Articles in Category: Internet
The Internet – the global network of networks and one of the most significant and powerful things to have come along ever.
What Does It Mean to Register a Domain?
A concept we often take for granted is that of internet domains. I’ll look at what they are and how to purchase one and set it up.
Pinboard – Never Lose Bookmarks Again
Pinboard allows you to save bookmarks once and use them across multiple machines, operating systems, browsers, and devices.
Is It Time to Start Using an Adblocker?
Advertising on the internet is broken. It might be time to think about using adblockers and supporting your favorite websites in other ways.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the latest buzzword for something we’ve been doing for a long time: using applications that live on the web instead of our PCs.
Why CAPTCHA?
You’ve probably seen CAPTCHAs and not even realized it. CAPTCHAs are used to make sure systems aren’t gamed or spammed by machines.
Why Can’t We Use https for Everything?
HTTPS provides validation and encryption, two important pieces of security. Using it for everything is possible but costly, and issues would remain.
Where Do You Get Your Answers?
There are many ways to find information on the internet, and here are a few tricks of mine that can work for you.
Why Do Websites Use Pop-ups?
Pop-ups driving you crazy? Let’s look at why they exist and how they “pay for” some of the best free information on the internet.
Does cleaning cookies force me to re-verify my bank log-in?
It’s a pretty quick process to identify all the internet domains that need to be listed in CCleaner as exceptions so that you can easily log in to your favorite sites.
How Do I Download a File from a Webpage?
We’re often given the opportunity to download a file from the internet, be it pictures, music, ebooks, programs, and more. The assumption is that you know how. If you don’t, I’ll show you.
Why is a website trying to open a file on my machine?
If clicking on a link causes a request to open a file on your machine, chances are the web page author made a simple, and common, mistake.
Why Is There a Slash Through the https in My Browser’s Address Bar?
A slash through the padlock, the https, or the https appearing in red all mean one thing: something’s wrong. Exactly what’s wrong can vary.
How do I view cookies in IE 11?
View cookies in IE using the normal easy-to-remember way, or the quick way.
A New Unit of Measurement?
In which we use the world’s best-selling book to make gigantic numbers a little more tangible.
Why I’m (slowly) Switching to OneDrive
I’m slowly switching to OneDrive because I realized there was a fundamental difference between Google Docs and Microsoft Office Online.
How Does Flushing a DNS Cache Help Resolve Some Issues, and While You’re at It, What’s DNS?
DNS transforms domain names into IP addresses. A DNS cache remembers DNS information… but sometimes it needs to forget.
What’s the Difference Between “Save” and “Run” When Downloading?
You can Run a download or you can Save it, or you can even Save and Run it. I’ll review what Run and Save each really mean.
Where Do Downloads Go?
Downloading a file from the internet is easy – typically just a click or two. But knowing and controlling where downloads go takes a little more effort.
Searching precisely
Start broad and refine is typically the best search strategy, unless you have something very specific to look for. I’ll show you how being more specific from the start can lead to finding the exact results you want.
Why Is Chrome Automatically Filling in Forms?
Web browsers like Google Chrome try to be helpful by recognizing commonly used forms and fields and remembering previously entered information for you. It’s no conspiracy, but it can seem spooky.
Internet Explorer crashes, how do I fix it?
IExplore.exe, aka Internet Explorer or ‘IE’, can crash, but it’s not always its fault. We’ll look at some of the things that can cause IExplore.exe to crash, and steps you can take.
What Are Tracking Cookies, and Should They Concern Me?
Cookies are placed on your machine by websites — often more websites than you realize. We’ll review cookies and how third parties can use them.
How do I get the old msn.com homepage back?
It appears that the look and feel of msn.com is changing yet again. To many that have msn.com as their home page, this change may or may not be welcome.
What makes a site secure?
A secure website means the site owner has jumped through the technical hoops necessary to qualify for https. Safety is another thing all together.
Why Do Some Web Pages Never Finish Loading?
The little wheel on web pages can certainly get stuck spinning. Websites, these days, are so complex that sorting out the cause will take some digging.
Just What Is Port 80?
To understand how ports work, we need to step back just a little and first understand what happens when computers attempt to communicate with each other on the internet.
Does Downloading Use the Same Amount of Bandwidth as Just Watching a YouTube Video?
Streaming video sites often have some special features that make the answer more complicated than it would seem. I’ll explain what’s happening in each of these cases.
Can We No Longer View Websites without Getting Pop-ups?
Free information on the web isn’t free; there are costs to provide it. Pop-ups: advertising, offers, and social media, are all part of the “cost” of free.
Do I Need More than One Browser? Why?
As you’ll see, website-browser compatibility is a bit of a mess. The solution is just what you suggest: have more than one browser ready to go on your computer.
Who’s responsible for monitoring misleading advertising?
If an ad claims that they will fix your computer for free, be skeptical. You know they are trying to make money, and besides you may be able to handle the problem yourself, for free.
Why Do I Need to Change Passwords After HeartBleed?
Heartbleed: what it is, what it isn’t, why it’s important, and of course what you need to do.
How Do I Control What Sites My Child Can Visit?
Besides not being a parent myself, there’s a reason why I don’t talk very often about parental control software and internet filters: I don’t have much faith in them. And honestly, I don’t believe that they really work. I’ll review a few of those reasons. I’ll also recommend one approach that, while it doesn’t address … Read more
Why Would a Website’s Automatic Sign-in Suddenly Stop Working?
A website’s automatic sign-in may suddenly stop working when cookies are deleted from your machine.
How Do I Make a Change to Chrome that Sticks?
The Google Chrome browser has a sign in feature that remembers your settings and can sync across numerous computers. It may be getting things confused.
Why Am I Getting Empty Form Submissions from My Website?
Spam, spammers, and hackers. They make website management quite difficult, and you may be experiencing this with your web form.
Is requiring a Facebook or Google Account fair?
Free is never really free. Just like everywhere else, the information delivered online has been created using basic business principles.
Why do Youtube videos start and stop when they didn’t used to?
Fast really isn’t what it used to be, but there are ways that you may be able to keep from upgrading all your equipment just to enjoy online video.
My webmaster left. What do I do?
If your webmaster leaves unexpectedly, you can have a lot of trouble getting access to your own website. I’ll review some of the things that you need to do to prepare – just in case.
Do I Need to Install IE 11?
Internet Explorer has become a better browser over time and updating regularly is just a good idea. Especially when it comes to IE 11.
How Do I Reinstall Internet Explorer?
Internet Explorer is a Windows component masquerading as an application. As a result, reinstalling IE isn’t completely possible. I’ll review what we can do to get close to reinstalling Internet Explorer.
How Do I Bypass this Web Blocking?
Can you get around web blocking software? Here are a few steps to figure it out.
Is there an ISP that I can use in two different places?
Staying connected to the internet can be a problem when you move around a lot. Fortunately, solutions are getting easier.
Will adding an “s” to http make my connection secure?
If you can turn http into https and it works, that means that the site has a security certificate. So why aren’t they using it?
Why Do I Keep Getting Certificate Errors from My School’s Website?
Ultimately, a problem with a security certificate belongs to the owner of the website. There may be a way to get around it, but you probably need to contact them.
How do I fix Internet Explorer if it won’t open?
The error message actually leads us down the path that we need to repair your installation of Internet Explorer.
How do I secure my website?
When you operate a site on the internet, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way. Hackers would love to compromise your site for their own purposes. I’ll look at common problems and what to do about them.
How Did a Website Discover My Email Address?
It’s probably a coincidence, but there are a few scenarios where data could be shared with other websites. Let’s look at how that can happen.
Do I Need to Have a Google+ Profile to Use Picasa?
These days, most online service providers offer linked services. Getting an account with one automatically opens accounts for you with the others.
What Does Error 500 from a Website Mean?
The 500 series indicate errors on the server, the remote computer that is “serving” that website to the internet. There are only a few things you can do to try to resolve it.
