Technology Ramblings

Let's jump in the time machine and go back to 1992.   In that year Microsoft released two products that redefined desktop computing and helped make Microsoft, Microsoft.    Those two products were Windows 3.1 and Office 3.0.   Yes there were earlier versions of both Windows and Office, but those particular versions are the ones that marked the end of the DOS era as well as the end of three benchmark products. Prior to 1992, most users were still running MS-DOS and the three big productivity tools of the time WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 and Harvard Graphics. In the fall of 92, I remember very distinctly the releases of the first "Windows" versions of those three benchmark products.  In short they were a disaster.  Buggy and not very feature rich those three companies made a terminal mistake, they did not write their code to take advantage of the new world called Windows and opened the door for Office.    Most companies in 1992 were doing some ...

If your home was built before 2000, chances are it was not pre-wired with CAT-5 wiring capable of supporting Ethernet networking.  You may have lucked out if CAT-5 was used for the telephone infrastructure, but even then, a lot of the wiring was done serially versus home run style used for modern networking, so it was difficult to re-purpose. What you do have is many cases is RG-6 coax cable often in a home run style supporting Cable or Satellite TV.   Over the years there have been multiple alternatives developed to traditional wired Ethernet for the home, one of the first was WiFi and about the same time was Powerline networking that would utilize your homes copper Romex wiring. When your networking demands were mostly focused on simple Web Browsing and Email, many of those alternatives would work.   But those demands have changed, now a lot of folks like to stream all types of media from simple photos and home movies to music and HD movies and many of those alter...