Année : 2004

Belle initiative

Il est beaucoup question sur le Web ces jours-ci des mariages gais qui ont lieu au Civic Center, � San Francisco. �a me fait tout dr�le de regarder les photos des diff�rents couples qui s’unissent dans ces lieux, d’abord parce que leur joie est touchante mais aussi parce que je me suis mari�e au m�me endroit, juste en haut de ce superbe escalier, il y a 11 ans (mais ce n’�tait pas avec une femme). Autre temps, autre vie…

J’ai aussi �t� tr�s touch�e par la bonne id�e qu’a eu Daren (Barefoot dans ma blogoliste), un h�t�ro de Vancouver, qui a d�cid� de monter un site o� les gens sont encourag�s � envoyer des dons par Paypal pour acheter des bouquets aux futurs/es mari�s/es. L’avantage avec un syst�me comme Paypal c’est que les gens peuvent faire parvenir de petits dons, de 2$ par exemple. Darren s’est inspir� d’une id�e qui avait �t� present�e sur un carnet am�ricain. En quelques jours, Darren a r�colt� plus de 7,000$! Des san franciscains se sont port�s volontaires pour aller livrer les bouquets aux gens qui attendent en file devant l’h�tel de ville. L’attente est longue et elle est rendue encore plus p�nible par la pr�sence d’idiots qui protestent contre ces mariages et qui se servent de m�gaphones pour hurler que les fianc�s br�leront en enfer. Les t�moignages des gens qui ont re�u des fleurs montrent bien ce qu’un peu de couleur et de verdure peut changer dans une journ�e d�j� riche en �motions.

Bien s�r, Arnold est contre l’id�e. Bush lui, se dit troubl� mais �a, nous le savions d�j�.

Spring Cleaning

I spent last weekend inside the house, backing up the files on my computer in order to do a clean install of XP. My computer, a Dell Dimension I purchased in 2001, was running on Windows Me and had become very unstable. The install went well but it didn’t go as planned: somehow, even though I told the XP installer utility that I wanted « a new start », it chose to keep most of the files and programs on my hard drive, even though it no longer lists all my software under « Tous les programmes ». Oh well. The system seems stable now and most of the software is still working properly.

With the switch to XP, the Norton antivirus software that had come bundled with my computer was no longer adequate. Purchasing an update cost about the same as buying a new XP compatible version. I was already frustrated enough that I had to purchase XP and was hesitant to put more money into my machine when I thought about checking PC World‘s Web site (my old employer). I know the editorial team and their strick review process so I highly trust their advice.

Lucky me, I was able to find a review of free antivirus software in their January 2004 issue. You might want to have a look at that article if your antivirus software is out of date and you are hesitant to purchase a new version. I’ve decided to go with avast! and I was glad to see that it does virus definition updates, just like the Live Update service from Norton I used to have to pay for.

I also took advantage of my move to XP to get rid of Mozilla (the full version), which kept crashing on my old system, and I’ve installed Firefox (which got a great review by PC World). Oooh, baby! It’s fast, easy to customize and it’s been pretty stable so far.

PC World also offers a review of the FlipStart, a tiny laptop I talked about earlier this week. It’s the kind of beautiful gadget that makes you want to go on the road just to give you an excuse to use it.