TECH HARDWARE: next generation of USB flash drives: the U3 smart drive

Thursday, April 26, 2007

http://www.u3.com/smart/default.aspx

Next generation of USB flash drives: the U3 smart drive

***Begin Quote***

Meet the next generation of USB flash drives: the U3 smart drive. It’s what’s inside that makes them smart.

* Carry and access your files easily
* Keep your data safe and secure
* Comes with pre-loaded software
* Hundreds of software titles available!

Storage+Software=Smart

Imagine carrying your software on the same flash drive that carries your files. That’s what you can do with a U3 smart drive. You can plug it into any PC and work, play a game, message friends, send email, edit photos and more. A U3 smart drive makes any PC your own PC. And when you unplug it, it leaves no personal data behind.

***End Quote***

Neat idea. No wonder the stores are dumping the old usb drives at fire sale prices. Before this paradigm shift gets out and they are stuck with the unsold and unsellable inventory.

Already inside the U3 paradigm there’s a Vista incompatibility. If you want to “Vista”, then you need version 1.4 or higher. And, yes, there’s no guarantee that you can move from your version to that version. And, you have to get it from your drive manufacturer.

Nice idea BUT doesn’t wow me.

(1) Locks you into the windows genre.

(2) Limited hardware competition (less than 10 vendors)

(3) Limited software selection. Applications developers need to do a rewrite.

No, not for me. Maybe you, but not me.


LIBERTY: The “Pay Farmers Not To Grow Stuff” Tax

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22wwlnlede.t.html
?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=3b8480bb7549490b&ex=117
7992000&emc=eta1

http://tinyurl.com/2ofeky

You Grow
by Michael Pollan, a contributing writer, is the Knight professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent book is “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.”
Published: April 22, 2007

***Begin Quote***

Such changes are radical only by the standards of past farm bills, which have faithfully reflected the priorities of the agribusiness interests that wrote them. One of these years, the eaters of America are going to demand a place at the table, and we will have the political debate over food policy we need and deserve.

***End Quote***

I never did understand why we pay non-farmers to not grow stuff. It just seems counter intuitive. And, like most “price supports”, it’s yet another hidden tax on the poor. Sigh!


INTERESTING: Resisting the Stanford Prison Experiment!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

http://www.lucifereffect.com/guide_tenstep.htm

A Ten-Step Program to Build Resistance and Resilience
Prepared by Philip Zimbardo and Cindy X. Wang
(Borrowed from The Lucifer Effect, Chapter 16)

***Begin Quote***

“I made a mistake!”
“I am mindful.”
“I am responsible.”
“I am Me, the best I can be.”
“I respect Just Authority, but Rebel against Unjust Authority.”
“I want group acceptance, but value my independence.”
“I will be more Frame Vigilant.”
“I will balance my Time Perspective.”
“I will not sacrifice personal or civic freedoms for the illusion of security.”
“I can oppose unjust Systems.”

***End Quote***

Like Luke Skywalker, how do we resist being turned to the Dark Side?

The Stanford Prison Experiment that ordinary people can be induced to do that which they believe is evil and wrong when directed by an authority figure.

Here’s ten steps to ensure that you don’t slip over the edge.


LIBERTY: Separation of School and State

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

http://freekeene.com/2007/04/05/
incramental-steps-to-privatize-education/

http://tinyurl.com/yod4jf

Separation of School and State
Filed under: Essay, Issues, Personal Freedom — toby
at 8:38 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2007

***Begin Quote***

There are a myriad of quotes like this one, and if one is to look at what public schools have done to this country they would see the blueprint was effectively put into place, and is still in effect today. There is a reason that public schools are the final plank in the Communist Manifesto. When governments take the responsibility of education away from parents they are able to indoctrinate children with whatever propaganda and misinformation they want to. Since the government took control of education, the Constitution has been all but decimated, but the public schools still teach children that the government operates under the Constitution, after all ~ the government can do no wrong.

***End Quote***

Well, like most things that Gooferment does, it’s impossible to unravel. A Gordian knot of interlocking and overlapping interests. It’s hard to cut to the heart of the matter.

There is here in Nu Jerzee a deadly embrace that prevents change. And, the politicians benefit most from it.

The biggest problem to change the status quo is the Teacher’s Union. They are big, well-funded, and energized to “protect” their turf. They make no bones about proving on any issue that they are the 800# gorilla. (And, just as ugly!)

So we have large and vocal Teacher’s Union protecting turf, contributing to politicians, and working for their friends and against their enemies. The Union interests may be different from those of individual teachers. By being in the mob, the individual teachers must be held to account for the Union’s positions.

So we have Politicians, Unions, and Teachers.

Also in our mindmap of “public education”, schools have the principals, bureaucrats, custodians, contractors, consultants, lawyers also “interested” in continuing the current paradigm.

Also in our mindmap, we have to recognize that there are suppliers, construction companies, lawyers, architects, and others that “feed” off the current paradigm.

On the “paying side”, taxpayers are property owners and income tax payers. Lottery players to some extent pay an extra tax for “education”.

When I was in the Hands Across New Jersey tax revolt against Governor Florio’s “toilet paper” tax (It covered more than that, but that was the icon of the tax highlighted by the protestors!), we knew that the schools were the key to tax reduction. It took decades to get into this mess and people don’t know any other way to educate children than have the gooferment do it.

In order to change from “public education” to a “private education” paradigm, we need to shift paradigms. this is a horrendous task. But I think we can by several techniques.

(1) We have to convince the people that (a) gooferment skoolz are an establishment of religion. [First Amendment] (b) property taxes are discriminatory against those who have no children. [Fourteenth Amendment] (c) there is a conflict of interest between unions and their support of politicians.

(2) We have to offer a way out. I’d suggest that we separate “Government Runs Skoolz” from “Government Pays for Education”.

(3) We have to prevent any expansion of the Government’s intrusion into every day life. [Small Government every time no excuses!]

imho


RANT: LinkedIn toolbar and LookOut

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

>Does anyone have a quick fix to help me completely remove this malware

I have had to (several times) use the Outlook repair function on the “notsoHELPful” menu tab.

Some caveats. Backup. You may want the old crud after you see the new crud you’re left with.

(1) Make sure you have your distribution media and serial number handy — you may muck things up worse if you don’t (I did);

(2) Nuke all the “extra” crud installed Options>Other>Advanced and nuke all in “add in”, “reminder”, and “com add in”.

(3) Uninstall everything Plaxo, LinkedIn, and any other Outlook add ins from ADD/REMOVE program entry;

(4) from the start>run>msconfig ensure that you don’t have anything automatically helping you that you don’t really understand.

Wish everything good bye. You did backup didn’t you?

(I had one acquaintance who blamed LookOut, and it was a disguised corrupt registry and, when the hard disk burped at the wrong time, his data went to data heaven welcomed by 72 disk drives that ever had an data! My acquaintance had NOT backed up in a while either. He changed jobs soon after that. Probably got promoted with more money.)

THEN run repair from OUTLOOK HELP.

Reboot cold TWICE. (Once is not necessarily enough!?!)

Then sacrifice a chicken, examine the entrails, and send the remains to Bill Gates or Vincent.

It’s ugly.

One thing I have found that repeated COLD REBOOTS (power down and wait 5 full excruciating minutes) allows WINDOZE and LOOKOUT to clear queues and caches and who knows what else allowing the stupid thing to run correctly).

Argh! I’m in pain just thinking about what you’re going thru.
YMMV FAIWWYPFI FWIW


PRODUCTIVITY: REINKEFACESLIFE now has send me email feature

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

On the ABOUT page, you can enter some thing and shazam it shows up in my email box. FWIW?


FUN: Never kissed a frog. Never had to.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

frog

It was a great commercial. I always wanted a poster for my neice-in-law’s daughter. Girls today need to know the sky’s the limit. Boys too. But that’s a different problem.


LIBERTY: Stossel on “skoolz”

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfRUMmTs0ZA

What a joke!


GUNS: Guns bad; loopholes bad; politicians dumb!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070424/D8ON5A500.html

Va. Gov. Looking at Gun-Buyer Loophole

***Begin Quote***

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s governor said Tuesday he may be able to close the loophole that allowed Seung-Hui Cho to buy the guns he used to kill 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus. In 2005, a court had ordered psychiatric counseling for Cho after determining he presented a danger to…

***End Quote***

Time and attention might be better spent restoring the student’s Second Amendment rights.

How did we ever get to such a sad state of affairs?


RANT: Menlo Park train station

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

1015 news today reported that “they’re beginning work on the Menlo Park trainstation … (insert big number of millions of dollars)… (long litany of improvements) … paid for mostly with Federal money”.

“FEDERAL MONEY”!!!

There ain’t no such thing.

It’s generally conceded that NJ PAYS far in excess of Federal Taxes than it receives back in Federal benefits. That in itself is a losing proposition!

So it’s money stolen from NEW JERSEY taxpayers. It’s THEIR money.

It’s also generally conceded that GOOFERMENT takes between one quarter and three quarters for itself — a handling fee — for its own expenses.

SO, we send double the amount to Washington for the privilege of getting half back for a train station.

Shouldn’t we have just done it our self and cut out the handling fee?

Better idea. Get the Gooferment out of mass transit entirely.

When McDonald’s improves its restaurant, I don’t pay them to do it. Do I?

Argh!


LIBERTY: unenumerated rights — those rights the Founders felt no need to specify in the Bill of Rights — Yours!

Monday, April 23, 2007

http://vtcommons.org/node/741

Remembering the 9th Amendment
Submitted by Rob Williams on Mon, 04/23/2007 – 1:38pm.

Thanks to “Alternet” for this important book review.

The “Silent” Ninth Amendment Gives Americans Rights They Don’t Know They Have
By Daniel A. Farber, Basic Books
Posted on April 23, 2007, Printed on April 23, 2007

 

***Begin Quote***

What a pity. Even more, what a terrible oversight: the Ninth Amendment bears directly on such modern-day constitutional issues as abortion, the right to die, and gay rights.

The Ninth Amendment is key to understanding how the Founding Fathers thought about the liberties they expected Americans to enjoy under the Constitution. They did not believe that they were creating these liberties in the Bill of Rights. Instead, they were merely acknowledging some of the rights that no government could properly deny.

The history of the Constitution reveals the purpose of the Ninth and the Founders’ intent: to protect what constitutional lawyers call unenumerated rights — those rights the Founder assumed and felt no need to specify in the Bill of Rights. Unenumerated rights include, for example, the right to privacy. In the America of today, unenumerated rights account for freedoms like a woman’s right to abortion. …

***End Quote***

So the next time any politician talks about a “right”, remind them that the Constitution reserves it to the people and he should shut up!


TECH SOFTWARE: ACT2007 has its problems

Monday, April 23, 2007

http://weblog.infoworld.com/gripeline/archives/2007/
04/some_sage_advic.html

http://tinyurl.com/3xoyjt

April 23, 2007
Some Sage Advice

***Begin Quote***

Act 2007 Premium for Workgroups is reliant on SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. It turns out that the very installation of Act breaks all of our other SQL instances. That includes Sharepoint, Backup Exec and other critical apps. It’s a one-way upgrade too. So there is no ‘uninstall.’ The cure? Uninstall SBS2003 and reinstall. Oh, and yes, the files that Backup Exec has recorded — unusable.

***End Quote***

Ed (Gripeline) Foster always has some good “heads up” type stuff.


INTERESTING: Don’t annoy the wild animals! (Seems obvious?)

Monday, April 23, 2007

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/china//
article1690634.ece?Submitted=true

http://tinyurl.com/34phxr

April 23, 2007
Catapult boy is eaten after taunting crocodile in pen

***Begin Quote***

The official Xinhua news agency said: “One of the irritated crocodiles bit Liu’s clothes and dragged him into the water where he was eaten by a swarm of crocodiles.” His companions then raised the alarm.

***End Quote***

Remember the Darwin awards?

http://www.darwinawards.com/

Honoring those who improve the species…by accidentally removing themselves from it!


RANT: Yup, nothing anyone could do

Monday, April 23, 2007

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/lelong5.html

Bloomberg’s World
by A.D Lelong

*** begin quote ***

Here is how Bloomie saves lives. On the exact same day he told rational people they were sick, we had a murder suicide in Queens. A 20-year-old man, with a history of mental disturbances, shot and killed his mother, his mother’s invalid boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s hired nurse. He then wounded a nephew, and turned the gun on himself. Before the incident, the mother three times tried to get the cops to do something, but they said she needed a court order. The victim’s sister said, “He was threatening to kill her, and she told the police everything. The police said we can’t do anything about it.”

*** end quote ***

Or is it that any one could be a concealed weapons carrier. Exercising their (God Given, Inherent, Constitutionally protected) RIGHT to self defense.

Argh!


RANT: Managed to muck up my worktop

Monday, April 23, 2007

I like to have a partition of the hard drive for “my” data. Stuff I create and back up. Done it lots of times before. Tried it last night and now the pig won’t boot. Argh!


GUNS: Victims were helpless in the face of a …

Sunday, April 22, 2007

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2007/tle414-20070422-06.html

What An Individual Chooses To Do, They Are Responsible For
by Curt Howland

 

***Begin Quote***

Bad people can even kill some 3000 others in one action using only little knives and airplanes. And like the students and teachers at Virginia Tech, the passengers and crew on those airplanes were helpless in the face of a few little knives, because they were disarmed.

***End Quote***

think this catches the essence of the problem. A gun is the equalizer. By prohibiting them, the Gooferment is condemning you to death. If then the Gooferment can remove enough guns from the civil society, then they can start the death camps with impunity. What ARE you gonna do about it? With what — bare hands?

When they come thru my door to take away Fat Old White Guys, they may lose one or two thugs. If that happens a few times, then they may have a hard time recruiting thugs.


LIBERTY: Knock off Catholic schools

Sunday, April 22, 2007

http://www.lewrockwell.com/ostrowski/ostrowski82.html

You Are Cordially Invited to a Guerilla War
by James Ostrowski

 

***Begin Quote***

The government school system is finally beginning to realize its original mission: to knock off Catholic schools. The nuns and brothers had fought the good fight for 150 years. Without reinforcements, Catholic schools, with one-half of all private school students, are in deep trouble.

***End Quote***

I am amazed that parents send their children to public school. Thirteen years later, they “graduate” and you won’t know them. Where do they pick up the drivel? Yup, gooferment skool.

Have a conversation with one of them and you won’t believe your ears.

Some can’t form a coherent sentence. Others have no idea of math, history, or science. And, politics? Don’t even go there.

It’s all very sad and doesn’t portend well for us as a nation, a society, or as people.


TECH SERVICE: Assume the worst!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/business/
la-fi-consumer22apr22,0,5309582.
story?coll=la-home-headlines

http://tinyurl.com/2d43ly

Public Wi-Fi may turn your life into an open notebook
Don’t assume wireless hot spots are secure.
‘Sniffers’ may be hacking nearby.
By David Colker, Times Staff Writer
April 22, 2007

***Begin Quote***

Cheung was using a “sniffer” program that intercepted online signals as they flew back and forth from the laptops to a wireless modem hidden somewhere amid the coffee paraphernalia.

***End Quote***

That’s why if I have to use a public wifi, I use GOTOMYPC to “go home” and surf from there. It encrypts everything between my home desk top and my notebook. If I’m on an internet cafe’s machine, I assume there is a key logger in place.


INTERESTING:$8 Fee To Enter Manhattan

Saturday, April 21, 2007

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/
local_story_111122133.html

http://tinyurl.com/2x3mpo

 

Apr 21, 2007 4:13 pm US/Eastern
Coming Soon: $8 Fee To Enter Manhattan
Bloomberg Ready To Fight Albany For Congestion Fee
Andrew Kirtzman
Reporting

***Begin Quote***

(CBS) NEW YORK A controversial new plan is about to be implemented to improve the quality of life in New York City.

This weekend Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to introduce an $8.00 congestion fee for drivers who enter Manhattan below 86th Street.

***End Quote***

What nonsense.

There are no details, but one can be sure their will be a skew of new government jobs. Collection will be a nightmare. If they want to speed traffic, enforce the laws they have already. what stupidity.

Since all the cops, firemen, and bureaucrats drive in, and illegally park, does it apply to them?

P.S.: My Luddite friend insisted I blog about this. I thought it was just more “barbara streisand” and really not worth wasting electrons on. We’ll see.


TECH SERVICE: Blog Hosting Alternatives

Saturday, April 21, 2007

http://fortyplustwo.com/2007/04/21/
wordpress-and-finding-a-host/

http://tinyurl.com/3d4udd

 

WordPress and finding a host
April 21st, 2007
Bengt Wendel

***Begin Quote***

I currently run my blogs at WordPress.com which has its benefits (free and no need to worry about WordPress) but also limitations in things like themes and plugins (no java scripts allowed).

***End Quote***

me2

I would like a kool name, javascript, and some ads to make millions from my loyal readers. (All 6 of them!)

Seriously, I currently redirect from http://www.reinkefaceslife.com and, while I could pay WordPressDotCom to “domain” me, I don’t see the value. Perhaps, I too need to bite the bullet and go host it elsewhere? But if I go thru the effort, then I need to see a big payday. Or at least some payoff. Sigh,


INTERESTING: Clerk buys “mistake” and wins!

Friday, April 20, 2007

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=
2007-04-20_D8OKDBT00&show_article=1&cat=breaking

http://tinyurl.com/255rdo

N.C. Clerk Wins $200,000 by Mistake
Apr 20 11:01 AM US/Eastern

***Begin Quote***

CONOVER, N.C. (AP) – A store clerk’s slip-up at the cash register has paid off big time.

Wadburn Allen on Tuesday accidentally rang up two duplicate Powerball tickets for a customer in this western North Carolina town. At the end of the day, after she was unable to sell the second ticket, Allen paid for it herself.

The next day, Allen returned to the store and found the ticket matched all five numbers—earning her a $200,000 jackpot.

***End Quote***

REMEMBER, remember, back in March when there was the big powerball jackpot. And, I wasted the two bucks buying the clerk’s “mistake”, Here it is! I’m telling you, if I hadn’t bought that mistake Mister Murphy (of Murphy’s Law fame) would have smacked me upside the head. As it was, he decided no lesson was required. Argh!

Here’s my post. http://tinyurl.com/24o7w7 Score one for blogging!

How do you think that customer felt sharing the jackpot with the “mistaken” clerk?

text


LIBERTY: “illegals” will still pour through.

Friday, April 20, 2007

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2007/
tle413-20070415-02.html

http://tinyurl.com/22lhld

Immigration and Integrity
by L. Neil Smith

***Begin Quote***

You could station a sentinel along every mile, and “illegals” would still pour through. Add to that the Pacific coast, the border with Canada, and the imaginary line all these antis focus on, between Mexico and the United States, and eventually it will dawn on you that the only way to keep America secure is by (A) abolishing the welfare state, (B) enforcing the Second Amendment, and (C) running a strictly non-interventionist foreign policy. Every one of those measures is sensible and easy, but they’re career-enders for politicians and their hangers-on.

***End Quote***

I don’t see separating the Gooferment from Education and honest money.

Maybe it’s in there somewhere. I’m sure LNS would get to it soon after polishing off the other three! ;-(


INTERESTING: Inclusion is good for business

Friday, April 20, 2007

http://kentblumberg.typepad.com/kent_blumberg/
2007/04/inclusion_is_go.html

http://tinyurl.com/3cfccm

 

Inclusion is good for business

***Begin Quote***

Merrill now strives for diversity of thought, believing it will lead to innovation, growth and competitive advantage. Most of the writers about innovation also stress diversity of thought as a powerful source of innovation.

***End Quote***

Hey, I love Kent’s blog. And, he was kind enough to mix it up with me about my opinions on Merrill Lynch. It was sort of like watching the samurai carve up the turkey. Feathers every where.

Bottom line: It was interesting and educational.


YAHOO ANSWER: Unknown mortgage? Sure possible.

Friday, April 20, 2007

*** begin quote ***

Can someone take out a mortgage on your home without you knowing?

I got a phone call, left on answering machine, talking about a mortgage. I do not have a mortgage on the home . I am just worried that someone could fraudulently get a mortgage on my home. With people stealing identities how easy would it be?

*** end quote ***

ABOSLUTELY! One of the first indications of identity theft is when strange debts are recorded to “you”. In fact. there’s a horror story cited below. There’s a reason that most credit experts advise that you check your reports as often as you can. That’s discovery of bad things before they go to far. My credit card issuer verifies all purchase more than X dollars with a follow up call. Sometimes annoying but worthwhile. Depending up your state, you can get some reports for free, block access to your “identity” with a password, or other things that come with your location. As a NJ Notary, I am very sensitive to fraud. A notarized power of attorney is gold to a fraudster. I’d suggest that you guard your signature. I use one on “financial” documents and another as a throw away. That is when I charge at Home Depot, I use “fjreinke”. When I open a bank account, I use my full name “ferdinandjreinke”. It’s a little trick but I like it. Also, never use the same password everywhere. Also, when you give answers to security questions, lie. You have to remember your lies, but that a small price. I’d love to see the scammer’s face when he answers the security question “what’s your wife’s name” and gets told the right answer is the wrong one!

Source(s):
http://www.privacyrights.org/cases/victi

UPDATE: Best Answer – Chosen by Asker

Asker’s Rating: star star star star star
thank you ev1 some really good info


RANT: McGreasy teaching “ethics”!!

Thursday, April 19, 2007

http://www.nbc10.com/news/12493692/detail.html?dl=headlineclick

McGreevey Teaches Ethics At University
POSTED: 8:24 am EDT April 19, 2007
UPDATED: 8:34 am EDT April 19, 2007

*** begin quote ***

UNION, N.J. — Former Gov. James E. McGreevey is teaching ethics, law and leadership at Kean University.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported the nation’s first openly gay governor earns $17,500 and has been an executive in residence since Nov. 1.

When he was in office, McGreevey was often criticized for the appearance of ethical lapses.

*** end quote ***

Is this some one’s idea of a joke?


LIBERTY: Fight back

Thursday, April 19, 2007

http://article.nationalreview.com/
?q=MjdiNzFkMDNlOWE3MjY4YTVk
OGIzMTcwMjVhMGFhMDA

http://tinyurl.com/2ao3y4

 

April 18, 2007 12:00 AM
Wanted: A Culture of Self-Defense
Enough is enough.
By Michelle Malkin

***Begin Quote***

Enough is enough, indeed. Enough of intellectual disarmament. Enough of physical disarmament. You want a safer campus? It begins with renewing a culture of self-defense—mind, spirit, and body. It begins with two words: Fight back.

***End Quote***

Why are guns are the litmus issue?

Scratch a politician, hear what they say about guns, and you know EXACTLY where they stand on ALL liberty issues. Ask anyone that one question. You’ll know exactly how they stand on any other issue. Taxation, free speech, regulation, welfare, and on and on.

It’s the one question that “separates the men from the boys”.

Real men and women take responsibility for themselves. No “barbara streisand”. No excuses. No whining.

The children run to Mommy Gooferment and Father State to make all the bad bogeymen to go away.

A gun is not a talismen to prevent bad things from happening. Nor is it a magic wand to make all bad people to run away and hide. It doesn’t cure cancer, the common cold, or all the illnesses of the world.

Unrestricted gun ownership — with concealed or open carry — makes everyone safer! Sprinkle a few sheepdogs in the herd of sheep. And, then the bad guys are guessing.

It just seems so obvious to me!