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Office Politics In A Tough Economy0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 31st, 2009

Over the past few months, we have seen the economy fall into a slump.

Demands in the workplace are growing… not really for personnel, but OF the existing (or remaining) personnel.

There are plenty of people sharing their suggestions about surviving office politics.

As with any functional social group, dynamics unfold.  That’s whether you are in school, in a social group, or at work.

You see Alphas emerge, just like in animal group dynamics.

Usually, in the workplace… it’s a little more subtle.

Just like the wild kingdom, there is a social order or dynamic, taking place.

The question is… how do you survive office politics?

There is an article at Top 7 Business that describes some good tips.

I am not a psychologist, nor was I a psychology major.

I do have some real-world experience.

From my experience, I can offer the following:

1.  Appreciate your job. Not everyone has a job, these days.  Be humble and motivated.

2.  Do your job, to the best of your ability and apply honest effort. Be clear on your responsibilities, and handle them accordingly.  Don’t pass them off, or try to trick others into doing your work for you.

3.  Stick to the truth and facts. Don’t embellish or exaggerate.   As tempting as it might be, avoid adding your frustrations or opinions.

4.  Communicate, fully and effectively. Be polite and clear.   Provide as much detail as you possibly can.

5.  Be prepared to describe your ideas and experience, with supporting facts and figures. Wait for an opportunity to share your views.  Timing is important.  Upper managers are really busy, and have the expectation that others respect their heavy schedule.

6.  Don’t argue. Even if you are right, and you declare yourself the winner of the argument… in the long run you will lose.  Have you ever known ’someone to avoid’ in your office?

7.  Don’t kiss up. The worst thing you can do is draw negative attention.  Remember, the goal is to maintain the respect of your co-workers and managers.

8.  If you have extra workload, do it. Be less concerned with the workload of others around you.  A heavy workload may characterize you as an important contributor.

9.  Cover yourself. “Will this come back to bite me?” is an effective question to ask yourself, when deciding which memos or emails to save.

Most importantly… Avoid politics as much as possible.

The article at Top 7 Business offers some some great guidelines.

The person that looks the best, is the one that does his job, without political attempt… and seems to be the easiest with which to get along.

In this tight economy, politicians in the workplace have more to worry about, than the team player doing an honest job.

A Look At How USB Drives Are Made0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 30th, 2009

How To Securely Delete Data In Windows0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 28th, 2009

In Windows, for the most part, when you delete a file, you delete a reference to the file.

The file is still on your system, and can be recovered using an array of techniques and software.

Sometimes that can be good… in the case of an accidental deletion of important information.

And…  sometimes that can be bad, if the bad guys get access to your system and recover your information or files.

It’s scary to think about the potential harm that could come to you.

It could be identity theft, if the files contain important personal information, or it might even be worse.

I was approached last night by a friend of mine.

He wanted an application that would ’shredd’ his data from his drive.

In essence, if he deleted a file, he wanted the actual data to be wiped out, at the same time as the reference.

So, if someone were to get access to his drive, they would not be able to use a recovery utility to reclaim the data.

I gave him a copy of FreeEraser.

It overwrites the data with random bits, during a delete operation.

That’s so someone that gets access to your drive, they cannot reassemble any deleted files, done through the utility.

There are plenty of these utilities out there.  This was the one that was easiest to find.

He also asked me for a utility to wipe his hard drive.

I gave him a copy of Darik’s Boot And Nuke.

Both of these utilities are free.

Punching Your Way Through The Linux Command Line0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 26th, 2009

I haven’t talked about Linux in a while.

It’s not that I am not using it… it’s just that I get more questions from Windows users.

I do have a few friends that I have converted, either in part or in whole.

For the most part, probably the most daunting task in Linux is using the command line.

It’s not really hard, if you have ever opened any type of command prompt.

In reality, to me… the Linux command line seems more intuitive than a DOS prompt.

(There’s Windows Power Shell, but with the other MS logic-based ventures, I have not used it very much.  From having looked over some examples, looks like it might have been intended to be Unix-ish.)

For the most part, the command prompt, or shell in Linux always seems to make sense to me.

That’s not to say, that I don’t encounter commands that are not installed, or that I don’t have to look up.

Bash (the Bourne-Again Shell) is the one that I use the most.  That’s not to compare it with the other shells, in any way.

It is pretty common among Linux distributions.

I do seem to spend less time working my way through the logic of the command syntax, than I ever did in DOS or batch files.

I came across Ayman Hourieh’s Blogpost about How to Debug Bash Scripts.

It shows how to use tools on the command line in Linux to work through the function and logic.

It’s designed more for scripts (think of them like the equivalent of batch files in DOS).  Ayman did a great job in demonstrating and detailing it for anyone that might want to use it for finding and working out details in their Bash scripts.

It also provides you with information about the commands that you might encounter, or with which you might have problems.

It will also work on the regular commands, you might manually enter, and give you more insight into what is going on behind the scenes as you type them.

It’s good information and an excellent read.

Hats off to Ayman Hourieh, an accomplished writer, author and Google software engineer on a great post about tracing.

Hidden Danger In Social Media0
Joe M posted in security on August 24th, 2009

I have gotten several questions, this weekend, regarding viruses and malware.

The authors of malware and viruses are great at adapting.

Most people know enough to understand that viruses and malware are bad.

So, in their strategy, they have made it hard for people to distinguish their software from virus scanners or malware scanners.

In many cases, they fool you into thinking that they have scanned your machine, and they are ready to help… all you have to do is click on the link they provide you.

After you do… your machine slows to a crawl, or becomes non-responsive.

What is going on behind the scenes?

If you are lucky, you might just be sending out spam for them.  (That’s until your ISP disables your mail account.)

Your machine could be joined to a botnet.  If someone that owns the botnet wants to take down a website, they issue a command, to flood the website with an overflow of traffic.  That includes traffic from your machine, and all the others on the botnet.

Some of the nastier strains of stuff floating around might have a key-logger or some other type of data collection routine.  After it gathers enough personal information, it packages the information and emails itself to either the original author, or to someone that has paid the author to have the information forwarded to them.

Just because you don’t have MS Outlook (or whatever email program you use) open, that does not mean that the email can’t successfully make it out of your system.

Best case scenario – your machine just slows down.

Minor worst case scenario – rogue charges show up on your credit card.

Worst worst case scenario – your identity is stolen. (We have not fully discovered all of them, yet.)

The social media websites have their hands full.

Their main priority is in protecting themselves and their users from predators and other offensive users.

That’s not to say, that they don’t care about malware and viruses… but on occasion, viruses and malware find an exploit in or around their sites.

I am happy that I am not tasked with security administration, in any form, for any of those sites.

Bottom line:  If you use social media, make virus and malware scans part of your normal routine, every time you use social media.

Cuil Gets Search Feature Enhancements0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 23rd, 2009

A few months ago, a new search engine made its debut.

Cuil was a great effort.

It seemed to show great promise.

Then…

The hype seemed to die.

Immediately.  Without reason or rhyme.

Cuil has made some upgrades to their realtime search engine.

Most notably, there are some features that seem pretty helpful.

Will everyone drop Google for Cuil?

Probably not.

No more than they have dropped it for Bing.

The experience that I have had with search, it’s good to have more than one source.

I have not dropped Google.  I still use it as much as I did a year ago.

But, I do use Bing as well.  Not to the extent that I rely on Google, but I do use it.

For sake of conscience, I take a look at several sources, when I come up without many results.

I also keep in mind… When people try to hack Google for ranking in results, Google might intervene in some way to circumvent the hack and to try to maintain the integrity of their rankings.

What that means is, it might not hurt to have another search source to check.

My Google results are usually pretty accurate and helpful, but I like to check those against others.

You never can tell what the difference in results might yield.

From The Outside, Looking In0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 22nd, 2009

Having studied different forms of programming code and algorithms… and having hacked my way through some of them…

Sometimes I see something that just fascinates me.

I can’t even put my finger on it.

Check out Personas from someone at MIT.

Quoted from the Personas Page:

Personas is a component of the Metropath(ologies) exhibit, currently on display at the MIT Museum by the Sociable Media Group from the MIT Media Lab. It uses sophisticated natural language processing and the Internet to create a data portrait of one’s aggregated online identity. In short, Personas shows you how the Internet sees you.

It has something going on, behind the scenes.

From what I can tell, you enter your name and click the start button.

Not sure about the accuracy, but the process looks impressive.  (I am pretty sure that it’s a set of queries, based off of the name you enter.  So, the results could be every deliverable response to the phrase “joe m.”)

There are animations that take place during the build of the graphic, which probably appeals to the geek in me.

There is something intriguing, when you can tell ’someone’s wheels have been turning.’

I can’t think of too many applications for this particular use of such a graphic, but I always like to see someone spark an idea.

Sometimes, an inspiration for something great is prompted by an idea, or an example.

This just could be one of those.

The effort is impressive.

Updates For Windows Apps, In One Place0
Joe M posted in free stuff on August 21st, 2009

I came across Appupdater on Sourceforge.net.

It’s based off of a great idea.

One of the things that so many of us like about Linux, is the ability to update several applications through one interface (for the most part).

Appupdater aims at bringing this idea to Microsoft Windows.

It is in beta.

I am looking forward to playing around with it, a little more.

I am fascinated with the idea.

It is free, and published via the General Public License.

My Thoughts On Study And Preparation0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 20th, 2009

I noticed that YouTube is loaded with videos of “How to cheat.”

While I think some of those are pretty crafty, and deserve some merit for creativity…

I still maintain the best way to learn information is to actually study it.

Your best option is to learn as a goal.

I can remember grade school, and not really knowing how to study.

There are plenty of “How to study” posts and videos floating around.

Somewhere along the line, I came up with my own process.

I wanted to share my process, or the steps I use, for preparation and study.

An Injection For Your Noggin:

• 1.  Plan ahead, and know your limitations.  If you are preparing to take a test, give yourself ample time to absorb the information.  I try to give myself a week of prep and study time for about 10 pages of information.  The more information you have to study, the more time to set aside for absorption.
• 2.  Don’t expect to learn everything in one sitting.  You need to set aside time for all of the following steps.
• 3.  Organize your notes into clear thoughts.  If you are presented with an idea that is not completely clear, or needs explanation, do your research and clarify it in your notes.
• 4.  Use a presentation program, like Microsoft Office or OpenOffice Present.  Take your notes and make slides of the information.  Each slide should be easy to follow.  Once you get the presentation organized, you can use the slideshow function to pace through your notes.  You can time each slide, or manually change slides with the mouse button, or the Enter key.
• 5.  Voice and record your notes.  I use a small cassette recorder, just because I have had it, and I am used to it.  It’s easier for me to rewind and record over mistakes.  There are plenty of digital recorders on the market that are affordable these days.  (One day soon, I will break down and buy one.)
• 6.  Play the recording of your voice, along with the presentation.  Repeat this step, at least 4 times a day.  (This is good for memorization.)
• 7.  For math, coding or working problems, the best way to learn is to practice.  I perform this step along with Step #6.  I try to perform this step at least twice a day, for each type of problem, or applcation.  (This should address how you apply what you are learning, beyond the facts and figures.)

After having worked in IT for a long time, everything is in a constant state of volatility.

It’s all about having to adapt and learn quickly.

I have worked with people that spend a long time learning a topic and know it well… but they lack the ability, or motivation, to adapt or continue to learn.

Once you accustom yourself to being able to learn, and do so quickly… you’ll find that it’s a talent that will serve you well in any endeavor.

The First Case Of Cyberbullying0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 19th, 2009

A 40-year-old woman in Missouri is being charged with felony cyberbullying.

After engaging in an argument with another woman, Elizabeth A. Thrasher obtained and posted pictures and information of and about the woman’s daughter to Craigslist.

The information was posted in a section that was labeled “Casual Encounters.”

According to reports, Thrasher used the information and pictures in such a way as to make it seem as if the posting originated from the woman’s daughter, who is 17 years old.

The girl began to receive obscene calls, emails and pictures from men she did not even know.

This is the first case in which charges are originating from a law passed last year, over the death of 13 year old Megan Meier.

It makes me wonder… are we entering into a darker side of the internet?

The thing to remember, for all of us… is the fact that whatever you type, anywhere, online… can be permanent.

It’s not always, but you could consider it that way.

Looking back at the Thrasher charges…

I expect more states to follow Missouri’s lead.

What seems to be missing?

Missouri created more law around a new definition, cyberbullying.

It sounds like there might be ‘holes’ in the current identity theft laws.

Isn’t there anything within those laws to prevent posting and posing as someone else, both for ill-intent and for lack of consent or approval of the affected party?

130 Million Accounts Targeted In Identity Theft0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 18th, 2009

Identity theft is alive and well.

Federal authorities have indicted three people in connection with what they have called the largest identity theft case ever.

The case involves more than 130 million consumer accounts.

The activity charged involved more than five breaches, in which the targets were Heartland Payment Systems, the 7-eleven and Hannaford Brothers chains.

Alberto Gonzales was named in the charges, along with two unidentified Russians.

Gonzales was indicted over a year ago, in a breach related to the TJ Maxx and Marshalls chains.  There were 41 million accounts identified in that event.

Reports say that Gonzales has acted as an informant, in the past, feeding information to authorities.

The charges include unauthorized access, intent to commit computer fraud and wire fraud.

If convicted, the charges could include penalties of up to 35 years in prison and heavy fines.

According to authorities, the group was doing their homework.

They scanned Fortune 500 companies websites, but also visited the stores to visually inspect the retail equipment.

This makes me wonder how the retail checkout of the future will look.

Will it be a dark booth, covered in two-way mirrors?

Also…

I wonder what surveillance footage was recovered.

Dealing With Scratched CDs0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 16th, 2009

One thing that usually happens with CDs (and DVDs) is they usually ‘develop’ scratches.

It can happen with mistreatment, but it can also happen with normal use.

It is possible to polish the scratches out.

MakeUseOf has a good article on removing scratches, or at least polishing the CD to a usuable state, again.

It involves using some sort of liquid or solution, and a cotton swab.

The different solutions I have heard of using include baking soda and water, furniture polish, and toothpaste.

I am sure there are more out there.

I have tried it, and have had success in some certain instances, with toothpaste.

I’ve found that it’s better to start out with a small amount of the solution, and rub in small circles.

Be gentle, and don’t overdo it.

Try a little at a time.

You can try it, wash it off… then dry it and test it out.

When drying, use a soft cloth.  Never use kleenex or any type of paper.

Blot from the center outward.  If you have to wipe, wipe from the center outward.

In some instances, if the CD is scratched, you really have nothing to lose.

It never hurts to sharpen your skills on a CD that has a small scratch, but may contain data that is not a life-threatening loss.

Why not try it, prior to an emergency situation?

Google And Caffeine0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 15th, 2009

Google has opened up a new take on it’s search engine technology this week.

If you take a look at the current search results, on the standard page:

And if you take a look at the new implementation, still in test:

It’s called Google Caffeine.

It’s based on GFS2, Google’s technology and name for a file system.

How is it different?

The results look different.

What are the ranking differences?

There are obviously some cosmetic differences.  Advertisements have not yet been added.

The logo changes have not been implemented.

I am looking forward to getting a chance to play with it, in more detail.

I like the idea that Google is providing themselves with a challenge for improvement.

Will Microsoft Stop Selling Word?0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 13th, 2009

Microsoft has been ordered to stop selling it’s popular word-processing software, Microsoft Word.

A Toronto-base company, i4i, filed a patent in 1998 for methods of reading XML.

The company sought an injunction and damages against Microsoft.

According to several reports, Microsoft has 60 days to comply.

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft responds.

I do not view Microsoft as the kind of comply to ignore court orders and proceedings.

What I could see… in my opinion… is Microsoft taking the 60 day grace period to do so speedy code… to remove the XML references.

Will they ‘re-version’ the updated application… or Office?

The remains leave Microsoft having to pay $290 million in damages to i4i, $40 million of which are reported to have been for infringement.

The patent and intellectual property game gets more interesting as each year goes by.

Explaining Phishing To Grandma0
Joe M posted in security on August 12th, 2009

We all have to eventually explain concepts that can be a little daunting.  This is a pretty good approach to explaining the Phishing concept.

What Goes Where?0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 11th, 2009

I could tell you, as working as a person in I.T., I have never experienced anything that brought me to side-splitting laughter.

But… I would be lying.

One day, I got a call from a customer.

The call went something like this:

“Joe, I have a disk stuck in the drive of my PC.”

“Well, pull it out.”

“I can’t.  It’s stuck.”

“It won’t eject.  You’re going to have to come fix it.”

So, I drove over to his office.

The PC had a front-loading CD drive, similar to the kind you find in most car stereos, these days.

My customer had put a 3.5 inch floppy disk in the drive… and the drive took it.

I took a pair of needle-nosed pliers and attempted to pull the disk out.

JRRRSSSSSST!

It let me pull it halfway out, then pulled it right back in.

The machine would not surrender.

Fearing defeat…  I had to remove all the booby traps (that’s the minutia that everyone has on their PC)… disconnect all of the cables… and take the monitor off the top of the machine.

After shaking the case over my head, the 3.5 floppy fell out.

I put it all back together.  Luckily, it all worked just fine… including the CD drive, and including the would-be maligned floppy.

Normally, I do not try to laugh at my customers’ mistakes.  (I did at this… but so did my customer, so I figured it was OK.)

Even though things are usually labeled correctly, this anecdote reminds me that there is still room for error… for all of us.

With that in mind, I came across a great guide for identifying the different ports on your computer here.

If you have ever wondered what some of those ports are and what they do, this is a great article.  If you want a little more confidence in plugging them all back in… it’s a good, fast read.

Linux Administration Skills In Demand0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 9th, 2009

There is a story today at Linux Insider.

As the economy shifts, more businesses and companies are looking to Linux as either a functional complement to or functional replacement for Microsoft Windows.

According to the article, jobs centering Linux System Administration Skills are growing in demand.

That’s even though unemployment figures are on the rise.

Ever since 2000, I knew that somewhere along the line, this composition, or this Linux thing must be worth more than most people realize.

From my experience, I have seen several of what I would call ‘OS fanatics.’

I won’t generalize.

I can tell you that I had a good friend that was nothing but a Microsoft fanatic.  He seemed to be of the opinion, “If you can’t do it with Microsoft, then it can’t be done.  And if it can be done with something other than Microsoft or Windows, then it’s not legal.”

I had another friend that could be described as a Mac Fanatic.  She seemed to have a certain laziness surrounding her, all the time.

Whenever either of them got around another Operating System, the Microsoft fan could feel his way through a Mac OS X session.  The Mac girl could start Windows and Internet Explorer.

For the most part, administering another OS-based system seemed foreign to both of them.

For what seems like the first time, people in technology are having to consider other things outside of the norm.

What budgets and allocations would allow two years ago, are not the same allowances made today.

Broadband For The Masses?0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 8th, 2009

There is an article at BetaNews about the move to bring broadband to the masses in the United States.

The FCC is hosting discussions concerning a broadband plan for February 2o1o.

From what I can tell, there are three candidate sets of standards that might be used.

Those could be:

WiMax – 802.16, which seems to require line-of-sight in some instances.

Broadband Over Powerline – BPL, which uses the power grid for broadband access.  From what I remember, some HAM radio experts were concerned about interference with the HAM radio spectrum.

Standard Wifi – 802.11 series of wireless technologies.  The most popular standard in use today.  The drawbacks are penetration and signal range.

This is probably an over-simplification of the technologies available, but these are the most popular, from what I can deduce.

There is a great article at About.com that discusses the different specifications of some 802.11 implementations.

No matter which of these technologies or if another is used, the biggest challenge is going to be implementation.

What will be interesting, is if a current standard is implemented.  What would be even more interesting, is if a new standard is created and used.

I love the idea of broadband for the masses.

I think it will be interesting to see the execution and implementation.

With a new presidential administration in office, it will be worth watching how the plans unfold.

Renaming Files In Batch Mode, In Ubuntu0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 6th, 2009

Out of pure laziness… I came across a package in Ubuntu that lets you rename multiple files, with a wildcard symbol.

Sure, there is a command line (several actually) that will allow you to do it, without installing anything.

Due to time constraints, I decided to use mrename.

You see, I fiddled with the settings on my camera.

The first picture it creates when you snap a photo is DSC_001.JPG.

Subsequently, each additional picture is named DSC_002.JPG, DSC_003.JPG, DSC_004.JPG, etc.

When you wipe the storage disk, it starts over, back at DSC_001.JPG.

As I said, there is a setting in the firmware that will control it.

Just for kicks I installed mrename using

$ sudo apt-get install mrename

When I finished, I changed to the directory that contained some of my pictures.

$ mrename ‘*’.JPG A -m

The result worked fine.

I did notice that due to the character ordering, some of the pictures were somewhat out of sequence.

No big deal, I like them randomized, anyway.

It adds an A## prefix to each file within the directory.

It does make it a little easier to copy all of your pictures into one directory, after you rename them.

mrename comes standard in the Ubuntu ‘plain vanilla’ repositories.

Get Traffic Information From Google Maps1
Joe M posted in free stuff on August 5th, 2009

I was looking up some directions using Google Maps, recently.

Just tooling around… I stumbled on to something I had never noticed.

Did you know that you can gather traffic data for your directions on Google Maps?

Using the Traffic button on the map, you can get current the traffic flow for the map you are viewing.

Just single-click the left button on your mouse on Traffic (inside the graphic of the map).

Now… for a little more advanced application.

Using the change option under Traffic, we can choose a day of the week and time (via the slider), to see a projected map of the traffic flow.

Keep in mind, this is a projection, based off of historical data, for the day of the week and time.

That does not account for real-time changes in the traffic flow.

It’s what you could consider a best-case scenario.

For instance, if a multi-car accident happens during the time of your travel, on one of your routes, the projection won’t show you that.

(But if you have access to Google Maps, just prior to embarking on your trip, you can use the Traffic button to view the current reported status!)

It is a great tool in planning trips, even so.

The First Criminal Case In Domain Name Theft0
Joe M posted in opinion on August 4th, 2009

For the first time in history, someone is being charged with criminal activity related to domain name theft.

A domain name is basically part of the URL at the top of your browser in the address bar.

When you use Godaddy or a domain name registrar, you buy the domain name.  Godaddy, or any other registrar uses your purchase and information to register and hold the domain name with ICANN for you to use.

ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

Someone allegedly used illegal activity to transfer a domain name to their own posssession, so they could sell it on eBay.

The domain was P2P.com.

The information was allegedly obtained through illegal access to the rightful owner’s AOL email address.

Daniel Goncalves, 25 years old and a computer technician, has been charged with criminal activity.  This is a first.

Usually, these cases are so murky and misunderstood, that the plaintiffs are lucky to be heard in civil court.

I do think this is an important turning point in Internet Law.

Guidelines of accepted behavior are forming.  Terms are being defined for what is acceptable in the domain name space.

How the names are accepted and procured is being brought into question.

I think over the next couple of years, we will see laws written to govern the process of acquiring domain names.

For years, people have been ’squatting’ domain names.

For instance… if someone saw that the ACME company had not yet registered ACME.com… they would go to one of the registrars and register the domain in their name, for ownership.

Once ACME decided they wanted to use the ACME.com website address, they would have to contact the person that registered the ACME.com domain address.

Sometimes, the person scored a win.

It’s not as big a deal, anymore.

From time to time, it did result in a civil lawsuit.

The P2P.com case is significant, because it brings to light activities for consideration of acceptable and unacceptable terms for legal practices.

It could be the defining case for the future of how domain name cases are determined.

It could also be the catalyst for the basis of writing criminal law for similar cases.

Thoughts On Sharing Photos and Files With Family & Friends0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 3rd, 2009

I went to a family reunion, recently.

I spent quite a bit of time, snapping pictures with my Nikon D60.

It was definitely up to the task, and the pictures turned out great.

When I get in one of those situations, I usually snap several pictures.

In roughly two days’ time… I had snapped more than 500 pictures, each in JPG format and about 4 MB a piece in file size.

That’s approximately just under 2 GB of files.

In talking with cousins, aunts and uncles… everyone wanted copies of the pictures.

Not a big deal, in most cases, or a tall task.

A couple of family members had brought their laptops.

Rather than having to go through and set up networking on their machines, to talk to mine… we discussed all the alternatives.

One aunt wanted me to email the pictures to her.

Patiently, I explained that emailing 2 GB of pictures is like trying to use a bucket… or a garden hose… to fill a swimming pool… at the neighbor’s house… down the street.

Not very efficient… and it would take forever… if your ISP did not intervene and disable your email account for strange activity.

Finally, I pulled out a 2 GB thumb drive and cleaned it off.  I copied all of the pictures to the drive and gave it to her, as a gift.

Keep in mind… these are all pictures that I took with my camera, free and legal.

I realized, during the whole conversation, that people that never have been exposed to PCs, laptops… or exchanging files, might have a little challenge in understanding the feasibility of the different ways to transfer files.

A quick rundown:

1.  Email is great for sending a handful of files, usually less than five.  Anymore than that, and it’s better to graduate to another process.

2.  Setting up networking between the PCs / laptops involved is a pretty efficient way of handling it… but most of us do not have the time (I know I don’t) to do the setup.

3.  You could set up an FTP server with a web hosting company and upload all of the files.  Then, subsequently, set up user IDs and passwords for all of the people with whom you want to share the files.  (No one usually has both the knowledge and the time to do this… at least, I never do.)

4.  Burn a DVD or CD.  If you know how to use your CD / DVD burner, this is a fairly easy option, provided you have used it before.  If you have never used the burner or the software, I would pass on this.

5.  Pull out a USB drive, copy the files to it.  Remove the drive and place it in the computer to which you want to copy the files.

All in all… Option #5 is going to be the least tearful experience in all of these.

What the experienced and inexperienced alike have going for them in this, is… most people have Windows, and it’s usually pretty good with popping open a Window for the drive to allow you to drag and drop, etc.

Don’t jump into it, just yet, though…

The caveats?

Make sure that the person with whom you are sharing the drive has updated their virus scanner software.  Ask them if they have had any problems with slowdown or odd behavior.

If the answer is, “Yes”…

Offer to send them a CD or DVD later.

Slowdown and odd behavior could mean that they have a virus or malware infection.

Using a USB drive in both machines is like sharing a spoon with someone that has contracted the H1N1 virus.

Be patient and cautious.  Don’t be in a rush.

Benevolent Hacking – Is There Such An Animal?0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 2nd, 2009

According to TechCrunch, looks like British hacker Gary McKinnon failed in a motion to avoid extradition to the United States.

Back in 2001 and 2002, McKinnon hacked into NASA and U.S. Military computers.

According to reports, McKinnon’s hacks were for the purpose of finding out information about UFOs.

His lawyers have argued that the hacking was not malicious and caused little or no damage.

According to some of the reports, McKinnon suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, which is an autistic disorder, and can result in suicide in some cases.

McKinnon could be facing up to 70 years in prison, for allegedly accessing 97 government computers for the purpose of finding documents related to UFOs.

From the allegations, he reportedly caused damages in the amount of $800,000 (US).

Without discounting the complaints or allegations, the question that pops into my mind… how are the damages calculated?

From the stories I have read, regarding hacks against the government and some corporations… the calculation of damages seems to get a little ‘murky.’

What are the items and the actual formula for damages, and how are they summed?

Is there any scoring or weighting involved?

From some of the stories I have read… without citing particulars… it looks as though the figures and the calculations for damages in similar cases might have a little room for error.

It’s not my opinion that he did not cause the damages, or the amount… but what burden of proof, for the amounts, are placed upon the plaintiff agencies and corporations in cases like this?

Are they allowed to give a round estimated figure, or are they required to produce an itemized list, with associated costs?

Check out the article at TechCrunch for more information.

Batch Photo Processing With ImageTuner (Windows)0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on August 1st, 2009

After having done quick a bit of photography, lately… This caught my eye at Neowin.

Glorylogic.com has a nifty little application for working with photos and graphics in a batch mode.

ImageTuner is a Windows app that does resizing and formatting for you, on the fly.

You can use it with several picture formats… JPG, BMP, PNG, TIFF and more.

The interesting thing?

You can also use it with RAW formats from most of the major digital camera vendors.

That’s not an easy feat.

Check it out at GloryLogic.

Also, check out the post at Neowin.

It does what most of us need… without having to install vendor-specific and license-vague software.

It’s free… and definitely worth checking out.