April 22, 2008 by phillip.

I was recently watching TV and there was a Mac vs. PC commercial on. The commercial was a therapy session where the therapist was telling PC that it “Wasn’t his fault.” Mac explained that due to the fact the Windows tries to make itself available  to so many types of hardware and Mac only makes it’s computers from specific hardware that Mac approves that Windows can’t help but have problems. This has long been Mac’s policy but it really made me think about that concept that I want to explore a little bit more. I call it “Communist design.”

I refer to it as communist design because it reminds me of the Russian automobile industry of the 80’s.  During the cold war communist Russia only allowed their people certain choices. The government decided what it thought you needed and gave you choices in colors of basically black or white. Now, granted, if Apple was the government of cold war Russia then they would still have less choices but have been really stylish ones.

The good part about this is that Apple really knows their hardware like the back of their hand before they build anything on that platform. It allows them to integrate all the parts together well without worry of a quirk (for the most part). This is a good idea in one way of thinking but has its flaws to me. First, what I like about it is that Apple has it’s people focused in order to knock out a problem.

The problem with this concept is that part that troubles me the most. Totalitarian decision making. Steve Jobs need only have a beef with one company, say Nvidia, and decide not to use any of their cards. This really stops the user from having all the choices he wants. This is one of the problems with Linux on the desktop but only for a short while as the drivers are soon developed as the product becomes more mature. This also hurts Apple for the discerning user due to the fact that Macs are always more expensive than their counterparts.

Apple I’ve got your solution so give me the credit (and a check). Put more eyes on the problem because they’d love to help. The way you do this is by contributing to the BSD and Linux effort to your benefit (as well as theirs). Stick to the design that makes you so famous. People love the look and feel of a Mac. However, throw your hardware guys into the open source driver development arena. They get and give with their code. This allows Macs to be able to take on more devices internally and Unix variants to do the same. Why do this? Even if Mac doesn’t like Linux their core is developed by using the Mach kernel that comes from BSD (Linux’s cousin). Helping your cousin ends up helping you at the same time it hurts your enemy (Windows).

Posted in My humble opinion, Mac | 1 Comment »

April 18, 2008 by phillip.

As an agent of change I continually invite you to look at what you’re doing everyday and say, “Maybe there a better and cheaper way.” I continually look at my everyday processes and think that. Well, today I’m going to address my changes with concern to my addiction to instant messaging.

  When it comes to me sitting down doing mindless work I never want to be alone. Therefore, I sit down at a computer and fire up an instant messenger client. Here’s where I’m inconsistent. If I’m at a Linux machine I use Pidgin (it’s time to stop saying it but… “formerly called Gaim”). On a Windows machine I use Trillian. On a Mac I use Adium. Also, even though it’s known mostly for internet telephony I use Skype for those very few people that stay on Skype at work. Just for good measure I’ve added a new one to the flock. If I’m at a computer that isn’t mine I use Meebo.com to log into all my accounts.

I’ve been using Trillian for the longest and I’m finally going to have to end my many years with the program. It’s not that it did anything bad but it didn’t do anything really good. Pidgin however is open source and it’s great. It works on Windows and Linux/Unix/BSD (Amiga too reportedly). Since it is open source I’m looking forward to a OS X port soon but for now on that front I have to stick to Adium.

Here’s where the better comes in. Pidgin seems to be able to connect to every protocol imaginable. It does: AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Google Talk, Jabber, ICQ, Groupwise and believe it or not even Skype (with an easy to install plugin). Think that’s it? No. That’s only half the list that I know of. That’s the cool part of it.

Get addicted to Instant messaging again at home and in the office. Trust me, it’s a lot more productive than talking to people on the phone too. You can work and still keep in contact with all your friends. Let me warn you though, if you decide to use it from work you may decide to use the built in encryption or Off the record plugin (which also does make one for Trillian).

Posted in Mac, Windows, Linux, Software | 1 Comment »

March 27, 2008 by phillip.

I’ve just got to say, I really like the Macitosh Freeware program Chicken of the VNC. I recently had a little screen problem with my Dell laptop so, since I have CVNC on my wife’s laptops (in case they’re the closest computers to me). At my house I’ve got to have some kind of computing device within arms reach except if I’m in the shower (sounds like a hack I’m going to do doesn’t it).

Here’s the catch. Fullscreen mode. I went into fullscreen mode and was stuck! When you go into fullscreen mode there’s no logical way to get out. Just in case this happens to you, I’ve figured it out (and even posted it to a couple other blogs that talk about the problem).

Type in the key combination: [ctrl] + [alt/option] + [Apple] + [shift] + [`]

the twist is that sometimes taking out the [shift] works too so if one doesn’t work try the other.

Works like a charm. I still hate one thing about Macs though. The single button on the mouse. It really annoys me when I’m connecting to EVERY other operating system in the world from a Mac and have to improvise.

Posted in Mac | 1 Comment »

February 26, 2008 by phillip.

This has to be one of the coolest tech toys (everything’s a toy for me). It’s a USB hub that’s actually wireless. Now I don’t know how this got past me because I remember hearing more than a year ago that these were coming. Just didn’t know they’d been out.

Now the new “coolest of the cool” award goes to Belkin’s Network USB. How it works is really cool, you put up to 5 devices on this hub and any user on the network can request use of a device from another computer using it. The only problem here is that it isn’t cross platform. It’s only for Windows right now but Mac software is coming. Hopefully, Linux is as well.

Posted in Windows | No Comments »

February 7, 2008 by phillip.

Come one come all!

If for any reason you should find yourself in the Los Angeles please feel free to come to the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE). It will be going on from February 8th-10th, 2008 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel (just blocks from LAX).

I’ve been helping out there since it’s creation 6 years ago and I can’t that if you’re into Linux and open source you’ll enjoy yourself. I could tell you all about it but I’m sure I’d miss something. Instead, go to this link and the official website will tell you everything.

Posted in Linux, Announcements | 1 Comment »

February 1, 2008 by phillip.

As of late I guess I may seem quite opinionated but I have found that I never find bugs or have to many features I really want that don’t come soon or aren’t thought of and just not apparent. I never have to file bug reports. I finally put in some feature requests.

I was just online and looked a a program called GOM Player that looks good however, I love my VLC. Then I find out that it’s only on Windows. I went to their forums to request a feature and found that they are already in the process of a Linux version but no Mac version. Since I really love my VLC I went to them to request the only real feature I liked in GOM which is Flash playback. It’s already in one of the nightly builds just needs more tuning. Thanks VLC. Just for the sake of it I told GOM that all the way cross platform is a good idea since I like all my clients and family sticking to the same interface.

However, it had me thinking. How do other people search through the bug report lists for programs and find so many that they need to request. I think I’m not critcal enough.

Posted in Mac, Windows, Linux, Software | No Comments »

January 28, 2008 by phillip.

My dad is an old school electrical engineer. He worked on so many big aerospace projects and spacecraft when I was a kid that it was crazy. One thing he taught me is from a story he once told me. He said there are some thing that you learn in class that people don’t take very seriously. For example, I always had to know how to do the same things on paper as with a calculator. One particular situation that made him a star was when he was working on a satellite and their equipment failed. The rest of the engineers in his group just left and/or scrambled for another place to do their work.

My dad said that he stayed right there and worked it all out by himself. He relied on knowing the guts of how this stuff worked and having pen and paper. I took this seriously. I have found that this pays off in a couple ways. When I was building my office and when I’ve done construction on my house or someone else’s (something I love to do now) I needed geometry. Most kids now days learn enough about it to pass the class in high school and never look back. The postulates and theorems of geometry helped me when I lacked a tool or equipment.

This being said, the way I figure it, don’t call yourself a real administrator until you know how to go to the command line and wreak havoc in no matter what operating system you use. I appreciate the Mac for it’s user friendliness. However, I used to stay away from OS 9 and before because it’s lack of depth. Yes it was easy to do menial tasks but I wouldn’t advise a network rely on it or especially an enterprise.

I welcomed OS X to the modern world of technology with open arms. Up until it’s release I was a rare user of the operating system because I tried but didn’t really get that deep into Appletalk. OS X’s Mach kernel brought serious Unix thinking to a pretty interface.

So, you own a Mac? Let’s get you some street cred. You want to hang with the Linux, Windows, and Unix network admins and not be the red headed step child? This is what you do. First start with network troubleshooting from the terminal. Create scenarios for yourself to solve. My usual problem to solve is why I don’t have access to the internet from a machine that I know should have a live connection plugged in… The networksetup and serversetup commands are key and new to even hardcore Unix/Linux admins. I still use “ifconfig” out of unix habit though.

Here’s a couple of useful links that can help you. The first is this pdf file that is a “Mac OS X Server from the command line” file.

Next: “Top 15 terminal commands for hidden Mac OS X settings.”

Then for the Unix/Linux guys. Here are some command line programs that are specific to the Mac. “Unique Darwin commands.” Also, check out this blog: http://patgmac.blogspot.com/

Mac guys/gals. show your true geekness. Flip up a terminal window in front of you networking friends and even impress the Cisco guys.

Posted in Mac | 1 Comment »

January 25, 2008 by phillip.

Yet another company has bought an open source company. Sun bought MySQL AB. Now if you’re up on your open source history you’ll also know that Sun started StarOffice that broke off into the open source OpenOffice. So, Sun’s no stranger to open source.

The first feeling of disgust that will probably first hit your gut is that, “Hey it’s free software. Sun is going to take it and try to monetize it.” Well, I’m sure you’ve probably calmed down by now and realized that it really is a company and they’re not a non-profit (The story here is a link to a blog post on how much is an open source company worth).

So, aside from all that… Here’s my thought. In a constant effort to best Microsoft I see a real opportunity that the corporate world can use from open source. The one thing: Microsoft Access and SQL Server now can be done with OpenOffice Base and MySQL server.

Access was one of the killer apps that make it difficult to leave the windows world totally. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Microsoft hater but I do want to go to a pure Linux desktop especially in the enterprise. Say what you like but Access is a great low end database platform. It also keeps people tied into .Net, ADO, and Visual Basic. It seems that nobody even notices this primary organ in the commercial platform body.

Here’s what I think Sun should go for. Tightly integrate Base and MySQL then roll in a report writing software or just acquire a company doing that. Don’t worry, I’ve done the work for them. They should also buy or ally themselves with Jaspersoft or Datavision. The reason being, Crystal Reports. The unknown key to the empire.

If you’ve never heard of Crystal Reports then you don’t really work in a corporate setting. The majority of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Contact management software for the enterprise are printed through a seperate licensed product called Crystal Reports. Some times you could be offered the ability to buy it yourself and integrate it into the product through pre-configured links that replace the products’ bare-bones reporting software. Business Objects owns Crystal Reports and has developed a Linux server version of the software that develops reports with a watered down web based interface. SAP is the leader in ERP software and they bought Business Objects in order to own Crystal Reports which is a similar chess move. This way they stave off Oracle. In turn Oracle bought Seibel and Sleepycat software to threaten SAP and MySQL respectively.

Sun’s challenge is as follows: Make Base and MySQL drop in replacements of Access and SQL Server. Throw in reporting software and you’ve given yourself the ability to sneak into corporate environments everywhere. Digging into Microsoft and Oracle’s pockets and padding their own.

This is where Sun makes it’s money. Nobody’s buying Sun servers or Solaris (Let’s be real with ourselves). So, they sell companies on the workstations with Java on them (seeing as how both report writers run on Java as well as Windows, Linux, and Mac). Bingo! You have hardware sold, you get your foot in the server room door, and you have a drop in replacement giving companies open source with a commercial aftertaste.

Sun I don’t mind getting a little server for this grand idea and you can say it was your idea.

Posted in Linux, Software | 1 Comment »

December 3, 2007 by phillip.

If anyone has been following the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) drama it really makes you think about perception.  Perception has always and will always be the key to marketing any company.  I’m finding that the newest drama is the competition from Intel and Microsoft over needy children.  The OLPC is supposed to bet the “$100 laptop.”  It is supposed to be a cheap way to get computers to deprived countries and children.  Their plan is to also offer it to the everyday person and when they buy it they a PC gets donated to a developing country.  A very altruistic goal to say the least.

Here’s where the sharks enter the pool because they realize there are a lot of guppies.  Microsoft starts talking about building a “Classmate PC.”

The real problem in Microsoft’s view is the fact that the OLPC runs Linux.  Microsoft couldn’t fear the growth of Linux more.  I’m sure that a million Microsoft zealots would love to debate that point but nothing helps Linux more than the idea of community behind it. It’s dripping wet with the altruistic mentality.  Linux taking over the server market slowly is almost acceptable but the desktop?  They already have enough competition from Mac on the desktop. Vista’s huge failure with anyone that knows better is fueling Mac and Linux.

Microsoft is no dummy though.  What do they do?  Jump on the bandwagon of “Let’s help the children.”  It gives Microsoft zealots a flag to wave.  It gives Microsoft the illusion of caring more about the people.  It also,  a good way to get the best marketing their is: Free marketing from the news.

History tends to repeat itself.  Right now we are heading for a 70’s movement developing hippies and flower children out of business men. Everybody wants to go “Green” now.  Automobile makers are thinking about how to save the planet through alternative fuels in the same way.  Big business wants to jump on board quick.

Don’t be fooled people.  For the same reason electric cars were always the ugliest cars Microsoft isn’t truly jumping into the classmate PC.  To care more about community would make them open the source code to some of their products.  It couldn’t hurt much.  They own most of the market.  Here’s an idea for them. Open the source code to something very off-beat like Visio.  It’s not a product that really effects the bottom line too much but it really makes it look like a serious effort. The average person doesn’t use it but after it’s free and open more people may want to outside of the networking community.

Trust me, I understand all sides.  I don’t mind Microsoft making it’s money.  That’s what America is all about.  However, altruism, community, and green living should be what humans are all about and that’s what open source and Linux are.  My mother was an art teacher so I grew up art and the joys of it so I understand how Apple thinks: Design and user experience are the joys of computing.  I get it.  However, if you’re going to pretend like you care… Please!  Really care.

Posted in Mac, Windows, Linux | 1 Comment »

November 28, 2007 by phillip.

Being a computer guy I’m often asked by people to look at their computer and tell them what’s wrong or can I help them figure something out. For that reason, I’m doing this post on some real tech tricks to make you look like a star. All that from a USB drive.

The first thing you have to realize is that being prepared for anything is always your goal. I’m never unarmed. There are a couple things that are always on my person like most men: wallet, keys, watch, cell phone, and most times my PDA (an HP IPAQ) . Turning any of these items into multipurpose tools makes you ready for anything. Women can of course get more mileage out of this because they carry a purse. Now, for the really techy, I will continue with a blog post on the ultimate home support system because there are a lot of times I connect to my systems at home from a client’s site. I put a USB stick on my keyring that has a ton of goodies as well as my IPAQ. Today we’ll focus on the USB stick.

For the quick and easy route I’d suggest a simple USB stick (doesn’t have to be U3) but you want it to 1 gig or bigger. This will work on a drive as small as 128mb but I always like to keep extra space on the drive in case I need to copy a lot of files over to it for backup purposes. The last thing you want to do with a machine that is on it’s last leg is turn it off and hope it comes back on.

For a long time now I’d been downloading applications individually and copying them to the drive. You’re still going to install some extra ones to the drive but first download this handy set of tools: PCRepairsystem.zip . It’s a fabulous set of tools from the site Daily Cup of Tech. It’s a zip file that you just download and extract to your USB drive. Pull out your drive and stick it back in and you’re done! Well, almost done. When you put it in it puts a little coffee bean next to your computer’s clock on the task bar. Right clicking on that clock brings up a list of programs that do everything from drive repair to rootkit revealers to CD burning. These will serve you well. Get to know what each program does and you have most everything you need.

Next make a visit to www.portableapps.com. This site is full of applications that you may already be using all the time except these are made to run straight from a USB drive. Believe me, having access to a computer and not having administrative rights can totally shut you down because you can’t just download and install the applications you wanted until this.

Take a look around and get what you like. These are some of the ones that I put on my stick and the reasons why.

Firefox: Always want a fully capable web browser.
Clamwin: To be able to walk up and scan a computer for virus’ is absolutely essential.
WinSCP: If you have access to another machine with a secure connection you can FTP or SSH to and from it. Openoffice: A full Microsoft Office competitor on a USB stick? You can’t beat that.
VLC: Will view any video or play any audio.
Gimp: A Photoshop like program. You may need to resize or edit photos or something for someone.

Now with all of these you have to save the file to your desktop then install them and give your USB drive letter in the install path. For example, where it says “Install path: \openoffice” put H: (or whatever your drive’s letter is) in front to make it H:\openoffice.

In closing, I’d suggest you open every program you put on your USB drive before leaving home. The last thing you want to do is be surprised while you’re on location. A good example of this is that the first time you run Clamwin it wants to download the virus database. Assuming you’re at a site with dialup or no internet on the machine you’ve just wasted a ton of time or won’t even be able to fix the problem.

Also, the program SIW on the PCRepairkit should be your first stop when looking at a system. It will tell you everything about the machine. Save this to your USB stick. Should anything happen to the computer you know what it had before.

That’s it! Go out there and make the world a better place with safe computing.

Oh, and just for your convenience, keep some music, podcasts, or things to read on your USB stick. You might get stuck somewhere for a long time. No need to be bored while a virus scan or drive repair runs.  I also put my resume on the drive.  As a consultant you have this time as a window of opportunity if someone really likes you and may have a big project coming up.

Posted in Windows, Only for the techy people, Software | 1 Comment »