Beautiful and Fast

As much as I despise the user interface of Windows 8, I can’t talk crap about its speed. It’s fast and I won’t be arguing with the fact.

A friend sent me a video which I found very interesting. I see it as “comedic genius” coming from Microsoft and I find it to be a very effective way of marketing the product.

Is it just me, or is the girl’s face and the way she looked at the camera kind of scary? It freaked me out for a bit…

Keep Chewing!

 

My Relationship With Windows XP

I’ve only been a “computer guy” for a short time – maybe 4 or 5 years. The only time I looked at a computer more than twice was when I played video games on it. I’m a gamer before computer geek.

My computer story never started on something advanced like Windows Vista (pardon the joke). Instead, it started with Windows XP.

As a child, my parents bought a computer to help us in school (and to play video games). I can’t recall what the system was, but all I knew it was Windows XP. To me, it was beautiful. The blue taskbar with the green Start button. The green hills background known as Bliss graced my desktop. It didn’t change because I had no clue how to change it.

I was fond of the computer. I did not tweak it, play around with the settings or modified it for that matter. I just played video games and did my homework on it. That was it.

That’s where it all began. From an old computer to something ten times powerful like Hannah Patricia. I wouldn’t consider myself a “computer lover” back then, but I knew how to use a mouse. That counts, right?

In Tech class, I found this:

It reminded me a lot of my old setup. It was a PC, CRT monitor and a mechanical keyboard. All of them had the same colour! It was beautiful.

I wanted to write this because, for some who do not know, Microsoft will stop supporting XP and Office 2003 in 2014.

Lest We Forget Windows XP and Office 2003

Keep Chewing!

My Precious Partition

Over the weekend, I initiated myself to lengthen the life of our old PC Andrea.

She’s on her fifth year as a computer and even with Windows 7 Ultimate installed and everything, it’s still slow. I know that the hardware is the reason for this, but I have to make sure that my parents and younger brother would still be able to use it. I need to squeeze the life out of it and get maximum use from it. Hopefully they’ll be able to get a new one next year.

All I know is that the hard drive is nearing its end, the video card might be broken (outdated to say the least) and the processor is about to give.

I decided to install a Linux distribution, only hoping that might increase the life of the computer itself.

I created a LiveUSB of Ubuntu and began installation. There it was, the partition interface. I mean, I’ve seen it before. The only scary part about it is that if I make one mistake – no matter how small – I could kill the partition.

Alas, fate is cruel. The partitioning system crashed. I restarted the computer. I entered Windows 7 and only saw one partition. Panicking, I started to look for ways to get it back.

Then I found EaseUS Partition Manager, which also comes with a partition recovery tool. I used it to recover files that were in that partition that I knew was important like pictures and converted home videos.

The recovery tool worked with a little help from Black Beard. I got my stuff back!

In short, the lesson here is: always back up your files. Don’t be an idiot like me.

Right now, after that whole event, I just think that reinstalling Windows 7 might do the trick. Probably after that, I’ll install a distribution of Linux, but that’s another story. Besides, I don’t want it to go back to its prime, because I know that will never happen. All I want is for it to just last long enough until my family gets something new.

Keep Chewing!

iOS 7 and Nausea

I would like to apologise from the bottom of my heart for not posting in the last few days. I have been busy with school work. tPenguinLTG recommended that I create some kind of schedule to give my readers something to refer to, so I will. At some point, it’ll be posted on the About page, but I’ll notify you on my Message from the Admin. Thanks for your patience and for staying with Tech Gum!

As we all know, Apple released their new operating system for their mobile devices: the iOS 7.

It has been named the largest OS update recorded for the company. Many have jumped into iOS 7, but did not think of the possible consequences.

Reports say that iPhone users feel nauseated while using their device with the updated iOS 7, probably because of the new graphical effects (zoom, change in brightness etc). Hilarious!

Source: New iPhone users report feeling “nausea” and “headaches”

I applaud Apple for giving them more hate as they already have. I’d say 2025, they’ll disappear from the market and into oblivion. I also would like to congratulate Apple users for finally getting an Android. That’s right. ANDROID! Good job!

If you have the iOS 7 and you’ve experienced the same thing, leave a comment below! I love comments!

Keep Chewing!

 

Laughing is Good

Here are some great computer jokes that will surely make you laugh!

The General Ones

Like car accidents, most hardware failures are due to driver errors.

Evolution is God’s way of issuing updates.

My software doesn’t have bugs. It just develops random features.

These must really hurt for Windows…

The box said “requires Windows Vista or better,” so I installed Linux.

What’s the difference between a computer virus and Windows? Viruses do something.

Computers are like air conditioners; they stop working after you open windows.

Apple still sucks…

The best accelerator for a Mac is the one that causes it to speed up at 9.81 m/s^2.

While Linux literally gives away stuff for free, Apple resells it for $99.

A Mac user calls tech support and asks, “what is Linux?” The technician begins laughing and answers, “it’s an open source operating system, meaning any programmer can alter and change the source code. It’s also stable, so stable that NASA uses it at the Space Station. Oh, and it’s free!” The Mac user immediately hangs up.

Keep Chewing!

The Truth About Careless People

Ever since I worked for Future Shop, I’ve always wanted to write this. Here it goes.

What really grinds my gears are those who can’t take care of their tech. I am a lover of all things computers, from cellphones, gadgetry, hardware and software. Out of all of my things, I’ve only broken one special thing to me: my old Toshiba. After that, that was it.

Even then, although I was not tech savvy as now or as careful as now, I still feel bad for being careless about my stuff. I just feel that we should give some kind of importance for the things we buy or we get, no matter the price.

Consider this. I’ve had my HP laptop (Hannah Patricia) for an exact year now. Never have I scratched her, broken her or let her down. Sure, she was sick every once  and a while from BSODs and fever (overheating while installing Ubuntu), but I made sure that she was working on top performance. I cleaned her every week both software and peripherally. She still runs as good as new.

I hate those people who are so careless that you can literally smell the smoke coming out of their computer. I opened computer units that are so dirty, I had to excuse myself because I vomited a little. Some collect so much dust, that we have to vacuum it for at least 10 minutes.

Some are just so scratched out, that when we write our sign-in report, we just literally put an X on top of the report to signify that the unit came in with these scratches.

Come on! I seriously can’t believe some people. I mean, even Apple products get scratched. It shows that people are becoming less and less appreciative of things.

If you are reading this and you think you’re one of those people that I mentioned, please stop. Take care of your stuff. Be nice to it. Be thankful that you have it. Don’t get careless.

Keep Chewing!

WINDOWS 8.1

I’m a bit late, but it’s better late than never.

Windows 8.1 is a free update from Windows 8. It adds new features, including the infamous Start button. Most of the additions are towards giving the user more options for customization, but overall it’s “better” than the Windows 8 that we all hate and despise.

Actually, anything is a better upgrade than the original Windows 8. I’ve had my share of annoyance towards the OS. In fact, while doing coop in Future Shop, one of our tasks was to setup new PCs with Windows 8. It was so frustrating at first because of the large learning curb between Windows 7 transitioning into Windows 8. The GUI is almost the same, except for the metro tiles that Microsoft is trying to push into their devices (XBOX 360/One, Windows phones).

Anyways, here’s a look at the new features for Windows 8.1

Keep Chewing!

Guide to Linux

So, I haven’t had much insight towards this topic: Linux.

Linux, being an awesome, open source and free operating system is growing fast! There are new users each day, no matter which distribution. Truly, it is a remarkable piece of software.

I found this site, talking about what Linux is and everything in between. It’s called Newbie’s Guide to Linux.

NEWBIE’S GUIDE TO LINUX

What’s my take on Linux? Not much, really. I haven’t got the chance to fully use, although I’ve learned how to install it and used it for a few days in class. It’s a great operating system and worth downloading and installing. Honestly, I don’t have enough experience with it to give it any verdict. I did enjoy using it even though it was only for a while.

I actually laughed a little after reading Microsoft’s comment on Linux.

Sorry if I haven’t had any activity for the past few days. I missed the Chewy of the Week from last week, so I’ll be posting three Chewies this week.

Keep Chewing!