by David Hakala
It seems every form of Internet access is “high speed” or “broadband” these days. But you have to wonder exactly what “high speed” means and who really has it.
“High speed” and “broadband” are used interchangeably. “Broadband” refers to the range, or band, of signal frequencies on which an Internet signal operates. The broader the band is, the more data traffic it can carry. Think of an 8-lane highway versus a 2-lane residential street.
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by David Hakala
Buying a car is exciting, traumatic, tedious, tempting. It’s also easier than ever before thanks to the many tools available on the Web. You can find the car of your dreams; make sure it isn’t a nightmare; learn what it’s really worth; and even insure it all online.
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by David Hakala
The video adapter that came with your computer may be just fine for ordinary routine tasks: email, Web browsing, a little business or personal writing, etc. But if you play games or watch high definition videos on your computer, you will want better performance than most factory-installed video adapters provide. When shopping for a video adapter card, follow these guidelines.
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by David Hakala
Thousands of laptop computers are stolen each year. It’s not uncommon for a brazen thief to simply snatch a laptop right out from under the nose of its owner in a coffee shop and run out the door. So it’s not surprising that many anti-theft solutions have been developed for laptops.
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by Gabe Goldberg
Generational difference exist in attitudes about libraries and librarians. My school-years experience visiting the library for research and asking librarians for reference help is likely less common in the age of available-everywhere Google for searching and Wikipedia for research. So today’s youngsters may miss out on a treat, since it’s hard for solitary PC keyboard tapping to replace the friendly neighborhood librarian.
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by David Hakala
A scanner is a handy device for getting graphic and text information into digital forms that your computer can use. Scanners come in many different forms with different features. Choosing the right one for you depends on your needs.
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by Tina Gasperson
What’s a command prompt? You may be asking yourself that, especially if you’re fairly new to computing. Those of us old enough to remember a time before Windows and mousepads know that entering commands using the keyboard can be an effective method when it comes to getting stuff done on the computer. Even though “point and click” is the name of the game now, your Windows XP system still has a command prompt and you can still use it.
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by Gabe Goldberg
We’re all burdened by needing too many passwords to access our multitude of shopping Web sites, banking and financial tools, work computers and networks, social media resources (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter), etc. And by the time we listen to all the elaborate, boring — but necessary though often contradictory — advice for creating passwords, it becomes too challenging. So it’s tempting to just use our street, child’s name, or ZIP Code for everything.
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by David Hakala
Conscientious power management is a good idea whether your computer runs off line power or its battery. Avoiding unnecessary power consumption is good for your computer’s life span, the environment, and your wallet. Two ways in which Windows XP helps you conserve power are standby and hibernation modes.
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