TURTLES !!!!

Ok, I know you all have been dying to know the latest on the Ninja Turtles and their movie that is coming out next year. So, here is what and where I got my Info.

Teaser: The teaser trailer has been released and is on the Apple website. Go here to see it.

Fan Facts: This website is from a guy that went to ComicCon and got as many facts as he could. Other sources have similar info, so it seems like this guy did some good detective work.

More Facts. They confirm what has already been seen, but it's always good to get a 2nd source.

From the Teaser, I am a little disappointed that the Turtles were designed with a rather skinny physique, large triangle eyes, and sorta big beaks. It can be argued that they were trying for the original 'big feet', 'large head' design from the first graphic novels, but even in that the turtles were more stocky than what was in the teaser. I do, however, like the fact that it is going to try to stay true to the comics and cartoons, with references too, and that Peter Laird was involved as much as he could, but we will see what happens opening night...RIGHT !!!!!

I'm going to watch the trailer one more time.

Computer helps

At work I take care of all the laptops and computers in our main office, in our area offices, and on our Rapid Responses. Because of this, I have to find and maintain software that will keep these computers safe from intruders, hackers, spyware, malware, viruses, and the like. As such, I've run across some really good tools to help protect our computers. I find both good, bad, and ugly programs that claim to clean and protect. Also, I've had the opportunity to help some friends with their 'puters to keep them safe and functional. So now, I pass my help to you.

If you want to protect your 'puter, here are some software that I found to be the best-so-far. You can download them for free. Most of them do not run by themselves, so you will have to maintain them yourselves, but they are advanced enough to where they will install updates at the click of a button.

1) Ad-aware SE Personal Edition 1.06: This will scan your computer for tracking cookies, data-miners, and adware. It's pretty easy to use and can Update at the click of a button. You have to run the scan and update yourself.

2) Windows Defender (Beta 2): for x86 computers: A Microsoft program that prevents pop-ups and security threats. It will have to Validate your copy of Windows XP in order to get this. If you are running MAC OS X, a cracked copy of XP, or another copy of Windows, you probably won't be able to get this. Will update along with XP updates. You need to run this copy yourself, not self running. Will scan your computer. It's still in the Beta stage, but it's alright.

3) Spyware Blaster 3.5.1: I like this program. It's not the normal 'Scan & Clean' program. It actually prevents adware, spyware, tracking cookies, etc. from downloading onto your machine. Even cooler than that, it works for both Windows Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browsers. You just have to activate the protections and run the Update everynow and then to keep your database up to date.

4) CWShredder 2.19: (Click on the'Softpedia Secure Download (US)' link and save to your Desktop, then install) This one isn't that impressive but it does what it was created for: to remove traces of 'CoolWebSearch' hijacker tools and spyware. It seems like Spyware Blaster already covers this, but if you are extra paranoid, then you can download this for your computer as well. Needs to be Run and Updated manually.

5) SpyBot Search & Destroy: Spybot has kinda fell behind. It use to be one of the premier anti-spyware programs out there, but has not done much over the past couple years. It still works, just not as cool as SpywareBlaster or AdAware. Might still catch a few with it. Needs to be Run and Updated manually.

There are a tons of Anti-Spy, Anti-PopUp, etc., software out there. This list is just a few of the cooler/more well known ones. I just wanted to offer a flavor of what is out there. While it is good to error on the side of safety and maybe install 3 or 4 of these programs, it is not necessary to install all of them. Some cover areas that others don't. It's always a good idea to run a few of these every now and then just to keep you machine as clean as possible. Some/most will run with any OS, but some don't (like Windows Defender, which will only work with Windows XP).

If you want more choices then you can Google or Ask for more. Just type in something like 'Antispy' or 'Anti Popup' or 'Anti Adware'.

For Chris S.

Angels Fall First

An angelface smiles to me
Under a headline of tragedy
That smile used to give me warmth
Farewell - no words to say
Beside the cross on your grave
And those forever burning candles

Needed elsewhere
To remind us of the shortness of your time
Tears laid for them
Tears of love tears of fear
Bury my dreams dig up my sorrows
Oh Lord why
The angels fall first?

Not relieved by thoughts of Shangri-La
Nor enlightened by the lessons of Christ
I'll never understand the meaning of the right
Ignorance lead me into the light

Needed elsewhere...

Sing me a song
Of your beauty
Of your kingdom
Let the melodies of your harps
Caress those whom we still need

Yesterday we shook hands
My friend
Today a moonbeam lightens my path
My guardian

-Nightwish

Miss you, buddy.

Yew Nork, Yew Nork, It's a Tell of a Hown

It's pretty much old news now, but I went to New York a couple weekends ago and it was a blast. Among the more exciting parts that went on were the following:
1) Seeing 'Chicago' on Broadway
2) Seeing eSpencer and a lady pushing a baby stroller almost get killed by a 1,000,000 lb. tie down falling from a Billboard
3) Being witness to eSpencer belly dance to "Hips Don't Lie" in Times Square to the blairing radio of some Roto-Rooter guys
4) Having a 3 man Mariachi Band play ON the subway and witnessing a South American band (complete with drums) play in a Subway station.
5) Seeing the Statue of Liberty and bringing up Peter Venkman's question of wondering "Whether she's naked under that toga. She *is* French. You know that."
6) Walking around Times Square by myself after Midnight and getting the urge to eat KFC.
7) Eating at the Seidfeld resturant.
8) Seeing some people get arrested at Old Navy downtown for shoplifting
9) Going to the Museum of Modern Art and loving the Digital Art display.
10) Having the opportunity to go to the Midtown Comic book store and wishing I were a millionaire, so I could buy everything in the store. Like a bull in a china shoppe, or a baby in a candy store...or something like that

Last, but not least,
11) Spending an obscene amount of $$$ just to make it out of there alive.

It was a good little vacation before starting the school thing again. As such, only 2 semesters to go...

...hope I don't screw up.

Sorry, this post is going to be Uber-techy. I'll post about my trip to the NYC later. I just wanted to keep this find, it may even help you if you ever tried to do the updates on your Microsoft Office programs.

SKU011.CAB error

Taken from http://useful.wordpress.com/2006/01/26/sku011cab/

"Stupid annoying error upon installation - on a clean install or when setting up outlook under a new profile for example, solution below:

Regedit (start -> run -> type regedit)
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Software, Microsoft, Office, 11.0, Delivery.

There should be only 1 directory under Delivery, which is your DownloadCode (mine was 90000409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0150048383C9). Select that directory. On the right side of the screen, right-click on CDCache. Change the value to 0."

This deals with editing the registery, ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WHEN DOING STUFF IN THE REGISTERY. Back up your system first, just to be safe.

There is no need to reboot the computer, it should start working automatically. Updates can be done immediately afterward.