02-Sep-2010 by dawog.

Not that anyone noticed (or cared, for that matter), Windows 95 turned 15 yrs old on Aug 24.  Actually, I found one site that noticed — OS News.

Now… I wasn’t particularly a Windows 95 fan, but I did like Windows 98 Second Edition & stayed with it well past the release of Windows XP.  I didn’t upgrade to XP until after Service Pack 2 was released.

Although my website is anything BUT popular, I thought the following compilation of operating system versions (OS) used by people visiting my site throughout this year was interesting:

You’ll note that there are still 167 folks using Windows 98, and 22 folks using Windows 95 and Windows NT.  In the full tabular data set posted below that supports the above graph, there are 9 people still using Windows 3.1.

Amazing, eh?

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

02-Sep-2010 by dawog.

The 40th Year of Project Gutenberg (PG) started on July 4, 2010.  That’s right - they’ve been producing eBooks of public domain works since 1971, almost exclusively by volunteers.  They surpassed 37,500 titles last month.

Here’s a list of Project Gutenberg’s top downloads.

If you haven’t visited their website, do so.  If you like what you see, write to your representatives and let them know you strongly disagree with current copyright law & the extensions that have been implemented over the past 89 years.  At the current copyright term (not to mention the rate at which Congress keeps extending it), the “Public Domain” as we know it will cease to exist — everything will be basically locked up forever by copyright law.

Our culture — in literature, art, music & yes, even movies — has developed & evolved by building upon previous works.  Congress is slowly & surely removing all ability to “build” upon previous works with their continuing extensions & modifications to copyright law.  Sooner than we realize, there will be nothing available to legally “build upon” due to copyright law.

Project Gutenberg website

Posted in Copyright | No Comments »

02-Sep-2010 by dawog.

In a recent speech at Belmont University in Nashville, TN, the US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (a.k.a. Uniform Foxtrot Delta Bravo) issues a blistering diatribe against music piracy.  He sided with the RIAA and urged internet service providers and content owners “to work collaboratively to combat intellectual property infringement online.”

Here’s what The Telegraph had to say (Digital piracy is ‘unadulterated theft’, says Obama administration)

For an EXCELLENT rebuttal on everything said by UFDB (Gary Locke), see Mike Masnick’s article over at Techdirt.  You’ve got to read it!

And now… for my rant… <BEGIN RANT>
Can it get any more ridiculous?  If our politicians & executive department heads are only going to say & do what corporations are paying them to do (i.e., MPAA, RIAA, etc.), then why should we even bother with electing and/or appointing them?  Let’s cut out the “middle men” & get rid of politicians!  Let Corporate America RUN America!  Seeing as they wouldn’t have to spend millions bribing (oops!  uh, contributing to) our politicians to do their bidding, maybe they’d be willing to give the citizenship a break and forgo salaries, benefits, etc., etc.  I know… a crappy idea.  I’m just getting extremely tired of the endless stream of Victor India’s (VI’s –>Village Idiots) that keep populating the offices of the US Government.  You know… .”..and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” has now apparently become “…and that government of the people, by the corporations, for the corporations, shall not perish from the earth.”  So where do we go from here???

<END RANT>

Posted in Copyright | No Comments »

02-Sep-2010 by dawog.

Amazing!  In only 3 days the director, Simon Klose, has raised the necessary $25,000 for creating this documentary.  They’re now up to $36,000 with 24 days left to go (TPB AFK KickStarter Project Page).

I’m grateful to know that there are 1247 other “fans” out there that feel the same way as I do about TPB.

Looking forward to the documentary!!!

• Techdirt Article
• TorrentFreak Article

Posted in Copyright | No Comments »

28-Aug-2010 by dawog.

From the Kickstarter Project web page, “… this is a documentary about three computer addicts who revolutionized the world of media distribution with their hobby homepage. How did Tiamo, a beer crazy hardware fanatic, Brokep a tree hugging eco activist and Anakata, a paranoid cyber libertarian, get the White House to threaten the Swedish government with trade sanctions? TPB AFK explores what Hollywood’s most hated pirates go through on a personal level.”

The director, Simon Klose, needs financial assistance in making this documentary a reality.  The documentary home page is here.  The financial assistance pledge page is here.  Watch the video & see if you don’t think this is a WORTHY cause!  Despite many folks thinking that P2P & TPB are four letter words, I beg to differ.  I donated $100, as I want to see this documentary!

Posted in Copyright | No Comments »

28-Aug-2010 by dawog.

Just in case you didn’t see it at the top of the “Physician” side of the Hapad web site, they provide a useful manual that addresses “Common Sense Solutions to Common Foot Complaints” and recommends various Hapad products to address your foot problem(s).  It’s titled “Physician’s In-Service Manual.”

I didn’t notice the manual the first few times I visited & ordered from Hapad, Inc.  In fact, for “Post Tibial Tendinitis” they recommend the “3/4 Length Comf-Orthotic Insole“  along with Scaphoid Pads if needed for more arch support.

As stated in my previous post, I really like the Longitudinal Metatarsal Pads with one of Hapad’s Comf-Orthotic Sports Replacement Insoles on top, but I think I’ll order a pair of the 3/4 Length Comf-Orthotic Insoles to place on top of Scaphoid Pads just to see if they feel even better.

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

14-Aug-2010 by dawog.

Wow!  Can you believe it?  Western Digital is offering their own “WD Edition” of Acronis True Image for free download that features:

- Drive Cloning
- Drive Migration
- Drive Deployment
- Drive Image Backup
- Drive Image Recovery
– and more…

In addition, it is designed to create optimally aligned partitions on WD Advanced Format Drives.  I visited the Acronis & Paragon web sites, and neither mention or acknowledge that they have updated their current software versions to handle Advanced Format Drives.  That means if you use either of these programs to clone a HDD to a WD Advanced Format HDD, you’ll still need to run Western Digital’s alignment utilities on the cloned HDD when you’re through  — even with Vista or Windows 7.  BUT… if you use Western Digital’s version of Acronis True Image to clone your HDD to an Advanced Format Drive, you’ll be set & won’t have to run the alignment utility.

Western Digital’s version of Acronis True Image will (hopefully) provide a complete solution to HDD cloning; migration; backup; and recovery.  I say “hopefully”, as I haven’t tried it yet.  I downloaded the 100MB file, but I already have Acronis True Image Home v11 software installed on my desktop (and it knows diddly-squat about “Advance Format Drives”).

I would assume that Western Digital’s version of Acronis True Image only works with Western Digital HDDs, but this is still fantastic!  IMHO, hard drive manufacturers should have been providing software such as this from the beginning.  We — the customers — buy their hard drives to store all of our precious data on them.  Why must we purchase 3rd party software to clone, migrate, backup & recover data from their HDDs????

Anyway’s… KUDOs to Western Digital!!!

You can download the User Manual for “Acronis True Image WD Edition” here.

Now… if they would just add a disk partitioning tool or partition manager, I’d truly be a happy man!

Posted in Computer | No Comments »

13-Aug-2010 by dawog.

For those of you out there running Windows XP & dealing with Western Digital’s new “Advanced Format” HDDs, I just noticed that WD has updated their Advanced Format Alignment Utilities since I last blogged about this.  The “Acronis WD Align” utility was updated to version 1.0.0.314 on 4/26/10; the “Paragon WD Align” utility was updated to version 2.11615.6 on 7/21/10.

I visited the Acronis & Paragon web sites, and neither mentions anything concerning Western Digital’s “Advanced Format” HDDs.  If they haven’t updated their software, then you’ll still need WD’s Alignment Software if you use either of these programs when cloning a HDD to a WD Advanced Format Drive — even under Vista or Windows 7.

In addition, WD now offers “Acronis True Image WD Edition” software for (hopefully) a complete solution to HDD cloning; migration; backup; and recovery.  See my next blog post on this topic for more information.

Posted in Computer | No Comments »

31-Jul-2010 by dawog.

———————————————————————————————————
DISCLAIMER:  I am not a podiatrist, foot doctor, orthotic specialist, etc.  I’m just an average, run-of-the-mill schmuck who thought $400 per pair for custom orthotics was excessive.
———————————————————————————————————

In December, 2008, I woke up unable to walk on my left foot.  I was diagnosed with “Posterior Tibial Tendonitis, Type II.”  The result was a fallen arch.  The ankle specialist prescribed an orthopedic boot ($225) for 6 weeks, followed by physical therapy & custom orthotic insert ($400).

Not knowing what I know now, I paid full price ($225) for the orthopedic boot.  Unfortunately, I could have gotten a used one on eBay for $45; a new one on eBay for $75; and a new one from MedexSupply for $104.  My insurance didn’t cover any portion of the boot.  Didn’t really care as the boot took away all the pain I had been experiencing.

Next came the custom orthotic inserts for $400.  Again, not knowing anything about these, I went ahead and purchased a set.  Of course, my insurance paid nothing for orthotic inserts either.

I wore the orthotic inserts for a week and went back because they were painful, especially on my left foot.  It felt like it needed more arch support.  The orthotic specialist placed a HAPAD, Inc. “Scaphoid Pad” (medial arch pad made of felt) on the left orthotic insert.  Although it didn’t hurt as much, it now felt like it had too much arch support.

I hate wearing shoes when I get home from work.  Inside, I used to always go barefoot in the summer; barefoot w/thick socks in the winter.  Outside, when not at work, I always wore sandals.  Well, now the doctor says NOT to go barefoot or wear sandals.  I tried to place the orthotic inserts in a pair of my sandals, but no go — they just slid out the back.  The orthotic guy sold me a pair of cheap crocs ($36) in which he placed the HAPAD, Inc. scaphoid pads ($25) & said I could wear those.  They felt pretty good, but the crocs pretty much sucked.

I was now anxious to see if I could place these scaphoid pads in my sandals.  I went to the HAPAD, Inc. web site & found that for fallen arches, they recommended the Longitudinal Metatarsal Arch Pads for $5.75 per pair.  Their Scaphoid Pads are only $5.25 per pair (almost 5 times less than the orthotics shop sold them for).

I first placed the scaphoid pads in two pair of my sandals.  They felt great!  I removed them & then installed the Longitudinal Metatarsal Arch Pads.  They felt even better!  In fact, much better than the custom orthotic inserts felt in my regular walking shoes.  I got to wondering if I could use these in all my regular shoes.

Well… that’s primarily what HAPAD manufactures them for — shoes, not necessarily sandals.  HAPAD also sells Comf-Orthotic Sports & Extra Cushioning Insoles ($14.50), and these are perfect for placement on top of the Longitudinal Metatarsal Arch Pads or Scaphoid Pads that are placed in the bottom of each shoe.

Oh… before doing this, you need to remove whatever insole is present in your shoes.  I’ve found some shoes in which the insole is glued in… it’s difficult to use them with these pads unless you can get the original insoles out.

Anywho’s… I’ve been wearing my “custom” orthotics (HAPAD Longitudinal Metatarsal Arch Pads with Comf-Orthotic Sports or Extra Cushioning Insoles) in all my shoes for over a year now & my feet haven’t felt this good in over a decade.  In addition, with either the scaphoid pads or longitudinal metatarsal arch pads, I still get to wear all my sandals whenever I want, including all day, with my feet still feeling great.  Only thing I don’t do anymore is go barefoot.

And the cost?  For shoes, about $20 per pair.  For sandals (pads only), less than $6 per pair.  Sure beats the heck out of $400 custom orthotics!

Note:  If you visit the HAPAD web site via their home page, be sure to enter the “Patient Guide” side vs. the “Physician’s Guide” side, as the prices are slightly less on the Patient side.

Posted in Misc | 1 Comment »

31-Jul-2010 by dawog.

I’ve always wondered why it is that I never have to poop when I’m somewhere where it would be either extremely inconvenient to take a dump; extremely difficult to take a dump; or nigh impossible to take a dump.  Even over a 3 day (or more) period!  Why is that?  I certainly didn’t “will” myself to NOT have the urge to poop (although I’d certainly relish that ability!).  Yet when I’m in a “poop-friendly” environment (i.e., my own home), when the urge to poop arrives, I’ve usually got only a minute or two to hit the toilet before all hell breaks loose.  Luckily, over my lifetime, I’ve always been able to reach a toilet in time.  So again I ask — why hasn’t this ever occurred when a toilet isn’t conveniently available or I’m in a “poop-unfriendly” environment?  For example, I never get the urge to poop when driving (unless I have diarrhea, in which case there’s a nasty rumor that I shit my pants on my way to work… unfortunately, it’s true).

In summary:

• I never need or get the urge to poop when I’m somewhere where I can’t poop or it would be extremely difficult or inconvenient to do so (i.e., a “poop-unfriendly” environment) .

• I get the urge to poop & poop often when I’m in a “poop-friendly” environment

Is this normal?  Don’t know.  Is this bad?  Don’t think so.  It’s just that when I get less than a 2-minute warning of imminent poop when I’m in a poop-friendly environment, it makes me wonder (not to mention, worry) what would happen if I was in a “Poop-Unfriendly” environment.  Luckily, it’s never happened over the past 4+ decades.

I’ve never had a ‘regular’ poop schedule except for about a week one summer when I was 20 years old.  At that time I did have a schedule where I went poop every morning around 2:00 AM.  But there were unusual circumstances (i.e., it was a very “poop-unfriendly” environment).  It was the summer after my freshman year in college & I was a 4th Class Navy Midshipman stationed at the San Diego Naval Station for training.  A hundred or so of us were housed in condemned barracks that were slated for destruction.  The only bathroom available to us was approx. 20 ft x 40 ft in size, with a urinal trough running down one side of the long wall (no dividers).  Across from the trough urinal was a row of a dozen or more toilets, approximately 3 ft apart, with NO dividers, NO stalls, NO NOTHING.  Well… I have enough difficulties just taking a leak (when sober) standing 12″ away from someone else with no divider in place.  There is no way in hell I could poop out in the open in a room full of people AND sitting right next to one or two other folks.  Remember–no stalls; no dividers; no NOTHING!  So… without any decision or conscious thinking on my part, I’d wake up around 2 AM every night with the urge to poop, and I had the bathroom ALL to my little self.  Well… almost all to myself.  There were these huge roaches that you could hear walking across the bathroom floor.  The lights went out automatically @ 10PM & we couldn’t turn them on.  I purposely kept my flashlight off just so I couldn’t see how many of the huge buggers were in there with me, tip-tapping across the floor…

OK… enough crap.  I’m pooped.

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

31-Jul-2010 by admin.

Yes!  Just what you’ve been waiting for!  Pictures of baby guinea hens!  Guinea hens are native to Africa, but Wikipedia says that their proper name is “Guineafowl.”  I can vouch for the “fowl” part — they can be both loud & obnoxious (not to mention, just plain “fowl”).

These are the remaining two chicks from six live ones that the mothers let the Magpies ravage.  After the Magpie massacre, one chick & a couple eggs remained.  My wife put the eggs in with the chickens & one more guinea hen hatched, giving us the two in these pictures.

My wife has a thing for guinea hens & loves watching them.  I suppose I, too, have a thing for guinea hens… but MY thing involves a shotgun (heh, heh).

Anyway’s… the chicks are cute for the first couple weeks… then they start growing quickly, get ugly, and STINK!  (kinda’ like me, I suspect).

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

31-Jul-2010 by admin.

If you haven’t read any of the items in my previously posted “Copyright/Intellectual Property (IP) Reading List” (and I assume you haven’t), then please read this excellent essay by Lydia Pallas Loren titled “The Purpose of Copyright Law.”  Ms. Loren, an Associate Professor of Law, Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, does a superb job of providing a succinct overview of US copyright law — from a brief history to our current (& sad) situation today.  She  astutely explains “... the misunderstanding held by many who believe that the primary purpose of copyright law is to protect authors against those who would pilfer the author’s work.“

Copyright is simply a government-granted monopoly to (from the Constitution) “…promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

Well… when first enacted in the U.S., “limited times” meant 14 years, renewable only once for an additional 14 years.  As Ms. Loren notes, “…we must all realize that too broad a monopoly will impede rather than promote that progress on which this country was founded.“

While Ms. Loren doesn’t advocate eliminating copyright protection, as far as I’m concerned — copyright is already dead & buried.  Congress, at the whim of the content owning industries, has so distorted the meaning of “limited times” and copyright law in general (not to mention the 1997 No Electronic Theft Act or 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act) that as far as I’m concerned, US copyright law as it exists today has been rendered completely invalid.

Copyright law?  What copyright law?  Congress has destroyed it!

Posted in Copyright | No Comments »

13-Jun-2010 by dawog.

What’s a “PRO”?  Performance Rights Organization

What are they?  IMHO, they’re completely useless parasitic organizations that “supposedly” represent copyright holders, particularly royalty collection.  They travel around & visit restaurants, bars, coffee shops, offices, libraries and even church groups & 4-H conferences  — any venue that plays music - either via CDs, radios, or live performances - and they demand licensing payments (which aren’t cheap).  If a vendor or non-profit organization refuses to pay, then they sue them for their use of copyrighted music.  Penalties in court can range from $750 to $30,000 per song.

Who are they?

• ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) formed in 1914
• BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) formed in 1939
• SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors & Composers) formed in 1930

How long has this been going on?  Only for decades.  They even tried to collect royalties from the Girl Scouts in 1996 for songs around the campfire.  Yet another example of how ridiculous copyright has become.

Why do we care?  These organizations are killing off many small, local venues where new musicians or local bands are allowed to play (i.e., open mic nights, etc.).  Even if the band/musician agrees ahead of time to not play any cover songs, the PROs still insist upon collecting license fees.  And it isn’t just live performances they go after - you cannot legally play a CD or even a radio in a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, etc.  Is this just plain nuts or what???

And remember — it’s not just businesses that are at risk.  These asinine copyright rules also apply to non-profit organizations such as libraries, churches, 4-H, etc.

The latest example is a small coffee shop in a Manchester, NH, strip mall, which after numerous threats from PROs had to end their music program.  See Techdirt’s take on this. For previous examples, see the following Techdirt posts:

• Jan 2007
• May 2007 (Club Owner Has To Pay $40,000 Because A Cover Band Played 10 Songs)
• Jan 2009

Sickening, eh?  And the above posts are merely the pointy tip of a huge iceberg.  (oh… that’s right… no more icebergs due to global warming… rats!)

Posted in Copyright | No Comments »

24-May-2010 by dawog.

You probably didn’t hear about this, but James Murdoch (aka Mr. Buffoon, Jr) was asked to address University College in London on the anniversary of the first copyright law 300 years ago.  James is the son of  Rupert Murdoch (aka Mr. Buffoon, Sr), who is chairman & CEO of News Corporation.  Like father like son, Buffoon Jr has an even more twisted & distorted view of copyright as his dad, Buffoon Sr, who is implementing a paywall around many of his news publications (see “Rupert Murdoch’s Pathetic Paywall“) .

Mike Masnick @ Techdirt does an OUTSTANDING job of refuting nearly every statement concerning copyright made my Buffoon, Jr in his post “James Murdoch Lectures On Copyright, But Still Seems Confused.”  James Murdoch is merely repeating the same story line that the content industry has been preaching for many, many moons (eons, maybe?).  I imagine they (including the RIAA & MPAA) must think that if they keep repeating — over and over — the same falsehoods concerning copyright & piracy, that people will eventually believe it and take it as fact.  I’d like to think (or at least hope) that most intelligent people would see it for the trash that it is.  Of course, it appears our Congress,  Senate & Courts (along with the entire administration) have fallen for it “hook, line & sinker.”  Oh… my mistake… I stated “most intelligent people”…. that certainly rules out these folks, eh?  (My bad)

Anywho’s… enjoy the read!  It’s a long post, but well worth the time.  It’s not only educational AND entertaining, it’s also a hoot!  BRAVO, MR. MASNICK!

Posted in Copyright | No Comments »

23-May-2010 by dawog.

<BEGIN RANT>
Is it just me?  Hasn’t both the length & number of commercials gotten utterly ridiculous over the past few years?  I timed two programs over the past month, one on cable at a friend’s house & one on commercial broadcast TV.  Both averaged nearly 5 minutes of commercials for every 6.5 minutes of content.  If the time & number of commercials isn’t bad enough, add in that they also repeat the SAME crappy commercial numerous times during a 2 hr period.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but too much airing of the same commercial pretty much turns me off on ANYTHING that commercial sponsor offers.

Maybe I’m just oversensitive.  My only source of TV (of which I watch very little) is via over-the-air commercial broadcasts.  When they made the transition from analog to digital last year, as expected I lost more than half of our previous stations (I live in a rural area).  For those stations we lost, I now download from the Internet what we used to watch on those stations.  Uh… gee… uh… OUTSTANDING QUALITY & NO COMMERCIALS!!!  Maybe watching all this high quality, commercial-free content from the Internet over the past year has made me overly sensitive?   Nyah… that’s not it.

Don’t get me wrong — I understand the business model for commercials & free over-the-air broadcast TV.  It’s just that, IMHO, the length & number of commercials has gone way beyond what is reasonable or tolerable.  I, frankly, can no longer tolerate it.  It just amazes me that all the millions of cable subscribers out there continue to tolerate their steadily increasing rates, coupled with increasing quantity of commercials.  When I last had cable (over 14 years ago), all the channels had significantly fewer commercials than broadcast TV (except for the local broadcast channels, TBS & WGN).  Now nearly all the channels on cable appear as dicked up with commercials as regular over-the-air broadcast TV.  SUCH A DEAL!!!

As mentioned previously, I’ve never watched much TV and after 12 yrs of “getting screwed by cable” in Northern Virginia, I vowed I’d never again get cable.  I’m also not interested in satellite TV.  But seeing how many (& how long) commercials are aired, not just on broadcast TV but now even on cable & satellite, well… I’ve pretty much had my fill of it.  I understand that with a DVR I could fast forward through all the commercials.  What I don’t get is how frakking stupid the networks are!  With everybody fast forwarding through the commercials with their DVRs over the past several years, what do the networks do?  Show even more & longer commercials?  AND… they now steal screen real estate & put them on while the program is still airing?  WHAT A BUNCH OF FRAKKING IDIOTS!!!  In my opinion, they’re doing everything within their power to turn people off on broadcast/cable/satellite TV.  And I tell ya… it’s definitely working for me.  About the only channel we watch in our household anymore is PBS.  Granted - their fund raising drives can get a little irritating, but hey… that’s kinda how they survive, and it’s only a few times a year.  My recommendation?  Support your local PBS!

Just my “2-cents” opinion…
<END RANT>

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

23-May-2010 by dawog.

If you don’t yet have one of these, I’d highly recommend one (or more).  I’ve been using them for over 12 years, and just bought my 4th & 5th units.  In the past I’ve mainly used them to guard against power surges, spikes, sags, brownouts and other power abnormalities.  But they also make great backup power supplies for DSL/Cable modems, routers, cordless phones, laptops and/or netbooks, cell phones, etc.

The first three I purchased have been used on my desktop systems, not necessarily for their “uninterrupted” power, but primarily because of their superior surge protection.  When connected to a UPS, I’ve never lost any electronic eqmt due to power surges, lightning, etc.

I purchased my two most recent UPS’s for devices other than my PCs (although they’ll make great backups for my 7 yr old UPS’s).  One is for my DSL modem/wireless router, network switches and VTech cordless phones.  The other is for recharging my laptop when the power is out.  If I had a new wide-screen HDTV & home theater setup, I’d put all of that equipment on a UPS, too.

Power outages at our house over the past 14 years have gone from monthly to just a few times a year.  Even so, it’s a royal pain in the arse when all your phones are cordless… can’t even call the power company to tell them the power is out (we don’t have cell phone coverage at our home, and I can’t imagine where I last saw one of our old “Ma Bell” hardwired phones).  Even more disruptive is being cut-off from the Internet!  With my DSL modem & wireless router attached to a UPS, I can still surf the Internet with my laptop/netbook for hours, or as long as the laptop/netbook batteries last.  (That’s why I purchased an extra UPS just for powering/recharging my laptop & netbook.)  A UPS is also great for charging your iPhone, iTouch, cell phone, mp3 player, etc., etc., etc.

What UPS to buy?  It looks like the “main” brands are APC, Tripp Lite, CyberPower & Eaton.  APC is the most expensive, but that’s what brand all five of my units are.  The only reason I bought APC is that’s what Sam’s Club sells (at a reasonable discount).  The last two APC units I bought were Model # BN1250G (1250VA/750Watt) for $145 each.  If I had it to do over again, I think I’d go with either the Eaton Powerware 5110 1500VA/900Watt or CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD (1500VA/900Watt).  Both are available on-line for about the same price (or less) than I paid for the APC 1250VA units.  Amazon.com has one of the bigger selection of UPS’s at reasonable prices, but be sure to check out pricegrabber.com for the lowest price.  Just make sure you shop around, as prices vary as much as 100% for the same units.

What size should you get?  I’d recommend getting the largest capacity you can afford (i.e., 1500 VA / 900 Watts).  More capacity means more time on the battery per given load.  As a minimum, I’d get double your estimated load.  For example, if your PC & monitor consume 300 Watts, I’d get at least a 600 Watt unit.  As long as you purchase double the estimated load, you should get 10-15 minutes of battery time should the power go out.  Again… the higher the capacity of the UPS, the more time of usage you’ll get on the battery with your current load.  When your only load is a DSL/Cable modem and wireless router, you should get hours of use with a higher capacity unit.

With respect to connectivity, each of the above brands connect to your PC & have software that save & close any open files and safely shutdown your PC during a power outage.

Although the batteries used in a UPS are usually warranted for only 2 or 3 years, I’ve only had to replace one set and that was after 7 years of continuous use with numerous power outages.

If you don’t have a portable/standby power generator in your home inventory, an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is convenient to have on hand.  Its uses are only limited by your imagination & the power capacity of the unit.  But don’t forget — the PRIMARY purpose of a UPS is to protect your electronic equipment!  I strongly recommend that you use one with all electronic equipment that you value.

Posted in Computer | No Comments »

16-May-2010 by dawog.

 (RE: Gizmodo article; Wired article “Facebook’s Gone Rogue“; Washington Post article “Facebook meets the ‘Unlike’ Button“)

Yip-pee!  I feel vindicated!  I’ve ignored OODLES of requests to join Facebook over the past few years from family & friends.  Most folks just think I’m unsocial.  Well, they’re right.  Let’s see… let me look up the technical definition of what I am… oh yeah… I’m supposedly an anti- or unsocial turd (& proud of it, I might add), or just call me a “social introvert.”

Whatever… I actually prefer having my own web site and blog, where I have some control over what I release (or don’t release) about myself and that nobody reads except me.  Not so with Facebook.  In my opinion, whatever you put on Facebook… it’s going to get out (if not already out there for all, or at least advertisers, to see).  Of course… whether or not you have a “presence” on the web, there’s still likely info about you on-line.

What kinda’ irritates me about “Facebook Invites” is that you have to create an account just to see what whomever invited you to see.  No thanks.  I’m kind of an “anti-sheep” kind of guy.  Whenever a large # of people think something is really great, then I begin to wonder why & tend to move in an opposite direction.  I detest fads, and avoid them like the plague.

Is social networking like Facebook & MySpace a fad?  Don’t know, don’t care.  I’m just not interested in social networking.  Don’t forget — I’m what you call a “social turd.”

For reasons NOT to delete your Facebook acct, see this.

And for the ultimate reality check & why the blame ultimately rests with “us,” see this.

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

25-Apr-2010 by dawog.

Here’s what Spring in Colorado looks like this year, 15 miles NE of Colorado Springs.  Received approx. 22″ of snow between midnight Thurs and Saturday afternoon:

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20-Apr-2010 by dawog.

Meant to post this a couple weeks ago — an interesting blog post at “Freedom to Tinker” comparing the iPad to Disneyland .

(Remember… this isn’t an iPad slam… just an interesting comparison… and one that I happen to think is apt)

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20-Apr-2010 by dawog.

We never saw these birds the first several years we lived here, but they arrived one Spring 7-8 years ago.  We quickly constructed some bluebird nest boxes and they have been returning ever since.  These photos were taken April 7, 2010, on or near the bird feeder.

(They kinda’ look fake, eh?  But I assure you, they’re real!  Mighty purdy birds they are.)

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