Not wasting quite enough time with your computer? Our tech columnist, North Beach computer guru Bruce Richardson, tells you how to watch TV on it:

Cable vs. Net
My last article, “X the DVD” spawned a series of interesting questions like “can we ditch Cable and just use a computer?”  Well you can certainly watch TV or Movies on your computer, but I am not sure that most people would want to ditch their Cable.
First, let’s find out what you can get on your computer.  The best place to get movies and TV shows is hulu.com.  This is a free site although you may get some commercials at the beginning of a show.  If you already use Netflix, you can watch movies and TV shows on your computer. You can also cruise your favorite network, CBS, NBC, ABC, SYFY, etc., and get content. Although it will not be ‘prime time’ content and it is usually not ‘live’. You can also actually hook your cable to a card for your PC.  They run about $80.00.  This works only if you have a large monitor.

A recent Bruce Richardson column, on computers/technology:

Game Console?
I have an old ‘component’ set up at my house.  You have probably had one at some time and may still have one.  It contains the amplifier, the DVD player, the video tape player (yikes! Is that dating me), surround sound system, all hooked up to the television.  Recently, my DVD player broke and was beyond repair (those old buttons wouldn’t work anymore).
This year, I replaced my DVD player with an Xbox 360.
I know what you are thinking, because I used to feel the same way:  spend $300.00 for a game console?  I can’t justify spending money to play games!

By Bruce Richardson

This tech Christmas, without a doubt,  belongs to the mobile video phone.  The iPhone in particular, and all of the applications you can download with it. This year we are seeing phones that end in ‘Droid’, which is in reference to Google’s Android operating system. Reports indicate that Apple’s iPhone is still far and away the better system. Nevertheless, phone sales are through the roof and will break records by Christmas and year end. If you have someone on your Christmas list who has one of these phones, the most popular accessory is the ‘Crabble’.  The Crabble is a wallet-sized video stand for your iPhone or other video phone. You can check this out at  www.seskimo.com.  If you live in Ocean Shores, I would remind you that it is not the phone that matters the most, but the service behind it.  With these new mobile phones and all of the things you can do with them, you need ‘5 bars’ all of the time, and you need them where you live and work.  Check out the coverage maps of each provider before you make an investment.

By Bruce Richardson
The last attack was on Friday, Sept. 18.  The attack was widespread and you probably did not know what was going on, but chances are you were affected.  On that day, I started getting phone calls from my customers that they could not get to the Internet, or that they couldn’t reach a particular web site.  I performed the usual checks on my end, checking with local Internet providers and checking with the Virus folks to see if something was afoot.  No word in the Internet. There was not much for me to do. People could go to other web sites, and they could connect to the Internet, but it was slow.
That Saturday, I started receiving notifications from Hosting providers that sites were ‘back up’ and the Internet was back to normal.  On that Friday, we had a Smurf Attack.  That’s what it is called and it is a variant of a Denial of Service Attack. 

Bruce previously wrote about what to look for, when buying a wireless router. Here, he walks through the set up.
By Bruce Richardson
Your modem and router have no moving parts, so you mechanics can put your tools away and please don’t try to open either. If you have trouble connecting with the Internet you need to start at the source first and then work your way back to the computer. Remember that your Internet connection is wired to your house and then goes to the modem. On all of your modems, Qwest and Coast, the Internet comes into your house on a wire and you should check the modem first to make sure that you are getting all of the signals.

forgot to post the latest column from our computer/tech wiz Bruce Richardson:

Ocean Shores Wiki

I want to first make sure that you all know about Wikipedia.  In these cynical times, Wikipedia is truly a noble effort.  Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia located at  www.wikipedia.org.  If you don’t know Wikipedia, I encourage you to visit.  There are now almost 10 million entries and is provided in a dozen languages.   Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that is written and compiled by “us”, “you”, almost anyone.

That is usually almost always the downside, but it always serves as a springboard to other resources, if nothing else. I have also found the information to be credible – you can’t just post garbage and get away with it. Revisions and new entries are screened and you will be told if you need references, or better cites.   If you are trying to find out about ‘something’, try Wikipedia first, instead of Google, Bing, or the other search engines.

What are they? How do you get them? Does your computer eat them? Our computer guru breaks it down:

By Bruce Richardson

In my last article, I gave some tips on speeding up your computer.  So (NCN editor Tom Scanlon) wanted to know why I didn’t say anything about deleting cookies off the hard drive.  

While there are a bunch of other things you can do to speed up your computer, I wouldn’t put cookie deletion on the top of the list.  Cookies are misunderstood and much maligned.  

Bruce Richardson email: You may have heard about the Conflicker virus scheduled for launch tomorrow on April Fool’s Day. The good news is that it is easy to tell if you have the virus on your machine. The virus has actually already been launched and is scheduled to update itself tomorrow.

If you get on the Internet and go to www.symantec.com or www.mcafee.com – if you can reach these sites, then you are already protected. Part of the virus action is to block these sites from access.

By Bruce Richardson

Speed up your computer Part 2

Generally, the number one reason why a healthy computer is slow is because of your anti-virus programs.

Now, we all know that you need some protection out there, but here’s what happens: You have recently purchased a computer.  Windows Vista has a Fire Wall and Windows Defender automatically installed, but in the ‘off’ position.  The maker of the computer usually gives you a 30 day subscription for a leading Anti-Virus program, and it is in the ‘on’ position. 

By Bruce Richardson

Make my computer faster!

Sorry, it is not as simple as downloading one of those programs off the Internet and then your machine turns into a SuperComputer.

How fast your computer operates depends on the equipment you have and also the programs you run.

Physically, the speed of your computer depends on three factors: the processor speed, the amount of memory installed, and the size of the hard drive.