Adware, Spyware, Malware – Protection vs. the drain on your computers resources
The three words are normally used interchangeably. They all refer to intruders placed on your computer as you surf the web. Adware is usually a cookie placed in your C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Cookies folder when you visit a website. It tracks your browsing habits and arranges ads to pop-up on your screen when you open certain sites. Sometimes they appear on your screen when you aren’t browsing, and sometimes they arrange emails to be sent you advertising certain products. The products may be financial, pharmaceutical, sexual, or other.
TORRICELLI JOHN
Remember Robert Torricelli? He was one of the biggest crooks ever to infest the United States Senate (and that’s really saying something, isn’t it?). How crooked was he? “The Torch” was so crooked that… (Johnny Carson drum roll please…) he was too crooked even for New Jersey.The investigations of his taking bribes reached such a fever pitch that in late September of 2002, with less than five weeks before the election, he resigned and gave up his run for re-election. New Jersey law was quite specific that this was too late for the Democrat Party to nominate a replacement. But the Dems got a crooked judge to waive the law, allowing them to put Frank Lautenberg in at the last moment, who then defeated the Republican nominee Doug Forrester.A few days ago, my buddy Capt. Larry Bailey - former Commandant of the Naval Special Warfare Training Center (the place that trains the Navy SEALs) - made an interesting prediction. “You know, Jack, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kerry ends up like Torricelli.”This is not - NOT - to accuse Hanoi John of being a crook. To the best of my knowledge, John Kerry has never used his office to extort bribes like Robert Torricelli. The parallel is different and it is this:
Drifting, Dangerously
If the terrorists are as cabalistic as it seems (the eerie fact that the terror attack in Madrid on March 11 arrived exactly 911 days after 9/11 has been noted, and should be underlined), then one possible target date is 6/11 — six being an inverted nine — which comes a couple of days before the Italian vote for the European parliament. Probably a good day to visit Baghdad -- or anywhere but Italy.
THE DOOM OF RUSSIA
Last week, Vladimir Putin was re-elected President of Russia with over 70% of the vote. Does this portend the re-animation of the Soviet Russian Empire, led by a man with an unchallenged grip on power, possessed with a deep nostalgia for the glory days of the USSR, and determined to bring back those days again? No, it means that Russia has taken itself out of the global game. It means that Russia has no future. It means that Russia is resolutely determined to screw itself.
Fundamental Protection
The most fundamental protection you install on your computer is virus protection. There are a number of major players besides Norton: Mcafee, F-Prot, Kaspersky, NOD32 (a corporate version of Norton), and others. You might think choosing among them is easy. Simply test each one against all the known viruses and select the product that catches the most. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple.
A SHORT HISTORY OF RUSSIA
A SHORT HISTORY OF RUSSIAJack WheelerJanuary 1985[Note the date. Written in 1985 during the Cold War, Russia formed the basis of the Soviet Union]At various times in her history, America has been at war with and has had as deadly enemies: the French, the English, the Spanish, the Germans, the Italians, the Mexicans, and the Japanese. All are today our friends and allies. There is nothing in the nature of things that makes it impossible for this to someday be the case with the Russians as well.Yet it is important to understand how the Russians are not like us -- how their history enabled them to transform themselves into Soviets running an Evil Empire called the Soviet Union.
THE DISASTER OF SPAIN
The electoral overthrow of the Aznar government of Spain is the first major victory of Islamic Terrorism since September 11, 2001. This is a real disaster, folks. So much so that To The Point is sending out this exceptional essay by Barbara J. Stock, who publishes the website Republican and Proud. The Spanish people deserve our contempt for reacting to the terrorist attack on them in such a cowardly manner. This essay explains why. - Jack Wheeler Blame Spain for the Next Terror Attack Barbara J. Stock March 15, 2004 When the next bomb goes off -- perhaps this time in Poland -- the families of the dead should blame the people in Spain who voted to run from terrorists and cower before them instead of standing strong against them. Sound cruel? Perhaps, but it is the sad truth. The majority of Spaniards decided to follow the illogical path of blaming their own government for the attack in Madrid instead of the people who actually carried out mass murder. In doing so, they handed the butchers a victory. Terrorism and murder have been handsomely rewarded this day.
THE SOUTH ASIA MEXICAN STAND-OFF
A good case can be made out that the most arrogant military leaders in the world are the Brahmin generals who run the Indian Army. The hatred and intransigence they have towards Pakistan knows no bounds. Get them in their favorite easy chair at their gentlemen’s club in New Delhi and pour some single-malt scotch into them, and they’ll tell you of how someday nuclear war will be inevitable, that, yes, India will lose a few score million -- but what’s that to a nation of over a billion souls? -- but Pakistan will be wiped out and then India will divide Pakistan up into four Indian provinces and that will be that. You listen and you think these guys need to read some Greek tragedies about the fatal perils of Hubris. For the mind-blow truth is that in a nuclear showdown between Pakistan and India, Pakistan holds the high cards.
CHINESE CASTRATION
Have you ever noticed that the older you get, the scarier the world gets -- because you keep noticing that many of the folks who run it are not very smart?I was at a private luncheon in Washington earlier this week and among the guests were two guys from the CIA. Not only were they clueless -- we were discussing Russia -- they were just not bright. OK -- so picking on folks from the Three Bad Words is too easy. Let’s raise the bar and talk about the Chinese.There are a lot of people here in DC who constantly worry about the Chinese, and predict the Chicoms -- China’s Communist rulers -- will soon pose the greatest threat to America’s security. The worriers offer considerable evidence for their argument and they may well be right. But here’s a question:If the Chinese are so smart, how come they are busy surrounding themselves with neighbors who can aim nuclear missiles at them?
IS NORTH KOREA FAKING IT?
Last January, a team of US scientists, led by former Los Alamos lab director Sig Heckler, was allowed to visit the Yongbyon nuclear facility in North Korea. The North Koreans produced a heavy glass jar containing a funnel-shaped piece of metal that was “blackish with a rough surface,” according to Heckler. The jar was warm -- plutonium generates heat -- and “seemed about right in terms of weight” for Heckler. A Geiger counter registered radiation. At a subsequent press conference in Beijing, the scientists announced North Korea has reprocessed enough plutonium for at least four bombs. A few days later, the North Korean government offered to freeze its nuclear weapons program in exchange for massive aid and the lifting of sanctions. The question arises: is this all a con?