My kids' Dad

My iPhone continues to provide more value

It is hard to believe how much more stuff I can do with my iPhone.

Pandora Radio allows me to stream radio to my iPhone and listen to it on the road and at home by finding music I enjoy. See my Pandora profile.

My son has become an avid botanist in Origami Rose. He is now ranked number 10 in the world!

This is in addition to GPS, email, web browsing, listening to podcasts, calculating subnets, uploading content to TypePad, LinkedIn and Facebook...

Now if I could only find a nice set of earplugs (I liked the Koss sparkplugs) with microphone to listen to music and answer phone calls.

My New Toy

I just bought a new iPhone 3G on Friday and am playing with a new app which let's me post easily from it to my blog. So we'll see how this goes. I also am finding that the phone is a perfect match for the smart car. Photos soon!

Vista Correction

In an earlier post I discussed the problems I was having burning DVDs from recorded programs in Windows Vista Media Center. I assumed the issue was either a Vista problem or a DVD firmware incompatibility. It turns out it was neither. A friend asked me to try to burn a copy of a recent History Channel program (Last Stand of the 300) and dropped off a blank DVD even though I warned him that I was having problems. To my surprise the episode burned to DVD without a problem.

After a bit of research it turns out that the fault was my blank DVD media. Even though I tried both DVD -R and DVD +R formats neither disc would work. I was using Playo media I had bought from Staples at the same time I bought the IOMagic DVD burner. It turns out that there are relatively few manufacturers of DVD media and not all media is compatible with all burners so it is recommended that you find media that is compatible with your burner and the players that will read it afterward.

Most brands of media are not actually manufactured by the companies selling them (Sony and Memorex sell media that is OEM'ed) and the higher quality producers are: Optodisc, Ritek or Ricoh, ProDisc, Mitsubishi Chemicals and Pioneer. In order to figure out which media you are actually using you can download a program such as DVD Identifier. It turns out that my Playo discs are actually Mitsubishi media and although the discs may be good quality they are not all that compatible with my burner. The disc that did work as a no name brand (Spin-X) which was a ProDisc media and worked quite well. It seems that burning DVDs suffer from a rather high rate of incompatibility (up to 30% with ReWriteable media) so the effect is quite noticeable. Some tables do exist for burner and media compatibility which may help but ultimately checking the actual media types is the best insurance for reliable burning.

For those looking for the latest firmware for the Lite-On SHW-160P6S (also IOMagic IDVD168DL) version PSOC dated Nov 15 2006 it can be found here. Oddly enough the LiteOn site only lists the older PS0B version and IOMagic has nothing at all to say about firmware. (Who knew Packard Bell was still around albeit in France/Belgium?)

Vista Update II

Apple released the new iTunes 7.1 and QuickTime 7.1.5 which are supposed to work with Vista (and offer more features for the video iPod). I installed both and it recognized my imported library without trouble. iPod sync worked fine and all is well.

I also took advantage of a good deal on a large 500 GB Maxtor internal Ultra IDE hard drive from Staples for $139. I reformatted it with 64KB blocks (instead of the default 4 KB) since this drive will be dedicated to TV shows that run around 4 GB each. I forgot how long it takes to reformat a big drive - I just let it run overnight. After a little more than a month I have stored about 140 GB of TV. If I don't manually manage the files then Media Center will simply discard the oldest files once the drive is almost full.

I also discovered that SecondLife doesn't want to work on my Vista install (yet) so that is another good reason to use dual boot for Windows XP.

Vista update

I installed Vista a few days after it came out. I chose Vista Home Premium upgrade along with Microsoft OneCare Live for antivirus and spyware protection. The upgrade process went well and I am quite pleased with the results. I am organizing this post into these topics: install process, applications migrated smoothly, applications that took a little arm twisting, applications that didn't work, those that I am holding off on, and pleasant surprises.

Install Process

When you purchase an upgrade edition of Vista you are expected to upgrade your existing version of Windows without performing a clean install. The full versions of Vista are designed for machines that do not have a licensed version of Windows and cost significantly more ($80 more for Home Premium) as well as allowing you to easily perform a clean install on an existing Windows system. I wanted to perform a clean install so that all of the garbage that had accumulated on my XP system would not be migrated into my Vista install. This would also ensure that I will have fewer problems in the future by having a clean system. Since I already have a legal copy of Windows XP I consider it unreasonable to pay for a full license rather than an upgrade license. You can perform a clean install with the upgrade disk but you are unable to use your license key to activate the installation. Luckily the workaround is fairly simple: you simply reinstall Vista on top of the first clean install and then throw away the renamed directory called Windows.old. Specific steps can be found at DailyTech.

In short, I booted from the Vista upgrade DVD and installed Vista onto my unused new 200 GB hard drive as a 30 day trial. I then reinstalled as a 'clean install' on that same disk. This means that I now have two bootable disks in my PC one for XP and one for Vista. I know that I  need to continue to rely upon the XP system until all of my programs function on Vista. Now when my machine boots I get a Windows Boot Manager screen that asks me which version of Windows I wish to run. I did not need to install the Boot Manager it simply showed up. (One thing I noticed is that whichever system boots shows up as the 'C' drive.

The next thing I did was to boot into XP and remove unwanted user accounts, old programs and old data. I did this so that the Windows Easy Transfer utility would not move as much over to Vista. You run the transfer utility from the DVD and it allows you to choose which accounts and data you want to move. You save the large file where Vista can find it and import the information. The utility works like a charm and made the migration process quite painless. It does require that you reinstall your programs since it basically transfers data and user settings not everything required to run the actual programs.

* A side note - if you plan to migrate from a mail program other than Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express to a Microsoft mail client then you should first import your mail to Outlook Express before beginning the Windows Easy Transfer process. I decided that although Mozilla Thunderbird was decent for XP I was too impatient to wait for a new general release build that supported Vista. I chose to switch to the new Microsoft Mail program that comes with Vista. There is no simple way to do this but rather you need to convert all of the Thunderbird mail files from MBOX to EML files (I used a wonderful utility called IMAPSize to do this) and then run Outlook Express to import the files. I kept my address book by exporting into a CSV file and then importing into OE. It is important to get all of your mail working first within Outlook Express before using Windows Transfer Utility which will do a good job of getting everything into Vista.

Since my last Vista post I also bought a Hauppauge TV card (WinTV-HVR-1600 $75) that features both a standard TV tuner and a HDTV tuner (ATSC) hitting my goal of $240 for Vista and the TV card. My next upgrade will be a 750 GB drive for storing TV shows.

I also updated the ATI X1300 video driver although the Windows Experience Index dropped from 2.4 to 2.0. I was able to enable Aero but I get noticeably better performance with it off. I am quite happy with the performance of the PC knowing that at PCI interface to the video card is my bottleneck. Most of the other ratings are around 3.5 for the system.

The Good - Applications that migrated smoothly

• Windows - The install went very well
• Quicken 2007 - Reinstalled from a downloaded executable and then performed online updates
• Java 6 - Installed easily and designed for Vista
• Adobe Reader 8 - Adobe recognized Vista and download was simple
• QuickTime 7.1.3 - Even Apple updater works well
• Microsoft Office 2007 - I received a free copy at the Detroit Vista Launch last week so I figured that I would run Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher along with Groove 2007.
• Windows OneCare Live - this is Microsoft's protection suite and includes backup and tuning software.

The Bad - Applications that migrated with some pain

• Palm Desktop 4.1.4 - The install and initial sync with my Palm IIIc went well, but since my wife and I share the application it took some time to figure out that the only way for us to share the data on our separate Vista logins was to copy the date files hidden in C:/Users/Stuart/AppData/Local/VirtualStore/Program Files/palm (found this by making a change to my data then searching all of the local drive for changed files by date/time).
• IOMagic IDVD168DL DVD burner - The DVD and CD works fine under Vista but I am unable to get Media Center to burn a TV show to this device. I upgraded the firmware (it uses a Lite-On SHW-160P6S driver which I upgraded from PS08 to PS0B. The drive is not advertised as working with Vista so I think it it just a matter of time before they upgrade the firmware or Media Center becomes more forgiving. (The logs show a cdrom.sys paging error.)
• Advansys ABP3922 SCSI adapter - This cheap little SCSI adapter came with the SCSI scanner I bought years ago. The updated v2.9k driver is found here.

The Ugly - Applications that didn't make it

• Umax 1200S - The drivers for this scanner don't seem to work even though I downloaded the latest drivers.
• My bank allows me to make deposits directly from my scanner but they don't recognize my system (Vista? Java?) Even if they did - my scanner is no-op :(
• iTunes 7.0.2 - Apple says to wait for the next version so I will. I currently boot to XP to update my iPod and download podcasts.
• MusicMatch JukeBox - I used this to create CDs but I am going to try to use the software that came with Vista.

Pleasant Surprises

My main reasons for upgrading to Vista were for security and Media Center recording of TV shows. On both accounts the upgrade is wildly successful. Vista is obviously more secure, IE 7 is far better on Vista than on XP. When surfing the Internet the browser functions in 'Protected Mode' which is a virtualized space within the operating system that isolates the browser from the rest of the machine. The User Account Control mechanism lets me know when a process is trying to access protected components. And the kids now run as standard users (not administrators) which requires me to provide my password if they need extra privileges.

Media Center is terrific. I can watch TV and record favorite programs from a free programming guide that Microsoft provides. I look up a show (like Lost) and it records each episode once. If it misses an episode it will try to record the next showing. The quality is very high and I can watch the output on my TV as a second screen. The analog (cable) shows run about 3 GB per hour (hence the desire for a 750 GB drive) - I haven't used the HDTV tuner yet - I understand that uses about twice the disk. Shows record even if no one is logged in as long as the PC is powered up. My TV tuner has a remote control so I operate the media center like a TV/VCR except skipping is much quicker.

I tried Virtual Earth as well as adding the Outlook plug in for mapping.The kids are having a great time with Virtual Earth and I admit to getting sucked in to mapping old homes and workplaces.

My son also discovered ZooTycoon 2 so that has become our first purchased game for the system.

Bottom line: My critical programs are: Quicken (works); Internet browsing (improved); iTunes (waiting for Apple); e-mail (Outlook is great) . Office 2007 is a nice perk and Virtual Earth is an absolute jewel that I least expected. The kids are going to be able to use the PC without undue risk and Media Center has eliminated the pain of managing video tapes.

Conclusion: Windows XP - good riddance!

Our next PC: Macintosh with Leopard 10.5 and/or iPhone. As good as Vista is, Apple still runs rings around user interface and stability of Windows systems.

Black Friday

Last Friday was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that signals the official start of the Christmas shopping season with incredible shopping discounts. While my goal was to buy a Nintendo Wii (at full price) I was unwilling to stand in line for 48 hours to attain that goal. Instead I found some great prices on computer components to help me prepare my aging PC for a Windows Vista upgrade in January.

For those contemplating a new PC purchase I urge you to wait until after the January release of Vista preinstalled on new PCs. The primary reasons you would want Vista is that it replaces an aging Windows XP operating system and offers much improved security over XP. As an example, Microsoft has already released Internet Explorer (IE) 7 but critical features such as "Protected Mode" which reduces the risk of spyware infiltration is only available when IE 7 is installed on Windows Vista.

I also have wanted to take advantage of the Media Center features available in Windows Vista Home Premium to allow me to record TV programs based on episode rather than time slot and channel. I am reluctant to use a service such as TiVo which charges a monthly fee for their service to digitally record video.

Here is how the upgrade is going:

Started with an October 2003 Dell Dimension 2400 (2.2 GHz Pentium IV, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB drive, CD-ROM worth ~$400) and a Dell UltraSharp 17" Digital/Analog Flat Panel (~$400). This system seemed to be good enough to upgrade (I would suggest 1.6 GHz CPU minimum).

The first upgrade memory - I upgraded to 2 GB RAM ($180 on eBay) which also really helped the performance on the current OS. Microsoft recommend at least 1 GB - but I strongly suggest 2 GB.

Next I bought a VisionTek Radeon X1300 PCI video adapter for $79 (sale at CompUSA). This Dell has an Intel 845gv integrated video system and didn't offer an AGP video slot. This new card is an ideal upgrade for anyone that is in the same boat (otherwise a PCI-Express or AGP card is a better option). The X1300 has a PCI to PCI-E bridge with 256 MB Video RAM which meets the Vista Ready specifications and will have driver support. This card also offers a digital interface for my existing flat panel and a TV output for watching stored videos. I also chose to upgrade the power supply from 250W to 450W at PowerLeap for around $40.

On Black Friday I picked up a DVD burner ($19) and 200 GB Maxtor internal drive ($19) at Staples. The DVD is required to install Vista and a larger disk was needed to have room for the upgrade as well as have plenty of room for stored video programs. I figure that if everything works well after the upgrade I will look for a good deal on a second internal drive with 750 GB.

I will need to pay for a Vista upgrade in January and estimate $200. I will perform a 'clean' upgrade with Vista which will install the OS onto the new disk and migrate the data files from the existing drive.

Finally I will also be looking for a PCI TV tuner card that is Vista capable to allow me to capture TV programs off of the cable service. (I will probably spend around $50 on this.)

All told the upgrades should cost around $600 (estimated savings off list ~ $300) . Of the $600 most of this would have to be spent on upgrades on a new basic PC anyway (the Vista license being the one item that would see a discount from an OEM) in other words I will be spending around $600 to upgrade my PC versus spending around $1000 for a new PC with similar specs (not including displays and albeit with newer/better technology).

Before you consider an upgrade I highly recommend that you first download and run Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor. Good luck!

Black Friday sales also yielded some other nice deals such as 2 GB SD memory cards for $35 (Staples) for the Wii and a 360 GB External Firewire drive for $80 (CompUSA)  for our Apple iBook. And my wife was able to land a Nintendo Wii yesterday so the family should have a very fun Hanukkah in a couple weeks (in the spirit of making this minor holiday enjoyable for children).

More innovative advertising

Saar Drimer has found a very interesting looking advertising site called BidTheGrid which currently   provides a low cost way to drive viewers to a web site. Initially the cost is free or very low - but as the site increases in value economics will force an equilibirum to market value.

If other advertising sites such as MillionDollarHome (which sold out) are an indicator BidTheGrid will be very successful as well. You might as well be be a founding member - there are still a few free spots left and plenty of dirt cheap prime locations. Check it out!

Anti Virus Heresy

I thought I was pushing it when I decided that the costs outweighed the benefits in deciding to not install anti virus on our Apple iBook. The risks simply seem minuscule for Mac OSX users considering our environment: we keep the latest OS patched; we run [almost*] all Apple software including Safari, Mail, Preview, AppleWorks, Pages and Keynote; we have the Apple firewall enabled and keep Bluetooth off unless in use. I had been religiously using anti virus software for over a dozen years and have consistently noticed the ill effects of using AV software (as well as the hard costs). So it feels a bit like I am trying to remove my helmet when in the cold deep vacuum of outer space.

Then I figure I was pushed over the edge... My fairly new 2.2 GHz Pentium 4 system has become noticeably slower - nay, painfully slower - since applying Win XP SP2 and the latest in AV "Internet Suites" (and anti-Spyware). I wonder if security orthodoxy requires sacrificing your hardware each year to be able to get something done in a reasonable amount of time.

So my 7 year old son received a Compaq Armada 266 MHz laptop from a relative. It had Windows ME on it and was suffering so I reformatted it with Windows 98 SE in order to get that original snappy performance (since I remember not long ago 266 was a speed demon compared to that old stuff we used to run). I installed a fresh OS onto a clean drive and then proceeded to patch the OS and installed a commercial AV product. The laptop was so slow as to be unusable again. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I uninstalled the AV software and the laptop actually runs fairly well (IE 6 and Outlook Express installed).

Now before anyone else considers this... I did consider the risks and the operational environment: my son's e-mail account is restricted so that it only accepts e-mail from a handful of trusted people; he doesn't browse the Internet; we have a hardware firewall on our home network; I am careful about only giving him software that is from reputable sources (currently he runs Yahtzee and Monopoly). We also realize that this system can be sacrificed if it gets infected - but my it runs very nicely now!

What say you - reasonable or ridiculous?
Or am I jeopardizing my security credentials?

* We have installed and run Windows Media Player on rare occasion

Sunbelt Software

I spend a lot of time with security related solutions for PCs.

My basic recommendations for home PCs are:

• Up-to-date anti-virus for Windows PCs (Mac OS X may not need this)
• Current operating system patches for any OS (use auto update and latest versions XP SP2 or Tiger 10.4)
• Use a simple network firewall (part of most new and cheap routers and switches)
• Use a personal firewall on each system (Windows or OS-X Firewall or third party)
• Anti spyware for Windows PCs (Mac OS X doesn't seem to suffer from this)

The only bit of this that I struggled with was a recommendation for anti-spyware software - most of them just didn't work that well, Spybot and Ad-Aware are free but not very effective and Microsoft's AntiSpyware beta works better but suffers from too many annoying alerts and questions with poor explanations. I finally came across a commercial product that works very well and is affordable (under $20 for the first year, half that each year after) called CounterSpy. My experience is based upon having to spend hours cleaning up after family would visit a site that would install spyware. Even after cleaning the spyware with ALL of the other tools, CounterSpy still found active spyware and was able to completely remove it. I have also tried the Internet Security Suites by anti-virus vendors but their anti-spyware components are even weaker than the free products and I don't recommend at this point that you rely upon them. The insidious thing about spyware tools is that many of those advertised are actually spyware tools and fraudulent be very careful about any brand that is not mainstream and avoid the pop-up ads.

Not dead

Just a quick note to say that, no - I have not died.

My free time has been devoured by work - basically getting our fresh PKI system to integrate with our VPN (remote access) and wireless systems. (Far too many nights up until 3 AM.) As of this evening they are finally working - I'd go into the details but it is hard to imagine any other topic as boring. PKI (digital certificates) as a system is very exciting as a foundation for building systems of trust - but then I have already covered that... as well as the progress I see unfolding for the new model for networks. (I even had the good fortune to meet a fellow who is doing something similar - a large global corporation that is going to put all of its PCs on the Internet and reserve the protection for the data center. This trend is very smart and inevitable - we just sound like heretics right now.)

On the home front we just finished the High Holy Days and started building our Sukkah (photos to follow). I had a great time leading the junior congregation (less than a dozen kids under the age of 10) since they have a sincerity and honestness about them that is refreshing. One of the kids is blind and I called him up for a Torah reading - he said he couldn't read and then my son chimed in (loudly) 'Dad, he's blind!' Nonetheless, he came up and he recited the blessings (since he knew them by heart) and another child read his 'portion'. He really enjoyed it - his mom had to drag him out of there after 2 hours when she needed to leave!

I have started watching the 'Lost' series and find it interesting even if not all that compelling. Friends and family went to 'Sky High' last weekend and found that film to be a lot of fun and appropriate for younger kids.