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May 31, 2006
Another one bites the dust
Drudge reports via The Local that one of the most popular file sharing sites on the web has been closed down:
Three people were taken in for questioning after police raids in Sweden on Wednesday. The trio, ages 22, 24 and 28, are suspected of violating property rights legislation, police spokesman Ulf Göranzon said.Servers connected to the site have been impounded and the site was down on Wednesday afternoon, although the operators of The Pirate Bay have set up a temporary website to provide updates on the situation
Pirate Bay denies they are hosting copyrighted material:
...Tobias Andersson at pressure group Piratbyrån (The Pirate Bureau), which founded The Pirate Bay, stressed that there was no copyright-protected material on the servers.
I don't know if they had illegal stuff there or not, but I do know that as soon as one site pulls stuff you find it on another so somebody is hosting it.
Posted by Peter at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
Vista Ultimate $450? Office 2007 $680?
iTwire has posted a write up mentioning these prices which we cant confirm. But considering the current Windows XP Professional $300 tag and Office Profession $500 tag it may not be that far fetched.
Read all about it HERE!
Posted by Hector at 01:03 PM | Comments (0)
AMD getting an upper hand on Intel?
Is AMD getting an upper hand on Intel? If you buy Tom Yager's article from Infoworld today then the answer is yes:
I’m delighted enough with what’s new now at AMD, but Chuck Moore laid out a mind-blowing future for AMD64 in his description of K8L, the architecture that will follow the current K8. K8L is (for starters) a four-core CPU. Yippee, right? Intel’s doing that, too. But AMD doesn’t do reactive engineering. It’s obvious that AMD started work on K8L the day after Opteron shipped. K8L’s modular, on-board, dual-channel memory controllers and 1,600MHz Hypertransport bus are the sort of incremental improvements you might expect, but AMD is also taking up a bunch of big-iron features to carry x86 way past its Intel roots. K8L will feature pooled Level 3 cache, a feature that x86 servers have needed from the start. The Hypertransport bus is getting a kick to Hypertransport 3, which is capable of handling 5.2 billion transactions per second. Remember, like K8, K8L will have multiple Hypertransport channels on each CPU. And you haven’t heard the half of it.
And this is only 9 days after this:
Dell slipped a mention into its quarterly financial statement that it would sell servers based on chips from Advanced Micro Devices, breaking from its longstanding strategy of only selling computers with Intel chips.
No matter how it goes we win. All of this leads to stronger and faster PC's at better prices.
Posted by Peter at 12:02 PM | Comments (1)
Kodiak does HiWired
The Boston Business Journal reports that Kodiak has decided to continue to invest in HiWired:
Waltham-based Kodiak Venture Partners, which co-led HiWired's first round along with Sigma Partners in Boston, found the company has the qualities of its favorite kind of investment: early stage combined with an experienced team and a roomy market.
...not to mention a pretty good blog and some fine customers. Take a bow you know who you are.
Posted by Peter at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
Traffic Traffic Traffic
There was an accident today at the exit I take to work that really slowed things down today.
Maybe I should have just listened to Melissa.
Posted by Peter at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2006
Don't let this happen to you
As today's Day-By Day shows above this is a feeling that everybody gets at one time or another. It's important to remember that your computer is a machine like any other and needs to be maintained, here are a few quick hits.
REBOOT: Even if you are the type who leaves their computer on all the time (I'm not, most of the guys here are) you will want to reboot your system at least once a day. Rebooting daily forgives many PC sins and starts you with a clean slate (I sound like my parish priest).
CLEAN OUT TEMP FILES: If I had a dollar for every customer who hadn't cleaned out their temp files I'd still be working since a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to, but this is a problem I see over and over (particularly on older machines which needs some TLC). This can cause issues during installs, hang ups and grief. Not cleaning out temp files is like drinking and not sleeping it off, your system will slow down, start to slur and then crash.
DUST DUST DUST: Heat is bad for your computer, one thing that happens over time is dust will build up inside your machine and heat your parts, using Canned Air clean your computer say once a year at least. If you are moving things around in the house, take advantage of that time to do it since usually the computer is tucked into a spot where it is hard to get to. An annual dusting will prolong the life of your machine.
HIWIRED: (You saw that coming didn't you) Finally we're going to toot our own horn a bit and suggest you get either our HiWired PC TUNEUP or Worry Free PC plan. This will give your system a checkup of your virus, firewall and spyware protection, A year of HiWired Protector to make sure your system stays up to date, and remote backups so if the worst does happen your data is save, and the data is the reason you have that computer anyway. After the initial setup fee (a half price PC Checkup) HiWired's Worry Free PC comes in three flavors that start as low as $6 a month so you can be protected without breaking the bank. Is it worth one Big Mac Meal a month to keep key data safe?
P.S. I think it's only fair to say that the use of today's Day-By-Day cartoon doesn't mean Chris Muir has endorsed our site.
However it is also fair to say that I very much endorse his.
Posted by Peter at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2006
iPod 1 year ticking timer?
Guardian site has a long write up on what is to often the case of a dead iPod. Looking into alternatives may be a good idea and most iTunes competitors will happily point you to quite a few. At minimum should you decide to buy a iPod you should consider buying a extended warranty.
Posted by Hector at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)
Memorial Day
Today is Memorial Day, a national holiday. On this day we remember those soldiers and sailors who died in the service of our country from William Burrows captian of the Enterprise in the War of 1812, to Sgt Paul Smith who won the Medal of Honor in Iraq to my next door neighbor's father who fell at Normandy and my cousin who did the same in Italy during World War II.
As always HiWired will be open our normal hours 9 a.m.- 11 p.m. but we would like to take this moment to thank those who gave their lives in our service.
Apparently Google doesn't feel the same.
Just last week they paid tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday. But Memorial Day doesn't seem to rate anything at all.
Hey it's their company.
UPDATE ask.com and dogpile both seem to think the day has more meaning than Google does. Glenn has screen shots.
Update II Google Responds to the same question last year
…
We have to balance this rotating calendar with the need to maintain the consistency of the Google homepage.Furthermore, Google’s special logos tend to be lighthearted in nature. If we were to commemorate Memorial Day, we would want to express reverence, rather than mirth. This would be a particularly challenging design. We would not want to, in any way, create a graphic that could be interpreted as disrespectful. In light of the mail we have received about this, we are actively considering designs we could display on this day next year. We welcome any suggestions you may have.
I guess they forgot, like I tell my kids you remember what's important to you.
Update III: A late hello to LGF readers, (had the day off yesterday) take the time to poke around, check out our podcasts and keep us in mind if you need PC support someday. Quick note on comments and trackbacks; I only keep them open for two weeks at a time so if you have something to say you'll want to say it now.
Posted by Peter at 08:47 AM | Comments (2)
May 28, 2006
Free Reading/Free Writing?
Was over a friends houses today and needed to access a spreadsheet. He didn't have word or works installed. What to do?
There are three good options:
1# You can download and install the Microsoft Office Online File Converters and Viewers. These programs allow you to read an office format file or convert it to a format your system is set up for. This is a free download and is something quick in a pinch.
#2. You can (if you have a Windows Live ID) download the beta version of the Office 2007 program. The advantage is of course a working copy of the office suite, the disadvantage is a version that is by definition incomplete, therefore you might run into a bug or two. In addition as with all beta versions it will expire and need to be replaced, but it will do the job RIGHT NOW if you need it.
#3 You can download a 3rd party product such as Open Office that we've mentioned before. This will give you a permanent solution without cost but will not be Office and will have its own issues.
All these solutions will do the trick, since I was on a friend's PC I choose the 1st. Maybe your situation is different?
Posted by Peter at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2006
More proof that the net has no secrets
It is a fact of computer life. When you connect to the internet and go to places you are to some degree traceable. This can be a real problem if you are the type of person who likes to make threats
But this particular death threat is a bit different from the run of the mill hate mail we get around here, because an IP lookup on the sender reveals that he/she/it was using an account at none other than Reuters News: RIPE Whois Database: 192.165.213.18. (Please note: the name and address below are those of Reuters’ technical contact, not the name of the freak responsible for our hate mail. Please do not send him email.)
Charles Johnson who runs the Little Green Footballs site in addition to being a musician and a very opinionated man is also a web designer who knows what he's doing.
By the end of the day the person who did this off of the Reuters' computer was identified and in trouble.
The best thing about this is that a person who isn't restrained by morality might be restrained by fear of being caught. It's a lesson worth learning.
Posted by Peter at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2006
Another reason to love the internet
One of the great things about the Internet is the amount of stuff you can go back to when you need it. I've had a couple of tough weeks, but thanks to the miracle of the net I have the ability to link to the archives of David Pinto blog.
Specifically the Archives for October 2004, you can't be from Boston and read those pages and not get a smile.
Posted by Peter at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
AMD releases socket AM2
AMD released the new AM2 socket to the public on May 23rd. Motherboards and processors using the new socket are now available to the public. This new socket has 940 pins, but is different from socket 940 and chips are not interchangeable between the two socket types. Most processor models that were available for socket 939 are now available for AM2. The primary reason for the new socket is so that AMD chips can now support DDR2 memory as Intel chips have for some time now. Using DDR2 theoretically improves the speed of memory access as well as memory bandwidth. But, in practice, is this really a step up? The short answer is that, if you're getting a low end or mid-range system, you'll probably do better sticking with socket 939 for the time being. For the high range, however, there are significant improvements in performance with the new socket.
The first reason for this inconsistency in performance increase applies to both AMD and Intel and has to do with the current state of DDR2 memory itself. Despite its higher clock speeds than plain DDR, DDR2 has been suffering from higher CAS latency than DDR memory since its inception. CAS latency is basically overhead that has to be done every time memory is accessed. It makes a big difference for lots of small accesses to memory and a smaller difference when dealing
with large blocks of memory. In some cases, this can largely negate the higher clock rate. Newer DDR2 ram is coming out with lower CAS latencies, but you can expect to pay a premium for such parts.
The second reason is due to a difference in where AMD and Intel put their memory controllers. For Intel, it's off the chip, but AMD uses an on-chip controller. There are advantages to using an on chip controller, but with DDR2 memory, AMD has run into a limitation of their approach. Access to the memory is now being limited by the clock speed of the processor. There is a threshold point at around 2.6 GHz where the real potential of the DDR2 memory is opened up. Currently, only two of the AM2 processors, the Athlon 64 X2
5000+ at 2.6 GHz. and the Athlon 64 FX-62 at 2.8 GHz reach the neccessary speeds. For the chips lower than that, performance is pretty close to the socket 939 version of the same chip with DDR memory. For some of the lower end models, the AM2 version with DDR2 may actually have worse performance.
This is to be expected with a newer technology. Intel ran into similar problems with the switch to DDR2 and now AMD has its turn. Very soon, AMD will be switching from its current 90 nanometer manufacturing process to a 65 nanometer manufacturing process. At that point, processor clock rates should be able to go even higher, and new processors using the AM2 socket should be the clear winners across the board over socket 939.
For the time being, if you're willing to pay top dollar, the AM2 version of the Athlon 64 FX-62 appears to be the most powerful processor you can buy. If you're not looking for a mega powerful PC, however, it's probably best not to be an early adopter of the AM2 socket. You'll get just as much computer, and more value for your money, with socket 939.
For a review of socket AM2, take a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/23/amd_reinvents_itself/.
Posted by Kieran at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
Compare and Contrast
We've talked quite a bit about internet free speech around here I'd like to compare and contrast two examples of home grown issue via Glenn:
#1. Post on your own time, get detention:
A school district in Illinois said that kids who post images of themselves engaged in lewd, inappropriate or illegal behavior — even off school grounds — are subject to disciplinary action. School officials say they are not trying to censor students but to protect them.
Now I'd have no problems with the school letting the parent know and letting them take action but I can't see how a school has the right to punish a kid for posting something via a non school computer on non school time. Now if they decimated it at school or used a school machine for it that would be different. In addition who decides what is and what is not appropriate? My kids Catholic Schools might have a different idea than a public school in San Francisco?
#2 Critique literary agents; lose your ISP:
It seems that a site called Absolute Write decided to reprint a list called the 20 worst literary Agents. Somebody on that list took exception and apparently pressured the ISP to drop the site.
Now I know nothing on this subject and won't pretend to but it seems to me that this is the free market at work. A business has the right to listen to somebody's complaint and act (or not act) upon it. Likewise the customer base has the right to decide not to do business with that business because of said decision. The free market will work it out here as it does with the Dixie Chicks and country music fans.
Thus I would have to disagree with Glenn's label for this item (crushing of dissent). It might not be fair but life isn't fair and no ISP has an obligation to carry anybody they don't want to. Absolute Write has already moved and a lot more people have seen that list who would have never cared one fig about it. Everybody will deal with the fallout but life will go on. That is the way things work in a free society.
Posted by Peter at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
Dell opens stores, doesn't carry product?
Maybe it's just me but when I think of a store I think of a place where I can actually buy things:
Dell, the vendor that pioneered direct sales in the computer industry, announced plans this week to test its first full-size retail stores. Continuing Dell's direct-sales structure, the stores will not actually stock Dell products. Instead, they will offer consumers an opportunity to test the company's wares, which include digital cameras, LCD televisions, and printers, in addition to PCs. Customers can order merchandise from the stores, over the phone, or from Dell's Web site.
Well a site to touch and feel is a good idea as people like to see what they are getting. A place where you can return and ship from or get tech support would be even better:
Dell has not decided if the outlets will offer product support
Considering their rep thus far might I suggest a HiWired Kiosk with a direct chat line?
As I've said I still have a good opinion of Dell but if my 18 month old laptop keeps overheating that might change.
Hat tip: Not Just for Techs
Posted by Peter at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2006
Telecommuting follow-up
As a follow-up to our latest podcast of Telecommuting this article at Chron watch on the subject. A lot of what is said echoes Melissa's points but one thing jumped out at me:
Even if you opt not to allow telecommuting now, you should have a plan in place in case something like a natural disaster or a flu pandemic prevents people from traveling to the office.
This is a very solid point. During a heavy snow this winter I was able to not worry about the roads and work from here (on the down side I ended up shoveling for two hours and going straight to work) as opposed to a pervious job where I had to worry about the drive in and out and my employer had to worry about short staffing, overtime and even putting people up in local hotels.
Hat tip The Work at Home Journal that list telecommuting offers on its site with the following large disclaimer:
Please Note- A Legit Company will not ask you for money. These are unresearched work at home job leads. Use common sense if it sounds too job to be true-it probably is. Please post in comments if you have any replies to the jobs applied
That is solid advice on any subject.
I can't end this post without repeating a quip from a pal of mine concerning New England snow. He travels all over the country and the world for his job and is often told by people "how can you stand all that snow?" He has a stock reply: Yes there is a bit of snow to shovel but every time I've dug the house out it's still there.
Posted by Peter at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2006
7 year old Alcatraz adventure
This boy just became the youngest person to make the swim between Alcatraz and San Francisco
Alcatraz island and San Francisco.
Braxton Bilbrey took 47 minutes to swim the estimated 1.4 miles (2.25km) from the notorious island prison, which once housed criminals including Al Capone.
This is one tough kid. He says he could do it again and says next time he will swim out from San Fransisco and around around Alcatraz and back to San Fransisco.
Click HERE to read up on the full story and view news video at BBC News.
Posted by Hector at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
Home is where the work is
In our latest podcast Telecommuting we interview HiWired's newest mom Melissa about telecomuting.
As always you can listen from the link above or subscribe via the ITUNES music store.
Of course there is telecommuting and there is telecommuting:
So it's come to this. The humble bathroom, long a place of refuge and solitude, is playing quiet host to more workplace transactions. Bathroom business has gone way beyond tapping out furtive emails on a BlackBerry. Lately, more hard-driving homeowners have converted their loos into virtual satellite workspaces, with retractable desks or waterproof touch-screen monitors. Manufacturer Acquinox of New York says sales of its steam shower/whirlpool units -- a hands-free phone is standard in each -- nearly tripled last year to 14,800 modules. Wisconsin-based Seura, meanwhile, reports rising sales of its vanity mirrors, which feature LCD screens in the glass. The mirrors, starting at $2,400, let users check their tie-knot, then flip a switch to watch the embedded TV.
I think I'll let that story stand without comment. Via an old post at Glenn's
Posted by Peter at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2006
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
The name of this post comes from a line near the end of the first rate movie: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. It is pretty relevant as there has been a spate of Moon Maiden sightings on the net (one of which we fell for ourselves) in the last week.
This is one of the weaknesses of the net in the sense that news that is published too quickly and too raw might not be complete. On the plus side stuff that is put out falsely can be picked up in a hurry.
Just remember the net is made of postings by people, and people by their nature love to tell a story. It's easy to get caught into a story that fits your worldview or as a fellow I once knew said:
There are three sides to every story, your side , my side and the truth.
Remember there is a lot of info out there read and use it carefully.
Posted by Peter at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
When you have 1,000,000,000 people you can hire 30,000 censors
Since China is finding that the net is too big to police on their own they have found a great way to crack down on undesired surfing by folks; Their friends and neighbors:
These volunteer net police, acting like reserve constables, will "regularly receive instructions from the association to look for uncivilized actions and unhealthy information appearing on websites". For this, they will be paid the token sum of 100 yuan ($16) per month.
Apparently Wikipeida qualifies as one of those unhealthy sites:
Access to international websites is becoming ever more difficult from within China. It only takes a single "error" for a major site to be banned in full and indefinitely.For instance, all access to Wikipedia, one of the reference sources most used by Australians, is permanently blocked because of its coverage of the June 4, 1989, uprising at Tiananmen Square.
This story above via the Free Speech Diva is interesting but it looks like the reach of the censors and snoops aren't limited to China:
The US State Department will disconnect 900 new Chinese-made computers from its most top secret network for fear that they may have been fitted with spying equipment.
The Chinese company Lenovo as you might recall purchased IBM's PC division on May 1st of last year. I got that info from this Wikipedia entry that you can't get in China.
The department chose to install about 900 of the PCs on its secure network at home and at embassies around the world, according to documents released by Wolf.But after angry objections from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a bipartisan panel of experts appointed by Congress, the department opted this week to pull the computers from the network.
The group didn't mince words:
"It is no secret that the United States is a principal target of Chinese intelligence services,"
In a global economy you will see more of this type of thing, but as the old saying goes, when you lie down with dogs, you get fleas.
Via Slashdot.
Posted by Peter at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
Oh so That's where they get them
When you go from web site to web site you often will see all kinds of pictures. The photos we use determine can make or break somebody staying long enough to make a sale or get your page read.
Web Design Ramblings answers this question with this post linking to two different providers that can be used. For designers and advertisers this might be common knowledge, but to those not informed it is kind of cool.
Posted by Peter at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
Please deposit 50 cents for the next 100 mb
One of the weaknesses of trying to introduce technology to business in the non developed world is the cost of equipment etc...
Geekzone is reporting that Microsoft is going for that niche using a pay-as-you-go deal:
The pay-as-you-go computing model enabled by Microsoft's FlexGo technology allows customers to have a fully featured PC at home by paying only for the time as they use it through the purchase of prepaid activation cards or tokens.
And Microsoft isn't riding this bus alone:
AMD intends to develop processors designed specifically to support Microsoft FlexGo technology. Other partners in the pay-as-you-go program include the HSBC Bank Brasil S.A., Infineon Technologies AG, Intel Corporation, Lenovo, Phoenix Technologies Ltd., Transmeta Corp. and more.
Forgetting the advantage that it is providing for the small business users, this is really smart business sense. Not all of these business will grow to be international or even national powers, but you'd better believe that they will remember the guy who took them to the dance when nobody else was offering.
Via Slashdot
Posted by Peter at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2006
Be careful were you point and click
McAfee has acquired SiteAdvisor which is a piece of software which will add a additional security layer by notifying you of risky sites before you click on the links. There is also in this report a lot of interesting ratings. SiteAdvisor does appear to be free.
This is a very interesting read!
The report’s authors estimated that each month consumers click on an estimated 285 million "hostile sites." The researchers compiled 1,394 popular keywords using lists of common searches. "Adult search terms" were excluded. The results were analyzed using the database from McAfee’s SiteAdvisor Web safety database which is based on "automated tests that analyze Web sites for exploits, downloads containing spyware, adware, or other unwanted programs, pop-ups, links to dangerous sites, and e-mail submission forms," according to the report.
This is the CBS news page I learned of this.
This is the direct link to the report from McAfee SiteAdvisor.
Posted by Hector at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2006
Interesting little post
This interesting little post at the Download-Firefox blog points out that IE and Firefox are not all that different:
The similarity between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox indicates the extent of popularity of Microsoft's Internet Explorer in the world today. Mozilla Firefox could have boldly assigned the lower portion of the window to toolbars and taskbars. However, all of us have become so habituated to the Internet Explorer's layout that Mozilla Firefox found the risk of bringing the taskbars down as a risk that was too dangerous to take.
Posted by Peter at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)
Wow
I've written quite a bit about internet free speech on this site and how I feel about it.
Nothing I've written about compares to this.
UPDATE: It looks like this the story this entry was based on is not true.
However things are not all hunky dory. (Does anybody say that anymore?)
Posted by Peter at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2006
Not so Firmware
Had a customer today who wanted to upgrade a device of his. He found a firmware upgrade that was not from the company that made his device.
Now firmware upgrades as a rule involve some risk, if they fail the device becomes a handy paperweight. Using one that is not released or approved by the company who makes it is, in my opinion just asking for trouble.
Posted by Peter at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2006
And another one
Ho Hum, another day, another blogger imprisoned in China:
Yang is one of several writers and dissidents to be tried over the content of internet postings. He has no plans to appeal because he regards his trial as illegal. Li Jianqiang, his lawyer, said: “He is most dissatisfied but he had expected such a sentence. He refused to answer questions because he does not recognise the legality of the court.”Yang was detained after he posted essays on the internet in support of Velvet Action of China — a movement named after the Velvet Revolution that overthrew the Communist Government in the former Czechoslovakia. “He was freely expressing his opinion and posed no threat to state security. We argue that his actions were entirely within the Constitution,” Mr Li said.
so the bad year continues and continues...
Hat tip Captain's Quarters
Posted by Peter at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
I'm not afraid of no Lawyer
You know a long time ago I asked the question Is Revenge of the Sith worth 3 years in reference to illegal downloading.
I was remined it that when a few days ago Methodshop had an article about YouTube and what it is doing to prevent distribution of illegal downloads. It then decided in the next paragraph to link to how to do just that.
I'm reminded of a friend who cooked in a 4 star Restaurant that had a steep staircase, people kept tripping and suing him until he dropped his insurance figuring everybody wanted insurance money but nobody wanted a French Restaurant. He was right.
However the history of companies and copyright suggests that people in the media industry are not so forgiving and like to make examples.
And we already blogged about the US Supreme Courts Unanimous decision holding file sharing services liable for promoting illegal activity.
That's one reason why I won't link to the article in question. (not to mention the fact that at HiWired we don't encourage illegal activity) I really wonder why somebody would bother put such a live link? Let people google it themselves.
Posted by Peter at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)
User swappable HD for Mac Laptop
Apple Insider reports that the new MacBook notebook computers will have a user swappable hard drive:
Below the two RAM slots (at the base of the battery cavity) is where you'll find the MacBook's hard disk drive. Without disassembling the notebook, users will be able to quickly removing some protective aluminum shielding and lift the drive out of the computer.
This is a pretty good feature, there are drawbacks to the model as well:
Like Apple's MacBook Pro professional notebooks, the company says the new MacBook has a tendency to produce a significant amount of heat. Though the notebook's operating temperature falls within national and international safety standards, it runs much hotter than the iBook G4s it replaces.
Heat as you will recall is the sworn foe of computers in general and laptops in particular.
There is also the totally weird:
...only Apple would affix two screws to the left side of the computer purely for cosmetic purposes. That's right -- they serve absolutely no function other than to sit there and look pretty.
There is something to be said for aesthetics. Are screws aesthetic?
Hat tip Methodshop
Posted by Peter at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2006
Nintendo Wii
Well the Internet seems to be busy with the news of Nintendo's new name for what was code named revolution.
The new console is pronounced 'WE' and the two letter 'i' sitting next to each other is suppose to symbolize people getting together to play.
Let me share my top 10 reasons to buy a Wii console..
1st this console is like no other. Nintendo has done a awesome job of revolutionizing the way people play. This console will definitely separate it self from the standard consoles. For starters Wii will come with a wireless remote that not only has buttons on it like any other controller but senses motion and pin point location. What this means is a totally new way to game. For example on the E3 show they had a couple people demo a tennis game where you would actually swing the remote to hit the ball. Another example is being able to play a first person shooter and aim your controller at what you want to shoot. Hey if Lucas arts wanted to they can create a Star Wars game where you use the controller as a saber sword in the game.
1st Just in case you don't like the new controller which I don't think will be the case you will be able to plug in your Game Cube controller or use your already purchased Nintendo memory card.
2nd the remote will not only rumble like other modern controllers but make sounds to.
3rd this console will be able to connect up on-line wirelessly using your wireless router or connect up using a USB cable to your computer. This will allow multi-player gaming and automatic updates to the console. The console will also provide a safe connection for other Nintendo DS owners to connect to the Internet wirelessly.
4th you will be able to browse these blogs using the Wii console. It will have a Opera browser to browse around on your favorite sites and it will be interesting to see how the controller will interact with the browser on-line.
5th Wii will be fully backward compatible for Game Cube games. The console has a front CD load and Wii games use a bigger 12cm CD but it will also take the Game Cube 8cm CD's as well.
6th With the new console you will also be able to download and play 20 years of classic games. If your big into classic games this is the console for you!
7th The Wii console is very compact. They did a great job of making it look very nice too. I do think it will look nicer in my living room though. =)
8th The Wii will come with 512MB of flash memory and rather then taking the proprietary path Wii uses standard and inexpensive SD flash cards to expand.
9th Wii will be available at a fraction of the cost of buying a Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. At time of this writing XBox 360 cost $450 and up and upcoming PlayStation 3 will be priced at $500 and $600 depending on what model you get. The Wii console is set to release with a price tag set to $250 leaving you plenty of $$$ to buy a few games and accessories to go along with it.
10th This might just be what the doctor ordered. With the right game in place I'm sure hours of exercise will become something you actually just might find your self doing daily. With the Wii console you just might find your self feeling like your actually part of the game!
P.S. Wii will be available before Christmas! Current release date is in November
Posted by Hector at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2006
Free calls from Skype
Good news for all you out there. Skype is now offering free calls not just Skype to Skype internet calls but also to land lines and cell phones to US and Canada from now until the end of the year. This means by taking advantage of this offer and setting up skype you can shave that long distance bill some for the next 6 months.
Visit Skypes home page for more details.
Remember as a technical support company we can help you should you have any problem setting up skype. Just visit us at HiWired.com to learn how.
Posted by Hector at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
More examples
A while back we posted some examples of spam and fraud mails. Slashdot links to this site, which has examples of spam and phishing e-mails.
Very much worth a read.
Posted by Peter at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
Neither rain or snow nor massive flodding...
As you might have heard we in New England in general and Massachusetts in particular are dealing with some nasty flooding.
10 years ago on a day like this a company might have to close it's doors for the day. However the same technology that allows us to fix your computer remotely allows our staff be available for a full day ready to serve your tech needs. And since I was a little light on the Mother's day gifts maybe I'll get some dishes done too.
Posted by Peter at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2006
Happy Mother's Day
We at HiWired would like to wish all mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day and many more.
My own personal thought about Mothers echo this one.
Posted by Peter at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2006
HiSpeed over powerlines? (Use it to connect to HiWired?)
Slashdot links to this NPR story about offering high speed internet over powerlines.
Company president Mark Rupnik says a utility can be ready to offer BPL in a short period of time and at a third of the equipment costs of DSL service.
When something takes off everybody wants a piece of the pie but the more choices out there the better.
Posted by Peter at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2006
PcCillin passes
Well after a month playing with it I decided to purchase a 3 year sub to Pc-Cillin and pick up a physical install disk for $10 more.
I've said it many times that it is a good idea to have an install disk, the extra $10 is very much worth it.
This means I have AVG on two systems, Norton on the laptop and PC-Cillin for the main one.
Posted by Peter at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2006
Security failure alert
Noam Eppel of Vivica info writes a scathing review of computer security that doesn't reflect well on those who protect:
It is time to admit what many security professional already know: We as security professional are drastically failing ourselves, our community and the people we are meant to protect. Too many of our security layers of defense are broken. Security professionals are enjoying a surge in business and growing salaries and that is why we tolerate the dismal situation we are facing. Yet it is our mandate, first and foremost, to protect.
He raises a point I've made before when discussing the reasons:
Cyberspace's digital battlefield heavily favors the cyber criminal. A cyber-criminal only needs to identify a single vulnerability in a system's defenses in order to breach its security. However, information security professionals need to identify every single vulnerability and potential risk and come up with suitable and practical fix or mitigation strategy. Furthermore, the freedom, privacy and anonymity cyberspace offers, gives cybercriminals the opportunity and confidence to target victims around the world with little chance of being caught.
He says solutions will be offered in part two. It should make interesting reading.
Posted by Peter at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2006
Bad news on the Vista front
Looks like Windows Vista might have more problems then we knew:
In a research report published May 8, analysts at Boston-based Yankee Group said that Microsoft's latest attempt to better secure its dominant OS is significantly off the mark. Based on feedback garnered by the experts from a wide range of software developers already testing preview versions of Vista, Yankee Group said that the intrusive nature of the security features could turn off IT administrators and users alike.
This is not the news that Microsoft needs to hear right now:
By forcing end users with such accounts to constantly seek approval from administrators to complete tasks they manipulate freely in today's versions of Windows, and creating headaches for those people charged with handing out such permissions, Jaquith said the features may simply be ignored or shut off by many people.
If you make something that people are already doing harder for them to do, they will be turned off in a hurry. This is an excellent way to tank a new release.
Posted by Peter at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
What a difference a face makes
We've mentioned the holding of the blogger Alaa Abd el-Fatah by the Egyptian government yesterday. Michelle Malkin has more on the story today.
And one more thing. It is one thing to mention in text that a person is being held. That is somebody in theory,
however when you see a picture of that person, he she (I confess I didn't know Alaa was a woman) becomes somebody in reality. She could be any of the mothers at my kid's school. Her man looks like any number of techies I know and hang with.
If you ever wonder why I give this topic as many pixels as I do, faces like that are the reason.
Update: I was right the first time.
Posted by Peter at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
The 2nd front of the Free Speech wars
The Toronto Star reports a 2nd front on the free speech wars launched by three computer geeks:
...the computer smarts of Ron Deibert, Nart Villeneuve, and Michael Hull, combined with their passion for politics and free expression, have led them to develop a highly anticipated software program that allows Internet users inside China and other countries, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Burma, to get around repressive censorship and not get caught.Their innovation is called Psiphon, and it's being launched at the end of this month.
The method used is pretty cool:
The program effectively turns anyone's personal computer into a proxy server. Once the software is installed on a computer in, say, Canada, that person creates a contact list of trusted friends or family members in censored countries and sends his or her IP address to them. No advertising needed.The censored user then connects to the computer running Psiphon and accesses banned content from there, all unbeknownst to the censor.
For those of you out there who figure you can use this to get around your parents blocks (and you know who you are) forget it. The system doesn't work that way. The easiest way for the censors to stop this would be to force all machines sold in a particular country to have blocks on particular sites via Read only host files, but that would take time and would be a huge task to do on all systems in a nation like China.
So three cheers for the good guys!
Update: via Slashdot tsk tsk Peter you should know better.
Posted by Peter at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
Apple 1 Beatles 0
Do you remember the trademark dispute between Apple and the Beatles? Well Apple has won .
"I find no breach of the trademark agreement has been demonstrated," Mr Justice Mann said in his judgment on Monday. "The action therefore fails.""I think the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service," Mann said, referring to a central argument of Apple Corps over the use of the Apple Computer logo within the iTunes Music Store.
This will go to appeal (as most such cases do) but the real news from the article is this:
The Beatles are high-profile holdouts from Internet music services like iTunes, but it emerged during the trial that Apple Corps is preparing the band's catalog to be sold online for the first time, according to a submission by Neil Aspinall, managing director of Apple Corps and a former Beatles road manager.
The fact that the greatest rock band of all time can't be purchased online is horrible. My own opinion on the band in general and Paul McCartney are encapsulated in this quote from the USA today Superbowl liveblog from two years ago:
Note for those under 30: The man singing now is Paul McCartney, half of the greatest songwriting team of all time and one-fourth of the greatest band ever, the Beatles. That band broke up in 1970. If you're wondering how a guy 30-plus years past his prime can still sound better than anything you hear on the radio today, it's because your music is made by a bunch of whining slackers who couldn't spell "melody" if you spotted them the "melo." Enjoy. —8:22 p.m.
I wish I wrote that.
Posted by Peter at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2006
Ipod moving on but kids going Retro?
Looks like Apple is moving the IPOD into ring tone turf. At least that is what they say in this article at Techspot:
Two patents filed by the company point towards an iPod design that can allow users to tag a digital media file on one device and network and download it to another device on another network. This is similar to how Sprint and Verizon allow you to buy a song over the air, and then tag it for downloading to your PC at some later time.
Meanwhile the Toronto Star reports that the kids might be moving in a different direction:
black wax is still being chosen over compact discs by a sizable segment of kids, David Hayes found during his thesis research."As I was interviewing kids for my thesis, I fully expected them to talk about CDs and MP3 players, but in my subject group of 30 people, a full one-third of them all talked about how interested they were in collecting vinyl by going to garage sales, flea markets and second-hand music stores, and how they felt that this was their primary format to get music," he says.
The reasons for this are interesting:
"Even the imperfections, the snap, crackle, pop of a record, the things that the music industry used to convince people to switch to CDs was something that these kids were valorizing," he says.
As the High Commander said on Season 1 of Third Rock from the Sun: "When will these humans discover the superior sound quality of Vinyl?"
Artistic reasons seems to be the big pull:
"CDs and iPods delete the entire purpose of making an album. You can just change the track, but on a record player, I put the album on and I listen to the entire thing,"
As they say, read it all.
Posted by Peter at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)
And still more net free speech bad news
The continuing bad year for net free speech continues as Egyptian blogger Alaa has been arrested by her his government over a demonstration. Glenn posts contact information for the Egyptian embassy.
Posted by Peter at 07:02 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2006
All the worlds a Game. Podcast 3
Our newest Podcast "The $1000 game console" is now available. You can subscribe to our podcasts via the iTunes store. If you want you can manually subscribe using the steps here, or if you want simply click here to listen.
Posted by Peter at 07:02 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2006
Hello. My name is Peter and I'm a home page addict.
The Tabbed browsing feature in Firefox is very handy in tech support as you can have multiple home pages, but what happens when there are so many pages you want links to that you can't have them all on one home page. And your bookmarks contain so many links that you can't keep track of them anymore?
Well my solution is something simple and it brings up a second point about browsers.
A web browser can display web pages but most can display other kinds of files such as text files and local images. With free plugings you can have Adobe documents as well.
What I did was put key links in a .txt file and make it part of my home page. I was able to eliminate 9 of my 17 home pages while keeping some items ready for easy access.
However this is a great way to keep a document open that you reference constantly.
Posted by Peter at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)
Avast Ye Scurvy Swabs! Prepare to be Sued
The Music industry is preparing to go after large scale pirates in several major cities:
The music industry, which has famously sued Internet users for downloading songs illegally, is turning its sights on pirates in 12 cities who copy CDs and DVDs for sale at street corners, flea markets, family run shops and even mainstream record stores.Executives identified the cities as Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Providence, R.I.; San Diego and San Francisco.
For some reason Latin music seems to be the rage for piracy.
Urban and Latin music is overwhelmingly popular among pirates who copy discs, representing about 95 percent of all counterfeit CDs and DVDs seized in raids, according to Buckles, who is a former head of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.Almost 40 percent of discs seized last year were Latin CDs - with artists such as Jessie Morales and Los Originales de San Juan - even though the genre accounts for only 6 percent of the overall music market. Those illegal CDs are especially popular in Texas, California and Florida, the RIAA said.
Would that make it Piracy of the Carribbean?
Posted by Peter at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
Well that's finally done
Well our Blogroll post of every blog we've linked to was finished today. As you might guess it will be updated when we link to blogs that we haven't used before. Eventually it will have it's own sidebar link to grab.
From time to time I might give you updates on what the bloggers on the list are doing but I've seen all the old posts I want to for a bit.
Posted by Peter at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
More Wikipedia debate
The Corner links to this Miami Herald story on how Glenn's point about Wikipedia ability to report on places like Cuba:
There have been so many dueling edits -- 30 entries on April 27 alone -- that the article has been placed off-limits to first-time or unregistered users. The article has notices alerting readers that the neutrality of four sections is under dispute.A central tenet of Wikipedia is that articles must be written in a neutral point of view. But, as the debate on the talk page attached to the Cuba article demonstrates, neutrality is often in the eye of the beholder.
Lines were drawn in a hurry and the debate became interesting:
With neither side giving in, on April 15 a ''mediation cabal'' -- an informal mediator -- joined the discussion. The cabal suggested citing reputable sources to back the Cuba-is-not-a-democracy sentence.''If we need a citation that Cuba is not a democracy, then maybe we need citation that Cuba is in Latin America,'' retorts CJK, another user.
This back and forth has resulted in some bans and some interesting items of note:
Other users also have been banned, including ''Comandante,'' who has changed the Cuba article more than 700 times. Another participant wrote that Comandante's Internet address suggests he lives in Cuba.
Now if I was a dictator (or a player of the popular web game guess that dictator) I would be monitoring this stuff and having someone on staff respond to things at once. Then again if I was a company or any pol I would do the same thing.
Now in fairness Wikipeda puts a large marker saying The neutrality and factual accuracy of this article are disputed. on the page, of what becomes a shouting match, but this is why a single encyclopedia with a single staff has the edge. If one has bias it can be pointed out but even facts can be disputed in a debate. Worse of all lets say somebody decides to put up a false entry about an obscure item. That can stay for years without detection and will be found and cited all that time.
My own feelings about the site have been see-sawing. Maybe I'd better just take it for what it is and let it be.
Update: The above entry is a big reason why I'm such a hawk on internet free speech. If content is controlled then information can be. The above debate is much better than silence.
Posted by Peter at 09:16 AM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2006
Pixels are cheaper than ink
Glenn's TCS column today is a solid read on various attempts to silence bloggers. The bottom line:
As bloggers get more powerful, lots of people are likely to be tempted to try to silence them. This, however, is likely to turn out badly -- like trying to stop hornets' buzzing by smacking their nest with a stick.
Worth a read.
Hat tip Instapundit.
Posted by Peter at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2006
As opposed to a Blogroll page...a blogroll post.
Update bump to top:
We've got our list up to the middle of November end of April, I'm hoping to finish this by Monday of next week or before
A while back we had a post on why we had no blogroll. In liew of that I thought it would be interesting to have a single blogroll post. This post will consist of every blog that we have linked to since we started the HiWired blog (in the days when it was the LightFrog blog). If the blog linked to no longer exists, I won't include the link.
BTW this is going to involve going through a whole years of posts in between helping customers so I will put them all in the extended entry and just keep updating until I'm done. The list will contain the name of the blog and the date of the first time we linked to it. It might take a few days:
Michelle Malkin March 24, 2005
Roger L. Simon March 25th 2005
Captain's Quarters March 28 2005
George Ou March 30th 2005 Recommended!
Mudville Gazette May 5th 2005 update to an April 4th 2005 post.
Instapundit May 5th 2005 update to an April 4th 2005 post.
Dynamist Blog May 8th 2005 update to an April 4th 2005 post
Win Wifinet News> April 20th 2005
Protocols of the Yuppies of Zion April 21 2005
Slashdot April 23 2005 (included on the list under the if it walks like a duck theory.)
Interested Participant April 27 2005
The Carnival of the Vanities hosted at Part Time Pundit April 27 2005
That's two months worth so far will continue as time permits
Dan Gilmore's E-Journal May 12 2005 now hosted at Backfence
Tommy LaSorda's Blog May 13 2005
Brooks Robinson's Blog May 13 2005
Andrew Sullivan May 19 2005 (now posting at Time Magazine)
The Bleat May 19 2005 (In my opinion one of the best writers on the net)
Talking Points Memo May 19 2005
Archipelago May 23 2005 Now posting at Spoken
My Little Corner May 23 2005 which later became Lishux Favorites
Lifehacker May 23 2005
Hecksetter.com May 26 2005 the stuff there has been moved to Danny Hecksetter for now.
Michael L Snyder May 26 2005 (link repaired)
ToTo247's Xanga Site May 26 2005 (He was murdered shortly after this post.)
The Tablet PC Education Blog June 1 2005
In Loco Parentis June 1 2005 (doesn't look active)
Net Dimensions Insights June 1 2005
Web Designer Ramblings June 13 2005
Navjot's tech blog June 13 2005 now Exguides
Rconversation June 14 2005 (the free speech diva)
From the director June 16 2005 now called The Ed Tech Blog
The Volokh Conspiracy June 27 2005
Good Morning Silicon Valley June 27 2005
Pinky and the Brain June 27 2005
Shellen dot com on the side June 27 2005
The Other Matt June 27 2005
Just a Simple Online Nerd June 27 2005
Infothought June 27 2005
Naked Law June 27 2005
(June took a while will continue as time permits)
The Social Customer Manifesto July 12 2005
GeekLove July 15 2005 now Wool Sock (After a second look it might have always been Wool Sock and Geeklove as a sub catagory but not sure.)
ScottAllenLewis.com July 17 2005
Lileks July 20 2005 (Still one of the best reads on the web !)
Systems Support Group, Inc. Blog July 22 2005
Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff July 22 2005
Being Carsten Bogelund July 22 2005
Quick Online Tips July 22 2005
nevon.net July 22 2005 now posting at Neville Hobson.com
Ian Dixon July 22 2005
Eric Rudasingwa's WebLog July 22 2005
This book has ridiculously bad binding for $60 July 22 2005 (I'll bet there's a story behind that name.)
Andrej Budja's blog July 22 2005
Straight from the Lam's Mouth July 29 2005
Unfettered Blather as host of Carnival of the Gamers August 4 2005
Asymmetrical Information August 8th 2005
Global Voices Online August 18 2005
Life and Deatherage August 24 2005
Security Market Wrap August 24 2005
A Man In The American Northeast August 24 2005
The Truth Laid Bear September 6 2005
Brian Behrend.com
September 7 2005
Endo Locusta Credo
September 7 2005
Hooverdust.com
September 7 2005
Jonathan Phelps.com
September 7 2005
High Altitude Blog
September 7 2005
Occasionally Original.com September 8 2005
Saskatchewan Plates September 8 2005
Paul Thurrott's Internet Nexus September 8 2005
A Little Dose of E September 8 2005
Generation Star Wars September 8 2005 ( I bet my son would love the title.)
Live! from the Hotel Cosmonaut! It's ... September 8 2005
Welcome to the Funcave September 16 2005
Mary Schmidt September 16 2005
Stupid Pastors.com September 16 2005
Tom Dailey Webblog September 16 2005
Malaysian Alien September 16 2005
techyted's blog, blog, blog September 16 2005
Mobility Handyman September 16 2005
GERM the MEAN September 16 2005
Anyletter hosting the Carnival of Computing September 26 2005
Inside Microsoft September 28 2005
The Tattered Coat September 30 2005
Richard's Oval Office October 13 2005
Little Green Footballs October 24 2005
Topaz Partners October 28 2005
Boy; October was a slow month for new blogs to be found!
Manal and Alaa's bit bucket November 3 2005
Contemporary, Intellectual, Property, Licensing and Information Law November 9 2005
Broadband Blog November 11 2005
Fergie's Tech Blog November 13 2005
Rantings of a Sand Monkey November 14 2005
Committee to Protect Bloggers November 14 2005
kareem amer November 14 2005 (In Arabic)
Charging Rhino November 17 2005
Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth November 17 2005
Brain Droppings November 25 2005
Tone Deaf Company November 25 2005
What A Big Mouth... November 25 2005
Wireless Zone November 25 2005
Temple of Ronin November 25 2005
Pajamas Media November 30 2005
The Radio Equalizer: December 7 2005
Jeremy Hermanns December 28 2005
Publius Pundit January 24 2006
Ed Driscol Jan 27 2006 (our first and only Instalance but I have high hopes!)
A lot of repeat blogs in January
Secular Blasphemy February 2 2006 (who I'm happy to see survived the death threats from the article linked.
Counterterrorism Blog February 5 2006
Fierce Orange February 7 2006
The Belmont Club February 8 2006
Freedom for Egyptians February 8 2006
Expose the Left February 12 2006
Dallas Morning Views February 12 2006 (this is the blog of the Dallas Morning News Newspaper)
Tulane Honors Program March 4 2006
Transterrestrial Musings March 10 2006
Compasspoints Blog March 10 2006
Rahul Sood's Weblog March 27 2006
Digital Crusader March 27 2006
Independent Conservative April 4 2006
The Bodie specter April 4 2006
[Citizen's Band] April 15 2006
Inside Larry's Head April 15 2006
The Monroe Doctrine April 15 2006
Flank Two Position April 15 2006