Tech Flashback: What if Keanu Reeves in "Speed" (1994) had a Smartphone? Part 2

Category: Techtoday

 

Ever heard of Google Maps?  Or at least Bing Maps?

 

 

7.  Wouldn't an iPad be handy just about now?

 

 

8.  Keanu probably thought his police-issue wireless headset was pretty cool then, but look at the size of that earpiece!  Too bad there wasn't any bluetooth then . . . or Dr. Dre Beats.

 

 

9.  Wow, huge phone.  How many apps does it have Mr. Bomber (or memory for that matter)?

 

 

10.  The movie would have been severely dull if Facebook or Twitter were around mostly because the whole city would've probably known in advance that an exploding bus was cutting through traffic.  "Wow, just saw a careening bus on the highway with a wounded driver and a skin-headed Neo."  "Just got hit by a bus going past 50 – I'm alive!" The highways would have been empty, much less the end of the subway where the final climax occurred.

 

11.  Keanu couldn't get the police handcuffs off Sandra Bullock in the last act of the film. One of the most useful thing about the Internet is finding solutions for everything. With a smartphone, he could've pulled up Lifehacker, downloaded a How-To or Survival Guide ebook, or even a friggin episode of MacGyver on YouTube to get her out of there!

 

 

12.  Finally, there's probably an app out there today that will keep a bus from going slower than 50 kph.

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Grsync for Windows - the Linux version works better

Category: Techtoday

Creating a port for an application is a difficult task.  Successful cross-platform applications, such as Mozilla Thunderbird, uTorrent, and Google Chrome, benefit from a long and well-supported development period.  Grsync, a GUI for the excellent rsync, is a useful and capable backup and sync application in Linux.  Having used the application in openSUSE, Mandriva, and Ubuntu over the years, I have come to depend on it for backing up to my Toshiba Mobile HDD and my Buffalo Desktop HDD.  I was happy to find that Grsync was available for Windows in Soureforge and tested out the application for two weeks.

Grsync in Windows did not work as well as its Linux counterpart.  Like other cross-platform utilities from Linux's vast application library (e.g. Handbrake), Grsync implementation in Windows had the same interface as found in Linux.  Unfortunately, the success rate of backups in my tests wasn't nearly as impressive.




Launching Grysnc in Windows 7 triggers a blank DOS terminal in the background.  On several runs, a simple backup task between a Windows 7 Downloads folder and an external hard drive stalled midway through leaving blank folders in the target destination.    The sync would typically falter at 60% or so after a very fast start (as expected from a rsync transfer).  Users would be left wondering as the file transfer halts at a particular document or image.  Closing the application doesn't trigger errors when Grysnc for Windows crashes, but with data integrity at risk, I would advise using Windows-based synchronization applications over Grsync for Windows.  To be fair, Sourceforge.net lists Grsync for Windows as a beta release and plenty of other users were happy with the utility.  As for now though, I can't really recommend using Grsync for Windows in a production environment.

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Tips for a Technical Writer Part 2

Categories: Techwriter

 

9. Have a backup plan in case  you can't open a file format, especially if it's a legacy one.  Did I mention Linux has a plethora of open source applications supporting almost every file format out there?

 

10. Unless you're a freelance writer, remember that your work will pass through several hands – project managers, dozens of translators, editors, assistant editors, engineers, proofreaders, designers, the printing staff, the sales guy, etc.  Include everything they're going to need like images, sources, layout files, proofs and of course, the final output.  Keep several copies backed up of all revisions and originals. Changes come and go and having a library of resources, unused or otherwise, can go a long way. 

 

11. Have your own backup plan.  Whether or not your company backs up regularly, you should have your own method of keeping your source files and designs safe.  Back up all your work across all the systems you're using especially if you're using both a Mac and a Windows machine. Time Machine is a no-brainer and Linux's rsync works across networked PCs (Use grsync if you prefer a GUI).

 

  

 

12. In the beginning, follow whatever the veteran writer, the engineers, or your editor says even if you think you're much better than they are technically, grammatically, and artistically.  You can make a lot of enemies really quickly in a publishing environment.

 

13. Even if you have a strong technical background with years of experience in hardware, Windows, Linux, or Mac, trust the engineers, RD staff, researchers, programmers, and technologists you're talking to.  Don't bother to share your "veteran opinion."  These guys know what they're talking about. Likewise if they hired you for your multilingual skills.  Sure, you can speak as many languages as Indiana Jones but are you sure you want to give your suggestions as to how memory dumps, UEFI, and AMD chips should work?

 

14. Editors can be thugs.  They will always find something wrong with a document.  Speaking geek, suggesting advice from Wired or Ars Technica, talking MCSE, Unix, Oracle, Novell, CISCO, or command line will elicit little to no response from them . . . and they will more likely spit at all your certifications, especially your Adobe ones. 

 

15. Realistically speaking, you can get by without learning XML, especially if your technical background and Adobe certifications are solid. However, it is highly recommended. Live, breathe, and eat XML. And XHTML, Javascript, and Java would help, too.

 

 

16. Even if you used the right color profiles, followed the templates, packaged all the fonts, backed up properly, followed the engineers to the letter, and proofread till your eyes bled, everyone's still going to blame you.  After all,  YOU'RE THE NEW GUY.

 

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Is the Ubuntu Site down on the release of 12.04 Precise Pangolin?

Category: Linux

 

When Linux resources are down, such as when Mandriva's repositories and openSUSE's mirrors weren't working properly, it could mean that there's a deluge of Linux users scrambling to download a new release or application.

 

Distrowatch and Wikipedia.org marks today as the official release of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.  Although I'm not quite ready to move on to the next Ubuntu release, I attempted to access the site and was greeted with the following message:

 

The requested URL could not be retrieved

 

The last Long-Term Support Ubuntu release, 10.04 or more popularly known as Lucid Lynx, was an excellent distribution.  Lucid Lynx had its share of interface issues in the beginning but eventually became the Windows XP of Canonical in popularity and adoption.  Reviews and comments regarding this hotly anticipated LTS release are now floating around the Internet.  Ubuntu fans everywhere are probably hoping Precise Pangolin will live up to the achievements of Lucid Lynx, especially since Ubuntu allegedly lost its crown to user-friendly Linux Mint.

 

I hope Canonical gets their site up and running (or at least have someone release a torrent in the wild).  People might start downloading Windows 8 Consumer Preview instead.

 

 

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Review: SMPlayer for Linux - Video Player Feature Highlights

Category: Linux

SMPlayer, one of the best video and music players on Linux, works because it focuses on playing videos/music and adding useful tools for the cinephile.  Unlike the popular and powerful VLC player, SMPlayer isn't overloaded with advanced (and occasionally complicated) features like transcoding, video streaming, and video capture.  Some of the highlights of the MPlayer-based SMPlayer include the following:

1. Accessible and Real-time Playlist - VLC allows users to move the  playlist around and dock it which way they want, though not everyone finds this convenient or practical.  Moreover, it's not the best for small screens.  SMPlayer uses a simple collapse and expand playlist window at the bottom.  As a bonus, file types that are associated with SMPlayer are automatically added when clicked from a file manager - no separate SMPlayer instance is launched nor does SMPlayer stop playing a running video or song.  This is especially useful when browsing through music or video libraries.

2. Screenshots and multiple screenshots - For movie buffs (or perverts), taking continuous screenshots of a running video takes just a quick Shift+D to start and end continues screen captures.  Press S at any time for single frame captures.




3. Subtitles support - Some video players have excellent subtitle support, but SMPlayer makes it easy to change subtitle settings while watching a video.  The subtitles menu provides numerous options for delaying, loading, positioning, and even downloading subtitles from opensubtitles.org.



4. Video Preview snapshot reel - Movie reviewers and bloggers would love this feature.  Using Preview, SMPlayer creates a succession of screen captures that provides a summary of the movie (similar to ones displayed in online video stores, porn sites, and torrent sites).  Click Video on the menu bar and then Preview to setup the video preview snapshot reel.






5. Continues unfinished videos/movies - This simple but underrated feature is useful for the busy Linux user.  Just open the video and SMPlayer begins where you left off.

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Congratulations Linus Torvalds!

Category: Techtoday

 

What a year for Linux!  Not only did openSUSE and Linux celebrate their anniversaries, Linux-creator Linus Torvalds is being honored by the Technology Academy of Finland for his underrated contribution to open source and computing.  Web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee won the Millenium Technology Prize in 2004 and Torvalds is one of two recipients this coming June 13 in Helsinki, Finland.   He joins Shinya Yamanaka, a scientist specializing in stem cell research, for the honor.

 

An interview with Linus Torvalds can be read over at TechCrunch and a short article about the Millenium Award on a number of sites.

 

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QuickFix: Line Breaks and Paragraph Breaks in InDesign

Category: Techwriter

 

Line Breaks (Shift+Return) and paragraph breaks (Return/Enter) are both types of carriage returns.  They are, however, handled differently in varying environments and each serves a different purpose.  Web designers, for instance, discourage the use of Shift+Enter when writing and laying out text and web objects.  It generally makes for awkward and inconsistent code.  In Microsoft Word, some users may find them indistinguishable unless the hidden markup characters are displayed. 

 

Microsoft Word Line break and Paragraph break markups

 

 

Adobe InDesign's powerful typesetting tools and features are more than enough to prevent users from using a Line Break,a method typically used to avoid large gaps between lines.  In the illustration below, the first line is cut off using a forced line break in an Adobe InDesign CS4 document.

 

InDesign marks the break on the first line  while the pilcrow (paragraph symbol) is shown on the next line 

 

 

Some users use the line break because a carriage return places too much space between lines

 

 

Veteran InDesign users would avoid using the line break altogether, using kerning, hyphenation, space before, and space after tools in the Paragraph palette.  Discarding the use of the line break in InDesign ensures that the next writer or editor would not need to re-adjust the original layout.  Moreover, it provides more control over the overall look of the document.     

 

The writer replaces the line break with an appropriate carriage return and adjusts the space after to achieve a better layout

 

 

 

This is one of the many reasons why having Hidden Characters visible is so important for designers, writers, and proofreaders when they are working.

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Torrents in China Part 2

Category: Techtoday

 

Understanding Xunlei

 

There are many secrets to downloading media in many countries, even in "restricted" places like Chuugoku.  Xunlei is one of the most popular websites/software providers in the Middle Kingdom.  Xunlei Thunder 7.x is an all-in-one manager for P2P sharing, torrents, and accelerated file downloading.   The interface is in Chinese, but even those without the ability to read Chinese can navigate the interface especially if you've tried similar applications such as BitComet, uTorrent, Napster, and older download managers.  Interested users in China can visit an English tutorial over at keemanxp.com.  The same site provides a great English language pack that can be added to the languages folder of the application. 

 

Why Xunlei and Thunder? 

1. They're fairly popular and boasts a ton of users in the Orient.  Moreover, the application is customized to somehow get past China's downloading limits. Mainland China, Macao, and Hong Kong users can easily take advantage of this application.  The speed of the downloads are very, very impressive considering the supposed "limitations" of the broadband network in the Middle Kingdom.
2. Xunlei's free file-sharing apps can be installed on Windows phones, iPhones, and Android platforms. However, read my disclaimer below first before attempting such a task. 
3. Besides speed, the amount of media available is amazingly diverse from the application and on the Xunlei site.  An old movie of Dolph Lundgren was featured on the home page when I visited the site.  I was especially happy to see K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop music videos at high quality streaming on the site.  For the "curious," there are plenty of Category II and Category III movies plus old Run Run Shaw movies.  The aforementioned speed allows users to watch the movie stream from start to finish - just like other popular video sites in the U.S. 

 

 

My download needs are normally pretty pedestrian (e.g. Unix and Linux distributions and applications).  Moreover, I was wary of any application of immense popularity.  Limewire, Gnutella, and old popular downloading platforms were rendered unusable due to that very reason.  However,  I wanted to give Xunlei Thunder a try due to the availability of media on their network. 

 

Using Xunlei Thunder: Disclaimers and warnings

1. The Xunlei system of file-sharing involves tons of plug-ins and pop-ups once you install the Thunder application.  As keemanxp.com notes, uncheck all the added software during installation.  However, to browse through the videos at Xunlei, you have to install Adobe Flash and a minimum of three other proprietary plugins. I was constantly assaulted with prompts to install plugins even after I installed the minimum requirements to watch and download videos.  I had foreseen this eventuality so I happily played around with Xunlei and the applications on a Windows 7 virtual machine on VirtualBox installed on a Linux box.  The precaution was a bit too much as I later found out the pop-ups were annoying, but generally harmless.  Plus, Xunlei uninstalled cleanly enough. 
   
   
   
   
2. There is nothing mysterious about the interface and the English pack helps, especially when you're using the toolbar.  As for every P2P, torrent, and file-sharing application, users should configure startup options, downloading location, number of downloads, and speed limit.  Of course, the default settings are fine as it is. 
   
   
   
   
3. Xunlei Thunder can download just about everything though users might scratch their heads if they drag a URL address to Thunder, expect the embedded video to download, and instead end up with an HTML page instead.  Xunlei Thunder really doesn't offer any advantage over other English downloading software other than excellent access to Asian content. As I mentioned on a previous article, I'm happy with the broadband speed in Shanghai so any speed gains Thunder provides isn't worth the numerous plugins and occasional pop-ups. If you're happy with your torrent application and can find the media you want in sites such as Btscene.eu and Fenopy.eu (which are not blocked in Chuugoku), then you won't need Xunlei Thunder (or even Xunlei).
4. Firefox and Chrome plugins can provide what you need – even when pulling videos from the Xunlei site.  As a fan of Asian movies and an admirer of Asian pop, I was thoroughly impressed with Xunlei's access to obscure Cantonese movies and very old HK cinema (plus the usual popular Korean and kung fu movies).  I was especially interested in downloading K-pop and J-pop music videos that are typically not available on YouTube (which is blocked in China) and via torrents.  Somewhat confused with how to download an HD video using Xunlei Thunder from the Xunlei site, I installed the classic Firefox plug-in Flvdownloader, wondering if it would be able to detect the embedded videos and export it to FLV.  It worked flawlessly on music videos though I'm currently testing them on full movies.  Take note, however, some of the high-quality videos would still require downloading some of the Xunlei plugins.

 

 

Xunlei = Asia

 

The Xunlei site is great for accessing streaming video and rare Asian movies and clips, especially if you're interested in foxy Chinese popstars, adult movies, and Girls Generation.  The commercials are not nearly as bad as commercials on U.S. websites and are actually funny.  I'll definitely be visiting the Xunlei site for my Asian fix (thanks to Firefox plugins), but definitely uninstalling Xunlei Thunder.  The experience surprised me - with the availability of several technologies for file sharing, I never thought I would go back to just plain direct downloads.

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Not-surprising: Taiwan-Chinese hardware companies test using Linux

It's not earth-shattering news and most Linux veterans would probably exclaim "D-uh," but I was genuinely excited when I found out a very prominent Taiwan-Chinese hardware device manufacturer runs routine quality control tests using RHEL 6.2, Ubuntu Oneiric Ocelot, openSUSE 12.1, and Fedora Verne - all very new releases from each Linux team.  Surprisingly, although the company tests hardware using both RHEL and bleeding-edge Fedora, they only run openSUSE 12.1 and not its commercial version, SUSE Linux Enterprise. It's a curious approach considering that SUSE proudly claims they're the most widely used commercial version of Linux used in China.



There must be some genuine Linux believers over there to run Linux distributions as testing environments (let alone four major versions).  Now, the big question is . . . What do they think of Unity and Gnome 3?

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Trying out Windows 8 Consumer Preview (from a Linux LiveCD perspective)

Categories: Techtoday

 

I was thrilled when Microsoft released Windows 8 for consumer testing a few years back and like thousands of other users, ran the new OS through its paces.  Although the Windows 8 Consumer Preview has been out for a long, long time now, it took me awhile to give it a try on my Lenovo IdeaPad Z360. 

 

The experience is very slick and the setup file checks your hardware, providing a list of compatible software and hardware after a few minutes.  Downloading the upgrade to Windows 8 was less stressful than downloading the full version of Windows 7.  The only caveat to the whole process is that once you install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, there's really no turning back.  Users would have to do a clean install if they want to return to Windows 7.  To their credit, Microsoft kindly reminds testers regarding this particular detail on the download page and during the process itself - only those who avoid reading such notes would blindly install Windows 8.  What I did find surprising is that there isn't a CANCEL button on the setup window.  Users will have to click the X button to stop the process.  Linux users, on the other hand, have that option any time throughout installation.  On the plus side, providing a Product Key before installation makes it all official.

 

 

 

Like many Linux users, I got addicted to trying out the various Linux distributions floating around the web (an activity fondly called "distro-hopping") and enjoy figuring out compatibility issues and feature differences.  I approached Windows 8 with the same excitement and found the experience just as satisfactory as running a LiveCD.  For all the criticisms leveraged against Microsoft and their products, I think they have come a long way from Windows ME, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

 

 

 

There are a few points I hope would be considered in the next consumer preview for the venerable OS:

 

1. A Windows LiveCD/LiveDVD - Linux users would be up in arms at the very thought, but a 700MB or 4.4 LiveDVD would be more friendly than an upgrade that forces testers to reimage their machines if they want to revert back to their original OS.  Obviously, Microsoft would be facing a challenge putting a full Windows OS into a DVD/CD that is bootable and can run from memory.  However, if openSUSE and Mint devs can do it, then I'm sure Microsoft's engineers can figure it out.  Moreover, a bootable ISO is easier to run via VirtualBox and other virtualization software.

 

2. Official Windows Torrent - Microsoft should embrace lawful file-sharing.   Torrents are one of the more efficient ways of file-sharing and would help spread an official Windows  Consumer Preview even faster than posting it on their site or advertising on tech sites.  Plus, it would help give Microsoft a more open reputation as a software provider.  The small setup file from the Windows 8 site (5,112 kb) wasn't a problem but downloading the upgrade could be difficult for users on a slow network or broadband service.

 

3.  Official Virtual machines for Intel and ARM platforms - I like the idea of Windows appearing on ARM devices and a prepared virtual machines will give users a chance to experience Windows differently. 

 

 

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Mandriva: A Call to Arms

Category: Mandriva

 

News regarding the fate of Mandriva has not been coming hard and fast despite the failing fortunes of this once popular Linux distribution.  However, a recent corporate blog post by current Mandriva COO Jean-Manuel Croset reveals the uncertain future of Mandriva Linux.  The COO humbly requested for a response from the Mandriva community, citing the the community@mandriva.com address as a contact point. The comments to the post swung from harsh and hardly constructive to sincere support and wistful regret.  A lot of the comments came from jaded Linux users disappointed with recent releases of Mandriva. 

 

 

 

What was striking for me was how the negative comments revealed just how fractured and how fragmented Linux users are.  There was hardly any indication that all of the readers were part of the same Linux community.  On the contrary, the comments seem to come from the Mageia Community, Fedora Community, and x-Community.  It sucks that there were a few who attacked the COO and Mandriva's missteps.  However, it was also heartening to see the amount of nostalgia and respect shown by a few regarding Mandriva OS. 

 

Mr. Croset cited three main points to focus on when responding to his post and I'll be focusing on those three.  My personal response to Mr. Jean-Manual Croset are as follows:

 

1. Who is in the community and want to (re)invest his time in the future and especially the distribution?

 

I'm a Linux desktop user and wrote a few tutorials on Mandriva releases on my blog and at the Mandriva wiki site.     

 

2. What interests you in the Mandriva Linux distribution, from a technical and human point of view?

 

Although there are now plenty of Linux distributions available today with excellent features and strong development, there is something to be said about Mandriva's pedigree and overall reputation.  Mandriva has an established history and name.  Non-Linux users aren't familiar with the name "openSUSE" but may light up at the mention of Mandriva.  Aside from the intangible benefits offered by Mandriva, Mandriva is still one of the more sturdy distributions representing the best of Linux's hardware compatibility, usability, and flexibility.  Mandriva is friendly without sacrificing functionality.  The Mandriva Linux Control Center is still one of the more friendly interfaces for using and configuring a Linux distribution.  openSUSE's Yast can be intimidating while Fedora users are expected to know which packages to install to have complete control over their system.  Ubuntu did away with any functional center altogether as to not discourage users.   

 

Mandriva is a great distribution for casual use and entertainment.  It's also a great release for hobbyists and users who want to give Linux a try.  Customized and configured correctly, it can be used to power a home network for daily use.     

3. How would you like to get involved in the development of the distribution, in which form?

 

I can contribute as a hardware tester and technical writer for documentations.

 

 

 

With plenty of Linux distributions out there, does Mandriva Linux have a place in the pantheon of Linux?  Definitely.  Is it still a product that would serve as a commercial product?  In this financial climate and rampant software piracy, probably not.  I would understand if Mandriva would step back and let the distribution go.  There really is no shame or love lost.  As evidenced by the reaction from the Linux community, there are plenty of people of out there who will always remember and respect the glory days of Mandriva Linux.     

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Linux on Film: Chuck Season 4 - "Chuck vs. Agent X"

Category: Linux

 

Although "Chuck" has plenty of episodes displaying Windows products and prominently features the iPhone on many episodes (and a sad reference to the Microsoft Zune), there was only one episode which clearly referenced Linux.  However, a brief but obvious Root terminal is displayed in the Season 4 episode, "Chuck vs. Agent X."  The commands are fictional but Unix-like with technical-sounding terms like "lock," "parse," and "initialize."  It's not surprising that many flicks and shows use Linux or Unix to provide the illusion of a very technical person, event, or situation.  What is surprising is that "Chuck" didn't feature it as often as it should have. 

 

 

 

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Happy birthday SUSE!

SUSE celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and although its parent company Novell (now owned by  Attachmate) has experienced its share of ups and down commercially and with the open source community, SUSE's success is still a bright light for Linux users everywhere.   OpenSUSE, the free Linux distribution that is the base for SUSE Linux Enterprise, also continues to be a popular distribution for Linux users and is currently at version 12.1. 

 

I've had a long affinity for openSUSE, preferring the lizard distro over Ubuntu and Mint.  Despite a few poorly received and somewhat buggy releases between 10 and 11 versions, I continued to use openSUSE on my machines over the last few years and currently run 12.1 on my Asus EeePC 1000H.  It remains one of my favorite distributions today and find it more dependable and usable than the current releases of Ubuntu and Mandriva.  

 

 

 

For a quick look at SUSE and a great infographic on its success, read "SUSE Linux: 20 Years and Going Strong" over at PCWorld.com.  To celebrate with other lizard users, head over to openSUSE.org and try out openSUSE 12.1 or head off to SUSE's official download page for free downloads of SUSE Linux Enterprise and other awesome products.

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Tech Flashback: What if Keanu Reeves in "Speed" (1994) had a Smartphone? Part 1

Category: Techtoday

 

The ex-Spider-Man comic book artist and Image creator Todd McFarlane eviscerated the movie "Speed" in an editorial in "Spawn" almost two decades ago as a ludicrous and insensible movie.   Sure, the huge fail with the flying bus over the unfinished highway was a pathetic display of movie physics but all in all I actually liked "Speed" when it came out in 1994.  Keanu Reeves, despite improving very little a an actor from his then fairly recent role as Bill in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (1989), made a convincing action hero.  His performance foreshadowed his eventual iconic role as Neo in "The Matrix."  A young Sandra Bullock was also surprisingly cute and tomboyish in one of the few roles where she didn't overact. 

 

While watching the 1994 flick on my Lenovo Z360, I couldn't help but think that Jack Traven (Keanu) and Mr. Bomber Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) could've benefited a lot from today's technology.  Like many movies in the 90's and 80's, a standard $199.00 smartphone could've resolved the plot within an hour or so. 

 

Ok, the vest with all those screwdrivers looks cool but not as useful as a single smartphone.

 

 

Today, everyone is a computer or tech geek and benefits from even basic laptop or smartphone applications.  If Jack and Howard had access to even basic Linux, Android, Windows, or Mac hardware or software, Jack could've prevented the movie from even happening or Mr. Bomber could have escaped with his ransom money.

 

1.  Jack's partner Harry ("Dumb and Dumber" 's Jeff Daniels) or Jack could've searched on Google, posted on LinkedIn, Tech-exchange or bombs-r-us, and could've received a million responses on how to defuse the bomb.  Heck, while Jack was at it, he could've asked how to solve the whole bomb scenario online and he would get replies from a million experts all over the world. He'd probably order a bomb-defusing kit from Amazon, Newegg, or Fry's at a discounted price, too.  FedEx or UPS would've delivered his order to the runaway bus for an extra xx dollars.

 

2.  If Annie or Jack had a jailbroken iPad or iPhone or rooted Android tablet, they could've used their Linux or App skills to stop any sort of detonation from happening.  In the same logic, Dennis Hopper could've controlled several bombs (including one on the roof of the bus) using a jailbroken Nook. GPS, a Wifi-Sniffer, or any app-based wireless deterrent/utility could've helped all throughout the movie.

 

3.  Bing Maps, Google Street or Google Maps could have given all the characters a detailed look at where they were going and certainly would've prevented that dumb police captain from overlooking that unfinished highway (and would've avoided that silly flying bus scene).  The police captain actually pulled out a darn PAPER MAP from his pocket (that turned out to be outdated)!

 

Wow!  A map on a computer!  That's super high-tech on a desktop!

 

 

4. An Android or iPhone would've been handy all throughout the movie.  Keanu had to get the cellphone from the driver of the Jaguar just to call his police captain.  The people in the elevator at the beginning of the movie were extra helpless without a phone.

 

5. The bomber was using televisions and a closed-circuit camera to monitor the bus.  The camera was glaringly stuck in plain sight that even Keanu noticed it. Mini-webcams, flipcams, and portable

webcams could've been a great help to Mr. Bomber.  Plus, a quick addition of any other dozen MP3 devices would've added audio (which Mr. Bomber didn't have access to thereby allowing Keanu to trick him).

 

Well duh.  Way obvious Mr. Bomber.

 

 

6. No one would ever ask a pop quiz if this movie happened today.  After all, anyone can just pull out a phone, access Wikipedia.org and you got your answer.

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BestBuy: Death by Apples, Amazons, and Customers?

Category: Techtoday

 

When a customer needed a particular piece of hardware, cable, or component that didn't come with a product, technical support guys (which I was for a number for years) would recommend purchasing the needed item from either CompUsa, Good Guys, Circuit City, or Best Buy.  Among the four retailers, only Best Buy has survived. 

 

I've only purchased a handful of items from Best Buy over the years.  I can only recall buying an excellent wireless Microsoft Mouse in Best Buy Buffalo, New York.  And I also remember picking up an overpriced Sony Reader PRS-600 bundle that included the leather cover in Best Buy, Manhattan.  Although my purchasing power doesn't allow me to buy electronics regularly, I still like walking around Best Buy anyway, despite the somewhat passive-aggressive young salespeople at their stores.  The variety of products in Best Buy make it more fun than the much-revered Apple Store, with its repetitive black-and-white offerings.

 

 

I wasn't really surprised at the closing of Best Buy stores in China, particularly in Xijahui, a shopping district in Shanghai.  They really couldn't compete with the independent resellers found all over the Metro City and Pacific Digital stores (For all their faults, I actually prefer the salespeople in Best Buy - the Chinese shop owners are deadly scary at selling their wares).  However, it is not without sadness that I read about the numerous death-knells for Best Buy, a store parodied in the geek show "Chuck."

 

The forums are rife with complaints about Best Buy's high-prices, inept techs, unfair warranties, and overly incompetent (and young) salespeople.  I don't disagree with their opinions, but neither do I support these comments.  As a seasonal shopper, I don't really get to experience horror stories about broken products and poor customer service.  Moreover, I prefer buying my hardware piecemeal rather than as a complete product or purchasing from smaller stores.  I do agree with other commentators that it's great to touch, feel, and see products.  I freely admit to scoping out newly released items in stores like Best Buy with no intention of buying them.  As much as I like flea market-style shopping areas where there are 50 or more stores clumped in a single floor or building (think Singapore's Sim Lim Square or Philippines' Greenhills), mega stores like Best Buy and Canada's Future Shop have their attraction, too.  They're generally less crowded and although the prices are higher, there are scheduled sales like Black Friday.

 

 

 

The trend of brand retail stores (Microsoft, Sony, HP, Lenovo, Canon, etc.) is a good idea for people like me who still like the traditional approach to shopping.  Although Best Buy has a long way to go if it wants to become as popular as Amazon.com or Apple Store locations (or even survive this economy), I feel that megastores can co-exist with online stores.  However, in order to succeed, Best Buy obviously have to offer a different shopping experience or follow CompUsa, Good Guys, and Circuit City to obscurity. 

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QuickFix: Frozen Palettes in Adobe InDesign CS2 for Mac

Category: Techwrite

 

If you're still running Adobe InDesign CS2 for Mac and frequently encountering frozen docks and palettes that won't move and option buttons that won't open, the SHIFT+TAB or TAB shortcuts will "dislodge" the palettes from their position and return functionality.  The SHIFT+TAB hides all visible docks except for the Book palette and the Toolbox.  The TAB shortcut, on the other hand, leaves only the pages and artboard visible.  Toggling the Toolbox and palettes will return functionality to the buttons and options if the frozen issue occurs.   

 

 

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Tips for the New Technical Writer Part 1

Category: Techwrite

Have you applied for that technical writer job yet?  Here's a bit of unsolicited advice for getting started and keeping that new technical writer job:

1. Know where all the images, templates, and resources are kept.  Take note of every FTP, remote, or local server the company has (whether you have official access to it or not).  One day, you'll have to search for something in places everyone else doesn't know about.  Moreover, have your own personal list of online resources ready for scenarios when you're just not sure how to get the job done.

2. Know which style guide to use and when to use it.   There are a ton of style guides for every industry: Chicago Manual of Style, Microsoft Manual of Style, Harvard, NASA, or your own company rule book.  National Geographic's style guide has seen dozens of revisions and can be as thick as any Gabriel Garcia Marquez book.  If the editor isn't aware if they have one, ask someone who does. 

3. Know how to edit vector images.  The digital artist guy probably has his ears up in work and it could take forever to get a minor edit of an illustration done.  You don't have to be the Leonardo Da Vinci of Illustrator or CorelDraw or a smug DeviantArt regular.  In most cases, you'll be working with a 2D illustrations anyway, not a full CAD illustration complete with physics equations. Photoshop, the darling of the masses, can do miracles and everyone knows how to use it, but it has its place in bitmap files not vector images.

4. Designers and technical writers are two different things.  You can be one, the other, or both, but their tasks are totally different.  Not all designers find reading specifications and hardware instructions scintillating.   

5. It's a plus to know how to network file shares and work with commercial printers.  Everyone will be too busy to teach you.  Remember, you have to share your files too and using a USB flash drive isn't practical when your contact is across the country.  At the very least, understand how Mac and Windows shares files.  Understanding how commercial printers work, on the other hand, goes a long way when working on printed documents. 

6. Know how to boot to Linux.  Linux can be used to test hardware, access the network, tame a poorly maintained PC, backup files, access a "secure" PC, and countless other tasks.  Have it handy on a LiveUSB.  Having a fully-equipped Linux distribution can solve plenty of file format and application problems.  Moreover, all types of coding, programming, layout and design tasks can be done on a Linux system in case your workstation dies and there's a deadline coming.  Any of the general-purpose Linux distributions (e.g. Ubuntu, openSUSE, Debian, Fedora) can run Gimp, VirtualBox, Kompozer, Scribus, Grsync, etc. Clonezilla is also mighty handy for imaging workstations and backing up your work. 

7. If you can, install VirtualBox and import a Linux appliance you setup yourself (complete with all the applications you need).  Having VirtualBox around helps with running beta-CDs and DVDs saved as ISOs, running sandboxes, and testing environments.  If you're running a Windows system, having VirtualBox or any other of the popular virtualization software also helps with legacy software and file formats (e.g. Adobe PageMaker and older QuarkXPress releases).  Linux users, of course, can use Xen, VirtualBox, or Qemu.

8. Always think about the translators who will eventually work on your document because they'll be thinking (i.e. cursing) you.

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Heading to China? Install Skype or Google Talk before Flying out

If you're planning to visit the Middle Kingdom but plan to chat or make phone calls using Skype or Google Talk, install the software before taking your trip.  Attempting to access the Skype website might be a daunting experience for some users as it defaults to a Chinese site that is hardly ideal for international users. 

 

 

 

Obviously, there are other alternatives to downloading the application through other sites (e.g. Download.com) and even through iTunes.  However, installing the Google Talk plugin and software is a more daunting challenge as Google servers are somewhat at odds with the Great Firewall of Morokoshi.  Users will be able to access the Google Talk page but fail to download the setup file.   Even Linux users with Google repositories added will have problems installing their software, much less download the .deb or .rpm file from the site.  So, download and install before you head to the airport.

 

 

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QuickFix: Windows Live Mail crashes when Inserting an Image

Categories: Techtoday

 

Windows Live Mail 2011 is one of the better Windows Live products and is a great alternative to Thunderbird.  Users, however, may experience an issue with inserting images into an e-mail message.  After switching to the Insert tab and clicking Single photo, Live Mail will stop working for a few seconds.  An error message will appear informing the user that the application will shutdown and relaunch.

 

 

 

The issue is intermittent.  However, a workaround is fairly simple.  Using Windows Explorer, click and drag images to the e-mail body.  The image will be inserted as expected without causing Live Mail to crash.

 

 

 

 

 

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Editing EPUB using Sigil and Calibre in Linux Part 1

Category: Linux

Programmers and hard coders may scoff at WYSIWIG applications like Kompozer, Dreamweaver, and even Lyx (LaTeX).  However, there are plenty of users out there that benefit from exceptional applications like Sigil - a popular editor that makes EPUB creation and modification simple and efficient.  With Apple supporting EPUB and the exploding adoption of tablets, there is little doubt EPUB will be more popular than ever.

Sigil makes EPUB creation simple with a word processing interface and familiar controls that handle TOC creation, metatag editing, EPUB validation, formatting, and stylesheet editing.  Moreover, Sigil makes use of Split and Code Views for easy editing of text and markup.  The developers crafted an excellent online tutorial to assist first-time users.  

Like Calibre, Sigil works in Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux.  The installation guide is flawless and details instructions for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux.  The steps below runs through installing Sigil in openSUSE 12.1 and Ubuntu.

Install Sigil in openSUSE 12.1 or Ubuntu

1. After downloading Sigil, launch Konsole or Gnome Terminal and navigate to the folder where the Sigil .bin file is located.

2. Convert the .bin file to an executable by typing chmod +x Sigil-0.5.3-Linux-x86-Setup.bin

*Users who don't want to use the chmod command can right-click on the file and switch to the Permissions tab.  Tick the "is executable box" and click Ok.

3. Launch the setup process by typing sudo ./Sigil-0.5.3-Linux-x86-Setup.bin

4. The setup wizard will take the user through setting up language, folder, and extraction.

5. For openSUSE 12.1, users will have to correct the menu entry in the KDE Kickoff in order to launch Sigil properly after installation. Right-click the Application launcher and click Edit applications.

6. In the KDE Menu Editor, click Utilities then Editor.  Select Sigil.

7. Change the text in the command box to /opt/sigil/sigil or locate the Sigil executable file using the file manager in the /opt folder.

8. Click Save.

9. Launch Sigil by using the KDE menu or ALT+F2 then search for Sigil.

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Torrents in China Part 1

Category: Techtoday

Although it might seem obvious that torrents work in the bootleg-loving Middle Kingdom, there's the question of the Great Firewall stopping any such type of file-sharing.  The answer is yes it works and there is every likelihood that some of the movies or videos sold on the street come from that very source.  However, many expatriates have reported complaints regarding the lackluster speeds of the downloads.  Many have rightly blamed the Great Firewall, while others just diss the country's broadband.   
 
Personally, I think the speed of web browsing is just fine.  I have no issues streaming video from news sites and accessing iTunes even when running on a basic broadband plan in Shanghai - without proxy servers or a VPN.   
 
With a rush of new Linux distribution releases and a new FreeBSD version out, will I be unable to download them using uTorrent in Windows or Ktorrent/Transmission in Linux?  The answer is a resounding yes.


 
As for dedicated leachers in the Zhonghua Nation looking to download media from Piratebay, Isohunt, and other popular sites, the answer is a bit more complicated:  

1. Many of the more popular torrent sites are blocked, including Piratebay and Isohunt.
2. As of this writing, there are plenty of sites like EZTV.it, Btscene.eu, Kickass Torrents, and Fenopy.eu that are accessible and provide fairly dependable torrents.
3. There are also plenty of torrent search engines that work such as Torrentz.eu.  However, there's no guarantee that if the link is found on a blocked torrent site, the browser will be able to request for it.
4. If you're that desperate, have someone outside China send you the Magnet Link or Torrent file.  It will open without any problems.  This method is one of the reasons why Microsoft censored Pirate Bay torrent links in Windows Live Messenger. 
5. If you can read Chinese, look for a Chinese torrent site or try Xunlei.

Speed could be an issue for those used to blitzkrieg downloads but why complain?  There are plenty of other things to do in the Middle Kingdom than watch an episode or two of U.S. TV shows.  Now go download a torrent of Knoppix or Clonezilla and give it a whirl.

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