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Or Back to the News Page Tech Bench is a place to look at and learn about New stuff. From changes in the computer world to 4wheelers that get better traction. We will talk about the advances made in the field of technology. This week: "Tire Tips" 4/19/09
Spring has sprung and now is the time check the wear and tear on anything with wheels. Most of us don't take the time to look at our tires when there is snow on the ground, unless you find yourself slipping and a sliding on the way to work or in to town for the groceries. As far as the rubber goes you should be sure there is "enough tread to touch the head". If you take a quarter and put George head first into the grooves of your tire at a minimum it should reach the top of his head (not very technical but its a quick check).Most all tires have wear indicators built into the tread area. Look for the raised areas that run perpendicular to the tread direction. They are usually about an 1/8" wide and if they are flush with the tread groove you need some new tires. Be sure to get the most out of your investment by keeping the right air pressure, this will also help on your gas mileage too. A shimmy felt in the seat or steering wheel may be a hint that balancing may be needed or worse yet you may have a broken steel belt in one of them. Look for uneven wear and cupping (cupping can be seen and felt, the tire should feel somewhat smooth and uniform on the tread surface) both of witch can be signs of worn suspension parts or an alignment problem.
"Tool Bars, Who needs them?" 3/26/09With most newer computers (5years old at the most) it is safe to say you have all the power and resources you need. To run most of the online applications and effectively browse the web it is nice to have a fast processor and a lot of ram. Some of you may be in need of an upgrade or you can just try a few tricks that will speed things up on that old clunker you still use. One resource thief is that tool bar your using. Yahoo, AOL, MSN and even Google may have snuck one in on you and you just left it...got use to it or try to ignore it. All of the new browsers (the program you use to view the content on the internet) like IE8, Mozilla firefox and Netscape have all the bells and whistles and they are built right into the program. These work great and and won't slow you down by setting additional cookies and active-x controls. You can dispose of and or disable them (in IE8) by right clicking on the tool or menu bar at the top of your browser and just un-check the culprit. If it isn't in the list of tools there you may need to go to the control panel and open the "ad/remove programs" ap. There you'll find it in a list of programs that you can delete. This should help get things moving for you. Don't Forget the PC geek's code "Backup, Backup, Backup!"
The how and why you should clean the registry file stored on your PC.
First you need to know that the information in this article apply's to PCs' only (sorry mac users). The registry is where the settings for programs you use and any settings you make for individual profiles are stored in an orderly and hopefully safe manner. If your machine has slowed to a crawl when your online or using one of the programs you have installed it is likely this file has become corrupt or at the very least a little jumbled. All kinds of things can cause this (that might be next weeks article) the effect is the machine gets lost or has a senior moment so to speak. You can wait and let the processor sort things out but it takes time and that's no fun. There are a lot of "fix it or cleaning" programs out there that will restructure the file when it is damaged and I recommend using a professionals tool rather than digging into this area yourself. This is one of the most temperamental files you can tamper with and you'll have a very difficult time recovering from any mistakes you might make. I highly recommend CCleaner! I've been running this program on a weekly basis and it is fantastic. One of the best things about it is it is free! You'll find it at the top of the most popular downloads on FileHippo.com . They are a grate resource for freeware and widely respected in the computer and Online world. Download and install CCleaner, run the program and have a faster smoother operating computer.
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What is on the stove tonight? |
Animal care |