Few things are as important in personal computer security than choosing a good password. A weak password can have ramifications from the merely annoying (it seems that every week one of my Facebook friends gets their account hacked) to very bad (such as when your bank accounts get hacked). Using the same password for all… Continue reading Choosing a good password
Category: Tech
Computer Utility: CCleaner
It’s generally acknowledged that Windows slows down with time: as you install and uninstall programs, crap gets left behind on the hard drive and in the registry that can make your computer act like molasses on a cold day. In the old days, pros recommended that every few months you simply reinstall Windows to solve… Continue reading Computer Utility: CCleaner
Computer/Photo Utility: GeoSetter
This piece of software is a two-fer: it’s a computer utility for photographers! Most people these days know that you can “geotag” pictures; that is, add the precise location of where a picture is taken to its EXIF metadata, allowing you to see it on maps, Google Earth, etc. Unfortunately, unless you have a very… Continue reading Computer/Photo Utility: GeoSetter
The end of a (foolish) era
Today, Time Warner announced that they would be spinning off AOL into a separate company, undoing the grand AOL-Time Warner merger of 2001, a business decision that is destined to go down as one of the worst decisions of all time. There are many symbols of the dot-com boom and bust — Pets.com, eToys, computers… Continue reading The end of a (foolish) era
Computer Utility: SyncBack Freeware
If you have more than one computer, laptop, or external hard drive, and you want to keep files synchronized between them, one of the best tools out there is SyncBack Freeware. This free utility allows you to set up multiple syncing rules between different drives and network locations, such as full two-way synchronization, pushing data… Continue reading Computer Utility: SyncBack Freeware
Computer Utility: Firebug
Firebug isn’t a computer utility per se; it’s an add-on to the Firefox browser. If you do any web development work, such as working with CSS and JavaScript, Firebug is indispensible. I’m a CSS noob, and it is incredibly useful for seeing how CSS works, especially fun things like inheritance. Of course, it goes without… Continue reading Computer Utility: Firebug
Computer Utility: TreeSize Free
Hard drives are huge these days (I have a couple drives in my computer with a total of over 1 TB of space), but that doesn’t mean that it is infinite. More important, having lots of stuff on your hard drive can slow down your computer and make some tasks, like defragmenting, take much more… Continue reading Computer Utility: TreeSize Free
Useful Computer Utilities: Password Safe
As a tech person, I use a lot of software utilities. Some of them are esoteric programs that do one thing and few people would care about, but others are so great and generally useful I think everybody should have them. Through the magic of this blog, now I can share my experiences and suggestions.… Continue reading Useful Computer Utilities: Password Safe
Windows 7
Windows 7 Release Candidate came out this week. Although I haven’t yet tried it out, I did try out the Windows 7 beta a while back (both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions). It looks like a pretty decent OS, but when the bar you are trying to leap over is Vista, that’s not saying much