Well if your desktop is even slightly similar you’ve probably got your email open right now too, or perhaps some other software programs. Each is vying for space on your monitor screen. Working on multiple tasks means switching dancing between these windows. Minimize, maximize, shuffle, shuffle, and close.

What if you could have all your communications (email, Skype, etc) on one screen, your work on another, and your you-know-what on yet another? You would just need to swap between screens rather than multiple applications.Virtual desktops enable this ability, and I’ve tried a few over the years. They are very useful to group together related programs according to task. Perhaps one desktop for researching information, one for designing, another for gaming, etc.

One such program is Dexpot for Windows operating systems (OS) and is entirely free for individual use.

After installing (there’s a portable version if you don’t want to install) you can increase the effective area of your monitor by 400% by default, right up to 20 times – that’s a whopping 2000% increase in monitor size! Worth the price of a quick download for those extra inches.

Many programs can be run entirely from a universal serial bus (USB) drive (“memory stick”, or “pen drive” are other common monikers). This has the benefit that it doesn’t install any files, or change any settings, of the host computer it is plugged into. Particularly useful if you are sharing a computer and want your files kept separate.

There are many types of software that fit this category. Some programs are released in different versions, with one version being a USB drive version that is more portable (and sometimes of smaller file size with equal functionality than its installable counterpart).

So you can read / reply to emails from your familiar email program whilst using a public computer without putting files on the public machine, for example. Essentially you are just using the host computer for processing power, not to store your files or software.

Some popular sites that maintain listings of such programs are pendriveapps and portableapps.

It is surprising energy saving bulbs are not used more widely than they are currently. To not use them is a false economy. Here’s why…

Buying one moderately more expensive bulb with lower running costs, works out cheaper than buying many cheaper bulbs with higher running costs. Apart from saving economically, there are much more important ecological savings to the world we live in.

By reducing our negative impact on the environment, we can also save money. That’s a win-win scenario!

At what size does stuff become litter?

Litter, junk, waste, refuse, trash, you know, the stuff that is a waste of your cash? That’s right, I’m talking about litter.

What is the size of the litter problem?

I don’t ask that in a “Save the Earth and free the whales”-kind-of-way (though that can be good too) or in way that means lots of furry Christmas presents because someone forgot to get Tabby neutered.

What I mean is, just what size exactly does a refuse item need to be in order to be classified as litter?

Think about it, if the soggy cardboard that was holding the last leg of greasy chicken is tossed to ground in a carefree manner, few* would argue against the item being classified as litter. (*-Well, few people I’ve met anyhow. Obviously you’re mileage may vary)

After all, it is an unwanted item that has been improperly discarded, i.e. not in a bin – so is called litter.

Hang on though! What if we were to shrink the problem? Let’s shrink that cardboard down…

Now if our post-pub-2:00am-haute-cuisine container shrinks to become a cigarette butt is it still litter?

Yes. Wherever you dump that fag stub, if it’s not in a bin it is litter.

Hmm. Maybe we didn’t shrink it enough. OK, let’s shrink it some more…

Now it becomes a spot of dust on your glad-rags as you are on your way out for the evening. Without hesitation you flick the offending dust off your garment and continue on your way. You litterbug! No? You mean it wasn’t litter? Why? It was “too small” you say? Now you see my point.

Smaller than what? What is the comparative size that says “This is litter”, or “This is not litter”?

All I can say is it’s larger than an eyelash, but smaller than a chewing gum. As far as I can tell, that’s about the size of the litter problem.