Please exit all applications before continuing

We've all seen this while installing software (at least on Windows). You run the Setup, hit Next, then it gives you this nice, friendly, "Pretend I'm the only thing that matters right now, and drop everything else in your life."

What exactly do they mean by exiting all other applications? What constitutes an application? Technically, any software executing in a thread is an application. Software drivers could constitute an app, strictly speaking - the driver for your camera, printer, microphone, network card. What? That means everything - all those little icons in your tray (or Notification Area as they call it now), what about Windows Services? So they want me to shut down Windows before continuing!?!? I don't get it.

Second, WHY?? Why oh why does it say that? I mean, really, if I don't shut down other applications, what will happen - is it going to make my computer run slower each month? (Already happens - it's Windows for God's sake.) Is it going to make it unstable and crash a lot? (Already happens - IWFGS.) Is it going to refuse to install the app? (Hasn't happened yet - IW...never mind.) Really, people, let's just get out of the dark ages 30 years ago when you were running only one program at a time, and you HAD to shut down all other programs in order to install.

By the way, who are "people"? These "people" are a company currently called Flexera (http://www.installshield.com), the company tasked with making the Windows Installer component. Let's start a campaign! Everyone, fill out their online contact form - ask them to rewrite the installer messages to be more up to date, and user friendly!

Flexera Software
1000 E Woodfield Road, Suite 400
Schaumburg, IL 60173
http://www.flexerasoftware.com/company/contact-online.htm

Backing Up Your Computer

Nowadays, anyone who uses a computer probably has some awareness that it is important to back up your data.  How many of us actually do this?

There are many ways to back up your data.  So why is it that most people don't back up?  And I mean from the layman to the professional?  And what are the different ways in which you can back up?

Different Backup Methods
Hard drives are relatively cheap today, and you can purchase an external one.  You can also back up your files online.  Let's look at the various ways.

1. Manually - that is, you can copy your file to a different location.  Now if you copy it to another folder on the same hard drive, that is just about as swift as having a backup house on coastal Japan, down the street from your primary residence.
2. Automatically - you have some software that keeps things backed up in the background.
3.  Backed up to a hard disk (could be a USB drive for example, or across the network - I currently use both).
4. Backed up to CD/DVD.
5. Backed up online.

Why One Over The Other?
What are the problems with these that would keep you from backing up regularly?

• Manual means you have to remember to back it up - big pitfall!
• Online you have to pay a recurring fee, and typically have a size limit.  They don't back up everything, by the way!
• If it is automatic, you have to set it up.  Usually the problem is not here, but in the interface for how you find and restore a particular file you need - one that was deleted, or a version from last week before it got messed up.
• CDs and DVDs just don't have the capacity to back up like we need nowadays - photos, music, videos, and Virtual Machines.
• Online means you are putting your trust for your most precious data in someone else's hands.  Are you backing up your Quickbooks and Quicken data?  Do you really want that stored on another company's system?

For me, what I want is this:

• Automatic, I don't have to think about it
• Very simple to find and restore the files I need
• Locate the files in my hand - I don't want anyone else carrying around my data!!
• Not incur YAMF (yet another monthly fee)!!

Now before we get any deeper into this post, let me warn you that some may have noticed that I have gone fruity.  That is, I have gotten sweet on apples - Macintosh to be precise. 

Check this out.  The Macintosh has something that comes with it, called Time Machine.  It backs up changes EVERY HOUR - that's right, as things go along!  Further, you can flip back through the folder you are currently looking at, to see versions of that folder back in time.  And there's nothing you have to do - except keep your external hard drive plugged in!!!  I mean, is that cool or what?  If that alone doesn't make you see the value of a Mac over Windows or even Linux, then what does?

Texting while...

Texting while driving is, of course, the evil of the day.  Admit it, how many of you do it?  I am too afraid to try it!  However, I have a few questions.

Do we really need a law specifically dealing with texting while driving?  Existing laws govern save driving, so why do we need specific laws on this activity?  It seems to me there are many more activities that are just as (or perhaps more) dangerous: putting on makeup, eating (e.g. a sandwich), fiddling with your radio, heck how about your GPS?  I once was eating my sub while putting on makeup and talking on my cell phone in a stick shift car - but not in waking life!

So, now that I got that out of the way, what about other areas of life besides driving where texting permeates?  If we need to ban while driving, we also need to ban during these times!!  Are you with me on this, or what?

• Toileting.  That's right, you go into the corporate bathroom, and there's Johnny standing in front of the urinal, both hands occupied.
• In a meeting.  Hmm?  It's my turn to speak?
• Babysitting.  Now where did Elliott get off to?  What's that crash?!
• Mowing the lawn.  Snowblowing too - heck any yard maintenance (darn, where did that seed go while I was planting and texting??)
• How about just plain interacting with other human beings?  Isn't it rude to answer the phone while in a conversation with someone else?  Why not texting?

Well, let's look for legislation soon regarding these important matters - and heck, if you don't see it, let's author some bills and get them in front of our lawmakers!  God knows they need to legislate more of our ativities.

What Price, Convenience?

What is technology, after all?  Let's break it down to its simplest.  I think technology falls into one of two categories:
1.  New capabilities we didn't have before, such as breathing underwater or in space, or flying.
2.  Convenience - doing things we always have done, but faster with less work.

There might possibly be a third category, that of entertainment, but I need to think more on it - perhaps it is some shading or blending of the other 2.

Most of the technology out there is of the second.  Truly innovative and creative inventions can achieve the first - but they are few and far between.

In America, as in many other countries allowing some form of "free" enterprise, people are incented to develop new products and services - and hunt for markets for them - whether or not they really provide true benefit.

That begs the question about what is meant by "true benefit?"  I would argue this is something that is generally agreed as a benefit, with little or no negative effects.  DDT had a benefit, but the negative effects I would argue vastly outweighed, and gave it a net negative impact on our lives.  So true benefit is something where the net impact is largely positive, that is to say the negative side is very small.

This balance of net effect can change over time, and change as the technology evolves.  For example, when Mr. Bell invented the telephone, the negative side effects were relatively minor - unsightly wires strung up on poles everywhere, and perhaps some exposure to electrical radiative energy.  With cellular phone technology, this can be argued to be a larger negative effect - larger amounts of radiation, and social impact of being able to be always reachable means it is hard not to interrupt socially important interactions for the call of the moment.

Let's look at the microwave oven.  What are the negative effects of this?  Many argue radiation exposure, many argue that the way it cooks the food, it destroys much of the nutrient value of the food.  I would add that we also have what I like to call the "microwave effect."

The Microwave Effect is an increased social expectation of instant gratification.  I would associate this with

• A shorter attention span
• Less patience (as we all know is a virtue!)
• Less planning and therefore less wisdom
• An "addiction" to convenience
• Removal from a "connectedness" to the source of our products and the process of using them

With the microwave oven,  not only is our food heated unevenly (which I always hated), and the nutrient value damaged, but we expect dishes to take less time to prepare.  "What, you seriously expect me to cook something that takes 30 minutes to make?"  (Come on, 30 minutes is too long??)  It takes less planning - if it is frozen, you can still throw it in, so you don't have to think ahead.  Thinking and consciously participating in our own lives is what makes us alive - rather than just floating from event to event or neurotically, anxiously keeping some hectic schedule.

This addiction to convenience removes us from the source of the food - did the food come from somewhere nearby, or halfway around the world?  Or more likely, did portions of the meal come from multiple countries spread around the globe?  What is the cost of this?  In time, energy, fuel?  What is the cost of putting the decision of our food sources in some corporate executive's hands, while the farmers in our own back yard are struggling to pay their bills, let alone buy the product your company makes?

However, the Microwave Effect is not just limited to microwave ovens - hence the name.  One could perhaps argue that personal vehicles may have some of it, or the plethora of specialty TV stations.

Whenever we use technology, I would challenge you - think about the lesser-known negative impacts.  Where was it made - and do you want your money going to them?  How was it made - were they environmentally conscious?  Was the packaging outrageously excessive, so that something you use once (to get the product from the factory to you) get thrown out, to last in a landfill for over 1,000 years?

Does this technology give a "true benefit?"  That is, not only is the net benefit good, but is the negative impact small?

Windows 7 - I'm a PC!

Folks, I've been using Windows 7 for a couple of months now, and I have to say - I am not impressed.  The biggest 3 things Microsoft did with Windows 7 were:

• Fix the stability issues introduced in Vista (seems like every other release of Windows is inherently unstable)
• Pretty up the interface - a lot of graphical enhancements with very little real benefit
• Completely move around all of the administrative functions, just to shake things up and make sure that the "experts" have to relearn it, while the "average joe" suffers and calls on the experts more

First, let's look at the "fixes" on stability.

Shoring up the House of Cards
We all know the score, especially those of use who have been using it since the first viable version (3.0).  Windows for Workgroups, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Vista - all these versions were, let's face it, unacceptable for customers paying for a product.

Windows 2000 introduced the first version of Windows where I didn't have to reboot daily, and could still use it.  Bravo.  Windows XP was, actually, an improvement on 2000.

So, we all are aware of the egg-in-the-face that was Vista.  Those of us who sprang for machines with Vista on it were burned, first by the operating system, and second by moving to 64-bit without waiting the requisite 5 years before stable drivers and software came out.


Now that Windows 7 is out, what's so great about it you ask?  Well, remember Vista?  Microsoft never admitted how bad it was, but they took a beating against the Mac and other Unix-based machines.  They know it, so they changed up the naming convention again (marketing ploys do work against the masses).  Enter Windows 7 - basically Windows XP with the Vista interface.


Except how good was XP really?  It's Windows - crashes periodically (once a week or every few weeks), slows down the longer you use it, you know the drill.  Kind of makes us wonder, why do we pay Microsoft for this stuff anyway?  With that said, it was the most stable version of Windows workstation yet.


Well, Windows 7 returns us to the XP days of stability - with all those fancy special effects and completely rearranged interface.

Wow, it's Pretty!
One thing Microsoft has always done well is designing graphics - icons, pictures, menus, and user interfaces.  Aside from the marketing thing.  They know a good looking vehicle sells better than the rust bucket, even if the good looking one barely runs and can't go above 50 on the freeway.  Especially if it's popular.


I have to admit, the styling is really nice, although the default window translucency is really really annoying.  A few features they introduced make it a bit more usable, but barely.

First, is the drag-window-and-snap-to-screen.  You drag a window to one edge or another, and it snaps to take up that portion of the screen.  Big deal, it's not that great.


Second, multi-touch gestures on touchpads.  Remember my article about the Mac?  Apple knows how to do things right - the 2-fingered swipe to scroll, brilliant.  So brilliant, Windows now offers this, but it is, as all things Windows, jerky scrolling and works moderately at best.  Often times it scrolls too fast, or not at all, and is actually more frustrating than the old swipe in a reserved edge of the pad.


Lots of animations in previously non-animated things, but the Start menu is really annoying.  Before when you hit Start and started typing letters, it would jump down to those choices.  Now it does a search - perhaps useful, perhaps an innovation I'll grant them.  I find it annoying, I hope there's a way to turn it off.

Administrative Confusion
In their never-ending quest to mix it up, Microsoft has again completely reorganized the administrative interface.  That is, the Control Panel, all the little things in Windows you do to control the inner workings (services, scheduled tasks, etc.), even the installation and uninstallation of software.  Just when things were stable from Windows 95 through XP, they went and pulled out the rug from under our feet.


What about the average Joe?  Probably doesn't spend too much time on these things, so doesn't care.  If you are a tinkerer, it would just piss you off.  If you were an expert?  You just gut it up and learn.  The more gullible ones probably pay for training on it - like you need it?  Us poor folks use Google a lot (I avoid Bing like the plague!), and good old-fashioned hunting around.

What about searching in Windows Explorer?  In older Windows, you could avoid the Windows Search 4.0 installation and thus have a useful file search.  Nowadays?  No 2 ways about it, you have this simple (and dumb) search field in the upper right corner.  How do you specify dates, how do you search contents of files?  Yeah, it's dumb.  There is a drop-down when you start typing, you can add a date or file size modifier - that's it.  Haven't figured out how to search file contents yet - unless you use Google Desktop.


Ever wonder why there's no Google Desktop for Mac?  Because Spotlight is built into the Mac, and does all that for you.

I'm a PC, and Windows is Mine
So, if like me, you're not buying this massive advertising campaign, I say my money's going to Apple.  I never cared much for the first generations of Mac, but as of OS X (that's OS 10 for the layman), form and function unite in a perfect synergy - one that all the might of Microsoft still can't even come close to touching.  Thanks to Windows 7 I came up with a new abbreviation - SOSDV (same old stuff, different version).

Whatever happened to the Turbo button?

Does anyone remember the Turbo button they used to have on PC's?  Did they ever really do anything?  I used to sit there in front of the machine and press it so the light goes on, then press it again so the light goes off, but never noticed any difference in speed.

Of course, today's computers are leaps and bounds faster than the old ones.  (Well, aren't they?  So "they" tell us, but why is it the machines seem so slow after only a few months?)  They don't really need a Turbo button.

But wait!!  Like I said, I never really noticed that the Turbo button ever did anything anyway - except that it made me feel like I was doing something during that frustrating period when I'm waiting for that darned machine to finish what should have taken half the time.  You know, kind of like if you keep pushing the call button for the elevator even though it is 5 floors above you, makes you feel like it is descending faster after you push it.

Is it only me, or do you all wish there was a Turbo button on the PC?  Yes, even though it doesn't really do anything, at least you get the satisfaction of feeling like you did something - the turbo light is on, I am in high gear, and going as fast as the machine can - if I want I can turn it off and then it has an excuse for why it is so slow.

So, PC manufacturers out there, let's put the Turbo back into the PC!  (Or at least the button.)

My Experiences with iPhone Problems and Updates

I have an iPhone 3G.  That's right, it's not the latest in technology, but I love it nonetheless.  And I have another year on my contract.

Recently Apple released the iOS 4, the update to support the iPhone 4 functionality, as well as to deploy newer functionality to the older phones.  I happily spent the several hours updating my phone from iOS 3 to 4 a few weeks ago, but was dismayed to discover a few problems.  I wanted to share my experiences with you, in case you are a fellow Apple customer struggling with issues like these, or in case you are considering getting an iPhone.




First, let me say I have become a huge Apple fan over the past year.  Second, I should also caution you that I think the iPhone is the cat's meow when it comes to smart phones.  I have seen and used many others.  While I like and can understand the desire for features like standard USB interfaces, ability to add SD cards, and other such open technologies (Flash, etc.), I think there are several things that have to be of primary consideration and put all the others into perspective.

First, is the device usability.  Does it perform the functions for which you got it, does it do it well, and does it do it in a way that is easy to understand and learn?  Better yet, is it so intuitive that you don't have to learn?  The iPhone shines in all these regards - there is very little that I have to learn from a user perspective.  It just works, and it works well.

Now, with the iOS 4 update.  When I upgraded my phone from 3 to 4, that must have been a major upgrade because it did a complete backup, complete phone wipe, and complete reinstall / restore.  It took a long time.  When all was said and done, there were several new features I found quite attractive - especially the ability to drag icons and drop them on top of each other to create folders.  I went from 4 pages of apps down to 1, and it made apps accessible by at most 2 taps, no drags.  Literally and figuratively, no drag, man!

However, the first problem I noticed was the phone experienced may performance drags (OK, so some drag).  Standard operations like unlocking the phone from standby or launching apps got really slow.  Many apps started crashing, even the built in ones.  It was frustrating.

I called AppleCare.  Now when it comes to customer service, call centers, follow-up and such, Apple is probably an organization that could teach classes on how to do it right.  (Do they?)  Of course they answered my questions, and practically before I hung up they had sent out an e-mail follow-up (a personalized one, not just a computer-generated one) that asked for my opinion.  First-rate!

The next week, iOS 4.0.1 came out, and this addressed much of my stability issues.  However, there were some lingering performance problems - like when I try to unlock the phone, the unlock slider would hang the first time I try, and then work the next time I awaken the phone out of standby.  Intermittent slowdowns when launching apps or doing things, etc.

Well, I bided my time, and I only had to wait another 2 weeks until 4.0.2 came out.  Voila!  The phone is back to perfect, in fact it is better than before - bigger faster stronger (well at least the faster part).

Now, I don't know about you, but I expect there may be issues with any product.  Having made a few things myself over the years (things I built, software I wrote, etc.) I know unintended problems crop up.  All I ask of any company is that they stand behind their products with genuine friendly customer service - and strive to help us solve the problem without trying to sell us more than what we need.  Apple way exceeds that expectation.  As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what other smart phones come out on the market, I'm sticking with iPhone and probably with AT&T - because Apple and AT&T have helped me many times thoroughout the years, especially when Cellular One, Nextel, and Sprint have screwed me over.