Hard Drives and Solid State Drives

It is a Western Digital Black Caviar 1.5 TB hard drive. It works best when hooked up to SATA 3. It is one of the best on the Market. Normally that is covered up and you don't see it. $189.99

 It is a Corsair ForceGT 120 GB Solid State Drive. Again it works best when hooked up to SATA 3. This is the mid-range At $249.99, it has to be FAST!

Something to remember. I used to have a hard drive that stood 3" high, and 5.25" w and about 6" long. It was state of the art and it had 10 megs and I thought it was a steal at over $300. 

The Hard drive pictured above is 1" high, 3.5" wide and 4 maybe 5" long. It has 1.5 Tera bytes. The Solid State Drive is 2.5 " wide and about 3.5 inches long with height of 3/8" of an inch. 

Windows 7 has an ability to pair up a SSD drive with a hard drive to speed things up. I am going to have one of each. I will pair them up so that Windows Uses the SSD for most of the programs I use and puts the rarer programs on the hard drive. 

Everyone by now knows about defragmentors and how necessary it is to defrag your HD every so often. It isn't necessary for the SSD's. However it is necessary to run a program called garbage collection. Now, for us, we normally wouldn't think of this. It has to do with how a Hard Drive works as opposed to an Solid State Drive.

It works like this, the operating system, when erasing a program or data, erases the first bit of data and thus allows the hard drive to write over the rest when you put another program in. Well with solid state drives, it does the same thing. The first bit of data and the program disappears. Voila. The rest still are there and won't be written over until you run a program to get rid of the rest of the garbage.  If this isn't performed on a regular basis, the drive will start to slow down. Small price to pay for super speeds.



Next up. Monitors LCD versus LED. What's the difference?

TV Tuners.

This is the part where most people go hunh? TV Tuners for a Personal Computer? Don't you have enough content with Adobe Flash, YouTube and all the rest? Well, except that TV's are changing along with streaming video. It is getting to the point where people are deciding to dedicate a PC for a home entertainment center. It changes some things. 

This is ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100 What it does is allows the PC to receive TV signals. 

Smallest PC TV card. I included it because it is designed to be put in a different slot. If you don't have a certain slot handy, you might have another one.

These basically are comparable. They all work about the same. They accept the signal and then send the signal out to TV. 

What is more important is the software that controls all this. The software from Microsoft Windows works fine as long as the Remote is certified by Microsoft

This is AVerMedia H797R. I included it because the software is NOT Microsoft. 

These boards are just input boards. It inputs TV video from antennas, cable or satellite. It also substitutes the keyboard and mouse for a TV remote. The software is the real engine here. If you want a DVR setup, you choose the software and it acts accordingly.

Now, there are some considerations. If you need to control your cable box, you get a wire which will blast infrared to the cable box telling it to change channels or to shut off or what ever. 

. 

Whups, Hold the presses! I have changed my mind!

Previously I had decided to go with Asrock's very fine Extreme 4 Gen 3 board.

It is a very good board. It has some really nice features, but it doesn't have a backup BIOS. A BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is the very first thing the computer looks at after POST (Post On Self Test). It tells various things for the computer to do. One of the first things it does is notes down what is on the computer, shuts down certain things, like motherboard graphics chipset. It can also shut down the LAN. I found that my wife had shut hers down inadvertently. At least, I hope it was inadvertent. Certain forms of malware can shut down your BIOS. Which basically renders the computer useless. Massive effort to reset and reconfigure the BIOS would be needed to fix the problem. Well, Gigabyte figured a way around it with putting a backup BIOS on board.

This is the one I am going with. I apologize for the poor quailty picture. Currently it is the only one I could find.

GIGABYTE   Z68X-UD3H-B3 

As you can see, GIGABYTE does not believe in keeping installers in the dark.

It has all the features the Asrock has, plus the dual BIOS and a Manual that not only is easy to read, but includes such gems as setting up a RAID hard drive Array. A subject for another column.

Asrock manual was not as detailed as the GIGABYTE.

One more consideration. The GIGABYTE board is cheaper. :-)

Next up : Hard Drives and Solid State Drives. 

Graphics Cards. Two is company, three is even better but it costs ya..

Graphics Cards. Back when I built computers, I installed video cards and what not, there were two types. Color Cards and Monochrome cards. Now, computer motherboards have chipsets which do the job of color cards. So why put in a graphics card, when one is already on the motherboard? Well, the onboard graphics don't run the latest computer games and if you are into design or creating videos, you need the extra power and abilities of what is known as a Discreet Graphics Card. If you are just using the computer to blog,  read news, shop or play a few flash games, you probably won't need one. However, if you want to do more, you need a graphics card.

The next question is why install two? Well, speed mainly. It takes a lot of number crunching and two split up the tasks. One does the top half, the other does the bottom and then sends it to the monitor. Since, two do such a good job, a third one would help also right? Well, yes. It would help. Pricing is the usual bottleneck. To work properly, you need two identical cards with the requisite technology and the operating system that can handle it.  With three, you need three identical cards and there is even one that has four graphics cards.

Here is the deal.

SLI also known as  Scalable Link Interface makes it possible for a computer to use more than one graphics card. It helps speed up creating pictures. It also helps with zooming. It makes it smoother and easier to use.

Two considerations. First costs. Second cooling. I'll deal with cooling first. Because of imperfect knowledge, I burned up two boards using a new game. Now, I will set up two boards and add heatsinks to the backs of the boards. My hopes are that using  the two boards with heatsinks will keep me from burning them up again.

Now Costs. The video/graphics cards I am getting are EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked  01G-P3-1563-AR. I need to get two of them. These are the mid-range ones. Just one costs $249.99. A heatsink which improves the cooling characteristics cost $19.99. That brings the total for two cards to $536.96. Since a motherboard and processor are less than $500, you can see how getting a mid-range card is expensive. Getting more than one card, while it improves the graphics it starts getting expensive. Going with three, $809.94, and four $1079.92. I am saved from the folly of buying more than two because the Mother board I am getting only supports two nVidia style video cards.

The second picture shows the end of the card. These cards need an extra little bit more power, so you need to plan ahead with connectors. Also, you can see the top connectors for SLI. The last one has one mini HDMI port and two DVI-I ports. It is obvious these cards take up two expansion slots in the computer.

Next up: Hard Drives, and Solid State Drives. 

Computer Cases - No longer just a box.

With my last two graphics card burning up and then the motherboard crashing every other day, I decided that now it is extremely necessary to get a case designed to prevent those problems. 

This the Corsair Graphite Series 600T Mesh Mid-Tower Case.  With two latches the side doors are easily removed.

Open side shot. The hard drive bays caddies are on the bottom right. Enough for six of them.

This is one of the flexible drive bay caddy. It is very easily removed.

Now, I can wax poetic about this case. It has some great features. More room than you can shake a stick at. You can almost swing a cat inside it. J/K to the cat lovers. :-) It stands 20" high, 10.4" wide, and 23.3" in length.

I comes with two 200 mm fans and a rear 120 mm fan that ensures good air flow. Cooling being the large bugaboo with gaming computers right now.

It has 4 optical or floppy drive bays, that slide in and out. No screws. Just a lock-down.

The power supply area has it's own removable/cleanable filter with a slide lock should you choose not to use screws to lock the power supply down. It does have screws for the suspenders and belt types, like me. The front intake fan , 200 mm (Over 7" wide), is fairly quiet with a removable/cleanable filter. The other 200 mm fan is located on the top. The 120 mm fan is on the top back. In the picture you can barely make it out.

Now, the most interesting feature is the cable management system, complete with neoprene rubber. It makes for a cleaner area above the mother board and allows air to flow freely through out the case. 

Now,  as you can see, all the cabling can be wire tied and tucked away so that cables can't impede air flow.

The case looks sleek and menacing. With the wire mesh, I can add four more fans to augment it, or I can install a plastic clear cover to show off all the neat things in side. Some people go so far as to add LED's inside. That is a little too much for me, but I still like this one.

This is the one my wife likes.

Fairly soon, I will upgrade her computer with this case and a perfect motherboard as well. :-) This is Antec Lanboy Air Yellow. It comes with five 120 mm fans with room to add TEN more.  This one is actually a little smaller than my pick. 20.3" high, 8.7" wide and 20.2" length. It has some nice fold away carrying handles as well.

Some more pictures to drool on.

Exploded view.

Rear View.

The whole idea now with computer cases is getting more air flow and cooling to overheated boards.

Next up, Graphics Cards. Two is company, three is even better but it costs ya..

MotherBoard Out Puts. Also known as headers.

Hello.

Today, I am going to show you my final choice for a mother board.

The ASROCK Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

As you can see, the I/O back panel is slightly different than the last one.

It has the addition of 4 onboard display out puts. It loses the mouse connector and the SPDIF coax. It retains the SPDIF optical. It loses two USB 2.0 ports. It retains two USB 3.0 ports. With it's Z68 chipset, also known as onboard graphics, it combines the ability to use discreet video/graphics cards with  technology on the board. Another way of putting it, it works well in the gaming world and also in the video realm as well. With a screamer of a Central Processing Unit, it will be fast.

Part of the reason I chose this one is not having to have a graphics card. They range from $200 to $4000 a piece. The ones I have picked out are $250 a piece. Oh, and I am going to have two of them. That is a subject for another column.

My experience with graphics cards is that they burn up easily.  Hopefully it is because I didn't have enough air pushing through my computer case. We'll see.

This is the mother board. Under the V8 sign is the Z68 chipset. It is the part that controls onboard video and graphics out puts.

Now, I could spend all your time explaining every single header that shows up on the left side, but it won't mean anything to you until you install one. Suffice it to say that headers are the way that you get that USB port working on your front panel. It also has IEEE 1395, an on/off switch, reset switch, hard drive working and a couple of other things that an installer would need to put this thing together. You as a user generally don't need to know where or why these things are here. It is nice to know how some of it works. As an installer, it is necessary to understand what each header does.  For installers and repair people, there is Dr Debug. On the left of the picture, you see a two digit led light. It gives up what is wrong with your motherboard.

On the bottom, there are the various SATA ports, The black are the SATA 2 ports and the grey are the faster SATA 3 ports. Next is the 24 pin main plug in from the power supply. If you happen to see three pins sticking out by their lonesome, they are for the fans, either the front, top or rear fans. There is even a fan for the CPU.

The four parallel sockets close together on the bottom are for memory. On the right, near the top is an 8 pin power for the CPU. In the center, near the top is a 4 pin legacy power needed for SLI technology. It seems that a boost of energy is needed when putting more than one graphics card on board.


Next up: Computer Cases. Why is it so important to keep things as cool as possible. A well designed case shows why. Or, Graphics Cards. Why two are better than one.

Motherboard Pictures with English Translations

Hello again. I am starting with the In/Out panel of an ASROCK P67 Extreme 4 Gen 3. Why the back I/O panel? Well, prior to my current research, I had assumed that most computers would have a mouse port, a keyboard port and a Local Area Network as well as a modem. Imagine my chagrin when that just isn't so. Now, it also has specialized ports for audio and visual. Mulitple Universal Serial Bus ports.  Some even come with VGA, HDMI and DIV ports. Basically there is only so much room for a standard size back panel and you just can't everything in there, so there are trade offs. The I/O port can tell you much. I will get into that at the end, but if you can read between the lines, you will understand before I get to it.

With every one and his cousin's business using USB, sometimes there is no mouse input or keyboard input. There is usually at least one LAN. No modems. IEEE ports and SPDIF ports are usually there. And there is a new addition. USB 3.0 ports. Whew! Oh, I almost forgot. Some even have eSATA3 connector. Now, to the average Geek and people who have a passing knowledge of Geekese, this shouldn't come as a surprise. 

To me and to some people who really don't look at the back panel of their computer, it is huge surprise.

Typical I/O Panel for Desktop Computers.

This  panel is typical in that it has standard hookups for almost every thing needed to be hooked up. It isn't on every mother board. 

Going from the left to the right.

Mouse Input. This is a PS2 mouse input. Not always necessary since most mice have USB connectors. In fact it is now hard to find a specific mouse with a PS2 connector. 

PS2 Keyboard input. This is a PS2 keyboard input. Again not always necessary since most keyboards now have USB connectors. Gaming enthusiasts prefer motherboards with a PS2 connector. 

Clear CMOS Switch. It is used to clear the CMOS.....What it does is set all CMOS circuitry to zero. We aren't talking about ROM (Read Only Memory which is needed when starting up the computer.) We are talking about RAM and certain registers in the CPU. It helps when the computer gets stuck in some endless cycle and you wish to break it before you break the computer with a sledge hammer. 

Optical SPDIF and Coaxial SPDIF ports. Sony Phillips Digital Interfaces are more for the ones who don't have an HDMI connector to their home entertainment systems and also for those who are Geeky enough to want some thing different.

USB 2.0 ports, Basically a port to hook up Kindles, Ipods, Iphones, Ipads, Game controllers, and what not.

USB 3.0 ports. Same thing as USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 ports only faster. USB 2 components and below can be plugged into a USB 3.0 ports. USB 3.0 components can NOT be plugged into USB 2 and below ports. Guess what? Your XBOX controller can be plugged into this connector. Cool hunh? 

Local Area Network. Also known as Ethernet. It is the connection to router or modem. It also allows interconnections to other computers on the Local Area Network. LAN for short. 

IEEE 1394 port Basically an Apple design which is better and faster than USB. The problem is that for every 1394 port there is a fee to be paid to the originator. Usually there is only one on the I/O panel while there are 6 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports on this one.  

eSATA3 connector. The small e stands for external. Serial Advanced Technology Attachment is a hookup to a hard drive,  optical (DVD,CD, BLU-Ray) drive and solid state drive. It features hot-swap. That is, you can change hard drives while the computer is still running. Why do that? Well if you get a RAID setup...... and you understand Geekese thoroughly you will need to know that. In other words, that is a whole 'nother column. 

Last but not least, the audio for your speakers. Now you can have several different types of set ups. This is also set up to make surround sound possible from your computer. The days of just beep beep for your computer are long gone. You can have a set up that rivals some home entertainment. 

This Motherboard is considered a Gaming Board. Why? Well, it has no video output and it has a dedicated PS2 keyboard input. Gaming enthusiasts prefer PS2 keyboards and to select their video cards. Why PS2? Well that is for later. 

Microsoft has decided in it's vast infinite wisdom to forego any more drivers for PS/2 keyboards and mouses in Windows 8. I think it will back fire on them, since gaming enthusiasts prefer the discrete circuitry for just the keyboard. 

Next up: The Mother Board and the outputs in Geekese translated to English.

MotherBoards with English Translations.

Hello again. Yep, I have done my research. I looked high and low for them. Do you know what I found out? There are eleventy-billion of em out there. Sheesh. More every day. What to do, what to do? Wait a second!! I read and heard some where that there are two major styles of computers that are non-Apple.

It has to do with the Computer Processing Unit socket. Hmmmm. AMD and Intel have their own styles and those two companies come up time and again.

AMD must be a strong company to be challenging Intel. Intel has been around since the beginning and they are constantly innovating and getting speedier. But there is a trade off. AMD is far more concerned with stability and affordable pricing. They are not as speedy as Intel, but they are reliable and the sockets don't change year to year.

Whoa, sockets!.... hmmm, yep sockets! AMD mostly stays with the same style socket each year but gets the chip itself speedier. Intel changes sockets well about as fast as GEEKS change socks. errr. maybe not. Well, suffice it to say, Intel has many Computer Processing Units with many major changes in sockets. Sometimes major changes in the same year. The ones I looked at have at least three four different sockets. An 1155, 1156, 1366 and 2011.

Just google AMD vs Intel. You will find that most of them gush and giggle about Intel. AMD actually is comparable. Just that more people have been using Intel and brand loyalty and brand recognition is involved. I am going with Intel btw. Not because of brand loyalty. I want to upgrade later to an Ivy Bridge CPU and find out what that is all about. IVY BRIDGE? you wonder. Whups, I got into a little geek gagglegook and Ivy bridge is what Intel is bringing out later this year. It is a newer style.

Intel came out last year with IVY Bridge but haven't sold it. IVY Bridge is actually a name of a bridge in Scotland. Sandy Bridge is a name of a place in Tennessee. They are also  names of internal architecture of processors. It is similar to the way K cars became so popular. Chrysler used to name their cars after letters prior to selling them. When Lee Iacoccoa took over Chrysler, the K car was about ready to be revealed. Well, I guess it was a slow news cycle, and journalists didn't want to report about how well Reagan was doing so they reported about Chrysler's K car. When they actually came out with it, the "K" was no where to be found on the car. People didn't buy it and were waiting for the "K" cars. Well, they came out with the car with a New emblem that had "K" on it. It sold. I suspect this is the same thing with "Sandy Bridge" and "IVY Bridge." There are differences which are way beyond the comprehension of me. At least I haven't been able to decipher the Geekese, but eventually I will.

Still, I decided early on that I wanted SPEED!! The last computer I had, was nice, but I couldn't upgrade and I could never get any speed out of it. I experienced the dreaded blue screen of death time and again. Yet my computer still worked, just not with the speed nor with various graphics cards I had installed nor the games that I wanted to play with.   It gave up the ghost and died last year. May it rest in peace. I STILL WANT SPEED.

Intel promises speed and most of the speed demon geeks are using Intel. I will too. AMD is perfectly fine though. The processes to select my mother board are similar for AMD so there is little problem with using my method. Or you can use your own. No problem.

Well, what have we found out? That there are several different CPU's, and motherboards out there. There are several different sockets. Speed is a factor, but highest speeds are very costly.

Next up: Computer motherboard pictures with explanations in English.

Computer Geekese isn't easy to understand.

I know. I have been out of the loop for a while and I am getting back into it and I am finding myself going hunh? every few minutes or so when I start to read what they are saying. Also, when I hear another builder say, "Do your research on what you want, then buy." I be screaming. Yes, I know that research is good. Yes, it has helped, but seriously, computer builders have this body of knowledge that is locked up inside them ready to pour out. The only problem is it comes out in Geekese. That is, only another builder or Geek can translate, usually to a budding Geek. When they say, do your research, they really mean, "I can't stand here and give you the benefit of my superior knowledge because I have no control over it. It comes out as Geekese even when speaking slowly and plainly."

Well, I am going to build a computer. I have done it before professionally and I KNOW I can do it now. If I start spouting Geekese, I have a beautiful wife to set me straight.

Well, to start. Yes. Research. The man says research. Well, I am going to do research and I am going to post it down. Including any buys that I get. At the end, I will build my computer and present it to the world. Hopefully it will be very fast and cool looking.

In this series of posts, I will be dealing with desktop computers. I don't really have anything against lap tops, just that they aren't for me. At least not yet.

Any superficial look at computers from the eighties to now, comes up with two or three things.

First:

      A simple desktop computer comes with computer in a box, a keyboard and mouse, and a monitor.

Second:

      Everything varies from that point on.

Third:

      The internet arrived. Not to be confused with the Local Area Network. (aka LAN).


I will take each one on individually and explain the crucial differences as I go.

As I said in the earlier post, I do not claim and will never claim that I am the end-all, be-all  GURU of computers. I am tech-savvy in that I can identify parts and put together a computer. As for being a GURU, I am at a lost several times a day when I am dealing with computers. I am not a GURU.

Now, on to the research!!

Next Post: Mother-Boards with English translations.

Quick List to figure out what computer geekese is being thrown about.

This is my first computer geek post, bear with me.


This post is also by no means meant as the end all be all for geekese. It is merely the start from which you can start to puzzle out certain phrases like:

"Vostro 1000 running XP Home Edition SP3 with an AMD Turion 64 Mobile"



First there are only two MAJOR computer processors on the market today. That thins things down quite a bit doesn't it?


AMD and INTEL.


AMD for the more staid computers. 


INTEL for the more racier computers. 


Staid and racier refer to the speediness of the computer. What did you think it meant?

"Vostro 1000 running XP Home Edition SP3 with an AMD Turion 64 Mobile"

With our example it shows that he is using an AMD Turion 64 Mobile.

If you google 'AMD Turion 64 Mobile", you will find that it is a processor used mainly in lap tops. You know that it is "staid", that is for slower computers. 

Most of you will only encounter people who use windows, so I will address that here. Apple users are a whole 'nother animal. You are on your own. Good luck.


Windows is characterized by the designation after Windows. Like Windows 98 is referred to as 98. Home and business edition, whether it costs you more for slight additions, and what service pack that Microsoft has given it. Sort of how many times have they made major revisions. Windows progression so far is. Windows, 95, 98, XP, VISTA, 7, 8.


Going back to our example:

"Vostro 1000 running XP Home Edition SP3 with an AMD Turion 64 Mobile" 

He is using Windows XP, Home Edition Service Pack 3. The fourth interation of Windows, with home, not business, edition, and service pack 3 which means that he will have to upgrade if Microsoft decides that the latest technology belongs in the latest version of windows and "We just can't positively work with operating systems earlier than Vista." IE: We need more money. 

Second thing about Windows is the level of with which it works. It either is a 32 bit system, or  64 bit system. Most of the time and with most of people's situation, a 32 bit operating system is fine and dandy. 99% of the time, you won't notice nor care whether it is 32 or 64. It is only when you get into compatiblity of software to printers, certain computer games, high number crunching and other similar things that you start to  encounter a problem with a 32 bit operating system. You also might encounter the reverse where a printer won't work with a 64 bit operating system. He didn't specify which level he is using so it doesn't matter to him whether he is using 32 or 64 bit.

Going back to our example: 

"Vostro 1000 running XP Home Edition SP3 with an AMD Turion 64 Mobile" 

The google return on 'Vostro 1000' tells us that it is a Dell lap top. Nice to confirm that it is a lap top.

Putting it all together, 

He is owns a Dell Lap Top, utilizing Windows Version XP with the Service Pack 3, and has an upgraded computer processor, AMD Turion 64 Mobile.

Now this doesn't even touch how much memory he has, nor any other upgrades. But it does start you on the path of deciphering when geekease starts flying about.

One more thing, this simple phrase is necessary when you talk to a geek about your computer problem. To find out your information, go to START, right click on Computer or My Computer, click on Properties and voila. All the information that annoying geek person wants prior to even listening to your complaint. If I were you, I would write it down and keep the cheat sheet in a safe spot. Your computer might  be a smouldering pile of rubble, but the geek will still need it. 

For your first phrase, here is my computer.

HP m8200n, running 32 OS, VISTA, HE SP2, 4.0 GB, with INTEL core2 quad cpu q8200.

I added 32 bit operating system, and the amount of memory, I am using.  4.0 GB.  otherwise, you can puzzle this one out. 

Unintended Consequences

This is from anonymous. You might want to check it out. Then read on.

How do you like the websites you visit? How do you like what Microsoft has given you? How do you like the computer you bought?

These questions and more will be considered if SOPA gets passed. SOPA is only one of the latest ham-handed efforts by the government to regulate the internet. Essentially it is designed to give power to shut down websites to any one IN power who complains about some website or blog you visit. It assumes the website you visit is guilty of stealing information. Pirating. This will essentially give government the control of information that you crave. Back to the old top 3 news networks right?.. Not so fast and don't despair.

By great good luck, some paranoid chaps figured this out a few years ago and decided to do something about it. First things first though. Do you know what operating system you use? Do you know what style computer you have? Do you know what it takes to change a hard drive in a computer? Did you know that Microsoft can arbitrarily shut down your computer? Make it impossible for the non-tech to fix it unless they buy their software and hire a tech-savvy person to fix it?

That last happened to me. I happen to be tech-savvy and avoided the land mine laid by those good fellows from Microsoft.They were going to shut down my operating system without so much as a whoopsie, my bad. Basically I had to find the code key that authorized me using my computer. Think about that for a minute. I had bought this machine. I had software that I bought. I was not using it in an unlawful manner. I wasn't visiting porn sites. I wasn't engaging in terrorist commerce. I just had a problem with my mother board and I switched my mother board with one that worked. Unfortunately, Microsoft hadn't known that I did that and threatened to shut my computer down because I was using an unauthorized operating system on an unauthorized mother board. Hmmmm. They were more than willing to SELL me a new operating system if I couldn't come up with the proper code key. Well I found the code key and it got me to thinking. What happens if they did this because you did something they didn't like, like visit an opposing software giant? Apple? Well, visiting Apple is all well and good with Microsoft. How about visiting a blog that doesn't like Microsoft? I could lose my computer access to the internet because Microsoft didn't like me.

Well, I did me some research. I found a group of guys who didn't like Microsoft. They also didn't like Apple. They didn't like always getting an update that did nothing for them. They didn't like that Microsoft through their update system could load something on to your drive that you know nothing about. They didn't like that Microsoft could shut down their computers. They did something about it. The created  GNU. It is actually a free operating system. Free everything. In what is called open source code. In other words, it is written in plain English what it does. Their are no surprises. Anyone can get it. Anyone can use it. Anyone can contribute to it. There are some caveats. Mostly to do with freedom and liberty.

Dislike what Microsoft did to your reliable XP, Vista or even change the 32 to 64 bit which upsets your printer? No problem. With GNU, you decide. There are updates. Only ones you decide to update. The open source code allows you read what they changed and then decide. Download something that doesn't work? Well, there are forums which help guide you.

Now, this seems too good to be true. Well, you will have to get some basic knowledge, like how to compile a program. Something you do everyday when you visit  websites only you don't know you do it. The computer does it for you. You might have to if Microsoft is coerced into working with the Government on "stymieing the pirates", which is you.

SOPA will bring Microsoft down. One unintended consequence. Well, you say that the government will just shut down the internet...... Yes, they can shutdown nodes and certain routers, but....I did me some research into that too. It seems that the internet is designed to withstand a cyber attack, a nuclear explosion, power outages etc, etc. It was designed by the military. As long as electricity is applied to the net and you have power, you have connectivity. Which means you can get by with out an internet provider. You have cell phones and access to them. Which means you have access to the internet.

Now, about the computer you labored mightily to purchase only to be cut off and the hard drive doesn't work. Well, it takes a total of six screws to remove a hard drive from a computer case. There are several videos on YouTube which can show you how to do it. This introduction to building your own computer gets you started down the road to be able to replace your hard drive. It even features a computer case which will allow you to remove the hard drive with out picking up a Phillips head screwdriver. Neat hunh? You might end up totally rebuilding your computer into the information-age equivalent of a racer.

The unintended consequences are that more people will become less enamored with anything that government says it will do. Government will decree, but good folks will ignore them like they ignored Prohibition. News will be more word of mouth....er word of blog. Microsoft will go down in history as a major thief. Amazon e-readers won't be read and News Organizations will falter. All possible if SOPA passes. Does the government really want to go down that path?