1971 -- My First Contact

 

My first contact with a computer was in 1971 at Camp Lejeune, N.C. I was on the general's staff in the CEO's office (Communication Electronics Officer) for the Second Marine Division. One of my duties was as the Division Frequency Coordinator. We had over 4,600 frequencies assigned to the division. The man before me controlled them with a 3-ring binder. Each page had the frequencies typed down the left side and each sheet was inside a plastic protector. Permanent assignments were typed in to the right and others, assigned for specific operation and only used for a short time period, had a grease pencil notation to the right.

The old control system, without a computer, worked like this. The Comm Chief of Second Marines, calls me and asks for a range safety frequency for two days. I pull out my logbook, find a VHF freq with no other assignments nearby, and tell him, "Okay, use kilo one seven." That code was an unclassified reference number so that I could talk to someone on the phone and give them a freq. He says okay, and I make a notation in the logbook with my grease pencil. Two days later he calls and says he's done with it so I open the logbook, (HIGH TECH HERE, pay attention and let me know if you can't follow the technical details) I pull out a Kleenex, spit on it, and erase the entry -- I'm done.
One of my first jobs was to automate that procedure and bring it up the level of available technology.

We had big coding sheets about 18" x 14" with 80 columns on them. There were, I think, either 30 or 45 lines to the page. Each line of 80 boxes represented one punch card and each card represented one frequency. For each of the 4,600 or so freqs I had to write a separate card and, if there was no assignment, I'd just put in the code, the freq, and the type. For an assignment I'd put in an abbreviation such as, 2/2 TAC LOG, which meant the tactical logistics net for Second Battalion, Second Marine Regiment. Each morning I'd take ten or fifteen coding sheets to the Data Processing Center. In the afternoon I'd return and pick up my cards and a printout of the data. Note, nothing was actually going into the computer. They were just punching cards, feeding them into a card reader, and getting a printout.

When you got your cards the data that was encoded was printed across the top of the card. Something would occasionally happen to the ribbon and you'd get a card with punched holes but nothing printed and it became important to be able to read the holes. Actually, if you worked with the cards very long you could read the punches quite easily.
The DP center was a long low building about thirty by a hundred feet. In those days (and even into the early 90s) all computer centers were in buildings with ENORMOUS A/C units and raised floors. The purpose of that was that all the cables ran under the floor and, by pulling up a floor tile, you could crawl under the floor to work on the cables. (Something that happened frequently.) You entered the building at one end and there was a counter across the front. On the counter was an in-box. Any work you had you dropped in there and you went away. They didn't want to talk to you.

My problem was that everything I did was classified. All the freqs were CONFIDENTIAL and, when we were preparing for any kind of deployment, the frequency assignments were SECRET. There was no guard anywhere, just the unlocked front door, the in-box, and a bunch of guys behind the counter. At that time, I had just returned from embassy duty and security was in my blood. I always thought about the idea that anyone could walk in, paw through the in-box, and pull out some SECRET material. If he was stopped, all he had to say was something like, "Oh, I made a mistake on this input. I have to make some changes." That always did bother me. (An exception was TOP SECRET. If you had any TS you'd stand there and wave the bright red folder until someone came over and took it from you. Naturally there was a chain of custody on TS and ... I hoped and prayed that the clerks had a TS clearance.)

Behind the counter were five or six card punch machines, each with an operator typing away madly. Behind them was the computer equipment. Down the left and right walls were a number of tape drives. Each drive unit was close to six feet tall, three feet wide, and about two feet deep. Mounted on the top front were two reels containing magnetic tape, about one inch wide. Each reel had about the same storage capacity as a modern CD ROM. These are the things you see in "old" movies. The tape spins, stops, spins, reverses, stops, etc. In those days there were no hard drives and all data was stored on tape. The internal memory was reserved for operational programs and any calculations being made.
Across the back of the room was the control panel. Hundreds of lights, switches, patch panels, along with three workstations.

Each workstation had a console with a screen about nine inches square and a keyboard in front of it. Down the middle of the room was a double row of big boxes. Each unit was about three feet square and four feet high. Those boxes constituted the CPU (Central Processing Unit). Consider, inside your home PC is a chip about 1-1/2 inches square and no thicker than 1/16." That chip is your CPU and, I'm guessing, has more computing power than four or five of those old time computers. Our system was an IBM 360/40; state of the art at that time.

So, I pick up my cards and printout, go back to the office and proof it. The next morning I take back any corrections as well as the next ten or fifteen sheets. You can only turn in work in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon. Also, the more sheets you give them, the more errors they'll make; that's why we held it down to 10 or 15 sheets each time. As a result of all this modernization, it took nearly a month for me to get a correct printout of all our frequencies and their assignments.

Here, then, is the first reason I hate computers. With the advent of the wonders of computers it works like this. Top calls, I pull out my printout, find and give him K17. I make a note on the printout, then go find the card for that freq. I make a note on the card and write up a coding sheet with the information on it. Because it's after ten I can't take it to DP today. The next morning I take it to DP, wait for the afternoon pickup, and then have an updated printout.

The following day Top calls, says he's done with it, I make a notation on the printout, mark up the card, prepare a coding sheet, and the following morning I take it to DP, that afternoon I pick it up and ... darn! The clerk keyed in the wrong freq. I make a notation on my printout about the error, prepare a coding sheet and the following morning I take the correction back to DP, wait for the afternoon, pick them up, and we're up to date.
Naturally the coding sheets and cards, because they linked frequencies, codes, and assignments, were all classified. That meant they had to be stored in our classified files center and, when I was done with them, I had to make sure they made it into the burn bag.

My boss demanded that our printout be constantly updated. Just my making a pencil notation on it was not enough for him, we had to have a CLEAN printout all the time that showed all the assignments. He was amazed at how we could now track all of our frequency assignments by computer. Never once did he realize that it now took me two or three days to get that CLEAN printout when, in the old days, it took, oh, maybe ten seconds to make or erase entries! Amazing how easy your life is with computers, huh?

1972 -- My Next Experience

My next reason for hating computers is the very next assignment I had. From Camp Lejeune I went to Iwakuni, Japan. I was in group comm for Marine Aircraft Group 12. The Marine Corps was in a transition to try and get computers to do all our work so, in their infinite wisdom, SOMEBODY decided that Max should learn embarkation procedures. I got a two week trip to Okinawa to attend embarkation school and, upon my return I was appointed as the Squadron Embarkation NCO.

In the old days we'd pack a bunch of boxes, keeping track of what went into each one, put them on a pallet, weigh it, and we'd be ready to go to war. Keeping track of what went in was nothing more than standing there with a notepad and writing down equipment and serial numbers.

Compare that with the speed and convenience that computers offered us. First, I had to code all the equipment in the squadron. Every single piece of equipment had to have a separate punch card showing its name, type, serial number, volume, and weight. Equipment was packed into boxes and each box had a serial number so each box had to have its own card showing its serial number, volume, and empty weight. Most of the boxes were stacked on pallets. Each pallet had a serial number so each one had to have a card showing its empty weight and volume in cubic feet. Realistically, in a combat load, we would never put all our radios on one pallet, but for convenience in explaining this, let's pretend that we're going to put six radios in a box, then put twelve such boxes on a pallet. First I had to find the individual cards for each of the radios, then group them together in the boxes into which they're going to be packed. Only then was I ready to sequence my cards.

First, I laid down a unit ID card, then a group card (the group card tells the computer that everything that follows is grouped together), then a pallet card, then a group card, then a box card, then the six radio cards, then an end card (meaning the six radios are being packed in that particular box), then a group card, box card, radios ..... until I had all the boxes packed and stacked on the pallet, then a final end card. For those 72 radios, I would end up putting together 112 cards in a precise order.

To give you an idea of the scope of my task, consider that, to mount out the entire squadron, we needed around two hundred pallets, each with anywhere from four to twelve boxes, each box containing as few as two or as many as forty items. Then we had twelve 2-1/2 ton trucks into which we crammed fifteen or twenty boxes; twelve jeeps with two or three boxes each; ten maintenance vans, each containing literally hundreds of pieces of equipment; and six CONEX boxes. These were metal shipping containers, eight feet on each side and, inside them were, again, literally hundreds of pieces of equipment. You have no idea how many hours (make that more like days) I spent shuffling around cards and building groupings. My desk looked like I was playing the biggest game of solitaire in history.

After the card deck was sequenced I sent it to DP, had them input the data, and give me a printout. Guaranteed there's going to be a mistake somewhere and I'm going to have to correct it and get a new printout. NOW I'm ready to pack the stuff in the boxes, pile the boxes on the pallets, and band them up. Wow, how did we ever manage to accomplish anything before we had computers?

[In a bit of cruel irony just a month after I completed the cards and had the printout ready, our unit was sent back to Vietnam. None of the senior people trusted computers so can you guess how we packed our gear? Yep, we packed the boxes and someone stood there with a tablet writing down the serial number of each piece of equipment. My card deck was never used!]

1978 -- Computers in Combat

In 1977 I was in Comm Co, Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, in Okinawa. Our most modern piece of equipment was the AN/TTC-38, a telephone central office manufactured by Sylvania that was supposed to automate our field telephone system. Our biggest problem was getting it running. There was an 8-level paper tape for the main program that was something like fifty feet long. Before you could load that in, you had to boot the system. Across the top of the control console were 32 little switches. Using a reference manual you set them in a sequence of on and off.

Remember your basic computerese. Switch on = 1, switch off = 0; each one or zero is a bit; eight bits make a byte; each byte represents a letter, number, or character. So, each time we set the 32 switches to various positions of on and off and then pushed ENTER we were entering 32 bits of data; four bytes; or four characters. We had to set those stupid switches SIXTEEN times before the system even knew it was a computer. The headache here was that if even one switch was set wrong the system didn't tell you, it just took everything and then refused to start. You just had to set all of them and try it. If it didn't work, you had to go back and start all over. After the system booted, we had to feed in the fifty-foot paper tape that gave it the operating instructions so it could function. Only after that could we feed in the two- or three-hundred foot paper tape that contained all the user data.

If we wanted to add a user during operation there was no direct input to the computer. We sat at a console, typed in the data, and it punched a paper tape. Each customer required about three feet of tape. Then, to get that data into the system we had to pause the system; that meant that anyone picking up their phone didn't get any dial tone, but any calls in progress were not interrupted. It only took about five seconds to feed in the tape, but the new user wasn't in until the system did a restart. It would wait until there were no calls in progress and then restart automatically, which took only a couple minutes. Now you have the long tape and maybe eight or ten of these short ones. If the system crashed and you had to do a reboot: you did the switches, the fifty foot tape, the long tape, then each of the short ones. Whew! When we reached this point we'd have the system punch a new tape with all the customer data, and throw away all the little pieces. By this time the user tape is four hundred feet long and there is no spool for it. We have to wind it on our fingers. Ain't it wonderful how computers make our life easier?

Final Hatred

 

My lasting problem has to do with the software. In the early days of PCs when you bought a computer all you got was a dumb machine. If there was a hard drive DOS was probably (but not always) loaded on it, but nothing else. Anything you wanted, you went out, bought, and loaded it in yourself. When you turned it on it was up and running in less than thirty seconds. Any time you opened a new program, ten to fifteen seconds was all the time that was needed.

Today, no matter what you want to do with your computer, you get five thousand other programs that eat up memory and slow things down. Even with monstrously fast clock speeds, it now takes five to ten minutes for the computer to be up and running. When you open a new program it can still take a couple minutes for it to be ready to go. Even with all the advances in Windows, I still find there are things that it can't do and I revert to my DOS days and do it from the command prompt.
So, that was my world without and with computers. Maybe you can now understand why I hate the stupid things.

So far, so good. I was excited: on the cusp of new technology, as befits a progressive-minded fellow. Little did I suspect that behind the humorous, cartoon- and banter-filled pages of the instruction manual lurked a red-eyed monster. The learning curve for this system, deceptively written in BASIC (something-or-other Instruction Code) was steep. As in the Himalayas. Either that, or I was hopelessly stupid. I became deeper and deeper immersed, filling in pages of my notes to explain their notes. I learned to forgo my favorite late-night 'Dragnet' (goodbye, Jack Webb and Harry Morgan!), and would wake up groggy-eyed in the mornings, none the wiser. It turned out that Radio Shack did not stand behind the product they sold: how to use it was up to the unsuspecting buyer. The only help offered was a recommend- ation to consult some people out in the San Fernando Valley who "wrote software".

• Come again?
• Software. You know, the code that tells the computer what to do.
• Was'nt that supposed to come with the computer?
• Noooo...that's a whole different ballgame.

That is how I was initiated into the zeros and ones world of software: I called the number they gave me at RS, and two fellows showed up for a consultation. They examined the computer, ran a few checks and test- programs, and took notes. The programs that came with the computer were declared invalid and unuseable. New software - far better - would have to be custom-made for me. One for inventory, one for accounts, another for correspondence, et cetera. With the abundance of such soft- ware available now (much of it free!), it's hard to believe, but that is how it was back then. Giving up was not an option, so we forged ahead. It would take a "couple of weeks" to put the programs together, I was told. In the interim (having made copies), I made the best of what I had on hand, and even learned some tricks that were not included in the manual. For diversion, I tried the bouncing-ball type of games that were built in. They worked flawlessly! Amazing how much 32 bytes(!) of memory can do.

As I feared, the new programs (to the tune of I forget how many hundreds of $) were not perfect. They'd often hang up, freeze the computer, and otherwise elevate my blood pressure. The path to my software gurus in the Valley became so familiar I could drive it in my sleep. I'd drop off the discs and go shopping while my friends would "debug" them. All this while, I was learning - the hard way - how to get around the pitfalls of this inadequate equipment, and make the best of a bad situation. If Radio Shack ever came out with a Model 2, I did not want to hear about it, since they took no returns or trade-ins. At that point, whenever the subject of The Beast came up, the missus would shake her head sadly. To make light of the matter, I joked that TR might hint at Tar-Baby. No, she smiled: TRash is more likely the answer. In short, I was ready for a change.

Through the grapevine I'd heard of a portable(!) self-contained and powerful computer made by Osborne. This model was all the rage at the time, so I went to have a look. The machine - about the size of a large typewriter - weighed in at 35 lbs. Hardly a laptop, yet it had more memory (64 kb!), 2 two built-in floppy drives, and came with a ready-to-run suite of programs. The tiny 5-inch monitor (with an unattractive orange background) was an invitation to myopia, so an outboard ten-inch monitor ($100) was a prerequisite extra. The Osborne was still no panacea, and had its own unique set of chronic problems.

 There was an Osborne Club that met at a high school in the Valley, where happy owners would congregate to swap yarns, files and programs, and share service resources. Very convivial and sometimes even useful. So I muddled along with the Osborne for another year or so. Meanwhile, what started as a rumor was beginning to pick up in volume, like an approaching thunderstorm. This was something called MSDOS, (MicroSoft Disc Operating System) - an advanced computer language cobbled together in a garage by a couple of whiz-kids, to be marketed, so went the rumor, by IBM* - no less!

The Microsoft Era

Nothing succeeds like success, and soon MSDOS drove most computers. The classic horizontal desktop model (with the B&W monitor atop) soon evolved into the upright 286 models, along with exponentially improved "brains" - the Central Processing Units (CPUs) that drove the machines. In quick succession there came color, then the mighty mouse. Hard drives that until then had only been rumored became commonplace (I had a 20Mb Seagate installed in my PC for $100). Out of Silicon Valley in California came thousands of new programs, games and accessories. Fortunes were made by enterprising software "engineers".

Such programs were sold or leased to the rapidly growing number of computer users. I remember one such firm In Los Angeles in the early 1970s, that mailed catalogs of new programs available. You made up a want list and went to their boutique, where for a small fee copies were made, while one waited - as in the doctor's office - perusing even more lists. Microsoft's rival was Apple/McIntosh. I flirted with such a computer briefly, but went back to MS-DOS. After spending years becoming familiar with that language, and in spite of all the new versions and multiple Windows incarnations, I still use some of those tried and true DOS utilities daily.

Out there in cyberspace today lurk many good things - as well as knights and dragons of every description. Computers have conquered even the remotest corners of the known world. Nothing works anymore without computers. A current state-of-the-art PC - even an innocent- looking laptop - has the computing power that required two roomsful of tube equipment only a few decades earlier. The modern PC is so powerful that it's not expected to last more than 3 or 4 years before it literally burns itself out. Out of loyalty or nostalgia perhaps, I keep a few old, low-powered clunkers running. A child coming of computer-age (younger and younger!) nowadays might well ask: Daddy, was there life on earth before the Internet?

 

*IBM and its German subsidiary custom-designed complex solutions, anticipating Hitler's needs. They did not merely sell the Nazis the programs, but leased them for high fees and became the sole source of the billions of punch cards Hitler needed to round up all the Jews in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe.

These vision problems caused by computer usage may be due to a few facts:

• Sitting on the same position in front of the computer and focusing on the screen for a long time
• Incorrect or inappropriate computer screen's position can contribute to vision problems
• Bad lighting of the surrounding environment of the room and lighting reflection and glare can also be other factors

Have you ever felt occasional eyestrains, sore eyes, headaches or even excessive tearing? These are only few of the symptoms and indications that should prompt your attention more towards your current eye and vision health condition. The easiest way to prevent this problem from getting worse and all-out curbing the problem would most probably is t stay away from computers. Apparently, it is almost impossible for most people who make a living by using the computers for job-related tasks!

Other symptoms that may caused by excessive computer usage:

• red eyes
• trouble changing focus
• tired eyes
• contact lens discomfort that may due to dry eyes
• cyclic momentary blurred near vision
• increase glare sensitivity

Here are10 tips that you can practice to help you with proper eye care:

1. Adjust your seat and the computer that you are working with ergonomically. Take note that the most common viewing distance is between 28-30 inches. Make sure that your body, eyes and computer screen is in a comfortable set up. This is essential in order to avoid awkward head or eye movements.
2. Make sure your workstation is spacious enough so that it could ease your movements. This is to give you more angles to move with the aim of distracting you from becoming too focused to the computer screen and to ease up your body adjustment to get a comfortable position.
3. Get rid of glare from your workstation. Adjust the brightness and contrast on your monitor screen suitable to your surrounding environment lighting. Glare is the common cause of eyestrain and fatigue ness. If you are sitting near the window that is easily penetrated by direct sunlight, perhaps you could try minimizing the source of direct sunlight by putting on a blind or curtain and at the same time lowering the screen's contrast and brightness percentage a little. If the overhead lights are too bright, you can make the move to dim it up a little too.
4. Do not however work with the computer in the dark. You have to make sure there are still lights around and it is preferable that you use a low-wattage bulb and lower down the brightness and contrast percentage of your screen. Another option is to use a monitor glare hood with anti-reflection attributes.
5. Put a limit to your computer usage. Better yet, take a break after every hour of using the computer. You can do so by looking away from the computer to something that is within a short distance view and later slowly shift to somewhere further. Watch more greenery because that could be an eye refresher.
6. Wash your face and blink drips of water on the face into your eyes. By right, the practice helps to cleanse your eyes.
7. Take some time to do eye exercise by moving your eyes left right up and down few times for every few seconds
8. Make the effort to stay healthy. Get use to food that is rich with Vitamin A and C, vegetables, especially broccoli and carrots as well as fruits such as apricots and grapes. In short, you had to have a balanced nutrition for your well-being that is complete with vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, proteins, fat and sufficient water intake.
9. Eating beta-carotenes-rich foods is always good for maintaining eye health
10. Avoid using contact lenses when working with a PC if possible because contact lenses themselves can cause dry eyes. You can wear contact lenses but it is best to switch when you want to work on your PC or laptop.

These tips however are mere guides. If the vision and eye problems resist, it is advisable for you to consult your physician. Hope these guides help if not much, even a little in your daily life.

Figure 1: Toxic Computers Toxic Materials Inside

When it comes to dealing with toxic and hazardous materials issues in the real world it always helps to know in advance, as much as possible about whatever may be confronting you as well as what to look out for and where to find it.

You will need to document the information so gleaned in order for it to be of use to you in the future. Hence, the creation of standard, custom and customizable hazard lists containing a complete register of the possible sources of hazardous and toxic materials will be the first item on our agenda.

Hazard List Creation

When compiling your lists of hazardous and toxic materials always bear in mind that almost all electronics will contain; lead and tin from solder and copper for wires cabling and as the traces on Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) including motherboards and adapter cards.

Full Inventory

The first step in the process of building your very own custom hazard list is to create an up-to-date list (full inventory) of items that you will need to take into consideration when undertaking the hazardous and toxic materials assessment.

IEEE & US EPA Templates

In order to save time the best approach to developing a hazardous and toxic materials list is to make use of the templates and lists that are publicly available through the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).

I am sure that you will find that both the IEEEand US EPAwebsites are very good places to start. You will also be able to obtain benchmarks that show the efficiency of your servers. You will also find that there are huge quantities of free resources available to you for the asking at these web sites.

Alphabetical Hazards List

Here, as promised is an alphabetical list of some well-known hazardous/toxic materials and dangers posed by computers, communications and networking equipment and other electronic devices.

Aluminum - Heat sinks and fans, electrolytic capacitors, cases and enclosures (external HDD)

Batteries - Cadmium, Nickel, Lithium, Lead, Mercury, Nickel Metal Hydride, Iron, Phosphor (LiFeP)

Beryllium Oxide - Thermal paste

Cables and Wires - Copper - PVC insulation, do emit some EMR, which can be of concern when in the presence of sensitive equipment and strong electromagnetic fields. Shielded varieties will also contain various other metals used to provide the shielding

Cadmium - Batteries

Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) - Lead - All CRT-based monitors contain lead. All CRT-based televisions also contain lead. Also, contain Copper and sometimes Gold. A typical CRT monitor can be over 6% lead by weight mainly contained in the glass

Copper - Wire, cabling, PCB traces and component leads, cooling fans

Electricity - Electrocution, fire, equipment damage

Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) - CRT monitors emit EMR, and by components within the system case as well as from cabling

Gold - Computer component connector plating (the golden fingers)

Indirect - Carbon Dioxide produced to generate the electricity used to power the PC, its components, peripherals and other devices

Iron - System case chassis, other cases, fittings, fixings

LCD Displays - Mercury - All LCD-based display systems contain mercury including LCD-based displays used as computer monitors, televisions and other LCD-based screens such as those to be found with digital cameras, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), smart phones, cell phones, mobile devices etc may also have copper and gold components

Lithium - Batteries

Magnetic Tape - Environmentally unfriendly

Mercury - All LCD-based displays

Monitors - Monitors emit Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)

Motherboards - There are a considerable number of toxic materials used in the manufacture of motherboards and many add-on adapter cards. Capacitors for example have a habit of leaking toxic chemicals.

Nickel - Batteries

Optical Disks - Pthylocyanine (gold discs) and Cyanine (blue discs) plastic and polycarbonate substrates

Power Supply Units (PSU) - Potentially dangerous electrical currents and voltages. PSU tend to be the most unreliable of all PC components

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) - Lead, Tin, Halogens, Plastics - The flame retardant, usually halogens, used in the manufacture of PCBs is toxic and makes it very difficult to recycle the material. Also, contain a considerable amount of lead-tin solders. A variety of environmentally “unfriendly” plastics are also used

Printers - Various metals, plastics and a large assortment of dyes and toners, which can create problems if released into waterways

Processors - Silicone, Aluminum, Copper, Gold and other trace elements

Semiconductors - Cadmium, Silicone, Gold, Copper, Aluminum

Silicone - Semiconductors, transistors, PCBs, integrated circuits

Silicone Paste - Silicone paste is a generic silicone compound applied to most Graphics Processing Units (GPU) and Northbridge chipsets. It is toxic.

Thermal Paste - Thermal paste is essential for ensuring adequate heat transfer from components with high thermal densities such as modern processors (Central Processing Unit or CPU), Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), RAM, chipsets etc.

The exact composition of thermal paste can vary from one manufacturer to another. Here are some of the more common components of thermal paste Micronized Silver, Boron Nitride, Aluminum Oxide and Aluminum Nitride all of which are rather toxic.

Tin - Tin is one of the ingredients in solders and as a coating on edge leads and contacts. The edge contacts, also called; “Golden Fingers” are the interfaces on adaptor cards and expansion slots.

Zinc - Plating

Conclusions

With in excess of 130,000 computers, being trashed everyday the problems concerning the handling and management of the toxic materials contained in these devices becomes ever more urgent. On top of this, more than 2 million tons of electronic waste found its way into U.S. landfills last year.

Now take into consideration the estimated 975 million PCs and servers that will enter into active service over the next couple of years and the enormity of the toxic computer issue takes on a new light. Most of these new machines will be replacing older machines for one reason or another and the entire picture becomes ever more compounded.

Toss in the fact that more than one billion new cell phones enter active service every year and even blind Freddy can see that something needs addressing now lest the situation becomes totally out of control.

1. Sign up for TalkTalk

   TalkTalk is a great phone company for various reasons. Firstly, it gives you unlimited calls abroad for free and internet up to 10+mbs for free!

2. Download Safari for Free

   Why does everybody say that macs have the best internet in the world? It's because of Safari! Safari has been proved to be over 3-4 times faster than Firefox and even 12 times faster than Internet Explorer.

3. Cool your modem down if it is hot

   Each time your modem is hot it makes you lose connection especially if you have used the internet for more than 3 hours in a row. So the solution is just to turn your modem off and take a break for 10 minutes.

4. Empty Cache

   Especially in Macs, users can empty cache in the option under the safari icon which will empty the cache which the computer keeps each time you go to a website. This will facilitate the browsing a bit.

5. Never use Internet Explorer

   Internet Explorer is the probably one of the slowest internet browsers around up to 12 times slower than Safari and 4 times slower than Firefox. However, Internet Explorer can be very useful but it is a bit slow.

6. Go on 192.168.1.1 and change the setting

   By accessing 192.168.1.1 will allow you to enter the preferences of your router but do not touch some of the settings but only the details of your account with your internet provider.

7. Change your bandwidth to 0%

   On your PC click on Start then run and type in gpedit.msc and expand the administrative templates, then the network tab and high light QoS Packet Scheduler and click on the limit reservable bandwidth and click on the enable option and change the bandwidth to 0% which should increase your internet speed by a lot after restarting it.

8. Trash undesired files

   Files take up space and so slow down your computer so if you trash the undesired ones you will free up some space in your computer which will let you browse on the internet much faster and let you enjoy more the internet.

9. Call your broadband provider

   Even though your internet provider might deny it, they are lying because the internet provider have your file with the allowance of your internet speed so they can decided to give you 1 mb as they can to give you 5 mb or 2 mb.

10. Turn hotspot off

    In countries such as France your hotspot is turned by your internet provider to act as a transmitter to other people using it. If you turn it off on your router (192.168.1.1) you will not only have faster internet but also it will stop people from stealing your internet service next to your house.

Try and you won't be disappointed.

1. Get an Antivirus Program

   This is a very important step to take. Viruses such as Trojans and worms can not only slow your computer to a crawl, they can do serious damage to files and even steal information from your computer. Antivirus programs don't have to be expensive, either. As the title of this article indicates, many free programs are available. Download.com has an extensive collection of virus scanners, most of which are free. Downloading one of these programs can keep your computer protected and running faster for quite some time.

2. Get a Spyware Dectector

   Spyware and addware can be loaded onto your computer from almost any web site on the Internet. What's more, more often than not you won't even know it's been installed. Like a virus, these programs can wreak havoc with your computer and even steal information, so getting one of these programs is essential to having a healthy computer. Again, free software is readily available on the Internet.

3. Defrag Your Hard Drive

   Ever once in a while, defragmenting your hard drive can really help speed up your computer. Defragging is a simple process that involves your computer moving files around to allow itself to run faster. The program is a part of Windows and can be found under the AccessoriesSystem Tools menu. Defragging once every month or so can increase your computer's speed by a large amount.

4. Keep Tabs on Your Hard Drive Space

   Hard drive space can disappear very quickly. As it does, your computer will run slower. This problem is easy to avoid; simply check to see how much space you have left on occasion. To monitor your drives more in-depth, a program such as FileAnt can give you a complete breakdown of where your hard drive space is going and can help you identify things tat can be removed to save space.

5. Clean Up Your Hard Drive

   Also a Windows program, the Clean Up feature checks your hard drive and finds information that is not necessary to keep, such as temporary internet files, deleted items in the Recycle Bin, and so forth. Usually the space saved here is minimal, but even small amounts can help speed your computer back up.

6. Avoid Double Saving

   Double saving is rarely intentional, but sometimes duplicates of files end up in places you wouldn't think to look for them. Unless you wanted to create a backup of a file, these files take up space and slow down your computer. Using the Search feature can help you find places where Windows creates a backup that isn't needed.

7. Get a Popup Blocker

   Popups on the Internet are usually harmless but they take time and memory to load. They are annoying, they slow down your computer, and they can be avoided. Free programs are available to block popups, and some Internet browsers such as Firefox have built-in popup blockers and add blockers for a faster, more enjoyable Internet experience.

These are just a few tips, but following them will keep your computer running faster and more effectively for as long as you follow them.

The following adverstisements were scanned directly from the February 1984 issue of Byte Magazine and are presented solely for your entertainment. I have removed the name of the company and any phone numbers, etc. leaving only the product name(s) and price(s). Let's have some fun and be thankful we don't have to re-live those trying times!

Ad number one: The IBM PC

Released in 1981, the IBM PC would literally change the “Home PC” market. Intended as a business-class computer that would be just as comfortable at home, the IBM PC sold in numbers that amazed even IBM. At the time of it's release, the market was flooded with a variety of home computers; Atari, Commodore, Apple, Altair, IMSI, Hewlett Packard, Xerox and many other companies had systems on the market. Not to mention the vast array of S-100 compatible systems, C/PM systems and the horde of Apple clones (Franklin being the most prominent).

Enter, IBM and the world changed. By the close of the decade, IBM and the IBM clones had dominated the marketplace. At one point, Digital Research - the creator of the long-lived Operating System, C/PM (Control Program for Microcomputers) - even attempted to sway IBM PC users away from MS-DOS (MicroSoft Disk Operating System) with full-page ads offering C/PM for free with the purchase of any of their C/PM business programs!

Here's our first ad:

Now, look carefully at the specifications! The first machine includes just 64K of RAM! Today, most computers are sold with at least 1GB of RAM. 64K of RAM is roughly equal to 64,000 characters of memory. 1GB is equal to 1,024K - or over one billion characters of memory! I checked 1984 RAM prices and found 64K to be approximately $45. If RAM still held that value, todays standard 1GB would cost a whopping $754,974,720!

Also notice that there is no hard drive included, only two full-height 5.25” floppies. You also got a monochrome monitor. All of this for the low price of just $2,590! To buy the upgraded model with 256K RAM, one 5.25” full-height floppy and a 10MB (yes, you read that correctly - not 10GB but 10MB) hard drive, you would have to invest nearly $4,000.

Ad Number Two: Printers

My biggest complaint about today's printers would have to be the cost of ink. Sure, you can buy a decent quality ink-jet printer with scanning and faxing capabilities for less than a hundred dollars, but just wait until you have to buy ink! My latest printer, a Lexmark X5470 was less than $80, yet the two ink cartridges cost $40 - half the cost of the entire printer. Does anyone else see a problem here? I've heard the arguments before: I'm not just buying “ink” - I'm buying ink as well as the cartridge, which contains the circuitry and ink-jet heads. I still think that after over twenty years of development and sales, the cost of ink-jet cartridges should have fallen considerably by now. Just look at the above example on computers!

Wow, look at those prices! For a letter-quality daisywheel printer, you'd have to spend at least $1,800. A low-end dot-matrix printer cost $430. And I certainly don't miss the “whap, whap, whap” sound of a daisywheel printer, or the machine-gun retort of the dot-matrix printer!

Okay, maybe I won't complain too much about the cost of ink anymore.

Ad Number Three: Hard Drives

Back in the early nineties, I operated a computer sales and service center. The Seagate ST-225 hard drive was a popular seller. This was a 20MB, 5.25” form factor hard drive. It was very reliable and I installed hundreds of them in new and used PC's. Back then, we used to calculate the cost per megabyte to purchasers. If I could buy an ST-225 for $125, the cost per mega-byte (cpm) would be 9 cents. Today, I can buy a 320GB internal hard drive for about $180. This translates to a cpm of .00005 cents! So, if I had to buy a 320GB hard drive at “yesterday's” prices, it would cost me an incredible $29,491!

Here's a peek at 1984 hard drive and floppy drive prices:

One 5.25” full-height floppy drive cost $239. This was a Control Data or Tandon brand - both considered to be excellent brands.

The truly shocking items are the hard drives. A 20MB hard drive cost a staggering $2,050! That's a cpm of $102.50! One hundred dollars per megabyte! What would a new, 320GB hard drive cost me in 1984 dollars?

Are you sitting down?

$33,587,200

All of this makes me ponder the future. Where are we headed? In twenty-four years, will we look back at 2008 and laugh?

Will we say, “Wow! Can you believe we were paying .00005 cents per megabyte? What a joke!”

Will we be measuring the cpt - cost per terabyte? Will computers as we know them even exist?

I look forward to what the future holds but I do hold a special place in my heart for the early days of personal computers. And while I may not have been able to afford most of the systems and peripherals that were on the market, I made do with what I could afford and took part in the revolution.

Here's to the next twenty-four years!

These days it would really be hard to admit that you do not know these computer lingo or computer terms especially if you are parents. Do not be embarrassed to admit because after reading this article, you would be ready to use your Personal Computer or PC and find a software to balance your checkbook, design a new kitchen, play endless games with your kids, bring office work to home, you can even track down your old friends and loved ones. Learning the basic terminologies would be the first step to save your face in public and become an educated consumer.

Boot: It only means to "start” your computer.

Bulletin Board: This is also called forums or blogs, these are areas on commercial on-line services where anyone can post messages for other users to read and they may also respond.

CD-ROM: Compact Disc-Read Only Memory. A compact disc holds as much as 200,000 printed pages, reams of information, sounds and graphics. Through this drive, these big files can be seen on your monitor and hear through your speakers.

Connect Time: This is the time you consume to an on-line service. The on-line charge varies depending on the speed and the company.

Crash: It simply means that the computer stops its normal operation for some specific reasons.

Cyberspace: For the on-line world this is a catchall label which work as a physical space wherever. As you roam in the internet you will discover different information, locations and addresses. This is where you pick up emails, go and chat to and from people around the world, creates Friendster account and many other things.

Download/Upload: The process of transferring information to and from your computer over a network or thru modem. Inside the office, if your computer is inter-connected, you can easily upload a file from your computer to your colleague where she can easily download it in her computer.

Edutainment: Originally this refers to educational software or program that packs entertainment value to keep kids interested and motivate children to learn. But today marketers got hold of it and called almost every software"s that educates and entertain “edutainment.”

E-mail: Short for electronic mail. This replaced the traditional snail mail where a postman would knock on our door and deliver that envelope. Email revolutionized the dating game. Whenever you subscribe to an internet service provider or ISP or open an account with a search network you get your own unique email address.

Flaming: This is the practice of sending nasty messages on-line.

Hard Disk/Floppy Disk: A hard disk is also know or called as hard drive. It stores frequently used programs and holds files. Floppy disk holds lesser space and information and is remote. The modern day floppy disk looks like 3 ½ inches-wide square plastic. Inside it is a magnetic disk that holds important files. It is safe from being harmed with dust or fingerprints.

Icon: This is a tiny picture in the screen of your monitor or desktop. Each picture represents and computer command or program that once you click it, surely it will respond and perform its purpose.

Interactive Software: This is an umbrella term for programs that present information (from mathematical problems down to a simple puzzle game).

Internet: The www or worldwide web. The highway of information, the worldwide network of millions and millions of computers from a private home to libraries; from institutions to government agencies; from private individuals or corporations and vice-versa. It offers email, games, files, chats, pictures, programs, music and a lot more.

Log-on: It means you connect on-line through a modem, another compute device. Whenever one goes on line he/she supplies his/her username and password.

Lurking: This is done by Peeping Toms. They eavesdrop on electronic conversation instead of contributing good things to sciences.

Modem: A term for modulator and demodulator. This device is connected to your computer and a phone jack enables you to go on-line. This way you will be able to receive and transmit messages.

Mouse: A small handheld device that looks more like soap but with its cord it looks like a mouse with a tail. This moves the pointer on the computer screen and in just a click; a program would execute a command.

Multimedia: This combines text, sounds, animations, colorful graphics and videos and created an outstanding audiovisual program.

Network: This is composed of several computers connected with one another usually within the same room, building or the same perimeter.

Online: Through telephone lines or wireless connection, it connects your computer to another computer.

Online Services: These are companies that provide combination of services such as email, news, games and reference materials to consuming public. Prodigy, CompuServe and AOL or America On-line are best examples of this.

Real-time: When you are typing something in your monitor and it is being seen by someone else on another screen it means real time. When you are chatting right here, right now, it means real time. It differs from an email wherein you have the option to check and read it some other time or later in a day.

Software/Hardware: This refers to computer programs - word processor, spreadsheets, databases, games, applications, etc. Now the equipment itself, the central processing unit or CPU is the hardware, the tangible parts. This includes the internal chips, the fan, the circuitry, the monitor, the keyboard, the printer and the mouse as well.

Virus: Computer nerds formulated this destructive programs to get famous, and contend themselves by messing up other people's lives. Virus can be hidden in a game, in a file, in a program, in diskettes and this virus may destroy the data on your disk. It can totally harm and damage the entire system of the computer.

Windows: The program that lets you display more than one document at a time, run different programs simultaneously. This is the software design that made Bill Gates, once upon a time the wealthiest man in the Universe. Microsoft adapted the program for IBM.

 

Shut Down

Remember not to leave your computer in a sleep or hibernation mode as it does not cut off energy usage. If you have to leave your computer on for longer hours or it is not in use, it is always better to turn off your computer to minimize the energy usage compared to when the machine is in either sleep or hibernation mode.

Hard Drive

The hard drive is another device that eats up a considerable amount of energy. When the machine is not in use, it should be set to put the hard drive into sleep mode. In this manner, it is not only extending the life of your drive, but also saving energy.

Use a Good AC Adapter (Particularly For a Laptop)

There are many varieties of AC adapters sold on the market. Some eat up more energy than others. Take some time to do the survey on those AC adapters before you get one of them. Make sure you get an original AC Adapter that matches your laptop perfectly to avoid the waste in energy consumption. Do not go for the cheapest AC adapters because they may eat more energy and ruin your computer as well.

Enable Energy Saving Setting

It is necessary to set your computer to enable its energy saving ability. To do this, click on the control panel and double click on the power options icon. Next, open the energy saver or power saver window and you will have two options. The first is "turn off the display" option, set it to at least 10 minutes or according to your desired time setting, but the setting time should set to as short as possible. The second one is "put the computer to sleep" option. Try to set it to a range of 10 to 20 minutes for the purpose of energy saving. Remember to check the box with "put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible". It is always better to aim for a laptop running on the battery energy saving setting which is effective to save your wattage even though you may have plugged in your computer.

Use Energy Saving Power Socket

It is wiser to replace your normal power socket with the one that is enhanced with energy-saving properties. These energy-saving power sockets can reduce unnecessary power consumption when your computer is shut down or started.

Eliminate Unnecessary Processes

Try to eliminate any unnecessary processes that may eat up energy. Shut down any automatically running programs like Bluetooth devices or Wi-Fi wireless networks when you leave your computer or when you are plugged into the network. Always examine the processes as it may help you to detect any viruses too.

Virtualize Your Computer

If you have to use Mac, PC Window and Linux at the same time, try to consolidate these three into one single computer. This will not only save the energy using three computers with different operating platforms, but you may also save yourself the money from buying two more computers.

Reduce the Brightness

Many researches have proved that the brighter the monitor is, the more energy it will consume. Therefore, you should try to adjust the brightness that matches your personal preferences. Check the box which "automatically reduces the brightness of the display before display sleep" to reduce energy consumption. You may also set it to automatically dim after a few minutes of non-use.

Upgrade Your Computer

Generally, the old CRT monitor uses more energy than the new LCD monitor. Therefore, if possibly, you should try to upgrade your computer to a more advanced LCD flat-screen which is a more energy-efficient model than the old one.