Having suffered through seven (or is it now 9, can’t remember) hard drive crashes in the past year, I was intrigued by this article by Geeks Are Sexy about freezing your hard drive to recover data.
I, too, had heard about this technique over the years, and while it kind of makes sense, I passed it off as one of those dumb myths that get passed around a lot. Well, maybe I was wrong.
After this, I shoved it in the freezer, and waited an hour.I finally installed it back in the computer, closed the case, and pushed on the power button.
YES! it works, the computer is starting correctly! Unfortunately, after I logged in, Windows froze and I wasn’t able to do anything. I tried rebooting, and….Well, at least the hard disk spinned for about 2 minutes before crashing again. Maybe that’s not long enough to let me recover any data, but it worked for a little while. :)
In the comments, there are a lot of other recommendations and admissions that this has worked for other sufferers of hard drive crashes. I’ll have to try it next time…pray there is no next time.
Two of our dearest friends come to Israel to explore the country for the first time, and us for the last time for a while, just before we left Israel a few months ago. It was great having them there and made the process of leaving the country much easier. They were also with us when the confirmation came through that our next stop was Alabama. The husband was born and raised in Alabama, so he promised us that the minute we got back, he would flood our email inbox with jokes and lessons about life in Alabama. And he continues to keep his promise. Al, you are just too much!
Uncheck the box next to AUTOMATICALLY DOWNLOAD MESSAGE WHEN VIEWING IN THE PREVIEW PANE (press spacebar to download the message)
From the menu choose TOOLS, OPTIONS
Click OKAY
capabilities doesn’t mean you can’t get some information about the email before you delete it while still protecting your computer. To view the text of a message, including the names of the sender and any encoded content, you have some choices:
involved in that, do you? But it’s true. We all like to have a good time and the joy of computers is their ability to have fun and play games as well as their ability to do the task at hand.
up there), and steering. Your mouse skills will improve greatly by just playing this game for twenty minutes. The problem will come in stopping after twenty minutes!
Oh, boy! Want to leave the planet and have the time of your life? The games produced by 
forward in time to stop someone from messing with the time line. You visit incredibly realistic and interactive locales such as Leonardo da Vinci’s studio and home, the ancient Mayan Temples in their prime, the castle of Richard the Lion-hearted during a siege, a space station floating out in the far reaches of space, and more. Award-winning, these games are not for the weak minded. They will test your analytical skills and problem-solving techniques. These games involve a lot of learning, about history, archeology, anthropology, art, and more. You learn to build things using da Vinci’s plans and drawings and pour through his brilliant designs and blue prints. You learn about the secrets of the priests inside the Mayan Temple and learn to read a little Mayan. Brilliant time wasters that teach as you go, without feeling like you are learning but experiencing!
The first of the most incredible interactive realistic RGP computer games ever made, Myst brought to the world the real potential of what a computer could do to the world. In Myst, you help research the ages created through books, which transport you to the same island but a different time and 
and place. You become an archeologist and detective, searching for the clues as to what happened here and who done it – who is ruining or interfering with the ages? In the sequels, Riven and Exile, the technology improved greatly so you can actually get sea sick watching the water move around the island. These are not violent games and there are few chances to die, but there are tons of challenging puzzles that will get your brain working to figure it all out. A new sequel, 
You are in an open field west of a big white house with a boarded front door. 
by all. One of the great granddaddy of the first computer games was Zork. Imagine reading a book and being able to control each page, twisting and turning down different paths, a treasure hunter – finding things and figuring out how to make things work to get you further along the way, exploring as you go, occassionally meeting the bad guy in the form of a troll or gru (ah, they hate the light) and risking your life to defend yourself. Most of the best interactive games today came from the successful techniques created in Zork and its sequels. Over time the Zork games became more sophisticated, culminating in the Myst style interactive and highly graphical interface of 
This is the ideal, rarely boring, and completely addictive Maj Jong or Tai Pai game. Based on the traditional tile Japanese games, this goes way beyond with incredible colors and responses. It is not only fascinating, it stimulates the brain’s recognition of patterns and combinations. I’ve introduced this to many friends who hate me later for getting them totally hooked. Don’t take my word for it, download the 
When people stop by, they are always amazed at how my computer talks to me. You know, it gets lonely being stuck all alone with just a computer to amuse you, so why not have it really amuse you by talking to you?
When you need some help in Microsoft Word or Excel, you know the little paper clip dude or the puppy dog that pops up to help you? This is one of your Window’s operating system helpers, a character. With a little help, these characters can do more than just help you when you need help.
To use MSAgent characters, you have to download a few free add-ons to Windows. Begin by visiting 
available online and my particular favorite comes from 