XP Service Pack 2 - did Steve Jobs write this piece of garbage?

I really DON'T want to hear from the Microsoft Nazis that have been lucky enough to install this horrible disease on a few machines. This joke of an upgrade has cost me more time than any virus or trojan in existence. Used to have respect and regard for the Gates Gang, but it is quickly flying out the 'window'. Enough is enough.

This thing is horrible. Do a service call, install it and two days later return to remove it. And people just won't pay for the removal service call. If fortunate, it goes away and things are okay, sorta'. Today I've another PC that will have to be formatted in order to restore system operation. Damn XP! Think I'll recommend all my clients UPGRADE to Windows 2000!!

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."-Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988)

Light sabers and breathing apparatus

All righty now!!! I am pumped! Take a look at the new trailer for Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith. This is excellent! You need Quicktime and a fast connection to see it properly. May the port, uh, uh, force be with you!

Have a super Saturday!

"The ablilty to speak does not make you intelligent."
-Qui-Gon Jinn

Redmond and Hell

Advanced notification of security bulletins from Microsoft? Yes! Coming in December from Billyboy and the Redmond gang. Read about it at ENT News The new Microsoft web page is going up and they will start emailing us sometime next month. Like, do you have any answers about all the SP2 fubars that are running rampant on the planet? Huh? Huh? Please Mr. Microsoft, tell me how I persuade SP2 to make nice nice with a Hewlett Packard 750n or many models of Dell. Our inquiring, befuddled minds wanna know! And do we really need XP2? Remember Windows ME?

After that Microsmooze blast, it's now time to piss off the Apple Nazis. All 2% of 'em worldwide. Konfabulator dude Arlo Rose has given Darth Jobs the 'cyberbird' and is coming over to the Windows side of the force. He's going with Gates and company because the wunnerful sweethearts at Apple have used his ideas and incorporated them into the new Tiger operating system. Gee! Who'da thought!?!?!? Wonder if Jobs has a front row seat by the fire in hell or if he'll sit on the podium? What a jerk. Read about it at CNET News. Thank you Michael and islandroots over at Slashdot for the news tip.

Everyone have fun Friday. And remember, there's only 2 more days to work this week!

"How like herrings and onions our vices are in the morning after we have committed them."
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

zAmboni and the Duke speak

Interested in the future of TVs? Do you know about the MPAA? Pirating movies? You might want to stop. Check two articles over at arstechnica by zAmboni -> How big is too big? and MPAA set to unleash their lawyers. How "sweet"...you can watch the birth of the RIAA's little brother.

Today will be spent exploring one realm of darkworld. Have to seek out and destroy malware. You know; spyware, adware, thiefware, virus infections, trojans, etc. It'll be interesting to see how many machines have Windows Critical Updates properly in place. Up early to make a fell swoop through several cities.

Coffee is good, I love my job, and am looking forward to accomplishing tasks. Geek on my fellow nerdlings.

"A problem is a chance for you to do your best."
-Duke Ellington

Wow! Do I feel better...

The internet is busy on this fine fine day after the Presidential Election. Thank goodness that a majority of voters were intelligent enough to re-elect our President. Republicans gained seats in the House and Senate. Now goals can be obtained. God Bless our President and Vice President, their families and the United States of America.

"That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves."
-Thomas Jefferson

4 miles from Crossroads

All I can say about the Shack Up Inn is CASUAL. Now this is not some roadside inn out of daily episodes of 'The Old and the Listless', 'Drool over our Lives' or 'Most of my Youngins'. This is true Americana. If you are looking for a weekend adventure, like the blues or want to know more about the invention of the mechanical cotton picker visit this site. Be sure and click on the jukebox icon at the top and listen to some way kewl music. These folks don't advertise, have signs up or buy commercial time on the TV and radio. They do have a well constructed, full of information web page. Give it a visit.

Thanks to everyone that has helped with the leadsled problem. Just can't say enough about friendship.

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine."
-Thomas Jefferson

Rock n Roll Soul

Besides the "W" sticker (TY Uncle Snake & Verdana) on the rear window, the crippled leadsled has one more banner on it. A small, round Sun Studios emblem is on the rear bumper. Brother Dan gave this to me several years ago. Just the other day Wired News ran an article about the history of this Memphis, TN, landmark. Very entertaining if you are into Rock n Roll music. Many interesting facts such as the "voice" Sam Phillips just had to record. Yes, he is a Mississippian and no, he's not Elvis! Great stuff. Check it out at Sun Shines Light on Music History

The Ace of Chevrolet mechanics is on the way to investigate the current glitch in the operating system of the El Camino. Must go make sure there is Diet Mountain Dew and coffee. Later y'all.

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence."
-Robert Fripp

It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter. -Marlene Dietrich

Somehow there is great irony in the fact that the day I put an antique tag on my leadsled the engine blows up. We're not talking about a hose or belt going, this is rings disintegrating and major compression loss. The engine will have to be rebuilt. Came as a complete suprise. Thought the motor was good for another 75,000 miles.

It blew, I crippled about the day, picked up the license plate at the Neal n CC Ranch, then slowly chugged home. It's in sad sad shape. Thank God that Neal was there to help. Thank God it happened under somewhat controlled circumstances and not while on the way to Starkville and Columbus early tomorrow morning.

A great friend is loaning me a vehicle until it is repaired. Seems my doing things for others pays off. What's that old saying, "When you get lemons - make lemonade?" Well, when you get lemons at the beach house you throw the damned things in front of a train or, at the very least, make margaritas. The leadsled WILL run again. My antique truck tag WILL not go to waste. Ahhhhhh, man's gotta' know his priorities and limitations.

If your a client please understand my situation if I run a day or two late. I'll be in touch with everyone no later than tomorrow morning. Now I must go get greasy and spend the day starting the upgrade of the operating system in a Chevrolet.

"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

Sunday morning happens tonight

Saturday morning and I've miles to go before I sleep. I'll see some great friends today and travel in excess of 200 miles. Always nice to be in Tishomingo County though. One nice part of the trip is that the last tag for the El Camino is waiting at the Neal n' CC ranch. Yep, the leadsled is officially an antique.

End of the month things are coming together and November is looking great. My "older" brother, Dan, celebrates a birthday mid November and Maddiecakes has one towards the end. My daughter and son-in-law living in the great state of Louisiana won't be here for Thanksgiving, but will arrive the week after Christmas and have planned to spend time at the Beach House. We have an agenda.

Daylight savings stops this weekend. Remember to wind those clocks back one hour early Sunday morning.

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
-J.R.R. Tolkien

Watch it Knute! They're headin' fer the henhouse!

Sometimes it amazes me as to what constitutes a joint business venture. Now we have Microsoft, AOL, Earthlink and Yahoo joining combining forces to "fight" spam. One story is at Vnunet. Let's see, the main purpose of spyware is to glean info so the bad guys can send spam, popups, popunders, etc. to unknowing innocent victims that really don't want this junk. Okay, there are those few that are masochists and want the stuff. It's a known fact that Yahoo not only endorses shady spyware practices, but implements it as well. I'd expect this type of behavior from AOL, NOT from Earthlink and especially Microsoft. Ahhhhh the old fox in the henhouse trick and they've made the sly devil Sargent of the Guard...

"Commerce, n. A kind of transaction in which A plunders from B the goods of C, and for compensation B picks the pocket of D of money belonging to E."
-Ambrose Bierce

Large reptilian collusion, difference of opinion and an eclipse

Recent mention of the fact that some Yahoo components contain spyware has been questioned in several emails. Please go to JimWorld and read this WHOLE string. Very enlightening. Basically, Yahoo sucks. Of all the creeps in the world they chose to tie in with it couldn't be any less than one of the worst -> Claria aka Gator aka Precision Time aka Weatherscope (remnant of the now defunct Weatherbug) aka CMESII aka GAIN and that calendar thangy whatever it's called today. As far as I can tell Yahoo Messenger is not part of the infection. The toolbar is the problem. No matter, Yahoo Messenger needs to go and I will stop recommending Yahooligans as a good child-friendly site. All Yahoo has been removed from my favorites.

BondoElvis has a different opinion of Norton Internet Security. A while ago we both experienced horrors very similar on two different networks that were not connected and well over 100 miles apart. It was downright phreaky. After his client and my client installed NIS against our wishes (even after being told to use ONLY Norton's Antivirus) we both spent days rebuilding network/internet capability and going through hell to remove Norton's Internet Security. Bondo says that the newer issue of this software is much more user friendly and can be easily removed. He also advises AGAINST use on an older PC, especially one with a small amount of memory. I am posting this since my experience with this program was a one time adventure and Mr. Elvis took the time to write. When 40 or so computers stop talking to each other and their internet capability is squashed, guarded is my approach. AVG is still #1 in my book and if you need a good software firewall the free version of Zonealarm is hard to beat. Spybot also has a program that can be utilized called Tea Timer that gives great protection.

Last night's light show in the sky was really neat. Weather at the Beach House was perfect and I reclined in the swing on the veranda from ingress to egress. Our blessings come in many forms.

"For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise."
-Ben Franklin

"We read to know we are not alone." - C.S. Lewis

Two of my favorite sites on the internet have to do with reading. They are Project Gutenberg and Litrix. These sites are online libraries that offer certain works of literature for free. Project Gutenberg has been around a while and has over 10,000 volumes. While Litrix is relatively new they offer some interesting works and I am presently reading A Voyage to Arcturus from that sight. It's under the SciFi section. This is my third reread to see if age will help gain further clarity of interpretation.

Slashdot has a related story about Project Gutenberg. Looks like Margaret Mitchell's heirs are upset because the Australian version of this great project has posted Gone with the Wind. The outcome of this will be interesting. International copyright laws conflicting will definitely become more prevelant as time marches on.

There's also a link for out great local libraries in the list to the right. If you haven't visited lately you'll be amazed at the changes. Nice folks. Excellent web site!

Remember, there is a lunar eclipse tonight starting a few minutes after 8:00PM CDT.

"My mother and my father were illiterate immigrants from Russia. When I was a child they were constantly amazed that I could go to a building and take a book on any subject. They couldn't believe this access to knowledge we have here in America. They couldn't believe that it was free."
-Kirk Douglas

Never moon a werewolf

Wednesday night, 8:14PM CDT, there will be a lunar eclipse. Weather permitting, this should be a fun thing to watch. Natural phenomena of this scale blew me away during my formative years. Still does. Here's a nifty link that is somewhat dated, but full of great information for the amateur astronomer -> MrEclipse.com. Remember to check Moonrise in your area. NASA will provide online viewing.

If needed, wear moontan lotion. Or stay in the moonshade.

"The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to..."
Carl Sandburg

May I have your attention please?

Next time you sit there smugly in front of your PC and tell the virus definitions that are trying to update that they should "go away", please come back here and read this article -> Plague carriers. Or read this article at Reuters. How about the Boston Globe? It's very short and to the point. Shoot! Just go to Google and pick one out.

Over to the right there is a list of links. Spybot Search & Destroy, Ad-aware and AVG are listed here. Just click on the words and you'll be on their respective pages. There are also buttons for Spybot and Ad-aware in the ads listed below the links. You can click on them and go to these sites. USE THESE PROGRAMS! And puh-lease! Don't install them and think that's it. YOU HAVE TO UPDATE!

If you are using McAfee's for a virus protection program, the you are a very sad, sad creature living in a fantasy world. Please remember this:
Norton's Antivirus = OKAY!
Norton's Internet Security or System Works = VERY VERY BAD JUJU!
Norton's Antivirus is a resource hog and is wayyyyyy busy running in the background. Not as good as AVG, but it does work.

After purchasing my Toshiba laptop the first thing done was removal of the year's subscription to Norton's System Works. BTW, getting said garbage off that machine was about like removing spyware. Then the network and internet capabilities were configured and AVG was downloaded.

None of my PCs have ever had a virus!! Not one! Almost daily infected PCs are attached to this network in order to scan them with one of my computers. No, there's no need to worry about the virus infection jumping across my network because it is protected!!! Is yours? According to the links listed in the first paragraph, probably not.

Spyware? Hanging is too merciful for the sorry bastards involved in this horrible, evil business. Now I must go find my medication...maybe next time I'll tell you how I really feel.

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."
-Albert Einstein

Restraining order ? How about restraining with a cybernoose?

Finally the FTC has made a move against spyware. In order to stop Stanford Wallace and companies from spamming the innocent public a temporary restraining order has been issued. Read more about this sleazy jerk at ABC7news. Here is another idea. Let's make it permanent and let Richard Branson use Wallace and his buffoons as crash test dummies for Virgin Galactica.

Remember the days when you surfed the net and found all this wonderful information right at your finger tips just by clicking a few buttons, hearing some weird noises, and signing on to the world wide web? Recall that first time you heard about internet virus infection and wondered what fiend would do such a thing? Ever chat for hours on IRC or ICQ (when it didn't belong to AOL)? Been there and done all of 'em.

For the past day or so most Cybersouth email has been about protection tools; what to use, how to install properly, frequency of update and that sort of thing. After thinking about this I have something possibly we should ponder - HACKERS, UNITE! Spamford Wallace owns two companies named in the restraining order - SmartBot.net Inc. of Richboro, Pa., and Seismic Entertainment Productions Inc. of Rochester. What was it Nathan Bedford Forrest used to say? "Attack! No quarter!"

It's now time for my high blood pressure medication.

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."
-Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Philo Taylor Farnsworth, what have ye done?

Sitting this evening enjoying the fact that the great multicolored eye dominating my living area has lulled me into a dream filled sleep during a gentle downpour, I was suddenly scared sh--less by a loud screaming siren. My first thought was that a fire truck had hydroplaned and run into the house. Nope, just the TV weather alert telling me that it was raining OVER 40 miles away. Anymore, if it clouds up they interrupt every few minutes.

It insults me for them to presume I am so stupid that I can't look out the window and see the condition of the weather. Besides, there's a Saltillo weather link on this page. It may be time to take control of my life and do away with this annoying bother. Sheesh! Thought TV was for entertainment and information not annoyances. After all the breaks in TV programming I'll spend the week wondering if Andy is still mad at Barney and did Spock manage to save Captain Kirk and the crew.

There's a storm shelter on this property and I've never been in it during a storm. Don't get me wrong, I'll use it if needed, but that'll consist of a mad dash from the computer room after seeing danger is likely on Intellicast. The rain stopped 20 minutes ago and I still hear the weather alert dude talking about storms in Louisiana or Texas or Mexico or Peru. He seems to think these places exist in my backyard. Don't they teach geography in schools? Think a good book and the "calm" after the storm are in order. And maybe a prayer for patience and tolerance...

"Check out Farnovision to learn more about the history of the boob tube."
-The ghost of Milton Berle

Remember the Minutemen?

Talk about 'rocket scientists' showing off their single digit IQs. Hannibal, over at arstechnica, did this awesome post -> The Guardian's anti-Bush lettering writing campaign hacked. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Can we all say DUMBASS together? With weasels like this supporting Kerry the "W" can go home and not spend more money on campaigning. It's a cinch he will be re-elected. What IS it about Kerry that inspires such goofiness?!? Think about it. Is having that creep Michael Moore supporting your election efforts really a good thing? C'mon people!

Thank you Hannibal for a great slant on marked mental deficiency at home and abroad.

"The temper and character which prevail in our colonies are, I am afraid, unalterable by any human art . . . An Englishman is the unfittest person on earth to argue another Englishman into slavery."
-Edmund Burk, March 22, 1775

Google tips, browser wars and SP2 lore

Using the Google Toolbar? There's a nice feature listed under 'Search Web' that is handy. If you click on the drop down arrow (black arrow to the right of the words Search Web)) at the bottom of the list is Dictionary. Click on this link and it opens up giving you the definition of "nothing" since there is nothing in the box to define - downright cute. Another way to find a quick definition is to go to Google type in 'define' and the word needing clarity; i.e. 'define snizzle'. Aside from whatever the Urban Dictionary says, snizzle is some type of berry and also snow changing to drizzle. At the time researched there were 169 listings for 'define snizzle'. It's always nice to learn the meaning of words found in our great language.

Has anyone else noticed that there are commercials running on TV promoting NETSCAPE internet service for $9.95 a month? They even have one where they challenge NetZero. Remember, Netscape is owned by AOL and we certainly don't need another AOL - one is bad enough. Also, Microsoft has mentioned on several occasions that they may discontinue the Internet Explorer Browser. Just remember that AOL/Netscape is a major force behind the "Mozilla.org" project. In the near future do you think we might possibly be buying browsers? If memory serves me the huge anti-Microsoft lawsuit a few years ago had to do with the Netscape people being pissed because Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer with Windows at no extra charge. Weirdness in court let them prevail even though the Netscape product was inferior at the time and they wanted $20.00 for it. Yes, whining works on occasion. Netscape proved it. Should you download Firefox or Mozilla? Hmmmmm...a conditional yes. Please be wary of that which seems free. Things change.

Your help is needed. Please comment about experiences with Service Pack 2, aka SP2. Also, if you favor another flavor over XP let us know which OS, etc. Reports are still coming in about horrors with Service Pack 2. The one PC here that has it installed is fine so far, but I recently helped a client install it and now there are major problems. Any input will be welcome. In the words of that great late night philosopher David Letterman, "Hep me! Hep me!"

"Greed is a fat smelly pig with a nasty mouth that never has enough to eat."
-Lawrence Easley

Choices and condiments

Folks, this is an online journal that revolves around things concerning computer usage. Since we own these devices and you are here then information gathering is part of your personal agenda. The following information is given in the spirit of promoting the collection of data and putting it to good use. My political affiliation is by no means clouded.

With a MAJOR election coming up on November 2nd there is a site that everyone should visit. This is non partisan and full of wonderful information that may help you make the right choice. It's Opensecrets.org. If you type your zipcode in the appropriate box all the information about your Senators and Representatives will be listed.

Before you start flaming, let me say that this site has more info on the President than Kerry. It is no secret that I support our President for re-election. Again, I am not asking my friends that are Democrats to embrace the GOP and turn Republican. If you desire to vote for a man that has more waffles than an IHOP then go ahead. It's your right as an American. Please, please research the information available and elect the right man for the job. Kerry is NOT that man. Why won't he sign Standard Form 180 and release the mysterious 100 pages of his Naval discharge? WHY is his discharge over 100 pages?

If you would like to visit an entertaining site that lists many relevant links to things political try Boortz.com. Yes, Mr, Boortz is for our President's re-election. No, he is NOT a Republican. He is more anti-Kerry than pro-Bush. It's a very clean, easily navigated site that consistently delivers up to date information.

No matter what party you embrace go to this site and put a smile on your face -> Wketchup. It's kosher, made in America, uh...uh, just read the FAQs!

"I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Wketchup and french fried potato!"
-Billy Wobblynife (with the "help" of Mr. Jimmy Buffett - a known Democrat, lol)

Edit: Have you seen this site? - Communists for Kerry

Overclocking and storm warning

All righty now! The Oral B ($6.00 at the local pharmacy) electric toothbrush is overclocked. Followed the instructions from Kevin Rose on G4TechTV and used a two battery external case. There's one twist. I also inserted the third battery in the battery holder proper that's in the handle. Tim Allen of Home Improvement should be proud. Man, talk about more power. Can't wait to actually use it for its intended function and will, right after it lands.

Everyone local stay safe in this nasty weather. A tornado just passed 4 miles south of the Beach House and we've had 2 inches of rain in the last hour. Sirens kept me awake all night and I couldn't enjoy the storm. What's up with the TV going off every other minute? Like we can't look outside and determine it's storming? Yankee dude doing the announcing can't even pronounce Saltillo, LOL. He'd break down if this weather was in Iuka or Tishomingo! Peace out my fellow geeksters.

"Chaos in the midst of chaos isn't funny, but chaos in the midst of order is."
-Steve Martin