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29 April 2011

COMPUTER WIZARD

Big D

I’m sending a huge “thank you” to Big Darren this evening.

For almost a year, Larry the Laptop has been having a bit of a wobble with things secure. He has been sitting there on my desk in Mission Control, wide open to the world’s internet master criminals. In fact, it transpires, he has been their very best friend and has played host to all their little presents, all because good ol’ Virgin Media has been a complete pile of dog poo and letting all this naughty stuff through the wire into poor little Larry’s innards.

So much so, that for a little while Larry has been suffering a really bad dose of indigestion. He has been refusing his fences, unless kicked in the withers. However, today Larry decided he had had enough. He did not budge an inch, refused to move a muscle. Then, there was the Blue Screen Of Death.

I put it all down to the wedding. Larry stopped dead as the wedding dress was being eased into the Abbey. Whilst the rest of the world was hyper-ventilating over young Kate’s attire and Will was waiting at the alter, Larry decided enough was enough and stopped. Dead.

Who are you going to call?

Within a blink of an eye, the Ghostbuster in Chief, The Wizard of the Wires was winging his way to Mission Control. Air was sucked slowly through the teeth. “Was there any back-up?” “Back what?” Heads were scratched. The verdict was sombre: Larry was in a very poor state. In fact, Larry was on the critical list.

But Big D is a fighter. He is made of the right stuff. After a whole afternoon of teasing, tweaking and testing, Larry was nursed gently back into the light, leaving the dark places behind. So, by the end of the afternoon he was back, bursting with rude health, but this time with a complete set of inoculations.

13 comments:

  1. Ahem, I hesitate lest we break up the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but you should really think about getting a Mac...

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  2. Get a Mac. I did. Big D is even more masterful with Macs and iphones. He is a clever lad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Computers can be annoying. It is good to have friends who understand them. Good to hear Larry got healed. I'm a PC user, but may switch to a Mac when I need to buy a new laptop the next time. They tell a lot of good about them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh here we go, the old Mac vs PC debate. Have a look at

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_kGL3M5Cg

    The word is linux (actually it isn't and I'm a PC)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Don't buy a Mac. It'll cost you real money ! Instead, take care of proper defense whatever you use. Make back-ups and buy a external harddisk (=less money involved) to back-up your systems, documents, pictures, etc..

    Yours sincerely,

    Theo

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  6. Al,
    Buy a Mac, it will save you hours of grief. Money well spent in my opinion even though it's expensive.
    I have been a PC and will never return.
    Fast, no scanning required, no anti virus, spyware, trojan rubbish to keep on top of and loads more....

    Oh yes, your post. Reminded me of the film Short Circuit. No.5 is alive!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have to say after all the time I have spent chewing the desk over pc problems I cannot wait to get a Mac. I think pc's are incredibly rubbish. Cheap, yes.

    Macs fire up almost instantly, don't get all this nasty illnesses and link up beautifully with other Mac stuff as well.

    Microsoft on the other hand drives me up the wall with constant security updates, system crashes and the dreaded blue screen of death. I happily admit that I HATE Microsoft computer pc stuff.

    As soon as I can afford it I shall be in that nice Apple shop in Cambridge. (That'll be a while then... sigh)

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  8. Never had a problem with Windows 2000 Pro. Regular backup is routine, but thankfully never needed so far.

    As the Apple OS becomes more popular, the day of a major Mac Hack cannot be far away.

    "There will be a wailing and a gnashing of teeth"

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  9. Here's another vote for the Mac. I found the Missing Manual by David Pogue useful when I made the change.

    As with the others, it's hard to envisage going back. Macs look nicer while I'm using them and feel nicer too. Sometimes, it's easier to get jobs done on the Mac than on a PC. Mine runs my Hi Fi, provides my TV, edits my photos after getting them out of my camera and has a piano-style keyboard connected to it so that I can learn to play. Apart from having to get the right version of EyeTV, none of that was difficult to set up. Real money, definitely, but worth it.

    The App Store has a most excellent Gotcha, though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Al,
    I agree with Zed,
    The book is an excellent piece of work. It got me on the right track with the Mac and i would recommend getting it to anyone who is unfamiliar with the Mac system..

    Also there are many good tutorials on individual bits on You Tube and on Apple help.

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  11. Oh, a Mac. Definitely.

    And best wishes for your coming toddle across Scotland.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you Mark.
    Will you be joining us in 2012?

    ReplyDelete
  13. New I-mac just arrived in the US at $1199. Wonder what that will work out in the UK.
    http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/imac?cid=CDM-US-DM-P0010452-CON&cp=em-P0010452-172185&sr=em

    ReplyDelete

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