A solution to piracy we can all live with.

The solution as I see it is for the entire industry to wake up to the fact that they do not need to be structured as they are now in order to be profitable.

You have 5 groups here.

Production companies: People who make shows.

Sponsors: People who pay for advertising.

Viewers: People who watch shows.

TV Networks: People who distribute shows via established television networks.

Pirates: People who distribute shows via non-sanctioned illegal means.

Thanks to Online Peer to Peer Distribution technology, one of these groups is obsolete.

Fact: Companies pay dearly to have their products advertised. The prices they pay are generally enough to fund the making of a television series. Often even a movie. Instead, much of their money does not go toward the making of shows, but instead goes to support the Television infrastructure... cable, satellite, over-the-air broadcasting stations as well as pay the overly high salaries of TV Network Executives.

Lets look back at the early days of television. Commercials were done on the set, by the actors in the show. Product placement was a big deal, as it is now (is it just me or is TV Land some alternate universe where everyone uses a Mac?) In the middle of the show, a short segment would feature an actor or announcer giving the advertising spiel for the product. In return, the sponsor would pay a fee that would enable the show to continue being made.

It was easy for the viewer to connect the show and the sponsor together in their mind and see the symbiotic relationship that exists there. Now lots of commercials interrupt a show to try to sell products that have no connection to the show whatsoever. So now the viewer does not have an appreciation for the sponsor and what entertainment that sponsor has provided, but instead views the sponsor's ad as an annoyance and an interruption.

People in the pirating scene cut those annoyances out. Sure, why not? They have the technology and the skill, and the product is much more enjoyable without the interruptions. Simply put, they refine the product into a more enjoyable form. They give it portability by encoding it into formats that fit on phones and PDA's.

The catch-22 here is that by doing this job in an unsanctioned manner, they are removing the value of advertisement. Also, online popularity data for a particular show is not easily gathered. People are downloading stuff from thousands of different sources and those sources do not want to give up numbers, for fear of legal reprisal. So good shows do not get credit for their online viewers and may end up looking less popular than they are. Executives giving the heave-ho to shows like this receive a much bigger backlash than they initially anticipated. But the real tragedy is that really good shows get cancelled.

If Television programming can be called an art, then I postulate that the current distribution model is hurting the art of television. Shows are overly condensed for length. Cliffhangers happen at predictable intervals because they don't want you to change the channel when the commercial comes on. This gives shows an unnatural cadence of action that hurts the viewer's ability to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the show.

Sanctioned online distribution is a new media landscape with different rules.

The biggest problem as I see it is that intermission-style advertisements would not work in this new media landscape. Anything that interrupted the story would be cut out by people in pirate scene. Even sideliner ads and overlays that are too garish and distracting would be blurred out. Get back to making ads using the cast of the show, or if that would hurt the seriousness of the drama, just use the set. Either way, it is cheaper and it ties the two things together in the viewer's mind. People would buy products based on their love and loyalty to the show. Packaging can be specialized to become show memorabilia. There are a lot of tie-ins that are possible when show and sponsor are in a more symbiotic relationship.

What needs to happen is that commercials need to change. They are annoying obnoxious interruptions that people only enjoy once or twice (at best) and then become increasingly less enamoured with as time goes by.

On the other hand, product placement still fits just fine, and would not be cut out. Also, watermarked intermittent messages and logos that decorate screen edges would likely be kept as well... unless they are really really annoying. A black bar over them, or blurring them out is just as distracting from the material as the original message likely was except in extreme cases. And honestly, it would be healthy for everyone if the "scene" agreed to leave these alone. Taking up the attitude that it is "paid for" space, and without it the show would die, would be a good thing. Also consider leaving in commercials that actually acknowledge the show (Target's LOST Smoke Monster advert was enjoyable and fit with the show)

Another thing about commercials like this is their longevity. Advertisement embedded this way will last for the life of the show, not just flash in the brainpan of millions of viewers for a forgettable squidgeon of time.

How many people watched Firefly when it came out? Obviously not enough. How many have watched it since then? Millions. If Pepsi or McDonalds had embedded an ad into that show, instead of doing it like they currently do, then all of the millions who have seen the show since it went off the air would have been viewers of the ad as well.

As it stands now, who knows what company was paying for ad time during that show's airing? Definitely not me, the version I watched had the commercials removed.

The torrent model is a distribution dream. The production company does not have to pay for expensive amounts of bandwidth, that fee is paid for collectively by all of us when we pay our monthly Net bill.

"Ok, smarti-pants, back it up" you say.

During the last Superbowl, 2.6 million US Dollars were paid to air a 30 second commercial. with a total U.S. audience estimated to be around 150 million viewers. Curiously enough, that's around the same amount of money it cost to produce an entire season of the HBO show "Carnivale" which was cancelled due to high production costs. Season one averaged 3.54 million viewers across 12 episodes (42.48 million views) and Season 2 averaged 1.7 million viewers for 12 more (20.4 million views) In season one, with four embedded ads per show, there are as many or more views than a superbowl commercial.

This is JUST the people who watched it on HBO. This doesn't count DVD sales or pirated distribution. Television shows now have a long tail of viewership. Shows can get surges of popularity years after they have left the airwaves.

By this math, Two or three sponsors could have kept this show alive. And this was an abnormally expensive show to produce, yet also a show that won 5 of the 7 Emmys it was nominated for.

It comes down to a question of which is better. 150 million ad views by different people, or 150 million ad views by 20 or 40 million people who view the ad repeatedly. There is also the long tail of online distribution to think of. Ads embedded into TV shows would get viewed continuously as new people start watching the show long after the show has been ended. So money spent in advertising this way would continue to produce product recognition for a long long time.

Which is better, paying for a distribution model that cost millions to build and maintain, is operated by self-aggrandizing jackasses (Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch, etc) who think it is their personal vehicle to program you to think and act how they want you to, and is constantly cancelling shows to the disappointment of millions of loyal fans (Firefly, Carnivale, Surface, Heroes)??? Or is it better for production companies to cut out the middleman and put a server in the basement seeding their show on an officially sanctioned torrent with a legitimized tracker whereby they can keep accurate records of how many times the show was downloaded? Include a question before the download link as to how many people are expected to be viewing that copy, and you get accurate numbers with which to shop around to prospective sponsors.

This way of doing things lends itself to web based social networking buzz-building as well.

To the "Industry"

Stop trying to outlaw piracy. It is a part of global culture now. Embrace change and survive. Ignore change or try to legally regulate change and you'll go the way of the dodo. Learn to embed commercials in your web-based offerings in ways that are unobtrusive but effective.. Set up RSS feeds of sanctioned torrents for shows. If a show stops being economically viable on the air, look toward continuing the series via online only distribution. Realize that flash sucks balls. It really does. Streaming is expensive on your end and limits the visual quality NOT necessarily to the capabilities of the viewer's home theatre setup, but to the viewer's bandwidth capabilities. Torrents are cheap as the bandwidth cost gets borne by the viewers and you can host multiple files of your product (with corresponding differences in filesize) to further meet the needs of your viewers and hence remove the need for someone in the "scene" to re-encode your product for phones and ipods. One way or another, your way of life is ending. Embrace change and you will continue to play a part. Also, stop doing cocaine, your family is really worried about you.

To the production houses

Start learning to cut out the middle man. If the industry doesn't pick up your show, have your agent stop talking to NBC, ABC, FOX and HBO, and instead have them talk to McDonalds, PepsiCo, Sears, FedEx, and Toyota. Get in touch with your fanbase and stay in touch. Be good to your writing staff. Don't sign away your reproduction rights. Keep your options as open as you can. Do not agree to a clause in your contract that would prevent you from continuing your show by alternate means should a network decide they no longer wish to carry it. And for the love of Pete, unless you are writing a sitcom, have a freakin ending planned. The 4th season of Andromeda was a train wreck. Learn from it.

To the viewers

Get out there and check out the Web based shows. This stuff has already started happening, and you are missing out. There's some good shows already using this model. Google the word "vodcast" and you should be able to find something along these lines. Get involved. Support your favourite shows by buying their memorabilia and letting advertisers know that you appreciate what their dollars provide. Pay the extra 30 cents for the name brand if that name brand is supporting your show.

To the advertisers

Gather a team of people who can judge the viability of script ideas. Don't worry, lots of people with these skills will be out of work soon as the old media edifice starts to crumble. You are now in a position of greater power than you've ever been before. Don't screw it up. Good shows will be watched for decades. Thanks to the new media landscape, investments in direct sponsorship advertising have a very long tail of returns and brand recognition. It also gives a more positive mental association to the viewer if they know that watching the show is a gift made possible by your monetary contributions. Understand that with advertising, less is more. Get too gung-ho about making flashing banners that can't be ignored and someone will likely remove them from the product.

To pirates and "scene" people

If the industry and production houses do make changes like these, respect the shows and their sponsors and be forgiving of sideliner ads. If you enjoy watching shows, realize that making entertainment programming is expensive and the money has to come from somewhere. If you devalue the show to sponsors by removing all advertising material, then you are in effect hurting the possible longevity of the show. It'll get cancelled. You've seen it happen to shows you loved dearly. The more people embrace non-sanctioned, non-profitable distribution, the more good shows will die. We all love the Pirate Bay. But honestly, the Pirate bay has never had to pay to create any of the content that it purveys. Unless you want to watch re-runs forever, let the production companies make their money.

To the reader of this

Sorry I was so longwinded. It happens.

SSC #86 Long time no see!

As I'm sure you're aware, I've not done the StraightShootinComputin article for a little while now. I feel I've covered most of the basics and some advanced topics. And while the computer industry may change fairly rapidly, for the needs of most of my readers, not enough changes to fill a weekly article. All of my past articles will still be available at http://straightshootincomputin.blogspot.com, and will continue to be indefinitely. If you find something here that helps you with your computer, then I am glad it wasn't for nothing. Good Luck, and happy computing! Jeff Smith

SSC #85 A reader question

Dear Mr. Smith: I recently tried to upload a video to a website, and could not get it to go. I increased my web hosting space to 20GB and still could not get it to work. I'm sure how big the video is, but it is over an hour church service. Any information/advise would be appreciated. Now I am looking at DVD burners and duplicators. What would you recommend that would duplicate videos of that size? Thank you, Hello reader, It sounds like you have an interesting problem on your hands.  I think that with a little more understanding on your part, you'll realize what is going wrong. The first thing to understand is that video can come in a lot of different sizes for the same length.  One hour of video can be as small as 300 megabytes, or as big as 10 or 20 gigabytes.   The size of the file is a result of the codecs used, the level of compression employed within the codec, and the bitrate of the video.  Also the resolution of the video has a large part to play. To define these terms, a codec is basically a system to encode or decode something.  There are codecs for both audio and video.  There are many different codecs for each.  You're probably familiar with MP3 files, right?  MP3's are just audio files encoded with the MP3 codec.  When you play an MP3 on a computer or a portable device, the device uses the same codec to decode the file into an audio stream.  A DVD player hooked up to your TV for instance uses the MPEG-2 video codec to decode the files on the disc and show you video.   Not all codecs are created equal.  Some are better for some tasks than others. Bitrate is a measurement of how many bits of information per second the file uses.    The higher the bitrate, the more data is used to render each second of video and/or audio.  The more data used, the higher the quality, and at the same time, the bigger the file size.  There's also something called variable-bitrate which allows the bitrate to change over time to adjust to the needs of the video.  This makes it so that high-action scenes in the video get a higher bitrate and hence look less choppy, while scenes with little movement can use a lower bitrate to save space. Compression is simply a way to crunch files down so that they are smaller.  If I went through this letter and every time I used the word "the" I put a number 6 in its place then by the time I got to the end of the letter, I'd have saved a lot of keystrokes.  I would just have to make sure to start out the letter by explaining that everywhere you see a 6, to mentally replace that with "the"... Compression works in the same way.  By identifying repeating patterns of data within a file, and then using a system to reduce it. Again, to relate to something you're likely to be familiar with, MP3 is a compressed audio format.  If you were to uncompress a 4 megabyte MP3, you'd get about 20 to 25 megabytes of data. Resolution is simply a measurement of how many pixels high and how many pixels wide the video is.  A pixel of course is one colored dot that makes up the picture.  Your computer monitor is likely displaying a resolution of about 800x600 or higher.  For the sake of arguement, we'll assume 800x600.  If you multipy the two numbers you get 480,000 pixels.  Thats 480,000 little dots of color that get updated every time your screen changes.  If each pixel only uses one bit of data for each change, then you're looking at 480k of data for each fullscreen change. And you want a decent framerate so that it doesn't look choppy, so around 30 frames per second.  So 480k times 30 = 14,400k or 14.4 megabytes of data, for one second!  or 843 megabytes for one minute or around 50 gigabytes for an hour.  Thats huge! Thats also uncompressed and assuming that every pixel changes throughout the entire video.  But you can see that sizes can theoretically be very big, hopefully you'll also see that they don't have to be.  By reducing the resolution to 400x300 you'd reduce the theoretical size to just 12 gigabytes.  By using compression you'd reduce that to about 1 gigabyte or smaller.  And by using a codec that doesn't change the color of pixels unless they need to be changed, you'd reduce it even further. Ok, now that you have all of that to think about, I'll try to answer your question a little more directly.  You should use a video converter to convert the file to a lower bitrate and use a more efficient codec.  Depending on what you did the recording with, your video is likely in MPEG-2 format (suitable for DVD players).  Converting it using something like the DivX or Xvid codecs could reduce the filesize by a factor of 10 if you choose an appropriate bitrate. For hosting video on the web, you're going to want something that is small and easily downloaded.  If you intend for it to be played in a web browser then you're going to want it to be a codec that facilitates that.  I'm not sure what kind of website you're trying to use, but if the file is too big, people won't be able to stream it.  And since you said it is an hour of church services, there's not likely to be a lot of action, or the need for hi-definition quality.  So you can probably get away with a smaller resolution like 400x300 and a low bitrate (say around 500 or less).  This should end up with a file that is small enough to for people to download quickly and possibly even stream with little or no choppiness. There are lots of video conversion tools out there.  You likely already have Windows Movie Maker on your computer, and this will convert it to a WMV video  (WMV stands for the Windows Media Video codec) which is very common and widely used.  Its very easy for beginners, but it only has the option of outputting to the WMV format, so you may find that it will not suit your needs if that codec is incompatible with what you're trying to do.   If you want to use something a little more robust with more options and that can re-encode the video in a wide array of codecs, then try out MediaCoder which you can get free at http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/ MediaCoder is free and open source, and it will DEFINITELY re-encode your video into something you can use, though it may take a little more time to figure out how to use the program effectively. As far as DVD burners, the capacity of recordable DVD's is 4.7 Gigabytes.  To go higher than that you'll be getting into BluRay which can be very expensive and is something that the congregation is not likely to be able to play anyway unless you buy them all BluRay players.  So in picking a DVD burner, go for speed and quality.  I can't really recommend a single brand as they all have their successes and failures, I would just recommend you search online for some reviews on individual models before you buy.  If you plan on using this to burn 10 or 20 copies at a time, it could wear out quickly if it's not built for heavy use. If you use a program such as Nerovision Express to make the DVD it will re-encode the video to fit on the DVD, so filesize shouldn't be a problem so long as you don't expect to get 20 hours of video on a single disk. If you try all of this and you still can't get it to upload to your site, you may have some networking issues or the site may just not allow that type of file. I hope this helps! If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

ssc #84 Abakt backup

If you've ever lost valuable documents due to a computer crash or virus infection then today's article is for you.  If you've ever been told by friends that you need to back up your files, but never found the time, then today's article is for you.  If you've never had a problem and never saw a need to back up important data, then today's article is DEFINITELY for you. Crashes happen.  Files get lost every hour of every day due to viral infections, hardware failure, power fluctuations and just plain stupidity.  If you've never lost any important files then either you're really lucky, or you just don't have any files that you consider important. Today I'd like to share with you a very useful little program I found called Abakt. Abakt is an open source backup utility.  Essentially, you set up Abakt to copy your important files and folders to a specific location and then you can use the Windows Scheduler to make it back everything up on a regular basis. Abakt has the ability to compress your files when it backs them up, and also can delete backups when they've become too old, making sure that your storage space isn't filled up with zip archives of out-dated data. Another thing that Abakt can do is group a bunch of backup profiles into a group and then you can run them all by starting up the group. Whats even better for those of the geek persuasion is that Abakt can be called by DOS commands.  Essentially you can use a batch file (.bat) with all of your Abakt arguements and then use a command line email utility called Blat (http://www.blat.net/) to email you after the process is complete to let you know if everything went ok.  If you use gmail you will need to use a program called "stunnel" (www.stunnel.org) which provides a secure ssl tunnel for blat to talk to Gmail. You can get Abakt at:  http://www.xs4all.nl/~edienske/abakt/ Below is an example of a batch file designed to run Abakt and then email me the results of the process. --------------------- set BLAT="C:\Program Files\blat\blat.exe" set ABAKT="C:\Program Files\Abakt\Abakt.exe" set PROFILE=<the profile name you wish to use> set GROUP=<the group name you wish to use> set BODY="<put in the full path to a .txt message you'd like included in your email>" set HOME=C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name> set LOGFILE1="%HOME%\Application Data\Abakt\Log\%GROUP%.log" set LOGFILE2="%HOME%\Application Data\Abakt\Log\%PROFILE%.log" set TOEMAIL=intendedaddress@wherever.com set FROMEMAIL=youraccountaddress@wherever.com @rem == This next line prepares Blat with your email server %BLAT% -install smtp.gmail.com %EMAIL% @rem == This line actually starts up Abakt @rem== If you want to use a profile it should be "%PROFILE%".abp %ABAKT% -b -x -l -m "%GROUP%".abg goto result%ERRORLEVEL% :result0      @rem OK (0x00)     set BACKUPA=FilesCopied_OK         @goto end :result2     @rem OK+WARNING (0x02)     set BACKUPA=Files_Copied_With_errors     @goto end :result1     @rem ERROR (0x01) :result3     @rem ERROR+WARNING (0x03)     set BACKUPA=File_Copy_FAILED     @goto end :end @rem==this line actually sends the email %BLAT% %BODY% -s "%BACKUPA%" -to %TOEMAIL% -f %FROMEMAIL% -server 127.0.0.1 -port 25 -u <email_username> -pw <email_password> I hope thats helpful to some of you.  I've sure found it to be a great program. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

SSC #83 Splashtop

There's a new technology on its way and if you blink, you might just miss it. Splashtop is just one instance of a new quick booting technology that the motherboard manufacturer ASUS is putting on all its new offerings. The purpose of Splashtop is to provide a fast booting simplified desktop with a few essential aplications.  Its not designed to replace a full operating system, but instead it allows you to turn your machine on and within a few seconds have access to a web browser, Skype webphone, and possibly more.  Splashtop will run in read-only mode, which means you won't be able to make changes to it or install new applications, but it also means you won't be able to mess it up. For laptop users on the go, this means you'll be able to boot up very quickly into a low power desktop that you can use to get online, check your mail and shut down before a full operating system would get fully booted up. For home users, this means that if your desktop suddenly catches the flu and refuses to start up, you have an emergency system that you can use to get online and find out what to do to get it up and running again. The reason I said if you blink you might miss it is that its likely that this will be an option that you have to select at boot time by pressing a specific key or key combo.  Without selecting it, it won't come up.  And if you never see it, you may not even know that it is there.  ASUS is leading the pack on this technology, but its doubtful that they'll be the only one to release products featuring it.  Other companies may not call it Splashtop, but it will be very similar. This technology promises to have lots of potential for future applications.  Assuming just a few more advances in Virtual Machine technology, a Splashtop VM Manager seems not only inevitable, but undoubtedly awesome.  If you're geek enough to understand what this means, you'll no doubt agree to its usefulness. All in all, Splashtop is definitely a technology to watch, and buy, when it becomes available in the coming months. Oh, and did I mention that Splashtop is Linux based?   Yeah.  Its that cool. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

SSC #82 Net Neutrality

Many of you have probably heard the term "Net Neutrality" bandied about on the news lately.  A lot of people seem to be talking about it, but not many are showing signs that they really understand what it is all about. Net Neutrality is a concept that the internet should be nothing more than a set of "dumb pipes" that transfer data from one point to another.  They should not give precedence to one transfer over another, and that the internet should not block traffic or deliberately slow traffic going across it.  This is how the internet works as of right now, and in the past. At odds with this concept are the companies who collectively provide internet service to all of us.  Complaining of network congestion and an inability to reliably offer promised speeds to their customers, they claim that giving some traffic preferential treatment over other traffic is not only desirable, but necessary. If Network Neutrality is not upheld, there could be many consequences as a result of its downfall.  ISPs could begin to offer tiered priority schemes to different content providers.  This would, for instance, allow companies offering paid services (such as Netflix's movie streaming service) to gain a higher priority over the video conference you're having with your sister in Oregon.   It wouldn't just stop at legitimate services like Netflix though.  It would be something that would be offered to any company paying the price.  Full motion video advertisements would begin loading faster than the text based web pages on which they resided.  And as a result, our collective bandwidth would suffer.  This also means that any new high-bandwidth services starting up that couldn't afford the internet fast lane would hardly be able to compete since their service would appear choppy and slow. Another possible outcome would be that you wouldn't necessarily be able to do wherever you want to with your internet connection.  You may have to pay one amount for web browsing, and another amount of money for chat or email.  Transferring files or encrypted data may be something else entirely. Really there's no way of knowing how it would eventually end up.  But one thing is for sure... once Net Neutrality is broken, things will only get worse for the end user. While I understand that it is a hard task to manage a congested network, the answer lies not in abolishing Net Neutrality.  The answer lies in abolishing spam (which accounts for far too much of internet traffic) and in adopting new faster technologies. In America we have the privilege of having one of the first country-wide information networks.  And while this might be a mark of pride for some, when you think about it, its one of the things that is holding us back.  Countries that did not build their information networks until recently got to take advantage of newer and better technologies that did not exist when our own was built. Many technologies have come to light since our nation's network was built.  But either by overbearing regulation or simple ignorance, they never seem to manifest for our use. One thing that is for sure is that Net Neutrality is something that we should all keep an eye on.  It is the internet equivalent of free speech.  While the corporations may own the networks, they were paid for using our monthly service subscriptions.  And the corporations should keep in mind that if they take away the freedom that makes the internet what it is, they'll find a lot of those subscriptions canceled.  Mine included. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

SSC #81 DropBox

I've been pretty busy lately, and it's been hard to find time to write, but fear not, I'm still here.    Today I wanna tell you about a new utility I heard about on the LottaLinuxLinks podcast:  DropBox.    DropBox is a great tool for syncing files between multiple computers.  Essentially it works by setting up a special folder on your machines that will sync to eachother.  First, install DropBox on all of your machines.  Then, if you put a picture or document into the DropBox on one computer, it will show up in the DropBox on all your other computers.  Its a great way to move files between work and home without any disks or thumbdrives to carry around with you... a no-fuss solution to a common problem.    But it can be used in other ways as well.  Say for instance that you want to share pictures with your relatives.  If you set up a family DropBox, and install it on your relative's computers, then you simply drag and drop files into the DropBox and it will show up in their DropBox shortly thereafter.    Its not a complicated looking affair, in fact it looks just like a normal folder on your desktop.  It really can't be easier than this!    DropBox also has a public component that allows you to designate files to be accessible publicly.  Public files can be accessed through a web page from any computer in the world, whether DropBox is installed or not!  Its a great way to make a small cache of highly accessible personal files.  If you'd like something to be accessible globally, but you're worried about someone getting hold of sensitive files, simply compress the files in a password protected archive before making them public.  Then, while anyone will be able to get the archive, they won't be able to open it.    I am sure you can think of more ways to use something like this... just go to www.getdropbox.com and download it. Its cross-platform meaning it has versions available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.  And they can all sync up with eachother.   If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

SSC #80 Duo-County Internet Speedup

In a surprising move, Duo-County Telephone has drastically raised their internet speeds. Customers of Duo-County woke up a few days ago to faster downloads and faster loading web pages.  Originally some thought it was a glitch, but it turns out that Duo-County has indeed increased their broadband speeds across the board. If you previously had Fastnet DSL Lite or Viewnet Cable Lite, you were accustomed to a download speed cap of 384kbps.  After applying the Windows Math to it (divide by 8), what you ended up seeing was around 48K download speeds in your machine.  The new speed for the service plan is 1.5Mbit, or 1,536kbps... four times what you got before, and twice what you used to get for the next tier up.  Now your top speed (in Windows Math) will be around 192K. If you had their regular Fastnet DSL or Viewnet Cable you previously had speeds of 768kbps / 96K, but now you're enjoying a whopping 4Mbit service.  Thats 4096kbps aka 512K download speed.  Thats 5 and a third times faster than what you got before!  Apparently a little competition is a good thing. From what I hear, there's a four dollar cost increase associated with these upgrades, but honestly thats not too bad considering the impressive speed boost.  Now all of those streaming web TV services should work just fine... no more stuttering youtube videos! I'm not one much for corporations or corporate types, but I do give credit where credit is due.  Duo-County has done their customers a great service here.  Now Russell County speeds are much closer in line with what you'd get in Lexington or Louisville, and thats pretty impressive. I've heard no word yet from Vortex Wireless on how they plan to react to this new development, but if and when I do I'll be sure to pass it along.  Residential FastNET DSL Internet 1.5 Mbps download speeds (256 Kbps Upload). $33.95 per month. 4 Mbps download speeds (256 Kbps Upload) $49.95 per month. Residential ViewNET Cable Internet ViewNET 1.5 - 1.5 Mbps Download and 256 Kbps Upload Speed: $33.95 per month. ViewNET 4 - 4 Mbps Download and 256 Kbps Upload Speed: $39.95 per month. $100 Installation Charge applies to new installations. Questions/Comments -- www.StraightShootinComputin.com

SSC #79 Don't use Antivirus XP 2008

Theres a new spyware/virus combo that is sweeping the unwary net-surfing population of Russell County.  Several times now people have brought machines to me complaining of strange behavior and unexplained lockups.  The cause of all this is a fake anti-virus program called Antivirus XP 2008.  This is often installed by a trusting individual after reading terror-ridden warning messages in pop-up ads.  Essentially its like Iraq... they claim your computer has weapons of mass destruction so as to scare you to the point of stupidity, and in response you give them the keys to come in and wreck the place. The advertisements are bogus, the program is bogus.  It does a fake scan and gives lots of scary fraudulent results and then asks you to purchase the program so that it can remove all of the so-called threats.  All the while, behind the scenes, it is installing viruses and possibly even a rootkit.  So, if they've done all of this, do you think these are the kind of people you should give your credit card info to? Paying for this program would be a mistake of grand proportions!  Buying antivirus software from pop-up ads is like buying antibiotics from a stranger in a dark alley.  Common sense should tell you that its a bad idea. But being gullible isn't the only way that this program gets in though, in some cases it has seemingly installed itself onto computers that have no protection whatsoever whenever the user browses to less than reputable sites.  So if you're running around the net unprotected, chances are this little bugger will just show up all on its own. On newly infected machines, often this software can be disabled by running Avast Antivirus boot-time scan (or another good quality antiviral program), but in instances where it is entrenched, there's little choice but to offload important files, and then completely wipe and reinstall the operating system.  Its very hard to tell just how far a system has been infected, so in most cases its safest to wipe and re-install.  Also, any files that are taken off the machine should be scanned by a reliable anti-virus program. If you've somehow got this software on your machine, you need to do something about it as soon as possible.  You can find removal instructions here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/remove-antivirus-xp-2008 And if you don't feel confident that you can remove it yourself, you're welcome to give me a call. See ya next week! Jeff Smith www.straightshootincomputin.com

SSC #78 A great deal!

Sorry I missed writing last week, I was pretty worn out from Software Freedom Day.  I'd love to tell you all that it went great, but it didn't.  Hardly anyone bothered to show up, despite all my efforts at advertising.  We were ready to go at around 10am, and we stayed til around 4pm.  Most people that came by were just wanting to pay their cellphone bills.  Now I could rant and rave at everyone for not showing, but I think instead I'll just take it as a sign that Russell County is not interested in silly little things like freedom.  I doubt I'll be doing anything similar next year.  It was too much stress and the results were too depressing. So instead I'm going to tell you about a good deal. Right now, you can go to www.Walmart.com and buy a pre-installed Linux computer for $210, tax included.  They're made by a company called Everex, and they run gOS, a version of Linux.  If you have them ship it to the local Walmart, shipping is free.  This is a great deal!  $210 buys you a tower with: 1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor 512MB DDR2 memory 80GB Hard Drive DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive Keyboard 2-Button Scroll Mouse stereo speakers - USB powered The case has frontside USB ports as well as frontside headphone and mic jacks. Make no mistake, this is not a powerhouse.  Its not a gaming machine.  This is a cheap machine for basic/average usage.  If all you do online is surf the internet, do email, and chat, this is for you.  It plays DVD movies, and can burn CDs.  It also has some simple games like solitaire and such.  This is a great machine for a light user, a new user, or as a 2nd computer or student computer.  All you'll need is a monitor since it comes with everything else. And if you find that you don't like the gOS operating system, you're fully capable of replacing it with Windows XP or Ubuntu or whatever you fancy. I had some hands-on time with this machine yesterday.  And to be truthful, I wasn't too impressed with the gOS operating system.  If I were to buy one I'd replace it with Ubuntu, but that's just me.  But for the price, you get a complete system (minus a monitor) and thats a deal I just felt I should pass along.  If you want to get a monitor with it, the price goes up to $328. They do not sell these at the local stores, you can only buy them online.  And if you don't like the $200 model there are others as well, including laptops and mini-laptops.  And all of these models are priced lower than what you find with Vista installed. Until next week, take care of eachother! If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com I live in Russell County.  If you do too and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

SSC #77 Software Freedom Day 2008

Hope to see everyone there!

SSC #76 Fair Software Practices

A good portion of the open source community has got their eyes trained on a legal matter in Canada.  FACIL, a Quebec based open-source software group has filed a lawsuit against the Quebec government claiming unfair practices.  In Quebec there are laws on the books that stipulate that the government must take bids and do cost assessment when dealing with contractors.  But apparently, when deciding to spend an estimated $80 million dollars on upgrades to Vista and assorted Microsoft software this year alone, no assessments were made, and no competitive bids were entertained.  While this is the first lawsuit like this that I've heard of, if it is successful, it is doubtful that it will be the last.  Closer to home, the Russell County Court House (at least the Circuit Court Clerk's office) is preparing to upgrade to Microsoft Vista.  This will likely entail the purchasing of new computer towers, licensed copies of Microsoft Vista, as well as assorted Office software.  At a speculative cost ranging from $800 per desktop to possibly as high as $2500 per desktop, depending on what they're going to buy, you can start to see how the dollars add up really fast.  But truly I don't suggest that one county out of the whole state should move to Linux.  There is undoubtedly software that is in use state-wide that they would need to be able to interface with.  It is doubtful that Linux equivalents to their criminal database and vehicle licensing software exists under Linux.  And while there's a possibility that these may in fact run under the Windows emulator, WINE, its not guaranteed. Given that Windows Vista is so bloated that even today's high end hardware runs as sluggishly as what they currently use, as well as the cost of retraining the workers to deal with any differences brought on by the upgrade, the only reason for upgrading is to continue to receive security updates from Microsoft.  Government offices do not typically add loads and loads of new applications in a given year.  The same stuff they're doing today is likely the same stuff they'll be doing five years from now.  If not for the sad state of Windows security and the ever present need for them to fix the holes in it, there would scarcely be a reason to go to Vista.  And if Vista was not such a blatant system resource hog, there'd be no reason to upgrade the hardware.  Essentially, this upgrade is happening for the plain and simple fact that Microsoft has abandoned Windows XP.  This in and of itself is would not be such a big deal if the replacement they have for it were not so terrible. Despite the current dismal state of the economy, Microsoft, still one of the richest organizations in the entire world, believes that we should all upgrade immediately and with great haste.  I for one refuse to drink the kool-aid on this one. Companies contemplating the move to Vista should weigh their options.  There's more to computers than just Microsoft.  There's also Mac, and Linux, and BSD, and Unix, and Solaris and some more options I'm not even aware of.  Checking out the field is common sense.  And in Canada, its the law.  Without competition, innovation is diminished if not extinguished. The feeling that there is no real choice is something that Microsoft has worked very hard to cultivate.  Why?  Because they plan on STAYING one of the richest organizations in the world. By the time this comes out in print, it will be one week and two days until Software Freedom Day.  If you want to get away from Microsoft and their bullying, bring your computer tower and/or laptop down to the Sprint store in Russell Springs on September 20th.  Its a non-profit event, staffed completely by volunteers.  It will cost you nothing and could gain you a lot.  I hope to see you there!  You won't need to bring a mouse, monitor or keyboard.  We'll have those on hand.   Oh, there's been some confusion about where I am located.  My phone number is based in Somerset, but I live in Russell Springs. Grandcentral.com, my phone forwarding service, did not have any local numbers.  Hope that clears up any confusion. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

SSC #75 They're not teachers, they're pushers!

I am so mad right now I can barely see straight.  So far three people have come up to me asking how to open the new Microsoft Office 2007 file formats on their current machines.  Apparently, teachers at the local colleges have switched to MS Office 2007 and they've decided that you should to.  Some teachers are distributing assignments in the new format and their unwitting students are now forced to shell out between  $85 and $150 for the new MS Office Home and Student 2007 edition.  But wait, it gets worse.  Some are mistakenly paying more for other versions of the same software (possibly up to around $480 for the MS Office Ultimate 2007 Upgrade) when the Home and Student version isn't available at the store.  We're talking about an suite of office software that has the gall to charge $200 just for language packs.  Does anyone still have any questions as to why I dislike Microsoft so very very much?? The one talent that Microsoft has demonstrated time and time again is not the ability to make great software, but instead the ability to make bloated locked-down drivel and make everyone pay through the nose for it! I can understand making students buy this software if the class is called Learning Office 2007, or something like that, but no... these are just general computing classes.  General. Computing. Classes. I've got it!  I've solved the whole national educational funding dilemma!  Teachers should start earning a commission for sales!  They're obviously doing the work of a massive sales force, they should get compensated for their hard work and treachery. Teachers.  Listen up.  Stop it.  If you don't have to use proprietary formats, then DON'T DO IT.  OpenOffice is a full suite of software that will read and write to open formats that are not locked down from anyone.  Open office will also read and write to all of the old Microsoft formats.    And OpenOffice is just one of many free and effective solutions.  After the big fight a little while back that Microsoft put up just to get their Office Open XML format accepted as a 2nd and unnecessary standard, you'd think they'd be a little more forthcoming with their new formats.  But no.  They're laying out the trough and we're all supposed to pony up the dough so we can lap it up. Are you really happy with your Microsoft Windows?  About 80% of you probably just said "No".    If you're not happy, then why in the world would you want to support them financially?  If you keep feeding the monster, it will still be around next time to bite you where it hurts. If you only teach someone how to use Microsoft software, then that is all they will ever know how to use.  This creates a mental dependency and allows a certain company to continually and unendingly put out high-priced junk.  Then three or five years later Microsoft decides to do it all over again. People aren't buying Microsoft Office 2007 because they think it is great software, they're buying it because they have to.  This is the definition of a monopoly.  And its the teachers who are enforcing this monopoly power. If you teach someone a wide variety of software--even if it is all for the same task--then they learn the fundamental concepts involved, not just the specific locations of options and tasks in one single solitary program.  One single solitary program that they'll just make obsolete in five years anyway for the sole reason of making more money from all of us sheep. People go to school to learn how to make more money.  When they're going to school, they generally don't have that much of it.  If they had loads of money, they'd probably not be in school, they'd be out having fun spending it.  This practice is bordering on extortion, and its perpetrated against a group of people who are doing all they can do to better themselves.  Teachers engaging in this practice should be ashamed.   Teach Microsoft Office.  By all means, teach it.  But don't JUST teach that.  And do NOT expect everyone to buy it.  Do NOT treat it as gospel. Distribute assignments in an open format so that people can use whatever software they like to use at home.  If they're taking a class that is specifically centered around MS Office 2007, then its a completely understandable requirement.  But don't increase the coffers of a malignant company for no good reason other than that you upgraded to the new version because you heard they finally got rid of that stupid talking paperclip. Stop being a pusher.  Otherwise, teachers, you need to get in touch with Microsoft Corporation at (425) 882-8080 and ask them where your check is.  Its obvious that you're working for them, you're just not getting paid. Students, I'm not sure about the other formats, but you can use an online converter to convert the 2007 .docx format to the older .doc files.  You can find it at http://docx-converter.com/ There may be converters for the other ones, so you don't necessarily have to give in.  Geeks all over the world are working on your behalf, so just be patient.  Alternately, you could simply tell your teacher just how unfair these new formats are.  If enough of you ask, maybe they'll come to their senses. For ANYONE needing a good FREE office suite, if you're not locked into Office 2007 by boneheaded practices, go to www.openoffice.org From their site: "OpenOffice.org 2 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages"--more than 18--"and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose." And if you would like to get away from Microsoft COMPLETELY, come down to the Sprint store in Russell Springs on Saturday, September 20th.  Bring your tower and you can get free installation, configuration, and customization of Ubuntu Linux, as well as free software for Windows, including OpenOffice.  Its all virus free, spyware free, and cost free folks.  Avail yourself of this chance at freedom while you can. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment.

SSC #74 Many different ways to use Linux

What many people at first fail to grasp about Linux is that it is all about choice. You can choose between more than 400 different Linux distrobutions.  You can choose to create your own.  You can choose to change how your Linux works.... how it looks... how it acts. You can make one or all of a thousand different choices to customize your Linux to your needs.  But you DON'T have to choose to give up Microsoft Windows to do it. Linux can be installed in many different ways.  Just like Windows, it can be installed to be the only Operating System in your computer.  But, it can also be installed in a dual boot configuration which allows you to KEEP Windows installed and working just like it is.   There are two different ways that you can choose from to accomplish this.     The easiest way is to use Wubi.  You can use the new Wubi installer that comes on the Ubuntu 8.04 discs to install Linux into a virtual harddrive, which is basically just a file in your Windows folders. Wubi works great and its an awesome way to give Ubuntu a try.  You simply start up your computer, boot up Windows, and put in the CD.  A box will pop up giving you some options, one of which will be to install it in Windows.  All you have to put in is your user name and password, and decide how much space to give Ubuntu to use.  The installer handles the rest very easily.  It also uninstalls very easily from the Add/Remove Programs feature found in Windows Control Panel.  The only problems with the Wubi method are that by installing from within Windows, you have essentially made Linux depend on Windows being able to keep itself working properly.  If your Windows has errors on the disk, then the Wubi Ubuntu installation can't boot up.    Another problem is that with Vista, Microsoft has apparently tried to block the usage of Wubi.  Vista kicks the Ubuntu disk out halfway through the install and messes everything up.  This seems to have been an intentional move by Microsoft since Vista only starts doing that after it receives its updates.   You can get around this by copying the wubi.exe file from the disk to your desktop and running it from there. So while Wubi is an excellent way of trying out Ubuntu Linux, its not desirable as a permanent installation since it relies on Windows not to mess things up.   Windows is the weak link in the chain... refraining from messing things up is not something that it is known for.    An install that has its own partition doesn't have to rely on Windows.  In a partitioned install, Windows can be infected with viruses and torn to shreds, yet Ubuntu will still boot up just fine and dandy.  If you just want to try out Linux without actually installing, you can simply put the CD in and reboot your machine.  The CD will boot up into a Live mode.  This Live mode allows you to use Ubuntu without installing anything at all... it doesn't change a single file on your computer.  You can play with the applications, you can browse the net.  You can do all sorts of stuff.  And if you reboot and take out the disk, Windows will boot right up as though nothing ever happened. Be aware that Live mode needs a decent amount of RAM to run.  I've gotten it to run with around 390 or so MB of RAM, but generally at least 512MB is recommended, and the more you have the faster Live mode will run.  Don't base your opinion on the speed of Ubuntu by how it runs in Live mode.  It will run faster once it is installed. Also note that changes you make in Live mode are not permanent.  You can mess with stuff and reboot into Live mode again and everything is just like it was originally.  Its a great way to get familiar with things. If you decide you like Ubuntu enough to install it, there's an "Install" icon on the desktop where you can re-partition and put Ubuntu Linux on your computer permanently.  This installer also has the option of getting rid of Windows completely.  So do be careful to read everything as you go through it.  Simply put, re-partitioning is re-configuring the way your harddrive is laid out.  By squishing Windows to the side a little bit, you can free up some space to make room for Linux.  Much like using room partitions to make one room into two smaller ones, your harddrive can handle many partitions, but doing so does not increase its overall size.   Note that if your Windows drive has errors, you won't be able to re-size its partition until you've successfully shut Windows down properly.  Also, if your drive is already full, you won't be able to repartition it until you've freed up some space. As you can see, there are many ways to use Ubuntu Linux along side Microsoft Windows.  You don't have to give up everything you are familiar with, and you can learn your way around Ubuntu at your own pace and retreat to familiar ground when you feel the need.  You can have your cake, and eat it too. If you're interested in getting Ubuntu but you're not sure about all this installation stuff, come on down to the Russell County Software Freedom Day event which will be located at the Sprint store next to Papa John's Pizza on September 20th and bring your computer along with you.  Volunteers will be on hand to help you and its free for everyone. If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to www.straightshootincomputin.com

SSC #73 Time to face the change

Change can be a stressful thing.  And fear of change can be a big factor in whether or not a person will embrace something new.  Much in the same way that people can manage hold onto an abusive relationship for years on end, despite myriads of people telling them they should leave, people still continue to use an operating system that abuses their trust. While Linux hasn't exactly permeated our culture, bashing Microsoft and complaining about Windows seems to be something that is so widespread that its a wonder there isn't an Olympic event.  If there were, I'm sure I'd have more medals than Michael Phelps.  Its commonly agreed upon that Windows is not all it is cracked up to be.  The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error screen has been integrated into pop culture to the point where people take snapshots of it in the oddest of places. Just search google images for BSOD and you'll see the most famous error screen of all time on those giant screens at Times Square, even at the Olympics torch lighting ceremony.   We can all agree, pretty much without reservation, that Microsoft Windows is bad.  Its buggy, its full of security holes that viruses just slip right through, there are hidden "features" that compromise your computer's security and allow outside agencies to snoop on your machine.  There are a lot of problems, but still people refrain from changing.  The bruises still haven't healed from the last time Windows came in drunk, reeking of viruses, emailed all your friends to tell them about some shady stock tips and crashed on the coffee table destroying all your files.  But people just aren't brave enough to put their foot down and kick Windows to the curb. Life with Linux IS different.  It is a change.  And I'll be honest, for many people its very uncomfortable at first.  The more you know about Windows, the more you'll feel out of place when you get rid of it.  The icons don't look the same, the menus are different, you may not be able to use your favorite programs.  You could be the most knowledgeable Windows geek in fifty miles, and when you boot into Linux for the first time, you'll feel like a complete moron.  This is natural.  This is change. The less you know about Windows, the easier the transition is.  But if you are a Windows power user, you've likely built up some skills that deal with finding information.  While a switching from being a Windows noobie to a Linux noobie isn't that uncomfortable, they're still noobies when all is said and done.  They have simple needs and so long as these needs are met, they're happy.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  I don't subscribe to the philosophy that everyone needs to be a computer genius.  Not knowing is ok.  But it won't feel okay for a Windows power user.  Transitioning will be slower.  There's much more to relearn.  Many more skills that need to be translated.  But speaking as a Windows power user who has taken the time and effort to make the switch, it is so totally worth it.  There is help in abundance.  The internet is quite actually teeming with support.  From IRC chat channels to online forums to community LUG meetings, the answers to your questions are out there.  And you can use the informational search skills that you've built up in the Windows world to steadily increase your Linux knowlege and slowly wean yourself from Windows one application, one neat hack, one cool trick at a time. By the time this reaches print there will be less than a month until Software Freedom Day.  On September 20th I invite anyone and everyone to come down and give Linux a try.  Whether you're a power user or not, we will customize Linux to your needs.  We will make sure you know where to get help.  Change IS frightening, but you won't be alone.  You won't have to worry about viruses or BSOD's anymore.  You'll be free from the abusive relationship you've had with Windows in the past and you can start to enjoy your computer without all of the fear and uncertainty that many of you have come to accept as just part of owning a computer.  Its a new day.  Be free and enjoy it. If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://www.straightshootincomputin.com

SSC #72 About last year

Be ready! Its coming back! No, I'm not talking about the McRib Sandwich (but if you see that THOSE are back, be sure and let me know), I'm talking about Software Freedom Day 2008! Not to be discouraged by last year's lackluster response from the community-at-large, we're signed up again to go out into the world yet again and pass out free software in an attempt to spread software freedom across the globe. Last year, over 300 teams in over 60 countries participated worldwide in an attempt to help people to escape from the dreary world of proprietary software. No longer must you put up with serial-key codes, trial-versions or annoying "unlock-me! I only cost $199.95" messages. No more electronic guilt-trips imploring you incessantly to upgrade to the "Pro" version. Software Freedom Day 2008 will be celebrated on Saturday, September 20th and I'll be stepping out of the newspaper pages and into the street to meet with YOU, dear reader. I will be passing out free CD's of Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron as well as The Open Disk project (a disk full of Free Open Source Software or "FOSS" for Windows), Linux Mint 5, and Inferno Linux (an offshoot Fire Hydrant Linux, which is an offshoot of Puppy Linux 2.17). I will also have copies of the very handy BoothCD, aka the Firefox Kiosk disk. And I might possibly even have some copies of the Linux Gamer DVD on hand at request which is a great disk pre-loaded with great Linux compatible games that you can just boot and play. I will be doing my best to have a computer available for people to see Linux in action so they know that just because something is free, doesn't mean it's worthless. Sometimes you get what you pay for... but this isn't one of those times. Right now, though, I need your help. In the Open Source community, there is a saying... "Everyone can help in some way." If you are already a Linux user and want to help spread the word by handing out CD's and flyers, drop me a line or give me a call and come and help directly. More hands means more stuff being handed out. And if flagging down passers-by is not your cup of tea, you can help by telling someone else about what we're doing. Last year, the biggest problem we had was that people are afraid of the word "Free." At least ten different people accused us of trying to sell something. They insisted that there was a catch somewhere, no matter how fervently we assured them that there wasn't. Apparently, people have gotten to the sad state where not only will they not stand up and shout for what they believe in, but apparently they don't think that anyone else will either. When the word "Free" can't be trusted, what does that have to say about "The land of the Free"? Anyway, I digress. Software Freedom is not about Freedom in the sense that it costs nothing, (it does cost nothing, but that isn't the point) its about Freedom in the sense that it is used to describe "Free Speech". Geeks across the world have banded together to fight what they believe to be an unfairly closed system of political and economic oppression. Microsoft is just one company that partakes of this, but it is not the only one. And if there are any Apple/Mac lovers out there, don't think that Apple is any better. In fact, when it comes to proprietary closed systems, Apple is worse than Microsoft ever thought about being. You can't even get a Mac unless you buy it from Apple. If you try to build one yourself, you're breaking the law. In the early dawn of computers, the software was always free. It was a means to sell more machines. But somewhere along the line, things went sour. Now we live in a world where software is installed via virus embedded in a pop-up ad, which then relentlessly hounds you to send in money to "Unlock" its full features. Software that lies to you and tells you that your computer has hundreds of errors and/or viruses which conveniently it can fix, if you'll just type in your credit card number. Aren't you sick of not being able to trust your own computer? It goes beyond freedom and such esoteric ideals. This is also about security. According to Symantec, the makers of Norton Antivirus, there are now over 1 million windows viruses. Thats one million viruses designed to cause havoc with your machine. Thats one million viruses that Linux is not vulnerable to. If you take a freshly installed Windows XP machine and put it on the net, without installing protections first, the average time before it is compromised is about 18 minutes. Only eighteen minutes before your computer is a spam-slinging member of a botnet. Eighteen minutes until your machine, that you paid good money for, is now working for someone else. While Vista has made some great inroads to correcting these problems, recent discoveries are putting Microsoft's new operating system under the same light. Viruses are already showing up for Vista and more are undoubtedly on the way as hackers across the world deconstruct it and figure out how it ticks. Every mistake that Microsoft makes is another hole in your security. Every typo or poorly designed function is an opportunity for your machine to be compromised. With all of the mistakes and hidden agenda's Microsoft has had in the past, are they really the kind of company that you want to support? Its time to be done with all of that. Its time for something better. Essentially, Software Freedom is about the belief that all of us together can make better software than what comes from all of us paying a few people to do it. By the people, for the people. That sort of thing. I'll be covering this topic for the next few weeks, outlining the plans in motion for the event. I've already received a couple of offers from volunteers in Lexington, but as of yet, I don't think it is enough for the job at hand. So if you'd like to help, either by donating your time, money for needed supplies, or by allowing us to set up at your business location, or even if it is just by telling a few friends that there really isn't a catch to this whole Free Software thing, as they say, everyone can help in some way. Take control of your computer. Before someone else does. For more information, go to http://www.softwarefreedomday.org. If you'd like to see a map of all of the SFD teams, go to http://cgi.softwarefreedomday.org/map.shtml If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to www.straightshootincomputin.com

SSC #71 Its Linux and its Minty Fresh!

This week I'd like to talk to you about Linux Mint.  I think I may have mentioned it a few months ago, but I'd like to give it the proper treatment this week.  So without further ado, I present to you, dear reader, Linux Mint 5, codenamed Elyssa. One thing you must understand about Linux is that due to its open nature, anyone can use the sourcecode from an entire operating system.  It is sometimes slightly frowned upon, such as in the case of CentOS repackaging and redistrobuting pretty much the entire RedHat operating system.  While there's nothing official and no-one is getting sued, some have questioned if CentOS is hurting RedHat's business.  CentOS is free, RedHat is a commercial distrobution that charges money for its newest edition, as well as for support.  One could argue that CentOS is eating RedHat's lunch, but as CentOS isn't making money from doing this, nor is it providing professional support channels, those who use CentOS would likely have gone for a free distrobution in any case.  Its just something that comes along with being Open Source.  Based on Ubuntu, Linux Mint is a re-branded and repackaged offshoot with many very nice improvements.  It started out simply as just Ubuntu with audio/video codecs added in, but its grown beyond that by quite a bit. While it started out as just a pet project by one man in his spare time--and really, it still is just a pet project by one man in his spare time--with the help of the communty of users he has gathered, its become quite well rounded and has improved upon Ubuntu in many ways. Unlike the case of CentOS and RedHat, Ubuntu has not shown any hard feelings at all about the existence of Linux Mint (nor any of the other offshoots).  Ubuntu is free, and Canonical only seeks to make money by providing professional support services.  Being that Ubuntu itself has pretty much the same repackaging/improvement relationship between themselves and their parent distro, Debian, there's not much really they could say. Anyway, on with the story. I decided recently that I wanted to wipe my laptop and re-install Ubuntu.  I had been using the same installation for over a year, and while it had started out with 7.04 Feisty Fawn, I had upgraded it to 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon, and then a couple months ago, 8.04 Gutsy Gibbon.  I had upgraded through the automatic upgrade tool, and while it still worked fine for me, I felt that it might run a little better if I were to wipe and start again.  The reason for this is that I tend to do a lot of tinkering around with things in keeping with the learning process and I had tinkered with a few things I should probably had read more about first.  So it was sluggish.  Easy enough to fix.  I backed up my home folder and some other files from around my system that I thought I would need (specifically /lib/firmware where my wireless card drivers resided).   I was in the process of reaching for my trusty Ubuntu install disk, and suddenly recalled having downloaded the Linux Mint ISO (disk image).  Figuring I would just install it for long enough to give it a test drive for review purposes, I popped it in and installed Linux Mint 5.  At first look, it seemed to be just like Ubuntu with a couple visual upgrades, no big deal.  But then I started to notice little changes... small details and improvements.   If you have ever driven a luxury car (not that I can afford one, but I've driven one a time or two) you notice that for the most part its just like a regular car.  It has the same controls--gas pedal, brake pedal, steering wheel, shifter--where the "luxury" part comes in is in the small details and little amenities that make you feel like you're in a well-crafted machine. Linux Mint is like that.  Attention has been paid to the small details to make the user experience just that little cut above the rest. So I went about setting the desktop up in my own fashion, and installed the software that I have come to rely on.  About a month ago, I set about learning how Ubuntu's software repositories worked and I took all of the .deb software packages that I had downloaded and put them in a relatively small (4 gigabytes) software repository served out across my home network.  This allows me to quickly and efficiently set up a freshly installed machine in about half an hour, much quicker than downloading software and updates for each machine. I was relieved to learn that Linux Mint was not changed enough to make it incompatible with my Ubuntu packages.  All the software I had downloaded previously worked just fine with it since it was based on Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron, so that was a big plus. So after adding my home repository to the /etc/apt/sources.list file, I simply opened a terminal and typed in "sudo apt-get install vlc ssh audacious audacity virtualbox frostwire wine" and let it do its work.  A short while later, my freshly installed system was decked out in all of the software i know and love.  Going back in I noticed a couple things that were missing from a default Ubuntu installation, most notably games and a VNC (remote desktop) viewer.  The games I can do without, and a moment at the terminal with "sudo apt-get install xvncviewer" set that to rights.   There are graphical ways to install software as well, such as the handy-dandy Synaptic Package Manager, which is included in the default Linux Mint installation, as well as a new thing called the Linux Mint Software Portal.  The software portal is great for those of you who are new to Linux.  Its entirely web based and works in your web browser.  It shows all the available software in easy to understand webpages with screenshots and descriptions.  Click one link and it will automagically install the software. Presto Chango!  But it was more than I need for my setup, and I already had the packages I needed stored locally on the LAN.  But I do plan on checking out new software via the software portal.  Its just such a beautiful solution to the problem of software installation. Linux Mint also includes a neat utility to upload files to other people.  This is great for casual computer users.  If you're trying to send a file to a friend that is bigger than 10 megabytes, you quickly find that you can't email it since it is too big to send as an attachment.  There are lots of things to solve this problem, such as Peer2Peer software or web-based file-transfer services like www.sendafile.com, but few of them are as easy as the Linux Mint file transfer utility.  Just right click the file and click Upload.  Once it is completely uploaded, you get a link to give your friend where they can download it. See what I mean? Little touches and amenities that make all the difference.  But unlike a luxury automobile which not all of us can afford, Linux Mint is something we can all afford.  Its free to download, free to copy, free to share.  Go and get a copy for yourself at www.linuxmint.com and check it out. So at the end of all of this, I have decided to stick with Linux Mint.  Its a hard thing to do to get me away from Ubuntu, but with Linux Mint, I get all of the benefits of Ubuntu, plus those elegant little touches that make it just that much more enjoyable.  See you next time! If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://straightshootincomputin.blogspot.com

SSC #70 Prepare for War!

The year was 1999. The new millenium was just around the corner and we all stood around wondering whether or not the world was going to end at the stroke of midnight.  Windows XP was unheard of for two more years.  And one company was releasing one of the first PC games to actually use the then-new technology of 3D acceleration.       While you were checking your bank balance yet again to be sure that none of your hard earned dollars were being eaten by the millenium bug, others were sitting down at their 200Mhz Pentium II's firing up Windows 98 and starting to wage war. These days your computer is considered slow if it doesn't have at least a Gigabyte of ram, yet here was an amazing war game that ran on machines with as low as 32 megabytes.  Many of you know what 32MB of RAM will hold.  Your digital camera probably has 16 times as much memory. I installed Warzone2100 on a whim.  My wife was asking if I had any interesting games for her to play because she was getting really tired of solitaire.  Although Ubuntu ships with over 50 different variations of solitaire, I can understand how one would get tired of playing cards.  Solitaire just isn't my thing. So I grab Warzone2100 from the Ubuntu repositories, not really getting my hopes up. Was I surprised? Boy Howdy! Warzone is the mother of all RTS games.  Literally.  RTS stands for Real Time Strategy.  As in, a game involving strategy that happens in real time.  This game is war.  Pure and simple.  Build a base, drill for oil to power your forces and start churning out tanks to defend and conquer.   Some of you may be thinking that it sounds like Command and Conquer, and it is similar, but there are subtle differences... such as the fact that you design your own units from the technology you develop.      The tanks you can build depend on the level of technology you have captured from the opposing force.  But at a glance they include machine-guns, missile launchers, mortars, bunker-busters and much much more.  When you get further along in the game you get upgrades like Surface-to-Air missiles, VTOL propulsion and the ability to shoot missiles across the lenght of the playing field.  Playing against the computer on the "normal" difficulty level is challenging and extremely addictive.  Levels can last from 30 minutes to two hours and you'll find yourself replaying levels in order to improve your progress because the units you have when you finish each level is what you start the next one with.  Barely make it through a mission alive? Better do that one again or you'll be starting the next mission with next to nothing.   Also, your troops gain experience from one level to the next.  So it's in your best interest to make sure they're not dying or you'll have an army full of rookies. Having a good grasp of military strategy is a must.  This is not a game where you can just jump in and start mashing buttons and come out on top.  While the graphics are a little dated, they're not so bad as to diminish the gaming experience.  In fact, if it were flashier, it might just take away from the hard-core strategy of it all.  You can't spend time looking at pretty lights, you have troops dying out there!      If you've been looking for a good game to test your mettle, this one will do the trick nicely.  And playing it won't cost you one red cent.  Originally developed by Pumpkin Studios, and later bought by Eidos Interactive, the game was eventually released as Open Source and you can find it now for free on the Warzone2100 Ressurection website (http://wz2100.net/).  Ubuntu users, for you guys, installing it is just as simple as typing in "sudo apt-get install warzone2100" in the terminal window and it will download and install automagically. How's that for easy? Originally, the minimum requirements for this game are low enough that just about everyone will be able to run it.  In fact they are so low you probably wouldn't believe it, so I'm just going to quote from the manual. Minimum Requirements: Pentum 166 MHz Processor Windows 95 / Windows 98 32 MB RAM 2MB SVGA card 8X CD-ROM Drive 100% DirectX 6 Compliant Sound Card DirectX 6.0 or higher (included) 75 MB of Uncompressed Hard Drive Storage Keyboard and Mouse Recommended Requirements Pentium 233 MHz Processor 64 MB RAM 4 MB Direct3D or 3Dfx compatible 3D Accelerator Card 16X CD ROM Multiplayer Game requires one of the following: IPX or TCP/IP local area network 28.8 Kbps or faster modem 28.8 Kbps or faster internet connection Serial connection via null modem cable Now though, the game has been picked up by a community of developers and maintainers that are slowly tweaking and improving the game.  Chances are that the minimum requirements have risen by a small amount, but even still, its a pretty safe bet that if your computer supports 3D graphics at all, you'll likely be able to run this.  If you've bought your computer in the last five years, its probably a done deal. If your computer can't meet or beat these uber-low system requirements, give me a hollar, I probably have an old hunk of junk video card lying in the corner that will help your machine play it just fine. See you next week! If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://straightshootincomputin.blogspot.com

SSC #69 Into the Vortex

Hi folk, its been a little while since I've written anything.  Did'ja miss me?  I just needed to take a break and charge the creative batteries a little bit.  I shouldn't be missing any submissions from here on out because... I would like to triumphantly report that I am back on the net!  Woot! After, what was it?  Three months?  Once again I am able to check my email from my living room.  Now that its over, I consider the whole experience to be quite invigorating.  While I have missed a few article submissions, (and I sincerely apologize to you for that) and I couldn't look things up in Wikipedia the moment I had a burning question, all in all it was a good chance to break some stagnant surfing habits and get some things done.  Rather than hitting the StumbleUpon button and randomly surfing for websites to alleviate boredom, I took the opportunity to really dig in and learn some cool new Linux tricks and skills that are really going to come in handy. But all that aside, I'm really glad to be connected again.  And for that I have Vortex Wireless to thank. Yep, thats right, I'm with a new Internet Service Provider.  And I just can't wait to tell you all about them. Vortex Wireless is a locally-owned, locally operated wireless broadband ISP.  Its not a local annex of a corporate machine, Its just a few local guys who had a great idea and who have made it a reality.  Exactly my kind of operation.  I always root for the underdog. I went down to talk to them yesterday about signing up and it was about as pain free a process as could ever be.  Tom Holt and David Godby, the owners were actually the people who took care of getting me registered and everything, and I asked them a few questions about how Vortex Wireless started out and how everything works.  What I got back were straightforward answers and a feeling that I wasn't just a number anymore.  After dealing with a decidedly corporate ISP for the last few years, it was like a breath of fresh air.  I also got to speak to the guys who would later be doing my installation and I found that these guys really know their stuff.  After we talked tech til we were blue in the face, I came away feeling like I hadn't just entered into an agreement for net-access, I had made some friends as well.  And because I was able to talk directly to the owners, I put in a good word on your behalf as well.  If you go in and sign up, just mention that you read about them here in my article and they'll give you a $25 discount on your installation.  Can't beat that, can you?  The only stipulation is that you have to be within range to receive the service.  In short, if for some reason it won't work from your house, he'll give your money back. Having a site survey to see if your location is viable is completely free and very easy.  Just call them up, give them your address and they'll set up a time with you so that they can come out and take a reading to tell them the strength of the wireless signal from your house.  If the reading is good then it's all gravy.  If not, then no harm, no foul.  Their rates are comparable to the competition, with multi-tiered services to let you get the speed your twitchy little mouse-finger craves, or give you a cheap always-on lifeline to the net, but without needing a phone-line or cable service in order to make it happen.  You can get the net, and JUST the net, in whatever speed fits your budget.  And with things getting as tight as they are lately, being able to ditch a phone bill is a big plus for my wallet.  Instead of answering a phone only to be guilt-tripped by bill-collectors, I'll save some cash that can go toward paying them off. Whats really great about the fact that this is a local business is that they'll really work with you.  If your bills are tight and you need to go to a cheaper service, they'll downgrade you (down to as low as $16 a month for 2x dialup speed) until YOU are ready to bring the speed back up.  If things get really tight and you need to suspend service temporarily and turn it back on a little later, they understand how things are.  These are real local people.  They'll work with you.  And thats really all a man can ask for. Vortex Wireless is located in the Nextel store, tucked away next to Papa Johns Pizza in Russell Springs.  They offer multiple services including broadband, email hosting, web hosting, and PC repair (and don't forget they also do Sprint and Nextel cellphone service and accessories).  From what they've told me, their customers enjoy remarkble uptime because their towers all run Linux (big smile here) and the only type of weather that can interrupt the service is heavy fog.  We get fog here, but we don't get really heavy fog.  This is, after all, Central Kentucky, not Cape Cod. One little tech fact that I thought was interesting was that neighbors who are on the same wireless tower can enjoy speeds between them that are far in excess of the speed cap enforced by your service plan.  In layman's terms, you and your neighbors can play games with eachother across it with ultra-low latency, which means no lag at all.  And as they say, the less lag, the more frags.  They currently utilize two T-1 lines, at 1.5 Megabits per second, piped in from AT&T to provide a solid backbone to their customers, and due to increasing patronage, they'll be adding another T-1 line shortly to ensure that you get the speed that you pay for. They told me that currently their plans for expansion are contingent on customer demand.  Essentially they can't afford to put up a new tower if they're only going to have one or two customers connecting to it.  In this instance, the way in which our county's homes are spread out stand in the way of technological progress.  With enough service requests in a given area, though, a waiting customer base would ensure that building a new tower would be financially feasible for the company.  In short, if you're interested in signing up with Vortex Wireless, but you know they aren't in your area, be sure and give them a call anyway so that they know you're there.  When enough of your neighbors also express interest, expansion becomes possible. I've only been using the service for a couple days now, but already I've seen my speeds exceed what I'm paying for.  A little extra "oomph!" is always appreciated, plus its a better deal that I was getting before... and don't forget I'm supporting a locally owned and operated business.  The only problems I've found with the service are the fault of my own equipment.  I'm piping their service through a cheap router that needs to be replaced, and I will be replacing it shortly with a Linksys WRT54GL.  After that, I suspect nothing but smooth sailing. Be sure and give Tom Holt and the other guys down at Vortex Wireless a call and see if you can join in the fun.  And don't forget to tell them I sent ya!  Vortex Wireless - (270) 866-4451  or on the web at www.VortexWireless.com See you next week folks.  Take care. If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://straightshootincomputin.blogspot.com

SSC #68 Sauerbraten

Ok folks, this one is for the Gamers out there.  I've been hooked on a new game lately and I've not been able to put it down.  Seriously, if you're a fan of Quake, Doom, or Unreal Tournament, then you're really going to like this. The game is called Sauerbraten.  Its been said that there is nothing new under the sun.  This is true with Sauerbraten.  It has the usual weapons and powerups.  It has nice looking graphics and a lot of levels to run around and blow stuff up.  In short it is your typical First-Person Shooter (FPS).  But Sauerbraten has something that makes it stand out from the pack, at least for me anyway.  In Sauerbraten you can quickly and easily create your own maps and share them with others.  And get this, you edit the game while you are INSIDE the game.  In fact you can edit the game with other people in multi-player cooperative edit mode.   Ok, so great.  You can edit it in game... whoop dee doo.  Whats so special about that?  Well, it means that there are just tons and tons of awesome user-made levels out there to be played.  Not to mention all new modes of play.   Have you ever played one of these games and thought to yourself "Hey, I can do better than this!"?  Well, this is your chance.   If you've ever had a desire to get into game design, well this one is wide open.  They take submissions for models, skins, levels, music... the works!  Its a completely open opportunity to jump in and get involved in making a great game even better! Or not.  You're perfectly capable and welcome to install Sauerbraten and just partake of the great levels and content created by other users.  Its a game that will just keep growing and growing.   If you're interested in giving it a try, make sure you have a decent 3D accellerated graphics card.  Windows users can download the client at www.sauerbraten.org, and Ubuntu users can just download it from within Synaptic Package Manager since it is already in the repositories.  Sorry Mac users, but there's not a client for you yet, though it is on their TODO list.  The game is completely free to download and play, and its open source so the guts of the programming code is available for your perusal and/or improvement.   Personally I'm working on a pretty fun level myself but I won't be hosting it online until I feel it is ready, so if you download the game, be looking out for a level by yours truely in a few weeks from now. See you in game. If you live in Russell County or the surrounding areas and you need help fixing your computer, give me a call at (606) 219-4088 to set up an appointment. If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com If you'd like to read my past articles, browse to http://straightshootincomputin.blogspot.com