brieux.com - Computers that work, what a concept.

Roasting Coffee

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 06:32:01 -0800

We love coffee. We roast our own coffee.

Website Hosting

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 06:10:46 -0700

I can help those interested in having a website set one up. I bundle with the hosting fee some technical help each month. Read more about it: Website Hosting how this works.

Spyware and other Cleaning of your computer

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 15:32:13 -0700

This site here has a method for cleaning up a Windows machine.

Income Tax Time.

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 22:17:00 -0800

For some people, income tax's and how they are prepared are a sensitive subject. One can discuss religion and politics with most people without the emotion that enters into debate about how and who should prepare one's income tax.

Keep the computer, toss all that software. Gnu/Linux is easy now.

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 22:23:30 -0800

Well it has happened, GNU/Linux software is ready if you want to kick the "Microsoft Windows" habit. Yes, you can replace all that software with something else. Understand this, I am speaking about a total change in all your programs. You can keep Microsoft Windows around if you can't quit cold turkey, but once you switch you may enjoy life without Windows. Imagine, computers without any Microsoft Windows computer virus, or 'Internet Explorer's Active X' spyware.

One catch, all this software is Free. Free like snowballs in Saskatchewan in Febuary. Installation? Free. Support? Free. Sure you could hire someone to do this for you but many will not accept any more than a beer for helping people switch.

Google's gmail is wonderful, and yours for the asking.

Sun, 13 Feb 2005 19:32:50 -0800

If you ever wanted to get one last email account that will persist, perhaps gmail.com is it. Hotmail accounts, yahoo accounts, and even mailandnews.com accounts may come and go, but no one before has ever given away free email accounts with 1000 MB of storage.

Google describes gmail here. With a 1000 MB of storage you could email one MB of photo's to yourself for over two and one half years. The power of the Google search engine on your messages is good too. Remember that your loving brother sent you the details of his new electric drill? Search your email messages for drill and your reading that message again. If you are convinced send me a message now asking for a gmail invitation and I will send you one. Dan.R.Hunt@Gmail.com

Customize Knoppix!

Mon, 07 Feb 2005 16:44:06 -0800

Here is a link to making a custom Knoppix boot disk for example a temporary internet lounge. Read the story at linuxjournal.com.

Ad-Aware SE and Spybox Search and Destroy

Tue, 28 Dec 2004 12:05:50 -0800

If your computer is slower and slower perhaps your machine need a Spy-Ware and Ad-Aware cleaning.
Link to PCWorld.com page about Spybot Search and Destroy and another product you may choose to use is Ad-Aware SE. These products are not subsitutes for an Antivirus programs.

Brieux Beer

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 19:31:08 -0800

I have added a site called brieux.com/beer. It is, as you can guess, all about brewing beer.

Automatic Backup using "scheduled tasks"

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 19:52:53 -0800

Once upon a time, I wrote a simple batch file program that collected numbers for crunching. Each morning before I woke up, a computer would collect the numbers from other computers and save them for crunching. On the second day, the first set of numbers would be erased by the new set of numbers. I had a problem.

A decade later I have the same problem. Now we use the scheduled task thing in the Windows control panel to run reports and print them as a PDF. Every day the old file is replaced with a new file. Same old problem. Same solution today as last decade, only the operating system has changed from MS DOS 5.0 to MS Windows XP Pro. Actually the program changed too, but the idea is^H^H^H^H problem is the same.

Free Software for Microsoft Windows Computers

Sun, 13 Feb 2005 19:34:30 -0800

Available on the internet is a collection of some of the best software that money cannot buy.

Yes that is right, you cannot buy this stuff because like the air you breath and the words you use to communicate this software is free.

If you are using Microsoft Windows your essential collection of best quality software should include: Mozilla a replacement for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, OpenOffice.org a replacement for Microsoft Office, 7-Zip a free Zip compression utility, and the PDFCreator a replacement for Adobe Acrobat. All of these programs and some other great software packages are available on one easy to use cd.

Firewalls and Your personal computer

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 17:42:24 -0800

Every time your computer connects to the internet you are exposing your machine to everyone on the internet. I'm going to draw an analogy between you and your computer.

Consider leaving your home and going out to supper or attending church. Some people will notice you driving away, and many people will see you while you are out and about. Stop at the post office and people will see you. Stop at a business here or there and the business people can see you shopping. Some people may see your car in front of the meat market or the grocery store.

While you are connected to the internet intruders may run up to your computer and start knocking on open windows and doors. They may just flat out try and break into your machine. Firewall software guards your windows and doors. When these people knock or just try and break in, the software will "do the right thing". Will the firewall software shout "Go Away"? Will the firewall software ignore them and pretend no one is home? It will keep everthing shut. It will weld up the key holes and even obscure where the windows and doors are. It may even hide the fact that your house even exists.

Free Anti-Virus Program for your Home Computer

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 14:17:57 -0800

It's a bother but you have to have an anti-virus program running all the time if you use Microsoft Windows. Thankfully the nice people at Avast have provided home Windows users with a great free program. From the website: avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users, non-commercial users. Both conditions should be met! Our company offers Home Edition free of charge, since in our opinion, it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention; however, many user are not able or do not want to pay for antivirus software.

How to make a Virus Safe Backup of your Windows Machine.

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 22:32:22 -0800

To ensure a emergency system is ready for my neighbour, I have shrunk his ( new to him ) Microsoft Windows 2000 "C: Drive" partition by about 5 GB using tools on KNOPPIX GNU/Linux and placed a backup of his new system on this hidden 2 GB /hda2 EXT3 partition.

Knoppix is a complete operating system and software for your computer that you can run without installing on your hard drive by starting your computer with this special Knoppix GNU/Linux cd in your CD player. Did I mention this software disk is Free? You can download the cd and burn yourself one without sending anyone any cash or breaking any law.