Class Action Lawsuit: Microsoft steals CPU cycles, slows users PC without permission

A desktop search engine that I didn't ask for and don't want!!!!

More to follow when I can get my anger under control.

Having Seth both Godin ways

Seth Godin: I know you are enamored with those little contradictions in life and advertising... but I really think you missed the "ice-cream-for-the-freezer" on this one... give it another look.

Ubuntu and the Wall Street Journal

Ubuntu is still a little "rough"... according to the WSJ.

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

This column is written for mainstream, nontechie users of digital technology. These folks aren't necessarily novices, and they aren't afraid of computers. They also aren't stupid. They simply want their digital products to operate as promised, with as little maintenance and hassle as possible.

So, I have steered away from recommending Linux, the free computer operating system that is the darling of many techies and IT managers, and a challenger to Microsoft's dominant Windows and Apple's resurgent Macintosh operating system, OS X. Linux, which runs on the same hardware as Windows, has always required much more technical expertise and a yen for tinkering than average users possess.
...

I've been testing one of those Dell Ubuntu computers, a laptop called the Inspiron 1420N. I evaluated it strictly from the point of view of an average user, someone who wouldn't want to enter text commands, hunt the Web for drivers and enabling software, or learn a whole new user interface. I focused on Ubuntu and the software programs that come bundled with it, not on the hardware, which is a pretty typical Dell laptop.

My verdict: Even in the relatively slick Ubuntu variation, Linux is still too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users.
...

Emphasis mine...

If an individual had grown up with something other than Windows would they still be able to consider themselves "average"? I suggest that if an individual had made an equivalent investment in Linux their expectations would be considerably different than if he/she started with Windows today. (If a person grew up speaking English all of their life how would the feel about being thrust into Chinese?)

We have all 'grown up' dealing with the vagaries of Windows. We survived the years and years of BSODs. We still have to accept 'crashes' as a fact of life. AND we still have to accept BigBrother Bill&Steve telling us what is right/good for us. Excuse me but exactly what is the Windows promise? To me this smacks of 'better the devil you know'. I have news: The Devil is still the Devil.

I am an "average" Linux user. I started with Linux in 1997-98. My work with Ubuntu, though it is not my favorite distro, clearly indicates that it is very smooth. So a much superior Operating System (OS) coupled with an excellent Graphical User Interface (GUI) makes Linux the hands-down winner in my book.

The AWM paradigm

I have previously posted about AWM (which is not to be confused with Ardent Window Manager). Alpt-wm is the ultra simple, ultra small and BLAZINGLY FAST window manager...

http://freaknet.org/alpt/src/alpt-wm
svn co http://dev.hinezumi.org/svnroot/alpt-wm


alpt-wm - dynamic window manager
================================
This is my custom, window manager. It's small, functional and fast.
It is based on dwm ( http://www.suckless.org/wiki/dwm ) and it is just ~1800 lines of code.

...with absolutely NO bells and whistles. So what could be so good about something sooooo small?

Anyone remember screen ? It is the gift to console multitaskers ,particularly when ssh-ed into another system. AWM is to xwindows as screen is to the console. I am tempted to show a couple of screen captures but they would just take up bandwidth.

The Matrix revisited...

AWM allows the user to create a matrix of virtual desktops. X1, Y1 is the first. X1, Y2 is to the right of X1, Y1. X2, Y1 is above X1, Y1 and so on. Ctrl-Alt-RightArrow moves from 1,1 to 1,2 or Alt-Shift-UpArrow moves from 1,1 to 2,1. Each virtual desktop is created as you move to it. I just tried and I made 1,20. Certainly there are memory limitations but the point is that you can make the number of virtual desktops that you need at any given time.

So, I generally start out with two. The first runs a full screen xterm console. No frames, no menu bar, no clashing keymapping. Just a plain and simple CLI. Just like the good old days. But then comes the really great part. On my "second" virtual desktop I start an instance of FireFox, FULL SCREEN (yeah, yeah, I am yelling...'cause I am excited. Whatyawant?)

This is important, why? Why, because running on a IBM R51 laptop means that I only have 1024x768 to begin with. I am excited because I can run my X apps without taking the automatic GUI real estate hit.

So let me recap. I get a nearly unlimited number of virtual desktops. I get full screen console CLI and I get X apps all at the same time. All in about 19 megabytes of memory! (Emphasis mine! :) )

Those are the PROS...
...here are some CONS:

1. AWM doesn't do anything for you. It is all up to you.
2. You must start programs from the command line (if you didn't "hard" code them into config.h before you recompiled.)
3. You have to "remember" what program is running on which virtual desktop.
4. It has no sex appeal
5. It has not eye candy

Changing perspectives

As any parent can tell you there is little difference between a child's perception of want and need. In the field of IT I have observed that customers as well distinguish only slightly between their wants and needs. Clearly I remember the users at one customer's site insisting that they needed sound cards for each of their PCs. Unlike today, PCs were both very costly and poorly appointed when they arrived from the manufacturer. Adding a sound card to each PC was both economically costly as well as person-power intensive. All for what? So that the users could hear "You've got mail!" Beyond that "need" there was no other business line objective being met by the expenditure of time and money on sound cards.

[Digression: (Sound Card = $65.00 + Person-hours (2 per PC @ $35.00/Hr) = $70.00) x 35 PCs = $4,725.00 = "Oh yeah! You got mail, baby. And the company got pwned!" ...but I digress.]

...changing perspectives...

My interest was piqued by an entry in the Freshmeat.net listing this morning. AWM is listed as a minimal windowing environment.

It's small, functional, and fast. It is based on dwm and is just ~1800 lines of code.

I am a Linux gadget geek and so the prospect of a minimal window manager just begged to be explored. The entire tarball for awm-0.0.7.tar.bz2 lists ( ls -alth ) at just 20K. A window manager in less than 20K (~1800 lines of code). Unbelievable!

AWM is such a small program that configuring it is a matter of editing a config.h file before compiling. When I compiled it and it didn't offer the expected console window I checked config.h and it wanted rxterm. Slackware 12 doesn't have an rxterm. So I just deleted the "r" and recompiled.

BINGO!

I have a really simple and FAST window manager. Very cool... but that is not really the changing perspective I wanted to talk about here.

AWM does not do anything beyond display the window(s) and allow the user to move among virtual "desktops". There are no short-cuts, no icons, no menus, no nothing! AWM does almost* nothing for the user. As such the user gets to make all the decisions about what programs get run. Once the decision(s) are made then it is up the the user to manually start the program(s). It is at this point that my perspective is beginning to change...radically.

In this minimalist environment I am prompted to evaluate exactly what my needs are compared to what my wants might be. Do I "need" all the bells and eye-candy whistles in order to have a fulfilling computer experience. What to I really want? And more importantly, what do I really need?

My conclusions are as minimal as AWM.

1. I need a command prompt (xterm) so that I can run the script that connects my PCMCIA wireless network card to my home network. (Ctrl-Alt-x)*
   
2. I need to start my browser, Firefox, to access all of my Web 2.0 base applications. (Ctrl-Alt-f)*
   
3. I want to run Pidgin (my IM client) on a different virtual "desktop" so I change to it (Ctrl-Alt-RightArrow)
   
4. I then need to start anther console (xterm) so that I can start Pidgin. (Ctrl-Alt-x)*
   
5. I want to move the Pidgin window to the upper right corner of the desktop. (Ctrl-LeftButton-Drag)

Earlier I said AWM does almost* nothing for the user. The "*" alludes to the reconfigurability of AWM. In the case of FireFox the author, Alpt, graciously gave a working example in the config.h file for GeekHacks like me to get up and running. Simple additions to the config.h file (and then recompile) allows the user to "configure" AWM's keybindings any way they may choose.

Note: After I figured out the Slackware vs. rxterm issue I purposely went back and put the "r" back into the config.h file. This effectively prevents AWM from starting a command console window on every virtual desktop. Instead I bound xterm to the Ctrl-Alt-x keystrok combination. That allows me to start a command console window only when I want to. AWM ROCKZ!!!

So here is the ...changing perspectives... bottom line: I rely on FireFox and Pidgin for the majority of my computing wants. I need a simple window manager so that I can run these two programs. I do not need all the rest of the stuff that comes with my Slackware 12 distribution.

It is this perspective that makes me mumble and grumble when customers call up and tell me that they have to have the latest and greatest soft/hardware. "I need it. I just can't get along without it."

...Git along little doggies, git along...

Bonus Video (Longish, you don't need to watch the entire full length feature.)

"Tell me what you want, what you really really want..."

Something borrowed, something blue...

Something Amazing - video powered by Metacafe

Borrowed from maZm

Neo, meet Mister Anderson...

Brain-computer interface for Second Life

From the safety and security of my life-pod I can now virtually venture forth and...

...wait, can anyone else smell the Matrix...or was that cookies?

(Thanks Jeremy)

My Citizen Commuter Permit

My Citizen Commuter Permit (CCP) says 6:15 to 7:15 AM and 4:15 to 5:15 PM. I was able to convince the Civilian Transportation Board (CTB) that with an extended window I could take my children to school on the way to work thereby saving a significant amount of fuel. The Transportation board finally agreed and wrote my permit for the additional 30 minute window. They did not see fit to increase my Fuel Allotment Permit (FAP) citing my assurance of 'saving a significant amount of fuel'.

I was not really surprised about my Fuel Allotment Permit. If they really stuck to a person's recorded driving history, the one they get from each of our vehicles, I am sure the Allotment could be a much smaller. It is an allotment after all. They are not really rationing it. They are always quick to say that by permitting fuel use they can be assured of sufficient supply. Thereby insuring that everybody gets there fair share.

We all understand that if the Fuel Allotment Board (FAB) were to calculate our usage more exactly then the World Oil Conglomerate (WOC) would begin to grouse. Lower profits for the Conglomerate would in turn cause them to reduce the supply. We all know that the FAB is really protecting us from the usury and opportunistic meddling of an outside influence on our great country's fragile economy.

We all know that the FAB is protecting the WOC from us. By offering the fine line illusion that there is sufficient amount of albeit expensive petroleum based fuel the FAB is keeping the radical bio-mass-fuelers at bay. The FAB knows well how quickly garages and garden sheds would be turned into micro refineries (ethanol stills). Soy beans, field corn and grass clippings would all be in short supply.

The Public Information Bureau (PIB) released a statement today that the last W*l-mart in our region has closed. PIB reported that due to the collapse of the "Free Trade Agreements" with other members of our World Community that the prices for non-durable goods could no longer be properly controlled. Fearing what they said could only be characterized as radical or terrorist free market forces on pricing structures the Consumer Protection Board (CPB) had little choice but to curtail all imports of non-durable goods for the foreseeable future.

Heralding the CPB's decision to curtail imports as a 'real achievement in the balancing of trade" the Office of Federal Economic Organizations (OFEO) predicted that the country would stop "hemorrhaging" jobs to the cheap labor of those radical and terroristic free marketeers that are intent on debasing our freedoms and challenging our way of life.

OFEO officials estimated that within 18 months to two years citizens of our great nation will be producing those same items at those same prices. "Jobs will be plentiful as citizens of this great nation work at base pay to insure the American way of life. Young people, as well as the elderly, in this country will never have to worry about getting a job or that new pair of denim jeans they want. We can now return to a time when American Made means made in the USA."

God Bless and keep the Security Home Lights burning bright...

Who?

They grok me...

...they really really grok me.

I wrote just moments ago (internet time) that I was having difficulty finding a definitive guide to Linux Kernel compilation. In this morning's feeds was the following...

Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

Author : Greg Kroah-Hartman
ISBN : 0-596-10079-5
Pages : 198
Publication Date : December 2006
Publisher : O'Reilly
Free License : Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license

After digging through the different HOWTOs and the Linux kernel Documentation directory, I came to the conclusion that there was no one place where all of this information could be found. It could be gleaned by referencing a few files here, and a few outdated web sites there, but this was not acceptable for anyone who did not know exactly what they were looking for in the first place.

AND BEST OF ALL...

Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

...is available under the CC License

This book is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license. That means that you are free to download and redistribute it. The development of the book was made possible, however, by those who purchase a copy from O'Reilly or elsewhere.

SPECIAL NOTE: Even more important than offering this book for free under the CC License is the awareness that I am much more inclined to purchase a paper copy of this book. In fact we who support the likes of the CC License are obligated to show our support of such efforts by making sure the authors are paid for the fine work that they do.

From where you are standing...

I put on my father's clothing...

- Bruce Springsteen

Don't buy the iPhone!!!

Henry Ford is said to have uttered the most famous advertising line in automotive history, "You can have any color you want as long as it is black." People of his day understood implicitly his position. Steve Jobs, today, says, "You can have an iPhone." And people seem confused. They seem to think that because they want it to be TheirPhone that Jobs is at fault for merchandizing the iPhone.

WRONG!!!

People this is really really simple. If you don't want the iPhone that Jobs is selling do not buy the iPhone that Jobs is selling. Apply the 'laws' of market influences. Don't buy crap and then complain that it is not the crap you wanted to buy. Send the proper signal to Jobs. Do not buy his product unless or until he/they make it the way you really want it. Sheeeeesh, rocket science here.

(Quitcherbitchen!)

I am impressed...and sooooo busted.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Just so happens I am a transplanted Yankee from.... wait for it.... Michigan, home of the Inland Lakes...Sheeeeeesh!

Free-Burma.org

Kernel dreams and compilation nightmares

Being fearless and being stupid ... two sides of the same coin?

Long ago I attempted to recompile my Linux kernel - seems that the original did not support some sort of feature that I was after at the time. I saved out my original running kernel (a provision which has saved me repeatedly over the years) and issued the immortal make menuconfig command. I rummaged around until I found the possible "fix" and enabled it. I saved my new .config and then held my breath and uttered the then cryptic command incantation make - and off it went on its merry way. I copied the new kernel to /boot, reconfigured lilo to access it and held my breath. When my PC rebooted and ran the new kernel AND worked correctly I let out a huge sigh of relief and thanked the programmers each and every one. They had done it, I was just the messenger.

That was then... now I am wiser and more knowledgeable and in many cases just as ignorant as I was the very first time. So I went in search of clear and concise documentation for the mysterious .config file that is the foundation of recompiling the Linux kernel. Then I made the greatest discovery of my Linux career - and the most disheartening. I found out that I am not a geek, not by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, I can successfully recompile a kernel but truly knowing what I am doing is not the case.

So, my question and my quest is to find a good set of documents that offer real insight into the .config file contents. I have an underlying fear this is somewhat akin to asking, "What does the face of God look like?"

1000 Words... [ Free Burma ]

Just another FaceBook in the crowd.

Cyber communities are walking dead.

Oh, sure there will always be a few die-hards that don't know when to give it up and go home. For the most part every internet community that I have seriously been associated with has lost its luster and polish after about two short years. I am not talking just about FaceBook and MySpace. They are the Johnny-come-latelys. What did happen to Orkut?

I am talking about Internet Relay Chat communities that began in the late 80's. Real IRC channels with Ops and members and real rules and everything. CompuServe forums that thrived and then withered. CompuServe may be long gone (or reincarnated) but forums still exist only the people have changed repeatedly. Two, maybe three years tops and then the steam just runs out. Some times new folks show up...sometimes the old-timer just sit around and say the same things over and over again.

So my point is that it is just plain silly for pundits to claim that Twitter is the new and improved Blog. Hawg wash! Twitter is just the latest fad that has the spynsters running around in circles frothing over their keyboards. Microsoft's Ballmer, for all his foibles, has hit the FaceBook fad right on the nose. In another two years you will all have to use the "Recover Password" function to get back into your FaceBook accounts because 'time, tide and fickle consumers wait for no person'.

Oh look, a shiny new bauble. Want one?

self correcting society

UMBRAGE ALERT! This will certainly cause grumbling and mumbling in the B'sphere

Jeneane Sessum titled one of her most recent posts...

Raising a Manufacturing Class in a Knowledge Worker World

Having heard a prospective college student deride the value of a Liberal Arts education I must assume that society is correcting itself. The complaint, "Why should I learn stuff that I will never use?" suggests to me that the correction is one of reducing the supply of Thinkers and Artists. Evidently there are too many for the current market to bear.

If the law of Supply and Demand holds in this instance then it is about time we reduce the over abundance of frivolous Thinkers and Artists. Simply by reducing their bloated numbers we as a society can raise their respective social worth. And I say it is about time. What this country really needs are more Good-ol-boys and Home-girls. Lets put an end to this extravagance of Knowledge Workers. Lets return to a simpler time of punch-the-clock work-the-line and then go home to the suburban family.

[ End of tongue-in-cheek rant ]

I grew up continuously criticized by my peers, "Why you all the time usin' them big words?" Coming from a literate family I had an inherent sense of the meaning of words. I unconsciously used the words that expressed the width and breadth of my intended message. Later, while receiving an excellent Liberal Arts education, I came to understand that language is the living history of our society and culture. When I used 'them big words' I was then and am now rebelling against the cheapening and debasing of our real heritage: a civilized society.

The inside and the outside

I recently inherited a website and a large legacy application. Both are in-house initiatives. Custom built solely for the purposes of our manufacturing process. Previously, in my role as Manager of Information Systems, I recognized the merit and value of these entities. Their essential merit being the recording and archiving of business information. Ease of entry and subsequent reporting being paramount in their daily use. As Information Management systems they fit the hand.

When a tool fits the hand pick it up.

This has been a long standing mantra of mine when counseling customers/users regarding their computer needs and requirements. There certainly is little sense in trying to use an uncomfortable or ill-suited tool to do a job. To extend the metaphor, this a simple retelling of the old saw, 'trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.'

So all of that is the outside - I inherited the inside.

"Ease of entry and subsequent reporting..." are the result of great planning, deliberation and of course elegant execution. My predecessor did an admirable job at every turn. Alas, my predecessor embodied the living knowledge of both of these initiatives. What then falls to me is the labor of learning the insides.

Where my predecessor enjoyed the luxury of an intimate growing and evolving relationship with each project I receive each as a stone cold tool. The website and the application were crafted to fit the hand of the customer/user. The inside of each, however, as a tool fit his hand. So I now find myself having to pick up a tool that feels very foreign to my hand. A feeling that is diametrically opposed to my mantra.

The hummers are gone...

...long live the sparrows.

I dismissed my wife's observation that this was the week that the hummingbirds would leave us. I scoffed. Just last Sunday, sitting at this very kitchen table, I watched half a dozen dance and parry for airborne superiority and territoriality. The days still feel long and hot. There are full beckoning feeders. Summer is still upon us in Kentucky. What earthly reason would prompt the hummers to forsake such bounty in favor of some other locale?

The seed feeders were empty. I could understand why the sparrows were staying away. My lack of attention to their feeding stations was unwelcoming. They had good reason to not grace us with their presence.

So I took a minute out of my busy Sunday morning ritual time and filled the seed feeders. In less than two minutes the perches were again graced by the anxious group flight behaviors of sparrow families. So simple are the joys.

Most likely we will not see the hummers again until next spring... long live the sparrows.