I sometimes wonder if folks reading my column think that I’m just a crusty, cranky curmudgeon who can’t see the good in anything. It seems that if I’m not railing against Microsoft for being a bunch of Internet racketeers, then I’m ranting about viruses, spyware, adware, rootkits, spam, phishing, bug-filled operating systems, insecure programs, identity theft, crooked hackers and the idiots who won’t properly secure their computers against those threats.
However, I see my role more like one of the “watchmen” of ancient Bible times, who would warn the people of impending threats and help them prepare to do battle. Proverbs 22:3 says that a prudent man sees the evil coming and hides from it, but that the “simple” (a silly, seducible fool) man stumbles onward and is punished. To have a computer on the Internet is not unlike fighting a battle. Perhaps I’m a bit like a grouchy drill sergeant who, in preparing his troops for war, does not try to sugarcoat the grim realities that lay ahead.
On the other hand, there are many things about computers and the Internet for which I am very thankful, and about which I am very positive, upbeat and cheerful. I like my job fixing computers, I enjoy helping people and I think that using the Internet can be lots of fun. More specifically, I am:
Thankful for free Internet security programs. Computer security programs essentially do one thing: plug holes and protect flaws in operating systems and programs that have been discovered and exploited by the bad guys. If it weren’t for free antivirus programs like Avast, firewall programs like ZoneAlarm, anti-adware programs like Adaware and anti-spyware programs like Spybot S&D, things would be much worse than they already are. In addition, people would be wasting money on paid programs when there are free programs that will get the job done.
Thankful for free productivity programs. Most folks buy the Microsoft Office suite of productivity programs because it’s all that they know, and you can’t go beyond what you know. They think that you simply must have Microsoft Word if you want to type a letter, you must have Excel if you want to create spreadsheets, etc. Truth be told, most folks will never use even 10% of the features that are available in the very expensive Microsoft Office package. As such, it’s almost impossible for me to recommend that anyone continue buying Microsoft Office when the incredible (and free) OpenOffice program suite is available.
Thankful for Google. If it weren’t for Google, the Internet would not be nearly as useful a tool as it is, and I wouldn’t know half of what I know about computers.
Thankful for being able to write this column. The Norman Transcript, and particularly editor Andy Rieger, sort of went out on a limb by allowing me to write my weekly column. It seems to have become a success, and it’s loads of fun for me. Tis the season to be thankful.