Daily Green Ideas is a decent site for those who are looking for simple ways to cut back. The other day they posted this. The upshot for those that do not wish to follow the link is that instead of buying a new computer upgrade the old. Ah If only I could, You see I love Guild Wars. I have been waiting for Guild Wars 2. I bought it early to get in on the Beta and the head start. Except - I cannot run it.
Overlord is a blast. I loved it. Overlord II came out and guess what? Yep, I can't run it. Same applies to many new firewalls, virus checkers and various other software. I have expanded the RAM as far as it will go. The processor is the best it can be. I have tweaked and prodded and overclocked. Guess what, I have hit the limit. Good thing I have a tower if this were a laptop I would have hit the limit YEARS ago.
So what to do. Well I plan for the fun of it to build my own. I have never built a gaming machine before, or modded a case even. But what about those who are not so adventurous or even 'gasp' dislike the idea? They are most likely stuck buying a new machine. Why? Because the new processors need a new motherboard. The new OS's need new monitors and peripherals and all of the above need more power.
I thought maybe at least ArenaNet had 'gotten' it. They swore if we could run the present Guild Wars we would be able to run the new, probably. Alas it seems even they have bought into the hype that we all need the latest in technology. What for? To play games? to look at Facebook? To build a personal network for all our daily needs so hackers and crackers can pluck our information out of the air - literally in some cases?
Let's get real. Businesses need computers to do work. A handful of people in an enterprise need a higher end machine. According to Wikipedia approximately 38% of users use Windows 7, 22% are still using the now unsupported XP. It seems that 'normal' people and businesses do not NEED the latest and greatest. Why can't companies get this through their heads. People do not need touch screen operating systems and monitors to create a spreadsheet. We still use the keyboard more than the mouse to communicate and most of all we do not need to buy a bigger, faster, more expensive machine to shop at Amazon.
To the writers of Daily Green Ideas, I wish that what you suggest was possible, but the machine makers are not in agreement. Please instead of putting the pressure on your readers to try and upgrade, encourage them to pressure the software and hardware manufacturers to just STOP and look at usability and accessibility to those who do not have beaucoup bucks to spend on a tool. Because when all is said and done that is what a computer is, something to make our lives easier, not a sinkhole for money.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Thursday, June 30, 2011
In the Wake of the LULZ Boat
Just a quickie here with a link. As most who read this probably know the hacking group LulzSec went on a 50 day tour. Each day they posted their successes on Twitter. Many encouraged and laughed along with them until the day they posted 550961 email addresses and passwords garnered from various places including hackforums.net, nato-bookshop.org, and several gaming forums. They told their followers to just try them in some places. And all was a lot of fun and games until the reports started coming in. Some ordered books and other things using the combos in Amazon.com. These were no Bill Gates to whom 100.00 might be an annoyance, these are people from all over, gamers, some have money some do not and most have done LulzSec no harm. That was when the old skool ones stepped in. The quiet hackers that are spoken of in whispers and as legend by some. Sure some of them are TOO old skool. They maybe have lost the touch the or not kept up. But some were not. They moved on LulzSec. Hacker wars have begun - let the rest of us beware. Some have sworn to turn LulzSec over to the fed (sort of unhacker like), others have declared they will 'Show' the 'script kiddies' what hacking is. It is rumored that LulzSec site was hacked for under an hour, I have heard everything from 1 minute to 47. Though 19 seems to be the standard and sounds about right.
Here is a site with the list of emails. Search it, if you find you are on it change passwords to any and all sites that you even think maybe there is a chance you even THOUGHT of using a standard or similar password on. Do not panic, you may have to go only to page 347 on it instead all of the way to 1102. Yes, it is tedious - but it beats having your AMEX for work charged up and you being responsible for paying it. Ih and stay off the porn sites - seems they got a lot from them too.
Here is a site with the list of emails. Search it, if you find you are on it change passwords to any and all sites that you even think maybe there is a chance you even THOUGHT of using a standard or similar password on. Do not panic, you may have to go only to page 347 on it instead all of the way to 1102. Yes, it is tedious - but it beats having your AMEX for work charged up and you being responsible for paying it. Ih and stay off the porn sites - seems they got a lot from them too.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Microsoft NOT in Gang of Four
Usually I quote Jon Radoff over on the gaming blog because he is mainly a game marketeer. I do not always agree with him, sometimes I think he demonstrates what is wrong in business today, sometimes agree with him he has insight as to the direction technology is taking. This is one of those times and I would like to address one of his points concerning Microsoft from my personal experience in the industry. Microsoft forgot what it was about.
Most IT professionals have stories to tell about the giant. I have more than a few, but let me just select from the best. First you must understand Microsoft was a hero to many of us in the budding IT field in the early 80s. They took on IBM and won. IBM had been the business that bought technologies that showed promise and shut them down. They were THE defining company for computers. Microsoft changed all that. They created DOS and it WORKED! Well at least the odd numbered ones did.
Maybe we were to blame in a way. Until Windows was unveiled, Microsoft could do no wrong. Gates was hero and the company was full of renegades and geeks. They had the best PC O/S, Novell had the the best network, Epson made the best dot matrix printers and Procomm plus was the standard for PC interconnectivity. Most of the world used WordPerfect, Lotus and dBase as PC business applications. Got the computing world in your head?
Changes were coming, Crays were the fastest supercomputers and lived in a fishtank to keep cool, Apples were for artsy types but MACs were actually compared to Crays and other "real business" machines. Chips previously available all over the place from many manufacturers but were starting to standardize. The first rumblings of storms of change started when WINDOWS was released in 1985. A friend of mine called me to brag he had just gotten it on his PC. What did he need that for to code in assembler? It looked like a MacIntosh! It was a RAM hog- it needed 512 KB, great for people who did not do much crunching, but for the numbers and data types it was stupid.
Suddenly though Novell needed 1 MG ram to run. So MUCH! We upgraded our server. I sat with the manuals for a while learning how to compsurf my drive, how to put in a NIC and most of all how to set up the upgraded Novell. it was FAST. We used Paradox from Ansa, a company that had just been acquired by Borland and had one of the best networked databases there was. It all ran on DOS and we were happy - for now. But annoyed that we had upgrade our system to keep it supported because they had to recode a network the bloat from Windows.
By the time I was working for a company that published software training courses we were into Windows 2 and starting on 3. We got lots of betas, beta were free back then. For publishing in the technology field they were crucial. My first experience was with Win 3.1 and MS-DOS 6.0. I had to work with Windows for training purposes, but we still did not NEED it to do our work. Plain old DOS was good enough for most of what we had to do.
Back then Windows was shell that ran on top of DOS. Your machine would start DOS and you could go from there if you wanted either starting Windows or not. You could run other manufacturer's versions of DOS there was PC-DOS and DR-DOS to name 2 I remember. The new Windows was almost out. The new MS-DOS was due months later but DR-DOS was due out earlier. Suddenly the beta Windows would not run well on the beta MS-DOS - it crashed an burned a lot. Why? Because MS-DOS had changed to counter the competition's release and Windows had not. The writer testing DOS sat next to me, we both called our contacts and they pointed fingers at each other. Same company creating software that is dependent on each other and the dev teams not talking to each other, that looks really good.
Then we went to Gamma. I was testing the course copy against what we had and suddenly everything was different! We scrambled to change the documents. The steps to map a left handed mouse were different completely, to perform certain tasks the menus were different, the fluff that we added to the courses for fun was all wrong now, except solitaire, that still worked at least we used that to train people how to use a mouse.
We went nuts. It was 2 -6 weeks to release of software. Training manuals and courses took 6 weeks once at the printers IF we were lucky and paid premium to get it done We might get galleys back in two weeks. The head editor decided to wait until the software was released - good call on that one because upon release all of our old steps were correct. We began to suspect they released bad gammas to mislead the competition, pity they did not inform their beta testers who were writing BOOKS that might increase Windows sales. But I guess they already had a World Domination Plan and did not need us little people anymore. Who cared if we were users?
Well we all know what happened next, 95 came out and suddenly no one had any choice anymore. We all HAD to use Windows, because every business used it. By then I was into BI and tech support of BI. We moved from doing manual extracting and physically sending the data to our clients which was fairly secure to online extract and download because the clients demanded it. It is so much more convenient and so much less secure. Most people no longer have a choice and the few that do seem to be ridiculed for thinking they might use a door instead of a Window .
Except - even Microsoft seems to be thinking more about how they can make things work again. They finally got that most of us will not use I.E. They may even be ready to admit that other companies do some things better than they because they are NOT Microsoft. They should spend some time refining what they DID best and that WAS operating systems. But is it too little too late?
If I data crunch I need more RAM, fast drives and fast processors but not much in video. If I am a website designer I need great graphics. If I edit videos or record for a living I need good sound and a quiet machine. I do not need Visio to make a video, I do not need Adobe to make a flow chart. Microsoft the key to success is to be flexible enough you help everyone run their business not to MAKE everyone use your products and work the way you want them to. But Microsoft does not listen to the "little guys" like Jon, so it takes them longer to hear what is really happening out there.
I hear of more and more super user types using Ubuntu and Macs. Personal Networks are in use for everything now from work updates to hardcore gaming. Vista was a failure not because Vista was awful, but rather because it was perceived as awful by its potential users before it was even shipped. Word leaked out from BETA testers. To defend Microsoft a little there is a REASON it is Beta, bit perhaps a nationwide beta test of companies who are trying to conduct daily business on their systems is NOT a good idea. Others based the likely poor performance on experience with past Microsoft new product releases. Microsoft needs to prove to us that it can pull an IBM and get good at what they do again and to do that they need to pull back, develop and TEST instead of trying to force their standards and business models on their customers. In the mean time I will sit and watch to see if Ubuntu follows in Microsoft's footsteps while I use FREEBSD and THAT is what it is about - CHOICES that fulfill our needs and purses.
Most IT professionals have stories to tell about the giant. I have more than a few, but let me just select from the best. First you must understand Microsoft was a hero to many of us in the budding IT field in the early 80s. They took on IBM and won. IBM had been the business that bought technologies that showed promise and shut them down. They were THE defining company for computers. Microsoft changed all that. They created DOS and it WORKED! Well at least the odd numbered ones did.
Maybe we were to blame in a way. Until Windows was unveiled, Microsoft could do no wrong. Gates was hero and the company was full of renegades and geeks. They had the best PC O/S, Novell had the the best network, Epson made the best dot matrix printers and Procomm plus was the standard for PC interconnectivity. Most of the world used WordPerfect, Lotus and dBase as PC business applications. Got the computing world in your head?
Changes were coming, Crays were the fastest supercomputers and lived in a fishtank to keep cool, Apples were for artsy types but MACs were actually compared to Crays and other "real business" machines. Chips previously available all over the place from many manufacturers but were starting to standardize. The first rumblings of storms of change started when WINDOWS was released in 1985. A friend of mine called me to brag he had just gotten it on his PC. What did he need that for to code in assembler? It looked like a MacIntosh! It was a RAM hog- it needed 512 KB, great for people who did not do much crunching, but for the numbers and data types it was stupid.
Suddenly though Novell needed 1 MG ram to run. So MUCH! We upgraded our server. I sat with the manuals for a while learning how to compsurf my drive, how to put in a NIC and most of all how to set up the upgraded Novell. it was FAST. We used Paradox from Ansa, a company that had just been acquired by Borland and had one of the best networked databases there was. It all ran on DOS and we were happy - for now. But annoyed that we had upgrade our system to keep it supported because they had to recode a network the bloat from Windows.
By the time I was working for a company that published software training courses we were into Windows 2 and starting on 3. We got lots of betas, beta were free back then. For publishing in the technology field they were crucial. My first experience was with Win 3.1 and MS-DOS 6.0. I had to work with Windows for training purposes, but we still did not NEED it to do our work. Plain old DOS was good enough for most of what we had to do.
Back then Windows was shell that ran on top of DOS. Your machine would start DOS and you could go from there if you wanted either starting Windows or not. You could run other manufacturer's versions of DOS there was PC-DOS and DR-DOS to name 2 I remember. The new Windows was almost out. The new MS-DOS was due months later but DR-DOS was due out earlier. Suddenly the beta Windows would not run well on the beta MS-DOS - it crashed an burned a lot. Why? Because MS-DOS had changed to counter the competition's release and Windows had not. The writer testing DOS sat next to me, we both called our contacts and they pointed fingers at each other. Same company creating software that is dependent on each other and the dev teams not talking to each other, that looks really good.
Then we went to Gamma. I was testing the course copy against what we had and suddenly everything was different! We scrambled to change the documents. The steps to map a left handed mouse were different completely, to perform certain tasks the menus were different, the fluff that we added to the courses for fun was all wrong now, except solitaire, that still worked at least we used that to train people how to use a mouse.
We went nuts. It was 2 -6 weeks to release of software. Training manuals and courses took 6 weeks once at the printers IF we were lucky and paid premium to get it done We might get galleys back in two weeks. The head editor decided to wait until the software was released - good call on that one because upon release all of our old steps were correct. We began to suspect they released bad gammas to mislead the competition, pity they did not inform their beta testers who were writing BOOKS that might increase Windows sales. But I guess they already had a World Domination Plan and did not need us little people anymore. Who cared if we were users?
Well we all know what happened next, 95 came out and suddenly no one had any choice anymore. We all HAD to use Windows, because every business used it. By then I was into BI and tech support of BI. We moved from doing manual extracting and physically sending the data to our clients which was fairly secure to online extract and download because the clients demanded it. It is so much more convenient and so much less secure. Most people no longer have a choice and the few that do seem to be ridiculed for thinking they might use a door instead of a Window .
Except - even Microsoft seems to be thinking more about how they can make things work again. They finally got that most of us will not use I.E. They may even be ready to admit that other companies do some things better than they because they are NOT Microsoft. They should spend some time refining what they DID best and that WAS operating systems. But is it too little too late?
If I data crunch I need more RAM, fast drives and fast processors but not much in video. If I am a website designer I need great graphics. If I edit videos or record for a living I need good sound and a quiet machine. I do not need Visio to make a video, I do not need Adobe to make a flow chart. Microsoft the key to success is to be flexible enough you help everyone run their business not to MAKE everyone use your products and work the way you want them to. But Microsoft does not listen to the "little guys" like Jon, so it takes them longer to hear what is really happening out there.
I hear of more and more super user types using Ubuntu and Macs. Personal Networks are in use for everything now from work updates to hardcore gaming. Vista was a failure not because Vista was awful, but rather because it was perceived as awful by its potential users before it was even shipped. Word leaked out from BETA testers. To defend Microsoft a little there is a REASON it is Beta, bit perhaps a nationwide beta test of companies who are trying to conduct daily business on their systems is NOT a good idea. Others based the likely poor performance on experience with past Microsoft new product releases. Microsoft needs to prove to us that it can pull an IBM and get good at what they do again and to do that they need to pull back, develop and TEST instead of trying to force their standards and business models on their customers. In the mean time I will sit and watch to see if Ubuntu follows in Microsoft's footsteps while I use FREEBSD and THAT is what it is about - CHOICES that fulfill our needs and purses.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Traffic test
Once in a while I test out 'blogger tools' and ads. See the Entre Card over there? They CLAIM they bring lots of people to your blogs. See the Flag counter way down the page.. Hmm the EntreCard site claims 14 people have visited my blog today so should be 15 accounted for on that flag list down there. I see 2 and one of them is me. We will see if the numbers change and I will update you on how effective this is, One thing I CAN say, I picked up 3 readers on the Gaming Blog. the one EntreCard still has not approved. So at least 3 people popped through and read enough to go see the link and go read the other blog.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Viruses and Facebook
I would like to say I am part of the cause for the new Facebook awareness of Viral banners, links and apps on their site. But I am not that full of myself to think that my one voice actually got through in spite of my complaining for a year. Last month I basically left Facebook. I got the third infection in less than 12 months. It is time for me to move on and leave that site to the lowlifes on the internet.
The first was a stupid registry reviver one, easily spotted and cleaned. The second was a basic speed up your computer one - eight months later. Same idea, They want you to run out to their site, and BUY the product that is going off except of course it is not finding the 30 viruses and spyware it lists as finding on your machine, though it may be installing them.
I noticed it because my drive started cranking , then Flash tried to start. I was reading an article. No reason for flash unless it is a banner which I had blocked, yep it was payload drop time.
The screens look like they could be official. Perhaps it is a mutation. all I know is suddenly my files seemed to disappear. I started to panic then relaxed, it was only MY user directory affected. Fine, Easy solution - SYSTEM RESTORE. Several hours later I had it found, removed it and then cleaned, recleaned and reupdated the machine.
This one was the last straw. It had attacked the FAT. The File Allocation Table could not FIND the files to tell me they were there. I muttered steamed until I realized Trend was scanning them.They were there. Just not able to be found.
Trend Micro's Housecall took it out. I then followed with Malwarebytes which traced the rest of the components and removed them. Where exactly these came from, I am not certain to this day but most evidence points to Facebook and one of those crappy banners. But hell for all I know Bleeping Computer, GamerDNA or even Major Geeks could have been the source. All are sites I frequent. So I cleaned it up kept a component or two that were non functioning without the rest to test virus checkers with and moved on.
Last month I got hit again. This time a bit more seriously. Yes it was another crapware banner delivering a javascript to my machine. As far as I can tell I had this..Vista Total Security 2011 the link is to a site describing it. This one is a Royal pain. Thank goodness no one codes for Opera. It starts by setting off the Official looking Your computer is infected. It looks like a Windows defender screen. Except.. Vista is no longer really supported, and they would not charge for the fix.
If you try to open defender it is blocked, if you try to go to a website it is blocked. Here is how it works, it downloads a little .js that sits in your roaming directory. Every time you try to open a browser page, it calls the .js to put up the page that says that the site you are trying to go to is infected. Solution - turn off javascript right? Well not exactly. I do not know if it was Firefox 4.0 or the virus but I would turn off the .js and it would still run. When I reopend the tools in Firefox it was checked to allow .js again and again and again. Firefox has a 4.01, perhaps it a was a glitch in their browser or perhaps it was the virus finding a way past that.
So I did what any geek would do. I opened Opera, opened a new tab, got the error and then opened Dragonfly. I saw what it was being called and from where. So I typed in https://trendmicro.com in Firefox and guess what it worked. I got housecall to run (I do NOT keep the component in a default directory) and got it to start cleaning off the virus, except - it did not get the java script. So I tried Panda. Got a message that Activescan does not work with my version of Firefox or of course with Opera. Mutter. I downloaded the 30 day trial. I will give my evaluation of that soon.
However to be fair it found the java script and zapped it, Can anyone tell me why Microsoft keeps people from accessing and clearing the java cache? Last week my daughter came to me, guess what - it was going off on HER machine, Facebook is about the only place in common we go anymore. She cleaned it, we think she got it all she tried the trend 30 day free download except it seems it does not like Malwarebytes. Too bad it works! I updated Firefox to 4.01 and Opera to 10.11. Activescan still does not work with those according to their site.
So I log into Facebook last week to leave a client a message. I see they have the HTTPS in full swing - except it does not work on any applications which are the biggest offenders. I see they have their protection on for links, except it blocked a legitimate site I was trying to go to on information about a virus spread through Facebook. And last I see the same ads on the right hand side. And the machine goes nuts, Yep it is trying it again! NOT THIS TIME BUDDY!
Sure they check the ads - the first time, but what about each subsequent ad. Are you sure they have not been compromised by a third party? Why are they placed on the right on the games and groups where a mis-click can potentially end in an infected user's machine. Why are there ads for products and techniques already known to be scams or at the very least suspicious in their claims? You know how many Acai berry diet plan ads i saw there when that was the big fad? Hey HERE IS AN IDEA FACEBOOK - Only accept ads from REPUTABLE companies and Websites instead of lining your pockets and including in your TOS that if any user's machine is damaged by the site it is their problem nay even their fault for trusting you to perform due diligence. So in the mean time - you all can find me on MySpace or Twitter or the gaming sites. That is unless they all decide to follow the Facebook Model and put profits over their users.
Then you will find me curled up with a good book and on the MUD.
The first was a stupid registry reviver one, easily spotted and cleaned. The second was a basic speed up your computer one - eight months later. Same idea, They want you to run out to their site, and BUY the product that is going off except of course it is not finding the 30 viruses and spyware it lists as finding on your machine, though it may be installing them.
I noticed it because my drive started cranking , then Flash tried to start. I was reading an article. No reason for flash unless it is a banner which I had blocked, yep it was payload drop time.
The screens look like they could be official. Perhaps it is a mutation. all I know is suddenly my files seemed to disappear. I started to panic then relaxed, it was only MY user directory affected. Fine, Easy solution - SYSTEM RESTORE. Several hours later I had it found, removed it and then cleaned, recleaned and reupdated the machine.
This one was the last straw. It had attacked the FAT. The File Allocation Table could not FIND the files to tell me they were there. I muttered steamed until I realized Trend was scanning them.They were there. Just not able to be found.
Trend Micro's Housecall took it out. I then followed with Malwarebytes which traced the rest of the components and removed them. Where exactly these came from, I am not certain to this day but most evidence points to Facebook and one of those crappy banners. But hell for all I know Bleeping Computer, GamerDNA or even Major Geeks could have been the source. All are sites I frequent. So I cleaned it up kept a component or two that were non functioning without the rest to test virus checkers with and moved on.
Last month I got hit again. This time a bit more seriously. Yes it was another crapware banner delivering a javascript to my machine. As far as I can tell I had this..Vista Total Security 2011 the link is to a site describing it. This one is a Royal pain. Thank goodness no one codes for Opera. It starts by setting off the Official looking Your computer is infected. It looks like a Windows defender screen. Except.. Vista is no longer really supported, and they would not charge for the fix.
If you try to open defender it is blocked, if you try to go to a website it is blocked. Here is how it works, it downloads a little .js that sits in your roaming directory. Every time you try to open a browser page, it calls the .js to put up the page that says that the site you are trying to go to is infected. Solution - turn off javascript right? Well not exactly. I do not know if it was Firefox 4.0 or the virus but I would turn off the .js and it would still run. When I reopend the tools in Firefox it was checked to allow .js again and again and again. Firefox has a 4.01, perhaps it a was a glitch in their browser or perhaps it was the virus finding a way past that.
So I did what any geek would do. I opened Opera, opened a new tab, got the error and then opened Dragonfly. I saw what it was being called and from where. So I typed in https://trendmicro.com in Firefox and guess what it worked. I got housecall to run (I do NOT keep the component in a default directory) and got it to start cleaning off the virus, except - it did not get the java script. So I tried Panda. Got a message that Activescan does not work with my version of Firefox or of course with Opera. Mutter. I downloaded the 30 day trial. I will give my evaluation of that soon.
However to be fair it found the java script and zapped it, Can anyone tell me why Microsoft keeps people from accessing and clearing the java cache? Last week my daughter came to me, guess what - it was going off on HER machine, Facebook is about the only place in common we go anymore. She cleaned it, we think she got it all she tried the trend 30 day free download except it seems it does not like Malwarebytes. Too bad it works! I updated Firefox to 4.01 and Opera to 10.11. Activescan still does not work with those according to their site.
So I log into Facebook last week to leave a client a message. I see they have the HTTPS in full swing - except it does not work on any applications which are the biggest offenders. I see they have their protection on for links, except it blocked a legitimate site I was trying to go to on information about a virus spread through Facebook. And last I see the same ads on the right hand side. And the machine goes nuts, Yep it is trying it again! NOT THIS TIME BUDDY!
Sure they check the ads - the first time, but what about each subsequent ad. Are you sure they have not been compromised by a third party? Why are they placed on the right on the games and groups where a mis-click can potentially end in an infected user's machine. Why are there ads for products and techniques already known to be scams or at the very least suspicious in their claims? You know how many Acai berry diet plan ads i saw there when that was the big fad? Hey HERE IS AN IDEA FACEBOOK - Only accept ads from REPUTABLE companies and Websites instead of lining your pockets and including in your TOS that if any user's machine is damaged by the site it is their problem nay even their fault for trusting you to perform due diligence. So in the mean time - you all can find me on MySpace or Twitter or the gaming sites. That is unless they all decide to follow the Facebook Model and put profits over their users.
Then you will find me curled up with a good book and on the MUD.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Learning CSS
I was asked to assist in redoing a website and ensuring it was completely accessible. This meant learning CSS, something I have avoided for a while. Friends who started doing CSS complained constantly. Then there is the fact that every time I went to look at the simplest technique, there was always an exception for I.E. (WHY does Microsoft do that?)
Well first let me say CSS is not difficult nor is it the bear that many lead me to believe. HOWEVER, many sites that purport to be pure CSS are not. They have .js or worse flash. They run server side applications and even loud music and sound that cannot be turned off. Some have only 1 page and no variations on it for mobile or other media. Yes they are using a CSS but why bother?
However as usual there are some roses in the weeds for learning CSS and finding templates and examples in the wild as it were. First is the obvious one W3 Schools the tutorial covers all of the basic concepts and commands and explains very well why CSS is a good idea. Standards for accessibility are covered as well as techniques to make the site look better. But honestly, what you build in the tutorial, looks like a middle school or grade school site. Once you understand the techniques and commands, it is time to move on to see what you can do DO with it.
I learn by doing and observing so off I went to find blogs, templates and sites I could view to see how they did something. There are a LOT out there, so let me list the ones I found the most useful.
Veerle's Blog This is the designer's old site, by all means check out the new one, too. But this has invaluable techniques for using Photoshop (or any graphic editor really) and basic information on CSS.
Free Website Templates - this site has a lot of templates of varying types, complexity and price. Most techniques can be gleaned from studying the CSS of many of the templates. Not all are accessible, pure CSS or even free - but it well worth a look to see what people can do.
CSS Zen Garden - This site is a perfect example of why to use CSS. All it is is the same page in several designs. The only difference is the CSS.
So, that should be enough to get anyone started. And my own design I hope you will see soon, I am down to tweaking and will post the links here when they are done. From what I learned I managed to come up with 5 very different looking designs for the site. So if the vote is tied among the owners I can just change them in a few months and swap out the design without changing the content pages. And THAT is the beauty of it.
Well first let me say CSS is not difficult nor is it the bear that many lead me to believe. HOWEVER, many sites that purport to be pure CSS are not. They have .js or worse flash. They run server side applications and even loud music and sound that cannot be turned off. Some have only 1 page and no variations on it for mobile or other media. Yes they are using a CSS but why bother?
However as usual there are some roses in the weeds for learning CSS and finding templates and examples in the wild as it were. First is the obvious one W3 Schools the tutorial covers all of the basic concepts and commands and explains very well why CSS is a good idea. Standards for accessibility are covered as well as techniques to make the site look better. But honestly, what you build in the tutorial, looks like a middle school or grade school site. Once you understand the techniques and commands, it is time to move on to see what you can do DO with it.
I learn by doing and observing so off I went to find blogs, templates and sites I could view to see how they did something. There are a LOT out there, so let me list the ones I found the most useful.
Veerle's Blog This is the designer's old site, by all means check out the new one, too. But this has invaluable techniques for using Photoshop (or any graphic editor really) and basic information on CSS.
Free Website Templates - this site has a lot of templates of varying types, complexity and price. Most techniques can be gleaned from studying the CSS of many of the templates. Not all are accessible, pure CSS or even free - but it well worth a look to see what people can do.
CSS Zen Garden - This site is a perfect example of why to use CSS. All it is is the same page in several designs. The only difference is the CSS.
So, that should be enough to get anyone started. And my own design I hope you will see soon, I am down to tweaking and will post the links here when they are done. From what I learned I managed to come up with 5 very different looking designs for the site. So if the vote is tied among the owners I can just change them in a few months and swap out the design without changing the content pages. And THAT is the beauty of it.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Boxer Editor
Ok for those of you who are not coders, do not do CSS or HTML or care for the software reviews - talk among yourselves. For the rest of us.
As most of you know I am a great supporter of small useful utilities. This one is not so small is extremely useful and while it is not free it is well worth the price. Boxer Text Editor. I love this tool. I was introduced to it by an online coding acquaintance (Ken Perry) who suggested I try it. Ken is blind. (He says he hates to be called visually impaired and prefers blind). He was looking for an affordable accessible editor. He suggested I try it knowing I hate the wordpad like editors. I missed Multi-Edit but at the time the cheapest version was around 500.00 too rich for my out of work self (they now have a lite version I may look at.) I started with the 30 day trial and have used it through a few versions now for over 4 years.
Installation
I opted for the disks to be sent to me. It arrived quickly and well protected - good job! Yes you read that correctly 1 disk. Download is also an option but my connection is slow and who know what my daughter is downloading or uploading as we speak? Boxer installs like a dream. No glitches on Vista, Windows 7 or my old 98 machine. First time I did it it went so fast I was not sure it worked. But it started up with no issues. The Boxer Shorts tips are cute, they get annoying fast though. You can turn them off easily. User configuration and preferences are a breeze to set up. Projects are more work and sometimes a lot more annoying but you can start right out coding.
Features
I am very happy with Boxer. It is small, easily configurable for any language and comes with quite a few templates like HTML, C, and Pascal, users have made others that can be downloaded from the site and you can of course add your own. I made one for myself for DIL using the C as a base. The entire program is small enough to run on a thumb drive (5 MB fully installed) which is great for carrying to a client site so you have an editor you know well.
It has all the features that make my life easier and I expect in a code editor; like find mate so you can ensure all your braces, brackets and parenthesis are closed. You can set it format your code (or plain text) and most other main features that larger and more expensive code editors have are built in. Side by side window configuration to find differing or same lines when comparing source. In other words it is a professional level tool.
For HTML, it is an excellent tool that includes a spell checker you can set to ignore HTML tags so that only the text is spell checked. When I hover the mouse over a color code, a small pop up appears showing me the color. The find mate works to find the end tag or starting tag in a pair.
Boxer also has some handy tools that save time, the HTML color, ANSI and OEM charts as well as a calculator, and a calendar. It comes with quite a few user macros and you can download more from the site to use as is or study to make your own. You can set up projects or just work on individual code. There is a an evaluation of 30 days available. I bought a copy after playing with it for a month, 30 days was not enough time to complete what I was working on, and I liked it well enough I wanted to continue using it.
Drawbacks and Issues
For the most part it is a nice little package. However every once in a while if I am working on a project it starts to hog the ram and fight over memory addresses. It has caused the Vista machine to lock up if I am running a telnet client or winscp or other ftp software on the WiFi router. Sometimes the text for linked documents or projects will show up in a hover type alt text and not go away. This last can be annoying. And like any tool that has autotext it can come up with some very odd fill ins. I usually keep that turned off. Lastly it is not 100% accessible on all features. Ken could not use the find mate for parenthesis and such. But he did use it almost exclusively on his windows machine.
The only issue I have with it for HTML editing is if I am editing a document and adding tags to an existing site (like a div for a new CSS class) it adds the end tag automatically. so if I want to change a section it looks like this div /div stuff I want in the div. I then have to go back and delete the end tag and put it where I really want it.
Making a simple "find this text in this situation and change to title case" is kludgy when making a macro. Something a word processor or pure text editor does easily. A lot of the pure text manipulation is not intuitive and you wind up writing a macro in the C-like language. While it is powerful I do not recommend this for say a blogger or an article writer.
Overall
The drawbacks are minor though and truth be told I tend to push my ram a lot. If I could just find the conflict with winscp I would be elated. But I suspect it is something unique to my Vista machine and over all I highly recommend this product for any developer. At $59.99 it well worth it. It is available for both 32 and 64 bit. It is great for a consultant or even for a consulting company due to the small size and the fact it leaves no traces on the client machine when used from a USB drive. I actually cannot say enough good about this product. Just go down load the 30 day trial and see for yourself. But be ready to be impressed.
As most of you know I am a great supporter of small useful utilities. This one is not so small is extremely useful and while it is not free it is well worth the price. Boxer Text Editor. I love this tool. I was introduced to it by an online coding acquaintance (Ken Perry) who suggested I try it. Ken is blind. (He says he hates to be called visually impaired and prefers blind). He was looking for an affordable accessible editor. He suggested I try it knowing I hate the wordpad like editors. I missed Multi-Edit but at the time the cheapest version was around 500.00 too rich for my out of work self (they now have a lite version I may look at.) I started with the 30 day trial and have used it through a few versions now for over 4 years.
Installation
I opted for the disks to be sent to me. It arrived quickly and well protected - good job! Yes you read that correctly 1 disk. Download is also an option but my connection is slow and who know what my daughter is downloading or uploading as we speak? Boxer installs like a dream. No glitches on Vista, Windows 7 or my old 98 machine. First time I did it it went so fast I was not sure it worked. But it started up with no issues. The Boxer Shorts tips are cute, they get annoying fast though. You can turn them off easily. User configuration and preferences are a breeze to set up. Projects are more work and sometimes a lot more annoying but you can start right out coding.
Features
I am very happy with Boxer. It is small, easily configurable for any language and comes with quite a few templates like HTML, C, and Pascal, users have made others that can be downloaded from the site and you can of course add your own. I made one for myself for DIL using the C as a base. The entire program is small enough to run on a thumb drive (5 MB fully installed) which is great for carrying to a client site so you have an editor you know well.
It has all the features that make my life easier and I expect in a code editor; like find mate so you can ensure all your braces, brackets and parenthesis are closed. You can set it format your code (or plain text) and most other main features that larger and more expensive code editors have are built in. Side by side window configuration to find differing or same lines when comparing source. In other words it is a professional level tool.
For HTML, it is an excellent tool that includes a spell checker you can set to ignore HTML tags so that only the text is spell checked. When I hover the mouse over a color code, a small pop up appears showing me the color. The find mate works to find the end tag or starting tag in a pair.
Boxer also has some handy tools that save time, the HTML color, ANSI and OEM charts as well as a calculator, and a calendar. It comes with quite a few user macros and you can download more from the site to use as is or study to make your own. You can set up projects or just work on individual code. There is a an evaluation of 30 days available. I bought a copy after playing with it for a month, 30 days was not enough time to complete what I was working on, and I liked it well enough I wanted to continue using it.
Drawbacks and Issues
For the most part it is a nice little package. However every once in a while if I am working on a project it starts to hog the ram and fight over memory addresses. It has caused the Vista machine to lock up if I am running a telnet client or winscp or other ftp software on the WiFi router. Sometimes the text for linked documents or projects will show up in a hover type alt text and not go away. This last can be annoying. And like any tool that has autotext it can come up with some very odd fill ins. I usually keep that turned off. Lastly it is not 100% accessible on all features. Ken could not use the find mate for parenthesis and such. But he did use it almost exclusively on his windows machine.
The only issue I have with it for HTML editing is if I am editing a document and adding tags to an existing site (like a div for a new CSS class) it adds the end tag automatically. so if I want to change a section it looks like this div /div stuff I want in the div. I then have to go back and delete the end tag and put it where I really want it.
Making a simple "find this text in this situation and change to title case" is kludgy when making a macro. Something a word processor or pure text editor does easily. A lot of the pure text manipulation is not intuitive and you wind up writing a macro in the C-like language. While it is powerful I do not recommend this for say a blogger or an article writer.
Overall
The drawbacks are minor though and truth be told I tend to push my ram a lot. If I could just find the conflict with winscp I would be elated. But I suspect it is something unique to my Vista machine and over all I highly recommend this product for any developer. At $59.99 it well worth it. It is available for both 32 and 64 bit. It is great for a consultant or even for a consulting company due to the small size and the fact it leaves no traces on the client machine when used from a USB drive. I actually cannot say enough good about this product. Just go down load the 30 day trial and see for yourself. But be ready to be impressed.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Wordpress
Today I made a blog over at WordPress. I had to to walk someone through adding tags and categories to a blog for crawlers to find. Let me just say this about that I am not impressed.
First if you are low vision or have problems seeing the screen, the default layout I was assigned was awful. Light gray on white does not do it. So Of course I go looking for a high contrast theme to make my life a little easier. Some are really nice but the default picture has nothing to do with what I blog about or even is anything I would want to have on my blog. I see one I like, I preview it and an then I see it is 75.00 to implement. I think not.
So I try to go back of course the back button does not work, I see a second tab opened in Opera click on that and am brought back to my dashboard - sigh so I have to load the themes again. I notice an Edit CSS option and get excited. Cool I can just add my own! I click on it and start reading expecting the usual no .js no scripts agreement stuff to ensure I am not trapping readers. Here is what it basically says :
If you are familiar with CSS or you have a stylesheet ready to paste, you may delete these comments and get started. Great! I think, and settle back to read what I can and cannot do. There are 2 check boxes one says to add to this style sheet, the other says to start blank - Better! Ok maybe this is not so bad oh wait..
You can not edit the stylesheets of your theme. Your stylesheet will be loaded after the theme stylesheets, which means that your rules can take precedence and override the theme CSS rules. The Sandbox theme is recommended for those who would prefer to start from scratch. There is a bunch of what they encourage and a bunch of what they will strip out, only one that I question is unsafe code - I think I know what they mean, but what if they decide a scroller is unsafe code. But oh well this is just a test right? But if I like it maybe I will move the gaming blog over there, or set up Sunflower's stuff. So I click the box to create my own CSS from scratch, I figure I have to use the divs and the classes they define anyway so having a default to work from is not such a bad thing. I hit the start from scratch and just use this and preview to see what is what in the page. At the top of the preview is this little notification. you must purchase the Custom CSS Upgrade to save your changes. So, let me get this straight, I do the work and you want me to share it with the community and I have to pay to do it ? I think not.
Now I have decided not to move the blog, but maybe I will use it as another blog site in case I ever want to separate the game stuff from the gamer stuff. So I browse some of the other options. Akismet - all the description says is Askismet. Now if you are a blogger already you probably know this is anti-spam API But if you are not it might be nice if they explained that and HOW it works. (It does the best it can, so I am not bashing it, it just is not perfect and people need to know that.)
They have some interesting choices like box.net and Akismet. Neither of these are free tools under normal circumstances and the fact the provide them as widgets and seemingly at no cost is nice. But the box.net security seems to be undermined somewhat by allowing any blog reader to download files. Most of the widget choices are nothing that great or fancy or indeed even unique, most reputable blog sites - even this one provide similar services.
There are whole lot of other tools for making the blog look spiffy, display well on mobile media, hell even making it look like a webpage, but I am not impressed with actual content editing. I see why so many Wordpress blogs have serious typos in them. They do not make it easy to edit your words, your text or even your tags and categories. Which is why I went there in the first place. Because my inexperienced client could not intuitively figure out how to do it. So I ask anyone reading this who uses Wordpress, Why do you?
First if you are low vision or have problems seeing the screen, the default layout I was assigned was awful. Light gray on white does not do it. So Of course I go looking for a high contrast theme to make my life a little easier. Some are really nice but the default picture has nothing to do with what I blog about or even is anything I would want to have on my blog. I see one I like, I preview it and an then I see it is 75.00 to implement. I think not.
So I try to go back of course the back button does not work, I see a second tab opened in Opera click on that and am brought back to my dashboard - sigh so I have to load the themes again. I notice an Edit CSS option and get excited. Cool I can just add my own! I click on it and start reading expecting the usual no .js no scripts agreement stuff to ensure I am not trapping readers. Here is what it basically says :
If you are familiar with CSS or you have a stylesheet ready to paste, you may delete these comments and get started. Great! I think, and settle back to read what I can and cannot do. There are 2 check boxes one says to add to this style sheet, the other says to start blank - Better! Ok maybe this is not so bad oh wait..
You can not edit the stylesheets of your theme. Your stylesheet will be loaded after the theme stylesheets, which means that your rules can take precedence and override the theme CSS rules. The Sandbox theme is recommended for those who would prefer to start from scratch. There is a bunch of what they encourage and a bunch of what they will strip out, only one that I question is unsafe code - I think I know what they mean, but what if they decide a scroller is unsafe code. But oh well this is just a test right? But if I like it maybe I will move the gaming blog over there, or set up Sunflower's stuff. So I click the box to create my own CSS from scratch, I figure I have to use the divs and the classes they define anyway so having a default to work from is not such a bad thing. I hit the start from scratch and just use this and preview to see what is what in the page. At the top of the preview is this little notification. you must purchase the Custom CSS Upgrade to save your changes. So, let me get this straight, I do the work and you want me to share it with the community and I have to pay to do it ? I think not.
Now I have decided not to move the blog, but maybe I will use it as another blog site in case I ever want to separate the game stuff from the gamer stuff. So I browse some of the other options. Akismet - all the description says is Askismet. Now if you are a blogger already you probably know this is anti-spam API But if you are not it might be nice if they explained that and HOW it works. (It does the best it can, so I am not bashing it, it just is not perfect and people need to know that.)
They have some interesting choices like box.net and Akismet. Neither of these are free tools under normal circumstances and the fact the provide them as widgets and seemingly at no cost is nice. But the box.net security seems to be undermined somewhat by allowing any blog reader to download files. Most of the widget choices are nothing that great or fancy or indeed even unique, most reputable blog sites - even this one provide similar services.
There are whole lot of other tools for making the blog look spiffy, display well on mobile media, hell even making it look like a webpage, but I am not impressed with actual content editing. I see why so many Wordpress blogs have serious typos in them. They do not make it easy to edit your words, your text or even your tags and categories. Which is why I went there in the first place. Because my inexperienced client could not intuitively figure out how to do it. So I ask anyone reading this who uses Wordpress, Why do you?
Friday, May 20, 2011
CSS, W3, and accessabilty
I have been working on redesigning a web site. It needs to be brought up to more modern standards. It needs to be accessible and most of all it needs to impart the information that it is meant to in a way the users can find it. This should not be difficult. EXCEPT it is.
This is my first real venture into the world of CSS and accessibility, you see a large percentage of our users are visually impaired. Some are low vision, this means that the test must be in a font that is readable and contrast must be good. Some use speech clients that means alt text must be there, no server side java script and of course no music. Also table can be a pain as can frames.
But the definition of accessibility does not stop there. It includes people with slower or older browsers. Odd browsers, text only browsers and hearing impaired. So basically to make a truly accessible page, it should not run flash or any of the fancy stuff. Which is no big deal, right? Yeah about that.
So I go off to gather some templates to look at and learn from. EXCEPT a year ago when something was marked as an accessible CSS it was. Now a lot of it is marked so but uses .js server side to make the hover work properly. Use flash as a graphic display device or use jquery which is really just another form of .js to some speech clients.
I found a few with none of the above and started studying them. I loaded first in Opera 11.01 but Opera upgraded so loaded in 11.10 they load differently spans and alt text sometimes overlap other text, I get a lot of extra space on the left side. In Firefox, they display differently, in Chrome they look ok on the one version I have. In Internet Explorer the hover does not work quite right it is out of alignment. So the solution of a year or so ago is no longer a solution. We must again test and build with conditions for every conceivable browser and instance. When will they stop making the internet unaccessible through developing products that do not respond to the most basic html?
This is my first real venture into the world of CSS and accessibility, you see a large percentage of our users are visually impaired. Some are low vision, this means that the test must be in a font that is readable and contrast must be good. Some use speech clients that means alt text must be there, no server side java script and of course no music. Also table can be a pain as can frames.
But the definition of accessibility does not stop there. It includes people with slower or older browsers. Odd browsers, text only browsers and hearing impaired. So basically to make a truly accessible page, it should not run flash or any of the fancy stuff. Which is no big deal, right? Yeah about that.
So I go off to gather some templates to look at and learn from. EXCEPT a year ago when something was marked as an accessible CSS it was. Now a lot of it is marked so but uses .js server side to make the hover work properly. Use flash as a graphic display device or use jquery which is really just another form of .js to some speech clients.
I found a few with none of the above and started studying them. I loaded first in Opera 11.01 but Opera upgraded so loaded in 11.10 they load differently spans and alt text sometimes overlap other text, I get a lot of extra space on the left side. In Firefox, they display differently, in Chrome they look ok on the one version I have. In Internet Explorer the hover does not work quite right it is out of alignment. So the solution of a year or so ago is no longer a solution. We must again test and build with conditions for every conceivable browser and instance. When will they stop making the internet unaccessible through developing products that do not respond to the most basic html?
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Sony, hackers and identity security
I have avoided writing about the whole Sony debaucle, perhaps I will one day, but if nothing else it should have taught companies and consumers that data needs to be secure. As a consumer I do not want my info out there. If I am using the internet there is no reason for anyone to need my phone number unless i buying something with a credit card. Yet Google is still asking for phone numbers on accounts as can be seen on Geekwoman's blogs here and a solution for it here.
Now please look at this one by me. That is what can happen if your cellphone number gets in 'the wild'. Yep, a cellphone number can be used like a credit card in a way. So let's just get it straight. We are responsible for our identity security. One way to keep things secure is to not share them on the internet where anyone can read them. Assurances that my information is secure is not enough, it will not be Google that has to pay my cellphone bill when some hacker breaks in, gets it and sets up a skim account in another stolen identity name. It will not be Google that has to cancel all checking, credit cards and other things because their name and information is being used to apply for credit limits that are skipped out on and it will not them whose reputation is trashed. Do not try the "oh, we will never be hacked." routine either it has happened before and I have every reason to believe it will happen again sometime in the future.
So please, anyone and everyone who reads my blatherings. Start telling these companies they do not need that information. Email their tech support and customer service telling them you do not feel secure giving it. Even if they are secure and you are ask them how they protect against man in the middle attacks? Against hacking? is their database encrypted? What type of encryption? and most of all WHY do they need that information? I am sorry guys I do not want to be tracked, marketed to or even categorized.
First it seems people who think they know what is going on are telling me now what i must do and be interested in. I do not play WoW stop trying to market MMOs that are WoW-like to me. I do not have an Xbox - stop trying to sell me games for one. It seems that you all think if I type a word I must be needing to buy something for it. Well here is a word for you PRIVACY. I want that and I want to keep it and for me the easiest way to ensure that it is preserved is to just not tell anyone anything I do not want them to know.
Now please look at this one by me. That is what can happen if your cellphone number gets in 'the wild'. Yep, a cellphone number can be used like a credit card in a way. So let's just get it straight. We are responsible for our identity security. One way to keep things secure is to not share them on the internet where anyone can read them. Assurances that my information is secure is not enough, it will not be Google that has to pay my cellphone bill when some hacker breaks in, gets it and sets up a skim account in another stolen identity name. It will not be Google that has to cancel all checking, credit cards and other things because their name and information is being used to apply for credit limits that are skipped out on and it will not them whose reputation is trashed. Do not try the "oh, we will never be hacked." routine either it has happened before and I have every reason to believe it will happen again sometime in the future.
So please, anyone and everyone who reads my blatherings. Start telling these companies they do not need that information. Email their tech support and customer service telling them you do not feel secure giving it. Even if they are secure and you are ask them how they protect against man in the middle attacks? Against hacking? is their database encrypted? What type of encryption? and most of all WHY do they need that information? I am sorry guys I do not want to be tracked, marketed to or even categorized.
First it seems people who think they know what is going on are telling me now what i must do and be interested in. I do not play WoW stop trying to market MMOs that are WoW-like to me. I do not have an Xbox - stop trying to sell me games for one. It seems that you all think if I type a word I must be needing to buy something for it. Well here is a word for you PRIVACY. I want that and I want to keep it and for me the easiest way to ensure that it is preserved is to just not tell anyone anything I do not want them to know.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Resumes - Why bother to Read Them
Recently my partner of almost 30 years lost his position. Well. let's be fair he was told to tender his resignation effective several month later or be let go immediately. He took the deal and hoped. It was a no go they were cutting budgets and he was a casualty.
So, he started to look for a job. He registered with the state employment agency. They send jobs that they think are a match based on his skill set. His skill set when it comes to computers includes MS Office and his level is what we used to call unsophisticated user. Yeah I know, don't ask - but then again what I know about music might fill a thimble.
So he gets the list of suggested jobs for him in his mailbox. Java Developer, Software design and my personal favorite Hardware tech support. Now 2 of these I am qualified for albeit marginally. Yet do I receive these in my searches? No.
I have to ask on what are they matching and WHERE'S MINE?
So, he started to look for a job. He registered with the state employment agency. They send jobs that they think are a match based on his skill set. His skill set when it comes to computers includes MS Office and his level is what we used to call unsophisticated user. Yeah I know, don't ask - but then again what I know about music might fill a thimble.
So he gets the list of suggested jobs for him in his mailbox. Java Developer, Software design and my personal favorite Hardware tech support. Now 2 of these I am qualified for albeit marginally. Yet do I receive these in my searches? No.
I have to ask on what are they matching and WHERE'S MINE?
Saturday, July 24, 2010
RU Botted? Dunno RU Working?
A few weeks ago I logged into TrendMicro for my weekly Housecall run. I noticed a Beta Utility call RU Botted. The copy pointed out the possibility of your machine being used as a server of files or in DOS without your knowledge. Ok, so it is feeding into the present paranoia of users on virri and worms, but it is also not a bad idea to check. Many virus checkers do not check for bots so I decided to DL this and give it a try.
Download and setup - Quick and painless as was the installation. Great job! Am not enamored of it setting itself to run at startup, but I can change that. It would be nice to have a when "connected to the internet" option though, because I still turn the modem and router off and work offline. But it is beta and free so I am not complaining.
Function
This seems to be a daemon. It does not seem to interfere often or eat too much ram (488K according to system). It is very quietly idling in the background until it detects bot like activity. Then it logs it and pops up a screen informing the user that activity has been detected, do you want to go to TrendMicro's site, run Housecall and check it? Now is when I had a few issues. It took me to Housecall, asked me if I want to dl it etc. Then the launcher failed when I trird to run it. So I turned OFF RU Botted, closed the browser. At this time I noticed there was a separate window open for Netflix. I muttered about damn marketeers. closed that, opened the browser (Firefox, Trend like most companies refuse to admit Opera and Chrome even exist.) Downloaded the file, install and voila, it worked!
I picked up a book to read. Housecall finished quickly and returned a there is nothing message. Odd. I checked the log. It had an entry of a DNS inquiry to a malicious site. How.. informative. From where, what site and what called it? I shrugged it off, decided maybe it was a probe, but firewall did not go off.
I go on my merry way, except next day when I fire up machine it gives me the same message. I think this was because there is still something in the log. I opened the log and sure enough two entries said "Detected DNS query of malicious domain." No further information. I would like to know what domain, what app made the call perhaps even what port. I checked my firewall logs. No outgoing. and as a matter of fact nothing at the exact time logged. That sort of makes sense. If the firewall had caught it it would have stopped it and RU Botted MAY not have gotten a chance to spot it.
Then I got another. Same error, different site, then another from my own site. Then another. I look, sure enough Netflix is open again in most cases.
Overall
At this point I have no clue if the app is working or not. I will be installing a different bot watcher and putting it through its paces. In the meantime, anyone know anything about this? If you are interested in trying it be my guest, but there is presently no way to tell if it is working, and honestly - until they get the bugs out I would not recommend it at all.
Download and setup - Quick and painless as was the installation. Great job! Am not enamored of it setting itself to run at startup, but I can change that. It would be nice to have a when "connected to the internet" option though, because I still turn the modem and router off and work offline. But it is beta and free so I am not complaining.
Function
This seems to be a daemon. It does not seem to interfere often or eat too much ram (488K according to system). It is very quietly idling in the background until it detects bot like activity. Then it logs it and pops up a screen informing the user that activity has been detected, do you want to go to TrendMicro's site, run Housecall and check it? Now is when I had a few issues. It took me to Housecall, asked me if I want to dl it etc. Then the launcher failed when I trird to run it. So I turned OFF RU Botted, closed the browser. At this time I noticed there was a separate window open for Netflix. I muttered about damn marketeers. closed that, opened the browser (Firefox, Trend like most companies refuse to admit Opera and Chrome even exist.) Downloaded the file, install and voila, it worked!
I picked up a book to read. Housecall finished quickly and returned a there is nothing message. Odd. I checked the log. It had an entry of a DNS inquiry to a malicious site. How.. informative. From where, what site and what called it? I shrugged it off, decided maybe it was a probe, but firewall did not go off.
I go on my merry way, except next day when I fire up machine it gives me the same message. I think this was because there is still something in the log. I opened the log and sure enough two entries said "Detected DNS query of malicious domain." No further information. I would like to know what domain, what app made the call perhaps even what port. I checked my firewall logs. No outgoing. and as a matter of fact nothing at the exact time logged. That sort of makes sense. If the firewall had caught it it would have stopped it and RU Botted MAY not have gotten a chance to spot it.
Then I got another. Same error, different site, then another from my own site. Then another. I look, sure enough Netflix is open again in most cases.
Overall
At this point I have no clue if the app is working or not. I will be installing a different bot watcher and putting it through its paces. In the meantime, anyone know anything about this? If you are interested in trying it be my guest, but there is presently no way to tell if it is working, and honestly - until they get the bugs out I would not recommend it at all.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Earthlink: End of an Era?
Last night I could not connect to the internet. My daughter had been on earlier, the wind was up so I suspected a server outage or lines down. I tried a few things, nothing worked. So I called tech support at Earthlink. Now let me state here, that I have been a customer of this company for over a decade. I used to LOVE them. Now I like them, well better than my alternatives, but they have become like all the ones I avoided in the past, about getting it done and doing more not about customer service.
I called, I get the voice response sftw call router asking me what sort of connection I use. I answer. It offers me the option of trying the self help route or a techie. I try the self help route after 3 more questions it puts me in queue for a tech (THAT was a waste of time). So I settle back to music on hold. I keep getting the adverts to check my trouble online at their troubleshooting site. If I could access the stupid site I would not be calling. GET THIS THROUGH YOUR HEADS! If you are in a technology industry and people are using an alternate tech to contact you for support, it is probably because it is not working!
So that starts annoying so the poor techie has a customer that is not pleased by the time she gets to me. (not very long btw MAYBE 10 minutes so they get good points for that). First let me say the technical support person, Julie was not awful or stupid or any of the horror stories one hears, but she was obviously following a script or a decision flow based on the problem type. I am afraid I am a troublesome customer. here is how it went.
She asks me what the problem is. I tell her I cannot connect and it was working maybe 6 hours previous. Did she know of any server outages in my area? She looked and said nothing had been reported so let's check my side. First we do is it plugged in and are the lights on stuff. I checked before I called, but yeah any techie should check that first.
Ok. Next she says Open I.E. (FIRST MISTAKE One should ask the customer how they connect. as it so happens I do not use a browser to connect) I tell her I do not use I.E. (yes I have suspicion of what she wants to try). She says oh what do you use? I tell her Opera, but the browser is not the issue, I connect using a network connection profile I set up. She puts me on hold again and comes back with we can check your Opera instead. By this point I have I.E up.
We try the connect to the ip addy routine with a new default connection. My firewall is going nuts so I have to keep telling it ok. I mention this. No response (SECOND ALWAYS ASK ABOUT FIREWALLS, what if it was in lockdown mode or gaming deny mode?) No luck so she has me clear cache. (Not needed since I stated I do not use that to connect so the cache cannot be the issue.) We clear all history then try again, no luck.
So now she wants me to delete all network connection profiles. So I delete the one I just made, the others stay. It took me a while to tweak em and if the plain vanilla doesn't work it isn't the connections. So we try several more things through the browser including changing my master account password from a high security password that I use to a no security one. I was not happy with that and was less so later on.
FINALLY we get to trying a ping from the command prompt. YEAH! The modem works (I knew that) The diagnostics show nothing is wrong on my side and the phone line works because I am calling from it. It is now perhaps 45 min to an hour later. She says she will call back in about 10 min . I load up a game nada 2 hours later, so I turn all off and go to bed.
This morning same thing, no connectivity. So I call back. The call routing sftw recognizes I called about connectivity last night and asks if I am calling about the same issue. I answer yes assuming (incorrectly it seems) that that will bring up a call number that the techie can access. Now I get William. Now unlike Julie, William does not hear so well. First he asks what the problem is. (hmm no call record on his side?) So I tell him I cannot connect to the internet. Because NOW I have stuff to do that I did not get done the night before I am not in the mood to humor anyone. So when he says You cannot browse the internet? I correct him.
No, I cannot connect at all. I am not looking to browse I am looking to get online, open winscp and ftp some files to the test box. I am not using a browser I am trying to merely connect. (I am not a morning person btw)
He starts to walk me through the open i.e routine. I sigh, open it and of course nothing (I have to sign in don't I?) I am still trying to get the network to go through while I am talking, suddenly it goes through then disconns. Hmm I mention it to him. He says really? He sounds surprised, mainly because we have not really done anything. I try again it goes through, I open winscp and connect to the test box. It's back. I thank him and tell him it is up now.
NOW I still suspect it was a hardware issue on Earthlink's side and they did not bother to tell their tech support. It MIGHT have been an AT&T or Sprint issue with lines, but again, either Earthlink did not know about it or they did and did not inform their techies. The reason I suspect this is a third party group is that in the past when I have called, they have checked the record, recognized that I have been a customer for a long time and I might have a clue about how to use the service. Neither William nor Julie seemed to have this information. Nor did they have the O/S info that should be on my account information based on my purchases. Last walking through a tech support decision flow is all well and good but most people who support their own company's products can listen to the caller, ask a few questions and have a good idea where to start, you can always back track to the flow if you know exactly how your supported product works.
So It seems this is the end of the era of Earthlink being a GREAT ISP and it has now slipped to a good one. But hey it is still better than Verizon. But then again Sneaker net is too.
I called, I get the voice response sftw call router asking me what sort of connection I use. I answer. It offers me the option of trying the self help route or a techie. I try the self help route after 3 more questions it puts me in queue for a tech (THAT was a waste of time). So I settle back to music on hold. I keep getting the adverts to check my trouble online at their troubleshooting site. If I could access the stupid site I would not be calling. GET THIS THROUGH YOUR HEADS! If you are in a technology industry and people are using an alternate tech to contact you for support, it is probably because it is not working!
So that starts annoying so the poor techie has a customer that is not pleased by the time she gets to me. (not very long btw MAYBE 10 minutes so they get good points for that). First let me say the technical support person, Julie was not awful or stupid or any of the horror stories one hears, but she was obviously following a script or a decision flow based on the problem type. I am afraid I am a troublesome customer. here is how it went.
She asks me what the problem is. I tell her I cannot connect and it was working maybe 6 hours previous. Did she know of any server outages in my area? She looked and said nothing had been reported so let's check my side. First we do is it plugged in and are the lights on stuff. I checked before I called, but yeah any techie should check that first.
Ok. Next she says Open I.E. (FIRST MISTAKE One should ask the customer how they connect. as it so happens I do not use a browser to connect) I tell her I do not use I.E. (yes I have suspicion of what she wants to try). She says oh what do you use? I tell her Opera, but the browser is not the issue, I connect using a network connection profile I set up. She puts me on hold again and comes back with we can check your Opera instead. By this point I have I.E up.
We try the connect to the ip addy routine with a new default connection. My firewall is going nuts so I have to keep telling it ok. I mention this. No response (SECOND ALWAYS ASK ABOUT FIREWALLS, what if it was in lockdown mode or gaming deny mode?) No luck so she has me clear cache. (Not needed since I stated I do not use that to connect so the cache cannot be the issue.) We clear all history then try again, no luck.
So now she wants me to delete all network connection profiles. So I delete the one I just made, the others stay. It took me a while to tweak em and if the plain vanilla doesn't work it isn't the connections. So we try several more things through the browser including changing my master account password from a high security password that I use to a no security one. I was not happy with that and was less so later on.
FINALLY we get to trying a ping from the command prompt. YEAH! The modem works (I knew that) The diagnostics show nothing is wrong on my side and the phone line works because I am calling from it. It is now perhaps 45 min to an hour later. She says she will call back in about 10 min . I load up a game nada 2 hours later, so I turn all off and go to bed.
This morning same thing, no connectivity. So I call back. The call routing sftw recognizes I called about connectivity last night and asks if I am calling about the same issue. I answer yes assuming (incorrectly it seems) that that will bring up a call number that the techie can access. Now I get William. Now unlike Julie, William does not hear so well. First he asks what the problem is. (hmm no call record on his side?) So I tell him I cannot connect to the internet. Because NOW I have stuff to do that I did not get done the night before I am not in the mood to humor anyone. So when he says You cannot browse the internet? I correct him.
No, I cannot connect at all. I am not looking to browse I am looking to get online, open winscp and ftp some files to the test box. I am not using a browser I am trying to merely connect. (I am not a morning person btw)
He starts to walk me through the open i.e routine. I sigh, open it and of course nothing (I have to sign in don't I?) I am still trying to get the network to go through while I am talking, suddenly it goes through then disconns. Hmm I mention it to him. He says really? He sounds surprised, mainly because we have not really done anything. I try again it goes through, I open winscp and connect to the test box. It's back. I thank him and tell him it is up now.
NOW I still suspect it was a hardware issue on Earthlink's side and they did not bother to tell their tech support. It MIGHT have been an AT&T or Sprint issue with lines, but again, either Earthlink did not know about it or they did and did not inform their techies. The reason I suspect this is a third party group is that in the past when I have called, they have checked the record, recognized that I have been a customer for a long time and I might have a clue about how to use the service. Neither William nor Julie seemed to have this information. Nor did they have the O/S info that should be on my account information based on my purchases. Last walking through a tech support decision flow is all well and good but most people who support their own company's products can listen to the caller, ask a few questions and have a good idea where to start, you can always back track to the flow if you know exactly how your supported product works.
So It seems this is the end of the era of Earthlink being a GREAT ISP and it has now slipped to a good one. But hey it is still better than Verizon. But then again Sneaker net is too.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
IT Professionals and Literacy
.. or lack thereof. "What!?" say you. Well I hope this is the case rather than what my suspicions lead me to believe. But I get ahead of myself.
I was recently on a game. Now I have played this game for years and have used the same client software for years. (ZMud if anyone cares.) So while playing another person mentions they are rebuilding all of their macros, scripts, etc in ZMUD due to a hard disk failure. He is having a problem with a math function so I go to the creator's site to peruse the forums as I KNOW I have seen a similar little app there. (It just calculates number of enemies killed experience gained and averages.) When i connect to the forums my pages starts to "roll". It perpetually refreshes. I mutter about the damn Opera update and fire up Firefox - Same thing. Hmm So I fire up the old I.E. Old in that it is NOT updated. Page loads fine. I report it in the forums and go on my way.
Next day I check to see if they have any idea what it could be (I did check the obvious as well as run an internet search on similar problems. I may have an idea, but so far this is the ONLY forum where I have seen this behavior and I would LOVE to know what changed there so I can figure out what is fighting with what.) I see a reply from another user and it says HIS version of Firefox runs fine and so it must be something with my machine did I check for viruses, etc. I reply to the condescending tone of the post with yes, it used to work and has stopped so I thought just perhaps someone might be interested in the issue as it may affect readership. Went on to explain it is a known issue with Forefox and Skype (which I do not use), but was also occurring in OPERA and seems to only work with an out of date I.E. I have not gone back to check further responses yet because now we get to what REALLY leads me to hope that it is a lack of literacy on the part of IT professionals.
Dh has been complaining his account loads slowly and his internet browsing is slow. I watched him the other day. It does seem slower than either my daughters' or mine. I look at start up, devices, etc. I notice under adapters there is one, 6TO4, that is not loading and there are MANY instances of the driver attempting to do so. So, what is this adapter and why is it not working? I punch in a search for it and find many forums with posts addressing this. I pick a techie helping techie forum and settle in to read.
A person who is a database person posts the exact issue with his laptop with Vista Home Premium. He is hoping a network guy will tell him if what he thinks (that he can safely disable this) is true. He mentions that he has followed the usual track of checking it, searching the driver, searching the MS site, checking for upgrades, etc. Sounds like what I am looking for.
There are 5 answers to his issue. 3 of them tell him to download and upgrade the most recent version from his laptop manufacturer. One tells him to check for ad ware and viruses. The last one points him to an article on the MS support site that states it is a component put in place for enterprises going from a v4 protocol to a v6 protocol as a stop gap and that most people are safe disabling the device. (What do you know a meaningful name from Microsoft I am impressed!)
I hope that the first 4 'professionals' have problems reading for it seemed to me the user with the issue stated he had attempted those actions. I hope they were not just posting something so that they could have their name out there and add to their branding. Because if that is the case they did more harm than good. They have proven what users have said about techies is true. They never listen, they never believe you and they are useless.
I expect a bit of condescension on a gaming forum. After all most people on those are NOT professionals, or if they are they are they are not required to behave as such. (the owner is always polite btw and I recommend ZMUD and CMUD) But on a forum where all members are thought to be in the same field although with different areas of expertise, I would never expect people to rush to get a message up so they can raise their activity level on the forum, or so that they can get a thrill in seeing their name on a technical forum. I would hope they are professionals. So I suggest HR departments start enrolling their IT staff in literacy programs. It seems they need it.
I was recently on a game. Now I have played this game for years and have used the same client software for years. (ZMud if anyone cares.) So while playing another person mentions they are rebuilding all of their macros, scripts, etc in ZMUD due to a hard disk failure. He is having a problem with a math function so I go to the creator's site to peruse the forums as I KNOW I have seen a similar little app there. (It just calculates number of enemies killed experience gained and averages.) When i connect to the forums my pages starts to "roll". It perpetually refreshes. I mutter about the damn Opera update and fire up Firefox - Same thing. Hmm So I fire up the old I.E. Old in that it is NOT updated. Page loads fine. I report it in the forums and go on my way.
Next day I check to see if they have any idea what it could be (I did check the obvious as well as run an internet search on similar problems. I may have an idea, but so far this is the ONLY forum where I have seen this behavior and I would LOVE to know what changed there so I can figure out what is fighting with what.) I see a reply from another user and it says HIS version of Firefox runs fine and so it must be something with my machine did I check for viruses, etc. I reply to the condescending tone of the post with yes, it used to work and has stopped so I thought just perhaps someone might be interested in the issue as it may affect readership. Went on to explain it is a known issue with Forefox and Skype (which I do not use), but was also occurring in OPERA and seems to only work with an out of date I.E. I have not gone back to check further responses yet because now we get to what REALLY leads me to hope that it is a lack of literacy on the part of IT professionals.
Dh has been complaining his account loads slowly and his internet browsing is slow. I watched him the other day. It does seem slower than either my daughters' or mine. I look at start up, devices, etc. I notice under adapters there is one, 6TO4, that is not loading and there are MANY instances of the driver attempting to do so. So, what is this adapter and why is it not working? I punch in a search for it and find many forums with posts addressing this. I pick a techie helping techie forum and settle in to read.
A person who is a database person posts the exact issue with his laptop with Vista Home Premium. He is hoping a network guy will tell him if what he thinks (that he can safely disable this) is true. He mentions that he has followed the usual track of checking it, searching the driver, searching the MS site, checking for upgrades, etc. Sounds like what I am looking for.
There are 5 answers to his issue. 3 of them tell him to download and upgrade the most recent version from his laptop manufacturer. One tells him to check for ad ware and viruses. The last one points him to an article on the MS support site that states it is a component put in place for enterprises going from a v4 protocol to a v6 protocol as a stop gap and that most people are safe disabling the device. (What do you know a meaningful name from Microsoft I am impressed!)
I hope that the first 4 'professionals' have problems reading for it seemed to me the user with the issue stated he had attempted those actions. I hope they were not just posting something so that they could have their name out there and add to their branding. Because if that is the case they did more harm than good. They have proven what users have said about techies is true. They never listen, they never believe you and they are useless.
I expect a bit of condescension on a gaming forum. After all most people on those are NOT professionals, or if they are they are they are not required to behave as such. (the owner is always polite btw and I recommend ZMUD and CMUD) But on a forum where all members are thought to be in the same field although with different areas of expertise, I would never expect people to rush to get a message up so they can raise their activity level on the forum, or so that they can get a thrill in seeing their name on a technical forum. I would hope they are professionals. So I suggest HR departments start enrolling their IT staff in literacy programs. It seems they need it.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Bots and annoyances - How to fight back
We have all had them, bots or even live people who we do not know that decide to contact us while we are online on an IM. IM is a wonderful thing, too bad these bots are about to ruin it.
Lately I have begun fighting back. But merely reporting a username based on a "hi are u there?" message is not enough to go on for an abuse report. So, since i trust my firewalls and AV's I have begun answering them, logging them, and reporting. I advise everyone to do the same. Why you ask it won't stop them..
No it will not. But it may make the IM makers plug the issues that allow people to run these bots. If you are a bot maker reading this TFB. Bots do have their uses but it has hit the point where people who can barely turn on a machine can download a bot to annoy people trying to get work done.
Here is the anatomy of bot IM
Without fail they all have screennames like marvinvalenciagndhs. They begin with any1 there?. If they get a response even an auto one they respond with something Like Hi how u doing. Next response is "It's Ashley" or Alissa Or some female name usually starting with A and having 2 syllables. Now why Ashley is writing from Marvin's account is suspicious enough.
Now the variations start some will tell you they know you and try to get you to connect to a website to view their pics or hot webcam action with their roommate or whatever.
Some will say "you don't know me I got your name from Ashley" then proceed to tell you some sob story about how their boyfriend dumped them or their husband is always out of town and they want to meet up and party with you but they need to know you are ok first.
Either way, an attempt will be made to get you to connect to a website. I HOPE everyone knows better. It is most likely a phishing site or an infected page. Even if it IS a webcam of 2 hot chicks, why would they contact you if they did not want money in some way shape or form and you can rent a porn dvd for the price they will charge. So I will assume that you have not connected to www.hotchicksonawebcam.com and continue
Some will send a link to get off their list. Guess what.. Yep don't buy it. But at this point you have enough to report. So now it is time to hit the ignore button and go to Yahoo, GMail, MSN, ICQ or whoever to report.
FIRST make sure you save a copy of the log file. attach it or copy and past it into your complaint. Next include your real (or business's) name and the IM screenname you were using at the time of the spam. Tell them up front you are tired of this time waster and will reporting EVERY SINGLE ONE in the future. Follow through with that threat. I am betting that it will take only about 5% of the users reporting every single one to effect a change.
Now how do i know these are bots? well most people when someone replies to an "are u there" with "fuck off bitch" will either be insulted or go into a lot of explanation of who they are and how they know you. And they will find either it is a case of mistaken identity (I have done that myself) and apologize for bugging you or they will be someone you know and you will apologize. Real people do not go on to post websites to an IM until they are certain they know the person they are to whom they are typing.
Of course if you are a decent bot writer yourself, you can always set a bot to catch a bot, the only risky thing in that is that some of these bots are actually set to try and hijack your account when you are not online to send their URL all over through your contacts list. So I would advise against unattended bot baiting.
Let's get rid of these so we can go back to using IM for work and fun with our friends.
Lately I have begun fighting back. But merely reporting a username based on a "hi are u there?" message is not enough to go on for an abuse report. So, since i trust my firewalls and AV's I have begun answering them, logging them, and reporting. I advise everyone to do the same. Why you ask it won't stop them..
No it will not. But it may make the IM makers plug the issues that allow people to run these bots. If you are a bot maker reading this TFB. Bots do have their uses but it has hit the point where people who can barely turn on a machine can download a bot to annoy people trying to get work done.
Here is the anatomy of bot IM
Without fail they all have screennames like marvinvalenciagndhs. They begin with any1 there?. If they get a response even an auto one they respond with something Like Hi how u doing. Next response is "It's Ashley" or Alissa Or some female name usually starting with A and having 2 syllables. Now why Ashley is writing from Marvin's account is suspicious enough.
Now the variations start some will tell you they know you and try to get you to connect to a website to view their pics or hot webcam action with their roommate or whatever.
Some will say "you don't know me I got your name from Ashley" then proceed to tell you some sob story about how their boyfriend dumped them or their husband is always out of town and they want to meet up and party with you but they need to know you are ok first.
Either way, an attempt will be made to get you to connect to a website. I HOPE everyone knows better. It is most likely a phishing site or an infected page. Even if it IS a webcam of 2 hot chicks, why would they contact you if they did not want money in some way shape or form and you can rent a porn dvd for the price they will charge. So I will assume that you have not connected to www.hotchicksonawebcam.com and continue
Some will send a link to get off their list. Guess what.. Yep don't buy it. But at this point you have enough to report. So now it is time to hit the ignore button and go to Yahoo, GMail, MSN, ICQ or whoever to report.
FIRST make sure you save a copy of the log file. attach it or copy and past it into your complaint. Next include your real (or business's) name and the IM screenname you were using at the time of the spam. Tell them up front you are tired of this time waster and will reporting EVERY SINGLE ONE in the future. Follow through with that threat. I am betting that it will take only about 5% of the users reporting every single one to effect a change.
Now how do i know these are bots? well most people when someone replies to an "are u there" with "fuck off bitch" will either be insulted or go into a lot of explanation of who they are and how they know you. And they will find either it is a case of mistaken identity (I have done that myself) and apologize for bugging you or they will be someone you know and you will apologize. Real people do not go on to post websites to an IM until they are certain they know the person they are to whom they are typing.
Of course if you are a decent bot writer yourself, you can always set a bot to catch a bot, the only risky thing in that is that some of these bots are actually set to try and hijack your account when you are not online to send their URL all over through your contacts list. So I would advise against unattended bot baiting.
Let's get rid of these so we can go back to using IM for work and fun with our friends.
Friday, September 5, 2008
The I in IT
Once upon a time the IT department was kept in the basement and thrown bones every so often. The rest of the company never understood them and that was fine with everyone. We were let out of our cages to go fix stuff. We were faceless, nameless (as one manager said were were the Shadow Ninjas we fixed stuff and you rarely saw us do it.)
Somewhere along the line all that changed. It was sometime in the 90's. Probably about the time Windoze 95 was released. Suddenly we were adored, worshipped and fawned over. Salaries went skyrocketing and people began to flock to the field.
Then it started happening - branding, image, marketing yourself as an IT professional. It was no longer enough to do your job and do it well, you had to be known; in some cases being known counted for more than knowing your job. Then the bottom fell out of the market for IT professionals. Why is that do you think? Well some maintain we did it to ourselves to some extent and that the nails were driven in by those who are impressed by the look not the knowledge. Egos have ballooned and more and more we see sites, blogs and information that are written by people who bow down to the almighty *I*.
First, let's look at the boom in IT. In the late 90's IT was the place to be. Consulting companies like the now defunct EDS (bought out by HP in July) had strict requirements to be a programmer with the title Software Engineer or Systems Analyst. But almost none to be a Business Analyst, even though in many client locations they performed the same or very similar tasks. Usually a BA cost less than an SA though the client.
Now like most companies, each job title had a level and each level a salary cap. Let us say an employee was a BA level 1. That would mean they had a salary cap of say 30K. So, for a raise you had to be promoted by a manager to a BA level 2 and then you could code pound merrily until your salary broke say 45K. Only thing was a BA level 3 was a manager type. Many code pounders do not want to be a manager and deal with HR things, so as an employee under them approached the next cap; good managers would sound them out and mentor them as to their next step in the company, bad ones forced techies into management. Most of them left the company because they hated being a people person.
The hybrids went to SA boot camp. Most of us never wanted to be more than a Project Manager or Team Lead. A full class at the beginning was around 30. Usually that whittled down to about 20 by the end. The thing was over half the class was frequently comprised of people from the marketing side of the company. When asked why they wanted to become coders, most answered, "Because I can make a lot of money."
That *I* should have been the first red flag to the industry, the answer was not because technology was cool, or users needed friendlier apps, or companies need better systems that are secure or that tools could be more efficient. It was about the person. Unfortunately, that has carried over into the present day. More next time.
Somewhere along the line all that changed. It was sometime in the 90's. Probably about the time Windoze 95 was released. Suddenly we were adored, worshipped and fawned over. Salaries went skyrocketing and people began to flock to the field.
Then it started happening - branding, image, marketing yourself as an IT professional. It was no longer enough to do your job and do it well, you had to be known; in some cases being known counted for more than knowing your job. Then the bottom fell out of the market for IT professionals. Why is that do you think? Well some maintain we did it to ourselves to some extent and that the nails were driven in by those who are impressed by the look not the knowledge. Egos have ballooned and more and more we see sites, blogs and information that are written by people who bow down to the almighty *I*.
First, let's look at the boom in IT. In the late 90's IT was the place to be. Consulting companies like the now defunct EDS (bought out by HP in July) had strict requirements to be a programmer with the title Software Engineer or Systems Analyst. But almost none to be a Business Analyst, even though in many client locations they performed the same or very similar tasks. Usually a BA cost less than an SA though the client.
Now like most companies, each job title had a level and each level a salary cap. Let us say an employee was a BA level 1. That would mean they had a salary cap of say 30K. So, for a raise you had to be promoted by a manager to a BA level 2 and then you could code pound merrily until your salary broke say 45K. Only thing was a BA level 3 was a manager type. Many code pounders do not want to be a manager and deal with HR things, so as an employee under them approached the next cap; good managers would sound them out and mentor them as to their next step in the company, bad ones forced techies into management. Most of them left the company because they hated being a people person.
The hybrids went to SA boot camp. Most of us never wanted to be more than a Project Manager or Team Lead. A full class at the beginning was around 30. Usually that whittled down to about 20 by the end. The thing was over half the class was frequently comprised of people from the marketing side of the company. When asked why they wanted to become coders, most answered, "Because I can make a lot of money."
That *I* should have been the first red flag to the industry, the answer was not because technology was cool, or users needed friendlier apps, or companies need better systems that are secure or that tools could be more efficient. It was about the person. Unfortunately, that has carried over into the present day. More next time.
Friday, August 29, 2008
The difference between Doze and Nix Users
Company is gone, kid is back in school and I am faced with a dilemma: Ubunti, Solaris or Fedora? you see I am sitting here surrounded by machines. If you have read previous blogs you know at least one is parts only now, however. There is this little Pentium - one of the first coprocessors. It is a machine that was proprietary, it is an AST. Yep they are gone, but the machine is still running.
It was great box in the heyday of machines, now about all one can say is it still runs. And it does. So I decided to give it a new lease on life by reformatting it with a *nix, except which one? So I went asking people who use *Nix variations. I heard good things about them all. Then it hit me.
When a new feature comes out in a *nix product all the users get excited even if it is not on a product they use presently. I heard about Fedora from people who run Suze, Ubunti from Fedora users, Suze from a Ubunti user, and Solaris - well I have a soft spot for Sun.
When a new feature or even a new operating system comes out for windows users and administrators alike seem to approach with caution and trepidation.
Microsoft are you listening? People look forward to new products from those others because they work. Because they help them do their job better. Their job is to run IT so the users can do their job better. Not so they can spend days even months working out how to get an app to run.
It was great box in the heyday of machines, now about all one can say is it still runs. And it does. So I decided to give it a new lease on life by reformatting it with a *nix, except which one? So I went asking people who use *Nix variations. I heard good things about them all. Then it hit me.
When a new feature comes out in a *nix product all the users get excited even if it is not on a product they use presently. I heard about Fedora from people who run Suze, Ubunti from Fedora users, Suze from a Ubunti user, and Solaris - well I have a soft spot for Sun.
When a new feature or even a new operating system comes out for windows users and administrators alike seem to approach with caution and trepidation.
Microsoft are you listening? People look forward to new products from those others because they work. Because they help them do their job better. Their job is to run IT so the users can do their job better. Not so they can spend days even months working out how to get an app to run.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Talk about Timing..
I just finished filling out an application online for an editor's position, when I started going through my mailbox and looking at the news letters. that is when I ran across this little gem.
Who Lies More On Resumes?
That started me thinking back to when I had a say in the hiring process and worked as a headhunter. I hit many who claimed to have skill sets they did not. Some had no knowledge of the software packages and languages they claimed to, others and far more common, claimed to have levels of expertise they did not.
Perhaps that is where I have gone wrong all this time. Maybe it is not that I am over the magical number of 40, maybe it is not that I made too much for one end of my industry and not enough for the other, maybe it is because I refuse to lie on my resume and to headhunters about what I can and cannot do. And here I was a member of two of the industries that lie the most about it. Hospitality/Travel and IT.
I have spoken to people who have claimed to support packages that never existed. To people who claim to be SQL experts and cannot even tell me how to delete a group of records based on one criterion. I have worked with people who have no clue about emulation and connectivity packages that are considered the industry standard. Yet all of them on their resumes claimed to be experts.
But the other side of this equation, the ones that make the applicants feel secure in lying is the companies themselves. You see back in the stone age, when I was a headhunter for IT and Telecommunications, we talked to the head of the IT dept for our job specs. We spoke to the decision maker. He (rarely in those days were women in the head IT positions) understood that we perhaps did not know everything there was to know about the technology, especially if it was an emerging one.
One of my most memorable contacts with a headhunter was one who was convinced I knew C++. Now I have done some work in ANSI C way back and I continue to code some for a game in an ANSI C based language. Some things are common still, pointers, includes, objects, containers. BUT the OO aspect of the language makes programming much different. (I have done some OOP with application languages such as PAL, DBA, etc, but mainframes tend to like structured.) Well this headhunter was desperate (he must have been) My first statement was - I am not looking to move - and my second was - C++? nope. Yes, my resume has C on it - ANSI C.
He would not take no for an answer. He wanted to know how many objects I had created. How many containers, About pointers I had used. Obviously he was reading off a list of questions. Finally I got through to him that I was not what he was looking for. That to me a container a pointer and a string are all objects. His complete confusion at the terminology told me he did not know programming.
But I wonder how many people gave him answers and he presented them. And I wonder how many of them wasted the hiring professional, the IT manager and who knows who else's time before a person in the enterprise who knows C++ pointed out the skill set was not what they wanted. I learn pretty fast. I do have background in a lot of languages, life cycles, case tools, environments and applications. There are only a handful that I would claim to know well though, even though I have collected many pieces of paper over the years that says I can follow along in a training course.
I know database design, ETL, BI tools, reporting tools. I can make your data turn flips through hoops. I will not lie on a report, but I can usually make it show what you want. BUT I have to know the data and the industry. I will never claim to know understand or know the insurance industry. I worked in human resources, travel, publishing, music and in retail - with a smattering of wholesale. I know marketing, SLCs. testing and measurement standards. I know Unit and system testing and many other aspects of both IT and the industries in which I have worked. Some of those skills are cross industry and platform, some are not. But the two skills it seems I lack is bragging about knowing my job as if it is something extraordinary and lying on my resume. Anyone know where I can get certification in those skills?
Who Lies More On Resumes?
That started me thinking back to when I had a say in the hiring process and worked as a headhunter. I hit many who claimed to have skill sets they did not. Some had no knowledge of the software packages and languages they claimed to, others and far more common, claimed to have levels of expertise they did not.
Perhaps that is where I have gone wrong all this time. Maybe it is not that I am over the magical number of 40, maybe it is not that I made too much for one end of my industry and not enough for the other, maybe it is because I refuse to lie on my resume and to headhunters about what I can and cannot do. And here I was a member of two of the industries that lie the most about it. Hospitality/Travel and IT.
I have spoken to people who have claimed to support packages that never existed. To people who claim to be SQL experts and cannot even tell me how to delete a group of records based on one criterion. I have worked with people who have no clue about emulation and connectivity packages that are considered the industry standard. Yet all of them on their resumes claimed to be experts.
But the other side of this equation, the ones that make the applicants feel secure in lying is the companies themselves. You see back in the stone age, when I was a headhunter for IT and Telecommunications, we talked to the head of the IT dept for our job specs. We spoke to the decision maker. He (rarely in those days were women in the head IT positions) understood that we perhaps did not know everything there was to know about the technology, especially if it was an emerging one.
One of my most memorable contacts with a headhunter was one who was convinced I knew C++. Now I have done some work in ANSI C way back and I continue to code some for a game in an ANSI C based language. Some things are common still, pointers, includes, objects, containers. BUT the OO aspect of the language makes programming much different. (I have done some OOP with application languages such as PAL, DBA, etc, but mainframes tend to like structured.) Well this headhunter was desperate (he must have been) My first statement was - I am not looking to move - and my second was - C++? nope. Yes, my resume has C on it - ANSI C.
He would not take no for an answer. He wanted to know how many objects I had created. How many containers, About pointers I had used. Obviously he was reading off a list of questions. Finally I got through to him that I was not what he was looking for. That to me a container a pointer and a string are all objects. His complete confusion at the terminology told me he did not know programming.
But I wonder how many people gave him answers and he presented them. And I wonder how many of them wasted the hiring professional, the IT manager and who knows who else's time before a person in the enterprise who knows C++ pointed out the skill set was not what they wanted. I learn pretty fast. I do have background in a lot of languages, life cycles, case tools, environments and applications. There are only a handful that I would claim to know well though, even though I have collected many pieces of paper over the years that says I can follow along in a training course.
I know database design, ETL, BI tools, reporting tools. I can make your data turn flips through hoops. I will not lie on a report, but I can usually make it show what you want. BUT I have to know the data and the industry. I will never claim to know understand or know the insurance industry. I worked in human resources, travel, publishing, music and in retail - with a smattering of wholesale. I know marketing, SLCs. testing and measurement standards. I know Unit and system testing and many other aspects of both IT and the industries in which I have worked. Some of those skills are cross industry and platform, some are not. But the two skills it seems I lack is bragging about knowing my job as if it is something extraordinary and lying on my resume. Anyone know where I can get certification in those skills?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
It has been a while
I still live, I have many things to go off on. (Like WHY does disk defragger keep wanting internet access? Sorry am NOT gonna let my machine function as the defragger for the world wide web.) ANd much else. However am actually geeking out and working on zones for Valhalla Mud (yes a shameless plug - GO there NOW!) After i get these up and debugged and don't crash the game (I hope) Will be back in cranky mode.
In the meantime, got here and enjoy this man's webcomic. Pancakes is my spiritual guide.
The Secret of Mana Theater
In the meantime, got here and enjoy this man's webcomic. Pancakes is my spiritual guide.
The Secret of Mana Theater
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Vista Rebellion
"Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista is an important update for Windows Vista. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) contains many security, reliability, and feature updates for Windows Vista. A program may experience a loss of functionality after you install Windows Vista SP1. However, most programs will continue to work as expected after you ..."
read more | digg story
It seems that Microsoft hasn't "gotten" it yet. There is a rebellion taking place and they are missing it. You see many users and developers hate Vista. Ok, maybe it is not so much Vista as the way in which Microsoft Corp seems to be railroading us into using it. Except they seem to have backed off that a bit.
I use a lot of utilities, freeware and shareware. I believe in supporting those who make a good tool or a neat gizmo. Vista has been out for over a year. Yet, a lot of both commercial and shareware apps do not support it. Why? Because we have finally had enough of being told what we MUST do.
I hit my first instance of that way back when helped develop proprietary software. We had hired a consulting firm to help us with a 'quick start' on an app we had to port over to Windows 95, The were a Microsoft Solutions provider so guess what they suggested we use? Yep a Microsoft product. It was a database app so they suggested Access. Except... When we attempted to recreate a lot of the queries we had built in Paradox for DOS we got a "query is too complex" Message.
Fine for use we knew how to work around it but for users who needed to create different reports, we needed an easy solution. We mentioned this to the Consultants who said, "They will have to deal with it." My answer was "no, they do not they can buy another company's product and services." For years, it seemed the companies, end users and even developers did not believe this. Finally the last straw seems to have been reached. The high-handed way in which Microsoft decided everything must be Vista started the rebellion. People refused to buy it. Developers refuse to develop for it. Microsoft seems to have relented a little.
Now the service pack. Guess what every one of those companies listed have put forth the effort to build a product that works on Vista or did in some way prior to the service pack. They spent money on developers' salaries, testing, hardware and software. Now they will not work. Zone Labs already has their fix out as does Trend Micro, but at what cost? And what happens when SP2 is realeased?
The companies who are listed above at least put forth the effort to create a package that works with Vista. Now Microsoft in their usual high-handed manner lists them as not working on the fixed O/S and says contact them for more information. It doesn't care if your preferred firewall doesn't work, if your emergency virus removal doesn't work. Why? Because they are Microsoft. Never mind that the consumer of THEIR product probably put out money for the packages.
Like it or not, there is a recession on. That means people do not have that extra money to spend. That means the next O/S upgrade that costs consumers up front and has hidden costs such as this will refuse to buy. Get the message Microsoft - We do not HAVE to there is always *nix and OS 10.
read more | digg story
It seems that Microsoft hasn't "gotten" it yet. There is a rebellion taking place and they are missing it. You see many users and developers hate Vista. Ok, maybe it is not so much Vista as the way in which Microsoft Corp seems to be railroading us into using it. Except they seem to have backed off that a bit.
I use a lot of utilities, freeware and shareware. I believe in supporting those who make a good tool or a neat gizmo. Vista has been out for over a year. Yet, a lot of both commercial and shareware apps do not support it. Why? Because we have finally had enough of being told what we MUST do.
I hit my first instance of that way back when helped develop proprietary software. We had hired a consulting firm to help us with a 'quick start' on an app we had to port over to Windows 95, The were a Microsoft Solutions provider so guess what they suggested we use? Yep a Microsoft product. It was a database app so they suggested Access. Except... When we attempted to recreate a lot of the queries we had built in Paradox for DOS we got a "query is too complex" Message.
Fine for use we knew how to work around it but for users who needed to create different reports, we needed an easy solution. We mentioned this to the Consultants who said, "They will have to deal with it." My answer was "no, they do not they can buy another company's product and services." For years, it seemed the companies, end users and even developers did not believe this. Finally the last straw seems to have been reached. The high-handed way in which Microsoft decided everything must be Vista started the rebellion. People refused to buy it. Developers refuse to develop for it. Microsoft seems to have relented a little.
Now the service pack. Guess what every one of those companies listed have put forth the effort to build a product that works on Vista or did in some way prior to the service pack. They spent money on developers' salaries, testing, hardware and software. Now they will not work. Zone Labs already has their fix out as does Trend Micro, but at what cost? And what happens when SP2 is realeased?
The companies who are listed above at least put forth the effort to create a package that works with Vista. Now Microsoft in their usual high-handed manner lists them as not working on the fixed O/S and says contact them for more information. It doesn't care if your preferred firewall doesn't work, if your emergency virus removal doesn't work. Why? Because they are Microsoft. Never mind that the consumer of THEIR product probably put out money for the packages.
Like it or not, there is a recession on. That means people do not have that extra money to spend. That means the next O/S upgrade that costs consumers up front and has hidden costs such as this will refuse to buy. Get the message Microsoft - We do not HAVE to there is always *nix and OS 10.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
