Month: August 2007 (Page 2 of 6)

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At some point most Linux desktop users do end up needing or wanting to run a Windows program. There are some Windows apps that are arguably better than the Linux equivalent or that are required for some specific tasks. For instance, when working on a website I like to make sure that it will display properly in Mozilla browsers like Firefox and also in Opera and Microsoft Internet Explorer. To do this many Linux users end up dual-booting or setting up WINE to run the program. Dual booting has obvious draw-backs, you can’t run Windows and Linux apps side-by-side, nor can you probably even access the same files in Windows that you had access to on your Linux desktop. It’s also a waste of time to watch your computer reboot every time you have to switch between Linux and Windows. WINE has its own fair share of problems too. It can be slower and is often difficult (or nearly impossible) to setup and get Windows programs running with.

For my own purposes I have found an alternate solution. I run a full Windows OS in a virtualized Vmware or Xen environment. Then I export applications individually using rdesktop and a modified server side component for RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). This allows me to export just one or more applications rather than working on a Windows desktop inside a window on my Linux desktop. The individual applications show up in kicker (the KDE taskbar) just like Firefox and Open Office do. I can copy and paste from one to another or from Windows applications to Linux applications . Most apps work this way, the only one that I’ve had real trouble with is cmd.exe which refuses to display properly.

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Wristband access linking families with their children, wired trash cans, Wi-Fi on the sand, radio-frequency identification chips (RFID), parking spot monitors and reporting, all coming to a beach in Ocean City, New Jersey at the cost of $3 million.

The beach will require ALL visitors to wear a wristband, costing $5/day, $10/week, or $20/summer. These wristbands can be linked with each other which might prove popular for parents. If the wristbands leave the beach without the parent wristband a text message is sent to the parent’s cell phone. This is the type of scenario where I can agree with tracking your children. Read my previous post, “Keeping them safe or making them vulnerable.”It’s temporary and in a crowded, relatively dangerous, public place. It would also be nice if a text message was sent when children got near the water. This might help prevent accidental drownings.

The wristbands will also automatically debit their bank accounts when using food, parking, and other paid amenities on the beach. Not sure of the security behind this, but this might worry me a bit. Hopefully, it’s optional.

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The same privacy concerns that are always an issue come into question here. I’m sure the city will track your every move, including the purchases you make, how many beers you drink, and how often you frequent the restroom. I guess we have to ask ourselves, when out in public, our we ever really private? What information should remain private and what information is fair game, if any? Regardless, I fear that we’ll have to get used to this. Next, our shopping malls, employers, and the roads we drive on will all be tracking our every move. After all, it is the Wave of the future.

Isn’t technology great…

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My experience with Microsoft Vista reminds me of a comment that I heard (and captured) by David Pogue, the tech columnist for the New York Times. In an on-camera interview with 60 Minutes about the growth in the PC service market, David said:

âÂ?Â?Part of the problem [with PCs] is that there are so many cooks âÂ?¦ Microsoft made the operating system, some company in Taiwan made the equipment, youâÂ?Â?re running software from a company in California, and now you’re installing the driver for a digital camera from a fourth company. You know, what are the odds that all of these are going to work flawlessly together for all 400 million people who have PCs? Zip.”

This week, my system did some wacky things that have even boggled our very experienced IT guy.

First, I updated a video driver (see results in the jpg). Never in my 30 years have I ever seen a screen flip upside down. Pretty crazy stuff.

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Next, I tried to install a new optical mouse (the old one had an annoying stutter step when you tried to move it too finely). It asked me if I wanted to find the driver, which is weird because it is a NEW MICROSOFT BASIC OPTICAL MOUSE!!! Then, I�d get an annoying message that it couldn�t install the required software.

These two odd things would likely be highly entertaining if it wasn�t for the time I�ve had to waste (and that of our IT expert) with these issues and others � another blue screen, continued application hangs (though less frequent) and a reboot on average of every second or third day. I have found that there seems to be a correlation of problems when I use my Sprint card, but nothing that I can duplicate to discover the final solution.

A pool has started now in the office: How long before Doug chucks
Vista and asks for a downgrade (upgrade?) to Windows XP. You�re all invited to play. The only prize is bragging rights.

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When the PC-Doctor engineering office was in Davis, CA, between 2000 and 2003, we had a steady flow of top-notch software development interns. When we posted for them we could pick from numerous great candidates. The interns worked 15 to 20 hours per week during the year – tough as a CS student, but if you need to work or want great experience, internships are great. Several of our interns became full-time employees. This arrangement was great for everyone. The interns were paid very well ($15+ /hr) to do professional software development. The benefit to students is amazing, as the top differentiator between recent grads in an interview is experience as a professional software development intern. Although the interns had a lot to learn, they were productive and helpful on key projects. We got to âÂ?Â?test driveâÂ?Â? them and had a pool to draw from when we needed full-time employees.

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Any ideas on how to get more interns. OR, if you are looking for an internship or know someone who is, let me know.

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My coworker and I decided to perform an experiment. For six weeks we called computer repair shops across the US and Canada and asked them what features they would like to see in hardware diagnostic tools. We received a wide range of feedback from you guys. Some used words not appropriate for this blog, one guy invited me to be a guest speaker on his radio show and several of you used the phone call as a forum to vent about some man in Redmond, Washington. The majority of the technicians we contacted did have questions–the same three questions, actually.

1. “Why Would I Need Hardware Diagnostic Tools? I’ve Been Fixing Computers for Twenty Years!”

I heard this statement a lot. It was often followed by a grumble, or perhaps a dial tone. The answer may not be obvious, but understanding the value of hardware diagnostics will save a technician time, money, and frustration. As we all know, operating systems are more complex than they used to be. Determining whether an issue is an actual hardware problem or a software problem has become increasingly difficult. For example, a system can have random blue-screens in Windows and yet the dump file doesn’t have any specific information as to the problem. Is it hardware or is it a software problem? In one particular case, a portion of the memory was bad and had not been detected in the Windows OS because the OS was masking the problem. It was only when DOS diagnostics were run to completely verify the system that the faulty memory location was identified. Twenty years of experience in fixing computers could never identify this problem!

2. “I’m already using free tools I downloaded off the web, or some other product. Why should I pay for yours?”

Because I said so. Really, there are lots of reasons. I’ll explain a few.

• Simply put, we are the market leader. No other diagnostic company ships more diagnostic licenses than PC-Doctor. We ship more than 1 million licenses per month and, according to a recent report, own more than 50% market share. Our Service Center product is based on the same software that the worldâÂ?Â?s largest OEMs ship on more than a million PCs every month. That means we create builds every day that big companies like IBM, HP, Lenovo, Fujitsu and others use in manufacturing, support and service environments. Hence, we are able to refresh ourService Center product with the most up-to-date, reliable diagnostics. For example, we have supported the Vista OS since its release. No other diagnostic product/company has announced native support forVista.

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• We are more economical. Leaving accuracy and currency aside, products that compete with Service Center cost anywhere from $200 to $800 more.

• We are more accurate. We test on dozens of systems and against scores of leading components from the world’s leading PC manufacturers and component manufacturers before their products are released to our customers. We have a large QA (Quality Assurance) lab with more than 100 systems. Additionally, through our CHV (Certified Hardware Vendor) program, we work directly with the major component manufacturers to assure diagnostic accuracy for their devices.

• That brings up another point:. “Wait, then how are your products better than the diagnostics I currently get from OEMs?”

While OEMs write diagnostics specifically for their hardware components, they are not able to effectively write diagnostics for all hardware components. We have acquired vast experience through working with numerous OEMs and component vendors. That gives us a better overall hardware diagnostic vision.<

• “What could be wrong with free diagnostics offered on the web?”

Besides legal implications that have been occurring lately, you do not know the expertise of the person or people writing these. It’s just risky.

3. “Most of our issues are software related. How can we justify the cost of hardware diagnostics?”
To quickly and easily determine if you have a hardware problem. I’ll give you an example. A large test instrument manufacturer had a problem which the software engineers were saying was a hardware issue. They were able to run PC-Doctor diagnostics for a couple of hours on burn-in and everything passed. They went back to the software engineer and said the hardware passed. The engineer, knowing how accurate and reliable PC-Doctor diagnostics are, was receptive and found the problem with their code. You will probably save the entire cost of the software the first time you quickly run our diagnostics and prove it’s not a hardware issue.

With that said, we learned a lot from you guys during this experiment and welcome your feedback regarding new features and functionality.