The Daily Bauble - TR Edition

Given the diversity of the members here I'm not sure how many of you have to contend with big box stores competing with you in the area of computer service. My company is situated within five and fifteen minutes away from a FutureShop and Best Buy respectively, both of which offer computer repair services. We assist disgruntled customers from these two stores frequently. However, I had never fully appreciated their disatisfaciton until this week.

The grandmother of my brother-in-law took her computer to FutureShop to get fixed. They informed her that it would cost $598.38 to repair the computer; not replace, but "fix" the computer. I heard about this and immediately told her to get the system and bring it to our store.

Fortunately, she left me with the repair quote. The breakdown of repairs was as follows: labor $79.99, power supply $79.99, motherboard $398. That's right, $398 for a motherboard. The system was an emachine, the existing motherboard made by MSI with a VIA chipset.

Needless to say, we got the job done for less then half of what she was quoted by FutureShop. Now, this post is not meant to trash FutureShop, I'm not even looking to cast generalities about service department technicians. I suppose I simply wanted to inform and rant a little bit. Emphasize to friends and family to get second opinions whenever possible; no matter where you go because I'm sure this same thing happens in smaller repair shops as well.

Anyone who has seen Windows Media Center knows how cool the taskbar looks. That shiny blue gloss really sets it apart from the standard blue, silver, or olive (ack!). Once, only Windows Media Center users had the luxury of this theme, but no longer. Thanks to our New Zealand friends at Microsoft this theme can be yours just as long as you are running Windows XP.

Click here to download the new theme.

I understand the importance of Windows Updates.  Patch the holes, protect my system...yada yada yada.  What I have trouble understanding is the seemingless misdirected priority Microsoft has placed on what it deems important for its software.  I'm speaking of course of Windows Media Connect.

Fine, this is an optional update, I get that, but how can something like this be included in Windows Update while Microsoft's Anti-Spyware is not?  Sure, the anti-spyware is in "beta" but how ironic that Microsoft has yet to officially release the one productt it seemed to get right from the beginning and needs little to no testing.  Yet, while we can sit comfortably knowing media can be broadcast to all the digital content receivers in your house (thanks to the Media Conect update) we must manually go and download anti-spyware protection.  Does anyone even have a digital box to broadcast this content to?

The reasoning behind this eludes me and hopefully Microsoft will spend more time prioritizing future updates.  The minority need things like Media Connect, the masses need Microsoft Anti-Spyware.  Of course, Windows OneCare may solve this problem once and for all.

With technology ever advancing it is rare these days that we find
ourselves working without an optical drive. However, in rare cases
you may find yourself with only a floppy drive to work with.
Getting software on to such systems can be difficult. In my case,
it was a laptop with a swappable floppy drive (the swappable CD-Rom had
long since vanished). I needed to get software onto this system
and my saving grace came in the way of a program called The File
Splitter. This fantastic program automatically splits a large
file into floppy capacity chunks and creates a double-click re-assembly
program. While I would not recommend using this program for large
software titles (e.g. Microsoft Office) it's great for 3-5 MB
programs.

Get The File Splitter.

Let me begin by saying I'm no newbie to
Firefox. I used it quite extensively for a long time and thought
it was a great program. Hands down better than Internet Explorer. The reason I switched
back to IE was based mainly on my distaste for redundancy. Two
programs on my computer to do the same thing drove me nuts. You
see, I don't have a problem with IE. For browsing the Internet it
works perfectly fine. I realize some who read this may be upset
by that statement but it's a fact. Yes, IE has security flaws,
but in the hands of a power-user, like me, rarely does it open the door
to serious security risks. Keep it up to date and you'll be fine.

My switch back to Firefox came when I starting using Portable
Firefox. Due to a recent ban on software installation at work I
had to find an alternative to checking my Gmail account (as I could not
use Google's Gmail Notifier). So, I discovered this unique
version of Firefox that could be run from my USB drive and have never
looked back. Simply put: Firefox makes me more effecient.
With the hundreds of extensions and bookmarklets available (for either
version of Firefox) you can customize this browser as much as you
want. Pop-up ads are blocked, passwords need never be typed out,
heck, I can even set it up to automatically log into sites if I want
to. All this and I get the ever-popular ability to browse the
Internet using tabs.

Getting back to redundancy, the extra bonus of using Portable Firefox
is not having to maintaining multiple sets of bookmarks. Now I
add bookmarks to one browser and take it with my from system to
system. Further, there are no traces left behind on the
computer I am using because Potable Firefox takes it with you or
eliminates it altogether (e.g. cache, cookies). So, if you
haven't made the switch I recommend that you do so. Firefox or
Portable Firefox will make you a better information worker and you'll
enjoy your job or hobby that much more.

Get Portable Firefox or Firefox.

Similarly,
David Gelernter decided it was too much of a burden to clean his system.
Allegedly, his sons did not like the idea of having to spend the hours to
correct the problem (both of whom were probably responsible for the problems in
the first place) so he bought a new computer. Did I mention this guy teaches
computer science at Yale?

A Ph.D.? Yale? How are these newbs qualified to teach anything about computers?

Is spyware a problem? Yes. Does it make your PC garbage-worthy? Hardly.

Sure it may take some time to clean spyware off a
system but many of us don't have the disposable income to simply buy a new
computer every time it gets cluttered with unwanted software and/or viruses.
Moreover, spyware is completely preventable through diligence. Even Internet
Explorer can be protected if you know what you're doing. You don't need a Ph.D.
to combat spyware, but even if you did apparently that doesn't help much
anyway.

Adding to
this tragedy was the comment made by Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet
and American Life Project. He stated that throwing away a computer "is a
rational response". Excuse me? Rational? Their research indicated that the
typical spyware fix cost, on average, was $129. Further, a new computer could be
purchased for around $500. Hmm, that's a $371 difference...again, I ask, who
has that kind of disposable cash on hand?

Organizations such as these should not be backing
such ridiculous claims. Instead they should be educating end-users on how to
avoid spyware. Simply put, watch what websites you go to (which begs the
question what sites were Tucker and Gelernter's sons visiting) and what you
click "yes" to. Or, research what software you want to use prior to
installing it on your computer. There is more than enough information on the
Internet to tell you if your program contains spyware (and chances are if it does, there is a spyware-free alternative).

I'll admit that sometimes spyware and viruses get
out of control on a system. Even in this state, however, it hardly makes the
hardware worth throwing out. Just back up your data and reinstall Windows. Sure
it takes a little time but you won't have to incur the expense of a new
computer. After all, not all of us have a Ph.D. or teach at Yale. It may be
hard for Lew and David to believe but some people have to make do with what
they have. Both men should get back in the trenches and learn what computers
are all about.

As for Lee at the Pew Project that studies the
Internet's impact on society. Provide real solutions to these problems instead
of turning this into an environmental hazard. Computer waste is already
out-of-control, we certainly don't need everyone tossing their PCs every six
months because of spyware.

Oh, incidentally, spyware removal
at our store, $49.99, Windows reinstall with backup $89.99 (Canadian no less).

Read
the full article.

Interested in conveying your opinions personally? Here are some emails:

Lee Rainie - lrainie@pewinternet.org
David Gelernter - gelernter-david@yale.edu

Type "ie 7" into Google and I'm sure you'll find loads of reviews on
this new beta from Microsoft. I'll let smarter people then I
comment on the nitty-gritty. Let me just say this, Microsoft is
kidding itself if it believes this version will stop the exodus from IE
to Firefox. I checked out IE 7 and it looks pretty much the same
as IE 6. Sure, it has new features under the hood (such as
anti-Phishing technology) and a few in the GUI (to everyone's
excitement, tabbed-browsing) but this does not even scratch the surface
of what Firefox can do. Even the features Microsoft has added are
being done better by Firefox. Sadly, Microsoft thinks they are
marketing these changes to the masses when in fact they should be
targetting power users. I'm willing to bet that by the time Vista
hits the shelves few general users will even know what tabbed-browsing
is and less will be using it. In short, IE 7 doesn't have that
much to offer over IE 6 for the casual newb and any IT professional is
going to use Firefox anyway.