Backup your music and photos CHEAP!

A friend of mine asked me about backing up her music. Fitting post for this place.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145752

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822149014&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=22-149-014

Gives you 40GB of external USB storage that you can backup your music.

For under $80

If you want 80GB of backup, just replace the above item with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136042&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=22-136-042

You'll spend a little over a hundred bucks but will have plenty of room for growth.

Combine the above external hard drives with the following FREE software (from Microsoft)

https://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

and you can schedule a nightly backup of your music to your external hard drive. And best of all it's easy.

SPAM SPAM SPAM

I HATE SPAM!!!

I decided to try out a Barracuda firewall. They're a little pricey and I'm not exactly sure how this one is going to work for the multiple email domains... but, what the heck!

I'll be actually doing updates on this one.

The best hard drive?

SCSI anything beats IDE but if you're stuck with IDE, checkout the Seagate Barracuda. This is a traditional EIDE (not SATA) but it is a quality unit.

Why am I posting here suddenly? I forgot the url...

Microsoft Genuine Pain in the Ass

So I updated my XP Pro system and now I'm being told that I've got a bad copy of Windows.

There's a Microsoft Genuine Advantage update which apparently queries to see if this is valid and if it isn't prompts you to purchase the software. From Microsoft. At whatever price they want to sell it. Hmmm, maybe Microsoft is learning from the Oil Companies? Or maybe it's the other way around.

Anyway, so I don't pirate software, I have a legal copy of XP. And I want to re-activate. So I call Microsoft and discuss this with them and they want me to go through the 9 day long phone holding process. Otherwise, I can sign an agreement that they can come into my computer and have access to all my files. Uh, no.

Not gonna happen.

Notebook City

What the heck, I haven't posted here in a million years. Give or take.

I got a new Sempron Mobile CPU notebook the other day. My Intel Celery Mobile is old as dirt and I can't take any chances with a dead notebook. Here's what I noticed:

• Screen is shiny (and shiny is good)
• Except when you're on battery, the screen should be dim, and the shiny screen reflects EVERYTHING
• The new crop of notebooks are pretty slick, small and lightweight as you'd expect
• The battery life SUCKS!

I'm going to tweak it some and see just how much time I can get out of a single charge. Right now it's about 50 minutes.

That just ain't gonna cut it.

The *nix pissing contest continues

BSD vs. RedHat vs. Micro$oft vs. My old 1979 MG Midget Yard Art

Insert pithy statement here.

BSD: Stripped down, lean and mean.
RedHat: Commercially popular stable release that the BSD folks love to take potshots at because it's (gasp) making money
Micro$oft: Whatever
1979 MG Yard Art: Will beat all the above OS's in a 0-60 race, outbrakes them, is a convertable so at least I have a snowballs chance in hell of picking up a hot chick, and it's YARD ART

This will only make sense if you clicky clicky.

Let's try this again

A while back I posted something incredibly insightful, direct and witty regarding "ransomware". This new crop of spyware that snags your computer and then keeps at you until you finally, in a fit of remorse buy a 50 or 60 dollar "subscription". If you don't it will encrypt your files and make your life generally miserable.

You never saw that post because, quite frankly, blogger was being pissy.

Oh well.

I have another great product to tell you about. Coconutysp. Er, CounterSpy.

This software SO doesn't suck. It's under twenty bucks and will keep your computer free from the awful horrors of spyware. Check it out at http://www.sunbelt-software.com

Hope this posts...

RansomWare

Panda Antivirus (long reviled but getting better) announced a software called "SpywareNo" which performs the following lovely little antics:

1. It installs itself if you visit a website (porn, shareware, freeware and the like)
2. It "detects" spyware on your computer
3. It prompts you to purchase a subscription (usually $20/month or $60 annually)

then the fun begins

If you do not purchase the "subscription", this little jewel will encrypt your documents, cause programs to stop working and wreck havoc on your perfectly fine computer.

When you succumb to the extortion, your "threats" will magically disappear.

Stay tuned.

Microsoft hurries to release 64 bit Windows

Gates announced that Microsoft is going to fast track the release of the new 64 bit Windows release. What will this mean for you?

• XP is now obsolete. Get ready to purchase more software.
• Your applications that ran on the 32 bit platform might run but don't count on it. You'll be pressured to purchase the "NEW" 64 bit Office application.
• Better support for antivirus and antispam (you'll probably have to purchase this as well).

All in all, more blinky lights and better performance will make this a much more robust OS but everything comes at a price.

What is Guardian?

Guardian Technologies of Georgia, Inc. was formed in 1998 to provide data and network integration services around a structured maintenance program.

Check back for information on keeping your systems running through the use of proactive maintenance and management.