No, I’m not giving on Ubuntu…I still think it is the best operating system to hit the computer world since Windows 95.
My client that I installed Ubuntu for last weekend, decided that doing her AOL email in a Firefox windows was too slow (she has 256K DSL). Unfortunately, that was her only complaint and she wants to return to AOL’s proprietary browser/email with Windows XP. Curse AOL, they thwarted a potential success story with my first Ubuntu customer!
Adam and I first mentioned this nasty little virus earlier this spring on our radio show. The email that spreads it poses as an electronic greeting card from your friend or relative. Because the email is so poorly constructed, is never from a known address, and the link it displays in the body of the message is a number (NEVER, EVER Click a link that is constructed of a number, ex: http://91.188.176.15/) we didn’t put much credence in how much damage it could do.
Many people are installing Office 2007 and then discovering that their spell check for Outlook Express is set for French. This is fine if you are writing emails in French, but most of us aren’t.
Microsoft is aware of the problem and their solution is the upgrade to Windows Vista.
Our solution is do download and install this free spell check program.
Another less than elegant solution is to:
My work week isn’t over. I have five computers/hard drives that I’m working on this weekend. My most exciting task is to setup an older XP HP machine with Ubuntu Linux. My customer had a huge XP problem and couldn’t use her restore CD’s to get it going. After some discussion of her options, costs, and time involved, she decided to give Ubuntu a try. This customer is retired, but is writing a book, uses a digital camera, is an AOL user, and emails a bunch. However, she loves here computer and has been using one for many years and has no qualms about trying something new.
Today, I tried something new and did a videocast of me answering your email. Today, I answered emails from: Terry, Bresada, Stephanie, Stephen, Robyn, and Dan.
Leave a comment below and let me know how you liked this method of answering your questions.
I will keep bringing this topic up again and again until every visitor to HelpMeRick.com makes a regular habit of backing up their valuable data. Already this week I have received three calls from computer users who lost valuable data due to a computer crash. In addition to the calls, I received another four or five emails from computer users in the same situation.
I know backup is monotonous, but it is also vital to protecting your digital information. For more than ten years I have written and soap boxed about backup and provided many tips on how to best approach this misunderstood and often forgotten computer skill. Establishing a backup routine is not difficult and once it is up and running is painless to maintain.
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… Read More »Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams
My list of gimmick features continues to grow. Gimmick features are features that companies add to technology to sell a product but don’t do what they claim to do in the way you expect them to do it.
One of of the first gimmick features I began discussing years ago were gimmick buttons on a scanner. These are buttons that say “email” or “scan and save”, etc. All these buttons do is activate the software the same as if you clicked on the icon. It is usually more work to reach over and hit the buttons than it is to double-click on the appropriate scanner icon.
I can’t believe it has been two weeks already that I’ve used Ubuntu Linux exclusively. If I had to sum up the experience in one word, that word would be “satisfying.” And my regular readers/listeners know that I can’t sum anything up in one word, so I will use this format to provide a complete synopsis of my Ubuntu thoughts.