Frequently Asked
( but not always answered ) Questions.

Close



Q )
Do you have the Boot Code for Yahoo?
A )
No, I do not have the boot code, nor do I pass on where to locate the boot code. I have not found any reason to boot anyone off Yahoo and find Ignore works more than well enough to suit my needs. The "Boot Code" does not work on most client software so, it is questionable just how effective such measures are. The only times I get booted off Yahoo myself are when I disconnect due to a flood of the room and my auto ignore is off. Even then such measures do little more than give me a small problem, and when I come back the auto ignore is on, and the user is ignored so it is no longer a problem for me anyway. I will also mention at this point, some supposed "boot codes" can contain Trojan programs that can do damage to your computer. So you should be very careful what you are asking for when seeking out such software.


Q )
Are you a Yahoo Expert?
A )
No, I am just a chatter. The Yahoo Expert program is something most can join but I have not found time to bother with it personally. Most of my time is spent in day to day stuff, and adding onto Web pages I do or manage for others. I am not even sure what the term Yahoo Expert implies.



Q )
A/S/L ??? or any other lame attempts at online Romance.
A )
As I say in chat often, " I refuse to answer on the grounds of self incrimination." If you feel that is a cop out, well lets say older than the average age of chatters,have children, and it is not hard to figure out about where I am located at if you wish to look. I am not interested, nor do I take part in Cyber dating, Cyber Romance, Cyber Marriage, or other such things that go along those lines. Sorry if that bursts anyone bubble, or rains on anyones parade. I am here solely to pass time, help people and I am not sure what my age, sex, or anything about where I live has to come into play for me to perform any of those. I talk to all ages, and I am willing to try to help anyone on a few very basic conditions. One I do not like to see swearing. It is my feeling that with kids and others in the room such words do not need to be used and even in private messages I really do not care to hear them. I am old enough to have heard them all before and know full well what they mean. They have little shock value to me, so they have no point in being used in conversation with me. Really if you come down to it, the use of such language just marks someone as lacking a command of language and to express themselves clearly enough by having to resort to such terms. Second I do not really enjoy being hit on, asked to cyber, or otherwise bothered in that way. Lets do a small bit of reasoning here also. If I were looking for "cyber" or even "real life" romance, what would be the point of being in a chat help room? Would it not be more logical for me to be in a romance room? So thanks but no thanks to all of those seem to be of the opinion they are such a gift to the other sex that one would completely overturn ones life in the hope of being with them. Enough said.



Q )
Are you a hacker?
A )
Gawd no. I can say I have never hacked anyone's equipment, accounts, or any thing online in my life with the possible exception of my own passwords when I forget them. I do know the general process of it but took the time to learn that so as to protect myself from attacks is all. The term hacker is often mis-used or incorrectly applied anyway. I am just someone who has used computers as a hobby for many years. I have not been to school or been formally trained in anything pertaining to computers. I have however been around them since the days before MS-DOS so I have had to pick up a few things in that length of time. To a total new comer, I may seem to have "hacker" knowledge of the computer, but the truth is there are really very few true "hackers", just as there are relatively few at the top of any profession or skill. Most supposed hackers are little more than kids playing around with some basic knowledge of internet protocol looking for something to do. This is not to say they cannot do major damage to someone if allowed to but I would not call many of them true hackers. I can only say Lord help anyone who draws the unfavorable attention of what I would term a true Hacker. To do so is about like trying to play against say, Tiger Woods on the golf course, you are almost surely going to look pretty bad.


Q]
Why are all your pages using the same backgrounds and other graphics?
A)
Simply put, it saves time when you change from one page to the next. For example, on most browsers there is a "cache" that retains copies of files downloaded from webpages as you move about online. This is true of every site you stop at just about. So, once a file is downloaded it is stored and if the browser is doing it's job, it does not ask for thaf file again. Same for buttons, and so on. One other thing, using the same background and other graphical content allows me to make changes to all the pages at once. I think most of us have been to webpages that seem to take forever to load and most studies show if a page does not load in 30 seconds or less the person viewing it moves on. Not everyone has DSL or Cable Modems so it is best to try to limit the content of pages to less than 150kb or so per page. I try to work within this suggested size in most cases. I would also mention that servers even Yahoo and Tripod limit bandwidth on free webpage space. This means if I make huge pages fewer people will be allowed to view them before the page shows as "unavailable at this time" on the server. It is also why there are mirror sites for these pages.



Q)
Why do I get an Error on my browser status bar when I visit your webpage(s)?
A)
To be honest about the error in most cases is not mine or my page. Pages that have been error free for weeks and weeks have suddenly have errors on them are usually the result of a server problem. In the case of Yahoo-Geocities or Tripod-Lycos it is generally in the banner content and webbugs they contain. You will notice at the end of the HTML after the closing HTML tags on the Geocities pages, there is a script that says remove everything after this line. The error is in or has to do with a call made in that script or an object that is not found on their server. On Tripod Lycos the banner/script is at the top of the page just below the body tag. If that script is not included my pages have no errors on most any browser here. So that is all I can say. When the server gets the error repaired the page error message will disappear. Both Geocities and Tripod are a free service and generally they both do a fine job from what I can see. So it is hard to complain about them too much. I do not get any income from these help pages so I do not see a point in paying for hosting them if I can avoid it. I do not feel they have enough traffic anyway to warrent it nor do I believe ad revenue would cover the cost of paying for hosting for these pages. I put them here with the hope they are helpful to someone and if you wish to help out feel free to mention the pages to anyone looking to contract someone to build a webpage(s) for them.



Q)
What do you recommend to chat with on Yahoo?
A)
I think all the non-Yahoo made clients have their good points and less than good points. The truth is they are all wonderful compared to anything I could hope to write, and I really am more than happy to recommend any of them to anyone. Yahoo's own software (Messenger and JAVA based chat ) both have their weaknesses and exploits that make them less than great for chatting in my opinion unless it is done on a very casual basis. This is not to say they still are not better in many ways to the chat software offered by most other sites. Considering the cost of the use of any of the clients or Yahoo chat, I think they are a great deal. Getting back to the client question, most of the choice depends on what you like and feel comfortable with using. It is kind of like shopping for clothes or a car or anything that is a personal perference. I try to be very honest and impartial about my view of all the chat options for Windows based systems I know of at this time. They all have screen shots that are full sized if you want to look at them to compare. All work fine if your system is correctly functioning, and I have no big problems using any of them. My personal choice as to what I use is based on my personal preferences and use and may not be the same as yours. Click here for clients page.



Q )
Are the program downloads from your site safe?
A )
I do not suggest you go out and wildly download files from personal webpages like mine. I can however say mine are as safe as they can be, and fully scanned by the most currently updated anti virus software available at the time they were uploaded. ( I do not download them daily and check them ) They are the same files I have used, and continue to use personally. I do not suggest you take my word for it, but if you are interested in a program I have, get your anti-virus software updated and scan it before you open any files. See the Zip Basics and Helps & Links page if you do not have antivirus software, or do not know how to set it up for use with you Zip Utility. Given the rest of the pages on this site, it should be pretty clear I tend to be a bit of a security nut more than someone who passes on worms, virus files or Trojan Horse programs. If you are still unsure, in most cases there are links to the authors websites. If that is not the case for the program you are interested in, email me. I will try to locate a site for you if you cannot find it. The only way most of the files on this site could be infected is if the site was "breached" and someone downloaded the files, added the virus or whatever to the files and then uploaded the files again, or Yahoo Geocities infected them, or the infection is on your end prior to downloading. My system has not had a virus threat even for about 6 months and I do keep VERY current on Virus Signature files, like ever few days, scan the entire computers content weekly as well as the bootscans and random scans done on bootups. Boot sector and real time disk write scanning are also enabled on this machine. I clearly mark the extention of files downloaded from this site and I ALWAYS suggest anyone downloading files from any site download them to disk unopened and scan them before attempting to open them. Yahoo/Geocities does not permit the upload of EXE ( directly startable program files ) to their Host site, and is smaller in available storage, so the bulk of download content is on the Tripod server.


Q )
Can I add you to my Yahoo Messenger Friends List / Contact you about other Computer problems?
A )
If you must, but do not be shocked if I cannot do the same for you, or do not reply too promptly to any request to be added. The reason for this is I seldom use Yahoo or other Instant Messengers. I tend to work online doing webpage updates and leaving any instant messenger program on just seems to hinder my work time while online. So I seldom use any instant messenger for that reason. All Instant Messengers are also a security risk in some way or another as well so I tend to not use them for that reason also. I also should mention my friends or buddy lists are often full or close to it so adding someone is often only possible by removing someone else. The fact is the problem has gotten so bad with my IDs on Yahoo if I do run Messenger I do so with an ID not connected to these pages or my other IDs, and only family who wish to contact me has the information as to what that ID is. If you have a pressing question you are most likely to get a faster reply by sending it to me via the email links on the page. If you have not found them, here it my email address. easy_2_confuse_mi@hotmail.com HOWEVER, do not send me FORWARDS or ATTACHMENTS!!!! I have most attachments disabled so many will be refused anyway. If it does arrive I do not open attachments sent to this mailbox. Contact me first and get approval and I will provide you with an alternate email address for an attachment if I feel it is warrented. Any message that is a FORWARDED MESSAGE unless it is something that is vital to my health or well being, is likely going to get more or less the same treatment as spam. I get the Langa List, ChimneyGods Tips, Newbie2Knewbie, and a few others that deal with security information. So you can see in my travels I have enough spam to me already and I really do try to read what I get sent but I am not going to spend my entire day online doing email. All of this being said I try to take email seriously. If you are going to write me about a problem with in an area I might be helpful asking, I am more than happy to try to reply if and when I can. Please try to include details like Operating System, browser, memory, antivirus used and last updated so I can try to narrow the reply down and not speak in general terms. Most who have received one of my emails can tell you I answer in detail and often in length. However I am just one person with a life outside the computer. Or, to put it another way, it might be a day or two before I answer if I am stacked up or otherwise engauged. ( very often is this the case on weekends. )


If the above does not answer your question the email link is there. I try to check it daily and reply the same day. ( the main word in that being TRY ! . ) My main focus online is the webpages I do, and this is just one of them. I also have the usual daily stuff to deal with as most do, so I can only say I will get to your question when I can, if it is worthy of answering. ( believe me I have gotten a few I do not answer. ) If you do not get a reply, it is due to the fact the question was not something I felt I could help with or it was something I felt no reason to reply to.


A few pictures locally.


Close This Browser Window

last revised 09-12-02