Cyber Monday Routers and Networks

If your network equipment is slow and or old or the wifi signal is weak, the primary remedy, other than getting an alternative to our DSL service, is to upgrade your router.  Cyber Monday can get you the best deals you will see.  Google "wifi router cyber Monday".  I found some deals in an unexpected place:  a router manufacturer web page: Linksys Home Networking Cyber Monday Specials.  If you need help, give me a call or send and email.

Computer Dust Covers a Great Christmas Gift

As I help folks with their computers, I've noticed many computers are "dirty" inside.  The fans are covered with lint, pet hair, and dust, as are the air ports and, to me, the most dangerous, the cooling fins of the computer processor (CPU) itself.  This "dirt" can, at its extreme, be a fire hazard and actually "burn out" your computer.

I make it a point, when I look inside a computer case, to clean it using an air can.  (I get six air cans at a time at Costco.  It is one of my most used tools.)  However, there is another alternative that is preventive:  a dust cover for your computer.  These covers are "breathable" and remain on your computer as a filter.

Google "computer dust cover(s)."  I didn't find them on Amazon, but a number of companies sell them.  Note that you should know take the dimension of your tour to purchase the correct cover size.

This makes a great Christmas stocking stuffer.  If you don't know the size, then give a note promising one computer dust cover.

I will be teaching a Furman OLLI course winter quarter

Most Microsoft support for XP ended a while back. The only remaining support is security updates, and that will be ending in the next year or so. Plus, XP doesn't allow you to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9, so that is another security hole. Your options are:

- Buy a newer Windows Operating System (7 or 8). Cost will be about $100 plus probably hiring me to do the installation and transfer your files from the old system to the new. (Total might be about $160.) Note that there is an additional risk going to Windows 8- it will require significant learning.

 - Buy a new computing device with a newer Windows Operating System already installed. Cost is whatever you're willing to pay for a new computer plus perhaps hiring me to transfer your files and install the programs you need.

- Install the free operating system Ubuntu. The desktop and general behavior of this system is the same (actually better) as the latest Apple operating system. Cost: nothing.

Well, there really is a cost to the last one, and that is to take a course I am teaching at Furman Olli from Jan to Mar on installing and using Ubuntu. Typically we would install Ubuntu as a second operating system on your computer, so you would continue to use XP when you need to. However, your default would be to use Ubuntu and never go on-line withing XP.

 If you are a "power user," then Ubuntu is for you. If you are a novice and only do web searches and any combination of email, photos, and music, then Ubuntu is for you. (If you have to use iTunes, then it is a little more complicated, but I can show you how.)

So, ummm...  I can't think of a reason to not have Ubuntu on any computer, at least as a second operating system.  And there are so many reasons to install it.

 A couple of articles:
- Ubuntu vs Windows 8
- Ubuntu vs Mac OS X.   In this article, it talks about "usability."  This article was written for a previous version of Ubuntu.  I find that Mac OS X is so constrained and "automated" that it is more difficult to use if you have any conditions other than the ones Apple targets; for example, your ISP is bellsouth/att.