Perhaps my favorite name.

Some Last Names Rock. Can you imagine.

Virus Alert!!!!!!

Is the devil you know—and expect—better than the one you don't?

Consider this: You run into person No. 1—let's call her Melissa—on the street. Without warning, Melissa hits you in the face and then proceeds to beat you up as you lie on the ground.

Then, person No. 2, Michelangelo, walks up to you and calmly states that in two weeks time, at exactly 2 p.m., he will beat you up. Then he walks away.

Now, while neither is a pleasant scenario, I have a feeling that the majority of people would rather run into Michelangelo than Melissa.

While there is definitely fear and trepidation about the impending date Michelangelo gives you, at least you can do something about it. You could make sure that a couple of big friends are with you at the appointed time, or take martial arts training, or notify the authorities, or just get out of town. At least you can prepare in some way. With Melissa, you are down on the pavement getting beaten up before you even know what hit you (literally).

Likewise, it's easier to deal with a computer virus or worm that purports to hit on a certain day rather than one that just hits. The latter is the one you really need to worry about.

But, strangely enough, people take the opposite attitude with these viruses. Try to tell someone about a dangerous new virus, and you're likely to get little interest. You'll get responses like, "Yep, I hear those viruses are nasty. That reminds me, I need to patch my system and update my anti-virus—maybe I can get around to that next week."

However, if you say that the same virus will hit on a specific date—say, April 1—people get a lot more interested. "Wow, it's like a time bomb! What do I have to do to protect my system right away?!" Hence the seven-hundred email warnings I got this week!!!!!

To a large degree, this phenomenon is driven by those in the media. Tell a reporter, especially a general media reporter, about a dangerous new virus, and he or she will see it as just another in a long line of viruses. But tell the reporter that the virus will do something dastardly on a specific date, and suddenly the reporter is much more interested in telling the story.

Oh well, if you can't beat them, join them. Maybe those in the security community should embrace this time bomb obsession and regularly report that there are viruses and worms that will take effect on a specific date.

I can see it now. People, I must warn you—there's a dangerous virus out there. [Snore.] It will steal data from your computer and compromise your identity. [Whatever.] Ummm, it will also find every embarrassing picture and e-mail on your system and send them to your parents. [Uh oh!] And it will look at your iTunes list and tell all your cool friends that your favorite artist is Engelbert Humperdinck. [Oh no!] And it will take effect on Mother's Day! [Ahhhh! Call IT—we need to protect my system!]

OK, if you did this you would be fudging the truth a bit. But it might get people to pay attention to security. And that's definitely better than an unexpected punch in the face. It might also save me the hundreds of forwarded emails warning me of this terrible virus.

The Real Mary Poppins

This Trailer sets the stage for my feelings of the movie. It is without a doubt the most freightening movie of all time (except maybe Gone with the Wind).

What the *%$@#@$#$^#^^%$@#!

You know what ticks me off?

These days, blogs and Web sites often require you to prove that you’re human by typing in the text version of some distorted picture of a word. The idea is to screen out automated software spambots that fill the Comments area with auto-generated ads.

The problem is, these word verifications (sometimes called Captchas) are sometimes so distorted, even a human couldn’t figure out what they are. It doesn’t help much that they’re often not even real words.

As I attempted to access an educational site today to order some materials I got this one.


I think I am going to add this one for anyone who wants to read my blog!

Come on!!!!

Which Browser is Fastest?

According to a recent series of tests done by Microsoft, Internet Explorer 8 is the fastest browser available today. Of course, it doesn't take a lot of searching to find similar studies claiming that Google Chrome or Firefox or Safari or Opera or WebKit is the fastest browser available today.

So what do I think about all of these "fastest browser" tests? Which do I think is the most valid. Well, in the immortal words of Bill Murray in Meatballs, "it just doesn't matter!"

That's right. When it comes to the modern web and modern web browsers, the last thing that most people should care about when choosing a browser is its speed.

Sure, browser performance used to matter. When I did browser comparisons in the 1990's I did more than my fair share of performance tests.

But when I did those tests I used a stopwatch and saw differences in performance that sometimes reached minutes!

In these modern series of web browser speed tests, the differences in performance are often measured in milliseconds. That literally means that if you blink you'll miss the difference in speed between one browser and the next.

Face it, right now all browsers are more than fast enough. And if you're running into slow performance on the web, you should probably check about one hundred other things (ISP performance, site problems, etc.) before you start wondering about browser speed.

So why is every single browser maker spending so much time and resources trying to gain the mantle of fastest web browser? I think it's because performance is the only non-objective criteria that they can hang their hat on.

Most people choose a browser because they like how it works, they like the feature set or the UI or the extensibility or that they are just comfortable with it. But while it's hard to tell a developer to make a browser that people will like, it's much easier to tell them to come up with some way that they can say that their browser is faster than the competition.

But right now this is all a waste of time and resources. We would all be much better off if browser makers were spending these resources on important tasks like making browsers more secure.

Sure, someday performance might matter in browsers, especially when it comes to JavaScript performance. We may see applications that are so big and complex that these millisecond speed differences will become longer and more noticeable.

But right now we are just measuring the differences between browsers that are fast and others that are also fast. And it just doesn't matter.

Help! Technology has taken over my life!

Oh no! Technology has taken over my life! There's no escaping it! What am I to do?

If these kinds of statements sound familiar to you, then you've probably been exposed to the frequent handwringing about the invasion of technology into our modern lives and how it's turning everyone into anti-social introverts who constantly stare at their phones and other gadgets.

A recent article in the Boston Globe took this idea even further with a piece titled "The End of Alone." In the article, the author discusses how new technology is making it basically impossible to enjoy or even have moments of solitude. The author essentially says that if Thoreau were alive today, he'd be busy at Walden Pond texting pals, updating his Twitter feed and checking his friends' Facebook status.
The article makes some good points and uses some good data to illustrate how people, especially younger adults, are constantly checking their phones and other social technology systems.

But whenever someone says that technology invades life, is impossible to get away from and makes being alone impossible, I have to disagree.
The last time I checked, these phones and other technology systems weren't embedded in our skulls (at least not yet, anyway). To be alone, just don't bring your technology with you, or turn it off. It's really not that hard.
I do it all the time. I like to take walks, and my phone pretty much never comes with me.

When I go on vacation, even if I'm in a city where connections are plentiful, any technology I bring with me spends most of its time off and is mainly used for looking up restaurants and other things to do, not for checking Facebook or e-mail.
Of course, as the Boston Globe article points out, some people have a hard time unplugging. They can actually become physically distressed if they don't have access to their phones and Internet connections.

To me, this says a lot more about these people than it does about modern technology, and what's being said is hardly new.

If, like me, you grew up in the 1970s or '80s, you probably knew people who were hyper-social--the girls who would spend hours on the phone, the guys who would smother their girlfriends with attention, the person who was always trying to organize big get-togethers.

You also probably knew the kids who spent 10-plus hours watching TV, or the guys who would play video games at all hours.

Is there really any difference between these people and the girl who IMs her friends constantly, or the guy who texts his girlfriend non-stop, or the heavy Facebook user, or the "Internet addicts"?

Of course, there are some people who are essentially addicted to their phones and connective technologies. These are the people who become physically distressed without their phones.

But again, this is really about the person and not the technology. Addictive personalities have existed forever. Maybe we should be glad these people are addicted to their tech. It's certainly better than being an alcoholic or drug addict.
So while these technologies have certainly greatly changed our lives--and mostly for the better--they haven't made it impossible to be alone. Anyone who wants to be alone and enjoy their solitude can choose to be alone. And some people will choose not to be.

Me, I'm going on vacation. My laptop will stay in the room to be used sparingly, my phone will stay off in my bag, and the only technology that I'll carry with me will be my camera.

Oh yeah, and my MP3 player. But that's not a new thing. Since I was a teen with a Sony Walkman, I've had to have my tunes with me when I went to the beach. That's how I do alone time. Me, the beach, the ocean and The Clash.

To all you Bloggers out there