Ramblings, opinions, and general meanderings from the Deep South

Saturday, November 12, 2005

A fun thangy

After taking this 35 question quiz it amazed me that I found it to be somewhat accurate. Hey, its fun and afterall, it is Saturday. Click on the line What's Your Political Philosophy? at the very bottom. Comment and let everyone know your results (if you dare, lol). Thanks Beagle for a very kewl link



You scored as Socially Conservative Republican. Social conservatives share a belief in traditional morality and social mores and the desire to preserve these in present day society, often through civil law or regulation. The government should use its influence in the public square to support traditional family values.

Socially Conservative Republican

90%

Foreign Policy Hawk

80%

Pro Business Republican

75%

Old School Democrat

70%

New Democrat

55%

Libertarian

45%

Green

40%

What's Your Political Philosophy?
created with QuizFarm.com


"The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."
-Muhammad Ali

Friday, November 11, 2005

Further Adventures in PSGuard Removal

The Beach House is constantly watching for new ways to rid our PCs of the horrible PSGuard. Has anybody found the address of their physical location yet? I'd sure love to publish it. Here's another page concerning PSGuard removal. It's basic and to the point, which is desirable around here. Wilders Security also has good info on killing this horrible trashware. If you scroll down a bit there's even a screenshot of what the desktop looks like after they invade your privacy. Thanks to Barbwire for finding this great site.

If you know of anything that will help with this problem, please comment or email. Spammers and script-kiddys writing trojans and virus infections are bad enough, but there's just something real evil about the spyware slimeballs.

"We must protect our citizens' privacy -- the bulwark of personal liberty, the safeguard of individual creativity."
-Bill Clinton (certainly he had his pants on when he said this...)

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Off with 'em I say!

Last time I looked around my computers have been purchased, are not subject to any lien and legally my possessions. Therefore, I do not want anyone putting ANYTHING on my computer or gleaning any information from it without my express permission. If you come in my house to do violence or steal there is a very good chance you will suffer grave damage. I have security measures and am ready to defend the Beach House. Hopefully, everyone reading this shares the same attitude about their abode or place of work.

I feel the same way about spyware, adware, etc. Permission has not been given nor will it ever exist. My desire is that they all go out of business. These jerks are the thugs of the internet world and need to be stopped. Please read Spyware spat makes small print a big issue. This is beyond absurd. Round up all the spyware, adware, malware, creepware punks and send them to the guillotine. They destroy PCs everyday and are laughing about it. A good starting place? PSGuard home office.

"Better a thousand times careful than once dead."
-Proverb

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

You Can Thank Sony for the Latest Trojan

Own a computer? Please read this -> First Trojan using Sony DRM spotted. Don't you think we should all stop what we are doing and email Sony about this garbage? My DVD player needs upgrading and my first choice was another Sony. Not now. Onkyo will get my money. It seems that Sony thinks this is all a joke and that the great unwashed masses will just let it slide. Hope not.

"Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom."
~Thomas Jefferson

Monday, November 07, 2005

Books Will Make a Comeback

Yes, tomes and volumes will once again become popular amongst all but the elite if COMCAST and DirecTV have their way. Prime Time TV as pay per view? Nothing, and I mean nothing can be good about this garbage. COMCAST is a company that is run by baboons and bananas bounce off their boardroom wall whenever the directors gather. Really expected better of DirecTV. Persecuting fans directly (get the jibe there?) has not been their style. COMCAST, as we all know, ruined the best damned Tech TV show (and channel) ever, The Screensavers replacing it with some silly Attack o de Odor Show. C'mon Sarah and Kevin Rose, y'all can do better!! Anyway read about this latest attempt to stealth money out of your wallet and purse over at MercuryNews.

Going to sit on your dead butt and let these jerks take all reasonably priced TV viewing pleasure away? Or will you protest to your Congresspersons and tell them to stop all this corporate madness and rape? Before getting off the soapbox let me say a very sincere thank you to VistaIIIMedia for being decent folks and not at all COMCAST-like!

"Literature is news that stays news."
-Ezra Pound

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Movies?

Yes, I was in the theater for every Star Wars film and was there the first day of the local premiers with the exception of Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back. Two days late on that one. I've seen all of them more than once in the theater with the exception of the last one that came out this year, Revenge of the Sith. Saw it only the first night it played. Awesome. Every viewing has been enjoyable, especially the first one back in '77. Several people stealthed out of work and most of us sat through the second showing. You could do that back then and the ushers got a kick out of it. How did I hear about it? Gene Shallit on the Today show raved about it. Then several people talked at work about Shallit's review and our slackness towards work is now history. No regrets.

The past few years have made for enjoyable movie going due to the fact that several have been attended with my daughters and their husbands. Our newish, clean, spacious Malco 10 has ample parking, and is in a great location. My need for Xanax before entering the theater has disappeared. My favorite place to view movies is still the Beach House, but an occasional outing is fun too. Fanatical? Yes. In the truest sense of the word. After all, there are posters from Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, pictures of Bogart, W.C. Fields, the Stooges, even a Stooges Clock adorning the walls. There's even a light switch plate that features Marilyn Monroe. And that's just in the bathroom.

"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open."
-John Barrymore

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Long Time Ago in a Tishomingo Far Away...

It tires me to hear all the George Lucas wannabes trash his efforts, especially when most of them were first in line to see each episode of Star Wars. Thank you Mr. Lucas for giving us hours of fun, zoomy, mind boggling space adventure that will be watched again and again. Your efforts to tie everything together led to tremendous results. Magnificent. The Academy should acknowledge your genius. Now quit 'funning' us and tell us who will direct the next three episodes (7-9) that were on the ORIGINAL story boards!

The Beach House opted for the 3 CD version at Wally World and just had an absolute blast watching Anakin turn into Darth Vader. I don't think it is a spoiler to say that the climax of the movie was when Obi kicked his evil ass in the light saber battle. Wow! Reminded me of the excitement experienced when watching Flash Gordon battle Ming the Merciless between the two features every Saturday morning at the Tishomingo Theater. Then the dinosaur ride home to Paden was always fun.

May the force be with you.

"Great art picks up where nature ends."
-Marc Chagall

Friday, November 04, 2005

Definitions

Presently, the Urban Dictionary lists 13 definitions of the word 'spyware.' These may promote understanding as to why this garbage is so evil. When a company can secretly hide a program on your computer that tracks EVERY keystroke, don't you think it's time to take action and stop these creeps?

"We're all in this together."
-Red Green

Thursday, November 03, 2005

The One and Only?

I've always liked the Sony Corporation. That may be changing. Down through the years their products have been reliable and better than average quality. Now they have decided to embrace the music mafia and further persecute fans of music. You can read Mark Ward's informative article over at BBCNews and learn about their invasive tactics.

Piracy is not being endorsed by any means. For Sony to use such deviant viruslike programs as XCP is suicide. Fans will finally get tired of all the corporate barnyard material and the demise of the RIAA and companies that endorse their strong arm tactics will happen. Wait and see. Musicians will make their libraries and new material available for direct download at a reduced price thus eliminating the need of corporate voodoo.

In the meantime, I am not so mad at Sony that an AIBO would be refused as a gift, LOL. There is hope they will come to their senses and get their heads outta that place where the moon doesn't shine.

"Are we not formed, as notes of music are,
For one another, though dissimilar?"

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Light Saber Needed

There is no longer an ugly, sticky Hawthorne bush in the front yard. It went to the curb. Of course the chain saw had to be rebuilt before this was accomplished. It was a struggle that took wayyyy too long. My window view is better.

Have you considered where to buy a copy of Star Wars III, Revenge of the Sith? Check out a list of various places selling the DVD, etc., here. Will have to make a trip to Walmart late tonight and make a purchase. Maybe the evil children that live there will be in bed and not harassing people.

It's late and time to sleep. Stay casual.

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing."
-Phyllis Diller

Monday, October 31, 2005

Costume of Horror

I am just about at my limit. What will it take to make people understand that Yahoo is evil!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Everyone that ignores me and still downloads that horrible toolbar and such please take a few minutes out of your spyware filled day and read this article -> How Yahoo Funds Spyware. Not enough? Okay, how about a WinPlanet article by Susan Kuchinskas. Still not enough? TechDirt nailed their evil asses to the wall back in June 2004!!! They are the devil! Call it spyware, adware, malware, dungware, stealware - it's an invasion of privacy. Can we have some comments, especially from all of you that mysteriously get junk mail and your machine is slowing down.

Wanna really scare somebody tonight? Dress up as either a Yahoo or a turd. It's the same costume. Wait, belay that idea. Somebody may get out a bag, use it and light you on fire. Be careful out there.

"Being in a band you can wear whatever you want - it's like an excuse for Halloween everyday."
-Gwen Stefani

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Yardwork, Shopping and Parrothead Dreams

Windows are open, the coffee is awesome, last night's sleep was refreshing and the weather is about as good as it gets. Today, a Hawthorne bush will experience the fate of George Washington's cherry tree. The magnolia tree needs trimming. After church lets out the mower will be cranked. First the dirty house needs attention. My laziness has lapsed into pigmo-mytis. Someone broke in last night during my heavy sleep and dirtied every dish in the house. That dishwashing is hell on the hands and they don't get as clean when the hot water runs out. Hey, this list could go on and on and on...

Shopped for a P4 processor fan yesterday and there are none in Tupelo. It was nice to get out and cruise a few retail stores. BestBuy is new to this area and I actually got to take a look around yesterday after a brief talk with Witt. They are booming. Lots of folks milling around and the line at the checkout counter was deep. Seems everyone is gearing up for Christmas and we haven't even passed Halloween. Traffic was terrible at the mall yesterday. And all this with the current price of gasoline.

CaptEdTeach and I were messaging earlier and he told me about the ultimate Parrothead gift for the season. It consists of a signed guitar, concert trip for 8 people to Vegas with all the trimmings, meet, greet, etc. Only $30,000.00. The proceeds go to charity. Will Jimmy Buffett or the buyer get the tax credit? LOL. There's also a Neiman-Marcus ad for a like thangy with Elton John for $50,000.00. We both laughed at these gargantuan gifts.

Capt is headed toward the lake n I am spying an ugly bush in the front yard. The chainsaw is calling me. Later.

"Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty."
-Frank Herbert, Dune Chronicles

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Call For Help

It's Saturday morning and I've seen two episodes of Call For Help on cable. It's a northernish thing out of Canada and is a continuation of one of the good shows on TechTV before evil Comcast bought the channel and obliterated it. Leo Laporte is still host. New crew, cohosts and still informative. Alas, the minions of Satan at Comcast destroyed my all time favorite TV show, The Screensavers. Wow, what a show. Geek TV at its best...

Time to go work on PCs. Have a casual day.

"Television: A medium - so called because it is neither rare nor well done."
-Ernie Kovacs

Friday, October 28, 2005

Kewl Site that is anti-PSGuard

Having trouble removing files? Got a bad case of the PSGuard blues? BleepingComputer has a neat program called KillBox that will aid in the demise of unwanted dungware that refuses to go away. Use this program at your own risk and understand this is a powerful tool that will not tolerate misuse. While you are at BleepingComputer, slow down and look around. You may want to join this online community and participate.

Comments are working and they exist for a reason. Use them. Tell about your victory or agony over PSGuard garbage.

"People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them."
-Dave Barry

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Protection, Redmond Style

Microsoft is going after spammers. Gee, think it's about time? Here's an idea; make it mandatory that all Microsoft employees use GMail, LOL. It'd be to everyone's advantage if they'd concentrate on killing off the spyware industry. Their anti-spyware program permits many of the evil ones passageway that leads to the infection of our machines.

Late and I am exhausted. Friday is only minutes away. Need a GMail invitation? Email me.

"The large print giveth, but the small print taketh away."
-Tom Waits, Small Change

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Possumlore, Bad Guys n Good Guys

Arnold is okay. He's still prowling at night and I think has given up on stealing the grill. Sleeping with a window open makes for an interesting night sometimes. Being an insomniac keeps a person busy trying to grab much needed sleep, but sometimes it's entertaining to listen to him terrorize the neighborhood animals. If he'd just get upset with strange people what a watch-possum he'd make! Thanks for the inquiries as to his wellbeing. More on Arnold at a later date.

PSGuard is apparently running rampant all over the globe. Everyone from the UK that checks in here should try and find these creeps and take away their tools. They are located somewhere in Great Britain, London I think. If I find an address it will be posted. I know it is frustrating to find nothing but forums to "cure" this problem, but if you have valuable data in jeopardy the efforts of these great sites will help. The EWIDO Security Suite will remove the problem in most instances, but please remember the free trial expires in 14 days. If you find this powerful utility useful please subscribe.

Linux SUSE 10.0 rocks! Here's a tremendous review from a really kewl site -> MadPenguin.org. There's even a two minute streaming video of an actual installation. Some nice screen shots are included too. Take a look.


"All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, October 24, 2005

PSGuard Still Sucks

Here's another page concerned with the removal of PSGuard. Love the name, noahdfear. He has a tool that removes Smitfraud and also links to some screenshots of this infection in case you're not sure of what has taken over your desktop. Well written and easy to navigate. I have NOT tried this tool so use at your own risk. Hey, if you came hear looking for a solution then you may have noticed several posts and links about defeating this dungware. How about coming back long enough to tell the rest of us your results? Be nice, pass some info on about how you blasted PSGuard. Comment or email.

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

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Sunday Night Late

Thanks to everyone that emailed or commented about the recent stomach flu bout. It is lingering, but seems to be on the way out. Had to sit back from the bench when working on PCs in case of an emergency. This was not one of my most productive weekends.

Red Dragon sent an article of interest. It is about online web services that make our life easier. For example, you can move around in Google Maps or Google Earth with great speed due to a technology built years ago by Microsoft. Check it out over at Business Week.

"Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust - we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."
-Albert Einstein, The Saturday Evening Post, 26 October 1929

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Turbo-whine mode

Being sick sucks. There's a nasty virus going around and I thought I'd survived it. Not true. Calls will be returned when this passes. BTW, This was written in several attempts. I started around 6:00pm. Now excuse me while I kneel at the porcelain throne.

"A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses."
-Hippocrates

Friday, October 21, 2005

Flock and Linux SUSE 10.0

In the middle of the latest round of the Browser Wars there is yet another battlefront. Just downloaded the Linux version of a new browser, Flock. It is in testing stage. Downloaded the Windows version last night and stayed up wayyyy too late playing with it. It is based on Firefox. Flock has VERY kewl, clean look and speed o' light quickness. Meander over to Flock and take a look. Will keep everyone posted and try to find out an availability date for the full version.

It's nice when you can feel and sense improvements in the latest greatest, super-spectacular, big kahuna, bad whamma jamma upgrade of a favorite operating system. That said, Linux SUSE 10.0 is available for download on the Novell/Linux site. The 5 CD set is what was used at the beach house instead of the 1 DVD due to extras included with the CD version. Easiest installation in the business, dual booting with Windows XP Pro, comes with Macromedia and RealPlayer plugins, Firefox is now included with the package as well as the neat Konqueror browser, OpenOffice is a part of the download, so on and so forth. Windows is necessary, but SUSE Rocks!

"If the world were a logical place, men would ride side saddle."
-Rita Mae Brown