Category: Information Technology

To answer a requst via Twitter, here is the quick & dirty way to export photos. For this example, we’re putting the pictures on iDisk (MobileMe, if you will).

Open iPhoto, then “File”:

Then select “Export”:

I see a convergece of some troubling trends. First, device providers (such as Apple, Google and Microsoft) are creating devices that heavily utilize the net (smartphones, netbooks and such). On the opposite side we have the ISPs, not just the traditional hard-wire services (Comcast, Frontier, et al), but also wireless carriers (ATT, Verizon, etc). They currently need to throttle access. I see a train wreck coming as they’re moving opposite ways, but critically depend on each other. Somehow, the ISPs need to build out their infrastructure (based on the assumption that the throttling is based on lack of capacity, not on blind greed). It would be great if somehow the device creators, and content creators, could find ways to share revenue with the ISPs. Clearly, such would need to be done so that net neutrality is maintained, anti-trust is ensured and such. Basically, ISPs need to have the increased demand become income, not simply expense.

Hey folks, there’s a nasty Mac specific trojan running through the wild. It looks to be mostly transmitted by social engineering means. Particularly, with alarming “virus alert” messages from an infected website demanding you install MacProtector, MacSecurity, or MacDefendor.

If you have this beast, I recommend following the instructions posted in Apple’s forum.

There are a few discussions about this going on over the web right now. I came across this via Ed Bott’s pieces today over at ZDNet (#1 & #2). Bott’s replies to John Gruber’s “Wolf” post @ Daring Fireball has birthed some interesting discussion, including a clever rip by Walt Mosspuppet. In the end, it seems to be more of the old Mac vs. PC bickering that’s been going on for decades.

My concern, at this point, is that there are those who think that the Mac OS “superiority” towards virus and hack exploits makes them immune from concern. There ARE Mac viri out there. As a long-time Mac user who’s passionate about the platform, I think this attitude is not only bad but dangerous. We should remind people that they should be aware of the latest exploits out there and how to protect themselves. We can’t let ourselves get blinded by arrogance.

So, folks, don’t click on strange links, exercise caution surfing porn (if you must surf it at all), don’t trust alarmist pop-ups, and don’t give out your credit card number to a site that you don’t trust implicitly. To paraphrase a quip by Graham Hibbert (via Twitter), we need to make sure that, when the wolf comes, we are ready.

Now, go and practice safe computing!

My wife spent the end of last week and part of the weekend in a conference. Upon returning home we noticed the hotel had a $100 hold on our account. A quick call showed it as legit, and I have no problem with the action. However, what flummoxes me us that it will take several days to process. In today’s world, this is stunning. I can’t understand why any transaction is NOT closed out upon checkout. I can see waiting until housekeeping had cleared the room. There doesn’t appear to be any benefit to the hotel, either. No cash changes hands, so it’s not like they’re making interest on the held money. Seems simply to be a weak system process. One that makes the hotel look disorganized and non-service savvy. Of course, most folks probably wouldn’t watch their accounts like we do.

Finally reading up on Facebook’s campaign to smear Google. My first thought was how laughable it is for Facebook to defend this by stating “they’re concerned about Google’s privacy concerns” just makes my head spin. Let’s pretend that this is legitimate. Then it should be done in the open, acknowledging their own issues with managing privacy. Otherwise, you look childish and deceptive. In today’s media saturated space, losing consumer trust can be fatal (not that I think this will kill Facebook. It can be one proverbial nail-in-the-coffin, though).

My impression? This was an attempt at being hyper-competitive and has backfired. Facebook looks childish and grossly unprofessional. Burson-Marsteller (a whole ‘nother post) looks grossly unethical. A bad, bad choice that will add ammunition to the anti-Facebook crowd. There is a point which this energy can obtain critical mass. Facebook needs to work on building up the trust “bank account”, not continuing to draw it down. When it’s empty, the house of cards collapses.

So, Google is supposedly launching a $20 per month laptop (per Forbes). This will include hardware and software. What’s critical for the success of this is whether it’s “only” a web appliance or a fuller featured laptop. (ZDNet has a good discussion going on that.)

Personally, I expect it will have at least some offline capacity. Even in the Seattle area, expecting 24/7 web access is just not practical. And I’d like to think Google gets that. Without the ability to port to a coffee shop (yes, there are several without wifi…even around here), etc, the device’s usefulness for students is severely restricted. Heck, a simple power outage turns it into a paperweight brick.

Will such a thing have access to other Linux-like/Open Source apps, or be solely limited to Google apps? Will there be a GIMP, for instance? I would greatly miss a full featured image editor. Don’t know if that would be a deal-breaker, but…

I want to know how Google will deploy storage. Having a significant amount of the devices device’s storage cloud based would be unique, and allow work to be more portable. Especially across platforms. It would really need to be rather seamless, but that doesn’t look like a great challenge anymore. Perhaps that’s how a web device would be billed; you take your notes on the device and edit them on some other device.

Any of you going to run out and get one? Drop a note in the comments.

Received yet another ad for SSDs (solid-state hard-drives). I’d love to have the benefits: faster boot times, less heat/more battery, longer life. As cool as a solid state drive is, I’m not sure I can justify the costs. Or, to bring the costs in line, lower my used disk space. As I think, though, I can see something of a work-around. Go with the smallest SSD I can justify, but then use the cloud, or an external hard-drive, or both for the bulk of my information storage. Also, bodes the question of “why do I save so much data?”

I do save nearly everything. That goes way back, though. Every so often, I purge my 4 drawer file cabinet. Yet I have years worth of receipts, various miscellaneous files. My data hoarding goes back to hard-copy days. And, perhaps, it’s time for that to end.

I think of the times that that one, random file, saved has been either helpful, or has saved my butt. Producing that email saying “I want you to do ‘x'” was perfect when a manager was yelling at me (during a meeting) about why I had done ‘x’. A few times, yet meaningful. Perhaps the positive response to this reinforced a pack-rat mentality, or the fear that this one document will be the one that saves me. Hmm…fear…an issue in-and-of itself.

More reflection is needed for me to know if this is need for data space, and fear-driven, or simply “I don’t have the cash for buying un-needed technology right now”. Perhaps someday I’ll flesh this out further. Perhaps. Someday.

After several attempts to over-generalize my key-fobs functionality (front door >2x, mailbox, store-front, kitchen lights), I started wondering how awesome life would be with remote control of every major appliance. Kitchen lights reflecting on my computer screen? Click! Hands full and trying to get in the house? Click! Mailbox? Yep, Click! Oh, wouldn’t life be so much easier?

Well, no. Imagine the way such could be executed. Either multiple fobs for each action. I’m imagining an electronic age version of the jailers key ring. Or walking with a universal remote that’s more like an iPad. Not very practical after all.

Wait! How about an implant wired to your nervous system? We’re not quite there yet, but we can see the proverbial light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel for this (though faintly). Imagine that world. Need the lights on? Just think it. Etc, etc, etc. But, besides the risk of infection, what other issues would this bring? First, the Revelation/bible based “mark” that would get a significant part of our population in a tizzy. Regardless, I’m unlikely to elect this “service”, if ever offered. Mainly for security. Think how insecure data is right now. And we’re going to let this technology access our minds? Not mine!

Are you going to be at the front of the line to get your mind hard-wired to the net? Going to trade everything in for guns and a cabin in the high woods and wait for Skynet to come online? Or somewhere in between?

Random thoughts on a Sunny Saturday.

One of my Facebook chums just got her first smartphone (an Android for those keeping score at home). Thus, she was looking for some suggestions to get the best use of the thing. Which got me thinking; and that’s a dangerous thing. I gave her some pointers, but kept it brief out of respect for her Wall. But, since this is my blog and I can do whatever-the-heck-I-want, I’m going to elaborate.

Smartphones have been a key part of my life for years. It was a small conversion at the time, as I had Palm & HP handhelds before. Shifting from two small devices to one was wondrous. Geekous maximus. In the smartphone realm, my first was a Treo, then to Blackberries (when Treos finally annoyed me enough). Then I got a iPhone, followed with a brief foray into Windows (both a WinMo 6.1 & the WP7). So, I think I know how to use the devices efficiently.

Anyway, here are the basics of how I use mine. Some things I’ve used for years, some are only germane now with post iPhone smartphones.

This has been a simple stream-of-consciousness list. Hardly all-inclusive. Have anything you want to add? Drop a note in the comments. I’d love to hear it.