Skip the history part if you just want the free stuff :-)
History
My McAfee subscription just expired and I did not feel like renewing it. Latest version was reasonable, but customer service had me doing stupid things for 10 days to get it to work. It still slowed down my system though.
I tried Norton (now owned by Symantec) a few years back, and that also made my system generally slow.
Before that (DOS to win95) I had F-Secure and that worked perfect. Unfortunately F-Secure gets evil when I use advanced memory management functions during application development and can slow down my system with more than a factor 10. No, this can not be configured to stop, since that, according to their support, would constitute a security risk. Adding exceptions to the scan only adds them for the scheduled and manual scans, not the real-time protecting. Very nice customer service though.
Only really good experience so far is Sophos, but they are targeting business and enterprises now. Too bad, I would be happy to pay. Had a free license through the university while I studied, and I never felt I had it running on my old machine. It never failed to stop a virus.
Free tools
Well, you came to read about free tools for protecting your computer. I asked around to hear what my friends and colleagues where using. One told me to try the free versions of AVG from GriSoft. I had never heard about them, but I checked them out on their homepage and wikipedia.
It took me a while to find the free versions, but the address is pretty simple once you do. I have had it for a week now, and it seems to be running without interfering with my system. I can't say how good it is at stopping viruses, but they get good reviews and awards.
The only issue is that the update is not hidden, but pops up with a lot of useless information while you work . It is OK for me, but for the average home user, it must be confusing. All the other tools mentioned does it without user interaction. I haven't found a way to configure it to stop doing it, but again - it's free.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Smoking ban in Denmark makes me want to dance
After watching the Simpsons movie we went to Heidi's Bier Bar. Great place with music from the 80's, and lots of dancing (also on the tables). Being at Heidi's is always good, but this time it was a lot better: No smoke. It really made a huge difference.
The reason is a new law that prohibits smoking indoors unless the room is less than 40 square meters. The lack of smoke made the whole experience that much better; no soar throat the day after either.
The real benefit however was the lack of drunk people with lit cigarettes. I have always found that the worst combination on bars and pubs, as they wander unpredictably through the crowded place with people around them trying their best to avoid potential burn marks.
The dance floor was also a success with no cigarettes in (un)controlled moves, and as always, if it gets too crowded people just use the benches and tables. If you haven't been to Heidi's yet, you like the after ski atmosphere and are between 20 and 40 years old, then go and give it a try.
I might actually begin to go out dancing again :-)
The reason is a new law that prohibits smoking indoors unless the room is less than 40 square meters. The lack of smoke made the whole experience that much better; no soar throat the day after either.
The real benefit however was the lack of drunk people with lit cigarettes. I have always found that the worst combination on bars and pubs, as they wander unpredictably through the crowded place with people around them trying their best to avoid potential burn marks.
The dance floor was also a success with no cigarettes in (un)controlled moves, and as always, if it gets too crowded people just use the benches and tables. If you haven't been to Heidi's yet, you like the after ski atmosphere and are between 20 and 40 years old, then go and give it a try.
I might actually begin to go out dancing again :-)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
About this blog
Finally I am ready to start writing on this blog. Before I begin, let me tell you what you can expect from this blog.
I will not write about
- Personal feelings
- Politics
Personal feelings are - well - personal, and I share those only with my friends and family.
Politics are a big part of my life, but I like to part politics and the rest, and as unflattering as it sounds, this blog covers the only the rest :-)
My political standpoint is not a secret, and my name can be found on google and the like, but this blog is about things that make me feel good, and hopefully you too. Politics have a tendency to do the opposite to a lot of people ;-)
So, here is what I do plan to write about:
- Things that are strange or make me laugh
- Things that might make you think
- Photography
- Very limited on personal life (should anything big happen)
- Other things I feel like (no reason to be too limited)
I hope you will enjoy my writings.
I will not write about
- Personal feelings
- Politics
Personal feelings are - well - personal, and I share those only with my friends and family.
Politics are a big part of my life, but I like to part politics and the rest, and as unflattering as it sounds, this blog covers the only the rest :-)
My political standpoint is not a secret, and my name can be found on google and the like, but this blog is about things that make me feel good, and hopefully you too. Politics have a tendency to do the opposite to a lot of people ;-)
So, here is what I do plan to write about:
- Things that are strange or make me laugh
- Things that might make you think
- Photography
- Very limited on personal life (should anything big happen)
- Other things I feel like (no reason to be too limited)
I hope you will enjoy my writings.
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