How to Remove Startup Programs

Though it's a bit on the basic side, this is something I often get asked by people, basically why their computer is sooo slow compared to what it used to be... Typically the culprit is a program that's started up by Windows that you don't realize is there or even running, and there's no entry in the Startup folder or an icon in the taskbar. So from today's O'Reilly Network Newsletter, comes an article called "How to Remove Startup Programs":

Got a PC that takes a week and a day to boot up? It's most likely filled with programs that start at bootup --- programs you don't need. Mitch Tulloch shows you all the secrets of how to ferret out and remove these time and resource wasters.

Since I read that, I also got an email newsletter from Steve Bass of PCWorld, who talks about the egregious amounts of crap he had to, well, de-crapify from a neighbor's new Dell. If you think about it, Dell and other PC manufacturers aren't really profiting from hardware. Instead, they're making their margins by picking up a few bucks when buyers renew or upgrade the trial versions they dump into their new desktop images, or use a recommended ISP. He mentions a program I haven't had a chance to look at, the PC De-Crapifier, which was reviewed by Denny Arar, PCWorld's "Consumer Watch" editor. You might, however, be as leery as I am about using an unknown third-party invasive tool...

But let's say you're the DIY type. Then you'll love Andy Brandt's recent "Step-by-Step," in which he tells you in excruciating detail how to remove all the useless gunk from a new system and set it up to your specifications:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/126469-1/article.html?tk=nl_sbxhow

So go forth and cleanse.

40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted

Um, yeah. Right off the bat I can see I'm going to have to take this article posted via Slashdot five days ago (yes I am behind) with some serious salt.

MMORPGs and game addiction. If you're suffering from dry eyes, headaches, back aches, erratic sleep patterns, it may be more than just your average hangover: according to Dr. Maressa Orzack, you could be suffering from video and computer game addiction. A clinical psychologist, Orzack is founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass., and is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Computer Addiction Services is one of the few outpatient clinics in the U.S. that provides specific treatment for game addiction.

There were many reader comments left on this thread. Mostly summed up by Spad who scoffs at the source of the claim:

"Doctor with vested interest makes sensational statement to support business model" Shocker.

Some readers' horror stories about their gaming lives strain credulity, but Dirtside was one of many who described getting too far into a game:

I was addicted to WoW. It got to the point where it was interfering with taking care of other things around the house, and occasionally paying attention to my kid. I finally quit cold-turkey a few weeks ago, and I'm glad I did. The game's fun, but it's just a game; I kept looking at it as "gotta accomplish more, gotta get all these characters to 60, etc."

"Anything can become an addiction," though, asserts diamondsw:

It is true that MMORPG's (World of Warcraft being far and away the more successful) encourage this. You have monthly fees that (aside from paying for the infrastructure, bandwidth, etc) entice you to play to justify the ongoing and mounting expense. Grouping makes sure you show up at given times, etc. The random rewards of epic loot in advanced dungeons is similar to random reward studies (which show it's the most powerful form of behavior shaping - see slot machines). You have to set limits on it just like anything else, whether it's drinking or TV.

However, there are some differences here [compared to] to other addictions. There is no physical addiction, and hardly any psychological one. You can put it down, and other than mild obsession (what's going on in Azeroth?), it has no ill effects. Hell, you can discontinue your account, and they keep all of your character info, so you can completely unplug, and return at some point in the future when you're interested again, much like an offline game. There's also a limit - you may play a lot to reach level 60, but then you do stop. Sure, you can join raids, get gear, but the drive to constantly improve falls away (other games, like Disgaea, are far, far worse in this regard).

The most important difference is that if handled well, it can be a positive social tool. I play, but only with people I know in real life. That way we can talk about other things and it allows a set time for us to get together, without having to drive out to each other (I live over an hour away from many of them, and that's just suburban sprawl!).

Mostly, this is a lot of fuss over nothing.

That's more along my line of thinking, but I believe reader cculianu hit the nail on the head:

What the hell is wrong with our society? I don't believe that such a thing exists as being addicted to non-narcotics (such as games, sex, your friends, a good book). I think that's just called enjoying life!.

For example: Would we have called Leonardo Da Vinci addicted to science because he spent long 20 hour days cutting up cadavers or studying mechanics?

Would we have called Einstein a hopeless physics junkie?

It's called having a passion. Doing what you love. What's so bad about it?

In this work-obsessed culture we live in, if you aren't working and doing something THE MAN tells you to do, you must be doing something wrong. You don't see clinics popping up for people that work at overtime at McDonalds because they can't pay their bills -- we find it absolutely OK to not see your family most of the week because your job makes you work from 8 till 8, but when a person comes home and wants to spend 3-4 hours doing something they want to do you have people thinking its some sort of a disease.

I don't get it. Where are the priorities? I really am an advocate of being a professional idler and trying to get out of wage slavery. What's so bad about playing a game for 40 hours a week (something you choose to do, and enjoy)? Compare that to working which is something you HAVE to do or else you get evicted by some property owning assholes and end up living on the streets and going crazy!

So there you go. Addiction or not? Though I might jokingly refer to my "addiction" to WoW, I don't really mean it in the sense that the good doctor does. After all, I do still go to work. I was able to go on vacation for a week, WoW-free, without any ill effects or withdrawals. But I still believe it is a really, really great experience and I cannot wait to enter into the WoW universe whenever I am able to. So take it as you will.

Boston Vacation, Day Six: American Girl and Home Again

So the kids are finally settled in for the night, and Donna's trying to sleep off her pain - she's still hurting from her fall, and sports a nice kaleidoscope of colors on her knee as well now. But here I am, back on my home computer, CrazyHarry (how I missed thee, old friend) to wrap up the vacation narrative.

Had a bit of difficulty sleeping last night. Might have been the unfamiliar surroundings, or Carrie's tendency to loudly proclaim her indignation on the course her dream has taken (I'd still like to know exactly what it was she took and what she was doing with it)... But no, I have the feeling that it might be the jackhammer on the street outside that was intermittently trying to tear up the street until 12:30am. Yeah, I think that was it.

But the day dawned early and bright, and I grabbed a shower before we headed out, dolls in tow to make the American Girl Brunch. Let me tell you, though this was a very expensive hotel, the location made it worth the stay. Everything is in walking distance, from Times Square to the theatre district to Saks Fifth Avenue (yep, passed the original, right on 5th). And AG was only two blocks down, very nice.

The American Girl Place was a bit of a wonderland experience for my girls. Imagine, if you will, the coolest possible gadgets or books or whatever your passion is. Imagine it crammed into four stories of shopping space, with beautiful layouts and plenty of ideas on how to use them, as well and helpful staff and other fanatics of whatever this passion is. Now, magnify it on the order of tenfold, and you might come close to the exuberance dripping from so many girls and tweens and teens running amok across the landscape of American Girls. For my six- and nine-year-old, they were in heaven.

So let's see, we did the brunch first. The girls got little table-clip-on seats for their dolls. I was quite fond of the American Girl Berry Tea myself, and the flowered decor was simply lovely. Yeah, and I wasn't the only dad their either, there are still some of us secure enough in our masculinity to do all we can with our daughters, even answer the party questions geared for girls. (I happen to be the kind of person to show up late to the big show, but my favorite color of the day indicated I was only looking for somewhere quiet to relax. Boy was I in the wrong city...)

After brunch we made our way down to the hospital, where we learned that the scuff marks on the Bitty Baby's heads are just love marks (and would otherwise require head transplants, not an option my girl's would accept) but we did get the strings on Carrie's Amanda tightened up. Next stop, the hair salon. Oh yes, you heard me right. Both the babies got a spa treatment (washed up and shined to a glow, with a ribbon tied around their head) and Katie's Jess got a new hairdo. They actually have little salon chairs there and get a lesson on doll maintenance. Who knew such things were so complicated...

Carrie got herself her first actual American Girl doll. Though we tried to interest her in one of the historical ones, she decided on one of the lookalike dolls, so we ended up with Daisy, blue-eyed and brown-haired (with highlights). Armed with their bestest buddies, the girls proceeded to the photo shoot, which I am ashamed to admit I haven't even seen the outcome for. I found myself a nice corner to sit in amongst the birthday outfits and the flowered dresses for both the Bitty Babies and for the girls (yes, all outfits have a match for their owner). Out of the way, I could rest with my burdens and not get stepped on.

By the end of the day we had time to make the late checkout (2pm), get our car packed (actually the bellhop loaded all our bags on the dolly, and then loaded up our van for us - I could really get used to that kind of service, even if I have to tip more for it) and hop on the road. This time we avoided the Holland Tunnel like the plague itself, and instead took the Lincoln Tunnel. And guess what? We were out of the city within a matter of minutes and on our way through New Jersey.

Mostly uneventful ride back, clear shot via 78/81 to home. And yes, the kitties were pissy, but very glad to see us. Tomorrow: Laundry! (Yet I shall not regale you any further with such awe-inspiring events.)

In case you lost track, you can read from the start of the vacation and work your way back again.

Boston Vacation, Day Five: You Want HOW Much For That????

So now a brief word on matters of perspective. On the ferry ride back from the Statue we talked to a very nice man who evidently lives in Jersey and was showing his friend around. He obviously goes into NY often, and regaled us with the most expensive dessert shop in NY where all the celebrities gather, and the three-hour waiting list, and how to stand in a certain line for two hours to get tickets to sold-out shows... How easy it is to take a $50/day bus tour around NY and see things...

Know what folks? I just can't do it. I can't sit there and enjoy something knowing how much of an EXCESS it costs. City life might be for some people, obviously it is otherwise there wouldn't be so freaking much of humanity here. But all I can think of is how expensive it is. Looking at the hotel room service menu, it costs $20 just for two eggs. Nothing else on the side, just two eggs. All other restaurants will charge you TWICE what the same chain (e.g. Applebees, Ruby Tuesday's, etc.) would otherwise.

I just don't see the point in it.

In any case, we're on vacation, and I intend to enjoy it without fretting about the costs. Especially when we spend tomorrow at the American Girl Store (the highlight of the trip for my daughters) which we can fortunately walk to. Praise be for that, as it's costing $50 just to park the car overnight here... but I digress, we're not thinking about the prices...

They already got off to a good start at the hotel today. We got the American Girl package, which means they have little beds made up just for their dolls, and little bathrobes for them they get to keep. I wish I got video of Carrie jumping about in glee...



And they finally got their room service tonight. Mostly because we just were not up to going out again once we found and checked into the hotel.



Brunch with the dolls at the American Girl Place is at 9:30am, followed by much shopping and pampering (hairdresser appointment, magazine cover shoots, exploring the 4-5 stories of merchandise) and a visit to the AG hospital to get their dolls fixed up. Katie's Bitty Baby is going on 7 years old now and needs a little touching up.

After that, we head home. Back to our comfy beds and a pair of (almost certainly) very pissy kitties.

Read on for the last vacation post...

Boston Vacation, Day Five: New York, New York

Sitting here in my glamorous 5-star hotel room (yes, I do highly recommend the New York Palace for those potentially traveling to this city), and listening to the drone of jackhammers at 10pm, I am reminded why there exists the nickname "The City That Never Sleeps". I'd sure like to at some point. It's been a very long day for having accomplished so little. But as internet access costs $15 a day, for only one computer at a time, I'm pirating an unsecured wireless network right now while I wait for Donna to finish loading her pics. And this is a dirt-slow connection too, but hey what do you expect for free in this city? Not much, let me tell ya...

First, driving in New York. You should have already read much of my rants on Bostonian roadways. (Side note: Why the heck do they call a roundabout a "rotary" anyways?) I have now endured the streets of New York. Am I prepared to alter my opinions of Boston? Not at all. In fact, I can readily state that I would prefer driving in New York rather than Boston. Surprised? See, in NY people drive like DC rush hour, all the time. They're pushy and ignore most traffic laws. (Except the one about no car horns - did you know there's a fine of $350 for blowing your horn in NY? :et me tell ya, it's an awfully hard law to adhere to hereabouts...)

But I can deal with that. I'm pretty good at adapting to most traffic situations and I can drive like the drivers wherever I'm at. (I got some pretty startled looks from people when they noticed my out-of-state plates... or it could have been just "What the heck is that dang redneck doing driving here?") So congestion and offensive driving I can handle. So long as I can tell where to go. Un-navigatable roads like Boston just heighten my stress level and make it unbearable. I guess I'm just more uncomfortable with not knowing where I'm going than with obnoxious drivers...

So we left the hotel in Plymouth plenty early this morning. Had to make a 1:30pm ferry to Ellis Island from the New Jersey side. Mapquest (Full Disclosure: AOL owns Mapquest. That said, I neither endorse nor vilify Mapquest in any fashion. No matter how I may desire to do the latter at times.) stated it would take 3.5 hours. But as it was routing us through downtown via 95, we gave ourselves an extra hour. And did it take the full 4.5 hours we allotted? Oh no, dear readers, it took SEVEN AND A FREAKING HALF HOURS to get there. With one badly needed bathroom break at a McDonalds in the Bronx. And not a particularly friendly part of the Bronx. I can now say I've been there, and that's all that needs said on the subject.

So, by the time we manage to get ourselves to Jersey across the Holland Tunnel (I think we spent about 45 mins alone in the Tunnel) we only had time to see the Statue and not Ellis. Donna was pretty bummed about it, but we did get some quality pics and memories from the Statue of Liberty, and it was very cool looking up inside her skirts through the glass ceiling inside.





By the way, Donna took a very nasty fall getting to the ferry ticket area, tripped over a low concrete step and landed hard, face down on the camera. She has wicked bruises right on her sternum area and a banged up knee. Fortunately though she was holding Carrie's hand, they let go of each other first. The camera was pretty scratched up but still works.

To be continued...

Boston Vacation, Day Four: Plymouth

So the plan was to get down to Plymouth and see stuff around there. Welllll.... First we stopped off at the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides" - that was a very cool tour, pretty sure I've done it before but I didn't remember much and it was all new for the girls. Then we headed to the downtown Boston market to get some knick-knacks. Paid freaking $30 for under two hours... I tell ya, I'm in the wrong business... Anyways, by the time we made it to the hotel, we were beat. It's a much nicer hotel, actual pool there and nicer beds. Brand new in fact, only opened three months ago! So we instead got over to the Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse which ended up being a fun place to eat. The waitress gave us directions, and we popped by Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower just to say we were there.

Side note: When I retire, I want to do so in Plymouth. I didn't think I could fall so completely in love with a little New England coastal town like that, but I did. OK, enough said there.

Got back to the hotel, took a swim (and a niiiice soak in the hottub) and got to bed.

And so ends day four. Spiffy, eh? Actually quite relaxing. No pics yet, we haven't downloaded the camera flash card, as you can tell we got kinda lazy towards the end of the day...

Tomorrow: New York! (God help us all...)

Boston Vacation, Day Three: Of Whales and Ducks

So yesterday we had two, and only two real objectives. A whale watching boat tour at 10am, and then a ride on the Duck boats (old WWII amphibious craft) at 4:30pm. Lots of time in between, so no worries, right? Hahahahaaaaa.....

Our first mistake, admittedly, was in following the directions from the boat tours website blindly. They never seemed to have updated it since the Big Dig (more on that later) changed everything around. So the exit they told us to get off on didn't exist anymore, and we ended up waaaaay south of the city. Called them, they said they'd put us on a later boat as they couldn't hold it. Fine, so we managed to find our way back again, to the right spot, grabbed a lunch at a very nice French bakery (I had a lovely cold-cut with Brie cheese on a baguette, which came back to haunt me the next morning... from about 4am onward... ugh...) and got our tickets. Boarded the Aurora, a double-hulled pontoon boat with three decks (two covered). Seemed like a nice, stable craft... So both Donna and Carrie got seasick (can't blame them the boat was rolling so badly) and I got a headache eventually from it all, but it was a beautiful day for being out in the bay. Way, way out in the bay. Really, past the bay and into the ocean. Did I mention it was supposed to last from noon to 3pm? Sing with me, people:

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny Ship.

The mate was a mighty sailin' man,
The Skipper brave and sure,
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour.

All together now!

A threeeee hour tour...

Yeah I got that song stuck in my head for the whole trip.


But there were whales! We saw one humpback, named "Teapot" around 1:20 or so, and other named "Baja" with her new calf around 2pm!! Very cool, got some nice pics of those tho I missed the tail fins, they were too quick for me...



The mama and baby were very playful and ran right alongside the ship for awhile. In fact, we all had such a grand time looking at the whales... that we got back to port a half-hour late. So where we were supposed to have had three and a half hours between the whale and the duck tours, we now had an hour to trek back, get the car, hop back across town... I dropped Donna off at the line and parked the car. Got back to find that our Duck had already pulled out, but they found us some room on the 5pm one. Ah, well.

It was worth the wait. Our driver, Ensign Ex (shortened from his first name of Excellent) was a trip and a half. Very entertaining.



Didn't learn much new, but he did have lots of little tidbits, and gave us a long and detailed history on the Big Dig and where all the news reports seem to be blowing this way out of proportion... Seems that the sensationalist reports of budget overruns from $3bn to $15bn are a tab inflated. Considering the $3bn is in NINETEEN EIGHTY-SEVEN DOLLARS when the project was first introduced. So yeah, that's a bit of difference. Also on a government funded project, only construction costs are estimated. Litigation and law enforcement are not, that can account for a third of total construction costs. And we also learned that the Boston roads were nonstop jammed with traffic, no exception. Roads that were created to handle 60K cars a day were handling 170K. Now it seems much better. (Ha. After my rants about the roads and drivers, I cannot imagine it before the Big Dig...)

Both Katie and Carrie got to drive the Duck on the river, that was a lot of fun as well...




So we finished up our tour, made our way back to where we originally parked for our whale watching trip and ate at the Barking Crab. With a name like that, ya gotta eat there at least once... Had me some awesome black bean and crab soup, and a Lobster Roll. (Lahbstah?) Sat outside on a covered deck with good music, my family around me and eating some damn fine seafood, sipping on a Twisted Tea (a hard tea, got the Peach, very nice). I think that was my best memory of Boston right there, even after the day we had.

So, the next morning we check out and head to Plymouth (changed our reservations so we could spend a little time in Cape Cod and Plymouth). But that's for another tale...

Boston Vacation, Day Three: Bostonian Drivers Redux

Somehow I managed to drop off to sleep early last night, so I'm now a day behind in my blogging. Not that anyone's glued to the screen, gleefully anticipating my prose.

So, in reward to your infinite patience, you get to hear me rant about the roads of Boston again. Yeehaw!

Here's something people may notice when they drive through the city - lanes merge without warning. I'll be driving along, and all of the sudden the lane divides will disappear (like I wrote about earlier) but the lane will start to shrink! It's like we're stuck in a bad sci-fi movie, "The Incredible Shrinking Highway!" Other cars, naturally, know this is going to happen and they start to move into each other. Yes, Bostonian drivers have this unique ability to move into a space fully cognizant of another person there but fully expecting them to move. And if you don't move, you will be hit. Period. Unlike in DC, where if you merge and someone is there, blaring of horns ensue and somebody backs off. Not in Boston, oh no, whoever is doing the merging somehow mysteriously obtains the right-of-way from the powers-that-be.

Queen said it best: "Get me out of this cheap B movie!"

And can the city not figure out how to label their streets at all? Did I already rant about this? Well too bad, 'cause here we go again... Looking at the map we should be on one road, but if we see a sign at all it's for a different name, and you're lucky to even get that. Should a historical city such as this not have some clear marking for tourists to get around with any shred of decency? Could there be a more tourist-unfriendly driving city around? (Note: As I have yet to endure the streets of New York, I may revise that statement tomorrow...) Donna is of the opinion that Bostonians are all descended from mind-readers. Since one tour guide said that the streets of Boston are virtually unchanged in the past 100 years or so, I'm of the opinion that Bostonians all have it ingrained where everything is, and they just expect everyone else to as well.

Sigh.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog...