Running Windows Services on Demand

If you happen to take a look at the Task Manager of a common Windows box you'll see tons of crap running, even before any useful programs are started.  Malware aside, what the hell is all this junk?

Indispensable Software

Below is a list of some of the best free and open source software available.  Software that has become indispensable in professional life.  I've chosen those that are cross-platform; learn them well, and you can use them on every PC (w/ Win/Mac/Lin) you come across.

For students, these are an amazing set of resources and tools to learn, use, experiment on, hack, disassemble, and contribute to.  Anyone with determination can be come an expert in any of the areas below and many, many more.  It's sure a great time to be a geek.

Why, back in my day, free(dom) software was almost unknown and there were no tools that made experimentation and research as straightforward as today.  ((shakes cane))

Why I don't allow Internet Explorer to run on any of my machines

In this our first article on Security, I thought it would be a good idea to help readers close the biggest vector (direction of vulnerability) through which they can be attacked by malware.

What I am referring to of course is the Internet Explorer (IE) browser, which is installed on every Windows machine.

"Using IE is like driving a car without brakes."
—ator1940 on zdnet.uk

Looking at the issue a bit more objectively, we see IE's problems are three-fold, partly of its own making, partly because of its popularity, and partly the fault of Windows itself.

XMas '09 - A Great Time to Be a Geek

As the end of the year approaches I've been thinking about what a great time it is to be a geek.  I can't remember another time when there were so many professional, modern operating systems to choose from.

Since I unfortunately don't have time to personally review all of these great choices at the quality I'd like, (or greater than has already been done), I'll link to the best ones I've found below.