Computer Viruses

How do you really know when you are protected against computer viruses?  Trojans, worms, and other malware are sneaky little ...s, and phishing scams are also hard to detect. 
I used to pay $100 each year for "reputed" protection against these insidious creatures only to, one day, find  (just when I needed it most) that my CD/DVD drive had stopped functioning.  Thinking that it was a hardware problem I adjusted myself to the fact that I would not be burning cds anymore (not that I illegally burn cds or anything...).  A month or two later, Internet explorer suddenly decided I was no longer allowed to access the Internet.  The funny thing was, I could still send and receive emails.  After weeks of agonising over "that bloody computer", calling my I.S.P., my V.P.S.P. and praying to G.O.D. I discovered that there was definitely a virus.  Despite having already paid $100 for that year's protection, I would have to pay another $140 for the same company to remotely clean out my computer.  I asked my IT friends.  They advised me to back up my files and reinstall vista.  To do this, however, required a working disk drive, which meant $150 (without labour) to get a new one installed, or $60 to buy an external drive.  With the new generation of notebooks (that had about three times as much power as my two year old beast, and at about half the price) I considered ditching the whole thing and starting again.
My financial situation made the decision for me, however, and I decided to pay for a virus clean up.  With one hopeful glimmer of wishful thinking I asked the anti-virus rep. if I had any other options.  He told me I could try calling the manufacturer of my computer and see if they could reset it to its factory default.  This would be like turning back time, restoring my computer to its shiny, younger (and lightning fast) self.  No extra software.  No downloaded extensions.  No viruses.  I followed their advice.  One hour later, my computer was back to its original self.  The disc drive was working, the Internet was functioning and my sanity had thankfully returned.  The first site I visited after months of deprivation was AVG - to download their free virus protection.  While not as comprehensive as its commercial comrades, it seems to do the trick - I have had no problems since.

Event management

Hurray for eventbrite!  A free online tool that makes promotion a breeze.  Doodle is helpful for noodles such as myself (my friends know what I'm talking about), but a few telephone calls would also do the trick.  Anyvite is just plain fun, amusing and not at all confusing!  It allows the user numerous options for free online creation of event invitation.  Invitations can be personalised by allowing the user to choose images from flickr, and yet again, this is other application that is linked with twitter.

rss

RSS is pretty convenient for keeping up to date on the latest information,
until you forget that you have these alerts - then you find frustration!
When you check your account after weeks of inactivity
then you spend hours reading old news, and new news and you forget your own identity.
Maybe that's taking it a little too far, to say the least, a melodramatic exaggeration
because really, how can you lose yourself from reading information?
But sometimes that's the way I feel when I'm on the computer for hours
I sit and read until my eyes go grey and I lose my intellectual powers.
Feedrinse is a refining tool to cut back all the useless stuff
limiting your feeds to keywords that search for you - handy in this tough
social climate of ours, where we can't find the time
to spend searching through google or bing or yahoo.
All in all rss is the best especially the reminders
to remind me to check my reader, and email - before I lose my mind-er
that is to say before I lose my mind
perhaps I'm trying too hard to rhyme.
But what else can you do when writing about RSS
other than give yourself a healthy mental test?

How to act

Isn't it funny how so many people don't know how to act?  You would think that when one stepped into a library - a place designed for study and quiet contemplation - one would attempt to keep their noise production to a minimum. But no - most people don't.  Sorry to rant even more than my usual standard, but what on earth is wrong with this world???  (Aside from the fact that the billions of dollars invested in yachts, moving yachts by ship, and the design of even more expensive yachts could feed the billions of people who don't even have access to clean drinking water ...) 
One example: while walking through the library today I discerned the generic melodies (?) of a popular R&B track.  You know the kind - where every crescendo of vocal melody sounds like the sudden strangulation of a robot on ice (I think it was Cher who started the trend - Do you belieieieve in life after love).  A disgruntled gentleman looked over at me and pointed to the other side of the divided desk.  A young lady gawked at her facebook page.  Behind Facebook, YouTube was (not so) quietly lurking.
"Excuse me, the music is a bit too loud, can you please turn it down?"
The young lady looked at me blankly, before moving the audio cursor down.
"Thank you" I replied, before walking away.
Sure, she had done what I asked, the only thing was - the music was still very audible, in fact, it seemed just as loud as it had been before my intermission.  Noticing the same gentleman's agitated expression, and hearing his sigh (just audible above the music) I returned. 
"The music is still too loud" I said.  She pointed to the sound control.  Being at its minimum she said "Its as low as it can go - if I turn it down more I can't hear it."
"This is a library" I returned "We have to try to keep the noise down because there are people trying to concentrate.  Sorry."  With that I walked away. 
Why did I need to explain this?  Perhaps she had never been educated on the primary role of the library in our society.  I guess I shouldn't judge.  We do provide computers with sound after all, and we don't restrict access to facebook or YouTube.... My thoughts were interrupted again with the twitching ring of a mobile phone.
"Yeah?  At the library.  THE LIBRARY.  (Snickers)"  That same girl was now talking without restraint on her phone.  "Cause you're such as CUTIE" She crowed in a Kath and Kim dialect.  So much for my explanations.  Oh well.  I guess some people just don't learn.