The Computer Tutor

A lot of us suffer from a particular affliction.  It’s called distraction.   I might notice this more than some people because I work from a home office.  I can be completely focused on doing something, such as building a website or diagnosing a computer that isn’t working properly.  Then something happens.  Usually it’s [...] Read more »

Not too long ago, Gmail made a change in the way they display your email.  Instead of just having all of your new mail come into the Inbox, they divided the Inbox into a few categories: Priority, Social, Promotions, Updates. At first use, I didn’t like it.  But my dislike was not really based [...] Read more »

There’s a key on my Windows keyboard that I never use: Caps Lock.  I think probably the majority of people don’t use it.  And those that do use it regularly, shouldn’t!  When you type in all caps, it is considered the equivalent of yelling.  It’s rude.   Yet there it is on the keyboard. [...] Read more »

When trying to diagnose a computer problem, there’s an old saying that is still true: a picture is worth a thousand words.  If that’s the value of a picture, then a series of pictures must be worth a million words.  In many cases where a verbal description just doesn’t quite cut it, seeing a sequential [...] Read more »

Sometimes you have to use a public computer to check your email.  Maybe you are at school or in a library and the only access you have is one of the public computers.  Or, you might be at a friend’s house and log in to your email account. Then later that day, after you’re back [...] Read more »

Recently I came across an interesting product called Rabbit TV (get it here).  You may have seen this as well.  The package advertises 5000 FREE TV channels.  Amazing!  I don’t even get that many channels with my Verizon FIOS television package.  I decided to buy it and see if it could really deliver what was [...] Read more »

Facebook is definitely full of a lot of nonsense.  But, it does have value in certain areas.  I am on Facebook every day.  For me, while it’s good to stay in touch with friends and family, it’s also a good marketing tool.  I have gotten a substantial amount of business because of my presence on [...] Read more »

What if you share a computer with other people in your home, but you have a Word document that you don’t want anyone else to be able to read?  Maybe it’s a list of Christmas presents you are planning to buy for your kids and you don’t want them to see it.  Or it could [...] Read more »

I’ve had my primary Gmail account since early 2004, when it was first introduced by Google for beta testing.  Back then, you couldn’t just sign up for it – you had to be invited.  And when you created your account, you were given a certain number of invites that you could send out to your [...] Read more »

Something I used to dread: copying a large amount of data from one location to another.  For example, a 1500-song music collection from a computer’s hard drive to an external drive.  Or 100 folders with 50 gb of high-resolution photos from a portable drive to a new computer.  When you have to move a big [...] Read more »