The Mousepad is a column on computer-related issues provided as a public service by members of the Chebucto Community Net.

It is published every two weeks in the Bedford-Sackville Weekly News, Dartmouth-Cole Harbour Weekly News and the Halifax West-Clayton Park Weekly News. Prior to August 2007 it was published in the Sunday Chronicle Herald

Ask the Mousepad a question of general interest to computer users and if we use it in the column we'll send you a free mousepad!

• 131. Free program alternatives
  First published: 2 May 2008

• 130. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Update
  First published: 18 April 2008

• 129. Windows Vista Service Pack 1
  First published: 4 April 2008

• 128. Dealing With Rootkits
  First published: 21 March 2008

• 127. Fighting Computer Slowdown
  First published: 7 March 2008

• 126. The Power of the Command Line
  First published: 22 February 2008

• 125. Customizing Mozilla
  First published: 8 February 2008

• 124. Checking your disks
  First published: 25 January 2008

• 123. The Under-rated Video Card
  First published: 11 January 2008

• 122. Free picture editing tools
  First published: 28 December 2007

• 121. File Types: The Power of a Name
  First published: 14 December 2007

• 120. Firewall 101
  First published: 30 November 2007

• 119. Protect Yourself: Secure Your Computer
  First published: 16 November 2007

• 118. About Fonts
  First published: 7 October 2007

• 117. Installing RAID
  First published: 23 September 2007

• 116. A RAID Primer
  First published: 9 September 2007

• 115. Safe wi-fi
  First published: 26 August 2007

• 114. The browser wars revisited
  First published: 12 August 2007

• 113. Vista driver problems
  First published: 29 July 2007

• 112. A primer on driver files
  First published: 15 July 2007

• 111. Program control in Windows
  First published: 24 June 2007

• 110. Using PDF
  First published: 10 June 2007

• 109. Making print bigger
  First published: 27 May 2007

• 108. Network Tools
  First published: 13 May 2007

• 107. Geocaching fun way to explore
  First published: 29 April 2007

• 106. Fun with firmware
  First published: 15 April 2007

• 105. Local business on the web
  First published: 25 March 2007

• 104. The Power of Root
  First published: 11 March 2007

• 103. OpenOffice.org free office software suite
  First published: 25 February 2007

• 102. DST: The time is a-changing
  First published: 11 February 2007

• 101. Sneakernet's a breeze with latest gadgets
  First published: 28 January 2007

• 100. Chebucto Community Net and You
  First published: 14 January 2007

• 99. Making the most out of dial-up
  First published: 31 December 2006

• 98. Keyboard shortcuts
  First published: 17 December 2006

• 97. Codecs key to playing media files
  First published: 3 December 2006

• 96. Saving the day with BartPE
  First published: 19 November 2006

• 95. Halifax's best kept secret marketplace
  First published: 5 November 2006

• 94. Putting the pieces together
  First published: 22 October 2006

• 93. Leaving no traces with Tor
  First published: 24 September 2006

• 92. Magically shrinking files
  First published: 10 September 2006

• 91. Laptop Computer Buyers Guide
  First published: 27 August 2006

• 90. Ubuntu
  First published: 13 August 2006

• 89. Second Life beckons
  First published: 30 July 2006

• 88. Free Windows Virtual Computing
  First published: 16 July 2006

• 87. End of the Road for Windows 98, Me
  First published: 2 July 2006

• 86. Exploring your hard drive
  First published: 18 June 2006

• 85. Exploring Earth and Sky
  First published: 4 June 2006

• 84. Saving lives with your computer
  First published: 21 May 2006

• 83. Watching TV on your computer
  First published: 7 May 2006

• 82. Check out comics on web
  First published: 23 April 2006

• 81. Proprietary versus clone
  First published: 2 April 2006

• 80. Knoppix makes using Linux easy
  First published: 19 March 2006

• 79. Email: Past, Present and Future
  First published: 5 March 2006

• 78. Dig deep to fix system slow-downs
  First published: 19 February 2006

• 77. Pluses, minuses of blank DVD discs
  First published: 5 February 2006

• 76. Keep security in mind when installing network
  First published: 22 January 2006

• 75. Leaving computers on: new models offer shutdown options
  First published: 8 January 2006

• 74. Check out these freeware sites
  First published: 11 December 2005

• 73. Make right choice for surge protection
  First published: 27 November 2005

• 72. PowerToys let users customize Windows
  First published: 13 November 2005

• 71. Beware of downloads while instant messaging
  First published: 30 October 2005

• 70. Pleasure of pressing button to encrypt, decrypt email,
  Part Two of Two
  First published: 16 October 2005

• 69. Everybody's got secrets: Encrypting your email with GPG,
  Part One of Two
  First published: 2 October 2005

• 68. Knowing how to be fully secure: Foiling keyboard loggers
  First published: 18 September 2005

• 67. Quality of all-in-one printers improving
  First published: 4 September 2005

• 66. Smart to get acquainted with Wiki
  First published: 21 August 2005

• 65. A Primer for Burning CDs
  First published: 7 August 2005

• 64. Firewire speeds up connections
  First published: 17 July 2005

• 63. Tutorial for opening attachments
  First published: 3 July 2005

• 62. Super high-speed Internet is calling you!
  First published: 19 June 2005

• 61. Security updating key to thwarting annoying emerging modem hijacking
  First published: 5 June 2005

• 60. Computer spring cleaning counts
  First published: 22 May 2005

• 59. Services deliver news to desktops
  First published: 8 May 2005

• 58. Use obsolete computer as music server
  First published: 24 April 2005

• 57. Back data up or kiss it goodbye
  First published: 10 April 2005

• 56. Information in a hurry: Using RSS newsfeeds
  First published: 20 March 2005

• 55. Free tools abound on web
  First published: 13 March 2005

• 54. Two screens can ease some tasks
  First published: 27 February 2005

• 53. Beware of phishers
  First published: 13 February 2005

• 52. Shop for best host for site
  First published: 30 January 2005

• 51. Post web images in choice of formats
  First published: 16 January 2005

• 50. Creating your own site free and easy
  First published: 26 December 2004

• 49. Webcams great for far-away loved ones
  First published: 19 December 2004

• 48. Gauging speed, memory of processors
  First published: 5 December 2004

• 47. Download away with FileZilla
  First published: 21 November 2004

• 46. Profit from your junk on eBay
  First published: 7 November 2004

• 45. Halloween treats lurk on Internet
  First published: 24 October 2004

• 44. Make sure firewall can keep hackers out
  First published: 10 October 2004

• 43. Tackling viruses cheaply
  First published: 26 September 2004

• 42. Monitor visits with website guestbook
  First published: 5 September 2004

• 41. Mame serves up old games
  First published: 22 August 2004

• 40. Many options out there if you want to change browser
  First published: 8 August 2004

• 39. Check these sites to fix your PC
  First published: 25 July 2004

• 38. Reader can download e-mail backup systems
  First published: 11 July 2004

• 37. Sending your greetings through cyberspace
  First published: 27 June 2004

• 36. Update to foil browser hijacking
  First published: 16 June 2004

• 35. Freeware Thunderbird zaps spam
  First published: 30 May 2004

• 34. Can't get enough of a Google thing
  First published: 16 May 2004

• 33. How to hide web-surf habits
  First published: 2 May 2004

• 32. Spy-ware can hitch ride on downloads
  First published: 18 April 2004

• 31. Chebucto: 10 years of connecting community
  First published: 28 March 2004

• 30. Legit music downloads
  First published: 14 March 2004

• 29. Cafes cater to Internet junkies
  First published: 29 February 2004

• 28. Making way through web of Internet errors
  First published: 15 February 2004

• 27. Avoiding online dangers
  First published: 1 February 2004

• 26. If you get tunes by file-sharing, install a good virus scanner
  First published: 18 January 2004

• 25. Install tracking system to foil laptop thieves
  First published: 4 January 2004

• 24. Lots of information on Internet on how to construct a website
  First published: 21 December 2003

• 23. Clean hard drive before discarding that old computer
  First published: 7 December 2003

• 22. Bookmark manager organizes faves
  First published: 23 November 2003

• 21. Are you at that keyboard again? Well, sit up!
  First published: 9 November 2003

• 20. For PC music lovers, MP3's the ticket
  First published: 26 October 2003

• 19. Arm yourself: Computer threats lurking online
  First published: 12 October 2003

• 18. Cleaning a mouse
  First published: 28 September 2003

• 17. Straight talk on buying a scanner
  Translating DPI, OCR, ADF
  First published: 14 September 2003

• 16. Tailor search engines to goals
  First published: 31 August 2003

• 15. In denial over Web use? You could be addicted
  First published: 17 August 2003

• 14. Virtual Private Network uses public lines to link PCs
  First published: 3 August 2003

• 13. Picture this!
  How to live right with your new digital camera
  First published: 20 July 2003

• 12. Webbys salute best of the Web
  First published: 6 July 2003

• 11. Blogs, or Web log journal sites, fun to surf
  First published: 22 June 2003

• 10. Online shopping? Let common sense be your guide
  First published: 8 June 2003

• 9. USB makes adding peripherals a snap
  First published: 25 May 2003

• 8. Mozilla lets users block pop-up ads
  First published: 11 May 2003

• 7. Lots of ways to juice up the old PC
  First published: 27 April 2003

• 6. Try Unix-based OS if you're tired of Windows
  First published: 6 April 2003

• 5. Firewall a must for home computer
  First published: 23 March 2003

• 4. Responding to spam e-mail will only make it worse
  First published: 9 March 2003

• 3. Using your PC to solve mysteries of the universe
  First published: 23 February 2003

• 2. Browser add-ons aid navigation on Web
  First published: 9 February 2003

• 1. How to set up a home network
  First published: 26 January 2003

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