For a large majority of people our lives have been changed for ever. A change so great that it has effected every aspect of global history. At a single level people walk around in a daze still wondering if this was real or not. Large businesses such as American airlines have laid off over one hundred thousand in a few days , Canada and many other countries have followed. Economics and the failing Canadian dollars had suggested for sometime that we were sliding into a recession. The disaster in New York city has increased the prediction date of this recession to happen before this years end. Even now with this disaster behind us, other countries are feeling the negative chain of events that have and will continue for sometime to effected everyone around the globe. No one has escaped this unthinkable act of the unthinkable. So where do we go from here?

I hope that your answer is forward as is mine. As we stand stronger together we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. We hold the hands of the person beside us. In numbers we are strong and we will move ahead. We will arise a stronger nation, and a stronger people. A people of all color and races and of many nations we will stand strong. To many of my close American friends who I had embraced in this time of need, comfort and support, we stand stronger together as one. We will triumph to victory over our enemies and one day soon our children and their children will have a safer place once again to live.

Up till now the market has been a blessing for you and I the consumer. Faster computers with refined technology and a cost acceptable to the buyer. The time of abundance may not last the years end. We are heading for a recession, but this is not the worst of it. The worst of it is that thousands upon thousands of people are being laid off right now. Their is no money circulating to create a stronger economy. No money in the system creates no need for new research in the computer industry since no one is buying. Prices may fall but who has the money to spend.

I remember our last recession in Canada people only bought what they needed. Only necessities were bought such as food, clothing and shelter / rent. Christmas was a bad time for retail because money did not trade hands as quickly as it had when the economy was good. When there is a good economy more people buy on impulse rather than need. In a recession we buy out of need only, the rest is a luxury that can wait for another day.

There has never been a better time to buy than right now and this is not the first time that I have said this. The computer merchandise that is on shelves in your favorite computer store today will likely be the same inventory around Christmas time. If your computer is less than two year old buy more RAM if you can it is inexpensive and it is a good value. If your computer is older than four years or is one of the first Pentium, upgrading would now be a good idea before prices go up.

Some very important notes to keep in mind when you do purchase that best buy computer. Make sure that there are at least two USB ports. USB is the latest and faster than a parallel port. USB is used to hook up hardware such as: a scanner, printer, monitor, key board and mouse, zip drive or super drive, a digital camera, or DV camcorder, a CD- R burner, and so much more.

If you are interested in trying your hands at editing DV digital than you will want at least two firewire ports as well. Either a 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm hard drive is good. Faster is always better especially if you want to do video editing. But if you only have to pay a few dollars more get the largest hard drive or drives you can afford. The most frequent complain after you buy a computer is "I need a bigger hard drive. " So make sure that you have at least one more front expansion bay and a few PCI slots in the back of the computer. The expansion is good to have just in case you decide to expand in the future.

If you want to do a lot of graphic Photoshop type work or play hi teck games, than get a fast video card with 16 or more RAM or an expansion bay for an upgrade video card.

Also make sure that this computers RAM can hold at least 512 K of Ram. Some computers such as Apples G4 can accommodate up to 1.5 GB or three 512 K RAM chips.

If you are looking to create your own music cd disc now is the time to buy that burner that you have been holding off to do. The burners are fast and the software excellent. Some of the newer firewire cd burners are so fast that 5 minutes is now a fact.

DVD burners are still in thier infant stage and their cost are over the one thousand dollar mark. The consumer can burn a complete disc at a top speeds of 2 x. The double side single blank disc is still between 30 and 60 dollars Canadian in comparison to under one dollar for a CD-RW disc. The software in its second year for the consumer gets better as each year goes by. However, at the consumer level this technology is still new and in development. Commercial DVD burners are in the cost of tens of thousands and are just to expensive for the home office or weekend business person out doing a bridal shoot or something like that. The cost of the shoot would out weigh your profits.

Monitors are still your best buy especially size of 17 inch CRT selling for under four hundred dollars. Four years ago I paid over one thousand dollars for this size and luxury. Even a nineteen inch CRT screen can be yours for under the one thousand dollar mark. Flat screens, run cooler to the touch, and they are almost focus free. However price still needs to come down on screen sizes over 15 inches to make it worth owning one.

We need to keep our economy alive and the only way is to circulate currency. We have known for some time that the best time to buy is right now. If prices go down you will still be buying todays technology. You may even be buying water down technology in order for the company to make a small profit. They say you get what you pay for and it is rather good quality right now. So if you need to upgrade now is a good time, it is not like giving blood but it does help your countries economy to grow and stay strong.