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February 5th, 2009
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February 2nd, 2009
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January 31st, 2009
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September 18th, 2008
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March 21st, 2008
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February 2nd, 2009
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February 16th, 2008
I’ve lived in Phoenix since 1993. While I love the sunshine and warm winters, the summers are becoming nearly unbearable due to the “heat island” effect.
Phoenix is only recently developing an identity. It has grown so fast too fast IMHO that there is sprawl everywhere. It’s like one giant suburb. There are strip malls everywhere.
Most of the restaurants, shops, etc in Phoenix are corporate brands (Applebee’s, Target, etc). There are very few “home grown” originals here.
The arts in the area is getting better, but it’s nothing like you would find in a more established (i.e. older) city. If you like sports, there are plenty here. We have NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. We also play host to the “Cactus League” spring training every year.
You would think that with the mild winters and constant sunshine, every one here would be fit and healthy. Wrong. Phoenix is becoming one of the worst cities for overweight folks. In fact, Mesa was recently rated on of the top 5 unhealthiest cities in America.
Traffic isn’t too bad, and our light rail will begin service at the end of this year. Smog (or the “brown cloud” as we call it) is becoming a big problem though. We have several air quailty alerts every year.
So would I recommend living here? I’m not sure that I would. It’s fine for a couple of years, but with no seasons, the days tend to run together. There isn’t much since of neighborhoods here as it seems everyone has moved here from somewhere else.
After 15 years, I am considering moving away. I am just tired of the corporate sameness/blandness of the area. I long for a community with more character.
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January 30th, 2008
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January 26th, 2008
If you have an AOL screenname (free sign-up), you can download the AOL-branded McAfee Virus Scan Plus for free here: http://safety.aol.com/isc/BasicSecurity/
Don’t worry, it won’t install any other AOL software on your machine. It says “special edition,” but I’ve tested it and as far as I can tell it is the full version of McAfee VirusScan Plus. It includes the virus protection as well as a firewall and spyware scanning.
You already are familiar with AVG, so I won’t mention that again.
ALWIL software offers a free version of its avast! antivirus software for home users here: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
I have not tried avast! myself, so I can’t recommend or non-recommend it, but C|Net’s Download.com Editors gave it 5 stars while users gave it about 4 1/2. Read their reviews here: http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000–2239_4–10019223.html
There’s also Comodo’s AntiVirus 2 which is free: http://antivirus.comodo.com/
Download.com readers only gave this product 3 out of 5 stars however: http://www.download.com/Comodo-AntiVirus/3000–2239_4–10538177.html
Clam Win is an open-source antivirus program: http://www.clamwin.com/
It does not include a real-time scanner however. You need to conduct all scans manually.
Finally, you can get ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite free through TrialPay by going here: http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Basically how it works is if you agree to complete and offer from on of TrialPay’s advertisers (Netflix, eMusic, etc), they you get the software for free. I got 75 songs from eMusic for 99¢ and then canceled my membership in order to complete an offer. You just have to remember to cancel before you get charged (I canceled my eMusic membership the same day I signed up for it after downloading the free music). I wouldn’t recommend this TrialPay approach to everyone, but it does work if you follow the rules.
Hope this helps!
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