I asked my Twitter friends today “What computing tech/hardware/software apps are the bane of your existence & make your life *harder*?” Here are the results:

lucidquiet “I hate Windows and I hate Java and I hate all programs that FORCE me to use Windows” — @linuxchic (”ditto” — @lucidquiet, me).

feedback87 @linuxchic lol oh man windows. you cant live with it but you cant live without it

zemote @linuxchic you can’t forget active X, that is the bain of my existance

beaker133 @linuxchic I work on a win98 box. enough said

beaker133 @linuxchic plus barracuda firewall, and in house test machines that i fix before fixing customers crap :)

Penguin @linuxchic Internet Explorer, and anyone who uses it as a primary browser.

techpickles @linuxchic Windows, and most things Java (I’m looking at you Eclipse!)

RaggedEdge @Linuxchic: Siemens APT, it’s a DOS program, it sucks, it runs in 640K low memory with a special graphics driver loaded high.

RaggedEdge @Linuxchic: Can only use the serial port to download programs to a special controller, takes 45 to 50 minutes for big programs.

RaggedEdge @Linuxchic: During about half of the downloads, it locks up, thus requiring to start over. Fun when a whole brewery is waiting on you.

btn @linuxchic - Anything that requires me to fire up Windows in VMware - even worse if it requires me to actually boot the machine into Windows

feedback87 @linuxchic got to be twitter so far lol you?

vgan @linuxchic I nominate Altiris and Iron Mountain Connected Backup (Server and Clients). Citrix Metaframe XP would be a runner up.

linuxchic My most hated? Windows is my default answer. Most hated software varies depending on the day. :P

nikolaidis @Linuxchic: Symantec Antivirus (now known as Endpoint Security).

HighDef @linuxchic No doubt about it; MS Windows is definitely both a standard AND the crappiest piece of crap hindering technological advancement!

danielho @linuxchic Are you goading me into saying that I hate Windows? OK OK, I do!!! Esp. Vista and MS’s idiotic server software. Go certify that!

My family has been passing the flu bug around to each other so I have been mostly offline and playing nurse Mom as well as patient the last several days. Making sure I am not totally out of the loop, my phone lit up like crazy yesterday as I started getting SMS messages and direct Twitters from friends making sure I knew about the deal with Microsoft and Danger Inc. This one plays a little close to my heart as I not only have a Sidekick3 (we actually have several in our house) but I have a developers SDK for the Danger OS.

Danger, Inc. is the company behind the T-Mobile Sidekick smartphone platform. While they don’t make the hardware (the SK3, ID, and previous models were produced by Sharp and the current Sidekick Slide is being manufactured by Motorola) they are the company behind the OS that runs the devices and manage the closed software/ringtone catalog for the smartphones sold only through T-Mobile. Although the Sidekick is in the smartphone category it is more a consumer driven device than a business class phone. Prominent features of the Sidekick devices are instant messaging (MSN, AIM, and Yahoo IM), email (t-mobile branded email addresses as well as the ability to add external accounts with POP), a web browser, a camera, and the ability to purchase themes and customize the phone. It has been marketed to the younger (hipper?) crowd whereas smartphones such as the Blackberry have been prominently used by professional business people.

As a Sidekick 3 owner, one of my favorite features of the Danger OS has been the fact that it is constantly synchronized with the (T-Mobile/Danger) server. As long as there is a data connection available my Sidekick keeps my address book, my calendar, my notepad items, my email, my SMS messages (and my pictures if I am storing them locally rather than on a SD card supported by the device) syncronized. Should my phone be broken, replaced, lost, or whatever the circumstance, I can sign on to My T-Mobile and view my device through a web browser and if I get a replacement SK all my data is retrieved once I insert my SIMM card. I never lose my data. The major downside to the Danger OS is that is an extremely restrictive platform and is not friendly to developers. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the SDK and the only way I can get my apps in the download catalog is if they are completely my own, there is no open source build ups allowed. I have purchased a few apps for my SK3 including the Terminal app that lets me SSH in to servers and manage my systems remotely from my phone (although not the fastest method going across the EDGE network). Most apps are more consumer driven including a lot of games, audio mixers, theme modifiers, and diet apps. Besides selling third-party software, Danger’s primary source of income is the recurring Sidekick subscription plan on the T-Mobile network.

According to GigaOM Microsoft shelled out a whopping $500 million for Danger, Inc. My guess is that they want to use Danger’s OS mobile service platform to integrate and deliver Microsoft branded services perhaps in competition with the Google Android platform. While I am sure there are a lot of financial reasons Microsoft purchased Danger, Inc. I am really not surprised that they did from a platform perspective. Microsoft is closed source (even if they have been trying to jump on the open source bandwagon) and Danger is as well. Due to that, I don’t see them as any threat to Android even though we have yet to see the fruits of Google’s labor. Taking two companies that have always done business on a closed platform it takes reworking not only on the business side but also on the software side to open the platform up. I don’t see that happening any time soon but I think if they hope to really compete they would be wise to open it up.

Another aspect to the purchase shows that Microsoft is making a move towards the consumer smartphone marketplace. While they have the Windows Mobile platform it has been primarily in the business smartphone class. With the recent Zune changes, the Zune marketplace, and the continued success of the XBox platform, I would not be surprised to see a continued move towards the consumer market with modifications in the smartphone platform area. Hopefully they don’t try to make the Sidekick into a Zune phone any time soon but no matter, with all the smartphones integrating full keyboards like the SK3 has and even the Blackberry now including a camera, I am moving out of my SK3 within six months or so anyway. Microsoft can have it.

Apparently the ELSPA has decided to take a page out of the books of the MPAA and RIAA and make up crazy statistics to boost their cause (as well as their pocketbook).

From Escapist Magazine:

John Hillier of the European industry group Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) has claimed that 90 percent of Nintendo DS owners in America are using pirated games.

Not only does that number sound ridiculously bloated, but that would mean that nine out of ten DS owners in the US are using illegal games on a modded DS. According to those numbers I would then have to assume most of my friends that have the Nintendo DS are pirates especially since they are technical types who are more into modding their tech. Out of the 25+ people I know with a DS, not one of them are playing pirated games and no one is using the R4 chip as stated later in the article.

Speaking to the Sunday Post about the R4 “pirate chip” for the DS, Hillier, manager of the association’s Intellectual Property Crimes Unit, said, “In America it’s thought 90 percent of Nintendo DS users are playing pirated games because of R4s. Takings from Nintendo DS games in the U.S. are lower than any other console and no doubt it will have a similar impact (in the U.K.).”

See there, “in America it’s thought”… THOUGHT - in other words, we make up the numbers because people aren’t buying the sucky games we sell for bloated costs. I am applying for a high ranking job in one of these companies because I can make up ridiculous numbers for shock value  therefore justifying my expenses and salary (see resume under skills and qualifications: grossly inflate statistics to scare consumers into sending us money).

How many awesome games have come out for the DS? Animal Crossing WW was a big hit, that cooking game, Brain Age… just because your sales are down, does not mean people are stealing rampantly. Apparently the new business model is to support an old failing business model by screaming piracy and collecting unearned profits from people too afraid, too monetarily restricted, or too uneducated to defend themselves from the false prosecution. See also patent trolls and other such business models that requires little actual innovation or work but has the potential to reap big rewards. This is a modern scam artist tactic under a big corporate umbrella of legitimacy.

Pirate:

• commandeer: take arbitrarily or by force
• Piracy is robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a commission from a sovereign nation. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, the difference between a pirate and a privateer is that the privateer was commissioned by a government and the pirate was non-commissioned. (See Privateer)

Who’s the pirate now?

I posted a few Tweets today in reference to video games, specifically:

It’s funny to say ouch when you get hit in a video game since it doesn’t really *hurt*
~and~
Show of hands, who else yells or such in the *heat* of video game play?

This is when you see how entertaining Twitter can be! Here are the replies those tweets generated:

ldmosquera: the measure to which you say “ouch” in a videogame, is the measure to which it successfully captures you. So it’s all good.
bblboy54: *raises hand*
miyako_houou: I will at times make some sort of weird vocalizations like a dying whale or somesuch if I’m really close to dying, rarely though
jeffisageek: i am raising my hand
linuxchic: Video game that made me yell the most: MicroMachines for NES…no brakes! :)
popefelix: You should hear how loud I get when I’m playing GTA
ldmosquera: I don’t yell, but I enjoy games which silently scare me to death. Also applies to movies. Immersion FTW!
warmaiden: I do. And my siblings. So far back as I can remember. Atari!!
dlpasco: Doom 2, followed by Half-Life
ldmosquera: Scariest games I’ve played: Undying, System Shock 2, Doom 3. The original Alone in the Dark was a living agony to play too.
sbspalding: what about Ecco the Dolphin. Most frustrating game ever programmed.
linuxchic: I have to say E.T for Atari 2600 wins most frustrating game ever programmed since it was *impossible* to win.
bblboy54: as a kid I still had hours of fun with ET for atari but I remember wondering what the point was :)

What about you?

While searching for the means to combat the spam attacks that hit my WordPress blogs on a daily basis I was led to the site VilliageIdiot. What I found were some awesome tips (I was looking for htaccess rewite rules) and lots of nifty plugins for WordPress. What I also found was that the site owner has been involved in a nasty legal battle that could have happened to just about anyone I know. She is now in debt $35,000 to lawyers who worked to prove her innocence after being named in a “John Doe” case.

Check out Her site, read the tips, and review the plugins. If you found the site as useful as I did, please consider donating to help her with her legal fees and as a nice gesture to return a little bit to someone who provides all these awesome things that help us run our sites a little better. Every amount helps. Got a dollar? Consider sharing it. It will get you good Karma points in the long run. ;)

Note: My deepest apologies for the original post which I mistakenly called her a dude. ;P Even MORE reason to share the love- geek chicks RULE!

Holy cow how did this get this far?! A headline at ArsTechnica tonight proclaims Bill tying financial aid to antipiracy efforts passes House committee

“The House Education and Labor Committee unanimously passed the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007. Among other things, the COAA would require colleges and universities to adopt strict antipiracy policies and possibly offer students access to subscription-based music services like Napster.”

This could effectively place the RIAA and others in bed with them in control of college access to those who need it most. It is no secret that the majority of RIAA accusations and demands have been made to individuals who are more likely to settle or cave in to the demands rather than fight in out in court due to financial stature.

An earlier post at ArsTechnica states:

“A massive education bill (747-page PDF) introduced into Congress contains a provision that would force colleges and universities to offer “technology-based deterrents” to file-sharing under the pain of losing all federal financial aid. Section 494 of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 is entitled “Campus-Based Digital Theft Prevention” that could have just as easily been called “Motion Picture and Recording Industry Subsidies,” as it could force schools into signing up for subscription-based services like Napster and Rhapsody.”

This bill represents several problems:

1. Even with special grants, preventing file sharing on a college network will involve large expenses for the purchase of technology and additional staffing. Students frequently use their own personal devices on wired and wifi college networks. Scanning traffic for digital signatures should not be the responsibility of the college.
2. Education is the number one priority of an educational institution. Safeguards for health and safety on campus are services that ensure access to education. Preventing file sharing does not fall under services that ensure access to education. Implementing technology to prevent file sharing on college owned equipment is already in place in most, if not all colleges. Policing student devices crosses that line. Holding a college to student’s personal devices and/or personal activities is similar to revoking financial aid to a college if a student is caught shoplifting.
3. College costs are rising and federal financial aid assists financially deserving students in their pursuit of higher education that might be unattainable otherwise.
4. Forcing an educational institution to purchase access to a subscription based commercial media service to avoid penalties is unacceptable.
5. To take education away from any person because of the possibility of sharing material that is protected under copyright is unacceptable.

This is a threat to revoke funding if an institution of higher education does not take enough precautions to prevent the possibility of illegal file sharing. Who will be the organization policing the policies and precautions in place at the colleges? The RIAA? Contact your congress person today and take action. This poses a dangerous precedent.

Every so often I get all kinds of sidetracked here at linuxchic.net and wander away from tech and nix and wind up posting stuff like blog tips and such… well, no more (blog tips anyway). I’ve decided to fully utilize my blogagory.com domain and dedicate it to the topic of blogging. This is a pretty big topic so I suppose it will end up encompassing such things as social networking and new media as well, but only as it applies to a blogger. To make a potentially long blog post short, head over to blog(a)gory.com and read about blogging (the URL doesn’t actually have the parentheses in case you are confused) . Stay here or listen to the alternageek.com podcast to read/hear about tech, gadgets, nix, and open source. Want to hear random life rants of mine? That’s what my Twitter and Vox blog is for. Why so many blogs? Because sometimes you just don’t give a crap about my issues with pajamas in public or my opinion of the blogosphere (there it is, I used the word!) and you are visiting linuxchic.net just for the ‘nix stuff.