Computer Thread

xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
BarnBuster said:
www.propublica.org

TurboTax Maker Intuit Faces Tens of Millions in Fees in a Groundbreaking Legal Battle Over Consumer Fraud

In addition to the unusual mass arbitration Intuit is fighting, federal regulators and state prosecutors are still investigating the company, which made $2 billion dollars last year.
www.propublica.org www.propublica.org
Click to expand...
Intuit sucks. I had a couple clients that used their Quickbooks crapware. One time when a client had an issue with Quickbooks and I wasn't available the accountant called support and some idiot probably in Islamabad logged in remotely and made things worse. I don't know exactly what they did but I had to restore all the data from backup as they had corrupted the database then denied they did anything but still charged the company for the support call. I despise that company.
 
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Computer History:

1646307158878.png​

"March 3, 1975: The Homebrew Computer Club, a hobbyist group that helps spark the personal computing revolution, holds it first meeting in Menlo Park, California.

It becomes a welcome forum for computer geeks at a time when few others cared. And regular attendee Steve Wozniak and his friend Steve Jobs will eventually show off the first Apple-1 unit at the club.

Homebrew Computer Club founders Fred Moore and Gordon French held the first meeting in their garage. At the time, the arrival of a kit computer called the Altair 8800 was the hot news in the tech world. The Altair kick-started the boom in personal computers and inspired a generation of techies.

Wozniak was far more of a prototypical computer geek than Jobs (and I say that in the nicest possible way!). Consequently, Woz got more deeply involved with Homebrew than his Apple co-founder.

Woz attended the very first Homebrew meeting and became inspired to build his own computer. “I did this computer … to show the people at Homebrew that it was possible to build a very affordable computer — a real computer you could program for the price of the Altair — with just a few chips,” Wozniak recalled in his autobiography.

Originally, Woz’s plan was to design the Apple-1 blueprints, then give them away to other Homebrew members to build themselves. “This was my way of socializing and getting recognized,” Woz wrote. “I had to build something to show other people.”

In the end, Jobs convinced Woz they should build and sell the Apple-1 rather than giving away the designs. This ultimately led to Jobs negotiating a deal with early computer store The Byte Shop. The rest is history.

As for the Homebrew Computer Club, it ran for the best part of three years, moving from the garage to the larger Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The club come to an end in 1977, the same year Apple officially incorporated."
computerhistory.org

The Homebrew Computer Club 2013 Reunion

Before 1975, the computer was an exotic and expensive tool for engineers, scientists, and businesses. By 1985 the computer had been “democratized”, and anyone with the need, the interest, and a few thousand dollars could have one of their own.
computerhistory.org computerhistory.org
 
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
DarkWeb said:
Did you try to blow the dust out?
Click to expand...
Yeah, FIRST, I tried a known good power cord and electrical outlet ;). Then I took the cover(s) off. Not too much dust, I was surprised. Some of the PC's where I used to work (back in Win2000/XP days were packed so full it's a wonder they ran at all. So I ord a power supply and hard drive docking station in case the PS doesn't fix it. I've got a lot of info on the 2 TB drive I don't want to lose. (We don't use no stinkin' back ups). And also a new refurb cause I wanted it damn it! On an ancient laptop now, hadn't been turned on in a couple of years. Slow AF
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Now might be a good time to update your computers and apply all security patches.

linuxsecurity.com

Stay Vigilant with Timely Linux Security Advisories

Stay vigilant with comprehensive Linux security advisories. Timely alerts, insights, and actions to fortify your systems against emerging threats.
linuxsecurity.com linuxsecurity.com

Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center

msrc.microsoft.com msrc.microsoft.com

Apple security releases - Apple Support

This document lists security updates and Rapid Security Responses for Apple software.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

Remember to make backups and test them.
 
solakani

solakani

Well-Known Member
Does your Windows computer pass spectre meltdown checker?

Get-SpeculationControlSettings

BTIHardwarePresent : True
BTIWindowsSupportPresent : True
BTIWindowsSupportEnabled : True
BTIDisabledBySystemPolicy : False
BTIDisabledByNoHardwareSupport : False
BTIKernelRetpolineEnabled : False
BTIKernelImportOptimizationEnabled : True
KVAShadowRequired : True
KVAShadowWindowsSupportPresent : True
KVAShadowWindowsSupportEnabled : True
KVAShadowPcidEnabled : True
SSBDWindowsSupportPresent : True
SSBDHardwareVulnerable : True
SSBDHardwarePresent : True
SSBDWindowsSupportEnabledSystemWide : False
L1TFHardwareVulnerable : True
L1TFWindowsSupportPresent : True
L1TFWindowsSupportEnabled : True
L1TFInvalidPteBit : 45
L1DFlushSupported : True
MDSWindowsSupportPresent : True
MDSHardwareVulnerable : True
MDSWindowsSupportEnabled : True
 
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
www.sfgate.com

This is why I always use TurboTax to do my own taxes

Sometimes I contemplate using a professional but, to me since you still have to gather...
www.sfgate.com www.sfgate.com

TT this year triggered a note to me about something I had no clue about. I have to start taking RMD's (Required Minimum Distributions) next year. The note referred to the fact if my payable taxable amount is over a certain amount, I will have to make arrangements to make quarterly tax payments (like/as if you are self employed) to avoid a tax penalty. There's some alternatives you can initiate with your IRA provider to automatically tax your amounts, but my point is I wouldn't have known about this if TT hadn't brought it up. Other tax programs may mention this too, but kudo's to TT.

TT Deluxe worked just fine for me this year, handled all types of 1099's, didn't need premier version. They didn't e-file State automatically like Federal ($25 extra) but I just mailed it in as I didn't owe any state.

Surprisingly, the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant helped me determine (easily) how much of my SS benefits were taxable. Other programs there as well here:

ITA | Internal Revenue Service

The IRS Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA) online tool helps you find answers to tax law questions
www.irs.gov www.irs.gov
 
Last edited:
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Pre Amazon days, a couple of places I used to use to order reasonably priced cables, keyboards, etc:

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more! - Monoprice.com

Monoprice, Inc. (DBA. MonoPrice.com) specializes in the wholesale distribution of world class cable assemblies for home theater, PC, and high technology industries. MonoPrice.com offers a wide range of products from standard PC products, network cables, and HDMI cables to custom cable assemblies...
www.monoprice.com
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
BarnBuster said:
Pre Amazon days, a couple of places I used to use to order reasonably priced cables, keyboards, etc:

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more! - Monoprice.com

Monoprice, Inc. (DBA. MonoPrice.com) specializes in the wholesale distribution of world class cable assemblies for home theater, PC, and high technology industries. MonoPrice.com offers a wide range of products from standard PC products, network cables, and HDMI cables to custom cable assemblies...
www.monoprice.com
Click to expand...
I ordered bunches of cables from monoprice.
 
neosapien

neosapien

Well-Known Member
BarnBuster said:
Pre Amazon days, a couple of places I used to use to order reasonably priced cables, keyboards, etc:

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more! - Monoprice.com

Monoprice, Inc. (DBA. MonoPrice.com) specializes in the wholesale distribution of world class cable assemblies for home theater, PC, and high technology industries. MonoPrice.com offers a wide range of products from standard PC products, network cables, and HDMI cables to custom cable assemblies...
www.monoprice.com
Click to expand...
In the fledgling days of the internet, before I just blindly trusted putting my credit card on the internet, I did just about all my shopping at this place called Circuit City. It was like a more ghetto Best Buy. I actually preferred it to Best Buy. Because I myself am ghetto lol. One of the main reasons though is cuz right when widescreen LCD monitors came out I went to buy a huge 22" (lol) and it rang up incorrectly like $300 less. I looked at the teenager behind the counter, who was oblivious as to why I was looking at him, he said the total again and then I had a momentary crisis of conscience and then just said fuck it and gave him my card. Walked out the doors the whole time thinking don't beep dont beep. Got a 500 monitor for like 100 and change. I still have that monitor and it still works to this day. Acer.
 
DarkWeb

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
neosapien said:
In the fledgling days of the internet, before I just blindly trusted putting my credit card on the internet, I did just about all my shopping at this place called Circuit City. It was like a more ghetto Best Buy. I actually preferred it to Best Buy. Because I myself am ghetto lol. One of the main reasons though is cuz right when widescreen LCD monitors came out I went to buy a huge 22" (lol) and it rang up incorrectly like $300 less. I looked at the teenager behind the counter, who was oblivious as to why I was looking at him, he said the total again and then I had a momentary crisis of conscience and then just said fuck it and gave him my card. Walked out the doors the whole time thinking don't beep dont beep. Got a 500 monitor for like 100 and change. I still have that monitor and it still works to this day. Acer.
Click to expand...
Sale! What a deal lol
 
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
neosapien said:
In the fledgling days of the internet, before I just blindly trusted putting my credit card on the internet, I did just about all my shopping at this place called Circuit City. It was like a more ghetto Best Buy. I actually preferred it to Best Buy. Because I myself am ghetto lol. One of the main reasons though is cuz right when widescreen LCD monitors came out I went to buy a huge 22" (lol) and it rang up incorrectly like $300 less. I looked at the teenager behind the counter, who was oblivious as to why I was looking at him, he said the total again and then I had a momentary crisis of conscience and then just said fuck it and gave him my card. Walked out the doors the whole time thinking don't beep dont beep. Got a 500 monitor for like 100 and change. I still have that monitor and it still works to this day. Acer.
Click to expand...
I remember ComputerLand, CompUSA and Micro Center (which I think is still around). And of course Radio Shack, I had more than one of their DIY kits.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top