Technically Speaking

Another one bites the dust

Maybe it's just us, but our wireless routers never seem to last. After a year or two they start dropping signals and have huge difficulties in reconnecting. We must have been through 4 or 5 of these damn things. Just last week our Linksys unit decided to throw a 'wobbler' and start acting up. To be honest, I really liked this unit and found it reliable and its front panel gave a good indication of what was going on - excellent 'idiot' lights. Personally, I found few issues with the unit, but I have been mainly using our base PC which is, of course, directly connected. However, my son, who uses the wireless capability for his consoles and his shiny new Mac, was not a happy camper at all.

So, off he goes and comes back with a pretty Mac Airport. It set up like a dream - no muss, no fuss - very smooth indeed. OS X and Windows 7 had no issues at all and even networked our external drive via its USB cable - nice. My only complaint is that there is one one status light - now I am all for minimization, but this is silly. As long as it works, I'm not going to complain or worry. All we have to do now is pay for it - boy, it's a lot of pesos - typically Mac.

Steady as she goes

I thought it was time I gave you a status report on my Windows 7 experience. The trouble is, that there is nothing to report - absolutely nothing at all. Everything is running smoothly and I am very pleased with how the PC is handling it's new OS and I quite like the new Windows. Sorry, but it's all rather a non-event.

I would, however, like to address an issue that seems to becoming more and more prevalent. It's the use and overuse of social networking such as the Twits, Faces and Tubes. We hear stories of people losing jobs, benefits, schooling and whatever self-respect they feel they have when their lives are looked at by strangers. It's all very simple - don't put your private life on the 'net! Is that so hard to understand? It's no good bleating about 'invasion of privacy' or your 'rights' when you do these dumb things. I have a Facebook page that I setup just for curiosities sake - I haven't been there for months. I certainly wouldn't put anything there that I would want strangers to see or read. You private life is only 'private' if you actively make it so. Just don't be a twit. As a final thing, here is a fan-made Dr. Who 'trailer' for the last episodes coming up next month - absolutely amazing.

Oooh! Pretty!

We (my son and I) decided to finally 'bite the bullet' and upgrade to the dreaded Windows 7. It seemed an opportune time as 'the beast' was getting a little slow and burdened down with too much crap causing each startup to take many minutes. As with any upgrade or re-format, preparation is the key and I made sure that all my contacts and bookmarks were saved to my secondary drive where all my downloads and documents are safely kept. I'd heard of horror stories where installing Windows 7 took hours and caused all sorts of trouble. Not for us - 20 minutes and we had a nice Windows 7 based PC running like a dream. Within less than 90 minutes we had all the software and saved 'stuff' back in place and we were done! Boy, what a nice clean operating system and our PC booted in less that a minute.

One last change was made. We'd thought about upgrading our CD drive to a Blu-ray drive but couldn't really justify the cost. However, we found a nice LG drive for under $150 and off to spend money we went. Again, very easy and quick install - thank goodness for tool-less cases. I must admit that this was one of the easiest and quickest upgrades I had ever gone through and if anyone has any trepidation about going to the new Windows - don't worry - totally painless.

What a load of rubbish!

It's been too long since I've updated here and I'm sorry. Although there has been a lot of technical computer 'stuff' around, nothing really jumped out and needed to be discussed. Instead, what I have for your delight and amazement, is a selection of rather odd and strange websites. Firstly is something absolutely awful; it's the terrific Kenny Everett and his 'Worst Wireless Show' all the way from 1977. This is a set of shows that will annoy and upset anyone else in the house listening. It's always easy (to an extent) to decide on what is the 'best' of anything, but very hard to choose what is worst. Good old cuddly Ken does - what a genius he was. Here is another rather odd site that I found while just browsing - you may be one of those people who see shapes in the clouds and patterns in maps and so on - if so, this one's for you. This involves the art of Cartozoology - what a great word! Last up (for now) is this delightful site that has been featured on TV in the past. Simon's Cat is just so cool and he has captured a cats foibles and mannerisms so closely that he must be part feline himself - enjoy.

TV is dead!

That was the verdict from my brother-in-law the other day. As Neil commented in his epistle to the masses, he mainly watches downloaded or pre-recorded video rather than 'live' TV. With the technical advances in downloadable content and the number of people using high-speed connections, the traditional use of the TV as an entertainment system is changing rapidly. The number of console games using HD quality video and the more action based games such as Rock Band and those associated with the Wii are more suited to the widescreen large TV's that are the norm. To be honest, I haven't sat in front of my TV for ages - often I'll just stand and watch a brief part of whatever is on at the time. Other than soaps and the occasional movie, my wife hardly watches either. So what, you ask, do I watch?

Other than a few (very few) modern dramas or comedy shows, I find very little to see. I found 'Friends' a poor substitute for 'Coupling', never found 'Seinfeld' funny and could easily forget the other shows. In these days, the 'net is my friend. I tried watching both 'Rome' and 'The Tudors', but after the continuing scenes of gratuitous sex I gave up. Sorry to say that they are both rubbish. The Tudors is especially awful due to the absolute lack of any real history and the actors are nowhere near the right look and the script is laughable. Instead, I would recommend to anyone that you use YouTube (or as Conan has it - YouTwitFace), for some real historical drama. I really recommend 'the Six Wives of Henry VIII' and 'Elizabeth R'. For you Roman viewers, try 'I, Claudius'. I also went back to some really clever Sci-fi stuff that certainly presages the X-files - 'Sapphire and Steel'.

The 'naked' truth

I suppose that, since the infamous 9-11, we must take extra and intrusive surveillance as an unpleasant new reality. This seems to be the case particulary with airport security. To be honest, a lot of this added security seems to be the equivalent of 'closing the stable door after the horse has fled'. One (read that, one) lunatic had explosives in his shoes and now we all have to take our footwear off for scanning. Another (again, one) crazie had liquids to create an explosive and now even baby bottles are suspect. This latest security technique seems to be from the same mold.

Not content with just regular metal and x-ray scanning, we now have a full body scanner that would reveal our innermost secrets. Passengers in Manchester airport in the UK will soon be subject to being seen in their 'birthday suits' as these new scanners from Rapiscan will be soon in place. The technology behind these scanners is actually very clever and I can see the appeal - but, I can also see the issues as this BBC report mentions.They SAY only one person views these images and they are destroyed at once - you believe that? I sure as heck don't. I see the scene now as several people gather round the screen:
"Look at the **** on that!"'
"I THOUGHT it was a man!"
"Get me a copy of that."
The opportunities for abuse of the images are so manifold. They tell us the images cannot be stored - sure they can't. Again, many people will say that if you have nothing to hide, then you won't be concerned. Everyone has something to hide and I don't want people looking at the parts only my wife or doctor should see (for differing reasons, I hasten to add).

Let the Whining Start

I thought that this post (sorry that it's been a while) would fall under the 'just for laughs' heading as I anticipate a lot of silly nonsense about this news. Live View has finally come to Canada on Google Maps! It's quite a lot of fun to do a virtual walk about the city of Toronto and a few (very few) other selected towns and cities. Unfortunatly, Courtice isn't there yet - which is odd because I saw the Google car come down my road earlier this year - I was looking forward to seeing my mansion (ha!). Why the 'nonsense'? It seems that every time Live View has been rolled out, there has been a blizzard of the disgruntled, upset and just plain paranoid comments in all media outlets. There are the questions in parliament, local municipalities and in the press. There are those who feel that this is the thin end of the wedge of government scrutiny, terrorist attacks and petty crime outbreaks. I can hear the complaining now;
"O dear! They can see my house, my car, my pets, my children and how many garbage bins I have"
Well, in a way we can see all this and my response is 'so what'. Anyone with a camera can take the same pictures and not bother about covering up faces, signs and license plates. In addition, I can take pictures that are up-to-date and not 6 months old. I find Live View quite entertaining and a way to travel down memory lane. By using it to retrace routes I took when I went to school or went shopping, I can believe that I am in some sort of time machine and go back to my younger days. Just as an aid to travel, it can be a very valuable tool. I feel that we should accept that our various ideas of 'privacy' must be tempered with the new technologies out there. How many bad people are out there looking at every frame on every street looking for YOU? I'll make a guess - none..

Fooled you!

Sometimes companies will announce or intimate that certain features would be included on new and upcoming products that serve to create a demand. The new iPod and Nano from our heroes at Apple are a prime example of this. Consumers were expecting a camera on both items and were rather taken aback when the iPod appeared camera-less and the Nano did have the anticipated camera. According to Mr. Jobs, this was because the iPod is a 'games' device - oh really? It appears that there is a space inside  the iPod case for a camera module - but it's empty. I can imagine the conversation;
"Damn, we forgot the camera. What do we tell people?"
"How about we say that it's intentional and it doesn't need one"
"What's the boss supposed to tell people?"
"It's a 'games' machine and doesn't need one."
"Yeah, they'll fall for that."
Good old Apple - always has an answer for us gullible fools.

The funny thing is that not only were we (the public) fooled, but also the accessory manufacturers. I was looking for a silicone case for my iPod and found a reasonable priced one in a local store. There were also other budget priced cases in two types. When I inquired what the difference was, I was informed that the more expensive one had a hole for the new camera on the updated iPod. The salesman (women) was rather taken aback when I told her that there WAS no camera on the new unit. We also had a good laugh  at the idea of paying more for a case with less silicone (a hole) and how silly the situation was.

About damn time

After all these years, Alan Turing is finally being apologized to for the way he was hounded to his death by the British government and it's archaic homosexual laws of years past. Mr. Turning has finally received an official apology from Her Majesty's Government - only 55 years too late for it to really mean anything. If history was written fairly, he would be a name as big as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, instead he is only recognized by the few. To those few, he is only known for the 'Turing Test' that measures how intelligent an artificial brain is. I suppose that's not a bad legacy to have. If you are familiar with the Blade Runner movie, the test (Voight-Kampff) used to determine if you are talking with a replicant is a form of Turing Test. He should be also remembered for his pioneering work that helped create the first true computers and by doing so helped ensure an Allied win in WWII. He is truly an 'unsung hero'. It's interesting how we can look at one persons work and then find that he was destroyed by an unthinking and unyielding government and legal system - I wonder how many people like him are littered through the discarded pages of history. Whether or not you consider homosexuality a 'sin' or something 'bad' is not really relevant when it comes to the contributions of brilliant individuals like Turing. As the post title says; about damn time!

Picture this

Sorry about the long gap between posts. I've been busy getting my new boardgame 'Land Dreadnoughts' into shape. Without the use of a PC I have no idea how I would have done this. It amazes me to remember the early dark ages of wargame design when everything was done by mechanical assistance; no word-processors or desktop publishing software then. Now, when I make a change to the counters or rules, it's a sinple matter to make the adjustments and move on, all within seconds. I'm not a great whiz in the art department, so that my use of MS-Paint for my counters may seem a little silly for the more experienced artists out there, but it works for me. I will transfer my counter art to Adobe Acrobat when I work out how to do it. Other than that, Word is a perfectly good program for creating the rules and all of the combat tables I need - I must say that I do prefer the older versions of Word - the newest one doesn't seem as intuitive to me.

What all this shows, is that there is no right way or wrong way to do what you need to do on your PC - just what works for you. Sure, there are others that will just laugh at the way I do what I do, but I don't care - I get where I want to - eventually. As an example of 'what works', I used to create my new or replacement game pieces in Paint and then resize and print them through Photoshop. The results were not always what I expected or were rather poor quality. What a twit I was - I Just needed to correctly use the settings in Paint and now my counters look just perfect. I suppose, like any man, I hate reading instructions. The picture above shows the artwork for the Dreadnoughts themselves - what do you think?