Computers and hardware

After performing an upgrade or other major system modification, sometimes people experience odd mouse input behavior on their OS X systems. In some cases the system may show a sudden change in speed and acceleration properties of the mouse, and at other times the mouse may appear more or less sensitive to clicks, where single clicks may result in double clicks, or where double clicks may not register.

Unfortunately these behaviors are rare and different enough that there is no single cause and direct solution available for affected users. However, in most situations a configuration error with specific software or … Read more

Need to shut down your PC in a hurry? Simple. Here are two handy keyboard shortcuts to save you time and mousing.

Close all open programs A little-known set of keystrokes will shut down all active programs at once in no time.

Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then Alt-T to open Task Manager's Applications tab. Press the down arrow, and then Shift-down arrow to select all the programs listed in the window. When they're all selected, press Alt-E, then Alt-F, and finally x to close Task Manager.

For those of you keeping score at home, that's seven steps that … Read more

Our nation faces a decision that could tear us apart.

Yes, the choice between running Windows 8 in Metro view or the traditional desktop view is what we must wrestle with.

Fortunately, there is a compromise to bridge this heated divide. By using a dual-screen setup, you can run Metro and desktop views simultaneously on the same machine.

In the How To video above, I'll walk you through the process of connecting a second monitor to your Windows 8 machine and adjusting just a few settings to achieve the ultimate dual-interface Windows 8 experience.

To cut to the chase, … Read more

There are a lot of great programs available to rip CDs to MP3, AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc., but most require you to re-rip your CD if you want to save the rip to a different file format. If you have a large CD collection, ripping your CDs twice could take an excruciatingly long time.

dBpoweramp for Windows (XP/Vista/7/8), is a very fast and accurate audio CD ripper that supports ripping to multiple encoders. If you want to rip your CDs to FLAC for archiving and to MP3 for use on an iPod or smartphone, dbPoweramp can … Read more

Prepare to witness a tantalizing glimpse at our future robot overlords.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency yesterday released a stunning video showing how an autonomous robot can navigate and jump over obstacles with great ease.

In the clip, the Pet-Proto robot -- a predecessor to DARPA's Atlas robot -- traverses a simulated hallway containing a very tall step and a thin walkway. Pet-Proto easily uses its strong arms to balance itself as it climbs a step, then perfectly leaps down with a thud. The highly agile walker stretches its legs to continue its journey along the thin edges of a gutted hallway floor. … Read more

Though Instagram recently added likes and comments to its Web interface, a complete Web experience, filled with photo uploads, streams, and and profile-viewing is still on my wish list.

Many have adopted their phone as their primary camera, but there's a niche group of users -- like bloggers and photographers -- who work around Instragram's limited app environment to upload full-res photos from their dSLR cameras.

Possibilities include uploading photos through the iPad Camera Connection Kit, or even e-mailing a photo from a desktop computer and uploading it to Instagram through that route. Savvy Android users might even … Read more

If you are a tech blogger or engage in another pursuit that requires the regular capturing and sharing of screenshots, Puush (Mac | Windows) could prove useful. It's a free and easy multiplatform app that automatically uploads screenshots as you snap them. It works on both Macs and Windows systems, and there is also a Puush iPhone app. I tried out the free Mac app and iPhone app.

When you launch Puush on a Mac, you'll see a small arrow icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen. Click on the arrow icon and choose Preferences … Read more

As a tech blogger, I take a lot of screenshots, and I use Dropbox to make these screenshots accessible from any of my computers. Typically, the process involves me taking a screenshot and then manually uploading it to Dropbox. With GrabBox, however, I am able to automate the process.

GrabBox is a free Mac app. After installing it, it places an icon in your Mac's menu bar and opens an Initial Setup window. The setup involves one, simple action. It asks you to right-click on a file in your Dropbox Public folder, and it provides a button that will … Read more

Do you like my new desktop background?

If you have 2 minutes to spare, you can create such a background, too. From Stamen Design, a San Francisco-based design and technology studio, comes Map-->Image. It's a free Web utility that lets you create an image from an area on a map.

Plug in a city and state or zip code in the Find a Place box, choose a map style, set the image size, and click the Make button. Once you have found a place, you can use the "+" and "-" buttons on the … Read more