http://www.ComputerBob.com/journal_archive/2006/10.php .
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In case you hadn't heard, the second issue of PCLinuxOS Magazine is available for free download, in PDF (Adobe Acrobat Reader) format.
If you've chosen to "rough it" by continuing to use Microsoft's now-unsupported Windows 98/SE/ME/2000 operating systems, you might want to consider installing a new security patch that was developed by a group of security professionals. Remember that it comes with no guarantees. This is exactly the situation that I chose to avoid putting myself into when I switched from Windows 98 SE to Linux back in July.
When I watch a computer-generated movie, no matter how "lifelike" its scenes appear, one of the things that betrays the fact that it is not real is the cartoon-like quality of any water that appears. It looks like that's going to change very soon.
I've said it before: Most of the best TV commercials combine humor with a plot twist. This memorable commercial follows that successful formula, but adds a sad and serious message.
If you were on a trip and saw a group stealing your luggage from your car, would you bargain with them to get your stuff back?
This woman would.
I've posted so many I-Love-Linux articles in the past few months, that I decided to try to find a good I-Love-Windows article, to show that there are two sides to every story. The title of Windows XP Myths told me that it was going to be pro-Windows. While reading it, however, I discovered that the author makes several false and unsubstantiated claims to support his arguments, and even challenges users to send him videos of Windows XP crashing if they want to prove to him that it does. Let me ask you this: When was the last time Windows warned you in advance that it was going to crash, so you could shoot a video of it? That's just one of the logical fallacies that the author commits. Read with a critical eye and see if you can spot the others. To be completely fair, in the past few months, I've seen several I-Love-Linux articles that make the same mistakes, but I haven't mentioned them here. I have written to the authors of several of them, though, to point out that biased, misleading pro-Linux articles are just as wrong as biased, misleading pro-Windows articles.
I don't use a laptop computer or wifi Internet access.when I travel. If you do, you may be surprised to learn that some of the free wifi access hotspots that you find at airports may be run by identity thieves.
It's an old solution that's been posted many times, but if you haven't seen it before, it's new to you. If you try to run Windows Scandisk and it keeps restarting at 0% instead of going all the way to 100%, it's because it starts over whenever some other piece of software has made any change to your computer's hard drive. Don't worry; there's a simple solution.
If you're thinking of starting your own blog, one of the most important decisions you have to make is which blogging software to use.
5 Critical Characteristics To Demand From Your Blogging Software raises some good points. When I finished reading it, I noticed that its author uses b2evolution blogging software. Since I've pretty much decided that I'm going to convert this Journal to Wordpress blogging software, I was curious to see how the two compare, so I did a Google search for b2evolution vs wordpress. I learned that they have similar features, but Wordpress is many, many times more popular.
If you ever have the need to hire a web designer, you might learn a few good tips from Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Freelance Web Designer. I think another mistake to avoid would be hiring the guy who wrote this.
For years, I had a client who stubbornly insisted on having music automatically play whenever anyone viewed his web site, even though I told him several reasons why he shouldn't.
I love hearing about it when someone discovers a simple way to make a major improvement to something important. For example, MIT researchers have figured out how to get 50% more power from nuclear reactors, while allowing them to run 61% cooler. All it takes is replacing the normal solid uranium fuel pellets with hollow uranium fuel tubes. Brilliant!
Think about
this old commercial for the Commodore 64 computer (with its 64 KB of RAM) the next time you feel like complaining about how much computers cost.
Regular readers of this Journal know that I've been using the free and open source Firefox web browser instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, ever since Firefox version 1.0 was released almost 2 years ago. That's why, a few days ago, I paid close attention to published reports that a couple of hackers at a security conference had demonstrated an exploit of what they called an "unfixable" Firefox vulnerability. At the time, they claimed that the vulnerability could allow a hacker to completely control any computer that is running Firefox. And they said that they were aware of 30 additional Firefox security vulnerabilities. At the time, I had serious doubts about their claims, so I decided not to mention them here unless they turned out to be true. In the meantime, countless other sites reported their claims, and many pro-Microsoft sites clearly rejoiced in the fact that Firefox had finally been "proven" to be just as insecure as Internet Explorer. Fast-forward to yesterday, when one of the two hackers admitted that all of their claims had been a hoax. That's just another way of saying that they intentionally told a bunch of lies about Firefox. Aren't there laws against doing that?
Does your web site use a splash page? Here are some really good reasons why it shouldn't.
Are you tired of having to manually rewind your rented DVD movies before you return them? If so, maybe you should get a DVD Rewinder.
It's good to know that Garth Brooks doesn't get his hit songs from the devil.
There's a good life lesson in realizing that you haven't won
until you cross the finish line.
Though I'm really happy to be using SimplyMEPIS Linux instead of Windows, I realize that Linux isn't the best operating system for everyone (just as Windows isn't the best operating sytem for me). Therefore, I don't see any need to try to convince everyone to switch from Windows to a version of Linux. I'd rather tell people some good reasons to switch and then let them decide for themselves. If you're curious, Top 10 Ways to Convince a New User Onto Linux describes several good reasons to switch.
If you have an old PC or laptop that ins't powerful enough to run Windows any more, you might want to try installing Linux on it. Seven Linux Distros Fight Over One Old ThinkPad can help you decide which one would be best for you.
Here's yet another reason to avoid "upgrading" your computer to Windows Vista. Microsoft reportedly plans to include an anti-piracy kill switch in Vista's controversial Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) anti-piracy software. A ZDNet blog says, "Now, several months after going on record as saying that it wouldn't include a kill switch in Windows, Microsoft has announced that Vista will automatically log you off if your copy of the operating system is thought to have been pirated. In a document that the software giant has posted on its Web site, the company wants the press to see it not as something that shuts the computer in question down, but rather as 'reduced functionality.'" Wow, it's a good thing that WGA doesn't cause all kinds of problems by claiming that legally purchased copies of Windows are pirated. Oh, wait — it does.
Okay, let's say that, instead of switching to Windows Vista, you'd like to keep using Windows XP, but you'd really like to get some of Vista's functionality. No problem — take a look at Sticking with Windows XP: The Case Against Windows Vista.
You probably know that the acronym DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. But do you know what DRM does? Here's a short video that explains that when you buy music with DRM, someone else decides where it can play.
Here's a compelling time-lapse video that shows how one guy changed over 8 years.
For the past few days, there's been a general buzz on many Linux sites, predicting (hoping) that Microsoft's inclusion of a kill switch in Windows Vista (see my October 5 Journal entry) will encourage many Windows users to switch to Linux. Of course that's a possibility, but I don't think it will happen. If history repeats itself, it's much more likely that honest people will simply pay whatever price Microsoft charges for Vista, willingly give up whatever rights it chooses to take from them, and put up with whatever inconveniences it forces upon them. And dishonest people will crack the Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy software and use pirated copies of Vista. It seems to me that no matter how good Linux becomes or how bad Windows becomes, most people will always use Windows unless someone makes a herculean effort to disconnect them from the Matrix.
If you're looking for a way to make some extra cash, the Mozilla Security Bug Bounty Program is paying a $500 bounty for each valid critical security bug you can find in the Mozilla Suite, Firefox, or Thunderbird.
A Different Kind of Geek reminds us all that we need to be the kind of people who help others instead of making them feel stupid. I think it should be required reading for all technical support workers.
If you're looking for some good sound effects, or if you think you might need some in the future, be sure to bookmark FindSounds. It has links to hundreds of public domain sound files, plus a search feature to help you find others.
Technology can help you stay connected to people who are far away, but it can also disconnect you from people who are nearby.
Did you ever see Jerry Mathers play any other role after he played the title character of the 1960s sitcom, Leave it to Beaver? Once an actor becomes really well-known for playing one character, it becomes really difficult for them to get a job playing any other character. Apparently, that's what happened to the guy who played Biff, the bully in the Back to the Future movies. So, what's he doing now?
Singing about it.
If Windows Genuine Advantage ever erroneously tells you that your copy of Windows is not genuine, Microsoft has an email address where you can contact them about the problem. Just be sure to do it before WGA disables your email access.
I haven't really been following this story in great detail, but apparently Windows still has several serious security vulnerabilities, mostly related to its use of your PC's U.S.B ports. Now there's a hacking tool that exploits those vulnerabilities. With it, anyone who has physical access to your PC can walk away with all of your passwords, browser history, and more — in just a few seconds. A newer version of the tool will reportedly also install software onto your PC that will automatically email your private information to an email account. I'm curious to see how Microsoft solves this problem — and how long it takes to do it.
Remember: Be nice to motorcyclists — you never know when you might see them again.
Regular readers of this Journal know that I'm not, and have never been, a gamer. To me, the best game is to see if I can get my PC running exactly the way I want, without any problems. Every time I achieve that, I've won the game. Though I don't play computer games, I'm very impressed with how far game animation has evolved since its early days.
I wonder what they were thinking when they made this really strange and creepy
Burger King commercial. Does it make you want buy a Burger King hamburger? Does it make anyone want to buy a Burger King hamburger?
Whether you're a recent convert to Linux, or you're a veteran who'd like to be reminded how to do specific tasks, Getting Started with Linux - Course Material has what you need.
This guy is probably incredibly popular — at least at Renaissance festivals. He really rocks on his hurdy gurdy. Those who are old enough may remember psychedelic-hippie balladeer Donovan's repetitious 1968 ode to that instrument.
If you feel that a car dealership has cheated you on the purchase of your new vehicle, there are certain things that you should do, and certain things that you should not do.
Daniel Tosh is pretty funny, in a self-conscious, first-time-performing, guy-next-door way. Here he is on the David Letterman show. I think he has great potential, but he'd be funnier if he used some topical segues, stopped laughing at his own jokes, and made some effort to develop his relatively bland persona into a unique and memorable "comedy character."
Some people take games way too seriously.
I agree with very little of their religious doctrine, but I think they did a really good job on this
thought-provoking commercial.
According to Netcraft, at least 8 of the 10 most reliable web servers last month ran Linux operating systems. Reliability is one reason why all of my web sites run on Linux servers. If you click on any of the "Monitored By" icons in this site's left navigation column, you'll see that this site enjoyed 100% uptime for the entire 5-month period of May-September, 2006. If you'd like to use the same web hosting company that I use for my web sites, click on the Website Hosted By Bright-Byte icon in the left navigation column. They're so confident that you'll like their service that they offer a 30-Day, 100% Money Back Guarantee.
Windows users are starting to react to Microsoft's last-minute announcement that it intends to include kill switch software in Windows Vista (see my October 5 Journal entry). Here's a Windows user who does a good job of explaining the situation, as well as his outrage over it.
How much will it cost to buy Windows Vista Ultimate? In Australia, it will cost more than a fully configured desktop computer.
Wouldn't it be great if Microsoft included all kinds of software applications in Windows Vista? Don't fool yourself — the truth is that when MS does that, you lose.
What can you do if you want your Windows XP computer to have all of the latest Windows updates, but it's running on a slow internet connection? You know it would take forever to try to download all 100 MB of updates. It's a good thing that you can order a CD of them.
Can your computer run Windows Vista? Do you even want it to run Windows Vista? You'll have to decide that second question for yourself, but here's an online tool that will tell you whether your computer can run Vista.
This funny video makes it look like the event actually happened. It didn't — it's just a parable. In fact, I first heard it in a sermon at church about 30 years ago. Still, it's a good one.
Here's
a Yahoo! commercial that will probably haunt you for awhile. Scruffy! You're alive!
I've read many, many articles on this topic in the past few months, so I know that What's the Best Linux For Beginners? has some good information and recommendations.
Windows Vista's new anti-piracy "features" are going to force corporations and other multiple-user sites to do extra work to validate (and re-validate) their copies of that operating system. In fact, according to a Gartner Group analyst, "Enterprises should demand some kind of compensation from Microsoft for implementing the Redmond, Wash. developer's new product validation and activation schemes baked into Windows Vista..." Yeah, right. Good luck with that idea.
As of today, Microsoft ends all support for Windows XP Service Packs 1 and 1a, forcing users to upgrade to at least SP2 if they want to keep receiving Windows updates.
According to a BBC News Website experiment, home PCs may be attacked by hackers over 50 times every day.
Be careful! Watch where you drag that microphone cord!
Oh, no!
Yesterday, Microsoft rolled out a record number of Windows security patches. To me, that begs the question: After fixing hundreds (thousands?) of security vulnerabilities over the past 5 years, how many security vulnerabilities does Windows still have? Hundreds? Thousands?
Why I Installed Debian Over My Copy of Vista RC2 describes one guy's decision to use Linux instead of Windows Vista. It also summarizes some of Vista's good and bad points.
If you're hoping to use Windows Vista on a network, you should read Six Reasons You'll Hate Networking in Windows Vista.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Windows Vista Activation is a Mess. Be sure to also read the first 2 comments that appear under the article.
Here's a funny article that describes a few Windows Vista Features That Didn't Make the Cut.
There's a great new way to fit your Honda into a really tight parking spot, and all it'll cost you is 2 new tires and a rebuilt clutch.
My cat, Petey can do
this, too.
Some people don't try Linux because they're afraid that they'll have to do a lot of research and work to get things like additional fonts, plug-ins, and multimedia working. That's why many Ubuntu/Kubuntu and Mepis Linux users use Automatix. Automatix automatically installs your choice of many of the most requested applications and tweaks. Sure, you could manually install it all yourself, like many Linux veterans do, but that really does take a lot of research and work. I've used Automatix more than once, to install a bunch of good stuff in Mepis Linux, and I'm very happy with its results.
If your Windows PC is cluttered and complicated, try PC World's 50 tips to simplify Windows. Am I the only one who sees the irony in having to complete 50 tasks in order to make Windows simpler?
Soon, Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 7, the newest version of its web browser software. Soon after that, it will push IE7 onto all Windows users by making it an urgent automatic Windows update. If you don't want Microsoft to automatically install IE7 on your Windows computer, be sure to read How To Block the Automatic Installation of Internet Explorer 7. If you're not sure whether you want IE7 or not, the comments below the article will help you decide.
Computer-generated faces are very realistic these days. Do you think you can tell the difference between real and computer-generated faces? Take this little photo quiz and see.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall; who's the fairest of them all?" Not you.
I hear that train a comin'. It's rollin' round the bend — WHOA! That was a close one!
Most people would agree that it's a good idea for computer users to understand something about computer security, to help protect themselves and their data when they go online. Take a short quiz to answer the question, How well do you know PC security? On the other hand, one security expert makes the case that user education is pointless. Do you agree with him?
Many computer users are putting off purchasing their new PCs until after the Christmas buying season, when the new Vista operating system is supposed to be available. Microsoft says don't wait for Vista — most computers sold right now will be capable of running Vista. Go ahead and buy your new computer now, with Windows XP installed on it. And then spend more money to buy a Vista upgrade in a few weeks. And then go to all the trouble to upgrade your new computer from XP to Vista, and hope that you do it correctly. Does that sound like a good plan to you?
How come the foods that you cook never end up looking like their pictures in the recipe book? Maybe it's because you're missing some ingredients.
Here's a very interesting and informative article that tells how even an expensive home security system could be totally useless. Luckily, it also tells how to avoid that problem.
This makes me think that Swiss army soldiers must be monstrously huge.
One of the local hospices teaches their volunteers that, every time they wash their hands, they should sing the Happy Birthday song, to make sure they're washing long enough. Ever since I heard that, I think of that song every time I wash my hands. Unfortunately, the rowdy singers in my head pause at the end of the third line, add "and many more" to the end of the song, and then immediately break into a chorus of "Stand up! Stand up! We won't shut up until you stand up!"
I've been very happily using desktop Linux exclusively for the past 2 1/2 months. Here's a guy who's been using it for the past ten years.
It's time to put on your critical-thinking hat. How many of these 10 tips for reducing web page load times do you think actually work? I think 8 of them do.
Advertisers photograph the most attractive models they can find. Then they digitally enhance the photos, to make the models look even more attractive. In other words, even the models themselves can't possibly look as good in real life as they do in their photographs. No wonder the unrealistic illusion of "beauty" is an unattainable, but highly marketable, goal.
Here's a cool place to live. If you don't like the scenery, wait awhile and it will change. Plus, I hear that houses there are really cheap.
One of the funniest and most memorable scenes from the Seinfeld TV series was this one, with Jerry being harangued by Mr. Bookman, the overdue library book investigator.
Anyone who's ever been through a difficult job interview will relate to this classic
interview sketch from the Monty Python gang.
I've always predicted that, even though it will take away even more of users' rights than its predecessors, computer users will still flock to upgrade to Windows Vista. The latest news is that Vista will only allow you to transfer its license to one other computer. Ever. To make matters worse, several of that operating system's features will be crippled unless you buy one of its more expensive versions. Do you still want to use Vista?
Here are 10 things you should do before installing Windows Vista on a computer. I'd like to add the following:
11. Consider your alternatives, such as continuing to use Windows XP, or switching to Linux or to Mac OSX.
12. Consider all of the costs of using Vista, including:
13. Ask yourself, "Does Vista offer me anything that I really need that would justify its many costs?"
If your answer to #13 is either "No" or "I don't know," then it would probably be a big waste of money for you to switch to Vista.
Most Windows users are very familiar with the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death), that displays a screenful of cryptic codes almost every time Windows crashes. Crash Recovery - Dealing with the Blue Screen Of Death, tries to provide "a generic set of troubleshooting steps which will allow you to analyze and hopefully identify the cause of the error and correct it."
If you're not very experienced in affaires de l'amour, you may want to watch How To Tell When a Relationship is Over.
Here's a commercial that illustrates what you're really doing if you
let your child surf the web without supervision.
You may have noticed that this site doesn't use any icons to let you print Printer-Friendly versions of its pages. That's because they aren't needed. After trying many other techniques, about 3 1/2 years ago, I began using the techniques described in CSS Design: Going To Print, to automatically format every page of this site for printing.
I only knew a few of the 20 Things the Average Person Doesn't Know About Windows XP. I guess that makes me an average person.
I always thought that Microsoft grew powerful by buying or destroying its competitors. Apparently, I was half-right.
Their archery skills appear to be incredibly impressive, but I think maybe this video is a fake, created through skillful editing. See what you think.
Here's a funny commercial that illustrates how one man's misfortune can be another man's miracle.
In a world where laughter was king... in a land that... in a time... in a land before time... someone made
this really funny movie trailer.
If you need a good summary of some ways that Linux gives you freedom, while Windows takes away your freedom, read Let's Re-License Redmond.
Speaking of software licenses, are you aware of the restrictive terms that you're agreeing to when you accept the Windows Vista EULA (end user license agreement)? Windows Vista Licence Terms - Say What? summarizes some of the most important parts, and I don't think you're going to like them.
It's a known fact that, unlike Linux computers, Windows computers run slower over time. I know people who format their hard drives and completely reinstall Windows on a regular basis, to try to get it back to its original speed. Why Does My Windows Crawl on Start Up gives you some tips for speeding up Windows without reinstalling it.
Here's an interesting article that explains why your next automobile may have a powerful, clean-burning, fuel-efficient diesel engine,
It's kind of amazing (but also kind of sad, when you think about it) that people actually took the time to transcribe and index the complete scripts of
hundreds of episodes of The Simpsons.
Unlike Windows, which offers only one desktop environment (graphical user interface), Linux offers several different choices, with the two most popular ones being GNOME and KDE. Here are Three Reasons to Use GNOME and Three Reasons to Use KDE.
In the past few weeks, I've read several articles that predict, for various reasons, that Microsoft will gradually lose its hold over the software industry after it releases Windows Vista. Here's an article that offers Proof Why Closed Source Operating Systems are Failing.
Yesterday, Apple Computer warned users that some of its new video iPods contain a Windows virus. Insert your own lame joke here. In related news, security software maker, McAfee, announced that it is providing free software to solve the problem.
If you're still thinking of "upgrading" your computer from Windows XP to Windows Vista, you should read the list of Windows XP Features That Will Be Excluded From Vista,
Sure, it was an unusual idea, but it didn't really look very impressive, especially since it reportedly used 18,497 gallons of paint, 358 single-bottle bombs, 33 sextuple air cluster bombs, 22 triple-hung cluster bombs, 268 mortars, 33 triple mortars, 22 double mortars, 1174 feet of welding, 1082 feet of steel pipe, and 35.4 miles of copper wire. I'm just wondering, now that they did it, who's going to clean up
this mess?
If you still want it right away, despite everything you know about it, you can now download Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7.
If you buy a computer after Windows Vista is released, it will undoubtedly come with Vista already installed on it. If you're planning to upgrade your Windows XP computer to Vista, you should be aware that it may be a very troublesome upgrade.
If you're the only one who uses your Windows XP computer, and you're not concerned about others getting access to it, and you're tired of having to login each time you boot it up, you might want to know how to configure automatic login in Windows XP.
We may be rich or poor, powerful or unknown, happy or sad, short or tall, but when you consider our place in the known universe, we are very, very, small,
This is the first time this has ever happened to me.
This video is so incredibly odd that it leaves me speechless.
After 6 years of work, researchers at Stanford University have finally settled the debate over whether Linux is more secure than Windows. In fact, they found only 985 bugs in Linux's 5.7 million lines of open-source code. One analyst concluded, "Our findings show that Linux contains an extremely low defect rate and is evidence of the strong security of Linux." In contrast, 5.7 million lines of commercial enterprise software (like Windows) typically contains 114,000 to 171,000 bugs. Plus, "the majority of the (Linux) bugs documented in the study have already been fixed by members of the open-source development community." Regular readers of this Journal know that I've been using Linux exclusively for the past 3 months, and I'm very happy with it.
It seems that controversy surrounds every new Microsoft product release. Within 24 hours of Internet Explorer 7's release this past week, its first security hole was announced. Microsoft defended itself, explaining that the vulnerability is actually in Outlook Express, and it just happens to be accessed by IE7. If you read the comments after that article, you'll see that many users aren't convinced by Redmond's semantic spin on the long-reported vulnerability. In fact, several blogs are recommending that users wait until next year to upgrade to IE7, to give Microsoft time to issue a security patch or two for the new browser.
How does watching forensic criminal investigation programs like "CSI" affect jurors in criminal trials? Find out by reading Understanding "The CSI Effect."
Right now, for only $3.99 on eBay, you can buy
the secret to being invisible. According to the seller, "The Secret of Invisibility is razor-edge, easy to understand information that allows you to become invisible to everyone around you! Finally, a concise, step-by-step guide for those who 'need to know'! This secret method is currently used by the CIA and foreign intelligence agencies to render their agents 100% invisible." That's surprising — I would've guessed that they would charge at least $4.99 for that.
3D animation software has reached new levels of sophistication and usability by normal PC users. Here's a fun video of a virtual 3D rollercoaster, created with software called RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.
TV game shows often require contestants to think of good answers really quickly. These contestants didn't.
How do you think The Ghost Car disappeared? I think he just drove behind that fence, and the police didn't notice it until it was too late to follow him.
When I taught college courses, I got a lot of interesting comments from my students in their course evaluation forms, but none of them were anything like these ones.
If you like fast cars, you'll love this one.
Speaking of fast cars, what do you think would happen if a race car lost a wheel in the middle of a race? I bet you'd never guess that
this would happen.
Many new Linux users choose to install Linux along with an existing Windows operating system; the result is a dual-boot computer that allows them to choose to run either Windows or Linux at each boot-up. It's very, very easy to start with a Windows computer and add Linux to it, because Linux automatically creates the dual-boot menu that allows you to run either Windows or Linux. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to start with a Linux computer and add Windows to it, or reinstall Windows after you've got both Linux and Windows installed, because every time you install Windows, it takes over the whole computer and won't create a dual-boot menu to let you choose between it and Linux. Luckily, there's a way to install Windows after Linux and then use Linux to manually create the dual-boot menu.
Windows won't allow you to upgrade your Internet Explorer browser to the new IE7 until you re-prove that your computer is running a valid copy of Windows. Maybe you should ask yourself, Is Internet Explorer 7 Spying on Me?
Windows often runs many different processes in the background while you work. If you've ever wondered what those processes are, or if any of them are either unnecessary or unsafe, take a look at What's Running on Your Computer?
There are several web sites that point out obvious continuity errors in famous movies, but someone was extremely observant to find these mistakes in James Bond movies.
Whoever created
this interactive spoof of Windows must know a lot about Windows, and must also have a mischievous sense of humor. Try its various icons and menus to see what I mean.
Several times in the past several weeks, I've mentioned many disadvantages of upgrading your computer to Windows Vista. Now,one author claims that with Vista in sight, people are finally waking up and thinking about whether they should bother using Vista. Only time will tell whether a significant number of people will decide to shun the new OS. As I've said before, I think history will repeat itself — most people will take the path of least resistance and do whatever Microsoft tells them they should do.
A blog on ZDNet says that Windows licensing is still a confusing mess and it alienates enthusiasts. Luckily, the blog also does a good job of clarifying some of that confusion.
A few months ago, I decided that I would convert this entire Journal (and its hundreds of entries from the past 3+ years) into a WordPress blog. Since then, I haven't found the time to even start that herculean task. Now I read that WordPress 2.05 will be out soon, and users are hoping that 2.1 will be released some time in the near future. With all of that in mind, and with brand new Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers raising questions about future web coding standards and browser hacks, I'm going to let the dust settle awhile and then re-evaluate my WordPress decision.
In what may be a good example of deceptive marketing. It's billed as magnetic paint, but I suspect that it's actually not magnetic at all. It's probably just metallic paint that contains enough iron particles that magnets can stick to it. If it really had a magnetic force of its own, then it would attract all iron-based objects, like nails and paper clips, instead of just attracting magnets.
I used to tell my college Introduction to Computing students
the story of Gary Kildall. If you don't know who he was, you really owe it to yourself to learn about the microcomputer genius and pioneer who I sincerely believe should have become a billionnaire instead of Bill Gates. For those who are familiar with the story, the PC-DOS fiasco starts at 17:00.
If you have your own web site, or if you've ever visited a web site, you'll probably enjoy Your Web Site May Suck If. As you can tell by looking at this site, I disagree with a few of the items on that list, but I think it's funny anyway.
Speaking of funny, here someone's list of the Top 11 Reasons You Shouldn't Upgrade to Internet Explorer 7.
A new study shows that if you use your cell phone too much, you may have trouble fathering children. On a related note, there's an old saying that says "Parenthood is hereditary. If your parents didn't have kids, then the odds are that you won't either."
They just keeping going and going, with 100 times the power of normal alkaline batteries. That's why, in the future, batteries may be made of plastic,
Most people know that if you drink orange juice right after you brush your teeth, it tastes horrible. Now you'll know why.
When I was a kid, I had a long-playing album (anyone remember them?) of Alvin and the Chipmunks, singing a bunch of old songs in funny, high-pitched voices. And, for awhile, I watched their cartoon show, until I figured out that it was just a poorly animated excuse to show them singing a bunch of old songs in funny, high-pitched voices. When I was a teenager, I played around with a multi-speed, reel-to-reel tape recorder, and made a few of my own "chipmunk" recordings. The secret is to record the musicians at a normal tape speed, record the singers at a really slow tape speed, and then play the recording back at a normal tape speed. Plus, you have to sing really, really slowly, and over-eee-NUN-see-ate each word, just like the men who did the Chipmunks' singing.
They're very talented, very inventive, very entertaining, and very strange. They're
The Blue Man Group.
OSNews polled 8,000 users to determine what features new Linux users want. I agree with their recommendations, and hope that the major Linux developers do, too.
There's a new computer that costs only $206 (U.S.D) in bulk, and comes with a 400MHz processor, 64MB of RAM, 16MB of flash memory, a compact flash slot, an ethernet port. And it can run the latest Linux kernel. Those aren't very impressive stats until you see that it's the size of a pack of chewing gum.
According to PC World, "Microsoft today announced its Express Upgrade to Windows Vista program. It provides a coupon — if you buy a PC from a participating vendor from October 26, 2006 through March 15, 2007 — that will allow a buyer to upgrade a Windows XP PC to Windows Vista when it becomes available next year." Of course, Microsoft doesn't mention the Hidden Costs of the Vista Upgrade Coupon,
Weaning Off Windows Vista offers some good advice for why and how to avoid upgrading to Windows Vista.
Hypocrisy runs rampant in celebrity circles. Several months ago, I felt a little angry when I read that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was urging people to buy and drive more fuel-efficient cars. As you may recall, several years ago, Arnold single-handedly started the whole gas-guzzling Hummer craze when he very publicly convinced the U.S. military to let him buy and drive a Humvee — the military vehicle that later evolved into the civilian Hummer. Several weeks after the Governator urged everyone else to "turn green," he announced that he was finally going to give up his personal fleet of Hummers. Well, isn't that nice. I would've thought that he would've done that before he told everyone else to drive more fuel-efficient cars, but maybe that's just me. I wish more people were like the popular eco-friendly celebrities and politicians — driving highly efficient electric cars and flying all around in private jets to save the planet. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea.
Do you remember when Windows first came out? It was exciting. It was powerful. It was fun. And, for no extra charge, it even came with
a clock, Notepad, and Reversi!
My web sites are no longer hosted by Bright-Byte web hosting, and I no longer recommend Bright-Byte web hosting to anyone.
Here's why.
If you're seeing this message, then you are viewing ComputerBob.com on its new hosting provider's server. With less than 2 hours sleep the night before, yesterday turned out to be a 17-hour day of finding a new web hosting provider, moving this site to that new provider's server, solving several major technical problems, and making sure that everything on this site worked correctly. A couple of the problems turned out to have very simple, but very hard-to-figure-out solutions. After getting everything to work, I decided to delete a few of this site's features, for reasons that I'll explain later. Last night, I slept for 11 hours. Now I still feel tired, but at least I'm not so sleepy anymore. I hope to have time to share some of my fascinating recent adventures with you later tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Please excuse any missing images, broken links, weird page formatting, and other problems for the next few days. I had to make an emergency move of this entire web site to a different web host, so it may take a few days for me to get everything running again. I'll tell you more about it later.
I've said it before, but it bears repeating: I was very surprised and happy to receive friendly and helpful online support when I started seriously using Linux a few months ago, especially compared to the mostly unfriendly and unhelpful responses that I had received just a few years ago. Here's an article that agrees with my assessment of the current Linux support community.
Regular readers of this Journal know that I have a lot of negative feelings about Microsoft's new Windows Vista, for many, many reasons. Here's a new reason to add to the list. It appears that, if you want to write a review of Vista, you will at least have to check what Microsoft's web pages say about just what kind of Vista criticism Redmond is allowing at that moment in time. If that's true, it's really scary.
If you haven't been convinced by all of the recent headlines, here are even more reasons why you might want to avoid using Windows Vista, keep using Windows XP, or stop using Windows altogether.
If you've been waiting for Microsoft to ship Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), you're going to have to wait even longer. Microsoft has announced that XP SP3 won't be released until 2008. The slipped release date is reportely causing some veteran Windows users to suspect that the company will repeat what it did with Windows 2000 and cancel XP SP3.
It's an expensive problem that hits many computer users: Your new computer came with Windows installed, but it didn't come with a Windows installation CD. A couple of years later, your hard drive fails, or something else trashes your entire computer, and you have to buy another copy of Windows on a CD in order to reinstall Windows. You can avoid that problem if you
create a Windows CD from the Windows files that are already on your PC while it's working correctly. It's kind of a complicated process, but it'll be worth it if you ever need that CD.
I've had my own web sites for the past 9 years. Over the years, I've used many different web hosts, so I have a lot of experience in moving my sites from host to host. Even with all of that experience, I still learn a thing or two nearly every time I switch web hosts. For example, when I moved my sites away from Bright-Byte web hosting this past week, I ran into a few technical problems that turned out to have simple causes, but still took me several hours to figure out:
Instead of manually coding the meta information, header, navigation column, and footer into each of this site's web pages, I created a few separate files that contain those page elements, and then I use several "PHP Includes" on each of this site's web pages. Each "include" is one line of PHP code that tells the server to go and get a different file (i.e., header, footer, etc.) and insert it into that web page. By doing that, I can completely change all of this site's headers, footers, etc. by simply changing those few "included" files. When I moved my sites this past week, I used my Quanta Plus HTML editor to do a search-and-replace on all of this site's hundreds of pages, to change the path (address) of each of those "included" files to the correct path on the new web host's server. The problem was that, after I re-uploaded those hundreds of changed pages to the new server, the paths of the included files didn't change in the pages — they were still the same old paths, pointing to the old web host's server. That prevented all of the includes (header, footer, etc.) from appearing in this site's pages. As a part of my troubleshooting process, I used KFTPGrabber (FTP software) to manually upload a few individual web pages. When I did that, the paths to those pages' PHP Include files changed to the correct paths, and those pages displayed correctly. So, why didn't the hundreds of pages that I had manually changed and then re-uploaded in Quanta Plus have the correct paths in them?
This site used 4 different mySQL databases — one each for its Forums, User Ratings page, Search page, and Guestbook. I backed up each database from the old web host, and then my new web host restored them for me on its server. I carefully edited each application's config file, to make sure that they were looking for the databases in the right place, and with the correct database names, database usernames, and passwords. Yet, all 4 of this site's database-using applications complained that their database username/password combinations were incorrect. Even after I double- and triple-checked everything, I kept getting those same error messages, and this site's Forums, User Ratings page, Search page, or Guestbook refused to work.
Do you have any idea what could have caused those problems? What would you have done to try to solve them? It turns out that both problems were "nobody's fault," but were issues that could affect anyone who moves their web site from one web host to another. Tomorrow, I'll tell you what caused the problems, and what I did to fix them.
Yesterday, I described two web hosting problems that I had encountered when I moved my web sites to a new web host last week. Here's what caused those problems, and what I did to solve them:
Generally speaking, when you use a paid web host to host your web site, they provide you with with some sort of online control panel, to administer your site(s). By logging into your control panel, you can configure email addresses, set up databases, manage your site's files, install specific pieces of software, and peform several other tasks. For the past several years, I had used web hosts that provided the CPanel brand of control panel. When your site is hosted by a CPanel web host, you have to upload your site's files into a folder called "public_html" in order for them to display to the public.
When I switched web hosts last week, I knew that my new web host used the H-Sphere brand of control panel instead of CPanel. H-Sphere doesn't use a "public_html" folder, so, in my KFTPGrabber FTP software, I had removed the configuration line that told it to save this site's files into that folder. What I didn't realize at the time, probably because I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep, was that I had not removed that same configuration line from deep in the bowels of my Quanta Plus HTML editor. So, when I used Quanta Plus to correct the "PHP Include" paths in each of my web pages, and then re-upload them all to the new web host's server, it wanted to save them in a folder called "public_html" on that server. Since the new host's H-Sphere control panel doesn't have a "public_html" folder, Quanta Plus created one, and then it put all of my edited web pages into that folder. That resulted in there being 2 copies of this entire site on the new web host's server. One copy was in the correct folder, where my new web host had copied it from my old web host's server. This site's visitors could view that copy, but it looked awful because its web pages still contained the paths to the "PHP Include" files on my old web host's server. The other copy of this entire web site had the correct paths to all of the "PHP Include" files in each web page, but this site's visitors couldn't view any of those pages because Quanta Plus had put them in the "public_html" folder. It was a frustratingly perfect example of the old saying, "Computers don't do what you want them to do — they do what you tell them to do."
I finally discovered all of that by using KFTPGrabber FTP software to study my entire web hosting account's file and folder structure on the new web host's server. That's when I noticed that, along with a folder for each of my web sites, there was also a "public_html" folder that contained all of the web pages that I had edited and re-uploaded in Quanta Plus. I knew that the few web pages that I had manually uploaded in KFTPGrabber as a test had gone to the correct folder, so my discovery of the "public_html" folder confirmed that the problem had to be in Quanta Plus's configuration. I dug around in Quanta Plus until I found the "public_html" configuration line, which I deleted, so from now on, my uploaded web pages will go to the right place. Then I needed to somehow get all of the web pages that were in the "public_html" folder, into the correct folder, where this site's visitors could view them. Unfortunately, KFTPGrabber wouldn't let me do that. I ended up deleting the entire "public_html" folder, then re-uploading my entire site again, letting it overwrite the old files that were in the correct folder. Once I did that, all of this site's pages displayed correctly, with their "PHP Included" headers, footers, and navigation columns.
When I created this site's 4 databases on my previous web host's server, I set them up with really, really long passwords, to make it more difficult for anyone to break into them. As I described yesterday, when I moved those databases to my new web host, the 4 applications that used those databases all complained that my database username/password were incorrect, despite the fact that I had configured each of those applications to use the exact same usernames and passwords that they had used on the old web host's servers. I spent hours trying to solve that problem until I finally decided to leave it alone for awhile and work on something else instead. While setting up my email account, I started entering the really, really long password that I had always used for it, but the new web host's control panel kept telling me that my password was too long. I shortened it, one character at a time, until the control panel would accept it. That's when it dawned on me — if my new web host's H-Sphere control panel couldn't handle really, really long email passwords, maybe it couldn't handle really, really long database passwords either. I went back to my 4 database-using applications and reconfigured each of them to use only the first xx characters of their original, really, really long passwords. That solved the problem — all 4 applications immediately saw their databases and worked correctly.
When I taught college courses, this site's Forums were a very powerful teaching and communication tool for my students and hundreds of other computer users all around the world. Over the years, my Forums grew to have hundreds of registered users and thousands of messages. But in the past couple of years, the activity in my Forums declined, and though I occassionally still used them to help registered Forum members with their computer problems, most of the new Forum registrations in the past several months were from spammers. Similarly, this site's User Ratings page served its purpose well for a few years, with thousands of visitors making hundreds of recommendations. Unfortunately, it had grown past its prime, and most of its new submissions were from spammers. And no one had signed my Guestbook for several weeks, other than a few spammers whose messages I had deleted. I'm very happy that this site's visitors used my Free E-Cards page to send nearly 7,000 electronic greeting cards over the past 6 years. Unfortunately, the recent weekly reports that I received from the Ecard company who provided that service indicated that a couple of hundred cards were being sent out at a time, but only a couple of them were ever opened by the recipients. That told me that spammers had probably figured out how to exploit some vulnerability in the Ecard system to send out spam messages "from me."
With all of that in mind, and after I spent several hours getting them to work on my new web host's server, I decided to shut down this site's Forums, User Ratings, Guestbook, and Free E-Cards sections. Of course, I'll be happy to start any of them up back up again in the future, if they meet my security standards, and if I see a need for them.
Whether you're 6 or 60, this funny animation will teach you how to Keep Your Parents Off the Net.
If you've ever worked a tech support help-line, you know that there's some truth in Wes Borg's performance of Welcome To The Internet Help Desk.
He knows a lot about computers, but you hate to call him for help, because he makes you feel stupid. He's
Nick Burns — Your Company's Computer Guy.