ce magazine january 2018 issue
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Michigan City Indiana<br />
January Vol. 5<br />
Your own custom wallpaper<br />
for your <strong>ce</strong>ll phone<br />
Five Reasons You Need Cell<br />
Phone Insuran<strong>ce</strong> Now<br />
How to Have the Smartest<br />
Home on the Block<br />
Should We Really Try to Teach Everyone to Code?<br />
Sites That Will Teach You Coding for Free !<br />
1
Thanks to all who contributed to CE<br />
Magazine. Have an article you would like<br />
contribute? You can mail it to:<br />
CE, P.O. Box 8619<br />
Michigan City In 46360<br />
Or E-Mail it to<br />
computerease@juno.com<br />
CE Magazine® is part of OtherSide Ministries ©<br />
all rights reserved<br />
Founder & Chief Editor<br />
Peter Nadal<br />
Editor<br />
Pamela Kennoy<br />
Art & Design<br />
Peter Nadal<br />
Our Writers<br />
Rodrigo Esperanza<br />
Nomar Shaw<br />
Diane G<br />
Big Poppa<br />
Outside Sour<strong>ce</strong>s On This Month <strong>issue</strong><br />
ScratchJr.org<br />
Entrepreneur VIP<br />
NewsUSA<br />
In our January Issue Vol. 5<br />
6 Hey Pete! Custom wallpaper for<br />
your <strong>ce</strong>ll phone<br />
10 How to Have the Smartest Home<br />
on the Block by NewsUSA<br />
12 Biz Cards board!! Hey its free<br />
13 Secret Scroll Tip<br />
14 Should We Really Try to Teach<br />
Everyone to Code?<br />
by ScratchJr.org<br />
16 12 Sites That Will Teach You<br />
Coding for Free<br />
By John Rampton<br />
19 Five Reasons You Need Cell<br />
Phone Insuran<strong>ce</strong> Now<br />
by NewsUSA<br />
21 Oh That Command Line<br />
By Big Poppa<br />
23 Cheap vs. Frugal by Nomar Shaw<br />
25 Come a Long Way Baby!<br />
Front Cover<br />
Michigan City Light house in January, CE font done with<br />
Polar Vortex<br />
Additional artwork and fonts by Peter Nadal<br />
Original Computer-Ease logo ©<br />
2
3
Welcome to Pete’s corner, <strong>2018</strong> came in with a roar, cold, flu and<br />
bronchitis, better then half of our people here have the flu or<br />
bronchitis, so I do apologize for our January edition not coming<br />
out sooner. In this edition we have two articles on coding, Pam<br />
our editor suggested this articles as there is a growing demand for<br />
coders. The articles are real easy to understand and who knows<br />
you may find a new career.<br />
Like to welcome aboard Big Poppa (at his request his name is<br />
classified) I have known him over 40 some odd years. He brings to<br />
the table a wealth of experien<strong>ce</strong> in computer and network<br />
programming and writing experien<strong>ce</strong>.<br />
Rodrigo, found an interesting article on “How to Have the<br />
Smartest Home on the Block” by NewsUSA and frankly it has<br />
sparked my curiosity on the subject, I will let you folks know on<br />
what I find out.<br />
4
Our spring <strong>issue</strong> we will be taking advertising, we are working on<br />
pricing and what ads we will take for advertising, so, stay tuned!<br />
I hope you enjoy our January Issue and it answers some of your<br />
computer questions. So, my fellow readers thank you for reading<br />
CE Magazine® and following us on Fa<strong>ce</strong>book ©.<br />
Salud!<br />
Peter Nadal<br />
. Your Home phone, <strong>ce</strong>ll phone, your mail and<br />
Soliciting don’t answer your phone if you do not<br />
Recognize the phone number, don’t open your<br />
Door if you don’t know him/them!<br />
Public announ<strong>ce</strong>ment by Forest Manor Neighbor watch<br />
5
How do you do that!<br />
We all want our own custom wallpaper in our <strong>ce</strong>ll phones, so we<br />
load this app, that app and before you know it your <strong>ce</strong>ll phone is<br />
running slow because your phone has barely enough memory left<br />
to run. So, let me show you a simple way to create your lock<br />
screen wallpaper for the iPhone (in this case for an iPhone 4s, by<br />
the way this works for all <strong>ce</strong>ll phones) using Paint in Windows 7.<br />
1: open paint and select Resize. In the menu unclick "Maintain Aspect<br />
Ratio" and change to Pixels. Now enter the pixels size shown in the<br />
picture.<br />
6
2: select your picture and right click on it and on menu that will<br />
pop up select Edit.<br />
3: Windows will open a second Edit, go to View and click one or<br />
two times (depend on size of picture and monitor size)<br />
7
4: Click on select (as shown in picture<br />
below) select Crop.<br />
5: When done click at the<br />
lil icon on the top left<br />
hand side (above the tablet<br />
icon) select “Save as” then<br />
select JPEG picture. A<br />
window will pop up name<br />
it then save it.<br />
8
After up loading it to your iPhone this is how it looks!<br />
This was another one I did<br />
Ps:<br />
I use 4Shared to transfer to and from my iPhone and Android<br />
phone, it is on iTunes Apps, go to https://www.4shared.com/ for<br />
windows version<br />
9
How to Have the Smartest Home on the Block<br />
(NewsUSA) - With all the talk about smart technology and connected homes, you<br />
may be wondering why you should take noti<strong>ce</strong>. After all, it is not that difficult or<br />
inconvenient to turn your lights on and off.<br />
According to the American Lighting Association (ALA), smart technology is not<br />
just about convenien<strong>ce</strong>. It is not even just about lighting. It is also about energy<br />
efficiency and safety.<br />
Efficiency<br />
Smart technology allows you to connect your home's electronic devi<strong>ce</strong>s to one<br />
devi<strong>ce</strong>, such as a phone, tablet or computer. Having a connected home means you<br />
have the ability to adjust your thermostat, open and close window shades, and<br />
activate your security system remotely, or program those devi<strong>ce</strong>s to operate<br />
automatically at pre-set times.<br />
Safety<br />
Efficiency is important, but safety is paramount. With the ability to connect to your<br />
home's devi<strong>ce</strong>s from anywhere in the world comes the pea<strong>ce</strong> of mind of not<br />
wondering if your security system is activated and knowing your outside and inside<br />
lights will be on before you arrive home after dark.<br />
Convenien<strong>ce</strong><br />
Home automation apps make it a snap to change your room into the perfect setting<br />
for different activities. For example, for movie night, a system like Lutron's Caseta<br />
Wireless can be pre-programmed to adjust all the lights in your family room to set<br />
the s<strong>ce</strong>ne for a great movie-watching experien<strong>ce</strong>.<br />
If installing and operating smart technology equipment sounds complicated and<br />
expensive, it's not. According to the ALA, there are some simple and surprisingly<br />
inexpensive options available on today's market.<br />
A number of ALA-member manufacturers, including Legrand, Lutron Electronics,<br />
Philips and Acuity Brands Lighting offer reasonably pri<strong>ce</strong>d, easy-to-install<br />
automation products designed to make your home more comfortable, convenient<br />
10
and safe. In many cases, it just takes simple retrofitting of an existing dimmer<br />
switch.<br />
Erik Anderson, national sales manager for Lutron Electronics, explains that the<br />
Caseta Wireless is very retrofittable into existing homes. "All you have to do is take<br />
your existing dimmer or switch out of the wall and repla<strong>ce</strong> it with a Caseta dimmer<br />
or switch, add a smart bridge and you have the ability to control it from an app, or<br />
from voi<strong>ce</strong> control with Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri," says Anderson.<br />
For added ease, Lutron's Caseta Wireless system can be integrated with Apple,<br />
Amazon or Google platforms for use inside your home. And when you are outside,<br />
an app or geofencing allows you to adjust your inside and/or outside lights, even<br />
before you arrive home. That will make your home welcoming to you and your<br />
guests.<br />
To learn more about making your home smarter, stop by your local ALA-member<br />
lighting showroom to see the latest technology for home environment automation.<br />
Go online to DesignVideos Lighting to view a video from Lutron as well as<br />
lighting-trends videos from other ALA-member lighting manufacturers. Find more<br />
about all things lighting at AmericanLightingAssoc.com.<br />
Note from Rodrigo Esperanza;<br />
21 st <strong>ce</strong>ntury folks and I can say with enthusiasm two thumbs<br />
up, mine work like a charm!<br />
11
Send your biz card in pdf to computerease@juno.com or mail to Computer-Ease,<br />
Po BOX 8619 Michigan City In 46360<br />
12
1. Reboot<br />
Secret Tip Scroll<br />
Ibook<br />
2. Hold apple key + s key down after you hear the<br />
chime. (command + s on newer Macs)<br />
3. When you get text prompt enter in these terminal<br />
commands to create a brand new admin account<br />
(hitting return after each line):<br />
mount -uw /<br />
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone<br />
shutdown -h now<br />
4. After rebooting you should have a brand new<br />
admin account. When you login as the new admin<br />
you can simply delete the old one and your good to<br />
go again!<br />
13
Should We Really Try to Teach<br />
Everyone to Code?<br />
Courtesy of ScratchJr.org<br />
Courtesy of ScratchJr.org<br />
It’s hard to read a blog or news site these days<br />
without stumbling across an article about why<br />
everyone should learn to code. It’s a rallying cry that’s<br />
given rise to organizations like Codecademy and<br />
Code.org. It’s even cracked the national political<br />
agenda, with ex US House Majority Leader Eric<br />
Cantor having declared that “becoming literate in code is as essential to being literate in<br />
language and math.”<br />
The icing on the cake was an article about ScratchJr, a new iPad app described as “coding for<br />
Kindergarten.” Like Cantor, the app’s creators believe that coding is a new type of literacy that<br />
should be available to everyone, starting at a young age. Yes, now even your 5-year-old can<br />
get in on the coding action, and build their own stories and interactive games.<br />
Software Is ‘Eating the World,’ But There Aren’t Enough<br />
Programmers to Keep Up<br />
Don’t get me wrong: I think the intent of all these “learn to code” initiatives is good. After all,<br />
the ability to build apps has never been a more desirable — and critical — skill.<br />
Just look around you. Apps now manage nearly every aspect of our lives, personally and<br />
professionally. We have dozens of apps on our smartphones and tablets for our finan<strong>ce</strong>s,<br />
fitness and everything in between; and we rely on nearly as many to do our jobs. On top of<br />
that, apps are quickly taking over our thermostats, cars and just about every devi<strong>ce</strong> we own.<br />
Marc Andreessen’s statement that “software is eating the world” rings truer than ever before.<br />
That’s why teaching everybody to build apps is such a noble and ne<strong>ce</strong>ssary pursuit, especially<br />
in business. Industries that have existed for hundreds of years are being radically disrupted<br />
and transformed by apps. The demand for custom software has never been higher, and the<br />
notion that traditional IT departments will be able to keep pa<strong>ce</strong> is laughable. According to a<br />
re<strong>ce</strong>nt McKinsey study, 87 per<strong>ce</strong>nt of IT leaders rate themselves poorly in terms of their ability<br />
to bring new ideas to market quickly.<br />
14
If businesses truly want to truly become innovative app companies, they need to turn every<br />
department into an IT department and make every employee part of the innovation pro<strong>ce</strong>ss. If<br />
someone in marketing or finan<strong>ce</strong> or HR has an idea for a new app, they should be able to take<br />
matters in their own hands.<br />
Having Everyone Learn to Code is the App-Dev Equivalent of<br />
Creating ‘a Faster Horse’<br />
While everyone today needs to be an app developer, is learning to code really the answer?<br />
Henry Ford said that, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster<br />
horses.” I view everyone learning to code as app development’s version of a faster horse.<br />
What we all really want — and need — is a car.<br />
The industry is falling back on code because for most people, it’s the only thing they know. If<br />
you want to build an application, you have to code it. And if you want to build more apps, then<br />
you have to teach more people how to code, right?<br />
Instead, shouldn’t we be asking whether coding is really the best way to build apps in the first<br />
pla<strong>ce</strong>? Sure, code will always have a pla<strong>ce</strong> in the world, but is it the language for the masses?<br />
Is it what we should be teaching everyone, including our kids? Or are there other, easier and<br />
more intuitive ways to build apps? In order to empower everyone to build apps, we need to<br />
focus on bringing greater abstraction and automation to the app development pro<strong>ce</strong>ss. We<br />
need to remove code — and all its complexity — from the equation.<br />
My advi<strong>ce</strong>? Don’t teach everyone how to code. Teach them how to identify and understand<br />
needs, as well as how to visually express logic. Teach them how technology works, so they can<br />
understand the realm of possibility and then envision game-changing innovations. And then<br />
create an environment where they don’t even have to think about writing code — where<br />
building great apps is as easy as using iTunes. Just drag and drop.<br />
On<strong>ce</strong> we remove the friction from building the next killer app, we’ll finally make the leap from<br />
a horse to a car. And then the innovation ra<strong>ce</strong> will be on.<br />
Gottfried Sehringer is vi<strong>ce</strong> president of marketing for Mendix.<br />
15
12 Sites That Will Teach You Coding for Free<br />
John Rampton • Entrepreneur VIP<br />
There was a time when knowing how to program was for the geekiest of geeks. That’s not exactly the case<br />
today. As most entrepreneurs, freelan<strong>ce</strong>rs and marketers will tell you, learning how to program can help you<br />
suc<strong>ce</strong>ed. Over the past year, I've been learning to code. It's helped me to become a much better entrepreneur -- I<br />
can dive in when my team needs to fix a few bugs on the site.<br />
You don’t even need to shell out a ton of money or put yourself in debt to learn how to code, either. These 12<br />
pla<strong>ce</strong>s offer coding courses for free:<br />
1. CodeAcademy<br />
One of the most popular free pla<strong>ce</strong>s to learn coding is CodeAcademy. In fact, more than 24 million people have<br />
already learned how to code through this educational company’s engaging experien<strong>ce</strong>. At CodeAcademy, you<br />
can dive right in and take courses that teach you everything from HTML &<br />
CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Python and Ruby.<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
Related: Want to Take Your Business to the Next Level? Boost Your Marketing and Coding Skills.<br />
2. Coursera<br />
Founded in 2012, Coursera has grown into a major for-profit educational-technology company that has offered<br />
more than 1,000 courses from 119 institutions. While you can pay for <strong>ce</strong>rtain programs to re<strong>ce</strong>ive a <strong>ce</strong>rtificate,<br />
16
there are a number of free introductory programming courses in various specializations from universities such<br />
as the University of Washington, Stanford, the University of Toronto and Vanderbilt.<br />
3. edX<br />
EdX is another leading online-learning platform that is open sour<strong>ce</strong> instead of for-profit. It was founded by<br />
Harvard University and MIT in 2012, so you know that you’ll learn about cutting-edge technologies and<br />
theories. Today, edX includes 60 schools. You probably can’t go wrong with the free Introduction to Computer<br />
Scien<strong>ce</strong> from Harvard University.<br />
4. Udemy<br />
Founded in 2010, Udemy is an online learning platform that can be used as a way to improve or learn job skills.<br />
While there are courses you have to pay for, there are plenty of free programming courses, which are taught via<br />
video lessons, such as Programming for Entrepreneurs - HTML & CSS or Introduction to Python Programming.<br />
5. aGupieWare<br />
AGupieWare is an independent app developer that surveyed computer-scien<strong>ce</strong> programs from some of the<br />
leading institutions in the U.S. It then created a similar curriculum based on the free courses offered by<br />
Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley and Columbia. The program was then broken into 15 courses: three<br />
introductory classes, seven core classes and five electives.<br />
While you won’t actually re<strong>ce</strong>ive credit, it’s a perfect introductory program for prospective computer<br />
programmers.<br />
6. GitHub<br />
Sometimes, you need to recall a referen<strong>ce</strong> book when you’re stuck on a problem. That's GitHub. You can find<br />
more than 500 free programming books that cover more than 80 different programming languages on the<br />
popular web-based Git repository hosting servi<strong>ce</strong>, which means that it’s frequently updated by collaborators.<br />
7. MIT Open Courseware<br />
If you’ve already learned the basics, and went to get into something a bit heavier -- such as exploring the theory<br />
behind coding -- take advantage of MIT’s free courseware site that includes classes such as Introduction to<br />
Computer Scien<strong>ce</strong> and Programming, Introduction to Programming in Java and Practical Programming in C.<br />
Here is a list of resour<strong>ce</strong>s if you are getting serious about studying computer scien<strong>ce</strong>.<br />
Related: GitHub Is Said to Hit $2 Billion Valuation With New Investment Round<br />
8. Hack.pledge()<br />
This is a community of developers, which include some high-profile developers such as Bram Cohen, the<br />
inventor of BitTorrent. There, you can perfect your programming skills by learning from some of the leading<br />
developers in the world.<br />
17
9. Code Avengers<br />
Based out of New Zealand, Code Avengers provides fun and interactive programming courses that will teach<br />
you how to code games, apps and web sites using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Each course takes just 12 hours<br />
to complete and is available in English, Russian, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Portuguese.<br />
10. Khan Academy<br />
Created in 2006 by educator Salman Khan, Khan Academy is one of the original free online-learning<br />
institutions. With step-by-step video tutorials, you can learn how to program drawings, animations and games<br />
using JavaScript and Pro<strong>ce</strong>ssingJS, or learn how to create webpages with HTML and CSS.<br />
11. Free Food Camp<br />
Here you’ll learn HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Databases, DevTools, Node.js, Angular.js and Agile by<br />
networking and joining a community of professionals and students. You’ll even work together on your coding<br />
skills so that you can build apps for free. Here’s the catch: you’re learning those skills and building helps to<br />
help solve real-world problems. Code is available to nonprofits.<br />
12. HTML5 Rocks<br />
This Google project launched in 2010 to counter Apple’s HTML5. The site is full of tutorials, resour<strong>ce</strong>s and the<br />
latest HTML5 updates. It’s open sour<strong>ce</strong>, so developers can play around with HTML5 code. Because this is more<br />
advan<strong>ce</strong>d than most introductory courses, you may want to gain some knowledge and experien<strong>ce</strong> before<br />
jumping in.<br />
Learning code used to require ac<strong>ce</strong>ss to expensive books and classes, but no longer. I highly recommend that<br />
every entrepreneur learns to code. Still wondering if you need to code? Here is a programmer guide I put<br />
together to show you every step I took to become an entrepreneur that codes!<br />
18
Five Reasons You Need Cell Phone Insuran<strong>ce</strong> Now<br />
(NewsUSA) - Not long ago we only used <strong>ce</strong>ll phones to make calls or send<br />
cryptic, short-hand text messages. Now, we rely on our phones for storing<br />
our contacts and calendar appointments, watching videos, checking email,<br />
managing our connected devi<strong>ce</strong>s and, of course, keeping up on social<br />
media. In fact, phones have become such a crucial part of our lives that<br />
many people sleep with them.<br />
So when your phone becomes lost, stolen, or damaged, it can send the<br />
most unflappable of us into a panic. Which is why, most industry experts<br />
agree, it is worth considering <strong>ce</strong>ll phone insuran<strong>ce</strong>.<br />
For those who may still be on the fen<strong>ce</strong> about <strong>ce</strong>ll phone insuran<strong>ce</strong>,<br />
consider this:<br />
1. Despite monthly premiums and deductibles, insuran<strong>ce</strong> can save owners<br />
money. The average retail pri<strong>ce</strong> of a new smartphone is $590; even higher<br />
for a basic iPhone 7 ($649). More than 70 per<strong>ce</strong>nt of phone claims are<br />
filed within the first year. This means that customers with phone insuran<strong>ce</strong><br />
who file a claim at month 12 on an iPhone 7 can save $318 - $342 on a<br />
repla<strong>ce</strong>ment phone after premiums and deductibles.<br />
2. Most after-market "protection plans" are extended warranty plans which<br />
only cover accidental damage and malfunctions. Only a <strong>ce</strong>ll phone<br />
insuran<strong>ce</strong> and warranty bundle -- available through most wireless carriers -<br />
- covers loss, theft and damage. This is important because one in four<br />
phone claims last year were from loss or theft, according to the nation's<br />
leading mobile insuran<strong>ce</strong> provider Asurion.<br />
3. Most <strong>ce</strong>ll phone insuran<strong>ce</strong> programs through wireless carriers include<br />
cracked screen repair for smartphones with a lower deductible than what<br />
you would pay for a repla<strong>ce</strong>ment devi<strong>ce</strong>, and often lower than a consumer<br />
would pay to take it to a repair shop.<br />
19
4. Shoppers now pay the full cost of their phones either up front or in<br />
monthly installments. Those who have a loss or theft before they've paid<br />
off the installments will still have to make the remaining payments. What's<br />
more, without insuran<strong>ce</strong> you could be left with both the remaining<br />
installments and the payments for a new phone. With a 128 GB iPhone 7<br />
Plus, at 6 months a customer could still owe nearly $700 on their old<br />
phone while trying to pay for a new one.<br />
5. For the customer that can't imagine being without their beloved <strong>ce</strong>ll<br />
phone, most carrier <strong>ce</strong>ll phone insuran<strong>ce</strong> programs provide a repla<strong>ce</strong>ment<br />
devi<strong>ce</strong> the next day. Repla<strong>ce</strong>ment devi<strong>ce</strong>s through the major wireless<br />
carriers are backed by a 1-year warranty providing shoppers with pea<strong>ce</strong> of<br />
mind should they have any mechanical or electrical <strong>issue</strong>s.<br />
Note from Editor;<br />
I highly recommend you should heed the recommendations in this article<br />
we all depend a lot on our <strong>ce</strong>ll phones!<br />
20
Oh That Command Line<br />
By Big Poppa Welcome our new writer and tech to CE Magazine<br />
If you are like me, then you very rarely use your computer for a single application. There are<br />
times when I have to have several applications open in order to accomplish a single project. I<br />
may have Word open for documentation, Ex<strong>ce</strong>l to pro<strong>ce</strong>ss data, Vision for ERD referen<strong>ce</strong> and<br />
more often than not one or two databases. This does not include the specialized applications<br />
that are for daily operations.<br />
As long as everything goes along smoothly things can progress and work can get done.<br />
But what happens when one of your open applications freezes up and refuses to close? You<br />
can take a chan<strong>ce</strong> on the old Ctl-Alt-Del method and run the risk of having the entire PC lock<br />
up loosing everything that you have done or you can use the Command Line to surgically close<br />
the offending program.<br />
The Command Line can be a bit intimidating but it is in fact a very easy to use and useful<br />
tool. Here is a quick and easy way to close any application or pro<strong>ce</strong>ss on your PC without<br />
risking the Blue Screen of Death.<br />
First open the Run command window.<br />
This is located in the Ac<strong>ce</strong>ssories folder in the<br />
start menu or you can type Run into the search<br />
box in the task bar on Windows 10. You will see<br />
the following:<br />
taskmgr.exe, and you will then see this:<br />
Click on OK and this will take you to the<br />
Command Line function. After the carat type<br />
This will open the<br />
Windows Task<br />
Manager. In the<br />
Applications tab you<br />
will see all of the<br />
applications that are<br />
currently open on the<br />
PC along with their<br />
status.<br />
21
In the illustration below you will see that RegVac is the application that has stopped working<br />
as its status is listed as Not Responding.<br />
To end the application without endangering anything else simply highlight the app in the list<br />
and then click on the End Task button. The application will be forcibly closed. Now you can<br />
simply exit out of Task Manager as well as the Command Line, reopen the application that<br />
failed on you and continue where you left off.<br />
There are many other advantages to taking the time to learn about the Command Line.<br />
On<strong>ce</strong> you get used to it you may find yourself using it more often than not. It is usually quicker<br />
than trying to hunt down an obscure link that you thought you had on the desktop.<br />
Another really slick trick is in the fact that most commands used in command line can be<br />
run directly from the Start>Run menu. We will take a look at some of those in the near future.<br />
Until then, Fair Winds and Following Seas.<br />
22
By Nomar Shaw<br />
Fa<strong>ce</strong> it, money is tight and everything else keeps going up in pri<strong>ce</strong> like<br />
cars, gasoline, food, clothing, gas, electricity, electronics and if you are<br />
like the rest of us trying to make that old computer last. Now there is<br />
nothing wrong with having an old Windows XP Pro computer to do work<br />
on it. Mine is an old Hp Pavilion with Windows XP home with Microsoft<br />
works with Mozilla Firefox version 32.0, by the way, with old computers<br />
stick to Firefox if you need to be on the internet. Found a lcd monitor at a<br />
garage sale last summer for $15, so, lcd monitor, new keyboard $5 and<br />
$5 mouse all for $25 plus and hour and half of my time a up and running<br />
Computer. The pictures of this pavilion, is one Pete overhauled back to<br />
factory condition, he ran it for 10 hrs, wrapped it and put on the shelf for<br />
$35. Oh, why he won’t put it in Computer-Ease Catalog? He said it’s not<br />
worth it, but, if someone inquires about it he’ll sell it. So the following<br />
pictures are of that computer is identical to mine, so Cheap or Frugal?<br />
Text us with your thoughts!!!!<br />
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Come a Long Way Baby!<br />
Happy Birthday, Sinclair ZX81 Computer!<br />
BY Chris Higgins<br />
March 5, 2017<br />
On March 5, 1981, Sinclair Research launched the ZX81 home computer in the U.K. (It was also known as the<br />
Timex-Sinclair TS1000 in the U.S.) It came with just one kilobyte of memory, and was a self-contained unit<br />
with a rather crappy keyboard. The keyboard didn't have moving key switches; instead it used membrane<br />
buttons similar to those often used on microwave ovens.<br />
Despite its limitations, the ZX81 was a revolution, because it cost just £49.95 in the U.K.—massively cheaper<br />
than anything else on the market. It was also available in normal retail stores, rather than specialty computer<br />
shops.<br />
It really was the people's computer, and for many it was their introduction to home computing and computer<br />
programming. Incidentally, at that cheap pri<strong>ce</strong>, it was a kit you assembled at home (a soldering iron was<br />
required). You'd have to pay an extra £20 if you wanted a pre-assembled unit. In the U.S., the fully-assembled<br />
unit cost $149.95.<br />
The ZX81 was also expandable. You could upgrade it from its RAM using an external cartridge to bring it up to<br />
16k—making it vastly more usable for real work. If you needed to store programs, you saved them on cassette<br />
tapes using a tape recorder. This was a finicky pro<strong>ce</strong>ss, as you had to fiddle with the volume to get things just<br />
right...but for the pri<strong>ce</strong>, it was unbeatable.<br />
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The ZX81/TS1000 sold millions, despite its limitations. Although it didn't take over the computing world, its<br />
serious focus on retail pri<strong>ce</strong> made it a common computer in the early home computing market. (My family had<br />
one!) It was literally a fraction of the pri<strong>ce</strong> of competing systems. Here's a detailed remembran<strong>ce</strong> of the ZX81,<br />
showing some of what it could (and could not) do:<br />
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Computer Magazine From The Past!<br />
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Just when had the money for that<br />
Laptop you wanted!!<br />
Thank for reading CE Magazine Chow For Now<br />
Nanomites!<br />
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