FAQs: Everything You Want To Know About Tera.

Continued from Page 1…

Tera’s Top 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions

The countdown continues. Actually, I’ve received hundreds of questions since we launched the site. You’d think that #10 would be tops, and it was for awhile. I mean, isn’t it obvious?

#5 Can you spell PHP and MySQL
That was actually a question. I think it came from someone over at MacRumors Forums. They don’t like me over there. Really.

Well, the answer is yes. P-H-P. And M-y-S-Q-L. Those don’t mean much to most Mac users, though both are freely available for Mac OS X Panther and can turn your Mac into a “hot” web server.

Guys ask more technical questions than girls. Why? I think they’re running a test to see how much I know. Of course, asking me if I know how to spell P-H-P says something about the questioner.

Do I code? Nope. Well, AppleScript, Unix shell scripts, and I tinker in Perl, dabble in PHP, but, no. I don’t code. It’s more fun to muck up someone else’s code.

Coding is hard. Ouch! I think I broke a nail on the keyboard.

#4 - Why Macs and not Windows?
About 25-percent of our site’s visitors are using Windows. I assume that they’re captive users; Windows at work, Mac at home.

So, I’m not sure why this question gets asked as often as it does. After all, the site is “Mac360.com.” It’s all about Macs. And some about the competition between Macs and Windows.

Mac users have computing life that is MUCH better than Windows. Mac360 is a bit about evangelizing, a bit about support, with a few touches for newbies and pros.

#3 - What’s your computer experience?
I tend to think guys ask this more than girls. Actually, I date back to an early Osborne 1 (sewing machine size) in mid 1981 (prior to the IBM PC, long before Macs). So, I cut my computing teeth on CP/M, WordStar, SuperCalc, and dBase II. Not many folks with my looks can say that.

The first thing I did after getting started was to buy a bigger monitor. Screen real estate is worthwhile.

Since then I’ve had everything you can think of in the way of PCs and Macs. I started programming with dBaseII in the early days but only tinker with DBs these days. That stuff is complicated.

#2 - How many hits do you get?
That’s about as loaded a question as I can get (or, at least publish online). Insert whatever meaning you want.

The site has generated nearly 15-million “hits” since launch. Oh, did you have something else in mind? Shame on you.

The #1 FAQ: Is that your “real” name?
Why do you ask? What else would it be? It’s what I use.

Of course, it’s not the name I was born with. After all, time and marriage will change things, right?

It’s been brought to my attention that another somewhat famous young woman has a name very similar to mine. Google around awhile. She also has her own website and tends to reveal more of herself than I’ve been able to reveal (not that I haven’t been asked).

To set the record straight, ‘Tara Patrick’ is the given name to Carmen Electra. We’ve never met. The other ‘Tera’ is Tera Patrick, whose given name is really Linda Hopkins Shapiro. We’ve never met.

There you go. Tera’s Top 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions. And answers. As promised, here’s the bonus answers to questions that haven’t been asked. Yet.

Yes, Barbara Marie ‘Bambi’ Hambi is her real name. She’s blonde, leggy, younger than me, and purely a point and click type of girl. If you know what I mean. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Alexis Kayhill is our local writer. Local as in, from Hawaii and now by way of San Diego. She, too, is leggy, point and click, but not blonde. I think. It’s hard to tell these days.

Our most recent additions to the writing staff is Carol Mary Miller and Jack D. Miller (not to be confused with Jack Miller of AtAT fame). He’s a former Windows user who “switched teams” (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and enjoys the Mac and arguing with me about who’s better looking, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer or Peter Boyle of Everybody Loves Raymond.

Any more questions? Feel free to use the Feedback link below (no guarantee I’ll feed back), or share your thoughts and comments with other readers and click on the Comments link below.

For those of you more interested in my cerebral qualities (not to mention typing skills), you can always point your browser to my personal home page at TeraTalks. Admission is free. Seating is limited.

The folks at Mac360 have a few domains for sale. If you've ever dreamed of setting up and running your own site about Apple, the Mac, iPods or the iPhone, this is a great way to get started. Click Here, iPhoneKillerTips, or ChatterMac for a more complete list, which also includes Mac360.com.