Those Magic Changes

Stupid computer tricks for basic repair

For the AJC

There's nothing more fulfilling than explaining a complicated computer fix to an audience of admirers at a party. Talk slowly and in a deep voice. Speak knowingly about interrupts, DIMMS, SIMSS and circuit board traces. Wave your arms about as you speak. Before you know it you'll be a computer expert.

That fancy talk is fine unless you actually need to fix a computer. When that time comes, you can -- like a magician -- mumble all those magic words over a dead computer and -- presto. You still have a dead computer. At times like that you don't need a new vocabulary; instead it's handy to know a few stupid computer tricks.

I've mentioned many of these stupid tricks before. They require no computer skills, no screwdrivers, no test equipment. And they're idiotically simple. Their only virtue is that they're likely to return a dead computer from the grave.

OK. Let's get stupid together. Put your IQ on hold and follow along.

Hiccups

You don't rush to the hospital when you get the hiccups. Instead you wait them out and soon resume your non-hiccuping life. Computers get hiccups too. All too often that sends their owners off to discover a cure. They seek and unfortunately find. Soon they are happily editing files in the Windows Registry and downloading programs they've never heard of and don’t understand to fix the problem. More often than not, the fix is so effective that the computer no longer has the hiccups. Instead, the fix turns the hiccups into a fatal disease. The message here: Ignore a problem unless it persists. Many computer glitches are one-time problems that won’t reoccur. Avoid fixing them. A leading cause of computer death is trying to cure the hiccups.

Off with you

I've mentioned this cure so often I ought to apply for patent on it. More than half of all computer glitches, including trouble with Internet connections, can be cured by turning everything off, waiting a few moments and then turning it back on again. It's a stupid thing to do -- unless you want to quickly fix a problem without the chance of making things worse.

The usual suspect

Computers are sturdy beasts. They need little care. The electronic components are capable of living longer than you are and -- other than hard disks -- seldom fail. Nowadays most commercial software, including the operating system, is fairly hardy. So how do you explain the fact that home computers seem to need fixing on an almost monthly basis? The reason is both easy to understand and a bit embarrassing. Computer problems usually come about based on something you did. But that painful truth -- once it's understood -- can be a powerful weapon when you need to fix a balky computer. Instead of rushing about with a screwdriver and a demented grin, sit in a comfortable chair and think of any recent changes you made to the computer. It can be something as simple as updating a program, or adding a printer, or downloading some free program you found on the Internet. Once you've made a list of these recent changes, undo them. Remove the printer, uninstall the software, or use Windows System Restore to revert the computer to the way it was before the problem began. More often than not the problem will disappear. If you aren’t familiar with System Restore, simply enter that term in the search box for Windows Help.

Clay Aiken – Those Magic Changes | Clay Aiken News Network

The song, usually considered a throwaway in the musical, was full of fun, and great vocals.  The audience, with the encouragement of Terrence Mann, participated in the fun rendition by clapping in rhythm as Clay showed that he could sing all types of music with panache and vocal agility.  With the great performance of this song, I wondered who wrote it.

Jim Jacob and Warren Casey are best known as the co-authors of the hit musical Grease

'I told them I liked their idea, but that it wouldn't work as a play.  It had to be a musical. I told them if they were willing to move to New York, rewrite the thing from scratch with a full score, we'd like to do it as a Broadway musical.

'They thought about it a few minutes, and then agreed. They were taking quite a gamble. It meant leaving their jobs. Warren was a lingerie buyer for a department store and Jim was a copywriter.

'They came here and worked every day on the show, on something that might have run only one or two nights -- because eight out of ten shows don't last very long on Broadway.'