January 27, 2011
When you format a hard drive or a flash drive, you prepare it for its use as a storage medium by an operating system. During this process a file system is set up and all information previously stored on the drive is removed. You may have heard of computer file systems like FAT or NTFS [...]
Keep Reading »
January 21, 2011
Ah, copy protection. This technology, also known as Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a necessary but often overdone part of our digital world. In theory, DVD or CD copy protection software is a tool that protects the content creators from losing sales to piracy. In reality, it’s a sometimes obtrusive technique that can alienate customers. [...]
Keep Reading »
January 13, 2011
WiFi is a catch-all term. In a sense, it is very precise as it explains a specific method used to connect to the Internet. Upon closer inspection however, it becomes clear that the term isn’t helpful if you’re trying to troubleshoot WiFi problems. There are a lot of different types of WiFi standards used by [...]
Keep Reading »
December 30, 2010
When you type in a website URL in your web browser, such as www.makeuseof.com, a number of technologies are at work behind the scenes to bring the webpage up on your screen. For a general overview of what happens when you visit a website, check out this infographic on how the Internet works. But today, [...]
Keep Reading »
December 29, 2010
Part of the appeal of Ubuntu is its six-month release cycle. Every six months a new version of the free operating system is released into the wild, complete with updates for all of your favorite software. This is great, but can be a trifle disappointing from time to time. For example, if a new version of [...]
Keep Reading »
November 29, 2010
The forthcoming HTML5 update to the 20 year old HyperText Markup Language promises to bring the “web” experience to a whole new level, allowing the browser to do more from both a visual and data perspective. Even though HTML5 is still a good distance away from being fully deployed, that hasn’t stopped many developers from [...]
Keep Reading »
November 19, 2010
If you’ve thought about buying an Intel processor lately – or a computer with an Intel processor installed – you may have heard the term “Hyper-Threading” launched at your eardrums. You probably aren’t familiar with this term unless you stay up-to-date with the nitty-gritty of computer hardware. Understanding Hyper-Threading is important, however, because it’s a major [...]
Keep Reading »
November 16, 2010
FTP and SSH are both network protocols that run on top of the TCP/IP layer, just like HTTP. In plain English, it’s a certain way for devices to communicate with each other over a network. Different ways of communication are used in different circumstances. There are different uses and different strengths. But exactly how SSH [...]
Keep Reading »
October 29, 2010
Today’s market for monitors is, at a glance, simple. Everyone has settled on LCD displays as the technology of choice, and most displays have roughly the same appearance. As Tina recently explained, however, things become more complex once you start looking at the details. In fact, even after you’ve considered contrast, connections, display resolutions and [...]
Keep Reading »
September 30, 2010
Most computer users don’t spend much time thinking about their computer cases. That’s not the cool part – it’s the awesome hardware inside that most geeks dream about. Even so, your computer’s case is very important. If you’re thinking about building a new computer, or upgrading an old one, your first thought shouldn’t be “what’s [...]
Keep Reading »
September 23, 2010
The graphics processor in your computer is an important part in your system’s overall performance. While the integrated graphics found in most computers are adequate for mundane tasks and some video you’ll need a dedicated video card if you want to play 3D games or watch HD video. Choosing a video card for a PC isn’t easy [...]
Keep Reading »
September 10, 2010
RAM, or Random Access Memory, is your computer’s short term memory. If your computer needs information and does not find the RAM, it then needs to journey to the hard drive to try and retrieve the data, which is far more time consuming. Many older computers that feel sluggish can be given new life if upgraded with [...]
Keep Reading »
August 23, 2010
What does the acronym API stand for? API means Application Programming Interface and they say that APIs are the underlying aspect of Web 2.0. But what does it really mean – what is an api? Let’s try to demystify the term a little. The word to really pay attention to is “Interface”. If you have [...]
Keep Reading »
July 15, 2010
Within the past 14 years, the Universal Serial Bus (USB) has become the standard interface to connect devices to a computer. Whether it’s an external hard drive, a camera, the mouse, a printer, or a scanner, the physical connection to transfer data between devices generally is a USB cable. The interface is indeed universal. USB [...]
Keep Reading »
July 13, 2010
If you have a home network, or you are thinking of setting up a home network, you’ve probably considered two solutions – wired and wireless. And unless you desperately want the fastest download speeds possible, or you don’t trust wireless security, you probably have settled on wireless as the solution. Wireless networking, with its encryption keys and [...]
Keep Reading »
