DIY Life

I am not a weed vigilante. I do not obsessively seek to control the weeds in my yard. "Live and let live" is usually my philosophy.

Some weeds, however, are just begging for a fight. They spread everywhere and are super-tough to eradicate. Crabgrass (Digitaria spp.) has to be one of the top weeds on most gardeners' lists. It's pretty harmless-looking, pretty even. But it spreads relentlessly by seed, taking over patches of lawn and spreading into garden beds.

Got a crabgrass problem? Check out the following tips and reign it in!

Mmm-mmm. Fresh basil. It's so very fragrant -- the indispensable ingredient in a host of mid-summer recipes.

My basil is lush, green and ready for picking. Okay, I don't have a whole lot of it out in my garden; however, I'm planning on growing a lot more next summer. In preparation for that lofty enterprise, I thought it'd be cool to find out how the expert basil-growers harvest their beloved herb. Here are some tips I picked up:

1. Know your basil. There are lots of varieties out there, and it's always good to know which one you have, as the flavors vary quite a bit between them. Chances are good that, like me, you've got the most common variety: Genovese sweet basil.

We would love to get a new router for our home computers. Unfortunately, it's not in the budget right now. Sigh. So we continue to work with the one we have. And our Wi-Fi connection is...meh. If you find yourself in the same boat, just know there are things you can do to maximize the power of the router you have. I found some dandy suggestions at Yahoo's tech blog.

Well, okay, okay. The blogger's first suggestion is to upgrade to newer and more powerful technology, which I've already ruled out for myself. However, his subsequent tips reminded me that any wireless connection can be improved with a little patient experimentation. For example, did you know that the antenna on your router does not have to stand straight upright? Twist it around. Go nuts. Second, play around with your router's location. Help that good Wi-Fi juice flow through all the obstacles in its way (primarily walls, electronic devices or appliances), and make its way to your laptop. Heck, I've heard that even a soda can could improve your connection!