For a vast majority of us that use Windows on a regular basis, we have come across performance and stability issues from time to time, so it is important to find autorun programs in Windows. On a freshly formatted PC, everything seems to run pretty quick and the system doesn’t crash as often. After a few weeks, months, and years, the computer seems to get slower and less stable.
Many performance and stability problems can be traced back to programs that automatically run when Windows loads up. It seems that much of the software we install seems to want to run an application at startup. The problem is many people don’t know that there are free applications available that can help find autorun programs in Windows and stop those programs from automatically starting when Windows loads.
GIMP is a popular image editor, but to require some knowledge if you want to properly resize a CSS sprite image in GIMP. In my previous post I provided instructions on resizing a CSS sprite in Photoshop, but I realize that Photoshop is expensive to buy, and many people may not be using that photo editor. For those that are looking for a free alternative to Photoshop, I suggest you download GIMP which is also powerful photo editor. For more information about GIMP, you can read this GIMP review.
If you are used to Photoshop, GIMP can take some getting used to, but once you understand the basics, it is easy to use. In this tutorial I will show you how you can easily resize a CSS sprite in GIMP much like I did in Photoshop.
Once you have created a CSS sprite image for your website, it is important to learn how to properly resize a CSS sprite image in Photoshop if you wish to add additional images. The reason for this is that when you resize the canvas of an image in Photoshop, the additional pixels added to the image will be applied to all sides of the image equally. This will have the undesired effect of centering the previous image in the current image, and throwing off your CSS sprite positioning.
To avoid such an issue, it is important to ensure that you only resize either the bottom or the left side of the CSS sprite image. In this post I’ll show you how to properly resize a CSS sprite image in Photoshop.
Not many people would stop and think about the most important component that is currently in their computer. If they had to stop and think about it, some would say the processor (CPU), memory, the video card, or even the hard drive. Depending on what they use their computer for, everyone would have a different idea of what is the most important component.
Most people, probably wouldn’t say that the power supply unit (PSU) is the most important component. To me, it is the most important component, and is one that you shouldn’t go cheap on purchasing. I outline my reasons for thinking this way in this post.
There are many ways that you can protect yourself online, but one method many people probably don’t think about is changing DNS servers. Let’s face it, the average Internet user probably doesn’t even give a second thought about their DNS servers. The reality is, however, that changing DNS servers could yield both a security and performance benefit.
The best part is that to take advantage of the increase in performance and security requires no software install. In many circumstances changing two values in your router is all that is needed.
If you use AdSense you may be wondering how to find out about how to determine your AdSense coverage of the ads that are displayed on your pages. By coverage I don’t mean what percentage of your pages includes AdSense, I mean what percentage of the ads displayed are not public service ads (PSA).
When a PSA is displayed in one of your AdSense units you don’t receive any money when a visitor clicks on that PSA. With the new AdSense interface, it is very easy to find out what percentage of your ads display actual ads, and not public service ads.
I have recovered data many times using simple data recovery freeware tools. I managed to recover data from bad sectors on hard drives, and deleted data from both USB flash drives and memory cards. Regardless of the media used to store data, chances are with a good tool you may be able to recover some of the important data that has been deleted.
As with most things with computers, I am constantly looking at tools that can help with troubleshooting or solving problems. Over the years I have used quite a few tools, but have recently started to look at free ones, and found they work pretty well compared to paid applications. I will share two tools that I have used in the past to help recover data.
I have been using the GrowMap Anti-Spambot Plugin (GASP) plugin for a few weeks now, so I decided to write a review about the plugin. Most blog owners have issues with spam comments on their posts. It is a fact of life when owning a blog – you will eventually start receiving spam comments. While it is annoying to receive the spam, there are many plugins available that can help rid your blog of this nuisance.
I have tried many plugins to reduce, and eliminate the spam I get on Technically Easy, and a few weeks ago I switched to GASP. The process GASP uses to stop spam seems like such a simple concept, but then again, sometimes the simple concepts tend to work the best.
I installed the plugin and then disabled both Akismet and the Conditional Captcha plugin. The fact that I am able to disable two plugins is great, since having too many plugins loaded can slow down a blog.
After testing out the GASP plugin for a few weeks, I can honestly say that it works, and I do mean works. I have had zero, zilch, nada, nothing, not a single spam comment within those few weeks. The best part is that without Akismet running, I haven’t had valid comments moved to my spam folder automatically.
How does GASP work? Let’s take a look.
GrowMap Anti-Spambot Plugin – The Simple Way to Stop Spam
Andy Bailey from CommentLuv fame is the one who wrote the GrowMap Anti-Spambot plugin. GASP works by requiring those that wish to leave a comment, to check a checkbox before submitting the comment. Just a simple checkbox and no hard-to-read captcha required. If the checkbox isn’t checked, the comment isn’t saved.
Growmap Anti-Spambot Plugin – Comment Checkbox (Click to enlarge)
There is also another trick to help stop spam. Since many of the spam comments are created by bots, the bots are usually programmed to fill in all the fields on a form with specific information. The GASP plugin creates a hidden field that can’t be seen by normal visitors. A bot, however can see the hidden field. The bot will then fill in the hidden field, which indicates that a bot is writing the comment. Since the field is filled in, the comment is flagged as spam and discarded.
The only downside is that the visitor needs to have Javascript enabled in their browser. Since many websites use Javascript, most visitors tend to have Javascript enabled by default.
I highly recommend you install this plugin. While the GrowMap Anti-Spambot plugin uses such simple ideas to stop spam, it has been very effective at completely preventing spam comments from my blog.
