TECHNOLOGY: QIPIT down

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Thanks for signing up for the Qipit online service, the company that specializes in high quality mobile copy solutions. We are making a change in the focus of the company toward the development of smart phone applications and technology for the enterprise. In fact, our first application Qipit White, is available now for the iPhone, with more applications and platforms to follow. Starting this past Wednesday (October 21, 2009), the Qipit online mobile copy service stopped accepting new user registrations.

What this means to you?

As an existing user, you can still use the service as normal until November 9, 2009, at which time the ability to create new copies (using Web upload, our facebook applications, Shozu, copy@qipit.com, and color@qipit.com) and to share (by sending faxes and emails) will be discontinued. On December 6, 2009, the service will be completely taken offline. We encourage users to download all of the information you would like to keep, prior to this date. After the service is taken offline, your information will no longer be available.

As we say goodbye to Qipit the online service, Qipit will live on in a series of smart phone applications and as a technology for the enterprise. Back in September we launched our first smart phone application, Qipit White, for the iPhone, it shares much of the same functionality of the online service, but works much faster! We will continue to support Qipit White and future applications based on the technology behind Qipit for the iPhone, Android and other smart phone platforms. Be sure to keep an eye on http://www.qipit.com and the Qipit Blog for the latest news on new applications.

You can read more about the changes at Qipit at our blog. Please feel free to share your thoughts and farewells to the Qipit online service.

Many thanks,

~ the Qipit team

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Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: A cost effective $23 stove

Monday, October 26, 2009

Wall Street Journal
Tuesday 20 Oct 09
Page A1 and A18

(behind a paywall)

Has an article about selling things to the poor at prices they can afford.

Here’s two of the products.  

http://www.instructables.com/community/Oorja-Stove-taking-off-in-India/ $28

http://www.naaptol.com/brands/WO-Brands-W77O-Brands-shopping-W139O/Godrej/Refrigerators.html $70

“Marketing ice to eskimos”?

Here are companies making stuff for poor people.

Since we in the good old US of A are poor, (just look at the dollar), maybe someone should be doing this here?

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TECHNOLOGY: $500 Mapleseed Drone

Saturday, October 24, 2009

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/video-500-mapleseed-drone-takes-flight/

Video: $500 Mapleseed Drone Takes Flight
    * By Noah Shachtman
    * October 21, 2009

*** begin quote ***

Last year, the Pentagon’s mad science arm let expire a Lockheed contract to build a mini-drone in the shape of a maple seed. Lord knows how much the project costs. But it’s a good bet the Lockheed ‘bot had a price tag several orders of magnitude higher than this $500 maple-drone, put together by students at the University of Maryland.

*** end quote ***

Neat. Pioneering work done by a grad student team?

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TECHNOLOGY: “Smart readers”; too smart?

Friday, October 16, 2009

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/6292809/Smart-meters-could-be-spy-in-the-home.html

Smart meters could be ‘spy in the home’

Smart meters could become a ‘spy in the home’ by allowing social workers and health authorities to monitor households, adding to conce rn at Britain’s surveillance society.

By Alastair Jamieson

Published: 10:30AM BST 11 Oct 2009

*** begin quote ***

The DECC document adds households could even have their power to some appliances turned off remotely to help the national grid if there is too much demand. It says: “In terms of potentially intrusive non-physical behaviour unrelated to data, smart metering potentially offers scope for remote intervention such as dynamic demand management, which is designed to assist management of the network and thus security of supply. This could involve direct supplier or distribution company interface with equipment, such as refrigerators, within a property, overriding the control of the householder.”

*** end quote ***

I always think of what can go wrong.

Turn off the refrig to “save the grid” and the food goes bad.

Turn off the heat to “save the grid” and people die.

Turn off power to politically “wrong” people?

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Posted by reinkefj

SERVICE: KODAKGALLERY makes itself less valuable

Sunday, October 11, 2009

http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/footerLinksContent.jsp?pageID=600010

*** begin quote ***

3. Availability

Kodak Imaging Network uses reasonable endeavors to ensure that the Service is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. However, there will be occasions when the Service will be interrupted for maintenance, upgrades and emergency repairs or due to failure of telecommunications links and equipment that are beyond the control of Kodak Imaging Network. Every reasonable step will be taken by us to minimize such disruption where it is within the reasonable control of Kodak Imaging Network. You agree that Kodak Imaging Network shall not be liable to you for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service. You are responsible for creating backups of any content you post to the Service.

*** end quote ***

Argh! Why make me responsible for backups. That’s why I subscribe to the service by my purchases!

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TECHNOLOGY: Use exclsion to sharpen writing

Saturday, October 10, 2009

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/spellchecker-drives-a-stake-through-vampire-words/

Spellchecker Drives a Stake Through Vampire Words
from Daily Blog Tips
by Mike Marshall

*** begin quote ***

3. Use Exclusion Dictionaries to Mark Them

My favorite solution, although it requires a little more energy, is to establish an “Exclusion Dictionary”. This dictionary lists words that you want to exclude from the basic spelling dictionary within MS-Word. When the word is added to the exclusion dictionary, the spell checker will no longer perceive it as a correctly spelled word, and will flag it as an error. When configured to check spelling as you type, this prevents these nasty words from creeping into your text by immediately marking them as issues.

To create an exclusion list, you need only add the word to your exclusion dictionary (a text file) under your MS-WORD application data. Each vampire word is entered on a single line in this file, and from that point forward is considered a misspelled word and highlighted by the spell checker.

What makes this method so nice is that you can consider the word’s real value, and tell the spellchecker to ignore its use, if desired.

*** end quote ***

Here’s a great suggestion!

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TECHNOLOGY: Just use old technology with no added controls

Monday, October 5, 2009

http://tinyurl.com/yatdtgu

TN: Docs faxing patients’ data to Indiana company
Tennessean

*** begin quote ***

“Doctors’ offices in Tennessee have been accidentally sending patient information, including Social Security numbers and medical histories, to an Indiana businessman’s fax machine for the past three years. The sensitive medical information was supposed to be sent to the Tennessee Department of Human Services, but Bill Keith, owner of SunRise Solar Inc. in Indiana, says hundreds of confidential medical faxes having been coming to him. ‘This is a total breach of privacy,’ Keith said. ‘This is supposed to be confidential, and it just so happens we have some scruples here and wouldn’t do anything with that information. We’ve shredded them, but you can have a file an inch thick in no time.'”

*** end quote ***

The technology of fax has to be decades old. And, yet, the TN state gooferment still relies upon it.

There are so many things that could be done. Doesn’t take a genius to figure them out.

Why can’t they use encrypted email?

Why can’t they require a “handshake code” before faxing?

Why can’t the TN gooferment call the docs to pick up their forms?

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TECHNOLOGY: Mediasaurus

Friday, October 2, 2009

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/mediasaurus.html

Mediasaurus
Today’s mass media is tomorrow’s fossil fuel. Michael Crichton is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore.
By Michael Crichton

*** begin quote ***

The extreme positions of the Crossfire Syndrome require extreme simplification – framing the debate in terms that ignore the real issues. For example, when I watch Crossfire, or Nightline, or MacNeil-Lehrer, I often think, wait a minute. The real issue isn’t term limits; it’s campaign finance reform. The real issue isn’t whether a gasoline tax is regressive, it’s national security – whether we’d prefer to go back to war in the Gulf instead of reducing oil consumption by taxing it more heavily, as every other nation does. The real issue isn’t whether the United States should have an industrial policy, it is whether the one we have – no policy is a policy – serves us well. The issue isn’t whether Mickey Kantor is a protectionist, it’s how should the US respond to its foreign competitors.

*** end quote ***

He hits the nail on the head. The media is just SO biased that it distracts from the data, info, knowledge, and wisdom from the “story”.

It’s a long article but it does highlight how bias and technology are making the “media” obsolete.

Interesting?

How do we capitalize on the replacement?

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TECHNOLOGY: Protecting children on the internet

Thursday, October 1, 2009

If the Internet Service Providers had their heads screwed on straight, if the FCC or FTC was REALLY interested in protecting children, we could have rock solid “age” verification. No one can “prove” their age on the net now. But the ISPs could do it.

They “own” the customer relationship. They issue their paying customer a user id and password for their account. So immediately, we have a defined adult. (If a child steals their parent’s credit card to buy internet access, the parent will know it when the bills come in.) The ISPs are sure they are going to get paid.

They can then provide the mechanism for their Customer to define identiies for others. I’d suggest email addresses. If forced, and / or enabled by law, the ISPs could allow their Customer to define: Child, Tween, or Teen.

Then, a stylized form of communication between the Web Site Providers and the Internet Service Providers can occur.

The user, who may or may not be underage, registers at a website with their ISP email address. The WSP sends the request to the ISP. The ISP notifys the Credit Card Customer. Who agrees or disagrees. The ISP then communicates “Teen, Tween, or Child” to the ISP.

Problem solved!

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Posted by reinkefj

SERVICE: Google Alerts become more usable

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

By using Google search with the site option, you can get your “favorite author” feed from sites that don’t directly support it.

Steps:

  • Get your Google search string the way you need it. Example: “Stossel site:wnd.com”
  • Get over to Google Alerts and set one up for email.
  • Save it.
  • Change the alert from email to feed.
  • Subscribe to it in Google Reader.
  • Enjoy

Pretty neat.

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TECHNOLOGY: Cheap books everywhere when needed

Saturday, September 26, 2009

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0c1302e2-a3eb-11de-9fed-00144feabdc0.html

Google to offer hard copies of books
Financial Times [UK]

*** begin quote ***

“After five years of scanning books electronically, Google is finally entering the print publishing business for the first time. Through an arrangement with a printing company announced yesterday, Google will offer 2m out-of-copyright books that can be picked up or shipped from libraries, universities and other spots around the world. It has struck the deal with On Demand Books, makers of the Espresso Book Machine, which can print a 300-page book in less than five minutes, complete with a cover and a bound edge.” (09/17/09)

*** end quote ***

As I know, Print On Demand makes it possible for ANYONE to publish a book!

We are truly entering the age of enlightenment.

It’s hard to imagine what this will mean to the third world countries. 8 bucks is a lot of money. But, it’s astounding to think what’s possible.

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TECHNOLOGY: Email is worse than a postcard!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/whoa_nbc_producer_to_antiacorn.html

September 26, 2009
Whoa; NBC Producer to anti-ACORN group employee: ‘Bite me, Jew boy?’
Rick Moran

*** begin quote ***

When Stone received an email urging Congress to defund ACORN from Alex Rosenwald, director of media outreach for Americans for Limited Government, the following sentence came back to Rosenwald from Stone’s account: “Bite me, Jew Boy!”

*** and ***

   But Stone’s response email-provided to POLITICO-did not have any anti-Semitic comment. In fact, it had just one line: “Take me off this list!” (There are also subtle differences, including number of dashes, between the two emails).

   “Somebody, on the other end, I’m assuming, took the return stamp from the email and then put in this hateful message,” Capus said. “I don’t know who did it. It’s outrageous to suspect that somebody from NBC News would do it.”

*** end quote ***

I always rant that email should be secured. It’s the vendors, the ISPs, and the technology community that has to do it. We can’t leave it to the users.

Like IPv6, the technology industry has been sitting on its hands for decades. FIgure it out boys and girls!

(Or should that be girls and boys. Do girls come before boys? Or is always alpha order?)

We have had the capability to do encryption for stuff for eons. PGP can encrypt messages. At the very least it can give you a hash of the message that proves if it’s been tampered with!

Then we’d completely avoid these little distractions about “who did it”.

Time has come for the technology folks to get their act together.

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TECHNOLOGY: Google advertising Chrome on TV?

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Just saw a Google ad for Chrome on GSN TV today now!

Huh?

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SOFTWARE: MAC OSX 10.6.1 MAIL loses its mind

Monday, September 21, 2009

It begins reloading all mail again.

Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

SERVICE: Google password change forced

Friday, September 18, 2009

Google forced me to change a password based on “suspicious activity”.

It gave me no further information.

Google doesn’t enforce three strikes and your out so what use is a password!

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And, next time into GMAIL it asked to verify a secondary email address.

Perhaps, three strikes and you’re out is coming.

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Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: OLPC has roll out problems — no leadership!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

http://radian.org/notebook/sic-transit-gloria-laptopi

*** begin quote ***

Date: Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:46:36 +0800
From: jidanni
Subject: OLPC: Sic Transit Gloria Laptopi

…there was no one hired to work on deployment while I was at OLPC, with Uruguay’s and Peru’s combined 360,000-laptop rollout in progress. I was parachuted in as the sole OLPC person to deal with Uruguay, and sent to Peru at the last minute. And I’m really good at thinking on my feet, but what the sh*t do I know about deployment? Right around that time, Walter was demoted and theoretically made the “director of deployment,” a position where he directed his expansive team of — himself. Then he left, and get this: now the company has half a million laptops in the wild, with no one even pretending to be officially in charge of deployment. “I quit,” Walter told me on the phone after leaving, “because I can’t continue to work on a lie.”

*** end quote ***

How can you have a roll out without leadership?
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Posted by reinkefj

SERVICE: Cloud Computing has risks

Sunday, September 13, 2009

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/yeah-ok-so-facebook-punkd-us/#comment-2977957

Yeah Ok, So Facebook Punk’d Us by Michael Arrington on September 10, 2009

*** begin quote ***

Today that changed. They punk’d us, and we fell for it. Hard.

*** end quote ***

With all due respect to some good clean fun, it does make a “teachable moment”.

(1) Cloud computing is not without its risks. You can’t run “production quality” “books and records” type applications on services that you don’t control.

(2) Not everything is as it appears on the internet. The bad guys have the ability to hide behind a “web front”, stand in the middle of your conversation, and read all your traffic.

(3) Without end to end encryption, nothing is private. Every packet is a post card.

(4) In the desire for a scoop, confirm that others have seen the phenom you’re scooping about. Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it is reported on the internet.

(5) TANSTAFL! Every once in while, someone plays a practical on you. It’s the cost of doing business.

Hmmm!

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SERVICE: Amazon updates their sales process

Friday, September 11, 2009

AMAZON changes it’s sales process

*** begin quote ***

Dear Seller,

You recently signed up for Charge When Ship in your Seller Account.

With Charge When Ship:

* When you ship an order, you confirm the shipment, and provide shipping information in Manage Orders. If you have a Pro Merchant Subscription you can also use text-file feeds for this.

* We charge the buyer after you confirm a shipment, rather than when the order was placed, providing a better buyer experience.

* To keep buyers informed about their shipments, we display the shipping information in the buyer’s Amazon account, and we also send the buyer an e-mail notification with all the shipping information.

* You can cancel an order, if necessary, instead of confirming the shipment, and then we will not charge the buyer at all and you will not have to issue a refund.

We think you will find managing your orders is easier and more efficient with Charge When Ship. If you have questions, contact us using the “By e-mail” or “By phone” button in the Seller Support box found on the right side of seller Help pages.

Thank you for selling on Amazon.com

===========================================================

IMPORTANT REMINDER

===========================================================

For each order you ship, you must confirm shipment within 30 days of the date the order was placed. Any order that has not been confirmed as shipped will be automatically cancelled after 30 days. This means we will not charge the customer and you will not be paid for the order.

—————————————-

HOW TO CONFIRM SHIPMENTS

—————————————-

You can confirm shipments easily in Manage Orders:

1. In your Seller Account, under the “Manage Your Orders” heading, click “View your orders” to find the order you want to confirm.

2. Click the “Confirm shipment” button next to the order (or below the order if you are looking at an order detail page).

3. Select the Ship Date and Carrier (such as USPS) from the drop-down lists.

4. Enter the Shipping Service (such as Ground) and the Tracking ID, if any (supplied by the carrier).

5. Click the “Confirm shipment” button.

For information on using a Shipping Confirmation feed to confirm shipment of multiple orders at once, follow this path in Amazon.com Help:

Selling at Amazon.com > Confirming Shipment > How to Confirm Shipment of Multiple Orders at the Same Time

———————————-

HOW TO CANCEL ORDERS

———————————-

If you are unable to ship an order, you can cancel it easily in Manage Orders:

1. In your Seller Account, under the “Manage Your Orders” heading, click “View your orders” to find the order you want to cancel.

2. Click the “Cancel order” button next to the order (or below the order if you are looking at an order detail page).

3. Select the appropriate reason, and then click Submit.

For information on cancelling orders using an Order Cancellation feed, follow this path in Amazon.com Help:

Selling at Amazon.com > Confirming Shipment > How to Cancel Orders

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Posted by reinkefj

SOFTWARE: Apple’s calendar is an “island”

Friday, September 11, 2009

Not that outlook is much better, but you can import to it.

iCal is supposed to, but try to figure out the format.

Hmmm!

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Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: We’re at war against foreign powers and criminals

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=0020002HDYSG&page=1

World War 3.0: 10 Critical Trends for Cybersecurity
September 2, 2009 7:22AM

*** begin quote ***

The Internet, private networks, VPNs, and a host of other technologies are quickly weaving the planet into a single, massively complex “infosphere.” These connections cannot be severed without overwhelming damage to companies and even economies. Yet, they represent unprecedented vulnerabilities to espionage and covert attack.

*** end quote ***

Bottom line: We care complacent. We’d better deploy IPv6 for its improved security now. Next, we better start encrypting everything in sight.

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SOFTWARE: Snow Leopard, ILife09, and IWork09

Monday, September 7, 2009

RE: SNOW LEOPARD

Mine went smooth. Don’t believe the estimates it spouts. I got the PACK with Snow, iwork09, and ilife09. Took about an hour each. Only surprise was TextExpander and Scrivner needed a refresh. Only grip is that it left iwork08 and iwork09 behind. Other that that it was a non-event.

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SERVICE: BLUEHOST problem; but whose?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

#DEN-45763-514


*** begin quote ***

Unfortunately, your server is still under a DDoS attack and will move extremely slowly (if at all). As soon as the attack discontinues or is otherwise resolved, the server will function normally again. A DDoS attack is essentially a terrorist attack on the server, usually done by a hacker getting viruses in thousands of computers and having them send as many connections as possible, as quickly as possible, to the box.

We are working to reduce the effect of the attack and find out which account is being targeted. At that point we will have to ask that account to find a new host. Unfortunately, we can’t know which account is being attacked without extensive steps, as the IP Address on the server is Shared.

DDoS attacks can last anywhere from hours to days.

Your data is safe. Just currently inaccessible.

If you’d like to learn more about this kind of terrorist attack, check

*** end quote ***

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Posted by reinkefj

SOFTWARE: FASTDIAL lost all my settings

Friday, September 4, 2009

Argh!

And, I don’t know where it kept them.

Argh!

And I didn’t keep a list of them.

Argh!

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TECHNOLOGY: Google doesn’t index comments

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Interesting. Google, the be all and end all of internet search, does NOT index comments. Very interesting.

Leaves an opening for a competitor.

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LINKEDIN: Scammer sighted on LinkedIn

Saturday, August 29, 2009

OVER ON Vincent Wright’s MyLinkedinPowerForum

*** begin quote ***

I googled him and found out that in addition of being a LI member (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mr-isaac-howells/13/7b1/35 and http://www.linkedin.com/pub/isaac-howells/12/b23/944 where you will notice that the same person works in two different African countries and has no connections), I also found out the Spanish based version of http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/index.php where warnings have been issued about this person being part of a worldwide fraud attempt.

*** end quote ***

The scammers “DO” social networking too. Forewarned is forearmed!
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TECHNOLOGY: Google Books and The Internet Archive

Friday, August 28, 2009

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/22/nsfw-say-what-you-like-about-the-google-books-kool-aid-but-it-tastes-much-better-than-microsofts-sour-grapes/#comment-2942625

Say what you like about the Google Books Kool-Aid, but it tastes much better than Microsoft’s sour grapes
by Paul Carr on August 22, 2009

*** begin quote ***

But one aspect of the settlement wasn’t so uncontroversial, and that was the issue of so-called ‘orphan works’ – books which are still in copyright but where the identity of the copyright owner is, for one reason or another, unclear. As part of the settlement, the book industry agreed that, with certain restrictions, Google could scan orphan works without being held liable for breach of copyright claims if the rights owner subsequently came forward. In return Google agreed to create an independent (and open to all) rights registry letting authors of orphaned stake their copyright claim.
At first glance, the deal over orphaned works seems as reasonable as the rest of the settlement – these are books for which no-one is being paid and which otherwise would be hidden away in libraries and second hand bookstores. But still Google’s competitors are crying foul.
The Internet Archive is particularly annoyed, arguing that they too are scanning millions of books for the public good, but without any blanket copyright protection for orphaned works. And so, through a group they call Open Content Alliance, they hope to pressure the Department of Justice to extend the terms of the settlement to everyone, not just Google.
For the other companies joining the Alliance – including Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon – there are more obvious and nakedly commercial reasons to oppose the settlement. But that doesn’t make their objections less valid. Back in April, Erick Schonfeld wrote a passionate – and compelling – argument for the immunity to apply to everyone so that Google wouldn’t have a monopoly position where they could effectively charge whatever they like for downloading digital copies of orphaned works.
*** end quote ***

It would seem we need a law change. If you even believe in “imaginary property”. (It seems absurd to call what the congress critters pass “a law”. Now the Law of Gravity; that’s a LAW!)

When a book goes OOP (Out Of Print), or is otherwise “hidden” from the public, it should enter the public domain. Wasn’t the purpose of copyright law to encourage sharing of “intellectual (imaginary) property”? When that sharing ceases, shouldn’t the protection?

Seems only fair to me.

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