Things Every Computer Geek Should Know
You’ve owned a computer your whole life and have made most of your friends online. Maybe you pride yourself on owning a custom-made desktop computer.
But a true computer geek is always trying to learn more about how to optimize their computer’s use, even if you only own a laptop.
Here are some things every self-respecting geek should know.
Ways to Use the Internet Anonymously
There are a few basic ways to use the internet without leaving much of a trail on your computer.
You can use a different web browser or surf the internet under incognito mode. However, if anyone is monitoring your internet use, they can easily track where you’ve been.
The only truly secure way to surf the internet anonymously is to use either a proxy or a VPN.
A proxy acts as a sort of filter for your web browser. A VPN encrypts your internet access, which makes it useful for protecting all of your online usage, such as when sharing files with peer-to-peer software.
Common Command Lines
Even though they seem old fashioned, command lines are still an essential tool for many reasons.
If something ever goes wrong with your computer, you can easily check all your systems with a few lines of code.
Not sure where a file is on your laptop? Run a quick scan through your entire system.
It’s a bit like trying to hack your own computer. Take the time to read up on all the different commands.
Schedule Out Processes
One cool thing you can do is schedule out processes on your computer so you don’t have to give them a second thought. On a Windows computer, there’s a built-in Task Scheduler that can run most tasks on its own.
This way, you can have your computer run its normal scans while you’re at work, or even set up an alarm to wake up to.
Hide a File in Plain Site
How do you hide files from snooping family members? At least one reader puts them in a folder named “Documents”.
Instead, try hiding your files in a jpg. It’s like zipping a file, but stealthier.
Read Barcodes in C#
You can actually generate a barcode scanner in C# and VB .NET applications.
With it, you can read barcodes and QR codes from scanned images, and pull up all the information you need for archive or indexing systems. It also lets you find one or multiple barcodes in any of your documents.
Dual Booting Your Computer
One cool thing you can do to expand your computer’s functionality is to install multiple operating systems on it. For example, a MacBook can open up in iOS, but you can also install Windows to a separate partition.
Get Your Computer Geek On
Still think you’re top of the computer geek chain? You may need to brush up on your coding expertise if you want to earn that title in the future.
For more help in that endeavor, check out our other articles about the tech world.
