Two Slashes

Wow…did I actually just post my fourth thing in five days?  I…why, I think I’m in shock!  Hopefully either I can fall into the habit of posting more often (preferred) or anyone out there doesn’t get into the obsessive habit of checking for new stuff more often…well, at least let the RSS feed do that for you.

I paid $350 or so for my first useful* laptop (I say that with quotes for a reason, see below) during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, with my first MP3 player just a short while before that.  I’ve only had possession of a personal cellular telephone for a year.  I’ve had an account with AOL since the second grade (which, although I personally refuse to use the AOL client anymore, I still have).  And I’ve been really only establishing my online presence (with forums, websites, and the like) since the end of middle school.

Why do I tell you this, seemingly randomly?  I was perusing through the New York Times website today, and came across an article discussing the recommended ages children should be introduced to the very same technologies I just mentioned.  And obviously there’s some disagreement between what the article suggests and what I believe to be more appropriate, or I wouldn’t be bothered enough to write about it.

For ages 0-2, I can generally agree with the author.  I don’t see a reason your kid should be messing with anything electronic with more complication than making noise or blinking lights.  They’re way too young to understand cause-effect scenarios, and I certainly don’t foresee anybody’s newborn being able to “Press Enter to Continue…”

Sure, maybe all the fake toddler-toys are probably 1/4 as mind-stimulating as they’re advertised to be, but are they really ready to play online games?  No offense, but it seems to me like they want to train the next generation of WoW addicts from an early age; they’ll be more tolerant to the obsessive clicking and typing and random key-pressing it takes, and their vision will already be so screwed over from staring at the screen that they’ll have a 6000-strength glasses prescription by the time they’re eight.  Pardon me, but how about giving them their Playskool MP3 boombox thingy and sending them out to the sandbox?  And suggesting a Wii as a console for kids still trying to figure out why the cat doesn’t go in the washing machine, and that Hot Wheels are more collectible when the wheels aren’t on the other side of the room?  I really don’t need any more bologna-in-the-CD-tray service calls, thank you very much, so I’ll just say “That’s stupid” and continue on my merry way.

Moving towards the second half of the article, I really disagree more with their thinking.  For starters, explain to me why six-year-olds are eligible to be playing games that require interaction with people you don’t know but are connected to instantly?  I fail to see one instance where they won’t be talking to strangers at some point.  (And even if the parents are paying attention, can you really be certain that crazyboy2834 isn’t this guy (potentially NSFW)?  Your son/daughter claiming that it’s the friend from down the street doesn’t count.)  I have a brother that fits this age bracket, and I’ve watched him play similar games.  If someone sends him a friend request, his instant reaction is to accept it…no questions asked.  “But wait, that’s not Kyle?”  Stranger danger, indeed.  What happened to responsible parenting?

I can see maybe a shimmer of reasoning behind giving a twelve-year-old a cell phone…but only a shimmer.  Why, even my high-school-age siblings failed to understand why text messaging wasn’t included in their plan (it is now) and managed to rack up a rather exorbitant bill.  The point is, if you give them something that has the ability to do more than you pay for, it’s going to come back to bite you.  If you really need to give them the phone, get the blasted unlimited messaging plan…$30 per month is a lot more reasonable than $600 (trust me).  Perhaps towards high school would make better sense here.

High school would also be a prime time for these kids to get laptops and other “considered-essential” devices, not as they’re herded off like cattle to college.  Not only does this free the family computer from constant use by the IM- and MySpace-crazed teen, but it gives parents (as if they needed it) yet another thing to take away for groundings.  And has the benefit of teaching them about how to take care of more expensive equipment earlier on.

And I scoff at this comment:

In fact, cellphones are now more or less mandatory for children at this age. Besides providing a social advantage, phones can reduce parental stress in a crowded mall, get children in touch for homework help, serve as a call to dinner — and be withheld as punishment that really works.

Parenting skills for this age include reading phone bills. Lori McCoughey of Mahwah, N.J., a mother of two, saved $200 a month by switching to Verizon’s friends and family plan. There are also pay-as-you-go plans like those from Tracfone (www.tracfone.com). For $50, you get a working LG 225 camera phone, preloaded with 100 minutes. A meter counts down the remaining time.

If parenting skills require reading bills, why must you suggest a pay-as-you go plan on a cell phone, which defeats the entire purpose of reading bills?  It might reinforce and encourage the idea of having your child budget their usage (especially if you add a specific amount per month, and refuse to add any more until the next) in preparation for giving them access to your “big-person”, post-pay plan, but really I can’t see a prepaid phone as being anything more than a cash-cow and waste of time otherwise.  But “serving as a call to dinner?”  Although I’m pretty sure I can see through the poor language there, how is ringing your offspring anywhere near a reinforcement of the “personal nature” of dinner?  (Yes, I realize this is America, where ‘dinner’ is another word for vegging out in front of a television with McDonald’s, but cut me some slack.)

Of course, even my recommendations are just that, recommendations.  In reality, the parents should be capable enough to judge whether their kid actually has a need for the technologies of tomorrow, a need that outstretches the desire to “fit in” - because there’s always going to be someone else without it, and a lesson in not getting everything you want is perfect fare.  Nevertheless, any parents who take tips from that article and apply them probably could use a little help as a parent themselves.

Parenting is about guidance and helping a child to prepare themselves for an adult/parental role, not stepping in and going “Here’s a shiny new electronic toy that I bought; go have fun.”

*Useful in this sense refers to the sense that it could be used for more than running Windows 95 or browsers with the rendering support of an 1800s cash register.  My real first laptop was a 486 obtained long ago from one of my father’s co-workers, with a failed battery and a garbage-picker’s heaven of data left on it.  As most people know, I particularly enjoy older/restored computing equipment and so I keep this machine around for occasional use.

At this point, the phrase ‘net neutrality’ is like an outdated fashion statement:  everyone knows about it and nobody really cares anymore.  And while it certainly plays an important role in the evolution of the twenty-first century, it’s been sent to the back of the bus to sit with the dot-com blowouts.

Why?  As far as anyone can speculate, the new idea for making sure ISPs can overstuff their networks is to limit how much the customer can use them, rather than get funding to expand them from the corporations who are most likely to be transmitting across it.

The concept of enforcing bandwidth quotas can be rather laughable, especially when there are (seemingly absurd) $5+/GB overage charges.  Considering that ISPs will swear up and down that their heaviest customers are heavy downloaders, they repeatedly argue that these fees will only apply to this clique.  From a pirate’s perspective, think about it:

• The average MP3 folder (via torrent, newsgroups, whatever) for a single album ranges between 60 and 130 MB.  Assuming an average 100 MB per album downloaded, that’s 10 albums for $5 (or whatever the overage charge is).  I dare anyone to beat that with music acquired from the store as far as quantity goes.  (Though this does raise a question in cases such the newer NIN albums.)
• Usually, rips of feature films run between 700-1300 MB depending on a few factors.  That’s between $5 and $10 for a movie; if the downloader is willing to suffer the (potentially) lower quality, $5 is perhaps not unreasonable.  For hour-long TV shows, it tends to be 350-700 MB per episode, so the cost incurred in getting that full season on DVD can instead be split between your download overages and the new hard drive you get to store all of your ‘acquisitions.’
• Some of the most popular/expensive software suites also happen to be some of the smallest downloads.  The more software crammed in per GB, the better that $5 looks.

Sure, it angers the people who think unlimited means unlimited (I would like to believe this, but it’s never going to happen.) to know that suddenly they’re being reigned into reality, but the reality is that the gray areas are still the more-approachable, cost-friendly bretheren of walking the thin white line.

During school, when I’m only doing my schoolwork and light browsing, I tend to use approximately 150 MB per day (out of the 2 GB per 24 hours allotted per residence hall resident).  So, taking my 150 MB and multiplying it by 7 for a full week, I’ve already covered 1050 MB.  So, for my example, take that as the usage of the heaviest user in the house.  Let’s add in a little more for the rest of the typical family, and the Time Warner-suggested 5GB-per-month quota is going to be gone within two or three weeks.  And they’re the light end of the spectrum.  (I’m a little stupid for taking my usage and using it in a fictional example, but let’s not go there for now; the point is that these people claim that such limited requirements will satisfy most people, but any connection with more than one or two people using it is going to have major quota collisions.)

Even more pathetic is the practice of combining the higher-cost, higher-level quotas with higher speeds; I see this not so much as extending the timespan over which that quota is used as shortening it - people with more bandwidth tend to either use it in the course of their work, or feel it is going to waste and put it to use doing something - and in the process rendering the extra quota cushioning useless.

Of course, this all comes in the middle of the transition from print and televised media to Internet-based streaming media, and at a time where (at least, I see no reason why this isn’t true) telecommuting is starting to become a real substitute for the people looking to save their $4+/gallon gas.  (I can already see the argument boiling in peoples’ heads over whether it’s more cost- and time-effective to drive to the office or telecommute and get their work done from home.)  Isn’t it great that everything’s closing in all at once?

Side note:  If you really want a kick in the pants, I suggest you try searching for “at one point, google was“.  You’ll get a kick out of some of the results you get (and yes, it’s safe for work).

If last week was the ‘Week of Problems’, this week is the ‘Week of New Things.’  And it has good reason to earn such a name, given all of the things going on this week:

(Technically, it’s last Friday, but I think it counts since I’m still having to deal with it…)  I’ve got a new hard drive in my dedicated server (see previous post) after the previous one failed suddenly, and everything seems to be working out so far.  Everything except TechCentric has found its way back up already, and I’m working to get the show back as soon as I can.  (And of course, the obvious side effect is that everything is reinstalled from scratch once again.)

Also, earlier this week, as the result of my newfound photographic habits and my recent camera purchase, I ran out of space on my Picasa account. (As a quick aside, why can we have 6GB+ for e-mail, and just a single gigabyte of photo storage?)  After looking into a couple of different solutions, I ultimately decided that sticking with Picasa was my best choice, and sank $20 into some additional space.  Hopefully I should be set for a while (and hopefully by the time I need to get more, they lower their prices a bit… ).

If you haven’t been keeping track, Canonical has released the latest version of Ubuntu, 8.04 LTS “Hardy Heron”.  This is their next long-term support release, which means that Hardy will get updates for three years on typical desktop installations, and five years for server installations.  This is also the first time I’ve been able to successfully use the automated upgrader without major issues (and a corresponding reinstallation from CD).  Of course, there are a few quirks I’m tending to, but it’s running happily for me on my crapified laptop.

It took a while to arrive, but today also marks the day my Pinnacle PCTV Remote Kit for Vista arrived from Woot.  It performs remarkably better than I anticipated, especially when you consider the one quirk that Pinnacle never did - using it on Windows XP.  Thanks to Paul Alger of Ironclad.net, you too can use it on Windows XP with the implementation of a hacked-up driver.  For those of you freaking out, the install is painless, and the remote is detected as a USB HID device.  The only issue I have is that not all the buttons work (and I’m currently looking for something that can pick them up so that I can remap them).  But nevertheless, it kills the basics of distant (I’d say remote, but that would be clichéd) media control.

Perhaps the most exciting (for me, anyway) of this week so far is my finally giving in and signing up with Twitter.  For those not in the know, Twitter is a service that enables you to share what you’re doing (though the people I’ve seen also tend to post random thoughts or occurances, which is also fun) via the web, SMS, or IM to make sure you’ve got a way to keep your “followers” updated.  It also appears that Twitter’s managed to grow themselves a cult, as there are several third-party applications and resources to make your Twitter experience all the more flexible.

I’ve only been using it a few days, but I’m rather enjoying it.  If you’ve got an account, feel free to follow me (see the sidebar on the homepage).

I hate to be all about me, me, me…but I guess I’ll let it go this once.

Tech support. Not one of the happier places for a geek of any kind to work, considering the fact that most people call up with a very poor attitude and about as much patience as a bull, and the dread of every consumer, knowledgeable or not, for fear of long hold times and the chance of getting someone who’s already irritated or has about a day and a half of total experience, mostly in topics unrelated to the product at hand.

When something happens, they’re your second stop, right after a more knowledgeable friend. We all know someone we can turn to for help with this or that (or perhaps you’re the person everyone turns to), and everything seems to work out in turn. But when they fail, the next stop is a bit of wasted time on the phone.

You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this, but if you’re going to know what I’m ranting about, you need a little backstory. So here goes…

(continue reading…)

Of course, it’s that time of the year. All the graduated high school seniors are busy picking up things they think they’ll need at their college of choice.

Now, you’re probably wondering what I have to do with this. It’s simple…I’m the local geek, so everyone flocks to me for suggestions on PCs. And as usual, everyone wants the best machine available on the oh-so-great college-bound budget.

So I figured I’d take some of the real-world examples I’ve run into and throw them into a post full of suggestions. Take heed; most of these will probably pertain for at least a few years down the road.

So, without further ado, I present my “two slashes”…

1. The biggest tip, and consequently numero uno, is to avoid overbuying. As a student, I understand that you’re going to want to use a machine for more than just research papers, but there are limits. Remember that this will have limited usefulness in the long run, and most machines have a lifespan of between three and five years. Yes, it’ll run longer, but by that time you’re going to be hard-pressed to be able to do anything with it. If you can get away with a slower CPU, less RAM, and ten GB less hard drive space, do it.
2. When in doubt, ask. No, not the salesperson. Someone with experience. Like me. Alright, maybe someone you know more personally (if you know anyone like that), but it’s always better to get a seasoned opinion.
3. AVOID APPLE. Yes, I just put a shotgun to the heads of countless Apple fanatics, and I’m probably going to be bludgeoned the next time I step outside. No, I don’t care. Reasoning: For the same price as the lowest build of MacBook, I can have a better-specced notebook machine for $799. Yeah, bigger screen, better hard drive, full burner, and everything. And, thanks to the power of OSx86, I could have my cake and eat it too. Apple’s customer support is alright (if you don’t mind waiting in lines at the Geek Bar at the local Apple Store), and you do have Parallels and Boot Camp at this point. But why not take the extra $200 and buy yourself a nice minifridge or something instead. If you want a white laptop that bad, there’s a $5 can of spray paint at the hardware store you can use. Just make sure to do it right.
4. It might be wise to spring for both a portable and desktop machine. Having the all-mighty notebook is nice…but if it breaks you’re going to be S.O.L. until you can get it replaced. If at all possible, it’s probably wisest for you to split the budget and do both a desktop and laptop setup. If you do it right, you can sync the two up filewise, so you don’t lose anything. And hell, if you’re trying to look for a gaming laptop, it will be a lot better to get the cheapest non-gaming, school-work-only laptop you can get and trick out a desktop instead. (Believe me, touchpad Unreal Tournament matches are not the best way to play.)
5. The frills usually aren’t worth it. I don’t care if you’re getting a free mousepad with every $300 you spend. I’ve heard several firsthand accounts of people getting talked into turning a sub-$1000 laptop into a $4000 cash cow. Follow along with the bullet below, and take advantage of everything you can to get what you need, but don’t spend a penny on useless extras like a photo printer or MP3 player dock for a player you don’t own unless it pertains to you or what you’ll be using with the PC.
6. SHOP AROUND. I can’t tell you how many times I myself have slapped myself for not doing this, but believe me, it’s worth the hassle. If you can hunt around and find a cheaper price, do it. Especially if you’ve got your mind set on a model, and the price is just a tad too high. Take advantage of price matching, free/reduced-cost shipping, and anything else that might help you get what you want for the cheapest price. Remember, you’re trying to save the money for other parts of your education, not get your wallet gouged. (I’d also say lie/cheat/steal here, but not only am I talking about things legitimately, it would be against my morals to encourage you to go around thieving. If you’re thinking it…get it out of your head.)
7. Built-in Wi-Fi (on a notebook) is a must. At this point, anything without a Wi-Fi card is a poor notebook indeed. There are just too many free hotspots available.
8. If you just can’t afford it new, go (gently) used. Inevitably, there’s going to be someone who just can’t afford the shiniest, even if it’s $200. In that case, turn to sites like eBay and Craigslist and see what people there can offer you. Remember to watch the cost though; if you aren’t paying attention, the used system is going to cost you more to purchase and maintain than something new. Work with the sellers, see what sacrifices the both of you can make. Some sellers will be more flexible than others, while others will be as rigid as the Sears Tower and not give you any leeway, so use your head.
9. Extended warranties are not always the best warranties. That’s how the majority of companies make money. And again, consider the average lifespan (3-5 years) and the progression of technology. If you’re clumsy to no end, sure, I’d recommend it simply because you might trip up the stairs while holding your laptop with one hand and a book in the other because you lost your balance. If you’re at least semi-protective of your belongings, you’ll be just fine.
10. Compare retail stores against well-known online stores. Yes, just because you got a deal at Best Buy means you got a deal at Best Buy. Check all of the competition and see what you can do. (Yes, this ties with #6.) A most-certainly-incomplete list of places to check:
    • Best Buy
    • Circuit City
    • Outpost/Fry’s Electronics
    • Staples
    • Office Depot
    • Office Max
    • TigerDirect
    • Newegg
    • Manufacturer’s websites (Dell, HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Apple, IBM/Lenovo, etc.)
    • Any Mom-and-Pop shops in your area
11. If after all this, you’re going to be using a system you already have, at least reformat it and reinstall the operating system.

I’d normally get into a discussion at this point about the best operating system for you (Windows, Linux, BSD, OS X, OS/2…), but that’s a no-brainer, as for most people it’s going to be Windows out of sheer compatibility and (to be greedy and personal) because I write software for it. If you’ve already gone too far and got something made by a company whose name and logo bear resemblance to fruit, go with Parallels and Boot Camp as I discussed back up there. If you’re an intrepid explorer, dual or triple boot Windows, OS X, and some flavor of Linux (I’m preferential to Ubuntu and Kubuntu myself.). Have fun with it, especially if you can find ways to use it to reduce your cost. I’ll add this though. Unless you’re buying new and it comes with it, there’s very little reason to get Windows Vista, and for your sake you’ll probably be better with Windows XP for the moment. This recommendation will probably change in about a year or two, but for the moment and with a look at the current outlook and available software, it’s the best (read: safest) option as far as I’m concerned.

(And for those of you who think I was paid to write this or something…I wasn’t. This is all straight from the horse’s mouth, prompted by the countless questions I’ve been asked, and written with no more bias than I usually have. )