Author: Dr. Bill

Have you ever planned and worked, and worked and planned to do something, and when you were finished, you almost couldn’t believe that it was complete? Well, that’s where I find myself. I have been hosting my own web sites since way, way, way back in the past… about 1998. And, after all these years I have finally moved my infrastructure to a separate hosting company… Bluehost.com. I gotta admit, they rock! I moved ALL my sites (78!) And, of course, I had to coordinate, and notify everyone that it was happening. It was a HUGE project! But, it is done, an now I am relaxing a bit. Sigh! Here’s the tally:

Email Accounts – 65
Subdomains – 78
Parked Domains – 4
Addon Domains – 70
FTP Accounts – 3
SQL Databases – 19
Disk Space Usage – 32,738.38 MB

Given that we are now connected to the web via an OC-48 connection (2+ gig) and the fact that Bluehost uses solid state disks for the MySQL databases… plus, of course, good ol’ CentOS Linux… things are “smokin’ fast!” Enjoy the new speed!

The lack of knowledge about Linux is mind-boggling! This story is about a girl that dropped out of college “because of Ubuntu Linux.” Right. She bought a Dell computer with Ubuntu on it, then was frustrated that her Verizon CD from her ISP wouldn’t load on it, so she “couldn’t connect to the Internet.” And, horror of horrors, it wouldn’t run Microsoft Word! So, I mean, how COULD she go to college! What a crock! A) I could get her on the Internet in minutes, with no CD, B) OpenOffice opens, reads, and writes Word documents. So, there you go, more evidence that Linux is evil and is a scheme to make everyone a college dropout! Please.

Woman blames Dell for missing online classes

“Abbie Schubert paid more than $1,100 for a Dell laptop hoping to enroll in online classes at MATC. But something stopped her: Ubuntu. That’s an operating system for your computer similar to Windows that runs off the Linux system. Schubert says she ordered her laptop online at Dell.com expecting to buy your classic bread-and-butter computer. She didn’t realize until the next morning her laptop defaulted to the Ubuntu operating system. ‘It’s been a mess,’ she said. ‘I regret ordering the computer.’ Schubert says she never heard of Ubuntu before learning that’s when she accidentally bought. She called Dell the very next day and says the representative told her there was still time to change back to Windows. But she says Dell discouraged her. ‘The person I was talking to said Ubuntu was great, college students loved it, it was compatible with everything I needed,’ said Schubert. So she stuck with it. Later, she discovered Ubuntu might look like Windows, but it doesn’t always act like it. Her Verizon High-Speed Internet CD won’t load, so she can’t access the internet. She also can’t install Microsoft Word, which she says is a requirement for MATC’s online classes. As a result, with no internet and no Microsoft Word, Schubert dropped out of MATC’s fall and spring semesters.”

I guess the Dell guy she called had never heard of the “ID 10 T” issue with users.

Ouch! 1.1 Million in 24 hours! That is one busy little worm!

Researcher: Worm infects 1.1M Windows PCs in 24 hours

“The computer worm, that exploits a months-old Windows bug has infected more than a million PCs in the past 24 hours, a security company said today. Early Wednesday, Helsinki, Finland-based security firm F-Secure Corp. estimated that 3.5 million PCs have been compromised by the ‘Downadup’ worm, an increase of more than 1.1 million since Tuesday. ‘[And] we still consider this to be a conservative estimate,’ said Sean Sullivan, a researcher at F-Secure, in an entry to the company’s Security Lab blog. Yesterday, F-Secure said the worm had infected an estimated 2.4 million machines.”

Now, you can feel like Dick Tracy! (I am dating myself, I know!) Anyway, weird, but will it catch on?

LG feeds wrist watch talk wish

“Is it that at any other CES, we’d all be chirping about the advent of a working, non-hideous wrist phone? Or are we all just too jaded to believe? Either way, LG may have lost a perfectly reasonable wrist-mounted mobile phone in the stampede. LG is a mighty big company, in the vicinity of which we are told Life’s Good. What that means, practically speaking at a madhouse such as CES, is that there among the washers and dryers and huge flat-panel screens and touchscreen handsets and consumer diversions of every kind in their suburban-home-sized ‘booth,’ LG is apt to tuck in a few little flights of whimsy. A weary reporter appreciates the change of pace, LG appreciates the attention, and so it’s all, as half the name suggests, Good. he problem is the waiting for the flights of whimsy to take off — especially in a year where attention coalesced around another phone, the one that’s near to not only launch but, maybe, to saving its parent company’s bacon. LG showed a prototype of the Touch Watch Phone last year. This year, it’s operable…but LG reps told us that it won’t be for sale until the second half of the year, and even then only in Europe to start. And just like that, press attention turned elsewhere. Whatever the technical achievements tucked into the 68g / 13.9mm chassis of the timepiece, its greatest achievement may be that it didn’t look utterly ridiculous. Though most tech folk above the age of 20 can remember multiple attempts at this sort of thing (your reporter’s personally still waiting for one of those bone-conduction fingerphones), LG chose to pare down the features and maintain sensible styling. The resulting gadget looks clean and not terribly mobile-phone-like; we saw several of the 13 offered interfaces that looked like perfectly acceptable face design. (Fashion tip: If you find you must own one of these things, stay with the analog dial.)”

They are all dying!

30GB Zunes Failing Everywhere, All At Once

“Apparently, around 2:00 AM today, the Zune models either reset, or were already off. Upon when turning on, the thing loads up and… freezes with a full loading bar (as pictured above.) I thought my brother was the only one with it, but then it happened to my Zune. Then I checked out the forums and it seems everyone with a 30GB HDD model has had this happen to them.”

I just sent this notice to a friend that sent me a Christmas eCard:

“eCards are used to get you to give spammers the email addresses of your contacts and friends so that they can get valid email addresses for them to spam. Please keep this in mind… while I appreciate the thought, I never read them, and always delete them, because when one goes to read them, one typically gets a virus. Keep in mind that, generally, the Internet is a place of evil, and generally, everything someone does or offers there has an ‘agenda’ to make money. Just FYI.”

Oh, yeah! Thanks Jonathan Coulton! Some Geek Culture for your Christmas cheer!

Number One from the original pilot, Nurse Chapel from TOS, Lwaxana Troi from TNG, DS9, etc. and the voice of the Star Trek computer… as well as being Gene Roddenberry’s widow… has passed away at 76!

Voice of ‘Star Trek,’ Majel Barrett- Roddenberry, dead at 76

“The voice of “Star Trek” has died. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, who for more than 30 years was a staple of ‘Star Trek’ as the voice for the U.S.S. Enterprise, died Thursday at her home in Bel-Air, California. She was 76 years old. Since the death of Gene Roddenberry, who created ‘Star Trek,’ Majel Berrett was recognized as the franchise’s ‘first lady.’ In the years after he died in 1991, she developed several of his unfinished ideas into new projects, which included two syndicated shows. According to reports, Barrett had been battling leukemia, and died early Thursday morning with her son, Eugene, by her side. Barrett first appeared in ‘Star Trek”s first pilot which aired in 1964. Her role as the Enterprise’s first officer (referred to simply as ‘Number One’) did not go well with NBC execs, and was later changed. When the series was retooled, Barrett eventually returned in a new role as the blonde Nurse Chapel. The recurring role was notable for her unrequited love for Spock, the Enterprise’s unemotional Vulcan science officer. That theme would carry over into Barrett’s other onscreen role in the ‘Trek’ franchise, Lwaxana Troi. In addition to Lwaxana, Barrett famously provided the voice for the U.S.S. Enterprise’s computer in ‘The Next Generation,’ as well as following sequel series. J.J. Abrams even had her contribute to the new “Star Trek” film, due in theaters in 2009. Before ‘Trek,’ Barrett had roles on several television shows, including ‘The Lucy Show,’ ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and ‘The Untouchables.’ She also appeared in 1958’s ‘The Black Orchid,’ 1963’s ‘The Quick and the Dead,’ and 1966’s ‘A Guide for the Married Man.'”

Other than the sucking sound, that is! It isn’t safe… no, more so than usual!

Serious security flaw found in IE

“Users of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed. The flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people’s computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say. Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it. Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world’s computer users.”

Need I say… Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome? Here are the links:

Firefox Browser

Google Chrome

Seems the economic downturn is hurting Mac sales!

Mac Sales Flat in November 2008

“Apple, Inc. witnessed flat year-over-year overall sales in the United States for its Macs in November, while sales of rival Microsoft Corp’s Windows PCs were up 7 percent, according to research firm NPD Group Inc, which tracks retail sales. Sales of desktops were down 20 percent overall, with Windows desktops sales falling 15 percent and Macs down 38 percent. Apple’s notebook sales, however, were up 22 percent in November, while Windows sales rose 15 percent. ‘For notebooks, there is a little extra value to consumers (to buy Apple). For desktops I’m not so sure,’ NPD analyst Stephen Barker told Reuters. ‘To me the real story is the iMacs need a refresh.’ IDC, which tracks sales of technology products, said earlier this month that it expects global PC sales to fall 5.3 percent next year to $267 billion. Apple and Microsoft could not be immediately reached for comment.”