I never realized how well Microsoft Outlook 2003 works until I was forced to use Lotus Notes mail at work. Notes was like a time machine taking me back to 1995. A day didn’t go by where I didn’t delete or misplace email, and the rules I’d setup to move mail into certain folders only occasionally worked. This was one of the least intuitive programs I’ve ever used.

A few weeks into this Notes fiasco I was tipped off to the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector for IBM Lotus Domino which works very well. I’m back in business. This weekend our MIS department finally decided to ditch Notes and move our company to MDaemon mail server which is a huge improvement over Notes. I can now use Outlook (or any other POP mail client) without having to use a connector. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll move to Exchange server in the future so we’ll have all the calendaring features as well at RPC over HTTP enabling us to use the Outlook client from outside the firewall. But I can’t complain because anything is a huge improvement over Notes.

It’s good to be back in Outlook.

Microsoft released a beta version of their anti-spyware tool called Anti-Spyware. I installed the software this morning and it found four spyware/adware files on my computer. This is great news since I had just run Ad-Aware and SpyBot Search & Destroy.

It’s great to see Microsoft taking this threat seriously since the casual users computer is chock full of spyware and adware crap. If Microsoft can build on this product I see no need to purchase a competing product.

Flexbeta reviews MS Anti-Spyware vs. Ad-aware vs. Spybot

The following are last years stats of this years hottest MLB free agent. Now ask yourself, if you were a team owner/manager would you pay $119 million over seven years for this player? If your name is Scott Boras and you represent this player you state this is the STARTING point in negotiations if you plan to sign his client.

Baseball salaries are out of control and it only seems to be getting worse each year.

2004 SEASON STATISTICS

GM	HR	RBI	R	SB	AVG
159	38	104	121	42	.267

*Stats belong to Carlos Beltran

Anyone out there still feel that USC is overrated or that Pete Carroll isn’t a great coach? I just loved seeing Carroll’s enthusiasm on the sideline. He was pumped up and his players looked genuinely happy playing for him. Give Carroll and Norm Chow a month to prepare and it’s game over. Any suspense concerning the outcome was gone after the first quarter and a half. I don’t know for sure if Auburn would have given USC a better game but it couldn’t have been any worse. It was a case of a great team being on top of its game and a good team playing about as badly as you could ever imagine. What I’d like to know is why Chow isn’t a head coach somewhere.

When will Scott McNealy realize that he’s no longer relevant? One of my favorite quotes from his interview with the New York Times:

“If you want to do a little experiment, go to Google and type “Scott McNealy software is going to free.” You just Google on that – you will go back and see that I was predicting five years ago that software was going to go to a zero-right-to-use model”

Linux is eating your lunch so you have little choice but to give away Solaris. Sadly you didn’t predict you’re stock would be in the toilet. Scott, you’re not nearly as entertaining when you’ve been marginalized. Gates stopped losing sleep over Sun a long time ago. Your public put downs of Bill are now seen as pathletic rather than witty although they have diminished to a trickle since you cashed the $1.2 billion settlement check. Hopefully that money will save a few jobs for the time being.

Scott goes on to dodge questions about whether or not he’s happy with Sun shares at around the cost of a Happy Meal and when Sun will return to profitability. Scott followed the Steve Jobs rule of dealing with Microsoft. To quote Steve Miller: “Go on, take the money and run…”

Wow, the Utes put on a show in the Fiesta Bowl tonight. Made me very proud to be a U of U alumnus. Congrats to Urban Meyer and his players on a very memorable season.

It’s a new year and like many others I’m going to make a few resolutions.

1. I’m going to stop drinking so much Coke or any other drink with caffeine. It messes with my sleep too much.
2. I’m going to leave a few minutes early for work each day and enjoy the drive. I’m not going to tailgate the driver in front of me just because I’m late.
3. I’m going to take more walks around the neighborhood with my kids, wife and dog.
4. I’m going to get to know my neighbors.
5. I’m going to setup fewer Season Passes on Tivo and watch less TV.
6. I’m going to get my bike fixed so I can ride around this gorgeous area with Kim.
7. I’m not going to stress out if my desk at work gets a little messy.
8. I’m going to spell check all emails and blog posts before I hit the SUBMIT button.
9. I’m going to call my brother and sisters and grandparents at least twice a year.
10. I’m going to pray more often.

John Dvorak recently wrote a column for PC Magazine titled, “Panic over Spyware“. This got me thinking about the problem and my own battle with these nasty programs that occasionally make it onto my system. If you download “warez” or program “cracks” you’re a prime target for the purveyors of this crap. Even if you just download a P2P application like Kazaa or Bearshare you’ve added several spyware or adware programs even before you begin downloading the latest U2 mp3.

Here are a few recommendations for avoiding Spyware and Adware:

1. Know what you’re installing – Sounds simple enough but most people think they have to download and install a rogue program before they get into trouble. That’s not the case. Many spyware and adware program “piggyback” on better known programs. If you quickly click through the install process or disregard the EULA, you’ll never see what gets installed until it’s too late. If a friend gives you a program to try out and you know nothing about it, don’t just install it. Head over to Download.com and see if the program in question has been reviewed, and most of the time they will tell you if the program contains any spyware or adware.

2. Avoid “Warez” and”cracked” programs, keygens, and other pirated programs – Some of the worst spyware or adware you’ll encounter is hidden inside “crack” codes that look harmless but can wreak havoc on your system. No matter how careful you are you’re playing with fire if you’re installing these regularly. It’s just a matter of time before you’ll be rebuilding your system.

3. Beware free programs – I run a few free programs like Messenger Plus that contain adware but allow the user to opt out during installation. But Messenger Plus is in the minority here. Many free programs will bundle all sorts of crap in exchange for allowing you to use their program for free. Not all free programs are like this but many are. Again, if in doubt, learn what you can about the program from Download.com or Google to see if others have had issues.

4. Install a software firewall – You’ll want a program like ZoneAlarm from Zonelabs that monitors two way communication and allows you to block traffic from individual programs. If you’re on a broadband connection, a hardware firewall is a given.

5. Run a good virus program – There are number of reputable programs available. I’ve settled on eTrust due to frequent signature updates and low memory usage. Make sure you’ve downloaded the latest virus signature as well.

6. Install and use Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy – These are two free program that will greatly assist in keeping your system clean. RegCleaner is another program I’ve used that’s been able to locate and remove spyware remnants.

7. Bag IE and switch to Firefox as your primary browser – Tired of random menu bars showing up in IE or having your homepage changed without your permission? Give IE and its ActiveX controls the boot. I only use IE because MS has locked down “Windows Update” to only work with their browser.

What programs do you use to fight spyware and adware?

A number of people replied to my post yesterday concerning my disappointment with the online music services. Some were more helpful than others in figuring out if iTunes would meet my needs. I downloaded the latest version of iTunes for Windows, version 4.7 and started testing it out. Here are my impressions:

1. iTunes is an easy to use, well laid out program. It was easy to import my mp3 files, create and edit playlist and convert a few mp3s into CD audio.

2. The converstion of mp3 into CD audio and then burning a playlist to CD was even easier than using MusicMatch.

3. The iTunes catalog is very well organized and pleasant to use. I like being able to view other peoples playlist and rate them. I also enjoy being able to see the top 200 songs, Billboard Charts and top radio hits. iTunes makes finding new music fun and easy.

4. It’s very easy to print CD inserts. I know many other programs do this as well, but I haven’t seen as many options as iTunes offers. Very well executed.

5. Mp3s sound pretty good without a DSP plug-ins. At this point I’ll probably stick with Quintessential Player for basic mp3 playback but the iTunes environment is quite nice.

6. The Deal Breaker: iTunes still only works with the iPod which is unfortunate. Don’t tell me to just go buy an iPod because I did own one and I found it lacking.

Overall I’m very impressed with iTunes but until Apple decides to play nice with other mp3 players, I won’t be purchasing any music from it which is too bad because it has a lot to offer. I’ll stick with ripping my own CD collection, buying new and used CDs and downloading the occasional single from P2P communities.

I plan to take a took at Napster and MusicMatch over the coming weeks.

One of the best purchases I made this past year was on a quality pair of headphones from Grado Labs. After reading dozens of reviews on products from Sony, Sennheiser, Grado and others I decided the Grado SR80 fit the bill. The first time I plugged them into my Audigy 2 soundcard I was blown away by their sound quality. They also sound wonderful matched with my iRiver H-120 mp3 player. If you’re listening to your music collection on a set of headphones that came with your mp3 player, do your ears a favor and test out a good quality set of headphones.