Is Society’s Internet Addiction Affecting The Children?
February 3, 2010
This generation of kids (and in fact even the ones before them) have often been portrayed as fat couch potatoes by the media at large, children who are slowly loosing the ability to use language and their legs correctly and who are developing a distorted view of the world based on bad communication skills, the Internet being for porn and mass killings with terrorists in Russian airports.
There will always be people to defend them – mostly a mix of gaming enthusiasts, the occasional scientist and games manufacturers PR departments – but the results of a recent survey are fairly condemning where they show that kids are spending nearly eight hours online every day!
Continue reading »Apple iPad – Do We Need A Tablet?
January 27, 2010
So with the Apple iPad having finally been confirmed, anyone and everyone has been having their say on various tech blogs and sites around the web. So what sort of reception has the supposed blockbuster device had over the past couple of hours? Have Apple blown our minds again? Or have they finally dropped the ball?
Well… I think it’s fair to say that the general consensus is that it’s not a lot more than a giant iPhone (or perhaps I should say an iPod Touch). The guys over at Engadget have been lucky enough to get a hands-on with the iPad and they describe it as ‘not light’ and ‘pretty weighty in your hand’. An extraordinary amount of readers left comments expanding on this, going on to say “The thing is really an oversized iPhone, Apple finally fails”. It certainly makes interesting reading. Such a device coming from a company that is usually so reliable when it comes to wowing us with revolutionary devices.
Continue reading »Apple iPad Tablet Announced!
January 27, 2010
Today is the day that Apple fans have been craving for the past few months, and depending on what is released… perhaps years.
The event began with the man himself, Steve Jobs, giving a few updates regarding the state of the company as we speak. 50 million visitors to the 284 Apple stores worldwide last quarter. 140,000 iPhone/iPod Touch applications in the App Store and over $15 billion in revenues in 2010 alone. So what was announced?
Only the much rumoured Apple iPad Tablet device!
Continue reading »How To Use Your Free Hotmail Account With A Desktop Email Client
December 21, 2009
When a friend asked me to help him out with setting up his Hotmail account with a desktop email client such as Thunderbird or Outlook, I thought I was in for a bit of a rough ride; the last time I tried such a thing it didn’t turn out so well (this was a number of years ago now).
However, I was rather surprised at the simplicity of the whole operation – if anybody has tried setting up a free Hotmail account in the past and couldn’t do so due to Microsoft’s restrictions or the necessary third party software, you need worry no longer!
Continue reading »Windows Is Virus-Proof: The Verdict – Part 1
December 9, 2009
You’re not going to like it…
Just as I said I would, I wanted to test out whether Windows is virus proof and this is how I’ve done it!
I’ve been putting Windows on my PCs from an OEM or VLA disc for so long, that I’ve apparently forgotten what it’s like to buy a new Windows computer from scratch. Well let me tell you now, it’s horrible! Windows has the reputation of crashing, getting infected with crap and generally screwing up without human help for one reason, and one reason alone. It’s the freakin’ OEMs.
Do you know what happens when you buy a new Windows PC?
This happens…
Continue reading »Thunderbird 3 RC1 Review (Desktop Email Client)
November 29, 2009
I’ve used Mozilla Thunderbird for as long as I can remember; I much prefer desktop e-mail clients to their web counterparts and Thunderbird’s my number one choice on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. When I downloaded the Release Candidate 1 of Thunderbird 3, I was faced with a plethora of new features to sink my teeth in to, so where do I start?
After mourning the loss of my many incompatible add-ons, I struck up the courage to create an account in Thunderbird 3, and if you’re new to Thunderbird or you’re setting up another account, you’ll appreciate how easy it is to get up and running.
Rather than manually input the details of your email provider, all you need to do is type in your email address and password and Thunderbird sorts the rest out for you. I tested this with 3 email accounts, each on different providers and Thunderbird set up each one with no problems. If you want/need to set up an account manually, don’t worry, you can still do so!
Continue reading »Windows Live Essentials Review: Toolbar
November 21, 2009
Internet toolbars… I’ve never liked them, and always associate them with two words: useless and malware. So what makes Live Toolbar different? Well, apart from integration with every other Live application, not a lot. For some reason, Microsoft felt compelled to give you another search box to go along with the one you already have in the top corner of IE, which is utterly pointless and tends to get in the way a bit.
Another gripe I have is the fact that you need Internet Explorer to use the damn thing, which puts me off straight away – I much prefer Firefox or even Safari to Internet Explorer, and unfortunately for Microsoft, a toolbar isn’t going to change that!
Continue reading »Windows Live Essentials Review: Mail
November 17, 2009
When you download Windows Live Essentials, you won’t find a calendar application or even an address book application. What you will find, however, is Windows Live Mail, which covers not only your e-mailing needs, but also comes with calendar and contacts functionality. To switch between Mail, Calendar and Contacts you can select which function you wish to use in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. If you open Calendar, it opens in the current window, but Contacts opens its own window, which I found a little strange and inconsistent.
The mail section of the application provides you with a consistent and familiar layout similar to other mail clients. On the left, you’re presented with a sidebar containing three categories: “Quick Views” where you can view all unread e-mail and feeds; all the mailboxes of the linked account and the “Outbox” section. You can also add another e-mail account from here, as well as select different functions from Mail, Calendar and Contacts.
Continue reading »8 New Vodafone ‘Own Brand’ Mobile Phones
September 4, 2009
Whilst the world of the Blackberrys and iPhones maybe becoming more popular, the market for the recession stricken is still present and growing so it comes as no surprise that as the demand for cheaper phones grows. Vodafone is just one of the operators that are answering with their own branded phones that are targeting the market that’s less willing to part with hundreds of pounds.
Hoping to build on the figure of the 20 million handsets shipped under their name, Vodafone have now released eight more which vary as much in purpose as they do in looks. As you can imagine they aren’t particularly revolutionary (that is not to say that there aren’t a couple of surprises) but they’re definitely a varied bunch ranging from an entry level touch screen option to both QWERTY and candy bar styles…
Continue reading »Windows Essentials: How To Backup – Part 1
August 23, 2009
Windows Nerd Essentials: Understanding and Effectively Using Data Backup Systems
Yesterday. All my troubles were so far away. But now my data’s gone, there’s hell to pay. I believe in yesterday…
I fucking hate having to back-up my data, but you know what? I hate losing it even more. You may have read about my experiences as a technician in a little computer shop before, but apart from the viruses, shitware and porn (oh yeah, by the way, some of you people have real problems), the number one question I got when working in Gary’s grot-shop was “can you save my photos and emails!?”
The fact of the matter is, most people don’t run comprehensive backups and to make matters worse, most people who think they do, errmm…don’t.
Continue reading »
