Life + Technology

Adding user-friendly-ness to your sign-up process

2011-01-04T23:52:00.005-05:00

For various reasons, I've been getting a lot of emails that go somewhat this way:

Hi! You've signed up for XYZ Corp's widgets web app. We're glad to have you! Please click here to activate your account.

Only some of them have gone this way:

Hi! You've signed up for XYZ Corp's widgets web app. Read this message thoroughly and save it forever.

Hello name,

We've got several things to tell you. They're very, very important, so you should definitely read them. Somewhere in this message, you can assume we'll eventually tell you what to do in order to begin using our web app.

First Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla ultricies, nibh at hendrerit posuere, dolor risus mollis lacus, sed accumsan eros ante vitae ligula. In order to do this, you should go to this link to yada yada yada. Ut consequat mauris id ligula euismod viverra. Suspendisse eros quam, rhoncus ut elementum vitae, commodo sed sem.

Second After doing what we just told you, Nullam commodo justo tempor ante rutrum mollis. Nunc ultricies mauris id nulla egestas condimentum. Proin feugiat auctor lectus, eu blandit quam rutrum sed. Aliquam erat volutpat. Sed enim nisl, aliquam sit amet vulputate eu, tincidunt a nisl. Then you can visit this link to use the web app in the future. Aliquam eu ipsum dui. Integer pulvinar arcu sit amet sem vulputate vehicula.

Third Sed interdum, nunc id fermentum sagittis, tortor odio fringilla neque, ut viverra tellus dui eu nunc. Nam condimentum quam vitae urna pulvinar congue. Suspendisse vel elit justo. Aliquam eget risus sit amet elit tristique hendrerit. Vestibulum nec felis elementum justo pretium semper condimentum eget nibh. Nunc malesuada egestas lorem, at mollis diam luctus eget. Donec lorem arcu, aliquam in posuere non, gravida ut lectus. Ut vulputate commodo tristique. Nulla dignissim enim sit amet dui adipiscing nec consequat est imperdiet.

Finally thank you for trying our web app.

Theres a problem here. Its not a huge one, but if you take the time to fix it, your users will love you.

Never give people instructions. This is a categorical statement, and is therefore flawed if applied universally, but I think you can understand it as it applies in this context. Whatever web app or widget store you have, your sign up process should be able to fend for itself in the instructions department. When registering new users, send the first email and not the second. Then, provide all the instructions you could have crammed into the email in the pages shown after the user clicks the easy-to-locate link.

Why do this? Well, assume your users are excited to use your product. This should be what you want anyway, right? Excited users don't want to wade through a bunch of instructions, they want to just go, right now! Keep this in mind when designing anything, and do everything you can to make sure you give users the information they need, when they need it. Avoid dousing their excitement in cold water.

On a final note, avoid requiring your users to even use an activation email. Sometimes this is necessary, but make sure it is before you make yourself a nuisance. There's absolutely nothing wrong with sending a "Welcome" email, but don't require your users to interact with it.

An open letter to Digidesign, upon the occasion of my complete frustration.

2010-02-01T16:27:00.004-05:00

Dear Avid/Digidesign/ProTools,

You should be ashamed, humiliated, and full of self-loathing. Your support and documentation is the worst I have ever encountered, bar none. Your website demonstrates no organization whatsoever. There is only the subtlest differentiation between documentation for this version versus that version. Old information sits beside/below/under/over/around new information and is virtually indistinguishable. Your authorized dealers provide information that conflicts with your website, and that conflicts with information provided by other authorized dealers.

Your compatibility grid is not a grid, and makes comparing versions of Windows 7 look easy. For that matter, why don't you support Windows 7 yet? For goodness sakes, you don't even fully support Vista! And worse, why should it even MATTER whether I have an AMD or Intel CPU, let alone your horrid quagmire of compatible/incompatible chipsets. You sell expensive software to professionals around the world, yet you can't manage to present any sort of information in any way that even ASPIRES to being user-friendly.

This is an outright abomination, and I have no conception of why anyone would put up with it. In fact, I am at a loss for words as to how further to describe the horrific mess of excrement you call "Support". Good DAY!

(No, friends, I really am this angry. Digidesign should absolutely take action to correct this horrible experience. I understand that this is not the normal tone of an "open letter", but so be it.)

Photo credit:

flickr/oddsock / CC BY 2.0

The REAL way to update InstantRails 2.0 to Rails 2.3.5

2010-01-19T17:19:00.012-05:00

If you want to develop Rails on Windows, I know of no better way than to use InstantRails. It is easy to set up, works well, and.....is really outdated. If you haven't been keeping track, Ruby on Rails is already at version 2.3.5 and good 'ol InstantRails is stuck at 2.0.2. Well, the time came for me to finally upgrade, I mean, how hard could it be?

The truth is, it really isn't that hard, but there is more to it than I wanted to figure out on my own. What made me make the jump was Nested Object Forms which was released February 2009. If you're keeping track, the last InstantRails release was late December 2007.

So, without further ado, here is your guide to upgrading InstantRails 2.0 to Rails 2.3.5. Lord willing, it is complete and accurate, but if you have any gripes, scream in a comment and don't say "I told you so." (Note: this does NOT purport to help you migrate your Rails application from 2.0.2 to 2.3.5, just to help you get InstantRails up to speed.)

Step 1: Update RubyGems

Start InstantRails using the familiar InstantRails executable. Stop the Apache and MySQL servers. Open a Ruby Console Window with InstantRails, then close InstantRails. Run this command in your console: "gem update --system"

Update: If you receive an error pertaining to a "HTTP Response 301" then you should try running the following command instead: "gem update --system --source http://production.s3.rubygems.org" You may have to run this command several times. As of this writing, the most recent version of RubyGems is 1.3.7, so be sure you have at least that version installed.

Step 2: Install Rails 2.3.5

Run this command in your console: "gem install rails"

Update: Rails is now heading for its 3.0 release, so to be sure you install exactly 2.3.5, run this command instead: "gem install rails --version 2.3.5" The instructions in this guide may work for upgrading to versions past 2.3.5 (such as 2.3.8) but I haven't tried this.

Step 3: Edit your "development" Rails environment

Open "\appname\config\environments\development.rb" Remove the following line (it's depreciated): "config.action_view.cache_template_extensions = false"

Step 4: Change your application to use the 2.3.5 version of Rails.

Open "\appname\config\environment.rb" Change the "RAILS_GEM_VERSION" to "2.3.5"

Step 5: Install the MySQL gem

(Though it is already installed, go ahead and upgrade it. These instructions were written after upgrading to the 2.8.1 version) Run this command in your console: "gem install mysql" You should be able to ignore any errors in the output, as long as somewhere it says it installed the gem.

Step 6: Add the MySQL installation to the Windows system path

(You can probably do this somewhere in the InstantRails configs, but I couldn't find where.) Find out where your version of Windows requires you to go to edit the system path. I'm using Windows 7, so this is how I do it: "Start > Computer (right-click) > Properties > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables > System Variables > Path > Edit" Add the following to the end of the string labeled "Variable value": "C:\InstantRails\mysql\bin;" (assuming that is the location of your un-zipped copy of InstantRails)

Step 7: Finally, run a quick "rake" task on your app.

In your console, navigate to your application's root directory. Run this command in your console: "rake rails:update"

OK, that should be it! InstantRails should now be at version 2.3.5, and hopefully your application is working like it should. Let me know how it goes.

While originally upgrading, I was helped by these two (1, 2) sources.

Danger, Will Robinson! Your Sidekick isn't safe!

2009-10-10T23:36:00.002-04:00

Moral of the story? Having backups of your backups of your backups is important, but having any backups at all is REALLY important. To bad nobody told T-Mobile/Danger/Microsoft.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/10/t-mobile-sidekick-disaster-microsofts-servers-crashed-and-they-dont-have-a-backup/

Hulu made me like TV

2009-07-29T21:49:00.009-04:00

So this is a nice little clip from Hulu, the show is Warehouse 13. From what I understand, Warehouse 13 is a new series on the (newly renamed) "SyFy" channel. I've found that I really enjoy TV programs when I have the access to them that Hulu provides, and evidently I'm not alone as Hulu is number 3 in online video right now. Another show I enjoy is Kings, but the first season is over and apparently that's all NBC will ever be producing. Everyone seems pretty upset about that, and I am to- it was a great show. Anyway, enjoy the clip- its really pretty funny.

Share the root home directory with Samba

2009-07-02T09:45:00.003-04:00

One need that I have had a couple times recently is the ability to share root's home directory with a Windows computer on the same network. The method for doing this has not been immediately aparent, and I've yet to find any sort of guide on how to accomplish this on Google, so I'll be shareing my method in this guide. We'll be using Ubuntu Server 8.04 "Hardy Herron" and will be shareing with a Windows 7 build 7100 computer.

Read this note: The instructions in this guide explain a process that will more than likely cause security issues for your Ubuntu server, though whatever computer you are shareing with should not be affected. It is much safer to share a user's home folder, rather than root's. Please understand the implications of what you are about to do. I will not be responsible for any issues that may result, directly or indirectly, from your following these instructions.

Please perform all these steps while logged in as root. If your root account is not configured, run "sudo passwd root" and answer the questions. Then logout and log back in as root with your new password.

Step 1: Install Samba on your server: "apt-get install samba"

Step 2: Configure Samba. Delete the contents of /etc/samba/smb.conf and replace them with the following:

[global]
workgroup = WORKGROUP
server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)
dns proxy = no log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
syslog = 0
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
encrypt passwords = true
passdb backend = tdbsam
obey pam restrictions = yes
unix password sync = yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
pam password change = yes
map to guest = bad user
socket options = TCP_NODELAY
usershare allow guests = yes

[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = yes
writeable = yes

Step 3: Reload your Samba configuration: "/etc/init.d/samba restart"

Step 4: Samba automatically creates accounts for users other than root on a system when it is installed. You need to give Samba a password to use for root and set up Samba to know there is a root account. By running "smbpasswd -a root" you should be able to accomplish both of these tasks. Enter a password for root to use when logging into a Samba share when prompted.

Step 5: Now you will need to configure Windows to see your new share. Follow this path: "Start > Computer > Map Network Drive" Choose a drive letter, then enter "\\10.10.10.10\root" as the folder. Check "Connect using different credentials" and click "Finish". At the password prompt, click "Use another account" and enter "root" and the password you selected.

Step 6: Click "OK" and enjoy your new share!

I hope this guide does leave you with a working share, it did for me! I really hate guides that assume the user knows something and leaves it out, and I've tried not to do that. If I have, my apologies, please leave a comment and I'll see if I can help you out.

Mindless Babble No. 1

2009-03-14T14:59:00.011-04:00

I really think I ought to start Twittering because I've got so many half-posts floating in my head. This is more of a product of my not being able to post every day than having a fertile mind, but in lieu of 50 posts today, I'll combine what I've got. Welcome to the Babble.

Redbox
On a trip I took this week (my school has an early spring break) to St. Louis, I had an opportunity to try out the Redbox DVD vending machines, and I have to say I'm impressed. My movie watching mostly consists of borrowing DVDs from the library when I decide I want one. This works well, as it is always free and I can keep the DVD for weeks and weeks on end, as long as I renew online. I don't really watch enough movies to use a Netflix subscription and get my money's worth, and Blockbuster is really a joke. I cant imagine paying what they want for a few days ever. Since I was on a trip and not near my library, not a Netfilx member and not a Blockbuster customer and really had a hankering to watch The Dark Knight, I decided to grab a movie. The system works really well, I got the movie for $1.08 in Lees Summit, MO and returned it the next night in Chesterfield, about 200 miles away. The only hitch was, the Chesterfield Redbox was rather spacey and was adamant that I had actually returned the DVD in the future which put me past the 9 pm deadline and I was charged for another day. However, Redbox customer support handled the situation great and gave me a refund for the mistake.

Slingshot Pay-As-You-Go Mobile Broadband
Also on my trip, I encountered multiple ads in Pilot Travel Centers for "Cellular Pay-As-You-Go Mobile Broadband." The only problem is, no one knew what it was. That's right: it took visits to 4 stores to learn anything about the device, let alone have an opportunity to purchase one. The gist is: buy a $200 device and then pay by the month for access. One month of unlimited access (according to http://www.slingshot.com/) is $60. This isn't really different from anyone else's service, except that it is contract free. I was hoping for a lower price, and a Pilot clerk did say that the $60 was actually for 3 months, but that seems to be wrong. I'd really like to see a review of this thing and know whose network it piggybacks on. No, the price is not right, but I'm not completely turned off to the thing yet.

BBC's Botnet
This is something that is going to be published and over-published in the next few days, but I find it quite interesting. The BBC's computing program, Click, acquired control of over 20,000 rented infected computers. (A botnet) They used these computers to send out spam to 2 email accounts they were using for testing and also took down a (willing) website with a DDoS attack. After they were done, they ordered the botnet to self destruct. There is more to the TV special than this, but that's basically the gist. Below are 2 video excerpts from the special and you can watch the whole thing in all its over-compressed Windows Media Player glory at www.bbc.co.uk/click.

'Twas once a deal at Circuit City...

2009-03-06T20:02:00.006-05:00

Well folks, it has come out recently that the last of the ~~once~~ often ~~esteemed~~ derided Circuit City stores will be closing this Sunday as they finish off their bankruptcy liquidation.

Most shoppers right now are finding that the so-called "deals" during the liquidation "sale" are no better than normal price, if not worse. I, however, am proud to say that I have managed to actually get a deal!

Said deal was on a Kensington Ci75m Wireless Notebook Mouse that I found laying on a countertop that was formerly the base of Circuit City's competitor to the GriefSquad, Firedog. As you can see in the picture below, it is quite a handsome little thing, and anyone who has used it will tell you the same. I have no idea how much it started out as, I only know that I made off with it for $2.12 w/tax! (Newegg sells it for $34 at this time)

While I'm at it, I might as well give you the scoop on this mouse. It is very comfortable to hold and well designed, light, but feels sturdy. In addition, it slides effortlessly on any hard surface and feels like a full-size mouse, which might be because it nearly is. You could easily mistake it for an extra thin desktop mouse, though it is still small enough to carry around and has a storage compartment for the receiver. (The receiver is not "micro", so you can't leave it plugged into your laptop when carrying it around.) One of the main features is that it has a cord built in, just in case the batteries go dead in wireless mode. If I could have one thing different, I would make it a bit wider. Driver installation in Windows Vista and XP is hassle free and is done almost as soon as the receiver dongle is plugged in.

All in all, this mouse works really well, and I like it a lot. I didn't really need it, but you would have to be a fool to pass it up at that price. Deal Alert: You can get one just like it for $8 at Office Depot on clearance. Hopefully they have it in your area. This is not available online, but my dad just bought one today. (Yes, we now own 2)

Snow day in SC!

2009-03-02T20:47:00.003-05:00

Well, snow in SC. They said it wouldn't happen this late, but we haven't seen 5-6" like this since 1993. (so I'm told) Our neighbor started an igloo, I finished it.

(I'm 6'6", by the way.) More photos:

In Defense of Network Neutrality

2008-11-06T22:42:00.003-05:00

The Internet (also known as the World Wide Web) is the most influential cultural mechanism in society today. As all other forms of media see drops in consumption and revenue, the Internet continues to grow rapidly. And it is all going to come crashing down. Imagine that your ISP controlled the speed of every webpage you visited and every piece of content viewed or downloaded. Though you continue to pay exorbitant rates for a connection that is slower than advertised, your ISP will continue to purposefully slow down your browsing experience. AOL loads instantly, while Google languishes. Wal-Mart music downloads happen in a blink, but iTunes is inexplicably slow. EBay’s auction pages barely load, but Amazon’s behave normally. You are even forced to give up YouTube videos because they load so much slower than your ISP’s news site. Even Facebook has fallen victim, leaving MySpace the only game in town. (Oh, and even the legal uses of BitTorrent are sluggish.) Does this sound impossible or unlikely? Think again, because William Smith, CTO of BellSouth, now a part of AT&T, told the Washington Post that

An Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.

This is the reason Net Neutrality is such an important ideology. Net Neutrality would ensure that providers deliver all content at the same speed to customers, without capping limits of use or utilizing methods of "enhancing" the ISP’s own content. Of course, the ISPs defend themselves by claiming that others should not be allowed to use their "pipe" for free, that large users should pay proportionately, and that they should have the option of "optimizing" the delivery of their content. This argument is easily defeated, as both producers and consumers pay dearly for their bandwidth. Google doesn’t run on dialup, they require massive amounts of bandwidth to deliver their content. If the ISP is not prepared for them to use that bandwidth, then they should rethink their marketing.

It is staggering to consider what the effects of a non-neutral web would be, and the consequences on not only the individual, but the small business, charity, or any other non-multi-billionaire organization. The issue of Net Neutrality is important to everyone on the Internet, even its creator, Sir Tim Berners-Lee:

The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. It is the basis of science, by which humankind should decide what is true. Let us protect the neutrality of the net.

The possibilities espoused earlier are highly probable and would result in an Intranet where the ISP is the king, the content the merchant, and the user the peasant. The ISP would be the gatekeeper, having the ability to censor whatever it wished and to crush free speech, provided there was money in the deal somewhere. Mom & Pop’s widgets.com could never compete with Acme’s widgets.com when Acme was paying the ISP to deliver its content faster. Real "viral" talent would be stifled, as the ISP might choose to only provide sufficient speed for its own pay-per-view site. (Let’s not forget that many ISPs own cable networks and have every interest in slowing other video content, and it is the same for phone service.) Education would fumble as well, especially if caps were imposed. Even "high" caps would cause the consumer to fear using more internet than they were allotted, therefore making them more cautious in their use and possibly neglecting the educational benefits of the internet. Caps would also hurt business and turn thousands of individuals instantly into criminals. Free Wi-Fi would be a thing of the past for the business crowd and anyone who ever used an unlocked Wi-Fi connection would then be "stealing" from the owner’s allotted quota. The open source community would be shut down, as large files shared between developers would begin pinching the pockets of the volunteers that provide useful software to all, free of charge. A neutral net is absolutely vital to the continued success of the Internet and the millions of users and businesses that rely on it.

The World’s Most Cantankerous Program

2008-10-01T22:03:00.000-04:00

Well, Macs “just work” and Windows’ programs work most of the time, but things are entirely different when the OS you use is called Linux. Desktop Linux is very advanced, and I do believe that it is a good replacement for any other OS. The side of Linux that is the server OS is quite different though. Both have their quirks, and I’ve spent countless hours on the smallest problem, but problems are only compounded when you’re on a server. If you’ve never tried managing a Linux server, you won’t know that everything is done through a text-only terminal. (sudo rm –r / is always a fun command to try!) This only compounds an issue’s difficulty, even though it’s easy to become relatively proficient in a few months. The other piece of the puzzle is that the programs on a server are normally critical, so all changes have to be made delicately.

I think that I’ve found a program on Linux that is quite ready to receive the title of “Most Cantankerous.” I understand that other operating systems may have worse programs, and I’m sure that they do. I really can’t speak to the worst program on the Mac, and the Windows ecosystem is so huge that it would be nearly impossible to pick a worst. I’ve come across tons of Windows programs that I’m sure Satan had a hand in coding. Linux also has many obscure programs that are difficult to use, but I don’t believe that I’ve ever found a major program on any platform that is picky & cantankerous as MySQL. MySQL works well, but if not massaged correctly it will refuse to work. Like a two year old who is somehow able to make herself heavier when she does not want to move, MySQL is sometimes quite maddening.

I’ve never had to use MySQL’s database functionality; I only deal with making sure it is running properly. I think I’ve got the harder job. First of all, there are about 50 different ways to start & access MySQL, and when something is wrong, that is exactly what you don’t want to have to deal with. Many times, MySQL will shutdown, never to rise again. My most recent encounter happened yesterday. MySQL refused to start after my attempt to set up master-slave replication. I have been successful at this before, and used the exact same process this time. Nonetheless, after hours of work, I could not resuscitate MySQL. Even our other IT person, who knows much more than I do, was unable to get MySQL to even start. We’ll be moving everything onto a new server soon.

I’ve had numerous other problems with MySQL, costing all sorts of time. And, judging by forums around the Interweb, I’m not alone. Something has got to change. If you like, post the program you think is the most cantankerous in a comment.

(I apologize for anyone who was looking for a solution to a MySQL problem when they found this!)

Fall...Sigh

2008-09-04T19:13:00.004-04:00

Well, school is back in. I don't know to much to say besides... sniffle, sob. Other than the obvious, this year there are a boatload of new teachers, who, I'm guessing will have tech support issues like crazy. Day 2, and I'm already in the process of reformatting a laptop and have a second in line for the same treatment. I've even managed to confuse people! Well, doesn't everyone know the meaning of NAS?

So, that trip to Illinois? The tractor on the silo? Here's a pic:

No Photoshop, No Kidding.

Police Raid Homes/Gatherings Of RNC Protesters

2008-09-01T11:00:00.001-04:00

It seems like these protesters are a little more violent & unruly than those at the DNC, but the police seem to be going a lot farther, to. According to a Digg commenter:

Police have raided numerous houses, private homes, and collectives, seizing computers, operations manuals for said computers, cardboard boxes, plastic and glass bottles, xbox and psp consoles, and numerous other items on a warrant list. They break down all the doors in the house, then tell the residents that they have until 6 pm that night to fix them, or their houses will be boarded up in violation of the city code. This is all in the run up to the RNC. Journalists and lawyers present, were put in handcuffs and detained while the raids were going on. What in the world is this country coming to?

Here is the link to the Digg page where you can read the original article, and some of the comments as well, which seem to cover some of the more recent news. This is truly disturbing, whether you are "red" or "blue."

Police Trap Peaceful Protesters in Denver

2008-08-27T12:00:00.003-04:00

I don't know if you saw the holding cells for the protesters in denver this past week, but they looked like somthing you would hold cattle in. Just change the tasers to cattle prods and....

I'm just glad that there are still Americans with enough backbone for this.

No matter what side of the political aisle you are on, this has to scare you.

Well, you can guess where these people went:

OOPS, Its gone!

Digg it here

Where Have I Been?

2008-08-23T11:25:00.008-04:00

As of recently, that answer would be "In way way way to many cornfields." My youngest brother, David, suffers from an ultra-rare genetic disease known as 9P Partial Trisomy. If I were listening harder to Dr. PhD (Dr. Schwartz, actually, I think. A very nice guy and real smart.) I might be able to explain more about how the condition works. As I understand it, my brother has an extra half of the 9th chromosome (DNA stuff) which is causing all sorts of problems for him. His main issue is seizures, but he also develops slower than other kids.

Anyhow, we heard about a conference of all the people with this disease, and decided that we would come to see if we could get help for David. Like I said, the disease is very rare, and only about 3% of the children that have it are even born. Most miscarriage. (I don't know what the stats are on conception.) And so, there are at most 15 people with this disease here. That is about the entire US population of people with this disease and I heard that there is one family here from Canada. The oldest known living person with Trisomy 9P is 37.

This conference is out in the middle of nowhere in Illinois. We're actually rather close to Chicago I'm told, but you wouldn't be able to tell. (Anyone ever heard of Bourbannais?) The directions around here are (probably) given in some fashion like this: "Ya, turn left at the first cornfield, right at the second cornfield, and then go straight on past the next three cornfields. We are the house with the John Deere tractor on top of the silo. Ya've gone to far if you pass the soy fields!" (Yes, we did see the tractor on the silo.) The folks out here have become so desperate for a vacation from the flat monotony that some guy dug a lake in a strip of land between the highway and a shipping center. They're calling it a resort, now, I think. There are about 20+ RV's parked all the way around it. I hope I can get some pictures of this on the way back home.

So, that's where I am. I hope that the conference is helpful to everyone here. David is going to be part of the Human Genome Project and be researched on. I'll hopefully post more than once a few weeks, and our family might actually get to Charleston for a real vacation.

There we are in the middle of nowhere!

Google was so bored with the landscape that it put in an extra turn to make things interesting! The red line is a road, but Google must not like it. (Note the blue line going directly around it.)

Deal Extreme

2008-08-11T12:24:00.001-04:00

Have you ever visited DealExtreme.com? If not, you should. They have all manner of chinese technology knick-knacks that solve problems you didn't know you had, solve those you can't figure out, and give you great ideas for new projects. In short: DealExtreme.com is awesome! They're also cheap. I got iPod headphones for $4, shipped by airmail from Hong-Kong! Yes, you read that right: everything is free shipping! Give them a week and you'll have that gadget at the cheapest price anywhere. These iPod headphones look identical to the real $30 ones they replace, right down to the impeccably copied Apple box. Yes, they are copies, but they seem to be about the same quality. The sound is a very small bit different, but my old headphones were in very bad shape, so its possible that they were off-sound, and these new ones are right. I also got a USB Bluetooth adapter the size of a quarter for less than $6. It works instantly with my mouse & keyboard at work and drivers are built into Windows Vista SP1. Deal Extreme also carries a large selection of lasers for $50 or so that are as good or better than the $500 lasers. Check them out!

Parroting The Accusation

2008-08-08T12:14:00.000-04:00

It will be hard for true Democrats to take me seriously on the issues of race and equal gender treatment, as I am a white male, but please believe me when I say that I believe that all races are, have been, and will be inherently equal. And women deserve the same rights as men, roles of spiritual and household leadership excepted, per Biblical standards. But, then again, if this picture is true, it won't matter what I say. The Democratic party will keep right on accusing. I could keep on with the politics, but that is not what I want this blog to be. I just thought that this pic was worth it.

Log For Life Beta!

2008-08-07T20:22:00.003-04:00

Theres been some interest on this blog with regards to Log For Life, the new diabetes logging program from Gnoso. Well, I've got good news: the first few beta invites went out today! I had some hand in designing the server it is running on, btw, and I will be adding the server as a MySQL replication slave soon. Not that you care about those technical details! Anyway, Log For Life will be going through a slowly expanding private beta process until it's fullblown launch. If you want to be considered for the beta, put your name in on the Log For Life website. Its all done randomly, so I'm told, but you might just have a chance!

Site Hits Galore

2008-08-06T12:00:00.000-04:00

I use SiteMeter for monitoring who comes & who goes on my blog. It's rather entertaining to be able to see when a friend visits, and a real game to figure out their name from their ISP, OS, browser, location, screen resolution and viewed pages. Yes, it can be done.

Recently though, I've noticed spikes in traffic related to two articles. One is my review of the Verizon Wireless Coupe, specifically in relation to it's dumbed down cousin, the Jitterbug. My take on the phone has garnered several hits from Google searchers. Sure, it's more of a letter to the editor, but it confers a bunch of information about the device, and I hope it has been helpful to those who have read it.

Even more popular, only this past weekend, is a hurried humor post I made during exams. You can read it here. Funny, no? Apparently a bunch of people think so, and one kind person decided to forward it around. This person seems to be especially well connected in Texas and several Spanish countries. It's even made it's way into the inbox of a Google employee! Folks, if you don't mind, please drop me a line in the comments next time you visit. Your traffic has been off the charts, at least for my blog.

Oh, and for other visitors, I do wish I posted more often, I really do. This started out as a daily blog, and hopefully will reach that level once again. I now end up posting once or so a week, but this will be the number 2 post this week. Bookmark me and come back again!

Cuil Isn't

2008-08-04T18:33:00.003-04:00

So, I've got to issue a recall of sorts on my review of the new search engine Cuil. Yes, it wasn't very positive to begin with, but I'm about to make it worse. Cuil's interface is still good, and it is still ad-free, but it's about as smart as a drunken beauty queen with amnesia.

First, my experience. I've yet to find a useful result in days of heavy searching. Remember, I live in front of a screen. I don't make the most searches of anyone out there, but some days I sure come close. Google and many other search engines are sure to give you only safe results. You won't often come by (if ever) a truly poisonous web site, and definitely not in the top result for a MySQL keyword! A drive-by download is never an experience that one wants to have first hand. Nonetheless, Cuil was able to deliver, and the pleasure (panic?) was all mine.

Yes, you read that correctly. The top result for a MySQL-related search led to a spam site that was kind enough to offer "Anti-Virus 2009" in the form of a nice drive-by download. Like any knowing user, I immediately killed the Internet Explorer process in task manager, crossed my fingers and installed Zone Alarm. And ran Trend-Micro Housecall. Yes, I use IE, and yes, I had no security software installed. I don't believe in active security software on my personal computers. I had AVG & Zone Alarm on my desktop for a long time. Then, I went without AVG & ZA for a week when I needed fail-safe performance and I would not be connected to the great WWW. Then, in the words of Barack Obama, I had an Epiphany. A light came down (from somewhere) and I realized that I could do without AVG running all the time. I knew enough to stay out of trouble, and so did the other users of the computer. I left Zone Alarm running just in case, but neither had been installed on my new laptop. Well, after this brief panic, I now have Zone Alarm on my laptop. And, for the record, I recommend that everyone not as technical as myself have the 3 pillars of security outlined in my serise on the topic.

Unfortunately this drive by download is not an isolated example of Cuil's bad behavior. According to The Register, Cuil had some....err.....inappropriate thumbnails show up after an innocent seach for a prominent quantum scientist. John C. Dvorack also reports tinkering with the results, especially those for Sergey Brin & Larry Page, founders of Google. Similarly, the founders of Cuil had substantially better results. Cuil seems to now have "un-fixed" these results, but it certainly doesn't help their reputation. I'm not using Cuil anymore. I'm not gonna waste my time with this "seach engine" that appears to be better at being a publicity stunt. (I hear the strawberries at the corporate office go great with their muffins, though.) I hope Cuil can get it's act together. I'll hold my breath, but I'm searching with Google for now.

Grown Up Google

2008-07-29T22:49:00.003-04:00

It has recently been highlighted on Digg the lack of maturity, errrr..... um..... I mean, the laid back atmosphere present at the Googleplex. Its not all bad, I mean, I wouldn't mind working there, but its not your starched bank or MegaTronic Corp. atmosphere. (no office to MegaTronic Corp. employees, whoever you are) Seriously, Google would be a great job, if i didn't have mine at Gnoso. (Nothing beats ping pong on the conference table) Anyhow, theres a new search provider in town, and I think that it could be somewhat properly called a Grown Up Google, or The Search That Ask.com Wanted To Be. (I think I like the last one a little better.)

Cuil.com boldly states that "The Internet has grown. We think it’s time search did too." and lays claim to being "The world’s biggest search engine." They (as of this writing) have 121,617,892,992 web pages in their index, or, more than three times as many as Google. Their leadership is made up of two PhD's from prestigious universities, including many, many former Googlers, and a few PARC engineers, to round things off. I'll bet VC money was no issue for this startup! Cuil's leadership is not lacking experience in the search field.

So what does Cuil have to offer, other than it's massive index? Well, it has a new interface, for starters. Cuil places tabs at the top of their pages, related to your search. If you search for Jaguar, for example, the tabs would help you differentiate your search from, say, the car, the cat, and the version of the Mac OS. If you want to get more specific, or see related terms, Cuill has a drill down in the third column, with interesting expanding/collapsing categories that hold related terms. The Ask.com similarity is striking, but is implemented much better, and have a better back end. Cuil results are also displayed in columns, for easier reading. Of course, there are numerous other touches, that you really ought to see for yourself.

Cuil, though, isn't all "Cool." They of course claim that their massive index is not because they have indexed all the spam on the Internet, but have instead indexed smaller sites and other, more obscure content. Cuil purports to show their results based on their match to your query, not the popularity of the link with other searchers. This is great, but I've found spam in their results, and sometimes their results aren't all roses. A quick, geeky, search for init.d doesn't exactly provide anything that I have use for, at least, not when I was working on just a basic understanding of that function. Worse yet, their snippets of text that represent the content of the page aren't up to snuff, in my opinion. Now, this service is brand new (though it has no perpetual "Beta" moniker, *ahem* Google *ahem*) so a few bugs are to be expected, and I haven't spent much more than a day with the service, so I hope I can grow to like it more.

Google may have their, "Don't be evil" slogan, but Cuil puts it into practice. Your searches are not logged. No personal (or impersonal) info is kept. Subpoena that Viacom! May the ground regurgitate your mutilated carcass!

One question though, before I go. How does Cuil plan to make their money? There are no ads! None! The VC money won't last forever, guys, and your personal fortunes won't be a great substitute. I've got a few thoughts on this, and I think I'll save them for another article soon. How about: The Rise of Web Advertising 2.0?

Laptop Review: Lenovo IdeaPad Y510

2008-07-23T21:31:00.004-04:00

Just last Thursday, I purchased a new laptop. After spending nearly a week with it for work and play, I figured that it is high time for a review. I spotted this particular laptop in a circular for Office Depot a few weeks ago. It was on clearance for $600. (normal list price: $830) Well, I missed that sale, and spent some time looking around for one. Most Office Depot's sold out at that price, but I managed to get a display model from a local store. I even got a better deal: $579, minus 10% since it was a display. The total? $553 with tax. And it ain't no slouch of a laptop, either.

The Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 (1.83 GHz)

3 GB DDR2 667 MHz

160 GB HDD

CD/DVD Burner

Intel Integrated Graphics

These aren't top of the line components, but they are solid nonetheless. The main problem is the graphics, but it does not create any noticeable issues with day-to-day Windows Vista Home Premium use.

As far as first impressions go, the IdeaPad give a fine showing. The screen is a 15.4" glossy widescreen with sunken hinges and a luscious smooth bezel. (The LCD and edges are covered by one piece of glass/plastic) The cover has a unique grey fabric texture and proudly displays a silver Lenovo logo. It has no lock, just a bit of spring to hold it closed, a nice touch. The rest of the laptop is business black, and the palm rest and touchpad have a smooth Apple-esque finish similar to that of the Macbook.

The IdeaPad also has several unique features, which include 4.1 Dolby surround sound (a subwoofer is built into the bottom) and a webcam/stereo mic combo, with software to let you use your face as your Windows password. Lenovo placed a touchpannel at the top of the keyboard with dedicated media keys, equalizer settings, mute & sound settings buttons and more. In addition, there is volume control and a one-touch restore/power plan button. (More on that soon.) This laptop comes with a VGA port, 3 USB ports, 1 firewire mini port, S-Video out, a mic & headphone jack pair, IR port, 6-in-1 media reader, WiFi on/off switch, and a PCMCIA card slot. Sadly, inexplicably, Bluetooth is omitted.

When I first turned the laptop on, I immediately decided to do a system restore. Although the laptop had been on display for only 3 months and had no cosmetic or hardware faults, I decided I wanted to start fresh. I pressed the one touch restore button above the power button to start the process. The crackpot who put the button where he did has no children. I can tell, because he would have known better than to make a button that starts a bare-metal factory settings restore with one touch and a keypress in confirmation if he had had young children. I will have to watch the button very carefully.

Lenovo shipped the IdeaPad with a variety of bloatware, which was disappointing. However, the bloat is kept to a minimum. About 63 processes were running out of the box. Lenovo pre-installed a 90-day Norton Anti-Virus (not Internet Security) and a 60-day trial of Microsoft Office Standard with Outlook Business Contact Manager. This took the majority of my time, as the contact manager requires MicrosoftSQL Server as well. All in all, Microsoft Office paraphernalia was about 9 programs. That was it as far as commercial bloat goes, if I remember correctly. (I had the information saved in a file. Vista was kind enough to lose it for me in one of it's senile moments) Lenovo also included several Lenovo programs that are designed to be helpful. One of these was a program that would use the "novo" button (that system restore button's rightful title.) to change power settings. Booooring! Microsoft has this built into Vista. I trashed the thing. Another program was a Lenovo branded clone of Windows Media Center. Gone! The 3 programs I kept were Cyber-Link DVD, a webcam program, and the VeriFace software.

As far as things go, Lenovo has built a good product. No performance complaints here. VeriFace is a cool app that scans your face and then uses it to log you on when you start Windows, instead of a password. It works pretty well at this, but I wish it had a biometric reader as well. The face recognition does not work to well in the dark! As I said before, Bluetooth is a massive omission. The screen is bright, but is very glossy and therefore reflective. It does not bother me, but it may bother some. The touchpad is nice, but I wish that Lenovo had included a pointing stick such as in the ThinkPad line. I'd gotten way to used to one in my old-school Dell Latitude. The keyboard is good enough, but seems to miss some keypresses. It may just be me getting used to it. What isn't me is the size of the arrow keys. Linux command line freaks will know that they should be full size, but so far this has not been debilitating. More worrying is that the Ctrl key is not on the far left of the keyboard. It has been usurped by the Fn key. Why Lenovo did not switch their position to something a little more standard is beyond me. Any keyboard shortcut is now twice as hard, as I have to relocate the Ctrl key.

I think that sums up most of my gripes and likes about this laptop. I'd recommend it, especially at the price I got. Just be sure, that when you are trying new laptops, be sure to look at the more obscure keys, not just type your name. I wish I had known about the Fn and arrow keys. Also, try out the touchpad. Lenovo's is not to "sticky" and it has gotten better since I've used it, but the HP touchpads are maddening! You could trap flies with their stickiness! That alone keeps me from buying one.

National ADD

2008-07-16T21:39:00.003-04:00

Has it ever struck you how extremely absurd our country's system of election is? On a national level, our focus and direction as a country is guaranteed to change every eight years, sometimes four. (On a local or state level, try as little as two years.) Every election year, politicians come out promising "change." No recognition of "The former leader did a good job. I'll keep doing the same when you elect me to replace him, and give you a stable, internationally sovereign state." Instead, everyone yells and yipes about how this and that is wrong and the whole thing has to go in a different direction. Think about it: a nation of hundreds of millions will start a completely new path in as little as four years!

Food for thought: Scale this change of hundreds of millions every four years down to a young child. What would that look like? A child changes his entire worldview every few days? Hours? Minutes? If you did scale it right, I think that you would have this child changing in seconds or less. The conventional ADD diagnosis wouldn't even begin to describe it. Although this example is somewhat flawed, it still illustrates quite nicely a very real problem. What can be done to fix it?

Well, in a Utopia, there would be a few things different. First, smaller countries. A king that ruled for 100 years over a nation the size of the US might begin to give a picture of order. Which brings my second difference, longer terms in power. I advocate for neither. Utopia is a lost cause, and I believe that if the current US system of government were adhered to, we'd have something reasonably close.

The spark in the darkness of this is that the promised change never comes. These are politicians and they won't be establishing their pre-election utopias any time soon. Nonetheless, I would still argue that instead of looking forward and shunning the past, our leaders should look at the past and see how it can apply to the future. There's nothing new under the sun, things of the past only will return in different forms. If we recognize those forms, we can deal with them the right way.

Server 2008 & Hyper-V

2008-07-14T21:31:00.002-04:00

I've just discovered that, if I ever had time to blog, this would be a great platform for sharing my information that I've found as I work with the servers at my job. Most everything I do is rather undocumented, so I have a tough time finding it and might as well share it. Today I'm going to share the latest in my lessons at the school of hard knocks reguarding the upgrading of Hyper-V Beta to Hyper-V RTM.

At work, all of our public info is hosted on Amazon's EC2 and S3 platforms. Anything internal (SVN, Build Servers, VPN, PBX, etc.) is hosted on our own servers. One server has Windows Server 2008 installed and we use it for running VMs. Server 2008 shipped with a beta version of Hyper-V and it was recently my task to upgrade it to the final version. (RTM) Microsoft's site is very clear in what will have to be done to upgrade. In a nutshell, all VMs must be off, saved states deleted and Snapshots merged into the parent VM. You should also write down all settings and make a backup of the VM files.

OK, so a lot of your stuff will hit the chop. Users of Hyper-V will understand most of what is said above, except I will clarify on one thing: to merge snapshots, right-click on the top (first) snapshot and tell it to delete the snapshot sub-tree. According to Microsoft, this will cause all of the snapshots to merge together into one VM. You will then have your VM in the same state as when you last powered down the active snapshot.

So wheres the difficulty? Well, when I deleted the sub-tree, the snapshots should have merged, right? Wrong!!! Some maddening bug somewhere caused the snapshot files (.avhd) to not be combined into the VM files. (.vhd) Ugh! Now what was I to do? The thing on my mind was that I would have to recreate all the VMs after upgrading! We have four VMs in active use, and about ten others used occasionally. This was not going to be fun.

Long story short, I followed the directions as best I could, accidentally omiting the part where I was instructed to delete the VMs from Hyper-V before upgrading. Good thing I didn't. After installing the upgrade, I tried starting the old VMs. Tough luck. But wait!!! Now the VMs had started to merge in the snapshots! Even after they had merged, the VMs were unusable, but after a little tweaking, everything was back to normal.

How? Well, after starting the VMs, they merged. After they merged, I deleted them. I then created a new VM in Hyper-V and told the wizard to use a certain Virtual Hard Disk file, that being the old .vhd in question. Without complaint, Hyper-V loaded the file and the VMs were back online in perfect condition!

So, if the non-merging-snapshots bug has struck you as you upgrade, you can try leaveing the .vhd files and all where they lay and allowing the Hyper-V RTM to do the merging for you, and then re-loading the files into your new Hyper-V manager. Please be aware that this method is endorsed by no one other than a 15 year old geek with acne. (me) Please use caution and prepare for the worst, but be advised that there is hope!

Here are Microsoft references on the topic:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-install.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949222

Server Managing And Monitoring

2008-07-08T20:21:00.003-04:00

For the past half-week or so at work, I've been assigned to choose a replacement for and/or modify our current application that we use to monitor our servers. The whole of the availible software for monitoring server stats (cpu usage, memory usage, I/O info, networking, etc.) is built arround one tool: RRDtool. (link) RRdtool puts the info in a Round Robin Database, hence the name. The RRD files it creates don't balloon over time like log files, they stay the same, beacuse old data can jsut be averaged into new data and you will still have the same historical graphs. Many other aplications for server stat monitoring have RRDtool at their heart.

(As a note, server stat monitoring "solutions" are made of three parts: A tool of your choice to gather data, RRDtool to store it, and a front end tool of your choice to display it.)

We used a program called CollectD (link), and it was my task to modify or to replace it. CollectD collects and stores the data in RRD files. It has experimental (read: non-functioning) graphing functions, but they are very experimental. So, we needed a way of turning the RRD files that CollecD made into useable info.

What would have been ideal is if I could have found a program that would open and graph the RRD files without any fuss. Not happening. If there are any IT Trainees or Interns like me out there, stop your search now. Veteran IT warriors may know of a program, but I'd guess they don't. At any rate, you will not be able to find one, so don't waste your time.

What do exist, however, are web based graphing tools. These require Apache ("sudo apt-get install Apache2" in the Ubuntu terminal) to run. You then access them by navigating to the server-in-question's IP. Graphing programs that come on their own (without the other 2 core parts) normally consist of a cgi-script and a config file that are placed inside the /var/www/cgi-bin/ folder. (you will have to create some of those folders) By navigating to http://ur.ser.ver.ip/cgi-bin/ur-script-name.cgi you will invoke the script, causing it to run from the config file, and, theoretically, giving the desired output.

I have spent much quality time with Drraw, (and RRGraper as well) one of these types of programs, trying to get it to work with CollectD. However, errors always occured when it came to reading the RRD files tha CollectD had made. Therefore, the point of the article: If you are new (or almost-new) (or even slightly-indoctrinated) to server management, don't waste your time trying to use two or three programs to fulfill the 3 core components.

After much grief, I decided to try Munin. Munin is one of a few programs that provides an all in one approach. The reason Munin was not our first choice was becuase we wanted our servers opperating lean and mean, not having to host the webserver to provide the graphs. Turns out this was a non issue. Munin has two parts: Munin and Munin-Node. Install Munin-Node on the server you want to monitor, and Munin and Apache on the server you want to serve up the graphs. (in our case a VM) Though this may not work out for everyone, it worked our great for us. It was the same situation as using Drraw and CollectD, but the two programs were designed from the ground up to work with each other!!! A night and day difference, and no performance concerns whatsoever!!

I had much grief in my search due to the presumption of many man-page authors and documentation-wiki writers that my knowledge of Linux rivals/equals theirs. I know that I'd not have a clue what I'm saying in this article if I were to read what I've written a year ago. (wha....?) But I hope that I have written this at such a level so that other beginners can grab hold.

Here is a tuorial (easy!!!!) on Munin.

Below are other links I found/used in my search:
Good article on using/integrating RRD Tool
Nagios

Happy 4th!

2008-07-04T23:08:00.007-04:00

(Or at the presedential races!)

HAPPY FOURTH!

Cell Phones For Seniors

2008-07-01T21:49:00.002-04:00

Below is an edited letter that I e-mailed to PC Magazine mobile analyst Sascha Segan. This is in response to his review of the Verizon Coupe, a cell phone designed for seniors. You can read the review here.

We just bought a VZW Coupe for my grandfather, and the usefulness and genius of the phone were totally lost in the review. I'm a tech freak, and I think that I would have lost the value of the phone as well, until I actually got a chance to present it to an elderly person. Here are some of the things I noticed (good and bad) about the phone:

The ICE buttons are hard to remember, but they are more helpful than using the numbers on the keypad as speed dial buttons. (This would be just as easily confusing) They are brightly colored, for one, and have dedicated functions. Remember, these are elderly folk we are talking about. It threw my grandfather for a theme park full of loop-de-loops when the buttons on his digital camera would do different things depending on when you pressed them. (The "soft key" concept is incomprehensible to him...nearly) He would have never been able to understand how dialing 555-9783 calls that number, but if he pressed 5 and then pressed send, it would call someone totally different. When you press an ICE button, the screen does not show the full number that it is about to dial. That confused my grandfather majorly. He had no idea what number it was calling! (Even though it would always dial the same one!)

On the topic of the soft keys on the screen: there are 2 white dots below the left soft key and 3 white dots below the right soft key, and they are also printed on the appropriate buttons on the keypad. This is PURE BRILLIANCE!!!! My grandfather had a TracPhone (ugh!) for a while before he got the Coupe. Unlike with the TracPhone, it was very easy to explain how to use the soft keys on the Coupe. The 2 goes with the 2 and the 3 with the 3...excellent!

The menu system on the Coupe is MUCH better than the normal Verizon menu! I don't see how anyone could not recognize this. With his TracPhone and his camera, my grandfather could NEVER get the idea of tabbed menus. I think the horizontal AND vertical concepts together overloaded him. The menus on the Coupe are much simpler (too simple for advanced changes that tech savvy relatives might want to make, a minor gripe) and the font can be set much larger. No stupid V-Cast stuff, or Get It Now, or anything else like that. They really should have not included text messages, for that matter. (One thing to note: The lag on the menus is very noticeable. That would be one of the few deal breakers on this phone)

The ringers could be louder, and vibration could be stronger. Grandpa has to be able to hear or feel the thing to answer it! He's pretty good with it, but not quite perfect. The 911 button is very nice. Speakerphone is a non-issue. They should have left out it's dedicated button entirely. My grandfather had never even heard (no pun intended) of the feature, and did not understand what that button was for. He kept getting it confused with the send button.

Voice commands should have been omitted entirely. My grandfather will NEVER use that, let alone understand how it works. The extra button on the side is just a distraction. So is the volume switch. He needs it all the way up! No senior will ever want the volume down! Besides that, the button is easy to mash accidentally. I hit it every time I opened the phone. (The phone's hinge is to sticky for the elderly, and it needs to be easier to get a grip on.)

Overall, the Coupe has many brilliant ideas (noble prize to whoever color coded the power adapter and included the charger base!) and few faults, at least for the elderly. The Jitterbug is a good competitor, but the price is horrendous. We live in SC and my grandfather lives in MO. Yet, we were able to add him to our family share plan! For the same price as the Jitterbug's lowest tier highway robbery, he can call any Verizon customer he wants to. That means that my mom does not have to wait until late into the night to call him. She calls every night, and their long conversations eat into both of their sleep. That will now be a thing of the past. She can call him for free anytime.

So that is my take on the Coupe, you should consider it for your elderly friends and relatives. Now, what is really needed is a senior version of the iPhone. The buttons you don't need disappear!!! To bad the market is so small for the high tech natural interfaces to ever trickle down to where they are needed!

Google Street View

2008-06-27T00:08:00.005-04:00

Ever wondered if Google really means their "Do No Evil" moto? Now's the time to ask, as Google continues to expand their street view service. You've probably used this service with Google Maps before, or at least heard of it. You probably didn't know, though, how much of the US they are covering at this point. Case in point: I live in a semi-rual area in SC. This is near a metro area, but not huge, and yet the whole place is covered in street view! In fact, you can see a not-so-flattering picture of my mom below, driving down the road. I'm glad I found that when I was poking around! Rumor has it that Google is wanting to spread this overseas, and street view cars have already been spotted in China. Be on the lookout for a car like this.

Criminal Stickers

2008-06-25T22:00:00.005-04:00

About a year ago, I realized the absurdity and insulting nature of the yardstick stickers, or whatever they are, that are posted on the door frames of banks. They have clear black and white measurements from the upper 4-foot range to nearly 7 feet. Sometimes they are color coded, so that banks with the really bad security cameras can see the general height range, even if they can't see the measurements. Well, to all the banks out there, quit treating me like a criminal and letting me know it! I know that you are targets for thieves, what with the dollar signs printed on the side of your buildings, but at least don't let me know that you think I'm ready to rob you.

Think about it, the cameras catch you as you come in, and catch you as you go out. You are treated as a criminal from the moment you walk in the door and they make sure that you aren't as you go out. Now, security cameras are similar creatures, I agree, but they are a lot more impersonal. The idea of measuring every person that comes in and goes out individually is a lot different than taping everyone in the building and the unfortunate passerby outside. I'm sure somewhere that the young lady behind the counter at a bank is employed solely to pull out a tape measure and measure people individually and exactly. She also has the cloth tape measure and finds your exact clothing size when she stops you politely as you enter, takes a sample of your hair color, weighs you, (on the scale hidden under the floor mat) and, at banks in bad neighborhoods, takes a sample of blood for your DNA (the smaller community banks can only afford to take the thumb prints. I believe the legislation is in the works to provide DNA testing equipment so that the "little guy" is not left behind by those big banks) Also at our fictional bank is another lady, stopping the passerby outside and giving them the same treatment, asking them to turn and look at the cameras on the inside, just in case they are criminals that might come back to rob the bank later. These two fictional ladies are at least kind enough to make small talk with you as you are patted down and sent through the metal detector, politely informing you of the latest interest rates and why now is the time to refinance your home.

Ok, so I've swerved a little off topic on my rant against these measuring sticks in banks, and just how far this could be taken. I can actually understand why a bank has a reasonable need for this. But Great Clips? That's right, as I walked out of both Great Clips and Steak & Shake today, I was measured and my criminal profile was recorded in perpetuity at ACME security's CCTV recording facilities. This is downright madness! I don't want to always be treated like a criminal everywhere I go! (For that matter, why do we arrest "suspects", and why are they held even though they are "innocent until proven guilty"? Just a point to ponder.) I do kind of see the need for this security in today's corupt society, but at a fast food restaurant and a hair salon?! You'd think at least that there would be some other way of measuring me (I'm 6'6", btw) without slapping me in the face with it. I'm just waiting for Mc Donald's to start putting them on their doors, horizontally. Won't it be fun to see how much wider Mr. Jones is as he walks out when the staff reviews the tapes?

VBS Wrapup

2008-06-20T22:31:00.002-04:00

I wanted to make one last post on our Church's VBS. Below is the picture of the Arena:

This is where we held all the main assemblies. You can see the sports desk, stands and the unlit torch. A fan inside makes yellow and orange "flames" appear and a special assembly inside makes them spin, creating an even more realistic effect, also helped by the lights inside of the torch. I sat under the cardboard stands to the left, which housed a whole room where other teens prepared for the different skits each night

Oh, and, one more thing: Gnoso and Log For Life won!

Oooooohhhh............. Those Selfish Drivers!

2008-06-19T21:34:00.003-04:00

I'm generally happy with Lexmark, but when I tried to submit this comment to them it was a hassle. I hope they sent it to the right department! (Most companies want to hear comments from their customers, but Lexmark has made it hard to do this through their website, and the phone number is non-existent online) Sheesh! I dont have a really big complaint, just a minor gripe I wanted to share!

I am trying to clean my computer of unnecessary processes and to speed it up. I have two Lexmark printers that I am not currently using, but do use occasionally. I was playing in MSConfig and disabled the LexBce Server application from starting automatically. Not using any Lexmark products at the time, I did not want my computer to have to load this, I would load it when I needed it.

The next time I tried to print, I could not. Windows showed no printers installed. When I tried to add a printer, Windows said it could not because the Print Spooler Service was not loaded. When I tried to start the Print Spooler Service manually, it could not because one of it's dependencies was not loaded. When I researched the problem (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324757) Microsoft's site said that it was because the LexBce Server was not loaded.

I cannot fathom why Lexmark has decided to change Windows so deeply with their drivers so that if the drivers are disabled, printers from other brands are toast as well. This is arrogant and annoying. My programs are not part of my operating system, they are auxiliaries to it! Why does Lexmark program this way? Other companies do not, and their printers work just as well!

I'm not your average Joe (Jane, for fairness) venting, I A) write this blog and B) am currently a full time intern at a software development firm. I work with networking, so programming is not my thing, but I know enough to know that something is wacky here. I don't want to uninstall my Lexmark printer, as I will be using it occasionally. I just want to lower the number of processes on my computer, and Lexmark is making it hard to do this. Get the picture Lexmark, don't punish your users for having annother brand of printer they use more frequently! They bought yours, didn't they?!

Log For Life: Diabetes Logging Made Easy

2008-06-17T18:00:00.002-04:00

This summer I have the great opportunity of working at a software company, Gnoso Inc. Since I started, the rest of the team has been working feverishly on our next product, Log For Life. It is a diabetes logging web app for diabetics to log their health and treatment information, making it easy to keep track of, analyze and share with concerned family (parents of diabetic children, extended family of elderly diabetics) and with your doctor. Just yesterday was the end of submission for a diabetes design competition hosted by the blog Diabetes Mine. (link) The product will be releasing soon, and you can find out more at www.logforlife.com. And so, with a bit more of shameless self promotion, (self's company promotion?) here is the promotional video entered in the contest:

Definitely sorry about the recent lack of posts, but I'm still recovering from VBS! Believe it or not, I have actual TEXT (not video) ready for tomorrow's post.

Jamaican Hat Dance

2008-06-11T12:00:00.001-04:00

A video "backstage" at last year's VBS. No, I'm not anyone in the picture.

Llamas, Athletes and Cheap Cables

2008-06-08T21:14:00.003-04:00

Today marks the second official day of Olympion, our church's Vacation Bible School (VBS) this year. This is my favorite week of the year, I love the business and rush of it all. Every evening, all week, is occupied with managing and directing and teaching children about the Bible and God's plan of salvation. I especially love it because I get to direct a cast of other teens and even some adults in skits for the whole event and story tellers who reinforce and teach the night's lessons. I'm actually in charge of something! Of course, I've been told that my style of leadership is lacking, mainly because of it's absolutisitic, communistic, dictatorial rule. Of course, only outsiders see it that way. My friends and the other staff I'm involved with see it as all in good fun. The skits (and practice for the skits) all get done, even though the actors continually stare at the teleprompter that I've set up and I can herd cats better than I can get that cast together!

Of course, the teleprompter is another big part of my job. I run lights, sound, and video for the whole thing and I absolutely love that part as well, the geek that I am. Speaking of the tech side, buying new cables for this year (something always changes each year, requiring more cables!) I found a fantastic site for really cheap cables: http://www.cablesforless.com/. The prices are rock bottom for what I needed this year (RCA cables, long) and I think they are good for most everything else. The quality of my purchase was top notch and shipping was speedy. (use the USPS, its quick and cheap even though it traveled half way across the country)

Anyhow, so that there is actually something of interest in this post, here is a video that I find rather hilarious. Dumb, but hilarious.

I know I've been off on the posting, but that is the price of VBS. I have things I want to post for the rest of the week, but with the schedule I have this week, I can barely find time to sit at the computer!

If Dr. Seuss Were a Technical Writer.....

2008-06-05T21:58:00.001-04:00

Here's an easy game to play.
Here's an easy thing to say:

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report!

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash,
And your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash,
then your situation's hopeless, and your system's gonna crash!

You can't say this? What a shame, sir!
We'll find you another game, sir.

If the label on the cable on the table at your house,
Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,
But your packets want to tunnel on another protocol,
That's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall,
And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,
So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse,
Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,
'Cause as sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang!

When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk,
And the microcode instructions cause unnecessary risc,
Then you have to flash your memory and you'll want to ram your rom.
Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your mom!

Ok, Ok, enough of the humor posts! This neat little gem of a poem is found in the fortune cookie program in Ubuntu.

Optimistically Speaking...

2008-06-04T21:35:00.001-04:00

Just in case you were feeling good today!

Time Warner and the End of the Internet

2008-06-03T21:29:00.003-04:00

Folks, we have reached the beginning of the end. Time Warner Cable has started metering customers for their internet and its not pretty. $30/month for 768 KBps and $55 for 15 MBps. What are the limits? 5 GB for the 1st and 40 GB for the 2nd! This does not sound good, folks! Nearly everyone uses over 5 GB and many will use over 40. Time Warner will charge $1 for every GB you go over. This is ostensibly to make obessive users pay for the bandwidth they use. (5% of users use 50% of the capacity) However, there are better ways of doing this. These limits are outrageous!

The Internet service Time Warner provides is already slower than the quoted speed. Consumers are not getting what they are promised now, and the company will start charging them even more and give them even less. Time Warner is moving beyond basic service and beginning to charge customers on what they consume. They will make profit off other's copyrights. (a movie will profit them more as it is a larger file that music) Instead of merely charging for service, they will begin discriminating on what they charge, thus encroaching on copyright regulations. This is not a major issue, but it is an issue nonetheless.

The biggest issue is that many consumers are left without a choice. They may have only one provider, but probably not more than two. By making this move, Time Warner will monopolize their service to those who have no other choice. Every journalistic and industry authority will also state that if this trial goes well, all other Internet providers will begin using similar pricing, changing the US economy for the worse. (as if it needs any help) The US economy thrives on creativity and sharing of knowledge and information. That is the goal of the Internet (even though that is not its sole purpose) and Time Warner is putting a price on creativity and information. The smarter you want to be, the more they will charge you, hindering low income families from getting the knowledge they crave. Time Warner does not charge by the hour or minutes for it's phone service or cable TV service, does it? Time Warner is stepping out and will hurt your local economy, as well as the US economy if it continues in this outrageous pricing scheme.

Everyone must speak put on this issue! Tell Time Warner you will have none of it. (maybe go ahead and cancel your service, just to make a point) Tell the mayor of Beaumont, Texas where the trial is taking place just how bad the idea is. Tell your governor, the Texas governor, Congressmen, Senators, everyone you can find. Warn you internet provider that you will be going out the door if these new plans are comming in. Stop this now!

More information:
Digg this story:
HERE

Read this story on Ars:
HERE

E-mail the mayor of Beaumont, Texas:
HERE

For a possible (though not very credible) look at where this is headed:
HERE

Bloatware Bargains

2008-06-02T22:50:00.000-04:00

If you have ever seen a computer ad know the kind of shenanigans they go through to get you to buy this or that new laptop or desktop. There is also the all-important price at the bottom, never $800, always $799. The price often has to do with the quality of a computer, but it always has to do with the out of the box experience you will have with your new purchase. The less a new computer costs, the more the manufacturer puts on more and more bloatware and trialware, junk that no one needs. The problem is very, very bad. I was restoring two computers at the same time. One with Windows XP Pro, without any branding from the manufacturer, the other with Windows XP MCE, from Gateway. The Windows XP Pro laptop had 24 processes running after the installation. The Media Center laptop had over 60. The differences are two: MCE has a few more processes by nature, and Gateway loads on the bloat so they can give away their computers with crackerjacks.

When I returned the Gateway to the owner, she commented on how much faster it was. Aside from the fact that her old programs and bloat that comes from basic use was gone, the difference was that the massive bloat was gone. AOL this and Google Desktop that, System Tune-Up (only $19.95!) and FUN GAMES- CLICK HERE had all been banished past the confines of the recycle bin to the great RAID in the sky. Not only was all that junk installed, so were security programs and Microsoft Office software, both with insanely short trial periods. And Gateway couldn’t resist putting in their own branding and “assistance” software. Will any of their “assistance” assist me in getting this junk off my computer?! Didn’t think so. Gateway rakes in the big bucks when they crush your computer with all that annoying junk. That’s why the thing is so darn cheap!

The worst part of the ecosystem of bloatware that has developed around the likes of Gateway, eMachines, HP, Dell, and Sony, is that the computers with the most bloat are the ones that do not have the processing power to slug through it all. The expensive, powerful, computers bring in enough profit so that said companies don’t have to pre-load DVD quality movie rentals trying to make an extra buck. (We’re looking at you, Sony) The cheap computers are slow, but are made even cheaper as companies put these blatant ads all throughout their new products. Its so bad, that some companies (cough, Sony) have even tried to charge extra to ship your computer pristine. Others have built in programs that remove the excess garbage (Dell) but conveniently forget to remove their own garbage. (Find me one person who had not been hounded by the Dell Network Assistant. Extra credit for someone it has helped!)

The situation is getting better, but it is still way far away from where we need to be. The average user, I am sorry to say, does not know how (or even to) remove this excess. Companies try to get around placing 3rd party programs on computers by placing glitzy self-branded promotions everywhere. (Would you believe a dedicated toolbar perpetually above the taskbar for “help and assistance”) Users must recognize the pitfalls as they buy these cheap computers, the bargain basement carnage has got to stop!

Revision3- Pwn!

2008-05-30T21:48:00.003-04:00

If you haven't heard about the jerks over at Media Defender, you haven't been on Digg enough. These sleazy slugs are an Internet Mafia, controlling a massive server farm (and maybe a botnet or two, no official info on that, but its not a far leap) that they use to seed BitTorrent sites with phony files and ads for paid content at the behest of the likes of the RIAA and MPAA and their lawyering, lobbying gang. (I hope you sense my disgust)

I have heard of Revision3 before. They were started by Digg higher-ups and Digg founder, Kevin Rose. They do many weekly podcasts in the style of the former TechTV. Most of the hosts are former TechTV hosts, so things are very professional. (relative to the tech podcast genre) I'd never watched an episode, until I heard about what happened memorial day weekend....

So anyhow, this company, Media Defender, had begun using Revision3's BitTorrent servers to point to their own spam content. This was completely without permission and was done covertly through a hack (that's right, Media Defender is a black-hat firm) that exploited a hole in the server that was there because of speed optimizations made on the server. When Kevin & Co. found out, they blocked Media Defender's servers and content. Media Defender's huge server farm (2,000 worldwide, 9 GBps/sec total) went on the offensive, hitting Revision3's servers with upwards of 8,000 pings a second, a Denial of Service attack. Media Defender denies any wrongdoing, merely a mistake, but Jim Louderback, CEO and former editor-in-chief of PC Magazine has the FBI investigating.

Media Defender has been caught causing trouble before, so to see on whom falls the Pwn! is yet to be determined. Will it be Revision3, who lost all webservers and even internal corporate e-mail in the attack or Media Defender, who had been on the verge of bankruptcy in the past, or me, who's blog will soon be the victim of a DDoS attack from Media Defender, just as if I had insulted the Scientologists?

Puns and controversy aside, Revision3 produces great content. Visit them at http://revision3.com/ and read Jim Louderback's post on the attack here.

School Vouchers- SC Representative Makes Wrong Choice

2008-05-29T22:08:00.001-04:00

I had an interesting conversation on the phone with a politician in my great state of South Carolina. His name is Keith Kelly and he is running for State House. He sent out a postcard recently about his heroics and suffering at the hands of New York based private interest groups that want to “siphon money away from” local public high schools. I didn’t know what this meant, so I gave him a call on his cell phone, the number of which was on this post card. Feel free to call him and tell him you agree with me. (864-542-4867) He’ll hate me for posting that because some internet jerk will prank call him at 12 AM, but he gave it out first. Just please make sense and be nice and don’t call at 12 AM. Anyhow, he told me what I suspected, that the interest groups did not want the money for themselves, the money was to be used for school-choice vouchers. These vouchers are for the purpose of making private education, such as that that I enjoy, more affordable. As I learned from Mr. Kelly, these vouchers would be good for $4400 a year per student to the private school of their choice. Mr. Kelly is against these vouchers, that’s why he won’t be getting our family’s vote.

You may have read my previous post (here) on the issues of private and home schooling, how the government is stealing money from families because they pay in to the system but their kids do not receive the education. I told Mr. Kelly my thoughts on these issues, but he was still staunchly against the vouchers. He claims that the vouchers would not cover the cost of the education, and does not want to remove the funds from the public school system. He went into how they would help no one cause the single mom working at Waffle House 3rd shift could still not send little Jimmy to a private school. I’ve got news for him: he’s wrong. I told him so, but I’m going to use this post to also say a few things that I chose not to say while on the phone. (though I wish I had) The main issue I have is his protection of the public school system, in two ways. First, is it really the government’s job to teach our children? We’re in a sad state if it is. Unfortunately, that’s where we’re at now, in a nanny state. Mr. Kelly believes that education is important and that if the government did not provide a education, no one would. He is probably right on this issue. As he said, there are to many deadbeats out there who have kids and wouldn’t send them to school if they had the choice. His other argument against a privatized education system is that then no one could even afford an education. That is very flawed. He assumes that private school costs would stay the same, even if public schooling is abolished. Not true. Private school costs are high because of the small number of students they have. I have 5 people in my 9th grade class, yet a full staff of teachers must be maintained. If there were more students, the costs would be shared with a larger group, and thus would go down. Other than protecting the public system with these arguments, Mr. Kelly also wants to keep the money in its coffers, not give it back to those who paid taxes for it but get no benefit from it. The truth is, the proposed $4400 vouchers are for less money than what the state spends per child, meaning the government gets rid of the child and keeps part of the money, still having a surplus.

Mr. Kelly’s other main argument was that the vouchers would not cover the price of private schooling, which is completely wrong. For one high school student and one middle school student to be enrolled at my school is $7900 a year, without any financial assistance. This would leave money left over from the vouchers to purchase books and other school supplies. But wait, it gets better. My school is one of the most expensive in the area. Bob Jones Christian Academy is even less, and so are many others. Mr. Kelly admitted to me that he had not looked at tuition prices in the area before making his decision on this issue. Therefore, his assumption is wrong. Almost any private education would be covered by the vouchers, with money left over. And, the government schools still keep part of the money! Where is the problem in this picture?

Anyhow, most shocking to me was one sentence he gave in the call: What about separation of church and state? He is right, many private schools are Christian organizations, sometimes part of churches. But I would ask him: what is the religion in public schools? If there is one thing I have learned in Apologetics class this year it is that you cannot be neutral. Public schools are not “non-religious,” they are atheistic! Aside from this, separation of church and state is not in the constitution. The constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The separation of church and state is an idea, if I remember correctly, expressed by Thomas Jefferson in a private letter to the Virginia Baptist Association. The idea of separation of church and state (in context) is that the government would not give preference to Presbyterians over Baptists or some other thing like that. It assumes a strictly Christian religion. All that aside, religion is still taught in public schools, just not Christian religion, making his point moot.

I don’t want to haunt the guy, so I won’t call him again, but I will e-mail this article to him. His lack of knowledge of prices of private schooling, misguidance over separation of church and state, and being more willing to siphon money away from my parents than to siphon it away from his precious public school system make him unfit for office. He won’t have our vote.

Exams

2008-05-28T23:37:00.002-04:00

Yet annother post inspired by my current situation. :) I can't wait for school to be out and exams to be over, and be able to make normal posts!

Nostalgia

2008-05-26T23:39:00.003-04:00

I'm sure the dog has fond memories as well!

Just something I culled up today. It came from this website. Its the only one I really like out of the others I looked at. In a similar vein, visit Despair, Inc. for a laugh. (look at the tee shirts!)

AOL Gone Haywire

2008-05-23T21:05:00.000-04:00

This image was made at Atom Smasher's Error Message Generator. This is a really fun website, but please do be reminded that some messages in the Gallery of Errors are not "clean," at least the last time I looked.

Hint: For some fun, make an error and paste it into the background image on a computer's desktop. Guaranteed to drive the user crazy.

Note to readers: This next week I will be having final exams. This will make it difficult to post, however I shall try. I hope to resume normal posting June 2.

Why DIY?

2008-05-22T21:40:00.003-04:00

A year or so ago, I met a friend who offered to help me build a computer. I knew very little or nothing about what went into it, I was rather at a loss for even the right components to use, let alone what was good to use. Nonetheless, I was able to come up with the money for the parts, and so I learned how to build a computer. For those who don't know how, this is knowledge you must have. I'm due for an update to my computer, but I don't have the money right now. When I do get ready to build my next machine, I'll be posting step-by-step instructions and pictures on this blog. I'm surprised at how little I knew when I started, so I know what its like to be fairly ignorant. Before I decided I wanted to build, I had been borrowing past and current issues of PC Magazine from our library. Most of the stuff inside was still very much above me, but I'm happy to say that I learned most of what I now know rather quickly. Don't ask me about floating point clock multiplying shader engines, I'll only give you a blank stare, but I know most of the “other stuff.” Knowing what goes inside a computer and how to put it together gives you a whole new perspective on the electronics industry. I know what parts are good and what parts are bad, what parts you need and what you don't. I know when Geek Squad is ripping you off (always!) and how much a computer should actually cost. I've saved myself and others tons of money with advice and work, for which I only ask a token payment. After all, it costs me nothing, I enjoy it to boot!

One way that all companies rip you off is with operating system installation. I have never encountered any version of Windows or Linux that is worth the $99 that virtually all companies charge for installing an operating system. The only reason its worth the $20 or so dollars that I would charge is because of the time I have to stay and babysit the thing. For those of you that don't know how, look at my article on installing Ubuntu Linux. (here) That is really easy, you insert the disk, press enter a few times and then click your way through the setup. Its not hard, just daunting. Windows is even easier! When you need you OS re-installed, just stick in the disk that came with your computer and turn it on. Anyone can do it, and it can't mess anything up. (other than unsaved/backed up data; all data is otherwise lost) That is something that many people do not understand. There is nothing that you can break through software. If your data is properly backed up, nothing short of a sledgehammer can cause irreparable or even costly damage to your computer. If you're not a fumble fingers or a human lightning rod, you can even try opening up your computer to clean it out or put in a new hard drive or whatever. It is literally “plug-and-pray.”

So, anyone can install an OS, and with a few tips from forums, anyone can install hardware in their computer. Building your own computer gives you much, much higher quality and longer warranties. (Dell gives a “blanket” 1-year warranty. All parts I use have anywhere from 1-year to lifetime warranties.) You also know what is in the thing and when you install you OS, you put what you need on it, and nothing else. Unlike that blue light special HP laptop that comes with 24 game trials, 5 security suites, 4 backup programs, 2 DVD/CD utilities and 6 free months of AOL, all of which you have to pay for later, your computer that you build yourself comes with Windows. Thats it. You choose every single thing that is installed. Also, when you buy your own OS, you have a choice between OEM and retail. Compaq only offers OEM. OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer and is sold online or directly to the computer manufacturer. OEM software only lets you install it on one computer. If the thing falls in a pool, you have to buy a new OS. No transferring. Retail OS copies can be transferred from one computer to another legally, so over time they are worth the extra cost. All these reasons should have by now convinced you that DIY is better. Its cheaper right now & in the long run, gives you marketable skills, and gives you better quality. Befriend a geek today and start building!

Online Surveys

2008-05-21T22:54:00.002-04:00

I've recently gotten into taking online surveys to try to finance my technological rampages on Newegg. It hasn't brought in much, yet, which I believe is mainly due to my age. (under 18) I have gotten quite a few surveys and have tried many different companies. I've made a total of $15 dollars, and had an opportunity for $75 if I took part in an online focus group. I really regret not taking part in this, but I had other commitments at the time. If you are an adult, this guide will help you find the non-gimmick companies out there. (most of the "survey companies" that come up at the top are gyps) Teens, I've marked the ones that are "teen friendly" and give you pretty good rewards, or chances at rewards.

Greenfiled Online
(never gotten a survey, but they are legit. I think I'm to young)
MySurvey
(get a steady number, send surveys for every family member. decent rewards redeemed with points)
NPD Online Reaserch TOP PICK
(steady surveys. perfect for teens. use points to enter a raffle for big prizes)
Harris Poll Online TOP PICK
(steady surveys. good bonuses for the first few surveys. easy to get money)
Lightspeed Pannel
(I screen out of most surveys due to age. large number of surveys sent)
OTX Survey Exchange
(few surveys due to age)
Global Test Market
(Massive number of surveys. gives many surveys sponsored by OTX, so I often screen out)
Mindfield
(steady surveys. I screen out due to age)
Survey Spot BOTTOM PICK
( Massive number of surveys. "rewards" are worthless, though sometimes a survey will offer actual cash. More "real cash" surveys for older members)
E-Search
(pays cash for EVERY survey immediately through PayPal. I screen out due to age)
IPSOS i-say
(I can't join due to age, but they are very legit.)
u.talk.back TOP PICK
(great for teens. good amount of surveys. gives gift cards to major retailers.)

The Blind Leading The Blind

2008-05-20T22:51:00.001-04:00

It has long vexed me when I see how technologically illiterate the sales people at big box retail stores are. Computer experts in my reading audience will know what I'm talking about. Many of the employees at big-box stores do not know a thing about what they sell. In fact, I've been able to sell better than the sales people on a few occasions. The difference between me and them is the excitement that I have for the knowledge of how electronics tick, and their desire for a pay check. I have a desire for a pay check as well, but the apathy is astonishing when you visit Wal-Mart, or even Best Buy or Circuit City.

On the subject of apathy, it really is sorry how little work the employees put into keeping their job. I have a job this summer at a software company, installing a phone system and networking equipment. I have not only continued to follow the industry as a come up to the day when I will start work, but I have also been reading a 604 page book on Asterisk, an open source PBX phone program that I will be working with. I also plan to do some research on the actual phones that I will be using and try out Asterisk in a VM on my computer at home. Whats more, such preparation is expected in many jobs, but apparently not in the sales industry. Consumers would be much better served if the sales people would have a basic knowledge of the products they sell and the goings on of the industry that those products are made by. Unlike clothes, the pretty colors on the cardboard box have nothing to do with what is inside.

In my experiences as a shopper in these stores, I've often found that I know more than the sales people. For example, I once sold a woman a computer at Wal-Mart. She asked if I was an employee, I said no, but I could maybe help. We then went through a 30-45 minute process of discussing and choosing a computer, and I sold her the most expensive one. Unfortunately, I missed the commission. Better yet, while I was helping her, I was asked another question by another shopper. The lady I was helping said: “He does not work here, but he is more helpful than the people that do.” I turned red and proceeded to tell the second shopper that no, to the best of my knowledge, Wal-mart did not sell floppy disks. In another experience, I was kind enough to help a salesperson at (the now deceased) CompUSA. I told the customer that Apple would eventually being releasing an SDK and the iPod Touch the man was considering would get all sorts of exciting new applications. This is yet to happen, but it is still being promised. Neither the salesperson nor the customer knew this information.

I don't want to be hard on CompUSA, most of the people there were really good. It was the only store (including local stores) where a salesperson came up and started a conversation on the specs of my computer and gave me tips on a motherboard that I was casually glancing at. This wasn't sales talk, it was polite conversation. I wasn't aware such a thing still existed. CompUSA's problem was not getting in on the repair business soon enough, and when they did, they didn't go in all the way. I'm sure their “Tech Pro” services were the best to be had at a big box store.

Don't get me started on the failures of the services like Geek Squad and Firedog. If you want the gory details of the atrocities the high-school dropouts employed by these services commit, head over to the Consumerist blog. Heres one good tattling on Firedog. (http://consumerist.com/351374/10-confessions-of-a-circuit-city-firedog-technician) Anyway, the sales system is broken. The salespeople are just as ignorant as the consumers. Many of the frustrations of daily computing for average users would be removed if they had had a good recommendation from the rare (if existent) salesperson.

HD Nonsense

2008-05-19T21:46:00.001-04:00

I hope you will forgive me for missing a post on Friday. I'd like to assume I'm entitled to a day off every once in a while. :) The reason for my absence was that I went to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, which partially inspired me for today's post. The other factor that prompted me with this post is my recent purchase of an HD-DVD player, which I won on eBay. As I've told other people about this purchase, I've been surprised about how many people have heard of HD-DVD's ill fated demise. I purchased the player because it was cheap, and HD-DVDs are cheap, so it makes sense that way, but the main reason is because HD-DVD players are also DVD up converters. I have a HD resolution computer monitor, so I'd like to watch my DVDs in HD on it. To the best of my knowledge, there is no on-the-fly software up converter, so I chose to purchase this player. I got it for $46 with shipping and 3 free movies. Blu-Ray's win over HD-DVD has been met with much fanfare, but the future method of content distribution is not firmly in Blu-Ray's hands.

With theater costs high and many people owning HDTVs, it makes sense for HD content to be a big deal in the living room. Blu-Ray is firmly established as the disc dominator, but it is not the only source of HD content. All cable and satellite providers offer some form of an HD package. Pay-per-view, while popular, has never taken off as a viable main option for content delivery though. The third option is internet delivery of HD content. Netflix has pioneered the delivery of standard definition content over the internet, but has not said a word on any HD offerings in the works. Apple and Amazon are two other high profile providers of video content, but it is not all available to start playing immediately. All of these services suffer if the user does not have a top-notch connection to the internet.

Blu-ray's hope is pay-per-view, it's Achilles heel is internet delivery. The issues involved here are more along the lines of net neutrality, but will affect much more than just internet use. Blu-ray will be safe if net neutrality goes into effect. If ISPs (who are often also cable companies or have deals with cable companies for selling bundles) start throttling speeds or imposing bandwidth limits, the digital download will fizzle. It will either take to long or be to expensive because of overage charges from 40 GB movies being downloaded while on a “capped” plan. This would be in the ISP/cable companies interest, as it would force consumers to use their pay-per-view system, helping them to rake in more profit and more effectively manage their bandwidth. Assuming pay-per-view does not take off, this will knock out Blu-ray's 2 competitors. If ISPs are blocked from “managing” their customer's bandwidth and net neutrality becomes law, it is more than possible that Blu-ray will soon be joining HD-DVD at the mortuary. Customers are ready for a cheap, quick way of getting their entertainment, and the internet is perfect for this, plus, companies have made it very easy to accomplish this. If internet delivery takes off, you can say goodbye to Blu-ray.

While this takes place, I'll be sitting back watching the fun (unconverted from standard definition, or on HD-DVD) with my $10/month (read: slow) DSL. And I don't have cable. Blu-ray has a good product. Good, but expensive. The cost alone may make other choices more popular, but I'm assuming it will come down, just like DVDs did. I'm going ahead and predicting in Blu-ray's favor, but we'll have to wait and see.

Check My Sources!

2008-05-15T22:25:00.003-04:00

I'm often asked about where I get all my information on the devious doings of the technology industry, the how-it-works knowledge of components and software, and the general information a geek requires. For your benefit (and the benefit of my curious friends) I'll be sharing my list with you today. First, I get several e-newsletters, like ones from Microsoft, ZDnet, Windows Secrets and ExtremeTech. My homepage is set to iGoogle and I keep it updated with the latest feeds from the following:

PCmagazine Breaking News
Engadget
The Register
ArsTedchnica
Digg

I also have a few more from the PC Magazine network. The other part of my news that I get is through podcasts like DL.TV, Cranky Geeks, PC Mag Radio, and ExtremeTech Radio. That is about it, except for reading PC Magazine in print, as well as PC World when I can get it. I hope this helps guide you to what you are looking for!

A Security Primer: Part 4

2008-05-14T23:43:00.001-04:00

Today I will be finishing my series on computer security. After talking about antivirus and antispyware products yesterday, I will end my treatise on security with the third of the three main components of a good computer security approach, a firewall. Here goes:

You want a good two way firewall to protect your computer. A two way firewall protects you from port-scanning attacks (as well as attacks perpetrated on your local network) coming in and keeps bad programs that have gotten in some other way from going out. Windows provides a basic one way (incoming) firewall, but you should obtain a free two way one from ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm's firewall is excellent, but does have a few annoying features. First, it continually alerts you when a port scan is blocked. You can turn this feature off, as it is not necessary. The second “problem” is actually quite necessary. ZoneAlarm will ask you if you want to let a particular program access the internet. This is the “two” part of it's two way firewall. Sometimes it is able to give you the name of a program, and if you trust the program, you can have it “always allow” the program to access the internet. You can also temporarily allow or deny a new program that you don't trust quite yet. If you don't trust the program (i.e. it is dangerous) you can tell ZoneAlarm to block it. This will keep malware from “calling home” and downloading more icky programs, or escaping with your data. You have to be savvy with this though. You may not recognize a program or description that ZoneAlarm alerts you to. If you don't know what a program is, Google it and find out whether or not it is safe. ZoneAlarm can be obtained free from Checkpoint security. I consider a firewall the very most important part of your computer security, do not neglect it.

Whatever gets by your personal defense will hopefully be caught by the cocktail of security programs that I have written about in these past posts. If you don't trust yourself to practice safe computing or be able to make the decisions that these programs may ask you to make, you may want a full, paid security suite, such as Norton Internet Security 2008. (or whatever version is most current at the time you read this) Suites such as these contain all three major components, as well as system tune-up utilities, backup utilities, parental control and spam filtering. NIS 2008 is the best out there in every category. ZoneAlarm also offers a good suite including a more powerful version of their free firewall. You may want to consider one of these suites, and I would wholly recommend Norton. If you are a real technophobe, get Norton 360, a suite that requires even less interaction than the already quiet NIS 2008, but provides just as much security. A couple more pointers as you consider security software: don't have two antispyware applications, they will interfere with each other. Also, if you have broadband, be sure that your router includes a firewall. DON'T connect your computer straight to a modem. This firewall will, of course, be in addition to your firewall on your computer. I hope that this series has been helpful as you try to understand computer security and to protect yourself.

A Security Primer: Part 3

2008-05-13T21:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I wrote about how to practice safe computing skills to avoid viruses, spyware, phishing schemes and all the other inconveniences the internet has to offer. However, as you begin to learn how to surf safely, no doubt you will let something by. Even advanced users like myself will make an occasional blunder, albeit not as serious as what it would be for a new user. So, for beginners and for experts, a collection of security products is necessary. The three main components of a comprehensive security plan for your computer are: antivirus and antispyware which will be talked about today, and firewalls, which will be covered in another post. Be aware that you can purchase these programs separately from different vendors, or as a “suite” of applications. There are also some very good free alternatives available.

First off the list is your antivirus component. This is the main thing that people think about when they think of security software. A good antivirus program will allow you to schedule a scan of your entire computer hard drive for known bad programs. It should also practice on-access file scanning, so that every file that is accessed is scanned against it's database. Because of the rapidly changing nature of viruses, the most recent antivirus programs today use heuristics to determine if a file is dangerous. This means that they do not look only at the file itself, but also how it acts when ran. If it acts in a potentially malicious way, the antivirus software can block it. Major paid antivirus vendors include this ability in their programs, though I can't say whether any free programs have this feature or not. If you want to obtain free antivirus software, pay a visit to free.grisoft.com. There you can obtain a copy of the venerable AVG antivirus program, recently updated to version 8, which also includes Grisoft's antispyware software and an e-mail scanning component.

Antispyware applications perform similarly to antivirus programs but are targeted at a different type of malware. The definition of spyware is much broader than that of antivirus software, and basically includes anything that collects information about you. Spyware, in my opinion, is a much more prevalent threat than viruses, though just as dangerous. A note on one item that spyware scanners often detect: cookies. Cookies are small files that many websites store on your computer, either for logging you into the site, or for tracking your web browsing. As ad companies have gotten better at using the technology, ads will follow you eerily between sites. I find it rather disturbing that as I move from site to site, one ad follows me, or I continually get offers for re-financing my mortgage, with my town and state listed in the ad! I have begun trying to avoid these annoyances by setting up a policy within Internet Explorer to allow cookies from sites that log me in, and ask when a site wants to track me across the internet. To do this for yourself, go to the tools button in IE7, click “preferences” and then navigate to the privacy tab. Click the button to override automatic cookie handling and instruct IE to allow first party cookies and to ask you (or block) third party cookies. Click apply and then answer the alerts about 3rd party cookies that IE will begin to give. You can allow cookies from a site once, always, not this time, or never. Anyhow, for a free antispyware program, go to safernetworking.org. There you can download Spybot Search & Destroy. This program has continually received low marks for effectiveness recently, but it is what I use and about the best free scanning and removal tool out there. Webroot SpySweeper is a scan only tool that is free, and is rated very highly. If it detects a problem, you can buy the removal capabilities from Webroot. (When you install Spybot, don't let it install the TeaTimer add-on, I have found it annoying in the past and have turned it off. The IE helper add-on seems to be worthwhile)

So there you have it. You now can add these removal tools to your arsenal in your fight for computer security. In the future, we will go back to preventive measures and discuss firewalls.

A Security Primer: Part 2

2008-05-12T22:02:00.002-04:00

From our last article on computer security, you hopefully know a little more as to how viruses get on your computer (through port scanning, or, more commonly, through unwise downloading and web surfing habits) and why hackers create them. (for profit from bot-nets, spam and phishing) Now, you need to understand how to protect yourself from them. Your first defense is you, and after that comes your second defense: a cocktail of programs designed to protect you.

I was able to write some last time on how to avoid viruses and to practice safe computer use. However, you need to understand much more. First, avoid viruses when they come to you: in spam. When your e-mail provider marks something as spam, listen to it. Most providers are able to pick out spam e-mail fairly well by now; the best spam filter I've encountered is Gmail's. You do need to look through your spam folder for any messages that were marked incorrectly, disregard the rest. If spam is not caught and makes it to you inbox, learn to catch it. You have not won a lottery you have not entered, if you have entered a lottery, they will not notify you by e-mail if you won. No one in Nigeria is going to give you their money without taking more of yours. And please, even if you do need drugs or fake watches, don't buy them from spammers. There are too many other ploys spammers use to attract you, but if you weren't expecting the e-mail and you don't know who it is from, it doesn't need to be opened. By being smart about your e-mail, you will avoid phishing schemes and any viruses that may be along for the ride. When you are browsing the internet, be wary of what is out there. If you want to download a file, go to a safe site, like download.com. If you see a file you want, consider it's source. If it says it is from a particular company (like Google, for example) go to Google's site and look for the file. If you don't recognize the source or the name, do a quick web search; you'll probably find out whether it is trustworthy or not. If you see an offer for “free” paid software, don't trust it. Finally, NEVER trust torrent files and programs. They are more than often contaminated. When you are visiting websites, be careful. Even “safe” websites can have poisoned flash ads. The reason why is because web ads are served through a labyrinth of different companies, so it is hard to block unsafe ads. Visit a website like Secunia Software Inspector that will give your computer a free scan to look for outdated software. Outdated browsers, Flash players and Java players are open doors for viruses, so be sure they are updated. Also be careful of PDF files and other office documents. Be sure Acrobat Reader, Word, and any other programs you use are updated and consider the source of your files. Active X controls are also baddies. Be sure that you FULLY trust the website that wants to install one. Active X is able to take control of your computer, so unsafe ones are extremely dangerous. Drive-by downloads are another dangerous threat, though they are mainly confined to websites you have no business visiting anyway. Be careful out there!

In order to not be long-winded, I think I'll stop here for today. Again, I recommend McAffe's SiteAdvisor for those of you less safety savvy, and next time I'll discuss software to actually clean up and proactivly protect your computer from viruses.

Parental Paranoia

2008-05-09T23:53:00.002-04:00

Anyone who has ever been a child, please raise your hand. Ah, I see that all of you have been. Very good! You have passed the first test of humanity. Now, you probably all then remember, or are currently experiencing, overzealous parental concern for your safety, wellbeing, health, proper organization of your sock drawer, etc. For those of you growing up now, probably one of the main concerns your parents are currently expressing is concern for your online safety. If you’re a parent, you probably are nodding your head. The concern to “keep kids safe” online has reached a fever pitch nationally, and I especially feel it here, where I live. (Parents: please notice I did not disclose any personal information in that last sentence. I could be living in any country, state, province, region, etc.) The whole thing has turned into a “witch hunt” of sorts, as evidenced by the fact that some adult readers will still be concerned that I revealed the fact that I live on Earth previously. I guess that is giving away personal information! I think the best, corniest, most descriptive term for this extreme internet monitoring is Parental Paranoia.

I hope I have not offended any of you parents quite yet. In my defense, I was prompted to write this post after I received a request from a parent at my school, asking for my opinion on a particular parental control device. My father actually suggested that I use the idea and produce this post. So there. I mean to be of help, and have been concerned of late at the impassioned pleas of various persons to “protect children online.” Way, way to often “protection” involves turning off the internet entirely. That is about the most boneheaded idea I’ve ever heard. It’s a punishment, not a solution, for crying out loud! Parents, please understand that you cannot regulate what you do not understand. When you do that you are nothing more than a politician. (Gasp!) What you must do is understand the danger. Probably the main categories you need to concern yourself with are inappropriate content, inappropriate sharing of information and inappropriate use of computer programs. Also, recognize that you do not have to “outsmart” your child. Instead, you have to train them, because, except for very special situations, you will not be able to outsmart them. They will know someone who can help them around whatever safeguards you put in place. Instead, teach yourself to be a savvy user and treat your child appropriately. If you must install parental controls, please follow these general guidelines. I don’t like the idea of controls because they are a hassle to all involved. The main benefit I see is that they block “accidental” encounters. You can do whatever you want to young children. They are currently enamored with the computer and really won’t know enough to be able to really get into trouble, set the controls however you want. As children get older, it is now normal for them to use the computer, so here is where you need to start paying attention. The teen that knows only slightly more than you is the most dangerous. (Read my article if you don’t believe me; P.S. it also applies to you!) With knowledge comes responsibility, and so the ones with the least knowledge are the least responsible. Teach the teen responsible interaction on social networking, and get a Facebook account yourself to get the feel of things. Don’t “friend” or “poke” or whatever else to them. Just use it so you can make responsible decisions and give relevant advice. Remember, this is the World Wide Web, everything is public. Also, there is something called Peer-2-Peer file sharing. If your child falls into this category, any P2P they use is illegal. You are putting yourself at risk of a 6-digit lawsuit. Stop P2P use now. The next category are the general users of computers. They are more responsible about not messing up your computer, but depending on their personality, they may need filtering of content. P2P is still a no-no. After this category comes what I am: the geek/expert. This type of user, if considered trustworthy, can tell you what is right and wrong. You may need content filtering, but P2P is OK. I don’t use P2P, but other geeks do because it is a convenient way to quickly get large .iso files or whatever else. Just be sure your budding Bill Gates knows that music and video sharing is off limits. Of all possible situations, this is the best for you, because you have gained a working knowledge of computers, possibly an in-depth knowledge, from being around them. The final category is the hacker. If you parent a hacker you will know it. At this point, give up all hope. He or she will get past whatever you set up. Just hope little Johnny is ethical. If not, go ahead and find him a lawyer and hope your little angel does not set off the nuclear holocaust.

I would like to cover some general information and reprimands for teens like myself, but I can’t. I hope that this article has eased parents’ rabid urge to pull the plug on the internet and instead to learn their child’s habits, correct the bad ones, and to use controls responsibly. (if at all) Maybe now you have a clue what your child might be doing. Just so long as you understand what you regulate, you’ll be all right.

The Web 2.0 Revolution

2008-05-08T23:55:00.002-04:00

There is no contention that the internet has revolutionized our lives. The internet was originally (and still is) a wonderful way of sharing and finding out information. The result of the way the web has morphed and modified itself into what it is today is commonly called Web 2.0. The common definition of Web 2.0 is the extra user interaction common in web pages and entire websites today. I also believe that it includes the extra richness of the “web app” experience that is brought to us today, and many others agree with this.

The main way that people recognize Web 2.0’s incarnation today is with user submitted content in web pages. Many sites have areas for comment by users, and some websites rely on this for the structure and community that they want to build. One of my favorite examples of this is Digg, a user submitted news site (www.digg.com) in which users vote and comment so that the best stories rise to the top. Other sites rely even more heavily on user interaction, and base their site on user submitted content. An excellent example of this is YouTube, which is entirely populated by content that is made and published by the community of users that YouTube has. Blogs (such as this one) are also examples of user submitted content. I produce the content and give it to Blogger to display. Social networking is also Web 2.0-ish, with user created content, interaction and commenting. As you can see, I’ve named off some of the biggest and most popular websites for internet surfers today, and these are only a few examples. We are now elbow deep in our new internet, daily sharing and creating new content for the world to see.

We have come a long way from the static, text-only web pages of yesteryear, and have entered the new world of personalized home pages and interactive websites. Thanks to many new technologies, such as AJAX, and creative use of old ones, we now have an unprecedented level of interactivity. As I write this post, I’m listening to Pandora, a custom (www.pandora.com) radio station that plays music that I like based on my suggestions and ratings of the songs that it plays. This is in no way a static page, it changes as I interact with it. If I wanted to, I could be writing this in Google’s excellent online office suite, or instead of writing, I could check my e-mail in Gmail. The web has been revolutionized in its 2.0 state, with more of these “web apps” popping up daily, many of which are truly useful. They provide “cloud” storage of your information, so anything of yours can be accessed from anywhere. Even more helpful, they often replace paid applications on your desktop. Web apps can now effectively replace desktop applications through plug-ins and desktop interfaces such as Google Gears and Adobe AIR. They are also perfectly useable through the standard web browser, thanks to a careful study of the 80/20 rule.

The massive investments made in Web 2.0 sites and applications have to be funded by someone, and more often than not, the consumer is not the one paying. Instead, websites are commonly funded by ads placed on the pages. This is an effective way of advertising, as ads can be tuned exactly to your audience. These ads are also normally pay-per-click, so only ads that are followed are paid for; it costs nothing if nobody clicks. The trouble, though, with Web 2.0’s reliance on ads may soon come to bite it. It is a proven fact that consumers eventually tune out ads or anything else that they see repeatedly. If everyone ignores the ads, no one gets paid and the website crumbles. This is a big enough problem, but one that is often overlooked (I’m not sure it has ever been brought up) is the sheer number of websites that are reliant on ads. There is a different site for every different service possible to provide. The “long tail” effect will begin to work against itself. The sheer mass of users and sites will make it difficult to target ads effectively, even with the sophisticated systems we have today. I would like to assume that the largest sites that are “proven performers” could continue to get ads, but when things begin to change, there is no telling where they will lead. If online advertisers were to find another medium or method of delivery, it could make it difficult for smaller sites to survive, even to start up. I don’t want to take the “if…” to far, but without fresh ideas, innovation becomes stagnant, creating all types of possibilities for the future.

The idea of Web 2.0 is nothing new. I’m not coining a new phrase or commenting on a newly created one. Everyone takes the effects of Web 2.0 for granted nowadays. I chose to write on the topic now, because as we are well into the 2.0 movement, we can begin to see the shape of the future, where this all will lead. If there were an “ad bust” or the long tail got chopped, we could be seeing the .com bust 2.0. However, as we move through the Web 2.0 tunnel, we aren’t at the end of the road. The future is already paved: it’s called Web 3.0. (Surprise, surprise!) Web 3.0, or, the Semantic Web, commonly defined as using media to find media. This is kind of like what Pandora is already doing, and it holds great promises for the future. Will the Web 2.0 bust? I hope not. However, enjoy it while you can, fill the web with content and be prepared to find it with the advent of Web 3.0.

School System: Abort Retry Fail - Part 2

2008-05-07T21:22:00.003-04:00

In my previous editorial on the state of America's school system, I attacked the idea of school-bus transportation, because it was a money drain and disconnected parents from their responsibilities. Some parents have gone ahead and taken the responsibility for their child's education wholly into their hands. My parents have chosen to enroll me and my brother in a private school, and other parents have gone even farther and home-school their children. Parents who make one of these two choices make a large sacrifice because they must invest the extra time required and especially the extra money. In our state, there have been talks of “school choice vouchers” given to parents to assist with tuition, should they decide to send their children to a private school. Some people say that these vouchers are not a good idea and that the “alternative schooling” movement, if you will, is harmful.

I can not understand people who are against private education and home education. Their main argument, as I have encountered it, is that it detracts from the public school system, which everyone should be happy with and should support. They claim that if everyone were to participate, the public school system would improve. The very idea is preposterous! The public school system is woefully inadequate and saying that it is adequate or will become adequate is merely deceiving yourself, like Yahoo! saying that they are worth more and hoping that will make it true. The public school system is ripe with corruption; bad curriculums, policies, and teachers are rampant. There are such people as bad students and they mainly exist in the public school system. If you catch these thugs and train them or discipline them, many will still be unresponsive, creating an anti-learning environment at schools. These problems do not exist everywhere, and some public schools are better than others and some may be quite good, but the system as a whole is undeniably flawed. Pouring more money into the system has not worked, and we've been trying it for years. The hangers-on to the system need to recognize the flaws and let students and parents chose where their children go to school. For the most part, parents can choose (except for California's almost-successful attempt at banning home schooling) but are penalized for doing so. Parents are still required to pay the taxes for services that their children are not receiving. The voucher system needs to be implemented immediately.

But even the voucher system is not adequate for true fairness and school system improvement. The vouchers would only cover costs for private schooling. What about the parents who home school? Their costs are just as great, if not greater, than those of parents who private school their kids. They must pay for the books and loose the entire income of one member of the family. The vouchers should be available for parents who home school their children as well. Now, in that case, the government should be careful so that deadbeat parents do not remove their child from public school and then “home school” them, take the money and run. The vouchers given to home school parents should only be spendable at stores licensed for providing textbooks. These stores would have to be loosely regulated, otherwise discrimination of ideas presented in the textbooks could occur. The parents who do not use the entire check on school books should be allowed to place the remainder in an education fund for use at college. Unfortunately, the only way that this could work would be to exclude school supplies because who could say whether a laptop was for school or personal use? The vouchers would only be good for books and college funding.

About the closest that we have gotten to this idea of school choice is the advent of charter schools. Charter schools are schools that are government funded, but loosely regulated. For example, this next school year, at least one online school will be operating in our area. Students get a loaner laptop and partial payment of their internet bill. The curriculum is entirely online, with real teachers to answer difficult questions that the students may have. This may be taking a good idea a little to far, but I am in no way opposed to it. It seems very close to homeschooling, and a parent would have far greater control over the development of ideas in the student's mind as he or she went through the curriculum. Unfortunately, I believe that this is more of a trial for the method and technology, and so traditional charter schools remain. For some private schools, becoming a charter school would be a great opportunity. But, in my school's case, being a Christian school and accepting students with parents of that belief, we could not get a charter due to the “discrimination” we practice. Therefore, my parents are left to foot the bill. Hopefully this situation will change. Hopefully the government will give parents the money that is theirs, from their taxes, and quit squandering it on children in no way related to them. This is pure stealing.

A Security Primer: Part 1

2008-05-06T22:41:00.005-04:00

I make myself a rather conspicuous geek. All my friends, family, and anyone else I’m remotely connected to know about my computer abilities. Therefore, I’m often asked questions pertaining to (fictional) Aunt Suzie’s computer or other technology related questions. I enjoy answering these questions (to an extent) and am usually able to help. Questions I’m asked particularly often normally revolve around computer security. I had considered establishing a full-fledged website to deal with security issues for the masses, i.e. in simple language. I guess that those articles will meld into this blog quite nicely, and so today I want to tackle the subject of where viruses, spyware, adware, spam, malware, Trojan horses and other computer nasties come from.
To best understand one of the more insidious ways that hackers (those who spread and control the above mentioned badies) gain access to your computer, you need to understand a little about how the internet works. Don’t worry, this is not painful at all. When you type in “google.com” you are actually wanting to go to Google’s IP Address. Instead of remembering the numerical address, you remember the URL (http://www.google.com/) and a computer in between you and Google changes it into the numerical address. Every computer connected to the internet or on a network has an IP address. They are come in the form of something like this: 192.168.1.254. That address, when typed into your computer, will, in most cases, take you to your router, although some routers are different. Your computer has an IP address that it communicates with your router and your router has another that it communicates with your internet service provider. (ISP) What hackers are able to do is they can scan the internet for computers that have open ports. A port is a number on the end of your IP address, such as 234.534.8.23:XXXX. The X’s in that illustration represent the port number. (I have no idea where that IP leads to) Anyway, hackers find ports that are not “stealthed” (hidden) on your computer and then are able to hack into it. If you have a router, you are behind a layer of safety from these types of attacks, but plain modems provide no protection. (A router is not good enough protection; you still need a firewall on your computer. I hope to talk about firewalls & other security products in a future post)

All of that to say, hackers can find open ports on your computer and use them to take control of your computer. That is not the only way they operate. In other situations, you lay out the welcome mat yourself. You must be careful about the programs that your download and install on your computer. Many people are to trusting and install unsafe programs. I will talk about safe and unsafe programs below, but now I am going to tell you why they get on your computer. Many people ask me what motive hackers have in their hacking. Well, when you have a virus, it is probably doing one of two things:

1. Spreading spam to others and being part of a bot-net
2. Collecting personal and financial information, giving you a hard time

The first is a major form of revenue for hackers. If your computer is compromised in this way, it is called a “zombie” because it is controlled without your knowledge or intervention by hackers. A spam sending zombie computer sends the hacker’s spam messages, some of which carry more viruses, others are known as “phishing scams” and others are trying to sell the recipient something. Hackers can make up to 50% of the profits on a sale of a product purveyed through a spam e-mail and can make even more when a computer user falls for a phishing e-mail and gives away personal financial information. The second use of a virus is to have it send your personal data to the hacker, essentially ending up like if you were to fall for a phishing scam. Some viruses also just wreck pure havoc on your computer and sell you “fixes” that are just other viruses in disguise.

So, there are the motives a hacker has for hacking. Now, here is how a hacker can get viruses on your computer without using open ports. If a hacker does not put them on your computer though an open port, he may have gotten them on your computer when you downloaded a malicious file. The different programs that you can download fall into one of three categories:

1. Malware (including viruses, spyware and the like)
2. Adware (annoying, ad-displaying software)
3. Safe software

The malware can come from many sources, to numerous to list. If you think you have a virus, don’t pay attention to any notices that offer to “fix” it, unless you know they are from good software you already had installed. These types of alerts are often from the virus itself. Peer-to-peer clients such as Bit-torrent are also havens for viruses. Face it: you don’t use them for legal purposes, so save yourself a lawsuit and a virus headache and take them off. Viruses and malware can also enter when you visit the wrong site. You know what type of websites I mean. These are often loaded with viruses and spyware that can download themselves to your computer just by you visiting the site. Also, don’t download programs in spam e-mails. Adware is a little bit more difficult of a beast to track. If something says it is “free” it may have adware or viruses. Adware is commonly installed when you forget to un-check small boxes while installing other programs. Always be aware to look for these boxes during installation of programs and be sure to un-check them. The programs can be good sometimes, but at best they are a hassle. One website to stay away from that is related to adware is freeze.com. I have helped many friends and all of them have had free screensavers or desktops from Freeze that had to be removed. Adware is dangerous not only because of the ads that it displays, but also because adware that delivers a service (like Freeze’s screensavers) is often fraught with glitches that slow down your computer.

Great! Now I’ve just taken away all the different places you get your screensavers and software. No, I haven’t really. If you want software, buy it at a store. Or, if you want it free, go to download.com and get it there. Everything there is virus free, but sometimes will want to install a toolbar or other nuisance. Watch out for the check boxes! A wonderful place to go for desktops is interfacelift.com. They offer the plain .jpg image file for free, and everything is very high quality. I wish I had space to give more bad places to get software from to warn you about, and also more to tell you where you could be safe. Alas! I will hopefully discuss security software in a future post, but now you at least know where the bad stuff comes from. If you are really scared, try McAfee’s SiteAdvisor, a well-rated toolbar that warns you away from bad pages. Also, you can watch the somewhat humorous video that they made to see some of the cautions I’ve talked about. I’ve posted the video below. Happy surfing!

The Fall of Microhoo!

2008-05-05T23:16:00.000-04:00

Microsoft's corporate courting of Yahoo! is over, the press announced a few days ago. After more than three months of deliberation and talk of “hostile takeovers” and many disgruntled shareholders, the two companies have decided they are not the right fit for each other. Many people have wondered why Microsoft was so interested in the company in the first place, even so interested as to put their own company at risk. (It was rumored that Microsoft would have to go into some debt if they were to up their bid against Yahoo!) The match was also considered odd because of the clash of corporate cultures that would have ensued if the merger had taken place. But, in my consideration of the event, I think I can see why Microsoft was so interested.

Microsoft is a pioneering company. They are not the only pioneering company, and there are others who have done “pioneering” better. There. No hate mail now, please. However, I believe that Microsoft saw a similarity in this regard between them and Yahoo! Yahoo! was one of the first web portals, and later became a search giant as it is today. (they had tried using a “web directory” system of organization but the amount of labor was to high, accuracy was low, and the web was growing.) Microsoft created the Windows OS, used all over the world, with market share superior to any other OS. They have successfully made the computer a ubiquitous object in almost every home through the mass distribution and standardization of operating systems. I agree (with many others) that this sweeping presence was not built upon a shining record, but the end result is the same.

Microsoft however, was not a pioneer in the internet industry as Yahoo! was, and they are currently kicking themselves for not catching on sooner. Yahoo! doesn't need Microsoft's expertise in client-side software, but Microsoft has perceived a need for expertise in web services. They saw Yahoo!'s pioneering efforts and their current situation, and figured that it would be easy to bag the kill and escape with a company full of employees and executives who have made mastering the web services market their career. That way, Microsoft would have help in further developing their Windows Live platform and a ready made network of websites to place their ads on. By “ads” I don't mean ads for Microsoft, I mean ads that Microsoft sells to others, such as flash based ads for smilies and pay-per-click ads such as what Google is famous for. No matter what else Microsoft were to gain from Yahoo!, they would have captured the millions of eyeballs that Yahoo! has on their network of pages, and a lot of ad dollars along with them.

As I mentioned in my article on the future of the Windows operating system, Microsoft is interested in making their OS more modular, as well as making a move towards cloud computing. With Yahoo!, Microsoft could have enhanced their current Live services and used the company's patents and knowledge to create the cloud computing world of their dreams. Why Microsoft has begun shifting their focus towards the web is this idea of cloud computing, in which normal client-side programs and storage is shifted to the web or the “cloud.” Hopefully, Microsoft will find their focus in this field soon, as it has been visibly detracting from their other core products, most notably Vista. I'm concerned that an acquisition of Yahoo! would have hindered Microsoft's recovery from the turbulence they had been facing. I am a firm believer in a unified corporate picture. Microsoft has made attempts at this, making their logos, websites, operating systems, productivity software, and other products look similar. However, they are not that far along when it comes to their web services. They are still reeling from the Microsoft Passport initiative, and are only replacing it with the Windows Live ID, essentially putting a fresh coat of paint on their wrecked car. I'm not saying it won't work, but all their sites are not yet switched over, there are still multiple e-mail domains offered, etc. Yahoo! would have only added another level of complexity. No one can tell me (or anyone else in his or her right mind) that Microsoft would not have put their stamp on Yahoo!'s site. If they were to have left it alone, things still would have been fine and less technically astute users would not have noticed a difference. But, Microsoft would have quickly plastered the Windows logo in the most convenient places, accidentally left the Yahoo! logo in some of the less obvious ones, made yahoo.com redirect to live.com and all sorts of other foolishness that would have only resulted in customer confusion.

So then, Yahoo! had something to offer Microsoft and Microsoft was ready to bring big bucks and whatever else was necessary to the table to entice Yahoo! However, Yahoo! was not ready to play along, even after Microsoft upped their original bid of $44.6 billion ($31/share) by $5 billion. ($33/share) Continuing his mantra of Microsoft “undervaluing the company” Yahoo! co-founder and current CEO Jerry Yang refused anything under $37/share, or an additional $5 billion. Meanwhile, Yahoo! also seemed desperate for an alternative to Microsoft, any alternative, including outsourcing ads and search to Google in a limited trial. Microsoft never made good on their threat to take the deal to the shareholders of Yahoo!, and it is possible that this walk-away is a ploy to scare Yahoo! into a deal. Many analysts agree, saying that Yahoo! is fixing to lose the gain in their share price that they have made in the past few months. At any rate, Steve Ballmer’s official letter of retraction to Yang showed his primary interest to be the search and ad revenue that Microsoft could get from Yahoo!, which he considered jeopardized by Yahoo!’s desperate dealings with Google. So, Microsoft could be bluffing on prices, and Yahoo! could be trying some back-room deals with Google and we are really left with an un-clear picture of whether either company wants the other. It seems to me that the cost to both companies could be great, and the benefit small, were the deal finalized. Yang’s somewhat terse statement after the close of negotiations stated, in part:

“With the distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited proposal now behind us, we will
be able to focus all of our energies on executing the most important transition
in our history so that we can maximize our potential to the benefit of our
shareholders, employees, partners and users."

That seems to sum things up for both companies, the distraction that the deal caused to both companies, and what it would have caused had it been finalized, would have more than likely ended badly for both companies.

Dear Microsoft: Please Give Away Windows

2008-05-02T23:33:00.001-04:00

After my article yesterday, I was thinking about what Microsoft could do to avoid fiascos such as the one that Vista has been. Both Vista’s price and performance are considered dismal by most (I am an exception, on performance anyway) and Microsoft needs a new approach this next time around, and I believe that I have come up with a solution. My suggestion for El Gateso (before he retires, that is) is to make a free version of Windows available to the public, an idea that is really not as crazy as it sounds.

Microsoft has long been berated for their half-baked Windows 95. The problem that many still have with that release is that it seemed to be a “beta for sale.” The popular joke is that Microsoft sold Windows 95 to consumers, who bought it, did the testing that Microsoft should have done, and complained. Microsoft, after making money off of “outsourcing” their testing, followed up with the complaints that they received and released Windows 98. Let’s look at a parallel or two for a moment between Windows 95 and Vista. Vista has numerous problems. So did Windows 95. Better still, Vista was released in 2007, Windows 95 was (gasp!) released in 1995. Windows 7 is slated for about a 2010 release, three years after Vista. Windows 98 was released (double gasp!) three years after Windows 95. I hope I’m not the only one saying something smells fishy. Either it takes Microsoft three years to release a real fix, or Microsoft is developing a pattern of charging for half baked products and selling their replacements three years later. As a side note, consumers did not have the same option then that they have today: stick (cling?) to a previous version of Windows. Now, granted, there were versions of Windows before Windows 95, but you have to admit things are different now.

So, if you make the same conclusions as I do, Microsoft needs a better solution to get their software tested than offloading the debugging to paying users. Currently, they offer closed betas, alphas, and whatever else during the production cycle and then finally release candidates and previews under other monikers to the tech-geek public. What if Microsoft were to make such betas and previews permanent? As you may know, Ubuntu is released on “a predictable 6-month cycle.” Microsoft could do the same with a striped down version of the OS. Make a section of the download center for getting a Windows .iso and start releasing the stuff hot from the labs to the public. Under this plan, there would be a much easier and more inviting way of getting the core of the OS for testing by developers and users. Plus, while Microsoft is passing out the software, they could add in more bug tracking and programming to analyze the user’s behavior to work out usability kinks. There would be no reason not to, it’s their software, and it is being distributed free. Its not like personal information would need to be collected for the tracking program to do its job.

What kinds of benefits would this testing bring? Well, you will probably remember the security software manufacturers’ concern and protest over the ability for their software to work properly. Drivers were also an issue, though manufacturers were rather lax in their preparation for the new OS. (Oddly enough, many were expecting Vista to be delayed again.) Also, many were underwhelmed with Vista’s new features. The only main new feature that Vista contained from the time it was first announced as “Longhorn” was the performance-sucking Aero interface. Microsoft would have been made aware of many of these problems earlier if it had a large installed user base with it’s software-in-development.

It is uncountable that Windows is one of Microsoft’s big cash cows, along with Office. So, Redmond may be concerned about the revenue that they would loose by such a move as making a Windows version available for free. The two major things that would keep this in check is that it would only be licensable for personal use and testing by corporations, not deployment. It would also be a striped down version without media center and version-specific features, just the core of the OS. Freeloaders looking for finished, glitzy software would have to look elsewhere. Remember, this “free” Windows is in perpetual beta and not “guaranteed” stable or appropriate for mission critical or work systems. Microsoft would not lose money on this deal, and profits from it would be more than possible. This OS is the type that could conceivably run on the older systems that now have Linux installed, thus introducing the people owning old hardware to a taste of what they could have, driving sales. Also, those who may have a mixed Linux and Windows house could go all the way Windows. As an Ubuntu user I miss the ease that I can install Windows programs. For those of you unfamiliar with Linux, regular Windows programs do not run, but can be coaxed to sometimes using a program called WINE. I have had but limited success with this program. In my scenario here, everyone could have their computer using Windows, thus enhancing the Windows software eco-system, from which Microsoft would profit. All the software I use on my Ubuntu laptop is totally free, there is no way Microsoft profits a penny. If I were to install my free-Windows on it, it is quite possible that Microsoft would profit, as there would be more computers for developers to make software for. Developers would require paid-Windows and other expensive Microsoft programs, and with more Windows computers, more developers would be needed. The benefits would come very soon. I might even buy a copy of Office for my laptop, which Microsoft would profit directly from.

This idea is far fetched, I know, but it would be beneficial to consumers and to Microsoft. Microsoft could increase their profits and get the information they needed to churn out better products. Consumers could have a platform for their older computers without operating systems or older operating systems. Microsoft is rumored to be bringing cloud-style computing into Windows 7, a big change. Don’t let the Windows users get caught napping, Microsoft, let us know what is going on in Redmond. Now, I’m a penguin sort of guy, Linux is not going out of my life, but I would be the first to have my hands on free-Windows and it would quickly be residing happily in a VM or as a dual boot OS. So, Microsoft, how about an early Christmas present? You owe it to yourself.

Win-doze Vista

2008-05-01T23:26:00.000-04:00

For over seven years, the world waited for what Microsoft would create to be the successor to Windows XP. To the surprise of many, Redmond's answer was Vista. Despite the “WOW Starts Now” ad campaign, Microsoft's latest “innovation” has left many clamoring for XP. Contrary to my title, the Vista saga has been anything but a doze. Vista has sparked massive protests for a myriad of reasons that has forced Microsoft to extend the life cycle of XP up to or past the release of Vista's much needed replacement.

Why does Vista need a replacement? To tell the truth, I don't exactly know. My experiences with the OS have been nearly flawless. I was with the first geeks to jump on board the good ship Vista, ordering and testing a prerelease copy, Release Candidate One, the 64-bit version, no less. I encountered no memorable bugs, only my own stupidity. I tried to move the “My Documents” folder to a hard drive other than C: and ended up with a mess. I also encountered the normal driver issues and software incompatibilities, but I would have thought those were to be expected. Others say different, complaining of the driver deficiencies that Vista still contains. This has been a major issue for adopters. I personally have not “adopted” Vista, continuing to use XP on my desktop and Ubuntu on my old, sluggish laptop. This is through no fault of Vista's but it's price. The graphical innovations in Vista are lovely, and features such as media center, the search feature, and others are perfectly worthwhile. However, even though Microsoft was “generous” enough to offer me the ability to buy an upgrade copy of Vista Ultimate because of my testing of RC1 and use it legally, I would still be out $200. As a student, I can buy a student copy of an upgrade version of Vista Home Premium for $80, and still use it legally, I'm to much of a penny-pincher to bite. After all, I was unwise enough to buy an OEM version of XP when I built my current computer, so that would be money down the tube if I were to replace it with Vista. Barring further Windows innovations from Microsoft, the next computer I build will have a copy of Vista.

Others are not so happy with Vista. One of Vista's major features was its improved security. On the surface, this appeared to amount to Vista's devilish UAC. (User Account Control) It's nagging prompts cause many to turn it off, or to ignore its warnings. What they would find, though, is that over time the prompts decrease. This is the experience I've received as I work with the Vista laptops at my school and other journalists have also pointed this out. Speed is the other major issue with Vista. Like all recent versions of Redmond's wares, Vista pushed the envelope for the performance required to run it efficiently. Most other commentators recommend 2 GB of RAM and a discrete graphics chip. I've seen Vista run on less, but its not a very pretty sight. I could be happy with discrete graphics and 1GB, but integrated graphics (ugh!) should never be used with less than 2 GB. Performance issues in Vista are numerous, and the very recent service pack 1 was to be the end of those complaints. However, after reading benchmarking articles such as those put out by PC World, it is obvious that SP1 did not help. File transfer speeds, the main target of SP1's “improvements” were affected minimally. In some tests, SP1 performed worse than Vista and neither could consistently beat XP.

Is there any wonder then, that consumers and companies demand XP? Dell has recently announced that they will continue offering XP past the Microsoft sanctioned date. Microsoft themselves have announced that XP sales will continue up to 2010. This is mainly due to the need for a speedy operating system for the low-end sub-notebooks that have recently become so popular. These laptops are sold for as little as $300, so performance is practically non existent. Most come with a customized version of Linux, but their manufacturers all plan to offer Windows versions soon, or are doing so now. The craziest thing it that this new breed of laptop is a major hit with consumers and they consistently sell out. All sorts of manufacturers are coming out of the woodwork, ready to establish a name for themselves in this unestablished new market. Microsoft must not ignore this new category, but none of the products comes close to meeting the requirements for Vista. Therefore, XP is still sold to makers of these laptops, but consumer demand is ensuring that XP is an option on any computer.

What then, is Microsoft to do? It appears that their years of work on Vista is moot. A year after it's release, Vista is frowned upon by many consumers and journalists alike. I, as I stated, am not in this category, but I seem to be in the minority. PC Magazine's most recent front cover featured their how-to article on “How to Downgrade to XP” prominently. Microsoft has taken notice and has become unusually chatty about the next iteration of Windows, dubbed Windows 7. Much speculation has swirled through the blogosphere about the promised OS, mostly revolving around the modularity of the next Windows. Microsoft does seem to be heading towards the idea of a “cloud OS,” i.e. one that stores and gathers data from the internet. A week or so ago, Microsoft released something that seems to point to the validity of these speculations, introducing a private beta of “Windows Live Mesh,” a new platform directed at the idea of cloud computing. If Microsoft is listening to any other voices with suggestions, they will also add server-esque aspects to Windows 7. By this I mean that they will allow consumers to pick and choose the modules to install, such as an OS optimized for gaming, media, business or tablet functionality. Others have already developed programs which allow you to make customized disks of Vista with whatever components you want taken out.

It remains to be seen what Microsoft will. PR is not getting them anywhere. Performance is so bad that there is a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft regarding the somewhat deceptive Vista Capable/Vista Ready label program that went on with computers before Vista’s release. No matter what Microsoft does at this point, Vista will probably always have a bad name, so they’d better look for alternatives. Windows 7 better bring on the WOW.

My Anti-Social Network

2008-04-30T21:47:00.001-04:00

Social networking is the “norm” for almost any computer user from preteens to 30-somethings. This may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but networks exist for persons in almost any area of life, even the elderly. As I understand it, social networks are simply personal web pages affiliated with a larger group of personal web pages. Users create their page and then use it to socialize virtually with their friends, assuming those friends are members of the same network. Despite their usefulness, social networks are the topic of much concern among tech commentators.

Social networks seem hotter than ever before. Just recently, Microsoft purchased a part of Facebook, the price of which was to the tune of $240 million. Yahoo! had previously offered $1 billion, which the young founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, refused. However, before investors go crazy, they should recognize the temperamental nature of social networks. As said above, for a social network to be of any use, your friends and you must both have accounts. This is wonderful from a marketing perspective, as ads will be seen, by not only current users, but also their friends. Theoretically, at least, current users will invite their friends to “join the network” and the user base will grow, increasing ad revenue and snowballing into an even larger network. Genius? Maybe. But the pitfalls are huge and often overlooked.

To stay in business, social networks must gain and maintain critical mass. This is difficult for a new network (Come on though! We don't need any more!) because few people will join if their friends are not already online. This is apparently the cause of death for Google's attempt at social networking, Orkut. It failed in the US because it had too few US users. I say “US” because if you were to log on now, you would find that many of the users are Brazilian. I find this fact humorous, because I have a friend who went to Brazil. While there, her friends that she met asked her to join Orkut. They all used it, just as American teens today are infatuated with Facebook. The critical mass issue is also dangerous for established networks, which can lose users for multitudes of different reasons. Anyone ever heard of Friendster? None of my friends had. I wouldn't have, were I not the person I am, following the tech industry's present and past. Past is the key word for Friendster. It used to be a huge network, popular just like Facebook is today. Now, very few in the key teen market have ever heard of the thing. What about MySpace? Their user base is still large, but many have fled to Facebook. Facebook, currently social networking’s “elephant in the room” is, in my opinion, already beginning to loose its critical mass.

So, the reliance of social networks on the critical user mass is a shaky foundation. Social networks require the blasting heat of popularity. Once that begins to wane, the networks fizzle. Part of the critical mass equation is the basic novelty of the network to new users. Once the novelty wears off, so do the users. Facebook had solved this problem, for a while. In years to come, commentators will trace Facebook's downfall to its decision to open the network to non-college students. When Facebook was exclusive to college students, its novelty was guaranteed. College lasts for four years, and the novelty is unlikely to wear off by then, and even still, a new batch of students comes in every year. Even if the novelty were to wear off by the second year, Facebook would have had two years worth of new users to replace the ones it lost. Facebook, then, had hit on the benefits of exclusivity. High school seniors and graduates couldn't wait to get their hands on what the college kids had. Plus, by being exclusive to college students, Facebook provided a necessary service: helping students to meet other students and keep up with high school friends that may have been at different colleges. MySpace had this going for them, as they were targeted towards bands and musicians. They provided a service directly to the artists, not a community in which everyone was served in some way. Musicians will always need publicity and MySpace provided that. MySpace had a good chance (though not as good as Facebook's) to “stay alive.” Alas, the “other” people decided to join MySpace and then musicians found somewhere else to go. For those “others,” the novelty wore off and now we see MySpace languishing in mires of security concerns and unreadable pages.

Aside from the main issue of critical mass, social networks face other minor problems. They may be too hard to use or read. (MySpace?) They may infringe on privacy, (Facebook?) or be to chattery and alienate users with bulging in-boxes of pokes and invites. (Facebook?) Facebook had the readability down, but its privacy issues are another matter. Facebook has historically been difficult to get out of (the Mafia of social networks) and its privacy issues have been alarming. It's short-lived “Beacon” ad system was met with mass criticism from users that did not want their purchases tracked without their consent and posted for the world to see. Facebook is also notorious for its massive e-mail spew, with invites to add friends, updates on friends, updates on friend's friends, invites to add gadgets, “poke” notifications and much other clog. The chatterbox imitation is actually good for business, as it holds eyeballs on the service and therefore the ads, but it will only be a short time before users say enough and ignore them. In “interviews” I have had with my friends, many are tired of the constant alerts and may turn them off or re-direct the junk to the trash without even looking at it.

Another major issue facing social networks is the security debacle. MySpace is the poster child for this, being the first social network to attract the media doomsday blitz. Numerous horror stories are presented about social networking gone wrong. “Friends” who want to meet little Suzie and her parents have never heard of her again. More recently, the mentally unstable girl who hung herself after a particularly vicious case of cyber-bullying. My heart goes out to the families of these victims, the danger of the internet is clear. Much of the actual danger is brought about by the ignorance of the parents and children, thus events are held often to warn parents of the dangers and tell kids what to watch out for. The security issue has affected the social networking industry in two ways. The adverse effect is that parents may forbid their teens from participating in social networking activities online. I'm not certain how well this is working for the paranoid parents who make this restriction; just about anyone will find a way around restrictions if they have a mind to. However, it could damage the critical mass aspect for the networks themselves. The second, more beneficial effect is what I stated above: MySpace has a permanently attached child-molesting-cyber-bullying-kidnapping moniker. When the topic comes up, MySpace will be the danger, and other social networks will not have to fight as hard to prove the safety of their community, they will not be required to. Sorry, MySpace.

So, what do I see in the crystal ball for social networking? Well, as I've hinted, Facebook is on the way down. Their only true hope is that they will be able to hold users with new, exciting (cough, cough) applications for Facebook pages. This does not look like it will happen, and going back to college-only exclusivity would mean almost certain, instant, death, if only because of the shareholders. It seems then, that the social network cycle will repeat itself. I myself am on the lookout for the next big thing that is sure to arrive on the scene soon. I've asked a couple friends, but the only “new” network I have heard of is one that my friend said is targeted towards the Emo demographic. This is social network suicide. Why? Because critical mass may be achieved, but only a mass of Emos, not enough for serious ad dollars. The main flaw is that your entire user base, being Emo, is practically guaranteed to commit suicide themselves. That catastrophe might be enough to take away MySpace’s reputation! I’m only half kidding. From the tone of this article, you may have guessed that I do not have a presence on any social networks, in which case you would be correct. I Digg, I Slashdot, I Flikr, and I blog. These services are not really social networks, they seem to be pretty solid and non-fads. That is why I avoid social networking. I see no real value (except, maybe, LinkedIn, but I’m not that age yet) in them, and as soon as I sign up for one, another will appear, and another, and another… Like any good fight, the battle of the social networks will be one to sit back and watch.

Computers: Pieces of Machinery

2008-04-29T21:03:00.005-04:00

Today I wanted to make a post that spawned from a recent essay assignment, regarding the use of machines in our lives. One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was to have another place to use the things that I write, on top of the main reason: that I had thoughts and opinions that were important and (hopefully) insightful. I think that the essay works really well on the topic of computers and technology, because computers are very prevalent, and they can both save us time and cost us time.

Machines have been an integral part of our lives since birth, and were being developed and used even before. Early machines were simple, but humans have gotten better at building machines to do our work for us, quicker, faster, cheaper, better, and numerous other verbs. Machines of all types are extremely prevalent in our modern culture. There are millions of cars and computers; factories contain manufacturing equipment and homes contain small kitchen appliances. Machines have changed the way we interact with the world. Machines are also responsible for both slowing our lives down and speeding them up.

If you think about the things that you do every day, you would do almost all of it differently had a machine of some sort not been directly or indirectly involved. You could not have driven a car to work, as it is a conglomeration of machines itself. You could not (most likely) be wearing the clothes you are wearing now had not a machine made them. There is very little that the average person interacts with daily that is completely natural. Machines have changed our landscape and lives permanently.

It is a relief to many the rest that machines deliver to our lives. Though many of the machines that we use now have been around for a while, when one breaks or cannot be used for one reason or another we notice immediately. Similarly, when we acquire a new machine we notice how it makes our lives easier or more enjoyable in some way. So, through their service in doing tasks that humans would otherwise do, machines allow us to slow our lives down. We have to do less work and can focus on other activities that we consider more important or enjoyable.

On the other hand, machines also speed our lives up. This may seem odd to some, but when you think about it, it really does make sense. As mentioned previously, when a machine breaks down, we notice the extra work we have to do to replace it. But if that was all, we would not lose any actual time, just not gain as much. However, we have to troubleshoot the machine and get it fixed. Then we really start losing time! Computers are notorious for this. We can lose immeasurable amounts of time looking for how to do a task or trying to get past a quirk or bug. Though it seems that machines are beneficial, we cannot forget the times that they end up costing us time.

These are just a few of the different ways that machines affect our lives, but they are probably the main broad categories. It is good sometimes to think about the broader application of technology than our use of computers, and machines are a good place to start because they have many of the same quirks and are just as prevalent. I know that this article has a slightly different tone, but it is still very apt.

Ubuntu's Instalation Options

2008-04-28T23:31:00.006-04:00

As promised, today we will talk about two different ways of installing Ubuntu. The first is Wubi, a way of installing Ubuntu that is included on the Ubuntu disk. It creates a dual-boot system without changes to partitions and hard drives. The second is VirtualBox, a free, open source virtual machine so that you can run Ubuntu in a window inside Windows. Wubi is very easy. Select options on one screen and it will install. When you re-start, you are presented the option of Windows or Ubuntu. Then, everything works as normal! You can even un-install Ubuntu from Add and Remove Programs in the control panel with this method. Below are 1) the first screen when the Ubuntu disk is inserted, 2) the Wubi options screen, and 3) the final message before re-starting.

Now, we will talk about the somewhat more complicated VirtualBox, which you can download here. Below is the main screen of VirtualBox, with one VM that I have already set up, in this case, another copy of Ubuntu.

Click on the "New" button, which will lead you through setting up a new VM. This includes naming your VM, (1) assigning the amount of RAM you want it to have, (2) and creating a virtual hard drive for it. (3 & 4)

When you finish the wizard, click "start" on the main screen to select the VM and then you will be led through installing Ubuntu. Below, (1) you see the first of many warnings that VirtualBox will create. Read them so you will not get lost! Then, (2) tell VirtualBox where the .iso file of Ubuntu is. When you click "next" you will see the boot screen of Ubuntu, just as you normally would!

Ubuntu Hardy Heron- Heartily Recommended

2008-04-25T20:28:00.017-04:00

As I promised, I come to my keyboard today ready to give a quick evaluation on and instructions for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy7 Heron, the most current Ubuntu release. While you read, you may want to start downloading the .iso file, it is very large. (699 MB) You can download it through the Ubuntu homepage, here. Be warned though, as I downloaded the file yesterday (the release date) some of the North American servers were overloaded. You may want to try the torrents or a server across the pond. (I was able to download the .iso after a little digging through the US servers, but it was slow.) As far as installation goes, you will also need a program to burn the .iso to a disk. The Nero application suite works well for this.

Before I get started on telling you the how, I want to talk about the why as well as some of my early impressions. First of all, Ubuntu 8.04 is a LTS realese. (Long Term Support) That means that the home edition will receive updates for 3 years, the server edition for 5. This edition of Ubuntu marks the end-of-life for Ubuntu 6.06, the Ubuntu project's first LTS release. The most noticeable addition to the Ubuntu OS is Wubi, an acronym for Windows-Based Ubuntu Installer. This nifty little addition allows you to install/uninstall Ubuntu inside of Windows like any other program. It does not create a new partition, only makes a small change to the Windows boot loader. You choose to boot into Windows or Ubuntu when you turn your computer on. I tried this feature on a beta version of Ubuntu 8.04 and will try it again for a post on it's use tomorrow.

Now, for a new Linux user, Ubuntu will definitely be different and maybe a bit challenging. However, Canonical (the company behind the project) has done a good job of making Ubuntu very easy. In fact, installing Ubuntu on my Pentium 3 clunker of a laptop took only about 40 minutes from clicking "install" to the first boot. Ubuntu provides a very easy to use graphical installer on the CD and you can even run the OS from the CD without making changes to your hard drive. This "Live-CD" boot took me about 6 minutes, but once Ubuntu is installed the boot will be much faster. The new user will definitely want to check out Full Circle, a community ran newsletter and podcast on all of the Ubuntu varients. (Ubutu comes in many flavors, including Xubuntu, Edubuntu, and Kubuntu, plus others not directly supported by Cannonical) The newsletter comes out monthly and is very good. Those having trouble should do two things:

Learn to love the terminal

Learn to use the support forums (here)

The forum is very good and is a quick way to get an answer that will almost certainly involve the terminal. Ubuntu also offers other support options here. Ubuntu 8.04 makes many improvements "under the hood" but two I noticed immediately:

Intelligent partitioner recognizes existing Ubuntu Installations

Samba is installed by default

If you are installing Ubuntu on a fresh hard drive, the first will not mater to you, but I found it a cool new feature. The most helpful is that Samba is installed by default. This means that you can use Window's shared folders and printers on your network without installing any other packages. The biggest relief for me in 8.04 is that my wireless card works right from the start. I spent 10 hours configuring a card the first time I used Ubuntu. Now I use the TRENDnet TEW-441PC which works perfectly. It is a cheap card, so if yours doesn't work immediately, buy this one and save yourself headaches you don't want to even imagine.

As I have said, there is more than one way to install Ubuntu, including the Live-CD on a dedicated computer and Wubi. Another convenient way is to install it in a Virtual Machine within Windows. Ubuntu will run happily within its own window and you can switch back and forth without re-booting. I will cover this tomorrow (allong with Wubi) using a VM program called VirtualBox. It is open source and is available here. I have some of the following screenshots from VirtualBox running Ubuntu.

Now, lets start the install! When you first insert the CD and turn on the computer, you will see the following two screens to select your language and boot options. Choose to load Ubuntu with the Live-CD, the first option.

Next, you will watch as Ubuntu loads and then will be introduced to the Ubuntu desktop. Welcome!

Now, click the "install" icon and you'll be on your way! Below is the first screen of the installation, the last screen, and then the final product.

There! Done! Try it out for yourself. Go until you have a problem. Explore! If you have questions, get on the forums, read the documentation, or post your question in the comments and I'll do my best to give it justice. Come back tomorrow for tutorials on Wubi and VirtualBox!

Apple's got a Semi...But Who's Driving?

2008-04-24T19:00:00.002-04:00

You may (ahem, assuredly) have heard about Apple's recent acquisition of chipmaker P.A. Semi, to the tune of $278 million for the 150 employee company. It is widely believed that Apple intends to use their newly acquired manufacturer to provide chips for their iPhone and iPod Touch products, and many hope for even a juicy new sub-notebook or a mobile PC of some new form factor. However, as Apple accepts P.A. Semi into the fold, bigger things may be afoot.

Intel has recently been marketing their forthcoming "Atom" line as a chip for smartphones and like devices. Considering Apple's existing partnership with Intel for Intel to provide processors and other chips for Apple's desktops, laptops, and servers, its hard to imagine that there is anything but a spat (or worse) between Cupertino and Santa Clara. Intel is also maligned by consumers and is maligned by Redmond as Microsoft and consumers duke it out in class-action court over the ridiculous Vista Label Program. Apparently, Microsoft made the decision to distinguish the labels pre-Vista boxes as being "Vista Capable" and "Vista Ready" in part because of Intel's grumblings. Seems Intel wanted the low-power "Vista Capable" computers labeled as such so they would have a market for their underperforming integrated graphics cores and low-end processors. I guess not everyone is happy with Intel these days.

So, now that Apple has shut the door in Intel's face (as far as their Atom chips go, anyway) what are they going to do with P.A. Semi? Well, P.A. Semi, though not well known, is a very accomplished company. They have done design work on AMD's Opteron, Sun's UltraSparc, and even Intel's own Itainum. The company was also instrumental in designing the StrongARM processor, a mobile-targeted technology that was sold to Intel and was a flop. I'm sure El Jobso will be eager to have full control of a major component of his supply chain. Not even Intel was buddy-buddy enough to make him his own chip.

Before Apple debuted the Intel-based Mac we know now, they were in talks with P.A. Semi for the company to replace the PowerPC CPUs instead of Intel. Steve J. obviously thinks his new pet company has the capability to make desktop processors suitable for Apple's larger products. In fact, P.A. Semi demonstrated their ability to make PowerPC compatible processors in a big way. I've quoted über-geeky-babble specs from ZDnet below:

Their PA6T-168M has 2 2 GHZ 64-bit superscalar PowerPC processors linked by a coherent cross-bar fabric, 2 DDR2 memory controllers, 2 MB of cache, and an I/O system with 8 PCI express engines - with 4 GB/sec bandwidth for each engine, 4 GigE protocol engines AND 2 10 GigE engines that include line-rate packet filtering, VLAN flow control and TCP/IP acceleration.

P.A. Semi was also able to do all of this using only 5-13 watts. Processors from Intel that are that power-conscious sacrifice performance greatly to do so. Is Apple trying to play nice with Greenpeace now?

The PowerPC history of P.A. Semi adds another layer of complexity here. Apple has established their massive PC vs. Mac ad campaign partially on the ability of consumers to run Windows on the Mac, along side OS 10 or what have you. It would be corporate suicide for Apple to undo the progress they have made in the Windows market by going back to PowerPC architecture. Plus, as Apple has gained part of the IBM-compatible market, it would not sit well with shareholders to abandon that market. Apple would even lose their claim to the only platform able to run all of the OS "Big Three." (Windows, Mac, and Linux) On the other side of the coin, this could be a tweak aimed at the Psystar controversy. Apple may intend to use P.A. Semi to create processors and hardware that would be only available to them, making white-box Mac clones nearly impossible. It would not make sense for that to be their only motive in the purchase, because this would make it a very hasty move on their part. But, if Apple does (unlikely) see Psystar as a threat, there is no telling what their motives were or the logic behind their actions. At any rate, Apple has a powerhouse company and I, for one, can't wait to see what comes next.

A Note on Tomorrow: Like any good geek, I'm rabidly devouring new information on Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. Just so happens, it was released today and I'm getting ready to install it on my laptop. I'll be covering the in's and out's of it all tomorrow and hope to have a post or two more on different features and tasks. Stay tuned!

The Danger of Tech Know-Nothings

2008-04-23T17:09:00.014-04:00

As I thought about what I could write about today, I remembered a conversation I had with a teacher and some classmates. This topic came up while discussing computer education classes in schools and colleges. Should computer courses in basic use be taught? I would say yes, but my teacher said no and his reason makes sense: users of computers should teach themselves how to use the computer.

Brilliant! After all, us geeks are mainly self taught, right? We're all thankful for the friend (real or virtual) who answers a burning question or gives a timely tip. Other than that, we take joy in staying up late to experiment and study our passion: technology. So, taken at face value, this suggestion to let users learn basic tasks on their own makes sense. The Luddites and other users like it because they have one less class and the geeks like it because we know (in our imaginary Utopia) that's how it should be. But, as we all know, there are problems with this scenario. The techno-phobes use computers anyway and we are de-facto tech support. Whereas we take joy in clicking every button and option in a new program, they use the fewest features they can get away with, and are petrified when required to try something new. I hear it all the time: "John, how do you do ________?" So many times the "problem" can be solved in a click on an option they had never glanced at, but had been in plain sight the whole time. The users who were happy about the idea of no computer class (eh, all the geeks enjoy that?) refuse to follow through on the self education that is their responsibility and instead wallow happily in their ignorance!

Now, at most schools and colleges (even ours) there are computer classes in office apps, etc. Is this enough? Not in the slightest. The students enrolled in the Office 2007 class at my school are learning Office, which is well and good. Many (most?) would have been exposed to Office but rarely otherwise. The problem is that they don't know anything else.

So, is this a problem? How is it a danger? Well, I'll show you why. How many people have asked you for help with a program? How often? These (usually) simple questions are not the best use of your time or theirs. The people who don't take the time to try to answer their own questions are time wasters, and this will count in the future jobs that they hold. Now, I love to answer these questions, and I think other geeks at least tolerate them. Lets face it: we like to "show off" our knowledge that we have taken time to gain. But are there other dangers? Yes, a whole lot more!

Example: A friend of mine (no names, he is a good friend) sent me an email inviting me to download "Google Earth 2008." The message stated that he "was looking in his email" that day and below what he had written was the original message, an obvious spam message. I followed the link in the message and, sure enough, www.new-official.net was offering "Google Earth 2008" for "free." Now, us geeks know that Google Earth is the real name of the program and that it is free on it's creator's website. However, the kind folks at www.new-official.net were only allowing you to download it after buying a subscription to their website! (you can see the site here, and the link from the e-mail led here) In fact, all the software on new-official.net's website is normally free! They post the following at the bottom of their homepage:

This website has no affiliation whatsoever with the owner of this software program and only provides links to freeware and/or shareware software,technical support and tutorials. The purchase of a membership, however, is not a license to upload or download copyrighted material. We urge you to respect copyright and share responsibly.

The almost identical site, new-official.com goes further:

This website has no affiliation whatsoever with the owner of these software programs, and provides ONLY links to the software programs. If you are a member and need support please contact us and not the software owner. This software may be obtained freely. New computer users should find our services valuable, and a time saver. If you are an advanced computer user, you probably don't need our services.

(emphasis added) So, the point is that "new computer users" are being taken in and loosing their money by paying for free software. The companies that purvey this junk are profiting off of someone else's work, in this case, Google. I did not pay to download "Google Earth 2008" as I already have the real version, but I think its likely that it contains spyware. After all, it was sold through a spam message.

I'm following up on my friend with this. I really hope he didn't pay to download this. His lack of knowledge is harmful to him: he reads spam and thinks its legit, he (maybe) pays for free software, and then he passes it on to others. If the program he downloaded had spyware or a virus in it, his computer might be a culprit in sending out the 50+ spam messages I get daily. His personal information is at risk. He then, is dangerous to himself and to others. And its not just him. I have helped out many people fix up their computers and the majority have no security software. I, of course, recommend the old, free, standbys: AVG, Spybot S&D, and ZoneAllarm. How else will they get security? I recommend Norton Internet Security 2008, but that costs money. The people who do not have it are hard to convince of its value. It costs $60! Even those who I tell about those free programs don't install some or all of them. They are not convinced of their value and therefore suffer and make themselves dangerous. One girl I worked with had a virus. I told her to get Norton because I knew her computing habits and knew that she needed industrial strength, mindless, set-and-forget operation. She didn't take my advice. In fact, she didn't listen when I told her about the free programs. She neglected ZoneAlarm and suffered. I eventually was contacted by her mother and went to her house and installed Norton myself. They were so desperate they called me while I was at school on the school telephone.

I'm sure many of you have met computer-ignorant people. They use their Facebook and Myspace and BitTorrent (all dangerous in their own regard) and know nothing else and don't care at all. "John, my computer is doing _________" "Oh" I ask, "What is the operating system?" They reply, "Uhhhh, I think it is a Dell." Now, from this point, I know it is a version of Windows (OK, so it could be Ubuntu) but I don't know what version. It could be anything from Win 95 to Win Vista! Even if I were to ask the manufacturer of the computer, I would get back that "its windows." Uggh! If people don't know these basic facts about their computer, who is surprised that it isn't working? Instead, they happily wallow in their virus laden systems until they are unusable. Now, not all of my friends are this bad, but the point of this article is not regarding my "inner circle," it is about everyone who uses a computer and yet knows nothing about what they are doing. They are dangerous, opening their personal information to hackers, delivering their computers to bot-nets and making themselves liable for lawsuits by their BitTorrenting. They make our lives hard trying to deal with them and their computers spread spam and more viruses throughout cyberspace.

We need a fix and we need it fast. We need people to wake up and smell the inside of their computers roasting. Commentator John C. Dvorak agrees with me (or I with him) in his article It's Time for Universal Computer Education. My teacher disagrees with him in his method, but does agree with the need. So do I, so do you. Even the method outlined is necessary. No one will reform their ways until taught to. They will remain willfully, ignorantly, dangerous until we teach them.

School System: Abort Retry Fail - Part 1

2008-04-22T18:25:00.001-04:00

As my friends and family know, I am enrolled at a private school. So is my middle brother. In fact, we have both been enrolled since K5. My parents have chosen this for a few reasons. First, being a Christian family, they wanted to avoid a secular education. (I go to a Christian school based on the classical model of education) Secondly, they wanted the benefits of the aforementioned classical model that the school offers. I'm thankful for the school and that my parents send me there. I know it's a financial sacrifice (one that directly affects me) but I still hope to be able to finish my education there.

One thing that the classical model stresses is teaching its students to think. This is mainly taught (at my school) in the Omnibus class. (Omnibus is Latin for "all-things" and no, we don't meet in a double-decker bus!) I couldn't (wait, wouldn't) ask for a better Omnibus teacher. Shoutout to Mr. Sisk! Anyhow, I was thinking as I was driven home today.

Most private schools are on the small end of the size spectrum, and ours is no exception. It should not surprise you then, that we have no bus to pick students up at ungodly hours and drop them off at home an ungodly number of hours later. Today, as my father drove me home, we had the rare "pleasure" of getting stuck behind a school bus. This particular bus was going down a hidden little horse path of a one-lane road. This road has several houses that I'm sure are $400,000 and up. One may even (with acreage) be in the millions. Then, on the other side of the road are beat-up sagging mobile homes that look ready for the bulldozer. (we know one of the people that lives there, and, for her at least, that is a sad situation) The school bus we were behind was stopped, dropping off what appeared to be a 7th or 8th grade guy. I began thinking about how unfair it was that my father was paying for that child to be chauffeured home, while idling his car behind the bus, spewing gas dollars into the air. My parents pay twice for my education. Once to Uncle Sam, of which I never benefit, and then again to my school. The young man that was dropped off was a resident of one of the affluent houses on the street. He walked down the driveway past a very large stone and wrought iron motorized gate. I could see the house on a hill a good quarter or half mile back. It appeared to be a new construction. Now, does it not seem odd that those people can't pick up their own child from school, while my father must pay to bring me home twice? We are not "rich" but also neither poor nor envious. That house was paid for by someone's hard-earned money and they fully deserve it. The mindset put forward by many politicians today, that the rich are all somehow "evil" and should be punished is nuts. Listen to who it's coming from. They're all rich! By penalizing the rich for being rich, we head down the road to Communism. This will not end with the US all being middle-class, but with all the US being poor and subservient.

Now, I'm not wanting to kick the rich kids off (or under) the bus. I want to kick ALL kids off the bus. I'm not bitter or angry; I think it makes common sense. Parents are legally required to send their children to school. Should they not take an active role in that process? Furthermore, how is the ride home at all educational? School buses are controversial topics for the cities as well. Do we buy new ones? Do we spend "x" amount on fuel? All the bickering over them is needless. If my father can afford to bring me home twice AND pay for my schooling twice then other parents could easily pay for transporting their own children. They could either dive the kids themselves or pay a private company to. It would be safer for the kids, lower taxes, and be fair to those who never use the system anyway.

I do have two exceptions to this suggestion. Have buses for students have NO car. Not one car, not a gas-chugging hummer or a ancient Model-T but No car. Those families obviously should be excepted, but hey, the lower taxes from not maintaining a fleet of buses may help them get a car! The second exception is for field trips and educational school led opportunities. An effective way of mass transportation is needed in that case.

So there are my gripes and a way to fix them. Get the parents where they belong and the government out of where it doesn't. Better for everyone! You might be looking at the wider impacts of getting rid of most of the bus fleet. Do you think those will be major? Did I miss something in my analysis or am I spot on? I think that everyone will agree that state education is in need of help, and this would be a good start. It will save money for the schools and get parents to fulfill their responsibilities. I look forward to writing about my take on education again soon.