smart computer use?

I pretty much am just gonna call myself out here and say that I need to pay more attention to this site. I’m not saying it’s a bad site. I like to add content to it, it will mature. I’m not there yet. I’m realizing that few things are gonna probably need to be attended to.

1. There’s no about page. I’m not sure if I just turned it off or deleted the content. But that’s a problem. I’m sure there’s gotta be at least a couple readers of this site that have dug around trying to find more info about the site, beyond the somewhat daily articles.
2. Categories change every couple of weeks. I’m still not liking the category structure, but I don’t want to change it anymore, and I feel what is there is fine. I also dealt with a bad early site setup decision by including category names in the perma-links, which was a bad idea.
3. Easier way to browse the archives. I need to make it easier to browse posts by title once you hit the archive section of the site.

Either way, I’m already working on improvements. Web sites are interesting digital beasts. I’m posting this here so that some might learn from my mistakes and save themselves some trouble.

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Cats like to chew things. Don’t leave the side of your computer case off if you have cats that like to chew stuff.

From About.com

Wires and Cords

Chewing on these cords poses hazards to your cat, from minor shock to death. Cats primarily chew on cords out of boredom, especially if left alone during the day. Try to provide plenty of “play-alone” toys for your cat or kitten, including wall or door mounted toys they can swat or bat around, cat towers to explore, with attached toys for added interest, even an arrangement of cardboard boxes on the floor to form a tunnel, with holes cut through the sides.

I think my cat chews cords cause it thinks it’s supposed to for some reason.

A dummy computer setup

I think it’d be worthwhile to set up a computer that isn’t even running, just as a decoy for the cats to chew on. Leave the side open, load it up with all kinds of old cables and unused computer gear from the magic closet of old computer gear you forgot about and let them think they are actually ruining something they use, but you aren’t. Stupid cats, hehe.

Ad: Learn How To Build or Upgrade a Computer - Have you ever pondered “I’d like to upgrade or build my own computer,” but are frustrated by the lack of great resources to help get you started?

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I was. I still am in some regards. We all were. We all still are in some regards. We all start somewhere.

Using computers generally results in people learning new things every day. Because of this, people do stupid things when they are in the process of learning. A person can only really laugh, cause stupid computer use is just flat out funny in a lot of cases.

Customer: “I ran Microwave Defrost, but it didn’t help.”
(Referring to Microsoft Defrag.)

Read more here. There are many more funny computer tech support related quotes. Most of these have gotta be from the 90’s. I assume most quotes on the page are from people who really just needed to learn to use a computer for use in the workplace, or other such situations.

Good funny stuff.

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Check out some of these horrible tabbed dialog windows. It’s an entertaining look at the worst of tabbed dialog use in applications.

If you’re a developer, use this as an example of what not to do with your apps. Unless you’re trying to be funny or something.

If you’re a user of computer applications, this’ll probably make you appreciate some of the apps that you use on a consistent basis.

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Read it here, a nice list of entry level computer user questions and some pretty sarcastic answers. These are the replies that the IT guys tell to their colleagues, in jest, after they get done answering these kinds of questions for computer users.

I don’t like to ridicule users. I just find these kinds of jokes and answers funny. I used to be there. I still learn new stuff every day.

If anything, you might learn a thing or two about how to use your machine by reading this. If you are already that good of a computer user, you may find the list funny. All the better for everyone I guess.

*Disclaimer: None of the ideas in the list are actually good ideas. The smart thing would be to realize that half the answers are tricks to get you to restart your computer, or shut down programs, for example.

*Another Disclaimer: No question is a stupid question, as far as I’m concerned, so I’m opposed to the title of this list.

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