What are your hours?
The hours are flexible thanks to grad school not demanding quite as much time as undergrad work. Call or drop me an e-mail and we work out a place and time.

What's your past experience and why should I let you within 8,000 miles of my computer?
Behold the wonder of my resume. Whee.

Do you sell computers?
No, I'm not an Apple Authorized Reseeller, nor do I have numerous new, used and refurbished Macs for sale. Check out CompUSA, eBay, MacWarehouse, Craigslist.org, MacMall, MacConnection or Apple for prices on hardware for sale.

Will you buy my computer?
Probably not. There may be a rare or useful component such as a hard drive or RAM chip that I wouldn't mind paying a token fee for, but otherwise, I'm not interested in taking an old computer off your hands.

Where do I go with my old Mac?
You can usually get a receipt that can be used as a charitable donation on your taxes from the Salvation Army and Goodwill. The Salvation Army will take any computer in good working order while Goodwill has stated that they'll only take Macs from 2000 or later. Another route is the Time Dollar firm, which will provide the appropriate receipt and work to make sure the system is sent through the right channels. Simply check when your computer was made, try to have it in good working order when you donate it and you can provide a nice piece of technology to someone that ordinarily couldn't afford it.

What forms of payment do you accept?
I currently accept cash, checks and Paypal.

Do you provide telephone support?
Yes, and I'll do the best I can to help you through a problem. This moves into a bit of a gray area since after 10 minutes or so, it becomes a billable issue and the honor system kicks in. I'll track the time appropriately, but keep in mind that there will be an invoice once the problem is resolved and there's really only so much anyone can do over the phone to help another person with a computer problem. I'll give it my best, but it's not a free service, nor is it equivalent to being able to sit down with the computer and work with it in person.

Do you work on retainer?
If the problems are small enough to only need 10-15 minutes of attention and the commute distance is short, then this can be discussed.

Do you back up data before beginning to work on a computer?
Of course. Just point out the files that are important to you or can't be replaced and I'll make sure there's a copy on hand throughout the process.

Do you advise on and buy hardware for clients?
Yes, but there's a fee for this service (typically $25 on top of the reimbursement price of the item or items in question). Happy to go out there, ponder what's needed, stand in line and pick up the item, but it's not completely free.

Do you design web sites as well?
Typically, no. This isn't something I have much time for thanks to school work and there are better people for this task than me. Check around and you can probably find someone more than capable of the job at hand.

Do you install or replace hardware?
In most cases, yes. If it's something like replacing a hard drive, internal clock battery or installing additional RAM, I'm happy to do it. Even though I spent 18 months tearing apart hardware for Arlington Public Schools, replacing the monitor on an iMac tends to be more questionable since it's a more difficult process as well as a difficult part to obtain (Apple only keeps replacement parts for computers made within the last five years as well). Call or drop an e-mail describing the problem at hand and we'll see what we can work out.

Can you provide help setting up a cable modem/DSL/wireless/local network?
Yes on all of these. The network portion depends on what needs to be done. Call or drop an e-mail to discuss specifics.

Do you support PCs as well?
To a small extent, yes. I've lived and breathed the Mac for years now and it's the thing I know and love. If it's something simple like installing an operating system or getting an Internet connection to work, then yes. For anything outside of this, please contact CompSolvers, as those nerds know what they're doing and do it well.

What about Palm Pilots?
If you're having trouble synching it to a Mac, then sure. Call or e-mail and we'll see what the problems are and what we can work out.

Should I upgrade to Mac OS X?
Probably, but it's also a question of what you're comfortable with. Despite the fact that its current incarnation is fast, stable and extremely hard to crash, the thing that matters is what works for you. If you're happy with Mac OS 8.6, 9.1, 9.2 or whatever your computer currently runs, then there's no reason to upgrade it so it can simultaneously launch the space shuttle, recode the human genome AND whiten your dachshund's teeth if all you need to do is word processing and e-mail. There's also a learning curve to consider and while not terrible by any stretch of the imagination, OS X may not be something you want to learn right now.

"But it was working before..."
Yes, and dinosaurs once used to playfully scamper across the landscape before they were wiped out and small mammals took over. The point is that while you have a generally reliable device that generally works without fail. At the moment it's decided to do otherwise. The same goes with your car, laundry machine or cell phone. My advice is to appreciate the technology you have in your life and take care of it as best you can. Leaving a bouquet of flowers by the toaster to show that you care never hurts either.

So, what's your sign?
Virgo, baby. Virgo.