Avira Forcing Users To Install Ask Toolbar

Avira is my antivirus. I have used the free version for years. All of a sudden this morning, when I ran my weekly scan it did a major update (a service pack) & wanted me to install something they call the Avira Webguard Toolbar. Try again. It's the Ask Toolbar. Sorry, but my default search engine is Google & it's going to remain Google.

This is a sleazy attempt to put something on my system I don't want. There is no op-out. There are only two choices: install now or later. That is not acceptable. Apple tries to install Safari when offering iTunes updates, but even they allow you to uncheck it. Avira doesn't.

So the question now becomes: do I continue to use Avira because it is a good AV, or do I look for another product because this doesn't seem like proper behavior, especially since they used to mark Ask as adware but now have removed it from their list. Is money that much of an issue?

Versus Website Closed By Comcast

I have discovered that Comcast has shut down the website for their sports channel versus. This is a website I never go on, except when the Tour De France is on. That starts next week, so I decided to check it out & maybe see the TV schedule. But since I hadn't seen anything about the site I didn't know it had been shut down. Or actually there is a re-direct to nbcsports.msnbc.com.

OK. This makes sense. With Comcast buying NBC, why have multiple sports sites? And the story goes that Comcast will be changing the name of the channel within a month. Because let's face it, Versus was a horrible name to begin with. Versus? Versus what? Versus ESPN? Versus the viewer? Most people believe it will become NBC Sports, or something like that.

They still need to improve the site. The articles are short & coverage of certain sports is weak. Possibly the site should only cover sports on the various NBC channels. The Sunday Formula One race had about one paragraph. Better to just go to say, ESPN or better yet Speed, which broadcasts all races.

Hockey coverage seems quite good, but again, that's because the NHL is carried on NBC & Versus, plus most teams have their local broadcast contracts with a Comcast Sports Net channel. And clearly next year the London Olympics will be covered on Versus (or NBC Sports or whatever it's called) & the website will reflect that.

Yahoo Didn't Like My Answer

I sometimes use Yahoo Answers. I just play around with it. Well I got an e-mail saying they removed one of my answers because it violated guidelines. Really? As opposed to the multiple racist, sexist, violent junk? The "Obama is a terrorist" stuff?

For the record my answer was to someone asking about downloading You Tube videos to iTunes. I mentioned You Tube to mp3 a Firefox extension, & Real Player which also does it. Well, what both do is convert videos to either mp3 or aac. This means stripping out the video & leaving the audio. Is it illegal? Not sure. If you put on P2P sites, that's definately illegal.

Of course, Answers has a ton of questions about Limewire & Frostwire. They are known pirate sites, but Yahoo has no problems with suggestions of how to use those sites. I find that suspicious & hypocritical. You don't want me writing about a legitimate piece of software. Fine. When will Firefox references be deleted so as to protect IE?

Mozilla Releases Firefox 5

In an attempt to catch up to Google Chrome, Firefox 5 has appeared. I didn't even know about this. There have been no popups telling me that it's available & I don't actually know what the point is. It's just a change in the designation. From what I've read on PC Magazine's website (the only one that even mentions it. No references on Lifehacker or Gizmodo), it is simply an update. It should be called Firefox 4.1, but hey, let's impress everyone with a silly high number. You know, how like Google Chrome is on version 10 or is it 11 or 12 despite only being 2 years old.

Mozilla claims over 1000 improvements but someone from PC Mag said basically fixes. Again that's not a full release. That's a point 1 update. Is this supposed to impress me? An 18 week release cycle? So by Christmas 2012, We'll be using Firefox 10. That is just silly. It will really be 4.1.06.

Music Trivia On The Web

Some of the stuff you can find on the internet is outrageous. I've been making a collection of sixties music for my iPod. I grew up in that era, but never bought a lot of music. basically a few singles & , of course, Beatle albums. Well actually i got Sgt Pepper as a birthday present & the following year The White Album as a Christmas present, but you get the point.

So now I'm catching up. Mainly using YouTube to hear songs I haven't heard in decades to see if I actually want to spend money on them. And yes I am. Modern stuff-not so much. But anyway it's cool to not only hear these songs again, but to go on Wikipedia & find out that some really famous musician played on a song you wouldn't expect.

How about this: Donovan. Remember him? He was a folk/rock singer of the late sixties. you wouldn't consider him "out there", but he did some really good songs. But now I find out he had some superstars playing background on his songs.

For instance: Barabajagal (a lesser known single) has as it's background musicians the entire Jeff Beck Group. Are you kidding me? And Epistle to Dippy (another uptempo folk rocker) has as it's lead guitarist-get this: Jimmy freakin' Page! Seriously. The king of Zep on a Donovan song?

How about the Yardbirds who went through 3 lead guitarists in 4 years before they broke up. Eric Clapton & the afore mentioned Beck & Page. Nice. Not to mention that at the end The "New Yardbirds" was all four members of the future Zeppelin.

How about Jimi Hendrix being a member of Little Richard's in 64-65? And the well known fact that he was opening act for the Monkees.

Grocery Store's Scam Oline Contest

I shop at a major Bay Area supermarket running a promotional game that ties in to an upcoming Nascar race. You get game pieces when you shop. But you are also supposed to be able to play online. Guess again. While I have a lot a stickers on the game board(no wins yet), I can't access the online game. Why? BECAUSE IT DOESN'T WORK!

I am so tired of companies that haven't figured out the internet. How hard is it to hire someone who actually knows how to code a website? First of all, you can't access it at all using Firefox. That's fail #1. So I go to IE9. Well I can go to the registration page, but when I click play game nothing happens. It just  sits there. Is this a javascript issue? If I was on Firefox I would think "well No Script is preventing me, so I have to allow it in". But this is IE with no extensions preventing access.

Also, if you type in the games name, there are a lot of sites complaining about this problem going back: get this: FOUR YEARS. Are you serious? Please mr supermarket game online person: please quit & take a job you're qualified for. Like clerk at a burger place. I am so tired of incompetent coding on websites & especially in 2011 sites that still won't recognize Firefox. Dude, grow up. It's the second most used browser in the world. But then again you probably don't even know what a browser is.

How Much Longer Will Newspapers Last

I like having a newspaper in my hand. I can read the sports while eating breakfast. The rest of the paper I take to work & read on my breaks. I read the news while eating a cereal bar & drinking coffee. In the afternoon I will read the local or entertainment section while eating a candy bar & maybe drinking a soda. Every else seems to do the same. And this is a high tech outfit. But the people using laptops are doing work.

Why do I bring this up? Because I just looked at my bill. $65 for 3 months home delivery, 7 days a week. Yes I will pay it, but I wonder how many other people will say "that's too much, I just read online"? Yes there's more information available that way, & it's instant. But am I supposed to cart a laptop around?

I know, I know: smartphones. Really? I'm supposed to blind myself trying to read a 2" screen. Sorry but I'm not 20. My eyes were never good to begin with but I need a decent sized screen. An iPad: $500 to read the paper. I don't think so.

Same with books. I'm sure a Kindle or Nook would be cool, but only if the price comes down to under a hundred. Besides I don't have to recharge a paper or book. They just work by you opening them. I'm not a luddite. Obviously I have a computer & I even have an iPod, but still I hope newspapers last.