{"id":4071,"date":"2010-09-30T09:09:50","date_gmt":"2010-09-30T13:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=4071"},"modified":"2010-09-30T09:39:47","modified_gmt":"2010-09-30T13:39:47","slug":"the-dumbest-thing-ive-done-in-years-worse-i-dont-know-how-i-did-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=4071","title":{"rendered":"The dumbest thing I’ve done in years. Worse, I don’t know how I did it."},"content":{"rendered":"

My computer caught a virus.\u00a0 I tried to fix it. I spent hours into this morning’s wee hours. I thought I was\u00a0 super-smart. I was dumber than a bag of hammers. My rescue mission made things worse.<\/p>\n

The only good news is that you, my indulgent readers,\u00a0 get three valuable lessons (albeit at my expense).<\/p>\n

First, any Windows machine can catch a virus at any time. Mine was running anti-virus software. I didn’t visit a dubious web site. I didn’t open a dubious email attachment. I think I\u00a0 caught the virus when I opened an email from HP. the email affirmed I’d just bought some software — namely Delorme’s Street Atlas 2011. Never in my wildest dreams would I expect Hewlett-Packard, a reputable computer company,\u00a0 to give me a deadly virus.<\/p>\n

Second, no matter how sophisticated your software (and your brain) you may never be able to to repair your computer. When infected, that hard disk is gone, finished, kaput. Mine is gone, bye bye. I’ll clone it clean. See below.<\/p>\n

Third, you’d better have a backup strategy that works. Otherwise you’ll spend thousands on hard drive recovery services, which charge more than audiologists.<\/p>\n

Here goes with a Backup Strategy. <\/strong>It’s three -pronged:<\/p>\n

+ Prong A.<\/strong> Keep your anti-virus software up to date with the latest definitions. That means checking in every couple of days. Any of the leading anti-virus softwares will work — so long as you keep them up-to-date.<\/p>\n

+ Prong B — Daily backups of working files.<\/strong> Everything I work on is stored in a folder called c:\\AllHarry. <\/strong>I use software called FileSync<\/strong><\/a>. Once or twice a day I copy new or changed files from my hard drive to an external Apricorn hard drive — see on the right. I did not lose any working files. Just lots of sleep.<\/p>\n

+ Prong C — regular clones of your working drive. <\/strong>Buy two drives identical to the one that’s in your laptop and clone your working drive. When you catch a virus, you simply pop the cloned drive into your machine, clone your drive, then copy your working files over. Bingo, you’re back in business.\u00a0 Never try to repair an infected drive. Never keep working on an infected drive. When you’ve cloned, you get all your software — installed the way you like. This saves huge times. Apricorn’s drives come with free cloning software. <\/strong>I also like Acronis True Image Home Edition. I use it to make a linux CD which contains the cloning software. <\/strong>Put the new drive inside your PC and the old drive outside your PC, most likely using USB.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Easiest solution:<\/strong> Buy a Mac. Apple’s computers don’t get viruses.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thinking about the economy. <\/strong>Companies are doing fine. People are not. Many don’t have a job. Regular unemployment government stats make fodder for reporters and fear for some investors. Hence, gold and silver rise. But so do many stocks. The trend is your friend, for now. <\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wall Street — The Movie reviewed.<\/span><\/strong> Michael Douglas is superb. The movie is not gripping, but it tells the story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the dialog is hard to hear. Sit up front.<\/p>\n

The worst salesmen\/scammers: <\/strong>Not in any order.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Used Car Salesmen.
\n2.\u00a0 Funeral Home Directors.
\n3.\u00a0 Mattress Salesmen (buy online from Walmart)
\n4.\u00a0 Audiologists.<\/p>\n

World’s lightest bike. <\/strong>From reporter<\/span> <\/strong><\/span>Kraig Becker:<\/p>\n

Last weekend the 2010 Interbike Expo was held in Las Vegas. Each year the show highlights all the latest innovations and updates in the biking industry, with major players, such as Trek and Specialized, showing off their latest models. But this year, it was a little known company called Fair Wheel Bikes, based out of Tuscon, Arizona, that made the headlines by introducing an incredibly lightweight, but incredibly expensive, bike.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The new prototype features ten speeds, both front and rear brakes, a carbon fiber frame, and titanium spokes. When fully assembled, the unit weighs in at a mere six pounds, which makes it the lightest bike ever built, but it just might come with the heftiest price tag. Fair Wheel has spent $45,000 building this particular model, and while it isn’t available to purchase yet, they hope to move it into production in the future.<\/p>\n

As a point of reference, the bikes that are ridden at the Tour de France weigh in at roughly 15 pounds, which is the minimum accepted weight by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body of professional cycling. This new design from Fair Wheel weighs in at less than half of that, and yet the company says that it remains durable and tough. The company has logged more than 20,000 miles on the prototype, testing its strength, and its still going strong.<\/p>\n

My incredibly light Dahon Mu-SL — the lightest they make — weighs in at around 22 lbs. That includes pedals, lights and a mirror. I love my folding Dahon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Suggested retail — $1,499.<\/p>\n

Should A Child Witness Childbirth?<\/strong><\/span> Here’s your answer.<\/p>\n

Due to a power outage, only one paramedic responded to the call. The house was very dark so the paramedic asked Kathleen, a 3-yr old girl to hold a flashlight high over her mommy so he could see while he helped deliver the baby.<\/p>\n

Very diligently, Kathleen did as she was asked. Heidi pushed and pushed and after a little while, Connor was born. The paramedic lifted him by his little feet and spanked him on his bottom. Connor began to cry. The paramedic then thanked Kathleen for her help and asked the wide- eyed 3-yr old what she thought about what she had just witnessed.<\/p>\n

Kathleen quickly responded, ‘He shouldn’t have crawled in there in the first place……..spank his ass again!’<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n

Harry Newton who’s proud he didn’t lose any material. But he wonders at the wrath of God. Last week was my best this year.\u00a0 Two unexpected private equity fund payouts coupled with gold’s rise meant last week’s net worth statement was up big. God has his little ways to keep the size of my head manageable and my sleep to a limit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My computer caught a virus.\u00a0 I tried to fix it. I spent hours into this morning’s wee hours. I thought I was\u00a0 super-smart. I was dumber than a bag of hammers. My rescue mission made things worse. The only good news is that you, my indulgent readers,\u00a0 get three valuable lessons (albeit at my expense). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}