Posts Tagged: ‘Humor’

My Trip to Iowa – Originally Published September 2013

August 21, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve been thinking about how there is a huge electronic generation gap.  On my recent trip visiting relatives and old friends in Yankee land, there was plenty of tech in the vehicle.  There were three tablets, one laptop and three internet capable smart phones.  Surprisingly, I was the only one using Bluetooth headphones.  Prior to the trip, I had purchased a 10,000 MAh battery pack.  It turned out to be a good investment as there was something that always needed an electrical boost.  Auto makers obviously need to install more outlets.

During the trip, I noticed that most of the older people used either a flip phone or one with a slide out keyboard.  The younger folks mostly had some type of “smart” phone with easy to use text capabilities and photographing.  I was kind of surprised that many users didn’t know about some common, useful apps.  There are some new users of Gas Buddy, What’s Ahead, MX Player and Easy Battery Saver.

Over the years, I’ve made this trip several times.  It’s a fairly simple route: 171 North from Lake Charles, 71 North to Kansas City and then I-29 North to the state of Iowa (not that town to the East).  My grandson and son-in-law did the driving.  They had a Garmin GPS on the windshield.  About every half hour or so, one of them would pull get out their phone and check the navigation app to make sure we were still on the correct road.  I was also amused when someone would make a weather announcement.  I would usually just look out the window and say, “You’re right!”

One of the most amusing parts of the trip was when one of the navigators decided to take a shortcut.  One of the many mapping apps showed a shortcut.  We got off the main road and did save ten miles or so of driving.  Unfortunately, it was on a narrow, gravel road through the hills.  A typical shortcut that took twice as long to drive . What made me really laugh was when, about two hours later, they did it again.

While watching the hometown parade, walking in the park, sitting at the pool and during other photo opportunities, most of us older people were using some kind of camera.  Most of the younger ones utilized their phone camera.  A few people were holding up a tablet and just looked silly.  I think we are on are way to a time when taking photographs will be like tuning up your car.  The equipment will only be manufactured and sold to professionals and serious hobbyists.

One of the scariest things on the trip for me was just looking out the window.  In at least half of the vehicles we passed, the drivers were either talking or sending texts on their phones.  Almost without exception, they were not driving in a very straight line.  The worst one was a gal that had her phone up to the ear.  Her other hand was holding a book and steering the car.  She was not only distracted, but dangerously so.

Now that I think about it, I may have been wrong about the generation gap.  She looked to be about 70 years old.

Thanks for reading.

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Technology Generation Gap – Originally Published July 2013

August 21, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

It’s hard to believe that July is here again.  This is the time of the year when I should be thinking of taking the grandsons to a baseball game.  We should be going to the park for a picnic followed by a romp in the water park.  In the cool of the early morning, I should be doing my walking at the golf course.  In the hear of the afternoons, I should be at the swimming pool checking out the latest fashions in bikini swimwear.  July is the perfect time of year for doing so many things.

Instead, I’ve been thinking about telegrams.  On July 14, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be sending the last telegraph ever.  The BSNL is India’s state run telegraph company.  When I was much younger, the telegraph was the fastest way to get an important message to someone.  Modern telegraphy really died in 2006 when Western Union discontinued their service.

Telegrams are now just another part of the generation gap between my grandchildren and me.  They have been replaced by e-mail, FAX machines and electronic banking.

Of course, modern technology has relegated many other things to the generation gap junkyard.  The first telephone I remember my parents having installed in the farmhouse was a box with a big microphone sticking out of the front.  You had to hold another microphone shaped object against your ear.  There was a small crank on the side of the box.  You turned the crank several times to wake up the operator.  When she came on the line, you simply told her who you wanted to call.  It’s all history now.  Almost everyone has a telephone in their pocket.  We don’t even call them telephones any more.  Just plain phone.

Today’s generation mostly listens to their music on a machine connected to the internet.  There are still a few compact discs around.  Cassette, reel to reel, 8-track and vinyl records are victims of the technology generation gap.

Oh well, at least I can still drive my pickup to the library.  It’s time to go visit the grandchildren.  We might play a game of Monopoly, or maybe some dominoes.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Thanks for reading.

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Tiny Inventions – Originally Published June 2013

August 21, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Lately, I’ve been thinking about Google Glass.  It seems to be all the rage these days.  Almost all of the tech blog sites are writing about it.  Videos are starting to show up all over the internet.  There are many concerns about personal privacy.  People with Glass can take your photo without you even knowing about it.  There are still many questions about what the future will be.  Only two things are known for sure: 1) They look pretty ugly; and 2) the cost is $1500.

Those thoughts stimulated me to put on my inventor hat.  I think the world might be ready for the Tiny Monocle.  I would market it as the Tonocle.  The Tonocle would have many of the same functions as Glass, but would be easier to use.  You could easily put it in your eye using only the thumb and forefinger.  If you wore prescription lenses it would be easy to insert behind your eyeglasses.

An ordinary monocle uses a cord to attach it to a vest or shirt button to prevent it falling on the floor if it pops out of your eye.  The Tonocle would replace the cord with a USB cable.  It could be plugged into your phone and prevent bluetooth from broadcasting to the world.  It also could be plugged into a charging battery which is hidden in a pocket.  There would be no reason to remove the Tonocle every three hours for a recharge.  To increase profitability, I am definitely going to make the USB plugs non-standard.

While I’m inventing wearable computing stuff, I think I’ll design a Tiny belt.  The T-Belt could be fashionably worn with any style of shirt than can be tucked in.  The reason the shirt couldn’t be un-tucked is because the belt would have several sensors and cameras.  With a camera on every side of your body, you would never miss being able to record a viral video.  All of the standard sensors would be installed on the belt.  You would always have access to GPS, temperature, humidity, etc.  Similar to a money belt, the T-Belt would have storage pockets for memory cards, USB cables, etc.  The T-Belt buckle would be a case for a large battery that could be used to recharge your phone or other mobile device.

I think I’ll also invent a special flash drive.  Like the Tonocle, this would just be an improvement on existing technology.  The drive would have a small LCD screen on the outside.  The user could program a short message which would flash across the screen marquee style.  I think a flash drive with a changeable label might be a good seller.  I’m going to call it the CORdrive.

Another great invention is going to be the Tongle.  The Tongle is a specialized dongle that starts flashing whenever the boss, the wife or anyone else you designate comes within eight feet of your computer.  This would give you plenty of time to make sure there is appropriate content displayed on your monitor.  I haven’t yet figured out how to make this work, but I’m sure I can do something with RFID technology.

I could take all of the profits from the Monocle and the Tongle and invest in my anti‑theft phone case.  Whenever you go anywhere that it is possible someone would steal your phone, you would simply arm your case with a private pin number.  In the event your phone was stolen, sensors would sound a shrill alarm when the case was nine feet away from you.  Additionally, four double edged razor blades would pop out of each side of the case.  The thief would likely feel some instant pain and immediately drop the stolen phone.

I had better quit writing now and go fill out my Kickstarter applications.  I’m certain that my great ideas will have no problem raising millions of dollars in donations.  After all, the Oculus Rift Twisted did!

Thanks for reading.

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Funny Stuff On The Internet – Originally Published May 2013

August 16, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

My grandson twisted my arm last month and forced me to take him to CyPhaCon.  When I was younger, I went to a lot of science fiction conventions.  Back then it was mostly Star Trek conventions.  Now that I’m older, I have a hard time remembering if I’m a “Trekkie” or a “Trekker”.  SciFi conventions are a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, they can be pretty dangerous too.  That is why you always see uniformed police officers on duty.  About the only thing that is really safe is the healthy food you can buy.

The internet is a lot like a SciFi convention.  There are so many things to see and do.  You can even read stupid articles written by old men that ramble on about gatherings of SciFi people.  Everyone also knows about the dangers and we all keep our antivirus programs updated. I know that all of the SWLAPCUG club members have recently checked their router firmware for updates and have their firewalls activated to keep the bad guys away.  Since everyone is so safe, I thought that this month I’d talk about some of the fun things to do on the internet.

There’s about 161,000,000 of them.  I know that everyone doesn’t have the same idea of what’s fun, but maybe if I tell you about my favorite sites, you might find something entertaining.

One of the things you can find a lot of on the internet are free games to play.  If you’re looking for games, a good place to start is the Freeware Genius lists of top games.  My personal favorite online game is Texas Hold’em Poker.  There are a lot of places to play, but you’ll usually find me at World Series Poker at games.com.  If you like to play hearts, I recommend you try Bicycle Hearts at the Microsoft Gaming Zone.  The Gaming Zone has been around for quite a while and they have lots of games.

I’ve never been much of a television or movie watcher, but I love to listen to the old time radio shows.  Most evenings I’m listening to The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Jack Benny, or my personal favorite, Fibber McGee & Molly.  My hard drive has about 21 GB of radio program files.  One of the best places to find them is at The Internet Radio Archive.

In December 1995, Bill Watterson retired from cartooning and I lost my daily dose of one of the funniest cartoons ever.  Now, thanks to the internet, I can still read Calvin & Hobbes everyday.  You can probably find a daily comic you’ll like at GOCOMICS, AZ Central, or ArcaMax Publishing.  None of the comics sites require registration.  Make sure you check out Pickles, another one of my favorites.

“The Alphabet has been Updated with 15 Exciting New Letters” is only one of the funny satires you’ll find in The Onion.  The fictional paper was started in 1988.  They have been around more that twenty years, so they must be doing something right.  Their fictionalized news seems so genuine that it has occasionally been cited as real news.  I’ve got to warn you though.  There is often adult language used in the paper.  Another funny satire site is the Bongo News.

Another web site that never fails to make me laugh is Geezer Planet, a senior citizen humor site.  If you like senior citizen humor, you also might like to check out Geezer Guff.

The Darwin Awards is a chronicle of enterprising demises honoring those who improve the species…by accidentally removing themselves from it!

Maybe I shouldn’t admit it, but I think some of the videos on You Tube are extremely funny.  I also visit the College Humor website almost every day.

Sometimes when I’m really bored, I click the Random Link Generator 40 or 50 times and end up finding an interesting web site to browse.

As you might or might not know, I’m a transplanted Northerner.  When I talk with my brother and sisters on Facebook, I usually translate into Southern for them.  Everybody gets a few laughs.  Translating into a dialect is easy when you use The Dialectizer.  As I write this you can convert into eight different dialects.  It hardly ever fails to make me laugh.

Here is a sample:
As y’all might o’ might not know, I’m a transplanted No’therner.  When ah talk wif mah brother an’ sisters on Facebook, ah usually translate into Southern fo’ them, dawgone it.  Ev’rybody gits a few laughs.  Translatin’ into a dialeck is easy when yo’ use Th’ Dialeckizer.  As ah write this hyar yo’ kin cornvaht into eight diffrunt dialecks.  It hardly evah fails t’make me laugh.

That’s just a few of the things I like to do on the internet for fun.  I hope you enjoyed them too and maybe found a new site you’ll visit often.  Do you have a favorite place you think everyone should know about?  Why not take a minute right now and go to the club website.  Log in, go to the forums and post the link so we can all check it out.

Oh, by the way, the grandson is already making plans for a costume for next years CyPhaCon.  I suspect it might be one that is also suitable for Contraband Days.

Thanks for reading.

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Selling It Emails – Originally Published February 2013

August 6, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Would you believe that it has taken me a whole year to write this column?  That may sound like braggadocio, but it’s almost true.  I’ve spent the whole year of 2012 gathering data for this article.

As you may or may not know, one of the reasons I’ve kept my internet domain name is so that I can have a whole lot of email addresses.  I usually use one email address for each site that requires registration.  If I start getting a lot of spam, I can easily tell who probably sold my address.  If I would start getting spam on my club email, I could assume that one of our members may have gotten hacked.

During the holidays of 2011, I noticed that emails from sites trying to sell me stuff seemed to increase.  I got curious and on January 1, 2012, I changed my e-mail filters to automatically forward sales mail to a special folder.  For an entire year, I saved the e-mails from the following sites:

AARP
Amazon
Best Buy
Books A Million
HP
Zinio

The only e-mails I saved were the ones that I didn’t expect.  For instance mail confirming purchases went into their normal folders.  Mail from Amazon asking me to rate products were not saved.

Which site do you think was the worst mailer?  You may be surprised.  I was.

I received 268 unrequested communications from Books A Million.  In fairness, I must tell you that a portion of them were due to an error by me.  I originally signed up with the company when I purchased a discount membership card at the local store.  In October, I made an online purchase and accidentally used the wrong mail address (books instead of book).  You guessed it.  I started getting email from them two at a time.  I used their unsubscribe link on one address, but it didn’t work.  These days, Books A Million is getting a return to sender error message.

The 111 emails I got from AARP didn’t really surprise me.  After all, their monthly magazine usually has about 30 advertising inserts.  These emails are all definitely from sales of my address.  I’ve changed my filter.  If AARP ever sends me something important, I won’t see it because it goes right to the deleted folder.

The 100 emails from Amazon were suggestions of products that I might like.  I’ll never know if I like any of them, because I didn’t read any.

I was surprised that Best Buy only sent me 30 emails.  That was even less that the 65 sent by HP.  Go figure!

Zinio is a magazine subscription service that tried 27 times to sell me a new magazine subscription.  I don’t spend nearly that much time in the bathroom.

I didn’t check monthly totals, but I noticed a marked increase between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I wonder why?  If you do a lot of online buying, consider your email setup, there are several places on the internet where you can get a free email address.  Don’t clutter your inbox with mail you don’t really want.

That’s all for this month.  Thanks for reading.

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The End of the World – Originally Published January 2013

August 4, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Can you believe it?  It’s January already (I’m assuming that the Mayans were incorrect).  Another New Year is underway.  I had thought about waiting until December 21 to start this article, but decided to stick with my normal schedule.

I’m thinking that way back then the Mayan king probably had a warped sense of humor and told his calendar maker to end it all on December 21, 2012.  He probably said something like, “That will scare the heck out of everyone in the future.”  It could also have been an honest mistake.  Maybe there was a transcription error and we have to worry in 2102 instead of 2012.

There have been so many other calender “end of the world” scares.  Remember Y2K?  That didn’t happen either.  I can tell you now that it was me that saved the world.  I changed the clock on my network time so that all of my electronics never did change to the year 2000.  After two years, when the scare was over,  I finally allowed my clocks to update.

June 6, 2006 was another one of those days that the world was supposed to end.  When you write the date as 6/6/06, it supposedly was the mark of the Devil and he was coming to destroy us all.  I’m guessing he probably had a bad satellite signal and his GPS wasn’t working.  That minor electronic problem probably caused him to get stuck in traffic.

The decade of the 1980’s was going to be the end of the world several times.  It seems like everyone from Pat Robertson to the Jehovah’s Witnesses had proof positive that the “rapture” would be here soon.  Is it a coincidence that is the same era that personal computers started to become popular?  I can’t remember what George Orwell thought about it.

Google search has informed me that in the next hundred years, the world will end at least 42 different times.  It appears that computers have been pretty useful in analyzing data and helping the predictors predict the inevitable.

Now for the good news.  You don’t have to worry about the end of the world for a while yet.  Nostradamus made a detailed list of future predictions.  His prophecies end abruptly in the year 3797.  That’s when I’m going to worry.

That’s all for this month.  Thanks for reading.

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Bah! Humbug! – Originally Published December 2012

August 4, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Bah!  Humbug!
It’s that time of the year again.  The retailers want us to spend all of our hard earned nickels on lots of things that we don’t really need.  My daughter always tells me that it is hard to buy me a Christmas present because I don’t need anything.  I tell her that makes it easier.  Don’t buy me anything.  It never works that way though, but it’s alright.  I can always use socks and t‑shirts (if they’ve got a pocket).

Bah!  Humbug!
About the only difference in the holiday season every year is that it usually seems to start earlier and earlier.  This year, I saw my first Christmas display on labor day.  Newegg started advertising Black Friday deals sometime during the first part of November.  Black Friday is now Black Thursday.  You’d at least think they could change it to Fifty Shades of Grey Thursday.  I’m expecting the 2013 season to start around the Fourth of July.

Bah!  Humbug!
During the holiday season, I spend a lot more time online getting my news.  I refuse to pay extra for a newspaper on Thanksgiving Day.  Do they really expect me to pay more for extra advertising?  I can look at all the same ads online for free.  It’s better to wait until January and get the leftover prices.  Retailers don’t want unsold merchandise taking up shelf space.

Bah!  Humbug!
Every year, I’ve got to listen to some novelty song about five zillion times.  I’m just happy that Grandma doesn’t get run over by a reindeer as often as she used to.

Bah!  Humbug!
It’s that time of year when we get to watch all of those TV specials and rerun movies that are better off forgotten.  It was a Wonderful Life when it was a movie, but 9000 times as a TV special leaves something to be desired.  Did you know that Jimmy Stewart has been dead for fifteen years?  The only good thing you can say is that during the holidays, we don’t have to watch the regular lousy television programming.  Don’t get me started on Chirstmas commercials.

Oh well.  Time for me to stop bah humbugging and write some club related stuff.  I’d like to remind everyone that club dues are due this month.  Two dollars a month is a small price to pay for the benefits of club member ship.  Not only are meetings informative, buy you get access to the club website with a large number of links to “How To” sites, free software downloads, back newsletters, and much more.  I urge you to renew your membership and to tell your friends about the club.  Bring them to a meeting.  The more members we have the more knowledge there is to share.  After all, we are “ Users Helping Users”.

Bah!  Humbug!  My wife just told me to put my shoes on because she wants me to go and help pick out the daughters’ Christmas present.  I know what she really means is that I’ll have to carry something.

Thanks for reading.

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Holiday Ranting & Raving – Originally Published November 2012

August 4, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Here they come again!  This is the time of the year when the Holiday idiots show their true colors to the rest of the world.  So many people at this time of year forget to stop and think.  Others remember to stop, but forget to think.

I’m writing this article in October, but I’ll bet I can predict the news reports we’ll get on November 1.  Some poor kid will get either razor blades or poison in their candy.  Dentist’s will buy Halloween candy by the pound.  Convenience stores will get robbed by people in their Halloween costumes.  Someone will get run over by a drunken driver.

October and November is also when tech companies make all their new product announcements.  Do you think it has anything to do with the upcoming Christmas season?  So far, this years announcements have been more ironic than usual.  Apple announced a seven inch iPad.  Makes me wonder if Steve Jobs was wrong on any other predictions?  Microsoft is making a foray into the hardware business.  Google is increasing the pressure on both software and hardware rivals.  The only thing I can’t figure out is why,  If they can afford to sue each other for billions of dollars, can’t they lower their prices a little.

Halloween is followed by an even scarier holiday – Thanksgiving.  If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, your spouse has never taken you out for Black Friday Shopping.  I’m a fan of good shopping deals, but not if they come at the risk of life and limb.  The Thanksgiving news stories are also the same every year.  There will be at least one customer trampled to death when the doors are opened on Friday.  Isn’t it strange that it usually happens at a Walmart?  Is it because they are the biggest retailer?  Do they have the best deals?  Could it be that their customers are less intelligent?

Other news stories for this holiday will include the celebrities that are working in the soup lines.  Is it a publicity stunt, or do they do it year round without making headlines?  My personal favorites are the people that have to do community service for drunken driving and then get the free publicity.  Lets not forget about all of the Turkey jokes we’ll see on the internet.  For some reason, I think a lot of them this year will have Sesame Streets Big Bird in the punch line.

After we struggle through the Thanksgiving holiday, we can look forward to being bombarded with advertising for all kinds of technology to put under the Christmas tree.  It’s a shame that most of it is so overpriced.  Do you suppose that might account for the increasing crime rate that seems to occur around the end of the year?

Once again, we get to read about the celebrities feeding the downtrodden.  At Christmas time, we seem to get more politicians manning the ladles.  I can never figure out why that is.  The elections are over for the year.  The only thing I really like about this holiday is the after holiday sales.

When I was younger, I used to really worry about meeting a drunken driver on the highway.  The holidays were a reason for extra anxiety, but thanks to technology, we don’t have to worry about getting killed by a drunk.  If you get in an accident, it will most surely be due to someone sending a text on their telephone.

I suppose by now you’re getting tired of my ranting and raving about the holidays.  I’d continue on and tell you about New Years Day, but I’ll save that for next year.

Thanks for reading.

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Naming the New iPAD – Originally Published April 2012

July 31, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

All of the hype is finally over.  The new iPad was released.  No, not the iPad 3, but the “new iPad”.  I’d guess that the naming was some kind of marketing strategy.  The new iPad isn’t really a whole lot better than the the iPad 2.  You’ve got to get the users thinking “new”.  Get them to upgrade the “old”.

Two things surprised me about the iPad 2012.  Oops, I meant the“new iPad”.  Kim Kommando wasn’t overly impressed with the machine.  She even suggested to one of her on air callers that they not upgrade.  I was even more surprised when Leo Laporte said he just couldn’t wait to get the new iPad. He was mostly interested in the retina display.

All of the ballyhoo got me to thinking.  Why did Apple ever start naming so many products “i” something?  Was the strategy that iNSANE prices could be iMPLEMENTED for iDIOTS to get rid of their iNCOME?

Who knows?  I can only imagine that Apple considered other letters.  That makes me wonder if I can figure out why they weren’t used:

aProduct – the Apple Pad would alienate orange, banana and other fruit lovers.
bProduct – Boy are we ever making a lot of money.
cProduct – Computer could have been used if the company name hadn’t been changed.
dProduct – Duh, it just works.
eProduct – Extra pricey.
fProduct – the Flash-less pad.
gProduct – Geeks won’t buy it because they can’t tweak.
hProduct – Holy Apple Grail.
iProduct – I can’t think of anything for this letter..
jProduct – Jailbreak Jobs machines if you dare.
kProduct – Kim pad.  She wasn’t impressed.
lProduct – Local Integrated Software Architecture wouldn’t make a good acronym..
mProduct – Mostly Hype will sell lots of Macintosh stuff.
nProduct – Nobody ever watches You Tube anyway.
oProduct – Only Apple Software will run.
pProduct – Priced high means more money.
qProduct – Quality is a seven letter word.
rProduct – Ronald Wayne should never have sold his third..
sProduct – Steve and Steve: Jobs and Wozniac.
t-Product – Technology? Lets trick Microsoft into helping us.
uProduct – an Unusual User letter would never work.
vProduct – Victory would get mixed up at sea.
wproduct – Wayne is gone and Wozniak is too hard to spell.
xProduct – more than one X would be needed to sell.
yProduct – You in a name would never catch on.
zProduct – Ziggy just sounds too cartoonist.

Oh well.  It was a fun fantasy, but now I’m wondering why HP calls their computer a Pavilion.  Why is the Dell a Dimension?  Why did COMPAQ choose Presario?  I have no idea what a Vaio, Portege or Tecra is.  I sure hope that I don’t start pondering cell phone names.

Thanks for reading.

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Stupid Things I’ve Done – Originally Published March 2012

July 30, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.“  Could this mean that an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid?  Everyone has heard the stories of the computer user that used their disk player as a coffee cup holder.  Did you hear about the computer user that called tech support trying to figure out why their computer wasn’t working?  Turns out there was a power outage.  When you Google “stupid computer stories” you get about 6,660,000 hits.  No matter how you look at it, we’re talking about a lot of stupidity.

Lately, I think I might be the number one stupid computer user on the planet.  Recently, I had a problem with Microsoft Outlook.  None of my e-mails were being downloaded.  I thought it was probably a Suddenlink problem.  When I checked e-mail with a web browser program, my mail was on the server.  Outlook just wouldn’t download it to my computer.  With my typical “smart” thinking, I was sure I could solve the problem without calling tech support.  I searched the internet an found no answers.  After three days of frustration, I solved the problem by accident.  After a download with Outlook, there was once again no e-mail in my in box.  Then I accidentally clicked on my deleted items folder and there was my e-mail.  It turns out that I had created a new mail rule.  I mistakenly caused it to transfer all of my mail to the deleted folder.  I keep Outlook set to empty the deleted items folder whenever I exit the program.  For three days, I was downloading and deleting all of my e-mail.

Avast anti-virus recently recently released the Version 7 upgrade to their program.  Whenever I install software, I’m really careful about reading the EULA and carefully inspecting the install boxes.  Sure enough, the installer had an option to install Chrome and make it my default browser.  Of course, the boxes were checked.  No problem.  I’m “smart” and unchecked them before installing.  I’ve got several computers, so you can probably guess what I did on the third install.  When I rebooted the computer, I had a new default browser.

Oh yes, I’ll admit that I did it. I broke the number one stupidity rule.  I clicked on a link that I shouldn’t have.  Luckily, I have a good firewall and no harm was done.

Not too long ago, one of my DVD drives quit working for no reason at all.  It turns out that there was a reason.  When I installed a new hard drive, I unplugged the disc power cord to make it easier to reach the brackets.  I don’t know why I forgot to plug it back in.  Another easily solved stupid problem.

I’m going to keep looking at the bright side of computing.  At least I haven’t broken any ports by forcing the cables in upside down – yet.  I also haven’t deleted any important files – yet.  I haven’t spilled coffee on my keyboard – yet.

One last stupid thing I’ve done.  It’s not computer related, but if you ask me, I’ll tell you how my being “smart” at a local convenience store almost resulted in a fight.

Thanks for reading.

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