Sidestepping technical pain

I've been avoiding writing this column for several months, but my role as the neighborhood Go To Guy finally pushed me over the edge. The goal here is to show you how to sidestep technical problems still with us after 28 years of personal computing.

I don't need to rant about the situation, do I? You have plenty of painful examples of technology causing grief rather than help. Look at the spam in your inbox. Look at the spyware in your browser. Look, but don't find, the files lost because your backup system didn't work properly. Let's start making life easier by getting the problems out of the way before they crop up.

My first advice to people complaining about spyware is to stop using Microsoft's Internet Explorer and switch to Mozilla's Firefox. Argue all you want about whether Microsoft's sloppy programming or hackers are to blame, but switch to Firefox to get work done. I especially like the tabbed browsing windows that Microsoft is copying in the next version of IE, as well as the automatic popup blocks in Firefox. Feel free to try Opera or switch to a Mac and use Safari if you prefer, but stop using IE. Your life will be simpler, I promise.

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I've been avoiding writing this column for several months, but my role as the neighborhood Go To Guy finally pushed me over the edge. The goal here is to show you how to sidestep technical problems still with us after 28 years of personal computing.

I don't need to rant about the situation, do I? You have plenty of painful examples of technology causing grief rather than help. Look at the spam in your inbox. Look at the spyware in your browser. Look, but don't find, the files lost because your backup system didn't work properly. Let's start making life easier by getting the problems out of the way before they crop up.

My first advice to people complaining about spyware is to stop using Microsoft's Internet Explorer and switch to Mozilla's Firefox. Argue all you want about whether Microsoft's sloppy programming or hackers are to blame, but switch to Firefox to get work done. I especially like the tabbed browsing windows that Microsoft is copying in the next version of IE, as well as the automatic popup blocks in Firefox. Feel free to try Opera or switch to a Mac and use Safari if you prefer, but stop using IE. Your life will be simpler, I promise.

Spam and e-mail-carried viruses can be controlled today, but it will cost you. Small companies running their own e-mail servers spend far too much time and money fighting spam and viruses. If this describes you, work to block spam before it reaches your e-mail server. If your e-mail server runs at your ISP along with your Web server, talk to your ISP about applying more spam filtering before message traffic hits your server.

E-mail outsourcing has become a viable and affordable alternative for many companies. If you're interested, let me know and I'll dive into that subject. A combination of using an outsourced e-mail firm as your public contact point (and run by people who specialize in e-mail), and a local e-mail server on your network for internal use will considerably cut down your spam and virus headaches.

Some people may argue that personal computing in businesses started in late 1981 with the IBM PC, and is therefore only 25 years old. I contend that the Apple II with VisiCalc started it all in 1979. Several accountants have told me that everything a businessperson needs in a spreadsheet could be done in VisiCalc way back when. So why are we buying Microsoft Office for Excel on PCs today? Twenty eight years of technical innovation just to mimic what we started with? Unfortunately, that's the case far too often.

Let's take something stupidly simple, like addressing an envelope. Can you use Microsoft Windows and the included Address Book and highlight an address to print on an envelope? Yes, if you remember which way to load the envelope on that particular printer (each model does it differently). Can you do it more quickly than writing the address by hand? No, unless you do envelopes constantly.

An interesting example of appropriate technology? Typewriters with margins set for envelopes that produce a usable envelope faster than trying to force the PC into printing one properly without wasting at least one envelope. Use the level of technology that feels comfortable to you and gets the job done.