Lonestar er... you mean heaven..

Just a quick one here, this is about the wonderful people at Lonestar Reastaurants. I want to live in your restaurant ok? I prefer really simple foods. Something you can stick in your mouth and just eat. Not dissect, or operate on before you get three molecules of tofu from it. You know, like taking a crab to piecfes and then supposedly enjoying the tiny pieces of meat and crab shrapnel. Coming from England, eating is not really something to be enjoyed. But being here in the USA means my stomach thinks it has won some sort of lottery and has retired to a life of opulance and luxury. I prefer really simple things like huge lumps of meat and potaoes. If I feel extra fancy I may even allow a mushroom or two, but not often.

Before hitting America, eating was to recharge and not die. Then it became infinately more interesting. Now with the discovery of my new chums at the Lonestar Steak House, I finally have my own place to eat and ENJOY IT!! Strangely enough the beer arrives at your table in a goblet. It was like drinking from the Holy Grail. Not too sure about the animal heads on the wall though.

I am going back there enough times to earn my Frequent Cardiac Arrest points. Excuse me for being so simple, but huge slabs of meat, potato, and beer seems like good stuff to me




This is how the beer looks as it floats towards you.

Ad-aware offline updates

Here is a little tip if you require offline updates for Lavasofts 'Ad-aware' spyware busting program.

For those who don't know, spyware is the term used for little programs which work in the background without you knowing. They are supposed to track you around the web, and serve up pop-ups, or contact their own headquarters with information regarding your online-ness. Most people could not give a crap about the personal info piece. Most people I come into contact with are extremely annoyed when one of these little freeloaders, nearly breaks the computer it's running on. All these programs require processing time, and a lot require internet bandwidth. So far it's slowing your computer down as well as reducing your capacity to surf and download etc. The extra deluxe super sized annoyance comes from when the spyware takes over control of certain functions of your PC. You begin to never be able to get rid of strange programs, or something like your homepage is never actually your homepage again. If you know little about this, but are seeing changes in your computer which you KNOW are nothing to do with you (or the 8 year old computer scientist at home) making, then spyware is most certainly your new unwanted guest.

If you are wondering how it gets onto your computer, YOU put it there when you installed that plugin from a webpage or any number of programs. I too used to click next, next, next etc when installing programs. These days I tend to look at all the fine print to see if it says anything even remotely looking like another program being installed or mention of tracking software etc. Use your imagination on this one and if your spider senses tingle, then move on and get a different program. They are supposed to warn you, when you install the main program, a lot do, but there are always those that don't.

Do your self a favor, and download Ad-aware, run it and be amazed how fast your computer works from then on.

Anyway, back to the plot...

Simply put go here to get the latest .ref file (the file it uses to check your computer for spyware)
http://updates.ls-servers.com/reflist.zip

Then copy it into the location of the Ad-aware installation, which is by default,
C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-aware 6
Run the program and you will see that your definitions are updated. This could be useful if you have a bunch of computers that for what ever reason you do not wish to attach to your network, but need checking for spyware. You may even not be able to attach them, but want to start the process. Put it this way, this is invaluable for me from day to day, dealing with questionably infected machines, that in no way would I ever attach to anyones network!

Lavasofts own details can be found in their How To Guides.



Spyware, you look all gooey

Hotmail increases storage space from 2MB to 250MB

Seems that Hotmail have decided to enter the battle with Google, and Yahoo over the free online email storage capacity.

Current scores appear to be...
Google 1GB (which works out to be 1000MB)
Yahoo 100MB (2GB if you have already paid something like the $25ish a year for extra frills)
Hotmail 250MB (although not yet active)

It was good of Google to start the ball rolling. Mind you Yahoo offer a lot more free services for just the time it takes to sign up ONCE, and not forgetting FREE either. The email I received from Hotmail simply said that there were more things to come, one of them being virus protection, but this is nothing really new.

The only relevant part of the whole email was as follows...
In addition to delivering world-class antivirus protection, you can also look forward to an upgrade in your storage capacity. In fact, you'll receive 125 times your current email storage with the introduction of a 250 MB inbox as well as the ability to send attachments up to 10 MB.

But still, one of my current freebie faves is the Yahoo Briefcase, which can hold up to 30MB of anything you like! I use it all the time to stash a whole box of tricks. As soon as someone knows you can fix a computer, you could be in the middle of a time travelling adventure, in the mesosoic-cretacious-oldness period of time and I cave man will whip out his laptop, complaining of missing DLL files!!

Don't mock the free stuff, quite often it does the job just as well as the pay versions. With a copy of Open Office, a Yahoo account (email, calendar, groups, online storage, web space with web building tools) you could easily run a business and not even OWN a PC!!



Hotmail
Playing catch up, but I think they have a lot more catching up to do...

Dirty computers

Not at all what you are thinking. This is a quickie rant about the people that never seem to clean their computers. Whats the deal? I recently had a desktop which looked like it was used as a coaster for giant cups of coffee for computer users with Parkinson's! Another was a Compaq 1245 laptop which looked like it had been sneezed on by a very sick, penis!

The screen wipes had no effect on most of it, not even the killing power of bleach (can you tell I am a clean freak yet?) could wipe away the questionable past of this poor sick computer.

Look people, if you do not look after the outside, how can you hope to keep the inside running smooth? Someone says, "Hmmm my CD-ROM just does not work any more"

COULD IT BE THE THREE YEARS WORTH OF NOSE LUGGAGE YOU SMEARED ON IT PERHAPS!?!?

As soon as I get enough images to make it worth while, I am going to host the hall of shame.


Not the same Compaq. Never winkie-sneeze on YOUR laptop!

Hmmm just reading this I managed to get the words, Dirty bitch penis smear, all in the same post!

Linksys Compact USB 2.0 10/100 Network Adapter

The Linksys Compact USB 2.0 10/100 Network Adapter or USB200M is a marvel, and saved me recently. The problem is this, you have a computer, that you have to retrieve information from, but the darned thing has no NIC, or CD burner. Now one answer is to install a NIC (Network Interface Card) and continue, but in this particular case it was a cruddy old laptop with no NIC, so there was no hope in heckville trying to drag the entire drive to safety. I would reccomend a thumbdrive for quick hits out in the field, but here I need to pull about 3GB worth of data to store away so the person that assured me they had everything and was ready to toss the offending smeggy laptop into the trash, can come back and begin shouting, before they realize that I do indeed have all the files they need.

This was a breeze. Just plug in the adaptor, slap the drivers in the CD drive, wait a moment, and you have network access! It works, and even comes with a little piece of cable so you can orient the adaptor itself, as it is fairly fragile feeling, but only because the thing is so teeny. This will be joining me with my thumbdrive, in my bag of doctors goodies, from now on.

See the little flap, that is where the network cable plugs in, it's that teeny!



USB200M
Linksys Compact USB 2.0 10/100 Network Adapter
ROLL UP, ROLL UP, Get ya network connectivity heyah!

Panda Software Online Virus Scanner

Ok, you are too stingy to purchase virus protection? Sort of like buying a car and cheap brakes, you WILL have an accident. Anyway, if you insist on living dangerously, then check out Panda Software and it's online virus scan. From what I have seen, this one will deal with viruses on your computer, rather than simply informing you that you have it. I have been testing it but cannot find any viruses on my computers here, even the cruddiest laptop I have ever received!

So if you don't have it, PLEASE go there, as you probably came here from Google or something similar, looking for thrifty, online, virus cleansing, goodness.



Viruses, BAH HUMBUG!

Cleaning that darned LCD flat panel display!

At last! After getting all tooled up with a MAG LT976, a MAG LT776, and a MAG LT576, I enjoyed a short time of blissfully clear display heaven. Until strange streaks appeared on the screen, not IN, but ON. You know how it is, that mysterious smear that nobody ever owns up to parenting. So what was I to do? The screen is not glass, so my usual Andromeda Strain style cleaning regime was not really advisable. Didn't want to see the screen melt off the monitor in front of me, and water was simply no good, as it just rearranged the smears!

BestBuy came to the rescue with the Dust Off Monitor Wipes. I could hardly believe it. Just pull one out of the container, wipe over the screen and within a minute there is NOTHING on the screen. Not one smear or streak, just your screen! When you wipe it over it seems like it is too wet, but suddenly it dries and all done. Quick and simple. Nice. Go buy some.

Laptops adore them too!



Don't forget to wipe.
You will have to imagine the 'TING!' sound and the corners of the monitor screens turning up slightly as if smiling.

Ultra Mini Portable Disk Hard Drive Enclosure

The Ultra Mini Portable Disk, Hard Drive Enclosure, is one of those little boxes you put a standard hard drive inside and then use it to externally backup your data. You can use it exactly like an internal drive. This one has firewire (also known as IEEE 1394) and USB 2.0 connections, so you get blistering speed during transfer.

I recently had a backup frenzy and after using this I am not going back to backing up to a seperate computer on the network. I don't yet have gigabit ethernet, and the difference between doing a 50GB backup over the network and straight onto this seemed impressive!

All I did before placing it in the box was format the drive and that was it. I was lucky enough to have gotten a Western Digital 250GB Internal Hard Drive. So that gives me two 100GB drives and one 50GB, which can be attached to anything fairly recent. It is simple and the lights show when it is accessed, just like the hard drive light on any other tower or laptop.

The whole thing consists of the the box you see below, and a power supply, as well as a USB, and a firewire cable. So you just plug in the firewire or USB into your computer, and then it sees another drive. Super-duper-simple. The feet on the enclosure hide the screws to open the case, and there is a fan at the back. Take out the screws, crack open the case, and inside you find a little piece of circuit board, with a short IDE cable, as well as a power plug. It's a snug fit, but once it's in, you would have little reason to be taking it out every five mins.

Remember folks, this does NOT include the hard drive.



While writing this little piece I could not find the manufacturers anywhere? Lesson, don't call yourself something nobody can search for...

Iogear Miniview Micro Audio KVM Switch (4 Ports)

The Iogear Miniview Micro Audio KVM Switch with 4 ports is one of my latest and greatest gadgets for getting a lot done fast!

For those that do not know, a KVM switch (KVM stands for Keyboard, Video, and Mouse) allows you to attach multiple computers to the same keyboard, mouse, and monitor. So they are in no way connected, unless you network them in the normal way, but they will all show up on the same monitor. You have a box which you connect one monitor, mouse, keyboard, and in this instance your speakers to. Then there are four sets of cables which you can plug into the back of another computer. Each cable having a monitor, mouse and keyboard plug on the end. All you need is a power cable for each of the other computers. Then with this particular KVM, you press three keys in sequence and then the number of the computer you wish to be showing on your screen. CTRL, then Shift, then ALT, then 1 - 4.

If like me you fix a LOT of different computers, this thing is perfect. No more dragging out big bulky monitors, as well as another keyboard and mouse, just to see what the problem might be. When all along you know it's probably just a case of a quick Windows Update and a long boring virus scan. So all those long tedious waits that are the norm for trouble shooting become less so, because the computer can just do it's thing and you can check back in when you think about it, with minimal interruption. I used to put off certain things because it was such a pain, getting another monitor out, clearing a space and then wiring everything up, and then the constant back and forth to see what the deal was. This way I can get to it within moments. I leave the KVM cables and the power cables tucked just out of the way, so I plonk the tower down, plug the cables in and switch to that screen to begin the process.

The Iogear Miniview Micro Audio KVM Switch requires no set up, no drivers, and I have yet to have any sort of problem with it at all! It always just works. The only minor niggle was that the sound quality was noticably worse through the KVM, so I just don't bother using it. I leave my normal speakers plugged into my main PC, and then if sound is an issue with another computer I have self powered speakers I can use to check it.

I find myself working on the computers as soon as I get them, as it is so easy to plug one up and take a look. This KVM was invaluable the other week while I was cloning an entire lab! I just two machines at a time on this while being able to still use the main one. Not having to mess with extra monitors any more, just makes things MUCH easier! A must buy, if you regularly use more than your main PC.



I have the two port version of this, which reminds me, I must get it back from the person I lent it to a while ago..

Camping

The great outdoors, the wilderness, the No Bloody Electricity, the Shower? HAHAHAHA, the bzzzzzzzzz kerSLAP!, the banjo music in the woods, the nearest wireless connection is at least thirty miles away, or camping.

I reluctantly agreed to what turned out to be a rather good time. After a frazzling weeks work, and late nights the LAST THING ON EARTH, I wanted to do was to head out into the nothingness and slog about up to my ankles in mud, broken glass, and assorted deadly creepy crawlies. Things were not so bad after all. Once I got used to not actually owning anything even remotely related to camping, I got into it. Did the prod-the-fire thing for a while, and found I was good at carrying buckets of water around. It made a change not to be in the middle of smugly humming PC's, all plotting the next incomprehensible, unfathomable, small, but essential show stopper. Just me a few people and the open nothingness. The image below is in fact the highlight of the area I was in, as it all looked the same, in every direction.

I am going back, although I cannot believe it. I tend to LIVE computers twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. And being nearly without them, was a change I think I needed more than I realised. I say nearly because as always I had my Axim with me, and the new phone which means I could connect if need be. So I tried doing interesting things with the phone, while trying to enjoy the vertebre numbing pleasure of sleeping on top of mount Knobbly, which few people know was RIGHT UNDER MY TENT!! Everyone knows you cannot do anything interesting on a mobile phone unless you are an idiot.

There was a river which allowed anyone to float along, pretty well unguided, and enjoy at a Disney ride pace the local scenery which mostly consisted of what I am assured are small trees (normal UK sized ones) and er.. water. I was only there for about 24 hours, so that's really the crappy version of a vacation to get there and have to unpack is one thing, and then the next day to have to scoop all your crap up again, so not really much time for anything much else.

Next time I know what to take. Beer being one of them, and appearing frequently through my list of soon-to-be-purcahsed camping equipment.

Second Life

Well I finally went back to Second Life. I had been there before, but after There.com saying it was no longer looking towards the long term for the consumer side of their operations, I decided I needed somewhere to reside, other than Cybertown.

There are so many things to learn here, and if you want to create stuff, you can. Even script things so they act in a unique way in the world. No submitting objects for cost etc, just get on with it. You can travel around the place for ages and see many weird and wonderful (as well as completely crappy) creations. Go look and have a ball!



This was the end of last time, but I found the outfit agin under a rock, so I got straight back on with things. I have permanent land there now, stop by and see if you can laugh harder than others who have visited.

First ever Drive-In movie experience...

All these things I have yet to do in America. Aside from wishing to visit Las Vegas (no not for gambling, just to see if it really is as tacky as they say) I got to do (is 'do' the correct term?) a Drive-In movie.

They had those little speakers on stands, within each parking spot, but the sound was also transmitted over the radio, so it was like hitting the best seat in the theatre without actually having to do any work. In fact the whole thing was like that, you could drive in, sit there and drive out again. No fuss. Mind you, most people there were making it a full day out. Nice. They had food, and other assorted day-outyness happening around their vehicles.

This has been similar to all the other things I have done since being here. I go without knowing how it works, and surprisingly enough I really enjoy the whole thing. Still lots to do here in the USA, and no sign of it running out any time soon! That's a good thing right?

I want to do it again.


My view of the monster screen, although I was making sure that I did not mistake the REAL, giant killer lobster from Mars, for a special effect, and get eaten/trampled in the ensuing panic!

Anime Yourself er.. just read it, it DOES make sense...

Thanks Radmila for letting me show the world what I really, really, REALLY, look like. You too can try your hand at the Illustration Maker.


From my name, most people think I am female, perhaps they still do!

An honest to goodness MIRACLE!

I am still in shock at a miracle that happened here. The cat Yumi that was rescued from a fate worse than Pathmark, vansished for a little over 24 hours. One of the 5 cats often stays away for a couple of days at a time, but Yumi is still less than a year old, and had never done it before. Time ticked away, and it got to just over a day. Searching the house, wandering around outside, calling and calling, and no result. Hoping that the end had been swift, began to build a little monument in Second Life, for something to remember her by.

Then a miracle happened..

Woke up this morning and sitting right next to the bed was Yumi. Rather disoriented, but alive and certainly not at all dead. The strange thing is, there is no way she can get into the room. After exahustive searches, I can only conclude she may have for some reason passed out, and layed under something for a day. No marks on her, no pain anywhere, just a seeming dehydration disorientation, similar to all those months ago when she was first rescued from the street.




A miracle!