If I have a device that is labeled as needing 12v 250ma and I have a power supply that outputs 12v 1200ma am I putting my device at risk?
I seem to recall someone once telling me the milliamps don’t really matter but that doesn’t feel right.
Category: Technology
All things geeky.
Bizarre FTP problem
One of my clients changed their ftp server to use active mode instead of passive mode. Using SmartFTP, WinSCP, the DOS prompt, and Filezilla all fail to get a directory listing off the server. They each appear to connect but then die. One gives an error message of "Failed to retrieve directory listing" and "An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine." I initially thought Comcast was blocking a necessary port but I can FTP fine to other servers both secure and non-securely.
I can however, connect to the client’s server from one of my shell accounts on a server where I do some hosting. So my work around to this problem is to ftp files to and from the client’s server with the shell and then to and from my local machine with the shell. So the shell account is acting like a middle man. What a pain!
Cable Modem message
Anyone seen this one before?
5-Warning B605.10 Map Reject – Downstream Traffic Flow Not Mapped to BPI+ SAID (EC=8)
Anyone need a Seesmic invite?
I don’t like comparing Seesmic to Twitter because they are vastly different. However, everyone’s first response to Seesmic is "This is Twitter with video!" It is a valid metaphor. Once into Seesmic though you will see that is a time-shifted conversation. Do not time to keep up with the public timeline! It is not synchronous so Seesmic is NOT video chatting. It is asynchronous. While you are watching someone’s video response a few other people may be making responses. While you are watching those responses the actual timeline slips further into the future while you remain in the past to participate in the conversation of your choice.
I have compared Seesmic to being in a party. You hear the noise of all the conversations. Your mind can half-heartedly follow a few of the conversations. And you can commit yourself to one or two. If you step out of the party The Conversation continues and when you return you just step in at that moment. You don’t ask people to rewind or go watch the security tapes to try to catch up. You simply rejoin The Conversation. Same with Seesmic.
Warning! Seesmic is addictive! There are no timezones because Seesmic is on World Time. It never shuts down. You will get to know people from countries all over the world.
If you think you are ready for Seesmic, drop me a comment, emailjuggler@gmail.com, or Twitter me. I have a few invites. First come, first serve. Of course, bribes, links, and contributions to my Vasectomy Campaign (see also) are appreciated!
Blogfest Tonight
Are you going to blogfest tonight? If my coughing is under control, I’ll be there giving away a Seesmic invite and a wireless router.
Blogfest.
This Friday.
6:30PM
Baileys in West Knoxville.
[Source, Shots Across The Bow]
I’ve got a golden ticket…I’ve got a golden…
So, as I understand it, there are roughly 15,000 people waiting to get into Seesmic. I think there are 3-4000 people on the system right now. Seesmic is a pre-alpha web application that is addictive as all get out! Pre-alpha means we are the test data and should not expect the system to work great; things will be broken! For someone who has not experienced Seesmic, the first description is often "Twitter, with video" but it is so much more! So, do you want to be in The Conversation?
I was sitting on a Seesmic invite because my schedule was so busy and I wanted to do something terribly creative to give it out. You know.. a contest or something. I originally thought I’d give it to a friend or family member but frankly I couldn’t figure out who the video junkies are.
I’ll put it out here. How should I decide who gets this Seesmic invite?
Twitter Jackpot
Using Twitter is sort of like playing a slot machine.
Will I get the bird?
Will I get the bird?!
Will I get the bird?!!
Yes! They gave me the bird!
Shouldn’t it be us giving Twitter the bird when their servers have issues?
What was your first robot experience?
I tinkered with many gadgets as a child but it was in high school when I was allowed to skip out of my English class (1985-86) to sneak off to the advanced shop class that I was really bowled over. See, the shop class had a Hero. I had the privilege of participating in its construction and it left a lasting impression on me. Although I have never pursued robotics, the desire to get into robotics has remained in the back of my mind.
For 2008, Healthkit is reintroducing the Hero robot as HE-RObot! Our household so needs one of these! Noah has expressed interest in robotics and I think this is a golden opportunity to get him focused on a subject that could have him involved with the community (we have a club in town that competes at Lego Mindstorm designs), draw his attention in high school, focus him in college, and even possibly set him on a career path (provided he stays away from the iPix founders).
I also think this household needs a Lego Mindstorm and an iRobot Create. Yes, we have a hackable Roomba but the iRobot Create is intended for experimentation while our Roomba is intended for cleaning. We also need an iRobot ConnectIR (although I have a hard time looking at it and not thinking "the ultimate upskirt machine!" Who puts a camera on wheels at floor level?!)
The only problem with my desire to make 2008 the year of the robot for our house is that Evan is scared silly of anything electronic that moves on its own. He doesn’t like his own remote control car nor does he like the boys remote control cars. They elicit squeals. He is fascinated with the Roomba but the minute it turns on he can break into tears. This boy is going to have to adapt! Challenge one: Make robotics fun for the two year old…
Thanks to Tom Maszerowski for posting about the HE-RObot.
Why do people web?
Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang posted The Three Web Activities: Task, Project, and Business Programs which I agree from the web management perspective. I think when building websites it is important to consider the 3 reasons users come to a website. My response to Jeremiah Owyang:
I agree with your breakdown from a web management perspective. The IT guy, the techie, the web programmer should be very focused on The Task, The Project, and The Business Program. With[out] those, the website fails to function.
I have a list of 3 which is about that function. My list is derived from the end user experience rather than the web management side. I address this list with my clients when they are trying to make decisions about their webite:
1. Information
2. Utility
3. EntertainmentThat order is important.
People go to the web first for information (e.g. I want to call company X and need their phone number). I am astounded at the number of business[es] that make it difficult to contact them.
People go to the web secondly for utility (e.g. “I want to make travel arrangements” or “I need to do some online banking/bill paying”)
People go to the web thirdly for entertainment (e.g. “going to watch the television show I missed last night,” “watch some youtube,” or “play some games”).
I find businesses mistakenly want to build backwards thinking that if they first build something entertaining that will draw their audience in. Then they can provide utility (often associated with profit). And lastly, if they ever get around to it, information.
People will argue that entertainment should be first in the list but that is a delusion. We may spend more time on entertainment but most people go to the web for information first.
“Social media” is changing the equation slightly. Services like Twitter provide information, utility and entertainment in one fell swoop.
Links referenced:
Are you in The Converation?
Put @RedCross in your Twitter
Why Twitter? Because Santa Listens!
"I don’t get Twitter." That is said so often it should be put on t-shirts and bumper stickers. I have used the Red Cross as an example of a good use of Twitter. Now I get to point to Santa Claus! Santa Twittered his flight this year. It was phenomenal. He frequently reported his location and the amazing thing was that he responded to people! He has hundreds following him and he was following many of them in return. As busy as the night kept him, he still managed to find time to give personal responses to many people! I quipped that Valium or Vicodin would help with the holidays.
djuggler Dear Santa, Instead of candy this year, can we please have Valium and Vicodin in our stockings? Thx. “Oh stress levels are frightful..lala” 11:12 AM December 19, 2007 from web
Santa replied in a private message directly to me:
SantaClaus Tsk! Tsk! Santa can not deliver illegal items. What would itlook like to have Santa busted on his rounds? 09:08 AM December 19, 2007
I mentioned putting food on the lawn.
djuggler There is now more magic reindeer food on my lawn than I have grass! @SantaClaus and crew should be very pleased. And glittery. about 2 hours ago from web
And almost at the same time Santa posted (which could have just been a coincidence):
Thank you one and all for the wonderful treats you have left for the reindeer and me. It has really helped us to keep up our energy on … … about 2 hours ago from Snitter
His Twittering was informative, fun, personal, and a joy to watch. I only wish the children were using Twitter. Hmm. I suppose I could have threatened to text Santa if they were bad. Bet he would have responded too!
DivX Pro Holiday Edition
For a limited time, you can freely get DivX Pro. Thanks for the holiday gift!
What is a podcast?
For the longest time I have wanted to get into podcasting. I have good excuses like my computer equipment is pathetically out of date, my hard drives are too small (size does matter!) and filling up, and time is a commodity (video and audio take time!). But really, the geek in me has held me back the most. I understand the definition of podcasting:
A podcast is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. [Wikipedia]
That was not satisfying enough for me. I did not want to "podcast" until I could be certain that I was using the word correctly! Did quality of video matter? Length? What if my RSS stream occasionally had text only posts? Does Seesmic count? What about Youtube? Or Utterz?
Tonight I posed the question on Seesmic and had the pleasure of having the CTO and creator of http://podcast.com/ give the definitively best answer to the question. I really appreciated Kosso‘s answer! It nailed it for me.
(Someone should put that video in Wikipedia under podcast)
Update: David Jacobs of The Connected World gave a great answer from a coffee shop! Watch David Jacobs reply on Seesmic!
Are you in The Conversation?
"Social media" is the latest buzz word. What social media is really trying to describe is The Conversation(patent pending). I explain to prospective clients that people came to the Internet for these reasons and in this order:
- Information
- Utility
- Entertainment
When building a website it is important to consider this order of precedence. Most people mistakenly want to build their website or web application in the reverse order providing entertainment then utility then information.
The Internet is a reflection of the real world.
–Doug McCaughan
Yes, I just quoted myself because I cannot emphasize it enough. As I have come to play around with Seesmic, I’ve tried to answer the question of "what is it?" Answers have included "Twitter with video" or "Beyond description" and simply "addictive." But none of those really describe it. This comes closer:
[Seesmic] makes all the other Internet addictions look like over the counter crap.
–Doug McCaughan
To use some analogies, Twitter is like being in a classroom or a meeting and passing notes around without speaking with the ability for others in the classroom to request to see your notes (unless you’ve deemed them private). Utterz is like a party with the lights out. You can hear conversations and participate in conversations but you cannot see anyone. [update: Since first making this post I have begun to compare Utterz to CB radio][Update 8/20/2008: Since first making this post, Utterz has added many features including video. Its UI (UX to the MS heads) has improved dramatically. Utterz added or retained features of linking picture and text posts to separately recorded audio posts. Utterz has grown into a powerful and robust system.] Seesmic is that same party with the lights on. You can see and hear everyone. You can following multiple conversations, or participate in the conversations, or just wander around and hear the ambient noise.
Businesses and people alike need to know that Social Media has combined the 3 important elements of the Internet (information, utility, and entertainment) into a single application. With social media I can post a question and get a response quickly (information). I can interact, for instance, with Twitter I can add myself to the RedCross safeandwell database (utility). And naturally I can be entertained through any of the mediums, Seesmic being the example that says "we don’t need Hollywood!" (entertainment).
Are you in The Conversation?
Read also Some Conversations have shifted to Twitter and Web Strategy: What the Web Strategist should know about Twitter.
Update: Watch Eric Rice in a video response to Susan Mernit’s blog post Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn: It’s the conversationsphere, baby. Eric and I had the same initial thoughts about Twitter which you can read in his post Soylent Twitter: Playing the @spin Expansion Pack (pt 1). He follows that up with a post about styles Soylent Twitter (part 2): Playing the @spin Expansion Pack and then explains Why [he’s] unfollowing you on Twitter. Watch this video to see how Eric Rice uses social networks:
Update: If you are addicted to social networks, you might consider checking into INVITATIONS Social Networking Rehab.
What’s wrong Dave?
Never a good sign when you boot your computer and get this:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
Tilt Shift Photography
I’ve been wanting to try out some tilt shift photography which is the art of using a tilted lens to blur the foreground and background giving the real picture the impression that it is actually a scale model. Unfortunately, building a tilted lens for Cathy’s camera is very low on my list of priorities. Luckily, I learned you can simulate the effect in photoshop! Pictured above is my first attempt. That’s Tommy on the STAR float in the Lenoir City Christmas parade.
