Usefulid Consulting

2009-8

A Guide to Software Revisions (humor)

Category: Humor, Software | No Comments

Once you start playing with software you quickly become aware that each software package has a revision code attached to it. It is obvious that this revision code gives the sequence of changes to the product, but in reality there’s substantially more information available through the rev code than that.

1.0:	Also known as “one point uh-oh”, or “barely out of beta”. We had to release because the lab guys had reached a point of exhaustion and the marketing guys were in a cold sweat of terror. We’re praying that you’ll find it more functional than, say, a computer virus and that its operation has some resemblance to that specified in the marketing copy.
1.1:	We fixed all the killer bugs…
1.2:	Uh, we introduced a few new bugs fixing the killer bugs and so we had to fix them, too.
2.0:	We did the product we really wanted to do to begin with. Mind you, it’s really not what the customer needs yet, but we’re working on it.
2.1:	Well, not surprisingly, we broke some things in making major changes so we had to fix them. But we did a really good job of testing this time, so we don’t think we introduced any new bugs while we were fixing these bugs.
2.2:	Uh, sorry, one slipped through. One lousy typo error and you won’t believe how much trouble it caused!
2.3:	Some jerk found a deep-seated bug that’s been there since 1.0 and wouldn’t stop nagging until we fixed it!!
3.0:	Hey, we finally think we’ve got it right! Most of the customers are really happy with this.
3.1:	Of course, we did break a few little things.
4.0:	More features. It’s doubled in size now, by the way, and you’ll need to get more memory and a faster processor …
4.1:	Just one or two bugs this time … Honest!
5.0:	We really need to go on to a new product, but we have an installed base out there to protect. We’re cutting the staffing after this.
6.0:	We had to fix a few things we broke in 5.0. Not very many, but it’s been so long since we looked at this thing we might as well call it a major upgrade. Oh, yeah, we added a few flashy cosmetic features so we could justify the major upgrade number.
6.1:	Since I’m leaving the company and I’m the last guy left in the lab who works on the product, I wanted to make sure that all the changes I’ve made are incorporated before I go. I added some cute demos, too, since I was getting pretty bored back here in my dark little corner (I kept complaining about the lighting but they wouldn’t do anything). They’re talking about obsolescence planning but they’ll try to keep selling it for as long as there’s a buck or two to be made. I’m leaving the bits in as good a shape as I can in case somebody has to tweak them, but it’ll be sheer luck if no one loses them.

Don't Forget to Share:

2009-7

How To Hijack ‘Every iPhone In The World’

Category: Hacking, iPhone | No Comments

Article originally published at Forbes.com

If you receive a text message on your iPhone any time after Thursday afternoon containing only a single square character, Charlie Miller would suggest you turn the device off. Quickly.

That small cipher will likely be your only warning that someone has taken advantage of a bug that Miller and his fellow cybersecurity researcher Collin Mulliner plan to publicize Thursday at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. Using a flaw they’ve found in the iPhone’s handling of text messages, the researchers say they’ll demonstrate how to send a series of mostly invisible SMS bursts that can give a hacker complete power over any of the smart phone’s functions. That includes dialing the phone, visiting Web sites, turning on the device’s camera and microphone and, most importantly, sending more text messages to further propagate a mass-gadget hijacking.

“This is serious. The only thing you can do to prevent it is turn off your phone,” Miller told Forbes. “Someone could pretty quickly take over every iPhone in the world with this.”

Though Miller and Mulliner say they notified Apple about the vulnerability more than a month ago, the company hasn’t released a patch, and it didn’t respond to Forbes’ repeated calls seeking comment.
More »

Don't Forget to Share:

2009-6

Wolfram|Alpha

Category: Internet, Technology | No Comments

I thought I’d review Wolfram|Alpha today. It is being slated as the google killer right now (a term that is often used, but never lived up to!).

So, your response is, ” what is Wolfram|Alpha” right? It’s just anothe search engine? Why do I need another search engine? These are all valid questions. Wolfram|Alpha is a bit different which is its distinguishing factor.

What Wolfram|Alpha does that is so revolutionary is real-time computation given almost any data set. I say almost because the data must exist for the computation to happen. So, as long as data exists, for example the Hispanic population of Los Angeles would be an easy computation for Wolfram|Alpha.

I’ve played around with Wolfram|Alpha a little and was not too impressed. A lot of my searches came up null or I had to re-word my question, even though I used the same syntax as the suggested questions given by Wolfram|Alpha.

The site is young but has huge promise and potential. Give it a look/try. I think I’ll revisit this site and do a follow-up post in a couple months after Wolfram|Alpha has been updated and such. I think we’ll see the true colors at that time. Until then, thanks for reading!

Don't Forget to Share:

2009-6

What is VoIP?

Category: Internet, Software, Technology | No Comments

I often get the question, “What is VoIP”?

Pronounced ‘voip’. VoIP stands for ‘voice over IP’, IP standing for Internet Protocol. Still scratching your head? Most do. In laymen, VoIP is simply telephone through your broadband internet connection.

So what’s the big deal? Well, the big deal about this technology is the already interconnectedness of everybody via the internet. The internet infrastructure is established and handles data traffic very efficiantly. What VoIP does is exploit the efficiency of the internet by converting your analog signal (voice) into digital “packets” that travel through the internet and are decoded back into analog at the destination phone (or nearby).

This technology makes it easier and extremely more affordable to communicate with people worldwide!

Some popular VoIP providers are Skype and Vonage. I’m sure you’ve heard these names, if only in passing.

Skype is a free VoIP application. Yes, free! The only limitation is that you are tethered to your computer. Also, the person that you are calling has to have Skype as well, unless you make a monthly payment of around $2. Still, this is really affordable. There are hardware devices that can use skype and even the new iPhone enables users to use Skype!

Vonage is a pay-for service. For a low monthly fee, last I checked it was $10 for 500 minutes monthly or $24 for unlimited calling. Long distance, caller ID, call forwarding etc. is all included for free. No nickle and diming! I have used Vonage for the last 5 years and have no problems whatsoever. I still don’t understand how phone companies can charge so much when there is Vonage raising the bar by offering more for less?

The only drawback to VoIP is that you do need broadband internet service. DSL can work, although it would not be as good. Most of the time, if you have DSL you already have phone service anyways because phone service providers are typically the only DSL providers.

There are other VoIP providers out there but these are the big two, free and pay-for.

Most big businesses, colleges and corporations all have switched over to, or are switching over to, VoIP. This technology increases profit margin and increases hardware productivity.

This article is certainly not all-inclusive as there is much more that goes into VoIP than what is written here. This is simply a starter’s guide to understanding voice over IP. I hope you found the information useful! For even more information on VoIP, click here for a Wikipedia article.

Don't Forget to Share:

2009-6

I Want My Internet T.V. (to the tune of “I want my Mtv”)

Category: Internet | No Comments

There has been a lot of talk lately about internet television and even a few devices that incorporate online video into regular television sets. When you do a search for internet tv, what does it say though? From my experience, it says all you have to do is PAY x amount and have all the television stations around the world. I say to myself, I know there is free tv out there. This post is to help you find that free tv.

There are many sites online dedicated to providing television, movies etc. Not all of them are “legal”. I use quotes because there really is not guidelines as to what exactly is legal when it comes to online video. The only certainty is that major motion pictures are typically off limits. The rest? Fair game unless stated otherwise.

It is also a good idea to update your Flash player, Windows Media Player, and download a good Codec package like K-lite.

I think the biggest resource to be aware of is Online Video Guide (OVG). As with anything internet related, be careful. There is an “adult” section there which is probably not suitable for youngsters.

The next place I recommend is Hulu. Although, I’ve read a couple articles lately that Hulu may begin charging for some content. If so, I think they will lose a lot of their fan base. This site is really great though. Remember Alf? Hulu has every single episode of Alf. They have movies as well although you do have to complete a compulsory registration.

One of my favorite sites to waste time at, I mean watch tv at, is Adult Swim. This is a site dedicated to Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. Again, this site is not for the youngsters. The cartoons here include Family Guy, King of the Hill, Robot Chicken and many others.

When mentioning online videos, it is mandatory to include YouTube. Recently, YouTube started airing full movies which is pretty cool. YouTube is the Godfather when it comes to online video/movies. They were first on the scene with lower quality, user driven content. It is very easy to spend hours watching miscellaneous videos. I like watching live blues guitarists on Youtube. A lot of comedians post their shows on Youtube as well.

If you are looking for higher quality movies, one of the better sites is Divx Moviez. You do need to download and install the Divx player though. If you don’t mind installing the software, this site has some great content.

Disclaimer: I think it is important to always use common sense when attempting to view any content online. A lot of sites say this or that, but really do nothing besides try to exploit you. The sites listed here are a great foundation to quality, bug-free content online. Also, it is always good practice to set up a “Restore Point” on your computer before downloading and installing anything from the internet. This helps in case your computer becomes infected by a virus, worm, rootkit, etc.

Don't Forget to Share:

2009-6

A great PDF alternative

Category: Software, Tips | No Comments

Adobe Acrobat have had their hand in the cookie jar a little too long in my opinion. Fortunately, a superb alternative is available for those of us who cannot fathom spending money on an overloaded, clunky application who has long out-lived their heyday. Foxit Reader is an incredibly simple yet adept PDF viewer. There are many PDF alternatives out there, but this is the most stable, simple and easy to use alternative. I have used this application for quite some time now and prefer it over the actual Adobe, pay-for, software.

There is also an option to get the “Pro” pack for free for a year, which is the equivalent to Adobe Professional! Check it out here.

Don't Forget to Share:

2009-5

So where is all this world wide web information?

Category: Internet | No Comments

So you are interested in surfing the web? Not quite sure where to start? Let me suggest a site or five! Although, you may wish to read the previous post about optimizing your browser before you start any heavy duty web surfing!

Stop #1 - The Social Web aka Web 2.0

There are countless web 2.0 sites out there. Most of them are not that great. A few that are well worth the time are:

www.digg.com - The site is a little clunky and takes some time to get used to. Once you work through the ins and outs of the site, you can spend the rest of your earthly time here never seeing the same thing twice! Highly recomended.

www.reddit.com - Another 2.0 site that is clunky and tough to get used to. Great site in delivering tons of information.

Stop #2 - The Search Engines

www.google.com - The standard in web searches. Put in any search word, question, equation, you name it and Google will give you a load of information, answers, news, maps, etc. There isn’t a day I do not use Google at least 10 times. Highly recommended!

www.yahoo.com - The “other” search site. Yahoo! is a great search engine that also touts a decent news repository as well as groups, blogs, etc.

Stop #3 - Let the programs surf for you

www.stumbleupon.com - This little program has become a leviathan. Once installed, you click the “stumble” button and are taken to a new website of your predefined interests. Think “channel surfing on your TV.” This program is highly addictive, entertaining and will waste all of your time if you lack the will to turn off your computer every now and again!

Stop #4 - Tunes to accompany your surfing

www.pandora.com - This has to be the best site on the web! You simply enter a song or artist, or even a style or genre into the pandora player and you begin hearing song after song of music that you will inevitably like or know already. If, by chance, you do not like a song that is played, you simply give that song a “thumbs down” and you will never hear it again! This site is slowly overtaking my mp3 collection in popularity. Another cool thing about Pandora.com is if you change computers or are on somebody else’s computer, you can log in and play all your favorite music. No CDs, no iPods, nothing to lug around with you.

Wrap-up

I hope this post has been useful. All of these sites are great places to start when it comes to the world wide web.

Don't Forget to Share:

2009-5

Firefox - Web Browser Champion

Category: Software, Tips | No Comments

Hi all. So if you couldn’t tell by the headline, I’m a big Firefox fan. Why, I don’t think we have the time to go into everything. To summarize, it is fully customizable to the point of no end which includes being as secure as Fort Knox. Internet Explorer, the competition, is an out-dated, clunky and horribly exploited browser that is in its sunset. The intention of this post is to not spout off why Firefox is better or worse than IE, but to show you some things that I have found useful with my time with Firefox.

Add-ons

Some of the best add-ons that I have encountered with Firefox, and use regularly are:

Download Statusbar- View and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar.

Tab Mix Plus - Enhances the already awesome tab browsing capabilities.

Snap Links - Great little add-on that lets you right-click multiple tabs by clicking and dragging!

Forecastfox - Nifty add-on that gives the weather and forecast for where ever you want.

Digger - I really like this add-on. This tool lets you navigate to the root of a domain with a simple click.

Adblock Plus - Customizable app that rids you of pesky advertisements.

Video DownloadHelper - Found a YouTube video you just love? This add-on will download it to your computer in a flash format!

NoScript - Locks down your browser for safe browsing.

FoxyProxy - Advanced proxy management tool.

Themes

Aero Fox - Glossy dark theme. Very stylish.

Aquatint Black Gloss - Glossy black theme. Currently using.

Arizona Cardinals - Need I say more? Awesome theme. I love this one and use during football season!

Noia 2.0 (eXtreme) - Fun theme that is easy on the eyes.

PitchDark for Fx - Dark-colored minimalistic theme with emphasis on visability and usability.

Don't Forget to Share:

Usefulid Consulting Blog
Technology Review & Commentary

A Guide to Software Revisions (humor)

How To Hijack ‘Every iPhone In The World’

Wolfram|Alpha

What is VoIP?

I Want My Internet T.V. (to the tune of “I want my Mtv”)

A great PDF alternative