MidKnight Gallery

Despite my long standing love-hate relationship with Windows (hey, it made me a living, and there are some things it does well) and even my agreement with many in the Windows community about how “good” windows Vista is, there is the occasional piece of software that only runs in Windows.

I’ve finally found one that I’m frustrated doesn’t have an equivalent to use on my Macs: the photo screensaver that comes with the Google Pack. It peruses an online folder or a folder in Picasa and scatters them like polaroid shots across your desktop. So while I’ve got screensavers that will show pictures from iPhoto and Flickr, there are none that show them the way that I see them on my Windows machine.

DWBlog, from the maker of NewsFire (the first RSS reader to hook me before I outgrew its feature set at the time) has an entry on a subject that I’ve often felt conflicted about: product activation. In many ways, I agree with his points, even this one:

What activation allows is for reasonable limits to be placed on licenses. One has to realize that people will try to pirate software, and that in cases of rampant abuse it must be possible to stop the bleeding. The use of activation means that while honest users are given very liberal boundaries, rampant and excessive abuse can and will be stopped. 99.99% of users will never have an issue. In the few cases where the liberal boundaries are broken, there’s probably something suspicious happening.

First of all – I absolutely loathe “copy protection.” In software this is the practice of deliberately manufacturing a CD or other disk so that it violates the spec but is still readable – on the majority of readers – but the “bad” sectors can’t be copied. Time after time this has resulted in disks that are bought and paid for that don’t work on some fairly small subset of perfectly functional CD-ROM drives. Given software return policies at most stores this is usually money down the drain. In the music industry this has resulted in everything from CD’s that won’t play in the fancy DVD/CD player you now use for your home system or in your car stereo, to CD’s that run software to prevent your computer from reading the audio tracks. Some of the latter, such as the Sony rootkit, have gone as far as completely hijacking your computer.

To add insult to injury, if anything happens to the original media – it gets scratched or your 4-year old decides it makes a shiney frisbee – you are stuck, with no recourse, because you cannot back it up.

That said, I think every software distributor deserves to be paid for his work if you use his product. That leaves us with the question of what is fair value and how to best enforce the programmers/distributors end of the bargain.

He’s right. programmers need a way to tie “you paid for this” to “you can use this,” and serial numbers are so easily distributed and cracked that it’s practically worthless. My point of disagreement with his article is the following – many people pushing activation and digital rights management are very restrictive in their activation licenses, and the boundaries are not liberal and are very easy to slam into. There are also other issues relating to activation vs. serial numbers that can make it a pain to use and need to be addressed.

Let me get one triviality out of the way. There are a few other methods of piracy prevention. One that is common with higher-end and specialty software (Lightwave, Nobeltec) is to use a “dongle.” The huge disadvantage with this methodology is the same as copy protected media – if the key is lost or damaged then poof, no software. That said, it allows you to install a copy on several machines that you may sit at use the software at whichever one simply by bringing the key along.

Another method is to not even bother. Apple takes this approach with a good percentage of their software, though not Aperture and their “pro” apps. The sci-fi publisher Baen Books, one of the few to make significant money off of ebooks not only doesn’t lock theirs down at all, but gives away an entire “free library,” the better to hook you with. All of the books are available in numerous, standard, easy-to-transfer formats. If you want to know why they did this:

If I can’t make a living as a writer by the quality of my writing outweighing any losses I might suffer from theft — without trampling all over blind and crippled people in order to stop the theft — I’ve got no damn business being a writer in the first place. I’ve still got my tool box, and I haven’t forgotten how to be a machinist.

Eric Flint

Entire pages of this material on copyright and why they did the ebooks the way they did are available at the old Library still available at: http://www.baen.com/library/ under “Prime Palaver.”

Back to our topic. Our remaining issues are these: What constitutes fair use and what problems does “activation” bring to the table for users?

With serial numbers/etc. if you lose the number, well, you’re toast. That said, it’s easy if you’re reasonably careful to keep duplicate copies of your serial numbers and disks so that if anything happens, you can still install and use the program.

What happens if the company providing the software or service goes away or is bankrupted, and the computer you originally installed the program on had to be replaced or reinstalled? Suddenly, even though you have a product bought and paid for that you can reinstall off of your backup discs, you can no longer use the program because there is no activation/authentication database to activate it against.

This to me is the biggest achilles heel of any centralized activation system, and one reason why despite the weaknesses of serial numbers, etc., I avoid “activation”-based schemes where possible.

Lest you think I’m merely fearmongering, even worse is already happening. Google just shut down their pay-for-download video service. Everyone who bought a movie through the service will no longer be able to play those videos because Google will not even continue to run the authentication servers for the rights management embedded in the movies. Since they can’t verify the copies are authentic and on the approved computer – they will not play. Google may decide to do something different, but right now they are only giving partial credits towards new purchases that expire after 60 days. At least with iTunes you can backup your music store purchases to a real CD that can get re-ripped, in the event the iTMS gets shut down – and your music will also still keep playing on any authorized computers.

So what is fair use? Obviously, that depends on what the software maker decides, to some extent. The blogger that inspired this article obviously “gets it.” Some of his products feature “family pack” pricing that allow several users in a household to use the program without buying entire separate copies. Apple does the same with OSX. For $200 you can buy a family pack for up to five users instead of the usual, one-user standalone copy that goes for $130. Contrast this with the price of Windows, which “mere mortals” like us can only get one very expensive copy at a time. While required to have some sort of DRM for the iTunes Music Store, Apple made the policies very liberal by any other retailers standards: You can burn a song to CD any number of times, just not the same playlist more than 7 times. A song you buy on iTMS can be copied to, authenticated, and used on up to 5 computers. Songs can be shared via streaming to however many computers are practical that are also running iTunes.

This concept is just perfect for a typical household. it is becoming more and more common to have multiple computers in a house. I personally have two: a workstation at home and the laptop I use on-site. Ponying up for two copies of everything just so I can use it as the sole user where and when I need it at the best computer for the job is ridiculous. So is having to pony up for separate full-price copies of an office suite just so the kids don’t have to take over my workstation to work on a school project – one more reason I’ll be getting the newest version of iWork. I’d gladly pay extra for Windows if it gave me the right to run several copies concurrently in virtualization or on several computers in my household. As it is – I don’t buy the extra copies (still running a w98 and a w2k machine) – and MS will get an even smaller cut via Dell or a similar vendor when I finally do replace my computer.

Piracy is an issue that needs to be addressed. The problem is that many of the cures are either only marginally effective, or worse, actively interfere with your ability to use a product you paid for. A lot of software vendors could look to Apple and Baen for ways to effectively deal with piracy without ruining their own image – by providing a better value for the reality of how people wish to use the software they paid for, and being very careful not to step on the toes of those self-same customers.

S is for… (continued)

SilverKeeper: This backup uitlity is far from perfect, especially since it does not preserve my metadata and tags as well as I’d like. What it DOES do though, is back up my files from my internal hard drive to a windows-style share on my linux box, only copying updated or new files and deleting removed files, without any hiccups. This, combined with a rotating snapshot script, allows me to keep a copy of my disk as it was last night, the night before, last week, last month, etc. You may also want to look at iBackup.

Spanning Sync: A background program you control through your system preferences. This allows you to synchronize your Google calendars with your iCal calendars in a way that is effectively transparent. I’m not sure you can give much better praise than that.

Stellarium: A software toy that allows you to look at the night sky at any given hour, at any given place in the world, at any given time rate, and point out the moon, constellations, planets, and major objects visible to the naked eye and binoculars. Slick, simple, and plain pretty to look at.

Synk: I use this to perform two-way backups with metadata between my laptop and a share on my main desktop. This allows me to dump any data I need to keep backed up into a “transfer” folder on my laptop and know it will get backed up.

T is for…

TextMate: This is a program for people like me who feel like we spend far more of their time in front of a computer looking at and working with code than most anything else. Text editing isn’t sexy. It’s not “cool”. Having an editor that fits like a glove and can be customized to work the way you want to work is absolutely essential. I gladly bought and paid for this editor after learning how to use it (30-day trial). It’s sole weakness for me is the printing output, which is nowhere near as flexible or configurable as it should be compared to the free TextWrangler. That said, there are other options that people swear by, including TextWrangler (a tool I’ve used for years), BBEdit, and SubEthaEdit.

TextWrangler: This free little brother to BBEdit replaced BBEdit Lite, and is so powerful that it’s almost hard to justify paying for a full-blown editor until you are heavily involved in coding on a regular basis and really need some of the power-user features like code block folding. I keep it around these days because it’s printing is still prettier and more flexible than TextEdit‘s.

TinkerTool: A small program that gives you access to a number of the Macs  hidden features that are otherwise only available using the command line in the terminal, including letting you easily see hidden files.

Transmit: My overall favorite FTP program, used to upload web pages to websites and do large file transfers across the internet. Cyberduck is also worth a look (and free), and Interarchy is also really a good program – though I was forced to stop using it due to unresolved issues (at the time) when accessing windows-based WebDAV servers. Since I’d already happily used transmit for many years before that,and it currently fit my needs, I haven’t looked back.

Twitterific: Twitter is one of those services I’m not sure if I love or hate. I find I don’t update as often as many other people, I can’t stand being constantly interrupted by the public stream, but few things, even facebook, really give you a general feel for how a friends life is going anywhere near as well as Twitter. Twitterific is a mac-based program from the Icon Factory (makers of wonderful icon packs and the incredible Pixadex software for organizing them, among other tools), that floats on your desktop mostly out of the way, and allows you to get, send, and reply to “tweets” in a convenient manner.

U is for…

Unplugged: A battery management aid, this is another love-or-hate item. It may seem redundant, but I’ve been bitten enough by the “my laptop is still plugged in but someone turned out the power to the wall outlet while it was asleep” issue that having a reminder pop-up to tell you that it’s no longer geting power/plugged in is something I find really, really useful.

V is for…

Vienna: RSS readers have effectively replaced usenet readers as a way for geeks, and now non-geeks, to keep up with the headlines from a number of papers, blogs, and other information sources. Vienna for the Mac is as intuitive as any of the others I’ve used (NetNewsWire, Pulp Fiction) More reliable than most (Pulp Fiction – I’m looking at you), and best of all, free.

VMWare Fusion: A virtual machine allows you to run a completely different operating system (windows, linux, etc.) inside of a window or full-screen without having to reboot your computer. As a result of this I no longer have to turn to another machine to test my web-design work in a Windows environment. VMWare is the big player in virtual machines on the Windows side, and though they got into the Mac market late, they have a solid product. The choice between Fusion and the Parallels Desktop is mostly one of style. The configuration for Fusion feels more intuitive for me, and their slow-but steady approach to adding features is one I appreciate. That said, Parallels headlong plunge into the market and into adding useful features for the consumer has kept VMware on its toes as well as ensured reasonable prices for Fusion, despite a few bugs cropping up along the way. Check them both out.

W is for…

Weird Worlds: An oddball little game of space exploration that has you search planets for artifacts and meet alien races. Sometimes you kill them.

X is for…

Xyle Scope: If you are a web designer, this program is invaluable. It allows you to quickly and easily determine exactly what style and other rules are making your page look the way they do. It even allows you to make temporary changes to the stylesheet rules on the fly so you can observe their effects.

Z is for…

Zterm: Only the geekiest of admins will need this, but you know who you are. Yes, you, the guy who has a USB – serial adapter and needs to console into a cisco router before it’s ever been put on the network.

Honorable mentions:

Yep!: I personally haven’t paid for this yet, but I still may. It skims your drive for all available PDF files, tags them by folder and file name (and allows you to add other tags) and makes it ridiculously easy to find a PDF file almost anywhere on your computer and take quick sneak peeks without opening up and transitioning between programs. Given that nearly every page you see can be saved to a PDF to easily keep electronic copies, this should be a no-brainer, but barely misses out for two reasons. First, OSX 10.5 will have similar quick-peek functionality. Second, this is limited to PDF’s only. Word documents, JPEG’s and TIFF’s need not apply.

Freeverse, and Ambrosia Software: Ambrosia got its start doing clones of popular arcade games such as asteroids and centipede before branching out to titles such as Escape Velocity. Freeverse made its name with a hysterical version of solitaire and a very solid Tetris clone. Both have catalogs of very fun software that you should check out. Freeverse, in particular, has a loony sense of humor.

There are plenty of articles out there about “must-have apps” and others that evaluate “here are all the programs that do this.” This is not one of them. Instead, this is a tour of the tools I currently use that didn’t come with my Mac, and why. I’m ignoring the built-in apps like the Terminal for command-line access or Disk Utility because if I don’t mention a third-party alternative, I’m currently using it, and you can check it out for yourself. Along the way I’ll mention a few good alternatives that didn’t quite fit my needs.

A is for…

Adium: I don’t use it often, because I like the look of iChat, and most of my clients and contacts use the AIM network anyways. For those occasions I need a control check, or to use my Yahoo or MSN accounts, it’s invaluable. It is also very powerful, and very flexible. It also supports Growl notifications. Honestly, if I spent more time in “chat” mode, I’d probably use it more.

Adobe: Acrobat reader 8 – finally an adobe client that is almost as fast as preview, but has more features! I used to loathe it as a nescessary evil (and none more evil than reader 7), but with version 8 I use this for about 50% of my PDF viewing – whenever I have to do more in-depth searching. The plugin for the web browser allows me to save conveniently with a click and works smoothly with even the Safari 3 beta.

Adobe: Designer Suite – The entire designer suite gets lumped in here too. If you are NOT a graphics professional you might want to look at the current version of Photoshop LE. Even as rarely as I need to do photo editing or illustration these days – and iPhoto and several other packages can do whole-image color correction quite nicely if not with the same degree of control – having these features available is a godsend. For creating vector artwork, laying out newsletters without the headaches involved in using Word, color-correcting just PARTS of an image, repairing old family photographs, or for image compositing, nothing beats these. Of course, the learning curve for all of this power is ridiculously steep.

B is for…

Blender: I have yet to explore even most things this program can do. Nevertheless it has much of the power I played with in Lightwave 7 (I stopped staying current after I got 8), and it’s free.

C is for…

Chax: This is actually an extension for iChat, and one of the biggest reasons I don’t use Adium. This gives you a lot more control over how iChat behaves, including setting the auto-away times, enabling tabs, and control over a number of other hidden features of iChat.

Chicken of the VNC: This is one of a small handful of VNC programs available for the mac. While it’s not the fastest, it is one of the most flexible, Works just fine with the built-in desktop administration in OSX server, and can scan the network for Mac-based VNC servers. This latter feature makes it very useful for administering Mac-based shops. Sometimes I do wish for a faster client though.

F is for…

Firefox: Absolutely essential. Doubly so as a web designer, but there are enough sites that work better, if at all in Firefox (the administration of this blog, Gmail) that I strongly recommend keeping it around. I definitely find nearly daily uses for it even though the Safari 3 beta has reduced my need for it.
Flickr Uploader: I’ve tried several third-party utilities (and though it’s great, didn’t feel like paying for the iPhoto to Flickr exporter), and this one from Flickr is by far the most stable and snappiest, if not issue-free or slick. My wishes for it are as folllows: to gracefully deal with Photoshop and Tiff files that iPhoto handles well, and allow me to select subsets of images to batch-tag instead of taking the all-or-one approach. With these limitations it hasn’t choked on large upload sets, or completely flaked on tag handling like other programs have.

Flip4Mac: This plug-in is needed to play windows-style AVI files. Needed, not only because Microsoft has not updated their Windows media Player for the Mac, but they explicitly point you to Flip4Mac. Works smoothly, and AVI files open up under quicktime, preventing confusion and other headaches.

FreeCiv: This game is based on the classic “civilization” games by Sid Meier. It allows you to start off at nearly any primitive technological level, and advance and expand your civilization from there . Likely you will eventually take over the world. This requires you to install X-windows (available on the OS X installation disc(s)) to play.

G is for…

Google Sketchup: This nifty little program allows you to “sketch” basic 3D objects. The learning curve is fairly shallow, but what you can do with it once you start messing with it is nothing short of miraculous. There is also a “pro” version that you can pay for. This program was bought by Google and made freely available to allow people to create 3D buildings and models for their “Google Earth” program.

Google Earth: I call this a software “toy” and research tool. Mostly because it’s not as good at generating directions as the web-based Google maps or MapQuest. Nevertheless, it is very, very powerful, and gives you a perspective that is unmatched, with almost seamless zooming and navigation. it will guide you, show you streets and houses, and as people have added more and more information, even hiking trails in national parks. It will also suck you in for hours and hours of fun.

Growl: A notification tool. It doesn’t work with many of Apple’s built-in apps, but does work with a number of third-party programs and extensions. Growl allows programs to toss a message up on your screen in a relatively unobtrusive way, letting you know when certain events have happened. This can be when an upload or download is complete (Transmit), when a new IM message comes in (Adium), or when your plugged-in status on your laptop changes (Unplugged).

I is for…

iGTD: There are several decent GTD-style to-do applications out there (such as the kinklessGTD scripts if you have the pro version of Omni Outliner), and several interesting-looking ones coming out (OmniFocus and Things from Cultured Code). When I originally tried it I wasn’t impressed, but started using it after a few critically needed improvements. Despite its bugs – most of which have been fixed over its amazingly rapid development cycle – it has grown into a solid, stable, and simple to use means of sorting out your life and what you need to do.

InstantShot: A snapshot application that lives in your menubar. It allows you more control over screenshots than the usual Shift-Command-4. While I still usually use the built-in screenshots when I need a quick record of something for myself, I use this when I need to capture a specific window (and ONLY that window) without cropping headaches, or I specifically need a .jpg image format and i don’t want to go through converting it.

iStumbler: For all of your Wi-Fi discovery needs. This program will show you all of the wireless networks that are visible in the area, their relative signal strength (and how “noisy” they are), which ones are secure, and give you a moment-by-moment graph of signal strength . Excellent for plotting out where your home or business networks need better coverage.

iWork: One reason I rarely use Word anymore. Or InDesign. Keynote, the presentation program, is both easier to use thanPowerpoint, and just beautiful to look at. Pages, the writing program has now become my default for all creative writing, for letters, and envelopes. It’s also much better suited to newsletter layouts than MS Word, as it doesn’t randomly rearrange things for no reason that can be determined when you drop in pictures, etc. It exports toMS Word format, as well as directly to PDF.

L is for…

LEGO Digital Designer: A bit of harmless fun. Build almost any lego model using what feels like every lego part made.

LiteIcon: This app allows you to change your default system icons for things like the trash can, your documents folders, etc.

Little Secrets: An encryption and storage program. This allows you to open up an encrypted, password-protected file, and store critical information like passwords for banks and servers. It also allows you to drop in screenshots, PDF documents, etc. While nowhere near as pervasive or good for organizing as Yojimbo, It deals much more gracefully with data that needs to stay protected.

M is for…

Mail Appetizer: Actually an extension for the Mail.app that Apple includes with OSX, this love-or-hate plugin throws a “smoke” bezel up into the corner of your screen every time new mail comes in, with the basic to, from, subject information, and the first paragraph or so of text. It also allows you to switch directly to that message in mail, delete the message, or mark it read, and fades away after a few seconds if you decide that nothing coming in needs to be dealt with right now. In my case it keeps me from going into my inbox everytime I see a new mail notification, because I already know if it’s important or not.

Mail Act-On: Another Extension for the Mail.app. This one allows you to use keyboard shortcuts to redirect your current or selected mail via a set of custom rules. In my case I use it to file away several common general categories of mail, flag them or not based on whether I need to see it again (with a smart folder to view flagged mail), and forward them if needed – all in one easy step.

MagiCal: This replacement for the calendar and clock in your menu bar just looks nicer. it also allows me to call up the current month in a minicalendar (complete with week-of-year) without switching over to iCal.

Marathon: An absolute classic. Brought to you courtesy of the Aleph One project. Years ago, Bungie released the source code of their Marathon games, as well as their original maps and levels. The Aleph One project took these games and updated the display engine adn graphics to use modern 3D rendering technology. While the games still don’t look as flashy as anything modern, they’re still fast, fun, and occasionally creepy playing experiences with an engaging story.

Microsoft Office: The program everyone knows and loves – to hate. Used only when absolutely nothing else will do – usually when I have to send the file to another person using MS Office.

Myth II: Soulblighter: This game is perhaps my all-time favorite. Ever. I bought it back in 1999 and have played it over, and over, and over again. The engine has been updated to include intel-based Macs since Bungie released it, and I’m not sure where to get the actual game levels (I had the CD’s around still), but at least try the demo.

N is for…

NeoOffice: This is what I usually use to open up MS Office files – assuming it’s not an RTF that can just as easily be handled by TextEdit. This is a free, mac-specific, open-source office suite based on the OpenOffice project. I don’t recommend using the powerpoint clone, and it’s slower on PPC macs (and faster on intel ones since there is not yet an intel-native version of MS Office), but it does just fine in opening up most word and excel documents.

O is for…

OmniGraffle: Think Visio for the Mac. This program allows you to create flow charts, diagrams, and network maps quickly and easily.

Omni Outliner: Outlining. Whether it’s brainstorming or organizing or making checklists. Many of you will get this nifty little program written by the geniuses at the Omni Group with your MacBook or MacBook pro, and not realize what power this has. This program is intended to do only one thing, and do it very well. Create, sort, and consistently format outlines.

Q is for…

Quicksilver: I find it difficult to use a computer without this app. I literally come to a halt at clients computers and catch myself having to remember the old way of opening up programs, performing certain actions, and searching for files. This very powerful program makes it extremely easy to launch programs, or trigger various actions with just a handful of keystrokes. It is very easy to start with, and the further you dig into it, the more customizable it is. You will either find it absolutely indispensable, or hate it. Another program with a similar audience that has been recently updated and regained converts is Launchbar

R is for…

Remote Desktop Connection: This program, freely available for download from Microsoft, is a must for anyone remotely connecting or administering Windows machines, especially servers. Faster and more fully featured than VNC, it’s an absolute no-brainer for these situations.

S is for…

Safari 3: This is on the list because it’s still only available for download as a beta, and doesn’t ship yet with the operating system. That said, I’ve used it for over a month on one of my two Macs, and now installed it on my MacBook as well. I’ve heard of (but not experienced) some issues with various Dashboard widgets, and XyleScope needed to be updated, but everything else (flash, etc.) work and render the same as in Safari 2, and some of the lesser-hyped features have become indispensable. For example: being able to move tabs around, and the ability to resize text entry fields.

As a web designer, I get to deal with every major web browser in existence on a weekly basis. As a Mac user, I use two, as a matter of practicality. As a computer geek, that means that I’ve developed a favorite I consistently use, though at least I’m not fanatic enough to draw blood over it.

This is a tale of my attempt to shift my day-to-day browsing from Safari to Firefox, and why I went back to using Safari for most everything.

This is not to say that Firefox is a bad browser. First of all, it has built-in AJAX handling that makes it easy to edit online weblogs such as those driven by WordPress with a convenient formatting toolbar. I may be a hand-coding web geek, but when I’m writing the last thing I want to do is remember tags. Second, it has a dedicated plug-in and theming architecture that allows you to add some absolutely fantastic tools. Third, many web designers who care if their site works with a browser other than IE on Windows will make sure it works and looks good in a Mozilla-based browser first – especially if there’s extensive Javascript or css changes.

Since google had added a bookmark synching capability, as a long-time Safari user I decided to copy all my bookmarks over and give it a try.

All in all, it was nice. The plugins worked as advertised. Full AJAX support was a joy. With the appropriate theme the windows didn’t hog the screen any more than safari did.

Over time, several things drove me nuts. First of all, Firefox is noticeably slower, especially on an older G4-based iBook like I was using at the time. Secondly, the bookmark synchronization was nowhere near as smooth as I’d hoped between my office desktop and my iBook – often failing if I forgot to completely shut down Firefox on the other machine. Lastly, while they finally, finally put the close boxes for tabs somewhere sensible (on the individual tab), the behavior still wasn’t consistent. Once I’d opened up enough tabs, the tab closure box would disappear off of all the tabs except the current one, still forcing me to shift to the tab I wanted to close before closing it.

Safari might be missing a few features, and isn’t expandable or themable, but it doesn’t use up excessive real estate, it’s faster, and in a matter of utterly personal stylistic preference it behaves more like I’d like a browser to.

That said, I still bring up Firefox to do weblog updates, and to reserve books at the library.

Hey…

The holidays are soon approaching and I came to the realization that between one thing and another (and another, and so forth), I hadn’t posted in a looong time.

No, I hadn’t disappeared, died, or gone off the deep end. Hadn’t quite managed to go insane, bankrupt, get fired, or have my life fall apart either. Sure, some aspects have been more… interesting…. than others, but all in all it’s been really great and exhilarating.

In the meantime I’ve had some singular achievements I can brag about, like taking a rickety old Windows NT network running exchange 5.5 and getting the main domain, security, and email functions all upgraded to modern computers without losing any of the critical data. I’ve also accomplished a few web programming projects, and had the fun of seeing my girls join a cross country track team. The last few weeks have been insanely busy in part due to traveling for state and regional meets. After all that and going to see family here soon, we are definitely staying home for Christmas.

TTFN.

You would think that many people, even those not truly computer – savvy, usually know which version of Windows they are running on their Windows machines. Insofar as knowing whether or not they are running Windows 98 or Windows XP, this is usually, but far from universally true. What most people don’t realize is that for all intents and purposes there are at least four versions of Windows XP installation disks that are all mutually exclusive.

Yes, four. If you decide to include the corporate open license versions, there are even more.

Those of you stuck at two (XP Home and Pro) can be excused for your confusion, because in truth, that is what Microsoft will tell you. What Microsoft doesn’t tell you is that there are two versions of XP Home: The one you buy over the counter, and the “OEM” version that is usually preinstalled on your machine when you buy it from Dell (or Gateway, etc.). While the actual copy of Windows on the disk is identical between the retail and OEM versions, these both have separate disks, and separate sets of installation keys, and separate installers.

Wait, it gets much worse. For the tech, anyway.

Many people who need Windows XP reinstalled have lost their original disks. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to carry around a copy of the various flavors (OEM and retail) of XP home and pro. Guessing which to use is also usually pretty easy based on what OS was originally installed on the machine, which we can often discover by looking for the Microsoft label on the side. It’s critical that we use the correct disk, because with the new activation features, if you don’t get the right version on, you don’t have a valid activation key, and 30 days later Windows stops working.

Imagine, though, the confusion for the poor user who doesn’t realize there is a difference. I see enough people who don’t know they can’t use a friends’ copy of XP pro to fix XP home. Compound this with the fact that many home users who upgraded to XP in the first place often lose their keycodes, and reinstallation becomes nearly impossible unless you’re sufficiently geeky to keep rescue tools like Knoppix around, and USB thumb drives.

So what is Microsoft doing to make things easier for us, the users?

Nothing.

Worse than nothing.

According to a recent article at Ars technica , there will be seven, yes, seven versions of Windows “Vista”, destined to replace Windows XP. Hopefully, these also don’t come in OEM and retail flavors because at this point, I’m beginning to get confused as to which version is capable of what, and I pity the non computer geek. Carrying four CD’s around is annoying enough, and at least I know what I’m doing. Usually.

A home cable/DSL router may be the second best improvement you can make to your home computer and network as far as making your broadband connection usable, and keeping your home computer safe. For a very little bit of time and effort (and roughly $40 American) you can prevent all sorts of headaches.

First of all, what is a router? According to my Techno Babble page it is:

A piece of hardware that connects two separate networks together and routes information between them…

The two networks we are talking about are the internet, and one that likely didn’t exist until you installed the router – your home network. The second you plug your computer into the port marked “LAN”, or one of the numbered ports (if the router has a built-in switch), you have an instant, if very small network made up of your computer and the router. The second you attach the router to the cable modem or DSL modem, you have added the router to the network we call the internet.

How to tell if you need a router:

Some DSL modems provided by companies like Bellsouth already act as routers. If this is the case, then you do not need to add a router, though you may want to add a switch and/or a wireless access point to allow more computers onto the internet, or to free yourself up from being tethered to the desk. In order to tell if you are behind a router:

If you have a Windows machine, click on “Start”, then “Run”. In the box provided type:

cmd

…and click OK (If you’re still using windows Me or Windows 98 you will have to type in the full word “command” instead of “cmd”). When the black box with the “>” prompt appears, type the following:

ipconfig

… and hit the enter key. You will get a short list of numbers.

For Macintoshes running OS X, open up the system preferences and look at the network preferences. For older versions of OS X you may have to specify “built-in-ethernet” in a drop-down menu.

What you are looking for is a line that starts with “IP Address.” Following it will be a series of four numbers separated by periods. If the first number is a 192, a 172, a 169, or a 10, and you are able to get online, then you can stop worrying. You’re good to go. If not, your standard mail-order place like CDW, newegg, or PC zone can help you, as well as any local Staples, Radio Shack, or electronics store that sells computer equipment.

Setting Up The Router

Hook it up between your modem and your computer as shown in the diagram below:

You will likely have to do one or more of the following three things: First, if you have a cable modem, unplug your cable modem completely for a few minutes. Don’t just turn it off. The reason for this is that it whatever computer or router it first sees is the only piece of equipment the modem will talk to. Unplugging the modem clears this memory and allows it to start talking to your router.

Knology and some other providers may ask you to provide the “MAC” address of your computer. As opposed to “Mac” computers from Apple, the MAC is a unique ID number given to every network card. Your router will have this number on the outside of its’ casing.

Finally, there is a percentage of internet companies like Time Warner that require your computer or router to log in. In this case you will also have to follow your setup instructions for configuring the router and find the option (often on the main page), to have the router connect to the internet using “PPPOE.” You will also have to type in a user name and a password that your ISP gives you. This can unfortunately be problematical and confusing, made worse because most ISP’s don’t support home routers, even though it is unsafe to put your computer directly on the internet without one.

When this is all set up, the router decides if any information it sees on the internet needs to be forwarded to your home computers, and if anything your computer is asking for needs to be sent out to the internet in order to download a web page or file. Without any further configuration or setup, you already have the following benefits:

1. Because of a firewall technology called NAT that is built into nearly all home routers, your computer and home network is now one step removed from the internet. By creating a separate network it just became significantly harder to crack into. More importantly, it is almost impossible for most “worms” (a type of virus that scans nearby networks every few minutes) to get into your computer.
2. On some ISP networks, it’s fairly easy to browse and find computers in your neighborhood. While this is less common these days, having a router prevents anyone else your neighborhood from seeing what computers you have running and from looking into any files you may accidentally share out.

Also, if your router has a built-in switch, or if you are using an separate switch, you can now connect more than one computer to the internet without paying up for more than one internet account. Finally, if you bought a wireless router or add a wireless access point, you can also access the internet from any wireless computers in your household.

Every once in a while, even as a computer geek, the vagaries of the hardware world combine in such a way so that the varied, random, brownian motion takes a malevolent and perverse turn, leaving us mere mortals humbled.

Let me introduce the main player in this scenario: A P-III based Windows 98 machine that we call “Simone.” It was bought in Germany and has since had W98SE installed on it (english version) and a standard english keyboard attached. Not the fastest machine on the block, but more than fast enough for the kids to web-surf via the proxy server.

The goal was to get this machine back on the network. It had previously used a Linksys 802.11b wireless card, which could not be upgraded to use WPA encryption. I wasn’t willing to move my network back to WEP, an older encryption format, because of security concerns, as well as the fact that my wireless repeaters were much more stable using WPA (haven’t locked up yet) than using WEP (once a day).

Innocently, I walk into Staples, and pick up the available Linksys 802.11g card. The only version in stock. I get it home, install it, and look for the WPA setup features, puzzled by a strange inability to find them. Hey, it’s a brand new card, still in the plastic. WPA has been around a while, and has been a standard feature of Linksys wireless access points for something like a year now. No dice.

I cross-check the manual. No mention of WPA. No mention of it on the box either but it didn’t mention any specifics re: encryption on the box. I go online, and discover that not only is the card I bought, brand new, one version out of date, but that there is no driver upgrade to handle WPA. either.

So I take it back, and get a Netgear WG311t. This one does specifically state that it handles WPA. So I take it home, install the software, and then install the card. I fire the computer back up. I run the configuration utility. I specify the network name and the WPA-key. It starts to connect. It connects!

My eye wanders over the indications as it finishes pulling down an address from the network and I click on the Firefox icon. Just before the web browser takes over the screen I note with some unease that the “signal” level is actually displayed as the “singal” level. Sure enough, before you can say, “Not the best QA work on the drivers,” only half of the home web page loads, the rest of the images time out. The wireless icon is flashing a disconnected red.

Oops.

Some research later I discover that the drivers for the card, and it’s controlling software, are considered at best utter dreck. Multitudes of people have had problems with the card, and the best workaround has been to use the built-in Windows XP wireless zeroconfig utility, the generic chipset drivers (software) for the radio circuitry built into the card, and bypass the Netgear software entirely.

Not having XP, that is obviously not going to be a solution. Back to the store I go.

One last PCI card presents itself, made by Belkin. They make pretty good adapters for serial ports and such, but don’t have quite so good a record with more complicated stuff like PCI cards, though I must say I have used their internal PCI firewire adapter cards on many occasions and found them to be reliable, stable, and easy to use and setup. I carefully check the box, yet again scrutinizing it for security protocols, and as always checking the minimum requirements, which turn out to be the “Windows 98 SE, 32-bit PCI slot” requirements that are standard for Wi-Fi cards. So I buy it and take it home.

Lather, rinse, repeat. This time (what, you thought it would work?) the computer cannot even see the card. Double check the specs. Yep, they’re correct, yep, my computer meets them. After some research I discover there is a known issue, though not listed on the manufacturer’s site, manual, or minimum requirements, that the card will simply not be recognized on older motherboards that are not at least up to version 2 of the PCI spec. This includes your typical Pentium-III mothrboards, like mine.

So back to the store I’ll be going…….

This will be the first in a series of short articles to help inform people on computer topics. While it’s not precisely the A+ course that I teach (yet), it’s not intended to be for aspiring computer geeks. It’s intended for people like those I help every day at work. As a result, we will start with the basics.

For all intents and purposes, there are three basic types of computer “bodies” these days: desktops, laptops, and all-in-ones. They all have several things in common; namely a keyboard, a pointing device (mouse, trackpad, etc), a display, and a “chassis” or main body.

The keyboard is how you type things into the computer, such as your name, or a letter.

The pointing device is usually a mouse. In the case of laptops it is usually a trackpad, but eraser-style nubs in the middle of the keyboard are still common mouse substitutes for some laptop brands. “Trackballs” are also common add-ons that have a dedicated following. They are all used to move a pointer around the screen. When you click on a button, the location of the pointer determines what happens next. Clicking on text selects it or changes the cursor to a blinking insertion point, telling you where anything you type will show up. Clicking on buttons tells a program to do something.

The display shows you what the computer is doing. Whether a TV-style screen, or a thin, flat panel like that of a laptop, it and your speakers are the two main ways your computer lets you know what’s happening. You’ll usually hear it called the “monitor.”

The “chassis,” or case, is what holds the main electronics of the computer, and usually holds the hard drive that stores the operating system controlling your computer and programs, and your information. The chassis usually has a variety or places to plug extras into the computer, often called “ports.” Places to insert internal add-on cards are usually called “slots.”

Desktops usually come in four pieces, with cables connecting them together. The monitor and chassis both have separate on-off switches. Turning the monitor off saves power by cutting off what is for all intents and purposes a giant light bulb, but does not shut off the computer. If the computer is completely shut down the switch on the front of the case will start up the computer. You can also turn the computer itself off using this switch. Depending on your settings this will usually put the computer to sleep or tell the system to shut down gracefully, though I recommend using either the start or apple menus to tell the computer to shut down.

In a real emergency, where the computer is completely locked up and will not respond to anything, holding down the case power button for a little over five seconds will force it to shut down. It should only be used as a last resort as it’s the equivalent of pulling the plug, and you may lose files, pictures, or other information.

The cases themselves come in a variety of sizes. “desktop” cases are usually intended to sit flat on your desk, while the various towers (“mini” and otherwise) stand upright on or under your desk.

Laptops are truly all-in-one units. They are designed to be portable, and the display folds up against the case. The keyboard and trackpad are built into the body of the computer, and the whole package can be slipped into a convenient carry bag. They come in various sizes, with bigger ones being referred to as “portable desktops”, and “sub-notebooks” being stripped down, extremely lightweight laptops. Tablets can use a special pen to write directly on the screen, and the display can flip over so that it can be held like a normal writing pad. There is only one power button on a laptop, and it turns the whole computer on and off.

All-in-one’s aren’t, really, as they usually still have a separate keyboard and mouse. This category refers to desktop computers like the iMac, some older Macintoshes, and a small percentage of Windows PC’s where the display and the main case are in the same body. The keyboard and mouse are still separate. Like the laptop, there is only one power button.