What's New!

October 31, 2012

Annibirthday - 2012:
Kim's parents joined Kim and I in October of 2012 for an Annibirthday weekend. Ted & Sharon flew in on the 25th of October and we spent the afternoon relaxing at the house. Ted and I repaired the florescent lights in our laundry room, while the women enjoyed an afternoon at a spa. We all went out to eat at Texas de Brazil that evening (I'll post more about that later). On the morning of the 26th we drove west into the Rockies. The weather was crappy and the roads a bit icy. Thankfully the weather broke just after Vail, and the trip into Glenwood Springs was clear, sunny and snow-free! That night we stayed at the Glenwood Springs Hotel (in Glenwood Springs). We spent some time soaking in the hot springs (just across the street from the hotel), and a little bit of time shopping. On the 27th we left Glenwood Springs and drove back to Aurora, Colorado. Along the way we stopped in Beaver Creek for lunch and Vail in order to do some more shopping. It was a very relaxing birthday/anniversary. No big events, just a casual weekend with Kim's parents. Thankfully that crappy weather in the Denver/Aurora area (see below) didn't follow us to Glenwood Springs. On the evening of the 27th we ate in (at our house) and relaxed. On the 28th of October, Kim and her mother did some more shopping in the Denver/Aurora area. That evening, we ate out at Maggiano's, and Kim's parents flew home on the morning of the 29th. It was a relaxing long weekend. Kim and I enjoyed Ted and Sharon's company, and we all had a good time. The 'Annibirthday' is our anniversary and my birthday. Kim and I got married on my birthday, on the 26th of October, back in 1985 - We've been married 27 years, and I'm too old to do the math for my age. Let's just say I'm not 'over the hill' yet!

During the vacation - I took a few photos. Regrettably, I only took the iPhone with me, so some of the photos didn't turn out as nice as I'd hoped. Another great Annibirthday - and plenty of photos posted. With the demise of MobileMe, Apple's pulled a fantastic photo sharing site right out from under my feet. Fortunately, my new webhost has empowered me with a large variety of web apps and cgi functionality. I found an adequate substitute for the MobileMe gallery, and I've been posting my photos on my own website ever since. Next time Apple decides to cut the cord on one of their services, I won't have to worry about my data. I posted all the photos to my website (feel free to login and leave some comments), and about one third of them to my FaceBook page. I hope you enjoy the photos.
<http://robsworld.org/galleryphotos/index.php/Annibirthday2012>
<http://www.softaculous.com/softaculous/apps/galleries/Gallery>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobileMe#MobileMe_Gallery>
<https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A3J0DiRHJ04Mec>
<http://www.softaculous.com/softaculous/>
<https://www.robsworld.org/photos.html>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobileMe>

Out to Eat in Denver:
Occasionally, Kim and I take the opportunity to eat out at one of the fine restaurants in the Denver/Aurora area. They're not always five star places, but we're not that kind of people. During October, Kim and I enjoyed one of our 'Date Nights' at a new restaurant. It was our 2012 Annibirthday and we really went all out. Kim picked a restaurant we'd been wanting to try, but we didn't get around to it until just recently (25 Oct, 2012). Texas de Brazil is a chain, but they're definitely one of those 'third wave' restaurants. The upscale niche market of unique cuisine for the discriminating diner. Texas de Brazil is modeled after a Brazilian 'Churrascaria'. Kim and I have never been to Brazil, but I've been to Texas - In Texas you tend to get generous portions when you order food, but this was certainly more than we were bargaining for. According to their website: "Texas de Brazil is carving out a whole new experience in fine dining. The restaurant is an authentic Brazilian-American "Churrascaria" or steakhouse that combines the cuisines of Southern Brazil with the generous spirit of Texas."

So how does it work? For $42.99 per person, you get all you can eat. And when I say all you can eat, you'll eat more than you ever planned to eat. The food is so good we just couldn't stop. We definitely went overboard, I even had visions of Mr. Creosote from Monty Python's 'Meaning of Life' - That's far too gluttonous for my own good. We really paid for our gluttony afterwards. I don't think I've worked off all the calories we racked up from that trip to the Northfield Mall. What's on the menu? First of all, I must say that we'll be back - Just for the Salad Bar. The salad bar contained a huge variety of Anti-Pasta style foods. Fresh buffalo mozzarella, Brazilian hearts of palm, grilled Portobelo mushrooms, Greek olives, shrimp salad, imported Italian salamis, couscous, sautéed mushrooms, prosciutto, many different cheeses, several varieties of olives, herbed sweet onions, jasmine rice, spicy surimi sushi, soup du jour and many other specialties. I could feast on that all night long. Thankfully you can pay for just the salad bar. Next time around I'll probably do that.

This time around, we opted for the full experience, which includes all you can eat salad bar and the meat. The meat! I don't usually eat this much meat, but wow - What a variety and flavors. The meats are slow cooked over an open flame grill. After you sit down, you receives a two-sided card. One side is green - as in "go", and the other side is red - as in 'stop'. When you flip the card to green, several meat carvers rotating from table to table will stop to slice different cuts of roasted beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and Brazilian sausage from skewers onto your plate. Some of the meat cuts: BBQ Beef ribs, Chicken breast wrapped in bacon, Chuleta de cordeiro (lamb chops), Filet mignon, Filet mignon wrapped in bacon, Flank steak, Garlic picanha (prime part of the sirloin/my favorite), Linguiça (Brazilian sausage/another favorite), Picanha (prime part of the sirloin), Parmesan chicken, Parmesan pork, Pata de cordeiro (Leg of lamb), Pork loin, Pork ribs and more? We tried everything - I think. I can only imagine. We washed it down with a variety of drinks, but we had no room left for desert. Despite that, Kim insisted on desert; so we ordered the desert to go.

Feeding four people (Kim's parents were with us) in this manner can be a bit expensive, so you'll want to check your wallet before you go. Four adults, eating all you can eat, with some mixed drinks, and desert... Even with a 15% military discount (thank you), our total still came to appx $250.00 (with tax and tip). Certainly not cheap, but still reasonable for this area. Not the sort of expense we can afford every week, but it sure was worth the drive (the Northfield Mall is pretty far north of our house/almost an hour drive). We'll be back to this restaurant for the outstanding food. Other than the food, I felt that the service was a bit lacking (our server only came back to our table twice during the entire evening). The atmosphere was rushed; even on a weeknight, and the sound level was a bit high. I can't imagine what this place is like on a weekend. Avoid the weekends as the service will suffer greatly and the noise? If you go on a weekend, you might want to take some earplugs!
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40KisM3JgWE>
<http://www.texasdebrazil.com/menu/salads-sides>
<http://www.texasdebrazil.com/location/denver>

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

Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements.
- I rearranged the banners a bit - It's something I do to indicate a change (updates) in the content.
- Removed a banner and badge notifying residents of an upcoming meeting regarding taxation and the libraries in Aurora.
- Updated the announcements regarding the next HOA meeting. Our next HOA meeting is 13 Nov, vice 21 Nov (due to Thanksgiving holiday). Our next Metro District meeting will be held 27 Nov.
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 (I also included a link to an agenda for the upcoming 'special' HOA meeting). Our next HOA meeting is 13 Nov, vice 21 Nov (due to Thanksgiving holiday). Our next Metro District meeting will be held 27 Nov.
- 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 removed/hid the the information about our community pool. With the pool closed, I typically just hide the information by making it 100% transparent.
- I updated links to, and posted updated Meeting Minutes from Metro District meetings. Added meeting minutes from the following dates: 2012-07-24 (regular meeting), 2012-08-04 (special meeting/bond refinancing meeting (board approved recommended refinancing)). If you'd like to read meeting minutes from further back (further back than those available on the website), please let me know.

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

Microsoft Announcements - October 2012:
Not to be outdone, Microsoft had a few announcements of their own during October of 2012. Following closely behind Apple's Oct, 23rd announcement, the new Microsoft Surface (Microsoft's Tablet) went on sale on the 26th of October (at midnight on the 25th). Based upon their 'Surface and Slate' work, it's a touchscreen device. Beginning on the 26th of October, the Microsoft Surface will feature the Windows RT (A mobile environment) operating system, but a later release is promised to run the full Windows 8 operating system. The Windows RT devices (including the Microsoft Surface) will only run Windows Store apps and built in software, including Office applications; Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote 2013 RT (yes a special version of Office 2013/It won't run Outlook). The Windows RT operating system features the new tile-based 'Metro' interface as well as a standard desktop type of interface, but the operating system will not allow you to install or run any applications that aren't offered in the Windows Store. That means (like Apple's iTunes Store / apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and iPad Mini) you won't be able to load or use any third party browsers, games, applications. Currently the Windows Store has appx 5,000 apps (appx 90% are Windows RT compatible), but Microsoft promises 100,000+ apps by February of 2013. It doesn't run Windows Media Player so forget the idea of making this a media on the go platform. If you want music or movies, you'll have to use the Xbox Music service (The Xbox Music and Video service replaces the Zune music service). It comes pre-installed on the new Slate tablets, and it gives you access to 30 million tracks. You can get 30 second previews for free, and ad supported streaming for free (maximum of 10 hours/month for six months). However, in order to get access to the Xbox Music service (just getting access to the service) will cost you appx $60.00/year, as an Xbox Live Gold subscription is required in order to get access to this (and other) streaming service. If you'd like to subscribe to the streaming music plan (unlimited* streaming without ads), you'll have to shell out another $9.99 a month ($99.99 a year). O.k. aside from the crappy music service, and requirement to pay for the Xbox Live Gold membership, what else does the new tablet offer? I like the 'kickstand' and the keyboard integrated into the cover (which you have to pay extra for) but I don't like the fact that you can't get the full up Windows 8 OS yet. Prices are comparable to the iPad, but the Surface seems a bit pricier when you look at the cost of an Xbox Live Gold membership.

On October 16, pricing was revealed for the Surface RT,] and pre-orders opened to ship, "for delivery by 10/26":
Surface with Windows RT, 32 GB (no keyboard cover): $499 - Surface with Windows RT, 32 GB with Black Touch Cover: $599 - Surface with Windows RT, 64 GB with Black Touch Cover: $699 - Surface Touch Cover (white, red, black, cyan, or pink): $119 - Surface Type Cover: $129. There is no option for a non-keyboard cover.

Also released at the October event (25 Oct, 2012) was the new Microsoft Operating System - Windows 8/Windows 8 Pro. While the new operating seems promising, I can't imagine anyone with a desktop computer using that 'Tile based' interface. Can you imagine how fatigued your arms might be after touching your monitor for hours at a time? - Hey, won't you need a special monitor for that to work? Weird... At least they're trying. The Surface with Windows 8 won't be available until later...
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57537730-75/top-10-biggest-drawbacks-of-windows-rt/>
<http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2012/Oct12/10-25Windows8GAPR.aspx>
<http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2012/Oct12/10-25SurfaceRetailPR.aspx>
<http://www.microsoftstore.com/Surface_Tablet>
<https://www.robsworld.org/surfaceemail.png>
<http://www.microsoft.com/Surface>
<http://windows.microsoft.com/>

Another October Snow Storm:
Winter doesn't officially start until Dec, 21st, but it looks like we're going to get more of that white stuff before Halloween. October in these parts is usually quite sedate; with slowly dropping temps and occasional rain, we typically don't get snow until late October or early November. With temps in the high 60s and 70s just a week prior, this particular snap of bad weather comes as a slight surprise. A slow moving cold front swept across the front range (from 24-27 Oct), the temps dropped quite drastically. While the temperature in our area never dropped below freezing, the upper atmosphere was obviously much colder. over three days we got a good dusting. It didn't stick around very long. Nonetheless, it looks like we're in for another season of Crazy Colorado weather. I love it!

Apple Special Event - October 2012:
Recently (23 Oct, 2012), Apple held a press announcement, a special event to announce some new products. While many in the media and techno-circles expected Apple to announce the iPad mini, what they didn't expect was the scope of this announcement. Apple sure went all out with this event. They announced the release of six refreshed Apple products (hardware), one new product (iPad mini) and two updated software products. It was an amazing smorgasbord of Apple product updates.

Here's a brief recap of all the amazing updates and new products that Apple announced on the 23rd of October, 2012:

First up was a couple of software refreshes. Apple has updated the iBooks and iBooks Author software. Not much excitement here. If I were an author, I'd be far more excited. Self publishing is moving forward under Apple, Amazon and Google. If your in the publishing business you should be worried.
The first hardware announcement was a refresh of the MacBook Pro 13" laptop. Apple added a Retina display to the 13" laptop (2560x1600 resolution on 13" monitor = 232ppi). This balances the MacBook Pro line. The 15" model got a Retina display earlier this year, now the 13" laptop gets the same treatment. The 13" laptop also gets thinner, lighter and loses the DVD drive (only weighs 3.5 pounds). They added 2x thunderbolt ports, a micro-SD card slog, a full size HDMI port and 2x USB 3 ports. The CPU is somewhat anemic - a dual-core 2.5GHz i5 processor for the price. If you're looking for small, go for the MacBook Air, you get more for the $. If you're going for power get the 15". Avoid this midrange model as it's basic configuration isn't worth the price.
Next up was something small. Schiller reveals the new Mac Mini, he jokes "You knew there'd be something called mini in this presentation, didn't you?" The crowd applauds. The new Mac Mini is quite exciting for the small package. Two models announced. Base model is a 2.5GHz dual-core i5 processor w/4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. The second model features a 2.4GHz quad-core i7 w/4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. These Mac Minis come with 4x USB 3.0 ports, an SDXC card reader, an HDMI out, a Thunderbolt output, an Ethernet connection and one FireWire 800 port. The DVD drive is gone.
Following the Mac Mini announcement was the newest refresh of the iMac line. In my opinion this is more exciting than another announcement (the iPad mini). The new iPad is revealed slowly by turning it to show a side view profile. It's 'thin' super-thin. Amazingly thin. The edges around this desktop computer are only 5mm thick! The profile makes it look like Apple fit an entire computer into the screen! A panel that is a computer. The new iMac looks like a huge desktop iPad. Of course that's the Apple reality distortion field kicking in. Actually the profile is just the edge of the computer. Actually the monitor, which effectively 'is' the computer, gets thicker. A little bit thicker. A pronounced hump near the center of the backside houses all the powerful components of this computer.
- The new model comes in two sizes 21.5" and 27". I'll be getting a 27" sometime in 2014. It's time to update, and the specs beat my current Mac Pro. It looks like Apple has finally created a desktop model iMac that's powerful enough to satisfy my demands for more than a typical iMac all-in-one. Back to the new iMacs. The new computer is considerably thinner, lighter, and consumes less power. Of course they removed the optical drive, so I'll have to buy a USB/external drive for DVDs and CDs. I wonder if the SuperDrive will read/write Blu-ray or have a faster connection (that USB 2.0 is getting pretty slow) by the time I make my next purchase?
- Removing the optical drive isn't the only way to reduce weight. The new iMac removes an air gap between the display and external glass, they make the display thinner and they meld the two using 'plasma deposition'. Now the text and graphics appear to be imprinted directly on the exterior surface of the new display. Wow! They even put a new anti-reflective coating on the display. This thing reduces reflection by 75%, that's pretty awesome. Based on where I have my computer, this will help considerably. I've got sunlight coming in from two windows, and sometimes the reflection and glare on my monitor is unbearable.
- The new iMacs feature built in Factime HD cameras (with 1280x720 HD capability) and improved speakers.
- The new iMacs will feature simultaneous support for full native resolution on the built in display and you can also connect a 30 inch monitor with resolution up to 2560x1600 as an external display (That's the specs on my current monitor) with extended desktop and video mirroring capabilities. Awesome, I could video mirror my iPhone, iPad or Laptop to the secondary display. I'll try to keep my 30" monitor as a secondary display. It would be truly awesome if I could configure it to work as a 'television' - Connecting it to my cable TV, configuring a cable card/television software (from Elgato) and using it to watch the news or other video streams while I'm working on the computer. We'll see.
- The sweetest part of the new iMacs; also available on the new Mac Mini, is the new Fusion Drive. Available as a configurable option (the default drive is a standard hard Disk Drive), the new Fusion Drive is a serious breakthrough concept. The new drive combines the storage capacity of a traditional hard drive with the speed of flash storage. Apps that you use more often will be moved to the flash portion of the fusion drive as you use them. That way they'll launch more quickly. The apps that you don't use very often will be moved to the hard drive part of the Fusion Drive. The movement of these applications takes place automatically in the background without interrupting your work. As the system learns how you work, the Fusion Drive moves the apps and optimizes your drive performance. The OS is automatically installed on the Fusion Drive. In order to manage this storage and application movement, Apple has provided - Nothing. It all happens automatically. No user configuration is necessary. Fusion Drive improves overall performance (aka speed) by appx 3.5 times the performance of a traditional hard drive. The actual Fusion Drive is two physical devices. A 128GB (the low end) flash drive, fused with a 1TB (the low end) hard drive. The operating system fuses the two together, creating the fusion drive.
- Apple's new iMacs come packed with power-house processors. Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs. The standard CPU is a 3rd gen Intel quad-core i5 (Ivybridge) with clock speeds up to 3.2GHz. The top end is a quad-core i7 with clock speeds up to 3.4GHz. With Apple's MacOS on board, all the cores are leveraged and hyperthreading gets you eight virtual cores of processing power. I'll probably pump up the CPU to an i7 quad-core, but I'll have to see the pricing (not available as of 31 Oct, 2012) before I make my decision. In addition to the processor selections, Apple's OS X now features something called 'Turbo Boost'. This Turbo-Boost feature automatically increases the speed of the active cores. For example: Using Turbo-Boost, an i7 core can get a boost up to 3.9GHz (when it's active).
- Despite all this increased computing power, the iMac uses far less power. The energy efficiency has been increased by up to 50% when it's idle and the display is on. The hardware components; because they're all engineered by Apple, are able to work this magic, conserving energy and saving you money every day.
- The new iMacs (21.5" monitor) with a standard 1TB Hard Drive starts at the low price of $1,299. The 21.5" iMac goes on sale in November, and the new 27" iMac goes for sale in December, and the price starts at $1,799.
Beating that announcement is going to be tough, but Apple followed up with an announcement that everyone was 'surprised' by - The newest (4th Generation) iPad? Replacing the 3rd generation iPad after only 6 months. The new iPad (starts at $499) has improved performance. With a 1.4GHz dual-core A6X processor (3rd gen had a 1GHz dual-core A5X processor), the new iPad has double the graphics and CPU performance (compared to the 3rd gen device). FaceTime has been updated and the 4G LTE has been improved. It's not exactly what everyone was waiting for, but it certainly was a surprise, especially for those who just bought a 3rd generation iPad.
Apple's closing act was the announcement that everyone was anticipating. Tim Cook announces the release of the new 'iPad Mini'. At 7.2mm, it's 23% thinner than the new 4th gen iPad. Weighing in at 0.68lbs, it's taking on the competition for Welterweight portable computing device. Apple has entered the fray with a 7.9 inch display (1024x748 inch display). Phil Schiller compares the new iPad Mini to the Google Nexus 7 table. The iPad Mini is bigger... Schiller continues by comparing the iOS and Android experiences. Apple's iOS has more apps, and according to Schiller, "The differences are night and day". The new iPad Mini comes with a dual-core A5 processor. A 5mp camera on the back. It's capable of 1080p HD video. The FaceTime camera (on the front) is only 1.2mp, but that should help keep your bandwidth low if you're using facetime over GSM. For connectivity the new iPad mini comes equipped with the smaller Lightning connector and several frequency bands (GSM, CDMA, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi) for cellular connectivity. The new iPad mini (7.9inch display) sure looks like a large iPhone or scaled down iPad (with a 9.7inch display). Starting at $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model, the tehno-pundits are sure to criticize the price. How dare Apple enter an already established tech arena with a more expensive product!

That's a lot of new hard (and some software), Apple sure did pack in a lot of new products with this announcement. While a large segment of the tech community was predicting and salivating over the iPad Mini announcement, I was more impressed with the iMac refresh. That new iMac is going to make a perfect replacement for my Mac Pro. I'm finally happy with the computing performance of the iMac line. I'll have to start my planning soon if I want to budget for a Christmas 2014 purchase. Kim is really eying that new iPad Mini. I think she wants her own iPad, and this one fits her better than the larger version. Maybe she'll get one for Christmas 2013!
<http://www.engadget.com/event/apple-special-event-2012>
<http://www.apple.com/apple-events/>

Software favorites:
Another batch of updates for my favorite Graphics editor. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. All the updates are free for those who own a license (for the most recent version). If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the GC update, I also downloaded updates for three of my favorite cataloging applications.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on 13 beta releases over the last of week. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 8.3.1 (b1038), 8.3.1 (b1046). 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>

DVDPedia:
DVDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your movie collection, and I'm running version 5.1.3. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the movie or you can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the movie box (it then searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, the ability to play movies in full screen mode, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use DVDpedia to generate HTML listings of my movies and movie reviews.

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

CDPedia:
CDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your music collection, and I'm running version 5.1.3. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the artist, album, or track. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off a jewel case (it then searches the internet, and displays choices), or you can import lists of music from iTunes. It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use CDPedia to generate HTML listings of my music.

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

Bookpedia:
Bookpedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your book collection(s), and I'm running version 5.1.3. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the author, book, or isbn number. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the book cover (the application searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a borrowed feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use Bookpedia to generate an HTML listing of my favorite books.

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

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>

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.

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. This meeting will be held on the 1st of November at our usual location of Fox Ridge Middle School. This meeting will feature a speaker from the 'Cops Fighting Cancer' non-profit organization. I updated the event entry for our Nov 1st meeting. I added some additional information regarding donations we're soliciting for children fighting cancer in our community hospitals.

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>

Dish Network Sucks!
<rant>I'm not the only one who thinks that Dish Network sucks. Check it out. Do a search on 'Dish Network Sucks', you'll find many links to like minded people. It's so bad in fact that someone has even gone so far as to register the domain name: dishnetworksucks.com. Do a Google search on "Dish Network Sucks" - When I did (27 Oct 2012), Google returned > 21,000 hits. My experience with dish network started when I decided to provide some satellite TV for my mother. She lives out in the woods (the north woods of North-Eastern Wisconsin, and there's no cable provider in range of her home. So, I thought I'd be a good son and sign her up for some satellite TV. Well, answering an add in the newspaper, I ended up getting a completely different package than the one that I thought I was getting. The reseller (Enjoy Better TV) made it sound good in the newspaper, but the reality was really something else. I didn't get the number of channels I thought I was getting. I didn't realize I was dealing with a reseller until later (when I noticed that things weren't what I expected). I didn't realize all the 'Hidden' conditions, fees, and restrictions until after they installed the equipment at my mom's place.

I've written about Dish Network in the past, but a recent incident has once again invoked my ire. Why does Dish Network suck so badly (in my opinion)? I've had nothing but problems since I signed up. The service is for my mother. I had Dish installed at her house. She lives way out in the woods, and without some sort of pay service, she wouldn't have any TV. So much for the 'Digital TV' transition. It transitioned me right into a monthly recurring charge. If I had to rate the things I hate in life on a scale of 1 - 10, Dish Network would rate up there as number 2 - Right after 'Paying my taxes'. Since signing up in 2008, the price of my 'basic' service has risen from appx $25.00 to more than $50.00 for the same 'basic' service. Their customer service Blows! Every time I have to call them my blood pressure goes through the roof. I wonder if anyone has sued them for 'Emotional Distress'? I'd like to dump them, but I doubt that Direct TV would be any better. I usually have to deal with the Dish 'Customer Service' two or three times a year. I dread the occasions when I have to call them, but it's inevitable. They're going to screw something up - It's a guaranteed fact of life. My billing, my service, the hardware - It's always something. I really wish there was some kind of competition in this industry. What other choice do I have? My mother lives in a very remote region, and cable is out of the question. She's too far from the HD broadcast facilities, so she can't get the broadcast signal, and you can't watch TV over telephone dial-up. My only other choice is another satellite provider, but I truly can't imagine another service being any better.

The latest incident involved their inability to get anything right. I've been paying for a DVR for many years but my mother doesn't use it, doesn't know how to use it, and doesn't care to use it. In an effort to reduce subscription costs, I decided to have Dish replace her DVR with a simple receiver. Doing so would reduce my costs by appx $6.00 per month. It may not seem like much, but it's been going on for four years now, and that adds up to ~$288.00. I knew it wouldn't be easy; nothing ever is with Dish. So what did they screw up? The 'return authorization label' (RAL) that's what they screwed up. They sent a box and an RAL to my mom. She put the DVR in the box (after confirming that the receiver was working properly), and affixed the RAL. She drove appx 35 miles (an hour long drive) one way to drop off the package in Marinette, WI, only to find out that the RAL was not valid, and UPS would not accept the package for shipment unless my mother paid for the shipping out of her pocket. My mother didn't have the money to pay for the shipment, so she drove back home.

My mother called me and told me what happened. What followed was a series of phone calls to Dish Network's customer service in order to get a new/valid RAL. I called them four times in an effort to get a replacement/valid RAL shipped to my mother. She called three times. In all our efforts, they claimed to have shipped a label on four occasions, once they even claimed to send an RAL by FedEx. On three of the occasions that I called I was given different dates for the estimated delivery of the RAL. At one point I was told that it could take up to 10 days for the RAL to arrive. By USPS? Really? What flat rate shipping option takes two weeks for delivery inside the continental U.S.? None that I'm aware of. It certainly shouldn't take that long for the USPS to deliver a letter to my mother. None of the labels they claimed to have shipped to my mother ever arrived (at my mother's address). As a matter of fact, one that was supposed to be shipped to my mother's address actually showed up in my mailbox (in Colorado). I put that RAL in an envelope and sent it to my mother. I'm currently waiting for it to arrive, but the message is clear. Dish Network's customer service is totally incompetent. They can't manage to mail an RAL to my mother. I've repeated the mailing address on more than one occasion, and the address is clearly available in my account information - They shipped the replacement equipment to her, and that arrived without issue, so they certainly have the correct address for my mother. I don't see how they could mess this up so badly. At one point a customer service representative admitted that they had not shipped a replacement RAL, even though I was told that one had been shipped (during a previous conversation).

I'm hopeful that my mother will receive the RAL that Dish sent to me, despite the fact that my mother asked them to ship it to her. I've asked them to ship a RAL to my mother (on three occasions), and still they haven't shipped the label to her. I know I'm going to get charged for the equipment, because they told me that I had 15 days to return the equipment. Well, if they would have shipped a valid RAL in the original shipment (the one that included the replacement receiver) I wouldn't have had any problems. Now they seem unable to ship me a replacement RAL. In various conversations I was told that they would note the problem in my account, and I would get credited for any charges that might occur as a result of this problem. They claim that they can't stop the charges from occurring because they're automatic. Now I'm being charged for equipment that I can't return, because they won't or can't manage to ship an RAL to my mother. Totally incompetent, or intentionally ineffective?

Oh how I hate Dish Network!</rant>
<http://www.ripoffreport.com/satellite-companies/dish-network/dish-network-echostar-satellit-cfdyf.htm>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dish_Network>

October 21, 2012

Out to Eat in Centennial:
Occasionally, Kim and I take the opportunity to eat out at one of the fine restaurants in the Denver/Aurora area. They're not always five star places, but we're not that kind of people. During October, Kim and I enjoyed one of our 'Date Nights' at a new restaurant. It was my time to pick, and I had a hankerin' for Italian food, but I like to try new places, so we tried a new Italian restaurant.

I chose the 'Pizzeria di Olinto' (12023 E. Arapaho Rd.) in Centennial. This small unassuming 'Taverna' has a quaint atmosphere and big flavor. As soon as we walked through the door the friendly staff greeted us and offered a seat anywhere we wanted. The menu was modest but varied; actually, considering the size of the restaurant, I'm surprised it had as much variety as it did.

We started off with some small talk about the specials (a lot of specials), some bread & oil and ice water. The bread was very heavy, and I didn't care for that, but the dipping oil was good. Looking over the menu I saw a Neapolitan style pizza that I couldn't resist. Kim and I lived in Southern Italy for seven years, and I thought I'd give it a go to see just how their fare compared to that authentic cooking of Southern Italy. I asked if they could put artichokes on my pizza. It wasn't on the menu, but any native of Naples would insist, so I did as well. Imagine my surprise when the server/chef said "Yes, we have some fresh artichoke, and I can put that on your pizza!" Then came another treat. Hand tossed crust, baked over a wood fire in a clay oven less than 20 feet away. Ahhh, the smell of freshly baked pizza! The server asked if I'd like to sprinkle some spices on the pizza... Yes! Suddenly a small dish with Parmesan and some spices appeared. The taste was so authentic I had to close my eyes and imagine the cozy little tavernas lining the back alleys of
Brindisi.

Kim had their special Pasta di Olinto. Fresh, perfectly cooked pasta with a Bolognese sauce. The meat and tomato sauce was rich, hearty and warm with plenty of seasoning. Finely ground beef and Parmesan made this 100 year old family recipe a repeat meal in my book. I wish I could have pried more away from Kim, but that wasn't going to happen, so I guess we'll have to go back. Outstanding flavor, service and price - Lunch for two under $25.00! Considering the fact that food is very expensive in these parts, I'm certain we'll be back to this pasta casa.
<http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/17/1681816/restaurant/Denver/Pizzeria-di-Olinto-Centennial>
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pizzeria-di-Olinto/328728940527195>

We voted, did you?
I sure hope so. If you haven't voted yet there's still time. Kim and I voted early. Because of our work schedules, we voted by absentee ballot. <rave>Colorado made it very easy for us to vote by absentee ballot and we really liked the booklets they sent us ahead of time. They sent out a booklet containing analysis of all the ballot initiatives and candidates. It really helps when it comes to unraveling the opposing commercials and rhetoric you hear on the news. This election was certainly plagued by an overabundance of advertisement, rhetoric and propaganda. Thankfully the little blue booklet included all the facts, plus some pro and con points of view. With the help of the booklet, Kim and I found answers to most of our questions, and the booklet provided a place to start when doing our own research. Now that's government working for us!</rave>
<http://www.arapahoevotes.com/>

Java updates for Mac OS X:
As the Mac OS becomes more popular (OS X currently (2011 statistic) comprises appx 10.4% of the desktop OS market), more threats will emerge. Nefarious individuals with malicious intent will create Trojans and exploit code flaws in order to infect and compromise the computers of those who own Macs. Over the last week Apple released a couple of updates to deal with Java vulnerabilities. These particular updates are applicable to Macs running OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion).

This summer's Mac OS X update (code named Mountain Lion) included a new security feature called 'Gatekeeper'. A two pronged approach to tightly control software distribution on the Mac platform. With Gatekeeper in place, users have three options for software downloads. One method only allows downloads from the Mac App Store. A second option restricts downloads to software containing the digital signature (issued by Apple) of an approved software developer. The third option allows users to download software from any source. Users can enable, disable and manage these settings as they choose. With Gatekeeper installed, Apple can disable malicious software remotely (provided it came from the Mac App Store, or contained a signature/certificate issued by Apple); possibly preventing the spread of Trojans.

On systems that have not already installed Java for Mac OS X 10.6 update 9 or later, one of these updates (the one that patches OS 10.6) will configure web browsers to not automatically run Java applets. You may re-enable Java applets by clicking the region labeled "Inactive plug-in" on a webpage. If no applets have been run for an extended period of time, the Java web plug-in will deactivate. The other update uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers (under OS 10.7 and later) and removes the Java Preferences application, which is no longer required to configure applet settings. To use applets on a web page, click on the region labeled "Missing plug-in" to go download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.

With these particular updates, Apple has removed Java from all its web browsers (those running on OS 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8). Java running on web browsers is the primary vector for malware infection. Running a Java applet from an unknown vendor/website is the quickest way to infect your computer, and your computer doesn't always tell you that it's running a Java applet. With this change, Java can only be enabled (in your web browser) if you click a button. Apple has also completed it's plan (announced in 2010) to discontinue maintenance of its own Java runtime environment (based on the Oracle/OpenJDK community releases). From now on, you'll need to get your updates directly from Oracle. In order to make that a bit easier, Apple has done some work to integrate the Oracle updates into the OS and browser. This change accomplishes two things. It speeds up the release to update cycle and takes the security responsibility (for Java patches) out of Apple's hands. These changes are designed to make your Mac more secure, but they will result in some inconvenience for users, as Java (in a web page) will not run automatically, and you'll likely find that you have to spend more time managing Java and its updates.

You can read all about Apple's upgrades, bug fixes, security updates, and more by following the links I've provided below. As usual, disabling Java will prevent a lot of problems, while eliminating a possible infection vector on your Mac.
<http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/10/18/apple-gets-aggressive-latest-os-x-java-security-update-rips-out-browser-support/> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Mountain_Lion>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatekeeper_(OS_X)>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1573>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5549>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5493>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5494>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222>

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on 4 beta releases over the last of week. I recently saw/downloaded the following update: 8.3.1 (b1033). 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>

Rob's World! outage:
Recently (17th of October), Rob's World! and all the other websites I manage (tollgatecrossing.org, southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org, damnspammers.org) went offline. An unexpected, unannounced and unreported outage. The server that hosts all my domains (a shared server) went offline. I noticed this outage while I was trying to get some updates/work done on the Rob's World! website. When I went to upload some files (using Transmit) the ftp application couldn't connect to my server… Investigating this issue soon revealed the full extent of the problem. None of my web pages/sites would load. I checked connectivity using a couple of different services (different DNS gateways) just to make sure it wasn't a problem with my ISP/DNS resolution. After confirming that the web sites were unreachable, I attempted to call 'Host Rocket' customer service. Unfortunately, no one answered the phone. It just kept ringing… That kind of made me realize that they might be working on correcting a problem, or talking to someone else.

I found their support portal (webpage) available, so I submitted a trouble ticket. Hopefully someone will see it. Hopefully someone will work on this problem. …That didn't take to long. An hour later I got a response from their customer support staff.

"I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. The server in which your account was on was forced to a reboot, and in this had also forced a file system check for the integrity of data on the drive. Normally if something like this has to happen, we do try to schedule it outside of peak hours, however in this case, the system forced it without letting us override it. This check has run successfully, and the server is back online. Please let us know if you need anything else. Thank you."

Rob's World! (all my domains/web pages) was down for approximately one hour (1700-1800MDT), and my webhost knew about the outage. Everything was up and running quickly, and they responded quickly to my trouble ticket. The support and level of responsiveness has gotten better since I signed up with this new webhost. Hopefully it'll continue to improve. My first year with Host Rocket wasn't the best experience, but I certainly enjoy all the features they offer.
<http://www.webhostingjungle.com/hostrocket/index.shtml>
<http://www.hostrocket.com/support.html>
<http://www.hostrocket.com>

Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information.
- I updated announcements for the next Neighborhood Watch meeting. This meeting will occur on the 1st of November, and we'll have a speaker from 'Cops Fighting Cancer'. We will also be accepting gifts for children with cancer.
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. This meeting will be held on the 1st of November at our usual location of Fox Ridge Middle School. This meeting will feature a speaker from the 'Cops Fighting Cancer' non-profit organization.

Comcast Cuts the Bandwidth ~~Crap~~ Cap:
On Oct 1st, 2008, Comcast introduced Bandwidth Caps on their internet service plans. What used to be an 'Unlimited' plan instantly transformed from actually unlimited to a sham of a lie; a 'Capped' 'Unlimited' plan. I could use as much 'Internet Access' as I wanted, so long as I didn't exceed the newly imposed data usage limit. Customers who exceeded a limit of 250GB would be 'cut off'; have their account suspended. For a while, I worried about the bandwidth cap. Comcast didn't offer any tools to monitor my usage, so I cut back somewhat. Concerned that I might use too much of my unlimited broadband access. After a while, I forgot about the cap, then I read about customers who'd been shut down due to the bandwidth caps. Did I need to worry? I hopped not. I wasn't downloading movies or music illegally, but I was a fairly heavy user. I was always on the internet, uploading, downloading, reading viewing videos (Netflix). I started to worry again.

By this time (2010?) Comcast had established a web page where you could check your usage to see how close you were to that magical number (250GB). Unfortunately, the Comcast web page was very difficult to use. You had to launch a web browser, navigate to their web page and wait for the page to load. Then you had to log in and wait for the web page to load again. Then you had to click a link and navigate to a different page, then you had to wait for that page to load, then you had to find what you were looking for on the page. It certainly wasn't very easy to use. As a matter of fact, the page was so difficult to use that I downloaded a free application to monitor my usage. Unfortunately, that application was extremely unreliable. I had to relaunch it quite frequently and it often stopped working for no reason at all. It simply wouldn't keep accurate track of my internet usage. Needless to say, I was never sure how much 'bandwidth' I was using. I stopped using it.

Another couple of years went by. Apparently I haven't used too much bandwidth. Comcast never 'cut me off'. Recently (Oct of 2012), I started backing up my websites to a local hard drive. I have five websites that I now back-up on a routine basis (once a day). My webhost, and previous webhosts, have proven unreliable in this regard. Even when they claim to have redundancy, a 100% up-time guarantee, and data backups in place, I find that their claims are unreliable and sometimes outright lies. As a result I make my own backups. Copying all my websites from an external server to a local hard drive certainly uses some of my bandwidth cap, and I was a bit worried about how that might affect my allotment of bandwidth. I decided to check my usage by using the bandwidth meter provided by Comcast. After a bit of difficulty; it's still a pain to use their web based meter, I eventually found what I was looking for. According to the Comcast meter, as of 15 Oct, 2012, I'd only used 2GB worth of my allotted download limit (2 of 250GB). At that rate it'll take a while to reach my 250GB limit. <rave> Wait a second… What's this? The Comcast meter included a message from Comcast.

"Note: Enforcement of the 250GB data consumption threshold is currently suspended."

Now that's good news! In my opinion, the data caps were an unnecessary measure to manage a perceived problem (not an actual problem). The results of implementing this policy hurt the company more than it helped. Bad press, bad customer relations and a bad consumer image all contributed to far more lost revenue than the policy did to prevent any perceived data usage problem. Doing away with the data cap is a good idea, and Comcast should do more to let consumers know that their 'unlimited' internet plan is truly unlimited. Sure they should monitor data usage in order to better manage their network, and they should educate users on how to reduce 'unnecessary' bandwidth usage, but they shouldn't cap every user. They should implement caps on a 'per customer' basis. Find the users that don't use bandwidth effectively and implement 'throttling' to manage their excessive use (monitor time of day usage, continuous usage levels, usage patterns and protocol usage patterns).

Continuing to 'drill-down' into Comcast's rather confusing web portal, I found additional information regarding this change of policy (From Comcast's FAQ):

"Frequently asked questions about excessive use of data. Why are you making this change?
Updated 7/6/2012 5:56:42 AM by Comcast Expert

We've always said that as the marketplace and technology changes, so would we. We've also always said that we would evaluate customer data usage, and a variety of other factors, and make adjustments as the marketplace evolved. Over the last several years, we have periodically reviewed this plan, and for the past several months we have been analyzing the market and our process and think that now is the time to begin to move to a new approach."

A little research revealed that Comcast announced this change in policy back on the 17th of May, 2012. At that time they claimed that they were planning to announce some new 'plans'. They indicated in blogs and forums, that they were thinking of (planning to run trials) of different ways to manage data usage, which may include overall data usage limits and data usage limits that vary by tier. While the words 'by tier' frighten many users (myself included), Comcast did raise the overall bandwidth cap. My cap is now set to 280GB, but I never get close to that number. My usage tends to peak out about 140GB per month.

While Comcast may have implemented some trial programs, their suspension of bandwidth limits/caps is welcome news for millions of customers, and I'm one of them. While my usage never bumped that limit, I hate it when companies offer/sell an 'Unlimited' service, and then put restrictions in place that prevent you from using your 'Unlimited' service. FYI: Comcast draws a clear distinction between "enforcing" the 250GB data cap and "contacting the very small number of excessive users about their usage. It plans to continue doing that.

I doubt Comcast will try to implement any 'tiered' services or plans (outside any trial effort), as doing so may easily run afoul of FTC 'net neutrality' guidelines, and Comcast really doesn't need the hassle that might cause. The service is working fine, no caps is great, and I'm happy with the service I'm currently receiving. Hopefully Comcast can keep it that way. Hopefully the company can avoid the traps and pitfalls developing as they provide video services of their own that compete with other video services travelling over their 'Internet' network.</rave>
<http://blog.comcast.com/2012/05/comcast-to-replace-usage-cap-with-improved-data-usage-management-approaches.html>
<http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/data-usage-why-are-you-making-this-change>
<http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/05/comcast-suspends-data-caps-for-now/>

October 14, 2012

Professional Photos:
<rave>In September of 2012, Kim and I had our pictures taken - Professionally. We had them taken in 2009, but wanted another set of photos, so we chose to go with the same photographer who did our photos back in 2009. Once again, we went all out. We had a pre-shoot meeting, the sitting was something like two hours, several different poses and we changed clothes twice. The photographer took over a hundred photos. Afterwards, we went back and sat through a slide show to pick out the photos we liked. Then the photographer put up a website, and we invited friends and family to pick the ones they liked. Kim and I purchased a bunch of photos for ourselves and family.

The web site is still there, if you'd like to take a look (On the sessions page - enter the Session ID of 'vaessen2' in all lower case). I even paid for several 'Facebook' photos. Something I'm permitted to post online. Click on the little picture at left to see a larger version. Kim and I are very happy with the way the photos turned out. Tracy (of TQ-Photos) did a really good job. One of Kim's friends recommended her (Tracy Quintana - TQ Photography of Parker, CO - , and we recommend her as well.</rave>
<http://www.photographybytq.com/index.cfm?id=home>
<https://www.robsworld.org/picframeofus_small.png>
<https://www.robsworld.org/picframeofus_large.png>
<https://www.robsworld.org/collage_2012.jpg>
<https://www.robsworld.org/pictureofus2.png>
<http://tq-photo.com/sessions.php>

Big Bad Thunderstorm:
While the 22nd of September marked the end of Summer, we had to wait quite some time to get a nice soaking. That normal monsoonal flow seems a bit weak this year. It's been quite dry for Colorado, and the storms that marched across our state recently sure brought some welcome relief from the drought we've been living through. On the the 13th of October, we had a big bad storm front roll through our piece of Colorado. This particular storm came as something of a surprise (to those who aren't Human Barometers).

Denver's Front Range saw a long string of thunderstorms, with lightning, rain, rain, and more rain pass through the area. It rained most of the day. This good long soaking kept the temperatures down all day. It got so cold during the course of the storm that the rain turned to hail and even a bit of snow managed to find its way to the ground. Hopefully we can get some more precipitation in the next few months. This year's drought hasn't been too severe, but we definitely need more precipitation.
<https://www.robsworld.org/barometer.html>

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on one major update and 16 beta releases over the last of week. I recently saw/downloaded the following update: 8.3 (b1029). 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>

Dental Dispute ends amicably:
Recently (Oct, 2012) Kim and I had a bit of a dispute with our Dentist, but everything turned out alright. Here's the story. As you may have noticed in last month's blog postings, Kim and I were sick. We both got sick while traveling, and it hit us pretty hard. Unfortunately, we had dental appointments scheduled. We hoped we wouldn't be feeling sick when it came time for our appointments, but that didn't happen. We thought the appointments were on Friday, so we thought we had plenty of time. On Wednesday, I tried calling their office. Unfortunately, they're only open until 1300 on Wednesday, and I couldn't leave a message (no answering service/machine). I thought everything was still o.k. On Thursday, I called a bit too early and they weren't open yet, so I decided I'd call back later. I wasn't feeling to well at work, and didn't remember to call back until 1200. That's when they were at lunch - Crap! I went to lunch, and called their office back at 1310. I finally got a hold of someone.

I told the receptionist that Kim and I were supposed to have appointments tomorrow (Friday), but we wouldn't be able to make it. We were sick and didn't want to spread our germs around their office. The receptionist immediately informed me that our appointments were for today; they're closed on Friday. As a matter of fact your appointments were scheduled for 1300. Crap! Well, I said "we're sick and we're not going to make it to our appointments" I told the receptionist that we would have to reschedule. She said o.k. and indicated that she understood. She asked if I wanted to reschedule our appointments, I told her we would do that after we were feeling better. After I got off the phone with the Dentist's office, I actually went home. I wasn't feeling good at all.

<rant>Approximately one week later I got a surprise in the mail (In the snail-mail mail/the good old USPS mail/long may it live/constitutionally mandated service from the US government). A letter from my Dentist's office. An official notice - a bill for missing our appointments. $50.00 each. A total of $100.00 for missing our appointments. That's not good. Needless to say I wasn't feeling very good about that letter. When I got to work (on Tuesday - Monday was a holiday), I called the office. They weren't open yet... I called back about two hours later. The receptionist answered the phone. I explained to her that I would like to speak to the Dr. Of course he was busy... She asked if she could help? I said that I would prefer to talk to the Dr. about the matter. She asked what it was about. I told her that it was about a bill I received. She said she could talk to me about that. I told her that she could look up the bill, but I would rather talk to the Dr. about it. She said that she would pass along my message to the Dr, and indicated that he would call me as soon as he had the time.</rant>

I waited all day, and a call never came. The next day I persisted. I called soon after I got in and asked if the Dr. had received my message. The receptionist indicated that they close early on Wednesday, so he had left early. She continued to say that the Dr. was aware of the situation, and he had decided to waive the charges based on the circumstances. I said "That's great - My wife and I had tried to contact the office before our appointment but we couldn't get through. We only missed our appointment because we didn't want to come into his office while we were sick' I then set up new appointment for our cleanings.

<rave>I for one am really glad that it worked out this way. Looking for a new Dr. wouldn't be any fun. We were certainly happy with the service and care provided by 'Main Street Dental' of Southlands. I'm glad that they decided to waive the charges based on our concern for their health. Kim and I would never abuse our relationship with Dr. Langenfeld or his staff, and I've even recommended him to friends in the community (our family lives way far away from Colorado). So here's to good fortune, understanding and the caring people who work at 'Main Street Dental'.</rave>
<http://southlandsdentistry.com>

Had to reinstall my SmartCard software:
My employer issued me a 'SmartCard' sometime ago (also called a 'Common Access Card'). It's used to authenticate my identity/access on certain unclassified computer systems and websites. It works quite well at work, but I wondered whether I could use it at home. Websites, and some forums indicated that I could. I checked with the system administrators at work. According to the system administrators, it's perfectly acceptable to use the SmartCard outside work. So I decided to try and use it with my home computer. Why would I want to use it at home? Well, I'd like to be able to send and receive unclass (official business) email and access unclass work related websites outside of work (outside the building where I work). You know, saving my employer time/money by taking care of some of this stuff outside work... I found that the SmartCard isn't all that easy to use at home.

Configuring my computer to use the SmartCard required a considerable amount of effort. PCs (running Microsoft Operating Systems) are preconfigured to use Smart Cards, but Macs are not? Anyway I've never let something as silly as 'not pre-configured' stop me... First off I needed a SmartCard reader. A quick trip to Amazon found numerous choices, standards and prices. I ended up purchasing a SCR3310V2 USB Smart Card reader by SCM Microsystems (appx $11.00). I also downloaded drivers for my Mac OS X operating system. Apparently the Lion OS (and Mountain Lion) doesn't have built in drivers for Smart Card readers. I then installed a type of software called 'middleware'. After that I had to download digital keys from my employers website. Once I had the keys, I installed them in my Keychain (on the Mac). Yeah, it's a bit complex. Very complex, but I never gave up. Finally, I had to download a 'plug-in' for Firefox. Eventually, I was finally able to access numerous websites for official work related business, without having to be at work. <rave>There is no way I could have gotten this to work if it wasn't for the help of Michael J. Danberry. His website contained all the information I needed. Originally, I tried to follow my employers instructions. That didn't work out so well. I ended up wasting two days worth of troubleshooting and email correspondence before I found Michael's website. It certainly made this clear (well, clearer); providing point by point instructions, tutorials and videos. Thanks for an awesome service.</rave>

Update: The recent installation/upgrade of my operating system - From Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) to Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion) put a little hitch in my CAC Card giddy-up. The update somehow erased the secure tokens I installed (installed during my initial set-up to use the smart-card on my home computer) had been deleted. I had to reinstall two files in my /Bootdrive/System/Library/Security/tokend/ directory. These tokens (the ones that got deleted) are essential components if you want to connect to a some specific websites and services using your smartcard. Thankfully reinstalling these tokens was quite easy. Download the tokens from a source of your choice (please choose a secure/trusted source) and install them in the directory listed above. Some installers install more tokens than you might need, and some install the tokens for you. In my case I only needed two tokens and I easily installed them myself (Knowing your way around a unix command line terminal has its advantages). After I reinstalled the tokens, my CAC card was back in business.
<http://www.identive-infrastructure.com/en/products-solutions/smart-card-readers-a-terminals/smart-card-readers/scr3310>
<http://smartcardservices.macosforge.org/trac/wiki/installers>
<http://chiefgeek.us/apple.htm>

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.
- I updated the banners that announce our HOA (next HOA meeting is 17 Oct) and MD (next Metro District meeting is 23 Oct, 2012) meetings.
- Posted a banner/announcement about a special Library District taxation proposal by the City of Aurora. This proposal will appear on the ballot this November.
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 information regarding our next HOA (17 Oct, 2012) and Metro District (23 Oct, 2012) meetings.
- Posted an announcement about a special Library District taxation proposal by the City of Aurora. This proposal will appear on the ballot this November, and the city is having a meeting to discuss the plan.
All Pages: I updated the policy/terms of use statement and links at the bottom of each page. The links were broken and the information out of date.

October's Audible Offerings:
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 28 million tracks! (15m on MOG (as of Aug, 2012), 13m on eMusic (as of Aug 2012)) Two fantastic ways to discover music, and no need for illegal downloads or pirated tracks. I occasionally use a few of the other methods (music blogs and podcasts), but MOG and eMusic now serve as my primary Music Discovery sources.

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

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

eMusic monthly downloads:
Every month I download ~50 tracks from eMusic.com. This month (Oct of 2012) I downloaded 56 tracks at the low cost of $23.06. I'm paying a $19.99 monthly fee, so that makes the tracks even cheaper (~$0.36 / 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 form my music acquisition needs.

* Fair & Square - John Prine: (14 songs) I don't often download country music. Much of it is far too commercial for my tastes. It's overproduced, sappy and pretentious. On the other hand, I occasionally download some classic country tunes by artists with real talent. John Prine's been making music since the 80s, and it's always been the kind that takes you on a journey; opens your heart, your mind, your eyes, and moves you in ways that others can't. Discovered by listening to eMusic recommendations.
* The Best of the Gin Blossoms, The Millenium Collection - The Gin Blossoms: (12) Discovered by chance in the Supermarket! I broke out my iPhone, fired up Shazam, and discovered a band that I've often heard, but never really appreciated. I never knew they were quite this good.
* Best of the Boomtown Rats - The Boomtown Rats: (19 songs) Another favorite from the 70s and 80s. Bob Geldoff's original band. Rediscovered by listening to recommendations on MOG. More pop than punk, this band influenced many others in the 80s. This band helped usher in the era of New Wave.
* Blue Sky - Sasha Zand: (10 songs) 'Spoke to the Moment' blew me away (back in 2005), and 'Inner the Outline' only had three songs, so this release - with 10 songs is quite a treat. My third download from Sasha Zand (that's everything he's released), and I still can't get enough. I first discovered Sasha Zand by listening to a free track on a 'MacAddict' (now 'MacLife' magazine) disc. That was back in 2004. Since then his music has steadily improved. The new album is outstanding. A jangling, sparkling production of excellent lyrics and mid-tempo guitar work. Not overworked, overmodulated or overstated; Sasha Zand is underappreciated.
* The Safety Dance (Extended Version) - Men Without Hats: (single) From the album 'My Hats Collection'. I needed one more song to round out my downloads and I couldn't resist the pure pop sensation of 'The Safety Dance' one of the most iconic songs of the vapid era of New Wave. An era where the pop sap was more important than the lyrics or its 'statement'. Despite the disposable nature of this blatantly 'one-hit' wonder, the song lives on. Yes you can still hear it on the radio.

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>

October 07, 2012

Encryption and digital signatures on my Mac:
Spammers often assault my digital identity by forging messages to look like they came from me. As a result, I try to use pgp signed messages (whenever possible) with my email correspondence. Thankfully, there's an open source, free and reliable way to make that happen. There's a group of software developers who devote their time and effort in development of a product called 'GPGTools' it's a series of applications which enable digital signatures and encryption inside the Mac OS X environment. One of the primary components is GPGMail.

GPGMail (recently (06 Oct 2012) updated for Mountain Lion compatibility) is an open source plugin for Apple Mail. It brings the functionality to sign, verify, encrypt and decrypt mails using the OpenPGP standard. I use MacGPG2 (version 2.0.19) and the GPGMail plugin (version 2.0b5 ML3 b111836) with Apple's Mail.app Version 6.2 (1499) for encryption, decryption, and message authentication. If you would like to correspond in secret, please take note of my Public Keys.

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

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

iCloud Storage extended for former MobileMe members:
On the 13th of September, 2012, Apple officially launched the iCloud.com service. It was up and running before this date, but the service was still in beta, and it was only open (full use) to a select group of developers. I've been using iCloud.com services for some time now, but I haven't been very happy with the services so far. Just like the original launch of MobileMe, Apple has made more than enough blunders in the roll out of this MobileMe replacement. Part of the problem is the services they've announced and the way they announced those services. In my opinion they didn't release enough information to the general public. They should have given us more information in order to make informed decisions regarding the services they planned to make available, the costs of those services and when they would be available. I understand Apple's secrecy policies and a desire to prevent competitors from providing similar services before they have a chance to roll out their services... However - Here's what's NOT acceptable: Cutting off a viable, functional, full featured set of services (namely MobileMe) before the new services (iCloud) are available. Pulling the plug on MobileMe services before they were able to offer a fully functional replacement was a complete and utter disaster. A blunder of immense proportions. How many millions of users jumped ship, decided to go with some other service provider, while Apple rolled out limited services? Services that didn't cover all the things they just shut off when they closed MobileMe down?

Another blunder causes former MobileMe users to utter that least appreciated term - 'WTF!' When Apple announced the transition to iCloud they granted MobileMe members some extra storage. As a thank you to former MobileMe members (like me) who moved to iCloud (me again, but many others as well), Apple extended a complimentary storage upgrade. MobileMe was a pay service (was $100.00 per year), and the iCloud services are (primarily) free - including 5GB of storage. If you were a MobileMe member and had access to more than 5GB of MobileMe storage (me again/I had 20GB of storage) when you moved your account to iCloud, then you received a complimentary iCloud storage upgrade (I ended up with 25GB of storage). That upgrade was scheduled to end on the 30th of Jun, 2012; when MobileMe (and iDisk storage) ended. Instead, Apple decided to extend that date until 30 Sep, 2012; when iCloud officially started. I was prepared to purchase more storage (if I thought that I needed it). Then came the 30th of Sep, 2012, and guess what? Apple extended everyone's storage (everyone who had a MobileMe storage upgrade) until 2050! Or so we all thought. That's what it said in the 'iCloud Account Summary' (including mine). Yes, you guessed it, too good to be true. Apple then apologized, and issued another press release.

"As a thank you to our former MobileMe members who moved to iCloud, we have extended the complimentary storage upgrade they received until September 30, 2013. This extension applies to accounts moved to iCloud between October 12th, 2011 and August 1st, 2012."

So, if you're a former MobileMe member and had access to more than 5GB of MobileMe storage when you moved your account to iCloud, then you received a complimentary iCloud storage upgrade automatically. That upgrade has now been extended until September 30, 2012 (free of charge). Your complimentary storage upgrade was based on the amount of MobileMe storage you were paying for when you moved to iCloud. Based on the amount you had before the transition, you were granted either the 10GB, 20GB, or 50GB storage upgrade. That's in addition to the 5GB you get with iCloud. If you're still confused, check your Account Summary. On your Mac: Go to System Preferences -> iCloud, click Manage (see bottom right corner), click View Account (you may need to enter your iCloud password). Here you will see the plan your on, when it renews/ends, and what will happen on that date. I'm glad Apple decided to extend our storage (former MobileMe members), but I really wish Apple would just get it's act together and get this whole mess sorted out. The transition to iCloud has been just as problematic as the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Where are there lessons learned?
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/08/mobileme-users-to-get-25gb-of-storage-in-upcoming-icloud-transition/>
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/former-mobileme-subscribers-getting-free-20gb-icloud-storage-until-2050/>
<https://www.robsworld.org/icloudstorageextended.png>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5527>

Early October Snow Storm:
Autumn only started two weeks ago, and it looks like Winter can't wait to get started. October in these parts is usually quite sedate; with slowly dropping temps and occasional rain, we typically don't get snow until late October or early November. With temps in the 80s just a week prior, a snow storm wasn't something I would have expected during the 1st week of October. Despite my expectations, mother nature had other plans. With a cold front sweeping across the front range, the temps dropped quite drastically. While the temperature in our area never dropped below freezing, the upper atmosphere was obviously much colder. I was quite surprised on my drive to work on Friday morning (the 5th of October, 2012). Surprised by heavy snow. So bad at times that traffic had slowed to a crawl along Gun Club road. We didn't accumulate any snow, and it was all melted by noon. Nonetheless, it looks like we're in for another season of Crazy Colorado weather. I love it!
<https://www.robsworld.org/wintersquirrel1.png>

Credit Card fraud - Another Close Call:
Considering the amount of fraud and other consumer level crimes perpetrated over the internet every single day, Kim and I have been lucky. Lucky for a second time in less than a year. Our last close call came on the 16th of April. This time it's our Mastercard not a Visa card. On the 2nd of Oct, we got several phone calls from the bank that manages our Mastercard. We got home and immediately found several messages waiting for us; on our home phone, on Kim's cell, on my cell. We can't take our cell phones in to work with us and we often leave them home. We just missed the call on my work phone as we made our way home for the day.

The Mastercard fraud department had a few questions about some unusual activity on our credit card... Yes, we've been using our credit card. Yes we recently traveled by air, yes we shopped at Sam's Club (they don't take Visa), Yes we paid for some photography products, no we're not Groupon members, no we didn't purchase $970.83 worth of Vitamins!... Kim answered all their questions and we confirmed the fraud. Everything seemed normal except for two charges. The first was a $1.00 charge for 'groupon' immediately after that authorization was approved - Blammo! Here comes $970.83 worth of 'vitamins'? from some outfit called 'Vita4life'. Unfortunately, the Mastercard charge for groupon went through. I did some investigating around the 'Vita4life' merchant. It seems to sell nutritional supplements, but I don't know enough about the charges, where they were made or how they were made to proceed any further. Hopefully the banking industry has people who follow up on this type of fraud. If they could find the individual who perpetrated the fraud, they might be able to prevent additional fraud, which amounts to (according to Wikipedia (as of 21 Oct, 2012)) 7 cents per 100 dollars spent (7 basis points). This amounts to billions of dollars a year.

Well, I've never signed up for 'Groupon' or used a 'Groupon' coupon, but banks routinely authorize groupon authorizations. Because it's so common, fraudsters can easily use it as a way to scam merchants. Groupon's charges don't get paid until something like six months later. By that time, the banks have already been notified of the fraud. So who pays for the scam charges? Banks, merchants - eventually you and me (in higher fees, interest rates and product prices). We all pay. Everyone except the persons who steal and used our credit information. We immediately put a block on that card, and the bank sent us some new cards. It took three days to get the new cards and I'm just glad it wasn't worse.

The credit card company was extremely vigilant, and I'm glad. The last thing you want is a bank that doesn't care about fraud, because that translates into a bank that doesn't care about your credit rating. The credit card company didn't charge us anything to issue new cards, and I have to say that I'm glad they are watching those charges so closely. I still don't know why I got that $1.00 charge from Groupon, and I don't know how this groupon scam works, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I still wish banks would offer free one-time/virtual credit card numbers for use with online shopping. Why not? I'd use it, it would reduce fraud. Fraudsters would certainly find it difficult to use my credit card number when it's only good for one purchase! I guess it's still cheaper to accept the cost of fraud.
<http://www.yelp.com/topic/austin-groupon-unauthorized-charges-correlation>
<http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/21/daily-deals-fraud/>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_fraud>

Netflix available - And the peasants cheered!
On the evening of 26 Sep, 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 quickly found a way to work around this minor issue. I simply switched to my Roku player (admittedly getting less use now that Apple has made the Apple TV so awesome). It had no problem streaming Netflix, so I left it at that. Unfortunately, that problem recurred on the 27 and 28th of Sep. Once again I worked around the problem (used the Samsung BD-P3600 BluRay player this time). I just didn't want to deal with the problem at that time. I was tired, I wanted to eat and go to bed. On the 29th I didn't watch any Netflix...

<rant>These problems seemed to occur just after I updated my Apple TVs. I updated my Apple TVs to version 5.1 on the 25th and 26th of September (update released on the 24th). Was this another case of an update that breaks something that's working fine? You betcha! On the 30th of September (Sunday), I finally decided to troubleshoot the problem. First step - Reboot the Apple TV. That usually fixes things. Not so in this case... O.k. I've got more than one Apple TV. Is the one downstairs having the same issue? It's a 2nd generation Apple TV. I went downstairs and fired up the Apple TV, switched to Netflix, and Voila! Streaming with no problems! FYI: The AppleTV in the basement is running on Wi-Fi, and the one upstairs is Wired/running on ethernet. So, the issue might be the Apple TV 3 (3rd generation Apple TV) or an ethernet connectivity issue. At this point I realized that I didn't want to do any further troubleshooting, so I called Netflix. Thankfully, Netflix operates a 24/7 help line, and they don't try to blame everything on something other than the Netflix service. So I called Netflix, and spoke with a technician. I explained what was happening. He seemed attentive, asked a couple questions, and eventually came up with an issue reported by numerous Netflix users.

Apparently, thousands of Apple TV users have experienced the same problem. After updating their devices to version 5.1, they can't access Netflix Watch Instantly or Hulu Plus while connecting via ethernet. He said that Apple and Netflix are working on the issue, and they hope to have it fixed soon. I like the sound of that - Don't blame Apple; just tell me that you're working on it. You and Apple. Apple can't fix these types of problems without your help, and you can't fix these issues without Apple's technical expertise. You have to work as a team. I hate it when some service (like my ISP) provider immediately jumps on the other guy. Oh, its their device, they have to fix it. We can't do anything about that, you'll have to call the company that made your t.v. or your modem, or your router, or your computer... The Netflix customer service rep. said that he would add my name to a list of people who were having issues accessing Netflix after the Apple TV 5.1 update.</rant>

Update: Good News - Less than two days after reporting my problem to the Netflix technicians, Netflix streaming is once again working on my Apple TV (3rd generation). Similar reports have flowed in to the discussion threads/forums at Apple's website. It looks like Apple and Netflix are actually hard at work resolving this problem. If you were having problems streaming Netflix (or Hulu Plus) to your ATV3, you should give it another try. Hopefully you've got something positive to report as well.
<https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4379298>
<https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4370012>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4448>
<http://www.netflix.com>

iPhoto 9.4.1 update - Improvements:
On the 1st of Oct, 2012, Apple released another iPhoto update. This update was designed to fix things that iPhoto 9.4 broke. The 9.4 update caused numerous problems for users of iPhoto. I was one of the users impacted by the problems introduced in the 9.4 release. Thankfully, I was able to manually repair the problems caused by that update. Thousands of users found their photo libraries corrupted with empty events, duplicate events, and photos that couldn't be edited or deleted. What does this update bring? Supposedly it improves the reliability of syncing to iOS devices via iTunes. Great, I definitely noticed a few problems in that regard. I noticed a few updates that seemed to go on forever and I had to stop and restart the syncing on a few occasions. It fixes and issue that caused iPhoto to quit when using the Export command, upgrading books, cards or calendars. It resolved an issue when downloading photos from Facebook albums. In general, it seems that this update was intended to correct things that the 9.4 update broke. I certainly hope this isn't a trend. Are these things Apple didn't test at all? What's going on with the testing here? Has Apple become so insulated as a company that they can no longer trust developers to do any beta testing whatsoever? Who's testing these releases?
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1598>
<http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/>