Some web sites help you get your 'Geek' on. Mine helps you get the 'Geek' out! Fix IT Newsletter Alert Dec 2009 Issue 0027 News New pages added since last newsletter... Repair or Replace Memory Articles Seasons Greetings! For those that celebrate this time of year with Holidays, Happy Holidays! Hello After looking at some of my stats and my Computer Q and A section I noticed a some sections of my web site aren't attracting as many readers as they should. One section is the Server's*, I am wondering if anyone cares about servers or if they know how important a server is in to days computing environment. So this newsletter will be primarily about Servers. And why you should know a little bit about them even if it is just a glimpse of what goes on "under the hood". So what is a server anyway? Well just what the name implies it serves but what it serves is the catch. For most people they serve up files, email, images, and allows you to connect to the internet (WWW) and on occasion stops you from going somewhere or doing something when they fail (goes down). From the everyday user's point of view the local Server belongs to some Geek that hides away in a basement office or a cube in the furthest corner of the office and you only see them when your computer stops working for some reason. And with some of them the experience is quite, ummmmm, surreal? Heck I have been in the business for over 20 years and sometimes I don't understand what they are talking about! So the local server does something's for you like shares out files for you and your coworkers, shares the Laser Printer, controls who can log on to the local network, and in most cases keeps the thieves out. And when it goes down everyone knows about it. No? For the people that get work related email the server that does this work maybe in the same building or maybe far away in another city. Or for your personal email it may be a web based email server such as with Yahoo, Live, or GMail. These are specialize servers that only handle email. And when they go down everyone knows it also, being an administrator of an email server is not a happy job at times. Then there are everyone's favorite server, the server that has the job of sending you all those web pages that you surf everyday along with MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, and dozens of other social networking web sites. The location of these servers is not a secret but it takes some digging to find out where they are physically due to the way the internet works. The more popular the service then the more servers that support the service. Such as Google, it has been reported that world wide Google Inc. has over 100,000 servers! Yikes! The last company I worked for only had 10,000 and it was a major bank! So there you have it, what a server is and why it is important in your everyday life. Amazing what technology can do once you find a job for it. And for that job we can thank IBM! *Servers are specialized computers that are made to run constantly and last a long time. A typical business server will cost over $5000 and could go as high as $10 Million (yes, I said Million). And if any of yuse guyz are System Admins I waz kidding about the basement office... :) Other news: Do you travel with a laptop? Here is a nice utility (free) that will list all Wi Fi connections in a local area such as a air port terminal or a hotel, no more guessing on the SSID and if it is an open connection.  WirelessNetView v1.10 Do you use batch files? Here is a way to autostart a program with a batch file - START /D “path_to_program” program_name Such as - start /d "C:\Program_Files\Adobe\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" In the path c:\Program_Files  you need the _ because the CMD or Command Prompt uses the old 8.3 file naming convention, so you can not use spaces in the path, so be sure to use the under score where any spaces are in your path. HOT Info! When shopping online pay attention to the address bar of your web browser. It has been reported that there are thieves using similar names for some on line stores such as Best Buy, the real web address for Best Buy is www.bestbuy.com but some thieves have added the _ to the name and it looks like this www.best_buy.com. Be aware that these sites will take your money but you will not receive your purchase. Yes you can fight the thieves by contacting your credit card company but by the time you find out that you have been ripped off they are gone and your money with them. So if you do a search for the name of a web store on line be aware that even though Google/Yahoo/Bing and other search engines are aware of these scams they can not protect against all of them, double check your web address before purchasing! HOT Info! MySpace has a Java Script virus (called the wall virus) being spread (propagated) by your friends and loved ones. Beware of clicking on anything that is unusual! The Tech Support You Need - When YOU Need It! Only $37.00 Never pay a Geek again! The DIY concept has been around for a long time. Self Computer Repair is no exception. I have found that over 87% of repairs take less than 15 minutes... The question you have to ask yourself is - Do I Want To Do IT? This e-book gives you the advantage that the Geeks enjoy. The help you are looking for all in one place. And What Is That? Information. Information in everyday language! No Geek! All for less than a half hour of Geek time. Q and A This site contains a lot of information. As with any publication not all information is available due to space, time, or subject constraints. If you have a question that you did not find the answer on this web site  you a can ask your question here and we will endeavor to get you the most up to date answer possible! Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this newsletter and tell me what you think! Yes, you may forward this email to anyone you want! If you don't have a subscription, and would like one, just go to our Fix It! newsletter signup (and get free sample pages at the same time) Here are some web sites that may be of interest to you: The company that I use to build my web sites - Need help with basic system functions: Computer help - Learn how to use your computer All the best, Monte Russell Webmaster www.diy-computer-repair.com Return to top