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Can We Build The Perfect Computer Online?

An Online Collaboration - Community Computer Optimization Project

For a long time I thought it would be good to have a long and active thread in which participants would collectively build the "perfect computer" by adding one idea, suggestion, fix, etc. at a time with the intent to make computers work faster and smarter while remaining cost-effective, fun and customizable.

We all have our gripes about computers (especially if you have to use Windows, which most of us do - sorry Bill, but love the work you're doing in Africa), and I have always wondered what a list of features would look like if we (the Internet community) listed not just our pet peeves about computers, but how we would make a particular change.

At the same time this would be a continual list of the features of the "perfect computer" especially if you recommend fix to the problem you list. A fix suggestion is not necessary, but for the many brainiacs out there, especially programmers, they may have a solution just not the time or resources to get to that solution. That's where others could potentially step in.

If anyone out there has a known solution to any of the problems listed, please contribute it and prefix with label KNOWN FIX.

Please use the Comments section to add your own. You do not have to registered or sign up for anything to leave a comment. Takes less than a minute.

So, to get the ball rolling, I'll start:

PROBLEM: Data loss. When Windows freezes and crashes and you lose something that you were working on, unless you have the latest, greatest (and expensive) MS software, whatever you were working that wasn't saved is gone. We've all had this happen. But it doesn't have to happened.

POSSIBLE FIX: Ideally, the best fix would be to not have crashes at all, but Windows hasn't been able to correct this common problem every since Windows 3.1 came out more than a decade ago. Maybe to fix the data loss problem, Microsoft could create a low- memory utility that could keep hidden clipboards of everything you are working on so that when you reboot you can recover ALL of your data in whatever state it was when it was lost. I do not know if there is an add-on or if Windows Vista corrects this common annoyance.


Anyone?

LONG TERM RESULT: A blissful experience for all computer users who have ever suffered from crashes that result in data loss. It really doesn't have to happen and I cannot understand why Microsoft does not have a system-wide recovery feature (such as Word has).


Please use the Comments button now to add your own computer annoyance (can include Apple too), possible or known fix and long term result, plus whatever relevant photos, links or videos may be of additional help.





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by Phillip E. Daoust  on  Thursday, March 08, 2007



311 Computer Glitch Is No Y2K, But Still A Threat

During the summer of 1999, a panic was spreading among the public about the infamous Y2K bug.

In the 1940s, software engineers somehow did not anticipate the change of the millennium, and thus spread computer code around the world which only allowed two spaces for the year.

Did they conclude that software programs and mainframes would never be around as long as 1999? Others have suggested it was one of the biggest blunders (or bugs) in computer programming history - if not the biggest.

Worldwide millions of lines of computer code had to be changed from the original "six-pack" date format - two spaces for month, day and year. But come on man, there had to be someone who said: "Hey guys, what about when the year 2000 comes around?"

May be someone else replied: "Hey man, people will be flying around in saucers if we make it to the year 2000, no one is going to be using our code. Plus, it's less typing"

Fortunately, Y2K was not a major issue worldwide, but did have its problems in some areas and with some systems that rely on computer networks.

While there is no reason to panic about the recent changes in daylight savings time, it can be problemtic.

In 2005, Congress, in an effort to save energy costs, changed daylight savings time (DST) for the first time in 20 years, moving it up three weeks earlier from its original date of April 1.

Therefore, this Sunday, March 11, there will be widespread problems for computers and other electronic devices - especially those manufactured prior to mid 2005 - that rely on time-based operations and appointments, from Blackberrys to Tivos to Outlook, and possibly have ramifications in banking, air transportation and stock trading.

People who are running any version of Windows before XP (like Windows 2000), will need to manually change the time in the Control Panel on Sunday and unclick the auto update feature for daylight savings time (otherwise, programs will add another hour three weeks from now - the former DST).

Windows XP users only need to make sure they have their Auto Update feature enabled or enable it before Sunday. You must be using a version of XP that includes the Server Pack Two edition. If you are using Server Pack One, you'll need to upgrade by visiting the Microsoft website homepage.

Because many computer systems were configured before the 2005 Congressional mandate, there was no way that programmers could know and make the necessary updates to operating systems and other system files before they were shipped. So problems with various types of software may occur.

"Organizations could face significant losses if they are not prepared," the Information Technology Association of America cautioned this week.

The media has largely ignored and under-reported the 311 glitch, so it's possible many people will be caught off guard. It is disturbing that publishers, editors and producers of news organizations, especially technical news outlets, were not digging, compiling facts and writing reports about the ensuing glitch months ago.

(Admittedly, I have not conducted an in-depth investigation to see if this story has been reported, even as far back as 2005, but I asked six different computer users and only one had heard about it and the problems it could cause.)

Publishing the 311 story a week before the day, as the The San Jose Mercury News did today (here in the 'heart' of the Silicon Valley), is sloppy, ill-planned journalism and only sends people scrambling in panic to come up with a plan to program all of their essential electronic devices accordingly. [Editor's Note: If the Mercury News printed this story before, I could not find it on their website.]

Many businesses, especially small businesses, could be significantly inconvenienced because many use systems running software released prior to 2005 or they haven't heard of the glitch.

"This could have a potential big impact on businesses," said Ron Gabrielson of the Geek Squad, a company that sends tech heads to businesses and people's homes to help them resolve computer and other technical problems (Flatscreen TVs, stereo connections, DVD players, etc.).

People using computers and other electronic devices manufactured prior to 2005 should monitor those devices on March 11 to make sure the change in time is accurately updated.

If you are running Windows XP Service Pack One, update to the Server Pack Two or manually make the change yourself. Vista users are unaffected as the fix is built in. Also, just as important, is that clocks will turn back on the first Sunday in November instead of the last Sunday in October.

Most Windows users can simply double click on the time display in the lower right hand corner of their computer screen (unless you have some kind of customized setting) and easily make the change themselves.

Other considerations for the 311 glitch include possible issues with emails and faxes, meeting plans (keep this in mind to make sure you don't miss an important meeting), transactions on automatic bill payments, television recording devices, car clocks, stove clocks and other odd things like coffee makers, security systems, VCRs and digital cameras and camcorders.

Don't forget that you will need to monitor the date and time on your computer prior to the regular April daylight savings time change if you were not unable to un-click Auto Update DST feature in your clock settings. If your computer or other devices move ahead one hour, they will all have to be changed again.

Basically, you can make the changes twice or just wait three weeks for the old daylight savings time change to update on your computer. Most computers and software manufactured in the past year should have the fix already included.

No one can say for sure that the March 11 time change glitch will not spill over in to Monday, March 12 on Wall Street and other business sectors. We will have to see.

To put this whole thing in perspective, most people will not be affected. The 311 glitch is expected to be a non-issue by the time March 11, 2008 rolls around. Not only that, but there will be a little more daylight to enjoy.

Related Links:

- Microsoft Update page
- Other Vendor Resources
- Technology.Inc.com



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by Phillip E. Daoust  on  Monday, March 05, 2007