Re: [CGUYS] Google: Damned if you do; damned if you don't

[Allen Firstenberg]

Normally I'd agree with you, Mike... but I think the article actually
rationalized it reasonably well.
It isn't to protect people from what they said...
...its to protect them (both the person and google) from what they DIDN'T
say.

It is admitting that:
1) Their software isn't perfect
2) That it may be used in situations where it can't really be reviewed
before it is used
and 3) That it may make errors in a way that are considered inappropriate.

In that sense, it is an interesting solution to the problem.


On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 10:31 AM, mike  wrote:

> Another case of political correctness run amok.  Heaven forbid adults get
> to
> say what they want.
>
> On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 1:50 AM, John Duncan Yoyo
> wrote:
>
> > One of the iPhone aps does the same thing.  I think it is Dragon
> Naturally
> > speaking.
> >
> > I would guess that Google Voice auto bowdlerizes as well..
> >
> > On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 7:20 PM, Tony B  wrote:
> >
> > > Weird. We recently turned off the cuss filter on our forum, only to
> > > have one of our *moderators* begin to cuss like crazy. :(
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 3:44 PM, tjp  wrote:
> > > > An interesting dilemma...
> > > >
> > > > "How Google's Nexus One censors cuss words" (and why)
> > > > http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10440115-71.html
> > >
> > >
> > >
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Re: [CGUYS] New SIM, but improved?

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 4:06 PM, tjpa  wrote:

>
> Tell us you have not noticed the trend where everything electronic gets
> smaller every year. Is it not natural that as part of this process key
> internal parts get smaller too?
>
> So... Tom... you're saying the iPad is "unnatural" since its a larger
iTouch? {:

While "key internal parts" may get smaller, having
frequently-user-accessible parts be a user-usable size is important.


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Re: [CGUYS] Obsolete consumer products...

[Allen Firstenberg]

What a bizarre and confusing article.  Going in the order they went in:

DVDs:
The author made the point that DVD purchases "could turn cold" based on...
the success of Netflix.  Which ships DVDs.  So are DVDs obsolete?  It then
tries to make the case for the PPV or VOD model with no real explanation of
why Netflix has continued to succeed in light of these models.  Totally
missing is any mention of BluRay at all or the more obvious comparison to
what hit the music industry, so I'm lost about what he's really trying to
say.  Don't buy a DVD because it will be obsolete?

Home Telephone Service:
Well, for starters, he doesn't DEFINE what this is.  It isn't POTS, since he
includes the cable companies into the obsolete branch.  And although he
cites the growing use of cell phones as a primary phone line, he talks more
about VOIP services... which will require an internet connection... which
are mostly provided by telcos and cablecos which will charge you more if
you don't get the phone service.  I'm also not sure why they didn't just
make the prediction about the more complete integration of the "bits are
bits" services.

External hard drives:
I really have no idea where they were going with this one, since they don't
seem to justify it at all.  "External hard drives crash... but cloud-based
backup services are expensive."  Really no clue where they were going.  I'm
not saying they're wrong, mind you, just that they don't seem to cite any
clear reason why they might be right.  I would more likely argue that
external hard drives will slowly vanish as you get home networks that have
large shared file servers as part of them and either better ways to get
remote access to them or better cloud-based locker services.

Smart-phone also-rans
What I find funniest here is that these are defined as "iPhone" and
"Blackberry".  Of all the people I know with blackberries, only one actually
uses it for external applications, which is what the author considers the
important metric.  That one person, btw, uses it for an external email
program because he finds the built-in one so bad.  (I don't own one - I
can't comment.)  Again, I think they're missing the boat on this prediction
because they don't really know what they're saying.  What both the
Blackberry and iPhone did when they came out was change the entire nature of
the cell phone market.  Android is poised to do that as well, and Apple
could very well change it again.  Given that the life span of a phone is
lucky if its two years, I'm not sure why anyone would care if their model
was abandoned in that time period.

Compact digital cameras:
I think they might be right... but for the wrong reasons.  Nowadays, just
about every cell phone has a camera in it, and some are suposedly getting
pretty good.The next step up from them isn't a PHD digital camera, its
the DLSRs.  So people who just want to shoot pics have their cell phones...
and people who get a little (but just a little) more serious would move to
the more serious cameras... leaving the PHDs out in the dark.  But the
article doesn't say this.  It doesn't even hint at it.

Newspaper subscriptions:
I think the use of "subscription" in here was important, if surprising.
 Everyone else is just predicting the death of Newspapers and Magazines
outright... forget their funding model.  Well... at least in the US.
 Apparently European papers don't seem to be suffering the same way we do
since they don't rely on advertising and do rely on subscriptions and spot
sales more.  Gee that seems to disagree with what this article says.
 How strange.

CDs:
This isn't the story of the coming decade, it was the story of the past
decade.  Old news.

New college textbooks:
I don't get this one.  This is supposed to be a new trend?  I think the only
really new trend here is that publishers now work a lot harder at making
sure they release a new edition every semester or year to force an "upgrade"
to the new textbook.  Those that don't are using DRM to license it for just
one semester.

Gas-guzzling autos:
I think this might be the most statistic-laden prediction... and yet it
misses the mark about why it might be right at all.  It will only come true
if enough real alternatives come on the market, and I honestly don't know if
they will.  Once again, the real question is "what is the game changer".
 For a while it looked like Hybrids would be the game changer, and the Prius
made it look that way.  But the Prius was something special - designed from
the ground up to be efficient, and that design work shows in its increased
price tag.  For cars that are retrofitted to take a hybrid engine, the fuel
savings aren't anywhere near as good, and there hasn't been enough ground-up
design with hybrid (or other alternatives) in mind yet to drive the price
down.  Until that happens, people who are only price sensitive (and thats
what the article implies) will continue to buy non-hybrids because the ROI
isn't there yet.

Energy-inefficient 

Re: [CGUYS] nexus one, the 'google' phone

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 10:19 AM, tjpa  wrote:

> I recently spent some time with a BlackBerry. I can't believe RIM is still
> in business. A good demonstration of how much IT fears Apple.
>
>
I think it is entirely IT departments that keep pushing BlackBerries.  The
touted Exchange integration is only part of it - the real factor (from what
a few people in IT departments have told me) is that they can control
BlackBerries far better than any other phone.  All BBs, apparently, have a
feature that lets the IT department shut down the phone in the event it is
lost or stolen, while none of the others do.

Its all about central control.


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Re: [CGUYS] sound machine advice

[Allen Firstenberg]

An ipod shuffle set on repeat and a white or pink noise audio file.
Has worked great for us for over a year now.

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 9:47 AM, Jeffrey Myers wrote:

> I'm looking for a device that produces a background noise for sleeping at
> night.  Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff Myers
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Dock placement: [Was: Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation]

[Allen Firstenberg]

Well, I'll bite, in the interest of trying to have an actual discussion.

I've always moved my Windows (XP and down, anyway, never used Vista on up)
task bar to the left and set it to auto-hide.  Always responded to moving
the mouse there or hitting the Windows key if I needed it, and stayed out of
the way otherwise.  I found it tolerable.

When I first started using OSX, I tried moving the dock around and trying
different hide settings and never quite liked it.  Lots of my windows put
stuff on the left, and having the dock there would cover it.  Setting it to
auto hide would have it slow to return when I did want it.  Using spotlight
to start up apps is also slower than I'd like.  The dock on the bottom
seemed unobtrusive for most of my operations, but made it clear when there
was something that changed (download completed or a program dialog box
needed my attention).

But I'll give it another shot.  Perhaps in a day or so I won't notice or
care that its not there, but it isn't clear to me so far that its "better".

On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 9:36 AM, tjpa  wrote:

> On Dec 22, 2009, at 8:54 AM, Reid Katan wrote:
>
>> I'm not trying to arm-chair anything. Inquiring minds want to know. What
>> are the obvious improvements?
>>
>
> Go try it.
>
> Everyone I showed it to, except certain folks on this list, have found it
> better. What's your evidence?
>
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Dock placement: [Was: Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation]

[Allen Firstenberg]

Red.  No, blue!

On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 9:58 AM, mike  wrote:

> What is your favorite color?  What is your evidence that this is the best
> color?
>
> On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 7:36 AM, tjpa  wrote:
>
> > On Dec 22, 2009, at 8:54 AM, Reid Katan wrote:
> >
> >> I'm not trying to arm-chair anything. Inquiring minds want to know. What
> >> are the obvious improvements?
> >>
> >
> > Go try it.
> >
> > Everyone I showed it to, except certain folks on this list, have found it
> > better. What's your evidence?
> >
> >
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Re: [CGUYS] Maybe, maybe not

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 3:37 PM, Tony B  wrote:

>
> Word definitions change, but generally "the cloud" refers to a bunch
> of computers connected via network where your data is kept. It also
> implies that there's no way of finding a specific copy of your data on
> one hard drive; you really don't know where it is.
>

While I agree that definitions may change, I'm not entirely sure where you
get this particular definition from or why it is particularly "cloudlike".

My understanding of both the usage and origin of the term stems from old
system diagrams (usually done on powerpoint) where one would see lines
connecting local workstations, local servers, etc, and one line going out to
this big cloud labeled "The Internet" (with capital letters).  If you were
making the point that there was a remote server, you'd put that server on
the other side of "the Internet cloud".

Originally this was radical and novel... now its commonplace enough that we
omit the thought that theres something or something specific out there - we
don't really care where or how its stored.  It could be on a single server
or not.  The important part is that its "out there" and we don't care how or
where.


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Re: [CGUYS] How do I renew my domain?

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 10:32 AM, tjpa  wrote:

> On Nov 18, 2009, at 7:50 AM, Marcio wrote:
>
>> Thanks to both of you, each one in his own way and sorry for the
>> misunderstandings. But to this date I have this Google Blogg with a domain
>> that is good until Feb 13 and I am not sure if the domain will be renewed
>> automatically, if Google will send me a notice to renew, or whatever.
>>
>
> Again, you are not registered with Google. You are registered with GoDaddy.
> I am unaware that Google even offers that service. Be careful not to miss
> your renewal date as GoDaddy will charge you a big fee to get your
> registration back.
>
>
Google does offer the service - in partnership with GoDaddy (or at least
they do with the Google Apps service - and I assume they do with their
blogging service too).  They do say that the registration is with GoDaddy,
although people who are unfamiliar with the domain registration process may
not catch that.


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Re: [CGUYS] Apple Magic Mouse

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 2:41 PM, Jeff Miles  wrote:

>Personally I want a temple based mouse that will tie into my eye
> movements and blinks.


This has actually been tricker than was expected, mostly because people
don't really realize what their eye movements or blinks _really_ are.
 Apparently people do both more than they think they do, which causes quite
a few unpredictable movements and clicks.  Still, this is an area under very
active research, from what I understand.


> I want a holographic screen I won't leave finger prints on when I use the
> touch based movements.


Again, I'm not entirely sure this is really what you want.  We like the idea
of gestures in the air, but there has been some work to indicate that we
also like feedback and response.  It is why you get so many people arguing
about the merits of a virtual keyboard vs an IBM Selectric keyboard.


> And I want a girlfriend/wife/whatever that wants to watch whatever I want
> to watch when it's on tv.
>

 I wonder if this is really what you want, too... or if it has to do with
something besides tv. {:


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Re: [CGUYS] SMS on iPod Touch

[Allen Firstenberg]

Don't suppose you happen to know the name of this app? {:

On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 11:32 PM, Rev. Stewart Marshall <
revsamarsh...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> I have an app that allows me to do SMS messages from my desktop.
>
> Quite handy.
>
> Stewart
>
>
>
>
>
> At 10:15 PM 11/3/2009, you wrote:
>
>> What app can do SMS? I can send texts via email, but how can I receive
>> texts on my iPod? "Nobody" uses email any more, according to the kiddies
>> [except this email].
>>
>> Betty
>>
>>
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Re: [CGUYS] T-Mobile Sidekick Data Lost Forever

[Allen Firstenberg]

The quote from MS itself (which I found at sidekick.com) was "most, if not
all".

On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 1:44 PM, mike  wrote:

> NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said early Thursday that it
> has
> been able to recover the personal data lost on many of T-Mobile USA's
> Sidekick users.
>
> Many...that sounds like government math.
>
> It would be interesting to see what 'many' means in this context.
>
> On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 10:26 AM, tjpa  wrote:
>
> > On Oct 12, 2009, at 5:46 PM, Mike Sloane wrote:
> >
> >> [This is going to put a crimp in the efforts to convince people that
> >> "computing in the cloud" is a good idea. MS]
> >>
> >
> > UPDATE: Microsoft Says It Has Recovered Lost Sidekick Data
> > http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091015-710685.html
> >
> >
> >
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Re: [CGUYS] the moon

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Constance Warner  wrote:


> You might also remind your senators and  your congressman that China
> and--surprisingly--India both have space programs and, among other goals,
> are aiming for the moon.  I don't necessarily want the U.S. to do a land
> grab and claim the entire moon, but I don't want China to do it either.


Legally, we cannot do this.  Neither can China.  Neither can about 97 other
nations who are parties to the Outer Space Treaty.


> (Among other things, the moon could be a dandy gun platform, if an
> unfriendly government got hold of it.


Not really.  Although there have been scifi stories with this theme, they
assume that you have a colony there already that has a mass driver already
built.

It is also in violation of the Outer Space Treaty, as an aside. But I'm
willing to assume that someone who wants to use it as a weapon is willing to
ignore that fact.

But the problem is that you still have to deal with orbital mechanics and
distance and that pesky lunar gravity.  Not to mention that we'd have a
pretty good idea if somebody tried to build a gun there and have a
reasonable amount of time to do something about it.


> And, of course, the moon is the gateway to the rest of the solar system.)


Well... um... no.  Not in the way I think you mean, anyway.

The moon is a good "small step" when it comes to a space program... but its
a lousy gateway.  Nobody would put a station there with the purpose of
launching missions to the rest of the galaxy from it.  It does not seem like
a good environment for any industry whatsoever, so any launches would have
to import both fuel and launch vehicle... and why bother with lunar gravity
(even if it is smaller than Earth gravity) at all in that case?

The gateway to the rest of the solar system is an orbiting space station and
manufacturing facility.  Yes, you still have to deal with the gravity well
of getting parts and fuel up there, but you don't have the limitations of
fitting an entire trip inside a single launch vehicle.


>  $3 billion, which is a lot of money but pocket change when you look at the
> stimulus program, would put NASA's moon program [as well as other programs]
> back on track--it's dead in the water right now, for lack of funds.
>

Huh?  I thought NASA's moon program is, unfortunately, still alive and sorta
on schedule.  We're abandoning our plans for a space station after our
commitments are done and putting all our eggs into Ares/Orion.


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Re: [CGUYS] Subject: drupal for only 10 million

[Allen Firstenberg]

I'm not Tom, but I'll give the #1 reason to avoid drupal:  PHP
And they do have serious problems with it.  Very serious problems.  PHP is a
security nightmare of epic proportions.  If Microsoft made PHP, we'd be
constantly talking about how there was another security vulnerability every
week... and thats very much PHP's reputation.  It has security mis-designs
that have carried over since its earliest days, and only recently even
barely addressed - and those recent fixes have broken some major code,
including drupal.

There are lots of good reasons to use drupal... but PHP is the biggest
reason to avoid it like industrial farm waste.

On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 9:02 PM, David K Watson
wrote:

> More details please.  What kind of site?
>
> Also, like Tom I'd like to know what specifically you have against
> drupal.  I know little about it, but the list of big corporations using
> it is impressive:
> The list includes Sun, Nike, Sony Ericsson, Adobe, FedEx
> and several television networks, and I believe IBM sells support
> for it.  These people don't seem to have serious problems with it.
>
> Besides, its FREE.  Just think how much more it would cost if they
> went with with SharePoint.
>
>  From:mike 
>>
>> Reports indicate that new multimillion dollar website is being done with
>> drupal.  Whoever sold this load of hogcrap to our government really made
>> out
>> on our dime.
>>
>>
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Re: [CGUYS] Returned Mail that I never sent

[Allen Firstenberg]

It generally means that someone was sending out spam using your email
address as the "from", and doesn't mean anything about your machine or your
account itself.
The real-world analogy would be if someone put your address on the "return
address" part of the envelope, and then sent it out without a stamp or
something.  It would come back to you, since your address is on the
envelope, even if you didn't actually send it.

On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 3:37 PM,  wrote:

> I have been receiving notices entitled
>
> Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender
>
> From MAILER-DAEMON.
>
> Does this mean that I have a virus and how can I get rid of it?
>
>
> Tracy
>
> **A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
> steps!
> (
> http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222846709x1201493018/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=115&bcd
> =JulystepsfooterNO115)
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Google IMAP mail... does anyone know...?

[Allen Firstenberg]

Gmail can import from a POP3 mailbox:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ctx=mail&answer=21288

Tony
- sure, it might not be of interest except archival.  But given the indexing
tools you get with gmail... thats a bonus!

On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 8:39 PM, db  wrote:

> Good point.
> Creature of habit I guess...
>
> To do that ... how would one transfer email stored by a email client
> software to a new google web email account?
>
> Need to have the existing 1 GB email store from a non google computer based
> email client account uploaded somehow ... which goes back to at least part
> of my original question...
>
> db
>
>
> Tony B wrote:
>
>> No, I haven't. But why are you trying to make it so complicated? The
>> rage these days - for very good reasons - is simply to use your
>> browser for email. No muss, no fuss.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 5:04 PM, db wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I know that if you set up a new Google Email account with various
>>> "labels"
>>> first and then a new local IMAP email client (like Thunderbird) second,
>>> when
>>> you connect for the first time your "Labeled" Google mail will show up/
>>> download in Thunderbird as Folders with the same name as the labels.  All
>>> sorted so to speak.
>>>
>>> Does anyone know if you do it the other way around... if you have a Tbird
>>> POP account with various folders on your local machine tied to your
>>> domain
>>> name being served up by some ISP and you change the domain named server
>>> mail
>>> to be/ to forward to a Google email account, when they sync for the first
>>> time will all your Thunderbird POP folders be synced/ uploaded on to
>>> Gmail's
>>> server as "Labels" archived or otherwise?
>>>
>>> I suspect not because of the difference between POP and IMAP but what I
>>> am
>>> REALLY curious to know is once the connection is made and an IMAP Google
>>> acct. has been configed in Tbird, will I be able to simply drag the
>>> folders
>>> on the client machine from the POP local Tbird client folders to the
>>> local
>>> Tbird's Google IMAP account folders and then will Google server see them/
>>> upload/ sync them and accept them as labeled perhaps archived mail?
>>>
>>> Has anyone done this before?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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Re: [CGUYS] Not from "The Onion": Google Plans to Introduce a PC Operating System

[Allen Firstenberg]

Chris, you're missing the point.All it needs is one app - the Chrome Web
Browser.  Thats the whole reason they'd make it - to make an OS that can do
very little except get you on the Internet to access your cloud apps.

On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 5:20 PM, Chris Dunford  wrote:

> > So the question is, will google spend enough money to build a window
> system
> > on top of linux good enough to make people switch?
>
> And will there be enough apps that work with it.
>
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Re: [CGUYS] DTV debacle

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 3:13 PM, mike  wrote:

> There shouldn't have been a coupon, another huge ripoff.  Why do I have to
> pay for some yahoo down the street to watch another episode of jerry
> springer?
>

You don't, of course.

The people who paid for the coupons are the ones who will benefit from the
transition - the companies that won the auction for the spectrum freed up.


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[CGUYS] WolframAlpha

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 4:48 PM, David K Watson
wrote:

> It's a funny quote, but it ignores the fact that Wolfram Alpha
> was never intended from the start to be a "Google killer".
> From a PC World article:
>
>> The first thing Wolfram Research co-founder Theodore Grey wants you to
>> know is what Alpha is not: It is no "Google killer," as it's been called by
>> some reports. In fact, Alpha is very, very different from a search engine.
>
>
"Some reports" is an understatement.  Every single report, article,
write-up, commentary, and everything else I've seen on WolframAlpha, except
from Wolfram Research itself, compares it to Google.  I think 30 seconds
with WA would convince someone that there is no comparison between the
two... but I think WA doesn't really protest too hard because its so
difficult for them to explain what they are and why they've included some of
the data they have.


> Alpha is fairly good at what it is supposed to do, which
> is to present data systematically and to do analysis of
> that data that you are unlikely to find on any web page.
>

I keep having mixed feelings about this.  I keep wanting to feel this is
true, but every single query I've tried that I thought was relatively
simple, WA has totally failed me.  WA doesn't really understand the
relationships of much of its data, while there are many many webpages out
there that do.

To give just a simplistic example.  Ask WA about Cassablanca, and say you're
talking about the movie.  It knows that Humphrey Bogart was in the movie.
 Ask it about Humphrey Bogart... and it knows that he was an actor, but
doesn't tell you that he was in Cassablanca.  Contrairwise, go ask IMDB
about Humphrey Bogart, and it will tell you that he was in Cassablanca.  Ask
Google about Humphrey Bogart, and it refers you to IMDB which will have that
kind of relationship.

I'm pleased, however, that WA has been improving the queries that work.
 When it first launched, I tried "distance earth mars", which worked fine,
and "distance venus mars", which happily told me the distance from Earth to
both Venus and Mars.  Last week when I tried this, it gave me the expected
results.


> And it ties in really well with Mathematica if you want
> to do a more sophisticated analysis of that data.
>

I would hope that it does!  {:  That said, I can't comment on this, since I
haven't used Mathematica over a decade, and even then I was probably doing
things far far simpler than what WA provides.

It does explain part of what dissapoints me about WA.  The results are
very... flat.  I'll do a stock comparison, look at the graphs, see an
outlier... and get frustrated that clicking on the outlier doesn't work.  I
can only assume that Mathematica would provide that kind of integration.


> There is plenty of room for Alpha to coexist alongside
> Google, and I expect that eventually Alpha results will
> turn up in Google search results for some queries in
> much the same way Wikipedia results do now.


Actually, I expect that Google will increasingly be doing similar work on
its own, trying to do its own semantic parsing.  While the "expert reviewed
data" that WA has is good, what the web is increasingly trying to say is
that "very interested non-experts" are providing nearly as good data, and
that there are tools out there that are connecting this data together.

I keep wanting to like WA... but I just can't find any results from it that
I care about.


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Re: [CGUYS] BING

[Allen Firstenberg]

Even better as a recursive algorithm:Bing
Is
Not
Google

My two favorite quotes about it so far:
"Bing and WolframAlpha are competing to be the next failed google killer."
"Bing - Microsoft's latest attempt at irrelevancy."

On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 1:34 AM, tjpa  wrote:

> But
> Its
> Not
> Google
>
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Was browsing newegg and this piqued my interest

[Allen Firstenberg]

Why not try out Safari now?  There is a Windows version that, I'm told, runs
"just like" the OSX version.
(Personally, I don't see whats so special about Safari, having used the
Windows version.  Its a browser with nothing particularly remarkable about
it.  Chrome has more interesting features, and thats not saying much.)

On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 12:34 PM, Paul Cannon wrote:

> I'll have to remember to look at the refurbs if and when I finally decide
> to try out OS X.
> OS X, Time Machine and Safari in the included software list interest me the
> most.
>
> On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 11:18:19AM -0400, Jordan wrote:
> > Just to clarify on some of your comments:
> >
> > Don't forget to check the refurbs.
> > http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTE3NjY
> >
> > You don't need Applecare, especially if you have some skills. But I
> > think you have a year to  decide if you want to get it. Meanwhile, Apple
> > has great support without Applecare.
> >
> > Check the lower left of this page for included software.
> >
> http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mini?mco=MTI2MDI4MQ
> >
> >
> > Paul Cannon wrote:
> >> The least expensive new Mac Mini I saw was 599$ on apple's site. That is
> an extra 300$ not 100 or 150.
> >> I could purchase an additional machine for that price.
> >> I won't argue that OS X is better than Fedora.  I would like to try out
> OS X.
> >>
> >> >From the specs I saw on Apple's site, the Mac Mini has a better cpu and
> video capabilities, but would only come with a 1G of memory and only 120Gb
> of storage compared to 1 terabyte.  There were options to increase the
> cpu/ram/drive - of course that would increase the price.  The largest drive
> from Apple was listed as 320GB and was an additional 175$.  A Mac mini with
> upgrades (cpu/ram/hard drive) was over a 1000$.  I could get 3 machines for
> that - stop tempting me.
> >> So probably if I wanted to get more memory and larger drives it is
> better to shop elsewhere for Mac accessories.
> >>
> >> The Applecare protection plan is 149$ and all the software I saw
> (filemaker, logic express, aperture, final cut, Iwork) had a price tag.  Is
> this for pre-installation only or does Apple supply the media and let users
> install it for free?
> >>
> >> If I were to get a Mac, I would probably get a iMac and dream about a
> Mac Pro.  Those cinema displays are also very beautiful.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
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> > This message has been scanned for viruses and
> > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
> > believed to be clean.
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Google software update

[Allen Firstenberg]

I find this very very surprising.
On the Windows side, Google is one of the least evil updaters I've run
into.  It uses the windows scheduler to run its updates, so it doesn't leave
cruft in memory, in the task bar, or in startup.  It is scheduled to run
only when the machine is idle.

In fact, I've run into only one other updater that is anywhere near
this good.  Apple's.

On Sat, May 23, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Tom Piwowar  wrote:

> >>My first thought is "No thank you". My second thought is "can I
> >>disable the background updater after downloading".
>
> Run the Lingon editor (tuppis.com/lingon/) to edit the launchd
> configuration file. Under the "User Daemons" tab is the Google keystone
> daemon. You can disable it from there. (But will it stay disabled?)
>
> This is evil. Google has become evil.
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Java & C++ - Quickest way to learn

[Allen Firstenberg]

Java has always been easy to learn since they have always given both the
compiler and a set of tutorials away.  Not to mention that the API
documentation is also publicly (and freely) available.  The tutorials
(called the "trails") are available at
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/
I have never found a book that does any better, and many are substantially
worse.

Keep in mind that "Java" is... huge.  Beyond the language itself there are
truly a massive number of libraries, APIs, specifications, and "editions"
(and implementations of same) that are available and which some people will
assume you know.

On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 12:07 PM, Michael Drabick wrote:

> I am looking for the quickest way to get up to speed on these two
> programing languages, as I have become one of the victims of this troubled
> economy.
> I have been to a few Job fairs and every one wants Java and C++/C#
> programmers with clearances. It seems the government is the only one with
> money to spend and they want their projects done in those languages.  I
> learned Fortran & Basic decades ago so this shouldn't be that difficult.
>  Any advise would be appreciated.
>
> Mike
>
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Q: what are current best practices for limiting ema

[Allen Firstenberg]

Right.  My point wasn't "put a web form there, and you're fine".  It was
"put a web form there, but you still need to put in some anti-bot
technology.  Your suggestion of a form field may be easily effective as
well, although I've seen some spammers get around simple ones of these as
well.

On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 9:56 PM, Tom Piwowar  wrote:

> >Since the town may also have a website, it sounds like its not
> >unreasonable to have a web form on the site instead of any other email way
> >to get a hold of the government.  You can put a CAPATCHA or other
> >bot-obstacles in front of the form.
>
> Spammers attack web forms too. They have bots that fill in forms with
> their messages and submit the forms.
>
> You may not need something a complicated/annoying as a CAPATCHA. Just
> have one form field that asks something that a spammer would not know.
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Q: what are current best practices for limiting email spam?

[Allen Firstenberg]

Several thoughts come to mind:
- Since the town may also have a website, it sounds like its not
unreasonable to have a web form on the site instead of any other email way
to get a hold of the government.  You can put a CAPATCHA or other
bot-obstacles in front of the form.

- Route email through something like gmail, which keep up-to-date on the
current spam methods and do a pretty good job at making sure that they
filter out the junk.

- Figure out why they really want or need email.  There may be other methods
that are more suitable.  Is the email so they can communicate with each
other, or with constituents?  How about a forum (possibly that allows
anonymous posting, if thats appropriate) with a CAPATCHA?You might not
even need the CAPATCHA if its just for internal discussions.

On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 6:14 PM, Business Her Way  wrote:

> I am doing some research for a mayor and council of a small town as a
> favor. I am researching on line but think you all may have some hidden gems
> that might not readily show up in a search.
> Thanks.
> /gayley
> --
> --
> Gayley Knight
> Business Her Way
> twitter.com/mothergeek
> Broadside at BHW 
> Join the Business Her Way group:
> http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/72434/292E6A08147B
> Advisory Board: Fintel Communications
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Prepaid the Majority

[Allen Firstenberg]

T-Mobile prepaid has two levels.  Regular level has the balance expire
after 3 months from the last time you added to the balance.  You get
gold level after you put $100 (total) onto the balance, and the
balance won't expire for a year.  We put $100 on, and the balance
expired after 3 months on each of our phones, despite everyone
agreeing that we did have gold level.

In one case, they just put the money back on.  In the second case, we
had gotten a message on the phone warning us ahead of time, and
finally were directed to someone who was able to figure out how to fix
the expiration.

On Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 10:17 PM,   wrote:
> On Apr 25, 2009, at 9:50 PM, Allen Firstenberg wrote:
>
>> They've solved all the problems I've had, although it often took some
>> work to find the right person who could solve it.
>
> So what kind of problems were they?
>
>
>
>
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Re: [CGUYS] Prepaid the Majority

[Allen Firstenberg]

The catch is that its not a "plan".  Its pre-paid pay-as-you-go.
My wife and I went with them as well (partly based on our research,
partly on Tom's oft-repeated advice), and pretty much like it.  Our
switch has already paid for itself several times over our previous
plan.  Their customer service is... well... it could be worse.
They've solved all the problems I've had, although it often took some
work to find the right person who could solve it.

On Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 8:11 PM, Tom Piwowar  wrote:
>>e minutes before I have to renew yearly
>>@ around $100/1000 minutes.  What plan do you have that's mid
>>$50's?
>
> T-Mobile.
>
>
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Re: [CGUYS] No netbook for you!

[Allen Firstenberg]

The reply from apple is particularly strange considering they do sell
a netbook.  In fact, they sell two.  The iPhone and the iTouch.


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Re: [CGUYS] Odd Time Stamp Problem

[Allen Firstenberg]

Your Vista machine is probably using NTFS for its file system.  Your
external drive is probably using FAT32.  NTFS handles DST correctly,
while FAT32 does not.

Solution is to upgrade the external drive to NTFS (or some other real
file system).

On Mon, Nov 03, 2008 at 12:30:24PM -0500, Q. Fisher wrote:
> I back up my Dell (runnung Vista) to a WD My Book 500 Gb External hard 
> dive.
> 
> With the changeover to Standard time, all the files on the External 
> drive now show timestamps one hour later than all the files on my C 
> drive. The time stamps on another backup drive (Maxtor) and on DVD's 
> agree, so the error is in the WD.
> 
> Any ideas? WD blows it off by saying its probably Vista's doing, but no 
> specifics. Makes it incremental backup impossible.
> 
> Quentin Fisher
> Bethesda, MD
> 
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Re: [CGUYS] [Fwd: TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT]

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 09:53:24AM -0500, Judy Cosler wrote:

> the "from" address looked real. that was what threw me off!

Remember - the "from" address on email is just like the return address
on a letter you might get in the paper-post.  The post office doesn't
check the address when you mail a letter - and neither does anyone on
the Internet when you email a message.


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Re: [CGUYS] [Fwd: TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT]

[Allen Firstenberg]

Short answer:

THIS IS NOT REAL.  This is absolutely a scam.  Report it to Starpower
NOT using the email address in the mail.



The long answer:

Look a little more carefully, and there are lots of things about it
that don't sound real at all.  For starters, it sounds like a typical
phishing scam ("something is bad, give us your password to fix").

Next, look at the headers on the message.  Looks very suspicious.
While it claims to be from starpower, the "reply-to" is to some addrss
at i12.com - a quick look at i12.com shows that it is an ISP in
Europe.  Why would Starpower have you reply to someone in Europe?

Starpower should also NEVER ask you for your account info.  They may
make you log into a service to verify that you are you - but asking
you for the info via email doesn't verify anything.

Finally, a quick look at RCN and Starpower's home and news pages don't
show anything at all about any problems they're encountering.

This has all the hallmarks of a scam.  Your best bet would be to
contact Starpower/RCN using the contact information they have posted
on their website, and give them everything you have given us.  They're
in the best position to take action.


On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 08:18:44AM -0500, Judy Cosler wrote:
> is this real looks like it, but never been asked for password before!
> 
>  Original Message 
> Subject:  TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT
> Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:38:36 -0500 (CDT)
> From: Starpower Webmaster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Dear Subscriber,
> 
>  TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT
> 
> We are currently carrying out an upgrade on our system due to the
> fact that it has come to our notice that one or more of our subscribers
> are introducing a very strong virus into our system and it is affecting
> our network.We are trying to find out the specific person.
> For this reason all subscribers are to provide their USER NAME AND
> PASSWORD for us to verify and have them cleared against this virus.
> Failure to comply will lead to the termination of your Account in the
> next 48 hours.
> 
> 
> Information to send;
> EMAIL ADDRESS:
> USERNAME:
> PASSWORD:
> 
> 
> Hoping to serve you better.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Starpower Support
> 
> 
> 
> This is an Administrative Message from Starpower internet. It is
> not spam. From time to time,Starpower. will send you such
> messages in order to communicate important information about
> your subscription.
> 
> 
> 
> ? 2008 RCN Digital Services, LLC. All rights reserved.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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Re: [CGUYS] Smileys Are Insulting (was RE: [CGUYS] Will iPhone Kill Radio?)

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 02:38:09PM -0400, John DeCarlo wrote:

> Agree that icons make it a little easier, but they go overboard, too - what
> does the smiley face with a hat on at a rakish angle mean about the text
> just preceeding it?

That the author is trying, and failing, to be cute.


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Re: [CGUYS] Smileys Are Insulting (was RE: [CGUYS] Will iPhone Kill Radio?)

[Allen Firstenberg]

The problem is that often there just isn't enough context to realize
that the person is trying to be humorous/ironic/sarcastic.  In
traditional print, you'd have lots and lots of written words to
realize this.  In realspace, you can judge the body language of the
person making the statement.  In brief email exchanges, sometimes you
need substitutes for those cues - and thats the purpose of the smiley.

I don't think the assumption is that the person won't "get" the
joke... its to make sure that people realize it _is_ a joke.

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 11:23:38AM -0400, Michel Lowe wrote:
> Does anyone else find Smileys to be insulting?
> I mean, a little :-) at the end of a comment to explain that you meant it
> humorously/ironically/sarcastically implies the recipient isn't capable of
> getting the joke in the first place.
> Or maybe I should just switch to decaf today... ;-)
> 
> __ 
> Michel David Lowe 
> 
> 
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Computer Guys Discussion List [mailto:COMPUTERGUYS-
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Piwowar
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:49 AM
> > To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
> > Subject: Re: [CGUYS] Will iPhone Kill Radio?
> > 
> > >But there's a difference between mentioning problems and taking random,
> > >gratuitous potshots.
> > 
> > Should it be my problem that some folks have no sense of humor? Should we
> > all be required to dial down to low level gloom to accomodate the most
> > morose among us? Should we be denied a good laugh at the folly of the
> > ultra rich? I think not!
> > 
> > P.S. I don't do smileys. Smileys are depressing.
> 
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Re: [CGUYS] Texas PI-licensed computer techs

[Allen Firstenberg]

I am not a Texas legislator, nor do I know a great deal of what is
required (and obligated) of PIs, but I can suspect the following:

With the increasing ammount of personal and sensitive data on the
computers that these people will be asked to work on, they will be
required to know how to handle said sensitive data.  A licensed PI
might be trained in proper ways to handle it, as well as to have
special recognition in the law (and in court!) to having to reveal
this information (or being able, legally, to keep this information
confidential).

On the surface it looks bizzare, but I suspect underneath there is a
real reason.

Allen


On Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 02:04:20PM -0400, Christopher wrote:
> Snyder, Mark (IT CIV) wrote:
> >Saw a link to this on /.  Okay, what's up with this?
> >
> >http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2324220,00.asp
> >Texas PC Repair Now Requires PI License
> >
> >Thank you,
> > 
> >Mark Snyder
> That is really messed up.  Invariably, That law will cause a 
> proliferation in the number of PI licenses.  Where in the world are they 
> getting the idea, that, in order to work on a computer, professionally, 
> a person must have a degree in criminal justice, accompanied, by the PI 
> license.  They are really messed up.
> 
> Christopher
> 
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Re: [CGUYS] RAM

[Allen Firstenberg]

Without knowing details, it seems more likely to me that the "missing"
8M is being used as video memeory, and thus not available to the system.
This is almsot certainly the case if there is no separate video card and
the video is "on board".

Sometimes you can configure this in the BIOS.

On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 06:23:39PM +, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> I am using a computer that has these specs:
> 
> 2.4Ghz Acer
> Win XP Pro
> 512MB RAM
> 149GB HD
> 3.5" 1.44 FD
> 
> Now, When I click on 'System', in the 'Control Panel', it consistently tells 
> me, there is only 504MB RAM.  That says to me, that something is wrong with 
> the RAM but, it isn't keeping the computer from running so, I would love some 
> feedback on this.
> 
> Christopher
> 
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Re: [CGUYS] Replacing Vista with XP

[Allen Firstenberg]

On Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 10:48:19AM -0400, Jeff Wright wrote:
> You can't "downgrade" the OS, but you do have the right to install XP in
> place of Vista.  You have to already have the XP media *and* product ID and
> you can then install that instead.

Well, there are some caveats on this.  Not all versions of Vista have
the downgrade clause in their license, and it doesn't allow you to
downgrade to just any version of Vista.  But if you have the right
combination, and can get the right media, you can do it.

> http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/f/4/5f4c83d3-833e-4f11-8cbd-699b0c1
> 64182/royaltyoemreferencesheet.pdf

Here's the full explanation.  Good luck understanding them.  I plan to
go down this road as soon as my new desktop comes in as well, so I may
report back how it went.

As for why - in my case, its because I'd rather have a homogenous OS
across all the desktop machines in my house than have to worry about
trying to manage any strange issues that might (or might not, I'll
admit) come up.  Some of the software we use around the house also
isn't listed as working with Vista, and I'd rather not have to upgrade
some of it (at a cost of more than the computer I'm buying) until I
need to.

In my case - Vista buys me nothing, and can cost me much, so I'd
rather not deal with it yet.  YMMV



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