Coopernundrums

   Working in the software industry for the last 10 years means I have had the pleasure of dealing with EVERY level of computer user you can imagine.  I firmly believe that our schools are FAILING our children in one enormous fundamental way.  THEY DO NOT SEEM TO TEACH KIDS ANYTHING ABOUT COMPUTERS!! 

    It seems very clear to me that we spend far more time teachin math and science and other sundry skills and almost nothing useful regarding the lubricant that runs our world.  I have talked to accountants that know nothing about how their PCs work. I have spoken to sofware developers that have no idea that there are other operating systems outside of windows XP.  I have talked to supposed IT administrators that have no idea what a command line code is.

    It is very frustrating to me to see these and other highly intelligent individuals CRIPPLED by their lack of knowledge regarding the very thing that pays their bills.

   I know I am ranting but I really believe that we need to speed a great deal more time educating folks about how PCs work from the inside out, not just what they can do.  PC support and repair should be as much a foundation subject as English and Physical Education.  Its a shame that in this day and age that we have so many people tha can not install simple software or uninstall it.

    Then again..it means I stay in work and will always have a job..

    Ah the doldrums of late winter.  I sit writing this while my mind pines away for the sunshine and warmth of spring.  I am sure many of you reading this feel the same way.  Thinking of what to write has been tough lately, but today I had a fun thought and in a flash knew what this post would be about.

    Being a technophile means I will never be without work, thankfully. That being said here is a list of the invaluable tools that I believe every card carrying  computer geek needs to do their primary job and of course al the side work we have as well.

The trusty USB Thumb Drive

Unless you just enjoy hauling a 9 pound brick of a laptop with you everywhere you go, having a small key chain, compact USB flash drive is a lifesaver.  I have one that is 32 GB large.  No “mine’s bigger than your’s” jokes, please.  I have mine set as a bootable device with a whole cavalcade of recovery and “fixer” programs.  I never leave home without it and I have everything I need to get any PC up and running with me at all times.

Dedicated Web Space

You might think this is more of a luxury than a tool, but I assure you in times of need having a virtual medium out there on the World Wide Web that you can send files to and retrieve files from ANYWHERE in the world is an INVALUABLE tool.  When the old thumb drive is full or cant be used, say on a PC with no USB ports free, this tool is my “go to GUY”.

 FTP Program

Well, if you have web space out there in the virtual world you have to have a way to get to it right?  A good QUALITY File Transfer Protocol program is a true necessity.  I won’t go into my likes and dislikes about FTP app cause I have some quirky needs.  What I will say however is make sure you try out several programs before you settle on one you will stick with for a while.  Lots of great freeware programs for this but beware many of the free ones are garbage.

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    So I just spent 6 days attempting to install a computer game that was originally released in the year 2000 on my laptop which is now running windows 7, the new thoroughbred of operating systems.  As I spent quality time perusing old old forums and blog posts trying to figure out ways to sidestep and circumvent old installers and windows 98 configuration files i realized that I can actually define my life by the games I have played that are near and dear to me.  So here goes.

In 1977 Atari Pong was released with much hoopla and mass market appeal.  I remember clearly going to another child’s birthday party and having the old stand alone PONG console as the main party fun. Hours and hours we spent blipping that ball back and forth, utterly mesmerized by the tiny glowing orb as it bounced from one side of the screen to the other.  I can recall NOT wanting to leave his house.

I wasn’t fortunate enough to get my hands on a home video game console until the early 80’s.  It was then that the joy of ATARI came into my life. I have only the fondest of memories and still play these games today.  Combat, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Yar’s Revenge, Berserk, Demon Attack, Pac- man and Pitfall were all my favorite pastime from 1980- 1986

In 1987 I spent the night at a buddies house for a guys sleepover.  He had Nintendo Entertainment System.  After 15 minutes of Glorious, full color, in your face Super Mario Brothers I was hooked.  I wanted one of these so bad that I begged my mother for months to get me one.  Here is the greatest thing I remember about this system, besides the plethora of AWSOME titles for it.  My mother, the greatest mom ever, spent her income tax return getting me this game system.  I played the hell out of Dragon Warrior, Punch Out, Metroid, Double Dribble, Castlevania and many, many more from about 87 till the early 90’s.

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