Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Hacker Obtains Google Certificate

This is a scary one. The criminals were able to get hold of a digital certificate good on all Google sites. This would allow them to get hold of your username & password. The certificate was issued by DigiNotar a Dutch company that was aquired by a Chicago based company.

Comodo has claimed that the hack came from the Iranian government, but now a single Iranian hacker is claiming responsibility. Right, just like the Chinese hacks on Google were from individuals in a heavily regulated dictatorship. Not buying it.

Not only was Google hacked, but also MS' Hotmail, Skype & Yahoo Mail. Despite the hackers claim, it is clear the the government was trying to get activists, so they could get info on anti-government attacks.

Now how do you protect yourself? Instead of waiting for Mozilla to release a security update, here is the way to do it. In Firefox click on options, advanced, encryption & then click "view certificates". Scroll down to DigiNotar Root CA, select then click "Delete or Distrust". There you go, done. I have already done this. No I'm not an Iranian activist, but I also don't need my info out there in the hands of any hacker, whether it's an individual or an evil dictatorship.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Double Amputee Qualifies For 400 Meter Semi's

There is no greater example of what technology can do than Oscar Pistorius of South Africa. He has qualified for the semi finals of the 400 meters at the track & Field World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

He was born without a fibula in both legs, which were amputated when he was still a child. Now he has been criticized as having an advantage, but as he says, if that were true other paralympic athlete would been running times like he does.

Does this mean look for amputees in other events like swimming? I don't think so. I think he is a special case. He is also probably not going to win against world class able bodied athletes. That's not the point. What he proves is that as time goes on, people like him will be able to live better lives despite their special difficulties because of technology.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Versus Network Fails Technology

This week the Versus channel (owned by Comcast-will change name to NBC Sports in Jan) is covering the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado. Why they came up with this name instead of just calling it the Tour of Colorado is beyond me. Anyway it is a 7 day race featuring most of the top finishers in the Tour de France.

Today was a disaster. not the race, the coverage. Halfway through the live coverage they suddenly lost the picture. For two days I have been watching this & wondering why the picture keeps freezing up. never does this in France, even when it's raining, which it wasn't doing today.

I tried to stay with it. but after a half an hour of no live shots I gave up. The announcers, who BTW are the same announcers who broadcast the Tour de France & have for over 10 years, were making every possible excuse. The weather (clear skies), the mountains (never lose the picture in France, even over the Galibier or Alpe D'Huez), or my favorite "it's too high".

Really? With all this modern technology, you can't broadcast because of the altitude? Worst excuse I have ever heard. More likely, Versus & it's owners Comcast/NBC, or whatever they're calling themselves went on the cheap. France is covered by the french broadcaster with Versus simply picking up the feed, like Speed Channel does with Formula One. I'm guessing the equipment used is not of the highest quality & therefore more unable to deal with weather or geographic issues.

It is disappointing since I wanted to watch this because most of the top finishers from France were in this race. I hope this isn't a preview of how this channel will be used in the future. Viewers expect these channels to be up to date on the latest technology & not have to make excuses like "we have no pictures because it's too high an altitude". No one will believe that anyway.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Software Company Not Smarter Than 12th Grader

A senior (now graduated) wrote an app so students could see all their grades at once. The way the district had done it, you could use a software system, but it took several clicks to view all the classes. So a senior wrote an iPhone app. Then it , surprise! got approved 7 was put on the Apple app store. Now 2300 students have downloaded the app. Heck his teachers wanted him to develop a version for them.

Here's the kicker. the reason for the app is that, as I said, the software program that district (which, no surprise, is in San Jose) uses, & 250 other districts around the country, didn't allow for easy access to all a students grades unless they did several clicks. The student & his father tried to get official approval from the company. Instead got the usual "copyright infringement" nonsense.

This is typical of large businesses & why it is entrepreneurs that are the future. The student is headed to Cal Poly & wants to put out an Android version. I mean, think of it: Apple approved the app, the teachers like it, but the districts & the company don't. The company needs to get with it. You are charging the district hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it was improved by a free app developed by a 17 year old. Oops.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Who Listens To Podcasts?

I watch or listen to 2 different podcasts every week. What that means is I listen to the same weekly podcast every week. It's called This Week in Tech. it is recorded live every Sunday afternoon. I never listen to it then, but I download it on iTunes every Monday & that's when I listen to it. The other podcast is from the same company, if you will. Tech News Today is a daily broadcast, recorded in the same studio but with different hosts & guests.

Both of these shows & the others recorded by this "network" are available 3 ways. Directly from Twittv.com (audio & video), iTunes or a day later on YouTube.

There are a lot of podcasts out there. Hundreds are available on iTunes & many simply on the original sites. I assume a lot are on YouTube. But they are not in the public consciousness. We hear about Twitter & Facebook, but not these shows despite their popularity. In both the US & the UK, 16% of the adult population have downloaded one, with almost half listening once a week, like me.

Adam Carolla's podcast has been downloaded 59 million times! I've only listened once (maybe I should try again), so podcasting is not going away. But it is interesting that there is little coverage of this medium. I guess it is just not sexy enough. It is basically a radio show, except that radio wouldn't have these on. the subject matter for the most part wouldn't engender enough publicity or listeners. My tech shows for instance are probably listened to in the thousands not the millions. The advertisers on the shows are tech related, but makes enough money that they just moved into a new million dollar studio. Someone is listening.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

HP Decision Doesn't Mean PC's Are Dead

The word out now is that HP's decision to dump their flop tablet means the PC is dead. Says who? Most people don't have iPads. Only 29 million have been sold. Microsoft has sold 400 million Windows 7 licenses. Where I work there might be several hundred computers running XP & 2000.

Yes, the economy is still in the dumper, but people aren't replacing PC's with tablets. They're just not that good. No keyboard or mouse, limited software. Are you going to do business related work on one? No. Is Office on the iPad. Nope. That's not what the device is for. All along it has been referred to as a "consumption device". That means you use it to surf, listen to music, read e-books & watch movies. Not productive work. You need a laptop or desktop for that. They just can do more & have the storage for it. My desktop has a 640 GB hard drive. No tablet even has a hard drive, just flash memory.

Windows has a 82% market share, if you count iPads as computers. That is not going to change any time soon.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Firefox's Numbering Speedup Ruins Real Player

I have had Real Player on my PC for months just so I could watch Al Jazeera online. recently I noticed I was having problems. The audio was fine but the video wouldn't load. i would have a scrambled signal. If I went on IE9 it worked fine. Why? Because IE runs Al Jazeera through Flash, while Firefox requires a Real Player plug-in.

So what's the problem? Since Firefox started this ridiculous numbering fiasco (FF6 really? C'mon even the getting started page that shows up when you update calls it FF4), the plug-in doesn't work. Maybe if the people working on the project realized how much they've broken the browser they might stop this insanity. An obsession with Chrome's numbering system doesn't bode well for the future of the formerly best browser available. Mind you, I still prefer it & haven't downloaded Chrome yet (never cared for it), but it's getting harder every day.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

TV's Attempt To Force Me To Buy HDTV

I have noticed over the last year, & especially the last 6 months the cable channels going to smaller & smaller fonts when listing info on the screen. Yes, it may look alright on a big screen, but on my 25", not so much. As a matter of fact, I can't read it, even if I stand in front of the screen.

Now maybe they want to argue that they have to do it for the plasma & LCD users, but despite the number of those units you see in the store, I would be surprised if the percentage of those type of sets in use was above 50%. I doubt that very much. My set is less than 6 years old & works fine. Why would I spend $600-2000 just so I could read scores better?

Someday I may do it, but in case you hadn't noticed, our economy isn't that good & if you want me to go out & spend money I don't need to, there better be a pretty good deal. Like a 42" plasma for a couple of hundred. And not a low end POS either.

The fact is most shows are fine on my 25". I don't need to see Jon Stewart of Dave Letterman on a huge screen. Or any news program. Football? Yeah, that would be nice. Hockey? Sure. Directv just added Universal Sports, so I'm watching Olympic sports. So again, that would be nice. But again, two grand just so I can read the scores of other events is not right. I suspect that most people are fine with the sets they have. And most of the stations that have gone to these unreadable fonts are, surprise! Sports channels. ESPN being the worst & most unreadable. I first noticed it during the French Open when I couldn't read the set/match scores because they were so small.

While I wish I was independently wealthy & could just go out & buy a massive set, I'm not going to do it just because ESPN is trying to force me to. If I was that well off, I would be attending a lot of games in person anyway, & I haven't been to a live sporting event in 4 or 5 years.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Google Buys Motorola Mobility

In an apparent slap at Apple & it's constant lawsuits over patents, Google has bought motorola's cell phone business. Hmmm. Think Steve Jobs saw this coming? Apple has been blatantly trying to sue Google out of mobile with lawsuits against Android & it's manufacturers like HTC.

Hypocritically, both Apple & Microsoft bought 6,000 patents from Nortel last month. It was an obvious attempt to control the business. Now Google fires back with this deal, which follows their purchase of 1000 IBM patents. Word to Apple: Google isn't a small timer, they will fight back. And oh, BTW: Motorola owns 17,000 patents. I wonder if Apple is infringing on a bunch of those?

This also comes on the heels of Nokia making a deal with Microsoft in an attempt to stem the collapse of it's phone business, although how many people actually want a phone using  Windows Phone 7 instead of Android is questionable. I expect Apple will respond to this news fairly soon.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

UK & SF Both Block Tech To Prevent Violence

First it was British PM David Cameron talking about disrupting cell phone use to prevent protestors from coordinating during the riots, & soon after we learned that BART police in San Francisco actually did disrupt cell coverage upon learning there was going to be a protest over a shooting.

No surprise that the Chinese government took issue with that, since our government criticizes them for censorship. Be careful when you try to talk out of both sides of your mouth.

The problem here is that while it sounds draconian & definitely not democratic, public safety is at risk. The riots in London were quite violent, with lots of buildings being torched. I'm sure the number of injured was very high. In San Francisco BART officials cut underground cell service for 3 hours to attempt to prevent a protest over the fatal shooting of a man by police (What is it about BART & people getting shot?). This has been answered by hackers attacking a BART site & listing the names of thousands of Bay Area residents using that site. Question hackers: are you threatening commuters, because if you are, you are no better than thugs & criminals.

Yes it is an uncomfortable position to be in, but protests & riots have caused it. How exactly did a police shooting in London lead to stealing TV's? One has nothing to do with the other. It's simply an excuse to get something without paying. As for BART, a spokesman now says the disruptions were legal because they own the property. You may disagree but your workplace could use the same argument. Now they are trying to prevent protests that will disrupt service Monday. Yes because preventing people from being able to get home from work will make them popular. Do these people have jobs?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Another Website Admits It Doesn't Like Firefox

It always amazes me the number of websites that don't optimize their sites so they can be viewed in Firefox. Verizon did it to me today. I attempted to go on their forums but was unable to. When I switched to IE-no problem. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Then I wrote an e-mail to them complaining about it, & the response was basically-tough. What is wrong with these people? You're running a tech site for wireless phones & you reject users of the #2 browser in the world? And you admit it?

Here's my response: 1. You should be ashamed, you are out of date.
                                 2. You should make things easy for the customer.
                                 3. Whoever made this decision should be fired.

I am completely serious. I have had this issue with other sites. Firefox has 25% share. Why should it have to fight to be supported by a major company? It also brings up the issue of other browsers. The response was it's for IE. You have to register to use the forums in Firefox, but not required in IE. What about Chrome, or is the fact that it's, Google mean you can use it? And what about Safari? Sorry Verizon, but Mac users can't use IE.

This backwards thinking should be gone. Why do we still have to fight?

Monday, August 8, 2011

iTunes Is Confused About Updates

I launched iTunes today & it asked if I wanted to download 10.4. Well I currently have 9.2 on my computer & have kept putting off downloading the new version because of horror stories I have read. Mainly that it either fails to download completely or it loses all your library.

So I finally say yes & instead of getting 10.4, all it wants to load is Mobile Me & a software update. WTF? I mean try to get your act together Apple. I don't need Mobile Me. Don't know what it is, & since I don't have an iPhone or actually any smartphone that would be useless to me. Why is so hard for companies to just update their software without any problems? Mozilla seems to do it. So does CCleaner.

Apple's problem is of course that iTunes updates involve downloading the entire program again, then deleting the old version. This is overkill & wastes time. Just update the program. Why do I need to re-download the entire program? I thought Apple was about doing things easily.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Grooveshark-Terrible Music Program

I see this godawful program being built up on Lifehacker by readers as better than Spotify. What a joke! I just tried to use it again & guess what? I tried three times to hear a certain song. I had clicked on the song, it downloaded it then refused to play it. no matter how many times I clicked it, it wouldn't play.

My suggestion is just to use YouTube. They have just as many videos & frankly they are easier to find. Once Spotify is public I might try it out, but Grooveshark is the Windows version of all the crap music programs on Linux. Unworkable, useless, aggravating, irritating.

Technology Mistakes Rewards Me With Snacks

You gotta love technology screw ups. Even little ones in devices we don't consider "real tech". Like vending machines. Yes there is actually technology involved. How does it know what candy bar you want? Well I hit the key pad numbers that relate to it, but it could still mess up. But it never does, at least as far as dropping what I wanted.

But it can still do things it shouldn't. So I am planning to buy some lottery tickets this week. Why? Because twice in the last month when I've put a dollar in the vending machine at work I've gotten 2 candy bars! I like that. Considering how much money I have spent on that machine in the last 2 years. A dollar a bar when they are 69 cents at the Dollar Tree.

Of course I've also seen the coffee vending machine start pouring out without first dropping a cup, but since that coffee is nasty & I bring my own it doesn't matter!LOL.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Silicon Valley Columnist Idiotically Gives Firefox Obit

It was absolutely amazing to read Chris O'Brien in the San Jose Mercury News claim that Firefox will soon die. Can there be a more misinformed column than that one? Correct me if I'm wrong, but when Internet Explorer goes from 90% share to 42% in 5 years, shouldn't it be that browser talked about going under?

The point of the article seems to be the rapid increase in market share for Google Chrome, a browser I'm not that crazy about. Plus the fact that Google account for 86% of Mozilla's revenue in 2009. Thus what would happen if Google stopped supporting Mozilla?

The writer seems to be saying (using quotes from an IDC analyst)  Mozilla is "groping for a rationale for it's existence". That is absurd. The point is to improve standards & create better browsers. It was never about killing all other browsers. Without Firefox Microsoft would never have improved IE to the point that it meets standards that previously only Firefox & Opera met.

Firefox won't be going away anytime soon. Neither will Internet Explorer. Having choice is a good thing.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Google+ Fastest To 25 Million

This information comes from Reuters right after another site said the number of new users was slowing down. So who to believe?

This actually means nothing. MySpace grew to 25 million faster than Facebook. Who uses MySpace nowadays? Interestingly while the US is the biggest market 2nd place is India, then the UK & Canada. So while it looks good, it actually means nothing. Google Buzz started strong, then when the controversy over privacy happened, it took a nosedive & never recovered.

Yes, 25 million is a lot, especially since it is still in invitation only phase. But so is Spotify, which doesn't seem to really be taking off. I'm not interested in registering there just to listen to songs. As for Google+, I am not on Facebook having deleted my account, so I am in no hurry to try out Google's version. Who really needs it?

Monday, August 1, 2011

Future Versions Of Firefox Look Like Chrome

Tech Crunch has an article with pictures showing a future version of Firefox. The search bar is gone, the tabs are rounded & there's a special menu that if you click turns into a sidebar with things like cut/copy/paste, plus new tab, tab groups(which didn't work for me because they always seemed to disappear)& other things like twitter & some extensions. I know I don't like that!

Why does Mozilla think they have to copy everything Google does? And if they think that then tell me why I should use the copy(Firefox) instead of the original(Chrome)?

Firefox has been around much longer than Chrome, has a higher market share, has more functionality(tons more add-ons) but they seemingly want to be Chrome. They have gone to a faster release cycle seemingly so they can catch up in version numbers. After all Chrome is on #13 despite being only a few years old, while FF is only on #5 & that's because they changed the system on numbering this year. Firefox 5 is really 4.1 or 4.2. Now they want to destroy the UI for Chromes ugly barebones look. I am not impressed.

I will stick with Firefox for now because I like the browser & all it's add-ons. Most of the ones I use are security ones like Adblock Plus & No Script. The Chrome versions are inferior. And because of the way Chrome is designed(each tab is a separate process), it uses more memory than Firefox.