02.26.08
Posted in Misc Tech at 8:59 am by Alice Pretchet
Today I decided to pick up the laptop off the coffee table and put it in my lap for some extra heat. It’s cold outside and a little chilly in here. No need to turn up the heat for the whole house, I’ll be in bed sometime in the next few hours. I could just put on a second pair of socks, or some thermal ones, but for now I’m enjoying my feet on the coffee table (the air is a little warmer there compared to the floor, plus the spot they are resting on is warm already from the laptop.) and leaningback on the ocuch is nice for a change.
So far my legs are warm and happy, the laptop is warm, but not overbearing hot. I’m enjoying like a cup of hot tea, and it was so much easier to just grab the laptop for some extra warm, rather getting up and boiling some water.
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Posted in Blogs, Misc Tech at 7:38 am by Alice Pretchet
I encourage everyone to share their good and bad experiences when it comes to jobs, and life in general. A good friend saved me from continuing at one of my previous jobs when she explained to me in myspace blog post about what happened to her when she moved up in the company and ended up at the corporate office. At that point I knew I had no business striving to reach that level and it saved me a lot of time and effort. I was telling Sara about a site on the net that focus on sharing gossip and rumors, and another site that focused on whistleblowing about bad corporate activities, and she told me that there was some bad news about these sites recently. I told her how surprised I was that they have been under so much scrutiny given the free speech guarantees that we are supposed to have in this country.
Wikileaks recently had a court order to shut down, but i think the whistleblowing site will return and the court proceedings should pave the way for other sites like it to stay afloat without challenge. The college rumor site juicycampus.com has gotten some bad press, but my hope is that people will wake up and learn to take thins they read online, and hear in person for that matter, with a grain of salt. I know that there is a whole industry of forensic web people out there that scour the internet looking for information about companies online, trying to protect the reputation of businesses from being tarnished by people posting information on web sites. While I see the value of this type of work, I think sometimes these places go to far in their tactics for changing information that has been posted. I mean if someone finds a ranting blog post on a myspace about xyz company or person for that matter, surely adults can know in their mind that the post is only half the story, and it is one person’s view of events. I seriously doubt that someone will come across a random anonymous post and decide that they shouldn’t invest in something.
The power of technology and the internet should not be limited with frivolous cease and desist letters and law suits and malicious prosecutions, all limiting free speech. People should be adults and consider all angles and makeup their minds by the credibility and amount of posts. If you read something that is anonymous, you take it with a grain of salt. If you read something on CNN.com from Larry King, well, you take that for what that is. Heck a lot of people today don’t even believe what the mainstream media reports, why should eveyone be freaking out about what is posted on a no name site with no credible author?
Perhaps this will be the decade where people learn to toughen up their listening skills. Already you see a big movement on digg.com where people will demand references and sources before buying into any story. Now if we can just get the rest of the world to wake up, demand proof, take everything with a grain of salt, and stop listening to gossip so much. I do believe that listening to gossip encourages it. When someone is talking about someone to you, be sure that they will be talking about to someone else later, and probably in a similar scandalous tone.
So use technology to spread the word, use sources when you can. If you must write anonymously be sure not to include any details that will get you found out through a process of elimination. If you are going to hate on something keep it real, and realize that when other people are hating, often they are only telling part of the truth.
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Posted in Misc Tech, Mobile Devices at 5:44 am by Alice Pretchet
Scientists discuss the possibility of using the “piezoelectric” effect (a property of quartz crystals, among other natural phenom) to power cell phones and other mobile devices in the future. Tiny nano fibers can convert vibration and
movement into power. Currently the technology needs a zinc covering which does not play well with water.
From mobile crunch
“The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching,” converting the mechanical motion into electrical energy, explained Wang.
“Many of the devices could be put together to produce a higher output,” he said.
The nano-fibers use the “piezoelectric effect”, which is the method of generating power from friction.
read the story at Mobile Crunch
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02.23.08
Posted in Games, Misc Tech at 4:48 am by Alice Pretchet
Well I have been anticipating this new social network with gaming for mobile devices ever since I first heard about it. I read a story that says it is going live yesterday, but I have yet to be able to get in and check it out. I signed up to get an invitation and more information, and I am still eagerly waiting. The
main page looks cool, but how are they they going to implement the social network? Will they be using the open ID that nearly everyone else is getting on board with? Inquiring minds want to know!
Nokia’s Ovi
There is talk about an itunes like music section, photo and video collaboration sections, and more. It sounds great, but how will it really play out?
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02.08.08
Posted in Misc Tech, Software at 1:43 am by Alice Pretchet
I’m sure my friends are tired of hearing tell them about TrueCrypt, but now I have another excuse to remind everyone about this free encryption software, there’s a new version with new features! For those of you living under a rock, TrueCrypt is one of the programs that will hide your valuable data from prying eyes, it not only makes files of your choice hidden behind a password, but it also encrypts, or in layman’s terms. shreds the file behind a bunch of random characters, so if your boss, spouse, ex, or anyone tries to use some geeky method to find your hidden files, all they will find is some random data which makes no sense, without your password.
I know Danny has been using truecrypt to hide adults only pics and videos from his family (good safeguard Danny, I’m glad you are being a responsible adult surfer), Jerry has been keeping his medical reports under lock and key with it when he takes work home. I use it to secure all the docs and photos on my USB thumb drive. I also keep a backup copy of all my pictures from college encrypted. It’s a great way to store financial information for emergencies as well.
I’m a big fan of TrueCrypt and PGP, I’ve been using Handybits Easycrypto for a while as well, but the truecrypt is what I use on my USB thumb drives and my main system now. There are cool new features that allow mac users to use it, and linux users get a better GUI, and some other goodies added in as well. Download the program and go through the tutorial for using it. It takes a few minutes the first time, after that you are all set and you can use this great data safeguard anywhere.
A few people have had some issues with it working in some scenarios with a mac - check out the truecrypt 5 discussion at digg for some of that info.
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