Resizing multiple images using Google Picasa

I'm a fan of many of Google's products. Including Picasa.

I find it a useful tool for simple image editing, as well as uploading images to the Web.

There may be better tools around that do lots of different things better, but as far as ease of use, cost (free), and cross-platform compatibility (I use Mac and Windows), it's hard to beat.

Today, someone asked a question about resizing images in bulk for inclusion in email. And, Picasa is an easy-to-use tool for that. Here's how...

Installation

I'll assume you've already installed Google Picasa on your Windows (or Mac). If you haven't, go ahead and do that.

For Windows, I tell it to only look in the "My Documents" or "My Pictures" area, rather than the entire hard drive. Other than that, though, I usually accept the default settings.

Resizing

In order to resize the pictures, it's pretty simple.

After opening Picasa, find the images you want to resize by navigating to that folder:



Now that you have the folder, select the images by CTRL-Click (Windows) or COMMAND-Click (Mac):



Click the "Export" icon at the bottom of the screen:



From the pop-up window, select the size you want, then press "Export":



The standard default location works for me.

And that's it!

Conclusion

Personally, I find it a very easy-to-use way to make simple edits, including resizing, to images.

Plus, I like the fact that the original file isn't changed. I can undo any edit I want on the original file. And, when I export, I have a second (edited) version I can use as I wish.

Sending emails to multiple people, part 2

We talked earlier about using the "BCC" field when you send an email to a large group of people. If you use the "To" (or "CC") field, and if any one of the recipients has a compromised computer, then the email addresses are visible to any kind of malware.

Using the "BCC" field hides the email addresses from each other -- and from any malware on a comprised computer of any of the recipients.

But, there's another reason to use the "BCC" field -- though, to me, this isn't as important as the malware security issue, I think it's important enough.

If you use the "To" or "CC" field, you're making everyone's email address visible to everyone else. Not just the malware I mentioned earlier, but the actual eyes and email programs of everyone on the list.

Why is this a bad thing? Well, it might not be. But, are you sure that everyone on the list knows everyone else? And are you sure that everyone on the list is okay with everyone else knowing their email address?

Why would someone car? Actually, it doesn't matter why anyone would care. The fact that someone could care should be enough. I mean, do you give out phone numbers willy-nilly? You shouldn't. And neither should you give out email addresses without permission.

To some degree, it's a security issue, but not necessarily a malware issue. Rather, it's a matter of being polite.

So, I strongly suggest that, if you send an email to a large group of people, put your own email address in the "To" field, and the group's email addresses in the "BCC" field. It's good manners, and it helps prevent others from getting spam.

Sending emails to multiple people

You ever get an email from someone? Sure you have.

You ever get one of those emails from someone, and that email was sent to a bunch of people? Sure you have.

You ever see an sudden increase in spam from time to time? Sure you have.

You ever think those things are related? Well, you should. Because they might be.

You ever been that person that sent an email to a bunch of people? If you have, you might have also been the person that caused others to experience a sudden increase in spam.

"How?" you ask.

Let me explain.

When you send an email to several people, you have three ways to include people in the list:

• To
• CC
• BCC

You know all this, right? But did you know that if you put a multiple people in the "To" or "CC" fields, you could be causing them to get more spam.

"How?" you ask again.

How comfortable are you that everyone to whom you're sending an email has proper security on their computer? The correct answer is "not at all." Because not everyone has proper security on their computer. And that's the key.

Say you send an email to 10 people. It doesn't matter why. You just have the idea to send an email to 10 people.

Then, say you put all 10 addresses in the "To" field. Or, the "CC" field. Or mix it up and put some in the "To" field and the rest in the "CC" field.

Then, you send it.

Now, say that just one of those 10 people doesn't have good security on their computer. Say their computer got infected with something evil. And that something evil is one of those evil things that reads emails and sends itself out to other people's email addresses it got from those emails.

This means that others will now get more spam. And it'll be three people's fault: the original spammer, the person with the poor security, and you.

Why you? Because you allowed that bad thing to get the email addresses.

How? Because you used the "To" (or "CC") field to send an email to a bunch of people.

Here's a tip: When you send an email to a group of people, put your own email address in the "To" field, and the big list of recipients in the "BCC" field.

Why? Because then, although that one person with the evil thing on their computer will still be infected, that evil thing won't be able to read the other nine people's email addresses.

If you're sending an email to just one person, use the "To" field. But, for groups of people, use the "BCC" field.

Why am I writing this? Because I've been one of the nine people who got an increase in spam because of others' bad habits.

And, if you've included me in an email sent to a big group of people, and you put me in the "To" or "CC" field, then I'm directing this at you.

There's another reason to use the "BCC" field when sending emails to large groups of people, but I'll cover that reason in a later post.

Computer repair -- again

The MacBook is in the shop. Again.

I really like my MacBook. A lot. But I've never had a computer that needed as much repair work as it has needed.

When I got it in 2007, the hard drive went bad. Then, the replacement hard drive went bad. Then, something else went out. I don't remember what and I'm too lazy to look it up. Anyway, I've had to put it in the shop again.

This time, the mouse cursor was acting all strange. It was as if the mouse was "clicked."

Since I have the new Magic Mouse -- which is the coolest thing -- I was afraid it was the touch feature. So, last night, I turned the mouse off and used the trackpad. But the problem was still occurring. So, it wasn't the mouse, but the trackpad.

Only, it wasn't. But I wouldn't find that out until later.

I took the MacBook by the local Mac store (we don't have an Apple Store in Columbus, but there are two affiliated stores). Showed him was was happening, and he agreed it was the trackpad. (It wasn't; more in a minute.)

So, he verified the information on the MacBook, confirming it's still under AppleCare service program. To do that, he had to read some information that's under the battery. So, he took out the batter and read the info.

When he went to put it back in, he paused. The battery looked funny. It looked swollen. Because it was.

The swollen (and, therefore, deformed) battery was pressing against the bottom of the trackpad. So, there was nothing wrong with the trackpad, but the battery was causing it to be pressed from underneath.

He has it in the shop, looking it over, in case whatever is wrong with the battery has caused any damage. Plus, he's replacing the cover that has a crack.

Don't know how long all that will take. He does lots of Apple repairs -- I believe it, if others have had as many issues as have I -- so he'll get to me when he can.

In the meantime, I'm having to use the Dell laptop. My old computer. Wife uses it now.

I really like my Mac. But I've never had to send one of my Dells in to the shop for anything.

Windows sucks. OS X rocks. But the Dell seems more reliable than the Mac. And I can live with Windows. Apple needs to pay attention. I guess they're too busy boycotting the number two cable TV network to be bothered with making stuff that doesn't need to have to go to the shop all the time.

Jeremiah 13:25

There's not much I can add to this. The picture sort of says it all.

This is a real photograph from the Columbus Public Library.



Photo by Brian Bolton. Used with permission

The thing is, I'm not sure the folks at the library were actually wrong. Many people seem to worship their computers, whether Macs, PCs, mainframes, handhelds, or whatever. And many people read more computer books than they do Bibles.

Kind of gives a whole new meaning to "Gates of Hell," doesn't it?

Virus removal

Because so many people use a Microsoft Windows operating system, most viruses and other malicious software ("malware") are targeted for Windows users.

So, because of the large number of viruses out there targeting Windows, it could happen that you get a virus.

Three reasons

There are three primary reasons (in order) you could get a virus:

1. Bad computer habits
2. Missing or outdated security applications
3. Bad luck

Not much can be done about the bad luck. However, many will blame bad luck first. But, if you haven't taken care of the first two, bad luck isn't the reason. Bad decisions would be more likely.

I've written about the bad habits and the security applications. You need to understand the importance of those.

If you don't think they're important, you're wrong. And that's experience talking.

I've had bad computer habits. Cutting down on those has helped. It's called learning from experience.

I've run without (or with outdated) security applications. I learned my lesson. It's called learning from experience.

I've also encountered bad luck. It happens. But if you haven't corrected bad computer habits or aren't running up-to-date security software, bad luck's the least of your problems.

Shut up and help

Alight, let's assume you have a virus on your Windows computer. If it's because of bad habits, or because of lack of security protection software, or because of bad luck, you're in the same situation: You have a problem and need to fix it.

How?

First, you need to use an anti-virus software package to clean things up. Or try to, anyway.

I have had success with the AVG and with the Avast! packages. Get one of those.

How?

If you can connect to the Internet, you can download AVG or Avast! by clicking on either link.

But sometimes, the virus will intercept your attempts to go to one of those pages and redirect you somewhere else. AntiVirus 2009 Pro (not to be confused with legitimate packages like the similarly-named Panda package) is one that does this.

If you can't access the Websites, you need to go to a safe, protected computer, take a USB key ("flash drive"), and download a package. If you must use another computer, go ahead and download both to the flash drive. You may need them both.

Attempt to install one of the packages on the infected computer. If one fails, try the other. I have always had success with one or the other; however you may find neither works. If that's the case, try other packages on this list. I've not used them all, so I can't speak to all of them.

Once you've installed and run the antivirus package, have it clean or remove everything it finds. This may take a while. This may take hours. Do it anyway.

Once you've cleaned the computer, you're not done. Scan it again. Then, if everything is still clean, you're still not done.

There's more?

Reboot your computer. Then, scan it again. Yes, I said scan it again.

You see, some viruses can reconstitute themselves after a reboot.

Keep scanning and cleaning and rebooting until everything is gone. If you find you're stuck in a loop -- the same virus keeps being removed but keeps coming back -- try another antivirus package (Avast! or AVG).

Eventually, one should do the job.

Next, you need to keep your computer safe. Microsoft actually has a good summary of things to do here.

They'll try to sell you their security package, Microsoft Live OneCare. It's a good package. But keep in mind what you just used to clean your computer. You may want to consider giving that application the job full-time. And, you may want to buy their full suite of protections software as a reward for a job well done.

The final step

The last thing you can do is prevent problems in the future. You can help by following the suggestions here.

The best way to get a virus off your computer is to not let it on to start with.

Virus protection

Most computer users are running computers with a Microsoft Windows operating system. That, all by itself, makes a computer susceptible to a virus or other dangerous or malicious software ("malware").

I'm not trashing Microsoft; I'm stating a fact. Microsoft Windows is so prevalent that it's a target for those that create viruses or other malicious software.

It's common for many computer users to get a virus. The most common reason is a lack of proper protection. That involves not having good, up-to-date security software. It also involves careful computer habits.

Hey, Apple! I could've told you that!

Hmmm. Seems that Apple is reporting issues with some MacBook hard drives.

I found a story on PC World about it. The story was also on MacWorld, of course, but that's somehow harder to navigate for me.

They seem to be not overly concerned, Why?

... it doesn't appear to be a widespread problem, Apple said it has "received a few reports that some MacBook consumer notebooks may have hard drive issues, and we're looking into it."

Not "widespread?"

Okay, I'll believe that. They seem to be keeping the problem focused on a few select individuals.

Like me.

My MacBook went down in early October, then again this week.

The October issue was definitely the hard drive. I haven't received confirmation that the current problem is the hard drive, but I strongly suspect it is.

Booting in verbose mode, I see the word "mount" appear a lot on the two lines that seem to display over and over. And, when I boot from the OS disk, the hard drive isn't visible.

So, yeah, I'm thinking it's a hard drive. But, I gotta remember, I'm PC Guy. Have been for over a quarter of a century. So, I can't say I know as much about these Apple thingies as I do those PC thingies.

But I know when it doesn't work.

Still, I can't say that the problem I'm having is related to the issue reported by Retrodata. Because I can't check the firmware. Because the Mac is broken.

But my packing slip does show it is a SATA drive, so that much matches.

If you have a MacBook, you might want to look into your configuration and see if you're in danger of losing all your stuff.

Like I did.

Others report on the same issue: Information Week, Apple Insider.

Again with the hard drive?

The MacBook is down. Again.

That's twice. Since I got it in early August.

No, I'm not a happy camper.

Shut the MacBook down yesterday prior to heading to work. Brought it with me, so that, at lunch, I could get online and check some stuff.

At lunch, I turned the MacBook on, and ... nothing.

Okay, not nothing.

Got the white/gray screen with the Apple logo, and the little "busy wheel" or whatever that thing's called.

And nothing more.

Initial diagnosis was an operating system problem. According to the Apple-authorized technician I spoke with, some Leopard upgrades (and mine game with Tiger -- OS X 10.4 -- and was upgraded to Leopard -- OSX 10.5) had similar issues.

So, since I didn't have my Leopard disks with me, he gave me instructions that I could use when I got home.

And, following those instructions (an Archive and Reinstall, which is essentially a re-installation of the operating system, keeping current settings), I discovered there was no hard drive being recognized.

A couple of months ago, the hard drive went out. Lost everything.

Now, it seems there may be another hard drive issue.

I got all my disks with me to take when I go by the Apple repair place at lunch.

You know, I really do like my MacBook.

When it works.

Stealth

Got to thinking about stealth recently.

No, not because I've been hiding for a couple of weeks.

Okay, I haven't been hiding. I've been busy. With work.

I made the decision when I started this little blog to not blog about work. And that wasn't a problem.

Oh, occasionally, I'd mention the Evil Corporation where I work. Not that it's really evil. But it is a large corporation. And, to hear some folks talk, all large corporations are evil corporations. Therefore, when I' mentioned the place I work, I'd mention the Evil Corporation.

I like where I work. It's, well, I don't know if "fun" is the right word, but I enjoy what I do. And the folks I work with.

But, I'm not going to blog about work. I don't blog at work. And I don't blog about work. Blog and work are separate.

So, why do I spend all this time talking about what I'm not going to talk about.

Well, if I didn't blog about work, I wouldn't have a whole lot to blog about right now.

And that explains why I haven't blogged about much lately. I haven't been in stealth mode. Not on purpose, anyway.

Tonight, though, I ran across something else about stealth.

It's my MacBook.

Or, actually, it's the wireless router.

It began when I found about about Apple's update to Leopard.

Now, being a PC Guy since, well, a quarter of a century, I'm not used to operating systems known as things like "Tiger" or "Leopard."

MS-DOS 2.11.

Now, that's a name for an operating system.

It was the first PC operating system I had.

Oh, I had a Tandy Color Computer running OS 9 before that. But, when I moved onto a "mainstream" platform, it was DOS 2.11.

And Windows 2.03.

That was the first edition of Windows I used.

So, calling an operating system "Leopard" takes some getting used to.

If you're still PC Guy, it's Mac OS X 10.5.1

But they call it "Leopard."

Same thing.

Anyway, Apple released an update to OS X 10.5 on Wednesday. But I didn't know about it, until I got an email from ZD Net talking about it.

I have the MacBook set to check for updates weekly. So, it would have caught the update in the next 5 days ... or sooner.

But, I forced an update check today. And it got it.

After reboot, I checked out the main thing ZD Net was talking about -- the firewall.

I made sure it was in stealth mode, then did something I hadn't done in a while.

I went to Gibson Research and checked out Shields Up!

And was I ever shocked to find out I failed.

Was the firewall screwed up?

No, it turns out the firewall is fine. Or at least, I think it's fine.

But a couple weeks ago, I got a new router: The Apple AirPort Extreme.

Powerful little thing. Great signal all over the house. Like it.

But, as it turns out, it's not stealthy.

The old Motorola router that cost half what the AirPort cost was stealthy.

Used to be able to go to GRC, run Shields Up!, and get a "passed" report. That meant all ports were in stealth mode.

If you're not familiar with that, it might help to know that the Internet is a bunch of computers communicating with each other. But you knew that.

When it was put together, it assumed that all machines talking to all other machines was a good thing.

They forgot one little thing: people would be using those machines.

And some people are mean people. That's why we have to be on our guard against thieves, spammers, hackers, and Democrats.

Anyhow, because some people are like some people are, we don't want our computers to always respond positively to all other computers.

Because, if they did, bad people could put bad things on your computer. And we don't want that.

One way of stopping it is to not let computers respond to all requests.

And, there are a couple of ways to do that.

One is with a software firewall. Microsoft includes a simple software firewall with Windows. And other companies sell more powerful ones. And Apple includes a firewall with OS X. Including an update in OS X 10.5.1.

The other way is with a hardware firewall. And many routers, including my old Motorola router, as well as my older Netgear one, have built-in firewalls.

But Apple's AirPort Extreme router doesn't operating in stealth mode.

Tonight, researching it, I ran across a post at the Houston Chronicle from back in May talking about the previous version of the AirPort Extreme. And they take a classical "on the fence" position.

And, I admit, I see both sides of it.

But, they bring up the same thing that concerns me.

Which is, how big a deal is it if an address -- and your computer on the Internet does have an address -- rejects a request to a port, as opposed to not responding at all.

Here's one way to look at it.

A kidnapper walks up to a house and asks, "Can I come in?"

Now, the kidnapper doesn't want to visit. He wants to kidnap someone. He's a kidnapper. But he's acting all nice and polite and asking to come in.

Now, if he walks up to two houses. One blue and one green.

He asks each house, "Can I come in?"

From the blue house, he gets no response. From the green house, he hears a voice say, "No, you can't come in."

Now, tell me, which house is he more likely to keep trying to enter?

I think he'll keep trying the green house. He knows there is someone there.

And, to me, that's the difference in a firewall responding with a refusal or just not responding at all.

And the not responding? That's "stealth" mode.

That's what I'd prefer.

But, Apple says it's okay.

Me? I'm not so sure. I think I'd rather be stealthy on the Internet. And not by going two weeks between blog posts.

Overthinking things

I mentioned that I've been really busy.

Really busy.

Lots of stuff going on at work. And some issues arising that have caused them to call me in at like 4:00 in the morning. But, hey, it comes with the territory.

And, there's a couple of projects I've been working on at home. One with another blog. Actually, a couple. One after another. And the other project is a family thing. And they've taken my time from this little blog.

Switcheroo

Oh, and we've been switching computers around here at the house.

The Wife has a Dell desktop computer that she's been using. But, we took that down this week. Tonight, in fact.

She's now using the Dell notebook. It's newer than the desktop, and as powerful. Actually, a slightly more powerful machine. And, she likes that she can unplug it, put it on a tray, and sit in another chair or on the couch and do her computer work.

Not to mention that it takes up very little space on the desk. Her big CRT (that's a monitor, Big Sister; that's the TV-looking thing, Mean Sister) is no longer taking up all that space. And no big bunch of wires hanging down, running from the monitor, or from the keyboard, or from the speakers, over to the CPU.

Her desk almost looks clean. At least, you can now see the desk.

She's happy with the switch.

But the timing of it ... well, it's one of the things wearing me out.

Out with the Tiger, in with the Leopard

You see, Apple just released OS X 10.5 ... known as "Leopard" ... and I updated my MacBook.

I like Leopard. It actually allows me to use my old HP LaserJet 1100. You see, that old printer isn't compatible with a Mac. You must have a Windows computer to use it.

Well, you used to.

Leopard ... or OSX 10.5, as the PC Guy in me likes to call it ... has drivers for that printer. So, now, I finally have a laser printer on the Mac.

And the operating system upgrade ... even though it went very smooth ... has been another thing going on.

But, there's something else going on.

Running through the AirPort

Since we've been having problems with the old Motorola router, I got the new Apple AirPort Extreme.

This week.

Yesterday, in fact.

And it ran into an issue.

Well, I ran into an issue.

You see, it appears that when you change routers with BellSouth DSL and a Westell modem, you have to reset it. Twice.

At least, that's what the folks at BellSouth tech support had me do when I called them when I couldn't get online with the new router.

Anyway, once everything was working, I was very pleased that from anywhere in the house, we were getting a very strong signal and full speed. The old wireless router began to lose a little signal beyond the door to the bedroom.

So, it's a good thing.

It's just the timing of it all.

Network printing

One thing I overlooked, though, was the printer.

You see, the laser printer is in the office on the far side of the house. Where the DSL modem and the router is.

And the printer is hooked up to a D-Link printer server, that's hooked into the router.

So, tonight, I was going to print something. And that's when I realized I needed to hook the printer server up to the AirPort (the router).

So, I plugged it into a LAN connection, and went to check the configuration.

That's when I realized I didn't know how to do that.

So, looking up on the D-Link Web site, I found that my printer server works with Windows. But not with Mac OS X.

So, I began researching other printer servers, trying to find one that worked with Mac. I found a document that I downloaded to read up on it.

Then, it hit me.

I had never even tried to print.

I had already printed on the old network, just not on the new network.

So, with the document open, I clicked print.

And it printed.

I hadn't done the simplest thing: trying it.

And, when I did, it worked.

And that's how things have been with the MacBook. Everything I've wanted to do, I've been able to do with very little difficulty. And I've found it easy to do.

And almost every time I've had a problem, it's because I was in PC Guy mode. I assumed it didn't work until I configured things.

I've been overthinking things.

It's a habit that's been hard to break, after 25 years of using MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows.

The Mac is Back

My MacBook crashed recently. Lost the hard drive.

And that's not a good thing.

Anyway, Tuesday, took it to the local Apple Authorized place. They sent it off to Apple. And Apple fixed it -- replaced the hard drive, actually -- and sent it back.

Picked it up this afternoon. And have spent most of the evening getting it back running like it should.

Updates and such. Installed latest version of iLife and iWork suites I have.

And, the good news is that it was able to recover my bookmarks and email settings from iDisk. The iTunes stuff, though, I haven't tried. Don't look promising, though.

Anyway, got my toy back. And I can't complain about the service I got from Apple regarding the MacBook. Other than needing the service in the first place.

MacBook down

I've really enjoyed my new MacBook.

Until it broke.

Seems something caused it to not recognize the hard drive.

And, with no hard drive, the computer won't do much.

So, at lunch (I'm eating a sandwich now), I took the MacBook by the Apple Authorized Repair Center in Columbus. And they are shipping it off to the MacBook hospital.

Not sure if it's getting a face-lift, a transplant, or what. But it should be back by the end of the week.

So, for now, I am operating on my old Dell notebook.

I miss my MacBook already. But this old Dell ... well, it's dependable. And I don't know of a better testimonial to give about any computer.

The White Screen Of Death

Windows users know all about the Blue Screen Of Death. It's abbreviated BSOD. It's that blue screen that happens when something very, very bad goes wrong with your computer.

Even Microsoft acknowledges it as the BSOD, though unofficially.

Well, I got a Mac back in August. A MacBook, actually. And I knew that I would get no more Blue Screens Of Death.

Didn't know about the White Screen Of Death.



I know about it now.

The little icon flashes at about 1 second intervals. And it means something is very, very wrong with your MacBook.

And, after running all kinds of diagnostics with the guy from Apple support, it seems it doesn't think there's a hard drive.

Well now, I mused, that can't be good.

He concurred.

So, my Apple Care Protection Plan kicks in. I have to take it to an Apple place. There are a couple of Authorized Representatives in Columbus. The nearest full-fledged Apple Store is in Atlanta. That's an hour and a half to two hours away.

Unless there's road construction.

And there is road construction.

So, off to see the Apple Authorized Representatives tomorrow.

And this, on top of another issue that arose that I really needed my computer for.

So, I'm without my new toy.

However, my old toy, this Dell notebook I'm currently on, is working.

It's taking a little getting used to, with the keys and functions all a little different. Sure, I use a Windows machine at work all day. But I don't have my blog up there. Having the blog up puts me in blogging mode. And blogging mode now means MacBook mode.

Only not right now.

Oh, well. After spending all day Saturday working on my daughter's computers (a Dell desktop and a Dell notebook), I get to experience my own computer issues.

Seems she gets it honest.

Fixin' computers

The Little Princess called earlier this week. She was having problems with her computer.

Well, sort of.

She was having trouble getting on the Internet using her computer's wireless connection.

Now, when she got her computer recently -- it was a replacement Dell sent for one that went bad -- she sat on the couch at the house and got on the Internet. So, I figured the wireless connection worked. But she said it didn't work for her at her apartment, in downtown Athens, or on campus (UGA).

So, Saturday morning, I got up and drove to Athens.

And, sure enough, her wireless wouldn't work. That is, it didn't show a usable signal. It showed some stuff ... likely open networks that others were running ... but not the connection she was expecting.

Here's the thing. I broke out my MacBook ... and it showed the expected connection. Then, I broke out MY Dell laptop -- yes, I took both the MacBook and my Dell laptop with me -- and it showed the expected connection.

We then piled into the car and went downtown. Stopped at a hippie joint called "The Hot Spot" and got on their hot spot.

How did I know it was a hippie joint? Well, the "anti-war" rally sign about the meeting at that place was the first hint.

The other was that it was crawling with hippies. And they sold Coca-Cola in a 12 oz. can for $1.25 plus tax.

I was, by far, the oldest person in the place. And likely the only one who ever had a real job.

Well, there was the girl running the register and playing on the computer that was also the register. Only I'm not sure she's had a real job, either. I mean, if you sell Cokes for $1.25, that's not a job. It's robbery.

Anyway, the MacBook and my Dell notebook was able to get on the wireless network there. But the Little Princess' Dell notebook wasn't picking up the Hot Spot's hot spot signal. While we were sitting in the place.

So, I decided to contact Dell. I went to Dell.com on my MacBook and found their support site. They wanted the "Service Tag" of her notebook. Which I didn't have.

Then, on the wall, there was suddenly a network jack.

Okay, it was there the whole time, but I didn't notice it.

So, I plugged her notebook in, and it was suddenly online. But not via the wireless.

But, I was able to log on to Dell.com on her computer and have it scan for the Service Tag.

And now, here's the thing. After the scan, her wireless setup found the Hot Spot!

Which, as best as I can figure, means that an online scan of the computer fixed the thing that was keeping it from finding a connection to go online.

Which you have to think about for a minute.

Yeah, it made my brain hurt.

But, her computer started working like it should.

We finished up there -- got all her latest downloads, updates, and such -- then went on campus.

Sure enough, she had no trouble getting online via the wireless.

Then, back to the apartment.

And there was the problem. Sort of.

Sometimes she was able to get the signal, and sometimes not. Although the MacBook ... and my Dell ... had no problems.

But, it eventually picked up the signal, so all was well.

Got her Windows One Care -- Microsoft's new security suite that integrates with Windows XP and Vista -- to replace her separate apps. Ease of use is the goal.

Took all day for things to happen. Partly because we didn't rush anything. And partly because we made a couple of trips to the store ... and to eat. More about the restaurant later.

A good visit with mission accomplished: fixed her computer. Or at least, let it fix itself.

Dell service

Last week, the Little Princess called. She needed two things.

She needed help moving her stuff from storage to her new apartment.

And she had a problem with her computer.

A little less than four years ago, we gave her a Dell computer for college. She had taken her Gateway laptop that her mother gave her in high school, but, she needed a new computer, so we got her a Dell notebook.

Last year, she had a problem with it overheating. Since we had the full warranty and coverage on it, they sent a technician by to make the repairs. And it's worked fine since then.

Until last week.

That's when the Little Princess called to tell me about her computer issues.

And, it involved sparks and burned clothing. So, when she called me that night, I got on the computer, chatting with "Muthulakshman_82118" while she was on the phone.

Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "Thank you . As I see in the records that you have an Inspiron 1100 with windows Xp home installed,correct ?"
Basil: "yes"
Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "Basil, could you tell me the sparks comes out from the ac adapter or from the port on the laptop?"
Basil: "from where the plug goes into the jack. uncertain if it's the jack, or the plug, since it happens when plug is in jack, and cord connected to outlet"
Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "Are you referring to the ac adapter ?"
Basil: "yes. sparks emit from back of notebook when ac adapter plug is in the jack on the back of the notebook while other end of adapter is in outlet"
Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "Basil,do you have a spare ac adapter ?"
Basil: "No"
Basil: "Just the one that came with the notebook"
Basil: "shh has computer in Athens. I have another Dell notebook, but I'm in Phenix City, 3-1/2 hours away from her"
Basil: "so she can't use mine on my ohter Dell"
Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "Okay."
Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "May I place you on hold for 2-3 minutes."
Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "Thank you for your patience."
Basil: "sure"
Agent (Muthulakshman_82118): "Basil, due to the nature of the problem, the damage sustained to the system may have affected more than one component. In order to ensure a complete resolution, Dell will send a like or better system replacement. In the meantime, I recommend that you no longer use the system. Once the replacement arrives, return the defective system in the box the replacement arrived. Be sure to include all cable and electrical cords."

And, yesterday, the replacement arrived.

It's an Inspiron 1520, with Windows Vista Home Premium, 2 GB RAM, 140 GB HD, and a DVD burner.

Yes, that's a huge upgrade from what she had. But, an equivalent, in one aspect.

When we got her the notebook, it was a middle-range notebook, upgraded somewhat. And, they're sending the 2007 version: a middle-range notebook, upgraded somewhat.

So, no complaints about the service. The fact that we needed the service is, of course, a problem. But, like I said, no complaints about the service.

Of course, her computer isn't the only computer with sparks out the back and burns in the last week. There was a story on a local Columbus TV newscast yesterday about a local family having an issue with their Dell notebook.

"Wife smelled something she picked it up and there was a flame out the bottom of it," says Brown.

And the computer wasn't even turned on.

Brown compares watching his laptop go up in flames to a roman candle lighting the sky.

It's the same story that was reported elsewhere as happening in Columbus, OH, but it was Columbus, GA.

Maybe we should consider ourselves lucky that the problem didn't burn anything down. Plus I'm wondering what to do, if anything, about the two Dells we have at the house.

Me? I'm going to continue to use my new Macbook.

WiFi woes

So far, I'm liking my new Macbook.

There are some things that are different. But some things are the same.

My browser, for instance. I quit using Internet Explorer when Firefox came out. And I use Firefox on the Macbook instead of Safari, Apple's own browser. So the browser's pretty much the same. Minor differences, sure, but only minor.

My old Gateway laptop had WiFi connectivity. After I added a card. Old computer, after all. The Dell notebook had it built-in, which was really handy.

The Macbook has built-in WiFi, of course. And, it's really easy to connect to hotspots around town.

For example, the Wife and I often eat at the Subway on Broadway in Columbus. It's not that far from where she works or where I work. And the first time I used the Macbook there, the network connection thingy popped right up, asking me if I wanted to connect to "Subway On Broad."

I did.

And that's actually a couple of mouse-clicks easier than it is to do on the Dell. The Windows machine. So, yeah, it's easier.

Well, that was last Friday.

Monday, I decided to take the Macbook out to lunch. And we went to McDonald's. The one on Veteran's, near 14th Street. It's not too far from where we work. And we had a couple of Arch Cards we hadn't used. And they got WiFi.

Or so they say. It didn't work for me.

The folks there ... or the ones that were there Monday ... didn't know a whole lot about it.

The little girl who was cleaning up tables pointed me right to one of the ladies behind the counter. The lady behind the counter offered one suggestion, but it wasn't applicable.

You see, I was connected to their WiFi. I know so, because, just like it had a couple of days before at Subway, the little connection thingy popped up, asking me if I wanted to connect to "McDonald's."

I did.

And it connected. But wouldn't get on the Internet.

Which told me their network was running, but their network wasn't on the Internet.

I've had that happen at the house on occasion. It usually means that the router isn't routering -- that's a technical term -- properly. It happens every couple of months or so. I suspect because it's a cheap router I bought one night from Wal-Mart. Anyway, when it happens, if I tell the router to restart, it usually fixes it.

Well, that's how McDonald's was acting.

And the lady behind the counter, once she understood that I was on their network, but wasn't on the Internet, told another lady, who was a manager. Or at least, was wearing a blue shirt like the managers at that store do.

After several minutes, this other lady finally told me she didn't know but would ask her manager. She went to some fellow wearing a blue shirt.

After several more minutes, she came back and said they didn't know why it wasn't working for me because it worked a couple of days ago.

I thanked her and walked away, put my computer up, and left.

To me, they ought to either have a working hotspot ... and be able to do simple troubleshooting when it goes out ... or they ought to take the thing out.

I realize that a free hotspot isn't the most important thing about a McDonald's. The most important thing is getting the new toy in the Happy Meal. But, if they aren't going to do something right, they ought not to do it.

And, no, it's not my computer. I'm sitting in the Subway on Broad as I type this.

Yeah, I really do need to get a life.

Thinking Different

I've loved and hated computers for years. Usually the love of computers wins out. But the hate surfaces from time to time.

First computer I ever dealt with ... hands on ... was at Brunswick Junior College. One of those dial-in terminals with the large black telephone and an acoustic coupler. If you don't know what an acoustic coupler is, you're new to computers.

Anyway, a friend was going to school over at Brunswick, and I'd ride over there on occasion, since I had days off after working nights. He showed me the computer terminal room, which he was enjoying because of the computer classes he was taking.

I fell in love with the computer right away.

Those old terminals, which dialed in to the computers in Athens (UGA), didn't have a screen. Paper output only. Looked like a teletype machine. Sort of like this one.

When I enrolled in school there and took my first computer classes, I thought I was in heaven. I knew I had to get me a computer. Once I had a few million dollars.

Of course, not long after that, computers showed up in stores. And they were years ahead of the old teletype terminals I had used just a couple of years earlier.

I bought a Radio Shack Color Computer 2, an Adam, a TRS-80 Model 4, and an MC-10. I never had a Commodore 64, though. I saw one and just didn't like it. But, in the small computer geek circle I hung around, I was the first one to venture into the land of MS-DOS. I bought a Tandy 1000, which ran MS-DOS 2.11. Later, I upgraded to DOS 3.2, then DOS 4, but removed that after just a little bit. I upgraded it to DOS 5, then DOS 6.

Along the way, I tried out this little thing called Windows. Version 2.03.

I got into putting together my own computers from parts, and eventually upgraded to Windows 3.0. Later, 3.1, then Windows 95 and Windows 98.

Bought a Gateway desktop with Windows ME, and got rid of that piece of crap operating system almost as soon as Windows XP came out. I later bought a Dell desktop, Gateway laptops, Dell notebooks ... for me, for the Wife, for Number One Son, and for the Little Princess.

The whole time, I was still having a love-hate relationship with computers. At times, I was amazed and thrilled at all the things one could do with a computer.

At the same time, I was quite frustrated with lots of the things I'd run into with computers. Like the Blue Screen Of Death.

Oh, sure, I don't think I've had a BSOD since I dumped Windows ME. But still, there'd be lockups and crashes and such.

And viruses.

I got my first virus back in the days of DOS 4. Stoned. That's when I learned to have an anti-virus program on my computer.

I had McAfee (before they were bought out), Microsoft AntiVirus, IBM AntiVirus, Norton AntiVirus (before they were bought out) ... I tried several. And was happy with most of them.

Well, okay, "happy" is a little strong. I had accepted that I needed security software. And those packages worked rather well.

But it frustrated me that I had to add security software to my operating system. However, that was the reality of having a computer that ran a Microsoft operating system. And that's what I had.

After a while, I decided to try to find a different platform to try. And I tried Linux.

Linux didn't work just right. Well, not with my hardware. I really liked Linux, but there were some issues with the video card in my laptop. And there's not a lot of quality help with issues.

So, I was stuck with a Microsoft operating system.

Vulnerable to all kinds of security threats. Running slow. Frightening upgrades. Software crashes. Hardware crashes. Hard-to-use software. Hardware folks blaming the software folks while the software folks blame the hardware folks.

And on and on.

Linux was supposed to take me away from all that. But it didn't work with my hardware.

So, I was stuck in Windows world.

Until ... this week ... I did the unthinkable.

I bought a Mac.

Pod People II

The Wife and I went on a trip this past weekend. We sort of went to Atlanta.

I say "sort of," because that's not where we were planning on going to start with. And not were we ended up. But where we stopped along the way. And not just to grab a bite. But we did some shopping. Or looking.

You might recall that the Wife got her an iPod. One of those little iPod Shuffle things. She likes it. And so do I.

When we were contemplating purchasing it, we actually said aloud that we'd probably get that one because we didn't want to spend a lot of money. Actually, a lot lot. Because, when you get right down to it, $79 is a lot of money. But the iPod Nano is $149 ... and higher. And the big iPod is $249 ... and higher. So, the Shuffle is a lot of money. But the Nano is a lot lot of money. And the iPod is a lot lot lot of money.

Anyway, we figured we'd spend the money on the iPod Shuffle and then want either a Nano or a big iPod.

We wanted the big iPod.

Okay, she's actually happy. I want the big iPod.

And, this weekend, we were going to South Carolina ... and just happened to be heading through Atlanta.

Yes, there are places in Columbus where you can buy an iPod. But not places where you can ask questions.

But Atlanta has places like that. Called the Apple Store. And there's one in Lenox Mall. So, we jumped off of I-85 (if Apple owned it, it'd be i85) and headed up Lenox Road to the Mall.

Being hungry and all, we ate first. Then worked our way up the elevators and escalators to the top level, where the Apple Store was located.

And got in line.

You might want to read that again.

We got in line.

There was a line to get into the Apple Store.

People were queued up to talk to 20-somethings who had either too much facial hair or too many bits of metal in their heads.

Okay, not all of the folks working there looked like that. But the PC Guy in me has to think that way.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/FdA51hlTKrM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

So, we stood in line and were eventually seen by a young man ... "Kevin" according to his name tag ... who had facial hair, but in the "I grew a beard" style, not the "I'm too lazy to shave" style.

Kevin was actually quite courteous and helpful. He didn't seem to mind answering questions for a couple of folks who talked like they were from around there.

But I noticed some stuff about the folks there. Not the Apple folks, but the customers.

They stood in line to get into a store that sold expensive stuff. The line had as many people in it as there were people in the store shopping.

They stood in line to pay for expensive stuff. There seemed to be as many people in line to pay for stuff as there were people standing in line to get in ... or in between, shopping.

Oh, and it wasn't just a couple of Mac geeks or iPod salesmen in t-shirts keeping people in line. Mall cops were there with badges and uniforms and everything.

But the folks there were very helpful about the different questions we asked, whether about the iPod or the Mac computers.

How helpful?

There's an iPod in my pocket as I type this. The 80 GB. That holds 20,000 songs.

Yes, I'm a Pod Person, too.

Linux we hardly knew ye

I gave it a shot.

I tried. I really did.

But Linux isn't for me. Or, at least, not for my computers.

Oh, I really, really want to give it a shot. It's just more work than I'm wanting to put into it right now.

Here's the deal. I've been interested in running Linux on a computer for some time. Linux has lots of things I like.

For one thing, it's secure. Or, at least, much more secure than Microsoft Windows.

And it reminds me of the "old days" with computers. Before Windows.

You see, I've had a computer in one form or another for ... gosh ... 25 years. Actually, longer than that.

I had a Tandy Color Computer 2 (the "CoCo 2"), an Adam (remember those?), a TRS-80 Model 4, an MC-10 ... before joining the PC universe with a Tandy 1000.

The Tandy 1000 ran MS-DOS 2.11 ... and actually still ran the last time I booted it up, just a few years ago. I eventually added Windows 2.03 to it. Of course, it was running DOS 3.2 by then. Later DOS 5 and DOS 6 ... and, of course, Windows 3.0 then 3.1.

I had gone beyond the Tandy 1000 to a "put together" PC. I used Windows 95, then Windows 98. When I bought my first Gateway, it came with Windows ME (which sucked then, and still sucks today). I upgraded to Windows XP almost as soon as it came out.

Eventually, I broke down and bought a laptop (Gateway) ... and eventually replaced it with a newer laptop (Dell). They still run Windows XP Professional.

Only, the whole time, I wondered if there was something else. Something ... well, if not better, more exciting and fun.

And I've been tinkering with Linux for a bit.

I bought SuSE Linux (now Novell Linux) back when version 9.0 came out. I tried it on a couple of computers. A Compaq server I bought 2nd-hand, as well as the Gateway (which had retired from service).

Frustrated with issues with performance ... related to hardware, I thought ... I decided to use Windows 2003 for a server instead, and did for a bit.

I stopped hosting myself, and took the servers down, wanting to find something for a side project.

That's when fellow blogger Joe pointed me to Ubuntu Linux.

I really liked Ubuntu ... except for one thing.

It works very well. Very fast. Very friendly. It surprised me just how well it worked.

Except for one thing.

The Gateway M305X video card won't work with Ubuntu Linux to give a resolution higher than 800 x 600. And I want 1024 x 768. And I won't budge off of this. Anyway, some of the screens don't fit 800 x 600 very well.

So, with much misgivings, I took Ubuntu off and put Windows XP on.

I'm not saying I'm done with Ubuntu. I am saying that it's done as far as that computer is concerned.

Which means, for me anyway, I won't be using Ubuntu for my personal PC. I'm still looking at setting it up as a server. But not for my personal PC.

For that, I must stay in the Windows XP world.

For now.

But that might change.

Very soon.

Very, very soon.

More about that ... and a trip we took ... later.