Publication Date: March 17th 2004
ISSN 1445-1360
In this issue you will read:
Editorial: March 17th 2004
Software Review: Bazooka AdWare and Spyware Scanner
Definition: The First Amendment
Quotable: Theodore Roosevelt said...
Web Site Review: Howard Stern
The Great Australian Joke
G'Day Blokes and Sheilas!
Well I certainly stirred up the pot last issue, by relaying my grandmothers thoughts and making my point. Appears a lot of people don't mind me telling it like it is. This issue generated a lot of email for me, but as always I answered each one. I found readers' comments very interesting, and every piece of feedback I received was positive. Of course the exception was my ex-wife, which was no surprise really.
Which leads me on to another rant. I realized yesterday that every single person I know in the USA, has been effected by a divorce or been divorced themselves. This is a sad state of affairs. Marriage is no longer a "thick or thin" commitment, although in most cases I am aware of at least one of the partners wanted to work on the relationship.
On a similar note there was a really interesting guest on a radio show I listen too. He drew attention to laws in the state of California where men are labelled the father of a child, and if they do not dispute this formally within 30 days their wages are garnished by the state. Now what is wrong with this? Nothing if they are actually the biological father however some of these men are not. The guest runs a site for veterans called Veteran's Fighting Paternity Fraud. I believe every parent should be responsible for their offspring, but what appears to be happening in these cases seems criminal.
Did anyone notice you can now do a Google powered search of the NetBloke site or the Web from the sidebar? I mainly did it so I can quickly and easily search my site, but as my site also acts as my home page I thought having it there would save me a click to Google when I search.
As for this issue there are currently some interesting debates in the media here about freedom of speech. I thought I would reflect on some of the issues through this issue.
Have a bonza day!
Nathan Allan
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You have to love freeware, and I had not seen any mention of this Adware and Spyware scanner so I thought I would give it a try. The install is very clean, with a nicely done request for your email address if you want updates, and a clean update to the scanner database. The program did a scan and did not find anything, which was to be expected as I do not install programs that commonly include adware or spyware. The site sums up what the program does very eloquently: "Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner detects a multitude of spyware, adware, trojan, keylogger, foistware and trackware components; sources of irritation that antivirus software does not deal with. The scanning process will only take about two seconds and tell you how to uninstall the invasive threat using simple step-by-step instructions or put you in contact with the vendor for the most up-to-date and safe uninstall instructions." Note that this author has some other great little freeware apps available on the site too. Name: Bazooka License: Freeware Version Reviewed: 1.13.01 Supported Operating Systems : 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP TOP
I hate to get serious but I think this ties in with my Web Site Review. Freedom of Speech is a pretty big deal in this country.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
You can read the whole Constitution of the United States of America thanks to Cornell University.
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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
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I am highlighting Howard's site because of the controversy surrounding censure and freedom of speech. The site is horrible as far as design goes, but that is not why I am sharing it with you all.
Most people will know Howard as a "shock jock" that toes the line of what the FCC will allow. He pushes the envelope that is for sure, and love him or hate him you have to admit that he is one of the highest rating radio personalities in America.
His site at the moment is mainly dedicated to telling the story of what is going on with the FCC and congress. The required reading section is extremely interesting.
What I will never understand about the people who do not like him, or his style of radio, is why they simply do not switch to another station or turn him off. Seems like a no brainer to me, but alas these people want to take away your choice to listen to what you want. It is an interesting debate that everyone here should be interested in, as it effects your rights to freedom of speech.
Take a look a Howard Stern's Web site like I said it is not pretty but it is an interesting read.
If you have an opinion on this matter I would love to hear it.
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Dougal sent this one in for me, I actually liked my mother-in-law, but this is funny anyway.
Helping the Mother-in-law
I saw six men kicking and punching the mother-in-law.
My neighbor said ' Aren't you going to help? '
I said ' No! Six should be enough."
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