As stated on the preceeding page, I just got through a teaching/learning experience by giving a course on computer basics to a group of students here on Manitoulin through Cambrian College.
I have to admit that it was my first time at the front of a classroom other than years and years ago when Christian Brothers called me up to the front of the class for a demonstration of corporal punishment. It was rather refreshing not having to bend over and have a goaltenders hockey stick applied to my bottomside.
So, .......to continue on...
The Hosts File:
No, it has nothing to do with a planned party. Its something in every computer that allows you to find websites on the internet.
More important - it allows you to avoid websites that you do not want to visit.
Take about twenty minutes of your time to listen to this audio file. In conversation are Leo LaPorte who you've probably seen on television and Steve Gibson, the man who first coined the word spyware.
For further information on Hosts File, visit
Wikipedia .
The wikipedia site can take you to a link where you can download a Hosts file to help protect your machine. But, as discussed in the podcast, this is a tool that both you and the spammers will be using, so - it remains an uphill battle to secure your computer.
Installing the Hosts file is one thing, but be prepared to maintain it so you might wish to involve your computer mentor on this one until you are sure you fully understand what you are doing.
While you have this little widget in front of you - take the time to check out the other podcasts available using the tools provided. Scroll up and down and click on one that interests you.
You might want to hit the Stop Button above if you move on as the audio will carry on.
That's Some Harddrive Ya Got There Honey:
One of the components of your computer that allows you to do things is your harddrive, and we tend to take them for granted except for those blowhearts that go around telling you they have such 'n such a system with a thirty zillion megabyte harddrive. Thirty Zillion? My God!
If you've never taken a tape recorder or a vcr apart then here is a schematic of what is hiding inside your 'puter, encased in a dust-free container of course.
I searched high and low to find a web page that describes what a harddrive looks like and what makes it tick.
This article is really old, but you'll get the point I wanted to make.
The article spans three pages and there is a graphic on Page 2 that demonstrates how the read head has to move back and forth at times. We've covered this before - harddrives tend to become fragged and unless you set up a schedule of disk defragmentation on a regular basis, your read/write head gets an extra workout which slows down your computer and leads to hardrive failure.
And about that 30 gazillion megabyte harddrive.......Your computer probably shipped to you with one big partition and if you have that 30 gatrillion megawopper that we're talking about, it's time you got around to creating some new partitions. We'll get around to discussing that.
Startup Disk For XP:
Sooner or later you are going to run into a situation where your computer won't boot up and to be ready for that you should create a startup floppy disk if you have a computer with a floppy drive - newer computers don't come with them unless you order it special.
To create a Windows startup disk, insert a floppy disk into the floppy drive, launch My Computer, right-click the floppy disk icon, and select the Format command from the context menu. When you see the Format dialog box, leave all the default settings as they are and click the Start button. Once the format operation is complete, close the Format dialog box to return to My Computer, double-click the drive C icon to access the root directory, and copy the following three files to the floppy disk:
Boot.ini
NTLDR
Ntdetect.com
Label and save startup disk until you need it. When that time comes, insert it into the floppy drive on the afflicted system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the computer. When you boot from the Windows startup disk, the computer will bypass the active partition and boot files on the hard disk and attempt to start Windows XP normally.
Piracy:
There's plenty of pirated applications available out there for the computer user that lacks the wherewithall to pay for the goodies he'd like to have running on his 'puter. And when you stop and consider just how much money some of these applications cost, it's no wonder.
Having said that, Microsoft is out to get you if you are running a pirated copy of their operating system Vista. Their new service pack will make life a lot harder for you by installing code that will give you popups telling you that you are running an illegal system. These nagscreens will do no good, I fear. Talented computer users are upset with Microsoft and the high prices they demand for their wares. For example, those of us that have multiple computers may or may not have them networked so you can "talk" to the computer in the other room down the hall - it's a feature that is very handy for a number of reasons. These computer users must pay for each operating system installed on each computer and that adds up to a lot of money, so you can understand their outrage.
In my case, I have Windows XP and Vista (both licensed) along with a Linux machine hooked up in a network. There's also the Win98 and WinMillenium machines sitting on the side, but not connected. If Bill Gates was not such a moneygrabber, I'd have my XP operating system installed on each of the machines and have one fantastic network - but that ain't gonna happen.
Have a look at
this video to see what someone had to say about this whole matter.
99 Tips From PCStats:
I'm posting this here as a fyi. As a newbie, there are many things that you should not attempt on your own - I've recommended in the past that you get yourself a computer mentor to latch onto. The tips listed in this guide should only be attempted by someone with a broad understanding of computers
What I'm Recommending
What I'm recommending is you go through
the guide and just take it all in. Don't act on any of it. If you read something that catches your imagination, run it by your mentor. If he/she thinks it is applicable for your system then get together and go for it.
When you get up to around page 30, the guide starts talking about "services". This is where you and your mentor can really start rolling up your sleeves and make changes. And I'll provide you with two links of additional reading:
I would've had this company do a web page, but Marie wasn't too keen on it.
Go ahead and call me henpecked. You weren't the guy who had to sleep with her.
We could have wiped out the Nazis in eight weeks if only we had this guy in our IT department.
I asked him but he had the idea that I was connected to a porn site.
Tony Curtis was hot, but I would never had sung to the President if this guy was born twenty years earlier.
I bet I'd still be alive too!
Yes, it's true
I sleep very soundly and when I do I am prone to talking with dead people and sponges. Don't let that scare you away - you can depend on a well-designed website and it is guaranteed not to be spooky.
I'm just a cartoon character from
Day by Day but I know a whiner winner when I see one. Visit us on our web page.
And Please...
If it's past your bedtime and you can't sleep, please think of your good friends around the world who just may or may not be in bed.
Being Indispensable
Sometime, when you are feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego's in full bloom,
Sometime, when you take it for granted,
You're the only qualified one in the room...
Sometime, when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these few simple instructions
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up tio your wrist,
Pull it out, and the hole that is remaining,
Is the measure of how you'll be missed!
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore ~
But stop and you'll find in a minute,
That it looks quite the same as before.
The moral of this quaint observation,
Is to do the very best that you can,
Be proud of yourself, but remember,
There is only one indispensable man.
This above Is Dedicatated To The Memory Of Correctional Sergeant Hal Burchfield
12/16/47 - 6/8/85 Killed In The Line Of Duty
San Quentin State Prison, California Department of Corrections
Dang,
Looks like I gotta find some content to fill this thing up more...
I would've had this company do a web page, but Marie wasn't too keen on it.
Go ahead and call me henpecked. You weren't the guy who had to sleep with her.
We could have wiped out the Nazis in eight weeks if only we had this guy in our IT department.
I asked him but he had the idea that I was connected to a porn site.
Tony Curtis was hot, but I would never had sung to the President if this guy was born twenty years earlier.
I bet I'd still be alive too!
