Archive for the ‘tech’ Category

Windows 7 or no windows 7

Posted: September 28, 2009 by datechguy in tech
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Steve Calvi of Zolex PC has some sensible advice:

The Average Home User doesn’t need to have the latest technological advancements. They want their computer to work with as minimal problems as possible. To be easy to use and comfortable while using it. Jumping up to Windows 7 if you are happy with Vista is not worth it.
Unless you are one of those people that must have the newest toy on the market, I would advise against upgrading your Vista machine to Windows 7 at this time. Six months from now once Windows 7 has been through plenty of testing from consumers etc, we may reach a different conclusion.

If you want to upgrade to Windows 7 and you have Windows XP, time to buy a new PC. If you want to upgrade to Windows 7 and you have Windows Vista, you may do so but it is not advised at this time. Sit back and let others experience the issues/problems that will happen with a new operating system. Why experience the Growing Pains if you don’t have too? Save your money for now.

I would go even so far as to say if you only use your machine for mundane stuff you might even consider picking up one of those vista (shudder) machines that will be selling for a song over the next 30 days.

Your PC only needs to be as strong as how you use it.

As for upgrades, there is always the risk of tanking a machine, I’d go for a new machine with Windows 7 before upgrading myself.

BTW although of course I recommend a certain politically minded blogger of Sicilian decent as your first choice for tech support; I do however know the Zolex guys and can heartily endorse them as a source of pc support.

John Quincy Adams the Tweets from beyond the grave

Posted: August 8, 2009 by datechguy in oddities, tech
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I’m not much of a twitter person (I don’t even have a facebook account) but I am very into John Quincy Adams and anything that gives more attention to one of the most remarkable statesmen to ever serve America is ok with me.

The micro-blogging site Twitter wasn’t around in John Quincy Adams’ day, but a recent visitor to the MHS suggested he might have found it a very natural addition to his routine. JQA was a prolific diarist, filling fifty-one volumes over sixty-nine years (amounting to nearly 15,000 pages) – and not only did he keep a diary, he often kept multiple diaries simultaneously (there are three different entries for the day he was inaugurated as president, for example: a long entry, a draft entry, and a line-a-day entry).

What started as interesting note is now a project:

when we realized that JQA begins a long series of line-a-day entries on 5 August 1809 as he departs on his voyage to Russia (where he would serve as the first American ambassador), we decided some opportunities are just too good to pass up.

So, beginning on 5 August 2009, we’ll be posting JQA’s line-a-day diary entries on Twitter, one per day exactly 200 years later. You can check out the project at http://www.twitter.com/JQAdams_MHS, and if you use Twitter too we hope you’ll follow along and receive the daily updates. We’ll be posting JQA’s exact words (his entries really do work perfectly as 140-character tweets), and where possible we will augment the posts with maps showing his location (thank him for providing regular latitude and longitude readings), links to longer diary entries, and other information. His short entries are surprisingly rich, full of wonderful details about his reading, meals, weather, and shipboard activities.

“His” twitter page is here.

Remembering these are the days before the common use of steam let alone electricity so this would be heady stuff for people.

One interesting Adams fact. In addition to being President, Sec of State and a Congressman AFTER being president Adams was nominated for the Supreme Court BEFORE all of that and voted in unanimously by the Senate but turned it down because he didn’t consider himself qualified enough.

But it’s made by Apple!

Posted: July 31, 2009 by datechguy in tech
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…so this can’t be right can it?

Security experts have uncovered flaws in Apple Inc’s iPhone that they said hackers can exploit to take control of the popular device, using the tactic for identity theft and other crimes.

iPhone users needed to be warned that their devices were not entirely secure and Apple should try to repair the vulnerability as soon as possible, they said at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, one of the world’s top forums for exchanging information on computer security threats.

As I’ve argued before PC’s are more vulnerable due to market share, those who attack for profit want to hit the largest market share. The iPhone’s popularity and market share make it a worthwhile target. Remember when you give devices the strengths of computer you give them weakness too.

But hey if you want to spend hundreds on a phone that’s your call.

Fun (bug) with netgear wireless G

Posted: July 22, 2009 by datechguy in tech
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Well the new B system is in the Dining room (yes you read that right) but since it’s in the dining room it can’t reach the router. So the time came to get a wireless for the system. (This predated the download of video drivers).

Since I didn’t want to spend a lot on a “B” system I picked up the least expensive product. A Netgear Wg111 wireless G adapter. This is the low end product in terms of speed but this is meant as a “B” machine so speed isn’t a vital consideration at this time.

The install was fairly routine, I disabled the netgear manager to use the standard windows one and after a few false starts connected without issue, that’s when I got my surprise.

After reboot the standard friendly interface for XP logon was gone and the enterprise style logon replaced it.

When I went to switch it back (I don’t mind that version but it can be a pain for the non-pc people) I got a grey screen and the following error:

A recently installed program has disabled the Welcome screen and Fast User Switching. To restore these features, you must install the program. The following file name might help you identify the program that made the change: RtlGina2.dll.

Lucky for me a simple fix was written by a fellow named Doug Knox. Simply click here and download the fix file, and run. Reboot and Viola! You have your screen back without losing your internet!

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