Monthly Archives: January 2019

Let’s all use the Internet. But which one?

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Internet Evolution

I love this and was also blown away by this. What does my title mean and how many Internets are there?

Background info

Let me give you background info. At the end of last year I attended, with some tech colleagues, a Digital Expo in Edinburgh. A day of tech talks and an exhibition area full of stands and vendors showing their wares. (And the usual freebies as we like to call them.)

The main keynote speech was by an MSP about the Scottish Government trying to help tech companies and get Scotland at the top of the tech ladder. After that came the chap from Google. (I must admit at this point as to being an avid Google follower and watcher to see what they are going to do next.)

He started by taking us back to how tech and Internet access has developed over the last 30 years. Things have just exploded.

From Dial up to now literally instant access on all sorts of devices from fridges to watches and phones and laptops and so on.

Explaining the Internet

Now in a previous work post I had the privilege of teaching small business the benefits of getting a website and how the Internet worked for their benefit and the benefit of the user.

A common way I described the Internet was to keep it simple but make it understandable, went as follows: –

“Think of the Internet as a giant library full of information. Shelves of books going into the distance and finding things required a librarian to help you. They were at that time mostly Yahoo and Google. You asked then for what you were looking for and they went into the library and retuned all the relevant content”

People could visualise this and then I told them that their website would be in that content and how they could encourage the librarian to bring it to customers searching for what they had to offer. All makes sense and even though simplistic, easy to get your head around.

How would you explain the Internet? (This was very early days as well.)

So what has changed?

So if that explains the Internet then, surely it has just become much larger and has so much content the librarians have become smarter and better at what they do?

This is true of course and the search engines are constantly changing their algorithms to cater for new searches and the rise of the social media traffic.

Bur prepare to have your mind blown away. “Your Internet is not the same as my Internet”

“WHAT? I hear you cry. Of course it is.”

My man from Google explained the rise of the A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), has created tailored Internet for each user. So each time you interact and even shop, look for things, cafes, and theatres. Locations you search for, what locations you are in when you search. All these and many more things influence what return you get. So we could be in the same location and search for the same thing and get slightly different results. Our info is being tailored depending on our habits, likes and history etc.

Conclusion

Some people may find this very disturbing and that so much info about us is going around. Well unfortunately for them it is the case. Even using a food order app influences things. Loyalty card at stores, the list is endless.

I personally am excited about AI and what it can do for us. I think if used well and smart, we can benefit well from this technology.

So what Internet do I use, well I use the one tailored for me?

What are your thoughts on this?

Why do I recommend using Vanilla when installing Windows on machine?

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technology

Why Vanilla?

We techie people like to have nice names for things and also some nice technobabble names for things. The word Vanilla has a rough meaning of the following: –

“Computer software, and sometimes also other computing-related systems like computer hardware or algorithms, are called vanilla when not customized from their original form, meaning that they are used without any customisations or updates applied to them. Vanilla software has become a widespread de facto industry standard, widely used by businesses and individuals. The term comes from the traditional standard flavour of ice cream, vanilla.  According to Eric S. Raymond’s The New Hacker’s Dictionary, “vanilla” means more “default” than “ordinary”

So what we mean is that when a vanilla copy of Windows 10 is installed onto a machine it is only Windows 10 with all its baggage and faults. We know that nothing else exists on the machine.

This, for us IT guys makes life easier for troubleshooting. If there are problems with the machine it can only be between Windows and the hardware as there is nothing else on the system at this point. Once we cure these and the system is running well and all seems to be operating the way we expect, we can then look at installing other programs and seeing how Windows talks to them. Each software install can have its own issues or it can simply work. Guess which one we like?

What is the alternative to a Vanilla Install?

Well, that sadly is what most of us do, thinking all will be well. “That accepting the update scenario.”

Here is the situation, you are running Windows 7 and all is well. It has been around for quite a while and all the patches and fixes have been out and installed. Your system is sweet. The Windows 10 comes out and promises a lot more, it’s faster, it’s better, you can do more and it works well.

Microsoft also offers it for free if you take it now, after that it will be charging….What do you do?

You click update and it downloads Windows 10. Oh’ the excitement of the new is always a draw, and surely it must be better, that is what they promised.

What could go wrong?

As with any installation you have to look at the foundation and what will the new Operating system be sitting on top off. Even though your computer seemed to running smoothly. Under the hood there may well have been issues that just didn’t surface. The software may have been compromising some operational items to get it all to work.

The adage we always like to use is, “If you have any issues or even minor bugs with the current system an update could cure them, but most likely it will just make them worse. A clean install and one that cures all the issues before any other apps are installed means that the foundation is correct and that issues after this are down to software conflicts of installed programs.”

Conclusion

I must be honest and I do believe that Windows 10 has some major bugs and a bit too much, what we call bloatware, (added items Microsoft think you need.)

I also believe however that some of the troubles people have had with Windows 10 on machines is because of the update option and not the flatten and fresh clean install option or vanilla install as I like to call it.

If you want to the latest and greatest operating system it is best to backup and flatten the machine. Then reinstall all the apps and connectivity. You will have a cleaner and more stable machine that you have had for a long time. Windows in itself becomes cluttered over the years with all the programs that have been installed and uninstalled leaving some fragments of files behind. So cleaning all this and installing is always the best option. I have done this to many machines last year and all are faster and getting the best performance they can. Windows also seems to update without any major faults.

If you want to talk about his or get me in to-do some of the above then get in touch or comment below.