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Anyone like me who has been using a computer for over a decade probably has a lot of digital clutter as well as extra web accounts that you no longer want. The solution to this is that you can purge your digital life regularly and get rid of what you no longer want. I did this recently and it has cleaned up digital life significantly.

First, go through your computer or computers and find all the files that you no longer need. From there sort them into these folders: Save, Delete, and Undecided. For the “Save” folder, either put them in a special “archive” folder like I do, so that you can have easy access to your files but, they are not in the way of getting to the files that you need more frequently. Or, if you want to save space on your hard drive, you can archive the files on a  thumb drive or external hard drives. Everything in the delete folder just delete that folder and remember to empty the recycling bin or Trash Can. Then, once all that is done, go through the undecided folder and sort them out and repeat the process.

Next, it’s time to go through your applications on your computer. I recommend uninstalling any program that you do not use regularly or has been inactive for 6 months or more unless you have a specific use for it. That would help clear out your applications and give you more free space on your hard drive. Now go through your saved bookmarks in your web browser, delete any bookmark that you no longer need or don’t use. This will make navigating your bookmarks much easier in the future. The next step is to go through all your web accounts and delete once you don’t use anymore and get rid of what you no longer need. Finally go through all your email and delete old emails and getn rid of things you no longer want or need anymore.

By following my process and using it on your computer and digital life, you will have a lot more working room and less mess to deal with and your computing experience will be much easier.

So you bought that shiney new computer, but what are you going o do with your old computer? There are actually a lot of options but, most people end up just throwing it out. I want to provide some better suggestions than putting it in a landfill and many of these options can help you in the long run.

1. Run Linux

I have said how much Linux has grown recently and has become a viable contender in the operating system marketand why not give it a try, since you already have the old computer. Then you will know what all the fuss over Linux is about

2. Home Server

Another option, is setting the old computer up as a home server where you can server files, stream music and backup data. The easiest way of acheieving this is to run FreeNas and install that which will make all the modificatiojns needed to turn your old junker into a awesome home server.

3. Media Center

A old PC would also make a good media center which will allow you to a lot more in your living room. First, you can play web-content like podcasts and videos over your big TV and fully enjoy it. You can also play music over your home sound system and surf the web on your big screen. Finally, you could buy a TV capture card and turn that computer into a Digital video record and watch your favorite shows anytime, anywhere.

4. Donate your Processing Power

You can install a program called Folding@home and donate your processing power to research and help cure cancer and many other important issues.

5. Turn it into a Hardware Firewall

If you have several computers and why worry about running software firewalls on each one when with one more network interface card, you can install SmoothWall and put the firewall on your network and not have to bother with running software on each machine and still stay safe from hackers.

6. Donate it!

As the administrator of a church computer lab whose computers were all donated, I can not stress enough how helpful donations are. If you don’t want yout old computer laying around your home and want to give3 it to people who need it check your local churches, schools, and other non-profit organizations because they can really use them.

7. Sell it online!

If the computer is still functioning you  can sell it online, it may not make you rich but, it could definitly get you some money towards a new computer.

8. Sell if for Parts

If you have a few working parts, and the skill to disassemble a computer, then you could make some money off selling your computer for parts. You will be amazed how desperate people are if their computer breaks and how much they are willing to pay for a replacement part, especially if the parts are rare.

9. Recycle It

If all else fails, take it to a recycling center that can properly dispose of the parts and minimize the impact on the economy.

I hope this article helped everyone decide what they should do with their computer and hopefully get even more out of them.

The Mac Mini  is a small computer that is currently the least expensive Mac on the market. The reason is because the Mac Mini only comes with the computer and leaves out the keyboard, mouse and monitor which is fine if you have those laying around. However the entry price is very high at $600 and does not provide the specs that are equivolent for that price tag. Howevr, there are a few uses that the Mac Mini is perfect for.

1. Media Center

One of the simplist uses for this, is a media center where you just hook up the Mac Mini to you big screen TV and  unlock a lot of possibilities. First you can play web meda like, Podcasts on your big home theater and other digtial media like music, video and many others in the comfort of your living room. You could also get a capture care to let you use your Mac Mini as a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) to record TV and watch whenever it is convienient for you.Finally, you can surf the internet and watch video on the big screen with sites like Hulu.

2. Home Server

The Mac Mini also makes a great home server where you can store your files for either backing them up, sharing with other computers or streaming media throughout your home. All you need to do is hook it up to your home network and setup file sharing on each computer.

3. Kitchen Computer or Home Management System

Maybe you want to have a computer to browse and store recipies using software like, SousChief, where you can find recipes or to track a family schedule or what you need to pick-up at the market. The Mac Mini is perfect because you don’t need to much power and you can just set this up on a kitchen counter and you can do all this and more.

There are 3 great uses for the Mac Mini and could make it much more worthwhile and more viable. One note though, is that if you don’t want to pay full price you can try and buy it used and save some money!

It was 10 years ago today the ZDTV, which later evolved into TechTV,was created and it was a television network that aired 24/7 programming about computers and technology. This created geek celebrities like: Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose and many others. This was great for technology enthusiasts to learn more and learn more skills. However, in 2004 TechTV was sold to Comcast and merged with their gaming network, G4, into G4TechTV and later G4. It was at this point in time that TechTV lost the technology programming that made it so special and became more of a general-interest channel. In this process, over 270 people were laid off from TechTV and causing an outrage in the tech community.

Although this was a sad state of affairs, it led to better media in the for of podcast and video podcast networks like TWIT and Revision3. Now you can get even better web programming over the internet for free all over the world not just where you have access to a specific channel. The beloved hosts of TechTV became entreprenuers in new ventures that have wider audiences and I think have cause more people to become interested in technology. So, on this anniversary, remember techTV it was a great network that has led to even greater things!

I have had an on and off experience with Ubuntu and for most of my usage have been very dissappointed in what many people considered to be the best linux distribution and has failed in many aspects. However, when I installed the newest version of Ubuntu on my old Dell Inspiron 6000 I was happily surprised in how much better this version is! First I would like to make a shout-out to Wubi, Ubuntu Installer for Linux,which is probably the best way to install Ubuntu if you are unsure if you want to make it your primary operating system, because all you have to do is download and run a .exe file and install it like a regular Windows program, but then when you reboot, you get a prompt to boot into either Ubuntu or Windows so, it is just like duel-booting without the work of partitioning Ubuntu is a great Linux distro and is definitly worth trying via Wubi because it is no risk!

The first part I was extremely impressed with is the sleek new user-interface, because with older versions of Ubuntu look bad and not nearly as leek as I would have liked. Now, with this new user-interface, Ubuntu rivals Windows 7 and Mac OSX in design. Ubuntu 9.04, also fixed one of the biggest problems that I had which was hardware support, while in prior versons I had problems with sound and wireless, in this version, I did not have to do anything to make my hardware work, everything worked out of the box! I am very impressed by that and I think that will truley help more people try it out if they don’t need to install any extra drivers and hopefully letting Ubuntu work immedietly on installation! Jaunty Jackalope also has a lot of other built-in features that used to need to be done with hacks and complicated processes! This new features are things such as: dual monitor support, built-in disk burning, and many other much need functions.

Now that Ubuntu is so much improved and there are so many great applications for it I think that their installation-base will become much larger and more people will become more aware of Ubuntu. Another contributor to the growth of Ubuntu, I think will be the growth of Netbooks and cloud computing because with netbooks you do not need to have the most elaborate operating system because you are just using an office suite, checking email and surfing the web. I suggest that everyone gives the  new Ubuntu a try and I am planning on trying to cover more linux and Ubuntu on my blog and videos in the near feature.

I have been taking Accounting Class for the last 10 weeks or so and I actually do enjoy it quite a lot however, I have made one observation, accounting on a computer reduces human errors and although there are downsides to depending on technology, the reward outweighs the risk.

Accounting is not extremly complicated, it can be confusing at times but, for the most part, it is basic addition and subtraction but, once you learn all the rules and processes the biggest issue that people run into is human error which I will admit can occur on both computers and paper but, it is much more prevolent on paper. The biggest problem is that people make mistakes; it happens to everyone and there is not real stopping it except by training accountants to be able to catch their errors and knowing how to problem solve. But, little things like writing a number in the wrong collum or  copying the wrong number could totally ruin a comapny’s finances.

Computers and Accounting software has made accounting a lot easier than it used to be because there is no handwriting and as far as mistakes a lot of modern software can point out errors. The Software makes sure you are using the proper account and makes sure that the technique is correct. I am not saying that this will resolve all the problems and will let anyone with a computer be able to  be an accountant but, it will curb the human errors. Although computers have glitches and power outages, the benefits of using a computer severly outweighs the minor inconvenences of technology.

As I have said before I believe that in the future, that people’s home media centers will all be based around a computer or computer like device like the Apple TV. This is important because instead of just being able to play media you have on physical media like tapes and DVDs you can play off your hard drive and stream media from the internet. I bleieve that in the next 20 years a computer-based home media solution will be standard. This also allows people to play media off computers in the house and stream media. It also allows users to watch and listen to podcasts on their full media center so they can have enjoy their media on the full setup in their living room.

If you want to do this now you can buy and Apple TV or hookup a computer to your TV and have it stream from other computers and from the internet. I think that is one of the best ways to reuse your computer and can help everyone enjoy their media much more.

Ever have a gadget that you really wanted but, it was a bit too far out of your price range? Consider buying it used, used gadgets let former users sell unwanted old gadgets and get some money back and lets new users save some money on buying gadgets. However, before buying a product make sure you analyize the condition of the product and try and find a way to verify it. One method of doing this is seeing a seller’s rating on the service you are buying from. But, if you buy used and the product is in decent condition you may be able to save a decent amount of money. Also, consider the environment, instead of that product going into the trash and getting into the environment, it is being used by a new owner and can help people. I would recocommend buying used for devices that are way to expensive to buy used but, you still want while devices that are crucial for you I would reccommend buying new because it would be all fresh and has a warrenty incase something goes wrong.

On Friday, I wrote five good reasons a user should get a netbook and today, I will write a list of 5 reasons that you should not get a netbook.

1. You Need to Use Specific Applications that are high-intensity or not-feasible on a Netbook- IE: Video Editing or Photoediting
2. Your fingers are to0 large to utilize the mini keyboard
3. You have vision problems and could no use the Small display
4. You Do Not Use Cloud Computing Services- I recommend trying them
5. You Would rather have a Full laptop than a netbook.

If you answered yes to any of these reasons then I reccommend that you rethink getting a netbook, but I still believe they are very useful devices.

Netbooks have been a growing trend in computers in the past year and many peple have bought them. There are many reasons to buy one. I have compiled a list of some of the best reasons of why you may consider buying a netbook.

1. You need a computer but, you can’t or don’t want to spend too much money.
2. You travel a lot and want or need a computer during your travels.
3. You want a small computer that can go anywhere for basic functions
4. If you primarily use web-applications and want to access them everywhere
5. Your are a Writer and you  take your work everywhere you go

So here are the top 5 Reasons to buy a netbook check gdovin.net on Monday for the top reasons to not get a netbook.