.NET Gadgeteer is a platform for creating your own electronic devices using a wide variety of hardware modules and a powerful programming environment.

WHAT IS .NET GADGETEER?

.NET Gadgeteer is a platform for creating your own electronic devices using a wide variety of hardware modules and a powerful programming environment.

A NEW WAY TO MAKE SOPHISTICATED DEVICES

Even someone with little or no electronics background can build devices made up of components like sensors, lights, switches, displays, communications modules, motor controllers, and much more. Just pick your components, plug them into a mainboard and program the way they work together. .NET Gadgeteer uses the .NET Micro Framework to make writing code for your device as easy as writing a desktop, Web or Windows Phone application.

AN OPEN SOURCE AND OPEN HARDWARE COMMUNITY PROJECT

If you're building projects with .NET Gadgeteer, you'll find inspiration and product information on this site. If you're interested in building .NET Gadgeteer hardware, you can find hardware interface specifications and core libraries at http://gadgeteer.codeplex.com. A variety of hardware vendors are building components for .NET Gadgeteer, so you’ll have a huge assortment of modules to choose from.

.NET GADGETEER HARDWARE

A .NET Gadgeteer system is composed of a mainboard containing an embedded processor and a variety of modules which connect to the mainboard through a simple plug-and-play interface. There are lots of .NET Gadgeteer modules available today, including: display, camera, networking, storage and a variety of sensors and input controls. New modules are being designed all the time!

The .NET Gadgeteer mainboard's sockets are numbered, and each is also labeled with one or more letters which indicate which modules can be plugged into it:

How to make a computer faster: 6 ways to speed up your PC

By following a few simple guidelines, you can maintain your computer, help increase your PC speed, and help keep it running smoothly. This article discusses how to use the tools available in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Service Pack 3 to help make your computer faster, maintain your computer efficiently, and help safeguard your privacy when you're online.

Note: Some of the tools mentioned in this article require you to be logged on as an administrator. If you aren't logged on as an administrator, you can only change settings that apply to your user account.

1. Remove spyware, and help protect your computer from viruses

Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without asking for permission. From the websites you visit to user names and passwords, spyware can put you and your confidential information at risk. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer's performance. To combat spyware, you might want to consider using the PC safety scan from Windows Live OneCare. This scan is a free service that helps check for and remove viruses.
Download Microsoft Security Essentials for free to help guard your system in the future from viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious software (also known as malware). Microsoft Security Essentials acts as a spyware removal tool and includes automatic updates to help keep your system protected from emerging threats.
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is another utility that checks computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software, including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom, and helps remove any infection found.

---

2. Free up disk space

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you to free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.
Use Disk Cleanup to:

• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Delete downloaded program files, such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files, such as error reports.
• Delete optional Windows components that you don't use.
• Delete installed programs that you no longer use.
• Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore.

Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.
To use Disk Cleanup:

Windows 7 users

Windows Vista users

Windows XP users

---

3. Speed up access to data

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk as a file is opened (to piece it back together). The response time can be significantly longer.
Disk Defragmenter (sometimes shortened to Defrag by users) is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end to end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.
When to run Disk Defragmenter
In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals (weekly is optimal), there are other times you should run it, too, such as when:

• You add a large number of files.
• Your free disk space totals 15 percent or less.
• You install new programs or a new version of the Windows operating system.

To use Disk Defragmenter:

Windows 7 users

Windows Vista users

Windows XP users

Running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter on a regular basis is a proven way to help keep your computer running quickly and efficiently. If you'd like to learn how to schedule these tools and others to run automatically, please read Speed up your PC: Automate your computer maintenance schedule.

---

4. Detect and repair disk errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.
As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.
If you use your computer daily, you should run this utility once a week to help prevent data loss.

Run the Error Checking utility:

---

5. Learn about ReadyBoost

If you're using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can use ReadyBoost to speed up your system. A new concept in adding memory to a system, it allows you to use non-volatile flash memory—like a USB flash drive or a memory card—to improve performance without having to add additional memory.

• Learn more about ReadyBoost in Windows 7.
• Learn more about ReadyBoost in Windows Vista.

---

6.  Upgrade  to  Windows 7

If you try all the previous remedies and your computer still isn't as fast as you would like it to be, you may want to consider updating to Windows 7.

How To Save Electricity

When it comes to saving money on your power bill, people from Maine to California know the big ones: proper insulation, water conservation and turning down the thermostat can lead to major long term energy savings, but there are a whole slew of little known things you can do around the house that can lead to significant savings, as well. Let's take a look at a few of these secrets that can help you save money on electricity from now on.
Your Washer and Dryer Are Huge Energy Hogs!
We all know that the biggest energy hog in the average home is the washer and dryer. You can significantly reduce the amount of energy you use if you upgrade your machines to newer, EnergyStar certified models, but if that isn't in the budget, try tossing in a pair of dry hand towels into your next wet dryer load. Studies have shown you can reduce each dryer load by as much as 20 minutes with the inclusion of two simple dry wash cloths. If you don't have an energy efficient dryer, this will help you save money on electricity right away.

Don't Use the Heat Dry Option On Your Dishwasher
The dishwasher has become an indispensable part of the home, but if you are using the heat dry setting on your machine, you are wasting a ton of money. By using a product like Jet Dry, you can simply open the door to your dishwasher and allow your dishes to air dry without spots forming on your glasses. Heat drying is completely unnecessary and many newer models don't even have the setting for it any longer. By simply cutting out this one frivolous action, you can begin to save money on electricity almost right away.
Wash Your Clothes In Cold Water
If you are one of those people that always reads the labels on your clothes, you already know that, for the most part, darks prefer to be washed in cold water. According to most clothing manufactures, only white loads that have no black clothes in them at all should be washed on hot. If you really want to save money on electricity, wash all of your clothes on cold, including your whites, and simply run one cycle a month on hot with bleach to keep your whites bright. If the whole world stopped washing with hot water, we could save billions of dollars a year in energy expenditures.
Ask Your Energy Company For A Free Energy Audit
Finally, your local energy company may offer the best free energy saving program of all. Depending on which power company you have, you may qualify for a free appraisal of your home by an energy expert. A representative of your power company can visit your home and walk you through the various places in which you are leaking power. In most cases, the solutions are very simple and you can save money on electricity right away. Contact your power company today to see if this service is available in your neck of the woods.

How to Protect a PC in a Thunderstorm

1. Unplug everything from both the mains and telephone lines.
   • The only proven protection from a lightning strike in copper cables (like the ones used in telephone lines) is a 30cm gap.
   • As we all know this isn’t always possible, the storm could hit in the middle of the night or when you are away from your property so what other measures can we take to try and protect us.
2. The best way to protect your computer from lightning is to use a good surge protector. Don't be confused. A power strip, which is a simple strip of outlets, is not necessarily a surge protector. A surge protector may look like a simple strip of outlets, but it has built-in protection against power surges. When your home receives a power spike, the surge protector takes this spike and pushes it away from the computer.
3. When buying a good surge protector (in French: protection contre les surtensions) look for the following features:
   • The surge protector should cover lightning strikes. Some do not.
   • If required, look for a surge protector that offers insurance to cover the loss of properly attached equipment.
   • If you have a regular modem or a router, buy a surge protector with a telephone socket where you can plug in your telephone line.
   • Many people fail to understand they need a surge protector for their telephone line. Phone lines are used to connect computers to the Internet through their modems and routers. It is widely believed that power cords are the source of all damaging surges to the computer; that's simply not true. Only thirty percent of damage caused by lightning enters through the mains cable. Phone lines carry the majority of surges to your computer.
4. Take lightning strikes seriously. Even if your computer appears to be working you should still give it a check over in case the hit has left it in a dangerous state that might result in electric shock or fire. If you think that your computer has been hit by lightning, the first thing you need to do is to see if anything else has been damaged.
5. Check the phone and other electrical items for damage. If a phone is damaged then assume that the lightning has entered your PC through the modem or affected your router. If other electrical items in your home have been damaged then assume the strike has entered your computer through the power supply.
6. Unplug the computer (Very important!) and check the outside of the case for signs of smoke or burn marks (especially around the power supply at the back)
7. Check the electric, telephone and network cables for signs of burning (this is why it’s very important to unplug before checking – you don’t want to be electrocuted by a damaged mains lead).
8. Use your sense of smell. If you can smell acrid smoke from your computer or router that’s not a good sign.
   • If you can tick any of the above boxes then it’s pretty evident your computer has taken a hit and will need to be repaired or replaced. If your computer wasn’t running at the time it’s quite probable that your hard drive is recoverable, thereby preserving any important document, photos, etc. Then again you do have backups, don’t you?

Basic Facts about Electricity

How is electricity made?
It’s hard to imagine our homes without
electricity. There would be no TV, computer
or video games. You’d have to do your
homework by candlelight or oil lamps. You
wouldn’t be able to listen to your favourite
bands on the radio or CD player – instead
you’d have to make your own music!
What is electricity?

Electricity is a form of energy that starts
with atoms. You can’t see atoms because
they’re too small, but they make up
everything around us. There are three parts
to an atom: protons, neutrons and electrons.
Electricity is created when electrons move
from atom to atom. There are a number of
ways to make electrons move, but most
electricity is produced at power plants.
page

How do power plants work?
It all starts with a source of power. At
Yukon Energy, we use water to create most
of our electricity. That’s why most of our
plants are called hydroelectric facilities:
hydro means water. Power plants that
use water to make electricity are built
near rivers. Our Whitehorse plant, for
instance, is on the Yukon River.

All the wires are made of metal – usually aluminum
or copper. That’s because metal is a good conductor –
electricity travels through it easily. Water is also a
good conductor, and because our bodies are mostly
made of water, electricity can travel through us
easily. That’s not something we want to happen
though, because if we have electricity going through
us we’ll likely be seriously hurt or even killed. That’s
why adults warn you to stay away from high voltage
sites and to keep your fingers away from wall plugs.