Easiest way to display MKV thumbnails

After searching the Internet for days trying to figure out how to get my Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit system to display MKV thumbnails, I ran across an incredibly simple solution:

Install the DivX Plus Codec Pack

The codec pack not only lets Windows Explorer (yes, even 64-bit Explorer) display thumbnails, but will enable MKV playback within Windows Media Player.

There are many other solutions for getting Windows to display thumbnails for other file types. A pretty clever tool is called Mystic Thumbs that generates thumbnails for lots of image and data file formats. It's worth trying, but of course won't help with MKV thumbnails.

This is a fairly short, direct post, but I wanted to get this crazy easy solution out on the interwebs in the hope that it will save others hours of wasted attempts and unnecessary software installations.

Joke: A golf joke

· Two women were playing golf. One teed off and watched in horror as her ball headed directly toward a foursome of men playing the next hole. The ball hit one of the men. He immediately clasped his hands together at his groin, fell to the ground and proceeded to roll around in agony.

·

· The woman rushed down to the man, and immediately began to apologize. "Please allow me to help. I'm a physical therapist and I know I could relieve your pain if you'd allow me," she told him. "Oh, no, I'll be all right. I'll be fine in a few minutes," the man replied.

·

· He was in obvious agony, lying in the fetal position, still clasping his hands together at his groin. At her persistence, however, he finally allowed her to help. She gently took his hands away and laid them to the side, loosened his pants and put her hands inside. She administered tender and artful massage for several long moments and asked, "How does that feel"? He replied, "It feels great, but my thumb still hurts like hell!"

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Joke: Today's Philosophy: Universal Laws

UNIVERSAL LAWS 1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee. 2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. 3. Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act 4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers. 5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.. 6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time). 7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings. 8. Law of Close Encounters -The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with. 9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will. 10. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold. 11. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug. 12. Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it. 13. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.

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Joke: A man walks into a bar ...

A man walks into a bar, notices a very large jar on the counter, and
sees that it's filled to the brim with $10 bills. He guesses there must
be at least ten thousand dollars in it. He approaches the bartender and
asks, "What's with the money in the jar?"

"Well..., you pay $10, and if you pass three tests, you get all the
money in the jar and the keys to a brand new Lexus."

The man certainly isn't going to pass this up, so he asks, "What are the
three tests?"

"You gotta pay first," says the bartender, "those are the rules."

So, after thinking it over a while, the man gives the bartender $10
which he stuffs into the jar.

"Okay," says the bartender, "here's what you need to do:

First - You have to drink a whole quart of tequila, in 60 seconds or
less, and you can't make a face while doing it."

"Second - There's a pit bull chained in the backwith a bad tooth. You
have to remove that tooth with your bare hands."

"Third - There's a 90-year old lady upstairs who's never had sex. You
have to take care of that problem."

The man is stunned! "I know I paid my $10 -- but I'm not an idiot! I
won't do it! You'd have to be nuts to drink a quart of tequila and then
do all those other things!"

"Your call," says the bartender, "but, your money stays where it is."

As time goes on, the man has a few more drinks and finally says,
"Where's the damn tequila?!"

He grabs the bottle with both hands and drinks it as fast as he can.
Tears stream down both cheeks -- but he doesn't make a face -- and he
drinks it in 58 seconds! Next, he staggers out the back door where he
sees the pit bull chained to a pole. Soon, the people inside the bar
hear loud growling, screaming, and sounds of a terrible fight -- then
nothing but silence!

Just when they think that the man surely must be dead, he staggers back
into the bar. His clothes are ripped to shreds and he's bleeding from
bites and gashes all over his body. He drunkenly says, "Now..., where's
that old woman with the bad tooth?"

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Joke: Truths

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die. 2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong. 3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. 4. There is great need for a sarcasm font. 5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? 6. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood. 7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died. 8. Bad decisions make good stories. 9. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day. 10. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blu-ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again. 11. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to. 12. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. 13. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay. 14. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. 15. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said? 16. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters! 17. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is. 18. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time! 19. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

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Joke: Suggested dictionary additions (neologisms)

The Washington Post Style Invitational is a weekly humor/wordplay
contest with unbelievably clever humor contributed by thousands of
readers. It's published every Saturday in The Post's Style (features)
section, and every Friday afternoon at about 3:30. There are neologism
contests regularly, but also lots of other sources of humor as well.

Here are the winners of a recent neologism (new word) contest:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the
subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxicaton: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you
realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops
bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows
little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of
getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person
who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these
really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's
like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido: All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when
they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after
you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your
bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in
the fruit you're eating.

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USB SuperCharger seriously speeds up USB flash drive access

USB SuperCharger: Where have you been all my life?!?!?

Time for a little background before I get all gushy about this new-found gold mine of USB flash drive performance. I'm a huge fan of PortableApps. Aside from running Thunderbird, Firefox, FileZilla, Pidgin, KeePass, and Skype as portable applications off of my 64GB USB flash drive, I have at least two dozen other portable apps installed, just in case I have the need or desire to run them while not sitting at one of my home/office computers. On a regular basis — at least eight hours a weekday — I have three or more portable apps running constantly.

These applications, while streamlined to be HD-dependent, are at times "chatty Cathys" reading and writing and fragmenting and wearing out my USB flash drive's NAND memory until there's nothing left. The performance hit varies, depending on flash drive vendor. I typically do a day's worth of research, buy the biggest, fastest, most expensive USB flash drive I can find, then run it from 6-12 months before I start seeing smoke pour out from around the USB connector; not literally of course, but all good MLC NANDs eventually give up the ghost after a kajillion read/write operations. Performance during the lifetime of these latest/greatest USB flash drives is acceptable at best, and vein-burstingly frustrating at worst, which is where I was ... until yesterday. Enter my new best friend: USB SuperCharger from Easy Computing.

Upon first glance, USB SuperCharger looks to be black magic, deal-with-the-devil, impossibly too good to be true, snake oil. Claims on the site imply improvements from nothing to 1000X faster (yes, boys and girls, they're talking 100,000% faster). C'mon. Give me some credit here. That, coupled with the fact that there's no Try Before You Buy option, aside from the ability to install it for free on a 1-2GB flash drive, makes you wonder if they're just out to get your hard-earned PayPal cash. Well, y'know what? They aren't! USB SuperCharger rocks!!!

I installed the software on a 2GB USB flash drive, then installed Firefox 4 Beta 6 from PortableApps.com. As soon as I brought up the application, I had to double-check the flash drive's access LED to insure that I hadn't started Firefox from the HD by mistake. The application came up instantly. As I continued to surf, I continued to be impressed. There is seriously a night and day difference between running portable apps with and without USB SuperCharger. I couldn't believe it, and after buying a 64GB license, I still can't believe it. The improvement is nothing short of astounding.

There have been claims that some combinations of installation and bad habits have caused fatal corruption of the data, but so far I've been running perfectly clean. Any self-respecting USB flash drive owner should have backups anyway (flash drive lifetime is finite), but it's something to watch out for. Also, I ran into a problem with accessing — or more accurately, formatting — more than 32GB of virtual supercharged flash drive under Windows XP. I've got an e-mail into their Support group for assistance, but it's not like the other 32GB is wasted; just un-supercharged. I still have access in case I need it for archiving or temporary storage.

In a nutshell, if you are a heavy user of USB flash drives, stop what you're doing, click on one of the hotlinks I've provided in this blog post, and purchase USB SuperCharger immediately. You will absolutely not be disappointed.

Enthusiasts gather to show off shiny cars, raise money

Originally written for the Nashua Telegraph by GREGORY MEIGHAN

Photo by Jodie Andruskevich
Bill Lombardi of Townsend, Ma, puts a shine to the
engine of his 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 at the
7th Annual Northeast Exotic Car Show held at the
Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack on Saturday.

MERRIMACK – When Art and Carol Zubrowski drive 88 miles per hour to car shows in their 1981 DeLorean DMC 12, they are at risk of getting a speeding ticket, not going back to 1955.

On Saturday, the Zubrowskis were just two of the many owners who possessed more than 240 cars in the seventh annual Northeast Exotic Car Show at Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack.

The purchase of the DeLorean was not because of its ability to warp time in “Back to the Future,” said Art Zubrowski. “The kids graduated college, and I wanted a sports car,” he said.

They drive the car once a week and put 2,000 miles on it per year going to car shows alone. The car has 50,000 miles on it and won large events in the past. They attribute their car’s success to its cleanliness and shine. The shine on the stainless steel exterior is achieved by using silverware cleaner and Windex throughout the year.

The couple has been married for 40 years, and the only thing that may shine more than their car is the smiles they have spending time with each other doing what they love to do.

“When we were dating, I wanted to spend time with him, and he was always working with cars,” Carol Zubrowski said. “He taught me how to use a torque wrench.”

The car show was designed to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation by attracting people who are passionate about cars.

The director of the event, Dave Dugal, summed up the value of the cars as “absurd.” No car was more expensive than the 2003 Ferrari Enzo, the brakes on which cost $35,000 to replace. The total value of the car: $1.4 million, said Tim Kachel, owner of Kachel Motor Co.

Brian Rohloff put 135 miles on his brand-new limited edition 2010 Viper ACR driving to the show, bringing the total mileage on his new ride to 200. His trip to the car show came to a halt twice when he was pulled over.

“The first time I got a ticket for racing a Lotus,” Rohloff said. “Cops didn’t like that very much.”

He said that he was pulled over only five minutes later, but was given a warning for speeding. Rohloff has four Vipers and bought two new ones, because they are rare, and since this is the last year Dodge is producing the Viper, he wanted to get them while he could.

Red convertibles are normally associated with being a magnet for a speeding ticket. Mike DeCampo, of Londonderry, has a “pull-me-over red” 2005 C6 Corvette Convertible. DeCampo was wary of jinxing himself, but he said he has never received a speeding ticket in his car. He did point out the majority of the people in the show only drive their cars on weekends when the weather is perfect.

“I don’t think any of us know how to use the windshield wipers,” DeCampo said, laughing.

Memorial Day is big deal for all Americans, but for James Mirazita, it also means he can start thinking about driving his beloved 1988 328 GTB Ferrari. Mirazita drives his car twice a month during the summer and once a week during the fall, before packing it away for the winter. He lives in Amherst and used to be nervous about driving on unfamiliar back roads in fear of pot holes.

“Not too many things are more fun than driving a Ferrari,” Mirazita said.

In 2000, Kim Bentham was looking for a car that would eat Ferraris. His desire lead him to a 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo.

“It is a track car that somebody barely made legal,” Bentham said. “After four hours, you want to get out of it, because it beats you up.”

He said his car is not meant to go grocery shopping – this car was made for speed. Bentham said when he was in Vermont, he had his car up to a speed that is not legal.

“I had it up over 170, and it still had room to go,” Bentham said. “It was in the rain. There was a big rooster tail 50 feet in the air.”

Hiro Yamamoto’s Lotus Elise 2006 is what he calls an excellent handling car. He said other cars are more focused on power and straight-line speed. His car excels on curves and sharp corners. His girlfriend, Melissa Kanaracus, said riding shotgun is like sitting on a roller coaster. This is the third year he has been coming to the car show, and this year was the biggest turnout he has ever seen.

Rick Desrosiers is the president of the car show. For him, the day wasn’t about his Yellow SRT 10 Street Serpent Viper, it was about raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He said since 2003, the car show has generated more than $30,000 for the foundation. In previous years, he said the highest total of cars participating was 140, this year they had more than 240 cars. Each car paid $20 to be in the show. All the money raised went to the foundation, he said, and the total is much more than just from cars. He said they received between $500-$1,000 from the 12 vendors who were represented.

Rich Plante’s car was in the parking lot as he and his son Nick, 13, came to watch and have a good time. The two said they enjoy cars and they were getting chills just looking at them. For Nick Plante, the car posters in his room do not provide the wow factor that an up-close look produces.

“It is sweet; it is sweet,” Nick Plante said.

Gregory Meighan can be reached at 594-5833 or gmeighan@nashuatelegraph.com.

No Joke: Thirteen (plus) things your burglar won't tell you.

THIRTEEN THINGS YOUR BURGLAR WON'T TELL YOU:

1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your
carpets, paint ing your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.

2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in
your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window
to make my return a little easier.

3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste... and taste means
there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always
make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.

4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I
might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes
you to remove it..

5. If it snows while you're out of town, get a neighbor to create car
and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway are a dead
giveaway.

6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don't let your
alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it's set. That
makes it too easy.

7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the
windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom - and
your jewelry. It's not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.

8. It's raining, you're fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to
lock your door - understandable. But understand this: I don't take a day
off because of bad weather.

9. I always knock first. If you answer, I'll ask for directions
somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. (Don't take me up on it.)

10. Do you really think I won't look in your sock drawer? I always check
dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.

11. Here's a helpful hint: I almost never go into kids' rooms.

12. You're right: I won't have enough time to break into that safe where
you keep your valuables. But if it's not bolted down, I'll take it with me.

13. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm
system . If you're reluctant to leave your TV on while you're out of
town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the
flickering glow of a real television. (Find it at http://www.faketv.com)

EIGHT MORE THINGS A BURGLAR WON'T TELL YOU:

1. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy
and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.

2. The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosy neighbors.

3. I'll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If
your neighbor hears one loud sound, he'll stop what he's doing and wait
to hear it again.. If he doesn't hear it again, he'll just go back to
what he was doing. It's human nature.

4. I'm not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy
alarm system and leave your house without setting it?

5. I love looking in your windows. I'm looking for signs that you're
home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I'd like. I'll drive or
walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds,
just to pick my targets.

6. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It's easier
than you think to look up your address.

7. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way
to let in a little fresh air. To me, it's an invitation.

8. If you don't answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit
the jackpot and walk right in.

Sources: Convicted burglars in North Carolina, Oregon, California, and
Kentucky ; security consultant Chris McGoey, who runs
http://www.crimedoc/ tor.com//
and Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book Burglars
on the Job

PROTECTION FOR YOU AND YOUR HOME:

If you don't have a gun, here's a more humane way to wreck someone's
evil plans for you:

*Wasp Spray*

A friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area was
concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them
when they were counting the collection. She asked the local police
department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she
get a can of wasp spray instead.

The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a
lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray, they have to get too
close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds
an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a
can on her desk in the office and it doesn't attract attention from
people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at
home for home protection.. Thought this was interesting and might be of
use.

PUT YOUR CAR KEYS BESIDE YOUR BED AT NIGHT

Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr's
office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across. Put
your car keys beside your bed at night.

If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your
house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set
off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or
the car battery dies. This tip came from a neighborhood watch
coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put
your keys away, think of this: It's a security alarm system that you
probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go
off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until
your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key
fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car
alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are
the burglar/rapist won't stick around. After a few seconds all the
neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and
sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your
keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the
same way there. This is something that should really be shared with
everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

Posted via email from ViperGeek's posterous

Where does Process Explorer store Column Sets?

First of all, I love Process Explorer. If you haven't done so already, stop what you're doing, browse over to http://sysinternals.com (now assimilated by Microsoft TechNet), find and install Process Explorer. This is by far the best process browser and analyzer for Microsoft Windows, especially for the price (free). A few of the screens available in this wonderful tool are shown below:




Now onto the reason for this blog post. Process Explorer has the concept of Column Sets, allowing you to customize the columns, column order and row sort of the main process window. Once customized, the setup can be saved in a Column Set:



This is a fantastic feature. Being a being of multiple PCs (six and counting), I was hoping to be able to share the fruits of my column tuning with >1 of my PCs. Process Explorer doesn't have an "export" function for these column sets, but they've gotta be stored somewhere on my system, but where?

The final answer became obvious, once I used Altiris Software Virtualization Agent (now assimilated by Symantec; Google "SVS 2.0" to find the freeware copy) to create a virtualized layer to trap all changes made by ProcExp.exe. All columns are stored in the Windows Registry under HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer ... right where I would've stored it had I designed the tool:



Exporting the column sets, should you be so inclined, is simply a matter of exporting the registry keys below ColumnSet0 in my example and saving it as a .REG file.

One interesting side note. Being a huge advocate of portable applications (I'm typing this blog via the ScribeFire add-on to Firefox Portable), I actually run ProcExp.exe off of a USB thumb drive. By having column sets stored in the Registry, this means that my column sets do not move with me as I move my thumb drive from system to system. In the grand scheme of things, it'd been slightly more portable to have this information stored in an old-fashioned .INI file in the app directory. It's not a deal breaker, but would've been nice.

Perhaps this [not so] brief blog post will answer the simple question I had when I started my quest a couple hours ago. Enjoy!

Joke: Farmer Bob

While riding one day, Biker Bob

met a Farmer riding a horse with a dog and a sheep alongside. Biker Bob began a conversation . . . .

• Biker Bob: "Hey, cool dog you got there. Mind if I speak to him?"
• Farmer: "Dogs don't talk."
• Biker Bob: "Hey dog, how's it going?"
• Dog: "Doing' alright."
• Farmer: Look of shock.
• Biker Bob: "Is this your owner?" pointing at the farmer.
• Dog: "Yep."
• Biker Bob: "How does he treat you?"
• Dog: "Really well. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food, & takes me to the river once a week."
• Farmer: Look of total disbelief.
• Biker Bob: "Mind if I talk to your horse?"
• Farmer: "Horses don't talk."
• Biker Bob: "Hey horse, how's it going?"
• Horse: "Cool."
• Farmer: Extreme look of shock.
• Biker Bob: "Is this your owner? " pointing at the Farmer.
• Horse: "Yessiree Bob."
• Biker Bob: "How's he treating you?"
• Horse: "Pretty good, and thanks for asking. He rides me regularly, brushes me down often, and keeps me in a shed to protect me."
• Farmer: Total look of utter amazement.
• Biker Bob: "Mind if I talk to your sheep?"
• Farmer: "The sheep is a liar."

Posted via email from ViperGeek's posterous

Joke: State Trivia Very Interesting

STATE TRIVIA - Betcha didn't know this...... ALABAMA ... Was the first place to have 9-1-1, started in 1968. ALASKA ... One out of every 64 people has a pilot's license.  Sled dogs...?  Who really knows how many there are! ARIZONA ... Is the only state in the continental U.S. that doesn't follow Daylight Savings Time.  As you know, Hawaii, is not in the continental U.S. ARKANSAS ... Has the only active diamond mine in the U.S. CALIFORNIA ... Its economy is so large that if it were a country, it would rank seventh (7th) in the entire world. COLORADO ... In 1976 it became the only state to turn down the Olympics. CONNECTICUT ... The Frisbee was invented here at Yale University. DELAWARE ... Has more scientists and engineers than any other state. FLORIDA ... At 759 square miles, Jacksonville is the US's largest city. GEORGIA ... It was here, in 1886, that pharmacist John Pemberton made the first vat of Coca-Cola. HAWAII ... Hawaiians live, on average, five years longer than residents in any other state. IDAHO ... TV was invented in Rigby, Idaho, in 1922. ILLINOIS ... The Chicago River is dyed green every St. Patrick's Day. INDIANA ... Home to Santa Claus, Indiana, which get a half million letter to Santa every year. IOWA ... Winnebagos get their name from Winnebago County. Also, it is the only state that begins with two vowels. KANSAS ... Liberal, Kansas, has an exact replica of the house in The Wizard of Oz. KENTUCKY ... Has more than $6 billion in gold underneath Fort Knox. LOUISIANA ... Has parishes instead of counties because they were originally Spanish-Catholic church units. MAINE ... It's so big, it covers as many square miles as the other five New England states combined. MARYLAND ... The Oujia board was created in Baltimore in 1892. MASSACHUSETTS ... The Fig Newton is named after Newton, Massachusetts. MICHIGAN ... Fremont, home to Gerber, is the baby food capital of the world. MINNESOTA ... Bloomington's Mall of America is so big, if you spent 10 minutes in each store, you'd be there nearly four days. MISSISSIPPI ... President Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear here.  That's how the teddy bear got its name. MISSOURI ... Is the birthplace of the ice cream cone. MONTANA ... A sapphire from Montana is the Crown Jewel of England. NEBRASKA ... More triplets are born here than in any other state. NEVADA ... Has more hotel rooms than any other place in the world. NEW HAMPSHIRE ... Birthplace of Tupperware, invented in 1938 by Earl Tupper. NEW JERSEY ... Has the most shopping malls in one area in the world. NEW MEXICO ... Smokey the Bear was rescued from a 1950 forest fire here. NEW YORK ... Is home to the nation's oldest cattle ranch, started in 1747 in Montauk. NORTH CAROLINA ... Home of the first Krispy Kreme doughnut. NORTH DAKOTA ... Rigby, North Dakota, is the exact geographic center of North America. OHIO ... The hot dog was invented here in 1900. OKLAHOMA ... The grounds of the state capital are covered by operating oil wells. OREGON ... Has the most ghost towns in the country. PENNSYLVANIA ... The smiley face caption " : ) " was first used in 1980 by computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University. RHODE ISLAND ... The nation's oldest bar, the White Horse Tavern, opened here in 1673. SOUTH CAROLINA ... Sumter County is home to the world's largest gingko farm. SOUTH DAKOTA ... Is the only state that's never had an earthquake. TENNESSEE ... Nashville's Grand Ole Opry is the longest running live radio show in the world. TEXAS ... Dr Pepper was invented in Waco back in 1885. UTAH ... The first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant opened here in 1952. VERMONT .... Montpelier is the only state capital without a McDonald's. VIRGINIA ... Home of the world's largest office building: The Pentagon. WASHINGTON ... Seattle has twice as many college graduates as any other state. WASHINGTON D.C ... Was the first planned capital in the world WEST VIRGINIA ... Had the world's first brick paved street, Summers Street, laid in Charleston in 1870. WISCONSIN ... The ice cream sundae was invented here in 1881 to get around Blue Laws prohibiting ice cream from being sold on Sundays. WYOMING ... Was the first state to allow women to vote.

 

Posted via email from ViperGeek's posterous

Pole Dance Rookie

Restoring missing icons from the Windows System Tray

Recently, I took delivery of a sexy, new HTC Touch Pro2 from Verizon -- the second-to-the-last US carrier to make it available. Anyone following my Twitter or Facebook or StumbleUpon feeds knows my obsession with this phone, so I'll avoid the gushing reviews of it. Among the features I wanted to exploit were enhanced Bluetooth profiles and functionality. I burned the midnight oil connecting my two Vista machines at home to every profile available on the new phone. Then it was time to marry my IBM ThinkPad running XP Pro to the new phone. And that's where the quest began.

Being a slightly older (read: archaic) ThinkPad, it does not have Bluetooth support built in. I picked up a cheap, yet reliable Kensington Bluetooth USB adapter at <insert favorite tech geek store here> and have had very good luck with it. Today, I plugged the USB adapter into the laptop, enjoyed the symphony of "boop-beep" noises as plug-n-play [re-]created all the appropriate Registry entries, after which the blue LED went dark. This is typical when the Bluetooth device is turned off by means of a right-click of the Bluetooth System Tray (SysTray) icon. No biggie. I'll just right-click the icon and re-enable it. Wait, where's the freakin' icon???

Apparently, due to one of the myriad mysteries of Windows startup, many of my System Tray icons had gone missing, including the pretty Bluetooth icon. I then did what any upstanding self-proclaimed computer expert would do: "Googled it!" I found several impressive, interesting, helpful, and scary articles about how to edit the Registry to remove misconfigured chaff, delay startup of applications, and disable services such as uPnP to get the problem solved. I then came across the safest, easiest, and in my experience, most reliable way to restore my missing System Tray icons: Piff Explorer.exe.

"Piff" is an industry term, meaning to kill and restart the process in memory. To do this, first close any applications that you may wish to protect from any possible OMG's that could occur by killing processes mercilessly. Then, bring up the Task Manager, most coolly by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Esc, but by whatever means you deem appropriate. Click on the Processes tab and sort the list by Image Name. Here you'll see at least one process called explorer.exe:



Select each explorer.exe process and click End Process. Once you kill the last explorer.exe, every Windows Explorer window and the bottom Task Bar will be gone. Things get eerily quiet at this point.

Now, re-start Windows Explorer by pulling down File... New Task (Run...) in the Windows Task Manager. Type "explorer" (no quotes) and hit Enter. At this point, the Task Bar should reappear, and include all the previously lost System Tray icons you were missing so dearly.

The Race Is On: Twitterfeed vs. Notify.me

Please excuse this mostly content-free post.  I just now set up both Twitterfeed and Notify.me to monitor the RSS feed for this blog and post new updates to Twitter.  I'm curious to see which, if either, posts to Twitter first, and which one more closely follows the de facto Twitter etiquette for tweets.

Stay tuned!

Joke: random thoughts

Random Thoughts of the Day:

 I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

 Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.

 I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to
have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and
sticks when they've invented the lighter?

 Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be
going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the
direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check
your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself
to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by
randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

 I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

 The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This
recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be
ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

 Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know
how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or
FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

 There is a great need for sarcasm font.

 Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first
saw it.

 I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes
stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes
shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the
right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a
millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really,
really gets it.

 The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on
highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I
decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk
over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that,
Both go left, Both go right game to no avail, so I finally put out my
hand to guide myself past and that's is when I realized, yup, that's a
mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is
me. Even cats can recognize their own image.

 How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

 I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

 I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your
computer history if you die.

 The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish
a text.

 A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the
spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

 Was learning cursive really necessary?

 Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to
say".

 I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

 Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.

 My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.
Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired
about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us."
Classy, bro.

 Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I
hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

 How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

 I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to
prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

 Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples,
I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I
had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G
as in...(10 second lapse).. ummm... Goonies"

 What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each
other?

 While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it... thanks Mario Kart.

 MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.

 Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

 I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.

 Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.

 I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

 Bad decisions make good stories

 Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile
is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red

 Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

 Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

 If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would
probably just be completely invisible.

 Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a
problem....

 You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.

 Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want
to have to restart my collection.

 There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going
to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

 I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I

 did not make any changes to.

 "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

 While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China
and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that
when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

 I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!),
but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to
voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run
away?

 I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing
anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

 When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't
already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

 I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then
I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

 Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed
for pedophiles...

 As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but
no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

 Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.

 It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

 I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.

 I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I
find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the
fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

 Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to
with it.

 Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3
feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

 My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

 It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN. com and the
link takes me to a video instead of text.

 I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.

 I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

 I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

 The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,
someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about
it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating
to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself.
There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Posted via email from ViperGeek's posterous

Using the Secure-Tunnel bookmarklet to secure your Web connection

I've been using Secure-Tunnel to securely tunnel Web traffic when connecting to the Internet from less than trustworthy locations.  Using the FoxyProxy add-on to Firefox, it's fairly easy to set up a tunneled profile based on URL patterns:



but what if you don't want or have the luxury of installing FoxyProxy on the computer you're using?  Wouldn't it be cool to have a lightweight bookmarklet to get approximately the same functionality.

I decided to see if I could try my hand at hacking a JavaScript silly string to do just that.  Breaking down the URL generated by the value-add service called ST Securebar by Secure-Tunnel, I was able to create the following hacked bookmark:

javascript:%20var%20u%20=%20'http/'%20+%20window.location.host%20+window.location.pathname;%20u%20=%20'https://securebar.secure-tunnel.com/cgi-bin/nph-securebar.cgi/010100A/'%20+%20escape(u);%20window.location%20=%20u;

Yeah, ugly, right?  For convenience, I've created a small bookmarklet below:

SecureTunnel

Just drag the link up into your Bookmarks Toolbar and you'll be able to tunnel your currently displayed Web page within an SSH Secure-Tunnel.

Comments and questions welcome.

Removing Scanners, Cameras and Webcams from "My Computer"

Warning: Blog Entry Contains Original Content

I recently performed a massive search for information regarding removing a newly materialized "Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000" icon within my "My Computer" window on my Windows XP laptop. Obviously, the icon came about through the installation of a new ... you guessed it ... Logitech QuickCam installed recently into the rats nest of USB devices now procreating in my office workspace. I purchased the webcam to inflict undue stress and anguish on unsuspecting Skype contacts who haven't grown accustomed to my face. It's really a fate worse than SPAM on an iPhone, but of course, I digress.

The real estate in my "My Computer" window is at a premium these days. I have a half-dozen perma-mounted network drives, an external DVD burner, a USB thumb drive-based TrueCrypt volume, and pretty icons for my Creative ZEN and Windows Mobile device. Yet another barely useful icon in "My Computer" wouldn't do. There must be a way to irradicate this infiltrator. But how?

A quick search – or to use the new technological verb, "google" – for removing icons from "My Computer" listed lots of near misses, including a fairly prevalent references to tools such as TweakUI (one of my favorite Windows powertoys, BTW) for hiding icons found in My Computer. Unfortunately, while almost everything, including actual drives, can be hidden, this annoying new webcam icon seemed to be considered a permanent fixture with no clear way to remove it. The Logitech QuickCam forum made reference to an "unsupported Windows hack" to remove such things, but hacks were clearly taboo in their forum's forum.

Then I decided to do what any good geek with little regard for safety of their Company-given laptop would do: Start... Run... regedit. A global search for this unwelcome visitor found several references, all far too scary to consider whacking. Then I came to learn of the MyComputer registry key and things started getting interesting. Apparently this is how/where TweakUI'esque programs hide certain icons from "My Computer". But there were no Logitech references to be found in this hallowed Registry key hierarchy. Hmmm.

Back to Google (the site, not the verb). Under MyComputer, I found something called a NameSpace, which seemed to house things like my ZEN and Mobile Device's class IDs, but again, no webcam. But then, after hours of wasting the company's time, I found ... wait for it ... DelegateFolders! More googling found that this is where the sometimes annoying "Shared Documents" is inserted into "My Computer". Could it be that additional delegation was being done to add my webcam? You betcha!

One of the Class ID registry keys under DelegateFolders has a default value of "Scanners & Cameras". Obviously, this had nothing to do with webcams, right? Well, those with a keen eye and lots of free time may realize that webcams are listed under the "Scanners and Cameras" control panel within the Windows Control Panel. Hmmm. Sure enough, after backing up my Registry and whacking the Class ID with the default string of "Scanners & Cameras", I was finally free of that pesky yet benign icon forever.

In summary, thank you for bearing with me. In more of a technical summary, this is how one would remove all scanners, cameras and webcams from one's "My Computer" window:

• Close "My Computer"
• Start REGEDIT.EXE
• Make a backup of your Registry by selecting the top of the displayed tree (ironically called "My Computer"), then pulling down File... Export.
  
• Find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders
• Select each Class ID sub-key (keys with ugly names like {E211B736-43FD-11D1-9EFB-0000F8757FCD}) and look for a "(Default)" value of "Scanners & Cameras".
• Delete the key
• Double-click "My Computer" on your desktop

Questions, comments, warnings, suggestions and threats are all welcome.

Dorothy L. Dugal, 1933-2009

Dorothy L. (Wunschel) Dugal, 75, passed away Sunday, January 25, 2009. She was the former wife of the late Dona A. Dugal. Born in Pawtucket, a lifelong resident of the City, she was a daughter of the late Anton and Alice (Roberts) Wunschel.

Dot was a member of St. Teresa's Seniors and was involved with the Pawtucket Parks and Recreation Department. She leaves one son, David G. Dugal of Merrimack, NH; one daughter, Diane A. Bynum of Cranston; two brothers, William Wunschel of Cumberland and Carl Wunschel of Coventry and four step-grandchildren. She was the sister of the late Irene Russell and Lillian Dexter.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday at 10 a.m. in St. Teresa Church, 358 Newport Ave., Pawtucket. In lieu of flowers, gifts in her memory to the American Stroke Association, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701-4688 would be appreciated.

Dona A. Dugal, 1930-2008

Dona A. Dugal
DUGAL, DONA A., 78, of Woonsocket and formerly of Pawtucket, passed away Saturday, September 6, 2008 at the Philip Hulitar Hospice Center, Providence. He was the husband of Pauline (Beaudry) Dugal. Born in Pawtucket, he was the son of the late George and Jennie (Clausse) Dugal. Mr. Dugal was a mechanic for the Auto Show of Seekonk, MA for several years, retiring in 1998. Besides his wife, he leaves his former wife, Dorothy (Wunschel) Dugal, a son, David Dugal of New Hampshire, a daughter, Diane Bynum of Cranston, three step daughters, Donna Bell of Pawtucket, Kim Marie Bell of New Hampshire, and Tammy West of Pawtucket, two sisters, Mary St. George of Pawtucket, and Frances Borges of Pawtucket, and eight step grandchildren. Mr. Dugal was one of the first mechanic's of Leonard Ink D.B.A. Auto Show of Seekonk MA, for over 30 years, Retiring in 1998. He also did some Modeling with Mr. Leonard through the Donahue Modeling Agency. Through the years Don had a LOVE for OLD CARS, He loved breathing new life into old cars that needed him, He could not pass a JUNK YARD without bringing one home. There are maybe 500 cars he has fixed for friends and family members that are still on the road today. Don also belonged to the Rolling Rhodes Car Club, The Drifters, & the Four Seasons Rambler AMCRC Car Club. Visiting hours Tuesday 5-9PM. at the COSTIGAN-ONEILL Funeral Home, 220 Cottage Street, Pawtucket. The funeral will be Wednesday at 9 a.m. with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in Saint Teresa Church, 358 Newport Ave., Pawtucket. Burial will be private. Reception will be held after the funeral, everyone is invited to the basement of the Church for a small luncheon.

Pioneer Sneaks Out $2200 Elite BDP-09FD; First Blu-ray Player That Crushes the PS3

clipped from vipergeek.stumbleupon.com Last May Pioneer told us that autumn would bring a "super duper" Blu-ray player--the most powerful Blu-ray player ever built. It makes up for the current crop, which are lower in price but are missing key features like BD-Live for internet-based content. Well, not a leaf has fallen off a tree, yet here it is already, the $2,200 Elite BDP-09FD. Feature-wise, the best Blu-ray player on the market has been the PS3--turns out, an extra $1,700 will buy you something that kills Sony's game console as far as Blu-ray and other media are concerned. Home Theater: Pioneer Sneaks Out $2200 Elite BDP-09FD; First...

Pork and Beans

Incredibly hilarious video by Weezer. See if you can catch all the YouTube viral video cameos. Absolutely brilliant!

OB/GYN + Earthquake = VagQuake!

A 5.4 earthquake hit Tuesday while Verdell Wilson was having an exam in her gynecologist's Los Angeles office. Given it was her first earthquake experience, Wilson did what comes naturally--she twittered it."As soon as I got dressed, I twittered my experience from my cell phone," Wilson said. "I usually twitter to 80 friends, but I now have 274 messages from people commenting on it."

And then Twitter and FriendFeed exploded with comments and references and replies. Verdell's experience even prompted chitown.mike to post a mock-up motivational poster about it:




Clearly this is a new Internet meme and the beginning of the latest Internet viral concept.

read more | digg story

Juniper: Enterprise demand strong; Johnson hired to scale up

Current Juniper CEO Scott Kriens delivered strong quarter results, said enterprise demand was solid and outlined the primary reason Kevin Johnson was hired as his replacement: He knows how to scale.

Ahead of its earnings report Thursday, Juniper made the Johnson news official. The company has hired Kevin Johnson, who used to run Microsoft’s platform and services division, which was split up by the software giant. And judging from Juniper’s announcement Johnson is walking into a good situation.

read more | digg story

Mozilla Sets World Record

With over 8 million downloads Mozilla sets the Guinness World Record for most software downloads in 24 hours.

read more | digg story

Color Management add-on for Firefox 3

The Color Management add-on for Firefox 3 by Sean Hayes is a must for any avid photographer or enthusiast who knows the difference between sRGB and Adobe RGB. Firefox 3 adds support for non-sRGB colorspaces, but the Color Management add-on easily enables it, and allows specification of monitor profile as well. Install this now!

read more | digg story

Zippo Tricks by Nathan Walker

Pretty clever, possibly unedited slight of hand tricks with one or more Zippo lighters. My pyro daughter is looking on with delight. I think I'll hide my Zippo tonight ...

Finally -- Skype CallerID for North Americans

This week Skype has modified this service such that Skype users can select either their SkypeIn (Online) number or mobile phone number as their CLI or CallerID to be sent with their SkypeOut calls. And now it applies to North American Skype users.

read more | digg story

Our three new kits at play.

Our three new kits at play.
Originally uploaded by ViperGeek

Introducing our three new baby ferrets (called "kits"). Angel is the red-eyed white albino ferret. Josie is the champagne ferret. And Midnight is the black sable ferret. Each has a different personality. We're waiting to find out which will become the Alpha Weasel.

Am I on Myspace.com plugin keeps you off MySpace forever!

It appears you are not on MySpace.com. You're safe at the moment, but at any point you could accidentally follow the wrong link and end up stuck inside the sweaty armpit of the Internet. But with our helpful Firefox plugin you can browse in peace again. Any visit to MySpace will cause it to jump in and save you with a large prompt offering to take you back to sanity.

Click Am I on MySpace.com to save your sanity forever!

read more | digg story

Obama crosses historic milestone

Obama crosses historic milestone - CNN.com

Barack Obama has done what many just a year ago thought was impossible. He took on the most powerful family in Democratic politics and won.

On Tuesday, Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, marking the first time an African-American will head the ticket of a major political party.

The first-term senator captured the Democratic nomination by beating out Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was hoping to become the first female nominee.

He also had to campaign against the senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton, one of the great political talents of the 20th century who, at least going into the primary season, enjoyed widespread popularity among Democrats.

During one debate, Obama wondered out loud if he was running against the wife or the husband, given the former president's high profile on the campaign trail.

Posted using ShareThis

Security Twits by Mediaphyter

Security Twits by Mediaphyter


Jennifer Leggio (aka. @mediaphyter) has started an up-to-date list of security professionals on Twitter and FriendFeed. Check back often for upcoming security events and/or contacts, or DM mediaphyter to be added to the list.

Alex Matusciac Photography

An incredible portfolio of alluring, eye-catching glamour and fashion photos on photo.net by Alex Matusciac.

read more | digg story

What is BlogThis! (revisited)?

This is simply a refreshed update to the original BLogThis! post from October 2005.

BlogThis! is an easy way to make a blog post without visiting blogger.com. Once you add the BlogThis! link to your browser's toolbar, blogging will be a snap. Or rather, a click. Clicking BlogThis! creates a mini-interface to Blogger prepopulated with a link to the web page you are visiting, as well as any text you have highlighted on that page. Add additional text if you wish and then publish or post from within BlogThis!

Who'da thunk our little town of Merrimack would have such excitement???

clipped from www.nashuatelegraph.com Man jailed after stabbing, robbery in Merrimack MERRIMACK – Police are investigating a robbery and stabbing that led to a trip to the hospital for one man Sunday night and to an attempted murder charge for another. Michael Teeple, 35, of Mast Road in Manchester, is in custody at the Merrimack Police Department after police said he used a T-handled tire rasp – a roughly 4-inch tool used to patch flat tires – to stab a 50-year-old resident of a Loop Road home multiple times.