However they also can serve another purpose, the main way I make use of my flash drive: a computer repair and diagnostic toolbox. For instance on my flash drive I have a variety of small freeware programs that I can use to clean registry’s, run virus scans, defrag hard drives, recover lost files and more. In my field (computer repair) my flash drive is one of my most used tools when I am working to fix someones computer. So, how can do you put together a USB drive like mine? It’s actually quite easy thanks to a little website called App-Stick, which has over a hundred useful programs that are mostly freeware and that are small enough to be portable (aka fit on a flash drive).

In my case (as I said above) I use one of my flash drives just for computer repair thus I have essential programs on it to accomplish that task, but what do you want your “flash drive toolbox” to contain? For instance you can trick out your USB drive with an assortment of useful multimedia programs such as the Audio Tagging App, and more. The possibilities are endless for what kind of custom application filled drive you want to create.

Oraniq 03

I am currently in the process of redesigning my portfolio site and when it is complete it will display a lot more of my artwork that I haven’t put on the internet as of yet, including the above wallpaper and the rest in it’s series.

So we bought the computer at a cost of about fourteen hundred dollars which included a fifteen inch monitor, speakers, one of those old ribbon printers and a heap of pretty much useless software. The OS of course was Windows 3.1 and thus I was introduced to my love hate relationship with Windows and Microsoft. Now if you remember to the days of Windows 3.1 then you also will remember the big rule DOS played in the operation of almost every program on the computer. I quickly became fluent in every DOS command in which I used to run and install games and learn the ropes of the computer’s inner functions.

When I stated above that we got ripped off I was being completely serious. For starters it was powered by a Pentium 486 processor, and when I say 486 I am not talking about Megahertz. It had a 210 megabyte hard drive, 32 megabytes of RAM, and if I recall correctly 4 megabytes of Video RAM. It had a floppy disk drive and a 4x CD-ROM drive to boot, but I was ecstatic to have a new computer nonetheless, even if it was a overpriced and underpowered piece of shit. I began playing games like Monkey Island, The Dig, and Warcraft and from that point on I became a computer nerd.

So anyway, even though my first computer may not have been the best at the time it set me on a path that I am still on today. A path that has lead me to self teach myself everything about computers, and technology. I am self taught in web programming, graphic design, and computer assembly and repair. Hah, that computer is the reason I am sitting here typing this post today, thus I look back and am grateful that on that fateful day sixteen years ago a computer changed my life.

Do you remember your first computer? Your first experiences with Windows? Your first time playing Sim City or Warcraft? If so I would love to hear about it, and if I think it is good enough I will enough post it for all to read. So please send in your stories to me here, I look forward to reading them!

I personally have very strong views regarding women and our world. I am male, but I believe that women should rule the world. Women have been persecuted and tortured all throughout human history and yet they continue to be the most immaculate beings on our planet. War and genocide was invented by men, biological warfare was invented by men, terror and fear as we currently know them began with men.

Our subconscious identifies nature as our matron mother. The universe itself is an infernal womb, a womb upon which chaos defines and maintains the meaning of the order we find comfort in. When we look at the universe, we do not see an “alpha male” creator; we see what has always been identified as a cataclysmic female. Did you know that the first religious idol in human history was female?

Awhile ago archaeologists discovered what is now being called, “Ancient Goddess 45,000 BCE.” It is the oldest religious figure in recorded human history, many have identified it as Venus. Ever since the beginning of humanity we have worshiped the stars, and all throughout history the stars have been named after women. Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, continues to be one of the most mythical celestial groups in our night sky.

It bothers me often that we treat our daughters and sisters so horribly. It is honor less and cowardly for us to treat them the way we do. Women should rule the world, if we had women like Joan of Arc, Boudica and Violette Szabo running the world I truly believe that our world would be a much brighter place. There have been a lot of ladies who have died to secure the future of their children (us), and for that their memories will burn brightly in our hearts forever.

This one’s for you, ladies. Viva la Revolucion!

[Ed. Note: First off I would like to thank Michael for this interesting post, and also welcome him to the Insomniak team. Expect more posts from Michael in the future.]

I’m not going to do one of those cliche countdown lists that every other blog or news site on the webosphere is posting right now, instead I am going to leave you with a quote to start of this new year with.

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were and ask “why not?” ”
-John F. Kennedy

Some of my favorite tracks are: Bob Sinclair ft. Shabba Ranks - “Love You No More (Chuckie Remix)”, and Deadmau5 ft. Rob Swire - “Ghosts ‘N’ Stuff”. However the three disc album is filled with great songs and remixes that make it a perfect Dance/Electronic album to play at any party or rave.

Pick up your copy at Amazon and support the artists.

So anyway the movie plays out with a young couple moving into a new house and realizing that they are not alone. Boyfriend get’s a decent camera and begins recording almost everything, and while they sleep at night. Thus the whole movie is through his camera, which is sort of annoying but I let it slide. So I guess I’ll just finish up by saying that I didn’t find it to be all that scary (as it was hyped up to be) and the acting was… well it was crap to be honest, though in all I thought it was a pretty cool movie with “some” decent special effects.

In closing; not worth 9$ at a movie theater.

I use to love Legos as a kid and I actually still have a few big tubs down in my basement full of all sorts of Lego pieces along with a lot of special Lego sets like: a Castle set, a space set and more. Though I have never built anything as fantastic as some people have that our featured on the Brother Brick blog, so go check out some more awesome Lego creations on the blog.

It is very easy to use, you just check a box next to the application you want to install and then download the custom installer to your computer for the applications you selected. From the website:

Ninite works in the background 100% hands-free.

We install apps with default settings and
say “no” to browser toolbars and other junk.

All we do is install the apps you choose.
Not even Ninite is installed.

It seems to be very user friendly and a fast way to install multiple applications with just one custom installer. Visit the Ninite website to begin selecting the applications you want and your own your way to installing many application with just one installer! I recommend it. Also if they do not have a application abvailiable you can request that they add it to their website.

This software is designed based on the information Knowledge Base Article #10744 - SATA: Hot Plugging Drives under Win2000/XP (Internet Archive) provided by Silicon Image, and in order to make Serial ATA (SATA) drives are easy to hot swap.

Basically it does the same thing as you can remove devices from Device Manager, but the user interface is much friendly as compatible with the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon in the notification area and it is much safer as it prevents the drive being removed if the drive is in use. With this software, you can use SATA/eSATA drives as even better removable drives than USB/IEEE1394 drives.

Very cool in my opinion visit the official Hot Swap website here and get this useful program that I am sure many people can make good use of.

[via Hot Swap!]