Archive for June, 2009
Restore “Show Desktop” icon in Quick Launch toolbar
Here’s another Taskbar tip. A handy area of the Taskbar is the Quick Launch toolbar where icons that you use a lot can be placed. One of these is the “Show Desktop” icon. Judging from how often the problem is mentioned on the Web, disappearance of this icon is a common problem. There are several [...]
Program for organizing the Windows taskbar
The previous post told you how to keep the taskbar located where you want it. But suppose what you want is to organize the actual contents of the taskbar. Then you may want to take a look at the free program called “Taskbar Shuffle”. I have some friends who are upset that they have no [...]
Command line tip #12- shut down hung programs
It’s been quite a while since I gave a straight command line tip but here’s one for quickly closing a program that gets stuck or frozen. You can use the Task Manager (described here) but that can take a fairly long time. With the command “taskkill”, you can force a quick shutdown of a hung [...]
The case of the roving taskbar
One of the problems that I see quite frequently involves a taskbar that won’t stay put. I previously wrote:
More than once a frustrated PC user has asked me why the computer desktop’s taskbar suddenly appeared on the side or even the top of the screen. Many PC users are unaware that the taskbar is in [...]
Legal action over name “netbook” ended
A squabble over the trademark of the term “netbook” has ended. Ars Technica reports:
Computer makers can legally continue to make and sell products labeled as a “netbook.” Psion, which held a trademark for the word “netBook” since 1996, has agreed to settle its lawsuit with Intel over the term and stop sending cease-and-desist orders to [...]
Shortcuts to turn off your computer
This is a very popular tip. It was first posted in September, 2005:
I am often asked if there is a quick way to close down a computer without having to go through all the steps Start-Turn Off Computer-Turn Off. Windows XP comes with a special executable file for shutting down called shutdown.exe that allows you [...]
Digital Karnak
Having been there, I can say that even today the ancient Egyptian temple complex at Karnak is spectacular. But, of course, what exists today is only a shadow of what was once there. However, we can now see what the site may have looked like from a virtual reality model. Science News reports:
For the [...]
The wonderful world of words
Here’s a Web site for those who are fascinated with words. It’s called Phrontistery, which means a “thinking-place”. The description of the site says:
Welcome to the Phrontistery! I’m your host, Forthright. Since 1996, I have compiled word lists in order to spread the joy of the English language. Here, you will find the International House [...]
QuickTime patch
QuickTime has been patched again, Also iTunes. Details are at this PC World link.
Legitimate sites hit with malicious JavaScript
At ZDNet, Ryan Naraine reports that over 20,000 legitimate Web sites have been found to have had malicious JavaScript inserted:
Hackers have broken into more than 20,000 legitimate Web sites to plant malicious code to be used in drive-by malware attacks.
According to a warning from Websense Security Labs, the sites have been discovered to be injected [...]
Netbooks a dilemma for Microsoft
Microsoft’s drive to force Windows into every computing device can stand in the way of progress. (See this previous post.) Most newer versions of Windows need pretty hefty hardware and that rules out the small, mobile devices that would suffice for many people. Microsoft sees smaller devices as a threat to its profits and is [...]
