Impression Computers

Looks like this podcast idea might just work out.  This site will eventually be rolled into the resulting podcast website, so don’t be surprised if things suddenly change.  I’m working on the site design concepts right now.

I’ve decided to set my computer business ideas aside for awhile, until I can get some personal stuff straightened out.  So for now, no more house calls, no more building custom PC’s for $$$ (I’ll still do it for fun, of course), no more networking fixes.  I am officially closing “Impression Computers and Consulting”  as of September 1.  I’ll continue to support all my existing customers and warranties, of course.  Hopefully, the business will reopen with a renewed purpose sometime next year.

For now, I am going to concentrate on several web projects I am involved with, including this site.  There’s rumor of a podcast being planned for this site - more details will follow if the rumor holds true.

You can follow my work with other projects here.

Hello,

My name is Shane and I am the Apple Tech Guy here. For Mac and Mac OS X help or questions, Please email me at mactech@impressioncomputers.com.

Time for my first article.

Computers are a wonderful thing. The Hardware Specifications make the machine but the Operating System (OS for short) makes the Experience. With that in mind, my business partner can build one great machine. But for you, experience will be based on what OS you chose.

You have 2 basic options at this current point and time: Windows and Linux. Both of these choices are great.

• Windows has been around for a long time. It has has a lot of things going for it. Windows has been very popular in the US. It has great legacy support. For an example, a program made in 1998 will most likely on a newer version of Windows.  Most games for computers are developed for the Windows OS. Truly, if you want the best of the video game world, you will need Windows.

With all that in mind, let’s look at some not so great things with Windows. With Windows being the most widely used OS, it has a lot of Viruses and Malware out for it. This means your system can be corrupted or do stuff you simple don’t want it to do if it gets infected. Vista, the newest release of Windows, has been looked down upon by most users. It feels incomplete and buggy. The current version of Vista feels just like the beta versions I tested.

• Linux is new in the U.S. but it is the primary OS of Europe. Some of the best features are that it is free, it is Open Source, and it has a great deal of Open Source Applications available for it.  Open Source means software developed by the community (other users), that is usually available for free. Due to the Community Support, any problems or security risks in Linux are quickly fixed. It’s hardware requirements to run are also very low.

On the down side, there are many different versions of Linux. OpenSuse, Ubuntu, gOS, and Fedora are just a few of these. With all of the different versions, compatible software is not always abundant.

• There is a third option. Apple’s Mac OS X (X is to be said as 10). These computers are not build-able. Apple controls everything that goes into their computers, including both hardware and software, which is actually a good thing. This control means there will never be issues between hardware and software, and the support staff will know everything about you computer. With OS X, you get the whole experience in a box, it includes software to do just about anything a basic user would need and then some. The best thing about a Mac is, it just works.

All that said, there are a few downsides. It’s expensive, and you must buy a computer from Apple to gain access to OS X. Like Linux, it can also have a lack of software.

You can’t say any one of these Operating Systems is better than another. You must try all of them. Tyler, the creator of Impression Computers, and I have tried them all. We both came from Windows XP. We found when Windows Vista was released, it was a pain for us to use. This makes for a bad experience, and experience is everything for most people. Tyler has gone the route of Linux, and I have gone the route of Mac OS X.

Against my better judgement, I’m allowing my partner to post his ideas about Apple products on this site.  Welcome!

Mozilla Firefox 3 is coming soon, so I thought I’d share my list of extensions that I use on a daily basis. Keep in mind as you’re reading this list, I do security testing and web development for a living, these extensions reflect that to a great extent.

• BugMeNot - Allows you to skip mandatory web registration for certain sites.
• Clipmarks - Clip, save, and share elements from within web pages.
• Digg Sidebar - Digg news, in real time
• External IP - Lets you know what IP address is facing the web.
• Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer - Keeps your bookmarks synced wherever you go. I couldn’t live without it.
• Header Spy - Allows you to see what web headers are being sent/received.
• Nagios Checker - Lets you keep an eye on your Nagios monitoring software (used to monitor server groups, services, uptime, etc).
• NewsFox - A full 3-panel RSS feed reader.
• NoScript - Keeps those nasty scripts and flash content from running without your permission.
• PDF Download - Stops Adobe Reader from opening automatically, allows you to download the pdf or convert it to HTML instead.
• RefControl - Allows you to set up different referrers for different web sites. If you don’t know what a referrer is, you probably don’t have any need for this one.
• Router Status - Lets you keep track of your local router right in Firefox. I keep this disabled when I’m not using, I’m paranoid someone will somehow steal my router password through it.
• ScribeFire - An excellent way to update your blog, right from your browser. I used it to write this post.
• Shareaholic - The name says it. Allows you to share your site with a myriad of different services.
• ShowIP - Shows the IP address of the website you’re visiting, and allows you to do various DNS and whois queries.
• StumbleUpon - Great way to find new and strange sites. I’ve wasted hours stumbling the internet.
• Tamper Data - Allows greater customization and modification of header requests and tampering.
• Temporary Inbox - Quick way to create temporary email addresses for those annoying one-time registrations.
• TwitterFox - Twitter, right in Firefox.
• Usage Counter - Timer, showing how long Firefox has been running. I use it to try and keep on task, and limit my news reading time.
• Web Developer Toolbar - Essential for web design.