How to Dispose of a Hard Drive

It's been over a year since I got my new laptop. I have been holding on to my old laptop, which was literally held together with Velcro, for the past two moves, thinking that I might use it as a backup in case the current laptop dies. In all reality, I'm on multiple computers all day and there are computers all around me - I don't really need a "backup computer." So, the question is - how to properly dispose of the old laptop?

Option 1 - Simply throw the laptop into the garbage. A valid option, but it's not environmentally friendly or security smart. The computer can contain all kinds of personal information like social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank numbers, etc. Just about anything you put in the computer could potentially still be there, even if you delete the file or even reformat your computer.

Option 2 - Donate the computer. My old laptop is so clunky, noisy, and slow that it's not a good donation candidate. Plus, I don't want to "donate" all my personal and financial information, too.

Option 3 - Wipe the hard drive and recycle the laptop. This was the option I initially chose. There are a lot of free and not-free software tools that can help scrub your hard drive of all data. Scrubbing means the hard drive is overwritten in a manner so that information on the hard drive is reset; old files cannot be resurrected, information is completely written over and irretrievable.

Problem - my computer was so slow and old that the scrubbing was taking way too long and sometimes not even working properly.

Enter Option 4. Disassemble computer and make the hard drive unreadable neanderthal style.

Step 1: Remove the laptop battery and disassemble the laptop. This part was pretty fun, I must admit.

Step 2: Locate and remove the hard drive (I also pulled the memory cards, just for fun).

 Step 3: Get a magnet.

 Step 4: Drag that magnet all up and down the drive and cards, just as the warning sign says not to do.

Step 5: Get a hammer.

Step 6: Smash that data up with the hammer until little shiny bits fall out of the hard drive.

 Step 7: Finish the job . . . cover the hole!

And that is how you ensure that no one will be stealing your identity, financial data, or high school science papers from your personal laptop.

So, Why Did We Move to Chicago?

For the winters! Duh!

Tonight's low . . . . 4.

Tomorrow night's low . . . . 8.

It's getting warmer! Let's get ice cream.

You're Asking the Wrong Guy

Interested in a semi-funny story? Check out this reason to do martial arts: Police: Man robs martial arts expert, gets beaten, shot.

My main question about this interesting article is: Why doesn't this happen more often?

My second question: Would it be good or bad if this kind of thing happened more often (not the robbery, but the result of the robbery)?

It's That Time of the Year

The air is crisp and nippy, the temperature dabbles below the freezing point, people are busy planning their gifts and family get togethers. It's time to watch surfing! Vans Triple Crown of surfing, if you've got some spare time (like I have this fine afternoon - office closed early for Thanksgiving, for which I'm grateful).

New Hobby?

Ok, so I'd like to try a lot of different things - sailing, sky diving, rally car racing, knife throwing, shooting, etc. Lately, though, I've been intrigued by a different subject entirely: jewelry. Not your Hobby Lobby, arts-and-crafts, get-together-with-your-girlfriends type "jewelry," but real-life, diamond-studded jewelry. Maybe I'll even build a small forge in my backyard . . . I dunno. Looks kind of cool.

Weekly Notes

Some weekly thoughts for all y'all:

There is still some significant uncertainty in the financial markets over the Eurozone debt problems. If I understand it, the fear is that if one country defaults on debt payments, it will cause another country to default, causing another country to default, and everything may fall apart like a house of cards. Well, check out this cool visual of who owes who money and take a look at the US portion . . . wow. Eurozone debt web: Who owes what to whom?

Then there's the whole Occupy [insert name of large city here] thing going on. There are issues on both sides of the line. Example: out of control pepper-spraying, crimes going on in camps, etc. But,I thought this was interesting - Occupy Protests Across the Country Take Toll on City Budgets. On the radio the other day, I heard a story about one man who was protesting because he lost his high school teaching job because of budget cuts. Does anyone else see the irony in this? This man is protesting budget cuts and his actions are directly causing budget problems.

I don't completely disagree with Occupy. Politics should not be influenced by money to the extent that it is today. Politicians need a lot of help . . . legislating that pizza is a vegetable? Come on! So, props for trying to do something about something, but maybe try something more productive.

I apologize to anyone reading who is asking him- or herself, "So, what has John been up to? I want some funny videos or pictures or something." Well, it's mainly been work, study, Scouts, laundry, making dinner, study, etc. So, this is as exciting as it's getting around here for me lately. Sorry! But at least I'm blogging, right?

A Little Manliness Goes a Long Way

I read an interesting article the other day (Men become the target of jokes, by William J. Bennett). It talks about the demise of manliness in today's world, where men are stereotyped as lazy, self-centered, dumb, whiners, and/or heartless. Unfortunately, I think it's sometimes true. I think that's why there's somewhat of a movement to revive the art of the gentleman. This may or may not be connected with the sudden interest in classic mustaches that I've seen.

Anyways, the author poses an interesting thought at the end of the article, "Ask a boy today who his hero or heroine is. The answer, or lack thereof, will speak volumes. We must teach our boys what is to be loved and imitated."

When I read this, a thought struck me - the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been teaching men how to be better men, husbands, teachers, leaders, sons, servants, and saints for quite some time; decades, even.

Check out these talks:

• Be Men!
• Boys Need Men
• Let Us Be Men
• Rise Up, O Men of God
• "Behold the Man"
• The Father Who Cares

God knows what we need. For a long while, God has been telling us, through inspired leaders, to be better men.

So guys, let's man up and be better men. The world really needs it right now.

Very Confused

Can I just say that I don't get Occupy Wall Street? Yes, I understand that people are frustrated, but what are they trying to accomplish? Women's sufferage movements, anti-racism movements, environmental movements, those all make sense to me - they had and have a goal: get women equal voting and social rights, remove racism, protect endangered plants and animals, etc (not that I agree 100% with all the methods or all the rhetoric). What is the point of Occupy Wall Street? Tear down everything America has built up? Cause mass mayhem so that economies and the average American have a harder time recovering? It seems counter intuitive. I just don't get it . . .

I was listening to the radio the other day and one guy quit his job and bought a one way ticket to New York to protest. Hello! If you're frustrated that other people are making more money than you, why did you quit your job?! I just don't get it . . .

I wonder - not too put anyone down, but just to know the truth of the whole situation - how many people sincerely believe that they are being dealt a social injustice because someone else has more money than them. (For an interesting comparison - compare the response to the Great Depression to the response to the current economic challenges. I may be wrong, but I don't remember reading about protests on Wall Street during the Great Depression - I read about people making ends meet because they had to.) I really think that we all need to learn to live within our means and be happy living within our means. It doesn't mean that we can't want nice things. Wanting something is an effective motivator. So is the point of the movement to take from the rich and give to the not-as-rich (people, we live in the United States of America - we have it good)? I just don't get it . . .

Now, we have celebrities endorsing the movement - this, I really don't get. Check out this article: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/10/13/are-celebrities-supporting-occupy-wall-street-movements-heroes-or-hypocrites/. Heroes or hypocrites? That is a great question. My question is - why are people who make more than the typical American supporting a movement which is criticizing, demeaning, and demonizing the people who make more than the typical American? I just don't get it . . .

There's more, but I'll spare you. In essence, I just don't get it . . .

What I Dream About

Sometimes I have completely awesome dreams - surfing like a pro with friends on a tropical island.

Sometimes, like Wednesday night, my dreams are awful. I had a dream that I was in prison . . . with a bunch of French Pastry Chefs . . . because we broke Indian currency exchange regulations. I woke up stressed and ticked off about Indian Rupees . . . then realized that I left my monthly train pass and building pass on the train the night before . . . it's been one of those weeks.

Welcome to My World

I thought it might be fun to give you all a picture tour of my lunch break the other day; kind of show you around my world for a little.

This here, was my office a few months ago. I have since cleaned it. The papers have since repopulated across my desk until late this week, when I issued an organization order and the papers retreated into neat stacks and tidy piles while the no-longer-necessary papers were promptly dealt with. Many of the boxes in the back are now back in deep storage.

Every now and then, I need to get up, walk around, get the blood flowing, and breathe some fresh air. Welcome to my lunch break.

A view of my building, Two Prudential Plaza, from Stetson Ave. We're somewhere up there.

When it's not snowing, raining, or a bazillion degrees, I like to eat here, in the Pritzker Pavilion while listening to random bands or orchestra practice:

Or here, watching tourists and school kids play around the giant, silver bean:

 

Or here, in the Laurie Gardens, where it's a little bit quieter and a bit more, well, garden-y:

And if sitting doesn't fit your fancy (or your fanny), and it doesn't mine, you can take a walk with me to see some cool stuff around the park.

Like Grant Park and the Buckingham Fountain in the distance:

 

Or the Cancer Survivors Garden in Grant Park:

Or maybe you're like me and you like to watch the boats:

Or maybe you're not like me and you like modern art . . . wierdo:

Or maybe you just like the non-stop hustle of the city (I prefer the quieter boat scene myself):

Anyways, hope you enjoyed a little tour around the place. If you want to come visit us, let me know. We like visitors (although, honestly, we'll have a little more free time once I finish my CPA exams and Ashley finishes her internship . . .).

(This last picture is actually six separate pictures stitched together with a cool, free Microsoft program. Not too shabby, except that I didn't shoot at all the right heights, hence the black issues at the top. Still, pretty cool stuff.)