The majority of web developers develop their websites and services locally before they publish them on the Internet. This makes sense in a variety of ways, from saving a lot of bandwidth to faster updating or improved security. Even better, new technologies have made it a lot easier to setup a local web development system [...]

When you look at modern computer games, you will notice that many of them make use of achievement systems to keep players interested in the game. Achievements are awarded for in-game action, from silly things like making your first step to defeating 1000 enemies or beating one of the level bosses in the game. Not [...]

When I discover a great video or music track on the Internet I often want to share it with friends who I know have a similar taste when it comes to entertainment. What I really like to do is to watch videos together with friends. This works considerably well as we are often using Teamspeak [...]

I sometimes have to edit or convert videos before I upload them to YouTube or save them to a backup server. This is for instance the case for gaming session recordings which often reach the 100 Gigabyte mark and beyond. Tools like Virtualdub or Avidemux are advanced tools that I use most of the time, [...]

Email signatures are automatically added to emails. They often contain additional contact information, for instance the senders phone number, messenger chat name or address, and sometimes disclaimers and other legal notifications. Creating a basic signature is actually pretty easy even though the process has changed with every new version of Outlook. You can create a [...]

Sorting files into folders manually is not the most comfortable option available, especially if you need to create multiple folders to move different files into them. I have reviewed a few programs in the past that automate that process, from I like To Move It which allows you to move files and folders based on [...]

I know quite a few computer users who are regularly writing down what they have achieved or are currently doing. Some use applications like Notepad for this, or full blown applications designed for that purpose, while others use the good old pen and paper method to keep track of things. You usually have to open [...]

Many Internet users use the Internet to lookup addresses or get driving directions. They usually open a maps service, such as Google Maps or Bing Maps for that. It often means juggling around with multiple websites, if they have found the address on another website. A simple example is a new shop that you just [...]

The so called Hosts File can be used to redirect hostname requests to different IP addresses. It is often used to block access to websites or servers, to redirect requests to a new or local server, or by malicious attackers who redirect websites to honeypots and fake websites. Web developers can use the hosts file [...]

Before Ghacks I was working in the support department of one of Germany’s largest financial companies. I regularly received support requests from customers and employees, and many of the most common requests were login related. Users and employees trying to access a service could not do so because their login credentials were not accepted. Two [...]

The open source desktop publishing software Scribus has just received its first big update after nearly four years of development. Scribus 1.4 brings along more than 2000 bug fixes and feature requests that the developers managed to squeeze into the new version. One of the biggest improvements over previous versions of the application is that [...]

Sometimes I’m searching on Google to copy the search results link into another application. This is an extremely frustrating experience as links are manipulated by Google. When you copy a link in Google’s search results you’ll notice that the link target are displayed correctly when you hover the mouse cursor over the link, but when [...]

Sometimes you may want to display information about your Internet connection right on the desktop, for instance to test the speed of a new dedicated server that you just bought, or to make sure that you are uploading or downloading at full speed. Having direct access to realtime stats can also be helpful if you [...]

While testing a new userscript for Google I noticed that the company once again had changed search on their site. I was greeted with a “Welcome to Search plus Your World” phrase at the top which takes search results personalization a step further. When you are logged in your Google account you will get personal [...]

Microsoft today has released seven security related bulletins that fix issues in the Windows operating system and in Microsoft’s Developer Tools. One bulletin has received the maximum severity rating of critical, the highest available rating, while the remaining six bulletins have all received a rating of important, the third highest rating. It is interesting to [...]

Hacker News is a popular news aggregation site with a focus on Internet, computers and technology in general, and news of general interest. It is a lot like Reddit in this regard, as it allows users to vote for and comment on news that are posted on the site. Everyone can submit news and votes [...]

When you want to look at a calendar in a default Windows installation the only option you have is to click on the clock in the lower right corner of the screen. And while that’s an option, it is not a very comfortable one if you need to look at the calendar regularly. The calendar [...]

Microsoft yesterday at their keynote revealed that the company sold more than 18 million Kinect units for the Xbox 360 gaming console. Kinect, for those unfamiliar with, is a motion sensing input device that allows Xbox 360 gamers to interact with the system through body movement and their voice. Kinect for the Windows operating system [...]

Back in the beginning of last year I ran a piece on how to free up disk space by removing older versions of the Chrome web browser. I started to investigate the issue after installing a Solid State Drive on my computer and noticing that it filled up rather quickly with auto-generated data. Turned out [...]

Sometimes you may want to make sure that an e-mail address exists before you start sending out messages to that address. While you could simply send a test message to the address and see if it bounces off the mail server, you’d may want to try a sneakier solution so that the recipient does not [...]

If you are a regular on YouTube you probably know that Google has recently redesigned the page completely, turning pretty much everything up side down. The new design has received quite the criticism, for instance for the centered fixed width layout, or the larger frame at the top of the YouTube home page. Most YouTube [...]

The Disk Cleanup tool offers a great way to quickly free up some disk space by deleting temporary files that are no longer needed. It is in no way as complete or thorough as third party tools like CCleaner, but it gets the job done and does not require you to install another software on [...]

WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms currently available on the Internet. Popular sites like Techcrunch, Gizmodo or yours truly are all powered by WordPress. Users who are just getting started have a few options at their disposal. They can start with a blog over at WordPress.com, get their own website and self-host [...]

In Why Website Investments Are Better Than Stock Market Investments I mentioned that I bought several websites last year as an investment. When it comes to buying websites, there are always two options: First you can continue running and improving the site to earn monthly revenue from it. That’s great unless it requires to much [...]

If you ever forgot to make an important phone call or be at home or office to receive one, you may appreciate the small portable program Remember To Call. The program acts as a basic reminder on your system that notifies you when it is time to make that one call that you have to [...]

Sometimes you may want to make sure that a particular folder, and more precisely files stored in that folder, is not tampered with by any means. This includes the assurance that files have not been edited, moved, deleted or manipulated in any other way. And while you could use a program like Checksum Control, SFV [...]

One of the reasons for the success of the file sharing application Limewire was that it offered everything that one needed to get started. The program came with built-in options to search for and download files. All you had to do was to key in names that you were interested in, wait for the search [...]

Making sure that you are connected via SSL is one of the most important things Internet users can do to improve their security online. This is especially true on public computer networks, like those on airports, Internet cafes or on campus. Why? Because it is otherwise dead easy to wiretap the traffic that you send [...]

With hard drives and storage devices growing bigger by the year, it is only natural that computer users start to put more data on their computer systems. The shift from highly compressed movie formats to high definition formats takes its toll as well, as movies may now need Gigabytes of storage space instead of Megabytes. [...]

If you are an Internet regular you have probably heard about the Wadsworth Constant, an Internet meme that has come to some fame at the end of last year. A user named Wadsworth mentioned that he skipped 30% ahead of every YouTube he was viewing on the Internet. This spread quickly throughout the geeky parts [...]