Computers serve many purposes, and can perform many functions. Mathematics and computers are very much related, so it’s no wonder that powerful PC’s can perform complex mathematical operations in an instant. The famous Windows Calculator has long been a handy tool. It is little-known that the basic functionality of the Windows Calculator can be extended into a fully-functioning scientific calculator. Lets see how to make this possible. (more…)

Before the days of the world wide web, the internet was accessible to a few select institutions; namely academia, corporate, and government. Sometime during the early 1980’s a lightbulb went off in the minds of the great technological forward-thinkers. They must have predicted that the entire world would one day be connected by a highspeed computer network. Could they have envisioned the world wide web evolving into what it is today? That is highly doubtful. Nontheless, they were smart enough to register the first .com domain names in existance; and well before their time. 2 notable names on this list are Hewlett-Packard and Xerox. Here is a list of the 10 oldest .com domain names in the world. These date back to the mid 1980’s, before the world wide web ever existed. (more…)

Everyone likes their computer setup just the way they like it. Customizing a computer is much deeper than simply changing the background and screensaver. One of the most important aspects of the computer that people like to setup is the default program list. By default programs, I am talking about the program that opens by default when you click on a certain type of file. For example when you click on a file ending in “.doc”, your computer automatically starts the Microsoft Word word processing program. This is because Microsoft Word is the default program for handling Microsoft Word files (.doc files). The bottom line here is that these default programs can be changed to whatever you desire. So what program should we set as default to open our pictures (files ending in “.jpg”)? I recommend the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer application. Often the default program for opening pictures will have been changed to god knows what. This usually means a big delay from the time you click on the picture to the time it actually is visible on the screen. Well today, we are going to learn how to set it back to the lightweight and easy-to-use Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. (more…)

A router is an electronic device used to connect 2 computer networks together. A router is typically used to provide shared access to the internet. This is very common in both homes and businesses which contain more than 1 computer. The idea is very similar to splitting a cable TV signal. Utilizing a cable splitter, all of the televisions in the home may watch different channels at the same time. Applying this idea to computer networks, a router will allow all computers in the house to independently connect to the internet at the same time. Cool eh? (more…)

This is another question that I hear all the time. Most computer beginners do not understand the concept of a zip file. Even intermediate computer users still don’t know how to properly handle zip files. I see people of all skill levels doing weird things with zip files. Things such as trying to access the data within the zip file without extracting. Or, saving the zip file itself when what they really want is the contents. It is clear that there is a lot of confusion regarding these special files. Help is on the way! Today we will do a lesson on the mysterious zip file. (more…)

Cell phone users beware. Receiving a text message (sms) on your cellular phone may just become a whole lot more expensive. Two of Canada’s telecommunication giants plan to bring in a new levy on incoming text messages effective in August. Both Bell and Telus are planning to impose the new fee, which many feel is absolutely unfair. Prior to this announcement, there has never been a fee to receive a text message on your phone. Customers have only ever been charged for outgoing messages. All incoming messages were free with Bell, Telus, and Rogers. So in the old system it would cost you to send, but it was free to receive. However, it looks like things will be changing very shortly as both Bell and Telus are implementing this new “cash grab.” (more…)

Microsoft Office has been a leading seller for over a decade in the department of office software. This software bundle includes the famous Microsoft Word word processor, powerful Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program, and the great Microsoft Powerpoint presentation suite; this is only to name a few. This software suite is very popular in industry. Many people have become fluent operators of these programs, and even list these skills on their resume! So why is this software suite so popular? To make a long story short, I will say this: Microsoft Office comes pre-installed with many new computers. The software comes bundled into the deal when your purchase a computer from Future Shop or MDG. Here is the problem with Microsoft Office though: It is extremely expensive; I have seen some professional versions selling in retail stores for upwards of $1000.00! So what about the rest of us who can’t afford that price tag? Our computers didn’t come pre-installed with Microsoft Office! Is there something we can do about it? That answer is YES. Simply go to paragraph 2 (more…)

Aww, the famous ball style rolling mouse. They’re easily characterised by the hard ball which rolls underneath the mouse. They have been around for donkeys’ years, and have since been replaced with the more reliable “optical” mouse (An optical mouse has no ball underneath; instead, there is a bright red “laser” light). However, they are still kicking around in millions of homes and businesses. The problem with this style of mouse is that they begin to fail when the internal rollers get dirty. By failing, I mean that the cursor on the screen will no longer move fluently when moving the mouse. The cursor may skip, jump, or stop altogether. Thankfully, there is a quick and easy way to clean this classic ball-style mouse. Today we are going to walk through the cleaning process, and hopefully save millions of mice from being chucked into the rubbish bin (more…)