Young Gnomie Emor Upton writes:

I have been programming since I was 11 years old, and I am now 13 years old. I have noticed that the number of people in my age range who want to learn or know programming languages is increasing, and I’d like to share a list that would of came in very handy for me when I first started.

1. When you first start programming, don’t choose something too advanced — for example, Action Script — first because it involves math you may not even know (like Algebra) and second, it’s not ideal for learning basic programming language concepts like variables. Trying to learn a complicated language first could confuse you and put you off programming for good when really it’s not that hard if you choose the right language. I recommend either QBasic or HTML for beginners. Even though HTML is more Web design than actually making applications, it is very simple and easy to learn, and is handy to know.

2. Don’t be too ambitious when you choose your language. For example, don’t try and make a game once you just get C. Progress slowly. It may sound boring, but this way you’ll find it much easier when it comes to making a game or a more advanced application.
3. Find a good tutorial. If you just click the first result in a Google Search, you may end up with a really complex tutorial, or one with poor grammar that’s too hard to understand. Also, in my experience, you only end up getting frustrated when you ask a friend to teach you. I highly recommend just reading a tutorial rather than asking your friends to teach you — it’s so much more effective. Of course, asking a friend for help here and there is fine. Just don’t overdo it.
4. Don’t just copy and paste the code. You never learn anything from copying and pasting, though it may seem tempting (and I was VERY tempted to do so when I was learning Action Script).
5. If you find that you’re still not comfortable with your chosen language after a week or so, leave it. I have been in this position and never knew that programming could be fun if I just picked the right language. So just experiment a bit and choose the language that suits you (but don’t try and learn 5 languages at once, obviously).

Gnomie Michael Riley (TopGearFordGt in our chat room) writes:

1. Look around. Don’t just buy the first computer you see. When I say this I am talking about going around to different computer stores, and tech stores. One big reason that you would do this is because if you are going to be buying a Dell laptop for $800 from the Dell store, there is a good chance that you can find that computer at Best Buy or in Canada FutureShop or even eBay. You can also look around for computers at stores that sell refurbished laptops/desktops. This doesn’t always mean that someone traded in the laptop for something different because it was bad — it just means that they fixed it because when it first shipped it might have had a washed out or broken screen.

2. Look for different companies for computers. If you are on a tight budget then don’t go and buy a really expensive Mac or Dell. Something that you could do is look for companies that will let you customize your own computer. Yes this can be expensive, but if you are smart with buying what you need then you can benefit from it. Say that the computer that you really want to buy has 2 TB of storage, and you know that you are never going to use that in your life. Then buy the optional 250 GB one that might only cost $100 instead of $400. Another thing is buying RAM. RAM is something that the more you have the faster the computer will run. Generally, if you are going to buy a Mac or Dell computer then don’t buy the RAM from their Web site. Buy RAM from a Best Buy or FutureShop — you could save up to half the amount of money or more, Like Chris did.
3. Buy a computer second hand. I have a lot of friends who have done this and they have never had any problems with them. When my friends buy computers second hand they are saving up to $1000 or more with gaming rigs. When buying second hand, go with someone you trust. Buy from a friend or family member, or when buying on eBay go with someone that has a good rating for what they sell. This can be very important, because when buying second hand you generally can’t take it back — especially with eBay.
4. Consider the machine’s lifespan. When you are buying a computer, you are going to be dishing out a lot of money. So buy a computer that has a long lifespan, even if it means spending a little more money. This can be good and bad. The good thing about this is you only have to buy a computer once every three years. But the bad thing is, if you are a gamer or graphic designer, then the technology is going to go out of date within six months.
5. Last tip I have for buying a computer is to go with the computer that is right for you. Don’t buy a computer that has three graphics cards when you are only in need of a word processor. You don’t need that 750 GB HD for emailing people, and you don’t need that 32 GB of RAM for playing pinball. And last, don’t go overboard with the display. Chris actually uses his screens, but most people won’t use that much space. Go with something that fits your desk and fits your needs.

Dear Chris,

My name is Yaser Sulaiman. I’m a Syrian graduate computer science student who is studying in Saudi Arabia.

Although I have been watching your great videos for a couple of months now, I didn’t “formally” join the community until recently. I go under the nickname yaserbuntu.

I wanted to share with you and the community my top 5 list for making our Web browsing useful to others. The following methods might be well-known to many “power users,” but there is definitely someone out there who doesn’t know them.

1. Hit the “Share” button in your RSS reader: Yes, reading RSS feeds can be considered as Web browsing. In many RSS readers, there is a way to share items that you consider “share-worthy.” Just hit the “Share” button, and give your shared items’ RSS feed to others. Remember: don’t over do it! You are free to share whatever you like, but as a general rule, the number of shared items should be less than the number of starred items (your private, favorite items).
2. Use social bookmarking: Social bookmarking sites (like del.icio.us) can be used to share links and create networks between users, and that is why they are called “social” in the first place. When you come across a useful or an interesting website, and you think that someone else might be interested in it too, bookmark it. If you find a user that has similar interests to yours, add him/her to your network, then follow your entire network via its RSS feed.
3. Blog: This might be helpful when you don’t have the time to write a long blog post. Instead of leaving your blog without updates for the week, why don’t you write a short post containing links to some useful websites, blogs, or articles you recently came across?
4. Tweet: Are you on Twitter? If yes, make your tweets more useful and interesting by posting links to useful websites from time to time. Because of the 140-character limit, you might want to use one of the URL shortening services. I personally prefer Tweetburner because it can be used to track what happens with the links you share on Twitter. (On a side note, TinyURL is blocked in Saudi Arabia! I was missing a lot of good stuff because of that, but I recently discovered Embiggen TinyURL bookmarklet for expanding those TinyURLs, and it works fine with me!)
5. Email: If you come across an interesting article on some blog and you realize that one of your friends will find it really useful, look around for an envelope icon, an “Email this” link, or a “Send to friend” link and click it to send the link to your friend. If you prefer, you can send the link from your own email account.

I hope that you find them useful, and I would love to learn more ways to make my Web browsing useful to others.

DJ Gnomie Cyrus writes:

Hello Chris,

I’m an aspiring DJ (currently I do it as a hobby). I love Open Source, and find that the quality is often higher than that found with a lot of proprietary software. Oh, and it’s free! I put together a digital “toolbox” of such stuff I find useful for Windows in my pursuit of DJ happiness. Take a look and see what you think.

DJ Audio Player: Mixxx

Tagger: EasyTAG

Ripping: CDex

Recording/Editing Sessions: Audacity

BPM (Beat Per Minute) detecting: BPMDetect

Archiver: 7-Zip

Audio Normalization:

MP3: MP3gain

Ogg Vorbis: VorbisGain

WAVE: wavegain

Summer approaches and Gnomie Dan H. (aka starbucks95905 in our chat room) writes in with these tips that may come in handy if you’re planning on visiting a theme park or two:

I just got back from Epcot at Disney World in Orlando and I would like to give a few great tips for visiting theme parks.

1. Before you go, you may want to check out the peak periods of time for crowds at that park, because you don’t want to go when the place is packed.

2. If you don’t have much of a choice for when you visit, try and make the best of longer lines. You may want to bring something to keep you entertained in line, like an iPod or a book.
3. Don’t trust the park-given wait time for rides too much, as they are usually off due to inaccurate methods of getting the times.
4. Put any valuables in bags you have with you or in storage compartments on certain rides.
5. Bring a lunch along. The food at a theme park is always overpriced — not to mention it isn’t great or healthy food either.

I’ve learned from past experiences, and I don’t want anyone to learn the hard way like I’ve been doing. This applies to most big theme parks out there. But there is one thing I would like to say: if you aren’t willing to get tired, don’t go!

Gnomie John writes:

Why upgrade? Chances are you have bought something online with a credit card, used internet banking, or dealt with confidential information on your computer. If you use a wireless router with anything less than WPA2 encryption, your information may not be as secure as you think.

“WPA2 security is definitely worth the modest amount of effort required to set it up. The original WPA security standard can be cracked with relative ease unless you use a passphrase that is longer than 20 characters and is not merely composed of words that can be found in a dictionary.” [Quote from the PC World article: Wireless Tips: Your Wireless Network Needs a Security Update]

1. Check current devices for compatibility. Your router and wireless network card may already support WPA2; Google your devices and find out. If they do, download the latest drivers for your wireless network card and update the firmware on your wireless router (very easy to do, but follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully).

   If your devices don’t support WPA2, and the security of the information transferred over your network is important to you, consider buying a wireless network card and router that support WPA2. Most recent wireless devices have WPA2 as standard.

2. Download the WPA2 Hotfix for Windows XP. This threw me when I was setting up my network. You need to download this hotfix or WPA2 will not work. It’s that simple. The hotfix is #KB893357 available from the Microsoft Web site.
3. Set a strong password for both network key and wireless router. What’s the point of all this if you set a one word password? So make it greater than 20 characters, consisting of numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and obscure characters such as @ and &. Randomize it — be creative. Get your pets to walk on your keyboard. Just don’t be predictable. Pretend you’re Jack Bauer and this is a matter of national security.
4. Don’t bother with MAC filtering or Hide SSID. They add little or nothing to your security. Unless you have a specific reason for doing so, activating them generally only makes your life more stressful.
5. Use TKIP & AES encryption when selecting the encryption settings on your wireless router and on your computer; select WPA2-Personal with TKIP & AES encryption. This is a very high level of security for today’s standards.

HOT TIP: WPA2 Personal is the one to use unless you run a large enterprise.

BONUS TIP: Use the Windows Wireless Assistant built into Windows rather than the one your wireless network card came with. It generally works with less conflict and generally uses less system resources. It’s one less “Yet Another Program That Wants To Load At Startup.”

Gnomie Gabe Somebody (if that is, indeed, his real name!) writes:

Hey Chris, I’ve got a top five list for you. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent trying to fuss with my home networking to discover the solutions are usually simpler than they seem.

1. Totally go with wired or wireless — not both.

2. Don’t use Windows for your home network. Just go to Best Buy and get a simple networking program. Keep it simple!
3. Beware of electrical interference. Try not to place your router too close to a computer, microwave, cable box, TV, etc. Just move it. Simple as that.
4. Change the channel. Interference can sometimes be cleared up as as easily as changing the channel on your wireless router. You might have had the problem only because somebody was cooking something in a nearby microwave. You can buy a USB device that finds the best channel for you, but it’s just a waste of money. Just experiment and change the channel to best suit your environment.
5. Location, location, location. Try to put your wireless router high up and near the thing that will use it the most. Also, don’t place it too close to windows (the holes in your house that are covered in glass — not the operating system). Doing this will not only increase your range, it will increase transfer time also.

Gnomie Mikey (mxjf in our chat room) writes:

I have been watching your videos for a long time and have been subscribed to your YouTube channel since around October. I have noticed that you and Ponzi have quite a few laptops, and I thought this would be appropriate.

Around February 2008, I decided I wanted a laptop. So I started looking on eBay and other places. Then, my dad told me that my cousin had a used laptop he would be willing to sell to me. Later, I talked to my cousin and he said that he was asking $50 for it, but here was the catch: it had a cracked screen. I was pretty desperate for a laptop at that time, so I accepted his offer. When it arrived, I was happy to see that it booted up and the crack wasn’t that bad, but it was significant enough to make using it a little problematic. So here are my top five tips for using a laptop more efficiently in the event you crack your screen:

1. Resize your windows. It really helps if your screen is cracked in one section but not another. For example: if your screen has a cluster of cracks in the top portion of it, resize and drag your window to fit the bottom section. I found that it really helps the most when you are typing up a text document.

2. Change to a higher screen resolution. It can help you to get more use out of the part of your screen you still have left. Increasing your resolution will make everything smaller. Many people have their screen resolution set to 1024 by 768. If you change your screen resolution to 1280 by 1024, for example, you will be able to fit more icons in your available space on your desktop, and will be able to view more content because everything is smaller. I noticed that when I go went YouTube to look at a video, the top 3/4 of the video was chopped off. When I switched to a higher resolution, the video was a little smaller, but it was not blocked by a crack.
3. Take care of your laptop. If it has black spots around the cracks, do not push on them — it will only make them worse. Don’t move your laptop as much. If you are a person who brings their laptop to school/work every day, or bring your laptop with you almost everywhere you go, don’t shake it while you carry it. If you have a laptop bag and it is big enough, place your laptop crack-side up so the crack won’t get worse. For example: if your screen has a crack on the right side, place your laptop in your bag so that the left side of it is facing the handle/strap of the bag.
4. Use it less frequently. If you are like me, you most likely have a regular desktop computer as well as a laptop. More than likely, your desktop is more powerful, has more drive space, and is more than capable of performing the tasks you would normally do on your laptop, despite the fact that it isn’t as portable. If you need to make a PowerPoint presentation at home and need to present it to your class the next day, do it on your desktop and transfer it to a flash drive. Flash drives will fit in your pocket, and more than likely, there is a computer in your class. Plus, a laptop won’t fit in your pocket, will it?
5. Start looking for a screen. Many times someone will crack their screen, go to a site like eBay or craigslist to buy a new one, and replace it by themselves. Sometimes you will get lucky like me and find an identical model laptop to your broken one for extra cheap, with a working screen, but being stripped clean of the RAM and hard drive. Just put your hard drive and RAM from your broken laptop into the working one, and you are good to go. In some cases, the new laptop might even have a better disc drive or DVD burner. You never know.

Gnomie techmarshal from our chat room writes:

Hey Chris,

I’m not new to your live feed, but I am new to the chat room. My handle is techmarshal and I thought I would send you this top five list. So here it goes…

1. Get rid of the programs that you never use or have just forgotten about. These programs not only take up hard drive space but also can slow down your system with unecessary processes.

2. Look at your music and picture library and see if you have any duplicates that are not needed. If you have a lot of files, then you can download programs that scan for duplicate files. The program that I use is Easy Duplicate Finder from majorgeeks.com. It’s safe and very effective.
3. Get a high capacity flash drive and copy needed but not very often used files over to it. This will help clear your hard drive and you will still have those important files easily accessible at any time.
4. Convert files into a smaller format. For instance, if you have a lot of videos in mp4 format, you can convert them to a much smaller flv format. The program I use is MediaCoder. It’s free and converts many different formats.
5. Use a file finder to search for the largest files on your hard drive. There are many different programs to do this — like Large File Finder. Simply choose the unneeded files and delete them. It’s that simple.

Bulgarian Gnomie Nik writes:

Hello, Chris. My name is Nik (aka K915 on YouTube and in the chat room). I would like to present my top five things to do to make Windows faster and more reliable. I know there are a lot of videos and materials about this out there (you probably even have a video covering this topic), but still I decided to share my little experience with you and the people on YouTube.

1. Increase the virtual RAM. It’s also called the paging file — and believe me, it plays a big role. It acts like RAM for applications, including games and programs. You can expand it to whatever size you want, but it also depends on the size of your hard drive. I use a 40 GB hard (yes, I’m looking forward to upgrading it) and I’ve set up the maximum for the paging file: 1900 MB. I’ve tested the Windows performance lots of times with little virtual RAM and with the maximum capacity, and there is a big difference in a very good way.

2. Windows visual effects must go! Switch off all the visual effects, dragging windows with contents, mouse shade, and so on. These take RAM and slow down the process of other programs. This is very useful for Windows XP and Vista.
3. If you are an experienced user, you can edit the registry entries to make things faster. There are delays for minimizing windows, program starting, and even the Start menu. For example, did you notice that you have to wait some time to bring up the Start menu? Yes, you have. It’s a matter of milliseconds, but when you edit most of the stuff to work without delay you can see good results.
4. Keep the registry clean! A messy registry with unnecessary and useless keys is a very bad thing! Cleaning it up and sorting it can prove to be very effective. But be careful — registry entries are not to be played with, so this tip is recommended for medium-level users. There are also a lot of programs on the Web to do that for you.
5. Disable the Windows sounds! Sure you can listen to music, but Windows Startup, Shutoff, and Logon sounds take time to load and play. My advice is to get all the Windows sounds disabled. That way the sound doesn’t play before you start and program, and there’s no delay.
6. Bonus: Always use CPU-friendly programs. For example, don’t run many chat clients separately; they take a lot of CPU. Why have WLM , Yahoo! Messenger, and ICQ all started when you can have Miranda and use them all in one program? Switch off unnecessary programs that you don’t use at the moment.

Gnomie Jebus (pronounced “hay”-”bus”) writes:

Mr. Pirillo,

I’m a long-time watcher, recent-chat-joiner and first-time writer. I’ve noticed that one topic that comes up regularly is Windows Vista, to which many chatters respond to “upgrade to XP.”

However, no matter how strong you think you’ve built your argument against the winds of change, your shelter of stubbornness is bound to collapse eventually. I remember when XP came out, and people criticized it for being too user friendly, a lot like when DOS was around and geeks criticized it for not being (for lack of a better term) technical enough.

I wish not to criticize Vista or praise it, but merely provide this Top five list to help improve your future eXPerience.

5. Update!

For the love of Cthulhu don’t forget to update. Service Pack 3 is almost out and after that Windows XP will be on extended support, so you will still need to check regularly for hotfixes. A good idea might be to back up your data and completely wipe your hard disk and reinstall XP, then install all the service packs and updates at once.

4. Keep your box free of dust.

A clean computer is a happy computer. Make sure your system has proper ventilation and a good air flow. Check it ever two or three months and vacuum the dust (after taking the proper safety precautions of course) out of the surrounding area (floor, fan grates, the jumble of cables, etc…). Invest your hard earned cash in canned air and clean out your computer. Or, if you’ve never even opened up your tower, buy an air compressor. (I’m serious, I once bought a used Alienware off eBay and I had to use an air compressor to get all the dust out of it, it works fine now though).

3. Use alternative programs.

I don’t want to start a browser war, but it would be a good idea to switch to a lighter browser, such as Firefox or K-Meleon. In the future, there will no doubtedly be an IE 8 and an IE 9, which Microsoft will ask you to upgrade. Undoubtedly the new browsers will be more rich in features and will require more resources to run. I have no doubts that Firefox and Opera will follow this path as well, to what extent however I cannot predict (read: I don’t want to start a browser war). Also, with less popular browsers there is a smaller chance that you will get a virus or spyware than with the more popular ones.

Much like Internet Explorer, there will be updates to Windows Media Player, iTunes, QuickTime, and Real. These will run slower on your old system. If you use “QuickTime Alternative” and “Real Alternative,” you get the same functionality at a faster speed. Also, try some lightweight media players such as VLC, which plays just about every media format imaginable.

Instead of using the latest AIM client, try Miranda-IM or Trillian, free programs that both make use of all the popular IM protocals out there and organize your contacts under a single program.

2. Defrag and Chkdsk

Run these system checkups every once in a while (every five or six months is what I do) in order to keep your hard drive content neat, tidy, and uncluttered. Another helpful program is CCleaner, which erases your Internet cache, cookies, and all sorts of useless hidden files and folders that are just taking up space on your hard drive.

1. Remember that you are using an out-of-date OS!

I can’t count how many times I’ve had people complain to me about how “terrible” Microsoft Windows is and how they get the Blue Screen of Death every 10 minutes. Whenever I ask what version they are running you would not be surprised how many times I find out they’re running ME or 98se. You chose not to upgrade, so be prepared for the consequences.

Gnomie Hai-Shuo Shun writes:

Slow computer getting you down? Wish you could speed up your system so that games won’t crawl by like a slide show permanently set to slow? Well look no further! I shall share five easy steps that you can take to improve your system’s speed! Most of them are free of charge, and all of them should have some effect on your system. So without further ado, we begin with:

1. Remove spyware and adware from your system. Have you noticed recently that ads seem to pop up whenever you go to a Web page? Or that Internet speeds are about that of diseased livestock? Your system’s probably chock full of spyware. What to do? Well, thankfully there are several things you can do. First, download either Spybot-S&D or Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware, and run it. This should remove most if not all of the spyware and adware on your system. Neither of these are particularly robust, however, so we move on to:

2. Remove viruses from your system. Get yourself a decent virus scanner program. Big names include MacAfee, Symantec, or Norton. By the way it should be mentioned that virus scanners like the Big Three tend to be huge. Big, beefy programs that can chew up RAM faster than Dudley Dursley chewed up Harry’s birthday cake. If this is a problem for you, take a look at avast! avast! is a free virus scanner that can be downloaded, but be careful. Phishing sites love to pretend to be “free virus scanner software” and so you have to be careful. Yes, avast! is a respected name and is not a virus, but only if you actually download it and not some trojan.
3. Defragment your hard drive with the disk defragmentation tool, usually located in Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools. This useful little program will improve performance by compacting your data so that your programs aren’t all located in tiny little bits. Some people might argue this point, saying that defragmentation doesn’t actually improve anything, but look at it this way: it never hurts at worst, and at best has a chance of improving your runtime! So where’s the loss?
4. Remove dust. Buy some cans of compressed air (yes I’m aware of the irony of purchasing a can of air. No, I do not wish to purchase any bridges today). Using this compressed air, blow the dust out of your system. That dust does your CPU no favors and a thick, liberal coating of dust tends to collect when you leave your computer running in a dirty room. Oh and by the way, after you’ve blown all that dust into the air, it’ll settle. All over your carpet. So you might wanna vacuum later. Just an idea.
5. Clean your registry. CCleaner is a good registry fixer that’ll fix all those broken things in your registry. By the way, don’t go mucking about in the registry without backing it up first. If you do not do this, then I cannot be legally responsible for any time rifts, space distortions, or world wars caused by unexpected changes made by CCleaner. That said, properly done, a registry change often helps in improving performance. Also check your startup programs: there are programs that are set to start as soon as Windoze boots, and this can cause Windoze to start up slower. Removing a few (AIM is a good one) might improve your startup process. You might keep your hair a bit longer, too.

One final bit of advice. Oftentimes I’ll see on PC-building Web sites people wondering why their computer is “running so slowly even though they have the best gear.” The word of advice? Check your PSU (Power Supply Unit). How far do you suppose you’d get if your car’s gas tank had a maximum capacity of 2 gallons of gas? Would you want such a car? Well, your “awesome gear” won’t get too far on a puny PSU either. If your computer’s operating much slower than you’d expect from your hardware, consider replacing your PSU with one that can actually handle your power-hungriest parts (usually your CPU and GPU). Calculators for what wattage of PSU you might need are all over the Web. Just to be safe it might be better to go 50 watts or so above the recommended, just in case you decide to add something else later.

Gnomie Johannes writes in with his top six tips for learning how to program:

1. Start simple, very simple. Don’t download the source to some high-tech program which you use every day — chances are you won’t even be able to compile it (make it into an .exe file). Instead, download some old compiler; I say old because then there will be a lot of support and documentation for it. Then start really simply: write a line of code that displays your name, like in a Windows console program.

2. Learn how to learn. Different people want to learn in different ways. You might want to look at tutorials and walkthroughs on simple programs to learn how someone else did it. Or you might be like me and find a function and play around with it to see what happens.
3. Learn more by finding a method that you think is fun to learn by. For example, you can use the Beep() function to make the computer beep for a certain time and frequency. Beep itself is boring, so why not put it in a loop and give it a higher tone each time, or make it oscillate back and forth?
4. Find a friend or community for when you get stuck. We all need someone we can ask sometimes — even Microsoft — therefore, it’s always nice to have someone or a community you can ask when you get stuck.
5. Release your software. If you make something you think is useful, other people will want it, too. Releasing your software will give you great feedback, and you will gain a strong motivation to expand the program or program more and better programs.
6. Don’t be discouraged in thinking that your skills will be obsolete in a few years, for they will not. Even though new languages are created, they all follow the same idea upon how they work with pointers, functions, and variables, etc. Your skills will be valuable forever.

Gnomie Ryan Krizan writes:

1. Do not leave your notebook running on a poorly ventilated surface, such as wood or metal for too long. Once the wood or metal heats up from the heat of the laptop, it will retain the heat and not allow your notebook to cool properly. You might as well toss your notebook into a hot furnace.

2. Learn how to manage hard drive spin cycles as pertaining to your operating systems. Most hard drives are only rated for around 50,000
   spin cycles before they wear out, so managing spin cycles can greatly increase the life expectancy of your hard drive.

3. Try not to let heavy power cords, USB cables, or any other cables that are plugged into your notebook hang. Over time, it could damage plugs in your notebook that could result in costly repairs. As is very common with Dell notebooks, the AC power adapter — which is soldered directly to the notebook’s motherboard — can get damaged, and render a motherboard useless if unrepairable.
4. Tap the keyboard and touchpad lightly. Notebook keyboards and touchpads are not built as heavily as desktop keyboards and mice. Keeping the keyboard and touchpad clean and lightly tapping instead of “punching” the keys or touchpad will help increase the notebook’s life expectancy.
5. Try not to fully discharge your notebook battery. Adjust your power management settings to shut down the computer when the battery charge reaches 15 to 20 percent rather than 5 to 10 percent. Rechargeable batteries can become damaged if fully discharged too many times. Battery life is generally determined by charge and discharge cycles around 300 to 500 cycles. Also, if storing a battery, do not store the battery fully charged for more than a couple of days as many notebook batteries are designed to be stored at around 40% charged.

Gnomie Terabytes Courtney from our chat room writes:

I bought a 22″ monitor about a month ago and when I turned it on I found it had about 20 stuck pixels! A few hours of hardcore gaming didn’t fix the problem and I didn’t know what to do. It was then I remembered that every color is made up of red, green, and blue. Here’s what I did to fix ALL of my stuck pixels:

1. Opened mspaint and created a new bitmap with a resolution the same as my monitor’s (in my case 1680 x 1050).
2. Created three images: one red, one green, and the last, blue.
3. Saved all of the images to my desktop.
4. Finally, I highlighted them all, right-clicked and chose preview, went fullscreen, and let the slideshow do the work.

I’m not 100% sure as to why this works, but I think it’s because, for each color, two of the three cells in each pixel get a chance to be off. I also found speeding through the images helped.

Anyway, I hope all of your stuck pixel woes can be solved!

Gnomie Tim Malloroy (aka RedFlameOut) writes:

Hey Chris,

I wish I had more time to view and participate in your videos, however, work is killing me right now.

I came across an interesting issue with Windows Defender (which I use as an addition to anti-spyware rather than my only protection).

As part of my security procedures, I periodically make sure all the protection software is updating itself properly. During one of these scans, Windows Defender had not been updated in quite some time. Manual update failed with a Code 0×80240022.

Our friend Google helped me find the answer and I want to share it with the community.

Apparently something happens to the definitions in Windows Defender that stops updating from working. The following command line procedure corrects it. Or at least it did for me:

1. Type Windows-R (Hold the Windows or start key and type an R) to bring up the run dialog box.
2. Type in cmd.exe and the press ctrl-alt-enter to run it as Administrator. It may ask for escalation privileges so type in your password and press enter if it does.
3. Use the cd command to change to the Windows Defender directory:

   cd “\Program Files\Windows Defender”

4. Run the following commands:

   mpcmdrun -RemoveDefinitions -All
   mpcmdrun -SignatureUpdate

Gnomie Eric Jones writes:

Hey, Chris, thought I’d send you another top five regarding laptops.

1. When ordering a notebook computer, make sure you get a warranty that will last for at least three (if not four) years with the accidental protection program. That way, if something tends to break or fail, or you spill your cup of Peet’s onto it, you’ll be protected by it (this especially applies to those who are in college or are planning on going into college in the next year).

2. Don’t think you’re the ultimate person in PC notebook repair. Remember, notebooks are smaller, thinner, and harder to open. If something goes wrong, call tech support! Besides, once you open up that notebook, most likely the warranty will be null and void. So don’t open it unless the warranty has expired and you can afford to be without the notebook if something goes terribly wrong.
3. This tip kind of applies to #2. Don’t blow compressed air into the exhaust fan! I have personally done this and the fan died. Now the only way to keep the notebook cool is with a chill pad. Again, call tech support on ways to get that dust out of the notebook and how to avoid dust invasions in the future!
4. Get the latest graphics card(s) and the best CPU option if you can before you purchase that new notebook! Remember, these two components are irreplaceable by the normal PC user. Memory and hard drives are upgradeable, so keep that in mind if you need more space in those two areas.
5. Unless it’s a desktop replacement computer, don’t run a ridiculous amount of programs on it! This can cause severe overheating (as high as 200 degrees F), BSODs, and possibly damaged parts.

BONUS TIP #1: Get multiple batteries if you will be traveling a lot. It’s always helpful to have a spare battery on hand if you can’t get the other one charged right away.

BONUS TIP #2: Don’t think your notebook has the best hard cover shell in the world. It doesn’t! So don’t try that drop test; 99% of the time you’ll fail. Miserably.

No stranger to emergency evacuation, Gnomie Michael Rivera (mrivera1 in our chat room and on YouTube) writes:

Hey Chris,

I’ve seen all of your top 5 lists and I decided to make one that I wished that I had when this was happening to me. I am 15 years old and I have lived through two evacuations relating to the wildfires here in San Diego, CA. (October 2003 and October 2007). We all agree that our tech is some of the most valuable stuff in our homes, and it can become very difficult deciding what to bring (believe me, I would know), especially if the stuff you leave behind has the possibility of being destroyed. So I have created a top 5 list of things that you should definitely bring whenever you are being evacuated (whether it’s because of a fire, hurricane, tornado, landslide, flood, or whatever).

1. Your Computer/Computers
   This is most likely the most important thing in your house besides your important documents. All of the computers you have should be brought in case of an evacuation. Just think of all of the important files and programs you have on your systems. It would be a tiring process trying to recover all of that (if it can be recovered). So bring your systems and any of the documentation and restore disks that came with them. It would be very disheartening if you had to reinstall Windows or Mac OS X or any of the OEM software and you discovered that you no longer had the OEM restore disks. Sometimes, however, the restore program is on a disk partition, but bring all of the disks that came with the computer. Also, bring all of the important hardware that you have, like printers, keyboards, mice, routers, etc. You will need those if you plan on using your computer right away. Don’t forget the documentation and driver disks for those. And don’t forget the original disks for any programs that you use or are planning to use, as well as the box and documentation that came with them. It will be a big loss to no longer have those.

2. Any Equipment From Your Telecommunications Provider
   If you have any modems, routers, set top boxes, etc. that were loaned to you by a telecommunications provider, be sure to bring them. The company will be very happy you have saved its equipment (and money). That doesn’t mean climb on top of your house during a mandatory evacuation to retrieve a satellite dish, but save the set top box. In addition, bring any of the documentation that came with those devices.

3. Cell Phones
   This should be a given thing. Your cell phone is the most important thing you should have with you at all times. So be sure to bring your cell phone or phones, accessories, the boxes and documentation that came with them, and the original contract you signed. With the cell phone, you will be able to keep tabs with family and friends who will probably worry (like everybody I know did) when they hear you are being evacuated.

4. Portable Media Devices & Video Game Consoles
   This may not seem like much, but think. How are you (or your spouse or kids) going to relieve stress and try to prevent boredom and fright when you are waiting for news of what’s going on? iPods, Zunes, and other portable devices as well as Xbox 360s, PlayStations, Wiis, PSPs, etc. make a great way to keep yourself occupied when you don’t know what is going on. (Don’t forget games!)

5. Radios Or Small TV Sets/DVD Players/VCRs
   During a widespread emergency situation, it is always important to stay informed, whether you are at an evacuation center, or at a friend or family member’s home. So if you are not sure of whether or not you will be able to have good access to the important information broadcast over the airwaves, be sure to bring a radio preferably (AM/FM, at least; XM and Sirius are even better) and/or a small TV set. That way, wherever you are, you will be able to stay informed and entertained.

And that’s it. Be sure to bring all of the documentation for all of the tech you have. And don’t forget your important documents!

Gnomie Levi Mahoney writes in with some wise eBay advice:

Hi, Chris! Recently I have been selling quite a few things on eBay. Most sales are great, and the customers are very pleased with the items, but you get a few people who are just not happy with what they bought and leave negative feedback. I have a few tips on how to keep your eBay customers happy.

1. When listing your item, make sure it’s perfect. List all the features of the item and (if there is anything wrong with the item, i.e. any damage) make sure you state this in the listing. If you don’t state this, your customer won’t be happy and will probably leave you negative feedback. Remember: how you describe your listing is crucial to increasing your chances of a sale.

2. If you are listing your item as an online auction, make your starting price realistic. Nobody is going to pay a ridiculous price for something they can buy in their local shop for cheaper. If you have an idea of what the absolute minimum is that you’ll accept for your item, set a reserve price. This will give you peace of mind that your item won’t sell for less than you want for it.
3. Make your shipping price realistic. You should be able to get accurate shipping prices from your local courier or shipping service. You see many sellers on eBay charging too much for shipping costs, and this may put a buyer off.
4. If you state a certain time period for delivery, make sure it will arrive on time. If not, your buyer may leave negative feedback.
5. Finally, keep your buyer posted. Get a tracking number from the courier company and give this to the buyer so they can track their item. If you do not get a tracking number and your item goes missing, you may not be able to get a refund. This will leave you out of pocket as you would have to refund the buyer. Also, if your buyer has any questions about the item they bought/are going to buy, ALWAYS answer them. This will show that you are a good seller.

Gnomie Brian Troisi writes in with his top five ways to ensure a productive workspace:

1. Have a small container of pencils and a notepad. You’ll never know when you have to quickly jot something down on paper.
2. Have plenty of lighting. It will make you more productive and you won’t have to strain your eyes.
3. Have a comfortable chair. This is a big one. If you have a desk with an uncomfortable chair, it will be very hard to concentrate and you will want to leave!
4. Be as ergonomic as possible. Have a wrist rest under the keyboard or use a thin keyboard such as the new Apple keyboard. Make sure the chair is adjustable and adjusted to the best height for looking down at work or looking at a computer monitor. Also, if possible, use an LCD monitor to prevent eyestrain.
5. Try to be free of distractions. For some people, the computer itself may be a distraction (like when doing a boring spreadsheet). If you’re doing something you want to do (like me typing this list), it usually might not be a problem. But sometimes Web sites like YouTube beg you to watch videos and stuff and not get your work done! If you don’t have to use the Internet at all, it is recommended that you unplug the ethernet cable or turn off the Wi-Fi. Trust me. It really helps!