Today's forecast called for pain

It was stormy Monday all day. It rained, seems everything I touched went from tarfu to fubar. Now it's late and I am so looking forward to Tuesday. Just checked email and the news for the first time today . Wednesday will be Dan Rather's final broadcast and I hope he stays in retirement. Liberals suck.

Watching the old black and white version of Cleopatra with Claudette Colbert. Sleep is not too far off. Good evening and have a pleasant tomorrow.

"There's small choice in rotten apples."
-Shakespeare
The Taming of the Shrew. Act i. Sc. 1.

An early St. Patrick's Day gift

Sometimes treasures show up at the most unexpected times. When 7:00PM rolled around last night it was time to sleep. Upon awakening in the middle of the night the TV was on PBS and a show called Celtic Woman had just begun. A few songs later I heard a moving rendition of Danny Boy. This is possibly the best this song has ever been done. After seeing everyone in the audience singing along in silence I knew this had to be recorded in Ireland. Yep, Dublin. Of course there was the normal hounding for money as is often seen on "socialist" TV, but what followed was a sheer delight to the eye and the ear.

Five Irish women combined their talents to fill my soul with great joy. Four sang and one played violin. ALL are lookers and it's really hard to say which one is the most talented. A grand orchestra and choir accompany. They are directed by composer David Downes. This is on your local PBS station this month. Don't miss it. Stay through the money solicitations too. They interview each of the women during these intermissions. Two redheads and three blondes that are nightingales. Meav, Mairead, Lisa, Orla and Chloe are their names. Chloe is only 15!

Whenever Mairead plays the violin pay attention. This gorgeous child is a former All-Ireland fiddle champion and has accompanied Van Morrison. LOTR fans, their cover of May It Be is wonderful. They had only five weeks to prepare for this concert, but the harmonies sound as if they'd been singing together all their lives. If you like music and the female voice then tune in, sit back, turn the volume up and indulge in rich, vibrant tunes. Let your spirit soar. Take a look at CelticWomanShow for a photo of these beautiful women. They appear left to right in the order listed above.

"The most beautiful music of all is the music of what happens."
-Irish proverb

That's not a worm in that Apple, it's a snake!

Martha's home. They'll strap the bracelet on her for five months starting Monday. Until then she can wander around the mansion grounds, pet the horses, pick lemons and such. Wow, how will she ever make 5 days a week restricted to the mansion and for a whole five months!?!? Hey, at the beach house that'd be called a vacation! Read about it at the Chicago Daily Herald.

Let's see, have I ever mentioned that Steve Jobs and Apple suck? Read about it at CNETNews.

"Did you know that the Church of Satan uses Apple computers? 'Nuff said."
-Billy Wobblynife (Wonder if Jobs attends regularly?)

War of routers, I stand corrected

Does anyone have any experience with Netgear wireless routers (WGR614)? What gives? Did they take the Linksys wireless routers as example and decide to build just the opposite as far as friendly configuration? Linksys is straightforward, the instructions match the device, and they are easy to configure. Belkin also makes a straightforward wireless router as does DLink. Since I've seen Netgear in action and noticed the huge difference in range, three units have been purchased. Up almost all night, twisted it every way but loose and about damned disgusted. The addy is listed as one thing on the router label, then it's something different in the instructions. These may have to go back on the shelf and be replaced with Linksys units.

Just hope their techs speak English. I WILL talk to them. If I get some pidgin English jerk reading from a script, it will be return counter time. Sheesh!
Edit: Earlier today a post was made asking that the Netgear people forgive me for my impatience. It didn't make the trip up to the site so I am again saying -> my lack of sleep and frustration made for statements that are not correct. Netgear emailed me with solutions and the router situation is much better. Being human, it is necessary for me to apologize. I am sorry, Netgear rocks! Thanks Sam for the info and the stuff works! Please excuse my idiotic attitude.

"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."
Skinner, Burrhus Frederic

"Tech" help

"Allo, my name is Bahboo, how can I help you?"

"My Hewlett Packard Pavilion 2001 won't let me connect to the internet when it is plugged into a battery backup unit."

"For I am most sorry you are having this problem with your Dell, when and where did you make your purchase?"

"It's not a Dell, it's a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion 2001. Have I reached the Dell service center by mistake?"

"Oh, no, no, no sahib. You are talking to the Hewlett Packard service center and I must say to you we are award winning. Now how can I help you with your Dell?"

"It's not a Dell, anyway, it just won't connect to the internet while plugged into the battery backup."

"Have you tried swapping the mouse and keyboard cables?"

"No, why would I do that?"

"I have no idea why you did that. Excuse me now, my elephant is double parked and I must go. Good luck with your Dell."

Ever had this experience? Chances are, you will.

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Proverbs 25:11

Does the Queen run XP Home or XP Pro?

Billy Gates is keeping pretty good company. He received an honorary knighthood from the Queen of England. He will join the ranks of such notables as Reverend Billy Graham, former President George Herbert Bush, Steven Spielberg and former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani. Wonder if she keeps track of the crown jewels with Microsoft Excel or Access? Is she an IE or Firefox person? My money says Firefox. Read about it at BBC News.

The jerks at iDownload have been told to kiss off by at least one web entity that received a cease and desist notice that specified they did not want to be called spyware. Hey, iDownload you are not only spyware, but malware, dungware and a bunch of goobers that need to be thrown off the planet. What's next? Will we legalize Nazism? Bring back witch burning? The fact that spyware cretins exist as businesses is a horror! Read about it at CastleCops.

Two phone calls have been received this morning and the day is growing longer. Must go find my casual suit and wear it. Peace out.

"Look, it's my duty as a knight to sample as much peril as I can."
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail

IMHO = In my humble opinion

Don't you just hate it when someone has a pertinent piece of news and in order to view it you have to sign up and join in, exposing your net identity to yet another list that is possibly going to be used by nefarious types? A good friend sent an article about the aging of Windows and MacIntosh operating systems that was informative though not always precise. It was from Yahoo, a known bed of spyware. Claria, the dungheads (IMHO) that bring you Gator, Weatherbug, Precision Time and other spyware, adware, malware laced drivel (IMHO), proudly proclaims on their homepage that 31% of their income is generated by Yahoo. So, IMHO, Yahoo is a cyberwhore that is constantly trying to infect your PC with malware. Folks, IMHO, these people are evil!

While reading the article it was discovered that the Washington Post originated the story and they require a subscription. Okay, exactly why does the Washington Post want info about me? Yes, I do have several anonymous web "ids" and could use one of those. Do you? If you don't go over to the Yahoo and create several without giving them any real information and don't check ANY boxes. IMHO, they deserve the extra load. As a matter of fact go ahead and create 5 or 10. Screw Yahoo and the Washington Post...IMHO of course.

You can go to the DenverPost.com and read a good article about computer security. If you are easily frightened please take your anti-anxiety meds before reading this expose, especially if you are one of those people that never update anything, anytime, anywhere. Thanks to Slashdot for the heads up on a very informative article from a source (Denver Post) that is proud to let one browse their daily journalistic ventures.

Spyware is a Netizen's worst enemy. Please understand, that's IMHO.

"Live so that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
-Will Rogers

Hey Bill, I'll loan you my Windex

If you use XP you need to read Microsoft restricts online activation posted at ArsTechnica this past Friday. I say again; this is detrimental to the computers users of the world and it certainly does not promote Microsoft integrity either. The Redmond gang thinks it can create more profit by withholding critical updates from people that have intentional and unintentional pirated copies of their software. This is a circus maximus. Malware will run rampant through the Windows computing community. Hate that this has become such a travesty for Microsoft, but, let's see, who created the problem?

Don't you hope that the newer version of Windows (codename Longhorn), due to be released in 2006, is a better written product? Everyday that passes people are finding FreeBSD, Linux and other alternative operating systems. Want FreeBSD? Go to freebsd.org and download it. Not only is Linux SuSE 9.2 slick, the Office suite INCLUDED is pretty awesome. This is a free download too! Microsoft wants to inconvenience you further by making you telephone them? C'mon, even the baboon boardrooms can understand why this is a problem!

"A computer terminal is not some clunky old television with a typewriter in front of it. It is an interface where the mind and body can connect with the universe and move bits of it about."
-Douglas Adams

Alternative animal control and operating systems

The evil thing that lives in the garage is back. Yesterday, while gathering trash it could be heard growling. Am thinking about trying to contract that herd of possums that was seen turning over a car two blocks over as 'hitpossums' (genus opossumus clamsaucesicus berettamus). If they are related to the local opossumus germanicus austriabodicus that uses the front yard oak tree as a vacation home, the critter in the garage doesn't stand a chance. You just don't mess with a possum that sports a 'Mom' tattoo. Yes, Dr. John, I am off the pain medication.

Google's Gmail service is down! First time a problem has been encountered with this wonderful, dependable email client. After all, it is designed and maintained by humans so some type of failure is to be expected. It can't be that bad a problem because Thunderbird just downloaded my unread emails. Rock on, Google.

Oh well, guess I'll wander back to the kitchen and do late breakfast then get busy. Cloudy and overcast here, but the day can be bright in spite of dull weather. After work finishes it's popcorn and movie time! There's always front row center seats at the beach house. Congrats goes out to Mudslingr and Beagle for a successful Linux SuSE installation. FreeBSD is just around the corner!

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."
-Tolkein

Please use the comments and flame on, my Apple nazis

If Steve Jobs ever, from some unGodly reason, shows up at the beach house I will bitch slap him right off the veranda and then kick his sorry butt all the way to the street. Can I please get a break from all the talk about the iPod? People! People! People! At best, this is a good mid-fi device. There are several more manufacturers making superior devices and not asking as much money.

One thing about Apple you can say is that they continue along the same line as far as making mid-fi technology and asking too much money. Their computers are not bad if you don't mind pay exorbitant prices for 2 year old technology. If you want to spend too much money, buy an average "MP3" sound device and be tied to iTunes for your downloads, please rush out and purchase one of the silly things. And yes, Applenazis, a Macmini purchase is being considered. It will be easier for me to part you from your money if I know the Apple operating system which they ripped off from FreeBSD.

Just did a Google search for Zen vs. iPod and got 121,000 hits. The few articles I read favor the Zen because of easy usage, dependability and sound quality. The final word? Never did like apple pie and may swear it off permanently.

"The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people."
-Lucille S. Harper

To sleep, perchance to dream

End of the month finds me rambling most of the night. Thank goodness it's Friday - only two more days of work this week. In three weeks there will be a trip to the Key Christmas tree farm for a few days of well deserved rest. Be great to see some life long friends that I have missed.

My Linux/Unix brothers seem to like triple booting. Thank you. That machine is just about wrapped up and will be returned to its network in the morning. Now that it's working properly, mine is next. Going to wait a few days before starting this surgery, two drives will be added.

Time to rest. Stay casual.

"When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, 'Did you sleep good?' I said 'No, I made a few mistakes.'"
-Steven Wright

Top Fuel Machine

When a plan works, sheer delight overwhelms me. After some discussion, cursing of hardware, vudu incantations, and consideration of purchasing a fully automatic weapon a fellow tech and I have taken his machine to a new height. Red Dragon owns a Dual AMD CPU - Gigabyte motherboard, one gig of screaming fast RAM, 320 gigs of hard drive, extreme mojo Radeon video card, Audigy 2 Platinum sound card and all of this is encased in a kickass custom Antec case supermodified by the Dragon which has a light show that equals the Stone Mountain thingy.

After deciding to take the hard drive space to 320 gigs from 240 we started talking about what to do with the space. RD had W2K, XP and we downloaded Linux. Yep, that's right. Three different operating systems on one PC. This was a clean install. The drive was partitioned from the getgo. Nice to be involved in the rebuild of a "big block" PC. There are fans spinning and whirring everywhere. This thing develops so much air pressure it'll suck the butt right off the cat if it gets too close. RD humbly refers to it as his desktop machine.

While booting, a utility called GRUB lists the different operating systems and you pick the one you want to use. Windows 2000 is so stable and familiar it had to be included. XP Pro is the latest greatest Windows version so it was installed as well. Linux SuSE 9.1 is an easy to install and configure flavor of Linux that rocks! FYI, Linux backgrounds are prettier than Windows so it is the default OS. Lot of scientific type study went into this decision. Now we just have to find a way to do the FreeBSD thang, LOL.

Sometimes I really do love my work.

"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want."
-Ben Stein

Buffett, blenders, bananas and beasties

My garage looks like rabid pigs live in it. It smells. Efforts to gain an advantage on whatever lives out there keeping the area in disarray have been to no avail. While working on the door opener unit my brief glimpse of the mess was downright depressing. I NEEDED another refreshing beverage. The door still won't do the electrical up/down thing.

This year there will be cookouts, lan parties, general carousing, much Buffett celebration and casual lounging under the stars. MC may have had 'hammertime', but the beach house has 'hammocktime'. Does anyone know where some of those neat I Dream of Jeanie pants can be purchased? We are talking about using crushed rock and stone for the patio area and may even get the roof up this year. Shoot, the roofing stuff has been in the shed for two years.

Banana plants are needed. Yes, and let's get Mastodon Ears, why fool with the Elephant variety? How about some parrots and monkeys? Yes! And to balance things out a humongus walrus in honor of the Beatles!! We can name him GooGooGaJoob or Bob. Yes! Yes!! Exotic animals at the beach house! I like it! Bet Jacko would let go of that neverneverland giraffe for a paltry amount. Lord knows he's gonna' need some coinage. We can capture those garage pigs, roast them up Emeril style on the grill and have cajun ribs! BAM! Kick it up a notch! Oops, too much Barq's Root Beer. That sugar; it's a helluva' a drug...

Must go get coffee and check on the opossumus germanicus austriabodicus that is moving my garbage to the curb. What is he doing with my trashcan? Please wait, BRB. Oh yeah, that tattoo on his possum arm is definitely 'Mom'. Just verified that while wrestling the can away from him. Hiss, hiss to you too, Arnold!

"Now is the time for all good men to come to."
-Pogo

A tape deck is attacking and I can't get up

It feels like Jerry Lawler and George Foreman have spent the past three days and nights taking turns slamming me on the mat, punching my lights out, etc. Please, please, please don't buy tape drives for backups. After a check at several local retail businesses, it has been found that USB hard drives are less expensive than tape drives. These easy to install hard drives are a far more dependable way to preserve your valuable data. Easier to use too. Purchase a pair. That way you can always have a secure backup offsight in case of fire, theft, etc. Backing up data should be a law. Prayers will be appreciated.

One more item -> I support Free Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad Day.

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all."
-Vince Lombardi

The Gonzo Journalist has left the building

Hunter Thompson is dead. He took his life in the same way one of his heroes, Ernest Hemingway, did: Death by shotgun. Being a conservative it may suprise some of you that there are actually books at the beach house by Thompson. He made me laugh. The 'Fear and Loathing' movie was extremely strange and funny. Bill Murray was the lead in 'Where the Buffalo Roam', also a good movie based on Hunter's adventures, and Johnny Depp was Raoul Duke in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. Most photos depicted him wearing a hat and smoking through a long cigarette holder and that theme is reflected in these two movies. Check the Rolling Stone archives.

His 'Hell's Angels' book from 1966 was written at the expense of a severe beating. Thompson was known for his liberal use of imagination and drug consumption. Not an author for the young and impressionable, but an extremely fun to read dude for those that can take all the drug hoopla and liberal rantings with a grain of salt. Thompson ran for sheriff in Pitkin County, Colorado, and lost by just a few votes after campaigning for drugs to be decriminalised and Aspen to be renamed Fat City. His Republican opponent had a crew cut, so Thompson shaved his head and often made mention of 'my long-haired opponent'.

Got a friend having a hard time? Be human, do the aid and abet thing.

"Is death the last sleep? No...it is the last and final awakening."
-Sir Walter Scott

Pass the spray starch, please

Red Dragon sent a link to a really kewl site. It's Vectorsite aka Greg Goebel/In The Public Domain. There's neat info on aircraft, space flight, computers, physics, etc. The Asimov Project is also really kewl. A nice easy to navigate page with a googol of stuff for yo' mind.

It's late, I'm tired and the ironing isn't done. Outta' here.

"My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint."
-Erma Bombeck

It walks, it talks, it slides on its belly like a penguin

Recently, there was a post here titled My name is Bill and I want you to have this copy of Mandrake. Microsoft's recent attitude about witholding security fixes thinking it will stop piracy just won't fly. Such action will only spread malware everywhere. This is bad on many levels. Looks like my opinion is shared. The girls and boys over at big blue are dropping a large chunk of change into the Linux realm. The article is at Information Week and the title is IBM Boosts Linux Desktop Efforts. The lead link about this was originally from BetaNews, but the Microsoft animated ad embedded in the middle of the article was so annoying I ditched it. Placed there on purpose? Who knows?

Ahhhh, Saturday morning. That means there's only two more afternoons to work this week. Must coffee up, collect my fuzzy thoughts and hit the techhelp boulevard for a while. Enjoy the weekend!

"If you build a better mousetrap, you will catch better mice."
-George Gobel

Of Gubenator Possums and Hitchhikers

Thanks to everyone for the nice email and comments about Arnold, who made an appearance in yesterday's post , Saltillo Flora and Fauna. There will be occasional reports and possibly some pixs, just understand that Arnold tries to run in stealth mode most of the time. He's a trip.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans - it's all over the web how Amazon.com has an exclusive trailer just out. Well, they want you to jump through hoops to see it and that just isn't nice web policy. So, if you want to see it without having to fill out registration forms, login, then do a painful search you can go to Waxy.org. It's a Quicktime clip. Dude was complaining about bandwidth problems so if I hear anything negative from the site, I'll kill the link. But try it out, you get to see Dent, Ford, Zaphod and more. Movie starts April 29th. I love these books!

Y'all try to have a better than expected day (thanks Ed Coffin for a great variation of a tired phrase).

"If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands."
-Dirk Gently

Saltillo Flora and Fauna

The weather has been pleasantly mild the past few days. My psychotic hawthorne bush is blooming. There's a huge wisteria in my front yard that has embraced a very old oak tree. Wisteria is a climbing vine that has purple-ish blooms in the spring. This one is so big my front yard looks lavender for a few days as it starts shedding.

Occasionally, a possum visits, stays a few nights, does his possum things and then disappears for a while. There's a large "woods" just to the north of me that is probably home or at least his point of origin. Seems he's plotting some type of possum takeover. He is of the genus opossumus germanicus austriabodicus. His name is Arnold.

The first time Arnold showed up, he kicked the neighbor's dog's ass, another neighbor's dog disappeared, the feral cats that prowled the ground amongst the trees became arboreal, and a herd of possums was seen trying to turn over a small car just two streets over. Arnold always flexes his muscles when cars pass by and it looks like he has a tattoo on one arm that says 'Mom'.

A friend ran into the house one evening saying she had just seen a gray pony climbing a tree in the front yard. Astonishment shone on her face. Somehow my telling her it was "just Arnold" didn't inspire any relief. Later that evening when she left I looked out the window and noticed her running to the car. She's finally answering the phone.

The other night I caught Arnold sitting in a chair on the veranda beside the grill with a pair of tongs in his lap. At first I wasn't going to bother him, but the snoring was terrible. In my best George Thorogood fashion, out the door I went. My appearance startled him and as he ran to the wisteria vine to climb the tree I think I heard him say, "ahii'll be back."

I'm worried. How did he start that fire? What was he planning to cook?

"Look alive. Here comes a buzzard."
-Pogo (aka Walt Kelly)

English??? We don't need no stinkin' English!

WARNING! WARNING! Hewlett-Packard tech support now speeky de pidgin angleesh. Yes, my favorite manufacturer of linear architecture PCs has followed the avenue travelled by most money grubbing jerks in big biz. Horror stories of customers are piling in about how they are being mistreated and basically irritated into hanging up the phone because they cannot speak Hindi. Well folks, Michael Dell and company had us doing this years ago. How does one overcome this issue? Pay extra and get your local labrat geek type to build a decent machine from scratch. Or quit bitching and accept what we have passively invited into our country. Big biz is trashing our ability to receive good service and we are the cause.

Printers become tarfu and people are online with HP for hours while their stooges in India read from scripts telling you how to resolve problems about a machine they probably have never seen much less used. A person that recently bought a Hewlett-Packard desktop had an issue with the modem not working if the unit's phone line is plugged into a battery backup. Lightning can definitely find a phone wire and tear up yo' stuff. The reason this customer is replacing his desktop is because of a lightning strike! And the no speeky angleesh people are basically trying to irritate him into hanging up after many phone calls and hours of wasted time talking to puppets that know nothing. He's mad as hell and not gonna' take it anymore. I've a feeling someone's ass at HP in the good old US will be sore when he finishes this quest to, at least, voice his outrage to someone that understands the English language. More power to you.

Next time you make a purchase find out if the service department is based in the USA. Ask if the techs are qualified and can speak intelligible English. Better yet, call the service department. Get first hand proof they are courteous and helpful. Quit supporting out of country service departments that are NOT prepared to handle their massive English speaking customer base. Get downright pissed. Enough is enough. What's your opinion?

"The first step towards wisdom is calling things by their right names."
-Ancient Chinese Proverb

Nanobots needed

Okay, I am serious. This time I mean it. No kidding around. This is cyber gospel. No, my mind won't change. When the present laptop on my bench goes out the door, my days of struggling with these devices are over. Also, when mine quits, it'll be discarded and replaced. The people that build laptops should do the service work. What amazes me is how they can get all those parts in such a small space and the device continues to work. Wow! Small, intricate devices are pushing me toward friedpie-itis. Enough! Now I need a refreshing beverage...or a room at an 'oldgeeks' home.

Saved beach house templates are being investigated to correct the ongoing "elephantitis text" problem. Construction signs are out and wear your hardhat if you visit the archives.

"When all else fails, there's always delusion."
-Conan O'Brien

Today stop and smell the flowers

After writing Blogger to inquire as to whether or not they might have an answer to the problem with text enlarging as you scroll down the page they immediately replied and said they had my question under consideration. Fighting this problem for almost two days has made my frustration evident. Having made several requests over the past years and receiving the standard answer of "not part of our realm", my haste in being critical in the last post is not fair. Hey, they provide this platform and I am grateful. Sorry about being snippy Blogger.

Steve Jobs is an idiot. Now he is spouting that all Windows users want the Mac OS X operating system on their PCs. You blithering buffoon, we have had that capability for years - it's called FreeBSD. Apple takes an open source operating system, makes it proprietary and acts like they've written the 'macdaddy' (pun intended) of all code and the less than 3% market share buyers believe this garbage. Hell, since they based it on FreeBSD it should be free! Read about it at ArsTechnica.

Considering buying an orchard product? Take a look at the article over at WiredNews. Seems that the Hollywood halfwits like Apples. This is NOT an endorsement group that I would want promoting my products. Apparently Melanie Griffith showed her butt in an Apple store demanding some weird iPod thangy. Levar Burton acted like a horse's ass as well. Shame on you Geordi. Egos abound!

Everyone have a wonderful Valentine's Day. Smell the flowers and enjoy the chocolate.

"Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius."
-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The words grow larger!

Sorry about not posting this weekend, but there is a problem with the text growing larger and the comments went crazy on Friday. As you scroll down the size of the text just grows larger. Thanks to everyone that has brought this to my attention and I have been working on it since early Friday morning when it first appeared. After a Google search it has been found several people are having this problem and no one seems to have a solution. I wrote to Blogger and hope that they don't send their standard form letter saying it's not their problem. Yes, I was working on the page when this happened, yes I did make changes, yes I've scoured the web and Blogger help files, yes I've prayed for patience, yes I know this problem is very likely my fault, etc.

"We thank God for this award."
Los Lonely Boys, 2005 Grammy Awards

My name is Bill and I want you to have this copy of Mandrake

Microsoft started offering their "own" version of spyware blocker just a few weeks ago and now there is a Trojan horse called Bankash-A that is suppressing warnings, stealing online banking files, ripping passwords and deleting parts of the program. Yes, what Microsoft really needs to do is start hassling everyone about authentication and NOT let the security fixes flow freely. Yep, that'll really help matters. Hmmmm, a company that can't even write secure applications wants to verify authenticity? Right! Like they will stop the piracy by abusing innocent people and making a general mess of a situation that is almost out of control?

What gives at the house Mr. Gates built? How long have I preached that spyware is our greatest problem? How many times has it been mentioned these malware people should be hurled into volcanoes? Billy boy, you are the best promoter of FreeBSD and Linux on the planet. It is disheartening to see a company that has done so much for the computing industry fall by the wayside. Start at the beginning and work from inside. Deal with the current problem and accept the fact that XP will never be truly secure. Don't make the same mistakes with Longhorn (new Windows flavor due out in late 2006). Write secure code and quit abusing your public by withholding security fixes and encouraging the spread of malware. Is greed so important that you will jeopardize your position as leader in the world's foremost industry? Or do you just have your control-phreaky uniform on? Read about it over at CNET News.com.

What is your opinion? Inquiring minds want to know. Send an email or use the comments.
(Edit: Yes, I know the comments are tarfu - working on it
2nd Edit: Comments are back working, sorta', mebbe', halfway...)

"Don't like Gates? What if the industry had followed Jobs instead? People would be using $5000.00 plus machines with two year old technology and have to buy all peripherals at an exorbitant price from one company - Apple."
-Ashby Rhett Culpepper III, Esq.

Smooching? No tongue, please...

It is generally known that computer techs are just not a friendly or happy bunch. Most have the personality of a rock or, at best, a tree stump. Thank the Good Lord my friends that are geeksters and nerdlings are exceptions to this dictum. It amazes me that people will put up with the growling, gnashing of teeth and foaming at the mouth that happens as some techs enter the front door spouting forth their superior knowledge about things computerese. Poor sociopaths, such a sad lot.

In defense of all technotypes let it be said that most folks do not understand how much continuing research and study goes on in the life of someone doing computer support. 100% of all technicians that I know are forever seeking knowledge. Stop for a moment and ask yourself these questions, "Do I know how to convert a FAT32 system to NTFS?" or, "How do I work around an ipconfig in DHCP that won't release and renew the current address?" Now the most important thing about these answers is that if geekmeisters don't know the answers immediately, they certainly know where to find 'em. Some growl, some wail and moan, some flop in floor and scream 'God,why me!?!?' and other such babble; then some of us smile and realize that somewhere there is a solution. When you get right down to it, high drama is just not necessary in the theater of tech support.

The next time YOU screw up YOUR PC and YOU call a tech for support please help them keep smiling. Be nice. Remember, we didn't just pass by and ask to come in and work on yo' stuff.

"Work thou not on energized equipment, for if thou dost, thy fellow workers will surely buy beers for thy widow and console her in other ways."
-7th commandment for Technicians

Mapping, processing and updating

Have you seen GoogleMaps? Be sure and use the navigation tools in the upper left hand corner of the screen. I've looked around north Mississippi and found that this neat utility really zeroes in on locations. Nice tool that is very easy to use. How is it that Google is so consistent in taking an existing format and vastly improving it? R&D? Good staff? Leadership? Pleasant work environment?

IBM, Sony and Toshiba have combined efforts and developed a new chip technology code name 'Cell'. Some are wondering if this will be the one that really rocks the Intel (or Wintel, LOL) boat. These three companies are an awesome trio. It'll be interesting to watch. Motorola and the orchard bunch sure didn't storm the Intel waters with the PowerPC a few years ago as some speculated. Maybe this trio will actually produce a product worthy of the challenge. Read about it at Wired.

Windows Critical Updates? Just downloaded 7 new ones for Windows 2000. Might be time to check your machine. If you get the message about Microsoft wanting to verify your PC for authenticity be sure and tell them to download the "fixes" without verifying anything. Sorry, even though my Windows OS is legal I just don't like the Big Brother attitude they have developed. They are jeopardizing everyone's security. Write better authenticity code and quit putting Netizens in harm's way. More on the patches over at BBC News.

"Technology is like fish. The longer it stays on the shelf, the less desirable it becomes."
- Andrew Heller, IBM

Satan's minions

Please read this article if you use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer -> NewsForge. I think it is time we gather all the cretins writing and implementing spyware then throw them into a pit that contains 10,000 rabid skunks. Yes, Satan exists. Spyware is proof there is evil in the world.

"All spirits are enslaved which serve things evil."
-Percy Bysshe Shelley

New player in da house

After reviewing several alternatives, my choice in Media Player has changed. Due to using a dual processor PC with 1 gig of very fast RAM for almost three years my complacency with Windows Media Player had closed other doors. After some torture at the beach house by a PC with much less memory my preference is changing. Thanks goes out to Beagle, Mudslingr, and West End Deli Dude for opening my eyes to Musicmatch Jukebox. This is the download location of "free" version 9 which is tailored for Windows 2000/98 users and there is a 'click here' for version 10 which is the XP flavor.

Windows Media Player is an absolute hog. The computer that is presently on the bench has had a horrible amount of CPU usage while using Windows Media Player and the client was complaining about not being able to multitask. This provoked some web research and Musicmatch Basic has been utilized. This is a much more efficient player yet the constant nagging to upgrade will worry the piss out of a bullfrog. Default settings immediately let it take over many different file types which turned out okay, but the system tray icon had to go. After going into settings and turning it off it was decided to leave the desktop icon for a launching point.

The interface is about as straightforward as it gets. You can do wonderful vudu with this application like creating playlists on the fly, recording to CD, offloading to a portable player, etc. It does has the capability to gather info from the internet about music on your computer. There are skins available that will let one customize the look. Tag and track editing are easily done as is organization of tunes. MusicMatch is by no means a new application, but it seems I've been remiss in taking a 'hard' look at a very decent alternative to Windows Media Player.

All in all, this is a nice player. If the nagging persists a way will be found to stop it. Might even give in and try the upgrade for pay version; just don't like software that utilizes popups to try and coerce. If you are looking for a media device that uses very little resources this is an alternative that should be considered. The ability to build playlists on the fly is also very neat. Sorry it has taken so long to get around to looking at this software, but better late than never...

"Music is spiritual. The music business is not."
-Van Morrison

Lower than a snake's belly

It has been mentioned here that spyware poses a greater threat to computing than virus infections. Please read Rick Broida's article at ZDNet. The Watchguard chart is very interesting. Something has to be done about these thugs.

In a related story, InformationWeek informs us about how some crooks are using spyware to exploit the recent Microsoft announcement they will ask for software verification to prevent piracy. There was a warning here three days ago about this problem! If you get anything from the "Windows XP Activation Team" please disregard it. This is an attempt by phishers to glean valuable information from you.

Here's a post from DVHardware. It's short, poignant and scary as hell. If you work for any of these creepy, slimeball spyware companies then you are sick. Get help. Start by quitting your job.

"I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed."
-Jonathan Swift

Attention, users of Windows...

Please click on Why, oh why, does Windows suck?. This was written by Caesar Fisher over at ArsTechnica and should be read by all that use Microsoft operating systems. Damn good stuff!

For the past 2 months a calendar has been sought for use in an office environment that will keep workstations informed of the schedule and prevent overlapping appointments. It will require an Apache module. Leave it up to the Mozilla people to create such a handy tool. Check it out; it's called Sunbird. Let me know what you think.

"They have computers, and they may have other weapons of mass destruction."
-Janet Reno

Worms and a part of the orchard

Yesterday it was mentioned that Microsmooze's attempt to stop piracy by denying security fixes to those rogues of the cybersea is a scary idea. Here are two new reasons why such action may prove foolhardy -> Microsoft hit by double whammy and Worm uses funny face to distract from danger. Find the evil cretins writing this stuff and throw them in a live volcano. After a few trips to the lava the rest of these jerks might see the big picture. Thank you CNET for being on top of these matters.

All you iPod users find a nice place to sit. You may want to find a commode or trash can because what I am about to tell you will probably make you sick. Napster to Go now exists. This means for 15 bucks a month you can download any, or even all the 1 million tunes available. Poor old Darth Jobs. Read about it over at Wired.

Today is an awesome day to read the tutorial included in Spybot Search & Destroy. And immunize, my brothers and sisters, immunize.

"He who does not punish evil commands it to be done."
-Leonardo da Vinci

Yesterday's quote applies to today's post

Eventually, every Windows computer at the beach house will dual boot with FreeBSD or Linux. Why? Microsoft has become suicidal. Their latest push to earn more profit involves cracking down on the pirated copies of their operating system thinking that people will rush out and buy legitimate copies of XP. They are going to do this by not granting the pirates the right to download security patches. Has Gates been talking to Jobs? Read about it at CNET News.

Everyday I see machines that are infested with spyware, adware, virus infections, trojans, popups, popunders, spam, etc. Because of greed, the house that Bill built in Redmond will intensify these maladies by making them even more active. This is not good policy and it will not be seen as such by those using legal copies. Are they looking for something to occupy their time until Longhorn arrives in late 2006? If that is the case - FIGHT SPYWARE!!!!

Piracy is not condoned, but there has to be a better way to overcome this problem. Putting Netizens in jeopardy is NOT an answer. How many times have I warned people about the BSA and the need to make sure your operating system is properly licensed?

It may be time for everyone to consider hugging a penguin or an imp.

"The typical Internet user receives an average of 17,000 email messages per year. Of this total, an average of one message actually contains useful information (it says: 'Disregard previous email'). The rest are porno ads, investment opportunities for morons ('Make Big Money Petting Kittens At Home!'), and jokes that were originally set in movable type by Johann Gutenberg."
-Dave Barry

A man has to know his limitations

Heard anything about crossbar latch? This is the technology that HP predicts will replace the transistor. Read about it at TechWhack. This will be revolutionary, in 6 to 10 years. Nanotechnology, here we come!

The computer arena and its users never cease to amaze me. Why is it that someone brings a computer to a tech with a problem they can no way in hell solve and then think that when they get home the machine should leap out of the box, wash the dishes, vacuum the floor, pet the dog and then stroll over to the resident desk and automatically connect to the internet? Then they are mad at the tech because he didn't deliver what they expected???

You know, if I was Emporer of the Known Universe it would be made law that everyone that has to have their computer worked on would automatically receive a free Jeep Wrangler. Alas, that position is not mine. So no free Jeeps here: Nor dog petting, nor jump out of the box and smooch the internet automatically. Good Lord knows that if a PC has been on my bench it has been thoroughly tested and will do internet. Humans are truly astonishing.


Y'all have a nice day out there...

"There is more stupidity around than hydrogen, and it has a longer shelf life."
-Frank Zappa

Top guys out of the country

Looks like AVG is more or less returning to normal. Several people called and said that their virus definitions were updating. Get ready folks, it'll bog down again a few days before the 15th when they actually do drop support on version 6. Please remember, this is a free antivirus program and one of the very best if not the best. Calm down, take your bitch hat off and be glad that Grisoft and company exist.

Gates is in Belgium smoozing the Belgianese, Flemish, Wallonians or whatever (very confusing country) and launching the new Search thangy which is basically a way for people to stay employed at Microsoft since Google left them in the starting blocks years ago. Jobs went to Hell and reported into Satan and they decided to drop the price of Powerbooks - slow walkin' slow talkin' son uv a guns. Yet, it must be admitted that the mini-mac for 5 bills is an attractive way to learn the Apple OS if you want to service their products.

Beware, Kevin Rose on The Screensavers reports that you should immediately upgrade the RAM in a mini-mac and that they use laptop hard drives because of the form factor. That means these traditionally slow machines are even slower. Not a good choice for a first time computer buyer that's for sure. Get an HP or Compaq; you can buy a complete system for the same price and they are good units. Even includes the monitor, keyboard and mouse - which has 3 buttons!

If nothing else update your Spybot S & D today. They posted several on the 28th of last month. Not running Spybot Search and Destroy? Why are you even here? Go to MajorGeeks, look under the spyware heading and download this program now! Peace out.

"A mind is not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n."
Milton, Paradise Lost

Hamboni speaks

Greetings and salutations to all you terrestrial bound mortals. The magnificent and handsome Hamboni has once again wandered from the ancient bigfoot SCSI hard drive used as a door stop at the Saltillo Beach House. During my recent period of enlightenment many wonderful earthbound things have been discovered and my glimpse into the future shall be revealed - right now - they are listed below, you smellers of camels' fumes - yes below - arrgghhh! mortals!

1. In the very near future Apple computer will gain a 3.1426% market share with the introduction of the new mini-mac. When users discover that the necessary memory upgrade will use regular PC memory and not just the orchard variety, sales will skyrocket and Steviepoo Jobs will hang himself in an avacado orchard just outside San Diego. The flies will be turned off. Buzzards will commit suicide.

2. Hillary Clinton, aka Hildabeast, will be found in a compromising position at a Holiday Express just outside Buffalo, New York. It will be discovered she is one of those sickos that dyes her pet Yorkshire Terriers different shades of Taupe and Mauve. Wi-fi broadcast of pixs over the Yahoo Messenger will be her downfall.

3. Mofat Nugent will create a new dirty bomb, literally. It will consist of a low impact explosive and massive smells of skunk musk mixed with camel dung. He has begun testing in certain regions. Some areas of Memphis, Tn., you just don't want to visit right now.

4. Nobel prize winners will reveal that Taupe and Mauve are real colors and not just some hoax created by a collaboration of dog hair dyers and interior decorators. They still won't release vital info on the particular part of the color spectrum where these two mysteries reside.

5. Elvis impersonator soldier of fortune paratroopers (please mortal ones, don't repeat this phrase too quickly) will raid the state of Massachusetts under the cover of bright sunlight and kick Ted Kennedy's fat ass off a bridge then educate the masses of the state that they are under the influence of drugs that Kennedy and his people have been introducing into the water supply for years. What else would make them vote for his lardbutt? The Hildabeast will protest.

6. After much research it will be discovered that since the Celeron CPU was introduced several years ago, all sanctioned races between vegetables have been won by celery.

7. The Hildabeast will announce her intentions to run for President. Her campaign slogan will be, "Get R Done!" Her theme song will be Fleetwood Mac's, "Never Break the Chain."

8. Larry the Cable Guy will be made a national hero for Hildabeast hunting!

May the bird of opportunity nest in your bouffant hairdo. This is Hamboni saying Peace Out!

"Please forgive us Slashdot, Neal Boortz, Larry the Cable Guy and vegetables everywhere."
-Dock

Patience is a virtue, an elusive virtue

Please, let us all gain clarity about an issue that has plagued some of us for the past several days. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, at the beach house wrote or is responsible for AVG Antivirus. It is highly respected and utilized here, but please quit assuming it is somehow my responsibility because the people at AVG are flooded with last minute upgraders and therefore, the virus definitions are hard to download. It amazes me that when the beach house recommends a free utility of this magnificence that everyone assumes we are responsible, getting paid money (NOT!), are the whipping boy, etc. Stop your bitching and be grateful that Grisoft makes this super program available for free. After everyone gets through upgrading things will go back to normal.

This morning I arose early to try and download the virus definitions for about the 30th or 40th time. Finally, I uninstalled the beta test software version of AVG 7 and downloaded the newest AVG 7 Free Edition. It still hesitated and tried not to update the definitions. Finally they were downloaded. Now don't rush out and start uninstalling and reinstalling. This is mentioned because everyone should understand that we have to be patient and not do anything drastic. Some folks are not experiencing problems and good for them. The rest of us must be calm and give thanks that we've been able to use this great protection utility for years and at no cost! Sheesh! Things will be fine.

"If you don't like something change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."
-Maya Angelou

More on AVG virus definitions updates

The beach house laptop downloaded the AVG virus definition update last night around 11:00PM. Tried again on the desktop this morning and it's still timing out. As mentioned yesterday there is a mad rush for everyone to download version 7 thinking that version 6 expires February 1, 2005.

The expiration date is now February 15, 2005. Also, you will have to purchase AVG Server to protect any type of server. Unlike version 6 the newest variety wll only protect client type PCs. Also, AVG now has a version for Linux.

It's raining, there's a chill in the air and miles to go before sleep. Going to Tishomingo County for the day. Looking forward to a nice easy trip. Tomorrow will be spent working in the field. Tonight several machines shall be finished. Life's good!

"Have a better than expected day!"
-Ed Coffin

Can you name that trojan in 5 letters?

Tuesday of next week all support for AVG antivirus version 6 will stop. Version 7 is easy to install. This jewel of an application can be found at Grisoft, MajorGeeks, techspot, and several other sites. Update to this new version and enjoy an easier, cleaner interface that blows Norton's and the rest out of the water. Hey, it's FREE for personal use! (EDIT: AVG 6 support has been extended until February 15,2005.)

The virus definitions update is another thing entirely. Grisoft is being bombarded presently and the ability to get your daily dose of definition updates is tough. Just keep trying. Also, download late at night when traffic is not as heavy. After the mad rush is over this should clear up.

Smokin Joe got in touch and said he thinks he received a virus infection from an AVG update download. In the words of Homey the Clown, "I don't think so." There is a trojan infection that emulates the AVG virus prompt and the name is evading my feeble mind. Might be something like 'Nimda'(yes, this is a name of a virus infection). Probably need to mention that AVG is an antivirus program NOT a trojan scanner. Best I can remember Hijackthis was used to help remove this infection.

Merijn.org is a great site and has Hijackthis for downloading. If you are a newbie, don't bother downloading this tool. It is very powerful and through misuse can stop a computer dead in its tracks. Anyway, any input about the name of this trojan will be helpful. Best I can remember it was poorly written code and more nuisance than harm.

Have a casual day and remember to update and run your spyware protection software. Peace out!

"Worst computer virus ever experienced? - Misinformation."
-Billy Wobblynife

Join a club? Homey don't play that game

Why is everyone so concerned about Microsoft "stepping up" their anti-piracy voodoo concerning XP? Like, you think this is something new? You really have been able to download updates for your illegal copy of XP? Let's talk for a bit.

Windows 2000 is preferred here and XP is on my laptop which also dual boots Linux SuSE 9.1. Linux is what you will find me using on this portable PC most of the time. FreeBSD runs on an old Pentium 200mmx PC that is on this network. I run a dual Xeon server RAID 1 with a Netserver cabinet that is configured RAID 5. Also, there is a Windows 98SE machine on my network and there are two copies of 98SE in the original shrink wrap here for sale if anyone is interested. Soon, another Linux machine will be online, probably Mandrake. So what about piracy? I don't condone or condemn. If you are doing this then you are violating the law. If you don't have a licensed copy of Windows on your Windows machine then you are violating the law. People, be careful concerning this matter; especially small businesses. I've linked to horror tales of BSA rampages several times on this site.

This is the real world. No doubt that folks will use something for free. There is a lot of gray area concerning all this and clarity is not on the immediate horizon. My ability to work demands that I use Windows latest greatest computer mojo. This does not make me especially happy. My admiration for Mr. Gates changing the market still exists. Darth Jobs would only let the rich compute if his initiative had been followed. Still, Microsoft has some problems. They have become Orwellian with their authentication codes. So you can either pay MORE money for an Apple which is even a more closed computing society that has really no hopes of penetrating the market share any further until Steve Jobs is put in a home, or try open source.

FreeBSD is an awesome free download that has a neat Windows type user interface. If you start investigating, you'll find that many many sites on the web use FreeBSD. BTW, FreeBSD is Unix, not just Unixlike. There are many versions of Linux. Beware, Linux Red Hat was storming the market and making headway several years ago then greed-itis struck 'em. They went commercial. Does this remind you of what Benedict Arnold did in the Revolutionary War? This will most likely happen again with some other variety.

Linux has many flavors and seems that most people are leaning towards SuSE. Novell is interlaced in SuSE so I am somewhat worried about possible commercialization, but their SuSE downloads are free and fast. Novell also sent the beach house a copy of their Linux suite for free! Mandrake came out of financial woes and seems to be making a comeback, but they make it damned hard to download their free version. Been trying for several weeks now with no success. They want you to join some club and pay them money. Hey, I thought this was/is called open source? Debian is another Linux flavor that gets favorable reviews and SuSE is closely tied to Debian. Then there's Slackware, TurboLinux, etc.

So, why all the hoopla about Windows cracking down on pirates? This is NOT news. It's been with us for a while. If it goes against your grain, try a sensible alternative . Meanwhile, please remember nothing about this industry is written in stone. Always be ready for another twist in the wallet or purse. 'Let's talk for a bit' means the comments and email are available. Please voice an opinion.

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."
Captain Jack Sparrow

Cross platform wireless networking - it's a hoot!

Glad to report to our orchard readers that the eMac included with the two Windows machines yesterday was actually fun to install. After using my Linux/Windows laptop to configure the router every machine was restarted and all devices performed without a major hitch. The Linksys wireless equipment was easy to install, as usual, and the Apple had no problem auto correcting to make nice with the router. Did get a broadcast signal from an adjacent Netgear wireless device located next door. Wow, wardrivers haven in Tupelo, Mississippi! Who 'da thought it? No, I will not give out the address. BTW, if you are like me and rarely see Apple computers here's a tip about eMacs: You open the CD drive with a keyboard button that is located at the top right corner, lol! That Steve Jobs, he's a real clown, huh?

Up late, up early. Many projects. Robin, the pixs are in the can and will be posted soon. Have a casual day.

"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
-Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine

Evil hardware

Tape drives suck. I don't care if it is a DAT, Travan, some weird mumbojumbo cassette or reel cooked up by a psychotic goat that is doing tech support on the side - tape drives suck. Most don't actually work when it comes to restoring data. They also give you a sense of security, false security. These little darlings are expensive, require high maintenance, hard to install, quirky about even running, terrible to configure and are just a poor choice of backup. Did I mention that tape drives suck?

Use Google to search for alternative ways to backup your data. The price of dual layer DVD 'burners' has dropped and USB hard drive back up kits can even be purchased at Wal-mart. They sell a Seagate 120 gigabyte harddrive with the backup software, cables, nice case for around $150.00. Easy to install and just about as dependable as it gets. Even though the media for the dual layer DVD recorders is still expensive it will drop as has all media before it.

If your data is extremely valuable you might consider online backup. It will be in our area soon.

"Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse?"
-Lawrence Easley

Johnny, we'll miss ya'

A legend has passed. Johnny Carson died yesterday. Fox has a story about how Mr. Carson was still sending jokes to David Letterman on occasion. I always knew Johnny favored Letterman over Leno. There are many stories available on the net about Mr. Carson's demise. Try Google News.

While on the subject of late night, CBS-TV has a very funny page about the Late Show with David Letterman. You can go here and review all the Top Ten Lists, read funny stuff about the host and guests, etc. Always liked Letterman better than the 'chin'. Dave makes fun of everyone and everything while Leno has some built in prejudice against Mississippi and the South in general.

Monday, Monday. Sometimes it just turns out this way.

"Boy, I feel safer now that she's behind bars. O.J. & Kobe are walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the one woman in America willing to cook, clean and work in the yard and haul her ass to jail."
-Tim Allen, on Martha Stewart's recent incarceration

Photography and game consoles

Picasa 2 is completely free. Not free as in "time-limited tryout," not free as in "ads in the margins," not free as in "you will be assimilated into our mailing list," but really, truly, no-strings-attached free. You can download it right now from Picasa's Web site. (So how does Google plan to make money from Picasa, whose pre-Google version cost $30? The company says that will come later. Google does promise, however, not to get everybody hooked on Picasa and then turn around and start charging for, or taking away, features.)

The above comes from an article at CNET about how to manage your photographs. I hope everyone is wise enough to take advantage of this great program. Picasa rocks! Thank you Google for another great ++ for netizens.

Harley Dave is considering purchasing a new game console. What should he buy first? X-Box, Playstation2 or Gamecube? His PC has a 16 meg video card so a console will be a nice compliment to an awesome home theater system that has Onkyo THX, Polk Audio speakers in every corner, and a Sony Vega TV. Please leave comments and email. This is something that is needed at the beach house as well.

Work calls. Going to bid a home theater build, pick up a computer and then spend the afternoon relaxing and trying to capture some local color with the digital camera that will be uploaded here. As always, appreciate the emails and comments. Keep em' rolling this way.

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
-Ansel Adams

Gosh Bill, look at all them thar' siege engines!

Microsoft has been in the news lately. Wandering around the news world often finds me at the BBC site. It is short of amazing that they break interesting stories about things USA. For instance, Mr. Gates and company are very interested in your home theater experience. The article is Gates unveils his digital vision.

Still tripping along fighting popups, spyware and other garbage while using Internet Explorer? Please read this article at ZDNet. IE is losing more of the market share to Firefox which can be found at Mozilla.org. Before all the Windows Nazis start let me once again remind you that awareness has been obtained about the AOHell people being behind Mozilla. Yes, I know that AOHell owns Netscape. Yes I remember the first Browser War. All this considered, Firefox rocks! Try it, but by no means delete Internet Explorer. We may become victims of a plot to make us buy our internet browser. Just hope that Microsoft does something to make things better in this arena. Indications are not too good since the smarmy new popup blocker and spyware blocker they have basically suck.

Almost a year too late Microsoft has decided to get into the web mail plus large storage arena with Outlook Live. Everyone seems to be competing for this market now, but the definite winner is Google's Gmail. Don't rush out and start deleting Outlook Express or Outlook. This morning I installed Thunderbird, which is the Mozilla mail client and set up a POP account inside for Gmail. It works perfectly and was easy to install due to the awesome instructions on the Gmail site. They even have pictures! People, all this is FREE! I still have a few Gmail invitations if anyone is interested.

"Browser Wars? Stupid, just stupid. Each individual is entitled to use any 'appliance' of his/her choice. You don't hear people sitting around talking about how their central air unit is better."
-Ashby Rhett Culpepper, III, Esq.

It's Friday! Only two more days to work this week!

This has been a strange week. Monday evening the back gave out and the residual effects of medication had me in a purple haze for another day or so. After wimping about, work demanded my attention and still has me moving too fast. Lot of road miles this week.

Time to admit something. This is hard, please bear with me. Really having a tough time telling this, stuttering on paper, oh damn! I touched an Apple this week! It didn't hurt, well, not too much. Actually it wasn't nearly as painful as some spyware infested Windows PCs. Somehow great satisfaction was found in asking, "How do I turn it on?" Darth Jobs cleverly hides the switch on the side, towards the back of the machine. Windows machine makers put the on/off button right on the front where chimps can even make 'em boot up wanting another security fix for IE.

The one I touched uses OS 10, which is based on FreeBSD. At least the operating system is decent. There's no desire to use Photoshop, make musical ditties or any of that other Apple crapple. Just be nice to have one and possibly service the 5 or 10 orchard varieties in this area. Bet they pay a pretty penny for those technohelp moments.

Oh well, time to go "abuse" Linux for a few minutes: It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

"Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window."
-Steve Wozniak (father of Apple)

We're not Grinching around here

No doubt tech-types can be some of the most hateful, whining people on the planet. Some are downright disgusting in their snideness. Ever want to choke the life out of some 'puter type' that gloats because he thinks he knows how to speak Unix, C++ or some other kind of foo? Please rest assured that NO ONE knows everything and those that claim such ability are usually insecure paranoids. Yet, we are not all that way. Case in point -> Grasshoppa's post When will it end?... from yesterday over at Southernphried. Observations about AOHell and McAfee that are right on the money! Still laughing. Yes indeed, the "truth shall set you free."

Dave's Daily is a constant source of laughter. Good site that is diverse in humor. The Onion also has some strange, funny observations at times. And if you haven't visited JibJab lately then you are missing some of the best video clips on the planet. Remember, they hold nothing political sacred and offend Republicans and Democrats equally! Second Term cracks me up! Be sure and note what Clinton is reading.

"If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself."
-Charles Schulz

Two awesome downloads

David emailed and needs some place to store his photos online and a good photo editor/organizer. Boy howdy, do I have some great news for you, Harley Dave ole' boy! How about 10 gigs of online storage? How about 10 gigs of online storage for FREE? Yes, that's right 10 GIGS! Check it out over at Streamload. Sign up is easy and the interface is very friendly. Get those pictures uploaded and let's see that Harley DynaWideGlide. You can edit those motorcycle pictures with Picasa. This is a Google property that was purchased a few months ago. It was a good program before, but Google, in their usual way, has improved it. And guess what? It's FREE! Hope this helps.

Now I must return to my work bench, finish two projects, shower and hit the pavement. You can bet I'll stop and use Linux SuSE for a few minutes though.

”Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.”
-Steven Wright

Linux rocks!

Well, after spending a night & day kissing the sky the flexiril is wearing off. During the day it was not a good idea to work on any client's PC so I tortured one of my own. My Toshiba laptop now dual boots to Windows XP and Linux SuSE 9.1. Sweet!! Grasshoppa says my geekfactor is way off the scale. His guidance helped me get this excellent flavor of Linux up and running.

Also visited in his shop a coupla' days ago and it's awesome. He is wireless, with mega toys, perfect workshop with the ideal bench, XM radio, and a beautiful home in a very quiet neighborhood. His Linux/Windows machine is an uber build with kickass case, lights, cables, etc. We used his external burner parallel port to USB to copy some files from an older laptop onto a CDR. Nice device. Hated to cut the visit short but had a 'fire' in Tupelo.

It's nice to have Linux again. Now if I can just put the FreeBSD PC on the rack and make it smooch the video card. All in good time...

"Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen a angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100 mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had."
-Linus Torvalds (father of Linux)

Nerdful Things, Star Wars and Hamboni

After several weeks of pitched battle with a HP dual Pentium Pro, 256 megs of ECC RAM, SCSI CD-ROM, twin 10,000 spin SCSI 9 gig drives it seems Windows 98SE is running stable. Finally installed the 98 CAB files onto the "0/C" drive and everything got happy. Now to the real task of installing the latest greatest version of Linux SUSE 9.2. It may not like the SCSI CD-ROM either. Hey, this just looked like a good place to have a working copy of Windows 98SE, you know the LiLo thangy.

Now to another arena of geekdom - STAR WARS!!! There is a Darth Tater version of Mr. Potato Head. Details can be found at Boingboing. Man, wish they'd had this out during the Christmas season - my shopping would have been much easier. Also, at least one of these will hang in the beach house closet -> StarWars Episode III T-Shirt. Did you know that there is a dude waiting in line at a movie theater in Seattle for the opening of Star Wars, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith? He has a blog!! It's called Waiting for StarWars. Info for the uninitiated - this movie opens on May 19, 2005.

Thanks for the emails and please keep 'em headed this way. Yes, I am still upgrading the 8 simple rules of computing and no Hamboni has not moved out; he still resides in the bigfoot SCSI drive that is now a door stop. The master of forecasting, prestidigitation, conjuring, mojoing n jujuing will be here to post his predictions soon.

Comments are always available for niceties or flaming...

"Size matters not! Judge me by my size, do you?"
Yoda--The Empire Strikes Back (may be the greatest understatement in all 6 movies!)

Sometimes it's a Donkey Kong world

Got an email from Kevin Rose. This was a blanket email to all subscribers of the kevinrose.com newsletter. If you don't know Mr. Rose from his work on The Screensavers show that aired on TechTV before Comcast bought and butchered it then you've missed informative, fun segments. He's a younger dude with a plethora of knowledge concerning things computerese. Always enjoyed watching his segments and then was delighted when he became cohost. Now he only does segments instead of anchoring the show.

Alas, my viewing of TechTV , now G4TechTV or something like that, has ceased since the goofballs at Comcast have decided to make it a foofoo kiddies oriented channel with plastic hosts and hostesses (forgive me Sara, Kevin, Yoshi and the other people from the old shows they didn't fire). These idiots don't realize that most of the computing world is not interested in a 24/7 broadcast of the California gaming scene.

Most of the geek/nerd types that I know have stopped watching and await the arrival of a new channel that will get back to computing in general. Believe me, there will be another. The technology industry is expansive. There is a niche in the broadcast arena that will return enormous advertising profits if they use the right platform concerning things techno. Geeks pay attention and can afford to buy large ticket items. We're interested in wayyyyy more than the next Nintendo, Play Station or X-Box.

Sadly, that board room of baboons at Comcast are busy fighting over bananas instead of studying the demographics of their viewing audience. They belong in a Donkey Kong world. Anyway, good luck to Kevin and the rest of the crew that survived the monkey driven purge.

"I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it."
- Dame Edith Sitwell

Edit: Center for Public Integrity has a brief history of Comcast, and lists all the apes that attend the Board of Directors meetings.