The Blockbuster Download Kiosk - Huh?

New ideas are flowing like water over Niagara Falls these days. Here is a new one from Blockbuster (you know, the rental video store chain) that has me and others scratching their head. Blockbuster Chairman and CEO James Keyes made the announcement of his plan at the Annual Stockholder's meeting earlier this week.

The plan, as outlined by The Hollywood Reporter, is for consumers to bring portable devices into Blockbuster stores and download movies, usually in about two minutes. Blockbuster expects to begin testing the kiosks, in about three weeks. Initially, the system will work only with Archos devices, but Blockbuster expects the kiosk to be an "open system" that is compatible with a range of devices. Keyes declined to predict how many titles will be available on the kiosk, noting that Blockbuster was still in negotiations with the major studios for content.

According to the story, "Keyes acknowledged that the kiosk pilot is likely coming well ahead of broad consumer demand for such services and should therefore only be seen as one additional distribution channel for the company as it tries to offer entertainment content whenever consumers want in whatever form they want."

So, let's try to figure this out logically: Amazon.com, Microsoft's Xbox Live, and Netflix already deliver movies directly to PCs...Netflix already has introduced a download box that sits on your TV...TiVo, Vudu, and Apple TV, as well as cable and satellite services offer video on demand to TVs...and electronic copies of movies are being sold alongside DVDs. So what makes Keyes think people want to leave their homes, then drive to a store with a laptop-size device to download movies from an kiosk?

Dear Mr. Keyes: people don't want to drive to video stores to download movies. Convenience is everything these days. That is why Netflix is whipping you in customer service and revenues. But, of course, this is the same company that wants to spend one billion dollars to buy a dying Circuit City chain.

I own this bridge on the east coast that I am dying to sell...

Firefox Three 99% Ready to Go.

A few days ago I wrote that Firefox had made Release Candidate 1 of the new Version 3 available for download. It had some bugs, so they are now preparing Release Candidate 2 with a public release date of this beta on June 5. The final code is now frozen, meaning that this is the final version. The final version of Firefox V3 will officially be released in the second week of June.

Mozilla, makers of Firefox, is organizing a “Download Day” to promote Firefox 3.0 and set a Guinness World Record for the most downloaded software in 24 hours. This seems a little scary to me as I fear their servers might get overloaded and cause problems. I hope it won't backfire on them. Based on my testing, Firefox V.3 looks like an outstanding product...not only in my opinion, but also the opinions of many other tech writers who are testing it. It is smaller, faster, and has some nice new features. This could be a big winner for them.

As for the FoxMarks add-in, I received a nice reply to my last blog from a fellow who works at FoxMarks. They are releasing a new version of FoxMarks for Firefox 3...and, in fact, it arrived just yesterday. That is good news as FoxMarks is an outstanding add-in that keeps all your bookmarks on all your computers fully synchronized. It is one of the most useful tools in my arsenal.

As for other add-ins, the most important ones all seem to be upgrading to run on V.3.

Noteworthy News From the World of High Tech

Firefox Version 3 - Latest word from Mozilla is that the final version of this popular web browser will be available in late June. It is actually ready now and you can download it, but Mozilla is waiting for the makers of their most popular add-on's to come out with new versions of their products that will work with Firefox 3. My favorite add-on's such as FoxMarks and Tabs Mix Plus are not yet available for V.3. The add-on's are what really make Firefox special as a browser. V.3 is faster, uses less memory, and has a few great new features that I have written about here before.

Google Docs - Google Docs and Spreadsheets has a handy new view that Microsoft Word has had for years. When flipped on you can see what your writing will look like on a virtual page, so when you print it out you won't be surprised that your term paper or novel is shorter or longer than you anticipated.

Twitter Tweeks - Am enjoying using Twitter to write mini-blogs (140 characters max) and to follow other Twits. But, the huge success of the service is causing problems. During peak hours, it is too overloaded and goes down. Twitter has received a large injection of cash and will update the infrastructure to handle their popularity...but it will take time.

Blu-Ray Sales - The HD Blu-Ray DVD player may have won the battle for dominance in the next generation of DVD players, but did it lose the war? Statistic show that ever since it was announced they were the winner, sales have tanked badly. From January to February - sales were down 40%. And that was after they won the war with HD-DVD. The reason...prices are still steep (around $300 for the cheapest Blu Ray...and there aren't that many Blu-Ray disks available. But probably the most important is that even with an HDTV, regular DVD players still look good. The newest generation of DVD players also have a way to scale-up their images to fit HDTV's...and those sell for about $75 and up. Read more here.

Netflix Direct to your TV - NetFlix, the excellent on-line DVD rental business, has been offering free viewing of over 5,000 films for no additional charge above their monthly subscription fee. Up until this week, those free movies could only be viewed on your computer. Now, for $100, you can buy a set-top box that will put the movies right on your TV set...still with no additional charges. The good news is that you get unlimited amount of movies for no additional charges. The bad news is that the picture quality is not as good as a DVD and there is no surround sound. See the review on the CNET Web site.

Good Article - Thinking about moving up to a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. Here is an in-depth article on CNET you might find interesting.

Another Good Article - PC Magazine recently posted an article on Broadband in America...talking about all the different options to receive fast Internet services. It includes DSL, Cable, and fiber optics to the home. I found it interesting and recommend it for reading. About half of the U.S. is now connected via broadband, but we are only ranked 25th in the world. Korea, for instance, has 89% connected to broadband. But, we are about the cheapest on cost per kilobyte.

Search the Universe - Microsoft has released a new, free software that enables users to explore the universe with impressive content from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, and other famed ground- and space-based telescopes. Colorful nebulae, distant galaxies, black holes, and radiation clouds are all accessible from your desktop with a few clicks. The software has been released for free in honor of Jim Gray, a Microsoft researcher who was lost at sea last year. Have been to busy to try it out, but it sounds just great. Here is a download link.

Personal Rant - This is the price you pay me to write these blogs - I get to blow off steam sometimes. I drove home last night from a day in the Leavenworth area. Susan called and asked me to stop in Wenatchee to pick up dinner. I suggested fried chicken as that is something we only eat maybe twice a year. Stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken in East Wenatchee. There I discovered that 8 pieces of chicken costs $21. What a rip off!! I turned around and walked out, thinking that KFC must have been acquired by an oil company. Drove three blocks to Fred Meyer and got 8 pieces of chicken for $6. And their chicken is good. Goodbye KFC forever. I know prices are on the rise everywhere because of the high transportation costs, but that is just ridiculous.

Update on Yesterday's Blog on Windows XP

After posting my blog on the Net yesterday, I received an e-mail post from PC Magazine's blog on security, one of the many blogs and newsletters I subscribe to. Apparently, Microsoft has figured out the continuous reboot problem. Here is an excerpt from it that might prove helpful:

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THE REASON BEHIND THE XP SP3 CONTINUOUS REBOOT BUG

Reports are all over about problems with some users installing Windows XP SP3; their systems go into a continuous reboot cycle.

Now Microsoft has provided an explanation, and it's an interesting one. The problem occurs on AMD-based systems where Windows was build from an OEM image captured on an Intel-based system. Perhaps it never mattered before, but in such cases, and depending on a particular registry key, an Intel-specific driver (Intelppm.sys) is loaded.

Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB88372 explains this some more and gives instructions for what to do if you are experiencing the problem. There is even more on the subject in this forum post on Microsoft.com.

Creating system images in this way is, when you think about it, a pretty stupid thing to do and the OEMs are clearly at fault. By the same token, the SP3 beta test was pretty large and I wonder how something like this could have escaped notice.

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And, here is an excerpt from the Microsoft forum post mentioned above:

"We are working on a filter for Windows Update to detect the specifically affected AMD systems (not all AMD systems are affected, it appears to only be those with an image created on an Intel system and the missing registry key or file), and temporarily prevent these machines from installing Windows XP SP3. Implementation of the filter us currently slated for the end of May. Automatic distribution (AU) for XP SP3 is scheduled for implementation later this summer. We are also investigating a hotfix that can be deployed over Windows Update."

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My solution is to sit back and wait for the automatic distribution scheduled for this summer.

This Just In

Users of Spyware Doctor and Norton Internet Security are reporting that these two security programs are yielding false-positives on some basic Windows programs after installing SP3. XP SP3 causes Norton Internet Security to identify ctfmon.exe as a keylogger (a kind of malware that records your keystrokes to capture passwords and other important data). In reality, the ctfmon.exe file in your Windows\System32 folder is a Microsoft system file that enables alternative input methods such as speech, tablet, or on-screen keyboard.

In the case of Spyware Doctor, the popular anti-spyware tool from PC Tools detects Trojan-Spy.Pophot.WX in RunDLL32.exe even if the system is uninfected. RunDLL32.exe is an important system file that Windows uses to run code in dynamic link library (DLL) files. By default, Spyware Doctor prevents any files it identifies as infected from running. If an important system file such as RunDLL32.exe is flagged incorrectly, the result can be disastrous for your PC.

I am sure that fixes will be forthcoming for both programs. But, we may not have heard the last of XP SP3 bugs.

Windows XP Life Span

Because so many people have no desire to upgrade to the Windows Vista operating system, it begs the question...how long can you keep Windows XP before it stops being supported? Others who bought Vista-equipped computers, but don't like it, want to know if they can down step to XP. There is a lot of misinformation about the expected life of XP, so let's see if I can help give you the straight dope so you can figure out your game plan for your operating system.

First of all, most computer techies agree on one thing, if your current computer has Windows XP installed, do not upgrade to Vista. A great majority of problems with Vista comes when people try to upgrade to it from older machines. Even newer machines running XP should not try to upgrade. The only way to go to Vista is to buy a brand new computer equipped with it. As for buying a new machine equipped with XP, Microsoft is going to stop selling XP after June 30, so you will have no choice after that date when buying a new computer. If you have Vista and want to downgrade to XP, that June 30 date applies to you also. Software dealers will no longer be able to purchase copies of XP after June 30, although I suspect many will have XP on hand long after that date.

As for support and upgrades for current XP users, Microsoft plans to offer free patches for vulnerabilities it classifies as security critical for Windows XP at least until 2014. Their is one caveat...this only applies where the latest Service Pack is installed. This, of course, is the brand new SP3, which is almost certainly the last Service Pack that Microsoft will offer for XP.

According to the original schedule, Microsoft was to have continued supporting SP2 for a further 12 months following the release of SP3, meaning May of 2009. However due to large volumes of enquiries from customers and some problems with SP3, Microsoft has now extended this period to 24 months. So, if you need support from Microsoft for your XP SP2 computer, you have until May 2010. The change means that XP users have gained an extra year to update to SP3. For the most part, SP3 does not offer any real benefits...it is mostly a compilation of all the security patches they have been issuing since the release of SP2....and if you have your computer set to automatic updates, you already have all these. SP3 does not offer any fundamentally new functionality, but you should install it eventually just so you can have support until 2014. As reported previously, there are many reports of problems with SP3 such as infinite restart loops. The causes of these problems are not yet known, but Microsoft is working on a fix right now. So, you may want to hold off any SP3 update until these problems are solved. You have plenty of time.

As for Vista, Microsoft has not yet revised its planned support end dates for it. Now here is something bizarre...Vista Ultimate continues to be classed as a product for home use, so that it will not be eligible for extended support. The result is that, as things stand, Microsoft will provide patches for Windows XP Home for longer than for Vista Ultimate. Go figure.

My personal game plan, unless the computer gods intervene, is not to buy another computer until the release of the new Windows 7, which may go into beta testing next year. Vista will be a short-lived product, which might be Microsoft's way of admitting that Vista is a bit of a failure. I am also thinking of a dual booting system running both Windows and a Linux system, such a Ubuntu and try and do as much computing as possible with Linux. It is definitely far more secure than Windows, or even the MAC system.

The bottom line for us XP users is that our operating system should be good for some time to come. The only other monkey wrench that might cause XP to become obsolete would be if software makers started producing software that only runs on Vista. But, with the huge installed base of XP computers, I don't see that happening.

Tech Odds and Ends

This is a follow-up on some things I have written about recently as well as a quick look at some new things you might find interesting.

Firefox 3

This new version of the Firefox Web Browser is still in final testing now, and you can download the final release candidate for previewing. I have been testing it and found it to be a very nice upgrade. Memory usage has been vastly improved. One of its most prominent new feature is the innovative address bar. It is like a search engine in that when you type in something, it searches for web sites you have visited in the past that might fit the description. For instance, I typed in "blog, " and I got a drop-down list of several possible Web sites, including the one I was looking for. This could save you time searching on Google. You can read more about it at:

http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9944662-2.html?

New USB Flash Drive

In a recent blog, I talked about buying a new 4Gb USB Flash Drive, the "Flash Voyager." It was a little slower on the speed tests than what I was led to believe, but it is still faster than my last drive and bigger too.

Windows Live Writer

You may have noticed a substantial increase in output for my two blogs. Well, blame Microsoft's free Windows Live Writer. What a great program! It makes me feel like a real writer, if that makes any sense. One always needs the right environment to be creative, and this software provides it. And, now it is installed on my flash drive so it goes everywhere with me.

iPod and iTunes

Am loving my new iPod Classic with an 80Gb drive. I have copied over my music from 300-400 CD's plus other music I already had on my Computer. I still have about 1/2 of the drive available for more. Also am subscribing to several podcasts through iTunes that are automatically added to my iPod when they become available. My podcasts are tech and photography based (and, of course, "Car Talk"). Now instead of music when I go out for exercise, I listen to these and the time just flies. Sort of like Books-on-Tape in the car (I have these also on the iPod). However, I think if I were starting over, I might consider using MediaMonkey rather than iTunes.

More on AVG Anti-Virus

When doing searches with Google, the new AVG checks each Web site on the search list for malicious code. It puts a green checkmark next to the search. And because I also use McAfee Siteadvisor in my browser, both of them show up with search results. Now that is what I call great redundancy. I am embarrassed to say that AVG has found additional trojans and spyware on all my computers. It has also found remnants of removed malware in backup directories...meaning that if I had to do a system restore, all those viruses and spyware that I have already removed would be put back on the system.

Save XP Petition

Its been four months since InfoWorld magazine asked businesses and individuals to sign a petition at SaveXP.com requesting Microsoft keep Windows XP for sale beyond the planned June 30 general end-of-sales date. So far, more than 200,000 have signed up to add their voices. As of May 15, the count was 200,805 signatures, excluding duplicates and fake sign-ups. I signed up.

Microsoft and Yahoo

Word is out that Microsoft and Yahoo have renewed negotiations for an acquisition. This time around, however, Microsoft says they are only want to buy part of Yahoo. Many knowledgeable folks think this would be bad for both companies. I agree. The hidden message here is that Microsoft is finally coming to the realization that only offering an operating system and office software is a slowly dying business model . The future is Web-oriented...computing services are starting to move to the Net rather than on your computer.

Leo LaPorte

If you miss TechTV and such great programs as "Call for Help" and "The Screen Savers." don't despair. Leo LaPorte, the host of those two shows and others is alive and well and putting out several podcasts and Internet TV shows. He is about ready to start 25 hours per week of live Internet TV shows. You can check out all this and subscribe to some or all of his podcasts at http://www.twit.tv/. A few years ago, TechTV was bought out by G4TV. If you ever want to watch some of the most brainless TV shows you have ever seen, watch G4 sometime for about 5 minutes. Pity our youth and our future.

Cranky Geek's

And speaking of Internet TV, you might want to check out the "Cranky Geek's" Internet TV show hosted by long-time PC Magazine columnist John C Dvorak. It's usually about 30 minutes long. It is fun and informative. Dvorak is a curmudgeon, no doubt about that. But, make no mistake, he knows his stuff. It is at http://www.crankygeeks.com/

Vista Infections

Is Vista is less secure than Windows 2000? That claim was made last week by security vendor PC Tools, which said that over the past six months Vista had suffered 639 unique threats, whereas Windows 2000 has suffered 586. Microsoft's response: user complacency is responsible for the increase in infections. They say Vista is far more secure than Windows 2000 and blame users for executing malicious code on their machines. Damn users...how dare you all ruin Microsoft's perfect operating system. (Maybe I'm becoming a "Cranky Geek.")

Switching ISP Fiber Provider

This entry is mainly for people who live in my home county of Grant County, Washington and are connected to the Grant County Zipp Fiber Optics network...but others may find it of some value. I wanted to share the fact that I may have discovered a better provider of Internet services (so far, so good anyway) that is providing me blinding speed connections at a fair price. It is iFiber, located in Ephrata in the old VIB offices. Now, VIB was bought out some time ago by a company called HomeNet. Recently, HomeNet was purchased by iFiber. They apparently have made a major effort to provide the kind of high speed services that fiber optics can offer.

And, just to set the record straight, iFiber is not paying me or offering any kind of benefits for me talking about them in this blog. In fact, they don't even know I write a blog. These are just the facts as I have found them so far.

Now, many of you know, that I was with BentonREA and it's subsidiary PowerTelNet, one of the earliest providers of fiber optic Internet services in Grant County. We ran probably the fastest connections at that time...so I know what fiber optics is capable of for its users. For the last couple of years, I have been with a local provider who shall remain nameless, both for my home and studio. In the last few months, I noticed my Internet upload and download speed was very slow. I began running speed tests using both SpeedTest.net Web site and a built-in testing software that came with my network software. The results have been far less than spectacular. Most of the time I ran the tests during peak Internet usage hours, because that is when I use it the most. The download speed numbers ran anywhere from 450 kb/s to 1450 kb/s (kilobytes per second). Now, this is not good and is equivalent to a low-end DSL connection. Occasionally I would see 4,000 to 5,000 speed tests, but mostly they were 2,500 or below.

Fiber can be so much faster than DSL, or anything else for that matter. So, I did some research on current providers in our area and found iFiber's Web site. They offer two levels of service for the home user...a 6 and a 12 mb/s service, the latter being $5 more per month. I also found out that their business service, which is required for my studio, offers an even higher connection speed (at a higher price, of course). They said I would see download speeds at my studio of 15,000 to 20,000 kb/s. Now, that is at least 10 times higher than what I was getting. So, I made the switch at the studio and hoped it would be true.

It's true! Yesterday's speed test came in a 22,000+ kb/s during peak usage time. I am impressed, to say the least. I have run several tests at different times of the day and they all come back at this high rate. You can bet I will be switching my home connection to them at the end of this month. I don't expect to get quite the same download speed at home, but I will let you know.

I discovered another bonus when I went to Steve Gibson's Security Web site to run security tests on my new provider (I mentioned Gibson's site a couple of blogs ago). I went the his "Shield's Up" test site that can analyze the level of your protection right over the Net. Using the "Common Ports" part of his test, I discovered that iFiber's gateway does not use Reverse DNS, which is very good.

Without getting too techy, the "Common Ports" test has three possible outcomes for your computer...Open Ports, Closed Ports, and Stealth Ports. Open, is of course very bad, meaning your computer is wide open to anybody who wants in. Closed Ports is better and means hackers normally can't get in the easy way, but it still shows you exist. Stealth Ports is the best results because hackers cannot even see that you are there. The test on my previous provider showed Closed Ports, meaning my router was blocking intruders, but I could still be seen. With iFiber's service, all my ports are reported as Stealth, meaning my ports and, for that matter, my computer(s) can't even be seen. Now, that is good. I'm invisible!!

Now, I have only been with them for a couple of days so, time will tell if they really are a good provider, but so far, so good and it is nice to get the best bang for my buck, especially on super high speed fiber optic system. But, if I were you, regardless of who your provider is, I would run some speed tests and use the "Shield's Up" test just to see how secure you are.

AVG Free Anti-Virus V.8 - Get It!

Like many of you, I have been using AVG's Free Anti-Virus V.7.5 software for a few years, along with Avast! Anti-Virus. Not long ago, for reasons that aren't all that important for this article, I switched all my computers over to AVG. In the last few days, AVG has released their Version 8, both in paid and free versions. If you are using AVG 7.5, be aware that at the end of this month, AVG will stop producing daily virus update definitions for V.7.5, so you must update to V.8 to keep your virus software current.

The good news is that V.8 is so improved over the previous version that you should get it right now. They have made many major improvements that take this new version beyond just anti-virus. First, the anti-virus detection is so much better than the previous version. On all my computers, it has found a few viruses and trojans that V7.5 had missed. Most were not a problem, but it was a bit disconcerting to find them on my systems. Second, it went much deeper than the previous version, meaning it found references to viruses and other malware in my Windows Registry and in the hidden recovery files area. Some were only warnings of potential problems, but others were real. Obviously, I removed all of them.

Second, AVG now has anti-spyware detection built-in, a new feature to be sure. Even more disconcerting was that it found a whole lot of the spyware that my other two paid anti-spyware products had missed (Spyware Doctor and CounterSpy). I know this is not unheard of as I have written here before, but still, when you pay your money you want complete protection.

Want more features? How about protection from bad Web sites, meaning those that contain malicious code that try to get into your system when you view their pages. In the free version, you will only get protection while doing Web searches. But, it does warn you when an e-mail contains links to dangerous Web sites. Now, the few existing reviews that I have read about V.8 say that this feature may not be perfected yet. I know I had a warning in one of my e-mails from the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce about a site that I am pretty sure is not dangerous. But still, it is better than nothing and will probably be improved over time.

Now, one not-so-great feature. During the installation, you will be asked if you want to install the AVG Security Tool Bar in your browser. You would be very wise to say NO. It won't do you much good and it is really a promotion item to add Yahoo Search to your browser. Every review I have read...and my own experience on one computer, agrees with me on this point. One review I read said it installed it anyway even after he said no. And, while you can disable it in your browser, you can't get rid of it.

After using it, you may be tempted to upgrade to the paid version, but be aware that one review I read from CNet Labs says it is a serious resource hog. The paid version adds a software firewall, anti-spam, anti-rootkit, safe instant messaging, and safe surfing. Click here to read about the differences in their free vs paid products and to download the product(s).

But, with this these caveats, the program is definitely a major upgrade over the previous version and I would recommend that you seriously consider it. I think you may be shocked at what it finds

Avoiding Glitches in Windows XP SP3 Update

I have a heard a few reports of installation problems with the newest Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. I would be surprised if some folks didn't have problems...it always happens with upgrades. With SP3, most updates go fine, but here and there you will have glitches. Some of them seem to occur more often with computers using AMD processors. Now, that worries me a bit as all four of our computers use AMD...and I have not yet found the time (or courage for that matter) to do my upgrades. However, thanks to Adrian Kingsly-Hughes over at ZDNet, here is a list of to-do's that might help make the installation of SP3 go smooth. Here is a portion of his blog on the subject:

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MINIMIZING XP SP3 WOES - UPDATED

by Adrian Kingsly-Hughes

I’m getting sporadic reports of Windows XP users having problems installing XP SP3 on some systems. Here are some tips to help make the install process a little smoother.

• Disable AV software
  It seems that some anti-virus (AV) software causes the SP3 install to hang, while the installer seems fine with others. Disable AV software before beginning the install process.
• Uninstall beta/RC versions of SP3
  It’s a good idea to get rid of these earlier versions. If you’re having problems removing them, try installing previous versions through Safe Mode.
• Uninstall IE8
  SP3 won’t play nicely on systems that have IE8 installed.
• Update drivers
  Might help, especially if your system is running really old drivers.
• Disable unnecessary startup applications
  It’s not just AV software that can cause SP3 problems. If you’re having problems getting SP3 to install then disabling as many unnecessary startup applications as you can might help.
• Possible solution to endless reboots
  Windows blogger Jesper Johansson offers some advice for those suffering endless reboots when trying to install SP3.

I’ve only come across one stubborn system personally and disabling the AV (Anti-Virus) software seemed to fix the problem.

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If you are getting any error messages during installation, head over to this page on the Microsoft KnowledgeBase site to find out what they mean.

The Soft Underbelly of Software Firewalls

I keep hearing advice from many experts that if you surf the Internet, as we all do, you should have a firewall to prevent the bad guys from getting into your machine. This is absolutely true as I have seen evidence for myself that open port scans are constantly being attempted from across the Net to my computers. Now, I use a hardware firewall that is built into routers at both my home and office locations as I have more than one machine running at each location. But experience has taught me that one should have a router even with only one computer, just so you can have that firewall.

That being said, I have also heard that everyone who uses the Net should also have a software firewall, even if they have a router. The reason is very simple: these days you can get malware into your computer just by visiting a Web site that has encoded this intrusive type of software as part of its Web pages. No firewall can stop this as you requested the web page to come into the machine. Once inside your computer, the malware may try to contact another Web site to send your personal data or take control of your computer using the Net. This is where the software firewall comes in handy. It should notify you that something inside of your computer is trying to get out...and you can either let it happen or reject it. Now that is good...except that there are several ways around this now where the information can get out of your computer, even if you say no.

I discovered this while visiting the Web site of a well-known security expert, Steve Gibson. I've heard him before on tech podcasts and thought he was very knowledgeable. On his site, he has a simple test called "Security Up" that can scan your computer while you are on-line and tell you how safe you are. Its a little bit techy, but I found out that my hardware firewalls were working just fine. But I also noticed he had a small downloadable software called "Leak Test" that could test out your software firewall to see if it "leaked."

Now, before I go on, just a little background on software firewalls in general. Microsoft's Windows XP (with SP2 installed) and Vista come with a software firewall, and you should have it turned on. But it is only an inbound firewall, meaning it will block any inbound attempts to hack your machine. But it offers no outbound protection, meaning if your computer picked up some malware like I described earlier, you would have no idea that it was transmitting personal information out across the Internet. I've also written here before that on my laptop, I use PCTools Firewall as I travel a great deal so I am not always behind my hardware firewall. I have also used the Comodo Firewall in the past, but it drove me crazy, constantly asking me the same questions over and over again about permissions.

Now, more about Leak Test. I decided to test my PCTools Firewall with Leak Test. So I downloaded the software and ran the test. According to the instructions, my firewall should ask me if I wanted to give permission to Leak Test to go out on the Net when I ran the program. The instructions said to answer no to the question. That is when the software goes to work to see if it can bypass the software firewall anyway. Well, in the case of PCTools Firewall, it did. Even though I said no, it allowed the program onto the Net without my knowledge. FYI, when the test program bypasses the firewall, it sends a small packet of data to Gibson's Web site that responds back to you that your firewall has failed the test. When I went into the firewall setup , it showed clearly Leak Test had permission to send info onto the Net, if though I said no.

This test obviously bothered me so I began doing some additional research on firewall leaks. It turns out that there are at least 35 separate software hacks that can be used to bypass a firewall's outbound protection...and no one firewall can stop them all... at least according to Gibson and the Web site aptly named "Firewall Leak Tester", which tested all the major firewalls with all the known hacks. Now that was a bit of a shock. In reading the test results on firewallleaktester.com, the best three firewalls are "Outpost," "Kaspersky," and "Comodo." Comodo is free, but the other two cost some money. I think if I wanted the very best protection for my computers, I would purchase the "Kaspersky Lab Internet Security 7.0" program. It can be had for around $39 and includes their firewall and probably the best anti-virus software on the market today, plus anti-spam and anti-spyware.

As part of my research, I listened to some of the weekly podcasts done by Steve Gibson and hosted by Leo LaPorte called "Security Now." They were most interesting, although at times too technical, even for me. But, at the end of one of them on leaking firewalls, LaPorte mentioned that he didn't even use a software firewall because they are not perfect and take up to much of a computer's memory. And I also read a piece on another firewall company's Web site that leakage wasn't all that important because if your firewall is telling you some program is trying to get out onto the Net, it is already too late anyway.

According to LaPorte, and I sure agree with him, the best method of preventing hacks is to visit only well known, and trusted Web sites. One of the best ways to achieve this is to make sure you use McAfee Site Advisor which is available free for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. With McAfee, you can see a site's safeness rating when you do a Google or Yahoo search. I have seen several sites that have been tested as being bad...even some where McAfee actually warns you not to go there as you will pick up malware.

Frankly, I get angry thinking about how such a good thing as the Internet is constantly being hacked and used for evil by people whose only purpose is to destroy your computers or to steal information for their own greed...or by companies who want to find out what I do and where I go so their clients can advertise to me. It is so appalling that I have to have firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spam, and anti-spyware programs running in my computers just so I can protect myself against these handful of bad guys who want to cause me harm.

Service Pack 3 Now Available for Download

Update: A few days ago, I told you about the indefinite delay for release of Service Pack 3 for computers running Windows XP. Microsoft has now made it available for download on its Web Site. However, if you happen to be one of those folks that are running the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, you still should not download SP3. I would assume that most of my readers are not doing that.

You could download it today, or wait a few days to see if there might be any bugs that could cause problems. However, the labs that have tested SP3 say that there are no problems associated with it. Whatever you decide, you should eventually do it. If you happen to be one of those folks running the Vista operating system (you have my sympathy) your Service Pack 1 update is also available now from Microsoft.

An eBay Revolt and Some Alternatives

There is an eBay revolt in progress, led by a large number of eBay Power Sellers. They are boycotting eBay because of a change in their recent policies including much higher seller's fees. These have been brought about by the new CEO of eBay, John Donahoe. One of his most controversial changes, besides fee increases, is the elimination of negative buyer feedback. The first boycott occurred in mid-February and eBay claims it had no effect on revenues. The second organized boycott began on May 1 and its effects are still unknown.

Obviously, the fees are the biggest gripe that Power Sellers have. They claim on their semi-official boycott Web site that a seller can lose anywhere from 30%-60% of their profits to eBay fees. I agree with them there as I have personally not used e-Bay lately because I thought their fees were way too high. It is hard to figure this out at first as eBay has very cryptic, multi-tiered fee schedules that are difficult to discern at first. But, if you take the time to figure it all out, you may be surprised at how high these fees add up to be.

It will be interesting to see what this will do to eBay's business. I don't think it will have much effect initially, but over time, buyers and sellers will become very aware of the high fees as sellers will have to raise their prices to try and stay more profitable. Eventually eBay's revenues will begin to shrink as more and more competitors come on line to fill in the void. Whenever you get away from the basic core concept of your business to increase revenues, you will eventually pay the price.

In the meantime, thanks to a great, fairly new Web site called AppScout (an offshoot of PC Magazine whose goal is to "search of the best software, sites, and Web apps") , here is a list of eBay alternatives that you might find of interest:

Amazon: As the Web's number-one retailer, Amazon is the obvious choice for disillusioned eBay sellers. Although the site doesn't offer an auction feature anymore, its Stores section is a terrific place for sellers to pawn new and used goods. Best of all, no listing fee.

Audiogon: This audio site features a place for members to buy and sell used hardware. One former eBay seller who has given his business almost entirely to this site and Amazon noted that Audiogon, whose tagline is "The High End Audio Community," offers listings for a flat fee of $8--unlike eBay, which takes a percentage off of the final sales price of products.

Craigslist: Next to Amazon, Craigslist seems to be the obvious choice for former eBay sellers, thanks to its huge built-in user base. Craiglist is localized, though, which may prove a mixed blessing for users, depending on the kind of wares they're hawking. Of course, as one seller pointed out, eBay has a stake in this popular classifieds site.

eCrater: You can't talk about this online auction site without noting the similarities its name shares with that other popular site in the same space. The biggest difference? eCrater refers to itself as "100-percent free," stating, "Your eCrater store is offered to you at no charge. It will remain free, which means sellers will always get a 100% of their sales. A step in the development of the site is the introduction of premium product positions. With that, charges will apply only to sellers that are willing to advertise their products so they appear in premium positions in the corresponding categories."

Etsy: Etsy is the go-to site for sellers of handmade arts and crafts. The site's homepage showcases a large cross-section of goods, including pottery, jewelry, glassware, and crochet, among others.

iOffer: "This is not an auction. It's better!" reads iOffer's front page. The site is a bit more like a flea market; it does away with auction end times and focuses more on haggling.

Neoloch: One seller who has been actively looking for good eBay alternatives pointed us to this site, saying, "Right now, my favorite one is Neoloch, just started by a Power Seller in response to this eBay nonsense. It's small, but growing." Perhaps attempting to contrast with big, bad eBay, Neoloch is touting itself as "The Friendly Auction Site."

Onlineauction.com: That's about as straightforward as Web site names get. Four users who contacted us have switched to the site. Users pay a flat $8 month to list auctions, as opposed to eBay's per-item fee. One user reported success after the switch, while another has yet to sell anything through the site.

Overstock Auctions: According to one former eBay seller, Overstock's auction arm is, the "most similar to eBay in structure." An offshoot of the popular retail bargain site, Overstock Auctions is also one of the best-looking sites on the list.

Trocadero: More of a storefront than an auction site, Trocadero is an outlet for antique and fine art sales. Says one seller, "A basic store with them is only $4 more a month than at eBay and they take no commission. A medium tier store is $45 monthly, again with no commission."

Wagglepop: Wagglepop's tagline is "Join the Revolution," and from the comments left on this post, early this morning, clearly a few people have headed the call. The site charges a flat rate of $9.95 a month for unlimited listings. Said one commenter, "they get indexed on Google and you get real help from real people who care about helping others sell. No back stabbing[...], no high fees, and Wagglepop will give you peace of mind because you are in control of your auctions and store."

Powersellers Unite, one of the centralized boycott sites, features even more alternative sites as part of its Auction Watch. It also offers its very own storefronts for disillusioned users.

eBid: This familiar-sounding auction site was created in the U.K. in 1998. Since then, eBid has gained a considerable amount of popularity and opened up shop in nine more countries, including the U.S. "It's improving all the time," one commenter told us, "but just needs a big boost in terms of sellers and buyers."

eCrater: Like eBid, eCrater offers free listings. On top of that, users get "free website hosting, a free subdomain and a powerful admin tool to manage their free online stores," according to the homepage. Said one Appscout reader: "I've been with eCrater for nearly two years... sales are slow compared to eBay but [I] ship several sales a month and adore the increased profitability on eCrater since the site is completely free to use."

Ewaey: As far as names are concerned, Ewaey is perhaps the most blantant eBay ripoff around--even its multicolored lowercase logo looks pretty familiar. But as one of our readers put it, "It is very easy to list on and the customer service is great. Check it out, could [really be a] competitor to eBay in the future." The first 5,000 users get free listings forever--not sure how many they're up to at present, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

Google Base Beta: Google Base is a powerful and free service for getting your sale items listed in the country's most popular search engine. One reader put it this way: "That Google search box is some prime real estate, and it's free."

Hoobly: As evidenced by its blank About page, Hoobly still has a ways to go before it catches up with Google--and really, the site is more of an online classified site, comparable to, say, Craigslist. However, according to a PR rep who contacted us after the last eBay alternatives story, 500,000 people have already signed up for the site. So they must be doing something right. Right?

PlunderHere: Yaaaarrrr. Here be a pirate-themed auction site. The design leaves something to be desired, but still--pirates!

Ruby Lane: This site is geared toward users looking to sell things like antiques and jewelry. Items cost 30 cents to list, and the site doesn't take a commission on your sales.

Service Pack 3 for Windows XP Delayed

You may remember that in an April 21st blog, I told you that Microsoft was releasing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP in about a week. You may noticed that it hasn't arrived yet. The reason is that Microsoft has temporarily pulled it off the market while it fixes a problem. Microsoft is calling it a "compatibility issue." The problem has to do with something called "Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System." This is a special part of Windows used for retail chain management for small and midsize customers.

For us non-retail-chain-management folks, the bottom line is that Service Pack 3 is on indefinite hold...although it has shown up on some pirate Web sites. Service Pack 3 adds several networking and security improvements, and compatibility with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 security credential providers. It also incorporates features previously available individually as separate updates, such as Microsoft Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0, and Wi-Fi Protected Access 2. A recent test in the labs shows that SP3 does make Windows XP run a bit faster also.

I guess we will just have to wait for Microsoft to do its job. One does have to commend them for not releasing software that wasn't quite ready.

In a related story, Microsoft has withdrawn its offer to buy Yahoo. Microsoft raised its offer from $31 per share to $33, but Yahoo held fast at $37. Microsoft then said bye-bye to Yahoo. Most experts think it is probably a good thing for Microsoft.

Have You Twittered Yet?

Recently, I joined a fun Web site that I'd previously heard about, but didn't sound all that interesting. Now, I am a full blown member and use it at least once a day. It's called Twitter and can be found at http://www.twitter.com.

The purpose of Twitter is very singular and simple...you just go on-line and answer the simple question, "What are you doing?" You have only 160 characters to answer. How simple is that? Of course, joining and using it is free...and you would be surprised how many famous and interesting people do it. For instance, in the tech world, guys like Leo LaPorte, John C. Dvorak, Kevin Rose, and many others are Twitterers. There are also some notable folks in the photography world.

Besides being able to write your own entries, you can choose to follow other people's twitters. When I click on the Web site, it takes me to my Twitter home page where I can write an entry and read the entries of people I follow. What is fun is to create your own Twitter group of family or friends and follow them and their entries.

If you have been to my Web site or my Rants and Raves blog site, you will see in the left column my latest Twitter entries (I will do it shortly for my Postcards blog, but have been too focused on just getting it up and running). I try to make my twitters about my business, photographic, or artistic endeavors. You will never see entries about what I had for dinner or other mundane information.

You can click on the link at the bottom of my entries to follow me on Twitter, but, of course, you need a free account first. I already have a few people following my exploits, but I will make you deal...if you click that link to follow me, I am notified by e-mail, so I will then click on you and add you to the people I follow.

If this sounds like fun, head over to the Twitter Web Site and read more, then join if you want. My Twitter name, by the way, is jcorkrum.

A New Blog

Just wanted you to know that I created a new blog called "Postcards" that is now up and running. It is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I have included here the first entry for the blog to tell you what it is about. I would love to get your opinions on what I have done so far, so, if you have a minute, please click on the link and take a quick peek.

http://postcards.corkrum.com

If you would like to subscribe to it and get it in your e-mail postbox like many of you do now with "Rants and Raves," just drop me a quick e-mail at jcorkrum@corkrum.com and I will add you to the distribution list. Here is the first entry which tells you what the blog is about:

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With this entry, I begin a new blog called "Postcards." It is the blog I've wanted to do for some time. Simply put, it is a journal of my travels and my photographs. It is the story of where I am, where I have been, and, of course, where I am going....and it is about the pictures and images I create, which, of course, means its about me.

I call it Postcards because it will be like a postcard...a picture (or two) on one side, and a story on the back. Sometimes it will just be "The Picture of the Day", one of my pictures or paintings with a brief description or story about it. Other times, it will be what I call "Traveler's Tales"...more about the story than the pictures. For instance, an upcoming entry is entitled "Border Wars," and is about life right on top of the Arizona/Mexican border and the folks who try and stop the illegal aliens and drugs. It is the inside story as I experienced it, which you will never read in any newspaper of magazine.

I hope it will always be entertaining and informative. I think you will like the pictures...and I will try and give some insight into the mind of the artist who made them. Yes, I said made them, not take them. The true photographer/artist makes a picture...he doesn't take one.

Now, for those of you who read my tech blog, Rants and Raves, you know that I haven't written as much this year as years past...and you are probably asking yourself how I can possibly write a second blog. A good question...and, for that matter, one I continually ask myself. I am not sure I can do it, but it is something I must do. 2008 is a year of big changes for me and some things have been moved to the forefront while others got put on the back burner. Rants and Raves moved a little bit toward the back burner as these new changes unfold and take up more of my time. I will tell you more about them from time-to-time in Postcards.

I do love writing Rants and Raves and will keep it up as often as I can as I do spend a a good amount of time with computer technology and still follow it closely. It is still fun sharing my knowledge with you. Rants and Raves began about 10 years ago as a technology newsletter written to help promote my computer store business. It was and is very popular for many people. But, I have not had a computer business for 8 years.

Now I am a professional photographer and artist, a field that I actually started out in back in the 60's and drifted in and out for many year. For the last 10 years, it is back full time in my life and I think that it is what I was truly meant to do. So Postcards is really about my life now. I hope this makes sense. I want to share a part of my life with you, my interested readers, and with those members of my family and circle of friends, present and future, who may want to know a little more about me. Call it my memoirs.

Best of the MP3 Recorders

I recently took the plunge and purchased an Apple iPod Classic with an 80GB hard drive. I wanted something small that I could take with me on my trips that would carry all my music, books on tape, podcasts, and other recordings. In the near future, I will tell you more about my adventures with it and the Apple iTunes software. But for today, I just will focus on making MP3 recordings from my CD collection for storage on my computer and my iPod.

Music on commercially-produced cd's are recorded using a file format with no compression (other than that done in recording studio mixers). These files are quite large. MP3 is a method where much of the extraneous information contained in the standard CD audio file is taken out, leaving only the important musical information. Of course, the smaller you make it (meaning the greater the compression), the less fidelity you have from the original recording. The trick with MP3 is finding the happy medium where you really can't tell the difference between the MP3 version and the original file. Some audiophiles will tell you there is always a difference...and they may be right. But listener tests show that most people can't tell the difference between the original recording and an MP3 recorded at a bit rate of 192 or higher.

How small does this render the file size? Rather than give you numbers, let me just say that I have an 8 Volume complete CD collection of Schubert's String Quartets. Using a high quality MP3 recorder set at a bit rate of 225, which I will describe shortly, I can put 7 of those CD's on one blank MP3 CD-R. Of course, I need a way to play back MP3's which, of course is where the iPod comes in. There are also CD players (and even some DVD players) that can read MP3's recorded on a blank CD-R disk. I have two of those.

Interestingly, not all MP3 recorders are the same. There are many good free ones on the market, the best one being "Audiograbber," which is the one I use. All MP3 recording software use what is called a "Codex" to create an MP3 file from the original CD... and here is where some big differences come in. Not all codexes are created equal. Rather than talk about all of them, I will just tell you that in most experts opinions, the highest quality MP3 codex is named "LAME."

The problem is that LAME is not included by most free MP3 recorders, including AudioGrabber. But, AudioGrabber has the facility to let you use whatever codex you want. All you have to do is download LAME from their Web site, then move the LAME.DLL file into the AudioGrabber directory. Then, you just set up AudioGrabber to use the LAME codex. It is easier than it sounds.

Does LAME make a difference that you can hear? You betcha! I took one particular piece of music that I recorded three separate ways...using a standard MP3 codex, a LAME codex, and the Apple AAC codex (not MP3) that comes with iTunes. All were recorded at the same bit rate. LAME was definitely the best of the bunch and it was very audible to me, even with my aging ears.

Another tip I should pass along is when you set up your LAME recorder, set it at the second highest quality compression rate and use "Variable Bit Rate." It works just great.

More on using iPod, iTunes, and perhaps some other music software in the near future.