Firefox’s new tracking and how to turn it off
Well, here we go again... A few years ago, Google announced FLoC, which I talked about here. In short: Led by Google, a group of businesses and advertisers is pushing a new standard that would have your browser identifying your particular group of interests by a...
A crash course in 4K UHD, or Ultra High Definition
For awhile now, the talk of the town has been "4K". We hear a lot about it, and you can even buy a 4K television. On the other hand, 4K content hasn't really hit the mainstream yet. In fact, it hardly exists at all. We do have plenty of new TVs and Blu-ray players...
Fix Firefox crashes, hangs, and other problems using Safe Mode
These days, it seems that Google's Chrome is the most popular browser out there. Worldwide, Mozilla Firefox is the second most-used web browser. There are reasons why Firefox is still fairly popular, especially the Add-on system. Add-ons let you customize your...
Fix Windows Media Player music sharing in Windows 10
So you get Windows 10. You share your media libraries so other users on your network can see and play your music from Windows Media Player on their own puters. Unfortunately, when they try to browse your music, WMP connects but quickly declares that your media library...
How to fix Windows Update errors, including in Windows 10
Update 30 March 2021: You can also watch the video! Let's say you just ran Disk Cleanup to remove old Windows files that you don't need any more. Then you notice that Windows Update keeps giving you error messages. No matter how many times you try, the updates keep...
Free up disk space after a Windows 10 upgrade
You've upgraded to Windows 10. You've survived. Congratulations! What you may not realize is that your old install of Windows 7 or 8 is still hanging around on your hard drive. These old files usually take up tons of space - as much as 20-30GB! This is especially bad...
Add to Cart doesn’t work on Amazon… Help!
It's that time of year again. You know: Black Friday, crazy people trampling each other for a TV, that kind of thing... All in the spirit of the Holiday Season, of course! 😉 If recent history is any indication, those of us who don't much care for crowds and stampedes...
Fix UEFI BIOS boot problems on a new motherboard
You know the drill: You get a new motherboard. You upgrade. And then the fun begins! Sometimes, one device or another in your system is not detected properly. Other times, you can't boot into Windows. You may even find that you can't even get into the BIOS after the...
Where is the Startup folder in Windows 10?
The Startup folder contains shortcuts to programs that run when you start up Windows. Back in the olden days of Windows 7, you could easily find the Startup folder. All you had to do was click Start, and type "Startup". Wasn't that easy? Enter Windows 8, and now...
Download Google Drive files faster
If you've ever tried to download large files from Google Drive via the web download method, you may have noticed that the downloads go really, really slowly. Typically, I'm seeing download speeds between 300kB/s and 500kB/s. And usually, I'm seeing Drive download...
Screenshots in Windows, the easy way
You may have read my earlier post, Capture Part of your Screen in Windows: Behold the Snipping Tool!. The Snipping Tool in Windows is very handy. But, sometimes you just want a quick and easy way to grab a screenshot. As I mentioned in my previous post, you can just...
Insect bite relief that actually works
You know the drill: Hang around outside, get bitten or stung by various insects, and then itch like crazy for several days. Try different remedies, some of them work for awhile, some of them don't... Every year, it's the same old thing. Not anymore! There's a "new"...
How does password authentication work on web sites?
I recently read an article about the Ashley Madison hack. For those of you who aren't into cheating on your spouse, Ashley Madison is a web site where you can sign up and meet up with other lovely people in order to have an affair. Anyway, they were recently hacked....
Another privacy fix, this time for Windows 7, 8, and 10
So, you've avoided installing Windows 10 because you heard how Microsoft is gobbling up lots of data from your puter. Well, bad news: Even if you have Windows 7 or Windows 8, there was an update in May 2015 that installed the Diagnostics Tracking Service that first...
Quick Fix: My Favorites are missing after Windows 10 upgrade
If you used Internet Explorer in Windows 7 or 8, all your bookmarks were saved in your Favorites folder. After the upgrade to Windows 10, you may discover that in the new version of IE, called Microsoft Edge, your favorites are missing! You'd think the import of your...
How to add an EU Cookie Consent popup to your web site
Cookie Consent laws: you have surely seen them. You go to a site, and you get a popup or bar at the top of the site that says, "We use cookies, blah blah blah..." There is usually a "Learn more" link, and sometimes a way to accept or reject that site's use of cookies....