What's New

May 31, 2011

Garmin's nüMaps Lifetime is Awesome:
<rave>Back in 2007, Kin and I purchased a GPS navigation unit. Our first GPS unit. This portable unit fits in the palm of your hand, and it comes with a windshield mounting kit, FM traffic update antenna (the traffic updates are now free!), MP3 player, SD card slot (for display of photos), and travel guides. In my opinion, the portable GPS is the best way to go. You can move it from one vehicle to another, use it in a rental (don't pay 'their' price for GPS), use it in the house, take it on vacation, hiking, biking, boating, anywhere you go. If you get the in-dash built in kind, you're stuck. You can't yank it out of the dash, it's gone when you sell the vehicle. You can't take it hiking, biking, or move it to another vehicle. Oh yeah, and then there's the problem of updates. Who's going to update the maps? Your dealership? Right, can you imagine how much that might cost? Anyway - In my opinion, a portable GPS is the way to go, and our Garmin Nüvi 350 has been an awesome purchase. Kim and I have used it in many of our vehicles (her current car has a built in GPS unit (her idea, not mine)). The Nüvi 350 was Made by Garmin (discontinued in July of 2008, but still available on Amazon for appx $50.00), Kim took her time researching the purchase of this Nüvi 350, and we've been very happy with it. While we may purchase a new one at some point, this one has functioned perfectly for many years, but the thing we're most impressed with was our purchase of the nüMaps Lifetime service.

While the GPS unit came with a set of maps and travel guides. Those maps (as one would expect) become obsolete quickly, and you must update them if you don't want to end up driving into a lake. When it comes time to update the maps, one might wonder how to do it. In the case of our Nüvi 350, it wasn't all that difficult. Connect the device to your computer (try to do that with a GPS built into your vehicle) using a USB cable, and use the manufacturers software to download and update the software. Figuring out how took some effort, but it wasn't too difficult for me. The best part of the software update? The cost... Yes. You can do a one time update for something like $50.00 - $80.00, but that's a one map, one time update. The real value comes when you purchase the nüMaps lifetime update. In 2009, we purchased a lifetime update for $119.99. Now they're even less! You can get a Garmin nüMaps Lifetime subscription for $89.99 - Amazing! This subscription gives you access to the newest map information as soon as new content is available. You can download the new data to your device (a single Garmin GPS unit) four times per year. I've lost track of how many times we've updated the maps in our Garmin, but we update that thing quite often. As a matter of fact, Garmin even sends me an email when the updates are available (because I registered the device, and receive their email notifications/advertisements), and their website lets me know whether I'm eligible for an update on my device (because I've loaded there Garmin GPS plug-in for my browser). Following the download and installation instructions was a snap. Now we're ready for that next big vacation!</rave>
<http://www.garmin.com/us/maps/numaps_lifetime>
<https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=31655>
<https://www.robsworld.org/garmin_nuvi350.png>

Steam Sucks!:
<rant>I hate the 'Steam' application, released by 'Valve' corporation. It's a nightmarish application, designed to frustrate software piracy and cheating in online gaming. Unfortunately, it's the only way I could get the latest copy of 'Civilization' for the Mac. The 'Steam' platform includes digital distribution of games and game updates. It also includes an online store front for the purchase of games, game supplements and various add-ons. It facilitates peer-to-peer voice and chat as well as multiplayer gaming, and it manages game DRM (Digital Rights Management). This piece of crapware insists on opening up many ports to and from my computer. I have no idea who it's communicating with, no idea how good it's security is, no idea whether it's installing spyware, keyloggers, sniffers and other nefarious software on my computer. I'm certain that it's 'spying' on my computer to make sure I'm not running any 'game hacks', but I really don't know how deep this 'spyware' has got it's claws embedded in my personal data. I have a healthy fear that it's security is lax, ripe for hacking and just waiting to be compromised by some criminal looking for user data and credit card information.

In addition to all my security fears, the thing sucks from a technical point of view as well. The network connection between my computer and 'Central Command' is extremely slow, and the game lags greatly at times. Sometimes I can't play the game that I paid for, because the 'Game is not currently available. Try again later.' What!? This is a horrible experience for the individual. I wish I could by the standalone physical distribution of 'Civilization', but version 'V' is only available through Steam.

Another problem I've been experiencing (which may be game related and not attributable to Steam) is rendering issues. This game runs so slow at times that the video rendering bogs down to a pixilated morass of chunky, flashing, red and white checker-board patterns after no less than thirty minutes of play (on a huge map/world setting). I've changed all the video setting to their minimum settings, so I don't think the problem resides with my video card (nVidia GeForce GT 120). Onboard video memory is 512MB of GDDR3 VRAM) and I don't think my dual 8-core 64 bit Mac Pro (w/2.26GHz processors and 12GB of RAM) is the problem either. I'm thinking the game has a memory leak (it starts out fine); that the huge map size is poorly executed, failing to allocate enough memory for the map rendering, resulting in the checker-board pattern when the game can no longer render the map. Well, at least I can play in the 'tactical' mode. So much for the nice, richly rendered graphics. It's back to 'Avalon-Hill' style hexes for this game.

As I said earlier, and it bears repeating. In my opinion, and the opinion of thousands of other gamers - 'Steam' is a steaming pile of crap. A bane to gamers everywhere. I urge any game maker to dump it, to find a better solution, or give up on this DRM crap all together. It's my first experience with Steam, and I'm convinced. I will never buy another game that relies on the Steam platform. I'll play something else instead. Leisure time should not be spent fighting with the software.</rant>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(software)>
<http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=385027>
<http://wp.uberdose.com/2004/08/13/steam-sucks/>

Has your web-based eMail account been hacked?:
Recently (Jan - May, 2011), I've been receiving spam from friends. Friends who've had their email accounts hacked. Confirmed by several online email providers; phishing attacks have successfully resulted in upwards of 30,000 hacked accounts. The problem is affecting numerous web based email providers (Gmail, AOL, Hotmail & MSN (Windows Live), Comcast, Yahoo and others). In an industry wide attack, thousands of email accounts have been compromised. How did they compromise the accounts? Did someone penetrate the provider's servers? Not according to the providers. It's likely that the accounts were compromised through phishing or social hacks. The scammers simply 'asked' for the information. You click an advertisement link that leads to a website. A site where you can find out who blocked your 'FaceBook' friend requests. Perhaps you wanted to discover who was searching for you on Google? From there you're redirected to a fake 'FaceBook', 'Hotmail' or 'Google' website - You log in... Oh, oh. Now you've done it... In the meantime, they serve you the information you were looking for, and you leave content and happy; unaware that you've just provided your log in credentials to a spammer/scammer/phisher.

These accounts are now being used to send spam. Once the spammers own your email account they harvest all the addresses in your address book. The web based email service stores all those addresses on the website. Now the spammer has everyone elses email address. I've seen eight friends send me spam (multiple messages) since Jan, and I fully expect that I'll continue receiving spam from these accounts (Because the providers can't be bothered to shut down the compromised accounts). The accounts are all from web based email providers. These friends have all had their email accounts hacked. I've been reporting them as spam, but the providers never reply to abuse reports. I can only hope they're shutting down the compromised accounts. The spam I've received is more link-bait. Fake pharma, Russian girlfriends, offers to and various other scams. The links included in these messages are likely designed to do one of two things. Separate you from your money, or trick you into revealing your email log in credentials. Results from these recent attacks have been posted online, making the effects worse. BBC reports have details pertaining to two websites where compromised data was posted. One of the sites contained 10,000 compromised accounts (email accounts, user names and passwords). The other website contained 20,000 compromised accounts. The first list (10,000 accounts) only listed account names starting with 'A' through 'B'. Ouch! That means there may be several thousand more compromised accounts. The posted lists are no longer available (good), and the accounts have all been reported (to the responsible providers) and suspended.

Of course, the posting of these compromised accounts only serves to highlight the problem, and resulted in the identification of several thousand compromised accounts. I've seen the results of these phishing attacks since 2004, but recently the attacks have stepped up. More frequent and more sophisticated, the scammers and spamsters have definitely stepped up their game. So what can you do? How can you protect yourself? Scrutinize that link, type the URL by hand, change your password. Never click on a link (in email or a website) without checking to make sure that it's actually pointing at the website it claims to be (Look at the URL link in the bottom left corner of your browser). Type URLs by hand instead of clicking on links in email or webpages. Change your password. If you're using Hotmail or Yahoo or some other online email provider. Make your password impossible to guess. Seriously, make your password impossible to guess! Use random password generators, use upper and lower case, use special characters, use numbers. Use a long phrase instead of a single word. For security questions don't use 'Blue' as the answer to 'Your favorite color'.

If you don't think this can happen to you... Just ask one the following individuals:
Nancy Newman, Earl Johnson, Tiffany, Jason Hohler, Nicholis Bufmack, Steve Picardi, R.W. Kohl, Vivian.
<https://www.robsworld.org/index2.html#fightingspam>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whybother.html>
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8292928.stm>
<http://blog.dixo.net/2009/10/07/pastebin-com-and-password-lists/>

Trojan Wars on your Mac/Apple Security Update 2011-003:
Recently, two pieces of Malware have surfaced for Macs. It happens every now and then, but it's never as bad as the headlines might make you suspect. They're trying to sell advertisement, so anything that might draw more clicks is immediately given credence; even when the threat level is extremely low. Once again, these threats are announced as if there something new, something deadly, something every Mac owner should be afraid of. Making the rounds on Mac and Security blogs are two threats of note. One is called 'MAC Defender', the other 'Apple Security Center'. Unlike the usual trojan or virus. These threats depend on ignorant users. The kind who intentionally click on the 'Accept' buttons. The kind who look at the screen and simply believe everything they read or see... "Your computer is infected" - Despite the fact that you didn't run any kind of 'Scan', something has somehow detected a virus. First you search for 'Computer virus for Mac'. Then google (or your search engine of choice) returns a list of results. One of them claims "Your computer is infected" - Wait a second, how does a search response know that your computer is infected? Well... You'd better download this 'Anti-virus' software to check your computer. You wouldn't want to get infected!

After the initial round of publicity, Apple has been inundated with concerned users. The media has scooped up this meme and spread it like wildfire around the web. Your Mac is infected! It's virtually guaranteed that your computer is susceptible to this latest threat. The phone lines are nearly melting with the number of calls. The news reports fail to inform users. That this 'Malware' can ONLY get on your computer if YOU INSTALL it. Wow, really? You mean I would have to actually install this application in order for it to have any affect on my computer? That's right, thanks to the lack of responsible reporting (Network news), millions of users are convinced that their computers are 'infected'. Worst of all, this hysteria will probably play right into the hands of those bastards who wrote MacDefender and the 'Apple Security Center' applications. As hapless, clueless users search for security software to protect their computer, they may actually end up downloading - and installing, the Malware! How ironic. As I mentioned earlier, these two pieces of malware prey upon the gullibility of some Mac users.

Now that the press has picked up the meme, Apple has no choice. They must react in some manner. If they don't - and yes the press has already picked up on this - they'll be viewed as 'evil' and 'uncaring'. Unfortunately for Apple, they're going to get sucked into a never ending war with the individuals responsible for creating and releasing this malware. So - Apple has plans - and has, released a software update in order to 'respond' to this new 'threat'. Curing stupid users with software. Hooray! On the 24th of May, Apple released a 'Knowledge Base' article which explained how to Avoid, Identify and Remove the 'MacDefender', 'MacSecurity' or 'MacProtector' software. Unfortunately, this response was too late, and too little for the public. The outcry (amplified and spurred) by the press insisted on a more active response. That article also announced...

In the coming days, Apple will deliver a Mac OS X software update that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants. The update will also help protect users by providing an explicit warning if they download this malware.

So, Apple must respond to the blathering press, the panicked populace, the beaming bastards who wrote this piece of crapware. The response sets a bad precedence. On the 31st of May, Apple released 'Security Update 2011-003' This file quarantine and malware removal update adds the 'MacDefender' (by many names) profile to the file quarantine application (an application people didn't know much about, prior to this problem). So, upon download, your Mac (if you download/install the update) will scan for the malware application. Protecting you from your own idiocy! Now that they've taken this step, they've admitted that they will protect users from themselves. Even if you manage to infect yourself, Apple will do all it can to protect you from yourself. Feel free to download everything and anything you see on the internet. Click, download, open, install with impunity! Go click happy! Apple's responsible for protecting you. No matter how many times the producers of this malware change their software, Apple will be on the hook to make sure you don't accidentally 'infect' your computer.

Reportedly (based on some podcasts I listen to/google searches/blog postings), the makers of MacDefender released a variant within 8 hours. The variant has a different 'signature'; this different signature manages to evade Apple's file quarantine application. So the war is on. As I indicated earlier... It's going to be interesting watching this play out. Who's going to blink first? Apple or the bastards trying to 'infect' your computer? What we really need is some 'Law Enforcement'. A legal precedent. We need to catch someone, prosecute and imprison them. Right now it's perfectly o.k. to write your own virus, malware, trojan. Release it into the wild. Infect computers, steal identity, wreck havoc - No one can catch you. It's cool, it's hip, it's radical dude! There may be laws on the books, it may be 'illegal', but what good are the laws when they're unenforceable? No one seems capable of catching these bastards, no one has been prosecuted, imprisoned. We need to set an example!

Please keep in mind that you're in charge of security on your Mac, not the computer itself, not some website you happen to stumble upon, not even Apple can protect you from poor security practices. You have to initiate the practices and actions which allow or block malware from getting onto your system. Apple's doing all they can to keep the bugs and security flaws out of the operating system, but it's your job to protect your Mac by making smart security decisions when it comes to the software you install (or at least it used to be!). Don't download or install software from disreputable sources, and always run your Mac from a non-admin account as an added layer of defense.

If you use Safari, you can configure the browser to leave zip files and applications inert in the downloads folder. I do; don't launch that download until you need to. Use a virus/trojan scanner (there's plenty of those available for the Mac). Don't launch anything automatically, you may have made a mistake or might decide you don't need that application. Leave it unlaunched, compressed, or inert until you're absolutely sure it's what you wanted, and it isn't something nefarious. It's hard to virus scan a program once it's already infected your computer. Just because it looks legit, doesn't mean it isn't malware or some sort of Trojan. Be suspicious, be paranoid, they really are out to get your Mac, your money and your identity!
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20062597-263.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=MacFixIt>
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20058847-263.html?tag=mncol;txt>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4650>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4651>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3662>

eMusic News - New Titles Added:
<rave>Good news for me/and you, if you're an eMusic subscriber. eMusic is a place to buy music (and audiobooks). It's an alternative to iTunes, and it's selection has been steadily growing ever since I joined up in 2006. It's always had lower prices than iTunes, the selection has always pleased me, and despite some changes over the years, it's continued to supply me with an excellent source of low cost, high quality MP3s for my music collection. DRM from MP3s in a download to own subscription model. I'm loving it. The newest changes at eMusic are it's growing catalog. Just recently (announced May 19th), eMusic reached an agreement with EMI in order to bring an addition 15,000 albums (12 months old/or older) to the subscription based service. eMusic now has deals with all four major music labels (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI). This news is great - Adding artists like Brian Eno, Radiohead, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Blondie and many more - 15,000 albums.</rave>
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>
<http://pressroom.emusic.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=2FC8CE1B12D9EE3A&version=live&prid=758848&releasejsp=custom_175>
<http://www.emusic.com/features/hub/whatsnewonemusic/index.html>
<http://www.emusic.com/features/hub/emi/index.html>
<http://www.emusic.com/>

More Music for May:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? Well, I used to find/discover a lot of free (actually free) music by visiting several of the new music web sites (MOG.com, 3hive.com, musicalfamilytree.org) and several other music blogs (Analog Giant, Brooklyn Vegan, Fluxblog, Gorilla vs. Bear, etc) out there, and listening to a few different music podcasts. Used to... Now? Now (As of Oct of 2010) I subscribe to a service called MOG. MOG is an online music service, a blog network, and a social networking website where users can listen to, read about, and discover music. Music + Blog = MOG. It's been around since 2005, in September of 2009 it started offering streaming music subscriptions. With full-play access to more than 9 million tracks, at only $4.99 a month, it's a fantastic way to discover music. I still use a few of the other methods, but MOG has become my primary music discovery source.

Artists want you to hear their music - If you like it, you'll buy it, or maybe you'll buy some concert tickets. The major labels want you to pay for their product - letting you hear it for free is contrary to their business model. Well, guess what? I won't buy it unless I can listen to it first. The major labels are killing themselves with their restrictive distribution and dissemination policies. If you like new music, you can do a web search to find your favorite artists web site, a new music web site, or an archive of free music. Free music is available - Legally! Don't believe the major labels propaganda - Not all free music is illegal. You can legally download music for free. I download music from websites, newsgroups (when I already own rights to the music), and a couple of commercial sources (eMusic and iTunes). Here's a listing of some of the music I legally downloaded - and in most cases - paid for!

iTunes New Music Tuesday download:
Sometimes I purchase music from iTunes, and sometimes I take advantage of their free downloads (check it out on Tuesdays). iTunes is the King of the Hill when it comes to the bigger names, so sometimes I find that I have to pay the higher prices. Here's a few of those free downloads from the iTunes store.
* King of Diamonds - Motopony: (single) From the album 'Motopony'. A debut that immediately made me wish I had the whole album. I've added this debut album to my eMusic queue. It's light rock from a very talented singer/songwriter in Seattle.
* Sad Song - The Cars: (single) From the new album 'Move Like This'. Who would have thought. Everything 80s is new again. The band reunited, did a tour, and now an album. Everything I loved about the 80s is back again, and just as good. Another album to add to my eMusic queue - Yes it's available there.

Both these albums are available on eMusic. For $5.99. On iTunes they're available for $7.99. Both albums come with one extra song, if you buy them on iTunes. The extra song on the Cars album is a demo of Blue Tip. On the Motopony album you get "I'm here now". Or, you can download it for free from one of the many music blogs out there. I don't know about you, but I can find plenty of things to do with that $2.00...

These are some of the items I added to my music collection during this month. Since revamping my music collection back in September of 2005, I've been slowly adding, revising and updating the collection. If you have a comment, question or correction regarding my music collection, please don't hesitate to send me an email. Please keep in mind that my collection isn't for sale, and I'm not interested in giving you any copyrighted materials. I'd rather not go to jail for music piracy. :-)
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>

D&D updates:
Our meeting on the 14th of May saw a session missing Micheal (who injured his foot a few days earlier), and we're still missing a couple of characters. Lee played some monsters and Todd played Azura. Two of the HALLOWed Knights are dead. The party was engaged in combat with a Bodak, and they can kill with a mere glance. A deadly gaze attack that some characters took precautions against. Others threw caution to the wind, and recklessly trusted upon Tymora's will to protect them. Our meeting on the 14th of May was all combat as we fought more undead creatures inhabiting an underground crypt. After releasing a vampire, the party made a mad dash towards the dungeon's entrance in order to prevent this undead creature from escaping. They caught up with the vampire and found it ready for their attack. The battle is on, but far from over, so be sure to check back again. You wouldn't want to miss the conclusion!

With the conclusion of our 8 August, 2009 meeting, the players have moved into an entirely new phase of the game. Gone are the S.C.R.E.W.O.F.F.S. - Existing now as a group of non-player characters. The player characters are now members of an entirely new group. The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights. This new group of adventurers have struck out from Whillip. In search of glory, fame, and justice. They seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint; this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name both feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms.

3rd Edition Campaign:
I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting is 28 May, 2011 (That's tonight!). This page (The "3eCampaign" page) is the first stop for information on the campaign that I'm currently running. Here you'll find information regarding our next meeting, some notes, and an index of web pages and documents that are important to our campaign. You can also check out the latest group photo.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

The Adventurers journal:
The tale of our adventurers. A series of journal entries from various party members. This document contains details of their encounters. Victory, defeat, desire and glory. Here is the tale of The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, a group of adventurers who set forth from Whillip, seeking fame, fortune and the defeat of evil in these lands.

Here is my third journal entry as Solmar the Warforged Paladin - I've been playing Solmar for nearly two years now and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I've tried my best to keep my style of play consistent with that established by Mark (it is his character), but their are bound to be some differences in our style of play, and those differences may come out in this journal entry. Read on to learn what happened in our encounter with the Vampire of Deepwood. Sharpen your blades and hitch up your horses - Adventure calls and danger beckons!
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#may14_2011>

Monsters encountered:
From subterranean aqueduct to a hillside lair and hidden tomb - As the party enter new environs they will surely encounter some new creatures. Some of those creatures will attempt to eat or injure the party - These creatures we call 'Monsters'! During our most recent gaming session, the party fought a vampire, it's spawn and a pair of salt mummies. As a result of these encounters, I updated the party's "Monster's Known" listing. The monsters page is a listing of monsters that the party has encountered, read about, or heard of.
<https://www.robsworld.org/monsters.html>

These updates follow our meeting on the 14th of May, 2011. This is the eighth adventure for our group of heroes. In search of glory, fame, and justice, the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved, and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint, this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms. The campaign is approaching the end of another paragraph in the saga of our heroes, and the party is ready to lick it's wounds, rest, recuperate and train for their next adventure. In the meantime, you can keep up to date by continuing to visit "Rob's World!" for all the latest campaign info. If you're enjoying the story of our adventurers, I encourage you to write me and let us know. Perhaps you've got an idea you'd like to share, some criticism or praise. Either way, it'll be earnestly appreciated.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

May 22, 2011

Rainy Days in May:
Finally! Finally we've got rain. Over the last week we've received plenty of rain. This winter brought plenty of precipitation to the mountains of Colorado, but the Front Range (communities just East of the Rockies) hasn't seem much of that precipitation. We've had some fires, and a very dry Winter season (Through mid May). The area has been quite dry. We had some snow through the middle of May, but it wasn't until the third week of May that we started to see the rain. The weekend of 14-15 May saw low pressure fronts move through the Front Range, and that trend continued all week, with continuous rain for four days. Unfortunately, these low pressure fronts are likely to continue eastward, bringing more rain to the already flooded states east of here. Flooding in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys is really bad, yet drought like conditions are affecting the Front Range. Personally, I'm thankful for the rain, but I may regret it come June, when the snow (in the mountains) starts melting. While our area isn't prone to flooding (At 6,245ft, my home isn't in much danger of flooding), the communities near Colorado's rivers could very easily see flooding this year.

Updates to the Tollgate Crossing Website:
I participate in some community focused events, but haven't found the time to serve on any boards, so I do what I can to help the people who live in my neighborhood. Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, and supporting our community by maintaining the Tollgate Crossing website and mailing lists. The Tollgate Crossing website is focused on the Tollgate Crossing community, with a few links to the Neighborhood Watch website. Over the last couple of weeks, I made several updates to the community website:

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I rearranged the banners a bit - It's something I do to indicate a change in the content. I updated the HOA meeting banner. Our next HOA meeting will be held June 14th. I added a badge and banner for our Neighborhood Garage Sale. Tollgate Crossing has a garage sale each year. This year's garage sale was delayed by a change in HOA management companies. This year's garage sale will be held Jun 24 - 25, from 8am - 4pm. Note: Effective May 1st, Tollgate Crossing's HOA management has changed. The new management company is JSN Property LLC.
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I removed the paragraph which advertised the South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch annual picnic. That picnic occurred on the 14th of May.
* Info: A page of links, phone numbers, email addresses and other information pertinent to the residents/community of Tollgate Crossing. I added some info about the community clubhouse and pool. Managed by the Metro District, you need to contact our MD Management to arrange a rental.

If you are a resident of 'Tollgate Crossing' (in Aurora, Colorado), you might want to check out the website. It's loaded with information about our community and you can even sign up for some of the email mailing lists that serve our community.
<http://www.tollgatecrossing.org/Welcome.html>

Blurry icons under Mac OS:
<rant>It's a problem which has been plaguing me (and others) for more than a year. Back in August of 2010, I started to notice the onset of a particular problem plaguing my Mac's desktop. While I love the Mac OS, no operating system is without it's issues, and this is just one of those perplexing problems that seems to bother people in our age of super-computers and sophisticated communications devices. If you're familiar with my battles in the land of network connections, you know I don't give up easily when confronted with a technological challenge. This desktop dilemma is just the latest of those challenges.

A bit more detail - So the problem started occurring a few months back, and it's been getting progressively worse. This problem involves the icons in my Mac's Dock and the Application Switcher panel (invoked when you press command-tab). The Mac OS (In OS X v10.5 and later) uses 512 x 512 pixel images for the dock, application switcher and Finder in general. Each application and document has appropriately sized images embedded in the code for smaller sizes (for various reasons), but the 512 x 512 resource is supposed to be used when displaying icons in the Finder. Unfortunately, the problem plaguing me was slowly beginning to affect all the icons in my dock and application switcher (I hadn't noticed it affecting the Finder in general (finder windows)).

The effect I'm talking about? Instead of the typical, sharp, high-resolution (512 x 512) icons, I was starting to notice some incredibly low resolution icons (32 x 32?) in my dock and application switcher. It's nothing critical. It wasn't causing crashes (in my case), but it certainly was annoying. Being used to these magnificent 512x512 icons, I really didn't appreciate these blurry low-res icons. When these low-res icons are scaled up to 512 x 512 or 128 x 128 size (with a mouse over or other magnification effect), they appear blurry, out of focus or fuzzy. It's irritating, not at all Mac-like and quite annoying. Not one to let the problem persist, I began my quest to quash these blurry icons.

Trying to fix things:
My first stop was the Apple Forums. While I found plenty of discussion (several different forum threads) regarding this 'issue', I couldn't find an 'Official' answer - While the original posting (describing this problem) may have been 'Answered', it certainly hasn't been 'Solved' (Despite the 'official' claim to the contrary); a fact noted by several posters. I'm not sure why this problem hasn't been tackled by Apple's software engineers/experts. According to the forums, the problem - which may have been around as early as 2007 (Release of Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5) - seems to affect all models of Mac. It doesn't appear to be a hardware issue, and it's affecting those with Mac OS 10.5 and later (when the 512x512 icons were introduced). While some have reported the issue affecting icons in the Finder (Apple's file browser application), I've only noticed it in my Dock and Application Switcher (but I've never seen it in my Finder windows).

I've tried several of the remedies suggested in Apple's forums: Logging out/in, restarting the computer, repairing permissions, deleting various .DS_Store files, resetting preferences for the dock, the finder, and various other system level settings. Escalating the research beyond Apple's official forums, I find that the problem is being reported beyond the Apple website(s). It's even been reported on by 'CNET' and various other websites. Still the problem persists... After reading numerous posts, troubleshooting efforts and observing the effect up close, I began to formulate my own 'solution'. Noting that it only appeared to affect my Dock and Application Switcher (If you're experiencing similar problems in the Finder, my 'fix' may not help you), I reasoned that the computer was looking in the wrong place (resource path) for the appropriate image resources. For some reason, it was displaying the lowest level of image resolution. Once it started displaying the lower resolution image, it wouldn't revert with a standard reboot, permissions repair, etc. It needed some serious resetting in order to make it access the appropriate resource(s).

A recent posting (Jan 5th, 2011) in Apple's support forums, suggests a new way to fix this problem:

According to poster: steepleton
"there is an icon cashe at macintosh hd/private/var/folders/xd/ (something that changes each reboot) /caches/com.apple.quicklook.thumbnailcache. if you find this folder you can safely move it to trash and restart the finder. everything works normally again (a new com.apple.quicklook.thumbnailcache folder is generated as soon as it's needed). To find this folder you'll need something like "pathfinder" which can navigate invisible folders and has a find that doesn't use spotlight (com.apple.quicklook.thumbnailcache is a system file and spotlight won't hunt for it) you can dump the folder as many times as you need over a prolonged uptime. the fix works immediately and repeatedly"

Unfortunately, according to the author (and confirmed by others), this workaround doesn't permanently fix the problem. I've tried "steeplton's" remedy. It was a bit less intrusive than my typical fix (doesn't destroy my Dock settings). It worked, but it doesn't seem to last any longer than clearing the usual cache's with various 'deep cleaning' routines (The routine I use comes from Applejack; a utility for repairing permissions, cache cleaning and more). Others have commented on "steeplton's" remedy; suggesting that the only file that needs to be deleted (before rebooting) is the 'thumbnails.data' file in this /private/var/folders directory. Unfortunately, I have more than one folder in the /private/var/folders path, and I'm not sure which one(s) I should be deleting. Maybe if I delete all the temporary folders in that directory? That sounds dangerous...

Another option (discussed in Apple's support forums) involves deleting the 'com.apple.dock.iconcache' located somewhere within the /private/var/folders/ directory. According to the poster/discussion. Once this file has been located and deleted, the dock needs to be restarted. No need to reboot, log out, or restart the Mac. If I continue to experience problems, I may try this option. The only issue which concerns me here is the focus on the dock... This problem affects more than just the dock. It also affects the icons displayed using Apple's Application Switcher (and possibly other locations/system level applications such as Stacks and the Finder).

Here's how I 'fixed' things: My typical fix goes like this: Open a Finder window. Select your Home Folder (folder/icon with the House badge/image), then open your Library folder. Navigate to the Preference folder. Locate and move the following files to the trash: 'com.apple.dock.plist' and 'com.apple.dock.db' (I believe you might not need to delete this later file). Once you've deleted the preference files, you should restart your Mac. Your Mac will create new preferences for the dock. Deleting the db file will delete all your dock settings, so you'll probably want to create a back-up, just in case (as with all troubleshooting, creating a backup/backing-up your system is always a good idea). This action seems to corrected the problem for an extended period of time.

On the 14th of May, 2011, I didn't attempt the extended fix (listed here). I ran some cache cleaning routines using 'Onyx', rebooted my Mac, and executed a deep cleaning routine using 'Applejack'. The last time I ran this type of fix (a 'deep cleaning' cache deletion routine) I was spared the fuzzy icons for a period of approximately 1.5 months. Who know how long it'll work this time? I've tried "steepleton's" fix (listed above) in the past. I deleted the entire content of the /private/var/folders/ containing my 'thumbnails.data' file. After deleting the 'thumbnails.data' file, I noticed that my computer rebuilt the file. It replaced it with an exact (500.4MB) copy in a little under three minutes. I noticed that simply removing the 'thumbnails.data' file didn't solve the problem. The blurry icons persisted after the file was deleted, and the same blurry effect was noticed after the computer had re-created the new 'thumbnails.data' file. Afterwards, I deleted the entire content of the folder, but I didn't give the computer time to re-create the file. I immediately rebooted. The reboot hung, and I had to shut down the computer using the power button. That's not good, but I can't specifically blame it on this procedure, as it's been happening lately. After several reboots and a 'Applejack' cleanup routine (using the 'normal' setting), I finally logged in, and noticed that the blurry icons were gone. Hopefully the problem won't recur for some time (longer than a week would be nice).

The strange thing about this problem? It doesn't affect every icon, but once it affects an icon, that icon continues to exhibit the blurring, even after the application is quit and relaunched. It doesn't affect all the icons at once, seeming to strike at random. There must be a corrupt cache somewhere. Something that tells the Mac which resource to display for desktop views of the icons. As far as I can tell, Apple hasn't corrected this problem - Yet.</rant>
<http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGIcons/XHIGIcons.html>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2132399>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2600445&tstart=0>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2667566&tstart=135>
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10402811-263.html>
<http://www.titanium.free.fr/download.php>
<http://applejack.sourceforge.net/>

Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website:
I participate in some community focused events, but haven't found the time to serve on any boards, so I do what I can to help the people who live in my neighborhood. Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, maintaining the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website and mailing lists. The South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch serves the residents of South East Aurora by providing information and close ties with the local Police Department in order to help keep the residents safe and neighborhoods crime free. Here are some of the changes I made at our Neighborhood Watch website over the last couple of weeks:

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I removed a paragraph/announcement regarding our upcoming Neighborhood Watch picnic (which was held on the 14th of May, 2011).
* Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information. I removed the banner for our 3rd Annual Picnic (held on May 14th of 2011). Photos from this year's picnic can still be found at: <http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/South_East_Aurora_Neighborhood_Watch.html> and/or <https://picasaweb.google.com/ftfingar/SEANWPicnic2011>. I also removed the 2011 picnic poster from the page.
* Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch. I updated the event listing for our Annual Picnic. The South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch has an annual picnic each year. It's open to the public, there's free food, games, prizes, music, police representatives, and information from the NW. A good time for all. This years picnic was held on May 14th. Next year's picnic isn't in the planning stages yet, but we'll need all the help we can get. If you're interested in helping us, its never too early to contact the Head Area Coordinator: Judy Van Meter < > I updated the event listing to express our thanks to those who helped make our 2011 picnic a success. I also added links to photos of the previous picnics.
* Volunteer: The volunteer page is a place where our Neighborhood Watch solicits help with various NW related projects. I updated the paragraph which asks for volunteers with our upcoming NW picnic.

If you are a resident of Southeast Aurora, you might want to check out our Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website (Serving the following communities: Tollgate Crossing, Sorrel Ranch, Wheatlands, Beacon Point, Southshore, Tallyn’s Reach, Saddle Rock - North, Serenity Ridge, Black Stone and Heritage Eagle Bend). If you're concerned about the safety and security of our community, you might want to join our group, or subscribe to one of our mailing lists to receive periodic alerts, updates and information.
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/Welcome.html>
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/nwpicnicflyer2011.pdf>
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/South_East_Aurora_Neighborhood_Watch.html>
<https://picasaweb.google.com/ftfingar/SEANWPicnic2011>

May 15, 2011

Trojans and Malware on your Mac?
Recently, two pieces of Malware have surfaced for Macs. It happens every now and then, but it's never as bad as the headlines might make you suspect. They're trying to sell advertisement, so anything that might draw more clicks is immediately given credence; even when the threat level is extremely low. Once again, these threats are announced as if there something new, something deadly, something every Mac owner should be afraid of. Making the round on Mac and Security blogs are two threats of note. One is called MAC Defender, the other 'Apple Security Center'. Unlike the usual trojan or virus. These threats depend on ignorant users. The kind who intentionally click on the 'Accept' buttons. The kind who look at the screen and simply believe everything they read or see... "Your computer is infected" - Despite the fact that you didn't run any kind of 'Scan', something has somehow detected a virus. First you search for 'Computer virus for Mac'. Then google (or your search engine of choice) returns a list of results. One of them claims "Your computer is infected" - Wait a second, how does a search response know that your computer is infected? Well... You'd better download this 'Anti-virus' software to check your computer. You wouldn't want to get infected!

These two pieces of malware prey upon the gulibility of some Mac users. The threat levels are relatively low because these types of attacks actually require users to install the malware themselves. They have to intentionally download the software. Intentionally open the .zip files (or they've got their computer configured to automatically unzip/run certain 'safe' files), intentionally double-click to install, intentionally authorize the software by providing admin credentials. That's right the users 'self-infect' their computer. There's really no way to protect against this sort of threat; short of removing the user from the computer. Spammers, scammers and identity thieves are starting to build software that looks legitimate, that claims your computer or confidential information may be at risk. This really isn't anything new for Windows users, but the Mac platform is attracting more and more users these days, and with that influx of users comes all levels of computer skill. More of the novice, fewer of the expert. Please keep in mind that you're in charge of security on your Mac, not the computer itself, not some website you happen to stumble upon. You have to initate the practices and actions which allow or block malware from getting onto your system. Apple's doing all they can to keep the bugs and security flaws out of the operating system, but it's your job to protect your Mac by making smart security decisions when it comes to the software you install. Don't download or install software from disreputable sources, and always run your Mac from a non-admin account as an added layer of defense.

If you use Safari, you can even configure the browser to leave zip files and applications inert in the downloads folder. I do; don't launch that download until you need to. Don't launch anything automatically, you may have made a mistake or might decide you don't need that application. Leave it unlaunched, compressed, or inert until you're absolutely sure it's what you wanted, and it isn't something nefarious. It's hard to virus scan a program once it's already infected your computer. Just because it looks legit, doesn't mean it isn't malware or some sort of Trojan. Be suspicious, be paranoid, they really are out to get your Mac, your money and your identity!

Android phones finally get the Netflix:
Recently announced (May 12th, 2011) on the Netflix Blog; Android phones have finally started to get Netflix apps. Netflix has finally made a free app available for the Android Market. While the Android platform is far larger in numbers than Apple's iOS platform, it is the size and diversity of that platform which makes it exteremely difficult to standardize the app for Android. The number of platform variables and rapidly changing environment creates a far more difficult challenge in programming apps for Android. Despite the challenges, Netflix has finally completed an app for Android. In the months to come, more phones will be added to the limited list of select phones currently supporting the playback capability for Netflix movies. If you've got an Android phone (well one of these specific Android phones), you've been waiting a long time for this day. Don't waste another minute, go get that free app now, before your phone gets an upgrade! Who knows how long the app will work on Android?
<http://blog.netflix.com/2011/05/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html>
<http://www.netflix.com>

Snow in May?!:
You can tell it's springtime in Colorado, because the temps are swinging wildly. It's May - and we're still getting Snow! Winter just won't surrender it's grip on Aurora, Colorado. This part of Colorado often gets snow late into April or early May. It's just a little bit odd to see snow after you've started mowing the lawn, the trees are budding, and the Robins have returned. O.k. can someone explain what the heck just happened? On the 11th of May, it was snowing in Aurora, Colorado. As a matter of fact, it snowed all day and we got close to an inch of snow before the day was over. With temps near freezing, it's hard to uderstand, but it really isn't all that odd for Colorado.

On the 12th of May, the snow turned to rain, but the temps stayed low. Just barely pushing into the 40s. Our lawn sure can use the rain, but my back and joints don't care for the low pressure associated with this front. I may live at 39 degrees latitude, but I'm also living above 6,000ft. Snow in April isn't exactly rare in Colorado. Remember April of 2007? Back in '07, we had a pretty wicked storm, so don't be surprised if we get more...

Yup, Colorado weather. Springtime can be quite unpredictable. With wild temperature swings, and sudden snow storms, it's normal for this part of the country. I just hope my sprinkler system survives this wacky weather. Maybe I should have waited one more week? The forecast for today? Mostly sunny, with highs near 50. What's the weather like where you live?

D&D updates:
Our meeting on the 30th of April saw a table full of players, but a few missing characters. Lee and Todd played monsters as their characters died a couple of sessions back. That's right, two of the HALLOWed Knights are dead. The party was engaged in combat with a Bodak, and they can kill with a mere glance. A deadly gaze attack that some characters took precautions against. Others threw caution to the wind, and recklessly trusted upon Tymora's will to protect them. Our meeting on the 30th saw the initial encounter with the undead creatures inhabiting an underground crypt. Sealed inside a protected vault, the party knows that some powerful undead creature was laying in wait. What we didn't know was what it was - A Vampire! The party did battle with one of D&D's legendary creatures. The battle is joined, but far from over, so be sure to check back again. You wouldn't want to miss the conclusion!

3rd Edition Campaign:
I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting is 14 May, 2011. This page (The "3eCampaign" page) is the first stop for information on the campaign that I'm currently running. Here you'll find information regarding our next meeting, some notes, and an index of web pages and documents that are important to our campaign. You can also check out the latest group photo.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

The Adventurers journal:
The tale of our adventurers. A series of journal entries from various party members. This document contains details of their encounters. Victory, defeat, desire and glory. Here is the tale of The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, a group of adventurers who set forth from Whillip, seeking fame, fortune and the defeat of evil in these lands.

Here is my second journal entry as Solmar the Warforged Paladin - Once again I write this entry quite hesitantly. I don't want to change the flavor or established tone of Solmar. I've been playing Solmar for nearly two years now and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I've tried my best to keep my style of play consistent with that established by Mark (it is his character), but their are bound to be some differences in our style of play, and those differences may come out in this journal entry. Read on to learn what happened in our encounter with the Vampire of Deepwood. Sharpen your blades and hitch up your horses - Adventure calls and danger beckons!
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#apr30_2011>

Monsters encountered:
From subterranean aqueduct to a hillside lair and hidden tomb - As the party enter new environs they will surely encounter some new creatures. Some of those creatures will attempt to eat or injure the party - These creatures we call 'Monsters'! During our most recent gaming session, the party fought a Vampire and it's spawn. As a result of this encounter, I updated the party's "Monster's Known" listing. The monsters page is a listing of monsters that the party has encountered, read about, or heard of.
<https://www.robsworld.org/monsters.html>

These updates follow our meeting on the 30th of April, 2011. This is the eighth adventure for our group of heroes. In search of glory, fame, and justice, the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint, this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms. The campaign is approaching the end of another paragraph in the saga of our heroes, and the party is ready to lick it's wounds, rest, recuperate and train for their next adventure. In the meantime, you can keep up to date by continuing to visit "Rob's World!" for all the latest campaign info. If you're enjoying the story of our adventurers, I encourage you to write me and let us know. Perhaps you've got an idea you'd like to share, some criticism or praise. Either way, it'll be earnestly appreciated.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

May 8, 2011

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I added a paragraph/announcement regarding our upcoming Neighborhood Watch picnic. I don't usually post this sort of information on the opening page, but this event is very special, and I wanted to make sure that everyone who visits saw the announcement.
* Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information. I updated the banner for the upcoming 3rd Annual South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch Picnic - May 14th. I also posted a copy of the Picnic Flyer for everyone to download, read, and hopefully distribute. We're still looking for volunteers to help with the event and sponsors to help pay for the picnic. If you're interested in volunteering your help, or promoting your business, please contact our HAC: Judy Van Meter < >
* Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch. I updated the event listing for our upcoming Annual Picnic. The South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch has a picnic each year. It's open to the public, there's free food, games, prizes, music, police representatives, and information from the NW. A good time for all. This years picnic will be held on May 14th. The picnic is currently in the planning stages, and we need all the help we can get. If you're interested in helping us out please contact the Head Area Coordinator: Judy Van Meter < >
* Volunteer: The volunteer page is a place where our Neighborhood Watch solicits help with various NW related projects. I updated the paragraph which asks for volunteers with our upcoming NW picnic.

Eating out in Denver:
Occasionally, Kim and I take the opportunity to eat out at one of the fine restaurants in the Denver area. They're not always five star places, but we're not that kind of people. During May, Kim and I enjoyed a 'Date Night' at one of our favorite restaurants. We lived in southern (Puglia region) Italy for seven years (during the 80s), and during that time we came to love Mediterranean food. Italian, Greek, Turkish, North African. Different flavors of the Mediterranean cuisine. Fresh seafood, plenty of herbs and spices, plus a healthy respect for vegetables. As I said, we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants.

Sahara (at Dayton St. and E. Arapahoe Rd. in Greenwood Village) features Mediterranean, North African and Middle Eastern cuisine; food that Kim and I love. Back n 2006, we went looking for a place that served that sort of food; luckily, we picked the right place. We were looking for a different restaurant when we came upon Sahara's. I'd read a favorable review about the place, so we figured we'd give it a try. The food was really amazing. We ordered stuffed grape leaves (Greek Dolmades) as an appetizers. Six grape leaves stuffed with rice, diced tomatoes, chopped parsley, chickpeas and special seasoning. Cooked with olive oil and lemon juice - So good! The best I've ever had. For entrées Kim ordered the Mustard Chicken – Two skewers of chicken are marinated in a special mustard sauce, charbroiled and served over a bed of saffron rice and grilled vegetables. I ordered the Sahara – A combination plate of Falafel, Hummus, Baba-Ghanooj, Tabbouleh, Fattouch, Rice, Gyros, Chicken, Kafta, and Shish Kabob. It's been a while since we've been there, and I'd forgotten how good the food was. wee were very happy with the fresh vegetables, the meats were sensational and the seasonings were truly tasty. The service was great and the prices were very reasonable (the two of us ate for less than $50.00). With a light, conversational atmosphere, the place has everything going for it. We will definitely be back. Hopefully it won't be years before we revisit this place.
<http://www.sahararestaurant.net/>

Spammers, Scammers and Infected Computers:
Recently (4 May, 2011), I received an email From: the FBI! - Not really. It was email from a spammer, hoping I was stupid enough to open the message, download a virus, unzip a binary attachment, execute a windows .exe file! Really? These bast@rds/idiots are at it again - they never stop, and there's a sucker born every day. I pity the new computer user who hasn't learned how cautious you need to be when dealing with attachments and email from unsolicited/unknown senders. So, this suspicious email arrived in the morning. Supposedly, it was from the FBI, but the From: address is very easy to forge, and no one should ever assume that the From: address is accurate. Here's the content of that message:

From: FBI < >
Subject: You visit illegal websites
Date: May 4, 2011 15:37:55 MDT
To: Robert Vaessen < >

Sir/Madam, we have logged your IP-address on more than 40 illegal Websites. Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached.

Download Document.zip

It's a weak solicitation, and only those who are brand new to the internet/computers are likely to be fooled. Visit illegal websites? Really? How does one know they've visited an illegal website? Would there be a banner that says "Warning the website you are about to visit is illegal" - Seems a bit preposterous, but preying on the gullible is what these spammers, scammers and hoaxsters are all about. They're betting that you'll feel guilty, that you may have, or suspect you may have, visited an 'Illegal' website.

Unfortunately, this spam wasn't just a funny email. It also contained a virus. Attached to the email was a .zip compressed document. Opening it could expose your computer to any number of worms, trojan's, probes and virii designed to make your computer into a zombie for spammers, child pornographers, and who knows who else. Please don't open attachments unless you know exactly what's in the attachment. Knowing who it's from isn't always a guarantee of safety. Just ask my PC owning friends. How to prevent the FBI from infecting your computer? Run a good anti-virus application, which scans all the incoming data (downloads and email) on your computer. If you own a Windows PC, or run Windows on your Mac you need some anti-virus software. Another way to keep your computer secure - Stay up to date with the latest software updates. This is true for Windows and Mac operating systems.
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222>
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/security/>
<https://www.robsworld.org/index2.html#fightingspam>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whybother.html>
<http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/soberx.asp>

Software favorites:
More updates for my favorite software applications. Another update for my favorite Graphics editor and a minor update for my power house web design software. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's one more updates for the product that's always getting better. All the updates are free for those who own a license (for the most recent version). If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the free GC update, I upgraded my copy of Dreamweaver. Moving from CS4 to CS5 wasn't a huge step, but I'm glad I did it. Finally, Apple's less powerful web page application sees a minor update.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on at least three additional updates over the past week. I recently saw/downloaded the following update: 7.2.1 (b201). Jumping from 7.2.1 (b197) to 7.2.1 (b201), I must've missed a few beta versions (Thorsten doesn't always announce the beta updates). GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price (~$40.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/162/new-functions-and-versions.html>
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/193/key-features.html>

Dreamweaver CS5:
I'm currently using Version 11.0.4 build 4993. Apparently there's been a few updates that I didn't know about. I moved from 11.0 build 4964 to 11.0.4 build 4993. I almost never know about these Dreamweaver updates. I'm actually surprised that they released any info for this update. The 11.0.4/4993 update included a BrowserLab extension (it was slated to 'expire' sometime this month (May of 2011)), and some significant security patches (for sftp protocol), so that may explain why the update was announced publicly.
Learning HTML, and creating rich and appealing web sites, can be a difficult endeavor. In February of 2011, I updated my web design work horse. I upgraded from Dreamweaver CS4 to Adobe's latest version of Dreamweaver. While I find Dreamweaver CS5 to be less of an upgrade than my switch from MX 2004 to CS4, it is a great tool. I've been using Dreamweaver (various different versions) for at least seven years now, and I find it to be the best tool for my needs. I really like the ability to view and work in a WYSIWYG interface, while simultaneously having the code view available for any tweaking or hands-on coding. With my awesome 30" monitor, I can even display both views in a vertical orientation. Aside from the more powerful features (which I'm not knowledgeable enough to use), CS5 introduces some new features that might be useful to a more novice coder such as myself. Those new features include: 'Browser Lab' preview capabilities using side-by-side or 'onion-skin' overlay comparisons of browser rendering. It includes widget plugin capabilities (with HTML5 support). There's a bunch of simple site setup templates and CSS starter pages to jump start your efforts to create new web sites. I've been using Dreamweaver for some time now, and really appreciate some of it's more powerful features. It's a world class champ when it comes to editing HTML tables. With a tool box full of things I've yet to use, I'm sure I'll be learning more about HTML and CSS in the future.
<http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/>

With these software updates, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I rearranged the banners a bit - It's something I do to indicate a change in the content. I removed the banner soliciting volunteers to serve on our Metro District board. The MD board met on the 26th to consider candidates, and elected one home owner (congratulations go to Leah Strahan) to a board position. I updated banners for our next Metro District (May 24th) meeting. Note: Effective May 1st, Tollgate Crossing's HOA management has changed. The new management company is JSN Property LLC.
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I removed the paragraph which indicated a cancellation to our 3rd annual Egg Hunt (we couldn't get anyone to volunteer/help the coordinator). I also updated the date for our next MD meeting (24 May, 2011).
* Volunteer: The volunteer page is a place where our community solicits help with various non-profit community projects. I removed a paragraph soliciting candidates to serve on our Metro District Board of Directors. Leah Strahan (formerly served on the board) has been elected to serve on our board - Congratulations Leah!
* Info: A page of links, phone numbers, email addresses and other information pertinent to the residents/community of Tollgate Crossing. I updated some details regarding our HOA management transition. The new management company (JSN Property Inc) assumed responsibility on the 1st of May, 2011. Our new community manager is Lynn Bourke. You can find more info on our Info page. Finally, I posted the meeting minutes from a recent Metro District meeting.

Comic content comes to Netflix:
Recently (April 29th, 2011) announced on the Netflix Blog, Marvel content will soon be arriving in the Netflix 'Watch Instantly' section. Some of Marvel's most memorable titles (Iron Man, Astonishing X-Men, Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Spider Man unlimited, and many more) will be added to the 'Watch Instantly' section in the months to come (throughout the summer and fall). If you're a fan of comics (I am) or anime, you'll find this to be welcome news. In general, it marks the continuously improving partnership moves made by Netflix over the last couple of years. I'm not much of an Anime fan, but I've added a few of these new titles (many are available now) to my 'Watch Instantly' queue. I'm really interested in the 'Black Panther' series. Originally written back in the late 60s, Black Panther was the first black superhero to hit the Marvel lineup. I'm sure it'll be interesting to watch from a sociological point of view, plus I read it when I was a kid (yeah, in the 60s/70s) and I'm really looking forward to the thrill I used to experience while reading those awesome Dimestore sagas from the vaults of Marvel, DC and Golden Key (No Golden Key titles on Netflix).
<http://blog.netflix.com/2011/04/marvel-content-coming-to-netflix.html>
<http://www.netflix.com>

Music for May 2011:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? Well, I used to find/discover a lot of free (actually free) music by visiting several of the new music web sites (Pandora, 3hive.com, musicalfamilytree.org) and several other music blogs (Analog Giant, Brooklyn Vegan, Fluxblog, Gorilla vs. Bear, etc) out there, and listening to a few different music podcasts. Used to... Now? Now (As of Oct of 2010) I subscribe to a service called MOG. MOG is an online music service, a blog network, and a social networking website where users can listen to, read about, and discover music. Music + Blog = MOG. It's been around since 2005, in September of 2009 it started offering streaming music subscriptions. With full-play access to more than 9 million tracks, at only $4.99 a month, it's a fantastic way to discover music. I still use a few of the other methods, but MOG has become my primary music discovery source.

eMusic monthly downloads:
Every month I download ~50 tracks from eMusic.com. This month (May of 2011) I managed to download 44 tracks for $23.27 (and I'm paying a $19.99 monthly fee, so that makes the tracks even cheaper (~$0.46 / track). Unlike some music outlets, eMusic doesn't have any DRM and they don't insert unique track id's into the ID3 tags. Their terms of service are consumer friendly; eMusic allows you to burn as many CDs as you like and copy downloads to an unlimited number of your computers and portable MP3 players. At less than $.50 a track (I'm currently paying $19.99 for $22.99 worth of downloads per month). eMusic offers a really good value for your download dollar. iTunes and Amazon still charge more. eMusic offers more music for your money, and the variable bit rate recordings make for exceptionally high quality recordings.
* Secret Life - Material: (12 songs) A favorite band from the 80s. I first started listening to this experimental jazz/fusion band back in the 80s. Through the years I've listened to several of their songs, but I haven't owned many. This download marks my third album from this band. It's excellent. Jangly, jazzy, just as awesome as I remember.
* Great Lake Swimmers live at Schubas 09/08/2005 - Great Lake Swimmers: (9 songs) Sometimes eMusic manages to sign exclusive rights with a band. It's a mixed blessing for consumers. I'm an eMusic member, so I can grab this great offering (for the low price of $4.41), but others find it hard to acquire, and that limits the bands exposure. Thankfully, the exclusive contract ended a while back, and now you can get this album through other outlets. Great Lake Swimmers is a favorite of mine. I originally discovered this band by listening to the iTunes Indie Spotlight Podcast. Here their sound has mellowed even more - If that's believable. The live versions of these songs aren't particularly different from the versions on their studio albums, but the addition of intro's to the crowd and audience feedback adds some welcome warmth to an otherwise quite cool collection of melancholy notes.
* Loverboy - Brett Dennen: (13 songs) I already had track #1, 'Surprise Surprise', but it was cheaper to download the entire album ($0.79 to download individual tracks). At $0.53/per song, eMusic beats iTunes any day of the week. First discovered back in February of 2009 (by listening to eMusic newsletter picks), this west coast artist (singer, songwriter) has been around since 2004. Brett Dennen has a talented voice. His music features folk sensibilities and pop instrumentals. Loverboy features many relationship songs.
* Content - Gang of Four: (10 songs) The original Jon King and Andy Hill (the two primary members of the four) reunite to release an album of all new recordings. Who would've thought. Gang of Four back together again. Reaching back to the late 70s/early 80s, here's an original English punk/new wave band. The sound that influenced so many of today's modern post-punk, rock, and alternative bands. They can still crank out the beats. Not as good as their original recordings, I can only hope that this album will be followed by more of the bands aggressive grinding tracks. Reliving that 80s glory - I must play Entertainment! one more time.

iTunes New Music Tuesday downloads:
Sometimes I purchase music from iTunes, and sometimes I take advantage of their free downloads (check it out on Tuesdays). iTunes is the King of the Hill when it comes to the bigger names, so sometimes I find that I have to pay their higher prices. Here's some of those free downloads from the iTunes store.
* For 12 - Other Lives: (single) From the new album 'Tamer Animals'. Other Lives is a band I've never heard of before, but I must admit that I like the dreamy, ethereal, folk rock they're producing.
* County Line - Cass McCoombs: (single) From the album "Wit's End". Another artist with a folk (and in this album particularly), country sound. This song is a mournful, soulful, country tune with excellent instrumentals and superb vocals. I may have to add one of his albums to my eMusic queue. Unfortunately, this particular album is not available (for sale) at eMusic. Fortunately, I can listen to the entire album at MOG.com!
* Oh, Pretty Woman (monument concert 1965) - Roy Orbison: (video single) A classic tune from a legendary concert. Recorded in 1965, this song/single/video is iconic to Rock'N'Roll - It's a awesome song, and Roy Orbison's voice is unforgettable. Here iTunes has given away the song, in video form. Thanks for the music, you Rock!