Category Archives: General Comments

I did a count this morning on the number of banks I pass by on my drive to work.  My drive is about 14 miles, one way. 
I counted:
3 McDonalds
4 Full service grocery stores.
7 drug stores.
15 gas stations
and
21 Banks!
Why do we need 21 banks in 14 miles?  The numbers are actually skewed  a little bit since I drive through about 5 miles of forest preserves.  In a 6 mile stretch of 95th street, there are 17 (soon to be 19) banks!  Why do we need 3+ banks PER MILE?  That means every 0.315 miles there is a bank.  In layman’s terms, you won’t have to walk more than 2 and a half blocks to get to a bank!  I know there are 2 banks (soon to be 3) within 2 blocks of my house.  This is a Google map of a 6 mile stretch of 95th street.  I think I may of missed some as well.

I really think the Chicago market is way over-saturated with banks.  Honestly, with direct deposit I see a bank about once a month, worst case.  Normally it is once ever 2 months that I need to see a bank.  I can understand why there are so many gas stations, everyone needs to get gas once a week.  We are actually a little light when it comes to grocery stores.  I know everyone HAS to go a grocery store or eat out all the time every week, or more.

My younger brother brought up a great point, banks really don’t do much for the community.  They provide a service, but very little tax revenue.  A gas station or grocery store generates a lot of tax revenue for the community it is in and provides a useful service you NEED.  You do need banks, they are much better than currency exchanges or check cashing, but, why so many?  It is really a terrible waste of often prime real estate. 

Oh, darn, the man who organized the religious right into a political force is dead.

Oh, also, he was total scum as well.  I would never usually think ill of the dead, but if there is a hell, I hope he is there.

Here are a few little know facts about Cyberphreak.com.
Did you know?
I have one of the largest Zaurus Software depositories on the internet?
http://www.cyberphreak.com/zaurus/feed/ contains more than 650 packages and is the most commonly hit directory on Cyberphreak.com
I get an average of 200+ hits a day?
I don’t know who they are, but I get ’em. Many from Europe and Japan for some reason. Maybe I am huge in Japan and don’t even know it.
In February of 2008, Cyberphreak.com will be 10 years old?
Wow.
Cyberphreak.com contains more than 19,000 files?
Those Glenn photos really add up.
Cyberphreak.com is created with entirely free software running under Linux?
The pages are edited in Quanta+, Graphics are done in G.I.M.P. or Digikam, ftp is via gFTP or Konqueror, previewed in Firefox.
I have never charged or had paid advertising?
I loath adds, I don’t care if the site costs me about $85 a year, with the domain name.
The name Cyberphreak.com was completely pulled out of my ass?
I thought it just sounded cool, I have never phreaked in my life.
That cyberphreak.net and .org have changed hands about 30 times in the time I have had this site up?
Poor bastards.
Cyberphreak.com has outlived 3 of it’s hosting providers?
I hope it is not my curse. I am currently with the largest host on the internet, so I hope they don’t go under or get out of the business.
So far this year people visiting Cyberphreak.com used Firefox over Internet Explorer users 2 to 1?
Good market penetration there.

About 2 or 3 times in my life I have experiences “sleep paralysis.”
It is basically you are going to sleep or just waking up and the part of your brain that keeps you from injuring yourself is still on, but you are semi or almost fully aware. It is a very odd feeling, not being able to control your limbs for a few minutes.
What makes it even scarier it is often accompanied by VERY vivid hallucinations (visual, audio, and touch.) Most scientists think it is the origin of most, if not all alien and ghost sitings. It ALSO has a lovely sense of extreme dread along with difficulty breathing thrown in for extra fun.
So, to get to the point, the object of dread is often cultural and not universal. For instance, many people see aliens, or ghosts, shadow people, devils, demons, or in the past succubus or old hags. In my case, I dreaded and was convinced a burglar was trying to break into my apartment at the time. It was the whole nine yards, rattling the door handles and a person dressed in black. But, notice, it was a person I was dreading. Not a supernatural entity. I happen to be an atheist, and don’t believe in ghosts, aliens, hobgoblins or whatnot.
So, if you have ever experienced sleep paralysis, what did you perceive as your source of dread? Did it relate directly to your belief system?

My computer had been locking up too often, and I knew it was hardware related.
So, first I cleaned the case and the CPU heat sink. That helped for a while, but it then started to lock up again. Then I noticed the chipset fan was turning sloooowly, so I replaced that. Got a little better, but still would lock up after about 12 hours. Then I replaced the power supply. No dice.
So, finally I bought some new, silver based head sink compound. I had heard that silicone based compound can dry out. It has been 4 years since I installed the current heat sink. I pulled up the heat sink and there was NO material between the die of the CPU and the heat sink. It looks like it migrated away from the die over these years.

As you can see, there was almost nothing conducting heat other than force of habit. Apparently, the tape type compound used before is wax and silicone based. You can see how it migrated away from the die to the outside of the die. Now, with the new silver grease, there have been no lockups and the CPU is running about 8 degrees C cooler than before.

We shall see if this does the trick.