Before I relate this true story from today, I thought I should mention that due to circumstances beyond my control I have not had the time to make the posts I had wanted to make today. If time allows this weekend I may make posts on days that they're not supposed to be on. I have the next few days off of school (4 day weekend! - sort of, I still have to go in tomorrow) and will be able to write a lot then.
In the meantime I shall relate a story to you from school today (that is related to technology):
I had sent my grade 5's to the computer lab to write their good copies of poems we had been working on this week. I was talking with some students in the class when two students returned to tell me and my host teacher that several of the computers weren't working. My host teacher followed them to the lab to solve the problem, while I stayed back and helped the students I was helping. When I was done, I went to the lab to check on the students and found my host teacher looking all around the tables to see what was unplugged. I walked to one of the computers and looked at the screen. It had some bouncing boxes on it saying the monitor was plugged in but to check the cables. I looked closely..... and taught a few people a very valuable lesson: Often the problem is much simpler than it looks. I turned the computers on and the problem was solved. I had a grin that must have stretched ear to ear at this point.
Moral of the story: if you're computer isn't working, always check to make sure it's on before you get help.
Showing posts with label computers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computers. Show all posts
Friday, May 18, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Pimping Your Firefox Part VII: Getting Rid of Pesky Ads
Ever go to a website that's full of ads? Wish you could just make them disappear? Well, you can with Adblock Plus (if you use Firefox that is!).
Adblock Plus is an extension for firefox that allows you to block any elements of a page. Once you install it from the mozilla page (the last link), all you need to do is right click on an ad and select "adblock image." That ad will no longer appear in your browser. It's that easy.
One caveat though. Some websites and ads are pretty smart and frequently change things about their ads so that they will be shown. This can often be annoying because you may have to re-block the specific ads.
It's definitely worth a shot and really helps get rid of all that unwanted information that gets thrown at you on the web.
As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask them on here or email me at pieceofdust@gmail.com
Adblock Plus is an extension for firefox that allows you to block any elements of a page. Once you install it from the mozilla page (the last link), all you need to do is right click on an ad and select "adblock image." That ad will no longer appear in your browser. It's that easy.
One caveat though. Some websites and ads are pretty smart and frequently change things about their ads so that they will be shown. This can often be annoying because you may have to re-block the specific ads.
It's definitely worth a shot and really helps get rid of all that unwanted information that gets thrown at you on the web.
As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask them on here or email me at pieceofdust@gmail.com
Sunbird: The Firefox of Calendars
In continuing my look at Open Source Software that I find to be useful (and in many cases I can't live without), I've decided to talk about Mozilla Sunbird, a neat calendar you can get for your computer.
I first got it a while ago and didn't really start using it, but when I started my most recent practicum (the one I'm doing right now and the one that is making it harder for me to keep the posts at a high level of quality) I started using it much more. Teachers take note: this is a great way to make a day book. I have actually been using Sunbird to do all of my planning.
Some features that I find useful. You can make multiple calendars to put on the calendar. So what does this mean for you? You can make a calendar for Work, Home, School, etc. or for each of your family members, and each can be in a different colour. I have about 10 or 15 calendars for different aspects of my life and can click one or another off very easily.
The actual events that you put in the calendar have a lot of space to write a description (this is where I put my plans). I have barely begun to scratch the surface of what this program can do (and expect an updated version in a few months as well!).
Like Firefox, Sunbird can also be customized and is starting to get a nice assortment of extensions and themes. The pickings are slim right now, but once Sunbird goes through more development there will likely be a lot of enhancements.
Read more about it at Wikipedia if you're interested.
I first got it a while ago and didn't really start using it, but when I started my most recent practicum (the one I'm doing right now and the one that is making it harder for me to keep the posts at a high level of quality) I started using it much more. Teachers take note: this is a great way to make a day book. I have actually been using Sunbird to do all of my planning.
Some features that I find useful. You can make multiple calendars to put on the calendar. So what does this mean for you? You can make a calendar for Work, Home, School, etc. or for each of your family members, and each can be in a different colour. I have about 10 or 15 calendars for different aspects of my life and can click one or another off very easily.
The actual events that you put in the calendar have a lot of space to write a description (this is where I put my plans). I have barely begun to scratch the surface of what this program can do (and expect an updated version in a few months as well!).
Like Firefox, Sunbird can also be customized and is starting to get a nice assortment of extensions and themes. The pickings are slim right now, but once Sunbird goes through more development there will likely be a lot of enhancements.
Read more about it at Wikipedia if you're interested.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Pimping Your Firefox Part V: Searching From the Top of Your Browser
Today I'm going to talk about a quick way to search for things on the internet using Firefox. Though this series has been going on for a while, I think now is a good time to remind you to try Firefox, which can be downloaded from here.
Now that you all have Firefox, you may notice a small bar in the upper right corner where you can type stuff. It may have a little logo right before the blank space. If you have never used this, I suggest you read on from here. This will make searching the internet much easier. You can add ANY search engine on the internet to this bar. All you need to do is go to a search engine you use frequently. Right slick on the bar where you usually type and you should get a menu. Somewhere in that menu should be "Add this search to the searchbar." Select that and you are good to go. You can also go to this page, and pick from some common search engines that you can add.
I personally get a lot of use out of Google, Wikipedia and IMDb (Internet Movie Database), but you may find others that are of more use to you. The great thing is that you don't have to navigate to a specific search engine to search. Just make sure that you don't need the page you are on (opening a new tab will make this easier - more on this next week!) because whatever page is open is the page that the search results will appear in (there is a fix for this, and see this Lifehacker post for an explanation).
Anyway, there is one more thing that you might find useful. An add-on called Seach Engine Ordering will allow you to change the order of search engines so you can have your most used ones at the top.
As always, feel free to ask questions if you're unsure of what I'm talking about.
Now that you all have Firefox, you may notice a small bar in the upper right corner where you can type stuff. It may have a little logo right before the blank space. If you have never used this, I suggest you read on from here. This will make searching the internet much easier. You can add ANY search engine on the internet to this bar. All you need to do is go to a search engine you use frequently. Right slick on the bar where you usually type and you should get a menu. Somewhere in that menu should be "Add this search to the searchbar." Select that and you are good to go. You can also go to this page, and pick from some common search engines that you can add.
I personally get a lot of use out of Google, Wikipedia and IMDb (Internet Movie Database), but you may find others that are of more use to you. The great thing is that you don't have to navigate to a specific search engine to search. Just make sure that you don't need the page you are on (opening a new tab will make this easier - more on this next week!) because whatever page is open is the page that the search results will appear in (there is a fix for this, and see this Lifehacker post for an explanation).
Anyway, there is one more thing that you might find useful. An add-on called Seach Engine Ordering will allow you to change the order of search engines so you can have your most used ones at the top.
As always, feel free to ask questions if you're unsure of what I'm talking about.
Great Programs: Open Office
Are you tired of paying too much money for programs like Microsoft Office only to find a new, costlier version is released soon after you get it? I've got a solution for you: Open Office. A few weeks ago I wrote about Open Source Software, and this is one such application I want to highlight.
Open Office is a free program. You don't have to pay a single cent for it (other than the internet connection you have to download it - and even that can be circumvented). This is by far it's biggest advantage over Microsoft Office, and the reason why I think it may start gaining steam.
Open Office comes with many features, including a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database program, a drawing program and a presentation program (much like Powerpoint). I've been using this for about a year and a half and have not had any problems with missing features. I'm sure there are things that the Microsoft programs can do that Open Office cannot, but they are not likely major features - and Open Office is constantly being updated so there it will be improved and you don't have to worry about paying for those improvements.
One question you may have is: Will my Word documents (.doc files) work in Open Office. The answer is yes, though because Microsoft is very secretive about their formatting, there will be some slight changes. This problem will be eliminated as more and more people and companies use Open Office (read about Open Office here and you'll see that many business and governments are using Open Office) and it becomes standard (the difference is also that the code that helps programs interpret their documents is not secret so Microsoft could make it easy to open those files in their programs - but that would make life to easy, wouldn't it?
Anyway, I'm sure you won't take just my word for it, so check out this comparison of office suites done by Wikipedia to find more information.
If you want to download Open Office to try, you can go to their website.
Open Office is a free program. You don't have to pay a single cent for it (other than the internet connection you have to download it - and even that can be circumvented). This is by far it's biggest advantage over Microsoft Office, and the reason why I think it may start gaining steam.
Open Office comes with many features, including a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database program, a drawing program and a presentation program (much like Powerpoint). I've been using this for about a year and a half and have not had any problems with missing features. I'm sure there are things that the Microsoft programs can do that Open Office cannot, but they are not likely major features - and Open Office is constantly being updated so there it will be improved and you don't have to worry about paying for those improvements.
One question you may have is: Will my Word documents (.doc files) work in Open Office. The answer is yes, though because Microsoft is very secretive about their formatting, there will be some slight changes. This problem will be eliminated as more and more people and companies use Open Office (read about Open Office here and you'll see that many business and governments are using Open Office) and it becomes standard (the difference is also that the code that helps programs interpret their documents is not secret so Microsoft could make it easy to open those files in their programs - but that would make life to easy, wouldn't it?
Anyway, I'm sure you won't take just my word for it, so check out this comparison of office suites done by Wikipedia to find more information.
If you want to download Open Office to try, you can go to their website.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Pimping Your Firefox Part IV: Previewing Links Without Leaving Your Page
Have you ever been surfing the web and wanted to see a link before you clicked on it and navigated away from the page your on? If so, I've got a great Firefox extension for you: Cooliris previews.
This nifty program, once installed (remember, you need Firefox for this!), will give you a nice blue and green square whenever your mouse rolls over a link. Roll your mouse over that small square and a the page will show in a small box. If you want to continue to that page, you merely have to click the link. If you don't want to see it, move your mouse away and it will disappear in a few seconds, or you can click the red "X" at the top of the preview and it will close.
Not that complex, but a useful extension nonetheless.
This nifty program, once installed (remember, you need Firefox for this!), will give you a nice blue and green square whenever your mouse rolls over a link. Roll your mouse over that small square and a the page will show in a small box. If you want to continue to that page, you merely have to click the link. If you don't want to see it, move your mouse away and it will disappear in a few seconds, or you can click the red "X" at the top of the preview and it will close.
Not that complex, but a useful extension nonetheless.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Pimping Your Firefox Part III: Easily Accessible Favourites
Today's tip comes from an older Lifehacker post. I thought I woudl share the advice. Some of you may have the bookmark toolbar on the top of your browser and it may go unused up there. Some of you may also have turned it off. I originally had it hidden until I realized how helpful it can be. Two extensions help you make it quite useful. The first is a nice one that will put only the icons of the site on the bar. Those icons are those little pictures that appear before the address in the address bar (the orange "B" symbol for this site). All that you really need to do is download Smart Bookmarks Bar. You can change the settings for this bar by going to Tools -> Extensions. There should then be a dialog box that lists all your extensions. Just click once on Smart Bookmarks Bar and then click on the "options" button down below to change the settings. There is only one setting (Showing the name when you roll your mouse over the picture). I personally have that box unchecked because I find it distracting. You may want to keep it so you know what the sites are.
The second extension that is helpful is Favicon Picker 2. This extension gives you the option of picking what the icon is for your bookmarks (because not all sites have nice icons like this one). Simply download the program and you are ready to go. If you want to change the icon, just left click on it and click properties. There should be a section of that box that has the icon and two options: Erase or Browse... pick browse to find an icon you want to use (it has to be on your computer).
For those of you who aren't so sure how to make an icon, I will send you to a website that will help you: Favicons from Pics. Simply click on the "Browse" button on the page and select a picture from your computer. It will generate a file that can be used as an icon. You will need to download this to your computer and put it somewhere safe. I suggest making a folder for it (Call it "Icons" if you want to be safe and put it with your other pictures). You can then find this file with the above program to make your icon.
All together, this can give you several of your bookmarks or favourites right in your browser without having to open up the bookmarks sidebar or drop down menu. I personally have 34 bookmarks in my browser with room for 5-10 more. I suggest you try this and see how much easier it is to check your favourite sites.
As always, if you want to try this and are confused, just ask me any questions you may have...
UPDATE (20:50): Oops, I lied. Just after I wrote this, I updated my extensions and the new version of Smart Bookmarks Bar has more options, including decreasing the space between the icons, which allows for more icons on the toolbar. Yet another great feature of Open Source Software - constant improvements!
The second extension that is helpful is Favicon Picker 2. This extension gives you the option of picking what the icon is for your bookmarks (because not all sites have nice icons like this one). Simply download the program and you are ready to go. If you want to change the icon, just left click on it and click properties. There should be a section of that box that has the icon and two options: Erase or Browse... pick browse to find an icon you want to use (it has to be on your computer).
For those of you who aren't so sure how to make an icon, I will send you to a website that will help you: Favicons from Pics. Simply click on the "Browse" button on the page and select a picture from your computer. It will generate a file that can be used as an icon. You will need to download this to your computer and put it somewhere safe. I suggest making a folder for it (Call it "Icons" if you want to be safe and put it with your other pictures). You can then find this file with the above program to make your icon.
All together, this can give you several of your bookmarks or favourites right in your browser without having to open up the bookmarks sidebar or drop down menu. I personally have 34 bookmarks in my browser with room for 5-10 more. I suggest you try this and see how much easier it is to check your favourite sites.
As always, if you want to try this and are confused, just ask me any questions you may have...
UPDATE (20:50): Oops, I lied. Just after I wrote this, I updated my extensions and the new version of Smart Bookmarks Bar has more options, including decreasing the space between the icons, which allows for more icons on the toolbar. Yet another great feature of Open Source Software - constant improvements!
Open Source Software: The Basics
I have frequently used the term Open Source Software in my posts and some of my readers may not be completely sure what that is. I thought I would do a brief rundown of what it is and the advantages gained from using it.
Open Source Software is simply software that is not a secret. The source code of these programs is freely avaialable to anyone who wants to look at it. These programs are usually created by individuals who are more concerned with making a good program than they are with making money. Due to the code being freely available, the programs are also free (in most cases, there are some small exceptions). Think of Open Source Software as a collaborative effort compared to closed source software (like Windows) which is controlled by a small group of people.
Open Source Software is developed by anyone who wants to help. There are many online communities working on various applications and constantly updating them and making them better for everyone involved. If you wanted to help with building a program (and you had the skills), you could easily help.
The advantages of using Open Source Software are huge. I'll list a few of the bigger ones in a list:
Here are a couple of sites that have various Open Source programs on them (all free of course):
And a site that talks about Open Source Software:
I hope this has been informative. I would suggest trying some Open Source Software out to see how well it can serve your needs. I will be profiling some of the better programs I have encountered in the coming weeks and as always, I'll be talking about Firefox later today.
Open Source Software is simply software that is not a secret. The source code of these programs is freely avaialable to anyone who wants to look at it. These programs are usually created by individuals who are more concerned with making a good program than they are with making money. Due to the code being freely available, the programs are also free (in most cases, there are some small exceptions). Think of Open Source Software as a collaborative effort compared to closed source software (like Windows) which is controlled by a small group of people.
Open Source Software is developed by anyone who wants to help. There are many online communities working on various applications and constantly updating them and making them better for everyone involved. If you wanted to help with building a program (and you had the skills), you could easily help.
The advantages of using Open Source Software are huge. I'll list a few of the bigger ones in a list:
- Since there is no concern for money, and every concern for quality, programmers are constantly working to improve the programs, and not holding innovative ideas back so that people have to buy updates. Often, Open Source Software is more innovative and has been copied by closed source applications. An example of this is Microsoft copying Firefox's tabbed browsing (among other features).
- Speaking of Firefox, many Open Source programs allow for add-ons or extensions. These small programs can give you many helpful tools to complete tasks that you wouldn't otherwise be able to do. Other extensions are just for fun. Many of those will be discussed in my weekly posts about how to upgrade your Firefox.
- Cost. Open Source Software is free. Even if you don't realize that you pay for Windows or Mac OS, you are when you buy your computer. There are Open Source options (apparently Dell is offering Open Source operating systems on the computers they sell).
- A Sense of Community: Open Source software follows the idea that we are one community working together. Those who make Open Source Software are doing it to make something good for them and for others. They are not doing it for money (they may be doing it for fame, however). Open Source Software embraces the idea that we are a community and not the idea that we should hide the secrets to success.
Here are a couple of sites that have various Open Source programs on them (all free of course):
And a site that talks about Open Source Software:
I hope this has been informative. I would suggest trying some Open Source Software out to see how well it can serve your needs. I will be profiling some of the better programs I have encountered in the coming weeks and as always, I'll be talking about Firefox later today.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Pimping Your Firefox Part II: Multiple Tabs for Your Homepage
One of the neat things about Firefox (if you haven't downloaded it yet, see the link on the sidebar) is that it has tabs. Tabs allow you to have more than one window open in the same browser. This is helpful so you don't have to open too many browser windows which can become confusing. One nifty feature that Firefox allows is to have different tabs to open up when you open a new browser window. For example, when I open Firefox, I get three pages instead of one. How do you do this? Let me show you.
The first step is to make a folder in your bookmarks sidebar. To do this, open the bookmarks sidebar (there should be an icon on the top - it may be called favourites). Once there, left click to create a new folder. You can name this folder anything you want, but it might be best to name it "Startup."
Once you have that, go find multiple pages you want to open when you open Firefox. When you are at the page, right click the little picture in the address bar that shows up before the address (for this site it looks like an orange square with a "B" inside of it. Hold the mouse button down as you drag that picture into the folder you just made ("Startup"). Repeat this as many times as you want, but I would not add too many as it could get overwhelming when you open Firefox.
The next thing you need to do is to go to the menu on top. Go to Tools then to Options. A window should open. Go to the "General Tab." It should show what your current homepage is. Below it will be a button that says: "Use Bookmark" Click on that and select the folder you just made ("Startup"). Close Firefox and the next time you open it you will get all the pages you selected. There are other ways to do this as well, and if you figure them out, feel free to share.
If you want to change the pages that open for you, change the pages in the folder first and then complete the last step again. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.
Hope this was helpful and that you are starting to see the advantages of using Firefox! More tips to come next week.
The first step is to make a folder in your bookmarks sidebar. To do this, open the bookmarks sidebar (there should be an icon on the top - it may be called favourites). Once there, left click to create a new folder. You can name this folder anything you want, but it might be best to name it "Startup."
Once you have that, go find multiple pages you want to open when you open Firefox. When you are at the page, right click the little picture in the address bar that shows up before the address (for this site it looks like an orange square with a "B" inside of it. Hold the mouse button down as you drag that picture into the folder you just made ("Startup"). Repeat this as many times as you want, but I would not add too many as it could get overwhelming when you open Firefox.
The next thing you need to do is to go to the menu on top. Go to Tools then to Options. A window should open. Go to the "General Tab." It should show what your current homepage is. Below it will be a button that says: "Use Bookmark" Click on that and select the folder you just made ("Startup"). Close Firefox and the next time you open it you will get all the pages you selected. There are other ways to do this as well, and if you figure them out, feel free to share.
If you want to change the pages that open for you, change the pages in the folder first and then complete the last step again. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.
Hope this was helpful and that you are starting to see the advantages of using Firefox! More tips to come next week.
Backing Up Your Hard Drive
Most people I know have at one point or another thought about losing all the data on their hard drive. It's not a pleasant thought and one that I had not had until a few months ago. I thought it would be nice of me to share some options with my readers so you know of all the ways you can back up your data. I thought about all the ways you could back things up and I came up with a list of a few of the most popular:
- External Hard Drives: Easily the best bang for your buck. These are, as their name suggests, hard drives that are on the outside of your computer. Normally they would connect using a USB port (most computers have them) or a firewire. Doing some preliminary research, the most common sizes of external hard drives were between 300 and 500GB. For comparison, my laptop can only hold about 90-100GB, so if I bought a 500GB external hard drive I could back up all of my files (assuming my hard drive was full) 5 times. Desktop computers do have larger hard drives, but not too many will be over 500GB and even then, most users would not need more than that for files they want to save. The 320GB drives were between $150 and $160 at the places I looked online and the 500GB drives were between $200 and $260.
- CD's or DVD's: These are also fairly cheap, but a single CD-R will only hold about 700MB (not even 1GB) worth of data and a DVD-R will hold between 4.7GB (single layer) and 8.5GB (dual layer). If you're only backing up a bit of information this might be for you as most CD-R's or DVD-R's can be bought in bulk for between $1 and $2 (and sometimes less). Keep in mind you would need a CD burner or a DVD burner respectively and many older computers may lack the DVD burner or both. Ask at a store if you are confused about what type of CD or DVD to buy.
- Flash Drives: These are those little memory sticks that many university students now carry around instead of disks. They are typically used to transfer data from one computer to another or use as a way to work on a document on different computers (for example at home and at the computer lab at school). They are also a good option to backup data. There are many sizes (starting at 128KB and going up to about 8GB) and if you look carefully you can find some good deals. Generally you can find 2GB drives in the $40-50 range and the 8GB drives will be about $150. Note that there apparently is a way to use an iPod as a backup and that could be an option as well.
- Online Backup: This is what I personally use, though some people may be wary of this as you don't really know where your data is being stored. The great advantage of this is that if your computer is stolen, there is no way they can steal your backed up files as well. A their could potentially take backed up CD's, DVD's flash drives or external hard drives and you would be out of luck. I did some research and found a few online backup sites:
- Data Deposit Box: Their site advertises a cheap rate of $2 per month per GB. That sounds low, but I worked it out. With my 20GB that are backed up, that translates into $480 a year. This sounds a bit excessive, especially when compared to the above methods.
- Mozy: Advertises 2GB of free backup. This could be useful if you only have a small amount of data to be backed up. Otherwise I would try something else.
- Carbonite: This is what I use. It was referred to me by BzzAgent, a company that lets me try out things in exchange for me talking about them – good or bad. I got a free trial and found it to be easy to use. It costs $50 (US, so about $60Canadian) a year and you have unlimited space. It does take a while to get your initial backup completed (mine took about 2 weeks), but after that, the program scans your hard drive for any new or changed files and it automatically updates your backup. The system is secure because it encrypts your data before it leaves your computer so it is safe on their servers. If you want to try it out, try the link above and if you put in the code “BZZ” you will get a free month to try it out. I was impressed enough to pay for the service after just a few weeks.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Pimping Your Firefox Part I: Finding Cool New Sites
To my dismay, I've noticed most of my viewers do not use firefox as their web browser. I debated giving a long rant about why Firefox is better, but I thought showing you would be the best way (the teacher in me is thinking about how we all learn better by doing). If you don't yet have firefox, you can use this nifty link to get you started. Firefox is completely free (it's Open Source Software) and it is actually safer to use than Internet Explorer – sorry Mac users, I'm sure Safari and Opera are great, but I still think Firefox is better.
One of the things that makes Firefox so great is that there are hundreds of little “extensions” you can add to “pimp it up.” Today I am going to talk about two of themselves
The first is StumbleUpon. Once you download this extension and you make an account with StumbleUpon and the internet opens up for you. It works in several ways. One way is that you can rate sites (thumbs up or thumbs down). StumbleUpon keeps track of all the votes for and votes against to help recommend sites to others. It also keeps track of the sites you like and the sites you don't like. Another feature is that you can “tag” sites with different words. For example, this post could get the tag “Firefox” or “Computers.” You can similarly attach tags to yourself of things you like. This is where it gets neat. When you hit the “Stumble!” button, StumbleUpon takes you to a site that fits your preferences. It doesn't always get a site you'll like, but if you hit it often enough, you can find something that interests you.
The second extension came to me from my involvement in BzzAgent. This is a site that tells me about certain products or programs in exchange for me talking about them. The extension in question is free (as are all Firefox extensions) and it's called Me.dium. It works similarly but the interface is different. It opens up a sidebar and shows you sites floating around that are similar. It also has little people to show you which other Me.dium users are at those sites. You can make “friends” with Me.dium and is especially good when trying to share websites with your “friends.” In essence, Me.dium is for people who want to surf the web with someone else. You could use this for things such as shopping, planning a trip, or doing research. It sounds complicated, but once you see it, it makes much more sense. One thing I should also note is that it won't show other people sites that are password protected, and you can turn it off whenever you don't want people to see what site you're on (for whatever reason).
So this is just the first part of many where I'll tell you about great Firefox extensions in my bid to switch a few of you over. I hope you try out Firefox and you'll see why everyone is raving about it!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
One of the Best Sites on the Internet
A few months ago, a friend and colleague of mine told me to check out a site called Lifehacker. I took his advice and I was blown away by what I found. Essentially, Lifehacker is a blog full of tips to help you with everything from making your computer work more for you to improving your socials skills. Every day, the authors of the blog add many posts. One feature that I have used profusely is their Dowload of the Day posts. Every day (and often more than once a day), the site profiles a small program that usually happens to be quite useful. For example, yesterday (March 28th), one of their profiles was of a program that will allow computers that have wi-fi to link up to each other without any internet connections.
The site caters to both relative beginners to computer experts. They have many readers who comment on the posts and offer up more advice (if you're willing to read the comment threads). This is one of the sites that I check multiple times daily, and I would suggest that others check it. I have no doubt you'll find something helpful if you check it every once and a while.
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