[donspatch] 2007-09-01
- From: "Don Crowder" <don@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Don's Patch" <donspatch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 01:40:11 -0500
Don's Patch #77 from http://www.don-guitar.com September 1, 2007
First word, from Don:
This must be the busy season, it seems like us, and everyone
we know, is having a hectic time just lately. How about you?
I've been trying to fix a Windows XP computer for a friend of mine.
It's a real nice multimedia system that's about two years old and
I've been trying very hard to get it cleaned out and fully functional
for about a week now. I've already installed and run all the costless
stuff from AVG http://free.grisoft.com/ (left side of the page)
along with my other main favorite. http://www.spybot.info/en/
But this one was so sick I had to find other tools as well.
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
http://symantec-removaltools.notlong.com
Today I decided that I needed more help so I installed Clamwin...
http://www.clamwin.com/
...and ran it in Safe Mode. The first report informed me that
the computer contained 139,393 known viruses. I think this
may take longer than I anticipated. Sure gives me a new
perspective on the true cost of using Windows though.
Here are some places where I'll be spending time over the
next few days (or maybe weeks).
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/34/us/crp/0
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=vrt
http://bitdefender-RemovalTools.notlong.com
http://www.f-secure.com/download-purchase/tools.shtml
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html
http://www.avira.com/en/support/support_downloads.html
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
If I ever get the thing cleaned up and back in order I'll install a
couple more of my favorite toys on it and send it home.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml
http://zonealarm-free.notlong.com
Lisa and I have used the costless version of ZoneAlarm for
a long time now and we're very happy with it but at 39 MB
the executable is awfully large. We recently bought Lisa a
used laptop (366 MHz, IBM Thinkpad 600E w/256 MB of
RAM running Win2K Pro) which has a 6.4 GB hard drive
and had no internet security apps on it at all. In order to
conserve its limited hard drive space I went looking for
smaller applications and discovered Comodo.
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
This is a nice little firewall and the executable is just under
8 MB in size making it about a fifth the size of ZoneAlarm.
I also installed ClamWin http://www.clamwin.com/
but when I learned that it doesn't do real-time monitoring I
replaced it with AVG. I've since decided to remove AVG
and try Avira AntiVir http://www.free-av.com/
which is considerably smaller than AVG and did a very
slightly better job in independent tests...
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2135053,00.asp
In fairness, AntiVir may also have reported more false
positives than AVG or at least that's the impression I
got from reading this review...
http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2007_05.php
... I've no idea why AVG itself wasn't tested by av-comparatives
(only the AVG anti-malware product is listed)
I know a quite a bit more about Windows than I do about
Linux, even though I have a great deal more fun with Linux,
but this Windows machine has beat me up pretty badly so
I'm open to any suggestions I can get from readers.
Even if you have no suggestions, feel free to send a complaint,
comment, observations, web link, virtual raspberry, or anything
else you'd like to share.
Don
Don's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html
Lisa's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/lfefo.html
Our personal news page.
http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html
Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar
Don's blog. http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/
Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549
Lisa's blog. http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/dirtgoddess
Section One by Don.
I don't know why online privacy is such a big deal, to some
folks, but if you don't want anybody knowing where you went
on the web, use a proxy site. http://www.proxyblind.org/
Just keep in mind that anybody who really wants to know
what you're up to can probably find a way to figure it out.
Online books, ebooks, virtual books, whatever you call 'em,
they don't cost anything. http://www.readprint.com/
If you're scheduled for surgery and you haven't checked this
stuff out, now is a good time. http://bhhdoa.org.au/aip/index.html
I read somewhere that one in eight couples getting married these
days met online. I bet those numbers will double soon because
singles sites are everywhere (here's another). http://mingle2.com/
"MS Office" without having to buy or install the darn thing.
http://www.thinkfree.com/common/main.tfo
Geeky stuff. http://www.osix.net/modules/article/?id=528
No, this is not a photography site, honest, it's a health site.
http://www.healthyupdates.com/
bCheck's stuff. http://www.bcheck.net/apps/
Do you ever get tired of using your mouse?
http://www.don-guitar.com/kbscuts.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,81360,00.asp
http://www.autohotkey.com/
http://Winkeys.notlong.com (PC World site)
Kees Stravers is a computer collector.
http://home.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/cm/index.html
There's other explorable things on his site too.
http://home.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/index.html
How to make your own cat 5 twisted-pair network cables.
http://utils.blinkenlights.nl/utp/
SCSI help: identifying SCSI HDDs and connectors.
http://utils.blinkenlights.nl/scsi/
End of Section One.
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
Section Two by Lisa
An excellent site on woodworking tips, trick and jigs.
http://www.woodzone.com/tips.htm
Can fashion lead to freedom? It's a start.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3758950.stm
Free yourself from your mouse.
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1267740
Cycads, the most ancient of plants, still around today.
http://www.plantapalm.com/vce/vce_index.htm
One of the most fascinating semi-precious stones,
amber, has a vegetable, not mineral origin.
http://www.uky.edu/AS/Geology/webdogs/amber/welcome.html
I hate frames. Do you hate frames?
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/brambles/4/frames/
Art, goodies and clipart from Marmalade Moon.
http://www.marmalademoon.com/index.html
The Day of the Dead in Mexico.
http://www.dayofthedead.com/
http://www.mexonline.com/daydead.htm
International catalog of Super heroes.
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/nonus.htm
A blog on the oddities of our world.
http://www.oddee.com/item_88803.aspx
The Universe in powers of ten.
http://www.wordwizz.com/pwrsof10.htm
An essay on stuff.
http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html
This site is for people who like to make stuff.
http://www.make-stuff.com/
A whole bunch of costless stuff.
http://www.freesitex.com/
Virtual skulls. Very cool.
http://virtualskulls.notlong.com
Top ten mistakes in web design.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html
Gardening tips and secrets.
http://www.freegardeningtip.org/
End of Section Two.
At the time this issue was posted,
the current subscriber count for
this publication was 395.
This issue's collection of news,
magazine, and/or informational
sites (chosen for maximum
diversity regardless of "spin" ).
http://techrepublic.com.com/
http://www.foxnews.com/index.html
http://www.pcphotomag.com/
http://helenafrithpowell.com/
http://gracedavis.typepad.com/
http://www.theillustrateddailyscribble.com/
http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
http://www.politicaldogs.org/
http://www.edmecka.com/
http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/?ShowMe=Home
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/
http://www.indcjournal.com/
Section Three by Don.
Technology makes it possible to track a lost pet
with a technological marvel called the "microchip".
http://www.found-pets.org/
http://www.homeagain.com/
http://beagle-chip.notlong.com
http://www.avidmicrochip.com/
http://www.24petwatch.com/index.asp
http://www.akccar.org/
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/microchp.html
http://www.goldenrecovery.org/lostpet.html
A blogging site for women. http://blogher.org/
Way before Walmart there was Woolworths.
http://nd.essortment.com/woolworthfw_ramc.htm
Scenario: You've lost the Administrator password for you
Win2K or Win XP system. What to do?
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/editor.html
http://www.loginrecovery.com/
Why virtual greeting cards are a bad idea.
http://eCards-techworld.notlong.com
http://www.scambusters.org/ecardscams.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/07/ecard.html
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18443
Think of it as PayPal on steroids. http://www.e-gold.com/
It looks good, sure, but there's probably some sort of catch
somewhere. http://www.emusic.com/promo/home.html
I think ePals is a good thing for young students.
http://www.epals.com/
If the words "peer to peer" mean anything to you then you
should know about emule.
http://www.emule-project.net/home/perl/general.cgi?l=1
It's a bony subject. http://www.eskeletons.org/
Network toys. http://www.egroupware.org/
Entry-level web marketing dingus. http://www.mals-e.com/
A pretty cool site for heavy-duty serious gamers.
http://www.e3expo.com/
End of Section Three.
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Section Four by Lisa.
Anything and everything to do with your home.
http://shakadoo.com/index.html
This commercial site has plenty of tips and
tricks for decorative painting.
http://www.carolinapaints.com/index.html
Don promised to one day take me to
Paris and London. Whoopee.
London...http://london-texas.notlong.com
Paris....http://www.ci.paris.tx.us/
The American Dialect Homepage.
http://www.evolpub.com/Americandialects/AmDialhome.html
The Louisiana Creole Heritage Center.
http://www.nsula.edu/creole/
What is a paseo? There are two varieties.
http://www.cooltownstudios.com/mt/archives/000877.html
http://www.texasbob.com/travel/tbt_thewall.html
Chinatowns of Latin America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatowns_in_Latin_America
Commercial space flight is a reality.
http://www.atlasaerospace.net/eng/index.htm
A portal site dedicated to the study of clandestine
and subversive radio broadcasting.
http://www.clandestineradio.com/
A balanced presentation of the drawbacks of artificial
sweeteners. http://artificialsweetener.notlong.com
A YouTube outtake video of Johnny Winter at Woodstock.
You didn't hear this on the album. Incredible.
http://jwinterwoodstock.notlong.com
Weather info and fun for kids.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/index.htm
Living the good life, beyond the sidewalks.
http://www.countrysidemag.com/
Underground buildings, earth sheltered architecture,
energy-efficient housing. http://www.malcolmwells.com/
Have more Frugal Fun. http://www.frugalfun.com/
Help kids wise up to media pressure.
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/
End of Section Four.
Our feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html
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Section Five by Don.
Here's where you can e-apply for some e-money from the
e-government. http://e-grants.ed.gov/egWelcome.asp
Here's where you can do the whole chat/messenger thing
online without installing anything on your computer.
http://www.ebuddy.com/
Harassing the government isn't just an American sport.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/
The Electronic Code of (US) Federal Regulations. A virtual
playground for anyone who has bureaucratic proclivities.
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=%2Findex.tpl
Outsourcing isn't just for big corporations. Your small business
can do it too. http://www.elance.com/
If you have a fast connection and are increasingly more bored
by television it's time to discover podcasting.
http://www.etown.org/listen.podcast.php
Democracy, according to these folks, is a conversation.
http://www.e-thepeople.org/
To me, the best part of the web is it's potential for education.
All I need is google and some free time and I'll shortly be on
a roll but what works for me isn't the only way to "get there".
There are other alternatives.
What would you like to learn today?
http://www.e-tutor.com/
http://www.elearners.com/
http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/
http://www.wannalearn.com/
http://www.learningpage.com/
http://www.ocwconsortium.org/
http://alison.com/
http://dev.drawspace.com/
http://www.visualmathlearning.com/
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video
http://www.ldpride.net/
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/Tutorials/
http://tutorom.com/
http://simpler-solutions.net/pmachinefree/flom/flom.php?id=P206
http://www.thekidzpage.com/learninggames/index.htm
http://www.edubuntu.org/
http://www.open.ac.uk/
http://www.starfall.com/
http://www.english-daily.com/
http://www.nonstopenglish.com/
http://freestatistics.altervista.org/en/learning.php
http://www.howtolearn.com/
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/lettersounds.htm
http://www.learn4good.com/
http://autodesk-maya.notlong.com
http://www.learnthat.com/
http://www.w3schools.com/
(If nothing here interested you let me know what
would interest you and I'll research it next time.)
Skip this if you're not an email junkie.
http://www.eprompter.com/
Yet another "social network" thing.
http://mashable.com/
OpenCD is a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software.
The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such
as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design,
and image manipulation. http://www.theopencd.org/
End of Section Five.
Archives for this ezine
are available online here:
//www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/
The current issue is also
available on our website.
http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html
RSS feed is available via this link.
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Section Six by Lisa.
The New London, Texas school explosion in 1938 resulted
in the passage of a law that required the addition of a
distinctive malodorant to natural gas for commercial and
industrial use. The body count was about 300.
http://schoolexplosion.notlong.com
The joy of home winemaking. http://www.joyofwine.net/
Sean T. McHugh has a stunning photo gallery and one of
the best image editing tutorials sections I've ever seen.
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/home.htm
This is pretty sick but I liked it.
http://bunnysuicides.notlong.com
A study of bad reasoning.
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/index.html
A site for tutorials of all kinds.
http://www.tutorialguide.net/
Where do you find all those pesky missing dll's?
http://www.dll-files.com/
Diane's Crafts offers lots of costless goodies.
http://www.dianescrafts.com/
MotherJones, always a little "out there".
http://www.motherjones.com/
Ideas for environmentally sustainable living.
http://www.eartheasy.com/homepage.htm
The world's best ice cream is made in Texas.
http://www.roundtop.com/bluebell.htm
Homepage of the FBI. http://www.fbi.gov/
I thought this was just cool; banana nut bread
baked in a jar. http://bananabread.notlong.com
Science behind the news. http://whyfiles.org/
Cooking from the garden. http://www.cooksgarden.com/
Gourmet food and cooking resource.
http://gourmetsleuth.com/
Remember "Hill Street Blues"?
http://www.hillstreetblues.tv//index.html
Database of file extensions and the programs
that use them. http://filext.com/
The Tootsie Roll Homepage.
http://www.tootsie.com/index.html
End of Section Six.
The Linux Corner.
The Linux Tips HOWTO.
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Tips-HOWTO.html
Soup To Nuts is a repository of Open Source articles
and example code. http://souptonuts.sourceforge.net/
Making experts of absolute beginners. http://www.ctssn.com/
The Linux Documentation Project. http://en.tldp.org/
Windows/Linux dualboot tutorial.
http://www.howtoforge.com/windows_linux_dual_boot
Anti-virus software and Linux (an article).
http://www.prismnet.com/~john/linux-av.html
Lessons from Linux Online. http://www.linux.org/lessons/
Linux is mobile. http://www.openmoko.com/
A powerful backup solution for Linux.
http://www.mondorescue.org/
Breaking Windows: Rants & Raves by Ken Edwards and
Matt Paprocki. http://breakingwindows.com/
Our friend Lee Parmeter is the driving force behind our local
Highland Lakes Linux User's Group http://www.hllug.org/
and here are a few links he's posted to that list.
The Linux Weather Forecast is an attempt
to track ongoing developments in Linux.
http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/Linux_Weather_Forecast
Linux and the Visa card; a surprisingly good match.
http://www.linuxfund.org/
Quick and dirty Samba setup (Samba allows Windows users
to connect to a Linux server from which to share data).
http://www.linux.com/articles/58593
Parted Magic is developing into a powerful disk partitioning
tool. http://partedmagic.com/index.html
Website for Linux beginners. http://www.reallylinux.com/
You too can have a complete home recording studio.
http://64studio.com/
The Linux Gamers' game list.
http://www.icculus.org/lgfaq/gamelist.php
A good article, for more advanced Linux users,
on the comparative merits of Aptitude versus Apt-Get.
http://www.pthree.org/2007/08/12/aptitude-vs-apt-get/
A great collection of Linux "How To"s.
http://howtoforge.com/taxonomy_menu/1
Another Linux back-up solution.
http://www2.backup-manager.org/
A Little Humor.
I don't know who this person is and I didn't stop to
investigate the context of this clearly hypothetical
question, I literally stumbled across it. The question
is odd. Some of the comments are really funny.
http://ferocious-fivers.notlong.com
Silly, but cute. http://icanhascheezburger.com/
Tips for This Issue.
A collection of information assembled for and by actual
users of Microsoft Windows. http://www.annoyances.org/
Windows and Mac news and info.
http://www.activewin.com/awin/default.asp
Internet Technology (IT) Tips. http://www.chami.com/tips/
A wealth of information and help from UK computer mag,
PC Advisor. http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/index.cfm
Contributions From Our Readers.
Links from readers are always
welcome and you can even write
your own link descriptions if you
like. Guidelines are available here:
http://www.don-guitar.com/descriptivetext.html
From our web sibling Patrick Barden.
( http://rrwbushangel.blogspot.com/ )
So, what's your birthday star?
http://outreach.jach.hawaii.edu/birthstars/
Social networking for movies. http://www.criticker.com/
Artists whose work you're free to use.
http://artistthatallow.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
From our web sibling Jo-Ann (Jo) Burton:
( Jo's site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharinglinks2/ )
Reading for young folks.
http://www.nea.org/readacross/index.html
http://flamingnet.com/bookreviews/index.cfm
http://www.readersclub.org/category.asp?cat=4
http://www.teenreads.com/
http://teenink.com/Books/
http://www.grouchy.com/angst/
http://goddesslibrarian.blogspot.com/
http://www.teenspoint.org/reading_matters/
Ballroom Dancing. http://www.ballroomdancers.com/
What do you want to know about baseball?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/
The Science Channel's big 100 list of greatest discoveries.
http://big100discoveries.notlong.com
From our web sibling John Lepse.
( John's blog: http://hucknjim.blogspot.com/ )
Non Sequitur John's favorite comic. Often weird, but
always funny. http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/
The Journey of Mankind (a multimedia presentation).
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/
Here's a blog John, who works in the health care industry,
really enjoys. http://nurse-ratcheds.blogspot.com/
Thank you Patrick, Jo and John. I can't remember the last time
our reader contributions were so sparse. I wonder if that's
evidence in support of my previous contention that everyone
I know seems to be awfully busy lately?
Last word, from Lisa:
It's Fall. I can smell it. My neighbor says she looked
out the window the other day and she can see it, the
light is different. We're still looking forward to some
mighty hot days here in Texas, but someone who spends
any time outdoors, especially playing in the dirt, can
see and smell the change.
In my case, this has resulted in a cleaning frenzy,
hopefully it will last awhile, at least until I can get
the place fixed up the way I'd like it. I can visualize
what I'd like next spring, and what I can do in the fall
when the weather turns nice and cool. Gardeners are the
most optimistic people in the world, you know.
'Til next time,
Lisa
Lisa's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/lfefo.html
Don's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html
Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549
Lisa's blog. http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/dirtgoddess
Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar
Don's blog. http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/
Our personal news page.
http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html
Don Crowder and Lisa Miller
Saturday, September 1, 2007
1:45 AM CST - Buchanan Lake Village, Texas, USA
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