Month: April 2011

To podcast or Not to podcast? That is the question!

Paul

US Navy 100514-N-7227H-012 Rear Adm. Craig Fal... Image via Wikipedia

I did love doing the Miketechshow Listener Round Table!

I kind of wish Mike would do more Listener Round tables.  Talking about the tech of the day and having those how to podcasts are something that really excites me.    I loved the discussions we had about our experiences and stuff.   I loved the creativity of the podcasts, and I would love to restart those podcasts.   I just have some problems with this.

First Problem: Extra Guests!

As you can see this would be the most crucial part of the whole problem.   Having guests who would want to come on board on a usual period.   I haven’t decided if i will do this but if i did, It would probably start off being a monthly podcast and then we’d go from there.

Second Problem: Intro Music and Album Art!

I have never been good with making intro music like Mike does on his podcast.   If I did decide to do this then I’d want to have everything set before I do start having a podcast.  I already have a good Podcasting headset which is the Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset which is a very good headset to do a podcast with.   I even did most of the podcasts with this head set.   I absolutely love this little headset to use on any podcast.   That at least is not a problem for me right  now.

Third and Final Problem:  Editing!

Although I can edit them using Audicity, I do not have a good understanding just yet and also where I would host the file for you to download.   I can always host it on a free service but I think it is important for the listeners to be able to download them to listen.   Although I have looked around, I have found some great free services but I would like to not do free because most of them require an audio advertisement that i get no money for.   If I am going to do some kind of advertisement, then I would like to have the money to help support the blog or podcasting, so I can buy more stuff to make the podcast even better!

What do you think?   Do you want to do a listener round table like we used to or not??   You answer will determine what I do next!

Paul Sylvester

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Security and Privacy go hand in hand! Or does it?

Paul

Brigid's Well (5 Stones to Pray the Rosary by) (7) Image by sfpanda_pix via Flickr

Privacy Really?

I’ve been commenting on Gail Garners Blog about how Google mail is putting ads in the emails.  Now I have done at least one post about Privacy and you not having it.  If you haven’t read my  post then I will give a outline of that post.

It basically boils down to some main points that I will discuss on this post:

  • No-one is Immune on the Net — Anyone and everyone has some information floating out on the internet and even celebrity information that they don’t want you find can be found if you look hard enough.

  • Know the Information before anyone else — Seriously if you want to keep track of what is being put out on the net about you.   Have Google email you when either name or some other information that you are looking for gets put out on the net.

  • Be Ready for Anything — There isn’t much you can do to actually be ready for Anything but it is more of a statement to yourself that “Nothing will surprise you.”.   Sometimes just taking a long hard look at your life and remembering some of this can be quite concerning, so you should be ready for someone to find out and have an answer for them.

  • Our life are infinitesimal compared to the scheme of things —  Everyday, I am constantly thinking what can I do to make someone’s else happy.   I find blogging makes me happy but I always want to make others just as happy as I am sometimes.   I sometimes like to wake up in the morning and just thank God for each day I can bring something new to my readers!

How Security is involved in Privacy

If you read the title and was a little curious why security is crucial to privacy.   It does not take a rocket scholar to figure this out.  If your are one to worry about your privacy then you should be also worrying about what information is leaking out on the internet from sources that you have no control over.   This means you have to figure out just how far you willing to go.

  • Friends —  Sometimes your privacy is left to who you decide who your friends are.   They might accidentally mention your name or some other random tidbit about you.   It all depends on who your really trust and tell them not to share your information.

  • Family — Almost the exact same people as friends but since they are your family, there may or may not be trust so you will have to deal with them in your own way.   This is why I grouped them separately!

  • Services — If your ever signed up for Facebook or other social websites than you have not truely read the Terms of Service.   Most of them, if not all, require to the user to have personal information on there server.   In turn, someone could get on there server illegally and copy all those names and information.

As with my previous post about epsilon having been hacked.   If you have a computer or the internet then your information is slowly being leaked and there is nothing you can do about it.   You can minimize it but that is about all.

I want to hear from you.   Do you think you can still be invisible on the internet?  Leave a comment or ask a question.   I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Paul Sylvester

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My Reasons why Amazon will make an Android Tablet!

Paul1 Reply

Cover of "Kindle Wireless Reading Device,... Cover via Amazon

We’ve heard the stories!

It isn’t a far fetched idea but do we really know if they will do this.   I say they will and I want to point out some of my observations.

Having launched 2 products in relatively short time.   The Android App Store and the new Cloud Service makes it that much more obvious that they will be making an Android tablet.    You see they  would gain even more market shares and bring in that more revenue because Amazon has many digital services. That would tie these digital services more together and make customers want to come back more and more to Amazon.  If I was Amazon, I would want to tie these services to a platform and make it just that much easier for people to buy digital products an also store there music, files, and other important files in the cloud to access anywhere in the US and possibly the World.

Amazon Announces Special Offers Kindles!

Amazon the last few days has announced that you could save more money if you allow them to show an un-intrusive ad at the bottom of the screen.   You would then save $25 on a Kindle.   You’re probably thinking what does this have to do with Amazon making a Tablet.  It is simple, Amazon will probably slowly introduce this to all lines of Kindles to test the waters per say.  This would make it just that much easier for when they do release the Android Tablet to subsidize it and sell it to even more who will buy products on Amazon and in turn generate even more revenue the company.  So You see Amazon is thinking long term in this and other ventures and they want customers to buy there digital products more readily.

 

Video on Demand anyone?

Just like Netflix, Amazon has also said to customers if your a Amazon Prime membership that you can watch over a thousand movies and hundred movie shows.   Amazon is certain to grow this over the next few years and if you think about it they will also want to make it easy for you to watch on your Android Tablet.   I think we will also see an Android Tablet with 3G or 4G sold with Ad’s in  them so they can pay for the bandwidth.   Although this is just speculation it would make the most sense.   If you want people to watch your shows and keep them coming back you have to have a way for them to watch the shows when they do not have a wireless connection.   That is where the cloud service will probably integrate your home movies with what Amazon Offers.

 

Amazon will soon launch this Tablet, that I am sure of.   I’d be willing to wager they will probably do this just before Christmas of 2011, if not the next date that comes to mind is spring 2012.   That way they can get people to buy the tablet before they go on there summer vacations and such.    Like I said this is all just speculation on my part and my reasons only make my point that much stronger.   Who’d be willing to buy an Ad supported Amazon android Tablet??  I would, makes it just that much easier to watch my shows while I am on the road.

 

If you have enjoyed this article don’t forget to tell people about this site.

 

Have a Good Day and see you real Soon!

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The Pen is mightier than the megabyte!

Paul8 Replies

Mass storage device for PC. USB flash drives. Image via Wikipedia

As technicians we have way to many pen drives!

If you are like me, you probably have several different USB Flash drives laying around like I do.  I usually have special ones for special projects.   You’d probably have one for Virus removal and another one for fixing Hard Drives like Spinrite.   A few years ago, I would have 6 to 10 Pen drives for just those special occasions.   I’d even have one for all my saved games and other important files that I might need.

One Pen Drive to rule them all, One Pen Drive to find them,
One Pen Drive to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!

So I have found some great programs to create one massive Pen Drive so I don’t have to have so many USB Flash Drives laying around on the desk!  I figured I would go about talking about the best way to pack your USB drive with all that valuable information and have it at your finger tips in case of the some problems with the system.

  • YUMI – Multiboot USB Creator — This is what you will need to pack that USB with all your favorite ISO‘s.    The only requirement is the size of the Pendrive.   If you don’t have a big enough Pen drive then you will ultimately have to split them into small pen drives.    I have several different useful programs on my pen drive.  The only down side is that it is Windows only.   I would love them to make it for Linux or even OS X but It is still darn useful.
  • WSUS Offline Upate —  This is darn useful program.   If you ever needed to update a Windows without being online this is for you.  It will download the files and then make an ISO.   Once you have the ISO you can Yumi to put it on the Pen Drive.  Good news about this is you can keep using Yumi to replace the ISO every month and it doesn’t take much time.   Just don’t delete the files that WSUS downloads or you will have to redownload them again.  Just keep those files safe and all you will have to do is download the updates each month and then copy the new ISO to Yumi.
  • Puppy Linux — Is by far my Favorite little Linux Distro because it will allow me to save my personal settings in any computer I use and thus when I come back to the system with Puppy, I do not have to redo anything I did before.
  • Ultimate Boot CD — Is another great little ISO to install in the Pen Drive.   If your having problems with the system.   This will let you test the system in ways you probably never thought about doing.   Very useful for any Technician who is doing some kind of problem solving.
  • System rescue CD — If you ever needed to rescue the system from a variety of problems like partition problems or hard drive crashes.   This is goo for that resource.  This Distro contains many different tools for Networks, file restoration and Many more.
  • Spinrite —  The is obviously the best tool there is because it will already come as an ISO and all you will need to do is us YUMI to put it on the USB drive.   Once on the drive you have a plug and hard drive repair program for any occasion.

I pretty much gave you a baseline of ISO and programs to use to make your Ultimate Pen drive for when you might need them.  I won’t go on to much longer because I know your itching to try these programs and find even more programs to install onto your USB Flash Drive.   I will say if you search long and hard you could find some really good treasures to make it even better and worth while.   I like having only a few Pen drives than having a hand full of them. Don’t you??

Have a Good day, See you real Soon!

 

Paul Sylvester

 

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Why I never volunteer for bacon!

Paul

"Please Enter A Valid Email Address" Image by pjsherman via Flickr

All Dogs love bacon!

If your wondering what I am talking about.   I will explain it to you in ways that you probably never considered.    If you have ever signed up to websites and they ask you if they could share your email address and name to 3rd parties.   3rd parties are like Epsilon Marketing and they make there money by selling products to people who have volunteered to receive bacon advertisements.

Security is nothing to Epsilon!

I won’t go into detail about why because if I did you would probably agree with me just because of what happened.   Most likely Epsilon will loss a lot of customers and businesses due to the security breaches.    It just depends on how people feel about this company and why anyone should trust them after this breach.   I always tell anyone who signs up for a service to always makes sure to opt out of those emails.   I don’t know about you but I know right now Epsilon has Egg on their faces and wouldn’t mind sticking their heads in the sand.

Don’t Get Caught Spear Phishing!

Now since the hackers have your name and your Email address, you probably are wondering what can I do not to get fooled.   I thought it would be a good idea to give some good guidance for those who might want to prevent this from happening in the first place.   You don’t want them to get your sensitive information.    I don’t want anyone to know my passwords or even my credit card numbers.   They will try to fool into giving out this information because there is some kind of urgent response about some kind of problem with your account.

Some stuff to consider:

  • No Company will call you asking for personal information

  • Nothing is so important as to go to the website directly

  • If they don’t sound professional then tell them you will go visit the local bank or institution

  • Just because they know your name doesn’t mean they are real

  • Don’t click links in emails that you don’t trust, always go the sites that you trust by typing it in your browser

These are just a few ways to help prevent yourself from being phished but nothing can prevent it but yourself. So remember to think before you click and think before you give out any information to unknown emails or people.

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