Reinke Faces Life

Azureus, a really sweet BitTorrent client (free of course), appears to havehad its own personal brain freeze. What is noteworthy was that it was unrelated to network issues.

My internet connection is rock solid now that I had my ISP come out to investigate. It turned out that the darn squirrels hand chewed the wire from house to pole down to bare wire. I assume that every time the wind blew the wire would ground out. Amazing that there was an signal at all. Any way back to Azureues.

I use Azerueus to help the fellows over at Free Talk Live http://freetalklive.com, my favoite podcast, deliver their content. They uniquely have a more than a year of their show online for free. As anyone who knows me, I'm big on "free".

(Free software, free podcasts, free beer, free love. Never did get all that free beer or free love that they were talking about in the Sixties. I'll now break out into my rendition of "Born Too Late". Oh no audio on your end. Too bad. Your loss.)

I have all their content here and when I'm home I put fire up Azureus to help them deliver their content. Azureus does come in handy for downloading Linux distributions, my strategic direction, from time to time.

This moring I awake to find Azureus "stuck" with red ballons on most of the files. A red balloon mains something is wrong. It was bizarre. Some files couldn't be found. Some couldn't scrape. So I shut it down. And brought it back up. Green (good) and blue (sadly trying) baloons came popping up all over.

Hmmm.

Maybe it just got lonely. But everything was back to normal. I don't know why. Wish all my software problems were resolved so easily. Have to keeo my eye on thsi troublemaker.

http://truthintech.net/2006/05/05/evoting-problems/

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The Washington Post has a decent article up about problems with eVoting systems. 

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As an IT guy, I KNOW that eVoting will be fraudulent. It can't be other than that.

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That said check out the article and its comparison to Vegas Slot Machines!  

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/03/16/GR2006031600213.html

I love it.

Best mechanized voting proposal I ever saw was the one that kept the system pretty much similar but, with Open Source software, the machine printed a "receipt" for your vote. You then "cast" that vote in the ballot box. Everyone got a quick tally from the machine and the ballot box was there for verification.

It wasn't internet, phone, or absentee balloting but it was fraud proof. 

http://ezinearticles.com/blog/archives/2006/04/audio-to-articles.html

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As I was mentioning strategies to repurpose old content that was long forgotten, it sparked Daniel to ask and offer this nugget: Wouldn’t it be easy to talk into a microphone for an hour or any time frame, then pay someone to transcribe the MP3 into a MS Word .doc…break the transcription into 350-500 word articles and you’d have an instant set of 5-20 articles to put into syndication. Just add title, keywords, a default resource box and submit.

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About two years ago I pinched a nerve in my neck, after a couple of weeks of rest, treatment, and drugs, I was able to return to work. But my right hand for typing was useless; maybe good for five minutes. I got a copy of viavoice and was able to dictate as opposed to keyboard. It's fraught with difficulties but it MIGHT be worth considering. With training, I was able to get 99+% accuracy on dictation (speak directly to software) and transcription (record voice and pipe it into software). It's not for the timid or faint of heart but it can be done. The software will also read to you (i.e., as if you were blind) but it was a weird experience to be read to in your own voice. I did try to get this running for a doc who wanted to write a book and I am struggling with it. So to quote the knight in with the Holy Grail, "Choose wisely!".

For the longest time, I would dump any contacts email address into LinkedIn with an appendage to the first name to remind me where I knew them from. If they susequently joined LinkedIn, then I'd pile on to connect with them. I rarely invite people. It's just to much hassle explaining it, cajoling them, and convincing them. If some one joins on their own, it is a done deal to do the old LinkedIn version of the Vulcan mind meld with them. So routinely dumping in large numbers of email address was a as needed task. Let them "stew" and once a week see who was "discovered".

Now LinkedIn doesn't let me put in "other contacts" so easily. Defeating an easy way to build a network. Arghh!

Interesting there doesn't seem to be an easy way to pour data into the Google calendar. I have a flat file of birthday and name. You'da thunk it would be easy to pipe that puppy into GCal. Yuo'da thunk wrong. Hmmm!

How could that happen? It was amusing. Trapped by their own trap.

 P.S. The YIM75 install still isn't working. Arghhh!

http://directory.fsf.org/

While primarily a Linux resource, remember that I am not going to Vista. So I am experimenting with Linux prior to taking the plunge.

http://goalsuccess.typepad.com/goaltips/2006/05/achieveit_deskt.html

Achieve-IT! Desktop Goal Software 1.0 is Live

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Well, I am finally at the point to set sail.  Achieve-IT! desktop has officially gone live.  A tour of Achieve-IT! desktop 1.0 is available here. 

The Key features:

• A Simple way to identify and plan your dreams
• Secure database prevents prevents prying eyes
• Discover all steps required to reach each of your goals and make a simple plan to accomplish each one
• Microsoft Outlook(tm) integration.  Export goals and tasks to Outlook calendar and task list
• Motivate yourself with the Motivate Me feature.  The Motivate Me option to keep you on track and focused on  your primary goal beyond today, tomorrow and next week by acting as your personal coach.  It pushes you toward your goal in a different way every day.
• Alot more features I'm too tired to list right now (So you'll just have to download your own copy! )

It requires Windows XP and the .NET Framework installed in order to run.
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I'm playing with it.

http://www.syncura.com

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Synchronize folders with your team!

Syncura has rearraged the peer-to-peer file sharing concept into a secure, invitation-only product that will keep your team's crucially important files in sync.

How does it work?

Syncura automatically encrypts and synchronizes files with the rest of your team. Copy or save a file to a shared folder and it is automatically sent to all your teammates. Only the portion of the file that changed is transferred to your teammates. So if you only add one page to a 100 page document, only the changes you made are transferred. This strategy reduces network bandwidth by over 80%.

Who can use it?

Anyone with Internet access can be invited to share files with your team. Collaborate on documents with clients from other organizations or with colleagues on different networks. If a direct connection between your computer and a teammate's computer is not available, Syncura will perform a ProxySync to synchronize files. A ProxySync will relay your encrypted file changes through our servers.

Instant document sharing

Syncura instantly synchronizes files updated by your teammates to your local hard drive. No more wasting time finding the latest version of a shared document before heading to an offsite meeting. Syncura will also download any changes your teammates made while you were offline. Additonally, Syncura detects any files you changed while offline and immediately synchronizes them with the rest of your team.

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Well it's free. It does exchange files. How secure it is I can't say I know. It solves a problem I have about sharing data between machines.

I'm a sucker. Yahoo sent me a dollar to use on their new Phone In / Phone Out service. It's appealing. I can make or receive phone calls from my laptop. Out is not much difference there from Skype or Gizmo. In to it's own phone number is unique. But, when I am untethered with my Verizon Wireless Broad Band Card, I'm a rolling phone booth. Comcast's Digital Voice, part of their triple play, would also be nice when it gets to my area.

But three features of Yahoo's offering peaked my interest.

(1) Cheap; penny a minute.

(2) Turn my untethered laptop into a mobile phone [Yeah, I have a wireless phone. Buy a laptop phone would be nerdy kool.]

(3) Give my laptop it's own phone number. How kool would that be? And useful.

I figure that using Yahoo Instant Messenger, people might be more likely to give you a quick call.

SO FAR, it's been a modest disaster.

YIM75 will not install on my luggable laptop. Queries to Yahoo Support get a canned message — we'll be back to you within a day — followed by telling me where to dl the software or asking me questions about what happens when YIM runs.

Hey guys and gals, read the messages. IT DOESN'T INSTALL. Arghhh.

If I ever get a customer support group, then I am going have reading and listening lessons.

Maybe Ed Gripeline Foster would be interested in this?

http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/5625

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Monkey Mail

By Jason Meserve on Thu, 04/27/2006 – 6:46pm
Applications | timekiller
If you're like me and love the CareerBuilder.com "I work with monkeys" commercial than you'll lover their new Monk-E-Mail service. Go to the Web site, type in a message and a customized monkey will read your message to the intended recipient. Brilliant! (Wait, that's Guinness… but still, brilliant!)

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I LOVE it. I think there can be many valuable messages that it can be used for. If there is an anonymous method. 

http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/?mid=8210299

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Another online pharmacy spam ring, nick-named PP, has decided to listen to the frog. PP, a medium size spammer, elected to stop spamming us. This is good news, but what is even more important is that we never sent a single opt-out request to PP. Yep, that's right. Zero opt-outs were sent to PP.

This spam ring was large enough to attract our attention, but there were a few other spammers who irritate our community more than PP. Therefore, we were essentially just watching them and their spam. We never took the time to create an opt-out script for PP's sites.

However, PP has decided there is no point in waiting for our community to take action. After all, our actions never generate revenues, just opt-outs. In a smart move, PP simply complied with the Registry. And don't think PP stopped spamming. We keep getting loads of their Vi@gra spam to our unregistered honeypot accounts. PP avoids sending spam to the Blue community.

Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war. This piece of advice was given by a Roman general a couple of thousands years ago. It was proven right again today. We want peace. We are prepared to fight for our rights. Spammers understand and respect this.

Posted by Eran Reshef Apr 27, 2006 08:48

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I wanted to invite you to join the Blue Community and benefit from Blue Security's free anti-spam service, the Do Not Intrude Registry. I highly recommend you join the service – it's simple, safe and easy to use. Many users already report a significant reduction in spam.

Blue Security allows us to actively do something to stop receiving spam. Here's how it works:

1. I report spam I receive to Blue Security.
2. The Blue Frog software, installed on my machine, automatically posts opt-out requests on spammers' sites demanding they stop sending spam to members of the Blue Community.
3. Spammers use the Do Not Intrude Registry in order to clean their lists and avoid sending us spam.

The service is free, and if you sign up now, Blue Security guaranties you will never have to pay for it in the future.

Stop filtering spam, Start deterring spammers – Sign up with the Do Not Intrude Registry.
http://members.bluesecurity.com/cwa/frog_welcome.do?from=frog&ver=1.9.0.1139&p0=invite&p1=reinkefj2723

Pig here, as in guinea pig. My employer has contracted for Conference Place, it's a shell that covers Microsoft's Live Meeting, aka Placewhere. After kicking the tires, I'm blah about it. It requires BOTH an inet connection and phone line. That's ugly. I was expecting only a net connect. After all voip means never having to say telephone. The phone connect is an added hassle and expense. You'd think that Microsoft would support two way voice over the net. Silly user. I'll be playing with it over the next few days and will advise. Makes me think that Asterisk would be a really neat home project that would have useful results.

http://www.wynia.org/wordpress/2006/04/24/widescreen-virtual-linux-workstation-via-vmware-and-ubuntu/

Widescreen Virtual Linux Workstation via VMWare and Ubuntu
April 24th, 2006 by J Wynia – 

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However, what I’ve wanted all along is to have Linux right on my true primary workstation: my laptop. I tried several times to get Linux to cooperate with my previous laptop,  

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Me too. Maybe my next laptop will allow me to do this on my current lugable.

Hmmm.

#

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org

I was playing with Firefox and it kept nagging me about not having a download manager. SO, I pick one of the ones it recommended. No science. Took the first free one in the list. AND, I have been pleasantly suprised and well served. It has really helped out in my weekly download of the http://freetalklive.compolitical podcast that I like. Instead of having to baby sit the download, I just trigger it and it takes care of the rest.

I recommend it.

https://mozy.com/ref/YY7S60

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Mozy.com is a new online service that offers free automated backups of your home computer. It is really easy to use. After signing up for an account, you download the client application and select which files need to be backed up (or use the handy preconfigured backup sets), and you never have to worry about losing your data again! In exchange for this service, you agree to receive a weekly newsletter that is paid for by advertisers, but they never sell your email address or personal data to 3rd parties.

2GB of free storage with 256 MB bonus by using this link (after you sign up, you can refer people using your own referral link, and both of you will get a 256MB bonus. Right now there is no limit to the bonus space you can get through referrals!)

Strong encryption so your data is always private and secure No spyware or adware You can backup multiple computers using the same Mozy account

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I'm trying it. If you decide to also, then please use my link so I'll get the extra free space.

I'm not sure I believe all the claims.

I can see the backup being taken. Next play period, I'll try the restore.

Your mileage may vary!

http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=business&id=3196

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Write Free Software, Pay $203,000 to Patent Holder 
Jackson Lenford
20 Apr 2006

Ben Jacobsen, a model railroad hobbyist, wrote a bunch of software to let you connect your computer to your model railroad and control trains with it. He chose to not only give the software away for free, but to make the source code available as well, so that the model railroading/hacker community could improve it and customize it to their liking.

And then KAM Industries, maker of commercial software that serves a similar role, tried asserting their 'patent rights' over doing just that.

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This is nuts! There must be something "we" can do about it.

WordPress decided to take a little unscheduled vacation. Hopefully your vacaion plans were not stored here. :-0

I’ll have to check tomorrow. But, when I couldn’t sleep, I published to news items on my other blog. No matter how many times I republished and reindexed, it doesn’t show up. I can see the entry in the edit list. I can see the entry by url. I just can’t see it republished? The items reflowed into my email box. Hmmm.

I didcovered that you can NOT have a space in an external url. Google desktop does not include files without a file extension. Goodgle desktop only includes certain extensions. Yahoo desktop doesn't always work as expected (i.e., the dash in a search must have a meta meaning). espite changing the mediawiki advices string and restarting everything, I still can't reference a local file. So I'll have to change my strategy. Give each alum an number and key it thsat way. Hmmm, have to think about that. … …

I must a done something wrong. Not sure what it was. BUT, like a dummy I didn’t have a copy anywhere. Yahoo search, doesn’t work as good as Google desktop for finding webpages. Although Yahoo’s does find things that Google’s couldn’t. Guess you need both. Luckily, I was able to find an old entry cached on Google to recover it. Neat! A new form of backup. Do something stupid. Blunder away. And if Google’s spyder took it, you might be able to find it. Any way it’s back to the way it was.

My luddite reports that he was able to see my wiki. Hmm, this will change my entire set of thinking. Can't write anythign bad about him in it now. ;-)