Computers & Programming Features

How To: Make your Mac computer announce the time

Get a Mac Tip for your Mac computer! There's a million things you can do with your Apple computer, and this is just one of them. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make your Mac computer announce the time. This technique allows a Mac user set the computer up to allow Mr. Macintosh to speak the current time periodically.

How To: Administer Wiki Server under Leopard Server in OS X

Whether it's a small business or a work group inside a large corporation, all members need access to the same materials in order to work effectively. Mac OS X server makes it easy for groups to collaborate and communicate through their own Wiki-powered Internet website. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to adminster the Wiki server in Leopard Server in Mac OS X.

How To: Read and display a TXT file in a text box in Visual Basic

In this clip, you'll learn how to open and display a TXT file within a text field in your VB projects. Whether you're new to Microsoft's popular event-driven program language or a seasoned developer merely looking to improve your chops, you're sure to find benefit in this free Visual Basic programming lesson. For more information, including a complete demonstration and detailed, step-by-step instructions, take a look.

How To: Use high contrast display settings in Windows 7

Windows 7 provides the high contrast display feature for the monitors. To use this feature go to the desktop. Right click and select 'Personalize' from the menu. This brings up the Personalization window of the 'Appearance and Personalization' option of the Control Panel. Here you can change the visuals and sounds of your computer. Scroll down in that window till you find high contrast themes. Choose one of those themes. When you select them Windows automatically applies the theme to your com...

How To: Backup Windows Vista to an external hard drive

Learn how to backup Windows Vista to an external hard drive! 1. Click on start. Go to All Programs, select Accessories, then select System Tools. Open "Back-Up Status and Configuration". 2. Click on "Set up automatic file back-up". Be sure the top radio button is selected. Select your external hard drive. 3. Click next. Select all folders that you want to back-up. Click next again. Set your schedule (how often, what day, time). 4. Click on "Save settings and start back up". Windows will final...

How To: Use "else if" statements when programming in Java

Want to program your own Java games and applications but don't know beans about object-oriented programming? Never you fear. This free video tutorial from TheNewBoston will have you coding your own Java apps in no time flat. Specifically, this lesson discusses how to create and use else-if statements when writing code in Java. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this helpful programmer's guide.

How To: Create a multi-dimensional array in Java programming

Want to write Java games and applications but don't know beans about object-oriented programming? Never you fear. This free video tutorial from TheNewBoston will help you on your merry way to accomplishing just that. Specifically, this lesson will demonstrate how to create a multi-dimensional array when coding in Java. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this programmer's guide.

How To: Create pure CSS drop-down menus without JavaScript

This clip will show you how to create pure CSS drop down menus without any JavaScript. Whether you're using a fancy WYSIWYG (or what-you-see-is-what-you-get) page editor like Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 or a barebones text editor like Notepad, if you want to build websites, you'll need to have some understanding of HTML (for the structure of your web pages) and CSS (for their style). And this free coder's guide will get you started along that path.

How To: Run Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp

Need to access Windows XP or Vista? Have programs that only run on Windows, but love your MAC. Ya, we get it and agree. Run Windows and OSX on the same computer using Bootcamp, Parallels or other software. You can run simultaneously or separately depending on your needs. Parallels and simultaneous boot of both OS will drain your RAM so make sure you upgrade memory before endeavoring. Learn how to use Boot Camp in Mac OS X to set up a drive partition to allow you to run Mac OS and Windows on y...

How To: Connect to a database & add data in PHP & MYSQL

MySQL is a database for serving data on the web. This video teaches viewers how to connect to a database and add data in PHP & MySQL. PHPMyAdmin is an interface that allows you to interact with MySQL more easily. Use the form in the program to create a database; choose the name for your database and select 'create'. Next you can create tables within your database, also using the forms provided. Within the tables you can set your variables; PHPMyAdmin has fields that allow you to choose the ty...

How To: Display the results of a MySQL query over multiple pages

In this clip, you'll learn how to use pagination—that is, to view the results of a MySQL query over multiple pages. Whether you're new to the PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor scripting language or are a seasoned web developer merely looking to improve your chops, you're sure to find benefit in this free video programming lesson. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, take a look

How To: Manage widgets on the Dashboard in Mac OS X

This video describes what is known as the dashboard, which is located in the dock on the Mac desktop. The dashboard is a set of small programs known as widgets that let you see information at a glance. Some examples of useful widgets are a clock widget, a calendar, a calculator, a dictionary/thesaurus, and a Google search widget. You can bring them up at any time by simply clicking on the dashboard icon. If you want to add a new widget, click on the plus sign at the bottom of the window and y...

How To: Stop your Java applet animations from flickering

Want to program your own Java games and applications but don't know beans about object-oriented programming? Never you fear. This free video tutorial from TheNewBoston will have you coding your own Java apps in no time flat. Specifically, this lesson discusses how to put a stop to unwanted flickering when writing code in the Java programming language. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this helpful programmer's guide.

How To: Reinstall Windows XP using Ubuntu

Has your Windows installation become corrupt or unusable and wish to reinstall Windows on your personal computer? Have no fear! Steven Barn will teach you, step by step, how to restore / install your Windows installation using Ubuntu live and your original Windows XP installation disc. To do this, you will need: Windows XP installation disc, CD burner, ISO image of Ubuntu live, and a blank CD. Though this will restore your windows installation cheaply, it is quite time consuming and would rec...