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See the whole article in Window's Secrets Newsletter
Briefly, first, update Java:
Step 1. In the Windows Control Panel, launch the Java applet. You can also right-click the Java icon in the Taskbar tray and choose Open Control Panel.
Step 2. Click the Update tab. Use the controls there to customize the update notification. Click OK.
Then, Use this link for a free test of your PC by Secunia.com's Software Inspector. The scan will report versions of Windows as well as versions or builds of various applications that have security flaws, and for which a vendor patch is available. Your are strongly advised to promptly update any and all problems.
Submitted by Jim Dinkey & Stan Hutchings
Teach yourself to draw at DrawSpace, an entirely free series of drawing lessons, starting at beginner and progressing up to advanced. Each lesson is viewable online; if you want to print it out you'll have to upgrade from a free account.
These lessons are very well thought out, very complete, and not to be quickly browsed over - there is a ton of information here to get you drawing. For anyone who's ever wanted to draw more than stick figures, this is a good place to start.
lifehacker.com/software/learning/free-art-lessons-at-drawspacecom-287144.php
Submitted by John Buck
How many times have you wished Notepad had tabs, Paint supported layers or Windows Explorer let you bookmark frequently-used folders? Power users need power utilities, and Windows' default system programs barely get the job done. Over time, third-party developers have stepped up and built superior replacements to programs like Notepad, Paint, Windows Explorer and the Command Prompt. Get the simple jobs done smarter, faster and more efficiently with some of the best Windows utility power replacements - all of which are free downloads.
lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/power-replacements-for-built+in-windows-utilities-287966.php
Found via digg & Submitted by John Buck
Info about how to "Tile windows with the Control key" and other Windows tips is available at lifehacker.com/software/windows-tip
Submitted by John Buck
If you're reluctant to give out your working email address, use a disposable email address – http://lifehacker.com/software/disposable-email-address/. Using a disposable address is a good strategy to eliminate the possiblilty of a company using your address to deliver spam or to sell it to a spammer.
Submitted by John Buck
Does your computer respond very slowly? Take a long time to shut down? Access the Internet more than expected? Check out this article: www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,134988/printable.html
Submitted by John Buck
RSS Mixer is a service for combining several RSS feeds together to create a master feed. The result contains all the feeds you've added, and makes it easy to plug it into a feed reader or share with others using a single URL. It does just what it advertises, if not a little more. RSS Mixer is by no means the first service to let you blend together RSS feeds. In fact, FeedBite www.feedbite.com/, FeedJumbler feedjumbler.com, and Feedshake feedshake.com can handle this function quite easily, and have been around a little longer.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings