What killed the video card?

My husband is into online games that require a video card that is above the one that's on my computer (which is the most expensive computer in the house) and was above my daughter's computer that he is using by proxy after his died. Some computers, like mine, have built in video cards, those who don't? Are much easier to replace, which is what he did, he purchased an upgraded video card for the computer he's using after several days of withdrawal from Combat Arms...

Extended warranties and product insurance...

I have a mixed view when it comes to buying extended warranties or product insurance, my basic formulation is to weigh the cost of the item, the predicted lifespan of the item against what the price is either for the warranty or some other additional product insurance. I also look at the price of the deductible that's required, if you've paid $300 for something and the deductible is over $150, chances are within a year that product costs less than that with the way technology is changing. For larger ticket items it can at times be worth it, which is why things like an ipad warranty or pc insurance are being marketed.

As always, read the fine print, especially when it comes to how and when the warranty or insurance would be paid and what limitations exist...

How to roll with the best of them....

There is a difference between a rolling briefcase and a rolling suitcase or for that matter a rolling backpack. Prior to getting my netbook, I considered a rolling briefcase since the weight of my older laptop made traversing the public transportation system a challenge and when traveling it added to the weight I was trying to carry on my shoulders. If you have recently been in an airport you've seen how popular all of these items on wheels are, it does make it much easier and faster to get to one end of an airport to another.

Once my WebTv was faster than my computer

As I sit here outside, using my little netbook, I can't help but think back to less than a decade ago when my WebTv was faster than the computer we had at the time. You could actually connect and receive e-mail faster through the WebTv than the computer. Then we got our first top of the line computer that pales in comparison to what is out there, and dial up was still the only game in town. I remember when cable internet was finally available where we lived, then several years later DSL finally arrived.

I remember my first laptop, a Sony VAIO and the excitement of being able to connect more than one computer on line at the same time. Then to be able to go wireless, slow at times and you had to deal with the usb connection with the antenna thingy but, still wireless.

Now, I have my monster tower and my handy dandy netbook, which weighs nothing compared to my previous laptops. With the built in wireless it connects effortlessly whether I'm at home or at work, once in a while even while I wait for the bus, depending on the availability of a connection. I've gone from Windows 98 being the latest and greatest to Windows 7. Then I think back even a bit farther and remember how excited I was as an administrative assistant when self correcting typewriters were purchased by my employer...It's amazing how far we've come...

Backing up is not hard to do...

I have an external harddrive that I use to back up the information on my computer, I try to do this every week or so, just in case something were to happen to my computer. I learned the hard way after losing everything several years ago. There are people that prefer to use an online backup system, which does has some advantages, especially if some sort of natural disaster or other disaster such as a fire happened, your information would be stored somewhere else. Whether you opt for the way I do it or using an online system, I recommend doing something. Most of us store quite a few important pictures and documents on our computers that would be very hard to replace...

Google and Digg content kleptomaniacs?

History has a way of changing how people and businesses operate, Rupert Murdoch is a prime example, once touting the wonders of the free internet merging with news, he's now seeking ways to keep information from being free. Of course he's not alone in trying to erect paywalls for content, but are Google and Digg "content kleptomaniacs" as Murdoch describes?

Google actually can help drive traffic to a website, especially a news site, where those who want to read more, can find it easier. Digg can help boost traffic as well, as long as the complete article is not used without permission/attribution by either source (or Twitter and Facebook too for that matter).

Google has actually helped people find my blogs, that to me is not theft of content, I've had that happen where some asshat takes complete posts from my blogs, posts it on their site without even as much as a link indicating where it came from. I view "content kleptomaniacs" as some of my local media that takes material directly from my one local blog, with rarely a mention, you are lucky to get a "I read this on some blog" -- so when I read things like this?

Murdoch and his lieutenants have begun their assault with a barrage of vitriol, most of it directed at Google. “Should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyrights?” he asked a gathering of publishers last year. In November, Murdoch laid out his opposition to the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, which is looking into the fate of the newspaper business. “There are those who think they have a right to take our news content and use it for their own purposes without contributing a penny to its production,” he said. “They are feeding off the hard-earned efforts and investments of others. And their almost wholesale misappropriation of our stories is not ‘fair use.’ To be impolite, it’s theft.” Other News Corp. executives have been even more scathing. Robert Thomson, for instance, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, has called Google and news aggregators “parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the Internet.”

I wonder why doesn't Google just drop these news sources complete from their search engines and their readers. That way it will be clearly evident how much traffic is lost...Google had no problem destroying years of hard work to develop page ranks, they should easily be able to drop the newsfeeds of these companies.

Technology I have to learn...

Yes, I'm a blogger and I have seven blogs, but when it comes to cell phones? I'm still a purist and a novice at heart, just recently breaking down and learning how to text message to the amusement of my family. Why? Because even though I've heard that iPhone's rock and that you can use an iphone dock, I don't want to take the internet with me with as much time as I spend on it when I am home. I think the MobileFun website is a great one to visit, it does show you what is available and it's organized in a way that I wish some of the sites are in the US would follow.

I have learned as an example about how important the right blackberry case can be, it can be the difference between seeing a phone get damaged by water and surviving to ring another day; though I've resisted having a blackberry, three of mine now have them. Two of them have the same blackberry model, which is another nice thing about the MobileFun site, they have pictures which make it easier to identify which exact phone you have. Another thing I should learn more about, is the bluetooth headset, supposedly my bunch tells me my phone is "bluetooth capable" and that would end my frantically looking for my phone when it rings...Though I'm not really sure I'd like wearing the ear thing, that was one of the things I don't miss about working in a call center is the whole headset thing. In a way I'd like my next phone to have a keyboard but I have a feeling with as small as they are? It wouldn't help my texting speed...I felt proud of myself when I learned how to get rid of the T9 and to use the abc, though the girls keep telling me if I'd just learn the T9 I'd be faster.

:-)

A musical interlude...

If you like classic concerts I recommend checking out Wolfgang's Vault. I've been a member for quite some time (it's free) and right now I'm listening to an amazing concert from Byrds in 1970 that took place in San Fransisco, I have quite a few favorite songs, but one is "Positively 4th Street" which really fits right now with the local political drama I've been going through.

From the concert summary:

Recorded on the final night of a three night Fillmore West run, headlining over Fleetwood Mac and John Hammond, Jr., this is the McGuinn, White, Battin, Parsons lineup early on, one which would last longer than any other Byrds lineup. The band was promoting The Ballad Of Easy Rider LP, where the group continued to explore elements of country and western music, while they headed toward a heavier electric rock sound. Ex-Kentucky Colonels guitarist, Clarence White, is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this lineup and his innovative stringbending techniques and fluid solos are well represented here.

Although not as aggressive as the late show performance (also available here in the Vault) and with a tape mix that improves over the course of the first several songs, this performance captures the band approaching their peak as a live act. Several months prior to the sessions for their half studio/half live Untitled album, which would see the group reunite with their former producer Terry Melcher and original manager and mentor Jim Dickson, this is a newly inspired band reinventing itself and venturing forth into a promising new decade.

Time to go into Mom Stealth Mode...

One of the challenges of this house is determining which pet is doing what it's not supposed to be doing in the house. If you only have one pet that would be easy, but when you live in a multi-pet household like we do, at times I have seriously considered video surveillance equipment. Recent true story example, I baked a cake, I frosted it, we enjoyed several pieces of it. It was left out on the stove, the next morning I discovered part of the frosting was clearly licked off. Yes, someone should have covered the cake, but cats don't typically do that, the only time we had a previous problem was with pumpkin pies, when just before guests arrived I discovered each pie had some of the middle missing with a paw print in each one...What did I do? Sliced the pie, throwing out each cat tasted part...

:-)

I'm glad I didn't get the Sidekick...

I actually wanted a Sidekick, but I switched from T-mobile to Alltel when my oldest daughter moved out west. Her plan was cheaper than mine and taking over her old phone number gave her a failsafe for contacts that did not know she was California bound. Alltel didn't offer one, so I went with something different.

Which now in reading the Blade's article this morning about the complete melt down of the data servers, I'm glad I didn't.

This does however point out that you should take the time every now and then to save your contacts, every so often I email all of my phone numbers to myself, that way I'll always have them as a back up.

Another funny thing about Mafia Wars

You'd think that most of those who play Mafia wars are men, right? Yet I've been surprised by the large number of women who play. The game design, including even the collections that you have to seek out are male inspired, to the point where I see an ad for Davidoff cigars and think about the game since that's a common prize and a collection.

There even appears to be a mafia family or two that's made up completely of women, I experienced this first hand last night when I killed one, and then was attacked by a hoard of female mafia members, a few of which took issue with me "icing" them and put out a few mafia hits on me. Which I always find funny since the whole point of the game is to make money and build points. But? If they want to waste their money on paying someone to kill my online character? Someone will definitely take advantage of it. My longest survival time on a hit list has been 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

:-)

Monitoring monitors...

I have the biggest flat screen monitor in the house as well as the newest computer since I spend more time on the internet than anyone else and I do generate a bit of income from my net adventures. There is a set line of progression when I replace a computer but most of the time the discussion surrounds the monitor, with several family members eying my monitor and hoping my next upgrade includes a new monitor. Thanks to my oldest daughter, the only person in the house who didn't have an lcd monitor was my husband, but she bought a refurbished one that has a small blemish on the screen, which has him arguing that he's the one that should get my monitor (which I haven't even decided if I am going to get a new monitor) and my almost 15 year old arguing since her flat screen is the oldest and the smallest it should be her and she doesn't want the one with the blemish.

I think I'll just decide to only get a tower if I decide to upgrade at all and avoid monitoring the monitor wars completely...

Terrestrial radio?

As I was reading an article about the problems with advertising radio stations were having and how one of the advantages of satellite radios is that it is commercial free, I came across traditional radio being called "terrestrial radio" -- it shows you how little I've paid attention to the discussion concerning satellite radio, since I'd never heard that term used before. It's used to denote radio broadcasted from towers on the surface of the planet as opposed to satellite radio which I guess we could call, "extraterrestrial" -- I'm not even going to hazard a guess as to what we should then call internet streamed radio...

Maternity clothes have come a long way...

It used to be back in the day when I was pregnant with my children that you could pretty easily spot a maternity outfit and most of them were not very attractive, it was just one of those things that you had to face when you had a baby. Now, maternity clothes have changed, there are some items that I look at that I'm tempted to want to wear even though my baby-having days are long since past. What's also nice is some of the prices out there, looking at Kiki's Fashions they have a whole section of items that are $10.00 or less and they also give you a way to save 20%, just use the word "blogfriends" in the coupon code section when checking out.

They also offer a nice line of plus sizes, which I know used to be a problem and still is a problem if you are trying to find maternity items locally and you are trying to be cost conscious. Of course the other thing to point out about way back when, was the internet and internet shopping wasn't available either...

Real invitations versus e-invites

I know the internet is used by many of us and it's much simpler for people to send and e-vite than to take the time to order or buy party invitations, then address them, then mail them out. Yet I'm still a fan of getting things in the mail, for one simple reason. On any given day I get hundreds of emails, I've discovered it's really easy to read and forget to mark something down that I'm invited to via email than it is to have the invitation on my desk...While I have a webcalendar, I'm horrible at remembering to update it and if a story breaks or something else comes up that I have to deal with? Days can pass before I remember again, which if I do remember, is the nice thing about using gmail, it's easy to search for things, since I thankfully keep my desk in better order than my memory? What I have tried to do with e-vites is print them out...

House dream may include security system...

We are in the process of finalizing details on owning a home that needs some renovation before it's going to be ready for us to move into. One of the discussions we've had is related to a Home Security Surveillance System since we (and the dogs) won't be living there and there will be construction materials as well as new items installed that could go a day or two without someone being there since we are planning on doing as much of the work as possible by ourselves.

The house sat vacant for about two years, and while we luckily did not experience any of the pipes being stolen since the house had been converted to pvc, there are signs that someone was living in the house illegally not that long ago. This makes the issue of Home Security a valid concern. Some of the windows of our new home have been broken, but thankfully those who did "visit" the house did not destroy it as the house next door experienced. It had copper piping, and apparently a few more visitors bent on destruction.

I never really worried that much about Home Security Systems in the past. We've always had dogs and while they are of course not a total deterrent, some of our neighbors who have had break ins did not have dogs. Of course before we can worry about a security system, we have to put in new windows, but? We'll get there, and I'm sure considering the adventures we had in fixing up the home we are currently renting before we moved in that this will be an adventure too.

:-)

The buy American mantra when it comes to laptops...

There has been quite a bit of discussion related to why you should buy American when it comes to a car, yet there is very little discussion ever about buying other items made in America. Let's take computers as an example, if you are looking for laptop deals the reality is it is almost impossible to find a laptop that is made in the US or even contains a majority of parts made in the US.

In 2006 it was reported that factories in or near Shanghai make nearly 83 percent of the world’s portable computers, and that figure is expected to increase within a couple of years. It was predicted that by 2008 90% of all laptops would be made in China. When you try to google "Laptops made in US" you don't get very far, so I wasn't able to easily discover if there even are any laptops that are made in the US anymore all that you can easily find is laptop cases advertised as made in the US...

Words that make my head swim...

I realize I should and could probably do more to market my blogs, which will make some of you laugh especially related to this one since lately things have been so hectic with local politics that I'm behind here, but I know I could do more. Yet when I read terms like, conversion rate optimization it makes me think of stats and other details that are complicated. I know it's easier than it sounds but I do the same thing when I'm looking at my analytics for my blogs, I see where I can set goals and follow my conversation rate and I just say...okay, people are reading, good.

:-)

A bill to shift cybersecurity to White House

This is worth paying attention to; Forthcoming legislation would wrest cybersecurity responsibilities from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and transfer them to the White House,:

CNET News has obtained a summary of a proposal from Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) that would create an Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, part of the Executive Office of the President. That office would receive the power to disconnect, if it believes they're at risk of a cyberattack, "critical" computer networks from the Internet.

Some industry groups are warning, however, that adding customized requirements to the government's procurement process may inhibit the government's ability to take advantage of the innovations and cost benefits available from commercial technology.

"Simply put, the government cannot reach its security goals by compromising its access to commercial solutions and processes, nor can it technologically or financially afford it," the Business Software Alliance wrote in a memo to Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cyberspace at the White House National and Homeland Security Councils, who is conducting a 60-day review of cybersecurity programs for President Obama. "Rather than imposing overbroad security requirements, government needs to be selective and limit them to high-criticality systems."

I like my tower better than my laptop but...

I know many people prefer a laptop, I'm one of those who doesn't. Though my laptop is great for when I go to work since I can take it with me and it would be pretty hard to carry my tower around and it's fantastic when it comes to live blogging, I prefer the touch of a traditional keyboard and I like my 22 inch monitor. I'm even picky about my keyboards, not to mention that I type so much that I wear off the markings on the keyboard, which for me is not a problems since I used to be an administrative assistant. I actually try them out when I have to replace one because the touch matters to me. Which I guess if you type as much as I do, is understandable, or I'm just picky (smile). Wearing the letters off however does cause issues for family members who are not expert typists (which isn't all a bad thing since it keeps them off of my computer).

This particular laptop I am using now was given to me by my oldest daughter since she upgraded to a newer laptop after she saw some really good laptop deals out there and she wanted one that was more designed for game playing, since she's into that. Laptops are also great for traveling, like when I went to California to visit her, I could still keep up to date on my work and blogging during the day while she was at work.