SPECTROX BLOG http://spectrox.com/blog/ The pseudorandom writings of a pseudonerd en Copyright 2013 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:31:38 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2ysb5-20051201 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 1 Hour Photo As you may have read in my blog, we recently moved.  In the past I would mix up my 35mm color film developing between mail order and local 1 hour photo labs that were located in major chain pharmacies.  I only moved six miles to the east and the lack of photo processing options is really unfortunate.  In the two zip codes that encompass the town that I live in, the Costco, Rite-Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Target and Walmart all send their film out to be processed.  I don't really understand how you can say that you are a one hour photo lab, if all you can do is make digital prints in under an hour. I can understand that where I live is a small town (a population of only 82,000 people), but you would figure that at least one place would still do developing at a premium.

 

Two weeks ago I decided that I would test out the photo department at the new Walgreens that just opened near my house.  I received my Photo CD like I requested, as well as prints, which I didn't request (and they were nice enough not to charge me for them.  The thing is: They Didn't Return My Negatives.  That is pretty ridiculous.   I'm not sure if this is the new thing for them to reduce the amount of physical shipping, but I cannot patronize an establishment that charges the same for less service and doesn't give you back something that is standard and customary to return.

This is somewhat of a useless rant, because I do understand that the market for chemical film and services will consolidate over the next decade, but in America it is still my right and privilege to complain. 

 

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/04/1_hour_photo.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/04/1_hour_photo.html Analog Living Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:31:38 -0800 Sex in Space Laura Woodmansee recently made a blog posting in regards the ethical nature of sex in space, specifically the possibility of human conception.  She takes the position that it is unethical to conceive a child in space (or in the microgravity of low earth orbit), due the the past research showing that plant reproduction is affected by the lack of gravity. 

 

Personally I feel that it is unethical to block such activities.  Whether it be for a James Bond style Zero-G tryst or in an attempt to increase the world population by one, there should not be restrictions on consensual activity between two adults above the Kármán line.  People take risks.  People conceive children even when the risk of disease or genetic traits are not in their favor.  How is conceiving in space different from a couple conceiving even through they both have recessive traits that can be disastrous?  There is quite a difference from conceiving a child in zero gravity and bringing a baby to term.  The issues that arise from that are a whole different conversation.    

 

Links:

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/03/sex_in_space.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/03/sex_in_space.html cool stuff online Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:00:00 -0800 The Only Game in Town - Part 1 We recently moved to another city and decided that we would consolidate our television/internet/phone into a "triple-play" package to save a bit of money and to make billing more convenient.  At our previous house we had separate services from DSLextreme for Internet, DirecTV for television and Vonage for the house phone.  We had 6 megabit DSL service, which wasn't super fast, but it was incredibly solid.  Based on reviews from friends, I was excited to try AT&T's Uverse offering.  Unfortunately the neighborhood that we moved to has a copper infrastructure installed in the late 1960's and is more than two wire miles from the AT&T central office, so you can't get any DSL based services at my residence of anything more than 3 megabit. 

What did this leave us with? Comcast.

Xfinity/Comcast/Kabletown Logo 

This did not make me happy.  I had been free of Comcast and their previous feeder incarnations for close to a decade.  People that know me in real life understand the amount of loathing that I had for them in the past.  But that was a decade ago and it was time to turn over a new leaf.

My odyssey began a week before we were slate to close on our new home.  I decided that I would just go to the Xfinity website and order up services.  The order process won't go through properly.  I get on the built in web chat and try to order up service.  No go.  I get on the phone to India and it is a no go as well.  After the third customer service agent, they finally figure out that the issue is related to an identity theft incident that happened to me a few years back.  I'm told that I need to go to a Comcast storefront location to identify myself in person before they will build an account.  So, I can get a huge mortgage and buy a car without even showing my drivers license, yet Comcast is on the verge of getting DNA to open account for a few hundred a month.  I digress.

I happened to be in the area, so I went to the Comcast store in Concord, California thinking it would be a quick stop to identify myself and set up an account.  Wrong.  The closest thing I can think of is an Emergency Room, but without the blood.  45 minutes later a nice customer service agent gets me set up with an account, with a nice shiny folder with my package and an appointment to set up service on the day we get the keys to the house.  Everyone there was really nice with the exception of an older lady at the front desk that kept raising her voice at folks that didn't have English as their first language.  

The day that we got the keys to our house, I was so excited to have everything electronic in place before we even moved in the furniture.  I had an extra $200 in cash in my pocket, ready to bribe the technician to pull some CAT5 along with the RG6 coax that they needed for the cable service.  I had already bought voice capable cable modem that was on the Xfinity approved list so I could bypass the $7/month cablemodem rental.  Things couldn't have gone further from what I expected.  The technician showed up two hours late and tried his hardest to get things running.  He was finally able to get phone service and Internet service up and running, but at the lowest most marginal level.  It turns out that he wasn't there to install TV service at all, since the house didn't have any internal wiring.  Comcast doesn't do internal wiring anymore, so their plan was to tack up RG6 on the exterior of our house.  They mentioned that we could hire a third party contractor to wire it up internally, but they couldn't recommend anyone.  I'm fairly annoyed at this point, but my phone works and the Internet is working, so it isn't awful yet.  Then the news turns awful.  The cable between my house and the street, which is underground, is bad.  They have to open up a work order to have it replaced.  7-10 days I am told.

In the meantime I wiggle around under the house and run cabling to the places that it needs to go.  Now that I've got the internal wiring, I make another trip to the Comcast store in Concord and pick up a HD DVR unit and a HD receiver to just have TV in the house until our "Whole House DVR" appointment in a few weeks.  I try activating both boxes using the Xfinity phone number.  The HD Receiver gets signal, but the quality is awful (the street cabling hasn't been fixed yet).  The HD DVR gets only audio after spending an hour on the phone with Xfinity.  After switching all the cables, it turns out that the DVR is bad.  I switch it out at the Livermore Comcast store, which I have a much better experience at.  I'm able to get the DVR activated.  A few hours later our phone and Internet stop working.

At this point I have a heated exchange with some Comcast phone support people.  It turns out that the Internet and phone were turned off since the ticket wasn't closed yet and the installation wasn't officially closed/done yet.  I get another team out the next day to close the ticket and finish the installation, but they tell me that they can't do anything yet since the street cabling hasn't been replaced yet.  They are able to do some magical stuff and get the Internet back on and the phone up and running.  They tell me that I won't be able to connect up the TV service because the signal level is too low after it is split.  

On the tenth day, a team comes out while I'm at work and blows out the cable to the street and puts a new one in.  I am very impressed they could do this without any cement work, as there is no conduit under the cement near our driveway.  I connect up the splitter and *BAM* everything works.  A few days later a technician comes and installs the Whole House DVR solution.  

At this point I am happy to have everything up and running.  The internet is super fast and the home telephone audio quality is great.  I'll give Comcast that, once you get the service up and running it is very solid.  The amount of time I have spent on this one project is pretty annoying.  I still have issues that need to be resolved, but I'll leave that for a follow up post.

To be continued...

Note: While initially annoyed, I was told by a Comcast employee that they do not do internal wiring anymore due to insurance issues.  They told me that an employee fell through the ceiling of a customer while doing wiring and was seriously injured.  If this is actually the case, I can understand why their insurance would no longer allow this.  

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/02/the_only_game_in_town.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/02/the_only_game_in_town.html things that are dumb Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:04:38 -0800 All quiet on the BLOG front If you have been following my BLOG over the last few years, you haven't seen much posted lately.  I have been fairly busy over the past year and have neglected this blog in favor of Facebook for folks I know in person and Twitter for people I follow and have met over the Internet. 

In December 2012 we moved from Pleasanton, California to the next town over called Livermore.  We really needed more space for our expanding family, and Livermore was the best fit for us.  I'm going to miss being within walking distance of downtown Pleasanton, but alas a bigger house is a bit more pragmatic.  After accumulating a decade of stuff, I don't think I can move again until my boys are in college.  It is just too much work.

I have some interesting things to share with the world in regards to interactions I've had with various businesses over the last three months (both good and bad), specifically in regard to Comcast/Xfinity.  

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/01/all_quiet_on_the_blog_front.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2013/01/all_quiet_on_the_blog_front.html things that are dumb Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:46:14 -0800 Updates Now that I spend more time sharing with friends on social networks, I really have neglected the upkeep of this blog.  But just for fun, here is what has been happening with the kids.

Grant with Cars toy 

 

Summary of current events:

  • Miles is done with potty training!  Yay!
  • Grant is walking!  Yay!
  • I became an uncle for the first time a little over six weeks ago!  Yay!
  • We traded in the SUV and got a Mini-Van.  Not-Yay!

 

 

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/05/updates.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/05/updates.html baby Wed, 30 May 2012 07:00:17 -0800 Disneyland I know I haven't been blogging as much now that I'm using twitter a bit more. Last week I actually took a seven day diet from social media while we were on a family vacation to Disneyland.

Monorail Driver 

I have my short term fill of the Tiki-Room and It's a Small World is still playing on my mental playlist.  One of the coolest things that we were able to partake in during this last trip was to ride up front with the driver on the Mark VII Monorail.  I've wanted to do this for decades, but it never worked out until this trip.  Yes, that is a really nerdy thing to be excited about.

While I'm not a big wig like Guy Kawasaki, I did get a chance to see the outside of Club 33 at Disneyland...  the secret club that is members only and serves booze in Disneyland.

The other things that I figured out on this trip.

  • My oldest son loves the Monorail as much as I do.
  • My youngest son is deathly afraid of non-human characters.
  • The Disneyland childcare center has the best little tiny toilets for those of you trying to potty train a child.
  • While I love churros, there are times when I do not desire to eat them.  I never thought I would write that.
  • The fireworks look so much better when viewed from the carousel in Fantasyland.

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/04/disneyland.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/04/disneyland.html travel Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:47:12 -0800 SOHO Solution For several years I was able to use a Netscreen-10 that I bought off Craigslist for the fairly simple network infrastructure at my house.  I need to be able to deal with a few static IP addresses and a few custom rules for VPN traffic.  Up until about four months ago the pre-Juniper Netscreen-10 unit chugged along like a star.  I actually computed out the MTBF for it, and it went three years beyond what it was designed for. It kept crashing twice a day when my wife's VPN traffic was really heavy, so it had to be replaced.

So, my issue was what to replace it with.  Should I go with Cisco, Linksys/Cisco, Netgear or some other flavor of the week at Fry's.   What I end up with is not what I expected.  I ended up loading Smoothwall on a mini-itx based PC using a IDE to CF converter.  So I ended up with something that didn't cost me a penny (I already had the hardware lying around) and outperformed my previous installation. 

Smoothwall fit the bill and was free.  I'm sure that IPcop or m0n0wall would work just as well on the exact same hardware.   Smothwall is pretty cool in that it provides a snort engine for intrusion detection, which is really helpful in fending off cyber attacks.

 

Links:

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/02/soho_solution.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/02/soho_solution.html network security Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:31:58 -0800 Happy Birthday Hazel

Today is a very special day for my furry little girl.  Nine years ago today, a furry little Australian Cattle Dog puppy was born.  We adopted her four months later and has been a member of the family ever since.  Her birthday is special you see, as Hazel is the only pet that we know their history from birth, down to the day.  She has been incredibly patient as new member of our family have come on board, human and animal alike.  We are so lucky to have her in our lives.

 

 

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/02/happy_birthday_hazel_1.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/02/happy_birthday_hazel_1.html The Zoo Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0800 BART to the future... It looks as if BART has made a leap forward in their quest to update the train cars in the system.  The original car design has been running with minor changes and refurbishments since 1972, so this will be a welcome upgrade.

 

(Photo Courtesy of BART)

So if all goes as planned, we might be riding these in September 2016.  BART is still taking community input in regards to the internal seat configurations and the color palette to be used, so if you actually care, let them know.

Links:

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/01/bart_to_the_future.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2012/01/bart_to_the_future.html public transit Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:59:07 -0800 Wishes for the New Year I would like to extend warm wishes to all that read this message.  Whether you come to my blog via a search engine or if you are connected to me via Facebook, Google+, LinkedIN, or Twitter, I appreciate all of you.  Whether you are one of my friends or co-workers that I see in person often, a Facebook friend that I haven't seen in person in 20 years, or a Twitter follower that I've yet to meet in person, you have all added value to my daily life.

May the year 2012 be an amazing one for all of you!

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/12/wishes_for_the_new_year.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/12/wishes_for_the_new_year.html wacky things Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:00:00 -0800 QR Code Malware You might have seen QR Codes affixed to advertisements in magazines or in public spaces.

They look a little something like this:

 Spectrox URL QR code

For the last several years they have been used to quickly transfer URL information, phone numbers and other types of information to people that use smartphones or PDA devices with cameras.  It turns out now that with the success of this format, people have figured ways to subvert the system to send people to malware sites and other unsavory locations.  Dark Reading as a great article on how the system works and what it being done to use it for evil purposes.

 

Links:

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/12/qr_code_malware.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/12/qr_code_malware.html network security Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:45:22 -0800 How to ruin a good thing in three steps Step 1: Create an innovative product that fills a niche market.

meebo 

Step 2: Grow it over half a decade.  Make your product fast and fault tolerant.

Step 3: Relaunch it as something else that doesn't resemble the original innovative product.  Have the graphics re-branded for Web 3.0 or whatever iteration we are in now.  Wait for VC money to run out.

 

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/12/how_to_ruin_a_good_thing_in_th.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/12/how_to_ruin_a_good_thing_in_th.html new technology Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:00:00 -0800 Windows phone home When you connect your Windows 7 or Windows Vista computer to a wireless hot spot or plug in your Ethernet cable, have you ever wondered how Windows knows whether or not you have a good Internet connection?  It is a pretty easy thing to take for granted, unless you start looking at your firewall logs.  The Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) service that Microsoft uses a http connection to www.msftncsi.com and transfers a text file called nsci.txt.  An in-depth breakdown of the packets using Wireshark is available at the SuperUser Blog.  The blog also contains instructions on how to edit the registry to stop your system from phoning home.

 

Link:

 

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/11/windows_phone_home.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/11/windows_phone_home.html network security Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:23:16 -0800 Off the grid Sometimes you need to get off the grid and have a bit of privacy.  With the proliferation of phones that don't have removable batteries, it becomes fairly difficult.  Many other technologies such as RFID are embedded in identification documents and credit cards.  It is easy to wrap up these items in aluminum foil or in RF blocking Mylar bags, but you risk being unfashionable or as being branded a paranoid lunatic.  To control when and where your wireless devices can talk, a company called MIAmobi has created a fairly ordinary looking pouch that has a silver foil lining that blocks RF.  The company's website does not state specifics on the RF attenuation or what the frequency range that it blocks.  A similar, less expensive, less fashionable bag can be had from Ramsey (yeah, the guys who make the FM transmitter kits), which is designed for cell phone forensic testing.

 

 

Links:

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/10/off_the_grid.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/10/off_the_grid.html network security Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:30:11 -0800 10 Years Ten years ago seems like a lifetime ago. I still can't really speak in a cohesive way about my thoughts and emotions.  Almost on a daily basis, I drive past a street named for Tom Burnett.  There are thousands of other victims of 9/11, and they are equally deserving of our prayers, but Tom's story of bravery and selflessness speaks to me.  While driving through that intersection, I always think of his family's loss, but also how his and others bravery on Flight 93 saved the lives of countless thousands.  I can only hope that I honor these people in my daily work and how I live my life.

 

]]> http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/09/10_years.html http://spectrox.com/blog/2011/09/10_years.html way too serious Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:01:03 -0800