The Next Window

I published a Special Edition update of my Terry's Computer Tips newsletter today with updated info on the Katrina aftermath.

See the Special Edition in the Terry's Computer Tips newsletter archives.

Katrina has come and gone. Fortunately, east of us and even slightly east of New Orleans.

Katrina caused flooding in an estimated 80% of New Orleans. Wind damage was severe, also, but more so in the more-highly treed areas north east and north west of New Orleans. There are news reports of a 200 foot break in a levee near the central part of New Orleans. Some suburb areas suffered from water rising above levees.

Baton Rouge, on the other hand, is about 60 miles west-north-west of New Orleans. We got wind. Boy, did we get wind, but we did not get much rain out of the storm.

Baton Rouge's issues are all wind-related — some trees lost, lots of limbs down, and some of those trees and limbs on the power lines.

Personally, my power went off at 6:20am on Katrina Day and came on shortly before midnight. We lost limbs from trees, a few shingles from the roof, and an Italian Cedar tree that blew over and took out a section of fence. None of those were significant. The power outage was more frustrating than anything else, as temperatures stayed in the low 80's all day to high 70's after dark. There are still a lot of Baton Rouge areas without power.

Our thoughts and prayers go to all those residents of New Orleans, Slidell (LA), Biloxi (MS), Gulf Port (MS) neighboring areas and points north, who were affected much more dramatically, with lives lost, homes flooded, homes destroyed and businesses damaged or destroyed. The storm is now in mid-Tennessee and headed north-north-east.

The American Red Cross is in its emergency response mode as usual in situations like this. They need donations.

In a recent Slashdot article, I found the link to an IBM article <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=571&amp;entry_id=130" title="http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-bootload.html?ca=dgr-lnxw01LILOandGRUB" onmouseover="window.status='http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-bootload.html?ca=dgr-lnxw01LILOandGRUB';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">Boot loader showdown: Getting to know LILO and GRUB</a> that discusses the two Linux boot loaders.<br />
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After a high-level explanation of what a boot loader is, the article continues to discuss LILO and its features, GRUB and its features, and a brief comparison of each.<br />
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South Florida has already enjoyed the caresses and buffets of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was upgraded from Tropical Storm to Hurricane just about the time it hit landfall in South Florida on Thursday.

After quickly passing W-S-W through Florida, it moved into the Gulf of Mexico where it has continued to strengthen.

Currently a Class 3 Hurricane, there is a significant chance of it growing to a Class 4 Hurricane before making landfall on the northern Gulf coast, somewhere between the central Louisiana coast and the Florida Panhandle.

Quoting the National Weather Service's 10pm CDT Saturday 8/27/05 update:

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 115 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. KATRINA IS A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS…AND KATRINA COULD BECOME A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON SUNDAY.

Landfall is expected somewhere on Monday. The current forecast track centers on New Orleans with a projected landfall around 7am Central Daylight Time.

I have changed to Sunbelt Software's <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=952&amp;entry_id=128" title="http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/hatespam/t.asp?id=3597" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/hatespam/t.asp?id=3597';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">CounterSpy</a> for my constantly-running anti-spyware / anti-adware prevention program. and also periodic scanning needs. Sunbelt Software licensed the Giant Antispyware technology before Microsoft did — at the moment, the interfaces of the two products are similar, but the protection recommendations are starting to diverge — with <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=952&amp;entry_id=128" title="http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/hatespam/t.asp?id=3597" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/hatespam/t.asp?id=3597';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;"><br />
CounterSpy</a> being the more conservative in its approach.<br />
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I used to use Microsoft's Antispyware (beta), but have changed to CounterSpy because of Microsoft's recent weakening of the defenses. Microsoft has changed the default action on many adware programs to "Ignore" instead of "Quarantive." They made this change about the time that there were rumors about Microsoft's negotiations to purchase Claria (formerly "Gator" — the company was renamed because of the extremely bad reputation Gator's adware received). <br />
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It also made me lose faith in Microsoft dedication to effectively deter spyware. It made me consider whether Microsoft itself might be considering the technology for incorporation into future versions of Internet Explorer or even Windows. <br />
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Anyone else getting tired of seeing lawyer ads for Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra on the television?<br />
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Well, I guess we're going to see <b>a lot more</b>. The recent jury award in Texas in the first <b>Vioxx</b> case found Merck liable and awarded the plaintiffs $253.4 million in damages, including punitive damages. The award, even if Merck loses their appeals, will be reduced signifcantly, as this amount far exceeds the possible award based on Texas laws that limit punitive damages.<br />
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Interestingly enough, according to news reports, the medical experts <i><b>apparently did not testify that Vioxx caused the death</b></i>, but simply testified that it might have…<br />
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The <i>Terry's Computer Tips</i> newsletters are now online in a much more friendly archive — standard HTML/CSS pages instead of handled by the newsletter software.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=564&amp;entry_id=126" title="http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/newsletter_archives.php" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/newsletter_archives.php';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;"><i>Terry's Computer Tips</i> email newsletter archives</a> are located at http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/newsletter_archives.php .<br />
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Publication day is Monday each week. The current issue will usually be posted to the archive within a day or two — feel free to read the newsletters there.<br />
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Had a lot of fun today at Cajun Clickers. At 9am, I lead the Web Design SIG (special interest group). We had 7-8 people attending. Topics included the free, open-source WYSIWYG <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=562&amp;entry_id=125" title="http://www.nvu.com" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.nvu.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">web design program Nvu</a>, tutorials for Nvu, comparing Nvu and FrontPage, images in web pages, when and why to resize images, auto-thumbnailing images, and more.<br />
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At one o'clock, I talked about my Home Theater PC to a group of 10-12 very interested people. Several are ready to take the step — three, counting me, are already running SageTV-based HTPC systems. We looked at the various features of the beta SageTV 3.0 (specifically 3.0.7PR7). <br />
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we also talked about SageTV versus Windows Media Center Edition PC's. For more information on that, see my comparison on my <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=563&amp;entry_id=125" title="http://www.terrystockdale.com/htpc/winmce_vs_sagetv.shtml" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.terrystockdale.com/htpc/winmce_vs_sagetv.shtml';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">SageTV vs Win MCE pages</a>.<br />
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Saturday is going to be a busy day for me at the Cajun Clickers Computer Club.<br />
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At 9am, I'm leading the Web Design Special Interest Group. We focus on web design issue as well as creating web pages with FrontPage and/or HTML/CSS. Tomorrow, I plan to show the free open-source web design program Nvu (<a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=558&amp;entry_id=123" title="http://www.nvu.com" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.nvu.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">Nvu's web site</a>).<br />
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At 1pm, we have the Digital Video Special Interest Group. I've been asked to come back and show my Home Theater PC again. My HTPC is a home-brew computer with SageTV HTPC software, three TV Tuner/Encoder cards and two 250GB hard drives. Well, I'm also using another 300GB across my home network. My web site's HTPC section shows and discusses my <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=559&amp;entry_id=123" title="http://www.terrystockdale.com/htpc/htpc_1.shtml" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.terrystockdale.com/htpc/htpc_1.shtml';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">my Home Theater PC</a>.<br />
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In Sunday's entry, I wrote about the latest worm — I also wrote about it in my <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=556&amp;entry_id=122" title="http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/newsletter_20050815.php" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/newsletter_20050815.php';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">newsletter</a>, which was published on Monday, warning readers to get patched before it was too late.<br />
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It looks like way, way too many folks aren't doing their Windows updates automatically or fast enough.<br />
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Today (Tuesday), CNN reported that CNN, ABC, The New York Times were hit by Zotob. According to the <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=557&amp;entry_id=122" title="http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/08/16/computer.worm/index.html" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/08/16/computer.worm/index.html';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">CNN article</a>, the worm primarily affects Windows 2000 systems and <b>early</b> versions of Windows XP. <br />
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One other kicker in the article — there are several versions of the Zotob worm circulating. This means that Antivirus programs aren't going to be updated fast enough to prevent the infections. You have to patch Windows to prevent infection.<br />
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Play it safe — <b>if you haven't done your Windows Updates yet, do them now</b>.<br />
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By the way, Microsoft has now made the "Microsoft Genuine Advantage" validation tool <b>mandatory</b> in order to do your Windows Updates. That tool, which does not appear to have any advantages for anyone other than Microsoft, makes sure you are not running a pirated copy of Windows.<br />
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<b>You will have to run Windows Updates twice — once to install the validator and confirm your Windows OS is not a pirated copy, and again to get the real security patches you need.</b><br />
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<i>Thanks a lot, Microsoft, for your perfect timing.</i><br />