Erich Stauffer

Category: Technology

  • How to Turn the Ship Around – Just Say the Word, Captain

    Have you ever heard the expression that, “It is not all about semantics, it is ALL about semantics.”?

    Why are we in a recession? Because we said we were – and so it was.  Ask and you shall receive.  This could be a domino effect from excessive margin trading on Wall Street, a multi-national debasement of currency, or it could simply be the effect of real-time media spouting “RECESSION IS COMING! RECESSION IS NEAR, ALAS RECESSION IS HEAR!” My wife actually mentioned to me the other day, “Did you hear the government officially announced we are in a recession?”  My wife knows nothing about the news or economics.  All the news she reads is in a forum from other like-minded stay-at-home moms.  That means the other stay-at-home moms are also talking about it.  It is truly a household expression.

    We are in a recession.  Now what? If semantics got us into this, can it get us out? While possible, it may be harder because terms for the opposite of recession like bull market are not household terms.  What if the Big Five advertising companies got together and announced a new term for the opposite of recession?  It would have to be something that exemplified American spirit, a phrase or preferrably a word that encompassed growth and prosperity, something that is the opposite of the word recession or depression.  Lets give them a start:

    recession – noun. two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth in the economy; a slight depression or indent; a period of rest when productivity stops, such as when a court or classroom breaks for recess.

    [opposite of recession] – noun. two or more consecutive quarters of positive growth; a slight rise or bump; a period of growth and increase in productivity, such as when more available people and equipment are in use.

    Words that would mean the opposite of recession that would stick in peoples minds and could become a household term:

    • incession
    • uncession
    • unionsion
    • producsion
    • improvsion
    • lacession
    • warcession
    • growthcession

    Words that do not end in “sion” that might also come to mean [opposite of recession]:

    • warcycle
    • beatperiod
    • upturn
    • uptick
    • growthturn
    • fastbreak

    Phrases that might also mean opposite of recession:

    • AMERICA: My boyfriends back.
    • AMERICA: The sleeping giant wakes up and wants to know what’s for breakfast.
    • AMERICA: Build it. Buy it. Bring it.
    • AMERICA: Growth for OUR sake.
    • Power up, America.
    • Don’t mess with US.
    • Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, America. Its time for you to stand up so the world can stand down.

    Is America’s role as an economic world leader over?  If the events of the past three months are any indicator, the answer is an astounding NO.  China and India, the future of world growth, tripped at the first sign of America’s financial collapse.  Conspirators may hypothosize that America’s role was being compromised, but by debasing the worlds currency’s, America, which still has relatively wealthy citizens is now poised to take advantage of all the new “deals” around the world in the prime growth markets.  But conspiracy theories aside, for nearly 100% of the world it doesn’t matter anyway.  We have to deal with things as they are, no matter who controls the purse strings.  So lets get out there and start talking POSITIVE!

    Its time to “break the fast” and welcome America to the AWAKENING, the opposite of a recession in America.

  • Working Anywhere – The Search for the Mobile Office

    3G, WiMax, it was all supposed to make the Internet ubiquitous and the cost so minimal that it would be free.  It did not and is not.  So how does someone hopped up on the Four Hour Workweek Get Things Done while out on the road (or to avoid paying rent like the rest of the suits)?  I decided to find out.

    Wardriving is a term based on the act of wardialing (which is coined from the movie War Games), but adapted to driving around looking for WiFi hot spots.  Check your local law books on this one.  In some places its illegal, but this mostly applies to connecting to private networks.  Today I went looking for public networks to use for access to the great gig in the Skynet.

    McDonalds and Pilot truck stops both offered WiFi for a fee of around $3 an hour or $20 a month.  Pilot had unlimited for $150 a year prepaid.  This might be a good option for a trucker or someone who lives near a Pilot.  I can’t see getting too much work done at a McDonalds, but I suppose if the conditions were right you could.  Some hotels have free WiFi access, but you should ethically be staying there before using it.  Panera is hands down the place to go.  Its free and has a good atmosphere for it, just don’t abuse it.  Someone has been arrested for stealing Internet access from Panera after he was seen using it from the parking lot for over a year.  Just use the golden rule on this one and if its “free” like at Panera, throw ’em some change once in a while for a coffee or two.

    For more information on coworking, visit Nook Share.

  • Mornings are Made for Mini PCs

    It’s 4 Am, the time when song lyrics are written and mad capers are planned.  I keep an HP Mini 1000 next to my bed.  I got it for myself and to have something to show pitches to clients with.  I do web design in Indianapolis. I’ve been experimenting with how this PC fits into my life.  Its bigger than a cell phone, smaller than a normal-sized laptop, and has no optical drive (CD-ROM or DVD tray).  I couldn’t afford to get the 3G card or bluetooth (the truth is I didn’t have the cash for either the mini1000 or the color laser printer I bought on charge, but to get both and stay under the $800 limit, I had to cut those options.)  I did go for the upgrade to a 10.2 inch screen and then my wife found a coupon code to get us just under our HP credit card limit.  I could write a whole other blog about why that is a bad idea, but I tend not to follow my own advice.  I had two web clients in the wings, but only one landed so now I should be scrambling, but its more like floundering.  Anyway, back to the mini PC.

    I’m 6’5″ tall and  my hands are relative to my body, but the mind is a very powerful thing and even though the keyboard is smaller, the hands adapt quickly.  Everything seems to be where it should be on the keyboard.  I especially like the large shift keys which even my wife’s 17 inch laptop does not have.   I buy HP laptops primarily for the ability to turn off the touchpad when typing.  No other manufacturer has this feature.  HP is all in all a good brand though (HP, my referral check can be sent to PO Box 55, Tipton, IN, 46072, thanks.)  The speaker sounds like a tin can, which is to be expected.  Just use headphones.

    So how has the mini PC fit into my life so far?  I have been keeping it in my bedroom and can now watch movies instantly on Netflix before  going to bed, remote desktop into my PC downstairs for access to Photoshop or more power computing, or wake up in the middle of the night and blog at 4AM.  Its now my choice to make.  My neck hurts from looking down at the night stand.  If I hold the mini PC on my lap my legs hurt from having to “keep themselves together, man.”  If I lay on my belly, my neck hurts worse.  If I lay on my back, putting it on my belly, same thing.  In summary, the mini PC HAS to be used in an ergo friendly environment despite being so mobile it could be used anywhere (anywhere there is an Internet connection because without that, this thing is a word processor/paper weight albeit a light one).

  • Microsoft Debuts First Seinfeld Ad to Poor Reviews

    There was high expectations for Jerry when he was picked by Crispin Porter + Bogusky to headline Microsoft’s $300 million dollar ad campaign this year. Last night during the NFL season opening, the first Microsoft ad debuted. Immediately it was copied from DVRs to Youtube and people began to comment – mostly negatively. I have found the negativity has come from a difference in expectation. Those who expected to see an ad that looked like the PC vs. Mac ads were disappointed. Those who thought the ad would have some mention of Vista or its benefits to mankind were also disappointed. And even still some who thought the ad would be at least funny were disappointed. This was not the point of the ad.

    So what was the point of the ad? It was the first episode in a new type of sitcom, call it an advertising campaign with an overarching story line, an ad opera. What does an initial episode of any show do, be it LOST or All in the Family? It sets up the characters, defines the rules of the show, and sets a tone. This ad fit that mold to the T.

    Character Setup: We see Bill Gates in a bargain shoe store. This is ironic since Bill is one of the richest men on the planet. Next Jerry Seinfeld walks up and discovers this irony and is compelled to find out more. He isn’t friends with Bill before this, but knows who he is, as most of us do. In the same way, Bill knows Jerry, but is not friends with him before this encounter.

    Rules of the Show: Jerry respects Bill, but he’s not afraid to guide him and make suggestions. Bill is willing to accept these suggestions, but is still keeping his goals close to his vest. Its now Jerry’s job to slowly pry out what those goals are from Bill. He allows him to do this by “giving him a sign” so that Bill doesn’t have to break his own personal rules, but still satisfy Jerry’s desire for information – that same desire that sent Jerry into the shoe store in the first place.

    Tone: The same running-gag motif (“conquistador”) and seemingly spontaneous interjection of random information (“I shower with my shoes on.”) ala Seinfeld, the television show, set the tone as one of humor – not humor about the differences in PCs and Apples, but in the differences in two millionaires in how they live their life, how they put on their shoes everyday, the same as everyone else ala Curb Your Enthusiasm.

  • IE6 Can’t Find IE7 Apparently


    I was upgrading an IE6 browser to IE7 and clicked on the “Get it now” button, which took me to this “Not Found” search page.

  • Webcam Integration with Google Street View API?

    I was chatting with a friend about Google Street View and wondered if it could be integrated with current webcams or any other public surveillance systems. I knew that Google was a big supporter of integration and had created APIs for a lot of their products so I wondered if an API had been created for Google Street View. It had, but as objects in the Google Maps API.

    stevo said on May 30, 2007 10:37 AM PDT The Earth is Closer:

    “What about getting permission to utilize the 1000’s of existing “live web cams” that are already in place all around the world?

    Integration of existing public webcams into Google Maps would be a simple code change, HOWEVER, many of the live cams are currently bandwidth prohibitive, so inclusion into Google maps would surely render them useless. If Google subsidized the bandwidth on some of the “key” cams, it would sure take this project to the next level ;)”

    This post was about the creation of Google Street View and already a commenter had the same idea I had over a year later.

  • Google – YouTube Integration Frustration

    Is it just me or is the new login process for YouTube FREAKING ANNOYING everyone else?  If you had an account before (which most people did) and now want to login with your Google Account, you have to login with your Google Account, then link them.  Okay, this sounds simple, and most of the things Googld does work well, but this is not one of them.  How many people out there have multiple Google Acccounts and multiple YouTube accounts.  I have no idea which YouTube account is associated with what Google Account and if the password has changed for the original YouTube account or if the email address associated with the original YouTube account is now changed to my Google Account's email address.  On top of that, once you combine accounts or use your Google Account to login, its actually another step.  WHY NOT JUST MAKE THE LOGIN BE THE FREAKING EMAIL ADDRESS LIKE EVERY OTHER SITE.  This is Google we are talking about here.  RUN A FREAKING BATCH SCRIPT AND ADD ALL THE GOOGLE EMAIL ACCOUNTS INTO YOUTUBE AUTOMATICALLY.  Don't make us jump through hoops just because you're facing a computer science nightmare scenario.  Nobody asked you to buy YouTube.  We were using our Google Accounts and YouTube accounts just fine separately.  If you can get it to work, fine; ELSE: STOP WASTING MY FREAKING TIME GOOGLE!

  • Yahoo! Pipes

    This is a pipe: |

    pipe

    To direct data so that the output from one process becomes the input to another process. The standard output of one command can be connected to the standard input of another with the pipe operator (|). Two commands connected in this way constitute a pipeline. IBM.

     
    http://www.lnf.infn.it/computing/doc/aixcxx/html/glossary/p.htm
     
    Yahoo! Pipes is based on this:
     
    http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/
     
    Batch files can be piped together, taking the output from one line and making it the input to the next line like this:
     

    DSGET GROUP "CN=East Coast Sales, OU=East ,DC=bcdtrain, DC=com" -MEMBERS | DSMOD GROUP "CN=BCDTrain Sales, OU=Sales, DC=bcdtrain, DC=com" -ADDMBR

    The first line gets the members of a group, then pipes it in to the next line, which modifies each member from the line above!

    Here's one I created:

    ping 64.233.187.99 | arp -A

    stop

    The first part ping's Google's IP, then the second part (after the pipe) takes that output and uses it as input on the arp command!  The secret is making it all on one line.  Do it on two lines and the pipe won't work.

  • How to REALLY turn a Wireless Router into a Wireless Access Point!

    WAP

    1. Step one: connect the Ethernet cable from your PC to one of the LAN ports on the back of the router. NOT THE WAN!
    2. Step two: login to the router and disable DHCP and assign an IP address.
    3. Step three: setup the wireless settings. Otherwise, use it as a managed switch!

    You’re done! Enjoy your second WAP in the house!