Sometimes I see status updates on my Facebook Wall that I want to share, but only with a specific person or two, along with my private commentary. Is that easily done on Facebook?

I've been reading all about Pinterest and while it looks interesting, I have a site dedicated to custom HDR photographic retouching work and I frankly don't want my imagery showing up on that site, even if the argument is that it'll produce more traffic for me. My images, my copyright, my site. So can I block those pesky Pinterest pinners, Dave?

The DVD drive on my MacBook Pro has died and I don't want to spend almost $200 for a replacement. My sister had a MacBook Air and while she sold it, she still has the external Superdrive that looks like a USB-based CDROM / DVDROM drive. It worked just fine with her Air, but when I plug it into my MacBook Pro, it's dead. Is there a way to use it, or is the drive really dead?

I'm going to be loaning my Windows PC laptop to my brother but don't want him to mess with all my files. I know that Windows 7 supports multiple user accounts because I obviously log in to get to my own. How do I add a new account for him to use?

I hate seeing people carrying around their computers in a purse or, worse, just in their hand. Modern tech is fairly tough -- witness the amazing Gorilla Glass from Corning that's essentially unscratchable on Apple iPhones and Android smartphones -- but it doesn't take much to break or damage a computer. Drop it even 18" onto the wrong surface and you're in trouble. I know, I dropped my ridiculously expensive MacBook Pro about 30" onto concrete and forever bent the case. And it was in a computer bag at the time, just not a padded one.

As a result, I'm always on the lookout for the best possible protection for my computer, whether it's a simple zip-up sleeve or a full-blown computer bag. As a result, I'm glad to report on one of each, two products that are both great options depending on how you work with your gear.

The smaller case is the eco-friendly GreenSmart Akepa laptop sleeve, and the larger is the incredibly well-designed Powerbag Instant Messenger. At opposite ends of the pricing spectrum, they also are great examples of how vendors in this highly competitive market have learned to differentiate their products.

I'm continuing my journey down the Pinterest rabbit hole (and notice you're on there too, Dave!) [[ I am indeed: Dave Taylor on Pinterest ]] and want to add some new boards but I'm confused: How do I create a new pinboard on Pinterest?

I'm try to join in a Google Plus "Hangout" but every time I click on the "Join this hangout" button, I get an error that the webpage can't be found?! Looking closely, it appears that it's something to do with a DNS lookup failure. What's going on and how do I fix it?

One of the people I'm following on Pinterest constantly posts annoying advertisements for their supplements Web site and I'm tired of it. Blech. How do I unfollow them on Pinterest?

I've been starting to upload videos of my daughter singing and playing guitar and we've hit a limit of 15 minutes for the entire video on YouTube. But I've seen videos on YouTube that are longer, including a conference talk you gave that's an hour long! What's the secret of being able to post longer videos on YouTube?

My brother just bought me a cool new Logitech wireless speaker and I'm eager to try it with my MacBook Pro, but it's not Airplay, it's a bluetooth speaker. I think my MacBook has bluetooth, but how do I pair the speaker and use it with my Mac OS X laptop?

We're being audited next week and I need to ensure that each and every PC in the office has a valid, activated, certified genuine copy of Microsoft Windows 7 installed on it and running. I've much anxiety about this: how do I ensure everyone's running an activated, verified copy of Win7?

I own a pretty successful bike shop in a college town, and I still handle all our books. I can never seem to make sense of how much it's really costing me to accept credit cards. I've switched three times in the past 8 years and every time a new sales rep tells me he can beat my old rate. The last guy's rate was lower than the previous one, but then it jumped up after only 3 months and now it's higher than my original rate, and on top of that it will cost me a boatload if I cancel early! How can I protect myself from the confusing and tricky credit card processing industry and, for that matter, is there any way I can get out of this slimy contract with my current card processing service?

Just inherited a computer from my Dad and it's very nice, except it has a generic WINPC computer name. I want to change it to something a bit more memorable. How can I easily change the name of my Windows 7 laptop PC?

Spreadsheets aren't just for accountants and business folk, they're actually quite useful for everyone, and with the free, web-based Google Docs spreadsheet tool, they're easy to create too. In this short video, tech expert Dave Taylor will show you some of the basics of adding columns and rows, rearranging content and customizing the appearance of your spreadsheet, all without downloading a single file. It's easy!

Keywords: spreadsheets, microsoft excel, apple numbers, google docs, google spreadsheets

I really like the set of social media buttons you have on the pages of your AskDaveTaylor site, Dave. What are they, and how did you add them to your site? In particular, a lot of the ones I've looked at have uninteresting sites like Delicious and Reddit, but don't yet support the new Google Plus "+1" button, so yours is really slick. What's the story?

Written by Contributing Editor Gary Moskoff...

My fifth visit to the Consumer Electronics Show was nothing short of epic!

This year was the busiest show since 2008 with 141,00+ people, from 80 countries descending on the Las Vegas Convention Center. The taxi lines were insane and making a cell phone call was next to impossible with so many gadget freaks in the same town!

If you find crowds intimidating, you simply did not want to attend this year's show.

However, if seeing the latest, greatest gadgets and understanding the trends in the consumer electronics market is more important than anything else you do over the course of your year, then you were there and I probably bumped into you at some point during the week!

I've been playing Words with Friends and am just starting a game with someone who I just realized is a gal I don't want to play games with. We have kind of a history. She's sly, though, not having a real name associated with her Words with Friends account, so it was only a mutual friend who told me. Now I want to resign the game. How do I do that on my iPhone?

I set up my YouTube account years ago and now that I am more serious about producing videos for my cooking classes, I'd really like to update the profile picture to be my company logo. How can I update my profile photo on YouTube, Dave?

Hello I have purchased an Apple laptop. It's offering me a choice of 6 WiFi networks to connect thru. I don't have a clue as to which one to use. Can you please point me in the right direction. Thank you!

I've recently joined Pinterest and it's super fun. I'm becoming a pinning fool. At least, that's what my husband says. Still, I really want to get my sister and my mom hooked up. When they go to Pinterest, however, there's no sign up or register button, just a "request an invite" link. How can I get them on Pinterest directly, without them having to wait for an invite?

My friend - female, 22 - was telling me that she went to a spot on Google and learned that it thought she was a 30 year old guy based on its profiling of her searches and use of the different Google tools. Creepy. Interesting. How can I find out what Google thinks about me?

The garage door opener in my house works perfectly well. It's a craftsman chain drive and it's a bit noisy but every time I push the button on the remote in my car, the door slowly moves upward and I can pull my car into the driveway. No worries, right?

One evening I pulled onto my street, however, and my garage door was sitting open for all to see, with bicycles, tools and an unlocked interior door that offered easy access into my house. It'd been that way for over six hours. Not good. But how do you know if you remembered to close your garage door every single morning? It only takes one forgetful departure to lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of household goods.

Enter the Sears Craftsman AssureLink communications system. It's a three piece solution that lets Craftsman sell Internet-aware garage door openers that can not only be accessed via the Web to confirm the door is properly closed, but that have a handy iPhone (or Android) app that lets you control the door too. Fabulous.

I really like my Kindle Fire and have found that I'm reading more now that it's so easy to carry even the longest book with me. Some of the books I read are okay, but there's an occasional ebook that's just terrific. When that happens, I'd like to loan it to my Dad so he can sample it and either read it -- he's a quick reader -- or buy it for himself. I remember reading that one of the features of the Kindle is that you can loan people ebooks, but I have no idea how to do it. Can you explain?

I wouldn't describe myself as a "gym rat", but I do go to the gym fairly frequently, and my routine doesn't vary much. Gym clothes on, sneakers tied, iPod Touch charged so I can continue listening to whatever audio book I'm in the middle of -- the current one is the Steve Jobs biography -- and my rather scroungy over-ear headphones so I can keep listening even as I move around and get into "the zone".

Keeping track of my time and performance on the various machines, monitoring my heart rate, and - hopefully! - seeing progress isn't something I've paid much attention to, so when the team at iHome offered to send me a pair of their new Fitness Evolved headphones (developed in cooperation with New Balance), I was intrigued. It'd track my performance and I'd even be able to graph things on my computer. Cool.

I know there are a zillion smartphone / cellphone applications that find food near you, but what if I only have a laptop and need to find something nearby? For example, what's the best way to find the closest pizza if I don't know my current address?

I heard from a friend that Google's going to be shutting down Picasa because of Google Plus and I'm kind of freaking out: I have hundreds of photos on the site and no idea how to save them from vanishing when they pull the plug. Help!

Thanks for your earlier tutorial on how to upload images to Pinterest [ see: tutorial on how to upload Pinterest pictures or photos ] but I'm confused because some of my friends seem to be able to add photos and images to their Pinterest boards that actually click through to their sites, but I can't find the "link to" information when I'm uploading. What's the secret?

Another question about the built-in Mac spell dictionary. (I did read the previous question How can I forget or edit a learned word in the Mac spelling dictionary?)

Under User>Library>Spelling> I have both LocalDictionary and en.

What is the relationship between these two? Adding a great number of specialized, technical words one at a time as they appear in my writing is taking a lot of time. Is there a way to add a great number of (specialized) words to one of these?