Alec has discovered the computer. More specifically, she has discovered that she can use the games section of pbskids.org by herself without needing to be able to read. Which is both cute and fantastic, on one hand, and something of a problem on the other, as she's demonstrating the computer addiction for which Lane and I are famous, but at a much younger age (in her defense, neither Lane nor I had computers when we were four).

I'm setting up parental controls next time I'm over.

And we're definitely not letting her near World of Warcraft anytime soon.

Labels: alec, computers

With any luck, the DVD project is finally complete. I put the replacement batch of Jeff and Shandra's DVDs (necessitated by an unfortunate typo in the credits page - I wouldn't have cared so much if it had been an uncle or a cousin, but it's pretty bad when you misspell the bride's name . . .) in the mail today, so hopefully everyone is happy.

This project gave me the opportunity to learn iMovie and iDVD (neither of which is particularly difficult, but the quirks have a small learning curve). They worked great for capturing the video from my camcorder, editing and splicing. The special effects are limited and iDVD has a host of annoyances (like the inability to add a "Play All" button and the tendency to pick a random video on the DVD when you click "next" on the remote instead of going to the next video in the menu), but all in all they turned out well.

The DVDs themselves were my first experiments with mass DVD burning (using a disk image and OS X's Disk Utility; yes, I know Toast and its like are more efficient, but Disk Utility is free) and DVD printing (using printable DVDs and a special DVD tray in my Epson printer). I designed the DVD surfaces in Photoshop and then printed them directly onto the DVDs themselves; the results look much more professional than handwritten black Sharpie.

All told, including the time I spent fixing one typo, rerendering and reburning 5 discs, I'm estimating somewhere around 30 hours of work, of which probably 18 or so was actual hands-on work (the rest being time my computer needed to process video or burn the DVDs while I did laundry or went grocery shopping or helped indict Alberto Gonzalez on human rights abuses). Some of that was the learning curve, so future projects should be more efficient. Another factor is the final DVD sizes; I went over the DVD file size on each DVD and had to snip 3 minutes here and 5 minutes there to get below the limit (a DVD will hold about 4.2 gigabytes of data; Jeff and Shandra's DVD is 4.16 gigabytes).

My mother said everyone enjoyed them, so I'm hoping this project is done. My siblings have been mysteriously silent, however (even to some specific questions I asked them in the e-mail that accompanied the discs), so my enthusiasm for pro bono media work for them is somewhat low at the moment. I'm not sure they're understanding that hiring a third party to do this project would have cost them between $1,800 and $2,600 (depending on the market, and not counting the photography I also did at each wedding), which would put this right up there with the most expensive wedding gifts they received. I suppose that will be a point of contention the next time a desire for free media work is advanced.

Labels: computers, family, photography

Random updates, like the proverbial box of chocolates:

- I finally started the wedding DVD projects for my appropriate siblings (sorry, Haley, yours will be a long way off). Jeff and Shandra's is 90% done and I've even burned a test DVD to make sure it actually plays. Linde and Justin's is 75% done. I need to buy printable DVDs for the final product and then do the trial-and-error of learning how to burn a disc image and then make multiple DVDs from that (as opposed to waiting 5 hours for a DVD to render and burn, as the test DVD did) and then I should be done. All told, learning iMovie and iDVD, uploading about 5 hours of video, whittling it down to about 3 hours of video, making it into clips with transitions, composing the DVD menus and figuring out how to convert the PowerPoint slide shows into videos took around 17 hours. I'll be glad when they're done, mostly because they're way overdue, but partially so I can get my 65GB of hard drive space back (and I thought high-res pictures took up a lot of space). This should cover Christmas presents to my siblings for the next, oh, five years or so . . .

- I cooked fish for the first time last week. Although I'm not a huge fan of fish, I'm going to make an effort to incorporate it into my diet. I dug my George Foreman grill out of the oubliette into which it was tossed long ago (I don't think I've even plugged it in since I bought my house, given my non-meat-eating habits), dusted the fillets with olive oil and seasoned bread crumbs, grilled them for about 5 minutes and then flavored them with a honey glaze I made from honey, teriyaki sauce and seasoned pepper. When added to the steamed edamame and jicama and steamed brown rice I made on the side, it was probably the healthiest meal I've ever made.

- My route to work has been fraught with peril lately. Earlier in the week I spotted several soda cans rolling across the lanes in front of me. My initial impression was that one of the recycling trucks had lost a bag, a guess disproved when I caught up with the Mountain Dew truck one block ahead that had jettisoned several cases of soda from an unfortunately unsecured door while attempting to turn into a gas station. Today I was nearly in an auto accident when the person just ahead and to the left of my lane suddenly decided to have lunch at the Burger King on my right and entered my lane to make the turn without looking or signaling. A hard brake (and some swearing) on my part left a gap of less than a foot. Yay for adrenaline to prime you for work.

- My beloved iMac has been giving me fits. It has for awhile been randomly deciding not to wake up from sleep, a condition Lane has dubbed a "Mac coma." I've reset the system controller and PRAM, disabled Awaken and Weatherbug and pored over the console logs, with no luck. At the same time my Soundsticks have been failing (cutting out when anything else suddenly draws power, necessitating unplugging and plugging them back in, crackling when they kick in after not being used for awhile and humming very loudly when they're not plugged into the computer), which according to the oracle that is the Internet heralds a failed capacitor and the end of their lifespan. With any luck, the two are connected, and the replacement speakers that should be showing up any day now will solve both problems.

- Speaking of computers, I spent most of an hour on the phone with my mother last night walking her through the diagnostic and remediation steps of an A360 virus infection on her PC. I think we got a handle on it (although not being able to actually see the screen means I can't be sure). As much as my iMac is annoying me at the moment, I'm still trying to move my family to the Mac so as to avoid these sorts of inconveniences.

Labels: annoyance, computers, family, imac, miscellany

" . . . a Windows 7 Starter edition, which will run only three applications simultaneously, will also be available . . ."

Three applications. Really, Microsoft? Come on.

Labels: computers, what the hell

Well, this is just sad. I have old, unused computers in my basement more advanced than what the White House is using. Sheesh.

Labels: computers, politics

I'm sincerely hoping none of my family and acquaintances are still using the pox upon humanity known as Internet Explorer (I've installed Firefox on all of my family's computers, so if any of you are using IE you're in big trouble), but if by some odd chance you are, you need to stop. Now. This is as good a time as any to switch to Firefox (or Safari or Chrome or what have you). Just trust me on this one.

Labels: computers, internet

Lisa found this on her computer today after putting the twins down for their nap. It looks like Alec is getting started on the Internet early.

Labels: alec, amusement, computers, funny, internet, twins

In a most serendipitous fashion, Haley has both (a) needed a new computer for awhile and (b) not received a high school graduation present from our parental units (despite prepping for her sophomore year to begin in about a month). In her infinite wisdom, Haley turned over most of the computer-decision-making-process to me, and I carefully weighed the pros and cons of Dell Vista laptops and other assorted machinery, checked prices and made informed recommendations on system specs. And, of course, I left any sort of personal bias out of the equation.

So it's just by chance that she's getting a MacBook. Honest.

I had all of the components (the MacBook, a RAM upgrade from a third-party, a student copy of Word 2008, etc.) shipped to me so I can have everything upgraded, installed and customized by the time Haley visits next month. Plus this way I can have a MacBook to play with for a couple of weeks . . .

Labels: computers, haley, imac

For the past few weeks I've been watching various sites for Canon lens deals so I can upgrade from my current walk-around lens. On Friday the following ad popped up on the local Craig's List board:

"Canon EOS 5D 12.8 Megapixel w/ EF 24-105 Kit- $1100"

Right of the bat this seemed odd to me. The poster was advertising it as "like new," having only used it for "50 shots" before deciding he didn't need a full-frame camera. The language in the ad actually showed some degree of knowledge of cameras, but at the same time he's asking $1,100 for a nearly $3,000 camera. The lens alone is worth what he was asking for the package.

So I passed. I did forward it to Lisa with a joke about how I'd give her my XTi for free if she'd buy me this one, but other than that I forgot about it.

On Saturday afternoon it was still there, and I finally broke down and sent a query about the condition and original purchase point (no harm there). As usual, I used one of my "throw away" e-mail addresses so in case it *was* a scam I could just junk the e-mail address when I started receiving spam from it. No response came on Saturday, and within about three hours the ad was removed from Craig's List. I figured the seller had found a buyer and removed the ad to keep from receiving further inquiries.

Fast forward to this morning (Monday), when I receive the following:

> -------Original Message-------
> From: Robert Armes
> To: [my throw-away craigslist.org address]
> Subject: Canon EOS 5D 12.8 Megapixel w/ EF 24-105 Kit- $1100
> Sent: 14 Apr '08 13:14
>
> Hi there,
>
> I still have the Kit. But the thing is that i'm in the U.K. for my
> school ( i have the gear with me), if you're still interested in the sale
> please let me know and maybe we can work something out . So drop me a line
> if you're up for grabs!
> Thank you!
>
>
> Robert Armes
> 420, Prescot Rd, Old Swan, Liverpool, Merseyside L13 3DA
> United Kingdom
> Ph: 44 20 3014 7453

Alarm bells. First off, he didn't answer any of my questions. Second, he's suddenly in England, two days after advertising on an Omaha posting board? For school (a long-term obligation)? Why even bother to advertise it here? Third, now we're talking shipping charges, which defeats the purpose of Craig's List (local buying and selling) and introduces the potential for scams and fraud.

So I Googled his name and a few other pieces of information from the e-mail. It took less than 15 seconds to come up with a Flickr discussion board with posts from people who have received the exact same offer (using the same name and address) on the Craig's List boards of Seattle and Chicago. Some of the contributors to the board pursued it further than I did and had received instructions for sending payment through a faked-but-authentic-sounding shipping company.

Just a reminder that things that sound too good to be true probably are.

Labels: amusement, computers, internet, photography, social commentary

To most people, the lines of code that make up a computer program are meaningless symbols. To make computer threats more "personal," digital artist Alex Dragulescu has used the code of a variety of viruses and spyware programs to render unique three-dimensional images that add a "face" to the programs' names. His next project, an even more interesting venture, will use a person's blog and other online projects to create a three-dimensional "picture" of that person's online life.

Labels: art, computers, cool, internet

Happy St. Patty's Day, one and all. Not being Irish or having any fondness for fermented barley, this holiday doesn't have the impact that, say, Halloween does, but I did remember my green shirt. It's perhaps a throwback to grade school and its silly "pinching" rules (and the associated cheaters who insisted that the some part of their braces or the socks under their shoes counted). Although it seems unlikely any attorney will yell "No green!" and pinch me in the elevator.

I'm happy to see a handful of groups are capitalizing on the "green" aspect of the holiday to promote green technologies. I "celebrated" a week early by buying about $40 of compact fluorescent light bulbs last week and replacing every incandescent bulb in my house (save one three-way bulb that won't accept a standard CFL). I even ordered dimmable ones for my dining room.

On my way in to work today I passed the Scottish Rite Masonic Center (as I always do, although simply because my route takes me that way, not because I'm keeping tabs on the Masons or anything). The Center always has a large sign out front with its name on it (the Center's, not the sign's). Today, they've also tacked a sheet over it to announce a corned beef dinner something-or-other. Except the sheet doesn't fully cover the sign, leaving the "S" from "Scottish" on the left, leading to an amusing advertisement for "Scorned beef."

Weekend highlights: Meghan's dance performance at the Shark Club was good (in performance and turnout), which slightly made up for her overabundance of stress (apparently cab companies in Omaha can't be bothered to help find lost keys). The twins were happy to see me (Kylie moreso because I was carrying an umbrella she could play with). I ordered my copy of CS3 (Design Premium rather than Web Premium, as I'd originally planned; I've never had much interest in hard-copy publishing, the purview of the major difference between the two, but I've recently discovered a company that will make actual hard copy books of my photos, so I guess it's time to learn InDesign). My left eyelid is *still* twitching (grrrr).

Hope everyone is having a great St. Patty's Day. :)

Labels: computers, environment, holiday, miscellany, photography

I realized today that Flickr's format may not have correctly conveyed the accomplishment with which I was being enamored regarding my video conferencing test. This is a more accurate representation of what Cris saw on his computer (although, of course, it will vary by viewer based on monitor size and screen resolution). According to Skype, that's supposed to be 640x480 at 25 fps, although we didn't test it long enough to verify that it will actually maintain that.

Labels: computers, imac

Yes, that's me on a web cam. Rest assured I will not be charging $2.00 a minute to strip for strangers or anything of that sort (although for a copy of Photoshop . . .). I set up my iSight for the first time last night (both in iChat and in Skype). This was Cris's view of what is apparently a pretty decent quality (both in framerate and screen size) live video chat with me. Humorously, he didn't have a Web cam hooked up, so while I was speaking normally (like a phone call with video), his responses were typed into the chat window, a somewhat disjointed experience that nevertheless holds promise for live video conferencing with family and friends (everyone go download Skype).

Labels: computers, imac

I'm adjusting to the iMac fairly well. The close buttons on the opposite side, check. Dock and Dashboard, check. Menus in the top bar instead of the window, check. Programs running even when closed until actually quit, check.

The minor annoyances that still require acclimation: keyboard map, command keys, equivalent programs. I haven't found an HTML program I like yet (iWeb is useless and RapidWeaver *says* it will do what I want but the documentation and trial-and-error hasn't produced it yet).

Most of my actual complaints have been hardware. I really didn't like the Mighty Mouse. Even with right-click enabled, the mouse would routinely interpret my right-clicks as left-clicks (even when I was almost on the right edge), and the short cable really isn't compatible with a large screen. So I bought an MX Revolution wireless mouse, which had some early kinks (less-than-stellar OS X drivers that kept switching the scroll wheel mode on its own and a charging station that took some fiddling to make work) but that seems to be working pretty well now. And the built-in speakers, despite the reviews, sound awful (or more accurately, they sound like a stereo without any bass). Soundsticks seem to have solved that problem. All I think I'm really missing at this point is my Adobe Suite (you don't want to see Jay in Photoshop withdrawal . . .).

Labels: computers, imac

My new Soundsticks are here and attached to the iMac, adding yet another diffuse blue LED glow to the collection of lights in the corner of my room (the USB hub and the Lightscribe drive being the other two, along with the green lights on the cable modem). That freed up my old Altec Lansing 251 speakers (a 5.1 speaker system won't fit on the new desk, hence the "downgrade" to 2.1 speakers). Given their likely (low) value, I "converted" them into television speakers (they're certainly not true surround sound, especially given the wires are too short to place them anywhere but on the entertainment center itself, but they sound better than the television's built-in speakers). One interesting quirk is that the "static" that the bass unit has been experiencing for the last several months, when I actually put my ear down by it while hooking it back up in the living room, revealed itself to be the faint murmurings of at least three different radio stations. So much for shielding.

In other news, despite the possible contribution crystalline water may have made to the emergence of life (and hence me) on this planet, I remain completely unimpressed with its insistence on returning on a seasonal basis. Read, shoveling snow (a task completed last night, only to be resumed tonight), while not on par with, say, invasive surgery or financial bankruptcy, remains an unenjoyable task. Lisa has openly scoffed at my plans for a superheated compressed nitrogen "gun" capable of flash-steaming snow off the sidewalks (and has suggested I just buy a small snowblower instead).

Labels: computers, imac

Home improvements are expensive. Word.

The bedroom project is nearing completion. The paint is long since dry, resplendent now with its shimmering highlights and metallic copper accents, reflecting a hybrid Frank Lloyd Wright/Stargate Atlantis/Myst theme seen only in the surroundings of bachelors with some degree of creativity and spending money, certainly nothing ever seen in a room requiring the input of two people. Most of the furniture is moved back in (including, thankfully, my bed, sparing me from the discomfort of my spare beds that in most situations I reserve only for visiting guests). The old computer desk is still partially assembled and the Dell is still running, mostly because I haven't finished migrating files but partially because I still need it for a handful of applications (mostly Photoshop-related) that the iMac is not yet capable of handling. Once it's gone I should be able to move the dresser into its place and be done (sans wall decorations, which may require some re-evaluation given the new color scheme).

The iMac itself has been a mixed blessing. The culmination of a year-and-a-half of saving and a good dose of longing, it sits in blissful pretentiousness, ignoring the sullen glares of the Dell. At the same time, it has frustrated me just a little bit. I don't like the Mighty Mouse (the lack of context for the right-click has annoyed the hell out of me) and the smaller keyboard will take some adjusting after using the same (very big) ergonomic keyboard for (and I'm not joking here) 12 years (it's a hell of a keyboard, even if it's a faint yellow instead of white now and some of the keys have been worn blank). I haven't yet figured out why Apple (the industry standard for incorporating design and convenience into their products) doesn't make an ergonomic keyboard, or why the grand march forward toward larger screen space (this is a 24" monitor, after all, which dwarfs even the 20" screens at work) is mirrored by a gradual shrinking of the keyboard to laptop size. The keyboard layout is similarly unfamiliar for the time being (in particular, I'm used to the backspace key being at the upper right edge, and frequently use the edge as context to find it, which on the Mac keyboard lands me on the DVD eject button, not to mention the additional "modifier" keys that Tim advises me will become lifeblood in the near future). The other major frustration, unforeseen in my switch plans, is that the "easiness" of the Mac (one of its selling points) comes at the expense of tool sets I take for granted; iWeb, for example, a program for making Web pages, has no option to actually edit HTML (and won't open my old HTML pages), instead supplying a series of pre-made templates awaiting text, a fabulous program for people with no HTML experience but a worthless one for those of us who just want to open our previous recipe pages and update the text and pictures. Firefox also has some odd limitations (the bookmarks, for example, while fully draggable and editable as-is in Windows, are locked on the Mac version until you actually open the bookmark editor). It's as though the programs were made "idiot proof," at the expense of convenience.

I have no doubt that a month from now I'll have either adjusted to the new settings or found alternate Mac programs that do what I want them to do. And I'll probably have a new Logitech Revolution mouse (especially if any of my readers are feeling generous . . .).

On to tiling the bathroom!

Labels: computers, house, imac

This is pretty slick. A standard digital memory card that contains the architecture and software to transmit photos from your camera directly to your computer or an online photo-sharing site. It has some distance to traverse before making it into the mainstream (for example, it's currently only available in one format, which my camera doesn't use), but the idea is definitely sound.

Labels: computers, photography

I've been playing a new (to me) game on the GameCube the last couple of nights, one of the games that actually encouraged me to buy the Cube (no, not MarioKart, Lane). Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a game "inspired" by H.P. Lovecraft's work, and as a huge Lovecraft fan how could I pass that up? The game has a similar feel to Lovecraft's stories, with human protagonists thrust into dealing with sanity-destroying cosmic entities trying to claw their way into our world. Gameplay-wise, it's very similar in style to Resident Evil, with the added bonus of flipping back and forth through a variety of characters in different historical periods (e.g., you start out as a Roman Centurion, then jump to medieval France, etc.).

The part I've enjoyed (and dreaded) the most, though, is the incorporation of the effects of sanity in the game. In Lovecraft's books characters regularly suffer nervous shocks or go insane simply by witnessing the events in the stories. In the game, this is represented by a "sanity meter," which drops every time you see a creature. As the meter drops, the game changes. To represent your character slowly going insane, the game throws in effects ranging from soft whispers and footsteps to bleeding walls to enemies that aren't really there to statues with heads that twist to follow you as you walk by.

Here's where it gets really good. If your sanity drops too far, the game breaks the fourth wall and actually starts messing with you as the player. The game will pretend the controller is unplugged, mute or turn up the volume, give television error messages, pretend to turn the television off entirely, make fake "bugs" crawl across the screen and, my personal favorite so far, make loud banging noises that sound like someone is pounding on the wall behind the television (that's always pleasant at 2 a.m. in a dark house . . .).

Yay for interactive media. :)

Labels: amusement, computers

New iMacs debuted today!

*counting pennies in his closet*

Labels: computers, cool

Holy crap. This is the last news I expected to come out of Apple and the digital rights management crowd. I railed about the lock down of Apple's ACC format to iTunes as targeting the wrong audience years ago when I first signed up, so this just shocks me. I wonder if they're actually going to sell MP3s or if it will still be ACC without digital rights management.

Hell is freezing over.

Labels: computers, music

This is the rumor I've been waiting for since last September: a possible complete redesign and facelift of the iMac (with hardware upgrades) to accompany the release of Leopard (as soon as April or May). I was secretly hoping that I'd get at least a CPU/graphics card upgrade in the current design, but a completely redesigned and upgraded iMac would just be fabulous. There are, of course, no details, but fans have been guessing at such things as a smaller second internal hard drive to work in sync with Time Machine.

Looks like my iMac might not look like yours, Lane.

Tim also pointed out today that release dates and edition components for CS3 have been published and the stores are taking pre-orders. They're not cheap. But I was afraid I'd have to wait until September to have Photoshop, so I'm happy to know it will be available when I buy the iMac.

Labels: computers

I remember my first real PC (the Commodore 64 doesn't really count, although I still have that one in the basement). It was a Hewlitt-Packard 486 25 Mhz with a whopping 4 MB of RAM (I remember that specifically because when I bought "Star Wars: Dark Forces" for it I had to shell out a couple hundred bucks to upgrade to the minimum 8 MB of RAM to play it), running Windows 3.11. I don't remember the exact hard drive size, but I know it was in the megabyte (not gigabyte) range (I'm wanting to say 200 MB, but I could be wrong). At the time it was state-of-the-art; granted, state-of-the-art was a single pre-loaded 20-second video clip of an eagle swooping down and catching a fish out of a lake, at stunning 160x120 quality, so space wasn't really an issue.

Fast forward to today. Over the years drive size and the stuff to put in it have grown in tandem; the last computer before my Dell had an "at the time enormous" 30 GB drive (which is now the F: drive on my Dell) which I was sure I'd never fill, and I scoffed even more when my Dell came with an 80 GB drive. Of course, that was before I realized just how easy it is to do. I mean, I took almost a gigabyte of video of the twins last weekend (DV-quality video is enormous and my camera doesn't compress it very well). A gigabyte a weekend adds up really fast.

So it's probably no surprise that I need a new drive. And since I'm planning on using it as the mode of transfer from my PC to my at-the-moment-still-theoretical iMac, it seems to make sense to get an external hard drive that I can use for automatic backups later. This is the current front-runner. It doesn't have Firewire 800, but it does have Firewire 400 and USB 2.0, it has a 16 MB cache rather than the more common 8 and an off button (I'm surprised that most external drives don't have those) and it's relatively cheap for a 500 GB drive. Does anyone have experience with this series of drives or this manufacturer before I plunk down the money? I appreciate the feedback. :)

Labels: computers

I'm on a roll. A concerned realization that my house was not, in fact, growing warmer after turning up the thermostat led to the discovery of a nonworking blower fan in my furnace (always a fun discovery when it's 28 degrees out), and to add insult to injury my monitor chose to die completely while I was sitting in front of it talking to Lisa on the phone about what furnace repair guy they use. A belated apology to Cris, who probably wonders why I blinked out in the middle of a conversation; in truth, I could hear his messages beeping and my iTunes playing, but it's like being blind. The fact that I'm posting this at all should tip one off to the fact that I've switched out the old monitor for the new one, although "new" in this case is used rather loosely (let's just say it will get me by until next March).

If you have any machinery or other important devices with moving parts, it's probably a bad time to invite me over.

Labels: computers, mishaps

The monitor quit working again this morning (or rather wouldn't turn on). Lo and behold, it was on when I came back from my shower. I have a suspicion that maybe it's a temperature thing, or some component that's worn out and takes longer to build up a charge or something. In any case, it seems to work as long as I don't turn it off. Which as you can imagine doesn't sit well with me. My firm was selling old used monitors several months back and I e-mailed them today on the off chance they still had a few left; I lucked out, and now I have one used 19" Dell monitor sitting in my basement for when this one gives up the ghost. I'm also going to need a new USB hub because my current one is built in to the monitor (that's what I get for buying a fancy monitor). In any case, it's annoying, but nothing to the level of a hard drive failure or anything (no one say it; I know where you all live).

Labels: computers

My monitor wouldn't come on tonight, despite 15 minutes of checking connections and poking around. The green signal light was on, and the speakers made all the startup sounds, so I knew the computer was on and the monitor itself was getting a signal, but it wasn't until I shook the monitor in frustration that it flickered on. Not a good sign. I give it two days. I guess that means I should look for a new monitor.

Labels: computers

From The Techie Diva, filtered through my mental sieve:

Are You an Internet Addict?
Symptoms to watch out for:

1. Lying about how much time is spent online. Pass. I've never lied about my online time. I suppose the fact that I live alone factors into that.

2. General decrease of physical activity and social life. Neutral. This supposes a pre-existing social life; I've actually done more with friends this year than in previous years, a result of having a house rather than a cramped apartment. Physical activity is another story. I've not decreased, but I've not increased as much as I'd like, either (although not for online time reasons).

3. Neglecting obligations at home, work, or school to spend time online. Pass. I'm good at obligations. I've yet to skip one to be online.

4. Spending too much money on computer equipment or Internet activities. Pass. Amazingly, the last money I spent on computers was the Lightscribe drive I bought 10 months ago. I guess I did update Norton, but it was reluctantly. I suppose I should take this again after I shell out $2,000 for a Mac.

5. Feeling a constant desire to be online when they're away from the computer. Pass. I like being online, but I routinely skip it when I visit my parents.

6. Going online to escape real world problems. Hrm. Neutral/fail. I do spend a lot of time talking to people online rather than meeting people in person.

7. Disregarding the emotional or physical consequences of being in front of a computer all day. Pass.

8. Denial of the problem. What problem?

Labels: computers, internet

Although naturally hesitant to point out gaffes, I've received three separate e-mails in the last week that break the conventions of limiting spam. I find pointing it out to be more palatable if I present it as educational rather than punitive, and thus the following should be read as such.

Probably the most common method of tipping your hand to spammers is to use your e-mail address to sign up for or order something from a less-than-upfront Web site that then sells your address to a spamming company (which it turn sells it to other spamming companies). Another one, though, that often doesn't occur to people comes from the all-too-familiar e-mail forward. Here's how it works: Person A sends a joke/funny picture/announcement/question/porn/etc. to every person in his address book (say, 20 people). Person B, a friend of Person A's, receives it and then forwards it on to everyone in her address book (another 20 people). And so on. Eventually Person X receives an e-mail with three pages of e-mail headers and addresses with the crux of the e-mail buried at the bottom. The trick here is that each time the e-mail is forwarded, it gains another set of valid e-mail addresses, and each of those addresses is worth money. Once someone who knows this fact receives the e-mail, it's a simple task to sell the e-mail to a spamming company (and since the person doesn't know anyone in the e-mail beyond the previous sender, he/she usually doesn't care if those "faceless names" end up with spam).

Luckily, there is a very easy solution to this. If you want to forward an e-mail (or send a new one) to more than one person, the polite way to do it is to BCC all of your recipients rather than put them in the "To:" field. If your e-mail client requires you to use a "To:" address, you can use your own e-mail address or another one (I have a made up one called "Jay's Friends, Enemies and Family"). The recipients of your list will see whatever you used for the "To:" address, but not their own or any of the other recipients' addresses, thus preserving their privacy (and really, an e-mail address should be considered as private as a phone number). This also has the benefit of not sharing your friends' addresses with each other (which in some cases can be a very good thing).

If you don't see the BCC option on your e-mail client, click on "To:" to open your address book and then use the BCC button there to add addresses. You should also, if you feel inclined to forward on an e-mail, delete all e-mail headers and addresses out of the forward so only the joke/picture/whatever itself is in the e-mail body. Your friends will thank you. Well, actually they probably won't, but at least they won't cuss you when they start getting spam.

Labels: computers

Apple just upgraded their top iMac to a 24" screen. Bloody hell. That even made Mull jealous . . .

Labels: computers