I know this is hard to believe if you're relatively new to world of computers or internet, but back in 1978 modems were running at 110 or 300 bits per second (the technical term is baud). The table below is not precisely accurate but gives a rough idea of how speeds have been working their way upwards for past few years.

Speed Timeline

1978 100 to 300 baud 1988 1200 to 2400 baud 1993 14,400 baud 1995 28,800 baud 1997 33,000 baud 1998 56,000 baud 1999 1,500,000 baud DSL and cable mode connections

In comparison, local network connections run at 10,000,000 bits per second at least and it is becoming more common for these to be running at 100 million bits per second.

But what does all this mean? Well, a character is eight bits (a bit is a zero or a one, and it takes 8 of them to make a single character). The letter K means 1,024, so a 28K modem is 1,024 times 28 or 28,672 bits per second (also called bps).

Now divide 28,672 by 8 and you have maximum number of characters per second that your modem can run at. This works out to 3,584 characters per second, which in today's world is considered pretty slow (you will understand why shortly).

Interesting fact: Modem speeds are all standardized by International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The ITU defines 28.8K bps modems as v.32 and 33.6K bps modems as v.34.

If you haven't heeded latest slew of virus warnings then you've probably been hit with a virus or worm. It's likely you've also lost use of your computer for at least a few hours if not a few days. In some cases, you've lost very important computer files or programs, too. Take some steps today, so that you'll have a virus free year.

Now every anti-virus website tells you to not open attachments from people you do not know. The thing is, that even attachments from people you love, could infect your computer with a virus. I'm going to come clean and admit truth. I too have had a virus wreak havoc on my computer - ONCE! And once since April of 1994 was enough for me! Actually it was a beautiful attachment of fireworks that a friend sent me. Well, it looked like fireworks before it destroyed some of my Word documents and other programs!

So, I won't tell you to not open attachments. That's a crazy suggestion anyway. Instead, take time now, right now, this moment, to protect your computer.

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