Bookmark dumping

I'm going to be formatting and reinstalling XP soon, so I'm dumping some bookmarks I have sitting on the desktop - ones I thought folks around here might like, but I never got around to starting a thread on.

A creative use of books:
http://www.offbeatearth.com/dont-like-read...uses-for-books/

Some good screensavers that aren't spyware, bloatware or malware, and are hosted on a seeming normal website that AFAIK, didn't put anything on my system that shouldn't be there - a sad rarity these days.
http://www.slavetotheinternet.com/2008/09/...e-screensavers/

An easy way to slipstream SP3 onto a windows XP install CD. Uses nLight, a pretty cool freeware tool.
http://www.askvg.com/the-best-and-the-easi...ndows-xp-setup/

A possible reason why we have to fudge our astronomical theories with talk of "dark energy", and why it might not exist after all.
http://www.phenomenica.com/2008/10/earth-m...mal-bubble.html

An interesting, but lengthy read on Neanderthals.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/10/...thals/hall-text

Free-Piston engine twice as efficient as current combustion engines.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/09/free-pist...e-twice-as.html


Herpes medication with an odd side-effect. Beeped swearing, no nudity.
http://www.cracked.com/video_16581_greates...ffect-ever.html

good idea. I wish I had some to share 🙁

More info than you want to know about prions 🙂
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/...80904144830.htm

They're just chunks of protein that shouldn't get close to OUR protein. The damn things are pretty stable too, so it's hard to denature (cook) them to make them safe.

These sub-cellular infectious agents blow my mind. At least it looks like prions aren't life and can't reproduce, but they CAN combine with other prions and be able to infect new species. I still haven't decided if viruses qualify as life. The scientific community has reached a consensus, but I haven't yet incorporated it into my schema. Hell, there are viruses that can't reproduce in a cell without the presence of ANOTHER virus. Weird shit. Weaknesses everywhere, at every level from micro to macro. You never know where the next hit will come from.

Cool. As mentioned upthread, I did the format/reinstall tonight. With all the utilities and games, it will probably be until the weekend before it's all back, but I'm up and running, and have my most important web capabilities back.

The slipstreaming utility and walkthru I mentioned in the OP is kick-ass. I had it set to automatically enter the XP key, I set the answers to the user questions during install, and made a few changes otherwise. All I had to do was pick a partition, decide if I wanted to format it (and whether to use FAT or NTFS) and the install worked away by itself until I saw the Windows screen.

I went with AVAST antivirus this time. I was really quite fond of AVG, but I didn't like the direction it was going. . .it was getting to be bloated and intrusive, and one of the biggest things I liked about it was it's speed and small footprint.

I might be trying a few other security-related utilities/add-ons. If I do, I'll post back how they work out.

Friends are more dangerous than beer - but friends with beer? Be very afraid. (some NSFW sexually explicit words in pictures)
http://blog.jimmyr.com/Friends_are_More_Da...eer_15_2008.php

Do you know who I am? Video, work-safe.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7...49659&hl=en

CRACKED explains why the 21st century is making us miserable. They've put together a lot of good material on their website. I'd have to say that the website is far superior to anything they ever did in paper format.
http://www.cracked.com/article_15231_7-rea...-miserable.html

And just because I don't have any other place for these, but I feel the need to share. . .