RWDub's Reviews

.Net and Web Security - Getting it Right!

noreply@blogger.com (Don Waldo) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:27:00 +0000

Getting security right turns out to be a tough problem. Not only is it fairly complex to implement from a code engineering standpoint, it's also very difficult to get right from a user experience perspective. Do you have an app on your phone that makes you enter your username and password every time you use it? Not a good experience is it, especially if your trying to quickly get access to some service.

How about the big boys like Facebook getting hacked? Pretty interesting right? After all they are a large company with lots of software engineers, surely somebody is going to get the OAuth 2.0 implementation correct.

I've had some security issues to figure out at work lately, and while our needs are fairly trivial, I've found a great resource in Dominick Baier, his blog and his git-hub projects. He's also got some great videos on pluralsight, which try to greatly simplify the world of WCF security, and are well worth the time if you have a pluralsight account.

Windows 8 - Where is the love?

noreply@blogger.com (Don Waldo) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:58:00 +0000

I embraced Windows 8, while others ran from it like scared schoolgirls from a garter snake. What do I get for that?

Carpel tunnel syndrom from having to mouse twice as much to do anything when using a Modern UI app.
A headache from the continual flipping between the desktop, where I actually get things done and the Modern UI.
App tile groups that do not sync between PC's, what??? If your doing sync, isn't that the first thing you'd think of?
A bunch of applications that are only mildly useful. Even if I had a touch screen, most of them fall below mildly useful, to I'm never going to use that app again...
Applications in the Modern UI that fail to open. THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME on all three of our Windows 8 machines.

Well guess what, I'm already looking forward to Windows 9, when they fix all this flakiness and make an operating system that is a joy to use. At this point I'm fed up with the Modern UI, maybe on a tablet, but on the desktop its terrible. Why not just have two OS's, and switch between them, have a Mobile OS, and a Desktop OS. Sure have one device if you want, but allow the user to choose the functionality mode...

Dear windows development team, if you need some ideas, check out Ubuntu :)

Learn a new language! :)

noreply@blogger.com (Don Waldo) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 02:16:00 +0000

I wish that the schools would accept computer languages for foreign language credit. After all, it's more Greek to groke than Greek even for lots of geeks. Well now you can change that. Check out Codecademy, it's a great site that lets you learn a computer language through tutorials. Among the available languages are Java Script and Python, both of which are very useful in the real world. Are you interested in HTML5, then check out the courses on HTML5, CSS3, and Java Script.

Also, you may not have realized it, but your web browser (if its not IE6) probably has a really cool Java Script Console. If your using Chrome, go to the menu >> tools >> Java Script Console, or Ctrl + Shift + J. If Firefox is your browser, go to the menu >> web developer >> Web Console, or Ctrl + Shift + K. Now type in some code with your mad new skills you learned at Codecademy. If your more like to just crash right in, this will get you started. http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_variables.asp

Best wishes for learning a new language in the new year!

Workout Hero CrossFit iOS App

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:15:00 +0000

In November I started using Workout Hero to see what it is like. The following is a brief description of the app, some of the highlights and a couple things I found that could be improved.

When opening the app you are greater with the above screen. (The calendar changes with the date) From the calendar screen you can add your daily workout. Today's date will be highlighted, tapping the plus mark brings up the "New Entry" screen. This allows adding your own workout or choosing from an existing workout. On the bottom right is a button for heart rate, this button works with the "Instant Heart Rate" app by Azumio.

In the upper left corner of the calander page is a timer button. As one would expect this brings up the timers, stopwatch, countdown, laps, and tabata. Strangley there is a music button in the upper right corner. I guess they have to put it somewhere and once you know it is there it is fine.

Next is the "Log" page. Every WOD added to the calender shows up on in the log. There are some existing logs: read these to learn about the different features. From the "Log" page you can add a random WOD using the "Random WOD" button or chose the one you want with the + button. There is also a sync button. These is where I got confused. Reading the "Free Sync" entry I thought there was more then one option to sync. As far as I can tell Dropbox is the only option. I would like to see iCloud as a sync option also.

I like the convenience of the RSS feeds built into the app. This page also allows adding personal favorite feeds and removing feeds.

On the "Workouts" page you can add and remove workouts to customize the app. Tapping on an existing workout brings up a description of the workout, a "View Video" link and an " I Did This" link. "I Did This" adds your workout to the calender and log. Unfortunately not all of the videos work in the app. Some require being watched on YouTube and the link does not work.

The "More" pages has lots of useful tools and links.

Over all it is a great Crossfit app with lots of features. Get from the iOS App Store.

Workout Hero™ - WOD and Fitness LOG for CrossFit , Tabata , and Paleo - Storeboughtmilk LLC

Outlook.com

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:35:00 +0000

Recently I have been using the rebranded and updated Hotmail, Outlook.com. Outlook.com is not only a vast improvement over Hotmail/Livemail but is a good rival to Gmail.com if you are looking for a simple clean online inbox for reading and writing email. Gmail has many more features but they are only useful if you use them.

Things I like: The clean simple look. The ability to create an alias email address or change the address all together.
Things missing: IMAP (POP is still the only option).

Direct your browser to www.outlook.com and try it out for yourself.

Ubuntu Online Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Have you heard about this thing called Ubuntu? Wonder what it is like but do not want to install it to find out? Now you can try it stress free. Check out the online tour here: http://www.ubuntu.com/tour/en/#

Geoloqi = Spatial reminders, Geotag, and Geofencing

noreply@blogger.com (Don Waldo) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Have you ever wished you could have your shopping list emailed to you when you get to the store? Or have you wished that your lights would just come on when you get home? That's all a reality now with Geoloqi! I met the founders of this incredible app at a GIS conference a few years back in Portland, OR. They have taken a concept and built a reality around it, great stuff.

https://geoloqi.com/

Duolingo: learn a language while translating the Web

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:45:00 +0000

A great new concept in language learning is coming in June. Currently Spanish and German will be offered with others to follow. There are to videos below. The first explains about CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA and introduces Duolingo. When Luis explained about reCAPTCHA I felt better about having to use it.

"After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately -- all for free."

Watch the videos below. Signup at Duolingo.com

HP Mini 1030NR SSD Fix

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:28:00 +0000

Recently I was asked to fix a HP Mini 1030NR. After checking it over I discovered the SSD had failed. A quick search revealed that many people have had the same problem these same people had replace the SSD and had it fail again in a few months. Not wanting to waste the $50 to order a new one that might fail again in a short time I decided to go a different route. Next to the SSD is an internal USB port. This port is fixed to a plastic bracket limiting the size off the USB stick that can be used. For $16 I purchased a small thumb drive. Then I cut off part of the plastic bracket and part of the thumb drive. Since the SSD had failed I left it unplugged and reassembled the Mini.

Once it was back to together I installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. This netbook is under powered and I am sure there is some speed loss running the drive off of USB 2 but for $16 it is now a very usable computer.

As a side note this is the first time I have used Ubuntu 12.04 and I am impressed. Looks and feels very smooth and polished.

Pebble E-Paper Watch

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:30:00 +0000

http://getpebble.com/

Kickstarter campaign now closed. Preorder for $150.

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:41:00 +0000

I have been helping my sister get published on the iBookstore. Happy to report her first illustrated children story, "Thistle's New Wand", is now available at the introductory price of $.99.

Unable to Check for Updates iOS 5.1 Upgrade Fix

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:43:00 +0000

If you are running into the "Unable to check for updates" error when trying to update to iOS 5.1 try changing you DNS to Google Puplic DNS 8.8.8.8, 8.8.8.6 or OpenDNS 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220. I used OpenDNS and it solved the problem on an iPad 2 and iPhone 4s. Thanks to giosdeveloper.

Ubuntu 12.04 Beta

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:24:00 +0000

Whitsun Gordon from lifehacker.com has written a quick post with a few screen shots and some observations. Ubuntu 12.04 will be released in April with long turn support (5) years. Read more here.

Ubuntu for Android (I could get excited with Android again)

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000

"Your next desktop could be a phoneWhy carry two devices, when you could carry only one? Your next high-end smartphone has far more horsepower than you’ll need on a phone, and more than enough for a laptop. So we’ve brought Android together with Ubuntu, the world’s favourite free operating system, to give you a full productivity desktop that fits in your pocket. Android for the phone experience, Ubuntu for the desktop, all on one device, running at the same time.So forget the office PC. Just dock your corporate phone and enjoy Ubuntu. Anywhere. One address book. One set of bookmarks. One place for your text messages and email. No more typing on a tiny screen when all you want is a keyboard and a mouse. Seamless integration of your desktop and mobile worlds. Brilliant."

The proceeding quote and photos are from Ubuntu. For more indepth detail click the link.

A while back I wrote about the Smartbook, a combination of a PDA, tablet, and laptop running Android and a mix of desktop Linux versions. At the time my wish was the involment of Canonical as I felt it would make Ubuntu stand out and put some money behind the effort. I would love to see one of the cell phone manufacturers get on board with Ubuntu. One device with accessories could become a tablet, laptop, or desktop running a full Ubuntu desktop. If this was done right I could see myself purchasing an Android phone.

Windows 7 Upgrade Installation

noreply@blogger.com (Don Waldo) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Do you own a valid copy of Windows XP, or Vista? Did you purchase a Windows 7 upgrade only to find that you have to install Windows 7 over XP or Vista to get it to work? Well there is a way to get around all that. One simple registry hack will allow you to use your Windows 7 Upgrade disk to do a clean install. Read all about it here...

A few things I like about Ubuntu 11.10

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:20:00 +0000

I have been using Ubuntu 11.10 for over a month, it seems like the popular thing right now is bashing Ubuntu because of Unity. Is Unity different? Yes. Does that make it bad? No. I have been an OS X user for years and see some similarity between it and Unity. Unity has made Ubuntu less like Windows and more like OS X yet keeping it unique. One of the reasons I do not have a problem with Unity might be my OS X background.

Feature improvments:
Dash Home. The Dash home icon on the launcher bar is in a better place. The search feature works well. (One of the things I love about OS X) Click the dash home and began typing, bang your application or file is found. (Need to be able to define words and do math to match OS X)

Update Status. With Ubuntu 11.04 I could never tell when I needed an update. 11.10 fixed this problem. Clicking on the gear in the upper right corner drops down a menu. One of the options is update status. If an update is needed a simple click opens the update manager.

Closing frozen applications. In the past frozen applications were hard for me to close. Now clicking on the x force closes them. (I have only had LibreOffice freeze up)

Appearance. This time I am using the background that changes throughout the day. Works well with no noticeable slowdowns.

Overall I like Ubuntu. For anyone with decent hardware wanting to get started with Linux, Ubuntu is a good way to do that.

More reading:
Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/whats-new
Ubuntu 11.10 Review : I take it back. Unity is cool.
http://lunduke.com/?p=1985

Microsoft Pinball For Windows Vista & 7

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Remember Space Cadet 3D Pinball that came with Windows XP? I was working on a friend's Windows 7 machine, wanting something to do to kill the time while I waited for the updates to download and install i opened the game folder and realized at once the game I wanted was missing. I then went hunting for Space Cadet. I was very happy to run across this site: http://mspinball.weebly.com/download.html

It is the same Microsoft Pinball we used to love. I have tried it on Windows 7 and had no problems.

MyWOD: Crossfit App for iOS

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:15:00 +0000

In September a friend of mine finally convinced me to try Crossfit. Once I got started I found out that I really enjoyed doing the workouts and then began looking for an iOS App. I wanted an App that would suggest exercises and track my exercises. I also wanted a tabata app (see video). Between my friend and I we tried 3 different apps and he bought a stand alone tabata app, then I found MyWOD. MyWOD includes suggested exercises, tracking and 4 timers, including a tabata timer. All this at a price less then the stand alone tabata timer.

MyWOD comes with a list of common WODs and a link to the Crossfit.com RSS feed. When you click on the Common WODs tab you will see a + in the upper right corner, from there you can add your own WOD. The My WODs tab tracks the WODs you have completed. This is done two ways; the first way is through My WODs, tap the + and manually enter the workout. The other option is to use Common WODs, tap the WOD then tap add to My WODs. There are two other categories, My Records and Max Weight.

I have also been impressed my the response of the developer. Twice I have written with feature requests and within 15 minutes received a reply with a promise for future updates. The first request was the addition of Road WODs and the second is the ability to sync between iOS devices. I have received the promise of both in future updates.

(Update) Two neat features I failed to mention: Number one, the timer continues to run when you leave the timer screen. This is great when doing a WOD for time that includes tabata exercises. You start the overall time then can switch to the tabata timer with out losing track of your total time. The other feature is the share button. I use share to email my buddies after completing a WOD.

(Update 3.0.61) Road WODs added.

http://web.me.com/jimmytangeman/theDreamWorkshop/myWOD.html
MyWOD can be downloaded from the App store for 99¢:

Screen Shots:

Ubuntu App Developer

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:19:00 +0000

With the recent development of my Brother switching his career from GIS/Cartography to Programing, and my good friend, Ken, over at Chapman Kids Blog, planning on Open Sourcing his BleAx program, my interest in programing and development has been peeked. When time allows I hope to try my hand at building BleAx on both Ubuntu and OS X Lion. With this new found interest anything about programing catches my eye. While reading the ubuntu.com site I found Ubuntu recently released Quickly to help developers develop applications for Ubuntu. Below is a video and link to get started.

http://developer.ubuntu.com/get-started/

Evernote - The Elephant of Task Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Don Waldo) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:55:00 +0000

If you haven't heard of Evernote, you must live under a rock. Evernote is by far the best note taking, list keeping organizational program that I've ever used. It sync's between my PC, Mac and Android devices, and integrates with Google Chrome, and Outlook, and probably whatever you use for internet and email as well.

Head on over to the Evernote site and check it out.

Raspberry Pi: Arm Linux Box

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:05:00 +0000

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

For $35 this looks like a great option.

FAQs
When will the device be available to purchase?
We anticipate the device will be available to the general public later in 2011 – at the moment that looks like November.

How much will it cost?
We hope to be selling the Model A for $25 and the Model B for $35.

Can I join the mailing list?
You certainly can. Head to the home page, and you’ll see a form at the top right you can fill in.

Why doesn’t the Raspberry Pi include piece of hardware or sort of port?
Our main function is a charitable one – we’re trying to build the cheapest possible computer that provides a certain basic level of functionality, and this means we’ve had to make hard decisions about what hardware and interfaces to include.

How do I connect a mouse and keyboard?
Mice, keyboards, network adapters and external storage will all connect via a USB hub.

What display can I use?
There is composite and HDMI out on the board, so you can hook it up to a digital or analogue television or to a DVI monitor.

What about audio?
There’s a standard 3.5mm jack, or you can use HDMI. You can add any supported USB microphone via a hub.

Does the device support networking? Is there Wi-Fi?
The Model B version of the device includes 10/100 wired Ethernet. There is no Ethernet on the Model A version (which we expect to be taken up mostly by the education market), but Wi-Fi will be available via a standard USB dongle.

What are the power requirements?
The device is powered by an external AC adapter, and the Model A consumes around 1W at full load.

PocketSword Updated for iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

PocketSword is an iOS Bible App for the iPhone and ,with the latest release as of September 2011, the iPad.
PocketSword being my favorite Bible App, I am happy to see the iPad update. The App looks great but still is lacking the ability to keep notes.

Easily toggle preferences.

Search icon in upper left corner brings this page up.

http://crosswire.org/pocketsword

Invent With Python: a screen cast

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Below is a screen cast of "Guess the Number" game from the "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python" book.

“Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python” is a free book (as in, open source) and a free eBook (as in, no cost to download) that teaches you how to program in the Python programming language. Each chapter gives you the complete source code for a new game, and then teaches the programming concepts from the example."

http://inventwithpython.com/

http://www.rwdubsreviews.com/2011/06/getting-started-with-python-for.html

Diaspora*: YouTube Video

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:38:00 +0000

I have a couple invites if you would like to join.

Fairware: Supporting Open Source Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:06:00 +0000

In the past year I have written a couple blog post about monetary contributions to Open Source projects. There are lots of great projects out there that have taken many unpaid hours to create. The question I had was how to contribute to them monetarily. Today I ran across what I think is a great idea, Fairware. Lifehacker.com had a post about a tool called PdfMasher, a program to convert PDF's to HTML. I was interested in PdfMasher so went to check it out. That is where a learned about Fairware. The following was taken from hardcoded.net.

Free as in speech, Fair as in trade
"Fairware" is a term I coined recently to designate open source development of software targeting a wide audience (typically published in the form of "Shareware" in the proprietary world) with expectation of fair compensation from users. It's a mix of two driving principles:

1. Intellectual property doesn't make sense (at least in the software world). The protection of intellectual property causes much grief all over the world, all the time. Software patents threatens developers at every corner, like land mines. Proprietary licensing makes developers create the same software over and over again in a silly competition game, making the end user suffer in the end (for not having access to the collaborative effort instead of the competitive one). Some users fall in the hands of some unethical software companies that will squeeze every penny they can from them, taking advantage from the fact that they're captive users.

2. Developers have to eat. It's hard for open source developers doing generic software targeting a wide audience to get compensated for their work. Sure, they may receive some donations from users, but certainly not enough to allow them to work full time on their applications. Because of this, they only work on their open source software in their spare time, and this generally reduces the quality of it. Chances are, if they could, they'd quit their day job and work on their software full time, creating a fair alternative to their proprietary competitors, slowly making intellectual property irrelevant, but money unfortunately flows towards these proprietary software developers, starving the overall open source effort.

Read the rest at open.hardcoded.net/about and a follow up post here http://www.hardcoded.net/articles/fairware-it-kinda-works.htm.

I am in the process of trying PdfMasher, Fairware gives me the opportunity to give back if PdfMasher meets my need. You might want to check out the other programs available from hardcoded.net, looks like they all are made for Linux, OS X, and Windows.