“Tech” collection
Stay informed on the rapidly evolving world of consumer electronics, high-performance hardware, and digital innovation. This central tech hub provides a deep dive into the physical components and software ecosystems that power your modern life.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →April 25, 2013
How to Stop CHKDSK from Running on Every Boot Up
Recently, my Windows 7 computer started running a CHKDSK each and every time that it booted up. For those that don't know, the CHKDSK utility is a way that Windows validates the system file structure and integrity of your computer's hard drive. You can scan your hard drive with it or run it with a fix (/f) flag to correct…
Read more →April 15, 2013
Wii U – Will U? I Will! Why I like the Nintendo Wii U
I'm not a hard core gamer. I do have an Xbox (original & 360), a PS3 and the original Wii. Now I have the Nintendo Wii U. I'm more of a social family gamer, that is to say, I only game with my kids (or occasionally when I have a free moment at night and then it is FPS and…
Read more →March 28, 2013
The Jabra Speak 510 Bluetooth & USB Connected Speakerphone Truly Speaks Great for Itself
As workforces become more distributed to satellite offices, home offices, client locations and even roaming within an organization, technology needs to be adaptable to any scenario. Mobile devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets have untethered our dependence on corded locations, meaning that the worker (or parent) on the go often is not always at the same location. And despite our…
Read more →March 25, 2013
5 Reasons Why Social Media Might Actually Be Good for your Child
WARNING: The repeated use of Social Media can be dangerous to your child's well-being. Should we have a Surgeon General’s warning label slapped onto each and every social media site out there? What about some sort of age rating system like we have for movies, music and video games? No, of course not. The Internet is all about freedom of…
Read more →March 22, 2013
15 Top Cloud Computing Use Cases
Cloud computing is established. And it has been proven by small and large businesses alike. Over the past 5 or so years, I have seen all types of companies adopting cloud computing as both primary and secondary sets of on-demand compute. Some cloud computing use cases are pretty traditional (e.g., a simple web presence) while others become extremely complex and…
Read more →March 18, 2013
How to Remove Little Black Square Paragraph Formatting & Page Break in Microsoft Word
Recently, I received a panicked email from my step-mom wondering why a page break could not be removed from Microsoft Word. Normally, if you click on the "show paragraphs" button (¶), you can see a page break or section break. However, in this case, there was no line signifying a section break or page break when the formatting was revealed.…
Read more →March 13, 2013
How To Fix a Broken iPhone Home Button – A Free & Easy Software Fix
Yesterday I received a panicked call from one of my daughters - "Daddy, my iPhone's home button is broken!" Tears and wailing ensued. But, as with any broken gadget, I was up for the challenge, knowing that I could either replace the iPhone home button myself or figure out some other way to breath a few extra days or weeks…
Read more →March 11, 2013
A Collection of My How-To Articles on GoGrid Cloud Computing
While I spend a lot of time writing articles for HighTechDad during the off hours and in my spare time, my day job as Technology Evangelist for the cloud infrastructure company, GoGrid, allows me to do a lot of other types of articles. These articles tend to focus on the cloud, GoGrid product and service features, How-To's, and reflections on…
Read more →February 14, 2013
The 10 Best (and Worst) “Cloud Computing Explained” Videos on YouTube
Cloud Computing has been around for many, many years now. Ok, at least 5 years using the name "cloud computing." Ever since this new way of consuming compute, networking, storage and other infrastructure resources got off the ground, no pun intended...well, sort of...people and companies have tried to explain what exactly it is. From the barrage of written definitions "officially"…
Read more →February 8, 2013
Can You Have a Love Affair with a Gadget?
"I'm in love with the iPad Mini" I proclaimed proudly to my wife. I didn't expect the response (well, I did in a way). "You cannot be in love with a gadget." That was that. End of discussion. I had been hoping to start a conversation about why I like the iPad Mini so much or why it is better…
Read more →February 5, 2013
How To Change Your iOS Device’s Root & Mobile User Password After Jailbreak and OpenSSH Install
As many of you may know, the latest untethered jailbreak tool for iOS called Envisi0n was released to the general public yesterday (2/4/13). As a consequence, the Cydia installer which manages all of the repositories for 3rd party app that you can install on your jailbroken iOS device was pretty much hammered. Things are coming back to normal now (but…
Read more →January 31, 2013
Tired of Coordinating Arrival Times or Notifying If You’ll Be Early or Late? Use Twist! App Walkthrough & CEO Interview
As a parent in a busy family of 5 with 3 kid schedules to coordinate, activities galore and timing managed literally down to the minute, I have often felt a bit overwhelmed trying to let everyone know when I would arrive for a pickup or where I was en route to a variety of destinations. You can't text while you…
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