Crystal Clear

I was reading an article today about malware and the author mentioned that when he fixes family or friends’ computers, they are full of malware, but the person didn’t know it. In response, the person says they would scan the computer with McAfee. (McAfee is a virus scanner, but doesn’t provide much, if any, protection agains malware.)

In my experience I have found that there are many computer “geeks” who are very computer knowledgable, and many more people on the other end of the spectrum who at the mention of a computer, throw up their hands and say, “What’s the use?” or “I don’t understand how it works.” Where are the people in the middle who understand how their computer works but don’t make a living out of that?

I’d like to see everyone in the “What’s the use?” group take a more active role in understanding their computers. In order to drive, we need to know at least a bit about how a car works and how to look for signs it isn’t working properly. We know how to operate our stoves, how to work a laundry machine, use the bank machine,

But those other examples are easy things to understand. Computers are too complex, right? They are much more complex, and because of that, it is also very important to know how they work.

Computers are not as hard to understand as computer techs want us to think.

When computers do not behave as they are programmed to, this may not the fault of the user, but of the software company. Stability of operating systems (eg. Windows, MacOS, Linux) and programs (eg. Word, Firefox, iTunes) should have more emphasis, and programs should never blame the user for crashing. Don’t settle for programs that crash! It is not supposed to be that way!

So read some tech news. Learn about the operating system and programs you use. Ask questions. Find out about all the options available. Don’t settle for being told, “you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

You’ll get more out of your computer. I hope you’ll find your computer is useful and not bewildering.

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I just read that the city I live in will begin city-wide composting this year, with weekly pick up of organic material. All households are expected to participate. The only problem is apartment buildings are not part of the loop. Anything over 5 units are not able to participate.

This happens a lot, I find. Many apartment buildings don’t even have recycling bins, and most don’t encourage their use. There is a program to offer rebates to people who upgrade their houses for energy efficiency… but only if you own your home. So what is the incentive for landlords? None. Yet, so many rental units waste enormous amounts of energy. Why can’t this program be extended to rental units? Why can’t the green bin compost program be required of apartment dwellers?

Logistics are harder, I guess, but so many people live in apartment buildings. There is so much waste that will not be diverted by missing out on apartments.

So I guess we’ll continue to use our worm composter in our apartment since we don’t have a backyard for a regular composter. It doesn’t smell and works very fast. The worms eat a lot! We received ours from Green Venture (scroll to the bottom of the page) but you can probably find a local source. Look for red-wriggler worms as they eat the most.

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