Brain Thoughts

 Viruses, malware, ransomware, and all the other harmful things we may run into online are why having an antivirus program or detector is essential. However, Norton's tactics and performance are egregious, and people should not use them for this reason. Not only does it take up a significant amount of system resources to run, even in the background, but the high cost and troubles it gives users when trying to cancel or uninstall is a headache that shouldn’t exist. On top of this, the fact that it is advertised to run “real-time” diagnostics is a lie, as it does not continuously run to catch things that are actively going on with your machine, as well as a plethora of other problems (like an outdated list of the issues it searches for instead of the rapidly evolving threats that appear today). Though a lot of these issues are mainly reported by members of the online community and not Norton themselves, I shall link a handful of forums that one should at least look at before spending...

 Personal (and professional) printers are always a source of some headaches. If it is something you use only some of the time, your ink can dry up, or your toner can expire, requiring you to replace them at a costly price at an inconvenient time. HP has thought subscriptions could solve this, but I have never received a new set of cartridges as somebody who has been paying $10 a month for over a year. I print some frivolous things every month to ensure my printer works correctly. However, Epson and Canon have come out with refillable ink cartridges, removing the need for proprietary cartridges to be able to function. It reminded me of when Keurig tried to make their machines only work with K-Cup branded pods, rejecting any other manufacturer’s coffee pods if they didn't pay the licensing fee. Having the freedom to refill your cartridge with the ink of your choice is a benefit a lot more people should be excited for, as having options only increases competition and functionality....

      In the past couple of weeks, while watching the tech-based YouTube channels that I enjoy, some very common advertisements have been popping up. These aren't the typical ads that happen after a period of time, but ones that the hosts insert into the video as sponsorships. While not a single company, the concept of adding AI to your email is like the plugin AI Email Writer on the Google Workspace Marketplace. While I don't use Chrome as my default browser on my work computer (MacBook), I may have to download it to Microsoft Edge and try it (thank you for using Chromium MS). Being able to just jot out the basic ideas that the email is supposed to cover, this assistant will then formulate it into a "well-written" email draft. It can even translate if English is not your first language. 

     Taking a real-world object and being able to manipulate it in 3D software is something that Hollywood has done for years. Mainly to create digital doubles (looking at you, Grand Moff Tarkin in Rouge One, or any Transformer in recent years), which can now be accessed by the general public with the devices in our pockets. While I have tinkered with this at work to have a model of the stockroom I work and organize, Peter France has inspired me to be more creative with these scans. Why can't I turn the old Arthur action figure I have from He-Man into a Robot Chicken-esque animation? Unfortunately, it's my time and dedication to this aspect of 3D modeling. One I hope to delve into and enjoy. 

     In middle school, I always had issues with my NAT restriction and ability to play my Xbox 360 with certain friends. Every time I finally got my NAT open the next day without fail, it would be "Strict" and ruin my plans. At the time (8th grade), I researched and read about setting up static IP addresses on devices used regularly. Even with my attempts, I could only partially understand how to get the settings to save and work the next day. I last had this issue when I moved away from a farm in the middle of nowhere into a somewhat urban city. The interest was always there, but I have yet to pursue it. That was until this week when it was all about IP addresses.       Having recently purchased a Raspberry Pi to be inserted into an arcade cabinet project I am building, I figured now is the best time to try this again. One may ask why I would be doing this, mainly because I want to ensure that specific ports and settings that I need for this devi...

                      When thinking of a virtual machine, two different applications come to mind. First, when I was attempting to complete a Microsoft Azure certificate, they wanted us to know how to upload a patch to a machine with specific steps without launching the patch widely. The second was when I researched emulators for my MacBook to run a copy of Windows. The program in question is Parallels, and while I have a Windows desktop, I may try some comparisons on applications running the emulated versus local versions of the Windows OS. Here is more info on Parallels if running this sort of application also interests you.