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September 29, 2006
An iffy PC is like Baseball.....
If you are going to say that it is like baseball because both Sony Batteries and the St Louis Cardnials are spontaniously combusting, (although in fairness unlike Sony, the Cards still control their own destiny ) that is wrong....
...but close.
In baseball you have a 162 game season. You have to play out the whole string before you can claim the title. Likewise in an individual game you have to get the required number of outs to win. Normally it's 27 but it can be as low as 15 (5 inning rainout) or as high as extra innings take you, you can't run out the clock, you have to get those outs to win.
A bad PC is like a pitcher who can't last or a team that plays out the string, some things will work some won't.
You want a team that plays hard for 162 games, and you want a properly working PC. The first step is a good diagnostic. When you get a diagnostic from us we don't just look at one or two things, we check your MSCONFIG, we check your startup items, we check the alerts. We give the PC a good going over.
So if you want to know the state of your PC go with a team that plays the whole 9 innings and see about getting a Diagnostic for your PC, or even better consider one of our Worry Free PC plans that way you won't just know your PC's problem's you'll have them taken care of!
BTW if you are a CARDS fan don't feel bad at least your team hasn't been eliminated like mine.
Posted by Peter at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)
Halo RTS (Real Time Strategy)
I just hope the game's graphics are as cool as the trailer's!
Click "Continue Reading" to see the trailer (It may take a few seconds to load).
Posted by Jonathan at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2006
Dick Tracy meet Sony Ericsson
Looks like the gadgets are going wild as Endadget reports on a Bluetooth Watch from Sony Ericsson and Fossil:
there's a straight-up analog watch face, which keeps this thing classy, while a small OLED display below helps you manage the Bluetooth functions, shows incoming caller and notifies you of new SMS messages. If receiving a call, you can tap a button to silence the phone ringer, twice to reject the call, while another button handles play/pause and track skipping on your music player
I never wear a watch and I don't use a cell phone so it is twice as unlikely that I will purchase this, but it is the shape of things to come.
Posted by Peter at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2006
Admin? what Admin?
This tip on Tech Republic tells you how to remane the default admin account on XP. Why would you want to do this? TR says this:
This gives potential hackers, half the information they need to access your computer—all they have to do is guess your password.
My pal Paul says this is the first thing he does on any system he installs.
If you DO choose to do this make sure you let a tech know if he's working on your machine so they don't think something funny is going on.
Posted by Peter at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)
Log out please
You may have seen this story today about the 3 year old who made a $17,000 eBay bid on a car:
Mrs Neal, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, told the newspaper she thought she had left her eBay password in her computer.She said: "Jack's a whizz on the PC and just pressed all the right buttons."
That's not entirely true, or at the least it is misleading. For him to be able to make that bid, he would have to be either:
A registered eBay MemberB Accessing an account that is already set up
I will go out on a limb here and say he didn't register as an e-bay user since the parents got the e-mail on their account. It is most likely that he was on the parents account and the system was set to either automatically log them in or they left ebay on with themselves logged in.
This demonstrates the dangers of both, if you are logged into any business/purchase location with a credit card in memory and leave the PC, anybody in front of a machine can start a shopping spree, or if you have a fast printer, print out the info and walk away with it.
Don't leave yourself logged into such site and make sure you log out, (closing the window usually isn't enough). Or the person you have to deal with might be somebody more dangerous.
Posted by Peter at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2006
Operating Systems
Most people know the term "operating system", but many people, who probably make use of multiple operating systems every day, don't really know what an operating system is. A lot of people know that their operating system is whatever version of windows that they use, but don't really know that there are other operating systems out there or what their operating system really does for them.
Your PC has an operating system, your cell phone has one, your dvd player has one, your portable music player has one. Your washing machine and even your toaster (if you have one of the fancy ones that actually monitors the bread as it cooks) might have one. Since they've become so ubiquitous, I thought I'd write a little bit about how they work and some of the ones out there that chances are you may use every day.
Read on for more.
An operating system, at heart is just a program that runs on a computer and provides an interface to the hardware connected to that computer. It's possible to have complex electronics with devoted electronics that doesn't need an operating system, but these days, more and more, most electronics are actual general purpose computers running an operating system and programs on top of that operating system to control the hardware.
The 'computer' that I'm referring to doesn't need to be much more than a CPU, some memory, and some additional chips for timing and so forth. On a typical PC motherboard, that stuff takes up only a little of the space and the rest is what could be thought of as peripheral hardware, a lot of it that used to be outside the box or in add on cards connected to one of the system buses (like the PCI, or AGP, or PCI Express bus, which are also really just peripheral hardware themselves). These days, a PC motherboard generally has sound, usb, ethernet, hard drive controllers/floppy controllers, temperature sensors, etc. built in. The job of the operating system is to run on the CPU and make all of that stuff available to programs and to the end user. It also is responsible for loading programs and running them and allowing them to run at the same time.
To handle the hardware on the system directly would be an impossible task for any end user program. There are too many computer configurations and different types of hardware out there for every program to be able to interface with all of them. So, the operating system talks to the hardware, using drivers (which are just specialized programs designed to talk to one particular piece of hardware). Then, the operating system provides access to the hardware to programs using standard interfaces. So a word processor doesn't need to know how to make every model of printer out there print, it just uses a well defined print interface to check what printers are available and sends a print job off to the operating system, which passes it on to the printer in a way it will understand.
In Operating systems like Windows and Mac Os, the operating system also is responsible for the user interface. That means that it handles all the stuff you see on screen, the desktop and the menus. Remember that everything programs display is handled through the operating system too. Programs that are running send the operating system requests for what to display and it handles the tasks involved in passing that on to the video card. Technically, the parts of the operating system that handle all that aren't part of the core of the operating system, or kernel, they are just separate programs that are bundled together with the operating system. If you've been using computers for a while, you can probably remember that windows 3.1 and windows 95/98 were built on top of a version of DOS. That DOS kernel was really the core of the operating system, and windows was just a GUI built around it.
One of the most basic tasks of the operating system is loading programs. Programs start out on the hard drive, and the operating systems job is to copy them from the hard drive and into active memory and then see to having the instructions that make up the program sent to the CPU one by one so that the program can run. As most people have noticed, modern computers are capable of running many programs at once. This happens even though the CPUS are only capable of running one program at once (ignoring dual core CPUs, of course). The way this works is that the program is actually split up into lots of little chunks that are run in order. Hundreds of times a second, the operating system loads a different program to the CPU, lets it run for a brief time, then loads another program and lets it run for a brief time, and so on. The scheduler is the part of the operating system that handles this.
There are many more parts to modern operating systems, and different operating systems have all sorts of parts to them that may not be found in other operating systems. The operating systems most people will be familiar with are operating systems like the various versions of Windows and Mac OS, Linux, AmigaOS, and dozens more that run on various types of desktop PC. They're designed for different fundamental hardware in many cases, so you can't put amigaOS on a PC that normally runs windows, for example. Of course, many operating systems can be rebuilt to run on different hardware, such as Mac OS X on the new Intel based macs. The version of Mac OS X that runs on Power PC based Macs won't work on intel hardware, but the redesigned version, does work on other PCs. Portable OSes are referred to as being cross-platform.
Aside from desktop Operating Systems, there are many embedded operating systems that work in consumer electronics and appliances and industrial equipment. These include Operating systems like WinCE, Windows Mobile and Smartphone OS, which are all variants of the same Microsoft operating system for PDAs and phones. Also for phones are operating systems like SymbianOS, and there are phones running on variants of linux and a host of custom solutions. Operating systems are used rather than using special hardware for everything because, as more and more features are added to the phone, it becomes a lot easier to include an operating system that talks to the phone hardware (the buttons, lights, power system, screen and antenna) and then has programs running on it for everything than to make custom hardware to handle everything.
The same approach applies in home appliances like sophisticated washing machines, toasters, even toilets (the kind that have all kinds of functions like self cleaning, playing music, etc.) and in cars and all kinds of machinery. Many of these have operating systems that don't give you any sort of display except for a few lights. Embedded operating systems are often required to be very reliable and often need to be real-time operating systems. A real-time operating system is one that is very stable and has a guaranteed known amount of time for it to complete tasks. That kind of feature is very important in industrial equipment and medical appliances. No-one wants their life support equipment to suddenly reboot and hang for a few minutes while it reboots itself. An example of this kind of operating system is QNX.
So, there are operating systems everywhere. Just about every thing electronic that isn't extremely simple has one. You use operating systems when using your computer, driving your car, playing music, watching TV, and making a phone call (both in many phones and in the phone system itself). The work of many people over the years has gone into making operating systems more and more efficient and reliable.
Posted by Kieran at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
LimeWire Sues RIAA
Looks like LimeWire has counter sued the RIAA and by the looks of it has answered to every RIAA claim. Looks like there defense and claims have been crafted extremly well and this might be a very long case.
I think LimeWire has wisely used its free time while not yet dragged into court to prepare for this case knowing that sooner or later the day would come.
Posted by Hector at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2006
SAVE AS is your friend.
Had a customer a couple of days ago who was in distress. She was sending out a resume and had it bounced back by the company because they required Microsoft Word format.
Not to worry, she had Open Office and like other word processors has the ability to save a file in many different formats including Microsoft Word. It is a part of the program that is either unknown to or forgotten by a lot of users.
Here is how it is done in Open Office:
Let's start with a document, Since I have the previous blog entry open in Open Office we will use that.
Now lets go to the FILE menu and choose SAVE AS
When the save window opens click on the drop down arrow next to SAVE AS TYPE you will see a selection of format choices. Simply choose the one you want.
Now hit save and we are all set!
One thing you should be aware of. Different programs usually have some different formatting styles. If you are using complicated formatting in a document that could be something to watch for when using this solution.
Posted by Peter at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
1,000,000 Wii for North America
Next Generation today reports that there will be 1,000,000 Wii units for the North American release:
We're looking at a million for North America at launch. If we get what we're supposed to get, this will be our most plentiful launch in the 15 years I've been at Nintendo. All signs are actually extremely positive.
I must be getting old for the second year in a row I'm apparently the only gamer not excited by a new console release. Then again I'm still playing Tony LaRussa Baseball II.
Posted by Peter at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)
Hey that only took 9 months.
Back in December we had several posts about the X-Box 360's problems.
Well on Friday Microsoft finally figured it out fessed up:
After well-documented denials, Microsoft is now owning up to the launch unit defects. A Microsoft spokesperson sent Next-Gen the following statement via e-mail:
“Yes, it is true. As part of our standard and ongoing process of analyzing repair data, we recently noticed a higher than usual number of units coming in for repair. Upon further investigation, it was further discovered that the bulk of the units were isolated to a group that was part of the initial manufacturing run of the console. Returns for repair are coming in for a variety reasons and it’s a higher rate than we are satisfied with. We’ve made the decision to comp repairs for consoles manufactured before January 1, and provide refunds to the small group of customers who have already paid for repairs.”
We waited 9 months for this? My wife could have had a kid in that time.
Via Slashdot
Posted by Peter at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
A Camera Glenn won't be buying.
Looking for that really clear image, well Seitz (via Slashdot) has the camera for you:
Create a high resolution 6x17 digital image (160 million pixels) in one second!Very high speed and resolution: 300 MB raw data per second!
That is an incredible resolution and one awesome picture and the price? A mere 28'900 Euros ($36,819.28 according to the Xe.com Universal Currency converter), however don't worry if that isn't in your budget you can always go with the studio version for a mere 26'900 Euros ($34,257, Save $2,562.28!) I'd hate to have the wife come home and say: "Peter I bought this camera and saved $2,562.28!"
In a more serious vein this does bode well. I purchased my first VCR in my freshman year of College for $500 at Sears. It wasn't long after that they dropped like a rock. It likely won't be more than 5 years before stuff like this is affordable for the rest of us.
Posted by Peter at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2006
Old Urban Legends don't die, they just get renamed
Got this e-mail from a friend yesterday, it's kind of long so I am going to put out only a piece of it:
To all of my friends, I do not usually forward messages, But this is from my friend Pearlas Sandborn and she really is an attorney. If she says that this will work it will work. After all, what have you got to lose?READ BELOW.
...
Dear Friends:
Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, You will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test. When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it
(if you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two-week time period.For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00 For ev ery person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay yo! u $243. 00 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a check.
...
Please forward this to as many people as possible.
What they didn't realize is this is a one of many Urban Legends debunked at the Snoops web site.
It is written up here.
Here are some details:
Claim: Internet users can receive a cash reward for forwarding messages to test a Microsoft/AOL e-mail tracking system.Status: False.
Origins: The above-quoted jape is the most common version of a long-running Internet hoax that has been circulating in one form or another since 1997. The names of the companies involved and the supposed rewards to be had periodically change, but the basic come-on remains the same: fool gullible netizens into endlessly forwarding junk messages to their friends and acquaintances with phony promises of cash ...
Most of the time stuff like this is pretty harmless, it just generates a bunch of junk e-mails that usually end up deleted. The real risk is that either a virus, or trojan might be hiding ( Hopefully your anti-virus software will catch it). Even worse such an e-mail might contain a link that if followed could get your system in trouble.
So if you see such an e-mail give it a wide berth. Remember in life you don't get something for nothing.
Posted by Peter at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
Digital Recording
The WinTV-PVR 150 is the coolest video recording product for your computer! Developed by Hauppauge, this product makes recording live TV fun!
If you haven’t picked up a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) from your cable provider please consider a Personal Video Recorder or PC Video Recorder for your computer. Unlike DVR, PVR doesn’t use standard videocassettes; instead, it uses a hard disk! Once you buy PVR there is only one fee and no monthly subscription is required! All you need to do is install the WinTV-PVR and connect a standard coaxial cable connection to your computer. If you have a cable provider already a simple auto scan will display all the channels that are available. Once that is done you are ready to watch and record your favorite shows!
Please consider a WinTV-PVR from Hauppauge and also check out the latest TV products they have for your laptop computers.
Posted by pbanacos at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2006
Zune under $100?
CNET reports that a reliable source contends that the new Microsoft Zune player may be offered at an initial price of $99 to grab market share:
Current speculation has the Zune at $249, the same price as the 30GB iPod. Prior to Apple's price-crunching iPod announcement, the 30GB Zune was unofficially set at $299. A sub-$100 price would rock the market for sure.
Some readers are unimpressed:
12 hours battery, limited sharing of songs, (did I say in bed with RIAA?), no podcast, no TV shows, no Movies etc etc.....
Well we will see when the product comes.
Posted by Peter at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
6 Versions of Vista. One disk
Now this is a smart move on Microsoft's part:
According to PC World, Microsoft has decided to stick all the versions on a single DVD. This will mean that anyone who wants to upgrade to a better version later will already have the disk. All they will have to do is phone in to get the software key to upgrade it.
That's the way to do things, make it easier for the customer to stick with your product.
Posted by Peter at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2006
Can we all agree now it's Sony's problem
With this news:
Toshiba said Tuesday it would replace about 340,000 laptop computer batteries made by Sony, the latest in a string of Sony battery woes.
I think we can finally say the recall problem is SONYS! not Dell's, not Toshiba's and not Apple's.
This is where a bad rep can really burn you. We've already stated that the piling on Dell over the battery recall was bogus, but people will remember the Dell name before Sony, Toshiba or Apple with this problem due to bad rep.
A great personal example of this happened two weeks ago. A customer called with an issue on one machine and mentioned she just got an Alienware PC as her new one, but was worried if it was a bad move because of the Dell buyout. As I mentioned to Rahul Sood in our interview I've never had a tech call on a Voodoo PC, but I've also never had a single tech call on an Alienware PC. I have no reason to believe they are anything less than first rate, but this lady heard the name Dell and became worried.
This is the type of thing that can happen if your PR is not up to snuff.
Posted by Peter at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
Your local host for the evening 127.0.0.1
Tip O'Neill is famous for the phrase "All Politics is local". In the computer word the phase would be "All local machines are 127.0.0.1".
The ip address 127.0.0.1 has many uses both good and bad.
This is the ip address that points to the "local host" that is; the particular machine that you (or the program using it) is on.
When a program sees that ip, it automatically directs itself to the local machine it is on, regardless of what the ip address of the machine is within a network or the internet itself.
An anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-porn program may point requests to those type of sites to 127.0.0.1 to keep people from going out to them. Likewise a nasty virus or piece of spyware will direct attempts to access cleaning sites to that same address preventing you from using online tools or scans to remove it.
E-mail spam filters will often direct your e-mail program's input to that ip address. That is because the anti-spam program is getting the mail first and removing the spam before your program ever sees it. (That incidentally is why spam filters slow down the receipt of your mail) You can with an edit of the hosts file block any single web site on a particular machine by setting its value to 127.0.0.1
If you can't ping 127.0.0.1 odds are you have an issue with your network card since it can't see itself. When all else is failing on a network testing that ping can tell you a lot.
So when you see that ip 127.0.0.1 remember, think local machine.
Posted by Peter at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
Some things better others not
Like everything else technology can do some things better and other things not:
Better: It can report news that is ignored by others:
Just the combination of speakers involved in the demonstration should have attracted a few headlines. How often will people see Alan Dershowitz and John Bolton on the same stage -- or for that matter, George Pataki and Dershowitz? That combination alone should have rated a mention at the Paper of Record, but a scan of their headlines this morning shows no interest at all.The speeches also had some grist for media coverage. Elie Wiesel called the UN invitation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shameful and said he should have been excluded from the international community
Because bloggers had technology available you can read about an event that drew 25,000 people in NYC here, here, here, here, here and here, but for some reason not here, here, or here. Technology namely a video camera/digital camera integrated with a PC and a web host turns an invisible event into a reported one. This wasn't possible 20 years ago.
Worse: Counting ballots without error (via Glenn):
Ehrlich's statement came after a State Board of Public Works hearing at which Lamone said her staff would "work around the clock" to correct the problems that plagued the primary. She vowed that her office would help local election boards retrain judges, recruit new ones and force Diebold Election Systems to fix the problems that caused some of its machines to malfunction.
This article elaborates on the subject:
Paper ballots are surprisingly resistant to fraud. Actually, it shouldn't be that surprising. A paper ballot encodes lots of useful information besides the obvious. Not only is the information about the vote contained in the form, but also information about the voter. Different colors of ink, different styles of handwriting, etc., make each ballot different. Erasing the original votes is likely to leave a detectable residue. Creating all new ballots with fraudulent votes requires substantial variation among them or the fakery is much more obvious; that's hard work. And destroying the original ballots in order to replace them with fraudulent ones isn't that easy - there's a lot of paper to be disposed of, and shredding it, or burning it, or hiding it is comparatively easy to detect. (Protecting the ballots before counting doesn't require fancy encryption, either: just a steel box with a lock, a slot on the top, and a seal.) What's more, because people are familiar with paper documents, fraud is easy to understand when it occurs. Paper ballots are both robust (resistant to fraud) and transparent (easy to understand).Compare this sophisticated voting technology to that of voting machines. A voting machine captures only the information regarding the vote. Once it has done so, one vote looks like another. There's no handwriting, no style, no ink, just a simple notation of which candidate was favored. Most voting machines store votes electronically, meaning that if they're changed, there's no troubling paper residue for fraud-perpetrators to dispose of. And because voting machines are complicated - and because their actual workings are unseen, and often kept secret - it's much harder for voters, members of the press, and others to identify or understand fraud. Electronic ballots, in other words, are neither robust nor transparent.
I tend not to trust any system I or somebody I know can hack.
It's often been said throwing money at a problem doesn't always solve it. That same thing can be said about technology.
Posted by Peter at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
Hey that's not fair!
Fair use? If you read THIS which comments in things directly from Microsoft's site you'll see your Fair Use rights have been eliminated when you use Microsofts Windows Media Player 11. This is what DRM was designed for.
Posted by Hector at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2006
That Voodoo you know so well
Our latest podcast Voodoo is an interview with Voodoo PC CEO Rahul Sood. As a special extra our own CEO Michael Wexler joins us for the interview.
Voodoo is a manufacturer of gaming and high end PC's, (the type I'm much too cheap to buy) but if you are looking for something beyond what you find in your local store Voodoo may be for you.
As always you can listen directly here by clicking on the link (Voodoo) above or by going to the iTunes music store and searching for HiWired.
Posted by Peter at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)
Not bad for free stuff
Slashdot reports that Open Office will be having a Template/clip art creation contest:
Here then is the challenge: Create and submit templates and clipart as part of the competition and be eligible for a share of the cash and other awards totaling over USD$5000. (You are always welcome to send in works outside the conference.) Winners will be given the opportunity of including their templates in the OpenOffice.org installation sets (details on licensing below).
Since this is open source stuff it isn't really getting other people to do your work for you, but it's as close as you can get.
Posted by Peter at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
ARRUGH matey
If you are talking like the title of this post you are a day late. International Talk like a pirate day was yesterday.
More details be here me hearties!
In a more serious vein Piracy has actually made a comeback to the point where weekly reports are issued as warning to ships, particularly in the south asian seas. The last reported incident was only 3 days ago!
Britanica online has more on the subject.
Posted by Peter at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2006
Wii Preview
Just another follow up to the Nintendo Wii console.
You can find a decent preview by clicking HERE!
Enjoy!
Posted by Hector at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)
Not much of a Bargain
Last night I ended the day with a customer with a printer issue that illustrates the danger of picking up stuff used from a source that you can't access quickly.
She purchased the Dell all-in-one printer for only $15, but first of all it wouldn't work on her 98 system so she upgraded to xp then since her system really didn't have the oomph for an upgrade she ended up with other problems with existing devices that required support (such as her internet provider), finally once that was resolved she called us for help with the printer.
The system wasn't seeing the device period USB not even as an unknown device. After verifying that the usb port was active I concluded that the cable that she had with the printer was either bad or wrong. (she did notice that it seemed to be odd cable for it).
So the bottom line is that the $15 ended up costing her 10x more between support, cd's and now a new cable. The bargain that really wasn't (and we haven't even touched the cost of ink on those things)
So here are some simple rules of thumb for buying yard-sale/flea market equipment that I use:
1. Don't pay more to get a used item working than the item cost you in the first place.2. If the cost of getting the used items to work goes above 30% of the retail cost of the same item new and it still isn’t' working, it's time to dump it on eBay and eat the loss.
3. Any used items that requires me to upgrade a working system isn't worth the effort.
4. Never drop more than 2 hours pay on something you aren't sure of. If you are tempted don't look at the price, look at the hours you have to work to earn it. Life's too short.
And finally remember this good advice:
It's not a bargain if you don't need it or can't re-sell it for more!
A quick word. The story above reminded me of a book I almost forgot. I Remain, Your Uncle Ambrogio.
It is a collection of letters to the author from her elderly Italiam uncle giving advice and telling stories. There is a letter concerning bargains that fits here:
Uncle Ambrogio (living with his sister the author's mother) comes home from the supermarket boasting that he got a great bargain on canned vegetables because they were missing the labels. The drawback of course being that they have no idea what any of it is. He writes how he ends up eating a lot of things he doesn't really want. At dinner time his sister would call him: "Come and get you bargains!" When asking if anything exciting happened today the sister replies "Yes I got peas on the first try!" The story is delightful and best told in Ambrigio's written broken English that he taught himself. The book is long out of print but its charm will never be.
If you find it, buy it.
Posted by Peter at 07:05 AM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2006
Podcast from the past
We had a technical difficulty with one of our old podcasts: The $1000 game console. This has been repaired so you if are trying to load the podcast from iTunes simply unsubscribe and re-subscribe and it should work.
The entire issue is a good illustration of how unforgiving a computer can be. Computers generally want things exactly correct and will not easily forgive you if you make a slight mistake.
Here is the line of code that was making all the trouble note that I substituted a "[" for the first "<" so it isn't read by the code:
[pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2006 19:00:00 -0500[/pubDate>
Now here is the identical line of code from our podcast with Glenn Reynolds:
[pubDate>Tue, 06 Sep 2006 00:15:00 -0500[/pubDate>
Can you spot the error? It took me quite a while.
May 5th wasn't a Monday, it was a Friday, when I corrected the date the podcast was able to download.
This is a great illustration of a vital truth about computers and coding.
As a rule both are very unforgiving. The slightest error can make things go loopy.
Posted by Peter at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)
Ok so you want to be a troubleshooter
Troubleshooting a PC is a lot like being a detective. Something is going on that you just don't have the answer to. Everybody has their own style. I'm a great believer in following your gut but even so there are a few things that you should keep in mind:
Check the simple things first: Simple example: If your monitor is not going on, make sure it is turned on and plugged in.See it yourself: It doesn't matter if somebody tells you they did X, do it again and see the result yourself.
Narrow the field: If a device doesn't work on one machine, try it on another. If it fails on both odds are it is the device or cable.
Changes: If there was a change in the system when the problem turned up, odds are that change has something to do with it.
Eyes on the prize: Remember the goal is a working device, not the use of a particular method.
Posted by Peter at 07:47 AM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2006
Yay for IPOD boo to iTunes
Slashdot links to this BBC article that legal sources of music like iTunes just aren't what drives the pod people:
The Jupiter Research report says that, on average, only 20 of the tracks on an iPod will be from the iTunes shop.Far more important to iPod owners, said the study, was free music ripped from CDs someone already owned or acquired from file-sharing sites.
There is one bright spot for music sellers:
Perhaps the only salient characteristic shared by all owners of portable music players was that they were more likely to buy more music - especially CDs.
I guess the Stones won't have to go on the dole.
Posted by Peter at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
The difference between Applications and Data
Had a customer today with a windows 98 issue that we just couldn't recover from. It is likely that she would need to reinstall. I did suggest that the hard drive might be transferred to a different system and the data saved in that way. However I shortly discovered that what she wanted to recover wasn't the data but her Office 97 Applications. The data we can transfer to another system, the application we can't.
This is a good segue into the difference between applications and data:
An application refers to an installed program. This usually is an item that has an install cd or a downloaded install file. Examples of such would be Word Processors, Games and other utilities.Applications almost always write entries into the system registry (think of it as the brains or nervous system of your PC) telling the PC how to handle it. Some very basic ones such as Solitaire might not but almost every other application of any size does. When you run these applications they reference the system registry therefore you can't just move it from one computer to another as the entries they are looking for will not exist, in addition it is possible that such a move might corrupt the entries already there.
Data is generated as output to an application. When you run a word processor the data is the document that you produce, when you play a game the save file is the data produced. A financial utility will produce records or backup files.
These files are associated with the parent application but are not dependant on it entirely. You can for example move a document from one machine to another and read it provided that the receiving machine has a compatible word processor. The allows flexibility in terms of preservation, you can burn data to a cd, copy it to a thumb drive or back it up using features like the remote backup from our WORRY FREE PC plans. As a rule the data is the reason you have the PC and should be your top priority.
Since applications can't be ported in the same way you should save the install cd's in order to reinstall them on systems as necessary (due to corruption and/or system failure). If you have a downloaded install package then you have some flexibility. Until the install program is run it is simply a data file CONTAINING an application, thus you can back it up or move it like any other data. Keeping these install files can mean the difference between chasing down disks or no.
Posted by Peter at 07:09 PM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2006
The Dark side to Everquest
Everquest is a popular and well written game. But a game that well written and addictive has its drawbacks:
...My hubby says he has been looking online for a job, but I don't believe him. You would think he would be looking his ass off everyday to try and find something, but hes not. All i've seen him do for the past 2 weeks is get on the computer and play everquest, even though he insits he never plays and just has it logged on. I hate that stupid game. I wish the servers would just go down...
LIttle chance of that, but remember online games are great but they shouldn't trump real life.
Posted by Peter at 04:05 PM | Comments (2)
Glenn's missing blog
During our podcast Glenn Reynolds commented that the blog he misses the most is Steve Den Beste's USS Clueless.
The good news is that Mr. Den Beste is still blogging at Chizumatic although the topic (much to the delight of Eric) is Anime.
The better news is that the archives of the USS Clueless are available here.
Posted by Peter at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2006
Vista Good and Bad
Jason Cross at ExtremeTech played a bit with vista. Here is what he had to say.
The Good:
To my surprise, quite a lot of it feels even faster still. Scrolling through my long list of photos in the nifty new Gallery and all my songs in Media Player 11 is nice and smooth, faster even than the same activities in Windows XP. Search results pop up faster (this is a big deal—search is everywhere in Vista, and it's very nicely done), and some of the built-in apps launch faster. I didn't expect that RC1 would be noticeably different from the Pre-RC1 build released last week, but now I'm starting to think there are some significant performance gains to be had. With all those developers previously working on adding and changing features ad naseum now focused on stability and optimization, Vista should be getting zippier by the week. Awesome.
The Bad:
Dear Everyone--Your Vista Drivers Stink
That brings me back to the rollout of ME. No driver seemed to work properly for months.
Posted by Peter at 11:10 PM | Comments (1)
And here comes the copyright men vs YouTube
Slashdot reports that YouTube may soon be the target of copyright suits.
Universal's talks with YouTube Inc. have deteriorated and the recording giant is set to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against the San Mateo-based company if no agreement is reached by the end of the month, according to a person familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the negotiations.
I personally think that Universal has a great case legally but it doesn't matter one bit. If YouTube is taken down after several years of litigation before the final link goes in the recycle bin another service will be up that does the same thing. The old saying that you can't outlaw a thirst works here.
It's not going to work.
Update: Yes I know, Title fixed.
Posted by Peter at 07:32 AM | Comments (1)
September 14, 2006
These are the people in my neighborhood
Over the last 18 months I've mentioned The local Butcher shop (Romano's)and the corner Coffee Shop (Brownie's Tea and Talk) more than once. However I've never bothered to show you the places.
Well now that I have my Lexar your wait is over:
On the left is Romano's Market, On the Right is Mr. Mike Romano. Mike has been running the place as long as I can remember. He is there 6 days a week first thing in the morning and often leaves after closing making his sausages and other meats. If you come in on a Saturday you will almost certainly see one or more of his sons along with his daughter working. You've never seen a man put in so many hours so regularly. There are hundreds of people in the area who are going to be lost when he retires:
On the left is Brownie's Tea and Talk, on the Right are Annie and Sue. Annie DiMartino owns the place. Since coming to America from Ireland she has spent most of her years serving people as an advocate for the homeless, City Counselor or through her work at DSS. She has the distinction of being not only ABC News' first "Person of the Week" but had that honor twice. Her decades here hasn't cost her the distinctive brogue of her youth. Sue works here on the 4 days the coffee shop is open. Both are very friendly can tell or listen to a story well but will also tell you what they think and aren't shy about it. Both have more street smarts in their little finger than I have in my whole body. Note the old fashioned counter. Note the teacup in the background. All the tea is served on her own China (unless you have a special mug) and she has over a dozen different types of tea. If a customer, particularly an elderly one needs a lift or something one of them invariably will leave to give them a lift. Annie makes all her own food from scratch from Liver and Onions, to Lamb Stew. If you get a hamburger or steak and eggs the beef will come from Mike next door. All her eggs are organic and from local farms.
Both places are right out of a Lileks post. They are very retro (with the exception of the available wi-fi),and neighborhood oriented. They are slow places in this hurry-up world of ours. If you don't have a place like this in your city, you don't know what you're missing.
Posted by Peter at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
Wii available for purchase on November 19th!
We covered the new Nintendo Wii console HERE and HERE and looks like it will be available on the November 19th for a predicted $250 in the USA. You can read about the launch HERE and there is a great read on why Wii will succeed HERE which pretty much is in tune with my views that I had posted on the blogs HERE.
Wii will also provide a wireless access point for Nintendo DS portable gaming systems and there is a possibility that some games on the Wii console may take advantage of the link and make use of Nintendo DS.
as mentioned HERE Nintendo can also take advantage of the Wii/DS link and make demo versions of new games released available on the Wii which you can download to your DS. Same is true for the Wii console I would think. Nintendo could option to make demos freely available for download that you could test on the Wii console before running to the store and purchasing it.
The possibilities on what they can do with there innovative DS portable system and now new innovative console are endless.
The official home page for Wii is Wii.Nintendo.com and definitely worth taking a look at!
Posted by Hector at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
The Dell saga from the eyes of VooDoo
Rahul Sood has this to say about Dell's issues:
Getting to the point of this article, I believe that Dell lost its way a long time ago. I remember Kevin Rollins was once quoted as saying the Apple IPOD was a “fad”. You know you’re in trouble (or at least I did) when the CEO of one of the largest PC company's on earth didn’t understand the real strategy behind the IPOD; yet there were some of us who saw the light. I couldn't believe the CEO of one of the leading PC companies couldn't see the pending revolution behind something as iconic as the IPOD...!
He also prescribes a possible solution:
One thing I do know is as long as Michael Dell keeps an interest in the company I would assume that they will turn things around. In fact I would venture a guess that the stock would jump considerably if Michael Dell would become CEO again - after all, no one knows Dell better than Michael Dell.
I confess I don't have a solution myself, however I still have no personal complaints about the brand.
Posted by Peter at 09:59 AM | Comments (2)
September 13, 2006
With friends like these
Two less than glowing reviews of the new Amazon Unbox service:
Cnet:
So, in summary, to be allowed the privilege of purchasing a video that I can't burn to DVD and can't watch on my iPod, I have to allow a program to hijack my start-up and force me to login to uninstall it? No way. Sorry, Amazon. I love a lot of what you do, but I will absolutely not recommend this service. Try again. For more details and a rating of Amazon Unbox, check back for James Kim's full review. Update: I received an email from Sheila at DV guru saying that she hadn't had to log in to Amazon to uninstall. On a hunch, I reinstalled Unbox and this time allowed ADVWindowsClientService.exe to access the Internet when prompted by my firewall. This time when I uninstalled, I was not prompted to login. So ADVWindowsClientService.exe is connecting to the Net without your knowledge, even when uninstalling.
What's more, the whole philosophy here -- from the program's spyware-like behavior to its requiring you to login to uninstall software -- is totally wrong. Get this straight content providers: Our computers belong to us. If we're in the mood, we might let you sell us some stuff to run on them. But they don't belong to you, and we're not likely to surrender control over our own bought-and-paid-for hardware, which we often rely on to do our jobs and run our lives, simply in exchange for letting you sell us something. (Honestly, most of what you're selling isn't all that good anyway, and you're lucky that people buy it at all. So don't get greedy. And while click-through license agreements may make it legal, they won't make you any more popular.)
Yes I would say less than glowing.
Posted by Peter at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
Question of the day, wrong question
The Wall Street Journal (via memorandum) has an interesting exchange between Mr. Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia and Mr. Dale Hoiberg editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica. They talk about their respective formats and the Journal put up a poll questions asking which one is better?
My answer (which I will repeat on their site) is this:
The question itself is wrong. Both formats have their strengths and weakness. I'd say the two complement each other. The better question would be: What do you use as a reference? The correct answer for me would be: both.
On straight facts I'd give the nod to Britannica however Wiki delivers a lot of side info and frankly obscure data that Britannica might never touch, however it has a lot of potential for abuse and human laziness mean that if an article is in dispute you can bank on the majority of people not following the links. Glenn Reynolds put it best:
My sense is that the wiki format works pretty well when issues are uncontroversial, but that it doesn't handle politics very well.
Several wiki issues have come up but you also have items like Mr Wales standing up against censorship in China.
Bottom line, both are useful tools, in an internet age neither should be your only one, but if I had to bet my life on one, I'd take Britannica.
Posted by Peter at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
IPOD party pooper, that's me
Well we've had a few posts about the iTunes movie release. Here is my take on it: I'm unimpressed.
We will ignore the arguments concerning download speed, storage space and compatible devices to transmit to a screen big enough to actually see. We will take it as given that the forward progression of technology will provide cost effective solutions to these bumps in the road.
We are also not going to emphasize the limited selection to start with, that is likely also to be solved over time.
What we will address are the reasons why I think that although this is the wave of the future it will not replace the DVD, at least not for a very long time.:
1. Corruption: If all of my movies were on hard drives instead of shelves my house would be a lot less cluttered, but then again if my hard drive gets corrupted I don't lose my movies. The potential for data corruption is the single biggest problem. It is likely going to be a small problem overall just like hard drive corruption is a small percentage of all our customers here, but when it hits you are dead. You might get a DVD scratched but that is just one.2. Price: One of the great things about the iTunes music store is the consistent price for all the songs. You will pay the same price for a 15 sec clip from a Monty Python record as you will for a long piece of music. This doesn't work with movies. When a movie is first released on DVD the price is normally high, within a month or two it drops like a rock. Unless you are talking something timeless such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy or the Harry Potter Movies or Classic Films like Gone With the Wind the price will tank in a hurry. Apple will have to come up with some sort of scheme to keep up with this..
3. Used Copies: Even if Apple can adjust prices for above, they can't compete with the price of a used movie. Game stores are loaded with used copies of movies selling for $5 and down. Even stuff like LOTR and the Harry Potter movies can be picked up used for a song.
4. On demand services: I have Comcast service with STARZ. In addition to the movies shown on the various STARS networks I get a library of On Demand Movies. National Treasure (a fun movie, recommended) is available from iTunes for $9.99. I can watch it on Demand for free. Even without a preimium service there is a large selection of free movies that rotate. And if one owns a DVR then rotation is kind of moot.
5. Special features: One of the things that a DVD has over VHS is the special features section. Now I must admit I don't know if the format of the movies for iTunes is like an album divided into chapters with special features as chapters. It will also be interesting to see how they handle captioning etc.
6. Single format: Downloaded iTunes movies are designed to work on the Ipod and compatible devices, my DVD's will work on any American player AND on a PC.
7. Privacy: Do you really want every movie you purchase to be recorded on a database at Apple?
Point 6 displays one of the few advantages of this format, a format that crosses borders. The old Adventures of Robin Hood TV show has been available by the season in England by the season for years but won't play on an AMERICAN dvd (Pal vs NTSC format). If it was downloadable from iTunes I'd by the complete season instead of picking up a 4 episode releases one at a time, but this is a real niche market. It could however become a great distribution point for independent and low budget foreign films that might never get an audience, but that’s another niche.
Again time and technology might solve some of these problems as well, but right now I'll stick with the clutter, but what do I know? In 86' I thought the PC wouldn't take off.
Posted by Peter at 07:27 AM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2006
Some Alternatives
After all the iPod posts today I think its only fair to mention the big competitors and let our visitors know that Apple(iPod/iTunes) is not the only choice.
1. eMusic offers 50 free downloads if you sign up for 2 week trial which is yours to keep. If you continue at $10/month you get another 40 downloads and 40 additional downloads every month. I don't think they roll over though so take complete advantage and you music ends up costing 25 cents a song and there is absolutely no restrictive technology. They use mp3 format which is compatible with all mp3 players including iPods. Oh and if you sign up for a full year you get free mp3 player.
2. Napster offers unlimited music access for a monthly fee of $15/month. You can sign up for a free 7 day trial. You can fill and refill any mp3 player without paying a per song and they are also giving away free mp3 players to those that sign up.
There are others out there as well. My self.. Been testing out eMusic and seems pretty good for my needs.
While I'm on the subject of music MP3Tunes is offering free 1Gig locker which means you can backup your music files in a MP3Tunes locker and then have access to them on any computer and play them using a web browser or your favorite player. They have a flash player to play your music and you can select to download the music or stream it in a m3u format which should be compatible with most media players. I've also been playing with this and really like it.
They also have a Side Load feature that allows you to grab music on another site and put it into your locker. Works great!!
With MP3Tunes should you need more then 1Gig for your music they do have some subscription plans that will help you.
For $20 per year you get a 2Gig locker
For $40 per year you get a locker with unlimited space. That's right load up your whole 400Gigs of music on it if you wish.
Posted by Hector at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)
iBreath
Just another iPod accessory to add to the list. We do advise drinking responsibly and if your just curious if you are within the legal limit to drive while your at the bar then just reach in your pocket and breath into iBreath which will let you know your current alcohol level. Should you need to park the car for the night and hitch a ride home you can plug this it into your iPod and transmit your music to a FM station on your designated drivers radio and listen to your tunes on the way back home!
Posted by Hector at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
Viesonic "Made For iPod" Displays?
Now one needs to take a look at THIS. Looks like they will kick off with 19 and 22 inch screen which you just set your iPod on and stream video to the display from iPod. I'm sure it will charge the iPod and probably even connect the iPod to the computer for data transfer since it does have a built in USB 2.0 hub.
All this coming to you at the same time iTunes is introducing iTunes Video. Timing couldn't have been better.
Posted by Hector at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
Apple announces iTV, new iPod's
Here are just some of the new items announced today from Apple:
iTunes Video
- Movies!
- 75 movies are available online today from Disney, Pixar, Touchstone and Miramax
- Future releases to be available same the same day as DVD release
- $12.99 first week then $14.99 afterward
iTV
- Apple has wireless set top box for TV
- Working title is “iTV”
- Similar to Mac Mini, but 1/2 the size
- Features USB, ethernet, 802.11b/g, component video, optical audio and HDMI
Check out the full list on CrunchGear
Posted by Jonathan at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)
iTunes Shut Down!
Apple has shut down music service iTunes for what is believed to be their announcement that they are adding movie downloads to the store and introducing a new ipod today. More as it becomes available.
Posted by Jonathan at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
A Tuneup will clean it Pt. 2
In our last post on the subject we mentioned that you change behavior to keep cleaned nasties off. Now we shall consider another angle, the best you can do.
It is 11 years since Windows 95, it is 8 years since windows 98, it is 6 years since Windows ME(ss)and Windows 2000. If you are running these old operating system (and I have them all except 2000), and/or an xp system that was upgraded from one of those systems odds are you have one or all of the following:
A slow processorA limited amount of ram
A video card without extra memory
A small hard drive.
This is all relative to what is available today and all of these machines might give good service for specific tasks (word, processing , e-mail, printer stations, running old games, emergency net access), but even when they are cleaned they are going to remain far below what is necessary if you want to do what is popular now in 2006, and even less so in a few years.
We can clean it and configure it but the system will remain what it is. Under powered, barely able to handle the streaming video, streaming audio, wireless security out there and impossible for what is coming down the pike.
Add to that Microsoft suspending support for 98 that makes it unlikely that you will be able to cope if new nasties come.
Let me put it this way: I've written about the game Pirates and reviewed it here. It is still available in stores (highly recommended). No Pirates game would be complete without a sword fight. Here is a screen shot of a fight scene, note the bucket on the deck that can be kicked into your foe. Note the Detail on the deck and the background action that is taking place during this fight. As for sound, we have dramatic music, the clash of blades and the shouts of others on the deck. It's pretty cool but my windows ME machine can't handle it.
So lets go back a few years and watch the same fight on Pirates Gold, something the ME machine can handle
, the previous version of the game, Our hero is fighting on the quarter deck with a dramatic background of the sky above, but a lot is missing. The image is 2d, the movements are 2d, there is no reaction other than moving back or forward when it. You tell the relative strength of each by the flag flying (the higher the flag the better the morale) In the center area there is a vertical sword representing each member of the crew alive on your side. Don't get me wrong it was a cool game and I still enjoy it on occasion. The 2d graphics were pretty nice on the still shots but it can't compare with the modern version yet it was a huge jump forward from the 1st one.
Here is how Pirates started out. If you look at the screen shot of the first one a kid today might wonder why anybody would buy it. The graphics area is tiny the movement is limited. And the sounds of the battle were the "plunk" of the speaker. Back in 1987 I sold software. I couldn't keep it on the shelf. It was the coolest game there was and I spent hundreds of hours playing it. If a person saw it played, the game was sold, it was awesome! But it can't compare to Pirate's Gold let alone the modern version (except sentimentally). Sid Meiers certainly had a winner in the 80's and it was the start of marvelous things, but is this what you really want to be doing with your PC today?
A model T is cool to have, and it looks neat restored, but it remains a Model T. Don't expect a CD player or an IPOD sync spot.
Posted by Peter at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2006
Three Cheers for Wikipedia
I've got some good news and some bad news on the internet free speech front. First the bad news. China continues to crack down:
Under the new measures, news that 'endanger(s) China's national security, reputation and interests' is outlawed.Information that 'disrupt(s) China's economic and social order, or undermine(s) China's social stability' is also forbidden as Xinhua is responsible for vetting the flow of news into China.
Since China is issuing annual licenses any media that doesn't toe the line can be banned pretty easy.
Now the Good news. Wikipedia has told China to take a flying leap:
The founder of Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia (sic) written by its users, has defied the Chinese government by refusing to bow to censorship of politically sensitive entries.Jimmy Wales, one of the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine, challenged other internet companies, including Google, to justify their claim that they could do more good than harm by co-operating with Beijing...
He goes on in this vein:
Wales said censorship was ' antithetical to the philosophy of Wikipedia. We occupy a position in the culture that I wish Google would take up, which is that we stand for the freedom for information, and for us to compromise I think would send very much the wrong signal: that there's no one left on the planet who's willing to say "You know what? We're not going to give up."'
Wikipedia has its faults, but apparently lack of guts or honor is not among them.
Google are you taking notes?
Posted by Peter at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)
Hell for Dell
Reuters reports Dell is having some possible accounting issues:
The company said it was unable to file its fiscal second-quarter report with regulators because of questions raised in connection with a previously announced investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.In a statement, the Round Rock, Texas-based company said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has also subpoenaed documents related to its financial reporting from 2002 to the present.
Between this and the recall this can't be good news for Dell's stock price or its bottom line.
Posted by Peter at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)
Where have I seen this before?
Remember the fuss about Google and Memorial day?
Well The Corner reports nothing is happening with Google and 9/11.
The result?
It took me two minutes to switch from Google toolbar to Dogpile toolbar. The best part was that the Google uninstall page had a comments box asking why I was getting rid of their service. I let them know. Believe me, I let them know.
Like I said before you take care of what is important to you. From a marketing standpoint one question: Doesn't anybody there have a clue?
Posted by Peter at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)
A Tuneup will clean it, you need to keep it that way
Had a customer in for our PC-Tuneup (consider Worry Free PC Standard, it's a great deal AND includes online backup). The system was pretty nasty, had virus', spyware and needed some basic cleanup of temp files too.
This particular system had BearShare on it, this is basically a LimeWire like product. When I asked the customer if I could remove it the response was "Where else can I get my music?".
I am the least musical person in this whole company, but I was able to say this. If she left the BearShare on this system, the PC cleanup would be good for perhaps a month if she was very lucky or a day if she was not. Leaving Peer to Peer software and items that use or let spyware onto a system is just asking to have it hacked, slowed, and spammed.
The customer agreed and the Bearshare (and the nasties that it let in ) are now history. It's a point to remember. Most of the nasties that get on your system are due to where people go and what they run. If that doesn't change then any fix is going to be very temporary.
That will mean another PC Tuneup and another sale for us, but frankly we would rather sell you our Worry Free PC plus( which includes extra help sessions and 5 gigs of online backup) then multiple PC Tuneups.
The choice is yours.
Posted by Peter at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
Oh my God I'm OLD
Forget the history of the day. I'll always remember today because its the day my son shaved for the first time.
Posted by Peter at 06:38 AM | Comments (0)
A little history
Today being Sept 11th there are going to be a lot of posts by a lot of people more eloquent than me concerning what happened that day, how we should reflect and/or act as a country and all that stuff.
Our company is located just outside of Boston. Any one of us here could have been on any one of the planes that left from here. That fact isn't lost on any of us. We remember not only those who died but the fine work of the police & fire people in NYC, after all as my parish priest reminded us this yesterday 48,000 people got out of those towers alive and those who help make that possible deserve a bow.
However I'm going to turn away from the whole topic for a moment. The president rightly said that the events aboard Flight 93 reflected the first American victory in the war on terror however it doesn't represent the most important military victory on that date for the US.
That would be the Battle of Lake Champlain (Plattsburg Bay) in 1814 won by Commodore Thomas McDonough. It was only the 2nd time in history that an entire British Fleet was taken in battle and foiled a British invasion force from the north that outnumbered us 10-1. The Duke of Wellington fresh from his victories in Europe (with one even greater victory awaiting him at Waterloo) when asked if he would undertake a new invasion studied the maps and replied that what was needed was victories on the lakes, he could do nothing unless they could be provided.
So on this day lets remember Commodore McDonough, his ship commander Lieutenant Stephen Cassin and the brave men who fought and won that day. Without their efforts I might be writing this from Southern Canada and the Red Sox might be a Cricket team.
Posted by Peter at 01:17 AM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2006
Well that's different
Well I guess if you are writing fictional characters for a fictional TV show, why not have a fictional blog by those fictional characters?
Update: Wrong link fixed, post in haste and all that sort of thing.
Posted by Peter at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)
One way to fight spam
Via Baseball crank here is one way to get rid of spam. Just be aware it only works if you are the White House Chief of Staff:
When it comes to pesky e-mail spam, Karl Rove doesn't mess around.The White House political adviser and deputy chief of staff took time from his busy schedule early last year to personally track down a bothersome spammer who made the mistake of hitting subscribers to President Bush's campaign site, the Daily News has learned.
Sometime after Rove intervened, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan opened a criminal investigation that ultimately led to the arrest of a Florida man while he was at the movies with his then-7-year-old daughter.
He was charged with operating a "Pump & Dump" spam scheme. We've mentioned them before. I still can't wrap my head around the idea that somebody would buy stocks based on such an e-mail.
Posted by Peter at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)
Like I said it's hard to hold down speech in a free society
Well the debate between Hector and Myself concerning the 9/11 film due to air Monday Tonight and tomorrow might have been made moot by the Redstate blog as the scenes in dispute are youtubed.
Hotair says the following:
Go watch before it's pulled.
My experience is once something gets to Youtube it comes back no matter how many times it's pulled or how many lawyers you use to get rid of it.
So watch it now if you want but don't worry about it being pulled, it will be back.
Update: It airs tonight and tomorrow. Sorry about that but I don't watch much new TV. Except for Monk, some book adaptions and DVD's like this.
Posted by Peter at 04:11 PM | Comments (0)
If it doesn't say IPOD it's not a radarange
A week ago we linked to this CNET article about the IPOD hitting a wall. I said the following:
I've noticed that IPOD calls as a percentage of total calls I get for troubleshooting are way down. (I can't speak for the rest of the guys). I think this is not so much due to sales volume as it is the publics familiarity with the device.
Well if the Guardian (via Drudge) is to be believed then sales volume was the reason:
Analysts warn that the iPod has passed its peak. From its launch five years ago its sales graph showed a consistent upward curve, culminating in a period around last Christmas that saw a record 14 million sold. But sales fell to 8.5 million in the following quarter, and down to 8.1 million in the most recent three-month period. Wall Street is reportedly starting to worry that the bubble will burst.
As they say you should read the whole thing but I think what is happening is really a question of history.
I think for a while the portable MP3 player was mainly a geek device, with the IPOD it became a device everybody has. Sort of like TV's in the 50's, it went from a niche item to something everyone (except cheap people like me) has. It became normal so it was purchased by everyone. Once it reached everybody sales level off and it only gets replaced when it either breaks or if there is a big development.
Let me put it another way, back when I was a kid you would see ads for the AMANA RADARANGE (made by Raytheon) "If it doesn't say AMANA its not a radarange." That was a microwave and not too many people had them. Today the majority of the population owns a microwave and I'll bet only a small percentage are AMANA. This is the future of the ipod, it made portable music mainstream, now it has to fight to keep the market.
At least that's my theory.
P.S. Nostalgia type posts are practically a Lileks trademark. Hope he doesn't sue.
Posted by Peter at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
The solution for guys who lose things
You might remember that vacation pictures weren't posted for a while because I couldn't find the cable to my camera.
Well I lost it again and resisted buying a replacement (you know I'm cheap), but last night I finally broke down and looked for a cable last night. Because it was pretty late the only place open was WalMart. They didn't have a replacement but they did have this nice little Lexar card reader.
The principle is pretty straight forward, it's basically a USB thumb drive with the card as the memory. Insert the card into the Lexar, plug it into the USB port and presto, you don't need the cable. The Lexar ran about $20 and included a cable to extend the reach of it so you can use the rear USB port.
By keeping a blank SD card in it you get a thumb drive with replaceable memory.
The best part is that it's too big for me to lose! Well so far anyway.
Posted by Peter at 01:47 PM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2006
A MySpace.com Type Website for Children Under 14...
Reader's Digest came out in September, 2006, (p 28) with an article called "5 Things We Don't Want You To Miss" and one of them was in reference to a website called imbee.com See article below...
"Do we need a MySpace.com for children under 14? Parents may not think so, but their sons and daughters want to hang out like the big kids do. Enter imbee.com . Targeting the 8 - 14 set, it lets them chat with pals, write blogs, share photos - with an emphasis on safety. Accounts require parental approval, the site blocks snoopers, and Mom and Dad can keep tabs on Junior in his online clubhouse."
UPDATE: The article isn't on the Reader's Digest site yet.
Posted by Melissa at 10:28 AM | Comments (2)
The fun you can have with YouTube and dubbing
Here is a great example of what you get when you combine a silly creative mind, with the power to record, edit and dub that a PC provides.
Or just a cheap excuse to put up a Monty Python reference, you make the call.
Posted by Peter at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2006
Required reading for Vista customers
Tech Republic has this download available concerning hardware considerations for Microsoft Vista:
Because of the way Windows Vista is designed, it will work well across a broad range of hardware. However, to get the best Windows Vista experience, there are some basic system requirements and suggestions you need to know about. This paper takes a look at how to make decisions now that will leave you in the best possible position when Windows Vista ships
Personally my opinion is this: With a new OS make sure you have new hardware, they always seem to grow beyond the old stuff real fast, plus you don't have to worry about upgrade problems.
Posted by Peter at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)
Hector takes one side I take the other. Good Domain name tip
I will have to respectfully disagree with this post by Hector concerning the 9/11 mini-series. My own reading of this situation is more akin to this:
Before 9/11 -- and what we learned afterward -- I agreed with the basic strategy of trying to contain Islamist terror until it collapsed under the weight of its own stupidity. That was before I realized how widespread it was, and how thoroughly intertwined with hostile states it was. I don't fault the Clinton people for not catching on before I did.But I do fault the people who are peddling the absurd story that Clinton had this terror thing under control until Bush screwed it up. That's partisan twaddle, and a real disservice in time of war.
By making a big noise over this film, the Clinton people are implicitly disavowing the "pass" they've enjoyed, and in the process inviting more, rather than less, scrutiny of that Administration's antiterror record, which strikes me as very unwise, politically.
But Hector is quite correct in that you should do your own research.
This really isn't a proper topic for a tech blog, but there is one angle that is worth mentioning, the petition and a lot of the buzz is being driven not just by the Democratic Party but by liberal blogs like these. As you might guess you will find a different opinion on conservative blogs like these.
It is an excellent example of using technology for a desired political or social purpose. With all the fuss we've made here about internet free speech I'm not sure it's a wise one. There is a good tip/warning for Business' in one of the tactics being used:
Someone anonymously registered the domain name pathto911.com and installed a redirect that takes visitors looking for information on the movie to the Democratic Party’s anti-ABC page.
It is not uncommon for spammers and cheap search engines to buy up domain names of near spellings and misspellings of popular sites to get traffic. If you are in business you want to make sure about two things when it comes to domain names:
#1. Make it a point to purchase not only the name you want but close spellings to keep your links coming to you:#2. Make sure you know when that domain name expires (say with a Calendar entry). If you let it expire somebody might pick it up and the next thing you know your traffic might be heading to a porn site.
Finally one important thing in closing: Hector's opinion and my own are both just that, our own opinions. It is not the opinion of HiWired. Hiwired doesn't have political opinions. Just first rate tech support provided by first rate techs who as you can see come from all sides of the political spectrum. Your political opinions/beliefs are none of our business, your PC problems are.
You might ask why didn't we just pull Hector's piece? It's a good question. Here are my answers:
1. I don't like pulling posts that have not been put up in error. Hector's opinion is his own and he's entitled to it.2. A google cache already exists of it, if it is pulled it will just be the story of how we pulled a post, better to put up a 2nd post with the other side and explain the situation
3. It was a good lead-in to how the internet changes discourse and the warning about Domain names.
So consider this a perfect example of how to cope with speech you disagree with, more speech. Far superior to this method.
Posted by Peter at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
ABC 9/11 Docudrama
ABC is supposed to be airing a documentary on 9/11 that is a 5-6 hour 2 part show. I've done a little reading into this but really don't have a lot of time to collect enough information to say weather its accurate or not. What I do know is there is a petition be started on pulling the show and ABC is currently already considering pulling the show off. The claim is that parts of the documentary have been fabricated. One officer that was being interviewed walked away from the documentary because he said that it has been made up. And the whole thing has been intentionally crafted in such a way to blame democrats and protect republicans.
A petition can be found HERE and some information can be found HERE although I would advise doing your own research.
Posted by Hector at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
Reminders are your friends
Here is a real life example of why I love the Calendar feature in outlook:
For several years I've been doing update for the web site of my Parish. Every week I put the church bulletin updated on the site with the Mass schedule etc.
The church secretary (a very nice lady) types the bulletin in word, however she never seemed to remember to send it to me. I finally got sick of asking for it and just started retyping it after Mass when I picked one up.
I ran into her last week during a meeting with the pastor, I reminded her about the e-mail and mentioned that she could set a reminder in her MS Outlook calendar.
This week the e-mail showed up! Cross off one minor source of Agtia.
Posted by Peter at 07:18 AM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2006
Hacking with a White hat
The Tech Republic blog reports that not all hackers wear black hats:
a computer hacker who used the now-defunct e-mail address unknownuser1069@hotmail.com seeded a Usenet newsgroup called alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.pre-teen with a clever bit of malicious Windows software. The Trojan horse program, called SubSeven or Sub7... installs a backdoor in the victim's computer and can allow files to be extracted and a keystroke logger to be installed.
Once seeded he started finding people and reported them to police and the FBI who found a useful loophole in the rules of evidence:
... 'The FACT still stands that you are not a citizen of the United States and are not bound by our laws. Our federal attorneys have expressed NO desire to charge you with any CRIMINAL offense. You have not hacked into any computer at the request of the FBI or other law (enforcement) agency. You have not acted as an agent for the FBI or other law enforcement agency. Therefore, the information you have collected can be used in our criminal trials.'"
Read the whole thing. The irony is if the hacker had been an American in the US his evidence would not have been admissible..
Posted by Peter at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)
The coming traffic DNS traffic Jam
CNET reports the inventor of DNS thinks that Vista is going to have an unintended side effect:
"If you adopt Vista, your DNS traffic is going to double," Mockapetris said in an interview. With many DNS servers already running close to capacity, this can have serious consequences, he said. "You're going to see brownouts. All of a sudden, it is going to be mud season on the Internet, where things will just be kind of slow and gooey.
As you might guess Microsoft disagrees but within six months we'll all find out.
Posted by Peter at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)
The Greatest Uncle of the PC
One of the great secrets of World War II was the Allied ability to crack the Nazi German codes. The British built a machine the Turing Bombe, that was so secret that every one in existence was destroyed after the war. Now it is back:
The operation of the bombe was likened by the men and, mostly, women who worked on it to a vast collection of knitting needles, but its sound was also the first hint of the computerised (sic) world in which we now live.Yesterday, a fully-functioning recreation of the bombe was switched on for the first time, by re-enactors in period dress, bringing back to life the great-great uncle of the PC.
Today when we walk around with PDA's and laptops that are more powerful than the machines that sent man to the moon it might not hit us how amazing this stuff was for its time, a mere 65 years ago.
There has been no time in human history when technology has jumped so far so fast, empowering people everywhere. Some might scoff at that old machine, but remember the generation who built it also did this. If they didn't we wouldn't be able to have this free conversation online.
We are lucky and usually don't kn