10/6, two cents, four cents, nonsense

Dreamworks SKG perpetrates digital media theft!

2011-05-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

I noticed a problem recently with my digital media purchase of the movie titled "How to Train Your Dragon" from Amazon.com.. I contacted them and was told:

Due to licensing restrictions for How to Train Your Dragon., it's no longer available for viewing or redownload from Amazon Instant Video.

I had purchased this digital video in place of purchasing the physical media so that I could stream it to one of my many digital media devices (Roku). I'm angered that the same studios that rally against theft of their product essentially stole their product from my possession. How is this legal? Here is what I sent Dreamworks SKG:

I'm writing you to complain about the theft perpetrated by your organization. I am no longer able to view the digital video titled “How to Train Your Dragon” that I purchased on Amazon.com.. This purchase was made over 5 months ago. I called them to investigate and was told that I'm unable to view it due to some exclusive streaming agreement. I can understand if you disallowed new digital purchases at Amazon, but to take away my rights to view the content I had legally and rightfully purchased is outright theft! It's as if you came into my home and stole one of my DVDs. This is a perfect example of why people steal media. What ironic is you are one of the organizations protesting the theft of your product yet you steal it from me.
The studios and the mafia organizations (RIAA and MPAA) trample our rights and fair use rights. I am going to notify my friends, blog, Twitter, Facebook, EFF and representatives about this. I may even reconsider future purchases from your studio(s). With the rise of digital media purchases, eventually purchases of physical media will cease (i.e. printed books). The studios need to reconsider actions such as these or face consequences. At least Amazon gave me a credit. They did the right thing. I wonder what you will do.

These studios trample on our fair use rights. They just trampled on my rights to view a legally purchased video. What's next? Something has to be done to stop these jackbooted thieves!

Researchers Track Mouse Movements and Hesitations - Slashdot

2011-01-31T13:36:00.000-08:00

Researchers Track Mouse Movements and Hesitations - Slashdot

This is a bit freaky.

Bye bye cable tv

2011-01-30T06:25:00.000-08:00

I've had cable TV for the past 19 years. I never thought this day would come. Today is our first day without cable TV. I dropped digital cable but kept Internet and phone. Here are the products I used:

An RCA ANT751 antenna I purchased from Amazon:
A Rocketfish RF-G1179 signal amplifier I purchased from BestBuy:

An Apex DT502 DTV converter also purchased from BestBuy:

The installation took about 2 hours which includes unboxing, mounting, and all cables exterior and interior.

I mounted the antenna to a rafter in our attic. I chose to do this because I read on Amazon that it worked for other people and being in the attic, the antenna is away from the elements.
I added a signal amplifier because we are at the fringe of the antenna's range (40mi.), the antenna is in the attic behind wood & siding and our other TV with a built-in ATSC tuner probably has an 80+ ft run from the antenna.
I installed a 10ft run of RG6 from the antenna to the amplifier. This was necessary to get the amplifier close to the nearest outlet.
I moved the two cables from the existing splitter to the Rocketfish splitter.
I changed the setup on our bedroom TV with the ATSC tuner and started a channel scan.
While the bedroom TV was scanning, I connected the DTV converter to the TV in our living room and started a channel scan.

After the scans completed, both TV's have about 23 channels with crystal clear reception. The Apex DTV converter doesn't receive two channels that our bedroom TV does. I'm not impressed with the Apex, however it was free. I purchased it with BestBuy gift cards I received from my employer.

BayNews9? Now I've got channel 10's and 13's all day news channels and they're free! There's Qubo and channel 16kids for our 2yo.

I also have three Roku digital video players with a Netflix subscription ($8/month). I plan on purchasing a fourth Roku soon for a TV in one of my daughters' rooms. I really enjoy the Roku's with Netflix. I know Netflix doesn't have all their collection available to stream, but their business model is going away from DVD by mail, so I'll just be patient while they convert their remaining collection. I also know that the film studios don't want movies available to stream at the same time the disc is released, but I can wait. Besides, the studios would be foolish to keep movies from stream indefinitely because they know people will just rip and steal (I don't do that, but I know people that do). Besides, their flagship Bluray's AACS encryption was cracked in 2007 and we all know that CSS has been cracked since 1999. Therefore, it's in the studios' best interests to make their product available like the public wants. Don't take this as me condoning stealing, which is pirating. Even though the goods are not physical, pirating results in the content owner not receiving restitution for their work. You wouldn't expect to walk into a local movie theater and watch a movie for free, so how is it that people expect they can pirate?

Now if only Hulu+ had better content. I think that too will change as the broadcasting companies realize they can cut out the middle men cable providers from the TV distribution picture. I feel sorry for the cable companies because if they don't innovate to keep their customers, others (like me) can follow suite by dropping some of their services.

User account security primer.

2011-01-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

I've read a few articles about what constitutes good password security. I know the first question I'll receive is "how do you define good"? Well, that can be subjective, however here is my opinion on what constitutes a good password:

Never, ever use a plain dictionary word. ex: cinema
Always use numbers, letters (upper AND lower case) and special characters ($, #, @, etc.)
Use eight to 16 characters per password.
Try to come up with a phrase that you are likely to remember, then take the first letter of each word to form an acronym. ex: The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain = trisfmotp
Then modify the newly formed word using rule#2. ex: Tr1$fM0tp39
Change passwords frequently (again, this is subjective).
Never re-use a password between sites that contain important information.

You should have one password for your email account and not re-use it on any other site.
You can have one password for social networking sites.
You can have one password for banking sites.
You can have one password for sites that contain your credit card information.
You can have one password to use on un-important sites (news sites, etc.)

Now, I expect a security savvy person to point out that re-using any password is not a good idea, however expecting people to have a password per site is not practical. If you make it too difficult, people simply won't follow it. So, I tried to come up with a password methodology that is secure and easy to follow. Btw, I adhere to it myself.

Once you've selected a password, I suggest you test its strength to get an idea of how strong it is.

One tool I use to make keeping up with my passwords easier is KeePass. It's a password database that utilizes military grade encryption algorithms (AES and Twofish) to secure the information.

Keep in mind that just like physical security (locks, alarms, etc.), no electronic security is totally secure or fool-proof. However, exercising good judgment can thwart most criminals.

How to have some security while using Facebook

2011-01-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

I've read many articles about Facebook's policy changes and I'm still amazed at how many people do not realize their information is open to other Facebook users, Facebook application developers or the entire Internet. So, I've decided to write up a howto for staying reasonably secure while posting on Facebook.

Security starts with your password. Yes, your password HAS to be secure, creative and memorable. Here's my blog entry on passwords.
A good password is useless if you're sending it over the Internet un-encrypted (i.e. without using HTTPS. This is the encrypted form of the HTTP protocol that transports website pages from the server to your browser.). Make sure you see the lock icon and https://.... See below:
When you connect to Facebook, use this url: https://ssl.facebook.com.. They are currently testing this, and hopefully they'll make it the default url for their site.
Make sure you've set your Facebook privacy settings. I recommend only allowing your friends to view your content:
Make sure you lock down the people that you share with and the applications you share with:
Never use the Facebook connect feature to sign on to other websites. You should never use this account/password to access other sites (unless it's a site of a similar category, see my blog entry on passwords). I do not trust Facebook because of how they blatantly disregard a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding our information and content. If you want to use one account, then you'll have to see if the other sites support something like OpenID. Here are a few sites where you can get an OpenID account: Google, Chi.mp and my fav, MyOpenID.

More control over your information is key.

2010-10-15T11:00:00.001-07:00

Ever get emails from some organization that belongs to someone else? I've been getting many of those and still receive emails even after notifying them that I shouldn't be on their list. One was from a home owner's association that had an attachment that gave me names, addresses & phone numbers. Well, I'm still receiving spam from one of these, so I figured I'd post their email addresses so that they too can receive some spam:

judygva1@comcast.net
maresaspangler@aol.com
leeannsawyer@verizon.net
mcsraymond@comcast.net
ernie.rabb@mwv.com
mapa456@aol.com
bmorgan@richmond.edu
moore2931@verizon.net
markminetree@msn.com
jackiemccool5@gmail.com
urlkonig@verizon.net
cayco@aol.com
slankenau@comcast.net
acladd2@gmail.com
hatteraschick4u@yahoo.com
kvgrimes@comcast.net
judygva1@comcast.net
goodeatin@verizon.net
bogertclan@yahoo.com
cheburr13040@hotmail.com
miltmarg@verizon.net
bscpro@earthlink.net
seays5@yahoo.com
jbsva3000@hotmail.com
ssss@comcast.net
bbtitus01@aol.com
bevsteve@aol.com
bellgradecleaners@verizon.net
rjt2mail@yahoo.com
susan_notworking@verizon.net
tswiii@gmail.com
woodlk@comcast.net
jode04@comcast.net
challman@gmail.com
mark@richweb.com
franklin7x57@verizon.net

Happy deleting!!

BBC News - Russia inflates its military with blow-up weapons

2010-10-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Russia inflates its military with blow-up weapons

Now I just need one made to look like me. However, I'll bet people would say I'm already full of enough hot air.

Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Tries to Build an Eco-Friendly House - WSJ.com

2010-08-24T05:35:00.000-07:00

Finally someone in California being honest about being green. My two favorite quotes:

The greenest home is the one you don't build. If you really want to save the Earth, move in with another family and share a house that's already built. Better yet, live in the forest and eat whatever the squirrels don't want. Don't brag to me about riding your bicycle to work; a lot of energy went into building that bicycle. Stop being a hypocrite like me.

I prefer a more pragmatic definition of green. I think of it as living the life you want, with as much Earth-wise efficiency as your time and budget reasonably allow.

Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Tries to Build an Eco-Friendly House - WSJ.com

Half lives aren´t consistent? What next?!

2010-08-24T05:31:00.000-07:00

I can´t help but wonder if science just now discovered this, what else do we still not know or have a wrong theory about?

Purdue nuclear engineer Jere Jenkins, while measuring the decay rate of manganese-54, a short-lived isotope used in medical diagnostics, noticed that the rate dropped slightly during the flare, a decrease that started about a day and a half before the flare.

The strange case of solar flares and radioactive elements

Slashdot Your Rights Online Story | Tokyo Rail Billboards Scan Viewer's Age, Gender

2010-07-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Slashdot Your Rights Online Story | Tokyo Rail Billboards Scan Viewer's Age, Gender

Nice. Now there's going to be the possibility of a billboard telling me that I'm overweight and need to use Just For Men.

"Organic" pesticides aren't necessarily "green" pesticides

2010-06-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered if organic meant better. It seems that it isn't always true.

Mad about the offshore oil disaster?

2010-06-26T15:59:00.001-07:00

If you are, then you might want show it when you vote next time. I'm going to vote against the party that relaxed the safety measures. They were relaxed in the Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995. Oh, that's a vote against the Democratic party. Well, that's a given for me. Thank's, slick willy.

10-Year-Old Grand Marshal at Gay Rights Parade Sparks Controversy Across U.S.

2010-06-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

FOXNews.com - 10-Year-Old Grand Marshal at Gay Rights Parade Sparks Controversy Across U.S.

But the selection of young Will, who last November refused to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school to show his support for gay rights, has changed all that. This year the parade has drawn national attention, and it's promising to tread the line between farce and confrontation.

And they say they do not have an agenda. That is obviously a lie. They chose this child on purpose so that they could label anyone who oppose them/him. I wouldn't go so far as calling it child abuse, however I will say it is exploitation.

Goodbye and good riddance Tower Hill Insurance

2010-05-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

We recently changed home owners insurance because the cowardly Horace Mann left the Florida market. I selected Tower Hill Insurance. We've had them for approximately three months, until 6/9/10. Yesterday I received a letter stating that my policy has been cancelled because my house is a risk due to (get this):

Mildew on the exterior; So what? I haven't pressure washed the outside in a while. What's next? Cancellation due to weeds in my flower beds?
A rain gutter down spout was out of place. Seriously? If you have been in Florida long, we do have these heavy rain storms that sometimes can knock loose down spouts out of place. I've been trying to figure out a good way to keep them in place short of permanently gluing them.
Missing pool deck screen. What? I challenge you to come back out and find a missing piece. What the mentally challenged insurance inspector mistook as missing screen was an open door.
Cracks in my pool deck. If cracks create a risk, then all my neighbors need theirs cancelled too because everyones driveway has a crack it in as well. Besides, houses settle over time which results in cracks. It is inevitable.

Not to mention their inspector trespassed on my property without my knowledge or permission. What if that person got injured? Would I liable for the injuries?

And thanks for the chance to rectify the problems, oh that's right, you didn't give me a chance. What a joke! Well, if this is how they treat their customers during good times, then I'm glad to be a former customer. I get the impression that they just wanted to find some excuse to cancel the policy. If anyone is looking for home owners insurance, I recommend looking elsewhere. It just isn't worth the hassle to choose Tower Hill Insurance.

Steve Durnin's D-Drive: infinitely variable transmissions

2010-05-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

This is truly amazing, and the guy is NOT an engineer. It's amazing what regular people can do when they put their mind to it. It just proves that any one from any walk of life can accomplish anything.

D-Drive

Slashdot Mobile Story | German User Fined For Having an Open Wi-Fi

2010-05-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

Slashdot Mobile Story | German User Fined For Having an Open Wi-Fi

This is a warning to everyone that runs an open wi-fi network.

Apples attack on Adobe Flash, its all about online video.

2010-05-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Apples attack on Adobe Flash, its all about online video.

I agree.

Seattle cartoonist launches "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" - Seattle News - MyNorthwest.com

2010-04-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

Seattle cartoonist launches "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" - Seattle News - MyNorthwest.com

Yes, this is the religion of peace. I think not.

Sony Can Update PS3 Firmware Without Permission

2010-04-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

Sony Can Update PS3 Firmware Without Permission

What happened to owning something entirely after you paid for it?

Microsoft's Chinese workforce, too tired to stay awake | Mail Online

2010-04-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's Chinese workforce, too tired to stay awake | Mail Online

This doesn't look good.

Share the road, share the cost

2010-03-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

If cyclists expect to share the road, then they should share the expense. How is it fair that vehicles are required to share the roadway (and incur the slowdowns caused by cyclists) that was paved for motor vehicles yet cyclists get off scot-free by not sharing the cost to install and maintain them?

From their own website, they correlate bicycles to vehicles:

Yield to Cyclists:
> Bicycles are considered vehicles

So, if you consider a bicycle a vehicle, then you should have to register just like a vehicle. It's about time governments require that their expectations of road use match their contribution to the cost.

Why I hate my Kodak ESP7

2010-02-24T19:06:00.000-08:00

This is the first Kodak printer I've owned. My wife bought it for me as a Christmas gift in 2008. Now, my disliking of it has nothing to do with my wife. I was glad to accept the gift. However, this printer hasn't been all that great to own.

The printer has worked ok. I would not rate its performance better than any Lexmark or HP printer that I've owned. Here are the reasons why I hate it:

I had to have it replaced before the warranty was up due to an undocumented and unexplained hardware error; a red exclamation point on the control panel. It's sad that their own documentation and website didn't list what the cause of the error was. Nor did the support person know what it was. They did replace it, so kudos to Kodak but the experience left a sour taste in my mouth.
The support person was obviously not a good English speaker.
I constantly have print quality issue that result in me having to run nozzle cleans, alignments, test pages, etc. which is a waste of my time. Time is money.
They are so proud to flaunt that their cartridges cost less, but I find that I'm having to replace them more frequently than any HP or Lexmark (and yes, my printing habits have remained the same). How is that saving me any money when I'm replacing them more frequently?
They provide drivers for Mac OS X, but not for Linux. What? OS X is built on BSD. They could release a driver, but they just choose not to. So much for taking care of their customers.

Would I recommend this printer to anyone? Absolutely not. Stick with HP and/or Lexmark.

Kudos to Seaworld

2009-11-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

I was totally prepared for a Christless Christmas yesterday at Seaworld but I was pleasantly suprised. I can't remember the last time I've heard the word Christmas used so many times. Not only did they use the word, they also played many Christmas songs; even the overtly religious ones. I find it offensive that many retailers are taking Christ out of Christmas in an attempt to not offend the small percentage of Americans that don't believe in God/Jesus. They want to reap the benefits of my holiday and my dollars but they don't want to risk offending anyone. Whatever!!

Microsoft in move to cut out Google

2009-11-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is offering different terms to different publishers as it seeks to boost Bing by paying some content owners to cut their sites off from Google's rival search engine, industry executives said yesterday.

To all you news paper owners, editors, etc.. If you take your news to Bing exclusively, you are going to lose me as a reader. I will not change search engines nor will I use more than one. I currently use Google, Google Reader, and Google News. If your article or site doesn't show up on any of those places, then you will not get my traffic. Period.

The question is are you willing to bet that there aren't more people that feel the same. Good luck!

2009-11-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

If George Bush was an idiot......

If George W.Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how he inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W.Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos ofhis speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia , would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W.Bush had mis-spelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as proof of what a dunce he is?

If George W.Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?

If George W.Bush's administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions ofpeople followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

If George W.Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans ,would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don'tworry. He's done all this in 5 months -- so you'll have three years and seven months to come up with an answer.