Ground Zero / lookat desktop magazine

Ground Zero
___________________is the bottom line.

last edited on: Friday, October 14, 2005, 12:28 PM, Central Daylight Savings Time

Software is first called freeware and is available for free download and unlimited free use.

Entry 001
Ground Zero
Friday, April 1, 2005, 4:01 PM Central Daylight Savings Time

Then, the same software is bought by a different company, or pirated or copy cat re-engineered and then produced solely as shareware and allows you to download for free and use for a limited period of time and not be charged for that temporary use but later you are forced to either delete it from your computer or pay around 29.00 or greater for permanent use of the fully functional version of that program that may or may not have provided you full functionality in the initial trial period or for that matter, you may not get the benefit of full functionality or original program integrity when you pay the money to get the complete program!

I also thought about those Verbatim CD-R discs in the SAM's club store and they sold in a pack of about 80 or so.

They were in 4 different color groups of thin plastic jewel cases, each disk had it's own thin color plastic jewel case.

The thing is, I went to SAM's club a few days ago to buy another large pack of 80 Verbatim CD-R discs but the Verbatim brand sold only in 25 to a pack or 50 to a pack and at a much higher price. To get 80 just as before there was an identical pack of 80 CD-R discs in the 4 color thin plastic jewel cases packed in the exact same way as the Verbatims were in the past only this package was marked with the brand name:
MAXELL.

Why is that? Do these CD-Rs and CD-RWs get created in a giant manufacturing plant owned by a third party company and get different labels put on them depending on who bought theirs? Maybe Verbatim bought several million of them and shipped them on the West coast with the Verbatim name on them and maybe MAXELL bought several million more cases and had their MAXELL labels put on them, probably from the same print shop, probably at the very factory from which they were packed and shipped from and they go to the Midwest and so forth.

I know that Ibuprofen or Ibuprofen is also called: Motrin IB. Well, there are several instances that I can remember with this as an example: I went to Kroger and saw on the shelf Robotussin DM cough syrup for approx. $5.99 a bottle and right next to it was a generic brand maybe it was called something like this: Tussin DM, at approx. $2.99 a bottle of the approx. same size. About the exact ingredients are in both of these brands of the same type of cough syrup setting side by side and they cost 3.00 more or less than the other.

The thing is, also in computing, I remember seeing Spybot, search and destroy, freeware, free download and unlimited individual use, so I had already downloaded a program that was also a spy killer and such that was a shareware that worked for a limited time before you buy it for full use and after I found Spybot later on and used it, it detected the other program and it told me that it was a copyright infringement and should be removed from my computer in the the shareware anti-spyware program was using components from the Spybot program code that was an indication that Spybot was the originator of this code and that another program was using Spybot's code illegally. THis alarmed me.

It led me to think that many softwares out there are the original and many others are copy cats of them, bootlegged and sold illegally.

How can you really tell if you are downloading the original?
How can you really tell if the program you buy in a retail store that you trust is a copy of the original or the real thing?

You figure if you go to most retailers and you buy Windows it will be the actual original made and sold by the owner of Microsoft Corporation as the real thing. You don't even bother to wander that. The same thing holds true about boot leg DVDs and CDs that are sold on street corners and in front of stores in Dallas. You figure they are the original right.
Well I have my doubts now.

Back to stores. You know that every grocery store has their own generic brand and it sets usually right next to the national brand of the same product. There is usually a reason why one national label product sells for 2 dollars more than the generic. The taste test will tell you what is the best buy for the money but that requires that you do some detective work for yourself.

You have to buy both brands, take them home and record which is the best tasting brand and has the longest shelf life. If you learn that brand A, the store brand actually tastes better, then it is probably the best for your money, but if you notice that both brands of say: crackers are just the same in taste and crunch and shelf life for freshness, figure that they are exactly the same, but with different labels on the box.

I know for a fact that many national brands are better, not because commercials say so, but by my own taste buds.

But, many times you can buy fresh meat and cheese and bread from a major grocery store and it is absolutely the best tasting thing you ever had, better than the generic or the national brand that is setting over there on the shelf or on a peg. The thing I learned is that fresh is always best. Crackers are another thing. If you intend to eat a cracker buy Nabisco of Sunshine brand or Keebler. They never let you down.

As far as programs, If you download a program that causes other programs to malfunction, delete it immediately and dump windows temp files fast, run your anti-virus program and let it make sure it is virus free, then check for spyware and finally, restart the computer while system restore is disabled. Restart the computer, then go back to system restore and re-enable it and restart the computer one more time. Run Norton Win Doctor if you have it and make sure there are no dead short cuts and no active-X things hanging around that need to go. IF the system is okay after all that, you need to remember not to download that stupid program ever again.

I have had no problem with the following programs I have downloaded in the past that were either freeware or shareware:

Winzip

Netscape 7.2 Communicator with Netscape Navigator and Netscape Composer *Netscape Gecko

SETI@home client

MSN Messenger *Microsoft

Mozilla Suite (with browser and composer and email)

ScreenHunter 4.0 Free (a free screen capture program)

Thunderbird (email) *Mozilla

Firefox internet browser *Mozilla

WINAMP media player

RealPlayer *Real

QuickTime Player *Apple

Windows Media Player *Microsoft

Netscape Navigator 8.0 BETA

Copernic Agent Basic

Maxthon browser

Opera 8 Beta Browser (with ads included)

Notepad plus (text and html editor for windows)

Earthcam TV Broadcaster (for on line web cam and chat)

Spybot Search & Destroy

Adobe Reader 6.0

3-D Fotocube Screensaver

WeatherBug

SndAssn Sound Association (lets you customize/change your windows event sounds settings)

ReadPlease FREE

ReadPlease 2000

Real One Arcade

DFX for windows media player

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This is one of my favorites, but it may very well be shareware:

Jigsaws Galore (gigalo.exe) It takes images from your computer and allows you to make puzzles out of them and even lets you decide how simple or complicated your puzzle will be and it scores your progress after you have completed it. comes also with nice music to listen to while you work your puzzle.

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Remember, when it says free download it doesn't necessarily mean: freeware. It could be shareware that is a free download, or it could be freeware with a free download or even a trial version of the full software that is a free download as in the case of Corel/Jasc Paint Shop Pro.

The try before you buy software that will not allow you to use more than once if you keep it after the trial period ends, even if you delete it from your computer> you can reinstall it after deleting it but the program can tell if it has been used. It will then not allow you to use it for another 30 days or what ever length was set for the initial trial period. Pretty smart for a software isn't it?
Yep.

*note: any of the above software although free today may not be forever. One day these programs may be bought and placed on the market as shareware or retail or may just disappear from the internet never to be seen from again.

Entry 002
Ground Zero
Monday, May 30, 2005, 6:33 PM Central Daylight Savings Time

I recently had the misfortune to get a food borne bacteria either from under cooked eggs or drinking bottled water that didn't contain any chlorine. I suffered a night of bloating, stomach cramping and cold chills. Then after several hours in spite of several hot baths the only thing that seemed to relieve the symptoms was upchucking several times. Now I know this is a sensitive subject to many but the fact that according to statistics food poisoning in the United States is estimated to be a staggering 80 million people a year, according to the CDC aka Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The most common causes of food borne diseases are 3 categories: bacteria, viruses and parasites.

The thing that probably caused my 24 hour bug is known as Salmonella spp. which is referred to as causing the following type of disease called: Salmonellosis, a toxic level of the Salmonella Gram-negative bacterium and usually cases the following symptoms:

fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping, nausea, and vomiting.

I had one other symptom, bloating. And I mean to tell you, I pray it will be a very long time before I get this type of thing ever again. In spite of all my efforts to keep the house clean and germ free I got sick!

It comes down to the possibility that maybe I forgot to properly wash my hands at some time in the past few days. Maybe it's because the water heater doesn't make the water hot enough to sanitize the dishes. I did run a thermometer under the faucet recently and it measured to be 130 degrees FHT. Maybe I merely had a case of bad luck. If I didn't forget to wash my hands, or if my water tank does keep the water hot enough to scald all those dishes beyond perfection, there are innumerable forms of bacteria that can potentially make you sick. Like ordinary bottled water.

How often I drink water from an Ozarka bottle that ends up getting warm before I've finished. I place it right back into the refrigerator, to get cold for later, but I read recently that bottled water doesn't contain chlorine and therefore it may be breeding ground for bacterium. Who'd of Thunk it?

And for that matter I like to fry eggs, but over easy. Maybe I didn't quite cook my eggs the other day enough. But that makes you ponder the following:

The eggs you buy in the store, whether organically raised on a privately run farm in a rural community or run of the mill mass produced in artificial light at a corporate hatchery, they all potentially contain the Salmonella spp. Why don't someone look into that? You must never eat uncooked eggs? Get real, what about all those raw eggs going into eggnog at Christmas, or home cooked hollandaise sauce or licking the spoon after whipping up meringue or cake mix and some icings. From that point on you can conjure up many instances of when you were at risk from eating some form of un cooked at risk for Salmonella spp. eggs!

As far as water is concerned. The bottom line is we have to drink water and it costs enough to pay the water bill when more than that is being paid for each month in the water bill, like sanitation and stuff like that there. The bottle of water you drink should be drank in one single setting. You need to drink up and then toss the bottle in the trash.
Never reuse a water bottle, even if you use scalding hot tap water to rinse it out first.
The idea of drinking germs from a bottle of water that has perhaps set out all day and all night and then re-chilled in the refrigerator sounds pretty desperate and I have been.
I always felt like it was a waste of money to buy a bottle of water, starting at a dollar for 24 ounces or up to seven dollars a bottle then taking a few sips and discarding the rest after that.

We live in a very wasteful society. We need to save our money and at least buy a few cases of Ozarka spring water and then drink the entire bottle in any given hour and if you don't like using ice cubes to chill it just half way chill it in the freezer. I find that if you place a 24 ounce plastic bottle of Ozarka or any type of bottled water in the freezer at my home I can indeed enjoy a very cold and refreshing drink in about 2 hours.

That will last me a long time because very very cold water takes a long time to reach room temperature.

The idea about eggs making you sick. It don't make sense that eggs themselves are bad, but it sounds like the eggs that give you Sour Vanilla just for eating them soft boiled or over easy or in a glass mixed with Louisiana hot sauce as a morning pick me up should not be a concern. It sounds to me like the eggs that give sickness have to be just plain bad eggs from wherever they came from. Nobody will testify to that fact. They just say, big deal you had a 24 hour bug. Everybody gets a 24 hour bug. But the bottom line is, I may have to give up eggs period and only drink tap water from now on. Better safe than sorry. The number of other types of contaminants that can promote Salmonella spp.
are as follows:

Chicken and eggs of course.
Milk and dairy items
Raw meats, fish and shrimp.
Peanut butter

I guess It is safe to say to avoid beef tartar!
Milk that is un pasteurized but we pasteurize all the milk we sell right? or is that an issue?
Fish is great if you cook it. Sushi is not safe to consume unless you have a death wish.
Peanut butter. Who'd of thunk it? I imagine peanut butter should be refrigerated after you open it. Okay. but taking a PB&J to work or school can't be cause for concern can it?

What a thing. The germ a phoebe in me wants to think that it's not so much the food but what can happen to the food once it's been exposed or contaminated by a virus or bacteria or parasite.

You don't have to be a genius to conclude that food is dangerous!

When food poisoning takes place in public restaurants and in our homes from such things as salads or luke warm foods that should be piping hot it's a real issue but, when you open up a fresh pack of hot dogs and cook them and later that night get all the symptoms I've indicated earlier on this page, the bottom line is, the food got bad from the place of origin, the store, the factory, the fast food eatery and so on!

You probably know as much about this subject as I do so I wont go on with it but maybe later I'll discover that chocolate bars are unfit for human consumption because they contain almonds and therefore maggots. This isn't fair I tell ya. The media and the library books on stuff like this tell it better than I can. It's a real scary movie in real time if you get my drift.

later!