Reality and Wikiality

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love The Colbert Report. It’s become a nightly ritual at my house to watch it … that and The Daily Show, of course. Tonight was especially hilarious because Stephen Colbert discussed Wikiality as “The WØRD” tonight.

Basically, he said that if someone wrote about something in Wikipedia, and enough people believed it, it would become reality. Thus, he said that we should go into the article on elephants and say that the number of elephants has tripled in the last six months.

I also noticed that the section on Wikiality in the Wikipedia article changed several times as I wrote this. The article on elephants didn’t seem to change, meaning they are, unfortunately, still endangered.

Tags: Technology, Wikipedia, The Colbert Report

My DVR … Do I Watch More or Less TV?

An article today in the New York Times (registration required, but don’t forget BugMeNot) says that a study by Mediamark Research shows that households that have DVRs watch less TV than those without. The study was the result of 26,000 interviews with people between 3/2005 and 5/2006. ‘Course, this flies in the face of a study from last year that stated DVR owners watched more TV.

Here’s what I would say: I know when I am interviewed about viewing habits, or Internet surfing habits, I tend to understate. Some of that is because I’m a bit embarassed about my habits, but some of it is unintentional. I think this is probably true here as well.

I know several people who own DVRs and while we watch less live TV and less ads than before, I have somewhere around 25 Season Passes (this despite only have DirecTivo for about 2 months). I, and the people I know who have DVRs, all watch at least the same amount of TV or … in my case, more.

Technically, you could say that realistically, there’s less surfing involved, so you’re cutting down all that extra non-real-viewing time … but in reality, I watch more of the TV I really want, and less of the junk I don’t.

Tags: Tivo, DVR, PVR, TV, Television

.Mac Users Say "Everything Does NOT Just Work"

You may recall my earlier post about Apple and it’s “It just works” slogan. Obviously my cable modem installer didn’t believe that slogan. Well, apparently .Mac users are having the same issues with the slogan, as .Mac appears to just NOT work right now.

“(I) had no issues with any .Mac service before now…I am now suffering from post-traumatic-Windows-type stress symptoms, i.e. nail biting and hair pulling,” a user named Allan Bell wrote on the discussion board. “And those new Apple adverts are now starting to irritate me lol. Yes, ‘it just works’ is looking funnier by the minute…’occasionally’ would be more apt lol.” Source: News.com

Once again, as before, I have to laugh.

Tags: Technology, Apple, “It Just Works”

Don’t Forget to BugMeNot

In writing my last post, about the 4-year lifespan of the iPod, I wanted to check out the Chicago Tribune article. Lo and behold, I needed to register for the site, and although I’ve registered for a lot of news sites, I hadn’t registered for this one. It’s not really that big a deal, since I use Roboform and it allows me to enter my default information and login easily, but … even though I could opt-0ut of partner emails, the Tribune would still have the right to email me. Uh, uh.

Some advertisers may prefer to contact you directly. Please check this box if you do not wish to be contacted directly by a non-affiliated advertiser. If you have checked this box, we will not share personally identifiable information provided on this form with non-affiliated advertisers for such purposes. However, we will continue to include you in our e-mail announcements, as explained above. Information is used as described in our privacy policy. Source: Chicago Tribune Registration Page

Nope, I wasn’t going to subject myself to more spam. So, I remembered my old favorite … BugMeNot.

For those that don’t know, “BugMeNot.com was created as a mechanism to quickly bypass the login of web sites that require compulsory registration and/or the collection of personal/demographic information (such as the New York Times).” All you have to do is enter the URL of the site in question … if someone has generously set up an account and “donated” it to BugMeNot, you don’t have to take the time to set up one … or lose your privacy.

I used a login from the site, and it worked. Of course, many sites actually take the time to “weed out” old accounts they figure out are supplied by BugMeNot, so not all will work. But if you want to get to a site, and you don’t want to register … take a look at BugMeNot.

Tags: Websites, Passwords

Start Getting Your Money Ready: iPods Only Designed for 4-Year Lives

Makes me wonder if this is “planned obsolescence” or what. Yes, I realize that even if the iPod was designed for a longer life, it will most likely be technologically obsolete long before then, and most people will want to update. I was reading a Chicago Tribune article, which was brought to my attention by a follow-up Macworld UK article. The original article was about the problems that people seem to have with iPods, in terms of reliability. You might remember, for example, the article I wrote at RealTechNews about the nano’s seemingly fragile screen. From either of the linked articles:

An Apple spokeswoman, Natalie Kerris, said iPods have a failure rate of less than 5 percent, which she said is “fairly low” compared with other consumer electronics. “The vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods,” she said, adding that an iPod is designed to last four years.

My wife is really against change … if it works, don’t fix (or change) it. So despite any technical obsolescence she won’t change a gadget or electronic device she uses. Thus, the only way to get her iPod updated would most likely be this 4-year life (or me buying her a new iPod as a present).

My problem with short lifespans like this is that you used to be able to buy something, even electronics, and have it last a lot longer than 4 years. Nowadays things are so cheap, also, that it’s cheaper to buy a new one than to repair it. For example, I had a VCR fail (despite my PVR I still have uses for a VCR) and it was cheaper to just buy a new one.

People are even throwing away PCs, if they become filled with viruses or spyware or can’t boot for some reason (NY Times article, registration required). Do we really want all this stuff in our landfills, with all the toxic chemicals in them? I think things should be built to last, not so you have to replace them (or upgrade, as more likely the manufacturer would like you to do).

Tags: Apple, iPod, MP3

Adventures in PC Rescue: Saved by a Lot of Luck and Lotsa Tools

Remember how difficult it was for me to settle on an imaging tool? I finally settled on Acronis True Image Home, but what saved me Saturday was not an image but other tools I have in my repertoire.

Here’s the deal. I needed a larger HD for my work laptop. Well, they asked me if I wanted to image the new HD myself or if they should do it. I was impressed they asked me; like most people I have personal stuff on my HD. So I said, I’d take the new HD and install it myself.

First, I tried to image the old HD. Well, True Image told me there was an error reading part of the HD. I then ran System Mechanic. It said it found and error and scheduled a repair on reboot.

Rebooted. Oh, oh. Black screen. No Windows logo. Big trouble. Panic. AND I had not imaged it yet so if it failed the drive was hosed. I tried Safe Mode. Nope. Then I tried reinstalling Windows XP, but using the “Repair” option when it found the old install. Nope, when it tried to do the first boot after copying files, I got the same black screen.

I tried BartPE, the CD I created to use with True Image. I managed to use CHKDSK and it fixed the MFT … but still, I couldn’t boot. Next I pulled out the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows. I tried a ton of stuff on the CD. Nothing. Finally I, in desperation, hoped I could do something with the registry and I tried RegResWiz. I selected the registry version saved on 7/28 (Friday). Crossing my fingers, I booted … and voila, Windows XP logo.

I thought I was good to go, but when I came back after walking out … it said it couldn’t validate the license. Crud. It was because I had partially started a reinstallation of Windows (remember earlier?). Would continuing (or rather, starting again) the installation work? Crossing my fingers (and my toes this time), I started the repair again.

This time after the file copying part, it booted and started part 2 of the install. Finally, it finished installing. I was concerned things like wi-fi wouldn’t work but all the drivers seemed fine.

Of course, running Windows update showed 45 updates to install. Which I did. So I had burned up about 4 hours and STILL hadn’t imaged the drive.

I imaged the drive, inserted the new drive (let’s not get into how I had to look on the ‘net to find instructions for the laptop), imaged the new drive (let’s not get into how hard that was), reinserted the old drive, and ran UBCD4Win again to erase the old drive (several times).

Whew. After all that, I updated my UBCD4Win version to 3.0 (I had abandoned it because of how hard the driver installs had become, but the new version fixes all that by putting everything into one install). And, what did I learn?

Every PC, even your work PC, deserves imaging. If I’d had an image I wouldn’t have wound up wasting about 6 hours on this process. Hmmm … it’s about time to image my gaming laptop.

Tags: True Image, Imaging, Rescue, Windows Ultimate Boot CD

So Why DO I Use a Female Avatar?

Reuters had an article yesterday that I didn’t understand. Well, I did understand it, but it really didn’t make sense to me. The title of it was “Gamers bend gender for a winning edge.” It said that male players choose female avatars because they get more free stuff and help when they play. Huh? One thing I would certainly agree with is that it has nothing to do with transexuality or gender bending.

Kathryn Wright, WomenGamers.com’s consulting psychologist, earlier this decade found that 60 percent of male players who don female avatars, or on-screen personas, do it to gain an advantage in game play.

Gamers, both male and female, say female avatars confirm what they already knew: Being a pretty girl has its perks. Female avatars are often the center of attention and showered with gifts such as swords or armor by other characters. Source: Reuters

It’s gotta be the game I play, because I don’t get anything. That’s my avatar up there in City of Heroes. Of course, City of Heroes and City of Villains are different types of MMORPGs. Many, if not most, of the players solo in the game. And there’s not much to give anyone anyway. No “Swords of Revealing Light” or whatever. I think I’ve been hit on a couple of times, though.

Anyway, I echoed the sentiments of Jackpot649 from the article. I’m looking at a third-person view of my avatar in City of Heroes. I’ve tried playing a male character, really. But looking at a muscular butt … just doesn’t do it for me. If I’m going to stare at an avatar’s rear for hours, it’s gonna be a female one.

Tags: Games, MMORPG, City of Heroes

Online Banking Importance Shown as Washington Mutual Site Issues Continue

I’ve banked at Washington Mutual for over 10 years … if you include the time that I started with Home Savings and Loan (Washington Mutual purchased them). This isn’t the first time Washington Mutual has had a glitch in their online banking system … for some reason this time I haven’t noticed it. I think the reason is previously I was paying many of my monthly bills through their online banking system manually … many bills like PG&E and other utility bills you can’t schedule automatically through the banking website as the amounts change month to month.

However, nowadays most of those recurring bills are paid by having the biller pull the money directly from my banking account (so the setup is made at the biller and not the bank) or by credit card (so I can get my 1 – 1 1/2 cash rebate on my credit card)

Still, this glitch has made me think about how critical online banking and online bill pay is. I haven’t written a check for … I don’t know how long. Even when I buy from retailers nowadays I charge almost everything. Unless the store does not accept credit cards I always use one.

Still, the site has been down for 6 days apparently … for many, it means breaking out the checkbook. I tried logging in and using the Bill Pay system to see, and I was taken to a temporary page. Seems like the workaround should be good enough for most, but the level of complaints goes to show how much online banking, despite protestations to the contrary, has grown.

Tags: Online Banking, Washington Mutual, Website

Cingular IPv6 Issue Resolved

Earlier I wrote about Cingular’s issues with IPv6. Well, they have since resolved those issues. This means you are free to inundate your local Cingular stores with your requests for updating your SIMs. Based on speaking to reps I know they will appreciate all the long lines.

Tags: Cingular, IPV6

China Uses Text-Messaging Alerts to Warn Millions About Typhoon

While U.S. government officials debate using cell phone text messaging to replace television and radio as the primary means of emergency alerts, China has leaped ahead of us in this area. As Typhoon Kaemi moved toward China, residents were warned with SMS messages.

In Fujian, authorities have sent 18 million messages known as SMS, for short message service with storm information during five typhoons this year, according to the provincial government. Source: ABC News

Personally, the disasters most likely to hit my area aren’t going to have a warning … earthquakes … nor do I expect cell towers to be working after a major quake. But in places where tornadoes, storms, tsunamis affect people, I think this might be a great idea. Cell phones are so prevalent that they are affecting pay phone use, and if someone doesn’t have a cell phone so many others do that they would most likely get the message anyway.

I think the WARN (Warning, Alert and Response Network) act should get some real attention in Congress.

Tags: SMS, Cellular