The Personal Computer Enthusiast

In today's world of relatively no transaction costs of transferring data, almost everything virtual is free. Luckily, with help from talented coders who believe in open source distribution, or even organizations who choose to remain proprietary but give out software for free, you should never have to pay for anything again. The purpose of this is to help you get the knowledge you need in order to keep up to date with the fast paced world of virtual PC Technology by means of security, entertainment, or just plain efficiency.

Now there are two ways to get essential software for free. Legally or Illegally (assuming you are in the U.S. or another place where these laws exist). I’ll try to teach you how to get what you want - for free - but I refuse to promote any illegal activity. I’m reminded by that saying: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. But teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” The topics that I’ve planned out to cover over the next few posts are:

• spyware/malware: (pro) adaware, spybot, microsoft, zone alarm, (anti) aol
• antivirus: (pro) AVG free, kaspersky, (anti) McAfee/aol/norton
• firewall: sygate, zonealarm, peer guardian (IP Blocker), hardware – (issues)
• p2p: DC++ (stealth), limewire, IRC, kazaa, html – (small history + concept of warez)
• IM clients: (pro) Trillian (PRO), GAIM, (anti) AOL Triton, etc – Skype?
• sites: wikipedia, google (dictionary, etc)
• microsoft: office? - openoffice.org, Windows? – Linux … (maintenance – registry, spyware, firewall, updates, etc)