Latest Blog Posts & News
 Posted
Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
One might first think the Windows 7 calculator looks a lot like previous incarnations of the classic Windows calculator. However, in Windows 7, Microsoft added a myriad of new calculating features. You can switch to Scientific mode, Programmer mode or Statistics mode. You can also perform conversions and calculate time between dates. In addition to that, you can calculate fuel economy, vehicle lease payments and even your mortgage! The new Windows 7 calculator also includes a Calculation History area, so you can review your past calculations. Below is a link from Microsoft that explores all of the seemingly hidden options and explains their operation.
windows.microsoft.com
Posted
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Have you ever lost your iPhone? Had it stolen? Or, gasp, dropped it in the drink? Well, fortunately, Apple makes it easy to back up your data, beforehand, in preparation for such a calamity. This enables you to restore your lost data, once you have a replacement device in hand, of course. You just have to remember to perform your backup before an unforeseen mishap. So, do it soon, if you’ve not already. This can be achieved with either local storage on your computer, through iTunes, or on the web with iCloud. Below, is a link to an article provided by Apple Support that describes both of these processes in step-by-step detail.
support.apple.com
Posted
Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
With their last few releases of Firefox, Mozilla has tweaked the way Firefox’s toolbars are displayed by default. They did this to streamline the look of the application, but some folks still like to have their typical toolbars of past displayed. Luckily, Firefox allows you to show, hide, and customize your toolbars and the way in which they are viewed. Below is a link to an article from Mozilla that explains this process in detail.
support.mozilla.org
Posted
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Far too often these days, new computers don’t always come with Windows recovery discs. Some companies do still include them, but a lot require you to create your own. Or perhaps, you lost yours, or just want a backup copy, and would like to make another. Sometimes, if your computer’s operating system is already severely damaged, and you haven’t yet created a recovery disc, you might have to order a replacement disc directly from the manufacturer. All of these processes vary, depending on the manufacturer, so we’ve provided a link below to an article that describes how and what to do if you find yourself in this situation.
zdnet.com/blog
Posted
Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
With the release of Mac OS X Lion, Apple expanded on its Multi-Touch gestures feature. Gestures allow you to operate your machine’s functions with ease, just by touching the trackpad in certain different ways. Or, if you don’t have a built-in trackpad, you can also use Multi-Touch gestures with a Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse. While gestures appeared in previous versions of OS X, Lion now offers brand new gestures and improved, more realistic, gesture responses. Details on these new features and their use are highlighted in the article we’ve linked to below.
support.apple.com
Posted
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
Excel is a fantastic spreadsheet application brought to us by Microsoft as a part of their Office Suite. It is simple and easy to use, but also allows you to create some quite complex formulas for manipulating the data in your spreadsheet. That way, if you have a spreadsheet that needs to perform a lot of calculations, you can have the spreadsheet do all the hard work for you, instead of manually performing every single calculation yourself. These formulas can range from the simple to the not so simple. Below is a link to an article, provided by Microsoft, that explains this process in more detail.
office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/overview-of-formulas
Posted
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
WPS, or Wi-Fi Protected Setup, was introduced in 2007 and was originally designed to help users unfamiliar with wireless security more easily secure their wireless network’s router and access points. However, it was recently discovered in December 2011 that it is actually quite easy to break through this type of security configuration with what is known as a Brute Force Technique. In this technique, a computer program submits a series of randomly generated numbers until it finds a matching PIN code for the WPS. From there, a hacker could then obtain the password to your network, change its configuration, and even prevent you from accessing your own network. This technique is used in a variety of hacking attempts, but there are usually protocols in place to lock down access after so many failed attempts. Unfortunately, the designers of WPS failed to build in this protection, and hackers can try as many possible PINs as they want. Below is a link to an article that describes this discovery in more detail and offers advice on what do to better protect your network.
zdnet.com/blog/networking/wi-fi-protected-setup-is-busted
Posted
Thursday, December 29th, 2011 at 12:36 am
If you have an iPhone 4S, you’re most likely aware of your new personal assistant, Siri. Still though, a lot of folks are a little fuzzy on what it is and what it can do. This great feature utilizes fantastic voice recognition software that can perform a multitude of tasks, even when requesting them in a variety of ways. You can set an alarm by saying a specific time or even just by saying,”Please set an alarm for 19 minutes from now”. You can also set reminders, check the weather, find out when Paul Newman’s birthday is, find nearby gas stations, restaurants and more. You can even begin calls to specific contacts, or dictate and send them text messages. Also, if you add yourself as a contact, Siri will even call you by name. There are even hidden “Easter egg” functions still being discovered by users. For example, Siri will tell you jokes…even if at first it insists it doesn’t know any…
In light of there being far too much to cover here regarding Siri, we’ve included a couple links from Apple that further explain these features, and there’s also a Frequently Asked Questions page. Even if you think you’ll never actually use Siri, after playing around with it and seeing what it can do, you might just change your mind. If you don’t have an iPhone 4S, there are rumors that Apple plans to bring Siri to some of its other devices soon.
apple.com/iphone/features/siri
apple.com/iphone/features/siri-faq
Posted
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Google, the company that revolutionized the Internet, has been having great success with their Internet browser, Chrome. It has only been available for a short while and has already surged in usage, rivaling the two renowned contenders, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Chrome is sleek, fast and free. One of the features they offer is a search bar integrated into the address bar. This makes searching a breeze and it even offers predictions on what search terms or web address it thinks you are entering. To some, however, the prediction feature is more of an annoyance than a benefit. Thankfully, Chrome makes it very easy to enable and disable this feature. Below is a link from Google Chrome support that explains these simple steps in detail.
support.google.com/chrome
Posted
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
With their newest release of iTunes, Apple has included access to an exciting new service known as iCloud. This service allows you to have all purchases made through iTunes appear on all your configured devices. It also allows you to backup data from your devices to “the Cloud”. While many have heard of iCloud, a lot of users are unclear on how it all works. Below is a link to a video tutorial provided by Apple that explains the process in detail.
iTunes 10: iTunes in the Cloud
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