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Hey all!I have a real quick question that someone should answer in about 5 posts. My mom bought a Toshiba lap top. We have wireless cable internet. The lap top automatically connects to the wireless network but the internet will not come up!I do a diagnostic and the laptop shows my wireless network but there is evidently an issue with the IP address. As in the lap top doesn’t have the IP address. Do I have to restart the wireless network? Please help me! Thanks.PS-Not to start a war, but this kind of thing is why I'm switching to MAC...

This week, Uruguay became the first-ever real, non-pilot deployment site of OLPC XO laptops. And I was there to hand out the first one. A bit of backstory Early on, when talking to countries interested in OLPC laptops, we heard one serious concern repeatedly: theft. In places where the price of an XO is several times larger than the annual per capita income, the laptop is an obvious target. To mitigate the issue, the Bitfrost security platform features a three-prong theft deterrence system; without going into too much detail (more information is available), one key protection feature deters XO...

After seeing Mozilla recommended on FR over IE I decided to try it. My reason was dissatisfaction with IE7 in that I got many "Explorer has detected a problem and must close" messages. After installing Mozilla I noticed one thing that puzzles me. When visiting forums that have HTML tags in their menu bar on the posting page, I noticed that when using Mozilla this option is gone and the tags must be manually assigned as we do here on FR. Can any of you explain why this is happening and how to correct it, if it can be corrected.

Our church provides Christmas presents for foster children and families where the father is in prison. This year, my family and another family have signed up to get gifts for a family of five children. They need coats and clothes, which we are getting along with toys. However, the oldest child asked for a computer. I wanted to see if anyone out there on FR had an old one they would be willing to donate (if you are in Maryland outside DC, I can pick it up. Otherwise, I would be willing to pay shipping). If you are interested, please...

Hackers have newer methods to hack into your systems. They are smart enough to detect security loop holes in your PC and enter through open ports,unencrypted Wi-Fi connections,malicious websites or internet servers. It is better you check your PC periodically for invasions and protect your system to prevent pilfering and damage of data. Detecting security loopholes. Eliminating malicious programs. Tracking hackers .

My Tiger Direct computer wont start this am. It is a stand alone used for my children's homeschooling software. The screen says that the screen is working. The computer is pinging and the green normal light is on and the red light that flashes on during start up is staying on. I dont know what to do. any ideas? Should I hock it up to the web to fix it?

I have, at home, a wireless network. Computer C and computer V are part of this network, run Windows XP Home, SP2, and also are part of Windows workgroup S_NET. Computer V has a USB printer, to which computer C can print wirelessly. When I look at workgroup computers on computer C, I see computers C and V. I now want to add computer M to this workgroup. I run the workgroup setup wizard, give it the name of the workgroup S_NET, and the wizard finishes fine. However, afterwards, I cannot print wirelessly from computer M to computer V. Also,...

A monumental achievment in reconstructing Colossus the first code cracker computer used by Allied forces in World War II. In a timed contest between Colossus and the modern PC Colossus was defeated by a modern program and a 1.4 GHz PC. A fourteen year project to reconstruct the World War II Allied forces Colossus the first code cracking computer ended in a match defeat against a modern 1.4 Ghz PC. The cipher event was instigated by The British National Museum of Computing and Cryptography at Betchley Park home of the newly reconstructed Colossus Mark II. The event challenged all interested...

A minimalist redesign, a zippy new OS, and terrific new software make the iMac the all-in-one desktop computer of choice for multimedia loversEditor's Rating: The Good: Giant screen, easy-to-use software; plentiful ports for peripherals The Bad: Pricey; no media card reader; no ability to upgrade optical drive to high-definition DVD The Bottom Line: The updated iMac remains the champ for those looking for a multimedia PC Zooming around a sharp corner while playing Electronic Arts' Need for Speed video game on my computer, I spun out of control, hit a guardrail, and sailed over a cliff to my doom. It's...

FOCUSED ATTACK: Large-capacity hard disks often used by government agencies were found to contain Trojan horse viruses, Investigation Bureau officials warned Portable hard discs sold locally and produced by US disk-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology have been found to carry Trojan horse viruses that automatically upload to Beijing Web sites anything the computer user saves on the hard disc, the Investigation Bureau said. Around 1,800 of the portable Maxtor hard discs, produced in Thailand, carried two Trojan horse viruses: autorun.inf and ghost.pif, the bureau under the Ministry of Justice said. The tainted portable hard disc uploads any information saved on the...

Portable hard discs sold locally and produced by US disk-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology have been found to carry Trojan horse viruses that automatically upload to Beijing Web sites anything the computer user saves on the hard disc, the Investigation Bureau said. Around 1,800 of the portable Maxtor hard discs, produced in Thailand, carried two Trojan horse viruses: autorun.inf and ghost.pif, the bureau under the Ministry of Justice said. The tainted portable hard disc uploads any information saved on the computer automatically and without the owner's knowledge to www.nice8.org and www.we168.org, the bureau said. The affected hard discs are Maxtor Basics...

The video below shows someone using a great new 'vocal joystick' to navigate a webpage. The software developed at the University of Washington translates different volumes, pitch, vowel sounds and particular noises into movements and actions. The Vocal Joystick system is aimed at providing a new interaction method for physically impaired people.

Linux, the free operating system that's a perpetual underdog in the desktop market, will get another chance this holiday season at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The chain was taking orders online Wednesday for a computer called the "Green gPC" that is made by Everex of Taiwan, costs $199 and runs Linux. It will be available in about 600 stores, as well as online, Wal-Mart said. A comparable Everex PC that comes with Windows Vista Home Basic and more memory costs $99 more, or $298, partly because the manufacturer has to pay Microsoft Corp. for a software license. Both computers come with...

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras, Nov. 1, 2007 – In the spirit of Halloween, an airman here built his very own version of “Frankenstein’s monster.” Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert Russell, Armed Forces Network Honduras chief engineer, shows off the "Frankenstein computer" he built from spare parts and a shipping box. The computer took about two weeks to build. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Sonny Cohrs, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert Russell, chief engineer for American Forces Network Honduras, is somewhat of a computer guru. When his wife called and said she needed a...

This forum has been a great resource for information, not just for political and media related topics, but for a wide range of other topics as well. This is a testament to the diverse skill sets and expertise possessed by the members of Free Republic. I am hoping to leverage this expertise by asking for some advice in the technical area. I am looking to make the switch from a PC to a MAC. I am hoping that some of you may be able to provide some information or even links to information about some of the pros/cons of making...

My wife just got a Windows automatic update for Windows Vista. The problem is that her machine is running XP.She tried to reject the update but the machine automatically re-started and now she's getting messages like "No operating system found". We're both just users with not a clue of what to do.

Help! A couple weeks ago our Outlook Express freaked out and locked up. Never did get it working again even with psc tech help so we went to the plain jane Outlook. Then looking around, noticed under the Start Menu under Programs - Accessories that the calculator, Record Now, MS Paint and Games (free cell, spider, etc.) were missing. While I can't care less about email, I NEED my games and calculator and the kids need Paint for their homework and Record Now for school band practice! I did a Run Search and can get to MS Paint and spider...

This is quite a funny presentation. I'd discuss it but I'd rather you watch instead. Total runtime--5:52. Safe for work. I was hooting toward the end. Click here or at the link above.

The week's not off to a great start for Microsoft. On Monday, a European court upheld almost $1 billion in antitrust penalties against the software maker. A day later, it's IBM that is taking aim at Microsoft with the release of a free office software suite called Lotus Symphony. IBM said Tuesday that Symphony, based on open source software from the OpenOffice.org project, will be made available as a free download essentially to whoever wants it. The package contains a word processor called Lotus Symphony Documents, as well as Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets and Lotus Symphony Presentations. IBM is calling the...

PHILADELPHIA -- Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have developed nanowires capable of storing computer data for 100,000 years and retrieving that data a thousand times faster than existing portable memory devices such as Flash memory and micro-drives, all using less power and space than current memory technologies. Ritesh Agarwal, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and colleagues developed a self-assembling nanowire of germanium antimony telluride, a phase-changing material that switches between amorphous and crystalline structures, the key to read/write computer memory. Fabrication of the nanoscale devices, roughly 100 atoms in diameter, was performed without...