New technology is cool

I finally got a new computer! Oh, wait, um .... guess what I got for Christmas?????

Its actually new and modern and everything. It even came with a keyboard that doesnt stick when you press Y and a mouse that doesn't double click even though you only single click.

As a "computer geek", you might think that I would update my technology a little more frequently (the last one was four or five years old) but why upgrade when the old one still works?

Man, I am becoming more like my dad every day (hahaha, now that is funny). Sorry Dad.

Side Note: "If it still works" is a great excuse to not buy things like nails, screws, hammers, planers, knives, shovels, finger nail polish, shoes, clothes and many other products BUT when it comes to electronics newer is generally better. For example, a flat panel TV can pay for itself in less than five years (in energy savings) compared to the old tube TV depending on the size and price you pay for the new flat panel TV and the picture is generally better.

The old computer had seen much better days. To make matters worse, it was my own fault. You should not keep a desktop computer locked in a small desk space with little or no room for airflow. If you have one of those computer desks with the little compartment to store your desktop computer, get it out!! Modern computers can take a LOT of punishment but like us humans, they need airflow.

Near the end of its life, the computer would overheat after an hour of normal usage and if I tried to stream music or video over the Internet it would overheat after about two minutes. Playing a game was not even possible (this is how I judge the quality of a computer), but the final straw for me was when it decided to overheat during the installation of a new software title.

The obvious question: Why would I even try to install new software on a machine with these problems?

Anyway, I got my new one Friday. Now, that I have the new one, I am running Windows 7. Thank goodness I was in Atlanta last week to learn a little something about Windows 7 huh? Maybe I wasn't too bad at scheduling this month after all (see the previous post).

I am having a little trouble moving my data from the old computer to the new one. Apparently, the old computer knows that I have a new one and will no longer run for longer than five minutes. Five minutes might seem like a long time, but when you are trying to make a copy of ALL your Outlook information (calendar, contacts, and email information) it is no time at all. As a result, I don't have anybodies' contact information at my hands.

Mom, I probably should have all this stuff written down in a little "black book", but I threw it away seven years ago when I got married. No, Im just kidding! Well, kidding my mom, who keeps a little book with everyones phone number, address, birthday, anniversary and other information. However, I am not kidding about not having one of those books.

The fact is that I am reliant on Outlook. I wouldn't know my own birthday without Outlook, much less yours!! I know the obvious question here is ... Why didn't you keep a backup? Well, I am lazy. Besides, you know your information and can give it to me again.

Now, I am hoping that I can slave (that is a technical term) the old drive into the girls computer (my new computer has a different drive connection technology) and pull the information from it.

In the meantime, if you happen to read this and want to send me your contact information, please send it to themtgylees@gmail.com, and I will use that address as a holder until I get Outlook back up and running.

With all that said, I also got myself a Webcam with the new computer. I know for you hardcore geeks out there, webcams are so 20th century, but I am slowly easing myself into this whole computer technology stuff. I plan on setting up the webcam this weekend. I am really looking forward to being able to see the nephews in Florida and talk to them over the computer (get ready Heather). If you are a webcam person, drop me a line at the address above and we can try it out.

So, having bored you with this latest post, I am going back to youtube, pandora, hulu, and several other sites to stream music, movies, games, videos, and whatever other stuff I can find just to prove that I can, because I can!!! That is cool and that is how I plan to surf the Internet now.

Green Tip of the Blog: We haven't had one of these in a while!! Get a new computer, they use less power AND you can do cool stuff with it too!!!

Until next time, onward CPU, RAM, and graphics card, we have stuff to see and do!!!!