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I did my prep in a week. So two months is a solid amount of time.First familiarize yourself with the test pattern. The Magoosh prep videos are really good for it. Know what the sections are, approximately how much time to spend on each question and stick to it. You'll get two free practice tests from ETS itself (using the Powerprep software). Go through the untimed section once and also give one of the tests (timed). After this you'll have a basic idea of how your test will be. The GRE is a bit longer in duration than many other exams (about 4 hrs.). You should be able to keep a cool head in these 4 hours. Apart from the ETS practice tests you can find 3 other standardized tests (free) i.e. Manhattan, Kaplan and Princeton GRE Practice Test. Or, you can always buy the test package from one of the reputed institutes. But do use the three aforementioned tests! All you have to do is create a user ID at each of the websites (Kaplan, Manhattan and Princeton). If you buy the Official ETS GRE guide, you'll get two more tests (paper-based), so I strongly recommend you get it.You will have 6 sections on the test. First you will face the AWA (Analytical) Section. Out of the 5 sections left, only 4 of them will be used for calculating your score for the test. The other one is an experimental section. They say that ETS has implemented this in order to gauge the general performance of the test takers and also to analyze the stats for their future test papers. We will not know which section is the experimental one so please do not waste any sort of time trying to figure out which one is the experimental section. What we do know is that after the AWA section, you will have the Quantitative and Verbal sections in a random order. The scores calculated will be taken from 2 Verbal sections and 2 Quantitative Sections. So it is imperative that you perform well in all the sections. You will have an optional 10-minutes break after the first three sections.So now you've given a practice test and you can roughly identify the area you are weak at. Let’s tackle the Verbal section first. (As this is a nightmare to most of us)The key to scoring a 160+ in this section is a really strong vocabulary. Yes, there are numerous word lists available, but do not start with them first! The Magoosh GRE Flashcards app is an absolutely brilliant foundation builder. Download the app and keep going through the decks. Do it every day or whenever you get 15mins of free time. You can also find it online in case you don't have a smartphone. It covers about 1000 words that will give you enough ammo for test. But, this will probably not cover all the words that will appear in your GRE. You can then proceed with the word lists. Also two things that helped me here were 'Word Power Made Easy (WPME)' and the 'Magoosh Vocab Wednesday Videos' (I strongly recommend you use the videos as much as possible. Chris's approach is brilliant and his enthusiasm is infectious). WPME equips you with a sound understanding of etymology and makes you learn new words with ease. Although it requires some commitment and patience, it is recommended only if you have too much time on your hands!Possessing a large vocab is like having a machine gun with tons of ammo. But it’s of no use if you do not know how to fire the gun! You need to have the ability to understand the question clearly. You need to keep your train of thought connected as you read through the question/passage and recognize what the question is asking for (this for all types RC, Sentence Completion). Also in the Reading Comprehension section, you might come across huge comprehensions with relatively tough questions. The only way to fire the gun properly now is by practice. Practice practice and practice. The Manhattan 5lb book of GRE practice problems, Princeton GRE material, Kaplan GRE material, Manhattan GRE material are really helpful for the amount of questions they have all together. Inbox me if you need any sort of material. I can share it over Google Drive. Don't be disheartened if your answers are mostly incorrect. Read the explanations given for the answers and understand how they have approached the question. This is vital step for improving your attempts at RCs. I was terrible at the beginning, but trust me the more you practice, the better you will become. You have to keep the factor of time in mind too. Remember all the questions in the GRE have the same value. If you are not able to answer the question mark it and move on to the next one. Just be sure to get back to it later. If you don't have the time for it, might as well guess the answer blindly! You have a decent amount of time so you should be able to cover a lot of material.Next the Quantitative section.This is relatively the easier section and a score of 170 is pretty much possible. I recommend buying the 'ETS Official Guide to the GRE® revised General Test, Second Edition'. Read through the Quantitative Prep Section thoroughly. It covers all the topics and concepts that you need to know for the GRE. The official guide also comes with two additional practice tests (paper-based) apart from the Powerprep software, which are really good. ETS prepares the GRE examination that you will be appearing for, so there is no better material (for both verbal and quant) that will give you an idea of how the questions will be. Once you've read the concepts go back to the mantra of practicing. Practice practice and practice. Remember the essence of these questions will be simple. But the question will not look so. It will be tricky and manipulative (pretty much like some of our "friends"). Sometimes, you tend to rush into solving the question without looking at the question completely. You should be able to clearly understand what the question is asking for and work on it accordingly. Practicing tons and loads of questions will help here. Again the Manhattan 5lb book of GRE practice problems, Princeton GRE material, Kaplan GRE material, Manhattan GRE material are all helpful for the amount of questions they possess. Do inbox me if you need any material. Keep practicing meticulously. Don't give up if you aren't able to get the correct answers. Read through the explanation and understand how to approach the question. In the later stages of practicing, start solving with a time limit for each question. You can easily achieve a score of 165+. Go back to the areas you find tough, read through the concepts and practice more questions.For the multiple answers be sure to look at all the options. Few of the Data Interpretation questions will be straightforward and the others will be simple but lengthy. The ETS Material will give you a good idea of the various graphs and plots that may appear on your test day. Also get a good grip over the 'Quartiles' concept which is explained in the ETS Official GRE material. Grasping the concepts should not take much time but, you have to apply them correctly in the examination. Commit and practice till you reach a point where no matter what the question is in front of you, you should be able to attempt it. Carefully observe what the question is asking for and answer accordingly. Practice is the key for a high score in the Quant section too!(If you are an Asian student you will have less difficulty in understanding the quant concepts as most of the topics will be covered in high school math. But without practice, the questions can even trick the highly intelligent students)Next, the AWA Section.This is actually the first section that you’ll face in the GRE. Now, I am not really one to give you advice for this section as I did pretty badly here. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love writing (though I am not really good with spellings). Anything from flash fiction to poetry. But, I like to do it at my own pace. The GRE however gives you only 30 mins for each essay hence I wasn't at much ease. Also I did not practice for this section at all. (No wonder I didn't score well). You'll face two essays; the 'Issue Task' and the 'Argument Task'. The "Issue Task" presents an opinion on an issue of general interest followed by specific instructions on how to respond to that issue. You have to evaluate the issue, consider its complexities and develop an argument with reasons and examples to support your views. The "Argument Task" requires you to evaluate a given argument according to specific instructions. You will need to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than agree or disagree with the position it presents. I do know that reading through numerous essays (especially the ones that scored a 6 or 5) will give you the approach strategy. The topic pool can be found on the ETS website so do give them a read. You have loads of time, so you should be able to have a planned out method to tackle this section. Also look at the 'SparkNotes GRE section' online to find good tips for approaching this section. I've read on various blogs that for the engineering programs the schools do not give much importance to the AWA score. But if you are looking to pursue a grad program in literature or journalism, you'll need a real good AWA score.The Practice Tests.You should have at least 5 Practice tests (the free ones I mentioned before) in hand and space them out according to your convenience and how comfortable you are with the topics. If you buy the Official ETS guide you will have two additional tests (paper-based) so I would definitely suggest you buy the guide. There is no fixed timetable for giving the tests. You give it as per your comfort level. The score you get on the ETS Practice test is quite a good approximation of what you will get on the test day. So I’d recommend giving one of the paper-based tests from the Official ETS GRE material a few days before your GRE. Now I had a week's time, so I gave one test a day. I was able to gauge my performance after each test and scope out what I needed to work on. Do look into the explanations for the correct answers. Remember you should try and avoid making the same mistake twice. Keep track of your mistakes by writing them down and glance at them later before you give another test.Finally, the Test Day Section.Yes as silly as it sounds, the test day matters the most. Your nerves on the test day can either boost your performance or wreck your examination. You've done all the practice you can and now it’s your time to perform. Do get a good amount of sleep the night before. Keep all the required IDs with you. Reach the test center earlier than your reporting time. Carry along a small snack and a bottle of water. Keep your cool throughout the examination. If you are stuck and unable to proceed, take a deep breath and relax. It helps! You have done loads of practice you will be able to crack that silly question but this time with a calmer state of mind. It is very easy to lose patience if you feel aren’t doing well, but keep it together for these 4 hours and you should be able to achieve a well-rounded score. Don't give up if one of your sections didn't go well. You have the other sections to make up for it. If you've practiced enough you will never have to be in that position! Also please don't worry about which section is the experimental section. As far as you’re concerned, you have to do well in all the sections. Do take the 10 mins break after 3 sections to come back with a refreshed mind.If you don't get a good score or at least what you aimed for, remember GRE is not the end! I could not get the score I aimed for and initially I was disappointed. Soon I realized that it’s really of no use worrying about it. What you've got is what you've got. If needed, you can appear for the GRE again within 21 days, though I wouldn't recommend it (unless you got a really bad score and are willing to pay the fee for writing the examination again). I prepared exactly how I have described in the above paragraphs. I scored 328 and 331 in my last two mock tests. So I was pretty confident going into the examination. But the test day nerves got to me. I was fumbling with words in the AWA section. Quantitative section I did well, but I was aiming for a perfect 170 and fell short by 3 marks. During one of the Verbal sections I had the sudden urge to pee. I had about 8 questions left with 10 minutes on the clock. Though I begged the invigilators, I was not allowed to go to the restroom till the 10 mins break. And that pretty much broke my momentum. So I came back to the rest of the sections with a cool mind, a real desire for revenge (too much drama, I know!) and breezed through them with much more ease. Hopefully the nerves won't get to you!Best of luck in cracking the GRE! I'll be glad to help if you need more guidance. Also, I'd really like to know how your exam went, the difficulties/challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Everyone has a different perspective. I have merely written my approach above and I'd love to know your approach. Mentioning score isn't mandatory. You can simply comment on the post or send me a message about your experience with the GRE. Cheers!Sorry for the long post ! Here's a Potato :(Image source : Tumblr)__________________________________________________UPDATE: Henceforth I'll be giving only view access to the folder. You can make a copy of it in your own Google Drive and then download it from there. If anyone else knows a better platform, where I can upload the materials do let me know.UPDATE #2: If you guys already have access to the folder and want to share it with one of your friends, you can copy all the files into your Google Drive and share it with your friends from there (or download it onto your local desktop).

Although I think Python is a better overall language, if you just want to slap a utilitarian web interface on some backend code for internal use then PHP might be a better language to learn. It's easier to setup on the server, will run on virtually any host, and is a more out of the box solution.As for Python/Django:If you have never programmed before, it's definitely worth learning Python before you get to Django. Someone with experience could skip to a Django book/tutorial and pickup Python on the way - it's a simple language with very clear, easy to read and understand code.How long it takes you to learn what you need to know is highly variable. If you are just trying to write some automation scripts to help cut down some manual labor, then you can probably go from zero to this point in a few weeks (maybe 20-30 hours). If you want to write production quality web apps using Python/Django, it's going to take longer.Setup The EnvironmentFirst download Python if you don't have it. http://www.python.org/getit/ I prefer Linux, but your MacBook will be more than sufficient as a dev machine.Python is in a state of limbo between the 2.7 release version and 3. While 3 is the future, it introduces some intrinsic changes which many of the popular libraries do not yet support, Django included. Your best bet is to start with 2.7 and switch to Python 3 later. Also, most of the learning material available is still written for Python 2.You can write code in any text editor. My favorite, and an up-and-coming basic code editor is Sublime Text. It is simple, elegant, and very functional. http://www.sublimetext.com/ It costs $59, but you can use it free for an unlimited amount of time (as of right now). Well worth buying though.Many Mac developers love and swear by TextMate. It's more developed and further along than Sublime, I think. Costs $54, and has a 30-day trial.If you get deeper into programming and want a full featured integrated development environment (IDE), then PyCharm is top notch. http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/ It costs $99 and has a yearly renewal fee for updates, but is worth it. Something like this has a much steeper learning curve than Sublime Text or TextMate, but they can save you time and keystrokes in the long run.I'm going to assume you are familiar with working in the terminal, since you have IT experience. If not, this might be a good starting point: http://smokingapples.com/software/tutorials/mac-terminal-tips/Django apps can be run entirely on your own dev machine, but if you want to put it on the web to be accessed by others on your team, or from other machines you will need a host. There are some good questions on Quora about hosts, but ensure you choose one that allows Python and SSH access. I recommend finding a cheap Virtual Private Server (VPS), although this might be too steep a learning curve for someone without experience. (You say you've done a lot in the IT field, so some of this might be too basic for you, sorry).I recommend learning and using Source Control. This helps manage your code revisions, and is particularly useful if you have more than one person working on it. I personally use Mercurial, but Git is more popular.http://hginit.com/ is a good intro guide for Mercurial. http://learn.github.com/p/intro.html looks to be good for Git, but I haven't worked through it yet.In addition to using Source Control, you'll need a source code repository (you'll learn what this means in one of those tutorials. GitHub (http://www.github.com) is the most popular, with BitBucket (http://www.bitbucket.org) coming in second. You can use Git on either, but GitHub does not support Mercurial. Also, BB has better options for free accounts - unlimited free repos, whereas GitHub limits you.You might feel overwhelmed trying to learn how to program Python, learning Django, and trying to figure out source control and a myriad of tools all at once. In my opinion it's best to get down a version control workflow early on, rather than putting it off. You'll develop good habits early on that will help you down the stretch.Where to LearnThere are a ton of resources for learning Python, and quite a few for Django. Be sure that whatever you choose, you go with resources that consistently use either Python 2 or 3. Also, stay away from small tutorials and stick with complete references. Learning from piecemeal tutorials will leave you with fragmented knowledge, and they are usually lower quality.Here is a list of references taken from another Quora question. The key to learning how to program, in my opinion, is to practice a lot. So do the exercises these books contain, and do more programming on your own.Online Tutorials & EbooksAll freeRecommended: http://www.diveintopython.net/http://docs.python.org/tutorial/http://swaroopch.com/notes/Pythonhttp://homepage.mac.com/s_lott/books/python/html/index.htmlRecommended: http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html (A higher level look at programming with Python as the tool; highly recommended if you want to be a good programmer)http://python.net/~goodger/projects/pycon/2007/idiomatic/handout.htmlhttp://learnpythonthehardway.com/Videoshttp://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston#g/c/EA1FEF17E1E5C0DARecommended: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/video-lectures (A higher level look at programming with Python as the tool; highly recommended if you want to be a good programmer)BooksSometimes having a physical book makes it easier for some people to learn. Many of the above ebooks are available in hard copy.Dive Into PythonThink PythonLearn Python the Hard WayA Byte of PythonHow do I learn Python?All of those are Python references. The online material available for Django is more sparse, but there are some good resources.The Django Book is the starting point for most people: http://www.djangobook.com/There is, of course, the official tutorial: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/intro/tutorial01/ I found Django Book more useful. However, get very familiar with the Django docs. They are very good, and you will be spending a lot of time digging into them.This is a highly recommended hardcopy book for learning, but I've not used it: https://www.packtpub.com/django-1-0-website-development-2nd-edition/bookPrefer video? This series ought to be very good: http://teamtreehouse.com/library/archive/django I have not tried it yet either. There is a $25/mo fee for their serviceGetting AssistanceInevitably, when you are learning or attempting to build something, you're going to run into a brick wall at some point.This is my workflow if I get stuck on a concept, or while programming:Check the Documentation -> Check the Source Code -> Search Google -> Ask on StackOverflowAsking is always a last resort, quite simply because figuring it out on my own gives more of a sense of pride and accomplishment, and I'm more likely to remember the solution.Python Docs: http://docs.python.org/Django Docs: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.3/

Note: My company’s focus (and therefore mine) is PCs and laptops running Microsoft Windows, and to my knowledge, they still control over 90% of the residential market, so my answer will be limited to those devices. Other operating systems and hardware platforms are susceptible to many of the same issues mentioned below as well, however, the specific details and solutions may vary.Original question: What are some functions on computers that many people use incorrectly?In my opinion, sleep mode, hibernate mode, and somewhat related: closing a laptop’s lid.It’s common knowledge that all of those are equivalent to shutting down and then restarting the computer, right?Well, I’m sorry, but I have to inform you that if you agreed with the above, you’re not right, but no worries! I’m here to help you understand your computer better.Let’s start with why you want to properly restart your computer in the first place. To be clear, restarting is almost the same process as shutting your computer down and then powering it back up again. The very slight differences are a bit technical, and beyond the scope of this one answer, so in this case we will treat them as being equivalent.While you are using your computer: loading and unloading applications and data, making changes to the file system, and so on, your computer eventually ends up running slowly. There are many reasons for this, but I will focus on the most common:Incomplete garbage collection: The ideal application will clean up after itself, as in: every byte of memory it requests for its own use is released after the application ends. The unfortunate fact is that not every application is quite so diligent in its cleanup routine. When the user launches a buggy application, it may request 16 Mb of RAM, but due to an oversight on the developer’s part (or otherwise), only free up 15 Mb. Over time, this will obviously consume memory that could otherwise be used by other applications.Persistent (insistent, clingy?) applications: Many applications - once started - continue running even if it appears that you have closed them, unless you perform an additional sequence of steps. Skype is a very good example of this category. When the user “closes” Skype, the main user interface may disappear, but by default, it continues running in the background, and the only indicator that it is still running is a small icon in the system tray (to the left of the clock). To truly close Skype, the user needs to right-click on the system tray icon and select the “Quit” option, and then respond in the affirmative when asked if they are sure. This may remind you of an ex, but let’s move on, shall we? All applications require space in your RAM for not only the application itself, but the data they make use of as well. If a user launches an application, but doesn’t properly terminate it, that’s a certain amount of memory that won’t be available to other applications, or even the operating system itself.Memory fragmentation: Often, an application will request a certain sized chunk of memory, and many times - especially with applications written in lower level programming languages - will require that the memory range returned be contiguous. For example, assume an application requests 4 Mb of memory, and the total free memory is 6 Mb. That sounds like it won’t be a problem, but consider the case where those 6 Mb are divided into 6 x 1 Mb ranges. If the memory doesn’t need to be contiguous, no problem, but if it does, the program will fail with an “out of memory” error. The other points mentioned here can contribute to this fragmentation.Caching - Web browsers are a perfect example of this. Those “Temporary Internet Files” do actually serve a purpose. Again, the way they are implemented on a low level is beyond the scope of this response, but suffice it to say that they are a very close analogue to memory caching. A browser will “reuse” a previously downloaded file when it detects that the resource is identical, because accessing a hard drive is much faster than downloading a file from the network (or internet). In the same vein, reading data from RAM is much, much faster than reading the same data from the hard drive, so many applications will reserve memory to keep those most frequently used resources as accessible (hence, fast) as possible. Over time, an application’s memory footprint will grow, until it crowds out the memory available for other applications.I do a lot of my business via Facebook, so I generally have a browser tab open all day. Well, I would, except that in an effort to speed up the loading of pages, Chrome (and the rest) reserve memory to hold their most frequently accessed resources in RAM (See note 1 at the bottom). The longer the application runs, the more likely it is that it will make use of whatever memory is available. Because of that “memory creep”, I actually find myself restarting my browser about 5–6 times during my standard 16 hour workday.Updates - All of the common operating systems provide, or outright force, updates. There are many legitimate reasons for this, and again - although that list may be too long in this context, the foremost reason is security. After all, once it becomes common knowledge that application X exposes security hole Y, you’re going to want update Z to be applied so you aren’t left exposed to a breach. A common obstacle with many operating systems, though, is that if a particular file is in use, it’s seldom a good idea, if not impossible, to modify it until it is no longer in use.Properly restarting your computer triggers a complete reset of the operating system and the contents of a computer’s memory. This resets the memory that may not have been released as described in bullet point (1). Restarting also starts you off with a clean slate as mentioned in point (2) . Memory fragmentation is no longer a problem either, as all memory is freed upon proper restart (3), and is once again being allocated sequentially. For the same reason, RAM caching is reset, so (4) is fixed. Finally, (5) is covered because upon restarting - by definition - no files are in use.I know this intro has been overly long, but if you’ve made it this far, take heart, because the actual answer to your question is relatively short. Here are the three potentially problematic issues, and an explanation of why they are considered to be so:Sleep mode - This mode puts the computer into a low-power state, disabling nonessential functions, which is great for conserving energy, but the memory contents are still allocated, and all files are still locked, all cached entries still consume space, and so on. It’s literally as if you never restarted the computer at all.Hibernate mode - This mode is elegant in theory, and with careful use can be a great option. However, when a computer goes into hibernation mode, the contents of the RAM are written byte for byte to a file (hiberfil.sys, anyone?) before the computer powers down. When it is powered back on the next time, that file is then read back into memory, and if you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll realize that although this process might load more quickly, it also preserves any memory corruptions and inefficiencies between shutdown and powerup. In short, if your computer was lagging due to any memory issues, it will have those same issues when you power it back on.Closing a laptop’s lid - Depending on the power profile, doing this may put the unit into sleep or hibernation mode, or in some cases, do nothing at all. In any case, unless you fully understand what is going on, your best bet is to save all of your work and perform a proper shutdown of the machine.Further, both sleep and hibernate modes are notorious for causing issues. The power-saving standard was a very contentious topic for many years before the major players agreed to follow it, and that only after several revisions and countless committee meetings. From experience, even the big boys still make mistakes in their implementation of that standard, yielding inconsistent to catastrophic results. If you are in sleep mode, for example, and your laptop battery dies, it can be difficult to get your computer to start back up, and you either need to enter several very specific keystrokes and timings, or in the worst case, remove your charger, disconnect both the main and CMOS batteries, while pressing various keys and buttons at the appropriate times. Now that manufacturers are more focused on low cost rather than ease of repair, good luck to you if your case is sealed, and you can’t even disconnect the main battery without cracking the case!I hope this has been as educational for you as it was cathartic for me. If possible, please remember this the next time you call customer support, and the first thing they ask is if you have turned your computer off and then on again. It may seem condescending, but most of us really do just want to solve your issues quickly. That question is just the start of our investigative procedure. We learn very early in our careers to ask that question, and usually confirm it on our ends anyway, because customers lie. (Paraphrasing the venerable Dr. House)Notes:Browsers generally make use of a three level scheme, where they first check to see if a resource (image, HTML page, etc.) is available in the RAM cache. If so, it is used and the operation continues. If not, then they determine if a resource is available from the local cache. Again, if found, it continues. Only then - if the resource is not in either the memory or hard drive cache - will the browser download the resource. Guess where the resource is stored after having been downloaded? Yep. Since it was recently requested, it goes right into the memory cache, with a copy first being saved to the local (hard drive) cache.In anticipation of the inevitable question, my recommendation is … it depends. Sorry! My own development machine runs for a month at a time without a restart. Certain server operating systems can easily log months or even years of uptime. Those extended periods without a restart are only possible when the applications that are being launched are diligent in cleaning up after themselves, as well as avoiding the remaining items in the first list. It is definitely possible for a computer to run indefinitely without needing a restart, but in practice, that is a very rare occurrence.For most of you reading this, I would just keep it simple: When you are finished with your computer for the night, shut it down and power it back up when you need it again - maybe hit the power button while you’re brewing a pot of coffee. With a clean installation, you’re only looking at a boot time of a minute or two, and with the prevalence of SSDs, just a few seconds. If you’re like me, and your computer is in use practically 24/7, then start out manually restarting once every three days or so, and adjust that interval according to your usage and needs.Best of luck to ya!J.