• 1 megabyte (MB) = 1024 bytes

• 1024 megabytes (MB) = 1 gigabyte (GB)

• A blank cd-r can hold 80 minutes of music or 700mb of data.

• A blank single layer dvd can hold about 4489 megabytes, which is 4.4 GB.  It can also hold the same amount of data it would take 6 cd-r discs to store. If you have 6 movies that are 700MB each, a single layer dvd will hold 6 movies. I prefer DVD-R blanks.

• A blank dual layer dvd can hold double the above.

• All music whether it is mp3, flac, mp4 gets converted to Microsoft’s .wav format so it can be heard on your speakers.

• An mp3 basically takes a .wav file and strips it of all the frequencies human’s cannot hear.  This reduces the size of the track significantly.  A 4 minute songs is about 40MB.  Using an mp3 encoder (LAME is the best) and using a 128 kbps bit rate, that 40MB wav is reduced to a 4mb mp3 at cd quality sound.  Now you see why the music business sucks ass now right?

• Video codec’s reduce the size of a movie or tv show from the DVD .vob standard.  There a so many video codec’s out there that it really depends on which one you use as far as the rate of compression that you'll get.  In reality a 4 gigabyte dvd movie (2 hours) in .vob format can be reduced to a 700mb .avi file which will look pretty good on a tv set.  Google dvd shrink or #1 dvd converter to read up on this.

• Ever play a DVD on your computer with a 22" lcd monitor?  Wonder why the picture is so small.  In simple terms this is because dvd's, as clear as they are on a regular tube tv, are really a third of the size of most 20" monitors.  

• A dual core processor computer basically has 2 processors (cpu’s) instead of one,  which will either work in tandem or work separately to do your tasks.  Think everything gets done in half the time.

• Who makes the best routers for home and apartments.  I’ve used them all.  Lynksys gives me the least troubles. 

• When upgrading a computer, keep in mind that while the motherboard and cpu may be crusty and old, Your other components might just be fine and can be moved to a newer system, espeically the hard drive (s) and cd or dvd drives.

• For desktop computers one of the easiest ways to improve performance if your RAM is already maxed out, is to use a dedicated video card.  If you don't play games, a simple 128mb or 256mb video card will do the trick.  Good enough to work on everyday tasks and get a little WOW in.  Of course if your computer is running on less than 1gb of memory, then you should add more ram.  2gb is good enough.  3gb is even better.  Most windows xp and vista 32bit computers will only use 3.25 gigabytes of ram, anything more will just sit there.

• Want to find a picture or mp3 on your hard drive?  In the folder you want to search, hit CTRL - F and choose all files and folders.  If you want to search for all jpg pictures in the folder, enter *.jpg in the "all or part of the file name" box.  Windows will search for all files with the extension jpg.  Now you can see if your significant other has any naughty stuff sitting on the PC :-). 

• Vista or XP?  It’s like this.  I’m a nerd.  Big time.  So I’ll try to give you the scoop in non-nerd talk.  Here it is, unless you have MAC money, you’ll have to settle for the Windows experience.  Microsoft seems to get a kick out of making all consumers who purchase new Windows operating systems what they call ‘Beta testers’.  This means that you use software that is half done and needs work to get right.  You end up being the beta tester by calling or emailing Microsoft support complaining about something that isn’t working right with your OS.  They write it down and add it to the list of the hundreds of other bug fixes that need to be done.  Rather than get it right BEFORE releasing, they choose to put it out ‘as is’.  They have done it with every version of an operating system they have ever made.  This being said, when it comes down to it, Vista with service pack 1 (sp1) is pretty rock solid.  This doesn’t really mean much though because other than the brighter look and better indexing feature (with better indexing than xp, you can search for anything with vista in seconds), Vista offers nothing special; especially for the money Microsoft wants for it.  Seriously, if you have XP or an XP machine with a dual core processor, don’t waste your money on Vista. The way I see it it was released to push new hardware.  There is no logical reason that a 4 year old  XP machine should not be able to run Vista, but that’s how they do things at Microsoft.   Vista has got so much bad press that Microsoft already has another operating system in the wings slated for a 09 release called…..taa daaaa Windows 7.  Vista has been out like what…2 years or so?  They say Windows 7 will be the OS they should have released in the first place, and that being said, it isn’t all that exciting from what I’ve seen from the Beta’s.  It’s the same windows.  They need to make their OS exciting again and make it an easy buy.  1 version for everyone.   I’ve used Mac’s Leopard and Unbuntu’s Beryl and I can tell you, folks are going to get tired of the same ole Windows environment. These alternative operating systems are pleasant to look look at, easy to use and run fast on hardware that uses 3 times less the requirements to run the full version of Vista.

• Mac, PC or linux box?  It really depends on how you like to spend your money.  If you have money drippin’ out your but cheeks, then MAC is the way to go.  It’s true that you can get the same type of PC in terms of speed and power in the PC field for half of what you pay for a glorified MAC, but when you use a MAC day to day you’ll see where all that money went.  That’s if you have it to spend.  MAC’s, configured to mirror similar built PC rig, can take your lunch money.  MAC binds their OS with their hardware, and their hardware isn’t exactly top of the line anymore.  The Leopard OS is so good that it can make bargain basement components shine.  I’ve used Leopard.  It’s almost sexual the way it runs.  Like a hot chick who is really there just for you.  That’s the MAC OS.  If you have the cash, spend it. 

-Does this mean you should rule out the PC or a linux box.  By all means NO, but understand this.  ALL problems rooted with PC’s with Windows 2000, XP or Vista can probably be traced to something that was caused by internet access.  I have 3 main computers, low grade laptop (single core Celeron, 1.5gb ram) running Vista Home, a productivity PC running xp pro (2.40ghz dual core athlon, 4gb ram), and my music computer which runs xp pro (3.04ghz Pentium 4, 2GB ram).  My music computer does not touch the web.  In fact the network card is disabled and there is no phone card.  NO web.  I can tell you that I have absolutely no trouble with my music computer.  Ever.  There is no virus program on it, everything gets scanned before it gets put on it.  It’s just the OS and my music software.  No firewalls, no spyware programs.  None of that crap.  It runs great.  At one point I had it running for 3 months straight, no reboots needed.  XP pro without the internet is basically a MAC.  One of the most stable operating systems I’ve ever used for productivity (next up is AMIGADOS J).  You connect XP to the web and that’s when the darkness comes.  All kinds of evil crap comes out the woodworks.  You have to install virus scanners, spyware programs, malware detectors, firewalls, all kinds of stuff just to keep your pc safe.  MAC’s and Linux boxes don’t seem to have the bull’s-eye target on it that hackers love like Windows does, but give it a couple years and I think they will start to work on Leopard and Linux, especially since they are becoming more popular.   If you do productivity I would suggest getting 2 computers, one  that accesses the web and the other that you just do work on.  Dual core machines (refurbished or lightly used)  can be had for $200 online.  That’s the selling point of the PC.  More for your money.  That PC you buy that doesn’t touch the web will bring you joy joy feelings.  That PC that is connected to web will catch internet HIV from time to time.  Its just a fact of nerd life.  So basically what I’m saying is that you can get 2 pc’s for the price of what you’ll pay for a glorified MAC.  A dual core processor with a clock speed at 2.20ghz or higher running xp pro will be fast enough for anything you want to do. 

-Where does Linux stand in all this.  It’s like this, if you do not need to run Microsoft  or Adobe software, and you don’t have $1500 - $4000 for less for the money MAC, then Linux might be for you.  I’ve used linux in the form of the Ubuntu  version of the OS.  You can install it from a CD image which you can download, or order a installation CD.  After you install it you basically have everything at your disposal that you’d need to be productive.  Photoshop like graphic program (GIMP), Office suite (Open Office), a Standalone word processor (Abiword), as well as all the other tools you have in Windows and Leapord.  Mp3 player, Instant message program, FTP, Firefox, Web design tools, and much more.  Best of all this operating software is going to cost you nothing, and it can run on yesterdays technology and move faster than Windows or Osx.  You can run Ubuntu on a $150 desktop that can scored of craigslist and as long as you don’t have the need to run brand name software or play games, you’ll be all right.  Yep, Linux ain’t for playing video games, and the list of brand name software makers who make software for linux is never going to be like Windows and Mac OS.  But that’s what is missing from todays computer environment.  The lack of variety stunts true growth and innovation.  Linux is growth and innovation, just like Apple Leopard.  Only difference is that this is all free for the end user.  You can add different things to Ubuntu to make it similar to the windows or mac experience.  Beryl will give Ubuntu the 3d look of Mac Leopard or Windows Areo, and I must say that it looks more exciting than the big two’s offering.  Of course there is a learning curve with Ubuntu, as well as all of the different factions of Linux OS’s (there are many different types of Linux OS’s), but the basic Windows / Mac structure is there.  File Edit ect.  You can also dual boot Ubuntu from a windows machine, or you can run it from a CD to test it out.  I’d give it a try if you fit the category I mentioned above.  Not everyone needs a $250 operating system and $150 - $600 photo editing software.  I mean have you seen the size of Adobe Acrobat?  What’s that all about.  How can the software makers of pdfprimo and Foxit Reader do what acrobat does and be 90% smaller than the adobe installer?  This is where the beauty of alternatives comes in.  Linux software is small, tightly written, and stable like good government job.  Check it out.

-If you must try to install anything inside your computer, please please please unplug the power first and then press the power on button to cycle any remaining charge. By doing this you avoid the risk of shorting out any of your sensitive components like memory or your CPU. I get a lot of customers with fried motherboards from attempting to be a geek without the proper dweeb skills. Try to get a tech to install your internal pc goodies. So much that can go wrong. Just a little advice.

-Windows 7. It's nice they are getting around to releasing what is really VIsta Service Pack 3, but to make people pay a premium for it is just wrong. I recently moved from Vista back to XP on my notebook and I must say, you don't really get just how messed up Vista was until you feel it. With XP back on my little $399 Compaq it now runs 3 times faster and it doesn't have that rubbery feeling that Vista did. Everything is where it should be. I hope Windows 7 really is the proper XP pro replacement. I love visiting Mac stores, but that's just about as far as I Can go with that. They are nice, but not that ni$e. Windows 7 will have a lot to prove, especially with the price tag it carries and those ridiculous "home version', "school version", "business version", Medium Apartment size version" series they are doing all over again. When I get some hands on time with WIndows 7, which should be soon, I'll write about it.

-It’s funny.  I find I’m having to remove Norton and McAfee from customers computers in order to get wireless networking and speed back to the pc’s.  Whatever happened to Norton?  I remember those box covers from the eearly 2000’s with the picture of the serious looking dude in the white shirt looking like he was born to do nothing but kill evil computer virus’s.  Norton was a great virus program back then.  Now they (along with McCafee) have become bloated.  Norton still has a great detection rate, but it’s like running a second Operating system on your machine.  It’s so bloated that you have to run a special uninstall application they created in order to fully delete it from your machine.  That sux.  Virus suites should barely be noticed.  You want good virus protection without giving up half your computer resources?  Try some of the free alternatives like avast, Avira, Kaspersky.  I personally run Avast.  It’s a great free antivirus program but you do have to have good "”surfing sense”.  Don’t click when they tell you you’ve won a free Xbox 360, stuff like that will give your computer HIV. 

-Do you have dvd’s you would like to make backup copies of?  You might want to try the knock out combo of dvdshrink and DVD Decrypter. Works great on most discs. 

-Need to backup cd or dvd data discs.  You’ll need to make an ISO, which is a duplication of the file structure of a disc.  An exact copy.  You’ll want something like PowerISO. 

-Want to save that clip you saw on youtube or google videos?  Get your hands on this nice free app called Orbit Downloader. It works.

-Want to convert that dvd .vob file (or any other one) to a smaller .avi?  Grab HandBrake.  It’s free, and it works.

-A lot of customers I come across are kind of  lost as to what they can do with a home network.  With a home wireless / wired network you can do the following:

• the most obvious thing is being able to get online with any wireless capable device like a laptop, ipod touch or portable video game system.
• You can network share a printer.  This is a better way to share a printer.  WHen you share a printer that is connected to a computer, if that computer is turned off, you can’t print.  With a network printer which is connected to your router (or switch…i’ll explain), you can print to it no matter which computers are turned on or off.  With a Switch, which allows you to add more connections to your network, you can even have more than 1 printer connected to share.  You can also share Network hard drives in the same manner, so anyone wishing to backup files can write to the network hard drive.  This way if something goes wrong with the hard drive on your computer or laptop, you have backup copies of the files on your network drive.  Very nyce!
• You can also share share folders on your network from any computer connected to your router whether it be wired or wireless.  This is a nice way to share files, but an even better way is with a network hard drive (like i mentioned above) which can be accessed no matter who’s computer in on of off.  Throw a bunch of movies, music and ebooks on it and anyone on the network can access the goods. 
• With a wired network you can share large files between computers with a lot of speed.  This is nice for families that have kids (and adults) who like to collaborate on things.  Want your brother to add some funny text to a picture you took?  No need to put in the usb flash drive, copy it, go all the way to the basement and give it to him to copy.  Just open up his public folder on your network and copy and paste it there.  Now instantly he has it.  This is also good for small business owners and folks who do a lot of computer related productivity work.  Like art students sharing a apartment.
• You can attach video game units on to your network.  Wired or wireless.  Also you can host LAN parties where everyone brings their laptop and plays PC  games together.  The notebooks plug into your router.  If there isn’t enough inputs on the router then you get a switch.  Nice thing about switches is that you simply plug them in and they figure out things by themselves.  You plug in yout router output into the switch, then connect the other devices (notebooks, printers, ect) and the switch automatically figures out where everything is suppose to be routed.  I have a switch on my router.  My router only has 4 inputs, which are being taken up by my desktop pc, ps2 and network printer.  The one input that's free is connect to the 8 port switch, and my network hard drive, xbox 360 and photo printer is connected to that.  Keep in mind when you buy a switch you will lose 1 input to your router output jack. 
• If you have a strong enough router, some people share an internet connection between 2 homes or apartments.  Hey why not?  It’s not like that money tree you planted is generating free cash.  Just be sure you know the limitations of the internet service provider you have.  I know Comcast is notorious for having hidden usage caps (usually 250gb per month), so watch the downloads when you do this.  You can try one of the free usage monitors here.
• You can also share programs with a home network.  One computer with a copy of Adobe Acrobat can be used across several machines.  When you print, you can chose the printer you want to use.  Select the adobe acrobat printer and print the file to your machine.  If you want to make pdfs for free (without the bloat), you can try PrimoPDF.  An alternative for viewing pdfs (no bloat) is the Foxit Reader.

-Do you favor yourself a dweeb like I do?  Then download the iso (or order the cd) of Ubuntu.  It’s a free operating system based on the Linux Kernel.  You can run it off a CD without it touching your windows install.  It will find drivers for your components.  It comes with a office suite, photoshop alternative, firefox, media player, and more.  It has cool effects which you can add like the one you’ll see here.  Again, it’s free.  You can run Microsoft and Adobe software  (actually all software made for windows) using Wine.  It runs on old PC’s, very fast. 

-Need to burn CD’s and DVD’s?  Don’t have the $$ for Nero?  Here’s the ticket.

-Do you have little ones.  Are they on the web a lot.  DO they look at thug rap videos on youtube?  They might be.  That is not good.  For safe web surfing for you children, download k9 web protection here.  It’s free and blocks a lot of stuff.  It’s also password protected so the little one’s can’t change or override the settings.

-Need to unzip some .rar or .zip files. Try IZarc. It's $0.00. You can make zips too.

-Hands on Windows 7 verdict?  You finally have a complete retail version of Vista. In fact this is what should have been released in the first place. If your an XP user, the reality is there isn't too much windows 7 does that you can't do in XP. You still have to buy software to do anything really useful on it, just like XP. In most cases XP Pro runs faster and snappier. 7 does have a nice new taskbar but I found I ended up with a lot of clutter at the bottom of my screen in heavy use. All in all it is a great OS, but in my eyes its more of a big service pack to Vista. It's the same look and feel, and it still a huge install in terms of disk space. Considering XP installed from a CD and took less than 1gb of room installed, I just expected the 8gb 7 install to really wow me. Updating the caculator and wordpad (still no spell checker?) aren't enough to get my techlove excited. XP owners who have to have the newest and shiniest, have at it. Vista users using basic and home, upgrade tomorrow. Vita users using premium.....well I think you should try it out somewhere before trying. You can turn UAC off in vista with just a couple clicks. I really didn't see too much a difference with Vista Premium or Ultimate vs 7. My advice....Try before you buy.

-I've been getting a few computers with dead hard drives. Every now and then when you use your computer, put a ear close up on it. A dying hard drive will emit a high pitch squeal. Its not going to be super loud, but you should be able to hear it. A heathly hard drive runs quiet. If its just squealing then you have some time to back your data off of it to an external usb drive. If you hear a kocking sound, that's usually a drive that has had it. IT will ocst a lot of money to get the data recovered when its dead like this since the insides have to be removed to get to the files. Always have a backup plan. External hard drives are cheap now.

- The final verdict on Windows 7. The 64bit version is most impressive. A Worthy upgrade from VIsta and XP pro. In fact I dare say it's the closest you'll get to a Mac without spending Mac money. Remember, opt for the 64 bit version if your computer can run it. In regards to the 32bit version, my XP pro celeron 1.6ghz notebook runs faster than a dual core 32bit version of 7. Thats not suppose to happen with a next generation OS. The 64bit version gives you a speed increase, and if you run a custom clean install of windows 7 (without all the dell, gateway, sony, junkware) you can acheive warp speed. As with all windows base machines, the internet can still kill you with virus's, malware, ect. Be sure to be running a good virus program at all times.

- From a design standpoint, you have to love Apple's website.

- Be careful with Facebook. It is truly amazing, but at the same time its one of the easiest places to get virus's and malware. Scan anything you download from it, and be sure to never give anything permission to install on your computer.

- One neat trick you can try if your in PC hell is this. If your computer is non responsive, and it’s 1am in the morning and you have something you need to complete within the Office/Photoshop/Internet /ect realm of work, try this. Get yourself a copy of a Ubuntu or Knoppix Live CD. You can download the ISO (or purchase a cd for $2) which can be burned to a CD-r. If you computer is set to boot to cd-rom first, then you can run this live cd and use Ubuntu (or Knoppix) like it was a normal operating system. As long as your hard drive is not dead you will have access to it via Ubuntu. Ubuntu comes with all the software you need to finish your work, no instillation needed, the apps are all on the CD. Open Office is like Microsoft Office, no joke (and free, check it out here). GIMP is like photoshop (also free, check it out here). It has Firefox, calculator and all kinds of apps built in to the OS. IF you backed up your data to a thumb drive or external drive you can also run your files from the device. You can get your work done and then take your PC to a repair dude (like myself) to get it properly fixed. Ubuntu is light years ahead of the pay OS systems. Really. Stuff you could do with Ubuntu eight years ago you still don’t have in Windows 7 (like multiple virtual desktops, nifty 3d rotational desktop select, blaze and bling effects on windows, stability, ect), you have to install 3rd party apps to get that functionality which can lead to instability. To get an idea of what it looks like see this video. Yes you can run a stable efficient operating system from a CD, so to all windows users (especially you Vista users….Vista phooey!), look into the Linux options. Check out distrowatch.com for the latest builds and info.

- Be careful with these online connect repair sites. I've been getting a lot of computers that have had the double my speed type services installed on them. Turns out they slows your computer down because the fix is either temporary, or because of the limitation of a remote access connection unsolvable, and their fee is non-refundable. You always want to be able to have access to the tech who repaired your computer, and you should get a decent explanation as to what is wrong with your machine. As a tech I can tell you it takes hours to properly repair a computer, 1 good registry scan alone can take over an hour. Quick fixes will make things worse, as I had have seen on these computers. Be careful.

- Never clean a LCD or PLasma monitor or TV with Windex or any other glass cleaner. That would be a bad move. Always use a cleaning spray specifically designed for LCD's n Plasma screens. Like the one's you'll find here.

- Wondering if you'll be drenched with rain? Live in the Chicagoland area and suburbs? Bookmark this!

 

some nice tech sites: cnet digital photography review Ars Technica gametrailers aintitcool news dvdfile apple	...	some favorite spots in the south suburbs area: POPS Italian Beef and Sausage Captian Hooks Fish Gamestop Video Games Need photography work done? Check out Michael Gallagher's site mgpixonline and give him a call. He's done all the photo shots of me on my site.
MOVIES: Avatar Ninja Assassin The Book of Eli Thirst Kick Ass TV Justified Breaking Bad Doctor Who Supernatural House Californication Any Outer Space documentary		MUSIC: The Beatles (remastered series) Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street (remastered) Lady GAGA - The Fame / Fame Monster Kate Nash - My Best Friend Is You Stone Temple Pilots - 2010 release REM - Mumor (remaster) Gangstarr - Moment of Truth (RIP Guru) BOOKS: Barry Eisler - Fault Line Mary ROach - Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers John Douglas - Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit Douglas E. Winter - Run Stephen King - On Writing

 

WAY TO GO HAWKS!