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May 17, 2012

Category: Computers

September 14, 2009

Case of the Mondays Cure – Scribbles, Studies, and Swine Flu

by Frank — Categories: Computers, Gaming — Tags: — 2 Comments
Poor cat :(
Image by talia.drechsler via Flickr

Ah yes – summer is drawing ever so closer to a close, the weather is pleasant but in the process of cooling, and you’ve got to go to work and/or school. How dare real life intervene! Well, at least you’re not sick on this Monday morning like I am.

Still, if I can keep my chin up on a Monday, so can you. Here’s some things that’ll uplift you at the beginning of the week:

Scribblenauts Has Tons Of Words For You (via Destructoid): I fully plan on writing a post just on Scribblenauts in the near future. The game itself, which involves using words to create objects to pass its various obstacles, is the sleeper darling of E3 and will probably sell tons of copies. For now, check out the word list, and be sure to watch for this for your DS.

New Study Finds Youth Violence Not Linked to Video Games/Media (via Gamepolitics): This morning there’s a brand new study out that seems to refute previous studies linking games and geek media to violence. Instead, the main drivers of this are depression and the youth’s peers. Sure, this seems terribly obvious, but it’s nice to see academia behind us on this.

The Pirate Bay Will Sink, But New Era On Horizon (via TorrentFreak): Now, Overly Positive would never actually endorse you to get your stuff without paying for it, but The Pirate Bay has no doubt been a historical marker in the evolution of file-sharing, moralities aside. The Pirate Bay’s future is uncertain, but just as with the demise of Napster’s free download model years ago, a successor, according to the insider in the article, is on the horizon.

PAX Hits 60k Mark (via The Escapist): I totally missed PAX this year, but maybe a trip next year could be a possibility. There were 60 large at the convention this year, though confirmations of swine flu at the convention sort of dampened spirits just a touch. Still, it’s pretty insane how the show has grown, and as a former convention organizer, the logistics must be ridiculous.

And that’s that for your Monday dosage of sunshine! Now, back to bed for me.

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September 8, 2009

Back To School Tech Tools

by Frank — Categories: Computers — Tags: , , , — 4 Comments
TI-30 TI-82 y HP49G
Image by kirainet via Flickr

By now, many of my friends and those of you who have kids or know students have returned to the Back to School grind. With summer nearing its end, and beaches and grills giving way to schoolbooks and classrooms, students drag themselves off to yet another set of classes on the road to bright futures as part of the working force. Sure, it might seem like it sucks to be sitting in class instead of out taking in the sun, going out with friends, or otherwise relaxing, but hey – you should see what it’s like not to have summer vacation, right? Count your blessings, students!

Anyway, the really cool part about being a student these days is the veritable technology toolbox that they have at their disposal. I’m really going to be revealing just how old I am (I can still go, by the way, I just need a nap first), but “back in my day”, the Internet was at its genesis. Google was just a simplistic search engine and a twinkle in the eyes of its creators. Wikipedia didn’t even exist as a resource. Collaborative efforts through online classes and activities were crude and primitive at best, limited to a couple of “hyperlinked” webpages meant to show that yes, professors could keep up with technology as much as they could their books.

Nowadays, professors have had to adjust to make writing papers more of a challenge than just looking up a few things on the Internet and slapping something together. Classes can take the form of online chatrooms, streaming live media of lectures, and community blogs where students can edit, discuss, and work on content together, sometimes in real-time. Technology in the actual classroom has become more prevalent, with laptops making more of an appearance as a supplement or even replacement to notebooks. And technology-related classes have turned from an interesting perk to being an essential part of one’s career in that chosen field.

Some crazy luddite-types out there would decry the advancement into technology in the academic and educational world, saying that resources like Wikipedia and the Internet at large cheapen the learning process, turning out dumber students overall. I say, not so much. To use the technology tools out there is actually an enhancement to a student’s career, not a detriment, and computer skills in general are becoming more and more of a necessity in today’s fast-paced, Twitter-fueled need for real-time updates. Academia, like everything else, should be adaptable and malleable, able to adjust to the new information age and the Internet as a medium for delivery for – well, just about anything. The long and short of it is, the Internet isn’t going anywhere, and the technology tools that it delivers are more of a benefit to students.

Frankly, I wish I was still a student. There are these crazy things called “responsibility” and “bills” and the ever-looming “mortgage”, and were I to have access to the technology that students have today, I’d have had a much more fulfilling experience in school than I did. But I suppose being independent, successful, and cutting a paycheck for myself does have its benefits.

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August 21, 2009

Geek Coverage Post-Mortem

by Frank — Categories: Computers, Internet, Social Geekery — Tags: , — Leave a comment
dead xbox
Image by Jaysun via Flickr

So with most of us geeks getting more dependent on our digital tools, toys, and other endeavors, it seems to me that should the unthinkable happen, our loved ones, especially the non-geeky ones, would be terribly unprepared to deal with the legacy of our tech. Being perma-dead with no hope of respawn is an inevitable happening in all of our lives, but certainly, with the amount of online presence geeks create, there’s more cleaning to be done besides just through our closets.

Time magazine has an interesting article about managing online stuff when you’re dead. Sure, we wouldn’t necessarily have to worry about the fact that our Facebook or Twitter status isn’t updated to say “[Your Name] has died.”, but what about your mourning loved ones? Certainly, if you know anyone that is digitally inclined they might be able to do some things, but what about the thought of your non-geeky, depressed parents trying to figure out how your Flickr account works? That’s not something you want to burden them with, right? Being dead is bad enough.

Apparently, certain sites have taken to at least keeping accounts active. According to the article, Facebook will keep accounts open, and so will Flickr, mostly for the ability for friends to leave memorials. Yahoo mail will retain most mail accounts, and blog sites like Livejournal will leave posts up for posterity.

Surprisingly enough, you won’t have to worry so much that your loved ones will find out about your sordid past as, say, a professional fur-suit wearer either. Most privacy policies for these services last beyond the life of the user who signs them, and while requests can be made, companies are quick to shield its users, even in death, from being unduly exposed to having their most intimate details released.

There are even services cropping up in anticipation of your sudden and unfortunate demise. Companies like Legacy Locker and Deathswitch can keep digital passwords and authentication data in the event of your loss of life, along with instructions to selected loved ones on what to do. It’ll even keep track of you being alive by sending you periodic emails to you for a response – and if none is sent in an extended time period, your instructions will be sent automatically and electronically to those you choose. That’s advancement for you.

Sure, death is such a morbid topic that you wouldn’t expect to be brought up on a blog like this one. Still, it’s worth bringing up because of the heartening fact that post-mortem services are keeping up with the digital age. At least if you do go, the internet has got your back, even in the afterlife. That’s definitely cool.

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August 9, 2009

The New OS Hotness

by Frank — Categories: Computers — Tags: , — 2 Comments
windows 7 in VirtualBox on windows xp
Image by nick see via Flickr

So yesterday my usual multiple updates to the blog were interrupted by a desire to be adventurous and spend the last day of my wisdom tooth extraction recovery wiping and re-installing my main machine. Geeks will typically get the itch to do this every few months or so. The wiping and re-installing of a box is somewhat of a religious obligation of sorts, with old cached and forgotten files and downloads being shuffled off in favor of a brand new clean slate. Trust me- if you used the internet as much as we did, you’d definitely agree with me.

But I decided to do a double whammy and not just clean off my system, but put a new coat of paint on it as well. There’ve been a lot of comparisons of Windows Vista to Windows 7 being like Windows Me to Windows XP, and with the final version before publishing recently released, I had to  see what all the insanity was about. Released a mere couple of years after Vista, Windows 7 hits stores and machines this fall and promises greater stability and fixes, along with a sleek look and feel that looks decidedly more current.

I do have to say, that even though my machine does chug along sometimes (especially on startup) that so far, I am liking Windows 7, especially since my TechNet subscription gives me a peek at any of the new versions that are slated to come out. The installation was easy and straightforward, the configuration doesn’t seem so cryptic to non-tech users, and improvements in the Aero desktop suite mean that taskbar previews and neat things like seeing behind to the desktop at a glance look good and work well. Moving to the 64-bit architecture didn’t hurt either, so now my machine can take full advantage of the 4 GB of RAM I’ve got going inside of it. While Vista gave me a bit of driver grief, Windows 7 was totally fine, except for a couple of minor updates to get the vendor’s latest drivers instead of the built-in Microsoft ones.  Most of my applications, even if they usually run in 32-bit environments, run just fine in Windows 7. Considering my space is at a premium with such a small hard drive, the fact that I don’t have to install anything extra or bloated is a godsend.

Sure, wiping your machine and installing a brand new OS may not be for the faint of heart. But trust me – it’s as liberating as a spring cleaning and just as fun – especially when there’s new hotness to try out. If you ever get the urge, don’t be afraid to take the plunge – just make sure you have the geek friends on hand just in case things don’t quite go your way.

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June 12, 2009

iPhone Love Incoming

by Frank — Categories: Computers — Tags: , — Leave a comment
iPhone 3GS MMS
Image by ArabCrunch via Flickr

So, despite the angst of many a recent iPhone purchaser, the iPhone 3Gs is coming out just after mid-June this year. Now sure, some of you who are feeling the current handcuffing of your 2 year contracts with AT&T might be a bit stiffed, but not to worry – I’m sure they might have some kind of consolation by roping you in with cool visual apps and trendy touch-screen goodness.

Anyway, the new hotness was revealed today at Apple‘s annual WWDC. and here are the highlights:

-Price drop for the iPhone 3G: With the new iPhone coming out, obviously not many people may be looking to be getting “old and busted” iPhone goodness. So that being said, Apple’s dropping the price of their current iPhone to $99 bucks. With the 3Gs at $199 and $299, it was only fair, right?

-Hardware Goodies: The iPhone’s new video download and camera capability is sure to be appealing to many a media lover. The iPhone already possesses a toolbox of applications and digitally-based practicality to users, and these will only enhance the iPhone’s already massive library of functionality.

-Multimedia Messaging: The one illogical thing that seemed to be missing from a peripheral that seemed to deliver everything from the digital age was the ability to send and receive multimedia. For a long time, iPhone users were puzzled and sometimes even ridiculed for not being able to do what a phone half the memory and price could do easily, but now, they can eat their words, because MMS is coming.

I’m not actually an iPhone user – I use a Blackberry, but I suppose I can be bothered to have confidence in my product enough to wish the iPhone well. Not to worry – I’m sure upgrades to allow the iPhone to make phone calls without dropping every second call due to bad cell towers are coming soon! Stay positive!

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March 22, 2009

Because Best Buy Loves You

by Frank — Categories: Computers — Leave a comment
Best Buy Co., Inc.
The new face of evil?
Image via Wikipedia

 Apparently there are some great shenanigans in the works over at Best Buy, now that Circuit City has gone to the great retail mall in the sky.

According to this little link from the Boy Genius Report, a class action lawsuit is being cobbled together in the state of New York because Best Buy has an internal policy to cock-block customers looking to get discounts due to a Price Match from competitors. A supposedly leaked internal memo talks about how to bamboozle the customers into disqualifying the price match by doing everything humanly possible to discredit it.

Oh, the unsavory things that come out in this interesting economical crisis. For all you geeks out there who live in New York, perhaps you might want to go to Best Buy, or talk to the lawyer putting this little deal together, and get in on the action. Who knows – you might get enough money to buy a Happy Meal at McDonald’s or something.

My few experiences with making large purchases at my local Best Buy have been interesting to say the least. I was promised, nay, guaranteed delivery of a flat screen TV I purchased. I gathered friends for the heavy lifting and setup, and on the night of the arrival, I found that the person should never have guaranteed me the TV at all, and that it wasn’t their policy to do so. Now, being the eternal optimist that I am, I simply asked for compensation in the form of an upgraded model for my TV by the same maker. Thirty-five minutes of haggling and a little persuasion in the form of making more trouble than a hurricane for their store later, I was driving home with a better TV than the one I was promised.

So be sure to check out this stuff, because hey, maybe that copy of Kirby for the DS that you wanted to buy “for your girlfriend or wife” you couldn’t price match might land you some bucks,

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August 7, 2008

Worst Case Geek Scenarios – How to Deal With a Non-Geek’s Unexpected Computer Problems

by Frank — Categories: Computers, Worst Case Geek Scenarios — Tags: — Leave a comment

Worst Case Geek ScenariosIndeed, it’s time for another installment of “Worse Case Geek Scenarios”, OP’s helpful guide to all the emergency geek situations you find yourself in. Today, we look at that unexpected problem you get to fix for your non-geek friends – since I’m sure you’re not a total shut-in or antisocial, you must have them, right?

How to Deal With a Non-Geek’s Unexpected Computer Problems

Deflect the Inquiry: Make an attempt to get out of the situation. Suddenly look at your watch as your friend puts forth the question, usually starting with “by the way, while you’re here….”. Begin speaking in tech language meant to confuse your friend, prefaced by the phrase “I’d love to, but…”, such as “I’d love to, but I have to fix the water cooler on my motherboard since the power supply is totally not suitable for my Intel Dual Core Processor with 4 GB of RAM, god I hate those BIOS problems with the IRQs”. Do not make eye contact of any kind, especially if the friend is an attractive member of the sex of your preference. Resulting guilt and/or puppy dog look is dangerous and could suck you in.

Create Expectation of Failure: If deflection is unsuccessful and you are forced to address the fact that your friend has the technical skill of a slug, sit at the computer or tech device in question. Shake your head and create the illusion of a “serious” problem by pulling a “Picard” and facepalming like on the left. Say something that creates an expectation of time spent on your part, such as “boy, this looks a bit serious”. Warning: refrain from exaggeration when doing this, such as exclaiming “Well, you’re fucked”. This can only make the situation worse for you as your tech-addled friend may insist on you staying while they contact tech support.

Try a 5-Second solution: Look over the problem with the illusion of caring about it. Regardless of the problem, create a solution that will only take 5 seconds to implement. Examples include power cycling the device, mindlessly clicking into random settings and clicking on them, and “seeing if something else works”, like putting in a random CD sitting on your friend’s desk, or starting a meaningless scan that “needs to complete before I can do anything” so you can escape. Maintain eye contact with the screen at all times so as not to excude the aura of insincerity.

Physical Restoration: If all else fails to get you out of the situation, look evilly at the computer, visualize that douchebag trendy jock who beat you up in high school (the one on the left will suffice), and deliver a physical restoration method to it. Methods include swift kicks (not recommended without shoes), pounding on it with your fist, and throwing the keyboard in the air while screaming in frustration. The jolt of physical activity, while hurtful to your exercise-barren body, may shock your friend into letting you go for fear of personal safety. If this is not the case, it also serves as a clear marker to let you leave before you cause further damage.

Delegate and Reassure: Point your friend at the tech support line under the documentation that came with the computer that is gathering dust. Look sympathetic, as a doctor would when a patient has a terminal disease, and state that you are sure outsourced tech support with a thin grasp of your native language will assist better than you could. Remove yourself quickly from the situation, and turn off phones with a cover story of “my cellphone is low” so as to prevent your friend from contacting you later in a fit of tears.

August 5, 2008

iTrendWhore

by Frank — Categories: Computers — Tags: , , , — Leave a comment

So cool it looks good slanty tooOne of the really interesting things I notice about geeks is the contradictions they have with what they consider to be “cool”. Geeks like mechanics, they like parts, they like techie stuff – you know, the kinds of things that a normal, average person would have to probably take a week-long course with PowerPoint slides and big, unreasonably colorful pie charts. So the consequence is that some of them really tend to go all “anti-trend” on people.

Peeking out from behind their laptops and 27-inch widescreen monitor monstrosities, they IM to friends with a palpable self-assurance that they are above such things like the most popular music in the top 40, name brand shopping, and other things “everyone” is doing. In fact more often than not, geeky folks are torn down by their peers for not following the crowd and being “with it”.

Well, to those of you who’ve ever felt stupid about not knowing how to dance to the latest hip-hop song with the combination of the words “shawty”, “hey”, and “baby”, don’t worry – there’s hope. You too, are a trend whore and you probably don’t even realize it! I’m talking about a certain set of items that Steve Jobs simply had to put the lowercase i before, just because he could to increase the artistic flair, y’know.

The iPhone, iPod, and other such items are perhaps one of the biggest trend whore items of the last couple of years. It’s like all those Harry Potter books when they’d come out – you can’t seem to go anywhere without seeing the telltale white earbuds in someone’s headholes. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear it was some kind of freaky mind control, contrived by Apple to get people to buy more fruity-looking, pastel-colored goodness.

And the best part is that they’ve fooled all the geeks into buying into it too. High, overpriced techie gadgetry is like a siren song to geeks. As long as it is mildly useful and can be modified in some form or fashion, you too are a sucker for the iRevolution. People who would rather spend quality time with their PCs instead of persons walk side-by-side with those who dress in the hottest get-me-laid threads and shell out hundreds in club cover charges.  If Apple may have found the key to finding someonthing in common with everyone, it’s putting out a product named so that it rolls easily off the tongue and which looks good doing it, too. iPeace, anyone?

So the next time you’re stuffed in a locker, had yourhead put down a toilet, or had the super glue on the keyboard office trick played on you (again), just smile back, reach into your pocket, and pull out that iPod. I guarantee you you’ll be making a new friend that day – or at least someone who will leech all your songs off you andmake you their tech slave. Either way, it’s good to feel wanted.

July 25, 2008

Happy SysAdmin Day!

by Frank — Categories: Computers — Tags: , , — Leave a comment

Insanity, you are SysadminNow, this isn’t just because I’m a Sysadmin myself and have gotten showered with a few random gifts already, oh no. But today, for those of you who don’t remember, is SysAdmin Day.

What’s SysAdmin Day? Heck, what’s a SysAdmin? Aside from “that weenie who is antisocial and who is repsonsible for email”, they are the first and last line of defense when it comes to your services you just love to take for granted. XBox Live statistics? Website providers? Pornography downloaders? They’re all at some point run by some overworked, underpaid SysAdmin. If it weren’t for the fact that we were all slightly crazy and the fact that we prioritize our coffee over our productivity, we’d have taken over the world already.

SysAdmins are the ones who are probably paged when you whine on a forum about a server being down at 3am in the morning. They’re the ones who have to deal with the fact that someone thought it would be funny to forward the “Who’s on First” joke to everyone in the company 50 times. They’re also the people who clean up after the mess you made when you decided to webhost a 2 GB image. They’re like the plumbers and mechanics of the technology world, except without the necessity of seeing their buttcrack (mostly) when they are bent over in front of you fixing something.

SysAdmins should take heart, because if someone wasn’t as masochistic and as insane as them to do their jobs, then you’d have ordinary people responsible for creating passwords and accounts, putting in quotas for shared spaces, and deciding how much network traffic they’re allowed to have. It would be a very liberating hour, right before mass chaos ensued and people devoured each other like wild animals. Armed with their pagers on 24/7 call, a perpetual sleepy-eyed look that may or may not be the result of drugs, and a sense of humor that is a blend of George Carlin and Gallagher, you SysAdmins are the only thing standing in the way of people and total technological anarchy.

And they said you wouldn’t amount to anything in high school.

So remember to think of your SysAdmins, folks, and thank them for a job well done, or at least a job you don’t have to do. Why, even I got a gift today. They really shouldn’t have gotten me that 15-server downtime and that network connection fubar. They were also so thoughtful to bring down email, too.

I feel so loved.

July 24, 2008

Get With the (OS) Times

by Frank — Categories: Computers — Tags: , , — Leave a comment

I work in the field of Information Technology when I’m not messing with my productivity by blogging to people about cheering up about their meaningless, empty, sexless lives. By the way, light is at the end of the tunnel, friends!

So with the obligatory motivation out of the way, I’d like to talk about one of the things that people keep being afraid of when it comes to technology. I’m talking about an OS upgrade.

Honestly, there are some people who fear an OS upgrade like they would fear having a root canal. Clutching their computers to their chests, they huddle in a corner, fearful of the next best advancement in the OS world. While many others are giddy with anticipation and do such crazy things as put up countdown websites and wait in line for midnight releases, these Luddites of the technology world will do no such leap of faith. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, they say, all the while watching and waiting for the new OS to crash and burn like they said it would.

All I have to say is – hey, it’s not that bad. I like to equate this from going from a small little kiddie pool to the one at the gym. Sure, the water is a bit different, it takes getting used to, and there’s a chance that you might find some kind of nasty surprise floating around when you hop in. But once you get used to it, it’s not that bad. OS upgrades are the same way. Yeah, ok, so they moved around the icons and programs around so you don’t know where anything is. Yeah, fine, so the first few times you try to patch, the computer, if it doesn’t immediately vomit on you, will tell you all your devices need to be reinstalled due to “driver issues”.

But it’s the new stuff! It’s the bleeding edge. It’s so bleeding edge your toes will be bathed in red. Imagine the wonder you will show to your friends as you boot up that latest bit of desktop goodness. You may want to rehearse a couple times with your computer before they arrive – you know, just so that you can see that it won’t be the time it gives you a critical error. You might also want to cover up those scuff marks on your machine that came from the beating you gave it in an attempt to get it to not choke on your favorite website. Heck, even if it doesn’t boot, you can always turn to your snickering buddies, feign a smile and say, “yeah, it has a few bugs still – but that’s technology, and it’s hot!”. Either way, you’ll be the talk of the town.

So the next time you see that shiny new OS, don’t hesitate to just scoop it up right away. After all, practicality and waiting for the first major patch are for the timid. Live in the here and now, or be left behind in the dust with all those boring people who are working quietly at home and able to do their stuff on their old, stuffy operating systems. Use your computer for what it was made for – showing off the best new crap in the flashiest and most obnoxious way possible.

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