[extropy-chat] Eugen Leitl, you got Klez

Russell Evermore nanowave at shaw.ca
Tue Feb 10 00:59:23 UTC 2004


>From Bill K.

> Eugene is correct that MS OutLook Express should not be used by anybody
> with any pretensions to computer expertise. It is the free crap that new
> computers users use because it came with the pc they bought from the
> chainstore.

Ok, but some people surely LIKE Outlook Express, including me, and I did
cobble my system together from individual components purchased separately
from - you guessed it, chainstores. I understand that you're making a
generalization here, and you're right to suggest I wouldn't pretend to be a
"computer expert", although way too many people call me up when their
machines stop working just way they'd like.

One day I scavenged an electrical switch from an old coffee machine and
mounted it in the center of a knockout panel of an unused drive bay on my
tower. Then I spliced into the power leads of my secondary hard drive, and
arranged things so that I can keep it powered off at all times, except when
I am making a backup or restoring an earlier, pristine ghost of my OS
(win98). Using a floppy disk and a free software called Maxblast, this
simple innovation allows me to thwart any kind of  conceivable attack on my
system. I never use anti-virus software.

If something fucks up my system, I just flick that little black coffee
switch, and reboot with the Maxblast floppy. A couple of clicks, and I go
make myself a sandwich. When I return, either everything is working better
than ever, or I copy my data files over as well. I give very little thought
to what might have happened, and I never have to worry about "system bloat"
since if nothing screws up for six months or more, I do this procedure
anyway.

So if it comes down to messing with what I think is a damn fine system, just
to read Eugen, well ...

I tried foxmail once after reading all kinds of wonderful reviews, and I
didn't like the fact that it didn't even have a To: column in the preview
pane. Also when I tried my nifty ghost trick, it didn't want to accept the
backup data folders. Attitionally, my wife uses this computer for her
business, so any changes have to be backed up with some pretty compelling
incentives. More compelling than "Outlook Express sux".

I do agree that we should all encrypt more, I suppose.

Russell Evermore




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