Trying to repair a computer this weekend has involved self-tutoring. The tutor mentions the beloved “blue screen with white bird near green branch.” If you don’t know the screen mentioned in the title, you might be lucky. I’ve encountered it …

Windows 7: the blue screen with white bird near green branch Read more »

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Yard work is constant self-tutoring. The tutor shares an observation from it. Today I was disassembling some reinforcements made last fall for an abandoned project. The reinforcements were triangular, consisting of landscaping ties and 2×6 boards fastened with lag screws. …

Lifestyle: handyman role: how to remove a tight lag screw (hopefully) in one piece Read more »

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Tutoring English, definitions are useful. The tutor distinguishes between two types of nouns. Concrete noun: a noun that can be perceived with one of the five senses. Therefore, book, thud (from something hitting the ground), aroma (as from coffee), pin-prick …

English: nouns: concrete vs abstract Read more »

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Tutoring English, this topic is a classic. The tutor recalls hearing it decades ago…. A modifier gives more meaning to its sentence, but isn’t the main idea. Some examples (with modifiers in italics): Sitting around the campfire, we noticed a …

English: dangling modifiers: what are they, and how can they be corrected? Read more »

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Tutoring Java programming, you might be asked to clarify about overriding. The tutor shares some thoughts. In Java, when you override a method, you either define its performance (give it a “body”), or else redefine (change) its performance . Case …

Java: overriding methods: what it means, and rules about it Read more »

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Tutoring Java programming, this error message might come up. The tutor talks about a couple of its causes. The message error: non-static method MethodX() cannot be referenced from a static context has a couple of causes I know: The class …

Java compile error: non-static method cannot be referenced from a static context – what causes it? Read more »

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Tutoring high school math, you might use the TI-83 Plus. The tutor shares his finding about an error message he recently saw. The other day, when trying to graph a function, the error message ERR: INVALID DIM appeared. From what …

Err: Invalid Dim on Ti-83 Plus: What causes it, and how can you get rid of it? Read more »

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