TechnologySpeak.com

In troubleshooting PC problems in Windows, you often have to copy text from message boxes that look like this:

If you try and highlight the text with the mouse, nothing happens.  But there’s a little known trick that works like a charm.  Simply, press Ctrl-C.  It will copy the Window title, message text and button labels.  It’s a very useful trick for when you get an error message and need to do a Google search on that error.  I just stumbled upon this recently and for years, I’ve been manually typing the error text in.  When trying to fix these problems, it’s no fun having to type in “Access violation at address 10002593 in module ‘LIBMYSQL.dll’…” Especially with the arcane wording usually involved with Windows error messages.  I’m not sure why this “feature” isn’t well documented somewhere, but I’m glad I finally found it.  It’s just a quick tip but, I hope this helps you as much as it helped me recently.

What's an easy and effective way to protect yourself from viruses?  Connecting your cable modem or dsl modem to a router instead of directly to your computer.  The reason is simple, when you connect your computer directly to your modem, attackers have access to and can interface directly with your computer.  By default, unless you are running a good firewall, all ports are exposed.  Theoretically this shouldn't be a problem since the operating system should be secure and won't allow unauthorized access.  Unfortunately, virus writers are quite good at circumventing security. 

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When configuring your router, you'll often see something called a MAC address.  This may happen when you go to a status page that shows the computers that are connected to the router.  You'll also run across it on a wireless security settings page.  What exactly is a MAC address?  I'll try to explain it without getting too technical.

A MAC address is usually represented as a string of hexadecimal numbers that looks something like this 00:14:38:44:A7:4A.  The colons really don't mean anything and just make it easier to read.  Continue reading »

By default, Microsoft Outlook prevents you from opening file attachments that are potentially "malicious".  These include .EXE files which are programs or applications that launch when you click on the attachments.  The danger is that somebody could write a program and when you click on it, your entire hard drive would be erased, or something like that.  For the general public it's a good idea not to allow .EXE files for incoming emails.  However, this is a big inconvenience if you really need to receive a legitimate executable from a friend or colleague.

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These days with cheap memory prices and multi core processors, it's becoming increasingly useful to install virtual machine software on your computer. VMware is an excellent piece software, that provides great compatibility and useful features.  Here are some effective ways to use it.

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TCP/IP networking is the most prevalent protocol in use today, and dealing with ports is a common task. So, what is a port?  Here's a basic explanation.  Simply put, a port is a line of communication between two computers.  Every computer on a network or on the Internet has an IP address.  For internal networks, typically each computer is assigned an IP address like 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2, or 192.168.0.3, etc...  So data travels between computers and the packets of data have an IP address of the destination computer that should receive the data.  It's almost like writing an address on an envelope.  Once the computer receives the data, it figures out which port to send the data to.  Ports are like channels on a TV or radio stations.  Someone has to be listening on that specific channel or port, otherwise the data is discarded.  Ports are numbered 1 to 65535 (2^16).

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The Opera browser is great for a number of reasons.  A superior rendering engine, good memory management, and a wealth of functions that provide a great browsing experience.  But what I appreciate most about Opera are its keyboard shortcuts. You can get a list of keyboard shortcuts from Opera Help, (Press F1).  Here I'd like to highlight some of the most useful and interesting shortcuts.

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I'm a firm believer that everything you do on a computer should be accessible through the keyboard.  I guess this comes from working on computers back in the days of MS-DOS where the mouse was an afterthought. Actually, at the time, a mouse wasn't even available on most computers.  So, I got used to doing everything with the keyboard.  I'd argue that remembering keyboard shortcuts makes you a more productive user.  Over the years, I've probably accumulated hundreds or even thousands of keyboard shortcuts stored in my head.

One easy "trick" that I like to do is utilize the start menu to run commonly used applications.  If you go to the Start menu in Windows XP and right click on an application in "All Programs", you'll get a context menu that'll let you "Pin to Start Menu".  So, what you can do is pin a bunch of frequently used icons onto your Start Menu, for easy access. Continue reading »

Over the years, manufacturers have come out with more and more flash memory formats, and none of them are any better than the others.  SmartMedia, CompactFlash, Secure Digital (SD), MiniSD, xD, and all the different flavors of Sony's Memory Stick (Pro, Duo, etc...).  The worst are xD, and Memory Stick, because they cost so much more per megabyte and offer no advantage.  It's just a way for them to make more money.  Sony leverages it's market share in a wide variety of electronic devices to promote its own memory format and charges a premium for its memory.  If you have a PSP, Sony Digital Camera, or Sony laptop, you'll probably be buying a Sony Memory Stick at some point.  Their memory of course doesn't work in any other brand's devices so you'd have to buy more flash memory for your other devices to accommodate the different formats.

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In Microsoft Outlook, I find the AutoComplete function to be quicker and more useful than the address book.

  When sending emails, I usually start typing the first few characters of the email address and Outlook magically figures out who I want to send it to, based on emails I've composed in the past.  The problem is, every time I install Outlook on a new computer, I lose the AutoComplete and have to start from scratch.  Continue reading »