On to the eye candy! =) Here’s some screenshots of Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 running under Vista. The main difference between the two is that IE uses transparancy for the top toolbar and Firefox doesn’t. In order to achieve this look, the first thing we’ll need to do is install a few addons to Firefox. The first add-on is the great theme called “myFirefox”… the author did a really great job....

We ran Upgrade Advisor on an older IBM Thinkpad currently running XP. You will need Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 installed, but if you don’t it allows you to easily install it first the restart Upgrade Advisor installation. After everything is installed successfully Upgrade Advisor is ready to be launched. In the first screen you get an overview of the advisor then click on the Start Check button. It will take a few minutes while the check is completed....

Microsoft is testing a new behavior for the taskbar in Windows 11, starting with Build 25163 in the Windows Insiders Dev Channel. If you open more applications than the taskbar can fit, a new overflow menu button will appear on the right side. Clicking the button will reveal all the apps that can’t fit in the taskbar. Older versions of Windows had many options for fitting more apps in the taskbar, from changing the icon size to adding more rows of icons....

Highlight the specific information you want to print out with your mouse: Now hit “CTRL+P” to launch the print menu, or File \ Print from the menu. In this window “All” is selected by default. Change it by checking “Selection” then OK. This will only print out the text you have highlighted and will work for specific images also. Just highlight the image and use the same process. This should work in Firefox and Internet Explorer....

When 3D Was the Future At a time when real-time 3D computer graphics were out of reach for the average person, 3D interfaces seemed like the next step forward in the evolution of computers—and maybe even humanity itself. The primary driver of the 3D buzz at the time was virtual reality (VR), which promised bodily immersion into simulated 3D worlds. Tucked among flowery, philosophical, and quasi-mystical language about what it meant to be a human in cyberspace in the early 1990s, engineers and journalists postulated that VR would offer new ways to visualize complex data or make a more intuitive interface for interacting with computers....

Note: Prism comes in two different versions…one for the desktop and as an extension for Firefox. The desktop version is extremely stable and a pleasure to use. The extension for Firefox did exhibit a slight twitch on Web App shortcuts created with it when used (see below). Using the Desktop Version The desktop version of Prism is contained in a zip file. To install it, unzip the file using your favorite compressed file management software and move the folder containing Prism into Program Files....

The solution to this problem is to have a good mechanism for tagging a page as “to be read”, and then be able to easily retrieve them at a later date. We’ve already written about using del.icio.us for this purpose, but I’ve come across the Read it Later extension for Firefox that has very similar functionality. To save a page for later, you can simply click the Read Later button…...

First, make sure that you’ve installed Samba server. To share the home directories, open up smb.conf with the following command: Find this section of the file, and make it match the following: Now you should be able to map a drive on windows using the following share format: Un-comment the following (and tweak the other settings below to suit) # to enable the default home directory shares. This will share each # user’s home directory as \server\username [homes] comment = Home Directories browseable = yes By default, \server\username shares can be connected to by anyone # with access to the samba server....

For today’s Stupid Geek Trick, we’re going to show you how to shrink the XP volume control with a keystroke. And just so I can use my favorite wallpaper, we’re talking about the volume control when you double-click on the Volume icon in the tray. Once the dialog is up, hit the Ctrl+S key combination… And your volume control should shrink down to a mini version! Using the same key combination again will change it back to the big version....

Installation & Setup Installation is quick and straightforward with a total of nine install windows to go through. When the installation is complete, it is recommended to allow Tux Paint Config to launch. This will help you get everything set up nicely before running Tux Paint. When Tux Paint Config launches, it will start with the “About Tab”. Notice at the bottom that there are options regarding “Current User” versus “All Users”, the ability to apply individual changes, resetting the Config, selecting Defaults, and the Config exit....

With TVUPlayer you can watch channels from all over the world including live channels… it’s an easy application to run on your local machine or you can watch channels on their website. Note that a broadband internet connection is required. Installing TVUPlayer TVUPlayer works on both XP and Vista and requires Windows Media Player 9 or later. With a file download of under 5 MB, installing TVUPlayer is a straight forward process....

If you’ve noticed a “Sleep” power option (or seen a moon icon) in Windows 10 or 11, you might be curious about what it does. We’ll explain this sleepy power state and show why it really comes in handy. What Does Sleep Do? When you put your Windows PC to sleep, your computer preserves everything you’re working on (open apps, files, browser windows, etc.) and enters a special low-power mode....

What Does OFDMA do? The way that Wi-Fi used to work traditionally is that each user would compete for the single connection or channel that was available. While this wasn’t necessarily a big issue back in the days when you would only have one or two devices connected, nowadays, nearly everything requires some connection, and that causes congestion. As such, the old way of doing things doesn’t cut it anymore....

Reserved Addresses on the Internet The Internet is made up of billions of devices. They identify and communicate with each other using IP addresses, which are conceptually similar to phone numbers. Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), which have been in use for decades, allows for nearly 4.3 billion such addresses. The successor to IPv4, IPv6, has more than 10^38 addresses available — enough for every grain of sand on Earth, every star in the observable universe, and every atom in every person’s body to each have a unique IP address, with plenty left over....

What Is the Dirty Screen Effect? The dirty screen effect refers to the uneven appearance of a solid color, particularly grey, black, or white backgrounds on a display panel. It can affect anything with a thin and modern display, from TVs and monitors to smartphones and laptops. The effect is named because it resembles a murkiness on the display under the right conditions, as if the screen needs to be cleaned....

What Is Artificial Intelligence Actually? It’s easy to throw around a term like “AI”, but that doesn’t make it clear what we’re really talking about. In general, “artificial intelligence” refers to a whole field in computer science. The goal of AI is to get computers to replicate what natural intelligence can accomplish. That includes human intelligence, the intelligence of other animals, and the intelligence of non-animal life such as plants, single-celled organisms, and anything else that has some form of intelligence....

Your iPhone is Probably Water Resistant If you have an iPhone 7 or newer, the good news is that your device has some level of water resistance. The bad news is that this rating may have waned over time, so it shouldn’t be taken for granted. The following iPhone models are able to withstand a depth of 6 meters for up to 30 minutes (IP68): iPhone 13 (including mini, Pro, Pro Max) iPhone 12 ((including mini, Pro, Pro Max)...

Installation: Keep in mind this is my experience on my work machine running XP Pro SP2, depending on your configuration and OS results may vary I thought installation would be pretty straight forward. The UI for installation looks exactly like IE 7 which should be familiar. Of course Microsoft makes you update various updates just to install IE 8 even though you may not want to install them. I tried to uncheck the Install updates box and Microsoft insists on protecting myself from myself....

The native icon gives you two benefits: First, you can right-click and get directly to the Internet Options panel, and secondly it doesn’t have the shortcut icon arrow. Update: This doesn’t work in Windows 7. See this Microsoft KB article for answers, but the short version is that you’ll need to just create a regular shortcut instead. Manual Registry Tweak Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:...

Change Windows 7 Shutdown Button Windows 7 makes it really easy – just head into the Start Menu / Taskbar preferences by right-clicking on the start menu and choosing Properties. All you need to do is change the drop-down for Power Button Action to whatever you would prefer. Change Windows Vista Power Buttons You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut....