It's official: Dropbox is a hit.
I am a fortunate beta user and I love the product. The cross platform compatibility is priceless and my productivity level have gone up as I work to research several papers due the next month.
To all of the users that have so politely requested invitations: I've dispersed all of my invites on a completely random basis as of right now.
I must apologize to everyone that did not get an invite as well as thank all of those users that have subscribed to my blog.
I'm delighted to know that you all enjoy what I have to say and I've been informed that Dropbox beta users will be getting more invites in the upcoming weeks. When this occurs, I will post and provide all of these invites to whoever wants them.
Stay tuned, tell your friends about my blog and have a great day!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
5 Questions about Digg dynamics
The big news on Digg several weeks ago revolved around the fact that algorithm changed. Whether this was due to people finding out the original algorithm or simply for Digg to ensure that actual user-driven and approved content was hitting the main page is completely up to whoever is speculating.
Over the past weekend, I was watching stories in Upcoming events (pretty lame I know but I was recovering from a nasty cold) as well as checking which stories made it to the Digg Recently Popular (main) page. Of course, the ones with the highest hit count made the page and those with low hit counts ( mine included) traveled into Digg oblivion and later to the back end of some 31,000,000+ hit Google search. (Try Lindsey Lohan)
While making this observation, I also noticed that there were a ton of stories hitting the Digg main page that had never once touched the Upcoming page. Stories from the major news sites, big-hit blogs and the like were flying up the charts.
These stories were getting 1000+ hit counts and they had never once touched the Upcoming page!
5 Questions:
How is this possible?
Why are sites that already getting millions of hit in a day from the sole fact that they are not only running a professionally maintained site but they also have televised news?
Why are sites like MSNBC, CNN, Fox News (this should never make the main page unless it's completely ludicrous!) implementing Digg into their websites?
Have minor bloggers such as myself made that much of impact that we are now trying to be blocked out by the giants?
Is what we say as influential and quality as what they say?
____________________________________________________________________
I'm viewing this as inspirational and something to keep me blogging. News sites feel like they losing a battle that never really was meant to happen. The stories that are climbing through Upcoming page and bringing in hits the "real" way are earning my respect. I have been made friends with a lot of these Diggers and I Digg them!
To my Digg friends: I will Digg you to the top if your material is good! You are all the reason why Digg was started! You have earned my respect and I will Digg you to the end!
To the network news sites: Is it really necessary to infiltrate Digg to boost your "all knowing egos?" I enjoy what you have to write and I read it on your sites. I don't need to read it on Digg as well!
To the major blogs: I'm not criticizing you in the least. You have worked you @sses off and you have reached a level that every blogger wishes to reach. Keep up the great work and, again, I'll Digg you to the end!
To all other Digg submitters: Digg original material. Don't copy crap and call it your own. I don't need to hear from Joe Blow in Peidmont, ND that Apple released SDK when it's been on every major news site, tech site and reputable blogger for the past 4 hours.
Be Creative!
Have a great day!
Over the past weekend, I was watching stories in Upcoming events (pretty lame I know but I was recovering from a nasty cold) as well as checking which stories made it to the Digg Recently Popular (main) page. Of course, the ones with the highest hit count made the page and those with low hit counts ( mine included) traveled into Digg oblivion and later to the back end of some 31,000,000+ hit Google search. (Try Lindsey Lohan)
While making this observation, I also noticed that there were a ton of stories hitting the Digg main page that had never once touched the Upcoming page. Stories from the major news sites, big-hit blogs and the like were flying up the charts.
These stories were getting 1000+ hit counts and they had never once touched the Upcoming page!
5 Questions:
How is this possible?
Why are sites that already getting millions of hit in a day from the sole fact that they are not only running a professionally maintained site but they also have televised news?
Why are sites like MSNBC, CNN, Fox News (this should never make the main page unless it's completely ludicrous!) implementing Digg into their websites?
Have minor bloggers such as myself made that much of impact that we are now trying to be blocked out by the giants?
Is what we say as influential and quality as what they say?
____________________________________________________________________
I'm viewing this as inspirational and something to keep me blogging. News sites feel like they losing a battle that never really was meant to happen. The stories that are climbing through Upcoming page and bringing in hits the "real" way are earning my respect. I have been made friends with a lot of these Diggers and I Digg them!
To my Digg friends: I will Digg you to the top if your material is good! You are all the reason why Digg was started! You have earned my respect and I will Digg you to the end!
To the network news sites: Is it really necessary to infiltrate Digg to boost your "all knowing egos?" I enjoy what you have to write and I read it on your sites. I don't need to read it on Digg as well!
To the major blogs: I'm not criticizing you in the least. You have worked you @sses off and you have reached a level that every blogger wishes to reach. Keep up the great work and, again, I'll Digg you to the end!
To all other Digg submitters: Digg original material. Don't copy crap and call it your own. I don't need to hear from Joe Blow in Peidmont, ND that Apple released SDK when it's been on every major news site, tech site and reputable blogger for the past 4 hours.
Be Creative!
Have a great day!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Are Hackers Good or Evil?
As always, news seems to filter in a little more slowly on the weekends when it comes to sites like Digg and Reddit. The majority of the news stories are from the major classic news sites like CNN and MSNBC. It makes sense right? People are enjoying time with their families, working out, watching a sporting event, reading a book, anything. They are simply decompressing from the previous week and re-energizing for the upcoming week that seems to move in too fast!
Well one of the major news site stories yesterday caught my eye. The reason it did so was the due to the way it was written and what it was written about. The story came from CNN.com and it was about a small group of hackers from China (also known as "crackers" for their ability to crack programming languages and code) who were making a bold statement by supposedly infiltrating several very secure mainframes and databases in the U.S., Germany, Britain and France.
Reports keep filing in that the a surprising amount of information has been lost or corrupt since several hits on the Pentagon last year. Now we come find that these hits aren't coming from one single hacker or a massive group of hackers, but rather a couple of young guys sitting in their apartment in China or any number of smaller hacking "units."
But the real question is: IS THIS A BAD THING?
This group of hackers has found "backdoors" and "loopholes" in government and private company firewalls and have been able to access this with little to no formal training. They simply know how a website works, how to do some simple coding for a vast number of program languages and that's it.
This should be the number one indicator for Fortune 500 companies and governments alike; YOUR SECURITY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!
So why not use this information and start working with the issue. If these guys can break what you spend millions of dollars on to sleep at night, you better start losing some sleep because they will keep breaking it until you fix. They are handing you opportunities left and right and you better be grabbing them now.
My suggestions:
#1. Take sensitive data offline. The last time I checked, I can't say that I've ever heard of anyone walking about the "TOP SECRET" basement at Langley or the White House with a cart full of files and never returning. (This is similar to the Windows notice this week about not putting a password on your machine to ensure no one hacks you.)
#2. You thought you had the "best" working for you; well you just found out you DON'T! These guys are doing this from their apartment for enjoyment and to make a name for themselves. Why not? I'm pretty if anyone could do it and get away with like they are, everyone would do it! I would!
#3. Take advantage and use common sense. These guys are doing that. They are thinking and behaving like anyone with some basic logical thinking capabilities would do.
I didn't view this article as something to be scared off, but rather as a great warning to the governments of the world, Fortune 500 companies and anyone with a website or blog.
Secure yourself online. Take the appropriate measures to make sure you aren't embarrassed. Be smart. Use common sense. No one is completely anonymous.
Think about it!
Have a great day!
Well one of the major news site stories yesterday caught my eye. The reason it did so was the due to the way it was written and what it was written about. The story came from CNN.com and it was about a small group of hackers from China (also known as "crackers" for their ability to crack programming languages and code) who were making a bold statement by supposedly infiltrating several very secure mainframes and databases in the U.S., Germany, Britain and France.
Reports keep filing in that the a surprising amount of information has been lost or corrupt since several hits on the Pentagon last year. Now we come find that these hits aren't coming from one single hacker or a massive group of hackers, but rather a couple of young guys sitting in their apartment in China or any number of smaller hacking "units."
But the real question is: IS THIS A BAD THING?
This group of hackers has found "backdoors" and "loopholes" in government and private company firewalls and have been able to access this with little to no formal training. They simply know how a website works, how to do some simple coding for a vast number of program languages and that's it.
This should be the number one indicator for Fortune 500 companies and governments alike; YOUR SECURITY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!
So why not use this information and start working with the issue. If these guys can break what you spend millions of dollars on to sleep at night, you better start losing some sleep because they will keep breaking it until you fix. They are handing you opportunities left and right and you better be grabbing them now.
My suggestions:
#1. Take sensitive data offline. The last time I checked, I can't say that I've ever heard of anyone walking about the "TOP SECRET" basement at Langley or the White House with a cart full of files and never returning. (This is similar to the Windows notice this week about not putting a password on your machine to ensure no one hacks you.)
#2. You thought you had the "best" working for you; well you just found out you DON'T! These guys are doing this from their apartment for enjoyment and to make a name for themselves. Why not? I'm pretty if anyone could do it and get away with like they are, everyone would do it! I would!
#3. Take advantage and use common sense. These guys are doing that. They are thinking and behaving like anyone with some basic logical thinking capabilities would do.
I didn't view this article as something to be scared off, but rather as a great warning to the governments of the world, Fortune 500 companies and anyone with a website or blog.
Secure yourself online. Take the appropriate measures to make sure you aren't embarrassed. Be smart. Use common sense. No one is completely anonymous.
Think about it!
Have a great day!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Why Do You Blog?
Why do you blog?
Do you do it because you love writing and have a lot of stuff you think someone else in this world of 6+ billion people might want to actually read what you are saying?
Do you do it because you are pretty damn smart when it comes to a topic?
Do you blog because sometimes you just need to let it all out?
Do you blog because someone has asked you to put your thoughts down someplace?
Do you blog because you are just too lazy to write a book?
If you said yes to any of these: CONGRATULATIONS! You are doing exactly what millions of other people are doing and you are doing it for the right reason!
Next question(s).
Have you ever:
Written a blog entry with pretty much the same material as something you've read somewhere else recently?
Written about something you know nothing about just because it was the "hot topic of the day" on Digg/Fark/Reddit or any other user-driven news site?
Wrote a blog entry for the sole purpose of gaining attention, "fame" or just because you are a selfish prick?
If you answered yes to any or all of these, stop what you are doing and re-evaluate why you blog. The blogosphere is full of people who enjoy writing and are good at what they do. They know their "stuff" and there is a reason they are riding high on Digg!
It's amazing how many times I read something yesterday in the Digg Upcoming section about the Apple SDK, iPhone 2.0 and Spore release coming in June and September. I'm sorry but if the technology blogs from websites like Lifehacker, Ars Technica, Wired and Macworld, to name a few, are covering this and providing all the information, why do I need to read it from 32 other bloggers that are just repeating everything that has already been said.
Broken record news reports don't suck people into your blog or website people.
Be creative! Use some ingenuity!
I'll "Digg" you and "Shout" it to all my friends if you come up with something worth reading!
Please return the favor if you agree!
Have a great day!
Do you do it because you love writing and have a lot of stuff you think someone else in this world of 6+ billion people might want to actually read what you are saying?
Do you do it because you are pretty damn smart when it comes to a topic?
Do you blog because sometimes you just need to let it all out?
Do you blog because someone has asked you to put your thoughts down someplace?
Do you blog because you are just too lazy to write a book?
If you said yes to any of these: CONGRATULATIONS! You are doing exactly what millions of other people are doing and you are doing it for the right reason!
Next question(s).
Have you ever:
Written a blog entry with pretty much the same material as something you've read somewhere else recently?
Written about something you know nothing about just because it was the "hot topic of the day" on Digg/Fark/Reddit or any other user-driven news site?
Wrote a blog entry for the sole purpose of gaining attention, "fame" or just because you are a selfish prick?
If you answered yes to any or all of these, stop what you are doing and re-evaluate why you blog. The blogosphere is full of people who enjoy writing and are good at what they do. They know their "stuff" and there is a reason they are riding high on Digg!
It's amazing how many times I read something yesterday in the Digg Upcoming section about the Apple SDK, iPhone 2.0 and Spore release coming in June and September. I'm sorry but if the technology blogs from websites like Lifehacker, Ars Technica, Wired and Macworld, to name a few, are covering this and providing all the information, why do I need to read it from 32 other bloggers that are just repeating everything that has already been said.
Broken record news reports don't suck people into your blog or website people.
Be creative! Use some ingenuity!
I'll "Digg" you and "Shout" it to all my friends if you come up with something worth reading!
Please return the favor if you agree!
Have a great day!
Pricetag on Apps on Apple App Store
Yesterday, the world of the Internet (Digg especially) was filled with all the glorious news that Apple has released an SDK beta system for developers to create third party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The main sales pitch was directed towards businesses and the ability to have a solid all in one device with the iPhone.
This particular move is in response to Blackberry's growing popularity among business people as well as Google's introduction to the mobile world of development with the release of their Android platform a couple months ago.
The release date for the App Store, as well as iPhone update 2.0 (required for use of the App Store), is scheduled for sometime in June.
Now my question: what are apps from the App Store going to cost?
I've used JailBreakMe on my iPod Touch and found that it works great up to a certain point. The point being the fact that it just stops working after awhile and programs begin to crash unexpectedly.
Everything through a "jail broken" iPhone or iPod Touch is being developed at the price of donations by the users. I donate when I feel that an application is great and deserves to evolve through even further development. This is where the problem is. Developers aren't getting paid for their service and therefore the best possible product doesn't hit the market.
Now the App Store is the solution. We pay for the products we want and work with them. Judging from the ridiculous package price of $19.95 for 4 applications on the iPod Touch, I'm going to place the average cost of an app from the App Store at $5.
$5 is decent for a great application that works! Obviously games from EA (like Spore) are going to cost more as well as anything that enables the iPod Touch or iPhone to do something absolutely brilliant (as if they haven't already done so) will cost more as well. But a standard application like a news aggregate or anything that increases productivity will be around $5.
I can handle $5.
I could be wrong though! What do you think?
Have a great day!
This particular move is in response to Blackberry's growing popularity among business people as well as Google's introduction to the mobile world of development with the release of their Android platform a couple months ago.
The release date for the App Store, as well as iPhone update 2.0 (required for use of the App Store), is scheduled for sometime in June.
Now my question: what are apps from the App Store going to cost?
I've used JailBreakMe on my iPod Touch and found that it works great up to a certain point. The point being the fact that it just stops working after awhile and programs begin to crash unexpectedly.
Everything through a "jail broken" iPhone or iPod Touch is being developed at the price of donations by the users. I donate when I feel that an application is great and deserves to evolve through even further development. This is where the problem is. Developers aren't getting paid for their service and therefore the best possible product doesn't hit the market.
Now the App Store is the solution. We pay for the products we want and work with them. Judging from the ridiculous package price of $19.95 for 4 applications on the iPod Touch, I'm going to place the average cost of an app from the App Store at $5.
$5 is decent for a great application that works! Obviously games from EA (like Spore) are going to cost more as well as anything that enables the iPod Touch or iPhone to do something absolutely brilliant (as if they haven't already done so) will cost more as well. But a standard application like a news aggregate or anything that increases productivity will be around $5.
I can handle $5.
I could be wrong though! What do you think?
Have a great day!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Idiot IT Guy in Everyone
Everyone that has been reading my blog for the past year already knows that I have a passion for IT, technology and life in general. I work for the university that I will be graduating from in May and love my IT position.
Knowing that my position needs a replacement in the upcoming months, my supervisor has asked that if I know of anyone that has some potential as a social IT person that I mention that the position is opening up. Well today, I thought I found someone! And then I realized I was COMPLETELY WRONG!
I was working with some corrupt files for a professor and one of the professor's students was sitting in the office working out some test questions. I began my work and came to realize that only a small percentage of the files were corrupt and that it would be nearly impossible to undo the corruption farther than I had already done. The kid in the room chimes in asking if I've tried this procedure and that procedure and I've informed him that I have. I was impressed that he knew the correct procedure and began to inquire into if he was interested in the position that would be opening up. He seemed interested and then he hit me with a load of information that told me he was either way "overqualified" or a complete dumb @ss!!! (I'm going with option 2. Alex)
He mentioned that he was kicked out of two other schools for hacking (I'm going to call B.S. on this one). He also made the offer to "provide" several expensive applications at the cost of...wait for it...free! Hmm...I wonder where and how he was going to do that? Anyone?
This brings me to my point: This kid has learned nothing while in college. If he had been kicked out of school TWICE for hacking, then he shouldn't be at my university in the first place. He should be sitting on a black hat list. Just because you know how to run a BitTorrent to download programs files does not qualify you as a hacker or even a great computer user.
It seems as though there are individuals who know what they are doing and then there are individuals who think they know what they are doing. You either are or are not someone that truly has a passion for IT.
It's not for everyone.
I have a passion the runs deep and I truly want to be able to fix, learn and teach/translate everything to do with computers to everyone that is willing to learn and adapt.
Everyone functions on different skill levels. It's the people, like this kid, that think they know everything there is to know, in a field where the knowledge base grows at an exponential rate, that basically screw up how the IT world works.
Learn and keep learning! Don't brag! The majority of people simply use the computer and expect it to work. Then there is the small percentage of IT people, like me, who work IT and try to make sure that we can understand and fix Anything and Everything that becomes a problem on a computer.
True wisdom comes from the person that can admit that they do not know EVERYTHING!
To the moron I met today: I work as an internal computer consultant and ensure that all network and computer systems are functioning at the level that my clients need. Don't play devil's advocate and bad/dumb @ss to make yourself look good!
You turned into a fool in my book.
Have a great day and let me know what you think.
Knowing that my position needs a replacement in the upcoming months, my supervisor has asked that if I know of anyone that has some potential as a social IT person that I mention that the position is opening up. Well today, I thought I found someone! And then I realized I was COMPLETELY WRONG!
I was working with some corrupt files for a professor and one of the professor's students was sitting in the office working out some test questions. I began my work and came to realize that only a small percentage of the files were corrupt and that it would be nearly impossible to undo the corruption farther than I had already done. The kid in the room chimes in asking if I've tried this procedure and that procedure and I've informed him that I have. I was impressed that he knew the correct procedure and began to inquire into if he was interested in the position that would be opening up. He seemed interested and then he hit me with a load of information that told me he was either way "overqualified" or a complete dumb @ss!!! (I'm going with option 2. Alex)
He mentioned that he was kicked out of two other schools for hacking (I'm going to call B.S. on this one). He also made the offer to "provide" several expensive applications at the cost of...wait for it...free! Hmm...I wonder where and how he was going to do that? Anyone?
This brings me to my point: This kid has learned nothing while in college. If he had been kicked out of school TWICE for hacking, then he shouldn't be at my university in the first place. He should be sitting on a black hat list. Just because you know how to run a BitTorrent to download programs files does not qualify you as a hacker or even a great computer user.
It seems as though there are individuals who know what they are doing and then there are individuals who think they know what they are doing. You either are or are not someone that truly has a passion for IT.
It's not for everyone.
I have a passion the runs deep and I truly want to be able to fix, learn and teach/translate everything to do with computers to everyone that is willing to learn and adapt.
Everyone functions on different skill levels. It's the people, like this kid, that think they know everything there is to know, in a field where the knowledge base grows at an exponential rate, that basically screw up how the IT world works.
Learn and keep learning! Don't brag! The majority of people simply use the computer and expect it to work. Then there is the small percentage of IT people, like me, who work IT and try to make sure that we can understand and fix Anything and Everything that becomes a problem on a computer.
True wisdom comes from the person that can admit that they do not know EVERYTHING!
To the moron I met today: I work as an internal computer consultant and ensure that all network and computer systems are functioning at the level that my clients need. Don't play devil's advocate and bad/dumb @ss to make yourself look good!
You turned into a fool in my book.
Have a great day and let me know what you think.
The Real Reason for the Multi-Touch Switch
Steve Jobs and Apple have had me baffled in recent weeks with the release of the MacBook Air and "redesigned" MacBook and MacBook Pro series notebooks. The "redesigned" aspect includes higher minimum standards to ensure that OS 10.5 Leopard can run seemlessly no matter what machine you have.
The other aspect of design change is the inclusion of the multi-touch touchpad for mouse maneuvering. This is something I never understood. I have the iPod Touch and I am completely in love the multi-touch component of the screen. It allows me to scroll and modify the size and shape of windows and programs. It's an intuitive interface that anyone can pick and use (I truly mean anyone knowing that my grandparents could probably use it and they don't even know what an MP3 is!).
Now, tell me what exactly is the purpose of this on a notebook Mac? Why would I need to be able to use two or more fingers to scroll through documents and websites when I can just as easily click the down arrow with "clicking aspect" of a notebook touchpad or even more simply hitting the down arrow key on my keyboard? Anyone? Answers?
I literally found nothing in terms of definitive answers on this move for Apple and most definitely did not find a decent speculation.
Apple is doing this for a reason but what is it?
Then it hit me: this is for a future purpose and they are simply training all new Mac users for this future upgrade. My speculation is that Apple will be releasing a model of notebook and/or desktop Mac that will have an enabled multi-touch screen/monitor. This is the next step in terms of computing.
Doesn't it seem logical for notebooks? Notebook "mousing" has been an ever evolving entity. Moving from the original IBM "blue ball thingy" between the G and H keys to the classic touchpad to serial and USB mice and now the multi-touch mousepad. The only thing left is the multi-touch screen.
For the skeptics out there. I understand that there have been multi-touch screen tablet PC's and monitors for a couple of years now but they have been plagued with a series of issues and incompatibility problems that no one seems to be able to answer.
Apple is notorious for producing solid products from the beginning and I believe this is the next step for notebooks.
Prove me wrong!
Have a great day!
The other aspect of design change is the inclusion of the multi-touch touchpad for mouse maneuvering. This is something I never understood. I have the iPod Touch and I am completely in love the multi-touch component of the screen. It allows me to scroll and modify the size and shape of windows and programs. It's an intuitive interface that anyone can pick and use (I truly mean anyone knowing that my grandparents could probably use it and they don't even know what an MP3 is!).
Now, tell me what exactly is the purpose of this on a notebook Mac? Why would I need to be able to use two or more fingers to scroll through documents and websites when I can just as easily click the down arrow with "clicking aspect" of a notebook touchpad or even more simply hitting the down arrow key on my keyboard? Anyone? Answers?
I literally found nothing in terms of definitive answers on this move for Apple and most definitely did not find a decent speculation.
Apple is doing this for a reason but what is it?
Then it hit me: this is for a future purpose and they are simply training all new Mac users for this future upgrade. My speculation is that Apple will be releasing a model of notebook and/or desktop Mac that will have an enabled multi-touch screen/monitor. This is the next step in terms of computing.
Doesn't it seem logical for notebooks? Notebook "mousing" has been an ever evolving entity. Moving from the original IBM "blue ball thingy" between the G and H keys to the classic touchpad to serial and USB mice and now the multi-touch mousepad. The only thing left is the multi-touch screen.
For the skeptics out there. I understand that there have been multi-touch screen tablet PC's and monitors for a couple of years now but they have been plagued with a series of issues and incompatibility problems that no one seems to be able to answer.
Apple is notorious for producing solid products from the beginning and I believe this is the next step for notebooks.
Prove me wrong!
Have a great day!
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