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Category: Tech Page 8 of 10

Gee, thanks, Google

By

On December 31, 2007

In Tech

Sorry, your account has been disabled.
For more information about Google Accounts,
please consult our Help Center at
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/.

Really such a lovely message to see when you try to log in to your email, no?  But surely Google would not make such a mistake.  And if it did, it would be responsive and quickly fix the matter.

Heh.

This is why I recommend people ought not rely on web-hosted services.  You never know when they’ll fail, and when they do, you’ll be at their mercy (exercised in a leisurely manner, if at all).  For me, this was a small bit of trouble in redirecting some of my email addresses (previously forwarded to Gmail for convenience).  I did make the mistake of having not downloaded my Gmail inbox to my own machine in some time, so that’s a something of a loss if I don’t get back in.  Anyway, just a friendly reminder from me to you that Google can make mistakes (and does frequently, if the support forums full of similarly situated people says anything).  Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

A New Flickr Trick

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On December 30, 2007

In Distribution, Society, Tech

Somehow, I missed the announcement of Flickr’s new stats feature. I discovered it yesterday, and am quite happy to say that it’s the most interesting addition to the Flickr service in a long time. Not only does it give you a more detailed breakdown than what was previous available under the “Popular” tab, but it also offers referral info.

If you’re a frequent Flickr user like me, you probably often wonder where all of these views come from for certain photos. I mean, it’s easy enough to sort out how a picture arrived in Explore (say, with this or that picture). But now you can see what photos are turning up through web searches (e.g., googling for the ever-popular Liz Hatch, or “You’re Doing It Wrong“). And, even better, you can see who else might be using your photos elsewhere on the web. Today I discovered that a Japanese web site is offering my picture of New York from the air (among a few other works of mine) as wallpaper for your desktop, that this article from a Chilean newspaper used a snap of mine from Pakistan in a story about Bhutto’s return, and that this blog on architecture for children found my shot of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (in Mexico City) useful for illustration.  Unfortunately, the stats aren’t omniscient.  I still have no idea how in the world this comparatively uninteresting shot of an airplane is my fifth most popular photo.  And for photos that have simply been copied, and not linked, you’ll still have to manually search those out (I continued to be surprised at where my photos show up . . . ).

This feature is only available to “Pro” account holders at the moment, so if you’ve got one, check it out.  More info on how to activate this feature here.

Essential Enroute Travel Sites

By

On December 29, 2007

In Tech, Travel

As has been hinted at, my last trip was a near perfect storm of logistical problems originating with weather, the airlines, and myself. I spent no small amount of time on the concourse trying to sort out what options were available, and at what cost. Handling these challenges was much easier with a laptop and a data connection than, well . . . without either. I’ll sing the praises of a few websites/online tools that have served me well in situations like this:

  • Kayak.com – I almost always book my tickets directly with the airline, but Kayak.com is an excellent comprehensive resource in sorting out exactly how many routes are available to your desired destination, and how they compare in cost. The screens are what make it so useful.
  • Flyertalk – there is *always* someone with the answer to your question reading the forums at any given moment. Plus, most of them are cheap bastards with rich tastes, so you’ll get the straight scoop on how to achieve your objective with a minimum of fuss and expense. (Contrast this with LP’s near unusable ThornTree forums, which – to this day – remains one of the great tragedies of online travel resources.)
  • TripAdvisor – this is a surprising one, for me. I’d long ago dismissed TripAdvisor as being for the sort of folks who stayed at Best Westerns when they went to Europe. And while it still serves those needs, I’ll have to say that I’m pretty impressed with the depth of the information available for a very wide range of travel tastes/modes. Easy all in one resource when you need to quickly figure out the options in any given city.
  • Sleeping In Airports – exactly what it seems to be. Most recently used when I booked a 5am connection through LIM, having planned to arrive at 1am (told me that the upstairs food court was a common and safe place to make camp for a few hours). Has also done a good job in directing me to in-airport showers in the past.
  • Weather.com – because it helps to know if that Northeast storm is going to keep your Atlanta connecting flight from showing up.

Honorable mentions –

  • WikiTravel – dismissed years ago as a good idea, but lacking the necessary participation to make it truly useful, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it’s grown into a serviceable resource. I may spend some time contributing. (Yeah, I know.)
  • The Subway Page – maintained by Robert Reynolds, it’s a great place to snag a map of most any major (and lots of minor) public transport systems in the world.
  • BostonCoach – I’m somewhat embarrassed by this. Sometimes, you just want to know that you can step off the plane without thinking, see your name, and know that that person will get you exactly where you want to go, no fuss. BostonCoach can do that for you with very little notice, almost anywhere in the world.

Finally, for fellow Palm users, there is FlightStatus. A rather basic little shareware program written by a young fellow some years ago, it has turned out to be one of the most useful Palm apps I ever installed. Does exactly what it says – gives you flight status and gate information for most any domestic US flight.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few (such as Airpower), but I hope these will be useful to some.

Sunset at HKG

Selling Out Isn’t Hard

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On November 21, 2007

In Distribution, Tech

if you only offer ten units for sale.  Apparently, Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader sold out in a matter of hours.  Given its appalling 1980s aesthetics and even worse $400 price tag, I can only guess that every member of the Amazon executive team was required to buy one.  I’ve a generally very high opinion of Amazon’s business acumen, but this is a complete mess.

Friday Notes: Lawyers Protesting, Explaining Perspective, and Musical Maps

By

On November 16, 2007

In DC, Law, Society, Tech

I went to the DC lawyers march in support of the lawyers in Pakistan.   It makes me cringe just to write that.   Though well -intentioned, it just seemed so . . . off.   In any event, it did result in my two favorite lines of the week.  The first was by another lawyer, saying that “this was the first protest I’ve been to where everyone arrived in cabs.”  Tis true – the curbside in front of the Library of Congress looked like the Mayflower Hotel cabstand.  The second line might reach what made this “march” okay, cringeworthiness aside.  A few people from (what I assumed to be) Code Pink came along, cheering and asking –

“What took you so long?”

Indeed.  For a more thought out take on the US lawyers rallies across the country, check this out.

~

Occam’s Hatchet at dKos uses the classic Flatland book to explain the importance of perspective.  An excellent read.

~

Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture linked to this interesting little tool from Gracenote a little while back.  Gracenote is the company that provides the track information for the CDs that you put in your computer.*  They’ve now created a map that lists the 10 most popular artists and albums by continent and country.   It’s a bit of a rough measurement – the results, of course, are heavily skewed towards the demographic that can afford computers constantly connected to the internet.  That said, it’s still quite fun to poke around.  Finland?  There’s something wrong with that country . . .

*Saving you kids all that typing we had to do back in the mid 90s.  Uphill.  Both ways.

Friday Notes

By

On November 9, 2007

In Cycling, DC, Personal, Tech

Okay, $16 million! Nope, I see $20 million, from the lady in the bad hat!  Do I hear $25 million?  Anyone?

~

WashCycle (one of the most consistently informative of local cycling sites, btw) brings us up to date on the goings on at the last Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting.

~

A nicely done article on resources for fixing your broken gadgets.   A few years ago, I realized that the gadgets I already owned did what I needed them to (for the most part), and I stopped being the person with the newest whatever (much to the surprise of my friends, it seems.)  Since many of these things appear to be built for a year or two of useful life, max, I’ve found myself using many of the listed resources.  Check it out.

~

As we move through life, I think we mostly achieve or drop our dreams.  Rarely do we find new ones.  But I think I just did.

Things That Don’t Fit In

By

On October 31, 2007

In DC, Tech, Travel, UK

Zombies on the Orange Line

Ah, the joys of an Orange line commute.  And just wait until the Tyson’s extension is connected!

Seriously, isn’t that a great picture?  James Calder caught it  at the DC Zombie Lurch this past weekend.

Other bits that don’t fit anywhere in particular:

  • Flying While Brown: still not (yet) a crime, still not a hassle free activity.
  • My interest in the technical aspects of operating systems disappeared long ago, but I found this review of the new OS X version (Leopard) so well written that I didn’t even skim over the bits about the kernel.  Recommended if you’re considering upgrading (I think I’ll hold off for a while) or if you’d just like to see what a well written technical article for a popular audience looks like.
  • I wish I were a size small.

Opt-out (or: Recall^H^H^H)

By

On October 26, 2007

In Politics, Tech

Some instances of stupidity make me consider reconsidering my stance against the death penalty.

To be clear: if you should ever be brave enough to be a whistleblower, you should never count on the competence or decency of the people that you are contacting to protect you.

Requested Tech: Universal Calendar Feeds

By

On September 12, 2007

In Tech

This last entry reminded me of one of the great unfilled gaps in technology – universal calendar feeds.  By that I mean the ability to automatically receive and process date-specific events from any given organization.   Ideally, every organization that produced regular events could offer a standardized feed (XML seems perfectly suited to this) that I could subscribe to through an aggregating client (which would then offer me the option to export selected events (e.g., to my Outlook/Google/iCal calendar)).

I really don’t understand why this hasn’t been done.  Upcoming.org provides a somewhat serviceable approximation of what I’m looking for, but it relies on the initiative of individuals to 1) promote an event and 2) get the information right.  You’d think that organizations would want to make it easy for their members/constituents/interested public to reliably follow their offerings.  It isn’t easy, though.

As it stands, I take at least an hour or so every month to search the calendars of my favorite music venues, local think tanks, professional associations, alma matter, cycling clubs, and cultural venues to find events I might be interested in.  It’s not the most exciting way to spend my time, and I often get annoyed with it and decide to quit before I’ve actually made my way through all of these calendars.  And, of course, I then miss events I’d really like to make.

Why?

Adjust Your Tinfoil Hat

By

On August 30, 2007

In Distribution, Policy, Tech

and then read this groundbreaking ABC report about the FBI’s DCSNet nationwide evesdropping systems. In case your eyes are glazing over, and you don’t think it applies to you, note that:

The surveillance system, called DCSNet, for Digital Collection System Network, connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet-telephony providers and cellular companies. It is far more intricately woven into the nation’s telecom infrastructure than observers suspected.

It’s a “comprehensive wiretap system that intercepts wire-line phones, cellular phones, SMS and push-to-talk systems,” says Steven Bellovin, a Columbia University computer science professor and longtime surveillance expert.

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