A little while ago I made a post about how I felt I was "Getting Absorbed Into The Net." Then today I read an article on nytimes.com about how Korea takes "web obsession" seriously to the point that there is a boot camp to cure it.

I couldn't believe it. Really? There are people who have lost their lives to the net? Even if that were true, big deal, right? Then I remembered stories about people sucked into MMORPGs. Apparently (and this probably has happened more than once) a young guy killed himself after losing his character in the game. It was like the game was his whole life, and he couldn't imagine going on living after it was over.

So this is serious.

I'm a fan of the "Ghost In The Shell" anime. I'm more familiar with the show than the films. The setting is a futuristic world in which the net has become a true virtual reality, brain-to-net interfacing has been achieved, and prosthetic bodies are in apparent widespread use. If you had such a body, you'd look and act like any normal person, but you could also multitask and surf the net in your mind — even while driving. I believe artificial intelligence exists in the show as well.

In one episode, it was explained and depicted how many youngsters can become so absorbed into the net that they need professional treatment. It's like they withdraw almost completely from the real world. One of the solutions put into use was to allow the kids to surf the net, but only so they could write security programs. The programs the wrote, I believe, were highly effective.

It was shocking to read how South Korea, already mega-networked, has been encountering similar problems in the real world. One kid at the boot camp said how he felt that 17 hours a day online was no big deal. It became such an issue that he and others would skip school, not to surf, but to sleep, as they'd been up all night online. Apparently some people have even died from staying online playing games for days at a time. It's that crazy.

I personally don't think I have a problem with the net, but you never know. They say first your tolerance levels rise for sitting at the computer for extended periods. (Check.) After that you surf more and more, and if anything comes between you and your computer, you can become quite agitated. Thankfully I'm not there yet, nor do I plan to be.

I had just assumed that as the internet comes to play a bigger role in all of our lives, we'd naturally use it more often. But not nonstop. That same kid at the boot camp found that real-life success in physical endeavors was much more fun than playing games online. He said his new perspective might even cause him to reduce his time online from 17 hours a day to just 5. Yes, it sounds ironic, but at the same time 5 hours a day online is probably normal for a lot of people.

What a wild world we live in.

On my browser's toolbar, I've bookmarked all of these sites in one folder, seeing as how they tend to come in handy fairly often. Some much more so than others. I had assumed that most other web surfers were similarly aware of these great sites, since they're so useful in finding practically whatever you have in mind. But today the thought occurred to me that there are probably a few people who aren't familiar with one or two (or more) of these helpful resources. So, without further ado, I present THE LIST:

1. Google - The mother of all Search Engines. My favorite part is that most pages are cached, so if the site is currently down or has undergone a major change, you can still see what came up in the results, with all your search terms highlighted.
2. Wikipedia - The user-generated online encyclopedia of everything. Some say that the "truth" found here is only what everybody agrees upon. And that's probably correct. But for most subjects, Wikipedia is a simple, dependable resource that can inform and educate in a hurry.
3. YouTube - Now owned by Google, YouTube is where to search for video clips from shows, movies, the news, and everywhere else. Eyewitness reports are often quickly uploaded to YouTube, so if a news story didn't provide the live footage you wanted, YouTube just might have it. It's also a decent place to find the occasional song, as some users upload whole tracks with album covers as the visual.
4. Dictionary.com - Much easier than using a conventional dictionary, as it's not heavy and you don't have to flip through page after page! Just type in your word or phrase, and even if you don't get the spelling right, you'll usually find just what you're looking for.
5. Thesaurus.com - Sister site of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com comes in major handy when you need to find another word for something. You'll never have to use, apply, or expend the same word twice.
6. IMDb - The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has detailed files on all movies, past, present, and even future! Who's that actor? Were there any goofs? When's the sequel? Just go to IMDb. There's even a forum and special features for registered users.
7. Internet Archive - Featuring the WayBack Machine, which keeps a record of every incarnation of a web page since that page's creation. You can go back in time and see the earliest form of pretty much any site. It can be extremely helpful when a page isn't currently available or no longer exists. Check out an early archive of Google. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
8. Acronym Finder - The next time you see a strange abbreviation, you can quickly and easily find out what it means. Pretty much every conceivable meaning of each acronym is listed, so all you need to do is find the one that fits the context.
9. Amazon.com - You can buy almost anything online, and Amazon.com is a great place to do it. They used to be mostly focused on books, but in recent times have broadened their horizons tremendously. Now they sell pretty much everything! Not only are the prices low, but free shipping is offered in many cases. One of the best features is the Customer Reviews section for each product. The next time you hear about a hot new item and need to find out the pros and cons from real users, just go to Amazon.com.
10. eBay - Here you can brave rapidly-growing world of consumer-to-consumer sales. Shopping eBay is riskier than Amazon, but there's definite potential to find some really great deals. What's more, some products that aren't listed at Amazon can be found at eBay. It's a great resource when you need to learn about a hard-to-find item or a mystery object.
11. Dogpile - A search engine that compiles results from Google, Yahoo, Live Search, and Ask. I used to use it until I found that it didn't offer the same caching of pages that Google provides. But Dogpile does have an "Audio Search" option that is supremely helpful. Whether you're searching for a clip of a radio interview, a song, or a sound effect, Dogpile's Audio Search is usually pretty helpful. It may take some time to find an audio link that works, but once you do, it's usually well worth it. And if you run out of options, you might try plugging the bogus links into the Internet Archive. The audio file may just be saved there.
12. Urban Dictionary - Dictionary.com is fine for "normal" speech, but what about all those new slang terms? Urban Dictionary is basically a WikiDictionary, where users add and define new words and phrases. The next time you hear a strange word that sounds like it was born yesterday, you can look it up at the Urban Dictionary.
13. OldVersion.com - This site features downloads of previously-released versions of popular software, including instant messengers, file-sharing platforms, web browsers, file unzippers, and graphics programs. When the new version isn't as good as the old one, or is too expensive, you can usually get the old one for free at OldVersion.com.
14. Alta Vista Babel Fish Translation - This is a killer resource that allows you to translate a block of text or an entire web page from one major language to another. The results aren't always word-perfect, but they'll usually provide you with enough information to understand what was written. The whole-page translation feature is amazing. If you're ever searching for something and it looks like you've found it, but it's written in a foreign language, you can clarify things with Alta Vista Babel Fish.
15. Google Blog Search - I just learned about this today. You can search for blogs that are written about or contain information on specific topics. Instead of just using Google to find out what websites are saying, you can use Google Blog Search to find out what people are saying on their blogs. So if you want a more down-to-earth take on something, this could be the site for you.

That's it! These are what I believe to be the top 15 online search resources. The internet has incredible informative power, if you know where to look. I hope I mentioned at least a couple of sites that you weren't fully aware of. Happy digital trails!

Some days, I find myself spending more time on the web than usual. Previously, extended web surfing would wear me down and get boring. The minutes would drag by. But now for some reason, I find myself losing track of time.

I'll think of something that needs to be done, and take care of it. Then I'll check on something. Then my attention will be diverted elsewhere. Pretty soon a couple of hours have gone by, and since I wasn't even paying attention, I'll wonder, "Didn't I just sit down?" It's a really bizarre feeling. It's like waking up.

When you go for a drive, and your mind is elsewhere, you may have a similar wakeup experience when you snap out of autopilot. Up to that point, everything that was necessary to keep you driving safely and smoothly was engaged, minus your memory. So you're taking in information and making decisions about when to turn, when to slow down, when to signal, and when to stop. But you're not really thinking about it, or keeping track of all the minor details. And then when your focus finally does come back to driving, the general feeling is, "How did I get here?"

The other night, I was on the web for a few hours, and for the first time I had the online version of that experience. I had taken a TV break a few hours prior, and when I "woke up" at the keyboard, I thought to myself, "Where have I been for these hours? What have I been doing? Didn't I just get up and start working at the computer? Did I watch more TV than I had intended?"

The truth of the situation, I believe, is that I had finished watching TV right on time, and gotten back to the net, but for some reason I "lost myself" in it. I haven't lost myself in any activity in quite some time. I've heard how it can be exhilarating, but this was more of a mild surprise.

A few years ago, I was playing the original MegaRace PC game. It was a lot of fun. There's a setup screen on a background of a futuristic cityscape with a pink and orange hue. One night I dreamed that I entered the game through the portal of the computer monitor. I was traveling through the advanced sunset-colored city. It was wild. And now, in a way, I'm one step closer to living that dream!

A few weeks ago, I would have said that given time, Vista will become the dominant MS OS. I had read someone comment somewhere that XP had a similar start, where people weren't sure whether to upgrade, and there were a lot of bugs and kinks that needed to be worked out. After the first Service Pack came out, however, the mass upgrades went into effect. So I just figured once Vista fixes itself, its time will come.

But then yesterday, I saw another one of those Mac vs. PC commercials. I hadn't seen them in a while, so it surprised me. What further got my attention was what the PC was doing. He got up behind a podium and began rallying the citizenry to "Ask not what Vista can do for you, ask what you can buy for Vista!"

Earlier in the commercial, he had said many people are giving up on Vista for Macs, and many are downgrading back to XP. I still use XP, as I'm of the mindset that brand new stuff isn't always better, especially when it's technology. But I never expected to hear that the first-to-buy crowd would ultimately regret their decision to the extent of reversing it.

Sure, the iPhone came out at a price far higher than where it's at now. And sure, people who buy early are learning more and more that there are distinct perils and pitfalls that go with that. And sure, it's just an ad. But even so, the idea of masses of people choosing the previous OS over the current one from MicroSoft, one of the most powerful companies worldwide, it just amazing. It makes me wonder whether there is truth to the message of the commercial, and whether Vista will ever be scrapped. To be honest, I don't see that happening. To much time and money has been spent on developing it. I think all it needs is a little more development to become more popular than XP.

But can you imagine? A company like MicroSoft failing its consumers? Does this remind anyone else of a similar thing that recently happened in another industry? "And now, the latest thing from…Britney Spears!"

This tutorial assumes 2 things:

• You own or have access to your own domain

• You are familiar with using an FTP program or other means of transferring files to and from your web site

Ok, so to start, you know what a favorite icon is, right? It's that little icon that appears to the left of a URL in a browser's address bar, and to the left of the page title in a browser tab. For Google, it's a blue "G" in a box. Pretty cool, huh? It adds a little something, a professional touch. It's all right if your site doesn't have one, but it would be neat if it did. Let's find out how to make it happen.

One simple method is to use a free piece of software called Paint.NET. It's like Windows Paint, but far more powerful. And it's free. You can get it at getpaint.net.

Now, once you've got that, you're going to need the Icon/Cursor Paint.NET Plug-in. Unzip that, go to the directory in which you installed Paint.NET, and place the IcoCur.dll file in the "File Types" folder.

Great! Now you've got a graphics program that can save icon files. So all you need is a picture. Find a site with public domain images. Wikipedia is sometimes useful, because when you click on an image, there's a box that tells you whether that picture is free for external use. Or, you can search Google for public domain images.

Find an image you like, but be aware that it is going to get very small. It must look good in a 16 by 16 pixel format. Open your chosen image in Paint.NET. At this point, you've got a few options. You can crop it and shrink it to 16×16, and then save it and pick the .ico file type. Or, you can crop it to make it square, but still big, and then save it without shrinking it. Or, you could just save it the way it is, without adjusting it at all. Whichever outcome looks best will probably be right for you. And be sure to name the file "favicon.ico." It may not really be necessary, since you can tell web pages where to look for it, but it's the standard. In fact, even if you don't specify whether you even have a favorite icon, the file favicon.ico will be used if it exists. So it's a pretty good idea to use that name.

What's great about Paint.NET is that you can save transparencies within an image. This is helpful when white isn't the background color, as happens when icons are displayed in tabs, or when the address bar changes colors. If you have a white area that is supposed to be the background to your icon image, you can delete that, and what will remain in Paint.NET is a transparent area that will carry over every time the image is displayed.

The icon extension is so powerful, it can save multiple icons in a single file. Sometimes a normal 16×16 icon isn't needed, and a 32×32 is. I've never run into that situation, but the icon plugin allows you to save the following formats: 16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 48×48, 64×64, 128×128, and 256×256. If your image is an odd format, like 256×193, you can also save that as a .ico, as long as it's not bigger than 256×256. And, each format can be saved as either 8-bit (low quality) or 32-bit (high quality). I usually just leave it on the default setting, which saves 4 different versions: 16×16 8-bit, 16×16 32-bit, 32×32 8-bit, and 32×32 32-bit.

What I've noticed is that it seems like IE will display 16×16 32-bit (high quality) in the address bar, but 16×16 8-bit (low quality) in tabs. Firefox seems to use the high quality version on both the address bar and tabs. Opera appears to prefer the low quality 16×16's on both address bar and tabs. So if you can, try to make your icon look great even when in 8-bit format, which uses fewer colors. That's probably why Google uses such a simple icon, a "G," since it will look good even at the lowest quality.

After you've adjusted your chosen image, resized it, and saved it in whichever .ico formats you chose, you can then upload it to the top level of your web site. It should occupy the same area as your index file (index.htm, or index.html, or index.php, etc.) assuming you don't have that in a folder. Once you do that, the "favicon.ico" file will be used by whatever browser looks for it. But just to be safe, you can also specify in the header portion of each of your pages where it is.

In the source of your web page, between <head> and </head>, add this:

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico">

That tells the browsers that don't automatically look for a favorite icon that they should, and where to find it. You should add that instruction to every page you want the icon to accompany.

Now, to test it out. IE isn't really helpful in this area, since for some reason it takes a while to update in the favorite icon area. Some say you need to clear the cache, or page refresh, or click the icon and drag it, and then release it to reveal the new one. A much easier method is to just use Firefox. I believe Firefox will look for a new favorite icon each time it loads a page.

If you've already saved your page as a favorite on your Bookmark Toolbar in Firefox, the old icon there may not change. So what you can do is bookmark the page again to the toolbar, and click the new bookmark to load the page. This tells Firefox to check and update the bookmark icon, and the old bookmark will do the same. Then you can delete the extra bookmark, and save one with the right icon.

If at this point your icon doesn't look quite right, you can go back and adjust it in Paint.NET. The beauty of the program is that once that you know how to make an icon image, you can update and change it as often as you please.

Yesterday I dusted the cobwebs off my copy of Opera, an alternate web browser which I don't use very often. I mainly go between Internet Explorer and Firefox. So I opened Opera, checked for and loaded the updates, and I was ready to roll. After surfing for a little while I began to notice something. All of the pages were loading quite quickly. It was as if I had already been to each one, and had a cached version stored. But that couldn't be. Opera hadn't had a chance to cache any pages, since I haven't used it in a while. And pages I’d never visited before were coming up fast too!

I was thrilled. I thought, "Yes! The ultimate browser! Finally I can surf almost as fast as I can think!"

I played around with Opera, seeing how quickly pages I knew took a few moments to load on other browsers would come up. It seems to me that Opera is faster in a relative sense. If a page is fast in IE, it will be really fast in Opera. If a page is very slow in IE, it will be slow for Opera, too, but still much faster overall. "Opera Slow" is indeed pretty quick.

This all piqued my interest, so I did a short search for why Opera is so fast. I didn't search very long, but one of the results i found mentioned how Opera loads things in a different order than most browsers. Sounds fine. Great even!

Or so I thought, until later when I found out that Opera apparently has had a history of flaws, especially when dealing with CSS. I found and read an article by Andy Budd called "Why I Don't Care About Opera." He basically explains how Opera started out as a possible end to the reign of Internet Explorer, but then got left behind by all its competitors collectively, and ended up a browser that usually "breaks" when confronted with CSS.

What does this mean? Well, I guess it means that there's a browser out there that can run circles around the others speed-wise, but won’t necessarily display things the way webmasters had intended. So the question is, am I willing to wait just a little longer for a website to load correctly?

I think I am. Sorry, Opera.

This blog used to be located at nuclearnoir.com. I've since decided to use that domain for another project, and move to a new site where the main focus can be my blog. I figured it wouldn't be too difficult, and it really didn't seem that way, at first. I was able to copy everything, but when I finally went to click on a post's permalink, I got a 404 error.

I searched the web, and tried a few solutions. My old permalink structure had been the "year, month, day, post title" kind, so I wanted to keep it that way here. After a short while of trial and error, I found a solution. Now my permalinks work just fine. Here's how I did it.

First, I had to move my blog. I logged into my dashboard at nuclearnoir.com, and clicked on the Manage tab.

In the subset of tabs, I clicked Export.

I clicked the "Download Export File" to save all my old posts to my computer.

Then I installed a fresh version of WordPress at Misinterpreted.org, using the Famous 5 Minute Install method.

Then I FTP'd to NuclearNoir and copied the entire wp-content folder to my hard drive.

I FTP'd to Misinterpreted.org and copied the wp-content directory in its entirety over the "blank slate" version the fresh install had created.

I logged into my new dashboard at Misinterpreted.org and clicked the Options tab.

On the subset of tabs, I clicked Permalinks.

I changed the setting from Default to "Date and name based," which is how I had it at NuclearNoir.

Then I clicked the main tab Manage, and the sub tab Import.

On the Import page, I found WordPress at the bottom of the list of links, and clicked it.

I uploaded the saved export file from NuclearNoir, which added all my old posts to the new site.

Hello World was still showing as my first post here at Misinterpreted.org, since I had just installed WordPress, so I tested it's permalink. 404 error.

After various other attempts, I FTP'd to Misinterpreted.org and changed the .htaccess file.

This is what it contained before I altered it:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Then I added a little bit, to make it look like this:

<Directory />
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
</Directory>

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

I tested the permalink, and got a 500 Internal Server Error.

I tried to load my homepage, but got the same error.

I changed the .htaccess back to the way it was.

My site came back, and permalinks now work!

If I hadn't found a solution, I could have left permalinks on Default, since that was the only setting that worked to begin with. But I figured the date and title would be more helpful.

I hope this helps some of you trying to resolve the same problem. If anyone can tell me why changing the .htaccess file and then changing it back worked, I'd love to know.

Mass hysteria!!!

But seriously, what would happen if all the computers everywhere suddenly no longer had access to the internet? All the servers go down, and suddenly we've got no email, no instant communication, and no online banking. Transactions are frozen in limbo, money is tied up, and people can't get word to one another as quickly and easily as before.

Enter the cell phone. Everybody starts texting or calling one another, using mobile devices as a way to bridge the communication gap that was suddenly created by a global lack of internet access. Everyone calls everyone else all at the same time, and overload whatever cellular systems hadn't already been taken out with the World Wide Web Crash. So now there's no internet, and no cell phone.

People again switch tools, and move to land lines. But there are far fewer land lines than cell phones. Indeed, many households with four cell phones have at most two separate land lines. Half the calls that would have been made on a cell phone never get made at all. Lines form at the telephone booths, riots ensue, communication breaks down, and progress suffers. The world hits a standstill.

Meanwhile, the Storm Worm hacks its way into the government's nuclear facilities, and launches on the Russians.

John Connor: "Why attack Russia? Aren't they our friends now?"
The Terminator: "Because SkyNet knows the Russian counter-attack will eliminate its enemies over here."

So, if the net went down, what would happen? People would turn to cell phones, then turn to land lines, and then turn to the window and squint at the mushroom clouds.

Have you heard of the Storm Worm? It's a virus that is subtly spreading through cyberspace. It gets into your computer through an infected link, and once it's in, gains control over your system. It has very few noticeable symptoms. That means that your computer could be infected right now, and you wouldn't even know it.

Apparently, thousands and thousands of computers are already affected, and there's no way to stop the Storm Worm from spreading to thousands more. All the computers infected make up a network that gives incredible power to whoever is orchestrating this whole thing, because all those computers can be used to run programs, send files, visit websites, and do pretty much anything the virus' creator wants. So far, however, very little has been done with Storm Worm computers, which is why they're so hard to find. A few web sites have been attacked, including one aimed at describing exactly how the Storm Worm works, but that's been about it.

In Terminator 3, a virus spread throughout the internet, infecting computers with itself. It turned out that a powerful U.S. government system called SkyNet had become self-aware, and was using the virus to gain control over every computer and machine it could.

People theorize that the Storm Worm's owner will only use his power when his network of infected PCs reaches into the hundreds of millions. What if the owner is SkyNet? What if AI has already emerged? And Judgment Day is today, 6 hours from now?