Podcasts - Credit check

Ponzi heard about this thing called ‘Bistro MD’ and we decided to give it a shot this week. After the first day with the program, we’re ready to try anything else. Since the cardboard-flavored oatmeal this morning, I’ve been snacking all day. Yes, I’ve had a severe case of the munchies.

Mark Sissons submits his list of favourite “decadent” munchies - not necessarily healthy! Also, in no particular order of preference…

BBQ’d fresh ground lean beef burger on a sesame seed topped kaiser (one that is toasted right on the grill). As it happens, he stick with ketchup as the condiment, but spices the patty before it goes on the grill (pepper, garlic powder, minced onion, season salt, Heinz regular BBQ sauce).
Salt & Vinegar potato chips - must be fairly fresh of course… the more vinegar taste, the better.
Regular Coca-Cola… NOT PEPSI! Super-cold, just a bit above freezing… no ice, of course.
Really good Chinese lemon chicken - preferably with a light corn starch batter. Best if it is REAL lemon sauce made with fresh lemons. Also, some places use frozen battered chicken filets… not that great, usually.
A homemade pure maple syrup & vanilla flavored milkshake, extra thick. Grade 3 DARK Maple Syrup is best (look in the “organic” section).

I had some protein pellets a few minutes ago. This is not a snack for eating - this is a snack for laying down and avoiding.

Earlier today, I uploaded a video in favor of the new iPod update. I included my own reasons for purchasing this, as well as reasons sent in by a community member.

Tonight, I received the following email, and wanted to pass it along, as well. Here are some reasons you may choose not to purchase this update.

Hey there Chris! My name is Leo and I too am a Tech enthusiast. As I watched your iPod Software Update video, I thought of a few reasons why Apple wronged the community by charging for these apps. Now, I understand that this is a business and Apple, like any other company out there, is in this to make money. But here are the top 5 reasons why I will not get the software upgrade.

Other companies are giving such things for free. I can?t really think of others at the moment, but I specifically recall Microsoft allowing users to upgrade their old Zune software to the new. Granted you did not get any new ?apps?, but you got added functionality. That?s all these apps are, added functions.
Over half of the new apps were already available for the iPhone when it came out. Why are we paying $20 for essentially 2 new apps? If I am not mistaken, mail, Google maps and stocks were already included on the iPhone. If they had been developed then, why do we have to pay for them now a whole 6 months later? And why were they not included from the beginning? Well that?s an easy question to answer… money.
There are options out there. There are web apps that do what these new apps are doing. They are not as convenient to access, (you have to click 3 times instead of 1) and they are not as customizable… but they are free. And don?t get me started with jail breaking (I for one have not done it)? Yet.
For what it does, it?s actually expensive. I for one have absolutely no problem paying for software (no matter how expensive it is), if there is a tangible gain. I honestly don?t feel these apps are worth $20. Now let?s forget that only half of them are new. Are they really worth it? The only app I could see having a true value is Google maps, but it?s not going to be that effective on the iTouch. I am sure it will work well on the iPhone, but the iTouch does not have the ability to use multiple sources to pin point your location. Plus… if we are not connected by Wi-Fi, we can?t even use 4 of the apps.
You don?t really need it. When I first heard the announcement from Apple, I was actually quite upset. I just purchased my iTouch (4 days before the announcement), and was quite furious that the new iTouches would have it, but I couldn?t. After my initial anger subsided, I started thinking rationally about this whole thing. After doing some research, I came to the conclusion that I was not really missing much. I mean the iPod touch is an iPod. It is an mp3 player. Yes it has the ability to do extra stuff, but I got it to listen to music. It’s not to surf the web, not to check my mail, and not to check the weather. Do I like the extra functions? Heck yes I do, and they were actually part of the reason I paid $400 for a 16GB iTouch instead of $250 for an 80GB iPod. I am sure there will come a day when I purchase a software upgrade pack from Apple, but today is just not the day. I don?t see the value in the content, so for now I will choose to keep my money.

Ah there is just one more thing. I understand why Apple is charging for these apps. I actually no longer have a problem with that. I am a little confused, however, as to why Apple did not include some of the new iPhone features on the iPod touch for free. I am talking about web clips, and the ability to customize the home page. These are not new applications, but rather an expansion on the features already available on your iPod Touch. These two really should have been free.

It all boils down to whether or not you feel these applications are something that will be useful to you as a user. If they are not, then why spend the money?

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How to Get Along in an Online Forum

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Do you visit online forums? Do you behave while you’re there? Do you know HOW to behave in a forum environment? Here are some tips to make your forum experience a much happier one for you… and the forum Moderation Team.

Read the rules You may have been on other forums and gotten around there smoothly but if you are joining a new community you have to read the rules. You may be doing something that every new member (who didn’t read the rules) does and in worst cases get banned. Read the rules and follow them.
No 1337-speak Posts that contains 1337-speak is not always easy to understand. 1337-speak is a very geekish way of writing. You try to replace every letter with numbers and symbols. For example, 1337 means leet, short for eleet -> elite. 1337-speak is even disallowed on some sites. Use proper English and spell check your typing. Do everything to look as engaged as possible. Do not ever use caps-lock for your messages. It makes you look dumb and you for sure will not receive valuable response.
Have manners The worst thing is people who join a site and request people to do everything for them. If the site has an introduction forum, introduce yourself to the community. If you have a problem, don’t ask people to do things for you, do what you can to figure out how to do it and in worst case, ask how to do what you want.
Try to help others When you have been in the community for a while, you might know more than the average user. Use your intelligence to help people. Tell them what they did wrong and tell them how to do what they want. Moderators can not help all users. Users are there to help and get help.
Search before posting Always search before posting about a matter. Every common forum system has a search system that allows you to search through every single post on the forum. Many things get answered several times because some users don’t search before they make their request. This will help the moderators so they can focus on other things, the site itself, so it doesn’t get filled with loads of the same stuff.

Our live community leader Kat also is an Administrator at a huge forums site. GeeksToGo is a free computer-help site, with over a million posts, and more than 200,000 members. She has more than four years’ worth of experience in being an Administrator at these types of forums, and wanted to add the following tips.

When posting for help on a computer help forum such as GeeksToGo, be specific. The Staff will have a much easier time helping you if they know off the bat what the problem is. If you don’t know what the exact problem is, give as many details as possible.

When you join any type of forums, ALWAYS actually take time to read the Terms of Use (Terms of Service). Every site is different, and some allow things that others don’t. By taking the time to read these prior to signing up, you’ll know exactly what the rules of that particular forum are. This can save you trouble in the future.

Don’t spam the forum with a hundred posts in your first day, just to make yourself “known”. You’ll be “known” all right… as a spammer, a pest, and someone to “keep an eye on”. Take time to look around the forums, and see how other people talk to each other. Watch posting style of long-time members and Staff/Mods. This way, you’ll be able to fit in much easier when you do begin posting!

All in all, being a member of an online forum of any kind can be fun, informational and addictive! Don’t burn yourself out by trying to do too much at once. Have fun, be yourself… and you’ll do just fine!

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MMORPG Etiquette

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A community member writes: “I have been a player of the MMO, Massive Multiplayer Online game, City of Heroes and the expansion, City of Villains since the original CoH came out in April of 2004. I have ran across plenty of newbies and general idiots over the course of almost four years. I hope these tips help people not to be such “noobs”.”

Don’t spam the announcement channels with chit-chat. It is annoying going into some game zones (game levels/maps) and seeing people spamming chit chat to the entire map. Not only does it get annoying, but if you are looking for a team to play with, it makes that a little harder if your announcement scroll off the the chat screen quickly.
Don’t pester people with team invitations. If you want to invite someone, do the polite thing and send them a private message with the /tell command. This allows you to see if they would like to join your team. If they are not interested, or they are doing something else, wish them luck. Sometimes, they wish you luck back. If you invite first, you may end up getting ignored.
Don’t pester people to Power Level you. If you have friends who are willing to power level you, then run with them. Do not go to the high level zones and expect some random high level character to help you get a lot of levels quickly. If you want to level somewhat quickly on City of Heroes/Villains, then run the Task Forces for heroes and the strike levels for villains. When you play these at the lowest available level, you tend to level up around two, three or even four levels in the span if the Task Force/Strike Force.
Don’t pester the people in the auction houses. Some people worked hard, in the game that is, to get what they are selling. Just because you need to get the one thing there that cost more than what you got, then work to get the extra bit in the game. If you have friends that play, ask them if they can let you have the amount you need. Just don’t pester them, or they will not be your friends for long.
Don’t pester someone asking if they have a TeamSpeak or a Vent server. Chances are, if you annoy them and they have one, you wont get invited to join. Also, once on a TS / Vent server, don’t annoy the people there. Don’t play music over the server, but make have your sounds levels good. You don’t want to be too quite or too loud. You may also want to make sure that the people are not hearing echos or game sounds effects from your side. It is also good to set your vent/ts client to have a P-t-t (Push to Talk) button configured. This way, game sounds wont activate the microphone, and it also wont allow your clients to constantly broadcast out.
Don’t pester someone to join a guild (super group/villain group in C O H/ C O V). If the guild is asking for people, then send a message to the person who is recruiting.

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I’m the same as you… I take my iPhone everywhere with me. I’m sure most of you have your phones and MP3 players in your cars with you, as well. We’ve all heard of the potential dangers of using these devices while driving. Here are some tips to help reduce your chance of problems.

Video Do not watch video!! If your eyes aren’t on the road then you are a danger. Save it for a cafe park or your living-room, although designed to be portable video players as well they were not designed to watched while driving.
Searching songs Searching for music while driving is as bad as watching videos, dont find yourself scrolling thru 1000’s of songs just to find the one you want to listen to at that time. If your drive time is 35-40 min I’m sure you can wait. This brings me to my next point.
Playlists Use playlists designed at home for certain moods, or make one of your favorite or top rated songs just for when you use the car. This can save you from skipping dozens of songs because you dont listen to them as often as those that would be in your playlist.
Preparation Have the device plugged in to the charger and audio input (device/cable) for your stereo, and have it secured in a place that is easily accessible while keeping you eyes on the road. A generic holder of some sort will usually do the trick and are inexpensive. Select your desired playlist before you start driving and if you really want to skip tracks try and do it at a stopped position like at the traffic lights. Also if possible try to have the backlight display set to constantly on, this will enable you to easily see any content at a glance rather than having to reach over each time to activate the screen.
Get help If you have a passenger ask them to change the music for you (Tough as it may be for those who dont like others controlling the music in their cars) If you have to focus on the road then its a better choice to get someone else to search music or skip songs. Note: if they really annoy you by constantly skipping tracks then you can always threaten to make them walk and follow tips 1 to 4.

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How to get Homework Done

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Recently, I did a video with tips on note taking during class. Here are some tips for getting your homework done, as well as some for getting good grades.

Tips for Getting Homework Done!

Make sure all of all of your materials are at home or with you, for example bring all of your books home to ensure that your work is done correctly. I also recommend that you keep a drawer, shoe box , or any organized space full of things that may be necessary to do your work. You may want to include pencils, rulers, calculators, colored pencils, paper, scissors, and even a stapler.
Don’t sit or lay on your bed for homework, as you may get ?to comfortable? to work or fall asleep. Your computer desk is another bad place to do homework because you could get distracted.
Do your homework right after school. I know as a student myself that some people have extra activities to get to before you even get home.
Take all the time you have to do your work in class. For instance, if you have a test that you might get done with early… take your stuff from the class you have homework in with you.(I absolutely don’t recommend doing your homework in the middle of class when your teacher is giving a lesson.) Also, use all of your study hall time to get it done. I have often found that I can get my homework done during study hall. This way, I don’t have to deal with it at home.
If you get home and realize you don’t understand something, go in to that class next morning before the start of school and ask for help. (I am not sure if this would work in high school or college but if not call a friend, and if you don’t have friends, sorry you are out of luck.)
Take occasional breaks! This will help to concentrate more as you do it.

Tips for Getting Good Grades!

Turn in all homework when it?s due. As you advance in your schooling, teachers will become more picky about this. It?s imperative to your grade that you turn in all your homework on time.
Ask if you don?t understand something. If you get home and realize you don?t understand the assignment try to get ahold of that teacher before the assignment is due and talk to them.
On open-ended or response questions don?t just say nothing if you know a lot about that topic already or don?t know anything about it. Put the answer to the question and then expand on it.
Save all papers. At the end of the semester there will be semester exams? these exams are usually cumulative meaning everything from the beginning of the year till present. Unless you are a genius, you probably won?t remember everything from that far back so save everything to review from. If you’re like me, you may have switched organization methods and such throughout the year and may not have all your notes in the same notebook. Always keep all your notebooks in your locker or wherever you keep your school things. This way, when exam time comes type up all of your notes this also may help refresh your memories of those topics.
Be nice to your teacher, He/She has a lot of stuff to deal with during the day. During class, don?t talk when he/she is talking and don?t be doing other things during class. When it comes to grading time, if you’re on the edge between someone who is between one grade or another if you’re nice, do your hw all the time, and are always on time and prepared for class the teacher will usually give you the higher grade.

Diary Software.

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Giveaway Night

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Just like every week, we recently gave away another web cam… courtesy of ustream.tv. We do this every week, and the requirements to be eligible are simple. What are you waiting for? Join us, and you could win something, too!

The requirements to be eligible for our weekly giveaways are simple. Here is what you need to do:

You must be present in the chat room at the time of the giveaway. We don’t announce it much ahead of time, so you pretty much need to be a regular visitor!
You need to be subscribed to my YouTube channel.
You had to have left a recent comment on any post in my blog.

That’s it! That’s the sum total of the requirements to be eligible. When a giveaway starts, all chatters in the channel lose chat ability. This is to help us be able to see only the winner talking, so we don’t miss out on their pertinent links. Then, our new automatic bot picker will choose a random name. That person has to give us their YouTube link, as well as the name they used to comment on the blog. We then verify the information… and have a winner!

After a couple of misfires, due to people not being at their computer, we finally have a winner! Congratulations to pyroza!!! Pyroza is a regular in our channel, which is great!

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iPod Software Update

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This video was recorded on January 15th, the day Apple announced that new iPod Touch’s software will have five new apps bundled with it, so long as you pay $20.00. I think this was wrong of Apple to do. I personally feel they slapped their community in the face with this. If this were a firmware update, I would be totally outraged at having to pay. But, this is a software update. I can see both sides of this issue. Here are some things for you to consider prior to making up your own mind.

iLife has always been bundled separately. You’d have to buy it off the shelf instead getting it off the shelf. This is the same thing with the iPod Touch. You can get the software already installed now, instead of having to purchase it separately.
You knew what apps came with the iPod Touch if you bought one. You hoped that Apple would release the new apps in the future. They may not be free, but you can now legally buy them, and install them on the iPod Touch.
You may spend $20 on these apps, but the people who don’t want or need them will save the $20. If you don’t want to spend the money, you don’t have to. The $20 is actually very cheap. Just the Maps application alone is worth at least $40.00. When looked at that way, this is a heck of a deal.

One of the Mods in our chat room is Justin. He sent in his top five reasons for buying the update.

For $20 dollars you can get access to tons of software that, before today, was exclusive to the iPhone. Software includes mail, weather, stocks, Google maps, and Notes.
The ability to reorganize the home screen of the iPod Touch. Now you can move items around in any order needed. There is also room for two additional home screens. Perhaps you share the iPod with a family member… now you can both have the home screen just how you like it.
The update allows users to display lyrics to their favorite songs. I have yet to figure out how to work this feature… but it sounds nifty in concept.
“Notepad”. I have always wanted a place where I could put a To Do list or something similar. Now I have such a place.
And my favorite reason of all… the mail application. Now I have easy access to Gmail (without having to load Safari). The mail application also allows for other mail servers such as AOL mail.

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Halo 3 Coupons

Newegg - Halo 3 only $53.99 (Posted on 1/28/08 and Expires on 12/31/09)
Buy.com - Halo 3 only $58.99 + Free Shipping (Posted on 1/28/08 and Expires on 12/31/09)
Best Buy - $22 off Halo 3 for Xbox 360, only $37.99 (Posted on 1/28/08 and Expires on 2/2/08)

Find More Coupons

My review of Halo 3:

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iPhone Copy and Paste?

Brendan Sheehan believes he’s figured out the “perfect” Copy & Paste solution for Apple to implement on the iPhone…

Firstly, I think the reason we haven’t seen a solution to this problem yet is that Apple is unsure which method to use so that “all” users can grasp it. And they really want to get it right first time. Seeing as they are developing a new kind of user-interface here that will no doubt extend well past the realms of the iPhone, I think they are nervous they would add a feature that wasn’t as good as the current mouse interface method for performing the same task. This UI is newer, so in theory it should be even easier to use. If it’s not then people may ask why.

I am 99% sure my solution here is a new one. I have looked into this, I have seen the proof of concept videos and read all the forums. It came to me in a eureka moment. And like all good ideas it’s brain-dead simple.

Here’s my thinking C: You know the magnifying loupe on the iPhone? Well to bring that up (as you know) you hold your finger down for about 1/2 a second at any point in a text box. Here’s the clever part… when you find the position where you want to start your Copy & Paste at you simply freeze, you hold that position (with loupe present) for about 1.5 seconds and the “navy” text selector within the loupe changes color to “green” (or any other color) right before your eyes. A subtle yet obvious clue that something is happening (i.e. hint hint iPhone user, you are now in select mode).

At this point all you have done is positioned the loupe and held it still for 1.5 seconds. So far so good.

Now, while your finger remains on the screen with the loupe present (as you would do with your mouse) you drag the text selector to the end of the piece of text you want, and you leave go.. and up pops all the clipboard options you’ll ever need; Copy, Cut, Paste, Delete etc. You choose an option and you’re done.

And when you want to Paste some copied text or a URL or something, you bring up the loupe and position it where you like, hold it for 1.5 seconds until the text selector turns green, and instead of dragging you just leave go and choose Paste from the pop up options.

A long email for a simple procedure I know. But it will be easier to do than to write about. That much is certain. And given that you will have to hold the loupe still for about 1.5 seconds, you can bet your bottom dollar you won’t ever enter select mode by accident.

I’m sure it’ll happen eventually… and maybe video recording, to boot.

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Mac Pro Memory: 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB RAM?

I asked how much I should get. Andru answered:

Figured, I’d drop you a piece of advice as far as the RAM goes in the new Penryn-based Mac Pros (which I have.) I saw you were talking about having 2, 8, 16, or 32 GB in there. However, you aren’t limited in that fashion… not sure why you think those are your only options. Your RAM needs to be installed in pairs, and you get up to 4 pairs. Those 4 pairs do NOT have to match each other. I have 3 pairs of 2GB modules and 1 pair of 1GB modules in there, totaling 10GB.

I got mine with 2GB, and had ordered 8GB separately. The RAM came after the computer did, and I was in hell for 3 days while waiting for that RAM to arrive. I keep an absolute minimum of 14 apps running at a time on this machine, including Safari which at this moment has 4 windows open with a total of 37 tabs between them.

Anyhow, don’t even consider 16 or 32 GB RAM, it will be a waste of money. OS X is amazing at managing memory. I added the 8GB into this machine, on top of the 2GB it came with. 10GB total, and with all my apps running (including Vista running in a Parallels VM with 2GB RAM dedicated to it) I have 3GB of RAM free, and my swap memory on my hard drive has not been touched at all, once.

So if you plan on running a VM, as well as a ton of other apps at the time time - like I do - you will only need more than 10GB if you plan on doing more than I do at the same time, which is pretty rare ;) If you absolutely want to have all your RAM slots filled, go for 12.

Just my two cents.

Well, his two cents may have saved me $2,000. Now, it’s just figuring out where to go for the Mac Pro RAM (and no, I’m not going to Apple for it)… and deciding how much I’m really going to get.

I’m really leaning towards 16GB for forwards compatibility, but wouldn’t 32GB give me bragging rights? :)

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Linux: It?s Not About Winning

That was the subject line of an email that Ben Wright just sent to me:

I have installed Linux on 2 out of three of my computers, not because it is the most compatible operating system, not because it’s the “best” operating system, well it is in my opinion but that’s beside the point. Freedom is why I use Linux, not because it is free. I use Linux because I believe in the freedom to learn, the freedom to do what I want with the software. Linux was made for programmers by programmers, the whole purpose of Linux is to provide a suitable development environment for developers. Windows is a dead end, the general user may not want to use Linux, but the internet is 90% Linux. You may not understand this but 90% of the servers are Linux.

Linux is not a miserable thing, Linux is learning if you get a windows master and a Linux master, the Linux master is much more capable of solving problems, he is generic he is flexible or she I might add. So I am a Linux user, so what do I do with it? Browse the internet, Write Files, etc. basically everything, INCLUDING my Game and Project development. Why! 90% + of gamers are windows people. But I believe in freedom, and I think I should have all my projects available on Linux because of choice.

Linux will never take over windows but that’s not its purpose, well actually it might but let me get to this point in a second. Linux is developed primarily for highly technical users, it has a steep learning curve as far as OS are concerned but I and most Linux users actually like this, we like to learn otherwise there would be no developers. I actually like a challenge, if something crashes on an operating system that I know is stable and I can actually see the SOURCE for it, I can then go and find the problem in a completely open environment and be thanked for fixing the bug, I don’t have to report it to some box in Washington to get lost in the mailing system I can fix it myself.

Now with Linux being attractive to over 30 million users, most of which are the high technical level of society, the Linux community will grow more people who like a challenge will take it upon themselves to fix the problems you think are there, these numbers millions strong will be able to overthrow Microsoft. 1 Million + people working on the Linux distros for free? How will Microsoft be able to compete and continue to compete with that. I imagine licensing will come saying, this project is under the GNU with the exception of the Microsoft corporation who may not use this product.

I dare you to use Linux as your major operating system for just 1 day. It’s not a problem with installation being simple, it’s a matter with installation giving you all the possible options, to a programmer this is great I can control everything so I love Linux I have 100% control over my system and (IMO) I have about 25% control over my Windows Vista PC. :D

What about you?

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Being the Perfect Techie

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Are you a local Computer Technician? Being in business for yourself in this area can be difficult… but it can also be very rewarding. Here are some excellent tips to help you be the best Techie you can be.

Always do your best possible and through job on the computers you repair. The quality of the job will speak to others on the quality of your workmanship and you should be striving for a high standard of repair completion.
Never under any circumstances take other peoples hardware. They paid for their hardware and no matter how much an “idiot” you may the customer is, they do not deserve to be screwed over by the people they trust to fix the PC they bought and the HARDWARE that CAME WITH the PC. Also never ever steal or use someone else’s cd-keys. Windows XP/Vista cd-keys are valuable commodities these days because of the crack-down on piracy. In the wrong hands, cd-key information will make a customers PC useless because the key itself was activated on a different machine. True OEM cd-keys are far less useful because they are tied into that particular manufacturer, more-so with Vista but this doesn’t mean the retail keys are worthless. This goes for other software as well, so just don’t steal software either.
Always ask the customer what he/she wants done with the computer. Do not exceed the requests of the customer, they did not ask you to do extras and you certainly wont be paid for it. Also if your “extras” screw up the OS in anyway you’ve just lost yourself a future customer and possible customer’s depending on the person whose PC you screwed up. Keep with standard Windows, no tweaks.
Never ever insult the intelligence of the customer and always be polite and honest with the customer. People can tell normally when your feeding them a line and its just not worth it when it comes to PC repair.
Reputation is everything. As a local tech, word of mouth is your friend. If you do a very bad job then the word will get out and you will never get a PC repair job in that area again. Make sure you take all precautions with all the systems you fix and make sure you ALWAYS do the best possible job you can when repairing PC’s. Then when the word gets out that you do a high-quality job then you will get more jobs because people trust word of mouth.

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How Can Software be Perfect?

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What do we need in order to have “perfect” software? What can companies do to achieve this lofty goal? Here are some excellent tips sent in by a community member. Software manufacturers… pay attention!

Software should never crash. I don’t care if I try loading a 10 GB file into Photoshop on a computer with 256 MB of RAM. Checks should be performed and resources balanced so that a run-away program doesn’t bring down the entire system. User input should also never crash a program. This isn’t unique to just Windows. I’ve had hard crashes on both Mac and Linux where hitting the power bottom on the tower was the only way to restart it.
Security should be built in and seamless. Grandma shouldn’t need a degree in Computer Science to keep from getting her identity stolen or her computer infected with malware. Virus-like behavior shouldn’t be possible. One reason Mac and Linux have such fewer viruses isn’t just because of their lower market share, but also because they are built securely and self-propagating programs are rare and are difficult to hide from the system. Firefox is another good example of software that integrates security by alerting the user if they are on a suspected phishing site.
Protect data at all costs. One horror story comes to mind where a user told me that they had downloaded a document from their webmail but selected “open” instead of “save” at the dialog. After confirming it was the correct document they went to work and subconsciously hit ctrl-s to save their work every so often but didn’t even think about where it was being saved to since they had only “opened” the document. They had kept this window open throughout the day and adding changes and then did a final ctrl-s and closed the window for the night. The next day they looked at their recent documents to see “file not found”. Opening the document put it in a temporary folder which was cleaned out when they rebooted their computer. This kind of thing shouldn’t happen. Operating systems should also keep backups and revisions of documents in case the user needs to go back to a previous draft. Leopard’s Time Machine is an example that comes to mind.
Online integration. There is a lot of buzz about this “Web 2.0″ (which doesn’t exist) and people thinking that all applications will be run inside a browser. I personally think that is silly. Google Docs & Spreadsheets will never replace Microsoft Office or any other full blown application that is installed to the system. Installed applications have the advantage of performance and being integrated into the OS more than a web application could ever hope to. However, I believe that client-side applications should become more integrated with online services (though not web applications themselves). Imagine OpenOffice, for example, integrated with Google Docs and being able to save data both to disk and online without needing to open up a web browser. My media player can download lyrics for music or provide a link to IMDB when watching a DVD.
Maintain a “just works” philosophy. I plug in my printer and it works. The user should never even have to hear the word “driver” or “install”. YouTube is an example that we now almost take for granted. Ten years ago I remember having to mess with Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, and Quicktime plugins with all the installing and rebooting just to play a video in my browser. Dozens of different formats and codecs. YouTube has simplified this process. I visit the site, hit “play” and it plays. If flash isn’t installed a quick “click here to install flash” and boom! It works.

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Protect Yourself from Getting Hacked

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Have you ever been hacked? Are you sure you haven’t been? I was once, through my own stupidity. It’s easy to have it happen to you. Fortunately, it’s honestly easy to keep from getting hacked, as well.

Do not give out your IP address. This is one of the most important things to remember if you don’t want to get hacked. If you give out your IP to someone you don’t know, they can see files on your computer that you might not want to be seen by other people. Also, they could crash your computer. Just remember: don’t give it out to ANYONE.
Don’t download any program if you don’t know what it is. If it says “free computer virus scan” and it looks fake… it probably is. The reason is that some people put key loggers in those programs so they can store everything you type. If you type in your email address and password, they can see that data and use it to get in to your email. Remember, if you don’t want to get hacked… don’t download anything that you don’t know what it is or what it does.
Secure your Wifi network if you have one. Today, most houses have Wifi, and probably about half of them are unsecured. I went driving around in my neighborhood and found 32 wifi networks. Only ten of them had a secure network. If you have an unsecured network, people who have access to your network can hack in to your computer. They could gain control over your computer if they know what they’re doing. Use a hard-to-guess password that contains a mixture of numbers and letters, and change it frequently.
Make sure you log off of any account you have on your computer before walking away. This applies to shared computers. If you have company over and you let them use your computer, they could gain access to your passwords or personal information if you don’t log out of them. Also, if you are on a shared computer, never take advantage of websites that offer “saved login information”.
Keep a secure password for everything you have. Make a password that is long and hard-to-guess. Even people you know could hack in to any account you have, such as your Paypal. If they have your Email and they know you real well they might have a chance on guessing your password.

I also wanted to point you towards the blog post Kat wrote recently with her take on staying safe from Hackers.

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