Meaningless, Silly Improvements That Aren't

General, Uncategorized No Responses »
Jan 312012

Monday through Friday I’m up at 5. Weekends I like to sleep in until 6:30 or so. I routinely wake up a minute or two before 5 but still depend on a clock radio to confirm the time for me. Even though the clock radio has 2 alarm settings, I’m reluctant to turn off the 5am setting on Friday because I might forget to turn it back on Sunday evening.

So Saturday and Sunday the alarm wakes me at 5. I could go back to sleep but it also wakes the cats and there is no snooze button on a hungry cat. So I get up and feed them. And check my e-mail. And maybe type a note or two. And work on a couple of projects briefly. Then I go back to bed and end up sleeping until 9 or 10.

When I saw a clock radio that offered one setting for Monday through Friday and a separate setting for Saturday and Sunday, I bought it.

You wouldn’t think that something this simple would make much difference but it does.

Five o’clock now comes and goes on Saturday and Sunday with not a sound from the clock radio. Oh, I still wake up a minute or two before 5 and glance at the clock but nothing wakes the cats. They’re happy to sleep until 6:30 when they weekend alarm sounds and they conclude that it’s breakfast time.

Silly? Absolutely. But it’s one way to keep peace between the humans and the cats (who still lack the ability to read clocks, open bottles, or use the computer’s root password). Someday they’ll figure out the trick, I suppose, but for now it’s working well.

Posted by Bill Blinn at 17:11

Norton Internet Security: Great Product. Lousy Support.

General, Marketing/Communications, Security & Threats, Software No Responses »
Jan 132012

For the past several years I’ve used Norton Internet Security because Symantec’s software engineers finally figured out how to write a protective suite that doesn’t cause the computer to grind to a halt. The license expires in mid January.

Because I know that buying a new license is always a better deal than allowing Symantec to renew the existing license, I purchased Norton Internet Security 2012 (3-computer license) from NewEgg.

Two days after the software arrived, I received an e-mail notice from Symantec that said my Norton Internet Security 2011 license had been renewed and that my American Express card had been charged $60 and change. A small oversight, I assumed and went to the Symantec website where I found a form to fill out.

A week later, I had heard nothing, so I filled out the form again.

Several days later, when I had still heard nothing, I contacted American Express and disputed the charge. American Express is really good when it comes to problems such as this so I’m sure that it will be sorted out within a few weeks but it’s still more than slightly annoying that Symantec won’t even bother to reply to my request for a refund.

Here’s my recommendation: If you buy Norton Internet Security, and it is probably the best consumer-grade protective suite available, make sure that you buy it in a way that doesn’t allow Symantec to obtain your credit card number because if they have it they will just assume you want the upgrade.

This makes me wonder how many people have 2 or 3 (or more) Symantec licenses for a single computer. Is Symantec crooked or just unorganized?

Posted by Bill Blinn at 20:34

Continuing Education Online

General, Photography, The Industry, Uncategorized 1 Response »
Jan 022012

Some occupations require a certain amount of continuing eduction every year. Teachers and medical professionals, for example, need to sign up for CU units annually. If you’re not in one of those professions, you should still keep up to date on activities that are related to your job.

Some people put it this way: If you’re not growing, you’re dying. Over the New Year’s holiday, I spent some time with Lynda.com.

Photographer Ben Long has a new program on composition. This program fits well with his other programs on lenses, black & white photography, exposure, landscape photography, and several programs on the specifics of Nikon and Canon cameras.
The programs with Ben Long are particularly good because he is comfortable in front of a camera and he has an uncommonly natural-appearing ability to teach. In addition, the photography techniques used by Lynda.com to capture these sessions is both creative and instructive. But I’m particularly impressed by the composition program, more than 5 hours worth of instruction with several useful exercises. Details are here.

Also, I’ve been watching an 11-hour program from 2007 by Kevin Skoglund called “PHP with MySQL Essential Training.” The production techniques aren’t as impressive as those used in the photography series by Ben Long but they’re more than adequate for the subject. See this program’s details here.

Over the past several years I’ve become a fan of Lynda.com and I’ve recommended the resource to several people. Take a look and see if the modest cost would work into your monthly budget.

Posted by Bill Blinn at 17:48
© 2012 TechByter:TODAY Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha