Coming Soon
A Technology article written by Ryan Burnette on June 1, 2010.At the moment I am working on a few new articles, and I am revamping some old ones. The good old What Is SEO article is getting a complete facelift. New additions to the blog include How To Configure A WordPress Web Server On Debian With Tons Of Plugin Support, How To Use NextGen Gallery On WordPress And Become A Hero, Pure CSS Image Rollovers Without The Familiar Blip.
What do you think of the Apple iPad?
A Technology article written by Ryan Burnette on May 2, 2010.
I’d like to hear what everyone thinks of the Apple iPad. Link back to Ryan Burnette’s review of the Apple iPad so I can get some feedback. There are reviews all over the Internet, and the opinions I’ve heard so far tend to be very polarized. The vision I have for the iPad is a more convenient device than a laptop for class and meetings, but something that is more up-to-date than a spiral notebook and pen. I’ll have trouble not adding the iPad keyboard dock on as an accessory when I get around to actually purchasing one.
The Best Things About the iPad
I really enjoyed reading an iPad review by Dan Frakes at PCWorld. He identified a few major pros about the iPad that I totally agree with. The price, 3G capability with no contract, keyboard support, eBook support and word processing capabilities are great, and the iPad does it all while looking cool.
The Worst Things About the iPad
The iPad’s cons are probably easier to list and identify than the pros at this point. There is no doubt that the potential is there with this device. I find it ironic that the positive article I liked about the iPad came from PCWorld, while the negative counter-article came from MacWorld. Rob Griffiths at Macworld posted a response to the aforementioned article which lays out some of the annoying things that I happen to agree with on the iPad. The lack of a forward-facing camera, lack of multitasking capability (which I assume will no longer be an issue with the release of iPhone OS 4), and the shocking limitation of 720p video quality. I haven’t heard anyone talking about battery life much yet, but once a few of them age a bit I’m curious to see how this new gadget fares.
Other Thoughts
I was at the Apple Genius Bar the other day getting my Macbook Pro looked at, I asked about Jason Chen and the nerd just told me he didn’t know what I was talking about. I like how the ‘Geniuses’ make themselves feel important. Regarding the iPad though I asked if they had been dropping them or breaking them. The report was that they are a good shape for keeping in your hands while you are working, I didn’t see anyone drop one while I was in the store. They also reported that only one had come in with a broken glass so far.
Anyway
I’d love to get responses from anyone who has some iPad experience… thoughts, experiences, praises, complaints, jokes, dirty jokes, pictures with the iPad from anywhere in the world. Comment on the article or e-mail me.
Links
Apple iPad Keyboard Dock
The iPad’s Five Best Surprises
Five Worst Surprises
Resurrecting A Dinosaur Laptop
A Technology article written by Ryan Burnette on September 28, 2009.
This week I ended up with a dinosaur laptop in my possession. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this thing is a piece of junk. I also have no inhibition in protesting that I fashion Toshiba laptops the Yugo of the industry. For those of you who don’t know, Yugo cars were around in the 80s, and they were one of the few cars that dealers had to worry about breaking down before they got within walking distance from the dealership.
The laptop in question is one of the oldest Pentium 4 laptops. A very slow 4200rpm hard drive and a challenged ram situation (512mb) made Windows run very slow on this piece. A majorly hosed up Windows installation to boot, another tech pun, made it just freeze in place and get choppy even moving the cursor or playing an mp3. Who knows who the original owner was, any chance of getting the driver CDs or original Windows installation disc are very slim.
Driver and Operating System reinstall discs can be acquired for a laptop like this. The older the computer, the harder it is to do. In the case of the old Toshiba, it is probably circling the drain anyway, so I would never spend the time.
The Snowball’s Chance
Download Ubuntu Linux
I’m naming the old Toshiba, you guessed it, Snowball!
I’m writing this blog post from it right now. The savior? Ubuntu Linux.
Ubuntu is a distribution, or one organizations particluar flavor, of the free, open-source operating system Linux. One of the major innovations that all distributions have been working towards lately is ease of use. For a long time, Linux was only for the more technical user. Even simple tasks like installing software required research, reading and sometimes a lot of forum thread conversations to get through. Ubuntu has made it a quick solution, installation will involve more mouse clicks than keystrokes.
Use It
I downloaded the installation CD, burned it to a disc, booted and began the OS install. Less than an hour later I was booting into Ubuntu for the first time. After setting up e-mail, chat and flash for the web browser, I began being productive. I took a desktop screenshot and a picture with my iPhone, edited the pictures with Gimp, then uploaded them and wrote this WordPress using Firefox and the quickly installed Flash plugin.
Ubuntu runs on almost any computer, is more efficient with resources than Windows, and is vastly less susceptible to viruses. It is a great way to do the basics, e-mail, chat and web browsing, costs nothing, and is easy to install.
How A Virus Infects Your Computer
A Technology article written by Ryan Burnette on September 22, 2009.For the past 10 years I have worked in various fields centered around computers. Even today TechStudio offers certain tech support level services to assist our clients. My friends and family also call me quite often to gripe about problems with their computers, and my tech associates and I oblige these requests gladly. Without working computers the world would fall apart, right? I was never saw the pre-computer era but I am assuming it was very unproductive. Anyway…
Throughout these endeavors we see all too often: massive virus infection. People often ask me what the cause is. Spouses suspect that their mates have been browsing web content that they shouldn’t have. Parents wonder if their children have been illegally downloading music and software on LimeWire. Conspiracy theorists think the virus software itself is spreading numerous viruses to keep the need up for yearly maintenance fees. Since we are asked this question so often, here is the most common way our ill-fated computers are being infected with unwanted, malicious software.
Malicious Internet Advertising
Just because Facebook is reputable and does not intentionally allow advertisements that seek to hijack your computer doesn’t mean they could not be fooled. This article from CNET describes a rogue ad which ended up on the New York Times web site. The paper was duped into posting the ad by someone posing to be a legitimate business. This is not an isolated incident, it happens all the time. Popular sites that sell large amount of advertising are constantly battling to keep the ads clean. Sometimes a malignant ad gets posted for a while, and one click can hijack your machine.
The lesson to learn from the New York Times example is simple. If an ad you find on a web site intrigues you, Google the subject matter first. If the advertisement in question is legitimate, it won’t be hard to relocate the company or product through a safer means… just Google it.
The PPC advertisers won’t like that I am advising this. Don’t blame me. Blame the spammers that are ruining Internet advertising for the rest of us.
Ads Posing As System Messages
A common trick up the villain’s sleeve to watch out for commonly used in advertising fraud is creating the ad itself to look like a system message (see image below). In the case of the New York Times’ infected ad, the post warned the user that their computer had an infection and clicking this link would direct them to some anti-virus software installation that would cure the problem. The jerks that create this malware actually post as the solution to the problem that they are creating.
The lesson is to learn what your anti-virus software is and stick to it. Be very wary of installing anything, or clicking a link on any web site unless you are completely sure what you are clicking on.
Posing As A Virus Scanner
Another common trick is to pose as a virus scanner. So often the worst virus infections we see are malware programs like Anti-Virus 2009. Programs that by general definition, are a virus themselves, that are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The lesson here is to know the name of the virus scanner you are using. Make sure you are familiar with its pop-ups and functions, so when any alerts or dialogs pop up on your screen you can quickly and clearly identify them as genuine.
There Are Many More Ways
This is not to say that advertisements are the only way a virus can find its way to you. I do assert that it is the most common. Virus scanner technology now actively scans your e-mail and discs you put in your computer. I use AVG on most of my PCs that I manage, and even when someone downloads a virus on LimeWire or sharing software, AVG’s active scanner usually catches it.
AVG has taken steps towards curing this epidemic but integrating a system that shows web browser’s if a site is verified before they visit. The advancements however, have not stopped malicious ads from doing their job.
By being vigilant about what you click on, keeping a mainstream virus scanner up-to-date, and using a filtered e-mail service like Google or properly hosted Exchange, you will find yourself wasting less time with your computer on the fritz.
Sources
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10351460-83.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10356174-56.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10353402-245.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/30/mass_web_infection/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/02/beladen_mass_website_infection/
I broke down and got an iPhone
A Technology article written by Ryan Burnette on August 4, 2009.Last week I finally broke down and got an iPhone.
I really should elaborate. Until last week I had been rocking the Android based HTC G1 on T-Mobile. The G1 really lost me lately when I tried to run Twidroid and Google Voice applications simultaneously. The G1 got so slow that it just wasn’t helping me be productive anymore.
Since I got the iPhone I have descended several more levels into extreme nerdation. Here are a few of my favorite apps.
Things
Things by Cultured Code is the app I use on my Mac to keep up with projects and tasks. The iPhone counterpart has made me at least 67.5% more productive when out and about.
TwitterFon
A fast Twitter app, enough said.
WordPress
I can actually write and edit all my WordPress based sites right from the iPhone.
SEO Ranking
With this app I can check keyword placement on all the domains I manage right from my pocket.
Analytics
There are several apps that adapt Google Analytics reports for the iPhone. I wasted money trying several and this is my favorite.
Highpoint RocketRAID 4320 Review
A Technology article written by Ryan Burnette on August 2, 2009.Overview
The TechStudio I.T. squad just finished installing a Highpoint RocketRAID 4320 into a Dell T300 server for a client. The server was originally configured with three Seagate 500gb hard drives and a standard SATA controller. The drive was partitioned into an OS and data partition, all were dynamic and software RAID was being used for redundancy on the OS partition in the form of a mirror. Software RAID on the OS drive is dangerous because it does not always mean an easy recovery… or a recovery at all. This thread is an example of how things can go wrong. TechStudio’s resident hardware expert, Kyle, picked out the RocketRAID 4320 as the SAS card we would upgrade to. It works great in the T300 server, and we got it from Newegg with a $320 discount.
Great Features
Time does not permit me to go through all the cards features, but some of the ones we are using are really great. The performance increase after installing the card was also significant over the dynamic Windows disk.
My favorite feature is the card’s remote management system. The RAID card has a network port, we added it to the network and configured it to e-mail alerts to all pertinent personnel for the client.
RocketRAID 4320 RAID Build Time
We built a RAID 5 out of three 500gb Seagate drives, the build time was 10.5 hours. The nice thing was that I got an e-mail on my iPhone when the build was complete so we could head back into the client site to finish the job.
RocketRAID 4320 Restore From Acronis
If you are restoring Acronis images onto a new array on a RocketRAID 4320, make sure you are using Echo 9.7 or newer or you will have to create a BartPE disk with the appropriate drivers.
Satisfied Customer
Bottom line… I am a satisfied Highpoint customer. The card is performing fantastically and was a great value. I highly recommend it.