Ruthie

I have a Dell Dimension 5100 that I bought in summer of '05. It has had a pretty good run but because of my very very limited knowledge of computers and of my use (really only use it for email, light games such as pogo.com, youtube/hulu videos, social networking, music/photo storage etc. nothing heavy) I have done no upgrades to the inside and am not sure if it's time to just go ahead and get a new one or stick with what I have for a little longer.

For the last year or so I have noticed it slowing down quite a bit. I have no viruses and have not recently installed any big programs. It can read CD's just fine but has not been able to read DVD's for the last 3 years, that never bothered me though as I was not a heavy user of that in the first place so I never got it fixed. It's the worst when I'm on the internet and ask my computer to do more than a couple of things at one time. There's frequent browser crashes (with multiple browsers), sometimes freezing that forces me to reset the whole computer, slow when loading web pages. My itunes is painfully slow to open up. The fans are a lot louder than they used to be, especially when I have itunes open. It seems fine when opening up simpler programs (word, solitaire, My Pictures etc.)

Is my computer on it's last legs or does it just need some tender loving care from a knowledgeable computer tech?

I'm one of those people that are technologically dumb. I bought a game recently and the graphics seems to be off. I've tried searching on the internet if my card is above the required minimum but all I seem to get is a bunch of technological mumbo jumbo that I don't understand. So yes or no is my radeon x300 se128mb hypermemory above the minimum that this game requires which is ati x1300?

With all the sports questions roaming around (not to fuel the debate lol) I was just wondering, if your child decided after only a short time (like a season or only half a season) that they didn't like sports and/or wanted to do something else would you be disappointed or angry? or make them stay in that said sport instead of letting them do something they are interested in?

I'm asking because I was never a very athletic child but I found many lessons that are taught in sports to be also taught in other places like the arts. I was far more intersted in theatre and music than i was in balls and bats. I was still taught the importance of teamwork, social skills and many other things learned in sports. I also still got plenty of excercise while not being involved in a sport as well. So what do you think? Should the parent decide if the child participates in a sport in the first place or the child?

For the past 3 years my nephew has wanted to give santa cupcakes rather than cookies. I have no idea where he got this idea from but it makes him happy so my sister and I gladly help him make cupcakes for santa! We still give the traditional milk.

Have your kids ever requested some other treat/sweet for santa other than cookies?

I read a book my senior year of high school (back in 2003) that I remember really liking a lot. I could have sworn it was called 'The Beach' or 'Beach' but I can't find it on amazon.com so that's probably not it. I'm kind of at a loss since amazon.com has never failed me. It was set in the near future but there was no specific date, in Australia. A nuclear war had broken out and the world is in chaos. I think, but I'm not certain, that Austrailia was the last to be hit. It was centered around a couple who had just had a baby coping with their friends, neighbors, and family members getting sick and dying around them. There was an expedition to one of the other countries that had already been wiped out. The book ended with at least the wife dying (the child had died in the course of the book) and I think the husband was still alive when the book ended. Sorry I just gave away the ending I'm trying to give as much details as I can remember. If you know the book I'm talking about can you tell me what it is and where I can get it from? Thanks!

First off I want to say that I am not getting married nor am I in a relationship at the moment, this could be just one of those 'you won't understand unless your in the situation' things. But, I'm still curious. I've been coming into this section lately because I myself have been on the business end of weddings (waitress at a banquet facility) for a year and a half now. Anyway, I've been noticing a lot of questions lately about couples that have been together a year, year and a half, 3 years, 5 years etc. where someone isn't ready to commit whether it's the guy or the girl well mostly the guy since I see mostly girls in this section but i don't like to exclude :P Ok, so getting to my question, I'm wondering, those of you that give this advice or have done this...If you're in a relationship for x amount of years you're ready to commit but you're significant other isn't and you break it off because you don't want to wait, what makes you think you were ready to make that big committment in the first place? You're supposed to be getting married (or at least I thought anyway) to the person that you want to spend your life with, to the one that you can't live without. If you can't wait then it must have been a good thing that they weren't ready to make the big plunge because obviously you (and he or she) wasn't the one. Because call me crazy but if you were the one you would stay with them until they were ready. I've seen couples get married after being together for 10, 12 one was 15 years. So how can you say you're ready to be with this particular person for the rest of your life when you aren't? how can you be mad or heart broken that they aren't ready when you yourself obviously aren't ready either?

Please, I hope no one takes offense to this at all. I'm just curious, I've been seeing a lot of these lately and it just makes me wonder. Like I said it may just be because I haven't been in a situation like this before that i just don't understand. So maybe those of you that have answered these questions in support of the break up or have been in a situation like this where you left can enlighten me and I can call this a good learning experience for any future relationships that i may have :D

Thanks in advance for all answers.

Does anyone remember the Dark Knight quote at the end of the movie? It's basically saying how truth isn't always needed because good people deserve to have their faith rewarded or something like that. I've tried googling it but all I get are quotes from the trailers, so far. If anyone can remember that quote word for word or point me somewhere that has it, that'd be great! Thanks!

Anyone ever accidentally give a thumbs up or a thumbs down by accident? That just happened to me, i meant to give a thumbs up and i moved my mouse and wasn't looking too carefully and clicked my mouse too late. I really hate that. So anyone else? or do i just need to look at what i'm doing more.

It's been almost 10 months since my last boyfriend broke up with me. We went out for 4 years. Last night I found out through a mutual friend that he recently started seeing someone new. I'm devastated and I don't know what to do. I've gone out with friends, kept busy, picked up new hobbies, talked to friends, even started a journal. I was getting better, I thought that when this happened it wouldn't hurt me. But, it has. It's like we've broken up all over again. We have had no communication between each other for 3 months. We had tried to do the whole friends thing but it didn't work out. I feel like just when I start to feel a little better, just when I think I'm finally starting to get over him I get kicked back down again. Is there anything more that I can do? No matter how busy I am my mind still gravitates towards him, especially when I'm just about to go to sleep. I'm 22 and he was my first love. What more can I do to get over him?

You know how there's all kinds of videos out there people made of their favorite show/movie with music...sort of like a music video? I'd like to do that but have no idea how to go about doing it. Is there a website somewhere or a guide that tells you how? thanks!

I got an LG VX5300 in July. I ordered it off the Verizon website. Every so often the phone sort of freezes up. The clock gets stuck and when I turn it off and try to turn it back on, it doesn't. The only thing that fixes is it is when I take out the battery and put it back in. However, it's a continuing problem...I thought I could deal with it as it only happened about once every 2 or 3 weeks but in the past month it's been happening more and more. I want to avoid going to a Verizon store, but it doesn't look like that will happen. Did anything similar happen to anyone else and if so could you fix it yourself or did you have to go to your cell phone provider?

I understand that it's a good way to prevent spammers but encourage participation? I don't see it, in fact I probably won't come back after I see answers. I want to help people I like answering questions people have. But I can't now cause I've reached my limit :(