Weak Connection on Wireless Router? Try Changing Channels

October 24, 2009

Recently, while visiting friends in Denmark, I had trouble connecting my new netbook PC through their wireless router to the Internet. My host informed me that lightning had wiped out their system and they had to buy a new router, which didn’t seem as powerful as the last one. The signal seemed weaker. When he [...]

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Picasa for Digital Photo Editing and Management

September 24, 2009

I’ve used several digital photo management programs over the years, including the ones included with my digital camera and my printer. All of these programs have functioned to some degree of mediocrity. Recently, I downloaded a copy of Picasa and took it for a test drive. I was pleasantly surprised. After I installed Picasa, it [...]

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Keyboard Keys Typing Numbers Instead of Letters

August 14, 2009

If some of the keys on your keyboard are typing numbers instead of letters, check to make sure Num Lock is not on. This seems obvious, but it’s a common occurrence on laptop and notebook computers, and it’s not as easy as just pressing a NumLock key to turn it off. On some Gateway notebook [...]

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Assigning an HP Network Printer a Fixed IP Address

July 2, 2009

This post assumes you have an HP network-capable printer connected to a router with a LAN cable. Instructions for wireless connections and different types of printers may vary, but the overall approach should apply to most home networks. Some time ago, I did a post entitled “HP Network Printer Going Offline,” in which I provided [...]

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Text-Selection Tips for Microsoft Word

June 19, 2009

Everyone knows you can drag over text to select it in Word, but employing a few other text-selection strategies can help you edit more efficiently. Following are my favorite text-selection tricks: Double-click a word to highlight it, including the space after it. Hold down the Ctrl key while selecting other chunks of text, so you [...]

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Tweaking Your Blog Design with CSS

June 14, 2009

Behind every WordPress blog is a theme that controls the look and layout of the blog. As I explain in “Make a Website, Changing the Look and Layout with a WordPress Theme,” you can change the entire look and layout of your WordPress blog by installing and activating a different theme. Every theme contains one [...]

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Cannot Connect to Workgroup Computer on Network

June 5, 2009

Network problems can be caused by all sorts of things, including aggressive firewalls, a faulty network installation, and even a defective or disconnected cable. Recently, however, I stumbled across a problem that didn’t respond to the usual solutions. Everything was installed properly and even without any firewall running, I couldn’t connect to other computers on [...]

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Changing WordPress Blog Title, Tagline, Permalinks, and Admin Nickname

June 3, 2009

After installing WordPress, one of the first things you should do is make sure the blog title and tagline are correct and that the author name for your posts is exactly how you want it to appear. In this post, I show you how to access and change crucial WordPress settings: In your Web browser, [...]

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Make a Website: Creating a Static Home Page in WordPress

May 29, 2009

In this series, I’ve been teaching the basics of making a combination website/blog using Bluehost, WordPress, and Thesis. Here’s what I’ve covered so far: In Part I: Starting with Bluehost, I showed you how to open a Bluehost account, register your own domain name, and install WordPress. In Part II: Changing the Look and Layout [...]

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Make a Website: Essential WordPress Plugins

May 27, 2009

In this series, I’ve been teaching the basics of making a combination website/blog using Bluehost, WordPress, and Thesis. In Part I, I showed you how to get started with Bluehost, register your own domain name, and install WordPress. In Part II, I discussed WordPress themes and showed you how to transform the look and layout [...]

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