Cool(ing)! 'Cause it's spring..and it's still cold

Hey all, I go to Utah State University... which means that it still feels cold a lot of the time even though it's almost May. And this has nothing to do with the article I read, but it had the world "cool" in it, which made me think of it (welcome to my mind?).

So! Cooling. Liquid versus Fans. Which one is better? Well, it depends on your needs. And budgets. And craftiness. Super sweet article at pcworld, and one of the easy benefits of liquid cooling is the sound. It's very quiet, especially compared to these fans we've been using forever. Air cooling benefit? Very cheap, reliable (hey, we've been using them for forever). More liquid benefits is the efficiency of it. The biggest drawbacks though are the cost and how much work goes into attaching it to the right parts correctly. If you've ever been curious about cooling options, this is an easy-read article, and you should check it out.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028293/liquid-cooling-vs-traditional-cooling-what-you-need-to-know.html

Recycling

In honor of Earth Day (yesterday, yes, I forgot), I found an article about recycling your old tech stuff. It starts with properly removing all data so it's not recoverable (doesn't matter if everything is "deleted" if it can still be rebuilt), and it goes through all of the different ways you can recycle it. If you're like me (cough, or my family, cough), then you've probably accumulated a lot of junk. Like old mp3 players, old monitors, old desktops, and many other tech products like that. These are things you'll want to wipe properly and you probably don't want cluttering your house anymore. I recommend taking the time some weekend to do it, maybe as part of your spring/summer cleaning?? There are some helpful tips and steps listed in the article if you get a little lost or need some guidance. Happy (Belated) Earth Day!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035435/recycle-your-old-tech-gear.html

Skitch: I think I'm addicted to Evernote.

Skitch is one of those few apps that makes me really wish I had a tablet - or a larger smartphone screen. You've always been able to draw/take actual notes using the app, but one of those drawbacks from the Evernote app (and ecosystem) was the lack of being able to markup PDFs. Well, Skitch has now integrated that ability, and now you can take notes with it. This would have been really helpful during the leadership conference I attended last week in Arkansas (http://scweb.aisnet.org/), as I forgot a notebook and pen at one point and mooched off of a friend for a paper. These apps are what's making investing in a tablet/smartphone (LARGE smartphone, in my case) so appealing. They make it so easy to have a one-stop app, and the Evernote ecosystem integrate so seamlessly with each other that it makes it a much needed tool.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036091/skitch-brings-markup-tools-to-evernote-pdfs.html

12 tips for PC users

I love these How-To articles on PCWorld. These are 12 PC tasks that you should do, but a lot of people don't. General maintenance will help you to get the best experience (and life) from your computer. I'll summarize them in a list here:

1. Clean your computer from dust and crumbs and gross stuff like that
2. Back Up your data
3. Guard against viruses and malware
4. Update Your Software
5. Organize Your Files
6. Remove files/programs that take up space (be careful!)
7. Encrypt
8. Change Passwords
9. Optimize Startup
10. Organize Your Inbox
11. Automate
12. Defragment Regularly

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2032032/12-must-do-pc-tasks.html