waldwolf

Seconding Firefoxx's recommendations, there's a lot of truth in the old saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Antivirus, spyware detectors and firewalls are all well and good, however ...........

- Do detectors always work?

- Do firewalls always block malware attempting to enter/exit my computer?

- Is my firewall working properly?

You can check your system and firewall for potential "leaks", utilizing two free tests developed by one of the worlds most respected security experts, Steve Gibson. They are:

ShieldsUp!

LeakTest

Periodic re-testing is highly recommended.

cheers

chanchao - A constructive and challenging project. A couple more suggestions are:

Tools, Anti Virus & Security:

- EasyCleaner v2.0.x (Registry Cleaner) http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm

- WebTime 2000 (PC Clock Synchronizer) http://www.gregorybraun.com/WebTime.html

Imaging, Sound and Multimedia:

WinAmp Player 5 http://www.winamp.com/player

Internet:

- Netscape 8 (Web Browser) http://browser.netscape.com/ns8

One note you may wish to address in a "ReadMe" file, either on the CD itself, or in accompanying literature. Certain of the programs in your list will only run on specific versions of Windows. For example:

. Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP Home, Pro, Media Center or Tablet PC)

. Adobe Reader 7 (Windows 2000 w/SP2; XP Home, Pro, Tablet PC)

. Microsoft AntiSpyware (Beta) (Windows 2000, XP, or Server 2003)

cheers

Price on LDC tv's are expected to drop about 50% in the next year or so, as several large manufacturing facilities in Korea (joint Sony-Samsung venture)and China come online. Industry rumor has it, the price for a 40 inch LCD tv will drop to under $1,000 (US)..........but...read on........

How about a "Organic-Light-Emitting-Diode" screen.........What you say?

An OLED emits its own light, therefore requires no"backlight", as do conventional LCD's. OLED's can be applied directly to thin pieces of glass or plastic in layers. (Somewhat like silkscreening is used to print a picture on fabric or solid materials, like glass.)

The advantages of OLED are:

. Thinner and lighter screens

. Refreshes 1000 times faster than LCD's

. Sharper picture

. Same brightness level regardless of viewing angle

. Very low power consumption and heat

. Easier and cheaper to manufacture

Instead of a wall sized picture using a LDC projector, just "wallpaper" the wall with OLED material and you'll enjoy the same bright pictures in daylight or darkness.

What's it look like?.............

The largest todate appears to be this 40 inch Samsung prototype. (Note picture brightness, color and clarity in this actual angled photo.)

When/where can you buy one?........Well.......not quite yet. At least not in TV format. (There are one or two cell phone screens coming soon, which do use this new technology.)

8" - 17" OLED tv's are expected to be available in stores late 2006 or early 2007.

Price:.......

cheers

........Any ideas how much they cost? - they look a damm site more expensive  than my Princo's (300 baht for 50)!

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Have seen prices ranging from $2 to $10 (US) per disk, depending upon quantity purchased.

Any "coasters" from this brand will definately put a dent in your pocketbook.

cheers

......I read that Matsui Gold are considered one of the best. Anyone have thoughts on this?

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The Mitsui CD's are the "MAM"'s detailed in my earlier post. Have not personally tried them, but various reports I have read rate them very highly.

As with most items one needs/wants to "archive", heat, moisture and sunlight are probably the three major factors effecting useful life. I suppose one could burn "gold" CD's, place them in a nitrogen filled, vaccum sealed, stainless steel or glass container. But with the speed technology moves, data storage methods will undoubtly improve with the passage of time.

The next data storage breakthrough may well be biological .

cheers

Is there anyway to block the bugs once it finds them? (newbie Ad Aware)

I have the 1.06V.

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In the default setting, any malware found is moved to a "quarantine" folder. You also have an option to immediately delete same or re-install it again if it had previously been quarantined. (Basically same proceedures used by most antivirus software.)

Suggest you read "Help" file, following installation, for more specific details.

cheers

The question of life expectency for CD's has been debated ever since the first one appeared decades ago. I've heard life expectency figures for CD's ranging anywhere from 10 to 300 years.

The following links detail what many believe is the best type of media for CD archiving, GOLD:

The MAM Archive CD-R

MAM Gold Longevity Tests

Additional information links:

Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs

Preservation FAQ's

Measures of CD-R Longevity

(Unfortunately, all magnetic media slowly looses its magnetic properties over time, therefore, tape or hard drive backups slowly decay. Of course, should the earth's magnetic poles reverse themselves again, as has occured numerious times in the past, the loss of data will be immediate. )

cheers

For Info:

Lavasoft have released a new version (v1.0.6) of their Ad-Aware anti spyware utility.

Improvements include:

• Disk-scan is approximately 30 % faster

• CSI scan is now more efficient

• Added "Scan for low risk threats" option, to scan for targets with low TAC index

• Ad-Watch CSI engine performance highly improved; using less CPU and Memory as well as having a smaller footprint

• GUI adapted to use the new TAC

More Info

Download Site

cheers

bartender100 -

1. Are you running XP-Home or XP-Pro?

2. Had you previously set any passwords (Administrator or User)?

The picture on the outside doesn't mean thats what you get inside.....

Think of Baby Food as an example, just because there is a picture of a baby, doesn't mean there is one in the can. 

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I wonder if putting pictures on condom packages would help.....................?

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if you could choose what picture would you put on a condom packet?

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"Actual Size" pictures, would be good for starters.

Told by professional exterminator, one of best non-toxic ant, roach, termite "killers" is D-Limonene (Orange oil). Very effective in garden, around house foundation or inside walls. (Kills eggs as well as adults.)

Boric acid also very effective when mixed with a sweep syrup and placed in dish under sink or other area inaccessable to pets.

Ground cinnamon, clove or chilli power, sprinkled on ant paths also works well to convince such pests to move and take up residence in a neighbor's house.

cheers

FDA Looking Into Blindness-ED Drug Link

FDA Investigating Rare Reports Of Blindness Amoung Men

Using Impotence Drugs Like Viagra, Cialis, Levitra

Associated Press

WASHINGTON, DC May 27, 2005 1:00pm EDT - Federal health officials are investigating rare reports of blindness among some men using Viagra and other impotence drugs but caution that this type of vision loss also is linked to the same illnesses that lead to impotence.

The questions about the impotence drugs come at a time when federal regulators and the drug industry are facing criticism about what they do to ensure the safety of drugs already on the market.

The Food and Drug Administration has 43 reports of varying degrees of vision loss, including blindness, among users of the drugs: 38 among Viagra users, four among Cialis users and one among Levitra users, said spokeswoman Susan Cruzan.

The FDA now is in discussions with the makers of the drugs about whether the labels should contain a disclosure that in very rare cases, users had developed blindness.

"We take this seriously," Cruzan said.

The makers of Cialis, Eli Lilly & Co. and ICOS Corp., already have voluntarily added a single-line notice to that drug's label.

At issue is NAION, or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, which causes sudden vision loss when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked.

NAION is considered one of the most common causes of sudden vision loss in older Americans, and estimates suggest there are anywhere from 1,000 to 6,000 cases a year. Risk factors include diabetes and heart disease two of the leading causes of impotence.

The routine NAION cases plus overlapping risk factors means it may be impossible for FDA to tease out whether the drugs really increase risk for this eye problem.

Viagra maker Pfizer Inc. says about 23 million men worldwide have taken Viagra since its approval in 1998. There is no proof that the drug caused the blindness, stressed Pfizer spokesman Daniel Watts.

But the possibility of a link was raised publicly earlier this year, when Dr. Howard Pomeranz of the University of Minnesota reported in an opthalomology journal seven patients who reported NAION vision loss occurring within 36 hours of a Viagra dose.

A good start, and we all hope your tests prove negative. However, one suggestion.

Do not assume or presume anything. If your decision to have these tests were for the obvious reason, make sure you are tested for EVERY potential STD. (HIV is not the only life-threatening STD).

You owe this, not only to yourself, but any future partner.

good luck

The picture on the outside doesn't mean thats what you get inside.....

Think of Baby Food as an example, just because there is a picture of a baby, doesn't mean there is one in the can. 

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I wonder if putting pictures on condom packages would help.....................?

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In actuality, our "rear gunner" is not mooning anyone.

With both engines stopped and only what appears to be 1000-1500' altitude, he's probably trying to get his head between his legs, so he can kiss his arse goodbye.

Info is scant. Appears to be PC to PC, similar to Skype.

Links to check:

Yahoo Messenger Beta

Yahoo! Messenger Beta Known Issues

Wouldn't get my hopes up. Remember "There is no free lunch".

Suggest you email Yahoo Support for answers.

wilson steer - Are you refering to an new computer which came with XP or did you install XP on a computer which had been running Win98?

If latter, was XP installed over 98 or did you do a complete re-format installation? (In other words, is/was your XP install disk an "Upgrade" or a "Full" version?)

Have you recently updated XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)?

If you right click on taskbar and click on "Task Manager" in new window, do you see the same problem?

Cockpit window cracks, while rare, do occur from time to time.

A while back, a Japan Airlines (JAL) and an Alitalia (Italy) Boeing 777 experienced inflight cockpit window cracks. Both aircraft made emergency landings with no injuries. Boeing traced the problem to faulty wiring in the windows heater.

The 777's windshields are made of three layers of glass, acrylic and epoxy, and can become brittle in the cold, thin air at 30,000'+ cruising altitudes. Therefore, the windows are warmed by a heater to keep them elastic.

When one thinks about the variations of temperature, moisture, vibrations, etc. todays modern jetliners operate in, its a marvel of engineering we don't see more such incidents.

For info:

Apple May Use Intel Chips for Macs

Mon May 23, 2005 03:48 PM ET

By Duncan Martell

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. has been in talks that could lead to it using Intel Corp. chips in its Macintosh computers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, reigniting decade-old speculation and sparking a 5 percent rise in Apple's stock price.

The report, citing two industry executives with knowledge of recent discussions between the companies, said Apple was expected to agree to use Intel chips. But it said the talks could break down or could be a tactic to gain negotiating leverage with Apple's current chip supplier, International Business Machines Corp.

At stake for Apple is a more predictable and consistent supply of microprocessors -- the computing engine in computers -- as well as potentially lower prices for Apple Macintosh computers, which historically have cost more than PCs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating systems.

(More here)

Kringle - Do not recommend using contact cleaner, as some contain solvents that can "melt" or damage plastic parts.

In an earlier post, one member reported he bought a can of compressed air at a camera shop in BKK. (They sell it for cleaning lenses.) Another member wrote: "You can get them in Big C Phuket - bottom floor, C zone, extreme right end". Probably easiest would be one of the office supply stores, like Office Depot, as it is used in many offices to not only clean computer keyboards, but also laser printers. (All computer repair shops should have it or be able to direct you to a seller.)

If you still can't find it, try the following:

1. Locate a couple of plastic drinking straws.

2. Remove ink cartridges from printer.

3. Put 1 or 2 drops of regular 70 percent isopropal alcohol in hole where ink cartridge rests.

4. Wait 1 hour, then place end of plastic drinking straw in cartridge hole and BLOW as hard as possible. (Please, no wise cracks from the gallery.)

5. Re-insert ink cartridges and do printer cleaning using Canon software.

6. Print test page.

7. If necessary, repeat items 2-6.

(Note: Above also works well on Epson printers.)

good luck

I wonder if it also comes with a 220/110vac adaptor and long extension cord?

(With my luck, when needed, the batteries would be dead and all the stores closed.)

The next standard will be 802.11n, if the IEEE Task Group N can ever reach agreement. The vote on the new standard earlier this week in Australia, failed to meet the required 75%.

The next meeting is scheduled for July, in San Francisco.

Believe it or not, the altitude record for a bird is 37,900 feet. It was a species of vulture with a 10 foot wingspread, sucked into a jet engine over the Ivory Coast of West Africa. Aircraft was damage but managed to land OK.

According to observers, "the bird that flies highest most regularly is the bar-headed goose Anser indicus, which travels directly over the Himalayas en route between its nesting grounds in Tibet and winter quarters in India. They are sometimes seen flying well above the peak of Mt. Everest at 29,035 ft."

It would take a rather large bird, roughly the size of a goose, to crack or break one of the cockpit windows in a modern jetliner. Therefore the Ander goose theory appears to fit based on both size, location and past history.

Of course they could do DNA testing of the "splatter" on the window itself.

(In my younger days, almost got taken out by a duck while flying a plane at 14,000 feet. Scared the he*l out of me. Thought it was another aircraft at first.)

cheers

...PS - You may also want to read their Release Notes which starts out "The Netscape Browser  Version 8.0 - based on Firefox..........." here

cheers

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So now Firefox is the benchmark?

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More likely due to fact Mozilla Foundation was founded by Netscape and Mozilla's current President (Ms. Mitchell Baker) was previously General Council at Netscape.

Wanderer - If your considering the purchase of a new laptop but want to keep all your old files, instead of purchasing an external hard drive (HDD), what about partitioning the new laptop HDD (if it's not already partitioned) and copying the old drive content over on to one of those partitions. That way you would have all your basic files, plus the ability to boot up in the old operating system, in the event some of your older programs may not run on WindowsXP.

What are your plans for the old laptop? Junk heap, kids play toy, donation to a school? If it's destined for the junk heap, you may want to buy a new "laptop size" USB external enclosure (as Firefoxx suggested), install the old HDD in same......and save yourself some money. You'd also end up with a portable HDD, that will probably fit in your pocket.

As regards copying your old HDD image to the new HDD, most new drives (internal and external) come with free software to partition the new drive and copy the old to the new. No need to buy Ghost. (If your old OS is Win98, the Fdisk and Copy command of DOS will also do the job nicely and for free.)

Depending on your exact CD burning software, and it's age, most have the capability of backing up your whole HDD to CD or DVD. (Check your owners manual for details.)

good luck