What is a Linux? Who is a Linux? Why is a Linux? Linux!?!?!?!?!?!?

So as promised, here is a follow up to the operating system link.  If you missed that article, please see it here Operating Systems.  Now we will move on to Linux Based Operating Systems.


Once upon a time, there were two companies that ruled the world.  Microsoft, and Apple.  Some people wanted to change up the dictatorship involved in just having to world powers. The man who did so was Linus Torvalds.  

O come on, he invented an operating system, how cool could he possibly be?


With a Linux based system, you install it on your computer, and it is what runs everything on your computer.  All of your programs are installed inside it, you can surf the web.  One of the things that is nice about it, you can customize the system to work in whatever way you want it to.  For those of you who are less comfortable with how your computer works, there are plenty of options within Linux that don't need to be customized.  Some builds of Linux have been made to look and operate just like Windows, if that is the road you want to travel.


So moving on, Linux is great for when you want an operating system that you can modify, and it has a fantastic price as well.  It is free!  There are very few computers that you can buy a Linux operating system on, but if you do it can be a great feeling of freedom to not be paying for software. 


Linux is always represented by this adorable Penguin!

As always please email me any computer questions you want me to answer at computerchampion10 at gmail dot com!

Operating System

When you hear the term operating system, what comes to mind?

Exactly!

Most people use an operating system everyday on a computer they use, they just aren't familiar with the phrase.  A computer without an operating system, is just the pieces that you see.  The operating system is what is what makes the computer work.  The most common operating system is Windows by Microsoft.  For those of you that are more experienced computer users or have more life experience, you may remember DOS.  This is what was used before an operating system was installed.

So there you have it! An operating system is used to make your computer run.  If you can use that in a sentence, you will use the word of the day.  One of our upcoming entries will discuss what a Linux based operating system is!

Don't get too excited!

As always please email me any computer questions you want me to answer at computerchampion10 at gmail dot com!

DPI, CIA, CPA, CFO, CEO, What does it mean?

Alright today we are just going to go over DPI, but when you hear these acronyms most people are seriously boggled about this nonsense.  When I hear to many acronyms in a row to quickly I automatically think of the government.  Hopefully today might be a little less confusing then how the government operates.

DPI or Dots Per Inch is what is commonly used as a measurement for printing.  When you print a picture or a document from your computer, the signal your computer sends to your printer is formed by a bunch of dots.  The more DPI that your printer can print in every inch, the more detail that you will have when your file is printed.  The most common setting for a printer to print out is 300 DPI, which would mean that you have a picture that is 300 Dots Per every inch of your printout.  The best way that I can illustrate DPI is a picture with the dots in a very large and square form.

As you can see from our everyday hero Mario, you can form pictures out of dots, but a computer does it in a very tiny scale.  Here are a couple of more examples for your enjoyment!

As always please email me any computer questions you want me to answer at computerchampion10 at gmail dot com!

Memory

Well everybody, I am back with another posting for you all to enjoy.  Today the topic I will be discussing briefly is Memory.  No not this kind of memory:

The kind of memory today I will be talking about is the kind that is used in the computer, and is commonly referred to as RAM.  When you use your computer, the RAM is what is used to access the files and programs you want to access on your computer.  A picture of what ram looks like is below:

Whenever I think of a computer I think of things that you can compare them to.  The best example of something that you can compare RAM with is a forklift in a warehouse.  When you have a large warehouse (Hard Drive) you need to have a forklift to be able to access all of the files and programs that you have stored on your shelves.  The more forklifts you have, or the more RAM, the faster you will be able to access all of those files and programs from your shelves (Hard Drive).  At the end of the day when you shut down warehouse and the forklifts shut off, the files on the shelves stay there, and the RAM rests.

As always please email me any computer questions you want me to answer at computerchampion10 at gmail dot com!

Hard Drive

People always seem to use the term Hard Drive and Memory interchangeably, but this is not the case.  First of all I want to try and clear up some of the common misconceptions of what is a hard drive.  The most common way that hard drive is misused is when people use it in place of the word tower.

This is a tower:

Next this is a picture of a hard drive:

The definition of  hard drive from dictionary.com is this, " Hard Drive–noun a disk drive containing a hard disk."

Umm yeah I can imagine why people don't know what these are. A hard drive is what you save your computer files on.  The difference between this and memory is when you shut your computer off, the files that are in your memory go away, and the files that are on your hard drive stay saved.  There are a lot of fancy hard drives that people use, but they dont think of them as such.  I have attached a couple pictures so that you can have an idea of what a hard drive can be.

First off any device that you can save files on permanently is a hard drive in my opinion.  Here are a few examples:

The last one you see is an ipod.  This is a fancy hard drive and one that you only would use for specific uses, but at the end of the day to me all it is a fancy hard drive. 

When I think of a hard drive, I like to think of a warehouse.  When you leave your warehouse at night time, all of the things you save and store in that warehouse will be there when you need to go back and access those things.

As always please email me any computer questions you want me to answer at computerchampion10 at gmail dot com!

Why is it so bad if my email or facebook account is hacked?

This week I received an email from a friend of mine I had not heard from in a long time.  Normally this is a happy occasion because I can reconnect with someone I haven't from in a while.  I shortly thereafter noticed that this was a friend of mine who had their email account hacked.  They were trying to get me to access a website that was going to sell me a 70" Sony Television Super Cheap!  Unfortunately I am not a Sony fan, and this friend isn't a television fan I helped them regain control of their email account.

  

People often ask me why it is so bad if someone hacks their email or Facebook account.  Most people use email to casually communicate with their friends and family, receive deals from their favorite websites, and allowing spammers to constantly advertise their Viagra prescriptions.  A lot of people don't see any problem with someone getting their password and spamming their friends.  I hope to explain why this can be a problem for people.

1. Scammers will spam your friends

As I explained above, as soon as I heard from a friend, I was eager to open their email.  If the email sounds semi-credible at all people are willing to trust their friends.  I am Super-OCD about opening websites from people I am not expecting them from, and know how to identify viruses and phishing scams, so I was not afraid of the email.  People who are not as vigilant can have issues with this spam from friends.

2. Scam Artists will have access to your bank accounts

According to CNET, 64% of people use online banking.  I am no rocket scientist by any stretch of the imagination (I barely earned a management degree) but most online banks can be accessed with an email address and password.  The number of people that use the same password for all of their confidential accounts is not 100%, but it is a high enough percentage of people who do that scammers will exploit this opportunity. Once inside your bank account a scam artist is only a few clicks away from draining your hard earned funds into their slimy fingers.  For those of you that say, "Well I am smart, I use different passwords for all my accounts."  You must not have thought this through thoroughly because they can access your accounts as well.

3. Scammers WILL HAVE ACCESS to your bank accounts

This next section refers to the smart people who use different passwords.  Once a scammer has access to your email account, the possibilities are endless for the accounts that can be accessed.  Here is how a scammer can access your bank account even if you have a different password.  The majority of websites have a "forgotten password" option that can be selected if by chance you do forget your bank accounts password.  A lot of websites will ask you a secret question that you have previously answered to change your password.  Unfortunately a lot of websites will send your email account a link which when clicked on will allow a person to change the account password.  Once on this website, the scammer just needs to choose a new password for the account and can enter the account as well as transfer funds as they please.

Don't worry this posting is not all dome and gloom.  Some people will do whatever they can to avoid using the internet for banking, shopping, or paying bills, but being careful can help you not get scammed.  The key to avoiding this type of scam is to not click on links that you don't know their origin.  As long as you only go to websites you trust, you can avoid having your account stolen from you.  There are plenty of websites online that can help you if this happens to you, but prevention is always the key!  I will close with a Facebook scam website that was posted on a friend's wall so you have some idea of what to watch out for.

  

As always please email me any computer questions you want me to answer at computerchampion10 at gmail dot com!