Category: Guides

  • Cleanup Your Computer With CCleaner

    As a computer begins to age, many problems can arise such as slow startup, slow program execution and increased memory usage.  Many of these problems are caused by improper shutdowns, viruses, excess temporary files, and residual uninstall files. CCleaner is a free program, available at http://www.ccleaner.com, which will give your computer the thorough cleaning that…

  • Fix: Featured Content Gallery WordPress Plugin Displays Incorrectly in Internet Explorer 6

    For many websites, the Featured Content Gallery for WordPress provides the centerpiece and main focal point of the front page (Techerator included).  This plugin has the ability to display posts in a specific category as well as a graphic and accompanying text for a great preview of articles on the site. The Problem When doing…

  • How To: Remove the Smiley from the WordPress.com Stats Plugin

    One of the first plugins I installed when building the Techerator website was WordPress.com Stats, a plugin which offered useful and practical statistics (instead of the overwhelming metrics that Google Analytics and others provide) with the added benefit that since the statistics monitoring is hosted by WordPress, it would have no adverse impact on the…

  • Opening Apple QuickTake .QTK Images

    Technology is always changing.  With these constant changes come some problems, such as old and unsupported file extensions.  One file extension that was once widely used, .QTK, is no longer supported by many of today’s digital image manipulation software.  Many individuals may still have pictures saved that were taken with the Apple QuickTake that they…

  • Enhance Websites in Firefox with Greasemonkey

    Greasemonkey is an extremely versatile add-on for Mozilla Firefox which allows users to install scripts that can make modifications to most HTML-based websites.  Greasemonkey can greatly enhance a website by changing the layout, adding new features, or increasing ease-of-use. To install Greasemonkey, head on over to the Firefox Add-On Greasemonkey page and click “Add to…

  • How To: Use Your iPhone/iPod Touch as a Wireless Flash Drive

    One of the most useful applications I’ve used for the iPhone/iPod Touch is Airsharing ($4.99, app store), which allows you to use your device as a wireless flash drive.  Not only can it store (and view!) files wirelessly, it also works on Windows, Mac, Linux and even through a web browser.  If that wasn’t enough…

  • Tomato Firmware: Increased Transmit Power Does More Harm Than Good?

    Currently, I run four routers, all part of the WRT54G/GL/GS series, that allow a house to receive wireless internet.  These routers provide sufficient, although not yet ideal, coverage for the house.   Since the WRT54G/GL/GS routers are built on a Linux framework, they are easily upgraded to more powerful firmware, such as the Tomato Firmware available…

  • Windows Won’t Boot? Try The Recovery Console

    It is all too easy for the Windows operating system to become damaged and render your computer unusable, stranding you from your critical applications and documents.  Events such as power outages, electrical surges, or even an improper shutdown can damage or corrupt important system files which may cause the operating system to fail when loading.…

  • Conficker Worm: How to Check If Your Computer Is Infected

    Today is April 1st, and with that comes the fear of your computer being infected with the Conficker worm.  Besides following Lifehacker’s tips to protect your PC from Conficker, you can follow a more advanced method of scanning your computer in this guide. UPDATE: There are new and easier methods to scan your computer for…

  • Thunderbird Fix: All Emails Show Attachment Icon (even if they don’t have attachments)

    Software Involved: Mozilla Thunderbird, AVG Anti-Virus 8.0/ 8.5 Problem/Symptoms: All incoming emails in Mozilla’s Thunderbird appear as if they have attachments, regardless if they have attachments or not.  The attachment icon disappears immediately after opening the email (as long as the email did not legitimately have an attachment). Solution: AVG automatically attaches an email certification…