MikeAlao's Blog

How to check grammar online

2012-01-16T13:43:00.000-05:00

There are several, free on-line grammar checking tools available:

1. spellchecker.net

2. grammarcheck.net

Small But Powerful: 30 Useful Apps Under 2MB

2012-01-01T14:50:00.001-05:00

Maximum PC has a great article with useful and free applications for your PC. You can click the link below for the article:

Small But Powerful: 30 Useful Apps Under 2MB

Below are some of my personal favorites from the list:

SpaceSniffer

SpaceSniffer is a freeWare and portable tool application that lets you understand how folders and files are structured on your disks. By using a Treemap visualization layout, you have immediate perception of where big folders and files are placed on your devices.

CPU Z

CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system.

TeraCopy

TeraCopy is designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed. The program skips bad files during the copying process, and then displays them at the end of the transfer so that you can see which ones need attention. TeraCopy can automatically check the copied files for errors by calculating their CRC checksum values. It also provides a lot more information about the files being copied than its Windows counterpart. TeraCopy integrates with Windows Explorer's right-click menu and can be set as the default copy handler.

CCleaner 3.0

CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download.

LogMeIn Hamachi2

LogMeIn Hamachi2 is a hosted VPN service that securely connects devices and networks, extending LAN-like network connectivity to mobile users, distributed teams and business applications. You can easily create secure virtual networks on-demand, across public and private networks.

Can using Neti-Pots and putting tap water up your nose kill you?

2011-12-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

Apparently, yes.

Per the NPR article, Second Neti-Pot Death From Amoeba Prompts Tap-Water Warning:

"Drinking water is good to drink, very safe to drink, but not to push up your nose," says Raoult Ratard, state epidemiologist for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Two residents of his state have died after using neti pots this year, the first known deaths associated with neti pots. "The first one could have been a fluke," Ratard told Shots. But now that we have a second one, the only explanation is the use of the neti pot."

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

2011-12-17T13:57:00.002-05:00

Bronnie Ware
Inspiration and Chai

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Bonnie Ware is the author of the new book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Visit her official website Inspiration and Chai.

Federal law does not require that vacancies be posted on USAJOBS

2011-12-06T21:00:00.000-05:00

11 Mistakes Federal Job Seekers Should Avoid

Applying only for jobs on USAJOBS: “Federal law does not require that vacancies be posted on USAJOBS; the law requires only that jobs be advertised. Some federal agencies post their jobs on their own websites only.”

Great article on some of the mistakes and mistaken assumptions about federal jobs. A good example is the item above. If you have access, check out the full article at vault.com:

http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/blogs/entry-detail/

Year-End Individual Taxation Report

2011-12-06T13:40:00.000-05:00

Year-End Individual Taxation Report

EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

Litigation over restricted stock-based compensation focused on the proper date of the stock’s market valuation and the effect of company and SEC restrictions on disposition of the stock.

Several actions by Congress and the IRS aimed to reduce improper claims of the earned income tax credit by increasing preparer penalties and due diligence procedures.

The Tax Court applied the IRS’s recent practice of allowing professional gamblers to deduct ordinary and reasonable nonwagering business expenses over their gambling winnings, overturning a 1951 case holding.
The Tax Court also held that limited partners of a limited partnership who perform services for the partnership in their capacity as partners may be liable for self-employment taxes despite a general statutory exemption from self-employment income for limited partners’ income.

This article covers developments from the past year affecting taxation of individuals, including last year’s tax relief, health care, and small business legislation, regulations, cases, and IRS guidance. The items are arranged in Code section order.

Source: AICPA Tax Advisor

Select hyperlink at top for full article.

The 2012 Federal Rules Ebooks by Legal Information Institute | CALI eLangdell

2011-12-06T08:05:00.000-05:00

The 2012 Federal Rules Ebooks by Legal Information Institute

Introducing the 2012 eLangdell Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence ebooks. Powered by Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell Law School, and published in partnership with the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI).

Download here:

The 2012 Federal Rules Ebooks by Legal Information Institute | CALI eLangdell

How to find passive verbs in sentences

2011-11-21T07:48:00.001-05:00

http://www.ftrain.com/ThePassivator.html

Not the easiest to use, but if you save a Word document as a web page, then open it with a browser, you can use the java script (The Passivator) to identify passive verbs in your document.

For those of you dealing with legal writing, you may see how this could be helpful.

Networking: As Important As Ever for Law Students | Law Student Division

2011-10-22T08:42:00.000-05:00

Great article on networking. It is geared towards law students, but applies to any field, really.

Networking: As Important As Ever for Law Students | Law Student Division

Topic highlights:

Think first about who you already know, professors, and internship contacts.

When attending a networking event, research beforehand who will be there and how they might be valuable for you to meet.

Step outside your comfort zone and approach people whose body language suggests they’re ready to talk. “

Don’t ask directly for a job—or plan to hand out résumés.

Don’t just talk about your legal interests and ambitions—think about what else makes you distinctive.

Do discuss legal issues that you’ve read about to demonstrate your depth.

Be careful about touchy subjects like politics and religion.

Listen more than you talk, and ask for plenty of advice.

Find a way to stay in touch—getting someone else’s card works better than handing out yours—and a reason to do so other than asking for a job.

Follow up the next day—two at most—and keep keeping in touch.

When networking opportunities arise outside of traditional networking events, be tuned into the attorney’s interest level.

Kurt Vonnegut

2011-09-17T05:57:00.003-05:00

I have not written anything in a long time. I came across this piece in a Wikipedia article about Kurt Vonnegut, and it made me laugh out loud. I will share:

In the mid 1950s, Vonnegut worked very briefly for Sports Illustrated magazine, where he was assigned to write a piece on a racehorse that had jumped a fence and attempted to run away. After staring at the blank piece of paper on his typewriter all morning, he typed, "The horse jumped over the fucking fence," and left.^[18]

^{The entire entry is here.}

Nothing is Private: Be Cautious Using Social Media Because Employers Will Discriminate Against You

2011-07-11T10:27:00.000-05:00

Privacy is pretty much gone, but why doesn't the government introduce legislation to protect employees rather than letting employers find additional reasons to discriminate?

Per Vault.com:

"...the Federal Trade Commission has allowed Social Intelligence Corp. to perform background checks on the Internet activity of jobseekers. This means that your entire online history is fair game…even if you think they are private."

You can read more here on vault.com.

Per Forbes.com, "If something job-threatening pops up on Facebook or Flickr or Craigslist in a search of you, Social Intelligence puts it into your file — and it stays there for seven years."

Another Forbes.com article has the great title, "Creepy Start-Up or Sign Of The Times?" I'll go with the creepy start-up. Per the article, the company founder is quoted as follows: "People need to exercise good judgment and understand what they post publicly is public and an employer has a right to know about it." Yes, and employer may have the right to know it, but how is relevant as to whether or not you can do the job?

How to check for security holes in your browser and plugins

2011-04-10T16:18:00.002-05:00

About Qualys BrowserCheck

Qualys BrowserCheck is a tool that scans your browser looking for potential vulnerabilities and security holes in your browser and its plugins. This tool will also help you fix the security issues discovered by the scan.

The threat of browser-based data breaches is growing. The number of vulnerabilities in browser plugins is on the rise. Now is the time to be proactive about the security of your web browser.

link: Qualys BrowserCheck

What is Trusteer's Rapport Software?

2011-04-03T22:35:00.000-05:00

Bank of American recently suggested that I download and install a product called "Rapport" by a company called Trusteer as an added layer of protection against phishing and key logging scams aimed specifically at online banking.

I wanted to do some research on this software and came across an excellent post by Brian Krebs on his blog called, "KrebsonSecurity." Below is his summary, but I urge you to explore his blog post yourself:

"Nevertheless, I think Rapport would be a decent, low-impact addition to the security of any PC user banking online with Windows. But I’m a bit on the fence about recommending this for businesses, mainly because companies that lose money due to stolen online banking credentials are almost always on the hook for those losses. Increasingly, though, victimized businesses end up suing their banks to recover some of the losses, usually arguing that their banks should have done more to detect the fraud." (Source: A Closer Look at Rapport from Trusteer, Brian Krebs, http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/04/a-closer-look-at-rapport-from-trusteer/)

What is an ashx attachment in Outlook Live, and how do I view PDF attachments using Google Chrome?

2011-03-20T13:20:00.000-05:00

I attend Xavier University which uses Outlook Live for its email service. When PDF files are attached in emails they save as .ashx files when using Google Chrome. If you want to be able to open these files, simply download them as ashx files and then open them with Adobe Reader. Problem solved.

Here are some links where people have asked the same question and found answers:

Why do my attachments in outlook live always download as attachment.ashx.pdf and not the files real name?

27. How do I open attachments in the Chrome browser?

What if my external USB drive is not recognized in Windows 7?

2011-03-16T22:19:00.000-05:00

What if my external USB drive is not recognized in Windows 7?

I would recommend you open Disc management and verify if the drive is detected there, here are the steps which may help you:

Goto Computer Management by simply clicking on the Start button- click Control Panel- click System and Security- click Administrative Tools and after that twice click on Computer Management.
In the left windowpane, click Disk Management.
If you see a drive that does not have a drive letter associated with it, right click on the drive icon in the top-right window pane and select "change drive letter and paths" from the drop-down menu.
To allocate a drive letter if one has not previously been allocated click Add; click the letter which you wish to use, and after that click ok.

Done, you should now be able to see your drives under Computer.

20 Career Paths Dominated by Women Today

2011-03-09T08:03:00.001-05:00

Women seem to dominate white-collar jobs these days, which makes me wonder what is happening to all of the men. Certainly the advancements that women have made in professional fields is laudable, but is there a risk that we have done so at a cost and somehow left boys behind? I believe the graduation rates for 4-year universities reflect a similar trend.

From the article:

"According to a new report by Forbes, there are 20 occupations today, where women now outnumber men. As you go through the list, there is one essential commonality that stands out: Most of these roles were once considered the epitome of male dominance across industries."

The article provides the numbers for the accounting/finance field:

Finance (Accounting, Auditing, Insurance, Assurance, etc.)

Accountants & Auditors (61.8%)

Financial managers (54.7%)

Insurance Underwriters (62.8%)

Tax Examiners, Collectors and Revenue Agents (73.8%)

Budget Analysts (59.3%)

Tax Preparers (65.9%)

Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners & Investigators (60.6%)

Financial Specialists (66.6%)

The Mauritius Miracle

2011-03-08T22:19:00.001-05:00

Suppose someone were to describe a small country that provided free education through university for all of its citizens, transportation for school children, and free health care – including heart surgery – for all. You might suspect that such a country is either phenomenally rich or on the fast track to fiscal crisis....but you would be wrong.

Read on here: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz136/English

How to Move the New Tab Button in Firefox to the Left

2011-02-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

How do you move the new tab button in Firefox to the left?

This question comes up for me every time I have reinstall Windows and Firefox, so I have decided while finding the answer to also post it on my blog.

First off you should have the Firefox add-on Tab Mix Plus, which you can download here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-mix-plus/

Once you have installed the add-on and restarted Firefox, go to the "Tools" on the Firefox Menu and "Tab Mix Plus Options". At the top of the new little pop-up window select "Display" and the "Tab Bar" tab. Check "New Tab Button" and select "On the left side" from the drop-down menu.

Directory - The Small Business Web

2010-12-03T00:56:00.000-05:00

Directory - The Small Business Web:

Kind of a cool site that highlights "cloud" tools for small businesses. I just finished writing a paper for my MBA class on Google Apps Education Edition and am sold on the idea that web apps and/or software-as-a-service is the way forward.

About the site:

The Small Business Web is a movement to bring together like-minded, customer-obsessed software companies to integrate our respective products and make life easier for small businesses. While there are many products available for small business owners on the Web, the approach we're taking is to use each others APIs to provide a high-level of integration between these applications and create a more seamless experience for our customers.

I actually found the site trough the following article titled, "Small Business Guide to Cloud Computing" on smallbiztrends.com.

Bloomberg news: Warren Buffett Tells ABC Rich People Should Pay Higher Taxes

2010-11-22T13:50:00.002-05:00

Why do we keep letting people tells us that Trickle Down Economics works? No serious economist believes in this ideology that doesn't deserve to be called a theory, and if so, it's a dis-proven one. Why don't we actually listen to our most successful self-made business people rather than our idiotic politicians pandering for votes from the disillusioned and utterly confused public?

"Billionaire Warren Buffett said that rich people should pay more in taxes and that Bush-era tax cuts
for top earners should be allowed to expire at the end of December."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-21/warren-buffett-tells-abc-rich-people-should-pay-more-in-taxes.html

What is the best cell phone plan?

2010-11-21T11:21:00.000-05:00

My two-year cell phone contract just ended so it is time to switch plans. The contract lock-ins are a complete rip-off because the price for wireless service tends to drop significantly during such a long stretch of time. Locking you in at a rate for two years is a great deal for the cell phone company, but it is not a great deal for you.

So how do you find out what the best plan is? Kiplinger magazine has an article on how to save money in all sorts of ways. One of their suggestions is to check out a site called MyRatePlan.com or BillShrink.com.

Hmm...I'm already impressed with BillShrink.com because it asks you for your home and work zip codes to select a plan that has good signal strength in both areas. This is a bit dubious though given that I live in a hilly area and in a zip code that covers a large area. Still a nice touch though.

So I just put in all of my information on BillShrink.com regarding my current plan which is 400 minutes per month, unlimited mobile to mobile, no free nights/weekends, 1 MB data plan, and all at at $65 per month. And yes, I know, it's a BAD deal which is why I'm using shopping around.

Based on my inputs it came up with 5 choices from the major carriers: Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Boost. Boost may not be a big player, but of the five choices it is the only one that doesn't require a contract. The major carrier contract rates came out to $44.50 per month including a "free" phone. The Boost plan came out at $50.

Definitely a savings over what I have now. You can see an image of my results here.

Expected savings = $15 - $20 per month and the option of not having a contract. I say give BillShrink.com a try!

What is the best cell phone plan?
How can I save on my cell phone bill?
What cell phone plan should I get?
What is the cheapest cell phone plan?
What is the best value in cell phone plans?
Who has the best cell phone plan?
Who has the best wireless plan?
Who offers the best cell phone service?
Who offers the best wireless phone service?
Who is the best cell phone service provider?

How to Prevent Dry Skin in the Winter

2010-11-16T21:25:00.000-05:00

Winter is approaching, and so is the specter of dry and itchy skin. I can't stand the feeling of crawling into bed for a nap only to experience what feels likes slight needle pricks on my back and arms as a result of dry skin. The following tips will help to keep your skin moisturized during the winter months. The only item I would add is using baby oil in the shower right before drying off.

From Humana.com:

Luckily, there are steps you can take to keep your skin feeling nice and smooth.

Shorten your showers to no more than 10 minutes and watch the water temperature. Although it's nice to warm up in the morning, a long, hot shower strips your body of the natural oils in your skin.
Shop for soap that's mild and less drying. Soap is made to break down oils, even the ones in your skin.
Pat your body dry. Too much rubbing on tender skin can cause irritation and damage.
Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize. Better yet, according to dermatologist, Dr. Kathy Fields, find a lotion that's hyaluronic acid-based to boost the amount of water that's drawn into your skin. Also, use lotion throughout the day to keep your skin from getting thirsty.
Use a humidifier. It will help keep moisture in the air, rather than letting the air wick away the moisture in your skin.

Will Netflix Destroy the Internet?

2010-11-13T07:21:00.000-05:00

"Netflix accounts for 20 percent of downstream Internet traffic during peak home Internet usage hours in North America."

I love Netflix and it's streaming service. I bought an Xbox 360 solely for that purpose and at $8 per month to stream unlimited movies plus one mail DVD rental at a time is a great deal. So great as a matter of fact that I got rid of cable.

It is scary to think though that we are running out of bandwidth.

source: slate.com

10 Things Recruiters Will Not Tell You

2010-11-02T08:17:00.000-05:00

I've used recruiters in the past and have had mixed experiences. Overall I do not like them for one specific reason: They are not working in your interest and apply pressure similar to what you would expect from a used car salesman. The thing is though, you are not a used car and choosing to accept a position is about your life.

Smart Money has nice list of 10 things about recruiters that you should know:

1. “There are better ways to find a job.”
2. “We don’t work for you.”
3. “Until a year ago, I was a car salesman.”
4. “The job we advertised may not exist.”
5. “We already know quite a bit about you.”
6. “Our jobs aren’t so hot either.”

7. “You’re at the mercy of a computer, just like online job board users.”

8. “The ‘temp-to-perm’ carrot is rotten.”
9. “If you have a job, I could get you fired.”
10. “If I’m in Virginia, I probably won’t help you find a job in Nebraska.”

You can read the whole article here.

Report: Former Dallas athletic director stole $112,944 from school - Citizens Voice

2010-10-27T08:01:00.000-05:00

Report: Former Dallas athletic director stole $112,944 from school - Citizens Voice

"A report released today by the office of Auditor General Jack Wagner indicates former Dallas School District athletic director/guidance counselor John Wolensky took four times more money than district officials initially thought.

Wolensky was originally charged with stealing $24,683 from the high school student activity fund, football helmet sales and athletes’ meal money. The report from Wagner’s office shows the amount was actually $112,944.

The report also indicates Dallas Superintendent Frank Galicki, who was high school principal at the time the thefts started, knew about the situation and failed to exercise proper control over the accounts.

From July 1, 2001, through February 28, 2009, Wolensky illegally received:
> $55,829.98 in checks he forged endorsements on and deposited into an account he controlled, for the Wyoming Valley Baseball League.> $4,869 from the athletic fund that was supposed to be used as meal money for students.> $52,245.50 from overcharging for the Practice Scholastic Assessment Test.

The report shows Wolensky used the funds for a vacation in Key West, Fla., where he spent $475 at Sloppy Joe’s Bar and paid $5,073 for a stay at the Ocean Key House Resort.

District officials terminated Wolensky in March 2009, shortly before he pleaded guilty to a single count of theft by unlawful taking. Former Luzerne County judge Michael Toole sentenced him to two years’ probation and 100 hours of community service.

“We urge DSD to use this report and the evidence discovered in our investigation to initiate all available civil remedies to collect from Mr. Wolensky the remaining misappropriated funds for which DSD has not yet received restitution,” Wagner’s report states.

It also recommends disciplinary action against Galicki. He was out of town on Monday and could not be immediately reached for comment."

Be Prepared Before You Blow the Whistle: Protection Under State Whistle-blowing Laws

2010-10-10T21:39:00.001-05:00

" You might one day need to be a whistle-blower. Be forewarned: Your personal and professional lives will suffer. New research on state whistle-blower lawsuits shows it’s likely you’ll be fired and will lose your case. But then, doing the right thing never meant that right things would happen to you."

It is good to know that we have whistle-blower laws that give people the impression that they will be protected if they do the right thing, when in fact, they will greatly suffer by doing the right thing. You can read more at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners website:

Be Prepared Before You Blow the Whistle: Protection Under State Whistle-blowing Laws

IRS to address new rules for tax preparers

2010-10-08T09:39:00.002-05:00

It's good to know that the IRS is finally addressing all of these "tax preparers". When you drive through poor neighborhoods you see these fly-by-night tax return places everywhere. They do a poor job and are interested only in fleecing their customers.

	IRS to address new rules for tax preparers New licensing requirements for tax preparers for the 2011 tax season are expected to be a hot topic at an Internal Revenue Service hearing today. The rules, which require tax preparers to register with the IRS, pay a fee and pass a test, don't affect CPAs, lawyers and enrolled agents. Hill, The/On the Money blog (10/7), WebCPA (10/8)

Can the XBOX 360 Play H264 video files?

2010-09-05T10:46:00.000-05:00

xbox xbox360 360 h.264 h264 videos

The answer is yes.

Per digitaldigest.com:

" The Spring 2007 Dashboard update for the Xbox 360 adds H.264 playback support. H.264 is a very advanced video codec used in Blu-ray/HD DVD, and offers better quality and smaller file sizes than DivX/XviD, at the cost of slightly more processing power (and encoding time).

Processing power becomes less of an issue with the powerful Xbox 360, and since the Xbox 360 does not support DivX/XviD (and is unlikely to do so), H.264 then becomes an ideal format for those that don't want to use WMV."

How to make a free bootable USB Virus Rescue Disk

2010-09-03T14:57:00.001-05:00

From www.ghacks.net:

Make A Bootable USB Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10:
Many antivirus companies are offering free rescue disks to provide their customers with an option to disinfect a system from the “outside”. That’s especially helpful in scenarios where a virus has damaged the operating system critically, so that it won’t boot anymore on its own.
Most antivirus rescue disks are supplied in the disk ISO format and need to be burned to CD or DVD. Kaspersky recently started to offer the Kaspersky USB Rescue Disk Maker which, as the name suggests, can create a bootable rescue disk on an USB flash drive.

Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 is designed to scan and disinfect x86 and x64-compatible computers that have been infected. The application should be used when the infection is so severe that it is impossible to disinfect the computer using anti-virus applications or malware removal utilities (such as Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool) running under the operating system.

Two downloads are necessary to create the bootable Kaspersky USB Rescue Disk:

The most recent ISO image of Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 [link]
The Kaspersky USB Rescue Disk Maker [link]

.....continue reading the rest of the article at www.ghacks.net

Only 47% of U.S. Black Males Graduate from High School

2010-08-18T07:57:00.000-05:00

"Only 47% of Black males graduate from high school" - are you kidding me? How can this be acceptable? Where do these young black men end up if more than half of them don't even have a high school diploma? I would guess that virtually all of them end up in poverty, incarcerated, and disenfranchised from the rest of society. If African Americans make up 14% of the population, and 7% are males, and of those 3.5% don't graduate from high school. That means that 3.5% of our population is destined for a life of poverty based on these graduation rates alone. This simly cannot remain an acceptable state of affairs.

The Schott Foundation 50 State Black Boys Report: Individual State Report Cards

Immigration Positive for US (unless we screw it up)

2010-08-17T08:05:00.001-05:00

Per a WSJ article today, immigration puts the US in a better position than Europe and Japan. Many of us have known that immigration is actually a positive thing, but unfortunately one has to get past the xenophobia, ignorance, and plain bigotry that is out there.

"And the U.S.? For all today's gloom, it may be in the sweet spot. A growing population, an openness to ambitious immigrants and trade (if not disrupted by xenophobic politics) and strong productivity growth (if sustained) could lift living standards and bring faster growth, which would reduce big government budget deficits far easier for the U.S. than for slower growing Europe and Japan."

How to stop telemarketing calls

2010-08-07T16:15:00.000-05:00

How do I stop telemarketing calls? How do I protect my privacy?

The AICPA provides some great information on their website about protecting your privacy. You can access the page here. The AICPA is the American Association of Certified Public Accountants.

The National Do Not Call Registry is where you can have your number listed so that telemarketers are no longer allowed to call. This is the official website, and the only one that I am aware. I will list the full web address:

https://www.donotcall.gov/

Be cautious of other sites that claim to do the same thing - they are most likely scam sites.

News for Law Grads Just Keeps Getting Worse

2010-08-05T08:46:00.002-05:00

The news is not good for law grads, which we've already known. Even the grunt work, or what was previosuly the worst-case scenario, is beginngint to disappear. The blogosphere is full of bitter law grads describing the nightmare of document review, but if outsourcing continues, as it inevitably will, even this option will not be available to these poor souls.

"At Pangea3, a legal outsourcing firm, Mr. Wheeler manages a team of 110 Indian lawyers who do the grunt work traditionally assigned to young lawyers in the United States — at a fraction of the cost."

Read the New York Times article: Outsourcing to India Draws Western Lawyers

Never mind the irony of the article title. This reminds of those bitter IBM engineers that had to train their Indian replacements. It's like having to dig your own grave.

Credit Card Companies Develop New Tactics to Maintain Profits

2010-08-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

The credit card companies were fleecing us with late fees and increased interest rates for late payments for years.

They made it seem that the late fees were a deterrent, and that the increased interest rates were justifiable because the record of a late payment was an indicator of greater risk for them.

The fact of the matter though is that the credit card companies actually wanted us to make late payments and to pay minimum balances. The profits they were reaping from late fees and so-called default interest rates were astounding.

Now that consumer protection laws have been passed to reign in the credit card company excess of the past decade, the credit card companies have to come up with new ways to replace all of that lost profit.

In other words, they are finding new ways to fleece consumers.

From the Wall Street Journal:

"Mr. Condon says he was shocked when he opened his credit-card statement dated June 18 and saw that Discover had charged him $39 for a late payment—and had upped his interest rate on future purchases from 17% to 24.99%. He says the company considered him late because he paid on June 14, instead of June 13, a Sunday."

I love my Discover card, but I realize that Discover is not my friend, and I try to beat them at their own game. My worry is that many consumers simply don't have the wherewithal to effectively outwit these companies.

Are cds and dvds recyclable?

2010-08-04T20:09:00.000-05:00

Can I recycle my cd-roms? Can I recycle my dvds? Can I recycle my cds? Are cds recyclable?

The simple answer is yes, but not through regular curb-side recycling per treehugger.com.
Supposedly you will have to ship them to special recycling centers.

I also found the CD Recycling Center site with suggested programs for individuals, small businesses, and larger organizations: cdrecyclingcenter.com

How to compromise with IRS on outstanding tax liabilities

2010-08-04T07:41:00.003-05:00

The AICPA's Tax Advisor newsletter has a brief, but information article on settling with the IRS for an amount less than you owe. Working with a CPA or tax attorney is advisable, of course. From the article:

"A taxpayer makes an offer by filing Form 656, Offer in Compromise. Form 656-B, Collection Information Statement for Businesses, contains detailed instructions for completing the Form 656. In addition to the application, the taxpayer must send a $150 application fee with the offer. This fee can be abated if the monthly household income is not more than the IRS’s low-income guidelines. Moreover, other than for the low-income exceptions, if the taxpayer makes a lump-sum cash offer, 20% of the amount offered must be included with the offer. The payment is not refundable even if the IRS denies the offer. This payment rule has been in effect since 2006 and has resulted in a decline in the number of submitted offers. One of the current administration’s legislative proposals is to repeal this requirement."

	How to use an offer in compromise The current economic climate makes it harder for some taxpayers to pay their tax bills in full. When the Internal Revenue Service doubts it can collect on a tax debt, it is authorized to accept an offer of less than the full amount. This article explains how the offer-in-compromise system works. Tax Adviser, The (7/2010)

What is mvq*shoppingessentia?

2010-08-02T20:33:00.000-05:00

What is mvq*shoppingessentia? What is mvq*shoppingessentials? What is mvq*shoppingessentia877-442-5774?

You can call 877-442-5774 and ask them to remove the charge. They will do so and give you a confirmation number. The charge is fraudulent, or at the very least unethical.

I Googled the charge and got my initial confirmation that the charge was bogus. You can check out this forum: complaintsboard.com

Judge, drug dealer catch up 22 years later

2010-07-30T09:13:00.001-05:00

Judge, drug dealer catch up 22 years later

During sentencing the judge has a 20-minute conversation with the convicted drug dealer who has been on the run for 22 years. The judge is intrigued that the man has managed to stay off the radar since his 1987 felony drug conviction. The defendant explains to the judge that he stayed off the radar in part by working construction jobs and being paid under the table - i.e. no need to use a social security number and file tax returns. The judge is considering the defendant's request to be put on an "intense" probation instead of the original 5 - 25-year sentence. The defendant appears to have stayed out of trouble during his 22 years on the lam.

Except...he didn't file tax returns or pay federal taxes on his income during that entire period. Isn't that a misdemeanor?

Generation Y: No Jobs, lots of loans, grim future

2010-07-28T09:13:00.001-05:00

Gen Y: No jobs, lots of loans, grim future
The Millennials are the first generation of American workers since World War II who have cloudier prospects than the generations that preceded them.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38364681/from/toolbar

Part of the tragedy here is that a student attending a public, state-funded university can rack up $100,000 on non-dischargeable debt to earn a bachelors and masters degree. As voters we need to support our state institutions of higher learning and vote to subsidize the cost of higher education. We need to view investment in public universities as investments that will generate a return for the state in the long-run. Under the current system universities must continually raise tuition in order to stay afloat. Raising tuition results in students taking out more and more loans that are guaranteed by the government and cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. And guess who benefits from all of this? The banks making the student loans. They face no risk since the loans are government guaranteed. It is in their interest to see the cost of tuition continue to rise, and their lobbying and support of GOP state candidates serves that interest while continuing to shift cost to students.

Food Consumption in America: What the Average American Consumes in a Year

2010-07-26T09:56:00.003-05:00

A nice visual of what the average American eats in a year. The source is visualeconomics.com. Click on image or use link to see original image in its full size.

Food Consumption in America:

Does a Boring Job Lead to an Early Death?

2010-07-20T12:56:00.002-05:00

Are you having trouble viewing this email? If so, click here to see it in a web browser.


	HOME \| BLOGS \| THE MAGAZINE \| BOOKS \| AUTHORS \| STORE	RSS \| Mobile

JULY 20, 2010

The Wages of Boredom: Heart Disease

Bureaucrats who admitted being extremely bored at work were 2.5 times more likely to be dead of cardiovascular disease two decades later, according to Annie Britton and Martin Shipley at University College London. Highly bored workers "are more likely to die younger than those who are not bored," the researchers say in an April 2010 article in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Source: Technoccult

Share Today's Stat:

RELATED PRODUCT

Recharge Your Career

HBR Article Collection

You can expect to spend roughly 50 years in the workplace — more if economic downturns delay your retirement. How can you remain stimulated and fulfilled, not grow bored or depleted? Periodically revitalize your career by switching industries or companies, or fine-tuning your current role.


	ADVERTISEMENT

Follow the Stat:

BEST SELLERS

Guide to Persuasive Presentations

HBR's 10 Must Reads: The Essentials

Financial Intelligence Collection

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself

Guide to Better Business Writing

PREVIOUS STATS

Word of Mouth Matters a Lot to Consumers

Blondes — and Their Husbands — Earn More

Chilly Offices Limit Productivity

More Consumers Labeled as High Credit Risks

The Slim Wages of U.S. Pro Soccer

Eurozone Execs Report Slow Recovery

Economics Degree Is Best Route to CEO Job

Wal-Mart Goes All Out to Battle $7,000 Fine

World Cup Ball Gives Adidas Top "Share of Buzz"

More Dads Become Primary Caregivers



		Job Seekers, Take Note

		Whether you've been laid off or are considering a job change, HBR's Guide to Getting a Job will help ensure that your next move is the right one. Only $19.95. Buy now »

	UNSUBSCRIBE \| UPDATE YOUR PROFILE \| MORE EMAIL NEWSLETTERS \| PRIVACY POLICY

	Was this email forwarded to you? If so, sign up to start receiving your own copy.

	ABOUT THIS MAILING LIST You have received this message because you subscribed to the "The Daily Stat" email newsletter from Harvard Business Review. If at any point you wish to remove yourself from this list, change your email address, or sign up for other email newsletters and alerts, please visit the Harvard Business Review Email Newsletter Preference Center.

	ADVERTISE WITH HBR This enewsletter is read by thousands of decision makers every day. Learn more about connecting your brand with this audience.


	Copyright © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing \| 60 Harvard Way \| Boston, MA 02163 Customer Service: 800-545-7685 (+1-617-783-7600 outside the U.S. and Canada)

Source: Harvard Business Review Daily Stat

What is the best anti-malware program?

2010-07-17T10:09:00.000-05:00

What is the best anti-malware program? You'll get a lot of answers on this, but I'm personally a big fan of using multiple products, especially if they are free. Try out the free program from Emsisoft called A-Square Free. You can download it from cnet.com and get their review as well here.

One caveat, use this program IN ADDITION to whatever other anti-virus package you are using.

Here is some information from a Chinese site that tests security programs:

Again the independent testing organisation PC Security Labs reviewed 30 famous security products, including Emsisoft Anti-Malware. The platform for this test was Windows XP SP3 Professional Simplified Chinese, comparing the On-demand scanners of the contestants with default settings. 1004 samples were used this time, representing the top threats in China.

For the first time since a longer period, Emsisoft Anti-Malware did not place first in a detection test, but second out of 30 is still a very good result.

The top 15:

source: emsisoft.com

Online Stopwatch

2010-07-09T16:17:00.001-05:00

I am studying for the LSAT exam. As some of you may know, timing is extremely important with the LSAT as you are limited to 35 minutes for each of the four multiple-choice sections. The online stopwatch is a great tool if you don't feel like investing in a separate timer. I tried using my cell phone, but it wasn't ideal as the screen goes dark after a minute or so.

Online Stopwatch

Product Warning: iGo Universal Notebook / Laptop Chargers

2010-07-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

I have owned two of this company's (iGo) chargers and both have died within about a year. The company was great about honoring the two-year warranty on the first charger, but the replacement died a year later. Unfortunately their warrant is from the date of the initial purchase, so if the replacement dies and the two years from initial purchase have passed you are out of luck. I don't know about you, but that simply doesn't sit well with me. If you warranty your product for two years, then the clock should start again when the product is replaced.

Seriously consider purchasing a universal charger manufactured by a different company.

Product link at Amazon.com: click here

iGo juice70 PS00055-0003 Universal 70 Watt AC/DC Notebook Adapter with Dual Power

How much bandwidth does Pandora use?

2010-06-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

I want to listen to Pandora at work, but am worried that I may end up using too much bandwidth. I use Cricket mobile for broadband access at work so that I can listen to music and access sites without hogging up the network at work. Per a recent LA Times blog post, using Pandora every day for 4 hours uses about 2GB of data:

"In other words, you'd need to stream about 4 hours on Pandora every day to hit the 2-gig monthly limit."

Waste on Freight Cars Gains Most Since 1994 Confirming Rebound!

2010-06-11T09:35:00.001-05:00

Waste on Freight Cars Gains Most Since 1994 Confirming Rebound!

Fantastic, that is exactly the economic indicator I've been waiting for. Harvard Business Review summarized the Bloomberg write-up nicely:

Rolling Waste Signals Economic Growth

The number of U.S. rail cars filled with waste, a figure that's well correlated with economic growth, jumped to 79,044 in April and May 2010, an increase of 45% from a year earlier, according to the Association of American Railroads. That's the biggest such increase since at least 1994. The cargo consists of iron and steel (42%), municipal waste and demolition products (32%), paper (11%), ashes (5%), nonferrous metals (4%), miscellaneous (4%), and chemical waste (1%).

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&sid=aFYQTAnJ7rgo

Does the World Need More Lawyers?

2010-06-04T20:00:00.001-05:00

Given the grim employment statistics and out-of-the world costs of law school I was a bit surprised by the promotional material I received from the University of Dayton. I'm betting their answer to the question below is "yes". Unfortunately the cost of attendance for three years is a whopping $147,000!

The Story of Stuff

2010-05-27T20:51:00.000-05:00

We watched "The Story of Stuff" in my MBA ethics class. Needless to say, most of my fellow students thought it was one-sided. Go figure in a classroom full of marketers. I don't think it is one-sided, instead I think we as a society are in a dangerous state of denial.

How to install 32 bit virtual pc 2007 in windows 7( 64 bit)?

2010-05-22T20:39:00.000-05:00

From Microsoft Technet:

Whether you install 32-bit or 64-bit, Virtual PC 2007 or Windows 7 Virtual PC, you will only be able to install 32-bit virtual machines. Install 64-bit Virtual PC 2007 or 64-bit Windows 7 Virtual PC on a 64-bit version of Windows 7.

Whatever virtual machine you create will work perfectly on a 32-bit machine. A Virtual PC virtual machine made on a 64-bit version of Windows is exact;y equivalent to one made on a 32-bit version of Windows. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to install 32-bit Virtual PC (any version) on 64-bit Windows.

System For Savings Thousands Per Year On Your Student Loans

2010-05-20T08:44:00.000-05:00

Brillian post from The Legal Dollar blog on deferring loans even after graduating by attending community college part-time. Even better, your employer might offer tuition reimbursement (even McDonald's does) which would cover your tuition costs. I see two benefits to this deferrment strategy: (1) you save on interest costs by paying off higher interest loans first, and (2) you can continue your education - something which I strongly believe can't hurt.

System For Savings Thousands Per Year On Your Student Loans: "As you know, payments for both federal and private students loans are deferred while the students is in school. That's great because it allows the student to complete their education without having to worry about making a loan payment until after they graduate - and those loan payments can be pretty big. For most private loans, even though payments on the loan is deferred, the loan continues to accumulate interest during the deferral period. However, federal student loans many be either subsidized or unsubsidized. The unsubsidized student loans accumulate interest during the deferment period, but the subsidized student loans do no accumulate any interest. This leads to an interesting strategy that may be helpful in your situation. Keep reading to find out!

What if you could:

Have no interest accumulate on tens of thousands dollars worth of your loans

Not have to make a payment on tens of thousands of dollars worth of your loans

Use the money that would otherwise go to these loan payments to more quickly reduce higher interest loans

You can! With an in-school deferment. Hold on a minute and let me explain -

Most lawyers and law students think that they only qualify for an in-school deferment when they are actually in law school. Not true. Here's a link to a U.S. Dept of Education website with regard to deferments. In actuality, you qualify for a deferment as long as you are at least a half-time student at an eligible school. Half-time is usually 6 semester hours, but check with the school. Further, almost all schools are eligible - if the school has its students fill out the FAFSA, then it is most likely eligible (but you can also check with the school).

I can hear people groaning about school already - "I just finished school, I don't want to go back." However, you don't have to go back to a law school and the schooling does not have to be towards a degree. For example, you can go to a local community college and take underwater basket weaving and qualify as "in school." For example, I had a friend who went to the local community college and took a recquetball class and a weightlighting class. I had another friend who took a community college course where they received class credit for going to dinner theater - and going to a Renaissance Faire! Finally, another friend registered for online courses at a community college and never had to leave his house.

One thing to be aware of - your law school loans come with only "one grace period." However, if you return to school before the expiration of the grace period, the grace period is re-set. The grace period is typically 6 months - see definitions here.This means that if you manage your enrollment well, you need not attend community college during the entire year. Consequently, you would want to register at a community college (CC) in the fall after graduating law school in order to preserve your grace period. This can be important as shown in the following examples:

You registered at CC in the fall after you graduated from law school - thus preserving your grace period. You then register in the spring semester, do NOT register in the summer, and then re-register the next fall. In this case, because your grace period is intact, and the time between the semesters is less than 6 months, you will not have to make a payment during the summer and your grace period will still be 6 months going forward.

You registered at CC in the fall after you graduated from law school - thus preserving your grace period. You DON'T register in the spring semester, but DO register in the summer. Assuming that the gap between the fall semester and summer registration is less than six months, your grace period is also still preserved.

In this fashion, you would only have to register for 2 of the fall, spring, and summer classes to defer your loans and preserve your grace period.

What is the financial impact of the in-school deferment?

To figure this out, we need to look at three factors: 1) the value we get by having interest subsidized for some loans, 2) the value that we get be being able to concentrate our loan repayment on higher interest loans, and 3) the cost of enrolling in a community college near us.

In this regard, let's consider a hypothetical situation in which a graduating law student has the following loans. We will keep the example simple with low loan values, but the system actually works better with higher loan values if more loans can be deferred and their payment diverted to higher interest loans.

$36,000 - $12,000/year of unsubsidized Stafford Loan at 6.8% (current interest rate)

$25,500 - $8,500/year of subsidized Stafford Loan at 6.8% (current interest rate)

$20,000 - Accumuated credit card debt at 15%

$81,500 - Total debt

Value from subsidized interest

When the loan is deferred, the subsidized Stafford Loan will no longer accumulate interest. This saves us $1734/year or $144.50/month. In our calculation below, the time period of one year and three months becomes important. Calculating the interest savings over the one year and three month period yields $2167.50.

One other thing to note is that this system become more useful as the interest rate increases. For example, if the interest rate on the Stafford Loans goes back to 8.5% (like it was when I graduated), then this system would be saving $2709.38 over our one-year-plus-three-month period.

Value from loan payment diversion

That's pretty good, but we also save a lot by redirecting the loan payments that we would have made for the Staffords to the higher interest debt.

For example, we use a calculator to determine the loan payments per month for the Stafford Loans.

414.29 - unsub Stafford

293.45 - sub stafford

707.74 - Total loan payments for Staffords - per month - which is $8,492.88 for the year

Using this calculator, we find that the minimum payment for our $20,000 of credit card debt is $800/month. By adding the additional $707.74 per month, we pay off the credit card debt in one year and three months and have a total interest savings over the life of the debt of $7,023 - which is huge.

Of course, we have to add back in the interest that accumulates on the unsubsidized stafford loan over that one year and three month period and subtract that from our total interest savings:

6.8%*$36,000*15/12 = 3060

$7,023-$3,060 = $3,963

Therefore, considering the interest savings from the credit card as compared to the interest paid on the unsubsidized Stafford, we come out nearly $4,000 ahead over a year and three months.

Once the credit card debt is taken care of, we can divert the $707.74/month to the next highest debt:

If there are other loans with a higher interst rate than the Staffords, those can be attacked.

If the cost to enroll in school is low enough, we may want to pay the unsubsidized Stafford down while still having the subsizided Stafford remain subsidized.

Cost of enrolling in community college

Above we determined that the savings we would see by using this system over a one year and three month period includes $2167.50 saved by not having to pay interest and $3,963 saved by diverting loan payments. That's a total of $6130.50.

However, in most states community college is not free. Consequently, our total value earned with this system must be reduced by the cost of attending community college - or otherwise earning our in-school deferment.

In this regard, we note that the cost to attent community college varies widely across the country.

Residents of California may be especially lucky - according to this article, the per-hour costs may be as little as $20/hour in California. That's about $150/semester - considering there will likely be some fees.

In Chicago you can attend several of the city community colleges for $79/credit hour plus a single $25 registration charge. For a 6-hour semester, that runs you about $500.

New York community colleges seem to vary widely, but Westchester Community college seems to be on the cheap end - it charges $148/credit hour with mandatory fees of $43.50. That's about $930/semester.

Bottom Line Savings

We consider that our time period of one year and three months will likely incurr two semeter's of expense. That's a total cost of $300 in California, $1000 in Chicago, and $1860 in NY. Subtracting these costs from the overall savings of $6130.50 yields the following:

In California, the system saves about $5830

In Chicago, $5130

In NY, $4,270

This represents a VERY significant savings - even in NY.

I hope that this can be of some use to you! Good luck paying off your loans!"

Gbridge Remote Access and VPN Solution

2010-05-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

Has anyone tried Gbridge as a remote control / VPN solution? It's free and highly recommended by Lifehacker:

"f you want to jump right to the best fit for the broadest audience, GBridge was the highest scoring Windows remote access tool thanks to low firewall conflicts, remote printing, and remote file transfer. For more details (and their top picks for Mac and Linux) check out the full article at the link below. (Make sure to check out the additional pages; the first page showcases the comparison chart but each subsequent page is a detailed break down of the features of each client they reviewed.)

Gbridge Download

George B. Vashon, Black Lawyer Rejected For Pa. Bar In 1847, Admitted

2010-05-05T08:45:00.002-05:00

Is it ever too late to right a wrong? In this case it is clearly too late for Mr. Vashon, but the lesson is important even for today. I think it is easy for us to forget that the Union states were racist as well, despite no longer having slavery. It is unfortunate that he was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, but rejected by the local bar. It would be interesting to know what exactly was going on in the local political circles that would have caused them to reject his application twice. Was it purely racism or were other forces at work as well?

George B. Vashon, Black Lawyer Rejected For Pa. Bar In 1847, Admitted:
"PITTSBURGH — As a scholar, poet and abolitionist, George B. Vashon broke barriers in the 1800s: he was the first black to graduate from Oberlin College, the first black lawyer in New York state and the first black professor at Howard University.

But in his home state of Pennsylvania, where Vashon grew up and studied law, he was twice rejected from practicing law because he was black.

On Tuesday, more than 160 years after Vashon applied to be admitted to the Allegheny County bar, the state Supreme Court ordered that he be posthumously admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania. Vashon's relatives and a Pittsburgh attorney who heard about Vashon's story had asked the court earlier this year to do just that.
"I think it's very important not just as a family matter, it goes far beyond family," said Nolan N. Atkinson Jr., Vashon's great grandson and a lawyer in Philadelphia. "It's very important for all lawyers who are entering this profession to know that there were significant achievements made by African Americans in the 19th century."
Vashon was born in Carlisle in 1824, and his family later moved to Pittsburgh, where he grew up. At 16, he was admitted to Oberlin College and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1844.

He came back to Pittsburgh and studied law under a judge, which was customary at the time. (That judge, Walter Forward, later became the U.S. Treasury secretary). But when Vashon sought admission to practice law in Allegheny County in 1847, he was rejected because of his "negro descent."
After, he moved to New York where he became the state's first black lawyer and opened a practice in Syracuse.

Paul Thornell, Vashon's great-great grandson, chronicled the elder's life in a paper he prepared and had published while a student at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1990s. Thornell said his maternal grandmother spoke of Vashon often, passing down stories of his life to the rest of the family.
Among his many accomplishments, Vashon was also a teacher, poet and abolitionist who ran in the same circles as Frederick Douglass, Thornell said.

But even though he was admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1867, he was again denied admittance by the Allegheny Bar the next year.

"As much of an accomplishment we can celebrate today, the unfortunate part of his life is that it did reflect the discrimination of the day," Thornell said.

Pittsburgh attorney Wendell Freeland read about Vashon's life in the Pennsylvania Lawyer magazine a few years ago. As a black man who has been practicing law in Pennsylvania since 1951, Freeland said the article struck him.

"It interested me and I called (the author) and found out more about it, including the names of some of Vashon's heirs, and I said we should do something about this," Freeland said.
In January, Freeland and lawyer Leslie Carter filed a petition to the state's highest court on behalf of the family asking Pennsylvania to recognize that Vashon was qualified to be admitted to the bar. Thornell's paper about Vashon was included as an exhibit.

The court agreed, and also ordered that Vashon be honored during a future public court session.
Larry Glasco, a University of Pittsburgh professor who teaches a class about the city's black history, said Vashon's rejection was out of character for the city, which was at the time more racially progressive than other cities like Philadelphia or New York City.

"There was an anti-slavery sentiment here which one would have thought would have let him be admitted, so I just don't know what was going on there," Glasco said.

Glasco said the court's decision is "a sign that America really is coming to terms with a lot of things that it should have done."

"It's never too late to right a wrong and to affirm that one has made a mistake in the past," he said."

____
On the Net:
http://www.library.pitt.edu/freeatlast/abolition.html

The Next Bubble: Law School Tuition

2010-04-29T08:32:00.002-05:00

A bubble is a bubble. I would venture that a similar situation is going on with university tuition in general. My son is 11 now, and I'm already shocked by the current undergraduate tuition rates, especially at public institutions. My wife's current law school tuition is about $15,000 per year, which I think is somewhat reasonable and a worthwhile investment. Undergraduate, in-state tuition at the same school runs $9,400 per year. THAT is ridiculous.

The Next Bubble: Law School Tuition:
"It’s one thing when I write about how crushing law school debt has impacted the value proposition of going to law school. I’m just repeating what every jobless 4L already knows. And prospective law students, 0Ls, have already proven that are too full of themselves to take out a calculator before they commit to three years of debt financing.

Because new students can’t seem to act in their own self-interest, it’s unlikely that change will come from below. Despite the proliferation of blogs by recent graduates trying to educate others about the danger of going to law school, new students keep signing up in record numbers. Law schools are not under any pressure to control tuition hikes when the demand for legal education is higher than ever.

But perhaps change can come from within. The legal blogosphere has been buzzing about an article penned by Christine Hurt — a University of Illinois law professor. She argues that there are similarities between the student loan “bubble” and sub-prime mortgages.

It’s an argument that many current law students are already familiar with, but Professor Hurt distills the main points for those that have simply not been paying attention…

Writing for The Conglomerate, Professor Hurt nails the parallels between the situation facing recent law school graduates and the housing crisis:

For a couple of decades now (and until a few years ago), the conventional wisdom was that real estate would always rise in value and that the world would always need lawyers. Home ownership at whatever cost, particularly with tax-deductible interest rates, was better than alternatives such as renting; financing a law degree with student loans, some of which was low-interest and tax-deductible, was an equally good investment given the value of the law degree. Just as something about home ownership seemed intrinsically good, so did getting a law degree, from any law school. Strangely, most law school educations were priced similarly. Law schools with lower employment rates charged more money than some schools with higher employment rates. Price was not a clear signal of quality. Anyway, more and larger houses were built; more and larger law schools were built. Then, as if on a dime, the world changed and all of a sudden lots of people with law degrees were getting laid off, deferred, ignored. The legal market was shrinking or changing in a seemingly semi-permanent way. We found out from Bill Henderson that the market for graduates was not what the “mean” employment statistics seemed to be touting. But more students came, financing the journey with student loans premised on promised salaries that have de-materialized before our eyes.

At least when the housing bubble burst, housing prices came down across the board. So far, that’s not happened in the educational debt market. During this recession, law school tuition has continued to go up. Think about that for a second: in the middle of a global recession, a global credit crunch, law schools are charging more money — forcing students to take out on more debt at the very same time when the legal jobs needed to pay off those debts are disappearing. It’s hard to get a loan to start your own business, but it’s still easy to get money to get an education that isn’t worth what it used to be. Law school tuition might be recession proof, but student debt repayment is not.

Hurt’s article was picked up by the Chicago Tribune. But the paper chose to focus on the fact that tuition isn’t going up as much as in the past — as if somehow tuition hikes are inevitable regardless of how terrible the economy is for law school graduates:

The recession already has forced law schools to rein in tuition hikes that were well above inflation for the last 25 years, including double-digit increases in many years. Last fall, Northwestern University’s law school raised its tuition by about 4 percent, its smallest increase in 32 years, said David Van Zandt, its dean. Its annual tuition is still among the highest in the country at $47,202.

Van Zandt said the small tuition hike reflected the tougher job market students face, even at one of the nation’s elite law schools. Northwestern could justify bigger increases in the past because typically about 70 percent of its graduates find jobs at the nation’s largest 250 law firms, where starting salaries had reached $160,000.

A 4% tuition hike might be “small” from a certain point of view. But it’s infinitely greater than the percentage hike of a Biglaw starting salary this year — which I believe is 0% unless my math is wrong.

But do you know what the real bitch of it is? If it turns out you made a terrible investment by going to law school, it’s impossible for you to get out from under your mistakes. You can’t discharge law school debt through bankruptcy absent a showing of undue hardship. As Hurt points out, you are arguably in a worse position if you are saddled with law school debt than if you took out a sub-prime mortgage that you couldn’t afford:

How can someone write off $100,000 or $200,000 in student loans as a bad call? Many of these loans aren’t federal loans — they are from private lenders at high rates. And, unlike homeowners, law students don’t have a “put” option — they can’t tell lenders to take their law degrees and quit calling them.

You can’t re-sell your law degree at a huge loss (unless you’re this guy). You can’t rent out your law degree. You can’t even hire the mafia to burn down your law degree and reap an insurance payout. The cost of your law degree just sits on top of you. Law schools are releasing an army of mid-twenties professionals who start off six figures in the hole and will spend their prime earning years just trying to get back to a net worth of $0.

Law school tuition doesn’t need to go up more slowly. It doesn’t need to flatline. It needs to go down, drastically.

Everybody is up in arms about Goldman Sachs allegedly selling products it expected to fail. How is that any different than the scam being run by some law schools where the tuition keeps going up while the job prospects disappear?

Minding Our Own Business Forum: Bubbles, Student Loans and Sub-Prime Debt [The Conglomerate]

Law school tuition hikes spark talk of bubble [Chicago Tribune]

Law Prof Sees Parallels Between Tuition Hikes and Subprime Mortgage Bubble [ABA Journal]

Earlier: The Hubris of Would-Be Lawyers"

Bottom 50% of US Population Has Only 2.5% of Wealth

2010-04-10T20:17:00.000-05:00

Source: Institute for Policy Studies

Is it a problem that there is such wealth inequality in the US? I don't know, but I remember living in Nigeria as a child in a guarded and walled compound. All of those with wealth had to live like that - little islands of prosperity in a sea of poverty.

Student-loan reform slid into health law - Washington Times

2010-03-31T08:09:00.000-05:00

Student-loan reform slid into health law - Washington Times

It's about time that private lenders were removed from the process. Sure, jobs will be lost, but students and their parents were paying for those jobs while the private lenders profited from the extra interest. It's good to see that corporate interests didn't prevail this time at the cost of consumers.

Angie's List coupon: Free account activation

2010-02-17T11:41:00.001-05:00

My wife and I bought a house in 2008 in Cincinnati. Since then we have had to use contractors several times and relied on Angie's List to select vendors. We have been happy with every contractor hired so far. I think the Angie's List membership has paid for itself.

Sent to you by mikealao via Google Reader:

Angie's List coupon: Free account activation

via dealnews - Today's Edition by dealnews.com on 2/17/10

Sign up for a membership with Angie's List and have your account activated for free via coupon code "JOIN10". That's a savings of $10 and the best deal we've seen since May for Angie's List, which is a user-created database with hundreds of reviews of contractors throughout the nation. Monthly and annual memberships are available. Click here to read our review of Angie's List.

Things you can do from here:

Subscribe to dealnews - Today's Edition using Google Reader
Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Diamonds are NOT a girl's best friend (and Valentine's Day is stupid)

2010-02-15T12:21:00.000-05:00

Lupo Pensuite of Portable Applications

2010-02-15T12:04:00.002-05:00

There are things in life that I truly appreciate. One of them is "Free" and the other is "Portable". Lupo Pensuite is a compilation of freeware portable applications available for download. The file size is approximately 220 MB for the download, and 340 MB in use. This will easily fit on a flash drive.

Checkout the website here.

Here is their description of the suite:

"Lupo PenSuite is a completely free suite of portable programs and games. This Suite is designed to simplify the user's life, by collecting the best suites and portable applications available on the Web.
Optimized to be loaded on a USB flash drive and brought always with you, this Suite works perfectly well on any other device. It includes over 180 highly selected portable programs and games (7-Zip, Audacity, CCleaner, eMule, FileZilla, Firefox, Foxit Reader, GIMP, IrfanView, Notepad++, Opera, Pidgin, Thunderbird, µTorrent, VLC and many more).
You can also easily customize your suite adding portable apps from our broad software database. All you need in one package."

Here you can see list of all the programs in the package. What's nice is that you can click on the program and get a description, rating, and a screen shot.

Online Virus Scanner Links

2010-02-15T10:50:00.002-05:00

Sometimes it is good to get a second opinion, especially in the case of viruses, malware, spyware, and all the other garbage you can pick up. Below are some links to some of the more populare online and free virus scanners:

TrendMicro Housecall

ESET Online Scanner

Virscan.org - a bit different in that it allows you to upload a file (up to 20 MB) and then have it scanned by 30+ ant-virus/spyware/malware/etc. programs.

I will add more as I use them myself. For my main anti-virus program I use the free Avast resident scanner. You can download it here.

What is Hijack.DisplayProperties?

2010-02-06T16:13:00.002-05:00

Relax, it is a false positive most likely after running a Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scan. If you Google the term "hijack.displayproperties" you will see forums where people have found the same thing and also reached the conclusion that you should not remove the registry entry and white-list it.

Below is the scan log:

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.44
Database version: 3697
Windows 6.1.7600
Internet Explorer 8.0.7600.16385

2/6/2010 4:04:42 PM
mbam-log-2010-02-06 (16-04-36).txt

Scan type: Quick Scan
Objects scanned: 100164
Time elapsed: 2 minute(s), 1 second(s)

Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 0
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 1
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 0

Memory Processes Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Memory Modules Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Keys Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Values Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data Items Infected:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoActiveDesktopChanges (Hijack.DisplayProperties) -> Bad: (1) Good: (0) -> No action taken.

Folders Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Files Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Free Backup Software - GFI Backup 2009

2010-02-05T06:40:00.003-05:00

In these tough economic times, or any times for that matter, free is awesome, especially for a solid product.

You can download GFI Backup 2009 here: http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm/free-backup-software.

You can read a cnet review of the product here. To quote cnet, "GFI Software launched on Thursday a free backup and recovery software for home users. Unlike other free software, which tends to be the stripped-down of the commercial version, GFI Backup Home Edition is a full-featured application."

Lifehacker also reviews the product and you can read about it here.

How to Delete Undeletable Files (Can't Delete Files) in Windows 7

2010-01-01T20:52:00.003-05:00

I had a file that I just could not delete in Windows 7. The file was created on a spare drive when I still had Windows XP installed. After numerous failed attempts I found a blog entry that includes a registry entry that will allow you to take ownership of the file by righ-clicking. Yes, registry entries are scary, but it did allow me to delete the file. You can check out the blog entry here:

http://www.blogsdna.com/2173/add-take-ownership-option-in-right-click-context-menu-of-windows-7.htm

Thanks to Blogsdna for the article!

How to unlock files in Windows 7 x64

2009-12-04T22:43:00.004-05:00

What if you are logged in as an administrator but still cannot delete a file?

LockHunter is a small Windows shell extension that integrates itself into Explorer right-click menu. All you need to do is right-click on a file or a folder you wish to delete and select What is locking this file? Then you can unlock it or delete it.

Also check out this blog post on Auslogics Blog.

PDF Editing & Creation: 50+ open source/free alternatives to Adobe Acrobat

2009-11-21T00:48:00.002-05:00

Looking for freeware alternatives to Adobe Acrobat? Check out this blog post:

http://www.cogniview.com/convert-pdf-to-excel/post/pdf-editing-creation-50-open-sourcefree-alternatives-to-adobe-acrobat/

The above link will have links to the following free PDF programs:

These simply and emminently usable programs will allow you to quickly create your own PDFs.

1. CutePDF: Create a PDF file from almost any printable document. CutePDF has an open SDK and doesn’t bog down their software with popups or watermarks.
2. PrimoOnline: The online version of the popular PrimoPDF converter.
3. PDF reDirect: The freeware PDF reDirect offers loads of robust features, including PDF creation, previews, encryption, and more, that go a long way to replacing Adobe.
4. doPDF: Install doPDF as a virtual PDF printer driver, and you can create PDFs using your printer function.
5. CC (Free) PDF Converter: This printer driver can be used to create a PDF file from any printable Windows application.
6. PDFCreator: Use PDFCreator to create PDFs from any printable program, as well as encrypt and autosave files based on predefined terms.
7. Open Office: Open Office has a PDF export feature that allows you to define compression levels as well as handle thumbnails and hyperlinks.
8. Scribus: Use this desktop publishing program to create interactive PDF presentations and forms.
9. HylaFAX: HylaFAX is an open source fax server that can be configured to deliver in PDF.

Citations for Business Writing

2009-11-15T17:53:00.001-05:00

Harvard has a great citations guide for business writing. If you are in college or in an MBA program you will find this guide useful. You can get it here:

http://www.library.hbs.edu/guides/citationguide.pdf

or here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/307570403/citationguide.pdf

China's Gross National Income

2009-11-15T16:47:00.002-05:00

I am in the process of writing a report for my strategic management MBA class - a tedious task. Anyway, I was looking up economic information for China a came across this cool tool from Google:

That's right, Google public data - check out the Google blog entry on the subject:

"We just launched a new search feature that makes it easy to find and compare public data."

Do You Know How Your Home Uses Electricity?

2009-11-04T07:34:00.000-05:00

Do You Know How Your Home Uses Electricity? (courtesy of Duke Energy)

When the weather turns cool, saving money on energy bills becomes a priority for many families. And saving money on energy bills puts the focus on energy efficiency. A good first step to becoming energy efficient is to identify which areas of your home consume the most energy.

Typically, your home’s heating and cooling system accounts for the largest percentage of your yearly energy budget according to the 2007 Buildings Energy Data Book. But right after heating and cooling are your home’s water heater and lighting.

How We Use Energy in Our Home
Heating accounts for the biggest chunk of a typical utility bill

Source: 2007 Buildings Energy Data Book, Table 4.2.1., 2005 energy cost data.

Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be. Electrical devices that either produce heat or keep things cool use the most electricity. Incandescent light bulbs, for example, burn hot.Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), on the other hand, provide the same amount of light as an ordinary bulb, but use about 75 percent less energy, last up to 10 times longer and burn much cooler.

Replace bulbs in high-use areas such as the living room, kitchen and outside porch lights with CFLs. Consider using lighting sensor controls, dimmers and timers to reduce your lighting use. These are simple changes that can result in savings on your monthly bill.

Supply-Side Economics: An Ideological Farce

2009-10-15T06:05:00.003-05:00

For those of you that don't know, supply-side economics is a farce. The Wikipedia definition of supply-side economics:

"Supply-side economics is a school of macroeconomic thought that argues that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for people to produce (supply) goods and services, such as adjusting your income tax and capital gains tax rates, and by allowing greater flexibility by reducing regulation. Consumers will then benefit from a greater supply of goods and services at lower prices."

I would disagree with the above definition where it describes supply-side economics as a "school" of macroeconomic thought. I would argue that any true academic study on the matter has been distorted for political gain. Even the elder Bush referred to supply-side economics as "voodoo economics." Of course it cost him a second term, but that is another matter.

Credit Card Charge: element5info.com

2009-10-01T06:59:00.002-05:00

element5info.com

www.element5info.com

If you see the above on your credit card statement, don't panic. Most likely you, or your spouse, ordered software over the internet. In my case it was my wife purchasing a 1-year Avast antivirus software license. Avast uses element5 to process its credit card transactions. If you need to see the actual invoice, you can go to the following site to get it:

http://esales.element5.com/ccc/getinfo.html

They will ask for the email address and last four digits of the credit card number.

Convert A File To HTML Instantly With File2.ws

2009-09-04T22:53:00.005-05:00

File2.ws is a free website that converts any of your own files into a public online web page. Every converted file to a web page has a unique web address so you can share it with friends, or other people on the internet. This allows information to be shared quickly and efficiently to a large audience.

Check out the excellent write-up for this site on makeuseof.com.

Seriously, you can upload a Microsoft Word document and it returns a url link that you can share with others:

I am uploading a Word document - conversion was relatively quick, maybe 30 seconds or so:

And the conversion has completed and the HTML link is presented:

You can check out what the document looks like here: http://file2.ws/mktg.
Note what a nice job it did converting the font and tables. Not bad at all. Try other file types and please let me know how it works out for you!

How to Rotate and Save Images In Acrobat

2009-09-01T09:10:00.002-05:00

How do I rotate a PDF document, save it, and then have it re-open in the properly rotated view?

Oddly enough, rotating the image in Acrobat, even the Pro version, and saving it does not save the rotated view. Here is how I have done it:

1. Rotate the image the way that you want it
2. Go to print and select Adobe as the printer
3. When you print the properly rotated image it will ask you where to save the file.
4. Done - the image is now saved as a properly rotated PDF file

Investment Portfolio Using Low Cost ETF

2009-08-30T21:01:00.003-05:00

I prefer using exchange traded funds (ETF) for my investments. There are several reasons for this:

Low cost, especially when using Vanguard ETF which have the lowest expense ratios;
Passively managed and perform as well as actively managed funds, but without the cost; and
They are easy to trade and without additional costs such as selling charges (i.e. no load).

I am 33 and prefer the following portfolio:

VNQ - Vanguard REIT - 15%
VTI - Vanguard Total US Stock Market - 25%
VEU - Vanguard World Stock (excl. US) - 25%
VWO - Vanguard Emerging Market - 10%
BND - Vanguard Total Bond Market - 25%

How to setup a free VPN connection to your home computer

2009-04-25T18:38:00.002-05:00

Have you ever thought about setting up a VPN at home? Here is a link to a great article on how to do just that.

http://www.computernetworkinghelp.com/content/view/41/1/

An excerpt:

"VPNs or Virtual Private Networks continue to increase in popularity due to the rise of inexpensive, high capacity Internet connectivity. Therefore lots of people are now using secure VPNs in order to connect to their home based networks as well as their office networks. If you have stumbled across this article and do not know the meaning of the term VPN it would be as follows:

A VPN is used to connect multiple private networks securely across an unsecured public network like the Internet. A private network in this case would be a network in which the traffic is not freely accessible by the public. If we break down the meaning of Virtual Private Network in the instance explained above it would be as follows. The two end points of this "network" are private networks that are seamlessly connected across a public network in which neither private network knows about, creating a "Virtual Private Network" between them."

Palit Sweepstakes Entry to Win Graphic Card

2009-03-19T11:21:00.006-05:00

Palit Graphics Card contest. Follow this link to have a chance to win Palit products such as graphic cards, flash drives, and memory:

http://www.winwithpalit.com/index.php?Plink=L1237478968185963496

Not familiar with their products? Check this out at Amazon:

Timewarner Cable Accepts Credit Card Payments - Earn Miles

2009-03-15T09:38:00.002-05:00

I use the Delta Skymiles Credit Card - which I highly recommend given the ability to earn miles on Delta. They will also give you 10,000 miles annually towards your elite status if you reach a certain dollar amount in purchases. I also like their customer service - if you have a dispute with a vendor, American Express is on your side.

Anyway, I just found out that you can pay your Timewarner Cable bill using your Amex card. That's 120 miles a month!

7 Essential Security Downloads You MUST Have Installed

2009-03-08T14:21:00.005-05:00

From makeuseof.com: 7 Essential Security Downloads You MUST Have Installed

What security software do I need to have installed on my computer?
What is the best security software available for my computer?
What is the best free security software?
Where can I download free anti-virus software?
Where can I download free anti-spyware software?
Where can I download free a free firewall?

The makeuseof.com article includes descriptions and links for the following FREE programs:

AVG Anti-Virus (Windows)
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (Windows)
Spyware Terminator (Windows)
Comodo Firewall Pro (Windows)
NoScript - Firefox
Lastpass (Firefox / Internet Explorer)
WOT (Web Of Trust) - Firefox

I personally use Comodo Firewall and MalwareBytes anti-malware software. For anti-virus software I use the free version of Avast, which you can register for her e.

My Review of Q-Stor USB to Serial Cable 4-Port Hub

2009-01-24T21:28:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Meijer.com

Add 4 USB 2.0 hi-speed ports with this hub. It is fully compliant with USB 2.0 specs, supports up to 127 hi-speed devices, is backward compatible with USB 1.1, supports data rate at 1.5/12/480mbps, and supports plug and play installation.

not a well-manufactured product

By mikealao from cincinnati, oh on 1/24/2009

Pros: Easy to Use

Cons: Unreliable, Not Durable, Poor Quality

Describe Yourself: Value Oriented

Primary use: Personal

Please note that this product is of poor quality. When you hold it for the first time it just feels cheap. In terms of reliability you might get a few months of use out of the product. Mine did within 2 months.

(legalese)

Copy your files faster and easier

2008-12-31T12:49:00.007-05:00

TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, providing the user a lot of features:

Copy files faster. TeraCopy uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives.
Pause and resume file transfers. Pause copy process at any time to free up system resources and continue with a single click.
Error recovery. In case of copy error, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case just skips the file, not terminating the entire transfer.
Interactive file list. TeraCopy shows failed file transfers and lets you fix the problem and recopy only problem files.
Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual.
Full Unicode support.

Download TeraCopy – Free for Home Users

See what Lifehacker has to say about it here

Great Site to Practice Stock Market Investing

2008-12-20T00:28:00.002-05:00

Yes, yes, I know, no one is interested in investing since the market crashed, but it's a great time to learn about investing. This site makes it easy and the competition aspect offers incentive to keep up with things. Give it a try.

American Express Delta Skymiles Card - Notice of Changes to my Account

2008-12-05T23:05:00.004-05:00

I just got a notice in the mail from American Express. Get this, they are making several changes - i.e. gouging their customers - "in response to the challenging environment and the increasing costs of doing business." Here are some of the changes:

APR for cash advances is Prime Rate plus 17.99% for a total of 21.99%

also no more "Always Double Miles" purchases - hey, what is the meaning of ALWAYS?

foreign currency transactions incur a 2.7% charge now.

You know what American Express? In response this challenging environment and the increasing costs of doing business with you I will no longer be using your card.

You credit card companies ripped us off when the times were good, extended to us more credit than was reasonable, and now you want to charge us even more due to the environment that you yourselves created.

Sincerely,

An Irritated Consumer

How to Use a Wireless Connection with Your XBox 360 Without Spending $100

2008-11-22T00:09:00.003-05:00

Buy the Belkin wireless gaming adapter. I bought mine from Buy.com recently for $20. That is a lot less than the $90+ that Microsoft wants for their adapter. Check out the product page here:

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=154416

Online Virus Scanning Site

2008-11-10T10:06:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to another site that allows you to upload suspicious files for scanning and then scans the file using multitudes of virus scanning programs.

NoVirusThanks.org is a site that was born in 26/6/2008 with the intent to offer to users free services that will help them to prevent a computer virus infection and to identify possible viruses in their computer.

Below is the list of virus scanners that will be used to scan your file.

*Antivirus*	*Homepage*	*Engine*
a-squared	Emsi Software	4.0.0.23
Avira AntiVir	Avira	8.1.2.12
AVG	AVG Technologies	8.0.0.0
Avast!	ALWIL	4.8.1229
BitDefender	BitDefender GmbH	7.0.0.2555
ClamAV	ClamWin	0.93.1.0
Comodo	Comodo Group	3.0
Dr.Web	Doctor Web, Ltd	4.44.0.0711200
Ewido	ewido networks	4.0.0.2
F-PROT 6	FRISK Software	4.4.4.56
G DATA	G DATA Software	2.0.7309.847
IkarusT3	Ikarus Software	0.1.32.4
Kaspersky	Kaspersky Lab	8.0.0.357
McAfee	McAfee	5.1.0.0
NOD32	Eset Software	3.0.677
Norman	Norman	5.92.08
QuickHeal	Cat Computer Services	9.50
Panda	Panda Security	9.5.1.00
Solo Antivirus	SRN Micro Systems	7.0
Sophos	Sophos	4.32.0
TrendMicro	Trend Micro	1.1-1001
VBA32	VirusBlokAda	3.12.0.300
VirusBuster	VirusBuster	1.4.3

How To Find Out Who Sold Your Gmail Address To Spammers

2008-11-10T05:04:00.002-05:00

source: betadaily.com

We hate spam and hate those spammers too. But how do we get spam? We get most of the spam from the spammers who buy our email address from the websites where we register and give out the email address.

It is absolutely impossible for us to find out who sold our email address to those spammers who choke our inbox with unwanted emails. But now there is a solution to find out people who sell our confidential information to others. Gmail provides a not so explicit feature which you can use to find out which website is giving out your email address to spammers. This will not work for the previous websites where you have already registered but you can use it for future registrations.

Here is how to use it:

1. While signing up for any new website enter your Gmail address as your_user_name+website_name@gmail.com.

2. Don’t worry, you will receive the mails as usual because Gmail doesn’t recognize any combination of words or numbers after the “+” sign.

3. Whenever you get any spam message just click on the “Show Details” link to expand the email header and find out the email address to which it was sent. The images below show a test which I did with a “+” sign on my email address.

4. If you had signed up according to the step number 1, you will be able to find out who gave your email address to the spammer.

Use this to find out which websites are selling your email addresses, check out their privacy policy and sue them if they lied. If you found this useful, don’t forget to share it with others.

Thinking Machine 4: Play the Game

2008-11-06T23:43:00.000-05:00

Thinking Machine 4: Play the Game

Great online chess game, check it out by using the link above.

Online Alarm Clock

2008-11-05T07:53:00.000-05:00

Online Alarm Clock

Can I use an wireless router as an access point for my Xbox 360?

2008-10-26T12:00:00.002-05:00

Source 1: http://www.anandtech.com/

This howto is intended to help people who currently use a wireless router in their house, and also have additional PCs or devices without wifi cards which cannot be connected to the wireless router using a cable because they're too far from it (like in another room).

This howto will explain how to use the wrt54g a to connect these remote PCs to the internet and your home network, without using wifi cards. This is possible using 3rd party firmware (sveasoft) which allows the wrt54g to operate in "client" mode, where it forwards packets from its connected devices to the main wireless router, using a wireless link.

I got my wrt54g running in client mode - that is, it serves as a bridge between a PC attached to it and the main wireless router. Here's my complete setup, starting with the wired connections (markeded by "<===>"):

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <===> PC-2

The DI-624 and the WRT54G connect to each other wirelessly. I also have a mobile laptop which connects wirelessly to the DI-624.
So in this case, the WRT54G let me use PC-2 without having a wifi card in that PC. In fact, I could connect up to 4 PCs to the wrt54g, and save the price of 4 wifi-54g pci cards, plus I don't have to install drivers for wifi cards (a pain in Linux). The wrt54g acts like a "wireless ethernet bridge", which in fact is another product sold by linksys (WET54G) for around $150. This is also useful when you have devices (in a room which doesn't have ethernet connections) which can only connect using a ethernet cable, but cannot connect wirelessly - like XBOX !

So how do you do it ? Here's the list of steps - you should be doing these steps (except step 1) from a PC attached to the wrt54g (e.g. PC-2 in my setup). Physically attaching a PC to the wrt54g is required only for this initial set up phase, because we need to login and set up the various options. Note that this doesn't require any changes to your main router's configuration, so it's quite safe with regard to not messing up your current networks' setup.

1. Download the "wrt54g alchemy firmware" (google this, or go here) version 6rc5 from the internet (it is the only one compatible with the new models wrt54g V2.2 & wrt54gs V1.1).
2. Upload the firmware to the wrt54g via the "Administration->Firmware Upgrade" option in the router's web interface.
3. Reset the device (press reset button until power led flashes - this could take 20 seconds or more). In the following steps, leave all settings which are not mentioned in the description at their default (only change the ones specifically mentioned in the step).

Note: We will use addresses that end in 128-255 for the wrt54g router and it's attached PCs. To make sure there is no overlap in the addresses assigned by the two routers, we have to make sure that your main router only assign addresses below 128 to its own clients. For example, if your main router address is 192.168.0.1, its DHCP address range could be 192.168.0.50 - 192.168.0.120. Another important note regarding the main router: some routers allow you to disable the broadcast of the SSID, but for this setup to work properly the SSID broadcast MUST BE ENABLED (which is usually the default behavior).

4a. In "Setup::Basic setup" screen, set Internet Connection Type to "Auotomatic Configuration - DHCP".
4b. Set the local IP to 192.168.0.129, assuming your main router is 192.168.0.x (in general, if your main router is a.b.c.d set the wrt54g to a.b.c.129).
4c. Set the Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.128.
4d. Set the "Gateway" to the IP address of your main router (e.g. 192.168.0.1).
4e. Set the DHCP Server to Enabled, and starting IP Address to something above 129 (e.g. 140).
4f. Save the settings on this page. You should reboot the attached PC, since the subnet mask has changed. Note: from now on you have to use the new local IP you set in step 4b (e.g. http:// 192.168.0.129) to connect to the router from your PC.

5. In "Setup::Advanced Routing" screen, make sure operating mode is "Gateway".

6. In "Wireless::Basic Settings" screen, set Wireless mode to "Client", wireless network mode to "mixed", and SSID to your main wireless router's SSID.

7. In "Wireless::Security" screen, set yor WEP/WPA settings which match the main wireless router. You should now be connected to the main wireless router. Note: if you have MAC filtering set up on the main router (which allows only specific clients to connect), then obviously you have to add the client router to the list of allowed clients.
To verify that you've established a connection to the main router, you can check the "Status::Router" screen, which should show an IP Address assigned by the main router (which would end with a number below 128), and the "Status::Wireless" page should show the AP Signal strength together with the mac address of the main router. Also you should now be able to ping the main router and even log in to it (using h ttp://192.168.0.1) from the PC attached to the client router (the wrt54g).

8. In "Security::Firewall" screen, disable firewall protection, as this subnet is already behind your main router's firewall. Also make sure that "Block Anonymous Internet Requests" is unchecked.

9. In "Administration::Management" screen, you can leave all settings at their default. You may want to enable remote management and Telnet or SSHD, especially if you want to be able to log in to the wrt54g from a computer which is not directly attached to it.

10. To enable PCs attached to the main router to be able connect to PCs attached to the wrt54g: Login into the wrt54g using telnel or ssh by running the command "telnet 192.168.0.129" and use same root/passwd as for the web interface. Then type this command (copy it exactly):

# echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/`route | grep default | awk '{print $NF}'`/proxy_arp

Now you should be able to ping/telnet to any PC attached to the wrt54g from any PC attached to the main router. Btw, this assumes that the subnet mask of the main router is the default 255.255.255.0.

Important note about the last step : The last step (which is an optional step) allows PCs attached to the main router to be able to connect to PCs attached to the client router, by specyfing the IP of the destination PC, for example "telnet 192.168.0.150". But they are still on two different subnets which do not share their broadcast messages, therefore when browsing PCs on the local network you will not automatically see the PCs attached to the other router. But you can always connect to them by explicitly specyfing the IP. Btw, this step was added after the initial posting of this HOWTO and solves a lot of the issues people discussed later in this thread, so don't worry if you read posts in this thread about problems with communicating between PCs attached to different routers. Also note that this proxy_arp setting is not saved in the WRT54G non-volatile memory like all the other settings, so when the router is rebooted (like after a power outage), it will be cleared and you will need to repeat step 10 to set the proxy_arp back on.

Done !!! That's it !!!!

So in summary, you don't need two wrt54g routers, nor do you need WDS capable routers. A single wrt54g (with the right firmware) can operate as a "client" of any other wireless router, and create a bridge so any device connected to it will be able to access your network and the internet. The above works great for me, even with 3-4 PCs attached to the wrt54g (verified that it works).

Source: Using old router as a DIY wireless Access Point

- Old Router Settings

Now that we’ve logged into your old router, we are ready to begin changing the required settings. First up you need to disable the DHCP server, as you can see in the screenshot below. It does not matter if the DHCP server on the main router is enabled or disabled – if you want the main router to automatically assign IPs for your wireless devices on the first floor (or in range of the main router) so that you don’t need to configure them manually, then enable it.

This is where things start to become a little more difficult. Now you need to find out what IP your main router is using and to do this you’ll need to login to that router and write it down. Our D-Link main router is using the IP address of 192.168.0.1, so we set the IP address of the old router to 192.168.0.2 – this is an important step, so that both routers can talk to each other without any conflicts. Also ensure that the subnet mask on both routers is the same – as you can see from the screenshot above, both routers we used were set to the subnet of 255.255.255.0, which is the default setting.

Okay, now that your old router has its own unique IP address and you’ve disabled DHCP, we need to change some more settings...

Next up you need to disable UPnP on the old router – this option can usually be found under the admin section or advanced settings in most common routers.

Now we are going to disable the firewall of the old router since we already have a firewall in place provided by the main router. Head to the security section settings of the old router and disable it.

- Configuring Wireless Settings

Now let’s configure the all important wireless settings of the old router. We set the WRT54G to the wireless mode of “G-Only”, as this mode provides the best performance. If you set any router to mixed mode, they usually see at least a slight drop in performance, as they need to negotiate between the two modes.

Next up we setup the SSID (or wireless network name) and we changed the name to “Bedroom (3rd floor)” so that it is easy to identify when selecting a network from the list – it doesn’t matter if you enable SSID broadcasting or not. It just means that if it is disabled, it will be hidden, and you’ll need to manually enter in the wireless connection details on your PC or network device.

Most new routers have the ability to auto scan and select the wireless channel (or frequency) which is best to use but older ones such as the WRT54G do not. For the best results, you should chose one unique channel for the main router (we used channel 6 that uses 2.437GHz) and a different channel for the old router, as you can see we used channel 11 that uses 2.462GHz.

It’s up to you whether or not you decide to enable wireless security on the old router but it is highly recommended, unless you want to share your Internet connection with all of the world and its dogs. We have found during testing that WPA2 Personal (with the AES only cipher) provides the best performance and have hence used that. For added security, use an uncommon password unrelated to you with a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols. It will be very hard to break.

- Finishing up with the old router

Now that the old router is fully setup and ready to go, run the Ethernet cable from a spare LAN port on the main router (or via a power line device) and plug the other end into one of the spare LAN ports (don’t plug into the WAN port, as it will not work) on the back of the old router and then we are ready to move onto setting up the devices connecting to the old router.

Setting up devices connecting to old router

Now we are starting to get somewhere here – your old router finally sees some life and is all setup and ready to go – well, almost.

- Connecting to the new wireless network

Let’s now try connecting to the old router that you’ve just finished setting up. Depending on where you are in your house or office, you should see at least two wireless networks that you are able to connect to, just like you can see in the screenshot above. Connect to the newly created wireless network, in our case it’s called “Bedroom (3rd floor)”.

Once you first connect, nothing will happen and it will assign you an IP address of something along the lines of 169.x.x.x. You won’t be able to access the LAN or Internet yet, but don’t worry – read on.

- Setting a manual LAN IP address

What we need to do now is setup a manually configured LAN IP address, as you will remember, we disabled the DHCP server of the old router. Go to the properties of your network connection, click Properties, Internet Protocol Version 4 and then click Properties again. Now you need to select “Use the following IP address” and now you are able to enter in your manually selected IP address.

Previously in this guide you set a local IP address for your old router, we used 192.168.0.2. If this is the first device connecting to the old router, you should use an IP address of anything above that such as 192.168.0.3. Other devices wanting to connect should use 192.168.0.4, 192.168.0.5 and so on.

Listen up here... the last number cannot go above 256 OR wherever the DHCP IP range on the main router begins at. Our D-Link router begins its DHCP IP range at 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199, so don’t select an IP in the range between 100 and 199, to avoid conflicts with other networked devices. Set the subnet mask as 255.255.255.0, although it should do that for you automatically, once you’ve entered in the IP.

Finally, we need to enter in the default gateway and this is the IP address that provides us with the lovely Internet access, in other words, the main router which has your modem connected to it. Here you should enter in the IP address of the main router and in our case it is 192.168.0.1. Also set the preferred DNS server to the same IP as your main router. Apply these settings and wait a few seconds for the network to initialize and then you should be connected and ready to go.

Hay presto, we’re done?!

Once we’ve finished all that, you should be able to access your network and the Internet at full speed, as if you were connected to the main router, which is normally out of range.

Brilliant - huh? We thought you would like!

Troubleshooting and Support

If you cannot use the Internet or see other computers on your network, you haven’t followed this guide properly or your old wireless router may be broken or not working, as it should. You may also have missed one or two steps that make all the difference, so go back and check again.

As a quick test, open up a command prompt by clicking start, Run and then type in “cmd”. In the command prompt, try and ping the main router by typing in “ping 192.168.0.1” (or whatever IP address your main router is set to use). If you do not get a ping response right away, it means you’ve done something wrong and you need to go back and check all the settings discussed in this guide. Also make sure that your Ethernet cables are plugged in and also in the proper spots – for instance, LAN port to LAN port from main router to the other router.

Please do not email us with questions as we do not answer over email; instead, direct your questions to our forums where our members would be more than happy to assist you!

My Review of Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl for PC

2008-10-24T15:52:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Meijer.com

In 1986, a massive explosion rocked the Chernobyl power plant, resulting in the worst nuclear disaster in history. Every since, the area surrounding Chernobyl has been plagued by mounting energy disturbances, rendering the region lethal to those with even the most advanced protective equipment. In ...

sends chills up your spine

By mikealao from Cincinnati, OH on 10/24/2008

Pros: Great Sound, Engaging Story Line, Graphics, Easy to learn, Challenging, Gameplay

Best Uses: Adults

Describe Yourself: Frequent Player

This game is awesome. The storyline and setting is downright creepy and crawling in abandoned buildings sends a chill up your spine. The hardware, i.e. weaponry, is impressive and you will enjoy making your way through the game and looting or earning ever better weaponry.

(legalese)

My Review of World of Warcraft for PC

2008-10-24T15:48:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Meijer.com

Developer Blizzard gives players a new perspective into the popular massively multiplayer Warcraft series with its new title, World of Warcraft. See the world of Azeroth like never before, exploring expansive 3D environments that range from mountains, to deserts, to forests and more.

Cr...

major time hog

By mikealao from Cincinnati, OH on 10/24/2008

Pros: Multiplayer, Easy to learn

Cons: Boring

Best Uses: Multiple Players, Online Gaming

Describe Yourself: Frequent Player

This game takes forever. The quests and killing of monsters is repetitive beyond belief. The other downside is the $15 per month that you have to pay to play the game after the first month. I played it for 18 months, so you can do the math and see how much this game really costs.

(legalese)

Free ONLINE virus scan

2008-10-04T03:48:00.000-05:00

PC-Cillin Antivirus, Panda Antivirus, BitDefender Antivirus, F-Secure Antivirus, McAfee Antivirus, Symantec Antivirus, eTrust Antivirus, Kaspersky Antivirus and Nod32 Antivirus offers you a FREE ONLINE SCAN of your computer.

Symantec Antivirus	BitDefender Antivirus

eTrust Antivirus	PC-Cillin Antivirus

F-Secure Antivirus	McAfee Antivirus

Panda Antivirus	Kaspersky Antivirus

Nod32 Antivirus

Added to this, if you like to check ONLY ONE file in your computer, you may as well visit

VirusTotal (uses 32 antivirus engines to check your file)

VirusScan (uses 21 antivirus engines to check your file)

If you 'd like to scan your computer ONLY for spyware/adware infection, you may use one of the following FREE ONLINE scanners.

ZoneLabs Antispyware	Panda Antispyware

eTrust PestScan Antispyware	Trend Micro Antispyware

A-Squared Antispyware
	source

Free Software, Programs And Games To Download

2008-10-04T03:44:00.001-05:00

Mixture of Freeware and Open Source.

Programs with next to them, are programs that I highly recommend.
Programs with [M] next to them means the program has a Mac version and [L] for Linux.

Internet Security

AutoPatcher ( Windows Updates + Power Tools FREE )
Active Virus Shield ( No.2 best Anti - Virus FREE ) Click Here To See The Virus Test
Avast! Home ( Anti - Virus that has a screensaver scanning mode FREE )
AVG [L] ( Anti-Virus Free ) Good for low end PC's
Comodo Firewall ( Firewall FREE )
PC Tools Firewall Plus ( Firewall FREE )
Outpost Firewall ( Firewall FREE )
Spyware Blaster ( Stops Spyware FREE )
SpywareGuard ( Compliments Spyware Blaster FREE ) Tip Spyware Blaster must be installed first.
Spyware Terminator ( Anti - Spyware Program with 100% Real-Time Protection FREE )
Spyware Doctor ( Anti - Spyware OnGuard Program FREE )
Ad - Aware ( Spyware Scanner And Remover FREE )
Spybot ( Spyware Scanner And Remover FREE )
SUPERAntiSpyware ( Spyware Scanner And Remover FREE )
WinPatrol ( Windows Watch Dog FREE ) keeps an eye on your programs and settings and lets you know if they have been changed
Cyberhawk ( Computer Analyzes Program FREE ) constantly analyzes your computer's behavior to detect and block any malicious activity.

Optimization And Tweaking Tools

Advanced WindowsCare Personal ( Keep your PC safe, error-free, and running at top speed. )
CCleaner ( System Reg Optimization And Clearner FREE )
JkDefrag GUI ( Defragmentation Application that has a screensaver mode FREE )
Power Defragmenter ( Defragmentation Application FREE )
TCP Optimizer ( Tuning and optimizing your Internet connection )
Win Sock XP Fix ( Fix Xp Internet Connectivity FREE)
NeoTweak XP ( Allows You To Tweak Some Hidden Windows Settings FREE )
Recuva ( Undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin FREE )
Restoration ( Undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin FREE )
ZSoft Uninstaller ( Better Way To Uninstall Programs FREE )
7 - Zip [L][M]( File Compression FREE )
TUGZip ( File Compression FREE )
Xp-AntiSpy ( Windows AntiSpy Tweaking Program FREE )
Partitioning Software ( FREE )
Partition Saving ( Disk Image Backup/Restore FREE )
DAEMON Tools ( Virtual CD/DVD drive FREE ) Good if you play games on your PC That Acquires You To Put The CD In
Windows Desktop Search ( Search Program FREE ) IMO better then Google Desktop Search
VirtualBox [L][M] ( Virtual Machine FREE )
Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 ( Virtual Machine FREE ) A good way to install and test a Linux OS. Click here to see what OS will work
LogMeIn ( Remote access to PCs though a web browser FREE )
RealVNC ( Remote PC access software FREE )
filehippo.com Update Checker scans your computer for installed software, then updates any program that needs updating.
AMD Dual-Core Optimizer

Browser, E-mail Office ect.

FireFox [L][M] ( Internet Browser FREE )
Opera [L][M]( Internet Browser FREE )
Safari ( Internet Browser FREE ) Handy if you build websites and want to see if the site looks ok on a Mac.
ThunderBird [L][M] ( E-mail Program and RSS reader FREE )
Lightning [L][M] ( Calendar Plugin For Thunder Bird FREE )
Mozilla Sunbird [L][M] ( Calendar Program FREE )
OpenOffice [L]( like Microsoft Office But FREE ) Click HERE for Guides. Mac users can use NeoOffice
Office Accounting Express 2007 ( simple accounting program from Microsoft FREE )
Money Manager Ex [L]( Easy-to-use personal finance software )
Grisbi [L][M] Personal finance manager for keeping track of different bank accounts and other financial matters.
GnuCash [L][M] ( financial-accounting software )
TurboCASH ( Managing personal finances )
AbiWord [L][M]( Word processing program FREE )
Gnumeric [L] ( Spreadsheet program FREE )
Foxit ( A Light Fast PDF Reader FREE )
Foxit Firefox Plugin Instructions Inside ZIP.
PDF XChange Viewer ( PDF Reader )

Image and photo manipulation And Viewing software

GIMPShop [L][M]( like photo shop But FREE ) Click HERE for the Gimp Manual
Paint.NET ( More advanced version of windows paint )
Inkscape [L][M]( vector graphics editor )
Artweaver ( Paint Program )
Picasa [L][M]( Picture Editor And Organiser FREE )
HP Image Zone Express ( Photo Software FREE ) I find this program better then Picasa for printing photos
JetPhoto Studio [M]( Digital photo management )
IrfanView ( Graphic Viewer FREE )
XnView [L][M]( Graphic Viewer FREE )
FastStone Capture ( Screen Capture Program FREE )
Gadwin PrintScreen ( Screen Capture Program FREE )

Media Players And Tools

K-Lite Mega Pack ( Codec Pack FREE comes with Media Player Classic )
QuickTime Alternative ( Quicktime Codec FREE )
Windows Media Player 11
The KMPlayer ( Media Player FREE ) KMPlayer Skins
MPlayer Windows GUI [L][M]( Media Player FREE )
Foobar2000 ( Music Player FREE )
VLC [L][M]( Media Player FREE )
SMPlayer [L] a real competetor of VLC
Media Player Classic( Media Player FREE )
Songbird [L][M]( Web player and digital jukebox )
Miro aka Democracy Player [L][M] ( All in one app, Video RSS, Internet TV, Torrent support )
Quintessential Player ( Music Player )
Fusion ( Media Player )
FeedYourZune ( RSS reader/aggregator for audio and video podcasts )
Winamp ( Media Player FREE )
MojoMaster ( Visualizer For Winamp FREE )
MP3myMP3 Recorder ( Sound Recorder FREE )
MP3 Gain ( MP3 manipulation tool )
MP3 Book Helper ( ID3v1, ID3v2,Ogg,Speex and Flac Vorbis tags editing )
EphPod ( ipod Program FREE ) Only works with none video iPods
Lyrics Plugin for Winamp and Windows Media Player, start listening to your favourite songs and lyrics will be displayed automatically.

Burning, Ripping And Encoding Tools

Avid Free DV ( Free Video Editing Program ) Click HERE for Free Training
Super ( Video Converter FREE )
DVD Flick ( powerful DVD Authoring tool )
MediaCoder ( Video Converter FREE )
Video DVD Maker ( FREE )
DVDBuilder (DVD Program To Make Menus FREE)
CD-BurnerXP Pro ( burn CDs and DVDs )
DeepBurner Free ( burn CDs and DVDs )
DVD Decrypter ( .iso/Image burning and encoding tool )
DVD Shrink ( DVD Copying Program FREE )
VideoMach ( Video Converter and video and audio clip Joiner FREE )
Audacity [L][M]( easy-to-use audio editor and recorder FREE )
Useful Software for Ripping And Making DVD's
CamStudio ( Desktop Video Capture Program FREE ) Handy if you want to create demonstration videos
Screencast-O-Matic ( Online Video Capture )
Wink [L]( Desktop Video Capture Program FREE )

RSS Readers

FeedReader ( Simple, lightweight aggregator. )
RSSOwl [L][M]( Solid cross-platform RSS client. )

IM & VoIP Programs

Pidgin [L]( All-in-one IM client )
Miranda ( All-in-one IM client )
Trillian ( All-in-one IM client )
Exodus ( Jabber Powered Client )
ICQ ( IM software FREE )
Skype [L][M]( Voip client )
Gizmo [L][M]( Free Phone for Your Computer )
Phonegaim [L]( Voip client )

File Transfer and P2P Programs

Azureus Classic [L][M]( Bittorrent client FREE ) Click here for an install guide.
µtorrent ( Bittorrent client FREE ) Good for low end PC's
Wyzo [M]( Bittorrent web browser built on firefox for integrated torrent downloads )
Alt.Binz ( Usenet/Newsreader client FREE ) Click here for an install guide.
Pando ( File Transfer Program BETA )
Ares (P2P FREE)
eMule (P2P FREE)
Gnucleus ( A very good Gnutella search and download filesharing program. )

TV Software

MediaPortal a very advanced Media Center software that can run rings around MCE 2005.
XMLTV GUI Grabber [L] Grabs Tv listings from Radio Times
GB-PVR Pretty good if you can get it installed, but its not the easiest of programs to get working.
MythDora A MythTV distribution built on Fedora.
LinuxMCE Very easy to install but needs to be installed on a PC running Ubuntu, click here for the demo video
TVUPlayer brings you programs from around the world using P2P technology. There are some good channels like Sci-fi, Comedy Central and Fox
ORB Stream your content through any internet-connected device like a mobile phone, PDA, or any other computer
Joost[M] you can watch more than 15,000 shows, with more added daily.
ted: torrent episode downloader [L][M] Downloads Tv shows from torrent sites and opens them with your default Bittorrent client.

Web Authoring

NVU [L][M]( Web Authoring FREE ) click HERE for NVU Manual or HERE to watch an video
1st Page 2000 is an extremely popular, easy-to-use editor for web pages that allows for either direct code editing or a design view.
KompoZer [L][M](A more up-to-date bugfix release of NVU FREE)
FileZilla [L][M] ( FTP client FREE )
Wordpress ( Web Blog Software )
web.py ( web framework for python )
List of free web hosts

Games

Watch Video's Of Games In Development

Get your game on with SuperGamer (Live DVD No Install Runs Off The DVD)
Return to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory [L][M](Full FREE FPS Game)
Legends [L](Full FREE FPS Game)
America's Army [L][M](Full FREE FPS Game)
Penumbra (Full FREE FPS Game)
NEXUIZ (Full FREE FSP Game)
Warsow [L](Full FREE FSP Game)
Tremulous [L](Full FREE FPS Game)
VDrift [L][M](Full FREE Driving Game)
Links To Free Games On SU Freeware Group

3D Software

Blender [L][M] Click here to watch an open source video made with Blender or HERE for the PDF Blender Basics Free Classroom Tutorial Book
Blenderart magazine ( Open Source CG tools magazine featuring all new up-to-date tutorials )
DAZ 3D [M]
YafRay [L][M]( works well with Blender )
Terragen [M]( scenery generator )
Jahshaka [L][M]( Realtime Editing and Effects System. )
DX Studio
AutoQ3D [L]
Rhino 3D ( Will save 25 times. After that it is still functional except it will not save. )

Other

Live CD's
PortableApps.com ( Portable Apps For USB Drives )
Mobile Phone Software

Operating System's With Pre-Installed Software

PCLinuxOS If you are NEW to linux I highly recondmend you to use this distro as it is the easiest to use.
Dream Linux A good simple OS that looks a lot like Mac OS X with a good selection of software pre-installed.
Sabayon Linux This is the Best Linux OS around just a bit hard to use if you have never used linux before.
Freespire Offers optional use of the CNR™ Service to install software and a very nice easy to use distro.

System Monitoring and Information

SpeedFan 4.31 monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures.
CoolMon
CPU-Z allows you to get some information on your system hardware.
WinAudit reports on virtually every aspect of computer inventory and configuration.
WinDirStat is a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool. It is extremely useful for figuring out where your hard drive space is going.

Programing Tools

source

Check Your Username Availability At Popular Sites

2008-10-04T03:25:00.001-05:00

Want to check whether your name is still available at social networking and Web 2.0 sites? Just visit http://usernamecheck.com/, key in your name and click the ? button.

According to the site, ‘sridhar’ is available at Digg when it’s not. So YMMV.

It’s a good idea to go ahead and register at those sites (that you think might be worth creating an account at) where your desired username is still not taken up.

By the way, does anyone know if TinyURL allows user registrations?

Source.

TypeError: aEls is undefined

2008-09-20T12:20:00.002-05:00

Type Error: aEls is undefined at Firefox load

This error message comes up whenever I open Firefox 3. Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

Want tabs to open to the right of current tab in Firefox 3? Download this addon

2008-09-20T11:46:00.002-05:00

Tabmix plus no longer works with Firefox 3. If you want to have new tabs open immediately to the right of the current tab you must download the following addon:

Tabs Open Relative

by John Mellor (Jomel)

Tabs Open Relative makes all new tabs open to the right of the current tab, rather than at the far right of the tab bar...

65 reviews

24,504 weekly downloads

Updated May 20, 2008

Add to Firefox

View more from Appearance

Shakespeare

2008-09-20T10:45:00.001-05:00

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun,
Coral is far more red, than her lips red,
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun:
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head:
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks,
And in some perfumes is there more delight,
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know,
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet by heaven I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare.

Go here for additional information on this sonnet

ThreatExpert - Analyze PC Viruses, Worms, Trojans, etc.

2008-09-09T21:02:00.002-05:00

source: makeuseof.com

Want to find out more about that virus, trojan or infected file you discovered on your PC. ThreatExpert.com is the website you need. Here you can upload your file and get comprehensive behavioral reports for almost any kind of threat (virus, spyware, mallware, etc.) it may contain.

From the page:

“In only a few minutes ThreatExpert can process a sample and generate a highly detailed threat report with the level of technical detail that matches or exceeds antivirus industry standards such as those normally found in online virus encyclopedias“.

The whole thing is pretty simple. Go to ThreatExpert, browse and submit the infected file, enter your email address and click on “Submit”. Shortly after you should receive an email notifying you that the analysis is complete with the link to the detailed report.

Here is a partial screenshot of a sample ThreatExpert report:

Go to ThreatExpert @ www.threatexpert.com

Open DNS

2008-08-20T20:42:00.003-05:00

Check out OpenDNS. There are many reasons to use their service including security, parental controls, and because it is free!

Check out the Lifehacker entries on the subject.

Awards

PC World: 100 Best Products of 2008

"PhishTank is an information clearinghouse where you can report or find data on phishers, spammers, and anybody else who's trying to rip off nice people on the Internet."

CNET's Webware 100: 2008 Winner

"OpenDNS also lets IT admins get a very high level of control over sites and services its users are trying to access including domain blocking, whitelisting, and content filtering."

PC World: 25 Web Sites to Watch

"OpenDNS speeds up the translation (called 'name resolution') by handling the process on its own high-speed DNS servers."

PC Magazine: Editor's Rating

PC Magazine gave us a stellar "Editor's Rating" review. We were thrilled but we can't show you their logo here or a quote from the story because they said it violated their copyright. They CC'ed people with scary titles so we complied. It's okay, we still love you PC Mag.

Lifehacker: The best apps of 2006

"For anyone whose ISP is cranky about resolving web pages, OpenDNS' free, fast, and huge distributed database of domain names can seriously speed up your web browsing session."

Web Host Magazine: Editors' Choice for Industry Services

"OpenDNS is an interesting concept in managing DNS records. Using a large caching scheme, OpenDNS is able to make Web sites load faster on your browser. OpenDNS also is able to fix common errors when you type in a URL, and it points you to the right URL."

PC Magazine: Top Web Sites of 2006

"It's fast, free, and secure. This DNS service offers speedier browsing (via smart caching and geographic distribution) and protection from phishing sites. The service will even correct typos that you punch into your browser."

Windows IT Pro: Reader Favorite

"Setup of this free service is easy and bulletproof-from start to finish, the process took less than a minute."

Cut and paste one line of code to make any website editable

2008-07-08T00:12:00.002-05:00

From blogstorm.co.uk:

Have you ever wanted to edit the web pages of another website? This simple line of code makes it possible.

Of course you can’t actually edit the actual web page but you can edit the page as you see it on your screen.

This is one of the ways scammers create fake screen shots, fake Adsense & affiliate earnings and even fake PayPal transactions.

All you need to do is visit the site you want to edit, paste the code below into your web browser address bar (tested in Firefox & IE7) and hit the Enter button.
Then simply select a portion of text on the page and start editing.

javascript:document.body.contentEditable='true'; document.designMode='on'; void 0