For my own reference

http://www.ebcym.com/laptop/laptop.html

Flash-drive Foibles

I know a few of you are regular USB disk users and that at least one of you are in the market for one. I thus feel that it is my duty to warn you of a most unpleasant detail that has recently come to my attention.

Flash drives (or pen drives, jump drives, thumb drives, etc.) are now being bundled with spyware.

Yep, you read that right. Not only that, it's a really nasty crapware bundle that is really nastily hard to get rid of.

The software is called "U3" and a drive will be labeled as "U3 Smart" as they naturally pay off the manufacturers to include the software and spin it as a feature. What's worse is that there is NO WAY to get this crap off of the drive short of using a U3-developed utility to reflash the drive firmware.

Basically what happens is that the USB disk is equipped with firmware that splits it into two pseudo-partitions. One is the primary storage partition which equals roughly the advertised space minus about 60MB (considerable when you realize that USB disks are usually used for smaller files) and the other is a CDFS-formatted partition that acts like a virtual CD-ROM and launches U3's proprietary "LaunchPad" software.

Naturally the first thing I tried was just deleting the files, as is usually sufficient for "value-added" scumware shipped with various electronic gizmos. When that didn't work, I tried formatting. No dice.

Repartitioning with Windows NT Disk Management, FDISK, Mac OS X Disk Utility, and even QTParted on my Ubuntu box all yielded no results. The only way to clean the U3 crap and turn my flash drive into a plain-Jane storage device was to use a Windows-only firmware reflash utility that exorcises the U3 demons. Of course, it only does this after about 3 click-thru "warnings" about how wonderful U3 is and why you should never remove it and how the cute little bunny gets it if you do.

So yeah, long story short, examine packaging very closely if you want to buy a flash drive in the near future, and avoid the models listed here:

http://www.u3.com/smartdrives/

If you do somehow get nailed with this crap, go here and download the reflash utility to clean your USB disk and get your 60MB back.

And if, for whatever reason, you get a U3 drive and want to keep U3... I think you're nuts, but I guess you have your reasons. Whatever, dude.

I'm alive.

I'm still alive, scout's honour.

Wait, scouts have honour? This is news to me.

(To all of you BSAers out there...aw, who'm I shitting, I'm not sorry. And stop sharing an acronym with these fascist cocksuckers.)

In case you hadn't figured out yet, I'm also still the same old me.

So two months go by and what happens in the life of Aidan?

Well, lots, but little you'll likely care about.

Holidays were good, I got a mountain of sci-fi books and various sundry caffeinated drinks in the form of miniature bags of coffee and an assortment of teas.

Among the reading material were a number of works by Gaiman and Stephenson to whom, were their first names spelt alike, I would lovingly refer as "The Ne(a|i)ls." Alas, their names are spelt differently, and this vexes me. I find it vexing. Vexatious. Vexsome even. I know it isn't--shut up.

I've been working more on Apotheosis, work which currently consists chiefly of scrawled notes and stream-of-consciousness let's-get-this-shit-down-on-paper-before-I-Alzheimer-it-into-oblivion upchucking of notions, fancies and musings into a small, black and rather unremarkable notebook I picked up from the art store on...State and Jackson, I think.

The new job has been progressing nicely. I really don't want to write too much about it for fear of hexing it, but it's a thousand times better than the library could ever dream of being in just about every conceivable way. And to think I was once berated for ragging on Microsoft in the office. You oughta hear these guys. It's like George Carlin meets Dennis Miller meets Richard Stallman. Then you put them all in a blender and watch the result crank out some COBOL code. Comedians + Coders: Will It Blend?

In other news I hear the RIAA is suing AllOfMP3.com. This is priceless. We now have the most hated organization in the US going head to head with...drum roll, please...the Russian Mafia. Popcorn, anyone?

Okay, enough worldliness and awareness of socio-political and/or commercial goings-on, let's get back to the part where I talk about myself like the egocentric sonuvabitch I am.

Spent New Year's weekend with Journey, who has just returned from her trip to California. We watched probably 24 hours worth of the X-Files, talked science, talked school, talked nonsense, talked everything. Did dinner at Chicago Pizza on Saturday (Her idea, no less. Remind me to find the cynical bastard who said perfect love doesn't exist and shit-beat him within an inch of his...oh, wait, that was me. Crap.) and walked around Lincoln Park for awhile. Sunday we opted to stay home as crowds would be lunatic as they are wont to often be at these festiv-cities. That's festivities in the city. Stop throwing rotten vegetables at me. Anyway, it was nice with just the two of us, a bottle of bubbly, and the hollow shell of what used to be decent TV coverage of the (Bill) NYE (the Science Guy) events.

I suppose it's another testament to the sad state of USian culture that New Year's celebratory concerts and events that once consisted of rock 'n' roll and good jazz are now mostly drunken orgies of horrid pop "music" and inebriated twentysomethings or vacationing college coeds trying to show more flesh than is entirely necessary on TV before the network censors catch it. Yeah, we saw that bit at the Coyote Ugly too. While I'm all for appreciation of the human form, for godsakes, show your goodies to the right people for the right reasons with the right blood alcohol content.

Blah blah walked to school uphill pouring rain Dad beat us if we talked out of turn.

Damn kids, get off my lawn.

Anyway, general lameness of TV coverage notwithstanding, it was the best New Year's I've had in quite a while. It's nice to finally have someone to kiss when the ball drops and with whom I can enjoy my genuinely Happy New Year. Here's to 2007, and if you're reading, Journey, here's to you.

(p.s. *Chomp* Clam gotcha. :-P )

Now the random tidbits that usually pertain to filmed fiction.

"Dexter" is a great show for those who like dark humour.

I finally saw "The Fountain" about a month ago. It was/is nothing short of amazing. If you have any means whatsoever, see it.

Inland Empire comes out this month, or so I last heard. On top of that, it seems Lynch has written a (nonfiction) book. I must read it. It's worth it just to hear what a guy like that is thinking.

Okay, think that about wraps it up for tonight. See you folks soon.