Creating loops for podcasts is free and easy if you own a Mac; but what about those who use a PC? One option could be to use pod safe music found on the web; but sometimes these sites are block by districts or may even contain content that isn't always appropiate for your classroom. Well, Sony has created Super Duper Music Looper software which is an afforadable and easy way for you and your students to create the basics music recordings for podcasts. Super Duper Music Looper software is packed with over 700 studio-quality sounds and instruments, including drums, keyboards, guitars, horns, percussion and more. You can even plug in a microphone and record your vocals and sounds. Once your loops have been created, they can be exported as WAV or WMA files. This is nice because these files can then be easily dropped into your favorite podcast recording software. For more information and pricing, please go to: http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/showproduct.asp?pid=535&spid=352

I would love to know what you think about the podcasts on The TechTeacher Podcast Network. Just scroll down the page and click on the SurveyMonkey icon on the right side of this page. It only takes a minute and who knows, you could win a prize.

In this podcast I will be sharing 10 laptop important laptop maintenance tips; and please feel free to post any additional tips on my blog. I would also love to get some tips from my Mac users. 

Please don't forget to visit this episode's sponsor:
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Additional Love Your Laptop Tips

Dust Bad - Air Good
Depending on your work environment, there could be a good chance that you laptop may have dust build up. Now too much dust can cause a notebook to run warmer than normal or even overheat. Carefully use a can of compressed air to blow dust and crumbs away from ports and the keyboard.

Give Me Air-
Once again, be careful where you put and use a running laptop. Placing your laptop on soft surfaces could block off air vents and reduce the air flow and cause your laptop to overheat.

General Maintenance Tips- (WINDOWS ONLY) Make sure that you check your hard drive space. A computer may start to slow down, or you may encounter errors if the hard drive gets to full. On a Windows machine you can check the hard drive space by going to START- MY COMPUTER-right mouse clicking on you hard drive- and click on PROPERTIES.

Take out the Trash
This goes for both Mac and Windows machines, don't forget to empty your Trash or Recycle bins.

Defragment your hard drive
If your system starts to slow down, it may be time to defragment hard drive. To start this process go to START- MY COMPUTER-right mouse clicking on you hard drive- and click on PROPERTIES- click on the TOOLS tab- then click on defragment now. Taking the time to defragment will allow your programs to run more quickly and make better use of the space on your hard drive.

Operating System Updates
Remember to allow your operating system to check for critical updates; it will keep your system safe.

Having Screen Issues? Here is a great site to help you diagnose your problems.
Laptop Repair Help - www.laptoprepair101.com

I am sure many of you are preparing for the Spring Cleaning of your home, but how about your computer. Now, I am sure many of you take the time to scan your computer for spyware on a daily basis; and hopefully back up your system files; but when was the last time you took a good look at your virus software? Now virus protection software is much like a flu shot, it needs to be renewed once a year. (I have always set mine up to expire on my birthday much like a driver licence) It is also important to make sure that the software protection that you pick for your system not only does the job, but also does not slow it down while protecting you. Now I have used a lot of different virus protection software in the past, but today I actually decided to not to change and continued to use McAfee VirusScan® Plus 2007 for two reasons.

The first reason is that I  do not notice a slow down the old TechTeacher Podcasting laptop like I did with other virus protection software. For my podcasts, I use a "hand-me-down" HP Pavilion N5435. It is has a 930 MHz Celeron processor in it, along with 256 MB of Ram (As you can see, it isn't a spring chicken)

The second reason is that McAfee makes a multi-user version which allows me to purchase on piece of software and run it on 3 systems. Keeps both computers in our house protected, while at the same time saving us the cost of purchasing multiple copies. So, if you have just purchased and new computer or if your are like me, trying to hang on to the past; I highly suggest trying McAfee VirusScan® Plus 2007 for multiple users.

Here is an interesting site or service that a friend of mine shared with me, Woot! Woot.com is an online store/community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap. What makes Woot fun is the "Deal of the Day". They sell one item per day until it is sold out or until 11:59pm central time. Then they will replace this item with a new item for the next day. Most of the items offered are usually some type of home electronics. For a chance to get a bargin, go to: http://www.woot.com/