Midspot

As you all know, Microsoft has been ever so kind as to allow us to “use” their new Operating System free for one year.

They have now successfully turned a bug into a feature:
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Watch the calendar. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you’ll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You’ll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use.
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Most of you Windows users will appreciate that they have finally gotten the mystery reboots timed to a schedule now so you can set your clock to remind you to backup before the dreaded BSOD.

Make sure to get it while it’s hot and before it attains the same stigma as Vista:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

On May 5th, general users will have access to an entire year of Microsoft’s brand new operating system, Windows 7, for free It is already available to download for MSDN and TechNet subscribers. This version is only the Release Candidate and will expire June 1, 2010. The Release Candidate is merely the near finished product and is basically the final stage in testing. It’s supposed to have all the features of the final version. We don’t know when the final version will be released but rumors say it’ll be either late 2009 or early 2010.

A beta version of Windows 7 was released some time ago, and from using it for a short time, I can gather that it was much faster and more friendly than Windows Vista. Indeed for those of you who hated Vista, Windows 7 is Vista done right. Windows 7 boasts a lot of new features including a new taskbar, libraries, jump lists, etc. Windows 7 will also come packaged with the newest Internet Explorer IE8.

via Microsoft to give away free Windows 7 for a year | mndaily.com – Serving the University of Minnesota Since 1900.

Had a plugin problem with WordPress that I had to resolve with a couple test posts…

Now back to your regularly scheduled program…

Early yesterday evening, BismarckTribune.com was attacked by a foreign hacker and malicious code was placed on some of our web pages. As of 12:30 PM Thursday, the code has been removed and the site is functioning normally.

The Bismarck Tribune would like to apologize for any inconvenience or concerns this may have caused. While this instance has been deemed a ‘low risk’ threat, we take these matters very seriously and have taken steps to prevent future attacks.

And for our readers that do not have virus/spyware protection, we offer the following free downloads:

AdAware – Spyware removal: http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

AVG – Antivirus software: http://free.avg.com/

Thank you,

Rod Austin

Online Manager

The Bismarck Tribune

rod.austin@bismarcktribune.com

701-355-8832

via Bismarck Tribune – Bismarck News – Bismarck Tribune site safe to use.

I am a fan of Clint Black’s music. Have been for years. But if any of you are watching this season of Celebrity Apprentice I think you know as well as I do that he deserved to get fired last night.

I like him as an individual and he is a great country music artist but he dropped the ball on the task by forging on without any support from the rest of his team and he ultimately failed miserably.

This is where things get ugly. Joan Rivers took personal offense to the way she was underutilized during the task and made that very clear in the boardroom. Clint was willing to take full responsibility for his actions and proved so by bringing back the two other girls on his team and leaving Joan out of the hot-seat.

Now after watching for a few weeks, I have lost a lot of respect for Joan and her daughter on the show just basically because neither of them can shut their mouth for more than two minutes. But all of that aside, Clint was fully ready to be fired.

Here is where the surprise comes in. When they get back into the room Donald Trump commends Clint for not bringing Joan back in as a scapegoat when they clearly weren’t getting along which tells me she is one of Trump’s favorites and possibly will end up being the winner of this season just for that fact. Then Trump puts Khloe Kardashian in the hot-seat for her DUI charge and proceeds to fire her for that. That’s right, she was fired for something that had absolutely nothing to do with the show or her performance on the task.

This my friends is how I lost respect for Trump and the show in general. I know that it is just reality TV and no one really cares if they win anyway because no one on the cast needs the job or the money, but that one move by Trump just proves that he is really just playing along, weeding off the cast one by one until Joan (or her obnoxious daughter) wins the title.

I really don’t think I need to watch the rest of the season now.

The Obama administration for the first time is weighing in on a Recording Industry Association of America file sharing lawsuit and is supporting hefty awards of as much as $150,000 per purloined music track.

The government said the damages range of $750 to $150,000 per violation of the Copyright Act was warranted.

“The remedy of statutory damages for copyright infringement has been the cornerstone of our federal copyright law since 1790, and Congress acted reasonably in crafting the current incarnation of the statutory damages provision,” Michelle Bennett, a Department of Justice trial attorney wrote .pdf Sunday to a Massachusetts federal judge weighing challenge to the Copyright Act.

The position — that the Copyright Act’s monetary damages are not unconstitutionally excessive — mirrors the one taken by the Bush administration and should come as no surprise.

Two top lawyers in President Barack Obama’s Justice Department are former RIAA lawyers: Donald Verrilli Jr. is the associate deputy attorney general who brought down Grokster and fought to prevent a retrial in the Jammie Thomas case. Then there’s the No. 2 in the DOJ, Tom Perrilli. As Verrilli’s former boss, Perrilli argued in 2002 that internet service providers should release customer information to the RIAA even without a court subpoena.

Presidential administrations often intervene in lawsuits in which the constitutionality of a federal law is in question. This case concerns a former Boston University student challenging a peer-to-peer file sharing case.

Still, parts of the government’s brief sounded as if it was taken from the RIAA’s public relations playbook.

“Congress sought to account for both the difficulty of quantifying damages in the context of copyright infringement and the need to deter millions of users of new technology from infringing copyrighted work in an environment where many violators believe that their activities will go unnoticed,” Bennett wrote.

The RIAA has sued more than 30,000 individuals for file sharing the last five years. It is winding down the campaign and is lobbying internet service providers to discontinue service to copyright scofflaws.

via Obama Sides With RIAA, Supports $150,000 Fine per Music Track | Threat Level from Wired.com.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — Imagine the Batmobile busting bad guys in Bismarck, North Dakota, or “Knight Rider’s” KITT corralling criminals on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Carbon Motors Corp.’s E7 concept vehicle was on display recently near the U.S. Capitol.

Carbon Motors Corp.’s new high-tech cop car prototype might not be quite up to superhero specs, but some police say it could be a welcome addition to their arsenal.

“I don’t see any downside to this car,” said Carl Latorre, a Pennsylvania State Police dispatcher who served 35 years as a Philadelphia police officer. “I am so excited about this car. This car rates up there with cops carrying automatic weapons to combat what the criminals carry now. It’s about time that something like this came about.”

OK, so it doesn’t have a nanotech cloaking capability or rocket boosters, but every feature on the Carbon E7 concept vehicle draws on suggestions from more than 3,000 law enforcement professionals.

via Cops help dream up high-tech police car – CNN.com.

You’ve got to be kidding me. A place like Bismarck, ND even has an opinion on something like this? Talk about complete overkill. We already got more cops per capita than any other city in the nation and now they need “supercars” to handle our extremely low crime rate?

Keep spending money foolishly like this and we will end up in the same budget scenario as California.

A fire alarm rang at 4 pm in a large office campus when almost all employees

were present ( approx 5,000 people ).

As per past fire-drill practices, the entire office was quickly evacuated

within 3 minutes, and all employees gathered outside the complex in

designated areas waiting for further announcement.

Before long, the fire drill officer in-charge made the following broadcast

over their loud-speakers system :

” My dear colleagues : With sincere regret, I have been asked to announce

that for many of you, this will be your last evacuation drill with us. Due

to the on-going recession and bad business climate, the company is laying

off almost 50% of its staff. So when this announcement finishes, I ask all

of you to move back into the building. And if your swipe-card does not

work, then it means that you have been laid off, in which case you will not

be allowed inside, and all your personal belongings will be couriered to you

by tomorrow.

The company is using this innovative, never-before approach as we do not

want to choke our email system with lay-off notices and farewell messages

going by the thousands, and we also wish to avoid any fighting inside the

office and the consequent security issues for all staff.

We hope you have had a rewarding career with us. Now please move back in…

and good luck ! ”

via Beware of the next fire drill!!! email Jokes PG13 Funny Links / Text Jokes.