December 31, 2012

D&D updates:
With the end of the year approaching. I've had some time to work on the house rules for my D&D campaign. I received some D&D books for Christmas and took some time to incorporate those new books into our house rules. In addition to incorporating those new books into our house rules, I also had some time to review a couple of house rules that needed some additional clarification. Below are some updates for our 3.5 D&D campaign house rules.

Our party of adventurers departed Whillip long ago, and several chapters of this latest adventure have already been written. Our heroes completed all their administrative tasks and chores, and decided upon their next adventure. After accepting a charge to quest for a lost tome of legendary power, the party was teleported across the world to Kester; a small mountain town on the edge of a vast wasteland. After talking with their sponsor, they set off to start this new adventure. After trekking south along an old trade route, the party entered the town of Parlonis. Here they sought more clues about the nature of the Dry Steppes, it's inhabitants, and the fabled city of 'Lingice-Enz'. Departing the frontier town, the party struck out into the desert. Here they encountered odd magical effects, ancient ruins, dangerous monsters, a crazy Gnome and the challenges of a deadly tainted realm. After nearly two weeks in this ruined land, the party discovered the ruins of Lingice-Enz. After defeating a guardian spider, the party has descended into the sewers of Lingice-Enz. Countless battles ensue as the party probes the depths of this strange sewer complex. Filled with crawling, slithering, flitting and skulking creatures, the sewers are alive with many creatures. While most are benign, and strive only to survive in this harsh environment, some are intent on making meals of the party. The predators in this environment have evolved to resist magic and standard attack forms; making for very deadly opponents. As the party limps from encounter to encounter, they search for the book, for clues, for some way to bring this quest to a speedy end. Will the party find the tome known as "Eivobrin's Incanabula"; or will they become another footnote labeled 'A group of adventurers sought the book, but never completed their quest'?Stay tuned for the exciting and continuing adventures of the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights.

3rd Edition Campaign:
I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting will take place on the 5th of January, 2013. We skipped a few meetings over the last few months (due to the holidays). Unfortunately, I don't have any journal updates for you (still waiting for some submissions). I may have to start taking my own notes so we don't have a complete lack of history regarding what we did last. If I need to resort to this measure, our campaign play will slow down considerably. 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. - FYI: We're still looking for one additional player to join our campaign. If you think what you've got to be a 'Hallowed Knight' send me an email.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

House Rules:
Like any other D&D campaign (outside of tournament play), the campaign that I manage makes use of various house rules. You can pick up a new copy of these House Rules online. The House Rules are published in pdf format, and they define the 'flavor' of our campaign. Every good DM has his own list of House Rules. Recently, I've updated one of the house rules documents used in our campaign. Here are the new/updated house rules:

HEROIC LUCK:
(Originally adapted and modified from a fellow DM's house rules) Heroic luck is an adventurers second chance. Let's face it, without a little extra luck, most adventurers would be no better off than the NPCs But we're not talking about those no-name NPCs here, we're talking about Heroes!

Heroic luck is used during gaming sessions (see 'The Luck of the Day' below) in order to make 'Fate Rolls'. It does not apply, and is not applicable during character generation, advancement, or any time outside of game play/role-playing. Heroic luck can be used with any d20 roll (except in the case of a automatic success or failure (A natural 1 or 20)), including attack rolls, skill checks, saving throws, etc. Heroic luck allows you to make a fate roll - Roll three d20 and choose the best roll out of the three*. You must declare you are using heroic luck before a normal d20 roll.

Alternately, you can use heroic luck after you've rolled a d20 roll in order to make a fate roll. (In some cases, you will already know whether you have succeeded or failed. In some cases you won't know until the DM tells you. The DM is not obliged to tell you whether you've succeeded or not. In either case - If you decide to re-roll, you must notify the DM as soon as possible. If you wait until after the DM tells you that you've failed, the DM may deny your request to re-roll.) If you decide to make a fate roll and you have already succeeded, that's too bad, the re-roll decision is yours to make. You are not afforded privilege to information outside the purview of your character's knowledge. You must make the decision based upon the facts of the moment. If you decide to use heroic luck after you've rolled a d20, you get to re-roll the d20. If you fail the second roll as well, then that's your character's fate... Unless you've got another Heroic luck point up your sleeve!.

You can use heroic luck/make fate rolls a number of times per gaming session equal to your heroic luck score. This score is derived from three sources; the character's Charisma bonus, the character's level (CR for monsters) and the random roll of a d20 at the beginning of the session - Are you feeling lucky, Punk!?

Here are the specifics for generating a character's heroic luck score:

Charisma score modifier:
Charisma Score 1 = -5, 2-3 = -4, 4-5 = -3, 6-7 = -2, 8-9 = -1, 10-11 = no modifier, 12-13 = +1, 14-15 = +2, 16-17 =+3, 18-19 = +4, 20-21 = +5. If an NPC or monsters Charisma is unknown or 0, then no modifier is applied. Regardless of a characters charisma score. The heroic luck modifier for this stat will not exceed 5 points. For ease of play, Charisma modifiers do not affect an NPC or monsters heroic luck score.

Character/NPC level or NPC/Monster CR:
For every three levels you attain, you get an additional use of heroic luck per game session. Example: A 6th level character would get two additional heroic luck points/fate rolls. For NPCs or Monsters, this calculation is based on CR (Challenge Rating). If an NPC or monsters CR is not known the DM will use level for NPCs and HD for monsters.

The Luck of the Day:
This is a random modifier based on the random roll of a d20 made at the beginning of a gaming session. This d20 roll signals the beginning of the gaming session (You can't modify this roll, because the game session doesn't begin until after this roll.) This modifier only applies to characters. For NPCs or monsters, no random roll is made. Roll 1d20 and modify the per session heroic luck score as follows: Roll 1 = -3, 2-3 = -2, 4-7 = -1, 8-13 = no modifier, 14-17 = +1, 18-19 = +2, 20 = +3. Under no circumstances will a PC, NPC or monster have a negative score for heroic luck. You might have a score of "0", but you can't have a negative score.

Example: At the beginning of a gaming session, Sean rolls a d20; the result is 20, a +3 modifier! He adds up his heroic luck score for the session. The character has a charisma modifier of +3 and a level modifier of +2, add those to the d20 modifier just rolled. During this session, Sean's Cleric will have a heroic luck score of 8 points! Lucky Thalidimar is ready to tackle the minions of evil!

Keep in mind that both Player Characters and certain Non-Player Characters (including monsters) have heroic luck. While the NPCs may have heroic luck, the DM doesn't always have time to make fate rolls for them. The DM will decide ahead of time which NPCs and/or monsters have heroic luck. Not every NPC or monster will have luck. Most named NPC opponents will, some monsters in planned encounters will have heroic luck. The baker in the shop downstairs probably doesn't have any heroic luck. Lord Ackeron; leader of the cult of Bazurat, and slayer of the innocent probably does. The Black Dragon boss encounter at the end of 'Shadows of Silence' adventure probably involves some heroic luck on the part of the Black Dragon. That old sea dog 'Cappy' down by the docks? What the players don't know is that he's a retired 9th level Swashbuckler. He may look harmless while he whistles a broken tune and whittles on a piece of whale bone, but he's got plenty of experience and a bucket full of heroic luck! Players on the other hand, always have heroic luck and they always seem to make time to use their heroic luck. The result is a net positive for the heroes in our story.

What about Familiars and Animal Companions? - In game terms, Familiars and Animal companions (and some other cases) are a special cases. They're not fully independent NPCs and they're not 'player characters' in the traditional sense of the game. They're typically under the control of a Player Character or NPC (or some other monster). If a character, monster or NPC controls other creatures, then the creature or creatures under their control do not get their own heroic luck (even if they would otherwise). The character, monster or NPC controlling the creature(s) may 'share' their heroic luck (if they have any) with the controlled character/monster/creature.

What sorts of creatures are we talking about? - In game terms, we're talking about characters, monsters and other creatures that do not operate with fully independent will. They are bonded to and/or under the control of another character, monster or NPC. They may be summoned monsters, charmed monsters or characters, animated undead, constructs, horses (while you're riding/controlling it), animal companions, familiars, etc. They are not followers, who have willingly chosen to follow another character, monster or NPC. They are not hirelings, working for pay. Mercenaries who've joined up with the legions of Garoth in order to rape and pillage. They are not creatures, characters or monsters that operate under their own free will. Keep in mind that the DM may sometimes place an NPC or creature under the control of a player. That's not the same thing as a 'Familiar' (for example); which is under the control of a Player character. An NPC being run by a player (for the sake of convenience) could easily have his/her own heroic luck. At the same time, a group of seven zombies being controlled by Lord Vanosh (an NPC villain) do not have their own will, they're under the control of Lord Vanosh, and they do his bidding. The zombies do not have their own heroic luck.

Under no circumstances will a PC, NPC or monster have a negative score for heroic luck, and you cannot save heroic luck from session to session. It doesn't carry over to the next gaming session.

(*You cannot make a fate roll to counter automatic success or failure. (The roll of a natural 1 or 20). If rolling three d20, 1s and 20s cancel each other. Roll a 1 = failure, Roll a 20 = success, Roll a 1 and a 20, the third die is the result you're stuck with).

Heroic luck points are typically accounted for using colored stones (luck stones). This provides players and DM's with an easy visual method for keeping track of a characters remaining heroic luck points. When a fate roll is made, a luck stone is given to the DM, thus reducing the heroic luck points available to that character.

SPEAKING DURING COMBAT:
During combat, a character* may only speak when it is their turn, unless they have an Intelligence bonus. If a character has an intelligence bonus, they may speak during other character's turns as well as their own. All characters get a minimum of one speaking turn per combat round. The minimum/default speaking turn may only be used during that characters turn. Characters with an Intelligence bonus receive (Intelligence modifier -1) additional speaking opportunities during the combat round.

Intelligence 14-15: +1 speaking opportunity
Intelligence 16-17: +2 speaking opportunities
Intelligence 18-19: +3 speaking opportunities
For Int. above 19. See PHB pg 8.

A character may not speak more times than there are characters involved in the combat. For example: Two player characters are fighting a Troll. Character A. has an 18 Intelligence. He may speak during his turn, during character B's turn and during the Trolls turn (he's counted as a character). Character A. may not speak a 4th time during the combat round.

A character may always refrain from speaking. In addition, a character may refrain from speaking during his/her turn, while still retaining the ability/reserving the right to speak out-of-turn. Provided the character has an appropriate Intelligence modifier.

When characters speak 'out of turn', they may do so before or after another character's turn. Characters may speak during an opponent's turn as well. Once again, they may speak before or after the other character's turn. They may not speak during another player's turn. They may not interrupt that character's turn with their speech.

Under no conditions does speaking 'out of turn' create a 'command word' activation situation. Characters may only use verbal 'commands' (to trigger spells, magic items, spell like effects, etc.) during their turn.

In order to facilitate this rule; players will not be prompted to speak or not speak during any turn (by the DM). Instead, they should act on their own, prefacing 'in character' speech with the phrase "I'm speaking here". A raised hand may also be appropriate to draw attention to your action/speech.

When can't you speak? - You (a player character, an NPC, or a monster) cannot speak out of turn unless you have an intelligence modifier. You cannot speak if you are surprised. According to the PHB (pg 144), some DMs may rule that a character can't speak while flat-footed (and thus can't warn allies of a surprise threat until he/she has a chance to act). Unless otherwise noted (perhaps by an alternate DMs ruling), our campaign will adhere to this premise - You can't speak if you're flat-footed.

Keep in mind that a combat round only lasts six seconds. Characters may not use their speaking turns to recite great epics, give long elaborate speeches, or offer intricate instructions/suggestions. The DM may impose a time limit if he/she feels that characters are abusing this rule.

*Character implies player or non-player characters, including monsters.

In addition to these house rule updates, I also added my new D&D books (see Christmas entry below) to the house rules document. As a player, you are under no obligation to download or print this information. You can make notes during the game, you can print out these documents, you can memorize the info, request to review it, or have it repeated to you each time you come across specific situations. These house rule changes and additions primarily represent flavor updates, and do not have a significant impact on our campaign or the framework of 'official' rules.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ehsrls.pdf>

These updates follow our meetings on the 2nd and 16th 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>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ehsrls.pdf>

The never-ending annoying reminder!
<rant>On the evening of 23 December, 2012 (possibly earlier), I started receiving an annoying "Important Reminder" from Netflix. I've seen this reminder every day, and sometimes several times a day during the month of December. The annoying reminder urges you to review their 'Terms of Use', which I've done - numerous times. In addition to the links, that lead to their 'Terms of Use' and 'Privacy Policy', there's a button that says: "I agree". Just above that button is a statement which says: "I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy." While I personally find the terms onerous and unconstitutional, I'm a small cog in the big machine that is "Corporate Control of America". Netflix and other corporations have decided that they can re-write our constitution. While my day in court may be guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution (see Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments), Netflix believes (as do many other corporations) that they can deprive whole classes of individuals (whether they have agreed to binding arbitration or not) from due process. This is an egregious, and in my opinion, contemptuous disregard for our natural born rights. That anyone should be denied their right to a lawful trial in the U.S. courts system, boggles my mind! Have corporations really become so powerful that they can simply re-write our Constitution and deprive us of our rights without interference from the U.S. Government? Where is the Judicial branch of our Government?

Back to the subject at hand - These annoying reminders. So, I click 'I agree'. All the while thinking... "I hate you Netflix! I hate every giant mega-corporation, who thinks that they can abrogate my rights by presenting me with an 'I agree' button. I so want to present them with a button! My button might say something like "I agree that you are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty the pursuit of Happiness and the right to lawful due process." (see the Tenth Amendment). If you could present these corporations (the ones that present you with a 'binding arbitration' button) with an 'I agree' button, what would it say? Wow, I'm really getting sidetracked by the incredibly brazen disregard for our rights! Let's try this one more time... I click the 'I agree' button and the stupid reminder goes away. I get up from the computer, do something out in the garage, the basement, the kitchen... An hour or so passes. I come back to the computer. Guess what? Yup, there's that annoying reminder - again! Every time I leave the computer for an extended period of time, the 'Important Reminder' returns. It may be gone for a day or an hour, but it seems that I've clicked on that stupid 'I agree' button a thousand times now.

Why won't it go away for good. I've already clicked on the 'I agree' button. I've already 'signed' a contract with Netflix. I don't need to be reminded every hour. I tried turning off the 'Do Not Track' me function of my browser. Tried enabling the acceptance of cookies. Tried using a different browser (Safari is the browser I usually use). I don't know what else to try. I think I'll try something I read on other websites. I'll try ignoring it. Maybe it'll just go away. Clicking 'I agree' doesn't seem to help. Maybe ignoring it will. Maybe Netflix will send a lawyer to find out what my problem is! Has this problem afflicted you? Have found a way to make it stop? If you have, please let me know. Have you taken a look at the Netflix 'Terms of Use', and their 'Privacy Policy'? The TOU is 14 pages long! 14 pages. How ridiculous is that? I read most of it, but I had to stop when blood started coming out of my eyes (just kidding).

Politics and this post. Please keep in mind that these are my opinions. Which, if I'm not mistaken, I'm still entitled to. You are free (provided you're a natural living person) to disagree with me, but under no circumstances are you permitted to tell me that my opinion is Wrong. If my political bent doesn't align with yours then be assured that those who disagree have more in common than the corporations who would rule us if we continue down this path. Who will restore the power of natural living persons in this age of corporate control? With undying, powerful, wealthy, corporations controlling commerce the courts and the commons, we may soon find ourselves on the outside begging for some small measure of consideration from these unfeeling machines we've created.

FYI: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. – Tenth Amendment.</rant>
<http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2009/06/netflix-reminding-customers-about-terms-of-use.html>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution>
<http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2011/12/13/you-dont-have-constitutional-rights/>
<http://netflixcommunity.ning.com/forum/topics/terms-of-use-threat>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_K9Yxor0uU>
<https://www.robsworld.org/netflixtoureminder.png>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Due_process>
<http://www.netflix.com/TermsOfUse>
<http://www.netflix.com>

Software favorites:
More updates to one of my favorite software application. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. over the last week or so, Thorsten released several 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.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on a full release and a few beta releases over the last week. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 8.5 (b1099), 8.5.0 (b1100), 8.5 (b1101), 8.5 (b1103). 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>

Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas:
Over the last two days (25-26 Dec, 2012), the Denver/Aurora area received a welcome gift in the form of a White Christmas. Our area received approximately 2 inches of white fluffy snow and the mountains got more than 12 inches. On this festive occasion, Kim and I would like to take the opportunity to wish all our visitors a Happy Holiday Season, a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, a Joyous Festivus - Whatever flavor of holiday spirit trips your trigger. We sincerely hope that you and your family had a fantastic time during the last few days. We wish you prosperity and health throughout the year to come. Thanks for being our friends and family. We wish we could have made a trip out to see all our friends and family for the holidays, but we couldn't arrange it this year. Maybe we'll see you in 2012

This year, Kim and I scored a lot of cool gadgets - Her big bad gift? Kim got a new iPad Mini. She likes the iPad 2, but it's a bit heavy for her. She wanted something a bit larger than her iPhone 3GS, but not as big as the iPad 2. While Kim is loving her new iPad Mini, I scored a bunch of cool stuff:

• A Seiko Automatic/Self-Winding watch (SK809). This watch is self-winding; that's right, it never needs batteries, and I never need to wind it (after an initial 'priming').
• Logitech wireless solar keyboard (K760). Believe it! With a solar charged battery, here's another gadget that doesn't take batteries. I'll use this with my iPad, iPhone, and a Mac Mini for the entertainment center (that I plan to purchase next year).
• Another Logitech product. Another Harmony remote. This time I bought the Harmony One. It's not the most expensive Harmony remote, but it certainly has a lot of functions. I'll program it for use with the entertainment center, and reprogram the old one for use in the master bedroom.
• Another Apple TV (3rd generation). This device will replace the Apple TV (1st generation) in our guest bedroom. If you've got any ideas for my old Apple TV (1st gen - 160GB), please let me know.
• A new Television (not an Apple TV). Kim and I bought ourselves a Toshiba 32" LCD HDTV for the guest room. It's not that big, but it had to fit on top of the dresser without taking up too much room. The guest room is kind of small, but the 32" TV fits nicely across from the bed. <rant>Connecting the Comcast/Xfinity Digital Transport Adapter (DTA) turned into a major chore as I discovered (once again) that the company (TekREDI of Denver) who wired our house (for cable television, telephone and ethernet) did a Shitty Job! I spent more than 12 hours (and appx $100.00 (on testing and terminating equipment and tools)) troubleshooting RG6 cabling issues (75% of the RG6 runs were improperly terminated) and correcting the problems. This isn't the first time I've been inconvenienced by these incompetent or lazy subcontractors (TekREDI of Denver), but hopefully it will be the last. I had to re-terminate nearly all of the RG6 cable runs in my Square D multi-link box. If they had done their job properly, I wouldn't have had to spend time rewiring all but one of my CAT5E runs, and all but three of my RG6 cable runs. If you're home was wired by TekREDI of Denver, check the cable runs now. If you're lucky they're still under warranty (your home owners warranty). If they're not, your screwed!</rant>
• A bunch of D&D books for my favorite pass-time. After receiving these books (including the non-D&D book), I updated my D&D Books page, my Books page (updated the header graphic) and the 'Frank / Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson' section of my Favorite books section.
  • Elminster's Forgotten Realms - A campaign supplement that can be used with any version of the game, this book was released in October of 2012. What? Wizards of the Coast is releasing books for pre 4.0 games? I thought they had moved on. I thought they didn't make products for 'obsolete' product lines. I guess they've learned their lesson. Just because they've moved on to the 4th edition, that doesn't mean that there isn't an audience out there willing to buy additional supplements for their favorite version of the game. I'm glad to see the release of 'new' material for my game.
  • In addition to the book above, WotC has released reprints of the three core rule books for the 3.5 version of the game. While these reprints retail for $49.95, Kim says she paid less. I'd like to thank WotC for finally waking up and realizing that they don't need to completely abandon an old line when they release a new version of the game. FYI: They also released reprints of many 1st Edition books.
    • Player's Handbook - Core Rule book I v3.5: This premium reprint (released in Aug of 2012) includes all the errata for the Player's Handbook.
    • The Dungeon Master's Guide - Core Rule book II v3.5: This premium reprint (released in Sep of 2012) includes all the errata for the Dungeon Master's guide. These new books also feature new cover art that is based upon the original artwork.
    • Monster Manual - Core Rule book III v3.5: This premium reprint (released in Sep of 2012) includes all the errata for the first volume of the 3.5 Monster Manual. This version also includes monster creation rules, info on playing monsters as characters, details on monster tactics and powered-up versions of standard monsters.
• A non D&D book - The Sisterhood of Dune (by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson). Another book from the Dune mythos.
• Gift cards - Goodies you don't have to return.
  • Amazon gift card from Eileen - Thanks Sis. I'll pick out some music from the Amazon store. It's cheaper than the iTunes store and the selection is quite large.
  • Apple App Store - The nice thing about these gift cards? (Apple's gift cards) They're not segregated by store. It may say 'App Store' on it, but the credits go to your iCloud account, they can be used in the iTunes Store or the App Store.
  • Apple iTunes Store - I think I'll use this one to rent some movies or buy some iPhone/iPad applications. I doubt I'll use them on music, because Apple charges too much for their digital tunes, Amazon is cheaper and eMusic cheaper still (by a slim margin).

Aside from these goodies, much of our hard earned cash went towards vacations during the year. Kim and I managed to take four major vacation in 2012; and we enjoyed them all. We really are lucky to have great jobs, good friends and loving family members. We even managed to give to a couple of charities throughout the year. This year we gave more than $500.00 to the Vietnam Veterans of America. As usual, I dedicated more than 100 hours of work to a non-profit community oriented group (The South East Aurora Neighborhood Watch). We hope your year will be happy, healthy and wealthy as we move into 2013.

I took some photos of our gift opening event and created two different galleries for the event. One created using 'Gallery' web hosted software, and another created using 'Exhibeo' application for the Mac. I've been trying to discover an adequate substitute for the discontinued Apple 'MobileMe Gallery'. The 'Gallery' software allows user comments and several other advanced functions. The Exhibeo software presents the photos in a more 'gallery-like' style. Which do you like better?
<https://www.robsworld.org/books/Frank%20Herbert%20:%20Brian%20Herbert%20&%20Kevin%20J/page2.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/photos/christmas2012/christmas2012.html#>
<http://robsworld.org/galleryphotos/index.php/Christmas-2012>
<https://www.robsworld.org/holidaygreetings_2012.pdf>
<https://www.robsworld.org/dndbooks.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/books.html>
<http://gallery.menalto.com>
<https://www.softpress.com/exhibeo/>

OMG - Netflix is Unavailable!
<rant>On the evening of 24 Dec, I tried to watch a movie on my AppleTV (3rd generation), but something wasn't working - "Netflix is not available. Please try again later." - Crap! I don't like this... Granted - It's a first world problem, and not much of a problem at that. I tried and tried, to no avail. I fired up the Roku player. Sometimes these outages are limited to one device. In this case, my Roku player displayed similar errors. I didn't get the same error every time I tried, but clearly there was something wrong with Netflix. I didn't think it was my device, as the error affected two different devices and I had no problems streaming content from other providers. We managed to get by without dire consequences and I did a little bit of investigating afterward.

According to widely reported sources (confirmed by/including Netflix), the outage was a bandwidth problem on Amazon's end. Affecting millions of Netflix customers, one wonders about the timing of this particular outage. Amazon provides bandwidth for Netflix. Yes its an odd relationship. Netflix gets their bandwidth from a video services competitor, but there aren't a lot of options when you're talking about Netflix sized bandwidth needs. In any case, According to a Netflix spokesperson, "the problems are due to errors on Amazon Web Service's Elastic Load Balancing API calls."

This isn't the first time that AWS have been cited as the reason for a web service outage. In October of 2012, AWS issues caused outages on the following web sites/services: Reddit, Pinterest, Airbnb, Foursquare, Minecraft and others. In May of 2012, outages at AWS data centers crippled Pinterest, Instagram and Netflix. These bandwidth problems may get worse as our dependency on large chunks of bandwidth (HD video) continues to escalate. There is clearly a need to improve the code that makes bandwidth on demand more responsive to changes in need. As users discover a new YouTube sensation or flock to Netflix on a weekend, these data centers need to respond quickly to satisfy demand for additional bandwidth. Hopefully Amazon and others (like AOL) will find better ways to manage bandwidth demands.</rant>

I followed the outage by way of the Netflix Twitter feed. From the reports flowing through Twitter, the outage lasted from appx 1400MDT on the 24th until appx 0545MDT on the 25th. We first noticed the problem at appx 1800MDT. I tried again at 0545MDT on the 25th, and everything worked fine as I streamed a classic Southpark Christmas episode. As the unspeakable horror passes, I breath a sigh of relief and stream from my personal library - Two Christmas classics: Lethal Weapon and Die Hard! Kim and I certainly hope you have a Streaming New Year!
<http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2012/12/serious-netflix-streaming-outage-on-christmas-eve-.html>
<http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/24/netflix-crippled-on-christmas-eve-by-aws-outages/>
<https://www.robsworld.org/reviews.html>
<https://twitter.com/netflix>
<http://www.netflix.com>

December 23, 2012

IPv6 and Spam via Comcast network:
A new trend that I've noticed. Spam sent using IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) instead of IPv4. In order to route traffic around the internet, computers use an addressing protocol called IP. IPv4 has been around since approximately 1981, and it's been the workhorse that allowed us to build the internet from a peer to peer bulletin board model into a multi-user, multi-access web of sites, email, voice, and data. The World-Wide-Web and all the e-Commerce built upon the internet wouldn't have been possible without IPv4. Unfortunately, it's running out of room. Due to the way that IPv4 addressing works (32-bit address), the maximum number of address it can express is 2^32 (4,294,967,296). When IPv4 was implemented, most experts believed that we would never need more than 4 billion internet addresses. With everything and everyone having more than one IP address, we've quickly used up all the IPv4 addresses, and now it's time to move up to IPv6.

IPv6 was developed by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) in order to deal with the lack of sufficient address space in IPv4. While IPv4 was capable of addressing 2^32 addresses, IPv6 is capable of addressing 2^128 (340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 That's 340 undecillion, 282 decillion, 366 nonillion, 920 octillion, 938 septillion, etc) addresses. That's a lot of internet addresses. If you break it down by living people, it's approximately 4.8×10^28 addresses per person (that's ~48 octillion per person). I don't know about you, but I think that ought to be enough for me (FYI: According to Wolfram Alpha, there are ~1x10^80 atoms in the observable universe).

IPv6 went 'live' on the 6th of June, 2012. On the 5th of June, 2012, Comcast enabled IPv6 on their network(s). Just guess what the first inbound IPv6 messages was... That's right, it was SPAM! While ISPs and equipment manufacturers have been preparing for this day, the adoption wasn't immediate and instantaneous. ISPs are slowly transitioning. As their networks become fully compatible they will switch over, not switching over could mean loss of traffic, inability to compete in today's market and death by obsolescence. The deployment of IPv6 is accelerating and spammers have already begun their efforts to test it, use it, exploit it. Unfortunately, for most of us, that will mean an increase in the spam in our inbox. While ISPs have a fairly good hand on the IPv4 spam issue, they really don't have any idea how to deal with spam arriving with IPv6 addressing.

My personal experience (so far) with IPv6 spam is currently confined to the Comcast network. It appears that the Cloudmark servers (used by Comcast and other companies (mostly businesses)) are incapable of filtering out the IPv6 spam. During the month of December, 2012, I saw the arrival (had some before that but only a few pieces) of IPv6 spam in a big way. As of 23 Dec, 2012, I've received 16 out of 51 spam messages by way of IPv6 routing. That's approximately 31% of my total spam intake. While this may seem small, consider the amount per user across all of Comcast's servers. Spam is a large burden, and Comcast is only one of the companies struggling to keep it out of your inbox. I believe that every single piece of IPv6 spam (based on analysis of the content and headers) that I've received, is coming from a single spammer, and all of it is arriving by way of my Comcast connection. Unfortunately, I don't control the Comcast mail servers. If this spam were arriving through a domain that I control, I'd be able to set up some filters to block it (for now). At the moment I'm reporting it to 'Knujon.com' as 'Spamcop.net' has no way to parse the IPv6 headers (and refuses delivery of reports w/IPv6 headers).

Now that some spammers have shown their willingness/ability to use IPv6, others will follow. Currently (as far as I can tell) there is no solution to this problem. The problem (spam w/IPv6 headers) is going to get a lot worse. Get ready for the deluge. The war for your inbox is back on, and the ISPs are back to square one in this battle. It isn't going to be pretty. If you've got access to a 'Challenge-Response' filter (such as 'Boxtrapper'), I suggest you enable it (if possible). Unfortunately, not everyone has access to such a system, and some cannot use them due to practical restrictions. I'm really surprised that there isn't a business model to deal with this issue. IPv6 has been a standard for more than 10 years. Someone (like Cloudmark or Barracuda) needs to get ahead of this problem. Umm, the fact that I'm saying 'get ahead' is a bad sign. A bad sign indeed. Given the available number of unique IP addresses under IPv6, Spammers could effectively use a unique IP address with every email they send, that would be devastating. A standard 'blacklisting' approach simply won't work. By the time an IP address is identified as a bad actor, and replicated to various mail servers it would be too late. The spammer will simply use a new IP address the next time it sends an email address. While a list of billions (under IPv4) is manageable, it takes up room (storage space) and some effort to maintain. A similar approach with IPv6 simply isn't feasible. Where would you store a blacklist with 100 octillion IP addresses? How could you manage the reporting and filtering and replication of the increasingly larger and larger blacklists? This is going to be a BIG problem!

If you ever need any help hunting down a spammer, don't hesitate to ask for my help. I'm willing and eager to help (IPv6 spam is currently a challenge beyond my capabilities). Just drop me an email. I'd put the email address here, but this email message is also posted online, where spammers could scrape the email off the web page. Damn those spammers!
<http://www.cloudmark.com/en/whitepapers/smtp-abuse-prevention-in-ipv6-networks>
<http://docs.cpanel.net/twiki/bin/view/AllDocumentation/CpanelDocs/BoxTrapper>
<http://mailman.nanog.org/pipermail/nanog/2012-June/048755.html>
<http://www.ietf.org/proceedings/83/slides/slides-83-appsawg-4>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge-response_spam_filtering>
<https://www.robsworld.org/index2.html#fightingspam>
<https://www.robsworld.org/ipv6spamsample.pdf>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6_deployment>
<http://ipv6friday.org/blog/2012/10/ipv6-spam/>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whybother.html>
<http://www.damnspammers.com>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4>
<http://www.spamcop.net>
<http://www.knujon.com>

It's a Christmas Miracle:
<rave>Truly, it must be a miracle. Yesterday (21 December, 2012), I received a letter from my insurance company (USAA). According to the letter, "We are grateful for your continued trust and pleased to present this year's distribution from your subscriber account" They actually sent me a check for $50.45! An insurance company that actually lowered it's rates, and gave money back to it's members!? It's astonishing I tell you. Truly unbelievable. In 2011, USAA returned $1.1 billion to members and customers in the form of dividends, distributions, and bank rebates and rewards. Kudos to USAA!

It's not often that you get a good feeling about your insurance company. It's not often that your bank or insurance company gives you some money back. That's right. They paid me. All companies hold a certain amount of capital. Since USAA is a member-owned company, it cannot issue stock to raise capital. It must raise capital through other means. One way that USAA manages its capital is through something called a "Subscriber's Account" (Subscriber's Savings Account - SSA). USAA holds a portion of its capital in each member's name in a "Subscriber's Account". Since there are no shareholders, profits are retained for financial strength or returned to the members. Returns are accomplished through the SSA. Each year a portion of USAA's profit is retained as "unassigned," the rest is allocated to each member's SSA using a formula based on the amount of premium the member paid that year as well as the member's SSA balance. The allocation of capital to a member's SSA occurs early in the calendar year (Letter dated December 12th indicated an allocation of $50.45) Late in the calendar year a portion of the member's SSA is distributed to the member via checks or electronic funds transfer. The entirety of the SSA belongs to the member, but is not completely distributed until approximately 6 months after the member no longer has a USAA P&C policy. In 2011 the distribution amounted to 6% of the member's Subscriber's Account balance.

USAA is an insurance company and a bank (United Services Automobile Association). It is 'NOT' a publicly traded company. It's an 'Association', the members are the 'owners'. It doesn't answer to 'stockholders', it answers to it's members. Military members and their families (past and present) constitute the membership. The company suggests products and services, but the members get to vote on all the big changes and decisions. They're focused on products and services which help members meet their financial needs, not services that generate the most income for the company.

This is one of the best companies I've ever done business with. I've never been steered wrong, wronged or misled by USAA. Their service has always been the best. I can't imagine another company which treats it's members like owners, always looks out for the interests of it's members, and doesn't seek to screw those it serves. If you know a company as forthright, honest, and responsive, please share it with me.</rave>
<https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/about_usaa_corporate_overview_financial_strength>
<https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/faq_PC_Subscribers_Account_Distribution_index>
<https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/about_usaa>
<http://www.usaareporttomembers.com>

It's the End of the World as we know it!
December 21st, 2012. - Supposedly this date signifies the end of the world. According to the hype, the distorted media reporting, the overzealous calls of fanatic pundits and crazed crackpots, the world was supposed to end on this date, because 'This is the date foretold by the Ancient Mayan civilization' 'when the world is supposed to end', or 'the end of the Mayan calendar, because there is nothing beyond that date'. Or, 'the beginning of the next cycle, which is marked by a cataclysmic ending'. The list of 'reasons' and 'interpretations' goes on and on. One thing is certain. Our world didn't end on the 21st of Dec, 2012. If you need further reassurance, take a look out your window. Try to ignore the impending signs of the apocalypse and focus on the reality of the now. You will find that indeed, you are still alive, the world still exists, and you will still have to deal with your puny earthling problems for the foreseeable future.

The Mayan civilization had a calendar - Good for them! That's pretty savvy for an ancient civilization that existed as far back as 3000bc. That calendar shared many aspects with calendars used by other Mesoamerican civilizations. These types of calendars (cyclical calendars similar to the Mayan calendar) didn't originate with Mayan civilization, but they refined the calendar; made it more complex and thoroughly documented it's workings. I spent a short amount of time (two hours) reading through the wikipedia article on the Mayan calendar. Yeah - It's complex. Based upon various cycles and counts of different lengths. I wouldn't be surprised if the only ones who knew how to use it were the high priests. One of the cycles counted by Mayan calendars was the 'Long Count' calendar, which kept track of periods exceeding the 'Round'; a period that repeats every 18,980 days (appx 52 solar years). The Long Count calendar identified dates by counting the number of Mayan days since the Mayan creation date. Of course converting from the Mayan calendar; which used a modified base 20 (instead of base 10) counting system, is sometimes difficult. Mix in the differences with Gregorian and Julian calendars, and you'll soon find yourself lost in a mishmash of calendar conversion complications. These complications led to a misinterpretation of a Long Count calendar date. December 21, 2012 was the day that such a Long Count calendar was supposed to cycle over to the next "b'ak'tun" (The Maya name for a day was "k'in". Twenty "k'in" equaled a "winal". Eighteen "winal" make one "tun". Twenty "tun" were known as a "k'atun". Twenty "k'atun" made a "b'ak'tun"... and there's more...). Those who study ancient Mesoamerican cultures have determined that the Mayan culture marked the end of a complete cycle as a day of great celebration. The end of a "b'ak'tun" didn't signify the 'end' of their calendar any more than December 31st, 1999, marked the end of our calendar. The belief/misinterpretation of Dec 21st, 2012 as a doomsday or cosmic event has nothing to do with Mayan culture. It's simply a fabrication by modern culture. Cooked up no doubt as a way to 'cash in' on a gullible public.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar>

Winter Has Arrived?
It sure seems as if winter started later than normal this year. As a matter of fact, the temperatures today (on the 21st of December, 2012) were quite warm. It actually got up into the 50s (Fahrenheit), and temperatures this year (if you look at the actual data) were quite high. Record setting highs. According to the National Climatic Data Center, NOAA scientists completed their November, 2012 Global Climate Report and according to that report - The globally averaged temperature for November 2012 marked the fifth warmest November since record keeping began in 1880. It also marked the 36th consecutive November and 333rd consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average November temperature was November 1976 and the last below-average temperature for any month was February 1985. Hot isn't the only problem - Dry as a bone makes it worse. As of Dec 18, 2012, Colorado is suffering from a state-wide drought. Ranging from Moderate (lowest drought condition) to Exceptional (highest drought condition), it looks like we're going to need a lot more precipitation if we're going to recover from the hot dry drought of 2012. Bring on the Snow! I've got a snowblower. :-)
<http://www.drought.gov/drought/content/products-current-drought-and-monitoring-drought-indicators/us-drought-monitor>
<http://www.drought.gov/drought/area/co>
<http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov>

The Big Snow Storm?
A big snow storm hit the Aurora area on the 19th of Dec, 2012. The news played it up. They were predicting a massive event. They started out by predicting 3 to 6 inches; then 4 to 8 inches; the last prediction I heard (by the weather gurus on prime time TV) was 6 to 12 inches of snow in our area! Wow - It sure sounded like it was going to be a heavy duty event. Oddly I wasn't very achy, so I wondered where the low pressure front was located... According to the news reports, the snow was supposed to move in over night. I went to bed, woke up a couple of times (from a sore back), and took a peek out the window. No snow yet...

In the morning, Kim and I got up and got ready for work. By the time we were ready to leave, there still wasn't any snow. We took the Volvo just in case. We headed out for work, and that's when we encountered the snow. Once we got out on the road, we noticed some fine snow falling, and the roads clearly showed evidence of snow. By the time we were five minutes down the road, the snow was falling and the roads were icy. By the time we made it to work, there was a storm moving in. The storm took longer to move into our area than predicted. Throughout the morning (of the 19th) the storm continued to increase in intensity. I checked the external cameras on a weather website a couple of times. The snow was normal, but the wind was pretty intense. According to the news, there were gust of up to 80mph! According to local area weather stations, we didn't get anything that powerful. We saw gusts of 40mph, but nothing as severe as 80mph!

The snow kept coming. All morning long, it seemed like that was the only thing people wanted to talk about. By noon it seemed to me that we'd gotten all we were going to get. It was still snowing. A very fine snow, and the wind was still blowing, but it really wasn't as bad as the news had predicted. Or so it seemed to me. At 1300MDT, there was an announcement. The building (the 'facility' where we work) was going to close at 1400MDT. Really? Kim called a minute later and wanted to know if I had heard the announcement. I said "yes". She said "Let's leave". I said "O.k. See you in a few minutes." Kim gets very excited when they shut down our 'facility'. She saves a certain amount of vacation for snow days, and she loves it when she gets to take some time off for snow. Kim came by my desk, I logged off the computer and we headed out to the parking lot.

The drive home wasn't all that bad. The XC90 doesn't have any problem with snow, and the wind wasn't all that bad. It was still snowing, but it certainly wasn't accumulating very quickly. The roads were clear, and I couldn't quite figure out why they bothered closing the 'facility'. We made it home in the normal amount of time. By leaving early (before 1400MDT) we beat the crowds, but missed out on the 30 minutes of administrative leave that we would have received if we'd left at 1400. Later I found out that most people waited more than 30 minutes just to get off the base. I guess we did the right thing when we left early.

By 1600MDT the snow had stopped completely. It was still quite cold - In the teens, and the temperature dropped into single digits that night. I didn't shovel until Thursday (the 20th), and we really didn't get all that much snow (The mountains (the Rockies) to our west got a lot of snow, but that's normal. Most of the precipitation usually falls on the mountains). I would estimate that we received approximately 3 inches (in South East Aurora) of snow (0.12" of actual precipitation). If this qualifies as a 'Winter Storm', then we're gonna need a lot more of these before the season ends. So far we're pretty far behind on precipitation for the year.

Shoveling all that snow is a lot easier when I listen to some podcasts. My favorite? The No Agenda podcast with Adam Curry (Crackpot) and John C. Dvorak (Buzzkill). "In the morning!" Good thing I've got a warm coat (down filled) and a good shovel. So far I've only used the snowblower a couple of times this year. No pictures for this storm. It took me about 1.5 hours to clear the driveway and sidewalks. If it had been a little deeper I would have rolled out the snowblower, but this storm didn't warrant it. I'll skip tomorrow's workout and wait for the next 'Big' storm.
<https://www.robsworld.org/barometer.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/volvoxc90_2005.jpg>
<http://www.noagendashow.com>

Irate USPS employees and the Holidays:
I'm usually a fan of the USPS, but every now and then they screw stuff up. In the case I'm about to relate; all the confusion/problems could have been resolved if the employee in question had simply done his job without bothering me. </rant>Twas the week before Christmas and all our packages had been mailed to loved ones with care - Or so I thought. On the 17th of December, 2012, I received a phone call from a USPS employee named 'Castillo'. He called my home phone at 0809MDT on Monday. He left a message. He asked me to call him at 303-227-5426 (that's the Alameda Station phone number). He said there was 'a problem with the zip code on the package'. Presumably, he was referring to a package I had mailed to my sister. He said he would hold my package until noon on the 17th. That's right, he called on the 17th, and said he'd hold my package until the 17th!

As soon as I got the message I tried calling 'Castillo'. I immediately assumed that this problem was related to the package that I had mailed to my sister. On the 15th of December, 2012, my wife mailed a package to my sister in Valders, WI. The package was addressed to her street address. For some reason (I have no idea why) the delivery services always have a problem with her address. They claim it's not valid. They claim that no such address exists. They claim that the USPS insists that the address isn't valid. Indeed, if you try to look up her address on the USPS web site, you get an error indicating that the address is invalid. My sister has lived there for approximately 15 years, and she's always had problems getting mail delivered to her home. So many problems in fact that she's got a PO BOX (provided free of charge by the USPS) in order to avoid the problems.

No one has ever been able to explain to me what the problem is with her address. Everyone in the USPS swears up and down that no such address exists. If you zoom in on Google Earth the cross hairs appear in the center of an intersection just to the SE of her house. The post office in Valders even claims that the address doesn't exist. My sister isn't living in a ghost and the house is physically located where the county tax records (map of plated/surveyed addresses attached to property tax records) say it is. I know the house is where the county maps say it is - I've been there (at her house) on numerous occasions. The clueless clerks and bureaucrats who claim the address is invalid are in fact mistaken.

In hindsight I, should simply have mailed it to the PO Box; but I didn't know whether my wife was going to send it USPS or UPS/FEDEX, and the commercial carriers have a tendency to refuse delivery to a USPS PO box. This causes additional problems and or explanations.

As I said earlier, as soon as I got that phone message (from Castillo), I tried to call him back. That was on the 18th of December (I didn't get the message until the afternoon of the 18th). That's when my blood pressure really started to rise! That's the real reason for this rant. I called the number that Castillo left on my answering machine. The phone was busy, so I called back appx 15 minutes later. The phone rang for approximately one minute before someone answered. The person who answered didn't say his name or whether I'd reached the post office. I said my name, and indicated that I had received a phone call from a 'Castillo'. The person on the phone immediately interrupted me; said 'hold on a sec' and presumably went to get 'Castillo' or tell him that he had a phone call. I sat on hold, listening to the USPS helpful hints and holiday mailing tips for approximately 25 minutes before I hung up... I called back and the phone rang for approximately 30 minutes. Guess what happens after a phone rings unanswered for 30 minutes? ... It automatically disconnects the call. So I called back again, after about five rings, the same individual answered the phone. I recognized his voice. I said 'Hello I called this phone number approximately 45 minutes ago'. He interrupted me and apologized. I said 'O.k.' He said 'Castillo is working the front desk and he can't get away. I can take a message if you'd like'. I said 'Well, perhaps you can help me?' At this suggestion, he became extremely irate.

He started off by saying 'You want to go through all of this again?' I said I didn't understand what he was talking about. He said 'You really want to do this again? O.k. Fine, just give me the tracking number'. I said 'what tracking number? I don't have a tracking number'. 'Castillo called me and said' He then interrupted me again and said 'Look I can't help you if you don't give me the tracking number!' I said 'I don't have a tracking number, why are you being so aggressive?' He said 'Just give me the tracking number!' I said 'Look, if you'll stop interrupting me I'll try to explain the problem.' He said 'Fine, go ahead, explain your problem'.

I proceeded to tell him that 'Castillo' had called me and left a message about having my package and their being a problem with the zip code. 'I'm just returning the call to see if there's any information I can provide in order to resolve the problem'. He then took my address, my zip code, the address I was sending the package to, and asked me to wait a second. I waited approximately two minutes. When he returned he said that my package wasn't there and that Castillo doesn't remember talking to me. Castillo claims he hasn't talked to anyone about a package for the last few days. I explained that 'I never talked to Castillo, he called and left a message on my phone'. He asked for my zip code again. I said 'My zip code?' Yes! He insisted. I gave him my zip code and he said 'Look this isn't even our problem, that package would be at the Smoky Hill station. There phone number is 303-699-8940' I asked him to repeat the number, he repeated it then hung up after I said 'Thanks'.

I tried calling the number he gave me. Guess what? That number has been disconnected... After talking to this clearly disgruntled employee, I was convinced that my package was either crushed under his heel and forwarded to my sister, on its way to the 'North Pole', or simply 'disappeared'. I wasn't feeling any holiday joy after that conversation. Clearly he was having a bad day, and decided to take it out on me. I called the 1-800 USPS phone number and tried to take a different route to resolving my problem. I got a hold of some central dispatch receptionist. I told her about my problem. She apologized. for the employees behavior and the problem I was having. She said she was going to transfer me to someone who could help me with my problem. She proceeded to transfer me. The phone started ringing; and ringing, and ringing. After twenty minutes of no answer, I hung up. I went to bed and didn't sleep very well that evening.

On the next day (the 19th of Dec, 2012), I tried to call 'Castillo' again. This time I was told that Castillo was there, but he couldn't take any calls. The person who answered the phone (again no name was provided) asked if I'd like to leave a message. I said 'sure'. There was no way I was going to try and explain what the problem was, or even ask for any help from anyone other than Castillo. I'd already learned my lesson from the day before. So I asked that Castillo call me at my work number. The day passed and there was no call from Castillo. Eventually, I left work and went home...

When I got home, I called my sister and left a message on her phone. I tried to keep the message short, but I'm certain that it came across as somewhat plaintive. On the 19th, I received a phone call from my sister. After listening to her message (she said she got the package) I called her back. The phone rang but she didn't answer so I hung up without leaving a message. Approximately thirty minutes later, my sister called. We talked about the package, or packages... There was some confusion regarding the number of packages I had sent her, but we straightened that out. She confirmed that she had received the package that we had sent her. Thank goodness! It looks like there really wasn't any big problem. The USPS employee(s) must have figured out what to do and forwarded the package to the correct address...</rant>

After reviewing the original phone message that 'Castillo' left on my phone, I believe I now understand what happened (despite the fact that I was never able to contact Castillo, and he never returned my calls). According to Castillo "the wrong Zip Code" was the issue. Since the Zip Code on the package that I sent to my sister was correct; it's her address that causes the delivery problems, the problem must have been something other than the package I sent to my sister.

On the 18th, I received a 'we tried to deliver a package' notification on my front door. On Thursday (the 19th), I picked up that package. It required a signature. The package came to my house from Japan; and it had the wrong zip code. 80019 was lined through and 80016 was written over the bad zip code. My zip code (when I lived up near the airport) used to be 80019, but now (since 2005) it's 80016. Apparently my friend Rob didn't realize that the zip code had changed.

Now that I think about it, I should have figured this out earlier, because it was actually the second package that I received from him (this week) with the wrong zip code. So, the post office was trying to deliver the package to me, but it had the wrong zip code. If that USPS employee (at the Alameda station) had simply done his job (resolve the problem iaw policy/training) I wouldn't have been called and there wouldn't have been all this confusion.

All is good. All the holiday goodies have been delivered to their proper destinations.

Software favorites:
More updates to a couple of my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. over the last week or so, Thorsten released several 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 GC updates, one of my favorite code editors received another round of bug patches.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on a bunch of beta releases over the last week. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 8.5 (b1086), 8.5 (b1088), 8.5 (b1093). 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>

BBEdit:
This gem was missing from my 'Favs' page for some time. I removed it back in May of 2007. I had decided that Dreamweaver met all my needs. Things have changed. Due to problems with Adobe products (in general), I've decided it's time to bring BBEdit back into the fold. I purchased a new version of BBEdit in October of 2011 (through the Mac 'App Store'). At a discounted introductory price of ~$40; one thing has changed - They've lowered the price to a more manageable target. The full version (through the App Store/and their online store) is only ~$50.00. That's a lot better than their historical pricing of more than $100.00 for the full version. Other notable changes (made to comply with App Store requirements). Command line capability is not included in the version purchased through the App Store. You can download and add that capability outside the App Store. Additionally, the ability to save changes to files that you don't own has been removed from the App Store version. Advanced users can also work around this limitation. In my opinion, the minor changes are well worth the more than 100 new features coupled with the amazing drop in price!

BBEdit is a high-performance HTML and text editor for the Macintosh, and I'm running version 10.5.1 It's designed and crafted for the editing, searching, transformation, and manipulation of text and code (several different flavors of code/languages). BBEdit provides a vast array of general-purpose features which are useful for a wide variety of tasks, and includes many special purpose features which have been specifically developed in response to the needs of Web authors and software developers. It's an absolute must for any HTML author, code developers and hardcore Mac enthusiasts. My needs for BBEdit no longer revolve around HTML editing. While I still use BBEdit for some of my HTML coding, I primarily use it for plaintext editing. It's ability to search, find, compare, replace text and handle documents is simply unparalleled. The 10.5 update is a significant (let's just call it 'Huge') update which includes support for Macs with high-res 'Retina' displays, several new features and numerous fixes for reported problems. The 10.5.1 update is a minor update, released to fix reported issues.
<http://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/arch_bbedit105.html>
<http://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/updates.html>
<http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/>

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>

December 16, 2012

Mac OS updates:
On the 15th of December, Apple released a bunch of software updates. I really like the centralized software updates in the new Mac OS 'App Store'. All the software updates (for applications that are sold/available through the App Store) are consolidated into one place - The App Store. You no longer have to launch an application to see whether it has an update. You don't need to go to multiple application web pages to download the updates. You don't need a update watcher (like Tech Tracker) to track the updates. You don't need to rely on email subscriptions to tell you when an application has been updated. The 'App Store' keeps track of all you software, and notifies you when there's an update. You don't have to launch the individual applications in order to find out... It's a one stop shop for updates. If only all my applications were available in the App Store...

Recently, I logged onto my computer and saw that the App Store had a bunch of Mac OS updates. Well, they weren't all updates for Mac OS, but many were. The following updates were available for Mac users. An Epson Printer Update. As usual, Epson has released more new printers. This is how you get the drivers on your computer. Epson gives the drivers to Apple, and users download the updates using the App Store. If you purchase one of the newer printers, you'll find that your Mac supports all the features of that new printer. In most cases, you don't even need to install the software (the software install CD) that accompanies the printer. If you're keeping up to date with all the Mac software updates, you'll find that you're already prepared to take advantage of the new features available in these new printers.

Another update added additional Raw image compatibility. When digital camera producers release new cameras, they invariably create a new proprietary Raw format for the photos. It's part of their strategy to force consumers along their software processing path. Apparently, they think that a person who buys a Panasonic (or some other brand) camera will only use the bundled software (included on the 'install disk') if the format is proprietary - If they don't use the bundled software, they won't be able to process or edit the Raw images... Stupid. Thankfully, they also release the specs to software developers (through licensing agreements) so people can develop additional software which takes the new format into account. Imagine a high end photographer who finds that he/she can't process the photos using PhotoShop. Would he/she buy another camera from this manufacturer? So, Apple gets the specs for the new Raw formats, and distributes them in occasional Raw updates. Apple's iPhoto and Aperture applications can process/edit Raw formatted images.

The third update in this batch was an iPhoto update. Apple recently released a new version of iPhoto for Mac users. As with any new version, the users have spoken. In some instances they find bugs that the developer community missed. The larger the pool of testers, the more likely they are to find bugs and flaws. When the software is finally released to the general public, they always discover bugs, problems and flaws that the developers didn't see, ignored or didn't consider a problem. In this case, the iPhoto 11.0.1 update patches a few bugs; like the iCloud syncing issue - If Music Match (a pay service that makes all your music available across all your Apple devices) was turned on your iTunes purchases would show up in your iTunes library (didn't affect me; but I turn off Music Match when I'm importing new music). Another patch improves iTunes library searches. Finally, due to user complaints? Apple has brought back the ability to find and display duplicate tracks in the iTunes library. A feature that I used to use, but no longer bother with. I have multiple copies of numerous songs. Some of these 'duplicates' are slightly different versions, so I don't want to delete them. In other instances, I would prefer to keep an album intact. Discarding a single track from an album makes that collection incomplete and degrades from the overall 'value'. When disk capacity was an issue, I used the duplicate finder to eliminate some of those tracks. Now I use a 4TB RAID to store my media (music, videos, photos) - Storage isn't an issue. If you're using an all flash or hybrid device to store your media, you may appreciate the return of this duplicate finder capability.

These updates illustrate Apple's commitment to users. When we speak, they listen. If enough people complain about a missing feature or something that doesn't work properly, they respond. These updates (there were more fixes and improvements than the ones I highlighted above) improve the stability, usability and features of Apple's software platform. The excellent commitment to software updates is another reason why I prefer the Apple OS to others. I've used/use numerous OSs and operating environments at work, and I still prefer Apple OS X for my home use. Apple is continually working to improve the user experience. They get it. Software should be tailored to the users, not the other way around. While command line capability is a powerful tool, it shouldn't be more useful than the 'user' interface. My experience is more important than the code!
<http://www.apple.com/osx/apps/app-store.html>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669#lexmark>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669#epson>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1397>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1604>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1614>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5371>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1398>
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/>

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 added a small link/announcement regarding our next Neighborhood Watch meeting. The next meeting will be held on 7 Feb, 2013. The announcement links to our Current and Events pages.
• Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information.
  • I updated announcements for the next Neighborhood Watch meeting. Our next meeting will be held on the 7th of February, 2013. This meeting will be something different. A CAP (Community Awareness Program) training session presented by the Aurora Police. The meeting will take place from 1800-2030MDT (a bit earlier and longer than usual) at the usual place (Fox Ridge Middle School). In order to have adequate materials prepared in time for the training, you'll need to RSVP ahead of time. Please join us in some training designed to help protect our community and stop crime before it happens. The Current page contains a poster announcing this upcoming CAP training.
• Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch.
  • I updated announcements for the next Neighborhood Watch meeting. The next meeting will be held on the 7th of Feb, 2013 (at our usual location of Fox Ridge Middle School). The events page contain additional information regarding this special training session.

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>

Comcast Sticks it to the Consumer - Yet Again:
</rant>Back in February of 2009, I made a prediction... The country was in the middle of something called the 'Digital TV Transition' - Perhaps you remember? All television channels were required to convert their service from Analog to Digital. Yes, you remember. You could get one of those digital converter boxes; to covert 'over the air' digital signals to 'analog' form; so your old style analog television could still display the new digital television content. Well my prediction was a bit of a stretch. Something of a conspiracy theory. Starting in January of 2009, television stations started switching to all digital broadcasts. By the 13th of June, 2009 there were very few analog TV stations broadcasting over the air. They all (with few exceptions) switched over to the new more bandwidth efficient digital signal. Back in 2009, there was one huge source of analog television that no one was talking about. One huge source of analog TV that wasn't addressed in all the DTV legislation. Analog on cable. What? Some of you may not know what I'm talking about, so allow me a moment more.

Cable providers carry two signals (used to carry two signals) on that copper running into your house. One of the signals is digital. To see that digital (which is also encrypted) signal, to use the fancy menus, the programming guides and order the 'Pay Per View', you need one of the Cable Boxes provided by your cable provider. Even if you have a newer TV with built in HD/ATSC (QAM) tuners, you'll still need a box or cable card (If your TV has a slot for one) in order to decrypt the premium content channels. You'll have to rent one or the other. They make a lot of money off those monthly lease fees. O.k. moving on. The other signal on the cable is analog. That's right, it's the same type of signal as those that used to be broadcast by broadcast television stations (they've all switched to the digital signal since then). The cable companies carry this signal (were carrying it) so you (subscribers) can get cable TV on your old style television without a cable box. It's not the full featured cable. You don't get the channel guide, the fancy menus, the 'Pay Per View' or premium channels. The cable companies do this as a service to you. You want cable in the bedroom, but you don't want to pay for a second cable box - Those things cost a lot. Maybe you want some cable in the laundry room, or the kids room upstairs. Certainly don't want them ordering the skin-a-max late at night.

So, now that you know what I'm talking about. Let's talk about the transition. Right, the DTV transition. It didn't apply to cable TV, or did it? They (Comcast) still had analog on their cables. The questions I asked back in February of 2009: So what's going to happen to the analog signal on the Comcast cable? Will it go away when the DTV transition occurs? Will the cable operators use this transition as an opportunity to turn off your low cost analog subscription? "Sorry, but the FCC mandated the end of analog broadcasts". The cable companies might use this as an opportunity to get rid of these analog signals. They take up a lot of room on the cable. They're much wider (bandwidth wise) than the digital signals. They require a completely separate set of older equipment to maintain, and the revenue margin on those subscriptions is much lower than the margin on the digital signal. I couldn't get any answers from Comcast back then, and I didn't like the looks of it. I made a prediction:

If I were a cable company, I'd keep the equipment around for a little while. A few years maybe. Then, guess what - Send out a letter. "Dear customer. We're going to discontinue the analog service on our cable network. If you wish to keep receiving cable programming on your older televisions, you're going to need an upgrade." Ka-Ching! Ahh, the sound of progress. They're doing you a favor. They're enhancing your customer experience. They're providing you with an 'All digital service', less outages, less maintenance costs, and a savings for the customer. I'm willing to bet that they could even reduce your subscription costs. They'll save a lot of money by getting rid of that old analog equipment. They'll save a lot of money when they lay off all the technicians who serviced, maintained and managed those old analog services. Plus, their profit margins will increase when you end up ordering a new box for that TV in the basement. Conspiracy theory, or glimpse of the future? You'll get your answer in a few years.

I predicted this development back in February of 2009. With the DTV transition (Yeah, remember that? All the analog broadcasts went away. Everyone was forced to buy digital converters or new TVs.) Cable providers (including Comcast) were the only ones carrying analog television signals. These analog signals were taking up valuable bandwidth (on the copper/cable), required maintenance, and cost a lot of money to maintain and operate.

I predicted that all these cable providers would eventually do away with their analog service. Well - It happened, and it didn't take long for the cable providers to get started. It started earlier than I estimated. Just a year passed, and Comcast has started their digital transition (in 2010). All those customers who're still watching cable via analog signals are being converted over to digital. In a surprise move, current customers were being converted at no cost! If you're a current Comcast customer, you could get a digital transport adapter at no cost (up to two adapters at no cost). If you had 'Basic Cable' they allowed you to remain on the analog teat. They scaled back the number of channels that you had access to, and now (Dec of 2012) that service will go away entirely (by January of 2012). For now (until Jan of 2012), they're retaining 15-30 analog channels for customers on their 'Basic Cable' plan. This retention of minimal analog service is due to a federal mandate, and I'm certain that cable providers weren't very happy with this analog requirement. This federal mandate originally required cable companies to retain their analog services until February of 2013, but the FCC granted several waivers, and most cable providers have been allowed to complete their all digital transition before that Feb 2012 date. Comcast will be ending their analog services on January 1st, 2013.

Comcast quickly began scaling back their analog services and offered DTAs to customers in early 2010. My neighborhood was scheduled to switch in April of 2010. I caught wind of these changes early (before April of 2010), and managed to get my hands on a DTA in February of 2010. Thankfully, it was easy to install and activate. I had the DTA up and running in under an hour. These DTAs gives you an expanded line-up of channels; compared to the standard analog signal carried on cable. The DTA provides digital quality service in my bedroom, and more than a hundred channels. I even got back some channels that disappeared with the DTV transition. The analog service wasn't very good, and the number of channels was pretty low (appx 40). Many signals were weak, and the picture quality was marginal at best. The digital channels are far better in picture quality, and I have to say... I was completely satisfied with the way this change was handled - Until now... While Comcast originally provided these DTAs (up to two) for free, that's about to change. If you haven't been hit by the price increase yet, I assure you it's just around the corner. Comcast is set to change all it's pricing on the 1st of January, 2013.

On the 12th of Dec, 2012, I stopped at the local Comcast service center to pick up my 2nd 'Free' DTA. I already have one, but I bought a new HDTV for the guest bedroom, and I'd like to watch the cable (basic cable) channels on that new television. When I finally made my way to the customer service counter (with six service reps it took me 30 minutes to get to the counter), I was surprised - Not completely surprised mind you / I like most Americans inherently distrust the Cable companies, and fully expect that they will screw me, overcharge me, and disappoint me whenever possible - I am always surprised when their service is acceptable, that's a day to celebrate! As I said, I was surprised; surprised when the service representative informed me that their would be a $1.99/month charge for this DTA. Hold on a second, I've got a copy of this web page. I printed out a Comcast FAQ that explained how I was entitled to two DTAs at no cost! So what! Shut up slave, you will pay for the service, and you will like it. They didn't care that the Comcast website said it was free. I would still have to pay $1.99 after I activated it - Actually, I'm fully expecting to start paying $1.99 per month regardless of whether I activate it or not. If Comcast insists on charging me $1.99 for each DTA, I might just return one of them and move my OTA antenna to the guest room.

Exactly what I predicted (back in Feb of 2009) is about to happen - You will have to pay for every cable box, every cable card, every DTA. No more free cable on any of your TVs. While we used to get analog channels for free - over the air, or on the cable - You will now have to pay for every digital feed (to television or other device) in your home. Gone are the days where you could receive free music and television via analog cable signals. The digital transition is almost complete, and you're about to pay! Wait a second - My new HDTV has a built in QAM tuner, can't I use that to tune the new digital signals? Well, you could - If your Cable provider doesn't encrypt the digital content... I'm fairly certain that Comcast is encrypting (or planning to encrypt) their digital content (or some portion of it). If they didn't you wouldn't need one of those DTAs (or a digital set-top box, or a special cable card), now what good would that be? They wouldn't be able to charge you extra for something you already own; could they? Well, I'm sure they would if they could. What was sold as a benefit to the consumer (better quality signals, better digital services, more channels available, more HD channels, more interactive features, lower maintenance costs for TV stations, lower power consumption, lower equipment costs) is now set to become a detriment to consumers. What was free will now cost you. Not only will these cable providers be saving money in this digital transition (lower maintenance costs, fewer technicians, lower equipment costs, less outages, lower utility costs), they're also going to soak you for the improved service. Oh yeah, let's not forget about that spectrum they're no longer using. It's still their spectrum (technically it's ours (a resource of the American people), but that's just 'technically') so now they can sell it (sell their rights to it) and make some more money.

Isn't capitalism great! With all the competition in the Cable market, surely the consumers will end up with excellent service at reasonable prices and technological innovations that make the service even better. Just in case you couldn't tell - That was sarcasm. The Cable market in America is a complete sham. A totally controlled market that is locked down by a few big names. There is NO COMPETITION at all. They all collaborate, conspire, and non-compete in order to create an anti-competitive market that has soaked the American public for decades. Does the FCC care? Does the FCC do anything about it? Does the consumer ever get a break in the Cable market? Absolutely NOT - Shut up Slave! You will pay what they 'ask for' and you will 'like it'. When you have no other choice (Verizon FIOS? No! - Google fiber? No! - Some other Cable company in the same market? No! - Satellite? Are you serious? Yeah, that's another market that's wide open - Lots of competition there... Not!</rant>
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/165545/digital_tv_transition_problems.html?page=3http://www.pcworld.com/article/165545/digital_tv_transition_problems.html?page=1>
<http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/09/fcc-to-cable-you-must-support-analog-tvs-until-2012.ars>
<http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/how-bill-will-change-with-digital-migration>
<http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/what-is-the-comcast-digital-migration>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whatsnew/wn2009/wn2009_feb.html#feb12_2009>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-276576A1.pdf>
<http://www.fcc.gov/guides/advisory-analog-cable-television-subscribers>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whatsnew/wn2010_mar.html#analogcable>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTV_transition_in_the_United_States>
<https://digitalnow.comcast.com/About_Digital_Update.aspx>
<http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cable-system-encryption>
<https://www.robsworld.org/comcastpricesheet.png>
<https://www.robsworld.org/comcastlie.png>

Donate some money to Rob's World!
Back in May of 2003, I added a donation link to my website. As recommended by one of my friends (in 2007), I added that donation link to the bottom of my main page. Please feel free to donate money to help defray my operating expenses? Perhaps you like Rob's World! so much that you'd like to express your appreciation in a very American way. Feel free to contribute to my PayPal account. Your contribution will be used for some frivolous pursuit. Perhaps I'll use it to buy some computer software, pay for my internet bill, or purchase a new car! I make no promises regarding the disposition of any contributions, but I do promise to send you a personal email in response. Thanks for helping keep Rob's World! running.

Since I put that PayPal link on my website, I've received a whopping four donations (one of them was rescinded by PayPal); for a total amount of $24.34! Recently (on 12/12/12), I received the third actual donation since 2003. I must be doing something right/or not... $12.34 donated by Dennis - A huge fan of Rob's World! I'm sure there's more fans out there, but Dennis has really pulled out the wallet in order to show his appreciation. Thanks Dennis, I really appreciate the donation and the numerical significance of the date and donation. As a result of this recent donation, I updated my PayPal page.
<https://www.robsworld.org/mypaypal.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 our 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 (updates) in the content.
  • Added a banner to notify residents regarding meeting cancellations. During the month of December, our HOA and Metro District board members have family and friends in town; some travel in order to visit with friends and family. As a result of all this traveling about, they usually cancel the regularly scheduled meetings during the month of December - The HOA meeting on the 19th of Dec, and the MD meeting on the 25th of Dec have both been cancelled..
  • Updated the announcements regarding the next HOA and Metro District meetings. Our next HOA meeting is 16 Jan, 2013. Our next Metro District meeting will be held on the 22nd of Jan, 2013.
• 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.
  • Updated the announcements regarding the next HOA meeting. Our next HOA meeting is 16 Jan, 2013 (due to holidays in December). Our next Metro District meeting will be held 22 Jan, 2013. Meetings in December were cancelled due to the holidays.
  • Removed notification entry which informed residents of an upcoming meeting regarding taxation and the libraries in Aurora.
  • Moved the refinancing paragraph to the bottom of the page.
  • Moved a paragraph regarding the Tollgate Crossing Bulletin Boards to the bottom of the page. I also changed some highlighting on the paragraph.
• 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: 2012-10-23 (regular meeting). Meeting minutes from the current month aren't released until the board approves them; during the month that follows. As a result, my posting of meeting minutes are always a month or more behind. If you'd like to read meeting minutes from further back (further back than those available on the website), please let me know. I'll probably post November's meeting minutes (Nov of 2012) in February of 2013. No meeting in December, and I'll have to wait until the board meets in January before November's meeting minutes are approved. Once they're approved, I'll have to write the MD management to request the meeting minutes. After I receive them from the MD management I can post them on the website.

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>

Software favorites:
More updates to one of my favorite software application. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. over the last week or so, Thorsten released several 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.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on a bunch of beta releases over the last week. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 8.5 (b1082), 8.5 (b1083), 8.5(b1085). 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>

December 09, 2012

Stupid Chinese Domain Name Scammers:
My first encounter with this particular scam occurred back in January of 2010. I had another encounter on the 29th of Mar, 2012, another on the 14th of May, 2012, another on the 19th of Jun, 2012 and yet another on the 6th of Dec, 2012. This/these particular scammers sure are persistent. In all cases I received a suspicious email. Something that piqued my interest and caused some concern. This email indicated that someone is trying to register one of my domains (in the past it was just 'robsworld.org', but now it's expanded out to 'tollgatecrossing.org') as an 'Internet Keyword' and their corresponding China/Asia Domain Names (CN/ASIA)? That originally concerned me (Now I just laugh when I see the scammers trying to trick me - yet again!). I own the domain names 'robsworld.org' and 'tollgatecrossing.org', and these developments could cause problems in the future. This company (the one that sent me the unsolicited email) wants me to contact them regarding the matter. The poor use of English and English grammar in the email certainly indicates that the originator isn't an English speaker. They claim to be a 'Domain Name Registration Center' in China. At the same time, some of the language feels out of place. The authors use terms that are not applicable to the medium and or the technical genre, and the tone of the email almost feels like extortion or some implied threat of intellectual property infringement. I get the feeling that something isn't quite 'right' about these types of email messages. Being a skeptic, I started doing a little research (Isn't the Internet great!?).

The research/searches yielded a great deal of information regarding this domain (apidnr.hk in Jan of 2010, yiguangroup.com in Mar of 2012, ygnetworkltd.com in May and June of 2012 and now ygnetworkgroup.com in December of 2012, similar emails, and the 'Scam' that these companies are engaging in. It's a scare tactic and an extortion racket. The fact that this email, and many like it, have gone out to several other domain name owners (as indicated by searches) indicates that it's a mass mailing email campaign (just like spam). They're not targeting me specifically, just targeting domain name registrants. I found numerous examples that were nearly identical to mine. Their email implies that someone is trying to register my domain name as an 'Internet Keyword'. I wasn't sure what that was to begin with (back in 2010), but I soon figured it out. They also insinuate that someone may be attempting to register my domain with a .cn or .hk TLD (Top Level Domain). They also indicate that my domain name (robsworld and/or tollgatecrossing) refers to my 'company name or trademark'. This isn't true. I don't trade on my domain name(s). I don't have a trade mark, and I haven't incorporated anything under my domain names. Clearly they're trying to frighten or scare me into action. If I had a 'trade mark' or 'company name' I would likely be concerned in a legal sense. This entire solicitation seems designed to make me call/contact them in order to prevent this 'third party' from using my 'trade mark' or 'company name'. As documented by other 'victims', once you email them back, a 'third party' (the one they mention in their initial email) conveniently gets involved in a further attempt to convince you that your domain/property is in jeopardy; unless you follow through with their recommendations. You'll need to pay the 'legitimate' domain/keyword registration fees. It's extortion - I never paid the 'Vigilante' for 'protection' (it's a long story) when I lived in Italy (for seven years), and I'm not about to start paying these Chinese scamsters for 'Trademark' 'protection'.

Domain name registration, trade marks and internet keywords are all different. This company is playing on fear and confusion in the hopes that I/others will become so concerned that we'll buy into their scams. Whatever they happen to be. One might speculate that they want me to register my domain with a Chinese TLD. Perhaps they want me to register my 'Internet Keyword' (something initiated by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), the state run network information center of China), so that Chinese users will be directed to my website as opposed to a web site run by this mythical 'third party'. I'm not interested in registering any 'Internet Keywords' with a Chinese NIC; as these keywords are used as a means of internet censorship in China. The registration of 'Internet Keywords' is a costly proposition, that simply creates a second tier of domain name registration as a way of generating revenue for the Chinese state/corporations, and facilitating internet censorship. The only 'domain names' I'm interested in are the ones I've registered (through legitimate domain registrars). If I ever wanted a Chinese TLD (or internet keyword), I certainly wouldn't go through a company that sends me unsolicited email, full of unfounded, unproven insinuations and speech designed to frighten me.

If you ever need any help hunting down a spammer, don't hesitate to ask for my help. I'm willing and eager to help. Just drop me an email. I'd put the email address here, but this email message is also posted online, where spammers could scrape the email off the web page. Damn those spammers!
<https://www.robsworld.org/domainscam.png>
<http://alfidicapitalblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/alfidi-capital-exposes-chinese-domain.html>
<http://www.joewein.net/blog/2008/12/08/domain-registration-scam-in-china/>
<http://www.firetrust.com/en/blog/chris/domain-name-scams>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship>
<https://www.robsworld.org/index2.html#fightingspam>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whybother.html>
<http://www.damnspammers.com>

Software favorites:
More updates to some of my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. over the last week or so, Thorsten released several 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 GC update, I also downloaded updates to BBEdit, Numbers, Pages and Keynote as a result of some Apple software updates.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on a bunch of beta releases over the last week. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 8.5 (b1080), 8.5 (b1081). 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>

BBEdit:
This gem was missing from my 'Favs' page for some time. I removed it back in May of 2007. I had decided that Dreamweaver met all my needs. Things have changed. Due to problems with Adobe products (in general), I've decided it's time to bring BBEdit back into the fold. I purchased a new version of BBEdit in October of 2011 (through the Mac 'App Store'). At a discounted introductory price of ~$40; one thing has changed - They've lowered the price to a more manageable target. The full version (through the App Store/and their online store) is only ~$50.00. That's a lot better than their historical pricing of more than $100.00 for the full version. Other notable changes (made to comply with App Store requirements). Command line capability is not included in the version purchased through the App Store. You can download and add that capability outside the App Store. Additionally, the ability to save changes to files that you don't own has been removed from the App Store version. Advanced users can also work around this limitation. In my opinion, the minor changes are well worth the more than 100 new features coupled with the amazing drop in price!

BBEdit is a high-performance HTML and text editor for the Macintosh, and I'm running version 10.5. It's designed and crafted for the editing, searching, transformation, and manipulation of text and code (several different flavors of code/languages). BBEdit provides a vast array of general-purpose features which are useful for a wide variety of tasks, and includes many special purpose features which have been specifically developed in response to the needs of Web authors and software developers. It's an absolute must for any HTML author, code developers and hardcore Mac enthusiasts. My needs for BBEdit no longer revolve around HTML editing. While I still use BBEdit for some of my HTML coding, I primarily use it for plaintext editing. It's ability to search, find, compare, replace text and handle documents is simply unparalleled. The 10.5 update is a significant (let's just call it 'Huge') update which includes support for Macs with high-res 'Retina' displays, several new features and numerous fixes for reported problems.
<http://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/arch_bbedit105.html>
<http://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/updates.html>
<http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/>

iWork '09:
Apple's productivity suite is three applications with iCloud integration. I'm running various versions of the component software: iWork 9.3 on my desktop and laptops delivered Pages 4.3 (1048), Keynote 5.3 (1170) and Numbers 2.3 (554) respectively. On my iPad and iPhone, I'm running the new versions: Pages 1.7.1, Numbers 1.7.1 (I don't have the portable (iPad/iPhone) version of Keynote).

iWork is Apple's productivity suite. Previous versions of iWork (2005-2006) contained two applications, a bit anemic for a productivity suite. It was missing a crucial component. No spreadsheet application? In 2007, things changed. They added a spreadsheet application. Numbers is the newest addition to the productivity suite. With the addition of this new component. iWork became a feasible replacement for the venerable (and still useful) AppleWorks - which hasn't (and never will - according to Apple) seen an update since 2004. iWork is also a home contender, competing against Microsoft Office. Most home users don't need the power provided by Microsoft's productivity suite. iWork applications are Office compatible (No it's not 100% compatible, but it can open, edit and save documents as Office documents), and the pricing is far more affordable than the behemoth on the block. So, the addition of numbers and a fantastic price (Sold separately on the Mac App store for $19.99 each (Mobile apps are available in the iTunes App store for $9.99 each)), the great reviews (that I've read), the compatibility (Office and AppleWorks) and the outstanding support that Apple provides, have enticed me to switch from AppleWorks to iWork. All of the iWork components contain web based output options, which is crucial for anyone creating web pages, or managing a web site.

iWork consists of three productivity applications and online integration with Apple's iCloud syncing capability:

Pages - Pages is a word processing application with page layout features. Besides basic word processing functionality, Pages includes 140 templates designed by Apple that allow users to create various types of documents, including newsletters, invitations, stationery, and résumés, along with a number of education-themed templates (such as reports and outlines) for students and teachers.

Along with Keynote and Numbers, Pages integrates with Apple's iLife suite. Using the Media Browser, users can drag and drop movies, photos and music directly into documents within the Pages application. A Full Screen view hides the menubar and toolbars, and an outline mode allows users to quickly create outlines which can easily be rearranged by dragging and dropping, as well as collapsed and expanded. Pages includes support for entering complex equations with MathType 6 and for reference citing using EndNote X2.

The Pages application can open and edit Microsoft Word documents (including DOC and Office Open XML files), rich text format documents, and plain text documents. Pages can also export documents in the DOC, PDF, and ePub formats (from WikiPedia).

Keynote - Keynote is an application used to create and play presentations. Its features are comparable to those of Microsoft PowerPoint, though Keynote contains several unique features which differ from similar applications. Keynote, like Pages and Numbers, integrates with the iLife application suite. Users can drag and drop media from iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto and Aperture directly into Keynote presentations using the Media Browser. Keynote contains a number of templates, transitions, and effects. Magic Move allows users to apply simple transitions to automatically animate images and text that are repeated on consecutive slides.

The Keynote Remote application lets users view slides and presenter notes and control Keynote presentations with an iPhone or iPod touch over a Wi-Fi network.

Keynote supports a number of file formats. By default, presentations are saved as .key files. Keynote can open and edit Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt) files. In addition, presentations can be exported as Microsoft PowerPoint files, QuickTime movies (which are also playable on iPod and iPhone), HTML files, and PDF files. Presentations can also be sent directly to iDVD, iTunes, GarageBand, iWeb, and to YouTube. The Keynote 09 file format is not backward compatible; .key files saved with Keynote '09 can not be opened with earlier versions of Keynote (from WikiPedia).

Numbers - Numbers is a spreadsheet application that was added to the iWork suite in 2007 with the release of iWork '08. Numbers, like Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet applications, lets users organize data into tables, perform calculations with formulas, and create charts and graphs using data entered into the spreadsheet. Numbers, however, differs from other spreadsheet applications in that it allows users to create multiple tables in a single document on a flexible canvas. Many prebuilt templates, including ones designed for personal finance, education, and business use, are included.

Numbers 2, the latest release which is included with iWork '09, integrates with other iWork applications. Charts that are pasted into Keynote and Pages are automatically updated across documents when they are changed in Numbers. Additionally, Numbers 2 lets users categorize data in tables by column, which can then be collapsed and summarized (from WikiPedia).

These recent update (updates to the desktop and mobile applications) brings the following updates: Improved accessibility settings, change tracking with the ability to accept and reject individual changes and the ability to import/read Microsoft documents with change tracking enabled. The 1.7.1 updates (on the 7th of Dec, 2012) follow a 1.7 update released days earlier (on the 4th of Dec, 2012).
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5534>
<http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/>
<http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/>
<http://www.apple.com/iwork/numbers/>
<http://www.apple.com/icloud/>
<http://www.apple.com/iwork/>
<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pages/id361309726?mt=8>
<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/numbers/id361304891?mt=8>

Most of these updates are releases designed to improve compatibility with Apple's latest Mac OS - Mountain Lion (Mac OS 10.8) and the latest release of iOS; Apple's mobile operating system. 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>

Digital Downloads for December:
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 29 million tracks! (16m on MOG (as of Sep, 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 now serves as 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 or listen to all sorts of music for free (Have you heard of Pandora?). 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 (Dec of 2012) I downloaded 51 tracks at the low cost of $22.87. I'm paying a $19.99 monthly fee, so that makes the tracks even cheaper (~$0.39 / 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. Since being purchased from VU (Vivendi Universal) Net in 2004, the prices on eMusic have been slowly creeping ever upward, and they're approaching the cost of Amazon tracks. If that happens, I'll probably switch to Amazon for my music acquisition needs.

* Master of My Make Believe - Santigold: (11 tracks) A favorite artist since I first discovered her (by way of iTunes Indie Spotlight podcast) back in 2009. Completely unexpected. Who would have thought that I would dig this sound. Defying boundaries, redefining genres, breaking down the doors to dance, pop, punk, reggae. It's truly alternative. The talented voice of Santogold (Santi White) is a fantastic front for this band from Brooklyn. The artist/band changed names from Santogold to Santigold in February of 2009.
* The Lumineers - The Lumineers: (11 songs) Another artist I discovered through the iTunes New Music Tuesday podcast. Excellent folk music with vocals that remind me of the Violent Femmes and Edward Sharpe. This Denver band is producing some excellent stuff. Great lyrics and acoustic instrumentals.
* Talk about the Weather - Red Lorry Yellow Lorry: (19 songs) A new discovery from the MOG music recommendations. Considering the fact that this band from Leads England was active during the 80s, I'm surprised I haven't heard of them before now. Reminding me of Gang of Four, Echo and The Bunnymen, Magazine and Joy Division, this band sounds like many of my favorite bands. I'm sure that this eMusic pick won't be the last of the band's albums that I purchase.
* Razorlight - Razorlight: (10 songs) Another MOG music discovery. They sure do a good job finding music I'll like. A British Indie rock band that emerged from London in 2002. With a quick beat and snappy lyrics, I've found a clean, clear, refreshing rock-pop group that doesn't skip a beat.

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>