This is just a simple hack I have developed and its been working well for me so I decided to share. Often when working on PCs, I notice the amount of dust inside the cabinet. This buildup of dust is NEVER good for the computer, so one thing that is important is to clean out the inside of the case from time to time. Generally, I recommend doing this at least once every three months.

In most computers that people buy, the power supply cables are just strewn about, and can cause some serious airflow problems. One thing I do to prevent this is to use plastic zip ties to neaten things up. This still allows dust to build up between all those wires, which is a pain to clean. So, I have come up with a way to help airflow, stop dust from building up in these wires, and make the entire inside of the computer look much cooler. Simply put, I use black electrical tape to wrap up the wires from the power supply. This gives a neat appearance to the case, clears the clutter for better airflow, and does not allow dust to build up in the wires themselves.

It is important to note that there is a risk of static damage to the computer while performing this task. For best results, I remove the power supply from the case to wrap the wires. This can safely be done with the power supply inside the case if you remove all the wires from the motherboard and accessories such as hard disks, optical drives, and video cards. Wrap the wires tightly with the electrical tape in a spiral fashion, covering as much of it as you can. I do not recommend wrapping groups of wires in this manner, as it will be difficult to remove if you ever need the additional connectors. Instead, wrap each wire individually and then use zip ties to neaten them up.

I was really sad to find out today that Mr. Edison Chouest has passed away. My most sincerest condolences go out to his family.

I’ll tell you the story of the first time I ever met Mr. Edison. I was working at Wal-Mart in the Sporting Goods department, and an old man came in to buy a fishing reel. The kind he wanted was a very nice one, but expensive and one that we didn’t carry. I called a manager over and they special ordered one for him. Eventually, they started carrying these reels in the store regularly. After the old man thanked me and left, the manager asked me if I had any idea who I had been serving. I really didn’t, and said so. Turns out it was Mr. Edison Chouest. He came back a few more times and taked with me, and he always came across as a very polite man. I was really sorry to hear that he had passed away today.

He lived a good life though, leaving behind some wonderful children, and making the bayou a much better place for everyone. I’m glad to have known him, even though it was just in passing.

This is the absolute first time in my life that I have ever evacuated from any hurricane (including Katrina). I took my Mom with me and we are staying with my girfriend’s family at a campground in Mississippi.

Timberlake Campground

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Yesterday I was out shopping with my wonderful girlfriend and her two nieces. They wanted to go to Circuit City to look at laptop computers for the one that is in college, and thought it would be a great idea to bring me (the “computer guy”) along. I said sure, why not, as it was a beautiful day and I was in a good mood.

We got in the store and looked around at all kinds of things, and then ended up next to the networking equipment. My girlfriend reminded me that I had promised to hook up a WiFi access point in her home for use with the new MacBook we got her. I had been putting it off because of finals this week, but they had one of the new Cisco/ Linksys Wireless N/ Gigabit routers. My plan was to replace my current router (a very old one, from about four years ago) with the newer model and run some Cat5 between the two (hooking it up to the LAN side, of course) to provide a stronger signal to the part of the house where she uses her MacBook the most. (Just as a side note, if you want to do this, make sure to turn off DHCP on the secondary unit, and give it a different IP address).

All was well until I got to the register. Or should I say the lack of a register, as the only thing with an employee was the service counter. Never mind the fact that FIVE employees asked me for help on the sales floor, now there was no one at the register. After awhile they opened up and began to check out the gentleman in front of me. Another employee asked the cashier to go look up a price, so instead of checking us out she walked off. Now don’t get me wrong, I was a bit upset at this point, but I worked in retail for almost 8 years before getting my first real tech job (full time, before I even got my Associate!), so I know how it can be working at a store. I am usually really easygoing with things like this and I try to be as polite as possible to the employees because “I’ve been in their shoes.” So, we waited patiently for the cashier to return.

She came back and began scanning our items, I presented my credit card, then she asked for my phone number and address. I used to be really naive about things like this, but with all the identity theft happening in the world I am becoming more (paranoid) cautious about giving out my personal information. I told her that I did not want to give out that personal information, and felt that it was unnecessary for the transaction. This brought everything to a standstill (just like those credit card commercials LOL) and she told me she could not proceed with the transaction without the information.

She called over a manager, who eventually came and tried to enter a fake address. Before completing the transaction, he walked off. The cashier told me that it still would not work. Basically, they could not sell me the items unless I provided them with my phone number and address. The manager stated that it was for in case I lost the receipt and to have my contact information on record to send me information about special offers. For one, I seriously doubt they would be willing to let me return something without a receipt. Also, I have no desire to receive any communications from them. I felt that I should not have to give them this personal information in order to make a purchase. I also feel that they should have a system in place in case someone does not want to give the information, instead of telling the customer “we can’t proceed with the transaction unless you give us your phone number and address.”

There are other stores I’ve shopped at that ask for things like my Zip code (such as Academy Sports) but when I tell them I don’t want to give the information it is never a problem. So why all the fuss with Circuit City? After thinking about all this for a moment, I told the cashier to cancel the transaction. I tried to talk again to the manager, but he shrugged me off, so I left. I ended up purchasing the router at another store, one that did not want my phone number or address.

So I guess I won’t be buying anything from Circuit City ever again.

One may ask why I would ever consider using Microsoft Windows 98 in the year 2008. Hell, I asked myself the same thing. I never imagined that I would be using Windows 98 ever again, but sure enough I am. This semester at school I am taking a class on System Forensics. Many of the tools we are learning about are designed to be run from within an MS-DOS shell. Since Windows 98 can boot directly into MS-DOS, it is the OS of choice for this class.

The first challenge was finding a system to run it on. I had an old Compaq DeskPro EN I was given, that works quite well. It has a floppy disk drive, which I quickly relearned is necessary for installing Windows 98. So, I broke out my old copy of the OS and then realized I did not have the necessary boot disks. Fortunately, BootDisk.com has a great selection of material for use. I downloaded the necessary files and was up and running in no time. Finding drivers for the computer was a bit of a challenge, but an Internet search revealed the necessary information and I was able to get everything working properly.

Once installed, I ran Windows Update and downloaded everything except for the language packs for Internet Explorer 6. That’s right, version 6. No IE7 for you, Win98! Well, that’s not going to work out too well, so I was on the search for a more modern web browser. Unfortunately, my favorite FireFox 3 will not run on Windows 98. Opera does, though, and runs quite well. I installed Adobe Flash Player and then began my search for an antivirus client. Some people may argue that I probably wouldn’t need antivirus software on a device that will be used strictly for school projects, but any Microsoft box that I connect to my network will have AV software (this is just a personal policy of mine). Once again my favorite choice, AVG, would not work. The current version of Avast does install and run on Windows 98 just fine though, so that is what I chose.

There were a few other utilities I installed, such as 7-zip, Foxit Reader, and PrintScreen. Unfortunately, PrintScreen, which says it is compatible with Windows 98, kept giving me an illegal operation error and crashing.

Of course then, being the eyecandy junkie that I am, I started looking for themes and wallpaper. You can install the Desktop Themes option in Windows 98 by going to the Control Panel, clicking on the Windows tab and selecting Desktop Themes. It will ask for the Windows 98 CD and then, once complete, the Desktop Themes option will be available from the control panel. I then chose some wallpaper from VistaKnowledge.com.

Running Windows 98 brings back lots of great memories, but presents an equal amount of challenges in today’s modern world. I know that there are probably a great deal of production machines out there still running Win98. Getting up to date software, such as web browsers or antivirus programs, can be a challenge and may present significant security problems. However, these older platforms may still serve some purpose after all, as I have here learned.

First, a disclaimer: I am certainly not the best driver on the road. We all have our flaws, and I will be the first to admit mine. However, I spend a significant amount of my time driving. I commute to Port Fourchon pretty much every day of the week, and I drive to New Orleans three times a week for class. So, throughout my long drives, I have discovered certain tips that really can help to keep you safer on the road. And since everyone reading this means a whole lot to me, I decided to share this knowledge with you.

1. Your vehicle. Of course, you can only be as safe as the vehicle you are driving in. Start by making sure your tires are in good condition and properly inflated. Check your vehicle’s lights, turn and brake signals. Make sure to perform routine maintenance on your vehicle such as oil changes and getting your brakes checked out. Most importantly, be sure to keep your windshield and mirrors clean. Get your windshield wipers checked out, or change them yourself as necessary.

2. Yourself. While on the road, you need to stay alert. As they told us in the Army, “Stay alert, stay alive.” So, if you are too tired to drive, DON’T. Pull over, walk around for a bit, or take a nap. Always keep this in mind while on the road: “This is NOT a race.” You really should not speed. However, most Police Officers will probably not stop you if you are driving 5-7 MPH over the posted limit. If you are in an area where the speed limit is posted at 25 MPH or less, you should STRICTLY adhere to the limit, or perhaps go slightly slower. ALWAYS obey all traffic lights and signs. If you come to a stop sign, make a complete stop. If a traffic light changes to yellow, you should stop, not try to run it. Remember, your attitude has a lot of impact on the way you drive. Face it, you will come across some idiot who will drive 20 MPH slower than the posted limit. You will probably come across someone who appears drunk (or retarded). Don’t let them pull you in to irrational behavior. Keep your cool and remember that many people (including me) want you home alive.

3. Defensive driving. There was actually a course at work I had to take (since I have a company vehicle) on defensive driving. Basically, defensive driving is exactly what it sounds like. Looking out for things that could go wrong. When you are on the road, even for a short time, you should constantly be “looking ahead” and watching for signs of things to come. Look out for people about to pull onto the road. Watch out for trash or objects on the road that could cause damage or loss of control to your vehicle. And always keep your distance from the person in front of you. Never, ever tail gate someone, as this most certainly could lead to a crash.

4. Know your route. The Internet is a great source of information on roads and driving directions, but remember that it is not perfect. When I am going somewhere new, I always try to find someone that has been there and speak with them. If that is not possible, I get information from various sources online and compare them for differences. That way, you can see if there are any major discrepancies between driving directions from one source to another. Here are some great resources on the web for driving maps and directions.

http://maps.google.com/
http://www.mapquest.com/
http://maps.yahoo.com/
http://www.randmcnally.com/
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?wip=2&v=2&style=r&rtp=~&&msnurl=home.aspx?%26redirect%3dfalse&msnculture=en-US

REMEMBER: You should check these sources for accuracy before relying on them. And, if possible, you should pick up a car navigation (GPS) system. They have become very inexpensive and provide voice-guided directions, so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road. If you are going to use directions from one of the websites above, I suggest you print out the information and review it several times before beginning your trip, so you will be familiar with the route beforehand.

5. Plan for an emergency. We all pass that poor soul on the side of the road, with the hood open and the hazard lights flashing, and think “I’m glad that isn’t me.” Well, friends, I’m here to tell you that at one point in your life, you will be in that situation. The thing is, to plan for it now, in the comfort of your home, in your spare time. That way, when it does happen, you will be properly prepared and avoid a lot of wasted time and anguish.

– Make sure you have a spare tire and the facilities to change it. I had a great spare tire, but no jack. Now I have a brand new jack, tire-plug kit, and other necessities in my truck. I’ve never needed them since that incident a few years ago, but they are there, ready for the next time.

– Have the numbers of a cab service and tow truck ready and available in your vehicle. I say in your vehicle because many times I leave my mobile phone at home. If I do, then those stored numbers will be useless to me. Keep numbers for these services for several towns in your normal driving pattern. That way, if you break down in a remote location, you won’t have to wait an hour for the tow-truck to arrive.

– Keep a charged mobile phone with you while commuting. Realistically, there is no reason to travel without a mobile phone nowadays. Prepaid mobile phones sell for as cheap as $20. If you are driving your own vehicle, you can certainly afford this luxury (and safety feature). Keep in mind that ALL mobile phones, prepaid or contract, will call 911 even without minutes or service.

6. Avoid distractions. I am a tech junkie, for sure, and I carry all sorts of gadgets around (BlackBerry, iPod, etc.). Sometimes it is tempting to take a quick glance at that e-mail that just arrived while I’m on the road. STOP!! Don’t get into the habit of messing with gadgets or phones while you are on the road. Taking your eyes off the road for even a second can be fatal. You should use the speaker feature of your mobile phone or a headset to avoid having to hold the phone and drive at the same time.

7. If you get stopped. Well, a police officer won’t just pull you over for the hell of it, so you were probably speeding or driving crazy. Most officers won’t stop you for driving 5-7 MPH over the posted limit, unless you are driving erratically. So, if you are pulled over, be sure to adhere to the following tips.

– As soon as an officer flags you down or pulls behind you with his/her lights and/or sirens on, drop your speed and look for a safe place to pull over. If there is nowhere near you to pull over, put on your hazard lights and keep driving until you find a spot. Make sure to pull all the way off the road, and leave room on the side of your vehicle for the officer to approach.

– Once you have parked, roll down your window, shut off your vehicle, and place your keys on the roof above your head. That way, the officer knows you will not try to flee the scene. Stay in the vehicle, keep your safety belt on (you are wearing it all the time, right?!) and place your hands on the top of your steering wheel where they will be visible to the officer.

– Always know exactly where your driver’s license, registration, and proof of auto insurance are. Why not go check right now and make sure you have all of these? Because you know the officer will need to see them.

– Now here’s the big one. ALWAYS treat the officer with respect, even if he/ she is a total @ss to you. Remember, you are paying respect to their position, not to the person. Most police officers are very reasonable, and they should be treated with the same respect you give to us Veterans. Being rude to a police officer will only piss them off and make things more difficult for you.

– Do not complain. The police officer has bigger things to deal with than you. Just let him or her say and do whatever they need to, and move on. If they are writing you a speeding ticket, don’t get pissed at them — I’ve already told you not to speed, right?

– Thank the officer and wish him/ her a good day. Honestly, you should treat all people you come into contact with with some respect, and police officers are no different.

In conclusion, these are just a few tips to keep in mind during your time on the road. This is by far not a comprehensive safety guide to driving, but rather just a set of guidelines for your review. Most of these items are common sense, but often forgotten or neglected. Take some time out of your day to focus on driving safety. Your life may very well depend on it one day. And your life is very important to me, and many, many more people. Do it for us.

If you are interested in learning more about driving safety, the following websites may be of interest to you.

http://www.ehow.com/information_1003-driving-safety.html
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/health_safety/teen_driving.shtml
http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/drivingsafety/drivingsafetytips/tipIndex.html
http://www.progressive.com/vehicle-resources/driving-safety-main.aspx
http://www.dmv.org/how-to-guides/safety-and-driving.php

Dominos now accepting pizza orders via SMS. This company is really forward thinking. For those of you who have never ordered pizza online, let me be the first to say how easy, quick, and convenient it is. I am really not one for talking on the phone, so the whole internet ordering really appeals to me. The Dominos where I live is really fast, reliable, and the food is always hot. They have never made an error on my order either. Ordering pizza through text messages may seem crazy, but it makes sense. If I’m on the way home from the office but don’t feel like cooking, I can order pizza while I wait at the red-light (or wait for that idiot bridge to open!).

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One of the biggest problems computer users have nowadays is organizing their digital data. Personal files, to include digital photos, music, and documents, may hold a great significance in your life. The ability to back up these files and find them when necessary is of great importance, but often forgotten or little understood.

Today I will give you some tips to organizing your data on your computer. Please note that the information contained herein is for your education only. I will not be held responsible for anything you do wrong to your computer (although I’d probably help you fix it if you messed up).

So, lets begin. The first thing that should be mentioned is ensuring you have enough hard disk space available. Currently, I have close to 2 Terabytes of storage on my home computer. While you probably will not need nearly this much, it is often best to plan ahead and have extra space. One great way to accomplish this easily is by adding an external hard drive you your computer. External drives are arguably just as reliable as internal drives, and the price between the two is actually very similar. Here is a link to what I feel is one of the best external drives out there for the price:

Western Digital 500GB External Drive

Once you are sure you have enough storage space, the next step is to develop a plan, or system, of how you will organize your data. At a minimum, you should have folders to divide the different types of data. You can have subfolders within these to further organize your files. For example, some of your main folders may include the following:

Music
Documents
Photos
Misc

Personally, I have separate drives for all of these, but if you are only working with one hard drive these could reside at the top, or root, of the drive.

The key is to keep your files organized. That way, when you are looking for something it will be easy to find. My Music folder, for example, is separated by artist. Some people prefer to sort by genre, such as the following:

MUSIC
Country
Rock
Rap
Misc

For your Photos folder, you could sort by date, category, or subject. I prefer sorting by date, and I sometimes place a text file in the folder describing the contents.

One word of caution: if you do use a Miscellaneous folder, make sure to sort through it often. it is too easy to use one of these as a repository for everything. Before you know it, the folder is so cluttered it becomes almost impossible to sort.

By sorting your files and having a good system of organization, you should be able to quickly find what you need when you want. Also, this will make backing up your data much easier (for example, it is much more important for me to back up my photos than my music).

Good luck!

Mostly there are three things that people want to pirate: movies, music, and software. Some people simply cannot afford these items and download them as a way of acquiring the material. Others, such as students, may download expensive programs to work with them and learn. Still others just download things out of greed.

My friendly disclaimer asked to say hello. Please note that everything here is for educational purposes only, and I am not responsible for any of your actions or anything you do with any information you learn here.

Today in Chapter 3 of our series I will teach you about downloading software off the internet. If you have not read part one of this series, please go back and read it to get a feel of the basics of “pirating.” Arrr, matey!

Software can refer to many things, such as games or applications. But the rules are the same. Search for and find what you are wanting; download the files; scan them for viruses; install and test; archive or delete the installer files. Here we will go into the specifics of each step.

The first thing to do when downloading software is to find what you are looking at. Once again, here are my two favorite “shopping” links:

The Pirate Bay

Mininova

Once you have found the files you are looking for go ahead and download the torrent file to begin downloading the installer files.

Once you have the files downloaded (and don’t forget to continue uploading!) you should scan them immediately with an antivirus program just to be safe. Please note that downloading software can be dangerous as there are some people out there who would do you harm and share with you a file that is infected. That is why we always check the files first before continuing. Use whatever antivirus program you may have, just make sure your virus definitions are updated first. If you do not have antivirus software installed then I highly recommend one of the following two free options:

AVG Antivirus

Avast Antivirus

Use one of these to scan your downloaded files for any infection. Once you are sure the files are clean, we are ready to go to the next step.

Install/ testing of the software is the next step. Fortunately, I am able to have a separate computer system just for this purpose. If it turns out that my antivirus scans were off and the machine becomes infected, then its no big deal. However, most people may not have an extra computer laying around for this purpose, so you can set up a virtual machine for testing purposes. I won’t go into specifics, but you can get the free Microsoft Virtual PC at the following link:

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

A virtual machine allows you to run an operating system in a window under your own operating system. For instance, I can run a copy of Linux in a window on my Windows XP computer. What you could do is install Windows again as a virtual machine and use this as your “test computer” to install any newly downloaded software. Once you have the software installed and running in the virtual machine, scan that system for viruses. If the results are clean, you know the software is ok.

So now you have your software downloaded, scanned for viruses, and tested. Once you have confirmed the software to be good, you should think about backing up the installer files. Of course you will probably burn them to disc for yourself or friends, but you may also want to keep a copy on your computer for archive purposes.

One great way to do this is with an external hard disk drive. The external drives are almost the same price as internals now, and just about as reliable as well. Here is a link to an excellent drive you may be interested in:

Western Digital My Book Essential WDG1U5000N 500GB

Regardless of what you decide, its best to plan early before you end up with a full hard drive.

And that’s it folks! This also concludes our 3-part series on How To Be A Pirate. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these posts and also learned something as well!

If you have not read my previous post, How To Be A Pirate, Chapter 1: Movies, please go back and read that one first as it covers the basics of downloading things. For the sake of not being repetitive, I won’t go back over the material I’ve already covered.

This section will be specific to finding and downloading music from the internet. Not the legal downloads, such as iTunes, but the kind that everyone seems to want to know about: how to get music for free.

Once again, the disclaimer: This information is intended for educational purposes only, and I am not responsible for your actions.

Now, lets begin. Finding music to download can be very easy or very complicated. Simply put, you just need to know where to look. So here are two great sites that you should be able to find just about anything at:

The Pirate Bay

Mininova

My previous article covers how to set up a BitTorrent client on your computer and how to use the program and sites. If you are unfamiliar with any of these, you can read about it there (didn’t I already ask you to go back and read that post??)

The mechanics of this are very simple. Just click on audio (or music) and search for the artist or album you want. Then download the torrent file to begin the download of the actual music files.

A little bit on the types of files you will run into out there. You may notice that some files are listed as “Discography.” This simply means that what you are downloading is an entire collection from one artist. If the band is dead, disbanded, or whatever, this should be a collection of their entire works. If the band is current, it could be a compilation of whatever they have up to the current date.

Also note that mp3 files are encoded in different “quality” settings. These settings are called “kbps” and refer to how much information is taken from the song and encoded down. An mp3 with a higher kbps rating (such as 192) will sound much clearer and louder than one with 128 or less. However, the file size will also be larger.

The use of BitTorrent is a great way to get entire albums or collections of music, but sometimes people may just want to download an individual song. In this case I recommend the free version of LimeWire Pro which is a free download but one that can be hard to find online nowadays. If you know someone that has a copy though, you could get it from them.

Once you have your music downloaded, make sure to continue uploading until you at least reach a share ratio of 1/1!