tips, information, and other useful stuff
This page contains several sections. Click on one of the following to jump to that section:
| PC's (IBM Aptiva, Dell) | Operating Systems (Unix, Windows) |
| The Bookstore (recommended reading) | Networking (Internet, security) |
The IBM Aptiva is an awful machine if you want to easily upgrade it. IBM technical support is usually pretty lame, but if you'd like to get help from people who actually own these monsters, you can do so at the Unofficial Aptiva Support Site.
I've had many PCs in my time. Of them all, my best and most reliable one came from Dell Canada. I purchased this PC online from their web site and it has performed flawlessly since the day of delivery.
In my career and academia I have used mainly Unix machines. Most of the clients I have dealt with seem to prefer Hewlett-Packard for their hardware, although some liked IBM's hardware. During my university days at the University of Toronto (Scarborough Campus) I used Sun Microsystems (the people who invented Java) machines. Needless to say, Unix is my favourite operating system.
For
those of you who aren't aware of it yet, Linux, the
version of Unix for Intel machines is growing by leaps and bounds. By my estimates,
Linux will be a serious competitor to all operating systems offered by Microsoft in about
five years. Some advantages of Linux are:
The main drawback of Linux is the lack of applications. This will not be a problem for long though. Corel as already ported WordPerfect to Linux and recently Oracle and Informix announced plans to port their DBMS to Linux.
If you have any questions about Unix or Linux, please e-mail me.
Some Linux sites are:
At home, I use Microsoft's Windows 95 and Windows 98. I would consider myself a "power-user" and I find that Win 95 crashes with me quite often. For this reason, I am not a devout fan of Win 95. My favourite PC operating system used to be OS/2. It's a shame the marketing guys at IBM weren't good enough.
I've recently switched from Windows NT 4.x to Windows 98. The former is Microsoft's strong OS, i. e. it doesn't crash as often as the others. Its major disadvantage is that it can't take advantage of all the latest PC software and hardware (such as USB, voice MODEMs, etc.) This is the reason why I chose to switch from NT to 98.
At the moment, I am fortifying Linux to make it my primary O. S. Once this is done, all of MS's OS's will be but a bad memory.
The above tips are also applicable to Windows NT 4.0 and up.
This section will describe items related to networking.
My favourite PC network card is made by D-Link. These cards are very affordable, easy to install and configure, and perform just as well as cards from 3Com. In addition, drivers are readily available for them.
Recently I've had the pleasure of using 3Com network cards. These cards are also excellent and come with drivers for virtually any Intel based operating system (such as Linux, Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98). I have two 3Com network interface cards in my (Windows NT) PC. One is a combo card and the other is a TP (RJ-45) card. Both perform quite well.
As I worked on creating this site, with no prior HTML knowledge, I've discovered some very useful sites. First of all, to create this page I used an HTML editor called Homesite. This is NOT a WYSIWYG editor. Coming from a programming background (it's what I do for a living), I found it quite a good aid in teaching myself HTML. If you've never written in HTML before and have no programming experience, I would recommend an "editor" such as HoTMetaL Pro.
If you're into chatting, then you might want to download an IRC client such as mIRC. I usually frequent the channel #India with the nick Rajendra. If you are on AOL, you can get to me using Instant Messenger. My name on Instant Messenger is "Rajendra9" (it was "No To Rice", but has changed).
 The best newsreader (Usenet) by far! |
 The best FREE web browser out there! |
The following are some books that I've read and found extremely useful and well written. If you wish to order any of them (or want more information such as price and review), simply click on the book cover. You may also purchase these books if you wish.
When I was assigned a project to build a PowerBuilder (version 6.0)
application, I needed a resource to learn about PowerBuilder 6.0
and all its features quickly. Using the search form
below, I searched using the words "PowerBuilder 6" and out of the many books
available, I chose "PowerBuilder 6.0
(Unleashed)". If you are in the same boat as I was in, i. e. you need to
learn about PB quickly, then I recommend this book highly. This book is aimed at an
intermediate to expert audience. I found it particularly easy to read because I have
a programming background a familiarity with object oriented and event driven programming
concepts. If you are a novice or new programmer, then I would recommend you use the search form to locate a book that's aimed at "new
programmers."
As a seasoned C and Unix programmer, I decided that I needed to
"upgrade" my skills to the ever expanding world of Windows programming. To
begin my Windows adventure, I decided to look for a book that would teach me the basics of
C++ and the usage of Visual C++ 5.0. Using the search form
below, I found Beginning
Visual C++ 5.0. This book teaches you the basics of C++ (classes, function
overloading, data types, etc.) and at the same time introduces you to the concepts of
Windows programming. It is a must read if you're new to C++ and Windows programming.
Other books by this author are also good.
Another
excellent book by this seemingly egomaniacal (he has his picture prominently
displayed on the cover of all his books) author is Beginning
Java 2. For someone who wants to learn the Java language and to learn
object oriented programming at the same time, I highly recommend this book.
The
C Programming Language is a must for any (somewhat experienced) C
programmer. This is the C programmer's bible! No C programmer should be
without this book. This book is a valuable reference for ANSI C. Although it may
seem dated, i. e. it was published in 1988, few books come close to its accuracy and well
laid out text. This book was written by one of the original developers of the C
language, hence it's from a very good source! If you want to learn the C language,
this book is not as good a teacher as others. Use the search
form below to search for beginner C programming books. I would recommend that
you purchase this book in addition to a "learning C" book if you would like to
learn to program using C.
If you're interested in other books (on any topic), you may search for them using title, author, etc. below:
This page was last modified on: December 28, 1999 03:27 PM