You’ve got questions and we’ve got answers. Today we take a look at why you should never vacuum your dusty PC, how covert books to read on the Kindle, and how to control multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse. I’ve heard from more than one person that it’s a bad idea to vacuum out the inside of your PC… but why? I’d like to get to the bottom of things before I accidently destroy my computer. It’s bad to clean the inside of your computer with a vacuum cleaner because vacuuming creates a large static build up that could (and most likely will) discharge into the sensitive electronics inside your computer case. There are specialized vacuum cleaners designed for cleaning out computers and electronic equipment but given the limited amount of use a single user would get from such a purchase it’s not a very wise one—they start at $300+ and can easily break the $1000 price barrier. What we’d recommend doing is taking your computer case into a well ventilated area (outside on a sunny day or in your garage is a great place), grounding the case to protect against static discharge (although the risk here is very very low) and using compressed air to clean the dust off.

If you’re using an air compressor (as opposed to just a can of compressed air from the computer store) make sure to start a good 24″ or so away from the case and work your way in closer. You want to use just enough air pressure to blast the dust off the surfaces and out of the case without overdoing it and pushing dust into even more difficult to remove places. One important thing to consider: compressed air (from a compressor, not a can) contains minute amounts of water vapor. Although we’ve never actually heard of this happening to anyone it is (however remote the chance) possible to blow moisture into the connectors on your mother board and damage it if you were to boot it immediately afterwards. This is in the range of lightening-strike remote, however. None the less to be extra cautious we would recommend that you leave the computer off and in a warm dry location for a few hours after you give it a good air-compressor cleaning to allow any residual moisture (if it’s even there to begin with) to evaporate.

This borders on paranoid caution, mind you, but better safe than sorry. I need to be able to convert ePub books into AZW books so that I can read them on my Kindle. How can I do this? Also, is there an easy way to remove DRM from ePub and AZW documents? Formats, Conversions, and DRM, Oh my! There are applications out there that will convert documents into AZW format. They’re usually quite specialized (such as just converting one particular format like PDF to AZW) and often not particular effective. That’s not a problem though! Kindles read the MOBI format quite nicely and it’s very easy to convert to the MOBI format. We’d suggest downloading a copy of the excellent open source application Calibre and using that to manage all your non-Amazon purchases on your Kindle. From within Calibre you can convert from many formats into MOBI (including from ePub to MOBI). As for stripping DRM from ePub and AZW books, it’s a royal pain in the ass. ePub encryption schemes vary quite widely from publisher to publisher and AZW DRM stripping used to be just a moderate pain in the ass but is now a huge pain in the ass thanks to Amazon’s institution of per-book keys (instead of using universal keys).

Decrypting and stripping the DRM is pretty much a case-by-case basis and not worth the effort unless you’re trying to strip the DRM off a book to use on another device and you can’t find a copy of it from the “usual sources”, if you will. philips air purifier priceSorry there isn’t an easy solution! clean air for europe (cafe) programmeDRM is an enormous pain.top rated air purifiers 2012 I have my desktop with Windows 7 and 2 monitors. I would like to setup another rig right next to it, and install Ubuntu on it. I would then like to use a KVM switch and/or software, and be able to hotswap operate either OS on both monitors, or Windows on one and Ubuntu on the other. How can I achieve this one keyboard, one mouse, dual machine nirvana?

Attempting Omnicontrol in OmahaThis is one of those geek moments where a perfectly elegant, robust, and free solution exists. You need a copy of Synergy. Synergy is an awesome application that allows you to control multiple machines using a single keyboard and mouse input. One of your machines acts as the server and the rest of the machines act as clients. It’s quite snappy and a solution well loved by geeks of all stripes. It’s free, open source, and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. Have a burning question? and we’ll do our best to get you an answer! As computers become faster and generate more heat it gets more important to have good ventilation, but that also increases the amount of dust sticking to the components of the computer. It's of course better to make sure the computer never gets dusty by vacuum cleaning around it (not in it) frequently. But what to do if it's already to late? I've heard that vacuum cleaning the computer itself is very bad, since it can cause static electricity that hurts the computer.

Does anyone have any tips for how to remove dust from your computer? I personally used canned air (aka difluroethane). Just make sure you don't let the blades of the fan spin while you are spraying the canned air as it may damage something. Here's a nifty little tool that allows to you "blow air" (similar to canned air) but through use of manual labor. Unlimited source of air, and gets you a little bit of exercise as well ;) Although it might not be the safest option, I just open the computer up and get the vacuum cleaner and suck all the dust up. I have never had any problems with that. An Air Blower like this. Cheap and works very well. There are a few solutions to the problem of a dusty computer:This is the most popular solution.Little chance of this working if you don't open up your computer's case. Manual, handheld air pump. Obviously, a bit more tedious than the other two. However, it doesn't ever run out of air, and it doesn't need a battery or a cord.

Keep in mind, fan blades inside of the computer shouldn't be allowed to spin while you're cleaning. This could cause damage. Also, you'll get your computer the cleanest if you open the case and get really close to the dusty parts. A few years of dust can encase the boards, cards, and other hardware in there! If you use a blower (like canned air), rather than a sucker (like a vacuum), be sure to use it in a well ventilated place. You may want to consider even doing it outdoors. Otherwise, you'll just blow the dust into the computer's own environment, and it will become dusty again more quickly. Combination of a vacuum cleaner, a can of compressed air, and ambidexterity worthy of a ninja. If its somehow impossible to use compressed air of any sort, never try to simulate using your lungs. You don't want to get spit all over your components, and saves your nose from bouts of sneezing too. I personally like to use a tiny duster, those used for makeup (for the girls to put their powder) , combined with cotton buds and tissue for hard to reach places.

Just make sure the girl you got it from never uses it again. Air compressor is great as long as you're holding fan blades while cleaning around them - else it can get pretty expensive. I recommend using a hose. But do it in the yard so you don't flood the room. Compressed air is definitely a must for all the computer components, but it does have the problem of sending dust all over you case. So, for cleaning all the excess dust from the case, which I never forget when doing yearly cleanings, I just use a lightly damp paper towel to do a quick clean on your case only. You can also do this on your fans, just make sure you remove the grills first and make sure that they are dry before putting them back in to your case. I use a 1 kg Makita leaf blower which I use on PCs, printers, and even the keyboard. It's fast and anti-static and can be a high-velocity vacuum as well. It's not worth much, but it's handy. I use a 100 psi air compressor that pushes 5.3 gpm (gallons per minute at 90psi) of air.