Ahhhh, 7-11 Coffee - it is addicting! And we have the absolute secret to finding the freshest pot of coffee. Look at the inside rim of every coffee pot. The one with the most condensation on the inner plastic spout is the freshest!

So the next time you are in 7-11 getting one of those amazing cups of coffee, look for the condensation. Then fill your cup to the brim with steaming hot fresh coffee, french vanilla cappuccino, or any of the other condiments you have a fancy for - and enjoy!

Is your computer, well, slower than dirt? Does it take twice as long to open a program than it used to? That means it is time to clean up your pc!

These are instructions for Windows 2000 and Windows XP users. First, look on your desktop. Do you see the icon that says, “My Computer?” Double click on that. Now, on the top of the window, look for the word Tools. Click on that, and then go down and click on Folder Options. Click on the tab that says View. Look for the sentence that says, “Show Hidden Files or Folders.” Make sure that is checked, and then click OK.

Double click on c:\. Then, “Documents and Settings.” Do you see your name in there? It will be the name you use to log in to the computer. Double click on that. Now double click on Local Settings, and then Temporary Internet Files. Wait until all the files appear in the window. Now click Edit, Select All then File, Delete. Now we can close this whole window and move on to the next step.

Double click on “My Computer.” Double click on “c:\.” Look for the windows directory – it will either be called Windows or Winnt. Double click on that. Click on “show the content of this folder” if you need to. Scroll down to the directory called, “Temp.” Double click on that. Click on Edit, Select All and File, Delete. Close this window.

Look on your desktop for the Recycle Bin. Right click on it. Select “Empty Recycle Bin.”

Now connect to the internet with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Click on Tools on the top menu, and then click on Windows Updates. Follow all of the instructions to download and update your computer.

Finally, we want to look at what programs are starting up in the background when Windows starts up. There are two ways to look for this, depending on how your Start Menu appears. Look for “Start” on the bottom left hand corner of your screen. Click it. Now, if only one column appears, click Programs and look for the folder that says, “Startup.” If two columns appear, click on Start, All Programs and then look for the folder that says, “Startup.”

Look at what shows up when you are on “Startup.” All of these programs are actually launching when Windows loads. You want as little as possible in here. Highlight anything you want to remove and right click your mouse. Find “delete” and click it. Note – this is NOT deleting the program! It is only stopping it from running automatically when you start up your pc. The fewer things you have running when the computer boots up, the better. To finish this whole process, shut down your pc and turn it back on.

Now that you have your pc spic and span, it is time to look for spyware and blast it away! Read further for our article on removing spyware. Happy Computing!

A study was conducted under the careful eye of Dr. Kristen Wickens of Wellington Asthma Research Group, based in New Zealand. The study followed 1,321 children between the ages of 10 and 12 years old. Diet was recorded, along with the prevalence of asthma and it's symptoms. The children were also given skin prick tests for common environmental allergens.
The study found that children eating more than one fast food hamburger a week were 75% more likely to have asthma and 100% more likely to suffer from wheezing. Other fast food meals will increase chances of wheezing as well.

Dr. Wickens suggested the high salt content of these hamburgers may be the culprit, but this has yet to be studied. So if your child suffers from asthma, wheezing or allergies, consider a healthier alternative to fast food meals - particularly hamburgers.

It only takes one accidental click to completely infest your computer with spyware. And once it’s there, it is very difficult to remove! But have no fear, I am going to walk you through the process I use at work to clean spyware off of a pc.

The first thing you want to do is bring your computer up in safe mode. Print these instructions and shut down your computer. Now, as soon as you turn it back on, begin hitting the “F8” key several times until you get a menu with the option “safe mode.” Use your arrow keys to highlight “safe mode” and hit enter. It takes a few minutes to boot up this way, and you may even receive a message asking if you are sure you want to do this. Say OK or yes, depending on what it asks.

Once you are in safe mode, you need to bring up your control panel. Click on Start and then click on “Settings” and then “Control Panel” or just Start and “Control Panel,” depending on which operating system you have. Now double click on add/remove programs. Start reviewing the list of installed programs. You need to find the spyware that is installed, highlight it and remove it. Some examples are programs that offer coupons, that “optimize your pc,” speed up the internet, help you play games online and so forth. Also remove weather programs and any other “helpful” programs that you don’t actively use that look like spyware.

Once you have removed all of these, it is time to do some cleanup. Close the control panel and double click on the icon “My Computer.” On the top of that window you will see Tools. Click on that and then “Folder Options.” Click on the tab “View” and make sure “Show hidden files or folders” is checked. Now close that and double click on c:\. Now double click on “Documents and Settings.” Find the name you use to log into the pc. If you aren’t sure, double click on all the names and look for your documents to figure out which one is yours.

Once you have double clicked on your name, go to Start Menu, then Programs and then Start Up. Do you see any programs in there that look like spyware? Remove them by right clicking on them and selecting Delete. This will not remove the software from your computer – it will only stop that program from automatically starting every time you bring up your pc. It is important to look at the name, “All Users” as well as your own name. Again, under the “All Users” name, go to Start Menu, Programs and Start Up.

In the same area, under your name, you will see the folder “Local Settings.” Double click on that. Now you will see a folder called “Temp” and a folder called “Temporary Internet Files.” Double click on each of these, and then click “Edit” and “Select All” then “File” and “Delete” within both of those folders. Now close all of these windows. Right click the icon on your desktop that says Recycle Bin and select “Empty Recycle Bin.”

Phew, that was a lot of work!!! Now you can shut down your computer and then bring it up as you normally would. Go to the internet and find the site, www.lavasoft.com. Download the free version of Ad-Aware and run it on your pc. This is a wonderful free program that finds spyware and removes it.

If you are still plagued by spyware, you can follow the instructions for editing your registry found in our “Cleaning up your Slow PC” entry – but be careful, and good luck!