Rick Broida - Author - PC World Australia

Stories by Rick Broida

Article | 16/10/2010 Give Windows 7 (or XP) a Vista-like sidebar

One of the things I miss about Windows Vista -- okay, the only thing I miss about Vista -- is the Sidebar. Much as I applaud Microsoft's decision to l...

Article | 12/10/2010 Get Remote Tech Support from Your GeekBuddy

Ever wish there was a magical computer genie that could help you install software, set up printers, remove viruses, and solve everyday problems?

Article | 15/09/2010 Tweak Gmail Priority Inbox to include filtered e-mail

A couple weeks ago, Google took the wraps off Priority Inbox, a clever Gmail feature that helps separate the message wheat from the message chaff.

Article | 14/09/2010 Stream your music and video anywhere you go

Like many people, I have more music and videos than can possibly fit on my iPhone. What am I supposed to do? Delete all my episodes of "Firefly" to ma...

Article | 2/09/2010 Disable a laptop touchpad while you type, Win 7 edition

Many moons ago I wrote about TouchFreeze, a free laptop utility that solves one of life's most maddening problems: accidental swipes of your touchpad ...

Article | 19/08/2010 Facebook dislike button is real -- and I like It!

Perhaps you heard the news yesterday about a fake Facebook "dislike" button that quickly spread virally across the service.

Article | 17/08/2010 Copy Kindle notes and bookmarks to your PC

If you're a Kindle owner, you've probably discovered the device's enviable ability to bookmark pages, highlight passages, and add notes (a.k.a. annota...

Article | 11/08/2010 Slow Wi-Fi? Try bypassing it with an Ethernet cable

A reader has noticed that the Wi-Fi at her local library has slowed considerably in recent months, and she's wondering what's causing it: "Is it our c...

Article | 21/07/2010 Laptop tips: Add RAM, recycle a hard drive

It's been almost a year since I served up some nice, hot laptop tips--and that's inexcusable. I'll make it up to you this week with some useful advice...

Article | 30/07/2010 Keep your keyboard clean and germ-free

Happy Clean-Your-Keyboard Day! Okay, I made that up, but think about it: when was the last time you did anything with your keyboard besides drop cooki...

Article | 29/07/2010 Troubleshoot sluggish or non-working Wi-Fi

I'm a big fan of working at offsite locations--meaning my local Wi-Fi-equipped coffee shop. In fact, I'll often spend the afternoon hunkered down at P...

Article | 28/07/2010 Keep kids safe online with OpenDNS FamilyShield

You wouldn't let your kids walk the streets of Amsterdam's Red Light District, but giving them unrestricted access to the Web is practically the same ...

Article | 17/07/2010 Add RAM to a laptop

So my dad was griping that his Acer Aspire 9300 laptop takes forever to boot. I inspected it for spyware, excessive startup programs, and the other us...

Article | 15/07/2010 Stop frustrating pauses in YouTube videos

In response to some recent posts about YouTube, reader Miles wrote me to ask about YouTube "buffeting" (I think he means buffering, unless YouTube has...

Article | 30/06/2010 Fix Outlook 'general failure' error for e-mail links

So out of the blue today, I click a link embedded in an e-mail, and Outlook gives me this error: