Home maintenance does not have to be expensive. Hiring a contractor for a simple paint job can run up a hefty tab so doing it yourself should be your prime consideration. It’s a simple do-it-yourself projects which you can do on your own. You can start by learning how to paint the rooms in your house.
What color is your home? Making a color choice is crucial. Once you decide on a color and buy cans of paint, there’s no turning back. I advice that before you make that purchase, scan through pages of lifestyle magazines which showcase houses and spaces. Look for something which might appeal to your taste. Get an idea how your room might look if you use a particular color. Consider factors such as light, and mood you wish to create for each room.
Purchase a latex paint (oil-based paints are harder to apply and more susceptible to mildew, dries longer, and gives of stronger odors than latex) of your chosen color. The most usual wall finish are flat, eggshell, and satin. Other things you will be needing are: tarpaulins, a paint roller, and a paint brush.
Before you open any paint can, clear the wall of any decorations and get all your furniture out of the room or in the center, away from the walls. For additional protection, you can cover them with tarps or newspapers. Cover your floor as well.
It is necessary to clean the walls before painting them. Get off the stains. Scrub the wall clean and let it dry completely before getting started with the painting.
Use the paint roller to paint small sections. Be fast but meticulous about it because you have to blend completely. Every refill allows you to paint small sections so be quick because blending is better when the paint is still wet.
Wait for the wall paint to completely dry before you put back the furniture and the wall decorations.
Would you look at that? Microsoft suddenly came up with their own take on tweaking Windows Vista. As if we need their help now after all of this time all the other OS gurus have been helping us figure out a thing or two to make their darned OS do our bidding without flashing its Blue Screen of Death.
Just a few days ago, they’ve released this 14-page guide to tune Windows Vista. It’s available as PDF and XPS and is free for download.
Here’s a snapshot of what to expect in this document:
- Making configuration changes that help a computer feel more responsive when you use it.
- Using hardware to boost the actual physical speed of a computer.
- Making configuration changes that help a computer to start faster.
- Making the computer more reliable may help increase performance.
- Monitoring performance occasionally so that you can stop problems before they get too big.
I’d have to admit that this guide is probably for the newbies to Windows. Experienced users might consider this a waste of time since most of the “tweaks” featured here are often part of routine set-up and maintenance.
Download Windows Vista Performance and Tuning Guide here.
If you’re stuck with that crappy Microsoft OS called Windows Vista, you might, by now, be hypnotized by some of its eye-candy features that you might now consider them as good features. Okay, so I’m sarcastic with that note. Surely, if you’re going to nitpick Vista, you might find a thing or two that can be considered good and helpful features. Like its Alt + Tab function.
It eliminates the the window switch guessing game since it gives you a preview of the windows. Previously, in XP (and in Vista Home Basic) all you get are icons that don’t tell too much about which window you’ll be switching to. While I think it’s not that much of an issue with web browsing, some consider this functionality a good addition to their browsing experience. And that’s why this is supposed to be slated to be incorporated as a Firefox feature for 3.1 set for release late this year.
But if you want to experience that functionality now, with Firefox 3, then you might want to check out the Ctrl + Tab add-on which gives you exactly that functionality. Ctrl + Tab acts like the Windows Alt + Tab only you get to cycle through Firefox tabs. Getting a thumbnail preview might indeed be a great addition.
This works with Firefox: 3.0pre – 3.1a1pre.
Download Ctrl + Tab Firefox add-on here.
Ah, the bliss of education when someone else is paying for it. If you’re one of the unfortunates, and you had to work for your tuition money, you must be tired of applying for scholarships and grants. But don’t give up, kid. You never know when it’s your turn to get subsidized. Here are tips which can help you bag that grant.
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One funny thing I’ve seen while attending a corporate presentation is have one guy try to access a website typing a few letters and have the address bar history refer him to the porn sites he had visited. Imagine the embarrassment of that guy and the crazy looks everyone had. But whether it’s hiding traces of your “deeds†over the Net, it’s always a good thing to clean your Address Bar history.
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