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I began connecting online in 1983 & have been connected ever since. I've done online tech support for Toshiba & repaired computers in a big box store.I manage the WUGNET group of tech forums on CompuServe and have published two novels (so far).
I began connecting online in 1983 & have been connected ever since. I've done online tech support for Toshiba & repaired computers in a big box store.I manage the WUGNET group of tech forums on CompuServe and have published two novels (so far).

Arhiva Autor

Best free weather apps for Windows computers and devices

Best free weather apps for Windows computers and devices

Ever hear the old saying "Everyone complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it?" Today, although we still can't change the weather, we have many ways of checking the forecast so we can at least be prepared for what's coming. Every operating system offers a variety of weather apps to suit nearly anyone's needs. After checking out the offerings for Windows 8.1, iOS
Reviewing the Jawbone UP3 - Is it really the most advanced fitness tracker?

Reviewing the Jawbone UP3 - Is it really the most advanced fitness tracker?

Fitness bands are quite naturally popular these days. They offer people a lot of options for keeping track of what they're doing in the course of a day. From the simplest step-only pedometer to the most sophisticated track-everything wristbands, a fitness tracker can be a great addition to anyone's quest for better health. Jawbone offers several fitness trackers with varying features. I've been wearing an
How To Make Advanced Searches In Windows Using Wildcards And Filters

How To Make Advanced Searches In Windows Using Wildcards And Filters

Most of us have had times when we sort-of knew what it was we wanted to find on our computer, but didn't remember the exact file name. In this article, we will talk about some advanced ways to find what you want in Windows, some of which work better than others. NOTE: The process works the same way in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1,
How To Get Help Using The Windows Help And Support Application

How To Get Help Using The Windows Help And Support Application

Ever since the DOS days, Microsoft has included Help in all its software. In the olden days, Help could often be particularly unhelpful. In recent years, however, the help included in Windows is much more versatile, and it's now called Help and Support. Let's discover how it works, how to make it even better, and use it to get information on how to work with
How To Set Program Access & Computer Defaults In Windows 7 & Windows 8.1

How To Set Program Access & Computer Defaults In Windows 7 & Windows 8.1

In other articles we talked about how to set your default programs for various activities, using the "Set Default Programs" panel and the list of programs that Windows puts in that panel. However, that's not your only option when you want to set defaults. In this article we'll tell you about the other options you have for setting default programs in Windows 7 and Windows
Did Add or Remove Programs Disappear? Where to Find It?

Did Add or Remove Programs Disappear? Where to Find It?

As Microsoft continues to make changes and improvements to its operating systems, users have to get used to new ways of doing the same old things. Starting with Windows Vista, the familiar Add or Remove Programs from previous versions appeared to vanish. It wasn't really gone, of course, but Microsoft gave it a brand new name. Let's take a look at Windows 7 and Windows
How to Pin & Display Modern Windows 8.1 Apps on the Taskbar

How to Pin & Display Modern Windows 8.1 Apps on the Taskbar

One criticism about Windows 8 was that you couldn't easily access Windows Store apps from the Desktop. They were hidden, running in a different environment and switching between them and desktop programs was harder than it should have been. Windows 8.1 fixes this problem by allowing users to pin Windows Store apps to the taskbar and to set the taskbar so that it displays running
How to Start And Configure Narrator Through PC Settings in Windows 8.1

How to Start And Configure Narrator Through PC Settings in Windows 8.1

In previous articles, I have talked about the Narrator tool in Windows 8.1 and how it has been vastly improved from the Windows 7 version. In Windows 8.1 it's actually worth using and there are plenty of options to make it work your way. Narrator will read what's on your screen, and you now have your choice of three computer generated voices that sound more
How to Use the Narrator on Windows 8.1 Desktop PCs

How to Use the Narrator on Windows 8.1 Desktop PCs

If you tried to use the Narrator application in Windows 7, you know it wasn't quite ready for prime time. Fortunately, Microsoft has made some great improvements in Narrator for Windows 8.1, basically turning it into a whole new program. Let's see what the new Narrator is all about and how to use it on any desktop computer. NOTE: Narrator is available for English
Book Review - Windows 8.1 Step By Step, by Ciprian Rusen & Joli Ballew

Book Review - Windows 8.1 Step By Step, by Ciprian Rusen & Joli Ballew

When I reviewed the first edition of this book - Windows 8 Step By Step - I said that it was "the kind of book to keep handy by your computer for reference, because it will give you confidence that you can do everything right. It's a winner!" Other sites, including Amazon, where reviewers are notoriously cranky, have given it 5-star and 4-star ratings as
Reviewing the Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard

Reviewing the Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard

Nowadays, tablets are becoming more and more popular, and rightly so. They're versatile, and most are a lot more easily portable than even a netbook. However, typing on a tablet screen is not something that comes naturally to many people, and even the widest tablets have only so much screen real estate on which to display the keyboard. Only people with small hands have a
How to Edit Your Pictures with Windows Photo Gallery

How to Edit Your Pictures with Windows Photo Gallery

While Windows Photo Gallery doesn't have the sophisticated editing tools that some other programs do, it certainly has enough for most people's needs. In this tutorial I will cover the basics of editing your photos, so that you get the results you want. NOTE:This tutorial assumes that you have photos already on your hard drive, imported by Windows Photo Gallery or another program. If
Book Review - Microsoft Office Professional 2013 Step By Step

Book Review - Microsoft Office Professional 2013 Step By Step

Years ago, when I bought Microsoft Word for DOS 5.0, it came with three manuals in the box: One to explain the program, one to walk the user through creating printer drivers, and one for the built-in programming language. And some people think that those old DOS programs weren't sophisticated. :) Now, of course, there is the Microsoft Office suite of programs, all of which
How to Install Windows 8 on a Mac running OS X Mountain Lion

How to Install Windows 8 on a Mac running OS X Mountain Lion

Although I'd known for a while that one can install Windows on an Intel-powered Mac, I didn't think I had much reason to try it. But then I sat down and actually read the directions for using the Mac utility named Boot Camp, and quickly realized that installing Windows 8 would not only be easy, it would also be an answer to my problems with
How to Publish Pictures on Flickr with Windows Photo Gallery

How to Publish Pictures on Flickr with Windows Photo Gallery

Many people like to publish images on Flickr, a justifiably popular image-sharing site. While there are several ways to do this, if you use Windows Photo Gallery, you've got one of the easiest publishing methods right at your fingertips. With just a few clicks you can publish as many photos as you want. In this tutorial I'll show you how this is done. NOTE:
How to Edit Tags & Captions for Your Pictures in Windows Photo Gallery

How to Edit Tags & Captions for Your Pictures in Windows Photo Gallery

In a previous article, I talked about adding People tags to images in Windows Photo Gallery. If you've looked at Photo Gallery, you already know that people tags aren't the only identifiers you can add to your images. In this tutorial, I'll talk about adding Geotags and Captions. Adding such tags to your photos is time consuming, but it's worth it. Once you have identified
How to Rate and Flag Images in Windows Photo Gallery

How to Rate and Flag Images in Windows Photo Gallery

Anyone who's taken digital photos for any length of time has hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pictures stored on their hard drive. And the more photos there are, the harder it is to find any particular one—unless you've identified them in some easy-to-search way. We've seen how to tag photos with Windows Photo Gallery, and that is one way to find the photos you want. Here,
How to Create Your Own Screen Saver with Windows Photo Gallery

How to Create Your Own Screen Saver with Windows Photo Gallery

I recently searched for good and free screensavers. What I found was pretty distressing. Free screensavers appear to be a favorite delivery system for malware more than anything else. However, all is not lost. If you want a really good, free screensaver, you need look no farther than the contents of your own hard drive. Most of us have great photos and graphics that will
How to Publish Photos to Picasa & Google+ with Windows Photo Gallery

How to Publish Photos to Picasa & Google+ with Windows Photo Gallery

Many people have been using Google's Picasa photo management software to store and share their photos in the cloud for years. It's free, easy to use, and makes sharing your photos with other people about as simple as it gets. But, as we've seen, Windows Photo Gallery offers a lot more features than the Picasa desktop app does, so if you're looking for good, free,
How to Create Panoramic Pictures with Windows Photo Gallery

How to Create Panoramic Pictures with Windows Photo Gallery

Do you remember those little disposable panorama cameras? They let you take a few very wide photographs on a roll of 35mm film. Since the advent of digital cameras, making panoramic photos has been done by merging several photographs together and, in the beginning, that was something you could only do with expensive editing software. Now, anyone can make a panorama using Windows Photo Gallery