Ideologics

The original game of Civilization will keep you captivated while brewing new technologies, building cities and waging wars with your neighbours.

Author: Sid Meier
Year: 1991
Download: civilization-1.zip

If you like this, you might also like Freeciv.

Back in the days of the Commodore Amiga, I used to enjoy a game called UFO Enemy Unknown.

Alien races swarm to Earth and abduct people, build bases, and terrorise cities. It is your job to defend the Earth by scouting for alien ships, researching alien technology and eventually going to the source of the alien invasion and battling the Mother Brain.

It will provide endless hours of fun, and will have you flailing your arms as your men give in to alien mind control games.

You’ll most likely need DOSBOX to run this game, unless you have an old 486DX laying about.

Author: Mythos Games
Year: 1996
Download: ufo-enemy-unknown.zip

Great resources for this game:

• UFOpaedia.org

It’s probably no surprise that I spend my life repairing computers, amongst other computer related things. A common problem with laptops is broken DC power jacks. Another common problem is broken AC adapters.

If your AC adapter has broken and you’re looking for a replacement, you may have been tempted by the cheap AC adapters available on eBay. I ordered a couple and they were delivered from Hong Kong. This didn’t raise any alarm bells to me because the seller had very good feedback (99%+) and, of course, I was blinded by the blazingly low price that included delivery.

A few weeks after I ordered and paid for them, they arrived. Not longer than an hour of the adapter being plugged into a Toshiba laptop, it started smoking from the AC socket! This adapter would have found its way to a customer’s house had I not accidentally discovered this problem. Can anyone say LAWSUIT?

I’ve made a PayPal claim, but it’s really hit and miss with PayPal as I’m sure many of you know. (just check out PayPalSucks.com)

If you’re going to purchase an adapter, purchase a name brand adapter from a reputable seller (not to say that people in Hong Kong aren’t reputable, but at that price some bells should be ringing in your head that didn’t in mine!).

On another note, the BlueTooth adapter that arrived with the power adapters was of the utmost quality.

Windows Live / MSN Messenger is an application that allows you to chat to friends online by simply trading email addresses. To install it, follow the following instructions:

1. Go to http://download.live.com/messenger
2. Click the Download button to the right.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions. Make sure to choose Messenger for installation.

It’s a myth that you have to lose your data when you reinstall your computer. Computer shops do it because it’s easier for them, but you can save yourself the money and do it yourself.

What you’re going to need:

• Windows XP installation disc that came with your system (XP Home or Professional?)
• XP COA License on the side of your PC or bottom of your laptop, 25 characters long in sets of 5

Here’s the steps:

1. Insert your XP into the CD drive and turn on the computer. When you see ‘Press any key to start from CD…’, press a key on the keyboard.
2. If you don’t see the message, you need to check the boot order to make sure that your machine is trying to boot from the CD.
3. The XP setup should begin, it takes a couple minutes to get through the initial stage, so grab a cup of tea while you wait.
4. At the installation prompt, we need to enter the recovery console. Hit R.
5. Press C to enter the console.
6. Select the installation by pressing 1 and hitting enter.
7. If it asks you for a password, enter it. Usually the password is blank, so try hitting enter if all else fails.
8. Now we’re going to run maintenance on the disk, sometimes this actually fixes the machine and allows it to boot. At the prompt, type chkdsk c: /p and hit enter. The machine will scan the disk and repair any problems it finds. Once it has completed, type EXIT to restart.
9. If you like, you can wait and see if the computer will start now to save yourself the time it takes to reinstall. Otherwise, onwards we go.
10. Hit a key to start from CD again like in step 1, and wait until the installation prompt comes up.
11. This time we’re going to actually install, so press ENTER.
12. Hit the F8 key to confirm you agree to the terms.
13. Setup is now scanning for previous installations, if it finds any it will ask you if you want to repair it. Say no by hitting the ESCAPE key.
14. Choose the partition you want to install to (typically the C: partition).
15. When asked if you want to format the drive, select ‘Leave partition intact, no changes’.
16. Next follow the on screen instructions to complete the setup process. Note that you will probably be asked for the COA key that is 25 characters long, so be sure to have it ready!

That’s it for now.

Upgrading your computer’s memory is a cost effective way of improving performance. If you search eBay, you’ll see sticks of memory for sale at unbelievable prices – but the money you save comes at a cost that these sellers fail to advertise.

These memory sticks are more often than not cheaper high-density memory. Sometimes this type of memory won’t even work with your machine, and when it does it can actually be slower than what you already have! The density refers to how the memory is stored inside the chips, if you look at a stick you can tell if it is high density if it has ’128Mx4′ written on the chips. Low density will appear as ’64Mx8′.

When buying more memory for your computer, make sure you buy low-density memory. If in doubt, use Crucial’s memory advisor tool to find the ideal chips for your machine.

While it sounds simple, unplugging devices can increase your computer’s speed and decrease its memory usage.

Things you could unplug:

• Printers
• External CD/DVD drives
• External hard drives
• USB keys
• Internal dial up modems and other PCI cards that you no longer use

Linux – you either love it or hate it. I’d love to love it, but my affairs with Linux always end up in an uncomfortable position. Windows is simply more practical than Linux for a home user – don’t agree? You’re probably not the typical home user.

To be fair, if all the user is doing is browsing the internet, Linux will probably be sufficient. However, the typical home user has a hard time installing an application – and installing applications in Windows is terribly simple when compared to Linux.

• Very little is intuitive. Windows has a Start button – an obvious starting point for anyone that uses a computer. Linux isn’t as intuitive.
• Familiarity – people are so familiar with Windows that they’ve even removed the word ‘Start’ from the Start button. There are so many different versions of Linux, it’s hard to get used to.
• Restoring lost files in Windows is much easier than Linux because of file system differences
  Linux doesn’t store file names in its directory entries, Windows does. When the file tree is damaged, good luck naming the thousands of files that are restored without names.
• Windows is a widely used operating system in homes and is easy to find support for online. Virtually every computer shop supports Windows, so finding a technician to work on your machine is a breeze. Many technicians don’t like dealing with Linux.
• Any hardware you buy will come with Windows software that is easy to install. In Linux, either the device is automatically supported or it’ll be a pain finding a driver that’ll work with it. For the average home user, fiddling with the computer’s internal workings is a scary proposition.

Let’s face it – Linux is fighting a battle that is incredibly difficult to beat. Until a version of Linux appears that is truly user friendly, how likely is it that it’ll be mainstream in homes?

I can’t help but wonder if Google Chrome OS might change the scene.

If you run applications in the background like BitTorrent or LimeWire, you have probably noticed that your computer becomes less responsive. There’s an easy way to fix this, though!

Using the Task Manager, you can under prioritise these applications.

1. Right click the taskbar and click Task Manager – or hit CTRL ALT DEL.
2. Go to the Processes tab.
3. Find the application name in the list, and right click it.
4. Go to Set Priority.
5. Select ‘BelowNormal’ or ‘Low’.

That’s it – now all the other processes running will be prioritised higher. What a simple trick!

Got problems? Don’t we all! If you haven’t solved it, it probably isn’t easily solved. Sometimes though, a quick scan and repair does the trick.

Using Window’s System File Checker, you can restore broken system files. Here’s how:

1. Go to Start > Run.
2. Type: sfc /scannow
3. Click OK.

Have your Windows CD ready, because if it finds anything to repair it’ll prompt you for it!