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February 28, 2007
ReWriting the Past without notice, Bad Form, Bad form indeed.
Since my kids recently re-watched the movie Hook, the term "Bad Form" has re-entered the house. It came to mind yesterday on my day off when a piece of proper Blog Etiquette was flouted by one of the most popular political blogs on the net.
At the Huffington Post yesterday a thread was began concerning yesterday's attack in Afghanistan that targeted the Vice President. A fair amount of the commentators choose to express themselves in an impolitic way. Well it is a blog and you can't hold the authors of the blog responsible for all the behavior of commentators. However an interesting thing took place;
As the story became known first through rival blogs and then through radio media; comments were first closed and then edited to remove the impolitic statements. The effect was to change the general tone of the reaction of the commentators.
This is not only foolish when trying to hide already posted items (this stuff is cached on the net and one person even saved the page as a PDF) but it is contrary to blog etiquette to make a note that said comments were removed or that some inappropriate comments were removed. It is my opinion that if you have a policy to removed or edit comments already approved it should be clearly stated.
Again it is their blog and they can run it as they seem fit but it addresses the point we have made more than once here concerning the net. You can't always trust what you see at first glance and get multiple sources since the net is easily manipulated.
As for the method used to edit the post; In my opinion, Bad Form gents; Bad Form.
Update: Ms Huffington answers in this post
And I stand corrected on one point there is a comment policy at the bottom of the page with the normal site stuff.
Huffington Post Comment Policy
We never censor comments based on political or ideological point of view. We only delete those comments that are abusive, off-topic, use excessive foul language, or include ad hominem attacks. We pre-moderate comments on our blog posts and post-moderate comments on news stories.
Personally I think it should be programmed so it shows up when posting comments but that's me. The policy is there and I should have seen it. I must assume that the comments deleted were under the "abusive" category.
UPDATE II: Looks like they aren't taking chances anymore.
Posted by Peter at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)
Apple's iTV is delayed
Found this while surfing over at Macrumors
Apple confirmed today that the Apple TV will be delayed until mid-March.
"Wrapping up Apple TV is taking a few weeks longer than we projected, and we now expect to begin shipments mid-March," spokeswoman Lynn Fox said by email.
This is despite claims that they would be reaching their February launch. Apple officially announced the Apple TV at Macworld San Francisco for a February ship date.
Meanwhile Apple Stores are still expecting in-store displays on March 5th for the Apple TV. Customers also report that early web orders have not yet changed and still reflect a Feb 28th ship date.
Posted by Chrisk at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
Cya Comp-USA!
The Consumerist is reporting that CompUSA will be closing over 100 stores.
While this isn't surprising to most as their sales have suffered tremendously, it is a little sad for me. I worked at CompUSA in Framingham, MA while in college (one of the stores being closed) and unlike many retail stores actually worked for some very very good managers that taught me lessons in both work and life that I carry with me to this day some 8 years later.
I am not trying to kid anyone here, CompUSA itself as a whole was run horribly which made all the good folks leave, but there were good folks there.
I also forged some great friendships there, not just work friends, but people I will be friends with for the rest of my life.
So while the liquidation folks are headed in and marking everything up 150% so they can mark it down 75% I wish store 327 farewell and thanks for the memories.
Posted by Jonathan at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2007
Revenge is a dish best served funny
Every single one of us who has an e-mail address has received one of those famous Nigerian e-mails. E-mail scams have been taking the gullible and the greedy for years.
Steve H. Graham is neither gullible nor greedy (well maybe a little greedy) but he certainly is funny. His site details the hilarious results of his spamming back the spammers leading them on and skewering them left and right.
His book The Good the Spam and the Ugly details some of the best of his highly successful attempts to put fraud e-mailers in their place.
Anyway a person who would write a book titled Eat what you want and die like a man, The World Unhealthiest Cookbook deserves a look see. One strange thing however B&N shows the book published 4 years ago but his web site says it comes out next year? Hmmmmm.
Posted by Peter at 11:36 AM | Comments (4)
February 26, 2007
HiWired ain't afraid of no Whoop
If you are a customer who I've served in the past week you could not help but notice a rather nasty cough that has been bothering me for a while. Back in Jan it was primarily in the morning before I came to work but all this month is has been rather horrible and I've had to beg the pardon of customers I'm working with. It turns out that I in fact have Whooping Cough and the nature of the disease when not discovered at once (everyone thought it was Pneumonia) can't really be cured. It has to be endured until it passes. That unfortunately can take from 30-100 days or more.
Now since this is contagious and the cough is nasty at almost any other job I would be deep into or finished with my sick time and eating up vacation time.
Lucky for me at HiWired I am able to Telecommute (see our podcast under the same name)I can still work and not either infect the company or burn up every sick day I have. This is a win win win.
It's a win for the company because I am able to work.It's a win for me because since I'm able to function in between attacks I can do something instead of waiting to start coughing.
It's a win for the customers as another experienced tech is available to help as needed.
All of this is because of this modern world that we live in. Are we lucky or what?
Posted by Peter at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2007
Google desktop vulnerable
Slashdot reports a vulnerability in Google Desktop:
Google's PC search software is vulnerable to a variation on a little-known Web-based attack called anti-DNS pinning that could give an attacker access to any data indexed by Google Desktop, security researchers said this week.
Apparently this is a function of the code itself:
The troubling thing about the attack Hanson identified, which he calls anti-anti-anti-DNS pinning, is that there is very little that can be done to avoid it short of eliminating cross-site scripting vulnerabilities on the Web."This is really just fundamentally about how browsers work," he said. "If you allow a Web site to have access to your drive -- to modify, to change things, to integrate, or whatever -- you're relying on that Web site to be secure."
Hansen and Grossman say that Google is not the only company vulnerable to a growing category of Web-based attacks. For instance, MySpace.com was hit when a fast-moving worm spread through the MySpace community in early December, stealing MySpace log-in credentials and promoting adware Web sites.
So I guess we would have to call it a "feature".
Posted by Peter at 07:10 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2007
Phishing for your dough
We have mentioned this in the past but it is worth bringing it up again.
Phishing schemes continue to be on the rise as it is an easy way to steal personal info that adds up to quick and easy cash.
The elderly who are not as experienced on PC's are favorite targets.
Remember the following:
NEVER NEVER NEVER give out your personal info (username passwords etc) in response to an e-mail solicitation.
Your bank is unlikely to send you security questions or info via e-mail, if any such email comes call the bank using a number from your records NOT from the e-mail and confirm, (frankly I'd just dump the e-mail as it is almost certainly phony.
NEVER believe a security e-mail that says e-bay, paypal etc, when it down go to the site itself (again NOT using links from within any such e-mail) and check it yourself.
Remember this stuff isn't going to stop, you have to be careful or you will be broke very fast.
Check out this site for more great info.
Posted by Peter at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2007
Pirate at the rock
In my home town there is a quarry where the high school kids used to sneak drinks, the saying was "Party at the rock". Well at these colleges the saying would be "Pirate at the rock.":
The RIAA recently named the top 25 music-pirating schools in the country, an act that involved sending over 14,500 copyright infringement notices (so far) during the 2006-2007 school year. This was nearly triple the number of notices sent during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the RIAA. The group says, however, that they are taking advantage of new software tools to improve the tracking of illegal file sharing, which may be part of the reason why the numbers have skyrocketed.
Here is the list:
# Ohio University - 1,287 # Purdue University - 1,068 # University of Nebraska at Lincoln - 1,002 # University of Tennessee at Knoxville - 959 # University of South Carolina - 914 # University of Massachusetts at Amherst - 897 # Michigan State University - 753 # Howard University - 572 # North Carolina State University - 550 # University of Wisconsin at Madison - 513 # University of South Florida - 490 # Syracuse University - 488 # Northern Illinois University - 487 # University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire - 473 # Boston University - 470 # Northern Michigan University - 457 # Kent State University - 424 # University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - 400 # University of Texas at Austin - 371 # North Dakota State University - 360 # Indiana University - 353 # Western Kentucky University - 353 # Seton Hall University - 338 # Arizona State University - 336 # Marshall University - 331
Just think of it, all of these systems using Limewire and Bittorrent and other P2P programs. How many of they do you think actually know the way to keep systems safe?
That's a bunch of business just waiting for us.
Posted by Peter at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2007
You need Vista drivers...They have them
Found this great article while scanning Slashdot. This has been the gripe of many people. Hopefully we here at Hiwired can make it easier for you.
RadarSync writes to plug their page of links to Vista drivers. Listed are many drivers that Microsoft doesn't have and that aren't easily found on the manufacturer's sites. For Intel alone, 364 drivers are currently linked.
Posted by Chrisk at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)
The Real Thing
For those of you who still lack perspective on net censorship Egypt provides it in spades:
An Egyptian blogger found guilty of insulting both Islam and the country's president has been jailed for four years, Reuters reports.An Alexandria court sentenced former law student Abdel Karim Suleiman for eight articles he wrote in 2004. He had been in custody since November last year over the polemical outpourings which included one claiming that "al-Azhar in Cairo, one of the most prominent seats of Sunni Muslim learning, was promoting extreme ideas".
The purpose is to shut off the best source of public dissent in countries that don't tolerate it. This quote says it all:
One anonymous blogger told the news agency: "It's a dangerous precedent because it will impact the only free space available now, which is the internet. The charges were undefined and vague. Tell me. What does insulting the president mean? What is the difference between criticising (sic) religion and being in contempt of religion?"
This is bad stuff and will continue to get worse as blogs give regular people a louder voice.
Posted by Peter at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2007
Those Damn Ads
A bit more than 100 years ago Boss Tweed referred to the cartoons of Thomas Nast as "those damn pictures" when the cartoonist used them to point out corruption in New York City.
I suspect this is the reaction of Bill Gates to this Ad that skewers Windows Vista better than anything else I have seen yet.
Posted by Peter at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2007
Steve Ballmer, playing the blame game.
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation, is blaming piracy, and more specifically software pirates, for the poor sales figured thus far for Windows Vista. Ballmer admitted that predictions for Vista had proven "overly optimistic" and blamed this in large part on software pirates in China, Russia, and other emerging markets. He said his final solution to squeeze more revenue from these countries is to increase the intensity of Windows Genuine Advantage.
I think the main problem here is that Vista just does not offer enough to make it worth the cost of upgrading from XP, let alone the fact that you will probably need to upgrade hardware as well, if not buy a new PC all together. And what about more features? A lot of the features that I have seen so far only make Vista more difficult to use than XP, not to mention the fact that you can also use some of the features with XP at no additional cost, e.g. Windows Defender.
Posted by justin at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
Happy Washington's Birthday (Sorry Mr. Polk)
Today is a federal holiday. It is commonly called President's day but in reality if you check the law and this site, you will find that it is in fact what was always celebrated when we were kids. Washington's Birthday:
This holiday is designated as "Washington's Birthday" in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.
So with apologies to James Knox Polk, Bill Clinton, Warren Harding and my own favorite Grover Cleveland; today is Washington's Birthday (celebrated actual day Feb 22nd).
We don't, in my opinion, appreciate Washington as much as he deserves. He was both a man of and a man ahead of his time.
HiWired as always will be open all day today for all your support needs.
Meanwhile enjoy the day off and the shopping but give the history a thought. Remember if he had been of a different temperament we might be celebrating the birthday of the first of our Royal line.
Update: Speaking of "presidents" day I was reading today that President John Tyler's grandson still lives in the family house that he purchased. This wouldn't be so odd except John Tyler was born in 1790 and his grandson is still alive. To get an idea of this when Mr. Tyler's grandfather was still alive the Constitution still had not been ratified by all 13 states, George Washington was in his FIRST term as president, Ohio was the wilderness, Florida was a part of Spain, King Louis of France still had his head and Napoleon was in military school. Supporting links are here and here.
Posted by Peter at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
George Ou Pt 2
Our latest Technobabble podcast features part two of our interview 
with George Ou Technical Director of TechRepublic.
In part two we continue our conversation about security, talk a little about Windows Vista security and various other topics.
As always you can catch the podcast at the iTunes music store (keyword HiWired) or you can listen directly right here. Part 1 of this podcast if you missed it (and even if you didn't) is here.
Posted by Peter at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
How to make your very own security hole
TechRepublic offers this interesting article on creating a bootable flashusb drive for xp:
The ability to boot Windows XP from a USB Flash Drive (UFD) offers endless possibilities. For example, you might make an easy-to-use troubleshooting tool for booting and analyzing seemingly dead PCs. Or you could transport your favorite applications back and forth from home to work without having to install them on both PCs.
That's all well and good and in the hands of a help desk such a system can be very handy. But in the hands of a hacker such a device could be poison.
Imagine a system configured to boot from such a drive. A dishonest person with such a drive enters an area with a pc, plugs it in and reboots. The data can be raided and copied to the drive in minutes. If he is really good he can even boot the system back so the user might not even know he has been pilfered.
So if you decide to follow the advice in the article make sure you disable the USB storage boot once you've finished creating it. You can always re-enable it at the time of your emergency, but to leave your computer able to boot from a USB stick in this age of piracy frankly is just asking for it.
Posted by Peter at 11:29 AM | Comments (1)
February 18, 2007
Windows Update 1400AD
Via Glenn and YouTube. Windows update circa 1400 Anno Domini:
Posted by Peter at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2007
Think your home network is secure? You may want to check again.
As home networking becomes increasingly popular, hackers are coming up with more and more ways to infiltrate these networks and access our data. It is surprising how small a percentage of people actually take the time to secure their networks, usually by setting a WEP key, turning off SSID broadcasting, and/or enabling MAC filtering.
Even with these security measures in place, there is a new potential threat to non-secured networks known as "Drive-by Pharming." Uncovered by researchers at Symantec and the Indiana University School of Informatics, these attacks use JavaScript on a web site created by hackers to reconfigure the DNS settings on routers that have not had their default password changed. Once compromised, all DNS resolution is performed by the attacker, giving the attacker complete control over what sites the victim visits.
For example, a user might try logging into their online banking service, when in reality, they are handing their login credentials over to the attacker. The easiest way to prevent this would be to simply change your default password.
Posted by justin at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)
iPhone negotiations still on going
MacRumors has a short story on the iPhone name issue. It will be interesting to see what comes of this.
Cisco issued a brief statement yesterday indicating that Apple and Cisco's negotiations over the iPhone trademark are ongoing and that an extension has been provided until February 21st 2007.
Cisco appears to be capitalizing on the ongoing press coverage over the "iPhone" trademark and in February had taken out a full page ad in the New York Times promoting its own iPhone.
Cisco is hard at work increasing their brand recognition according to a Timesonline.co.uk article:
"People know about Cisco, perhaps because of the stock, but most people do not know what Cisco does," [CEO's chief development officer] said. The group is intent on changing that.
Posted by Chrisk at 10:34 AM | Comments (1)
Patriots play tag
The New England Patriots have placed the franchise tag on Asante Samuel. If he agrees we will have him in our lineup for at least another year. If he decides to sign a deal with another team and the Patriots do not match the offer. New England will receive 2 first round draft picks from that team. Let's hope the two sides can come to an agreement.
Posted by Chrisk at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
The DRM battle continues
Hi my name is Chris K and I will be helping out Peter with our Blog.
An interesting article on DRM ( Digital Rights Management)appeared yesterday from the President of Macrovision. This is a response to Steve Jobs(CEO of Apple Inc.)open letter on DRM.
As some of you may or may not know Macrovision is the company that is most known for putting copy right protection on DVD Videos to protect from illegal copying. All though I do not condone illegally copying music or movies. We the consumer should at least have the right to make a legal backup copy of our purchased music or movies.
In a response to Steve Jobs open letter to rid us of DRM. The President of Macrovision responds that DRM is good and we the consumer need the protection from piracy. This link has Macrovisions response.
What does everyone think of this issue?
Posted by Chrisk at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
Wisely & slow? Well they have the slow part down pat
When I purchased my new machine the one thing that bothered me about the Dell outlet was I didn't get the "express upgrade" option to get my system to Vista. Via Slashdot we have this story from ArsTechnica that suggests I'm not missing much:
Many OEMs adopted Microsoft's "Express Upgrade" plan, offering holiday shoppers the option of getting an upgrade to Vista for little or no additional cost. If you purchased a new PC with Windows XP after October 26, chances are you're entitled to a free or discounted upgrade, depending on the deal the OEM offered.But as the January 30 launch date came and went, customers waiting for their Express Upgrade have found that there's nothing "express" about it. Some two weeks after launch, few—if any—customers have received their upgrades from major OEMs, despite the fact that you can walk into any retail computer store and pick one up right off the shelves.
The reasons given vary depending on if the question is asked on or off the record:
One source at a major OEM who spoke with me on condition of anonymity said that the real issue is that OEMs are still not sure which PCs are really ready to support Vista, and which PCs aren't.
Here's the rub: customers who qualify for an Express Upgrade also qualify for OEM support for Windows Vista, even if their machines came with Windows XP. The last thing a Dell, Gateway, or HP wants to do is start sending out upgrades to customers who might have video cards that do not have particularly stable drivers yet (or sound cards, or RAID controllers, etc.). This could be a support disaster.
Well you should have thought of that before you made promises you can't keep.
BTW if you don't already know; the tile of this post comes from here.
Posted by Peter at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2007
Beginnings are the most fragile time
Well, hello! My name is Roland, and I will be blogging today -- Peter is "wikked sick", and not in a good way! Please join me in wishing him a speedy recovery!
Anyhoo, it was recently Valentine's Day, one of the few days of the year which tend to focus our thoughts on beginnings (or endings, as it may be), and since I've recently started at HiWired, I thought I would volunteer for blog duty. And what do you know, there is a new Microsoft operating system out, another beginning; I have seen more than a few of our customers struggle with learning the ins and outs of Vista, so here's a tip that I've picked up while working with them... say that you're trying to run ipconfig /flushdns so that you can get a new IP address at the command line prompt, and Vista says:
Elevation is required for this operation
First, find the executable file. You can search for the executable file by going to the Start menu, and going up to Search. Put in the name of the program that you are trying to use, ie Command Prompt, and then click Search.
When the search has run, right-click on either the entry which indicates the executable file (designated by the ".exe" appendation) or on the shortcut to the executable file, and choose "Run as administrator". The program will now launch, and you should be able to make changes as needed!
Posted by at 04:55 PM | Comments (1)
February 15, 2007
Vista patched I'm not
Well the first patch of for Vista has come out:
The hole registers high on the irony scale: The flaw was in a "malware protection engine" that helps several Microsoft security products — including "Windows Defender" for Vista — guard against online threats. The problem could let an outsider "take complete control" of a victim's computer, according to Microsoft's security advisory.
Apparently they still haven't hit the one we talked about before. However in some articles Microsoft says they haven't patched Vista;
Microsoft on Tuesday released fixes for 20 vulnerabilities in a variety of products including Windows, but none of the operating system flaws affect Vista.
So which is it? Anyways as I've been totally unable to shake my coughing wheezing and inability to breathe on occasion I'll be taking the rest of the day to rest. Hopefully my patch will have me up and running for Saturday.
Posted by Peter at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2007
Guess what folks YouTube is a business too
Well YouTube/Google has been showing signs of feet of clay. First we have the selective censorship, then we have Hector talking about blacklisting, Now we have this:
Three weeks after receiving a subpoena from the U.S. District Court in Northern California, YouTube has reportedly identified a user accused by 20th Century Fox Television of uploading episodes of the show 24 a week prior to their running on television.
Glenn seems unimpressed with the decision:
Yes, this isn't about national security, it's about power for the entertainment industry. No moral high ground in resisting that.
I think the "moral high ground" argument here forgets something. YouTube is a business. They are going to make business decisions. This is a simple case of copyright. The owners of the copyright asserted their rights and if YouTube/Google resists then they will be party to the suit, and I'll wager they have a lot more dough to pay a losing suit than ECOTtotal (Unless ECOTtotal is Oprah's account). That's a business decision pure and simple and the Fox people had the law on their side.
You might say "You hypocrite didn't you just this week quote Jeff Jarvis saying companies were foolish to pull their stuff from YouTube? And haven't we heard you complain about giving up names to the Chinese government? You would be wrong.
First the Jarvis argument doesn't apply because the episode was put up before it was aired. That is basic copyright protection. Even if it was after the fact it might be foolish for Fox to pursue the matter but they are within their rights and YouTube knows it.
2nd there is a huge moral difference between repressing people who want to speak on the net and protecting a copyright over a Simpsons cartoon. If that isn't already apparent then no amount of argument I make will change your mind.
Anyway there is an important line from the story that reinforces something we've said many times:
I wonder how YouTube users will feel about the company’s disclosure of personal information... Perhaps the rest will stop linking their personal information to accounts used in illicit activities. Privacy experts report that it’s the simple things that get most people burned.
If you put it on the net it is there for all time.
Posted by Peter at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
Basic fact
Kathryn Jean Lopez at the Corner states a basic fact about Telecommuting.
Good news for you.
UPDATE: Unless Slashdot is right:
"'We assumed total absentees of 30% to 60% trying to work from home, which would have overwhelmed the Internet,' said [one] participant. 'We did not assume that the backbone would be gone, but that the edge of the network... would be overwhelmed..."
Of course they are talking about more than snow and ice.
Posted by Peter at 06:21 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2007
Google: Killing the Internet One Site At A Time
This is the title of a headline on AdwareReport.com which is one of my favorite sites to keep track of the effectiveness of anti-spyware software. I've referred some customers who have relied on ineffective anti-spyware solutions to this site as a reference. I am surprised to learn that Google has blacklisted the site. I am even more surprised about the likely outcome and how heavily this site relies on Google.
Appearantly the results of the blacklist has been a drop in average visits per day from Google from thousand to just average of 30 a day and a total drop of hits on site of about 70%. The way I read this AdwareReport.com may be shutdown do to the inability to keep the site running with the current traffic levels failing to generate enough $$$ to pay the bills.
Posted by Hector at 05:15 PM | Comments (1)
A signature tip
YouTube proves itself a good tutor with this tip on how to use signatures in Office 2007.
Unfortunately embedding is disabled on this video so you will have to click here to watch it.
Posted by Peter at 09:50 AM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2007
But I like my toolbars in different spots
Deb Shinder strikes again in Tech Republic with ways to tweak windows vista to adapt to styles you are used to:
Number #7 is the item you will want to see the most.
Posted by Peter at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)
Speaking of Wil Wheaton and awards...
By the way there is a totally different set of Web blog Awards (the bloggies). Nominations are closed and you can vote for your favorite blogs in several categories. Wil Wheaton's blog is up for a lifetime achievement award.
The nominated blogs in the tech category (other than web design which has its own category) include Ubergizmo, Gizmodo, Techcrunch, Lifehacker and popgadget. Once again our anonymity is assured.
Then again according to Technorati we haven't updated in 287 days so maybe that's why we didn't make it.
Posted by Peter at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)
I think she has a point
Speaking of Engadget they report Perrin Kaplan's statement concerning Nintendo Wii vs Ps3:
Well, we didn't have anyone in line that got shot waiting for our system...
Engadget's answer was some rather amusing snark:
So there it is, Nintendo's preparedness, experience, and approach to console gaming ensured nobody got shot over the Wii last holiday season. Surely it had nothing to do with more copious console supplies, or a pricetag of half that (or less) than the PS3. Oh, and Perrin did forget to mention the personal bodyguard Nintendo assigned each and every new Wii owner late last year, that helped too.
It's funny but I think it is a good contrast between Nintendo and Sony which had a rough year in 2006. When you have better planning, a better product and focus on supplying the consumer and making the profit rather than buzz and hype you make money. Nintendo has done that.
Posted by Peter at 04:03 PM | Comments (1)
And the winner was.....
We mentioned the 2006 Webblog awards and our failure to get a nomination (sob). I assure you that our total failure to mention who actually won was not sour grapes....
Really...
No I mean it really...
Ok if you want the complete list of winners you can find it here.
The winner in the best tech blog catagory was.....
Engadget!
We offer our grudging heartfelt congratulations to Engadget and hope to be in the running next year.
Posted by Peter at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)
Posted totally without comment
Via Wil Wheaton. (Yes he is that Wil Wheaton)
Posted by Peter at 03:42 PM | Comments (1)
Want to make book when this will end?
As of this afternoon the Dell outlet is still selling strictly windows XP systems.
You can get a new/referb desktop for under $400 and laptop systems for as low as $609 all windows XP.
It will be interesting to see when the first Vista returns show up at the site. It will be more interesting to see when the last XP system goes away. Sort of like making book when the last of the snow will melt away.
Of course if you live in Redfield NY we might be talking June.
Posted by Peter at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)
Whew still useful
Last June we discussed the site www.sysinfo.org and named it as one of the most useful sites on the net.
I've been worried lately since the site was showing no updates since Oct of last year.
I'm happy to say that this week the database on the site was again updated. So if you are looking to find out what exactly is starting up when your system does, www.sysinfo.org is still the place to go.
Posted by Peter at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
Vista Myths... or no
Deb Snyder Shinder lists 10 myths concerning Windows Vista that you might have run into. It's a good article and worth your time but I take exception to a couple of the things said:
This is from Myth #1:
If your computer is older or a low-end machine, you can still probably install and use Vista but you may not get the Aero Glass interface. Although Glass adds a lot of "wow" factor, it's not something that's essential to getting work done.
That is true but it doesn't tell the whole story. If you think of Vista as a static thing then yes, you can upgrade a lower speed system to vista and it will run, but just wait as Microsoft adds patches upgrades etc to your Vista that are automatically pushed to your system. Right now Vista is under a month old so there isn't much, but in 6 months or 12 months or 24 months that is going to take a nasty toll on your system. Who needs that? You don't. If your system is running ok why risk an update that will change that?
Then there is myth #7.
Circulating amongst the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) being spread about Vista is the idea that upgrading will subject you to all kinds of application incompatibilities. Some programs made for XP, especially those that hook into the kernel, like antivirus programs and some system utilities, won't work with Vista. However, the majority of applications that run on XP will also run on Vista.
She is quite correct but the tone is slightly misleading. It's true most applications will work on Vista and the Program Compatibility Wizard will inform you but it isn't a question of most applications it is the one or two vital applications that you have to have that will burn you. If you are running a home business that key app can make you or break you.
So don' be panicked by the myths but move with caution. Remember the reason for your computer or your upgrade is to make things easier not just for the sake of updating.
Update: What is with me and destroying names?
Posted by Peter at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2007
A better CIV IV review then I have given
I have talked about Civ IV many time and even included a screen shot in the past, but why just talk about a game when you can see it.
IGN reviewed the game and through the magic of YouTube you can see that review here.
Of course there are some things that you can't see on YouTube
Posted by Peter at 05:55 PM | Comments (0)
And you are legally responsible
In our last podcast with George Ou (part two goes up later this week)he mentioned that lack of wireless security can lead to trouble, as police in DC found out:
But when they pounded on the door, detectives found an elderly woman who, they quickly concluded, had nothing to do with the crime. The real problem was her computer's wireless router, a device sending a signal through her 10-story building and allowing savvy neighbors a free path to the Internet from the privacy of their homes.
If you have an open wireless network that could have been you. It's even more frustrating for the police:
"Unsecured networks are a treasure trove for neighbors," said John Sheehan, program manager of the CyberTipline at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "Those looking to access illegal content obviously feel they have anonymity" and can get away with it.
Remember they do, but you don't it will be traced to your connection and you will have to prove it wasn't you. Is an open network really worth that grief?
Posted by Peter at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
I'm gonna toss that man right onto the web....
If you are a lover of old movies you might have noticed the stereotype of the dirty old man or the "pincher". In the old movies he would get a slap on the face and with the shout of "fresh!". Today he ends up on the web:
A new generation of female bloggers -- armed with camera phones -- has started an Internet site to post pictures and videos of guys who harass them in public.Under the motto "If you can't slap 'em, snap 'em!", HollaBack is based on the same sort of camera phone vigilantism that has been used to shame bad drivers, litterbugs and rude sales clerks.
This shows the advantage of my advice to my sons to act like a gentleman around a lady. There is of course the downside to this approach:
Matthew King, 40, who works in construction and moonlights as a manager at a tiki bar in Alameda, said one man's clumsy attempt at a pickup line shouldn't send him into the HollaBack creepy guy hall of shame."I'm probably the biggest flirt of all time; I give my number out to three girls a week," King said. "But now maybe I shouldn't do that because it can be construed as harassment."
In the Information Age, when even the most trivial missteps by ordinary citizens can be exposed -- from bad parking to letting their dogs poop on the sidewalk -- people should realize what they read online is just one anonymous person's opinion, King said.
More worrisome would be the use to "get back" at someone after a nasty breakup. Still its a good reminder that public actions today are public forever as long as there is a cameraphone nearby.
So don't do something that you will have to explain to your grandchildren online years from now.
Posted by Peter at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2007
PLEASE run the upgrade advisor before going to Vista
Call after call keeps coming with people having driver issues since buying/upgrading to windows vista. There is nothing more frustrating than buying a new system/os and not having the computer work. So we ask you , no we beg you. Run the upgrade advisor before upgrading, installing or buying.
The advisor will list the software or hardware that is not compatible with your system, needs to be uninstalled or might need a driver update. This will give you a solid take on if the upgrade or install is the thing for you to do.
If you are running an upgrade Vista's install program will give you the option at install/upgrade time to check compatibility first. It is not worth the headache that will follow otherwise.
Posted by Peter at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
A little overstated
I think this headline is a tad alarmist:but the story behind it makes sense:
Despite the relatively small number of users, research indicates that systems such as BitTorrent are responsible for more than 50% of all internet traffic. Some executives fear that without proper investment, video download services could clog up the internet and cause online gridlock."Most of the internet traffic is peer-to-peer, and most of that is video. Every year we have to invest substantially just to maintain the user experience. In fact it has actually decreased," Richard Alden, chief executive of Spanish cable company ONO, told the Cable Europe Congress in Amsterdam. "People don't like to talk about [the fact] that just to stand still, they have to invest."
I personally think that as the technology improves these issues will solve themself. But I also think that a lot of the problem is a matter of expectations getting ahead of the technology.
It is always the way, those selling a service oversell and the technical people have to make it work
Posted by Peter at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)
All day and all of the night.
Things have gotten pretty busy here. So busy we are now open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
So day or night if you have an issue don't hesitate to call or chat.
Posted by Peter at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2007
I guess Shawn won't be opening there.
Are you interested in internet cafe's? You'd better stay away from China:
For those unable to afford their own computers -- the vast majority here -- going online in a clandestine dive has become the only option; the local Communist Party leader banned Internet cafes nine months ago as a bad influence on minors. "If they dare to reopen, we might launch another campaign to shut them all down again," proclaimed Zhang Guobiao, party secretary for the surrounding Fangshan County.
And why?
China's leaders have professed a desire to see people use the Web widely to seek knowledge and economic advantage. But they also have expressed determination to keep it under party control. The goal, they have said, is to keep Chinese away from sites deemed unfit because of pornographic or politically sensitive content -- or, in the case of Fangshan County, because they waste teenagers' time with frivolous games.
Thats why underground spots have been opening up all over the country.
Posted by Peter at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2007
Can't help but think something is missing.....
Chris K sent me this link. It contains the various Apple software and their compatibility with various operating systems?
Notice anything missing?
Posted by Peter at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)
Download the drivers BEFORE upgrade
Several users, myself included, had wireless issues once upgrading to Windows Vista. Many other users of other devices are running into driver issues since their upgrade. This is a normal.
One big difference between the XP to Vista upgrade and the ME to XP upgrade is the technology. At the time of the ME to XP upgrade high speed connections were much rarer and cd/dvd burners were not always standard equipment. Of course today almost no computer comes without a burner and more people seem to have high speed than not.
What does this mean to people upgrading? It means if you can go to the sites of the manufacturers of the system devices (wireless cards, video cards etc) and external devices (printers etc) and download and burn the vista drivers before upgrade without an inordinate amount of time and effort.
Take a glance through device manager and see what you have, visit the sites and look for Vista drivers, download them to a folder and burn them to disk (if doing a clean install) or just leave them in a folder to install later (if upgrading). This will save you a help session and make the transition a smooth ride.
Posted by Peter at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
The License agreement or job description matters
On more than one occasion we have commented on the importance of reading a license agreement before agreeing to it (particularly with freeware)a person needs to know what they are getting into before they jump in and be sure that the agreement is compatible with what they need or want to do with their machine.
Another example of this is frankly this blog. You will note that my postings widely vary in terms of time, some are pretty long some are just quick links and some (like this one is going to be) are long rants.
My job is to support customers. Right now I'm not on the clock and won't be for another 4 hours or so. During the day if a customer comes in then that trumps the blog. I'm paid as a tech support the blog is an extra thing that we do.
The blog and the podcasts are "value added" and promotional services. We make our living by selling our tech support. Here at HiWired our primary job is to fix your PC, Mp3, word document etc, etc, etc. The costs of the blog and the podcast are paid for in the same way. If the blog stopped tomorrow we would still be here getting Vista machines to see wireless networks, cleaning spyware off systems and finding documents that aren't recovering in Word.
I and the other people who post here understand that we are a business and our goal and stated aim is to serve the customer and make our profit. That is how a business survives, the day we lost sight of that is the day we start to decline. If the blog inhibited that basic business goal then it wouldn't be worth having.
This brings us in a very round about way to the big news scandal in the blogosphere regarding Presidential candidate John Edwards' campaign appointing a blogger in chief. The campaign has taken some considerable heat over the past writings and statements of said blogger. Right now Ms Amanda Marcotte (any relation to Don Marcotte of the Bruins?)is the #9 search term in Technorati (which still says we aren't posting) There are roundups in several places on the net my favorite of course being here but our interest in the entire episode is really a function of how the blogosphere and the risks and rewards thereof.
We have often talked about free speech here, a personal blog is one of the greatest forms of free speech ever invented. In such an environment one can say what he or she things to the world and can accept the accolades and slings and arrows that come with it. Suppression of such speech is a sad thing and we have argued against it on many occasions.
When you get a job, things change, a person with a job has not only a particular job description, but the proposition that they are hired to help the company achieve its goals is inherent to the whole process.
A presidential campaign has a single goal; to elect their chosen candidate. If an employees actions aid that goal then it is a wise hire if not then it isn't. This is the final decision that the Edwards campaign has to make concerning Ms Marcotte.
Ms. Marcotte also has two things to consider: If her primary goal is employment, then it is just a question of persuading her employer that she is a valuable member of the team. If her goal is the election of Mr. Edwards then she has to consider if her presence is more valuable outside the campaign than inside.
All of this goes back to the idea that the internet speech however free it might be has costs and responsibility. If you write something, put something on the web, or do something foolish that ends up on a cell phone camera, a potential employer can do a google search and pull it up. In my own experience if you googled my name before May of last year the primary result would be Amazon reviews. If you google it now the primary result are people arguing over a letter I sent Glenn at the end of May instead (I've been too busy and frankly not inclined to write reviews lately). For good or ill that that is part of my face on the net and a stranger who goggles or yahoos me will judge accordingly.
So remember this when you are e-mailing, posting, commenting etc. To paraphrase President Truman the internet is a kitchen, when you use it prepare to deal with heat it produces and the splatters and stains that come with it.
Posted by Peter at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2007
Well this changes the landscape
Via Glenn some really big news on the RIAA and DRM:
Debbie Foster, the RIAA file sharing defendent who notoriously took on the organization after it went after her for copyright infringement, has won some amount of the legal fees [see update below] she seeks from the RIAA after having their case against her dismissed last summer.
In my opinion the impact of such a ruling can't be overestimated:
Listening Post has obtained a copy of Judge Lee R. West's Order, issued today, in which the judge grants Foster an award of "reasonable attorney fees in this action under § 505 of the Copyright Act," but denies her "attorneys' fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1927."
The very fact that the RIAA will have to pay fees changes the equation totally. I've said more than once that it isn't worth a lawsuit to avoid a fee. Well is it worth the risk of a $50k payout for the RIAA to go after individuals who aren't intimidated?
Finally, Thomson said that the label will likely owe Foster more than $50,000, since today's Order allows her to supplement the attorneys' fees total to include additional time spent on the case.
The moment that a second case has this result; all bets are off.
Posted by Peter at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
No Vista for You fair Ipod owner!
As is normal when a new Microsoft OS hits the streets there is a rush to get drivers and software up to date so it can run with the system. I had to download new drivers for example for my Brother all-in-one, however it looks like Apple is slow on the take here:
According to Apple, these issues include an inability to play songs bought from the iTunes online store, an inability to update or restore iPod software, calendar and contacts synchronisation problems, and, worse of all, the corruption of data on the iPod.
Unlike other companies Apple is a direct competitor to Microsoft in the Operating System field. In addition to this the IPOD is fighting with the Zune, (or rather the Zune hopes to catch up with the IPOD) so perhaps there less of an incentive to get Vista compatible software up to speed in the hopes to either deny sales to Microsoft or to steer those IPOD customers toward a MAC.
Anyways Since most IPODS are more expensive that the Vista Home Premium update it is not likely that consumers will risk their pods for it when XP is a perfectly good OS.
Posted by Peter at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2007
Bill Gates, Open mouth insert foot?
Bill Gates made a statement that was rather astounding:
In another portion of the interview, he added, "Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine."
This is frankly just asking for it. Charles Johnson puts it best:
I’m going out on a limb to make a wild prediction: Bill Gates is going to regret saying this.
Now Gates is a smart guy, if he is right then he will rightly have some serious crowing to do. I wouldn't bet the farm on it though.
Posted by Peter at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2007
Jeff Jarvis puts it better
A while back I wrote that YouTube actually increases sales of copyrighted products that are located on it. We quoted YouTube a few days ago concerning Viacom's pullout:
The company also said it was "unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube's passionate audience which has helped to promote many of Viacom's shows."
Jeff Jarvis agrees and cuts to the chase:
Viacom just cut off that means of free — free! — promotion and distribution. Instead, the company is going to have to advertise heavily in hopes of reaching my hard-to-reach son — he’s busy watching YouTube, you see, instead of MTV and instead of television, for that matter
His final conclusion is spot on (emphasis mine):
Damned fools.
Posted by Peter at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)
The best games of the XP era
Now that Windows XP is officially last generation, Voodoo Extreme has released its list of the 20 top games of the last generation:
My favorite Civ IV clocks in at #10:
I'm not the biggest turn-based strategy fan, but even I love Civ. The best iteration to be released during XP's reign was undoubtedly the fourth of the famed series. While there was no huge fleshed-out single-player campaign to speak of, the different scenarios and cultures to play in—and "play as"—gave Civ IV an enormous amount of longevity. Stir in some multiplayer mayhem, a few mods and custom maps, and the entertainment is almost endless
Game #1? What Else:
What can I say? How can eight million active players be wrong? World of WarCraft has kept PC gaming alive since its release. This perhaps came at the expense of other massively multiplayer titles, but still it's the most played retail game on the planet.
I've never played it and don't plan to, but what do I know, I still play DOS games.
Posted by Peter at 09:08 AM | Comments (2)
Netscape, Netscape I've heard that name somewhere....
When I was checking Slashdot today and saw a link to this article my first reaction was: "They are still making new versions of Netscape?"
Apparently the browser that once ruled the roost is still out there.
Since Netscape's people created Mozilla and You would think that they would abandon the old browser, well you would think wrong:
The official Netscape Blog has announced that Netscape 9 is under development. Like the current Netscape Browser 8, this release will presumably be based on Mozilla Firefox. According to the announcement, Netscape 9 will be a standalone browser (lacking components like a mail client or Web page editor) and will have tight integration with the Netscape.com website, which was relaunched as a Digg-style user-driven news and current events portal last year.
There was a time with Netscape had IE type numbers but now it is in use by only about 1%. Still I shouldn't talk, I keep using Mozilla as browser and install it on all my machines as my browser of choice for fun stuff so why would it be odd that people still like Netscape?
If you want to bring back those fond memories or at least boost their numbers a bit you can download the browser here and read their blog here.
Posted by Peter at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2007
Bill Gates on Vista
Just time enough between customers to link (not to quote) this interview with Bill Gates on Vista and the Apple Ads that are not his favorites.
I figured everyone would be at parties today, apparently not.
Posted by Peter at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
wow
Totally flat out today will post as soon as possible.
Posted by Peter at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2007
One final Posthumous thank you
At our one year anniversary I posted the following:
There are a lot of things that go into making a business a success, but the most important thing is you!So thanks to you all, Ronald, Shirlee, Eldonna, Doc, Ruth and all the rest of you (much too many to name)for your loyal support. We look forward to serving all of you for many years to come.
Well I just found out that two of our oldest customers Ruth (mentioned above) and James passed away recently.
There were regulars here and gave us their loyal support at a time when we were much smaller and trying to establish ourselves. This means an awful lot when your company is new. We got to know them both well. All the old timers here worked with them at one time or another.
Now the company has grown by leaps and bounds and the number of new faces around me boggles the mind. If it wasn't for people like Ruth and James who gave us that start and told others about us this would not be the case. We might be one of those many companies that gave it a good shot but never quite made it.
Ruth, James; Thank you very much. You will both be missed.
Posted by Peter at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)
Last chance to see Nicktoons at Youtube?
Via LGF Looks like Viacom has had enough:
Media company Viacom Inc., which owns the cable networks MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and the Paramount Pictures movie studio, asked YouTube on Friday to remove more than 100,000 unauthorized clips from its hugely popular video-sharing site. ADVERTISEMENTViacom said in a statement that after several months of talks with YouTube and its corporate parent, the online search leader Google Inc., "it has become clear that YouTube is unwilling to come to a fair market agreement that would make Viacom content available to YouTube users.
YouTube's response? Ok it's your funeral:
YouTube said in a statement that it would comply with the request from Viacom and said it cooperates "with all copyright holders to identify and promptly remove infringing content as soon as we are officially notified."The company also said it was "unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube's passionate audience which has helped to promote many of Viacom's shows."
They must agree with this old post. of ours.
Posted by Peter at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)
The return of low tech...
A while back we talked about how technology can't solve everything. Apparently Florida agrees.
Gov. Charlie Crist announced plans on Thursday to abandon the touch-screen voting machines that many of Florida’s counties installed after the disputed 2000 presidential election. The state will instead adopt a system of casting paper ballots counted by scanning machines in time for the 2008 presidential election.Voting experts said Florida’s move, coupled with new federal voting legislation expected to pass this year, could be the death knell for the paperless electronic touch-screen machines.
Why, because of the bottom line of security:
Federal technology experts concluded late last year that paperless touch-screen machines could not be secured from tampering.
Glenn take a bow, you were way ahead of the curve.
Posted by Peter at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)
That's why I'm a tech and he's a technical director
Heard from George Ou concerning our post about how to avoid that Vista exploit. He pointed out there was a faster way of getting where you need to go to turn it off.
A new feature of Windows Vista allows you to find a program/file that you want via a start button search:
As you type the name of what you are looking for the search window (see bottom of image to the right) displays the possible entries, the most likely entry is listed at the top. 
In this particular case you could either choose "Text to Speech" and then hit the Speech Recognition tab or choose "Speech recognition options" and then choose "Advanced speech options".
The method you use is less important than getting it done.
UPDATE: The first image I uploaded looked absolutely awful and ran into the other post below so I replaced it with the split image you see of the top of the search screen and the bottom, the stuff in the middle that I left out shows the search results under the categories of Files and communications. This is an easy way to find e-mails without opening up outlook and to me that is an even better reason to use this feature.
Posted by Peter at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2007
Here is how you keep it from turning on
Our last post talked about how a flaw in Vista allows your system to be hacked using sound files on the system giving it commands. It occurs to me that although we posted the suggest to turn off the speech stuff we never told you how to do it. Here is how:
Go to Control Panel:
Select ease of access:
Choose Speech Recognition:
Then Advanced Speech Options:
If you have Vista control panel set to classic view then go directly to the Text to Speech icon:
From this page make sure that Speech recognition is NOT starting when the computer does.
I didn't see a spot to totally disable the feature in the Windows features section of Programs or we would have gone there first. Hopefully Microsoft will be on the ball about fixing this one ASAP.
Posted by Peter at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)
George Ou and a vista exploit
Well just what I needed to read after installing Vista on the system:
I recorded a sound file that would engage speech command on Vista, then engaged the start button, and then I asked for the command prompt. When I played back the sound file with the speakers turned up loud, it actually engaged the speech command system and fired up the start menu. I had to try a few more times to get the audio recording quality high enough to get the exact commands I wanted but the shocking thing is that it worked! Anyone that's ever visited MySpace knows how many annoying webpages out there that will start blasting loud MP3 music as soon as they enter the page.
If you are a person who leave the computer on overnight this can be done without you catching it. George makes this suggestion:
My recommendation is that Vista users disable the speech command feature from automatically starting up in Vista and only use it in a supervised manner until there is a patch for this. Vista speech commands should completely filter out any sound coming out of the computer system to prevent unauthorized speech commands coming from malicious sound files for a long term fix. Microsoft should at least implement a short term fix by letting the user set a unique pass phrase or series of numbers to activate speech commands rather than allowing a fixed phrase activate the system.
Microsoft has confirmed the issue.
Posted by Peter at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
Lets repeat what stays and what goes.
I think it's time to review the posting/commenting rules guidelines, etc that I follow here, for all you new guys that I hope will be posting (and we've hired quite a few) and for our readers so they know what to expect. Here is a quick handy guide:
1. With minor exceptions all posts have a tech, internet, or blog angle. That doesn't stop me from including side items that might not be of a tech nature, but other than an intro or a brief personal post or two, you will be reading about tech stuff here.
2. As a rule if there is a link it will not be to a spot that contains stuff that isn't work friendly. If I quote such a site because there is a relevant post may name it but won't link to it. I will also not link to cracks and hacks although I may mention their existence. If you want to break the law go ahead and google how to do it. We aren't going to show you how.
3. Everyone here is an adult (physically anyway) so we expect our posters to conduct themselves accordingly.
4. Until and unless I am told differently from on high there is no pre/post-censorship of posts provided that rules 1-3 are followed. If I disagree with a post, I might put a comment or a follow up post to that effect. If you disagree with me do the same. I do reserve the right to correct spelling and grammar errors if I find them, and please let me know if I miss something like that myself as I'm a big offender in that department.
Trackbacks: I don't do trackbacks anymore, the amount of spam/porn, etc trackbacks have increased to the point where it just isn't worth it. Each poster has the ability to allow trackbacks on an individual post but I expect you to police them, people don't come here to find links to Viagra.
Comments: I'm debating if I should start comment registration, open comments leads to a ton of time deleting spam comments, comment approval takes the same amount of time but at least the spam doesn't hit the site, in the last week somebody called watt1, watt2, watt3 has been putting up gibberish like comments, I allowed the first one as it seemed harmless but that was a mistake as further nonsense has been coming up. If you want to say something fine, even if you want to complain and insult me that's fine too, but say something. I will not spell check comments but I will censor out vulgarities and swearing without removing the comment. Depending on how busy I am, comments close on a post after 30 days.
Suggestions/Questions/podcast interview requests: If you have any put them in comments I'll post them and we'll go from there.
Posted by Peter at 07:52 AM | Comments (0)
There goes another $70 on Vista
Well I started taking screen shots and photo shots of my vista install/upgrade, I'll be including some of them in a later post, but to put a quick bottom line on things (since it has been much too busy to do anything else). When I finally got to the install screen proper, I didn't have the option to upgrade, only to do a clean install since I had Media Center on the laptop. I totally forgot that I had media center since I never use any of the features of it.
So after backing up everything and resisting the temptation to go ahead and wipe the system (which would have been very foolish) I went back to the store and was able to exchange the basic and $70 for the home premium.
The sticker shock of all this extra money is getting to me but since the bills won't show up for another 3 weeks I think I'll manage.
Posted by Peter at 07:38 AM | Comments (0)