Tip of the Week: Supersize your Browser!

Ever wish your monitor was just a little larger when browsing the Internet? There is a handy trick built into most mainstream browsers that will 'supersize' the browser window, and make better use of your screen real estate. Simply open a browser and hit the F11 key. This should hide most of the rarely-used menus and toolbars, and use that extra space to enlarge your browser window. Simply press F11 again to return to your normal programming.

Headwhack of the Week: Why Won't That Video Play?

Watching video on a computer is one of the most complex tasks a PC user can undertake today. Usually, applications such as Windows Media Player or Quicktime take care of all that complexity without bothering you a bit. However, occasionally, you may try to play a video and get the dreaded "I don't know how to play this file" or "Video codec is missing" errors from your video player. Generally, this will only happen with either DVDs, or downloaded videos.

DVDs are encoded using a compression technology called MPEG-2. This technology is what allows so much video to be fit on a single DVD disc. However, MPEG-2 technology is copyrighted, and requires the purchase of a corresponding MPEG-2 Codec to play. The only cure for this problem is purchasing DVD Player Software such as WinDVD or CyberDVD.

For downloaded videos, chances are the video was created with a compression technology much like DVDs are, but is using a more obscure format. Examples of these compression formats, or "Codecs" (see this week's Geek Speak of the Week), are DivX, Xvid, H.264, and AC3. Becuase these codecs are encoutered so infrequently by average users, most PCs don't have these codecs installed. Helpfully, Microsoft has collected a number of these codecs into a single installation file. You can download this file from Microsoft's Download Center.

Caution: As with all software, only install what you need, only install from trusted sources, and only install on a completely working, problem-free machine. If playing video isn't an issue for you, you should probably pass on this download.