Posts Tagged: CDs

Keep track of your original computer documentation and make restore CDs

Lately too many customers have had to wait for repairs on their computers because I needed to order recovery CD sets from the manufacturer. This time and expense can be avoided if you do two simple things when you buy your new computer:

1. Save all disks and/or documentation that comes in the box
2. Since most manufacturers no longer send along recovery CDs and operating system CDs, it is up to you make them. Look for a System Tools or System Recover CD wizard in your Programs menu to help you with this task. After making them, put them with the computer’s documentation and keep track of where they are.

Hopefully you will never need these items, but you will be happy you have them when you do need them.

photo credit: jm3

Tips & Tricks — 6 Comments
24
Jun 08

Great digital photography debate topics

Technology is no different than politics in that there are a variety of topics that people have opinions on. While you may not know much about these topics now, what you know about them can have a great impact on knowing who to listen to when it comes to learning more about digital photography and related topics.

PC vs. Mac:

The Mac people will tell you that Macs are better for graphics, easier to use more stable.

PC people will argue that Macs are over priced, you can do anything with a Mac that you can do with a PC and Macs won’t run the programs that most people use.

What’s the truth? As with most debates, where you stand depends on your perspective as all things are relative.

Macs are easier in the sense that it typically takes fewer steps to get from point A to point B, they don’t get viruses and spyware as much and applications are very well developed before they are released; this leads to fewer crashes. Of course there are rare exceptions in all cases.

PCs are easier if you depend on the advice and help from those around you to get you through. Chances are your tech friends and relatives don’t speak Mac. Macs will not run any PC software out of the box. You must either buy Mac versions of programs like Microsoft Office or find alternatives that run on Mac.

If you primarily use your computer for basic tasks like email, digital photography, word processing and Internet, Macs are likely a great way to go. If you are using the computer for office work such as Excel, databases, or custom software associated with your business, you may find that Macs just won’t cut it.

Canon vs. Nikon:

There are dozens of camera manufacturers, but Canon and Nikon are the two major parties that tend to have the greatest loyal followings.

Canon was always the underdog in the film photography world, it wasn’t until they made the move to convert everything to digital that they became serious competition.

Canon film cameras were typically the lower priced alternative for photo enthusiasts. Nikon had the F series of cameras that were used by professional photographers all over the world. Then the world went digital and Canon decided set the standard for photo innovation.

When it comes to serious cameras, both companies produce wonderful cameras worthy of their following. There are a few reasons that each manufacturer stands out.

What’s the truth?

Nikons in general have a more sturdy feel with a shutter that makes a beautiful clapping sound – it may not seem to matter what the shutter sounds like, but it gives the camera a more traditional aesthetic.

Canon’s typically set the standard. They are usually the first to set new standards in shutter speed, megapixel and zoom speed in their higher end models. They are also usually the first to break price barriers on the low and high end. Most 35mm professional photographers such as photo journalists, sports and portrait photographers now use Canons, the industry that once belonged almost exclusively to Nikon in the US.

CCD vs. CMOS:

Just a quick geeky topic here. CCD and CMOS are the current sensor technologies that digital cameras use as “film.” These sensors are exposed to light like film and then the image is saved to the memory.

CCD is the more traditional technology as it is cheaper to produce and is usually smaller in size.

CMOS contains more technology on the chip and consumes less power. It also costs slightly more to produce but this is quickly changing and many manufacturers are now switching to CMOS for their DSLRs and higher end cameras.

When it comes to image quality, there is no definable difference. Hand a photo to a photographer or camera expert and he will not be able to tell you what kind of sensor was used to take the photo based on quality alone.

Picasa vs. Photoshop Album (combined with Photoshop Elements)

Each of these products does the same thing but they are different in important ways.

We have exhausted the topic of Picasa – it is easy to use, it allows you to backup your photos, create photo CDs, order prints, and organize your photos into albums.

Photoshop Album is a piece of Photoshop Elements. Like Picasa it allows you to organize your photos, create projects and find lost pictures.

What’s the truth?

Picasa is fast and very intuitive. However, if you do a lot of photo manipulation it is nice to have Album incorporated with Elements.

Flash drives vs. CD/DVDs vs. external hard drives:

You know you should backup your photos, but how should you do it?

Flash drives last a long time but they are very expensive when compared to optical media and hard drives. They are also easy to erase and lose. On the other hand their portability gives them a nice advantage in some cases.

CD/DVDs are inexpensive and can be read in any computer. They are also durable and multiple copies are easy to do. On the other hand, they can be difficult to create and can only be written to one time.

Hard drives are cheap and can hold every photo you will ever take. However, they are not as portable and can have major malfunctions leading to the loss of all data.

Ultra zoom vs. DSLR:

Ultra zooms are digital cameras with large built-in zoom lenses. DSLRs are cameras that allow you to change the lenses.

Often people assume that DSLRs are the ultimate camera and all other cameras are for novices. Before buying that DSLR, there are some important pros and cons to consider.

DSLR’s take up much more space and weigh more. When you go for the shot, will you have the right lens attached?

Changing lenses must be done very carefully. dust on your sensor can lead to spotty pictures at best and a ruined camera at worst.

Ultra zooms are light and often feature more powerful and faster lenses than the kit lenses that come with DSLR models.

On the positive side, DSLRs provide the ability to add on to the camera and increase the camera’s uses. Adding a flash, extra lens, shutter release, etc. can be a big advantage if you are looking at taking the hobby seriously.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 3 Comments
14
Nov 07

CDBurnerXP free CD burning and DVD burning software

It’s already Wednesday and I just noticed that I haven’t posted anything all week. I better make this one count.

I have helped a number of people do basic reformats lately and often they have old copies of Roxio EZ CD Creator. Any version older than 6.0 can cause some serious problems with Windows XP and AVG antivirus.

If you would like to create music or data CDs or data DVDs, CDBurnerXP is a free program that will let you do almost everything that the expensive programs from Roxio and Nero will let you do. I have been using it quite a bit and I have been pretty impressed with it so far.

The one feature it doesn’t have is the ability to copy CDs of any kind.

Other free CD burning and DVD burning software packages that allow you to burn cd’s or dvd’s include:

ImgBurn
Express Burn
StarBurn (thanks to Max and Ichiro below)

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 1 Comment
31
Aug 07

Another sony proprietary technology bites the dust

For every Apple device that becomes a standard there is a Sony technology that becomes obsolete. Apple and Sony both got off to a great start in the early 80s. Apple introduced the Mac and Sony gave us the Walkman.

From that point on, Apple has had only a handful of market failures and Sony has had nothing but. Sony announced their latest casualty this week by discontinuing their proprietary ATRAC audio compression file format.

While the rest of the world committed to MP3 and WMA or Apple’s music format for iTunes, Sony made up their own format only supported by their devices. Sony saw Apple succeeding with their own format and device and figured they could do the same.

There were only a few problems with this line of thinking. Sony’s devices were clunky at best and the obscure conversion format meant that users had to use included software to convert their CDs into the ATRAC format.

Sony tried to make their devices and format more popular by releasing new players every few months for a while surprisingly that didn’t work.

The ATRAC format is only the latest proprietary Sony technology to fade into obsolescence.

It all began with BetaMax and it continues with Blu-Ray and the digital book. Sony has a long history of creating their own standards and unsuccessfully trying to get the rest of the world to adopt them.

I believe it’s all about the money. With each new Sony format comes licensing issues.

Companies must pay Sony to utilize their technology. Typically the Sony proprietary standard is not any better than the existing standard.

Let’s take a quick look back at the long line of Sony proprietary technology…

BetaMax	Sony’s standard in the video tape war. Most people agree that the standard was superior, but much more expensive. Whether the costs were due to high licensing fees by Sony or something else, VHS won the war.
MemoryStick	Sony’s special memory for their digital cameras. While the MemoryStick format has been around for a while, it has gone through many generations. Does your Sony digital camera take the MemoryStick, MemoryStick DUO or MemoryStick Pro DUO? Get it right or it might not work in your camera.
ATRAC devices	Sony refused to adopt the MP3 and/or WMA standard insisting that people wouldn’t mind ripping their CD collection into a format that was incompatible with all other digital audio devices.
Digital8	While the rest of the camcorder industry evolved from analog 8mm to digital MiniDV video tape, Sony gave us Digita8. If your grandkids ever want to watch those old Digital8 videos, they may have to pay a small fortune for an old Sony Handycam on eBay.
Digital Reader	For $299 you can own a device that is a little bigger than a book that will allow you to download and read books on a hard to see screen. Each book you download costs roughly the same as buying the book in the bookstore. In addition to books, you can also read magazines and other book-type files that can only be purchased through Sony’s online CONNECT store. By the way, the CONNECT service has been discontinued. Why hasn’t this caught on?
Blu-Ray	The HD video format that has so many advantages over HD-DVD. The only problem is that it is Sony’s standard and everyone how has spent years competing with Sony is getting behind HD-DVD which is backed by Toshiba and Microsoft.
Clie	The Clie was a beautiful device. It combined a Palm, digital camera and MP3 player better than any device prior to the Treo. It was so cool that Sony had to quit making it.
Connect	Sony’s online audio service – think iTunes without ease, compatability, and selection.
MiniDisc	A tiny audio disk that held as much as a CD but it was recordable and as easy to use as a cassette tape. No other company adopted it for wide release. Why? It was good, but it was cursed.
UMD	Ultra MiniDisc – the next generation of the MiniDisc. It plays both audio and video but it only works in a PlayStation Portable (PSP) video game system. It is also not recordable.
DAT	Digital Audio Tape recorders were huge for 15 minutes before DVD recorders became affordable. MiniDiscs had a greater advantage as they were not made of flemsy tape. Sony kind of killed themselves partially on this one.
AIBO	The robotic dog that sold for $2000 or more. You could program it, teach it tricks and it would do stuff that only robotic dogs could do. Buyers guilt killed off the AIBO.

Someone is sure to point out that I left out the PlayStation and the PSP. These are Sony’s only successful proprietary techologies. However, their popularity is fast declining as competitors become more innovative and less expensive.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
15
Aug 07

Stop buying floppy disks

flash drive

I have seen a number of people lately who have insisted on backing up on USB flash drives and floppy disks.

Having two backups is always a good idea, but the era of the floppy has come and gone.

What’s wrong with floppies?

1. They scratch

2. They bend

3. Even a small particle of dust can hurt them

4. Almost any magnet can corrupt them – such as setting them too close to a computer speaker

5. Any accidental spill of any liquid will ruin them

None of these things are generally true about USB flash drives or CD-ROMS.

I have one flash drive that I intentionally let go through the wash on a regular basis. I have had it for three years and I still use it often.

So, if you want to make multiple backups of something, use two USB flash drives or two CDs or one CD and one USB flash drive, but trash the floppies.

Any flash drive you buy now likely holds as much as between 200-2000 floppy disks. Flash drives are reusable and just as easy to use as a floppy disk. In fact, you use them exactly like you would a floppy disk. They just hold more, are more durable and can be written to more times.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 668 Comments
14
Aug 07

Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams

I really love English Bulldogs.

Recently I became aware of a common pet scam that is based on every other over seas Internet scam.

Someone from Cameroon posts a desired breed up for a ridiculously low price.

He/she asks for money plus shipping. You never get the dog.

Here is my recent correspondence with one such scammer.

I have resorted the posts from oldest to newest so you can enjoy the events as they occurred.

For reference, here are the photos the scammer sent with the email. Keep in mind that these are the actual size photos that were sent!

tinybulldog
tinybulldog2
tinybulldog3
tinybulldog4

Original post that my sister saw on Craigslist in Denver:

Hello

Thanks for the mail,i work for a Christ orphanage care center at Denver,but presently i am in New lakes Cameroon. i have come to discover that the weather/climate,is not good for my baby.she finds much difficulties in adapting,and due to the nature of my work,i find much difficulties in taking care of her,so i want to send her back to the States/Canada to any caring family/ pet lover or a Christian home.i hope

that you will take great care of her ok? i will not refuse anyone from

getting my baby, all i need for her is love and care and if you will

accept in sending me update pictures of her every month.She is just 13weeks old

so gentle to kids, a very good companion at home, she is good with other

house pets.she is vet checked,AKC registered and up to date on all her

sorts.She will run and play like a 3year old kids.She has very good

temperament with kids and other pets at home she will make a very fine

house pet.This little girl loves to run and play, Likes

to stop and smell flowers.. She comes along with a 1-year health

guarantee She comes along all her playing toys, including her menu

booklet,and video CDs, which shows what she likes and dislikes.her asking price is $350.i will like to know

how soon you will be ready for the puppy.her pictures are attached to this mail

thanks

Yes, it was centered like that and no changes were made to spelling or punctuation.

My reply:

Please send me your contact information. I am very very intersted in saving your baby!

Thank you,

I was 99 percent sure it was a scam, but I thought I would give them a chance.

Their reply:

Hello

that you will take great care of her ok? i will not refuse anyone from

getting my baby, all i need for her is love and care and if you will

accept in sending me update pictures of her every month.She is just 13weeks old

so gentle to kids, a very good companion at home, she is good with other

house pets.she is vet checked,AKC registered and up to date on all her

sorts.She will run and play like a 3year old kids.She has very good

temperament with kids and other pets at home she will make a very fine

house pet.This little girl loves to run and play, Likes

to stop and smell flowers.. She comes along with a 1-year health

guarantee She comes along all her playing toys, including her menu

booklet,and video CDs, which shows what she likes and dislikes.i will like to know

how soon you will be ready for the puppy.her pictures are attached to this mail

thanks

The formatting was a little better, but everything else was identical.

My reply:

Ya. I saw all that in my sister’s email. How many dogs do you have? There were pictures of four different dogs with different markings. Do you have any larger pictures? I assume you are on a short vacation and will be coming back to Denver soon as Christ orphanage is very understaffed judging by the ads I always see on KKDNVR about their need for volunteers. I was wondering if you would be willing to trade it for a Mac p-p-p-powerbook. (I did not include this link in the actual email.)

I will gladly have one of my friends in Cameroon pick up the dog.

Thank you,

Their reply:

i am sorry fo the ale reply,i went for evening prayers.that is all the pics i have for the puppy,and the pictures you see is the pics of 1puppy,and not different puppies.so how soon are you ready for the puppy?

My reply:

At this point I decide to really start seeing if this person will get irritated at my responces. Please note that I made up the names of breeds as well as the distinctive features of each breed.

ashley,

it is no problem. I am so glad you wrote back. Those pictures are still very small. I used my photoshop custom enlargement filter and the dog has a brown patch over the left eye in some photos but not in others. Does the patch move? Did the patch appear as he got older? You didn’t use an bleach or other chemicals to remove the spot did you? The smell of bleach bothers my cats.

The dog in the picture appears to be a southwithshire breed. Can you tell me if this is the case. If not, it may be a kanarvastshire and those are very valuable. Are you sure you only want $325? Even shouthwithshires are selling for over $3200 by private breeders. kanarvastshires are only licenced to be raised by two breeders. Does the puppy have a pink nose or black, this would really help me in knowing more about which breed it comes from. Either way I am interested, but if it’s nose in pink (inside) I will be especially excited.

Are the pictures actual size? Have you had the puppy vaccinated against elm beetle?

Any answers will be appreciated.

Adam

Their reply:

Hello

i am just so sorry for emailing you very late,i was at a seminar,and only came back yesterday.the batch appears as she grows older. my baby is a southwithshire breed,and i am sorry you misunderstood me the $325 was for the transportation.her re homing fee is $1950.my darling has a pick nose.she has been vaccinated against elm,re best and is currently on sorts.she will come along 1yrs health grantee.pls i will like to know how many pets you have at the moments,because my darling is so sociable with other house pets.in fact you will see that magic in her when you get her.

hope to read from you.

My Reply:

At this point I decide to make some of the same mistakes in my post as they make in theirs. Note that they were hoping that the dog would go to a good Christian home and that they work for Christ orphanage, yet she was delayed in a previous post because she was gone for evening prayers. Isn’t that strange?

No problem ashley. I am in no hurry. For a shouthwithshire I will gladly take the time to get this right. Will you be coming back to denver any time soon.

I have a few other pets but they are also very sociable.I told my family about the dog and they are very excited. We think we may take a holiday there and pick up the dog at the same time. Is this a good time of year to visit cameroon?

Thanks,

Alvin (I decided to make a change to my name to see if they would call me on it.

Their reply:

I begin to sense that they are getting a little irritated at my wavering interest in their baby.

ok Alvin if you will come to pick her up here,then that will be very great.this is the rightful time to visit Cameroon,when you want to come do let me know,so that i can help make some reservation for you. i have close to 3months to be here in Cameroon,and the weather it really not good for the pup.so pls the earlier you come the better.

thanks.

My reply:

This should be my final message to them. At least until they get to Denver with the southwithshire.

Sorry, about that last note. It was written by my friend Alvin. He is always replying to my email. I have three other friends that often respond to my email their names are Simon, Theodore and Dave. You don’t have to reply to their messages.

I just realized that Cameroon is in AFRICA! Did you know that? I thought it was in Detroit or something. That is too far for me to go to pickup the dog. I will wait until you get back to Denver. Let me know when you get here. Please keep your dog in doors I heard that some places in Africa catch stray dogs and put them in baby food. I would hate for you to have to utter the words – “A baby ate my dingo”

I am sure you will find another interested party in Cameroon with air conditioning.

Thank you,

Aaron

Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
13
Jun 07

When to use CDs , DVDs or flash drives

With so many options for backing up today, people often get confused on which method is right for them.

Typically there are three methods for backing up:

1. CD or DVD

2. Flash drive

3. External hard drive

The method you choose should depend on the type of backup you are doing.

CDs hold 700MB (about 300 pictures) while DVDs hold 4,700MB. But the amount of data that they hold is not as important as what you use the disks for. CDs and DVDs are best for archiving data that will likely never change such as pictures, old word processing documents, important tax or financial records, etc. Once you write information to a CD or DVD consider that disk finished and do not try to add more to it.

Flash drives are great for information that is always changing such as your checkbook balance, genealogy or your address book. While the cost of flash drives is always falling, they are still not the most economical way to make archive type backups. Flash drives are reusable and can be erased and/or added to as often as necessary.

External hard drives are great for ongoing backup, but they should not ever be used as the only method of backup. External hard drives are mechanical electrical and breakable. A sudden shock of electricity, a physical knock or eventual wear and tear can all cause a hard drive to fail. The above two methods should be used in conjunction with an external hard drive.

Online backup is also growing in popularity. This is an Internet account that provides storage on the Internet for all of your data. These services are often free for a few gigabytes, but if you have more than 2-5 gigabytes of data to backup, it is probably more economical to use a combination of DVDs and external hard drives for backup.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
20
Mar 07

Have you ever heard of these things called books?

I took a quick trip to Portland last weekend. While I was there I went into a few used book stores and bought some books to read on the long drive back. I was riding with my wife and Mother-in-law, both of which enjoy driving as much as I don't.

Conversation was interesting but they got tired of me pretty quickly. They would sit for hours trying not to talk in fear that if they started a conversation, I might try to get involved. I was glad I bought so many books.

I put my headphones and switched it to my Artist list and listened to all 17 Dave Matthews CDs randomly while I read from my books.

Fiction has never been my thing. I enjoy reading non-fiction, mostly history and political commentary. I was all set with two Ann Coulter books, Give Me a Break by John Stossel, the Ronald Reagan biography A Different Drummer by Michael Deaver and a great collection of essays by Ayn Rand.

What I was reading wasn't that important. What was amazing to me is how deeply I got lost into everything I read. I was almost half way through four of the books by the time I got home and I felt like I had really accomplished something and learned many things about people, philosophy, government and economics.

Now, I am back in the real world where that stuff is all useless on a day-to-day basis and it is a little upsetting. It is always hard getting back to work after a vacation, but it is even more difficult getting back to work with about 1000 pages of new information stuck in my brain that I will never be able to use as a computer guy.

Reading, it seems fills ones mind with information, knowledge and an ability to think that only frustrates the reader since it is hard to find others who also read. You know how you feel when you see a great movie and you try to tell everyone else about it. No matter how much passion you put into your description, no one ever understands how great the movie was. Once they have seen it they don't think much of it because you spoiled all of the good parts.

Reading books is a lot like that only worse. I have to wonder how different the world would be if most adults would read a 300 page book every few weeks. People would probably be more educated, more conversational and much more capable of thinking for themselves.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 2 Comments
13
Feb 07

Why haven’t software companies adapted to Vista yet?

It is no secret that I am not a big fan of Vista, however I understand that Microsoft isn't going to move backwards so Windows users will gradually have to adapt to the new OS.

While consumers can take their time making the transition to the new Windows, there is no excuse for software designers who have dragged their feet in becoming Vista compatible.

Although Vista has been out on the shelf for only a couple of weeks, it has been out in beta form for several months. Software designers have had sufficient time to had sufficient time to update their programs for Vista compatibility.

Lately I have worked with several realtor's who have purchased new Vista computers. Each of them has had problems working with the MLS system that the county group uses. When they have called the software company they have been told that they should not have bought a computer with Vista on it.

Rather than work with the early pre-release versions of Vista to have their software ready, they waited for Vista to hit the shelves then scolded anyone who bought a Vista computer before they were ready.

Realtors aren't the only ones with this problem. I also worked with a local rep for a national insurance company this week. His computer died but he doesn't know what to do because the company told him that he shouldn't upgrade to Vista because the company's software isn't compatible yet. They also said that the Vista release caught them by surprise and they weren't ready for it.

I am frustrated with Vista, but I am also frustrated with companies that think that they can delay change in technology.

I compare this to music companies trying to prevent people from using MP3 players and go back to CDs. Consumers shouldn't have to feel compelled to keep up with technology, but anyone in the technology business has an obligation to stay ahead or get run over by someone who can do it faster, better and cheaper.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 1 Comment
6
Nov 06

Gadgets yield more gadgets

I have helped several people buy new computers lately. I don't sell computers or any other hardware so I am more of a personal shopper than a salesman when it comes to guiding people through their purchase.

I think it's funny how gadgets always seem to yield more gadgets. Here is a short flowchart of how this process works.

1. A client calls and says that they need a new computer. They ask my advice on what they should get for just basic stuff like email and word processing. "I don't need anything fancy."

2. I suggest a basic system that will handle all of their needs and a little more.

3. I setup the new system during which time they notice that there are digital camera card reader slots on the front, a DVD recorder and speakers.

4. At this point I start smelling smoke as they begin to see more possibilities for their system.

5. Questions start coming up like: "So, this computer will work with a digital camera?", "So, what would I need to do to copy all of my old VHS movies to DVD?", "Can I make a CD of just the songs I like from all of my other CDs?" or "What would I need to make greeting cards?"

6. The answers to each of these questions, and many more, require additional hardware, software or other gadgets.

7. The client then buys a digital camera so that they can use the card slots on the front of the computer.

8. They then get a color photo quality printer that will handle greeting cards.

9. They buy a tripod and extra memory for the camera.

10. Special paper is purchased for greeting cards.

11. They have so much fun with the pictures from the camera that they decide to buy a scanner so they can make Christmas Calendars from old pictures for everyone in the family.

12. They buy Adobe Photoshop Elements so that they can do special effects with with their new photo projects.

13. While in the software aisle looking for Photoshop they see that Microsoft has a new flight sim.

14. They spend hours playing with the flight sim, but it is difficult and unrealistic to fly a plane without a yoke, so they head back to the store for a joystick.

15. After playing with the realism settings the flight sim graphics stutter a little. The fix for this problem is to install a dedicated video card.

16. Once the graphics are better then they buy a few more games, some of them require that more RAM be added to the system.

17. In the mean time they see an ad in a magazine for a sewing machine that hooks up to the computer and does embroidery of any image from the computer.

18. The new sewing machine also can connect to a Palm Pilot so that you make use it at sewing parties and share patters.

19. The new Palm Pilot will also play MP3s and it can connect to a GPS.

20. They rip their entire CD collection into MP3s and fill up the Palm. At this point they decide that an iPod would be a better use as an MP3 player because it will hold more music.

21. Using the Palm as a GPS is fine for small navigational helps but it doesn't feature the power of a stand-alone GPS device.

22. They buy a new GPS but it doesn't work in the car or give audible directions so they get one of those too.

23. Now that they are enjoying portable gadgets they start to see the benefits of having a laptop.

24. The laptop helps but you can only use the Internet in areas with WiFi. To get email and Internet while traveling, they see a need for a better cell phone that can do email, Internet, maps, text messaging and more.

25. The cell phone takes video so they begin to take short little videos while they travel.

26. They take so many videos that they see a need for a new digital video camera.

27. The new digital video camera takes very nice video but the video doesn't look that great on the old dim TV.

28. The new TV is very nice, but the picture is a little fuzzy since they don't have an HDTV package on their cable service.

29. They call for pricing and find out that satellite service is cheaper and offers more channels.

30. There are so many channels and so much to see that they feel the need to get a DVR that will record all of their shows so they can watch them later.

31. The new DVR offers the ability to stream the shows through a home computer network so that you can watch recorded video on any computer in the house.

32. They setup a home network and decide to share a printer between the desktop and the laptop. They quickly get tired of having to turn on the desktop computer every time they want to print something out from the laptop.

33. They buy a computer with a network card built in to solve the problem.

34. They see irony in the fact that one of their computers is a portable laptop, but they have to sit in the same place with it while they use it at home because it is hardwired into the network.

35. They buy WiFi router that will allow them to use the Internet on the laptop from anywhere in the house. They are overwhelmed by the convenience of the laptop and they hardly ever use the desktop computer. In fact, they almost fight over the laptop.

36. After buying a new laptop, they notice that the built-in card reader on their laptop doesn't support their digital camera's memory type.

37. The new digital camera takes such high resolution pictures that they fear running out of room on their laptop.

38. They buy a new external Hard Drive for backup.

39. On their travels they get tired of carrying two laptops, a cell phone, an MP3 player and a Palm Pilot.

40. They buy a Treo that does everything and they are able to leave their laptops at home or at the motel when they travel.

41. By this time they decide to go back to desktops because the don't really need to take their computers with them when they travel and TVs have become so cheap that they have a nice TV in their office where the sewing machine and desktop computer are.

42. The original desktop is too old so they hand it down to a grandson who is starting high school and they give the older laptop to a daughter who is starting college.

43. They buy a new desktop to go with the sewing machine, but the cable connections have changed and the new computer won't support the old sewing machine.

I think I will stop there. I just realized that I have been using the same keyboard and mouse for seven years. The new ones have more buttons. I'm off to the store.