Cap'n Refsmmat

I daresay I've never gotten a trojan at all. What sorts of sites are you visiting?

A lot of those cost money.

I'd love to see some evidence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista

XAMPP works perfectly on Windows.

I doubt his mother would be using a pre-release version of Vista.

No, I meant manufacturer of the computer.

Check the video driver you got. Sometimes computer manufacturers distribute their own versions separately from the card manufacturer. Failing that, buy a sledgehammer.

Right, that'll be the end of this thread then.

Restarts as in Windows says "Shutting down..." and then turns off, or as in "bloop" and it's dead?

Methane released by decomposing manure is used for power by many farms already.

If she used Microsoft Word, you can try looking for any leftover backup files it makes (they're in a folder that you installed Word in... or something. Google it).

Someone ought to Photoshop Marvin the Martian into one of those pictures...

http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/nonProductSingle/graphing_course_comparision.html Lists TI graphing calculators and their features (click on a model to see what else it does).

I'm not sure you'd want a "For Dummies" sort of book to catch up on missed education. I would suggest finding a good, large bookstore and just going through their books on whatever subject. They're bound to have plenty, and you'll probably find one that looks interesting. Remember, it's not necessarily what others think about it that counts, it's how interesting it is to you that matters. If you think you could tolerate sitting down with the book for an hour reading, then you could get the book. And another thing: you don't act like a dummy. Find a book that stimulates your mind, not one that just feeds you information. Just pick any topic and start reading. You'll end up on a totally different article when you're done (just by clicking on the links), but you'll have learned along the way. We try I know the feeling. Try finding yourself a book like "How Stuff Works" (I used to love those) and dive in. It's fairly simple stuff, but you can learn a lot out of it. There are people here getting physics degrees who have dyslexia, even. If you know how to get around it, you can still succeed.

Well, I have a few words of encouragement right here: you can form comprehensible thoughts into sentences and paragraphs, so you're already ahead of most students in the US today. Another great thing is that you're curious. You want to learn. You're ahead of most people there as well. Now you need to actually learn. My recommendation would go something like this: get some good books on the basics of various topics you're interested in; you might get a book on computers, for example. Don't worry about concentration. I have a similar problem (I end up thinking about something totally different) and it's not an impediment. If the topic's interesting enough, you'll keep on reading. (That means you should try to find interesting books. Take a look at it before you buy it to see if it's truly interesting.) Another great resource would be a site like Wikipedia. It's a general-purpose encyclopedia, and it's probably not the most reliable site in the world (anyone can edit it), but it's still of a good quality, and it has articles on anything you can imagine. Browse through a few pages there and see what you learn. It's perfect for people with low attention spans, because each article links to other related articles. If you start wondering about something else while you read, you just click the link to that article. In essence, I say this: you're curious and you want to learn. Go out and get yourself the tools to do it. edit: Oh yes, and another resource: us. Go ahead and start threads about any science-related questions you have (in the right forum, of course). We're glad to help people learn science, and we promise not to bite your head off (and if someone does, I'll beat them with a stick - it's my job here). I've learned a lot since joining this site two years ago just by reading the various threads here. Participate here and you'll find that you'll just absorb things as you go.

There's a thread in the last page of the Announcements forum that explains it.

I'm not sure they offer updates for different architectures. Check the motherboard manufacturer as well - although sometimes it's necessary to use the BIOS from the vendor, not the manufacturer, because they make some stupid change.

Split from pyramid energy thread, because it's still a good topic even when off-topic.

I'm not sure if I like giving you the answers for extra credit. Perhaps if you mailed me a free cookie for the answer...

Do you have SSH access to the server that your forum is on, or can you get your host to install LaTeX for you? If so, you can do it. There's just a vBulletin plugin that you'd have to install (I'd ask dave for that) and configure, and hopefully you'd be set. It depends on having LaTeX though.

Split from an existing thread simply because answering a question with a speculation is not good.

I made it a new thread for you anyways. Changing the topic of an existing thread is not good.

I'm not sure you understand the cmb. It was emitted simultaneously at every point in the universe (which wasn't all that large at the time). It was not emitted at one small point.

Server problems. It's a scientist sitting on a desk with a chalkboard behind him.