Computers

I just realized that it has been quite a while since I updated this page. Well, for a long time I was totally disinterested in, and useless at, computers. Finally in 1995, I got on email, and I slowly learned to at least have some sense of what was going on on the Internet.

When I moved to Toronto in 1997, I took (and received an A in) a course on Microsoft Office from DeVry College, so at that time I could at least say I knew Word Perfect (at least 5.1), Word 97, Excel, Access, Power Point, Windows 95 and First Choice 2.0. I may not be a programmer, but at that point I was at least becoming comfortable at a keyboard. Then in October of 1998, I took the plunge and bought a "real computer", a Pentium 200 with sound card, speakers, real audio, video and CD ROM! (Hey, at the time, that was new, at least to me!) As my birthday present to myself in 1999, I upgraded to a Pentium II 400, with a wonderful 17 inch monitor! (I have since upgraded twice, to a Pentium IV 2.4 GIG in 2005!) I then switched to Windows '98 and Office 2000 for a couple of years, and after my birthday in 2001 I moved up to Windows XP! Of course, this required yet another bump up, to 256 MEGs RAM, which was unheard of when I first bought the computer! So today, I now use both Windows and Office XP, a CD writer and re-writer, as well as sound and video. I am now considered to be at an above-average, or advanced, skill level on the Net and can surf almost ANY site, with audio, video or what have you! Me! NOW you should be really afraid!

Until 1999, my Net provider was a company called Interlog, where I learned to do many fun online things. (I don't think it even exists anymore.) When I lost shell access (I actually forget exactly what that is), I switched to Primus Canada, which gave me unlimited Internet for less money than I was paying before!!! This, I discovered, was, to quote Martha Stewart, a "good thing." But then high-speed came about, where not only could I be on the Net all day, but ALSO could free up my phone line, so I could chat and download/surf at the same time! (Not to mention calling up my ISP or tech support and following along with their instructions while online at the problem site, instead of hanging up, dialing up, getting the instructions wrong, logging off, calling them again, ad nauseum.) But since Primus did not provide that, I had to look elsewhere. Enter Rogers@home, now Rogers Hi Speed Internet, which allowed me to do all this and still get a discount on my cable/internet package. So in April 2002, I switched, and although "hi-speed" often is nowhere near as fast as advertised, it is a huge improvement over dial-up. And I CAN use the phone at the same time, so I recommend it, or the more affordable (but slower) "hi-speed Lite" service, that I was originally thinking of. Many people bash Rogers, but I can honestly say they have, by and large, provided pretty good service to me, for what I personally want and need. Of course, now I have a whole slew of email addresses, from both Rogers and other providers, so if you really want to reach me electronically, it is almost impossible NOT to!

I also switched mail servers to Outlook Express (I am now on version 6), which, along with Front Page and Yahoo's FTP programs, allows me to edit my web page to produce the very fine document you see before you. <bows humbly>

(Of course, this also means I no longer ever leave my house, which is a whole 'nother problem.)

 My knowledge has increased exponentially since the new computer, and in the last few years I have gone from completely computer-illiterate to almost cutting edge. And hey, if I could do it, there is hope for everyone!!!

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