Skip to content

Riding Shotgun with Rick

Flower 1997-2007

FlowerToday, although I worked all day, technology took a back seat for me. Our female pygmy goat, Flower, died after a short illness. I discovered her this morning in her little barn. We knew that she wouldn't be with us much longer, but after the events in Virginia yesterday and day after day of headlines with the words murder, killings, dead, etc, I broke down when I found our little pet goat.

Listening to the news and reading the papers, I grew even more sad because of the sensational, irrational, and knee-jerk type society we have become. It doesn't matter if someone is white, black, purple, green, or polka dot or whether they are Catholic, Muslim, agnostic, or Methodist or whether they were born in Madagascar, Japan, Iceland, or North Dakota or if their political beliefs are left, right, circular, up or down, I truly believe that we all have a few simple goals in life: health, happiness, and the right to live an uncomplicated life.

I’m terrible at analogies

Analogies usually only make sense to the person who made them up. With computers, I find that I am constantly trying to come with an analogy to compare the often intangible function of computers to a real world common experience. Unfortunately, I think I fail with most of my analogies.

I did, however, come up with an analogy the other day that I think accurately describes web surfing. We hear some feedback about our web site that usually centers around some rendition of "I can't find what I'm looking for very easily." We have a little video in the upper left hand corner of every page that explains how the site is organized and how to best utilize the navigation tools on this page. We also have a fabulous built-in search engine to help you find information as quickly as possible.

“NEW” Google Feature – Pass it on….

Reader, Chuck, wrote in and asked our opinion about this "new" feature from Google, which isn't new and isn't limited to Google. In fact, the feature has been around since the phone book was invented. Here's how the too frequently forwarded email starts:

"Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to

Two guys can’t do it alone

I visited a new customer today that set the record for the most viruses and spyware on a single system. The computer had no anti-virus program of any sort on it, no anti-spyware system, was running the first version of XP, and on dial-up. Needless to say, the computer was hosed and it took more than six hours to clean-up (between what I did in two hours, and the four hours I let the user take care of in secondary scans and cleanup). 

The customer made a comment that I hear often in this situation, "This kind of thing makes work for you, huh?." My standard answer, "Yes, but it is the worst part of my job. Why? Because this is so preventable." 

Ubuntu Linux!!!

Ubuntu Desktop - click for larger view Last week I installed Windows Vista on my fine running XP machine (less than six months old) and have been tolerating it since then and learning about its quirks and features. I have actually been using Vista since September and besides the integrated search (which can be added to XP through multiple channels for free), I honestly do not understand what the heck Microsoft did for nearly six years between operating systems. Yes, it is pretty, but who cares how pretty it is…my email is slower, programs are slower, menus, options, and preferences have all been moved to different places…

My confession

One of my client's this week caught me in the act…of searching my own web site. They then responded by saying, "Oh, you just found that on your web site?, I didn't know you could do that?"

I said, "Sure. Our web site is a gold mine of information for most everyday computer questions or problems."

More and more, we respond to questions on our radio show by referring the caller to our web site. When we don't have an answer on the site, we find the answer, then post it to the web site. On any given week, we post 8-14 new items on the site…usually relevant to every day computer users.

Looking for love in all the wrong places

Merle Haggard may not have been thinking of computers when he sang this song, but it certainly applies to Office 2007 and Vista. 

I had to write a quick note expressing my exasperation as I hunt through menus, "ribbons", and dialog boxes looking for functions and features that have been roughly in the same spot since 1995.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but "Wow!"

I finally did it

I purchased Windows Vista Ultimate (OEM version) and Microsoft Office 2007 in January. Yesterday, I finally installed them both on my HP computer I bought in December for the purpose of eventually installing Vista and the new Office. The installation was the easiest of any Windows I have ever installed and only took about thirty-five minutes, but the first boot took around 12 minutes. I backed up my data and used the Vista disk to format and install the new Windows.

This weekend on our show, we were accused of joining the "band wagon" of Microsoft bashers. Long time listeners of our show and visitors to our web site know the real story…just try to find a Linux or Mac tip on our site. They will be coming eventually, but up until now we have been solid Microsoft computer guys.

Wow! Is Microsoft worried or what?

Is it me, or is Microsoft pummeling the TV, Radio, and of course the online advertising arenas? Almost anywhere I look, Windows Vista ads poke me in the eyes. Could it be because of the nearly 150+ customer visits I have made since Vista came out, only two of them were using Vista? Could it be because users are perfectly content with Windows XP and don't see (rightly) the need to upgrade to Vista? Could it be that the once bullet proof Microsoft name has tarnished with this release and the web has changed the rules about desktop computing? Could it be because Microsoft's sales figures are sorely lacking compared to the release of XP and 98? Could it be that so many business and government entities have 'outlawed' Vista in their space? Could it be the incompatible software and hardware numbers that are racking up?