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Showing posts from July, 2010

Complete Malware/Virus Removal Guide

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Viruses are our biggest problem when using a computer. There is alot of different removal methods out there. Over the years I have found a method to removing very nasty infections. If you have some suggestions please post them in the comments. I am always open to new methods. Enjoy. For this and future removals ONLY USE A DISK! Put all of these programs on a CD from a clean system before you start. Flash drives can easily become comprimised by the infected PC.

Angry Designer (and for good reason)

This is a posting from craigslist. I found this on a blog that I frequent. I have ran into this scenario several times as a freelance artist and technician. I felt compelled to post this for my readers so that you may identify. Post from Craigslist: read the article after the break...

Make a Reverse Email Search with Free Web Tools

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When the sender of an email doesn't sign their name, you have options beyond writing back with "Who is this?" or cursing internet anonymity. The Digital Inspiration blog points out four ways to look up your faceless email sender on the web. The post suggests four clever uses of free tools, andd links to good examples of each, including a trace route tool, the  previously mentioned Knowem social media search , and "people search" engines like  Pipl . Our favorite hack, though, is the suggestion to enter an email address into Facebook, grab their profile picture, and upload it to  Tineye  for a similar image search, which in turn finds more profiles and places where the person has posted a pic, and probably named themselves. What's your best reverse-lookup detective story that sprung from your inbox? We want to hear about it in the comments. How to Find the Person behind an Email Address  [Digital Inspiration]

SNES Emulator for Mac

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I found this very interesting. I downloaded and have been playing this emulator. I linked this article from OSX Daily. I wanted to share it with my readers. I will post the link to the original article below.  SNES9x is a full featured SNES emulator for Mac that lets you do all sorts of things, including using an external game pad, customized controls, enter cheat codes and Game Genie codes directly into the game, create freeze states (ie: saving anytime anywhere), export movies of gameplay, and so much more.

Outlook Users! Where is your PST file?

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Most people know that Outlook stores your email in a PST file, but figuring out where that file is located is a lot more tricky. Here’s how to figure out where it is, and how you can move it to another drive to save space on your primary drive.

Nine Common Myths and Misconceptions About Viruses, Examined and Debunked

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There are so many myths, misconceptions, and just plain old lies about viruses that it's often hard for anybody to know what to think. Let's examine a few of the biggest myths about viruses, and debunk each of them. A few weeks ago, we explained how to understand the  difference between viruses, trojans, worms, and other malware , and today we'll walk through some of the common myths about malware and debunk them.

Laptop Users: Learn how to keep your laptop cool in hot weather

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Summer has reached its peak, and while working outside can be relaxing, it becomes far less so when your laptop starts overheating. Here’s a quick summary of what outdoor conditions could do harm to your notebook. We all know heat is bad for our computers, but as the weather really starts to get hot out there, it’s important to know just what conditions could potentially cause problems. Technology blog Unplggd has a list of tips for keeping your laptop safe in hot weather, and number one is monitor the weather. Laptops are usually okay in temperatures of 50° to 95° Fahrenheit (or 10° to 35° for you Celsius folks), but anything higher is likely to lower your laptop’s battery life or even make your hard drive expand (and thus cause a whole host of problems). Note that these are outdoor temperatures, not the temperatures inside your computer. In addition, humidity above 80 percent is something you want to stay away from—the last thing you want is moisture condensing inside your machine (a...

How to cut and paste files, merge folders Mac OS X

There is finally a way to cut and paste files and merge folders in Snow Leopard. A new (shareware) Mac menu bar application, called moveAddict, provides this function, so you can use Cmd+X and Cmd+V in the Finder. First of all, install   moveAddict   from   Kapeli   just like any other application. Follow the on-screen instructions and it will place a menu in the upper right System Menus area of the menu bar. You can set the application's preferences from this menu. The application will function in a limited mode until registered.  

Mobile Google Docs Viewer

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Google Docs Viewer , a service that lets you preview online PDFs, Word documents and PowerPoint presentations, is   now available for iPhone and Android devices . Google added some features that make the service more useful on a touchscreen device: pinch to zoom (only for iPhone and iPad), buttons for zoom and pagination.

Gmail Can Now Open All Word Documents in Your Browser

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Gmail can now open all Microsoft Word files (both DOC and DOCX formats) in Google Docs Viewer with the click of a link—a new feature accompanied by an equally simple route to editing the file in Google Docs. It may not seem like a new feature, but previously Word documents  were only viewable as HTML , and DOCX for Microsoft Word 2007 was not supported. As Google points out, "If you decide you want to edit the file, clicking "Edit online" will open it in Google Docs, or you can download it to your desktop from there." That certainly makes it a bit easier to send docs to other Gmail users, whether they've got Word installed or not. View .doc attachments right in your browser  [The Official Gmail Blog]

Customize the Mac Finder Window Background

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Did you know that you can customize the backgrounds of any Finder windows in Mac OS X? In the screenshot above, the Finder windows are set to match the color of the Finder window sidebar. Changing the window background color is a somewhat unknown feature even to frequent Mac users, as reader Karim S reminded us when he wrote in asking:  “I was wondering if you have any tips to change the background color of the finder’s windows. I would like to see the white turned into a light grey.”  Setting the Finder window background to something is easy once you learn how, and here’s how to do it:

Get more done on your Mac faster with Quicksilver

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I was talking to a friend the other day who just bought a new iMac. They were asking me what software should they download and install first. The first thing that came to my mind was Quicksilver. I have used this app for years. It definitely speeds up anything I do on all my Macs. I can open apps quicker, access files quicker, get to folders alot faster. It really helps out alot. Below you will find detailed information on how to install and use Quicksilver. I have grabbed screenshots from various sources on the internet. Some I have taken on my own Mac. Please read and enjoy.  You can download Quicksilver here:  go to  Blacktree.com , click on Quicksilver and download the .dmg that belongs to you OS X version. Getting Started After you have downloaded Quicksilver and placed the icon into you Applications, open it up. At that point you will be presented with this introduction. Click continue and enjoy the animation change to the next screen.

Rescue photos from currupted memory card with ProtoRec

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A few days ago I have been given the task to  empty the family camera's memory card  (this is my job to do since I'm the computer guy in the house). I took the card out of the camera, put it in a card reader and plugged the reader in my laptop. A red light turned on it but it turned off immediately which was not a good sign at all. My OS X complained that the disk was not properly dismounted. I tried the reader on other two laptops (two other OSes) but with no luck. I put the memory card back in to the camera and a few more photos were taken since then.