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Toward the Future, Tablet in Hand

Back in January when I bought an Android tablet, I promised an update after I had used it for a while. Well, it's been 3 months since I bought the Asus Transformer and I've developed an intense love-hate relationship with the tablet and some disturbing suspicions about the abilities of Asus technical support. Despite those problems and questions, I'm still somewhat pleased with the tablet's capabilities even though I've returned it to Asus for service.

There's a lot to like. There's a lot to dislike.

Apple or Android?

I don't like Apple's end-to-end control philosophy that Steve Jobs created. This is the philosophy that says users don't need to know what's inside and shouldn't be able to modify it. The Apple II was the last device Jobs made that could be modified by users. Although I don't like that philosophy, it has allowed Apple to create closed-system devices that work exactly as designed. In the post-Jobs era, that's not likely to change.

Apple's tablets are superior in many ways to the polyglot world of Android devices just as Apple computers are more predictable than systems built by the thousands of companies who build computers that run Windows.

What this says is that I would probably be happier with an Apple Ipad than with an Android tablet but that's probably not going to happen because I value the more open Android system.

This opinion is subject to change when Asus someday returns my repaired Transformer tablet. After approximately one week, repair or replacement was complete. I won't receive the repaired until after this week's program has "gone to press", been "put to bed", or "transcribed" (depending on your mode and reference point). So stay tuned!

Are You an Expert, a King, a Butterfly, or a Maestro?

What are you -- an efficiency expert, a content king, a social butterfly, or a connected maestro? According to IBM, you probably fit into one of those categories. The conclusions of an IBM study were released at this year's National Association of Broadcasters convention and it can't have done anything to help broadcast owners sleep better at night.

IBM surveyed 3,800 consumers in the United States, China, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, and also met with global representatives in broadcasting, publishing, media service agencies, and telecommunication providers. Probably to the surprise of some, the results were similar in most countries. And, yes, that includes consumers in China.

For example, when an important event occurs, more than 50% of the survey participants in both the US and China said that they first turn to online sources, not to broadcast media. IBM says that four distinct new "digital personalities" are emerging and that media companies must adapt to deliver personalized experiences. Broadcast can't do that easily, if at all; Web-based services can and many already do.

The "Beyond Digital" study shows a rapidly changing audience that is quickly adopting a wide range of digital devices. And -- surprise -- they're not all 20-somethings. For example, 65% of respondents aged 55 to 64 report surfing the Web and texting with friends while watching TV. How about the over-65 crowd? Nearly half (49%) use the Web and 30% use some sort of device for texting. If you widen the age range to include users from 18 through 64, 82% own at least one digital device with Internet access.

How many do you own? Something as basic as an Ipod Touch has Wi-Fi built in. So so most electronic readers. Tablets, of course, and notebook computers. And just about any cell phone you buy now will be able to send and receive text messages.

The New Personalities

The IBM study identified 4 general types of users and you might find the names, descriptions, and distinctions interesting. Here's how IBM describes them:

What This Means

IBM survey resultsAccording to study co-author Saul Berman, Global Strategy Consulting Leader at IBM, "Media companies need to engage with consumers based on their digital personalities, if they are going to maintain a sustainable and connected relationship." Because what we now call the "old media" can't do this, they need to use the "new media" to provide services that consumers want.

Berman says that the expanded use of digital devices will allow print and broadcast operations to "extend or redefine the customer experience" by providing near-real-time information. "Future success is dependent," he says, "upon successfully executing on insights based on this data, to reach the right consumer, at the right time and place, using the right tools."

The old media have had trouble monetizing online services and, because most consumers seem to consider it anathema to actually pay for content, monetizing the service is essential. Journalists don't work for free although many would if they didn't need to provide food and shelter for their families.

The study points out the obvious: The need for payment option flexibility, even for the same set of consumers, is apparent by looking at those most active in adopting new devices. This group's preferred mode of payment to watch a movie on a website is by viewing advertising that is included with the movie (39% of this segment chose this option), while they prefer to see movies on a tablet by purchasing a subscription (chosen by 36%). But to watch movies on a smart phone, they prefer to pay per use (the payment choice of 36%).

IBM has been performing this kind of research for the past 4 years. The surveys are conducted by the Institute of Business Value. The reports have all focused on the transition from physical to digital distribution of information and the impact this transformation has on consumers, the media, and the entertainment industry.

Ever Wonder How Spam Filters Work?

Spam filters come in all sorts of flavors and you'll find them in many locations. Some Internet service providers perform spam filtering that identifies and deletes messages that are positively determined to be spam. Your e-mail program may have a built-in spam filter and you may also use a separate application or a plug-in for your e-mail program.

Most e-mail clients have user-defined filtering mechanisms that can send individual messages to specific mail boxes depending on the sender, the recipient, or something in the subject line, body text, or message headers.

The header filters are the most sophisticated. It's possible to have a process that detects forged headers and any message with a forged header is guaranteed to be spam. The reverse isn't true, though. A message without a forged header is not guaranteed to be good. Because many spammers forge information in the headers, this test can eliminate a lot of junk.

At the other end of the spectrum are filters that drop all messages that are in a language other than yours. If you're monolingual and never expect to receive any legitimate messages from someone whose native language isn't English, you can set a filter like this.

Among the most involved filters are those that try to evaluate the contents of the message. Virtually all filters like these will occasionally filter messages you want so you'll need to counter them with a whitelist that explicitly allows messages from certain senders or domains.

One of the better know systems that look at the message content is Spam Assassin. These kinds of systems contain many rules that try to differentiate between valid messages and junk.

Lots of capital letters (particularly if they includes words such as "CLICK HERE!", "FREE!", or "BUY NOW!") will trigger a response. The originating IP address may be compared to a real-time blacklist of IP addresses from which spam has recently originated. For example, some of Spam Assassin's rules assign positive numbers (higher numbers are more spammy) and negative numbers (indicating that the message is less likely to be spam.) Spam Assassin adds these ratings to the message header. For example:

 pts rule name              description
---- ---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
 1.6 URIBL_WS_SURBL         Contains an URL listed in the WS SURBL blocklist
                            [URIs: spermlittle.com]
 1.2 URIBL_JP_SURBL         Contains an URL listed in the JP SURBL blocklist
                            [URIs: spermlittle.com]
 1.7 URIBL_DBL_SPAM         Contains an URL listed in the DBL blocklist
                            [URIs: spermlittle.com]
 1.5 URIBL_RHS_DOB          Contains an URI of a new domain (Day Old Bread)
                            [URIs: spermlittle.com]
 0.0 FSL_HELO_NON_FQDN_1    FSL_HELO_NON_FQDN_1
 0.5 HK_NAME_FREE           From name mentions free stuff
 0.0 HTML_MESSAGE           BODY: HTML included in message
 0.8 BAYES_50               BODY: Bayes spam probability is 40 to 60%
                            [score: 0.4901]
 1.4 RCVD_IN_BRBL_LASTEXT   RBL: RCVD_IN_BRBL_LASTEXT
                           [116.202.142.221 listed in bb.barracudacentral.org]
 1.6 URIBL_SBL              Contains an URL listed in the SBL blocklist
                            [URIs: spermlittle.com]
 0.8 RDNS_NONE              Delivered to internal network by a host with no rDNS
 0.0 HELO_NO_DOMAIN         Relay reports its domain incorrectly

The original message was not completely plain text, and may be unsafe to
open with some email clients; in particular, it may contain a virus,
or confirm that your address can receive spam.  If you wish to view
it, it may be safer to save it to a file and open it with an editor.

This message received no negative points and 11.1 positive points. I set Spam Assassin to consider any message with more than 5 points to be spam. This message (which was for "generic Viagra") was considered suspicious because the originating IP address was in a block list, a referenced Web address was in 3 block lists and was also a new domain name, the body of the message talked about free things, and the message came from a network that has no reverse DNS capability.

Some people use challenge/response filters that require any new sender to reply to a challenge message. This kind of filtering is 100% effective at filtering spam but it's also a relatively effective way to annoy people who are trying to reach you. Challenge/response systems are OK for individuals but they should never be used by a business.

MailChimp, the mailing service TechByter Worldwide uses, lists some key points that are likely to cause a filter to reject a message:

There should be easier ways to deal with spam and actually several options exist but most of them involve some trade-offs in privacy so they've never caught on. Still, something needs to be done about the junk. Internet service providers already have in place systems that eliminate much of the known spam. For example, the sender of one million identical messages is clearly a spammer. Eighty percent or more of e-mail messages sent are, in fact, spam and if you want your messages to survive all of the filtering mechanisms, it's important that your messages don't look like spam.

Short Circuits

Oracle Versus Google

The judge in the trial that pits Oracle against Google was critical of Google CEO Larry Page's testimony this week. Page said that Google didn't purchase a license to use Java software owned by Oracle because it didn't need one. Oracle obtained the rights to Java when the company acquired Sun Microsystems and Google is accused of using the technology in developing its Android operating system.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison was also on the witness stand this week in US District Court in San Francisco.

After Page responded to several questions by saying that he didn't know the answer or didn't recall the circumstances he was being asked about, District Judge William Alsup criticized the Google CEO for his apparent lack of knowledge or his unwillingness to tell what he knew.

Page said that Google could have developed Android faster and at a lower cost if it had used Sun's Java technology. But, he said, Google developed the operating system on its own.

Oracle sued Google and is asking for almost $1 billion for what it terms violations of Java copyrights and patents. Oracle's attorneys displayed a memo one Google executive sent to Page suggesting licensing Java technology from Sun Microsystems, the company that developed Java. Oracle acquired Sun in 2010. Page's response was that negotiations with Sun ended and that the code for Android's operating system contains no code that needed to be licensed from Sun or Oracle.

Google attorneys also showed the jury a video in which Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said that nobody owns Java and that it's available for anyone to use.

Using Old Lenses on Your New Digital Camera

Did you know that you can stick an old lens on your new digital camera and it will work? It's not quite that simple, but it will work if you're willing to spend a few dollars for a converter and put up with some significant shortcomings.

How significant? Like no autofocus. No autoexposure. No vibration reduction (Nikon) or image stabilization (Canon). In other words, much of what you prize in your new digital single-lens-reflex camera.

But some of those old Nikon and Canon lenses are high-quality lenses and if you don't need the speed that the new technologies afford, they might be useful extensions. And besides that, you can often buy these old lenses cheaply. Or, if you still have some that you used to use with your film camera, they're essentially free.

In some cases, the old lenses can be mounted on the new DSLR without a special mount and that makes them even more attractive. But keep those shortcomings in mind. You'll have to set the camera to full manual operation, manually stop down the lens to check the exposure, manually focus, and dispense with the anti-blur technologies modern lenses come with.

If you have some old Canon, Nikon, or Pentax lenses, you'll find sources online that will help you determine whether the lens you own will work on your new camera and, if so, whether you'll need an adapter to make everything work together.

Here are some good resources:

Remember When "Sony" Meant "Leading Edge"?

I was talking with a friend the other day and we wandered onto the topic of Sony. Whatever became of Sony? The company defined mobile music with the Walkman. Then Apple came along with the Ipod and nobody wanted the old technology. Sony tried to compete with its MD-disc technology, which was a great format for field recording but never caught on among the general public. Now most sound recordings are made on solid-state devices.

Sony, it seems, has lost its way.

As long as 10 years ago (maybe more) Sony was a company that was at war with itself. The recording and movie divisions filed suits against individuals for copyright violations while the hardware division pumped out CD and DVD burners that enabled "illegal" copying of Sony materials.

Just last week Sony announced that the fiscal year would end with losses. Actually, that announcement was made months ago and the more recent announcement was to clarify things a bit: The year will end with losses that are even greater than what Sony had expected -- nearly $6.5 billion! And Sony hasn't reported a profit since 2008.

In the past 10 years, nearly everything has gone digital or is available on the Internet and Sony seems to have been largely unaware of the changes that were happening all around it. Sony makes monitors but most people buy monitors made by Samsung or NEC or ViewSonic. Sony makes televisions but Samsung sells more. In fact, Samsung, the Korean company, seems to have out-Sonyed Sony, having gone from a second-tier operation to a premiere brand as Sony was sinking.