All Your Base Are Belong To Us — The Kip Lange Homepage

Well, the time has come. I’m giving up Internet Explorer for Firefox. To be fair, I started out as a die-hard Netscape man (Firefox is the next step in the evolution of Netscape). Then I finally switched over to Internet Explorer because so much of the web seemed formatted for it. Netscape simply got edged out. I tried going back to…I believe it was Netscape 7…an open-source (as is Firefox) project, an attempt to make Mozilla (the code that Netscape is based on and also a very old browser) an IE-killer. Well, it didn’t work. The thing had too many bells and whistles attached. It sucked, quite frankly, and barely ever displayed web pages correctly.

But they’ve gotten it (almost) right with Firefox. Firefox is now stripped down, with barely any bells and whistles installed at the beginning except a somewhat annoying “Latest Headlines” menu which you can get rid of. It’s customizable, highly so. You can download extensions and skins (a skin, as the name suggests, alters the superficial way Firefox looks — you can make it themed pink, for instance, if you want), but you can also just use it as it is. It allows “tabbed” browsing, an interesting way to organize your open browser windows into one window, although it’s a lot more useful in theory than in practice. And for me, someone who has set their resolution to 1280 by 1024, it’s much more obliging in terms of quickly resizing text from websites that don’t respond to my call for 120 dpi display. Text that remains static in Internet Explorer is malleable with Firefox. Firefox also automatically updates itself — a nice open-source advantage that Internet Explorer doesn’t have.

The main reason to update to Firefox, though, is that it’s much much MUCH less prone to browser hijacks and spyware attacks. If you’re like me, and you surf the seamy underbelly of the internet a fair amount — I’m not talking pornography here, I’m talking serial numbers for shareware programs you want to use in full mode — then Firefox is for you. Even if you’re straight-laced about your internet usage, you should be aware that a lot of times you can get shunted off the straight and narrow and end up in a dark alley that hijacks your desktop and leaves you with eight hours of hard work to get it off — if you can get it off (I’ve been lucky — and smart, yes — so far).

So finally when Firefox asked me if I wanted it to be my default browser — I said yes. Yes I do, Firefox.

You can download Firefox at http://www.getfirefox.com.

Okay. I got this nasty while surfing less-than-reputable websites. It’s horrible. It downloads other malware onto your system until you’re swamped with it. Your desktop gets fubared, your toolbars get fubared…

Anyway, I can’t step-by-step walk you through getting rid of this thing, but I can at least tell you how I managed to luck into getting rid of it. First, after you’ve got the programs I’m about to mention installed, disconnect from the internet immediately and by that I mean pull the plug on your modem if you’re using cable or DSL. You might also want to pull your plug if you’re using a regular modem, since the thing downloads dialers.

Here’s what I used (just do a search on them, I’m too tired to post links right now): Ewido Suite (free for 14 days), Spyware Doctor (free trial month), Norton Antivirus (not free but possibly not necessary). That’s all. I booted into safe mode. I ran Ewido. When you run Ewido, for time’s sake (because it takes a loooong time to do a full Ewido Scan), just choose “Perform this action every time” when you fix your first virus. When you’re done with that, run Norton. Then run Spyware Doctor. Hopefully it’ll show Trojan.Downloader.Small.CML with *14* registry entries instead of 17. Delete them all. Reboot. Spyware Doctor should run on reboot (into normal mode) and HOPEFULLY when you delete Trojan.Download.Small.CML it will NOT say it needs to reboot. If it does, try one more time.

This is the best advice I can give you. The second best advice I can give you is to download HijackThis, scan your system and save a log file, and post it to one of the many open geek forums where someone more kindly and knowledgeable than I will walk you through deleting this thing.

Good luck, too, if you have it. It’s one of the nastier things I’ve picked up, ever.

Ah well. I gave up on fighting it finally and got myself The Sims 2, and I have to say I’m pretty amazed by this puppy. Of course, it once again illustrates my grave need for a much better video card (but how the hell can you buy a top-end graphics card and not say to yourself, “But I could have bought an XBox 360 for this price!” — and I’m no XBox fan).

It’s everything an original Sims lover would want in a sequel. Tons of expansion packs available that truly allow for new gameplay, instead of just adding new objects (which they also do). Much better graphics. New things to worry about — fears, aspirations. A fully 3D environment that lets you zoom way the hell in or way the hell out, a free roving camera that you can move around exactly the way you want…and so on.

I have to say that I can easily see why it’s the number one videogame out there (across all platforms, I believe). So, for my two cents, I’d recommend getting it. And the expansion packs — as you get progressively bored with the same-old-same-old.

It really is eye candy, though, I must say.

Right. Microsoft has released a new program in Windows Update, the Windows Genuine Advantage tool. All it does, basically, is nag the hell out of you if it thinks you’re running a pirated version of Windows XP. This can happen if it fails to recognize your XP install, if it just screws up, or if you’re honestly using a cracked Windows XP.

First tip: Don’t download the thing. Leave it unselected forever. Even genuine Windows XP installs can fail the test, and then you’re stuck with calling Microsoft.

Second tip: Since it failed on a LEGITIMATE second copy of XP that I have running on a lesser computer, you may be interested to know that there are workarounds to the whole nag thing posted here and many other places (just google it).

Like MSFT doesn’t have enough money, they need to annoy us more. And remember, even if you use step 2 and remove it, it’ll try to download itself again, so make sure it’s unchecked when you download updates.

Although my computer is, indeed, mostly full of games and porn — pr0n, if you wish — there are a bunch of utilities I can’t live without, and I want to plug three of them.

First is Registry Mechanic, from PC Tools, which fixes errors in your registry, compacts, and optimizes it. It honestly boosts system speed.

Second is Spyware Doctor, also from PC Tools, which is a great sort of combination of AdAware (which I also love) and a sort of anti-virus-but-geared-to-spyware tool. It’s caught major installations of Hackdoor.Backdoor and so on, that Norton AntiVirus has not.

Third is Perfectdisk, from Raxco, which is the best and most simple disk defragging tool I have used. Also possibly the most effective.

Thus ends my little advertising section. Hehe.

You know how Amazon recommends stuff for you based on what you buy? TiVo recommends shows? And so on? They do it using what’s called “push” technology, which doesn’t always pay off, but sometimes does.

For the moment, I’m entranced with http://www.ratingzone.com/, a free site I found that does push technology for a lot of different things. I was interested in playing with TV shows. After having to flip through about ten screens containing maybe three shows that I actually watched (nah, I ended up with 18 when I ended the first part) it began generating recommendations for me. And they’re not bad. You keep rating the recommendations and it recommends more and more at different rating levels…you get the idea.

But it’s actually starting to figure me out a little bit, I have to say. I didn’t have much faith in a free service. I will warn you that they demand your email at one point after saying they won’t, which will, of course, somewhere down the line end up in you receiving spam about enlarging your penis (you know it). So I’m not “recommending” it myself, but it’s fun to play with, if anyone wants to try it out.

Ever since I’ve started this blog, I’ve had the good luck to run into a lot of old friends. The blog has nothing to do with it, of course, just the timing, I suppose. The blog, by the way, has been getting a TON of hits since I mentioned Kari Byron’s shoot in FHM (see below, or archives), thus proving that Kari Byron rules Geekdom Lust with an iron fist.

Anyway, I did have to post one picture of an old friend up here, who still looks 17 to me, but who denies that vehemently on her part. She’s been an absolute dear in corresponding with the dreadfully boring Kipster. Anyway, I give you ST.

There’s much more at a bit of an out-dated site (I gather the project is over, but the bio is still correct, I think) she has, over at:

http://www.mystichighway.org/id2.html

Anyway, I’ve known this girl for a long time, I grew up with her, and, Ms. S, I apologize for posting your picture, but I want it on my blog for sentimental purposes. There are some other pictures on her site but I quite like this candid one.

Needless to say, Ms. T. and I are strictly friends; she’s several thousand miles away in Boulder, CO, with a steady boyfriend (who I will kill if he mistreats her, as I view this girl as a surrogate sister).

Now, as for others, I *need* your photos online first, and if you’re reading, Erin, I need a non-fuzzy picture of you. I contemplated putting you up, but those pictures do not do you justice. For anyone wondering, Ms. Erin H. and I were indeed an item and she’s quite beautiful — and I could prove that if she sent me better pictures.

Of course, she was blonde when she dated me, and now she’s gone back to brunette, which makes her, like, a whole separate girl, which is, to say the least, very intriguing, and I intend on exploring the theme.

And, of course, anyone who wants to send me NUDE pictures — that is, any attractive females who wish to do so, please, go right ahead.

Ah well. Anyway, all of this makes me very nostalgic.

I’m just reminding folks, after some problems Erin had posting a comment, that your comment will not show up until I come along and approve it. This is because I don’t want people spamming the comments section, or posting needlessly rude, stupid, or offensive material without me having a chance to laugh at it first in private. So your comment won’t show right away, but submit it just once, and I’ll publish it, most likely.

Recent email from Germany sent by SC deserves to be posted:

I sold myself to the weapons industry. I just finished doing an
image film for a trade show, animating an interface and pulling green
screens. It looks like a hyperactive commander & conquer, but with
better acting. It’s good to know that I can make damn good
propaganda. My favourite line? “Taurus: The precise answer to
asymmetric threats!” Gonna have to spend my time cleansing my soul.

Ah yes. Kip Lange: The precise answer to asymmetric pants.

Okay. I now hate Friendster with a passion.

I never thought I’d say this, but, for stalking purposes, the interface is simply much crappier than…yes, Myspace. I logged on there to try to track down an ex-girlfriend, one of my favorite ex-girlfriends, one I dated in NYC and had to leave because I went back to Berkeley. She subsequently got married (to a US Marine, I believe), moved to Florida, and had a kid, and then, I think, got divorced, although not in that order. I subsequently…uhm…okay so I haven’t been doing much for the past eight years or so.

But here’s the thing — there’s no way to CONTACT anyone on Friendster. It seems to refuse to let me email the person. I found ANOTHER person in her friend list who I think I know and whom I thought I could get to relay a message back to her, and I couldn’t figure out how in hell to mail her.

Right. So, Erin Hatchett, read my goddamn blog and post a comment so I can give you my email address (actually it’s in a little post further down directed at a German, if you want) and see what the hell you’ve been doing.

Army brat. 🙂