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Old October 20th, 2013 #9
M.N. Dalvez
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,110
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Quote:
computer-to-computer calls are free, and for a cent or two a minute, you can call any landline or cell phone using skype.
Good advice, but I want to add something about Skype. You can't call anything that's not a land-line or a mobile number with it. That means:

- no calling the water/gas/electric etc. company with it.
- no calling for a taxi

and most importantly ...

- NO CALLING EMERGENCY SERVICES.

It's a great, brilliant service. But it still pays to also have a mobile phone with a few bucks of credit in it - just exercise some fucking restraint (this is a general comment, not aimed at anyone) with it and stick to pre-paid credit, and your bill won't be beyond your means.

Quote:
it is a myth that turning your computer off and on like you would anything else is dangerous in the sense it causes it to break down sooner.
It's not a myth, as such - most physical memory storage mediums (HDDs are what I'm thinking about here) have a lifespan measured in how many start-cycles they go through.

But for most of them, that number is so high that turning the computer on and off all the time won't affect the hard disk's lifespan in any substantial sense.

Also: the lifespan of a computer often isn't measured in HD failure anyway, it's measured when other components (motherboard and power supply are the big two) break down. When one computer 'breaks', the HDD can usually be removed and simply placed into another one, with no loss or compromise of the data from the old one.

That's another good tip for saving money: DON'T BUY COMPUTERS READY-MADE FROM THE STORE (unless you ABSOLUTELY NEED a laptop). Get a computer-literate friend to make one for you - typically the savings you will make in this way will be in the region of 300-400% (not counting the recompense to your friend). And no - there's no difference in the quality - that has to do with the components used to make the computer, all of which can be ordered cheaply online.

Last edited by M.N. Dalvez; October 20th, 2013 at 10:10 PM.