Rechargeable batteries are a great idea. Who wouldn't want to use batteries that would last years and years, with a few periodic rechargings?
Up until now, however, rechargeables haven't been a perfect solution for gadget users on the go. One of the most irritating things about rechargeable batteries is that they aren't charged when you buy them in a store.
Because most rechargeable batteries lose 90 percent of their energy over a few months' time, you can't immediately use the batteries you purchase at retail, no matter how desperate your gizmos are for some juice. You must first power up the batteries for several hours in a charger.
Fortunately, a new technology is about to change that, and batteries that take advantage of the new technique are already showing up in shops.

The Battery That Won't Die on a Shelf
Hybrio batteries The rechargeables that hold their charge, and come to you almost fully powered from retail stores, include the UniRoss Hybrio (photo, left). Similar technology also powers competing brands, such as the Sanyo Eneloop and the Rayovac Hybrid.

I wish I could tell you that all these batteries share a snappy, memorable name in common. Unfortunately, the best the makers have been able to come up with so far is to call these things "hybrid NiMH." (NiMH stands for nickel metal hydride.) NiMH is the technology inside ordinary rechargeable batteries, the ones that self-discharge rather rapidly. The new moniker isn't sexy, but "hybrid" is the label we're stuck with using for now.

The last time I wrote about batteries was in my Executive Tech column of Jan. 17, 2006. The subject back then was whether Panasonic's new Oxyride batteries were superior to Energizer's Lithiums. I concluded that the Lithiums lasted longer, but since they cost more than the Oxyrides, using either brand in a digital camera would produce about the same number of pictures per dollar. Rather than buying these disposable batteries, however, I recommended that you get rechargeables instead.

The advent of hybrid rechargeables makes this more true than ever. Now that hybrids can hold most of their charge for years, many of the objections to using rechargeables fall apart. You still have to periodically recharge such batteries, of course. But rechargeables pay for themselves as early as your second or third charge, compared with buying disposables and throwing them away.

Testing the Hybrid Battery Claims
I received a sample of four Hybrio AA batteries during a press event at the Consumer Electronics Show last month in Las Vegas. I put the batteries into a portable CD player, and -- without charging the batteries first -- they worked fine. That's hardly a scientific test, however.

Fortunately, independent reviews of hybrid rechargeables are starting to appear. Michael Hains, a blogger who's been conducting tests of batteries for years, recently published one of the first head-to-head comparisons.

He found that a 2,100-milliamp Hybrio AA battery that had sat in a store for at least five months lasted for more than 2 hours and 18 minutes in a torture test. (The batteries would almost certainly last longer in real-world use.) "That is fantastic performance for a Ni-MH battery," Hains writes.

A Sanyo Eneloop, with a slightly smaller capacity of 2,000 milliamps, lasted almost as long as the Hybrio: 2:04 out of the box and 2:36 after several recharging cycles. (Hains hasn't yet published results of the Hybrio after recharging.)

Neither of the hybrids run as long as the best rechargeables in Hains's testing. The prize is held by Sanyo's own 2,500-milliamp conventional NiMH rechargeables. They've lasted as long as 5:21 after several cycles. These higher-capacity Sanyos, of course, suffer from the same fast self-discharging problem as all other ordinary NiMH batteries. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the hybrid advantages of instant usefulness and long life are worth it to you.

You Get What You Pay For
Hybrid rechargeables will take a while to shove ordinary NiMH batteries out of the market. The price of hybrids is noticeably higher, for one thing. A pack of four AA Hybrios has a street price of about $10 at the moment. Four of Sanyo's 2,500-milliamp conventional NiMH batteries are going for about $8.

As the hybrid technology becomes better understood and is manufactured in larger quantities, however, the older rechargeables will eventually disappear, I predict. Many people, even now, are willing to pay a little more for hybrids just to ensure that their digital cameras and other electronic devices will still have power, even after they've been left unused in a closet for a few months. 

Other highlights in this past issue include:
TOP STORY    Pop-up ads can land you in jail
LANGALIST TIPS    Make more space by deleting log files
USEFUL LINKS    Now, rechargeable batteries you can rely on
WACKY WEB WEEK    Gollum and Smeagol get their groove on
LANGALIST PLUS    Avoid firewall confusion with insider secrets
WOODY'S WINDOWS    Vista Timesaver #4 — the Windows Experience Index
PATCH WATCH    Don't install drivers from Microsoft Update

Mozilla has rolled out a major secuity update to fix a total of seven vulnerabilities in its flagship Firefox browser.

The batch of patches apply to users of Firefox 1.5.0.10 and Firefox 2.0.0.2 (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and are available as a free download at getfirefox.com.

“Due to the security fixes, we strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to these latest releases,” said Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Mozilla.

The patches will be released over the next 24 to 48 hours via the automatic update mechanism in Firefox 1.5.0.x an d Firefox 2.0.0.x. Starting later today, users can the upgrade from the “Check for Updates” feature in the Help menu.
Note: Support for Firefox 1.5.0.x ends on April 24, 2007. After that, Mozilla will no longer ship security and stability updates for older browser versions]

Today’s update covers these seven security bugs:

MFSA 2007-07: Embedded nulls in location.hostname confuse same-domain checks
MFSA 2007-06: Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) SSLv2 buffer overflow
MFSA 2007-05: XSS and local file access by opening blocked popups
MFSA 2007-04: Spoofing using custom cursor and CSS3 hotspot
MFSA 2007-03: Information disclosure through cache collisions
MFSA 2007-02: Improvements to help protect against Cross-Site Scripting attacks
MFSA 2007-01: Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.0.10/1.8.1.2)

Do you own a digital camera? Chances are, you do, because it seems like most everyone does these days. They are handy little devices, but they can sometimes be a little difficult to understand, can't they? Well, I'm here to shed a little more light on that for you today. I hope it helps! Let's get started.

When you look at your digital camera, do you see all of the little icons on it? Yours probably looks different than everyone else's, but somewhere on your camera, you should be able to find them. What are they for? What do they all mean? Well, each one represents a different mode on your camera. When you're taking a picture, you can choose between the modes to take the perfect picture. Usually, choosing the right mode either results in a great picture or a dud, so it's very important to understand what each one does.

Now, these icons may not be in clear sight for you, but more than likely, you will see them in a type of control dial right on the top of your camera. If you don't see them anywhere on the actual camera, you might have to go into the main menu to find them. Either way, here's what some of the more common icons mean and what they can do for your pictures.

Automatic: This is usually the default setting for most digital cameras. The icon on your camera may read as "AUTO." This one automatically sets the camera's flash and focus by using the normal, average exposure settings. This can be used for normal picture taking, but if you want some special effects added to your pictures, keep reading.

Close Up: This mode should be used for any pictures you're taking from approximately two feet away or closer. If you really want to narrow in on a subject, use this one. Also, keep in mind that the flash probably won't automatically come on with this mode, so you'll have to set it manually yourself.

Landscape: This one is used for any pictures you're taking of distant subjects. Also, the flash should not be on for these types of pictures. The landscape mode is also sometimes indicated by an 8 symbol.

Sport Mode: If you take a lot of pictures of moving objects, this is the mode you'll want to use. It sets the shutter speed on your camera to its fastest mark so you can catch the subjects in motion. For these types of pictures, you should just use the flash as needed.

Night Mode: This mode is obviously used for pictures you take at night or for any low-light conditions. It uses a slow shutter speed and it may also use the flash automatically. The icons for this one may be a little different from camera to camera. Another one that is commonly used is a backlight mode that has a fill flash picture. This mode also helps with shadowed objects.

Portrait Mode: This one is used mostly for faces of people. It helps to blur out the background so you can focus in more on a person's face. It is used well with the red eye reduction mode, for a full effect, as well.

Video Mode: Want to make videos with your digital camera? Then set your dial on this one. You can shoot short video clips with this mode.

Image Stabilization: If you're known to have shaky hands when you're taking pictures, use this mode. It helps to stabilize your camera so the image won't come out all blurry.

Manual Mode: This is also a very common mode to use. It will give you complete control over your camera's aperture and shutter speed, so it's very helpful.

Aperture-Priority Mode: With this one, you can manually set your camera's aperture setting (which is the diameter of the lens), while your camera controls the shutter speed for you.

Shutter-Priority Mode: This one is just the opposite of the one above. With it, you can manually determine the shutter speed, while your camera controls the aperture.

Well, there you have it. The most common digital camera icons explained just for you. With this tip and a little extra help from your camera's manual, you can be a picture taking pro in no time! 

This year, daylight saving is starting early--a change that could cause Y2K-like headaches for IT professionals, and even for consumers.

Congress decided in 2005 to extend the period of daylight-saving time by three weeks in spring and one in the fall, reasoning that providing more daylight in the early evening would reduce energy use.  However, the shift could cause trouble with software set to automatically advance its clock by an hour on the old date, the first Sunday in April, and not on the new date, the second Sunday in March.

"There has been a great deal of speculation of what the impact could be," said M3 Sweatt, chief of staff of Microsoft's customer service team.  "For most people, the most apparent issue is that meetings and reminders may appear to be off by one hour."
Wake up to the 'daylight-saving' bug (© CNET)
But Microsoft may be downplaying the risk.  Some say those companies that don't pay full attention to the issue are in for a rude awakening.

"We've been aware of the DST changes since late last year.  But the tools and patches keep changing, or weren't available, which made it difficult to create a solid plan," said Warren Byle, a systems engineer at an insurance company.  "This change might go smoothly for those who are prepared, but I think it will be the 'Y2K that wasn't' for the rest."

The move could impact time-sensitive applications other than calendaring, such as those that process sales orders or keep track of time cards.  Gartner, for example, says the bug could lead to incorrect arrival and departure times in the travel industry and result in errors in bank transactions, causing late payments.  In addition, trading applications might execute purchases and sales at the wrong time, and cell phone-billing software could charge peak rates at off-peak hours.

On top of that, the effect is expected to be felt around the world: Canada and Bermuda are conforming to the U.S.-mandated change, and time zone shifts have happened in other locales as well.

"It doesn't have to be Y2K to spell trouble for companies and governments," Phil Bond, chief executive of the Information Technology Association of America, said in a statement.  "Organizations could face significant losses if they are not prepared."

The millennium bug cost the global economy billions of dollars, according to various reports.  Analyst firm IDC predicted a price tag of $21 billion in the year 2000.  The daylight-saving problem "is not Y2K scale," according to a recent Gartner report, but it could generate business procedure and IT system problems that can be somewhat disruptive, the research firm said.

Microsoft and other software makers have created patches to make their products ready for the switch and have filled Web pages with tips for customers.  IT pros and consumers alike have to apply those updates.  Otherwise, they will have to deal with electronic clocks that may be off by an hour, for three weeks starting March 11 and again for a week in the fall, when they go back on November 4 instead of October 28.

Dealing with the patches should be straightforward for most consumers.  Microsoft released a daylight-saving fix for Windows XP Service Pack 2 on Tuesday, and it is pushing the patch out through the Automatic Updates feature in the operating system.  An update is also available for Windows-based cell phones.  However, the recently launched Windows Vista doesn't need a patch.

For businesses, getting ready is a different story.  It isn't as straightforward to apply updates to Windows PCs and phones in a corporate environment, because of potential compatibility woes.  Moreover, there are many other fixes that need to be applied, not just from Microsoft, but also from Oracle, IBM, Red Hat, Hewlett-Packard and other software suppliers.

Companies using Microsoft's Exchange for e-mail, for example, face a real patch challenge.  Microsoft has updates for the Outlook and Entourage mail clients, and for Windows Server and Exchange Server--all of which need to be applied in a specific order and in rapid succession.

Adding to the patch challenge, Microsoft also has fixes for its SharePoint and Live Meeting collaboration tools, its Dynamics customer relationship management software and its SQL Server notification services.

"There is a lot of work to implement the needed changes," said Stance Nixon, a network systems manager at Kushner, Smith, Joanou & Gregson, an accounting firm in Irvine, Calif.  "The worst part is needing to touch every computer twice--the operating system and then Outlook.  Even after that we will have to manually recheck every appointment."

Another problem: many businesses still use software for which Microsoft has ended the main support period.  Windows 2000 and Windows XP prior to Service Pack 2 are no longer supported, for example.  The same goes for older versions of Exchange and Windows Server.  Microsoft offers "hotfixes," or patches targeting the specific daylight-saving issue, for those systems for a flat $4,000 fee, Sweatt said.

And that's just Microsoft.  Other vendors also have updates.  Oracle is providing daylight-saving fixes for several of its applications, its database and its Java Virtual Machine.  In addition, Sun Microsystems' Java Runtime Environment also stores rules about DST observance all around the globe, and Sun recommends that people update Java to avoid trouble.

While the operating system and Exchange are primary concerns, the Java update is causing the most headaches for Byle, the systems engineer at an insurance company.  "Given that there are over 50 versions of Sun Java alone that could be in your environment, the OS and Exchange stuff doesn't seem too bad," he said.

Many application vendors, such as IBM and Oracle, include a custom version of Java in their applications.  These also need to be updated for daylight-saving time compliance.  While many applications get their time information from the operating system, there are also applications that rely on additional software, such as Java, to stay on time.

Mac users also have to get on board.  Apple said it fixed the daylight-saving time problem for Mac OS X Tiger, the most recent edition of the operating system, in a February 2006 update.  It posted a fix for Mac OS X Panther, an earlier version, on Thursday.
Wake up to the 'daylight-saving' bug (© CNET)

Also on the list is the challenge of centrally updating mobile devices such as laptops and smart phones.  Without a fix, calendars on those devices will show appointments at the incorrect time.

"My stupid calendar-synching phones--I haven't a clue how to automate the deployment updates to Windows mobile phones," said Susan Bradley, a network administrator at an accountancy firm in Fresno, Calif.  "So far, I've had to manually update them, and I don't know how larger firms will handle this."

Also, networking hardware may not be ready for the daylight-saving time change, which may impact the logging of activity such as who accesses the network and when, Bradley said.  Some enterprise hardware makers, such as Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks, have provided online guidance for customers.

To soften the impact, Microsoft recommends users of its products to pay extra attention to meetings and appointments scheduled between March 11 and April 1, as well as between October 28 and November 4.  (The daylight-saving time change means the clock is going to be turned back on the first Sunday in November instead of the last Sunday in October.)

"Users should view any appointments that fall into these date ranges as suspect until they communicate with all meeting invitees to make sure that the item shows up correctly on everyone's calendar both internally and externally," Microsoft has advised.

At Bradley's accounting firm, the IT team is telling employees to confirm the time of an appointment in the subject line of every meeting request as a workaround.

"When I talk to folks, no one has a clue this is coming and is just assuming it will magically work," Bradley said.
 
 

If you want to get them back temporarily (maybe you only need them for a quick second), just hit the Alt key on your keyboard and the menus will appear. Once they show up, you can do whatever you need to do with them. You need to be sure not to click your mouse anywhere else though, because if you do, they will disappear again.

Now, if you want the menus to be available permanently, just click on the Tools button and choose Menu Bar. That's all there is to it. Another way of getting them back is to hit the Alt key (the temporary way) and when the menus appear, go directly to View, Toolbars, Menu Bar. Either way, all of those helpful menus will stay put for good. Also, if you ever want to hide them again, just reverse the above actions and you'll be all set. It's just another way you can bring the comfort of IE 6 to IE 7. 

It's midwinter here in the northern hemisphere, while our friends on the bottom half of the Earth swelter through summer. Either extreme can be deadly for CDs you create yourself, as reader Dalton Seymour found out:

    "Just had a look at your Feb. 8, 2007, newsletter comments on how long CDs will last, which referenced McFadden's FAQ on the subject of CDs. This struck a chord with me because this year, I had the occasion to transport my computer system and collection of CDs from Michigan to Missouri in the dead of winter. Everything was packed up in the back of a pickup truck and covered with a tarp to make the trip. CDs were all in jewel cases packed in cardboard boxes.

      "When they finally arrived, many of the home-grown CDs containing music transferred from vinyl to CD had died. Most were of the gold variety. My guess is that subfreezing temperatures may actually crystallize the dyes embedded in the plastic. These were all CD-R, not CD-RW. I had this happen to me once a long, long time ago with floppy media, but the phenomenon there was related to the lack of hysteresis [persistence of magnetism] at freezing temps."

Right you are, Dalton. CD-Rs last longest in dark and cool (but not cold) environments. If you burn CDs to carry data between work to home, or to rip your own music mixes, or for any other reason, don't leave them exposed to extreme hot or cold. If you leave a CD-R sitting in your car in subfreezing temperatures or baking in the summer sun, you'll run the risk of losing the data on that CD in a remarkably short period of time.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Researchers looking to root out computer attacks hope that speed kills.

Penn State University scientists said they've devised new anti-worm technology that can identify and contain worms milliseconds after an attack by analyzing data packets' rate or frequency of connections, and their diversity of connections to other networks.

That allows the technology they term "proactive worm containment" to react more quickly to security threats, university researchers said.
Story continues below ? advertisement

"A lot of worms need to spread quickly in order to do the most damage, so our software looks for anomalies in the rate and diversity of connection requests going out of hosts," Peng Liu, a Penn State information sciences and technology professor and lead researcher on the project, said in a statement.

Researchers say that many current security methods focus on "signature or pattern identification" and cannot respond fast enough to prevent worms from exploiting networks. Those approaches, they say, often miss worms that mutate automatically, bypassing the existing anti-worm controls.

Penn State's efforts, however, aren't the only ones seeking alternatives to signatures or patterns, with varying degrees of success.

Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer with the security research organization SANS Institute, cautioned that some home and small business networks might have too much innocent activity — such as instant messaging or phone calls over the Internet — that could be considered suspicious based on the speed of connections.

And the Penn State technique won't catch slower-spreading worms, although Liu said current technologies already pick those up.

Trend Micro, more commonly referred to as Housecall, offers free virus scans and in most cases can fix damage down by a virus or worm that your computer may have contacted.  The program works well.  The first time one uses the free program it is necessary to download a small program. Trend Micro walks you through the process.   Then the virus scans are quite simple for each return.  Go to http://housecall.antivirus.com/  then choose the link   "Scan without registering".  Follow the directions.

You should disable any anti virus program that you have running.  If you do not have a virus program I recommend that you use one of the programs offered above first and then download and install one of the free programs listed below or install any anti virus program you have purchased.
**************************************************************************************************
Free Anti Virus programs for download. 
Quite a few KCnet members use these programs and like them.
Be careful if you download a virus program and you already have one installed on your computer.  You need to at least disable the program already installed.

AVG Free
AVG Free Edition is the well-known anti-virus protection tool. AVG Free is available free-of-charge to home users for the life of the product! Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

Avast
Avast has been "anti virusing" for quite awhile.  The following info comes from their download page:   Avast! Home is now free of charge for HOME users for NON-COMMERCIAL use. You can find more info here.
http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html
Note: This product is free for home non-commercial use after registration!
HINTS:   Click on the English Version Link and download the installation file.  Then click on the installation file and follow the directions.  You will need to return to the download page and click on the link to get the registration key.   It will be sent to you in an email after you provide some registration information.  This will give you 14 months of coverage including any updates which can be set to auto download.  You can reregister for additional free coverage at the end of the 14 months.
You will want to browse around and choose from the many options available for operation.  This process will take some time and digging.

Another good free program is:
http://www.free-av.com/
This one installs a bit easier than Avast.

**************************************************************************************************
Free Spybot and Adware programs for download.

Get ewido anti-spyware Free
ewido anti-spyware Free is a free anti-spyware protection tool developed by GRISOFT for home use. We invite you to join the millions of satisfied customers worldwide who have downloaded the software and now enjoy the benefits of ewido anti-spyware Free.
What you get with ewido anti-spyware Free
Easy to use
Daily database updates
Heuristics to detect unknown threats
Automatic Cleaning Engine
And most of all ... great customer satisfaction!
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5

Windows Defender (Beta 2) is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected, and a new streamlined interface that minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.4 - product description
Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software.
Choose one of the sites to download from.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

Ad-Aware Personal provides advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components. This software is downloadable free of charge.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
 

Here are a few sites of many that can help you determine if an email is a hoax or real.

http://www.snopes.com/
http://vil.nai.com/VIL/hoaxes.asp
http://kumite.com/myths/
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
http://www.scambusters.org/VirusHoaxes.html
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/hoaxes/
http://www.truthorfiction.com/
http://www.quatloos.com/

This health site is excellent for all ages.  Go to the home page and take the age test.  Register and build your personal data base of interests.  Read timely and informative articles and research.
 

Look for this graphic  then click on the orange circle labeled "Take the Real Age Test."   http://www.realage.com/

Other special readings:
•   3 Home Remedies for Heartburn
Heartburn is no walk in the park. But a walk in the park may be just what the doctor ordered. A stroll can help soothe reflux, chronic heartburn that is caused . . . Read more.
•  Colds Hate Positive People
Dread colds? Then be a Little Miss Sunshine. That's the word from researchers who tested the emotional outlook and immune-system capabilities of a group of adults. Cold viruses had a harder time taking . . . Read more.
•  All About YOU: Second Opinions on a Diagnosis
Got a troubling diagnosis? Wondering what to do about it? This may clear it up. How often does getting a second opinion change treatment substantially? . . . Read more.

Some of the interest areas to reasearch:

Read more and take the RealAge Test:     http://www.realage.com/

The site discusses the dangers of playing in the snow near the road and it talks about snowplows.
This site is a series of safety videos for kids. It teaches them about winter safety. There are five videos in total. Each video addresses a different part of being safe. So, it’s important to watch each video to learn all that you can. The videos are also available in French.
You will also find a Safety Games booklet available in both English and French. These will make it even more fun for your kids to learn about winter safety. They are in a .PDF format, so you will need to get a reader to see them. You can find one here for free.
There is also a link to Sammy Snowplow in the News, which will show the news clippings about Sammy Snowplow. You can also check out the Sammy Snowplow theme song just under the news link on the page.
I hope this site helps your kids learn how to play safely in the snow and I also hope you’ll share it with others!
http://www.sammysnowplow.ca/sammy.asp

We want to be the web's one-stop resource for country statistics on everything from soldiers to wall plug voltages.

You can also view profiles of individual countries including their maps and flags, use correlation reports and scatterplots to find relationships between variables, and refer to fully integrated encyclopedia with over one million articles.

This site also has a State Master --  Compare stats for states. 
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php

Did you ever wonder what an often used phrase really meant or where it originated or just how old it might be?  Here is where you can find those answers. 
You'll want to bookmark or favorite log this site for future use.  Put it with your dictionaries and encyclopedias.  I spent too much time on this site but enjoyed each minute.  The readings and explanations are good and the graphics are exceptional.
Phrases:  http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a.html

Other features on the home page include:
Meanings and Origins
Phrases, sayings and idioms meanings and origins
The meanings and origins of over 1,200 English sayings, phrases and idioms.
Whether you want to resolve a friendly argument over how a saying or phrase originated or whether you just enjoy words, you'll probably find something here to interest you.

A Phrase A Week
Have newly researched origins of phrases and sayings e-mailed to you each week with our free Phrase A Week mailing list (join here). You may also receive these updates each week via our A phrase a week - RSS feed news feed.

Bulletin Board
Phrases, sayings and origins Discussion Forum
Have you a question on the meanings and origins of sayings or phrases? Use our Discussion Forum to ask the people who know. Use the current forum to ask questions like "what's the origin of the phrase...", "what does this saying mean..."

Popular Fallacies
Popular fallacies - phrases and sayings.  We get thousands of e-mails about phrases and sayings and postings on our bulletin board. Many of them are useful additions, but some are, well, nonsense. We've made a collection of the most popular of these - the Nonsense Nine. 

There's also a searchable archive of more than 50,000 postings about sayings and phrases.
Home Page:  http://www.phrases.org.uk/index.html

The Presidential Political fanagling, bickering and posturing has started already.  Are you confused as to your position.  Here's a test that might just help you clarify whether you want to watch CNN, PBS, ABC, NBC CBS or Fox.  After a bit you'll want to concentrate on ESPN, Comedy Channell, or Disney (maybe).

The quiz was written by Victor Kamber and Bradley S. O'Leary and appeared in the October 28-30, 1994 issue of USA Weekend. Before you vote in the next election, take this quick, quiz to see where - and with whom - you really stand. 

Although this quiz is somewhat dated, there are new candidates to step into the spots vacated by a few of the pictured.  The scale is the same.  Dems are still the same Dems and Repubs are still the same Repubs.  Names change but the politics haven't.  Do you really know if your are Blue or Red or are you some shade in between?
http://franz.org/quiz.htm