A Nightmare in 51 Syllables

Just breathe in, breathe out.

She tried until she could not,

Then peacefully stopped.

~

Fifteen compressions

For each time our lips were pressed,

Cried the kiss of life.

~

So cold, my Annie.

Tried to warm you with my breath

Changed to kiss of death.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

Firefox Is Back And I'm Gonna Have A Party!

Some things make me quite cranky and obsessive, indeed. One of those things happened on Monday. Somehow, I lost Firefox. The browser would load and display itself but would not connect to the Internet. Sometimes, like its owner, this computer becomes a little unstable and ... just does unexpected things. I would say I had no idea what caused this malfunction, but I really had about 20.

The first idea on my list was that Comcast might have done something "funny." Its toolbar will only install on IE7, so that's where I started. I switched to IE7 and was again in contact with the world, albeit at what seemed like a snail's pace. OK. I knew the computer could access the web sometimes. My next thought was that I had installed and removed several minor programs, any of which could conceivably have caused a problem. I also had done both a disk defrag and a registry defrag with software which came from a very reputable company, but I had no idea where the little 1's and 0's might have been placed. I did a sys restore to no effect other than moving a few icons on the desktop. I deleted several apps to DOD standards (seven overwrites of the data), but the problem remained. I ran every security program I have (at least 10) from rootkit searches to anti-virus scans to ad removers and spyware scans. I found nothing that I didn't already know was present. Even the low risk items were then quarantined or deleted, however. Still no Firefox.

At that point I decided to be tricky and try something different. I disconnected the cable service and plugged into dial-up. Everything else worked, but still no Firefox. Drat! There went my theories about the cable provider changing something. Somewhere during all this poking of keys and rebooting, I fell asleep. That was just as well, because I probably would have just continued to poke at things until I killed the computer. When I awoke, somewhat refreshed but crabby from a dream I had (which will be my next post,) I went back to work on the problem. I was at the point of downloading Opera or Safari to see if they would work, but I didn't want to do anything traumatic to the HP.

Trying to find Firefox help while using IE7 didn't work so well, and using what help Firefox could provide without being connected to the net was relative useless. It explained clearly what the acronym "URL" stood for and explained what the proxy - client relationship is. That is when I began semi-randomly poking keys and header tools. It is also when I solved the problem. I truly hate to admit how simple the solution was, once I stumbled upon it. It seemed reasonable to use the Firefox "tools" that were available. When I got down the list of options to "options," a screen opened with many, well ... options. I made my way through them until I hit upon "advanced options, network, connection." I proceeded to take the ultimate risk and poked "advanced network connection settings." Nothing blew up and I was given four choices. Although I felt that I was tempting fate to switch from the current setting to "Auto-detect proxy settings for this network," I did it. Firefox came online immediately.

I still have no idea what caused the problem to begin with, but I was absolutely thrilled to have solved the problem all by myself. This elation lasted just long enough for me to figure out that anyone who actually knew what they were doing would likely have tried this as a first or second choice in resolving the situation. I believe it was then that I uncovered another of those inconvenient, but basic truths of life. It is extremely difficult to feel elated and incompetent at the same time.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

Firefox 3, beta 4 is available for free download, but I'm not quite recovered enough from this trauma to install it yet. Another portable version of Firefox 3, beta 4 is available as a free download with the feature of being able to install it on your USB thumb drive and test it without affecting the operation of your current version of Firefox 2, whatever version. That isn't my usual quote, but is likely to prove much more valuable to those who are interested. I might actually attempt that, as it has been downloaded and the installation icon is just sitting there on the desktop mocking me.

Eureka! A Server Mystery Has Been Solved!

Have you ever had a small mystery that nagged at you over time. The event only occurs in one circumstance, but you couldn't quite put the pieces together to get that "Aha!" finality? It is the kind of recurring puzzle that is of no real consequence to anyone, but it bugs the bejesus out of you that you can't find the answer. I am relatively certain that I am the only person on earth who would choose to be bothered by this particular mystery, but I did. In all likelihood it was not "solved" sooner because only a few other people in the world would have cared and they already knew the "answer." They made the puzzle. To an obsessive and inquisitive shrink, however, this became a "thing!"

I host a website with what used to be known as Microsoft's bCentral. At one point last March I had nothing better to blog about so I simply listed the names of the mail servers then in use for the email accounts on the site. I assumed that they had to be given some designation so that the rest of the network would recognize them, but the names were seemingly random and were probably assigned by whatever IT person installed and maintained them. I noted what they were, but gave no real thought to a pattern being there, as the names appeared whimsical and individual. They were:

freddie
io
monty
nudel
onyx
sparky
squeaky
sylvia

Since Microsoft outsourced its web hosting services to Concentric however, the names changed and became much more numerous. The more I saw, the harder I tried to find a pattern to their names. Some sounded like defenders of the realm, some seemed almost loving, some had an attitude, some seemed threatening, and I couldn't even pronounce one. Different subsets and arrangements were tried until one server name that I had not encountered before appeared. Click!! The names are listed below, along with a link to a list of which they are a subset:

adamant
albion
ardent
audacious
brilliant
dauntless
defiance
desperate
diligence
excellent
exertion
fervent
formidable
fortitude
hood
impregnable
indefatigable
indignant
inflexible
insolent
intrepid
invincible
iphigenia
irresistible
isis
nimble
resolution
retribution
safeguard
sentinel
strenuous
superb
tremendous
triumph
unicorn
vigilant
zealous

If you found the "giveaway" name, the derivation of the names won't come as too much of a surprise. If you didn't, it may. Give it a moment's thought before you click this link. I have to pull you into my obsession for at least a few seconds. There were four discrepancies from the list at that link, all of which I finally verified despite a slight difference in the spelling of one name, the fact that two were simply missing on that link, and that "safeguard" was included as something of a technicality.

*sigh*

I can find some of the most irrelevant things in the world to become enthralled with when I'm avoiding moving a huge bookcase. 'Twas a turrible fight, but the dreaded bookcase has now been moved.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Procrastination" - Kurtis Karr