Apple TV and Windows Vista?

As one of the final components of my media room, I excitedly bought an Apple TV yesterday. Really, I just want to be able to watch my favorite video podcasts on it, but I may also buy some movies or TV shows on iTunes eventually.

The problem is, I can't get it to sync with my Windows Vista Business Edition PC.

The setup couldn't have been easier. Plug in the HDMI cable to the TV. Plug in the power. Walk through the network setup wizard. It connected to my 802.11g wireless network with WPA encryption - no problems.

Then, I fired up iTunes on my PC. Apple TV requires iTunes 7.1 or higher. No problem. I've got the latest iTunes. The Apple TV was instantly detected in iTunes, and it walked me through the authorization process with the iTunes Music Store. All went well.

It appeared to begin the "sync" process of copying my selected iTunes info to the Apple TV hard drive over the wireless network. However, there would be a sliver of progress, and then it would hang. I let it sit overnight, thinking maybe the initial sync was just slow due to the huge amount of content it had to transfer.

No such luck. I woke up this morning and there was no additional progress.

The Apple TV is connecting to my network and to the internet fine. I can view all of the movie trailers and content directly from the iTunes Music Store. I just can't view anything from my iTunes on my Vista PC.

I've gone through all of the troubleshooting documentation. I have:
- Disabled Windows Firewall
- Opened up suggested ports on my Linksys router
- Disabled ALL non-Microsoft startup services, except for iTunes related services
- Connected the Apple TV directly to my router with a wired connection
- Restored the Apple TV to factory settings and started over
- Rebooted all equipment (cable modem, router, computer, Apple TV)

I don't think the problem is related to my wireless network in any way. I think it's just Vista.

Many people are reporting syncing problems with Vista, but those who have gotten it working don't have any special advice.

Any ideas out there?

Please don't bother with the "Get a Mac!" advice. I already have a Mac. Unfortunately for me, it's provided by the company I work for, and I cannot move my iTunes library to it. While I may buy my own personal Mac in the future, that time is not now, so that advice is useless to me.

I also won't ditch Vista for XP (the officially supported Windows OS for Apple TV). I've had no problems with Vista thus far, and honestly I think the responsibility lies with Apple this time around to make their products (Apple TV and iTunes) work with Vista, or don't advertise Windows compatibility at all. Vista was already available when the Apple TV was released. If Apple couldn't make the thing work with the current version of Windows, they shouldn't have claimed Windows compatibility.

I've been working on this for almost 24 hours. If I can't get it working tonight, the Apple TV will go back to Best Buy where I got it, with a big dose of tarnish on Apple's reputation in my mind.

Client side web notebook

Very cool. I'm using this TiddlyWiki thing to save notes from the conference I'm at. It's dynamic and easy to use. Create "personal, self-contained hypertext documents" without the need for server side logic. Good stuff. Check it out.

The Machine is Us

Web 2.0: The Machine is Us

Modern Web Design

The "Works on My Machine" Certification Program

For any programmer who has ever said, "I don't know what's wrong - it's works on MY machine!"

The "Works on My Machine" Certification Program

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates - Rare Public Appearance Together

Good times, good times.

Here are some photos from a rare public appearance of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates together at the recent D: All Things Digital conference.

The Groundhogs Say...

EARLY SPRING!!!

W00t! Neither Windy City Woody nor Punxsutawney Phil saw their shadows today, meaning that we're in for an early spring! Folklore goes that if the groundhog comes out of hibernation and sees its shadow, it will run scared back into its home to hibernate for 6 more weeks (meaning, 6 more weeks of ugly winter). Not so today! These two woodchucks are in good company, as a couple other famous 'chucks are saying "Early Spring!" as well, including Staten Island Chuck in New York, who has an 84% accuracy rate over the past 25 years, and Wiarton Willie - the famous groundhog up near Toronto, Canada (eh?)

Punxsutawney Phil is the US national groundhog who makes his home out in Pennsylvania. Since 1886, he's only predicted 15 early springs by not seeing his shadow. (He saw his shadow 96 times, and there are 9 years that remain undocumented). You go, Phil!

These cute little groundhogs have made my day!

Windows Media Player in Firefox on Vista

One annoying thing about Vista has been that whenever I visit a web page that wants to display a movie via Windows Media Player, I get an error message in Mozilla Firefox stating that the proper plugin is not installed. Clicking the link to install the plugin brings me to an XP plugin page (which is not compatible with Vista), but nowhere on Microsoft's web site could I find web browser plugins for Vista's version of WMP.

Not anymore.

The solution involves copying a few dll files into both your Windows Media Player and Mozilla Firefox program files directories.

1. Download the files npwmsdrm.dll, npdrmv2.dll and npdsplay.dll. (Links here are to dlldump.com - they had the proper versions of the files to adhere to yet another Microsoft security bug. Make sure your npdsplay.dll is version 3.0.2.629).

2. Copy those 3 files to two places:

• The Media Player directory, usually C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player
• The Firefox plugins directory, usually C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins

3. Restart Firefox and see if it's working. (Here's a page with a video: Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb).

Full details can be found over at MozillaZine.

Now I can go watch that video of the groundhog not seeing his shadow. Woohoo! Bring on spring!

Windows Vista Quick Launch Keyboard Shortcuts

Grabbed this tidbit over at Lifehacker today - Windows Vista Tip: Built-in Quick Launch Keyboard Shortcuts

If you store your favorite application icons in the quick launch bar in Windows, Vista has created a keyboard shortcut for each one of them: The Windows key + the number of the icon as listed in your quick launch bar.

For example, the first icon in my quick launch is Firefox, so Win+1 would open Firefox. Win+2 would open the second icon (Photoshop, in my case), etc.

Nice.

I also learned that Win+Tab opens up a neat sort of 3D application switcher - kind of like Alt-Tab on steroids. And the shortcut I recently learned but haven't gotten in the habit of using yet... Win+D to minimize all apps and show the desktop.

Windows "Show Desktop" Quick Launch button

One of my most frequently used icons in Windows is the Show Desktop icon in the Quick Launch area of my taskbar. You see, I keep my desktop clear and store all of my frequently used application icons in the taskbar along the bottom of the page. I'm accustomed to having immediate access to a clear desktop by clicking the Show Desktop icon down there. This is particularly handy when I've got multiple programs open and need to quickly minimize them all. (I supposed I could use the keyboard shortcut Win-M to minimize, or Win-D to show the desktop, but if I'm on the mouse, I'd like to have a mouse option as well!)

If you accidentally delete your Show Desktop icon, or (in my case) Vista doesn't seem to display it by default, here's how you can get it back. This works in both XP and Vista (Business edition, anyway):

1. Create a plain text file called "Show Desktop.scf" and paste the following text into the file:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

2. Drag that text file down into the Quick Launch area of your taskbar. (If the Quick Launch area isn't available, right-click on an open space on your taskbar and choose Toolbars - Quick Launch).

Voila. Show Desktop icon appears. If only the icon wasn't so ugly in Vista. They don't seem to have updated it since XP.

Take Great Photos this Christmas

Found this article through Lifehacker - 16 Digital Photography Tips for Christmas

Some neat ideas here!

2006: What I've Geeked Out To

Here are some of the things I've geeked out to in 2006 (in no particular order - added as I think of things):

• OpenDNS - After years of using suffering with Comcast's unreliable DNS service, I've switched to using OpenDNS's servers. The effects were instantaneous and the speed increase was immediately noticeable. Pages seemed to load instantaneously - as they should on an 8 meg cable internet connection!
  
  
• MacBook Pro - Who'd have thought I'd become a Mac geek in 2006? I've been using a MacBook Pro from work for about 6 months now, and I can't say enough good things about it. The thing just works - elegantly and intuitively, at that. I've even got Microsoft Windows XP running on the Mac hardware with Apple's BootCamp - and wouldn't ya know; XP runs better on Mac hardware than on any PC-compatible hardware I've ever used!
  
  
• Windows Vista - Last weekend, I upgraded to the Business edition of Microsoft Windows Vista. This one just barely made it into 2006, and I'll probably have more to say about it next year, since I'm still finding my way around. Contrary to my expectations of a new Microsoft operating system release, this particular experience has been... dare I say... flawless. I'm as baffled as you are. The upgrade went without a hitch. (I upgraded my existing XP Professional installation and did NOT do a clean install of Vista). Vista found all of my drivers, and everything works well so far. It has not crashed a single time on me, and (after adding another gig of RAM for a total of 2GB) is quick and responsive. The interface is slick, and I have a feeling once I get used to where everything is at, I will actually like the changes they've made to its layout (unlike XP, where I ended up switching back to "classic view" on most things because its layout made no sense). Vista is much more intuitive than any of its predecessors (but still chasing Mac OS X in usability). ;-)
  
  
• Ultima Online 9th Anniversary Collection - Yes, I still play UO. It seems that around the fall season each year, I find myself getting back into the game. I play it through winter, and then can't find the time in the summer months. Wash, rinse, repeat. My own personal 9 year anniversary in UO will be next month, and frighteningly enough, I've been committed to this game longer than anyone or anything else in my life. I'm not sure what that says about me! 2007 will be a big year for UO, as they're getting a new graphics engine for UO: Kingdom Reborn. The screenshots look fantastic. I can't wait, and it may even be cool enough to keep me playing through the summer.
  
  
• Dead Pixel Buddy - Since I've been using LCD monitors for a couple years now, and just bought a shiny new 22" widescreen ViewSonic 5ms HD LCD monitor, having a dead pixel tester is handy. There are web based ones that don't require a download, but those tend to make my eyes bug out. The good news: my new monitor has no dead pixels that I can find. I must warn you, though. There's a downside to testing for dead pixels. Once you find one, you will notice it constantly, and it will bug the shit out of you!
  
  
• Hamachi - Hamachi is a zero-config VPN utility for creating secure virtual networks between computers). I've been running Windows XP Remote Desktop over Hamachi so that I can access my work computer from home and vice versa.
  
  
• TightVNC - I wanted to set my mom up with Remote Desktop so that I could do tech support stuff on her computer from home, but she's running Windows 2000, and short of installing terminal services, I couldn't do my usual Remote Desktop setup on her machine. So, I've opted for running TightVNC (a remote control software package) over Hamachi to remotely control her computer.
  
  
• ViewSonic 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (VX2235WM) - Life is so sweet when you have tons of screen real estate! I'd venture to say that I'm even more productive with this monitor than my old (now-dead) 17" Sony LCD. This monitor runs at 1680x1050 (I formerly used 1280x1024) and has a 5ms video response time (compared to 12ms on my old top-of-the-line monitor from 2 years ago). My only complaint with this monitor is that the stand isn't adjustable, and on my particular desk, the monitor stand is so high that I have to look upwards at the top of this monitor, making the top of the screen appear dark when playing games (due to the weird viewing angle). This isn't a fault of the monitor, really - I just need to find a way to better configure my desk to fit this monster.
  
  
• Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3200 Laser - Wow, this sure dropped in price after Christmas. I paid $30 more for it a week ago than Logitech now retails it for. Oh sad! At any rate, the keyboard is whisper quiet and extremely comfortable, as is the mouse (which is to be expected from a Logitech mouse). They're still my favorite mice ever, despite Microsoft's very hard push into the keyboard/mouse arena. Keyboards... well... I wish Logitech had a curved key design (not the crazy over-the-river and through-the-woods curvy hilly thing that Microsoft does - just the flat keyboard with the keys curved), but other than that, this keyboard is nice. I especially like the built-in LCD display with time and date.
  
  
• Vonage - Still using it. Still love it. I've had zero problems with call quality or reliability, and it's full-featured and cheap. What else is there? I particularly like the ability to forward calls to my cell phone, and the ability to check my voicemail on the web.
  

Dead Monitor

I think Vista killed my monitor.

OK, it's unlikely that Vista killed my monitor. My monitor has been quirky since the day I got it. But, while completing the final phase of the Vista upgrade that I performed on my main computer system today, my monitor turned itself off and has yet to power back on.

"Then, how are you writing this?" you ask? Simple.

I went and grabbed one of the piece of shit CRT monitors out of the garage and lugged it upstairs.

How is it that a gorgeous 17" Sony LCD monitor that is less than 2 years old is sitting here lifeless, while this no-name 17" CRT monitor that I bought for $79 in 1997 is working just fine? Granted, the dot pitch has me about ready to claw my eyeballs out, but it's working!

My Sony LCD has always been quirky. It has this problem where when I push the power button to turn it off, it turns it DEAD - ie. it turns off and I cannot turn it back on for 20 minutes, a half hour, an hour, two hours... all depends. It has never powered itself off though. It would run for days no problem, as long as I never turned it off. Usually, I'd turn it off when I went to bed (to save the screen), and by morning it would be back on standby and ready to turn back on. Not this time.

Vista was chugging along with its upgrade, and so I ran downstairs to cook some dinner. I came back upstairs, and the monitor was black, with no power or standby light. I rebooted the computer via a traumatic power button shutdown, hoping Vista was truly done installing. (It was). Still nothing on the monitor. Upon running to the garage, grabbing my P.O.S. monitor and plugging it in, voila - there's Vista, just waiting for me to tell it about my network.

I still have my Sony monitor plugged in but it hasn't come back to life yet.

The problem here is... this CRT monitor is so awful that I'm already getting a headache, and I've only been on the thing for 15 minutes or so. Looks like I'll be burning the plastic tomorrow to buy a new monitor. Might as well get that extra gig of RAM I've been wanting, while I'm at it.

On a side note... the Windows Vista upgrade went flawlessly. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's no way it was that easy. I'll post more about it when I actually believe that it worked.

Ready for the holidays

My desktop on the PC is ready for the holidays:



Here's where I got this desktop image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toshiuz/70554790/

Cheap, Good Computer Speakers?

My 9 year old Altec Lansing computer speakers finally took a shit on me. (Best $72 I ever spent!) I need a new set of speakers with a woofer.

Any suggestions? Altec Lansings were the cat's ass back in 1997, but I've paid no attention since.

Preferably under $100. Super preferably in the $50-ish range.

XP Remote Desktop via Mac OS X

How trippy:



That's a picture of me on my MacBook Pro, running Windows XP via the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client over a Hamachi VPN.

Sick!

It's quite snappy for standard file browsing. I was even able to log into Ultima Online and get around the game. Granted, I won't be fighting any monsters, as it's a bit laggy in gaming, but it's definitely responsive enough to do little things - like access files and email them to myself!

Hamachi is pretty damn cool. It claims to be a zero-configuration VPN, and it pretty much is. Well, Hamachi is in fact zero config. It's Windows that isn't zero config. I had to do some registry editing to get Hamachi to run as a service under XP, in case I need to reboot that machine remotely. Other than that, piece of cake.

The OS X version of the Hamachi GUI (HamachiX) is still prerelease beta software, but it worked fine for me.

Here are the resources I consulted to get everything running:
Cyberonica - Hamachi How-To
Hamachi Forums - Remote Desktop

If I weren't so sleepy, I'd write up a how-to, since I had to sort of put things together piece-meal from various sources (though the Cyberonica article is the most cohesive one I found).

Hopefully, I can get my Hamachi VPN working at work too, so I can access files on my home PC while at work. Suhweet!

Faxing through Vonage

I've got Vonage VoIP phone service (love it). Occasionally, I need to send a fax (maybe 2 or 3 times a year). It's not often enough to sign up for the dedicated Vonage fax line or one of those fax-through-email services, but often enough that I don't want to be paying a buck a page at Kinko's.

I've read horror stories about people having trouble faxing through Vonage (since VoIP lines are not meant for faxing, or even standard modem communication, for that matter).

I was able to get things working on this end using my US Robotics 56K fax modem and the Windows XP fax service (built-in to XP). I had to crank the baud rate on my modem down to 9600 (and I've read of people going even lower). Also, I dialed the *99 prefix to guarantee the highest quality call through Vonage.

I'm on page 7 of an 11 page document, and it's sending just fine so far...

(Note: It would not send at 56K or before I dialed *99. It kept dying with a "fatal error").

Update: Success! 11 pages sent successfully.

The TiVo modem is also still dialing fine, since I hooked it up to a wireless modem jack.

MS to allow Vista reinstalls... duh

Ever get the feeling that companies make up this shit just to get people talking? There's no way Microsoft intended to limit Vista to TWO installs (ie. there's no way they didn't think of this issue with non-OEM systems themselves... that's just silly).

From Slashdot:

Claus Valca writes "I just spotted over on the Windows Vista Team Blog the news that the Windows Vista retail licensing terms are being revised. Looks like PC home-brew system builders have been let back into the Vista party!" From the article: "Our intention behind the original terms was genuinely geared toward combating piracy; however, it's become clear to us that those original terms were perceived as adversely affecting an important group of customers: PC and hardware enthusiasts. You who comprise the enthusiast market are vital to us for several reasons, not least of all because of the support you've provided us throughout the development of Windows Vista. We respect the time and expense you go to in customizing, building and rebuilding your hardware and we heard you that the previous terms were seen as an impediment to that -- it's for that reason we've made this change."

I am OS X

More Mac love for luku.

My quiz results - Which OS are you?


Which OS are You?

Large disparate groups

Background: There's a competition called "My Dream App" that asks Mac OSX users to submit ideas for their dream application. The top 3 apps will be developed and turned into shareware apps, and the idea person wins a prize and 15% of the proceeds from the sales of their app.

The results: The top 3 apps as determined by web-wide voters were:

1. Atmosphere, a weather simulation and forecasting app
2. Portal, an app for syncing files, folders, and apps between 2 or more Macs
3. Cookbook, an app to streamline many kitchen and cooking activities

As I read through the comments on Ars Technica's post about the Dream App winners, I found this profound gem:

Posted October 26, 2006 @ 9:33PM by segphault

A cookbook and a weather application. That speaks volumes about the mentality of OS X users.

And the reply (which is really why I'm posting this):

Posted October 26, 2006 @ 11:36PM by macFanDave

quote:

That speaks volumes about the mentality of OS X users

Windows users would have chosen an anti-spyware tool, a Notepad replacement and a PowerPoint template that didn't look like it was created by a second-grader hopped up on Ritalin and Pixie Sticks.

Linux users would have chosen a package maker, something-something-ML that's like a python hanging on Rails held up by struts bobbing for perls, and a Konqueror control where if you click on Tux's . . . uh. never mind.

If you ever wanted proof that large disparate groups can only agree on the unispired and mediocre at best, look at who we Americans have put in charge!

Bravo! I got a laugh from it, anyway.

AMP web server package for Mac?

I had a heck of a time getting XAMPP for OS X installed on my Intel-based MacBook Pro tonight. Actually, I got it running just fine, but was having permissions issues. XAMPP requires that you start it as root/superuser, so I did so from the Terminal. However, my htdocs and all other folders were read-only to my main user account. I could change the permissions so that my user account could edit the files, but then I'd have to change the permissions back to the system owner.

So - how the heck do I get XAMPP installed so that I can develop and test on the same machine? (ie. edit the files in my htdocs folder, and test them via localhost in my web browser)

Does anyone know of a better "AMP" package for Mac OS X? (Apache, MySQL, PHP)

/edit - I found MAMP and it's working just fine.... ahhh how a Mac should be! Easy!

Who needs Windows?

I'm sitting in a hotel in Dallas, typing away on the MacBook Pro that my job has provided to me. It's been a few months, and I'm now comfortable doing tasks like configuring my Mac OSX environment and installing applications. The primary applications I use are available for Mac, so there hasn't been any adjustment required in that department. I use Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Firefox, Thunderbird, and Microsoft Office. Yup - they all come in Mac flavors - even Office.

This week has been the longest sustained Mac usage I've experienced, with no Windows access whatsoever. After learning how to use GarageBand to record podcasts the other day, I've decided I'm a convert. I already knew how to record and edit audio on Windows with Audacity, but it certainly isn't easy enough for my mom to do it. Podcasting with GarageBand? My mom could do it. Literally.

That got me thinking about Macs in general. In the past, one of my biggest criticisms of Mac machines was the fact that software is much less abundant and a bit more expensive (in some cases) than software for Windows. I'd say, "Would you rather walk into Best Buy and have one measly aisle of software to choose from, or lots of aisles?"

Here's the thing: who needs aisles of software, when each Mac application is typically superior to its Windows counterpart? Why do I need 5 different choices for the same application, from different manufacturers, when I can have ONE that works wonderfully?

This MacBook Pro looks good. It's slick. The screen is gorgeous. Its battery lasts much longer than my Pentium 4 Windows-based laptop. This MacBook Pro is innovative. My 2-year-old Windows based laptop is just about useless right now because its power plug has come loose and will no longer charge the battery properly. This Mac has a magnetic power plug that easily pulls away from the machine in the event of emergency (such as, tripping over the power cable). This MacBook Pro just works. I have yet to have it crash on me. (I had trouble with it early on, but it turns out I didn't understand how to implement the power management features).

Tonight, since I'm stuck in a hotel with limited television options, I went to the NHL.com web site to listen to the Flyers hockey game online. When I clicked the "listen now" link, my browser informed me that I was missing a plugin.... GULP. NHL Radio requires Windows Media Player. I nearly shrieked, "Nooooooooooooooooo!" thinking that I might have found one reason why I needed Windows in my life. A little googling and I discovered that there is a plugin that allows Quicktime player to play Windows Media files - and Microsoft endorses it. (In fact, I got the link from Microsoft's web site). It's called "Flip4Mac," and it works like a charm. (No reboot required! Gosh I love this Mac).

The only thing I've been able to think of that I can't do on this Mac is play Ultima Online, and with BootCamp's ability to boot my Intel-based Mac into Windows, I could even play UO if I wanted to. I haven't tried BootCamp, but I will soon.

Who needs Windows??

Release Candidates

Firefox Version 2, Release Candidate 2 is available for download. (Firefox 2 - RC2)

I ran RC1 on a computer at work and had no problems, so now I'm running RC2 on my computer at home. I like some of the interface tweaks. I've only been using it for an hour or so, so I don't have a good feel for it yet, but it's been stable thus far and I'm excited for the upgrade.

I also downloaded an iso for Windows Vista Release Candidate 2 last night. (Windows Vista RC2)

I had downloaded RC1 and burned it to DVD, but never installed it. I've got RC2 as well, and have not installed it. Dare I? There's no way I'd install it as my main machine. Too many bugs. However, I've been toying with the idea of repartitioning my hard drive and installing it as a dual-boot scenario. Still, any such thing risks effing up my whole system, and with Windows, the likelihood of things getting screwed up is always high.

I'm still not sure if I'll try Vista RC2. I've been reading good things about it, though.

Funny how my faith in beta version software is so different for two different companies.

Vonage and Tivo: Success at Last

For those of you struggling to get your Tivo boxes to dial out and make their daily calls via a Vonage or VOIP phone line... after years of struggle, I solved the problem in 5 minutes.

Go buy an RCA Wireless Modem Jack. (Be sure it's the MODEM jack, not the PHONE jack). Mine is model RC930. It's a wireless phone jack that runs via your power outlets. I'm currently NOT using my in-home phone wiring for Vonage, so this worked wonderfully.

Plug the base into your Vonage phone box. Then plug a phone into the base. (I have a VTech cordless 5.8 GHz phone with 3 handsets). Then take the remote piece of the wireless phone jack and plug it into an outlet near your Tivo. Set up the jacks as instructed, then plug the Tivo into the remote jack.

Voila. My Tivo dialed out with no modifications to the dialing prefix, and my phones are all working.

YEARS, I've struggled with this! All I needed was 5 minutes of installation time, a trip to Best Buy, and eighty bucks. Here's a link to the one I bought:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051384177248&type=product

I've had no interference with my wireless phones or with my 802.11g wireless network thus far.

Joy!

8 meg connection... tasty!

I just got off the phone with Comcast, and after a cable modem reboot and a solemn promise to pay an extra ten bucks per month for service, my old 6 meg cable connection is now a shiny new 8 meg connection. I'm benchmarking at 8,600 kbps right now. For my trouble, they also double the upload speed, from a puny 356 kbps up to 712 kbps. I'm benchmarking 699 kbps right now.

Ahhh.... the joys of a phat pipe! (Bandwidth pipe, that is!)

Bush on Technology

President Bush had this to say to recent college graduates about technology:

"Science offers the prospect of eventual cures for terrible diseases _ and temptations to manipulate life and violate human dignity," Bush said during commencement exercises at Oklahoma State University. "With the Internet, you can communicate instantly with someone halfway across the world _ and isolate yourself from your family and your neighbors."

That is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I've acquired and fostered more friendships online than I ever could face to face due to pure logistics. Even more importantly, I've kept in touch with face to face friends that I'd have lost touch with in the absence of technology. I probably talk to my mother MORE now (via email) than I did before she was online, due mainly to the fact that we work opposite schedules.

We sure do have an enlightened leader on our hands. Read the full article at the Washington Post.

iPod Woes and Why Windows Sucks

This has been the most frustrating week for me and my beloved iPod. You see, I have a 4th gen iPod - the ones with the nifty color screens but sadly no video? Yeah, that one. I heart my iPod, truly and dearly.

Last week, when it came time to sync my podcasts, my iPod wasn't being detected in iTunes. Hmm. Weird. I unplugged the Pod of I and figured I'd try again another day. The next day, everything worked as expected. A few days later, I tried to sync again, and - same problem. No iPod. The next day, still no iPod.

I started searching Apple's support pages, and found this article on the 5 R's and other iPod troubleshooting steps. I tried the first 4 R's - reset the iPod, retry a different USB port, restart computer, remove iTunes and reinstall. None of them helped. I resigned myself to the fate of having to reload the damn iPod. Last night, I did the last R - Restore - and formatted the iPod, wiping out all of my music. Then, I booted up iTunes and my iPod was again detected - as the H: drive. Oddly, though, the capacity was displaying incorrectly. It's a 20GB iPod, but was showing up as having 21GB used and 30-something free. My entire library is less than 7GB of music, so this baffled me. But - at least the iPod was detecting.

As I pulled up iTunes, I found it odd that the "new iPod setup wizard" didn't start up. I manually set my iPod options, and told iTunes to copy my library back onto my iPod. An eternity later, the process was done. I unplugged my iPod and went to bed.

Fast forward to this morning. Time to update the podcasts. I plugged in the iPod, and... it's not being detected in iTunes! WTF?!?!? I unplugged it and scrolled through the menu, and it was blank! None of my songs copied over.

Cue rage.

After calming myself, I dug back into Apple's support documents. I tried booting the iPod into disk mode to see if I could see it in My Computer on Windows. I could not see it, but it did detect in Device Manager as a USB Mass Storage device. I tried a new data cable. No luck. I tried thinking back to anything I might have done over the last couple weeks on my computer that might affect this. I hadn't dropped the iPod or anything, so I just couldn't imagine something being wrong with the device itself. Running out of options, I double-checked to make sure that my iPod was still under warranty. Yup, 85 days left of the 1 year warranty.

Then, I came across a tiny little blurb buried deep in a support article:

"Windows confuses iPod with network drive and may keep iPod from mounting or songs may seem to disappear"

Suddenly, the "H:" clicked with me. A couple weeks ago, I mapped a network drive on my local wireless network to access a folder on my laptop from my desktop computer. (The iPod syncs to my desktop computer). How could my iPod be claiming drive letter H: when that's my mapped network drive???!

I went into My Computer and disconnected the mapped network drive. I plugged my iPod back in, and immediately the "set up your new iPod" wizard appeared. Right now, my library is being copied back onto my iPod, and I am completely certain that this will solve the problem.

Why, oh why, must Windows suck so horribly?

I'm an IT person and a Windows expert. I use Windows on a daily basis, and have mastered all of the extra crap we as Windows users must do to secure our machines from viruses, spyware, and hacking threats. Ever since the Mac OS put a shiny *nix OS under the hood, I've peered over the fence and wondered if the grass truly is greener on the other side.

You see, I'm also a Linux user. My desktop system has, at times, been strictly a Linux box. My problem is that there are a few pieces of software that I need to use on a near-daily basis that have no true Linux equivalents or don't run well in emulation or virtualized. I'm in love the the stability I get from Linux. Unfortunately, I'm a slave to my favorite applications, and it's not worth living without them just to be a Penguin Head.

However, my favorite apps are in fact available for Mac. It's likely that I'd achieve the same stability as a Linux box with a Mac box, due to the *nix inside. And now, with the announcement of Apple Bootcamp (which will allow Mac systems to dual-boot Windows), the only thing stopping me from buying a Mac is...

*cough*gag*choke*

The price.

However, there is a possibility of a MacBook Pro laptop in my future via my job, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to fall in love with it. It certainly will be nice to be able to test drive a Mac before sinking any hard earned cash into one. With the devout loyalty of the Apple crowd, I have a feeling that no test drive is necessary.

Oh - and the library copy is done. My iPod is up and fully operational, no thanks to Windows bugs.

My next post might be as an Apple convert...

Good web hosting deal

As an alternative to seeking out venture capitalist investors, the guys that run the Web 2.0 podcast are offering a sweet web hosting deal through their company, Steel Pixel. Check it out if you're in the market for hosting services. I just might need to invest in one of these...

OMG!!! Ponies!!!

I'm still rolling :)

(Go see Slashdot while you still can)

First Impression: Google Page Creator

I got the nod to check out Google's new Page Creator, a web-based tool for building web sites and hosting them under your Google account.

It's pretty fool-proof. The interface is basic, which - for the intended audience - is a good thing. The templates they provide are plentiful (if not a bit boring), and the page hints are easy to follow. There are tools to help with things like testing hyperlinks, which is nice. You can edit the HTML code of each section by hand, if desired, but cannot edit the page as a whole.

I created a page that I thought was nice, and took it for a test drive. I was pretty impressed - I had a nice enough looking web page in under 5 minutes.

However, when I ran it through the W3C HTML code validator, it failed miserably. The document states a doctype of XHTML strict, which impressed me, but the code failed with simple things like improper break tags (no closing forward-slash or closing tag) and no "type" declared in the javascript script call. Ambitious move Google is making, going for a "strict" doctype, but I can only hope they fix these simple errors prior to the product coming out of beta.

On the upside, the layouts are all table-less and done with CSS, which gets a thumbs-up from me.

In all, I like where this project is going. It's easy enough for my mom to use, and the end result looks decent. I hope Google fixes the code errors. Google Page Creator isn't going to put my web development company out of business, but it will lower the bar for the skill level required for users to create a basic web presence.

I give it a tentative thumbs up.

Check out Shelly's site on Google Pages.

Transparent Technology

I have to give some kudos to Bloglines.com. Why? I was thinking about something today. I was thinking that the best applications (be them standalone software apps or web applications) are those in which the technology is transparent to the user. By that, I mean that the user is free to focus on the intent of the app, rather than struggle with or jump through hoops with the technology behind it. Bloglines is one such app.

I use bloglines every day to maintain my huge list of RSS subscriptions. However, I don't ever think about bloglines. I go to their web site and spend all of my time reading my new articles - and that's how it should be.

So many applications require much more struggle with the technology. One that comes to mind is Microsoft PowerPoint. It's quite a simple application, really. I gave a workshop to faculty on how to create a ppt presentation last week, and watching them struggle with the terminology, and then fight the menu system to find the right option to do what they wanted to do was almost painful. Yet, creating a basic presentation - in concept - is quite simple. Add slides containing your text and graphics to convey your message. Apply cute transition and sound effects. Save. Done. The user interface, however, is not nearly as intuitive as the concept, and therefore presents challenges for new users. The technology is definitely not transparent in PowerPoint.

I think that all developers should pay some attention to interface design - which is a much different process than designing the logic and functionality of an application. Too many apps separate visual design and design of logic, ignoring that bridging feature of interface design. I don't mean the pretty graphics themselves - that's the visual design. I mean, the design of how users will interact with the application. That's where more attention needs to be paid.

Kudos to Bloglines.com for being a great example of transparent technology in a web application.

The Windy City gears up to be Wireless City - Wireless World - MSNBC.com

The Windy City gears up to be Wireless City - Wireless World - MSNBC.com: "The nationwide rush to go wireless appears poised to extend to its biggest city yet. Chicago is launching an effort to offer wireless broadband, city officials said Friday, jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon as similar initiatives proceed in Philadelphia, San Francisco and smaller cities. [more]"

Yay!!! (though I probably live too far into the suburbs to get in on the action). Still, cool.

Full Disclosure: Security Risks in Using Digital Documents

Editing tips from the NSA | CNET News.com: "Hiding confidential information with black marks works on printed copy, but not with electronic documents, the National Security Agency has warned government officials."

You may or may not know that Microsoft Word embeds a ton of information in your Word documents without your explicit knowledge: things like the date, author (as it was input when Word was installed), and other collaboration and tracking data. A lot of this is stored in "metadata" inside the document.

The article above from the National Security Agency lists recommended procedures for sanitizing documents prior to sharing them digitally or prior to converting them to PDF files.
Interesting read. If you don't have time to read the whole thing, at least go get Microsoft's add-in for Office so that you can review and delete metadata you don't want to share. It's called "Remove Hidden Data" and is for Office 2003 and XP.

Microsoft "Remove Hidden Data" add-in for Office

IE7 Beta goes public

Microsoft's version 7 of Internet Explorer is finally available as a "preview" download. Is anybody else amused that they are using Flash as their primary technology on the IE7 web site? (Flash is an Adobe [formerly Macromedia] product).

Check out the Internet Explorer 7 web site for the preview beta download.

Testing Testing

This is a test post. hello!

50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years

How gadget-geek are you? Memory lane meets modern day pockets-ringing-iPods-singing bliss in this PC World article:

50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years

Yahoo Mail Beta

I'm in the Yahoo! Mail beta. Sweet. And... well doggone, it kicks much ass. The interface is much like a typical stand-alone mail client (like Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook), with a preview pane, a message listing pane, and a folder hierarchy pane. I suspect there's some AJAX going on, with the instant-responsiveness and drag-and-drop functionality.

If only they could combine Gmail's tagging system with Yahoo's interface... I'd be in heaven. I'm a HUGE fan of the "tag and search" method of archiving and managing email (as opposed to using single-referenced folders for sorting mail).

Thumbs up on the new Yahoo mail. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.

Podcasting on Windows

Whew! Learning how to set up a new podcast is hard work!

I have a little pet project in the works (one I'm not quite ready to pull the top off yet... soon, soon...). It's a podcast, and seeing as I know little to nothing about audio recording, it's been a bit of a trial and error experience for me. There is definitely a need for a one-stop web site for podcasting newbies. Hmmm... In the meantime, here's a list of the best resources I found in my quest for podcast producing knowledge.

Check out all of the podcasting links I've bookmarked throughout my search at http://del.icio.us/phlyersphan/podcasting

Where to start:

• Systm Epidsode 4 - Podcasting: A creation of Kevin Rose and his group, Revision3, this videocast covers the basics of podcasting equipment, software, and publishing. It is the best "big picture" overview I've found.
• How to Podcast: A comprehensive tutorial, including video how-to's on recording and editing with Audacity.
  
• Webmonkey Tutorial - "All the World's a Podcast": A good overview of the podcasting process.
  
• O'Reilly's "What is Podcasting" Tutorial: Another good overview, with some specific hardware and software recommendations.
• Engaget's Podcasting Tutorial: This one focuses on Mac, but there is some good information Windows users can glean from it.
  
• Podcasting Hacks: An invaluable book by O'Reilly publishing. It covers not only the technical details of podcasting, but also gives examples of how to format various types of shows - sports show, political talk show, music/movie review show, etc.
  

What You Need:

These are my own conclusions based on everything I've read in the past week. If you dig through my links yourself, you may come to different conclusions (and feel free!) If you don't want to spend a week reading, though, this will help get you started.

You will need, at minimum: a PC with Windows XP and a sound card, a microphone, and recording software.

Hardware recommendations:

Let's start with the microphone. (I'll assume that the PC you have is plenty fine for recording voice - anything not more than a few years old should be A-OK). You can get really crazy with the microphone, and there are a zillion options out there. There seem to be two main camps: those who prefer to use USB mic's, so as to "keep it digital," and those who prefer traditional mic's. The latter are more complicated, but more flexible, as you can record into many devices and not just a PC. USB mic's limit your recording device options pretty much to PC's.

If you're using your PC anyway, I recommend going with a USB microphone. If you plan to be sitting at a desk while recording, the Logitech Desktop USB Microphone is a fine entry-level choice. It retails under $30. If you prefer a hands-free setup, check out the Logitech Premium USB Headset (Model 350). The key here is to make sure you get a noise canceling microphone. This headset retails under $50. Plantronics also makes a wildly popular headset amongst podcasters: the Plantronics DSP-500 USB Headset. It too retails under $50.

If you have future aspirations to buy mixer equipment, or want to be able to record audio into devices other than a PC (such as a handheld iRiver 799 MP3 Player/Recorder), a regular microphone will suit you better. This is where things can get expensive quickly - but they don't have to!

There are two kinds of microphones: dynamic and condenser. To be as non-audio-geek as possible, condenser mic's require additional power ("phantom power," typically from a "preamp" device). Dynamic mic's don't require additonal power, and are less sensitive to rough treatment (they're harder to break). My advice: go with a dynamic mic.

Variable number 2: the "pickup pattern." Each microphone has a shape to which areas are most sensitive. This is also referred to as the "directional pattern." The most common is the cardioid directional pattern (a heart-shaped pattern that provides the greatest level of sensitivity). If you're speaking directly into the microphone, this is your best choice. Sounds coming from the sides or rear of the mic are largely ignored. These fall in the uni-directional category. Another common pattern is the omni-directional pattern. This pattern can pick up sound from all directions equally, and is good when you want to offer the ambience of your recording environment, or when you're recording a meeting, conference or multiple people on one mic.

Another thing to note about the pickup patterns: the more specifically directional the mic, the more sensitive it will be to "handling noise" and popping sounds (such as, from pronouncing the letter "p." These sounds are called plosives). So, a cardioid mic will be more sensitive to such noise, whereas an omnidirectional mic is more forgiving of such noise.

How much will one of these suckers set you back? You can get entry level mic's under $30. I picked up a dynamic omnidirectional mic at my local Radio Shack store. They've also got a selection of dynamic unidirectional mic's in the same price range. If you want to get a little more fancy, the Shure SM57 Cardiod Dynamic Microphone is a reliable standard. It retails under $150, but you can find it cheaper. As I write this, Amazon.com has it for $89.

The simplest setup is to get a dynamic microphone to plug into your PC sound card's mic-in port. (Don't forget to buy the adapter for the mic plug - a 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch adapter), or plug a USB mic into your PC.

Next: your recording software.

If you plan to record your podcast alone, or with all guests "live and in person," all you need to do is grab yourself some recording software and be on your way. If you want to do telephone interviews, things get a tiny bit more complicated. It's not too bad, though. Let's start with "live, in person."

There are lots of new podcasting applications popping up in all price ranges - from free (PodProducer, in beta but getting good buzz around the community), to cheap (MixCast Live for Windows - $12), to expensive (ePodcast Producer, $249). The main perk to these types of apps is the inclusion of podcast-specific features, like RSS feed generation for publishing your podcast, built-in "show notes" editors, and the like.

Abobe's commercial product, Adobe Audition, comes highly recommended in the field (but with a price tag of $299). You can download a free 30-day trial of Audition and try before you buy, to see if it suits your needs.

My personal recommendation if you're just starting out is the open source app, Audacity. It's free, and is great for recording and editing your podcast. It can also output your raw recording in popular podcast formats such as MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. You'll find that lots of people use Audacity for their podcasts, and there are lots of tutorials on how to use it. The Systm video tutorial I mentioned earlier demonstrates how to configure Audacity for a podcast. You can find other tutorials on podcasting with Audacity here, here, here, and here.

If you're doing your podcast alone, or with all guests present with you, that's it for software. If you want to do telephone interviews as well, read on.

There are several ways to do phone interviews with people. To record landline phone conversations into your PC or MP3 recording device, you can get a special microphone for recording telephone calls at your local Radio Shack store. There are other, more archaic options, but I'm not going to get into them here, as I have a better idea:

Use Skype. Skype is a voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone service that works great over a broadband internet connection. If your interviewees have Skype, and you have Skype, your call is free. If your interviewees do not have Skype, you can use Skype's "SkypeOut" feature, which allows you to make calls with your Skype account to land line or mobile phones for cheap (2 cents per minute).

The joy of using Skype is that you can easily record high-quality digital audio. This is often referred to as "Skypecasting." The problem, though, is that recording both sides of the conversation can be tricky. To use an app like Audacity, you've got to jump through a bunch of hoops to get a high quality recording without sending nasty audio feedback to your interviewee. I won't go through those hoops, but you'll find free solutions involving "virtual audio cables" and things of that nature if you Google around. Believe me: I tried them all, and it was much more hassle than it was worth. Some of the podcast software I linked above features "VoIP recording." If you do purchase one of those apps, that's the feature you want if you plan to Skypecast.

My favorite solution took less than a minute to set up and is one-click simple. It's called HotRecorder. There is a free version of HotRecorder (great for trying it out to make sure it works with your podcast setup), but in order to use your recordings in a podcast, you'll need to buy the full version for $14.95. Buying the full version gives you access to the audio converter application which allows you to convert the proprietary .elp files that HotRecorder makes into .wav or Ogg Vorbis files you can use in your podcast.

Another nice thing about HotRecorder: it works with many different VoIP applications, and not just Skype. Here's the current list: Google Talk, Skype ™ , AIM ™ , Net2Phone ™ , Yahoo! Messenger ™ , FireFly ™ and many other VoIP applications.

How-to:

So, you've got a microphone, Audacity, Skype, and HotRecorder all set up on your computer. You've planned out your show's format, and written a script. You're ready to go!

Here's a basic conceptual how-to for recording a simple podcast with an interview.

1. Open up Audacity and record your solo segments of the show.
2. Open up Skype and HotRecorder. Call your interviewee with Skype, and hit the record button on HotRecorder. Do your interview.
3. Open the HotRecorder Converter to convert your Skype interview to .wav format.
4. Drag your .wav interview into Audacity. Arrange your Skype clip with your other recorded clips to create your show. Add music or whatever else you want. Edit your show for noise reduction and normalization.
5. Export your show in MP3 format from Audacity.
6. Publish your podcast.

For more detailed tutorials, check out the links I posted earlier. The fine details have been covered well out on the web; it's the big-picture that is missing from a lot of the tutorials.

Adding Music and Effects:

The most important thing to note about putting music into your podcast (such as, for an intro or theme song) is COPYRIGHT. Most commerically released music is copyrighted, and you cannot legally include it in your podcast without getting permission from the artist or publisher. Getting permission usually involves paying a licensing fee to use the song.

A free option is to find a local band who will give you permission to use their song in your podcast (typically in exchange for mentioning their web site or band/album name in your show). Another free option is to check out the PodSafe Music web site, where musicians and sound effect artists catalogue their offerings with express permission granted for use in your podcast.

Publishing Your Podcast:

To publish your podcast to the world, you'll need a couple things: an RSS feed, and internet-accessible server space to store and serve up your MP3 file.

The RSS Feed: Most blogging software (such as WordPress or Drupal) supports the enclosures required to generate a podcast-friendly RSS feed automatically. Check the documentation of your blog software for details. I also recommend using FeedBurner in conjunction with your blog-generated RSS feed. FeedBurner not only keeps statistics on your listening audience, but also automatically generates iTunes-compatible RSS feeds, if you plan to include your podcast in Apple's iTunes directory. For more specific information on RSS feeds for podcasting, check out the tutorials linked above.

Once you have an RSS feed (or a burned feed from FeedBurner), you can submit your feed to various podcast directories, such as iTunes, Yahoo! Podcasts, Podcast.net, iPodder.org, and others. A Google search for "podcast directory" will turn up countless results.

Hosting space: If your podcast becomes insanely popular, you can accidentally find yourself in a world of hurt with bandwidth bills from your web host. With a little foresight, you can avoid such surprises!

Here's a list of various podcast hosting options, ranging from free to cheap. My favorite of these is the OurMedia.org site, a free, grass-roots media group that provides unlimited bandwidth for your podcast. I haven't yet tried OurMedia, but it is endorsed by Leo Laporte of This Week in Tech podcast fame.

If you want to combine a blog with your podcast, a more traditional web hosting setup might be better. Since I run a small web development company, I have easy access to such services. For $6.95/month, you can get 250 gigabytes of monthly bandwidth and 5 gigabytes of storage space on a Linux based web server with a 99.9% uptime guarantee (including PHP and MySQL support, perfect for WordPress or your favorite open source blogging or content management system). Most of the podcast hosting services I've seen only offer 5 gigabytes per month of bandwidth for the same price, and many don't include advanced web site features. I chose to host my podcast through PurplePenguins.net. The "Economy" web hosting package includes the pricing and features I mentioned above.

To estimate how much bandwidth you'll need (to make sure you don't go over your allotted bandwidth with your hosting provider), multiply the size of your podcast MP3 file times the number of times per month you will release an episode, times the number of listeners you expect to have. A 10-minute podcast recorded at 64 bit quality will be about 5 MB in size.

For example: a bi-weekly 20 minute podcast with 100 listeners requires 10 MB x 2 episodes per month x 100 listeners = 2,000 MB (2 GB) of monthly bandwidth.

Do you see how quickly it adds up? That's why I like my PurplePenguins.net account. My 250 GB/month allows me to grow up to an audience of 12,500 listeners for my bi-weekly 20 minute podcast. That's a lot of listeners. Or, 8,333 listeners for a bi-weekly 30 minute podcast - just divide 250,000 MB by ([minutes x .5] x # of shows per month).

Conclusion:

We've covered a lot of ground here. I hope that I've gathered some of the best podcasting how-to resources in one place to help guide your own research into the topic. Go forth and be heard!

Del.icio.us Firefox Extension

It's yummy alright.

Integrate Del.icio.us right into your browser with this Firefox extension.

Way cool. I used del.icio.us for my xmas wishlist this year, giving direct links to places to buy everything on my holiday gift list. I received kudos from my mother - and considering she's an internet newbie, that's pretty impressive.

Del.icio.us is great for other things, too. I'm slowly moving all of my PC-based bookmarks over to del.icio.us so that I can access them from anywhere. I also spend quite a bit of time browsing through the popular bookmarks on the site - great time killer, as well as a way to find new stuff to see and read and do on the net.

Here's a link to my del.icio.us.

Caffeine Finder

How cool is this?

Caffeine Finder - a GPS enhanced mobile application for Blackberry that will find you a cup of Joe anywhere in the U.S., with over 45,000 cafes and Starbucks in its directory.

The company also makes a "fast food finder." What a great idea - come up with a template application for "finding" stuff, then plug in all of America's vices.

Future incarnations:

Beer finder.

Casino finder.

What I really want to see: hotspot finder, or - even better - FREE hotspot finder.

Tidbits

Some random geek tidbits....

I got an email today regarding my application to Yahoo's email beta test. I hear it's a Gmail-killer - so of course I wanted to be in on the action. I signed up a bunch of months back - so long ago, in fact, that I forgot I'd signed up. I got this today in the mail:

Your Yahoo! Mail Beta is coming soon.

Thanks for your interest in the new Yahoo! Mail Beta. Your turn is coming soon.

We know you can't wait to get your hands on the new Yahoo! Mail and we're just as excited about delivering it to you. Right now we're working around-the-clock to make sure it's everything you expect and more.

So stay tuned for further word. In the meantime, there's no need to do anything. Your place in line is secure, and you'll get the green light as soon as possible.

Thanks again,

Yahoo! Mail Team

Sweet. I must say, though - I'm sickly in love with Gmail, so it's going to be hard to tear me away from it.

Moving on... I bought a microphone today. Why, you ask? I'm putting together a poker podcast. I had a little idea for one, and I figured - what the hell. Why not? Details will be made available as this thing becomes a reality...

In the "wtf" category: my Sony 17" LCD monitor has been doing something strange lately, and I'm not sure if it is something wrong with the monitor, or if it is related to the new video card I installed a few months back. I'm thinking the former, because this new behavior just started happening over the past week or so. The monitor will randomly (usually after I've left the computer unattended) power off completely - as in, even the power button is "off" (whereas usually when it is turned "off" it glows red). Rebooting the computer brings it back on, or if I randomly wait a few minutes, it'll come back. I'm thinking it is somehow tied to the computer going into screen saver mode or standby mode. I'm going to try disabling the monitor power-off/standby and see if that stops it from happening. I really hope there's nothing wrong with the monitor, because it's not even a year old (I got it for Xmas last year), and it was pretty expensive when I got it. We will see.

That's it for the geekiness in my life. Check out my Vegas trip reports at the poker blog.

iPod Lesson the Long Way

I spent 4 hours at Best Buy today, and no, I wasn't Christmas shopping. I stopped in there on my way home from work (after having a nice little lunch with Randy at Northwoods... yummm...) to have them take a look at the iPod adapter in my car. A few weeks ago I went through a huge fiasco to get my old car stereo re-installed in my car, and added an iPod adapter so that I could listen to my iPod through my car's sound system. (The crappy FM tuner adapter thing works but the sound quality is crap). Last night, as I got home and unplugged my iPod, the thing did something funky on the screen. Then today when I got in the car and plugged in the iPod, it wouldn't load up through the stereo. It just sat there stuck on the "Loading..." screen.

So I went to Best Buy and explained what was happening. The guy said it was probably the adapter (some box-like thing that's installed under my seat of my car or behind the dashboard or in some other weird place), but that if it wasn't the adapter, it was my stereo. It was the same guy who finally had successfully installed this stuff last time, so he remembered me. He took my car in right away and went to work on replacing the iPod adapter.

But that didn't fix the problem. So he told me that the AUX port on my stereo must have blown out. Well, shit. So I went inside and dropped $300 on the cheapest Kenwood iPod-supporting car stereo they had in stock. I brought it back to the guy, and he installed it...

Still didn't work. WTF???

To make an already-too-long story short, all he had to do (or, all I had to do) was reboot the iPod. Once we figured out how to reset the iPod (with the help of Google on my Blackberry and a night shift guy who'd come in to work), everything worked again. The guy put my old stereo back in, and gave me the new stereo to bring back inside to return.

So, I got my money back, and my stereo and iPod are working again, thanks to 4 hours of wasted time. That's OK though. The guy didn't charge me a dime, and was very cool (not to mention, patient) about the whole thing. I think we both learned a little something from the experience!

For reference, rebooting the iPod involved holding down the center button and the menu key. I wish I'd have thought of that last night, but since the iPod itself was working just fine, I didn't think of it. Actually I was thinking that the adapter box needed rebooting. Anyhoooo....

Check out my Vegas trip reports - I'm home and tired as hell!

My penguin!

My mom sponsored a penguin for me at Brookfield Zoo!

(I love penguins)

:)

Recovering Firefox from a Crash

As if there hasn't been enough crashing around here lately...

Let me elaborate on my title: Firefox didn't crash, but Windows did crash, and corrupted Firefox (which was running at the time) in the process.

Last night, Windows XP gave me one of those rare blue screens of death - the ones with the nice STOP: error. (Stop laughing - I'm actually serious about the "rare" part. There are people out there who are so new to computers that they don't even know what a BSOD is - mainly because XP doesn't blue-screen as often as its predecessors did).

Anyway, it was a totally random event, and with it, I decided to just shut down the machine and go to bed. When I woke up today and booted up, after browsing around a bit with my favorite browser (Mozilla Firefox), I noticed something: my bookmarks were missing!

Then... the quick search box had no search engines in it.

And all of my saved passwords were gone.

WTF??!

I made the usual attempts to reinstall the browser and such, to no avail. Here's how I finally got everything back.

1. Back up your existing Profiles folder. It's probably toast, but if you're lucky, you'll be able to use bits of it to restore your important data. FYI: You should be backing up this folder regularly if you ever expect to need to recover from a hard drive or operating system crash.

Your Profiles folder on XP is typically located at:
C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

Check here if you need to find it on another OS or version of Windows.

2. Start up Firefox's Profile Manager. You can do this in XP by bringing up a command prompt (Start - Run - cmd) and typing:
firefox.exe -profilemanager

3. Create a new profile.

4. Open up Firefox with that new profile and make sure things like the quick search box is working. If so, continue on. If not, uninstall Firefox and install it clean again, then start from step 2.

5. Recover your busted stuff.

Your bookmarks are saved in a file called "bookmarks.html." If you're unlucky like I was, your bookmarks file may have been corrupted when your system crashed. But, if you are lucky like I was, Firefox was kind enough to do daily backups of your bookmarks. (This may be a feature of the new version 1.5, so if you're still using the public 1.0.x versions, you might not have this luxury). My Profiles folder had a subfolder called "bookmarkbackups" that included files such as, bookmarks-2005-11-28.html (labelled by date). Through Firefox's top menu, under Bookmarks - Manage Bookmarks, follow the Import wizard and import the most recent bookmarks file you can find.

Your stored passwords are saved in two files. First, you need the "signons.txt" file, which contains your passwords in an encrypted format. Then, you need the "key3.db" file. Make sure Firefox is shut down, then copy both files from your backup Profiles folder to your new one.

That should bring your busted stuff back to life.

For future reference... just remember to back up your Profiles folder regularly! Then, you'll always be able to restore your important Firefox data. There's also a nice little Firefox extension you can use to automatically backup your bookmarks.

Work and money

Well... I got 2 of the 4 things on my "list of things to do over this long weekend" done. The list looks like this:

1. web site
2. DVD burner
3. xmas decor
4. clean up


Item number 1 refers to a web site I've been working on for a client. It's been a really fun web site to work on, for a new kid's shower product. I'll link to it when it's ready for public consumption. How can you go wrong with dinosaurs and a cute jingle? The site will go live this week, and I'm looking forward to it.

One thing that this particular project finally forced me to do is open a business checking account. I did the whole business registration thing over the summer, but hadn't gotten around to opening a checking account. It's pretty cool to have checks with my business name on them. (Purple Penguins Web Studio, plug plug).

Item number 2 refers to the new DVD burner I bought a couple weeks ago. Would you believe that I actually purchased a piece of computer hardware and haven't installed it yet? Yeah, I've been that busy (and obsessed with poker). One of the various computer magazines around here said that the Pioneer DVR-R100 dual layer DVD burner was the shiznet (PC Mag, I believe it was). So I bought it.

My purchase was actually a side effect of all of the misery I've been experiencing from last month's hard drive crash and subsequent data loss. It takes 20 CD's to do a full Norton Ghost backup of my system, so I decided to invest in the DVD burner. Now I just need to get around to installing it.

Item number 3 on my list: Christmas decorations. Unfortunately I couldn't get a hold of a ladder to do the lights on the front of the house, and it was raining all day today. So, Xmas decor will have to wait.

Item 4: clean up around the house. Done and done.

That's been my weekend in a nutshell! Geeking out on a web site. Hopefully I'll have a DVD burner story to tell this week :)

Make your iPod pretty again

I'm posting this mainly for my own future reference :) I had my iPod for a few months before I bought a case for it, and in that time, it got quite scratched up. Hallelujah! I can make it pretty again! A bit pricy, but...

RadTech Products - Ice Creme - Scratch remover for 1-5G iPod, shuffle, nano, iBooks & more!

What a nightmare

This weekend was an internet nightmare for me. It's all over now and fixed, but I'll repost my story here from my poker blog:

Early in the weekend:

A few days ago, Randy came to me and told me that he had messed up our network somehow by installing Azereus, a bit torrent client. (This may be completely coincidental and unrelated to the problem). It sucked up huge CPU/memory resources on his machine, so he uninstalled it. Since then, though, every computer on our network is experiencing frequent "connection timed out" errors when browsing the web. Non-web-based internet access, however, seems unaffected (ie. I can still play on Party Poker and Full Tilt Poker with no problems). Yesterday, I could hardly do anything online. Today, the time-outs are spotty and random. Refreshing a page 2 or 3 times seems to do the trick to get it to connect. When things DO connect, they do so perfectly - full speed ahead, no bandwidth issues. This problem occurs in both Firefox (my primary browser - I'm using version 1.5 RC2) and in Internet Explorer, so I don't think the problem is browser based. It happens on all 3 computers on the network.

All 3 machines are wirelessly connected using 802.11g and WPA security on a Linksys router, which exits through a Toshiba cable modem to Comcast. All are running Windows XP Pro with SP2. All 3 machines are getting good signal quality.

Things I've tried:

• Updated the router's firmware, which coincidentally had a fix for a WPA security issue. Glad I did that.
  
• Checked for Comcast outages in my area. None have been reported, though that doesn't really mean anything. When Comcast screws up in this area, it's usually huge.
  
• Ran spyware and virus scans on all machines (clean).
  
• Tried disabling firewall and antivirus/worm checking to see if either were blocking traffic. No effect.
  
• Cleared cache and cookies in the browsers.
  
• Power-cycled the cable modem and router.
  
• Rebooted all computers.
  

The fact that yesterday was awful and today is a bit better makes me think that the problem is with Comcast, despite them insisting on there being no problems in my area. Here's another thing:

If I hop off of my own wireless network and jump on my neighbor's network (they have satellite internet and not Comcast), things work fine. That makes me think that the problem lies in Comcast somehow. Take this as a tip, too - don't leave your wireless network with the default settings. Anybody in range can hijack your connection and steal your bandwidth.

Usually, when Comcast craps out, it's their DNS servers going all whack. I have my DNS servers hard-coded to non-Comcast servers for this reason. This time, though - it's not a DNS issue. I can't access web sites via domain name OR IP address.

Anyhooo... if this is a Comcast issue, then I'll just have to wait till it starts working again. Anyone else in Chicagoland having similar troubles on Comcast this weekend?

Last night:

Hallelujah - I'm back online.

For anyone interested in the solution to my network dilemma... I wish I could tell you. I know what fixed the problem, but couldn't tell you what the problem was. I went to my mom's house yesterday for her birthday (Happy B-day, Mom!), and used her computer to do some more research. She, too, has Comcast, but lives about a half hour away from me, so is not on the same cable trunk as I am. I found a new entry on Comcast's "network health" page that indicated weekend maintenance that may cause disruption of service, with an affected area of "nationwide." (Thanks, guys - that's helpful). Hmmm. Then, on a completely unrelated note, I decided to do a speed test on my mom's connection. I set her up a few months ago, so her equipment is all brand new. She was getting a solid 8000 kbps downstream! D'oh! I thought my connection was fast at 3500, but a few students of mine told me of much higher speeds, and it made me curious. Well... what could this possibly be?

I decided to go on Comcast's site again and look up their list of "approved" modems. I'd read on their forums that some people had to trade in their old modems for new ones in order to receive last summer's speed upgrade. My Toshiba modem (which is 4 years old) was listed as approved, but not for new installs. It recommended NOT purchasing it new, but if it was already on the network, it could stay. That made me think that it should be just fine. But, I'm a speed hog, and my mom's Linksys cable modem was listed as approved with no special notations. I decided to take the $50 gift card to Office Depot that was burning a hole in my pocket and go get a new cable modem.

I bought the same Linksys one my mom has, and went home and hooked it up. After spending a good hour on the phone with Comcast's tech support trying to give them the new MAC addresses (of my new cable modem, and of my old router, which they should have already had), I got the new cable modem working. That too was a fiasco, and I ended up having to connect my laptop directly to the cable modem to get it working on the phone with the guy (Comcast doesn't support home networks unless you buy everything from them), so they had the MAC of my laptop registered as the live machine. Thank goodness for MAC address cloning. Once I got off the phone with the cable guy and set that up on my router, I was good to go.

Network, up! Speed, blazing!

So what was wrong with my old modem? My theory is that since my old modem was so old and only supported the DOCSIS specification version 1.0 (whereas this new modem supports 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0), the upgrade that people were talking about on Comcast's forums must have made obsolete my cable modem. I don't think it was dying, because the connectivity problems fell right in line with this "maintenance" upgrade on Comcast's end. Too bad that Comcast doesn't communicate very well with its customers, and when they do, they fail to give any useful information. I may never know what the problem actually was.

Yummy

Or shall I say, Delicious? http://del.icio.us

The coolest thing I've found lately... Delicious is a social bookmarking site that not only allows users to go portable with their bookmarks/favorites, but allows for sharing of bookmarks with others. Better yet - subscribe to the RSS feed of some cool person's Delicious bookmarks, and you've got endless web surfing fodder.

My bookmarks are at: http://del.icio.us/phlyersphan

This is, of course, a work in progress, since I lost my entire bookmark collection when my hard drive died a few weeks back (see previous posts on the topic...)

Check it out. Cool stuff.

Program TiVo with Yahoo

How cool is this? You can program your TiVo via the web through Yahoo. Too bad my TiVo is the ancient original series (requires a Series 2 TiVo). This sure gives me incentive to go buy a new TiVo! I love my TiVo box... it is indeed the best thing since bread came sliced.

Online Scheduling - Yahoo! TV: "# Yahoo! and TiVo have partnered to give you the ultimate remote control: the Web!
# Now you can schedule recordings on your TiVo� box from any internet connection.
# From any Yahoo! TV episode page, just click 'Record to my TiVo box'."

The Near-Future of IT

This past Friday, I attended a conference on the near-future (read: next 5 years) of Information Technology in terms of job availability and skill sets. There were a handful of panel speakers representing various large companies in the Chicagoland area, speaking to what they look for in IT candidates for their technology departments, and what they anticipate as far as future needs through 2010. Some things surprised me; others didn't.

The top 10 things I learned about the near-future of IT in Chicagoland:

1. Application programming is dead. Every single company said that they no longer hire in-house application developers. Instead, they use canned solutions out-of-the-box. This does, however, increase their need for software support personnel on-site.

2. The only niche in application programming that will continue to be viable in this area over the next few years is game programming, particularly since Chicago is home to one of the biggest game development companies - Midway games.

3. The need for web programming and web services developers has been consistant and will continue to grow.

4. There is still a need for network administrators, from entry level technicians through network and systems analysts. These jobs can't be outsourced or shipped overseas.

5. Network security is huge, and the current shortage of qualified candidates to fill positions is only going to get worse.

6. Companies are no longer looking for the jack-of-all-trades IT types. They want people with an extreme depth of knowledge on particular brands or subjects, and not necessarily a wide breadth of knowledge.

7. Industry certifications still get the nod over people who hold no certifications, but a college degree is also required. Bachelor's degrees are the new minimum, and Master's degrees are required for management positions.

8. Most companies prefer to hire people with experience, even at entry level - making internships that much more important.

9. Finding job candidates with a good work ethic is no longer enough; solid moral ethics are also required, particularly in security roles.

10. The next big IT boom will be upon us by the year 2010, so get ready!

Top 10 replies by developers when their programs don't work

Toooo freakin' funny. I've used them all...

C. Enrique Ortiz' Weblog: "Top 10 replies by developers when their programs don't work:

10. 'That's weird...'
9. 'It's never done that before.'
8. 'It worked yesterday.'
7. 'You must have the wrong version.'
6. 'It works, but it hasn't been tested.'
5. 'Somebody must have changed my code.'
4. 'Did you check for a virus?'
3. 'Where were you when the program blew up?'
2. 'Why do you want to do it that way?'

and finally ...

1. 'I thought I fixed that.'"

For weather geeks

(of which I am one)

Weather Bonk

It shows your local weather on a Google map, with points marked where weather cams exist. Rolling over a cam marker shows a thumbnail picture of the current view from the weather cam, and you can overlay the local radar right on to the map. It's freakin' cool.

I'm Home

Back from Vegas... and I still have to go to work, so to satiate your curiousity - no, I didn't win millions. I didn't lose too much though, so it's all good. You can read the Vegas trip reports at my poker blog.

I have very little techie speak to spew today, except that I have a secret crush on Patrick Norton (formerly of The Screen Savers) and have today discovered his video-cast: DigitalLife TV. I will be an avid watcher, for sure.

Do as I say...

... not as I do.

One of the classes I teach at the local community college is computer repair. I preach constantly about the importance of backing up data and maintaining a frequent system upkeep schedule. Today, I finally paid for not practicing what I preach.

The last time I backed up my data was July 2004. Yeah. Over a year ago.

Last Christmas (10 months ago or so), I upgraded my computer from an Athlon XP 2200 to the Athlon 64-bit 3500+. I added a gig of Corsair XMS dual channel DDR400 ram, a brand new 250GB Maxtor DiamondMax hard drive, and a new CD burner. I added extra fans, and a neon light, and did it up sweet.

Shortly thereafter, I started having hard disk problems. Turns out, my power supply couldn't handle the neon light and extra fans. I unplugged them, and the problems stopped - and I was able to retrieve my data from the drive.

That incident was the 2nd time in 3 years that I'd had some sort of system crash but was able to recover my data. You'd think I'd have seen how lucky I was and started backing up.

I've intended for years to go buy a copy of Norton Ghost. It's an awesome product - I used it years ago at a computer shop I used to work at. But, it's $70. I always backed down at the last minute and avoided buying it. Too expensive.

Another thing I've been procrastinating is buying a new power supply. I thought I had a 400 watt PS in my system, and I figured after disabling the extras in my case, that was fine for a while - until I had some spare cash for a new PS. It never made it high on my priority list.

Last night, everything came full circle. I'd unplugged my computer to work on my cousin's system (which went just fine - though included ANOTHER failed Maxtor hard drive, the 6th I've owned, encountered, or heard of in the last 4 years). I went to plug my system back in, and as I plugged the power plug into the back of the power supply, something surged. The system was turned off, but power surged through it, lighting the power LED and whirring the fans momentarily before cutting out. I thought, "That was weird."

Sure was. My hard drive never came up after that - just repeated a loud clicking noise and hung the system.

You never want to hear a hard drive click. Not like that.

I lost everything - couldn't even boot the drive as a slave on another working system. It just clicks and hangs. I have so much data that was of vital importance that I hadn't backed up.

I am an idiot.

My last resort is the old freezer trick. My dead drive is in my freezer as we speak. I'll remove it from its icy home tomorrow and try booting it one last time in its frozen state. The trick worked once for me. I don't expect to have any luck with it this time around, due to the degree to which the thing sounds to be toasted. But I am praying.

Literally.

Right now, as I type, I'm on disk 9 of who-knows-how-many of a Ghost hard drive backup. I reinstalled Windows and most of my software. And now, I Ghost.

Wish me luck....

Podcast Obsession

I finally got an iPod a few months ago - the 20GB white one, 4th generation. Since then, I've discovered podcasts. I find them to be a great way to pass the time driving to work or to the poker room. Here are my current faves:

TWiT - This Week in Tech - Oh, how I love Patrick Norton. I've been crushing on him since the days of the TechTV show "The Screen Savers." Kevin Rose is cool too, and I consider Leo LaPorte to be a fantastic tech news broadcaster and author. This weekly podcast routinely gives me a couple hours worth of interesting links and tidbits to surf through after listening.

The Web 2.0 Show - I was turned on to this podcast after its mention on TWIT, and for any web developer looking to stay on the cutting edge of web interactivity and interface design, this show is a great resource of news and links. If you don't know what "Web 2.0" is, check out this article by Tim O'Reilly.

Digg Nation - Kevin Rose's podcast, elaborating on the top news articles of the week from digg.com. If you aren't already using Digg as your source of tech news, try it out. It's like slashdot, gone web 2.0. I love it. Nothing against slashdot - I still read over there too - but the Digg interface is much more slick and interactive, and the scope of news coverage seems to be a bit more broad without being irrelevant. I dig Digg.

Command N - You can't listen to this one, since it's a video podcast, but still worthy of mention. Amber Mac, of "Call for Help" Toronto fame, hosts this video podcast on tech news - mostly web related. She calls herself a "web strategist," and I thought that was just the coolest title ever. I might have to become one of those some day.

Card Club on Lord Admiral Radio - A weekly poker podcast, often featuring fellow poker bloggers of much higher fame than I. Not only am I a computer geek, but I'm also a poker geek.

That's what I'm into right now... in fact, it's time to update the iPod so I can go make the hour-long trek to the casino.

Bad Blog Mommy

I've neglected this here blog, and I've been feeling guilty about it. GeekGoesMeow became little more than a dumping ground for links I found while at work or away from home, and wanted to be sure to read later.

I'd rather it be more than that - namely, what it was originally intended to be: my geek musings.

So - while I likely won't post here as frequently as I do to my poker blog, I will try to make things a little more interesting. Thanks for reading!