but that is a subject for another day) is now another vehicle for malicious software attacks. According to this article (which is highly technical) by merely visiting an site which has an infected Flash banner ad you are subject to an exploit. [...]

Jul 23

Windows Desktop Search (Windows XP)

By Rich Menga | comments(0)

Microsoft recently released version 4 of Windows Desktop Search so I decided to check it out. If you’d like to check it out for yourself, launch Internet Explorer, head over to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com, do a "Custom" (instead of "Express") install and you’ll see the option to download it there. It’s free.
WDS installs itself in the taskbar [...]

Jul 23

Adobe Air And What It Can Do For You

By David Risley | comments(1)

We all love some of the internet-based applications that are out there and what they can do for you. But, what if those kinds of applications could be moved to your computer? That is what Adobe Air does.
In this 101-level article, I’m going to talk about what Adobe Air is and why you might [...]

Feel Like a Turtle When It Comes to Today's Tech?

Our silver and gold membership programs provide the premium information you need to strap a rocket on and fly. Premium content, exclusive members-only newsletter, no advertising, offline access, and more. Get the Inside Scoop.

Jul 23

SlyDial Lets You Be A Coward

By Rich Menga | comments(2)

I read up on InformationWeek there’s a new service out there called SlyDial. There is no web site for this; it’s just a phone number. What happens is that if you want to call someone but don’t want to talk to them and go directly to voicemail, SlyDial is it. Just punch in (276)SLY-DIAL [...]

Jul 22

Day 17: 4 Goldmine Markets For the Internet

By David Risley | comments(0)

It is the goal of anyone seeking to make money on the Internet to find a good market. Some markets are better than others. Some markets have people who are more willing to buy things than others. Some markets have more demand than others.
The goal is to find a market which has enough demand and [...]

Jul 22

LCD Monitor Troubleshooting 101

By Rich Menga | comments(4)

It’s a safe assumption that the vast majority of computer users today use LCD monitors. It is in fact a very reliable technology and it’s not often that you hear of one breaking. But being that it’s an electronic device, yes it will eventually fail.
How long does it take before an LCD fails completely?
Usually [...]

Jul 22

Intel Cuts Prices on Core 2 Duos

By Rich Menga | comments(1)

Gearlog reports that over the weekend Intel adjusted prices for Core 2 Duo processors. This is indicative that newer/faster procs are right around the corner, however, the fact you can get a 3.16GHz for 31% less now ($183) is a sweet deal, and it will stay current for several years.
If you were looking to [...]

Jul 22

MobileMe Users Deal With 4-Day E-Mail Outage

By Rich Menga | comments(0)

ComputerWorld reports that MobileMe users (Apple’s replacement to .Mac) were quite upset due to the fact the e-mail service had a four-day outage. In the world of e-mail, days can seem like years and this is especially true for mobile users who send tons of e-mail.
To the best of my knowledge I have never known [...]

Jul 22

What If You Still Want An XP Machine?

By Jason Faulkner | comments(2)

You probably already know the story by now. According to Microsoft’s sales policy, as of June 30, 2008 you can no longer (easily at least) purchase a new computer preloaded with Windows XP. Whether or not you like or agree with this and regardless of anyone’s opinion of Windows Vista, this is just the way [...]

Jul 22

Ideas For Quieting Your Computer

By Jason Faulkner | comments(1)

If your computer is running a little bit louder than what you would like, then here are some good tips for reducing some of the noise. I really found this article interesting because the author didn’t focus on parts you would need to buy/upgrade, but instead covers several completely free and relatively painless steps you [...]

Jul 21

21 Windows Apps - 7-Zip

By Rich Menga | comments(5)

7-Zip is a file archiving application. Remember WinZIP or PKZIP? Think of 7-Zip like that.
This app is not pretty but it sure is easy. In fact, it’s so easy that it sometimes confuses people. When you install it, all you have to do to create a ZIP or 7z file is just right-click a file, [...]

Feel Like a Turtle When It Comes to Today's Tech?

Jul 21

Day 16: Generating Traffic To Your Website

By David Risley | comments(0)

Any method of making money online requires traffic. You need to have traffic. The more traffic that you have to your website, the larger will be your ability to make money online.
So, the question is: how do you get traffic?
And that is the age-old question. Several of the past days in this series have touched [...]

Jul 21

Services You Can Safely Disable (Windows XP)

By Rich Menga | comments(3)

If you run an older computer there are certain services you can safely disable in Windows XP. This won’t make your computer blazingly faster by any means but it will gain you a "few extra horsepower", so to speak.
To access your running services:

Go to Control Panel.
Double-click the Administrative Tools icon.
Double-click the Services icon.

This will bring [...]

Jul 21

Must-Have WebCam App For Linux Users: Cheese

By Rich Menga | comments(2)

As anyone who has ever tried to plug in a webcam to Linux knows (including yours truly), it’s a pain in the butt.
However I came across an article written about an app called Cheese.
In short: Cheese is cool. It’s easy to get (especially for Ubuntu users), easy to run, has Flickr support and F-Spot [...]

Jul 21

How To Extend Battery Life on the iPhone

By David Risley | comments(8)

The Iphone is the cool gadget of the times. And proof of that is that when I wanted to go look at (buy ) one recently I found that both Tampa Apple stores and all local AT&T stores were out of the Iphone 3G. Damn.
But, the device is not without issues and one [...]

Jul 21

"Net-Top" Computer May Be Reality Very Soon

By Rich Menga | comments(6)

A recent report by the New York Times states that PC makers are shaking in their boots because other manufacturers (like Asus) have proven that yes, you can deliver a usable low-cost low-power notebook to the market that people will actually buy (like the EeePC).
Right now is not a good time for PC makers [...]

Jul 21

A Powerful (And Free) Wave Editor

By Jason Faulkner | comments(0)

Not too long ago I wrote about a fantastic wave editing program, Goldwave. While this is a great choice, if completely free is the route you prefer to go then check out Wavosaur.
Wavosaur is a small self contained application (doesn’t require any installation) which boasts some impressive features including VST plugins. Outside of music editing, [...]