Iron Wil

Yesterday, in my office we were talking about a friends new PC, she switched to Vista because her laptops monitor died. In the course of the conversation, I mentioned what I felt was the biggest mistake that people make when they buy a new computer. Yes, you know what I am talking about because of the title; but you may be scratching your head as to why?

When anyone goes to Dell, HP, Gateway, or whomever; they are always presented with a default memory option. This is always way to low for what many users really need. You are now wondering why, right?

Microsoft recommends 128mb of RAM for Windows XP. I emphasize the minimum because this is what you need to turn the computer on and have it load XP. This does not mean that you can run programs with any kind of speed or efficiency. I recommend that you use 1 gigabyte of RAM if you are going to be using eMail and the Internet. If you are going to install games, Adobe products, do some audio recording - you will need more. And I mean 2 gigabytes of RAM [total].

I have an older machine that has a 2 gigahertz (GHz) AMD processor with 2 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. I run 2 Anti-Virus programs, 2 chat clients, Weather Watcher, and a few more programs in the system tray. I am now running iTunes, Firefox, Thunderbird, Writer, & 3 Miranda windows, and I have no visible slow down to my system. I can play Call of Duty 2 while I run Thunderbird, my chat clients & music player. I even have memory left for BitTorrent.

Okay why? Because I can, that is why. The cost for his hardware was not much, but I have to confess I didn’t buy top of the line hardware either. My 256mb video card is the most expensive piece of hardware in my machine. I have been using the same beige case since 2003 and I still have a few other pieces of hardware that are leftovers.

I expect that with Vista, one will need to start with 2 gigs of RAM and make sure that they have expansion slots for 2 more. I know they say that you can run 1 gig of RAM, but they also tell us we won’t have the Aero Glass interface, which looked pretty cool in Vista RC1 [or Release Client 1]. In fact, if you have, or are willing to spend, the money when you buy your system, I would tell you to get the 4 gig of RAM right off.

WHAT!?! Spend an extra 200 to 400$ just for memory!!!
YES!
Why? longevity & the health of your system over all. You will have the extra memory on hand and be able to use instead of trying to find the right memory later.

The company I work for right now provided a minimum system bought 3 or 4 years ago & it has 512mb of RAM in it. I get online doing research, with Outlook [MS' eMail Client] open, and I get a large attachment and my systems hangs. Just for a few seconds to a minute or two and then I get to sit there and wait. That drives me crazy!!!

Don’t hate Windows because it is slow, upgrade your memory.

iron wil

I have added:

1. 7-Zip
2. Eraser
3. Filezilla
4. Free Download Manager
5. GIMP
6. Inkscape
7. Miranda
8. N|vu
9. Oubliette
10. Skype
11. SyncBack
12. TextPad
13. TrueCrypt
14. Weather Watcher

I hope you find them as useful as I do!

iron wil

FYI.

I have added a Software Pics page with many of my favorite Open Source and Free applications.

I have included 2 Anti-Virus programs, a Spyware Blocker, a Spyware Remover, an eMail client, and a web browser. I have already thought of some additions to that page that I will need to make including Firefox add-ons and my favorite chat client.

iron wil

In my career, I have come across bias from all sorts of different people, each with different feelings for what they are ranting or raving about. MacHeads talking about how things “just work”, MicroSerfs proclaiming the wonder & glory of a single platform, and *nix (this is for all the different distro’s of UNIX or Linux) users that claim they will one day rule the world. Notepad vs. Dreamweaver, GIMP vs. Photoshop, WordPerfect vs. Word, and so forth . . . Basically, I have heard a lot [but not likely all of them].

And so, I came across a blog post by a teacher that praised the price point and functionality of the Office Suite named OpenOffice. Some are now wondering why I am writing this, I am getting to my point. Mr. Grondin focuses on 2 points in his comments; (1) the cost of OOo is free and MS Office costs his school 50 to 100$ per computer, (2) that OpenOffice is mature enough to replace MS Office in the school systems. I have to agree with his opinions in this matter, because I have been using OOo on my PC for about 4 years. Yep for 4 years! The price of a new copy of Microsoft Office was just too much for me as a poor college student, yes even the Education Edition.

I had to work and get student loans to make my way through college. I used the campus computers for the first year, but after that I got my own computer so that I could get more work done. I had access to questionable versions of Office XP, however after I came across OOo, I downloaded & installed it. I came across 2 real problems after this switch; (1) when moving something to/from Word, I would have to do some reformatting [since Word ≠ WYSIWYG]; and (2) Calc [OOo for Excel] was not ready for Statistics.

These are things I adapted to & was able to plan for them. I will have to admit that my confidence in using it is very high, even back then. In college, I prepared a presentation [Impress in OOo] and saved it as a PPT & walked into class & ran it straight off. I only checked it to make sure that PowerPoint would read the file; but I didn’t need to change it. My professor was impressed by my seemingly bravado. He didn’t recognize the background that I used and asked where I got it & that is when he learned that I created it in OOo and saved it for PPT.

I have to admit getting used to the OOo toolbar took a little time. I like the layout & have become much more proficient at using the OOo products over the MS Office products. I feel that one of the biggest contributing factors is that it is a WYSIWYG application with built in PDF creation! I felt that it was easier to find functions and do tasks and I am much better at it today than I was with Office.

I have used it to save a company money and put off the cost of Adobe’s CS2 suite. I have used it in my home for years and will stick with it for my PCs and work computers as long as it is around. It is multiplatform, very functional, and it has a clean design. I think that any user can make the transition back & forth between the 2 products.

Overall, OOo is a robust and reliable office suite for the everyday and office user. It not only saves users money, but is a good replacement for Microsoft Office, especially because you can save your work in the MS format that is its equal. The only way to really test it - is to switch & stick with it for a few months.

iron wil

A co-worker had this new theme on his desktop, so I had him send it to me. You can find it here! This is a sample of the start menu.

iron wil

With the buzz about the iPhone and my own situation with the “yellow wireless company”, I find myself again aggravated by the cell phone market; and the limitations that are imposed on us [as users/consumers]. I got married two and a half years ago, my bride and I had different cell phone providers, and it was a huge pain! I had to give up my phone for something I didn’t like or want so that we could save $$ on our phone service.

I had a Nokia, a small & simple phone; however, I was only calling & texting. So, off we marched to the store for something else . . . like frustration . . . all the “new” phones @ the yellow carrier had all these extra features. I was happy with my phone, why couldn’t they just give me a new SIM card so that I could keep my great phone & switch [which WE (as in the royal “We”) decided to do because not only did the new Mrs. have yellow, but so did almost my whole family]. I think we spent a total of 6 hours between the website and the store. I finally accepted a small “free” Nokia that was similar to what I was using <read VERY unhappy and not what I wanted>.

This change would make things easier for us, and I was on-board with that. Over time, my disappointment in the “new” phone grew, it had the company’s custom software and it limited the features. I started to do some research and reading and found out that in Europe [where they don’t always do things better] you buy a phone and you can switch from mobile carrier to carrier based on need or promotions or “whatever”. It got me thinking . . . hmmm . . . why aren’t phones more like PCs?

I mean really, most of us have the choice between ISPs. I spent time thinking about the early days of the Internet with AOHelL, CompuServe, and a host of dial-ups that provided custom software to “help” you surf the net. I felt that they did more to hinder what a person could do then allow them to experience or explore the net. In time these were replaced by phone & cable companies that provided ‘direct’ access to the Internet but didn’t try to spoon-feed it to you.

Today, after more growing pains, you buy a computer from whoever suits your fancy and you connect it to your ISP, voilá the net is open to everyone. Linux, Mac, and Windows systems it doesn’t matter!!! Buy a cell phone & you are forced obligated to a one or two year contract for a discount [sometimes] on your phone. I really hate this model! There are some carriers that are working to change the way we communicate, like Helio, Virgin Mobile, and Amp’d.

We don’t really have a service provider that will stick their proverbial neck out there for the consumer. I would love to be able to take My Phone [I mean, I did pay full price for my last one - 600$ worth!] to the better provider. I have left & paid the cancellation charges in the past. Yes, I had to re-input my phonebook; but it was worth it to switch. I was much happier with the other provider . . . and would still be there if not for the whole marriage and family issue.

Now, Alltel and Cingular are making headway in their own ways, Alltel, pushing the feature envelope & Cingular has almost every phone out there. But we are still left in the clutches of their service contracts, the fees, and hassle of changing phones.

I hope that we can help them “see” that if they provide the best service; including affordable and own-able media, connection to their network, and great phones; people would migrate and stay. Especially with good customer service, that can be a nail in the coffin for some.

iron wil

I have been listening to Security Now with Leo Laporte & Steve Gibson for a few months. In a netcast sometime back, Steve mentioned his “Perfect Password” page at GRC.com. So, I decided to check it out and am very impressed by his “pseudo-random” password generator. This page creates a unique 64 character key [ie. DA4AD54A99813CF3 - 5F7AC16C1BC91CAD - 7F8356D92095D07B - 2EA6539A439F3906*], and one 63 ASCII key, and one 63 alpha-numeric key.

You can use this for websites, wireless access points, and any other place you need a strong random password. On his password page he also provides additional information about the key creation process. If you need cryptographically-strong passwords, this is the place to get them!

iron wil

(*Note: I broke this key up to ensure that it would fit this page)