Archive for June, 2008

What is a Computer Virus?

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

The mysterious computer virus. Does it really mean the computer has caught a cold? Should we prescribe it some medicine? Take it to the family doctor? :wink: What are computer viruses, and how do they spread? Today we are going to look into these common questions and shed light on their answers. (more…)

Channel Surfing the Web with StumbleUpon

Monday, June 16th, 2008

StumbleUpon is a cool service that allows you to “Channel Surf” webpages on the world wide web. Not only is this a great time killer, but you can actually find some pretty interesting stuff that you otherwise would never have found. With the click of a button, you can be taken to a random webpage from a niche within your interests. (more…)

Request Blog Topics Here

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

It is now time to open up the floor to the audience - do you have any suggestions? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Critiques? Complaints? Encouragement? (more…)

Power Saving Modes - Standby Vs. Hibernate Vs. Sleep

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

Power saving features have existed in computers for donkeys’ years. With the current trend of “going green,” the newest generation of Operating Systems have provided users nice options when it comes to saving electricity. A lot of computer users are switching to laptops as well, which run on batteries if not plugged into a power source. This is even more motivation for Operating Systems to offer great power saving features. In this article we will look closely at the power saving features built into Windows XP and Windows Vista. Particularly, we will be discussing the differences between Standby Mode, Hibernate Mode, and Sleep Mode. (more…)

What the Heck Is “YouTube” Anyways?

Friday, June 13th, 2008

YouTube is an immensely popular video sharing website owned by Google. Anyone can visit YouTube and view an estimated 85 billion video clips! Registered users can easily upload and share their videos freely with the rest of the world. (more…)

Computer Shutting Down By Itself? Could Be Overheating!

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

Heat is a leading cause of damage to computer hardware. Computers produce a massive amount of heat during normal operation. The heat is dissipated using a variety of strategies, including heat sinks and fans. This allows the computer to work at a safe operating temperature. If computers overheat, they are prone to random restarts and shut downs. In the worst case scenario, an overheated computer will simply operate until the CPU is destroyed. At that time, its bye bye computer. Lets take a look at the most common reasons for a computer to overheat, and some strategies to help prevent a disaster (more…)

Disk Defragmentation Explained

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

I receive many questions about the mysterious Disk Defragmenter utility. People want to know why it’s necessary, and how it works. It is common knowledge that running the disk defragmenter will make the computer faster. But aside from that fact, defragmentation seems like a foreign word to the non-geek. Today we will dig deeper into the process of hard disk defragmentation, and hopefully answer some common questions about this alien concept. (more…)

What Is RSS?

Monday, June 9th, 2008

What Does RSS Stand For?
RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication

RSS LogoWhat Is RSS Used For?
RSS is used to “feed” or “channel” out information from a publisher (A Website) to a subscriber (A regular visitor to that website). Frequently updated websites such as blogs, news headlines, weather forecasting, etc. typically utilize RSS to broadcast their content to any subscriber that is listening. Confused? Read the next paragraph

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