My old clunky laptop-Rejuvenated with Comodo Internet Suite

Based on a CNET recommendation I pulled AVG Anti-Virus off my laptop and replaced it, and ZoneAlarm, with the free Comodo Suite.  The PC now boots more quickly and runs faster.  I don't know if it's due to both anti-virus and firewall benefiting from "one" application, or whether they run more efficiently, or whether the new apps aren't doing as much to protect me...I dunno...but whatever the case, I am happy (perhaps ignorantly so...dunno).  I just did this today, so the jury's still out on the change's effectiveness.  Here's hoping.  All I know is the laptop just became emminently more usable again.

G-Rated Things About My Wife

I am proud of my wife.

• We went to a movie last night and she was in discomfort over the intense working out she did this week...yet she went out with me anyway. She pushed through her various workouts even though she knew she would be sore. I envy her dedication.
• I could not have picked a better mother for my kids (and believe me, the interview process was taxing). She both ejected them well and cares for them beautifully. They know they're loved and as secure as one can be, and she's the reason.
• I work a lot. She's THE anchor at home. Her discipline with all-things-house impresses me, from the physical up-keep to paying the bills.
• She loves people and makes friends easily. When she gets into a friendship she commits herself emotionally and has an interest in her friends' success. To be counted as her friend is a privilege, and I am one of those so honored. I wonder why I am worthy, but I don't question it.
• Her stories of the day bring me back to my center. I love listening to them. I chuckle, not at her, but with her.
• Can anyone say, "The Deal Queen"? Since I first met her I have been bowled over with her ability to explain, to Sales folk, how they miscalculated her stacked coupons. Her math and accounting background contributed to fostering the keenest almost psychic sense of rip-off detection I've ever observed. Never below board, she knows the systems, and works them in an honorable fashion. In the process, she leaves in her wake sometimes embarrassed, but always better educated, clerks, managers, and online service personnel. She cringes when I go to Kohl's and buy a new shirt, because my eyes see "50% off regular price," and her mind's eye sees "75% more than I'd pay". Luckily I keep the receipt and she gets the adjustment later on.
• I'm not gonna lie; I love her cooking. Screw the stereotypes. She's a great cook, introducing new dishes to her repertoire weekly, due to her great friends contributing recipes and tips, or simply finding something suggested in a magazine or other media outlet.
• She is the one person with whom I can confide, and she listens and empathizes always, sympathizes when appropriate, and smacks me upside the metaphorical head when deserved. She's my emotional meat thermometer, preventing my spirit-steak from burning to a crisp. [Sorry...I got an appetite, from that last paragraph, and could not escape a culinary metaphor. - editor]
• Sure, she's kept me from putting up my old Star Trek memorabilia ANYWHERE in the house, prevented movie posters, Zeppelin posters, and the like from gracing our walls, but the net effect is a calm, uncluttered home environment. I dig her color choices. The furniture is serviceable and tasteful (to our tastes). She' my own personal interior decorator.
• She forces me to participate in social activities...which is good for me. I'd rarely initiate them, but I not-so-secretly dig when she does.

The term "Better Half" is completely legitimate. Without her I'd not be the man I am. I'd not be the man I like. I owe her everything and love her completely. Every day I consider that I got through another one on the sly, and I hope she won't catch on that I'm the one getting the best part of the deal.


Alternate Ending:
Thanks, Chickie. Now go clean that kitchen while I go watch a Bruce Campbell DVD!

Mediocrity - What's the Problem

My eldest niece recently made a joke, on Facebook, that she was too mediocre to fill-out one of those "Write 25 interesting things about yourself" forms.  I replied,

"Embrace your mediocrity, Amy. Excellence is simply a spike in the norm. Incompetence is just a dip. Stand in the middle and "get 'er done", Kiddo. The hare is twitchy. The tortoise boring. But the dog out for a walk looks like a happy bit*h. Sure, the leash is some times chafing, and the annoyance on the master's face, as she has to wait for it to take a d*ump, is a bit embarrassing, but screw 'em; 'if they don't want to watch than take the collar off and let me run around,' so thinks it. Or some equivalent, much less defined, in its mediocre -- even for a dog -- little mind. It soon forgets anyway, and goes on with its happy little walk. Maybe it'll even get a treat if it does what The Man tells it to do in a timely enough manner."

'Facebook Toolbar' and 'Boost' - Two Free Add-ons for Firefox

Oops.  It turned out I had been using a couple of different add-ons.  So, not to unduly give credit to the wrong add-on, here's how the features actually breaks down, by the two Facebook add-ons I use.  The list is not meant to be complete.  I've found that using these add-ons in tandem makes the most sense for me.

• Facebook Toolbar for Firefox - Link: http://developers.facebook.com/toolbar/
  
• Provides a toolbar with quick links to the main Facebook areas.  There is a toolbar at the top of the browser and another one, with different features, at the bottom of the open Facebook window, although to be honest I am not sure if the bottom toolbar is part of this add-on or the 'Boost' add-on (listed in the second main bullet of this posting, below).
  
• Provides pop-up notifications for new friend requests, messages, pokes, event invitations, group invitations, wall writings, and various notifications regarding friends.  It does not offer skins, contrary to my previous posting.
  
• Boost for Facebook - Link: http://apps.facebook.com/boostup/
  
• Auto-Login for Facebook
• One-click pokes
• (beta) Facebook Video Downloader (haven't tried this feature yet)
• (beta) Homepage Auto-refresher allows one to force a homepage reset every x minutes.  I haven't tried this feature yet, because I hop around often enough, via the Facebook Toolbar's quick links (see above first main bullet) as to make this feature redundant, making me think the bandwidth onus unnecessary.
• Various Display Settings
• Skins - This is a really fun feature and keeps it fresh.
• Apply Light Color to Posts - Applies a secondary color for the skin to wall posts and comments so they stand out.  It makes viewing easier.
• Hide sponsor and other ads
• Hide 'People you may know' on homepage.  Personally, I like 'PYMK', so I don't use this option, but I imagine that I'll try it eventually when that section gets exponentially silly to keep around.

Dan previously wrote:

A while ago I added the Facebook Toolbar for Firefox to my Firefox. I had only used it to login automatically to the site. But for fun, I just checked out the options. It has a sidebar, that lists all my friends, and its browser toolbar adds quick links to the various Facebook locations. I find navigating, at Facebook itself, to be non-intuitive, with reference to what is in the content of the 'Home' and 'Profile' sections [Facebook toolbar]. The toolbar makes all that irrelevant, as one can just use the toolbar instead of navigating at the site itself.

I loaded the 'RUSH' (band) skin, finding that there are numerous skins for the thing. [Boost toolbar]

You can download it at the following link, or simply navigate to your Firefox add-ons (Tools|Add-Ons|Get Add-Ons), type in 'Facebook', and click 'see all', then scroll down to it.

Link: http://developers.facebook.com/toolbar/

Firefox - 'NASA Night Launch' theme and 'Dark Gmail2 Nasa' Extension - Pretty Neat

Being a space program fan, I use the Firefox - 'NASA Night Launch' theme.  I noticed this morning an add-on, the 'Dark Gmail2 Nasa' Extension, that compliments it.  It basically extends the NASA theme down into the GMail web interface.  I dig it.  While I prefer to do my GMailing through Thunderbird, this will be a cool interface when I am out and about and using my thumb drive's U3 version of Firefox.

Check it out via your Firefox's Themes and Add-ons.

3-D TV - News from the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show - CNET

    Cnet's article is good.  My summary:

• Don't bother buying a 3-D Ready Set today, if you've recently already upgraded your TV.
• 3-D sports is really cool.  Wearing the glasses works well.
• Glasses-free 3-D in-home systems are at least 10 years away, due to the need for "at least 50 more pixels" [to provide distinct signals to each eye] "to provide a similarly robust 3D experience without glasses."

    Check out the full article here:  http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10142957-100.html

Facebook Article at Yahoo! - Nothing New but Worth a Read

Nothing new is discussed or posited in the article, but it's short and worthy of a quick read.  It's just a re-tread of the "old guard" versus the "embracing new tools crowd" topic, where folks who don't Facebook wonder if the concept is killing in-person interaction or enhancing it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090118/us_time/08599187162700