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Whatever you do, never ever ever ever ever clean your LCD screen with Windex! The ammonia in the Windex will degrade your LCD and ruin your screen. :(

There are tons of over the counter solutions for cleaning your LCD, but I am going to give you a solution you can put together with ingredients you have around the house. The homemade solution is equally as effective as any over the counter product, and does not contain any chemicals that are harmful to the environment! yah! :D

You will need the following:

• a soft cloth (100% cotton only)
• 90-98% isopropyl rubbing alcohol
• Distilled Water
• 100% cotton swabs
• Spray bottle (optional)

Never use anything other than a cotton cloth to wipe your LCD screen. Paper towels will scratch your screen so do not use them!

Create cleaning solution.
You want to create a solution that is exactly half water and half alcohol. Use a measuring cup or eyeball it if you feel comfortable doing it that way. If you have a spray bottle, mix your solution in the bottle.

Prep cloth and wipe.
Dampen your cotton cloth with the solution, making sure it's not so damp that you can wring the water out of it. Wipe your screen in a circular motion. Do not press hard on the screen; just enough to remove the dirt and oil. After you have wiped the entire screen, take a cotton swab, dampen it in the solution, and clean the edges of the screen.

Once you've finished cleaning the screen, take a dry cloth and wipe the screen dry.

That's all there is to it. Only clean the screen when you need to. You shouldn't have to clean your LCD much, but make sure not use Windex! If you do decide to go with an over the counter solution, let me know which one you use and how well it worked.

Best of Luck!
;)]]>Guru LloydMay 30, 2008http://2pointhome.com/articles/tip/44629

Tossing old computers and electronics in the trash is bad for the planet. Techno-Guru Lloyd gives a smarter alternative.

Some helpful e-cycling links:

- Verizon Wireless Hopeline
Feel doubly good, as not only does this program recycle or refurbish your old wireless phones and equipment, it also uses the proceeds to support domestic violence prevention.

- Verizon Battery Recycling Program
Just drop your old cell phone battery off at any Verizon Wireless retail store, and keep all those heavy metals out of the landfill.

- Earth 911
This site has a bunch of informative articles on e-waste and e-cycling.

- How to Recycle Your Computer
Treehugger.com article.

I finally bit the bullet last year, gave up on my crash-tastic, 5-year-old laptop, and bought a sleek, shiny new one. It works like a dream, and I've never looked back.

My once-proud 2002 laptop is now ancient by modern computer standards, and even when I've got five or ten minutes to wait around while it boots up, I still can't use it to get online, since my French bulldog puppy decided to use the wireless card as a chew-toy.

Still, I did pay well over a grand for the thing, and I just don't have the heart to toss it on the e-cycling pile yet (my old laptop, that is, not my puppy.)

So how can I use this wheezing old relic, aside from keeping papers from blowing off my desk?

Kevin Purdy of LifeHacker.com has written a fantastic article on putting your old laptop to use in new and clever ways, such as:

- Creating a no-monitor, low-power spare system

- Converting it to a home server

- Making it into a digital picture frame

- Extending your wireless coverage

With a new season of My Home 2.0 gearing up, I imagine there might be a slew of old laptops being put out to pasture soon. So check out the article, and let us know if you try any of Kevin's projects!]]>Jim 2.0Mar 21, 2008