PC Mechanic, New Article

Posted: 15 Apr 2011 09:00 AM PDT

You’re on a computer and type up a text file using your text editor o’ choice. You finish up and want to copy the file from one computer to another, such as a desktop to a laptop. How can you go about this? There are several ways.

Burn the file to a CD or DVD, use in the other computer.
Copy to USB stick, unplug and then use in the other computer.
Create a shared network folder and copy the file there.
Email it to yourself with a webmail account.
Use a cloud storage service like Dropbox.

There are probably more, but that’s what I can come up with off the top of my head.

Bear in mind this can all be done regardless of what operating system is on either computer.

Flashback: 1982

dec_rainbow You have a DEC Rainbow 100 and a Commodore 64 sitting next to each other, in the same room, on the same table. Each computer has its own floppy diskette drive; the DEC with its RX50 and the C64 its 1541.

You type up a text file on the Rainbow, save the file to floppy, and now you want to copy it over to the C64.

Can you?

For all intents and purposes, no you can’t.

The DEC’s floppy drive accepted 400 KB single-sided quad-density diskettes. The Commodore 1541 formatted single-sided 170 KB diskettes. Both diskettes were the same size physically (5.25-inch), but the file systems were completely incompatible with each other.

There’s no network because nobody had a LAN in the home back in ’82. There’s obviously no wireless networking either since there was no wired networking. No internet either.

In fact, the only way to get that stupid text file from the DEC to the C64 was if you had two phone lines. One box was set up as a BBS to receive calls, the other placed the call, logged in and downloaded the file. Alternatively if you didn’t have two phone lines (which most people didn’t), you could use a local BBS to perform the same function – assuming it allowed file uploads and you totally didn’t mind the sysop getting 100% access to the file you were posting.

Flashback: 2000

You have a Windows 98 PC (a "Wintel" box as they used to call it before Macs started using Intel CPUs) and a iMac in oh-so-cool Tangerine color. Both computers are in the same room on the same desk.

Same scenario. You want to copy a text file from one computer the other. Were you in any better shape in 2000?

For the most part, yes.

Both computer boxes had USB – but USB sticks were brand new in 2000, meaning almost nobody had them. The initial starting storage size of those early sticks by the way was 8MB. Laughable today, but frickin’ awesome back then compared to floppies.

Speaking of floppies, that’s what you had to use. Remember, this is a time before Windows XP and Mac OS X, so we’re stuck with Mac OS 9 and Windows 98.

If the Mac had a SuperDrive in it (yes this did refer to floppy diskette drives originally prior to 2001), that drive could read all major floppy formats without the need for special software. If you wrote a file to a "Windows-formatted" diskette, then popped it in a Mac, the Mac could read the diskette.

The next option was to burn the file to CD, but in 2000 blank optical media was still a bit on high side concerning price. It’s also well known that discs between Macs and non-Mac PCs back in the day didn’t exactly play nice, so to speak. Floppies were still the preferred and cheapest way to sneakernet files.

Some people did have a LAN in the home in 2000, but it was obviously wired. Usually it was to connect like-OS computer boxes like Windows to Windows, Mac to Mac and so on. The hardware used was a simple network hub, which was usually some cheap NetGear 4-port thing bought for $30 or so.

"Didn’t Linux exist in 2000?" Of course it did, and had been in existence since 1993, but to get it to ‘talk’ correctly between Windows or Mac boxes on a LAN wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Could you email a file to yourself in 2000? Of course you could, and many did – but this would prove decidedly inconvenient if you were using dial-up internet, wouldn’t it?

You have to remember 2000 was 11 years ago. Floppies and phone lines. That’s what we used. Some did have broadband in 2000, but most didn’t.

Now: The information flows, and flows well

The best compliment given to modern technology when it comes to the exchange of messages and other data is that we simply don’t think about the platform anymore.

When you send an email to someone else, you’re not thinking, "Geez.. I don’t know if this will be compatible with their computer." That thought never crosses your mind. You just send it and be done with the whole business.

If you have a Windows, Mac or Linux box there is no worry about whether that USB stick will be recognized or not in any of those computers. You just plug the thing in and it works like it’s supposed to. When you take it out of the Win box and into the Mac box, it works. Go to the Linux box, same thing, it works.

Believe me, we’re doing awesome when it comes to desktops and laptops.

Can’t say the same for smartphones however. It’s like 1982 all over again with that proprietary crapola (X app only works on Y platform and not Z, X phone locked to Y carrier and won’t work on Z, blah blah blah frickin’ blah.. proprietary bullsh*t ARRHRHRHGHGHGHHH..)

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Retro Friday: Incompatible File Systems

Is Bing Getting Better?

Posted: 15 Apr 2011 07:00 AM PDT

According to TIME, 3 out of 10 web searches (when you include Yahoo!) are Bing-powered. I have to admit that I’m surprised by this because I never thought Bing would go anywhere. However these days I do find myself using the product more often.

My opinion of Bing is as follows (yours may differ, of course):

Bing and Google search results are the same.

There is nothing on Google than I can’t find on Bing; this obviously wasn’t the case when Bing first launched in June ’09. Initially, Bing was awful. These days however the search is right on par with Goog results.

Bing is less annoying.

When you start typing a search term on bing.com, a small box appears with search terms in an attempt to predict what you were looking for.

When you start typing on google.com, the whole frickin’ page changes. You were typing in the middle of the page and now – surprise! – it’s at the top. In the middle of the whatever-it-is you were typing.

"That’s ‘instant’ and it’s good."

No, it isn’t.

"But you can turn it off!"

Why should I have to do that?

"Well, you get used to it.."

Why should I? Is it too much to ask a search engine not to annoy me by forcing me to click needlessly just to turn crap off I didn’t want on in the first place?

Bing gives me instant access to my search history in-site – no account required.

On bing.com’s home page is a very clearly-labeled link, Search History; it does not require an account to use it. Click and you see the stuff you searched for previously. Easy. In fact, you can even use it zero-click style because you can hover over the link for recent searches.

You can also access a search history from the search area itself (note the bottom right):

To do this on Google, you.. oh, wait, that’s right – you can’t. Go here:

www.google.com/searchhistory

…and you’ll be told you need a Google account to access that information. Stupid. Goog wants me to sign up just to see that?

And don’t give me that "check your browser history" nonsense because that’s an excuse for the lack of having the feature on-site.

Bing is getting better

Bing is at the point now where as said above the search results are on par with Google. The interface is far less annoying and there’s no forced account crapola just to see search history. And by the way, yes you can clear history easily on any search results page:

Again, no account required.

If you’re a Googleholic, don’t worry I have nothing against you personally. If you use Goog and like it, then by all means continue to use it. There are some features of Google (like reviews) that do make having a Goog account worth it.

But you have to admit Bing is getting better. I see the progress and they’ve come a long way since ’09. At this rate it could very well be that 5 out of 10 searches will be Bing-powered in a few years.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Is Bing Getting Better?