I have a friend of mine that many, many years ago, operated a bicycle store in a small town in the Midwest. One evening as we were discussing the previous ventures we had tried, he proceeded to tell me that one of the reasons he was successful in the bicycle business was that he gave away a spoke wrench with every bicycle purchased. This spoke wrench cost him about a dollar fifty. Which, considering the time that has passed since then, was a pretty good premium. So I asked him, what was it about the free spoke wrench that made him successful?
“People cannot resist trying to use the spoke wrench,” he said. People just don’t know what they are doing, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. They would inevitably break a spoke or get the wheel out of round and amazingly show up back at the bicycle shop and need their wheel straightened. This provided a steady stream of repair jobs for the slow times.
How many times have you decided that you can fix something yourself, and that the so-called trained professional simply paid his tuition and gathered his experience for nothing?
So, since I have a few spare appointments open for the next week or two, I am going to give you a free spoke wrench. (Figuratively speaking.)
The most intense battle going on in the computer world right now is how to direct you to the places on the web that others want you to see. You have heard the terms, spyware, malware and many others. Without going into a deep explanation of what they are, suffice it to say that these entities send you pop ups, pop unders, spam and in some cases actually hijack your PC forcing you to go to sites that you would never (well most of you would never) voluntarily go. In addition, if you have enough of these entities on your machine, it will actually slow down and even freeze up. Now, here is your free spoke wrench.
Go to http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html and download Spybot Search and Destroy. This program will search your entire computer for the little buggers I previously mentioned and remove them from your machine. This program is Freeware. This means that you don’t HAVE to pay for it. However, if you want the gentleman who has made it his life mission to wipe out spyware to continue, then please send him a donation. Some of you will carefully read all the details on how the program works, what to do with it, and the potential problems that may or could be caused by not following the directions. To you, I salute and good hunting. Your computer will now be inhabited by fewer of the little nasties. Those who don’t read the details, my number is at the bottom of the column. I can fix what you break.
Why do people create these insidious, perverse adware, spyware and malware programs? Pure and simple, MONEY. These things are actually little programs that are placed on your PC, often without your knowledge but more often with your uninformed knowledge. They are designed to put something in front of your eyes. An advertisement, or a chance to win something, or even sometimes to scare you into buying something. One of the most effective ones out there gives you a pop up window that looks very important and states that your computer may contain spyware. If your CD Rom drawer opens, then you are infected and please press the Buy Now button for some super duper monster spyware killer. The CD Rom drawer opens just as predicted and you click on the button. Please give your credit card number to them and you will be charged only $79.95 for this wonderful program. The fact of the matter is, they now have your credit card number and you just downloaded a program that will insure that you have a never ending supply of pop ups and spam. They infest a couple of hundred million PC’s with this little scam and maybe only one percent respond, and they just retired to Tahiti.
What are the symptoms of an infested PC? First, it will seem to take longer and longer to start up. Second, the pc will seem to run slower and slower. The Internet browser will not take you to the sites you want to go. And finally, the PC will freeze up and be non responsive.
Interestingly, I exhibit a lot of these symptoms myself, as I get older. I wonder if they sell a human version of Spybot at the drugstore?
Enjoy a good read? Grumbles from the the Keyboard is like no other “computer book” you’ve read before. It reads more like a series of short stories and oh by the way, there is computer lessons buried in the stories. Learn many tips and tricks about the computer without even knowing it happened. Many readers have emailed me to let me know the book is in the place of honor in their homes. That’s right, along side the toilet. Makes great reading while attending to constitutional matter. Enjoy.
|
Grumbles From The Keyboard: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer (9781467985895): Courtland Nederveld: BooksTired of computers? Just want to read something different? Here is just the thing. Quick, fun, and tasty.
|
Epicuria: An Adventure That Really Cooks! (9781456561734): Court Nederveld: Books
No comments:
Post a Comment