Posts Tagged: ‘Computers’

World Backup Day (2023-03)

February 26, 2023 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

It is almost March 31.  World Backup day is a commemorative date celebrated annually by the backup industry and tech industry all over the world.  The World Backup Day highlights the importance of protecting data and keeping systems and computers secure.  It all started with a post on Reddit when a user wrote about losing their hard drive and wishing someone had reminded them about how important it is to backup data.

Even though you might not think so, backups are important.  Its not a question of “if” but “when” your hard drive will fail.  Phones get lost.  Ransomware gets on computers.  Files get accidentally deleted.  I knew one person who gave his phone to another family member who promptly deleted all of their photos.  If not for the fact that he was unknowingly backing them up to Google Drive, I would not have been able to help him.  Accidents happen.

I’m often asked by club members on what is the best way to back their data.  The answer is that there isn’t a best way.  What works for me won’t work for everyone.  The first thing you need to do is determine what to backup.  Some people backup everything on their computer.  Others are like me and only identify items that are important to them.  This may include items like photographs, medical files, personal data, newsletter files and a few other things.

I do believe in using the 3-2-1 backup strategy rule. This simply states that you need three copies of any important data.  At least two of the copies should be on different storage media, such as a hard drive, removable drive, cloud storage drive, etc.  Finally, one of the copies should be kept off site in case of a disaster.

There are many ways to back up your data.  The simple and easy method is to copy and paste.  All Operating Systems have this method built-in.  There are many file syncing programs that you can use to automatically duplicate your files.  Most cloud storage services can be set to automatically backup.  Of course, there are hundreds of backup programs you can install to copy files or image your hard drives.  Pick one that is easy for you to use.  By doing so, you will be more likely to routinely backup.

One final thing to remember, a backup that you can’t restore is no worse than not having a backup.  You should test your backup data to make sure it is usable.  Unfortunately, this can be dangerous to do.  If you are restoring an image backup to test it and something goes wrong, you can destroy the files you backed up.  Avoid this by stopping at the very last step before the restore would begin.  This will verify that your recovery disk works and the backup program can access what’s necessary to perform the restore.

If you decide not to do any backups, maybe the NSA will be able to give you a copy from their files.
Thanks for reading.

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ChatGPT (2023-02)

February 12, 2023 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

If you have followed any tech news at all, I’m sure that you’ve heard about ChatGPT.  This is one of the latest attempts by OpenAI, a company that describes itself as research and deployment.  Their mission is to ensure that AI (artificial intelligence) benefits all of humanity.

I’ve been wondering if ChatGPT would be useful for a computer club.  The software is easy to use if you want to give it a try, go to the log in page. Although it says to create an account, it isn’t necessary.  Clicking “Log in with your OpenAI account to continue” will open another page.  You can then log in with a Google or Microsoft account.  Using ChatGPT is free, although I would guess that in the future it will probably have a cost.

ChatGPT is a powerful language model that can be used in a variety of applications, including for a computer club.  Here are a few reasons why ChatGPT could be a valuable asset for a computer club:
1.  Generating code snippets: ChatGPT can be used to generate code snippets for a variety of programming languages, making it a useful tool for teaching coding to members of a computer club.
2.  Answering technical questions: ChatGPT can be trained on a specific domain, such as computer science or programming, making it an effective tool for answering technical questions that members of a computer club may have.
3.  Enhancing communication: ChatGPT can be used to generate clear, concise explanations of technical concepts, making it a valuable tool for improving communication within the computer club.
4.  Creating tutorials: ChatGPT can be used to generate step-by-step tutorials for various programming languages and technologies, making it a useful resource for members of a computer club who are looking to learn new skills.
5.  Personalized assistance: With chatGPT, computer club members can receive personalized assistance with their projects and questions, which can help them to learn more effectively and efficiently.

Overall, ChatGPT’s natural language processing capabilities and ability to be trained on specific domains make it a valuable tool for a computer club.  It can assist in teaching coding, answering technical questions, enhancing communication, creating tutorials and providing personalized assistance to members of a computer club.

Did I mention that except for the first two paragraphs, this article was written by ChatGPT?
Thanks for reading.

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Computing Memories (2021-02)

July 20, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Last week at one of my Zoom meetings, someone asked me if I had ever used IrfanView, an image viewer and editor.  I replied that it was one of my goto programs about ten years ago.  This chance remark got me to thinking about some of my computing experiences over the years.  Technology has sure changed a lot.  One of my first computer memories was when I was still in high school and UNIVAC was in the news.  No one really had any idea what the thing was good for.  The census used one to somehow make counting the population easier.  It was a different world back then and nobody really much cared about a machine that was bigger than the family car and needed a special air-conditioned room.

One thing that really interested me was the Texas Instruments pocket calculator.  My daddy was a feed salesman and the company that he worked for provided him with one of these expensive machines.  I remember him getting it out to show us how he could add 2 and 2 without making a mistake.

When I joined the Navy, I had my first experiences with using a computer.  I got to run the keypunch machine.  If I made a mistake, a ship could easily get 10,000 pounds of butter instead of 1,000.  Back then, the Navy paid us in cash.  In later years, our paychecks were actually an IBM computer punch card.  Now, most employers don’t even issue checks.  It’s all done electronically.

In the late 1970’s computers started to catch on.  IBM was the company that created the home market.  Their 8086/8088 weighed about 30 pounds and had a whole megabyte of random access memory.  It blazed along at a speedy 4.77 MHz.  Other companies that built computers soon started advertising themselves as IBM compatible.  If you worked for IBM, you were required to wear a tie.

This is also the era when many of us hobbyists started building our first computers.  Zenith Heath Kits were all the rage.  They didn’t work any better, but we were smarter because we built our own.

The operating system of choice in those days was PC-DOS.  There were many other ones, but the home market was mainly CP/M or one of the DOS systems from Apple, Atari or Commodore.  In the early 1980’s, a fellow you may have heard of bought an operating system called 86-DOS which was also known as Q-DOS (for Quick and Dirty DOS).  Bill Gates later renamed it to MS-DOS for the company that he founded.  I’m pretty sure that Microsoft is still in business today.

Home computing started to really take off in the 80’s when Radio Shack introduced the Trash 80 (oops. I meant TRS 80).  Apples home computer was the Lisa.  Texas Instruments had something called the TI-99.  I remember the first computer I bought.  It was a Commodore VIC20.  I loved that computer with its 5 KB of RAM and the data cassette storage, even though it often took 3-4 minutes to load a program.  Incidentally, the VIC20 was the first home computer that sold a million units.  In later years the Commodore 64 was even better.

The first really innovative computer program to be sold was the spreadsheet VisiCalc.  Like so many other successful things, clones like Lotus 1-2-3, SuperCalc and Microsoft Excel were soon on the market.  Did you know that Microsoft’s Excel was first introduced for the Apple Macintosh?  It was only later that it was ported to Windows.  Wordstar was the first commercially profitable word processor.

The real software revolution was the games.  I don’t think you could walk 50 feet without seeing somebody playing Space Invaders, PAC Man or one of the many variations of Pong.  I’ll confess that my favorite games were made by Infocom.  They specialized in “interactive fiction” games.  I still remember their advertising slogan, “We put our graphics where the sun don’t shine.”  Graphics adapters later put this type of adventure game out of business.  Their first game was Zork which debuted in 1980.

In the old days, the only decision to be made when you bought a monitor was whether to have green or amber output.  The only sound you could hear was the tinny beep for the operating speaker.  The only mouse in the computer room lived in the wall.  Printers were all dot matrix and printed about 30 characters a minute.

Of course, one of the biggest changes in computing has been the internet and use of e‑mail.  I’ve heard that e‑mail was invented by a Nigerian that had a lot of extra money to spend.  The browser choices were Mosaic or Netscape.  We’ve come a long way from logging in to the Bulletin Board.

I’m going to shut up for this month.  Please remember that I’ve just written about some of my computing memories, so the facts may not be 100 percent correct.  I’m just amazed at how far technology has advanced.

Thanks for reading and keep on clicking.

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How Things Have Changed

October 11, 2020 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I was looking back at the first two Whatchamacallit articles that I wrote back in February and April of 2009.  The subjects were: 1) Setting Up My New Computer; and 2) My Bi‑Weekly Maintenance Routine.

I haven’t purchased any new machines lately; however, I still do my upkeep routines.  I was mildly surprised to find out how much has changed in slightly over ten years.  At least it gave me an idea for an article this month. Most of the changes are in the software.

1) Pc Decrapifier was a program that removed manufacture installed bloatware from new computers.  It has been discontinued.
2) Zone Alarm was my firewall of choice.  I no longer use it.  The built in Windows firewall has been improved and is adequate for my needs.
3) Revo Uninstaller is a great program.  I am still using it and have often thought of purchasing a license.  I never have because the free version suits my needs.
4) Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) was another great program that was discontinued after being purchased by another company.  It scanned you computer and recommended updates that needed to be installed.  I haven’t found an adequate replacement.
5) Avast Anti‑Virus was my program of choice for many years.  I didn’t like many of the business strategies they started using and no longer recommend the company.
6) Wise Registry Cleaner is still around.  I haven’t used any programs of this type for several years.
7) Malwarebytes is still around and doing an excellent job of scanning all of my machines.  Thankfully, my computing practices don’t give it much chance to remove anything.
8) CCleaner is a program that is still in production.  For years it was my goto software for removing unwanted junk from my all my machines.  The company was purchased by Avast.  It wasn’t long before things changed.  I no longer recommend this software.

About the only thing that hasn’t changed is the first program I install.  KeePass Password Manager is the one program I absolutely need on every one of my devices.

Thanks for reading.

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Mostly Free Software – Originally Published November 2018

November 4, 2018 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve been loading my new Alienware Aurora R7 desktop computer with software.  So far, I’ve spent zero dollars and I expect to spend the same amount in the foreseeable future.

People who know me can tell you that I don’t normally spend my dollars for stuff I can get for free.  I guess it’s my Dutch heritage.  Part of the purchase price of a computer is used to pay for the operating system.  I’m fairly certain that if that wasn’t so, I would be an avid Linux user today.  After all, that penguin is kind of cute.

One thing that I normally do with a new computer, I haven’t done with this machine.  I haven’t installed very many third party security programs.  I’ve been using Windows firewall and anti-virus.  As of this writing, I am not planning to install some old favorites like CCleaner.  I haven’t decided whether their recent problems make the program as useful as it was in the past.

Other programs that I’ve installed are Libre Office, which is my default word processing software.  I also use Scribus for creating the club newsletter.  I use Core FTP for transferring files to the various web sites that I maintain.  In addition to Notepad, I use BlueGriffon and Kompozer for HTML editing.  I still use FileMenu tools on all of my computers for the sheer utility that is provided.  I really tried to like the new Windows File Explorer, but I finally went back to using FreeCommander XE.  Of course, I’ve installed about six different web browsers, mostly for testing purposes.

The only paid for program that I’ve installed is Inpaint by Teorex.  This is a graphics utility program that does only one thing, but it does it very well.  Inpaint erases unwanted elements from photographs.  It is fast and easy to use.  I originally got the program years ago as a free Giveaway of the Day.  If I’ve spent actual cash money, you can assume that it must be a pretty good program.

Other graphics programs that I’ve installed are Paint.net and FastStone Image Viewer.  These programs have been discussed and demonstrated at length several times at club meetings.  Suffice it to say that they are excellent programs.

I may also install another program that I paid for.  It was originally a shareware that I purchased for ten dollars if I remember correctly.  VuePrint is an image viewer that can also do minor editing.  I originally purchased it because I liked how fast you could view and print images.  About eight years ago, the author quit updating the software and released it as freeware.  If you want to try it, you can download it here: VuePrint-Free Image Viewer.  Note: I haven’t tested the software on Windows 10.

I’m getting to be a little older and kind of turning into a curmudgeon.  I don’t often look for new software, but when I do, the first place I look is Gizmo’s Freeware.  On this site you can search by software categories, do a search for a topic or you can read various lists such as all of the free software from Microsoft.  Another great feature of this web site is the Resources section where you will find several lists of tips, guides, tutorials etc.

If you are looking for a good, free program you can probably find it at Major Geeks.  The site has been online for many years and has a vast repository.  There is also an active forum where you can seek help.

You can find, create and publish open source software for free at SourceForge.  Sometimes I go to this site just to check the statistics on the home page.  As I write this article, SourceForge has 430,000 projects listed.  There have been 19,192,106 downloads this week.  I find those numbers to be astounding.  That is a lot of programs.  (I wonder if they make a hard drive big enough to hold them all?)  I’ve found that the real computer geeks hang out on this site.

A few other good places to find freeware are Donation Coder, the Freeware Geeks and NirSoft.  Nirsoft is unique because it has more than a hundred programs, all written by one person.  Many of them are small utilities that are really useful.

Free software is really nice but you should remember that free lunches are pretty good too.  Neither is really free.  They just require a different kind of payment.  Some programs are scaled down versions that entice you to buy the full program.  Some require you to give them personal information.  Many of these programs are written with the hope that users will like them so much they will make a payment to the author.  I’ve done just that for some of the indispensable software I use.

If you start downloading and installing free software, be extra careful.  I recommend doing a internet search with the software name and the word “problems” or “reviews”.  If there are a lot of hits, be suspicious.  There is a lot of free stuff that comes with a free Virus or Trojan included.  Download only from a trusted site.  Before you install, scan with your anti-virus program.

One last link that you can check to find some good free software links is our Club Website.  Log in and check the posts.  You can also search the older club newsletters.  A lot of freeware has been reviewed in the past.

If you’ve got a favorite program (free or paid), why not take a few minutes and let the rest of the club members know about it?  Write a short review and post it on the club’s website or send it to the Newsletter Editor.  Remember our club motto?  It is “Users Helping Users”.

Thanks for reading.

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Alienware Aurora R7 – Originally Published October 2018

October 7, 2018 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve got a jealous grandson.  He is envious of me.  I think I have figured out why.  I recently replaced my HP Pavilion a6342p Desktop PC, circa around 2006 or so.  At the time this machine had some pretty impressive specifications.  Over the years, I made a few upgrades, but it was still becoming a frustrating machine to use.  Sometimes it would take minutes to load a program.  One day it will be re‑purposed, probably as a Linux media server.

I bought an Alienware Aurora R7 desktop with some pretty impressive specifications.
• Processor: Core i7 8700K (3.70GHz) Six-Core
• Memory 16GB, Speed DDR4-2666
• HD Interface SATA 6Gb/s, Capacity 2TB
• Video GPU Type NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, Memory 11GB GDDR5X
• Gigabit LAN
• LAN Data Rate Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
• WLAN Killer 1535 802.11ac 2x
• Bluetooth 4.2
• Wireless Technology 802.11ac
• 6 USB 2.0 (Type-A) Ports
• 3 USB 3.1 (Gen 1 Type-A) Ports
• 1 USB 3.1 (Gen 2 Type-A) Port
• 1 USB 3.1 (Gen 2 Type-C) Port
• and much more

I’ll admit it.  This machine is overkill for my typical use.  When I was running tests, I finally got it to slow down a little.  I had opened Scribus (publishing software), LibreOffice Writer (twenty documents), VLC Media Player (playing a movie), NPVR (tuned to a TV station with the sound muted) and FastStone Image Viewer (playing a slideshow with continuous loop).  I didn’t stop any of my normal system programs that were running.  Then I opened my Firefox Browser and started opening tabs from my bookmarks.  After about 120 tabs, I started to notice the other programs slowing down.  I didn’t check system resources because I knew that in real life I would never have this scenario.

Like almost everything electronic, there are a few downsides to this machine.  Although there are a lot of USB ports, there isn’t a dedicated SD card reader.  I was thinking of removing the 15-in-1 (4 slot) reader from my old desktop and installing on the new machine.  I have found that I don’t really need it.  Other than in my pocket computer, I just don’t use SD cards much anymore.  My only other quibble is that the machine comes with Windows 10, but that is a whole other subject.

The first thing my Grandson said when he found out I bought an Alienware, was “can I get one for Christmas?”  I told him he would have to talk to his Mother and Father about that.  I think he’ll start saving his money.  I did set up a guest account, so now I’ve got Steam, Epic Games and a few other things installed that I’ve never had before.  I’ll probably set up a Steam account myself as there are a few games that do look interesting.  I sure hope everyone that reads this article is as jealous as the Grandson was.

Thanks for reading.

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Over-Technologied Redux – Originally Published June 2018

June 10, 2018 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Way back in November of 2010, I invented a new term.  I can’t believe that it hasn’t caught on.  Over‑technologied is a term that I made up to describe a situation where technology is used either unnecessarily, stupidly, inadequately or in some other silly manner.  I think that people who have the latest, greatest, newest technology and then don’t know how to use it are extremely over‑technologied.  I made up the word, so I guess I can make up the definition.

At the recent Google I/O Show, they announced their updated Google Assistant (with six new voices).  By now everyone has probably heard the call to the hairdresser and the restaurant making an appointment.  Although I don’t know how much was real and how much was made to sound nice for playback, I think this is another case of being over‑technologied.  Making an appointment is one thing.  Can you imagine what it will be like during election season when the politicians call to beg for money?  How about the many other spam call companies?  Personally, I plan to handle those problems by just not answering any calls from unknown telephone numbers.

How many people do you know with so many flash drives, storage cards, disk drives, etc. that cannot find a file because they can’t remember where they stored it?  Do you think they might be over‑technologied?  I’ve got a hint for them.  Cloud storage is cheap.

Every year manufacturers release their new cell phone with higher prices.  They justify having to gouge us by increasing the over‑technology that is installed.  Do we really need two cameras?  Is massive storage required when almost all data is stored in the cloud?  How many people really need sensors to check blood pressure, atmospheric pressure, light intensity, relative humidity, etc.?  How many people do you know that actually use a fingerprint sensor to unlock their phone?  My phone has the ability to fast charge with a special power adapter.  I’ve used it exactly two times.  The first was when I bought the phone and checked to see if it worked.  One other time, I forgot to charge the phone and used quick charge for about ten minutes.  Like almost everyone else, my phone is over‑technologied.

Our homes are definitely becoming over‑technologied.  Do we need refrigerators that keep track of how much milk is left in the jug?  How about those toilets that can warm the seat, automatically lower the lid, etc.?  I haven’t done a search, but I would be willing to bet that you can find one that automatically washes and blow dries when you finish your business.  My DVR is so over‑technologied that when the time changes, it doesn’t.

I’m probably going to get a lot of disagreement when I say that almost every Operating System has become over‑technologied.  Windows has been in such a hurry to add features that almost every time there is an update, there will be complaints about systems becoming inoperable.  If you survey a hundred different Android users, you will be lucky to find ten of them with the same OS.  Linux is about the same except that you would have a hard time finding a hundred users.  Even Apple suffers the same problems as the others.  The technology has advanced so much that they are not able to keep up with the security.  Additionally, you would be hard pressed to find anyone that uses all of the newest features in any OS.

Much of the over‑technology I wrote about eight years ago is still valid today.  Maybe I’ll have to address the subject again in 2026.

Thanks for reading.

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April Fools Pranks – Originally Published April 2017

April 7, 2017 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

April is here again.  I won’t make the same mistake I did last year when I wrote an April Fools column about leaving Lake Charles.  I sure got a lot of questions about why I was moving.  I’ve always been an April Fooler type of person.  It all started several years ago when I was almost born on April 1.

In this modern age, April 1 pranks almost beg to be played on someones computer.  Almost every one uses a laser mouse these days.  They can be easily disabled with a small piece of tape or a post it note on the sensor.  Many people won’t notice and will have a hard time figuring out why all of a sudden their mouse isn’t working.  You can confuse them even more by opening mouse properties in the control panel.  Change the mouse speed to the slowest setting will make any mouse activities an ordeal.

Another prank that has been around forever can still confuse even a veteran computer user.  Simply take a screen shot of your victim’s computer.  Then hide all of the desktop icons and replace their wallpaper with the screen shot.  Sit back and watch them click on icons that won’t load a program.

Another quick prank is to open Google’s home page in a browser.  Click on preferences and change the default language.  You’d be surprised at how many people this trick will fool.

All of the following pranks in this article have been tested on Windows computers.  I haven’t done any research to see if they will work on Apple’s Operating System(s).  It shouldn’t be to hard to find out if you’re interested.

Many users don’t know about sticky keys.  Sticky keys will change how the Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Windows Key will function.   When enabled, keys are serialized instead of operating together.  For instance, instead of typing “Shift – a” to capitalize, you would have to type “Shift”, release the key and then type “a”.  This key change will drive an unsuspecting victim crazy.  Sticky keys are enabled easily by pressing the “Shift” key five times in quick succession.

An evil prank that you should only play on someone that won’t beat you up is to cause their computer to shut down.  Right click on one of the icons on your victims desk top.  Type the following in the target box: %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 100 -c “Your Message Here”.  “Your Message Here” can be replaced with whatever message you like.  I use something like “That does not compute so I am shutting down” or “I’m sleepy.  I think I’ll shut down and rest now.”

Whenever your victim double clicks on that shortcut, their program will not start.  Instead, your message will display for 100 seconds (unless you change the number in the target box.)  Then the computer will shut down.

These computer pranks are all designed for the Windows operating system.  Although they are non-destructive, you run the risk of aggravating the user and making him or her possibly want to harm you.  Use them at your own risk.

Here is one last little April Fools that is easy to implement.  Surprisingly, even though it has been around for a long time, a lot of people don’t know about it.  You can try it out right now.

Press Ctrl-Alt-Down Arrow on your keyboard.

It would be nice if you fix their computer for them afterword, but who am I to tell you what to do?

Thanks for reading.

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RCA Voyager Review – Originally Published February 2017

February 5, 2017 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

I was finally forced to retire the first Android table that I ever purchased.  My Archos 70IT was a faithful machine that I used every day.  For the last year or so, I used it solely for downloading and viewing podcasts and videos.  Although I don’t remember what I paid for the machine, I know I’ve gotten my moneys worth over the years.

I’ve been on the lookout for a replacement, but in no hurry to buy.  My tablet needs are pretty simple.  I watch tech videos and read lots of books and magazines with several different apps.  I don’t play a lot of games, but it would definitely have to be able to play my all time favorite: The Room Series.  On a tablet, I don’t need to use many of the Google services, such as maps, calendar, etc.  One of my main requirements has always been a 7 to 8 inch size because it will easily fit in a cargo pocket.

When I found the RCA Voyager 7 inch tablet, RCT6873W42, I was skeptical of the $35 dollar price tag because of the following specifications:

  • Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) Operating System
  • 1.2 GHz Intel SoFia Quad Core Chip
  • 1024×600 7.1 inch Multi-touch Screen
  • 16 GB DDR3 Ram
  • 1M pixel webcam
  • 1- DC In, 1-Headphone Jack, 1-Microphone Jack, 1-Micro USB 2.0
  • Micro SD/SDHC card slot up to 128GB
  • Bluetooth and WIFI

At the low price point, none of the specifications are top of the line, but they are not at the bottom either.  The tablet is Google Certified and comes with all the Google services and apps pre-installed.

All of the controls and jacks are on the right side of the machine.  The power button is about an inch from the top of the machine and I have sometimes fumbled trying to power the machine.  This is more of a minor aggravation than an inconvenience.  There is one speaker on the back.  The sound is not great, but it is adequate.  I haven’t used the web camera, but I’m sure it would not be very good.  Battery life has been adequate, usually lasting from 4-6 hours, depending on whether I’m watching videos or reading.

On the bottom of the tablet are connecting pins for use with the optional keyboard case.  The case is a very hard plastic with a keyboard built in.  The keyboard keys are very small and almost unusable if you are a touch typist.  When attached to the keyboard, you will only be able to easily use the tablet in landscape mode.  You can purchase the keyboard for around eight dollars, but it is not necessary for optimal use of the tablet.

Is the tablet worth the price?  For me, the answer is a resounding yes.  I’ll admit that when I first bought it, I thought I was wasting my money.  It has been a perfect fit for my admittedly limited tablet needs.

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Should I Buy a Chromebook? – Originally Published August 2016

August 7, 2016 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

You may find it difficult to believe, but I’ve been giving serious thought to completely abandoning Microsoft.  Over the last year, the Windows 10 upgrade fiasco has really disillusioned me.  I’ve got Windows 10 installed on two computers and except for a few minor complaints, I like it a lot.  I decided long ago that I was going to keep using Windows 7 on my main laptop and my desktop.  I’ve invested a lot of time installing and tweaking just the software I really use.  I don’t clutter my two “work” computers with unnecessary programs.  For a year, Microsoft update has made it pure “H‑E‑double hockey sticks” for me to keep these two computers free of Windows 10.

Although many people don’t realize it, Windows 7 mainstream support ended last year.  This simply means that there will be no product upgrades.  Extended support will continue until 2020.  This means that I will still get security updates.  Maybe now I can be a little less vigilant in watching the recommended updates list.  Now that the free upgrade has passed, maybe there will not be any more evil updates.

I use my two Windows 10 computers for playing games, web browsing, making article notes and testing new programs.  I recently retired my last XP computer.  Someday soon I plan to install Linux and turn it into a media server.

Now that you know the background I’ll tell you about the real purpose of this article.  I’ve been giving serious thought to saving my money and purchasing a Chromebook.  There are many advantageous reasons for doing so.  Because there are very few programs installed on the machine, you can get some pretty good hardware for a reasonable price.  Although Wi-Fi is a necessity, it will be available in nearly all the places I would be using it.  Maybe before too long Chromebooks will routinely come with mobile SIM card slots.  It would be awesome to use Google Project Fi on them.

One of the great lures of a Chromebook is a recent change that allows you to use native Android apps.  This leads me to believe that it won’t be too long before all Android apps will run.  I am sure that in the future, Android and Chrome will be combined into a single OS.  That could create some awesome possibilities.

Right now, I would have two major problems with using a Chromebook.  I use LibreOffice and Scribus nearly every day.  Neither of these have yet been ported to use with the Chrome OS cloud system.  Because the Chrome OS isn’t very popular, I don’t expect this to happen in the near future.  There are some hacks and other work arounds, but I’m getting old and don’t want to spend a lot of time messing with them.

As far as I know, no one in the club has a Chromebook.  If everyone would like to donate $30 or $40 dollars, I would be happy to buy one and make a presentation at a future meeting.  Since that likely won’t happen, I guess I’ll just have to be patient.

Thanks for reading.

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