Consumed Consumer . org

Finding myself stuck with some outdated Linux distributions on an older Toshiba tablet hybrid (without DVD or CD-ROM drive), I decided to upgrade it to a more modern and useful distribution.

Continuing my SSD saga with windows installation. For what is worth, I have original Windows licenses with COA for all the new computers and laptops I purchased plus I even purchased and additional Windows license from DigitalRiver, as a student, for about $39. Unfortunately, that license was supposed to be for Windows Professional, as I ordered and was instead for Windows Home, which although at the same price point, lacked important functionality. I tried to contact the reseller to get the problem rectified but that was not possible (no response). Needless to say, I’m not as happy as one could be.

I recently got another used laptop off eBay. It came without an OS so I was going to install Linux, but seeing that Windows 10 has just become available for download, I decided to give it a try and install Linux alongside, in dual boot. First, let us look at downloading the ISO, comparing the 3 possibilities: NetSession, Direct and BitTorrent. This article represents my pre-install research – the install experience and tips coming up soon.

After installing Windows, I started playing with it extensively. These are the voyages of the Windows 10 Technical Evaluation, its continuing mission to explore strange new apps and computing paradigms, to seek out better GUIs, to boldly go where no stylus pen has gone before. In this article we will look at partitioning for dual boot with Linux and the very first impressions.

There seems to be a mistaken belief that in order to gain superuser access (or to do serious development or, to use a popular misnomer, “hacking”, one has to “jailbreak”, or as it is called everywhere other than iOS, “root”. Let us see how anyone can do most of it using an excellent and completely free hack (or app) called Termux.

After our salute dedicated to Microsoft Windows 7 milestone, it is only natural to repeat our welcome to Windows 8 RTM and answer the burning question “where can I get the ISO?” .

I will be writing this guide as I perform every step. Hopefully it will be helpful to you as well. An UPDATED VERSION was published 1 year later.

Adobe Flash was for a long time the dominant platform for animation and quick video and audio publishing on the web. The advent of Microsoft Silverlight and similar technologies hasn't changed that much, despite Flash's well known problems: high resource utilization and security holes. The many Flash updates can result in a situation where multiple Flash versions coexist on your system, resulting in security holes and memory leaks. In this article, we are looking at how to identify and resolve such conflicts.

I recently had to play a bit with a new installation of Ubuntu and again, old unnerving ghosts came back to haunt me. Since these ghosts have a habit of tormenting indiscriminately, I am sharing my solutions with you.

March Break is fast approaching and though entertainment choices abound, it's worth having a quick glance at what's on the menu. The main course is, of course, C&C 4 as well as the oldies that Westwood Studios made available for free download.

I am quite happy with Windows 7 Home Premium. However, I sometimes have to leave the computer on and unattended and would not want it to restart, especially if it's rendering a movie.

I have Windows 10 Enterprise Tech Preview on a "slow release" schedule. However, after each upgrade, I am forced to go through the same activation error: 0x8007007B. Here's how it went last time I fixed it.

Youtube is a wonderful platform and its creators deserve to be able to make a living. Many of them actually do by serving Google ads (with Google keeping a significant portion of ad revenue) or, via some Youtube subscription model that was first called Red and now is Premium (this may be inaccurate, I’m not following it closely). If, like me, you dislike a model where Google decides who is worthy of support and who’s not and gets to keep the lion’s share of ad revenue, this article might be for you. If, on the other hand, you have the means to purchase YouTube Premium and don’t have time to waste, go ahead and get it, it’s definitely worth it!

If you’re a webmaster or blogger, there are a few little things you can do to improve your reader’s experience and make your website more functional. You can, for instance, add small widgets to help your visitors pass on your page or a display your code more professionally.

For a long time I’ve been toying with the idea of running a TOR relay for my own privacy reasons and to give back to the community as well. Though my router and NAS (and possibly even my WD Live box) have enough chutzpah to run it, I prefer to use a very old computer instead for reasons of separation (security). For a while, I even considered buying a Raspberry Pi or some other similar cheap gizmo, then I remember I have a bunch of old computers I've never used..

We recently learned that the Canadian federal government has failed to produce reports regarding the state of our water supply for more than five years (1).

I recently found myself needing to record the sound coming from a program such as a VOIP or SIP client. Unlike Windows, which has specialized apps to record any and all sound output, in linux you have to work a bit harder.

After unsuccessfully trying to install VMware Server 2 in prior versions of Ubuntu I finally managed to get it to work. I still can't believe it was this easy! Finally, I can run WLW and play with all the other OSs I've been dying to try!

I have a laptop that allows me to swap my DVD drive (which I don't use much) for a second hard drive in RAID. I'm looking at buying a drive in the $100-200 range to complement my existing SATA drive.

I purchased my gaming laptop ( .ca ) in a hurry, at a time when many others were buying theirs, and was unable to get all that I wanted. Compromises had to be made. But this past December, I took the plunge and upgraded the memory and the hard drive (which was already quite fast, but a little too small).