Computer Act!ve articles from February 2008

Computer Act!ve archives from February 2008

Pack a MAC.(Media Access Control)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Mark Wilson Pack a MAC Supercharge your wireless network's security in a brand-new section that will guide you through clear but challenging projects Welcome to the all-new Computeractive Masterclass. In every issue we...

Add HD DVD or Blu-ray to your PC.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Emil Larsen Add HD DVD or Blu-ray to your PC High-definition movies give amazing picture quality and HD drives are cheaper than ever. We show how to install one in your computer The successors to DVD have been around...

Share photos with friends online If you have a growing collection of digital photos, take control by sharing them online using Flickri?1/2s privacy feature p52 Stay safe online with Internet Explorer version 7 The web is a dangerous place, but the latest vers.
February 7, 2008... Share photos with friends online If you have a growing collection of digital photos, take control by sharing them online using Flickr's privacy feature p52 Stay safe online with Internet Explorer version 7 The web is a dangerous...

Share photos with friends online.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Scott Beattie Share photos with friends online Take control of online photo-sharing using Flickr's tagging and privacy features If you have a growing collection of digital photos, you might have considered putting...

Stay safe online with Internet Explorer 7.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Nick Peers Stay safe online with Internet Explorer 7 The web is a dangerous place, but the latest version of Internet Explorer can make surfing safer You could be forgiven for wanting to avoid all contact with the...

Check your spelling with Microsoft Word.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Nick Peers Check your spelling with Microsoft Word It's easy to make sure documents are correctly spelled with Microsoft Word's proofing tools Few people have perfect spelling and grammar, which is why Microsoft...

Logic3 Soundstage.(six-speaker setup)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Logic3 Soundstage Logic3's Soundstage is a surround-sound unit that has only one speaker section. While normal surround-sound sets rely on the user to place six speakers around the room, the Soundstage sits under the television and...

Out of harmi?1/2s way.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Andrew Zarkesh Out of harm's way Online backup keeps files safe from disaster and gives easy access to work if you're away from home A- we show you how to protect your files, photos and more Backing up important personal...

Gadget goldmine.
February 7, 2008... Gadget goldmine Make a bit of extra cash from your unwanted gadgets If you remember the episode of Only Fools and Horses in which the Trotters discover they have a multimillion-pound antique sitting around in their garage, then we're...

Doni?1/2t be a litter lout.
February 7, 2008... Don't be a litter lout Sometimes a gadget really is worthless, whether it's damaged or so old as to be of no interest. But think twice before dropping it in the bin. In July 2007, the Government introduced the Waste Electronic and...

Asus Eee PC 701 4G.(Product/service evaluation)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tom Royal Asus Eee PC 701 4G A tiny, cheap notebook computer, but one without Windows Notebook computers are cheaper today than ever before, but it's still unusual to see one on sale for less than [pounds sterling]350. ...

Digitise your memories.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Rod Lawton Digitise your memories We show you how to transfer your old photographs to a secure digital format and repair some of the damage, before they fade out of your life completely What we often forget about our old...

Epson PictureMate 290.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Gavin Stoker Epson PictureMate 290 A Swiss army knife of a printer Epson has been making photo printers for years, but the new Picturemate has to be one of the strangest-looking. First impressions aren't good A-...

Canon Powershot SX100 IS.(Product/service evaluation)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Gavin Stoker Canon Powershot SX100 IS A good-value camera that's easy to use The eight-megapixel SX100 IS, with its 10x optical zoom, is a new class of camera for Canon. It has a monster of a lens but is easier to use...

HP Photosmart A626.(portable photo printer )(Product/service evaluation)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Gavin Stoker HP Photosmart A626 A portable photo printer for affordable pictures Fashioned into a shape that suggests a toaster for a toddler, HP's miniature A626 printer shows that the company has cottoned onto the fact...

Trust Universal Notebook Power Adapter.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Trust Universal Notebook Power Adapter PW-1700p Trust's Universal Notebook Power Adapter replaces your notebook computer's own power supply. That's handy for anyone who's lost or broken their original...

Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere.(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere The Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere is an iPod dock that does nothing more than play music through its speakers. What it lacks in extras, though, it makes up for in audio quality....

APC Universal notebook.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran APC Universal Notebook Battery 50 This product acts as a replacement or additional battery for a notebook PC. It sits between your computer and its power adapter and charges up along with the computer's...

Perfect PDF creator.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Andrew Zarkesh Cosmi Perfect PDF Creator Save documents in a standard format It can be frustrating to receive an electronic document only to discover that you do not have the program needed to open it. This is a...

An active decade.
February 7, 2008... An active decade It's been 10 years since Computeractive first rolled off the presses. We take a look back at the biggest stories of the past decade Ten years is a long time by anyone's reckoning, but in technology terms it's...

Counterfeit memory cards.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tom Royal Counterfeit memory cards In this new Computeractive Investigates section, we'll be taking an in-depth look at the latest news, technology and consumer rights issues. In issue 257, our Consumeractive column...

Better letters.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Better letters Give your correspondence a personal touch and make letter writing easier Microsoft Word is great for giving a professional look to letters, but it can do more than simply adding dates and addresses...

Sharing photos online.(email photos to other people)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Rod Lawton Sharing photos online It is possible to email photos to other people, but this can be an inefficient and time-consuming business. It's much simpler to upload them to an online gallery that friends and family can...

Film scanners.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Rod Lawton Film scanners A flatbed scanner with a transparency adapter can do a decent job of scanning slides and negatives, but if the originals are of good quality it's unlikely to pick up all the detail in the picture. This...

the open alternative to word.(Openoffice)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith the open alternative to word For the examples in this article we've used Microsoft Word 2003, but if you don't own a copy of Word it's possible to create excellent letterheads using Openoffice, which can be downloaded...

Templates for email.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Templates for email Emails can also be made more attractive using a letterhead. Rather than clicking on the Create mail button in the Outlook Express toolbar, left-click on the small arrow to the right of it to show a...

dvd dilemma.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek dvd dilemma I ordered a Sony DVD Recorder from Dixons online for [pounds sterling]273.45 at the beginning of August last year. In December, the screen displayed 'HDD FULL' and it would not record anything. I've...

Samsung L83T.(digital cameras)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Samsung L83T The oddly named L83T Midget Photographer is not much smaller than other tiny digital cameras, such as those in the Pentax Optio range. It does take good-quality snapshots, though, and has a...

Tomtom Go 920 T.(GPS device)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Tomtom Go 920 T Tomtom's latest sat-nav device is the Go 920 T, which sits at the very top of the company's range. It's loaded with maps of 41 countries, including the US and Canada. Almost every major...

Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 Recharge your keyboard and your mouse While many keyboard and mouse sets allow the user to recharge the mouse's batteries using a docking station, this is the...

Drobo external hard disk.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Drobo external hard disk Most external hard disks come with just one disk inside, but Drobo has room for four A- although it doesn't come with any installed. It's designed to offer backup as well as storage,...

Neuros OSD.(a media streaming device with Optical Super Density)(Product/service evaluation)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Paul Lester Neuros OSD A versatile device with interesting looks The Neuros OSD is a media streaming device that offers a range of ways to view and distribute music and video around the home. The device is designed to...

MAC attacks.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Mark Wilson MAC attacks Although MAC address filtering is a good way of locking down a network, like all security measures it's not infallible. It is, for example, possible to change the MAC address of a computer using special...

Master your computer.
February 7, 2008... Master your computer We've put together a free package of four programs to help make your PC safer, more reliable and much easier to use. Read on to find out how to download and install it As an operating system, it's the job of...

Keeping Windows up to date.
February 7, 2008... Keeping Windows up to date To keep Windows in shape, it's essential to download and install all the updates provided by Microsoft through its Windows Update feature. These updates not only plug security breaches as they appear, but also...

Windows tools.
February 7, 2008... Windows tools Microsoft is not keen on users tinkering with Windows, so many of its tools are hard to find and use. Whereas Fix-It Utilities has Startup Commander to control which programs start automatically with Windows, Microsoft hides...

Upgrade and save i?1/2i?1/2i?1/2s.(software upgrades)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Upgrade and save [pounds sterling][pounds sterling][pounds sterling]s V-Com Fix-It Utilities 7 Professional The Professional edition of Fix-It Utilities includes a powerful anti-virus module from Trend Micro, along with other...

LG Viewty.(touchscreen smartphones)(Product/service evaluation)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Andrea-Marie Vassou LG Viewty Not quite a match for the iPhone but the Viewty is a beauty We hoped, when Apple's touchscreen iPhone appeared last year, that it was only a matter of time before other manufacturers followed...

Shuttle LinuXPC SD3002Q 500.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Shuttle LinuXPC SD3002Q 500 A small, stylish PC without Windows One reason stopping people from trying the Linux operating system is concern about installing it, especially if Linux does not support a particular...

Online games.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Free online games Coffee Shop Coffee Shop puts players in charge of a hot drink stall. It's a kind of economic simulator in which you need to buy enough cups, coffee, sugar and milk, mix it together in...

Games news.(Spore and Ship Simulator )(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran Games news spore God game Spore will soon see the light of day, according to publisher Electronic Arts. The game, created by Sims maker Will Wright, will take players from the beginning of the universe...

Fujifilm Finepix Z10FD.(new digital camera)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Andrea-Marie Vassou Fujifilm Finepix Z10fd As trousers get skinnier and pockets get smaller, camera manufacturers are shrinking their products to fit. Fujifilm's Finepix Z10fd is one example. Although the camera is...

Crysis.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn Crysis Sets a new standard for first-person shooters Crysis is the sort of game that becomes a landmark before it's even been released. Images of its stunning graphics have been doing the rounds online and...

Data Disaster i?1/2 Your Options.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Data Disaster - Your Options Most of us are familiar with the sinking feeling of realising a vital Office document or precious photograph has just been accidentally deleted or overwritten. But can anything be done to recover those files?...

Win i?1/22,500 of Avira security software.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith WIN [pounds sterling]2,500 worth of Avira security software Stay safe online from hackers and phishing attacks Online security has never been so important. Once upon a time viruses would wipe some files, but now...

No Problem.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith, Anthony Dhanendran Tie a ribbona[bar] Q|Is there any way of hiding the new toolbar ribbon used in Office 2007? I'm using a widescreen notebook and it takes up too much space for normal writing tasks. Angela Kemp...

Downloads.(manage your photos)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Get extra online protection, tweak Linux and manage your photos LinkScanner Lite Linkscanner Lite offers extra online protection by scanning the results of Google and Yahoo searches. Type: Freeware File...

Online video reviews.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Computeractive TV Vita DAB Radio 1950s styling meets the 21st century as Andrea-Marie Vassou takes a look at a radio that receives both Digital and FM. It has a remote control and alarm clock, and the sound quality is...

Best of the web.(http://tinyurl.com/2hcfx5)(http://tinyurl.com/2t2rfj)(http://tinyurl.com/23apd4)(Website list)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Site seeing Help for those in education and a list of free software and useful websites Ultimate Student Resource List http://tinyurl.com/2hcfx5 This is an exhaustive list of free software and useful...

Quick launch.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Quick Launch It can be frustrating trying to get to a file on the Desktop when there are lots of programs open at the same time. The Quick Launch Toolbar in the Taskbar has an icon that minimises every window with...

Organising the Start menu.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Organising the Start Menu If you have a lot of programs installed, then the All Programs list in the Start menu can be huge and unorganised. Luckily, it's easy to group them into categories. To do this in Windows XP,...

Mailbox managing.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tim Smith Mailbox managing Setting up filters on a Google Mail inbox can keep your inbox under control. Log in and then click on the Create a Filter link. Enter a means of identifying the email in one or more of the boxes...

Bid to boost surf speeds.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Bid to boost surf speeds European-funded research into boosting broadband speeds is to be put into practice by DAS Photonics. This spin-off company claims the technology, which has been developed by the Gandalf...

Deaf messaging.
February 7, 2008... Byline: staff nDEAF Messaging AOL has created an instant messaging system designed for deaf and hard of hearing users. The system works in real time, adding text from messages while still being typed, instead of waiting for the 'send'...

Share your language.(Voxswap)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: slive akass Share your language A social-networking site aims to help people learn languages. With Voxswap, the person specifies which language or languages they speak and which ones they are trying to learn. Users can browse...

Jail threat for illegal sales.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Jail threat for illegal sales Online retailers who sell alcohol, knives, pornography and other age-restricted products to children should be jailed, according to an MP. Margaret Moran, Labour MP for Luton...

Free shooter.
February 7, 2008... Byline: staff nfree shooter Electronic Arts has announced plans to release new online games for free. 'Play 4 Free' will launch in the coming months with Battlefield Heroes, a cartoon-style online shooter that will be free to download...

Energy saving phones.
February 7, 2008... Byline: staff Energy-saving phones BT has unveiled a range of energy-efficient phones designed to consume around half the power of previous units. The new phones are the Graphite 1500, Graphite 1100, Freestyle 610 and Freestyle...

Smith: ban terrorist sites.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Andrea Vassou Smith: ban terrorist sites Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has urged internet service providers (ISPs) to ban websites that promote terrorism. Speaking at the launch of the International Centre for the Study of...

Sewers provide super-fast broadband.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Sewers provide super-fast broadband Welsh firm H2O Networks is to provide super-fast broadband using fibre optic cables laid in sewers. The company has short listed three towns to test the new system:...

BBC joins Myspace.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: staff nbbc joins myspace TV The BBC has sealed a partnership with Myspace to offer a range of BBC content on the social networking site. Users will be able to subscribe to BBC Worldwide's MyspaceTV video channel to view and...

Logger doubts.
February 7, 2008... Byline: staff Logger doubts Monitoring software that is being developed by Microsoft could fall foul of the law, according to top lawyers. Details have emerged of the patent application for a system to monitor all aspects of an...

Eavesdropping on public conversation's 'intrusive'.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Eavesdropping on public's conversations 'intrusive' The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has warned companies that fitting microphones to CCTV cameras to record people's conversations is a "highly intrusive"...

Free photo-editing programs.
February 7, 2008... Free photo-editing programs In this article we've used Adobe's Photoshop Elements to demonstrate common photo-fixing techniques, but there are many other choices, including Corel Paint Shop Pro and Photo Impact. These are commercial...

Bid to outlaw suicide sites.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Bid to outlaw suicide sites A national charity has petitioned the Government to outlaw suicide websites. Papyrus, a charity dedicated to stopping young people from committing suicide, said it had overwhelming...

Heroes and villains.(Table)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Heroes and villains We've picked out our top 10 best and worst inventions and happenings in technology over the past 10 years. You can vote on our list at the website below, but if you want to suggest your own computing heroes and...

Your Ultimate Guide to Windows Vista.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Your ultimate guide to Windows Vista with the first of 2008's Computeractive Ultimate Guides To series we revisit Windows Vista a year on from launch. In this edition we tackle trouble hotspots. Although Vista...

Storm worm proves a success.
February 7, 2008... Byline: staff nstorm worm proves a success The 2007 Global Threat Report from Bratislava-based security firm Eset has highlighted the huge success of the Storm 'worm' virus. Storm infects PCs and maintains its foothold on compromised...

Firms turn red for Africa.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Firms turn red for Africa Dell and Microsoft will be selling computers as part of the Product (RED) scheme which aims to fight AIDS in Africa. Four products are being made available in the US: One XPS desktop...

02 rethinks Apple iPhone tariffs after disappointing sales.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek and staff 02 rethinks Apple iPhone tariffs after disappointing sales Poor sales of Apple's iPhone in the UK may have contributed towards O2's decision to revise the phone's special tariffs. It has been reported...

Online help for e-victims.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Online help for e-victims The fiRST UK website to help victims of cyber crime has been set up by a not-for-profit organisation, The E-Victims Organisation CIC. The site, www.e-victims.org, will not act as a...

Firm hits back in the format fight.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek Firm hits back in the format fight Toshiba has hit back at suggestions that its HD DVD next generation high definition (HD) format will lose to its rival, Sony's Blu-ray technology. The company hit back after...

Deleted details still on server.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Dinah Greek ndeleted details still on servers The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is investigating the way Facebook handles users' personal information. The move follows a complaint by a user of the social-networking...

Online threats evade security.
February 7, 2008... Byline: staff Online threats evade security Companies struggling to control new threats embedded in websites Security companies have admitted that they are struggling to cope with the new wave of online threats. Recent reports...

How to disable Javascript in your web browser.
February 7, 2008... How to disable Javascript in your internet browser To disable Javascript in Internet Explorer, click on the Tools menu in the Taskbar. Then click on Internet Options, then click Security. Once this page has come up click on Custom level,...

Catch up with TV using BBC iPlayer.
February 21, 2008... Byline: Cliff Joseph Catch up with TV using BBC iPlayer Missed a favourite BBC TV show? Find out how iPlayer can come to the rescue After a seemingly endless testing period, the BBC has officially launched its iPlayer...

Store and find anything on your PC.
February 21, 2008... Byline: Paul Wardley Store and find anything on your PC Evernote turns a PC into the ultimate note-taker, filing cabinet and organiser You don't have to use a computer for long before realising that fond notions about typing...

Workshop intro.
February 21, 2008... Byline: Scott Colvey Use Excel to create secure reminders It's not easy to remember multiple personal identification numbers, or Pins. Here's a foolproof, and safe, method p40 Store and find anything on your PC Evernote...

Use Excel to create secure reminders.(Spreadsheet software)
February 21, 2008... Byline: Joe Cassells Use Excel to create secure reminders It's not easy to remember personal identification numbers, or Pins. Here's a foolproof method The introduction of Chip-and-Pin technology means that our financial...

Record TV with Vistai?1/2s Media Center.
February 21, 2008... Byline: Rob Beattie Record TV with Vista's Media Center Schedule recordings of favourite TV shows with Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate The two fanciest editions of Windows Vista A- Home Premium and Ultimate A- include...

Tailor your Taskbar.(Windows Vista has Quick Launch bar)
February 21, 2008... Tailor your Taskbar The Quick Launch bar in Windows saves time, but it can be made even more useful. Find out how The Windows Quick Launch bar can be used to gain easy access to the programs you use most frequently, making it...

Change your outlook.
February 21, 2008... Change your outlook Outlook Express is a good email program, but it's not the only choice A- we examine the alternatives and what they offer If you've ever used a Windows PC since the days of Windows 98, you've had your hands...

Microsoft Outlook.
February 21, 2008... Microsoft Outlook If you don't want to stray too far from Outlook Express, how about switching to Microsoft's more powerful email software? Whereas Outlook Express is designed for home users, Microsoft Outlook was developed with serious...

Revert to Outlook Express.
February 21, 2008... Revert to Outlook Express Should you switch your regular Outlook Express email habit for a taste of Thunderbird, it's worth considering what to do if you decide you don't like it and want to switch back. Sadly, Outlook Express doesn't...