Land of Oz

Memories

ScienceDaily: They [Alex Zettl and colleagues]note that William the Conqueror's Doomsday Book, written on vellum in 1086 AD, has survived 900 years. However, the medium used for a digital version of the book, encoded in 1986, failed within 20 years.

This is for those folks (and that seems most) who can't wait to transfer all their memories to RAM, ROM or to some other digital acronym. All those precious family photos and movies that you've patiently put on tape or disk aren't going to be there all that long. In my old house we found newspapers dated from 1918 that were still mostly perfectly readable. Even with a few nail holes and tears where they were creased didn't keep me from reading about the front line in Europe.

On the other hand, I've noticed some of the CDs that I used to archive some college work on only 10 years ago, have failed. There's no holes, they haven't been stored in temperature extremes or in the weather, but have been neatly stored in CD containers in the dark. Granted, they weren't the special archival quality disks available, but then who does use those?

I have regretted the loss of some early computer programs I wrote. A couple of games to be exact. As late as a few years ago, I did have a cassette with one of them. However, how common is a TRS-80 Model 1 with cassette to read them these days. Five and a quarter inch disks are virtually non-existent these days when once they used to be as common as three-and-a-half inch disks - which themselves are becoming quite scarce.

On the other hand, I have a photo of my grandparents wedding (very early 20th century) that is as sharp as the day it was processed. What about your kid's photos on VHS or DVD? Do you think anyone will be able to see them in twenty years?

Labels: computers, tech

Web Sites

I spend a lot of time on the web, both at work and at home and I've come up with some stuff that really bugs me about sites. In fact, many times I'll just close the page if some of this stuff happens. If you're a site developer and happen to read this, you might take some hints. I hardly think I'm the only one who this stuff really bugs.

Noisy pages - I don't mind opting in for sound, but I really hate sound sneaking up on me.

Ads - for the most part I don't mind ads. I understand that for you to put stuff up I like, you need to get some advertising revenue. However, there are ads and there are ads. I really dislike those that cover a page and either don't go away, or are hard to close. I'll usually leave a page that has a noisy ad. I hate those extra ads that appear behind the browser. I guarantee I'll close every one before I read it. And if I do see the product, I'll do my best to never use it.

Multi-column articles longer than a monitor window. While this works in print, it doesn't work online. I hate to page down, then back up and back down again.

Wide formatted text pages that don't let me resize the browser. I like narrow columns to read and when I can't squish them down without having to scroll right, I get greatly irritated.

News videos - give me text to read. Online video is usually too slow, too small and too hard to listen to.

Graphic intensive pages - graphics are good until they slow your page so much it takes forever to load. Rather than watching all those little icons get replaced with images, I'll move on.

Dark text on dark backgrounds - I need contrast. It may look cool, but if I can't read it, I'm moving on. This happens a lot when a photo is used for a page background.

Too many links - while I understand web pages are supposed to be interactive some pages have so many links on them you end up launching ads by just trying to bring the window to the front.

Labels: computers, gripes

Palin

The more I hear about this person, the more it seems she'll be perfect fit into the Republican policies mindset. The first to bug me was her hubby blowing off a legal request to testify. (Honestly, I don't know what exact legal weight that request holds, but it does seem a lawful request that predates her vice-presshipness) She obviously had no problem with ignoring that little legality.

Now there's an interesting email account bugaboo. First off, let me say the folks guilty of breaking in should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. Whether they are breaking into Mrs. Palin's or my email account, they should be busted. However, the attack on the email account discovers an interesting work-around for emails. As I've read, "US law states that all e-mails relating to the official business of government must be archived and not destroyed. However, it does allow for personal e-mails to be deleted."

This means that while official emails via her government account need to be accounted for (and we all know what kind of dirt emails can scrape up) any emails via her yahoo account could conceivably be argued as being personal and therefore not need to be archived.

Yep, this thought of mine isn't based on any evidence other than hearsay and fluff bouncing around the Internet. However, it seems to fit into a way of thinking to me.

By the way, have you ever seen the movie The Manchurian Candidate? It's about some guy who spends a long time in an Asian prisoner of war camp where he's brainwashed by the communists into doing what they want after he returns to the USofA. Hasn't McCain mentioned something about spending time in a POW camp?

Labels: computers, crime, government

Sold Out

Yep - what can I say. I sold out to the evil empire and added ads to my blog. They're pretty unobtrusive, so you can easily ignore them if you want. However, if you do click them you reinforce the commercialism of the Internet and maybe make me a few pennies as well. And I won't complain about that.

Labels: computers, scams

spam - revisited

I've been getting my usual several hundred spams a day across various accounts. Some of the stuff I wonder about is why some email accounts I have get hundreds of spams a day and others get 1 or 2 a month. I have one rather odd domain that I don't use at all that gets several hundred spams a day. That account deletes them at once.

Another thing I wonder about is why some spammers don't even take the effort to correctly configure their spam machines. I get many emails with something like $NAME or $$MAIL_ADDRESS in the subject which obviously is a missnamed variable.

And then there's the ones that are spelled with all the correctness of a high school shop class dropout. I'm guessing a lot of the misspellings are an effort to circumvent the spam filters, but I think those kinds of things play right into a filter. Not to mention the numbers as letters versions, as in s33 the m4n 1n th3 m00n. I am somewhat intrigued by a batch this month that have a subject similar to You're pretty stupid . At least they're a bit more honest than most.

Please people, quit responding to these idiots. If people would just quit sending in money to Indian drug stores, Nigerian banks and Hong Kong software stores, they'd eventually quit sending out the email.

Labels: computers, gripes, scams

Apple vrs. PC

Well, I've finally given up. I can't stand the Apple Mighty Mouse. I gave it over a year of trying, but I really need my right mouse button. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed Radio Shack was having a clearance of Logitech optical scroll mouses for US$10 and bought one. I plugged it into the iMac's USB port and HURRAY! - the right-click was back.

This also cleared up two other annoyances with the not-so-mighty Mighty Mouse. First is that the little scroll button on top, which while is very cook, gets dirty too easy. Having to roll the mouse around upside down on a wet paper towel is just bad. Secondly, the touch sensitive buttons on the sides of the mouse are too, well, touch sensitive. I can't tell you how many times I've been moving the cursor when the Dashboard - at least I think that's what it's called - comes popping up.

However, I will admit that the Mighty Mouse is a definite improvement over that round hocky puck looking mouse Apple used to have.

Labels: apple, computers

Apple vrs. PC

I finally gave up on my Apple Mighty Mouse mouse. I've tried, but I miss right-clicking too much. Yep, I know there's keyboard shortcuts to do that stuff, but I really prefer the ease of right-clicking. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Radio Shack had optical Logitech mouses for half-price, so my new mouse only cost me $10. I unplugged the old and plugged in the new, and the iMac kept on trucking with nary a hiccup, except that I can now right-click with my dropdown of options just like the evil Microsoft OS.

Oh, and the other day, I tried out the Apple Express wireless modem. I wanted to listen to Internet radio down in my workshop which is in the basement. I have an old stereo down there, but being underground with the only station I care for on the ragged edge of receptability (?), I couldn't get it too well. There's Internet radio gadgets out there, but they're surprisingly hard to find in brick and mortar stores (at least here in the rust belt) and they're pretty expensive. I ran across the Express by accident in some article and it seemed it would do just what I wanted. I'm running the Apple Extreme wireless in WPA mode in the house right now.

I decided to take the chance and order one and in a few days it was there. I think it took about 20 minutes and a couple trips up and down the stairs before everything was working OK. The instructions (at least to me) weren't the clearest, but I got the job done. It's cool - I can tune in a station, log out to let others use the computer and listen to the music downstairs. Not even the power tools and fluorescent lights have seemed to bother it too much. Good product.

Labels: apple, computers

Simplify

I've been noticing that most tech items are built with more options and features than most people could even discover in their lifetime, let alone use regularly. It makes you wonder how much R&D time and effort is spent on developing those features that most people don't use. And in contrast, how much better could the basic functions be if that time was spent on them. Here's just a couple of examples.

Word Processors. I'm a professional writer and probably don't use 80% of what most processors, like Word have in them. Since being forced to switch to Word 2007, I can't even find most of those features anymore. I just checked and my Word has roughly 200 fonts listed in a dropdown. Most of them border on the unreadable. How many do you think I use regularly? Maybe three or four? One of the guys in our office seems to have just discovered his font pulldown and consequently, I now get nearly unreadable content from him a couple of time a week. Usually, I ctrl+a the doc, then select Times to print or Verdana for screen use. I also get docs that try to use every formatting option in the package - usually with disastrous results.

Video. My video tastes are pretty simple. I have rabbit ears to watch the four networks and PBS, and a DVD and VCR player. So basically, I turn it on, select a channel, and adjust the volume. For the DVD or VCR I will check the time on boring movies and sometimes fastforward or reverse. The above describes 98% of my video actions. Do you know what sits on my coffee table just to let me do that? Four remotes with about 100 buttons on each. And even though I've spent the last thirty years fiddling with computers, radios, televisions and other high-tech devices, I still don't have a clue about what three-quarters of those 400 buttons do. I understand there are remotes for home theaters now that run Windows and the installer has to give you a class just so you can turn on your TV. What's wrong with on/off, play/rewind, louder/quieter, and which channel. Instead of spending all that R&D on features I'll never use, how about designing a system that knows that when I click ON, I want everything on. And if I have a DVD in the player, when I click PLAY, the DVD, not the VHS tape or the stereo or my neighbor's garage door should do its thing automatically.

Phone. I have a remote phone at home with twenty or so buttons on it, most of which don't make a lot of sense to me. If someone calls me, I have to press TALK, even though I'm going to listen. When I type in the phone number, I also have to press TALK, even though I'm dialing, not talking. And even though the info screen lights up, the buttons don't, so I have to turn on the lights just so I can figure out which button I need to press to dial a number. And with all its buttons and power, it won't stop some cretin from calling in at eight in the morning to sell me a septic tank cleaner or some such bullshit.

See, even I can manage to turn a simple rant about simplifying into a multiparagraph complicated document that covers far more than it needs to. Oh, one more thing about word processors. In the preceding line I originally spelled manage, with an extra r as in manager . And though that makes absolutely no sense at all, the $400 word processor's spell checker didn't catch it. Due eye make me gravel downloading?

Labels: computers, gripes, tech

Gary Gygax

Wow, talk about feeling old. I don't know how many of know of this 69 year-old guy, but he was the originator of Dungeons and Dragons back in 1974. That was back in the pre-PC days when all the games were played with pencil, paper, lots of reference books, and of course, the ever-present multisided dice.

I never got too much into the D&D side of the house, but spent most of my time playing board war games from places like SPI, Avalon Hill and the upstart Steve Jackson Games. We had a wargaming club, the Wichita Warhawks, at McConnell AFB in Kansas in the late 70s. We even had monetary support from the USAF Morale, Welfare and Recreation funds. Some of us played historical simulations recreating China Farm, Chariot or Chickamauga, but there was always a bunch in the back rattling dice with one guy hiding behind a three-ring binder full of notes and maps.

In the very early eighties one of my first programming projects was a game in the style of D&D called the Tunnels of Avercy hence the domain name of my woodworking site. It was written in BASIC and let you explore an underground dungeon full of monsters and treasures. I published the source code to a BBS (remember those?) many moons ago and wonder if the code still might be floating around out there - I've long since lost it.

I guess that one of the first signs of getting is seeing icons from your early adulthood fading away. RIP Mr. Gygax. You brought a lot of pleasure and companionship to a lot of lonely and strange geeks and nerds.

Labels: celebs, computers, oldies

22 Years

If you've seen this before, you might know I went through an arduous time of trying to get an OLPC laptop. I finally got it and it is pretty cool. What is amazing is that it is around 22 years since I bought my first laptop. That was a TRS (Radio Shack) Model 100, a computer that is pretty much recognized as the first successful laptop. I bought my Model 100 back in early 1986 and here it is, 2008 and I'm buying another. It's interesting to see how they compare.

It's interesting in that the sizes are pretty close. The weight is almost the same while the OLPC is significantly smaller. However, that makes a big drawback for the keyboard. That is one place the Model 100 shines. The OLPC wins hands-down for software with browsers, text editors, programming, games and more. Battery-wise, the Model 100 also wins. It used to run for a week or two on just 4 AA batteries.

I've been using the OLPC for about a week now and am getting a little more familiar with it. I finally got it to connect with my Apple Extreme wireless yesterday and have been able to connect using Macdonalds and Barnes and Nobles wireless. I think the OLPC guys have really come up with a pretty cool little system for kids to learn on. Good job.

Labels: computers, tech

Lucky Me! #2

Sorry, Dr Frank PHILIP, but I need to betray your trust. I'm forwarding this email to my cousin who, since he must also be related to your long deceased customer will be sure to take advantage of your generosity. On another matter; Since you're reading this, I'd like to let you know that I have recently come into possession of the Mackinac Bridge here in Michigan following one of the many foreclosures I'm sure you've read about. Since you have been so generous in offering me your funds, I thought you might be interested investing some of the $7-odd million left in your bank after my cousin gets his 30% of our inheritance. Please send me your bank account details so that I can quickly get to work on stealing, er investing your money into our bridge. Did I mention that every car going over the bridge has to pay a $2.50 toll, and that as co-owners, we can increase that toll quite a bit?

From/Dr Frank PHILIP
Dear Friend,

I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise. I am the bill and exchange manager in Bank of African Development Bank. I Hoped that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that I am about to repose on you for the mutual benefit of our both families. We need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of $10.5 million immediately to your account. The money has been dormant for years in our Bank here without any body coming for it.

We want to release the money to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer (the owner of the account) who died a long with his supposed next of kin in an air crash since November 1999. We don't want the money to go into our Bank treasury as an abandoned fund. So this is the reason why I contacted you, so that the bank can release the money to you as the nearest person to the deceased customer.

Please I would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete if you are not interested. Upon receipt of your reply, I will send you full details on how the business will be executed and also note that you will have 30% of the above mentioned sum if you agree to transact the business with me, 10% will be set aside for expenses Incurred during the business, I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear. I expect that your reply for more details immediately you receive this letter.

Yours Faithfully
Dr Frank PHILIP

Labels: computers, scams

G1G1

I don't know how many of heard of this, but there's a movement out trying to set up a new paradigm (hate that word) for teaching kids. This particular one is known as OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). A pretty cool idea of coming up with a simple, yet robust and inexpensive laptop that could be purchased by third world governments for use in educating their kids. As part of that, they also had a program back in November called G1G1 (Give 1 Get 1). This is where you could pay for two computers, get one of them and the other would be donated as part of the program. Sounds good, but boy, did they screw it up.

There are several wikis and web sites around full of folks complaining and other folks who are complaining about the complainers. Miscommunications abound, no communications is the rule, and in my experience so far, this thing is currently FUBARed beyond belief (but there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel - maybe).

I was an early participant. I put my order in the first day and as it turns out, I was in the first 10,000 orders. Supposedly, this meant (and the shipping info web site still states) that I would more than likely get my computer by December 24. I waited until the end of December before making a email inquiry about the order and was rewarded with an autoresponse saying they'd get back to me in 3-5 working days. And today (Jan 17) I finally got that response which asked for the same information I sent them in the first email so many days ago.

I did find the 800 number to call and tried that a week or so ago. The first call I made I found out that they couldn't send it because I had used a PO Box. When I told them I'd already given them a change of address (discovered the non-delivery to PO Boxes buried in the terms and conditions which I finally discovered Nov 18) they said, yes they'd gotten that and I would get my laptop by Jan 15.

As you can imagine, Jan 15 came and went and when I was able to call them again, I was told it would be delivered Jan 20 - which of course is a Sunday. Today I finally got an email from them and it asked for order information all over again. Unlike some others, I'm not going to cancel - it's too late anyway to do that - but I'm really unhappy with the whole experience.

OK, now let me answer those who think I'm too judgmental about the process. Yes, I do realize it's a non-profit run by a lot of volunteers and their first priority should be the kids for whom the whole program is about. However, they still should have some responsibility to their supporters. I don't need much, just a mass-email once in awhile (they have my (and others) email address) saying, "oops, we mucked it up big time and you really need to wait until we get it all straightened out hopefully by December, January, February, March..." Instead, it's been almost a month of silence on their part. That's what ticks me off.

Oh, by the way. I just got a response back from them. My computer should be here by January 15^th. Sigh...

Update - Jan 23A couple of days ago there was an email posted on various OLPC forums saying how the G1G1 program had just found out there were many unfilled orders. To fix that, they'd put aside 5000 computers to be shipped on Jan 21 and would email people their Fedex number. Guess what I haven't seen.

Yesterday I once more called to check on my laptop. This time I was told it would be delivered late February - no reason, just late February. Guess what? This morning I get an email (at least I got an email, that's an improvement) saying they have no record of me for shipping!!#@#%@#! and they give me another number to call. So I call it, and good heavens, no wait -- the lady answering the phone takes my shipping address -- once again -- and now says the laptop will be delivered in 7-10 days. Needless to say, I'm not holding my breath.

Update - Jan 28There's been a veritable flurry of info flying around about the G1G0 problems. The latest news seems to say not to expect a computer until later in February sometime. Thank goodness it's a leap year, that gives them one more day. They have also updated the shipping status page where you can enter your order number and see the status. In my case it states, "Your donation is at our warehouse and your laptop is in the process of being shipped." Which means who knows what. I also entered the order numbers one before and one after mine. The one before got their computer Dec 19^th and the one after mine got theirs Dec 18^th.

And I have to honestly admit, I didn't get into this only to give some kid in some third-world country a computer - although that did enter into the offer. I really want one of those little green things, which I guess makes me a selfish, greedy techie capitalist, unlike all those who gave for the express purpose of giving.

Labels: computers, gripes

Web Bugs

As cool as the Internet can be, there are still a lot of sites that really tick me off. Often to the point of just moving on without even reading what they have to offer. Here in no particular order are some the things that really bug me about web pages:

• Music (which is definitely in the ear of the beholder) that you can't turn off. At least give me an obvious link to turn it off.
  
• Huge fonts on a page. If I need it bigger, I can make it bigger with the browser.
  
• Dark text on a dark image background. Get rid of the picture or wrap the text around it.
  
• Multiple column articles. Great in print, not so great online when you have to scroll down and up and over...
  
• Registration pages that don't work. If I have to register, at least keep the registry working.
  
• Free offers that require you to input your credit card info. You'd better have a really good reason for that and it's something I desperately want to see.
  
• Video articles. At least give me a choice of text to read. Even with broadband, I often find video downloads too slow to wait around for.
  
• Multipart articles with broken links to the next article.
  
• Pages that won't let you back out to the previous page and keep reloading themselves.
  
• Ads - actually, I don't mind most ads. I do mind the ones that take over the page. Now they have some that float over the text for what seems like several minutes and won't let you read the article.
  
• Text that is all in italics . Some is OK, but keep it under control please.
  
• Crap that follows my cursor around - OK for a few seconds, but then it becomes very annoying.
  

Labels: computers, gripes

WWW Defined

Here's a simple, yet interesting example of just what the World Wide Web is capable of. I was inbetween edits at work when I saw a story about What's in your fridge? on the BBC, so I posted off a quick comment on their form. A few minutes later, one of their editors emailed me back asking if I could send a photo of our fridge to them. I called my wife and asked her to take a picture and email it to me so I could email it back to the BBC. A few minutes later my wife emailed me a couple of photos to pick from and I chose one and forwarded it back to the BBC editor. Just a short while later she sent me back the link for the article (the image below is the header).

So this 30-40 minutes of international colloboration involved my Taiwanese wife (who I met on the Internet after she moved to Canada), the midwestern Me and a BBC editor with an hispanic sounding name, posting info on an international story on the BBC Web site - is that cool or what?

Labels: computers, government, rave

Post Office Games

Here's an email I recently sent the US Post Office using their online form. Note, that I've changed the actual address and other names in the text below, but that otherwise it is identical to what I sent. It'll be surprising what (and even if) I ever get a reply.

---

There seems to be confusion about what my actual mailing address is.

The physical street sign on our street is Elmchip Cir

According to the 4#### Post Office (I talked with them by phone) the address is 1229 Elmchip Drive with no East or West and that the street sign is incorrect.

According to the local Road Commission official the correct address is 1229 Elmchip Circle and sign is correct.

The problem is that many online address forms use some type of validation for the address and there are some that won't accept "1229 E. Elmchip Circle" and some won't accept "1229 Elmchip" and others that need "1229 Elmchip Dr". Other online sites will also give a warning that "1229 E. Elmchip Cir" is not currently an address the Post Office delivers to although we do get mail there.

Can you folks check into this and find out what the actual correct address I'm supposed to use is?

---

As is normal with bureaucracies, both sides are positive they are correct and the other side is incorrect. And as usual, we're in the middle.

Oh, they did respond. They gave me an 800 number to call. I tried calling it, but was warned off and told there was a real long wait. I guess I'll try later. I guess this way the post office can say they fixed the problem and turned it back to the customer for further information.

Labels: computers, government, gripes

Help? Line

Have you called a help line lately? Companies efforts to use computer voice recognition for their customer support just plain sucks - is that clear enough? I suppose it's OK if you happen to be asking about one of their choices, but for whatever reason, I rarely do. So that means Ihave to listen to tons of crappy messages about stuff I have no interest in.

And then when I finally do get a question I can answer, the computer doesn't understand. How many times have you heard, "I don't understand that, can you repeat it please?" at which time I repeat my phrase and the computer repeats its phrase. I slowly and clearly speak midwestern English with no speech impediment and little or no accent. You'd think the stupid computer would understand that.

And you know what really pisses me off? After all that fighting with menus and computers and you finally get a human, their accent is so thick you can barely understand them! I really don't have any strong prejudices against people who speak with a strong accent unless I can't understand them. I had a couple of university professors who spoke with such strong accents that I often had no idea what they were talking about. I've had the same experience with more than one customer service rep.

Come on companies, get it together. Get rid of the speech non-recognition software and at least go to keyboard controlled menus.If you have to out-source your calling center to some exotic country,please make sure the folks you hire can speak understandable English if needed. How about making a first choice menu for language preference.

Now, do you agree? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't understand that, could you repeat that please?

Labels: computers, gripes, tech

Apple vrs. PC

Why does your Apple run better than a similar PC? While some will argue this statement, in general, it does seem to be true - sort of, anyway.

But why? Here's probably the biggest reason. Right now, I'm typing this on a Microsoft Windows PC using a Dell keyboard with a Logitech mouse running on a Dell computer loaded with how knows what all. At home I have a Toshiba, a Dell and an IBM Notebook all running Windows. And of course, I have packed into them stuff bought from all over the place made by who knows all companies.

On the other hand, I also use Apple OSX running on an Apple iMac and MacBook. The buttoned-down corporate ogre Microsoft has to make software that will run on just about anything this side of two cans and a string. And heaven forbid their latest overhaul of the OS doesn't run a program that is probably older than most of the engineers writing the new OS. Whereas Apple just changes from 10.4.x to 10.5; and some older stuff doesn't run now, but that seems to be OK. And don't forget, the Apple stuff only has to run on Apple stuff.

Oh, and we just moved. The simple Apple isn't so... I just have a pretty plain iMac running. But, I still have cables from the iMac to a USB hub and cables to the DSL modem via the Airport, and to the printer and to the portable hard drive and to the backup hard drive along with the Apple mouse and Apple keyboard -- oh, and I forgot the speakers. Hee, hee... just a simple iMac setup.

Labels: apple, computers

Online Video

I guess it's my oldfashionedist feelings again, but I am far from convinced over how cool online video is supposed to be. I use the Internet mostly for news and I do read pretty quick, so am probably outside the comfort zone of those pushing video.

I find that by the time I get a video player (assuming it's the among the ones I have) to launch, then wait for the video to stream into the buffer, then watch the 15-30 second commercial, then finally get to see the little teeny compressed video, I could have read an in depth written story containing five times the info.

I've also noticed that most of the videos that play - even youtube, with which I will admit to wasting time once a month or so, are so compressed that they begin to take on the blocky picture resolution of the original Atari TV video games. Some of the stuff on BBC News is so compressed and so small, I'm guessing it would transmit over dial with no problem.

And all this isn't because I'm on some weeny Internet connection. I consistently clock out at around 4.5 - 5.5 MBPS via speakeasy.net which is advertised at 6 MBPS (which no one should really expect to get). I'm usually running on an iMac or fairly new PC with XP. So it's not like I'm running a CP/M based TRS Model 4P over a dialup modem (which I once did). And with all that speed and technology, most online videos still suck.

Labels: computers, gripes, oldies

Apple & HP

This is probably more a tirade against HP (Hewlett Packard) than Apple, but Apple isn't completely blameless. We have a HP PSC 1500 all-in-one printer hooked up to our newish iMac. it used to be hooked up to the WinXP machine a couple of months ago. One thing I hated about the HP was the gargantuan pile of software that got installed when you installed the supplied driver software.

After running the WinXP installation, HP crap was everywhere - in the startup menu, checking online, running hither and yon all over the Windows expanse. I really-really hated it and regretted ever buying HP. My previous Epson was much more software friendly when running (granted it's a few years older, so Epson may now be just as bad). And of course something simple like checking ink cartridge levels was buried in the system driver routine (I think anyway).

So when I got the Apple and hooked up the printer I was gladened that it seemed to print just fine with what Apple came with. That was OK until I tried to scan with the all-in-one. No matter what I tried the iMac just couldn't see the scanner. So I went to the HP site and downloaded the Mac 10.4 driver - all 170MB or so. I installed it and guess what - it couldn't find the printer. Now I had gobs and gobs of HP crap on my iMac and still couldn't scan. And you know what? Now when I tried to print from Firefox, Firefox would just close - boom, no warning, no nothing - just gone.

I looked for HP driver updates - none, and tried to uninstall and reinstall the existing drivers; I looked for Firefox updates and installed the latest, I plugged and unplugged and booted and rebooted, all to no avail. Finally in desparation I dragged the Mac OSX install disks out and looked on them for printer stuff. I uninstalled the HP stuff - leaving god knows how much HP detrius on my iMac and rebooted and installed the .pkg HP driver stuff from Apple and rebooted again.

Final result is that while I still can't scan and now have little HP bits scattered about, I can at least print from Firefox again.

Labels: apple, computers

Size?

"...because the new Nano has a much larger screen (two inches diagonal). With 320-by-240 pixels crammed into that space..."

"Much larger screen?" Please. Two inch - diagonal no less - is notthing that I would add "larger" to, unless maybe I was working in a microbiology lab. I think "not as small" would be much more accurate. And there's a lot of reviewers talking about how nice a picture it is??? We have something like a 28" CRT TV at home and I wouldn't consider it large - let alone much larger than anything.

I guess it must be my middle-aged senses screaming for help, but a 2" screen isn't something I'd like to watch a TV show on, let alone a movie. Poor Genie wouldn't have to worry about her belly button shocking Middle America on something like that. I have dust-bunnies in the TV room that would eat a 2" screen for lunch. I really find it hard to believe that there is any kind of market for videos on something that small. Even youtube.com stuff is pushing the limits for me. How can you really enjoy looking at something that is smaller than most pictures in my wallet?

By the way, I think the quote came from a NYTimes article.

Labels: computers, gripes, tech

Mighty Mouse

No, not the muscular little rodent with the operatic voice, but Apple's hand-operated pointing device. To me, the mouse has always been one of Apple's weak points. I can remember trying to operate the round mouse. I couldn't get used to not have something to reference with a direction.

So we get this new iMac and it comes with something called Mighty Mouse - which is named after the cartoon dude. To me, there's two big disadvantages to it. One is the teeny scrolling ball on the top - which conversely is also one of the best points. The problem is that it seems very easy to get dirty and not so easy to get clean. This weekend the mouse scroll ball started to work erratically if at all. This after only six weeks or so of use. Now, I'm not the neatest guy around, in fact, I'm pretty messy, but clean, but I don't expect a mouse to get gummed up after only six months of use. To clean it, you have to press hard and rub it upside down on a moistened (I used some lens cleaner) paper towel. I'm wondering if this is going to be a monthly occurrence?

The other problem is that the side buttons are too sensitive and don't seem to give any feedback. All to often, Exposé pops up when I use the mouse. While Exposé is pretty cool, I don't need it that often. I don't seem to be pushing the side keys, but I'm obviously doing it. I wish they'd be buttons that actually clicked or seem to move instead of just working.

And while I'm on this subject, I'd like to be able to reprogram the home and end key to beginning and end of line - I'm sure there's a way, I just haven't found it yet. And once again, I'd like to say how much I miss my right-click sendto option.

Labels: apple, computers, tech

Wireless & Updates

This weekend my DSL (in fact my entire landline phone line) went down. It turned out the exterior wires were "weather worn" according to ATT and needed to be replaced. My phone was out from around noon on Sunday until noon on Monday.

At first I didn't know the phone line was down, literally down. I had no online access, so after recycling modems and hubs and computer trying to get DSL back up, I finally checked the phones and discovered that problem and made my call to ATT repair. Anyway, when I turned on my computer I noticed a wireless network called linksys that wasn't password protected. It seems someone in the neighborhood has a wireless network set up and used the default settings and no password. That got me wondering about my own wireless network and how to make sure I really did set encryption like I thought I did once I got back online.

There is a program called Airport Utility that sets up the Airport Extreme base station I have. I found it, launched it and it said it was too old to use. I went to apple.com and looked for 5.1 and couldn't find it. I did find an airport extreme update package and downloaded it and tried to install it, but it also said the utility was too old to update. I finally thought of the disk that came with the base station and sure enough, that had the 5.1 version on it. I installed it, then ran the update package again and it all seemed to be running - did I mention these were the kind of updates where you have to reboot after loading? This time the airport utility I downloaded (2007-001) was something for graphite and didn't work, so I needed to go back and download and install a different one. So after a couple of reboots and reloads, etc. I start the Airport Utility and it tells me my base station needs a firmware update - sigh. So finally after downloading and installing a bunch of stuff - not all of it the right stuff - I can finally check my base station - and yes, it was password protected.

Labels: apple, computers, tech

Mac vrs. ?

I drove back down to Troy on July 4th to pickup my iMac with its new hard drive. Everything was ready when I arrived and I packed it back up and brought it home. Then started the reloading of everything. Luckily (I guess) after only five weeks I didn't have a lot to lose. Most software I'm using on the iMac so far is open source stuff. Things like Text Wrangler, NeoOffice, Cyberduck and more so it was a matter of downloading and installing it all over again.

I did find out that the Graphire tablet software now seems to be working. Maybe there was something in the initial load of OS X that wasn't quite right - perhaps the hard drive problem was interconnected with that - I'm not sure.

Another good thing about starting all over again relatively quickly from start up is that you get a chance to do things like they should have been done. A few weeks is enough to learn where things should go and how things should be set up. In the initial excitement I had put things rather helter-skelter and now have tried to be a bit more logical the second time around.

However, while trying to rearrange things a bit more logically I moved/copied (still haven't quite got the difference down) a folder named after me. Yep, all my settings disappeared which wasn't too bad, but my mail also went away. I finally figured out I moved/deleted my user prefs file which made some stuff work quite oddly. I ended up deleting and resetting my user account which fixed things. And I did find my lost mail - it had somehow ended up in the applications folder so I was able to recover the mail.

So most stuff is back in place and most things are working as they were before the hard drive dying. We'll see how long it lasts.

Labels: apple, computers

Apple vrs. Atari

Yes, Atari. Today I called Apple tech support about my hard drive problem and after many minutes of following directions, we came to the conclusion that the hard drive was indeed busted. By the way, today I learned what "recycle the power management system" means. After I asked for clarification, I found out it meant to unplug the computer!

So I make an appointment online (using my Windows computer by the way) with the Apple Genius bar in Troy, Michigan. Eighty-six point two miles later I'm at the Somerset Mall looking for a parking place. They plugged in the computer and guess what - the hard drive is toast. So, in 7 - 10 days (and another 172.4 round trip) I should have my iMac back.

And where does Atari come in? Back around 1987 I bought my first hard drive. A Supra 20 MB drive for around $300 (I looked at a 500GB Lacie designer external drive at the Apple store for about the same price). After about 8-9 years it took several minutes to warm up and start but still run. That's the worse problem I've ever had with a hard drive since 1989 until my 5 week old Apple iMac.

Labels: apple, computers, oldies, tech

Apple vrs. Windows

This isn't a Mac vrs. PC rant this time, this time it's Apple alone. We ordered a Macbook to go along with our iMac earlier this month. It was originally supposed to be shipped June 20 or so, but no later than June 26. June 26 I finally call Apple and they say, yes, it's going to be shipped June 26. The next morning, June 27, I get an email saying it won't be delivered until July 19 or so - some kind of unmentionable problem. A little later I get a survey from Apple asking about how the call the night before to the liars at Apple went - you can guess what my response was.

So, today I get another email saying the Macbook was shipped today and should be here around July 6. Go figure. I come home around 8pm and lo and behold, my iMac is froze. Nothing works - the desktop can be seen but no cursor, no keyboard, no nothing. I turn it off - having to shut off the power to do so and turn it back on. Nothing except a flashing folder with a question mark in it. And of course nothing in the teeny-tiny manual Apple includes mentions that error.

I turn it back off, disconnect everything, try to turn it on a few times with the same result. I get the OS X reload disk and insert it and nothing happens. I dig through some manuals and find out the hold the C down while restarting will start from CD. It does and a little more reading tells me about a disk utility on the start up disk. I try that and the only disk it shows is the DVD - no hard drive listed. Time to turn it off again. Do you know how hard it is to get a DVD out of an ailing Mac?!

I'm figuring I have a dead hard drive, on a computer less than 6 weeks old. I call the 800 Apple number and find they are only in business from 6 - 6 PT. I'll have to try tomorrow which is Saturday and I can't find any listing for their days of operation. Needless to say, I'm not a real happy camper right now. If there's no phone guy tomorrow, I'll try scheduling an appointment at the nearest Apple store, which is about 2 hours away. To top things off, it's iPhone weekend, so I'm sure the stores will be packed with iPhone wannabees. Rats!! Curses Apple!

Oh, by the way, I'm doing this post on my old Windows machine.

Labels: apple, computers, gripes, tech

Mac vrs. Windows

Here's a few more observations about the Mac/Windows tales. Updates - one of these days this weekend when I logged on, I had a notice about updates. One for iTunes and one for part of OS X. Something like 50MB or so. And about the stability of the platform. I'm using 10.4.9 and as I understand it, the dot numerals aren't all that compatible with each other. For example, when Apple goes from 10.4.9 to 10.5, there's going to be some major changes. Like from Win 95 to Win 98 or XP to Vista. I guess there's also some pretty in 10.3.9 from previous versions as well. Even to things as simple as keyboard shortcuts.

Right-clicking. I really miss the Windows right-click and what you could do with it. I'm sure there's some esoteric keyboard combination in OS X that replicates it, but I haven't found it yet. Close, but not the same. With the Win right-click I can send the file to other programs - text to NoteTab, gifs to irfanview etc. One thing I was unable to do yesterday was to right-click on a fake URL link in a phishing email and then copy the underlying actual URL to the clipboard. I tried ctrl-click to get the menu, but when I copied the shortcut, it was the fake one and not the link it actually connected to. For instance, copy this link http://apple.com/ and see where it really goes before trying it.

I finally discovered the magnetic remote holder on the right side of the screen. I'm not too crazy about having magnetic fields near my computer table - yes, a lot of that is 5.25/3.5" disk paranoia, but I'm still not too crazy about it. That's probably why the magnet is also so weak - doesn't seem to keep a very secure grip on the remote.

We did fix the jumping cursor problem. I found it mentioned in some forum online. It seems that the "mighty mouse" isn't too happy creeping about on strongly contrasting mousepads. I replaced the black and white pad (ironically Dell - Apple didn't supply one) with a piece of neutral gray-blue matt paper and the cursor has settled down nicely. Which makes me wonder about the market for decorated mousepads and iMacs.

And speaking of "mighty mouse," I'm not too happy with the side buttons. They don't seem to have any kind of tactile feedback when used. I can't seem to get the hang of pressing one without pressing both.

Labels: apple, computers, tech

Apple vrs. Windows

Here's a few more comments about our Mac/XP experiment. In general, I'm pretty happy with the switch. So far, the Mac has seemed to be pretty stable and well behaved. A lot of the annoyances I have now are just learning pains. Like going from ctrl to the Apple command key, and the Home and End versus cmd key right arrow/cmd key left arrow.

There is a lot made of the updating that is ongoing with Windows. I should note that when I started my Mac, there was about 300MB of updates that were waiting to be downloaded. And that within a couple weeks of being refurbished by Apple.

I bought the Airport Extreme hub and have that hooked up. The LAN part works fine. I have the old XP machine hooked into it and have Internet connectivity, but the XP still loses its connection now and then. I'm trying to get the XP to recognize the printer and USB external drive connected to the hub, but haven't managed that yet. And since we haven't got our MacBook yet, I've been unable to check out the wireless functions either. At least I have my Windows Agent usegroup program to play with again. I tried several Mac versions of a newsgroup reader and have to find one that seems as easy as Agent is.

My Palm IIIxe is another story. I downloaded the Palm Desktop software from Palm and it was a mess. It stuck files all over the Mac - and didn't work besides. After further online research about it, I found I'm not the only with problems and unhappy feelings about it. Since I basically use the Palm IIIxe as an ebook reader and address book, I'll go back to using it with the XP machine. BTW, the reason I still prefer the IIIxe is that it uses AAA cells and they last weeks at a time and are readily available and I don't have to worry about charging up every couple days.

Rather than use the trialware MS Office sitting on my Mac, I downloaded NeoOffice and installed it. I've only tried it with a couple of Word docs and Excel spreadsheets, but so far it's been fine with everything I tried.

The keyboard USB ports caused their first problem. We bought a 1GB USB drive and when I plugged it into the keyboard I got an error message saying it needed to go into a powered port. I guess that (and the USB1.1 format) is the price of keeping the keyboard simple (and saving money on it).

As much as I hate admit it, we did go ahead and install MS Messenger on the Mac. The main user of Messenger is a heavy use and is much more familiar with Messenger instead of Adium. It seemed to work OK for me, but then I don't do much with it. The problem is probably similar to my ctrl/cmd key habits.

And I miss sending stuff to my text editor with a right click. I think there's something similar using one of Mac's many-many keyboard combinations; probably ctrl+cmd+shift+S or something. Which is about one more key than I have fingers for.

Labels: apple, computers, tech

Computer Scams

The radio has lately been playing some commercials for a teaching outfit called Video Professor. Honestly, I have no idea about the quality, or lack of, of this place. They purport to offer a way to learn about some computer subject, in this case they seem to be pushing e-bay, in an hour. They say the offer is risk free.

The part that bugs me is that say this offer is free. And if you're not satisfied with it, your money will be returned. OK, how can you return money that I haven't sent? I haven't sent any, because your claim is that it's free.

Obviously, no matter how up-and-up this offer is, someone is lying somewhere. If it's really free, then there shouldn't be any money they have to return to me. And if they are returning my money, that implies that I sent them some. Something I have no intention of doing unless I have to pay for something - something that is free. Is it just me, or does a company who wants to return the money that you didn't have to send them seem either at best odd, or more likely dishonest?

Labels: computers, scams

Windows vrs. Apple

OK folks, we took the plunge this weekend and switched from a Dell running Windows XP to a Macintosh running, well, OS X. Here's a short rundown after a weekend of Mac. Bear in mind, I'm a long time computer user who first bought a Model 1 back around 1980, then to Model 4P (with CPM no less), finally to an Atari 1040ST and eventually to a run of PCs with various versions of DOS and finally ended up at Windows XP. There have been sporadic forays into Mac land, primarily from four years of college. So, after all that, here's my initial comments.

The AT&T installation program that came with my DSL modem crashed once and when it worked, wouldn't show images. I used it just a couple of weeks earlier on my XP machine so had some idea of what was going on. It took about three installations/removals before it suddenly hooked up with about a 5.1MB connection. (By crash, I mean it showed what looked like a memory dump in a window and asked if I wanted to send the report to Apple - which I did, but obviously since it was DLS software crashing I wasn't internet connected to do so.)

I hate the fact you have to resize windows only at the bottom corner. I really miss dragging a window on any side/corner to resize.

The installation of new software is a little confusing in its simplicity. I like having only one or two icons to drag around to install, but always end up worrying with what to do with the detritus left on the desktop. The graphic books I looked at mostly dealt with commercial installations and not one I found got into downloaded stuff. I finally some info about installing programs into the applications folder for all users and what to do with the left over zips and dmgs. I ended up deleting my first two or three installation attempts and redoing them.

And while icons are cool, it would be nice for a bit of text explaining the cutesy cartoons showing the application icon being moved to the applications folder. It seems every application that uses this gimmick tries to see just how unique it can make the iconic directions. Cute, but not really informative for us newbies.

Command versus control key is a bit maddening. I also need to find Apple's equivalent to the "send to" right click. Another thing I need to study is the wide, and I do mean wide, range of keyboard shortcuts.

Speaking of clicks, the "mighty mouse?" tends to send its cursor flying off to one side of the screen or another with irritating frequency. Another little glitch I need to look into.

I'm a usenet freak and love to download stuff (files; images (yes, some are those images), books, music, OTR shows, etc.). I have been using an older version of Agent on XP, but have yet to find something similar on Mac - but I'm looking and have a couple more candidates to try tonight.

I like the keyboard USB ports, but wonder why they are USB1.1 instead of the USB2.0 in back of the screen.

I never have liked having to rely on software Floppy/CD/DVD ejection and would really like to have a real button to push. I haven't looked to see if the iMac has a hole for a paper clip yet.

The fat and skinny Apple commercial. Sorry, Mac, but you do have your share of trial crap installed as well. I've run across MS Office, AppleWorks and a couple of others so far. And while all that iLife iStuff is cool, a simple, working, word processor would be neat to have installed.

Tonight I'll try moving some OTR MP3 files and .PDB books and see how that all works with my ancient iRiver MP3 player and even more ancient Palm IIIxe. I did notice there's Palm software for the Mac available at palm.com so maybe there's hope there.

Stay tuned for more.

Labels: apple, computers, tech

Video iPod

Hype can be deceiving. OK, while I'm not the hippest digital guru around, I am fairly handy tossing around computer files. I know the difference between a .gif and a .bmp and an .mp3 and know that to the point that I'm aware a gif will compress in dramatically different percentages depending on if it has vertical or horizontal stripes.

In spite of all that, the Apple video iPod was a bit too much to deal with. It's become quite obvious that Apple wants you to buy from iTunes - pure and simple. I probably should have done more research on all this, but didn't. We wanted a video iPod to view, not surprisingly, videos. It seems however, and it's not all that much emphasized, that an iPod (and iTunes) is very picky about what it will display. Basically it want's its own version of an .mp3 or .mov format. In fact, iTunes won't even recognize other formats.

The main thing we wanted to watch was some videos in .rmvb format. To get this into an iPod, you need to buy (freeware is seemingly non-existent for this process) a video conversion program. You then have to convert from .rmvb (or rm, or basically anything other than QT or mov) to mp4. This isn't instantaneous. On my computer, granted, it's older, but still pentium based with 512MB, it took about 40 minutes to convert a 40 minute video. Granted the software would let you batch convert, perhaps overnight, but still... Now I could load it into iTunes, but surprisingly, not into the iPod.

Now you have to use iTunes to convert the .mp4 into iPod format which takes another 40 minutes (I think longer, but left the computer to go shopping). And of course after all that you're still viewing this video on a screen which would be hard pressed to display some stamps full size. (But I'll agree the size issue is my personal problem).

Would a Mac have made the process a lot easier? Perhaps, but from what I can guess, you'll still be converting conversions to let the iPod deal with what it wants. Of course the easiest course, both legally and logistically, is to just buy from iTunes. But why should I have to re-buy videos I already own just to watch them at my convenience. I know this is whole different kettle of fish, but one that isn't going away.

The bottom line was that after a week of me and my wife fiddling with and reading about the iPod, we gave up. The folks at Best Buy were great with our return giving us no hassle and no stress. We ended up buying a Zenith DVD portable player we noticed on our way out for $80 and it's working just fine.

Labels: apple, computers, gripes, tech

Apple vrs. Microsoft

I've been reading an article/book. "In the Beginning was the Command Line" by Neal Stephenson. It's copy written 1999 and seems to be pretty ubiquitous online, but it brought up a very interesting point about the two adversaries that I'd never thought of before.

When you look at the two companies objectively, especially several years ago when Apple was the thing, you find that they're actually the exact opposite of what most advertising leads you to believe. Especially Apple advertising. Apple has always come across as this easy-going, happy-go-lucky iconoclast who just wants you to do things your way. The very opposite of the "big brother" mentality of Microsoft. In actuality, this is completely wrong. Think about it.

If you have Apple software, what can you run it on - Apple and only Apple. Yes, there have been a couple of Apple-like upstarts - Franklin comes to mind - but they were quickly mashed into the ground. Hardware's been the same way. If you wanted something for your Apple, it came from Apple. Yes, they came in goofy colors and melted down shapes, but they were still Apple. On the other hand, what can you run Microsoft on? Just about anything. Dell, e-Machines, Alienware, Compaq, HP, Toshiba, Samsung, and assorted no-names to numerous to even mention. Need a part for your Microsoft running machine? Same thing. I can go to Best Buy - and now even the local drug store - and buy something that will fit in my Microsoft running machine - and more often than not it'll run.

So through the miracle of advertising we have a company that lets you run just about anything from anybody built anywhere on their software as the evil Big Brother stifling creativity while the other company that makes your run their software on their machines using additions that only they approve the hippy-dippy, free-love feel-good company of turtlenecks and half-eaten fruits.

Labels: apple, computers, tech

1984 & Mac

Remember a long time ago when Apple hammered away at Big Brother? When Apple tried to target itself as one who fought for the little guy? Whew - are those days gone. Think about this year so far. Apple put the legal hammer to a few web sites that were reporting (too accurately it seems) on upcoming Apple stuff. And of course the courts backed Apple and said that Web reporters don't get no stinking protection.

Now Apple's going after the printed word. Seems like some author had some words about Jobs that Apple has taken affront at. I have no idea what this is all about since I'm not a big Apple fan, and haven't followed this much. While Apple has had a lot of neat stuff in their development, I've always felt they were too pricey. I remember back when I bought my first computer - a TRS-80 Model 1. I priced the Apples and they were way much pricier. The color availability wasn't enough to counter the 40 character screen - especially at the price they wanted. Remember this was back when my Model 1 with 16K of RAM and a cassette player for bulk memory was almost $900. Which brings up another deja vu moment of my first printer - a Quick Printer II that printed 32 characters across on aluminum foil and could be had for the cheap price of $250.

Anyway, it seems that Apple is making sure that -- well, I'm not really sure what Apple is making sure of. I plug along now with a Dell PC and an iRiver MP3 player and don't seem to be missing much by not having an Apple - computer, music player or otherwise.

2fers: TRS-80 Model 1 and Dell

Labels: apple, computers, oldies, tech