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If you spend a lot of time online, chances are that you use or have used some form of instant messenger. There are so many instant messaging services out there, it is tough to even know about all of them! The most popular services are AIM/AOL, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, and ICQ. So what do you do if you mainly use AOL but some friends of yours only use MSN? What you need is a multi-platform instant messaging client!

There are many free multi-platform instant messaging clients out there, but the most popular ones are probably Trillian and GAIM. I have been a big fan of Trillian free version for many years, but it has not been updated in a long time and the MSN Messenger component has had problems for a while. Lately I can not even connect to MSN Messenger through my Trillian client. So what is the solution? GAIM!

I am currently running the GAIM Instant Messenger client connected to AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MSN Instant Messenger, Yahoo Instant Messenger and Sametime (company IM).

You can find links to the newest GAIM beta version from here:
http://gaim.sourceforge.net
I would suggest grabbing the newest beta version (highest number). If you are running Windows, get the version that has a similar name to “gaim-2.0.0beta5.exe“. Enjoy!

On a related note, it appears that Cerulean Studios (the makers of Trillian) are working on cooking up a brand new cross platform Instant Messenger client named Trillian Astra. You can take a sneak peak of the application here. I do not yet know whether or not they will offer a free version of Trillian Astra.

AMC Movie Watcher
Do you like going to the movie theater? If so, you should check out AMC’s MovieWatcher program. Membership is free and the program allows you to accumulate moviewatcher points that can earn you free drinks, free popcorn, discounts and even a “night out at the movies”. A night out at the movies gets you a 2 free movie tickets, two medium drinks and a large popcorn. You get an award approximately every third visit, so the benefits can be seen often. Check it out and sign up for free at moviewatcher.com.



AMC Movie Watcher UPDATE (03/02/2007)

It seems that the Night out at the movies reward has been changed by AMC! Last time I received the award, I was only provided with ONE free ticket, ONE small popcorn and ONE small drink. I am very disappointed at this change. If any of you have any experience with the AMC MovieWatcher program or you have also noticed this change, I would love to hear your thoughts. Please let us know by replying below (no registration required).

Recently a friend asked me for advice regarding a program called WebRoot SpySweeper. WebRoot SpySweeper is a commercial product that charges an annual subscription rate in order to keep its’ spyware definitions up to date. This product also comes bundled with many new systems, so some users might find it “magically there”. My friend asked me whether or not he should renew the subscription. My answer is NO!

I’ve used many AntiSpyware programs, and in my experience, the best product is a piece of software named SpyBot Search & Destroy. SpyBot Search & Destroy is completely free. There is no cost for you to download, install and update the detection definitions. In past times, I have found SpyBot is able to fix issues that the following programs could not fix: WebRoot Spysweeper, Windows Malicious Software removal tool, McAfee Antispyware, and more. So if you’re looking for a Spyware protection product or you’re thinking about purchasing WebRoot SpySweeper, think again!

You can download SpyBot Search & Destroy absolutely free from here:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
Of course if you do find it extremely useful and the product has helped you out, please consider making a donation to the author of the program to help with continued development of this great product.
Note: It is ESSENTIAL that you perform a successful update of the programs components before running a system scan. If an update fails, try selecting a different update server from the program update screen.

Edition. This is one of the first programs made for detecting and removing adware andAnother free alternative for SpyWare detection and removal is Ad-Aware SE Personal spyware. Ad-Aware is definitely a solid offering, but I prefer SpyBot. If you would like to check out Ad-Aware, you can read about it and find a download link here:
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Domino’s pizza is now advertising a new “Brookyln style” pizza. I’m a big fan of thin crust or east coast style pizza, so we decided to order up a couple pies to try out their new offering. We were able to easily order online at dominos.com. Their web-based ordering system is pretty easy to navigate and you can even pick from a list of online coupons when ordering. We clicked through some ordering pages, filled out a contact number, address and payment info, and then started the waiting game for delivery.

The pizza arrived about 40 minutes later, a little bit longer than their 23 – 33 minute estimate that was displayed to us online. I grabbed my cheese pizza and started to dig in. The Dominos Brooklyn style is a suprisingly tasty pizza. The crust was very thin and the amount of sauce and cheese included made for a great pizza. Perhaps a little bit more cheese would have made it an even better pizza, but I did not order “extra cheese” after all. I have to say, this has got to be my new favorite mainstream, large pizza company pizza. You see, I’m not a big fan of the PizzaHut’s or Domino’s of the world, but this is a pretty good tasting pizza. If you’ve never tried a “east coast style” pizza, then I would encourage you to give Domino’s Brooklyn style a try.

But let me get something straight, Domino’s Brooklyn style is definitely NOT a replacement for a true small shop good quality pizzeria pizza. If you’re looking for one of the best pizza’s in the valley, I recommend checking out LUNA pizza, a small shop with two locations in north Phoenix. Luna has pizza down to an art form with great tasting sauce, a delicious crust and the perfect amount of cheese per pizza. Luna is my current favorite pizza in the Phoenix valley.

Have you tried Dominos Brooklyn style? Do you have a favorite pizzeria? Let me know by replying to this article.

Many friends and associates ask me for advice on AntiVirus software. It is common for computer manufacturers to bundle Norton AntiVirus or McAfee AntiVirus trial versions along with new computers. But guess what? These trial versions expire and the programs are soon asking you for your money in order to maintain a virus definition subscription service! Should you renew these services and pay for a virus definition subsciption? My answer is No! So what AntiVirus software should you use?

There are a few AntiVirus programs that you can find online for no cost. These programs take zero money out of your pocket and they will still protect your computer against viruses. My recommended picks are below. Both of these products offer daily virus definition updates and “on-access” real-time virus scanning. The best part is, they’re 100% free!

GriSoft AVG AntiVirus FREE edition:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-virus-free

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic:
http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html

Other Tips:
Make sure to completely uninstall Norton or McAfee products, preferably before you install AVG or Avira AntiVir. Running two different AntiVirus programs simultaneously can cause conflicts on your computer.

Schedule a weekly full system virus scan at a time when you will not normally be using your computer. Example: 3AM on a Sunday.

Regularly backup important files. There is no AntiVirus product that is 100% effective. To protect against data corruption or loss, make a backup of critical files on a routine basis.

I’ve been sick the past few days. Therefore, at the moment I’m primarily resting in bed and trying to get over the illness. My girlfriend also had a visit to the hospital recently, which means I spent the night over at John C Lincoln hospital (Dunlap and 3rd St) sleeping in a chair.

Thankfully all signs and medical tests indicate that my girlfriend will be okay. The visit to the hospital was due to symptoms of visual distortion, numbness in the arms/hands, numb lip and trouble speaking. Currently all the doctors believe that it was a severe migraine. This was the first migraine of this magnitude that she had ever experienced. I did not even realize that a migraine could have these type of symptoms! Our experience at this hospital was extremely bad, perhaps I’ll post more on the John C Lincoln mess at a later time…