Category: Information Technology

I have an Associate in Technical Arts in Web Application Development degree, as well as certificates in:

  • Business Systems Analysis
  • Requirements Analysis
  • Database Theory and Design
  • Cisco Networking
  • And I’m one class away from a Desktop Support Certificate

I have a deep knowledge of technical systems and have solved a variety of problems.

Apple music and upgrading to Yosemite

Carl Setzer

Ever since the Apple Music announcement, I’ve been eager to try it this new service. As I have a lot of Apple content, this looked like a solid win for me. And then there’s the family plan. $15/mo all we can eat streaming? Perfect!

Well, I need to update my MacBook to Yosemite for the family bit. That did not go according to plan. After sitting, stalled, at 50% complete for over 24 hours, I was worried. But a brief perusal of the internet, I was confident that a reboot would solve it. With a reasonable chance it would fry everything and I’d need to reinstall everything from the OS up. Fortunately, the reboot worked and I’m up and running.

Now I just need to figure out why icloud is not accepting my password. Always something..

Zorpia Blues

Carl Setzer

I’m seeing a bunch of emails from friends and colleagues from Zorpia. It ostensibly seems to be a social networking, but clearly is a phishing scheme. They will look like invites from a friend. Do Not Open The Messages From Them!

Here’s a blog post that sums up the joy.

Along with this, always double check with the assumed sender before you click on these sorts of things. And, even if they say “yeah, it’s a great site”, spend a little time with Google to verify. It’s really hard to undo this sort of damage.

Changes For Google Calendar & SMS Notifications

Carl Setzer

My first thought upon reading that Google will be discontinuing SMS calendar notifications was “wow, do people still use this feature?” Well, I’m sure some do. But I haven’t used this feature in years. I have a few calendar elements that send me texts, ones that have been in my calendar for ages. Though I’d forgotten about this feature, it was powerful at one time. At one point, this was an amazingly powerful tool, allowing me to get calendar notifications while away from my computer.  It was great to get a note a few minutes before my meeting with the details. I loved focusing in on whatever I was doing and not worrying about transitioning/leaving for my next meeting.

Anyway, this announcement and (non?) event punctuates an evolutionary element of tech: the move to smartphones and mobile.

Important Announcement about SMS notifications in Google CalendarStarting on June 27th, 2015, SMS notifications from Google Calendar will no longer be sent. SMS notifications launched before smartphones were available. Now, in a world with smartphones and notifications, you can get richer, more reliable experience on your mobile device, even offline.

To receive notifications on your smartphone, either configure the calendar app that came with your device or install Google Calendar for Android or iPhone. For more information on how to configure notification defaults, check out the Help Center.

Please note: Please note: This change will not affect Google Drive for Work, Google Apps for Work (paid edition), Education and Government customers.

– The Google Calendar Team

A Few Of My Favorite Gmail Tricks

Carl Setzer

One of my morning tasks: sorting email. Yeah, the same as zillions of other earthlings. My team are Gmail users, so here’s a quick trick I use to speed up my morning. Plug the following into the search bar: in:inbox has:nouserlabels.

This pulls up everything that’s not been labeled yet. I use labels to help prioritize. Plus, one everything is labeled, it’s easy to pull up the whole thread and then archive the redundant messages. I prefer getting all the responses together in one email. Trying to minimize data scatter.  Another one I use: in:inbox is:unread. Pulls up all your unread messages. Of secondary value to the first, though.

I check my spam folder >= daily, but I don’t scroll down to the spam tag. In the same box, just type “in:spam”, and it pops up fast.

Thoughts on Chrome, Firefox and Open Platforms

Carl Setzer

I’ve noticed over the past few days that Chrome became boggy and SLOOOOW. There are things I love about Chrome, but it’s propensity to hogging resources and, thus, degrading my machine’s performance have long bugged me. Being deeply enmeshed within the Google ecosystem might play a big part in that. But, the more I think about things, the more I’m concerned about my personal trend towards the Chrome/Google system.

I highly value the Open Source community and what they bring to the table. Even though I’ve worked for several large corporations, I really appreciate all that this community brings to the world. It’s more than simply free software, but also open standards. To me, it’s critical that corporations cannot lock out access to our data. So, utilizing open standards is critical.

With that, though, I look at tools such as Gimp, Open Office, and Scibus and see so much potential. For, say, image editing, wouldn’t it prove better to the world that the default image system wasn’t Photoshop, or desktop publishing InDesign? Dependence on one company causes me great concern. I really want to start pushing towards the adoption of open standards as the default for most industries. I don’t mean to disparage Adobe, Microsoft, or any one else. It should just scare the crap out of us to have only one real player in an industry.

So, going forward, I shall find open alternatives for my work (see the links above to start with). First, today, FireFox for browsing. I know this will also improve my system performance. And will I really notice any of the missing features. Heck, other than drag & drop attachments from Gmail to Windows Explorer, is there anything that is in Chrome but not available in Firefox? I’m not too concerned.

Growing Healthier

Carl Setzer

A few years ago, my weight crept past 220 lbs. With clothes tight, belts tighter to the point of needing replacement, I felt fear. In my mid-40s, all the diseases associated with obesity stared me coldly in the eye. Even more frightening, I noticed a few people, slightly older than me, with major mobility issues. All that lead to a call to get healthy.

Now I didn’t race for the nearest cross-fit course. I just added back some things I love: cycling and walking, also attacking some dietary “low hanging fruit” (limit soda, cut back on sweets, smaller portions) and ten pounds dropped quickly. But each additional drop presents challenges. So I adopted several smartphone tools, the main one now being MyFitnessPal. And I keep looking for better tools.

About 6 months back, I noticed my wife’s Fitbit laying unused and asked to try it out. I hated the thing! It displayed, in great detail, my sedentary life. So, I parked the thing. Then, around New Year’s, my fallow account got friends connecting to me. Funny, that motivated me to find the Fitbit and relaunch the tool. Now, though, the lack of activity challenges me to grow forward. I’ve been trying to add more activity to my life, deliberately so. Small steps, small steps; pun completely intended.

Last night I noticed the nutrition tab in MyFitnessPal and was, again, horrified. Too much fat and carbs, too little of myriad key nutrients. For sometime I’ve thought about building a menu about achieving great nutrition. Well, time to up that. So, a brand new life project. Got ideas, suggestions, etc, let me know.

Java, Lenovo, Crapware and my Annoyance

Carl Setzer

I wrote about Java’s sneaky install of the Ask.com crap before, but this has come up again for me. So, let me go on a little bit more. When installing Java, or Java updates, make sure you uncheck the “Search App by Ask”. Watch for this screen here:

Fortunately, the fix for this is pretty straightforward: go to Control Panel, Remove Programs and then remove it.

I love Java, and Oracle, but this just annoys the heck out of me. This puts them in the same doghouse that Lenovo resides in right now. I find it annoying enough for them to embed this adware at the root level, but then to try and minimize the security risk involved just angers me. I’ve had great success with Lenovo machines and like to recommend them. This, though, greatly impacts that trust.

In case you have one of the possibly infected machines, here are some tools for you:

More Tech Thoughts From The Sky

Carl Setzer

I’m sitting on a plane now returning to Seattle after the better part of a week away. With my trusty tablet, though, I’m pretty fully connected. My laptop is at my feet, sleeping peacefully. My phone is charging. And I’m fully in touch with the world. Well, save for the slow wifi and the fact I lost my stylus. The wifi should be excused as it looks like nearly everyone is online in some way, shape or form.

But we’re never satisfied, are we? Always want more, more speed, more power, and that’s what drives innovation and competition. The possibility to out innovate the established player drives us further.

Still, I’m struck by what I can do, right now. It didn’t seem so long ago that it was novel to just use a laptop in flight, without any connectivity. Really, if we think about it, it’s amazing.

Someone will make internet even faster, and other new glorious opportunities will arise. My biggest hope, though, is that we shorten security lines and shorten flight times. Oh, to dream!

More Tech Thoughts From The Sky

Carl Setzer

I’m sitting on a plane now returning to Seattle after the better part of a week away. With my trusty tablet, though, I’m pretty fully connected. My laptop is at my feet, sleeping peacefully. My phone is charging. And I’m fully in touch with the world. Well, save for the slow wifi and the fact I lost my stylus. The wifi should be excused as it looks like nearly everyone is online in some way, shape or form.

But we’re never satisfied, are we? Always want more, more speed, more power, and that’s what drives innovation and competition. The possibility to out innovate the established player drives us further.

Still, I’m struck by what I can do, right now. It didn’t seem so long ago that it was novel to just use a laptop in flight, without any connectivity. Really, if we think about it, it’s amazing.

Someone will make internet even faster, and other new glorious opportunities will arise. My biggest hope, though, is that we shorten security lines and shorten flight times. Oh, to dream!