Don's Patch Issue #2005-09-01 from http://www.don-guitar.com Reader David Fekete has acquired a number of gmail invitations and has generously offered them to my readers. Gmail is the email service offered by Google which is still, officially, being tested. You can read about it here: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about.html Gmail can be accessed online but pop3 service is also offered. This means you can check your gmail with your onboard email client (i.e. Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Pegasus, etc.). If you'd like to have a gmail account of your own, contact me via my feedback form, listed below, leave a valid return email address, and type "gmail invitation request" into the subject line. I'll forward your request to David and, while they last, he'll send a gmail invitation to the address you've supplied. Remember, your input is always welcome. I value your suggestions and comments, and I'm always willing to help you find answers to your computer and Internet questions. My feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª If you have a google email (gmail) identity, you might find google's instant messenger to be a cool tool. http://www.google.com/talk/ Here's another service offered by google, for the scholarly inclined. http://scholar.google.com/ A good place to find fonts. http://www.1001fonts.com/index.html Ancient Inventions. http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsclist.htm Anger Central is a web site dedicated to ranting and raving at everything that (makes us angry) in our daily lives. Parental guidance suggested. http://www.angry.net/ An online review of the arts edited by Louis Torres & Michelle Marder Kamhi. http://www.aristos.org/ Teachers with a musical attitude. http://www.bananaslugstringband.com/ A site for aspiring Fantasy and Science Fiction writers as well as readers, if they aren't too choosy *grin* (because some of the writers are beginners). http://www.bewilderingstories.com/ A gardening blog. http://can-u-dig-it.blogspot.com/ Movie critics. http://www.bigscreen.com/ A Canadian teachers resource. http://www.canteach.ca/index.html A computer app that can help you manage your check book and home expenses. http://www.banana.ch/banana4/eng/bc4_cashbook.shtml A Chinese religious group/movement/cult. http://clearwisdom.net/emh/ http://www.religioustolerance.org/falungong3.htm Each time you visit this website, or refresh the page, an entirely new home page is created. http://www.strangebanana.com/generator.aspx An interesting collection of fruit facts. http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/ Mark Rieger's Fruit Crop. http://www.uga.edu/fruit/ I've no idea why they call themselves Deep Banana Blackout but I liked some of their music. http://snipurl.com/h6yf Website for court TV. http://www.courttv.com/ Advancing global human rights. http://democracyctr.org/ A virtual archeology exploration of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca world. http://www.mintmuseum.org/digit/index.htm The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy. http://www.epinet.org/ Game lovers who also possess a technical streak should enjoy Enemy Down. http://www.enemydown.co.uk/ A few resources for English students. http://www.englishbanana.com/ Artist Eric T. Claridge. http://www.ericclaridge.com/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª This publication is only mailed to verified double opt-in subscribers, and is brought to you by me, Don Crowder, my wife, Lisa Miller, and //www.freelists.org ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª A growing collection of high quality information. http://www.faqts.com/ Farmers' Almanac TV. http://farmersalmanactv.com/ A few nice fonts. http://www.larabiefonts.com/ http://www.pizzadude.dk/freefonts.php Assorted home town info. http://gazetteer.hometownlocator.com/index.cfm A virtual organization that carries out initiatives in education, research and practice, in the spheres of environment, urban, community, economy and information. http://www.gdrc.org/ Girls who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. http://www.nyu.edu/classes/mcgee/digit/ Gravity, in many ways, is the simplest of all known forces. http://users.whsmithnet.co.uk/paulbird/gravbook/ A personal web site that's gotten out way of hand; a huge, labyrinthine and delightfully overgrown compendium of knowledge about New Orleans and Louisiana cuisine and culture, and lots of other fun and fabulous stuff. http://www.gumbopages.com/ Serving the interests of the space community. http://www.habitablezone.com/ Yes, but are you happy right now? http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/news/department/news/?id=140 A learning site from Harcourt School Publishers. http://www.harcourtschool.com/ A candid look at books and the book industry. http://www.holtuncensored.com/ Larger-than-life roadside attractions from around the world. http://www.wlra.us/ Carolyn (Hugs) Shaw's kitchen. http://www.hugs.org/ Rename the icons on your Windows desktop. http://www.iconico.com/desktopRenamer/ Disguising your email address and/or other sensitive data on your website. http://automaticlabs.com/products/enkoderform/ http://www.iconico.com/emailProtector/ IT (Internet Technology) World. http://www.itworld.com/ Bond, James Bond (007). http://www.mi6.co.uk/mi6.php3 Some very interesting articles written by students. http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-05-03 I've no idea what this is, it just looked interesting. http://kapsules.shellscape.org/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª At the time this issue was posted, the current subscriber count for this publication was 292. ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª This issue's collection of news/magazine/informational sites (these are chosen for maximum diversity regardless of "spin" ). http://www.prospect.org/web/index.ww http://www.aintitcool.com/ http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx http://www.austinchronicle.com/ http://www.citypaper.com/ http://www.baltimoresun.com/ http://www.city-journal.org/ http://www.azcentral.com/ http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/ http://www.danielpipes.org/ http://www.dig-itmag.com/index.php http://www.digonsite.com/ http://www.digitmag.co.uk/ http://www.enterstageright.com/ http://www.eye.net/ http://www.firstthings.com/index.html http://www.forward.com/ http://www.hometownnews.com/ http://www.hometownannapolis.com/ http://www.chron.com/ http://www.inthesetimes.com/ http://www.jsonline.com/ http://www.leaderu.com/index.html http://marketingplaybook.com/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª A blog that's into the English language. http://thelanguageguy.blogspot.com/ A gardening resource. http://www.letsdigit.com/ A portal to Sri Lanka. http://livingheritage.org/ A blog about making stuff. http://www.makezine.com/ Some informational/educational stuff. http://www.american.edu/TED/ Unofficial Disneyland portal. http://www.mouseplanet.com/ Movie mistakes. http://www.moviemistakes.com/ A view from left field. http://www.anomalous-images.com/ The virtual reference desk. http://www.vrd.org/index.shtml A "tech" site for kids. http://www.4kids.org/ In the last issue I mentioned that the Internet Public Library has a new look. I've since discovered that they also have assembled some special collections on the following topics: Reference, Exhibits, Especially For Librarians, Magazines And Serials, Newspapers, Online Texts, Web Searching, Teens, and Youth. http://www.ipl.org.ar/ A mini-feature on bubbles. http://www.bubbleblowers.com/ http://bubbles.org/ http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/bubbles/bubbles.html http://www.zurqui.co.cr/crinfocus/bubble/bubble.html http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/HomeExpts/SOAPBUBL.html (a bubble applet) http://java.sun.com/applets/other/Bubbles/ (online bubble game) http://www.ebaumsworld.com/bubbles.html (another, better) http://absolutist.com/online/bubbles/ (another similar) http://www.addictinggames.com/bubbles.html (fancy but slow) http://www.neopets.com/games/faeriebubbles.phtml (a learning game) http://www.typingmaster.com/individuals/bubbles.asp A bubbles portal. http://www.cln.org/themes/bubbles.html Two interesting personal sites that use bubbles in their names. http://bouncy-bubbles.net/ http://www.bubblessoc.net/ Fun engineering-related hands-on activities from the National Engineers Week Committee. http://www.sme.org/memb/neweek/hpact.htm Here's a relatively large (download is over three megs) image utility that we learned about by attending the Highland Lakes Computer Club's Digital Graphics group meeting. The application has lots of very nice features. It's called Picassa. http://picasa.google.com/download/ Ploughshares (a literary journal). http://www.pshares.org/index.cfm Not-exactly-a-blog and very interesting, from R. J. Keefe. http://www.portifex.com/ Back when I had Windows 3.11 my favorite game was Tetris. I found a copy of that game on this site. http://www.alex-soft.net/ A number of interesting online games. http://sallini.com/games/ http://games.net4tv.com/games4tv/ Extraordinary stories found in ordinary places. http://www.radiodiaries.org/ Some DOS utilities. http://home.earthlink.net/~rmbox/Reticulated/Toys.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª If you'd like to help promote this non-commercial publication, please forward this ezine to anyone you know who might appreciate it. To spare them the forwarding carets (>>>>these things) I suggest you copy/paste the ezine to a new email window, or save the ezine as a text file to be inserted, or copy/pasted to a new email. If you've received this publication as a forward and wish to subscribe you may easily do so from online forms in these two locations: http://www.don-guitar.com/subsmanager.html //www.freelists.org/list/donspatch ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª A mini-feature on the word "Scalar". http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Scalar.html http://scalar.sourceforge.net/ http://www.greatdreams.com/scalar.htm http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vsca.html http://www.prahlad.org/pub/bearden/scalar_wars.htm http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/1DKin/U1L1b.html A mini-feature on the island of Ambergriz Caye in the nation of Belize. http://ambergriscaye.com/museum/digit.html http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/medicine.html http://ambergriscaye.com/fieldguide/index.html http://ambergriscaye.com/museum/rom2.html http://ambergriscaye.com/anniversary/index.html http://belizebreeze.com/basiljones/basiljonesmayruins.htm Scenario: A friend of yours gets a new computer and goes online for a few days (weeks, months) without any sort of security apps, and then wants you to fix all the problems that have accumulated. Ouch, what should you do? The wisest choice might be to insist they take it to a computer shop but if you're going to try and get into it anyway, here's what I suggest. First, get a "throw away" email address. By that, I mean one you can use for a few days while you're working and may need to register for one or another service. Your friend can keep the address if they like, but needn't feel obligated to do so. There are a lot of places where such an address can be found; here's a place to start. http://www.fepg.net/ Now you can use the new email identity to register for one or more of these online AV scanners. The first two are my choice. http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/ http://www.trendmicro.com/spyware-scan/ One of more of the following may also be good, rely on your own discretion for these. http://onlinescan.avast.com/ http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html http://old.antivir.ru/english/www_av/ http://snipurl.com/h89s http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/ http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp http://www.pcpitstop.com/store/default.asp http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/ http://www.securewall.co.uk/Testingzone/OnlineAntiVirusTesting.htm http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/ http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp http://snipurl.com/h89n After you've completed online scans and are reasonably sure the system is free of "evil stuff", get some security installed. Here's what I recommend (but there are other choices). http://www.grisoft.com/doc/40/lng/ww http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml Here are three more apps which are very highly recommended by wiser heads than mine. http://snipurl.com/djl9 http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ http://snipurl.com/4jjg ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª My feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html I welcome all comments, suggestions, or criticism. The form doesn't access your email client (it's a CGI form), so your privacy is assured. If you know of a website that would be a good candidate for this ezine, please pass it on via our online feedback form (link above). ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª A mini-feature on bananas. http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/banana.html http://www.bananamuseum.com/ http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/banana.htm http://www.bananalink.org.uk/ http://www.banana.com/ http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/banana.html http://www.chiquita.com/ http://www.inibap.org/ http://www.eatmorebananas.com/ http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/banana/sitemap.htm http://www.cbea.org/ http://www.recipesource.com/side-dishes/jams/00/rec0003.html The National Museum of American History. http://americanhistory.si.edu/ The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html For executive moms. http://www.bluesuitmom.com/ Institutions which have their own unique agenda have become as American as apple pie but I don't always know how to describe them. Anyway, here's a couple. http://www.cato.org/index.html http://www.closertotruth.com/ Selected writings from Dr. David L. Goodstein, Ph.D. of Caltech. http://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/articles.html A few days ago I watched this place get robbed (in a movie). http://www.newyorkfed.org/ Whatever happened to Green Stamps? http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgreenstamps.html Devoted to past gymnastic stars. http://www.gymnasticgreats.com/ Jason Kottke's blog. http://www.kottke.org/ Marc Robinson's personal website. http://www.kcnet.com/~marc/index.html Botany in the greater New York City Metropolitan Area. http://www.nynjctbotany.org/ The Writings of Professor Robert M. Young. http://snipurl.com/h90e An online tool for setting the scrollbar color of a webpage. http://www.iconico.com/CSSScrollbar/ For buyers and/or sellers of photographs. http://www.shutterpoint.com/ A (software) patch can be an upgrade (adding increased features), a bug fix, a new hardware driver or update to address new issues such as security or stability problems. Keeping up with them can be difficult. This site might be helpful. http://www.softwarepatch.com/index.html I've written a couple of reviews for this site. "When I have time" I'd like to write a few more. http://www.freewareplanet.org/index.html Whether you call it Mah Jongg, Taipei, or use one of the many other alternate names or spellings, it's a very popular game available from a large number of places. This page is so large that the Internet Explorer will probably time out (on dial up connections) before the images are all loaded but if the description sounds interesting and you'd like to see the image, right click on the "missing image" icon inside the empty box where the image is supposed to be, and select "Show Picture" from the context menu (this applies to Windows systems). The image will then load. Firefox doesn't time out, it just "hangs in there" until all the images are loaded. http://home.halden.net/vkp/vkp/windows.html Soul food recipes. http://www.chitterlings.com/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Archives for this ezine are available online here: //www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/ The current issue is also available on my website. http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª A mini-feature on the web's favorite lawman. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio http://www.snopes.com/crime/deserts/pink.asp http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/miracopjail.htm http://www.mcso.org/submenu.asp?file=aboutsheriff&page=1 http://www.azconservative.org/arpaio_intimidation.htm http://azplace.net/?itemid=46 http://www.boingboing.net/2002/01/05/sheriff_joe_arpaio_t.html http://www.cavecreek.info/commentary/joearpaio.cfm http://www.azconservative.org/D22_shuns_Arpaio.htm http://snipurl.com/h9z4 http://snipurl.com/h9yt http://www.reelectjoe.com/ http://www.arpaio.com/ http://www.newcriminologist.co.uk/news.asp?id=-1706423418 http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/4786/1/148/ http://snipurl.com/h9z5 http://snipurl.com/h9z2 http://www.prisonplanet.com/archives/arpaio/ http://snipurl.com/h9yz http://snipurl.com/h9z3 http://snipurl.com/h9zz http://www.sierratimes.com/03/09/01/article_whackstack.htm Having recently seen a new variant on the email that asks us to boycott foreign oil, I thought you might enjoy reading this page. http://breakthechain.org/exclusives/foreignoil.html A site for Beatles lovers. http://www.stevesbeatles.com/ Dr Hook and the Medicine Show. I liked their music, but these were some strange looking fellows. http://www.sylviasmother.com/main.htm A good site for teachers. http://teachers.net/ Cold hearted television reviews. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/ The Lower East Side Tenement Museum. http://www.tenement.org/ This blog-like site is about text messaging and how cell phones are being used around the world. http://www.textually.org/ The Judaism Site. http://torah.org/ A health and nutrition site from Tufts University of Medford, MA. http://healthletter.tufts.edu/ Jeralyn Merritt's blog. http://talkleft.com/ For viewers of British television comedies. http://www.phill.co.uk/ U. S. Highways. http://www.us-highways.com/ Whatever happened to (celebrity of your choice) and where are they now? http://www.weht.net/ An online art exhibition that combines elements of design, typography, game interface, animation and traditional painting. http://www.yadigit.org/ Yes, but is it art? http://www.allthingsmike.com/IsItArtGallery/index.html Information about media and children, for parents and caregivers, professionals, students and researchers. http://www.youngmedia.org.au/index.htm ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Websites Everyone Should Know About. These aren't sponsors, they're the best of Internet publications and I highly recommend them all. http://askTCL.com http://www.langa.com http://www.tourbus.com http://www.lockergnome.com http://www.neatnettricks.com http://www.scotsnewsletter.com http://www.tricksandtrinkets.com http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html ======== Reader Contributions ========= Irving Stein has been a reader, friend and frequent contributor since May of 2002. Irv has all sorts of interesting information on his website. http://www.irvings-info-page.cityslide.com/ He's also (sigh) an email forwarding junkie who's such a nice guy that it's difficult to "get on his case" about it. Every so often I roll up my virtual newspaper and swat him a good one. Then I feel guilty for a week or two but we both get over it and he's gotten smarter over the years and will often send a web link instead of a graphics intense email. For example, he recently sent me this link to a site that's chock full of forwarded-email-type goodies. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/singingman7/index.html Irv spends a lot of time helping people. Here's a quote from his website. "(I have been participating in www.allexperts.com for about three years. I've answered more than 2,650 questions in the category of Computers/Windows 98; I am listed under the expert name of Irving S. (U may ask me a question by visiting www.allexperts.com and I shall try my best to give U a clear, concise response)." Here's a couple of links sent in by reader John Lepse. The Freecycle Network is a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff (without cost) in their own towns. http://www.freecycle.org/ A soldier's mother's blog. http://somesoldiersmom.blogspot.com/ Reader and friend Patrick Barden, who's sent in occasional links since early in 2003, was very annoyed to have been "taken in" by one of those email hoaxes that makes the rounds every so often. Honestly, some of them sound so plausible, but you just have to take the time to check them out. Patrick did, after he'd already forwarded it, and sent an embarrassed follow up email. Not to worry Patrick, I've been taken in more than a few times myself *grin* and I always send an embarrassed follow up email too. Here's the hoax that Patrick temporarily fell for. http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/l/lockedcardoor.htm http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/keyless.asp http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/phonelocks.html February 15 of 2002 was my first issue of Phil McKinney's ezine. In the March 15th issue I published the first links contributed by Vinette DePhillippe. Vi recently asked me to help her figure out how to delete some files she neither needed nor wanted but which were, somehow, being protected by her Windows XP Operating System. Here's a couple of interesting links I found while I was trying to assist her with this problem. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320081 http://www.softwarepatch.com/tips/howto-delete-xp.html Just for grins, I checked those links from Vi, which I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, and they're still good. Here they are again. This site features useful items you can print. http://www.printfree.com/index.htm This site offers three Knitware demo programs. http://www.islandnet.com/knitware/download.htm Everything you ever wanted to know about sewing needles. http://www.sizes.com/tools/needles.htm And the main page of the site offers a huge collection of "real world" information about a long list of topics. http://www.sizes.com/indexes.htm Rose's Knits offers a few free patterns and some (costless)ware. http://www.roses-knits.com/FreeStuff.html A large and interesting craft patterns site. http://www.freecraftz.com/artistsclub.html Irv, John, Patrick, and Vinette; thank you so very much for being my friends, readers, and contributors. ============== Humor ============= "I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, mid-life for an elephant, and ancient for a quarter miler whose son now says "Dad, I just can't run with you anymore unless I bring something to read." - Bill Cosby More of the same here: http://www.witandwisdom.org/ ============== Tips =============== A computer help forum. http://www.computerbb.org/ An informational resource. http://www.pcplus.co.uk/ ================================= A few years ago, not long after I started writing the maxpatch ezine, I got an email from a reader who thanked me for, to paraphrase, "sticking to business without a lot of superfluous babble". Other readers, including my wife, have commented that the occasional glimpses of a "real person" in my writing is one of the things they most enjoy about this ezine. What seems to work for me is to just be myself and keep a lid on the most of the babble but there are times when I really want to babble. I've found a solution to that dilemma. On those occasions when I feel "chatty" I'll direct you to a page on our website where I permit myself to wax loquacious. Mind you, this isn't a blog. I don't get blogs. Nope, not me. http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html See you next time. Don Crowder - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 2:50 PM CST - Tow, TX, USA ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Privacy: I will never share, sell, or otherwise compromise your email address. Privacy Policy on my website. http://www.don-guitar.com/privacy.html Freelists.org Privacy Policy. //www.freelists.org/privacy.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª The most important people on the Internet, for you and I as computer users, are software developers. The world's coolest computer, without software, is like a car without fuel. It might look great, but what can it do? It doesn't matter who produces the software you love and use regularly, the developers of that software need your support. A bit of advice from Internet veteran Bayard J. Fox: New computer users are often in awe of the things you can get without cost on the Internet. There can be hidden costs for the unwary. Use a "throw away" email address to register, and be constantly on guard against giving away personal information. Use a firewall, and provide only the barest minimum of information on questionnaires. ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª This is a reader-supported publication. You can show your support by making a contribution in any amount you choose: http://www.don-guitar.com/donations.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª ___________________________________________________________ Subscription management for this publication is available online here: http://www.don-guitar.com/subsmanager.html or here: //www.freelists.org/list/donspatch