Whats so great about the new iPhone 4s?

Lots of people have posted lots of stuff about this infernal smartphone. But here I am going to cut to the chase. There are perhaps 3 major developments. And one of them in my opinion obsoletes all other phones.

1. Speed. This phone is blazing fast. Can you say instant? I mean, this thing is fast.
2. Camera. This is why my wife upgraded. Really, it rocks. The only camera I have that is better is my Canon digital rebel SLR.
3. Siri. If you haven't already heard, this is the near instant digital assistant you talk to. You don't just give her commands, you have conversations with her. It completely changes how you interact with your computer (the iPhone is a Mac computer if you didn't already know). This is science fiction cum science fact. The speech recognition is nearly flawless, and it not only recognizes commands, but responds to conversations and intelligently interprets intended meanings.

My prediction: within 2 years, Siri will reach the status of cultural icon. It will become so indispensable that iPhone market share will only increase as people grow into understanding how to use it.

So, Apple does it again: the hype for a product seems too good to be true, but the reality makes the hype an understatement. Damn them, now I have to buy some more Apple products! On the agenda for 2012: two MacBook Airs, Apple TV, and hopefully another (used) iMac or two. Anyone have a part time job I can take up?

How do you report Spam Text Messages?

Have you ever been happily asleep, when you are awakened by the ding of a text message, only to find it is some gambling site trying to get you to log on?  Now, there is something you can do about it!  You know, sometimes it takes a while before the left hand learns from the right, but apparently phone companies have been learning how to handle SMS Text Spam.  Finally!

FIRST TIP:  DO NOT REPLY TO THE MESSAGE!  Note the picture below, they say "Write NO to end" - yeah, right.  I bet you anything that is a scam to get you to send them a message, which they can legitimately charge your cellular account any amount they deem.  Plus, it confirms to them that your number is valid, and they can now sell your number to other spammers.

If you have AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint, you can "forward" the message to them.  Here are the steps:

1. Select the message they sent to you - on an iPhone, hold your finger down on the message, and tap the "Copy" balloon that pops up.
2. Create a new message to 7726 and paste the message.  (Double-tap in the text area, and tap the "Paste" balloon that pops up.)
3. Hit send.  You will get a reply message that asks you to send them the number from which the message was sent.
4. Send the phone number.

That's it!  Simple, and the more we do it, the cleaner the system will be.

(Since no other carriers have an iPhone, I didn't check - I mean, come on, just get an iPhone!! ;-)  [Seriously, call 611 or your carrier's support line and ask.]

Error installing eFax Messenger Plus on roaming profile

My work computer has a roaming profile with a Documents library on a network location.  Apparently this doesn't work well with eFax Messenger Plus (the reader app to read your incoming faxes from eFax), I get the error:  "The specified path is too long: C:\Users\Jay\My Documents\eFax Messenger 4.4" Retry/Cancel.  The problem occurred on Windows 7 x64.

The solution turned out to be pretty easy.  Windows 7 has a Documents library, which is a collection of folders it uses for "My Documents."  You can specify a different folder - I would recommend changing it to a path that is shorter, for example create one.  In my example, I create a folder under C:\Users\Jay, make it the default, then install Messenger Plus, then change the default back to resume normal Windows operation.

As you can see, I created a folder called JaysDocs and set it as the default location.  The install worked fine.

Have you upgraded to Windows 7 or 2008?

In This Post

• What's Wrong with the latest Windows?
• Taking Out The Trash
• The Problem of Landfills
• Solutions

What's Wrong with the latest Windows?
Here we are on yet another rant regarding the pathetic quality of the world's leading computer operating system.  Yes, that's your warning!  Why, what's wrong with Windows 7 or 2008?  They are really pretty, everything runs great!

If you ever wondered what was so great about Steve Jobs and Apple's products, this is another key differentiator.  Garbage.  What do we mean by garbage?  Garbage collection and taking out the trash.  In specifics, with computers garbage collection pertains to collecting up unused "pieces" of computer memory - and cleaning up.  What kind of garbage do computers collect?

Taking Out The Trash
First, there is RAM - that is, the memory computers use to "think" or process while running.  This memory is relatively expensive (say around $10 per gigabyte), and only works as long as the computer is on.  Chunks of memory are "allocated" to be used by your programs (say Firefox while you are surfing a web site), and are supposed to be "freed" (or marked available) once the program is done with it.  All computers must manage RAM, and Windows does this in a fairly fragmented way.  It has always done this poorly compared to other operating systems.

However, my big beef is with persistent storage (in other words a hard drive).  Let's take for example, installing a new program.  OK, so you know how you constantly have to keep updating your operating system in order to get the latest "security" updates?  (Whose security is it anyway, Microsoft's?)  How do you think it handles these updates?  Well, these updates come in the form of system files.  Your Windows system consists of many different files, and Microsoft sends updates to these files.  What does it do with the old ones that got replaced?  Delete them?  No, because what if you want to go back and uninstall the update?  (Who ever does, but that's beside the point - what if?)  It keeps all these files in what it calls the "Windows Side By Side" directory (winsxs).  All thus junk just collects.  And collects.

What about the TEMP folder - did you know about that?  On every system there is a temporary folder where files are stored - temporarily - on the hard drive.  However, what is the definition of temporary?  What really happens is files get put out there, a small percentage get removed when the computer is done with them.  The large majority of these files just collect.

Windows has something else you may or may not be aware of - I call it the "trash" heap.  The Heap, and the Hive, are where Windows stores all this various stuff that is not files, but it still "needs."  Why the double-quotes?  Really, it is only a Windows thing.  The Registry is stored in the Hive, and provides a central database of installed applications and their settings.  This Registry, the Hive, and the Heap which stores some things about RAM, constantly get written to, deleted from, and basically left like Swiss cheese - fragmented.  (How does Mac do this?  Instead of a central Registry, each application stores all of its settings within a bundle file which you think of as the application.  When you launch it, the bundle is "unzipped" and the files within it are utilized.  When you delete an application - the bundle is removed, clean, and simple - you are done.)

The Problem of Landfills
So, what's wrong with the way Windows does things?  Guess what - it truly is antiquated.  This is technology that was developed, and let's face it not really innovated upon, since the 1980's.  Yeah, back when computers were 8-bit, and 16-bit were coming on the scene (not 64-bit...).  The more the landfill collects, the harder it is for the workers to truck around all the waste that "needs" to be stored for future disposal.  Oh, and who ever goes through their basement and empties out the stuff collecting in it?  You just say "this computer is too slow, I need a new one" and just buy a new one - which is just what the computer manufacturers and Microsoft want because you keep spending more money.  This landfill of the Heap, Hive, and Registry constantly build up - until you decide to move to a new city.  When that city's waste disposal is full - move to a new one.

So, there are collateral damages coming out of this behavior.  What happens to the old electronics?  Are you guilty of this?  Do you throw it in the trash - literally?  Well, let's take a look at what is in these electronics, and are they safe for a landfill?

Electronic circuit board components are connected with solder.  This is made primarily from lead.  Lead, if you don't already know, is toxic to humans, plants, and animals in concentrated amounts.  Furthermore, there are trace amounts of mercury, cadmium, and other heavy metals.  Did you know that all computers have a lithium battery that keeps the clock running even when they are unplugged?  This battery is a standard CR2032 about the size of a quarter, just like the battery in your bathroom scale or electric candle, that needs replacing every 5 years or so (unless like me you set up time synch with the Internet time servers so the clock is always in synch with Boulder, CO).  Now, what about those old vacuum tube monitor screens?  Many more nasty stuff there.  In fact, in some states throwing these things in the trash is illegal.  (It should be a federal EPA statute.)

Hopefully you enjoyed the allusion to literal and figurative landfills I talked about here - and hopefully I opened your eyes a little to the impact of your actions on the overall earth and your pocketbook.

Solutions
So how do we solve these problems?

1. Don't use Microsoft Windows on your computer.  There are many alternatives to Windows, some free and work on your existing PC, some cost.  Upgrade your Windows to Linux, or if you really are ready to buy a new computer, buy a Mac.  Not only do Macs hold their performance throughout the years, but they also have - almost unheard of for a computer - resale value!!  Yes, you can sell a Mac for a decent amount of money years after you buy it.
2. Tune Up Your PC - just like you tune up your car, you have to tune up your computer.  You can try to do this yourself, or you can budget in a maintenance cost of taking it in once a year to your local service shop.  Find one of those little mom & pop shops - and support local small businesses - the lifeblood of American enterprise.
3. Become a Mechanic - if you really do want to try to maintain it yourself, I will follow up my next Blog post with some tool recommendations.  You can also find some recommendations here on an older post.

Who ever heard of Dennis Ritchie?

When I was in college, my bible was the thin C primer by Kernigan and Ritchie.  I just found out that Ritchie passed away a couple of days ago - with a lot less fanfare than Steve Jobs.  However, the C programming language, and the resulting UNIX operating system, have perhaps had as great an impact on everyday life as Steve Jobs.  So I want to delve a little into it, so we can all appreciate how incredible Dennis Ritchie's contributions have been.

First, let's look at C.  After A and B (yes, really), C represented a huge leap in capability of writing computer software.  The constructs were concise, yet powerful and flexible enough to represent anything.  Over the years, C has evolved - and morphed (some might say polymorphed).  (Yes, hold the groans.)

C represents the base language for C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP...and the list goes on.  In case you were wondering, what products run these?  Just about everything.  Almost every smartphone, of course every computer manufactured since, what, 1990?  Many embedded devices (cable boxes, parking meters, stoplights, you name it).

The UNIX operating system was the first one developed in C.  It is also probably the most widely used computer operating system in the world - if you include Mac OS X and all Linux flavors under the UNIX umbrella.  You may not realize it, but handheld devices, even computer printers, and more often run some flavor of UNIX.  The list is literally endless.

As one of the inventors of C and UNIX, it is extremely difficult to overstate Dennis Ritchie's contributions to all things electronic at this day and age.

So I think, in retrospect, that 2011 will go down in history as the true end of a large part of the second era of electronic computers.  The first era, of course, is the vacuum tubes up until the electronic transistor and silicon chips - the second would represent the proliferation and "ubiquitization" of computing devices.  As I look around my room, what computing devices do I have?  iPhone, Macbook Pro, Comcast remote control, Motorola Comcast cable box, NEC TV, Sony iPhone dock clock radio, Panasonic VCR, and Toshiba DVD player, plus our Panasonic cordless phones.  That's just in the bedroom.  You would find that many such devices run an embedded UNIX, and even if not, that the software/firmware for the devices was written in a language with C roots.

The New iPhone 4S - Groundbreaking no matter what they say!

Although many people in the press are complaining that the new iPhone doesn't have a different shape, the truth is that this phone - again - totally changes the meaning of what a Cell Phone is.

First, about the kvetches.  Why did it take Apple longer than usual to come out with this phone?  Yes, it's true I am not an insider and not in the know, but with some knowledge of what it takes to bring a product to market, I can speculate.

• New camera redesign - this is totally redesigned not only to perform, but to perform well.  It is fast - the time it takes to snap 2 photos is less than to take 1 with the next closest competitor phone (in speed), with amazing clarity and beauty of picture.  For example, what's the difference between my Canon EOS digital rebel with 6MB, that it can blow away pictures taken by a newer 10MB Panasonic camera?  Optics - it's all in the optics.
• Complete redesign of the interior - this means a LOT of testing to meet quality standards.  It has to work, and work flawlessly, or they will catch a lot of flack.  All the internal changes, means they have to test it out thoroughly.
• Siri.  In one word, this is revolutionary.  Think about it.  It is not just voice recognition ("command: Text Julie Come pick me up" ala Vlingo).  It is speech recognition - it understands when you say "do I need an umbrella today?" to check and see if it is raining.  Did you see the guy jogging, and saying to move the appointment to 12, no 2?  This is not the spoken command recognition we've had up until now, this is truly futuristic technology.
• Think about the advantages of NOT changing the shape - all the accessories built for the iPhone 4 will work with the 4S.  Truly, what's wrong with keeping the shape?  One little thing, I would like a bigger screen, but then again - pretty soon it becomes an "iPad Mini".

Terra Nova

I watched the pilot and second episode of the new show Terra Nova.  Have you seen it?  A bunch of people from the future - where the world is dying from environmental disasters - travel 85 million years back into Earth's past and set up a colony?  Cool idea - good characters, even a good plot, great special effects.  However, there is one huge thing that sticks in my throat, prevents me from swallowing the whole thing.

The story follows a family - a cop who was imprisoned for breaking the 2-child limit law, a doctor, and their 3 children as they break their dad out of prison and sneak him into the 10th pilgrimage through the discovered time rift into 85 million BCE.  There is an encampment all set up, housing built, and a good start - weapons, vehicles, self-generating power, etc.  Did I mention weapons?

So the part that bugs me is this.  Of course, they have to fight off the vicious dinosaurs that come looking to make humans their new repast.  In the 2 hour pilot, I think I counted at least 5,000 rounds of ammunition fired - often point-blank - into the dinosaurs.  A few times, the big one like Allosaurus did falter, but after firing a vast quantity of munitions, the score is Dinosaurs: 6, Humans: 0.  That's right.  0.  WTF?  I mean, either these people are the worst shot ever, or dinosaurs are impervious to bullets (unlike all other creatures big and small throughout the 200+ year history of firearms).  OK, cool, futuristic weapons.  The machine guns were pretty heavy-duty.  But you would think, if they are cut off from the mass manufacturing of ammunition, they would consider it precious and wouldn't waste it.  If the dinos are impervious, then why bother?  Dump them in a ditch!

(Some may wonder, why post about a Science Fiction show on a tech blog - well, it is techie...)