Computer Corner

Real-world Computer and Internet Access issues are addressed here.

Please note that if you are having performance issues with Apple computers, I suggest that you read Why is my Mac Running Slow? at ChrisWrites.com.

Switching a website to SSL

Web Hosting 07 Nov 2014

It was once accepted that only websites handling financial data (such as customer credit card details) would need to implement security and ...

Installed Software on my Macbook

Laptops 30 Jul 2014

To make things easy for me, in case I ever need to start from scratch, here's everything that I've installed on my development Macbook: ...

Keep your passwords safe and secure

20 Jul 2014

Most of us have registered our details on multiple websites such as Facebook, eBay and Strava, and most of us will use only one or two passwords ...

Comparison of laptop weights, with Power Supplies

Laptops 09 Jul 2014

We usually lug our power supplies around with our laptop, don't we? I have a table here of some laptops and their weights, plus total weight ...

Installed software on my laptop

HP Elitebook 25 Jan 2014

Just in case I ever need to re-install Windows, here's a list of software I've installed (and settings I've tweaked): Firefox Skype ...

Preventing unexpected laptop shutdown

HP Elitebook 01 Jan 2014

Here I present a couple of ways to stop my HP laptop suddenly turning off when it's doing a lot of CPU-intensive work. It really is a shame ...

SOLVED: Fingerprint Scanner

HP Elitebook 23 Oct 2013

The fingerprint scanner - a Validity Sensor VFS451 - was not available as a login method on the initial computer configuration. It was during ...

Windows 8 and the HP fingerprint scanner

HP Elitebook 23 Oct 2013

Warning: HP's validity sensor software does NOT work in Windows 8, according to Microsoft's Upgrade Assistant. If you upgrade to Windows 8 ...

Who needs a 1024x768 LCD monitor?

20 Jul 2013

Once upon a time a 17" LCD monitor running at a resolution of 1024x768 would be state of the art, but not any more. The screen was also produced ...

Autocomplete in jQuery

Web Programming 09 Jul 2013

This is my solution for an as-you-type auto-suggest behaviour in an HTML form input, using jQuery. Now, jQuery plugins for doing text input ...

Mashape is an API marketplace!

Web Programming 29 Jun 2013

Is this the API utopia for web developers and data services? Mashape claims to be the one-stop-shop for developers to access thousands of ...

Automated Chromakey in PHP

Web Hosting 27 Jun 2013

This is an experiment in removing a photograph's background automatically, as long as the background is reasonably uniform. To create such ...

Efficient, minimal MySQL backup

Web Hosting 22 Apr 2013

When someone asks you about what you do to backup your website's database, you'll probably have one of these responses: "I don't think ...

Bitcoins: currency of the future?

10 Apr 2013

Bitcoins are all the rage these days. They are a virtual currency, with their value determined by cryptographic computer effort, but can be ...

What a solid state we're in!

23 Dec 2012

The SSD (solid state drive) is the high performance golden child of the storage world, but is it all good news? Let's bust some myths about ...