This week’s article isn’t going to be me nagging you to make a backup, keep your device up to date, or to not click on unsolicited links. I’ve done that enough.
This week I want to talk about some other kinds of technology, old and new.

First, the first computer. About 15 years or so ago I first read about a find in 1901, in a ship that sank off the coast of Greece. An item was found that looked like a rock, but was actually a mechanical device that was quite corroded. Amazingly, it had gears inside it. The Antikythera mechanism appears to be an astronomical calculator, as far as scientists can tell. It’s over 2000 years old. The article I just read is HERE. 

When I first read about it, it was suggested that Archimedes himself was the possible creator of this device. Apparently, the current thinking is that it was likely from the Archimedes school, or about 100 years after Archimedes, somewhere around 150 BC. Apparently, this kind of science was then lost for the next 1500 years. I wonder how that happens, yet, it’s a recurring theme in history. Read more detail HERE. 
 
Speaking of lost knowledge, I read a great article about the same sort of thing regarding muslin. Yes, the fabric.

Dhaka muslin was a fabric made in what is now Bangladesh, in a 16 part process using a now extinct type of cotton. The thread count in my sheets is maybe 300? This hand woven material had a thread count as high as 1200. This was the most expensive fabric of the time, sometimes called “woven air”. It was sold all over the world, as far back in time as the Antikythera mechanism, but all that ended in the beginning of the 20th century. In the 19th century, it was popular among those that could afford it, including Josephine Bonaparte, and Jane Austen. Read the article HERE. 

It’s a fascinating piece of history, and another lost knowledge.

The BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) is a real thing, it’s been around for a long time, and oddly, Microsoft’s information on the BSOD is as useless as ever.

Recently, you may have read about the March update giving some users the BSOD when they try to print. The requirements are pretty specific, so you probably won’t need to worry about that, however, just in case, an article about it is HERE. 

While reading about this, I read somewhere that reverting to an earlier restore point was a solution. This sounded fine, but some people don’t have restore points because their computers aren’t setup to run them. That’s a system option that needs to be turned on. It has saved computers I’ve worked on, where something catastrophic happens to them, and I revert to an earlier restore point, and the problem is gone. So, to turn on the restore point creation, or to manually create a restore point, read THIS. 

For what it’s worth, I have 4% of the drive devoted to my restore points, for me, that’s about 14gb. Probably 10gb would be fine.
 
The other thing that’s been in the news is the M1 Mac SSD drive. There were apparently some panicked users claiming the hard drive would only last about 6 months. Since it’s non replaceable, and Macs are spendy, that would indeed be pretty awful. The premise is that an SSD has a theoretically finite number of WRITES. The more you write to the drive, the quicker it will succumb. This is a somewhat accurate description, but of course, the reality is nothing like it. A great article on this can be found HERE. 

I get asked about antivirus software quite a bit. I don’t like any of them. I have recommended Malwarebytes in the past, and I still like it. However, times change, and in the world of computers, they change even faster. I have found some AV software can slow a computer to a crawl. That seems unacceptable to me. It doesn’t matter how good the software is, if it prevents you from using your computer. Typically, AV software can slow down a computer that is a lower end or older model without many resources. That’s just the way it is.

I was hesitant to recommend Kaspersky’s because of recent allegations of a tie with the Russian government. Apparently though, these allegations are not proven, so I will withhold judgement for now, as perPCMag.

I found a very decent article from PCMag rating some popular AV programs and found the reviews pretty thorough. The individual products are scored near the bottom of the article, with a further Editor’s Review to read, if you are interested. The main article is HERE. 
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I trust PCMag, so that’s why I appreciate their reviews. You can’t just Google reviews and believe what comes up, you really need to go to a trustworthy site with people paid to investigate and compare. PCMag is a great source for that sort of thing. 

Messenger can be very buggy.  I use it but I NEVER click on links.  So if  you send me something along the lines of how wonderful I am and to click and forward to my five closest friends, I won't do it.   

The Messenger scam going around this week teases "Is it you in the Video?"   You are receiving this message from someone you recognize, and might click being curious.
Don't do it!   You are not only exposing your information, but also that of your friends.

Read "Is it you in the Video?"

Ok you fell for it.  Now what.   Notify your friends by posting a notice on Facebook, Message them.   Change your password.   Keep your malware up to date and run scans on a regular basis, and most important of all, VOW never to do that again.

I found this link in an old email and I LOVE it. I have a cheap pair of 3D glasses called Cardboard. They are actually cardboard, come in a kit that you assemble and they allow you to see 3D videos or images on your phone, using 3D apps. That’s fun too. This, however, is fun for touring places you have never been, or maybe you have, but you’d like to see again.

The link is HERE. 

It offers 2,500 Art Museums and Galleries, some national parks, and several zoos and aquariums.

It’s better than reading the news