From the Blackout Department

April 20, 2008 at 1:36 am | In Annoyances, Computing, Internet, National and Local News, Personal, The Duke of York | Leave a Comment

Okay,  picture this, walking home from the Duke of York, in the Sainsbury’s covered carpark, walking slowly, the cold air hitting your face, when….. There is a blackout and the carpark goes pitch black. 2 seconds later, the Emergency Lights kick in and you continue walking. Is it a power cut, or was it just the lights?

Walking out of Sainsbury’s carpark, you can hear the sound of alarms, and you can see the passage at the side of the Library is pitch black. You walk through, keeping your hand in your pocket, incase anyone tries anything funny and walk onto Blue Boar Street to see the full extent of the chaos.

When I did walk onto Blue Boar St, all the traffic lights were out and Winchester Street was pitch black. I heard someone say that it was scary to use the 24 hour toilet, as it was so dark, you couldn’t even see the door. The roads were chaos, there was no order and police everywhere. Everyone had been booted from the pubs and clubs, due to there being no power and everywhere you looked, burgular alarms were sounding.

I called home to ask if the power was out, and guess what…. It was! I made it home, to have the torch shined in my face. I rang Southern Electricity and listened to the emergency bullitin message, which said that the entire city centre had suffered a major electrical fault and the city would be back online in 2 hours. So we lit candles, got torches and used the camper stove to make hot drinks. I jumped on MSN via my phone (which has now been sorted, but the Internet still doesn’t work very well) and finally the power was restored, after 45 minutes. I put the PC back on and bought it out of Hibernate, got back online and then we had a 2nd power outage, which lasted 30 seconds or so. (However, we blew all the candles out when the power was restored, so we had a rather big flap when we couldn’t see a thing) So once again, I put the PC back on and the power was fine ever since.

The area affected by the City Centre Blackout

In other news, Tuesday is my operation and I thank you for all your good luck messages and those of you that say you will be thinking of me when I am on the table. I don’t like  Anaesthetic, (Always gives me a fould taste in my mouth and the needles scare me) but I am sure I will be fine. I will take Ted for good luck, as he always brings me good luck! (He is sitting next to me, giving me the “Evils” at the moment! Bad Teddy!!!)

Finally, remember that it is Karaoke down the Duke tommrow night. If you misserd the live band tonight, you missed a really good night, as I am sure the girls will be there tommrow night singing some really great tracks. I shall be singing as always, so it aint to be missed! Karaoke is at 8.30 sharp, so come down and join Flaming Mary QUEEN of Scotts and of course the loverly Paul and Damian behind the bar! :P

 Anyway, I am off to bed, I can’t be sitting here typing all night, so I will say goodnight for now :)

From the New Abba Cover Department

April 13, 2008 at 11:35 pm | In Funny, Personal, The Duke of York | Leave a Comment

Okay, Karaoke was brilliant down the Duke tonight, a real bunch of laughs.  I sang Roy Orbison Crying, Billy Idol Rebel Yell, Whitney Huston One Mioment in Time, Jenifer Rush, the power of Love and Abba, Money Money Money, which I made my own cover version of. I have posted the revised lyrics below:

 work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay
Ain’t it sad
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me
That’s too bad
In my dreams I have a plan
If I got me a wealthy man
I wouldn’t have to work at all, I’d fool around and have a ball…

Giro, Giro, Giro,
signed with a biro
From the DSS
Giro, Giro, Giro
I go to get my Giro
From the DSS
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had my Giro,
From the DSS

A man like that is hard to find but I can’t get him off my mind
Ain’t it sad
And if he happens to be free I bet he wouldn’t fancy me
That’s too bad
So I must leave, I’ll have to go
To Las Vegas or Monaco
And win a fortune in a game, my life will never be the same…

Giro, Giro, Giro,
signed with a biro
From the DSS
Giro, Giro, Giro
I go to get my Giro
From the DSS
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had my Giro,
From the DSS

Giro, Giro, Giro,
signed with a biro
From the DSS
Giro, Giro, Giro
I go to get my Giro
From the DSS
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had my Giro,
From the DSS

Giro, Giro, Giro,
signed with a biro
From the DSS
Giro, Giro, Giro
I go to get my Giro
From the DSS
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had my Giro,
From the DSS

From the DSS!

It caused a few laughs down the Duke when I sang this, people know how bad the DSS (Department of Social Security) can be, when they screw people’s money about. Anyway I am off to bed, as I am tired; so nite nite.

From the Steadystate Windows Department

April 13, 2008 at 4:06 pm | In Computing, Software, Tutorials, Tweaks, Windows | Leave a Comment

Okay, I thought I would add another tutorial quickly. Thios one is for those people who have shared computers and want to make sure that others do not screw the PC’s up when using them. For this we use a tool called Steadystate, which can be downloaded from Microsoft. Steadystate is the best security tool yet, and is great for standalone PC’s not on a Domain Network or covered by Group Policy. Steadystate also works nicely with Group Policy as well.

You can get Steadystate from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D077A52D-93E9-4B02-BD95-9D770CCDB431&displaylang=en

Once installed, you need to create a new user. I have only 1 other user on my systems, apart from Administrator, as all users are Domain Users. (Guest User)

Now, click the user you have created, it’s time to get restrictive!

I enable time restrictions on the PC and enable the logoff timer, so that my users can see how long they have left. It is also a good idea to lock the profile of the user, so that thay cannot make any changes. (This is called a Manitory Profile)

Now click the Windows Restrictions Tab

It is up to you how lenient you are with your restrictions. For this Guest user, I have been seriouslly restrictive and have locked off many features and also have locked off the C:\ Drive and the E:\ Drive for security, only allowing access to the DVD RW Drive.  Users can only save to Drive I: and to Floppy \ DVDRW or CDRW. To apply a restriction, just check the relivent box.

OK lets move on to Feature Restrictions

Again, check the boxes for the features you want disabling. This tab allows you to block various features in Internet Explorer, Office and other software. You can also set the homepage for Internet Explorer or allow a certtain page to be accessed from the user account. (great for Children, using the PC)

Finally, we move to the Blocked Programs Tab

This allows you to block various programs, such as Internet Explorer or Card Games. To block a program, click it’s name and click the Blocked button to move it to the blocked list.

When you are ready, click OK to apply all restrictions.

Finally, if you want Steadystate to manage your Computer Updates, select the option on the main screen. You can also protect the hard drive from changes (Not Recommended unless you are on a Domain Network) and set global restrictions.

Now all that is left to do is click Start > logoff and login as your new user and enjoy Steadystate Protection for your family and your PC!

Next week’s tutorial: Hacking MSGina.DLL to customise your Windows Classic Logon Screen.

From the Securing Windows XP Department

April 13, 2008 at 3:06 pm | In Computing, Internet, Software, Tutorials, Tweaks, Windows | Leave a Comment

Okay, this post is going to give you a few tricks on how to secure your XP Workstation and make it run a alot better. This should not take longer than a hour to make all the changes needed, to secure your pc, but if you are on a slow PC or dialup, it make take a bit longer.

1st, make sure your version of windows has Service Pack 2 installed. If your version of XP is quite recent, you will likly have SP2 allready installed. If not, you can installl it from Windows Update.

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Next, configure Automatic Updates for your Computer

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Automatic Updates

Select Automaticlly Update My Computer (Recommended)

Select the time you wish to download the updates

Click Appy and OK

 

Next, enable the Windows Firewall from Control Panel. If you are using a router with a hardware firewall, it is still a good idea to enable this firewall as 2nd defence. You may need to configure your programs to run via the software firewall, by clicking advanced, clicking the checkbox by the program you wish to enable and clicking apply. Othwerwise, you can browse for the program you wish to make a rule for.

Handy Hint: If you are on a Network, remember to enable File and Printer Sharing, or your Network Resources will not work!

Download a Antivirus program on your PC. I suggest AVG, as that gets rid of 99% of all heebie Jeebies.

Download AVG Free from http://free.avg.com

Next, install Antispy. I suggest Adaware Free, which deep scans the registry and removes all spyware.

Download Adaware SE from www.adaware.com

Next, run your Virus and Spyware scanners. I suggest either pulling out your Ethernet cable or disabling the connecttion while you do this.  I usually run this in Safe Mode, by tapping F8 as Windows starts, which is another option.

Disable Windows Messenger, is something you should all do. You don’t need it, now you can download and install Windows Live Messenger.

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add Remove Programs

Click the Add Remove Windows Componants Tab

Select Windows Messenger and uncheck the box

Click Apply then OK

Go to: http://messenger.msn.com

Select the software you wish to install (I choose none on the 1st page)

Click Download

Select Run when prompted

Follow the Setup Wizard

Backup your System Registry

Click Start > Run

Type “REGEDIT” without the quotes and hit OK

Click File

Export

Put a floppy in your A:\ drive and save the backup as Registry.reg

Put the floppy in a safe place

Disable Auto Login on your Computer

Click Start > Run

Type control userpasswords2 and click Ok

Check the box that says Users Must Logon to this Computer with a Username and Password

Click Apply but not OK as we will be coming back to this in a minute

Put a password on your Windows Account to stop unauthorised access

In the dialog box friom a minute ago, choose your user and click Reset Password

Type your new password and the  type it again and click OK. Do not close User Accounts yet! We still have work to do!

Rename the Administrator’s Account. I do this for security reasons.

In User Accounts, Double click Administrator

Under the field Username, choose a new value ( I call Administrator Net Admin on my PC’s)

Click Apply and Ok

Do not close User Accounts yet, thwere is 1 more job to do!

Make sure Users need to use CTRL +ALT + DEL if using Classic Logon

If you have changed your login settings in Control Panel . User Accounts to Classic Login, which I recommend, you need to enable CAD on Login.

Click the Advanced Tab and check the box next to Require users to press CTRL +ALT + DEL to login

Click Appy and OK

Finally, as you have been messing about with various settings, restart the PC

Click Start > Shut Down > Restart

Remember to press CTRL +ALT +DEL at the login screen to login. Also press the Windows Key and L when you walk away from your PC, as this locks the workstation.

Download a drive cleaning program to clean your hard drive of tempory files.

I suggest CC Cleaner (Freeweare) http://www.ccleaner.com/ or Webroot Window Washer (Shareware) www.webroot.com

Download, install and run one of these programs. It will clear your tempory files, cache, cookies and various other tempory files that cake up your hard disk

Finally, Defragment your hard drive

Click Start >  Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Defragment

Click Defragment, as this will analize and defragment the volumes on your PC. I don’t bother clicking analize as it is not that acurite.

Coming Later…. How to secure your PC using Steadystate.

From the Good Guys Finish Last Department

April 13, 2008 at 1:47 pm | In Annoyances, Computing, General, Personal | Leave a Comment

Okay, this is another of my rants, this time about work.

It started on Thursday, when I asked Management if I could purchase a Screen Filter, as the UV Rays from the VDU’s give me a headache and as a result of this, I can only bear to look at the VDU for 10 minutes, before I get a headache. My Line Manager said he would ask the General Manager, and see which budget the VDU Screen Filters would come out of. However, I was told it would have to come out of central budget and that I should just take regular breaks from the PC, which I did. I started to do other things, such as filing and tidying up of the office, which always needs doing.

30 minutes later, and I was pulled into the General Office by my Line Manager and was told that area office have to buy the VDU filters and until then, I am suspended. I went AWOL, as you would if this happened to you.

I said:

“There are plenty of other things I could be doing, apart from sitting at a PC, tidying, another department maybe?”

However, the response I got didn’t thrill me:

“I’m sorry, we’ll call you when we get the filters”

I was very upset and walked out of work feeling very hurt.

I mean, this is stupid, someone else went and got rechargable batteries earlier that day, which cost about £8 a pack, so why couldn’t they spend £10 and get a screen filter for me? This is just unfair. It seems to me, that there is a issue with my sexuality, which they do not like. I mean, just cos I am “Queer” does it make me any different to anyone else? I have the same rights as any “Straight” person, so why do I get castrised for being gay? I mean I get funny looks all the time from some people, and they are always gossiping, because me and another lad who work there, who is also gay are very “friendly.” Why should I suffer?

In today’s society, no matter what your ethnic background, gender, religion, gender or sexuality, we should all be treated the same way. This is called Diversity. The world is more diverse now, because of these factors and we should all be treated equally. Why should I be the “Black Sheep” at work, “just because I don’t fancy Woman but Men instead?” It is homophobic.

I got the job through a Agency, and so I am going to speak with my Agency tommrow and get my job reinstated, that or I am going to get another job through them. Also, don’t think work are getting out of it that easily, I will be making a foamal complaint to the powers that be, as some people do not know how to treat others properly. I was always taught:

“If you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say it at all!”

and

“Always treat others the way you would wish to be treated yourself!”

Maybe they have forgotton this at work? Who knows! All I know is, that I am in the right and they are in the wrong. I have done nothing wrong, so that’s all that matters.

From the House Wrecked Department

April 12, 2008 at 11:08 pm | In Annoyances, General, National and Local News | 6 Comments

Okay, I found this story in the local paper, and thought it would be a good one to rant about.

POLICE have warned parents not to leave teenage parties unsupervised after a house in Bulford was trashed by gatecrashers. Two Samurai swords were taken, a pet turtle’s tank was filled with shampoo, and every ornament in the house was broken after hordes of uninvited youngsters turned up.The mother of the 16-year-old who was celebrating his birthday was so upset by the destruction she was unable to eat or sleep for three days. “I felt sick and couldn’t stop crying,” she said. “I am going to have to sell the house. Two hundred people have been through it. There’s blood on the walls. It’s unliveable.”

The woman, who does not want to be identified, claimed pupils from the town’s two grammar schools and a handful from private schools were responsible for the trouble. She has contacted the heads of both schools and urged them to let parents know what happened. “Some of them must have driven their children to the party that night,” she added. “Some must know about what went on. “But every parent needs to know this could happen to anyone. It’s not just something you see on TV. These are not inner-city kids. You don’t expect this mentality and this kind of behaviour from well-educated youngsters from good schools. “My whole life has been destroyed. I am a single parent and everything I have worked for has been broken.”

The woman, who accepts she was naïve in leaving the house, said: “It’s not even as if I was away. “I told my son he could have 30 friends and I would go out for a couple of hours. I told them they couldn’t have any spirits to drink, and I was only half an hour away. “At 11pm, I got a call from the police to say there were 200 people at my house.

“I’d locked everything of any value, including my rare and precious snake-necked turtle, safely away upstairs in my bedroom but they had picked the lock off the door. “When I came back, the tank was foaming. There was make-up all over my carpet and the bedsheets were ripped. “They’d cooked and eaten all the food in the house. I have seven fish tanks, and they had thrown garlic bread and noodles into them. “One girl who had drunk too much got taken away in an ambulance.

“Two Samurai swords were missing. All the doors and windows had their hinges taken off and a garden wall was kicked down. These were such malicious acts. My son is devastated.” The mother said she believed some staff at the grammar schools had heard rumours trouble was likely – and they should have alerted her.

Okay, I am going to rant about this! Firstly, what kind of idiot of a parant leaves the house in the hands of a 16 year old child, while they throw a party? I mean that is just stupid, let alone irrisponsible. To annoy me more, the mother said and I quote:

The woman, who accepts she was naïve in leaving the house, said: “It’s not even as if I was away. “I told my son he could have 30 friends and I would go out for a couple of hours. I told them they couldn’t have any spirits to drink, and I was only half an hour away. “At 11pm, I got a call from the police to say there were 200 people at my house.

Firstly, she should of never left the house, 2nd, she said:

told them they couldn’t have any spirits to drink,

She should of said no booze at all, as all that lot were underage more than likely. She claims she locked valuables away, when if she knew there could be trouble, why did she not take them with her, lock them in her car, even though she should not of left. Talk about Negligence. Even more annoying, how come this woman is not facing charges for this, I mean she was responsible for all these kids, who were p***** out of their heads, and as you read; one had to be taken to A+E.

To be honest, I have no sympathy for the mother of this teenager. She should of known better and should of taken some responibility for this. It is as my headmaster at George Abbott once said:

“Everything you do has a coniquence and you must face up to these coniquences.”
Mr. D.C. Maloney Headteacher at George Abbott School

So she has to take some responibility for this happening. I am sure that her insurance will go sky rocketing, (if she is insured) andf likely if she has insurance, they will say that this was intentional damage and they will not be willing to help.

She also went on to say:

“I am going to have to sell the house”

Meh, she will be lucky! I hope she knows how hard it is to sell a house normally, but when one looks like it has had a double decker bus smack into it, she will find selling it more or less impossible.

Also what annoys me is:

“The mother said she believed some staff at the grammar schools had heard rumours trouble was likely – and they should have alerted her”

If she had had a tip off about the party, why didn’t she either tell her son that the party is off, or stay at home with him? I mean it’s common sense, something this woman does not seem to have! Is she missing a screw or something or does she need to go back to the lab and have her bolts tightend? She does not seem to be a very responsible person and she is now having to leatn the hard way, after 200 people basiclly wrecked her house and her life, but remember that it is 50% her fault and she is accountable as much as the gatecrashers, because she left her son without proper adult supervision. Now you should be able to see what I am getting at, that these school kids are minors and so they required a responsible adult with them, which this mother certainly in my case is not.

Well, in my final thoughts on this, I will end by saying that Parents have a role in life and a certain level of responsibility. They are responsible for their child’s behaviour, their health and welbeing, their education and their parties. Remember that behaviour like this is unaccetable and helps you to make more enermies that friends. I certainly would not of been allowed to behaive like this when I was younger, let alone my teens. It is about making the right choices in life, (yet another of Mr Maloney’s famous sayings) it’s about moulding your child into a decent member of society. Most problems with teenagers are not because they are difficault or stroppy, but because they come from homes with bad parenting, parents that proberbly gamble, fight and swear, that hit and attack each other or use vulgar or explicit sexual remarks or acts. This is not something that should be done in front of your child under any circumstances. Remember that talking is the key to success and will allow you to bond with your child. “A problem solved is a problem halved” so have some quality bonding with your child, even if it is watching the TV or making a cake, mowing the lawn or doing the dishes. It all helps and that is what will help prevent problems like the ones above. It is sad to see problems like this, but if all parents took their responsibility for their actions and acted like parents did in my era, (1980’s and beyond) then the world would be that little bit more of a betterr place for us all. Parents in my era and before had better respect for their children and others and that is what I see is the problem in today’s society.

From the “Lets All Get Sloshed!” Department

April 12, 2008 at 9:57 pm | In Annoyances, Computing, General, Internet, Personal, Software, T-Mobile, The Duke of York, Windows | Leave a Comment

Okay, yesterday was Dan’s birthday, so we all wound up in the Anchor and Hope Inn for a meal and a few drinks. I had coke, (Which was almost flat) Hannah and Amy had Malibu and Coke, while Gary and Dan had proper Ale. Our pizzas nearly got burnt, because the barmaid forgot to take them out the oven, but they were as tatsty and not burnt. :) (Would of been interesting, evacuating the pub!) Anyway, a few drinks later and we hit the pool table. Odviouslly, I am totally useless at pool, so I kept loosing the games. I decided to retire from pool and went to the beer garden for a smoke. I then started chatting to 2 wonderful ladies, (and if they are reading this, hello to Tracy and Yvonne!) 5 fags later and after being told off by the landlord for having glasses outside after 10pm, we went back in and the ladies powdered their noses and departed the pub. I was getting quite tired, so I slipped out the pub and went to bed!

This morning, I stayed in bed, as my MS started playing up and made me feel rather crappy. I got up around 1ish, after lying here in bed with the keyboard and mouse, modorating the Gay.com youth floor. I then had problems with my Internet connection, as in it came up with this annoying message:

Error 734, the PPP Link Protocol was Terminated!

So, I got on the phone to my ISP and had a go at them, as you do. However, I was passed to 2nd line support, who helped me get the issue sorted. It seemed that my ISDN modem, (Yes I know ISDN is crap, but it is all we can get in these parts!) kept changing COM Ports, so I had to uninstall it and then reinstall it for the Internet to work. What a pain in the neck!

Later, I had issues with my mobile.  Every time I ring a certain number, I get this annoying beeping, and it doesn’t connect the call. BTW, please do not mistake this beeping for engaged tone, as it is only 3 beeps and my phone cuts the call off. So I rang T-Mobile, yelled at them and had the phone tested, tried calling another number and that works, etc etc… So I got to try another SIM, as it could be either my SIM, or yet again my phone, which would make it the 4th one from T-Mobile. However, I am not going to use Sony Errisson W910i’s, if they are going to act like this and I am going to suggest I get a totally different phone.

To end it all, I didn’t end up going to my friend’s, as I can’t find his house. (LOL!) He said to me that it is at the following:

“Above Bang & Olufsen oppersite the pub. We’re having a few drinks, me and some mates, you are welcome to come!”

Thing is, there are no flats above Bang & Olufsen, just the offices above the shop and next door is the British Leigon, so I don’t think he lives above it either. To make it worse, he doesn’t have his mobile on or tol me the door number! So I gave up and went to Macdonald’s and had a Big Mac Meal, Saltless Fries and a Diet Coke. Mmmmm! Not a bad weekend, if I say so!

Don’t forget to join in the fun, if you are coming down the Duke tommrow night, as usual, it’s Karaoke (Hosted by the Hostess with language that’s atrocious and if you don’t like it, she’ll tell you to P*** off!) Flaming Mary QUEEN of Scotts. As ever it promises to be a bucketful of laughs and one hell of a  party!! Of course I shall sing as usual and will likly do Whitney Huston One Moment in Time. The fun starts at 8:30 sharp, so for god sakes don’t be late!

Flaming Mary Queen of Scotts, who is even more frightning than Anne Robinson!

From the Random Updates Department

April 9, 2008 at 12:27 pm | In Computing, Internet, Personal, Website | Leave a Comment

Okay, some quick updates,

Firstly, I have been promoted to Network Manager at work, so I am responsible for all the IT Systems within the building and I am also the Tech Support Rep. 

My Line Manager says:

You are the Internet Wizz Aaron, where would we be without you, fast dilligent and know stacks about computers!

As for the shop Manager, Mechelle, all she has to say is:

“Ello Dave, you wanna buy some pegs?”

As you can see, you don’t have to be mad to work at Oxfam, but it helps! I do love my job and the team of people I work with are fantasic, plus I work for a fantastic cause, that helps end poverty in 3rd world countries.

 Also I had my pre-op questionaire, so I am one step closer to my operation.  Finally, everyone at the Duke of York has said I should go for the X-Factor, as my rendition of My Way is really really good!

Finally, I have modified the site theme, as some of you have said that it is not very browser friendly. I have changed the theme, so please let me know if you have any more issues.

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