My printer doesn’t work and my mouse is stuck!
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Archive for the 'Computers' Category
I have just scrapped my old copy of Windows in exchange for a brand-spankin-new install of Ubuntu Linux. Why would I do such a thing, you might ask. Let me tell you why:
- It’s free.
- Almost all software for it is also free.
- It’s said to be more stable than Windows – no more BSOD.
- It’s secure.
- I can do just about everything with it that I can do with Windows. For the software that absolutely must run under Windows, I have my laptop that still has XP Home installed.
I must say, I have been quite impressed so far. I did the first installation a few days ago and was playing around, trying to learn the basics. I had used the automatic partitioning option in the easy-to-use installation program, but wasn’t happy with what it did for me. So Last night I started again, arranged the partitions as I wanted and the whole installation only took about 15 minutes. Much faster than Windows XP.
Now I just need to get a handle on the command line stuff, and how extra drives are mounted in folders, rather than as a physical drive. Then I should be right.
Anyway, I’m going to go and continue being a nerd. Have a nice day.
Some of you may have heard already that Google has launched a Beta version of a new online spreadsheet application. Apparently they want to knock Microsoft of their perch as “world leaders” in all things computers. Access to the spreadsheets is at their invitation. You have to register your interest and they will send you an invite when they’re good and ready, first come first served.
The product is nowhere near as powerful as MS Excel but it might be one day. I’m still not 100% sure why you need your spreadsheets online or why you need to share them with other people.
The other Google app that I rate pretty highly is Google Calendar. This online version of your diary is easy to use and sharing your calendar with family and firends makes more sense than sharing your spreadsheets. You can invite other users to events and all sorts of other fun stuff. I haven’t used an online calendar before, but while doing some reading on the topic, it seems that Google’s offering lacks some features that other, longer running products provide. I just like how it integrates with my gmail so well (as you would expect, really). It might be time to retire the old Palm pilot, considering I stopped carrying it around with me years ago.
I’m looking forward to the real MS killer: Google OS. Only a matter of time maybe?
Many people sell second-hand computers on eBay. I think it’s a good idea to format the hard drive before you do. The following is a website that shows what might happen to you if you don’t.
The story is that Amir sold his laptop to a guy on eBay. The purchaser said it wasn’t working but managed to fix it. In the process he accessed all the sellers old info and posted it on a website to “get even”. A half interesting read if you’ve got a spare 5 minutes.
My work computer crashed on Friday. At about lunch time it decided to sabotage it’s registry and I’ve noticed this morning that all my iTunes library has disappeared. So today, I will be working in silence. Not cool at all.
