If Cyber Monday was an indication, electronic gifts are huge for this year’s holiday gift lists. Before you buy more computer hardware, computer peripherals, and computer toys, go through what you have and donate it. It’s the green living thing to do. Most comm,unities do not allow you to put computer hardware out with the trash. iolo.com gave me terrific solutions!

Why donate computer stuff?

Donate a computer to a school, church, or non-profit and your accountant may be able to deduct the value from your taxes. The government (U.S.) has incentives for computer donations. Folks at iolo technologies remind you to consider the value of installed software when you estimate the value of your computer.

There’s still a divide in the U.S. between computer-haves and -have nots. Some kids, indeed, some school districts are hard pressed to provide even basic equipment. That isn’t to say they will put antiquated hardware into use. Recipients of your gift may turn oldest equipment over for cash to enhance their programs.

The environment benefits every time we choose to recycle or reuse instead of pitching something into a landfill. We all know computer stuff is dangerous to throw away and will never degrade. I saw an old monitor laying in a roadside ditch out in the country the other day. I’d like to get my hands on the “donor” of that one.

Who to donate the computers to

• If the equipment is less than 3 years old, you can give it directly to an organization since extensive upgrading may not be necessary.
• Three to 5 year-old computers should go to a refurbishing center that can repair and upgrade computers, making them useable.  TechSoup’s searchable list of refurbishing centers is a good resource.
• Computer older than 5 years? Recycle it through TechSoup’s searchable list of recycling centers. (Goodwill and the Salvation Army no longer accept donated computers.)

Call the organization before you take your stuff over to them.

iolo technologies smart tips for computer donations

• Keep the operating system intact - the organization won’t have to spend valuable funds to purchase and license a new operating system.*
• Keep any software installed. This may increase the amount your tax deduction, and help the recipient of your PC - older computers often work best with older software.
• Where possible, include the peripherals and accessories, such as the mouse and keyboard, and include any manuals and CDs that came with the computer.

Last details when donating

It’s critically important that you remove your personal and sensitive data from the computer before you turn it over to anyone else. Reformatting the drive or erasing the data does NOT remove your info. Any novice can recover it unless you dowhat’s called a “wipe” with software like DriveScrubber.

Think outside the computer box and consider donating printers, speakers, storage units, or any other computer accessories you aren’t using. Then go get your new stuff for the holidays and enjoy!

Keep a record of your donations, including original receipts if you have them. Ask the organization you choose for a donation receipt.

iolo is a PC tuneup company, makers of System Mechanic software. They care about our environment. Visit their site for great tips, reviews, and information.

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Doing some housekeeping today, I dove way back into the contents of Women Day By Day and found some articles our newer readers may have overlooked. Here, then, are some of the best web articles for women from Women Day By Day.

Sexy Stories for a Hot Summer Beach Read

Women in need find recovery and independence

Low Cost Activity Books for Young Children and Moms

Pro-Life Thinking: Understanding the Basics

Pro-Choice: The Basic Issues

Aging Tissue Can Be a Risk Factor for Breast Cancer

Lose Weight or Lose Yourself - Truths About Dieting

Resources for Military Women, Women Veterans and Families

Women-Fix Your Own PC? Windows Ailing? Tips from Computer Guru

Our site for writers and freelancers

Take a look at some of these and then dip into our archives. Tell me what you think - add your comments or contact me about doing a guest blog! I want to engage with you.

It is in our best interest to beware of Internet dangers like the so-called Craigslist killer. This is an important post today - I want to encourage women to think seriously about how you use the Internet. In Boston this week, authorities are tracking a serial killer who allegedly used Craigslist to choose some victims.

Craigslist is a long-established free classified ad site used to buy and sell household goods, find local jobs and hook up with people in real time - a process fraught with danger. For years, the site has been a boon to people like freelance writers.

But there’s one problem at Craigslist - they have an erotic meetup section where just about anything goes, and it has gone out of control. The Sheriff of Chicago’s Cook County jurisdiction has filed a suit against Craigslist because he says they don’t monitor ads closely enough. More than one case of child endangerment, child solicitation and child prostitution has alledgedly been traced to Craigslist ads.

I have written three columns on my Chicago Examiner pages about this growing concern. I’d like you to please read them and re-evaluate your own Internet conduct and that of people you love. You might be doing everything exactly right, but please just make sure.

Craigslist killer preys where writers seek work

Killer hunt is yet another reason to avoid Craigslist sex ads

Sheriff and Dr Phil angry over Craigslist erotic ads

Take care.

If you found this useful, here are some other articles you might enjoy.

Michelle Obama - graceful first lady

Economy crash can’t stop baby boomer women

Why men are not like women

Here’s another terrific resource I came upon for women. LifeJournal software by Ruth Folit of Florida. I say, for women, because the creator of the software is a woman, most people who keep a journal are women, and I’m a woman. Men can use it, I suppose, if they don’t make messes.

If you want to know how the software works and so forth, I’ve written the skinny on that at Examiner.com.

I like the inspiring story behind her business. Ruth Folit saw a product niche and filled it. End result, she built a business that she runs from home and that provides her a nice revenue stream.

Ruth didn’t go looking for big money to back her, and she certainly didn’t spam the entire free world as a marketing ploy. Ruth took a personal pleasure, journaling, analyzed how to make it better, and developed a plan.

She didn’t fear failure. She didn’t hesitate to study her marketplace and make an informed decision. I like talking to Ruth - I get a sense of her energy. She found her personal way of succeeding and has replicated that time and again.

Ruth banded with other women - writers who help her create her online seminars and webinars, designers, mentors and got to work. Ok, I’ll concede that it wasn’t all women in her journey from idea to success. But she works well with women and values the special sorts of input our experience and our gender bring.

If you like to journal, or you’re a writer, I recommend LifeJournal, which comes in several versions. It’s simple to use, very robust in features and extraordinarily affordable. If you aren’t a writer, don’t click away yet - take a look at LifeJournal for Christians. Or the version for people in recovery programs.

Browse Ruth’s website and see how she’s growing into a mentor for women - to help empower women in self-discovery. that’s what we’re all about and I’m totally pleased that I met Ruth. We could do worse than to model on her journey.

In Chicago, there’s a unique school building global citizens and teaching children to be stewards of Earth. Megan Ellis, not yet 30,

She just returned from the Arctic Circle where she worked on a scientific expedition while her school kids watched, first-hand, via technology. They used Skype for teleconferencing - the kids could talk to Ms. Ellis anytime she wasn’t in the field. They used satellite links and blogs. It was very real. It was terribly exciting and spurred kids to ask a million questions while they contemplated how they could get where she had gone.

It isn’t a mystery, though teachers have access to some programs that defray costs. But anyone, says Ellis, can sign up for expeditions via or apply through the Churchill Northern Studies Center in Canada - they organize learning vacations.

About the trip itself, Ellis says they had a bit of a heatwave, only about 20 below zero, actual temperature F. In the very dry and still air, she said, being outside was enjoyable, not painfully cold. The Boreal forest, the Tundra were gorgeous.

She fell in love with it and began thinking, “How am I going to go back there? It will be sad if climate changes make terrible changes there. ”

The basis of the research Ellis participated in was to create a benchmark set of data to measure future climate change. Professor and principal investigator Peter Kerschaw and PhD student Steven Mamet (both University of Alberta) were research leaders in the program. Mamet was measuring tree changes.

You can read more about Megan Ellis and her adventures in the Arctic as well as her plans to take her class virtually to Tanzania soon. It’s easy to stay cozy at home and live life safely. But women who will make needed changes on our planet, are, like Megan Ellis, willing to step outside comfort and examine places never dreamed of as she grew up in small town Oklahoma.

I just posted some old but good computer humor on my technical blog at DemystifyingDigital.com. Take a little break and laugh at my tech jokes. Not all are from dinosaur era…in fact, I invented a couple of them just today.

If you are a tchno-junkie or work in a technical field, drop me a comment with your favorite digital jokes.

My grandmother was a beautiful woman. She was, in my lifetime, always old, but in that old-fashioned way that Grandma’s don’t do anymore. She actually had silver hair, little gold-wire glasses (real gold, she had them forever – I have them now) and never wore anything but her corset, stockings, black oxfords and a dress with obligatory tiny flowers sprigged over it. Gram simply would never go out without a dressy little hat, let alone even consider trousers. When I was little I spent much of my time with her. She taught me to cook and to use a needle and threads like an artist uses her brush. I loved her unreservedly, and she me. She died at ninety-seven. Grandma told me one day, when I asked her why she always had her little well-worn prayer book in her pocket, “Sweetie, life is hard. We can complain and moan about what the Good Lord hands us. I decided a long time ago to be calm. My book helps me feel close to God, but even better, when I sink into it and turn off my ear, I can really be all by myself. It does for my mind what sleeping does for my body. Kind of heals and clears out the mess. Then I just go about my business and not bother about all the garbage.”

I never heard grandma raise her voice to anyone. She never needed a pill or shrink or cocktail…”Well, maybe just a little drop of blackberry brandy, Sweetie.”

Memories of her – her violet scent, her soft voice, her slow-but-purposeful step, colored my life in shades of love, safety and serenity. Her way of being a grandma will tint the life I weave with my own grandbabies.

Take a look at my article Grandparents Make Memories about gifting our grandchildren in today’s hectic world.

Here are some really good books to explore in a similar vein:

• Always Have Popsicles by Rebecca Harvin (Paperback - Jan 1994)
• Grandloving: Making Memories with Your Grandchildren by Sue Johnson (Paperback – Feb 2003)
• 41 Uses for a Grandma by H. Zeifert (hard bound - 2005)
• 40 Uses for a Grandpa by Amanda Haley, H. Zeifert and Harriet Zeifert (Hard cover April 2001)

And Webs:
Grandparents.com
National Grandparents’ Day Web site
Show your grandchildren what was what back in the day
DigitalGrandparent - techno boomers