The problem with the corporate PAC

Dilbert - 10/13/2009

Downside of Rush's race baiting career

A downside to Rush's wealth creating formula. You might not be able to do business with the people you've been insulting ...

NFL players line up to block Rush Limbaugh's bid for the St Louis Rams

guardian.co.uk

... Some players have said they would not want to play for the Rams if Limbaugh succeeds. "I don't want anything to do with a team that he has any part of," the New York Giants footballer Mathias Kiwanuka told the New York Daily News...

I wouldn't bet against this deal though. The NFL is as bottom line as any other megacorp.

Nokia netbook exposes future AT&T wireless data plans

AT&T has added Nokia's Win 7 "netbook" (a $600 mini-laptop with a very slow CPU) to its lineup. The 2 year contract price is $200, but they really don't intend to sell many ...

Nokia’s Netbook Comes With Marathon Battery Life - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

... At the event, Glenn Lurie, the president of AT&T’s emerging device unit, said he understood that a $60-a-month data plan puts the device out of the range of many potential consumers. He said that AT&T will introduce other data plans with lower prices before the end of the year, possibly including prepaid plans and those that charge users only for the days they are actually online...

At $60/month AT&T is basically saying "don't buy this, you fool!". Their iPhone demolished network can't handle widespread netbook adoption.

I wonder if they had some kind of contractual launch agreement they couldn't dodge. This is really a silly launch.

The real news here, other than confirmation that Nokia is doomed, is that AT&T is going to give up on "all you can eat pricing".

That's a good thing - assuming we continue to real competition between Verizon, AT&T and Sprint/T-mobile. Flat rate pricing for a capacity constrained service is economic lunacy -- a lose-lose formula for AT&T and customers alike.

Meanwhile, we all wait for the launch of the Verizon-Google Chrome OS netbook -- the day the roof comes down.

This is why I don't do early OS X updates

Some people soar over the battlefield of life. They ride the soft thermals ... until they crash and die.

But we won't go there.

That's not me. On the field of life I'm infantry. It's ok, I've got lots of company.

So I just know that this 10.6 bug would have whacked me ...

More on Snow Leopard deleting user accounts after guest login | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews

... The problem seems to happen only when guest accounts were enabled for login under Leopard before updating to Snow Leopard...

It's quite a bug. It's a bit like a personal version of the Danger Microsoft Sidekick --log out and your data is gone. (Though it's perhaps possible to resurrect it, and everyone has backups ... Right?)

Good thing I still remember my scars from 10.4 and 10.5. So while we do use guest accounts on 10.5, we weren't affected because... we're still on 10.5.

There are some good things about 10.6. I'm looking forward to updating my MacBook around March 2010.

Apple needs to start doing open beta testing and give up on making their OS X releases great big secrets.

Update 10/13/09

Macintouch has some interesting 10.5 background:

Regarding the "Guest" account data loss issue, the symptoms sound very similar to those affecting Leopard users until the release of 10.5.5. Given the similarities, one might suspect the reuse of buggy code.

The 10.5 flaw actually had two facets - one is that the wrong home folder may be deleted. The other is that the same flaw permits login to non-Guest accounts without a password. See CVE-2008-3610 here:

About the security content of Mac OS X v10.5.5 and Security Update 2008-006
Description: A race condition exists in Login Window. To trigger this issue, the system must have the Guest account enabled or another account with no password. In a small proportion of attempts, an attempt to log in to such an account will not complete. The user list would then be presented again, and the person would be able to log in as any user without providing a password. If the original account were the Guest account, the contents of the new account will be deleted on logout. This update addresses the issue by properly clearing Login Window state when the login does not complete. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.5.

Based on reports on the web, it appears that both aspects are present in Snow Leopard, and some users claim to have established the requirements for reproducibility. I don't have Snow Leopard so unfortunately can't test things for myself, but because of the implications, will refrain from posting a link to instructions. If confirmed, the key point would be that unlike Apple's assurances that it is something that occurs only in extremely rare cases, it may well be something that is guaranteed to be triggered based on a specific sequence of events, the likelihood of which may not be so "extremely rare" depending on an individual's habits.

Regardless, since the file deletion appears to be directly tied to the resetting feature of the "Guest" account, disabling GUI login for "Guest" should prevent that aspect from being triggered, and not having any passwordless accounts enabled (including "Guest") should take care of the other

I'd disabled the Guest account on my 10.5 machine, but based on this post I didn't have too. This was fixed for 10.5. Interesting that it could also hit accounts that have no password (eg. my mother's).

Pretty depressing if Apple restored a 10.5 bug of this magnitude in 10.6.

Fear the Cloud: Microsoft Danger was well named

Maybe the name was intended as a warning.

Microsoft "Danger", formerly independent creators of the Sidekick Cloud-centric phone, died when they destroyed their customer's data. They haven't been buried yet, but they're an ex-Parrot.

I warned you guys.

Fear the Cloud. Fear any time you don't have full control over a useable copy of your own data, and a proven restore path.

The Sidekick was particularly vulnerable because it cached server data, it didn't maintain a full local instance. Anyone who knows synchronization is hell can sympathize with the cache approach, but the responsibility of the parent company is then immense.

Publicly traded companies don't do well with that kind of responsibility.

Glenn Feishman tells us that sync-based solutions are less vulnerable. Technically that's true -- but ActiveSync-class Push solutions can behave like a Sidekick cache. Depending on sync behavior, lost data on the server may wipe local copies. How many people can then restore an old local copy from backup? (Do you know how to do that for an iPhone? I didn't think you did.)

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

What should we look for?

We should look for a NTSB-like approach that treats Cloud data loss like an airplane crash. We need experts in error to identify the proximal cause, the 2nd cause and the 3rd cause. We need to turn each instance of data loss into a program to avoid an entire class of future disaster.

Failing that, maybe you should print reports of your key Cloud data every few weeks.

Oh, and run from Microsoft as fast as your little legs can carry you.

Update 10/12/09: As a free market alternative to an NTSB equivalent, how about we require corporations who own our data to post substantial bonds? So Microsoft would post a $5,000 bond for every Cloud customer. As long as the they don't blow it the money is theirs. Come the Dapocalypse though their customers get a reasonable pay out and Microsoft is out a few billion. that would concentrate their mind, though it would provide customers with some perverse security-testing incentives ...

White water and the end of prediction

I've indulged my pundocratic penchant for prediction over the years.

I'm more or less reformed now however.

It's not that the future is hard to predict., As Cringely recently pointed out, we know how things go. The hard part is figuring out how we get there, and when we arrive. I think that was once worth a try.

That was then. Now our times are interesting. There's too much going down, too many interacting trendlines, too much non-laminar flow. Noise and chaos.

White water times. We're in 'em, and there's no visible exit -- as long as our civilization last.

How do we adapt to white water times? We have to be loose, alert, ready to paddle fast. Keep the gear lashed down, travel light, stay tied to a survival kit and keep your mates at hand.

Growing jobs - my old stimulus proposal

Another day, another editorial on the jobs story.

Maybe it's time to think about my old National Small Business Generation Service proposal? Especially now that health reform is looking real.

It's even old-style market-friendly GOP compatible.

Google good, AT&T and old FCC evil

It's fashionable today to disparage Google, to compare them to the Evil Empires of IBM and Microsoft, to mock the founders for faux idealism.

That's brainless fashion. My personal experience is that Google has been mostly on my side. That's why I serve the rambling House of Google rather than the shaky silver towers of Apple or the wretched slums of Microsoft.

My beef with Google is not with their alleged evil, it's been with their attention deficit disorder, the fundamental flaws of the Cloud, erratic customer abuse and the past two weeks of lousy service.

Imperfect as Google is, it's also right about the Data Freedom Front and right about saving lost books.

They're also in the right when it comes to fighting the phone fraud of "free" conferencing sites. Not that I blame AT&T for calling Google out, but the old (corrupt Bush era?) FCC was wrong about the interconnect scams (emphases and link to the Whitt post are mine) ...

FCC Is Probing Google Voice Service - WSJ.com

.... Richard Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, said in a blog post Friday that Google restricts calls to certain local phone numbers because "they charge exorbitant termination rates" and "partner with adult sex chat lines and 'free' conference calling centers to drive high volumes of traffic."

AT&T Inc. has said Google is violating rules designed to ensure that phone companies connect all calls. Earlier this week, a group of lawmakers asked the FCC for an investigation into the matter, saying the practice could hurt rural customers...

...The FCC rebuked AT&T and other carriers several years ago for blocking calls with high-access charges, saying common-carrier telephone companies can't pick and choose which numbers they will patch through and which they will block.

Congress asked the FCC to look into this because they fear "for rural customers".

Bullpoop. They fear the loss of campaign donations and future jobs from parasitic RBOCs now living off interconnect scam leavings.

It's tough for the FCC to stand up to corrupt lawmakers, but this is the Obama era. I'm cautiously optimistic. If Google was accepting donations I'd send 'em money, but for now I'll just write a note of support to my representative. (While I'm at it, I'll ask her to look into the cramming scams and the unblockable receiver-pays SMS scam. Bush/Cheney left the Obama-era FCC with a lot a of poop to shovel.)

The file could not be found: The Decline of OS X

I browse to a file in OS X and try to open it. The app respond "the file could not be found".

I can copy it in the Finder though.

It's all of a piece with the long decline of OS X. As I wrote in 2007

Gordon's Tech: The dumbing down of OS X (and Vista): indirection is too hard

.... MacOS Classic was built by the gods. They tossed it off to mere mortals and then retired to Olympus. OS X isn't all bad, but it's clearly the work of mortals, not gods...

Since then OS X Snow Leopard has regressed to the metadata standards of DOS 2.1. Anyone else notice that shortcuts to files stored on OS X servers no longer work? They used to mount the share and open the file, now you have to mount the server yourself.

Snow Leopard is supposed to be a cleaner, better version of OS X -- but it's had a typically rocky start. Apple's core OS is still in decline.

In retrospect, OS X went to the dark side after Tevanian left.

It's depressing - I don't see any light at the end of this tunnel.

Update 10/10/09: I ask on Apple Discussions for a stress test of OS X networking. Did 10.6 fix anything?

Update 10/10/09b: There's a report that this DOES work in 10.6. I'd given up hope. Now I don't need to think about Windows 7.

The Nobel for defeating the modern GOP

Barack Obama wins the Nobel prize for defeating John McCain, pulling the GOP off the neck of the world, unwinding the Bush/Cheney Torture regime, and restoring hope to humanity.

If there was any doubt about how much the allies of Reason and Civilization fear and despise the modern American GOP, let that be set aside.

Maybe we could give Bush/Cheney the Voldemort Prize.

How to present - the super-short summary

Loyd Eskildson, reviewing a book on Jobsian presentation tips, gives us a very succinct summary ....

Amazon.com: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience (9780071636087): Carmine Gallo: Books

1)What is the one big idea you want to leave with your audience? It should be short, memorable, and in subject-verb-object sequence.

2)Identify why you're excited about this company/product/feature, etc.

3)Write out the three messages you want the audience to receive, and develop metaphors and analogies in support.

4)Include a demonstration if your product topic lends itself to such. (Eg. pull the product out of your pocket if it is 'pocket-sized.'

5)Invite partners and customers to participate.

6)Include video clips if helpful, but limit to three minutes or less.

7)Answer the "Why should I care?" that's in the audience's mind. Have a passion for creating a better future.

8)Having an enemy (eg. IBM, Microsoft) helps visualize 'the problem' you're solving.

9)Simplify your presentation (and products).

10)Make numbers meaningful - eg. "Stores 1,000 songs," not "5 GB memory."

11)Don't use 'bullet-point' style visuals; instead, use short phrases that accompany your talk, or pictures.

12)Practice, practice, practice - and ask for feedback.

Thanks Loyd! I can learn a lot from this summary.

Does last year's seasonal flu vaccine make us more susceptible to this year's H1N1?

I've heard quite a bit of noise about this unpublished Canadian study, but an independent blog has the best summary I've read. Emphases mine ...

Is the seasonal flu vaccine associated with H1N1 pandemic influenza? | KevinMD.com

... The Canadian data appear to suggest that people who had been vaccinated against last year’s seasonal flu were about twice as likely as others to catch the pandemic strain when it appeared this spring.

But the CDC said U.S. data do not show a similar risk...

... “We continue to urge people to receive both the seasonal flu vaccine and the 2009 H1N1 vaccine,” Quimby said.

Likewise, an official of the World Health Organization said that investigators in countries other than Canada had not found a similar risk increase when they looked at their own data...

Note they're talking about last year's seasonal flu vaccine, not the vaccine my family received 2-3 weeks ago. I'd have found this more persuasive if they were talking about this year's seasonal flu vaccine.

I'm betting the BC researchers got this one wrong. Keith, I'll bet $10 for donation to a good cause :-).

Nov 20/2009: Later research suggests last year's seasonal flu vaccine protects against this year's H1N1. Looks like my skepticism was justified.

After healthcare reform the cleanup begins

As I'd predicted back in the dark days. Team Obama will pull this off ...

Is health on the way? - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com

.... So the odds now are that the thing hangs together, and reform is indeed enacted this year. It will be a highly flawed product; we’ll probably spend much of the next decade trying to fix it.

But it does look as if it’s going to happen. And that will be a huge victory for progressives...

I disagree with Krugman on one thing. I think we'll be doing very well if we can fix the reform product in only 10 years. Nonetheless, this will be a huge step forward.

Gmail - 5 years, 6 months

I looked up the oldest email I'd sent from Gmail. It was to Andrew on April 25, 2004...

I have a gmail ("beta") account. Don't try to tell me your inner nerd is not jealous.

more later, I just got it ....

It looks like conventional webmail, but far, far snappier (lots of JavaScript). Thus far I've tested on IE. Safari is not supposed to be supported but I'll try anyway.

I've sent 11,722 messages since then.

Google owns me, even though I praise the Data Freedom Front.

That's ok. In the modern world no geek can be Ronin.

I'd joke about getting my Google ID printed on my forehead, but we need a lot more years post 1940.

Verizon to support Google Voice on Android phones

It's good to learn that Google and Verizon are partnering to deliver better Android devices.

That's not surprising though. The surprising bit is the support for Google Voice ...

Verizon, Google Team For Android Devices -- Smartphones -- InformationWeek

... Verizon said its Android devices will come with the Android Market preloaded, and the wireless operator will support Google Voice. Verizon will be preloading some of its apps onto the devices, as well as tailoring the OS to provide a distinctive user experience..."

Doesn't Verizon make money on phone calls and SMS? Why are they going to support GV? I'd like to learn more. On the face of it, a nice kick at AT&T/Apple.

The "preloading" and "tailoring" sound ominous though.

Update: The first go-round I missed the key part of the announcement. The alliance goes beyond Android phones. It's also going to include collaboration on "netbooks". Netbooks, as in Google Chromestellation. Wow.

I'd forgotten what real competition was like. The Apple-Google wars are about to become the Apple/AT&T - Google/Verizon wars - and Microsoft is on the sidelines.

2010 looks to be another interesting year, but this time with some good news for consumers.