Ventura County Computers Eletter

The Cat In The Hat & Green Eggs And Spam

Greetings fellow TOE readers, I know at least one person reads my ramblings because you came in a told me so. In case you're wondering about my choice of a title I have an 8 month old bouncing baby boy at home and my thoughts seem to revert more and more back to my childhood as I desperately search for ways to entertain and engage my young progeny. As my son grows he acts more like me every day, very scary. My father is ecstatic that he is finally getting his revenge on me. But enough of that, time to move on to some computer talk.

As most of you were aware our "esteemed" editor, and I use that term loosely, was in the hospital for some emergency surgery. As he was successfully recovering I managed to cajole him into helping out at the shop while Toby was gallivanting around a cruise ship somewhere off the coast of Alaska. John was a great sport and really got a good "feel" of what a normal day is like saving the world one computer at a time. He managed our endless stream of phone calls quite well and was able to dole some advice about this and that to our faithful customers while handling all the walk-ins. After putting in a good day I managed to get him to come back for a repeat and it was the exact opposite of the other. Another quiet day at sleepy hollow. I just never know when I get up in the morning what's going to happen. Sometimes I think it's nice to have a routine and knowing what to expect day in and day out. But what the hay, I love the excitement of being one of the Incredibles. Anyway though, Thank you John WEIGLE for your assistance and it only cost me a lunch. A good deal any way you look at it.

Moving along to the point of this RANT. It seems we've a new edition to the VCC family. None other that our own Michael SHALKEY. He is truly the CAT IN THE HAT! He just comes strolling in the door and seems to take over the place and just as you think everything is going to be a disaster. He fixes it all up and leaves the place looking great till the next time he does his magic. And during the whole time he leaves his unmistakable mark of personality and humor which makes the day go by like a Dr. Seuss book The CAT IN THE HAT prefers to weave his magic in front of large audiences of adoring fans but until they gather in sufficient quantities to warrant a personal appearance we have him at our disposal. You can find him on Mondays & Tuesdays making personal appearances at our shop. Don't miss the chance to get your PC fixed and be tickled too!

It seems I've been appropriating all the talent from the club starting with Toby and moving down the line. Who's next? Larry Hudson? He already has a key as the SIG coordinator, Humm, we'll just have to wait and see. Maybe I'll start showing up at club meeting with job applications in hand.

Now to GRREN EGGS AND SPAM! There is some nasty email viruses floating around that pick up the names of email servers and start sending messages to all names it can gather representing themselves as the VCMAIL or CIPCUG (or whatever) support team. Anyone knows the quickest way to get a response from someone is to hand a note on the door saying your utilities will be turned off for whatever reason and this is your last chance to keep the service uninterrupted. Boy do we skedaddle down with money orders in hand to keep our beloved service. This same kind of thinking has led to very convincing emails saying a variety of enticing messages. "Your account has been suspending due to someone trying unauthorized access. Please identify yourself with the correct information." " Your account will be suspended due to a huge volume of SPAMMING. Please reply with your information." "We are updating our records and need your current info. Thank you, sincerely the VCMAIL SUPPORT TEAM." All of these can give a person pause. What's bad is one of our clients told me I should have warned them. This is a quandary. Do I send out emails warning clients about false emails? Will the real VCMAIL support team please stand up? I don't know what to do. At times like this I must consult the oracle. TOBY! HELP! What should I do? The oracle will know. He always does.

I can't end the RANT without complaining about a major computer manufacturer and this month is no different. I love SONY! Cameras, TV's and Stereo equipment but not their stupid computers! I got a VIAO in the shop last week that the customer said sparked when it was turned on. OK, I check the power supply and it gave out a steady 5 volts but it did smell a little burned. Some components can lose a resister or capacitor or two and still keep functioning. Just like going to the hospital and having a part removed, RIGHT JOHN? Anyway, I could not get the board to go into CMOS setup so I was about to replace it with a new one when I noticed that all the cables are on a funky connector. The all-in-one card reader and other gadgets were MB specific and he would lose all those features. So against my better judgment I called SONY and inquired about a replacement MB. They said $259.00 plus shipping. WHAT!?!? That can't be right. But it was. As it turns out you can't just buy the board but must buy the 2.4GHZ CPU as well. Forget about putting in a faster one. I said my customer wouldn't pay that and went back to the drawing board. Fortunately our hero the CAT IN THE HAT successfully removed the board and was able to POST it correctly. Magic! We decided that replacing the power supply was prudent and so a $25.00 PS was to be installed. But wait. The cage that it fits into will not ACCEPT a PS that fits in 99% of all PC's. Once again against my better judgement I call SONY and guess what? They will provide a replacement PS for only $117.00 + shipping. I said thanks but no thanks. So we put the old one in and it worked. Alls well that ends well but I can do without SONY'S help.

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The Cat In The Hat & Green Eggs And Spam

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