Computers – a boon or an expensive pain?

Posted on by Opher

Computers – a boon or an expensive pain?

I wrote this a while ago. Fortunately I did manage to recover all my files and nothing was lost. It just took time and money. Are computers a good thing? I’m still not totally convinced. I spend an inordinate amount of time on mine! I can do things I couldn’t do before! But when they go wrong it’s disaster!

This recounts such a day.

peru 2006 3 184

This is an incarnation of me soaring above the travails of today.

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Or is it this – me contemplating the emptiness of my hard drives?

I got up this morning to discover 2 of my hard drives were down. I’ve got four set up on RAID loaded to the gills with photos, music and all my writing (30 of my books – not all of them published). The RAID was supposed to have them backed up and protected. For two drives to go down at the same time is extremely rare.

It just goes to show that Sod’s Law operates. Whatever can go wrong invariably does.

So now I’m moping about wondering what can be recovered, what the cost will be and what will be irretrievably lost.

Computers are a pain. No sooner have you got them out of the shop than they have been superseded and are obsolete. You have them for a few measly years and they run slower and slower and need upgrading. They cost a fortune. And even if you have taken precautions they invariably go wrong and you lose precious, irreplaceable files.

Computers are a boon. You can Google, find stuff on the internet, blog, email, communicate, contact like-minded people, interact, store your memories, books, music, photos, writing. You can rewrite and edit in a way that you can’t on a typewriter. They are amazing.

Do they save time? No way!  I spent so much more time on my computer than I ever did before. But it is so much more productive.

Right now I’m grieving for things I may well have lost forever. I’m also contemplating that enormous bill.

This is not a good day. I’ll try and put it to one side. What you cannot change must be endured.

It’s not the end of the world. I’ll just have to write more.

The strangeness of the internet.

Posted on by Opher

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What a strange thing the internet is. Devised by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn with contributions from a hundred others.

Was it really devised for military use? To create a network without any centre that could not be knocked out by military action?

It has evolved into a global network that instantly links ordinary people from across the whole world. It enables discussion and contact between disparate groups out of which can come understanding and appreciation.

It provides a vehicle for the dissemination of free knowledge and news so that none can be in ignorance or subjected to indoctrination and propaganda.

It is a repository of all the world’s knowledge.

What an incredible tool to create harmony and understanding, closer links and progress out of superstition.

Yet what do I find cluttering my spam box?

I find bogus scams enticing me to sign up for super deals.

I find hot girls are available in all shapes, sizes, colours and states of undress.

I find lots of adverts for surgery to enhance my appearance, eyesight, size of genitals and hearing.

I find people after selling me double glazing, solar panels and a hundred other things.

I find there are lawyers wanting me to claim for injuries, damages, divorce or accidents.

There are people who want to insure me, put ten million in my bank, let me watch them masturbating, fix my plumbing, heal me, get me to buy health products, fix my central heating, solve my computer problems, fill in surveys, give me investment opportunities, get me to contribute to good causes and sell me services.

There are religious fanatics, political fanatics and sports fanatics.

You don’t know who to trust. The most genuine are a ploy.

They all have one thing in common – they want to empty my bank account!

Is this the glory of the internet?

Computers – a boon or an expensive pain?

Posted on by Opher

peru 2006 3 184

This is an incarnation of me soaring above the travails of today.

DSC_0467

Or is it this – me contemplating the emptiness of my hard drives?

I got up this morning to discover 2 of my hard drives were down. I’ve got four set up on RAID loaded to the gills with photos, music and all my writing (30 of my books – not all of them published). The RAID was supposed to have them backed up and protected. For two drives to go down at the same time is extremely rare.

It just goes to show that Sod’s Law operates. Whatever can go wrong invariably does.

So now I’m moping about wondering what can be recovered, what the cost will be and what will be irretrievably lost.

Computers are a pain. No sooner have you got them out of the shop than they have been superseded and are obsolete. You have them for a few measly years and they run slower and slower and need upgrading. They cost a fortune. And even if you have taken precautions they invariably go wrong and you lose precious, irreplaceable files.

Computers are a boon. You can Google, find stuff on the internet, blog, email, communicate, contact like-minded people, interact, store your memories, books, music, photos, writing. You can rewrite and edit in a way that you can’t on a typewriter. They are amazing.

Do they save time? No way!  I spent so much more time on my computer than I ever did before. But it is so much more productive.

Right now I’m grieving for things I may well have lost forever. I’m also contemplating that enormous bill.

This is not a good day. I’ll try and put it to one side. What you cannot change must be endured.

It’s not the end of the world. I’ll just have to write more.