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If your desktop or laptop parts have died or seen better days, you’ve got a friend. All of your Lifehacker editors—and many helpful net denizens—have upgraded or repaired faulty systems, and we’ve rounded up some of their most helpful tutorials.

10. De-bulk your MacBook’s power cord

For all their design emphasis on elegance and minimalism, MacBooks come with rather bulky power cords that aren’t easy to coil up and tuck away. Gizmodo editor Brian Lam travels quite a bit with his MacBook Pro and doesn’t dig the bulk of the cord leading up to the two-prong “brick,” so he details the not-so-tough technique of swapping it out for a lighter, more flexible PlayStation cord, which shares the same adapter at the end. (Original post)

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\\ tags: Hardware

We all use personal computers and we all take them for granted in our everyday lives. It’s easy to forget that PCs have only been around for a couple of decades, and initially were nowhere near the powerhouses we have on our desks today.

For example, did you know that the first “portable” computer weighed 25 kg (55 lb) and cost close to $20,000, that the first laser printer was big enough to fill up most of a room, or that you basically had to build the first Apple computer yourself? This article takes a look at the time when the computer equipment we now take for granted was invented and what it looked like back then.

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We’ve been hearing about it for years, and now it’s finally happening: There’s a new version of USB on the way, and it’s going to be ten times faster than its predecessor. Launching next Monday is USB 3.0, and the good news is that it’s backward-compatible with our old friend, USB 2.0. You can see the two new plugs above, with the one on top the standard USB 3.0 plug that will fit in current USB sockets, and the smaller one pictured underneath destined for portable devices such as cell phones and music players.

You can plug these cables into old USB devices, but of course, you won’t get that blazing speed unless that device’s innards have the new USB 3.0 hardware inside. Expect computers and other geegaws to be equipped with this speedy new system before too long. Besides that faster speed, the new protocol will feature better power management, and optical cabling inside, too. Neat.

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The 20th century has been all about one thing: innovation. Every year we have new technologies and new advancements that further progress our society. 2008 was no different and offered its own assortment of technological innovations and hot gadgets.

Below is a listing of some of the most beneficial, and some of the most popular gadgets and gear to come out of 2008. They serve to improve your home, the economy, or life in general.

1. Slingbox SOLO
   
   The Slingbox SOLO is a media unit that allows you to watch your TV from anywhere, either on your laptop or on your cell phone. The SOLO syncs to equipment such as your set top box, DVR, or satellite system and transmits HD-quality signals to wherever you are. You can watch your own TV from work, from China, or from the North Pole. The system costs a mere $179.99.

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\\ tags: Gadgets

Since I’ve been a computer geek, I’ve heard many horror stories of people buying a slow video card, thinking that they were getting a fast model.

In general, people make the same several mistakes when they buy their video cards. Have they been with me, I’d have helped them avoid these 6 mistakes when buying a video card:

1- Buying a video card based solely on the amount of memory.

More is better, right? That’s their excuse when you have to justify your purchase to yourself or to your geek friend.

Well yes, but not if you base your purchase solely on the amount of RAM. A video card performance is based on many other factors, such as the GPU chip model, the frequency of the GPU/memory, the memory bus width, etc.

A good example of this would be someone buying a 8600GT 512MB over a 8800GT 256MB. Sure, it may have more memory, but every other factor will limit the card performance in comparison.

Also keep in mind that you won’t need the extra memory unless you play at very high resolutions, such as 1920×1080 and/or with AA/AF quality filtering. Why? Because your video card won’t need/use it.

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\\ tags: video card

Right when you think you’ve got a cable standard down that works with most of your devices, some committee or commission of some sort goes and releases a new, better standard to upgrade to. It’s pretty annoying, but it’s one of the things you’ve got to deal with in technology. It moves pretty fast, after all. So first there was USB, then there was USB 2.0, and now, wouldn’t you know it, we’re about to get USB 3.0.

USB 3.0 improves upon its successors by adding fiber-optic cable alongside the copper wiring, greatly increasing the speeds. The upgrade should allow for high-def devices, such as HD DVD or Blu-ray players, to use the standard to send data. As of now, today’s USB cables aren’t fast enough for such heavy transfers, sending data at 480 megabits per second. USB 3.0, on the other hand, will increase that tenfold to a whopping 4.8 gigabits per second. The fancy new cables should start hitting shelves and being used in devices around 2009 or 2010.

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If you have a problem with pixels on a LCD monitor, look no further as I have found a solution! JScreen Fix has developed a nifty application in Java which is cross platform compatible. It means whether if you’re a UNIX, Linux or Mac user, you can fix your monitor’s stuck pixels.

Firstly, let’s get things clear. A stuck pixel is when the LCD displays the colour wrongly. Like this example

A dead pixel means that the pixel is not responding at all. It should be black. Not lighted at all. Like this.

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A router is a device that connects multiple networks together and forwards packets of data between them. In my house I have a D-Link DI-524 Wireless Router connected to the DSL modem. It has 4 wired LAN ports and a wireless antenna. Which means that I can connect to it using 2 ways, either wired or wireless. My PC uses the wired connection whereas the other 2 laptops around the house are using wireless. Before setting up any router, you’ll need to know these 2 information.

• 192.168.0.1
• 192.168.1.1
• 192.168.2.1

Router IP

The 3 most common router IP addresses are :

Know that you can also check it out from the PC’s Local Area Connection Status.


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Bit:
Bit is the least form of data representation. In the computer terminology bit if regarded as storing either 0 or 1. 0 indicates off and 1 indicates on state. The beauty of this is the system understands and interprets only the bits, so it forms the basis for the computer operation. In programming bits are connected with the data types.

Example:
11100011

11001111

10101010

11110000

Nibble:
Nibble consists of 4 bits, which is half a byte. It is used for easy data representation. They are mainly used in segregating the bytes into the higher order bits and the lower order bits.

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I am making an online game myself, on a very low budget. As a result, I was left with very little money to pay for perhaps the most vital part: the Game Server.

A Server is basically a PC that is designed to run fast and efficiently, without flashy graphics etc. They are used for running networks, websites, games, etc. A Game Server is designed for users to connect to, and to store user data, etc.

The components needed are:

1. Case
2. Motherboard
3. Processor
4. Memory (RAM)
5. Hard Drive
6. Optical Drive
7. Operating System

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