*CyberCoyote - September, 2008*

NEWS, NOTES and NOTICES
HTCC Meetings

The season starts a little early this year. Our first meeting will be October 9, 2008. (I'll see you on the 30th.)

TIPS, TOPICS and TWEAKS
Don't let this Vista bug bite you
Horsefly.

When you use "Disk Cleanup", it may offer to remove some "error reports." Seems reasonable. Don't do it. Disk Cleanup is confused. It's mistaking essential system files for log files.

Clear that Cache

A while back, Gmail would no longer load in my browser. After extensive troubleshooting -- which didn't succeed -- I finally recalled that sometimes the browser cache gets corrupted, which blocks the webpage you're trying to load. After clearing the Firefox cache, Gmail loaded just fine. [similar but longer tale of woe]

I was thinking of writing up a tip on cache clearing when the "Geeks on Tour" newsletter showed up. No sense duplicating good effort... ;-)

"Have you ever had a problem with a website and seen a help screen that suggested you 'clear your cache?' It is often a good thing to do, and solves many problems."

Read the rest (scroll 1/3 of the way down): Geeks on Tour Newsletter: July 21, 2008

Rescue that irreplaceable file
Hard drive.

Why is it, when you lose a file, it's the one that you can't live without? Murphy probably has something to do with it, but what you really want to know is, "how can I get it back?" Well, computers are like people. They don't like to take out the trash so it's probably right where it was -- you just can't see it anymore.

The first thing to do is stop in your tracks. That's to prevent your computer from overwriting your file with a new one. Next you want to start your recovery program, and calmly recover your file.

Of course, right then would not be a good time to install a new program. You need to install the program and try it out it beforehand so you'll have it and know how to use it when you need it. The lifehacker team has some good advice on how to get prepared.

What's compatible with Vista?

Microsoft's Windows Vista Compatibility Center pulls together the information they have about what hardware and software is compatible with Vista. Everything from cameras to displays, and gaming to graphics.

"Wondering if your favorite stuff works with Windows Vista? Here's where you can find out if it already does or if you just need a new driver. You'll get the latest details on thousands of products and benefit from users' feedback."
SECURITY
Are you sure your PC is not infected?

Panda Software has a newly-updated scan service called ActiveScan. It checks all running processes as well as suspicious files against an extensive malware database. ActiveScan is very thorough, widely recommended, and free to use. If it does find trouble, you can register with Panda and get removal help for $19.95 (or use some other removal method).

Invasion of the computer snatchers

Rootkits are stealth fighters. They're designed to worm their way into your PC's operating system, and establish parasitic control. Conventional programs can not even find, let alone eradicate, rootkits.

A few clever, special-purpose programs can find most rootkits though. F-Secure's BlackLight is one of the best. It's incorporated in their security suite, but they also kindly provide both an online scanner and a standalone utility that perform the same function. Blacklight is part of my own multi-layered defense.

WEB PICKS
Ixquick

Ixquick is a "metasearch" engine, meaning it combines and culls the best results from "many" (more than 6) major search engines. They award one "star" to a search result for each search engine that ranks it as one of the top ten. So more stars means there is wide agreement on the relevancy of the search result. I tried the search terms "david thompson fur trader" (a tough test) and got three results with 6 stars, one with 5, and 4 with 4 stars for the top results. They were all highly relevant. [Ixquick home]

Classic Arcade Games
Pac Man

"Classic Games Arcade is a 100% free online arcade games website. We have lots of free classic arcade games which you can add to your myspace, blog or website. We have loads of retro games from mario, galga, metal slug, sonic, street fighter 2 to pac man. All the old arcade games on this site are proven console and arcade classics." --ClassicGamesArcade.com

ODDS and ENDS
Pet owner status

See where you fit in the pet owner pecking order. I'm not sure where those of us without pets fit in. :^>

A miss is as good as a mile

Video: Train misses a car by inches -- or did it?

Desktop Wallpaper

If you like to use space and cosmos images as wallpaper, I've found the website for you.

Extreme Genealogy

There are some interesting theories about how the bones came to be in the cave. --Via A Welsh View

Using DNA testing of well-preserved Bronze Age bones, Manfred Hucht-hausen, 58, a teacher, and 48-year-old surveyor Uwe Lange can claim to have the longest proven family tree in the world. Mr Lange can already trace his family name to 1550 and can now go back 120 generations.
That's all, folks.

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