August 26, 2012

Barak Obama supports the overthrow of Citizens United ruling:
<rant>Perhaps you're unaware of the Constitutional crisis facing our nation at the moment. It stems from a Supreme Court ruling. Initially argued in March of 2009, reargued in September of 2009, and decided in January of 2012. The decision handed down in the 'Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission' case amounted to (in my opinion) this... Corporations are people. They're entitled to free speech rights under the Constitution, and money equals free speech. If you doubt that this was the finding, ask yourself why corporations, super-pacs and non-profit corporations are donating uncountable amounts of money in this election? There used to be laws which prohibited corporations or non-profit organizations from sponsoring adds or contributing large amounts of money. Those laws have all been overturned. If you thought your single vote had very little impact in the general election, imagine now how much your vote counts now that corporations are people, and they're permitted to give unlimited amounts of money to the candidate of 'Their Choice'. Money equals speech... How much free speech do you have? So the election of our next president is now up to those who have the most money! It's enough to make you very upset, and I'm not the only one. Conservatives and liberals are both upset with this ruling, and recently (Aug 29, 2012) President Barak Obama tacitly supported a Constitutional amendment to overturn that Supreme Court decision. This isn't the first time that the President has voiced his displeasure with the Supreme Court's ruling in the 'Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission' ruling, but it is the first time he's actually voice support for a Constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling.

The Constitutional amendment (Bernie Sander's proposed amendment) would essentially reserve all Constitutional rights for natural born persons. "The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state." The proposed amendment contains additional language, but it primarily reverses the decision which equated money with free speech and extended our Constitutional rights to private entities and corporations.

I have written my congressional and house of representative officials about this matter on more than one occasion. I'm not about to give you voting advice, or tell you who I'm going to vote for, but I will encourage you to speak your mind about this very important issue. This goes way beyond the Republicans vs Democrats; this touches upon the very nature of our Democracy. Here's some of what I had to say in my latest letter to Colorado's elected representatives (Democrats (Two Senators for Colorado) and Republicans (House member for my district)):

This isn't the first time I've written my elected officials about political, legislative, regulatory or social matters. They need input from concerned citizens in order to make appropriate governing decisions. If we don't provide our input and feedback, they'll get it from other sources. Perhaps they'll get their advice from paid lobbyists. Perhaps that latest campaign contribution will help them make up their mind on that latest piece of legislation. I encourage you to write your elected officials on this and any other matter which concerns you.

While the President's recent statement was a bit lukewarm on his specific intentions, it's a damn good sign, considering the fact that Presidents; like all politicians, do their best not to be pinned down by explicit and unequivocal statements. Hopefully his statements will encourage additional elected officials to back a Constitutional amendment. FYI: Just in case I wasn't clear on the matter; this/these opinions are mine and mine alone. Feel free to argue with me if you must, but know this; I accept the fact that you (if you are a natural born person) are entitled to your own opinion on this matter, and I would never discount your opinion out of hand. On the other hand... I don't believe a corporation should have any say whatsoever in regards to "Our Constitution" or how it is applied. I say keep corporations out of politics, it's already divisive enough as it is.</rant>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission>
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/barack-obama-citizens-united-reddit_n_1841258.html>
<http://www.care2.com/causes/president-obama-backs-constitutional-amendment-to-undo-citizens-united.html>
<http://www.politicususa.com/obama-endorses-bernie-sanders-constitutional-amendment-overturn-citizens-united.html>

The GIMP is now an OS X Native application:
One of the reasons why I ditched the 'GIMP' (GNU Image Manipulation Program) for other graphics applications - It wasn't an OS X native application. You had to have X11 and/or XQuartz in order to run it on your Mac. I'm not sure why it took so long to compile OS X native version, but that one reason kept me from using the application on numerous occasions. Maintaining X11/XQuartz just to run a handful of Unix applications was quite a chore. So now there's some good news. Someone has gone to the trouble of compiling GIMP to run under Mountain Lion. As a result, I've downloaded that latest build (2.8.2 released on Aug 24, 2012), and I'm looking forward to leveraging the GIMP's power to create some stunning graphics for my website.

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program (Might have to come up with a new acronym now that its compiled to run as a native OS X application / What could we substitute in place of the 'G' for GNU?). The GIMP is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. Originally written and developed for the Unix platform, I'm running a version compiled for Mac OS X (as of version 2.8.2 it runs as a native application). This software application is the equivalent of PhotoShop for free! There's very little you can't do with this full feature graphic authoring software suite. It's got all the bells and whistles: Full suite of painting tools, Sub-pixel sampling, Gradient editor and blend tool, Custom brushes and patterns, Full alpha channel support, Layers and channels, Multiple Undo/Redo, Editable text layers, Transformation tools, Selection tools, Advanced path tool, Transformable paths and selections, Advanced scripting capabilities, Support for Photo-Shop plugins, and several more features. I've been using the GIMP for some years now, and I'm continually impressed by it's rich features and powerful rendering capabilities. Here are just a few of the graphics and titles I've created using the GIMP: Slice of a pseudo oil painting, adventuringgroup.png, dndbooks.png, vifsi.png

With the release of this native build, GIMP is now as easy to install as any other OS X application. Download the dmg, double click, then drag and drop to the applications folder. No need to install and configure X11/XQuartz. No need to launch X11/XQuartz before using the GIMP. The self-contained native app is drag and drop simple. It won't be long before GIMP.app will be available through the App Store. If the GIMP returns to favor as a go-to graphics application, I'll add it back to my favorites page. If you'd like to try out some of the GIMP's text effects, you can check out this web page that will let you create enhanced graphics using some of the GIMP's capabilities.
<http://www.gimp.org/downloads/>
<http://www.gimp.org>
<http://cooltext.com>

Oil and gas exploration in my Neighborhood?
<rant>Recently (during the month of August, 2012), several community members (In Tollgate Crossing and other communities) have received letters from a company called GEOKINETICS. This company claims that they are "conducting a 3D seismic survey in Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert county(s), CO and hereby requests your permission, to the extent of your mineral rights, lease or mineral interests, to conduct this survey on properties described below". The letter then indicates your property as the 'property described below'. They also go on to state "The research our agents have produced at the court house shows that you retain the minerals and do not have them leased right now."

Like many residents in Arapahoe, Douglas and Elbert counties, I am concerned about this oil and gas exploration. I feel there are too many unknowns that could possibly affect me, my family and the other residents in my community. I'm concerned about water contamination (from 'Fracking'), the effect on property values, the impact on local wildlife, increased traffic, the industrialization of land in my community, and other quality of life issues. These oil and gas interests want to drill for oil and gas on the 'Former Lowry Bombing Range' - That's the area around the Aurora Reservoir. An area full of new communities; full of young families, children, pets, an elementary school, several playgrounds, some wild animals, Aurora's drinking water (The Aurora Reservoir), unexploded ordinance, and a nearby Superfund cleanup site. Can you think of a more dangerous place to drill for oil and gas? I can't.

Despite the wording in this letter from 'GEOKINETICS', "to the extent of your mineral rights, lease or mineral interests,"; I don't own any mineral rights on my Tollgate property. As far as I know; when we signed the paperwork for our house, we were told that we did NOT own the rights to any minerals on the property. In checking the paperwork from my original purchase (I bought the property from KDB Homes/D.R. Horton), I found the following statements in my Title paperwork. Ref: Schedule B - Section 2 (exceptions). "Any policy we issue will have the following exceptions unless they are taken care of to our satisfaction:" "9. Mineral Reservations with the right of ingress and egress as contained in Deed recorded January 20, 1905 in Book 2 at Pages 394 thru 397, and Release and Relinquishment unto the Government recorded June 9, 1961 in Book 1264 at Page 200, and any and all assignments or interests therein." I'm not a lawyer, but I have a fairly good grasp of the English language, and despite the lawyer-like language, it seems to me that this confirms what I was told at signing. That I do not own the mineral rights for my property. (From a website discussing these very issues) Colorado, like many western states, recognizes separate ownership of the surface estate and the mineral estate and the distinct private property rights associated with each. Often, different parties own the surface and the subsurface rights, commonly referred to as severed or split estate lands. The different ownership may have been created through the reservation of the minerals to the government (as noted above) when the lands were originally patented, or may result from a decision by a previous landowner to separately sell or lease the subsurface mineral interest.

It seems to me that this company would certainly know that we (home owners in Tollgate Crossing) don't own the rights to any minerals on our property. Perhaps they threw that in there in order to entice some residents into signing the paper. By extending the false hope of monetary compensation, they might be able to convince some residents to permit this 'imaging'. Based on the wording in the letter, I don't trust this company. The letter seemed disingenuous, it seems like they're hiding something. They also state that upon signing the enclosed permit "you will allow us to include the image of the minerals without accessing the surface." I'm pretty sure the 'Image' they're talking about isn't a 'photograph' it's permission to 'Image' our property. In other words, to conduct a seismic survey of our property for the purposes of oil, gas, mineral exploration and discovery. I remember our Metro District discussing this matter at a regular meeting. Apparently some company (not sure if it was this one) had attempted to get our Metro District (a quasi-governmental entity charged with maintenance of the property annexed into the city of Aurora proper) to allow this survey without going through each individual homeowner. As I recall, the Metro District board members had agreed to refuse this request. Perhaps that's why this company is now attempting to go through the individual home owners?

In January of 2012, the county considered some legislation (stricter/more restrictive) which severely limited where these exploration companies can 'drill' (conduct oil/gas/mineral extraction). On the the 3rd of January, the Arapahoe County Board of County Commissioners voted not to amend the County's Land Development Code with the proposed oil and gas regulations, citing that many of the regulations were duplicative of the regulations adopted by the State Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which have been known as some of the most comprehensive in the Country. Instead the Board voted for staff to continue to work on local land-use concerns to protect the community and environment. I hope they stay true to that sentiment - 'To protect the community and environment'. I'm certain there's money to be had by drilling for gas and oil, but this area of Arapahoe county is densely inhabited, holds the water resources for nearly a million residents, and carries the additional dangers of pre-existing hazardous wastes and unexploded munitions. Those are pretty compelling reasons to leave this area undisturbed (with regards to drilling and other industrial extraction practices).

I am NOT going to give this company any permission to do any sort of 'imaging', drilling, exploration, or extraction on my property. I don't want my backyard used as a staging area for 'Fracking' or other unregulated oil, gas, mineral extraction methods. I would urge you (all Tollgate Residents) to do likewise.

Did you get a similar letter? What's your opinion? Do you want drilling/exploration in Tollgate Crossing?</rant>
<http://aurora.kdvr.com/news/environment/103127-arapahoe-county-denies-proposed-oil-and-gas-regulations>
<http://www.niobraranews.net/i-dont-want-oil-drilling-how-can-i-stop-it/>
<http://frackingcolorado.wordpress.com/what-can-i-do/>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing>
<http://cogcc.state.co.us/>

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. Over the last couple of weeks I took some time to update some of the web pages.

• Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to the Neighborhood Watch program and it's volunteers.
  • I recently posted an announcement about the South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch survey. I created an online survey in order to help our NW increase membership, participation and the flow of ideas. The survey was put online around the 14th of August (That's when we sent out email to current NW members), and I posted a general announcement on the 18th. Hopefully we can get an adequate number of responses. If you live in the SEA area, I encourage you to fill out our survey.
• Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information.
  • I updated the date and details for our next Neighborhood Watch meeting. The date has changed from 6 Sep, to 13 Sep (Thursday at 1830). In addition to the date change, our speaker has changed. We will be featuring a speaker from the city's Code Enforcement Division.
• Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch.
  • Updated the information regarding our next Neighborhood Watch meetings. The Head Area Coordinator has revised the dates for some of our upcoming meetings. (Sep 6 13th, 2012; Nov 1, 2012; Feb 7, 2013; May 2 9th, 2013). I also updated some of the details regarding these upcoming meetings.

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 your 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>

August 26, 2012

Apple releases Mac OS 10.8.1:
On the 23rd of August (less than a month later), 2012, Apple has released the first update to Mountain Lion. Apple isn't resting on it's laurels when there's work to be done. Here we see a slew of bug fixes designed to make the experience a better one. As with any new software release; once it's out in the wild, the users have discovered a pile of problems that those engineers never imagined or saw in testing. As usual, it's recommended that all Mountain Lion users update their systems to take advantage of these general operating system fixes that improve stability, compatibility and security. So what actually got fixed?

This update is available now; so if you haven't updated yet... One thing they didn't fix was a problem that's affecting my desktop Mac. An annoying problem with something called 'com.apple.NotesMigratorService'. It launches whenever I try to use an application that touches the new Notes application in OS 10.8. Unfortunately, it gobbles up real and virtual memory at an alarming rate. Eventually it eats up all RAM and free disk space (as virtual memory). The only solution is a 'force quit' using the 'Activity Monitor'. Keep alert though, because this sucker will start up again. Since it didn't get fixed in 10.8.1, I decided to submit a developer bug report. Ref bug ID #12172428. Hopefully we'll see this bug quashed in the next OS update.
<http://www.apple.com/osx/>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5418>

Software favorites:
Another batch of updates for my favorite software application. With the update of Apple's Mac OS X operating system (to Mountain Lion / 10.8) developers find that there's a whole new set of changes they have to contend with. This week I downloaded updates from Bruji.com and Panic.com. Bruji.com makes my favorite cataloging applications, and Panic.com makes a killer ftp/file transfer application.

DVDPedia:
DVDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your movie collection, and I'm running version 5.1.2. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the movie or you can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the movie box (it then searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, the ability to play movies in full screen mode, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use DVDpedia to generate HTML listings of my movies and movie reviews.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemoviecollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymovies/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/reviews.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

CDPedia:
CDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your music collection, and I'm running version 5.1.1. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the artist, album, or track. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off a jewel case (it then searches the internet, and displays choices), or you can import lists of music from iTunes. It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use CDPedia to generate HTML listings of my music.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemusiccollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymusic/index.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

Bookpedia:
Bookpedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your book collection(s), and I'm running version 5.1.1. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the author, book, or isbn number. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the book cover (the application searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a borrowed feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use Bookpedia to generate an HTML listing of my favorite books.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below is a link to a page I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/books.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

Transmit:
An FTP tool that does it all. Anyone who publishes web pages eventually needs a way to upload their pages to a web site. I've found that stand alone FTP tools are the best for this task. Transmit (updated to version 4.2 on the 24th of Aug, 2012) has a clean and easy to use interface, and some really nifty features, like the ability to resume a transfer that's been interrupted, advanced site synchronization capabilities (with simulation mode and reporting capabilities), iDisk and Amazon S3 integration, drag-to-dock sending, creation / use of transfer droplets, column views, quick navigation side-bar, multi-connection transfers, built in compression, a built in text editor, remote file editing using local editors, and secure transfer (in various different flavors) capabilities. Check out the Panic.com Release Notes for all the changes made (by version) to Transmit.
<http://www.panic.com/transmit/index.html>

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>

AT&T to iPhone Users - Screw You!
<rant>Let me get this straight... AT&T recently announced that the only way you can use Apple's FaceTime video chat on their cellular network is if you sign up for their new voice and data share plan? Really? I'm grand fathered into their 'Unlimited' data plan. FaceTime uses their network's data segment (not the voice portion of their network) but I'm not permitted to use this particular app (FaceTime) because I'm not on AT&T's new 'Limited' Mobile Share data plan?

What the hell does 'Unlimited' mean?! FYI: FaceTime should have worked on their network from day 1 (at the release of iOS 5), but they've been blocking it until now. Now that they've got a new 'Limited' data plan that costs more than my 'Unlimited' data plan!

FYI: It's all data. AT&T's cellular network (all U.S. cellular carriers) is all digital. There really isn't any difference between voice, text (SMS/MMS) and data. The differentiation between the different types of data is just a lie they perpetuate so you'll agree to pay their absurdly high prices. They think that you believe that they've got three different networks they have to maintain. You know the one that send voice, the one that send text messages, and the one that sends data. They have to pay to upkeep all those separate networks (This is sarcasm/a form of speech protected (for now) under the first amendment. Oh, yeah, mentioning all these commercial brands (trademarks) nominatively (to compare/contrast/criticize/analyze) is also a permitted form of free speech, protected iaw fair use doctrine. Ruled constitutionally protected by the supreme court.

This time around it's an application used by people who use iPhones. Yup - Only the people who use iPhones (like me, like millions of Americans). Who will it be next time? Anyone who uses Skype? Does that work on your Android phone? How about those pesky people who use their phones to check FaceBook? Maybe Verizon is working on a new 'Facebook' 'Friendly' plan? You know, the one that gives you unlimited access to 'Facebook' on your mobile phone. You don't want that plan? Well, I guess you'll have to 'Not use Facebook' on your phone - After all, Facebook users use 'a lot of data!'.

If you think AT&T's plan is crap, put your name where it'll do some good. The FCC needs to hear our voice. If you don't think Net Neutrality is a big deal then you're not paying enough for your cellular plan.</rant>

Apparently - My sentiment (the above rant - posted on Facebook before I duplicated (with some changes) it here) isn't completely appreciated. One of my 'Friends' decided I needed to be set right on the real situation here. What my chances are of getting AT&T to change their policy...

Chris posted at 0803/Aug 22: "Ok Rob. you are really confusing me. you post some stuff here and other stuff on your blog. I dont get it. anyway, the name of the game is that no matter what you say, ATT, Verizon, Comcast can change the rules anytime they want. You're outta luck Pal and so am I and everyone else. They only time they get it it when YOU pull the plug brother. 'nuff said."

Avoiding the flame bait regarding where I post what, I decided to expand upon my earlier rant.

<rant>Remember when AT&T wanted to buy T-Mobile? The Anti-Trust division of the Department of Justice formally announced that it would seek to block the takeover, and they filed a lawsuit to block that sale. The takeover bid was then abandoned by AT&T. The deputy Attorney General said "the combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would result in million of consumers across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for mobile wireless services." AT&T abandoned their bid to purchase T-Mobile in Dec of 2011 (as a result they had to pay T-Mobile a huge chunk of change because they had signed an agreement to pay T-Mobile a certain amount, even if the deal fell through). The FCC (chairman Julius Genachowski) also said that they had "serious concerns" about the merger affecting wireless competition. "Competition is an essential component of the FCC's statutory public interest analysis, and although our process is not complete, the record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition. Vibrant competition in wireless services is vital to innovation, investment, economic growth and job creation, and to drive our global leadership in mobile. Competition fosters consumer benefits, including more choices, better service and lower prices."

I complained to the FCC and my elected leaders when AT&T announced it's plans to buy T-Mobile, and I'm complaining now. Facebook isn't the only place I post my opinions (As a matter of fact, I seldom post this kind of sentiment on my Facebook page), I actively engage lawmakers, legislators and regulatory bodies. I write email, provide feedback and make my opinions known. In this case, I and many others think that this move (The restriction on use of FaceTime) appears to be a violation of the FCC's rules on Net Neutrality.

According to AT&T (AT&T Senior Vice President Bob Quinn); "The FCC's net neutrality rules do not regulate the availability to customers of applications that are preloaded on phones," "Rather they address whether customers are able to download apps that compete with our voice or video telephone services." So, according to AT&T, it's o.k. to download the app, but they (AT&T) are free to control whether you can use the application or not?! Does that make any sense? They're reading the Net Neutrality rules in a way that allows them to control what apps work on their network, so long as they don't prohibit customers from downloading the apps. On what planet do people think that this was the FCC's intention? Do they (AT&T) really think that the FCC or American consumers are so stupid that they can't see the distinction in this double-speak? AT&T went further along the 'You're all stupid - Shut up Slave!' route by saying "all users may use the service over WiFi networks". Wow - How generous, AT&T is giving us permission to use the FaceTime over WiFi networks that most likely have no connection whatsoever to the AT&T network. No doubt there are some Americans who think that AT&T owns the WiFi network in their house (they don't), but I'm not one of them. Their replies to our concerns are an insult to educated Americans and an affront to all American consumers. Did you know that AT&T has a video voice chat service? Yes it does. Check out AT&T Video Share. Does it cost extra? Yes $4.99 a month for 25 minutes or $0.35 per minute. It only work on 10 particular phone models. Does the FaceTime video application compete with AT&T's more expensive Video Share capability? Absolutely! FYI: I just learned (while reposting this article to my personal website) that AT&T has discontinued this service/plan. Apparently it didn't generate enough interest. Maybe the price was too high?

According to the FCC's Net Neutrality rules; carriers cannot block competing services on smart phones. There is no technical reason why one data plan should be able to use FaceTime while another cannot. Sure, I'll agree that AT&T can change the terms of my contract at any time. They haven't (not yet anyway) - I'm still on an unlimited data plan, but now I won't be able to use that data plan to send or receive a certain 'Type' of data.

Will I be allowed to use Skype video chat? Yes - It'll work/it works now, and it's free. What about the Google+ video chat? Yes - It'll work/it works now, and it's free. Will the AT&T Yahoo! Messenger work? Yes - It'll work/it works now, and it's free. So, iPhone and Android users can use these other video applications over the data network (for free / no extra charge), but iPhone users on FaceTime are somehow considered a threat to the data network? Why restrict Apple's FaceTime application? Well, their could be plenty of reasons - I'll bet most of those reasons have to do with one of two reasons (my opinion/speculation): A - Apple hasn't worked out a licensing deal to use the FaceTime app on AT&T's network (i.e. Money!). B: Many millions of people have iPhones, and this is a way for AT&T to charge an iPhone premium for those clueless iPhone users (i.e. Money!).

This wouldn't be the first time that complaining might help, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time that cell carriers had to be reigned in. The FCC recently reached a settlement with Verizon over tethering. After receiving complaints (yes one of the complaints came from me) that they had asked Google to block tethering apps from the 'Android app store'. A tethering application allows you to share a smartphone's internet connection with other wireless devices. Guess what? Verizon agreed to pay a $1.25 million fine and tethering apps will now be available through the Android app store.

Complaining to the FCC, your elected leaders and other regulatory bodies does work. It influences, it affects their decisions. Whether you're right or wrong, you can never win a fight if you presume that the big, mighty, all powerful corporations will always get their way. They've only got one goal in mind - Making More Money! Do you think they really care whether their policies are best for you? Don't lie down and take it.

I have heard many people promote the theory that the only effective way to influence these corporations is by using your money. i.e. Don't buy their product, don't subscribe to their service, don't agree to their terms, etc. It's not true. This isn't the only way we can 'influence' these corporations. Government regulatory bodies are their to protect us. That's their role. If you complain, they must take your interests under consideration (the corporations don't have to listen to your complaints). If consumers band together as a group (in the form of a regulatory body or union) they have more power to influence corporations and protect their rights. If we eliminate all our bargaining power (unions or regulatory bodies) we give up our power. Corporations are the ones who promote this "Vote with your money" idea. They know that consumers are weaker without unions or regulatory bodies. If they could eliminate all regulatory bodies they would. If they could eliminate all consumer unions they would. As a group we wield influence and power, alone we're just another dissatisfied customer.</rant>

Finally; A disclosure - I do not work for AT&T, Apple, or any cellular carrier (AT&T competitor). I do not work for the FCC or Justice Department.
<http://act.freepress.net/sign/facetime/>
<http://www.att.com/Common/merger/files/pdf/videoshare_FS.pdf>
<http://mobile.engadget.com/2011/04/08/atandt-kills-video-share-for-the-few-who-care/>

A New Place to Post my Photos:
Once upon a time... I used to post many of my photos at an online Gallery offered by Apple. Integrated into Apple's iPhoto application, this MobileMe* Gallery was a fantastic place to post your photos. You could use iPhoto (a desktop application) to organize, edit and annotate your photos before posting them to the online galley. That gallery displayed photos using a 'Cover Flow' interface. You could make the album public or private. Other people could upload additional photos to a gallery or download copies of the photos. The built in slideshow functionality was very good. All in all; it was an awesome online gallery, and millions of people - professionals and hobbyists alike - used it to share and collaborate.

When Apple announced the closing of MobileMe, I initially assumed that Apple would provide us (users of Apple software and operating systems) with an adequate replacement. I was wrong. There is an Apple replacement. iPhoto on iOS devices has a feature called 'Journals'. However, that feature is limited in a number of crucial ways. First the functionality is only built into the iOS version of iPhoto. I have an iPad and an iPhone, but I can't imagine editing photos on my iPad or iPhone. For one the displays are tiny compared to my 30" monitor; then there's the difficulty of using your fingers to do all the editing. I still prefer an actual keyboard and mouse (even Apple's Trackpad is more responsive than the iPad or iPhone screen interface) for some fine control and text editing. Trying to edit photos while you balance your iPad on your lap is literally a 'pain in the neck', and setting it upright in a stand still puts your arm, wrist and hand at an excruciating angle. Editing photos on an iPad or iPhone is a horrible experience. Editing photos on the iOS devices isn't the only problem with this 'Journals' capability. If you want to publish it outside your iCloud storage (with an expensive series of pay for storage options), you need to jump through some difficult hoops to get the photos exported to your own website/server. I still haven't managed to figure that one out - And Apple's software is supposed to be easy to use! Then there's the problem of discovery or a common navigation interface for all your journals... In other words, the iCloud replacement sucks!

So, what should I do? Should I wait until Apple decides to move the Journals functionality to the desktop iOS? Should I wait for them to improve the export capabilities? Should I wait for them to improve the sharing and collaboration features? I've got photos piling up, and no adequate way to share them with friends and family. I'm sorry Apple, but I can't afford to wait any longer. You had your chance when you released OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion). You could have ported the limited Journals capabilities to the desktop version of iPhoto, but you didn't. You chose to ignore the users of your desktop applications. You decided to ignore the power users. The Aperture users. The 'Prosumer' segment of your audience. Apparently it's more important to satisfy the soccer mom than the power user. O.k. I get it, I can see where that's leading. I'll look for an alternate solution. Something that's adequate for my needs, but lacks the Apple polish of a truly professional grade product built for consumers. Something Apple once embraced.

I did a large amount of research in my quest to find an adequate replacement (for the MobileMe gallery). Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything that provided the same functionality while allowing me to control the publication of my photos. The online photo/video posting options simply didn't offer enough space to store my photos without charging an arm and a leg for the storage, and many of the applications available were integrated with some other online storage solution. Which, once again, you had to pay for. Eventually I found one that met some of my requirements. Since I'm already paying a hosting provider for unlimited storage and bandwidth, I decided to use one of the gallery solutions offered by my webhost. The options available were: Gallery, Coppermine, TinyWebGallery, Piwigo, Pixelpost, ZenPhoto, phpAlbum, Shutter, 4images, Plogger. After reading through all the features, the installation requirements, viewing the demos and checking out the support sites, I eventually went with 'Gallery'. Installation and set up were relatively easy. It's got add-on capabilities, it's relatively easy to use (for the admin and site visitors). It's fairly attractive, and it's free with my webhosting service. Some of the features in Gallery: Supports ImageMagick, NetPBM, GD, GraphicsMagick etc; Multi-User; User Registration; New User Approval; Forgotten Password Recovery; Installation/Configuration Wizard; Email Support; Gallery-wide Slideshow; Logging; RSS publishing; Albums and Photos; Mirroring Albums; Embedding; Over 30 Languages; Unique, Short URLs; Fit-to-window Images; Full or Resized Images; Print Photos; Keyword Searching; EXIF Headers; Click Counting; Polling.

I'll probably continue to use a few other posting methods (such as iPhoto HTML export, the ShutterBug application, iWeb, and others) when the need arises, and I'll continue to look for another more powerful solution that allows me to use my own hosting space. In the meantime, this new 'Gallery' will be the main way I'll share and collaborate with all my friends and family. I hope it serves us well. With this change of photo posting forum, I've updated the photo page at "Rob's World!". I updated several links that led to MobileMe Galleries. Unfortunately, there are numerous such links throughout my website, and I doubt I could find or change them all. If you find one, please let me know and I'll do what I can to update it.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobileMe#MobileMe_Gallery>
<http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/>
<http://robsworld.org/galleryphotos/index.php/>
<http://www.hostrocket.com>
<http://gallery.menalto.com>

August 18, 2012

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. Over the last couple of weeks I took some time to update some of the web pages.

• Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to the Neighborhood Watch program and it's volunteers.
  • I posted an announcement about the South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch survey. I created an online survey in order to help our NW increase membership, participation and the flow of ideas. The survey was put online around the 14th of August (That's when we sent out email to current NW members), and I posted a general announcement on the 18th. Hopefully we can get an adequate number of responses. If you live in the SEA area, I encourage you to fill out our survey.
• Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information.
  • I removed an announcement about the 29th annual National Night Out (held Aug 7th).
  • I added an announcement about our Neighborhood Watch Survey. If you live in South East Aurora, please take a few minutes to help us out and complete the survey.

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 your 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>

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, mailing lists and online bulletin boards. The Tollgate Crossing website is focused on the Tollgate Crossing community, with a few links to the Neighborhood Watch website. I recently made a few 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 removed a banner for our annual community wide Garage Sale. The Garage Sale took place August 3-5, 2012, and the weather was perfect.. I hope you were able to get out, meet your neighbors and do a little shopping in Tollgate.
  • I updated the community map at the bottom of the page. The previous map was routed through Apple's MobileMe service, but that service has shut it's doors, and all the functions that I paid for ($100.00 a year) are gone. One of those services was integration of 'widgets' in Apple's iWeb application. While the application still works, many of the plugs have been pulled on that application, one such plug was the Google maps feature. I was easily able to integrate a directly linked Google map, but I'll miss all the functionality of MobileMe. This map integration is just a small part of what MobileMe used to provide.
  • I added a banner for an upcoming Plains Conservation Center block party - They held a special event just for the residents of Murphy Creek and Tollgate Crossing.
  • I removed a banner that reminded residents that the HOA had changed the date of their monthly meetings. HOA meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the Month.
  • I updated the banners that announce our HOA (next HOA meeting is 15 Aug (well, it was when I posted the update)) and MD (next Metro District meeting is 28 Aug, 2012).
• 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 updated the information regarding our next HOA (15 Aug, 2012) and Metro District (28 Aug, 2012) meetings.
  • I updated an article regarding the Metro District's plan to refinance our community's bonds. You can download the plan from a link included at the end of the article.
  • Removed the announcement about our community Garage Sale. The community wide event was held 3-5 Aug, 2012.
  • Added an announcement and flyer about the Plains Conservation Center's block party - An open house event for residents of Murphy Creek and Tollgate Crossing on the 18th of Aug.
• Info: A page of links, phone numbers, email addresses and other information pertinent to the residents/community of Tollgate Crossing.
  • I updated links to, and posted updated Meeting Minutes from Metro District meetings. Added meeting minutes from the following date: 2012-05-28. If you'd like to read meeting minutes from further back (further back than those available on the website), please let me know.

If you are a resident of 'Tollgate Crossing' (in Aurora, Colorado), you might want to check out the website, mailing lists or bulletin boards. They're loaded with information about our community, provide multiple venues for communications, community interaction and interactive ways to stay connected in Tollgate Crossing. If you'd like to help out by being a moderator, provide feedback, or help me with my coding efforts, please let me know. I'm open to your suggestions.
<http://www.tollgatecrossing.org/Welcome.html>

Take me out to the Ball Park:
On the 13th of Aug, 2012, Kim and I went to a Colorado Rockies baseball game. This particular game has become something of an annual tradition with us. We've been here since 2001, and we've finally been here long enough to think of things in those terms. It really feels like home. Despite the number of years we've been here, this is only our fourth Rockies game; and we still haven't gone to any Broncos games... We're trying to take advantage of the many team sport venues available in Colorado, but there's way more than we have time for. Colorado is a big sports town, and we stay. I doubt we'll ever get tire of everything that Colorado has to offer.

Take me out to the Ball Park. Now that I work straight days (thanks to my new job (as of Apr, 2011)), I no longer have to worry about work on the day after a big event. This game was scheduled for a Monday evening, and we didn't want to miss it. We calculated that we would get home around midnight, and that's kind of late for a work night. So, we took Tuesday off! How do you like that? Kim picked out our seats (in the club level - they're the best seats), and bought our tickets. What game did we see? Our traditional favorite game of the year. We're from Wisconsin, but Colorado's been our home since 2001 (we bought our first home in 2005), so we went to see game one of the Rockies vs Brewers games. Same series we saw back in 2009 and 2011. We left around 1630, took the Light Rail, walked a couple blocks to the stadium, and parked ourselves in some great seats - Section 227, Row 4, Seats 3 and 4. The club level seats are great, the weather was nearly perfect (we had a few sprinkles during the seventh inning), and we had a roof over our heads. As we arrived early, we took the time to grab some ball-park food. A foot long bratwurst - More like a foot long hotdog; they're so much better in Milwaukee. A burger, some loaded tater-tots, beer, soda - It'll take a lot of work to pay for all those calories!

We got back to our seats just as the National Anthem kicked off. Settled in, and enjoyed the game. It took a while to get that food out of the way, but we eventually got into the game. This years contest didn't thrill as much as the one in 2009 (where the lead kept going back and forth until the bottom of the ninth!). The Brewers weren't doing to well, and the Rockies surprised us. They'd been in a slump lately, but really looked good in this game. We cheered for both sides. We cheered for the good plays, the home runs, the ridiculous mid inning entertainment. The game didn't end until appx 2330, and we didn't get to bed until appx 0100. Going to a Rockies vs Brewers games is one of our favorite things to do. No matter who wins, we get to leave the stadium saying "We Won!"

I've posted some photos from the game on my photo gallery webpage (so much for MobileMe), but I didn't have time to add any annotations or change the titles. The pics tell the story without the need for any embellishment. I hope you enjoy the photos. We sure enjoyed the game. (With the demise of MobileMe, and it's magnificent gallery, I've been forced to move many of my photos to a new gallery. The new gallery isn't quite as nice as Apple's MobileMe Gallery, but at least I don't have to worry about the service being discontinued or sold. It's hosted on my website, and I manage it through web based scripts. This week I moved the last of my orphaned photos over to the new gallery. It's another Rockies vs Brewers game. The first we enjoyed back in 2009; hopefully you'll enjoy it too.)
<http://robsworld.org/galleryphotos/index.php/rockiesaug2012>
<http://www.rtd-denver.com/LightRail_Map.shtml>
<http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobileMe#MobileMe_Gallery>
<http://robsworld.org/galleryphotos/index.php/rockiessep2011>

Software favorites:
Another batch of beta updates for my favorite Graphics editor. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. 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.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on three updates over the past week. I recently saw/downloaded the following update: 8.2.1 (b986). 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>

With this software update, 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>

August 11, 2012

Survey This:
My webhost has some built in capabilities (features) that make my life a lot easier. Things like the Softaculous scripts (includes: WordPress (blogging/publishing), phpBB (bulletin board software), Gallery (online photo albums), MediaWiki (wikipedia like knowledgebase), WebCalendar, BlackNova Traders (online multi-player space exploration game), LimeSurvey (online surveys), Advanced Guestbook (with spam protection features), phpFormGenerator (online web forms), ownCloud (run your own cloud based storage solution), multiple email accounts, email forwarding, webmail, mailing lists, ftp/sftp upload/download, visitor logs, statistics, GnuPG key generation, IP deny lists, phpMyAdmin, MySQL databases, virus scanner, and much more. I've used many of these scripts, plan to use others, and may never use some of them. One I used recently?

LimeSurvey: LimeSurvey is an open source online survey application written in PHP based on a MySQL database. It enables users without coding knowledge to develop, publish and collect responses to surveys. Surveys can include branching, custom preferred layout and design (using a web template system), and can provide basic statistical analysis of survey results. Surveys can be either publicly accessible or be strictly controlled through the use of "once-only" tokens for each survey participant.

A couple of months ago (June of 2012), I started working on a survey for the local Neighborhood Watch (I'm a volunteer with the South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch). They asked me to set up a survey for the NW. At first I experimented with an email distributed survey, but that was quickly rejected as too limiting with regard to distribution and functionality. Then I tried using something called 'Web Form Builder - Lite'. The software was free, but they built it with an integrated webhosting solution. The default configuration made use of their web hosting service. If you wanted a less limited solution, you'd have to pay significant fees (for the software, for monthly S-Drive access, for unlimited survey responses, per support instance) or try to configure the software to host the software somewhere else. When I tried to configure the application to host the survey on my website, I quickly ran into many problems. The software developer was helping me work through the undocumented software restrictions and limitations, but his pace of assistance was 'unpaid' and his attitude seem more akin to 'upaid-overworked-entrepenuer', than 'eager-breakout-developer'. Eventually I turned to my webhost and it's huge variety of php and MySQL options.

While the LimeSurvey installation was quick and painless, the assistance was non-existent. I can't get any assistance from my webhost with these 'additional' features and capabilities, and I'm pretty much left to my own devices when it comes to software installation, integration, configuration and troubleshooting. I spent nearly a month perfecting my online survey (for the Neighborhood Watch), and then my webhost decided to 'upgrade' some of their software. The results wiped out my survey and I had to start all over again. Well, at least I had a month's worth of trials and tribulations to guide my efforts. After approximately three months, I finally had a workable survey. I posted it online, tested it for a while, and finally revealed it to the public. It's up and running now; collecting data, reporting statistics and helping our NW improve their services.

In the future, I hope to use more of these php and MySQL powered scripts. They definitely help me provide more services to the visitors of "Rob's World!" and other websites I run. You can check out the latest survey if you'd like. If you don't live in the South East Aurora area, please put that in the survey. One thing I don't have to worry about? busting the ridiculously low limit on the number of responses.
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/Welcome.html>
<http://southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/seanwsurveys>
<http://www.softaculous.com>
<http://www.limesurvey.org>

Software favorites:
Another batch of beta updates for my favorite Graphics editor. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. 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.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on at least ten updates over the past week. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 8.2.1 (b976), 8.2.1 (b977), 8.2.1 (b983). 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>

With this software update, 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>

Encryption and digital signatures:
Spammers sometimes assault my digital identity by forging messages to look like they came from me (It was quite common in the past). As a result, I try to use pgp signed messages (whenever possible) for much of my email correspondence. Unfortunately, the recent update to Apple's OS X operating system (from 10.7 Lion to 10.8 Mountain Lion) has broken the GPGMail plugin. I can no longer encrypt or digitally sign my email from within Apple's Mail application. This is a common occurrence. Whenever there's a major OS update, the GPGMail plugin usually breaks. It then takes a few months for the open source developers to update the software. I'm watching the open source forums and hope to see news of a new beta soon.

Up until July 25th, 2012, I was using MacGPG2 (spun off from GnuPG as a Mac implementation) v2.0.17-9 and the GPGMail plugin / mailbundle (v2.0a21 (for Lion/OS 10.7)) with Apple's Mail.app (Version 5.2 (1278)) for encryption, decryption and message authentication / signing. Unfortunately, installing the newest Mac OS (v10.8 Mountain Lion) broke that capability. The newest version of the Mail.app (Version 6.0 (1485)) broke the GPG functionality. The folks who code and maintain the GPG tools are hard at work coding new versions of compatible software. When they get that working, I'll re-integrate it into my email application. In the meantime you can still reference my Public Keys for future use.

Why do I use signatures or encryption? Well, I don't use the encryption very often, but I have been known to send myself encrypted email containing passwords or private information (banking and medical information). I used to use pgp signatures quite often, as a way of ensuring message authenticity. I'm tired of spammers pretending to be me. By using these signatures (which uses the message content (upon signing) and a private key to create a signature which can be verified by using my public key) I can assure recipients that the message they receive are actually sent be me, and haven't been tampered with in transit. In addition to my self published keys, my public keys are also available on various keyservers.

One of the best parts of this software? The developers! They're fantastic. Whenever I have a problem or question, they're eager and willing to help with a patch, troubleshooting or detailed instructions. The project/developers aren't working for a profit, they do it because they believe in the open availability of secure email.
<https://www.robsworld.org/encryption.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/feedback.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/forgery.html>
<http://www.gpgtools.org/>
<http://www.gpgtools.org/projects.html>
<http://www.gpgtools.org/macgpg2.html>
<http://www.gpgtools.org/gpgmail/index.html>

August Music Acquisitions:
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 an online music streaming service called MOG, and I've recently (as of Sep 2011) started using eMusic 'Radio' stations for music discovery. Combined together, these two services provide full-play access to more than 23 million tracks! (15m on MOG (as of Aug, 2012), 13m on eMusic (as of Aug 2012)) Two fantastic ways to discover music, and no need for illegal downloads or pirated tracks. I occasionally use a few of the other methods (music blogs and podcasts), but MOG and eMusic now serve as my primary Music Discovery sources.

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 or listen to all sorts of music for free. I download most of my music from a couple of commercial sources (eMusic and iTunes), but I occasionally download tracks (legally) from various websites, newsgroups and blogs in order to satisfy my craving for music.

Here's a listing of some of the music I legally downloaded - and paid for!

eMusic monthly downloads:
Every month I download ~50 tracks from eMusic.com. This month (Aug of 2012) I downloaded 53 tracks at the low cost of $22.99. I'm paying a $19.99 monthly fee, so that makes the tracks even cheaper (~$0.38 / 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.
* Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone - The Walkmen: (13 tracks) An emusic recommendation. I kind of walked into this one with my eyes closed. A bit too dire, melancholy, depressing. Not really my cup of tea. While I liked a few of the tracks, I found the album overly morose and can't really stand to listen to more than two tracks in a row.
* Best Of The IRS Years - The dB's: (17 songs) A favorite from the 80s. I had a dB's album long ago, but I don't know what happened to that album. Here's a compilation of their best. The fast paced power-pop has a psychedelic flavor and smooth southern style. Great guitar work. Reminds me of Let's Active, Felony and the Fleshtones.
* Viva Hate - Morrissey: (13 songs) The first solo album by Morrissey. After the Smith's broke up, who knew what would come of the band members. The vocals are unmistakable, and the lyrics are quite good. Not on par with Johnny Marr, but more than an adequate match to the talent of Morrissey. This album proved that Morrissey wasn't about to shrivel up and fade away.
* Carrion Crawler / The Dream - Thee Oh Sees: (10 tracks) Originally attracted to this album by the band name and cover art. A Carrion Crawler is a D&D monster, so why is it the name of a band? Wait, that's the name of the album. Wow, that's a creepy looking cover. Then it came up as a recommendation. Hey, here's John Dwyer. Hard working American musician; slamming out post punk rock tunes as fast as his fingers can work that fret board. Thee Oh Sees are unpretentious act that leads with the guitar instead of some catchy lyrical phrase.

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 the higher prices. Here's a few recent free downloads from the iTunes store.
* Is Your Love Big Enough? - Lianne Le Havas: (single) Outstanding vocals with a little bit of soul, folk, and excellent acoustic work. You can even hear a taste of the islands in the vocals and instrumentals.

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>