Reinke Faces Life

As we enter the “final turn” of the year, the last quarter of the year, I am creating an inventory form my end of year review. (Hey, you have to have something to do during the week between Christmas and New Years!)

Topics:

• Does my plog (personal web log) “reinke faces life” is this any value?
• Does vista pretend to offer me any benefit?
• If we’re going to Linux, what’s the path?
• How is technology, and my use of it, delivering on its promise of “better”? Better what?
• Hardware and software rationalization

» Playing Google Videos In Windows Media Player » InsideGoogle » part of the Blog News Channel

http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2006/09/20/playing-google-videos-in-windows-media-player/

Playing Google Videos In Windows Media Player
By Nathan Weinberg

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Turns out that Google Video’s downloads, called .gvi files, are just standard .avi files that have been altered to be unplayable in Windows Media Player. When you click in Google Video to download a video to Windows/Mac, you download a .gvp bookmark, which loads Google Video Player and downloads the appropriate .gvi file (opening the .gvp in a text editor will reveal the URL of the .gvi, if you don’t want to install the Video Player).

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Hopefully, this isn’t the beginning of a new format wat?

Zimbabwe Fails To Pay Bills, Cut Off From Web – Networking Technology News by TechWeb

http://www.techweb.com/wire/networking/193003968

September 20, 2006 (12:52 PM EDT)
techweb
Zimbabwe Fails To Pay Bills, Cut Off From Web

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Zimbabwe, struggling with rampant inflation and shortages of food and gasoline, has been virtually cut off from the Internet for not paying its bills, news wire services reported Wednesday.
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Maybe that’s a failure that the internet wasn’t designed to recover form?

Tim Anderson’s ITWriting

http://www.itwriting.com/blog/?postid=531

September 20, 2006
Securing Windows: why Microsoft is fighting its third-party partners
Posted 17 hours ago on September 20, 2006
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The bottom line is that the mass-market, consumer-oriented PC security industry is bloated out of all proportion. Users should be able to do reasonably secure computing out-of-the-box, and with non-Windows systems – OS X, Linux – they already can. I am right behind Microsoft in its efforts to extend that to Windows systems as well.

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MY COMMENT:

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Like it or not, if you accept Microsoft, then you get insecurity. Anyone thinking about Vista has to make the devil’s bargain. When you factor in the cost of an upgrade, I’m going to linux. Boot from a live cd and what can be infected? Until we get computing appliances or we have true web-based computing, it should be good enough, safe enough, and smart enough to be on Linux.

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Going back to the old days of a disk oriented operating system. Boot off a Linue Live CD. And, be immune to virus infection.

The Post Money Value: Pissed Off Customer 2.0

http://ricksegal.typepad.com/pmv/2006/09/pissed_off_cust.html
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The capable logo and the (rapidly approaching) free upgrade coupon in the box promotion is designed to keep computers flying off the shelves, thus avoiding the Osborne Syndrome. (Short History: Osborne Computers pre-announced a new model, killing sales of old model, new model late, company augers into the ground.)

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Never heard that before.  Akin to spin, crash, and burn.

For example, to get this one use the link on the side or http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=98446

It’s free for all. And, works very nicely!

How to lose your fear of being fired

http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker74.html

What To Do When Your Computer Bogs Down
by Jeffrey A. Tucker
Editorial vice president of http://www.Mises.org
September 19, 2006

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Relentless development in software, hardware, and the online world means living life in Beta with all its attendant problems. Each machine is different, and yet the Windows-based machines I’ve worked on for the last four months have all had the same trouble, and require the same steps to resolve it. Some of the problems result from the very first days that the computer was fired up, but use (along with spyware, adware, malware, viruses, and enormous software muck) only makes them worse.

Here are the steps that have worked for many Windows machines in recent days.

***AND***

That’s it! Your machine should be vastly improved in every way.

(Please don’t write to tell me about the wonders of Mac [granted] or of the feasibility of end-user Linux systems [please!]. You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know, so I’ll just delete your email.)

***End Quote***

What you are describing is a phenom which I believe is generally called winrot. (I’ve blogged about it. https://reinkefj.wordpress.com/2006/02/24/prepare-for-winrot/ on several occasions.)

The only real solution is to reinstall from scratch.

Some fanatics urge a quarterly reinstall. I usually try during the End Of Year holidays when stuff is slow. The week between Christmas and New Years is deadly slow.

It assumes, and presumes, that you:

(1) have good backups of all your data.

(Entertaining exercise. Hand the corporate user a new laptop. Take the old one. And, then you see just how good your backup and recovery strategy is. I have had the equivalent happen to me when a hard disk drive dies and the first time I lost four months of work. Now I am a fanatic about backup and recovery. My worktop has been replaced three times with no loss. My personal one probably would be OK, but not as good, nor as crisp and easy.)

(2) have all your program distribution media. (All those darn CDs!)

(3) have all your program serial numbers (All those darn 29.5 character random strings. Sometimes on the last page of manuals.  Sometimes on folders. Sometimes on envelopes. Sometime on convenient easy to lose slips of paper.)

Arghhhh!!!

http://kentblumberg.typepad.com/kent_blumberg/2006/09/focus_onstrengt.html

Focus on…Strengths and Success

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Drucker wrote that we tend to get pushed into focusing on problems, and distracted from the positive opportunities that were there for the taking.

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Well, I don’t necessarily agree with him on that.

I like to use my “patented” Power of Negative Thinking, with apologies to Norman Vincent Peale. “Problems” deserve a special laser-like focus. At least four times in the last year, I have seen small problems that were really precursors to big problems. If there had been a true “autopsy” on that small problem, then it would have exposed the potential for a “big hairy one”. But, the small problem was dismissed, (over my objections), as a “fluke”, “isolate incident”, “network blip”, or “who cares because we’re done”. Now don’t misunderstand, not only did I not say “see told ya so”, but it not an academic inquiry into “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin”. It’s is about, at least in my IT world, stuff happens for a reason. And, that reason usually portends, when neglected, a big alligator arising from the swamp to take a big bite out of your butt when you least expect it and have the least ability to deal with it. Then, your left with the coulda, shoulda, and woulda, usually in front of people you’d rather not spend time in front of.

It’s nice to be positive, but, imho, you need to take care of the negatives. Or at least get far enough away from the swamp, so that when the alligators come home to roost, (yeah yeah it’s chickens!) they don’t roost, or feast, on you.

Problems are opportunities, in disguise, to avoid bigger problems.

At least they are in my world.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/091206-von-sam-houston.html?t5
Subject: Network World reports “University dumps Cisco VoIP for open-source Asterisk”

***

I’ve got the book.

(Wall Street types believe that they can … do brain surgery … with a book and a tool … while doing everything else … driving in traffic at 90mph … on themselves!)
And, have been toying with the idea of deploying it at home. If I rewire and home run all phones to the “pbx” in the garage, I have all the centrex like services AND, probably can figure out how to use voip to the voip-able, cell minutes on weekends, and pots when all else fail. It has GREAT promise!

For example, I pick up any phone in my house and Asterix can decide if my call to my friend in NC should go: by yim because he’s available; by voip;  by  free after hours cell phone minutes; or by pots line. (Least cost call routing in the pbxjargon!). And if he doesn’t answer, and I say “unimportant” it will ring his cell phone if it is in his free minutes. Or if I say “important”, it calls his cell anytime. And if I say “urgent”, it rings his cell every five minutes to deliver my recorded message. (Follow him by priority in pbx jargon). And if he calls me back, same scenario, except it’s “following me”. And, if I’ve gone to bed or don’t want the phone to ring, it can say “Wake him up?” and act on a response.

From my pov, you could “do voip” plus Asterix with say a consortium of internet people (talk about herding cats) and everyone supply a local jump off to the ptsn. Voila! Free phone service for everyone?

Example, I have a pots line and a broadband connect. My friend in NC has a pots line and a broadband connect. With Aterix at both ends, it should be “possible” for: someone to call my local NJ phone number, give codes to Asterix, My Asterix connects via the net to his Asterix, his Asterix dials a local number in NC (wouldn’t want to pay for a freeloaders toll calls), and (Voila! Poof! Shazam!) free long distance service.

Now granted there was a lot of things that have to go right, but now let’s go “corporate”.

The example is use Asterix for your remote office and you don’t need no business Centrex lines unless they are very very cheap. You probably have broad band to the remote locations already. You don’t need expensive CPE or PBX or Cisco IPBXs. Old hardware, free software, and WOW! you’re in competition with a phone company.
Looks like things are getting very interesting – soon – real soon – soon !
Hmmm, note to self, sell verizon stock.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/09/18/keyfinder-thing-find-those-microsoft-serials-and-cd-keys/

Keyfinder Thing: Find those Microsoft serials and CD keys
Posted Sep 18th 2006 3:45PM by Jordan Running
Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

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It’s a free app for Windows that will magically discover the serial numbers for all of the Microsoft software you have installed with just a few clicks. Keyfinder Thing comes in two versions: Full and Lite. Both are free and both do basically the same thing, but the former has a few more features and requires the .NET 2.0 FX library which you may or may not have. The latest version of Keyfinder Thing is capable of digging up the keys for more than 90 titles.

***End Quote***

Very useful. If for no other reason than catching all those rotten codes in one place. Arghh! Probably right after WGA, and all the other various forms of “legitimate user frustration”, those darned serial numbers are the gigantic pia. while not as complete as that inventory utility I have run from time to time, this is good.

This is a keeper imho

Ahh yes, security technology 0, hackers 1!

Interesting. Copy a fragment from a webpage. Paste it to word pad – note pad – or your favorite text editor. (I like EditPadPro http://www.editpadpro.com/) You know it is there. Fire up microsoft word. (Fire may be a bad choice of an action verb!) Try to paste. Nada. Back to that editor. Try to paste. It’s el gonno. (Tech term for “what cha talkin bout Willis?”) What cut? Who supposed to paste? And word and windoze all do a sargent shultz. (“I no nuthin. Nuthin! nuthin at all!) Redo the copy. Go to word. And magically it works. Interesting!?!

Doctor Watson, do you think that maybe microsoft took liberties in handoffs between windoze, word, and lookout? says Sherlock

BitTorrent Simulator: How and Why BitTorrent works

BitTorrent Simulator: How and Why BitTorrent works
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BitTorrent is a great protocol to distribute large files. One of it’s main advantages is that every downloader starts sharing right away, even without having a full copy of the file.

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For the visuals among us, the graphical model really gives a great visualization of how the think works. If a picture is wortha thousand words, the simulation is a grazzillion words.

Now I need to learn about torrents.

Here’s a weekly message that I find of value. I usually try all the suggestions that pique my curiousity. YMMV

New Media Picks Of The Week: Sharewood Picnic 70

http://www.masternewmedia.org/new_media_tools/new_media_picks/new_media_picks_of_the_week_20060917.htm

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1. SmartVideoChannel
2. Zoho Show
3. Live Documents
4. V4S
5. Treemo
6. Webshots
7. PDF Text Online
8. Zapr
9. Noovo
10. SimplyHeadlines

***End Quote***
SmartVideoChannel              http://www.smartvideochannel.com/
“SmartVideoChannel allows you to create your own media hosting site or link hosted media to your pre-existing website.”

I don’t “do” a lot of video so I pass.

Verdict: I Pass

=

Zoho Show                        http://www.zohoshow.com/login.sas
“Zoho Show is an online tool to create, edit, publish, and show presentations.”

This may be useful. I’ll have to try it with one of my canned presentations. Corporate type probably can only use it for the most bland presentations. So what would I use it for? Hmmm??????

Verdict: Jury’s still out.

=

Live Documents                      http://www.live-documents.com/
“Live Documents is a tool that enables you to collaborate over Microsoft Word and Excel documents with others.”

Again, not much use to me. The French Resistence shot collaborators. And so does corporate america. Or at least it’s not rewarded. “Free trial” scares me. Guess they will expect to sell subscriptions. It’s not the same as “free”.

Verdict: I pass

=

V4S                                        http://orb.com/skype/
“V4S is a voice messaging platform that enables you to send and receive voicemails.”

Mentions skype (a killer for me), always connected, and such.

Verdict: I pass

=

Treemo                                http://www.treemo.com/
“Treemo is an online and mobile community dedicated to sharing digital media.”

Napster? I don’t need hassles witht he RIAA.

Verdict: I pass

=

Webshots                                 http://www.webshots.com/
“Webshots is a service that allows you to upload unlimited images and create online photo albums.”

Sanpfish! Kodak!

Verdict: I pass

=

PDF Text Online                       http://www.pdftextonline.com/
“PDF Text Online is a service that converts PDF files in text files.”

Not a cracker, but could be useful.

Verdict: Schedule for a test.

=

Zapr                                           http://www.zapr.net/
“Zapr is an application that lets you create links to any files on your PC.”

Interesting. This could be useful. Oh Oh O, requires dotnet. Argh, that’s not in alignment with being Microsloth free in 07.

Verdict: I pass

=

Noovo                                          http://www.noovo.us/
“Noovo is a browser-based editor which allows you to create websites homepages without having to deal with HTML and other codes.”

Interesting, almost compelling, since I have been playing with my homepages, with many Argh!s and worse, I tried it. Waste of time. No way to pick up an existing page. (Or at least no way I could see.) No way to save one’s work. (Or no way I saw.) So a waste of my time. Google base pages, or whatever they call it does the same thing.

Verdict: I pass.

=

SimplyHeadlines                            http://www.simplyheadlines.com/
“SimplyHeadlines is a service that enables you to pick news from the sources you select and receive a digest directly into your email.”

Sounbds interesting and might be useful.

Verdict: Schedule a test!

=

So some interesting items at the picnic.

No, “nut” comments needed! ;-)

http://www.jajah.com/info/rates/

Free in the USA.

I was thinking that you’d be interested for setting up your various familial activities.

Seems like a neat idea and you can’t beat the price.

Free!

Now if just had someone to call. Sigh!

http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/002703.html

***Begin Quote***

And what’s your favorite utility?

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http://www.roboform.com/

Roboform is a top-rated Password Manager and Web Form Filler that completely automates password entering and form filling:
* Memorizes your passwords and Logs You In automatically.
* Generates random passwords that hackers cannot guess.
* Backs up your passwords, Copies them between computers.
Where does anyone think I dig up all these long random unique character strings for email ids, passwords, and userids? Yup, roboform’s generate!

I think it is interesting that, unlike any other application that shares my platform, LookOut seizes the focus. It doesn’t minimize while it doing certain stuff, but literally ‘takes over”. When LookOut is doing its work, I like to play a game of Solitaire. (It makes me less crazed while I am waiting. Argh!) Lookout, and to some extent Plaxo, won’t let me. It insists that I watch it “work”. Sometimes it twirls an hourglass for my amusement. But, many times it just sits there “promising” me it’s working. how do I know? Argh! I notice it when PLAXO is running, but the culprit may be LookOut. I can’t wait to get to Linux and dump all this trash. Wonder how much time I’ll save?

http://ziki.com/people/reinkefj

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Ziki.com helps you control your online identity and offers everyone a new way to share, promote and monetize their content through social networking.

Welcome to Ziki.com, the new social network

* Be Found. Tag yourself with your own keywords
* Gather all your digital life in one place: blog entries, Del.icio.us links, Flickr photos, YouTube videos and more
* Share all the content you create and publish on the web
* Promote yourself, your content, your favorites, your network and your groups
* Build your own social web including your network, your favorite content, your groups, your audience – your whole digital life
* Discover people based on the tags they use to describe themselves
* Find what you are looking for in your personal content or the content of the community (coming soon)
* Connect with people, companies and groups based on what you’re looking for (e.g. jobs, selling ad space on your blog) (coming soon)

***End Quote***

http://jxymxu7sn5ho9d.googlepages.com/home

Is a throw away area that doesn’t consume my webspace? It’s from the Google Lab’s so it’s a beta beta. But it works for me. And, might for you.

http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=98446

Ain’t the internet great! Don’t you love free stuff?

The Kid From Brooklyn – Videos – This one is WorkSafe (Not all his stuff is!) —

http://www.thekidfrombrooklyn.com/video_disp.asp?videoid=1366

IMHO, wtc should be rebuilt bigger and taller and paint a big finger on the side of it. We shouldn’t permit ourselves to be bullied. And, then get all our boys and girls home. And, return to the Constitutional vision of America. Trade with everyone; no entangling alliances. Our politicians are failing us!

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6636289.html?subj=blog&part=rss&tag=6636289

September 08, 2006, 10:04 AM PDT
My fight with Amazon Unbox
Posted by: Tom Merritt
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I do not recommend you try Amazon Unbox, and here’s why.
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In a scorching indictment for “bad behavior”, Tom scared me away. As a general rule, I don’t like anything that soes strange things. The Windoze platform has enough trouble doing “easy” things. Copy Protection schemes usually shoot me in the foot. So, it my policy to stay away. Far away. Thanks, Tom, for the heads up.

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep62006/cyberspace163748200695.asp

Deccan Herald » Cyber Space » Detailed Story
Paper-based storage device
Are the days for CDs, DVDs, Zip drives over? A computer whizkid is revolutionizing the computer data storage through his Rainbow Technology, reports M A Siraj.

***Begin Quote***

A student has developed a technique for portable data whereby the data can now be stored on ordinary paper. And to boot, larger amount of data can be had on lesser space. The immediate question that pops up in the mind is how to retrieve the data. Will it be as facile as feeding a floppy disc or CD into the drive and having it on the monitor? Perhaps it will be much easier than all that. The piece of paper or even plastic sheet storing the data has just to be scanned in the scanner and read over the monitor.

***End Quote***

Nah, I don’t think so. I remember a similar development a while ago. It stored data in a printable format and would scan it back to life. If never panned out. I spent a LOT of time playing with it. I could see tremendous benefit in it. But, never got it to work. And scanners were no where as popular as today.

We’ll see. But it definitely not a revolutionary discovery imho.

Ahh, it was great fun to waste an hour of my life I would never get back.

Quick background. I was poa on an account for an elderly relative who died. His choice as to when; his quality of life was getting yucky so he just declined further treatment. I am the executor of his will. And general gopher as he got more feeble in his later life. (It’s provided me a lot to rant about here in my pblog!)

So, I go a probate the will. Which considering that I was dealing with the gubamint was relatively painless. It cost me 200$ to get a clerk to print some paper. This is much better than the way it used to be where you actually had to see a judge. I was in and out in 45 minutes.

So, back to wachovia and technology.

Now I take my newly minted executor form, called a testamentary letter, to the bank and say “Convert this account to an estate account”. I had the death certificate, my gubamint irs estate tin, and my new nj digital dl. So I’m set.

Oppps. They can’t close the old account until Monday because, since I do web banking, that has to be done by the “back office” in North Carolina. OK who cares. Let’s open the estate account. Then I can begin the process of “marshaling the assets” and “discharging the liabilities”. (Seriously who makes up the jargon?). When that’s done, I present a final account to someone (me?), pay off the legatees. And, I’m done!

SO, let’s open the estate account. (It’s just like opening any account. Right?) Wrong! The nice lady taps on keys for the better part of an hour and announces the system isn’t working right. She calls HQ and they can’t make it work either. She’s advised to try again in 30 minutes.

Bye! I said to call me whenshe gets it done.

Then, I’m sure I’ll have to go back and select a pin.

(Can’t use the id and authentication I set up on the other account. Too easy!)

Never heard from her today. So I assume that they are still rolling back code. See, having worked at several financial institutions, you make changes on Friday night because it gives you a modest live test on Saturday, and all day Sunday to fix it, and all Sunday night to roll it back if you can’t make it work.

It was humorous to see a front end user, frustrated in her inability to complete a relatively basic function.

Wonder how much it cost them in opportunity cost. To bad there not based in Jerzey, I could go to work for them to fix their problem. That’s how I wound up at our favorite ISP!