Some belated reservations about PrevX Home...

I used PrevX for quite some time before I (recently) became aware that it was affecting programs that I frequently use adversely. I have also become aware that just disabling it's intrusion monitoring or exiting the program didn't always solve the problems. I had to uninstall it completely to get things back to normal.

So, for the time being, I still recommend PrevX — but with some reservations. I have written the Home PrevX folks describing my experience, and if/when I hear back from them, and if/when they make some changes or give some useful guidance, I will re-install PrevX and try again. I may experiment with it in the meantime — when I have the time.

I am NOT saying that no one should install it and try it: We all have different applications installed, and if may not affect yours. Intrusion preemption is a good idea! Also, if there should be problems, some may be solved by "tweaking" it's monitoring options and/or temporarily disabling intrusion detection and/or exiting the application in the task manager. And everything can be restored to "normal" by uninstalling and rebooting your system.

In the meantime, until I hear back from the Prevx people, I am using two fine programs to "harden" Internet Explorer and XP Pro (SP2): Spybot Search & Destroy (resident) and Spyware Blaster...along with, of course a good free antivirus (Grisoft AVG) and the paid version of the Zone Alarm Pro firewall. An antivirus, a firewall, faithful Windows updates and some sort of spyware detection are the basic lines of defense in computer and internet security.

Sorry for the (possibly) bum steer concerning PrevX Home!

TeMerc Internet Security Site

For those of you who are very concerned about computer and internet security, but not as yet very knowledgable. A very useful site! --Chuck

TeMerc Internet Security Site

Our granddaughter, Jessica, is raising these...sounds fascinating!

RED HERRING | Spamming the vote

RED HERRING | Spamming the vote: "Spamming the vote

Can billions of political spam emails sway the election?
October 25, 2004
Forget debt refinancing, free laptops, and cheap Canadian drugs. The spam of the hour wants your vote, not your money.

In the first three weeks of October, political spam skyrocketed 300 percent from September levels, according to MailFrontier, a spam solution provider in Palo Alto, California. The company expects political spam to exceed 1.25 billion emails by the time Election Day rolls around.

In a race that is becoming a virtual dead heat, the parties and their affiliates are bombarding email addresses across the country with exhortations to vote for their candidate. But experts wonder what impact the email barrage could have outside of the annoyance factor.

"Email is just one of the many ways that the parties are trying to reach out to voters," said Sonia Arrison, director of Technology Studies at the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a public policy think tank headquartered in San Francisco. "But it is the least-trusted method."

But a survey by MailFrontier showed that political emails could impact the presidential election — especially since it's such a tight race. "

Read on...

Barnabas International: bringing spiritual encouragement to missionaries and other leaders worldwide

Morrison teachers receive the print copy of "Encouragement" in our boxes each time it comes out. You might want to visit the site below from time to time for encouragement...and to check out Barnabas International's other ministries.

Chuck


Barnabas International: bringing spiritual encouragement to missionaries and other leaders worldwide:

"Good Morning Friend,

You and I tend to think of time in terms of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. We wear wrist watches. We have clocks and calendars in our homes and offices. We live with the limitations of time and space. We are busy . . . rushing here and there. How different it is with God. I can�t imagine Him looking at the clock. He is never late . . . and He is never early. He is always on time. His timing is always perfect.

I recall the story of Mary and Martha (John 11) who were frantically trying to find Jesus so He could come and heal their sick brother, Lazarus. Jesus finally arrived but He was late; in fact, too late according to their calendar. Lazarus was dead and had been in the tomb for four days. Twice they said to Jesus . . . If only you would have been here. Jesus then called Lazarus to come out of the tomb. He did so. That day the sisters learned something new about Jesus, The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25). Is God ever late? Is He ever too late? NO . . . though it may sometimes seem that He is too late. We wring our hands, wishing that He would do something. But God is always doing something. He is fully engaged."

Click HERE to read the complete letter...

NEWS of the WEIRD

Looking for something "new" in the news? check this out...
--Chuck

NEWS of the WEIRD: "Hey, How's It Goin'?:

Welcome to News of the Weird, the weekly syndicated newspaper column (founded 1988) that is the most widely-read bizarre-news feature in the United States--indeed, the gold standard of weird-news reporting, appearing in more than 250 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.
For some readers, News of the Weird is merely a light diversion
from the heavier news of the week. However, for others, it's much more: A weekly chronicle of the continuing decline of civilization. Or a therapeutic personal benchmark for reassuring yourself that it's all those other people (not you) who are the problem. Or, for the few who actually wind up in News of the Weird, a monument to lives interestingly lived."

Bloglines - AllExperts.com

Bloglines user ChuckzBlog (chuckzmail@johnstonz.net) has sent this item to you.

Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics Freeware, useful Web sites, original PC tips & tricks, critical updates, jargon definitions, and general help for consumers. Tech support with a personal touch!

AllExperts.com By rss_feedback@lockergnome.com (Family First) on Family First Direct and Related Links for 'AllExperts.com' Have you ever come across a question that you just couldn’t answer? It could be on any subject, or about any person. But being stuck for an answer can be frustrating. But have no fear; today’s Family First site is on the way to give you the needed help. Called AllExperts.com, it is a Web site that has over 3,100 volunteers waiting to answer your question in over 35 main categories, with many subdivisions. The…

Kerry's Military Discharge. What's Kerry Hiding?

HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE - Conservative News, Views & Books: "Kerry's Military Discharge. What's Kerry Hiding?:


'I have nothing to hide. I want you to ask me questions.'
--John Kerry, Reuters, August 3, 2004

The only 180 John Kerry hasn't accomplished in his litany of flip-flops throughout his campaign is Standard Form 180, the paperwork necessary for the complete release of his military records from the Department of Defense repository.

The Kerry campaign and website continue to claim he has released all military records. In fact, they've released the few documents painting the senator in a favorable light. There are at least 100 pages, promising to be much more revealing, still unseen. Kerry controls their release. All he has to do is sign the Form 180. To date, he has refused.

It goes without saying the main stream media isn't clamoring for him to comply although they hounded President George Bush relentlessly to release his Air National Guard records. Bush, by the way, did the right thing--he signed his Form 180. Kerry has made his naval service the focal point for his election. Shouldn't we expect the war hero to open his military service to America? Where is the outrage (I ask tongue-in-cheek)? Where is the objective journalism? More realistically, what is Kerry hiding?"

Complete story >>>

ScrappleFace: Unions Mount Telegraph and Train Campaign for Kerry

Yeah...it's pure satire...read on... --Chuck

ScrappleFace: Unions Mount Telegraph and Train Campaign for Kerry: "Unions Mount Telegraph and Train Campaign for Kerry
(2004-10-23) -- America's labor union leaders are mounting perhaps the largest grassroots effort in history to elect John Forbes Kerry, using all of the latest technology including telegraph, trains, stage coaches and handbills.
'Kerry is the only one who can get back all of those manufacturing jobs we lost because of Bush, Cheney and their big oil cronies,' said one unnamed union leader from his mahogany-paneled Washington D.C. office suite. 'President Kerry will negotiate with countries like India, China and Singapore and they'll return our high-paying assembly line jobs to the American heartland.'
Union members who, regardless of party affiliation, pay a portion of their income each week to the Democrat National Committee, are enthusiastically getting aboard Pullman cars and stage coaches for the long cross-country campaign journey. They stop in each little town to distribute 'Kerry for President' handbills to merchants, farmers and the local citizenry. When they're done in one town, they telegraph ahead so the folk can organize a rally at the bandstand.
'This is the most important election in history,' said the union source. 'If we don't stop Bush, he'll have us all in college or tech schools learning new skills for the 21st century, or starting small businesses. That wave of innovation and entrepreneurship will undermine everything that America's unions have fought to defend.'
by Scott Ott"

Costume Idea Zone

Costume Idea Zone: "Looking for a great Halloween costume idea? Do you want to save money by making your own costume? We've got hundreds of suggestions for creative, fun and easy costumes!"

To make those "tough choices" less arduous... ;-) 

On a more serious note, I STRONGLY recommend downloading and installing this free (for home users) instrusion prevention software for Windows XP/2000/NT. 

On the lighter side... 

Some cool and (mainy) FREE stuff for your XP  

Bloglines - Paper Trail E-Voting Success In Nevada Getting Attention

Bloglines user ChuckzBlog (chuckzmail@johnstonz.net) has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

---

 We, the people, need to keep the pressure on our leaders to provide secure, verifiable voting records. If Nevada can do it, we all can! -- Chuck 

---

Techdirt Easily digestible tech news.

Paper Trail E-Voting Success In Nevada Getting Attention Remember the primary in Nevada that used e-voting machines with a paper trail? The same ones that election officials elsewhere wanted to fail, but which worked quite well? In fact, there were very few problems reported, unlike in states like Florida and Maryland, where there are tons of problems being reported by those using electronic voting machines with no paper trail. Well, it appears that some state governments are deciding that, thanks to Nevada's success e-voting with a paper record is the way to go. While those against such machines kept claiming that the paper would cause problems for workers, that clearly wasn't the case in Nevada. So, now, the election officials are grasping at straws for reasons why a verifiable paper trail is no good, claiming that poll workers could check to see how people voted -- though, that's more of a design issue. A properly designed polling machine would not let workers view how someone just voted. Either way, it looks like the message is getting across that the combined e-voting and paper receipt is a better way to go. It's certainly far from perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. Update: Thanks to Ed Felten for pointing out that I misspoke in calling the paper trail "receipts," which would suggest they are taken by the voter. They are not. They remain in the machine behind a protective viewing window. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, but I can understand how the use of the word "receipt" would imply that. The post has been edited accordingly.

Security Council members deny meeting Kerry - The Washington Times

Security Council members deny meeting Kerry - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - October 24, 2004: "Security Council members deny meeting Kerry


By Joel Mowbray
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

U.N. ambassadors from several nations are disputing assertions by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry that he met for hours with all members of the U.N. Security Council just a week before voting in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq.

An investigation by The Washington Times reveals that while the candidate did talk for an unspecified period to at least a few members of the panel, no such meeting, as described by Mr. Kerry on a number of occasions over the past year, ever occurred. "

View video of Kerry's original statement HERE
Read the Washington times article HERE

Check this out...great FREE way to keep in touch over the miles. 

From the Washington Post...informative! 

Very moving...a man of strength with real compassion... 

Isn't there something doubly waffle-like about a person who once decried his participation in the Vietnam conflict and vilified his comrades in arms who now proclaims the valor of his particiaption in that same war and capitalizes on his service record? Seems so to me! 

This would be funnier if the ending weren't so sad... 

PFM | Gone But Still with Us

PFM | Gone But Still with Us:

"A generation of Americans has been taught to believe that there's no such thing as objective truth, only preferences, and one person's preference is as good as anyone else's. If students read books at all, they care less about what the author had to say than about their own opinions and feelings."

Read it all>>>

PivX - Qwik-Fix Pro

Be safe! This security (worm protection) product is recommended by Microsoft, is free for non-commercial users (up to five licenses) and FREE for everyone until the end of October! -- Cchuck


PivX - Qwik-Fix Pro: "Get Proactive
Qwik-Fix Pro� uses Active System Hardening� to protect Windows desktops and servers against new threats by blocking the underlying vulnerabilities exploited by worms and viruses. Qwik-Fix Pro� protects from hundreds of specific worms and viruses and safeguards PCs from falling victim to the next worm or virus before vendor security patches become available. Qwik-Fix Pro� users were protected in advance from Sasser, MSBlaster, SoBig.F, and even the recent Scob and download.ject worms.


Don't Be Exposed
Qwik-Fix Pro� reduces or eliminates the window of exposure to exploits of new vulnerabilities. By blocking the root cause of entire classes of Windows vulnerabilities, Qwik-Fix Pro� protects you before vendors announce new vulnerabilities and issue patches, giving you time to test and deploy patches on your schedule."

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Sports (Winning Tradition)

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Sports (Winning Tradition): "Winning Tradition


Claim: The outcome of Washington Redskins football games has correctly predicted the winner of every U.S. presidential election since 1936.

Status: True. "

Read on>>>

NatronLaw - 1.9 Million New Jobs

NatronLaw - Nathan Paul Mehrens, Esq.:

1.9 Million New Jobs

Today being the first Friday after the 1st of the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor released the payroll survey figures this morning. If you saw www.cnn.com this morning or some of the other left-of-center news sites you probably noticed a bleak report on the jobs numbers. It's incredible that they could misread the figures so bad. Here is the summary of what actually was released.

From the Joint Economic Committee

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced today that the economy added 96,000 new payroll jobs in September. According to BLS, severe weather in September 'appears to have held down employment growth.' The unemployment rate remained at 5.4 percent, well below its peak of 6.3 percent last June, and below the average unemployment rates of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. BLS also announced today that employment growth between April 2003 and March 2004 was underestimated by approximately 236,000 jobs, or an average of 20,000 jobs per month. If this revision is taken into account, 1.9 million new payroll jobs have been created since April 2003."

There's more>>>

PFM | From a Slippery Slope to an Avalanche

PFM | From a Slippery Slope to an Avalanche: "BreakPoint with Charles Colson

October 5, 2004

For all the horror stories we’ve heard about euthanasia in recent years, there are still many people who think of it as “mercy killing.” Those people need to take a long, hard look at what’s happening in the Netherlands right now. It’s very difficult to find anything merciful about what Dutch doctors are doing to children and infants.


According to Wesley J. Smith in the Daily Standard, Groningen University Hospital in the Netherlands now officially allows doctors to euthanize children under twelve, “if doctors believe their suffering is intolerable or if they have an incurable illness.” That includes non-fatal illnesses and disabilities. Whether or not the child can consent is irrelevant—what child under twelve would have a clear idea of what he or she was consenting to?


As Smith writes, “For anyone paying attention to the continuing collapse of medical ethics in the Netherlands, this isn’t at all shocking. . . . Doctors were [already] killing approximately 8 percent of all infants who died each year in the Netherlands. That amounts to approximately eighty to ninety per year. Of these, one-third would have lived more than a month. At least ten to fifteen of these killings involved infants who did not require life-sustaining treatment to stay alive. The study found that a shocking 45 percent of neo-natologists and 31 percent of pediatricians who responded to questionnaires had killed infants.” Smith adds that at least a fifth of the killings were performed without parental consent.


Remember those gruesome statistics the next time someone tries to tell you that euthanasia doesn’t hurt anyone, that it’s just a way of helping people die with dignity. That argument is flawed in itself—because killing destroys a human life created in God’s image. No matter how “humanitarian” the reason, killing is by definition harmful.


But the harm caused by euthanasia goes beyond that. It inevitably changes our attitude toward all human life. In fact, our attitude toward the weakest members of our society is the real test of how we view life. If we don’t see any inherent value in their lives, we soon and necessarily lose sight of what makes all lives sacred.


Wesley Smith puts it this way: “Why does accepting euthanasia as a remedy for suffering in very limited circumstances inevitably lead to never-ending expansion of the killing license? Blame the radically altered mindset that results when killing is redefined from a moral wrong into a beneficent and legal act. If killing is right for, say, the adult cancer patient, why shouldn’t it be just as right for the disabled quadriplegic, the suicidal mother whose children have been killed in an accident, or the infant born with profound mental retardation?”


There can be little doubt anymore that the “slippery slope” of euthanasia has turned into an avalanche. As I’ve said before, once this kind of attitude starts to spread—as it did in Germany in the 1930s, to the world’s horror, and as it is spreading in America as well as Europe today—no one is truly safe. It can be only a matter of time before lawmakers and doctors determine that none of us needs to have any say in whether we or our loved ones live or die.

The other side of life in Iraq...

A paragraph in a newsletter I just received from Wes & Mary Bell, with IBS, gives some additional insight into life in Iraq that you won't see on network news. Worth praying for! -- Chuck

.......................

A REPORT FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
        A missionary with contacts in Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia has been using IBS lessons as a part of the ministry. The latest report is that house churches in those countries are growing and young people, especially, are becoming Christians. The spate of church bombings that hit the old “Christian” churches in Iraq has not affected the work. The IBS lessons have been an important tool in this work. We are looking forward to helping this outreach expand. Your prayers will help.
..................

Next time you need to share a large (up to 100 Meg!) file with someone, you might try this site... 

A "letter to mankind" from a Muslim is on this page. click on the image to chekc out the entire site... 

Worthless facts about food... 

MInd-bending game! 

For the kids! 

Viral movies possible with RealPlayer flaw | CNET News.com

Viral movies possible with RealPlayer flaw | CNET News.com:

"A software slipup in RealNetworks' music player means that Windows, Mac and Linux computers could be compromised by a fake movie file, a security company said Friday.

The problem means that fake movie files could be created that, when played by vulnerable Real software, would run a program instead. The flaw appears in RealPlayer 10 for Windows and Mac OS X, the RealOne Player for Windows and Mac OS X and the Real Helix Player for Linux. "

Before you panic and make the jump to the Firefox browser, you might want to consider this. (Internet Explorer is perfectly safe when used with normal security precautions.)  

Bloglines - IamBigBrother v9.0

Bloglines user ChuckzBlog (chuckzmail@johnstonz.net) has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

---

 Trust and personal responsibility are best, but, when trust has been broken, monitoring is needed...for a while. --Chuck 

---

Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics Freeware, useful Web sites, original PC tips & tricks, critical updates, jargon definitions, and general help for consumers. Tech support with a personal touch!

IamBigBrother v9.0 By rss_feedback@lockergnome.com (Lockergnome) on Family First Direct and Related Links for 'IamBigBrother v9.0' Do your kids use Yahoo! for e-mail? Today’s Family First site has a program that monitors it! See all incoming and outgoing e-mail for Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL Web, and more. Many programs cannot record incoming Web e-mails like Hotmail or Yahoo! - but here’s one that does! Additionally, the user cannot get around IamBigBrother 9.0 by clearing cache or history - it gets EVERYTHING as it happens… including PASSWORDS! [Continued…]…

Bloglines - Dilbert for 04 Sep 2004

Bloglines user ChuckzBlog (chuckzmail@johnstonz.net) has sent this item to you.

Dilbert Tapestry :: RSS Delivery of Web Comics

Dilbert for 04 Sep 2004

Desktop Pipeline: Four Out Of Five Linux PCs End Up Running Windows

Desktop Pipeline | News | Gartner: Four Out Of Five Linux PCs End Up Running Windows: "Gartner: Four Out Of Five Linux PCs End Up Running Windows

By Gregg Keizer Courtesy of TechWeb News

Although Linux backers boast of a growing market share on the desktop, especially in booming regions like Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, those numbers are hugely inflated, a research firm said Thursday, because most of the PCs actually end up running Windows.

But those Windows are bogus copies, not the real deal, said Annette Jump, a principal analyst with Gartner's U.K. office, who finds a direct connection between piracy and Linux.
'About 80 percent of systems pre-loaded with Linux in 2004 will end up running a pirated copy of Windows,' she said.
Windows' high price is driving overseas system integrators and hardware vendors to install Linux, the for-free open-source operating system, Jump said, to keep prices down. The $80 or so that Microsoft charges for a legitimate copy of its OS can account for 15 percent or more of a typical PC's price in many foreign markets. Two-fifths of the machines shipped with Linux don't even make it into users' hands before a counterfeit copy of Windows is slapped on the drive. Another two-fifths eventually get Windows, often after consumers ask a technically-astute relative or friend to install the Microsoft OS, or after small businesses retrofit the PCs themselves.

'System integrators put Linux on as a way of staying legal and avoiding Microsoft,' said Jump, even though they later install a pirate Windows or know the end user will. 'Few will admit this outright, but that's what they're doing.' "

Complete Debate Transcript...

AP Politics | IndyStar.com: "September 30, 2004

The First Bush-Kerry Presidential Debate
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES' DEBATE, SPONSORED BY THE MICCOSUKEE TRIBE OF INDIANS OF FLORIDA, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA

Fact check

Fact check: "October 1, 2004

"...a look at key assertions -- and a quick fact check -- from Thursday's debate between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry..."

Sales of Halloween masks good indicator of election

In case you wanted to know... --Chuck


Kerry team votes against timing lights on lecterns: "Sales of Halloween masks good indicator of election
Milwaukee --

Maybe there's a reason Halloween and Election Day are so close together.

For the past six presidential elections, since Ronald Reagan's first victory, sales of rubber Halloween masks caricaturing the Republican and Democratic candidates have predicted the next president, according to an Internet costume seller.

President Bush is leading so far this year. As of Thursday, 55 percent of the masks sold were of Bush and 45 percent were of John Kerry, said Daniel Haight, chief operating officer of New Berlin-based Buyseasons, which owns Buycostumes.com.
'The mask sales have been 100 percent accurate,' Haight said. 'So far, we have no reason to believe this year will be any different.'"

 

Hang on to your hats! 

Examples of the kind of e-mail messages that you NEVER want to open or reply to...