The Perils of the Early Adopter

I wanted a tablet.

As much as I liked my iPhone, I wasn't sure I wanted an iPad. I also wasn't too comfortable with an Android device. So I bought a Dell Inspiron 10 tablet, mainly because I have a Dell account with a small balance.

So how is it?

With one exception, the hardware is great.  The exception? The USB ports won't read a single one of my flash drives.  Not one. I know they work, because the keyboard portfolio can be powered from it. The tablet has bluetooth, and it can pick up one of the AT&T phones in the house.  It doesn't pick up the keyboard portfolio either. (I tried to write a review on the Dell website, but when I wrote it was a piece of crap, Dell flagged it as containing profanity.  I changed crap to poo and it was acceptable.) Nor does it pick up my Backbeat headphones. Fortunately, the SD slot works, so I can put stuff on the tablet.

The main problem with the tablet is the software.  Big surprise, right? Windows 8 actually works pretty well. I like the way the tiles can be arranged and resized. I like that I can change the lock screen picture.  And while I can change the desktop image, I can't change the background the tiles are on. Poo.

Like other Windows products, 8 occasionally locks up and the tablet has to be rebooted. It's kind of inconvenient when checking your mail, though. Speaking of mail, Microsoft hates POP mail.  Windows 8 does not support the POP address your ISP provided you.

I tried downloading Open Office and Chrome, but guess what run on Windows 8?  That's right.  Both of them!

The Windows store seems full of apps. A lot of free ones, but ones that should be free cost $4.99.  I refuse to pay $4.99 for Angry Birds Star Wars edition!  I wish there were more useful apps. I have some great apps on my iPhone, but they don't seem to have Windows equivalents.

I've only had it a week, so hopefully, I'll get more used to it.

FINALLY!

Google Chrome for Linux is here!

I have done it.

I have taken the cup of Vista Kool-Aid™ and drank it down.

My old computer kept crashing whenever I tried to sync my iPhone™. I was going to buy a new computer next year, but Dell's Black Friday (henceforth known as "America's Running of the Bulls") special was just too tempting. For $380 plus tax I got a screaming fast new computer.

Yesterday I imported all my old settings and files over to the new computer (I named it "Arale", to fit with the Ubuntu Linux box I named "Cherry Poptart."). However, after the import I realized that the login name is different on the old computer, meaning that the files I imported over under the old name don't work on the new login name--including my iPhone!

I guess that over the next few weeks I will learn exactly how much I know about computers.

So what do I think of Vista after all the bashing I have done? It's okay. It has a dock, like OSX does. It's not as sexy as the OSX dock, but it has one. And they have changed the way the files are arranged to make it more Mac-like. For example, I have a hard time finding what used to be called "My Documents." Now it's simply documents and you kinda have to know where it is to find it, which is incredibly frustrating. Just like a Mac.

While I understand that companies I deal with online wish to protect themselves from lawsuits regarding the loss of consumers' data, I do have a gripe about the way they try to protect themselves.

Recently, I tried to pay my Sprint bill online. I haven't tried to access my account online for several months. I used to log in with my phone number and a password. Today, I had to create a new username and password, plus create and answer security questions.

Well, I'm glad their system is more secure. I just had to add a new line to my passwords file that I carry around on a thumb drive. I can no longer keep usernames and passwords in my head, I actually have to write them down.

Let me see if I understand: In order to make my passwords more secure, I should have to make them so complicated that I have to write them down so that all anyone has to do is take a piece of paper from my desk?

When I finally did hear from Sprint, who I have been a customer of for almost 8 years, they told me that in order to pay my bill, I have to name myself as the account administrator.

Sure would have been nice if they had said that somewhere on the site, instead of "Pay Bill Now" link that kicks you out of the system with no explanation.

Want to know why I won't be using Vista? Because Micro$oft treats me like a software pirate, even with software I own, and hardware I purchased. Case in point: James Bannan replaced the video card in his computer to work with DirectX 10, which didn't work on his old card. He got an email from Microsoft saying he would have to reactivate his legally purchased and already activated copy of Windoze. But, because his activation key was already in use, by him, he had to call Micro$oft to reactivate. Turns out, several software updates added up to a changed system, which to Micro$oft, means pirated software.

The problem with using device drivers as the basis for activation information is that a change in the driver model which has the result of changing the way that the hardware information is reported back to Windows can be enough to register as a physical hardware change.

For example, if you install and activate Vista using some Microsoft drivers downloaded from Windows Update (which is a very common practice) but then discover that a manufacturer driver gives better functionality (as is often the case for audio, video, storage and network drivers) you are running the risk that the drivers use different reporting models and will register as a physical change.

So what this essentially means is that keeping your drivers up-to-date is a potentially very risky process, with all changes monitored and changes weighted cumulatively.

. . .

Volume Activation 2.0 has not yet been cracked, but now it doesn’t need to be. There’s an official workaround for OEMs and the result is that anyone with a few minutes to spare can download a fully-functional pirated copy of Vista Ultimate (32-bit and 64-bit versions) which needs neither product key nor activation.

So pirates haven’t been slowed down at all, and the rest of us -- the legitimate purchasers -- are left to live with Windows Activation.

So, Bill, thanks for the new version, but no thanks. I am about to put more memory into my old XP system, and I'm glad it will continue to work after I've finished.

Pic from MacDesktops.net.

My mom has a Dell Dimension 4500S. For the last few months it has been sslllooooowwwwww! Start the computer then sit down to read a magazine. Once it's started, double click the icon to launch a program and go cook dinner. I have taken as much of the spyware as I could get off it, and she has burned all of her photos to some discs, and the hard drive is half empty. I have defragged the hard drive a couple of times. Turns out, this thing only has 128K of RAM! Why did it appear to move faster last year?

I order a 1 GB memory card to put in the computer. It should arrive tomorrow. I hope it helps. What I think will really help will be to reinstall Windoze.

A friend of mine sent me this email:

Help!! I just exchanged links with a guy and he has asked the following:

Many thanks for the link. But I have a request,please shift my link to the page having at least PR-2 i.e please shift my link to this page [redacted]

What on earth is a PR-2? Queenie

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but people think I do. Here's what I replied:

Google "Page Rank."

The guy wants a link from your higher ranked front page rather than your unranked link page (which I seem not to be on, I notice).

The theory is that his page will be ranked higher in Google's Page Rank if the link comes from a page with a higher number. Fer instance, my events blog has a page rank of 3. By me linking to you, that theoretically boosts your page rank. The corollary to that theory is that links from an unranked page reduces the page rank of the page that is linked to.

To put it another way: If you hang around with the popular kids, you are popular. But if you hang around with the nerds, well, you aren't.

I don't put much stock in it, myself. Google periodically adjusts its page rank system. I used to have a page rank of 4. Then they did something and I went down to 3. GHS has a page rank of 4 on the front page. None of the property pages rank at all.

Another ranking system is Alexa. GHS has an Alexa rating of 665,005. You are unranked there. My events blog is ranked 14. What does that mean? Beats the shit out of me.

Your response should be "I have removed you from the links page. Cheers!" or "All outgoing links go on the 'Links' page." He doesn't dictate your website design.

Have another question with a longwinded answer?

Does anyone have any insight into the whys and wherefores of Google Page Rank?

Let's talk about the First Amendment today. Well, a part of it, anyway.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

I have the right to say anything I want to, as long as it isn't libelous, about anyone I want to. On my homebrewing blog I wrote that I didn't like Shiner 98. Someone bravely posted a comment accusing me of having no taste and of being a talentless hack. And they bravely posted it as "Anonymous". While I don't dispute his assessment of my skills, that person's definition of Freedom of Speech is that no one should say anything that disagrees with him.

He's not alone. There are people who want the government to stop Fox News. There are people who are boycotting the advertisers of Fox News to stop them from talking. People want to silence Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter. That's the new "Freedom of Speech?"

I use Firefox. I also use the Adblocker add-on. AdBlocker allows me to filter the ads on websites so that I don't have to see them. Advertisers are beginning to get angry at this technology, because apparently I am infringing of their Freedom of Speech, and will probably begin litigation to eliminate these filters.

Since when has Freedom of Speech become the Right to be Heard?

Don't like Fox News? Don't fucking watch it. Some people like it, and by silencing Fox News you are imposing your morality on them.

Don't like ads? I don't want to see ads for Cialis and Viagra on every web page I visit. By configuring my adblocker to block ads from doubleclick.com, am I doing anything wrong? No. I do not have to listen or see those ads, and should be allowed to block them. Essentailly, I turn off the ads on one computer. I'm not stopping my neighbor from seeing them on his machine.

Mike Zanis, the Interactive Advertising Bureau's vice president of public policy said, "People are free to ignore ads, and they often do that, but when you have a third party blocking those ads, that's the real problem."

No, Mike. AdBlocker blocks nothing by default. I have to add something to the block list. AdBlocker lets me decide what I want to see. It is the Internet version of the V-chip. you know, that Clinton-era panacea for the crime problem and solution for busy parents everywhere? You make have a right to advertise on the Internet. I have the right not to see it.

Hmmm. Safari on Windows. Satan must be looking for a really heavy coat about now, since Hell has frozen over. Here's Chris Pirillo's take on it.

http://live.pirillo.com/ / http://chris.pirillo.com/media/

My two month long experiment with Ubuntu is producing some results, though not quite what I'd hoped.

Overall, it's been enjoyable except for four problems:

1. My scanner doesn't work. Even though Xsane supports my particular scanner, everytime I try to use the program it starts, then closes, leaving me looking at the desktop.

2. Gnomad crashes everytime I try to open or create a playlist. I never get the chance to try to save it to my MP3 player.

3. In a related note, if I try to create a bug report about these two problems, and try to upload the error log, my cable connection falls to a trickle, and Firefox displays a "Cannot connect to Server" message.

and 4. I use Photoshop to finish my comic art pages. While Gimp is a good program, it does not do thing that Photoshop does. I haven't tried to install WINE, so I haven't tried that. But based on my Gnomad and Xsane experiences, I am not sure how well it will work.

I'm not about to give up the ghost just yet, though. I'm not planning to upgrade to Vista, so I will have to make the switch eventually. Maybe Feisty Fawn will fix some of the problems I'm having.

I have a second hand laptop that I would like to switch over, but Ubuntu doesn't like my WiFi card. It sees it. It can tell me who made it. But for some reason, Ubuntu doesn't power up the slot it goes into.

C'mon Feisty!

I have a second hand Dell laptop that I use for travelling and lounging around the house. The other morning, I set the laptop on the dining table, pressed the power button and went to get coffee. When I got back, nothing. So I pressed the power button again. Same thing. Great! I think., Now I need a new laptop! (Actually, there may have been cursing involved. My memory is a bit fuzzy.

Our office uses Computer Service Center in Kerrville to maintain our office computers, so I gave Tim a buzz. Tim said he didn't work on laptops, but he had used BJ Associates in San Antonio, and he recommended them.

I contact Dave at BJ Associates who sends the me the necessary shipping forms. I pack up the laptop and send it off. A few days later, they contact me and tell me that I need new memory. They replace and ship it back to me via FedEx.

So if you are in South Texas or the Hill Country and you have laptop problems, give BJ Associates and shout. I was extremely happy with their service.

And no, they did not pay me to say that.

I am a part-time geek. I try to keep aware of the latest fads and trends, but don't often actually keep up. I don't have a IM program, for example, but I know a bit about what's out there. Ever since the demise of Tech TV and The ScreenSavers, I stopped keeping up.

I was happy to discover DL.tv. Patrick Norton and Robert Heron, Tech TV Screen Savers, host the show, and it brings back a lot of fond memories. As an added bonus, it's a fun show, too.