Brian1405241474

I love Adium, but I still have iChat also so I can do audio chats (or video conferences for those with faster computers than mine).

Steve had OS X running on an Intel based Macintosh, not "a regular PC". People have had a lot to say about choosing a Mac. From what you've said, I think any Mac would work for you. The cheapest is the Mac mini, then the eMac. Both would work for what you wanted. Don't even both with pre-OS X. If you're buying a computer I would say get one with at least 10.3, 10.4 would be the best. At least 512 MB of RAM is good. The Mac mini (as well as the iBooks) now come standard with 512 MB of RAM.

I wish Macs were a bit cheaper, but they're not too bad. I've been looking to buy a new iBook. The cheapest one is $999 (as someone said before) but with the latest upgrade that iBook is pretty nice:1.33 GHz512 MB RAM40 GB Hard DriveCombo Drive (CD-RW DVD-R)Built in Wi-FiBuilt in Blue ToothIt has a slot-loading drive and Apples cool scrolling trackpad. Really some good stuff for $999. Maybe not as cheap as a Dell, but who wants a Dell?

Yeah, in the United States you have to be eighteen. (I'm signing up next month, on my birthday) You also have to be eighteen to sign up for a PayPal account, so donations wouldn't work either. If I were you I'd use one of your parent's names (with their permission, of course! ).

That's funny! Even though I think the president has done a pretty good job, thats still funny and I like how Michael Moore is number two!

Everything is fine at my site, so maybe it was a temporary glitch. I've heard some of the thunderstorms that have hit in several areas of the United States have slowed down the internet. Maybe something like that happened along the line for you, glad it is ok now.Astahost is pretty good about letting us know what is going on. I'm not sure how many people are here on the weekends to let us know of problems accessing sites, but from what I've seen, they do try to inform the members of what is going on with the server.

Sounds like you're a do-it-yourself type and that is great, as long as you have some directions, it could work. I would probably do a search and see if anyone has posted it online so you can avoid some problems. Doing a quick search, I found this where a guy wrote out how he was going to use his cell phone as a modem. The idea sounds good, but the next one posting, said it didn't sound like it would be easy to accomplish. Before you sit down at the table to begin a modification, search the internet and find someone who has done it and can help you. Good luck. Keep on posting.

Oh boy, a new brain to pick and more to learn from this new member. Each new member adds more dimension to the community.Posting here is easy and there are some very technical threads where I've learned more about computers and there are some fun threads where I've learned about other things.Enjoy your time here, it will be worth it.Keep on posting.

My Apple computer has a setting for people with vision problems which, when turned on, changes the monitor to black background with white lettering. Since Apple uses that for visually impaired computer users, I'd imagine they did a bit of research into what colors were best for people with problems.It is always good to consider visitors to one's site when selecting colors. I agree that blue is calming. The hot neon colors are exciting and can be used for grabbing attention.

News article on Cyberbug The news article was posted online July 29, 2005 and as I read it, it seemed this would be something that might be in the skies in the future. It seems like an easy way for any law enforcement group to monitor traffic, events or just make a presence known in the community. I did a search and find that this unmanned ariel vehicle and it is already in the skies in the United States. For some reason I thought when I read the article, that this was something just being released for different departments or companies to purchase. This thing is cool enough you could use it to spy on your brothers or friends. Florida is using it and Maryland is using it to monitor crowds. In reading the articles, the Cyberbug was used in each state for very similar events. The blessing of the bicycles was the event they used to try the device out for crowd control. Each locality was well pleased with the results of using Cyberbug. Cyberdefense Systems makes the Cyberbugs and their website has some video clips on them in action. There are actually other flying bugs that are capable of speeds up to 100 miles per hour. They would sure come in handy in a high speed chase for the state police. There is a camera attached to the battery powered Cyberbug that can send audio and video remotely to the user. When you think about the different situations that this can be applied to, this is one cool little device. At first glance, it reminded me of a remote controlled glider, but it is much more than that when you think of all it can do. Keep an eye on the skies, there may be one in your town now. Keep on posting.

Traffic in the United States has become a problem. From small towns with just a few stoplights to large cities where it could take an hour just to get downtown, the problem with increased traffic needs to be dealt with by our government officials.In times passed, most high school students were not allowed to drive cars to school. Now those who don't drive are in the minority and yet, many could take the bus home.It used to be in the first year of university, a student was expected to stay on campus and study, so cars were forbidden until they were upper classmen. Now, each student has a car, which has to be driven to the local restaurants or stores, and they don't know the town. Not knowing where the drug store is can cause a traffic jam when one person makes an illegal u-turn and an accident occurs.I know someone who lives near Houston, Texas and when they make plans for an evening out, they have to take into consideration the traffic situation. They will go very early to avoid the heavy traffic, not to mention construction. Then, to avoid traffic on the way back, they often leave early. This takes careful planning. Traffic is made worse by those who do not know the area and drive slower to look for street signs. Cell phone using drivers don't make traffic situations less stressful, they are an accident waiting to happen.I wish there was a solution for traffic jams and accidents. Maybe the state police and local police could offer some suggestons that the traffic engineers have failed to take into considertation.Maybe one day, traffic jams will be a thing of the past. I certainly hope so.Keep on posting.

Girl, how is the battle going? Have you been able to convince your mom that you'd rather have that mac than a windows based computer?I'm fortunate to be in a family of apple users. Dad got us the first apples available and each of us learned to use them at an early age.I hope you're able to convince your mom to see the light. Tell her that it is what you like and want to use. Give her a hug and tell her that it is time you had your own computer to use.

I think pampering one's computer is just part of taking good care of it. Keeping the monitor cleaned and using canned air on the keyboard is basic maintenance, but some people don't even do that much for their computers. If we think about it, our computers are our all-in-one communication and entertainment centers. We stay in touch with iChat, email and forums. We get our news and information online and share our thoughts with others. We can watch DVDs, those who have a dvd drive, at least. We store and play our music on our computers. Naturally, being an extention of ourselves, our computers deserve pampering. They need more ram, they need the things that make the sound clearer and louder. They certainly deserve the best internet connection we can afford. Right now I'm still in school and working hard for just the basics. So, what I'd like to get my iBook is just a dream. Using good products like iKlear helps my monitor stay clean and it also cleans the plastic parts and keyboard. It doesn't leave streaks and that makes us both happy. I have gotten my iBook the latest operating system, Tiger and that is kept current by diligent searching for system software updates. It is important to keep the software current. I also have iLife, which adds more to the computer. Another important item that my iBook and I share is my iPod. We enjoy our musical times together. When I buy something special for my iBook, I'll let you all know. Meanwhile, all of you, think of how much time your computer gives to you and how hard it works for you. Get the best mouse you can afford that feels good while you're using it. It spends a lot of time pointing and clicking for you. That's all for now. Keep on posting.

Cheesecake, I see you already found out how to apply for hosting, good job.This is a good group and someone is always willing to help with advice or give you a place to look if they dont' know how to help you. It is a good way to learn to ask questions and you'll find that as you learn, you will be sharing and helping others.Enjoy your new home.

Cheesecake, harvesting is one way that spammers get a list of email addresses. There are programs that go to different web sites on the internet and they find or harvest as many email addresses as possible.Ever wonder why you get so much spam?Spam is unwanted email sent to you by those who have gotten your email address thru a variety of means. Fill out a request for a sample of aspirin, send an e-card, register as a member of a forum and your email is out there.It is a multi-million dollar problem and costs website owners a lot of grief, not to mention those who receive the spam in their in-boxes.

The under 30 credits getting more for their work is a good idea. Once you get over 30, if you are consistent in posting, you can keep your credits up. It just takes patience and remembering the rules about good sentence structure and not fragmenting one's sentences.Astahost is doing a great job. Once I found my own schedule of posting and keeping my credits up, it made things much easier for me and for those who go to my forum. No more "account suspended" notices, just lots of posting and sharing.You can easily post, you have knowledge about your computer and what you are interested in. Those interests translate into posts. You can help answer questions from other people or share your thoughts on a piece of software. You can do it, just one post at a time.Keep on posting.

What I've seen a lot of sites fo to keep email addresses from being spammed, yet allowing the website owner to be contacted is to make the email address a jpg or gif file. That way, the email address can be copied by those who really want to contact the person and the spammers get nothing for all their attempts at harvesting.As hard as one tries, these spam harvesters will continue to get their booty. They want those addresses and they get them.Just remember never to click on an email you've received if it is from an unknown person. It will keep your viruses down and it will make reading your important mail much easier. Delete is such an easy thing to do.

Hey Aaron, welcome to Xisto. This is a great group of people and each time you come here you'll find yourself reading and learning. Don't forget to post and share some of your knowledge and help others. Radio Shack has a lot of nice toys and parts. More people should realize that their local Radio Shack carries a lot of the odds and ends that are needed when playing with computers, or even when you're serious about them.A friend of mine tells a story about her brother-in-law who is a bit of a snob. When she showed him her new Radio Shack shortwave radio, he sniffed and said he never bought anything from that place. She noticed his ham radio equipment and asked what the Archer brand was, it seemed familiar. She knew that he got his Archer stuff from Radio Shack. Busted!Anyway, glad to have another member here. Keep on posting.

The dad said the kid learned by playing over and over and listening to what he was told. I guess, like most visually impaired people, this guy was able to hear the tiny distinct sounds within a game that most of us wouldn't even notice.It was funny that his dad commented that they went through a lot of controllers in the early days.Many blind people have incredible memories, which I'm sure comes into play in remembering what to do to get past each screen. It sure amazes me.

Welcome!I hope you stay and participate in the many areas that Xisto has forums. I've been learning just from reading.The community here is full of good people, willing helpers and a variety of interesting topics. I'm sure you've already found that out.You will have to stop banging your head on that desk, though. If you keep it up, you're going to have a terrible headache!Keep on posting.

White as background is usually easier on the eyes. Black is nice for those with vision problems, but careful what color text is used because people wouldn't be able to read the words.If you have older people going to your site, you need to think about their being able to enjoy what they see and not complain about the wild colors and flashing lights and loud music.I was taught that the best site is a simple one, using text color for contrast and not having too many features that jump out at a visitor.One way to get around this, is have your colorful background and text on another page and tell the visitor that this is the same version, just more brilliant in color and effects.Don't forget that not all your web visitors have broadband, some are still on dial up.

Apple's Switcher Site is probably the best place to get information to convince your mom that your decision is a good one. What if you and your mom make a compromise. Maybe she can buy the mac and you can pay her back monthly? You didn't say your age, so I'm thinking you still are in high school and living at home, so it makes things harder. Take a look at that website Apple set up and see what you can do to get your mom to see the way of Apple as a viable alternative. Besides, you qualify for a student's educational price and that would save her money, too.

That's the key. Posting and patience and trust the people here to get your account going again.Try posting each time you get online, it won't take much time, especially if you are familiar with the topic. That way, you can help others and build your credits and keep them up without much effort.

Yahoo News Article on Blind Teen who beats sighted opponents without any help. This is incredible. To be blind and play music, I could understand. To play some of these complicated games against an opponent and win, without help, is fantastic. I have trouble winning with my two good eyes and my glasses. This brief paragraph on the guy said he likes to psych out his opponents. I can't imagine playing with my eyes closed, much less depending on the audio to know what moves to make or avoid. I'm hoping this guy makes it to college and designs some games worthy of his talent. If he can play the games out there now, imagine what he can create for us to play in the future.

For those of you using a mac, there is a similar way to turn on your computer. Hey, we all need a wake up call now and again, right?Go to the little blue Apple in the upper left hand corner and choose System Preferences. Go to Hardware-->Energy Saver and select it. Take a look at your choices under "Schedule" and you see where you can have your mac boot up and shut down.Under "Options" make sure you select "restart automatically after a power failure" just in case.ChicGhic, see! I told you that you'd learn something new here.soleimanian, thanks for starting this thread. Many don't use the features that come with their computers. I don't use the wake up feature myself, but maybe I should try it out.