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8/23/2009

All good things must end, This website will go away October 26. Thanks to Geocities for pioneering one of the first social sites. Thanks for Yahoo providing space to continue this tradition. I realize now days everything must be pronounceable and so must I. That's why I'm moving to:

http://jerseyjoeusa.com/

See you soon!

6/28/2006

The Tech page is way out of date, will start an update. Laziness has me running the Microsoft operating system on my machines. For economy sale I’m running 89, ME, and XP. Can’t see paying all that money for 3 copies of XP and still have a buggy operating system. The Microsoft updates from XP tend to disable one function or another and I have to “go back” to a previous date that still worked and try to eliminate the update that screws the stuff up. I give a for-instance or 2 actually. My $300 ATI All in Wonder Pro card that worked so well in Win ME has lost its TV tuner function in XP and all the help in the world from ATI won’t bring it back. The other malfunction is my memory card reader will only work when I boot the machine with the card in the slot. Another XP upgrade removed the hot swap capability. As the “IT” guy here I would be running Linux on all machines but then I would have to train the rest of the family on how to use it, that is where my laziness comes in. The next version of Windows might be the deal breaker. I may have to replace several thousand of dollars of software in order to be compatible with that version but I can get most of it free in Linux. Some stuff will take tweaking to make it work but once set up will never have to be fussed with till I decide its time to upgrade instead of being forced to upgrade.

3/26/2006

Dead link cleanup is moving right along, thinking about saveing them in one spot for people who like to be refused.

3/24/2006

Looking around this old website, lots of cleanup to do, hope to get to it soon. The world sure has changed.

3/21/2006

Winter still won't let go yet this year. 41 degrees & windy, feels like 17 degrees. Good to know I can still "HTML"! A lot has happened since last update. Have 3 Machines on a network, speeds have been over 1 GHZ for as long as I can remember. No sense upgrading Hardware unless I need another machine, not into games. Almost forgot the wireless laptop. Astronomy is my hobby now, all automated and connected to my network, so cool to control stuff like this. Unlimited storage, USB drives ETC. Added SATA drive with plug in card to one machine, now having partition troubles, best to get a machine with built in SATA. Main machine belongs to the wife and is running XP, finally a good MS operating system. Gates had to make a good one or it would be a Linux world right now. 95,98 and ME (soon) are gone. This will force people to different operating systems. Don't forget Linux, is more secure and does not have Virus issues like Microsoft products. As a bonus Linux has the ability to share most MS documents.I Format my hard drives in DOS and boot a Dam Small Linux CD.This set up is not for every one, you need to be willing to submit to the learning curve. Gotta go I'll be back to the news soon!

6/11/03

Summers is not really here in the north east, its been raining every weekend and most every week day. Hope it lets up when I go on vacation. My windows machine has been colbbred by viruses, one or two have made it through the virus scanners. The machine would blue screen every day and have to be shut off with the power switch. A reinstall and a bunch of sessions with Microsoft online help fixed it. I have a feeling that if did not have Norton installed the hard drive data would have been wiped out. My Linux machines are laughing at the MS Box.

2/11/02

It's been a while since my last update. A new job, car and an addition to the house has kept me busy. Last year I decided to run a lan so I had both of my machines running Windows 98. Although 98 was better than previous versons of windows, it still has its problems. 98 may be my last investment in MS products as I am not impressed with the newer operating systems. It seems XP was introduced to distance Windows from Linux. Time will tell if it has. Here I am again with my main machine Happily running Mandrake 8.1 and my wife's machine running Win98. We share a DSL connection but I have not taken the time to make them talk to each other. It keeps the wife out of my machine!! Linux has gotten easier to set up but still requires initial setup skills in the DSL area. Because Mandrake has all the bells and whistels it has some setup problems if you pick mutiple desktops. It seems to favor KDE but I still like Black Box because it looks like no other desktop. Its almost a non desk top because there are no Icons or menubars. I use the Xearth background and pop up a menu when ever I start a task. Like Windows the code is bloated so use a processor that is >800Mhz. If you need to go fast Mandrake 7.0 flies but you will give up easy USB and Lan setup. Good luck computing and I'll catch you around!

5/11/00

I have been running Linux exclusively at home for over a year and am able to do all I need to including the design and graphics of this page. This machine is running Mandrake 7.0, Redhat 6.1 and the seldom used Win 98. I use the Dos ( WIN 98 ) part of my hard drive to store and backup my Linux files as I have a considerable amount invested in Dos backup hardware. I can also burn CD ROM's from Linux. Linux is not for people that do not want to invest time in learning something new. But the latest upgrades now cost me $2 or free at Linux shows. I find that I like Mandrake 7.0 and the "Black Box" window manager the best for ease of installation, completeness and speed. If you want to try Linux for yourself I suggest installing a new Hard Drive, this way you will leave your windows or MAC operating systems in tact and avoid a hugh amount of installation planning. Corel Linux would be the easiest to learn if you use Windows. GNU Linux would give you the most flexibility but you need to be part Linux Nerd. During the switch I have always remained productive and by running several versions on the same machine I have avoided down time while I hack the Linux operating system. The reason it has been a year since I updated this page is I have been playing and collecting my bikini files. I am now turning to web page updates.

2/14/99

I have been seeing a lot of news about Red Hat Linux 5.2 so I purchased the CD for $ 30 at Comp USA. It took 15 minutes to install it on my spare system but it is quite different to setup than Microsoft products. It seems that you only rent MS Windows and Office, I need to spend several hundred dollars every few years for software
and scrap working computer systems because the load MS products puts on them always increases to the point the machine becomes useless. I have other ways to use my
money than constantly being forced into upgrades. Linux is suppose to run well on a 486, I need to try it out. Also I eventually want to put a server on the internet, with Zero licensing fees Linux looks perfect ! So far I have not gotten too far in the configuration without Red Hat web support, but have been getting email information from a live person rather than " you need to upgrade" from Microsoft . Win 98 is still running fine on my machine but it is slow ! I will let you all know how things are coming along.

1/02/99

I have almost forgotten that I have an operating system on my computer, Win 98 is all it was promised it is slow but i have not had to touch it since I have installed it except for enhancements. I did have an application ( Hurricane 98 ) remove itself partially from the system, it may have been been a bug in the application. This was downloaded from Egghead, paid four times the street price, did not receive the manual or conformation that I did the download. I can't get support from Egghead, seems that they are blaming the download agent, but they were my sales people. Time to dump my Egghead stock!

7/21/98

Installed Win 98 final, easy upgrade over the beta, we will see how it runs.

3/30/98

I have installed WIN98 Beta, it is probably the finest piece of software from MS that I have ever used!! Slower but much less crash proof and it seems to recover from what ever I do to it!! Lets hope the final release is just as good.

3/11/98

I have been trying to solve software conflicts since my last entry. I am using all Microsoft Front page 98 for my editor, I.E. 4.0 and Office 97, this system has never been so quirky, no serious troubles, but nothing works 100% right. I wish the Japanese would show us how to make software. This is my first page edited with FP98 and I am having troubles typing with single line spacing. Don't know why software engineers can't make enhancements that make it easier to do your work!!!! New Microsoft programs all have a learning curve. I just got a new car and it is faster, has more space inside, safer and gets better has mileage. To use this new car I did not have to read a book, I just got in it, looked at the controls and drove. I wish software was that easy!! I guess in order for program creators to keep their job they must impress the boss with the new look and functionality, forget that the end user has to go to work!!! I am building a HOT ROD PC after putting together several for my friends. If I can't use the software at least I'll be able go no where fast!!! My dreams of being a web page editor are slowly disappearing, I can't believe that the stuff I buy is making me a systems administrator, "load and pray." Just tried the spell checker and that is accurate, at least there is hope for some of this. Am getting friends involved with the web, if this does not produce anything maybe we will have fun!!!

10/27/07

Microsoft Internet Explorer ( I.E. 4.0 ) is my avoid list. It has slowed down Windows 95 and caused my sound to start popping. I have been looking for help on this but all sources ( Cnet, Ziff Davis, Etc.) seem to be trying to blow smoke rather than a fix. Seems like everyone is in Bill Gates pocket. I did find out that if you install Microsoft Office 97 after IE 4.0 and try to uninstall IE, the Registry will be damaged and you will have to reinstall Win95, after several attempts I have not mastered this without a lot of pain. THIS TIME I HAVE A BACKUP OF MY SYSTEM WHEN IT WAS OK and I will reload it when WIN95 becomes difficult to use. Fortunately Windows 3.11 is still my most used operating system and that still works fine.

10/16/97

My system has been running good since the last news update! So I am afraid to touch it so in order to to satisfy my urge to tinker I am throwing together a few machines for some good friends. Just installed Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0,, I AM BLOWN AWAY !!! I don't know what to make of it but it has COMPLETELY changed the characteristics of WIN 95. It has even changed the way I type, it is automatically formatting this text for me. For the first time since I have installed WIN95 I actually feel like using it ! Its 6:12 AM here in Boogie land, gotta get ready for work, see-yah.

PS. Powerquest sucks!

9/11/97 Shortly after my ram fiasco I added a new hard drive I now have 8 gigs of storage , needed a way to manage all my partitions. Used highly recommended PARTITION MAGIC by POWERQUEST. On installation, my system crashed taking a lot of my data with it. Since June 30 have not been able to get support from these people, could have thrown $60 out the window and would have been better off. I now have my machine stable and can get back to updating my page.

5/24/97 Just installed MS Office 97 Pro version, takes some planning to install on drive other than "C" but it looks great. Has lots of stuff to author web pages and presentations. I really like the graphics editor that was included in the package. All this stuff is tied to windows 95 and that makes it real easy to use. Only hitch I have encountered so far is that when I upgraded to 64 meg of ram the Fast find portion of the program causes an error that will not allow me to use MS Word. I am in the process of checking to see if this is a hardware or software problem. I violated my rule one when I saw bargain ram and decided that 32 meg was not good enough. I should have left my machine alone! Now instead of providing web content I am trouble shooting my machine. I am beginning to find out that the so called experts are of little help when it comes to ram. If you decide to go this route, consult the board manufacturer before you jump. I think the next machine I get will be from a local guy.

2/21/97 My real job is keeping me busy and I am finding it increasingly difficult to maintain this page, but I will not ever quit trying to add more quality. I have a Kodak DC-40 Camera that I am pleased about. Not all the bells and whistles of the imports but much better images. Stay tuned for image samples. WIN95 is still not my love but am using it in work because the new software requires it, good network stuff. First Aid 3.1 is on my avoid list.

12/15/96 Just added First Aid 3.1 to my system to help eliminate crashes of Win 3.11 to find crashes now happens when I close Netscape or any MS Office applications. Now instead of being in the MS help line I'm on Cybermedia's and I can tell you its practically nonexistent. I am looking around at Digital cameras so I can let the world see what I see. Also thinking about having a bikini contest, this will be different the winner will be drawn out of a hat., this way anyone can win Think Its a good Idea ?

10/20/96 I've said this before but it finally looks like I have the system set up the way I want it. The system has Windows 3.11, WIN95 and OS2 on the box. There are 3 hard drives that total over 3 GIG. two 28.8 modems, tape backup and I have two service providers. This is to insure that I have uninterruptable access to my Geocities server storage space. Setting this up has delayed me because I was teaching myself about WIN95 and in the process wiped out my data 3 times, 1.5 gig of files and operating systems are time consuming to set up. The reason I did this was because I could no longer tolerate the crashes I was experiencing using 3.11 after I added the TCP/IP stack. I am keeping 3.11 until my wife gets use to the other operating systems. WIN95 looks like it will provide even more communication accessibility than I had hoped for, it was difficult to get use to plug and play with no jumpers to set. OS2 is the crash proof champ, but finding drivers is difficult. Hopefully I will now be able to focus on site content. Keep checking back and let me know what you like to see.

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