For the audiophile, FLAC, short for Free Lossless Audio Codec, is an absolute gift.  Since the codec is open source, software that will convert your CDs into this widely supported format is free and easy to find. Many popular music players, save a few large exceptions, such as iTunes, support FLAC natively.  Since FLACs are [...]

Telephones are nothing new. They have been around since the turn of the 20th century, providing us with connectivity and convenience.  Today, an average person can have a whole slew of phones and a different number for each. Maybe you have a mobile phone, home phone, and a work phone. This can lead to problems.  You [...]

Model railroading is a fun, rewarding hobby that takes a lot of patience and practice.  A good layout is both fulfilling to build and impressive to view.  Who doesn’t love a cool looking model railroad? There is more to model railroading than just building layouts.  Some people focus on making historically accurate models, while others [...]

Pranks are fun and rewarding.  They require creativity, planning, and execution, making them much more personal than another type of joke.  A good prank can take months or even years to plan, but these are usually on a large scale and take the effort of many people to execute. Unfortunately, we all do not have [...]

Take a moment and think about all of the sensitive data kept on your computer.  Account passwords, addresses, phone numbers, access to bank accounts and other financial services, and maybe even your social security number.  Almost every aspect of your identity is kept on this little machine.  Now imagine you want a new one.  So, [...]

Cigars, as anyone will tell you, are bad for you.  There is no question about that.  But there are plenty of guilty pleasures that people partake in that are bad for us.  Regardless of the health risks, there are millions of cigar smokers around the world who enjoy a nice stogie once in a while. [...]

Today, you can play games almost anywhere.  At home, you can whip out an Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, or even game on a PC.  On the go, you can be entertained by games on your phone or a hand held system.  But many years ago, such a luxury could not be imagined by [...]

Whether you are looking into building a new computer or just like to keep up with the latest in computer hardware, the internet provides a whole smörgÃ¥sbord of options when it comes to computer hardware reviews.  Here, you will see some of the better, more reliable sites on the internet. A few things must be [...]

The Atari 2600 is commonly hailed as the ultimate classic gaming console.  Its mere mention warms even the coldest soul.  People just seem to love what, today, looks so primitive.  But in its heyday, the Atari 2600 provided many a person with hours of 8-bit entertainment. The 2600 had the longest lifespan of any console [...]

Networks are finicky at best.  Wireless or Ethernet, almost everyone has had their share of network connection problems.  It could be anything from not being to access the Internet despite being connected to the network, to not being able to connect to the network at all. Unfortunately, network connection problems are sometimes hard to diagnose.  [...]

In the business world, everything is about standards.  Every industry has its own standard software that almost everyone uses for one reason or another.   For engineering and technical drafting, AutoCAD is that near universal software. AutoCAD is a very well rounded tool, attributing to its popularity.  For technical drawing and all that, it is the [...]

In our ever-modernizing age, things are constantly changing and being updated.  What the standard was yesterday may not necessarily still be the standard today.  All of these quick changes creates a market with tons and tons of options when it comes to every aspect of our lives. Music is no exception.  For years, MP3′s were [...]

So, you’ve been snooping around Atariage and Atarimania, and now, not surprisingly, you’re in love with the Atari 2600.  You love the games, the look, everything. Well, maybe you should take your new found devotion a step further and make a homebrew Atari 2600 game. You may be asking what a homebrew game is. Simply put, [...]

It’s the early eighties.  You and your friends are sitting around trying to figure out what to do on a boring night.  One of your friends gets up from the sofa, walks across the shag carpeted, wood-paneled room and into a closet.  The room gasps as he pulls out the wood textured, plastic modern marvel [...]