Computers and Networking for the Home Owner and Small Businesses - by Sid Plait: Recent Comments

Comment on Take a look at these two sites

2009-10-01T09:50:51Z

Hey, Inder! Excellent to hear from you! I will email you off-blog to catch up!

Comment on Take a look at these two sites

2009-10-01T06:08:45Z

Great site Sid. Knowing you, I am not really surprised.

Comment on Windows Users - Don't Download System Security 2009!

2009-09-30T22:47:56Z

While you make a good point, most people don't really know how to set that up. In addition, they aren't interested in running another PC, so they aren't interested in me setting it up for them. (It's not really very "green", either.) I have one client that has an older PC he uses for the "dodgier" ("more dodgy"?) stuff. It DOES help.

Sorry for the time span not writing! I've been doing other stuff.

I intend to do this more often from now on.

Comment on Windows Users - Don't Download System Security 2009!

2009-09-28T06:53:16Z

I've often observed that a lot of people tend to throw out their old PC or Mac whenever they acquire a new computer; instead, they would be well advised to use that old computer as a buffer between the Internet and their new computer, sort of like the medieval King's taster, when viewing some dodgy website or when reading some suspicious e-mail -- if the 'taster' computer gets 'poisoned', then the 'King' computer is spared.

P.S. It has been six months since your previous post, Sid. What kept you? :-)

Comment on Homage to Mark Knopfler (warning - very long post!)

2009-06-06T00:39:10Z

Ravi -

Thanks for "stumbling in"!

I think most people listen to music that sounds good, but do not truly listen to the words and the composition of songs. As a result, many major works get ignored or passed over by the public. If it ain't catchy....

There are a large number of us, however, who really appreciate the subtleties of a well-written and composed song or album - any of the first five or so Moody Blues albums, Tommy, Quadraphenia, Thick As a Brick, Aqualung, and almost anything by Pink Floyd after they started doing theme albums. There are so many!

Listening to Dire Straits first album always is a thrill for me. Even Mark's less-well-known tunes, like My Parties, or Ticket to Heaven, which are both along the lines of Money for Nothing, making stark fun (or taking serious jabs) at people who serve no purpose but their own in the world, or Iron Hand (my personal favorite), which I wrote about in the post, are fun (and even catchy).

I prefer to listen to these types of artists first, although I am known to listen to catchy tunes, too.

As you may have read in the very last post on this site, I am moving all non-technical material to a new site on WordPress. So go here to read the newest stuff.

And thanks for being here!

Comment on Homage to Mark Knopfler (warning - very long post!)

2009-06-05T21:13:46Z

I just stumbled on this blog today.

I fully agree with you. Ignorance of songs like Gallery (my favorite)is unfurtunate.

I never understood why Mark Knopfler does not get the recognition that artists who don't have even a fraction of his talent get. HE IS GENIUS. I am yet to listen to an artist who has more songs with outstanding outros than MK. sultans of swing, tunnel of love, telegraphic road, speedway to nazareth, lions .. so many of them. And his guitar is pure melody. Not even David Gilmour or Clapton has consistently delivered melody with guitar like Knopfler.

Comment on Alternatives & How to Decide When to Buy a New PC

2009-05-30T02:14:20Z

Good points.

Comment on URGENT - Windows PC owners - take immediate heed!! (Mac owners - go back to having fun.)

2009-05-30T02:06:40Z

Thanks for the info!

Comment on URGENT - Windows PC owners - take immediate heed!! (Mac owners - go back to having fun.)

2009-04-13T12:02:21Z

Thomas and Ivan -

I think it's time to take this to another level. I will post on this topic this week, so we can get a discussion going with (maybe) more folks jumping in.

Thomas -

I think that people who study English as a second language probably are more familiar with American English than most Americans are, similarly to the way people who become American citizens know our history better.

Comment on URGENT - Windows PC owners - take immediate heed!! (Mac owners - go back to having fun.)

2009-04-12T23:31:28Z

I often have to write manuals for software that I have written.
Rather than write a manual from scratch, I dive into my ever growing archive and pull out an appropriate file and modify it to suit. More often than not I find embarrassing errors in both spelling and grammar, even in manuals that I have "re-heated" several times over and found errors in before.
Danish is my first language and in the beginning I tried to let my Australian or English colleagues do some proof reading but they never seemed to pick up on any of it.
I have never received a complaint from a customer, but I suspect they don't read the manuals.