Back Up And Blogging - Sort Of

Last week my PC started to act a little strange. It all started when I repeatedly clicked on a macromedia video link from YouTube. Some may recall the "UFO" video which I claimed was some secret laser weapon.

Anyway I found myself getting increasingly frustrated at the load time for the video, and so I kept clicking, and clicking, and clicking on the video.

Suddenly the PC just shut down.

Probably a buffer overflow. Macromedia has had well know issues with security vunerabilities. In the past they have left bugs in their software which could allow hackers to gain access to computers using Macromedia's video player. I've never entirely believed the problem was resolved, nor do I believe it was simply an oversight by Macromedia to leave such a back door.

In my opinion Macromedia remains entirely suspect, and is similar to Microsoft. Microsoft is a company so distrusted that the Chinese government forced it to reveal its source code.

Despite all my apprehension about Macromedia I still end up downloading their evil plug-ins.

And so it was after clicking on the macromedia plugin applet just once too many times my PC shuts down.

It never worked the same after.

At first the PC simply wouldn't start.

Then when it did start it couldn't find various peripherals.

Nor could I gain access to the Internet.

After some reading I began to suspect that some type of spyware had been installed on my PC. After the spyware crashed it left my TCP/IP stack damaged - making it impossible to log onto the Internet.

I reset my TCP/IP settings, and finally restored enough of the PC to gain access to the Internet.

However the system completely locked me out, and kept crashing upon boot up.

I finally decided I wanted to use the PC again, and downloaded as many files as I felt needed saving, formated the hard drive, and reinstalled the OS.

I've spent each night reinstalling various software, and bringing the PC back into operation.

So I'm back!

For the first time only I missed deadline to post a Jerome Prophet's Springfield, and the feature will not appear this week in the Illinois Times.

But I'm back!

You may notice I've added Job Conger's link to my blogroll. I have also added two sites which Job Conger maintains. One on the local art scene, and the other on aviation with a local twist.

For all those wondering, Koshi Kat is doing a little better each day. He's still not back to normal, but he's slowly getting his energy back, and he's peeing!

Yes, he's peeing!

Why am I so excited about my cat peeing?

Because the operation, and related cost run at least six hundred dollars, so I'm very happy to see my cat pee - which means no operation!