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The
mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to
its original size.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes
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Kerrville
Texas
830-895-5016 |
Welcome to
another issue of our weekly newsletter!
Something
for everyone.
No
one can dispute that the human brain is the greatest computer of all
time! But sometimes it requires a little nudge to grow new
cells. I also happen to
believe that hardware computers are very useful tools
which can
help to provide that nudge. That's why this
newsletter is not just full of computer-related information, but also
includes entertainment and educational items to tickle the brain cells.
There's something of interest for everyone in here so feel free to
share this issue and pass it along to your
friends and family...
What's In Here?
Lots of cool,
fun, and
informative stuff every week!
I'm dubbing this
week's issue
the Tatanka Iyotanka (aka Sitting Bull) Edition.
On this day in 1876, Sitting Bull successfully led Sioux and
Cheyenne warriors against General George Armstrong Custer and defeated
the U.S. 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Our Ctrl-Alt-Backspace
section includes special click-links to transport you
to educational and informational websites
about Sitting Bull.
Click any of
these links to go
directly to your favorite section...
Missed an
issue?
Check
out
past issues here...
 Hear
Ye! Hear Ye!
Sometimes
we have
special sales, important notices about virus outbreaks or
other technical
bulletins. Call 830-895-5016 if you're
interested in any sale items we might list here. But please click here to read our disclaimer before
visiting any third-party websites.
Comodo Firewall
Yesterday
I stumbled across a free third-party firewall product called Comodo and for
the better part of an hour it became my new toy. Being the curious sort
that I am, I downloaded and installed it onto my own Windows XP Home
Edition PC (Peanut). I carefully read the EULA and could not find
any reference to other bundled software riding on its
coattails. During the installation it cautioned me to remove any
other installed firewalls so I quickly disabled my Panda Titanium Firewall and
checked to make sure my Windows XP built-in firewall was also disabled.
After a quick reboot and consulting Comodo's excellent built-in
help files, it was up and running in a very short time. However, if you have
never used a third-party firewall product and you don't have the
inclination to roll up your sleeves to learn to drive this firewall,
then you're better off sticking with your automatic Windows XP
firewall.
Finally, I checked my PC and ran a complete anti-spyware scan to ensure
this
free product was not bundled with any spyware.
Thankfully, it came up completely clean so I can recommend this as a
certified spyware-free application and post it into our Microsoft
Windows Tips.
So if you like to tinker and want to play with a new firewall toy, then
Comodo Firewall just might be the ticket for you. Just be sure to
read and heed our disclaimer before installing this product.
Hacker Breaks into U.S. Agriculture Department
"A hacker broke
into the Agriculture Department's computer system and may have obtained
names, Social Security identification numbers and photos of 26,000
Washington-area employees and contractors, the department said." Click to read entire article...
http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?editorialsid=7552
Windows Live Executive Leaves Suddenly
"Microsoft Corporate Vice President Martin Taylor, who was a key
lieutenant of CEO Steve Ballmer’s and who was at the center of some of
Microsoft’s most high-profile efforts, has left the company suddenly." Click to read entire article...
http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?editorialsid=7544
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Kingston USB Flash Drives
& Automatic Backups
DataTraveler
USB Flash drives are ideal for home office, small business, schools and
promotions. They're affordable and put mobile storage in nearly
anyone's hands. Call us at 895-5016 and let us show you how to get the
most out of these units as a convenient backup media.
Click here to learn more...
http://www.kingston.com/flash/wmv_files/using_dt.wmv
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Latest Virus
Threats
W32.Kidala.E@mm
W32.Kidala.E@mm is a mass-mailing worm that opens a back door on the
compromised computer. It also lowers security settings and exploits
remote vulnerabilities.
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.kidala.e@mm.html
Trojan.Frogexer!gen
Trojan.Frogexer!gen is a generic detection for a .jpg file that contains an executable file.
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.frogexer!gen.html
 Fun
& Educational Stuff
Each
week we stumble across interesting, educational and fun sites on the
internet.
We hope you enjoy this section of our
newsletter as much as we do! But please click here to read our disclaimer before
visiting any third-party websites.
Just Maybe, It's Right Under Your Eyes!
I found an awesome assortment of small bags that
come in a many different patterns for almost any holiday or special
occasion. You can use these bags to package small birthday gifts, carry
small essentials, or even hang from your rear view mirror for good luck.
http://www.thebagsunderyoureyes.com/novelty.html
Do You Like Gardening?
Then here's a website that will promote your green thumb. It's loaded
with tips and helpful hints along with lots of links to other useful
gardening sites...
http://www.gardenstops.com/
Laptop Explodes at Japanese Business Conference
Here's a story about a laptop computer that simply exploded into a ball
of flames at a Japanese business conference. Not very good press for
the laptop manufacturer...
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32550
The Science of Superman
"Most of us would view the Man of
Steel as a purely fantastic creation.
After all, he has x-ray vision, leaps tall buildings in a single bound,
blows icy winds, is impervious to bullets—the list goes on. But
while a lot of the action in Superman Returns will undoubtedly be
impossible, much about the Last Son of Krypton is anchored in real
science." Click to read entire article...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060622-superman-movie.html
What Happens When Liquid Nitrogen Hits Water?
Check out this video and see what happens when a tub full of liquid nitrogen is tossed into a swimming pool...
http://www.collegehumor.com/movies/1695491/
Journey Into Chaco Canyon
Here's an awesome multimedia treat if you've never visited Chaco Canyon...
http://www.exploratorium.edu/chaco/index.html
Who Else Was Born on Your Birthday?
Find out at this website and see what famous or infamous personalities share the same birthday as yours...
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/
Who Were the Taino People and Where are They Today?
"Imagine the "Eden" called
Borikén. It was ruled by nature. A place that was almost
completely a rain forest from shore to shore. A place filled with
yagrumos, alelís, ceibas, orchids, wild mushrooms - some over 6
feet wide, over 100 species of palm trees, bamboo, elephant ear leaves
of the yautía, giant philodendron, giant ferns, mamey and guava
trees. A place where wildlife such as cangrejos, manatees, giant sea
turtles, iguanas, cotorras, and carpinteros lived undisturbed by man." Click to read entire article...
http://www.elboricua.com/history.html
World's Safest Table Saw? You Be The Judge.
"SawStop's 10” cabinet saw was developed from the ground up with a particular focus on safety and quality. It features a revolutionary safety system
that stops and retracts the blade (within 5 milliseconds) upon
accidental contact, drastically reducing the severity of user injury." Click to read entire article...
http://www.sawstop.com/
Top Ten Alien Encounters Debunked
"As a longtime investigator of
unusual phenomena, I have no doubt that UFOs exist. UFOs, are, of
course, Unidentified Flying Objects, and "unidentified" simply means
that what the eyewitness saw was not immediately recognized by that
person, at that time, under those circumstances." Click to read entire article...
http://www.space.com/top10_alienencounters_debunked.html
Google and Its Continuing Dark Fiber Mystery
"The market is still guessing about
Google's continued purchases of "dark fiber" and what that will mean to
the Internet. Yet another explanation was floated at a recent IT
conference: IPv6, the next-generation Internet standard." Click to read entire article...
http://tinyurl.com/p3yh3
Little Big Horn Photo Gallery
Here's a site with some photos of the Little Big Horn area...
http://www.mohicanpress.com/battles/ba04002.html
 Web
Hosting
Tips
Do
you
have a domain website hosting account with
us? If so, you'll want to check this section for handy tips
to
help make your website standout from the crowd. Sometimes
we'll
give tips about working with your Plesk Control Panel. But please click here to read our disclaimer before
visiting any third-party websites.
How To Change Your Plesk Control Panel Password
Check out this flash
tutorial that will show you how to change your Plesk Control Panel
password...
http://tinyurl.com/h4449
 Linspire
Linux Tips
Linspire
Linux is a great operating system designed to be the easiest of all
desktop linux distributions.
If
you haven't tried it for yourself yet, ask for a free demo CD the next
time we service your computer. But please click here to read our disclaimer before
visiting any third-party websites.
GnuCash
Balance your checkbook, track monthly bills, even monitor your
investments. Gnucash is a well rounded personal finance manager that
can track finances in multiple accounts, keeping running and reconciled
balances.
http://www.linspire.com/lindows_products_details.php?product_id=2141
(click image)
|
The modern, full-featured Linspire Five-0
operating system combines the stability, security and affordability of
Linux with a familiar, easy-to-use desktop environment. You'll get all
the features of other operating systems - but not the high costs and
viruses. Save money and protect your computer today with Linspire
Five-0!
REGULAR Price $59.95
SALE Price $49.95 with your next onsite consultation visit
(sale price expires end of June 2006)
HINT:
Enjoy the best of both world's! Let us install a second hard drive in
your PC, install Linspire 5.0 so you can safely surf the internet
and receive email using Linspire Linux and still get to use your Windows XP for all
your regular Windows applications. |
Linspire Linux Tip of
The Week
Don't
forget to check the archive link at that page for previous tips...
http://www.linspire.com/tooltips.php
Latest
Linspire Letter....
http://www.linspire.com/linspire_letter.php
Michael's Latest Minute...
http://www.michaelrobertson.com/
 Microsoft
Windows
Tips
Microsoft Windows is
still the operating system that most people are familiar with.
Many businesses have based their requirements around
this
commercial operating system and so it remains the cornerstone of our
onsite support service. But please click here to read our disclaimer before
visiting any third-party websites.
Changing Directories With Longnames In A Command Prompt (reader submitted)
When was the last time you
had to do some intense work in a DOS command prompt environment? Like
me, it may have been a few years and I was recently stumped when
trying to change directories in a command prompt window on a Windows XP
system. As you can see by the following screenshot, the long filenames
with spaces were preventing me from switching to the "My Documents" directory where
I needed to delete a corrupted file that failed to respond to a mouse
or keyboard delete command. But thanks go out to my good friend Joe (you know
who you are) who helped bail me out with the obscure DOS command of " cmd e:off"...
Comodo Firewall (no spyware - no adware)
IMPORTANT
NOTE: This is a very robust software firewall but I do
NOT recommend it for beginners unless you are willing to roll up
your sleeves, dig into the documentation, and learn to drive this
firewall. If you don't understand the science behind firewall rules or
don't have any experience with using a third-party firewall product,
then just stick with your Windows XP's built-in firewall.
"Last summer, PC Magazine rounded up free personal firewall
products from Agnitum, Kerio, Sygate, and Zone Labs. (Symantec has
since purchased Sygate and pulled it from the market; Sunbelt has
purchased and rebranded the Kerio product.) They all did a decent job,
though none was up to the standard of the best for-pay personal
firewalls. Comodo Personal Firewall 2.0 brings excitement back to the
free-firewall category with a spiffy interface and impressive
performance. It protects any Windows 2000 or XP SP2 system from hack
attacks, and it blocks unauthorized programs from using the
Internet—even programs whose malware-style trickery fooled the other
free firewalls."
http://go.pcmag.com/comodo2/
 (click
the image)
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" In my early days, I was eager to learn and to do things, and therefore I learned quickly."
~ Tatanka Iyotanka (c. 1831 to December 15, 1890)
" Is it wrong for me to love my own?
Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? Because I am Sioux? Because
I was born where my father lived? Because I would die for my people and
my country?"
~ Tatanka Iyotanka (c. 1831 to December 15, 1890)
" If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man, he would have made me so in the first place."
~ Tatanka Iyotanka (c. 1831 to December 15, 1890)
"In later life, Sitting Bull toured with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West
Show, where he was a popular attraction. Often asked to address the
audience, he frequently cursed them in his native Lakota language to
the wild applause of his listeners."~ Wikipedia
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I
hope you've enjoyed this edition of our weekly newsletter. I try to
make each week's edition different and special by including meaningful
computer tips and links to fun, educational, and scientific websites.
If
you have any items of interest you might like to see addressed in the
future, or you have any Fun Stuff links of your own that you might like
to share, drop me an email and we'll see if we can include them for you.
Visit
the following website if you want
to subscribe or (gasp!) unsubscribe...
http://lists.bictx.com/mailman/listinfo/brightideas
Meanwhile,
don't forget to keep your computer's anti-virus current and your
critical and security patches up-to-date for the most reliable
computing experiences on the internet.
Happy Trails~
Tomas
Bright Ideas ComputingTM
Kerrville,
Texas
http://www.bictx.com
830-895-5016
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Please
make sure that you possess the fundamental and required skill sets
before you implement any advice or attempt to perform any
troubleshooting steps we, or other websites, might recommend. You
should also be advised that we have no control over how you perform any
troubleshooting steps nor do we have any control over the content of
other third-party websites you might visit that are listed in our
weekly newsletter. We also do not know if you have patched your
computer with the latest security updates nor do we know if your
anti-virus definition files are fully up-to-date.
Therefore,
in
no event shall Bright Ideas ComputingTM or any
of its third-party product
or service providers be liable to any person for any special,
incidental, indirect, consequential, or punitive damages of any kind,
including, without limitation, those resulting from loss of use, loss
of data, or lost profits, in connection with any advice provided by
Bright Ideas ComputingTM, damages resulting from
visiting third-party
websites or damages resulting from implementing any advice from those
third-party websites, whether or not you are advised of the possibility
of such damages.
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