I have a low-end Dell not quite three years old, and my original service contract is up for renewal. Is it worth it? It's $186 a year. I got the first one on a much better deal, but now it's really out of my budget.

My system keeps bugging me to upgrade to Windows 11. Has anybody had any problems with it?

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/microsoft-will-remove-adobe-flash-from-windows-10-this-summer/

There's a Flash killer available.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/06/apple-plans-to-announce-arm-transition-for-all-macs-at-wwdc-2020/

Somebody's asking about doing a job on heavier stock than what we use. The CSR is looking at 12 pt. uncoated. Even if it falls within the GSM parameters of what the machine will run, we've never had 12 pt. stock for anything. Anybody have problems with that kind of paper on a Xerox (or other brand)?

New cheese grater with PCI slots. And a whopping price.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/06/its-really-real-apple-unveils-the-all-new-mac-pro/

This is the fifth model Xerox printer I've worked with, and it does something the others didn't. When a job is sent to it from a computer program or CWS, the thing stays asleep until you go push the button to wake it up. It takes a long time to wake up, then you finally get your stuff. When all you sent was one page, it's aggravating to say the least. I've started a print job on the thing, only to have three or four other things come out that were sent while it was sleeping. A tech that was here for various things was told about this, but I guess he couldn't do anything about it. All our other machines woke up when you sent them a job. What's up with this monstrosity?

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/08/blackmagic-external-gpu-review-a-very-apple-graphics-solution/

If I get enough back from income tax, I'm thinking of upgrading at home to a refurb Mac Mini. I like the 2007 models. With an adapter I can use the monitor I have. Prolly only spend around $300 total. It will only go to OSX 10.7.

The 2009 models will go to 10.11, I think, but they only have mini DVI ports, so I'd have to buy a monitor, and maybe an Apple one at that. Trying to be as stingy as possible. Suggestions?

I need new glasses before a new computer, so this may all be a pipe dream, but....

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/09/apple-file-system-in-macos-high-sierra-wont-work-with-fusion-drives/

Here's the article:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/06/psa-macos-sierra-drops-support-for-many-macs-from-2007-2008-and-2009/

A test update for Windows 7 was accidentally published to the update queue yesterday. People reported that it either didn't install or did install and messed up their computers. Microsoft admitted today that it was a test update not yet ready for prime time. 

Just another good reason not to have your computer set to install updates automatically.

Be careful what you get from Apple's app store.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/09/xcodeghost-apps-haunting-ios-app-store-more-numerous-than-first-reported/

Here's something you may need to read.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/09/active-malware-campaign-uses-thousands-of-wordpress-sites-to-infect-visitors/

Here's a link to a thread that contains a link to an OS 9.2 system folder on the Apple website. Farther down the thread, it tells you where to look in case the thing asks for a password, and how to get rid of the password sign-in entirely.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1796689

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/10/7-million-dropbox-usernamepassword-pairs-apparently-leaked/

... and another printing job lost.

http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/10/idg-shutters-macworld-magazine-much-of-the-editorial-staff-let-go/

I need to sell some stuff on E-bay, but don't have a digital camera for pictures. Do you have any recommendations for a cheap digital camera that will work with Power PC or with a card reader? I know I may need a card reader, but only have USB 1.1. 

I'm sort of getting to be a Luddite in my old age (late 50's), so I don't know what will work with what I have. I don't want to trust the college kids at Radio Shack; I'd rather pick the brains of people like you.

I got a Leopard retail disc from eBay that has a scratch. (Already returned one like this, so I'm just gonna go with it.) Tried to make a .dmg file out of it on another computer, as mine won't read it. It won't make the .dmg because of one file, X-Code Tools, I believe. So I made an empty .dmg and put everything into it to restore onto my backup HD to install into my main HD. Think it will work, or should I go disc shopping again?

I've got everything backed up, but I'm scared to try it.

So whaddya' think?

I've seen a lot of griping, mostly because it's not any more configurable or upgradeable than the newer iMacs. Looks like Apple's going towards a totally disposable computer line. Anything you want to change or add must be taken care of by Thunderbolt.

Actually, I guess it's just going the modular route, although anybody with specialized cards or HDs will have to buy TB enclosures. Cables are our future. Also there's some flack about not being able to run some Adobe video apps because they won't run with the Mac Pro's video cards.