Antivirus and firewall

Hi folks

I've about given up on Computer Associates' EZ Armor system; they've taken my money twice, but the software still says it is out of date. So -

either, can anyone advise me on a decent replacement? (free for preference, but paid-for if necessary)

or, can someone who knows the CA system better than I do advise me on how to get it working?

Thanks

Firefox

Every time I go into Firefox, I get this message.

Unable to connect


Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at www.apple.com.


* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.

* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
connection.

* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

This happens for every site I go into.

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox; same result.

Any ideas? (I know you're looking into this, didiusjulianus; I'm not ungrateful or pushing you, I'm just in the mood for sorting out PC things *now*!)

Ta

Longer-term projects

I'm putting this up here with the main aim of prompting myself into doing some of them!; but do feel free to comment if you want to.

1. Get chairs, table and lights for the garden.

2. Get bench-cum-chest for the conservatory.

3. Decorate bedrooms, loft / study, and stairs / landing.

4. New carpets for above.

5. Get loft re-fitted with bookcases etc (maybe; if we do, this will clearly come ahead of the previous two). Actually, deciding on this has probably been the main blocker to getting *anything* done.

6. Get the rest of the furniture that Creatrix inherited from her grandparents re-upholstered / restored.

7. See about the lighting in the living room.

8. Best of Amon Hen volume 3.

9. 2005 Proceedings.

Gardening advice

So one for rustica, bunn, helflaed, and anyone else who wants to chuck their twopenn'orth in.

Our garden is bordered by a shared driveway, with a low wall and fence in between. The drive is tarmac (although fairly old and broken tarmac), and the usual stuff (dandelions, grass, nettles, more dandelions) grows along the edges.

It struck me today that maybe I could get something more attractive to grow there. I'm not prepared to put in very much work to achieve this, and I certainly wouldn't be looking for a high success rate; but can anyone suggest any seeds that might work?

Thanks