qpmarl blog

Why does life have to be so complicated.

I'm talking about relationships and emotions in general.

We cause ourselves so much pain because we want to avoid a little discomfort.

Can't people just learn to communicate clearly and without so much anxiety over other people's reactions.

I don't think that we give each other enough credit when it comes to understanding and compassion.

This is a page with a very good description of spyware and some removal tools to use - and some to avoid.

They got a $25 mousepad over at thinkgeek... I don't think I've ever paid that much for a mouse, let alone a mousepad.

The best mousepad I ever had was the top part of an old cdrom drive (just the top piece of the metal enclosure). It was basically just a 6"x8" (roughly) piece of metal bent over at each edge (helped it stay on the arm of my armchair). I used it so much that it became polished where my hand and fingers rested on it. But the texture of the metal was perfect for nearly every mouse I ever used (optical or not). The rigidity of it allowed mousing on non-rigid surfaces like the arm of my armchair (was burned when my parents moved - the best armchair I ever had - but that's another story). It actually didn't work so well on a hard flat surface (like a desk) because it would tend to slide around with nothing to hold it in place and the center was suspended 1/4" or so above the table by the edges, so it would tend to get bent and I'd have to straighten it. I think still have the mousepad around here somewhere, though it has become a bit rusty from disuse - the rust causes some performance issues. I haven't used it much in the last few years. I'm not even sure which box of junk it's in. I may have thrown it away.

Here is a list of books that I want to get. Some I've already read, but I'd like to own them. Some I may already own somewhere, but I'm not sure where they are.

Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary
by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond - the story of how Linux got started.

High-Tech Heretic : Reflections of a Computer Contrarian
by Clifford Stoll - A computer professional who doesn't think that computers are the answer to all of the world's problems

Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks
by Scott Fullam

PC Toys
by Barry Press

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation
by Jon Erickson
-may seem malicious, but it's good to know so you can defend against it.

The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
by Kevin D. Mitnick (former hacker turned security expert - don't they all)
-it's about people, not software. The most secure system in the world can be hacked when there are morons running it.

Universal Command Guide
by Guy Lotgering
-every command for every major operating system. We're talking command line here.

Wicked Cool Shell Scripts
by Dave Taylor
-shell scripts (for those who don't know) are files of instructions to the operating system - usually used to automate repetitive tasks and create more sophisticated commands. This book is about how to write them and all the cool things they can do. In some operating systems, shell scripts are practically another programming language and you could write virtually any program in a shell script. In other operating systems, they're pretty boring. Those who remember the good old days of DOS might know them as "Batch Files" - all those .bat's.


Well, there are more, but I can't think of any of them right now. Most of these can be found on Thinkgeek.com - it's a nice online shop for computer geeks.

I haven't updated in a while, so I thought that I should add a little something.... or some things.

everybody has problems with spyware and startup programs which cause thier computers to operate poorly. Normally I put this kinda stuff on my tech blog, but I think that it's relevant for everyone.

Go to windowsstartup.com and download the startup inspector. Then install and run it while you're still online. It'll list everything that runs at startup with little checkboxes by each one. Click the "Consult" button and it'll check the online database for information about each item. Then you can read a description of each thing and decide if you want it running at startup. Most things you probably will not want to have running. I pretty much only let the "required" things run and some of these aren't really required (like if you don't care to use the "internet buttons" on your keyboard). So uncheck the stuff you don't want to have running, then click "Apply". Now you can close the inspector and restart the computer (it doesn't do it for you). If you had a lot of junk or some really nasty stuff in there, then you should notice the difference as soon as the computer restarts (you have to restart or all that junk will still be running). You should also notice that the system tray is less cluttered with useless icons.

Then go to lavasoft.de and download Ad-Aware SE Personal (the free one). Install and run this. Perform the smart scan. It'll find all spyware, adware, and such garbage infesting your computer. Select all of it for removal. You need to do this periodically as you collect this junk just by being on the internet. Ad-Aware also has an update feature because people are always designing new forms of spyware to annoy everyone.

I think that spyware should really be classified with viruses and declared illegal. Send the people who write it to jail just like the punks who write viruses - and they really are punks, not competent programmers - just some punks who've discovered some trick or other to mess up everyone's computers - it's really very easy to do - Microsoft should be ashamed to sell an operating system so vulnerable to this stuff.

You may find that you get less spyware if you never run Microsoft Internet Explorer. You can get a different browser like Mozilla Firefox which has a much nicer interface(once you get to know it) and more useful features. The pop-up blocking also works properly - allowing requested pop-ups and refusing nearly all unwanted pop-ups. Most spyware relies on Internet Explorer for pop-ups and if you have some running you may still get pop-ups in Internet Explorer windows even if you're using firefox for your browsing.

Both of these things are free and neither runs at startup or on any automatic schedule (It would slow your computer down if they did).

A recent study of Brazilian genetic ancestry has shown that appearance and skin color is not an accurate indicator of geographical ancestry. The study found that DNA amoung 'white', 'black', and 'intermediate' classes is tremendously overlapping. 'White' people studied had an average of 33% Amerindian ancestry and 28% African ancestry.

This confirms the widespread view among anthropologists and human geneticists that 'from a biological standpoint, human races do not exist'.

I found this in Creation magazine, their source is from New Scientist, 4 January 2003, p. 20, and ABC NewsOnline, www.abc.net.au/news/scitech/2002/12/item20021218135658_1.htm, 23 January 2003

This is a CPU cooler from Zalman, one of the top cooler manufacturers.

It uses water instead of air to cool your computer processor. And it's very quiet.

Don't have anti-virus software and don't want to pay for it? Use symantec's free online virus scanner. You'll probably need to open it in internet explorer and have activeX controls enabled.

There's also a security scanner that will tell you how vulnerable your computer is to hackers and other security threats.

I recommend opening it in a new window as it will replace the current window and remove the browser buttons.

Play 20 questions with a huge neural network over the internet. Try to stump it.