Boo!

It's ghost and goblin time again. Please go to houses where you know the people or use the mall. If you have little ones please, please don't let them out alone. Stay out of streets (well, duh!) and be polite. Say thank you. Here's a hint; a whole shopping cart of toilet paper is a dead give away and your face will probably be remembered. Please also remember that I sleep with my windows open on Halloween night. If I don't see you before Halloween go ahead and eat all that chocolate without me!

"There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls."
-George Carlin

Square Peg and Round Hole

It seems part of the posting problem here is cured. This is VERY frustrating and time consuming. If I do have to move this site the greatest effort will be made to leave a redirect addy here. Really hate that this is happening. Definition of technology: Collaboration of transistors and ICs that works some of the time, almost works part of the time and doesn't work when most needed. Hopefully, issues will be resolved in the next 24 hours. Your patience is appreciated.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."
-Richard P. Feynman

!?!?!?

Test 1 2 3 4. Past few days have seen problems with publishing to Blogger. They are changing some stuff and it may be time to move to another host. I hope not. With only a few exceptions, their hosting has been a nice experience. We will see.

And the Rain Came

It has rained all day. Rained all day yesterday. The new module for Guild Wars arrived and is installed. Now we wait for the weekend to get into some gameplay. My 2000 units a day of vitamnin C may be warding off a cold. Being sick sucks. It's been one malady after another the past few weeks. Wait...I feel a whine fest in the making. Will sign off and avoid that! Later.

"Man's heart away from nature becomes hard."
-Standing Bear

Rain's a Coming

The short evening nap turned into a long one, lol. Rain will be here tomorrow and slow things down a bit. Why do all the crazies come out in traffic during bad weather? Guild Wars Nightfall should arrive during the work day and my note to the driver which gives him signede permission to leave it is made and on the door. This one is so neat because it is a gift. It will also have a Guild Wars T-Shirt. Kewl threads Rock! Later.

"There are many in this old world of ours who hold that things break about even for all of us. I have observed for example that we all get the same amount of ice. The rich get it in the summertime and the poor get it in the winter."
-Bat Masterson

Browsing Thru the Day

After a long wait and several attempts, Firefox 2.0 downloaded via FTP. When installed it didn't want me to delete the 3 extra icons it placed on the desktop, but there was no victory in this glitch. It readily took the noia extreme and adblock extensions without any problems. Now we wait and see. Also downloaded SeaMonkey 1.05 to my laptop without a hitch. This is another Mozilla browser that had to be downloaded because of the name, lol. It reminds me of the original Mozilla browser more than Firefox. Haven't even bothered with IE7. Just not that much of a Windows Nazi anymore.

"An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it."(Mahatma was a heavy dude, huh?)
-Mahatma Gandhi

Firefox 2.0 Premiers Tomorrow

You know the stomach virus going around? Well, it's at the beach house. That's all that needs to be said because having this mess is downright gross. After suffering with a backache for several days it felt good to get up Saturday morning and actually do some laundry. That changed later in the day. Seems I am falling apart, lol. Thank goodness there's a doctor's appointment this week.

Firefox 2.0, a major revision, will be released tomorrow. If you haven't tried this super browser and are still tied to the popup plagued Internet Explorer it's time to switch. You can read about this update at TimesOnline. Another browser that is based on the Firefox engine is Flock. It is also used at the beach house. As a matter of fact, it's in use now. Stop your popup blues and get with the program.

"I learned a long time ago that minor surgery is when they do the operation on someone else, not you."
-Bill Walton

Shamed Scout

Some of the lowest bastards and bitches on earth are the RIAA and The MPAA. If upsetting old fashioned, common-sense values might anger you it might be a good idea if you don't read TehcDirt's article about how the MPAA is sponsoring a merit badge for the Boy Scouts of America which encourages them to act like Hitler's Youth Corp and turn in Mommy and Daddy if the are suspicious about them downloading.

Low, low scum and I am talking about the leaders of the BSA. If I had a child in this organization, removal from such Nazis couldn't be quick enough. The Scoutmaster might get a can of whupass opened on him as well. This info can be found all over the internet, but TechDirt's article is brief, intelligent and direct. It makes me ashamed that I was once a member of this organization.

Let's shoot for positive news tomorrow. It's so tiring to follow these jerks whose sole purpose in life is to make the consuming public miserable.

"Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight."
-Phyllis Diller

Downright Good Link

A good friend, EdC from Texas, emails on occasion and has some interesting links. He has been quoted on this site several times and is just an all around kewl, extremely intelligent dude. Recently he sent a link that is spectacular, Drill. Be sure and hang around for the whole video (it's really not that long but the line that goes across the bottom streams across several times), it should amaze and astound you. Turn on the sound. Makes me proud to be an American.

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."
-Confucius

Shock the Monkey, Animal Rights Song or a Tune About Jealousy?

After spending most of yesterday in a Flexiril stupor it is nice to arise from sitting position even at a slow speed. Appreciate everyone understanding and letting me rearrange the schedule to accommodate my wimpiness. Really don't know if the drug actually "relaxes" muscles or just knocks one out and the immobility gives the tissue time to recoup. Suspect the latter, lol.

On October 31st Blogger is changing the way accounts are handled. It may not be a big deal, but this site needs an overhaul anyway. So there will be construction for a few weeks. Shouldn't be any down time so please keep reading. Encourage other to come here too. Use the comments and recommend changes. Possibly finishing the online tutorials for installing protection software can be completed as well. That's only 2 years overdue.

Peter Gabriel has been a fav at the beach house for many years. He is participating with other artists in a project where you download one of his songs and remix it. This is kewl. Mr. Gabriel is a huge supporter of music downloads. Remember folks, download your music and pay for it. Don't buy CDs. If you do then you are supporting the RIAA and they need to die...as an entity. They are EVIL. Anyway take a look over at BusinessWeek.com. Be sure and click on competition to see the video and listen to the winners of the recent contest if you visit Real World Remixed. Also, thanks goes out to Slashdot for the links.

Answer to the question in the title? It has been embraced by Animal Rights groups as an anthem as well, but Peter said it is a song about jealousy.

"If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much."
-Mark Twain

More Absurd Goofiness

This is ridiculous. This is so stupid it's almost beyond comprehension. There are some baboons (AKA politicians, dirtbags, fools, etc.) that want to tax items acquired in online gaming. Gee, does this mean I can spend my Monopoly money at the department store? Hey, you blithering idiots!!!!!!!! It's ALL zeros and ones!!!! You know, binary code!!! Wait, you probably don't know. Gosh these folks need something to do with their lives! Read about this foolishness at TechDirt.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein

Goofy is as Goofy Does

Coupla' days ago I linked Weird Al's 'White and Nerdy'. In the post it was mentioned that MC Hammer's 'Can't Touch This' was the only other rap song tolerated at the beach house. Well, Cowboy Troy's 'I Play Chicken With the Train' is okay too. Why mention all this? It is my considered opinion that these guys thought out the lyrics, politely considered their listening audience, and entertained many folks.

You can rap your life away if you want, but to me it's just not music. Usually it is a vulgar spewing of simplistic rhyme pertaining to violence and filled with mean spirited racial slurs. Let's face it, I don't want my children and your children idolizing violence and ignorance. The life they spare may be my own or possibly their own maybe even YOUR own..

You can shout and fuss trying to justify drivel but my mind is made up. You want to hear music then listen to Mozart (anything without the singing), or Miles Davis, John Mayer, Corrine Bailey Rae, Van Morrison, Phil Perry, Mindi Abair, etc. Must stop this list because it can grow long and eclectic.

Can you imagine Cyndi Lauper shooting Mick Jagger? Or Elton john cappin' the drummer of Better Than Ezra? How about a knife fight between Cher and Rod Stewart? Can you imagine the Temptations and the Drifters in a dustup? Getting the point? This article Rapper Fabolous Shot In Manhattan is sad in many ways. It is good they arrested him as well as rushing him to the hospital. He's in stable condition. While recovering, any chance someone can get him a spelling primer?

Sean "Diddy" Combs appeared on David Letterman a few nights ago very well dressed and speaking in a positive, progressive manner. Snoop Dog has started a youth football league. Two people that are changing their image and leaning towards the light side of the force. The world needs more examples like these guys. We certainly don't need America's youth emulating "gangstas."

In closing, let me just say that this is NOT a forum. If you don't agree then use the comments and tell me why. Try to do it without profanity if possible. Later.

"Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet."
-Dave Barry

So You Wanna Be a Warrior, or Ranger, or Monk, or Mage?

This is a short post to answer an inquiry about different character builds in Guild Wars. First, try GuildWiki. This is probably the best site for GW participants on the net. It has loads of info about the game. Might help a new or potential player too. Second, go to Guild Wars Guru Build Directory. Then check their homepage. This is a nice site that is pretty and well maintained. Later.

"It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf."
-H. L. Mencken

Laid Back

Sunday has been nice. One PC is on the bench and not playing nice, but everything seems to be casual. Watched some TV, listened to new music, ate some kewl food, went grocery shopping, sat in the swing on the veranda enjoying the weather, put off mowing the yard since rain is due tomorrow, remoted in to several networks and updated protection software, and ended this day enjoying a great session of GuildWars with family and friends. Tomorrow is a return to the normal missions impossible. Now for a nice round of sleep. Later.

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." -George Moore

Watt's in a Name?

Suggestion from a fellow tech, "Please tell us about wattage in power supplies." My immediate response is buy the largest power supply made by a a good manufacturer like Antec. There's more to it than that though. Here it's entirely possible for me to muck through an analogy concerning the properties of electricity and their similarity to the flow of water through plumbing, but others have done this before me. Let's leave that to the experts.

Try JourneySystems. This is a power supply calculator. It doesn't list the latest greatest devices available, but is still a pretty good tool. How Stuff Works has a list of the average power used by each device in a PC. If you want a bit more detail try Direction.org. For a VERY detailed explanation of wattage try this "definition" at Wikipedia. The water flow analogy? Again, take a look at How Stuff Works.

watt--
A unit of power. A watt is a measure of how much power a device uses when turned on, or how much power a device can supply. A watt is a watt. There is no such thing as "watts per hour", or "watts per day". If a something uses 120 watts, that measure of 120 watts is the voltage times the amps. If it pulls 10 amps at 12 volts, or 1 amp at 120 volts, either situation is still 120 watts. One watt is equal to one ampere of current under the pressure of one volt; therefore, it is obvious to the most casual observer that YOUR computer needs at least a 150 watt power supply! Right. (What?) For those that want to know, the formula for power is P=IxE. In corporate America, it is become the President or it is "Who has the fastest computer?" and "Who can I step on next?".
watthour--
An amount of energy used to continuously supply power to an electric circuit for one hour. For example, a lamp rated at 100 watts that was on for 3 hours would consume 300 watts of power.
-CSGNetwork

A Great Laugh

It's late, I am tired and the bed is calling. Mudslingr sent a link to a video that has had me rolling on the floor for 5 minutes. Take a look and see if it hits your funnybone - White and Nerdy. Finally there is one rap song that I like besides 'Can't Touch This'. Be sure and have the sound on!

"I want to rock the gypsy soul in your heart."
-Van Morrison

AKA UPS or UPC

Battery backup? Yes, you need it. On every machine including routers, switches. These devices are extremely low cost self maintenance that can reduce the chance of computer woes. Is your present one making weird noises? Throw it out and get a new one (EDIT: or take advantage of the great tip in comment #1 below). Life expectancy is around 18-24 months. If you get more than this then consider it a cyber bonus. Yes, batteries can be purchased, but concerning the typical unit it is ususally more economical to replace the whole unit. BE SURE and DO NOT plug a printer into the actual battery powered backup side. Printing devices pull huge amounts of amperage and can shut the unit down creating a crash. Where do you get them?
That's easy:

WalMart

OfficeMax

Staples

CircuitCity

BestBuy

Just click on one of the above links and choose the device that suits your budget, needs, etc. Don't buy a wimpy power strip. Do buy something that has some weight; that means batteries inside. If you leave your PC unattended for lengths of time be sure and install the software supplied. This will close all programs properly and do a clean shut down. Please please abide my plea. This is so very important. Test them on occasion. How much should you spend? Start somewhere in the 40 bucks range. Now do it!


"To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself."
-Soren Kierkegaard

More Than 24

Updated your PC lately? You know, that icon that keeps flashing in the bottom right corner of the screen? Don't think it's necessary? Just an annoyance that you ignore? Yesterday was "patch" Tuesday, the day that Microsoft issues "fixes." Please go read the article at Computerworld titled Microsoft rolls out fixes for more than two dozen flaws.

Here's the deal; you don't update then virus infections, spyware and other baddies will most likely jump on your computer. After an extended period of quiet, virus infections have come roaring back. Don't take chances. If you own a business and can't get a grip on this procedure hire a professional. It's much easier to pay a small fee per month than to spend mucho moola for removal. Protect Thyself!!

"Precaution is better than cure."
-Edward Coke

The News is Out...Mebbe, Sorta, Kinda

Tech news is slow today. The media is still reporting on the Windows Vista hoopla mentioned in yesterday's post. On other fronts it looks like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have buried the hatchet and made up. Tim Allen remarried. His second go. She'll laugh a lot I think. He's a funny dude. Brangelina is somewhere in Asia shooting something. Somebody dug up a giant camel fossil in Syria. Hollywood Bitchslap didn't like Employee of the Month. One of the comments really dissed Jessica Simpson. A new bird species has been discovered in Columbia by some people from England. Wonder if they'll name it the cartelomo? Like I said, not much tech news swirling. Well, there is that camel thangy n I guess the bird thangy too.

"While you are destroying your mind watching the worthless, brain-rotting drivel on TV, we on the Internet are exchanging, freely and openly, the most uninhibited, intimate and, yes, shocking details about our config.sys settings."
-Dave Barry

You Probably Need to Stock Up on "Windex"

Noises are being made about Windows Vista being released. Here's a desktop photo. Look familiar?



Back in the day we anxiously awaited the arrival of Windows 2000 which superceded Windows 98SE. Great improvement. XP? Hey a glorified 2000 with a nice GUI and a better driver database. Several hundred "patches" later the Pro version is a pretty nice OS. Home still sucks because of the networking problems. Can we say multiple password entries? Thank goodness they released the XP Media Center after all the "patches" and so far it seems okay. Wow, three versions of XP. What a nightmare, especially in the beginning with just two!

According to the latest stats, five versions of Vista will exist. Can we say the dreadnought of nightmares? Seems that Microsoft is really pushing Vista at the business community, which has been hesitant to upgrade from 2000 to XP. Remember that old adage, 'don't fix it if'n it ain't broke'? This has me worried. Computerworld (where I lifted the above desktop pix) has a good article. Several hundred "patches" later Microsoft may try the strongarm approach and force Vista upgrades by killing support for other operating systems. I hope not. Their credibility is shaky at best without such tactics.

In closing let me state two things:

Yes Apple Nazis, the desktop does remind me of OSX. No doubt.

Yes Windows Nazis, still better a Gates/Microsoft world than a Jobs/Apple one...

"Turn your wounds into wisdom."
-Oprah Winfrey

64%? Kewl...

Here's an interesting statistic; 64% of Online Gamers are Women. After spending some time in Guild Wars, this is both refreshing and disturbing. Nice to see women in the game, but are they the rude and profane ones? I think not. Seems an online game may reflect a segment of society that has its share of the crass, crude, vulgar and inconsiderate. Guarantee you the Kudzu Dragons and their friends are a polite bunch unless demeaned. Anyway, that's a tangent for another time. The above linked article from 1up.com is brief and well written.

"Men who don't like girls with brains don't like girls."
-Mignon McLaughlin

Awesome Anti-Spyware Tool

Great news in battle against the malware, thiefware, spyware, etc., baddies. AVG's parent company has obtained Ewido, a super utility. It can be downloaded at Ewido. Don't let the AVG logo and look fool you. This is the same great tool with some improvements. I highly recommend this application. It reverts to the basic form after 30 days which is still a good utility, but my advice is to purchase the full version. This will keep all the jerks away. Kudos to Grisoft for a great acquisition!

"A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion."
-Washington Irving, adapted from a verse in the Bible

Soothing the Savage Beast

Received an email asking about what format is best for sound files. eHow has a basic primer that will get you headed in the right direction called How to Decide on a Format in Which to Save Windows Sound Files.

The type of "player" you have installed makes a difference. If you use an iPod then you are very limited concerning format. iPods are "cute" yet the sound quality is average. Apple's history of durability and service with these devices is very low. The Creative Zens are very flexible and can utilize many varieties of format. They are noted for good service too.

Some people like the Real Player software, but their history of spyware usage and the AOL-like clinging on when trying to uninstall still lingers in the back of my mind. Good people report they are much better now and that Rhapsody is a great online music service. Another great application is JetAudio.

Many players and applications exist so do your research. Hope this helps.

"He who sings scares away his woes."
-Cervantes

Art of Giving

Needing a gift for the geek in your life? Check out Top Ten Geek Wallets. The dot matrix one is weird kewl. Thanks out to Slashdot for the link!

Or how about a binary watch? These are kewl. Talking about being a hit at a LAN party, Wow! Here's a square one at ThinkGeek. They also feature a stainless steel version and a round one. Take a look around.

Allrighty now! Here's an item that no geek should be without; Blue LED Faucet Light. Again, this is featured at ThinkGeek. They also have the best T-Shirts on the web!

Shoppin, shoppin. It's late, my ironing is NOT done and the spray starch won't spray. Nighters.

"Don't let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case."
-LawKim (Thanks for a great quote!)

Interesting List

My friend EdC, the great Texas philosopher, brought to my attention a great article at PCWorld; The 25 Worst Web Sites. There's the list and a drop down bar where you can read a brief description of each site. They sure nailed some of them, but left out a few like the evil Yahoo. Check it out, you may be amazed at what is #1.

Late and Flexiril is nudging me towards bed. Backaches suck. Manana.

"Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all."
-Alexander the Great

Homing Beacon for Aircraft? Or Another LAN Party at the Beach House?

Nice group of folks gathered at the beach house last night to do things geekified. Super to visit with old friends and great to meet new ones. We not only played mega amounts of GuildWars, but a marathon game of Trivial Pursuit happened too. The food was very LaborDay-ish, consisting of dogs, burgers, chips and refreshing beverages. Several of our friends remoted in by computer and laughter dominated the evening. And hardware! Wow! Uber, Uber! Geeks love the whamma jamma PCs. All the computers that showed up were max! If the lights had been turned off I think you still could have seen the bluish-greenish glow from the beach house for miles around! While gazing around at the festivities the thought crossed my mind, "There are nice, polite, intelligent people left in this world."

Thanks to everyone for their tremendous efforts. Good Lord knows I couldn't have done it without ya! Ya'll ALL da bomb!

"The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend."
-Aristotle