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Solving the Energy Crisis

Three Ways to Eliminate Oil Imports

While some predict that oil prices will continue to climb, and others forecast a deflation of the bubble, there's no question that America must develop a means of curtailing oil imports, and increasing our energy efficiency. It's not just the price at the pump but our balance of trade. How long we can continue to operate at a deficit is anyone's guess, yet the decline of the dollar is a prime indicator that our national credit card is reaching its limit.

The Industrial Revolution in America was fueled by cheap energy in the form of coal and oil. At the turn of the 20th Century we added hydroelectric power to the mix using alternating current (AC) to transmit electricity over long distances, and 50 years later nuclear power plants emerged. Yet our resources were not enough and we began importing energy in the form of oil and natural gas.

I've selected three companies to highlight the potential we have within our shores and a bit beyond. They are examples of innovation and represent the type of industry that we should keep at home. We are a nation of builders and  mechanics. We, the American people love to make things, and each of these technologies require fabrication and assembly. From a policy standpoint I can only hope that our next president recognizes the potential in both energy production and employment, and offers a deal on taxes so there's no advantage in producing these technologies abroad. (Continue to Article)

Blackwater Update

Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army reports that Blackwater has given J. Cofer Black what he always wanted: His own private CIA. It's incorporated as Total Intelligence Solutions, LLC. Black joined Blackwater after retiring with 30 years in the CIA. He was the one who impressed President Bush by saying that he would bring Osama bin Laden's head back on a pike, that he had a team on the ground and given the word they would start killing people in Afghanistan within 48 hours. Bush gave him the football, and I think that says something about Bush's appetite for sadism.

Download an interview with Jeremy Scahill - Flash

Get Your War On

This is funny. Sort of a How To Get on the Terrorist Watch List primer. So you know where this is headed, yet it also brings to light the irresponsibility of collecting 1,000,000 names of people that the government can't really be watching - or can they? You've got email and an IP address somewhere and by tracking your trip along the Web you will reveal yourself to the Spider. Actually the Spider is just bunch of suits like these Joes. Perhaps there's some comfort in that.

Photo Album

In my Freeware Update ~ Spring 2008, you will find jAlbum, a favorite among webmasters for building photo albums. I used the Flash-based skin titled BananAlbum to display some of my outdoor photos. To view it you'll need Flash installed, and in IE7 you'll have to "Allow Blocked Content." The program offers other skins that provide a variety of choices for display.

Online Storage

ADrive does just that. The site uses an Explorer type interface and provides a file manager to upload files and create folders (aka directories). Nothing spectacular and the site can be slow, yet where can you get that amount of space for the asking? For paid accounts they have a backup utility and other features you may or may not need for $6.95 a month.

You may find Box.net a little easier to use if only because the interface seems friendlier and the video tutorials are easy to follow. The company has also joined with other online services to provide enhancements, and the tools seem pretty basic. You can only store one gigabyte of files, but collaboration seems to be it's main attraction.

There are many more offers out there, but outside of raw space I have to wonder why anyone really needs an online word processor or even a spreadsheet. Open Office is free if you're trying to save money, and if you're online you can simply email your docs. Maybe I just don't get it, but I've tried Google Docs and Zoho Writer and unless I were sharing a computer or using one in a public library I see no advantage.

Frankly, if you need more storage than 50 gig then you'll do better with web hosting. My current provider (banner below) offers 120 gigabytes of space for $4.99 a month. Support is very friendly, and even if you don't want a web site you can use Filezilla to easily upload a large amount of data in the existing folders.

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Shoot the Messenger!

I'll be running tips on how to keep the bad guys out, and  your machine running clean. Trojans use Windows Messenger to bounce a pop up ad onto your screen with the usual warning that you have a virus or some such thing. Well you do! Courtesy of Microsoft. So let's lock and load. The execution should only take a few minutes. To the Firing Line.

Secunia Software Inspector

Secunia monitors security vulnerabilities and software updates that fix these problems. As an example SSI noted that I had an older version of Java still running, though I also was running the most recent update. When I went to Add or Remove Programs I found two older updates that had not been overwritten or uninstalled.

You can download the Personal Software Inspector (PSI) and run it as part of your maintenance routine, or go online and run it from their website. One thing to remember is that some programs like Dreamweaver will maintain older versions of Flash for programming but this can not be updated.

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Freeware Update

Spring 2008

Then came "professional software" hammered out by the corporate types, and the some of the more enterprising started a movement called shareware.

The True Geeks were appalled. Still they trudged on, adapted, and the spirit remains. The Freeware on this page is a testament to it.