Didn't I JUST write something about being technologically savvy? (And then admitting that I'm not?) It's true--I'm not. I just spent the past two and a half weeks trying to figure out how to get umpteen pop-ups to stop on my computer. They're apparently called Adware, and I had them coming out my a**! I had pop-up blocker on at the highest level, I had special software downloaded to stop it, I ran virus scans constantly. Nothing I did would stop those stupid pop-ups. Finally, after talking to someone else who happened to be having her own techno-problems at the time, I came to face facts: I was going to have to strip the computer down and 'rebuild it' from the back-up disc. But guess what? Dell computers don't come with a back-up disc! I couldn't find mine anywhere!!! I finally found a slip of paper in my Dell stuff that says just that "Dell computers don't come with a back-up CD. Instead, go to PC restore......" So I copied everything I wanted to save onto CD's... you know, the cool music I'd been downloading since Christmas, pictures I'd taken and received over the past year (including those of my friend Kristin during her recent visit), the few games I'd downloaded, etc. After I copied all that stuff, I did the PC restore. I was scared, but it came back up fine. Only problem was that I couldn't connect to the internet successfully. Finally, a day after restoring my computer, I called my ISP and found out I needed a new modem. I picked that up and once I got back to where I was comfortable, I started working on reloading all the stuff I'd copied to discs. Um. There was nothing on them but shortcuts. All that stuff I'd spend hours copying to CD's.... just shortcuts. I have no pictures. I have no music. I have no games. It truly IS as if I'd just gotten this computer. Somehow, my favorites were saved and all my e-mail addresses were saved, but none of the e-mail messages (including crucial stuff about Girl Scouts, my parents' anniversary party, etc.) are there anymore! All of it is gone!!! Want to know what I believe was the cause of all of this? Limewire. It's a place where you download this software that connects you with other people's computers, and you can download anything they want to 'share' with you. It's supposed to be safe and legitimate, and it probably is. But there are enough jackballs out there who upload viruses or even just faulty items--seriously--just to screw with unsuspecting idiots (like me). So yes, I miss the "free" stuff I was downloading. But I think it was kharma speaking to me: nothing is really free in life, even from people who want to share something they may have paid for... and when you take something without paying for it, you end up paying for it after all. (Mmm... deep.....)