Tech Paul’s One Piece of Advice

A Non-technical Reader Asks For Computer Advice

Q: Tech Paul, about a month ago I found your website by a accidental click of my mouse. Your article made me laugh, and I think I learned something too but I am a older person and computers are not very interesting to me.

I can do the basic things like answer my e-mail and hunt for good deals on the internet. I have Yahoo and my son installed a genealogy program for me which I really enjoy. Most of what you write about I find too complicated but I like your articles on scam email.

My question is what one piece of advice you would give for someone like me who is not very technical?

A: Dear Reader,
Thank you for sending me this challenging question. The question is a challenge to me not because I don’t have Tech advice to give.. but in trying to limit myself to just one answer! And, I’m not sure I can do it…

Hmmm….

Don’t be afraid of, or intimidated by, your computer (or gizmo, or digital doodad). That’s it: my one piece of advice. All else flows from there.

Simply understand that:
* Your computer is NOT “smarter” than you. In fact it’s quite dumb — it can only think in terms of “off” or “on”, “false” or “true” (a zero or a one), and you can do better than that!
* You cannot, typically, damage it so badly as to make it irreparable. Often (like, 90% of the time) all you need to do is power it off and then on again to resolve the problem (called a “reboot”). When that doesn’t work, you may need to look up an answer, or ask for help.. and/or maybe buy a new part, but you might be surprised at what you can fix yourself. (See My favorite Life Saver flavor? System Restore)
* Computers are there to obey YOU, not the other way around. You’re the one with a creative mind. Did you know that almost everything on your computer is customizable? Make things the way YOU want them.

Yes, Dear Reader, I do have a second piece of advice, which I offer up here free of charge: keep coming back and reading my Tips & Tricks articles, and when you see one you like, give it a try.
And who knows? Maybe I’ll make you laugh again too, and in this day and age that’s worth something, right?

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Top Ten Internet Safety Tips for Children

Folks, I was not going to post an article today, but a comment left by a reader prompted a realization that it has been a long time since I have written about children, safety, and the Internet.

I have written on this subject before, and have a page dedicated to the topic; and so today I am simply reposting a most excellent list found in the “resources for parents” pages on the website of the makers of the excellent Net Nanny software.

I do not recommend “for pay” software here on Tech – for Everyone, but I long ago made an exception for Net Nanny. If you are a parent, I hope that you will click the links above and visit the site and look around. I sincerely thank the good folks there for publishing this list.

Top Ten Internet Safety Tips

1. First educate yourself, then your child.
Banning a child from certain sites may only motivate them to spend more time on them, whereas educating your child on how to keep safe will give them the tools they need to navigate their online world without being hurt; from not posting personal information to a site to understanding that people they are talking to may not actually be who they are. If the parents know the dangers themselves, this sets an example to the child to understand them as well.

2. Teach children the obvious identity rules.
Tell your children NOT to put photos of themselves on the Internet or to give out their names, addresses, phone numbers, schools, or other personal information online.

3. Install an Internet filter or family safety software.
Family safety software is becoming extremely advanced and an effective way to filter dangerous content. Additionally, this software usually comes with tools like time management, remote monitoring and reporting, and keystroke recognition, giving families greater peace of mind and manageability.

4. Know the dangers associated with sites your children frequent.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Whether it’s MySpace, Facebook or another social networking site, by knowing what people are doing on your children’s favorite sites that could put them in harm’s way, parents can educate their children and show them the warning signs of potentially dangerous situations.

5. Teach children what to do if they encounter pornography on a home or public computer, such as at a school or a library.
In a similar fashion to the fire warning of “stop, drop and roll,” you can teach children to quickly turn off power to the computer monitor and go to get an adult. This can prevent a child from attempting to stop the situation by clicking more buttons (and thereby spreading the attack and being exposed to more porn).

6. Manage your children’s time on the Internet.
Scheduling times when a child can be on the Internet and the amount they can be online ensures that you know when they are on the Internet and how long. By not allowing them to have free reign reduces their chances of being exposed to inappropriate content.
(If you have a router, you can use it to set times. Please see Protecting your network–use your router for access control (repost))

7. Set specific Internet guidelines for your children to live by and consistently enforce consequences, if they are not being followed.
Giving your children specific guidelines to follow will ensure they know where they stand when it comes to how they use the Internet as well as the consequences when they breach the rules. If a parent enforces consequences consistently, their children will be more likely to follow the rules.

8. Keep computers out of children’s bedrooms and in open areas.
With PCs in the open, children will be less inclined to view and access material that may not be acceptable.

9. Create a relationship with your children that is conducive to open communication.
Open communication and trust is extremely valuable. By letting children know what is expected from them and that their safety is a top priority, they will feel that if something happens –whether they are approached by a cyber stranger or bully or receive an inappropriate e-mail – they can approach a parent to resolve the issue without feeling they are in trouble.

10. Understand Internet Privacy Policies as they apply to your child.
According to the FTC (http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens.html), parents should be aware of the following as it pertains to protecting their childrens’ privacy on the web:

What Parents Should Do:

Look for a privacy policy on any website directed to children.

The policy must be available through a link on the website’s homepage and at each area where personal information is collected from kids. Websites for general audiences that have a children’s section must post the notice on the homepages of the section for kids.

Read the policy closely to learn the kinds of personal information being collected, how it will be used, and whether it will be passed on to third parties. If you find a website that doesn’t post basic protections for children’s personal information, ask for details about their information collection practices.

Decide whether to give consent.

Giving consent authorizes the website to collect personal information from your child. You can give consent and still say no to having your child’s information passed along to a third party. Your consent isn’t necessary if the website is collecting your child’s email address simply to respond to a one-time request for information.

Again, I thank the good folks at Net Nanny.

Today’s free link: For more tips and top-notch advice on this most important topic:
How to Protect Your Child on the Internet
Where Does Your Child Go On The Internet?

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What’s to say about Windows 7?

I first downloaded the public beta of Microsoft’s new operating system in January, and I have now been using it on a daily basis for five months.

Quite naturally, I wrote about my observations, and tried to describe for you, Dear Reader, what you can expect, and what I thought of this “new beast” that is supposed to replace the “much maligned Vista”.
(see A Tech’s First Impression of Windows 7 Part 1 of a series.)

Recently, it has made the headlines that Microsoft has announced October 22nd as the “official release date” for Windows 7. This is inline with what I expected — plenty of time to make the Holiday Shopping Season.

Yes, I have run the 32-bit ‘beta’, the 32-bit ‘RC’ (release candidate), and now the 64-bit RC. (see A Tech’s First Impression of Windows 7 64-bit.) You may remember from those articles (or click the links and read them) that – short version – I think there is a lot to like in Win7 and that it was the fastest, smoothest install(s) I have ever experienced… and I have done a lot of Windows installs.

So… we know when it’s coming… and we know that across the board Windows 7 is getting positive reviews. Lots of them.
So… I sit and I wonder, what’s to say about Windows 7? So I can write out an article for you to read… I have had no troubles at all to complain about. No difficulties. I’ve discovered no “bugz”…

Some of the other tech websites are writing articles trying to predict the future — will the public adopt Win7 in a big way? Or will it flop like Vista did? What about Business?
I, Dear Reader, will not try to predict the future: that is a shameless trend of modern “journalism” and it should be abolished as a practice.

Maybe people will camp out in front of the Microsoft Store to be the first to buy Win7 when they open the doors on October the 22nd, and maybe they won’t. Who cares?

So I won’t predict the future but I will say this:
* In spite of what you may hear or read somewhere, Windows 7 is essentially a zero learning curve. You needn’t fear it because it’s new.
* IMHO, from what I’ve seen, this is a speedy, stable, secure, and easy to use operating system and I believe it is Microsoft’s best effort yet. Yes it took a long time; but, yeah, they got it right.
* I will not race out and buy Win7 install DVD’s and go around upgrading my machines. My machines are now all Vista Service Pack 2, and XP is well-retired. But my next machine will be a Windows 7 machine (64-bit), and no I will not “wait for Service Pack 1 to come out”.

Have you been putting off buying a new machine because they all seem to come with Vista? Well, after October 22nd, your wait is over. After that date, go down to your local gizmo and gadget store and play with a quad-core, 6+ Gig, Win7 machine hooked to a 22″ (or bigger) monitor. My money is on that you’ll like what you see.

You can test drive Windows 7 on your current machine if you would like. I suggest creating a dual boot setup for that, and here is a video tutorial on how to make that work, Video Tutorial — How To Dual Boot Win7, and you can click here for the free download. (Please read the system requirements first.)

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Firefox Tips and Shortcuts

Whether you’re a beginning, intermediate or advanced user, these shortcuts and suggestions will help you get the most out of Firefox 3.

After a recent update to my Firefox web browser, an unusual thing happened. Upon restart, instead of open to the standard “You’ve just upgraded Firefox!” page, (uh.. yeah. I know. I’m the guy who launched it. Duh.) it opened to a “Tips & Tricks” page.

This page has 5 tips each in Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced “levels”. I sort of hate to confess, but I found a few I didn’t know in each one.

There are tips on shortcuts, bookmarks, plug-ins, downloading, and more. Some are Firefox 3 specific, but most are generic.

It will only take you a few minutes to look over, and if you use Firefox, I believe you’ll be glad you did. Click here to visit the Firefox 3 Tips & Tricks page.

Today’s free link: A super easy way to listen to internet radio…

Today’s free download: Firefox 3 Web browser from Mozilla. “There are literally thousands of totally free ways to customize your Firefox to fit exactly what you like to do online.”

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Basic Steps For Protecting Your PC

Folks, the Internet is not Disneyland. Most knowledgeable people refer to it as the “wild, wild, West” (a reference to sheer lawlessness) but I like a different analogy better.. think of it as going into the Big City, and going down to the docks/warehouse district, alone, and at night.
You can do it, but you best be careful.

What you can do:

1: please read Top 10 things you should do to your computer. It is a checklist, and provides you with the How To’s for a (more) secure computer, as well as providing links to important (free) security downloads.
2: enable an anti-phishing filter, which can help alert you to poisoned websites before you go there. All modern browsers have a filter built in, and all you have to do is turn it on; or, you can add a toolbar/plug-in such as McAfee’s Site Advisor or – my preference – the excellent WOT.
3: make sure ALL the programs on your computer are patched and up-to-date. The easiest and most effective way to do this (IMHO) is to download and install the PSI (Personal Software Inspector) from Secunia.
4: Never respond to e-mails asking for personal information. Legitimate businesses never contact you about “important issues” via e-mail. But criminals love to go phishing!
5: Be PARANOID on the Internet. (Use common sense) Think someone can’t trace back to you? Guess again; your browser reveals a wealth of information by default. Sound too good to be true? It is. There’s no such thing as a “free iPod”… and, no, you did not win the Irish Lottery. Is looking at sexually explicit material simply irresistible? Go to one of those video rental shops that has a back room instead of clicking links and images — a malware infection can cost you all your data and/or several hundred dollars in cleanup.. and/or many hours of your time..

[note: almost all of these things are "set it, then forget it" simple. You do not have to be an über-geek, or devote hours, to implement them. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure!] 

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Tips For Safe Online Shopping*

I think it is a pretty safe bet that quite a few of you are doing some last minute holiday shopping.. and that some of you are going to use the Internet to do some of that shopping.

I would like to remind you that there is a healthy, active, and well-financed underworld of cyber-criminals who are well-aware of the fact that the next few days are prime credit card and “identity” theft opportunities, and are going to be particularly active in trying to GET YOU.

You will see an increase in spam, and bogus pop-opens that tell you you are infected when you’re not. (Note: The phraudulent Skype alert is active again, too. see Skype — “Windows Requires Immediate Attention”.. Not! )

I am posting the following Basic Internet Shopping Tips in the hopes that Tech–for Everyone readers will not join the 9 million Americans who had their identities stolen last year.

• Download Software Updates — Regularly!
• Use Complex Passwords (include numerals and @#$%^&*[])
• Use Onetime Credit Cards
• Verify Secure Connections See that little padlock symbol at the bottom of your screen, and in the URL address bar?
• Check Your Credit
• Enter Your Shopping Site’s Web Address Manually (embedded links=no!)
• Shop From Your Own computer (not a public ‘hotspot’)
• Enable your browser’s phishing filter, or install a add-on. (such as the super-easy WOT toolbar)
• Don’t Send Credit Card Information Over E-mail. Even if you think it’s secure. Don’t send it over IM either. If you feel uncomfortable about sending personal information online, call up the business.

I would like to direct your attention to the first bulletpoint. The programs on your computer need to be fully “patched” with the latest updates, as exploiting weaknesses is the primary method hackers use to infect your machines. (You visit a website that they’ve ‘poisoned’, and if you have an unpatched ‘hole’, bingo – you’re infected.)

How do you know if you have the latest updates? For all your installed programs? Do you think you are patched? Don’t guess. Be sure!

Today’s free link+download: Secunia offers a tool that I highly recommend. The online scanner (which you should bookmark, btw) will scan your machine for roughly 100 programs and tell you if there is a patch/update you need. If you go this route, you will need to visit once or twice a week.)
Better yet, they offer a download, a Personal Edition, which will scan your system against a database of over 7,000 programs.
Even better yet, it includes direct download links to the missing patches it finds.

I just ran it and it found an old ActiveX plug in, and told me that my Java Runtime Environment was out of date.. and I didn’t think I had installed JRE on this machine!

Further reading:
Computer Security – Time to Think About It
A Teen Texting Trend All Parents Should Be Aware Of

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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A Vast Criminal Enterprise Aimed At You

- Five Defensive Strategies

“Today’s Internet attacks are organized and designed to steal information and resources¹ from consumers and corporations. The web is now the primary route by which cybercriminals infect computers. Cybercriminals are planting malicious code on innocent websites. This code then simply lies in wait and silently infects visiting computers.

The scale of this global criminal operation has reached such proportions that Sophos discovers one new infected webpage every 4.5 seconds – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In addition, SophosLabs, our global network of threat analysis centers, is sent some 20,000 new samples of suspect code² every single day.

2008 at a glance

• Biggest malware threats – SQL injection attacks against (legitimate) websites and the rise of scareware (aka “rogue” anti-malware programs)
• New web infections – one new infected webpage discovered by Sophos every 4.5 seconds (24/7 x 365)
• Malicious email attachments – five times more at the end of 2008 than at the beginning
• Spam-related webpages – one new webpage discovered by Sophos every 15 seconds
• New scareware websites – five identified every day
• Top malware-hosting country – US with 37 percent
• Top spam-relaying continent – Asia with 36.6 percent
• Amount of business email that is spam – 97 percent

Injection attack? By exploiting poorly secured legitimate websites, hackers have been able to implant malicious code onto them, which then attempts to infect every visitor. One of the reasons the web is so popular is that legitimate websites can attract large numbers of visitors, all of whom are a potential victim.
(This as also known as “poisoning”.)

Many well known organizations and brands have fallen victim to this kind of attack during 2008. Both large and small organizations have been targeted.
January 2008: Thousands of websites belonging to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and schools/universities were infected with malicious code. more..“

¹ read “money”
² read “malware”

Folks, this is taken from a whitepaper titled “Security Threat Report 2009″ and produced by the IT Security firm Sophos. Some of the emphasis is mine. You can download the document here.
I want to take a moment to thank them for publishing this, and saluting their effort to combat malware and the criminals behind it. In fact, let me go a step further and salute all you whitehats out there. Thank you.

What you can do

1: please read Top 10 things you should do to your computer–updated. It is a checklist, and provides you with the How To’s for a (more) secure computer, as well as providing links to important (free) security downloads.
2: enable an anti-phishing filter, which can help alert you to poisoned websites before you go there. All modern browsers have a filter built in, and all you have to do is turn it on; or, you can add a toolbar/plug-in such as McAfee’s Site Advisor or the excellent WOT.
3: make sure ALL the programs on your computer are patched and up-to-date. The easiest and most effective way to do this (IMHO) is to download and install the PSI (Personal Software Inspector) from Secunia.
4: Never respond to e-mails asking for personal information. Legitimate businesses never contact you about “important issues” via e-mail. But criminals love to go phishing!
5: Be PARANOID on the Internet. (Use common sense) Think someone can’t trace back to you? Guess again; your browser reveals a wealth of information by default. Sound too good to be true? It is. There’s no such thing as a “free iPod”… and, no, you did not win the Irish Lottery. Is looking at sexually explicit material simply irresistible? Go to one of those video rental shops that has a back room instead of clicking links and images — a malware infection can cost you all your data and/or several hundred dollars in cleanup.. and/or many hours of your time..

Folks, the Internet is not Disneyland. Most knowledgeable people refer to it as the “wild, wild, West” (a reference to sheer lawlessness) but I like a different analogy better.. think of it as going into the Big City, and going down to the docks/warehouse district, alone, and at night.
You can do it, but you best be careful.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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General advice for purchasing a new digital camera*

I have been receiving e-mails here at Tech–for Everyone that have been regarding my recent article about the fella who went traveling, and for the first time left his 35mm gear at home. (He only carried a digital camera.)

These e-mails have been asking me which digital camera it was. The reason they wrote is, they want to buy the same one. I had very carefully avoided naming a specific make or model of digital camera, as (believe it or not) I am not in the business of promoting sales.

But I understand perfectly why people want some advice when it comes to buying a digital camera. There is a whole gaggle of them to choose from– an overwhelming variety.. and when you start shopping, it’s easy to become confused by the jargon.
A “mega” pixel is better than an ordinary, everyday “pixel”.. right? (You bet it is. It contains more vitamins and minerals.)

A long, long, time ago I wrote a three-part advice series on buying a new computer, and today I am going to reiterate a bit of advice from there– when buying a digital camera, you have to hold it in your hands. The “right” camera for you will just, well, “feel right”. If you keep accidentally pushing a button, or put your thumb right on the viewer screen.. that’s not good.

Tip of the day: General advice for purchasing a new digital camera.

* Optical zoom is better than digital zoom. Make sure that the “zoom” feature of your camera is handled by a moving lens. Digital zooming is okay in very small amounts, but the way it works will cause funny-looking “pixilation” when really put to work.
* You want image stabilization. Image stabilization is in my opinion simply a “must have”; fortunately, almost every manufacturer provides it. I won’t spend time, here, describing the different types. If you’re curious, click the link.
* The Megapixel. Folks, there is a lot of confusion regarding the camera jargon word “megapixel”. A higher megapixel number does not necessarily equate with “sharper image” or “clearer picture“.. in fact, they usually have nothing to do with each other.
Megapixels refers to the image (data) size and determines how big an enlargement you can make before you start to experience distortions (think of it as being a bit like film sizes). If the largest prints you ever make are 5 x 7, a three-to-four Megapixel camera is all you need. A 10 Megapixel camera is overkill for the vast majority of uses, and it will simply fill your memory card faster, with fewer shots. (But, you can make poster-size prints.)
* LCD “viewfinder”. I think it is important to have a manual viewfinder, as well as the LCD screen.. but that is personal opinion. In terms of LCD, the two factors to consider are placement and size. It should be big enough that you can see what it is showing when you hold the camera away from your body, and, it should be positioned on the camera in such a way as to not cause you to hold your hand in a funny/odd way so that you can see it.
Important: The LCD screen not only needs to be large enough to see, but it needs to be bright enough that you can see the preview when you’re outdoors in sunshine. If the image looks kind of dim in the store…
* And I’d like to repeat, your camera should just feel right in your hand.
* Don’t buy features you won’t use. If you are not a photography buff, and don’t want to memorize a 200-page owners manual, then you don’t want to buy a D-SLR; you want a “point-and-shoot”, (You won’t impress anybody with it anyway) and you don’t need 24 “settings” if you’re only going to use one. Right? Right.

Today’s free link: If you are like the fella I mentioned in the original articles, and like to read reviews and technical specs, or if you just want more information about digital photography (maybe it’s your hobby), check out http://www.pcphotomag.com/.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Some Guidelines For Purchasing a New PC

Recently, my duties included an unexpected shopping jaunt. I had been asked to purchase and set up a new PC and home network (a service I provide at Aplus Computer Aid). Inspired by that, and in light of the fact that Shopping Season is nigh upon us, I have reposted an article on guidelines for purchasing a new PC, which first appeared 8/17/07–

How much RAM do I need, and other guidelines for buying a new PC. To conclude this series, I am going to review the topics covered, assume that you’ve decided that, yes, it is time to buy a new PC, and then give some advice on what to look for in a machine. I’m not going to get into a Mac versus PC debate, or talk you into trying Linux. I am going to focus solely on hardware (the ‘capabilities’) options of a non-Mac desktop or laptop PC.

Tip(s) of the day: Laptop computers. Most of what I am going to recommend today applies equally to laptops and desktops with very few exceptions. Today’s portable machines (notebook and tablet PC’s) very nearly rival the hardware capabilities of a desktop (or “tower”), and some models market themselves as a “desktop replacement”. They have large hard drives for storage, can ‘burn’ dual-layer DVD’s, have nice large screens, can access the Internet wirelessly, and are fast. Some have high-end graphics adapters that can keep up with the latest games.

Where laptops are different is: they are comparatively more expensive, they (often) depend on a battery, and they’re limited in terms of “expansion”. Expansion, quite literally, is room to “add stuff”, commonly referred to as “upgrading”. For this reason, I advise (when purchasing a notebook/laptop/tablet) differently than when buying a tower, to wit – buy the most machine you can afford.
Also, I advise buying the battery “upgrade”.

If you have to penny-pinch, reduce the RAM and/or go with a smaller hard drive… because these are the two components on a laptop that it is relatively easy to “upgrade” at a later date, when your finances have recovered. The other things – CPU, graphics, motherboard, sound, etc. — are not so easy to swap out/upgrade. In a tower there is practically nothing you cannot replace: in a laptop you’re kind of stuck, so buy as high up the scale as you can. Not just what you think you’ll need today, but buy for tomorrow as well. Because that’s the way the machine will be for its lifetime.

When deciding which model laptop, do not forget to compare battery life (these stats are published). Also, and I can’t stress this enough, do not buy a laptop that you haven’t typed on. Yes, you can make your purchase online or out of a catalogue, but go into a store and touch it first (sorry, all you Best Buy salespersons out there). Each keyboard and touchpad is different. Make sure you like the layout and “feel” of typing on the keyboard. There’s nothing worse (in laptop computing) than trying to work on a keyboard that just isn’t “you”–IMHO.

Desktops: When considering which tower/desktop to buy, there’s basically three categories of machines; budget/student, workstation, and “performance”/gaming. Low, middle, and top-end. You can spend as little as $300, or as much as $8,500. (Yes. $8,500. But, those systems are cool!) I have mentioned before that to do it right, you can get everything you want/need for $700 – $1,100, and that even the budget machines have the “good stuff”.

My advice for what to look for in a desktop, is a little more flexible. First, decide roughly what you’d like to spend. If you really are in the $300 -500 range, do not rule out “refurbished” machines. Rebuilt/refurbished machines are an excellent value. Any negative stigma they may have is unjustified.

Get the most RAM you can. If your machine is coming with Vista (and most of them are), you should avoid Home Basic — and Vista really should be run on 2 Gigabytes of RAM.

Go with a mid-to-high end CPU. The Athlon X2 chips are better than the older “dual core” Pentiums, but not quite as good as the Pentium Core Two Duo. (I know that’s confusing: there are two types of dual-core Pentiums. The D-series is the older type. You want either the Athlon or “Core Two Duo”.)
The quad-core CPU’s from Intel are very good, and are the latest ‘generation’. If it is in your budget, go quad.

Optical drives. Unless you really need a ‘high def’ burner and you want it right now, hold off on going for a “Blu Ray” burner just yet. Two optical drives, while nice, is not a necessity. Do, however, make sure your “combo drive” can burn (”write”) to a dual-layer DVD.

Graphics. Most people do not need a $800 graphics card (only us hard-core gamers, and other boys-of-all-ages, do) nor do they need an “SLI” set up. However, whenever your budget allows, it is almost always better to have a “graphics card” than “onboard graphics”. Onboard graphics chipsets are built into the motherboard, and while they do a quite adequate job, they “share” your RAM … and by that I mean “steal” your RAM.
Please note, you can buy, and install a graphics card at any time..

Do not skimp on your monitor.

Power Supply. Do not forget to check the Wattage of the machine’s power supply. Here is another area where more is definitely better. It constantly surprises me how many seemingly unrelated computer ‘glitches’ and quirks turn out to be caused by an inadequate or failing power supply. Shoot for one that’s rated in the neighborhood of 350W, unless you’re going for a more “loaded”, high-end performance machine — in which case 500W, or higher, is not unreasonable.

Well, that should get you started. Buying a new PC should not be a stressful thing. It should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Just remember to test drive before you buy, and do a little comparison. It really doesn’t matter if you decide upon a no-name, a HP, a Sony, Dell, or whatever. You may want to take advantage of the many mix-and-match-components “custom build” option, and design your own PC.

Here are the links to the prior parts of this series: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Today’s free link: To help shop for a new PC, another excellent shopper’s resource can be found at the PC World magazine’s website. Click here.

Hotmail users: please help me with an upcoming article by answering this Yes/No survey question.
Hotmail Poll*

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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A Collection of Tips for E-mail

One of the very first things I do in the process of starting my day is I check my e-mail Inbox(es). It is as much a part of my routine as my morning cup of coffee. This morning, it struck me that you do not have to be a computer geek to realize and appreciate that electronic communication has become an important — if not vital — part of our lives. And that it has changed the way we live.

If you will pardon a little self-indulgent reminiscing, I would like to tell you in a before-and-after manner, that I am old enough to well-remember what it was like in the days before email, Instant Messaging, and cellphones. In my High School years there simply were no such things. (There were no ATM machines either, if you can imagine that.)

When I wanted to find out what my friends were up to, I picked up a Slimline telephone (with cord) and tried to catch them before they left, but I usually had to track them down by “making the rounds”, in person, of our ‘hangouts’…which put a lot of miles on my 10-speed bike. (No obesity here.)

Besides ‘Ma’ Bell, the other method of communicating was the mail, now known as “snail mail”. How we ever got along back then is beyond me.

Today the speed at which I transmit written correspondence is limited only by how frequently the recipient checks their Inbox. My pals answer their phones no matter where they are (or their voicemail does) or what they’re doing.. who doesn’t carry a cellphone? I not only talk to my neice and nephew out on the East Coast, but I can see them via “videoconferencing” (free). Or I can “chat” with IM, no matter the miles of separation (also free).

But of all these modern methods, I rely the most on email. Email is the main way I stay informed and in contact with my friends and kinfolk, and the same is probably true for you.
(For kicks, I challenge you to a little test: how long can you ignore your Inbox before it irritates? Could you take a week’s vacation… and never check it?)

Because I am an “email guy”, I am perhaps overly aware of the negatives of email. I am peeved by spam, alarmed by phishing, nervous about privacy, and paranoid about hackers and e-criminals. I have written a few articles on these ‘negatives’ and how to combat them, and my “Tip of the day” today is; if you have not read them, to consider clicking on the following links.
Managing your email: eliminating the junk
Managing junk mail in Outlook/Thunderbird
They ARE reading your mail
How to block ads
Simple e-mail encryption

It is my hope that the knowledge you find there will make using the modern miracle of electronic communication a safer and more pleasant experience.

Today’s free download: If you are considering building your own website, or are interested in free WYSIWYG web-authoring tools, a nice tool is the free version of Web Easy Professional, by V-Comm.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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