Posted in General, Windows on April 9th, 2012 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
There are thousands upon thousands of step-by-step guides that’ll show you how to de-gunk your PC in the event of system slowdowns, crashes, and viruses. Jill Duffy simplifies all of that information in a PC Magazine article that can help all of us make our PC work better and faster. Take a look…
How much did you pay for your computer? What about all the software on it? And what’s the value of the information on your PC or Mac? It’s probably well over a thousand dollars. That’s an expensive investment, which is reason number one you should want to maintain the machine properly. In the same way that you have to tune up a car (change the oil, check the tire pressure) or even a bicycle (grease the chain, check the brakes), you have to tune up a computer.
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Posted in General on January 23rd, 2012 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
Brett Sharenow is presiding over the Pepsi Challenge of lightbulbs. The CFO of Switch, a Silicon Valley startup, Sharenow has set himself up in a 20-by-20 booth at the back of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, and he’s asking passersby to check out two identical white shades. Behind one hides a standard incandescent bulb, the familiar lighting technology that has gone largely unchanged since Thomas Edison invented it 132 years ago. Behind the other is a stunning, almost art- deco-style prototype that holds 10 LEDs and a secret fluid. It’s a liquid-cooled bulb, as radically different from Edison’s invention as anything that’s ever been screwed into a standard socket and, Sharenow hopes, the next big thing in the $30 billion lighting industry.
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Posted in General, Phones on December 5th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
Is a smartphone that spies on its user just another fact of life in the privacy-free digital age? Or has a line finally been crossed? In “The Deep End” column for InfoWorld, Paul Venezia provides an enlightening description of the capabilities of tthe Carrier IQ software on your smartphone and how tracking on phones expose our privacy. Read his blog post here:
Last week, an Android hacker named Trevor Eckhart posted a video showing that an unkillable application running on Android smartphones is logging just about every action taken on the phone. In essence, it appears to be a built-in and sanctioned keylogger that delivers all that personal info to … someone (presumably Carrier IQ). read more »
Posted in General, Web on July 28th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
If this means nothing to you, then you’re clearly out of touch. Spotify is a new way to listen to music. Think of Spotify as your new music collection. Millions of tracks, any time you like. Just search for it in Spotify, then play it. Just help yourself to whatever you want, whenever you want it. Your library is now a collection of over 15 million tracks and counting. Spotify is available for your PC, Mac, home audio system and cell phone. You have access to all of this music no matter where you go.
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Posted in General, Web on May 31st, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
Interesting analysis by Robert X. Cringely.
Netflix is the largest user of U.S. Internet bandwidth. None of this is big news, I suppose, but think for a moment about the implications it has for both future services and for the commercial value of the Internet. Streaming costs are going down, not up, so what’s cheap today will be cheaper still tomorrow. read more »
Posted in Keyboard, Windows on August 17th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
It’s no longer necessary to remember where settings are located in Control Panel, which is especially helpful when you’re quickly adjusting settings to use your mobile PC in different places—such as traveling from your desk to a meeting, or going from your home to the airport. Adjusting these settings from one location saves you time—whether you’re using your mobile PC for business or personal use.
Mobility Center consists of several of the most commonly used mobile PC settings. Just hit the Windows key + “X” and the Mobility Center will open. read more »
Posted in Cameras, General on July 8th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
If you erase photos from your memory card accidently, you can still recover them if you haven’t used the card since. Similar to the way Windows works, the photo files are not atually deleted but their directory entry has been removed. For about $30 read more »
Posted in Phones on July 7th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
Try 1-800-BING-411. With Bing 411 you can search for local shops and restaurants and get turn by turn traffic details, movie times, and weather reports. Just call 1-800-BING-411 (1-800-246-4411). read more »
Posted in General, Web on June 14th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
You see the futuristic-looking bar codes on flyers, billboards and cereal boxes, but what are they and what do they do?
If you’re not yet familiar with QR codes, they’re similar to the barcodes used by retailers to track inventory and price products at the point of sale. The key difference between the two is the amount of data they can hold or share. read more »
Posted in Mac on June 14th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
When you buy something online, don’t waste paper by printing the confirmation page. Instead, choose Print, and from the PDF pop-up menu, choose “Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder” read more »
Posted in Cameras on June 14th, 2011 by The Attic – Be the first to comment
Your camera flash is useless if the subject is more than 10 feet away. Turn it off. Otherwise, you’re just killing your battery. Here’s some information about when and how you should—and more importantly, shouldn’t—use a flash. read more »
