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Rick

Welcome to Riding Shotgun

Welcome to Riding Shotgun with Rick & Adam

For a long time Rick and I have talked about our strange and wonderful jobs as roving computer guys. Our roles stretch beyond being ordinary computer repair people. We help people keep their worlds on course. That may seem like an exaggeration, but it is not.

Some days we may help people through ordinary problems like viruses and spyware, other days we may be helping a client find all of their important information on the computer after the death of a spouse.

It is from these ordinary and extraordinary experiences that we acquire the knowledge that we use every Saturday to answer your computer questions on the show.

Set up a home network – Part III

This is Part III of our ongoing series regarding home and small-business networks. You can read the first two installments here:  Part I and Part II.

In Part II, we discussed how to use a 'wired' system with Ethernet cabling to connect your computers and broadband connection. We suggested that you purchase a Wireless Cable/DSL Router with 4 port switch to connect your computers. The reason we suggested a wireless router is two fold; 1) The cost is only a few bucks more, and 2) Having the wireless gives you the ability to easily add a laptop or computer in another room to your network.

Typically, wireless routers can broadcast a signal that will reach around 75' indoors. However, that number reduces significantly depending on the barriers it has to pass through…walls, ceilings, type of walls and floors, etc. For best results, I like to keep the wireless computer as close to line of sight as possible to the router (least number of walls and barriers like furniture). Currently, the standard used in wireless computing (wi-fi) is 802.11g. For those with inquisitive minds, you can get detailed definitions of all terms wireless at Webopedia. This link is a comprehensive list of wireless networking terms. 

As with the wired setup, use the CD that came with your brand of router to walk through the setup. The first thing you want to do is assign a new password (right it down and remember it for future use) for the routers settings. Most of the wizards offer you the chance to do this right away.

Next, you want to setup the wireless security for your system. Enabling wireless security drastically reduces the chances of a hacker trying to break into your network. The first step you will be asked to do is assign a name (SSID – Service Set Identifier) to your network. Don't use your name…use something like your street name or high school mascot or development name…etc. Again, right this down and don't forget it. You will also be given the opportunity to broadcast your wireless name or not…for ultimate security, click "No" on the broadcast option. However, for ease of setup, as long as you are following the rest of the security steps, broadcasting should be ok.

Broadcasting your wireless names allows computers with a wireless network card to see what networks are available. If you are broadcasting you need to be secure.

Set up a home network – Part II

Last week we introduced you to some networking terms and technologies. This week, we will show you how to start building your network.

In these instructions we discuss how to setup a network for sharing the Internet, but if you only want to setup a network for sharing files and printers without broadband, simply leave out the broadband modem and these instructions will still apply. 

One term we did not define last week was Network Interface Card (NIC). Currently, there are two main types of NIC's. Wireless and wired. A NIC is a device that is connected to your computer that allows communication with other computers (networking). This can be done either through wireless means or wired means with an ethernet cable.

All computers that you want to network need to have a NIC. You choose whether it is wireless or wired. Almost all computers built since 2002 have an internal NIC for networking right from the factory…even laptops. Almost all laptops built since 2004 have built-in wireless networking capabilities as well. If you need to add one to your computer, a NIC will cost between $10-25. A wireless NIC will cost around $40.

Digital Photo Special Effects

 
 Digital Photo Special Effects
 
Here are some of the basics we discussed  at the Meeting

Filters: Various filters found in most good image editing programs allow you to make drastic changes to a photo in one fell swoop!

Digital Darkroom Basics

Digital Darkroom Basics

The inaugural meeting of our Digital Photography SIG was amazing. We literally had a standing room only crowd and as with all of your Users Groups meetings the information shared was nothing short of fantastic. Here is some of the information shared at the meeting:

Basic computer requirements

If you already have a computer and it is working great for your purposes, don’t take this as a suggestion to buy a new computer. However, if you are in the market for a new computer and want to know what to look for, here are
my suggestions from the meeting.