Two weekends ago, I headed back up to Bethlehem Lutheran Church to rebuild the computer lab I had set up for them a few years ago. Built on P3-based Compaq Deskpros and Windows 98, it had held up, but was desperately in need of repair.

The vision of this project was to set up a lab in a declining neighborhood, where kids could come to do their homework and adults could come to learn computer skills. The lab is run under adult supervision, and outsiders with teaching and/or training experience come in occasionally to teach computer literacy classes.

Ultimately, I want this project to produce some sysadmins in North St. Louis. Years ago, when this was in the planning stage, I told Pastor John Schmidtke that I wanted to see some Mercedeses and BMWs in that neighborhood, purchased with salaries earned from skills picked up in that lab.

Well, that hasn't happened yet. But there's still time. In the meantime, how about if I talk about what I've learned from three years of operation?

A mailing list I subscribe to reminded me of some good advice I haven't repeated in a very long time. Someone recommended a favorite screen saver, and then someone else chimed in, warning that nothing stops a screen saver, or any other free program, from being infested with spyware and other undesirable things.

The only screen saver I've been using for the past 12 years has been Blank Screen (or its equivalent--12 years ago I wasn't running Windows). Why? Because every other screen saver does more harm than good, that's why.

I fought with everything I had to get something else. So did one of my coworkers and my boss. But it was for naught. Late on Thursday afternoon, a pile of Dell servers showed up outside my office.

I did the only sensible thing to do: I ignored them until Friday morning.

I didn't like how the box was taped. That shouldn't make much difference. But what I really didn't like was what happened after I pulled the PowerEdge 1750 out of the box. It bent.

In the past I have recommended Umax scanners because Umax has a better history than HP of providing drivers for newer operating systems.

Gatermann sent me a link to something today, something whose existence shocked me.

Affordable gigabit Ethernet, from a mainstream, second-tier manufacturer.

Steve sent me some questionable advice he found online--basically, someone advocating that you build your high-end servers rather than buying them, but admitting that it's difficult for someone to build a $20,000 server and still be able to afford to maintain the thing.

There's a solution: Buy it.

Deciding between a color inkjet versus a color laser is tough for me. So I decided to sit down and do the math, and the results were exactly the opposite of what I expected.

I gave some out-of-character advice this week when someone came calling looking for help troubleshooting an inkjet printer.

Last week, I talked about my plans to upgrade a Presario 7360. I can now present you with the executive summary.

I was just pricing out some parts for the pending Compaq Presario upgrade when I remembered the latest scam--well, it's not technically a scam, but it's definitely deceptive advertising. Many stores offer a bundle with a low-end PC and a 17-inch "flat screen" for an unbelievable deal, like $499. Chances are, if you read this site, some relative of yours is going to be asking about that, if they haven't started asking already. And I'm pretty sure you know that right now $399 is a pretty good deal for a 17-inch LCD flat panel alone.