Do you still use Dialup?

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I have been on broadband for years now and never regretted the change over. 

If you are one of those people who feel broadband still isn’t really for you, here are a few pointers in the direction of upgrading.

You should change to broadband if…

  • You use the internet a lot – If you use a lot of internet, it’s well worth the few pounds a month it costs to have a faster connection. Especially if you are using pay as you go internet – the amount of money your using to pay for the dial up would probably pay for broadband.
  • You want to download a lot – Trying to download large files on dial up usually means leaving the computer on all night. When I had dialup I would get about 4kbps which is just pointless. Also, think about the amount of unnecessary power usage you’re getting through.
  • You want to use the phone at the same time as the internet – Yes, this is probably the biggest upside. I hate it on dialup that you can’t use the phone at the same time.
You can get broadband extremely cheap nowadays so try for yourself and see how long it takes for you to get used to it. I promise you, you wont regret the upgrade.

What program do you use for email?

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When it comes to email clients, theres a huge amount of choices. Heres the ones I know:

  • Microsft Outlook
  • Outlook Express (or Windows Mail for Vista)
  • Mozilla Thunderbird
  • Windows Live Mail (Beta)
And there are hundreds more. If you’re really interested take a look at this from Wikipedia, there’s loads there – most of them I have never even heard of.
I use a combination of Microsoft Outlook for my main email and Windows Live Mail for my other emails.
I’ve always liked them because they are both simple and easy to use, and just do the job. 
What do you use for your email?

Update on the faulty Freecom drive

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After my complaints to Freecom regarding their poorly manufactured Network Drive they finally got back to me today to tell me that they would be sending me a brand new drive – thank god.

They will send me a postage label which I can attach to the box and return to them, and then they will send me a new one. 

To be fair their customer service lines were pretty good and the corresponding emails were quick and easy to understand so +1 on that note.

It’s just sad that I was the one who got the bad drive.

Ah well, I’ll update again when the new drive arrives.

New look WordPress on the way!

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If you use WordPress for your blog or website, you might be interested to know that WordPress 2.7 is on the way and one of its highlights is a brand new design. 

 

Wordpress 2.7

Wordpress 2.7

 

 

Here on GEEK! WordPress is used, its a fantastic blogging program that, while a little complicated to install (if you don’t have Fantastico on the server), is very easy to maintain and is very stable.

You can also get Plugins for it that can add a huge variety of features, or make your own. 

If you want to get the current version of WordPress (v2.6.2) head over to www.wordpress.org or for more information on the new upcoming WordPress go to http://wordpress.org/development/

Keeping your system happy and healthy with Iolo System Mechanic…

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In the past, I have seen a countless list of programs that claim to speed up your computer and keep your system healthy. That’s what they all say. “Your computer could be 200% faster” and “You are predicted to have xxx registry errors” are my favourite claims. They never actually help your PC at all. They just sit there hogging up RAM and bouncing up and down in the notification tray telling you they’ve fixed 6500 errors or the likes.

But I’ve finally found a program that does live up to its word. It’s called Iolo System Mechanic and it is available here for around $50 (£30ish). This program doesn’t constantly remind you how “clever” it is or nag you when your system scan is 6 minutes out of date. No. This one just sits quietly and efficiently in the background all day. And it won’t do anything unless you’ve been idle on the computer. And as soon as you come back it shuts off and leaves you alone. The only time it will ever remind you about your computer is if you start the control center manually, where it will give you 3 simple dials with the status of your computer and any problems you might be encountering. 

 

The main control center

The main control center

Once you have configured it with a few simple steps during install, you just ‘set it and forget it’ as people call it.

It’s a great program and I really recommend it. Ofcourse the real computer geek would never need a program like this but if you’re like me (can’t be bothered to spend hours clearing out the registry and so on… *yawns*) you’ll find this program so useful.