My Computer Died

Blogging will be on an as able basis until I get it fixed. My boot disk will not bring it back. I do have a data backup hard drive but I have been unable to check it. Maybe tomorrow.

Hits to the tip jar most appreciated.

Originally posted at 3/07/2010 11:56:00 PM. It will stay at the top until I get my computer fixed or replaced.

Update:

I was able to check my backup drive and it seems intact. I will post more about my backup system once everything is restored to its last known good state.

Update:

My son is home from college and I was able to prevail on him to let me use his computer. I still need some help even though posts will be a little more frequent until he goes back to school.

Update:

I took my machine to Best Buy and had them do an instant check. I watched while it was done and came to the same conclusion they did. Dead. Recovery not likely. So I'm looking for a new machine at under $400. I want to get one from a local store so if there are problems in the first 90 days I can get local service. My choices are an HP machine with a 500 GB HD with a single core processor and an e-machine. Any other suggestions welcome. Very much welcome. And if you can help out it would be very much appreciated. I live on a fixed income and even at $400 this is going to be very, very, hard to do. And to all those who have donated so far. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!

And on another related note: I have to stay home to help my ill son. Any work I can do for you from home would be much appreciated. Obviously I can write. I can also do electronic design. And I am more than willing to charge by the project milestone with guaranteed delivery dates or no charge.

Update 20 March 2010 0130z

Thanks to the help of all my friends here at Power and Control (and my Mom) I was able to go out to Best Buy tonight and get a Gateway DX4831-01e. My geek friends tell me it is a very good machine for the price.

I haven't started setting it up yet. When I do get online with it I will tell you how I like it. Thanks to all your help I was able to go from a barely adequate box to one that should serve my needs for quite some time. i.e. 64 bit instead of 32.

And to the person who sent me a monitor when mine died a while back - thanks again. I will be using it with this new machine. And to those who helped with donations back then: the gas company thanks you and I do too!

And finally - this post will drift away and you won't be bothered with it any more. Yipeeee!!!!

Help Has Arrived

Back in late December I Asked For Some Help. I want to announce today that help has arrived. An anonymous donor sent me an LCD computer monitor that was being retired. I'm back in business.

And to those of you who sent donations. THANKS!!!!!

Your help will not go to wild parties and riotous living. The heating bills this year are way above recent averages so I will be using the donations to keep me and my son warm.

If I have missed thanking any one personally please be patient. I'm working my way through a ton of e-mails.

And for those of you who wish to continue helping at no cost to yourselves, order your Amazon purchases through this link: Amazon. I get a small cut and it helps me buy books and electronic maintenance items (like printer cartridges).

Once again thank you all for your continued support. The fact that I have readers keeps me interested in blogging. So even just reading is a morale boost. Send your friends.

I Need Some Help

My monitor died a few days back. So posting will be intermittent depending on my access to a computer. I would love to buy a new monitor but I'm living on Social Security (due to some financial reverses and illness in the family) so I barely make ends meet from month to month.

There are a few ways you can help. One is when you buy stuff from Amazon use this link:

Amazon

I get a small percentage from Amazon and it doesn't raise your cost by even one cent.

Another way is to use the Donation Buttons on the sidebar (Amazon or PayPal) to send funds directly.

There is a third way. You could hire me to write. In fact I would be willing to write a blog post on a topic of your choice (my point of view) for a donation. Let me know what you want.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Donation Time

It has been a while since I did a donation drive. It is that time again. I have two goals at this time:

1. $240 for high speed cable services and software renewals.
2. $200 for a USB hard drive to back up my current hard drive and add some space to the 'puter.

This will stay at the top until the goals are reached. I will announce the donation amounts as they come in. I will not give out your name unless you ask. BTW your donation will help support my work on IEC Fusion Technology as well as the general commentary that I post here. Thank you all for your previous and continued support.

The below button accepts Visa, Master Card, and Pay Pal.

Funds Drive

I hate funds drives. They interrupt the normal flow. They are an intrusion.

This blog survives on donations and sales of fine merchandise.

A dilemma.

I'm going to solve it by limiting fund drives to 24 hours at the first of every month. So if you don't want to be bothered you know in advance which days to skip.

For those of you who want to help: Donate Here.

May the Maker Bless You All,

Simon

Posted 01 Nov. '06 1947z

Donate

Donation button below - just in case you are not interested in reading.

I am a retired electronics engineer. My one claim to fame is that I designed the I/O board that went into the world's first BBS (a precursor to the internet). I worked with Ward Christensen inventor of "Xmodem" and Randy Suess to get the hardware and software going. Could I see the future clearly? Nope. I thought the idea was crazy. Fooled me.

Well any way, due to family medical problems I now make my living by writing on my blog. So in a way that work on the BBS is still paying off.

If you are nostalgic about the early days of the microcomputer Amazon has some books.

This one seems good (I haven't read it) but I can tell you that the Altair was on the cover of Popular Electronics on January of 1975. I remember it well because when I got the magazine in the mail I knew my life had changed:

Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer

I was one of the hackers. This is supposed to be a good book on the subject:

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
The below button accepts Visa, Master Card, and Pay Pal.

Powered by