Buying a camera

I will admit that I am a computer guy, but I have never claimed to be a camera guy. However the digitalization of cameras makes them feel more like computers than anything else.

I will offer my humble advice. Go to kenrockwell.com. Read his article on recommended cameras. Buy the camera from the links on his site.

• This guy is an expert on cameras.
• This guy can write in a way that "normal" people understand.
• He frequently updates his site.

I did all my research on his site and then purchased my camera from National Camera Exchange because I wanted to "buy local." The service was crappy and I paid a lot more money. (They offer courses for free with camera purchase. Those classes are offered only once a month and they are usually booked 3-6 months out.)

Ken links to reputable sites that sell the cameras at great prices. That is the best place to buy these things.

If you feel compelled to shop for a camera at Best Buy, remember this: the employees on the floor don't make on money on the sale of the camera. They only make money on the sale of the service plan. This leaves them with little motivation to learn about the cameras. You might luck out and find a camera geek. But you could also end up with someone who was recently transferred from major appliances.

Good luck, and remember: Cameras have nothing to do with taking great pictures.

I can't play this audio or video file. What should I do?

Download and install VLC media player.

This can play anything that I have ever heard of. Most notably, it plays DVDs or DVD files (VOB) just fine. It works on PC, Mac, Linux or your phone.

It is much more efficient than iTunes or Windows Media Player. It won't keep track of your music and sync your iPod like iTunes will. You will still need iTunes for that. But if you have a weird file that you can't play with anything else, VLC will fix it.

Which antivirus should I use?

As a resident tech person I get asked this question a lot. Here is a very short and simple answer.

Use Microsoft Security Essentials.

That's it. Microsoft has solved this problem. Download it, install it, and do whatever is says. Then uninstall any other antivirus you have running.

A slightly deeper dive: Norton and McAfee cause a lot of problems and you should uninstall them whenever you buy a new computer.

AVG would have been my previous recommendation. Its good, free, and efficient. But its not the best solution anymore. If you don't feel good about using a Microsoft product for some reason, this is still a great alternative.

These answers apply to a PC. I am not aware of a reason to run antivirus on a Mac or Linux computer right now.