Virginia,United States

Lucky you. Santa delivered a new computer, digital camera, iPod or cell phone under your Christmas tree.

Now for the reality check. How are you going to care for and maintain this shiny -- and expensive -- device to help ensure years of trouble-free use?

We asked the experts at Yahoo! Tech, CNET.com, Geek Squad and the Virginia-based electronics retailer Crutchfield. We also checked the Internet.

We found loads of advice, including general words of wisdom.

The evolution of libraries from public houses for books to public houses for information took another step forward Thursday as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $6.9 million award for a pilot initiative to improve public access to broadband Internet.

The award was made to Connected Nation, a nonprofit that promotes broadband Internet, and to the American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) to improve connectivity speeds for public libraries in Arkansas, California, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia.

Virginia's attorney general asked the nation's highest court Thursday to revive a state anti-spam law struck down by a lower court as unconstitutionally overbroad.

Virginia's Supreme Court ruled in September that the law violates the free-speech protections of the First Amendment because it prohibits anonymously sending any type of unsolicited bulk e-mail, including political and religious messages. Most states have anti-spam laws, and there is a federal statute, but Virginia's is the only one that is not limited to commercial e-mails.

When Debra and Lee Sherbeyn first moved to rural Virginia 14 years ago, they didn't own a computer, much less fret over access to the Web. It wasn't long before they had a machine and were logging onto the Internet using a dial-up modem. The arrangement suited them fine until family members started sending pictures by e-mail. It became downright untenable in 2004 when Lee entered the real estate business in their home in Bealeton, Va., about 58 miles southwest of Washington. "You can't wait all day for a picture of a house to download," Debra says.

In a last-ditch effort to keep operating, consumer-electronics giant Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy protection in both the United States and Canada.

Just days after the Richmond, Va.-based company announced it would close 155 of its 770 retail stores and cut 20 percent of it U.S. workforce, Circuit City on Monday said it has faced significant financial challenges and needs to file for Chapter 11 protection in the United States, while seeking protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada.

A new fiber optic laser system can reduce wear and increase output from wind turbines by sensing wind gusts from 1,000 meters away. Catch The Wind, a Virginia start-up, developed the device that allows turbines to adapt to the strength and direction of gusts before they hit.