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[THIS IS A GOOD OLE' FASHIONED VANITY] OK, so my son calls me from Auburn ... Right after downloading and installing the latest updates from our friends in Redmond, the OS crashes into a memory dump/ BSOD. Vista Home Premium 64 bit on an HP notebook duo core 2 quad etc etc. It'll boot and run in safe mode, but something Microsoft sent out conflicts BIG time. I called Geek Squad to set up an appt for him, and the gentleman at Geek Squad said they had been getting a LOT of calls about laptops crashing after a Windows update....

Can I change my screen name without losing my longevity date?

Attention Linux, Vista, and Apple fan boys: put on your gloves... it's time to rumble! A 6-month vulnerability report issued by Jeff "Security Guy" Jones has caught the eye of Redmond and the ire of places beyond. The report which bases its security assessment upon vulnerabilities found (not actually exploited) claims that Vista is "more secure than OS X and Linux." In fact, the much maligned XP even crushes the competition using their calculations. Of course, it's worth noting that Jeff is a member of Microsoft's Security business unit which will probably sway your opinion as to the integrity of...

Governments should tax plasma screen televisions because of the large amount of energy they consume, according to a leading expert on climate change. Professor Paul Ekins, who studies the economics of climate change, said taxing plasma screens would reflect their "greater climate change burden". This would encourage development and take-up of more energy efficient diode screens, Professor Ekins said. He said government could label energy hungry appliances as a first step. Plasma televisions, which are 50% bigger than their cathode-ray tube equivalents, consume about four times more energy, according to the government-funded Energy Saving Trust.

Why is so much text being displayed beneath each "headline"? Is there a way to change back to just having the headline?

DULUIYA, Iraq (Army News Service, March 28, 2006) – Soldiers of Task Force Band of Brothers conducted medical screenings of Iraqi citizens on the Jabouri Peninsula March 27. The screenings came nine days after forces netted thousands of pounds in artillery and mortar rounds, rockets, air-defense rockets, ammunition, machine guns, materials for improvised explosive devices and other terrorist weapons along the Tigris River. Medics from the 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division – along with civil affairs Soldiers – held the health assessment at a...

A $59 million jail featuring art and flat screen TVs in Portland, Ore., has been sitting unused for more than a year as the city can't afford to open it. The Wapato Facility took two years to construct and can house 525 inmates at a cost of $20 million per year, .... The county spent more than $600,000 on art for the jail, including a sculpture out front by the circular driveway. There are 30-foot vaulted ceilings and private showers. "I love coming to an empty $59-million jail," Giusto told the Los Angeles Times. "I get tired of telling people...

Here's a speech we would like to hear from an Academy Award winner: I thank you for this wonderful award. Receiving an Academy Award gives the recipient an almost unique opportunity to speak to hundreds of millions people around the world, so I would like take this once-in-a-lifetime moment to say this:

Inside the Beltway By John McCaslin August 17, 2005 B-grade Gipper We're here to report a rather bizarre, if not disturbing incident combining Hollywood and Washington, specifically this month's special film-industry screening of "The Killers," a 1964 movie starring Ronald Reagan in his final big-screen role. On hand in Hollywood for the Aug. 4 event was a prestigious crowd of actors, actresses, writers, reviewers, scholars, researchers and film preservationists -- including "L.A. Confidential" director Curtis Hanson -- that actually erupted in cheers when Mr. Reagan "the actor" was shot and killed. Absent the applause, it was already an eerie scene...

It’s down to the wire. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)—the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement—by July 28. CAFTA is a regional agreement between the U.S. and six Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. CAFTA is another flawed trade deal that will sell out America's jobs and do nothing to pull people out of poverty in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Like its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), CAFTA promises to “help” the United States economy and reduce...

Several airport security screeners have sent me polite letters criticizing some of my comments in my last two columns, prompting this question to you: In managing our personal security, should we guard against possible or probable threats? Consider the measures and the resource expenditures I might take to guard Mrs. Williams and me against all possible threats to our security. Even though I live in Pennsylvania, well outside of tornado alley, I'd construct a tornado shelter because it's possible for a tornado to strike anywhere. I'd no longer get into my car and drive off without doing a thorough check...

Florida GOP apologizes for warning Tallahassee, FL, Jul. 30 (UPI) -- The Florida GOP has apologized for sending out a flier contradicting the views of Republican Gov. Jeb Bush on the upcoming elections. The fliers were sent to Republican voters in southern and western Miami-Dade County advising them to use absentee ballots rather than trust the new touch-screen voting machines, The Miami Herald reported Friday. Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood have been reassuring voters for months that the new voting machines now used in the state's 15 larger counties are reliable.

French cinemas refuse to screen The Passion By Kim Willsher in Paris (Filed: 29/02/2004) French cinema chains are refusing to distribute or screen Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ because of fears that it will spark a new outbreak of anti-Semitism. France is the only European country where there is still no distribution deal for the film, which depicts the last days of Jesus Christ in graphic detail and is accused by critics of stoking anti-Jewish sentiment. The film was released in America last week but French distributors are wary of its impact on audiences and want...

CAIRO: The Arab League secretary-general on Saturday questioned the legality of a US proposal to fingerprint and photograph visitors to America, saying such measures were "discriminatory" against Arabs and Muslims. "The Arab League is ... currently conducting a legal and political study on those discriminatory American procedures," Amr Moussa told reporters without elaborating. He was apparently referring to the procedures as being discriminatory against Arabs and Muslims. The Justice Department plan, proposed Wednesday, seeks to expand an existing law's reach to better track tourists, business travelers, students and temporary workers considered possible security threats. Officials familiar with the proposal said...

PM in fake painting row 14 April 2002 By OSKAR ALLEY Prime Minister Helen Clark has admitted misleading an animal welfare group by submitting an artist's painting as her own work for a charity auction. Clark was asked to do a painting to raise funds for Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE). Instead her office commissioned an artist to paint it. Clark signed the painting, creating the impression the work was her own. The painting sold at auction for $1000. Clark has admitted the deception to the Sunday Star-Times. She has agreed to write a personal cheque to reimburse the buyer...