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"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and does what he wants to do." - Dylan |
Carbonboy's New Improved Web Log |
"Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them." - Einstein |
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Killing Web Bugs, Spyware & Keeping Other Crap Off Your PC I was truly amazed when I downloaded a free web bug killer called Spybot -Search & Destroy. After running it, it killed dozens of web bugs and curious cookies. I now run it weekly to kill and immunize my PC from an ever growing list of threats and annoyances that are a given during even the most routine surfing. To clean up the hoards of garbage Microsoft Explorer and Windows seems to collect without my knowledge, I use Clean Disk Security. It's easy to use and even washes the notorious "swap file." Spybot is free (with donations requested) and Clean Disk Security is shareware and only $25 once the evaluation period expires. Both get top ratings from ZD Net. I'm sure I'm not alone when I get that creepy feeling when I allow Mico$oft to "scan your hard disk for critical updates." But given all the worms and such slimming around, I do it on a regular basis. No, sorry I don't have the time of patience to run some alternate OS -- I just don't want some worm sending itself to all in my address book. If you have only a dial-up connection, I really pity you. My last set of "critical updates" was over 12 megabytes (and that didn't include about 10 more "recommended updates" for XP, various drivers and Office. In addition to a fire wall and anti-virus software, I highly recommend the above in fighting the war against cyber terrorists like Double Click and the hoards of others. Postscript: Well MS burned me again -- one of the "critical updates" seems to prevent my PC from booting properly unless I physically unplug it and start over -- I figure 4 hours wasted today to fix it. Thanks Bill.
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September 18, 2003 11:37 am She's coming! The first band of rain and wind just hit. The north side of the Potomac storm surge is predicted to be 4-7 feet plus tide and waves. Four feet is OK but, but seven, I figure, my living room will become a swimming pool. The good news: St. George Island will block some of the surge. I've got the back porch secure and I'm moving all valuables to "high ground" in the house (which is tough if you have only one story). I hope all those pine trees are as strong as they look. I've gassed-up both my new generator and chain saw. Piney Point Tides on Thursday 18
Low 1:45 AM 0.4 If the water starts licking the tires of my pick-up, I'm leaving! Wish us luck (and a prayer or two won't hurt).
September 16, 2003 I'm heading back to Piney Point tonight with a new chain saw and generator. I'm not sure if I'm going to bring any plywood as the biggest threat is storm surge and all those big trees. I'll give you all an update on Saturday -- if my satellite dish survives. August 30, 2003 Laborless Day Weekend - The Mundane Side of Carbonboy
Latest Impulse Buys from the New Beltway IKEA (click photo for the boring details) As some of you know, I have been working really hard on a couple of projects for NASA and some military stuff as well. How hard? Well try 12++ hours a day for the last 32 days! As a few critical milestones were met this last week, I said, what the hell, I'm taking some time off. I'm going to further improve an art that I've mastered over the years -- the art of doing nothing. Now for you hyper over-achievers that always have to be involved is some activity, project, social event or meaningless sport, let me tell you this: the art of doing nothing really involves doing all sorts of perfectly selfish things on an at-whim pace. For starters, I finally stopped at the new IKEA store right off the Beltway on the way home to Piney Point to do a little shopping. I actually stopped once before, but just to browse as I was heading in the wrong direction to pick stuff up. Footnote: For those of you who live in the DC area, don't be conned into driving in the main entrance to the massive overcrowded parking lot. Smart shoppers (like me) head in the unmarked drive right off the beltway exit and directly into the parking garage. Even on the weekend, there's plenty of parking so much closer to the main entrance and it's much cooler (as it's covered) than the long hot parking lot trek. Doing nothing on a day off starts for me by not setting the alarm clock and waking up naturally to the sound of the birds (or an F-18 from Pax River). I do set my coffee maker the night before to brew a few strong cups of Starbucks House Blend. When I'm so moved, I ease out of bed and grab a large mug of java and my Washington Post and crawl right back to bed. That's also the only time I can actually read all the magazines that have been piling up in my mail box for the last week. I expect that I spend an hour or so getting caught up -- inputting as I like to call it. Then I grab my trusty note book and start a little outputting -- just conceptual thoughts & sketches of stuff from last night's dreams or the stuff I just absorbed from the WP, Wired, Fast Company, Fortune and a half dozen more mags. After the caffeine kicks in I'm ready to handle email and check important stuff like my bank account, the Drudge Report, Dilbert and Doonesbury. I whip up a little breakfast for myself and whoever happens to be around for the weekend about ten. I love fresh fruit and toasted bagels with a sliver of lox & cream cheese (lo-cal) but I will gladly create a fabulous omelet on request. The screened back porch is a good place for breakfast and to determine if it is still cool enough for a walk along the sandy shores of the Potomac. After that walk, I head back to the computer and do this: the Blog update. By noon, I hit the shower, get dressed for the day and tackle the task-list that I threw together while jotting down important stuff in my notebook. I'm just about to that point now. Today I have the pleasure of installing a front screen door (which my builder obviously considered optional). It seems that all of my neighbors (hopeless conformist) installed those fancy full frame etched glass storm doors, which makes absolutely no sense to me. I bought an equally as fancy door with a full screen in it. When this miserable Southern Maryland Summer ends, I can open the front door and the back door and get a wonderful breeze through the house and turn off the air conditioner (which has been running perpetually since May). That makes perfect sense to me. So before you accuse Carbonboy of leading a hopelessly dull existence, what exciting things did you do this Saturday? Cut the grass? Visit the in-laws? And, have you ever in your life worked 32 days straight, 12++ hours per day? Trust me, mastering the art of doing nothing is blissful! Where's my cordless screwdriver? © 2000-2003 Composites-By-Design Corporation |
Complaint Department I'm glad to see that I'm gaining readers from the Peoples Republic of China -- but there is little interest in my Blog. It seems that the carbon-carbon and metal matrix composites pages are of most interest. One humble reader requested more information on the topics and would be "most grateful" if I could send details that are "currently classified by the US military."
Sure thing buddy -- but why don't you make your request directly to the DoD to speed things up? And let the CIA know as well so they can push your request along as those agencies work soooo closely together these days. Oh and thanks for all that dirt-cheap stuff that I bought at Ikea. One of my young coworkers finally made it to my page and complained that there was "too much to read." Yes, reading is required here. Oh well, maybe I need to start including some video clips and MP3's to gain market share of the Y-Gen. Some California readers can't understand why I get so emotional over the good old days along the coast. Yes, California is in turmoil but Arnold will soon save the day -- right? To those disgruntled Californians I say: Try spending a summer in Alabama and a winter in Connecticut and I swear you will never want to leave the Golden State again. I do get one common complaint that my pages load too slow -- and it's valid, I'm using Microsoft Products on a Microsoft Server after all! For you poor folks still on a dial-up connection, I do now optimize my graphics with Fireworks and load any large graphics on separate pages with warnings of their size in the screen tips.
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