Misc

Network— Your Digital Footprint Is NOT Out To Get You

The info surfaced in this 3 minute video is fascinating. It details the sort of information that can be surfaced by evaluating an individuals aggregate digital footprint.

But in the video’s final moments it takes a wrong turn and tries to explain that all of this information is somehow malignant. I disagree. I think that summation is unfair. Yes, the data is out there. No, it is not inherently destructive or damaging. In the end, all of this information is a part of what we commonly refer to as the internet and that is a resource that has benefitted mankind in ways far greater than the sum of its detriment.

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How Pinger Failed. Is This a Problem with Free Apps in General?

pinger_iconI had a bad experience with an iPhone app recently that I wanted to share.  Partially to warn others to keep an eye on their Pinger app, and partially because it’s a problem that could apply to other “free” apps.  We all need to keep in mind that free apps are free for a reason.  Nothing can remain free unless it can become self supporting in some way.  And when you look at the service or feature that an app provides, often there is infrastructure behind it with associated cost.  It could be a web server with a database, or in the case of Pinger, infrastructure relating to phone number allocation and VoIP gear.

Pinger is a free app for the iOS that provides users with a phone number that will ring through on an iOS device.  Phone calls can be made via VoIP.  But the feature I used was limited to SMS and MMS messaging.  This was all provided free to users.  Pinger makes money, in part, by up-selling its service when users make phone calls to non-Pinger number in select circumstances.

Understandably, Pinger expires a users personal phone number after 30 days of non-use.  30 days seems like a rather limited window of opportunity but that’s their policy and their decision to make.  My problem was that my number was taken away at the end of 30 days without so much as a warning.  In the past, I had received a message warning me that I was nearing the end of 30 days and would lose my number if I didn’t use the Pinger app.  So I would use the app and all was well for the foreseeable future.  I was confident that the number that many of my friends used the contact me was relatively reliable.
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What Did We Learn in 2012?

Looking at the site logs this morning I found a spike in traffic from last night.  Digging into the logs I found that The Guardian, a popular online publication in the UK did a story titled “Lessons the tech world learned in 2012.”  The story covers some of the big ouch moments that made headlines in 2012.  But it was lesson #8 that brought the spike in traffic to Maclive.net.

Lesson #8 was titled “If you want privacy keep off the net. Or at least encrypt your stuff.”  Needless to say, the finger was pointed at former CIA Director David Petraeus.  There was a lesson to be learned there.  But when the Guardian made note of the complexities of encrypting ones email, they linked to our post.  That’s where the surge originated.
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Click and Drag: One of the Coolest Web Comics Ever!

I’m not entirely sure what to call this, but lets go with “web comic.”  I know this site, xkcd.com has a devoted following, but today was the first that it came to my attention.  I heard it mentioned on an episode of Tech News Today.  This comic lets you click and drag, essentially panning around on a tremendously large image.  The image seems to go on forever.  It is simple black and white imagery and pure brilliance.  It is virtually endless fun to look at.  Hats off the artist.  This is genius.

Here’s a sample of the artwork.  But you need to hit this link to see the full wonder that is titled simply, Click and Drag.

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Steve Jobs: The Biography (42 weeks and counting)

The Steve Jobs biography has been on the New York Times best seller list since its release.  As of today, that’s 22 weeks and counting!  Though it has recently dropped to number 5 on the list, this is an amazing achievement.  The book was authored by Walter Isaacson, and by his own admission (and detailed early on in the book), he was very reluctant to write the biography and put off Jobs requests for some time.

There have been numerous reviews of the book.  Some calling it an amazing look behind the scenes of Silicon Valley.  Others claim that the story would have been better told by a writer more technically savvy.  But despite the criticism and the praise no one can debate that the timing of the biographies release was nothing short of Steve’s standard for exemplary showmanship.  Plus the book is packed with drama detailing the turmoil of Jobs very private life.

All of that aside, 22 weeks on the best seller list and still counting?  Outstanding!

Update: 5/14/12 @ 10:02am
As of today, the Steve Jobs book remains on the best seller list at #14.  This 28 consecutive weeks and counting.

Update: 7/27/12 @ 4:45pm
As of today, the book has remained on the list for 39 consecutive weeks and has also climbed back #3 on the combined print & e-book nonfiction list.  It has moved to #6 on the stardard hardcover nonfiction list. This book has amazing staying power!!!

Update: 8/28/12 @ 9:15am
Talk about staying power.  The book has yet to leave the list.  We are at 42 consecutive weeks and counting.  Current position: #9.

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Back to Regular Posting

Ok, it has been far too long since I’ve had time to post on the site.  I really hope to change that now.  So many things have happened since I fell off the wagon (stopped having time to post).  Mac OS X 10.5 has actually shipped and there have been a series of patches that have really refined it and eliminated bugs.

One of the other major topics that I have posted about in the past, and received a great deal of email asking for further information on the subject relates to keeping several computer synced.  The need to keep a portable computer up to date with the latest data from the other computers in other locations has been key.  We have some new software to examine there as well.

Then we have VPN solutions.  Several posts centered around Hamachi as a great point-to-point VPN solution.  Since its release for the Mac, Hamachi hasn’t really gone anywhere.  This is very unfortunate.  There is a command line version of the software and it works.  But its not what the average Mac user is looking for.  We want a GUI (graphical user interface).  In an upcoming post we’ll take a look at what’s happened in the world of Hamachi and other VPN solutions.

In any case, I’ve been away for far too long.  Now I should be settling back into the fold and should have more time to start posting about some of the more popular topics.
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Steve

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Why I Think Change Is Good

The following information has no real value.  I just found it to be an interesting way to save money.  Since I just finally learned the results of my effort, I thought I would share.

At the end of each day, I take the spare change in my pocket and toss it in a jug.  Nothing odd there.  I know a lot of people that do the same thing.  But when I emptied it (actually I made Carrie empty it) this week, I (she) found a dated note in the bottom that had the date the most recent iteration of the experiment started.

That’s when I recalled why I put the note there in the first place.
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Microsoft’s Mac Envy

Does Microsoft really have Mac envy?  Informationweek.com had an interesting post dealing evidence that surfaced in a recent anti-trust case against Microsoft.  The documents disclosed included correspondence between Microsoft evangelists, Microsoft executives and Vista project manager Jim Allchin.  According to the Informationweek article, the documents were written following some Windows evangelists return from the Apple World Wide Developers Conference back in June of 2004.

Among the more interesting points in the documents were observations concerning Mac OS X 10.4’s new file search capabilities, video chat, and desktop widgets.  The documents detailed Microsoft’s understanding that they needed to raise the bar on past efforts before making their beta demonstration in September of 2005 at the Professional Developers Conference.  It became obvious that the Windows Vista (then known as Longhorn) beta that that planned to display to the public would be very quickly compared to Mac OS X and if efforts weren’t doubled, Microsoft would be left with nothing but bad press.

The story doesn’t explain how this information is relevant to the anti-trust case, but it’s sure to be a feather in the cap of Mac evangelists around the world.  Mac users have long alleged that Microsoft developers have liberated some of their most innovative technologies from the Apple campus.  Court cases have found truth in these rumors in the past and it seems that tangible evidence has once again surfaced.

Its no wonder that, given this information, Apple engineers have been ultra-secretive about the features of the upcoming revision to Mac OS X.  Version 10.5 is said to include some truly revolutionary innovations.  Apple has even stated its desire to keep these new technologies under wraps to prevent competitors from “firing up their photocopiers.”

Checkout the Informationweek story here.  Its an interesting read.  Be sure to send the link to every one of your Windows using buddies too!

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Steve

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How to Delete Autofill Options in Firefox

Mozilla recently released Firefox 2.0.  While the esthetics of the changes were minimal, the browser has clearly come a long way.  With 2.0, the interface icons are more refined and the tabs look a little more polished.  Perhaps the most impressive and long overdue feature to be added is spellchecking.  But for all of its refinements, sometimes Firefox still manages to leave me frustrated.  In this case, the browsers autofill feature can be problematic.

Firefox’s autofill feature can make filling out web based forms a breeze.  It can also drive one quite insane.  Since filling out forms can sometimes be tedious, Firefox routinely caches recently used values specific to any given form field.  This can be a real time saver for people who need to login to password protected areas of different web sites.

But what happens when mistype your username a single time?  Suddenly you visit your login screen and Firefox no longer autofills in your login information.  Clicking in the field reveals a list of possible user names where there had once only been your own.  Now you must select either the correct login name from the list of options, or your typographical error.  Why should you be forced to look at your typo every time you login?  Isn’t there a way to deleted the incorrect value?

Search Firefox all you like… you simply won’t find a place to clean up the values stored in the autofill for forms.  But if you know the trick, its actually very easy to remove the unneeded autofill options from any given field.

When clicking on the offending field (or sometimes double clicking), a list of autofill options will appear.  Simply use the keyboards arrow keys to travel down the list until the erroneous value is highlighted.  Then, just hold down the Shift key and strike the Delete key.  That value will no longer appear in the form field as an autofill option.

This a simple and powerful feature that is simply not well documented.  Autofill options are great time savers, but they can also be the source of great frustration.  This simple tip can prevent annoyance while restoring productivity.

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Steve

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