The mighty IBM was a latecomer to the personal computer. However, their rather clunky design was taken as the standard and launched the PC industry. Unlike the Mac
The time when computers were toys for bright boys and had names like Apple, Tangerine or Pet are history. Apple evolved into Mac or Macintosh after a brief flirtation with the lovely Lisa. The original company name lives on in the website title for the Mac. Downloads http://www.info.apple.com/support/downloads.html
, no manufacturer controls the standard but here are some useful sites. Market forces have been remarkably effective at producing standards. Hundreds of companies produce the various assemblies that make up your computer. Read more
The time when computers were toys for bright boys and had names like Apple, Tangerine or Pet are history. Apple evolved into Mac
The time when computers were toys for bright boys and had names like Apple, Tangerine or Pet are history. Apple evolved into Mac or Macintosh after a brief flirtation with the lovely Lisa. The original company name lives on in the website title for the Mac. Downloads http://www.info.apple.com/support/downloads.html
There is a lot of free software. If you have any 'old' equipment (more than 2 years old) such as a printer, you might need new drivers. These are the bits of software that allow a computer to communicate with the bits that are attached or fitted inside. Read more
Print drivers let you get the best from your printer and the computers or operating system you use. If you have lost the disks or now attach an old printer to a new computer, have a look. Read more
Combating the menace of viruses relies upon collective protection. If enough computers have good virus detection software, they slow the spread and increase the chance of detection for this unpleasant fact of computing life. Be a good citizen, buy some good software and keep it updated. Read more
‘I always quote Kurt Vonnegut. He said in the early part of his career he was dismissed as a science fiction writer and that critics tend to put genre books, including sci-fi, in the bottom drawer of their desk... It's true. I get the New York Times every Sunday. In 37 novels, I've never had a stand-alone review. I'm always in the crime round-up.
A survey of 787 members of the Society of Authors (SoA) has found that a third of translators and a quarter of illustrators have lost work to generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. Translators are also more likely to use AI to support their work, with 37% of respondents saying they have done so, followed by 25% of non-fiction writers.
The author Lynne Reid Banks, known for her novel The L-Shaped Room and her children's book series The Indian in the Cupboard, has died at the age of 94.
I launched my podcast Making It Up nearly three years ago with the goal of interviewing writers not for any particular work of theirs, but to talk to them about their lives. I didn't want to ask them what famous author they want to have dinner with or what their top five favorite books are ... yech. Read more
Until we have a mechanism to test for artificial intelligence, writers need a tool to maintain trust in their work. So I decided to be completely open with my readers