Category: Technology

Center of the Universe? Meh, Bleh or Ewww?

Lorin Olsen

google-cloudGoogle is taking an increasingly central role in all of my computing. [Note: Please take a look at a few of my recent posts.]  Here is the quick list:

  • All of my personal email is processed via GMail.  This includes my ISP email that I pull via GMail.  And the introduction of offline capabilities only locks me further into the Google camp.
  • 99% of my searches use Google.
  • I consume 95% of all of my RSS feeds using GReader. The other 5% is processed using Yahoo! Pipes.
  • I use Chrome over 80% of the time. I still use Firefox (for some of the extensions I love). And I still play with both Opera and Safari. But these will dwindle, not grow.
  • I’m beginning  to use Latitude for my location-based activities. I’m not sold on it yet. But Brightkite is going to have a tough time keeping me.
  • I use GTalk as one of several IM ecospheres I routinely frequent for personal communications.  This is even more important as my company will (in all likelihood) interconnect its enterprise IM solution to the public Jabber infrastructure via the GTalk servers.  Personally, I believe that XMPP will soon become the modern-day equivalent to SNMP (the protocol that unified all email systems globally).
  • I’m using iGoogle as a portal to all of these services. The current iGoogle actually has some very nice features.  It has certainly improved greatly in the last two years.  And the integration of GReader and Latitude make it far more compelling than it was a year ago.
  • I used to run this blog on Blogger (a Google asset).  But when I joined Microsoft three years ago, I had to drop Blogger.  Of course, squatters came in and took my old blog address.  So when I left Microsoft, I started to run this blog on WordPress.  Actually, I like WordPress a lot more.  When I transition to a site on my own domain, I will still be using WordPress.  But Blogger (Google) has a huge number of active blog sites.  And the fact that it is a free service will bring people to Blogger and get them hooked on Google tools and Google advertising.
  • Over the past year, Google has been a pivotal player in the Open Social movement.  And they are achieving an even great role in open/federated authentication.  With their work on OpenID, they will be one of the three top players in any federated authentication solution.

It is clear that Google has a huge postition in my universe.  And that position is growing, not shrinking.  With more and more Google assets in common use, there is a defniitve gravitational “pull” associated with these computational bodies.  Indeed, the gravitational well of Google is getting larger and larger.  For example, if I had the spare change for a new phone (and no time left on my current contract), then I think I might pick up a GPhone rather than an iPhone.
This is becoming quite reminiscent of the place Microsoft began to take in the early and mid-nineties.  Is Google becoming the next Microsoft? Gosh, I don’t want to be the millionth person to discuss that hypothesis.  But it might be worth looking at Google as the next IBM.  IBM had a lock on an entire platform (the mainframe).  Every decision that was made within the corporate data center had to factor in the current and future blueprints from IBM.  And it sure looks like Google is more and more capable of exerting this kind of influence – especially as cloud-computing evolves into a reality.
At this time, Google is a key vendor of some important client technologies.  And Google is a key player as a vendor of infrastructure services and capabilities.  Google is also a new and increasingly important player in communications. And Google is practially the only player in search-based advertising.
So what’s next for them? Is it hardware? I don’t think so.  They don’t mind specifying standards – like their handling of the GPhone.  They won’t build it – but they’ll design and direct it.  Is it software?  Well, I’d have to answer yes and no.  They will build the software and then distribute it.  But they will do this as a means of providing a platform for ad-based revenue.  And right now, Google is able to monetize all of their software and standards investment via a simple advertising tax they impose on nearly every platform.  Will they focus on services?  Hmmm. That might be interesting.  But I doubt that they have the stomach for that – especially in a market that is shrinking – not growing.
Is Google a Microsoft or an IBM?  Who really knows the answer to that question.  But should Google be watched by federal regulators?  I would have to say yes.  While I don’t think that Google is exercising monopoly power to the disadvatnage of others (either competitors or customers), I do think that they have the means to do so.  But will the current governement (as controlled by the Democratic party) have the stomach to play watchdog over a company that is known to fund many a Deomocratic pet project?  Now there is an interesting question.
-Roo

Google Is The Center Of The Universe – Part II

Lorin Olsen

google-latitude
I am a casual user of Brightkite.  I use it to log into four or five different locations on a regular basis.  And I use it to do a couple of location-specific tasks – such as location posts and location photos.  But as a general rule, I use it only a handful of times each day.
But there are a couple of things I love about it:

  • Entering location data is easy.  I have a few dozen Placemarks set.  And I can enter my location by referencing one of my preset Placemarks.
  • Phone integration is quite mature. SMS data entry is a snap.  I can send an SMS message to a single phone number (after associating my phone with my Brightkite account).  Checking in is easy. And sending pictures and text are a breeze.

But I am not altogether thrilled with everything that Brightkite does.  Indeed, I have a couple of problems with it.  

  • I have to build a completely separate friend/follower base.  I hate this.  I want to have one friend/follower/contact base for all my social apps.  It’s not hard to use Brightkite’s functionality.  But it is yet another user database.
  • I have to use a separate user/password to signon to the service.  I really want a single signon or federated signon.
  • I really want my location solution to integrate with my mapping solution.  In this way, I can do dirctions and distance calculations simply.
  • I would love for my social systems and my location systems to work together.  Specifcally, I want to be able to IM or send tweets to folks that are around me.  And I’d love to have the ability to use XMPP as the infrastructure for these communications.  In that way, I can leverage the immense automation potential of Jabber-based systems.

Do I need another location-based system?  Probably not.  Do I want another location system?  M0st definitely.
Enter Google Latitude.
 This morning, Google told the world that Latitude was available for testing and use.  So I downloaded itand gave it a try.  Google Latitude does some things extremely well.

  • Google gets the basics right. I can check-in. And I love the fact that I can use Google Maps to put a pin where I am located.
  • Google does get the GPS fundamentals right.
  • Google has mobile clients for all the major phone platforms (although I am hearing that the iPhone client really needs a little help).
  • Google uses the single signon system that my other Google apps use.  More importantly, it can leverage OpenID in a federated model.
  • Google integrates with Google Talk.  Hence, it is XMPP-enabled.
  • Google integrates with Google Maps and Google Earth.

While it would be fair to say that Google has the framework and fundamentals right, it still needs to polish some of the rough spots.  In particular, the check-in process is particularly clunky – especially for phones w/o GPS.  Since GPS is avaialble on all “new” phones, Latitude reaches the tech savvy folks who like new toys.  But the reach is limited for those phones w/o GPS.  And the SMS functionality appears very immature.  There is no simple way to check in (via a service like Placemarks).  
Bottom Line: Google Latitude is a great first step.  It gets the fundamentals and infrastructure right.  But it really needs some work on the UI.  With a few more polishes to the UI, this WILL replace my Brightkite use.  But for now, I will use both and incur the overhead of doing the same thing twice.  This offering will force Brightkite to up its game or risk losing everything it has worked so hard to earn.
 
-Roo
P.S. Louis Gray has a great write up on Latitude and its impact upon Brightkite and Loopt.  His thoughs are available on his site.

Realtime Reporting Is Evolving…

Lorin Olsen

twitterfall…towards realtime collaboration.  And the transition is exciting.
Yesterday was a busy day at work.  It’s the busy time of year in the tax preparation business.  And I’m always multitasking: planning for next year’s systems, supporting systems we’ve deployed this year, and consulting on systems that are experiencing trouble at any given moment.
But even on busy days, there is time to multitask on other matters.  I knew that the Republican National Committee was holding their election for the new committee chairman.  And I really wanted to watch what was happening – in realtime.  As someone who uses social media as an avocation, I knew that there were ways of getting realtime feeds of data.  I did a little checking and found that three or four of my favorite commentators were live-blogging the event.  So I was quite excited.  
I remember when I used to go to state conventions and state committee meetings.  That was quite a while ago.  When I used to attend, there really were smoke-filled rooms.  Of course, many had smoke in them because I used to smoke a pipe.  But that’s a different story…  In the past, only an annointed few individuals were privvy to the rooms where important decisions were made.  If you were lucky, an enterprising reporter might post a story in a local paper.  And a few folks could get telephone updates from friends who were at the venue.  But you never had any realtime view into the process.
That all changed with the advent of the worldwide web.  And those changes accelerated with the introduction of blogs.  If you knew someone who was attending, you could get an update of events within a few hours.  And that was wonderful.  But while you could receive data faster, it was an evolution and not a revolution.
But the last four years have seen some important changes.  First, wireless phones have introduced the ability to get instant feedback (via SMS or the web).  Second, text messages have been augmented with the addition of rich media – including both audio and video.  Thid, everyone has these devices.  So anyone in attendance at a meeting can communicate.  These three shifts in communications have enabled everything I saw yesterday.  And live blogging has been a real difference maker.
This week’s RNC meeting was something altogether different.  Not only was there good communications (despite WiFi troubles at the hotel), but communications became multi-dimensional.  Live blogging has always meant that realtime posts could be sent from conferences and meetings.  But microblogging (using Twitter, Friendfeed and other tools) has meant that short and pithy bursts of info could be sent in realtime.  More importantly, short messages could be sent form the outside to the inside of the venue.  And this simple fact transformed everything.
I was sitting in Kansas City.  I was not in the meeting room.  But there were a few dozen people who were there and who were twittering the event.  And these people provded multiple views (and voices) about what was transpiring.  And I heard the voices of various operatives from many of the different candidates.  But more importantly, I and other people could send questions or engage in realtime conversations about what was transpiring.  This made those “on the outside” seem to be part of the process.  This fact alone should increase excitement and participation by those who couldn’t otherwise attend.  But I am sure that many people at the venue used the feedback from the remote audience as a means of gauging what the common folk might think of what was going on behind closed doors.  
Of course, the only folks who were engaged in the #rncchair discussions on Twitter were twitterati and cognoscenti.  But these folks were a fantastic proving ground for the technology.  And the growing applicability of this technology was apparent to all. Folks who had broadband connectivity and a larger screen were at a tremendous advantage.  They could provide and receive far more information for their use.  I am sure that the various candidates’ teams had various levels of technology.  And those with a good handle on the technology (i.e., those who posessed smartphones like iPhones and BlackBerries) were at an even great advantage.  [Note: It was clear that Saul Anuzis’ team stayed in the race for a long time because he had mastered many of the communications channels available to him.]
As technology becomes cheaper and more ubiquitous, more and more people will gain more and more advantage from these technologies.  And as the software and services become even more accessible (i.e., less complex) even more people will be able to take advantage of realtime participation.  
In the end, the technology alone did not make a deterministic difference.  Michael Steels won the race because he had a good plan and he executed it quite effectively.  Many folks will point to a specific reason that they think was critical for Steele’s success.  I won’t be so bold.  I wasn’t there.  But I know that Michael Steele didn’t lose the race due to an insufficient grasp on the communications technologies at his disposal.  Indeed, why else do you think Michael Steels was so visible as a Fox News contributor?  He knew the imporance of using communications tools to energize his base while broadening his reach.  And the communications tools available to us today helped to make that possible.
I’ll leave each of you the assignment to determine why Michael Steele won the chairmanship.  In the meantime, I used a variety of tools to stay”in the know” – Twitter, hashtags (specifically, #rncchair and #tcot), Twitter search (at http://search.twitter.com) and Twitterfall (http://www.twitterfall.com).  Twitterfall is fantastic.  It provided a realtime rolling (or falling) ticker of a particular conversation thread.  I was able to see who the talkers were as well as see who I should be following.  
And for those interested in metrics… By getting involved in this one event, I saw my overall follower count (on Twitter) grow by over 20%.  Of course, I started from a small base, but the real numbers were nonetheless impressive.  
Finally, I would like to reinforce an important point: I do like to send “thank you’s” to the folks that followed me as a result of this event.  I use SocialToo.com as a means of responding to all new followers.  It is a great tool to help “personalize” the process of nurtturing your following.  If you didn’t receive a “Thank You’ from me, drop me a note and I’ll send you a personalized email with my warmest thanks..
 
-Roo

For Better or Worse – Google Is The Center of the Universe

Lorin Olsen

I got up very early this morning (~5AM) to the whining dogs.  Our son had left a light on in the living room.  So the dogs woke up early to the light.  I dragged myself out of bed to give them a walk and then feed them.  After about thirty minutes of light chores, I settled down to the computer to start to put together a post about the RNC Chairman’s race (which I will do later).
Over night, I was converting one of my DVD’s to a video file I can use on a portabe player.  And everything was running very slowly.  And I mean verrrrry slooooowwwwwly. Normally, I can get a DVD converted in five or six hours. But this one was only six or seven percent complete after eight hours. And nothing was moving on my system.
bad_googleI had recently upgraded to Windows 7. So I figured that maybe there was some problem with Handbrake and Windows 7. So I got onto Google and did a quick search. I was then confronted with the fact that all of my search results were flagged as containing malware. That couldn’t be the case. After all, some of these sites were very trusted sites that I use all the time.
Google couldn’t be wrong. So maybe I had something on my local machine. So I started to run malware scans on my system. I ran both Malwarebytes as well as Spybot Search & Destroy. And everything was crawling along. So I started to get concerned that I had a more serious problem on my system. [Note: Paranoia is not always a good thing.  I was starting to see risks lurking on every sector of my hard drive.]
I started looking at the process list and noted that I had my anti-virus scan in progress. This was quite odd as the weekly scan normally completes it’s work very early every Saturday morning.  So I’m starting to get quite nervous. I must have some kind of “bad” bug that needed special eradication. I stpped the AV scan and saw that the video encoding started to move along. In fifty minutes, it had encoded a quarter of the file. So I’m figuring that Windows 7 Beta + Handbrake + a simultaneous AV scan may be a bad combination.
But what about the malware that Google tipped me off to? Since two different anti-malware tools proclaimed the cleanliness of my system, I started to relax. And since my video conversion was progressing, I stepped away from the computer for a couple of hours.  When I returned, things were still slow. But that happens when a video conversion tool takes over 90% of the CPU.  
So I decided to check some of my social networing sites.  And I started with Google Reader.  It was there that I found my answer: Google had implemented a bad piece of code.  According to every source on the web, I was a victim of Google’s attempt to incorporate http://www.stopbadware.org into their search results.  And a human error had literally flagged all search results as containing malware.  
So with this tidbit of information, my problem is solved, right?  Not really as I had just demonstrated the problem of trust and social engineering.  You see, I “trusted” Google as a company that made few (or no) errors.  Indeed, even their “beta” code is better than other companies and their “production” code.  And to make matters worse, Google is the center of my universe.  I search using Google.  I use GMail for most of my personal email.  I use GReader as the means of aggregating all the RSS feeds I consume.  In point of fact, Google is the center of my Internet experience.  And I had trusted them so much, that I did not even consider that they might have an error.  I assumed that my system was at fault.  After all, the people at Google are experts.
So what is a ‘roo to do.  First, I must remember the words of our 40th President: trust, but verify.  Then I need to remember not to be doing too many things at once.  I was running a program for the first time on a new OS at the same time that I run anti-viral scans.  Um, I’ll try and avoid that perfect storm in the future.  
But I am also reminded of some corrolary applications for this situation.  I should never make a man, a woman, a company, a government or even a political party take up residence in the center of my universe.  After all, the center of my universe should be occupied by the only indivudal who is completely worthy of that role: the Lord God Almighty.  Only He is completely trustworthy.  No man (and certainly no organization) should be trusted so intimately or so completely.  The results of such a misapplication of trust could be disastrous.  
So as of today, I don’t trust Google as much.  And I am reminded why I should’t trust elected officials (of any party) so much.  Reagan was right; trust, but verify.
 
-Roo

I'm Feeling Seven-ish, She Said

Lorin Olsen

windows7Cindy asked me what I thought of Windows 7 after the first hour of using it.  I told her that I felt, er, um… And she said “…seven-ish?”  And I guess she was right.  I am feeling seven-ish.
Here are the ‘Roo’s first thoughts:
– Installation was good – exceptioanlly good for a beta.  I hope the installer becomes a little more informative before final release.  There has to be more feeback to inform the user that progress is occurring – lest the user abandon hope that the install is progressing!
– A number of the default apps (like MSPaint) now display a ribbon bar.   This is the UI enhancements delivered in Office 2007.  I like the interface changes.  But I know a lot of folks who aren’t so keen on the changes.
– I like the new themes that display multiple pictures.  And some of the pics are fabulous!
–  Media Center setup was peculiar.  At first, it didn’t detect my Hauppage HVR 1600.  After a reboot, it finally detected my TV card.  Once the TV card was detected, downloading of the guide and the remainder of Windows Media Center setup went smoothly.  I do like the interface touches like the icon/preview that appears at the bottom of the guide.  It’s a little touch.  But I find such touches to be demonstrative of a complete commitment to the customer experience.
– I had zero problems playing movies when using the Windows Media Player.
– iTunes functioned flawlessly.  I could play MP3 audio files, AAC audio files and a variety of MP4 video files.  And I had zero problems when I plugged in my iPod.  It was detected by both Windows and iTunes.   As a side note, Last.fm’s add-on for iTunes worked great.  I need to check scrobbling – but so far, so good.
– A variety of my system utilities seem to operate nominally.  This includes Spybot S&D, AVG Free and even Privoxy/TOR.
– Printing worked fine- thank goodness.
– Adobe apps seem to work – including AIR apps (like Twhirl).
– Other Twitter-related apps (like Tweetdeck) seem to work well.
– I used Psi to connect up to the work IM infrastructure.  All seems to work.
– Google apps (like Google Earth ad Google Chrome) all seem to work well.
– Home network setup isn’t smooth yet.  I tried to set up a homegroup.  But it didn’t allow me to set one up until I was connected to a network that was previously designated as a “home” network.  Of course, my network was setup as a “home” network.  So there is obviously something amiss.  I hope to try this function out in the next couple of days.
Bottom Line: Windows 7 is not the grand divergence or vast improvement upon Windows Vista that some folks claim.  Indeed, it is an evolution of Windows Vista’s basic system.  As I consider how Vista relates to Windows 7, I remember how Windows 2000 related to Windows XP.  W2K was a great baseline that XP built upon.  Similarly, Windows Vista is the base that Windows 7 builds upon.  In so many ways, this is the OS that Microsoft should have released.  I wonder just how much this OS will cost (in the retail channels).  As an upgrade from Vista, I’m not inclined to pay the full sticker price.  Indeed, this is what I should have received when I first purchased Vista.
Nevertheless, Windows 7 is quite nice.  And for a beta, it is wonderful.  It is clean and far more nimble than Vista.  And a lot of the rough edges that we had in Vista have finally been polished to a fine sheen.
In short, I’m very impressed by the OS.  And I am even more impressed with the “fit and finish” of this beta.  Microsoft was very smart to provide this to millions of people.  It will build the enthusiasm for the Windows brand.  And in all candor, that enthusiasm has been flagging for a couple of years.

I’m Feeling Seven-ish, She Said

Lorin Olsen

windows7Cindy asked me what I thought of Windows 7 after the first hour of using it.  I told her that I felt, er, um… And she said “…seven-ish?”  And I guess she was right.  I am feeling seven-ish.

Here are the ‘Roo’s first thoughts:

– Installation was good – exceptioanlly good for a beta.  I hope the installer becomes a little more informative before final release.  There has to be more feeback to inform the user that progress is occurring – lest the user abandon hope that the install is progressing!

– A number of the default apps (like MSPaint) now display a ribbon bar.   This is the UI enhancements delivered in Office 2007.  I like the interface changes.  But I know a lot of folks who aren’t so keen on the changes.

– I like the new themes that display multiple pictures.  And some of the pics are fabulous!

–  Media Center setup was peculiar.  At first, it didn’t detect my Hauppage HVR 1600.  After a reboot, it finally detected my TV card.  Once the TV card was detected, downloading of the guide and the remainder of Windows Media Center setup went smoothly.  I do like the interface touches like the icon/preview that appears at the bottom of the guide.  It’s a little touch.  But I find such touches to be demonstrative of a complete commitment to the customer experience.

– I had zero problems playing movies when using the Windows Media Player.

– iTunes functioned flawlessly.  I could play MP3 audio files, AAC audio files and a variety of MP4 video files.  And I had zero problems when I plugged in my iPod.  It was detected by both Windows and iTunes.   As a side note, Last.fm’s add-on for iTunes worked great.  I need to check scrobbling – but so far, so good.

– A variety of my system utilities seem to operate nominally.  This includes Spybot S&D, AVG Free and even Privoxy/TOR.

– Printing worked fine- thank goodness.

– Adobe apps seem to work – including AIR apps (like Twhirl).

– Other Twitter-related apps (like Tweetdeck) seem to work well.

– I used Psi to connect up to the work IM infrastructure.  All seems to work.

– Google apps (like Google Earth ad Google Chrome) all seem to work well.

– Home network setup isn’t smooth yet.  I tried to set up a homegroup.  But it didn’t allow me to set one up until I was connected to a network that was previously designated as a “home” network.  Of course, my network was setup as a “home” network.  So there is obviously something amiss.  I hope to try this function out in the next couple of days.

Bottom Line: Windows 7 is not the grand divergence or vast improvement upon Windows Vista that some folks claim.  Indeed, it is an evolution of Windows Vista’s basic system.  As I consider how Vista relates to Windows 7, I remember how Windows 2000 related to Windows XP.  W2K was a great baseline that XP built upon.  Similarly, Windows Vista is the base that Windows 7 builds upon.  In so many ways, this is the OS that Microsoft should have released.  I wonder just how much this OS will cost (in the retail channels).  As an upgrade from Vista, I’m not inclined to pay the full sticker price.  Indeed, this is what I should have received when I first purchased Vista.

Nevertheless, Windows 7 is quite nice.  And for a beta, it is wonderful.  It is clean and far more nimble than Vista.  And a lot of the rough edges that we had in Vista have finally been polished to a fine sheen.

In short, I’m very impressed by the OS.  And I am even more impressed with the “fit and finish” of this beta.  Microsoft was very smart to provide this to millions of people.  It will build the enthusiasm for the Windows brand.  And in all candor, that enthusiasm has been flagging for a couple of years.

Windows 7 – Finally

Lorin Olsen

w7-installed
It’s almost 3:00PM CST on Saturday.  And I’ve been working on this for over six (6) hours.  But I’m sure that a whole lot of people have spent a whole lot more time than I have.
Yesterday morning, Microsoft was supposed to make a beta version of Windows 7 available to 2.5 million customers.   So far, there is no single proocess that works to make that download process a reality.  Indeed, the Internet was abuzz with the challenges that Microsoft was having  with the huge demand for Windows 7.  I don’t know about any of that, but it sure has been a Byzantine process getting all the bits and getting the appropriate product keys.
After hearing all of the whispers, groans, screams and general noise yesterday, I waited until today to start the process for myself.  I got up bright and early and walked the dogs.  Once they were fed and watered, I started the process.  I tried to go to the Microsoft location where I could get the download and the product key in one place.  But that was not a workable solution this morning.  It may be OK as you read this post.  Check at Microsoft’s site first.  And if it is still down, here are some tips on how I proceeded.
So I figured that I would try and do the two things separately.  I found a great link over at Neowin.  From there, I was able to get to the product pages where I could request a product key.  Fortunately, I did this before 2.5M other people did.  So I got a good key.  Then I went over to Technologizer to see where the downloads for the ISO were hosted.  It’s important that you get a file that is hosted at Microsoft as there are lots of BitTorrent trackers that are pointing to very old versions of the code.  Get the dowload from Microsoft and you can be more comofortable that you are getting the Build 7000 bits.  And the Microsoft folks have updated their infrastructure.  It only took me about ninety minutes to download the 2.4GB ISO file.
Once I got the product keys and the ISO, I burned the DVD and started the install.  That was before 10A.  That’s when the fun began.
8:3oAM – Began ISO download
9:45AM – ISO downloaded
9:50AM – Got product key
10:00AM –  I rebooted the system and I started the install.  I chose to upgrade an exising partition.  That is a risky proposition.  But it would best represent the experience most people would encounter.  So I checked currency of backups and started the install.
The install looks almost identical to the Vista installs I’ve performed hundreds of times.  Unfortunately, the instller also acts like the same installer.  You get precious little feedback to determine if the process works or not.  You can wait for five minutes to progress 30% across the progress bar.  But sometimes, it takes thirty minutes to move a single percent.  The good news is that the installer at least lists the number of files it is dealing with in each step.  So while the progress bar may not move, you can at least tell if things are “stuck” or not.
It took almost an hour to “check the files” before the next step in the installation could proceed.  I was starting to get a little worried.  But then things started to move along.  By noon, the installer had finally prgressed to the last step (“Completing upgrade”).
12:01PM – The “post-migration” steps are taking longer than the unpacking and copying of files.  Arghhh.
12:48PM – The post-installation process has jumped from 34% complete to 57% complete.  I am really glad to see the file count.  Otherwise, I would have abandoned the installation long ago.  I’m becoming a little peeved at the note that says “this may take a few minutes.”  OK, Redmond’s definition of “a few” and my definition are not in agreement.  But this installer is acting just as it has in the past – very little feedback with data that is non-representative.  At 57%, I can be certain that I am not 1/2 of the way through this process.
1:10PM – Is this thing scanning my HD and sending checksums to NSA or the RIAA?  This is taking forever.
1:25PM – We’ve rebooted yet again.  But I’m seeing a new splash screen.  So far, it’s the only indication that there is anything different between this OS and Windows Vista.  I do like the animations of the swirling balls morphing into the Windows logo.
But I’m greeted with the post-installation process still being at 57% – arghhh!
1:30PM – Whoa.  We’ve jumpted to 63%.  I wonder if the reboot was needed to clear a file lock.
1:37PM – 74%
1:44PM – 87%
1:45PM – Restart again
1:47PM – Hey, it’s asking for the product key.  I must be making progress.
1:50PM – I’m being asked for the first Ctrl + Alt + Del of the new OS.
1:55PM – I finally see my standard desktop
So the installation / upgrade process is very long.  And you need to be patient.  But my upgrade went fairly smoothly – except that Citirx ICA had to be disabled and uninstalled.  Otherwise, the upgrade is pretty good – f0r a beta.  It took a little over five (5) hours to upgrade an existing Vista SP1 system.
-Roo

Some Virii Must Be Attacked With Multiple Drugs…

Lorin Olsen

Sinus InfectionAbout a month ago, I went to the doctor to address a sinus infection.  I have always been prone to getting sinus infections.  But for the past couple of years, I’ve found that using a sleeping wedge has reduced my sinus infections to one or two a year.  But last month, I couldn’t beet back the odds.  I think I fell prey to lots of rain and lots of large temperature shifts.  But whatever the case, I had to go and see a doctor.
The doctor confirmed that I did indeed have a sinus infection.  And he prescribed a low dose of Amoxicillin.  While Amoxicillin works well for lots of people, it hasn’t always helped me.  But I though I’d give it a try.  After all, I don’t want to over-prescribe or cause some kind of weird viral resistance.  So I gave it a try.  After about five days, I could tell that the antibiotics had helped some.  But it was clear that they had not totally eradicated my problem.  I still had pressure and nasal discharge indicative of a lingering problem.  But I figured I’d wait until it got worse, just in case my own immune system could beat it down.
Well, after being away from town for a week and flying to and from Atlanta, I could finally tell that I needed to see a doctor again.  This time, the doctor decided to take a more aggressive approach.  He prescribed a cocktail of Amoxicillin and Augmentin.  And he prescribed it for 14 consecutive days.  The doctor figured that he would attack the problem with two sticks – and keep hitting it until it was beaten into submission.  I really appreciate this approach as I want to get rid of the problem.  I’ve had a bad headache for almost a month now.  It will be nice to solve the problem.
That Was An Analogy
But this solution applies to multiple problems – including a problem my duaghter was having.  Yesterday afternoon, Bailey asked if I could check her computer and see if there was a problem.  Bailey isn’t one to ask for help at the first sign of trouble.  In fact, she likes to try and solve problems for herself.  So when she asked me to take a look, I leaped into action.  
The problem was easily identified; I used Spybot Search and Destroy to diagnose that my daughter was suffering from a case of malware.  In this case, she was infected with Virtumonde.   I was surprised that she was infected at all as she was using the “approved” anti-malware products recommended by the University of Kansas.  And even though KU is good, I should have realized that I need to stay on top of these things.
So I started the process of removing Vundo (the shorthand name for this beastie).  I first used the Spybot Search and Destroy tool.  It idetifed three instances of the infection.  And it removed these instances – or so it said.  But afte rebooting the system, I was still seeing bizarre problems (like difficulty logging onto the system and some slugglishness in web operations.  So I restarted Spybot S&D and noted that the same infection had returned.  That’s when I started to get concerned.    
I started reading up on Vundo and learned just how pernicious this little beastie is.  I donwloaded VundoFix.   And started to run this scanning and repair tool.  It also noted problems with Virtumonde infection.  So I let it clean up some things.  And after running this tool, I rebooted and tried Spybot S&D yet again.  And once again, I encountered problems with reinfection.  This one was beginning to remind me of my sinus infection.
So I started bringing out broader spectrum tools.  I downloaded current versions of Sophos Antivirus as well as AVG.  I also downloaded Virtumonde Begone.  Then I downloaded a PCTools utility and a Symantec tool to help along the way.  In short, I startied hitting this thing with multiple attacks.  In the end, a combination of two anti-virus / anti-trojan tools plus two anti-spyware tools seems to have knocked this thing off her system.  
There are lots of references to how to get rid of this beast.  But the forums on Yahoo (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080729134452AA2GPB5) gave me some of the best info.  If you get infected with this one, make sure that you don’t spare any effort to get rid of it as it is quite nasty.  And be prepared to spend a number of hours trying to knock this one down.  It causes a heck of a headache and requires  attacking the problem as broadly as possible.  Indeed, be prepared to get into a two-front war when you attack this bug.

My Seinfeld Week

Lorin Olsen

A Post About Nothing
A Post About Nothing

I look for a weekly theme each time I make a post to this site.  And this weekend, I feel like I’m writing a Seinfeld episode; I’m writing a post about nothing – or at least nothing in particular.
This week has been incredibly busy, though I couldn’t say that I accomplished anything very substantive.

  • I’ve been busy at work trying to shepherd an application into production.  And while I’ve been busy ironing out firewall rules, database schemas, and system administration processes, I still feel like there hasn’t been a big “win” this week.
  • I’ve fiddled with lots of widgets, gizmos, and doodads for the home system.  This includes: a new version of Songbird, a beta version of Vista SP2, switching from Windows Media Player to the VLC Media Player, changing desktop themes and backgrounds, switching from Twhirl to Tweetdeck, and a host of minor (and utterly unmemorable) other changes.
  • Adam and I spent a couple of nights ironing out his winter schedule.  On Tuesday, we went to a lacrosse planning meeting.  I am really excited to see Tanner Briggs taking on the coaching responsibilities for the Shawnee Mission Lacrosse club.  And Adam is really focused on having a good year and propelling the team to a league chamionship win.
  • On Wednesday, Adam and I went to a basketball planning meeting.  This is an odd thing because Adam could be on the school’s basketball team.  But he has some fundamental disagreements with the coaching staff at SMS.  So he’s decided not to try out for the school team.  Instead, he is organizing a team for the local boys basketball league.  Traditionally, this league is preparatory for the high school programs.  But this year, they are having a high school league – for kids who aren’t on their high school teams.  And Adam has asked me to be the coach.  I am honored – and perplexed.  I know little about basketball – except what I’ve picked up from my kids.  And I am legally blind.  So I won’t be able to call any plays from the sidelines.  I think this may actually be why he asked me.  I believe that this team will be his winter lark.  OK, I’ll accept that – especially since last winter’s lark landed him in trouble with the law!  So everyone will get a few posts about the blind coach.  Maybe there is a television script in this venture/fiasco.
  • Cindy and I went to her company’s Christmas party.  I loved the fact that a real minister had a real invocation “in Jesus’ name.”  Way to go!  Call me old-fashioned.  But I am unashamed to admit that Christmas is about the Christ (not the presents and deorations).  If someone is offended by prayers in Jesus’ name, they shouldn’t be at a Christmas party.  And I got a bonus out of this party: I had to get a new two-piece suit.  It looks sharp – despite the person wearing it.  😉
  • My second daughter had a good game on Friday night.  She even got interviewed on Atlanta radio.  She finally seems to be getting in a groove.  I’m still praying that her teammates start giving her the ball a little more.

So I am back to the point where I began this post.  I really don’t have a nugget of wisdom to share or a specific topic to highlight.  I don’t even have an inspirational anecdote to share.  Instead, I am left wondering why I have not been able to focus on something crisp and pithy.  But I think that this is true of most of life.  It’s not always about meeting a goal and achieving some grand purpose.  Instead, it is about doing the things that need to be done for yourself and the ones you love.
-Roo

Let's Set Our Music Free

Lorin Olsen

songbird-rc2
I am not someone who believes in music piracy.  I buy music.  And if I download a song for some reason, I have to go out and buy the music at some point in the near future.  I guess I have a finely tuned inner voice (call it the Holy Spirit) that doesn’t let me get away with stealing.  But I do believe that I should be able to listen to music (that I have purchased) anywhere and everywhere I go.  For this reason, I rip every CD I have into MP3 format.  And when I download music, I try and buy music that is not encumbered with DRM technology.
But like most music enthusiasts, I have had to settle with Apple’s music ecosphere for far too long.  I do love iTunes.  But it is a very pretty walled garden.  I can have anything and everything that Steve Jobs wants me to have.  I can even have video and games – as long as I buy them from him.  And I can even have “DRM free” music (called iTunes Plus) – as long as I buy it from the iTunes store.
But if I buy content from other sources (or rip it from obscure CD’s I own), it is dreadfully difficult to add it to my iTunes library.  Yes, I can use Amazon’s store and install their add-on software.  And I can use MusicPass (from Sony/BMG).  But both of these technologies have an uneasy feel about their integration with iTunes.  It’s all getting better and better.  But integration advances are under the control of Apple.  All they have to do is change iTunes versions and unilaterally disable anything done by other people (or organizations).
And that’s where Songbird comes in.  Songbird is an open source media player that is based upon the Mozilla foundation.  And this week, the Songbird team is getting very close to offering a competitive product to the iTunes ecosphere.  This week, they released the second release candidate for Songbird 1.0.  And while they ask bloggers and editors to refrain from comments until the software is stabilized, I still have to provide a glimpse into what will soon be available – a world free from the rules of Steve’s Matrix.
Songbird does the basics with ease.  You can organize all of your music/media files with ease.  And the interface is familiar enough.  I am a little concerned that too much of iTunes’ “look-and-feel” may be incorporated.  And with that, there is risk that Apple may take legal action against the Songbird team.  But there are enough differences in “look-and-feel” that this will be difficult to prove in a court of law.  And I hope that Apple will not challenge Songbird in court.  Rather, I hope that Songbird will be seen as the competition that Apple needs in order to make their product even better.
While Songbird gets the basics down cold, it is the new and innovative touches that are so much more impressive.  Songbird is trying to make a competitive ecosphere to the iTunes ecosphere – and they are doing a pretty good job of it so far.  So what is the Songbird team doing rght:
– There is an add-on / plugin architecture that is showing some initial success – and a whole lot of promise.  If developers start creating new add-ons, the future promise of the platform will be amazing.  As new technologies are developed, they can be plugged straight into Songbird.  So we won’t have to wait upon a new mega-release from Apple.  Rather, we can incorporate those changes that we need from any number of competing software developers.
– The core HTML rendering engine (Gecko) is quite an improvement over the rendering that is based upon the Safari engine.  Yes, there is a great deal of similarity between Gecko and Webkit.  And there is a lot to like about Webkit.  But Gecko is still a superior application infrastructure – at least, for now.
– Using the add-on foundation, there is some excellent Last.fm integration already available.  There is insufficient room to discuss all the cool things about Last.fm.  But here is the short version: Last.fm is an exceptional system for collecting immense amounts of metadata about personal music libraries.  And I can use Last.fm to build a community around the music I listen to, the music of my friends, the music of my favorite bands, and the music of bands I might like to listen to.  And whereas the Last.fm folks do have a plugin for iTunes, the integration in Songbird is “out of the box” – and can be revised/extended via the add-on / plugin framework.
– There are a couple of very good add-ons for the Twitter community.  Unlike the iTunes add-on (from Last.fm), I have direct control over which songs I want to tweet about.  So I can send an occasional tweet about who I’m listening to – rather than flooding my Twitter feed with every song every few minutes.  This is incredibly important as I want folks to know when I’m listening to music – but don’t want to swamp them with a flood of tweets.  When I was scrobbling all 5500+ songs in my library (over a two-week period) this would have been catastrophic to my followers.
– There are some very cool add-ons that are still a little bit unstable.  For example, I really like having access to a lyrics database that is online.  But at this point in time, the lyrics add-on is a little unstable.  So I’ve turned it off.  But the fact that I can enable and disable this features with very little effort is so very encouraging to me.  It shows that the plugin framework is robust and manageable.
– I can’t wait to see the next series of plugins that will show up.  Personally, I am very interested in seeing Musicbrainz integration.  Musicbrainz has a very nifty song fingerprinting system that can be used for obscure CD’s that might not be in Apple’s library.  And up until a few months ago, this included Beatles CD’s.    So I used MusicBrainz to determine which album art and which ID3 tags to associate with CD’s I couldn’t get recognized by iTunes.  Again, I would rather work with a community source of metadata rather than a corporation that seeks to “provide” and “manage” metadata about my music.
There are a couple of things that still need to be ironed out before the final 1.0 release.  Some of the add-ons that are available need to be stabilized.  And some of the core needs some performance tweaks.  And I still think there are some race conditions present in hte Vista code.  But I’m sure that will all get ironed out in the next couple of weeks.
But the single largest element that is missing is the tight integration of a music store.  I’m a little conflicted over this item.  Songbird really needs this to be competitive.  But it needs to be done in a way that any number of stores could be used.  I would love to see integration with Wal-Mart, Amazon and a host of others.  But I wonder how that can be done in short order.  In any case, I really would love to see cleaner and sharper purchasing capabilities.  That way, I can buy new songs I find.  I don’t want to go through ridiculous hoops in order to purchase and import music into my library.
Bottom Line: Songbird is an exceptional platform for building an entire music ecosystem.  And its architecture is fundamentally extensible in a way that iTunes never will be.  I can’t wait to see how my new media player evolves.
-Roo