This press release is to announce that for the month of July 2010 ERA Computers & Consulting (ERACC) is following the idiomatic phrase, “Put your money where your mouth is!” when it comes to our Linux PC sales. What do we mean? Read on. For every PC purchased from us in July 2010 with any Linux [...]

I am proud to announce that here at ERA Computers & Consulting (ERACC) we have researched the parts needed to build Mini ITX, Tiny PC, systems and are offering a quote option on our sales site. Each of these Tiny PC systems is built to end-user specification. We build these with or without a hard [...]

Will this “Linux on the cloud” thing with Google, et al take wing and soar like an Eagle or is it just another Dodo Bird, destined for the dustbin of time? For general personal use I think it is going to be a Dodo … or at least be rare, like a California Condor. I like [...]

This article has been bounding and jumping around in the nether regions of my mind for quite a while now. It decided today that it needs to be set free. Everyone of us has heard or read some form of the old phrase, “You get what you pay for!”. The gist of this phrase is basically [...]

The short answer: Updates are worthless if one does not apply them. Once again I find myself cleaning malware off of a home user’s Microsoft based notebook PC. Once again, while it has anti-virus software installed it was infected by a “drive-by attack” from a web page. It was infected with the Antispyware Soft fake anti-malware [...]

I am unashamedly an advocate for Open Source software. I run a small business that offers custom built, inexpensive computers with Open Source software preinstalled. I urge my clients to move to Open Source software whenever it makes sense for them to do so. This includes full systems such as Linux distributions and cross-platform software [...]

Old Unix hands already know this, but new Unix (Linux) users may be asking, ‘What is a “watchdog script”?’ Basically it is a bash or other script that is run via cron periodically to check on a persistent service. The watchdog script takes actions based on the state of the service it monitors. There are other [...]

For some time now I have watched Canonical grab headlines touting its ‘buntu releases, such as Ubuntu and Kubuntu, as “newbie” friendly. Much of the IT press goes along with this marketing scheme. Quite frankly, I am happy to see Canonical get attention for Linux in general. Getting more positive exposure for Linux is always [...]

You have a relatively new PC with your favorite Linux distribution installed. You are content and all is well with the world. Then you discover that your motherboard needs an update to the BIOS to allow some new hardware to work properly with your PC. Alas! Your almost new PC, which has an on-board floppy [...]

I often see the sentiment expressed that desktop Linux is “too hard” for the average PC user. Yet the qualification for “too hard” is usually that it is too hard to install Linux or too hard to fix problems on Linux for the average user. These arguments seem to completely overlook the fact that an [...]

This is part one of a two part article about a “real life” control system that is a candidate for moving to a VM on Linux. This control system is being used right now in a real manufacturing facility. Last year in February I wrote the article “Windows 98? Linux and VirtualBox! (Maybe)“. It is about [...]

The Jackson and Madison County Tennessee Linux User Group (JaM-LUG) is being formed and will have its first meeting starting at 5:30 PM on Thursday the 8th of April 2010 in the Dining Hall at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Tennessee. What is Linux? See this URL for an answer: What is Linux at www.linux.org. What is a [...]

My friend Donna died last week. I was not able to attend her funeral, so this is my “Goodbye, you will be missed.” to Donna. As most of my contact with Donna was business related that is the perspective from which I write this article. I started my business in 1989 setting up a RealWorld Point [...]

I use a PC. Actually, I use several PCs. My small business has 5 tower PC systems and 1 laptop PC system. All of these are what is called a PC. Any computer that can be purchased by an individual and used by said person for personal “stuff” is by definition a Personal Computer also [...]