Al's Blog-o-Sphere

Today I got three emails from Facebook. One told me that my password was changed and that, if I had not done it myself, I might have been a victim of a phishing attack.

The second one told me my account had been deactivated and that if I changed my mind and wanted to reconsider, all I needed to do was log back in. Too bad I changed that password…

The third one, was titled Facebook Service sent you a message on Facebook… and came from “Facebook Team.” Wow! Were they going to beg me to come back. Were they asking what they could do to make me stay? No.

This is what it said:

To read this message, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=156102208989&mid=6f888e491cd35db616b1089c9fe2d4da&n_m=facebook notify

Okay, so it wasn’t a personal message. Maybe it was something they wanted everyone who was quitting to see. Maybe about the changes they are making to correct the issues people have been complaining about. I had my hopes up.

Nope. It was a Viagra Ad. Canadian Pharmacy spam. Just one last shot to tell me I had made the right decision…

Incidentally, all the while I was a member in good standing with FB, I don’t ever remember getting a message like this that portrayed itself to be an important message from the “Facebook Team.” Guess I know what the “Team” thinks of me now…

Well, I did it. I committed “Facebook Suicide.” That’s the term for deleting your profile in the social network as if you no longer exist.

Of course, as soon as I was done, they announced sweeping revisions of their privacy policy and a simplification of the user controls that had become so complex that most people gave up and just didn’t deal with them.

I wasn’t terribly worried about my privacy. I assumed that pretty much everything I put in my profile or said online was visible to everyone. I mean, it may be only your “friends” who are supposed to see what you write, but if someone is determined, anything is available.

You can still (always) find me online. I have Twitter, MySpace, Google Buzz, AIM and other accounts. And of course, this blog. For all of my stuff, just Google me, my profile is there.

Continue Reading…

I’ve been playing around with Linux for probably close to 15 years and am still far from comfortable using it. I keep hold tightly to my security blanket of Windows.

The first time I tried to put Linux on a computer, I bought a set of disks, CD’s in fact and tried to put it on a spare computer I had. It was a version of Slackware Linux and featured the latest installer to automate the job. That meant feeding it disc after disc and watching as screen after screen of text scrolled by, periodically stopping to prompt you for some arcane information that I usually had no idea how to answer. I gave my best guesses and it worked, sort of. I got it to run and create a root account. I even had a graphical interface (X-windows) running on it and it recognized the mouse. But I could never get the GUI to match the screen size, no matter what I did. Continue Reading…

I’m sharing these with you, not just for your sake, but so I can remember them when I forget the name of “that program I used to …” as I often do. I like how once I write something here I can refer back to it later. Even if it’s not so useful to you, I can use it!

Some of these programs I have mentioned here and there before. So I’m not losing it, I’m just consolidating.

PC Decrapifier Did you ever get a new computer and it had all these programs you didn’t want and never used? Trial programs that expire after thirty days then demand you buy them every 30 seconds? Stripped-down versions of the real programs you are going to install anyway? Offers to connect you to the internet through some ISP you wouldn’t be caught dead using? Of course, we all have had this experience. Some manufacturers are worse than others, but they all seem to load up your brand-new computer with a bunch of extra junk. PC Decrapifier to the rescue. Written by someone who experienced the same frustration, no doubt, it allows you to pick and choose what you want on your new computer. It’s free and safe, it only removes what you tell it to, and helps locate and identify those annoying freebies they stick on new computers.

There’s a lot more in this post so click here and Continue Reading…