The Wal-Mart You Don't Know

 The giant retailer's low prices often come with a high cost. Wal-Mart's relentless pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas. Are we shopping our way straight to the unemployment line?  LINK

Nose Blowing Instructions

 

More useful advice from Wiki How: How to Use a Bushman's Hanky.

Have you ever been out in public without a handkerchief (hanky)? This is how to use a bushman's hanky! (the Australian terminology for blowing your nose without a handkerchief)

Here's Step #3:

Choose left or right nostril. This may seem trivial but in the scheme of things it is critical. Making the right choice can depend on several factors. Risk of causing a public nuisance, risk of breaking the law, risk of shocking those that thought you were once a sophisticated and cultured individual. If the above concerns you, but you are determined to splay your snout-slime regardless, then choose the nostril with the most amount of mucous.

After clearing the first nostril there's a very big chance you'll be prevented at "going the tonk" on the other nostril because a. someone will attempt to make a citizen's arrest, b. you will be chastised by your friends and rebuked for doing the most disgusting thing imaginable.

For Bald Babies

 If you're unfortunate enough to have a bald baby, there's hope: Baby Toupee.

Warning To Metal Heads

 

Nowadays, your musical preference can be a hazard to your health: Schoolgirl 'stabbed for love of AC/DC'.

A teenager who was stabbed in the eye during her school lunch break said a "gang mentality" singled out pupils for their music and fashion tastes.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, narrowly escaped losing her sight in the attack last November.

She had been the victim of a string of attacks, threats and had even received prank calls at home because she is what is known as "a metaler", Guildford Crown Court heard today.

How did it all start?

"Somebody asked me on the first day what kind of music I listened to, so I said AC/DC." She said that, as a result of this, she was told she was a "metaler" and found herself being shunned by other classmates.

People Sink

 

There's a fine line between faith and stupidity: Evangelist drowns trying to walk on water.

An evangelist who tried replicating Jesus' miracle of walking on water has reportedly drowned off the western coast of Africa. Pastor Franck Kabele, 35, told his congregation he could repeat the biblical miracle, and he attempted it from a beach in Gabon's capital of Libreville.

"He told churchgoers he'd had a revelation that if he had enough faith, he could walk on water like Jesus," an eyewitness told the Glasgow Daily Record.

"He took his congregation to the beach saying he would walk across the Komo estuary, which takes 20 minutes by boat. He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back."

Father-Son Team Set Watermelon Records

 

CONVERSE, La. - A father-son team from this Sabine County town broke the state watermelon record three times in one summer, with melons adding up to a total weight of 677 pounds.

The really big buster, at 252.4 pounds, was cut from its vine Friday in front of two witnesses from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

"We babied this thing for 147 days," Donnie Sistrunk Jr. said.

He and 15-year-old Rusty Sistrunk brought their first pair of record-breakers to the Louisiana Watermelon Festival in Farmerville July 27-28.

At 218.8 and 205.8 pounds, their melons took first and second places and beat the record of 202.6 pounds held since 2003 by Trey Patton of Downsville.

Rusty's grandmother Katherine Brumley took a 196-pound watermelon to Midway Baptist Church Sunday night. "We ate and ate and ate, and still had some to go home," she said.

Monster melons became the Sistrunks' hobby two years ago, when they bought a 120-pounder in a hotel lobby during the watermelon festival in Hope, Ark.

Their first goal was to grow a 100-pound melon. "We got 196 pounds," Rusty said.

This year, they grew 25 watermelons in two patches. The smallest weighed 190 pounds.

There are no secrets, just a lot of pampering, Rusty said. The Carolina Cross variety is bred to be big. The Sistrunks grow just one per vine, rotating each daily to keep it round and rot-free.

"We started them in cups in March and then put them in the ground on Good Friday. They were about 3 inches," Rusty said.

Since word of the Sistrunk's melons has gotten out, Patton and another former state record holder have made visits to the Converse watermelon patch, said Carla Sistrunk, Rusty's mother.

Rusty's grandparents, Katherine and Hubert Brumley of the Mitchell community and Oneta and Johnny Craig of Converse, and other family members brought cameras and camcorders to document the official Friday weigh-in.

Dedra Wise, of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry's weights and measures division, did her own documentation and filled out a form certifying the melon's weight, 38-inch length and 61-inch circumference.

Sistrunk said he and his son are keeping seeds from the record melon. "And if the good Lord is willing we'll do this again next year."

The world record is 268.8 pounds, set in September 2005 by Lloyd Bright of Hope, Ark.

"You're just 16 pounds away," said Hubert Brumley.

Man Throws Phone 292 Feet to Win Contest

 

HELSINKI, Finland - Ever heard of the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship? It was held in Finland this weekend. Old phones were supplied for contestants who were allowed to pick which kind of phone they wanted to throw.

The men's winner threw his phone 292 feet. The women's winner tossed her phone 167 feet, a new world record according to the organizers. She said she has tossed a cell phone a time or two before.

Another contestant said three things were needed to compete: technical skills, power, and a sense of humor.

There were four competition categories: men, women, juniors and freestyle.

Cold cuts peppered with viruses

 The Food and Drug Administration approved certain viruses as food additives, to be sprayed on cold cuts before packaging. The bacteriophages are added to defend the meats from Listeria monocytogenes, a bug that when ingested can cause a nasty bacterial infection in humans. The phages infect the bacteria, binding to the host and ultimately killing it. From the Los Angeles Times:

The FDA spent four years evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the "cocktail" of several phage at the request of Intralytix Inc., a Baltimore, Md., biotechnology company. In presenting its petition, Intralytix referred the government to more than 20 studies documenting the power of phage to fight infection, many of them performed in Russian and Eastern Bloc countries where phage therapies have long been popular in treating certain infections.

Intralytix also conducted studies of its own, trying out its phage mixture (consisting of six different phage that attack the food-poisoning bacterium Listeria monocytogenes) on more than 10 different kinds of deli meats, including sliced turkey, roast beef, bologna, chicken and even raw hot dogs, and found that they effectively killed all strains of listeria.

Link

Stupid stoner SMSes cop about getting baked, by mistake

 An 18-year-old ganja enthusiast in Oklahoma inadvertently texted a police officer instead of her fellow stoner pal. Txt hijinks ensued, and arrestage followed instead of the desired doobage. Snip:

Officer Phillip Short received a text message on his personal cell phone Thursday night regarding marijuana. He didn't recognize the phone number and didn't know who sent the message, so he decided not to respond.

The messages kept coming Friday and finally he decided to play along. Officer Short messaged the person back, setting up a meeting to do the drugs. "I said, yeah I remember who you are now and I have another sack if you want to buy it for half price, she said no I have plenty but you can help me smoke this one. I said okay can you come to Broken Arrow.”

Link

Thank You

 Thanks a million.

Helpful Mail Carrier

 

In the UK: Junk-mail tip postman faces sack.

A postman who advised people how to stop junk mail being delivered to their home could lose his job after bosses suspended him for misconduct.

One person said:

"Roger was just letting us know what Royal Mail should have told us in the first place. I don't agree with the suspension at all. It's ridiculous."

But then again, junk mail probably subsidizes regular mail. Stop the junk mail, and postage rates would increase. At least that's one argument I've heard.

Stone Toilet

 If you're going to spend $2,850 on a toilet, you may as well get something that will last: Fontera Stone Toilet.

Are You Ready for SP2?

Windows XP's Service Pack 2 has been available for a while now. If you're ready to install this major OS update, you can check out the info at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx

and find out how to get a hold of this important OS update.

To see what Service Pack 2 has to offer, click Learn About SP2.

Safer Registry Editing

Making changes to your computer with RegEdit can often be tricky. However, if you make use of one or both of these tips, your computer should be pretty much saved in case you make a mistake.

Before running RegEdit and making changes to it by hand, you can create a System Restore Point. To create a System Restore Point, you'll need to get to the System Restore Wizard. To access the System Restore Wizard, click Start, and then click Help and Support. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Using System Restore to undo changes, and then click Run the System Restore Wizard.

The next best thing to this is to open RegEdit, navigate to the key you wish to change, right click on it and choose Export. The export process will create a text file with a *.reg extension. Find a suitable folder for the reg file, name it, and then choose save.

If something "bad" happens after you make the changes, you can either use System Restore to restore your computer to a previous point, or simply navigate to the *.reg file you created, double click on it, and the original settings will be imported back into your registry. It will be as if you never made the changes.

Using REGEDIT With Safety

We often suggest Registry edits--and we often comment on the problems that can occur if you make a mistake using one of the Registry editors. Let's look at a way to make your Registry edits safer.

If you want to edit a value using RegEdit, the safest thing to do is save the key before you make changes. Let's say that you're going to make a change in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon.

Before you make the change, click the Winlogon key and choose Registry, Export Registry File. Give the file a name you can remember (say, "Winlog") and click Save.

With this key saved, you can later double-click the REG file to restore the original Registry settings.

Recycle as Much as You Want

You have a few options when it comes to the Recycle Bin. For example, you can specify how much disk space you want to devote to deleted (or potentially deleted) material.

To see what changes you can make to your Recycle Bin, right-click its icon and choose Properties. When the dialog box opens, you can select the amount of space used by the Recycle Bin. The default is 10 percent. If you like, you can also deselect the check box, Display Confirmation Dialog. With this deselected, you will no longer be asked if you're sure you want to move a file (or files) to the Recycle Bin. You'll still be prompted when you empty the Recycle Bin.

If you have more than one drive, you can select Configure Drives Independently and then set the space requirements for each drive. After you make all the desired changes in the Properties dialog box, click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box.

Cheer Up

 Type some text, and cheerleaders will spell it out: Cheer Up Generator.

For Big Pockets

 A Swiss Army Knife with 85 instruments.

 Don't even think of taking it on a plane.

Dog Accident

 

At least no one was injured: Woman crashes when teaching do to drive.

A woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region, crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday.

The woman, identified only be her surname, Li, said her dog "was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive," according to Xinhua.

"She thought she would let the dog 'have a try' while she operated the accelerator and brake," the report said. "They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car."

Be Still My Heart

 This is not an animated GIF:

Wacky Uses

Wacky Uses for well-known products. For example, what can you do with Colgate toothpaste?

• Polish silverware, silver, or gold.
• Clean piano keys.
• Remove ink spots from cloth.
• Dry up acne pimples.
• Remove crayon from walls.
• Remove scratches on glassware.
• Deodorize smelly hands.
• Remove Kool-aid mustaches from kids' faces.
• Remove tar from the bottom of bare feet.
• Deodorize "sour" baby bottles.
• Remove scuffs on shoes.
• Fill small holes in walls.

Finally, a way to remove Kool-aid mustaches!

For more stuff with wacky uses link

Hot off the press

Here’s a little news letter

link

Strange Facts.com

 A site dedicated to strange and unknown facts. You could easily waste a couple of hours here...

 Every year, kids in North America spend close to half a billion dollars on chewing gum!

An earthquake on Dec. 16, 1811 caused parts of the Mississippi River to flow backwards!

A person uses approximately fifty-seven sheets of toilet paper each day!

Honolulu is the only place in the United States that has a royal palace!

One gallon of used motor oil can ruin approximately one million gallons of fresh water!

More money is spent on gardening than on any other hobby!

In 32 years. there are about 1 billion seconds!

Rice paper does not have any rice in it!

Link

Grim Rides

 Grim Rides is a group of funeral car fans based in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley of CA. They get together once in a blue moon to hang out and talk hearses. link

Original S.S. Minnow for sale?

This boat ad for a 37-foot 1964 Wheeler Express Cruiser claims it was used as the S.S. Minnow in Gilligan's Island."

Link.

Now this makes sence

Baby Ruth Bars

1 1/3 cups margarine

2 cups brown sugar

1/3 cup white corn syrup

8 cups oatmeal

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

Melt margarine. Add brown sugar, syrup, peanut butter,

oatmeal and vanilla. Put in 9x13 cake pan.

Bake 350 for about 15 minutes.

Topping:

6 oz. package. chocolate chips

1/2 6 oz. package butterscotch chips

2/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup chopped nuts/peanuts

Melt together and spread on top. Cut into bars when cool.

Almond Joy Bars

Ingredients (26 servings)

4 c (8 1/2−oz) shredded coconut

1/4 c Light corn syrup

1 pk (11 1/2−oz) milk chocolate pieces

1/4 c Vegetable shortening

26 Whole natural almonds (1−oz)

Line two large cookie sheets with waxed paper. Set large wire cooling rack

on paper; set aside.

Place coconut in large bowl; set aside.

Place corn syrup in a 1−cup glass measure. Microwave on high (100%) 1 minute

or until syrup boils. Immediately pour over coconut. Work warm syrup into

coconut using the back of a wooden spoon until coconut is thoroughly coated.

This takes a little time, and yes, there is enough syrup.

Using 1 level measuring tablespoon of coconut, shape into a ball by

squeezing coconut firmly in palm of one hand, then rolling between both

palms. (HINT: Measure out all of the coconut then roll into balls.) Place 2

inches apart on wire racks. Let dry 10 minutes. Reroll coconut balls so

there are no loose ends of coconut sticking up.

Place milk chocolate and shortening in a 4−cup glass measure or 1 1/2 quart

microwave−safe bowl. Microwave on high 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture can

be stirred smooth and is glossy; stirring once or twice.

Working quickly, spoon 1 level measuring tablespoon of the chocolate

over each coconut ball, making sure chocolate coats and letting excess

chocolate drip down onto waxed paper. While chocolate coating is still soft,

lightly press whole almond on top of each. Let stand to set or place

in refrigerator. Store in a single layer in airtight container.

Keeps best if refrigerated. Makes 26.

Almond Joy Bars 9

3 Musketeers Bars

3 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 egg whites

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 bags milk chocolate chips (12−ounce bags)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar,

corn syrup, water, and salt. Heat, stirring, to boiling, then continue

to cook using a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature.

Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks. Don't use a

plastic bowl for this. When the sugar solution comes to 270 degrees F,

or the soft−crack stage, remove from the heat and pour the mixture in

thin streams into the egg whites, blending completely with a mixer set

on low speed. Continue to mix until the candy begins to harden to the

consistency of dough. This may take as long as 20 minutes. At this point

add the semisweet chocolate chips. Remember that the candy must

already be at the consistency of dough when you add the chocolate;

the nougat will thicken no more after the chocolate is added.

When the chocolate is thoroughly blended and the nougat has thickened,

Press it into a greased 9x9−inch pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 30

minutes. With a sharp knife, cut the candy in half down the middle of

the pan. Then cut across into 7 segments to create a total of 14 bars.

Melt the milk chocolate chips in the microwave for 2 minutes on half

power, stirring halfway through the heating time. Melt completely, but

be careful not to overheat. Resting a bar on a fork dip each bar into

the chocolate to coat completely and place on wax paper.

Cool until firm at room temperature, 1 to 2 hours. Makes 14 candy bars.

Use a mouse pad to open jars

 

Don't throw out that old mouse pad. Clean it off and keep it in the kitchen -- you can use it as a jar opener for that occasional stubborn lid.

what is woot?

 

What is Woot and who's behind it?

Woot.com is an online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap. It started as an employee-store slash market-testing type of place for an electronics distributor, but it's taken on a life of its own. We anticipate profitability by 2043 – by then we should be retired; someone smarter might take over and jack up the prices. Until then, we're still the lovable scamps we've always been. But don't take our word for it: see what the online community has to say at this Wikipedia article.

I see only one item, do you sell anything else?

No. We sell one item per day until it is sold out or until 11:59pm central time when it is replaced (see next entry for details). However, each item we sell is in stock and typically ships within 2-3 business days.

No matter what it is you buy from woot shipping is only 5 bucks. Whether it be a big screen tv or a flashlight.

Link

Ever wanted to make your own comic strip?

LINK

Mo. Man Sends Porn Pictures of Ex-Wife

 

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - A southeast Missouri man will go to jail for breaking into his ex-wife's e-mail and sending pornographic pictures of her to her relatives.

Alfred Seals, 47, of Cape Girardeau, pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor tampering with computer data, and was sentenced to 20 days in jail.

Seals gained access to his wife's e-mail account without her consent, then e-mailed the woman's family a Web site link and message stating, "something nice to see," according to a probable-cause statement.

The link took users to a Web site that contained several pornographic pictures Seals took of the woman when they were married.

The woman immediately suspected her ex-husband and went to police.

How to keep kids safe on the Web

The Web provides a wonderful resource for entertaining and educating children, but dangers do exist and it is important for parents to do their bit to keep their kids safe online.

This article features practical advice for both kids and parents.

Advice for Kids

The Internet is full of interesting web sites and is a great way to meet new friends across the world who share your interests.

There are a few simple things to remember to help you stay safe while you're surfing the Web:

- Avoid giving out your e-mail address to people you don't know

- Never give out your full name, telephone number, home address or the name of your school

- Delete any e-mails or attachments from people you don't know

- If you enter a web site or receive an e-mail that makes you feel uncomfortable, tell your parent or whoever looks after you

- Don't tell other people your Internet passwords

- Never agree to meet up with someone you have met on the Internet

- Try to avoid staring at the screen for too long without a break

Some interesting web sites for you to try:

www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies - CBeebies
www.kidscom.com - fun and games
www.yahooligans.com - search engine for kids
www.bbc.co.uk/schools - BBC Schools
www.homeworkhigh.com - Channel 4's homework site
www.jkrowling.com - Harry Potter author

Advice for Parents

There are many useful sites with advice about safety for children online including:

www.kidsmart.org.uk
www.nspcc.org.uk
www.nch.org.uk
www.safekids.com
www.protectkids.org

Restricting Internet use to a PC in a family room is one way you can keep an eye on your child's browsing activities. You will be able to take an occasional glance to make sure they are safe, without them feeling like you are watching their every move.

Letting them know your concerns and educating them about the dangers of the Internet will help them understand you are not trying to stop them enjoying the Web, just making sure that they have a safe experience.

There are also various software packages available that can help you monitor your child's browsing when you are not in the room.

These programs can record browser web addresses, e-mails, and chat software, and can also filter and block certain sites and even record what has been typed on the keyboard:

www.softwarexpress.com - The Internet Babysitter
www.cyberpatrol.com - SurfControl CyberPatrol
www.riasc.net/plg.aspx - Parental Lock Guard
www.contentwatch.com - ContentWatch ContentProtect
www.naomifilter.org - Naomi
www.surfsafe.co.uk - SurfSafe

If your kids regularly use Google to search for things, you can use SafeSearch to stop explicit content from appearing in the results.
Go to Google and click on Preferences next to the search box. Under SafeSearch Filtering, you can choose to block explicit images or text. Click Save Preferences and this setting will apply every time anyone uses Google on this PC.

In Windows it is possible to create a separate user account that can be restricted so that the user cannot install harmful software, remove crucial files or change Windows settings.

Create a new user account for your child by going to Control Panel and clicking on User Accounts. Click Create a new account, choose a name and choose a Limited account then click Create Account. Note that some programs may not work correctly with Limited accounts.

You may also wish to put a password on your own Administrator account so that your child cannot use it. Go to Control Panel, User Accounts and Change an account, then create a password for your account.

If your child regularly uses chatrooms, instant messaging or social networking sites, there is an electronic identity card service they can use to verify who they are talking to: Net-ID-me

Astronomers: Pluto no Longer Planet

Pluto, previously accepted as the smallest planet in the Solar System, has been reclassified in a decision taken by astronomers at a gathering in the Czech Republic.

The decision to reclassify Pluto was taken in Prague during the Astronomers Congress organized by the International Astronomers Union (IAU). Astronomers gathered to vote on a new definition of planets and the proposal to increase the number of planets in the Solar System from 9 to 12. The voting, held among 2,500 astronomers from 75 different countries, resulted in the surprise cancellation of Pluto’s status as a planet and its reclassification as a “Dwarf Planet.”

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and has been widely accepted as the smallest and last planet in the Solar System. Recently, some experts claimed that Pluto should not be classified as a planet because of its frozen surface and much smaller mass in comparison to the other eight planets. If the IAU’s reclassification proposal had been accepted, three newly discovered celestial bodies would also have been accepted as planets. They are Charon 3, a satellite of Pluto, 2003 UB313, discovered in 2003, and a huge asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

The decision to demote Pluto from its status of planet means that all school and astronomy books with nine planets need to be re-written.

Just goes to show you what you know today may not be right tomorrow.

Internet Addiction Test (IAT)

How addicted to the internet are you?
LINK

Employers may face liability for connectivity addiction

Let's begin with a hypothetical situation: You are hired to do a job which requires you to drink alcoholic beverages. At the start, everything is fine, and you are in complete control. Over time, your employer begins to ask more from you, encouraging you to work overtime, and practically shoves the booze down your throat. Eventually, you become an alcoholic. How much responsibility does your employer bear for your alcoholism?

In that one case, the simple answer is "quite a lot." Of course, no job I know of requires such a dedication to "the sauce," but many employers do encourage a strong commitment to a different form of behavior; one which—it has been argued—is potentially addictive. According to a study soon to be released by researchers at Rutgers University—Camden, employers who encourage workers to remain connected all the time may soon find themselves on the hook for more than just Internet access fees.

Gale Porter, along with study co-authors David Vance and Nada Kakabadse, concludes that employers may be legally liable for creating an environment in which workers may become addicted to technology. "Employers rightfully provide programs to help workers with chemical or substance addictions. Addiction to technology can be equally damaging to the mental health of the worker," states Porter, an associate professor of management at the school.

Certain employers (though not all) may find it convenient and even desirable to hire workers who have a desire to remain connected. A connected worker can often be considered to be an informal "on call" resource—able to be contacted at odd hours and in a wide variety of geographic locations. Yet, according to Porter, that same trait can lead to "detrimental outcomes."

The press release sent out in advance of the study doesn't describe exactly what those detrimental outcomes might be, but we can guess that they might include breakdowns in social interaction, feelings of disassociation when separated from technology, depression, or even dogs and cats living together. Perhaps nothing more than a high score on the Internet Addiction Test will be enough to set the legal wheels in motion.

Porter admits that she knows of no current cases tying connectivity addiction to employer liability, but predicts that they may be on the way. She draws a comparison between our understanding of electronic addiction and the evolution of legal decisions targeting tobacco companies, beginning with basic theories advanced in the 1950s, and culminating with large court awards to smokers in the 1990s. "When professional advancement (or even survival) seems to depend on 24/7 connectivity," says Porter, "it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between choice and manipulation."

That may be true, and there is little doubt that sooner or later someone—perhaps a reader of Porter's study—will end up suing their employer for exactly the reasons she predicts. Of course, when that happens, a wealth of factors (such as an individual's pre-employment emotional state, or any steps the employer might have taken to discourage addiction) will have to be weighed before any legal precedents are etched in stone. In any event, it's unlikely that we will see any large scale shakeups on the level of the tobacco industry rulings.

Freeware: AVG Anti-Virus

Double-click the file you downloaded, and click Setup. Click Yes to agree to the License Agreement and then you will need to type in the serial number you received in the second e-mail. Accept the default Install location by clicking Next, and click Next again on the Program Folder Icons screen.

On the Configure Protection screen, leave all items crossed and go to the next page. Leave Allow Automatic Update crossed, click Next and if you wish to you can read the Readme which has more information. Click Next and then OK to restart your PC.

After your PC has restarted you should see the First Run Wizard screen appear. Click Next then Update Now (you will need to be connected to the Internet first). Wait for AVG to download any available updates and then click OK when it has finished. After AVG has updated itself, click OK.

The main AVG Anti-virus window now appears. You can choose to Run Complete Test now (recommended) which will scan your system for any viruses currently on your PC (this may take a while). If possible the program will 'heal' any infected files, or if it is unable to clean these files it may move them to its 'Virus Vault' where the infected files are kept in a state where they will not be able to harm your computer, but can be retrieved later if necessary.

How Often Should I Run AVG Anti-Virus?

The AVG Anti-Virus system contains several programs which will continuously monitor your system, but it is recommended that you run the AVG program regularly (perhaps once a week) to check your computer for viruses. AVG Anti-virus will check for updates automatically, also remember you can access the main screen by right-clicking the AVG icon on your taskbar and selecting Run AVG Anti-virus. LINK

What Are Viruses?

Computer viruses are malicious programs designed to cause annoyance and even damage to computer data. They spread by infecting files or by automatically sending e-mails to everyone in your address book.

What Can I Do About Them?

First of all you should try to be careful when opening e-mail attachments. Many viruses are spread as files attached to e-mails, often trying to lure you into opening them with titles like 'Open me' or 'You have won..'.

You may even receive a virus mail from someone you know, who won't even know that the mail has secretly been sent from their account by a malicious virus program. As a general rule, you shouldn't open an e-mail attachment unless you are expecting to receive one and you know who it's from.


Make sure you all ways have antivirus protection. Keep it updated and scan with it regulary.

WinRAR benefits

• Using WinRAR puts you ahead of the crowd when it comes to compression by consistently making smaller archives than the competition, saving disk space and transmission costs.
• WinRAR provides complete support for RAR and ZIP archives and is able to unpack CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, ACE, UUE, BZ2, JAR, ISO, 7Z, Z archives.
• WinRAR offers a graphic interactive interface utilizing mouse and menus as well as the command line interface.
• When you purchase WinRAR license you are buying a license to the complete technology, no need to purchase add-ons to create self-extracting files, it's all included. One price, one payment, once.
• You also receive the benefit of a life-time use of the WinRAR archiver. No upgrade fee to pay. When a new release is made, simply download and install, your license is valid for life.
• WinRAR is easier to use than many other archivers with the inclusion of a special "Wizard" mode which allows instant access to the basic archiving functions through a simple question and answer procedure. This avoids confusion in the early stages of use.
• WinRAR offers you the benefit of industry strength archive encryption using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with a key of 128 bits.
• WinRAR supports files and archives up to 8,589 billion gigabytes in size. The number of archived files is, for all practical purposes, unlimited.
• WinRAR offers the ability to create selfextracting and multivolume archives.
• Recovery record and recovery volumes allow to reconstruct even physically damaged archives.
• WinRAR features are constantly being developed to keep WinRAR ahead of the pack.

LINK

open source software

If you want to write a letter on your PC, play videos, create music files, or edit images, you need to use a piece of software to help you perform that task and that usually means shelling out cash.

However, there is an alternative - a huge range of software available on the Internet to carry out virtually any task you can think of. And it's absolutely free.

Open source software is software whose code is made available to anyone who wants to copy or modify it. This way, the software can adapt, evolve and improve through input from its community of users.

SourceForge.net is the first place to look to find and download open source software. Categories include desktop applications, games, multimedia, and security.

Wikipedia features a large list of open source software in categories such as data storage, document editing, education, games, media, networking and security.

10 of the best open source software are listed below:

• OpenOffice.org - office suite, alternative to Microsoft Office
• Mozilla Firefox - web browser, alternative to Internet Explorer
• GIMP - image editing, alternative to Photoshop
• Notepad++ - text editor, alternative to Windows Notepad
• phpBB - build messageboards
• RazorLAME - encode audio to mp3s
• Audacity - audio file editing
• Media Player Classic - play music and video files
• FileZilla - transfer files
• 7-Zip - file compression

Keyboard shortcuts

• Windows key - access Start menu
  
  
• Windows key + R - open Run window
  
  
• Windows key + Pause - open System properties
  
  
• Windows key + D - minimise/restore windows
  
  
• Windows key + F - open Search window
  
  
• Windows key + F1 - open Help and Support Center
  
  
• Windows key + E - open Windows Explorer window
  
  
• Windows key + M - minimise all windows
  
  
• Windows key + TAB - move through open windows on Taskbar
  
  
• Windows key + SHIFT + M - restore all windows
  
  
• Hold CTRL while dragging - makes a copy of selected item
  
  
• Hold CTRL + SHIFT while dragging - makes a shortcut to selected item
  
  
• CTRL + ESC - open Start menu
  
  
• CTRL + C - Copy
  
  
• CTRL + X - Cut
  
  
• CTRL + V - Paste
  
  
• CTRL + A - Select all
  
  
• CTRL + Z - Undo
  
  
• CTRL + B - Bold highlighted text
  
  
• CTRL + U - Underline highlighted text
  
  
• CTRL + I - Italicise highlighted text
  
  
• CTRL + Plus key - increase text size (Firefox)
  
  
• CTRL + Minus key - decrease text size (Firefox)
  
  
• CTRL + ALT + DELETE - open Task Manager
  
  
• ALT + underlined letters in menus - open menu item
  
  
• ALT + double-click mouse - show Properties of object
  
  
• ALT + ENTER - show Properties of selected object
  
  
• ALT + F4 - close current window or program
  
  
• CTRL + F4 - close window within program
  
  
• ALT + TAB - switch between open windows or programs
  
  
• TAB - move forwards through control items/ links in current window
  
  
• SHIFT + TAB - move backwards through control items/ links in current window
  
  
• ENTER - click selected control item
  
  
• BACKSPACE - move up one folder level
  
  
• SHIFT + DELETE - Cut selected text or permanently delete selected object
  
  
• SHIFT + F10 - right-click selected item
  
  
• HOME - go to start of current line
  
  
• END - go to end of current line
  
  
• CTRL + END - go to end of current document
  
  
• PAGE UP - move up through current document or web page
  
  
• PAGE DOWN - move down through current document or web page
  
  
• PRINT SCREEN - take snapshot image of current screen
  
  
• ALT + PRINT SCREEN - take snapshot image of current window
  
  
• Hold SHIFT when inserting CD/DVD - prevent auto-run
  
  
• F2 - rename selected item
  
  
• F5 - refresh current window/ web page
  
  
• F6 - move through window panes
  
  

World will end on 9 September 2006

Overseer Yisrayl Hawkins coming to you from the house of Yaweh in Abilene, Texas. According to Mr. Hawkins and his interpretation of Biblical prophesy, nuclear war will erupt on September 12, 2006, and one third of the humans on the planet will perish. What do you think Mr. Hawkin's excuse will be in the event that nuclear war does not break out on September 12? Link

HOWTO make a fly-powered match-plane?

This HOWTO purports to explain the creation of a fly-powered matchstick airplane. Despite the lavish and handsome illustrations (and the precedent in the form of young Nikola Tesla's june-bug-powered motor) I don't really imagine that this would work, and if it did, it would be pretty squick. Link

FreeEnigma: easy privacy for webmail

FreeEnigma brings cryptography to webmail, with an ingenious set of free and open browser plug-ins that work with Yahoo, Gmail, and others. The plugins implement a version of GPG (the free/open version of Pretty Good Privacy) and scramble and de-scramble the text in your webmail before you send it and after you receive it, reducing the amount of information that webmail providers have on your communications. This is long overdue, as webmail and other hosted mail solutions are a ticking bomb, just waiting for a hacker, spook or copper to come a-knockin', there to get a look at your private communications. Though this is miles and miles better than the privacy that plain webmail delivers, there are a couple of ways in which this is less than perfect -- the system doesn't protect the To: and From: and Subject: information in your email; an adversary might be able to harm you just by knowing the fact that you've gotten encrypted mail from a specific person. Link

The Taste Test

A college professor was doing a study testing the senses of first-grade schoolchildren, using a bowl of fruit lifesavers. He gave all the children the same kind of lifesaver, one at a time, and asked them to identify them by color and flavor.

The children began to say:

"Red............cherry,"

"Yellow.........lemon,"

"Green..........lime,"

"Orange........orange."

Finally the professor gave them all honey lifesavers.

After eating them for a few moments none of the children could identify the taste.

"Well," said the professor, "I'll give you all a clue. It's what your mother may sometimes call your father."

One little girl looked up in horror, spit hers out and yelled: "Oh My God!! Spit them out everyone, they're arse-holes!"

Freeware: PIXresizer

Works in Windows 9X, ME, 2000 & XP

http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm

PIXresizer is a photo resizing program from BlueFive Software.

Pixresizer can be used to easily create web and email friendly versions of your images with reduced file sizes.

The reduced files are saved in a different folder, so your original images are not altered at all.

PIXresizer can also convert between image formats (JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG and TIFF). It can rotate images, convert to grayscale and resize multiple images in batch mode. This is A great tool for webmasters and digital photographers.

Freeware: Spybot Search and Destroy

Works in Windows 9X, ME, 2000 & XP

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php

Download from PCWORLD

Download from Download.com

Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer.

What is spyware? In easy terms, spyware is software that transmits personally identifiable information from your computer to some place in the internet without your special knowledge.

How do you know if you have spyware on your system? If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware.

Spyware is not a program you install itself, but small add-ons, to programs that you might install. In most cases, the EULA somewhere has a few lines telling you about privacy matters, but typically most users don't read the complete EULA and never know they got spyware on their system.

Some popular programs that install Spyware on your computer are: Kazaa, BearShare, AudioGalaxy, Gator, Bonzai Buddy, Comet Cursor, WebHancer, Brilliant Digital, CommonName, & Trickler.

If you want to learn more about spyware and see a list of programs to avoid, go to http://www.spywareinfo.com

How to Remove the Speaker Icon

There is a little speaker icon that lives in the lower-right of your screen right next to the clock. This icon enables you to adjust the Volume on your computer by clicking on it. If you want to remove this icon:

Click on "Start", point to "Settings" and click on "Control Panel".

Double click to open the "Multimedia" or "Sounds & Multimedia" window.

Click to remove the check mark from "Show Volume Control on the Taskbar".

If you want to put the speaker back, just follow the directions and click to put a check mark back in the box.

Want to quickly get back to the desktop when you have multiple windows open?

Just press the Windows key on your keyboard and the letter D.

The windows key is on the bottom row of your keyboard between the Ctrl and Alt keys. It has the windows symbol on it.

To bring the windows back up to the way they were before, just press the same key combination again.

Close That Window

Have you ever found yourself on the internet when suddenly a full screen advertisement pops up and you can't find the X to close it?
I hate it when a web site tries to trap me with a full screen page with no visible way to close the page.
With this tip, you won't be stuck again. Simply click once on the offending page, then hold down the "Alt" key on your keyboard and press the "F4" key. This will close the window that you just clicked on.
To help you remember, just write Alt+F4 on a sticky note and stick it on your monitor.

Run to a Web Page!

A quick way to get to a website if you know the URL and don't want to wait for the home page of your Internet browser to load first, is to click on Start and then Run. Type the URL in the Run dialogue box and press the enter key. As long as you are running Windows, your default browser will automatically start, and take you directly to that web page.

Diet Coke+Mentos=Human experiment: EXTREME GRAPHIC CONTENT

This is what hapens when you eat Mentos and drink Diet Coke at the same time. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT!

GHOST RIDE THE WHIP (totally stupid)

Don't Download This

An MP3 download from Weird Al: Don't Download This. I'm not sure what to do. Download it or not? What a perplexing quandary. It's a real predicament. A sticky situation, as it were.

Farmer Helps Nab Armored Car Suspects

FARMINGTON, Mo. - Farmington police have arrested three people suspected of stealing an armored car, thanks in part to crime scene pictures taken by a local farmer.

Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said the farmer got pictures of the suspects Friday afternoon after the trio allegedly hijacked an armored car, stole the money inside and then dropped the car off on a remote country road. The farmer had the road under surveillance because of vandalism on his property.

Pictures showed a pickup truck and sedan driving away from the scene. The images were shown on the television news, and soon police got calls that led them to the truck's owner, Scott Ian Mackinnon, 25, of Desloge, on Friday.

Mackinnon then led police to Eugene M. Ford, 58, of St. Louis County, and his daughter, 22-year-old Leann Dotson of rural Jefferson County, police said.

Ford and Dotson were arrested Saturday. All three suspects are charged with first-degree robbery and felony stealing over $25,000.

Dotson also was charged with armed criminal action.

Baker said a woman approached the armored car driver at a gas station and threatened him with a revolver before stealing the car.

Bond was set at $250,000 for each suspect. Police said they recovered stolen cash and a revolver used in the robbery.

Kitten Gets Wedged in Car Dashboard

ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Curiosity didn't kill the cat. But a kitten got stuck behind the dashboard of a woman's SUV after climbing through a hole in the glove compartment.

The woman went to the Rockaway Township Municipal Building for help after food wouldn't lure the tabby out.

Rockaway Township animal control officer Dan McDonald and veterinarian Steven Hodes tried to grab the cat. But the frightened animal just crawled deeper into the dash.

The vet managed to inject the kitten with an anesthesia and they pulled the drowsy feline out unharmed without having to dismantle the dashboard.

McDonald said the woman has a friend who might adopt the kitten.

Donor Offers Wis. Mower Driver a Scooter

MILWAUKEE - An anonymous donor has offered a motorized scooter to an 85-year-old man who was recently told he couldn't use his riding lawn mower on sidewalks to get around his suburban neighborhood.

Carol LaFontaine, director of the Cedarburg Senior Center, said Tuesday the woman contacted the center after reading recent news reports about Benjamin Steinbach riding his mower in Cedarburg.

The device was expected to be delivered to Steinbach later Tuesday, she said.

"It had been purchased for the woman's mother, but the mother barely used it," LaFontaine said. "The donor felt that, if someone could benefit from it, it was better that the scooter be used."

Steinbach had been getting around his neighborhood on his riding mower since the state took away his driver's license two years ago because of health reasons. He'd been making trips to the supermarket, hardware store and City Hall.

But, after hearing about Steinbach's treks recently, Cedarburg Police Chief Tom Frank noted that state law allows only a few vehicles on sidewalks, such as motorized scooters, wheelchairs and the new Segways.

The Grafton-Cedarburg Rotary Club agreed to make the arrangements Tuesday to get the scooter to Steinbach, said its president, Chad Curran.

Steinbach said he was excited about the prospect of getting it, but wouldn't make a final decision on whether to accept it until it was delivered.

However, he added: "I think I should accept it. Then I can drive on the sidewalk."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which first reported on the matter Monday, reported that others had also contacted the newspaper about donating a scooter or donating cash toward the purchase of one.

Curran said that his club had been planning to offer to purchase a scooter for Steinbach, but was happy to deliver the device instead.

"It's a great opportunity to help a longtime member of the community," he said.

The police chief said Steinbach could drive the scooter on the sidewalk.

"I'm happy for him," the police chief said.

Bad Humor Memos From The I.T. Dept.

1. When an I.T. person says he's coming right over, go for coffee. That way you won't be there when we need your password. It's nothing for us to remember 700 screen saver passwords.

2. Send urgent email all in uppercase. The mail server picks it up and flags it as a rush delivery.

3. When an I.T. person tells you that computer screens don't have cartridges in them, argue. We love a good argument.

4. When the printer still won't print after 20 tries, send the job to all 68 printers in the company. One of them is bound to work.

5. When you're getting a NO DIAL TONE message at home, call computer support. We can fix your telephone line from here.

Send a quick picture

When you see a graphic on the Web site that you must send to a friend right away press CTRL+ M, than drag and drop the graphic. This immediately opens a New Message Composition window. Now grab the image and drop it into the message body. That’s it - address and send the message as you would normally.

Bookmark Quickly

A fast way to add a web page to your favorites, or bookmarks (depending on what browser you use) is to hold down the CTRL key and press the D key once. Go ahead and give it a try. This page should now be in your Favorites!

To delete temporary internet files:

Click on Tools, Internet options, and Advanced.

Scroll down till one sees empty temporary internet files when browser is closed.

Put a check mark there.

Files do not accumulate that way.

One-Click Shutdown

Follow these directions to create a one-click shutdown shortcut on your desktop:

1. On your desktop, right-click on a blank spot and point to New, then click on Shortcut.

2. In the "Create Shortcut" window, type the following depending of the version of Windows you are using.

For Windows 95, 98, or Me type (or even better, copy and paste):

C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows

For Windows XP type or copy:

SHUTDOWN -s -t 01

3. Click the "Next" button.

4. Name the shortcut whatever you would like, and click the "Finish" button. Now whenever you want to shut down, just double click on this shortcut.

You can shutdown Windows 2000/NT by pressing ALT-F4 from the desktop, which is the same as clicking Start, Shutdown.

When other applications are open, ALT-F4 will close them one at a time.

Password Protect Folders in XP

Password Protect Folders in XP

Do you share a computer with other users and want some extra security on your folders? There are two ways to password protect a folder built into Windows XP (for other Windows flavors, there are some freeware/shareware programs out there).

#1 If you have a log in password for your account, this can be used to protect folders from other users. Your hard drive must be formatted using NTFS (which it probably is unless you're dual booting with another operating system). Here's what to do...

Right-click the folder that you want to make private and choose "Properties" (or Alt+Double-click). Go to the "Sharing" tab and check the "Make this folder private" box.

Click Apply . If you do not have a password on your account, a box will pop up asking if you want to assign a password. This must be done if you want to make the folder private, so click Yes . You will need to use your password to log on to your computer from then on.

Type in a password then confirm it. Click the "Create Password" button then close the Password window.

Click OK in the Properties dialog box.

Now anyone else logged on to your computer can't access that file without knowing your password.

#2 If the Folder is Zipped you can give it a unique password.

Just double-click the zipped folder. In the top menu select File then click "Add a Password".

Type a password into the Password box. Then again in the "Confirm Password" box.

Now, you are the only person who can access files in this folder. The folder can be opened allowing the files to be seen, but you are the only one who can access them.

Don't you feel more secure now?

Crashed car gets parking ticket

Crashed car gets parking ticket

A parking warden has been criticised for writing out a ticket for a car - after it had been involved in a crash.

The VW Golf was slapped with a £100 fixed penalty fine within hours of the accident.

Amazingly, the stranded car was given another ticket the next day by the same warden.

Passerby James Pennant said: "I was flabbergasted. The VW was clearly undriveable and the car it hit was on the other side of the road.

"It was obviously the scene of an accident. Someone could have been killed or badly injured - but that didn't stop him writing out a ticket. I told the warden what he was doing was atrocious but he just told me to go away."

It is believed no one was hurt in the accident in Barkingside, Essex.

A spokesman for parking firm APCO A apologised and said the tickets would be cancelled.

According to the Mirror he added: "When the attendant arrives for his next shift he will be asked why on earth he did what he did."

10 things you shouldn't buy new

Why waste money on shiny packaging and a fancy store when you can find it online and 'pre-owned' for a fraction of the cost? Here are your best buys.

Few people really enjoy wasting their hard-earned money, but many of us do it every day by buying new. We could do our pocketbooks, and the environment, a big favor by opting to be the second owner of some of the stuff we buy.

Obviously, some things are best purchased new; lingerie pops to mind . But lots of other stuff depreciates quickly while still having plenty of useable life left. Here are 10 items where the cost vs. use equation strongly tilts toward buying used.

• Books, books, books.

But the reality is that most books don't get read more than once, if that, and they're astonishingly easy to find used at steep discounts -- if not absolutely free.

Your local library, for example, may allow you to reserve titles online and then deliver them to your nearest branch for pick-up. Used book stores abound, both in your town and online. If you're looking for a potboiler to get you through your next cross-country flight, just stop by almost any yard sale and pick up four for $1.

Exception: Reference books you'll use again and again. For example, I bought a deeply-discounted copy of Cheryl Mendelson's excellent "Home Comforts." That was after checking the book out at the library and running up a small fortune in fines because I couldn't bear to part with it.

• DVDs and CDs. Some online retailers, like MSN Shopping and Amazon.com, now surface used versions of many of the DVD movies they sell new. You can find similar deals for online CDs (yes, Virginia, some of us dinosaurs still buy CDs). Other good hunting grounds for purchase of used items: movie rental chains like Blockbuster; used record stores; yard sales.

Exception: When you simply must have the latest release by your favorite singer/director/actor, right now. It can take a few days or weeks for the used versions to show up, and perhaps a few months for the price to get discounted enough to compensate for the greater hassle you might face trying to return a defective or unsatisfactory purchase.

• Little kids' toys. Parents know: it's all but impossible to predict which toy will be a hit and which will lie forlorn at the bottom of the toy box. So rather than gamble at full price, cruise consignment shops and yard sales for bargains. My husband's latest score: a plastic Push, Pedal 'N Ride Trike (retails for $28, he paid $10) that looks like new after a brief scrub.

Better than cheap, though, is free. Some parents set up regular toy-swapping meets, or you might be lucky enough to score hand-me-downs from friends and relatives.

Exception: Some parents get away with giving used toys for birthdays and holidays, but most of us (and our kids) have been fairly well brainwashed into believing that gifts should be purchased new. Try to opt, though, for classics, like sturdy wooden toys.

• Jewelry. Fat markups on most gems (100% or more is fairly common) means that you'd be lucky to get one-third of what you paid at a retail store, should you ever need to sell.

So let somebody else get socked with that depreciation. Find a pawn shop that's been in business for awhile, get to know the owner and ask him or her for recommendations. Some readers have had good results buying via newspaper ads, but I'd want to take the piece to a jeweler for an appraisal first.

Exception: You want something custom-made. Even then, consider buying used stones and getting them reset.

• Sports equipment. We may buy everything from badminton rackets to weight sets fully intending to wear them out, but too often they wind up collecting dust. Buy someone else's good intention and you'll save some bucks.

Happy hunting grounds: yard sales, newspaper and online ads, resale stores like Play It Again Sports.

Exception: Shoes, baseball mitts and anything else that will mold to the wearer's body. In addition, some people shun buying anything used if it has a motor, like a treadmill. They worry they won't get enough use out of the piece before it dies. Given how little use most such devices get before they're sold, though, you might want to take the chance.

• Timeshares. You could call these a notoriously lousy investment if you could call them an investment at all, but you can't -- because what real investment is guaranteed to lose 30% to 70% right off the bat?

That is, unless you buy used. There's a huge number of folks who caved in to three hours of hard sell and are now desperate to dump their shares.

Exception: Some of the higher-end properties in exclusive resorts don't lose much value, and may offer benefits like frequent-flyer miles that could be worth the extra money if you buy from the developer. Before you buy, though, check resale values online; don't take an agent's word for how much depreciation to expect. Also, a relatively new type of expensive time share, called a fractional interest, may actually gain in value over time.

• Cars. The average new car loses 12.2% of its value in the first year, according to Edmunds.com; on a $20,000 car, that's $2,440, or more than $200 a month. Some cars depreciate even faster, depending on demand, incentives offered and other factors.

Why not let someone else take that hit? Not only will you be able to save money (or buy more car), but you'll pay less for insurance. Cars are better-built and last longer than ever before, which means you're less likely to get a lemon. Companies like CarFax allow you to trace a car's history. Many late-model used cars are still under warranty, and a trusted mechanic can give your potential purchase the once-over to spot any problems. Take a look at the Used Car Research section of MSN Autos for a lot of great information.

Exception: You can pay cash and you really, really want that new-car smell.

• Software and console games. Buy used, and you'll pay half or less what the software cost new. Console games like those for the Xbox and Sony PS2 that list for $50 new, for instance, can often be purchased used for $20 or less a year after release.

But it's more than just a matter of economy. Letting someone else be the early adopter also allows you to benefit from their experience. You'll find more reviews and information on software that's been out a year or more (and you won't be that far behind the leading edge). The bugs will have been identified along with any workarounds, although you may have to live with some problems that are fixed in later versions.

Exception: If you do a lot of work with graphics, multimedia or image editing and you have a newer, more powerful computer, you'll probably want the state-of-the-art version. Finally, some software restricts the number of computers on which it can be installed, which can make it difficult (but not impossible) to transfer the product license to a new owner.

• Office furniture. Built to take a beating and last a lifetime, good-quality office desks, filing cabinets and credenzas are relatively easy to find even when a recession isn't cratering the local economy.

Exception: Some people balk at buying used chairs for the same reason they won't buy a used catcher's mitt -- it's had too many hours to mold to someone else's body.

• Hand tools. Well-made tools with few or no moving parts -- like hammers, wrenches, shovels, hoes, etc. -- can last decades with proper maintenance and are relatively easy to find at yard sales. If you're not going to use a tool frequently, you may be able to rent it or borrow from a friend or neighbor rather than buying something else to clutter up your garage. (Some neighborhoods even run tool-sharing cooperatives.)

Exception: You're a hard-core do-it-yourselfer and you need power tools, especially cordless versions. These have a relatively limited life span and you may not know how much time they've got left. If the tool is cheap enough, of course, that may not matter, but most often you'll want to buy new if the power tool will get substantial use.

Church Fires Teacher for Being Woman

WATERTOWN, N.Y. - The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job _ outside of the church.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday.

Mayor Jeffrey Graham, however, was bothered by the reasons given Lambert's dismissal.

"If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age," Graham said. "Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now."

Lambert has publicly criticized the decision, but the church did not publicly address the matter until Saturday, a day after its board met.

In a statement, the board said other issues were behind Lambert's dismissal, but it did not say what they were.

Endangered Manatee Spotted Off R.I.

WARWICK, R.I. - An endangered manatee made a rare appearance in Rhode Island waters during the weekend, a state Department of Environmental Management official said.

The manatee was seen Sunday in Greenwich Bay off the coast of Warwick. The large marine mammals are usually found only in the warm waters of Florida and the Carolinas.

DEM dispatcher Michael Mahoney said the manatee seen in Rhode Island appeared healthy.

It is not known whether the manatee is the same one seen earlier this month near Manhattan Island in New York. That manatee was tracked as it swam north along the coasts of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.

Manatees are protected by the Endangered Species Act. Florida wildlife experts counted 3,116 in their annual survey in February.

Police: Teen Posed As Reporter at Shea

NEW YORK - Ryan Leli loves the Mets. The Suffolk County teenager loved the Mets so much that authorities say he posed as a reporter to get into Shea Stadium and talk with players.

Police arrested the 18-year-old Leli Friday night at Shea just before the start of the New York Mets-Colorado Rockies game and charged him with impersonating a journalist, the Queens District Attorney announced Saturday.

Prosecutors say Leli told New York Mets management that he worked for NBC Universal and showed a fake NBC employee identification card so he could get press credentials.

Leli first used the press pass to attend an Aug. 10 game between the Mets and the San Diego Padres. Authorities said Leli used the pass to approach and chat with players including Mike Piazza before and after that game.

Leli used the fake NBC identification again Friday to get another press pass for the Mets-Rockies game.

Mets management apparently became suspicious and contacted authorities.

Leli was also charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal impersonation and criminal trespass.

He was arraigned Saturday in Queens Criminal Court and released on his own recognizance.

Leli was scheduled to return to court on Sept. 27. He faces up to seven years in prison if he's convicted.

Leli's attorney John Rapaway did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Church Fires Teacher for Being Woman

WATERTOWN, N.Y. - The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job _ outside of the church.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday.

Mayor Jeffrey Graham, however, was bothered by the reasons given Lambert's dismissal.

"If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age," Graham said. "Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now."

Lambert has publicly criticized the decision, but the church did not publicly address the matter until Saturday, a day after its board met.

In a statement, the board said other issues were behind Lambert's dismissal, but it did not say what they were.

Wheelies and more

Chair made from 4,000 CDs

The AOL Throne was built in the summer of 2003. It contains 4000 CDs, weighs at least 150 pounds, barely fits through doors, and plugs into an electical outlet. LINK

Who Is Better On The Computer

Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and God was tired of hearing all of the bickering. Finally God said, "Cool it! I am going to set up a test that will run two hours, and I will judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They did spreadsheets. They wrote reports. They sent faxes. They sent emails. They sent out emails with attachments. They downloaded. They did some genealogy reports. They made cards. They did every known job. But 10 minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder clapped, the rain poured, and, of course, the electricity went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed. The electricity finally flickered back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically and screamed, "It's gone! It's all gone! I lost everything when the power went off!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of diligent work. Satan observed this and became irate. "Wait! He cheated! How did he do it?"




God shrugged and said, "Jesus saves."

Cinema meets digital technology

Filmmakers have relied on film to make their movies for almost as long as the industry's been around.

Shooting on film may be expensive, but it has a special quality unrivalled by any other media, and though we are not necessarily aware of what is going on behind the scenes when we turn up at the box office, we are stepping into the world of 35mm film.

The release prints of movies arrive in projection rooms as 10,000 feet of film printed as a copy of the original.

So far the only sop towards digital in the analogue cinema world has been in the realm of sound.

But now, finally, film itself may be facing the final curtain as cinemas find the pull of digital forces irresistible.
LINK

Free Holy Water!

Hundreds of people flocked to a beach in the Indian city of Mumbai after reports the seawater had turned sweet.

Several people who drank the muddy water from the Arabian Sea said it had been changed by a miracle and could now cure illnesses.

Authorities in Mumbai said they collected samples for testing but warned against drinking the polluted water because of health risks. LINK

Bulldog Pups

What's cuter than a bulldog puppy? Well, lots of things...

Pups for sale english-bulldogs-r-us
Here's a $2,000 puppy named Banjo.

Just imagine how much it would sell for if its face wasn't all scrunched in!

stupid questions

things that make you go "hmmm", imponderables

They call them "Dumb Questions" at Brain Candy, and their sure that thiers is THE BEST collection anywhere

Sexual harassment at work-is it a problem for the self-employed? --Victoria Wood

Since Americans throw rice at weddings, do Asians throw hamburgers?

What do batteries run on?

LINK

Eavesdropping on a botnet

A security researcher deliberately infected a PC with a botnet worm, then monitored it via a network proxy that caught all of its communications with the botmaster that had enslaved it. The machine was hijacked into sending mountains of spam from "dozens of IP addresses and using forged sender addresses," "advertising everything from pornography to fake Rolex watches and pharmaceuticals."

"I have two machines here running in an isolated network. I infect one with the malware, and I have the other machine pretending to be the entire Internet," he explained. The second machine, known as a sandnet, is a custom-made tool for analyzing malware in an environment that is isolated, yet provides a virtual Internet for the malware to interact with. "I can sit back and see all the interaction up to point where it [the infected machine] joins botnet's control channel. Then I can take that information, go outside and replicate it. I can see what the real server is doing to get an entire picture of the operation," Stewart said. LINK

Cat gets bling bling

This kitty, named Sebastian, was given a gold grill by his human companion, dentist David Steele. Apparently, Sebastian has such a severe underbite that Steele was concerned they could be easily damaged. Each tooth cost around $900. From the Associated Press LINK

Super charger your Firefox browser

Fasterfox - performance and network tweaks for Firefox.

• Prefetch Links
  Dynamic speed increases can be obtained with Fasterfox's unique prefetching mechanism, which recycles idle bandwidth by silently loading and caching all of the links on the page you are browsing.
  
• Tweak Network
  Fasterfox allows you to tweak many network and rendering settings such as simultaneous connections, pipelining, cache, DNS cache, and initial paint delay.
  
• Page Load Timer
  A millisecond accurate page load timer tests the effectiveness of your settings.
  
• Block Popups
  A popup blocker for popups initiated by Flash plug-ins is also included.
  
• Locales included for Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, and Turkish. LINK
  

Firefox rediscover the web

Internet explorer just plain sucks. Take back the web switch to firefox for all your web browsing.

A Better Web Experience

Firefox 1.5 has an intuitive interface and blocks viruses, spyware, and popup ads. It delivers Web pages faster than ever. And it’s easy to install and import your favorites. Packed with useful features like tabbed browsing, Live Bookmarks, and an integrated Search bar, Firefox will change the way you experience the Web, for the better.

Faster Browsing

Enjoy quick page loading as you navigate back and forward in a browsing session. Improvements to the engine that powers Firefox deliver more accurate display of complex Web sites, support for new Web standards, and better overall performance.

Automatic Updates

The new Software Update feature makes it easy to get the latest security and feature updates to Firefox. Firefox automatically downloads these small updates in the background and prompts you when they are ready to be installed.

Tabbed Browsing

Use tabbed browsing to open multiple Web pages in a single browser window, and quickly flip back and forth. Drag and drop open tabs to keep related pages together.

Improved Pop-up Blocking

Firefox’s built-in pop-up blocker has been enhanced to block more unwanted pop-up and pop-under ads.

Integrated Search

Tap into the power of the Web’s most popular search engines with the built-in Search bar, and easily add new engines.

Stronger Security

Firefox keeps you more secure when you’re browsing the Web, closing the door on spyware, worms, and viruses. The Firefox community of developers and security experts works around the clock to monitor security issues and release updates to better protect you.

Clear Private Data

Protect your privacy with the new Clear Private Data tool. With a single click, you can delete all personal data, including browsing history, cookies, Web form entries and passwords.

Live Bookmarks

Stay up to date with your favorite Web sites and blogs. Use Live Bookmarks that update themselves automatically with the latest content from the Web.

Accessibility

Firefox 1.5 delivers easier navigation for everyone, including those who are visually or motor-impaired. Firefox is the first browser to support DHTML accessibility, which, when enabled by Web authors, allows rich Web applications to be read aloud. Users may navigate with keystrokes rather than mouse clicks, reducing the tabbing required to navigate documents such as spreadsheets. Firefox 1.5 (Windows version) is also the first browser to meet US federal government requirements that software be easily accessible to users with physical impairments.

Customize Firefox

Select new button controls for your toolbars, install extensions to add new features, or change the look of your browser with themes - the way Firefox looks and works is under your control.

Next Generation Web Support

Innovative new Web applications and services deliver a richer Web experience. Support for open Web standards in Firefox ensures you can get the most out of this emerging class of Web-based tools. LINK

Even dead people can't escape AOL

Maxine Gauthier doesn't own a computer. She doesn't know the first thing about Web browsing or sending e-mail. She's not even sure where to find a computer's "on" button, as she describes it.

Yet for the past nine months, she has been fighting one of the most persistent and some say irritating institutions in cyberspace: AOL, formerly known as America Online.

LINK

best free ware on the net

A Consignment of Freeware

Here is a list of freeware available on the internet. With applications ranginging from graphics to system to multimedia, this is a proof that there is still some good alive in this world...

3D Graphics
Anti-Virus
Anti Spyware
IRC Clients
Audio Players
CD/DVD Burning
Desktop Enhancements
Download managers
Firewalls
And so much more..........

LINK

Free Windows Vista Beta 2 copy(Directly from Microsoft)

Just answer the 8 questions correctly Here

here are the answers
1.Vista
2.Clarity
3.November 2006
4.True
5.Aero
6.All
7.All
8.512

Your Own Personal Best Friend

It’s a big, lonely world out there. We’ve all had times when we needed a friend, but none were around. Well, I’m here to change that. Now, no matter where you are or what type of friendship you need, you have a friend waiting to help. Do you need some good advice? LINK

If your desperate enough to bid on this. You need some seriouse help.