Online Spreadsheet by Google

Just checked and even though Google Spreadsheet will debut today it is not available for download at this hour. Those West Coasters, give 'em a few hours and it will be available. This will be exciting on several levels. Microsoft has to be wary, but this may boost the sales of Excel (like they really need it). It'll be interesting to see how accounting types take to this and if they will find the ads intrusive.

Google Adshare runs here and I only check it to make sure some liberal weenie type stuff doesn't show up. Google is turning our PCs into NetPCs. Is this good? Asking here and value your opinion. What Microsoft has tried to do for years Google is running rampant and giving us all these wonderful tools. Good? Bad? Let me know.

"Who covets more, is evermore a slave."
-Herrick

Dreaming

The time has come to replace this PC and let it finish life as a server. I've been reading all about Scalable Link Interface (SLI) which was originally thought to be Scan Line Interleave. This is a tekkie way of saying two video cards for one monitor. Yes, TWO video cards. Hey, if your gonna' dream...and since this machine will be used primarily for gaming (My name is Dock and I am a GuildWars addict) SLI seems to be the latest greatest in the way of speed demon machines.

Down through the years I have always opted for Intel processors. There was an AMD K6-2 machine on my network many years ago and it never had any problems other than user. After much research, this time it looks like an AMD 64 (Winchester .90mm) due to the glowing reviews and the cost. Intel is just too expensive. They scream and are dependable, but building this PC will take many months of piggy banking and I wish I had it now. This decision is not final and will happen when money is in hand, but so far it looks like the AMD processor and a 939 motherboard.



Since I have a 160 SCSI card and some 10,000 spin drives they may be utilized. Memory has to be at least a gig and Mudslingr's clear glowing case is a definite. May make the cables red instead of green, give it an Ole Miss look. A new monitor will have to accompany the purchase so the DVI connection can be utilized. Now we are well into a grand, maybe two. Hmmmm, perhaps Christmas next year?

Have to stop dreaming and get to work! Have a joyous Monday!

"Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."
-Hill

Kryptonite n Pieces of Eight

I like Superman. The early DC comics gave me an appetite to explore science fact and fiction. There is a new movie, Superman Returns that will be out the 28th of this month. This looks like one that needs to be seen in the theater. I absolutely do NOT agree with Kevin Spacey's politics, but he is a good actor. His portayal of Lex Luthor, Superman's arch rival, looks promising. The trailer leads one to believe an insightful look into this fictional hero of generations is there for an eye feast. Check it out.

Next month we get to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Yes, I know this is based on a ride at Disney World. The first movie was awesome and the lead actors reprise their roles with some neat additions. Being a parrothead, pirate movies are naturally attractive. Mr. Buffett and I were born 200 years too late. Wait, they didn't have air conditioning back then. Nevermind. I still occasionally watch the first movie and this will have to be a real turkey if it doesn't end up likewise.

Enjoy Sunday afternoon. Local weather is really nice. The grill and lawnmower are calling me. Later.

"Never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake."
-Napoleon

Morning ramble

A good night's sleep can do wonders. It was cool enough last night to sleep with the fan on and the windows open. That is always a plus when it comes to needed rest. Thank the good Lord for air conditioning though. It is the most wonderful invention of the 20th century. No more hot, sticky, muggy, buggy nights of misery. Last night though was really good for sleeping. I don't think the dogs even barked.

There is so much to do it's hard to start. Yardwork and housework are on todays's agenda. A friend of mine advised earlier this week just to pay someone to do yardwork instead of fighting it all the time. That is an alternative. Whine mode would be less prevelant for sure. Five or six years ago I could use a push mower stopping only for a gas-up. That won't happen today! Now I actually have to stop several times while doing the floors with the broom! Wait a minute, maybe the riding mower is the ....nah, nevermind, it's air conditioning.

Okay, negative thinking is trying to start so I'm outta here and headed for the coffee and vacuum cleaner. Enjoy this beautiful day!

"I'm not going to vacuum until Sears makes one you can ride on."
-Roseanne Barr

Zzzzzzz

There's another seurity hole in the Windows XP family. You can read about it at Secunia. Will this ever stop? Well, no. Evil exists in the world and creeps like to mess innocent people up. It's that simple.

It's late, my back needs rest and the bed is calling. The phone battery died, but I am sure the voice mail will be full in the morning. Later.

"Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much."
-John Wayne

Vista and Dapper

There is a review of Windows Vista at TomsHardware.com. This is an older site known for giving indepth reviews. This one is 40 pages long. There are many screen shots. After clicking 11 or 12 times, it was decided this was not early morning reading. Here's an excerpt:

In less than a year - assuming that the dates slip no further - Microsoft will release a new operating system under the thrilling name of "Windows Vista." Internally, Windows Vista is identified as Windows version number 6.0. Thus, we're dealing with an entirely new version here, in contrast to Windows XP, which really only represented an update to Windows 2000.

This is probably good review, but the size is a bit much. I want to know if they think this new operating system is stable, easy to use and priced right. There is little doubt they get to all those issues eventually. This site has been a favorite for years and it's nice to see someone take the time (500 hours!) to do a good review, but 40 pages are just too much for an early morning 'no coffee yet' read. More later.

Here's another interesting review of an operating system that is available today, Ubuntu Dapper. Lunapark6 does a good job and has my interest in trying this distribution of Linux. The review is concise, has screen shots and lets me know in the first paragraph that this is a very positive review. After FreeBSD is installed on a beach house machine this version of Linux may be next.

Thanks goes out to Slashdot for the review links!

"The question of whether computers can think is just like the question of whether submarines can swim."
-Dijkstra

Honey, They're Outside the Door Wanting Me for Human Sacrifice

Here's another potential headache for IT/Network Admin people; Microsoft OneCare. This is not a Microsoft bash. Anything that is advertised as a one stop protection service makes me want to hide. Norton Internet Security is a good example of how to slow your PC down to a snail's crawl with software that just doesn't work. The voodoo required to uninstall this junk may even require human sacrifice. And then there's McAfee...how does this company stay in business?!?!?!? If someone out there has ANYTHING by McAfee that works please, please comment or email me. Folks, don't spend money on such stuff. Just a few days ago (see The Awesome Five post, May 18, 2006) I listed five FREE software applications that will keep your PC relatively safe. Nothing in the computer realm is sacred or bulletproof. Spending 50 bucks for bundled protection software just doesn't make sense. After surveying use for a few months, my words may be eaten. I doubt it.

Here's an interesting article from Arstechnica by Ken Fisher: The question of banning laptops in class: it's academic, silly. Okay, okay it's apparent that wifi access should be turned off during tests. I can abide this, but to ban laptops? Ridiculous. What's next? Banning books? Google on, students of America!

"Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire."
-William Butler Yeats

Admission and Local Area Network

After spending a few days being wishy-washy concerning the apparent flaw in their "protection" software, Symantec (ska Norton) has issued a "fix." What do you expect from a company that still pushes that horrible Norton Internet Security thangy? It sucks! If you are intelligent and try to uninstall it I wish you good luck. TechSpot has a very good article about it. Folks, if you have to spend money on an anti-virus program get the full blown version of AVG Antivirus. If you have a network, their client bundles are wayyyy affordable. This software works and does not bog down a machine. Check it out.

Yes Robin (she emailed me) there is a computer in the bathroom. It is an older Toshiba Portege laptop that runs Windows 98SE because it only has 32mB of RAM. The 64megs that can be added cost more than the PC so it will surf the web in 800x600 resolution. It's not a speed demon, but gets the job done. It does use a wireless network card. There's a PC in every room of the beach house. The main computer room has three and a dumb terminal. All three of these PCs have dual processors. Thinking about adding a fourth, lol. Yes, I use every one of them. They stay updated to protect the network.

Got industrious yesterday and pulled the back out again. Have many things to do before the day is over. Locally the day is beautiful. Get outside! Enjoy it!

"And there's that one particular harbour
Sheltered from the wind
Where the children play on the shore each day
And all are safe within"
-Jimmy Buffett

LAN Party Report: My Tongue Slapped My Brains Out!

Wow! Did we have a blast, or what!?!? Gosh the game play was exciting, the camaraderie super and the food, well, it was downright awesome!!! Being a gamer was a plus but this was as much a foodie event. To have burgers and dogs as the main fare on the menu does not do it justice. Michelle made this wonderful thing with a huge loaf of bread that had a cheese filling. I am SO glad she left it! David and Michelle also brought some tremendous whole wheat and seeded buns. Then the Laundry Witch n Lisa dropped by with deserts, one was a vanilla wafer cake and this was pure ambrosia. Hoppa n Tinahoppa brought refreshing beverages and a wayyy kewl sign that now adorns its rightful place beside the front door. Ashby Rhett Culpepper III, Esq., supplied some righteous coffee. And you know what? I could go on and on. Another amazing thing happened: We didn't even open the tequila!!

A fun event and am already looking forward to the next one. I laughed more yesterday than the rest of the month put together. There were uber computers in attendance too. A huge Alienware monster dominated the center of the room, a screaming 3.5gig P4 machine commanded part of the bar and a laptop that was MADE for gaming controlled the rest of the bar. The beach house had multiple computers churning like crazy in every room but the bathroom. There is only one there. And wifi was everywhere! The FreedBSD machine was also awesome. We had great game play with VistaIIIMedia providing flawless connectivity. Hey, next time we might even get adventurous n do ribs! Now I must return to Michelle's cheese filled bread and baked beans for breakfast. Some of that Laundry Witch/Lisa cake may be on the plate too!

Thanks everyone for a great, great day!

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."
-Albert Schweitzer

It's Dark Thirty and LAN Party is Here!

Procrastination. That's why I am up at 3:30AM rushing around like a chicken sans head. Coffee is brewing and my eyelids are propped open. There's a million things to be done and I must get jiggy with it. Thank goodness I've been busy though, with both clients and the LAN Party. This should be a nice day. It will be hot though. So if attending be sure and dress in the casual mode.

This weekend please take a few minutes to remember those patriots that have fallen in battle for our freedom. The quotes this week have pertained to this holiday that memorializes those great Americans that sacrificed their lives so that we all can continue to live in the home of the brave and land of the free. It won't hurt to say a prayer for our troops overseas too.

Have a great extended weekend and please drive carefully. The life you save might be my own.

"I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did."
-Benjamin Harrison

Urge to Merge

Just over at Slashdot reading about recent mergers of large companies that are part of the computerese community. The article is titled Battle of the Tech Titans. Google and Dell are doing something together and eBay, sadly, is joining forces with Yahoo. If someone wants to start a good online business consider an auction site like eBay. Yahoo will have every eBayer filled with Claria and 180eSolutions adware and they'll never be able to snipe again. But, by all means, keep using this service. Then when your machine bogs down to a snail's pace you can finally...well, anyway. It is interesting to read the numerous comments about this article. Many opinions. Check it out.

Okay time to get extremely bizzy. LAN Party is just a day away and I am way behind. Please drive safely this weekend and wear your seatbelts. It's the law now and they will give you a ticket for not complying.

"I couldn't help but say to Mr. Gorbachev, just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from another planet. We'd find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together."
-Ronald Reagan

LAN Party and HTML

Well, a post was just lost due to a damned popup from caselmedia. It would be nice to locate these evil jerks and go medieval on their goofy asses. By trying to end the process so it wouldn't drop any nasties on this PC it closed all my windows. Anyway, it was several links about Windows Vista being delayed until next year and frustration is getting in the way of redoing the HTML. More later.

LAN party is just two days away and I still need a large switch. An eight port or larger will do nicely. Anyone wanting to help please get in touch. Time is short and there's much to be done. Having an extra pair of hands will help a lot! Potato salad and baked beans will be made tomorrow evening. Ingredients will be here, but help with assembly will be appreciated. If you are bringing refreshing beverages or food stuffs please contact me so we don't have duplication.

Some of the suggested GuildWars quests, missions, etc., are:

Run to Temple of Ages
Run from Temple of Ages to Sanctum Cay
Sanctum Cay Mission (we all know it's tough!)
Vizunah Square Mission
Naphui Quarter Mission (this is an Ascension Mission and we need
a full team)
Villiany of Galraith (hate it! hate it! and never finished it!)
Any desert missions

Must go coffee now and calm down about the attempted spyware infection. Everyone have a casual Thursday.

"On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation!"
-Thomas William Parsons

Malware and Boogie

Yahoo IM (instant messenger) users beware. CNET News.com has the story. Please be very careful. I am NOT a fan of anything Yahoo, but most folks just will not stop using their junk. It's like crack on the web. People know better, but they just keep going back for another dose of 180eSolutions and Claria adware/dungware. Until now you could download their IM service without all the other yahooey thangys and be relatively safe. Maybe just delete all links to Yahoo and NEVER go back? Or do you like them dropping ads or your machine and slowing it down? Go figure.

Need a good laugh? Do you have audio? Go to Evolution of Dance. Even if you are on dial-up download and save it. It's a big clip, but well worth the effort. Haven't laughed this much in a while. Thanks Mudslingr for a great link.

Must get busy. Long day ahead. Stay casual folks.

"There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream." -Archibald MacLeish

Windows Vista

Microsoft has finally announced the hardware requirements for their new operating system, Vista. They can be found at the Get Ready portion of the Windows Vista page. It's not as bad as what I was told several months ago. Trust me, you'll need a minimum 1 gig processor and 1 gig of RAM no matter what they say. If you haven't bought that big video card it's time to do it. Hardware buys are everywhere. There is the option to wait and buy a new machine that comes preloaded with Vista.

Posting late today due to an early start. Survive Monday. Tuesday is just hours away.

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."
-Elmer Davis

Longer Weekends!

LAN Party is less than a week away and there's still work to be done. It's a nice, gentle Sunday afternoon and there's a slight breeze. Yard work first n then remote in and work on several PCs. Then a major try at cleaning the kitchen and dining room. Dishes for days. After trying to get on and play Guidl Wars several times yesterday with no luck, I may reserve an hour or two for this evening.

My shrimp/chicken stew is calling from the microwave. Enjoy the day!

"The miracle is this - the more we share, the more we have."
-Leonard Nimoy

Geekfest & End of an Era

LAN party is one week away. Launch is 5:00PM Saturday the 27th. Several things are needed. Volunteers to help move stuff, food and drink, and volunteeres to help move stuff. If anyone has access to a large switch that will be cool. If not we can get by with several small ones. Be sure and pack your PC, monitor and headset. If you feel the need for battery backup please bring your own. There are a few monitors available for those that have monitors too large to tote. Dragor Rogue and his 36" monitor comes to mind! What a neat display.

We hope to have people from several different guilds and will be doing co-operative missions. Possibly some alliances can be formed during the festivities. We are still planning on a test machine that will have presearing so people new to the game will get a chance to play. Anyone that has a nice PC to donate just a few hours for this purpose can take home a free 14 trial of the original Guild Wars. Monitor, keyboard, mouse and headset will be available. We should have plenty of cables, chairs, coffee, burgers, dogs, etc., but may need one more large table. Wifi is in place and available. Anyone volunteering to help move stuff this weekend will be welcome.

After staying up and burning the 4:00AM oil a decision has been made. No more laptops. Period. Fine'. Endo Mundo. No mas. Nyet. Nix. If you purchase a new laptop and an extended warranty is offered please purchase it immediately. If you can't afford the warranty I'd suggest delaying the purchase until that is possible. Laptops are great and serve their purpose, but they are pure hell to repair. When mine quits it'll be chunked into file 13 and a new one will take its place. I'll buy the warranty too.

"We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."
-Billy Wobblynife

The Awesome Five

The following list is protection software that can be found at various locations on the web. All of these links point towards MajorGeeks.com. If the following five applications are installed on a clean computer and the updates and scans are done on a regular basis, your PC will stay free of most infections and malware. Nothing in the world of computers is a rock solid truism so this is not a bulletproof defense. It's sure a great start though.

AVG Antivirus Free Edition

SpyBot Search & Destroy

AdAware SE Personal

SpywareBlaster

CCleaner

Now let's take a look at each individual application and briefly explore its purpose and some details about updating and the way it scans.

AVG Antivirus Free Edition: AVG is usually seen in the free version although many folks will upgrade and pay their inexpensive fee in order to gain more flexibility and protection. They have very good tutorials on their site concerning the initial install and maintenance of the program. AVG is not only great protection for your PC, it's easy to use. If you boot your computer and the AVG four colored symbol that resides in the system tray (bottom right corner of the screen) is grayed out, open the program and do an update. This usually occurs when your PC has been off for an extended period of time (like several days). This seems to be more apparent on dial-up connections because the updates are usually through by the time a machine on broadband completes its boot process. Remember, your PC HAS to be online in order to update. Again, it HAS to be online to update. ALWAYS, ALWAYS let AVG finish updates. You can continue to work while this is being done, but the machine may slow down a bit. On rare occasion the updates can be lengthy; just let it work. Most of the time they finish within a minute or so, depending on the speed of your connection.

SpyBot Search & Destroy: This is a super program that is very powerful. Patrick Kolla has given us this nice utility that performs many functions. I encourage people to donate so the program can stay alive. Spybot has many uses and the initial setup is important. Read the tutorial about installing . It's located on their site. If you need help with the initial setup please email me. Due to the vast depth of this program an explanation will take several pages and the way it is installed varies according to individual needs. Most people can read the tutorial and decide how to initialize the program. Updating is simple. Hit the update button and then go to the top and click the 'download updates' bar. One thing to remember is to always immunize after receiving an update. Click on the immunize button. If you have an update go to the top and click on the green immunize bar. It has a green + sign to the left.

AdAware SE Personal: From Sweden comes a nice program that removes a majority of malware from your PC. There has been some rumors that Ad-Aware is in bed with Claria and lets their garbage pass through the scans. Claria, the "wonderful" folks that bring you Weatherbug, Precision Time, Gator, Gain, CME and other such invasion junk. Anyway, Spybot finds these horrible things so 'not to worry.' Ad-aware also finds MRUs that are being called on to report into their respective parent company. If you look at the details you'll find Microsoft is usually the major culprit in this arena. MRUs? Stands for Most Recently Used. It is usually Word, Excel, Access type documents. Now why does Bill Gates need this information? He really wants to know what I've written? Let me state that this is actually legal. Read the EULA that you agreed to when you installed Windows or Office. Updating Ad-Aware is simple. Just click on the 'check for updates' line on the intital page and follow directions.

SpywareBlaster: Great program. Easy to use. Once or twice a week click on the desktop icon and do a check for updates. If it updates then click on 'enable all protection.' That's it. This program runs in the background and silently stops many types of malware from invading your privacy.

CCleaner: Great utility that cleans out cache, temp, and invalid registry files. If you install a program that requires a cookie to retain settings, be sure to go to 'options' then 'cookies' and move the cookie for that site from the left column to the right column. I always scan and delete files it finds and then perform the 'fix issues' function after backing up. I am disappointed in CCleaner though. They have started including the Yahoo Toolbar as default install and this sucks. Still a good program, but I am exploring other software that performs the same functions without dropping unwanted junk on your PC. Anyway, when installing be sure and uncheck the Yahoo Toolbar box. CCleaner will let you know when there is an update available.

Hope this helps. Be very careful about what software you use. Some of the "protection" software is actually malware disguised as good guys. Again, nothing is bulletproof. Tutorials with screenshots are in the process of being made available about these great utilities. You'll know when they are online. Recent requests prompted me to respond with the above information. Tomorrow we will go back to possum watching and beach house casualness. Got an opinion? Know of other software? Use the comments or email.

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."
-Albert Einstein

Pomes, Tunes, and Organization

Well, well. You can now dual boot Windows XP and Apple OSX on the new Apple laptops. PCWorld has a good write up about the change to Intel chipsets and the Apple units now available. At $1500.00 for the entry level unit don't expect these machines to storm the market. Heck it only has 512 megs of RAM and a 13" display. Sorta' wimpy. The picture in this article shows a butt ugly laptop too. If Apple wants to make money and change the PC market they need to make their OSX family of operating systems available for PCs. That will get Mr. Gates attention.

Windows Media Player 11 is available for download. After trying to research the site to find if only XP users should download it, I came away dazed and confused which is often the case when visiting a Microsoft site. My guess is that it will not be made available to other operating systems like the robust Windows 2000. It looks nice and is the version that will ship with Windows Vista. Media playing at the beach house is done with Linux so this is not a big deal. After the initial traffic subsides it'll be downloaded.


Screenshots of Google Notebook are now available. No, this is not a laptop with a Google operating system. It is another online service of Google that is projected to make your life easier through organization. Looks like it might be a good tool. You need a GMail account to access it. Not Gmailing? Need an invite? I have 'em and this is freebee. Click on the email me thangy up at the top of this page. GMail rocks! It is beyond my feeble power of comprehension why anyone would use any other email service. Try it, you'll like it.

Received an email from Robin wanting to know about the progress on the pages being developed here for online tutorials concerning protection software. You know, how to install, update, use, etc. Here's the deal. Screenshots are almost mandatory. Getting permissions from various companies, especially those located overseas is a lotta' work. The page is in place and content needs to be added. I hope this will be made available soon. Will keep you posted.

Okay, the laundry is about dry. Time to hit the trail. Hang in there. Memorial Day is less than two weeks away!

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
-Winston Churchill

Return of the Possumnator

It's early. Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus , is back. The alarm showed 5:15AM and really wasn't needed. When I turned in early last night knowing I'd arise before dawn it did not enter my mind there would be a full fledge war going on outside the window. The fan was on low and dreams were about things binary when the sound of walls being assaulted brought me straight up in bed. There's small solar light outside one of the bedroom windows. It was very dim. I jumped up to see what was making the racket. Seems Arnold might have been trying out the hammock and two of the neighborhood cats tried to jump him.

On the way out the front door I grabbed a broom and proceeded to stop this melee. As I rounded the corner a huge gray tabby hissed and growled at me so it was immediately apparent whose side would be taken. Broom! Broom! Broom, broom, broom! Literally swept him out of the yard. When I finally turned the lights on and looked around there was Arnold, muscles flexing, his 'Mom surrounded by a heart' arm tattoo shining in the light and the other cat cowering in the corner. Every time the cat would utter a sound Arnold hissed. Apparently the fight had ensued by the solar light because it was laying over at a 45 degreee angle. Into the battle I went, domestic household weapon in hand and it wasn't a pretty sight. Folks, don't ever broom a mad possum. Don't even sledge hammer one.

As I ran up the front steps the other cat shot past me headed for the woods north of the house. A defensive stance was taken and it occured to me that I was now awake and this whole picture was something that belonged in the morning funny papers or that funniest videos thangy on TV. A grown man in pajamas with a broom in hand warding off an irate possum at 4:30AM in the morning, good Lord where are those people that always annoy you with video cameras!?!? Anyway, after collecting what few wits were left back to the front I went. This time I was armed with a water hose. Arnold is not crazy about bathing. In no time he scooted around the corner and headed for his oak tree. When he was going up the tree my ears may have fooled me but the words, "ah'll bee backkk," seemed to ring out in the dim light.

So how was your morning? Coffee good? Mine is, at least I think it is. Maybe tomorrow we can return to things techno. Hopefully the shaking will stop. Anyway, have a possum free Monday.

"Look alive!!! Here comes a buzzard!"
-Pogo (one of my fav quotes)

Still Glad It's Weekend

After the yard is finished there's a a service call that includes inserting a badly needed battery backup unit on a client PC then on to mirroring hard drives, upgrading a laptop and installing FreeBSD. If they made weekends longer I could get caught up on work. There's several days work involved with shaping up the yard to an acceptable level. What's a boy to do? Work like hell and go without sleep.

To top this busy weekend off I have to find time to exercise. It was raining just a few minutes ago, but now the sun is shining and the forecast includes a 20% chance of rain. Trees have to be trimmed and the ditch has to be mowed. Yardwork used to be fun and relaxing; due to time constraints it is now a chore. That sucks. Exercising to lose weight has never been fun and that sucks even moreso.

Since I am rambling and nothing 'pops' as far as tech news let me whine outta here. The laundry is calling to me as well. Have a good weekend.

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."
-Ewing

Cells Destroying Cells?

Many years ago when just a lad my stint in the military introduced me to the world of TEDs and REDs. Even though my geekness was in place due to interest in amplifiers and electronic keyboards while in high school and college, being around large banks of transmitters and receivers solidified my quick run to ultra-nerdism. We used to do really whacky things especially with transmitters. We lit fluorescent tubes in our hands, even fried some stuff. We had a comm tech named Bob Renfree that could perform all sorts of magical things with Uncle Sam's equipment. He once said, "You know this sh--'s got to be dangerous; one day they'll use it as weapons." That thought has stuck with me. Why bring this up?

I've had two friends that died with brain tumors in the recent past. They both stayed on the cellphone constantly. After reading an article at the Age.com it seems the Australians are doing something about finding the truth concerning cell phone transmissions. The post is titled Phone tower cancer fears. Even though medical experts contacted by the journal claim there are no connections, five brain tumors in five people in one month seems more than a mere coincidence. C'mon folks, you are holding a transmitter/receiver to your head. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the connection. There's been talk for years this could be a problem. I am convinced it's real.

You can buy an earbud, headset, etc., and keep the phone on your belt, waist, or pocket while you talk. This is a very inexpensive item. So far the wired ones seem to make conversations even more clear than holding the phone to your head. Bluetooth is another matter. Haven't heard but one that was really clear and besides, it is a transceiver. Better than holding the phone to the ole noggin though. When driving or working these simple headsets free both hands. This has to be safer and possibly more productive. Get those transmission waves away from the brain which is busy firing electrical synapses. You can Google search about this topic and find many pros and cons. Now get to a Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, or phone store and start using one of these devices.

Weekend is almost here! Don't forget Mothers Day is Sunday. Have a casual Friday.

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."
-Jordan

Make It So

The second Tuesday of the month has become known as Patch Tuesday. This is when Microsoft issues its repairs for Windows. Have you done your updates? The latest patches can be found at Microsoft Security Bulletin.

Think the holodeck is just a neat place to create scenarios when on a long space voyage in the starship Enterpirse? Think again. A New Hampshire company has created a simplistic version of this virtual reality. It's called Holodek. You can read further at Wired.

It's Thursday. Only 3 more days to work this week. Sun is shining, birds are singing, and the coffee is brewing. Friday is just hours away.

"I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman where the Self Help section was. She said if she told me it would defeat the purpose."
-Dennis Miller

Another 365 Day Trip Around the Sun

It's raining. The Good Lord is taking care of me. He knew that I didn't want to mow the yard today. Once again you can hear wild animals prowling in the grass, but I am trying to take a day off. It's been a while. Besides, it's my birthday. No big deal, but I need to hang around and finish building a server anyway. So it's just a day not in the road instead of a true day off. With gas prices high it's like making money!

Back when the dinosaurs roamed freely outside this window a day off meant doing the couch potato dance and eating whatever was pleasing. Now it seems the most important thing in the fridge is unwilted lettuce and low fat dressing. My brother called in the middle of breakfast and relayed birthday greetings. Then Mother called with the same. Beagle messaged a happy birthday and sent a cute Ecard with a Star Trek theme. The Laundry Witch emailed with a invite to a margarita. And it's early.

All in all this may turn out to be an excellent day. The server is a multiple drive SCSI PC so that will be fun. Hey, it's just nice not to spend the day removing spyware. Besides I may sneak some Blue Plate Mayo on that unwilted lettuce. The rain is a mesmerizing drizzle now. Have a nice nap, uh uh day.

"Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed."
-Charles Schulz

Trash and Rumors

For all those still using Yahoo please pay attention. There is a class action suit filed by advertisers against them. Advertisers NOT users! Get this nasty junk off your PC and quit going there. You stand a good chance of infecting your machine with spyware! You can read about it at PCWorld. It's sad to see a company this large and influental utilizing such trash. BTW, Yahoo occasionally monitors this site. No kidding. (EDIT: They checked in at 11.52am CST today)

Seems that the Keith Richards 'palm tree climbing/falling out of' incident had some serious consequences. The Rolling Stones lead guitarist was operated on Monday. He is said to be recovering nicely after they relieved pressure from a blood clot on his brain. Rumors are flying around the net about the cause of the fall and it will be interesting to hear his statement about the incident. People online has a good article.

"The reward of a thing well done is to have done it."
-Emerson

Jazz n Stuff

New Orleans JazzFest has been deemed a success this year. Sad that Fats Domino couldn't play. He had taken ill and at Fats age one has to be careful. He insisted that there was a need for him to at least show up and apologize. Doctors said okay. Fats, no apology needed man. You are an inspiration to us all. So is Pete Fountain. He had a quad bypass in March and played this weekend. Dude can wail a mean clarinet. Both lost homes to hurricane Katrina. You can read more about it at Forbes.

In the process of re-installing the Mandriva flavor of Linux this article popped up and is very informative, especially to a Windows user. Translated from Dutch it gives the pros and cons about switching to Linux. There are very nice screen shots of both the desktop and the KDE utilities. Thanks goes out to Slashdot for a great link. You can read the article at coulier.org. After the "new" FreeBSD machine is brought online updating the Mandriva PC is next. Both will be functional and online for the LAN party and at least one of them will be wifi (wireless).

Have a casual Monday.

"Don't worry, be happy"
-motto of coulier.org

Morning Images and Ramblings

It's amazing what crosses my path during dreams. Last night I was back at college in a Lit class studying John Keats. The dream was so vivid I actually cruised the net to find out if Ode to a Grecian Urn was the truth beauty, beauty is truth thangy. It is. Fun to read about some of the things that interested me long, long ago in a galaxy far away. Always liked literature. Some kewl stuff. Shakespeare rocks! Don't believe me? Read about that Hamlet dude. Man, what a trip!

Yes, I do realize a lot of what I write is fragmented, tense poor and grammatically challenged. Most of this is streamed. Reading is different. It's easier than writing. Reading is great exercise. You have to use your imagination to create the scenario given to you in books. After reading The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway it was a real treat to watch the movie and see Spencer Tracy's portrayal of Santiago. Manolin became a better human through knowing this wonderful, sensitive yet tough old man. This is one of those books that you come away from a better person.

Peter Jackson did a great job translating the Lord of the Rings trilogy to the big screen. For time's sake there were some things distorted, but he is forgiven. What a beautiful movie. It had to be, LOTR is such a fantastic read. The first reading was great because of all the wonderful plot twists and descriptive writing. Further readings helped me gather other aspects of this phenomenal work. Read them five times now. Plan to do it again too.

Got children? Get Narnia. These awesome books by C.S. Lewis impart high morals and good lessons that young ones need nowadays. As a matter of fact I know some adults that should be MADE to read them. They are short, easy to understand and magical. The recent movie centered on the first book, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, is one of my favorite movies, maybe even number one on the list. Seems the person that cast the movie was inside my mind. What a treat!

Anyway, the point here is read. Read and learn. And dream.

"A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you."
-Boorstein (apparently doesn't own a laptop)

Pork Fat Rules

It's a dreary, overcast Saturday afternoon. The day has been centered around a trip to the doctor and they pronounced me alive. Meds were changed and have to return a month from now. Looks like rain and this may be a good day to yuppie camp in the bedroom. Medication adjustment is calling for sleep and it's a perfect time for that. Will get up and work later. My house looks like a pig lives here. Well, oink oink.

Have a casual Saturday.

"Friendship is Love without his wings."
-Lord Byron

A Slight Modification

Want to see an extreme modification on a Volkswagen? Check out When bugs fly. Bet mpg rating on this little hot rod is extreme too. Can we say mechgeek? Thanks Slashdot, for a great link.

Running late this morning and need to take off. Everyone enjoy the weekend!

"When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that person is crazy."
-Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

Weather n Tunes

Yes, internet service has been inconsistent. No, the beach house is content and knows that VistaIIIMedia is working on the problem. We have had some heavy rains and high winds of late. These two things can create nightmares for cable technicians. They are struggling to provide good service and I appreciate the good effort. Their solid delivery and quality of signal over the past years makes them worthy of some patience. Bear with your provider. I still recommend Dixie-Net and VistaIIIMedia for folks in our area. Even though Comcast has extreme speed, no recommendation here due to their murder of TechTV.

Received an email wanting an opinion about Apple's efforts to hold their download prices at $0.99 a tune. That's too high and I think this is a ploy to attract attention. Get the cost down to $0.50 and I'll be impressed. My advice is to find the website of your favorite artist and download the songs from that site. Don't grease the the pockets of the RIAA, AKA Music Mafia. This group of evil, smarmy apes is a LOT of the reason music cost is high. Beagle uses Rhapsody and likes it. Looking into it. Will keep you posted.

"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy."
-Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Vista Delay

It looks like Windows Vista will not ship until 2007. You can read further about it over at ArsTechnica. This probably won't disappoint Santa Claus and his reindeer. I imagine Bill Gates is not too happy. It would be nice to know the individual costs of the now 5 versions that will be made available. It would be nice to see a specs required list too.

"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit."
-Maxwell

Coconut Telegraph

After a brief look at the news it seems one of the most exciting things in the press today is Keith Richards falling out of a palm tree. For the non-rockers, Mr. Richards is the lead guitarist of the Rolling Stones. He has co-written many of their hits with Mick Jagger. He also has a notorious reputation for boozing n' drugging. It's being told that he was not using and abusing when this happened. Okay, scenario here: A 62 year old man climbing a palm tree. Have you ever seen a palm tree? Think about it. Yep, that's my conclusion too. It will be interesting to see what Keith has to say about the matter. He hasn't been one to bandy words in the past.

"You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That's assault, not leadership."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Your Eyelids Are Heavy n That's Not All...

It's part of the morning routine to check my personalized homepage, compliments of Google. Several different categories exist and one of my favorites is eHow. They sometimes use wikiHow which can be edited by readers. Pretty cool, huh? This morning one of their recommended pages is How to Perform Self-Hypnosis. Yes, tonight on the way home the chant will be "Pass on by the Krispy Kreme, pass on by the Krispy Kreme."

"Have a better than expected day."
-Coffin

Weather and a Donut

The Laundry Witch and I journeyed to Florence,Sheffield, etc. yesterday. Returned a healed PC to her sister and had a great trip. Very easy Alabama day that started with a health food breakfast at Krispy Kreme. I understand why Elvis liked 'em so much. We shopped around limited somewhat by my wasp stung foot then met her sister. After another health food experience at the Peking Chinese Restaurant we installed the computer and then returned home last yesterday evening. LW has a new Pontiac G6 that is awesome.

Internet connectivity is spotty so they are working on the problem. Wind warnings were up to 60mph last night so it would be frightening if they weren't having a few problems. It's still gusty outside. We tried to play Guild Wars late, but my 2-5 minutes at a time connections finally got the best of me and I went to bed. Since the sun is trying to shine and I have things to do it's time to finish Sunday afternoon working. Later.

"What some people mistake for the high cost of living is really the cost of high living."
-Doug Larson

Full Footal Assault

It's late and the general spirit around the beach house is warp whine. This morning Mr. Red Wasp decided to pay us a visit. The med taken to relieve the poison of the sting makes me groggy and besides, it still hurts like hell! It entered my shoe somehow and stung the instep of my foot. Thought I'd stepped on a piece of glass!

Whiny boy out! TGIF.

"Don't have sex. It leads to kissing and pretty soon you have to start talking to them."
-Steve Martin

Browser Wars

I think this is just about tacky - ExplorerDestroyer. It's no secret that Firefox is favored over Internet Explorer at the beach house, but this campaign seems almost underhanded. Hey, what should you expect from the people that in a different incarnation wanted you to pay for a webbrowser back many years ago? After all, a lot of the coders, engineers, etc., that work for the Mozilla Project (they created and maintain Firefox) came from what is now AOHell uh, uh, AOL. The browser division seems to have formed from people that were Netscape employees back before AOHell acquired them. I do use Firefox as the default browser, but sometimes IE does a better job. Anyway, this is most likely going to deter as many folks as it attracts. Negative thinking sucks.

Any opinions?

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."
-Baldwin

To Dream Perchance

Up late trying to diagnose a server problem that seems to be rooted in some bad code included a proprietary software application. Methinks the software was never meant to really make nice nice with Windows 98. The solution will be interesting.

It's beat me up enough for one day. Catch you all on the Thursday side.

"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it."
-Abraham Lincoln

Geeks with Parrothead Style

Good to see some interest in the LAN Party planning. We will definitely organize some groups for quests and missions in GuildWars. There will be a possible run to Galrath and Sanctum Cay if enough people are interested. Let me know if other quests/missions are needed. We are open for suggestions. If you are new to the game there will be people available to help with initial installations, first quest, etc.

Switches will be provided as will cables and electrical outlets. If you want battery backup please bring your own. A wireless access point will be up and running. One purpose of such a soiree is to bring your gaming machine and style with it. Monitors? Bring 'em. For those that volunteer to help with the setup on Friday afternoon, food and drink will be on the house. Yes, there will be a trial run that night. Kudzu Dragons will be available on party day to aid and abet and believe me much knowledge will be shared. Saturday during festivities food and beverage will be available until it runs out. No charge, just a tip jar in a prominent place.

FreeBSD and Linux PCs will be up and running for those interested in Windows alternatives. Want to bring an Apple? We promise no one will rag you too much. Most likely Linux SUSE and Mandriva will be the flavors online. No decision on that yet. Since my Mandriva machine is an older Mandrake version and the OpenOffice install is in Portuguese (don't ask because I have no idea how this happened) we may install Ubuntu. Hopefully the kewl Red Magnet people will help with that.

Tomorrow should see a return of regular posts concerning Windows help and an occasional adventure of Arnold, the Nazi Possum that hangs out in the big oak just outside this window. Yes Robin, Hamboni the Jinn is still alive and living in the big foot SCSI hard drive used as a door stop. He will make predictions soon. There will be occasional information about the geekfest over the next few weeks so please bear with me.

Have most satisfying Tuesday.

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
-Patton

LAN Partayyyyy!

This is a late post due to the site host being down for a while today. GuildWars was enjoyed over the weekend and the yard is mowed. Still have some touch up weed eating, but with rain in tomorrow's forecast that looks like a good project for Wednesday late afternoon.

There will be a LAN party at the Saltillo Beach House over the Memorial Day weekend. Festivities will commence at 5:00pm on the 27th of May. Of course the game will be GuildWars. You don't have to be a Kudzu Dragon to attend. We welcome members of local guilds and others to plan on stopping by and hanging out. A lot of folks just enjoy the food and beverage. Contact me if you want to volunteer setup or bring food. In the past everyone liked burgers and dogs so that's a start of the menu.

Efforts are being made to have some machines set up so a few new people at a time can get online and play the game. Plans are to have Pre and Post searing up. Pre is for the newbies and Post is for those that have played for a while. Our group is very casual and laid back. The camaraderie and talk are usually more fun than the actual gaming. We will have ample parking and probably even game on the veranda and patio. WiFi will be available.

Such a geekfest takes some planning and coordination. Hep me! Hep me! This year everything will be setup and ready so Saturday can be dedicated to the cause. Rock on my fellow nerdlings.

"Happiness is a very small desk and a very big wastebasket."
-Orben

Battle of the Saltillo Ditch

After working in the yard yesterday I am sore. Need to do it again today. The majority of mowing was done with one minor mishap. Mudslingr said my mowing reminded him of an elephant riding a turtle. My small, compact riding mower is green and a GOP fan here, so no offense is taken. Somehow the reverse gear stuck and I backed it off in a ditch. While pinned under the the mower down in the ditch the humor of it all overwhelmed me and my mind's eye was broadcasting pictures of my predicament. After a fit of laughing and realizing this might go unseen the mower was finally lifted enough to unpin my leg. It still tickles me to think of how stupid things can surround me, especially when alone.

The new Sony z520a cell phone is pretty dad-gumm awesome. After answering calls and no one saying anything it was finally realized the wrong button was being pushed and the phone was sending busy signals. Well, duh? RTFM. And after reading the manual it was discovered that the reception is steady and clear. It has a camera n other goodies. Beagle programmed it with neat pictures and a bunch of Jimmy Buffett, Beatles, etc. ringtones. Talk time is 9 hours and standby is over 500 hours. At first it seemed the buttons were small for my hands, but that has disappeared after a few days of use. So far it's a go. It feels solid and should hold up. Just hope Sony didn't put a root kit in it, LOL.

It was brought to my attention that Windows and Gates have taken a beating in here due to the stopping support of Windows 98,etc. Some things they do are a bit iffy. Please understand that I realize Bill Gates made it possible for us to afford decent machines. Left to a world of Steve Jobs we'd be using 2 year old technology and basic machines would cost a small fortune. So yes, a Windows fan here. And maybe a bit too hard on Apple users when it's just a few that rant and rave. I stand corrected.

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
-Shaw

Upgrades, Hardware and the Orchard

Recently received a great question via email, "What hardware do you need to upgrade from an older version of Windows?" Let's assume this means Windows 98, 98SE or ME. That means an upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP at this time. Windows Vista will be out later this year and since predicting the release date requires some serious voodoo spells requiring animals other than chickens killed let's leave it at later this year.

There's a major difference in 2000 and XP. Basically if you are running an Intel PII CPU or AMD equivalent processor and are somewhere around 200 megs of RAM, 2000 will run fine. If upgrading to XP the real world bare minimum is at least an Intel PIII or AMD equivalent. XP will run on a faster PII machine with plenty of RAM, but it will be slow. Let's face it, XP wants 512megs of RAM and a faster processor. Your better off with a processor that is 1gig or better and RAM is just like kitchen cabinet space - you just can't have too much.

XP or 2000? There are hints that Billy boy and the Microsmooze crew will kill complete support on 2000 soon in order to pressure you to upgrade, especially with Windows Vista just around the corner. I don't understand this but many things computerese aren't comprehendable. Windows 2000 is a great operating system. Yes XP is built on the same NT5 kernel and has many of the same features. The Pro version is the way to go with XP. Home Edition is light and I feel not as stable as Pro or 2000. I certainly am not going to upgrade my 2000 machines right now.

The rumor mill is churning with various lists of hardware requirements for Windows Vista. Seems the gist is 2.5gig CPUs and 1gig of RAM. DON'T PANIC. It's not available yet so wait and see. If your machine is old though, now is a super time to make a purchase. The computer market is a buyers market presently and don't expect it to stay that way. Purchase the maximum CPU possible and get mucho RAM. I still prefer HP/COMPAQ and have no problem with Dell. Dell will cost more. I shy away from eMachines and their new subsidiary Gateway (only because Gateway is now part of the eMachine). AMD or Intel? To avoid a bitch slapping fight let's get this out of the way and say take your pick. Hey at least you won't be paying money to Darth Jobs for an Apple.

Why not Apple? Here goes - you may be instantly associated with some of the weirdest nerds on the planet. Most of them lie because they believe in lies that have been told to them. These machines are slow, overated and wayyyyyy overpriced. Appleites will argue until death that Apples are faster than PCs. They are not. Hell, they are not even close. Since they have started using Intel CPUs this will probably change. They do have a nice operating system, OSX or whatever Roman numeral now appropriate, that was gleeped from the open source FreeBSD people and made proprietary. And then there is Darth Jobs. You really want to put money in this jerk's pocket? I don't. Yes, they are great when it comes to Photoshop, MAIA and other software of the rendering genre. Not a good main computer and it does not belong in an office scenario even though Microsoft Office is the most popular selling software for an Apple computer. You can bet there will be emails over this paragraph. Some of these Apple people are scary. Let me bare my soul and admit that I am considering the purchase of an Apple. There is a place here for another Apple tech. Yes, I have met stable Apple owners. This diatribe may run even them off, though. BTW one of my favorite sites, Slashdot is run by Apple aficionadoes. Will keep you posted.

Ashby Rhett Culpepper disagrees with me. I don't think the office arena is ready to run FreeBSD. He says with the proper IT person it will work. Yep, sure will. Ashby has the credentials and knowhow to do this; I don't at this time. The Ernie Ball guitar string company went Linux several years ago and I understand they haven't looked back. Yes, it can be done. My daily visits to the field convince me it won't be easy. Honest to God, you'd have to explain on the front end about how much time will be spent with your IT on site and the costs. Unless you find a business owner that is geeked to such an alternative this will be an uphill battle. I hate it. But that's the way it is out there. I like FreeBSD, a LOT. Some Linux flavors ain't bad either!

These are my opinions. This is NOT a forum and if it is not apparent that I favor certain areas of the computer realm then my ability to write is mediocre at best. You can comment all day long and I welcome them. I welcome even those who disagree. This last paragraph is written to forewarn the mad Appleites that their comments will be edited if profane. That's my story n Ima stickin' to it.

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."
-Jong, How to Save Your Own Life

Beach House Rain Forest

Click on this button and find out about your level of geekness. Mine is 53%. This certainly NOT a 10 question test. Sorry, sometimes such things attract me. It's fun, especially at my age. This was stolen from a Beagle post at SouthernPhried.

Yard mowing is not on the agenda today. It rained overnight and this morning, so the ground is wet. Perhaps tomorrow. Yes mudslingr, I too have heard the lion prowling about in the tall grass.

Just hope that Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus, is safe in his tree. He may actually be that creature prowling around. Probably looking for a dog or cat upon which to open a can of whupass. Saw him briefly the other night. It's been a while.

"The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you."
-Asimov

Why Hail Yes

Over the past 2 days the demise of Windows 98/ME has been discussed as has the possibility of upgrading to newer Windows operating systems and various alternatives. It is good to see two knowledgeable IT people comment with pertinent opinions and info. Thanks Beagle and Ashby. Your input is graciously received.

After trying to sneak around and mow the yard this morning it has been decided that will be a quick random decision from hence forth! Gathering my duds n stuff ready to repair a damaged tire on the mower my attention was suddenly drawn to a slight pecking sound. Then literally, all hail broke loose! Small, diameter of a dime to a quarter and it didn't last but a few minutes.

Now it's time to hit the trail and return to the jungle later this evening. Enjoy Thursday. Weekend starts tomorrow!

"Laughter is higher than all pain."
-Hubbard

Same Song Second Day

Okay, I've received numerous emails about things said here before, but yesterday's post prompted even phone calls. Why? The questions are: Upgrade to what? Should I wait on Windows new operating system (it's officially called Vista now)? Is it true I have to buy a copy for each computer? Do I use XP Home or Pro? Is Windows 2000 still supported? Why did that sorry bas---- Gates do this to his customers?

Let's start by saying that the COMMENTS line at the bottom of each post are there for a reason. Certainly don't mind phone calls and really encourage emails, but use that which is handy and EASY. Just click on it, type in a name if you like (have fun, make one up!), make your comment, and hit the publish button at the bottom. Painless, I must say. I do reserve the right to edit comments, but so far have not used that right. It is VERY desirable that the comment have something to do with the post. Again, this is NOT a forum. If edited it will say so and hey, we live in a world that is ate up with some silly political correctness thangys.

Upgrade to what? Most likely Windows. There are viable alternatives such as several flavors of Linux. FreeBSD for the average office may be a bit too much although they seem to be headed towards an easier GUI installation program. Apple's OSX might be considered if the rumors are true about it being made compatible with PC machines. Don't hold your breath. I certainly wouldn't buy Apple machines for an office environment. Anyway, most likely Windows. Should you wait on Vista? This is a roll of the dice since they are not due for retail sale until the fourth quarter. Also, it's rumored that Windows Vista is going to require some pretty beefed up hardware. Upgrading from many Windows 98 PCs to even Windows XP will be hardware constrained.

XP Home Edition or Pro? Spend the money. I don't care if Pro is twice the price, it's a better operating system. If you are a user that just checks email, files recipes, writes letters, etc., Home Edition may suffice, but I wish the Redmond bunch had never created it. That simple. You think the 2 choices of XP are confusing, try 7 or 8 varieties of Vista when it arrives! Seems people smart enough to write code for OS stuff would learn from their mistakes, but apparently Microsoft hasn't a clue. Yes, you do have to buy a copy for each computer. It's the law. First, make sure you have ample hardware and then look into buying a package deal that includes multiple license. Yo yo yo, good rule of thumb about hardware; if you have less than 512megs of RAM in your present PC, consider upgrading your machine.

Windows 2000? Still my favorite because it actually worked when it first sold. 2000 had stability not seen in previous versions. And hey, it followed that horrible ME disaster. NOTE: Windows 2000 and XP share the same kernel - NT5. Support life expectancy? I am working on an answer. The net is very vague. Why is Gates and company constantly upgrading? Think Detroit and you'll have your answer.

Whew! Tired now and must go work. Hope this helps.

"Consider the postage stamp, my son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there."
-Billings

Microsoft Support of Windows 98, 98SE, ME

Anyone using Windows 98, Windows 98SE, or Window ME please stop reading this and click on Geek.com. Please read the whole article including Matthew's Opinion. Support stops July the 11th. Last Thursday PCWorld ran an article about the support ending as well. The first link is concise, informative and brief. The second link is a bit more detailed. With the advent of Windows Vista upon us I think it's time to put away these older operating systems and upgrade. Yes, I know it hurts the pocket book.

A possible scenario: You still run 98 later this year, it gets infected, the computer geek of your choice tries to cure the damaged registry, but cannot due to lack of support. You have to pay the tech and pay for the upgrade. Save some money. Be wise. Upgrade before July.

My guess is that this article will be one of the most viewed on this site before the year ends. We'll see...

"Never miss a good chance to shut up."
-Will Rogers

My Computer's Fallen and It Can't Get Up!

Best backup system to use? This question is heard a lot. One answer is external hard drives. If you don't have a lot of data then save some money and use a jump drive (AKA travel drive, thumb drive, pocket drive, etc.). These are small in form, plug into the USB port and usually come with a lanyard so it can be worn around the neck. Nice jump drives can be found for under $100.00 all day long. Wally-World even carries them. I'd try OfficeMax first due to selection and they usually have great prices.

If you have a lot of data then consider buying two, yes that's right, TWO full size external hard drives. This will give you the ability to tell everyone that you have ascended in the techno realm and become a walking RAID 1 array. ROFL! Okay joke's over, back to the serious. Be sure and purchase external hard drives that are intended for backup use. They will include the needed software. The reason for two is that if your data is extremely important then you will always have a backup on site and off site. That makes sense, doesn't it? Like in case of fire?

Shop around for these items. Most of the jump drives are reliable and I have several clients that use these devices for backup, moving files, etc. As far as the external hard drive backups I like the Maxtor. May cost a few dollars more, but the software is very user friendly.

If you are adventerous and lean towards geekness you may want to try a RAID array using the SATA hard drives. Really geeked? Then you probably have found SCSI by now. Old technology that is still super fast and very dependable. It costs though.

If you have a CD or DVD burner in your machine there are several software companies that make it easy to use these devices for backup. The best? Go with the latest version of Nero. They rock.

"Why don't they make the whole plane out of that black box stuff."
-Steven Wright

And a Small Child Will Lead Them

Today, God has blessed me. Oh it's certainly not the first time. Through His Grace I have led a blessed life. Today is special though. It's no secret that I am a geeky, techno kind of person. Years ago I started piecing together an ample home theater system. Just a while ago I realized why this has been important to me.

All my life I've been connected to C.S. Lewis and John Tolkien (they were close friends). My father was such a fan of Mr. Lewis, especially his works concerning Christianity. Fortunately, he also wrote three interconnected Sci-Fi pieces sometimes referred to as the Ransom Trilogy. This introduced me to a world of people believing in right is might and that going towards the dark side is bad juju. But, back to today.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first of the seven chronicles of Narnia. This is a fantasy world that has fawns, talking beavers, centaurs, meanass wolves, orcish bad guys and one very evil witch. Four children enter this world and their attitudes and family bonds are tied to the realm of good and evil. If you read these books when younger you might want to get them out again.

The movie is well, AWESOME!!!! Truly there is magic here. It's almost certain Clive Staples would be very proud of this rendering of his story. The complete aura of the whole tale is well represented and the special effects are gorgeous. This is NOT a movie for very small children. There are battles, war, and death so use the noodle and review the movie before you introduce it to your children. I just thank the Good Lord that both of my daughters were turned on to Narnia. Their lives have been touched by Aslan, Peter, Mr. Tumnus and the rest.

My emotional makeup was thoroughly tested. Yes, it is allegory. Yes it is about sacrifice and grace. As I watched my heart laughed, I wept and was chilled right to the marrow. If you are Christian it will suprise me if you don't like this masterpiece. What a wonderful way to spend Easter afternoon. I've come away a better man. Daughters of mine, your spirits soar like little Lucy. Thank you God, for everything.

"Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning."
C. S. Lewis
-

Truth is Beauty?

Today I have realized some important things:

1. Never again shall the tires go completely flat on the riding lawn mower.

2. The name of the Daddy of the young bicycle rider that keeps flying by while I am attempting yard work and screams "lardass" at the top of his voice will be mine. Daddy and I will have a chat. He will be reminded that the Chief of Police is my neighbor.

3. Somehow I will find a way to lose weight because young cycle rider screams by bearing the truth. Number 2 may take some rethinking as a matter of fact. This may actually be a good thing.

4. Never again will I attempt to mow the front yard with my push mower. I vaguely remember the last few rows of the 5 that were done and looking out the window you'd think I'd reverted to my Purple Haze years.

5. My next major purchase after replacing a network computer will be an automatic dishwasher that'll be turbocharged and require dylithium crystals (see www.startrek.com).

6. My bathroom shall never revert to its present state. Mr. Clean shall become a daily operative in that conquest.

7. Double 'A' batteries will always be purchased in a minimum of 6 packs.

8. After some thought strike number 2 from the list.

This is lardass saying, "Outta here n Diet Sierra Mist rules!"

"I dream for a living."
-Steven Spielberg

Whaat's Up, Dock?

It's Good Friday. That means there are only two more days to work this week. Hey if you see that silly rabbit with the eggs go ahead and hide them without me. I think he hangs out with the old dude in the red suit. They just don't find time to stop at the beach house. Think the 'Scrooge Lives Here and Elmer Fudd Visits' doormat has anything to do with all this? Okay the whine stops now; it's time to think positive about a holiday weekend.

Think I'll barbeque some bologna for Easter dinner, better yet mebbe some fried rabbit! Let's see what goes good with bologna grill? How about parsnips? Perhaps a beige wine? Yes a sandwich even, with horseradish, onion and mucho tomato topped off with one of my favorite health foods - Blue Plate Mayo. Large cheese slice of the yellow extra sharp cheddar variety, another favorite health food. How about a real honest to goodness Coke, in a tall glass with crushed ice? Yes oh yes! Okay, let's forget about the parsnips. Shoot, forget the bologna and substitue country ham. Then chocolate ice cream smothered in strawberries and whipped cream with 3 cherries on top! Then another real Coke! Please excuse me now. I have wortked up the nerve to tackle that thing that lives in my fridge. This has become a mission.

If Christian, celebrate the ascension of Christ this weekend. Call it Easter, Passover or whatever. Hide the eggs and watch the gleeful faces as they enjoy finding goodies. Pray prayers of gratitude while watching the small ones. Spend some money on an Easter basket. Your child/children deserve it. After all they have to tolerate you. While your at it get the spousal unit a LARGE chocolate bunny. And hey, if you believe all that malarky about Easter egg hunting being bad because it has pagan roots then don't put up a Christmas tree this year either. And I'll loan you my doormat.

"The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances."
-Flatt (Amen, my brother, amen)