The Wired World Report

Transfer Files Securely to Your Android Device with FTP

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 03:48:00 +0000

The first thing that most people do after purchasing a tablet is to fill it with music, videos and such. While iOS devices can be very problematic in that department, Android devices are much easier to handle. The easiest method is to connect your Android device to your PC via USB and copy files using Windows Explorer (or any alternative). Another popular method is an app named AirDroid that allows you to manage your Android device remotely with your web browser. However, I've come across a better method: FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

To start, you need to install an FTP server on your Android tablet. The best one that I have come across so far it called primitive ftpd. You can get it from the F-Droid app catalog, which consists of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Here is the link to primitive ftpd on F-Droid.

Once you have installed primitive ftpd, you'll have to isntall an FTP program on your PC. The best program is FileZilla. Once you get that installed, you can change the username, password and port number in primitive ftpd. (I'd recommend doing this for security reasons.)

To move files, open the primitive ftpd app, press start, log into your tablet with Filezilla and get downloading and uploading.

Let me knowif this is helpful.

Microsoft announces their next version of Windows

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 01:49:00 +0000

Microsoft's Newest Partner

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 03:45:00 +0000

Microsoft announces their newest partner. (Just kidding!)

Microsoft Surface Ads: Out of Touch and Pointless

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 03:01:00 +0000

In recent years, it has become more and more obvious that Microsoft is getting more and more out of touch with their customers. One of the best examples is their release of Windows 8, which is a huge departure from all previous versions with a huge learning curve.

One of the worst things to come out of Microsoft recently are the advertisements for the Microsoft Surface tablet. Guess what major feature these ads cover? How you can make them click. That's right, the major features of the Surface tablets are not being able to run Windows programs on a tablet, the power of a laptop in a tablet and being able to open Office documents on the go. No, the best feature is that it clicks. Watch the videos below and you will see what I mean.

The bottom line is that Microsoft is full of old men trying to act hip and with it. So when they want to connect to the younger generation they pull our the mod music and the dancing and start clicking. Dumber and dumber.

Help Me Sell My Nook Color

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 03:50:00 +0000

Sorry for the crappy picture, but my iPod does not take very good shots.

Hi, guys. I bought a Nook Color a couple of months ago. I've decided to upgrade to a Nexus 7, but in order to do so I need your help. I just posted the Nook on Ebay. I installed Cynogenmod on it after I bought it, but I have since reflashed it to the original software. I updated the software to the latest version (1.4.3). I tested it to make sure that it works by downloading a couple books and apps. (I since erased and deregistered.) It also comes with a screen protector installed and a cover. I'm also throwing in a 16 GB microSD card because the Nook only has 1GB for non-Barnes and Noble content.

Why am I selling it? Because it works great as an ebook reader, but not so good as an Android tablet. If you want a device to read book and listen to music, that has all the extras that all tablets need (i.e. screen protector, cover, and extra memory), then give this auction a look. If you are not interested, but know someone who might be, send them this link.

You can find the auction here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221171260112.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Facebook Uses Firefox Integration to Fight the Exploding Growth of Google Plus

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 05:25:00 +0000

Back in April, I wrote an article entitled What Browser Should Facebook Buy? about the need for Facebook to use a browser to direct traffic to the social network. It is important for them to do this because Google will eventually leverage Chrome to do just that. In that article, I stated that Facebook had two options: build or buy. It turns out that there is a third option: integrate.

Starting with Firefox 17, Facebook has been integrated into the browser. This feature is called Messenger for Firefox. It adds the ability to chat, check notification, and friend requests. You can turn it on by going here if you have Firefox 17/

The Kindle App is My Favorite App (Android or iOS)

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 03:29:00 +0000

The Kindle app is my favorite app for both iOS and Android.

I say this for one simple reason: you can use it to read any document or article on any device. I have tried other e-reader and read later software. The best one I found was the Kindle app. The beauty is that this app turns your device into an e-reader without limitations. With a Kindle DX or Paperwhite, you are limited to reading, unless you jailbreak or root it. Not so when you use one of the Kindle apps. If you have an iPod with the Kindle app (like I have), you have all of the power of a Kindle e-reader plus access to a world of other apps and games. My point is that you can use a FREE app to turn your device into an e-reader instead of shelling out extra money.

Out of the box, the only way you can get documents into the Kindle app is to email them to an Amazon account. However,the file types that you are allowed to email are limited. To over come this limitation you can use a site called WappWolf to convert documents to a Kindle friendly format. You can configure WappWolf to monitor a DropBox folder. Once it detects a file it will convert it to a Kindle format and sent it to your Kindle.

Another great tool is called Klip.me.The Klip.Me extension for Chrome is the best extension I have found to send articles to Kindle from your browser. It works better then the official extension from Amazon, for some reason. The best extension that I found for Firefox is Push to Kindle.

To download the Kindle apps for iOS, Android and other, go here. Enjoy reading.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Windows 8

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:24:00 +0000

A couple of days ago, I decided I would give Windows 8 a try and installed the Consumer Preview on VirtualBox. In fact, I am writing this post on Windows Live Writer 2012 on Windows 8.
Here are my initial thoughts about Windows 8 after spending a few hours with it.
The Good

Desktop UI (User Interface) is very similar to Windows 7. The glass taskbar from Windows 7 is still present.
Integration of Microsoft products. In order to sign in, you need a Microsoft (or Windows Live or Hotmail) ID. Once you enter your Microsoft ID, your calendar, mail, pictures and other data is automatically populated.
The task manager has been redesigned to give you tons more information about processor, network and hard drive usage.
The Windows Explorer has gotten it’s biggest makeover since Windows XP. Like many other Microsoft products, it is equipped with the new Ribbon interface. It gives you the ability to perform many functions with only a few clicks.
The Desktop UI is only slightly different than Windows 7. There are no rounded corners, only square edges. Overall it’s not much over a change, but still nice to look at.

The Bad

In order to install the touch friendly Windows 8 apps, you need to use the Store tile. I tried it and it was slow and painful to browse. Thankfully you can still download the latest version of your favorite program and run it like before in the desktop.
Windows Media Player no longer has DVD playback support, so you cannot play DVDs out of the box. However, you can download VLC to enjoy your films.

The Ugly

Microsoft announced that you will not be able to boot directly to the desktop. This means that every time that you boot up, you are forced to see the new Start Screen covered with multicolored tiles.
As far as I know, there is no way to turn off the Start Screen. For computers that do not have touch enabled screens this will become annoying very quickly. To understand what I mean, make all the icons on your screen an inch square.
No Start Button. This is my biggest gripe. Hitting the Start button pulls up the Start Screen, which is a pain to use.

Conclusion
There are some nice features in Windows 8, but there are also some real pains. I think that Microsoft spent way too much time trying to make Windows 8 touch and tablet friendly by default. These features should be optional to desktop and laptop users. It is almost like they are forcing touch technology on you. Since I just installed Windows 7, I will not be upgrading anytime soon and I would not recommend that anyone rush out and do that either once Windows 8 comes out in the Fall. Wait for Windows 9 to see if they come to their senses.

What Browser Should Facebook Buy?

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 02:20:00 +0000

The other day there was an interesting article on Cnet.com entitled “Why Facebook Needs to Build a Browser”. The main idea of the article is that Google's Chrome browser would soon over take other browsers, including Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Since Google's overall strategy is to send people to their products to get as much ad revenue as possible, once Chrome becomes dominant all social network users will be sent to Google's very own Google Plus social network. Google has already begun building Google Plus buttons and connections into all of their products. It's only a matter of time before it becomes a built-in feature in Chrome. This mean that Facebook would need to build a browser.

The problem is Facebook should build a browser or buy one? At the current rate of Chrome market share growth, Facebook would need to move quickly, so building a browser from scratch is out of the question. Their best bet is to purchase an existing browser and adapt it to their needs. But which one? It would have to be one of the current top four browsers.

Facebook could made a deal with Microsoft to create a fork of Internet Explorer, but I don't like that idea for two reasons. First, I doubt Microsoft would appreciate losing control of their property. Second, IE is very slow and it's extension system stinks.

I doubt they could use Apple's Safari because of Apple's strict proprietary rules.

That leaves Firefox or Opera. I doubt they would use Firefox because there would be an uproar in the open source community.

Opera is the best bet for Facebook. Among other things, Opera has its own social network for its users and an email system. It would be easy for Facebook to fold these services into their current line up of features. Once again, Opera is the best bet.

One thing that Facebook should keep in mind when they create their browser is to make sure they are not too obtrusive. They need to take a look at MSN Explorer and AOL Explorer and then do the opposite. The problem with these browsers is that they force their products on the users. Subtle is better. Less is more.

Monkey See, Monkey Do: A Game of Technological Follow the Leader

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:57:00 +0000

Since its founding in 2004, Mozilla released new versions of Firefox infrequently, often waiting until a list of features and UI (user interface) updates were completed. Bug fixes and security updates were released as needed between major updates.

Recently, that all changed. Firefox started to lose market share to Google's Chrome browser. Google has followed a policy of rapid version release to catchup with other browsers. They have done so and in fact many people predict that they will even surpass Microsoft's Internet Explorer very soon.

In an effort to stop their market loss or even to recapture lost ground, Firefox decided that their only option was to adopt the rapid release strategy. Within a year, they went from version 5 to version 12 (which was released today). This is a very stupid move in my opinion.

This is stupid for two major reasons: it hurts developers and destroys the mystery.

When a company released a new version every six weeks or so, it's hard for extension developers to keep up. Because of the rapid release, several of the extensions I use are disabled because they are not compatible with the newest version. Some of the better extensions are written by hobbyists who don't always have the time to write the two or three lines of code need to update the extension. And when they do. The get it updated a new version of Firefox is released. What a pain!

My favorite part about the early versions of Firefox was waiting expectantly to get the new versions to see what the new features were like. Between the first 3 or 4 versions, there were major interface changes. Each version had a different look and feel. Not so with the new versions, there is nothing to really differentiate them for each other.

In the end, there is really nothing that Mozilla can do to stop Chrome from taking their market share. Google has the biggest advertisement system in the world. Eventually they will convert the whole world to Chrome. It is inevitable.

TweetDeck, The Story of a Maligned App

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:50:00 +0000

In today's technology and communication heavy world, it is important to have a presence in a wide range of social networks, from Facebook to Twitter to Tumblr to FourSquare and so on. If you want to submit a single message across all of these different networks (or even across multiple accounts on the same network) it is nice to only have to do it once. That is were a social media manager or dashboard can come in handy. There are several applications out there that can do that for you, but I want to talk about one in particular: TweetDeck.

As part of my job I have to manage the company's social network presence. I tried several apps, web-based and Windows-based. I tried HootSuite, Seesmic and others, but my favorite was TweetDeck. To put it simply TweetDeck had everything I wanted. It had among other features:

the ability to look at multiple accounts across multiple networks
use Bit.ly to shorten links
a neat feature called Deck.ly that allowed users to post messages longer than 140 characters to Twitter

TweetDeck had a web version, an Adobe AIR version (which would run on PC, Mac or Linux) and a iOS version. All in all, I was very happy with it.

And then, Twitter bought it...

At first, I had great hopes for the purchase by Twitter. I expected great new feature to be added. I was wrong.

Shortly after purchase, Twitter released a new version of TweetDeck that was no longer written for Adobe AIR, but was now OS specific.(I imagine that this makes it harder to write.) This new version looked much plainer. This new version dropped support for LinkedIn, Google Buzz, Foursquare and MySpace and killed the Deck.ly feature.

I have the uneasy feeling that eventually, TweetDeck is going to be renamed the Twitter Manager (or something else with Twitter in the title). It's already been changed to TweetDeck by Twitter.

Even the logo has been changed to look more like Twitter.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm very unhappy that Twitter bought a program I like and messed it up. I wished they would have kept the features and improved them. But I get the feeling that Twitter is trying to boost their own product line to the detriment of some customers.

In the end, I still use TweetDeck, albeit, the pre-acquisition Adobe AIR version. The only thing that does not work is Deck.ly, so I'll need to find something else for that.

On another topic (but one very similar), Twitter has recently purchased another product that I use: the blogging platform Posterous. Twitter says they are not going to do anything to Posterous at the moment, but rumors are flying that they just bought Posterous for the talent. Lifehacker even had a article on how to switch your blog from Posterous. We'll see what happens next.

Thoughts on Amazon's New Kindle Fire Tablet

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:37:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, Amazon took the wrapping of its new and much discussed tablet. The new Amazon Kindle Fire tablet has been called an iPad-killer by some, but I have my doubts. Granted I have not actually used it yet (it will not be shipped until November 15), but I've read enough to form my own conclusions.

Operating System

One of my biggest concerns is the operating system. Amazon took the Android operating system and created their own version or fork. This creates two problems for me. One, Amazon's fork is not based on the latest version of Android (3.2.1). (Android 4.0 has just been released.) Instead, the fork is based on version 2.3. This seems to indicate to me that the Fire will not have all of the latest features you can with other Android based tablets. It almost seems that Amazon is handicapping itself before it even enters the ring.

The second concern that I have about the operating system is the apps store. Unlike other Android tablets, which use the official Android Market to purchase apps, to get apps for the Fire you have to go to the Amazon Appstore. There are not as many apps available in the Appstore than the Market and I did not see any apps written by Google. This makes me wonder if apps for the Fire need to be written differently than regular Android apps.

Browser

When Amazon modified the operating system, they also included their own web browser, which they call Silk. While it is based on Webkit, like the regular Android browser, it works like Opera Mini. When you request a page with the Silk browsers, it divides the work between the tablet and Amazon's servers. This means that besides your ISP knowing what you surf, Amazon knows (for their ad database). From what I read, even the government has questions about the security ramifications. Thankfully, it sounds like you can turn this feature off and render everything on the tablet.

Hardware

I don't know too much about the CPU in the Fire, so I won't comment on it (except that it is made by Texas Instrument, a company that is known for its calculators). There are a couple of things that bother me about the hardware configuration. There's no camera and no microphone. For me, this is a deal breaker. Every mobile device available has a camera and a microphone. The lack of both just makes it stand out from the pack, but not in a good way. Also, the Fire's screen is 7 inches, while most of the others are several inches larger. The one thing

Final Thoughts

Amazon is making an effort to make a splash in the tablet market. With a price that is $100 less that the iPad, they will do just that. (Interestingly, Apple received a couple sample of a 7 inch "iPad mini". So far this is just a rumor. The late Steve Jobs said that 10 inches was the minimum size, but you never know. If the market demands it, they will probably make it.) To me, it almost seems like the Fire is more of a beta, than a finished project. It may seem like a great deal for some, but I'd wait for the next version and hope they get around to adding a microphone and camera. Time will tell.

Video Games Companies Look for a Bigger Piece of the Pie

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:04:00 +0000

Gamespot reported back in September that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals made a decisions that could hurt many video game owner and retailers.
The article stated:

The court overturned a May 2008 decision by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in the case of Vernor v. Autodesk. The original decision stated that Washington resident Timothy Vernor was within his rights to sell a sealed copy of Autodesk's AutoCAD design software he got at a garage sale on eBay.
Though the copy of the software was sealed, Autodesk's EULA--which was not visible externally on the retail box--said that the software is only licensed to purchasers, not actually sold. It also said that the license cannot be transferred, so after purchase, the software had to be destroyed if not used.

The article goes on to say:

    Tech blog Ars Technica pointed out that the EULAs used by Electronic Arts and many other publishers have similar language in their games. "This software is licensed to you, not sold," reads EA's EULA. "Access to the software requires software registration with the serial code enclosed with the software. Software registration is limited to one EA Account per serial code and is non-transferable."
   The EA EULA is for a PC game, which typically requires acceptance of such terms to play. However, comparable wording can also be found in console game manuals, such as that of Take-Two Interactive's recent hit Red Dead Redemption.
    "THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED, NOT SOLD," reads the license agreement on Red Dead Redemption. (Capital letters in original.) "You agree not to: (a) Commercially exploit the software; (b) Distribute, lease, sell, rent or otherwise transfer the software, or any copies of the software, without the express consent of the licensor." (Emphasis added.)

Fourth Circle of Hell - Greed from Dante's Inferno

This decision will put a big crimp in the used video game business. Selling used video games is a several billion dollar a year industry. The video game companies have always been unhappy about this loss in revenue. After all why pay $50 for a new game when you can wait and buy the same game for $20 used? This is just a move for video games companies who are making money hand over fist as it is. (For example, the latest installment of the Halo series, Halo: Reach, made $200 million on launch day.) These people don’t need the money. They are basically squeezing out retailers that sell used games, like GameStop. Even Best Buy and Target jumped on the used game bandwagon by giving in-store credit for bringing in used games. I won't be buying video games anytime soon. I want the freedom to sell my property. After all, there are many free games and flash games to fulfill my gaming needs.

How to Search Your PC Instantly

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 02:39:00 +0000

    Have you ever been in a hurry to find a file? Ten minutes minutes before the meeting and you need to find the video clip you were going to show. If you use Windows, you would pull up Windows search, type in the title, and wait for it to search through all the files on your computer. Depending on how many files that you have, this may take quite a while.
    There is a small, powerful alternative to Windows Search that will find what you are looking for in a matter of minutes. It is called Everything. This program is less than 400 kilobytes in size. It installs quickly and indexes you computer in a matter on minutes. Whenever you create an new file, the index is complete. It works on Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 and 7. (Since Vista and 7 have an improved search function build into the Start Menu, it is ideal for any pre-Vista Windows OS.
    One of the drawbacks of Everything is that it only searches the file and folder names, not their contents. But if you remember a little bit of the title, you can probably find it.
    So, go ahead and use this tool. You can download Everything here: http://www.voidtools.com/.

Disqus and WordPress: A Tragedy

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:11:00 +0000

If you have spent any amount of time on the internet, especially if you have a blog, you have probably heard of WordPress. WordPress is one of the top blogging sites. WordPress has two arms. WordPress.com hosts blogs and WordPress.org offered blog architecture software.
Now, I’d like to introduce you to the second member of our tragedy: Disqus. Disqus is an online service that offers a centralized place for controlling blog and website commenting. It’s a one stop shopping for modifying and approving comments from many different blogs. All you have to do is register your blog or website and insert some code.
The tragedy is that I found out that even though you can insert Disqus into almost any blog or website, you cannot insert it into you blog if it is hosted on WordPress.com. (If your blog is self-hosted and running WordPress, you can imbed Disqus.) I soon realized that WordPress does not support any add-ons. This is disappointing for me because I like to add to the functionality of my blog with add-ons.
If you are like me and you would like WordPress.com to support Disqus, you can join my Facebook group here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=124927537525907&ref=ts. I would like WordPress.com to add the ability to install add-ons and I hope they hear my plea and fix it.

Downloadable Media – the Future?

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:02:00 +0000

    In the video above, long-time Microsoft enemy Larry Ellison rants about how he hates Windows. He made this statement back in 1996. In effect, he was talking about our current transfer to downloadable media. While this change is inevitable, I have my own thoughts on it.
    I am very reluctant to buy a game or movie that is download only. The reason? If I don’t like the game or movie, I want to be able to get rid of it. I do this in one of two ways. I sell it or trade it. When the item is downloadable, it is impossible for me to get rid of it or at least get some of my money back. I have only bought two download only games so far. One of them was only $5, so what the heck.
    I’m more than a little bit gun shy about buying download only software for a very good reason: I’ve been burned. Several years ago, I downloaded and tried a very good download acceleration program. I liked it so much I paid $30 or so when the trial period ran out. The paid-for program worked for several weeks and then it told me that if I wanted to continue using it, I would have to buy it. After waiting some time trying to contact, I gave it up for lost.
    The video game companies do not want you to buy used games. They are losing income because of used game sales, especially in the last few months of this year. In this economy, gamers are thinking, “Why should I spend $50 on a new games when I can get it for half price if I wait a little bit.”
    Another thing about downloadable media, it has to be stored on your hard drive. There is no way I could have I have all my DVDs and games on my hard drive. Then again, the prices of external hard drives are falling at a pretty fast rate. You can get a 1 terabyte drive for about $100. This could store quite a few games and movies
    Think economical. Buy used games and DVDs.
   Comment below if you have had similar trouble with download-only media.

Does Open Source Security Make Sense?

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:46:00 +0000

I have been thinking about open source software lately, especially security software, and I thought I would share my thoughts with you.

First of all, let’s define what open source means. Open source is the idea in technology, especially software, that says everyone should be able to see the source material used to create it. This means that if a program is written and distributed as open source, anyone can get a hold of the source code that makes it run. The idea behind this is that people can take this freely available source material and either build upon it to create their own program or merely improve the existing program.

Okay, now let’s take a look at what open source means for your computer’s security, primarily anti-virus. If the source code for an anti-virus program is available, it would be child’s play for a dedicated virus creator, who wants to create havoc, to acquire that code and use it to discover and exploit weaknesses in it. To me, the whole idea seems seem akin to building a wall around your castle to protect you from an outside enemy and then posting the blueprints for that selfsame wall, complete with all the secret passages and weak points marked, where any invader can easily access them.

I think the majority of people would and do agree with me on this. Why? Because almost all of the anti-virus programs on the market are close source, meaning only the company that created it has access to the code that makes it run. Think about it. The top anti-virus companies, Norton, McAfee, Panda, Trends Micro and Avira, all keep the source code for their programs under wraps, probably because they understand the risks.

In fact, there are very few open source. One of the best known is ClamAV. However, I’m not sure how long this will continue. It appears that a company called Sourcefire has acquired the trademarks and copyrights to ClamAV, so that may change too.

In closing, don’t trust the security of your computer to a company who posts the blueprint of your castle for all to see. You might just get bit.

Please feel free to comment.

Tutorial: Creating and Burning an Image File

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:16:00 +0000

Creating an image file is the best way to copy and backup discs. (I am talking about discs that you have legal right to copy.") Here is a quick run through of how to create and burn an image file.

The first thing you need to do is download a good disc burning software. The best I know of it call ImgBurn. You can find and download it here: http://www.imgburn.com/.

Once you have downloaded and installed ImgBurn, open up the program either from the Start Menu or Desktop. Once it comes up, it will look a little intimidating for a first timer, but after using it a little while you will get a handle on it.

To start creating an image file, put the disc to be copied in you computer and click “Create image file from disc”.

Once the new screen comes up, check the contents of the “Destination” section to make sure the image file will go where you want it. (Ideally, you should put it on your C drive in a file names “image files.") Be sure to check and make sure that you have enough space on your C drive to do this. The size of the image file is on the right under “size”.

Once you have made sure that you have enough space, click large button on the lower left of the top window. The copy process will now start.

When it is finished, it will play a tune to let you know.

Now to burn the image file to a disc. Click “OK”. Now click “Mode” and select “Ez-Mode Picker”. This will return you to the main screen.

Now click “Write image to disc”.

In the new window, select the image file by click the file under the “Source” section.

Select and open the image. Insert the appropriate disc (CD or DVD) and click the button in the lower left of the top screen. (Make sure that “Verify” has been selected under “Destination”. This will ensure that you copy is correct." If it ejects that disc and pulls it back in, don’t worry. It is verifying the disc.)

Congratulations! You have finished burning the disc. To create another, click “OK” and click the burn button again after putting in a new disc or you can set how many disc you want to make.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Safari Now Has Extensions!!!

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:37:00 +0000

Yesterday at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Steve Jobs made several announcements, among them was Safari 5. While this seems small to most in comparison to the release of the iPhone 4G and other stuff, it is a big deal because it heralds a feature that Safari has been lacking and lagging behind the rest of the browsers. The big new feature is extensions. You can download the new version of Safari for Windows here.

Here is how to activate the extensions feature. After you have downloaded and installed Safari, click on the gear button on the top far right and click Preferences. Once the dialog box comes up, click the Advanced tab. Select the “Show Develop menu in menu bar” checkbox.

Close the Preference dialog box. Click the page picture next to the gear. For the menu click “Develop” and then “Enable Extensions”.

You now have extensions available. To see the extensions installed, go back to the preferences dialog box and there will be a tab for “Extensions”. (The reason that the example shows an extension installed and yours probably does not is because I install it.)

This extension feature is new and experimental, like I said, so Apple does not have a list of available extensions. However, you can find a few here. There are not many available because it is so new. Let me know in the comments if how know of any other place that has extensions for Safari. Have fun exploring.

Moving the Blog

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:20:00 +0000

I have decided to change the name of this blog. I have made this decision for several reasons. First, someone else has a W Report website. Second, I want this blog to reflect more of a tech bent, instead of mixed topics. I will announce the new name withing the next couple of weeks.

Great Deal from Seagate

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:56:00 +0000

Seagate has a great dealing going. They are offering an 500GB external drive for $99.99, free shipping included. That might not seem like a such a big deal, until I tell you that the drive with come with 20 films preloaded, including: GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Shooter, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and The Italian Job.
Now it really sounds like a deal. $100/20 films = $5 per film. If you are interested, you can find the link here: http://bit.ly/ahIqGF. You’d better hurry, because the sale ends 5/10/10.

Raimi and Maguire Leave Spiderman Series

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:40:00 +0000

Here are just a few thoughts that I had when I heard that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire were leaving the Spiderman series.

Pro: I’m glad to hear that Tobey Maguire is leaving. I’ve always disliked the way that Maguire played Peter Parker. He always came off as a bit too whiney.

Con: The big problem that I see is loss of continuity. One of my favorite film series is the Lethal Weapon series. The reason I like these films is the continuity what exists because the films have all the same actors. Even Murtaugh’s children are played by the same actors and actresses for all four films. An example of a film series that is the exact opposite is the Darkman series. In the Darkman series, Liam Neeson played Peyton Westlake/Darkman. In the following two films, the character was played by a different actor.

Another downside of Raimi leaving the series is that it mean the end of Bruce Campbell cameos. They were short, but they added something fun to the film.

All this being said, I’m looking forward to see how the new Spiderman series turns out.

Dave Ramsey and Me

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:25:00 +0000

I want to say right off the bat that I respect Dave Ramsey for what he has down and how he has helped many people get out of debt. However, I have a bone to pick with him. Dave Ramsey and I do not see eye to eye on the subject of gold.

Dave Ramsey counsels people to invest in mutual funds. He tells them to avoid investing in gold. According to Ramsey, gold does not have a good track record. In fact, Ramsey is even in several radio ads telling people to sell all the “extra” gold they have laying around. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have any “extra” gold laying around.

In my opinion, gold is the smartest investment you can make, especially today. Today, gold reach an all-time high of $1,038.65 an ounce. That is a lot of money, especially in this economy. The dollar could go away tomorrow and gold would still be this valuable.

Gold has long been seen as a standard of value. Gold has been used all through history as money and has always been a solid investment. Why should now be any different today? Should you invest in an instrument that can fluctuate drastically over time (mutual funds), especially if an economy goes south; or should you invest in a precious metal that you will always own and that will always stay valuable because supply is so limited?

Please comment.

EVONY Has to Drop Their Provocative Ads

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Every time I go to a new website, 9 times out of 10 I see an ad from EVONY. Most of the time, these ads feature a “peasant” girl with a plunging neckline with the words “Come Play, My Lord”. I’m getting darn sick of it. I want to be able surf the web without seeing these particular ads everywhere. Even the homepage for this site has the same picture.

I can block these ads with Firefox, but the problem is that I work on about 7 or so other computers, so I still see them. On top of that, there are millions of kids exposed to this pictures as they surf for school or fun.

EVONY is using sex to sell their game. They are giving kids the wrong idea. There’s is enough of that crap on the web without them adding to it. In Gospel of Mark, Jesus said, “And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me: it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea.” (9:41)

EVONY, if you read this, pull these ads and try something more tasteful.

Tech Disasters

noreply@blogger.com (John P) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:20:00 +0000

I found these pictures all over the web. These systems are in pretty bad shape. Click each image to get a larger version.