Install Windows Programs In Linux

In previous posts I covered how to install and run Windows in a Virtual Machine using the VirtualBox software in Linux. This is one foolproof way of running your Windows Apps. Another option is to use Wine.

Wine lets you run Windows software on Linux operating systems. With Wine, you can install and run these applications just like you would in Windows. Wine is still under active development. Not every program works yet, but it's simple enough to install and run, so if setting up a virtual machine to run a Windows app seems daunting, give this a try.

First of all we need to install Wine. Lets do this by going to the Wine website. Click on the download link to go to the downloads page and you will find a link to the Ubuntu packages.

Follow the instructions on that page for installing Wine. I chose to install the Beta Release but if you want to be on the safe side you can install the Stable Release.

Now that Wine is installed you'll find the Wine entry under your Applications Menu.

OK, so now what? Well for starters when you install a Windows based program you will get the option to open with Wine...


Now you can install this program just like you would in Windows. Using CCleaner under Wine will allow you to clean up the Windows file structure thats included with Wine and not your Linux OS. But it's still a cool proof of concept.


Now for something useful. Installing a free game pack! I installed this one from http://www.free-windows-games.com/. Nice package of shareware titles.


Warning though, running games designed for Windows may cause your Linux OS to lockup just like Windows does! Also many of the games in this pack failed to work properly. I'm sure with some tweaking I could get them working, but alas, I have other projects to move on to. I still prefer using a Virtual Machine but I hear people have actually been able to play WOW in Linux using Wine.


All I can say is, experiment with the software and let me know what you think. Maybe that MS App will run flawlessly for you!

Cool Screens Of My Cube

For those of you wondering what a desktop cube is, is a way of visualizing your workspaces. If you have Windows you are used to having one desktop that you plop windows down on. In Linux you have that too. But you also have the ability to have multiple desktops or (workspaces to further organize your multitasking life).

This is a shot of my current desktop or 'workspace'.

Below is a panned out view of other desktops I have running. I can scroll through these with the cursor keys to reveal all of my desktops (workspaces). As you can see I can open up different applications in each workspace. I can scroll through these with the cursor keys. This is a handy overview to quickly show what programs I have launched on each of my workspaces.

For another perspective on my workspaces I can pan out into the cube view. I can then rotate the cube too see each workspace. Notice how windows on each face of the cube have their own depth to set them apart from other windows. This makes it easy to identify individual windows and keep things organised the way I like. I can even drag a window from one workspace to another.

One practical application for this is to run my Windows Virtual Machines on different sides of the cube. This way I can rotate to Windows to run my Windows apps. In the screen below I am doing just that. I

actually have XP and Vista running on different faces of the cube. You'll also notice that My cube is no longer a cube but is a sphere. With Linux you'll find a personalized computing experience. I could also make this a cylinder if I wanted. You also can adjust the backgrounds, reflections and transparency of every object on the cube. So the choice is up to you. You can make it as simple or complex as you desire.

For example, below you can see the custom graphic I added to the top and bottom sides of my sphere. Pretty cool/creepy eh?

Its a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to configure all this but worth the effort. With Linux, unlike windows, you are truly the master of your operating system. You don't need to download any spyware and virus ridden programs to enable you to do these types of modifications either. They are all available through the Ubuntu software repositories. In this case I simply installed the Compiz Desktop effects and started experimenting. http://www.compiz.org/

Here's a video that highlights some of the other cool effects you can do with compiz.

Win 7 in Ubuntu 10.10

Now I have it all XP to 7. But the Mac VM is proving to be difficult. I am also considering virtualizing Solaris and BeOS. Any other Operating Systems of note you can think of that I should try?

XP and Vista in VirtualBox on Ubuntu 10.10

Now, to get Win 7 and Mac OS X running in a VM on the same computer...

I'll Post the results.

Whats On My Computer? Part 2

For the first article I covered the software I have installed on my Linux Partition. It wound up being a how to of sorts for installing Windows in a Virtual Machine. Linux pretty much is secure and has all the software you need off the bat so I didn't go into a lot of detail on the software I use on it. However I have installed a few extra programs under Linux and share them with you. Many of these have versions for Windows as well and I'll give you that info too as well as links to the websites to you can do your own investigation. I'll also cover programs for Windows that make your life more secure and easy.

Dropbox (Wilndows, Linux Mac): DropBox is a lifesaver for your data. It creates a folder on your computer that you can drop files in. These files are backed up in the cloud automatically for you. You can also invite your friends to share a folder within your DropBox.

TeamViewer (Windows, Linux, Mac) Don't you wish you could log into your home computer from the office of vice-verse? Team viewer makes it easy.

ClamAV (Linux,Windows) For Linux users this is not a must, but we live in a Windows world full of maleware. It's highly unlikely your Linux system will be affected by it but there is always the possibility that you could pick up a Windows virus in your email and forward it on to your Windows friends. ClamAV will help you to avoid spreading infections to susceptible Windows computers.

CCleaner (Windows) after using windows for a while you will notices your system performance degrading. Windows keeps a lot of junk temporary files and CCleaner can find and eliminate them. Add to this CCleaners handy registry cleaning program and startup manager and you have a lot of useful cleaning utilities in one package. For Linux users this is not as big of an issue but you can use a similar program called BleachBit. It functions a lot like CCleaner in that it allows you to clean up temp files from multiple applications in one convenient interface.

Defraggler (Windows) Forget about using Windows built in defragmentation program. Defraggler zips though the process much quicker. It also allows you to defragment specific files or folders.

Revo Uninstaller (Windows) Ever notice how Windows uninstaller leaves all kinds of files and folders as well as registry entries in on your computer after supposedly uninstalling a program? Revo to the rescue here. Revo hunts down all the junk that gets left behind after an uninstall. Linux users need not apply as the Ubuntu Software Center does a pretty good job of removing programs you install with it. Ubuntu also includes a Program called Computer Janitor that can take care of the rest.

Microsoft Security Essentials (Windows) This was in the Top 10 Free Downloads For 10-10-10 post and it still stands as one of my favorite Microsoft programs. I used to swear by AVG Antivirus and it is still a great pick for free antivirus protection, but this free offering from Microsoft is slick, unobtrusive and outperforms most free antivirus programs as well as the free alternatives as far as detection and removal rates.

Malwarebytes Antimalware (Windows) OK so why would I have another antivirus program on this list? Because you can NEVER be too safe if you are running Windows. Windows XP is actually the most vulnerable OS according to ComputerWorld. Most of the computing community is still using XP. Now I would recommend upgrading to Linux but if you do not, you still need more than MSSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) to be safe. Use this free offering and run it weekly, if not nightly to make sure your system is not compromised.

Pidgen (Windows, Linux, Mac) If your like me you have accounts on FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter as well as email accounts on Google, Hotmail, Yahoo, and other accounts. Pidgnen allows you to get your instant messenger from all these accounts in one place. If you were using Pidgen years ago you were an UberGeek. Now if your not, you are missing the boat. There are other messengers that pull it all together but Pidgen is the most versatile that I've used, and available on all platforms.

SyncToy (Windows) OK you have DropBox to sync your most important files online. But the 2 GB limitation may be a problem if have a ton of pictures movies or music you want to regularly backup to a second or an external HDD. The simple answer is to install SyncToy from Microsoft. Choose a directory on your HDD you want to sync to a directory on your backup drive and sync. Its that easy. All your selected files will be backed up. You can configure it in a few different ways to back up things in the way you like. Plus it is lightweight and simple. Another good offering for free from Microsoft.

Super (Windows) If you work with video files this program will interest you. Sometimes you need to convert from one video file format to another. Super does it all. From any format to any format. But be warned, you need a little knowledge of video file formats in order to use this. In other words this is not a simple program, but goodness, it gets the job done where others fail!

For now my brain is exhausted and there is a lot of other software I could cover in this article. Maybe with your feedback and some more thought I can come up with another post or two in this vein and cover software that specifically interest you. So please give me some feedback and I will expand this blog!

Whats On My Computer? Part 1

People often ask me for advice on what software they should purchase for this or that purpose. I'm probably the wrong person to ask this question because I'm the working poor and as such, I don't go out and buy the 'latest and greatest (AS SEEN ON TV)' software. That does not mean that I do without.

Through the years I've tested, played with and reviewed many different types of software. I've come to the conclusion that free software often is not only a cheaper alternative but in many cases a better alternative to paid software. I'm not talking shareware here, but free software. Sometimes you have to pay to enable extra features but in a lot of cases the features that are offered are more than enough to do the task at hand.

Just so you know I practice what I preach lets talk about my computer. My laptop came pre-installed with Windows Vista. Now I'm not a total Windows hater here but you all know Vista left a bad taste in many of our mouths. So was the answer to upgrade to Windows 7? Not a chance. Windows 7 is Vista fixed basically, so for Microsoft to ask me to shell out another $200 dollars for what should have been a free patch irked me. So I dealt with Vista for a season and eventually decided to go the Linux route.

Linux has a lot going for it but there were still a few Windows programs I wanted to run so I decided on a dual boot. Dual booting allows me to either boot into Linux or Windows. So I have use of both operating systems. Now this is not the idea configuration as this takes up a great deal of hard drive space and you have to reboot the computer to get to either OS. Another option would be running Windows in a Virtual Machine inside of Linux. I decided on VirtualBox for this and started out by installing Windows XP for testing purposes.

Downloading and installing VirtualBox was a snap as it is in the Ubuntu software repositories. So you go to Applications, Ubuntu Software Centre and search for VirtualBox. Then you just click the install button. This is how Windows Add Remove Programs was originally envisioned by Microsoft but there has never been anything to add in Windows. Now they have Windows Live to download some free stuff for Windows 7. It pales in comparison. The Ubuntu Software Centre is amazing and new applications are added every day. Over 3000 titles and counting. You can find everything you need there.



The creation of a Virtual Machine in VirtualBox was easy and installing Windows XP went exactly like installing on a real computer. The next step I took was installing Microsoft Security Essentials because even though I'm running XP inside of Linux, the Windows OS is prone to viruses. I also updated XP to service pack 3. Now if Virtual XP system gets a bug it wont affect my Linux OS. Its like having XP in jail where it can still live and work but it can't harm anything but itself. VirtualBox allows you to take a snapshot of the system at anytime and you can always easily restore to that state.



As you can see from the screen I have a fully functional XP installation running in a window on my Linux box. I can use it to watch Netflix, since this is one application that requires Microsoft Siverlight to run. This s is the best of both worlds because I can launch my windows apps without rebooting my computer to log into Windows. Next step will be to obliterate my Vista partition and install Vista in a VM just like I did XP. I don't have the hard drive space in my Linux partition to do this at the moment.



Linux is the idea way to run Virtual Machines. I have run them under Windows before and the problem is that Windows is a big resource hog. So your VM gets stuck with whatever Windows has left over for RAM and CPU cycles. Usually not much. Under Linux my XP installation ran perfectly with only the 512 MB of RAM I allocated to it.

If you are interested in trying Linux, we would be happy to help you with the install. We will even set up a dual boot or install the Virtual Machine for you if you have the Windows installation disk.

Part two of this series will cover the programs that I run under Windows...

Rebels With A Cause

Anyone who has known me knows I have a hard time accepting authority. My High School years were typified by clashes between myself and teachers, the principal, parents and eventually the law. I just could not accept that in a free country, there were so many things I was not to do. Now as an adult I realize many if my battles were misplaced. However, when it comes to certain things I still bring the same level of defiance, energy and intensity into the mix. At Computers for Charity we've manged to assemble a whole crew of life's rebels and miscreants together for a good cause.

When someone says "You can't do that", we have to disagree. We've found through trial and error that many things people say you can't are simply limitations of their own mind. That old PC may not be suitable for Windows 7 but our techs are not deterred by that. We prefer not to pollute the world with another Windows operating system destined for obsolescence. We prefer to install something less prone to viruses and more secure and stable anyhow. We prefer to use Linux.

This too is frowned upon by the world. Why not give people something that really works? For one Windows doses not always work. For instance on a Dell laptop that we had the installation disks for, we installed Windows XP. After the install the tech was attempting to install drivers for the computer form Dells website. The computer had no sound, no networking and only basic video drivers. At this point we could see why the user had discarded this computer. Instead of hassling with the drivers we booted to an Ubuntu Live USB to test the hardware. Under Ubuntu the computer worked flawlessly.

It's outside the box thinking to work with an alternative OS like Linux. If we only stuck with the status quo we would be out of luck in a lot of cases. That's why I have become a huge fan of Linux since we started this whole endeavor. It fits my personality. It breaks the rules by offering something for free (a great desktop operating system), that others are paying hundreds of dollars for. And they are not enjoying as good of an experience with the whole Windows 7 upgrade thing either. What kind of person does it take to work with an OS that has only about 1% of the desktop market? It takes a rebel.

The whole Idea of fixing computers that are slated for disposal makes no sense to a lot of people, and for obvious reasons. We acquire a lot of junk along the way. Sometimes computers are discarded for good reasons. It would be nice if every computer we received was the result of an upgrade. Unfortunately we see a lot of bad hardware that takes a lot of troubleshooting and perseverance to pinpoint exactly whats wrong with it. Once we identify a faulty component it can be replaced. In many cases its multiple components. Computer techs are well compensated for this reason. Who would take on this kind of work just to give it away for free? Only a rebel.

Thank God for the rebels. Thinking outside of the mainstream is not always easy or fun in our modern society either. People tend to question your motives and your methods. Our thinking, attitudes and appearance may be outside of the norm but that does not make us bad people.However, when your really in need of computer help do you really want to deal with the snooty guy from the computer store who will charge you $50.00 just to look at your computer? We do that for free. We can save your data, kill your malware, get you connected, fix your OS or install a new one. We are not hindered or easily deterred because we have suffered a lifetime of persecution for honing these very skills that are now a lifesaver to you. We love the challenge as well as the opportunity to teach you a few things along the way. I guess all I'm saying is give geeks a chance. We may not be James Dean rebels, but we are the kind of guys you can count on. If you need a computer or need yours fixed we can help.

About Computers for Charity

Computer for Charity was founded in 2008 by Jeffrey Kill who continues to serve as the chairman of the board and the Chief Technology Officer of the organization. Jeff's education and background in computers, employment in the recycling industry and his life experiences led him to start the charity.

Jeff's daughter, Kelbey suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm when she was 9 years old. This left her mentally and physically handicapped. Before this she was working at 3 grade levels above other children her age and was very adept with the computer. As his daughter struggled through the recovery process, he worked to get her back on the computer, hoping to utilize technology to enhance his daughters recovery. After having to relearn most of what she knew, she eventually became proficient and independent on the computer again. To this day it provides her with a sense of independence, entertainment, and provides a positive source of cognitive stimulation.

These experiences inspired Jeff to find ways to utilize his IT knowledge to help other children and individuals in the community who do not have access to computers to obtain them. He began taking donations of computers and repairing them for members of his local church congregation. Eventually the client base expanded to others in the community and as the word spread others joined the cause. At present time, Computers for Charity serves all of Northwest Ohio as well as some special projects that assist international mission organizations.

Computers for Charity became an official 501 (c3) in 2009 under the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Its mission is both environmental and humanitarian as simply stated in its mission statement: “Our mission is to reduce the electronic waste in our landfills by taking donations of computers and related accessories and refurbishing them. These repaired computers can then be distributed to individuals and other non-profits, providing access to computer technology and bridging the 'digital divide'.”

Computers for Charity is comprised of a group of volunteers of various backgrounds who meet weekly to work on computers that are donated from businesses and individuals. We can then place these computers with families and others in need in the community, through other charities that we provide computer vouchers to. We also use our technical skills to provide free consulting services to churches, charities and nonprofits and provide computer solutions that meet their needs when applicable. In the process of this Computers for Charity is able to serve as a place where people from the non-profits (as well as students and other members of the community) can come and learn how to build, troubleshoot and repair PCs as well as gain other computer knowledge.

Retro Gaming For Linux!

A new video game emulation based live CD... Based on TurboPup Xtreme (one of the fastest linux distros around).

Puppy Arcade plays: Amiga (500, 1000, 2000), Atari (ST, 800, 800XL, 130XE, 5200), Amstrad (CPC, Plus, VEB), Arcades, Colecovision, Commodore (64, 128, VIC20, PET), GameBoys (GB, GBC, GBA), GameGear, Genesis/MegaDrive, MasterSystem, MS DOS, N64, NeoGeo, NeoGeo CD, NES/Famicom, PC Engine/TurboGrafix, PSX, ScummVM, SNES and ZX Spectrum (16k, 48k, 128k, +2, +2A, +3) & more!

Puppy Arcade 7 can play games from a variety systems, using apps called 'emulators', which load 'roms' (the actual games). To play games: Just load an emulator, optionally choose some settings, and select a rom to play.

No actual game roms are included, just the emulators. However, they do provide links to the top websites where you can find roms in abundance. (Note: I do not endorse use of any of these games without legal license to play them). I assume that these roms are either in the public domain, or that you have to licensed or purchased them for your personal use.

I like Puppy Linux in every form. Puppy is fast and light on its feet. The addition of games is a fun way to take advantage of the nimble Puppy platform. If you are a fan of 80’s style arcade games, Puppy Arcade is probably the best platform for you. Running your games in RAM, without ever touching a hard drive, will be a cinch with the ease of Puppy Linux.

If you are new to Linux, better yet new to emulation, this is your best rout. It makes both subjects painless. Puppy arcade is tiny in size for what its worth. A whopping 105mb.

This thing is light weight and extremely quick. Once you boot up its running in RAM. Its very fast. Running an OS in RAM is like going from 56k to a T3. You can load this bad boy up on a USB stick and carry it around with you if need be.

Puppy Arcade works great on PCs - both new and old. But if you have an Eee PC, you might like to try Puppeee Arcade, which is perfect for your netbook.

Download Puppy Arcade 'Here'

Newer is not always better. Not even in computers.

Windows 7 is good for fast, newer computers, however, what about your business computers? The economy has forced business to stretch the life of their old machines or to purchase lower-grade new computers. Linux is a perfect candidate. Linux offers software compatibility support where believe it or not some companies have not upgraded their software to be compatible with Windows 7! Windows 7 also takes a great deal more amount of memory and CPU speed. With Linux you can run your favorite Windows app in a virtual machine anyhow and not loose any of your favorite programs from XP.

As for the home user, there will most likely be a split. With the current environment a large population will only upgrade computers as they need to due to component failure. The technology has not advanced enough to warrant considering 5+ year old XP machines obsolete to the point of a necessary replacement. Home users are growing wary of being forced to upgrade both software and had ware at the whim of Microsoft.

This does leave the techno crowd and those who love to have the newest and best and have the disposable income to spend but this population has been smaller as of late. This is also the population where Linux and Mac tends to be competitors. Before you pay a dime for Windows 7, try a Linux desktop distribution. If you don’t like it, what’s the worst that’s going to happen? You spent no money other than for a burnable CD or DVD, a little time, and you just have to wipe your disk again before installing Windows 7.

Windows and Mac OS are like a toy car that you buy off the shelf and play with. Linux is like the same toy car made out of Lego You can play with it as it comes or you can remove and modify components (or the whole thing) and tailor it to your liking. To illustrate the point, Linux comes with many different choices of window managers, desktop environments, file managers, package managers (packages are what Linux calls programs), etc. The idea is to be able to tailor a distribution to exactly what you need and like.

There's nothing in Windows 7 that Linux can't do, and in most cases, do it better. Linux machines are quicker and more efficient. Linux desktops are more innovative and less static. Linux apps are more powerful, cheaper and less partisan, and Linux security has never been better. But best of all, we have complete control over the future of Linux, as opposed to allowing Microsoft to run roughshod over us in forcing the upgrade to Windows 7.

Don't forget that for any operating system, no matter how similar to to a commercial OS it might be, there is a learning curve involved. This is especially true of the software available and how to download it Generally software is downloaded from repositories using a package manager included with your distro. By and large you will not find commercial software in repositories, but will find thousands of free open source equivalents. Most of these are as powerful as the popular commercial ones, but require that you familiarize yourself with them. Take some time to do this and you'll be a really happy Linux user.

So, you think you may want to dip you toe into the Linux waters at this point? Ok, I have a couple of suggestions.

Try a Linux "live CD" first. Most Linux distributions have live (aka bootable) CDs that let you actually use the Linux OS of your choice directly from the CD. It will run slower, due to running from the CD drive, but it will give you a real feel for the Linux OS you may be contemplating. In addition, it will let you know, before you actually install it to your hard drive, whether or not it can support all your hardware. That way, you know beforehand exactly what to expect!

Even if you never get further than a Linux live CD, you will want to keep it around. Linux live CDs make extremely good disaster/recovery tools. One of my favorite uses is to clone my Windows XP partition. Just boot the live CD and clone one partition on one drive to an identical partition on another drive. A good bootable Linux CD like Knoppix should be in everyone's tool box, even if they're a die-hard Windows user.

Here's another last bit of advice. I recommend dual booting only one absolutely safe way: buy a second hard drive and install Linux on it. You can even use a USB thumb drive for this! This is also the easiest way to get into Linux. No tricky hard disk-partitioning to worry about. No way to mess up your current Windows install. Absolutely the easiest and safest way.

I Want You!

Calling all geeks in Northwest Ohio...

• Have you always wanted to use your geeky talents for a good cause but couldn't find a charity that 'fit' you?
• Have you ever thought, 'gosh why is there no one who is providing computer for the less fortunate in our community?'.
• Do you have an environmental conscience when it comes to all the electronics leeching toxins into our landfills?
• Have you ever wished you could play around with hardware and software and networks without fear of breaking the companies stuff?
• Have you ever wanted to hang with a group of like minded individuals and who actually know what terminal window is?
• Do you have a desire to learn something new about technology or do you have the desire to teach a willing audience about something you know?
• Do you have a ton of computer stuff you've held onto just in case someone may have some use for it some day?

We have a place for you! Every Tuesday from 4:00 to 8:00 PM (usually till 10 PM cause we just can't pull ourselves away from our computer stuff!), Computers for Charity meets in downtown Bowling Green, Ohio at Turning Point Church.

We take donations of computers from businesses and individuals and refurbish them, usually with Linux, sometimes we fix broken Windows and work with Macs too!

We have a dedicated core group of 8 techs of various backgrounds who lend their talents. We have about 20 volunteers total who help with various community projects we concoct. We are a young and vibrant charity who cherishes innovation and self determination. Speaking in Klingon is a bonus but is not required.

So how do you now if your geeky enough to join our L33T crew? Take a look at the 'You May Be A Geek If...' checklist and see if you have any or all of the following characteristics.

• you’re a card-carrying member of the EFF
• when you have to write with a pen, you find yourself using the Palm Graffiti characters.
  
• you think (x<<6)+(x<<4) is a perfectly natural way to multiply by 80.
• you’ve gutted and rebuilt your computer 5 times since you last changed the oil in your car.
• you know what a router is, and you know what a bit is, but you’ve never heard of a router bit.
• you know the square root of 65536 is 256 without having to do the math.
• you consider 65536 and 256 “nice round numbers”.
• …and you *always* put the period outside the quotes, since you’re not quoting the end of the sentence…what the hell do english majors know, anyway.
• you see a good-looking girl and you DESPERATELY want her e-mail address so you can get to know her.
• you wake up and realize that your sleep pattern has been following an algorithm.
• your computer chair has the permanent and stiff indentation of your butt in it.
• the only tan you’ve ever acquired comes from your monitor.
• you have assembled your own Linux distribution, and re-wrote some of the more inefficient code, just for fun. ( Hmmm… it’s a thought… )
• every time someone says “I like iMacs” you get mad and shout out “So you only go for the looks, do you? Superficial guy! The inner qualities are what’s important, not the looks! Beauty is only skin-deep!”
• when asked if you have more than one hard drive, you answer “In which computer?”
• you postpone your moving date so your computers can set new uptime records.
• given the choice between a T3 and a date with a good looking guy/girl, you’d take the T3.
• you’ve ever been successful at catching a spammer.
• you call sex with your cute girlfriend “CuteFTP.”
• you spend more time changing settings in Windows 98 than using it.
• you dream of high-end computers instead of beautiful girls.
• you get angry when someone says they own a Pentium IV processor.
• your friends have a club with the word .com in it.
• you almost get in a fight when a small child says there is no internet.
• you think everyone should have an opinion about Bill Gates.
• you refer to having sex as setting up a LAN!
• you refer to going to the toilet as “extracting to the temp folder” and flushing the toilet as “deleting the temp folder”.
• you refer to eating and drinking as uploading!
• you understand and find www.ircnews.com funny.
• you’ve ever passed notes at school in binary.
• you regard the “User Friendly” virus as a good thing.
• you’ve had an article appear at segfault.org.
• you’ve figured out how to crash Windows NT on a 128MB system, using only Internet Explorer and Notepad.
• you snicker whenever someone asks how much memory is needed for Windows NT to run smoothly.
• you go into a computer store and takeover a discussion for a salesman on the specs and merits of a computer while he site there nodding as you make the sale.
• you’ve ever written a useless program just for the “fun” of it.…or you prefer writing useless programs.
• a 23 GB HD, color laser, four 128MB DIMMs, and a 21″ monitor would beat out Sarah Michelle Gellar, Cameron Diaz, Heather Graham, and Cindy Crawford.
• you can actually read the error message details when a Windows program has a problem.
• you spend more time chatting on-line in one day then you do in a week’s worth of actual conversation with people face-to-face.
• there are two magazines in front of you, the newest issue of PC Magazine and the other a porno. And you choose the PC mag over the porno.
• you refer to using the bathroom as downloading.
• the number of computers in your house exceeds the number of relationships you’ve had in your lifetime.
• …and you didn’t correct the grammar of that last item.
• if (DEC 25 = OCT 31) means true to you.
• your computer costs more and runs better than your car
• your watch is set to GMT. Always. (After all, it’s the only time that makes logical sense.)
• in real life, you tell people to go to http://www.hell.com/
• when you’re reading a magazine and you see an underlined passage, you feel compelled to click on it.
• you have the Linux Penguin sitting on your monitor… and you know the penguin’s name.
• everytime you go to write a note, you put your hands on your desk, as if looking for a keyboard to type it on.
• you’ve ever debated the merits of the FVWM95 window manager…
• …with yourself.
• you’re grossly offended that anyone would want to make their Linux box work anything like Windows 95.
• you wake up wondering which directory you’re in.
• you set up your old computer next to your new one 2 months ago so that you could transfer files and you’ve been using them “both” since.
• you have more computers now than you’ve had relationships in your lifetime.
• your wallpaper is made up of Linux code.
• your favorite pasttime is IRC on Saturday nights.
• your computer is set for Dvorak… but your keyboard is actually a qwerty.
• …you know what Dvorak and Qwerty refer to.
• you have a PC for every person in the house, and still think you need one more. What if one goes down!?
• you salivate when you hear the word, “upgrade”
• instead of laughing you say “El-Oh-El!”
• you have actually heard someone do this in real life.
• …and you actually understood what it meant.
• you dream in code.
• you not only know what Be OS is, you have an opinion about it.
• you want to be the first one on your block to be wet-wired.
• you dual boot because you want to be able to play some of them there cool new games.
• you bought a super socket-7 motherboard, not because you really needed it, but because you got it for only 40.00 via an online auction. Now you have a reason to build that extra computer you don’t really need.
• to you, the word “scuzzy” is sexy.
• your girlfriend kisses you on the neck and you think “uh oh, priority interupt!”.
• you and the campus Unix Sysadmin have a geek contest.…and you win.
• you believe Unix/Linux is the most superior operating system out there
• you e-mail yourself notes rather than writing them…
• …and you can justify the advantages of doing so.
• …or you actually reply to the note.
• you can program in more languages than you can speak.
• you refer to your computer as a friend.
• you can talk to your computer without being sarcastic or raising your voice.
• you talk to your computer the way most people talk to their significant other.
• you use old CD-ROMs as coasters…
• …and you’ve collected a matching set for every room in your house.
• with the exception of the blood-sucking part, you have the same basic characteristics as a vampire.

Feel free to respond with your own!

Hey even if your not a true geek and you care about helping people and the environment we have a place for you too. Come see us on Tuesday. We need your help!

At Computers for Charity we are part computer club, part charity, part education and training, and all about having a lot of fun.

http://computersforcharity.webs.com