THE Shopping Day is Today

Mornings usually start with a cup of fresh ground coffee, reading email (which is really GMail, lol),checking messages, then a scan of the web for interesting tech news, afterwards a shower and hit the road running. It's a holiday and even though I have two service calls scheduled the luxury of sleeping late this morning was awesome. The recent change in meds does a good job of draining energy so the extra snooze time finds me chipper and ready.

Scanning email discovered a link from my daughter in Louisiana and it is hilarious. It takes place in Emperor Palpatine's office and involves Darth Vader phoning to report some news. Even though the profanity is bleeped out this is still not for children. Anyway, go look at a very funny Star Wars Phone Call. Have a great Friday and be careful out there amongst the shoppers.

"Wal-mart... do they like make walls there?"
-Paris Hilton

Thanksgiving is a Great Time for Family, Friends and Food

Spending mine alone this year. Am splurging and putting kraut and cheese on my hot dogs, lol! Will drink a real Coke today too. The family is busy doing things elsewhere and it's nice to have some time off. The kids will be here Saturday for the LAN party and that's treat enough for me. Enjoy the day and please take a moment to count your blessings. Mine are tremendous. I thank God for all of you that call me friend, family and brother.

"Some hae meat and canna eat, -
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit."
-Robert Burns

EDIT: Wow, I barely get this posted and one of my best friends shows up with a huge plate of Turkey day food and another container of different desserts. Know what? Actually didn't pray for food n such, just said prayers of gratitude for that which has been bestowed upon me. And people don't believe in the power of prayer? Go figure...

Hard Hats & Coffee

Over the holiday weekend the beach house network will undergo changes. These are upgrades that will improve the overall performance of the web server and file server. The changes will be made during early morning hours and hopefully Teamspeak clients will not experience downtime. This should commence early Friday around 4-5AM. Please bear with the construction. Thanks!

"What I mean is that if you really want to understand something, the best way is to try and explain it to someone else. That forces you to sort it out in your own mind. And the more slow and dim-witted your pupil, the more you have to break things down into more and more simple ideas. And that's really the essence of programming. By the time you've sorted out a complicated idea into little steps that even a stupid machine can deal with, you've certainly learned something about it yourself."
-Douglas Adams

The Better Half

Top ten girl geeks comes to us from CNet. Darryl Hannah made the list. So did Mary Shelley. And Paris Hilton. Kewl article with good graphics. This definitely caught my interest since both of my daughters are nerdlings. Let's face it the world of computer science is not gender prejudice. Nice, I like the concept.

Did you know the keyboard is lefthand prejudice? Keys most often used are on the left side. Lefters rock. Am rambling and Morpheus is doing his dance in my head. Time to sleep.

"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base."
-Dave Barry

Such a Deal?

Amazing how the mail box fills up with circulars this time of year. Everyone is having a morning madness sale Friday. This tradition probably started several years ago when people lined up outside Wal-Mart in the wee morning hours to take advantage of the great buys. Other businesses saw this piece of marketing strategy and adopted it. Staples will even open at 5AM! Yep, all that pushing and shoving, rudeness, hair pulling, eye gouging, tire slashing, bitch slapping sure makes me want to get up early and dive into the insanity.

Just go to any retail site and check out their specials. It'd take the whole day to link to them.

"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."
-Eric Hoffer

Eyelids are Getting Heavy

After trying to remote into a system all day with only one successful attempt, it's time to hit the hay. Did play Guild Wars with good friends for an hour or so this evening and that goes a long way to relieve stress at times. Actually got a machine built and running that is dedicated to the online remote process. It can sit and perform tasks as I do geek things on other PCs. Power Supply for my Linux PC should be here in the next day or so. Initialized a Calendar from Google and changed my home page moving all my nerd stuff to a tab called Geek Stuff. Actually, not a bad day. Just wish the ISP at the other end of my remoting had been more reliable.

Niters y'all, too tired to stay up and watch Van Morrison on Austin City Limits. Enjoy it!

"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down."
-Lily Tomlin

Entertainment Tonight? Fabulous, just Fabulous

Some things are hard to describe. Beauty is one of them. And believe me, there is something beautiful about music. It is eclectic, so mysterious and melancholy, exciting and intense, moody and soulful. Beauty showed up on the stage of Austin City Limits tonight. This show airs on most PBS-TV stations nationwide at different times. Not talking about a good looking woman, not a chorus line of dancing legs, or even the new two piece swim suits of the Miss Universe contest! Mr. Van Morrison and company showed up to stir the imagination and soul of the audience. Thank God for surround sound, subwoofers and TV.

Geogre Ivan Morrison was born in Belfast, Ireland. His 61 years have led him down a path rare in this world. Talent abounds and it was present and accounted for at this Austin City Limits appearance. To be given such a gift and still share it at his 'youthful' age is inspiring. Van always seems surrounded by other people of max ability and this hour was filled with many harmonies, solos, jams, and smiles. Seems there's a lot of standing ovations for closing tunes, but Van got one for Wild Night, the opening song!

The music ran from country refrains to blues to old rock standards. Somewhere around the 4th or 5th tune Van asked for requests from the audience saying they didn't have a planned set. How many times have you seen someone do that!?!? Again another standing ovation. Gosh this just got better as the music progressed. Literally, there were people dancing in the aisles. The intense wails and resonance of his distinct voice blended with ultimate harmonies from voice and instruments is still sending chills to the marrow.

When performing St. James Infirmary Van started the tune with a alto sax solo which he nailed. Man oh man this was something. His sax playing was spot on and then he did a moving rendition of the Ray Charles classic I Can't Stop Loving You. The night ended with an awesome version of Brown Eyed Girl which segued into Gloria, the rock anthem of the 60s. Austin City Limits just gets better with age. Awesome I say, the epitome of TV broadcasting.

Van Morrison was one of my first musical heroes. His melodies constantly fill the beach house along with Buffett, Stones, Hendrix, Clapton, Pink Floyd, Phil Perry, David Sanborn, King Crimson, Mindi Abair, Mr. Zevon, Lyle, Ray Charles, the Temps, Celtic Woman, Steely Dan, Tom Waits, Mozart, Stevie Ray, Grieg and many, many more sounds that abound. Music is a wonderful entity and one of humankind's greatest pleasures. Here's the link at PBS. Hey boys n girls, friends n lovers, ladies n gents, if you live locally it will be aired again tomorrow night (Sunday) on PBS at 11:00PM. See ya at the concert...

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

Open Mouth, Insert Foot...and Chew It Off Because You Can't Stop Talking

Throughout the years it's been mentioned here on several occasions that Bill Gates is not perceived as some evil Satan in the realm of computerese. Gates made it possible for us all to have affordable PCs in the home and workplace. It sure didn't hurt his feelings to make a bit o de long green along the way either. No, Bill is not the devil. That title is held by Steve Jobs, aka Darth Jobs, evil overlord of the 3% of the marketshare Apple Empire. Well seems Darth has a padawan Sith Lord inside the halls of Redmond. His name is Steve Ballmer, aka Loudmouth, Doofus, Sh--head, Microsoft's head sycophant etc.

This village idiot decides to once again offend a large segment of computer users by announcing that Linux infringes upon Microsoft's intellectual property. Gee Steviepoo, think if you jerks had written better code initially there'd be a Linux platform? Somebody had to get it right! And there was certainly no noise about FreeBSD which is making tremendous strides in the desktop battle. The FreeBSD peeps are kewl; they know their stuff works. Loudmouth's timing is impeccable. Just earlier this month Microsoft announced a joint venture, merger, voodoo ritual, witchdoctor thangy with Novell, which is the repository of things LINUX SUSE!

It is time for Ballmer to retire. Period. Bill Gates should post a watch on him or maybe even invest in one of those fashionable Martha Stewart ankle bracelets. It is my hope that Windows Vista will be a good operating system and not a continuing nightmare of hundreds of "fixes" and other such garbage. Lighten up and consider the customer. We deserve a break today. Quit offending our intelligence. The passive attitude of the computing society may abruptly change. Let me tell you friends and neighbors, Kubuntu, my favorite variety of Linux, runs fine on a beach house desktop and it was installed yesterday on the laptop. This was a flawless installation done with utmost ease in under 30 minutes. It took less than five minutes to configure the wireless connection and that's not something you can usually say about Windows.

Must stop now, time to take the morning meds. The article that keyed this can be found at Slashdot. The /.'ers seem to be a fringe group of mostly Apple users that don't bow to Jobs, his lordness of sithy pomes. Thanks for a great site and a very enlightening article. Gee, the sun is shining, it's Friday (only two more days to work this week) and the fall season is putting on a show alongside the Natchez Trace which I have to travel today. Be nice if Santa brings me a convertible...

"Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped."
-Hubbard

Trojan Hunter? It's Pure Garbage

Recently a reader asked, "Have you ever used Trojan Hunter?" After answering no I decided to take a looksee. Any program that is advertised as a free 30 day trail and then absolutely WON'T let you update is being falsely represented. That's complaint number 1. Complaint number 2 is how can they get away with asking 50 bucks for this trash? Let me just relate the experience instead of numbering the rest of this...

Downloaded and installed it. As usual I turned off all programs including AVG running in the background before installing. It proceeded to do its thing and the computer crashed. No 3 finger salute (Ctrl/Alt/Del), no closing the application, just absolute hard crash. When finally rebooted it decided to take out my Linksys wireless card which has worked perfectly for months. As I rushed to uninstall this garbage (it has no uninstall program, you have to use the control panel) it crashed again. After rebooting and spending some time repairing the network card config, I am now able to write and post this information.

I am considering reporting this company to the proper authorities and HIGHLY discourage anyone from trying to use this junk. Download AVG Anti-Spyware and have a good experience installing protection software that's free. Screw Trojan Hunter. 50 bucks my lardass!

"Albert Einstein, who discovered that a tiny amount of mass is equal to a huge amount of energy, which explains why, as Einstein himself so eloquently put it in a famous 1939 speech to the Physics Department at Princeton, "You have to exercise for a week to work off the thigh fat from a single Snickers."
-Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns 50

Touch of the Past

Ever own a VIC-20 or C-64? I did. Commodore was a glimpse of the future. Now there's a book out about their rise and fall. Check it out over at Slashdot. Remembering this far back brings up images of floppies that were floppy, RF modulators for TV hookup, Basic, Pascal, Pitfall, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong.

Long day today and the bed is screaming my name. Later.

"Fatigue is the best pillow."
-Benjamin Franklin

It's a Baby Girl

Yesterday the post was about my youngest daughter, netname Beagle. Today it's about my oldest, netname Verdana. She went to the doctor this morning and promptly walked out after her appointment and called "Handsome Daddy," LOL. She's going to have a little girl in April. Wow , two granddaughters to spoil and call me Big Daddy. Neat that I was first to know! Well, after my son-in-law, naturally.

Got to get back to work. Thought I'd take a minute and share good news!

"The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child."
-Joe Houldsworth

Half-Full Glass

Wow, my homepage just got better. Using Google's personalized homepage has been great, but one of my two wonderful daughters (netname Beagle) just made it even more fun and thought provoking. Now, in the top left corner of the screen is a marquee type window that displays Parrothead information galore! Every half minute or so it displays a different bit of trivia about all sorts of things casual.

Gosh, how many times has Jimmy Buffett shored up my life with songs of happiness and sometimes deep meaning? Awesome. Beagle thank you. Thank you for everything. Hey, I did notice the positive take on "Dad's cornbread dressing recipe" over at your site. Be sure and read the quote today. Ludlow was Lewis Grizzard's stepbrother and your Mother has the book. It's a short read and very funny.

My daughters...both are da bomb!

"People that put sugar in their cornbread just ain't right with the Lord."
-Ludlow Porch, The Cornbread Chronicles

SUSE no more

When Novell grabbed Linux SUSE several years ago it disturbed me. Trying to be optimistic I continued to use this flavor of Linux. It is the version that dual boots with XP on the beach house laptop. This will change in the very near future. It was hard to forgive Novell for the creation of "Netware" anyway. Netware is a horrible, horrible networking protocol that has gone by the wayside for the most part.

On November 2nd, Novell announced a newly forged partnership with Microsoft. This "merger" has been in the opensource software news and this worries me and others. The people that bring you the capability to interface Windows with Linux, UNIX, FreeBSD, etc., are really upset. This company is a huge player in the computer world and makes it possible for a vast majority of networks to function. Read about it at Samba.org.

What new Linux flavor for the laptop? Kubuntu, no doubt. This is an awesome alternative operating system.

"A dance and type of music from Brazil originating from African slaves. The dance is very difficult as performed by Brazilians in comparison to formal "ballroom" dancing which is highly stylized. Men and women dance samba differently and together yet without touching. The dance for the women can be characterized as quick symmetrical feet movement with each foot twisting on the heel. This foot movement is accompanied by hip and shoulder gyrations creating a dance that agitates the entire body...."
-Web definition of Samba (the dance)

Recollection of Some Sobering Moments

Today is Veterans Day. This holiday was originally meant to honor Armistice Day and the Veterans of WW1. In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill changing the name in order to honor veterans of ALL American wars.

Being a veteran of the Vietnam War, this holiday is most precious. My 2 years over there and blood left on the ground are memories that linger. The most devastating part of this experience was the treatment of the troops during this conflict and the national attitude upon return. It wasn't good at the time...

During the past several years two young people found out about my experiences and said thank you. Both times I came home and cried. And I thanked God my name was not on that big black wall. Those that honor this holiday by closing business or displaying the Flag on Monday have my respect.

Say a prayer for our troops today. They are the most wonderful people going in harm's way so that we can live free. God bless all of you.

"My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!"
-Thomas Jefferson

A Geek Friday Night

Having slight problems with uploading and it should clear up in the next day or so. Working on a way to use the contig.exe file to defrag Guild Wars and changing some stuff around on the server. It will be down for a few minutes Sunday night, so Teamspeak ppl, please don't be alarmed. It should only be long enough to extract and install a few pieces of hardware. Let's say maybe a half hour, k? Have a casual evening!

"It is well for people who think, to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean."
-Luther Burbank

Why GMail instead of EMail?

Security, power, access capability, intergration, and user friendliness are all pertinent to the title question. Are you having trouble with spam? Here's your answer. Need to keep all your messages? Here's your answer. Need to access your messages when at home, on a trip, etc? Here's your answer. GMail has revolutionized the way netizens receive their primary mode of text communication. The spam filter alone is worth the 20 minutes or so it takes to set up an account.

Being an early tester of this product helped my decision to support this great service. It virtually flew without problems from the getgo. During the past few years my account storage space has increased from 1 gigabyte to almost 3 gigabytes. This is a Google product and that is possibly the strongest endorsement one can give to any application. You don't Google? Okay quit reading this and go run the bats out of that cave.

Google has a knack of taking difficult procedures and tweaking them for maximum usage and ease. When you click on the Google link be sure and take a look at their online spreadsheet, their online word processor, Picasa which is a awesome graphics editor (PhotoShop comes to mind), Calendar, Google Talk, and many of the other services provided. Hey all this is free! Google just plain rocks!

The beach house has used this great service in several different ways. At first it was downloaded through Outlook. When I switched to the Thunderbird client, GMail easily made the transition. What is Thunderbird? The Mozilla email software that is closely associated with Firefox. What's Firefox? C'mon, you're kidding me right? You really don't know? Might be time to go feed that velociraptor you keep as a pet.

Anyway, now GMail is used as a webmail client instead of POP3. It's just easier that way and I don't have to worry about losing data if a machine crashes. Keeping data stored on the internet saves hard drive space and messages, attachments n' such can be downloaded at my convenience. Besides, give me a computer using most any flavor of Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, even Apple and GMail can be accessed from any location I visit. This is wayyyy handy.

I can go on and on about the wonders and awe of this service. Attachments are a breeze, large files can be transferred, you can use the extra space as online storage, etc. Instead let me list several links so you can see why my endorsement is so positive.


GMail FAQ (not a Google site)

Wikipedia definition of GMail

Forbes (review made 11 days after the GMail beta was released!)

About GMail (this is a Google site)


Is everyone getting a sense of heavy duty, positive feelings about this service? Many things have not been mentioned, like the ability to download your GMail messages to a cellphone, the integration of Google applications, so on and so forth. In the days when the internet has massive problems with spyware creeps, trojan writers and other such scum from cyberhell it is nice to report about a service and a company that is improving our lives through better communication procedures. Hats off to the super folks at Google for a fine, fine job.

Now I must cease this adoration and go feed Robodog. Questions? Use the comments or GMail me at cybersouth@gmail.com.

"Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower."
-Kay

MySpace and Possum Rights

Someone asked if I have anything on MySpace. NO. If you want to use it that's fine with me, but this is another site that has absolutely no business in the workplace or home. Why, you ask? Check out this article at TechDirt. If you want to laden your PC with garbage be sure and put this right along side Yahoo in your favorites. Then when the local tech of your choice charges you by the hour and cuts no slack deal with it. It's very sad that these sites persist in covert invasion of privacy and then laugh at the consuming public.

Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus, has been quiet lately. His marsupialness is probably preparing to direct traffic at the Christmas parade again. He almost bought the possum farm last year. This past weekend his glowing, beady eyes were spotted prowling around the large green garbage bin in the wee hours of the morn. There was a very muted stream of possum cussing as he banged around. He probably wanted to impress one of his possum girlfriends, but I've found a way to stop it from being turned over. If he calls out his stormtrooper possum buddies guess I'll have to give him admin privileges on the dumpster. Hey, don't want to wake up one morning and find the car turned over!

"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy. The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club."
-Dave Barry

Please click on the link in this post and read...

There is one type of article that always lifts my spirits: Company fined $3m for adware use. Only problem here is that the FTC let them off with a nominal fine. They should close them down, grab all the assets and put all stockholders in jail for 20 years without parole. The death penalty is too good for these creeps. Sad thing is that this company will probably recover with even higher profit margins.

Will the people with Zango on their computers pay attention? Probably not. This passive attitude is why the computer industry is full of crooks and going straight to hell. You have Microsoft with over 300 "fixes" concerning XP and the number is still growing. Apple charges a ridiculous fee for outdated hardware and gets away with it. Yahoo is putting spyware, adware, malware, dungware or whatever it's called today, on your computers left and right, but I still see this garbage used as home pages everywhere. Hey FTC, when will y'all deal with these jerks?

Yes, yes, still better a Microsoft world than an Apple one. It is true that since Windows is the big boy on the block they are the primary target. Still, they need to worry more about customer satisfaction and less about profit. Good Lord knows they've made enough over the past few years. This latest fiasco called Vista will most likely be another never ending string of "fixes." Yes, yes, they are to blame, but the jerks tampering with their code are even more guilty of violating the rights of the public.

Rant over. Gosh, this can be quite tiring. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about the resident possum and his latest shenanigans. Now I need to review the first sentence up there and decide what made me get out the soapbox (insert evil grin here).

"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business."
-Henry Ford

Amid the Sobbing

When it seems closure is near then battles arise to further taunt my sanity. No, I am not talking about Vietnam. It's the Battle of the Gateway Modem. I may have to replace this computer just to get it out of my life, but if that happens it'll find out how fast 80 rounds of .223 ammo will pass thru it!!?"!%$&!!!

I am going to take my medication now.

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward."
-Kurt Vonnegut

PC Buyers Will Be Conservative This Year?

If you are thinking about purchasing a new PC during the holiday season, you may want to wait a few months. CNetNews.com has an article outlining the woes of the industry during this holiday season. Microsoft's weird and shaky debut of Vista won't happen until after the new year and I'm betting it may even be delayed further.

At one time it was kicked around that Microsoft would not make Vista available as a standalone package installable on a computer built by an individual. That would mean a disaster for the Windows folks on both sides. Apparently this rumor is being hushed up. Still looking for details here and will provide them in the near future.

Buy Vista? The beach house will wait. It's very possible it will be installed on only one machine just for work related projects. The five flavors are enough to throw anyone for a loop. Don't be too shocked at the cost when it finally hits the shelves.

I hope Microsoft proves my pessimism wrong, but seems they are hell bent on alienating the consuming public. Loudmouth Ballmer needs to retire and leave the CEO position to someone that is sane. What a jerk. He's the paranoid creep that thinks Microsoft should squeeze every dime possible out of the consuming public. No need to link, this guy is all over the net as the Saddam of the computing world. Wow, maybe a new friend for Darth Jobs?

"Integrity has no need of rules."
-Albert Camus

Problems with AVG 7.5?

AVG Anti-Virus is in the process of changing to version 7.5. They will stop support on the recent 7.1 version in January 2007. Recently I upgraded to the newer version and upon booting the computer takes forever with AVG doing something in the background. This has been going on for a week and has not stopped. If it does not cease I'll switch to Avast and recommend that to all my clients. It seems that even though the software has been told to scan at a specific time the program will run a scan immediately after boot if it was turned off during the scheduled time. Sorry, this just won't work. It's MY computer and I'll decide when something runs. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, stick with the older version. It's controllable. One important note about all this, AVG does provide this edition as a FREE service controllable or not.

Have you had such problems? Right now I kill the avg.exe process and turn off the control center. This PC rarely goes to unknown sites and GMail is in use so it's not in great danger. Let me hear from you.

"Choices are the hinges of destiny."
-Markham

A Planet Out of Orange Roughy?

Not much of a tree hugger here, but just finished an article that disturbs me. Seems our gluttony and lack of attention to the environment may have dire consequences in the very near future. Try this on for size; Salt-Water Fish Extinction Seen By 2048. This is not your usual greenies spouting sometimes valid, sometimes invalid concern. This group is a collaboration of scientists with impressive credentials.

In Mississippi when trees are harvested, more are planted than cut. Hardwood is taken with great care. Our logging industry seems to be on the right track, but some won't agree. One important difference to remember while comparing these two scenarios is that we don't eat trees. Thanks goes out to CBS News for an important piece of journalism. Check out the above link and let me know your opinions.

"Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon."
-Doug Larson

To Modulate or Demodulate

The Battle of the Gateway Modem was won last night (dialed out and remained online for over 3 hours), but has returned for another round after being moved to the client's abode. It'll be sooooo nice when modems become extinct. Modems and all-n-one printers are hideous devices. Anyway, it'll be an onsight repair, but that's part of the biz. And whining certainly doesn't help so I'll stop.

It's getting late, big day tomorrow, and work will continue through the weekend. Great combination which helps with the decision to turn in early and rest. Have a glorious evening.

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."
-Albert Einstein

Penguin Stuff

Release 6.10 of Linux Kubuntu; this is a beta that is being downloaded now at the beach house. Kubuntu is Linux Ubuntu with the KDE interface instead of Gnome. The last version of Kubuntu was BEYOND ANY DOUBT the easiest install of an operating system ever done around here. It also has been uber stable and just super to use. This is an excellent way to start a journey into the land of the Penguin. Linux Rocks! FreeBSD rocks, and Windows is k (after the 300 or so updates).

Now I must return to the Battle of the Gateway Modem. I think it just waved a white flag as the new drivers installed. It will have no quarter if that's what it seeks. Later.

"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization."
-Murphy's Laws of Technology

Boo!

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

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

Square Peg and Round Hole

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

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

!?!?!?

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

And the Rain Came

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

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

Rain's a Coming

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

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

Browsing Thru the Day

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

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

Firefox 2.0 Premiers Tomorrow

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

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

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

Shamed Scout

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

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

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

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

Downright Good Link

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Absurd Goofiness

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

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

Goofy is as Goofy Does

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Laid Back

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

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

Watt's in a Name?

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

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

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

A Great Laugh

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

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

AKA UPS or UPC

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

WalMart

OfficeMax

Staples

CircuitCity

BestBuy

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


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

More Than 24

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

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

"Precaution is better than cure."
-Edward Coke

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

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

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

You Probably Need to Stock Up on "Windex"

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



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

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

In closing let me state two things:

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

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

"Turn your wounds into wisdom."
-Oprah Winfrey

64%? Kewl...

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

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

Awesome Anti-Spyware Tool

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

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

Soothing the Savage Beast

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

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

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

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

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

Art of Giving

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

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

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

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

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

Interesting List

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

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

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

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

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

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

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