Friday, March 24, 2006

New Computer and McAffery

I got a new computer ! A Dell Dimension 1100 !

Unpacked it and set it up.

Hmmm... 90 trial copy of McAffee , well , I get a free virus scanner from my provider, I'll just uninstall it.

Can't uninstall it, the virus scanner is running. How do I turn off the virus scanner ? Doesn't say.
How do I turn off this dang spam killer ? Doesn't say.

Got to mcaffee website.... look up uninstall, get directed to an FAQ (frequently asked question) list to the catagory install/uninstall. Which , after a link or two, is magically transformed into install / reinstall, the uninstal part seems to have comlpetely vanished.

Apparently uninstalling the software and using someone elses isn't a possibility in their perfect little world.

I eventually ran msconfig and took the checkmark off any program in the mcaffery folder. Still got the spam filter...I'm working on that. I think that spam killer is in a different directory.

Oh ..it came with a free copy of word perfect ! Start it up ... welcome to your free 90 day trial copy of world perfect ... shut it down. (You have to pay after the 90 days , the main reason I wanna ditch macafee in favor of the free anti virus that comes with my provider)

And of course don't forget your free trial copy of aol have your credit card ready !

*sigh* Why is my brand new computer doing nothing but trying to sell me tons of junk ? If the whole world wasn't going xp I wouldn't have bothered.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Microsoft launches Web search engine

Article


SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- In its latest bid to catch up with rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. is launching a revamped Internet search engine it says will help computer users find information faster, view it more easily and organize it better.


I predict that the Microsoft Search Engine will be the Bane of most techies existance. Why ?

Windows Updates have a habit of causing products that compete with anything Microsoft is doing to stop working. In effect locking you into a microsoft only world.

I bought a compiler once from microsoft. I thought it was a "Java" compiler which would make programs that run on Internet Explorer or Netscape , the competiter of Internet Explorer. Wrong. It only worte stuff for the internet explorer. Hundred and fifty bucks wasted.

This pattern repeats itself in many many of Bill Gates endeavours. I recall reading of a mapping site he made that showed his cheif competiters building (apple) to be empty.

A micrsoft web search engine will find microsoft products very easily , and likely will not find competing producs at all , at all , at all... making it little better than those search toolbars that every anti-virus program in the world marks as a "parasite".

Friday, March 17, 2006

Canada wins another round in softwood battle with U.S.

Article



Canada has won another free trade ruling in the softwood lumber dispute with the United States, the federal government says.

* INDEPTH: Softwood Lumber

Canada's battle with the United States over softwood lumber tariffs has been raging since 2002.

The NAFTA decision found that Canadian softwood exports are not subsidized, the government said. That means the U.S. never had the right to impose the $5.2 billion in duties it has collected on Canadian lumber imports,


So what else is new ? The USA has basically run itself out of trees, Canada has many because it's land mass is far larger than the usa and the population is far smaller. And tree's , if left alone , are happy to grow themselves without any help from anyone , an obvious truth to anyone who care's to look.


"This is the second NAFTA panel comprised of a majority of Americans to have unanimously ruled that there is no merit to the U.S. allegations, first regarding injury, and now regarding subsidy."


A unanimous decision ? Thats nice, but so was the last one and it did nothing.


The U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports was not happy with the ruling.

"The NAFTA panel decision issued today is gravely flawed, and signifies a potential end to an important antidote in the U.S. lumber industry's efforts to counter the poison that is Canadian lumber industry practices,"


Gravely flawed , antidote, poison ... yah yah , sore losers. Except you didn't lose. We went through this last time , you bribed a few senators and the USA told canada to go climb a tree, they're ignoring this decision by a trade body they set up in the first place.

And around we go on this merry go around again .

Sunday, March 12, 2006

When has Canada been attacked? I must have missed that.

Ottawa Boy: Relatives of dead soldier question Canada's role in Afghanistan


Anonymous said...

"We should stop it and let those terrorists keep attacking us..."

When has Canada been attacked? I must have missed that.

Face it, that boy died for Uncle Sam, not Bucky Beaver. And now that the PM of Canada is an official Bush fartcatcher, expect alot more Canadians to die for Uncle Sam. We'll probably be heading off to the utterly useless quagmire of Iraq any day now.



Dear , sweet , brave , Anonymous

We are not attacked because we sit beside the US , and the US would counter attack them.

(edit : If you're one of those people that believe that we would not be attacked if the US were not there...then you live in some kind of fantasy world that I don't even want to deal with ...seek psychological counciling immeidately. 30 million people scattered thinly through the third largest nation in the world with vast wealth in oil and minerals under our feet ? They'll be lining up for miles to arrage a "regime change" !)


At which point , there are a lot of people that would say that we don't need a military of any kind , Daddy Warbucks (also known as Uncle Sam) will take care of us.

Well...we'll forget the part where you're pissing on uncle sam on one hand and on the other happy to suggest a stradegy whereby he continues to protect us... (presumably he doesn't mind being pissed on by ignorant idiots like you while he's doing all the dying) and move along to the part where we discuss "Adulthood" , a concept that I'm sure is far beyond your feeble comprehension.

Adult hood is where you do not whine and beg someone else to do your work for you , you do it yourself. If you are the junior partner in some relationship , you do not slack off and do nothing, you pull what weight you can.

Canada , it is true , is the junior partner in north american defence. So we are , according to you , obligated to do absolutely nothing and let the americans die for us. Or , according to me , pull what weight we can so we at least get a say at the table when important issues come up. There's no way we can single handedly win the war in Afghanistan or Iraq, but that doesn't mean we should do nothing. We should do what we can. Even if it's only 5% of what the americans can do , we owe them that 5%.

Iraq and Afghanistan are Just Wars. War's where the first words out of the mouths of the rich and the religous over there are "we don't need no stinking democracy , we like our dictatorship's just the way they are." Wars where the common person like me and you are lined up against the wall and shot because they didn't have enough money to bribe the cops this week to leave them alone.

When has canada been attacked ?

whenever someone decides they're going to kill off our much maligned , not so shiny knight in some what dented armor and thus remove our protection from every tom dick and harry who thinks they might want a little extra land , we are being attacked.

Give the knight his due , and don't shout too loud about all the dents and scuffs in his armor, he's doing his job , we should do ours.

Just an opinion, just an opinion.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Ottawa police break up major identity theft ring

Article


Police say online employment ads were used to lure victims to send resumes. When they applied, they received a letter promising a high-paying position from one of four companies – Logistic Telecom, Microtel, Idcor or Pastel Media.

The letter requested candidates to send a $20 administration fee and fill out an application form.

The form asked for personal information such as a social insurance number, a driver's licence number, full name, and address. That information was then used to apply for credit cards. About $500,000 was racked up for such items as high-end electronics.


Oh oh. The 20$ is a good clue not to fill out the applciation. But the rest of it ? My employer asks for that , it's a legitimate request for doing taxes. How the heck would you know it was bogus if they didn't get greedy over the 20$ ?

I think online job applications are about to die. An employer HAS to have that information to remit money to the tax man. And that means a smart scammer has an open door to plunder the unemployed for such things.


The scam was discovered when a man from Ottawa complained to Canada Post that he was no longer receiving his mail. Officials found his mail had been transferred, but he had never requested the switch.

Canada Post then contacted Ottawa police, who discovered other people had also had their mail redirected to a post office box without their knowledge.

Police tracked down the rerouted mail to the home in Orléans where they arrested two individuals.


Yeah , once you reroute the mail thats pretty much all she wrote. All notices now go to the scammers instead of you.

So much for sending out resume's by email.

Slain parole officer faced unnecessary danger: probe

Article


Louise Pargeter, 34, was visiting Eli Ulayuk in October 2004 when he hit her several times with a hammer, then strangled her to death, marking the first time a Canadian parole officer was killed on the job.

..
Ulayuk pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month. A judge sentenced him to life in prison, recommending no parole for at least 25 years

In 1988, Ulayuk killed a 23-year-old woman by stabbing and then strangling her.

"There's no absolute guarantee, no predicting criminal behaviour in a lot of cases, " Campbell said.



No predicting criminal behavour ?
the guy murdered a woman in an exceptionally violent and brutal mannor, and you sent an unarmed FEMALE parole officer to his home, ALONE , to meet with him ?

I would arrest you for manslaughter , personally. Criminal neglegence causing the death of your own employee.


"But we're doing everything we can to reduce the risks to not only our officers, but the communities at large."


Judging by this incident, "everything you can" is "diddly squat" ...

Relatives of dead soldier question Canada's role in Afghanistan

Article



Relatives of dead soldier question Canada's role in Afghanistan
Last Updated Thu, 09 Mar 2006 07:17:21 EST
CBC News

The mother and aunt of a Newfoundland soldier who was killed in Afghanistan are calling on the federal government to reconsider Canada's role there.

Cpl. Jamie Murphy died in a suicide bomb attack near Kabul in January 2004. Two years later, Murphy's mother says his death still haunts her.
Cpl. Jamie Murphy

"I think about Jamie every second of every day," said Alice Murphy, who lives in Conception Harbour, N.L.

She said memories of her son's death are revived whenever she hears of new casualties.


Oh please ! PLEASE ! Don't let my son die ! People die in war ! We should stop it and let those terrorists keep attacking us , keep killing people and sending off suicide bombs... I don't want my son to die ! I don't care about anyone else !

Yeah. Right.

Need a better excuse than "he might get hurt" not to send people to war. Especially war against some arabs that have decided we should all stop breathing and they should take over the world and convert it all to their religion.

And then they can get back to the infighting of which particular version of that religion was right ? You don't agree with me , better start killing you .... and so the fighting continues anyways.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Woman loses frozen embryo battle

Article


LONDON, England -- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a British woman has no right to use frozen embryos to have a baby without the consent of the man who provided the sperm


This is an example of the Law tripping over itself in it's rush to protect everyone.

Why ?

Because the eggs are already fertalized, by her former husband (they're split up now). So if they get used to impregnate her , guess what ? They're his kids and he's responsible for them. Financially too ! Alimony time !

Of course you can't hit him with that without proper warning , so you have to have his permission to use those eggs. He's incurring a big financial burden if he agrees.

Of course he's not going to agree because he split up with her.

And of course, you can't cut a deal such that "you can use them so long as I don't have to pay" because now you're permitting him to black mail her. And thats not fair to her , or to the state that's going to wind up paying for it all when she winds up on welfare because she has no husband.

So instead of this now infertile woman who cleverly put away some eggs for a rainy day having kids, now she gets nothing.

Yeah. The law is protecting her real good. Aha.

Vonage Canada wants CRTC to investigate Shaw Cable's 'VoIP tax'

Article


Vonage, which offers voice-over-Internet protocol services that depend on lines provided mainly by phone and cable companies like Shaw, said Tuesday that Shaw shouldn't be charging an extra fee to customers for high-priority Internet service.

"Shaw's VoIP tax is an unfair attempt to drive up the price of competing

VoIP services to protect its own high-priced service,


What is VoIP ?
Voice over IP , or a phone that runs through the internet , not through the phone lines. Very cheap , much cheaper than a regular phone through the phone lines.

The issue here is that Shaw Cable provides an internet connection. AND it provides it's own VoIP service on that internet connection. But you can use a competiter. If you pay Shaw it's "tax". A tax for it doing nothing but what you're already paying for anyways (an internet connection).

Is this fair ? No.
Is it inevitable ? Yes. Shaw , and any IP provider , dictates the terms of service , decides what you can and cannot use their network for. So yeah , they can block out VoIP from a competiter if they want.

Which sucks. And the Law on this should be changed ( up here in canada at least). Because now you're talking "bundling", the practice of selling the customer not just one service but a bunch of them , and denying the customer the ability to shop around , thus allowing you to charge anything you like for certain extra's , like an internet phone (VoIP).


It's also a moot point ?
Why ?

Cell phones are dirt cheap.
Ha ha ! Let them fight over the table scraps. Real users don't use regular phones or VoIP ! Ha ha !

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Iran native charged with attempted murder at UNC

Article



CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (AP) -- A recent University of North Carolina graduate was charged with nine counts of attempted murder Saturday, a day after authorities say he drove through a popular campus gathering spot in an attempt to avenge Muslim deaths.

Derek Poarch, chief of the university police department, confirmed Saturday that Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, a 22-year-old Iran native, told investigators he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world." Poarch would not provide any other details on the motive.

No one was seriously hurt in the incident just before noon Friday at The Pit, a sunken, brick-paved area surrounded by two libraries, a dining hall and the student union near the center of campus.



Ok. I'm ticked off at you for killing muslims. I volinteer to go out and kill some stupid americans.

But I'm stupid, and lazy, and even driving a jeep through a heavily crowded area I couldn't hit anyone if my life depended on it. So I got a kill count of ZERO.


Taheri-azar, who called police to surrender and then awaited officers on a street two miles from campus, is cooperating with investigators


Then I just decide to give it up as a bad job, call the cops and surrender.

Todays special word is "incompetance" , a word many muslims are deeply familiar with , it seems. In a country where it is dirt easy to get a gun, you decide to try a jeep instead. And then you surrender. After killing no one.

I try to be afraid of the muslim terrorist, I really do , but this ... is just plain silly.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Blog comments net Kingston woman an eviction notice

Article


A landlord is threatening to evict a Kingston woman from her apartment for criticizing him on her blog, raising questions about how libel laws apply to the internet.


Hmmm..... guess I better not put down my landlord either in this blog. I already knew not to put down my work... thats why I don't use my real name here ...


Two weeks ago, Sarah Dawe received a notice from Homestead Land Holdings Ltd., the company that owns the apartment building, accusing her of libel and asking her to vacate the building because of her online comments.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Mohammed cartoons inflame U.S. campus


Article


Now whats the problem here ? Just because some guy actually showed a cartoon of the prophet of their religion they're freaking out. Calling it indecent etc.

Thats not fair. They should put up with our morality. I mean it's not like we showed him naked or anything.

I mean they can draw cartoons of Jesus Christ can't they ? As long as they're tasteful. As long as we don't think it's indecent. As long as he's not , say ... surrounded by jews jumping up and down shouting "kill him ! kill him ! " (which actually ahppened, by the way) , that would be anti-sematic and we'd have to do something about that ....

Ok....

Maybe it is fair. We all have our sensibilities when it comes to religious topics , and maybe we all need to cut each other some slack on the matter. We all have our sore points that shouldn't be pushed, and we should respect that.

Just an opinion , just an opinion.