Easy to follow guide for disassembly and destruction of a hard drive to prevent identity theft

As technology has progressed since the beginning of the home computer more and more of your life and personal information ends up being stored on these amazing little devices.
It’s extremely handy to keep all you’re information on your personal computer for banking, paying bills, purchasing items on the internet, etc. But what happens when it’s time to either upgrade your hard drive or get rid of it. The common fear is that some unscrupulous person can extract all that information you’ve been squirreling away on your hard drive over the years and then have complete access to your life and personal information. Don’t think it could happen? Think again. Identity theft is the number one growing crime in the United States and has exploded like a fast moving plague with no signs of a cure in the near future.
     So what can you do to protect yourself from your information being taken off an old hard drive that you’ve decided to discard? Some people are content with simply deleting everything off the drive and or reformatting the drive. In most cases you probably won’t have an issue but it’s a crap shoot and only takes the right person to get their hands on that drive that you think is clean to extract all the information off it. Hard drives generally store all the information that has ever been placed on them forever no matter what you do the right person with the right skill can land you in a situation that you would never have imaged could occur. Rather than rolling the dice it’s better to be safe than sorry and disassemble the drive then physically destroy the platters. The following is a step by step guide with pictures “Ooo pictures!” on how it’s done.

     I’m demonstrating how this is done on a newer 320gig Western Digital and with a couple of simple tools that you most likely have around the house. It also only takes a matter of a couple minutes; there is also a nifty toy surprise at the end that most geeks will enjoy.

Once the hard drive is removed from the computer place it on a stable area, such as a work bench, where you can safely perform the dissection.

You’ll notice that there are six small screws on the top of the hard drive, most likely you won’t have the correct bit to extract them but if you have a set of jeweler’s screwdrivers you can find one that will just barely fit. Using a pair of pliers to help turn them place the screw driver into the screw head and extract all the screws. To speed up the process you can use a drill; which is what I do since I’m not going to reuse the screws, I used a 3/16 bit for my drill in this demonstration.

Don’t miss the screw that is hidden under part of the label as you will have a very difficult time removing the top without taking that one out too.

Once all the screws are out place a flat bladed screwdriver under each side and gently pry the lid off. There is a small strip of compound that helps hold the lid in place and with just a little effort the lid will pop right off.

Once the lid is off you’ll then be able to see the shiny hard driver platters that you’ll soon be removing. At this point you can discard the lid or use it to hold all the various bits of the drive as you extract them.

You’ll now notice the read/write arm of the hard drive that runs back and forth over the platter when it’s accessed. This arm has to be moved out of the way for easier removal of the platters.

You’ll notice a very small stop at the back of the arm mechanism that will either be metal or plastic; I’ve seen both types in different drives.

Take your flat blade screwdriver and press down at the end of the stop then carefully rotate the read/write arm away from the platters.

In the center of the platters you’ll notice a small hub that has six screws in it. These are the same type of screws that you found in the lid. You’ll notice that they are generally much tighter than the ones that were in the lid, extract all these screws and set them aside.

Once the screws are out the platter hub ring it can be removed with your fingers; which will then show the completely exposed platter.

You’ll need to pull out a small plastic guide that has several little arms that ride between each platter. It can be pulled out with pliers or popped out with your flat blade screw driver.

In between each platter, depending on the size of your hard drive, you’ll find small metal rings; which slide right off.

Once you’ve extracted all the platters you’ll have any number of very shiny metal discs. These are the actual discs that store all the information on the hard drive; at this point you can discard everything else.

The platters from this particular drive are metal and not something that you can simply cut up with scissors or bend very easy. You’ll need to decide at this point what you wish to do with the discs, you could bend them into a tortilla chip in a vice, such as I did with this particular platter, or just hit them a number of times with a hammer then throw them in the garbage or even totally Geekout and turn them into a wind chime, “Oooo Nerdalicious”. Now for the secret toy surprise I mentioned….

By removing the three screws holding the read/write arm assembly you’ll find two extremely powerful "rare earth" mini magnets that you should be able to just slide off the metal plates they are sitting on. They can be a little fragile so be aware of that but otherwise they are amazingly strong. I’ve found that some hard drives have these magnets attached but most aren’t.

I hope you found this article informative and helpful in protecting your personal data and if just one person’s information is saved from theft then for me it was worth the effort I put into writing it. –HD

Lacy Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies come out very thin and tasty if you follow my recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup white cane sugar

½ cup melted salted butter

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¼ cup all purpose flour

1 cup quick oats

½ tsp fine seasalt

1 medium to large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Set your oven rack in the middle then preheat the oven to 325 degrees. You can use a non-stick spray on your cookie sheets but you’ll have amazing results if you use baking parchment paper, trust me!

In a small bowl combine your salt, oats, flour, and baking powder.

In your mixing bowl, I use my Kitchen Aid mixing bowl at this point, mix the sugar and butter until its well combined. Add the egg and vanilla to your mixing bowl that has the sugar and butter then mix that until all the ingredients are well combined.

Pour the combined ingredients from the small bowl into your mixing bowl then mix it all together until it all appears well combined.

These cookies spread out a great deal during baking so make sure you leave several inches of room around each one when you place them on the cookie sheet. I would suggest a teaspoon sized portion of the dough.

Bake them for about ten minutes but keep an eye on them as they bake because they don’t take very long. You’ll notice, if you watch them, that they rise up then collapse. Generally you want to take them out when the edges turn golden brown and most have started collapsing.

They cool very fast because they are super thin, if they came out correctly they should be full of holes and slightly resemble a piece of lace; which is how they got their name.

Move them to a cooling rack for a few minutes then serve. Keep in mind that timing is everything when baking these so keep an eye on them while they are in the oven.

There is a lot of versatility in these cookies because they cool so fast and keep their shape you can pinch the sides up to resemble a flower, roll them into cones, etc. Feel free to experiment with different shapes or adding various toppings prior to cooling.

For extra credit try rolling them into a cone then dip the end of the cone in chocolate during the cooling process. -HD

Madoff’s partners in crime

The banks that Madoff worked with knew something wasn’t right but yet they prized the profits above any potential wrongdoings. As a result of their greed they helped destroy thousands of people’s lives. So why aren’t they suffering the same fate for their involvement in this scheme?!?!?!?!

Look at it in simpler terms….Let’s say someone wearing a mask and carrying a gun asked you to drive them to a bank to make a withdrawal and said they would pay you a lot of money for your time. You could tell something wasn’t right but since they were the one making the withdrawal and they were going to pay you a lot of money you drove them anyway. So the person goes into the bank then comes out a few minutes later with a huge amount of money that is obviously beyond normal for a withdrawal. He then gives you your large sum of money out of the huge amount he brought out of the bank. You figure that something still isn’t right but since you didn’t actually see what he did in the bank and all you did was drive him your ok.

There isn’t a lot of difference between the banks that helped Madoff rip off all those thousands of people. It’s obvious that in both cases that even though you weren’t the one holding the gun you’re an accomplice and hold just as much blame as the guy that made the withdrawal.

If you had reported that someone with a gun wanted you to take him to a bank to make a withdrawal then the theft would not have occurred……Just as the banks that knew something was wrong with Madoff’s Ponzi scheme could have reported the warnings from their own accountants but didn’t.

I feel that this should go WAY beyond simply suing the banks for restitution for their involvement and there should be criminal charges brought against ANY and ALL bank employees, officials, board members, etc that did not report what was occurring and placed their personal greed above the wellbeing of the thousands of people that were made to suffer as a result. -HD

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Top Ten Movie Cars

When I initially decided to create a top ten list of movie cars it really didn’t dawn on me what a daunting task it would truly be. There are so many great cars to choose from that it actually took me a considerable amount of time to come up with my list. Finally though I was able to finish it and I feel very comfortable with my list of the Top Ten and the Honorable Mentions. -HD

TOP TEN MOVIE CARS:

10.        The beautiful black 1971 340 4-speed Cuda from Phantasm; which sold for $1,000 after the movie and hasn’t been seen since.

9.           The 1964 Munster Koach, an absolutely amazing functional work of art created by George Barris using three model T bodies and taking over 500 hours to complete.

8.           The 1977 Pontiac Trans Am from “Smokey and the Bandit”.

7.           Mad Max’s 1973 XB GT Ford Falcon Coupe Interceptor.

6.           The 1974 Dodge Monaco “Bluesmobile” from the Blues Brothers.

5.        The 1969 “General Lee” Dodge Charger from the Dukes of Hazard.

4.           The 1970 440 R/T Challenger from Vanishing Point, a terrific rebel against “the man” movie.

3.           The 1955 Lincoln Futura used by George Barris to create the iconic Batmobile; which is currently valued at over two million dollars.

2.           The 1932 yellow 5-window Ford Coupe from American Graffiti.

1.           Steve McQueen’s 1968 Ford Mustang GT390 from Bullitt.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

The gorgeous black 1968 440 R/T Charger from Bullitt (in my opinion a much more beautiful car than McQueen’s Mustang).

James Bond’s 1964 Aston Martin DB5 from the movie “Goldfinger”, it’s fitting that the greatest James Bond car is driven by the best James Bond.

The 1969 Dodge Charger from “Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry”.

The 1966 GTO Monkeymobile; which ended up in Puerto Rico being used as a hotel courtesy car for years until it was purchased at auction for $5,000 and brought back to the states and restored, “thank god!!”

The 1959 Cadillac “Ecto-1” from Ghostbusters; which was up for sale last year on ebay for $40,000 but didn’t sell.

And even though I don’t think it’s ever been in a movie no list of the top cars would be complete without Billy Gibbon’s 1948 Cadillac Cadzilla!!!!

Excelente Mexican Cornbread

In creating the absolutely best Mexican cornbread recipe I performed a lot of research and found that the majority of Mexican cornbread recipes are relatively similar in their ingredients. The hard part is picking which one to choose from. I’ve removed that problem for you and I think that if you follow this recipe you’ll be very happy with the results.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup melted (salted) butter.

1 cup of white flour.

1 cup of yellow cornmeal.

½ cup of white sugar.

4 large eggs, you use the yolks and whites.

1 cup of shredded cheese, a combination of cheddar and Monterey jack is good.

15 oz of cream corn, you could use non-creamed if you like but then you end up with the texture not being as smooth.

4 oz of chopped and drained green chili peppers, you could substitute whatever pepper you like to create the heat intensity you want. Just make sure that they are chopped pretty fine.

4 tsp baking powder.

¼ tsp sea salt*.

DIRECTIONS:

Lightly grease a 9x13 dish and set aside then preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the sugar, butter, and eggs. Then add the cheese, chili peppers, and cream corn. Make sure to stir all these ingredients but you don’t have to overdo it.

In a mixing bowl, I use my KitchenAid mixing bowl at this point, combine the cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and flour. Once all these items are together then add the contents of the other mixing bowl. Stir all the ingredients together, or use the lowest setting on your mixer.

Once the batter appears to be smooth pour it directly into the lightly greased dish then place it on the middle rack in the oven for an hour. At the end of the hour the edges should be brown and if you insert a toothpick in different spots it should come out clean.

Once you take it out of the oven let it sit for a couple minutes then cut and serve. -HD

* I generally use sea salt for all my recipes because sea salt is a more natural salt with very little refining. It basically has the same chemical make up as the heavily refined mined salt and generally comes down to personal preference.

Skrapy’s Lemon Drop Martini

This is a favorite and generally the most requested martini type drink at our parties. The only special tools needed are a bartender’s shaker and a twist peeler.

Ingredients:

Your favorite vodka, my wife likes Gray Goose.                   

Lemons

Triple Sec

Sugar, fine sugar is best but any white sugar will do.

Ice

Instructions:

I would like to point out that to speed up the process I suggest chilling your vodka in the freezer for a while and keeping the lemons in the refrigerator. A refrigerated martini glass is also a nice touch.

Use the twist peeler to peel three or four loops from a lemon, try not to break the peel as you do this, once your done set the peel aside for now.

Cut the lemon in half and if you have a lemon squeezer use it to squeeze the entire lemon into the shaker, or it can be done by hand but you lose some of the juice by not using a squeezer.

Pour ¼ inch of sugar into the bottom of a small plate, if you don’t have a glass rimmer. Then take your trusty martini glass and rub the rim of the glass all the way around the top with one of the squeezed lemons. There should be enough residual juice in the lemon you just used to add a nice sheen of juice around the entire top. Turn the glass upside down in the sugar and gently spin it in the sugar to apply a nice even coating of sugar around the entire rim of the glass then set the glass aside.  

Pour 3 oz of vodka into the shaker.

Pour 2 oz of triple sec into the shaker.

Add 8 medium sized ice cubes to the shaker.

Put the lid back on the shaker then while holding the top and bottom of the shaker shake it somewhat briskly up and down for 10 seconds or so. Once your done take the end cap off the shaker, depending on what type of shaker you’re using, and pour the contents into the martini glass. There should be enough to fill the glass to just below the bottom of your sugar mark on the rim. The final touch is to gently add the coil of lemon peel into the glass and serve. -HD

The Truth about Failure

Recently a close friend was laid off from a job he had maintained for over fifteen years. He stated that as a result of losing his job the period of time spent working this particular job felt like a waste of time and also gave him a feeling of failure.  While attempting to provide some solace for his grief I suggested that he look at the alternatives to simply referring to the situation as a failure. It was in this conversation that I found the desire to delve beyond the superficial meaning of the word failure.

In taking the word at face value it appears to be a bleak wall of self-degradation; which every person since the beginning of time has faced. When one does find oneself facing failure its initial emotional impact inspires dark thoughts such as hopelessness, despair, depression, etc.

In life’s journeys every human being faces failure on a daily basis but it’s how we respond when we encounter failure that truly counts. Do we stare hopelessly at the bleak wall and consider it insurmountable or do we interpret the wall more as a step towards our intended goal and strive boldly forward.

Nietzsche states that only a fool sees failure as anything but failure. I would suggest that Nietzsche’s definition of the word is myopic; which I suppose places me in the position of donning the mantle of “the fool”.

There are only two terms that are unwaveringly simplistic in their definition and they are “beginning” and “end”, or life and death, and everything we do from our humble beginnings is in preparation for the end.  Although initially the word failure appears simplistic in meaning, such as beginning and end, it is anything but. The word itself is intangible and only in our own thoughts do we provide it the sanctuary to flourish and exist.

As an example imagine a traveler wandering on foot through a forest attempting to reach a town. He reaches a fork in the path with two possible routes. One route he knows leads to the town while the other does not. Without any prior knowledge on which path is correct or any markings at the fork to help guide him he must make a choice if he wishes to reach his destination. In taking the incorrect path the traveler has simply eliminated one choice in reaching his goal and therefore confirmed which path will provide the desired outcome. This would then mean that through failure he found success and therefore failure is not absolute.

During our short journey from the “beginning” to the “end” human beings constantly encounter what we interpret to be failures or obstacles in our path but its how, or if, we choose to surmount the obstacles that truly gives credence to whether there will be a favorable outcome or not.  Our beginning is but a journey towards our inevitable end. Our successes and perceived failures along the way are merely experiences to be relished and relived once the journey is complete, because the successes and perceived failures are what make the journey worth undertaking to begin with. -HD