Fujitsu Siemens Amilo - RIP..... for now.....

This was going to happen some day anyway...
I finally managed to spill a full mug of coffee (big size) all over my laptop.
In less than a second, the coffee had covered my entire computer desk. Luckily, my other laptop next to it was on a notebook cooler pad, so that one was saved.
The screen went black immediately, strange noises from underneath... and I sweared like never before.
Unfortunately, the swearing didn't work, so instead, I immediately disconnected the power supply and took out the battery.
I put the unit on its side and the coffee was dripping out. I left it in that position for at least an hour. I cleaned the rest of the mess I made, apart from the stains on the wall (Mr Proper can take care of that).
Then I turned it upside down, opened it and I'm going to let it dry for at least 24 hours.

In a way, I'm glad I don't like milk and sugar in my coffee, so maybe there's still hope... but I doubt it.

My dear Fujitsu Siemens Amilo, May The Force Be With You.

UPDATE! I couldn't wait any longer (waited for two days to let it dry)... so... it's up and running again!! No issues so far - everything works. I was really lucky :-)

AntiVirus, Internet Security and Total Security Performance Benchmarking by Passmark.

I actually never really paid attention to comparison/testing reports about Antivirus and Security Suites especially related with "best detection", "best removal" etc etc.. This, since I have my own opinion about this :-)
However, this is a different test, a performance test of several different Antivirus products and Security Suites/Total Security Products by Passmark.

- The Performance tests:

* Boot Time
* Scan Speed
* User Interface launch Speed
* Memory utilization
* Installation Time
* Installation Size
* Registry Key Count
* File Copy, Move and Delete
* Installing Third Party Applications
* Binary File Download Speed
* File Format Conversion
* File Compression and Decompression
* File write, Open and Close

- Overal Ranking in comparison with other products:

Click to enlarge

It looks like Norton Internet Security 2009/Norton Antivirus 2009 is a winner here in comparison with previous tests and older versions.

Anyway, "decide" for yourself and read the full report here: http://www.passmark.com/ftp/antivirus_09-performance-testing-ed1.pdf

Still, imho, the best way to decide what Antivirus/Security Suite to use (for best performance) is to install it and see how it runs on your computer. After all, every computer is different.
If it runs fine and you're satisfied with the Antivirus or Security Suite, then keep it.

I'll be back - (with a Female Schwarzenegger-style voice)

Many people already contacted me in the last couple of days, wondering where I am, why I'm not that active anymore on forums, my blog etc etc..
Well, I have been really busy lately IRL. This involves, searching for a new job (which is still undecided yet), some family related issues and some other stuff I won't post in public :-)
This is exhausting, I'm tired.. and explains why I'm not that active anymore lately. After all... IRL is still a priority.
However, latest Security threats are still one of my priorities as well - so I'm trying to keep up to date as much as possible. :-)

Anyway, I'll be back when things are sorted out... which will be soon (I hope) :-)

Feedly - Recommended news and RSS feed aggregator for Firefox.

I've been testing Feedly for about two weeks now and I must say...I really like it! Feedly is a news and RSS feed aggregator similar to Netvibes and iGoogle - a social and magazine-like start page.
Feedly is integrated with Google Reader - so in case you were using Google Reader in the past, any subscription you add to feedly will be added to Google Reader and vice versa.



To quote some Feedly features:

* The welcome wizard can learn from your existing personalizations - bookmarks, My Yahoo!, Bloglines, Netvibes, Twitter, Yahoo Mail, Gmail and Friendfeed - and apply them to your feedly.
* The what's new? page provides a real-time summary of the most relevant content available on the web based on your interests, your reading patterns and recommendations from your friends.

* The annotation tool makes it easy to clip the most interesting parts of a an article and share them with your friends. It also allows you to easily search for related information.

* The feedly+twitter integration allows you to easily spread the word about articles you find interesting. In context.

* The wall gives you a quick overview all the all the articles recommended and annotated by your friends. It combines your activity on both twitter and feedly.

* The explore module adds a pinch of serendipity by continuously suggesting new sources you might be interested in.

* The search bar allows you to perform a personalized search across your favorite sites.

* The dashboard makes it easy to get an at-a-glance view and manage all your favorite sources.

* The feedly API allows content owners to extend their reach by taking control over various aspects of the feedly UI. It will also allow third party developers to create new UI experiences (see cover, screensaver and feedly+flick'r for example) or weave in new annotation extensions (see Yahoo finance for example).

http://www.feedly.com/features.html

I also like the "screensaver" option where it displays a summary of pictures of RSS feeds you're reading



Anyway, you should try it!