How to Use BitTorrent
What Is BitTorrent? To put it simply, it's a way to download large files quickly. Instead of using a single server, like you do when you visit a website and ...
This is a static archive of my technology writings on The Technical Geekery. I wrote actively on this site from 2011 to 2014, and it was also the home of archived posts from a blog and some newsletters that I published before that.
The spiritual successor to The Technical Geekery's technology posts is Control-Alt-Backspace, which is actively updated every week.
See About for details about The Technical Geekery and what you can find here. My apologies when (not if) you encounter broken links; there are far too many links to go through and correct or mark all of them. I tried to identify and correct the worst offenders as I created the archive, but since much of the content is over 10 years old and the site has moved blogging platforms several times, there are going to be some.Recent posts
Searching Google: Tips & Tricks
I have published a new article about all sorts of tricks for searching the web, both in forming search queries and using features of Google you probably didn...
Why You Really Should Have a Backup
I had a bit of a crazy day today with this website, so this is going to be my slightly unconventional post for the week. As you could tell from the title, it...
How to Clean a CD
I’ve seen a lot of people clean CDs completely wrong. There’s a good reason why most libraries and video rental stores have labels on their discs telling peo...
Cleaning Your Computer, Part 5: The Case
Your actual computer is the part that usually gets the dirtiest. Fans actually electrically attract dust, which allows them to pull junk into your case at a ...
Cleaning Your Computer, Part 4: Mice
Mice aren’t usually a big problem source in terms of getting dirty, simply because there aren’t many surfaces that stuff can stick to where it won’t immediat...
Cleaning Your Computer, Part 3: Keyboards
Keyboards seem to be dust magnets (and hair magnets and staple magnets…). Even if you don’t immediately notice the junk accumulating in your keyboard, it has...
Cleaning Your Computer, Part 2: Monitors
Most people do not clean their monitors nearly as often as they should (and that includes me). You usually don’t notice the eyestrain you’re getting from sta...
How to Remove a Stuck CD From Your Drive
Ever gotten a disc stuck in your CD drive? It doesn’t happen often, but it can get really annoying. Sometimes rebooting will fix the problem, but rebooting c...
Cleaning Your Computer, Part 1
Computers get rather dirty very quickly. Lots of dust and dirt looks bad, can make keys stick or monitors hard to read, and in certain cases, can even cause ...
What Email Filters Are, and Why You Should Use Them
Ever gotten repeating emails from a website that you just can't get rid of? If you use Gmail, would you like to be able to prevent emails from a certain addr...
Save Your Eyes (and Sleep) When Using Your Computer at Night
Ever woken up early, gone to your computer, and switched on the monitor only to be blinded? I sure have. And recent research shows that too much blue light (...
YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts
You probably know that you can press Escape to exit full-screen mode (after all, YouTube does smash you over the head with an alert saying exactly that every...
Reopening Tabs You Just Closed
Ever closed a browser tab, then immediately realized you still needed it open? Maybe you even waited a few minutes before you wanted to go back. Fortunately,...
Email Etiquette: Summary
This is a summary of a four-part series on email etiquette. This page is not intended to be a full guide to email etiquette: I wrote the other pages for a re...
Email Etiquette (4): Odds and Ends
This is the fourth and final part of a multi-part series. Previous posts were "Replies and Formatting," "Subjects and Attachments," and “Using the Cc and Bcc...
Email Etiquette (3): Replies and Formatting
This is part three of a multi-part series. Last week we had Part 2, "Subjects and Attachments." Part 1 was “Using the Cc and Bcc Fields.” This week I'll firs...
Email Etiquette (2): Subjects and Attachments
This is part two of a multi-part series. Last week (actually, two weeks ago) we had Part 1, "Using the Cc and Bcc Fields." This week I'll discuss choosing be...
Email Etiquette (1): Using the Cc and Bcc Fields
Many people probably simply fill in the "to" field in their emailer every time they need to send a message. But the other options are there for a reason. Whe...
Six Things Not To Do When Asking for Computer Help
I often work as an unofficial technical support representative—it's pretty much an unavoidable result of learning something about computers. Tech support is ...