Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
If you purchased a new PC with Windows 8 pre-installed or upgraded an existing computer to Windows 8 from a previous version, chances are you are unhappy with Microsoft’s new operating system. Well, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and the end of the tunnel is rapidly approaching.
I wrote a post a while back explaining how Windows 8.1 would eventually be released as a free upgrade to make Windows 8 work more like Windows 7. Thankfully, we now know when “eventually” will be. [Read more…]
A little over a year ago I wrote a tip explaining how to put your PC’s USB devices into overdrive by installing a USB 3.0 card. With a maximum data transfer rate of 5 Gbps and up to 1 amp of power available for attached devices, USB 3.0 was a vast improvement over the aging USB 2.0 specification.
Well, the specs for USB 3.1 have just been released, and once again the improvement is staggering. USB 3.1 will double 3.0’s maximum data transfer speed to 10 Gbps while maintaining backwards compatibility with legacy USB devices. [Read more…]
If it seems like you spend a lot of your “Internet time” using one or more of Google’s popular web services, you certainly aren’t alone. But if you’re like me you’ll be shocked to find out just how many others do the same.
According to a new study by the folks at Deepfield Analytics, Google properties such as Google Search, Gmail, Youtube, Google + and others now account for roughly 1/4 of all the traffic on the entire Internet! [Read more…]
One of the biggest criticisms of Google’s Chrome operating system has always been the fact that any device it runs on is pretty much useless without an Internet connection.
Well, that criticism has apparently been taken to heart by Google because they have released a great new app that lets you do a number of constructive things with your Chrome-based device even when you’re offline.
The new Chrome App Launcher adds something akin to a “Start Button” to the Chrome O.S. taskbar. Just click or tap it and up pops Chrome’s version of a “Start Menu” from which you can launch any of your installed web-based apps – without ever leaving the Desktop! [Read more…]
If you check out the tips I post on this blog on a regular basis, you surely know by now that I love telling my readers about all the great free software that’s out there to make our computing lives safer and more enjoyable. I love trying out new programs and apps and then sharing them with all of you if I find them to be beneficial in some way.
Whenever I recommend a piece of software, I always try my best to find a download site that offers an easily identifiable direct download link. Unfortunately, that task is becoming harder by the day as more and more sites begin sneaking other programs, apps and toolbars into the installer routine.
I call this unwanted software “sneakware” because they literally sneak these programs past unwary users and onto their computers while the software that you intentionally downloaded is being installed. [Read more…]