The Best Free Software Ever

Good software is good.  Free software is great.  But these, THESE are the coolest free things that a geek homeboy can lock onto, ever, in my humble opinion (at least until somebody does it better, which I'm not holding my breath for).

 

 

AVG Free Edition - This free virus protection software from Grisoft is the bomb.  It scans email attachments, is customizable, and absolutely does the job, I think, as well as any virus protection out there.  A while back, I was on a home network with three other users.  Bam!  Virus smackdown.  AVG stopped it cold.

 

Zone Alarm Free Download - This software firewall is rock solid.   Getting Zone Alarm was the smartest thing that I ever did for keeping the riff raff off my personal data stash.

 

Spybot Search and Destroy - This spyware, malware, and adware killer is truly awesome.  Seriously, you'll be impressed.  Even more impressive is that this seems to have created and continually updated by ONE guy.  At least, it was for a LONG time.  One man, one mission - to clean your computer.  If you download this, show him a little love and donate.

 

Ad-Aware SE - Let me put it this way.  If you get both this and Spybot, you've got the best 1-2 spyware and malware punch that's free for the taking.  What Spybot misses, this one will sniff out.  Use it and make your computer happy.

 

Firefox Web Browser - Web browsing using Firefox is, well, very cool.  Blocks popups, tabbed browsing, and blocks a HELL of a lot of the stuff that you pick up using IE.  You almost don't even NEED a malware sniffer if you're using Firefox.  At home, I don't use anything else.  Try.  You'll like. 

 

Trust me on these.  But if you don't, look 'em up on Google or read up on Download.com.  You won't be sorry.

Video Killed The Radio Star

Really, had the whole Saturday Night Live thing never happened, I seriously doubt we ever would've seen stuff like this on the internet.

She's just a teenager.  Give her at least a little love.

Starring...Vince Vaughn?

So, more movie remakes in the offing.  Hollywood is close remaking the classic Hitchcock thriller, "The Birds".  I loved that movie.  I remember it actually scared the HELL out of me when I was a kid.

 

The bad news?  The company that is negotiating to remake the movie is owned by the man who produced and directed this.

 

And this.

 

Lots of things will be exploding, I'm sure.  We'll be seeing the censored version of this film every week on F/X, starting in, oh, 2008.
 

Marcus Camby for Secretary of Defense

Nuggets beat the Spurs, 93-87 .

 

I have said it before, and  I will say it again:

 

THE NUGGETS CAN BEAT THE SPURS. 

 

Last night they proved it.  Sure, it took one of the most dismal 4th quarter shooting performances in recent playoff memory, but the Nuggets won.  Why?  Several reason, not the least of which, though, is free throw shooting.  The Nuggets can hit from the stripe, while the Spurs don't as well.  Simple as that.

 

It's only Game 1.

 

But the Spurs are the least of the Nuggets problems in the Western Conference.  Problem No. 1 is the Phoenix Suns, who usually win even when they don't play well.  This team is Problem No. 2, even without their Michigan connection. 

 

The Commuter Affair

Everyone has youthful dalliances.

Two lifetimes ago or so, I lived in Washington, D.C., and I met this young woman at the law office where I worked.  She was quite the pretty thing, and me, having come off of one of the more ridiculous relationships of my life, was ripe for the rebound.  She was a legal assistant, and, as it turned out, she rode the same exact same Metro line that I did for a short distance every evening.  We became friends, I think, because I was relentless in my pursuit.  Only after a friendly happy hour did I discover that she was already engaged to someone else.  I had already lost.  

Somehow, though, along the way, I decided that I would give myself thirty days to change her mind, then I would move across the country and start my life over again from scratch.  I have no idea how I did this, but somehow I talked her into what I thought would be a tiny, tiny affair; I had thirty days to change her mind about her live-in boyfriend.  Tiny, because we could never really, truly be together, we figured.  I could never go to her house, she probably could never visit mine.  

Thus, a Commuter Affair.

Others of you our there have perhaps had these, and perhaps not.  But we would sit together on the Metro, speaking in hushed tones, laughing at one another's jokes, acting largely like a couple, missing our stops, looking longingly at luxury hotels along the way, and riding to the legendary End-Of-The-Line.  Then we'd double back, separate, and agree to meet, again, at the same place at the same time tomorrow.

But everything was sped up; after two weeks, the affair was taking other turns.  Quickly, things were getting more serious.  We had begun getting off and walking into those pricey hotels, not quite having the gumption to buy a room.  She had begun lying at home, saying that she had to work weekend, and instead we would sneak into Pentagon City or downtown and spend time together.  The Commuter Affair had gone Mainstream.

On 29th day, she came to my home for wine and dinner.  I was out of time, but her mind was not made up.  I was inconsolable.  I begged her to change her mind.

She left anyway.

The next day, I left Washington and haven't returned, unless you count a quick and miserable stop in Dulles Airport.  Later, I heard a rumor that she was at the bus stop just shortly after I left, but for me now that sounds too much like a Nora Ephron film.  Not that I dislike her stuff.

Personally, I don't count the layover at Dulles as a real visit back to The District, the location of my one, my only, Commuter Affair.  Why should I?

Dulles has no Metro Stop.

Audiophilia

I love music.

 

You tell me.  Is this an iPod shuffle o' 10 straight tunes that I should be proud of, or should I fear for my soul?

 

"Everything In It's Right Place" - Radiohead

"Black Magic Woman" - Santana

"This Charming Man" - The Smiths

"Doin' Time" - Sublime

"Oh My God" - A Tribe Called Quest

"Cherry Cherry" - Neil Diamond

"Golden" - Jill Scott

"I Can't Wait to Meetcha" - Macy Gray

"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen

"Car Thief" - The Beastie Boys

 

Feel free to leave a comment with your tunes.

But, I'm gonna tell you right now, there will be NO catblogging here.  One meme at a time is plenty.

Blog Maintenance

Lots to do.

First, the introduction of new stuff.

In the Blog category:

McSweeney's - Good writing. I can't write like 99% of these people. Fortunately, the world doesn't just value talent. However, when I want to expand the size of my head with actual stuff that may, MAY be good for it, I go here.

Daily Kos - This is a partisan liberal blog - probably the biggest and most successful. There's a HUGE community there. Simply agree that it's an inspiring sight to take in. Check out the Diaries, as that's where most of the action is.

The Agitator - Another political blog (although don't get the idea that I'm too political - pretty much I get sick of all that crap after a while) this one with a libertarian bent. This guy's is pretty cool. I've been reading this forever, it seems like.

T'mornin' - She's a friend. What can I say? She's just a single mom trying to survive.

All of these peeps get added to the blogroll. Maybe someone will notice that I exist. I also added a sitemeter. Why? Probably cause I don't get enough spam.

Update - Just remember, just cause I mentioned all these cool blogs don't mean that I always agree with all opines therein. Okeydokey? Just so you know... and knowing is half the battle.

More New Stuff from God... er, Google

Google Search History allows us paltry humans to save our Google searches and look them up from any computer that's connected to the Internet, worldwide.

Brand new, and, of course, free, as most really good things tend to be if you're cheap, like me.

I need to interject here.

I love Google.

Probably a lot of us do.

After all, that's where I acquired this wonderful service that I now am using. That said, in the last few months, what hasn't Google rolled out? I fully expect them to be able to index my DNA soon.

Some day, Google, after innumerable generations of inconceivable advancement, will take down the shield that surrounds Mountain View and come forth. When I think of that, I feel frightened.*

*Apologies to Mr. Sturgeon.

Emailing blog entries

Does it work?

Maybe?

Also....
Having template hang ups. Hell. Think I should create my own?
...also, I'm trying to set up a bunch of things here all at once, so bear with me. Hopefully things won't be too terrible while I get going.

Ok. So it's like this.

I started this blog what seems like a hell of a long time ago. It's about time that I actually get the sucker up and running. Again. Time, friends, it sneaks up on you.