Error “Invalid Update Control CTF File” When Updating AVG

When updating AVG 8.0, you may encounter the error "Invalid Update Control CTF File". The error could be fixed easily using the solution posted at AVG Forum.

You just need to delete the CTF temp files in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avg8\update\download.

Windows Vista users: Delete the .CTF files from the following folder:
C:\ProgramData\avg8\update\download

Typical Work Week

At least they understand each other on Wednesday. =)

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The Most Beautiful Goat in Saudi Arabia

Meet the Damascene goat named Qahr, the winner of the “Most Beautiful Goat” award at the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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I found this answer helpful

QUESTION
What can I do if my Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 install code is 19 characters instead of 20?

ANSWER
If you are trying to install Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 and the code is only 19 characters long, then it is missing the last letter or number. This was due to a misprint on a small number or manuals and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

There is currently a work around that may allow you to bypass this issue. Since you have the first 19 characters of the code already, you can basically try "guessing" the last character. To do this, simply enter your existing code, and then for the last character, try the letters A-Z, and then the numbers 0-9. You should eventually get the right combination, and be able to play the game.

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Man or woman - who is writing that blog?

GenderAnalyzer uses Artificial Intelligence to determine if a homepage is written by a man or woman but the result turns out somehow unexpected for some blogs.

Results:
We think http://www.aprilcherrie.com is written by a woman.
We think http://leoniejasmine.blogspot.com is written by a woman.
We think http://sheylara.com is written by a man. [inaccurate]
We think http://www.chanlilian.net is written by a man. [inaccurate]
We think http://www.kennysia.com is written by a woman. [inaccurate]

Free Webmail Notifier

POP Peeper is an email notifier that runs in your Windows task bar and alerts you when you have new email on your POP3, IMAP (with IDLE support), Hotmail\MSN\LiveMail, Yahoo, GMail, Mail.com, MyWay, Excite, iWon, Lycos.com, RediffMail, Juno and NetZero accounts. Many notification options are availble to indicate when new mail has arrived, such as sound alerts (configurable for each account), flashing scroll lock, skinnable popup notifier, customized screensaver and more.

EA will cut 600 jobs to save $50 million

Publishing giant Electronic Arts is to implement a cost reduction plan resulting in the loss of around 600 jobs, or six per cent of the workforce.

The company announced the decision following financial results for the quarter ended September 30, which showed losses had increased considerably from USD 195 million last year to USD 310 million.

"EA announced today a cost reduction plan, which will include the elimination of approximately six per cent of the Company's workforce. The company estimates its cost reduction plan will result in annual pre-tax cost savings of approximately $50 million," said EA.

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Related Links:
EA Job Advert
American Express will cut 7,000 jobs
Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US
Goodyear to Close 92 Retail Stores
eBay to cut 10% of staff worldwide
HP to cut nearly 25,000 jobs by 2011

Daydreams Of A Real Geek

I will never, ever let this happen again.

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Let's order some cool T-Shirts

Just Shy @ $17.00


Life Would Be Easier If I Had the Source Code @ $12.99


I Write Code @ $12.99


No, I Will Not Fix Your Computer @ $12.99


Robot Dance Contest @ $15.00


ABCs @ $15.00


The Day The Fire Brigade Went On Strike @ $18.00

Got cool t-shirts to share? leave in the comment please =)

American Express will cut 7,000 jobs

In a stark acknowledgment of the tough times ahead in the credit card industry, American Express Co. said Thursday that it plans to cut 7,000 jobs, or about 10% of its worldwide work force, in an effort to slash costs by $1.8 billion in 2009.

The Manhattan-based credit card issuer said it is also suspending management level salary increases next year and instituting a hiring freeze.

The job cuts will be across various business units, but will primarily focus on management positions, the company said.

[Via]

Related Links:
Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US
Goodyear to Close 92 Retail Stores
eBay to cut 10% of staff worldwide
HP to cut nearly 25,000 jobs by 2011

RM20mil lottery jackpot

Instead of hugging each other with joy, a couple slapped each other after the husband found out that he had won a RM20mil lottery jackpot. They slapped themselves to make sure they were not dreaming as they could not believe he had won, especially after the wife retorted: “You must be joking and in your dreams!”

The winner found out that he had won the Mega Toto 6/52 Toto with his set of numbers – 17, 19, 20, 32, 39 and 41 – after checking the results in a Chinese daily. The man, in his 40s who is involved in the food business, simply could not believe it and kept on checking the results repeatedly before breaking the news to his wife.

WHY NOT ME?

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Related Link:
She Wants to Be a Millionaire

Why the boys always fall for a lady in red

Forget that little black dress. Gentlemen really prefer a lady in red. Blushing in shades of crimson, scarlet or deep rose, a girl is regarded as prettier and more desirable, research shows. She is also more likely to be asked out on a date - and have more money lavished on her during the outing.

The study, carried out at the University of Rochester in the U.S., involved a series of experiments in which men were shown a photo of a 'moderately attractive' young woman. In some cases, the colour of the border framing the picture was changed, in other cases the colour of the woman's blouse varied. Red, blue, green, grey and white were tested. In all cases, red was judged the most attractive. The men were much more likely to ask out a woman wearing red. And they estimated they would spend almost twice as much on her as one in blue.

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Horror Halloween Handrest

Terrifyingly realistic foam wrist-rest in the shape of a disembodied hand! Grotesque, yet comfortable @ $9.99

Google Chrome Logo

That's how Google got its colorful logo.

Misleading Parking Space

Worst part? That's acid. =)

It's 2 a.m.

I'm sleeping. You?

Turn your name into a face

TurnYourNameIntoAFace automatically converts your name (or anyone else’s) into an avatar.

SleepingChinese.com

Here’s a very funny website I just came across called Sleeping Chinese, which has about 700 photos of Chinese people sleeping.

Who ruins everything?

Mother

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Webcomic at AmazingSuperPowers

(Sorry about the quality of images, click on the thumbnail to see original version)

AmazingSuperPowers.com is a webcomic site maintained by Wes and Tony. Read their most ridiculously long-winded FAQ for more info.

Anyone feel like going to Bangkok?

Coyote Dance Show in Caribbean Bangkok, Thailand.

Background music: Bubble Toy - This One [Download MP3 - 5.57mb]

Related Links:
Break Dance Baby
Dance like no one is watching
Don't Bother Him
The Evolution of Dance
To Punish Thai Police, a Hello Kitty Armband
Police Officer Caught Dancing
Amazing Coordinated Samsung Dance

Blondes have more fun

Don't forget to feed the pussy/kitty :)

Related Links:
Let the blonde jokes begin
Cute Blonde Escalator Spin Trick

You make me horny, baby!

Interesting comments written by the Singapore's Nanyang Technological University students on the tutor evaluation form.

Here's the lecturer with his moustache: [Source]



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10 things your IT guy wants you to know

#1 If you ask me technical questions please don’t argue with me because you don’t like my answer. If you think you know more about the topic, why ask? And if I’m arguing with you…it’s because I am positive that I am correct, otherwise I’d just say “I don’t know” or give you some tips on where to look it up, I don’t have the time to just argue for the sake of it.

#2 Starting a conversation by insulting yourself (i.e. “I’m such an idiot”) will not make me laugh, or feel sorry for you; all it will do is remind me that yes, you are an idiot and that I am going to hate having to talk to you. Trust me; you don’t want to start a call that way.

#3 I am ok with you making mistakes, fixing them is my job. I am not ok with you lying to me about a mistake you made. It makes it much harder to resolve and thus makes my job more difficult. Be honest and we can get the problem resolved and continue on with our business.

#4 There is no magic “Fix it” button. Everything takes some amount of work to fix, and not everything is worth fixing or even possible to fix. If I say that you just need to re-do a document that you accidentally deleted 2 months ago, please don’t get mad at me. I’m not ignoring your problem, and it’s not that I don’t like you, I just cant always fix everything.

#5 Not everything you ask me to do is “urgent”. In fact, by marking things as “urgent” every time, you almost ensure that I treat none of it as a priority.

#6 You are not the only one who needs help, and you usually don’t have the most urgent issue. Give me some time to get to your problem, it will get fixed.

#7 Emailing me several times about the same issue in the same day is not only unnecessary, it’s highly annoying. Emails will stay until I delete them, I won’t delete them until I’m done with them. I will typically respond as soon as I have a useful update. If it is an urgent issue, let me know (see number 5).

#8 Yes, I prefer email over telephone calls. It has nothing to do with being friendly, it’s about efficiency. It is much faster and easier for me to list out a set of questions that I need you to answer than it is for me to call and ask you them one by one. You can find the answers at your leisure and while I’m waiting I can work on other problems.

#9 Yes, I seem blunt and rude. It’s not that I mean to, I just don’t have the time to sugar coat things for you. I assume we are both adults and can handle the reality of a problem. If you did something wrong, I will tell you. I don’t care that it was a mistake, because it really makes no difference to me. Don’t take it personal, I just don’t want it to happen again.

#10 And finally, yes, I can read your email, I can see what web pages you look at while you are at work, yes, I can access every file on your work computer, and I can tell if you are chatting with people on an instant messenger or chat room (and can also read what you are typing). But no, I don’t do it. It’s unethical, I’m busy, and in all reality you aren’t all that interesting. So unless I am instructed to specifically monitor or investigate your actions, I don’t. There really are much more interesting things on the internet than you.

Related Links:
So you want to try your IT guys' patience?
No, I Will Not Fix Your Personal Computer

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Teacher and Student

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America ..

MARIA: Here it is.

TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?

CLASS: Maria.
____________________________________

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?

JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
____________________________________

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.

TEACHER: What are you talking about?

DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
____________________________________

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.

WINNIE: Me!
____________________________________

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?

GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
____________________________________

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.
____________________________________

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?

SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.
____________________________________

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?

CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.
____________________________________

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?

HAROLD: A teacher

Related Links:
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Best Exam Answer Ever
Best excuse to skip class
The answer is either A or B only! Why chose C?
Professor in reply to student drawing on test sheet

Most creative time in the day is 10.04pm

People are at their most creative late at night with 10.04pm the most likely time for a eureka moment, research has shown. Brainwaves are least likely to strike in the afternoon, according to a survey that suggests office workers have little chance of solving problems after lunch.

The least creative time in the day is 4.33pm, with 92 per cent of people admitting to feeling uninspired in the afternoon. The poll of 1,426 people showed that a quarter of us stay up late burning the midnight oil when seeking inspiration.

[Via]

Related Links:
Make Yourself Cleverer
How to get your brain up to speed
How a Millionaire’s Brain Works
Rock music boosts your brain power
Use Your Brains
Bed sharing reduces brain power
No sleep means no new brain cells
Study shows why exercise boosts brainpower

Most popular video-game character of all time

His ultra-distinctive blue spiky look has held the attention of children for years, and now Sonic the Hedgehog has been named the most popular video-game character of all time. The popular prickly cartoon topped the poll of over 500 gamers, compiled to mark the start of the London Games Festival this week.

In a battle worthy of one of his legendary games, Sonic held off the challenge of cheeky Italian plumber Super Mario and Tomb Raider's Lara Croft. Sonic was created by Sega in 1991 and was famous for his special "spin attack" ability, a skill that saw him roll up into a ball and launched into his enemies.

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Scientist develops programme to understand alien languages

A computer programme which could help identify and even translate messages from aliens in outer space has been developed by a British scientist. Even if there are extra terrestrials are one day discovered, scientists fear their alien tongue may make it impossible to understand them.

But John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University believes he has come up with software which at least will decipher the structure of their language - and be the first step in understanding what they are saying. Dr Elliott's programme would compare an alien language to a database of 60 different languages in the world to search see if it has a similar structure.

[Via]

Related Links:
What happens when Aliens have been drinking and driving?
Teenage girl left looking like alien after hair dye
Most complex crop circle ever discovered in British fields
Apollo 14 astronaut claims aliens HAVE made contact

"Hahaha" has been viewed more than 64 million times on YouTube

Video clip of a baby sitting in a high chair being made to laugh by an unseen person making a "boo" noise.

Gorillas and humans use similar body language to communicate

We already know that we are closely related to gorillas, but researchers now reveal that we even use body language in a similar way.

The study, by researchers at the University of Sussex, showed that gorilla’s use facial expressions and mouth movements were controlled by the left side of the brain – just like it is in humans.

The team thinks the insights could provide exciting clues as to how human language developed, and lead to new teaching techniques for people with communication problems, such as children with autism.

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You're more likely to dream in grey if you grew up watching black and white TV

A study suggests that people who grew up watching black and white TV and films are more likely to dream in grey. The colour of your dreams could depend on your childhood TV viewing.

The over-55s, who grew up watching black-and-white programmes and films, are more likely to dream in monochrome, research suggests. And the under-25s, who have watched colour TV all their lives, tend to have equally colourful adventures in the Land of Nod.

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Coffee can shrink the size of women’s boobs?

The caffeine-fuelled drink is well-known for keeping people alert and sobering up drunks. But Swedish scientists have caused a stir by suggesting women who drink more than three cups a day could see their bra size drop.

Tests by cancer researchers found half of all women have a gene linking breast size to coffee intake. Nearly 300 women were quizzed but Helena Jernstroem, of Lund University, said women should not worry too much.

She explained: “Coffee-drinking women do not have to worry their breasts will shrink to nothing overnight. They will get smaller, but the breasts aren’t just going to disappear.

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Prince William swaps numbers with Paris Hilton and Christina Aguilera

Prince William swapped telephone numbers with Paris Hilton and Christina Aguilera after managing to convince bouncers to let him meet them at a London nightclub. He spent the evening chatting to the celebrities at Whisky Mist in Mayfair, which he attended with his brother, Prince Harry. What happened next?

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Who's immune to Zombies?

Paris Hilton has boasted she earns $200 million a year!! Who got no brain now?

Related Link:
Malaysia's 'Paris Hilton'

Ever wondered what space smells like?

Outer space smells like fried steak, hot metal and welding a motorbike, scientists said. Nasa has commissioned Steven Pearce, a chemist and managing director of fragrance manufacturing company Omega Ingredients, to recreate the smell of space in a laboratory. His research will be used to help astronauts prepare for the conditions they will encounter in space.

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The Queen visits Google today

A picture of the Queen has appeared in Google's logo on their UK search page.

The Queen's profile makes an appearance in the 'Google doodle' to mark her majesty's visit to the company's UK headquarters.

The logo will run for just a day – as the company crowns (ahem) a good year with a high profile royal visit.

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Related Link:
Boy's balloon finds pen-pal: Britain's Queen

Woman changes name to a URL to protest dissections

A 19-year-old Virginia woman has adopted a most unusual method of protest--by changing her name to a website address protesting animal dissection for scientific purposes. Her friends and family still call her Jennifer, however.

The former Jennifer Thornburg – whose driver’s license now reads Dissection.com, Cutout – wanted to do something to protest animal dissections in schools.

The 19-year-old’s new name is also the Web address for an anti-dissection page of the site for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where she is interning.

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Giant pink rabbit that can be seen from space

A giant pink rabbit has been created in the Alps that can be seen from space. Visitors are encouraged by those who made it to climb all over the 200ft toy sculpture and even sleep on it.

But the Austrian art collective who created the bunny were amazed to find that it is so large the rabbit can be seen from space via the Google Earth programme.

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Fewer people downloading music illegally

Fewer people are downloading music from the internet illegally because they are frightened about having their connections cut off, according to new research. Are you one of them?

Around 39 per cent of music fans currently download tracks from illegal sites, compared to 43 per cent last year, the annual digital music survey of 1,500 people found.

However, of those, 72 per cent said they would stop if they were contacted by their internet service provider (ISP). Me too =p

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Stone vs iPhone

The Best Comparison Ever?

Related Links:
Mouse made of stone

Firefox Mobile coming to you very soon!

With a reported Acid3 Test score of 88/100, the mobile web browser looks nearly complete in the screenshots that have surfaced. It will be interesting to see how Firefox Mobile can hold up against established game players like Pocket Internet Explorer, Safari Mobile, Opera Mobile, and Skyfire.

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Find a new thing to do with Google today

You can do a lot more than search the web with Google nowadays, from reading newspapers in languages you don't speak to seeing the natural habitat of Komodo dragons.



Discover something new to do with Google today by clicking here