Spring?

We are having - here in the Silicon Valley - a preview of Spring so convincing that some of my flowers have decided to bloom. (This after a three day bout of rain that dropped 11 inches.) I guess daffodils are easily duped.

Last year, I did not write a Spring-related article (see, A few extra tugs) until mid-March.

I like the Springtime. And I love Summer. And the early part of Fall is okay with me too. What I don't like is cold. And add gray, and add wet..? Well, cold, gray, and wet is not for me. As soon as I'm elected Supreme Benevolent Omnipotent Dictator Of All Things, one of my first acts will be to abolish Winter (everywhere except Alaska, and the Arctic's.. and Iceland, and maybe, Switzerland. "Snow people" need somewhere they can go ski/snowmobile/etc.)

I understand that many of my readers are in locations where Old Man Winter is still fully in charge. Some of you may still even have (shudder) snow. You have my sympathies, and.. vote for me.

Tip of the day: Springtime means Spring Cleaning (and pruning.. and planting.. and gutter-cleaning..) and so I am going to remind you that your computer needs an occasional cleaning too. (Nice transition, eh?)

Get rid of the dust and lint: Dust and lint can reduce your computer’s performance, cooling efficiency, and even cause 'fatal' short-circuits.
* For desktop PCs, unplug your computer’s power cord from the wall and open your computer’s case so you can see all the neato circuitry inside. How, exactly your case opens will vary with make/model, but it is usually a side panel, and the side panel is held in place with two thumb-screws (the manufacturer’s website will have instructions, also).
Once the case is open, use the techniques I described in my printer maintenance article to remove the built-up dust bunnies. Pay special attention to air venting areas (and screens), such as by the power supply. (And, be careful and be gentle.)

* For notebooks, your cleaning is going to be a little different: you will want to get all the debris from out from under your keyboard keys, as I describe in this article. And you’ll want to wipe down your screen with an anti-static cloth (which may may require the slightest [just a drop or two.. in one corner..] moistening with plain water.

Today's free download: PhotoScape "is an all-in-one style photo editor with fun and ease of use. Major capabilities are: viewer, editor, batch editor, page, combine, animated GIF, print, splitter, screen capture, color picker, rename, raw converter, resizing, brightness/color/white-balance adjustment, backlight correction, frames, balloons, text, drawing pictures, cropping, filters, red eye removal and blooming."

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