Monday, February 23, 2009
Everything is amazing right now and nobody's happy...
I love comedians. They are some of the most intelligent and creative people on the planet. Take Louis C.K. (http://www.louisck.net/), for example. I've seen bits and pieces of his standup before, and he's very funny. He takes the world today, the good, the bad, and the ugly of it, distills it down to it's bare and most fundamental essence, condenses that essence into bite-sized chunks (all our media-saturated minds can handle these days), and makes you laugh. Here's a clip of him with Conan O'Brien where he is talking about how much we take for granted and how, well...silly, it is. By the way, Louis, if you happen to read this, great stuff! Let me know when you perform in the Bay area, I'd love to see you live! (Plus, you'll have the "honor" of being the first person to actually respond to me about anything on this blog! I don't think anyone even reads the thing!) Anyway, check it out and enjoy!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Oh... now I get it. Still can't do anything about it, but at least I know why we're getting screwed.
I found this video via Consumerist.com. It explains what happened with our economy in terms that even I can understand and it does it in 11 minutes. There's more to it than this, I'm sure, but this gives one a basic understanding.
Homepage: The Crisis of Credit Visualized
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zEXdDO5JU
Let me know what you think.
Homepage: The Crisis of Credit Visualized
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zEXdDO5JU
Let me know what you think.
Friday, February 20, 2009
I ran across this video and thought it was definitely post-worthy. Remember when animated films weren't computer generated, but were individual pictures, or cells, that were each hand-drawn? Well, this one takes that one step further. Each "cell" in the 5 minute animation is an individual painting. That's right, the creator of this film, Reza Dolatabadi, hand painted 6000 paintings, taking over two years to complete it. Incredible! And to think that most people complain when Photoshop takes a long time...
Here's a link to find out more: http://vimeo.com/2074812
Enjoy!
Khoda from Reza Dolatabadi on Vimeo.
Here's a link to find out more: http://vimeo.com/2074812
Enjoy!
Khoda from Reza Dolatabadi on Vimeo.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Share and Share alike. Umm...not so much.
Growing up, I was always told it’s nice to share. And it is, usually. However, sharing files from your computer can not only get your computer infected with malware (malicious software), but it can get your identity stolen or even land you in jail!
Back in the late 90’s, a new program hit the internet called Napster. It allowed you to get virtually any MP3 file that you wanted, for free! Of course, it didn’t take long for the Recording Industry, or more accurately, their lawyers, to hear about it and realize that if people were able to download a song for free using Napster, they wouldn’t need to buy the CD, which meant they wouldn’t make any money! In a few short years, Napster was dead and its creator was in court. End of story? Hardly. In its place sprang Kazaa, eMule, LimeWire, BearShare, and many others, all doing essentially the same thing as Napster, allowing you to share any files you want (not just MP3’s, but movies, software, documents, and more) with anyone else using that program. It’s called Peer-To-Peer networking, or file-sharing, and it’s bad news. In a nutshell, the software allows you to search the computers of every other computer that is running that same software and copy files from them to your own computer. Of course, it works both ways, though. It also sets up folders on your computer that everyone else using the software can access. Supposedly, most of them allow you to disable that feature and not open up your computer, but A) I don’t believe it and B) some of them slow down your connection to those other computers if you’re not playing nice by sharing your own. Most people may not even realize that other people are searching their computer! Nice, huh?
“But John,” you say, “what’s the harm in that? I bought the CD/program/whatever, I can do whatever I want to with it!” Not so fast. According to the law, you may have bought it, but you did not buy the distribution rights to it, and distributing it is exactly what you’re doing if you share. I’m not going into the legal details, but let’s just say that the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) will sue you if they even think you’re sharing files. And it really doesn’t matter if you are or aren’t sharing. They’ll keep sending lawyers after you until you run out of money and give in. In 2003, in the RIAA’s first case against file-sharers, Jammie Thomas, a 26 year old single mother of two, was ordered to pay $222,000 in fines for sharing 24 songs! That’s $9250 per song!!! The RIAA doesn’t care who you are or what you do. They’ll just keep coming until you give up, because they can.
Now, on another nasty note, not everyone using file-sharing software is just trying to get free MP3’s. Hackers, thieves, even organized crime, are doing it to! Hey, even Tony “Scarface” Montana liked to listen to Brittney Spears when he was feelin’ funky! “Say hello to my little iPod!” Anyway, those files your 16 year old thinks are songs could very well be malware (there’s that word again!) designed to do anything from trash your computer (if you’re lucky!) to steal your identity and email your info to Tony Montana’s IT Guy!
I guess what I’m trying to say is this, if you or someone using your computer is thinking about trying it, don’t. You’ll never really know what you’re getting, and even if it is really a copy of “Oops, I Did It Again!”, technically you’re breaking the law and could be sued until you’re so broke you can’t even pay attention! So, sorry mom, I’m not sharing!
Back in the late 90’s, a new program hit the internet called Napster. It allowed you to get virtually any MP3 file that you wanted, for free! Of course, it didn’t take long for the Recording Industry, or more accurately, their lawyers, to hear about it and realize that if people were able to download a song for free using Napster, they wouldn’t need to buy the CD, which meant they wouldn’t make any money! In a few short years, Napster was dead and its creator was in court. End of story? Hardly. In its place sprang Kazaa, eMule, LimeWire, BearShare, and many others, all doing essentially the same thing as Napster, allowing you to share any files you want (not just MP3’s, but movies, software, documents, and more) with anyone else using that program. It’s called Peer-To-Peer networking, or file-sharing, and it’s bad news. In a nutshell, the software allows you to search the computers of every other computer that is running that same software and copy files from them to your own computer. Of course, it works both ways, though. It also sets up folders on your computer that everyone else using the software can access. Supposedly, most of them allow you to disable that feature and not open up your computer, but A) I don’t believe it and B) some of them slow down your connection to those other computers if you’re not playing nice by sharing your own. Most people may not even realize that other people are searching their computer! Nice, huh?
“But John,” you say, “what’s the harm in that? I bought the CD/program/whatever, I can do whatever I want to with it!” Not so fast. According to the law, you may have bought it, but you did not buy the distribution rights to it, and distributing it is exactly what you’re doing if you share. I’m not going into the legal details, but let’s just say that the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) will sue you if they even think you’re sharing files. And it really doesn’t matter if you are or aren’t sharing. They’ll keep sending lawyers after you until you run out of money and give in. In 2003, in the RIAA’s first case against file-sharers, Jammie Thomas, a 26 year old single mother of two, was ordered to pay $222,000 in fines for sharing 24 songs! That’s $9250 per song!!! The RIAA doesn’t care who you are or what you do. They’ll just keep coming until you give up, because they can.
Now, on another nasty note, not everyone using file-sharing software is just trying to get free MP3’s. Hackers, thieves, even organized crime, are doing it to! Hey, even Tony “Scarface” Montana liked to listen to Brittney Spears when he was feelin’ funky! “Say hello to my little iPod!” Anyway, those files your 16 year old thinks are songs could very well be malware (there’s that word again!) designed to do anything from trash your computer (if you’re lucky!) to steal your identity and email your info to Tony Montana’s IT Guy!
I guess what I’m trying to say is this, if you or someone using your computer is thinking about trying it, don’t. You’ll never really know what you’re getting, and even if it is really a copy of “Oops, I Did It Again!”, technically you’re breaking the law and could be sued until you’re so broke you can’t even pay attention! So, sorry mom, I’m not sharing!
I am always willing to learn...
One of the biggest challenges in my job is keeping current on the latest and greatest software and hardware out there. I have to know how everything works, why it works, and what can do the job better than what I already have! That’s a lot to handle, especially when you consider how fast technology changes. For example, the processor in my cell phone is faster than most of the computers I worked on 5 years ago. My laptop, it’s three times more powerful than servers I used at a 251 room hotel only 3 years ago! And don’t get me started on the changes in security (firewalls, antivirus, etc) items! That’s a lot of training! But, training is not only time-consuming, but it can also be very, VERY expensive! CBT, or Computer Based Training, courses you buy on CD or DVD can run into the thousands of dollars. Sure, there are always classes at the local community college or tech school, but they don’t always fit in with your schedule. However, there is another way to get training, on your own schedule, at your own pace, and (sometimes) for free!
Yep, I said the “f” word. FREE.
Here are a few places to get some great training on everything from the latest version of Word or Excel to how to fine-tune that new 60” HD flat-panel TV you all chipped in for and bought me. ;^)
Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc):
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102262291033.aspx
Everything from PC Troubleshooting to how to be more energy efficient in the office: (These are instructor-led, which means they’re on a schedule, but they’re still free and your “classroom” is wherever you are!)
http://h30187.www3.hp.com/index.jsp
Training Videos on technical skills like Security, Programming, and Wireless Networks: http://www.cbtnuggets.com/webapp/videos
Another huge selection from Gadgets for your Car to Home Theater Basics to working with Digital Photographs:
http://classes.cnet.com/
In short, there’s a lot of information out there, and you’d be very surprised just how much of it is free.
Yep, I said the “f” word. FREE.
Here are a few places to get some great training on everything from the latest version of Word or Excel to how to fine-tune that new 60” HD flat-panel TV you all chipped in for and bought me. ;^)
Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc):
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102262291033.aspx
Everything from PC Troubleshooting to how to be more energy efficient in the office: (These are instructor-led, which means they’re on a schedule, but they’re still free and your “classroom” is wherever you are!)
http://h30187.www3.hp.com/index.jsp
Training Videos on technical skills like Security, Programming, and Wireless Networks: http://www.cbtnuggets.com/webapp/videos
Another huge selection from Gadgets for your Car to Home Theater Basics to working with Digital Photographs:
http://classes.cnet.com/
In short, there’s a lot of information out there, and you’d be very surprised just how much of it is free.
Disclosure, sorta?
One of my duties at work is writing a column for our quarterly newsletter. If I do say so myself, what I've written so far is pretty good, so I've decided to post them on this blog. Just thought I should throw that out there...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Gadgets and Gizmos and Doo-dads, oh my!
You know what? I’m tired of reading and writing articles full of Doom & Gloom about computers. I feel like the love-child of Chicken Little and Schleprock… “Wowzee-wowzee, woo-woo! The sky is falling!” There are plenty of great things online like kids' sites such as PBSkids.org, websites to help you save money like Fatwallet.com, and, of course, there’s Facebook. One of my favorite things, though, is “window-shopping” gadgets and gizmos. The majority of the stuff I see elicits a feeling of “What were they thinking?!?”, but every so often I get the occasional “Why didn’t I think of that??” Here is a little of both for you to enjoy. :^)
I found this little gem on HackedGadgets.com. It’s called the Isophone and it’s a designed to keep you from getting distracted while on the phone. Sounds great, right? Riiiight... It’s a combination isolation chamber and telephone. You put on a helmet that blocks out all peripheral sensory distraction and has a hands-free phone built in. Oh yeah, it’s also a flotation device (just like your airplane seat cushion, but not as stinky!). Once you have it on, you hop into a pool of water that is heated to match your body temperature “blurring the physical boundaries of the user’s body”, according to the manufacturer. The helmet-phone-floatee thing keeps your head above water at a comfortable (hopefully) angle, so you can chat away. According to the website, “Floating in this manner frees up to 90% of the brains workload normally engaged with calculating the lie of gravity.” I don’t know anyone that I would talk to on the phone that I want to concentrate that much on! Well, at least not anyone that I can call for less than $1.99 a minute. ;^)
Tired of the workout of slicing pizza the old-fashioned way? Dread the sore arms and aching back you know is coming the morning after serving up a piping-hot Digornio frozen Pizza? Ouch! Well, do I have something for you! The Pizza Pro 3000! Engadget.com brings us this little kitchen utensil that looks like it belongs in a woodshop. It’s a circular saw for pizza! It looks like a little buzzsaw that fits in one hand, but it’s not powered, battery or otherwise. Actually, it would probably work pretty well!
Here are a couple of devices I found in a green gadget contest on Core77.com. First, here’s a little something that I’m not quite sure about yet, though the principle is promising. It’s called the Recompute and it’s basically a PC with a cardboard case. On the surface, it’s a great idea: the case is definitely recyclable, it’s probably cheaper than standard aluminum cases, and it’s about as “green-geek” as you can get. Still, the first thing that comes to mind for me is the fact that today’s computers get really hot really fast and I don’t know if good ol’ corrugated cardboard is such a good idea. Still, the principle is interesting.
Finally, one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” ones. It’s called the sunLight. You’ve probably seen solar powered chargers for cell phones, solar battery chargers, and you’ve also seen solar powered flashlights (insert joke here), but the sunLight combines them all and does a great job of it! It’s a flexible solar panel that has 6 LED light “modules” each containing 2 AAA rechargeable batteries. You lay it out flat in the sunlight to charge and you can plug small devices like cell phones into it to charge their batteries. The coolest thing about it, though, is that when you roll it up, it becomes a rechargeable flashlight! And if you’ve ever dealt with the new LED flashlights that are out these days, you know that they are very bright and very efficient.
The Isophone: http://www.auger-loizeau.com/projects/iso/pro_iso.html
The Pizza Pro 3000: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/04/pizza-pro-like-a-circular-saw-for-your-pizza-pies/
Recompute: http://www.core77.com/greenergadgets/entry.php?projectid=32
The sunLight: http://www.core77.com/greenergadgets/entry.php?projectid=49#img151
I found this little gem on HackedGadgets.com. It’s called the Isophone and it’s a designed to keep you from getting distracted while on the phone. Sounds great, right? Riiiight... It’s a combination isolation chamber and telephone. You put on a helmet that blocks out all peripheral sensory distraction and has a hands-free phone built in. Oh yeah, it’s also a flotation device (just like your airplane seat cushion, but not as stinky!). Once you have it on, you hop into a pool of water that is heated to match your body temperature “blurring the physical boundaries of the user’s body”, according to the manufacturer. The helmet-phone-floatee thing keeps your head above water at a comfortable (hopefully) angle, so you can chat away. According to the website, “Floating in this manner frees up to 90% of the brains workload normally engaged with calculating the lie of gravity.” I don’t know anyone that I would talk to on the phone that I want to concentrate that much on! Well, at least not anyone that I can call for less than $1.99 a minute. ;^)
Tired of the workout of slicing pizza the old-fashioned way? Dread the sore arms and aching back you know is coming the morning after serving up a piping-hot Digornio frozen Pizza? Ouch! Well, do I have something for you! The Pizza Pro 3000! Engadget.com brings us this little kitchen utensil that looks like it belongs in a woodshop. It’s a circular saw for pizza! It looks like a little buzzsaw that fits in one hand, but it’s not powered, battery or otherwise. Actually, it would probably work pretty well!
Here are a couple of devices I found in a green gadget contest on Core77.com. First, here’s a little something that I’m not quite sure about yet, though the principle is promising. It’s called the Recompute and it’s basically a PC with a cardboard case. On the surface, it’s a great idea: the case is definitely recyclable, it’s probably cheaper than standard aluminum cases, and it’s about as “green-geek” as you can get. Still, the first thing that comes to mind for me is the fact that today’s computers get really hot really fast and I don’t know if good ol’ corrugated cardboard is such a good idea. Still, the principle is interesting.
Finally, one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” ones. It’s called the sunLight. You’ve probably seen solar powered chargers for cell phones, solar battery chargers, and you’ve also seen solar powered flashlights (insert joke here), but the sunLight combines them all and does a great job of it! It’s a flexible solar panel that has 6 LED light “modules” each containing 2 AAA rechargeable batteries. You lay it out flat in the sunlight to charge and you can plug small devices like cell phones into it to charge their batteries. The coolest thing about it, though, is that when you roll it up, it becomes a rechargeable flashlight! And if you’ve ever dealt with the new LED flashlights that are out these days, you know that they are very bright and very efficient.
The Isophone: http://www.auger-loizeau.com/projects/iso/pro_iso.html
The Pizza Pro 3000: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/04/pizza-pro-like-a-circular-saw-for-your-pizza-pies/
Recompute: http://www.core77.com/greenergadgets/entry.php?projectid=32
The sunLight: http://www.core77.com/greenergadgets/entry.php?projectid=49#img151
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