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Why it's a good idea to own a USB-to-SATA adapter The USB-to-IDE/SATA adapter the most indispensable tool in my PC repair kit. Just this weekend, it once again proved itself worthy of that title. In a nutshell, the adapter allows you to connect an internal hard drive to your PC-externally. What would an internal drive be doing outside your desktop or laptop? Funny you should ask. About a week ago, my media-center PC starting displaying this message during boot-up: "Hard drive failure imminent." And you know what? It was. In short order, the machine wouldn't boot at all. Long story short, I had to replace the drive, reinstall Windows, etc. But I wondered if I could salvage any/all of my recorded TV shows. To find out, I connected the old, non-booting drive (now "naked" outside the system) to a USB port via my adapter. Huzzah! The machine was able to read the drive and copy over the recordings. Except for the hassles (and expense) of actually replacing the drive, no harm done. There's another reason to keep one of these adapters on hand, and that's if you're planning to upgrade to a solid-state drive (SSD). Unless you buy a kit that comes with an adapter, you'll need one so you can image (i.e. clone) your existing drive to the new SSD. Then you'll remove the old drive, install the new one, and presto, you're back in business. (Much faster business: SSDs rock.) Unless you have a pretty old desktop or laptop, you can skip buying a USB-to-IDE/SATA adapter and just go for USB-to-SATA. At the same time, I recommend one that supports USB 3.0. You may not need it now, but it's a good bet your next PC will have USB 3.0 ports -- and that'll make for much faster copying between drives. Trust me: When the time comes that you need to upgrade or replace a hard drive, you'll be glad to have a USB-to-SATA adapter on hand. By-The Xpert Crew @ http://techvedic.com

Spark reflects life in 21st Century Canada. With one eye on the future, host Nora Young guides you through this dynamic era of technology-led change, and connects your life to the big ideas changing our world right now.

Here's one of those sad facts of life that you just can't avoid: Like cars, clothing, and people, batteries wear out. You can't stop this process, but with proper care you can slow it down. What wears down a battery? Charging and discharging. Obviously, you can't avoid either of those acts entirely (although if you could, you wouldn't have to worry about wearing out your battery). The trick, of course, is to do as little charging and discharging as possible. And one way to avoid charging and discharging is to remove the battery when you don't need it. Ideally, you would remove the battery (with the laptop shut down, of course) before plugging in the AC adapter and working at your desk. Then, before you take your PC on the road, you would shut it down, insert the battery, and let it charge for a few hours. In reality, that's not always practical. Shutting down and rebooting your PC every time you go from portable to deskbound quickly becomes a nuisance. Worse, you have to remember to recharge before leaving home. A more practical solution would be to shut down the laptop and remove the battery when you expect it will stay plugged in for a week or more. And don't intentionally discharge the battery before removing it. After all, the whole point is to charge and recharge as little as possible. Some of the charge will be lost while the battery sits unused, so it's still a good idea to recharge it before taking it on the road--even though that requires some planning ahead of time. By-The Xpert Crew @ http://techvedic.com https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=140300136155835&set=o.172245722918618&type=1&theater

"Handset makers and wireless carriers love to load up Google's Android platform with custom overlays, user interface tweaks, and third-party programs that don't ship natively with the open source operating system. That's great for them, but most power users would prefer a clean version of Android to work with, which is why the third-party ROM community is popular. Well, following in the footsteps of Samsung and it's custom S4 that was announced at Google I/O, HTC is reportedly kicking around the idea of offering a Google Edition of its One smartphone. News of the custom HTC One comes from Russell Holly over at Geek.com. Citing un-named sources, Holly says the Google Edition device would be offered in the U.S. first, though it's unclear if it would be carried in the Play Store like the Galaxy S4 will be. Other details are equally light and vague, though Holly claims an official announcement could come within the next two weeks, with a release likely planned for sometime this summer." By-The Xpert Crew @ http://techvedic.com https://www.facebook.com/techvedicinc https://twitter.com/techvedicinc http://pinterest.com/techvedic1 http://techvedicinc.tumblr.com/ https://plus.google.com/u/0/110467075169904075419/

Despite the glamor of Windows 7 and Windows 8, the legendary Windows XP remains the favorite of 37.74 percent of computer fraternity. Hence, being a tech support vendor, we can't underestimate its presence, and have come with the idea to speed up Windows XP by managing the Windows XP Services Configuration.

The newest attempt at creating the "smart house" isn't just about turning your lights on with your phone. Microsoft is creating an entire app store of user-designed software to make where you live more programmable.

So you've got a great idea for a fantastic new application or product but you don't have a budget for software. Sure, you can go the open source route and there are many fine tools available for developers without license fees. But if you happen to be targeting Windows or you are new to development and need that entry bar lowered right to the floor, then here's how to get free or nearly free developer software directly from Microsoft.

Home networks can be great or they can be a huge pain in the butt. Set aside some time this weekend to fix your annoying network issues, boost your Wi-Fi reception, and add some great new features. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

"Let's say that you have children, and you would like to help them learn computer programming at a youngish age. As the father of four kids, I have tried to approach it from several different angles. What I would like to do here is collect some ideas for parents who are looking for different options."

The Nifty Assignments session at the annual SIGCSE meeting is all about gathering and distributing great assignment ideas and their materials

Do you want to build a game for Android, a theme for your blog or a twitter desktop client? Have a great idea but lack the development chops to take it from the pages of your legal pad to the App Store? Want to make sure your kid learns to program, even though your local school system may not offer the best options? This post should give you a good starting point for learning to program.

Have an idea for an awesome Windows Phone app? The Developer Movement will help you bring it to life. This is your opportunity to enter a new and growing global market, be recognized as a star among the developer community, and get rewarded for your efforts. Think you can change the app game? Give it a try-it might be easier than you expect! Everyone who publishes an eligible app to Marketplace can earn a reward, so start developing today!

Lesson idea - have students assess if parents will pay for this service or not

Take a look at the infographic below to give you an idea of the importance that coding will play in our lives in the not so distant future.

Alice is an engaging, introductory programming environment for the creation of animations and games using 3D models. Alice features a drag-and-drop interface that eliminates the frustration of syntax errors for beginning programmers.  This list is for educators who are teaching with Alice or who are considering teaching with Alice (either 2.2 or 3). The purpose of this list is to provide and quick and easy way to ask questions, post ideas and nifty assignments, and generally support all members of the Alice teaching community. 

With Ruby, and the gosu gem you can do it. It is fairly easy to get going. And if you follow our screencasts, you can have a game going in minutes! Also, take a look at our recent Show and Tell to get some ideas of the games that can be built by beginners. Have fun!

Why does UPS plan its routes to eliminate as many left turns as possible?  All kinds of ideas for a computer science problem.

Coding Is Coming To Every Industry You Can Think Of, Time To Start Learning It Now | Co.Exist - http://t.co/e8CBv6iDzm