Tips and Tricks
Facebook Security Tip!
Nov 16th
If you use Facebook, you will want to read this. If you look at a normal URL it may look something like this:
http://www.somesite.com.
When you browse on a secure connection to a website it will look something like this:
https://www.somesite.com.
Notice the addition of the ‘s’ on the second URL. The ‘s’ means that you are connected to the website through a secure connection. Connecting through https rather than http makes it much harder for someone to steal information being transmitted to and from your computer and the website. So what does this have to do with Facebook?
Facebook has a security More >
Holiday Shopping Tips
Dec 9th
The holidays are here and shoppers are out (and in) in full force. It seems as the years go by, online shopping is becoming the ideal way to get your loved ones, and yourself, gifts for the holidays. Cyber-Monday is growing every year with deals getting better than those offered on black Friday. Retailers are offering deals online that you just can’t get in the stores.
I still go out on black Friday, but it is more of a nostalgic thing. I like to watch people go crazy and reminisce about the good old days when shoppers would trample each other More >
Have You Changed Your Router Password?
Sep 13th
Your router is an important part of your connection to the online world. It gives you a level of protection from the outside world. It distributes the internet to all the computers in your house. But it can also be a major security risk.
All routers come with default passwords. I know this, you know this, and hackers know this. Hackers get lists (which are freely available online) of all the default usernames and passwords for routers. From Linksys to D-Link to Belkin and everything in between. If you have not changed the default credentials, it is very easy for someone More >
Backing Up Your Valuable Information
Jun 22nd
I want you to think about the information you have on your computer. Think about your hundreds of family photos, the music that you paid for, your bills, your legal documents, business secrets and strategies, etc. Now I want you to imagine that you came home one day to find that your hard drive melted itself–its broken and unrecoverable. Is your stomach starting to turn? Are you getting nervous about losing all of the data on your computer?
The fact of the matter is, if you care about any of the information that you have on your computer(s), BACK IT UP!
It More >
Choosing and buying a new computer
May 17th
Everyone will have to buy a computer sooner or later. That is the nature of technology…it keeps improving and gets outdated quickly; not to mention having to buy a new computer because your old one just flat out breaks with no warning. The chances of any one person having to buy a new computer in the next 3 years is very likely.
I have had many people ask me what kind of computer they should buy. There is no simple answer to that question, but I have put together some guidelines to make sure you are getting all the essentials that More >
Getting rid of your old computer - The Right Way
May 3rd
It seems like over the years we have to buy new computers to keep up with the changing technology in our world. It’s actually quite nice to always have a new machine; the problem with getting a new computer is that you have to figure out what to do with the old one. If you are like me, then you end up with old computers in your basement just taking up space.
Should you just throw it away? No! There are actually a few general laws that state that you shouldn’t just throw out your old electronics because they can be More >
What’s the deal with Microsoft Updates?
Apr 12th
Every week I get a message from Microsoft that pops up next to my clock . It says that updates are ready for my computer. Mostly this message is just annoying and I click the ‘X’ to get rid of it. I don’t have time to do whatever Microsoft wants, in fact I don’t want to have anything to do with Microsoft. Have you found yourself having the same thinking process?
Well, let me put this in perspective. Yes Microsoft can be overbearing sometimes and we don’t have to do half of the things they want us to do, but updates More >
One Printer for All Computers!
Apr 6th
Problem: Each time I want to print from my laptop, I have to unplug my printer from my computer and plug it into my laptop.
Problem: I only have one printer and two computers. It would be so nice to be able to print from both of my computers.
Solution: Use the steps below for using only one printer to print from all the computers in your house.
I’m going to walk you through the steps necessary to be able to print from all the computers in your house to a single printer.
Before I begin, you must meet a few prerequisites to be able to More >
Help! My printer won’t print!
Mar 23rd
I can remember when I was in school having a large report due the next day that I had hardly worked on. It is one of those times that I stayed up all night getting it typed up. I decided to sleep for an hour and then wake up, print it out, and be to school on time to turn it in.
I woke up a little before class and went to print my report. To my surprise, the report would not print! Something was wrong with the printer!
I know you all have had similar experiences when you needed something printed More >
Help! My Internet Stopped Working!
Mar 17th
One of the most annoying problems you could have with your computer is that the internet stops working. All we ever want to do is just check our email and get some work taken care of. Let’s get straight to the point. It is a rather simple problem; there are a few steps you should take to fix the problem or find out who you need to talk to.
- Restart your computer. If some glitch happened (not uncommon with computers!), restarting your computer should fix it.
- Check your firewall. Sometimes your internet can get blocked in your firewall.
- The easiest way to check the More >