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Tech Gifts
TechGifts: Whats Great for 2021? by Luigi Oppidoi One of the hardest things about the holiday season is buying for someone who is tech-minded. There are so many items and things that exist in the tech world right now, it’s hard to keep up! They say we are innovating at 3x the speed. Meaning if you love a technology, and want to stay on top with the latest and greatest, you’ll only catch every 3rd iteration of your product! Let us dive into what 2021 has to offer! Not your Grandma’s TypewriterIf you know someone who spends time building or tweaking PC’s, ask them about mechanical keyboards. An entire art form has been…
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Mac vs PC
Mac vs PC By Luigi Oppido Let’s start with the differences. Both machines are virtually the same inside. The same components live inside both machines just like any other computer, Ram, CPU, hard drive etc. The difference starts with the operating system and the functionality and communication of those components, and of course, what you can do with them! This question plagues the computer user every time the trigger needs to be pulled on a new machine. What do I get? Mac or PC? And why? Common today, Macs are mostly found in laptop form and run the Apple operating system called OSX or OS11. Microsoft computers called PCs normally…
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How to Shop for a Good Inexpensive Computer
How to Shop for a Good Inexpensive Computer By Luigi Oppido Everybody today wants a fast computer, but not many people want to pay for it. How do you find a good quality computer without breaking the bank? For example, you can go to the big box stores, check out their inventory and sometimes you’ll see a great deal. But that great deal might not be exactly what it says. A lot of the big box stores try to draw you in with cheap computers that have an inadequate hard drive space for storage, or even processors that can’t do the most basic tasks on todays operating systems. How do…
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WiFi 101
Wi-Fi 101 Luigi Oppido As time has gone by, the need for Wi-Fi has become greater and greater, and the protocols have followed this need by becoming faster and faster. All these digital devices we use in 2021 need a connection of some type. Your experience is only as good as your connection, and that comes from either a cellular data connection coming from a tower-based somewhere in your town or it comes locally from your local Internet connection. That local connection we fondly call Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi service is broadcasted a number of different ways from those little antenna coming out of your router. As time has gone by, the…
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Computer Value
Is a Cheaper Computer Really Better? By Luigi Oppido As the new year comes, and we close off whatever you wanna call 2020, deals abound for new computers with all new technology and brand new software. How do you know when a deal is a deal? Computers break down into four or five basic components. Processor, ram, storage, video card, and if a laptop, screen type. Without getting into each item and diving into the history of computing here’s a brief synopsis of each item: ProcessorThe better the processor, the faster click-to-completion. Meaning, if I want to double-click on a program, how long does it take for it to launch, and…
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How to Avoid Email Scams
How to Avoid Email Scams By Luigi Oppido With people’s home phones diminishing and less and less communications happening via phone calls, scammers have moved into the world of email. Email scamming is the easiest way for a thief to gain personal information about you without doing much work. There are multiple ways that email scams can come into your home, with or without your solicitation. We’re going to talk about some of the ways you can recognize those email scams and what to do about them when you think you’ve got one. The first thing to understand is reading an email scam does not do anything to your computer…
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New Smart Phone
Do you Really Need That New Smart Phone? By Luigi Oppido Apple just released its new iPhone 12 series and if you haven’t noticed, the buzz wasn’t as crazy as it was every other year. Many people didn’t even know that the iPhone 12 had not been released yet and when it did get released, people didn’t seem to care about its features and its updates.When do you buy a new (to you) smart phone?When do you need a new smart phone? My rule of thumb is to not fix something if it isn’t broken. With the way the world is today, it’s smart to save your money when you…
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Save Money Keep Your Computer Humming
Save Money and Keep Your Computer Humming by Luigi Oppido School is back in but your machine’s not running right! What can you do? Let’s go over these few steps that you can take on both your Mac and your PC to make sure that things are in the right place! That way when you start your machine, it’ll be there when you need it. One of the first things you can do is make sure the machine has not been asleep. This goes for both Mac and PC. This includes closing the screen and opening the screen (1 sleep cycle) or not going to the shut down button on…
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Family Computing Bits
Family Computing Bits By Luigi Oppido Hello, Everyone! My name is Luigi Oppido, owner/operator of Pleasure Point Computers and the new host of the super-special tech column here in Growing Up in Santa Cruz! Every month we’re going to open up this section to questions that you have about your technology, your computer, your phone, and anything that has an on switch! We will discuss it! You can reach me by email at [email protected] for any of your tech questions! What kind of things are coming up in the new year that will help you with school? What are some of the pitfalls that you can fall into when being…
