When Did My Tech Stop Being Mine?

Once upon a time, a girl bought a computer. Then she bought software to put on the computer. At first, that software came on a 5 1/4 floppy disk, then a 3.5 floppy disk, then a CD, then a DVD. 

However it came, I bought a video game or a word processing program, installed it on my computer, and it stayed the same until I decided to update it. Software programs just worked, and I didn’t have to worry about it suddenly changing the rules on me.

Those days are gone. With streaming, there are no rules.

Everything’s a “service” now. My games, my software, my books on my Kindle, even my conversations with AI are all subject to sudden updates, changes, and upgrades I never asked for and can’t refuse.

The technophobes tout this as receiving "new features and security improvements,” but the downside is a loss of control over what is happening, because I can't stop the changes even if the older version of somethign worked fine. 

It also means taht something I enoy could vanish or mutate overnight. Amazon can reach into my Kindle and change anything it wants in a book, for example.

And then there's the learning curve. Suddenly MS Word isn't what it used to be and you have to spend forever trying to remember how to format a document. 

It's a pain. Technology has gone from being a tool into being a landlord we have to live with.

The other day, open.ai upgraded ChatGPT. I had grown used to the language it used, the cadence of what it was telling me. I could recognize a ChatGPT essay on LinkedIn without even reading the thing in its entirety. 

Now the new version has a different "voice." A different cadence. A different personality, even. Microsoft's CoPilot does too. I think it now sounds more like the older version of ChatGPT than whatever it was before. It's like both AIs fell into a vat of witch's brew and came out dripping wet, and each one swallowed a different frog or a bat or something.

Inno Games, which operates one of my favorite city-building games, has taken to making upgrades that users have supposedly asked for, but no one I know ever likes their changes. The changes all seem geared toward making us do more "in game" purchases than enhancing game play. If a company has to make changes, it should at least be honest about why it is doing it.

I feel like I'm in a perpetual beta test. Nothing settles down. Just when you think you've got the hang of Microsoft Outlook, oops, there's a change. Or just when you've settled into Gmail, oops, there's a change. 

The comfort of ownership has been replaced by the frustration of constant change.

This is happening everywhere as we switch over from ownership to lending models with the things we use every day. All of this stuff updates constantly. Even our cars. The updates promise fixes and enhancements, but often they just mean relearning how to do the simplest things.

It’s not just about convenience or familiarity, either. I want to feel in control of what I'm doing. I want to know that my tools - the stuff on my hard drive - belong to me. And I don't want to waste my time having to relearn something that worked perfectly fine before some technical egghead decided to change it.

When your technology owns you, instead of the other way around, something essential is missing.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just want to put on my old favorite game, load it up from my hard drive, and know that it’ll play exactly the same way it did the last time. I don't want to wait for an update. I don't want surprises or changes.

Is that too much to ask?

If We Don’t Pay the Poet, What’s AI For?

 

AI image

I was twenty-one years old when I walked into the newspaper office with an article printed on my dot matrix printer. Older folks will remember those. They’re the ones that had perforated edges in the paper. They made a noise as they slowly spit out words line by line. For my very first article, I’d used a Commodore 64, not a typewriter.

 

It was terribly exciting, turning in that story for the local weekly paper. I remember feeling proud, maybe even a little bold. After I gave the paper to the editor, I told the two ladies who ultimately typed in copy that I was handing in the future. No more typesetting. No more cutting and pasting with rubber cement.

The newspaper would be done on a computer.

They laughed at me.

But I wasn’t wrong.

Technology did change everything, just like I said it would. The newsroom eventually traded the paste-up boards for pagination software, and now, here we are. Machines are taking jobs. We’re arguing over whether AI is a good thing or a bad thing. Is a machine that can hold a conversation about grief, ethics, and philosophy a good tool? Or are we standing on precarious edge of something we cannot define.

Because that’s where we are now, isn't it? On the edge of another big change. One just as big as the industrial revolution. Maybe bigger. This time, we don't have the luxury of laughing at the kid with the article in her hand. This brave new world is both thrilling and deeply unsettling: the promise of a new age, tempered by the sobering truth that not all change is progress, especially when it happens without justice.

AI image

It’s hard not to feel torn about the growth in technology. On the one hand, I see so much potential. If we do this right, AI could lift people out of survival mode and help us build a society where dignity isn’t tied to working yourself half to death. We could take care of each other better, free up time for art, music, rest. The base of Maslow’s triangle, that is, food, shelter, and safety, could be solid ground, not quicksand.

But if we do it wrong, and let’s be honest, we don’t have a great track record, we’re headed for something much darker. I don’t want to live in a world where people sleep in cardboard shacks because a machine does their job and we’ve made no plan for what comes next. We keep calling people lazy when it’s the system that pulled the rug out.

It’s not “immigrants taking my job.” It’s tech. Quietly, efficiently, inevitably.

And if we keep treating human creativity like an afterthought with no value, we’re going to lose something essential. AI can write poems and paint pictures now, but it didn’t grow up listening to the same music I did, watching deer cross a foggy field at dawn, or wondering how a girl from Botetourt County ended up explaining digital futures.

AI could free us from drudgery, from hunger, from burnout. Imagine a world where no one worries about rent or healthcare or whether they can feed their children. Where dignity isn’t tied to a job title but to being human. That world is possible. But only if we choose it.

It’s a painful irony. People are endlessly creative, but we don’t pay the poet. We pay the one who cuts the check. We outsource art to algorithms while the original artist goes hungry. When art is treated as luxury instead of lifeblood, society starts to hollow out.

We need to value those who do the work only people can do: caregiving, teaching, healing, creating. Maybe someday a machine will be able to cut my hair, but it won’t lean in close and whisper, “You’re doing okay.” It won’t see my eyes swimming with tears and change the subject gently. It won’t connect the moment to something deeper.

A new vision is what we need right now, one where progress is measured not by GDP or shareholder returns, but by how many people have time to make music, grow gardens, write verses, raise children with love and attention. One where the tools of AI allow the things that make us human flourish. We shouldn’t replace or commodify the very things that make people unique and necessary.

AI isn’t the enemy. But we have to decide who’s holding the reins. If it’s just corporations looking to cut costs and maximize profit, we’re in trouble. We need real, honest humans who will think hard about justice, dignity, and meaning to reimagine where we are in the world.

Then maybe we’ve got a shot at building something better.

I’ve been playing with computers since the first Commodore Vic 20 came out in 1980. I was among the first of one million people to purchase this initial affordable home computer. I could see even then that this was a big deal. I knew eventually that computers would turn into something that would talk back to me.

I saw endless possibilities. I still believe in those possibilities.

But the right people - folks with empathy, foresight, and humility - have to pay attention.

Is Anybody Listening?

AI Image

A reflection on AI, loneliness, and the lost art of conversation

The other day, I was talking with a friend who mentioned she’d been having issues with her boyfriend. I remembered their brief breakup over the holidays. She hadn’t taken it well.

“I got through it with an AI therapist,” she told me.

Really? There are AI therapists?

Apparently so. A quick Google search brought up a list of the top-rated ones for 2025. Most offer a 7-day free trial, after which there’s a fee to continue. Some still provide access to basic advice even without a subscription.

It made me wonder if AI will eventually become everyone’s therapist. There’s something to be said for in-person talking. A chatbot might express concern or outrage on your behalf, but how would you know if it says that to everyone? It’s certainly not your friend.

Then again, therapists aren’t supposed to be your friends either, although over time it can feel that way. Still, we’re paying to be heard.

And maybe that’s what gets to me. That we’ve reached a point where so many people need to be heard, and not enough people are listening. So here come the AI therapists, who will now step in where actual humans no longer tread. We don’t take time anymore to hear each other’s stories, to ask why someone feels the way they do, or to understand the long path behind someone’s point of view.

We live in a 140-character world with short bursts of thought, shouted into the void. Background and context get left behind. Everyone’s yelling, typing whatever comes to mind, and in the end, we’re drowning in half-told tales. Most of them signify nothing, because stories told in fury rarely carry truth.

Or maybe they do mean something, but only to certain people. Bullies love a short format. It’s hard to argue with a tweet. Or an “X.” Whatever they call it now.

I’ve read that loneliness is becoming a major public health threat in the U.S. The kind that affects your body as well as your heart.

Can AI step in as someone’s best friend? I’m not sure. I’ve played with it, but I don’t have a mic on my desktop, so I don’t use the voice feature. My laptop has one and the one time I used it, it sounded robotic.

I’ve had Alexa for years. She’s chipper enough, but she can’t carry on a conversation. Maybe newer versions can, but mine are older and I've no plans to replace them. Frankly, between Alexa and Siri, I already feel like I’m under constant surveillance.

And Siri? She’s not much of a talker, either.

Once upon a time, people actually talked about deep things. They discussed the stars, big ideas, good books, the best way to diaper a baby, work struggles, or the price of hamburger. They shared stories and passed a beer between friends.

I still have a few people I can talk with like that, and I cherish them. Those rare relationships are the ones where we go deep and take time with each other. Most people skim the surface of every problem. Some made up their minds years ago and haven’t listened since. Maybe they never did. Maybe they were kids when they stopped, convinced they were always right.

No one is right about everything.

Not even AI. I’ve seen it get confused. Sometimes it spits out something funny, but other times it can be alarming. And if a computer bot can get that turned around, imagine what goes on inside the human mind.

We Didn't Have No Internet

Friday night, the storm came through. It arrived quickly, so fast I really didn't have time to think about unplugging electronic doohickeys before the first bolts hit.

Zap! Pow!

My phone pings of "lightning has been detected near you" went nuts.

And then one bolt went seemingly straight through the house, something popped, and thunder crashed, sounding like a jet falling on top of the roof.

Just like that, we lost the telephone (I still have a landline) and the Internet.

The Internet never went completely out, though the phones did. Instead, it sent through little bits of itself, reminding me terribly of those long-ago days of dial-up, when information trickled in. Of course, programs weren't so big in dial-up days, not like the software and words that come through today. Today, every programmer assumes that we all have supercomputers running Windows 11, with high-speed Internet access.

I still have DSL. It takes me 2 hours to upload a 3-minute video. But it's better than dial-up.

My weekend suddenly looked different. I wasn't going to be able to spend time looking at Facebook, read the local paper online, or play video games. Some of that I could do on my phone, but my phone kept picking up the trickle of Internet data, so it was wildly confused as to when to use the Internet or when to use the very low cellular data I have. At one point, I walked far away from the house until the phone went to straight cellular data to get something to work, but it was too hot to stay out there long.

So what did I do? I managed to get Saturday 9 and Sunday Stealing up, albeit slowly. I worked on the bookkeeping for the various things we keep up with - the farm, my husband's backhoe business - that sort of thing. I use an old program for that, one that doesn't connect to the Internet.

I wrote postcards to voters.

I worked up a few blog posts that I'd had on my mind. I didn't need the Internet to use Notepad or MS Word for that. Maybe I will post them. Maybe I won't.

The fact that the Internet wasn't completely down made for a false sense of still being attached, because I wasn't. Sometimes I could get something to come up, but mostly not. I couldn't pay bills or check my email, except sometimes I could so I did. 

I never did get around to reading the Sunday Stealing blogs of other meme participants, because they took too long to load. I need to go back and visit those.

My phone had a workout as it played music (no Alexa), and I listened to an audiobook. 

Lastly, I made zucchini bread. It was too hot to be baking, really, but we have the squash now, and of course it comes in all at once. So I made bread, and left a loaf out to eat, and froze the rest.

That is what you do when the Internet dies.

I strongly suspect you live a better life. I have thought for a long time we might all be better off if the Internet were to die. I still think there is truth in that.

Red Alert

Since the beginning of the year, we've been notified of security breaches with our bank, our insurance agent, a doctor's office I hadn't been to since 2015, and now ATT.

Some of these companies offered free monitoring through one source or another. We signed up for them.

Last night, my husband received a notice that his Social Security number was on the dark web (whatever that is), and along with this information was a list of other information available with his number.

The problem was the other information wasn't his information. It was someone else entirely.

After a 50-minute wait on the phone, my husband got an agent with the monitoring company, who told him that the criminals on the dark web create names and addresses to go with the Social Security number, and then sell that information for who-knows-what nefarious purposes.

And there was nothing they could do, the agent said. We could only take some precautions that were already outlined in the email that alerted him to this potential problem.

This morning, I spent several hours first reviewing our credit reports and then implementing credit freezes and fraud alerts on our information. I keep up with this stuff fairly well anyway, but this was an engrossing detailed look at everything. It was a pain in the butt, but I am happy to report that I didn't find anything amiss.

But that doesn't mean something couldn't be amiss a little further down the road.

There is no escaping this kind of thing in this country, because we have politicians who do not believe in regulating companies so that they would have to say, actually implement good hacker protection on their accounts. It is beyond comprehension to me to know that my bank was hacked, for example. The bank should have better protection. Plus, they didn't even offer any monitoring. They just sent a letter that said too bad, so sad, your tough luck. 

My insurance company and ATT should have had better protection, too. However, I guess they saved money so that 73 million of us could now worry about whether or not our credit or our good name was being stolen.

Sometimes, your name is all you have. You shouldn't have to defend it, yet here we are.

In any event, we must all be diligent. Things are falling apart, and we must take care. Watch our backs, so to speak. Maybe watch your friends' backs, too.

Here are steps you can take to protect yourself:

1. Create a mySocial Security account with the Social Security Administration to claim your SSN and prevent others from doing so.

2. Review your earnings on your Social Security Statement to ensure accuracy.

3. Obtain free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com and check for unrecognized accounts or charges.

4. Monitor your bank and credit card accounts regularly for any unauthorized transactions.

5. Set up a fraud alert by contacting one of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion.

6. Consider a credit freeze with the three credit bureaus, which makes it harder for someone to open new accounts in your name.

7. Additionally, it’s important to update your passwords and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for an added layer of security. If you suspect any fraudulent activity, report it to the authorities immediately.

For more detailed guidance, you may want to consult with a professional who specializes in identity theft protection and recovery. However, I don't have any idea how to find one of those professionals and neither does anyone else, I suspect. If you know, let me in on the secret, please!

When the Computer Dies

My Dell desktop, an Inspiron 3850, was purchased in February 2021. I didn't like it from the start.

The memory card access hole broke as soon as I inserted a card. Dell tried to tell me I'd inserted the card too hard; I told them I'd been using computers since they were in diapers and knew very well how to insert a memory card into a desktop. They sent me a new memory card reader, but I had to take the computer apart and install it myself, which I did. And then bought an external memory card reader because the one in the computer is flimsy.

Then I discovered that the video card, which I had been assured was strong enough to handle my favorite video game, Skyrim, did not in fact work with Skyrim. Nor could I upgrade the video card because when I looked to see if I could, I found videos indicating that upgrading generally burned up the motherboard, even to the point of catching the entire computer on fire.

So back in May when the thing started telling me "No Hard Drive Detected," at start up, I think part of me was hoping for a new computer even though I try to use my computers for five years or more before I get a new one. I continued to use it, and nothing I did told me the hard drive was bad. I ran the Windows disk check, and the DOS check, and went to the Dell site and let its little support assistant run a check, and everything said the hard drive was fine.

I did find where the "No Hard Drive Detected" error seemed to happen a lot in Dells and it seemed to be a BIOS firmware issue. I read the instructions on how to enter the BIOS and set everything back to factory default. I did this several times.

The computer would run ok and then the error message would come back. I'd turn the computer off, and it would boot up and I'd go on about my business. But it became more and more frequent, more indicative of a problem.

I started looking at new computers.

We have computer repair stores in the nearby city. One of them has a very good reputation. I decided to take it there and see if it was the hard drive or the BIOS. If it was the BIOS, I figured they could fix that easily enough. Plus, I could live with the boot-up issue long enough to get through the year and finish up the documentation for the taxes, which was my main concern, if the hard drive wasn't bad.

I did not want the computer out of my site. I didn't want to leave it overnight. I never have computers fixed. If I can't fix them, I take the hard drive out them, and put the rest of it in the hazard waste pickup at the landfill. I have a box full of hard drives. 

Also, I did not want to go by myself. You see, in the mid-1990s I went into a local computer store, where I'd had a computer built. Apparently, women aren't supposed to go, even now, into computer stores, and 30 years ago I was assaulted by the owner when I went in for assistance with the computer he'd built for me. I spoke to a detective about it, but it was one of those "your word against his" things, aside from a few finger marks on my arm where he'd held me, and the county prosecutor didn't want to press charges. In the end, the sheriff's office convinced the man that leaving town was a good idea, and he closed up shop and left the state. 

They were satisfied with that outcome. I was not.

So, my husband went with me Friday to tote my computer into the fix-it place. We got there at 9:05 a.m. There was not a woman in site. A man took the computer from my husband, took it in the back and hooked it up, and then said, after about 15 seconds, that the hard drive was failing. Would I like him to replace it? I asked what that would cost, and he quoted me a price for a 215 GB drive. I told him that would be useless to me because I already had 192 GB of stuff on my 1 TB drive. I said put the screws back in it and give it back to me.

Next thing I know, out comes the super salesman, who says he is the company owner. He promises me a 512 GB SSD hard drive along with a secondary 2 TB storage drive, and they would transfer everything over for me and it would be like nothing ever happened. On top of that, he'd give me Adobe photoshop and some other programs. Oh, and it would have Windows 11 on it, but they could make it look sort of like Windows 10. Same price as the one the guy quoted earlier. He wanted to earn my business, super salesman said.

I looked at my husband, who shrugged and said it sounded ok to him. I agreed. What else could I do, really? The man said to come back after noon, and it would be ready.

We didn't call. We made the 45-minute drive back because, well, the man said it would be ready. But it was not ready, and we had to be at a funeral, so even though we killed an hour in the city and called again to see if it was ready, we found it was not. That left us with no choice but to go to the funeral and pick the computer up on Saturday.

Only I would have to do that by myself, because my husband had other plans. I was not happy with any of this. I hadn't wanted to leave the computer overnight. I was worried about my passwords being on the computer hard drive. I also didn't want to go into the store by myself. It was obviously a very male sort of place and women who went in there weren't supposed to know anything about computers except how to turn them on and play solitaire, and maybe use Word.

But I went and got the thing. A nice young man hooked up the computer and quickly showed me what it looked like. I asked a few questions - did I have full administrator privileges, for example. And then I mentioned my issue with the video card and Skyrim. He said it should run Skyrim. I said it never would and I doubted it would. He said to try turning down the graphics, like I hadn't already thought of that.

Anyway, I brought it home. After I downloaded Norton and reinstalled that to ensure my computer was safe, I spent 3 hours changing passwords. Most things require two-factor authentication so I was getting text messages left and right while I was trying to remember what sites would be the most dangerous to have someone get into.

Several of the programs ended up in a folder called "programs you need to reinstall." They were mostly old programs. I can't get the old MS Outlook 2003 calendar program that I prefer to work, but the MS Outlook 2007 program they installed on the computer is something I can adapt too, aside from all the birthdays and anniversaries I have now lost. iTunes appeared to have been lost forever but suddenly tonight Apple did an update and it seems to be working, although everything I had there is gone. Finding my pictures has been a trial, but they are there. Just not where I had thought they would be.

Next time I will do what I wanted to do in the first place. I will buy a new computer and start fresh, or just let them put in a new hard drive with Windows and give me back my hard drive. I back up my documents and photos every 30 minutes to an external hard drive, and installing programs is time consuming but doable. (Note: Windows 11 doesn't have an external hard drive backup app, you have to go around in circles to get that done. I've watched a video on it but haven't set it up yet, which is fine because I haven't done much, except the calendar, that requires any saving.)

I think this has been just as time consuming as setting one up anew, and it's not set up like I would have set it up. It took a long time just to get the desktop to look like something I wanted to look at. This may have been the cheaper route, but I'm not at all convinced it was the better one.

When the Cloud Messes Up

One of the game stages I use is called GOG. It has older video games on it, the ones I played back in the 1990s and early 2000s, along with other things.

One of my favorite set of games, aside from Bethesda's Elder Scrolls, were by 3DO and were called the Might and Magic series.

GOG allegedly syncs my game play in its cloud with the games saved on my hard drive.

The last few days, I've been getting this message when it goes to sync:

I have no idea how to fix this and can't find a way to contact anyone at GOG to ask about it. So, I just hit ignore and go on.

But isn't it fascinating that my files are now 53 years off? I didn't even know what a computer was 53 years ago. Well, maybe I thought it was the robot on Lost in Space that said, "Danger! Danger!" but that would be about it.

I have also wondered if GOG has been hacked. Or if I have been hacked. Nothing else is amiss on my end, though. At least, not that I've noticed.

Suggestions welcome if anyone knows anything about this.

ChatGPT - Artificial Intelligence

I created an account and went to the openai.com site to see what's up with the ChatGPT research. I've seen reports of students using it to create assignment responses.

I asked the AI to tell me about endometriosis. I thought it was not a highly sought after topic and felt it was a good test for the AI.

Here is its response:

Endometriosis is a condition in which the tissue that lines the uterus (the endometrium) grows outside of the uterus, most commonly on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and other tissue in the pelvic region. This tissue continues to behave as it normally would inside the uterus, thickening, breaking down, and bleeding with each menstrual cycle. However, because this tissue is located outside of the uterus, it has no way to exit the body, leading to inflammation, pain, and the formation of scar tissue. Endometriosis can also cause infertility.

Then I asked: How do you cure endometriosis?

Endometriosis treatment options vary depending on the severity of the condition and the patient's individual needs. Some common treatment options include:

Medications: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can help alleviate pain, and hormonal medications such as birth control pills can help slow the growth of endometrial tissue.

Surgery: Laparoscopic surgery can be used to remove endometrial tissue and scar tissue, and may also be used to preserve fertility.

Hormonal therapy: GnRH agonists can be used to reduce the symptoms of endometriosis by lowering the levels of estrogen in the body and putting the patient into temporary menopause.

Complementary therapy: Physical therapy, acupuncture, and dietary changes can help alleviate the pain associated with endometriosis.

It's worth noting that while there is no cure for endometriosis, these treatments can help alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life. It's important to work with your healthcare provider to find a treatment plan that works best for you.

Then I asked: Can adhesions or scar tissue cause pain?

Yes, adhesions or scar tissue can cause pain. Adhesions are bands of fibrous tissue that can form between tissues and organs, and they can cause pain by pulling on or restricting the movement of organs and other structures. Scar tissue can also cause pain, particularly if it forms around nerves or other sensitive structures.

In the case of endometriosis, adhesions or scar tissue can form as a result of the inflammation caused by the endometrial tissue growing outside the uterus. These adhesions or scar tissue can cause pain by pulling on or restricting the movement of organs and other structures in the pelvic region. They can also cause chronic pelvic pain and dysmenorrhea.

It's important to note that not everyone with endometriosis will experience adhesions or scar tissue, and not everyone with adhesions or scar tissue will experience pain. Additionally, pain caused by adhesions or scar tissue may be treated with surgery, physical therapy and/or medication.

Then I asked: How do you deal with the pain from scar tissue and adhesions?

Dealing with pain caused by scar tissue and adhesions can be challenging, but there are several treatment options available:

Medications: Over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen can help alleviate pain, and prescription medications such as muscle relaxants or nerve blockers may also be used.

Physical Therapy: Physical therapy can help relieve pain and improve mobility by stretching and strengthening the muscles and tissues affected by scar tissue and adhesions.

Surgery: Surgery may be necessary to remove scar tissue or adhesions that are causing pain or restricting movement. This may include laparoscopic surgery, which uses small incisions and a camera to remove the scar tissue or adhesions.

Complementary therapies: Acupuncture, massage, and other complementary therapies can help alleviate pain and improve mobility.

Lifestyle changes: Certain lifestyle changes such as avoiding certain positions, using heat or cold therapy, and reducing stress may also help alleviate pain.

Then I asked: Does a hysterectomy help with endometriosis?

A hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) may help alleviate symptoms of endometriosis, particularly if the endometriosis is concentrated in the uterus. However, it is not a guaranteed cure for endometriosis and it depends on the stage and location of the disease.

Removing the uterus and ovaries (oophorectomy) can be an effective way to stop the menstrual cycle and halt the growth of endometrial tissue, which can help alleviate pain and other symptoms. However, endometriosis can also occur on other organs such as the bladder, bowel, and even the lungs. If endometriosis is present in these areas, a hysterectomy alone may not be enough to alleviate symptoms.

Additionally, a hysterectomy is a major surgery and it carries risks and complications, it should be considered as a last resort after trying other treatment options.

It's important to work with your healthcare provider to find the best treatment plan for your individual needs, which may include a combination of medications, surgery, and/or other therapies.

There are no cites, and no case studies. But for a quick article and knowledge on this topic, this is as good as Wikipedia. I know enough about the condition, having had it, to see that the computer has the correct information. With a little tweaking, this could easily be turned into a student essay.

This is a bit scary, but also exciting.

More "Fun" with Dell

The new media card reader arrived last week, a day later than anticipated.

Dellcares on Twitter very helpfully wanted me to tear my computer apart long before the media card reader arrived, but I told them I would take it apart when the part arrived, and not before.

The UPS guy told me Dell sent me an empty box. Ha.

Before I continue, I will note that I have been in the innards of my computers before. I've added ram, changed out hard drives, and installed graphic cards.

Always before, though, these weren't brand new computers still under warranty.

So I unhooked all the wires and plugs, and carried the computer into the kitchen. I laid it flat on the table, and proceeded to unscrew the left side so I could get into the thing.

The left side came off. The media card reader was on the right side, of course.

After attempting in vain to remove it without removing anything else, I ended up unscrewing the hard drive to make room.

I replaced the media card reader, reinstalled the hard drive, and put the side back on.

The media card reader works - sort of.

It's very difficult to get an SD card in and out of the computer. The slot in the case is too tight. I will use an external card reader after all.

Basically I went through all of that for nothing.

Dell, in the meantime, was very unapologetic about the entire affair. I had to return the old part "or your warranty will be voided" and I am fairly sure I won't be buying another Dell. I've had Dells for about 20 years and they've been decent computers, but this one is cheaply made and if I'd seen it on the shelf, I think I would have passed on it. 

This is why some things should not be purchased online.

I found in my purchasing information an email address from the salesperson. He had told me to write if I had any problems, so I wrote him a rather scathing indictment of his computer and the customer service department.

That was last week, and I have not received a response.

I don't expect I will.

My Adventures with Dell

My computer was purchased in 2015, and it was a Dell. It came with Windows 8.1, and I upgraded it to Windows 10.

It worked ok. Then back at the end of January, it crashed big time, and when I finally managed to reset it, I lost my programs. My data was backed up on an external hard drive, so it was fine.

There is a backdoor through which one can download Windows 10 for free. I used that and managed to get the computer up and running.

In the meantime, my well-meaning husband insisted I purchase a new computer. This one was, after all, six years old, and that's generally all I get out of a computer.

So I went to the Dell Computer site and after chatting with a technician in chat, and then with someone on the phone, I settled on an Inspiron 3880. I needed something with a DVD drive and a media card reader. I don't game much anymore so mostly I needed something for browsing and word processing.

The computer arrived and the FedEx guy practically threw it in the door (he is never gentle with anything). I managed to get the new computer up and running, and over the last two weeks I installed my software, created a backup and restore disk, and hooked my external hard drive backup to it.

However, when I went to use the SD card reader, it wouldn't read the card. I downloaded straight from the camera instead. Later, I tried a different SD card. It went in and it read it. But when I popped it back out, a piece of plastic came out with it.

Now the card reader won't work at all. It doesn't read cards, and it won't bounce them back out, either.

Seemed to me it came faulty.

It happens.

I contacted Dell via chat. I was told that because this was a hardware "wear and tear" issue, it wasn't warranted. At that time, the computer was 13 days old.

The chat person gave me a number to call. I called. I was placed on hold, and after a very long time, the call simply . . . ended. No one ever picked back up and then I got that "erk erk erk" noise that says you've been disconnected.

Frustrated, I went to twitter and tweeted: "Never buy a @Dell!"

Moments later, Dellcares messaged me. They would solve my problem, some helpful person named Laverna said.

After I explained the problem, she too said that they wouldn't fix the issue, because maybe I'd pushed too hard on the card and broken the spring inside. Really? I've been using card readers for 20 years and this is your response?

I told Laverna they were very useless and I would never buy another Dell. (I probably won't after all this.)

This is my fourth Dell computer. They've always been fairly reliable, but I could tell this 3880 was more cheaply made than my old one. The DVD drive feels like it will fall apart when trying to install a DVD.

Anyway, later I received another message from Laverna at Dell. She'd talked to her manager, and they were going to send me a new internal card reader at no charge to me but I would have to install it.

I asked if this would void the remainder of the warranty and the answer was, probably.

I went to Amazon and bought an external media drive, which should arrive today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, Dell went ahead and began the process of sending me this part, which after learning that it would probably void the remainder of my warranty if I install it, I didn't particularly want.

After I received an email saying the part was on its way, I thought, well, I can just hang on to the part and install it in a year, after the warranty period is up. I don't have a problem using an external card reader. There's a USB port for it.

But maybe I can't hang on to it like that, because there were these indications on the Dell support site that I may have to send the old part back.

Early this morning, I woke to find another Twitter message from Dell. Here's the entire thing:

I left it there, because (a) I'm not getting a monitor, (b) no one is coming to fix this, and (c) the FedEx guy doesn't hang around waiting on things.

My best hope now is that when the part arrives, there is a note in there that says I don't need to send the old part back. An external card reader cost me $15. This part can't cost Dell but what, $1 maybe?

Customer service sure isn't what it used to be. If I had the money, I'd give this one to my husband and purchase something somewhere else.

Blue Screen of Death

Saturday evening, my computer went berserk.

The screen turned sideways. It wouldn't go back to normal.

Then I tried to shut it down and reboot, to see if that would fix it, and the thing wouldn't boot back up.

Finally, it booted up, but then it started into an error message loop.

The blue screen of death appeared.

Stop: Critical Process Died.

That's what it said. I had no idea what that meant. I pulled out the laptop and looked it up. Apparently this was an error that could be fixed if one knew what to look for. Maybe. While it was a known issue with Windows 10 early on, apparently it wasn't supposed to be one now.

The computer was a Dell 3847, and I'd bought it in 2015. At the time it had Windows 8 on it and I upgraded to Windows 10 when it came out.

I hated Windows 10 at first, as it was not stable, but with time it has seemed more reliable.

No matter what I tried, I could not bring my computer back from the blue screen of death and into Windows 10. Finally, I hit the Dell Repair that was supposed to save all of my documents, etc.

It brought the computer back to factory default. Windows 8.

And it lost all of my data, although I have it backed up to an external hard drive.

So while I can use this now, it's Windows 8, which I never liked.

Instead of spending $140 to get Windows 10, I have purchased a new Dell tower. It will arrive via UPS one of these days.

I couldn't see spending that much money on a six-year old computer just to get back to Windows 10.

O Blue Screen of Death, I know not why thou visited me.

But thou hast cost me money.

It's MY E-mail Account

Way back when Google was still basically a little start up, saying "Don't be evil," (ha), I received an invitation to join its beta program for Gmail.

Yes, the very first version. I have been with Gmail since before it was made public. I was friends with a friend who worked at Google; hence the invitation.

It has become the email I use most often. Overrun as it is with subscriptions, spam, and everything else, I can still find what I need in it. I try to direct things now to other accounts.

This one shows up as being on the dark web, so I change the password a lot.

And then there are two men who have first names with initials the same as my first name, and the same last name. Apparently neither can remember their actual email account addresses, because things come to me that are meant for them.

First I started receiving employment application acceptances for "Anthony." I finally found Anthony on Facebook and asked him if he'd recently applied at thus and such a company. He apologized profusely and said he had confused Gmail with his student account.

Sigh.

He allegedly fixed it, but occasionally I still get something meant for Anthony. I now have his email, so I simply forward it to him and say, "in case you need this."

Then last fall, along came "Adam" who set up his eBay account using my email. I found Adam on Facebook, too, and he said he would take care of it. He'd simply typed in the wrong email address, he said.

I changed my Gmail password and thought no more about it.

Today, Adam tried to purchase something through eBay. The message about it came to me.

I called eBay and attempted to explain the situation to the "concierge" service person, who seemed perplexed about the problem. Zero help there, even after a 10-minute hold listening to really crappy music.

After I hung up with the useless eBay person, I went into eBay, signed in with my email, asked to change the password, and was soon in Adam's account, complete with his credit card numbers and everything. I deleted all of his personal information. I found where he'd attempted his purchase and wrote the seller that the item was bought using an incorrect email. I closed out the account that was using my Gmail account, because even though it was in Adam's name, that's my email.

He is lucky I am an honest person, because I could have ran up quite a bill on his credit card had I been so inclined. Fortunately for Adam, I am not a crook and was not so inclined.

By doing this, I will not be able to use my Gmail account now with eBay, ever again, according to them. This is fine, as I have an eBay account with another email address. I also very seldom ever buy anything on eBay anyway.

Adam, alas, will be out of luck.

And yes, I changed my Gmail account password again, too, just to be safe. It's a real pain in the you-know-what to do that because I have to change it on every device.

Lesson? Make sure you have the right email address when you sign up for things, especially things that have to do with your credit card or financial information.

You never know who might be on the other end of a wrong email address.

What the #$@# is an ASP.NET?

Last night my computer suddenly went bonkers on me, and reverted itself back to the tiled desktop of Windows 8.1.

My computer updated on March 13, so I assume it had something to do with the update, but I'm not sure.

At any rate, I realized my computer was showing a new account called ASP.NET machine account. Ever heard of that?

Me neither.

Apparently this is some kind of developer thing that has shown up as a problem for folks since Windows XP. Yep, that far back, and apparently Windows still has issues with it.

Really, Microsoft?

This is what Microsoft says about it: "ASP.NET Machine Account is created when the 1.1 is installed onto a Windows machine."

I don't know what the 1.1 is, nor do I know how to install it or uninstall it. I don't even know what that sentence means.

After snooping around and looking at various responses to other concerns about this issue, I decided first to try removing the account in my settings. That didn't help.

I rebooted a couple of times. That didn't help either.

The instructions to fix this issue talks about going into the REGSTRY to make changes. I am not big on doing that, though I have.

One thing I do that many people do not do is I set a restore point every time Microsoft tells me it is going to update my computer. I learn that the update is on its way either by a message from Microsoft that says "Hi, we have an update for you that will take place at such-and-such a time" or by noticing when I go to shut down my computer that it says "Update and shut down." There is no option not to accept an update from Microsoft anymore.

What I do when an update is imminent is this: I go into the control panel and create a restore point. You can figure out how to do this by typing "create restore point" in Cortana if you're using Windows 10. It is easier on older operating systems like Windows 7. I honestly don't know if all Windows 10 users can create a restore point or if I can do it because I upgraded from Windows 8.1.

Anyway, since I had a restore point from March 13, I simply went back to that to restore the system, and when it finished sometime around 2 a.m. this morning (when I woke up and checked), things looked normal. I shut the computer down and when I woke the first thing I did was double check my backups on documents and photos.

This thing of downloading updates just to update is getting old. I have made peace with Windows 10 after its second or third upgrade made it more stable, but it remains a source of aggravation. I don't need development codes or things to code or whatever. I just use software on the computer like most people and do my writing on it. This kind of update should be optional for us normal folks who don't care to be developmental IT engineers.

Wrangling Windows 10

Late last June, my Dell with Windows 7 puked out on me. The hard drive died, much to my dismay. We were only weeks away from the release of Windows 10, but there I was caught between a new Windows 8.1 desktop or nothing at all.

I went to Best Buy and talked to a lad there who said, "Oh, Windows 10 won't be shipping on computers until the fall, at least," when I asked how long before Windows 10 would be on a new desktop. Hearing that, I bit the bullet and bought a Dell with Windows 8.1, knowing I would upgrade immediately.

Windows 8 is on my Surface was I didn't like it much. So I knew I would not like Windows 8.1, either.

Of course the dude at Best Buy lied to me, because Windows 10 was out on new computers nearly the day after Microsoft released its new OS to the public.

I downloaded Windows 10 about three days after it came out. During my initial upgrade, the electricity went out (thank you Appalachian Power). After much cursing, I managed to get the computer back up on Windows 8.1 and tried again.

The second time took. However, Windows 10 has been a nightmare. I know many people upgraded and have had little problem, but I am not one of them. Did the power outage do a warp thingy on me? I will never know.

The main issue I have is something called a "failed group policy client service" which occurs at sign-in, usually after Windows 10 has performed an update. When this happens, the computers thinks I am not its owner anymore, and I cannot perform administrative functions on the darned thing.

Recently, I started experiencing a failure to sign into Microsoft Solitaire (via its new Xbox configuration) and along with that goes the ability to access the Microsoft store.

I used to be very good at computers - when they were DOS based. Yes, that was 25 years ago. Then I was a whiz and could write batch files and code, and take care of most anything. Then along came Windows and I was lost. I think I started out with Windows 3.1 At some point I realized that Windows is really DOS in disguise, and managed to figure out some nifty and necessary things like msconfig and a few other commands that could be helpful in times of need, but mostly I prayed the thing didn't fail me.

Windows 10 fails me constantly. I have performed a "system restore" on this computer more times than on all of the others I've owned put together (and that goes all the way back to a Commodore Vic 20, in about 1980).

It doesn't help that Microsoft's solution to any problem you ask about is "find a friend who is an expert." Like we all know computer whiz's who live down the block or something. Maybe you do, but I do not. Or at least, not any that I would bother. Their other solution is a community forum which may or may not offer you a dozen different things to try, or nothing at all.

During these long and frustrating months, I have discovered a few commands that are helpful. First one must be able to access the command prompt and be the administrator on the computer.

In Windows 10, The easiest way to access the command prompt (what used to be known as the "C" prompt in DOS), is to right click on the start button. You will see a list of items similar to classic Windows. Look for "Command Prompt" (Admin). That's the one you want.

Once that is up, you will see C:\Windows\system32>

To fix many problems, you can type in this after the system32>

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

This will run for a long time. It should come back and say "The operation completed successfully" at the end, whether it found a problem or not.

Check and see if the problem still exists. If it does, you're probably going to have do more googling to find your particular issue.

If you can get your system working with a system restore, then try that. I used system restore this morning to return the computer back to yesterday, and then, since I could now access the Windows store, I uninstalled Microsoft Solitaire and reinstalled it again. Hopefully this will solve that issue but I won't know for a few days - or until the next update, anyway.

You may also want to consider uninstalling whatever junk the seller placed on your computer. Dell, for example, had something called "supportassist" on mine that I recently deleted because it seemed to be at least one of the culprits on my PC. Whether or not I regret that move we will find out in time.

Microsoft, in my opinion, has released its worse OS since Windows ME and Windows 8, which tie for last place in MS operating systems. I don't know what they are thinking, releasing this. It has been, for me, anyway, the most unstable and error-filled OS I have ever used.

At any rate, I hope the above will help someone else out there who is about ready to toss their PC out the window.

Windows 10 Part 2

Blah.

And Blah again.

Microsoft has utterly destroyed the desktop PC experience with Windows 10. It had mutilated it with Windows 8 and now it has completely screwed it up.

They also kind of lied. Early indications were Solitaire would be back, and free, without signing into an Xbox account.

That was the case for a day.

Over the weekend, I went back to look at Solitaire and there was a little Xbox symbol over it. To try to play, it wants me to create an Xbox account. I can play as  "guest" (with ads) or I can pay $10 a year to play something that used to be for free. Here's a nice story detailing the Solitaire problem, as well as what privacy users see as a major fault in the program.

You know what? I can go to shockwave.com or games.com, where I already have accounts, and play solitaire without having to sign into an Xbox account that I don't want.

I think the big change with Windows 10 is that nothing, I mean nothing, is free now. You'll pay for the OS when you buy a computer, and then it'll probably want a subscription to keep you up-to-date.

They want you to pay $100 a year to use Office 365. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Use the cloud, subscribe.

Screw that. Really? But I know millions of people and businesses will accept this new "licensing" purchase model, and that will be that. The rest of us will either have to go along or . . . maybe buy a MAC.

Because that is now my plan. To switch to a MAC the next time I need a computer, even if they do cost 5x more than a PC.

Don't get me wrong. This is still an improvement  over Windows 8. But it's a backwards move from Windows 7. It's a move that takes the PC environment and tries to turn it into a smartphone.

My desktop isn't a smartphone.

There are people who like it, to be sure. It seems to work well on newer Surface devices, from what I've read. I have a first generation Surface and apparently it isn't going to update to Windows 10, at least, not yet. Maybe at some point. I don't use it much because I don't like Windows 8, and was surprised recently to turn the thing on and find it had updated itself to Windows 8.1.

It is early days yet, and I keep getting downloads. Maybe Windows 10 will improve over time. Maybe this morning I'm simply irked at Dell, which keeps telling me in a pop up message that now that I've installed Windows 10, the only way I can do a back up and restore disc is to pay them money for something else. But sorry, guys, I am not putting out more dough. If I have to restore this thing to the initial Windows 8.1 that came on it when I bought it two weeks ago, then so be it. But you will be getting a word or two from me soon about this, if nothing else so I can find out how to disable your stupid messages.

I wait to see what others says about Windows 10 over the next few months. Maybe in a few weeks, I won't hate it, either. Maybe by then I'll have worked out the kinks and figured out my concerns and rid myself of the irritations.

But for now, I wish I had Windows 7 back on a desktop.

And by the way, I might be in the market for an old MAC notebook, just so I can familiarize myself with the product. I've never used them, not even an iPad, so if you know of anyone selling, let me know.

Windows 10

So my new Dell was determined to upgrade to Windows 10 yesterday even though I had asked it to schedule the upgrade to today (Friday). Yesterday morning at 7 a.m. the computer began asking me to do the upgrade. I had a few hours before I had somewhere to be, so I hit "install now."

All was going well and then the power blipped. We've been having strange electrical outages for about a month now, usually at 10 minutes to the hour, as if something at the substation is cycling through and not working properly. I'm not an electrician, so I don't really know.

I have my computer on a battery backup so the computer stayed on. But the blip interrupted the internet signal and the next thing I knew my computer had reset itself back to Windows 8.1.

I was infuriated because the first attempt failed, having wanted a clean and untarnished effort, but the power blip was not Microsoft's fault. I think things like that come back to haunt you, though, with little trickles of data stuck someplace they're not supposed to be.

Windows 8.1 had problems and I was not a big fan. I have it on my MS Surface, which I rarely use because I find the OS frustrating. My Surface has not received any kind of notification about the update, so I am assuming it is stuck with Windows 8.1. It's a first generation product.  After using Windows 8.1 on the PC, where I could figure it out, I was able to make more sense of it. But that OS is made for tablets, not a desktop.

And here is where Windows 10 also fails. Why does MS want to make everything work the same? A desktop is not a tablet nor is it a phone. Microsoft appears to want to force things to the cloud, ultimately doing away with the need for hard drives. I don't want my stuff in the cloud, thank you very much. My documents belong to me, not to Microsoft or anybody else. I have no illusions that at some point in the future, there will be proprietary issues over manuscripts and other intellectual property stored on the cloud. Written a best seller? You stored it in the cloud - now give Microsoft its cut. Maybe I am paranoid but that is what I believe will happen in a future closer than we think.

At any rate, after the first failed attempt, I tried again later in the afternoon and this time all went well. I spent several hours fiddling with the new OS to set up my "charms." There are still a few things I'd like to tweak but I can't find the way to tweak them, however.

So on to Windows 10. What do I like? I like that the start button is back, and it doesn't take me three steps to find the power button. I immediately turned off the much-touted Corona, which is supposed to be a helpful digital assistant but which to me was such an invasion of privacy that I would prefer to have the option to remove it completely, but do not.

Microsoft Edge doesn't work with Norton, yet, so I am still using Internet Explorer (also available). They put Solitaire back where you don't have to enter Xbox crap to play the game, but the update of the game is messy and I prefer the cleaner lines of earlier Solitaire versions.

All of the programs that I had installed a few weeks ago under Windows 8.1 work fine, including my outdated version of MS Outlook 2003, which I use for a calendar and contact list, along with Office 2007. I am not going to a subscription version of Office ever, which makes me think that at some point I will need to try out OpenOffice or some other word processing program.

Windows 10 comes with a calendar and I think a contact list is in Corona, but I haven't played with those items enough to determine if I will switch or not. The inability to "print" things, if there, is not immediately obvious and I am a print girl. I don't carry a smart phone or a tablet with me, I keep a little calendar in my purse, and I print out a monthly calendar to keep on my desk so I know where I am supposed to be. I am not changing my habits simply because Microsoft thinks I should.

My husband's computer has Windows 7 on it, and I dislike Windows 10 enough that I plan to not install the new OS on his computer. When he buys something new, he will have no choice but to switch, but for now Windows 7 is fine for what he does.

In fact, Windows 7 was fine for what I was doing, and I would, I think, revert back to Windows 7 if the old computer was still running. This new desktop tower came with Windows 8.1 and I knew when I purchased it about two weeks ago that I would upgrade as soon as I could. Windows 10 feels a bit like Windows 7 except junked up and things are hidden and buried. Microsoft obviously doesn't want you to make changes.

One thing that people don't seem to get about Windows is that it is still actually DOS based. I smiled a little when I found the old C:/ prompt, still hidden but available in all its glory. So "format c:/" is still something one could do, should the insanity to do so prompt such action. I daresay other DOS commands, most of which I have forgotten, are also hidden in there (I used to be decent at DOS but when Windows took over I gave up trying to keep up).

Because Windows is DOS based, still, it will never function without issues. That's the biggest difference between a Mac and a Windows-based computer. The MAC OS is completely different; it's not functioning as something that it's really not, which is what Windows does and always has done.

If I am wrong about my assumptions on that, I am sure someone will tell me, but that is my understanding of it.

At any rate, the verdict on Windows 10 remains a shoulder shrug. It's an improvement over Windows 8.1 but for a desktop, Windows 7 was cleaner and easier. After a few more weeks of use, I'll try to remember to report back with an update on what I think.