Solo Shrink

Is Blu-ray Already Dead?

2008-10-29T19:46:00.000-05:00

Several tech writers seem to believe that Sony’s Blu-ray disc technology and high definition movie recordings are on their way out before they got much of a foothold in the market. Although Sony had predicted a 50% market share by this year, their sales presently account for only about 5% of video discs sold. With up-converting DVD players selling at a much lower price and only a minimal difference in high definition quality, there is little incentive for the consumer to pay big bucks for a Blu-ray player or over $25.00 for a Blu-ray movie disc. The conclusion appears to be that “if Hollywood expects to be selling DVDs in five years, they need to make Blu-ray an affordable standard.” There is even some speculation that movies will no longer be recorded on discs, but on flash drives.

Rather than chance making nonsensical blunders or embarrassing myself with misinterpreted statistics, I will refer the reader to some very recent original articles and the discussions that go with them:

Blu-ray ix-nay?

Blu-ray is dead – heckuva job, Sony!

Pioneer ups Blu-ray discs to 16 layers, 400GB capacity.

SlySoft cracks Blu-ray BD+ encryption.

Techreport.com forum discussion.

Many people like Blu-ray and it is certainly their prerogative to purchase and use whatever equipment pleases them. I freely admit to a strong bias against Sony since two undisclosed rootkit implants on their DVDs seriously damaged the computers of people who even attempted to make an archival copy or record the DVD to their hard drive. This potential development only serves to reinforce my decision never to buy another Sony product (regardless of how good they are and how much I might want them.)

Peace, Doc

“There’s a sucker born every minute.” – Usually erroneously attributed to P. T. Barnum but much likelier stated by Mr. George Hull, a hoaxer and Barnum’s competitor.

Technorati tags: Blu-ray, business failure, Sony, bias

Voting Early

2008-10-22T06:07:00.000-05:00

Do you plan to vote early? I do. It has been said several times on the TV news that it indicates that you have already made a firm decision about your candidates and nothing much beyond this point is likely to change it. OK. I’ll buy that, as it definitely applies to me. As of yesterday morning, over 213,000 citizens of Kane County, IL, had cast early votes. Illinois voters may determine times, locations, and requirements for their counties here.

In 31 states, one does not have to be out of the country or have any reason other than wanting to vote early or absentee to do so. Google provides an interactive map that will lead you to the laws in your state by clicking on it. A measure of certainty is also added when voting early. What if you’re sick or injured on November 4th and can’t get to the polls? What if you live in an area where your transportation is not assured? What if you die? (Not that it would necessarily disqualify your vote in Chicago politics.) What if you just want to quit listening to “erratic,” “socialist,” “unqualified,” “moose murderer,” age and health issues, and all the other accusations and counter-accusations being thrown around for the next two weeks? Truly, I am absolutely sick of it, while smaller issues like, oh say the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, international relations, a chaotic financial crisis, environmental concerns, have seemingly been put on hold.

Following my early vote, I will again concentrate on tasks I urgently need to accomplish. I have discerned at least one of those tasks from the very recent experience of Bittle becoming frightened by “something,” (almost anything can do that) climbing my chest, and leaping over my right shoulder. His rear claws absolutely need trimming, and as a result of this experience I know that I will never, ever consider having a nipple ring installed. I will, possibly, try to return to a more socially acceptable diurnal cycle. It is also possible that I might throw away a few more objects from “the room that must be entered with great caution.” I may or may not go into survivalist mode, or maybe just more than I am already.

I have tried to avoid being particular partisan in advocating for early voting, but I will ask residents of Illinois to strongly consider a NO vote on the proposed call for a State of Illinois Constitutional Convention. Illinois residents have already received a mailing outlining the pros and cons of the vote (and a .pdf version is available) so I won’t go into detail, but it is my opinion that it is unnecessary at this time and has a strong potential of being quite destabilizing to the state in several sectors.

Peace, Doc

“I have said there that when Europe gets a ruler lodged in her gullet, there is no help for it but a bloody revolution; here we go and get a great big, emetical ballot, and heave it up.
- Mark Twain - Interview Dec. 1889

Technorati tags: vote early

Recycle, Research, Refurbish, Rejoice!

2008-10-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Most of my readers know the extent to which I will go to recycle, when possible. Getting a carload of aluminum cans to a recycler was part of a previous post. I still recycle everything that will be accepted since moving into the apartment. I believe I have just been rewarded for being an environmentally conscientious old coot.

I have intermittently mentioned wanting a new PC, but finding that everything that I configured or found on special sale were well above my budget. I continued to search until I made my way into the land of the used and refurbished. I tend to do that sort of research for several months before making my impulse purchases. I saw many PC’s that “looked good” online, but I did not know the seller, in what condition the computer really was, and that gut feeling that whenever something that looks too good to be true, it generally is. I began to search more deeply into the offerings of companies I do trust and found some good offers on factory refurbished PC’s. I didn’t see anything quite close enough to what I wanted to be willing to part with actual money. I finally found that Tiger Direct advertised good refurbished deals, but concentrated on the ones that they believed would be the best sellers. That’s reasonable for any business advertising, and admittedly I wanted something a bit out of the mainstream. Then I discovered that I should be looking at the related deals in the sidebars. Different versions of the same basic model were there. Then I saw it.

In case the link to the ad is discontinued, it is a factory refurbished HP m8467c with an AMD 2.2 GHz, quad core Phenom processor with 5 GB of RAM, 640 GB hard drive (2 x 320 GB drives,) NVIDIA GeForce 8400HD, DVD+/-RW/RAM Dual Layer burner with Lightscribe, Wi-Fi LAN, a 15 in 1 media reader, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and 64 bit Vista Home Premium OS. I was pleased. Even the hard drive(s) would seem to lend themselves to dual booting the PC with my beloved XP Pro OS. I ordered it at about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday. My first credit card was refused (the company was protecting me) but a second one worked fine. It was processed at 6:55 p.m. Wednesday and arrived today, Thursday, at 1:57 p.m.

I have not yet “fired it up” as I want to make certain that I do all possible to make the dual-boot setup as easy as possible. I can see absolutely nothing that I have inspected to have anything whatever wrong with it. Not even a surface scratch. The only bit of data on the spec sheet that concerns me is that it has only a 300 watt power supply. It would only cost $40 or $50 to replace it with one double that wattage. Oh, did I mention this PC lists for $1,999.99 and I bought it for $649.99. I thought it would be a good idea to buy it while the dollar is still spendable.

Peace, Doc

“Woot! Woot!” – Doc

Technorati tags: computer, refurbished, online order

Windows Live Tags: computer, refurbished, online order

JFK

Agitated Grumpiness

2008-10-06T18:57:00.000-05:00

For about the past week I have been in a series of states, somewhere between moderate crankiness and full-out, “I’m madder than hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” (Except for the fact that I don’t have much of a choice other than to take it.) I began to rearrange my financial affairs about three months ago such that they were so conservative as to be laughable – at that time. At least I was correct in doing that, although I had hoped I was just being silly. For all concerned, I hate the reasons I felt it necessary to act in that manner, but the simple perceived need for self-preservation took over. The Senate and the House lived down to my expectations when a three-page refusal to financially patch the economy, on a temporary basis, turned into a 451 page bill, laden with “pork” which, of course, passed today. The tactics were the same. Scare the hell out of us so that we were afraid not to act. This time, however, it seems that they scared themselves more than the citizenry. Deficit spending became so blatantly evident that hardly anyone could miss it. I’ve heard that roughly 90% of average citizens polled were against the bailout. That sounds a little high to me. I believe that we have more than 10% stupid citizens. It also becomes clear that our elected representatives do not follow the expressed mandates of their electorate, but do what they say is “necessary” and “in our best interest.”

I spent a good deal of time writing to assorted State and Federal Legislators and Agency Heads. All, from my State senator and representatives, Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, Federal Reserve Board, Speaker of the House, and so on up to President Bush, received the same two-word message.

I started to research the Federal Reserve Board to write a post about it, but it appears that one can only get so far “in” before a wall of fog is encountered and names are not there. I’m sorry that I cannot be more factual, but as Carlin said in my last post, we are owned, and it becomes very difficult to determine by whom.

Rum tax relief? NASCAR subsidies? Wooden arrow shaft tax breaks? At least the shaft part sounds accurate when connected to the $110B of pork that was added by the Senate to the $700B to bring it up to even more monumental proportions. I can’t comprehend the enormity of that amount of money, but we are warned that this is likely to be just a beginning and that we can expect further spending and hardships.

I do have one tiny suggestion for Governor Palin that might generate some revenue for Alaska. The road to the bridge to nowhere has already been built but is not being used. Turn it into a Dragstrip.

Peace, Doc

“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.” - Mark Twain

Technorati tags: government, bailout, pork, stupidity

Windows Live Tags: government, bailout, pork, stupidity

Who Owns Us?

2008-09-29T16:05:00.000-05:00

How do you feel about what happened in the stock market today? It’s down over 777 points following the rejection of the bailout bill by the House of Representatives. On the TV and Internet news, everyone seems to have a different explanation and “somebody else” to blame for the chaotic situation. They all seem to have two commonalities. They are afraid and they are angry. So am I. Like most, I am not certain at whom, or about exactly what portion of this fiasco my feelings are aimed.

I believe that, though somewhat incomplete, my recently deceased hero / philosopher / strategist / observer / comedian had a very accurate take on what was coming and is now here.

Warning: Before clicking on this link to a George Carlin video, please understand that it uses very explicit language. Some might consider it obscene. I consider it realistic.

Who Owns You Americans?

May this situation work out for the good of all citizens of the USA.

Peace, Doc

Windows Live Tags: money, panic, politics, Wall Street, Carlin

Technorati tags: money, panic, politics, Wall Street, Carlin

“I” - Take 2

2008-09-19T21:14:00.000-05:00

"Oh, hell." - said with the same intonation as Peter Sellers in his role as Group Captain Mandrake in Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. I seem to have started an unintended debate with my "filler thought of the moment," entered to pad out the free screen cleaner and Internet certificate jokes. That doesn't mean I don't believe my view to be true, or at least possible, but it does mean that I didn't explain my thoughts in enough detail to answer all possible questions. Just the fact that the APA has whole Divisions devoted to Cognitive and Self psychological approaches would indicate I might possibly not have gotten it all stated in two paragraphs and a haiku.

Try this little experiment. Simply sit quietly, close your eyes, and think about something that is personally related to your self. (e.g. “I am feeling well;” or “I think I wrote that last haiku badly;” or even “I am lonely.” The thought should not be solving a quadratic equation or concentrating on making up your grocery shopping list.) When you think about “I",” where does the thought seem to originate, be, reside, come from, etc.? Under such circumstances, for me, it feels as though “I” am located inside my skull, centered somewhere in the frontal or prefrontal cortex of my brain. Under other circumstances, I might not even be aware of being an “I.”

As I wrote in the last post, “I” varies. I become much less aware of being an “I” if I am concentrating my attention elsewhere. In a previous post I wrote of slipping and falling while carrying old magazines to be recycled. While I now write of this, I remain partially aware of being an “I.” When the incident was occurring, however, I was much more aware of my abrupt change in physical orientation and my attention was concentrated on the pain from my back and buttocks. “I” can fade into the background when more urgent circumstances require. Skilled tasks require concentration. So do emergencies, non-habitual tasks, reading a book, watching a movie, and so on. “I” still exist, but I am not concentrating my attention upon myself. I may be much more aware of “I” if I am doing specific types of meditation, or I may temporarily lose “I” entirely if I develop orthostatic hypotension (very low blood pressure) from standing up quickly after sitting or lying in the same position for an extended period. An insufficient blood supply reaches the brain and “I” go away to somewhere in la-la land because I just fainted. That also implies the answer to another question that was raised. All the other necessary brain and body systems and functions must be working properly for “I” to exist. Note that I said “necessary” back there. An amputated left great toe is unlikely to prevent an “I” from existing and functioning quite nicely, but a condition such as a dementia, severe organic brain damage, or a diabetic coma surely could. Self, consciousness, and sentience are really miracles as they all depend upon so many other extremely complex, but smaller and lower level systems to be working properly. For that matter, if one studies the anatomy, physiology, innervation, and functional processes involved, it is nothing short of amazing that we can pee when we need to.

Can there be more than one “I” in a single person? The literature on, and my experience with, Multiple Personality Disorder and other related syndromes certainly seem to bear that out. I’ve seen no studies specifically on this question, but I would have to ask where the ascendant personality perceives itself to be? My guess would be that it would view itself in the same manner as any individual, though it “shares the same brain” with the person’s other personalities. Another example might be that of dreaming. I often experience the REM phenomenon as if “I” am truly engaged and participating in the perceived activities, while retaining the ability to differentiate between the two states of consciousness when I wake. Along that same line of thought, can the “I” be in, or move to, different places? That’s a much tougher question for me to answer. Out-of-body or near death experiences may give us a clue, as may astral projection or the equivalent. To answer any of them affirmatively presupposes that an “I” can exist without the support system of an accompanying physical body. That, in turn, raises questions in higher levels of explanation such as philosophy, metaphysics, theology, spirituality, and others. (Is the soul or spirit separate from the physical body?) I don’t know. I have hopes, but not knowledge. The only example that comes to mind of his sort of projection from a personal experience is from a time when I was very good (really) at flying RC sailplanes. I could occasionally “be” (or be at one with) the flying model, unaware of self and somehow perceiving my self as if I were feeling and reacting to air currents, changes in altitude, turbulence, and the like. My own explanation of this phenomenon runs more toward shutting out all competing stimuli and a near total concentration on the model, to the point that I was unaware of even the Radio Control transmitter in my hands. So “I” stayed in me, but I was unaware of “self” and able to reach a Zen-like (Jedi? Matrix?) state of concentration on the model.

The awareness of self waxes and wanes. This would likely be a relatively linear function of the degree of necessity to concentrate or focus upon a task requiring active thought or an event so compelling that it demands our complete attention. Think of examples such as defending one’s Ph.D. dissertation to the examining committee, or suffering a panic attack (not that the two are at all incompatible.)

Some animals, I believe, must possess an sense of “I.” The level on the spectrum of evolution at which the animal is classified quite likely corresponds with the amount of “I” that is present. The more evolved the animal, the more wrinkles (OK, sulci) in the neocortex and the larger the frontal and prefrontal areas of their brain. They most certainly have differing abilities, brain mechanisms, physical development, and behavioral possibilities, but I believe many of the higher level, sentient beings are self-aware. I doubt that Bittle or Stinky are aware of the state of the economy or of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, but from outward appearances, they possess a sense of self equal to, or greater than, my own.

Sigh. Now “I” am thinkin’ my brain hurts. I hope that this somewhat addressed the questions and ideas posed.

Peace, Doc

“Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, political parties, nations, and eras it's the rule.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

Technorati tags: I, brain, self, location, headache

Moo

Windows XP Automatic Downloads May Be Harmful

2008-09-06T04:12:00.000-05:00

I have to wonder if the following excerpt from the ZDNet’s All About Microsoft column by Mary-Jo Foley is saying more than is actually written in her column. This column usually contains quite reliable information from specific applications to the latest rumors and speculations to hard business and software news. There are more technical sources of information about Microsoft, but for a “slightly technical” reader such as myself Ms. Foley provides excellent coverage and links to more specific sources when appropriate.

“Microsoft is stepping up its war on software pirates by rolling out new Windows Genuine notification software for what it is calling its most pirated version of Windows: Windows XP Professional.

In an August 26 posting to the Windows Genuine Advantage blog, Director of Genuine Windows Alex Kochis said XP users should expect Microsoft to begin rolling out a new version of Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) notifications starting this week. Microsoft is expecting the rollout to take several months. … “

Most specifically, the article seems to be saying more about Windows XP-Professional than might appear at first glance. If XP-Pro is the most pirated OS, it follows that it is likely that it is the most popular. Microsoft, while pushing hard with a greatly increased advertising campaign for Vista, seems also to be threatening XP holdouts with Genuine “Nagware” notifications. It has been denied that a “reduced functionality mode,” aka “kill switch” will be installed in XP.

“Microsoft officials noted that WGA for XP never did default to “reduced functionality mode,” a k a, the kill switch, which was part of Windows Vista when it first shipped.”

Ms. Foley’s blog, All About Microsoft publishes frequently. Perhaps you should bookmark it.

Draw your own conclusions, but I would suggest that you read the full article before you do so. It has left me with questions and doubts as to whether even my Genuine Microsoft copy of XP-Pro will pass the test when I install it as a second OS on a new PC.

Peace, Doc

“It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” – Mark Twain

Technorati tags: Windows Genuine Advantage, XP Pro, M. Foley

Odd Haiku

2008-08-28T23:28:00.000-05:00

This Stinks

Fie! Here is death’s stink.

Nay. ‘Tis the odor of piss.

Change its damn diaper.

Peace, Doc

Technorati tags: haiku, baby, elderly

IP Haiku

2008-08-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

Every computer on the Internet is assigned its own, unique identification number. These numbers are referred to as your Internet Protocol (IP) address. They are important because they allow computers to locate and recognize each other. IP addresses are made up of four number sets, between zero and 255, and are separated by periods.

Six dot one dot one

One dot zero zero five,

Hi, y’all FBI!

The inspiration for this haiku was a similar poem written for a contest sponsored by Think Geek.

Peace, Doc

“The Linux philosophy is 'Laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong One. 'Do it yourself'. Yes, that's it.” – Linus Torvalds

Technorati tags: haiku, computer, IP, FBI

Stolen Years

2008-08-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

I don’t believe that I’ve had an original thought in the past several days. Therefore I have decided to ~~expand on ideas~~ ~~borrow some thoughts~~ steal content from elsewhere. I have no idea from where I copied the 25 Things You Should Have Learned by Middle Age, so if I have used anyone’s original material, please let me know and I will credit you as the source. The Aging ABCs came from the EONS newsletter and were submitted there by “Steve.”

25 Things You Should Have Learned by Middle Age

1. If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.

2. Don't worry about what people think; they don't do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.

5. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of pay checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

25. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.

The Aging ABC’s

A is for Apple, and B is for Boat,

That used to be right, but now it won't float!

Age before Beauty is what we once said,

But let's be a bit more realistic instead.

Now - -

A is for arthritis;

B is the bad back,

C is the chest pains, perhaps car-d-iac?

D is for dental decay and decline,

E is for eyesight, can't read that top line!

F is for fissures and fluid retention,

G is for gas which I'd rather not mention.

H is high blood pressure -- I'd rather it low;

I for incisions with scars you can show,

J is for joints, out of socket, won't mend,

K is for knees that crack when they bend.

L for libido, what happened to sex?

M is for memory, I forget what comes next!

N is neuralgia, in nerves way down low;

O is for osteo, the bones that don't grow!

P for prescriptions, I have quite a few, just give me a pill and

I'll be good as new!

Q is for queasy, is it fatal or flu?

R is for reflux, one meal turns to two.

S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears,

T is for Tinnitus; there's bells in my ears!

U is for urinary; big troubles with flow;

V is for vertigo, that's "dizzy," you know.

W is for worry, NOW what's going 'round?

X is for X-ray, and what might be found.

Y is another year I'm left here behind,

Z is for zest I still have -- in my mind.

I've survived all the symptoms, my body's deployed,

And I'm keeping six doctors fully employed

Respect thy elders, even when they drool on you.

From Steve in the EONS Squeaking By Retirement Group

Peace, Doc

“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth …” – Ecclesiastes 11:9

Technorati tags: aging, humor

Electronic Health Records (EHR)

2008-08-01T22:01:00.000-05:00

Health Data: Not For Sale

Right now, as Congress considers health IT legislation that would convert our health records from paper to electronic data, patient information is at risk of becoming a commodity that businesses can sell or trade.

While having a nationally connected electronic network for storing and sharing Americans medical information promises to reduce medical error and improve patient care both in emergencies and chronic situations, medical privacy should not become a casualty of the race to set up databases of electronic health records.

We need real patient control of data and damages for misuse or theft. Patients must be able to review files, correct bad data, and block access without consent to personal information. The legislation before the subcommittee does not have these protections.

If Congress fails to require strong privacy and security standards now, during the early stages of development of these online patient records systems, Americans’ medical secrets will be extremely vulnerable to snooping - or being lost or stolen.

Tell Congress: Patients deserve control of their personal health records!

The brief article above is directly from the ACLU’s website. While individuals’ opinions of the organization itself differ widely, it is quite aptly named. It does indeed work toward the preservation and adherence to laws as written, and if there is an inequity in the law, they work toward the fair application of that law to all persons subject to it.

I couldn’t begin to do justice to this topic in a short blog post, but I can tell you that it should scare the bejesus out of you. Think for a moment in terms of the transponders or chips that have been used first to set off alarms if one tried to leave a store without paying for the merchandise, next came barcodes and chips that held information about that product that enabled tracking, dates and places of sale, could correlate that with the credit card that purchased it and know that it was you who bought it. Does your pet have an implanted chip to identify it in case it is stolen or lost? Well, don’t worry, you may have one soon also, only it will have a programmable memory and you will carry your Personal Health Record, implanted under your skin, with you at all times. That could be useful if you ended up in the ER after a car crash and the staff needed information rapidly. Then your treatment, medications, procedures, diagnoses, and any other information would be added to your own little database. This request for information, especially the proposed subject population and agency requesting to carrying it out, should be of concern to all who read between the lines. Physicians’ groups are having qualms about the security of electronic records. This single article is only representative of general concerns.

The issues about the security of the EHR have not come about since last Thursday. It has been a topic of concern for a number of years within the health provider community. It has become a topic of more urgent concern recently since two information giants, Google and Microsoft, have entered the arena, proposing to become the nation’s health information repositories. Have a look at a few other searches here, and here, and especially here.

I will be the first to admit being very suspicious of the EHR. Possibly I border on being paranoid about it, but I don’t think so. Whenever I become confused or uncertain about what is happening in an undertaking of this size and importance, I have to remember to, “Follow the money.” Who stands to profit? Not really the patient or even the doctor who are just as well off with paper records. Who, then? Hospitals, HMO’s, insurance companies (health or disability,) the information transmitters (telecoms which have given the government information illegally and were granted retroactive immunity for their crimes,) the companies of whatever size that are paid to store or backup this health information? Did you notice that little or no profit goes to the individuals involved most directly, and the most to corporations who care little about what happens to a single patient or doc? Who might want this information illegally? Prospective employers not wanting to hire someone with a family history of a particular disease? Life insurance companies that might want a little edge over their actuarial tables? Government or police agencies that might just need a couple hundred thousand DNA codes?

It’s obvious where my feelings lie at this juncture. Given the burgeoning of identity theft over the last few years, is it so unreasonable to believe that the same might well happen with health records? Given the government’s nearly unfettered access to citizen’s private information without their knowledge or consent, can we say that won’t happen in our future? I’m afraid not.

Peace, Doc

“He who allows oppression shares the crime.” - Desiderius Erasmus quotes (Dutch Priest, Humanist and Editor of the New Testament, 1469-1536)

Free Worldwide Tech Support For Vista Service Pack 1

2008-07-18T23:47:00.000-05:00

Microsoft is now offering free tech support for Vista SP 1 via email, chat, or toll-free telephone. This offer is valid worldwide until March 18, 2009. The article I found that let this information be widely known is on Digital Inspirations by Amit Agarwal. When you have a look at that article, consider signing up for Mr. Agarwal's free e-mail newsletter. Personally, I find his efforts to gather truly useful information and articles to be superb. His newsletter is one of the first bits of e-mail that I read after family mail. Be careful. It is good enough to be addicting.

This information is also listed on Lifehacker and by Microsoft in its Help and Support pages for Vista.

Peace, Doc

Reason Number 7342 To Stick With XP Pro

2008-07-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

It was recently discovered that the spell checker in all versions of Vista and Server 2008 was “correcting” writers of words which were actually being spelled correctly. On Friday, July 11, 2008, The Register published an article about this important bug. Full details may be found at the Microsoft Help and Support page for the remedy to this urgent problem and a possible workaround. The words?

Friendster
Klum
Nazr
Obama
Racicot

That’s it. Five words. They must have given as much concern to these five words as was given to “the seven words you can’t say on TV” a number of years ago. Why do I write of the apparent immediate need to correct these five words? The correction is a 56.4 MB download. Still another reason for sticking with XP Pro.

Peace, Doc

“Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window.” - Steve Wozniak

US Government Protects Us From Terrorists In Dresses!

2008-06-19T06:27:00.000-05:00

You people know I just can’t pass up a chance like this to sing the praises of our government agencies’ efforts to protect us from terrorism. Furthermore, simply tie this article and the privacy and security of Electronic Health Records together and think about it. The following is the text and links directly from the June 18 article in Boing Boing:

“US seizes Danish dress-shop's payment to Pakistan in the name of "terrorism"

Posted: 18 Jun 2008 05:23 AM CDT

Carsten sez, "The owner of a small dress shop in Maribo, Denmark, orders six dresses in Pakistan for a value of $205 and pays by bank transfer - only to find that the transfer is intercepted by the US authorities and the money seized because the seller (fashio.biz) might conceivably support 'terrorism'."

"Christa Møllgaard-Hansen, owner of Christabella's in the town of Maribo on Lolland, routinely buys women's clothing and shoes from around the world to resell in Denmark. But a recent purchase of six dresses from Pakistan for $205 was considered by the American authorities to be money going to support terrorists.
The US froze the funds four months ago and contacted Møllgaard-Hansen's bank, saying they wanted more information on the payment's recipient. Møllgaard-Hansen had put all the necessary information into the original netbank payment, but complied with her bank's request for the additional information."

Link (Thanks, Carsten!)”

No doubt the FBI, NSA, CIA, or “Somebody Else” decided to snoop around a little bit longer while the Patriot Act is still mostly in effect and the FISA Act has yet to be officially modified. You know, I don’t even feel a need to contact my state’s senator, Obama (D IL) because he will quite likely already be on the case. If not, one of the above agencies will intercept this transmission of information, or buy it from one of the large telecoms or search databases. One way or another, I’m sure they’ll know my sentiments on the matter.

Peace, Doc

“On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.” - Will Rogers

Mozilla Firefox 3, Final Release: Download Day.

2008-06-14T18:05:00.001-05:00

The new Firefox 3 web browser is to be released on the official Mozilla Download Day, Tuesday, June 17, 2008. An informative article about this release and Microsoft’s rapid effort to catch-up using IE-8 was recently published by PC World. I strongly suggest that you download Firefox 3 directly from a Mozilla site. As I write, this site is still devoted to the download of Firefox 2.0.0.14, however.

The good people on the Firefox 3 project are trying to set a Guinness World Record for downloading software in a single day. My best guess is that they will achieve this, because there is currently no such record in existence.

More importantly, I recently tried to download Release Candidate 3 of Firefox from other sites, and while beginning to install, they displayed instructions in a language which I did not recognize. These were reputable sites, but something was clearly going awry.

While you are downloading this excellent browser, I would also suggest looking over more of Mozilla’s software and other offerings.

A Field Guide to Foxfire 3 by Debra Lyn Richardson is available at her WordPress site and should definitely be referred to for many technical details, feature descriptions, and links.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

Air Force Aims For Full Control Of Any And All Computers

2008-05-21T03:48:00.000-05:00

Initially, this post was written for a different audience, but I believe it is something that should be of interest to mental health professionals. Although I have a love for computers, I also have a great distrust that anything transmitted from them is secure or private. We need to think of HIPAA requirements, electronic billing, chats with clients online or on the telephone, the elecronic medical record, and so on. Everything on the internet is forever, stored in memory somewhere, and accessible from more and more sources, legal or not A post on this topic geared specifically to the purpose of this blog will be done soon.

Does that read too much like a scare headline from the Far Left? It isn't. Wired News online reports that the US Air Force itself has made it. In an April 13, 2008 article by Noah Schachtman, it is stated that:

The Air Force wants a suite of hacker tools, to give it "access" to -- and "full control" of -- any kind of computer there is. And once the info warriors are in, the Air Force wants them to keep tabs on their "adversaries' information infrastructure completely undetected."

The US Air Force Cyber Command is already being developed. Its website has many articles, pictures, FAQ's, and a countdown timer to "phase one stand up" on October 1, 2008.

I have included links to both the Wired article and to the Air Force website to allow readers to judge for themselves where we are headed. Most of my regular readers know that I border on the paranoid in my responses to be watched by recording cameras at stoplights, at toll road transponder lanes, and on our streets and intersections. I strongly object to being listened to, phone tapped, having my mail read, or just generally being observed in any manner unless someone has reason to believe I am committing a crime or am planning one.

On the other side of this topic, I want my government to protect me - from criminals, from street muggers to multi-national corporate muggers, from enemies foreign and domestic, to preserve our constitution, and defend our land. I appreciate the brave people in the military services and in the public sectors who serve us and take care of us so well and who we too often take for granted.

At a deeply frightened level, I know that a current "World War III" would be fought like no other. China has demonstrated to us their ability to blind and disorient our spy and navigation satellites by shooting down one of their own. In turn, our "accidental" transport of six W80-1 variable yield live nuclear warheads From Minot AFB in ND to Barksdale AFB in LA was given much more publicity than I would expect any military organization to allow the media. I do not see these incidents as unique, or even highly significant in the bigger picture, of which the public sees only tiny fragments through a glass, darkly. If an enemy had unfettered access to any of the Internets or grids that control our distribution of electricity, natural gas, vehicle fuel, traffic and transportation flow, food and water distribution, public and military communications, financial tractions (commercial, investment, and banking,) ... well, you get the picture. Our nation would be brought to its knees in a grinding, chaotic halt. In a much more localized manner, the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) of a conventional atomic weapon or an "E-Bomb" destroys MOSFETs, FETs, transistors, and the like if not Faraday shielded, thus disabling electronic devices in the area of the explosion. The government and Military knows this in infinitely greater detail than do I.

On a personal, much less significant level, I have been affected wrongly by the same type of capabilities as are needed to defend our nation. I sold a car to a friend who ran through four "I-Pass" toll stops without paying. I received a ticket for four infractions, complete with a very clear picture of the back of the car with my plates still on it, and a statement that not being the driver was no excuse for not paying the tickets. In another incident, Medicare gave the Veterans Health Administration all of my personal and business information (including SSN, EIN, bank routing numbers, addresses, etc.) without any notification to me. I found this out when the VHA notified me that a portable hard drive with this information on it was missing. At least they had the decency to notify me and provide for one year of credit fraud alerts. I have no doubt that, despite the precautions I take personally, this type of information has been lost, discarded, or stolen far more times than I am aware. As a simple example of the laxity of transactions in the area of credit, I have written "Require Photo ID" on all my cards, along with my signature. It has been checked only once in approximately 10 years.

So what do we do and where do we go with this sort of information? I honestly do not know. The same technology that protects us can destroy us. The same types of devices that allow surveillance of criminals, terrorists, and enemy actions are easily able to be turned on a country's own law abiding citizens. It is, after all, so very much easier to listen in on our own cell phone conversations and take pictures of our own license plates than it is to definitely identify what is happening in an enemy's hardened military site or know if a satellite is armed and has military capabilities.

*sigh*

Peace, Doc

"We realize our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically a problem of priorities. We confess, We have left undone those things that ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done." - Charles E. Hummel

Vista vs XP, Continued

2008-05-05T13:53:00.000-05:00

Since my recent post about the impending demise of Microsoft Windows XP, I have seen some articles which suggest that MS may continue to offer WinXP for sale, at least the Home version, for some time past the June 30, 2008 cutoff. Nothing certain, just hints and rumors.

A Computerworld article TechNet subscribers rip Microsoft over XP SP3 ‘farce', stated that Microsoft did not release the Service Pack I for Vista to developers as promised, and went on to say that they would not release the Service Pack III for XP until after Vista SP I was released. Much confusion is produced for developers as well as end users, here, as a Microsoft developer posted that Vista SP I would be available on May 2, 2008, only to have that page removed from his blog. The alleged logic in this is that Microsoft is putting its main effort into repairing Vista prior to updating XP. It also makes sense if a company is trying very hard to push consumers into using a new OS and abandoning an older (and better, in my opinion) OS, so further profit can be extracted.

Microsoft has pointed out the huge number of Vista OS sales that have occurred since its release as evidence of its popularity. Well, Duh. If Vista is the only Windows OS that one can obtain when one buys a new computer, of course its sales figures will look impressive. Only a very few, very small, "white box" computer makers continue to offer XP Pro SPII on their machines. Why do they do that? They make extremely fast gaming computers and XP works better.

As the dust settles somewhat, a few matters appear to have become clearer.

If you have to buy Vista, get the Home Premium version. Common wisdom has come to a consensus that it works the best of any of the Vista versions.
Don't try to "upgrade" a Vista machine to XP. It isn't worth the trouble, crashes, driver changes, and incompatibilities with some of your current software. Buying a new machine with Vista pre-installed eliminates many of these frustrations.
Vista does not seem to run nearly as well on laptops as on desktop machines, probably due to its greater demand on computer resources.
If everything you are now running is working well for your needs on XP, I would hold out for Microsoft's "OS 7," the next OS in the pipeline, which is rumored to have had its release date moved up from 2010 to sometime in 2009.
Finally, I would note that the Vista debacle is not Microsoft's intentional plan to irritate its users. With all the legal actions, interoperability problems, changes to changes, and patches to holes which were discovered by hackers even before Vista was officially released, etc., they have had a difficult time with it. It is simply my belief that they should not remove a well tested and working OS from availability before they have something better and more stable to offer. As the wise old barnstorming wing-walker would say it, "Don't leave holt of what ya got till ya got holt of somethin' else."

In the interim, my plan is to stay with XP Pro, buy a copy of XP Pro before it goes off the market, eventually buy a new CPU and install XP on it, but leave a bay open for another hard drive on which Vista can be installed (as a dual boot system) in case I'm wrong. That has happened to me once or twice before in 62 years.

Peace, Doc

Save Windows XP

2008-04-19T12:35:00.000-05:00

The sale of Windows XP to the public is due to be totally discontinued by Microsoft on June 30, 2008. Support for it will continue via automatic or manual update, but it will be unavailable for purchase. The vast majority of computer manufacturers have switched to "forcing" Vista on the buyer of new computers because that is the only Operating System MS will provide to them (except for relenting to some business customers who loudly and forcefully complained that Vista didn't work.) A very few, small, specialized "white box" computer manufacturers (generally of ultra-fast, high-end gaming computers) have been allowed to continue new installs of XP. One can also still buy the shrink wrapped, boxed software to install Win XP on your own if you are building your computer. Some are going to dual-boot computers, using XP and another OS on separate hard drives.

Even this set of dates has been atypical for Microsoft, which has left XP in production and available to manufacturers over a year longer than previous Operating Systems. There are also industry rumors that Microsoft is pushing very hard to have an early release date for OS 7, the system that is to replace Vista, in the second half of 2009. Enough problems, including lawsuits over proprietary rights, have reduced Vista from what was originally "promised" to a substantially less desirable OS. About the only positive things I have found written about Vista is that it has a prettier desktop and is "safer" online. Clearly, they are concerned about Vista sales, already have issued a Service Pack for it, and are trying to produce a better system as quickly as possible.

Many individuals and business users have resisted the adoption of Vista due to a variety of compatibility problems, system investment, and the generally much heavier draw that the Vista OS places on the computer's resources. More and faster memory and system resources are usually necessary. I have seen minimum specifications that state one Gigabyte of RAM is a minimum requirement. Reviews that I have read, however, strongly suggest that three to four Gigabytes is the "real" minimum for Vista to work correctly. Faster hard drives and more powerful CPU chips are also required for acceptable performance. Problems with finding appropriate "driver" software to interface your older peripheral hardware have frequently occurred.

So, what is it that I would ask you to do about this? Go to InfoWorld's Save Windows XP site and sign the petition requesting Microsoft to continue production of XP. It takes nothing away from anyone that wants, prefers, or needs Vista, but allows XP devotees to continue to be able to purchase current equipment that suits their wants and needs. What will I do? I've already signed the petition and read a fair amount about the subject. I have a Maxtor backup drive that saves everything on a computer, including the OS, as a complete clone if you tell it to (so I could transfer this whole system onto a new, bigger, better hard drive.) I'm considering buying the boxed XP software on June 25th or thereabouts. In an ideal world, I would have the funds to buy a quad-core monster of a PC from one of the white box builders. But if everything else fails, I still have a Win 98SE box that works.

Peace, Doc

Life Gets in the Way

2008-04-19T12:14:00.000-05:00

I apologize to the readers who may have come here for infotmation and found nothing new posted for so long. My only excuse is that sometimes life gets in the way. More frequent and regular posts begin today.

Peace, Doc

New Blogging Danger Discovered!

2008-04-12T19:37:00.001-05:00

A new warning may soon be issued by all laptop computer manufacturers and the moguls of the recliner chair industry. We are already warned of the perils of using plastic bags as toys, not using the computer in the bathtub or near water, and the possibilities of the chair tipping over if one stands on it, or relaxes too hard or too quickly. I have discovered yet another legitimate cause for concern and shall report it to anyone who will attend to my natterings.

The basic danger stems from the design of the recliner chair itself. In order for the footrest action of the chair to work properly, a mechanical system of thin, moveable steel bars and pivot points is required. When the back of the chair is pushed toward a reclining position, the footrest rises into position to support the user's legs. The reverse action occurs when the occupant desires to sit upright or to arise from the chair. One might reasonably ask, "What's wrong with that? That's what it's supposed to do."

I will, of course, tell you. You don't believe I'd get this far into a perfectly good rant without complaining about something specific, do you? The danger arises when the laptop computer and the collapsing action of the chair required for the user to arise happen concurrently. I dislike resorting to the use of hyperbole or fear-mongering, but I must state that the scissor-like action of the mechanism attached to the footrest presents a real and present danger to those of us who use a laptop, with power supply and Cat-5 Ethernet cables attached, while seated and blogging in blissful ignorance.

Very recently, while arising quickly from the chair, I discovered the more personal and real-world meaning of the phrase "scissor-like action," when used in this context. The wires pass close to the footrest mechanism, and in this case, became entangled in it. ... The power cord was repaired easily enough with a soldering pencil and some heat-shrink tubing. It was quite a cleanly sheared cut, actually. The Cat-5 Ethernet cable, however, required replacement. Uh-huh. I did that.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Stupid is as stupid does." - Forrest Gump

A Nightmare in 51 Syllables

2008-04-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

Just breathe in, breathe out.

She tried until she could not,

Then peacefully stopped.

Fifteen compressions

For each time our lips were pressed,

Cried the kiss of life.

So cold, my Annie.

Tried to warm you with my breath

Changed to kiss of death.

Peace, Doc