Dean Paxton

Category: Technology

  • Finally Crap Dot Com!

    So, there is about 4 major things wrong with this commercial:

    1. XP on a MacBook, with a BSOD
    2. Actually, most of the computers depicted are Macs running Windows.
    3. At about :18 in, they have a Mac running windows, running IE, getting the Firefox version of the “Unable to Connect” page.
    4. Finally, through the entire thing, they flash “PC Computers only,” on the bottom.

    I think that the guy who put the commercial together was putting subtle clues to let people know it was a scam.  I think.

    Anyway, seems they charge for free software you can easily download and run yourself. So if you were thinking about running their “Free Scan,” remember these things almost always cost you money and will probably trade your malware, viri, and spyware for theirs.

  • All Apple Legends Aren’t Named Steve

    Do check out Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories. Most of the stories are written by Andy Hertzfeld, Apple hacker legend. I find myself reading and reading the stories. Very compelling stuff to the geeks among us.

  • Developing Columbia News

    Air Force imagery confirms Columbia wing damaged

    “High-resolution images taken from a ground-based Air Force tracking camera in southwestern U.S. show serious structural damage to the inboard leading edge of Columbia’s left wing, as the crippled orbiter flew overhead about 60 sec. before the vehicle broke up over Texas…”

    I was wondering if we had satellite and ground tracking cameras trained upon the shuttle. I figured it would be a matter of time until we found out. These guys track every single object in our orbit right down to things the size of a pop can. I would imagine that they were tracking STS-107 too.

  • Joemchugh.com Launch

    Visit joemchugh.com, register, support local politics Today we launched joemchugh.com. This site was built for Michigan state representative candidate Joe McHugh.

    He’s running in the 30th District, Maccomb County covering Utica and Sterling Heights. His opponent Sal Rocca, a republican, or his wife Sue Rocca, has sat in this office for nearly 30 years. Not to let term limits get in the way, they just swapped seats every now and again and let the other live on.

    Hey, guess what? It’s time for bed Sal, head out to the links and swing a few for us. Go ahead draw one of the last guaranteed pensions left around. Meanwhile, there’s work to be done in Maccomb County.

    Good luck Joe. We’re pulling for you.

  • Words of War

    For thoise that are interested, here is the complete text of the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq. Call this a nessescary prelude, call it the doctrine that sets up a new era of war or, call it what you will. The writing is on the wall.

  • The Good News Trickles In

    A recent report from Aberdeen says that IT execs plan to spend more next year. Yippie!

  • Drop the Slurpee!!! Hands in the Air!!!

    U.S. Investigates Scams for Terror Ties (Reuters)

    WASHINGTON – U.S. authorities are monitoring hundreds of Muslim and Arab small businesses across the United States looking for possible links between criminal scams and funding for militant groups overseas, The Washington Post reported in Monday editions.

    More than 500 businesses, mostly convenience stores, are targeted in a probe of petty scams that authorities believe are generating tens of millions of dollars a year for terrorist organizations, the report said, citing federal officials.
    (more…)

  • The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

    Bin Laden’s son seen gaining power

    Saad bin Laden has provided financial and other logistical support for several al-Qaida operations, said one official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

    Which is important because rumors are circulating again that Osama is dead.

  • A Bit of Advice

    A word of advice to young men: If you have children and are married, stay married until the last child is 18 years old. Refuse to sign divorce proceedings if you must. If you have children and are not married either by divorce or, were never married… pray every single day… you and your reputation are in peril, it’s only a matter of time.

    If you have no children, and can’t see children in your future, get a vasectomy now. If your aren’t sure yet if you should have children, get a vasectomy now. The want of having a child to call your own is far, far less painful than dealing with the offices of the friends of the courts in this country.

    They are a perverted, inept, and criminally negligent network of evil. I’ve never talked to a single person (male or, female) that has had an enjoyable and beneficial experience with an agent or officer of the friend of the court. Lawyers aren’t entirely to blame, yet their wide-spread proliferation has created much of this dynamic. Courts and judges try to act within the best interest of all parties (most of the time) but, are forced to operate within the constraints of the same horrible system.

    Oh, think it can’t happen to you? It can.

    Think it won’t happen to you? It will.

    Think you can handle it? You can’t.

    Believe me when I tell you, young male reader, that I and my many friends will show you our scars, show you our reams of paper work, show you callous former spouses, and finally show you your future… if you fail in heeding this simple piece of advice.

    Remember, every father is a potential deadbeat. If you aren’t a father, then you can’t be a deadbeat.

  • Kvetch is Dead

    Another internet curiosity is gone. Kvetch closed it’s doors a couple of days ago. Like the “really big button that doesn’t do anything” (well, really it was the antithesis of that), it was one of the many ancient and odd cornerstones of the web.

    We’ll miss it.

  • Virus Cost Formula Revised

    calculator_icon.jpg So, a couple of posts back, we worked out a sophomoric formula for calculating the total enterprise cost of fighting virus’. We thought that was well worth another look and decided to create a better and more workable formula that I.T. staff could actually use to calculate a real world estimate of the cost of virus’ in the enterprise. Here’s what we came up with:

    TY [(ITR x IT) + (L x S) + DTL] = Total Cost of Virus

    TY = Number of Years
    ITR = Techs Hourly Rate
    IT = Number Of Techs
    L = Cost of Antivirus Software Licenses Per Seat
    S = Number of Seats
    DTL = Down Time Loss

    Now, we’re not sure this can be completely accurate because DTL (Down Time Lost) is a highly subjective number. If you are fortunate enough, you’ll be able to calculate this yourself. I think it will be quite a difficult number to arrive at but, I’ve worked at places that had a very close approximation of what that figure actually was.

    We’ve done this algebraically, we feel that this would probably be better served with a function of calculus but, we wanted the formula to remain as accessible as possible. Already, it’s pretty tough if you aren’t familiar with algebra at all.

    This is what one Flint household does on a Friday night instead of drinking beer and lighting firecrackers like our neighbors are as I type this. I’ll leave it to you to decide whose time was better spent.

  • Inside Hacking More Damaging that Virus’

    anarchy_icon.jpgBBC tech feature: Foiling the fools and the fraudsters.

    “Despite all the stories and scares about malicious hackers, computer criminals and destructive web worms, the biggest threat to the security of a company does not come from outside.”

    If not malicious intentional acts from the inside, then investigators usually find pornography on 95% of all investigated machines. The feature mentions virus’ in brief but, states that intentional wrong-doing causes far more financial impact.

    I’m not sure I can agree with that given the lenght of time it takes to remove virus’ from a network. Multiply that by the amount of personnel resources it takes to actually do the work. Then multiply that by the number of years spent fighting virus (I’m on my 10th or 11th year)… and your have an acurate cost. Something like:

    TY + (VPY x N x S x IT) + (L x TY) = Total Cost of Virus

    VPY = Virus’ Per Year
    N = Number of Virus’
    S = Number of Seats
    IT = Number Of Techs
    TY = Number of Years
    L = Cost of Antivirus Software Licenes Per Seat

    If most companies took time to acurately fill in that formula, then I would think this may offer slight dispute to what the above BBC feature claims. But, I’m just a geek in Flint, what do I know?

  • Bush Says, “What’s Yer Disaster Recovery Plan Lookin’ Like?”

    bush_computer.jpg Bush urges private sector to shore up networks

    “The Bush administration has taken its efforts to bolster private sector support for critical infrastructure protection on the road to encourage companies to shore up their networks against hackers and cyberterrorists on their own before the government will be forced to step in with regulations.”

    So, backups, redundant systems, offsite data storage, secondary infrastructure, REAL security analysis is good for the American people all of a sudden?

    My god, Y2K taught us absolutely nothing but, how fun it is to make fun of I.T. people that worry about these things and ask for money to address them. Now, because of terrorism and the interest of national security, it’s a good enough idea to create legislation for?

    I’m gonna cry.

  • Never Too Late

    Mozilla 1.0 is out. Get it. Fight the power.

  • From the “Amazing Stories” Dept.

    Kenyan Maasai give precious cattle to mark Sept 11 “Arrayed in red robes and bead jewellery, impoverished Kenyan Maasai tribespeople gave a U.S. official their most precious possession — cattle — on Sunday to show sympathy for the bereaved of September 11.

    He said his tribespeople had been moved to hear his account of the day more than 3,000 people were killed in attacks by hijackers of four passenger airplanes in New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon outside Washington.”

    This, to me, was a truely beautiful and wonderful gesture, marred by one thing:

    “Brencick said the embassy would find it difficult to ship the cattle to the United States and had decided to sell the animals to raise funds to buy beadwork made in the village for display at a September 11 memorial in New York.”

    I would think that the US should have brought the animals here… no matter what the cost or, the complications involved. They should have been placed in a place of honor here. It shows how we regard the acts of others. They use cattle much as the indians used buffalo. What did we do to the buffalo? History tells us. As for what we do to cattle, head over the McDonalds… (link via Metafilter, attutude adjustment via Jeff Pfund).

  • Cellular Smellular

    Last week, a few of your already heard, Damian was walking around the house saying “Can you hear me now? Gooood! Can you hear me now? Gooood!” Much to the delight of the other kids and myself (we were on the floor). Well, apparently, there is more truth to the commercial than one may first think (via slashdot).

    Anyway, I was browsing this weekend at the new phones coming out (5th. generation? 6th?) and found several. Sagme MY-X5 Color, the Nokia 8910, the Nokia 7650, not to mention the outrageous Vertu collection (which apparently Prince Abdullah can only afford). There were others of great interest to me as well, such as the curious Motorola credit card phone, the Ericsson MCA-10 Mobile Camera, and the Motorola V70 the A820. All very cool and very expensive looking. Kind of makes my phone seem ancient and crude.

  • Jimmy Carter World Tour 2002

    For those interested, here is the text of Jimmy Carter’s speech Tuesday at the University of Havana. Carter was the first president since Kennedy to visit Havana… I’m sure Kennedy wasn’t talking about world peace, however. His visit was probably a bit more *ahem* “social.”

  • Fraud Beyond Fraud

    Read the e-mail that Gary got yesterday. Not only is this the worst example of attempted fraud I’ve ever seen but, the most bold too. A quick google search on the senders name and selected text yeilds nothing. So, I thought I would put it up here in the hopes that readers may be able to recognize this and hopefully not reply to it. Click “MORE” below to read it.
    (more…)

  • From the: “You Knew This Was Coming” Dept.

    Slashdot reports on an apparent post 9/11 tech boom. Of which John Katz, typically, blathers on about and ends the piece without a point. But as usual, the comments are amusing. Of course, we knew that this was going to happen, didn’t we?

    Regardless, whatever “boom” is going on in the Valley, here in the rust belt, we are still at 6.5% unemployment. I guess we enjoyed our post-war prosperity after WWII. Its their turn now.

  • The Gizzard of Oz

    the_osbornes.jpg The MTV premiere of The Osbournes starts tonight at 10:30 PM EST. Do try and catch Sharon Osbourne’s latest genius in action as she turns MTV and her family into a living breathing commercial for her main act. Speaking of which, Ozzfest stands to top the touring acts of 2002 in revenues and attendance. Despite the fact that Ozzy is on his 3rd retirement from touring. I swear, he retires every time he gets involuntarily thrown into rehab, caught shagging a groupie, or busted for urintating on a national shrine.

    Seriously, you also should check out the Osbournes views on parenting for a hearty laugh. Ironically, they are typical overindulgent boomer parents struggling with the ultimate example of “Do As I Say, Not as I Do” with their children: “Now, Jack… please don’t snort cocaine from your girlfriends tits at the dinner table!” Can you imagine having the most insane bastard on earth for a father figure? I mean, not just insane but, one that could party your young ass under the table and then some… Remarkable life that man has led, indeed remarkable. Now, if Sharon can just keep him alive for one more year… That will be remarkable.

  • Corporate Death Penalty

    kuro5hin asks an interesting question, should there be a corporate death penalty? Enrongate, Arthur Andersen, others?

  • Comcast Frustrations

    pissed_computer.gif At Ars Technica, Comcast customers vent frustrations help each other around connection and transition issues as Excite@Home ceases operations in a few short hours (12:00 AM PST). They have outsourced NNTP news server access to Giganews, whom only allows 1 GB of downloads a month, hardly enough for cable customers.

    To make matters worse, they have opened their proprietary networks to competitor ISP’s in a effort to make a peace offering to the FCC, whom is likely pissed about the ATT/Comcast broadband merger. This isn’t bad in and of its own accord but, many feel that the network has been poorly designed and cannot suffer much more strain from existing users. Much less new customers and competitors customers. Many of us look at Cox, Rogers, Road Runner and Charter customers with envy. Not to mention any DSL customer is in a much better position that a cable user with Comcast or AT&T.

    The real problem is that there is not a good alternative besides dial-up access for many of us. I have not spoken to a single individual who is satisfied with the transition, the level of service from Comcast, or is confident that things will improve. I fear that business scholars will look back upon this time as the dark ages of broadband… and marvel at why a compny such as Excite@Home, with millions of users paying $40.00 – $60.00 a month, could collapse under it’s own weight.

  • Online Charter Schools Feel Crush

    Rocky start in ‘Cyber’ classrooms gives online distance learning delivery charter schools a difficult time. School districts don’t want to part with the cash as traditional educators scratch their heads and wonder amongst themselves: “I know this must be wrong… it simply must be!” Technophobia at its most acute.

  • No Static At All… XM

    XM and Sirius both saw their stocks skyrocket some 200 percent in the last three months of last year, based on little more than faith and hope and dreams. Though both stocks have pulled back somewhat, XM is still trading at more than three times its September low. So far, the users are giving rave reviews of the service and electronics manufacturers are quick to ramp up XM band capabilities. At over $100.00 per year, plus equipment costs, XM boasts a CD quality digital signal carrying over 100 stations.

    Like the articles says, reminds me of the good old NASDAQ / dotcom rush days…. *sigh*

  • The Luser Factor

    Internet service provider Telewest Broadband, which inexplicably surveyed 1,000 complete morons, claims men are five times more likely to attack a computer than women, while female surfers are twice as likely to yell at theirs. Which probably translates to life perfectly, in that, people who yell at and punch inanimate objects are complete idiots.

    However, I wonder if those men that are five times as likely to punch their comptuers are five times more likely to punch their screeching wives? Probably.