SSC #51 Keep those kiddies safe!

    You might think otherwise by reading my articles, but I grew up without the benefit of having a computer.  I actually did not get my first computer until I was twenty-three.
    As parents we always want our children to have things and opportunities that we ourselves never had when growing up.  It is for this reason that my son, Tyler, received his own computer at the age of 6 months.  Yeah, I know you're thinking that is just plain crazy, but honestly it worked out well.  He had a touchscreen by which he could press pictures and watch cartoons and stuff like that.  We also used it as a nanny-cam and baby monitor.  It was really quite useful.
    Now my son has reached the grand old age of five.  He's beginning to be able to read and he's gone past the need for his touchscreen.  In fact, he is in the first stages of learning how to surf the internet.
    How does a parent these days make the internet safe for a child of such a tender age?  How indeed!
    A few months back, I came across a new plugin for the Firefox browser called Glubble. (www.glubble.com) It doesn't work for Internet Explorer, and from the looks of it they have no plans to support it.  Glubble makes the internet a safe and fun place for young minds to explore. 
    Glubble has a different layout depending on whether you are viewing it with adult priveleges or child priveleges.  For adults it just adds a couple buttons to the toolbar to interact with the system.   And for children, it simplifies the entire browser into something that they can easily grasp.  Using the adult privileges requires a password so your child can't get into it, though you can turn the password off if it is a machine that your children won't ever be using.
    Now, whenever my son wishes to view a new page, or clicks on a link, a box comes up prompting him to ask either "Daddy" or "Mommy" for permission.  After he has used that box to ask, I get a message that pops up in my browser that tells me that he wishes to see a site and it gives me the link to the site he is interested in.  I check out the site and decide whether or not it is something that he should be looking at and then I can either allow or deny it. 
    If I allow it, he gets a popup box in his browser that tells him that "Daddy has said it is OK to go to ..." and he can then visit the site.
    I can also add sites to his list before he asks, and whatever I add, Glubble will remember.
    Glubble also allows him to add sites to a favorites list which shows thumbnail sized pictures of his favorite websites.
    And on top of that, there is a personal home page that he can see with a new feature called the Family Wall, basically a kind of family message board, where he can send and receive messages to either me or my wife.
    All in all it is a very nice and well thought out system, and the support staff at Glubble.com are all very helpful and they take all suggestions for improvement very seriously. 
    Because this is for Firefox, Glubble can be used on Windows, Linux, or Macintosh.  Keep in mind that if you want your kids to use this, you'll need to get rid of their access to other browsers such as Internet Explorer or Safari.  Using Glubble can make the internet safe and fun for your kids, but it doesn't help anything if they can just start up a different browser and bypass it.

    Until next week, keep those kids safe and sound!

  If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at
straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com

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SSC #50 Home Recording

    Oliver Wendell Holmes is quoted as having said "Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!" 
    It is a very rare and strange person who does not enjoy music of some form.  Music speaks to the heart of us.  And for some of us, it speaks FROM the heart of us as well.
    For over 10 years I played guitar.  Not professionally, or even with any degree of regularity.  I did not play the hit songs, I did not play requests.  I tried not to copy, but to create.  I made my own music.  Some liked it, some did not.  Truly, I did not ever care.  It was mine.  It was some part of what makes me unique transformed into sound.  And it made me happy.
    A little over a year ago I had an accident at work.  I accidentally crushed the middle fingertip of my left hand.  The tip of the bone was broken and surgery was necessary to make it usable again. 
    Now, a year later, the tip of my finger is constantly numb.  Pins and needles numb.  I can grip with it, I can work with it, I can even type with it. I just can't play guitar with it.  I probably could learn to use my other fingers differently and work around the injury, and perhaps some day I will.  But for now, it is just too strange, too different, and too depressing.
    I said all of that to say this:  If you are a musician, and you enjoy it, record yourself.  Even if you only play for yourself, in the closet, at night, with the lights turned off... record yourself.  There are songs that I created that I will likely never hear again, except in my head, simply because I didn't feel they were good enough to make a recording of them.  And now I wish I had.
    If you have a computer, recording music can't be much simpler.  There are tons of great professional grade programs out there such as Reason or Cakewalk, shareware applications such as n-Track Studio, and awesome free software such as Audacity.  For Mac users there is Garage Band.  No matter what kind of computer you have, chances are there is a way to record sound.
    Of course results can vary depending on the quality of your equipment, but it is much much less expensive to upgrade a PC-based recording solution than to purchase all analog or solid-state equipment.  And while some may not think much of digitizing their sound, the majority of music these days is listened to in a digital format.  With a decent microphone and a decent $50 soundcard, your PC can outperform equipment costing $1000 or more. 
    Perhaps you've used a 4-track recorder in the past... What would you say to a recorder that is capable of nearly unlimited tracks?
    Depending on the software you use, you can add tracks, use effects, speed up or reverse tracks, and for cutting out the bad parts, you can zoom in so far you can see the individual waves of sound so you will have no trouble finding the place to make your edits.  Or you could just hit record and go.  Most of these type programs have the ability to mix down to MP3, and from there its relatively easy to put on a CD.  You can record something in an afternoon and listen to it in the car that night. 
    It can be easy, or it can be technical.  The rabbit-hole goes deep, but you don't have to follow it all the way through.  Just make sure you have some means to record the songs that come out of you.  They are pieces of yourself that you will miss when they are gone.  Thats all I'm saying.



In response to last week's article about voting machines, Kay Winemiller writes:

"Jeff, this is such an interesting article.  Glad you wrote it.  I work the polls and right now, as you know, the voters have a choice here of which machine they want to vote on.  The first time the Hart machine was used, the company informed our class that the machine will eventually replace the other machine.  Quite a few of the voters refused to use the Hart and raised the question of the accuracy and honesty.  Voicing the same concerns your article points to.  Hopefully, the public takes this seriously.

Very good article.  Keep up the good work."

I intend to Kay, thanks for writing!  I think I know which machine I will be voting on, and I'm glad I still have that option!

If you have a question or comment, feel free to email me at
straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com

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SSC #49 Computers aren't for everything

StraightShootinComputin
by Jeff Smith

If you read my column regularly, (that is when I write it regularly) you no doubt know that I am a big fan of computers and electronics. In a word I am a geek. If I could do the dishes from the keyboard I would, and they'd likely get done a lot more often.
Bluetooth enabled refrigerator? Awesome. Battery operated self-warming socks? Very cool. You invented an electronic tomato? All I have to ask is "Does it get WiFi?"
That being said, there's one thing that I don't think should be computerized. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
That one thing would be voting machines.
Right now there is a lot of controversy surrounding electronic voting machines, and rightly so.
Voting machines in Ohio were found to be easily broken into and hacked. False information was able to be introduced via handheld devices that could easily be carried into the booth. Not only that, but they were susceptible to viruses and malignant software.
And its not just in Ohio. The machines in question, manufactured by Elections Systems and Software; Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold; and Hart InterCivic are used in multiple states.
The most popular machines, the Diebold TSx, Sequoia Edge, ES&S iVotronic, and Hart InterCivic eSlate were all found to occasionally flip votes to the opposite of what the voter had chosen.
The Hart InterCivic system is REALLY bad, it allows anybody with access and a passcode to modify vote totals from an election without leaving behind any record of the modification. And these particular voting machines are used in more than 16 different states.
You could be the most morally rigid person in the history of the world, yet your vote could be bought by someone with an agenda you may not approve of. The companies behind these machines do not instill any sense of trust in me at all. They all keep insisting that there is nothing wrong and that everything is fine. Conspiracy theorists! Start your engines!
With all of the recent political controversy, perhaps the Presidential election of 2004 has escaped your memory. In that election, Bush got a near landslide of votes from the inner city areas that turned the tide and narrowly won the election for him. Even though exit polls showed only hours before that he was going to lose. Even though the inner city traditionally leans Democrat. Even though... well you get the idea.
The lifeblood of our nations democratic process is our ability to vote. If our votes are not being accurately counted, then we really have lost all semblance of control over our government. When that happens, this ceases to be a government "by the People, for the People" and becomes instead something sinister and, quite frankly, frightening.
Are you a Democrat? A Republican? An Independant? It really doesn't matter. I don't care if you're in the WIG Party. This matters to all of us. If my personal pick doesn't win in an honest election, I will be unhappy, but if he doesn't win and theres a hint of vote fraud, how will I ever know who SHOULD have won? How will you?

The moral to this story is this: When you vote, double check everything. If there's a receipt, check to be sure that your votes were counted properly. And if they are wrong, DO NOT STAND FOR IT!

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SSC #48 Viruses and Spyware Revisited

StraightShootinComputin
by Jeff Smith

One of the problems I'm finding about my articles is that I covered most of the really important things early on. This means that those of you who jumped onboard a little later may have missed some of the really good stuff.

I am still coming across people with either no antivirus software at all, or else out-of-date antivirus software, which is just as bad. So in the interest of helping those of you who may have only recently started reading my articles, this week I'm reprinting snippets from a couple of the early ones.

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Many people speak about viruses and spyware as though they are one and the same thing, but this is not true. Often they work in tandem with each other and give your PC a underhanded double-whammy, but they are not in fact the same thing. Often a virus will install spyware (and other viruses) and vice versa. Think of it as a well-planned comprehensive package just designed to give you grief.

Viruses are small snippets of computer code that are not really complete files. They infect your machine by appending themselves to other files that will be run. Think of it like the P.S. area of a letter from your sweetie. But instead of "P.S I love you" its more like "P.S. I'm deleting important files and I'm stealing all your passwords and credit card information."

For easy and thorough virus removal, I recommend AVAST Home Edition found for FREE at www.avast.com. It updates itself regularly whenever an internet connection is present. So if you're a dial-up user keep that in mind if your speed is slow for a few minutes after you first connect. It scans email clients, all running processes, protects your web browser, scans all downloads (even from p2p), and you can scan any new files by right clicking them.

Next time you see an alert from your antivirus program, take note of the location of the infected file. If you see C:\WINDOWS\ as part of the file's location then it could be an important system file. Google the name of the file to see if it is a legit windows file. If not delete it. If it is important, try quarantining it or replacing the file from a backup. If all else fails, try to use system restore to rewind to before the infection occurred.

Learn to know when you're out of your depth. If it is a business PC or contains valuable irreplaceable data ask the help of a more experienced friend or seek professional help before taking shots in the dark. Be aware that the restore disks you probably received with your computer will often wipe everything before reinstalling Windows, you probably don't want that. Often valuable data is lost by repair attempts of the inexperienced. If you don't know what you're doing, talk to someone who does.

Spyware (also called malware or adware) is full-fledged programs designed to do much the same things that viruses do. The difference is that while viruses are just snippets of code, spyware is actually complete programs. Spyware is often downloaded by mistake by people looking for legitimate programs. Spyware's biggest avenue of infection are malicious websites whereupon spyware automatically installs itself via ActiveX controls. When you see popup ads that tell you that you are infected or that you need to download an "internet optimizer" to speed up your internet connection, those are usually fake. You don't just believe any advertisements you see in other places, online ads are no different. If you're curious about a program, ask a friend, preferably one who knows more than you. Offline word of mouth is still very valid in the online world. Don't just download and install any old thing you see that has flashy ads. That's the fastest and surest way to lose the use of your computer altogether. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your homework.

Spyware, like viruses can do anything from harmlessly displaying a few more unwanted ads (even when you're not surfing the web) to full-out waging war on your personal information.
he two most popular free spyware removal tools out there are Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy.

Ad-aware 2007 Free is free for home use. It does a good job of removing spyware threats, has a pleasing appearance and is easy to use. You can also upgrade the program for a bit of cash and instead of just removing spyware it will actively block it from getting on in the first place.
Spybot S & D is another free program for spyware removal. I found it to be very effective at removing spyware as well, though I found it slightly less user-friendly.

After you've successfully cleaned your system get Spyware Blaster. This program does not remove spyware, instead it blocks it from coming in. These programs can be found on www.DOWNLOAD.com

Unlike antivirus software, you can use multiple anti-spyware programs on the same machine without conflicts. In fact I recommend if you want to be thorough. That being said, once you have anti-spyware software, run it weekly, or whenever you notice something suspicious. And when you scan for spyware, follow it up with a virus scan as well because they often run together. Always remember to check for updates for your scanning program before you scan, if it does not do that automatically.

Never get your antivirus or anti-spyware programs from a pop-up ad. It is like buying your kids vitamins from a stranger in a back alley. There are some fake security programs that are spyware in disguise. So consider yourself warned.

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Hope that helps someone...

Til next time, stay safe!

email: straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com
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SSC #47 Remote Access

StraightShootinComputin
by Jeff Smith

    There are lots of reasons why a person might want to access their computer remotely.  Perhaps you are traveling out of town and you left your driving directions at home on your desktop.  Or perhaps you forgot to start downloading the next episode of Dexter before you left and you want to watch it as soon as you get home.  Or perhaps you're running low on computer monitors and you want to make a headless server that you can control via another computer on your network.  The possible reasons for remote controlling your computer are diverse and numerous. 

    Fortunately, the means to do so are also diverse and numerous.

    Remote controlling your computer can take many paths and varying levels of complexity.  There are solutions that require you to have software installed on both machines, such as VNC or PC Anywhere.  These are about the best experience for usability because they are both relatively lightweight and don't take a lot of system resources to run.  If you are an Ubuntu user, you already have VNC installed.  You'll find it under System>Preferences>Remote Desktop. 

    Either of these two programs will allow you to control your mouse and keyboard on the remote machine as though you were sitting in front of it.  You will be able to see the desktop and any programs you have up.  Take note that you cannot watch video from the remote machine across this, nor can you hear sounds or music.  3D games are off-limits as well.  But you can open documents, change settings, and do normal every day stuff as though you were sitting in front of your home machine.

    The same rules apply when using the QnextMyPC feature of Qnext.  This application is just about an internet Swiss Army Knife.  Combining instant messaging using 5 major networks, file transfers of unlimited size as well as Java based remote control features, this program has got something for you.  Its a little heavy on the resources, but if you can run it, the QnextMyPC feature will enable you to control your desktop from any Java enabled web browser.  Even on some phones!  This one is the easiest to set up, and the most readily accessed.  You don't need to install any software on the controller end, just browse to Qnext.com and log into your desktop at home. 

    Microsoft also has a remote desktop service built into Windows, and you can send control requests via MS Messenger.  Personally I've never used this one.  It may be really easy, I wouldn't know.  Between my inherent distrust of all things Microsoft, and the fact that I hardly know anyone on Microsoft's messenger network, I just never needed it. 

    Of all of these, my favorite is VNC.  VNC stands out to me because there are versions for Windows and for Linux.  And they are interoperable... you can control one from the other, both ways.  On the Linux side its even possible to make it so that the remote control starts at the right edge of your screen.  This makes it possible to have a Windows machine and a Linux machine side by side and control both via one mouse and keyboard.  You just move your mouse from one screen to the other.  Yeah.  Its just that cool.

If you need help, I'm just a phone call or an email away.

email: straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com  
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phone: (606) 219-4088  (before 8pm)

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SSC #46 What to watch

StraightShootinComputin
by Jeff Smith

    As you may or may not be aware, the Writers Guild is on strike claiming that the big media companies are not fairly compensating them for their work.  Personally I side with the Writers, but I'm not an expert on it.
    Be that as it may, today while I write this (Nov 26) the Writers Guild is purportedly meeting with the media execs to open up communications about ending the strike.  By the time this article hits print, it may be over.  Or it may not.
    If it doesn't end soon the majority of today's best TV shows will be entering re-run holding patterns indefinitely.  The TV corporations had enough shows already in production at the time of the strike to last until January, for the most part.  After that, its reruns and filler.  In other words, prepare for a non-stop parade of reality TV.  Ugh.  Just shoot me now.
     This is a big concern for the media companies because they know that a lot of viewers will turn to other activities, and without the big viewer numbers, they can't charge for advertising what they normally would.  Losing this kind of money, the media companies will eventually fold, they pretty much have to (its not like they have any creative talent themselves)... the question is how long will it take?
    A while back I wrote an article about streaming TV shows to your PC, which you can find by going to the following page http://TVStreaming.notlong.com  (I used www.notlong.com to shorten the really long web address to something that wasn't so hard to type in)
    But since I'm ever on guard for things to talk to you about, dear reader, I've come up with a few more websites that weren't included in that article. 

    Miro - (Win, Lin, Mac) This is a new and open source (yay!) media player that has more content on it than any of the other net video players.  Its a little more involved to set up as you have to subscribe to some of the channels before you see all the available content, but with a little perseverance you'll find plenty of stuff to hold you over until the writers get back to working on Heroes.  www.getmiro.com
  
    Hulu - (in browser) Hulu is the new website brought to you by joint venture of NBC Universal and News Corporation (try not to hold Fox News against them).  This site boasts high quality streams of today's top shows.  The only problem I see is that unless they also have yesterday's top shows, they're going to run out of em just like regular TV when the fallout from the Writers strike hits.  Hulu is in beta stage right now, you have to sign up and wait for them to invite you into it.  www.hulu.com

    Sidereel - (website) Sidereel is by far my favorite new TV show hotspot.  On this one site they have all the info on your favorite shows, and if they don't have it, you can add it in yourself because it is user-editable.  They also have links to stream individual episodes of your favorite shows from other websites.  They don't host the video themselves, instead they are a hub from which you can find info about cool shows you may have missed in the past week, year, or decade and then go watch them. www.sidereel.com

    While you may not be able to watch your favorite characters get into and out of precarious situations, that doesn't mean you have nothing to watch.  From the beginnings of TV to present, there is currently enough television programming out there that you could watch something different every waking moment of your life and not run out of shows.
 
    On second thought, thats kind of depressing.  Go ride a bike.

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SSC #45 Talk Talk Talk

StraightShootinComputin
by Jeff Smith

    So you don't type so well.  By the time you've hunt-pecked out "Hi there, loong tim no see!" the other party has done given you a 3 page description of their entire workweek.  What to do, what to do...  Oh yes, VOICE CHAT!
    You may not know it, but your computer can save you a lot of money on your long distance phone bill.  If the people you talk to most also have a computer, you can even talk for free!   I'm not talking about a free twenty minute phone call, or only at certain times on certain days, I'm talking about 24/7 FREE, 365 days a year!

   
    In this article, I'll just hit the high spots.

    Skype - (Winows, Linux, Mac) Skype is about the most popular net-phone software out there.  With it you can make free PC-to-PC phone calls and video calls (note, no video calls for Linux version... yet).  You can purchase handsets that look and work just like a regular phone.  If you want to set up an account with them, you can make really cheap calls from your PC to a regular phone line (they may have prepaid cards, I'm not sure).  You can purchase the official Skype brand phones at places like Walmart... I saw some last time I was in Somerset.


    Gizmo - (Windows, Linux, Mac) This is the one that I use myself.  Gizmo does not do video calls like Skype does, but Gizmo integrates seemlessly with Grandcentral.com which is  fascinating new project recently purchased by Google.  Using these two together, I have one number that will ring my house phone, my cell phone, and my laptop (running Gizmo) and I can pick up that call on any one of them, as well as transfer it between them... even during a call.  This allows me to be hyper-available and never miss an important phone call.  And if I do miss one, it goes to a unified voicemail box and will even email me notice that I have a voicemail.  And I can listen to it online... Way Cool, no?  Whats more, there's a button on my weblog that will connect a call from you to my GrandCental number automagically!
    I'll be switching my business advertisement to my Grandcentral number as soon as I've drawn up the new ads.  GrandCentral is via invite only, meaning you have to be invited into it by a current user.  I've got a few invites left, so if you're really interested in it, drop me a line and I'll invite you.

    Ekiga Softphone - (Windows, Linux) This one is full of features, but isn't for those of you who are easily intimidated.  This net-phone allows you to make free PC-to-PC voice and video calls, EVEN ON LINUX!  It can make calls to regular phones, but it takes some setting up.  Its installed by default on Ubuntu Linux and its completely open-source.   From the Ekiga.org website -- "Ekiga is compatible with any software, device or router supporting SIP or H.323. It includes SwissVoice, CISCO, SNOM, ... IP Phones, but also software like Windows Messenger, Netmeeting, SJPhone, Eyebeam, X-Lite, ... or also the Asterisk popular IPBX, as well as any other commercial or Open Source IPBX. Ekiga is not compatible with Skype and will never be as long as their protocol will stay proprietary."

    As more and more people move to net-based phones, long distance bills may eventually become a thing of the past.  These programs provide a real and inexpensive way to communicate with the people you need to talk to.  While some of you may feel intimidated, keep in mind that they have the potential to save you lots of money.  And with the cost of communications no longer a barrier between you and your loved ones, you may just find you keep in touch a lot more often.

    Keep in mind that these are just some of the available programs.  There is a lot of internet phone software out there, so if you want a more comprehensive list, just point your browser to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_VoIP_software.

Next week:  Have you heard about the Hollywood Writer's Guild strike?   I'll be talking about how to find online enterainment when your favorite shows go into indefinate re-run holding patterns.  Yay.

email:  straightshootincomputin@yahoo.com
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