New computer

I bought a new computer. I actually bought a dell (I say this not for advertising purposes, just so you know), more or less an updated and upgraded replacement for my old machine, and because they were having a flash sale with 14% off.

I love my old machine, but it is 8 years old, started with Windows 8 which upgraded to 10, but recent updates would not work any more. It has a traditional hard disk and an SSD drive which was a good compromise between cost and storage.

The CD drive no longer works, as something inside was bent or broken. The battery would not take a charge. I did have a replacement battery, but the old one would not come out. The cpu struggled at times and the fan would come on.

Other things like bluetooth and the wireless netwoking were either broken or slow.

Scams

I am deliberately not writing about the big topics of the day: Trump, Johnson, racism, police brutality, Dominic Cummings, Brexit and the virus. They are important topics, of course, but we need a break from these, and I have nothing to add that has not been said and better by others.

However, rather sadly, there are people, always, wanting to exploit any situation to relieve you of your money, and the virus gives a great opportunity. It also gives extra exposure to the conspiracy theorists and the flat earthers.