What Every End User Should Know about Computers Part I

By: Brian Lannoye

These days everyone is using a computer. Some of my clients are 70+ years old and know how to send and receive e-mail, print documents or surf the Web. My six year old daughter can log on to Webkinz or Littlest Pet Shop and play for hours. Even my three year old can resize and move windows and icons around the desktop. What’s more is that you don’t have to be a computer technician to be able to master office tools like Word Perfect or MS Excel. In fact, some of the most skilled people using Microsoft Office that I know are not very computer literate otherwise and that’s OK.  The computer should be a tool to get your office tasks done more efficiently. You don’t have to be an auto technician to know how to drive a car well do you?

Downloading Music

UPDATE (1/29/09 see below)

SCAMS!

First, I want to take a moment to tell you about a popular scam that is found all over the internet.  Many unscrupulous entrepreneurs have decided to take advantage of the ‘rookie’ downloader by offering one time fees to sites claiming to offer millions upon millions of songs, games, videos, software etc.  If you come across ANY webpage that makes these claims, know two things.  First, they are indeed promoting illegal activity regardless of what they claim.  Second, 100% of the content you will find in their member pages is free.  It can be downloaded directly from the homepage of the program writers/distributors.  What they are doing is providing links to P2P (peer to peer) client programs so you can share music with other users.  

DynDNS Mailhop Services

Setting up SBS 2003 for DynDNS Mailhop Relay and Mailhop Outbound

As there are no formal instructions for this procedure, I’ve put this together as a personal record for myself as to how I got it working.  Feel free to use it however you like.

These directions assume you already have your server on the internet with a static IP or a custom DNS dynamic service from DynDNS.com and a full qualified domain name

Your Next PC. Mac or Windows?

While I view a computer as a tool and don’t recommend buying a new one if the old one is working fine, there will come a day when you decide you are ready for a new PC.  With the hiccups that Vista is causing and the slew of new great products from Apple, you may decide to look towards a Macintosh for your next computer.  While I harbor no emotional feelings towards hardware or manufacturers, if you search the internet for user opinions, you will find some very strong reviews from both sides.  I would like to try and answer some common concerns you may have and try to not be biased one way or the other.  As impossible as that probably is, the one thing that can help more than anything when reading user opinions is to not let “emotion” dictate your decision.  After all, if recent history has taught us anything, it’s that technology is constantly evolving and falling in love with any one piece or company can hinder our ability to change with the times.  That said, let’s begin.