I've been writing here since 2005 — practical how-tos, pro tips and the occasional opinion.
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Upgrading an older laptop or PC: where you get the most bang for your buck
A 5 to 10 year old computer that feels slow can usually be brought back to life for under $110 in parts — if you know which upgrades actually matter and which machines can't be upgraded at all.
More articles
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Part 1 of a three-part series on backing up family photos and the three common setups that feel safe but aren't.
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Five months after my heart attack, I'm down 30 pounds and feel healthier than I did before. Here's what actually worked — food, exercise, and stress.
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Chasing a high-pitched whine through your car stereo? Here are the fixes everyone recommends first, and the one that actually killed mine.
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Before you rage-buy a new printer, check these five things. Nine times out of ten your printer isn't broken — it's one of the same handful of problems, every time.
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Your kid just started a real job and HR handed them a 401(k) enrollment form they don't understand. Here's the 10-minute conversation to have with them before the default settings make the decision for them.
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Scam sites in 2026 look better than ever. Here's what I actually check before typing a credit card into a website I don't already know and trust.
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Two months after a stent for a 90% blockage in the widowmaker, here's what cardiac rehab, a Mediterranean diet, and daily blood pressure checks have taught me.
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Before you blame your ISP and let them sell you a faster plan, run through a few quick checks. The bottleneck is usually the router in your closet, not your internet.
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Tankless water heaters get pitched as the obvious upgrade, but they're a great fit for some houses and a bad financial call for others. Here's how to tell which one you have.
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Most water heaters tell you they're failing months before they actually leak. Here's the 10-minute inspection that buys you time to shop the replacement on your terms.
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I built Cliopanion — a daily-routine app with an AI companion that tracks your routines, holds you to commitments, and reflects with you on the week.
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The trade-offs between claiming Social Security at 62, 67, or 70 — and how to figure out which one actually works best for your situation.
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The AI bluff is a real failure mode: code or explanations that look authoritative and are subtly wrong. Here's how to smell it before you ship it.
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Part 1 of a build log. I'm making a 10-foot semicircular bar and a dance floor for my daughter's August wedding. I used ChatGPT to design the bar and drop the render onto a photo of the actual yard — here's how that worked.
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Preserve your Hi-8 and VHS memories by converting them to digital movies and saving them to DVD before the tapes wear out for good. My wife…
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I wrote FlowPro in 1997 as a Visual Basic port of a Fortran open-channel-flow program. This week I asked Claude to convert it into a web app.
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The dealer negotiates for a living. You don't. Here's how the game works, why the monthly-payment question is the trap, and the script I used the second time I helped a daughter buy a car.
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Ten real security findings from an AI-run audit of my own apps — high, medium, and low severity, and how each one got fixed.
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Buying a used car is mostly about catching problems before they become your problems. The full checklist I run every time — exterior, drivability, interior, and the bottom line.
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Vibe coding drops the barrier to building software. But the difficulty doesn't ramp up gently — and the gap between "looks like it works" and "actually works" can be huge.
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Here’s how to send photos and videos to another iPhone – even when there’s no cell phone coverage or wifi – using…
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Quick Response Codes – QR codes for short – can be linked to web pages. Here’s how to create one that links to your…
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Question: I have a lot of books on my Kindle, but sometimes I’d like to read them on my laptop instead of on my Kindle. Is there a…
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Macs have a built-in way of letting you transfer files from one Mac to another using Airdrop over a wireless network connection. According…
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This handy, low-cost tool can revive dead sections of your lights in minutes—saving you money, time, and a lot of holiday frustration. It…
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Back in December 2008, Mother Nature dumped a few inches of snow on Oregon and the kids and I built an igloo. Here's the video — and the modernized how-to for sharing YouTube videos on Facebook.
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You can almost always recover files from your memory card, even if your system is saying the card is corrupted. Here’s how……
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Uploading songs, photos and contacts from your Mac to your iPhone requires the use of a software program like iMacSoft, which also has a…
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NO AC means your sprinkler system is not getting power and is running on it’s backup battery. Here’s how to check…
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Question: How do I transfer an image from my mac to my Samsung cell? And is there any mac apps that I can use to edit an mp3 for a ring…
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With the foundation completed, it’s time to lay down the deck boards. You’ll spend the bulk of your money on this part,…
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We all hope our kids will grow up and live much longer than we do, but if your kids are off to school like mine are, then you’re…
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Question: Have you any info on formatting the memory chip for a camera after deleting all the photos? I tried to make an 8×10…
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Question: I’m getting ready to sell my laptop to someone on Craigslist, and want to be sure they can’t use a restore program to…
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I’ve heard of companies finding data that people thought they had deleted from their work computer. How do they do that? Might be…
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How to transfer pictures from a Samsung digital camera to your computer. Question: I recieved a SAMSUNG DIGITAL CAMERA for my birthday but…
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Impress your friends with this simple and easy holiday-themed spice infused Bourbon recipe. Imagine the feeling of curling up by the fire…
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Macbooks come with a built-in trackpad that you can press anywhere to manually “click” the mouse (with the mouse being your…
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Question: How do I choose a web hosting provider, and which ones do you recommend?“ There are literally dozens of web hosting…
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Hot tubs are extremely heavy when loaded with water and people, and you’ll need a solid platform to ensure the hot tub doesn’t…
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FaceTime is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, and even the people you work with… but sometimes it’s a…
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I have developed a tight system for putting up and taking down lights over the past few decades, that makes it fast and easy each year to…
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I’ve used Craigslist to sell dozens of household items over the years, and I’ve noticed the larger-priced electronics are…
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Transferring photos from your iPhone to your computer is a much easier proccess with Windows 10 and here are the steps to…
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Question: Where can I download a free Christmas screensaver? Answer: There are a lot of free screensavers that you can download, but be…
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I do a lot of photo and image editing on my Mac and typically use Preview for grabbing screenshots. After quitting Preview with too many…
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Question: Can you recommend an affordable data recovery program for my Mac? Answer: Before you spend any money on data recovery software,…
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Have you ever been midway through a software development project, and had your client request a change in features? That never happens in…
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Hi Ricky, I need to find an electrician near me in the Beaverton, Oregon area. Who do you recommend? Hi Ricky, I need to find an…
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Linux and Unix-based systems have a built-in scheduling service called cron, that runs in the background and executes commands defined as…
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There’s nothing worse than realizing too late that you accidentally deleted hundreds of precious photos from your iPhone or iPad.…
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I’m often asked how to set up a website, either for personal use or for a new business. Fortunately, it’s easy and very…
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Question: I have an idea for a new website, but how do I get the web site name, and how much will it cost? Question: I have an idea for a…
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Centos comes with a powerful firewall called iptables, that gives you very granular control over access to your server. Iptables is…