Category Archives: PC
Windows 8 Store Passes 70,000 Apps, Shows OSX How It’s Done
Microsoft’s Controversial Windows 8 OS Is Gaining Ground–Fast
Windows 8, whether you love it or hate it, is a success. After recently announcing that the dramatically redesigned OS has already sold more than 100 million copies, Microsoft has gone something on the offensive in various blog posts, defending their design choices and their ongoing work to adapt the OS to consumer needs. But now there’s something new to crow about, and the only surprise is that there hasn’t yet been a press release: the Windows 8 App Store is now home to more than 70,000 apps. You read that right, folks: in 7 months of market availability, Windows 8 has 5 times as many apps in its marketplace as Apple’s OSX has, and it launched over 2 years ago. Head on past the break for the full details.
About Jason Ward
How To: Optimize Microsoft Surface Pro Battery Life
Surface Pro Battery Doesn’t Have to End at 4 Hours
I’m working on a Surface Pro right now in preparation for our upcoming review, but this little piece can’t wait. One of the chief complaints I’ve seen leveled at the device as I’ve perused other reviews is in the battery performance of the device. In most cases, reviewers, evidently unable to distinguish between an ARM based tablet and one running a full-blown laptop processor, have decried the battery life as horrible. While it’s fair to say that it’s not up to par with an ARM based SoC (what is?) in that area, it also doesn’t have to be as terrible as people claim. No, Microsoft’s Surface Pro has the ability to do a little better, and all it takes is a bit of tweaking on your part (tweaking, I’ll add, that Microsoft should have done at the factory). As I type this, I’ve been using it off the outlet for 6 hours, 24 minutes, and I have 15% battery life remaining. Head on past the jump for what I did, and how I’m getting an average of 6 hours depending on how I’m working.
About Jason Ward
Editorial: Microsoft Completely Botches Surface Pro Launch, Wastes Everyone’s Time
Today was the official launch date of Microsoft’s much-anticipated Surface Pro, the tablet device they famously announced in the summer of 2012. The device, supposed to bridge the gap between tablets and ultrabook laptops offering, if not a perfect amalgamation of the two, at least a superb blending of capabilities. From the various reviews, it sounds like the device more or less gets there, and a few days ago my fiancée and I managed to get some hands on time with the devices at Microsoft’s store in South Coast Plaza, Orange County, CA. We’d gone in hopes of getting a reservation card, announced a few days before. Kelley is an artist, and as such Surface represents probably the best value in tablet and computer on the market, thanks to its integrated Wacom digitizer that supports 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity. After playing with the device in store that day, she knew it was worth getting as a worthy upgrade to her aging Tablet PC. She’d tried for a time with the iPad (which we finally got rid of awhile back), but that device simply isn’t up to the task. So we asked for a reservation card, but were told that they were already gone. Subsequently the employee said not to worry because “we’ll have hundreds, you won’t need a reservation,” so we left the store with no worries.
Then this morning arrived, and as we got ready to head to the store, I perused the news and came across a startling article: Surface Pro sells out immediately. What the hell happened?
About Jason Ward
Nvidia Tegra 4: Curb Stomping Today’s Mobile
Nvidia’s sees your Quad Core Graphics and says “Yeah? Here’s 68 more, bitches!”
So you thought your new Nexus 10 or iPad 4 was the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world, right? That your dual core tablet or smartphone, or A6-this, Exynos-that was the end-all, be-all of hot shit? Well, Nvidia’s just dropped a brick in your lap, and it’s called the Tegra 4 mobile processor. It makes your iPad 4 look like a joke. It strangles your Nexus 7, 10 or otherwise, and it does it all with a song in its low-energy core, a swanky games console wrapped around its shoulders and a sure bet that 2013′s mobile phones and tablets are going to take a big, fiery dump on everything you just got for Christmas. Follow me past the break for specs and thoughts on Nvidia’s new groundbreaking Tegra 4 processor!
About Jason Ward
How to: Use Viper’s Video Quicktags to Spice Up Your WordPress Posts with Video!
Add dynamic content to your posts – embed videos!
Whether reviewing a movie, adding a cute animation, or just adding different content to a blog post, you want to be able to add a video. And sure, you can add a link to the YouTube page. The problem is, that takes viewers away from your site and on to YouTube. And once there…well, it’s pretty easy to get sucked in to videos and forget all about what you’re reading. But by adding a plugin to your WordPress site, you can embed videos so they play directly inside of the post. Read on to find out how!
About Nea Lieberman
After graduating UCLA, Nea worked in the far, far back reaches of the entertainment industry before quitting her job to become a full-time mom. Now that her daughter has entered school, she's back on the scene as a tutor, writer, editor, and bearer of all news nerdy!
How to: Add Family Safety in Windows 8 Part 4
A four-part series on setting up a Child Account / Family Safety for a user in Windows 8
Part 4: Adjusting Windows store and game restrictions, and app restrictions in Family Safety
In yesterday’s post, we explained how to adjust time limits and set a curfew in Family Safety in Windows 8. Today, we’ll be focusing on how to adjust the Windows store and game restrictions, as well as the app restrictions. Read after the jump to find out how!
About Nea Lieberman
After graduating UCLA, Nea worked in the far, far back reaches of the entertainment industry before quitting her job to become a full-time mom. Now that her daughter has entered school, she's back on the scene as a tutor, writer, editor, and bearer of all news nerdy!
How to: Add Family Safety in Windows 8 Part 3
A four-part series on setting up a Child Account / Family Safety for a user in Windows
Part 3: Adjusting Time Limits in Family Safety
In yesterday’s post, we explained how to set up Web Filtering in Family Safety for Windows 8. Today, we’ll be focusing on how to adjust the Time Limit settings in Family Safety. Read after the jump to find out how!
About Nea Lieberman
After graduating UCLA, Nea worked in the far, far back reaches of the entertainment industry before quitting her job to become a full-time mom. Now that her daughter has entered school, she's back on the scene as a tutor, writer, editor, and bearer of all news nerdy!
Skype meets Facebook
Skype colides with social media
Skype now has features to sign up with your facebook account. The latest version allows you to connect with facebook rather than creating a new account from scratch. The neat part is that, once you connect, skype will automatically fill out your account information with data pulled from facebook. However, you still have to create a skype username and password – you can’t just use your facebook info.
About Nea Lieberman
After graduating UCLA, Nea worked in the far, far back reaches of the entertainment industry before quitting her job to become a full-time mom. Now that her daughter has entered school, she's back on the scene as a tutor, writer, editor, and bearer of all news nerdy!
How to: Add Family Safety in Windows 8 Part 2
A four-part series on setting up a Child Account / Family Safety for a user in Windows 8
Part 2: Adjusting Web Filtering in Family Safety
In yesterday’s post, we explained the basics behind Family Safety, and how to start setting up Family Safety on a user’s account in Windows 8. Today, we’ll be focusing on how to adjust the Web Filtering settings in Family Safety. Read after the jump to find out how!
About Nea Lieberman
After graduating UCLA, Nea worked in the far, far back reaches of the entertainment industry before quitting her job to become a full-time mom. Now that her daughter has entered school, she's back on the scene as a tutor, writer, editor, and bearer of all news nerdy!
Adobe Photoshop Drops XP Support, Woe to the Luddites
Adobe Photoshop Moves with the Times
As a follow up to our post last night about Google Apps dropping support for Windows XP, it appears that Adobe Photoshop will be following suit. Per Adobe’s photoshop blog, Photoshop CS6 will be the last version to support Windows XP. As we mentioned, Windows XP is more than a decade old. And with Windows 8 release just around the corner, it’s time to move on.
About Nea Lieberman
After graduating UCLA, Nea worked in the far, far back reaches of the entertainment industry before quitting her job to become a full-time mom. Now that her daughter has entered school, she's back on the scene as a tutor, writer, editor, and bearer of all news nerdy!
