Retaining

Do you know if encoding them in HTML character escape codes (& codes) works? There are scripts and websites that can convert your email address to long unreadable strings of gibberish that display as text when shown on a browser, but I don't know if that actually stops crawlers from reading them.

Wow, those look great! I like the Reaver sig especially. What do you use to make them (Photoshop?), and how long does it take you to do each one?

I have to agree with Starsiege: Tribes and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. I love both of those games (although I never played Tribes too much, it was still cool and led to my favorite game of all time, Tribes 2!) Enemy Territory is a great game, if a little difficult at first, but it's definitely worth a download.

Hooray! I've been using OpenOffice for almost 3 years now and love it, and this seems to be a huge improvement, especially with the addition of the database feature, which was sorely needed. Once you get used to the different interface, OpenOffice is a great free alternative to Microsoft Office or any of the other office software packages, and is available for many different platforms.

I use Lavasoft's Ad-Aware together with Spybot S&D. Spybot has some nice protection features, and the two scans together keeps almost eveything out. I have also heard good things about JavaCool's Spyware Blaster, but I've never tried it. A good spyware program (or two), together with antivirus, firewall, Windows updates, and just general caution on the internet will keep you pretty safe.

Looks pretty good, I like the style. I agree about the link mouseover thing, there needs to be text there all the time, I didn't even know they were links at first. If you keep the text animation, it should probably be a bit faster, since it can take a while to look through the whole menu bar.

I have to say my favorite FPS game of all time would definitely be Tribes 2. It is amazing, with so much variety and complexity that even after playing it every day (almost) for 3 years, I'm still not tired of it and still learn new skills all the time. It is pretty hard to pick up at first, but once you get used to it, it's amazing. Unfortunately, Sierra has decided that Tribes 2 should no longer be played, as they have driven off many of the players by taking down some of the important game servers. However, there are still a few devoted players and a few good servers.

I would say computers are the best by far. They have the best graphics and performance (overall), and have the best multiplayer. They also have the advantage of being able to do many other things, such as word processing and internet access, which sometimes makes them a better value. The only thing PCs don't really have is some of the titles consoles have.

I've started using FileZilla and really like it. It's simple, powerful, and has several great features like the ability to upload multiple files at a time.

You could always try MySpace, it isn't exactly centered around blogging, but it does have that feature, and also has easy photo uploads and some degree of customization.

Well, I signed up for it, might as well give it a shot. However, does anyone know what kind of features it will have, compared to Yahoo or Gmail, or is it simply a new interface for the old Hotmail system?

If you don't have OSX or Linux, or don't feel like downloading OpenOffice (which I would highly recommend), you can use CutePDF. It's a free PDF creation program that installs like a printer on a Windows machine, and lets you make anything into a PDF simply by selecting CutePDF as your printer.

I guess it means that there will be an LCD monitor that will be as good for gaming (or any other high-speed 3d app) as a CRT monitor, since the response times on current ones lead to ghost images and other artifacts.

Great joke! I got a good laugh out of that one, especially the ending few.

Sounds like you got ripped off, I'm sorry to hear that. Next time you have computer problems, try searching around, there might be a (free) simple fix or program that will do the trick.

SP2 slows things down a good bit, but 5 minutes is pretty ridiculous. Do you have a boot virus scan or scandisk type program running? Try disabling those. Also, search around for a registry fix that makes WinXP log you in automatically, that saves a few seconds. Scan for spyware and also use msconfig to see what programs are running on startup, those slow you down. Other than that, try defragging you hard drive and just generally tuning up your PC.

I tried Mu, and didn't really like it all that much. The servers were extremely crowded, the graphics were only so-so, and it quickly became monotonous. There was nothing really exciting to draw me in and keep me playing. However, it was free, and I'm sure it would become more fun as you progress in the world, but I wasn't very impressed.

I love freeware, it is awesome that there are so many free programs that in many cases work as well or better than software you pay for (especially antivirus/anti-spyware stuff!) So many great projects have been done open-source, you can get almost anything you want legally for free now.

I play GuildWars also, with 4 characters: N/Me20 (finished game), E/Me20 (ascended), W/Mo20 (at ascension), and a Mo/W15 (I forget). I love the game. It is so different than most MMORPGs in a good way, from the lack of monthly fees to the economy (where good armor/weapons are relatively cheap and easy to get.) The combat begins to get very complicated when you have 40+ skills to choose from all interacting with each other and those of your 7 teammates. Overall, I think it is one of the best MMORPGs on the market today, but I understand why you don't like it.

This is mine.

Some freeware is awesome, often better than stuff you have to pay for. (I.E., Firefox, many antivirus and anti-spyware programs, etc.) Unfortunately, so many spyware programs are disguised as freeware that people are afraid to use it. I guess you could just show people some of the good free programs to prove that there is good, safe, free software available on the Net.

Firefox for sure here. The security and reliability is nice, and I really appreciate the standards compliance. Add that to the handy tabbed browsing and nice extensions, and Firefox is pretty hard to beat. (I haven't tried Opera, but I've heard it's really good. I just can't pay for it.)

IrfanView (freeware) also has an option to do this, go to "Batch Conversion" on the File menu, select your pics, and go to Set Advanced Options. Check "Add Overlay Text", and tweak the options under "Settings". Make sure you set the output directory!

The demo looks amazing, I absolutely cannot wait for the game to be released. I played both the original and Age of Kings (still play AoK), and this looks like a great sequel to them. It's got the graphics and some of the other cool stuff from Age of Mythology (which was OK) with the gameplay of AoE. Sweet!

Great links, I'm going to have to try all of them out, that IE7 script looks very useful. If nothing else, it's better than the "Get it working in Firefox in 5 minutes and then spend 2 hours making it work in IE" programming I've been doing. Unfortunately, IE/MS doesn't support many W3C standards and doesn't appear to be moving that direction either, making web development very difficult...