Need a little advice. I've been using an Asus netbook for the last several years to goof around while my wife and I watch tv. I don't do a lot of process intensive stuff on it, most reading news on Google Reader (*snif*) and learning to code on Codecademy. My screen just developed an extremely annoying bright green…

So I don't really see this as a simple answer. A lot of it depends on you and how you balance style and comfort, and what you find comfortable, for that matter. The one rule I would say that applies to everything is make sure it fits right. Proper fit can mean the difference between looking sharp and looking…

I know it's a very analog solution, but in your short time frame, you might just try to type passages out of a book without looking at the screen. It's all about improving muscles memory. When you go back to looking at the screen you'll be surprised how much fast you can type.

First thing I would recommend is (if you haven't already) sign up on the forums on tomshardware.com and visit the new build forum at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-31-322.html. People are usually pretty good at providing guidance and feedback on builds people are putting together.

I would suggest looking at dpreviews.com re: lenses when it comes to Canon/Nikon vs. aftermarket. I generally think the Canon/Nikon's are very good lenses, but it is possible for very high quality 3rd party lenses with a better value for price.

I have a Tamron lens that has a very wide focal range (18-200mm I think). It's not a very fast lens (I think it's in the neighborhood of f/3.4 at it's widest) but I've found it to be an extremely useful all-purpose lens for traveling and the like.

Vignetting, which is a pretty popular technique I've noted recently.

Don't remember when I started reading, but the hacks I've used/appreciated the most have been learning how to save my windows machine by booting Linux from a thumb drive, I started using a password manager b/c of LH, and setting up an automatic backup plan using Crashplan.

I stopped decorating my desk b/c I got tired of packing and unpacking; we re-org and move everyone about every 6 months. Before that I hung pictures of places I'd rather be like the Scottish highlands or the beer store that had a rainbow running into the top of it.

Probably a B&B in the Shenandoah, preferably near a lake.

My brother-in-law has introduced us to some pretty great games and I'll just rattle off some of the ones I've enjoyed the most.

Yes.

Honestly, I'm don't have a good answer for that. I saw the hive five not too long ago about Plex, and I figured something would be needed to transcode at least the video files. I have no idea how accessing the files from the xBox and PS3 would work if it was just a share.

I'm getting ready to build a new computer and I want to turn my old computer into network storage and a machine to stream movies/music/pics to our TVs; one with an xBox and one with a PS3 connected to it. Below is my tentative plan and I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something to get this working right.

I concur with all the comments in this thread. Not near as conducive to reading all that's there as the old commenting system.

Why is that the better method?

Depends on what kind of dog it is. Our friends Boston Terrier always sleeps under a blanket. Maybe get your dog a fuzzy or fleecy blanket sort of burrow down into. It'll help them create a little pocket of warmth.

I played year round soccer all my life and I always found the seasonal changes challenging. This maybe a completely individualist thing, but I always found that my body just had to adjust to changes in air temperature and humidity.

Netflix actually has an entire section dedicated to kids. I've only used it a tiny bit when my nephew was visiting, but they had a number of different shows for kids. I remember Dora, Thomas the train, and a show called Sean the Sheep was on there. Sean was my favorite (least annoying).

Usually if/when I come up with a "good quote" I don't realize it's good. Someone else thinks it's good, but I rarely view myself as that profound or eloquent.