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Locke's Top (3) Replies by other users' votes

• (2 votes) What have I done?
  

  So you want him to choose between his family and you? I’m sure I don’t understand the situation in its entirety, but why would you ever take a stance like that? Feel free to dislike his family as much as you want, but realize that they are related and you’ll see more of them as time goes by if the two of you are together. Also, just what is so wrong with having love or at least respect for a family member?
  
  I’m glad you recognize that ending a relationship over your boyfriend waving to his mother is ridiculous. If you love him, tell him so, but you can’t seriously expect to maintain a relationship if you consistently go off over tiny, petty nonissues like that. Relax and try your very hardest to be less controlling and just a little bit more tolerant and understanding of normal and decent behavior.
  
  - written 1 year, 9 months ago – voted for by vikki_7, 'Bell

• (1 vote) What do you think is really happening to our economy today ?
  

  A government that can’t seem to live within its means doesn’t help. A social atmosphere that encourages instant gratification probably has something to do with it, to one degree or another. These days there seems to be a lot of artificial stimulation of the economy in an effort to keep it going (Greenspan’s manipulation of interest rates is a classic example; Bush’s most recent tax refunds are a more modern, more blatant, and probably less effective one). It seems as though it should be more self-sustaining - though I’m not extremely well versed in economics, so even the little I’ve said is just speculation.
  
  - written 1 year, 9 months ago – voted for by Flaguy

• (1 vote) Do you believe life is a big ol wheel
  

  I used to think that. Life is so much more complicated than that, though. You will always find limited patterns and cycles, but few things are always predictable under all circumstances. I see life like an infinite, non-repeating decimal, an infinite complexity that extends from all things in all directions. On a certain level we have a working knowledge of the universe; I don’t think we’ll ever understand its intricacies. Certain cycles and patterns in life do emerge, but they always or almost always do change eventually, so viewing things in terms of cycles may be quite beneficial in the short term, but those views will always or almost always need to change to fit the changing times. Do what you think is right, do what you love, and do it often. That way, whatever form your life takes, it will be a life worth living.
  
  Justice is certainly not a wheel. Justice is an artificial concept created by people, and though striving for it holds society together in some ways, true universal justice will probably never happen. Idealistically, justice is a great equalizer or balancing agent that corrects any unfairness in life. There will always be unfairness, and as people are imperfect, a justice designed and carried out by people will also be imperfect, and will dissatisfy some of those involved in the process even if it does succeed sometimes in being truly equitable.
  
  Neither is life a straight line, except in the sense that all people at this point in time are born and die, at least as we understand the concepts of birth and death. Otherwise, life is just about as infinitely complex as the universe itself.
  
  - written 1 year, 10 months ago – voted for by bigjoshf

Last 5 Replies – All 252 replies »

• My computer is being really iffy.
  

  Your hard drive is probably having issues, though it could be something else.
  
  You say the tower is “working,” meaning, I suppose, that when you press the button the fans come on and such, but you’re not getting ANYTHING at all on the monitor (not even the BIOS screen initially?). Do you hear the sounds of Windows starting up, or no? The issue is almost definitely a hardware one. If you know Windows is starting up (but the monitor isn’t working) it’s the video card. If Windows is not starting up, it’s the hard drive, RAM, processor or motherboard. Are you getting any unusual beep codes?
  
  If you have extra RAM lying around, or two sticks of it on your board, you can try using only one stick in the correct slot to verify the other isn’t defective. Try plugging your hard drive into another computer; you can run CHKDSK on it to verify it’s not the issue (as well as retrieve your homework files). It’s more likely your hard drive than anything else; CHKDSK may fix it enough to run in your machine again (though I’d recommend getting a replacement ASAP and Ghosting your current info over to it anyway). If it’s none of the others, it’s probably a motherboard/processor issue, and you’ll unfortunately need somewhat expensive replacements.
  
  Again, I’ll emphasize the likelihood of a hard drive problem; try doing the CHKDSK with it attached to your friend’s machine. Especially if it gets a number of errors or isn’t recognized, you’ll know it’s to blame.
  - written 1 year, 8 months ago

• I am 17, a senior, and I believe highschool and college are near useless to my future success.
  

  Others have already offered you excellent advice. I’ll chime in on a similar note. Three months isn’t a long time to put up with monotony for the rewards a high school diploma will bring. It’s sad in some cases but very true that employers value a high school diploma while they look down on a drop-out. I’ve been where you are, and I know how frustrating it is to memorize useless things you’ll never need - but you’ve put in three and a half years already; don’t let that go to waste.
  
  I looked for work in my career field after high school, and while I found it, no matter what was in my head more and better positions would have been available to me with a college degree in hand. I’ve since changed careers; in my current field a degree is basically mandatory and I’m working on it, though I lost a year to something I found out I didn’t want. Even if you’re going into business for yourself, and you’re not looking to impress someone you hope will hire you, put in the measly three months, just in case, because employers want high school diplomas.
  
  You may change your mind about how arbitrary that is as you get older (I did); you may not. Depending on what you want to do, college may not be necessary, but trust me when I say you’ll always be glad you stuck it out and graduated high school. If you absolutely won’t listen to reason, at least get your GED; from what I hear that’s only a few hours of tedium and a very easy test.
  - written 1 year, 8 months ago

• i have problem regarding computer whenever my pc is
  

  Grisoft does offer a free version of AVG online; no need for cracks. If your antivirus is constantly alerting you, it is for good reason. Chances are the program wants updates or a subscription renewal or some such, as the poster above me said; it’s less likely but possible that you are receiving frequent virus alerts or the program simply isn’t working properly anymore. I can’t narrow it down any further without more information concerning the actual “disturbances,” but your options as I see it are as follows.
  
  If Norton wants to be updated or is asking you to renew a subscription, you could simply comply; alerts would cease to appear. Alternatively (and in the case of the program no longer working correctly) you could choose to uninstall it, preferably replacing it immediately with another antivirus (or reinstalling Norton, if it’s become somehow dysfunctional). It may also be possible to disable these alerts somehow in Norton’s Preferences; bring up the software and look for an appropriate option if that appeals to you (though from a security standpoint, I can’t recommend it).
  
  If you’re receiving frequent virus alerts, on the other hand, don’t ignore them or blame Norton. In that case, either you’re visiting a malware-infested webpage repeatedly, or (more likely) there is a threat resident on your system that Norton detects periodically when it’s active but is apparently incapable of automatically removing. Using your Norton’s scan function, preferably in conjunction with one or two other anti-malware services (AVG and Spybot Search & Destroy work well together), rid yourself of the problem.
  - written 1 year, 8 months ago

• .
  

  Quite amazing. I’m happy to have seen this; thank you for posting.
  - written 1 year, 8 months ago

• Sleeping problem …
  

  It seems like you’re saying that the only thing keeping you up is the thought that you really need to get to sleep. You think/worry about it, and it keeps you up. Logically, the best way to keep from thinking about the need for sleep is to occupy the mind with other things until sleep happens. I’ve known people who watch television, do crosswords, read, or listen to music or an audiobook until drowsiness naturally takes hold.
  
  If you’re enough of a mind-over-matter person, try just thinking about or imagining specific things, images and situations in great detail. When I was younger, I would imagine building the outside of a house, brick by brick, and as I fell asleep my dreams would begin there. If you’ve been in bed for forty-five minutes or so and you’re just tossing and turning, get up and do something else for a bit before going back; otherwise your own restless thoughts will likely keep you up much longer.
  
  Obviously, don’t consume anything containing caffeine, alcohol, etc at night.
  - written 1 year, 9 months ago

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