If you have a scanner, learn to use it!

Many of you have all-in-one machines with a scan function. Every time, however, I ask someone to e-mail me a scanned item as an attachment, I hear, "Yeah, but I don't know how to use it."

You need to learn how, so practice.

Tip: When scanning a multi-page document, save it as a PDF, not as a JPEG. Why? Because a JPEG contains only one page per file; a 10-page paper in 10 different files is inconvenient for both you and me. Learn to make a multi-page PDF, please!

Another reason for learning to create a PDF: A PDF version, unlike a word-processing (DOC) version, cannot be easily changed by the recipient, whereas a DOC version can be.

What I just finished reading--and highly recommend

Cory Doctorow's Makers, which you will love if you enjoy tinkering with computers and/or any other machine.

I also recommend his Little Brother.