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Archive for May, 2009

Use your Mac as Mac

Posted by Nolan at 7:36 AM on May 23, 2009

Just because a Mac can run Windows doesn’t mean you should.  Yes I know that many tests revealed that the fastest PC on the market was a Mac running Windows on Boot Camp. I know that the virtualization software has made incredible progress.  If I buy a Mac it should be so that I can use the OS for what it is.  So why this blatant opinion piece?  Well, as a mac fan, I hear many complaints.

mac-os-x-v1056-leopard-apple-store-us “My Mac slows down and doesn’t run that fast.” Uh, well are you running OS X and Windows at the same time with several applications in each?  OS X does phenomenal at managing memory.  I often am running 10 applications at the same time and have no idea.  However, think about what you are doing in when running Windows at the same time.  You are running OS X, virtualization software, and monster Windows.  Windows Vista is so bloated that it barely runs itself without lots of ram.  Really, OS X does incredibly well at running both at the same time with all things considered.  If you insist on running Windows applications on a Mac and need super performance, then at least run Windows in boot camp and not virtualization.

“There are not as many applications out for the Mac so I need to use Windows.” That is so 90′s.  The Mac developer community is growing much faster than the Windows world in percentage.  I have yet to receive this complaint where I could not respond with multiple, great options of software on a Mac (and cheaper I might add).  If I must admit some ignorance, it would be in the world of enterprise.

The goal of this article is not intended to be a Mac vs. PC article, just a bit of balance on the issue of running Windows on a Mac.   If you love Windows then buy a PC and run Windows.  If you need to run both then a Mac is your only option.  Run Windows in Boot Camp or expect a slight performance ding in virtualization.  As a Mac man I stand by my title and opening statements.  Just because a Mac can run Windows doesn’t mean you should.  Use your Mac as a Mac.  It’s where I am happiest.

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Posted in Apple, Microsoft, Windows

Comments 5 Comments

Bloggers have it. Newspapers want it.

Posted by Nolan at 6:58 AM on May 23, 2009

There are many articles comparing the pros and cons of physical print news versus the online/blogging news.  The following lists are not pros and cons but what each group has that the other side wants.  What could happen with the merging of the two?  Thanks to Tech Crunch for stirring my brain.

What Newspapers Have and Bloggers Want/Need:

  1. Bloggers have less official access to many press conferences and meetings. Who gets the press pass?  How do you get the press pass?  Will it not eventually recreate a few sources for news as different agencies pick and stick with favorites?  Newspapers made narrowing it down easy.
  2. covetBloggers have less incentive/time to investigate and search out multiples sources. Bloggers seem to surf the web not pound the streets and interview people face to face.  Newspapers live that way.
  3. Bloggers write about what interests them, not what interests others. With no boss giving assignments, who will report on those needed but sometimes mundane happenings?  Will we be stuck piecing together all of our news from 500 RSS feeds?  Newspapers make basic world, national, and local news easy.
  4. Bloggers are not the one “go to” place for news. Difficult to find a local blogger.  I do not know of a single blogger reporting on news in our area of 175,000 people .  I guess I would have to look if the paper shut down.
  5. Bloggers have less accountability/oversight to preserve the truth. I know, I know, that the community could police itself just like Wikipedia.  I’m not sure they will or really have the ability.  Besides, most people believe whatever they read and probably won’t go back to see any updates or corrections.

What Bloggers Have and Newspapers Want/Need:

  1. Print Media has a narrow chain of command that dictates what and when news is published. It is no wonder why dictator, communistic, and extreme governments want control of the media?  Why are news agencies tending to endorse political candidates? The news has been far from fair and balanced for a long, long time.  Blogs are more numerous, yield less individual influence, say what they think, and allow more free interaction.
  2. Print Media has a need to make a larger profit.  Bloggers hope to pay the bills.  There is nothing wrong with this.  It is the goal of every business owner to make money.  Why should newspapers be any different?  The problem is that it is a very low margin/no margin business that is about to go on a ventilator.  The motivation and ability to survive is decreasing.
  3. Print Media has a high overhead for getting the news to the reader. Ouch this is number one.  Manufacturing and delivery is expensive.  Presses are extremely expensive, paper is expensive, labor is expensive, management is expensive, delivery is expensive.   The web does it on the cheap.  I can deliver the same news to as many people for pennies on the dollar as a blogger.  And it won’t take much ad revenue to pay for that delivery.
  4. Print Media has few ways to guage how much of their content is read. The newspaper does not create a log file ever time my eyes read a certain article or ad.  Advertisers are left to subjective decisions on whether business increased because of the ad most of the time.  The web brings freedom and analytics.
  5. Print Media locks down the content and its distribution. There is no open source in this land.  Republish the AP article and receive a DMCA.  Everything is copyrighted.
  6. Print media now publishes old news. 24 hours is not soon enough.  12 hours is not soon enough.  2 hours is not soon enough.  What do you mean “The game was not finished as of press time”?  By the time your article reaches me 36 hours after the game, you have lost me.  I can visit a site, use an RSS reader to get the headlines, or subscribe to email updates and text alerts.  I do not even have to wait for the “top of the hour”, “quarter of the hour” news on the radio.

Enough of my opinion.  What is the real truth?  Will you, the community, let me know?  Are we really ready for this new world of news?

Posted in blog, blogger, bloggers, blogging, Information, New Media

Comments 3 Comments

GNC-2009-05-21 #479 Headed for Honolulu!

Posted by geeknews at 8:41 PM on May 21, 2009

Headed back to Honolulu, I have loved my time in Texas but ready to get back to Hawaii and spend time with the family. The last month has been a long one for my wife and I and I am looking forward to the weekend. Be safe out there and enjoy this show.

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Listener Links:
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GPS System close to failure?
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Show Topic Notes:
Jetpack Project
Laptop cooler using Ion technology
1.6TB Storage on DVD sized Disk?
Cool SATA HDD dock
Urine is the new Water on the ISS
Robots on Mars work to free Opportunity!
Amazon allows Delivery of Data via Fedex.
Mogulus is now LiveStream.com
Faster Google Searches for those logged in.
Pet Gadgets now in vogue!
Brilliant Bill lay pipe for fiber during road projects!
Media companies want more money from Pirate Bay.
Cable companies want to experiment on Public.
CES expanding Apple section by 21,000 square feet!
Hubble is now loaded for more science!
Limelight buys Kiptronic!
Crater on Mars reveals water history on Mars.
21 Satellites per year for next 10 years to be launched!
Judge Reviewing Pirate Bay Biased Judge removed for same Bias.
FCC can search your home without a warrant!
24hrs of Video uploaded every minute on YouTube!
Netflix now on Windows Media Center!
Linux for Power Windows Users.

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Posted in Podcast

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Mini Review of SquareSpace.Com

Posted by fogview at 11:35 AM on May 21, 2009

From time-to-time I develop websites for clients and they generally want something reasonable (cheap) and easy to Squarespacemaintain. I’ve been hearing about a new company, SquareSpace, and how great it was so I decided to try it for myself. I was generating a proposal to update a website and decided to implement a prototype in Squarespace so the client could actually test drive my ideas.

I signed up for the 14 day free trial and watched a few “getting started” videos to help understand the interface. The site uses a visual interface and it’s very easy to get started. You pick a template style and color scheme depending on the type of site you want to create: blog, photo gallery, commercial/business. The templates are just a starting point because everything can be customized. You can even start with a blank screen and build your site from scratch. The templates are really CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) pages that can be customized by a visual interface or directly adding/modifying the CSS code.

In the site editor you can add pages and sections in sidebars that appear on every page. When you create a page or section you specify what “widget” to use. Widgets determine the type of content you want to add (journal/blog, html/text, links, search, map, forum, etc.). You can add/remove widgets and even change templates on the fly.

The site editor has four modes: Style Editor, Structure Editor, Content Editor, and Preview. The Style editor is where you pick/change your template, change column layouts, adjust fonts, colors and sizes, and customize the CSS. The Structure editor is where you add sections and pages. The Content editor is the section you will use the most after your site is configured the way you want it. This is where you add blog content, upload photos to your gallery, and change the information that your visitors will see. The last mode, Preview, shows you what your visitors will see when they visit your site.

Since this is a mini review I won’t go into all the details but I will tell you that I had a simple site up and running in four hours without any CSS or HTML coding. The site was mostly functional but it didn’t have the exact look and feel I wanted. I started switching templates to find a feature or a look I wanted for certain parts of my site and looked to see how it was implemented. In some cases it was a simple setting change in the visual interface and in others it was CSS overrides that made the difference (this is where watching the advanced help videos really helped). In one case I wanted to create a HTML page and add links to other pages. Since the linked pages were not created through the normal “add page” process, I couldn’t find a way to do it. I searched the Squarespace Help forum and found a mention of creating a hidden section on the sidebar and creating my pages there. This worked but seemed to be a kludge in the overall design.

Squarespace pricing starts out at $8/month for the Basic package and runs to $50/month for the Community package. You will need the $14/month Pro package if you want to map the website you create to your own domain name.

Pros:

  • Easy to create a website in minutes.
  • Lots of features for creating, maintaining, and monitoring your site.
  • Import content from other blogging sites: WordPress, Movable Type/Type Pad, and Blogger.
  • Detailed website analytics available.
  • Private site areas (password protected) and multiple editors.
  • Supports RSS and iTunes tags.
  • 100% customizable.
  • Great pricing.

Cons:

  • Website must be hosted by SquareSpace.
  • May require some HTML and CSS knowledge to really tweak the site the way you want (you may need to hire a consultant to finish the design).
  • No direct support for adding audio and video content. You can embed flash players using HTML Injection points but that feature is not available in the Basic or Pro packages. This may be supported with new widgets in the future.

In conclusion I was very impressed with what Squarespace offers. They have so many great features that I can’t possibly talked about of all of them here. I would suggest checking it out for yourself (14 day free trial) if for no other reason than to see how easy it is to create your own website.

73’s, Tom

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Posted in blogs, internet, weblogs

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The Ethics of Geekdom

Posted by susabelle at 11:35 AM on May 20, 2009

I have just had my second encounter with a coworker accessing my computer without my permission, on my login.  This means two of the twenty people in my department have some questionable ethics.  I’m laying odds that it’s more than that, but I’ve only known of two at this point, and I don’t want to make too many assumptions.

What really bugs me is that I would never do this to either of the people who did it to me, or to anyone else in my department, much less the entire campus.  There is no reason I would need to, and quite honestly, whatever they are working on is none of my business.  This most recent episode was borne of nosiness, a coworker wanted to know what fun new toy I was getting that she is not.  I had been gone from my desk for about twenty minutes, and came back to find her hunched over my desk with her hand on the mouse, clicking through my recent documents folder.  When she saw me, she made a very lame joke and laughed, as if I would just think it was all some sort of harmless chicanery.

There is nothing harmless about accessing someone else’s files.  It should never occur in the workplace, especially between members of the IT department.  Our jobs, out of necessity, give us access to things that other people on campus don’t have access to.  I have a master key that will let me in any room in any building on campus.  I also have rights to servers and desktop machines, for the purpose of fixing problems or providing training to our end users.  I take my job seriously, and I cannot imagine a time when it would be okay for me to access the files of our campus president, for example, or those of a faculty member.  There is just no rationale for me doing that, and further, my own personal ethics would stop me from doing so.  I equate snooping in someone’s computer the same as snooping through a purse or wallet or dresser drawers.  It just isn’t done.

I have been told by our department manager that I need to lock my computer when I leave my office.  And yes, I know I can lock it and it is easy to do, even though I have to do it three times (three active computers on my desk).  But I don’t feel that I should have to do that.  I should be able to trust my coworkers, the people that sit in the same office with me, the people that I am entrusting work to and accepting work from.  These are people that, presumably, have the same “best interests” of the campus and the department in mind in everything they do.

Of course, presumption and assumption are one thing, and reality can be vastly different.  As a geek with a lot of technical power over users, it is a disappointing to think that our users may not be safe from the geeks tasked with keeping them up and running.  Very sad indeed.

Posted in Geek Culture

Comments 6 Comments

When Does Windows Security Go Too Far?

Posted by susabelle at 8:27 AM on May 20, 2009

windows-7-logoAs a Vista user, I’ve had to learn to deal with the extra security in place to keep me from installing things that shouldn’t be installed.  (Yes, I know I can turn that off and have, but for the sake of argument, bear with me here.  Thanks.)  Anything that needs to install or update requires a second “yes” confirmation from the user, and some things won’t install without an administrator confirmation, as well.

This is all well and good when you can’t trust the users, and I understand why this failsafe exists in the Vista operating system.

Now comes word from the Windows7 developers that Microsoft’s latest operating system will no longer allow AutoRun to operate from anything but a CD/DVD drive.  This means that if you’re carrying around a flash drive with portable OpenOffice, inserting it in a machine running Windows7 will not trigger the AutoRun window in the same way as before; i.e. you won’t have a choice to run or install the program found on the flash drive, you will only have the option to open a folder to view the files.

This is may be only partially problematic for some users, as opening the folder to view would then allow you to run or install what is on the flash drive.  It just takes a few extra clicks.  Where it becomes problematic is when users need to have access to a particular program in order to use the computer in the first place, for example, a blind user with a screen reading program on a flash drive that s/he takes wherever they go so they can access public computer resources.  In most cases, that user cannot navigate the computer without the screen reading software, and with the AutoRun feature disabled, that person is completely locked out.

There is a way to “fool” the computer into thinking otherwise, at least for the moment.  Flash drives running the U3 operating system  actually fool the Windows7 operating system into thinking that it is a CD/DVD, instead of a flash drive.  But I expect a WIndows7 to sew up this hole pretty quickly.  I am wondering how Windows7 will deal with flash drives that contain security information that allow a user access to extremely secure systems, such as those used in bio and nuclear labs.  With the AutoRun so clamped down, these user-access security systems may become completely dysfunctional.

Information on Windows7 blogs indicate that this “security enhancement” will be put into an update to Windows Vista shortly.  Microsoft’s reasoning is to short-circuit the Conficker and other similar worms/trojans.  But I’m not so sure the cure is not worse than the cause, at this point.

More information can be found at Technet, and at Microsoft.com.

Posted in Microsoft

Comments 1 Comment

Why I Like Amazon Music

Posted by susabelle at 6:26 AM on May 20, 2009

I have been a consumer of Amazon MP3′s for at least two years.  Probably longer.  I choose to buy music through the Amazon MP3 downloader above almost anything else.  One simple reason:  no DRM.

Amazon MP3′s can be downloaded for great prices, and they can then be burned to a CD, moved to an MP3 player, transferred to another computer, whatever you want to make your listening easier.  With iTunes, if I download a song or album, I have to use it on that machine, or on my iPod, but can use it nowhere else.  In our house, there are four people, 7 computers, and four MP3 players, only one of which is an iPod.  iTunes may have a great selection of music, but because there is no flexibility in use, iTunes is pretty much useless to me.

From Amazon last week I downloaded an album of 50 kid songs for my 7 year old.  I burned them onto CD and placed them on her computer so we could update her MP3 player when she is ready for new music.  I also downloaded two jazz albums for my own use, burned them to CD for my archives and also uploaded them to my iPod.  And I downloaded an album of circus music for my husband that he will use for background music when doing shows.  I burned them to CD and they are now in his show trunk.  And finally I downloaded the latest Green Day album for my 15 year old.  She immediately put it on her MP3 player.

I paid $23.95 for all of this music.  The same music on iTunes would have cost well over $100, and the songs would have all had to go on my iPod.  With Amazon, I can download whatever I want and give it to whichever family member is desiring it, and save it to whatever device I choose.  This flexibility pushes Amazon to the top of my list when it comes to music accumulation.  I live in constant fear that I will lose my downloaded iTunes music in a computer crash or iPod failure.  With the Amazon music, I know it’s always there, in multiple places, and that if I crash a computer or my iPod, I can still retrieve my Amazon downloads either from the CD I put them on for archives, or by logging into Amazon from another computer and re-downloading them (for free).

Another bonus for using Amazon?  They often have freebies, or 99-cent album sales, or special deals (I got the Green Day album for 5.99 as a deal of the day).  When it comes to pinching a penny, I’m an expert, and I definitely take advantage of Amazon’s specials and sales.

To be fair, I have also tried eMusic, and while it’s a great service with decent prices, selection is rather limited and can keep me from using that subscription enough to make it worth paying for.  Perhaps when they are further developed, they will be a better service.  eMusic downloads are also DRM free and can be burned to CD or uploaded to any type of MP3 player.

Posted in amazon, drm, ipod, itunes, MP3, Music

Comments 5 Comments

Results of Geek News Central on Wolfram Alpha

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 9:44 AM on May 19, 2009

geeknewscentralheirarchyIt’s an interesting picture, right? Well this was made by a website. Geeknewscentral to be precise. This is a Heirarchy of Geeknewscentral.

Wolfram Alpha is the new “Computational Knowledge Engine”. It’s not really a search engine like Google – If you search for “Geeknewscentral” you will get no information. However, if you ask “3+2″, you will get the result of “5″. If you enter “Uranium”, you will get all information on Uranium. So on and so forth.

In the meantime, pretty pictures….

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Posted in Search News

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GNC-2009-05-18 #478 TWC Call at End of Show

Posted by geeknews at 10:05 PM on May 18, 2009

Official show ends 10 minutes before end of Audio file. Some bonus material after the end of the show. Lot’s to share tonight had a great weekend, hooked up with Trucker Tom we hit Fry’s and Guitar Center aka Geek Heaven. Lots of tech news tonight and congrats of course to the Hubble Heroes for their great work on Hubble!

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Listener Links:
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Ann Arbor News R.I.P.
Soldiers being prepared for Telepathy???
Airman Notices Fuel Leak on Commercial Aircraft.
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Show Topic Notes:
Hubble Heroes
Twitter and Facebook competing with Google?
AT&T Reduced iPhone Data Plans!
WiFi for your Camera
Massage chair for the brave!
Machines versus Man?
Plug guide for worldwide travelers.
FIOS from a Reseller at reduced prices!
Walmart replacing Compusa and Circuit City?
NASA tools used on Hubble
Tech IPO are back for profitable companies.
How much is your site worth if you want to sell.
Sarbanes Oaxley on chopping block?
Amazon EC2 adds automatic expansion.
Craigslist ask for Apology from S.C. Attorney General.
Seek and you shall find Twitter Users!
PowerPress plug thanks for the Mention.
Awesome Hubble Mission Pictures from Boston.com
P2P Filesharing is Fair Use?
1220 Pound Meteorite found in farmers field.
Is Gas headed to $5.00?
Windows 7 may be more expensive will you still buy it?
Lawyer in RIAA battle throws in towel after 130K in expenses.
Mac sails dip in April again!
Wolfram Alpha let me know what you find.
Toshiba sues over DVD Manufacturing.
Atlantis crew wraps up repair mission.
New Airport Rules require ID and Ticket Match.
Office 2010 already on BitTorrent sites.
Ball and Chain Study Ball :)
Relief to Drupal users in New Book.
Google tells all including your college work.
Movie Studios want ISP to admit wrong doing.

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Computer repair shops: the 21st Century’s car mechanic

Posted by John Parie at 8:26 PM on May 18, 2009
One of the worst feelings a person can have is seeking the repair of a product that they have a limited knowledge of how it works. How do they know what they are being told is true? How much does it really cost to fix? How will I know if they really replaced anything and it was just a loose screw causing the problem?
 
I talk to home and small business computer users daily in the course of my job and the one thing I continue to see is how much they distrust any IT person they come in contact with.
 
I can’t blame them as they may have seen the same stories on the news about the big box computer stores and national computer repair companies and what their technicians have been caught doing to users and their computers.
 
The more disturbing thing I’m see is how mom and pop repair stores are selling these people bootleg copies of software and loading up corporate networks with “Free for personal use” software.
 
I had a client ask me how much it would cost to replace Vista on the machine she had bought a few months back. I told her is would be the cost of a copy of XP plus the install time, she turns to me and says, “My old IT guy was able to upgrade our four of our other machines from Windows 2000 for $35 each.”  At that point I looked at the machines and each one of them had the same CD-Key and an activation hack loaded.
 
I believe independent shops are hurting themselves and others in the field by devaluing the cost of their services and in the end leaving the customer in a bad situation as well as perpetuating the myth that IT people are arrogant and will sell them what ever snake oil tonic they have to make a quick buck.
 
The main thing I think people should look for when seeking computer repair outside the home is personal recommendations. Talk to your friends and family and see who they have used in the past. Nothing beats the one-on-one interaction with a repairman as well as how they talk to their customers and explain the problems and possible solutions. Also if they say they need to replace a part, ask for the old one back even you have no plan to keep it.
Thankfully I have never been in the situation where I have had to rely on a total stranger to fix a computer of mine that contains family photos, banking information, personal emails and whatever else passes through my computer on a daily basis.
 
What experiences have you or your friends and family had with these shops and what are your tips on finding a quality shop?
 
As always I can be reached at jparie (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Posted in Geek Culture, Information, Opinion

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