Category: Technology

All things geeky.

Posted on by — 5 Comments

On Programmers – you are one or you aren’t

I started college as a computer science student. I switched to the college of engineering because I knew "electrical engineers make all the money." One of the professors (actually, I think he was a department head) tried to convince me to stay in computers or "at least take one more class" to which I declined and he said, "you’ll be back." True to his word I returned, battered and bruised with a diminished gpa, to the college of liberal arts to study computer science. I asked why out of 500 students he tried to encourage me in such a way. He simply said, "you have a knack for computers." That remains on of the biggest compliments I have received.

I read more frequently articles that reference programmers and non-programmers. I read one that documented my case claiming that early in an intro to computer science course you can separate which students will succeed as programmers and the ones that will never understand.

But the dirty little secret of the software development industry is that this is also true even for people who can program: there’s a vast divide between good developers and mediocre developers. A mediocre developer can program his or her heart out for four years, but that won’t magically transform them into a good developer. And the good developers always seem to have a natural knack for the stuff from the very beginning. [Source]

I don’t have the ego to say I am a great programmer but my work frequently has me altering code done by lesser programmers and, although the teacher in me wants to reach out to them, I have to wonder if they wouldn’t be better served by a career change.

Posted on by — 9 Comments

EZ Home Network Management – Use static IPs

I love technology and I want my children to know technology therefore they have Internet connected computers in their rooms (because I question the advice of the experts suggesting that computers in the bedrooms are bad ideas but that is for a different post). Tommy and Sarah use Windows XP due to their software needs but Noah uses Linux and although he could boot to Windows, he never does!

If you have more than one computer connected to the Internet through DSL or a cable company then you have a router that is probably assigning IP addresses to your computers by DHCP. First off, all our computers are named. If you didn’t name the computer yourself, it got a pseudo random name like CW123-Laurence1 when you installed your operating system. Now, you can change this name at anytime. For instance, our computers are based on famous artists and psychiatrists such as Monet, Freud, Dali and so forth. These names are absolutely meaningless to a computer. Computers like numbers! Your computer also gets an address assigned to it. This is your IP address which will look something like 10.0.0.23 or 192.168.1.111. DHCP randomly choose a number when your computer connects to the network (ie. is turned on). So your child might be 192.168.1.111 on Monday and on Tuesday that same computer could be 192.168.1.43.

Having randomly generate IP addresses is not really a big deal since the numbers are behind the scenes, right? I say no! One reason I am completely comfortable having computers in each of the children’s rooms is that I monitor them. I can look at the router’s log files or a sniffer and know exactly what traffic is crossing my network. I can also remotely disable their Internet connections without pulling wires or hampering other connections. I can do this because their IP addresses never change. I still have DHCP enabled so that if someone is visiting they can simply plug into the network. Each of our home computers have a static IP. Companies with static IPs keep charts to relate an IP to a user (Bob == 192.168.0.54) but I find that cumbersome for a household. My scheme? Birth year! If your child was born in 1992, then the IP address is 192.168.1.92. Got twins? Put the second one at 192.168.1.192 or make them share a computer.

Naturally this is a little pointless if you only have one or two computers in the house. In the coming years, I bet you surprised how many devices in your house start relying on an IP address. "Honey. Can you ping the toaster and see if my breakfast is ready yet?"

Posted on by — Leave a comment

And what’s the name of that soooong?

It goes la de da de da, la de da de da… Can’t remember? Just hum or sing at your monitor and Midomi will tell you. Seems to work ok.

midomi.com makes it fun and easy to find and discover music and people. For the first time, you can use your voice to instantly connect to your favorite music, and to a community of people that share your musical interests. Listen to voices, see pictures, rate singers, send messages, buy music, and more. [Source]

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Get with the times! Web 2.0 er no 3.0 keep going Web 4!

So, I offered that the masses of confused people still arguing over the controversial Web2.0 are falling behind because Web 3.0 is here! "Lynx is the official browser of the ICW3." makes it sound like a joke but Web 3.0 has its own Wikipedia page (which doesn’t lessen the joke potential).

Web 3 is the brainchild of Tim Berners-Lee, largely credited for inventing the world wide web in the first place. It’s more commonly called the Semantic Web. [Source]

Ok. Maybe Web 3.0 is real. Seth Godin has suggested Web 4!

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Encourage Telecommuting!

I said to mark my words.

I think in the next 10-15 years we will see a great trend in encouraging people to create home offices and work from their houses (at least part of the week). [Source]

Companies are already coming on board!

The [U.S. Patent and Trademark Office] has proposed a telecommuting program whereby its employees would be permitted to telecommute up to four days per week from an approved designated alternative work site–usually the employees’ homes. The agency believes that this program will improve work force recruitment and retention, reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the Washington, D.C., area, and deliver substantial cost savings. It expects to have 3,300 employees participating in this program by 2011. [Source]

They will reimburse high speed Internet connectivity 50-100%. To assure productivity is not sacrificed, the program will only be offered to employees that rated "fully successful" on their most recent performance review.

The location of an employee is not as important as the employee’s performance. Employee performance and productivity can be measured. So long as an employee is performing his or her job functions well from home, those functions should be supported. Internet access in this day and age is critical support, and the employer cost of reimbursing such access is nominal when compared with the cost of maintaining an employee in an office at the employer’s premises. [Source]

They note some of the same benefits I have said of telecommuting.

There are great conveniences for the employee who no longer has to travel to and from work. And there are societal benefits, such as reduced traffic, congestion and pollution. [Source]

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Ted Stevens was right!

It is a series of tubes!

Tubes creates personal private ‘spaces’ for your friends, family, colleagues, teams, communities or just yourself, across your various PCs and devices, empowering you to manage your digital life. With Tubes, you can now easily share and distribute your digital content with everyone you know – bi-directionally. [Source]

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Are you Web 2.0? Get with the times!

Have you followed the Web2.0 craze? (Don’t tell anyone but it’s just a buzzword..) Did Web2.0 overwhelm you? Still feel like maybe you aren’t sure what Web2.0 is? Get ahead of the game for the next round! Web3.0 is here!

Web 3.0? Still not sure what Web 2.0 is? In short, Web 3.0 is the opposite of Web 2.0. This web site is devoted to explaining what exactly Web 3.0 is and how it will ultimately change humanity. [Source]

Eh? Clear as mud?

Posted on by — 1 Comment

PETA Wins! The cows are free to go.

Looks like the future of our meat supply could be from labs not farms.

A single cell could theoretically produce enough meat to feed the world’s population for a year. [Source]

This could be a boon to the fast food industry if it meant cheaper meat! But don’t worry. We are at least a decade away before the protests of "that’s not right" come.

The technology to grow a juicy steak, however, is still a decade or so away. No one has yet figured out how to grow blood vessels within tissue. [Source]

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Think Globally

Our world is shrinking. Companies send IT jobs abroad but the tech industry also imports. I work with several companies abroad or in other states. I work with almost no local companies. I have to admit that it is a cool feeling to quote projects in foreign currencies. I only hope the US dollar doesn’t change too much between the beginning and end of the project!

Working remotely with so many different people has really shown me that there is a future in getting people away from corporate offices. I think in the next 10-15 years we will see a great trend in encouraging people to create home offices and work from their houses (at least part of the week). Customer service personnel, financial people, IT people, programmers and many other types of jobs could be done with short centralize meetings or even via video conferencing and desktop sharing. Office costs in furniture, heating/cooling, electricity, leasing and other infrastructure costs could be severely reduced. Transportation costs could be greatly reduced. Imagine if 50% of the work force suddenly quit driving 30-40 minutes each direction to work! I see it! I can imagine government tax cuts to encourage such a future!

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Tinfoil Hats – Don’t Use Your Phone!

Do you think the government listens to everything? This article on AT&T’s secret room might get you thinking.

In a nondescript building near the junction of Interstates 70 and 270 in Bridgeton, Mo., just outside of St. Louis, lies what appears to be the heart of AT&T’s secret network surveillance on behalf of the U.S. government, former employees of the company said. [Source]

Update: Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician tells his story of the secret room.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Internet Is Great For Education

This year I have tried to make a better effort of going to the children’s school book’s publisher’s websites and make use of the online tools. They have quizes and tests and aides to enhance the learning. Homeschooler’s have absolutely embraced the web. I often find great sites like Presidents Secret History that make education fun for the children. Don’t forget, you can also rate your children’s teachers.

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Being Geek, I hit a computer hard. However, my computer remains my lifeline so although I demand much of and push it to the limits, there are certain risks I don’t take. One that I have neglected has been upgrading Windows XP to service pack 2. Today I take that chance and am installing the once dreaded, highly needed, SP2! Wish me luck.

Btw, the do as I say reference is to "keep your computer updated" advise that I tell most people.

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Why should I use your broken music?

It’s that damn DRM. Yesterday Cathy’s computer gets this message:

Some of the items in the iTunes library, including "Rough Boy", were not copied to the iPod "Pavlov" because you are not authorized to play them on this computer.

Then it goes on to list a whole bunch of songs…basically anything she has ever purchased through iTunes. (Blingo has been good to her!) Oh, it also removed the tunes from the actual device. I am sure this has something to do with Sarah or Tommy plugging their iPods into Mom’s computer. How do families with multiple iPods but only one computer get their music?

DRM sucks. Even Bill Gates says DRM stinks. (see also)

[Biill Gate’s] short term advice: "People should just buy a cd and rip it. You are legal then." [Source]

So, my next step will be a long, arduous customer service fight with Apple (oh the bad karma and wasted time!). Simultaneously I suppose I will research how to cripple DRM since, frankly, Cathy is being hassled for legitimately buying music and that doesn’t fly with me.

Update: Some resources that look like they will be helpful. Mark’s(we)blog and one digital life (showing a backup procedure for your tunes).

Update: The solution was actually pretty simple. 1) Logged out of Sarah’s iTunes login. 2) Logged into Cathy’s iTunes login. 3) Under the iTunes->Store menu choose "Authorize this computer." Done.

Posted on by — 4 Comments

Pretty, Ugly, Layout

To the non feed readers, I threw up a new theme. Looks nice in FF. I haven’t checked in IE anything but James has reported that it looks terrible in IE 7. I’ll have to fix it later.

In other news, WordPress 2.0.6 was just released and claims to be the last batch of security fixes before WordPress 2.1.

Update: Regulus2.0 seems to hold fairly well in FF1.5, FF2.x, IE 6, and IE5.5. So far the only big difference I have seen is that the two columns on the right degrade to a single column in the IEs. IE7 still unchecked.