The Raging Tech

Lock Down Your Good Name & Credit

You’ve all seen the commercials on TV where the president of the lifelock company has his real social security number plastered all over the side of a semi truck riding around town, right? Supposedly this company claims their service is so good that they’re willing to risk a $1 million guarantee that no one will steal your identity.

What you may or may not have gotten from the commercial is that Life Lock will not only protect your identity, but it will also significantly reduce the amount of junk mail you get in your mailbox, reduce the number of credit card offers you get in the mail, and they will pro-actively try to protect you from identity theft.

The coolest part is, and I didn’t even know this, it’s only $10 a month. In this day and age, someone with the right amount of social engineering skills could sneak private information like your Social Security Number, address, date of birth, etc. and then pretend to be you until they had enough information to steal your identity and ruin your credit or even get you in trouble with the law.

Ubuntu Linux “Hardy Heron” Released Today

Some of you may read that headline and say “Well whoop-de-crap.” For those of you who have either never tried linux because you were afraid it was too difficult, or for those of you who had hang-ups from a previous attempt to run linux, Ubuntu is the distribution that just might one day make a significant dent in the desktop market.

As an IT professional, I can say most major vendors and ISPs will not give you any help or tech support when it comes to using their product or service. However, there is a huge community out there that will help you try and figure out anything and everything you’d ever want to do with Linux.

Those of you who are thoroughly confused as to what I’m talking about right now, check out this Wikipedia article on Linux.

I’ve been an off-again on-again Linux user for about 10 years now. My experiences have ranged from “totally awesome, makes me feel like an ubergeek” to “That’s it! I give up. I’m going back to Windows.” But the last experience I had was with Ubuntu, and it completely changed my views on Linux not being for beginners.

You can pretty much do all the same things you do in Windows in Ubuntu Linux. It’s one of the most user-friendly, company-supported free operating systems out there. If you’ve got an extra computer lying around, or you’re comfortable with terms like “dual boot” or “virtual machine,” then give it a shot. Otherwise, make sure all your files are backed up and you’re okay with wiping out your Windows partition.

Ubuntu even has a friendly Windows-based installer that can help you all the way through to the Linux Desktop. Download Ubuntu Linux 8.04 LTS (Long Term Support) “Hardy Heron” at Canonical’s web site.

Do Auto Service Like a Pro Mechanic

I know a lot of guys that are either really into car maintenance and service, or at least wish they were. It’s something manly I think to be able to work on your car for most small things - it saves money and you don’t have to feel sheepish or like you’re getting screwed at the mechanic.

It also feels perfectly acceptable if you’re not a skilled mechanic to take your car in for larger repairs or difficult and time-consuming maintenance. And ladies, it’s also perfectly not unladylike to know how to work on your cars. In fact, it’s kind of impressive to me!

If you’re serious about your car maintenance and repair, you can have the same tools and products that mechanics use in the shop at your home garage. Lane’s Auto Care products and Professional Car Care sells only top-quality covers, cleaners, brushes, car wax and other maintenance and care products.

The products Lane’s carries are high-quality, concentrated industrial strength cleaners, which should get out any tough stain or grime in your vehicle. With the right set of detailing tools and supplies, you should be able to restore your car back to it’s factory sparkle. (It does not, unfortunately, remove dents and dings and cover up scratches, but you’ll at least have a sparkly dented car!)

Tired, Sleepy, LOLCat-y.

I’m not sure why I’m so tired, but I do know that I went through half the night in a very light state of sleep. I woke up around 3am and the TV and light were still on. I went and shut those off and I slept slightly better for the next 4 hours before I had to get up.

Also, this morning I’m with one other person on the phones at the help desk, and they and I both keep running into calls that last 25-30 minutes each. It’s really crazy. I’m hungry - I want to go to lunch in like the next fifteen minutes but we just don’t have any coverage right now.

Here’s a LOLCat to brighten up your day:

see more crazy cat pics

D & D Tip: Take a Photo of Your Party & Clean Up

I am not currently involved in a Dungeons & Dragons (D & D) game, as we have only been able to meet about 4 times this year, and the game I was Dungeon Master (DM) for was put on hiatus so that I could focus on other things, and maybe get more regular attendees.

However, one thing I found particularly useful was my cell phone’s digital camera feature. I would take my cardboard tiles that have landscape printed on them and lay them out to create a place for the miniatures to fight creatures, when I was planning for a gaming session. The problem was trying to remember where to put everything later.

I started taking pictures of my layouts while planning. Especially if the landscape needed to change and I had to re-use some of the pieces, I’d need to take photos of each stage of the landscape. This came incredibly handy, because I didn’t have to pull it up on my laptop where the players might see things and spoil the fun. I’d just pull out my cell phone and take a look at my photos there and have things laid out exactly as I wanted.

This isn’t just handy for planning - you can also photograph exactly which squares your player’s miniature figures are in during a battle that has to pause because you’ve run out of time to play for that session. That makes it easy to break down and clean-up, and then set it all back up exactly as-is for the next session’s continuation of that same battle.

I know this isn’t an original idea; I’ve heard of guys using Polaroids and other such tricks to keep their setups from session to session. This is easy and convenient, and I hope any of you still playing D & D find this tip useful.

For more tips that are practical and useful, check out MyThings.com.

Free Nine Inch Nails MP3 Download “Discipline”

So, maybe not all of you are Nine Inch Nails fans - but maybe you have an eclectic musical taste like me. If so, take a minute and visit the Nine Inch Nails download site to get your free mp3 of their new single “Discipline” - just put in your name and e-mail address and you should be able to download it straight away.

Post your thoughts in the comments. A Google search for “free NIN download” should get you some other fun results, as Trent Reznor has released an entire instrumental album free of download, with the expectation that people will pay for the higher quality editions and special collector’s editions.

Attention Raging Tech Shoppers

I know a lot of my readers are other bloggers, and we bloggers like to find the simplest and smartest ways to do anything. We love deals, coupons, specials, and promotions. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s good and what’s bad, what’s hot and what’s not.

So when I tell you serious bargain hunters out there this is a good resource, I mean it. If you’ve ever been outlet shopping before, you know you can get good brand name products at significantly reduced prices. But if you’re like me, you have no idea where to find outlet stores or factory outlet malls if you don’t happen to live right by one.

That’s where eFactoryOutlets comes in. You simply plug in your address or browse by category, and it can tell you where to find outlet stores that interest you, and how far away you’ll have to drive to get to them. Some of the deepest discounts can be found shopping this way.

It’s important to note that this web site is not an online store - it’s merely a locater tool to find brick-and-mortar stores near you.