Virus

Hi Mom,
I just received your email about viruses and I wanted to tell you about a new one that just popped up. This new virus looks just like your McAfee or Norton anti-virus software that is installed on your computer. The catch to this virus is it will tell you that you have a virus and you must run this anti-virus to get rid of it, but here is the key. It wants to charge you and get your credit card information. That is how you will know you it is a virus. McAfee and Norton will not ask for that. This is an old scam used in a new way. If you download this it will attack you hard drive and put your computer out of service and if you do happen to give your credit card info, it could compromise you financially.You can get it fixed by a professional or you will have to run your own legit anti-virus software to remove it. Again, A red flag to watch for is if an anti-virus program pops up and asks you for your FINANCIAL INFO you know that something is wrong. Never give this info if you are not sure who it is going to. What you want to do to prevent this type of infection is to make sure that your anti-virus software is correctly installed and is current and up to date. I hope this answers your questions and helps you out in knowing what to watch for out there on the internet.


Your beloved son,
Kevin

Politicians technology

I picked President Obama as my research project and found his approach to technology to be fascinating. President Obama and his new media team came up with Obama`s vision of open- source democracy. After he was sworn in, his new media team took control of the website Whitehouse.gov. They came up with three top priorities for the new administration. They are as follows:

Communication: In using google-you tube and others the President keeps the people up to date on the important issues. This allows us to visit the briefing room his blog and we can sign up for email updates so we can know about announcements and other news that might come out of the White house.

Transparency: The President is allowing us to see what is going on within his administration. His executive orders and proclamations.

Participation: The internet is playing a huge role in letting us participate in Obama`s non-emergency legislation. For five days we will be able to review and comment on whatever bill is being put forth before the President signs it.

My take on this is, I think it`s awesome to be able to be apart of something that we as the general public probably never thought we could have. In my opinion I think it`s the Presidents age and the sign of the times that make this at all possible. In the most recent past, even though we had this technology, the good ol boys didn`t want to give in to technology and would have never thought about letting us public be apart of the government as we are now. Kudos to President Obama.

My source was techcrunch.com

Google

After listening to this news about Google trying to create it`s own OS I have this thought. While I`m sure that google will make some kind of money from this I think most likely it will not be a profit. They already are making a huge profit from their interface that runs on windows now. Why do they want to ruin that. I don`t believe that any OS will overtake windows in the near future or ever for that matter. From what I have heard and have been reading there are alot of other people way smarter than me that have that same opinion. A great man once said " If it ain`t broke don`t fix it ". I agree.

Linux

What is Linux ? Linux is a operating system cloned after the OS Unix. This OS was invented by Linus Torvald and he had assistance from a bunch of hackers from around the world.

Who uses Linux ? Well from what I have read it seems that Linux with it`s open - source operating system is growing ever more popular in the Corporate world here in the US and around the world. Even the Military and Intelligence agencies in US, Canada, France, England, Spain and other countries are now running this OS along with China`s post office.

Would I use this OS ? I think once I get more computer savvy that I might use some of it`s software that is cheaper and from what I have read works just as good. For right now I think I`ll will stay with good O`L Windows.

Fighting Cybercrime

After listening to this interview with Joseph Minn and Barrett Lyon I was shocked. I cannot believe that these people from Russia, China and other parts of the world are software savvy enough to figure out how to get into our computers. I would think that our Government would have been on top of this along time ago. Thank goodness for Mr. Lyon. It also amazes me that the very people doing this are helping China steal our military secrets. This I think is scary.

Multimedia devices

After doing some research I found a new multimedia device being introduced by NEC in June. This device is an projector that is designed to be used in small spaces. This projector is the WT600. It uses no lenses like the projectors that are being used theses days , but uses aspherical mirrors that bounce the image back and forth until it is projected on the screen. This will project a large image up to 100 inches diagonally even as close as 8-10 inches away from the screen. This unit weighs around 10-12 lbs. and it has all the inputs and ports to connct to your laptop or PC. You can also use it wirelessly. I think this will be great for small venued presentations as well as large venues. The cost of this projector is expected to be around $7000.00 to start. You can find more info on this device at http://www.pcworld.com/article/110222/multimedia_devices

Hard drive

From the BIOS setup on my computer these are the settings related to my hard drive.
Drive configuration : Diskette Drive A: The size of my installed driver is 3.5 inches at 1.44 MB
Primary Master drive: is my Hard drive
Primary Slave drive is off
Secondary Master drive is my CD-ROM Device
My secondary Slave drive is off
IDE Drive UDMA is on
Hard disk drive sequence is as so: #1.System BIOS boot devices
#2 USB Devices (not installed)
Boot sequence : #1. Hard disk drive C:
#2. IDE CD-ROM Device

DMA - (direct memory access) This the fastest way of transferring data to the memory because it don`t have to go to the CPU 1st.

Low level formatting - Creates the physical format that defines where data is stored on the disk.

SATA - Serial ATA is a drive interface that is a flat and thin cable. One end connects to the driver and the other end to the motherboard connector.

ATA - Is an AT attachment. Parallel or Serial.

IDE (Intergarated drive electronics) is a 40 pin data cable that conncts to the motherboard. Used for CD or DVD Drives.

The History of Memory

In this weeks blog we were asked to research the history of Memory. Give some timelines and some interesting points that we learned from this research. Here is what I learned :


In 1932 in Austria, the magnetic drum was invented. It had 1o KB in capacity and was widely used in the 1950`s- 60`s.


In 1946 the Selectron tube was invented. It had a capacity of 256-4096 bits (32-512 bytes) but had to many problems and was very expensive to make therefore it never really succeeded in the industry.

The magnetic Core memory was introduced to us in 1949 by Jay Forrester. This dominated in the 1950`s and remained popular through the 1970`s. This was a small donut wired into the grid that passed 1/2 of the current through 2 wires that met back at the core.


The Hard disk drive was invented in 1956 by IBM. It had 50 24-inch disks that held 5 million characters, just short of 5 MB.

The 1st DRAM chip was developed by Intel in 1970. It was the best selling semi conductor in the world by 1972. It was 1st used by HP in their 9800 series.

In 1984 Apple came out with their 128 KB memory Macintosh computer. The 1 MB chip was developed at this time.

In 1995 Extended Data Out EDO DRAM is developed and IBM released the 64-bit AS/400.

Double data rate DDR SDRAM 266 MHz was introduced to us in 2000.


In 2004 the DDR SDRAM was increased to 533 MHz. Intel introduces its Pentium 4 processors.

This brings you up to todays advanced state of Memory that we are learning about.


I researched all this material on the following sites : Pingdom.com, About.com, wizcraftcomputerservices.com and Timeline Help.

Innovations for the disabled

There are several tools these days to help the disabled with operating a computer. I will tell you about a couple of these in this blog.
Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have developed an eye-tracking device. This was developed to help astronauts dock the spaceships in orbit. Now this device is a tool to allow people who cannot type with their hands use their eyes to do so. This system uses an infrared beam to illuminate the user`s face and a small video camera to record the position of the eyes. It calibrates itself while the user stares at a series of markers that appear at specific locations on the computer screen. Then the markers are replaced by an onscreen keyboard. By moving his eyes, the user can direct a small red dot around the keyboard and "type" specific letters by holding his gaze for a half a second. The cost of this device is around $2500.00

For people who cannot use a mouse there is TetraMouse. The TetraMouse is a low cost full featured, dual joystick or mouse designed to operate with the lips for those with little head movement or with the tongue (special cup shaped knobs available) for those with no head movement. There are two joysticks on this device, one positions the mouse pointer and the other performs left, right, left click and hold, right click and hold and middle scroll button functions. There is no additional software required. The computer sees it as a standard mouse. The cost of this device is $250.00.

Terms in laymen

I found this to be very difficult due to the fact that I am not very computer savvy yet. I gave it my best shot though.

Here are my explanations of these terms in as much laymen form as I could:

Processor frequency - The speed of your computer. How fast it can register what your instructions are.

Word size - this is bit size like 32 bits or 64 bits. This is like a bunch of little on off switches that represent every key stroke. then it sends them to your processor to calculate.

Overclocking - this means that your motherboard or processor is running at a higher speed than is suggested by the manufacturer. This can cause your computer to overheat and be permanently damaged. It is not recommended.

Data path - this determines the mathematical operations possible on the processor.

SRAM - Static RAM - is memory in a cache. this holds memory as long as your computer is powered on. This eliminates the processor from having to use the RAM memory on the motherboard. It is faster, however it is more expensive.

Primary, external and memory cache - The processor on a motherboard is the primary component of your system.

The processor has three basic components (buses). They are called the input/output unit (I/O), a control unit and one or more arithmetic logic units(ALUs). The I/O unit is called the external bus. This is where data, instructions, addresses and control signals are sent into and out of the processor.This is also called the front side bus (FSB) because it connects to the front of the processor and faces the outside world.

The amount of memory included with the processor is called a memory cache. Today all processors come with some memory on the processor chip.

Powerstax plc

From my investigation Powerstax plc is a manufacturer based out of Hampshire, England. If you have a part # you can order it on their website. You have to contact the sales rep there to get a price quote on your particular part. They have several different power supplies ie. internal, external, AC/DC power, DC/DC converters, Medical power, configurable smps and AC Frequency converters. It appears that they have 7 different series of power supplies. All their power supplies are rated by wattage.

How helpful would this website be if I need information about my power supply? I will tell you that this is one of the most frustrating sites I have ever been on and would not recommend anybody use these products because of it. You cannot find a price for anything and you have to contact their sales people to order anything. Not very helpful.
That is just my opinion though, maybe someone else will have better luck than me.

Signing off,

Kevin

Overclocking a system

Q:You want to verify that the user has not overclocked the system. How do you do that?
A: You will check the BIOS to see if the frequency has been changed.
Q: You decide to check for overheating by examining the temperature of the system immediately after the system is powered up and then again immediately after the system hangs. Describe the steps you take to do this.
A: Power up system and let it run for 10 minutes. then check the BIOS and reboot. Go into the BIOS setup and find the CPU screen that reports the temperature. This should not exceed 38 degrees C. Then repeat the steps after the system hangs.
Q: After doing the first two steps, you decide overheating is the cause of the problem. What are four things you can do to fix the problem?
A: #1-Restore the processor and system bus frequencies back to their default values.
#2-Install a new fan.
#3-Use compressed air, a blower or a antistatic vacuum to remove dust from power supply, vents and processor heat sink.
#4-Replace missing face plates over missing bays or expansion slots.




Dear user,

After careful evaluation and testing of your system I have concluded the following: Your system was overheating due to overclocking. Overclocking is when your system (Motherboard, Processor) is set to run at a higher speed than the manufacturer suggests. Therefore, it is not recommended to do this. Doing this will cause your system to not be stable overheat thus damaging your processor and sometimes voiding your warranty. I have set your frequencies back to their default settings and your system is no longer overheating and hanging up. Please feel free to call me with any additional questions or problems.


Thank you,

Kevin Holden

My complaints about overseas PC tech support

The problem with having overseas tech support is #1 - language barrier. It`s hard to communicate what I am trying to say, it is hard to understand them and often times it is hard to hear them. #2 - In this economy I think we as Americans need to hire within our country. Not only will this help the unemployed, but also help with the communication gap. I think even if we had a strong economy we should still not outsource these kinds of jobs. #3 - These are multi-billion $$$ companies, is it not to much to ask that they make a few million $$ less a year so we can keep the jobs in the USA? Therefore, you will not save money, but you will get better customer service. #4 - If I owned that company I would feel the same way. I want to earn at least $200,000 a year so I could pay more taxes, and I am serious.

Real problems, Real solutions

Q: What is the system bus called? What is the system bus frequency?
A: The Motherboard - 1600 Mhz
Q: What is the frequency for the processor?
A: 2.66 Ghz
Q: What is the brand of the processor?
A: Intel Core i7
Q: How much RAM is installed?
A: 6 GB
Q: What type of expansion slot is used for the video card?
A: PCI-Express
Q: What type of interface does the hard drive use?
A: SATA2 3G
Q: How much data can the hard drive store?
A: 32 MB
Q: What is the brand of the motherboard?
A: ASUS P6T Deluxe
Q: What type of optical drive is installed?
A: Blue Ray Burner
Q: List the terms in this ad that you do not understand.
A: I understand all the terms. Hopefully!

"Seven things you don`t know about me"

The first of "Seven things you don`t know about me" is, my first name is Jimmy but I go by Kevin due to my Dads name is Jimmy.
#2. My wife thinks I am computer literate because I can download pictures, cut and paste and reboot when something goes wrong.
#3. I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.
#4. I found my wife of 21 years in Kansas City, Mo.
#5. I was drafted out of High school to play professional baseball.
#6. I was a 7 Eleven franchisee for 7 years in Vegas before selling it to move up to Reno.
#7. I am 44 yrs. old and this will be my second college course I have ever taken.