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By Brian, August 27, 2008 3:08 pm

I ran out of time and energy for a while to keep some updates to the site.

Sadly, I slipped up and started smoking again so it looks like I’m going to have to start that process all over again.

Also of note, I’ve started a new job working the help desk at a local software company this week. For those of you that are googling me from there – /wave

I have had some random hardware issues here and there with this PC that I suspect are related to over heating. I might post some pictures of my modifications at some point. I moved it to a more ventilated case and reconfigured the fan locations to pull more heat away from the components that get the hottest.

My hard drive crashed over the summer. Prior to getting the above mentioned configuration working well, my drive started to make the dreaded “click-click-whirr” sound and the BIOS couldn’t see it. I did manage to get it to boot a few times afterward, but it inevitably would lock up at some point so I stopped.

My girlfriend, the sweetie she is, gave me 250gb drive to replace it with and I successfully transferred all of my data. I still have the odd problem with the computer, but that’s mostly related to the wireless device and network.

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By Brian, January 24, 2008 6:30 pm

I have an install disc for Windows XP, and an upgrade license. I actually have all of the original discs for the upgrade path still. I have even been diligent enough to remove it from previous PCs when I have done a major platform upgrade.

In other words, I have been very careful to jump through all of Microsoft’s little hoops to legally use their software. During my recent adventures in Linux I accidentally turfed my NTFS partition – it was readable from Linux but no longer recognized by Windows even in safe mode or from the recovery console.

This past weekend I set aside some time to clean up that mess, and reinstall everything. I loathe doing it because my XP disc is an original release so I have to download many gigabytes of updates to get current. Big snag – likely due to all of my hardware changes over the years, my license key appears to have been flagged as invalid.

This is quite annoying since as I have previously stated – to the best of my knowledge I have done everything Microsoft asks of me in the license. I have been putting off calling their tech support out of fear of being on the phone for a long time and (since their servers seem to think I’m a software pirate) being told I am out of luck.

Here is the shocking part: This was one of the fastest, easiest and most pleasant support experiences I have ever had! After going through their voice activated phone system, I was promptly transferred to a human being – I had to wait at most 30 seconds for this to occur. I have made some overseas calls before, and the time it took to connect was comparable.

I have no doubt that I was speaking to someone over in India or the surrounding area since that’s the support trend, and the representative had an Eastern accent. She asked me a few basic questions – what is the first group of numbers on the screen, did the software come with my PC, is it installed on any other PCs and is this the first time I have tried to activate it. (######, no, no but it has been and since removed and of course no again)
She then had me enter a sequence of numbers into the boxes on the screen, which she relayed very clearly and voila! Everything is up and running.

On the whole, I do not like Microsoft’s registration system – but I give them grudging kudos for making the telephone activation painless and efficient. Then again, maybe I just got an experienced agent – I wish I had recorded her name so I could sing her praise via an email to Microsoft.

Now, if only they could make their operating systems as efficient…

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By Brian, December 6, 2007 1:56 pm

It’s the online sensation that has swept the world – Facebook. Up until now, the data they have collected has been only what you provided them. Now with their new Beacon project, they’ve started to reach beyond the confines of their domain, and collect information that you may not have authorized them to.

It’s no secret to anyone who has read the privacy policy that Facebook is not just a social networking tool, but a method of collecting consumer data which is used for marketing purposes. That’s why it’s important not to put anything on their site that you wouldn’t want shared in this manner such as phone numbers, business email addresses and the like. Otherwise, it seems fairly benign, or at least it was until now.

Bought a product on a Beacon partner’s website? They tell Facebook, who adds a notification onto your feed. Sure, you can opt-out and delete the message – but Facebook still knows, and have been unresponsive to questions as to what happens to that data after you delete it from your feed. Is it really deleted, or merely hidden?
The plot thickens – not all of the Beacon partner sites are collecting just purchase information. Some are collecting information on your interests based on your browsing activities on their websites.

What all of this means is that Facebook is collecting personalized data on you that you didn’t explicitly give them. They are using it to aim targeted ads at you and your social circle – and quite likely they’re selling this marketing data to their partners.

A further questionable move on their part is that this new initiative is enabled by default for all users – you must edit your privacy configuration to opt-out of the program. The motivation behind this is fairly obvious – not too many people would likely go out of their way to add Beacon to their profile since it has no appeal to the end-user, only the advertisers.

Apparently some of the initial partners (such as Coke) are cooling to the idea and taking a wait-and-see-what-happens approach to Beacon. They claim they where led to believe it would be an opt-in program – but the cynic in me thinks that’s just PR spin to distance themselves from Facebook in case it crashes and burns.

All and all, I can honestly say – shame on you Mark Zuckerberg.

Edit: It's come to my attention that Facebook has partially reversed it's policy and allowed for a global opt-out, instead of a site-by-site opt-out... However you are in fact automatically added to Beacon services unless you ask to be removed.
To do that: Go to Privacy > External Websites and put a check in the box.


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