Microsoft’s Own ‘Easy Button’

by Nathaniel Ed on February 8th, 2009 at 8:00 pm EDT - 776 views

Recently Microsoft started implementing it’s latest invention: a ‘Fix it’ button on its self help pages. It isn’t very widespread as of now, but the project is quickly gaining ground, seeing as how it started off with roughly four automatic ‘fix-its’ in December, and now it has grown to about 100 different ‘fix-its.’

To see how it worked, I decided to personally to try out this new feature. I found an easy one for me to try: The Internet Explorer icon is missing from your desktop. Upon arriving on the page, the button stuck out rather quickly. They still have manual fix instructions for Do-It-Yourselfers, but now you can automatically do it.

First of all, I put my IE icon in my recycle bin, then emptied the bin. Next, I clicked on the ‘Fix-It’ button, and a download message appeared. I chose to save the file, and an install wizard came up, so I installed the program that was designed to put an IE icon on my desktop. Next it required me to restart my computer, which I did. Then I noticed that the icon appeared without restarting my computer, but I went ahead and took the advise of the wizard and restarted my computer.

Read the full post »

- 0 Comments

Skip The PC Store, Custom Build Your Computer

by Bradley Wint on January 31st, 2009 at 4:24 pm EDT - 1,321 views

In these economical times, many of us are now forced to actually give a hand in trying to figure ways to cut back on spending. Some people have even gone the ridiculous lengths to sit in the dark just to save on electricity. However, I think there are many ways to save money without affecting your personal lifestyle. Simply cut down on the expenses you don’t need, focus on what you need and what makes economical sense in the long run, as well as choosing cheaper alternatives without sacrificing quality. 

This leads me to talk about purchasing computers. No matter how bad times seem, we may need to purchase a new computer at some point in time, which recently happened to me. Most of us may be accustomed to just heading to the store, or visiting an online alternative and purchasing a pre-manufactured system from one of the leading developers such as Apple, Dell, HP and others. However, did you ever sit down to think how expensive this is as a homeowner? Over the last 10 years, I have purchased 4 computers (high end ones for their time period), and have spent quite a lot on it. 

Read the full post »

- 0 Comments

Future of Gaming – Where are we headed?

by Andreas Rothbauer on January 27th, 2009 at 9:31 pm EDT - 2,098 views

In these tough economic times when many people use the entertainment industry as an escape from the brutal reality and are looking for affordable family entertainment I thought it was time to reflect on the gaming industry and where we are going.  I am sure many of you have probably grown up with the NES and other 8 bit consoles – so have I. Looking back at those days of playing the Super Marios, Zeldas and constantly blowing on the dusty cartridges to get them to work makes me miss my first gaming experiences and the epic struggle of trying to play or should I even dare say beat some of those superhard video games from the early 90s. However, I loved every minute of it and doing it with friends were some of the best times I’ve ever had.

Today, video games take on a new but just as important of a role in our lives as adults. As mentioned before, money is hard to come by in this day and age and many people don’t even have jobs anymore. Still, families are seeking entertainment and the unlikely suspect of a video game console has stepped up to deliver just that. What was once a geeky and negatively looked upon activity has spread into nearly every living room and TV show in the United States and even the entire world – newly elevated to pop-culture: the Nintendo Wii.

Read the full post »

- 0 Comments

Spore Review

by Andrew Kao on January 12th, 2009 at 7:05 pm EDT - 759 views

I played Spore a while back, however being loaded on Red Bull combined with being absent-minded, only now I remember to bring you the review on Spore to gamers out there.

Spore, developed by Maxis and published by the colossus EA Games, is first and foremost a god game. Having received so much hype that one would be led to believe that that it was a fourth installment of Halo. The developer’s name, Will Wright, is somewhat of a household name in the gaming industry, having brought you the extremely popular Sims series, with the third one coming soon, now decides to expand player freedom and customization from a household, to an entire make-up of evolution history.

Read the full post »

- 0 Comments

List of Epic MMOs

by Andrew Kao on January 9th, 2009 at 11:13 pm EDT - 9,567 views

I first off would like to say this list is comprised of both free mmo games as well as store bought franchises. Most of the games I have tried myself as well as did some research on how others feel about these games, (many times I had to borrow the game or use a trial version). So I would like say that this list is composed of some MMO games, free and store bought, that you might to try playing these days. On behalf of myself and PCE I hope that this proves an asset. The following MMO’s and MMORPG’s are not in any particular order.

Read the full post »

- 144 Comments

Phenom II, i7, and You

by Chris Willhite on January 9th, 2009 at 9:59 am EDT - 382 views

Well AMD’s Deneb processor now known as Phenom II has been released yesterday and I have taken the liberty of reading almost every review on Earth…At least the ones in English. So here is a basic overview of all of the reviews I have read and my thoughts on the new chip.

The new chips come in 2.8 and 3.0Ghz flavors with a 45nm manufacturing process and larger L3 cache, among other improvements. At prices ranging from $235 to $275 which, if cut even a bit, will likely put the pressure on Intel to lower their prices for the new i7.

Overview of the Reviews

There are tons of reviews on the web for the new chip (too many to list here) and all of them have been fairly consistent in their findings…

Read the full post »

- 0 Comments

5 Reasons Why IE Fails

by Taylor Flatt on December 31st, 2008 at 12:57 am EDT - 2,004 views

 Internet Explorer, the gateway to the internet, or so it was back in the day is anything but now. Currently, there are several decent browsers that can get you to the same place faster, safer and easier. With an unbiased approach, I will look into the reasons why IE has and is beginning to fail. From CSS interpretations to memory usage IE has gone downhill.

Over the years Microsoft has prided itself in bringing technology and service to use who aren’t as fortunate to have the resources to do it ourselves. However, over the years, it seems that Microsoft has strayed from this path and has gone down a more adventitious avenue seeking more fame than actual usability and safety.

Read the full post »

- 2 Comments

Ace Online (aka Space Cowboy) Review

by Andrew Kao on December 27th, 2008 at 3:02 pm EDT - 1,285 views

Ace Online exemplifies this down trodden idea of trying to be this new genre that redefines gaming, but falls short… extremely short. Ace Online, developed by MasangSoft, is basically a mix of a twitch based fighter pilot game, an mmorpg, and a Japanese war-drama anime. These days with so many games exemplifying Japanese anime I have to tie my hands together to keep from strangling myself.

Ace Online basically you start off as a fighter pilot and later choose a faction to join, while seemingly shooting down endless drones of monsters in order to get the next level and new coat of paint… so in the spirit of my chief editors, here is a list of the bad points of Ace Online as well as the good points.

Read the full post »

- 0 Comments

FPS Holiday Reviews

by Andrew Kao on December 26th, 2008 at 9:55 am EDT - 279 views

FPS, or First Person Shooters. I don’t know whether it’s the appeal of feeling you are mighty and powerful with a gun in your hand, or the fact that spraying metal into an opponent feels absolutely appealing. Many FPS games are relatively the same in game mechanics, gameplay, or objectives, so I will now take this time to review three different FPS. Two are free, one has become a household name which you shell out money for.

Read the full post »

- 0 Comments

Top Ten Free iPhone Applications

by Stephen Spring on December 24th, 2008 at 9:44 pm EDT - 3,364 views

In the past year or so I’ve made two major purchases. One of these purchases was my new gaming rig which is used everyday when I’m at home. The other purchase was my iPhone which I use everyother place I go whether it be in a long car ride…..or in the back of Trigonometry when our teacher is talking about ‘God knows what’. The point being that I have scoured near every popular free app there is and that is how I make my mark with these, my top 10 free iPhone apps.

10. Remote- This application created by Apple was created to allow an iPhone owner to sync their iPhone with their iTunes library. I find myself using this when I lie in bed not wanting to get up and turn on some tunes from my computer that’ll liven me up and begin the day. Although it is number 10, it is still a good app.

Read the full post »

- 1 Comment