Welcome to the inaugural edition of What’s Happening On Kickstarter. Perhaps you haven’t heard, but there is this nifty little website where people can pledge to support projects that they’re interested in. Just little things such as Android game consoles, eInk watches and high-budget video games. Each Kickstarter is its own drama representing the hopes and dreams of at least one person. Will it succeed? Will it fail?

We all know computers need power. Their use of electricity is obvious. They turn it into heat, noise and light – almost like magic. But how much power does a PC need, exactly? This can be hard to guess. Most people with a computer have at least a few appliances in their home, and they likely came with some sort of power guide or rating slapped on them. Computers usually don’t, and the power they use depends on their components and the tasks asked of them. Let’s take a closer look.

Laptops are not as easy to upgrade as desktops. Many components are simply soldered on to the motherboard and others, though technically replaceable, are restricted by technical skill and cost. There are, however, two upgrades you can perform that will improve your laptop. One is beefing up the RAM, and the second is replacing the hard drive – preferably with a solid state drive.

Computer games are not difficult for most modern video cards to handle, but that hasn’t stopped the performance war between AMD and NVIDIA. It’s only raised the bar. 1080p is now a mundane resolution. To really push the hardware you need a 2560×1440 display – or more. The red and green teams are also firing at each other with new features designed to give each an edge.

USB 3.0 has been around for awhile, but its introduction to the world has been slow. It’s only now common among new desktop and laptops, most of which ship with at least two USB 3.0 ports. Flash drive manufacturers have responded by producing a wide range of USB 3.0 drives sold under exciting names like SuperSonic XT and Voyager. You might be staring at your old USB 2.0 drive and wondering if an upgrade is worthwhile. What’s the advantage?

A laptop is one of the most fragile consumer electronics devices you will buy. It’s a complex system packed with fast hardware, yet it also finds itself in constant use, which often mean constant danger. Accidents happen. Hardware fails. According to third-party warranty provided Squaretrader, about one in three laptops will bite the dust within three years.

If you run your own website or self-hosted blog it’s a good idea to have an email that shares its domain. This will lend additional credibility to your website and make it clear that people are communicating with you in your capacity as webmaster instead of communicating with you personally. You can bypass all the fuss by setting up an email with your domain on Google Apps.

Competitive gaming seems to be hitting its stride. Finding out where to watch professionals compete can still be a problem, however. For all their effort, a lot of the sites dedicated to pro gaming are tragically confusing, poorly updated or simply abandoned. Discovering decent sources can take a little time with Google if you’re not familiar, so I’ve done the legwork for you.

The PC probably is not the average gamer’s first choice when it comes to platforming, but this is only because other genres overshadow the robust selection of platformers that are available for computers. In fact, some recent platform games started on PC or are best when played on the PC.

All you need to do is grab a controller (I recommend the Xbox 360 controller) and then stock up on games. There are many out there, and some of the best ever released are available at affordable prices. Let’s take a gander at the ten best under ten bucks.

Firefox fans can now download the latest official release. Firefox 15 builds upon earlier enhancements to the browser’s treatment of online games by including native support for compressed textures via WebGL. This will feature will help 3D games running under Firefox provide better texture quality without destroying performance. There’s also new API support for more precise application timing, which is helpful for developers who want to make fast-paced games run in a browser.

Games are more fun when you’re playing with a friend. That’s a fact that console games are known to use to their advantage. PC games, for some reason, are assumed to be largely solo experiences. Perhaps it’s because most people don’t play computer games from their couch. The thing is, it’s not true that PC games are largely meant to be played alone.

Solid state hard drives aren’t the first non-mechanical storage to appear in consumer PCs. RAM has been used for decades, but primarily as a short-term storage solution. The fast access times of RAM makes it perfect for storing data related to programs that are currently running on a system. Enthusiasts have long tried to harness the advantages of short-term storage by creating what is known as a RAM disk.

Since I’ve decided not to buy games from Steam, I need to find other sources. Many of them are actually worse than Steam itself. Ubisoft’s store is baffling and full of annoying DRM. Electronic Art’s Origin service is more functional and less distracting, but worse than Steam overall. And Gamestop has done an excellent job of ruining the Impulse service since it bought it from Stardock. What’s a gamer to do?

Mobile gaming is kind of a big deal. Most games available for tablets aren’t as long as the best titles for handheld consoles, but some are just as deep in both story and mechanics. As for selection, well, there’s just no way Nintendo or Sony can compete with the iOS and Android app stores. Even some hardcore gamers are now turning to tablets as an alternative to handheld consoles. Which begs the question – if you care about gaming, what tablet is the best?

Facebook has announced that it will now permanently delete photos that users have deleted on the social networking giant. This is a huge improvement over the previous situation. Users have been able to press the delete photos for years, but this only deleted photos from Facebook’s interface. The permalink created when the photo was posted to Facebook would still work even after the user requested its deletion.