I know that this may seem basic but a lot people use YouTube to pass time on the internet however, if you were to use as a teaching tool, you would be amazed at what you could learn. YouTube has been around for 5 years but up until recently I never unlocked the sites full potential.

I was always the person that went to YouTube to see the crazy, wacky and funny videos that got uploaded everyday. About 18 months ago I started using it as a tool to fix the everyday problems I would run into, whether at work or at home, I found everything I needed to expand my knowledge and save money on the projects I wouldn’t have normally attempted.

I have now subscribed to over 50 channels and use RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds to stay on top of their latest uploads. Along with the videos, I have discovered a vast array of resources to visit through these subscriptions and have developed a rapport with quite a few of these owners.

I would recommend trying YouTube for this purpose…I discovered the Be Your Own IT “family” on it and now I am working towards starting my own computer repair business with their help.

Here are some of the channels I subscribe to, besides Be Your Own IT.

Srajure: Great channel for fixing different types of malware, trojans and such.

Gigafide: Awesome for reviews, tutorials and he also does a live feed once a month.

Britec09: Another good channel for reviews on little pieces of software on the internet, most are freeware but there is some shareware. He also has an informative and active forum…check it out here.

Watching DVD’s on your computer is nothing new, we all know that. DVD drives have been out for about 10 years now and have finally become the standard on most new computers, along with burning capabilities. If you purchased a new computer with a DVD-ROM drive in it most likely all you have to do to watch a movie is insert the disc. For a lot of people though it doesn’t work that easy. There are two fundamental items any computer needs to watch DVD movies and they are firstly a DVD disc (more…)

There are a lot of reasons someone would need to create a PDF. Sometimes if you are a student your professors may request you hand in your assignments in that format. If you create something you don’t want people to copy or change, you might want to convert it to PDF format, and there are a whole host of other reasons for it. It just keeps things nice and clean, especially if (more…)

Microsoft finally did something really cool with their latest release of Windows, Windows 7. If you purchase the program online, you can actually ask for either the ISO file (CD-Image) or the compressed files, like the install in a zip file. The great news is Microsoft also has a neat little tool that you can use to load the operating system right on a Memory Stick and install it to your computer from there.
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At least once a year, you should consider giving your computer a good cleaning.   Just like what you do with your home for spring cleaning, a computer needs a good clean down every once in a while. There are a lot of reasons someone would want to clean their computer. This could be everything from cosmetic reasons to preventative maintenance.

You might be asking, “Why would I risk cleaning the inside of my computer?” Well, over time, dust, dirt, and grime can build up on the inside of a computer in even the cleanest of environments. Once you have that sort of build up, what happens is it gets inside fans and other moving parts. This isn’t inherently an issue, as computers can run fully submerged in mineral oil.

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