TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPIC: ASKBOB INBOX / ARE YOU JINXED?

Some people just don't get along very well with technology. But it might not be your fault... you could be jinxed! Read on to find out if your alpha waves are agitating your angstroms, and if so, learn how to get free tech support.

New Features on AskBobRankin

A visitor to AskBobRankin wrote in with a suggestion that I thought was great... He challenged me to publish some of the questions for which I have no answers. At the same time, I was thinking it would be nice to put up some of the "quickie" questions that don't require a 400-word article to answer. So I created a new section called the AskBob [Inbox]. Here's where I answer the "quickie" questions and throw out the stumpers for YOU to try!

Some recent entries include "Scandisk Keeps Restarting", "Google Toolbar is Spyware?" and two Stumpers for you to take a crack at. If you have an answer or suggestion, please feel free to post.

http://www.AskBobRankin.com/inbox

And of course you can still post your questions on the main Ask Bob website. I've gotten tremendous feedback on the "How To Buy a Computer" article and there are two new articles titled "Copying Old Hard Drive to New PC" and "Icons in the System Tray." Pop in, poke around, and post your comments!

http://www.AskBobRankin.com/

Are You Techno-Jinxed?

A recent study by researchers at Princeton University seems to give scientific credence to the notion that some people put out bad vibes that can adversely affect electronic components.

It's no joke... The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) department has studied the subject for over 25 years and they have concluded that some people just seem to have a natural rapport with computers, while others are absolutely jinxed. Some subjects in the PEAR studies seemed capable of changing the output of electronic components merely by thinking about them.

I think there may be something to this... Many times I have been summoned by a friend with a computer problem, only to find that the machine was on its best behavior while in my presence. Here are some links to related news articles and discussion forums:

http://www.hotnews360.com/jinxed-computer-news.html

Not For Geeks Only: LowFat Linux

Long-time readers will remember that I wrote a book called "The No BS Guide to Linux" a few years ago. That book is out of print, but the contents are as fresh and relevant as ever, so I decided to put all that material online, freely available for anyone who wants to learn the basics of using Linux without getting bogged down in too much detail or technobabble.

http://www.LowFatLinux.com

This free online tutorial will teach you about the Linux file system useful commands, text editors, data manipulation, shell programming, accesing DOS and Windows Files from Linux and much more. I hope you find it useful.

That's all for now, see you next time! -- Bob Rankin