Outlook Express and attachments

When you want to allow any kind of attachment to get through, you may have to chenge a setting manually. Click TOOLS, OPTIONS, then the SECURITY tab. Uncheck the box that says "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus". Now all attachments will be available. Use this etting only if you understand the risks of opening certain kinds of attachments in your email.

Personal Firewalls

Zone Alarm from Zone Labs is one of the most popular personal firewalls we've seen -- and you can get it for free. If you're already using Symantec's Norton Antivirus and it's bundled with Internet security, we think that's as much as you can do to protect yourself. Be sure to read all the literature so you have a good basic understanding of how to set it up for your situation.

Used car shopping

Most people buy a used car at some point in their lives,
but how many do a little investigation before buying?  You should know what
you're buying before laying down the cash -- or worse yet, financing.  Many
dealers will now show you a CarFax data sheet.  They punch in the Vehicle
Identification Number (or VIN) and the computer spits out all it knows about
that particular car.  A VIN is unique to each car and can tell a lot about
the car, including make, model, body style, manufacturing plant, etc.  Try
this out.  Go to your car and carefully write down your VIN, then enter it
in one of the boxes below.  You may be surprised at what you can learn.

AnalogX Vin Decoder

VIN:  

---

CarFax Vin Decoder

VIN:  

---

AutoCheck Vin Decoder

VIN:  

---

Model years 1981 and later have 17-digit vehicle
identification numbers (VIN).  Anyone can decode them with a few basics.

Digit	Meaning
1	Country 1-4=USA, 2=Canada, 3=Mexico, J=Japan, K=Korea, S=Great Britain, W=Germany, Z=Italy
2	Manufacturer A=Audi or Jaguar, B=BMW, 4=Buick, 6=Cadillac, 1=Chevrolet, C=Chrysler, B=Dodge, F=Ford, 7=GM Canada, G=General Motors, H=Honda, L=Lincoln, D=Mercedes Benz, M=Mercury, N=Nissan, 3=Oldsmobile, 2 or 5=Pontiac, P=Plymouth, 8=Saturn, T=Toyota, V=VW or Volvo
3	Vehicle type or division
4	Body style, engine type, model, series, etc.
5
6
7
8
9	Check digit This number is used to ensure the accuracy of the whole VIN
10	Model year V=1997, W=1998, X=1999, Y=2000, 1=2001, 2=2002, 3=2003, 4=2004
11	Manufacturer's Assembly Plant
12	Serial number A sequentially assigned number as each car rolls of the assembly line.
13
14
15
16
17

How to catch a bird: Get it drunk!

According to the Reuters news agency, police in Dortmund, Germany say a Crow attacked a woman and young girl over the weekend, but the bird managed to evade their efforts -- that is until they laced some cat food with high-alcohol fruit schnapps. The bird could not resist. A police department spokesman said the crow was completely smashed when they caught up with it, and is now sleeping off its hangover in a local animal home.

Tech News: The New Napster & Tiny portability

I really like gadgets that have function.  I like music and I refuse to
pay a buck a song (I-Tunes, etal), so a $10/month subscription to Napster seems
to be the best way to go...right now.  You can pay 99¢
for a song (and $9.99 for an LP) if you don't want to subscribe, but I would
want a fair amount of time to build up my library before pulling the plug. 
I figure about a month. 

More...

I strongly suggest you use your personal email
like Hotmail or
Yahoo! Mail when
corresponding with your friends, families and extra-marital partners.  Oh,
forget the last group; they deserve to get caught!  Seriously, for all
practical purposes, privacy protections do not exist at work!  This is a
must-read for corporate employees using company email for personal use. 

More...

Have you seen the 1-gigabyte USB drive in slick
a color and a cute little package?  They let you keep your stuff with you
even if you're hiking in the wilderness.  The new ones even let you surf
the web on company computers without leaving cookies and downloaded files on
work machines.  $50-$150. 

More...

Wayne Madsen: Exposing Karl Rove

Wayne Madsen: Exposing Karl Rove

Razor Competition

If four murderous blades aren't enough for ya, try this new Gillette Veinte, with twenty whisker-eating whackers!

First came the single blade disposable shaving razor, then we sued the competition for trying to keep up!

...from the "just silly" department.

Why not leave the driving to the computer?

The saps are whining again.  Not surprisingly, "The Metro" has
experienced a drop in revenue, according to href="http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4780932/22370829.html"
target="_blank">The Des Moines Register, apparently the fault of a lower
number of riders.  Until there's a real benefit from letting someone else
take the wheel, Desmoiniacs are sticking with the McVicker Speedway under their
own guidance and direction.

The bus will never take you where you want to go, when you want to go --
unless you seek a lifestyle that perfectly matches the bus routes &
schedules.  Nobody does that though.

There is still much to be said for mass transit.  Let's look at some
societal problems MTA could solve if it were used effectively.

• Drunk driving


• Reckless driving


• Unsafe driving


• Driving too fast


• Distracted driving


• Traffic congestion


• Car trouble


• Car accidents


• Rubber necking


• Financial responsibility

You can probably name a dozen more, but the common thread here will still be
the car.  Take it out of the picture and you have far fewer social issues.

The answer is faster, more efficient mass transportation.  If you could
really get to your job (or to the mall, or to the game, or to social gatherings)
affordably, faster and with less stress, you'd take that option.  I'm going
to briefly explain a model where we all get what we want.  A transportation
system that is favored over driving yourself to work (or where ever else you
want to go), while still having the freedom of recreational driving.  Under
this model, we'll cut the number of roads and all the associated expenses, while
making your commutes faster, more efficient and non-stop.

Light rail. Yes!  Light rail!  But, without the long trains and
waiting in line.  I'm talking about 1 to 5 passenger electric cars on light rail, with tracks servicing the
entire metro to within three blocks of your doorstep.  Freight and
deliveries use the same rail using slightly larger, aerodynamic, box-like
vehicles.  All computer navigation guides you through even the highest
congestion areas without ever stopping, because a network of guidance computers
negotiate the speed and direction of every vehicle at every point along the
route.  No stoplights means no stop & go inefficiency.

Driving is sold to the consumer as a fun thing to do, and it should be fun. 
So cars and motorcycles would always have a place in our society, but you would
never have to drive anywhere.

Small, electric, golf car-like vehicles can traverse the neighborhoods as a
convenience for people who have a hard time walking the (up to) three blocks to
the terminals.  These "local-only" vehicles would require only
slight, low-maintenance roads, similar to the unimposing sidewalks that connect
buildings of an apartment complex or college campus.  But most people would
walk to the station and ride to work in a relaxing and stress-free environment,
where they could read the newspaper or watch a morning newscast.

Who would own the rail cars?  Anyone who could afford it. 
Initially, companies would be expected to invest in fleets of these
ultra-efficient vehicles that meet the established criteria of this rigidly standardized
transportation system.  Of course, the general public would be free to buy
cars for the tracks and share them with other members of the public for a small
fee per trip.  So, ownership would be optional, and profits could be
made.  Cost of riding would be carefully calculated based on actual cost of
operating the cars, with a very small portion thereof going toward
infrastructure maintenance.

Presently, there are cars that go everywhere there are roads, providing
freedom, convenience and fun.  But this model is dangerous, expensive and
generally an unpleasant experience for most in metro areas.

In the future, we will have cars that go everywhere there are roads,
providing even more convenience and fun.  And, this model would be
inexpensive, nearly 100% safe and enjoyable to ride -- without all of the social
issues mentioned above.

Let's just hope the navigational computers don't all get a virus!

Staying virtually healthy

We occasionally talk about how important it is to protect your computer from
viruses, trojan horses and worms and subsequently get a lot of questions about
which applications are the best.  Here's our short list.

Norton Antivirus from
Symantec ($50)

My personal favorite.  I've always had good luck with this product; no
quirky problems associated with installing or using it.

McAfee Virusscan
from Network Associates ($35)

Some quirkiness.  It's cheaper though, and many use it without having the
issues I've had!

AVG
Anti-Virus from GriSOFT (Free)

This is the freebie Corey's mentioned several times.  I've never used it,
but Corey says it's a fine product.

Telemarketing, Shmelemarketing

Am I nuts? I thought the First Amendment predated telephones. Would someone please tell me what law here would abridge a person's right to speech? And tell me again about my right to peaceful enjoyment, please!

If you want to call me, establish a relationship with me through direct
marketing, traditional media advertising or by stumbling into me at Wellman's. 
For the most part, if I'm in the market for aluminum siding, I'll Google "aluminum siding"
-- or hang out at Wellman's if I want more drinking buddies.

What's probably
more troubling are all the deceptive practices I see day-to-day.  Masking or dressing up "caller ID" and "last call return" data
just so they can fool me into answering the phone, or preventing me from
identifying them.  How about the ones who say they work for your local
cable company?  Or advertising a new notebook computer for only $799, then
show in small print "After Rebate".  Don't get me started on the whole
"after rebate" scam.  Then there's the "free" scam.  Wake up people. 
It isn't free if you have to spend money to get it!

(steps down off his soap
box)

Saving Iowa's One-Room Schoolhouses

The Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance is presenting a two-day conference at the Spencer school admin offices (23 E 7th St) Oct. 3 & 4, where several speakers will be on hand for presentations, including a cartoonist/author and a university professor. A tour of museum schools in Clay, Dickinson and Buena Vista counties will be held Saturday.

For details, email Bill Sherman or call (800) 434-2039.