Sunday, 16 April 2006
Easter Egg Hunt
Here's a quickie - type "about:mozilla" in the firefox link bar. It's no Excel 97 spacefield egg, but it's pretty cool.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 16, 2006 at 05:16 PM in Cool Stuff, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, 24 March 2006
Google Finance
Google quietly released their online finance tool yesterday and it looks like they've just done for stocks what they did for maps a year ago.
Pretty cool.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 24, 2006 at 09:09 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, 01 March 2006
New paint blocks out cell phone signals
This is cool:
A Rochester, N.Y., company has developed paint that can switch between blocking cell phone signals and allowing them through."You could use this in a concert hall, allowing cell phones to work before the concert and during breaks, but shutting them down during the performance," said Michael Riedlinger, president of NaturalNano.
Using nanotechnology, particles of copper are inserted into nanotubes, which are ultra-tiny tubes that occur naturally in halloysite clay mined in Utah. Combined with a radio-filtering device that collects phone signals from outside a shielded space, certain transmissions can proceed while others are blocked, the Chicago Tribune reported.
However, the wireless phone industry is up in arms over the development.
"We oppose any kind of blocking technology," said Joe Farren, spokesman for The Wireless Association, the leading cell phone trade group. "What about the young parents whose baby-sitter is trying to call them, or the brain surgeon who needs notification of emergency surgery? These calls need to get through."
Wireless Association guy: Shut the fuck up.
NaturalNano paint guy: Get to work on a lotion or something that will make me not be able to hear any of the stupid shit that people say to me. Make me impermeable to ignorance, please.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 1, 2006 at 04:22 PM in Cool Stuff, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
Thursday, 26 January 2006
The World's First Solar Hearing Aid
Here's an excellent example of African ingenuity. Godisa Technologies, a Botswana-based company, has invented the world's only Solar Powered Hearing Aid. In the developing world, getting access to a power point for recharging or a store that sells those tiny hearing aid batteries is not always feasible, so why not just use the sun?
In 1992 the Solar Aid Workshop was started in collaboration with the Botswana Technology Centre to manufacture solar rechargeable hearing aids that could be used by hearing-impaired people living in Africa and other parts of the developing world. Recently Solar Aid changed its name to Godisa in line with the broadening of its product base. Godisa means to do something that is helping others to grow. Its objective is to develop practical technologies for developing countries and to create employment and training opportunities for hearing disabled people.
We manufacture three hearing aids; these use regular zinc air or rechargeable batteries. We've developed a solar power battery recharger and the first No. 13 and low-cost No. 675 rechargable button-cell batteries. The latter can be charged up to 300 times over its two-year lifespan and sells for less than US$1.50.
We meet our mission of lowering the cost of hearing aids and maintenance for everyone.
Along with being the "only manufacturer of hearing aids in Africa and the only one in the world that involves deaf people in the manufacturing process," Godisa is also asking for donations to offer free hearing aids to African children. If this is your thing, contact them via email (content AT godisa DOT org).
Posted by flow Frazao on January 26, 2006 at 09:55 PM in Africa, Cool Stuff, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
U.N. Lends Backing to the $100 Laptop
The sub-$100 laptop - yet another great invention from the nerds at MIT. Of course, my own personal opinion is that before we get started on the One Laptop Per Child program we might want to finish up the whole One Meal Per Child Per Day initiative, but what do I know:
The United Nations on Thursday lent its support to a project which aims to ship inexpensive, hand-cranked laptops to school-aged children worldwide.
Kemal Dervis, head of the U.N. Development Program, will sign a memorandum of understanding Saturday with Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of One Laptop per Child, on the $100 laptop project, at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting.
The program aims to ship 1 million units by the end of next year to sell to governments at cost for distribution to school children and teachers.
UNDP will work with Negroponte's organization to deliver "technology and resources to targeted schools in the least developed countries," the U.N. agency said in a statement.
Negroponte wants to start shipping the cheap laptop, which is to have wireless network access and a hand-crank to provide electricity, later this year. The aim is to have governments or donors buy them and give full ownership to the children.
Negroponte, who is also chairman of the MIT Media Lab, has said he expects to sell 1 million of them to Brazil, Thailand, Egypt and Nigeria.
The laptop is expected to run on an open-source operating system, such as Linux.
The devices will be lime green in color, with a yellow hand crank, to make them appealing to children and, so the thinking goes, to fend off potential thieves.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 26, 2006 at 11:10 AM in Cool Stuff, Microfinancing, Web/Tech, World News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, 15 January 2006
Apple-Related Geek News
A few interesting articles I've come across this morning on Apple:
- Apple Is Bigger Than Dell
- "Apple's value is now greater than Dell's. Of course, even more exciting is that the trajectory of our favourite company is clearly on the rise, while Dell seems poised to merely continue in its sideways trend."
- Signs Point To Apple Cellular Company
- Pointing at the latest trademark applications for "Mobile Me" and the abandonment by Motorola, the article concludes, "Getting into the cellular services business is easier these days, thanks to the likes of Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Cingular, and their support for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). An MVNO is a company that leases bandwidth, infrastructure, and time from a carrier and then rebrands and resells it. The best-known MVNO in the US is arguably Virgin Mobile, which also operates on Sprint's network."
- In-Depth Intel Switch Docs
- Apple Developer Connection has opened a new section on their site, the Developer Transition Resource Center. It contains links to Universal Binary Programming Guidelines, and information about the Intel Core Duo chips. Of particular note to those who troubleshoot Macs and can't go without their trusty firewire diagnostic tools, is information on disk partitions: "The standard disk partition format on an Intel-based Macintosh computer differs from the disk partition format of a PowerPC-based Macintosh computer. By default, internal hard drives on Intel-based Macintosh computers use the GUID Partition Table (GPT) scheme and external drives use the Apple Partition Map (APM) partition scheme. To create an external USB or FireWire disk that can boot an Intel-based Macintosh computer, select the GPT disk partition scheme option using Apple Disk Utility." Looks like that FireWire drive I carry around is going to need to have separate partitions on it now. And what do these APM and GPT changes mean for things like Spotlight Metadata? It's going to be an interesting, that's for sure.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 15, 2006 at 11:47 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 12 January 2006
Indian Call Centers and Ugly Americans
An interesting article on the cultural impact of call-center outsourcing from the Indian perspective. Short summary - Americans don't paint a pretty picture of themselves over the phone:
Saurabh Jha, a blue-jeaned 22-year-old, said a Texas woman phoned recently and told him that thanks to outsourcing, "you are getting money, food, shelter. You should be starving."She berated him for 12 minutes before she allowed him to offer advice that fixed her problem: to unplug her computer and plug it back in. "I was speechless," he said. "She didn't even give me a chance."
The crazy thing is that callers are probably getting a much higher level of service from the Indian call centers. Think about it - who in America is going to take $8 an hour to sit by the phone and field tech support calls? I'll tell you right now, it won't be anybody with a Computer Science degree, that's for sure. But in India, you're likely getting some of the most educated people in the middle class. Not that it makes any difference - it appears most Americans would rather just get pissed off than actually give any real thought to the matter.
As far as I can tell, Americans do a lot of complaining about outsourcing when it's in the context of things like this. However, it's these same people who are lining up and shooting each other at 5 AM in front of the local Wal-Mart when it comes to getting rock-bottom prices on huge piles of imported shit.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 12, 2006 at 04:49 PM in America, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 05 January 2006
Sofware for OS X - Recommendations?
For the past however many years I've been using web interfaces for blogging. I was on blogger back before they were bought by google, and then I made the switch to Typepad. However, I'd like to be able to continue posting while we're in Africa, and I won't be able to do that if I'm dependent on a web connection every time I want to write an update. I guess what I'm looking for is something like Outlook or Thunderbird, but for blogging instead of email.
I've been looking at various blog editors, and right now I've narrowed it down to Ecto and MarsEdit. It's a difficult decision because they both suck in unique ways. Neither app behaves the way it ought to, and they've each got different annoying quirks. Anyway, if anyone out there has any recommendations on a decent Typepad-compatible editor for Mac OS X, I'm all ears.
Also, I need a quick and easy way to take images from my monstrosity of a digital camera (6 MP) and easily convert them to web-friendly size. Ideally I'd like to find a macro where I could just right click on the file in Finder and select "Format for Web" or whatever and have my photo automagically resized to 450px by 300px at a resolution of around 72.
While I'm at it, if there's any other Mac software you can't live without please let me know what it is. I might not be able to live without it either, in which case my life may very well be in your hands. Don't let me down.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 5, 2006 at 12:25 AM in TTSU Maintenance, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 04 January 2006
This Day In Apple History
Did you know that the beginnings of America Online are rooted in Apple? Neither did I:
Apple had every chance to be a major internet service provider and the opportunity was never so obvious as glaring when Apple began project Samuel. The result was AppleLink-Personal Edition. For $6 to $15 an hour users could connect to Apple-centric resources via the phone line. Apple provided the software and marketing while a little known company called Quantum built and maintained the system.Unfortunately Apple and Quantum battled over the vision for the service and during a fat cutting session at Apple, AppleLink was killed. This left Quantum a bit high and dry but Apple compensated the corporation by funding completion of the project. With the Apple out of the way Quantum dumped the Apple branding and renamed the corporation America Online.
Straight from the “Oops, I call do over” department, Apple tried to retake the market it could have dominated with an online Macintosh only service called eWorld. The too little, too late effort was announced the first week of January 1994.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 4, 2006 at 10:52 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thoughts on What the Future Holds for the Non-Profit World
As most of you know, I've been doing a lot of reading over the past few months about microfinancing and the world of non-profits in general. I've learned quite a lot, and it's been a humbling experience to jump into a universe about which I know so little.
One of the themes I've come across repeatedly in my readings is what seems to be a relatively high level of mistrust regarding charitable donations. A week ago I read an article on the anniversary of the tsunami that said over a third of the donations had gone to operating costs for the various organizations. Similarly, I've heard about the same type of behavior (and worse) regarding money donated after 9/11. One can only imagine what we'll be hearing on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Of course, this type of conduct is confined to a small minority of organizations, but it happens enough that it seems to have become a considerable deterrent to people donating money. How many times have you heard somebody say "Yeah, I'd like to donate some money, but who knows how much of that will actually make it to the people in need?"
One of the things I find so exciting about Kiva is the prospect of countering this type of attitude by addressing the problem directly. For the first time, a global technology exists that can reassure people that yes, all of your money is really going directly to a person who needs it. Thanks to regular photos/blogging/email updates, there will be no doubt as to the difference a Kiva donation will have made. I suspect that this will be a very effective way to show people that 30% overhead is not a byproduct of philanthropy, but merely ineffective operating on the part of an outdated model.
My vision is that in the 21st century the days of handing money to a monolithic organization only to watch it disappear behind a curtain will be over. Why shouldn't people keep tabs on their social investments as well as their stocks, bonds, and other assets? There's no reason that people shouldn't expect a return on any investment - be it a financially beneficial or social one. The return might not take on a monetary form, but it is still a return just the same.
In addition to making profit-maximizing investments in companies based on potential financial gain, the 21st century "social capitalist" will also choose to make social-objective driven investments (aka donations) based on potential social gain. For example, while a traditional investment takes into account things like P/E ratios and Morningstar ratings, a socially motivated investment will consider factors such as administrative costs vs. actual services delivered and ratings by independent non-profit evaluators such as Charity Navigator.
Fifteen years ago it would have been impossible to imagine the amount of control individuals now wield over their portfolios. In 1990 who would have thought that Grandmas would be daytrading in their muumuus over a computer without ever having to call a stockbroker or sign a pile of forms?
The same level of control is coming to the non-profit world. People will soon be able to monitor their social investments with as little effort as they now monitor their other assets. The days of enormous organizations siphoning money off the goodwill of regular people are numbered, and I certainly won't miss them when they're gone.
For a more in-depth look at the future of the non-profit world by one of the industry leaders, take a look at this paper by Muhammad Yunus.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 4, 2006 at 01:18 AM in Kiva/VEF, Microfinancing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 03 January 2006
Low-cost Lamps Brighten the Future of Rural India
Until just three months ago, life in this humble village without electricity would come to a grinding halt after sunset. Inside his mud-and-clay home, Ganpat Jadhav's three children used to study in the dim, smoky glow of a kerosene lamp. And when their monthly fuel quota of four liters dried up in just a fortnight, they had to strain their eyes using the light from a cooking fire.That all changed with the installation of low-cost, energy-efficient lamps that are powered entirely by the sun. The GSBF lamps use LEDs - light emitting diodes - that are four times more efficient than an incandescent bulb. After a $55 installation cost, solar energy lights the lamp free of charge.
I read the first few paragraphs of this article and thought to myself, "Now there's an organization that knows how to apply technology and actually solve problems." Wouldn't you know it - they're a branch of the Grameen Bank:
"Children can now study at night, elders can manage their chores better," says Mr. Jadhav. "Life doesn't halt anymore when darkness falls."
The innovative lights were installed by the Grameen Surya Bijli Foundation (GSBF), a Bombay-based nongovernmental organization focused on bringing light to rural India. Some 100,000 Indian villages do not yet have electricity. LED lighting, like cellphones, is another example of a technology whose low cost could allow the rural poor to leapfrog into the 21st century.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 3, 2006 at 11:34 AM in Cool Stuff, Microfinancing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, 02 January 2006
Yet Another Reason Not to Buy A Coldplay CD
Check out the insert from their latest CD:
It's almost as though they don't want you to listen to their album. Fine with me, but my fear is that this type of nonsense may spread to artists that don't suck.
The more I think about it though, the more it seems like the last desperate gasps of a dying music industry. Not a moment too soon, as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 2, 2006 at 04:12 PM in Music, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Techmology - Eez It Good?
Along with more frequent postings, another one of my goals is to become a much more efficient time-waster. I generally spend a few hours a day doing web research on microfinancing, keeping up with the news, checking out the Asian Babe of the Week, and so forth. However, I've decided that I'm just not wasting my time wisely enough.
After monitoring my behavior over the past week or so, I've come to the realization that I use a lot of bandwidth returning to sites to check if they've been updated. With the advent of RSS a few years ago, that kind of thing is no longer necessary. From now on I've vowed that I'll be running an RSS News Aggregator (NetNewsWire is my early preference) to keep me automatically alerted to any updates.
Currently, I'm using it to monitor all my favorite freedom-hater blogs, relevant news stories, and anything concerning Microfinancing. I've got the RSS feeds for Daily Kos, Eschaton, and a couple of other blogs. As for news, I'm continuously monitoring Google News for any articles published by any of the 4500 news sources about Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. Every time a new article is written, this magical application sucks it down off the net and regurgitates it directly into my brain like a well-read mama bird.
I figure it'll also come in handy when we're in Africa and internet connections aren't readily available. With a newsreader, I'll be able to plug in whenever I get a connection, fire up the application and hit "Update" to download all the recent postings. Then I'll be able to read everything offline at my leisure.
My only complaint is that the Asian Babe of the Month doesn't have an RSS feed. Oh well. I guess one can only expect so much from technology.
By the way, this site has been publishing an RSS feed for about two years. The link can by found by doing a page search for the words "Subscribe to this blog's feed" or by simply clicking here.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 2, 2006 at 03:14 PM in Cool Stuff, Me, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 17 March 2005
Say It Loud (I'm Mac and I'm Proud)
I'm pleased to announce that a Google search for "fuck windows" lists this post as number 1 out of 1,140,000.
Could I be any more awesome? I submit that I could not.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 17, 2005 at 02:24 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 16 February 2005
Billet-doux
In light of my recent experience with my Father-in-Law's computer, I decided to send Apple a belated Valentine's day letter:
Then my brother bought a G4 desktop two years ago.
We were living together at the time, and I'd jealously watch him create incredible symphonies (he's a classically trained guitarist) on slick applications while I spent hours each week defragmenting, virus scanning, and spyware-zapping. Oh, and rebooting. LOTS of rebooting.
His computer, on the other hand, never seemed to crash. Even third party software apps were rock solid. When he told me that he hadn't restarted his computer in over a month I pretended not to believe him, but I walked away with my head spinning.
I was forced to consider that the Mac OS (he was running Jaguar at the time) was not only a "real" operating system, but a superior one.
The final straw was the first time I hooked up my digital camera to his computer. iPhoto popped up and there were my pictures. And that was it. I didn't have to install the drivers, restart windows, download the newest drivers and install them, restart windows again in "Safe Mode" and uninstall the old drivers, and then re-reinstall the newest drivers.
It just worked the way it was supposed to.
I was converted. I was working for clients at the time who were PC-based, so I couldn't throw my computer out the window, but I promised myself the next computer I bought would be a Mac.
Fast forward two years.
My wife and I have quit our jobs and have decided to travel around the world a few times. We have digital cameras, MP3 players/recorders, and digital video cameras to document everything. We use iMovie and iDVD to send production-quality movies to our friends and family back home. And we do it all on a tiny, 12-inch silver box called a PowerBook.
And it just works.
Thank you, Apple. And I'm sorry for all those times I said you suck.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 16, 2005 at 08:26 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 15 February 2005
Fuck DBJ.exe
I finally got Pete's computer working last night at around 11 PM. The problems were due to a vast consipiracy including, but not limited to:
- A conflict between a DLink wireless card and his ASUS motherboard,
- TCP/IP and Winsock corruption that was a result of installing/uninstalling the aforementioned wireless card 14 or 15 times in hopes of making it work.
- A worm called wuamgre.exe.
- Another worm called dbj.exe.
After I figured out the DLink conflict and the TCP/IP/Winsock issue, it took me a long time to figure out the other problems. I would be on the internet for a few minutes and then all of a sudden I'd get a "Page Cannot Be Displayed Error." I could still ping out to other websites, but I couldn't get IE or Firefox to work properly. Rebooting or logging out and logging back in would give me another four or five minutes, but that was it. Eventually I found wuamgre and dbj, but it took many many hours.
I suspect that I am one of the first people on Earth who has dealt with the dbj worm. A google search for "dbj.exe" turned up exactly two hits as of this morning at 9:06 AM. Searches for "dbj virus" and "dbj worm" had similar results.
For those who will come after me, I will post my HijackThis log and remedy after the break, but first I will preach:
It is absolutely imperative that you keep your system synchronized with the continuous barrage of Windows critical system updates. Pete's computer was brand spanking new out of the box, and as soon as he turned it on there were TWELVE critical updates that needed to be installed. I suspect the worms that crippled his computer snuck by in the short interval between when he first connected to the net and when I got home a week later and installed the updates.
If you should lapse on this, or get lazy, or decide that you're too cool for updates, you will be punished.
Now, for those poor saps infected with dbj, here's what I did to get rid of it:
If you don't already have it, you must first download a copy of HijackThis here.
Run HijackThis and check to see if there's are lines in there resembling these:
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ff] dbj.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ff] dbj.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ff] dbj.exe
If so, you must reboot into Windows Safe Mode before attempting any fixes. To do this, restart your computer and hit F8 repeatedly while it reboots. Eventually you'll be confronted with a DOS dialog asking you which operating system to boot into. Choose "Windows Safe Mode".
Run HijackThis and check EVERY LINE with a reference to dbj.exe. When you're sure you've got them all, click "Fix Selected" and HijackThis should remove them from the list.
Next, go to Start->Search and search for files and folders named "dbj.exe". MAKE SURE you've got "search hidden files" checked under "Advanced Options" in the search dialog.
It should come up with a file named dbj.exe in C:\WINDOWS\system32\. Rename this file to "dbj.exeFUCKDBJ" (i.e. change the extension so that windows doesn't recognize the file as executable). Or, if you're feeling really saucy delete the file altogether (and remember to empty your recycle bin).
Now restart your computer, and that should do the trick.
For completeness' sake here is my HijackThis log:
Scan saved at 10:41:17 PM, on 15/02/2005
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)
Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCDsrv.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SNDSrvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SPBBC\SPBBCSvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$MICROSOFTBCM\Binn\sqlservr.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\IWP\NPFMntor.exe
C:\Program Files\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\SMAgent.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\CCPD-LC\symlcsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SOUNDMAN.EXE
C:\Program Files\CyberLink DVD Solution\PowerDVD\PDVDServ.exe
C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dbj.exe
C:\Program Files\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\SMax4PNP.exe
C:\Program Files\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\Smax4.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_01\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasServ.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\CyberLink DVD Solution\Multimedia Launcher\PowerBar.exe
C:\Program Files\Belkin\Belkin 802.11g Wireless PCI Card Configuration Utility\utility.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasDtServ.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\-\Desktop\HijackThis.exe
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.ocx
O2 - BHO: NAV Helper - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Norton AntiVirus - {42CDD1BF-3FFB-4238-8AD1-7859DF00B1D6} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SoundMan] SOUNDMAN.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RemoteControl] "C:\Program Files\CyberLink DVD Solution\PowerDVD\PDVDServ.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [InCD] C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] C:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ff] dbj.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SoundMAXPnP] C:\Program Files\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\SMax4PNP.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SoundMAX] "C:\Program Files\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\Smax4.exe" /tray
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_01\bin\jusched.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [gcasServ] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasServ.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Symantec NetDriver Monitor] C:\PROGRA~1\SYMNET~1\SNDMon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ff] dbj.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [Microsoft Update] msconfg.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Microsoft Update] msconfg.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [PowerBar] "C:\Program Files\CyberLink DVD Solution\Multimedia Launcher\PowerBar.exe" /AtBootTime
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ff] dbj.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Belkin 802.11g Wireless PCI Card Configuration Utility.lnk = C:\Program Files\Belkin\Belkin 802.11g Wireless PCI Card Configuration Utility\utility.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_01\bin\npjpi150_01.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_01\bin\npjpi150_01.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O12 - Plugin for .spop: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPDocBox.dll
O23 - Service: Symantec Event Manager - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Password Validation - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccPwdSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Settings Manager - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe
O23 - Service: InCD Helper - Ahead Software AG - C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCDsrv.exe
O23 - Service: Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect Service - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
O23 - Service: Norton AntiVirus Firewall Monitor Service - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\IWP\NPFMntor.exe
O23 - Service: SAVScan - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\SAVScan.exe
O23 - Service: ScriptBlocking Service - Symantec Corporation - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\SYMANT~1\SCRIPT~1\SBServ.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Network Drivers Service - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SNDSrvc.exe
O23 - Service: SoundMAX Agent Service - Analog Devices, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\SMAgent.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec SPBBCSvc - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SPBBC\SPBBCSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Core LC - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\CCPD-LC\symlcsvc.exe
As always, I assume no responsibility for your computer. This worked for me, but if you try my fix and it screws up your computer then tough shit. Don't even think about suing me.
Of course, if it works then I will accept your undying gratitude, your money and possibly your firstborn.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 15, 2005 at 05:44 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Fuck Windows
For those of you who've been reading this site for a while, you know that about 6 months ago I jumped the fence from 10 years of Windows-based computing. In over 10 years of hardcore computing (yeah bitch I said hardcore, the best thing I've done so far is to buy a Mac.
My father-in-law just bought a brand new computer, and I've been working on it for the past 5 days. I have yet to be able to coax this piece of shit into maintaining an internet connection for more than ten minutes straight. First it wouldn't accept a wireless card (my mac was signed onto the wireless network without having to even touch it), then I discovered it was infected by the Rbot worm, and now the Winsock settings keep getting corrupted.
Keep in mind, I have a degree in Computer Science from prestigious Hofstra University. I'm no chump. When it comes to software, I'm Mr. Miyagi.
It's just a matter of time before people realize that Windows is an asslicking nippletwister of a sorry excuse for an operating system. Users have already started abandoning the Internet Explorer browser in droves and downloading Firefox for free. I predict a mass exodus from Windows will be next. One day soon people will realize there's absolutely no reason to spend 3 hours per week performing ridiculous maintenance jobs when they could be sitting back and actually enjoying the computing experience with a Mac.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 15, 2005 at 01:40 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Thursday, 18 November 2004
iDVD Burning Issues
I just burned my first DVD from iMovie using iDVD. It came out great, but I had some weird issues.
I'd edited down my movie perfectly in iMovie, exported it to iDVD, and set up my whole project with menus and everything. Ready to go, or so I thought.
When I clicked "Burn" in iDVD it would ask for a blank DVD-R and I would insert one off my spool of 25. iDVD would then proceed to spin for about 30 seconds and then it would eject my DVD-R.
How rude.
After a couple of times it became apparent that I needed a new game plan. By this point, I was pissed because the only reason I got this PowerBook in the first place was so I could burn DVD footage while I'm travelling the world. It won't do me a lot of good to be able to edit footage from my DV camera if I can't create a DVD out of it.
In the end, it turned out that I was using the wrong kind of blank discs. Don't ask how long it took for me to figure this out, but apparently there are two kinds of blank dvds: DVD-R and DVD+R:
DVD-R/RW was developed by Pioneer. Based on CD-RW technology, it uses a similar pitch of the helix, mark length of the 'burn' for data, and rotation control. DVD-R/RW is supported by the DVD Forum, an industry-wide group of hardware and software developers, and computer peripheral manufacturers. The DVD-R format has been standardized in ECMA-279 by the Forum, but this is a private standard, not an 'industry' ISO standard like the CD-R/RW Red Book or Orange Book standard.
DVD+R/RW is also based on CD-RW technology. DVD+R/RW is supported by Sony, Philips, HP, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha, and others, and has recently been endorsed by Microsoft. DVD+R/RW is not supported by the DVD Forum, but the Forum has no power to set industry standards, so it becomes a market-driven issue.
Technical Answer
DVD+R is a dvd disc that allows multiple layers for one disc where as dvd-r only allows one layer. They will not compete to become the de Facto standard, because they are both here to stay. Multi layer DVD+R can allow extra capacity per disc than DVD-R hence its high cost!
Who knew?
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on November 18, 2004 at 03:09 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 25 August 2004
Google Is Watching
- Everything you search for using Google
- Every web page you visit that has Google Adsense ads on it
- Which country you're in
- Every Blogger page you visit, and the referring page
- If you have an Adsense account
- Your full name, address and bank account details
- The IP address of everyone who visits your pages with Adsense ads on them
- The number of visitors to each of your pages with Adsense ads on them
- Your full name, address and bank account details
- If you use a GMail account
- Who you send emails to
- Who sends emails to you
- The contents of those emails
- The contents of all emails received from any mailing lists of which you are a member, even if they are private mailing lists.
- Who you send emails to
- Even if you don't use a GMail account
- The contents of any emails you send to anyone who does use a GMail account
- The contents of any emails you send to any mailing lists of which any one member uses a GMail account
- If you're a member of Orkut
- Your online social network, interests and groups
Posted by flow Frazao on August 25, 2004 at 01:26 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack