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2007
04.05

Podcast April 4, 2007

2007
04.04

BarretTime – April 4th, 2007

For a number of years now, the likes of Google, Slashdot and ThinkGeek have fed users new products and rolled out ground-breaking services, all of which are announced on day one of the second quarter. If you weren’t out surfing the sites Sunday, you might have missed some of them. Never fear, as I have taken it upon myself to compile a short list of some of my favorite products and services for Q2 2007.

For the coders out there, a rapid development framework for Python which uses commonly known design patterns like ActiveRecord, Association Data Mapping, Front Controller and MVC was released Sunday. Check out the PythonOnPlanes 1.3.07 release notes for more information.

I’m bad about leaving the loft without my phone. I generally won’t realize I have forgotten it until I am about to leave my parking garage, which means a trek back through the underground garage, up the elevator, down the hallway, into the loft, and back again. I’m also bad about going to the dentist as often as I should. AT&T/BellSouth/Cingular could change all of this, though, with a new technology that would allow dentists to implant a cellphone device into a user’s molars. Howstuffworks has a good description of the technology, stating that, “once implanted in a person’s molar, the transducer caused the tooth to vibrate in response to radio signals. The physical structure of the jaw carried the tooth’s vibrations to the inner ear, where the user, and no one else, could perceive them as sound.” Hopefully they’ll have this rolled out in time for my next cleaning…

Google is at it again, this time with the launch of Google TiSP, a free in-home wireless broadband service that delivers online connectivity via users’ plumbing systems. This project is years ahead of the City’s recently announced proposal with Earthlink. It will be interesting to see if the aptly nicknamed “Dark porcelain” project will stay afloat amid Google’s other projects and purchases.

While not necessarily a product or service, this next piece of news still merits a mention. We’ve already heard that actress Gillian Anderson has announced that she will not be returning in the long-awaited sequel to Chris Carter’s The X-Files: Fight the Future. In her stead, actress Julianne Moore will be portraying Special Agent Dana Scully.

And speaking of fighting the future, you can’t escape the fact that this friday is the first friday of the month, meaning that this month’s Good Geek Gathering is taking place this Good Friday at Tropioca in Midtown Houston, located at 2808 Milam near Drew. Tropioca serves up Bubble Tea, fish pizza and meatless smoothies. A few wall outlets are available, as is free WiFi, so bring your laptop if you’re so inclined.

And so you won’t come to the Geek Gathering too weighed down with old computer gear, be sure to drop it off the day before at the Siera Club’s Computer Recycling Event at the Central Presbyterian Church, located at 3788 Richmond at Timmons. They ask that you show up with your old gear between six thirty and seven thirty this Thursday. Dropped off computers will be used in training programs, and will be dismantled by the trainees. Some parts are salvaged for re-use and other parts are sorted by type for recycling. Of course if you’re going to drop off an entire PC, you may want to ensure that you wipe all the data from the drive if you believe that the drive could be reused, or just hit the thing with a hammer once or twice if you know that it is beyond salvage.

And just a heads up for next Thursday. Yuri’s Night, the World Space Party, is coming up. Scheduled for Thursday, April 13th, Yuri’s Night has been described as the St. Patricks Day or Cinco de Mayo for Space. It is one day when all the world can come together and celebrate the power and beauty of space and what it means for each of us. You can hit www.yurisnight.org for more info or just wait for next week’s BarretTime.

That’s that for your Second Quarter Update and that’s it for BarretTime.

2007
04.04

Microsoft has issued an alert warning of a potential security threat to the Windows operating system.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-017

Who Should Read this Document: Customers who use Microsoft Windows
Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution
Maximum Severity Rating: Critical
Recommendation: Customers should apply the update immediately

Apparently there are an increasing number of criminal groups targeting the vulnerabilities that this patch fixes and they are using it to silently install software when users visit a malicious Web site or open a certain types of e-mail.

It is strongly recommended that you apply the security patch immediately.

You can do this via the links listed at the security site linked above or by running Windows Update or by visiting windowsupdate.microsoft.com.

2007
03.29

BarretTime – 2007.03.28

Just some obligatory vacation highlights –

If you’ve ever made a mark in a dictionary when you learned a new word, then you have Dr. Samual Johnson to thank. He completed the first compendium of the English language in 1755, having done much of his work near the pub called Ye Old Cheshire Cheese. I had a couple of pints there and sat in his seat, which was just a few down from where Charles Dickens often sat.

This next observation was a little disconcerting. On the return flight from London Gatwick to Houston IAH, the Local Time was off in the cabin due to the Daylight Saving Time change. The pilot announced that the error was due to the cabin entertainment system software not being updated for the new DST times. I would assume that the software in the cockpit reflected the correct times, but the crew were dodgy about answering any questions relating to the Y2K7 bug.

And another important date…

This Sunday is April first, meaning that you’ll want to be wary of sites such as slashdot.org and thinkgeek.com. April Fools web hoaxes have been popular since before the creation of the web, with some notable figures going all out. “On March 31, 1989 thousands of motorists driving on the highway outside London looked up in the air to see a glowing flying saucer descending on their city. Many of them pulled to the side of the road to watch the bizarre craft float through the air. The saucer finally landed in a field
on the outskirts of London where local residents immediately called the police to warn them of an alien invasion. Soon the police arrived on the scene, and one brave officer approached the craft with his truncheon extended before him. When a door in the craft popped open, and a small, silver-suited figure emerged, the policeman ran in the opposite direction. The saucer turned out to be a hot-air balloon that had been specially built to look like a UFO by Richard Branson, the 36-year-old chairman of Virgin Records. The
stunt combined his passion for ballooning with his love of pranks. His plan was to land the craft in London’s Hyde Park on April 1. Unfortunately, the wind blew him off course, and he was forced to land a day early in the wrong location.”

That’s it for your April Fools 411 and that’s that for BarretTime.

2007
03.29

Podcast 03-28-2007

2007
03.28

Hacking the Republican Party, Myspace style

I have spoken before in my personal blog on the topic of hot-linking images.

As a photographer and as a person who hosts and posts a lot of images, I get people directly linking to my server all the time on Myspace, Friendster, Facebook and so on. There’s my image, plain as day. No credit for my work, no thank you Jay Lee for this awesome picture!, no nuthin! And to make matters worse, they’re pulling it directly from my server.

The John McCain team discovered that this is a huge no-no and they discovered it in a way that we here at Technology Bytes can truly appreciate.

Apparently John McCain has his own Myspace page which utilizes a template created by Mike Davidson over at Newsvine.com.

The McCain team ripped the template without crediting Davidson and, to add insult to injury, hot-linked to one of his images.

Davidson retaliated.

By simply changing the picture on his own server, Davidson was able to give Senator McCain and new political outlook.

You can read Davidson’s own account on his blog, but be warned. As of this morning the story was “slashdotted” so his site is responding a little slowly.

*Screen capture of McCain’s Myspace hack created by Mike Davidson

2007
03.27

Clever solution to an annoying problem

One of the readers of my Helpline column sent me this email which describes a novel solution to an age old problem:

14 year old computer “geniuses” and the problems they cause

I have a 14 year old son who believes he is a computer whiz. He is constantly downloading programs from the Internet and tinkering around with system files and hardware. As a result, the computer he uses is always loaded down with viruses and malware. The other day I caught him swapping .dll files in the Windows system directory (he said the versions he needed weren’t there and he was replacing them with files that came from who knows where). Needless to say, his tinkering really messes up this system.

Unfortunately, my wife uses this computer too and she is pulling her hair out. I finally reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled Windows (I’m still using 2000), but within an hour, he was at it again, undoing all my work with downloaded junk. At this point, my wife was ready to go buy another computer for herself; kicking my son off the system is not an option, since there are times when he needs the computer for schoolwork.

I made it clear to all concerned that we weren’t buying another computer. After a bit of pondering, I came up with what looks to be a solution that will keep everyone happy. I pulled out the system disks and started
reformatting again. But this time, I created two equal partitions on the hard drive, then installed W2K on both. I knew you could set up a dual boot system with two different operating systems, but I wasn’t sure you could do
it with the same OS. Just like a dual OS installation, you get a choice of two OSs on bootup, but in this case, they are both Win 2K. I configured one for my wife and the other for my son. Now, he can mess up his partition to his heart’s content while my wife’s partition remains clean and green. I know other people with teenagers who have the same kinds of problems; maybe this is a simple alternative to a second or third computer.

Mark K. Davis

This is a solution that will also work with XP and Vista. And since the operating systems are not running simultaneously, I don’t believe you will need two license keys.

2007
03.25

Tech Buzz

My Tech Buzz column is up at houstonist.com. Check it out for local Houston tech stories ranging from online dating, corporate buyouts, tablet PC’s, chasing Cylons and spoofing caller ID’s. Houstonist Tech Buzz is published every Sunday. –groovehouse

2007
03.22

Technology Makeover

We do get a lot of calls from small business owners so I know this will be of interest to some of our listeners

makeover.jpgHouston based Ergos Technology is looking to make one small business a very happy camper.

They are sponsoring a contest, the winner of which will receive a $35,000 technology makeover.

The X-treme Technology Makeover will include:

Microsoft Small Business Server Premium
Microsoft Office Professional
Dell Power Edge 2900 Server
Dell Color Laser printer
Symantec Antivirus and Backup Exec Software
SonicWALL Firewall
Palm® Treo™ Smartphones with Windows Mobile Messaging
Implementation & Consulting by ERGOS
Toshiba phone system – implementation by DataVox
Applications must be completed and received no later than April 11th, 2007.

Full contest rules are here

You can fill out your application here.

From Steve Winter, CEO:

The winner will be chosen from a panel comprised of members from some of our sponsors including the Houston Technology Center and the Greater Houston Partnership. We want this to be an unbiased decision. We are looking for the company with the most compelling story. We want to choose a company where an upgrade or new infrastructure will have the most impact on their business and on their employees. There are a myriad of issues that can affect a companies’ productivity that don’t allow them to effectively compete in the marketplace. We want to help a company that has a good business plan or idea and just needs the technology to make it go. This could be for a non-profit or for-profit company in Houston.”

“This contest is a great way to give back to the community. There are thousands of small businesses in Houston and we hope to make an impact with one of these companies. It is also a good way for our sponsors to help give back to a community in which they may not be based. All of our sponsors were very excited about this. It is also obviously a great way for ERGOS to gain recognition in the marketplace and a fun way to do it.

Additional sponsors include Microsoft, Dell, DataVox, Symantec, Houston Technology Center, the Greater Houston Partnership, the Galleria Chamber of Commerce, Palm and SonicWALL.”

2007
03.21

Podcast March 21, 2007