Sam Ellis's Webnotes

Somebody's Tracking You

2011-04-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden revealed that iPhones have been recording detailed locational data for almost a year. Lest you think you're safe because you don't have an iPhone, there's now talk that Android phones store locational data as well.

Not only is this information stored on my phone, it's backed up to my Mac, giving anyone who has access to my computer access to everywhere I've been since June 16, 2010.

How do I know this? Because I downloaded iPhoneTracker, an application that accesses the file on my Mac and, conveniently, allows me to view my location on a map by week.

What does this mean? Why is Apple storing this information? I can't wait to hear.

Here are some of the plots of my location data taken from the iPhoneTracker application.

Wide area view:

Regional view:

Street-level view:

My Social Networking Policy

2010-11-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

Facebook. Twitter. Blog. I use those and other online social networking services, and each of them enriches my life in unique ways. I feel more connected with family and old friends than ever before, and I’ve had the opportunity to get acquainted with several engaging individuals that I didn’t know well, or know at all.

On the flip side, these technological wonders also give me a unique opportunity to make an ass of myself before the entire planet. Much of what I say is visible to the world and can be read by anyone and archived, potentially, forever. A seemingly-clever quip I might make today might look very disturbing years later, especially if the context is lost.

So it seems important for me to articulate a policy on how I use social networks. Maybe by doing so my friends will understand better how I behave on the Internet. Also, maybe it will inspire them to consider how they should use these services.

Facebook

Facebook is where I like to interact with people I know. So there are two keys for me having someone as a friend on Facebook. First, I have to know the person in real life. Second, that person and I have to have a mutual desire to interact.

From time to time, I go through my list of friends and remove those I rarely interact with. There are several reasons for doing this, one or two of which I’ll discuss later, but “defriending” someone isn’t any sort of personal reflection on that person. It usually means that the interaction I have with that person on that site, if any, is no longer pertinent.

Recently I had upwards of 250 Facebook friends, and I culled the list to less than 100 based on this policy.

If I get a friend request from someone I don’t know, I’ll ignore it. If I get a request from someone I do know, but not well, I’ll accept it and see whether we have engaging interaction over the next several weeks. Then I’ll evaluate whether to keep him or her on my list.

Twitter

Twitter is the foundation for my interaction with both people I do know and people I don’t. I have Facebook set to update my status when I "tweet" on Twitter, so the two work in tandem.

But there’s more to the site. Twitter might seem like people shouting disjointed thoughts in a single, loud, crowded room, but it’s more than that. It’s a place where I have made connections with persons I don’t know.

There’s a lot more to Twitter than meets the eye. Several of its more savvy users search Tweets for things that interest them, and respond to those Tweets. For those who use it that way, Twitter becomes a fun community of people with common interests.

Often I’m on Twitter keeping up with comments on live shows, such as American Idol or Arkansas Razorbacks football. Some of my best Twitter buddies I’ve met during those interactions. I won’t ever get to meet most of them in real life, but I follow them and enjoy their perspective on several things.

So it’s my policy on Twitter to make my tweets public for the world to see, and I’ll allow anyone to follow me on Twitter so long as they aren’t spammers.

Blog

My web log is a place for me to express thoughts and opinions that take more than 140 text characters to say. My blog is updated rarely because most of what I want to communicate can be done on Twitter.

My blog has taken different tacks over the 7+ years I’ve been using it. It’s gone from amusing anecdotes to opinions on gadgets and back again to more personal discussion.

But as for policy, there have been some rules that I follow when I blog. I never mention names when it comes to particular persons (other than myself). It’s not a platform for me to rant unless I believe my rants are entertaining.

I’d like to take my blog in a more personal direction, but I don’t want to get into too many details because it’s an open book for the world to read. Those who reflect on their experience from, say, recovering from surgery are sharing details that might best be left private. Perhaps someday they wouldn't want their employer (or potential future employers) to know details about their health issues, so they should be careful.

Other thoughts

I am very careful about how I mention my employer and work-related situations on any of my social sites. Sure, I’ll mention a frustrating day at work, or maybe generally touch on a humorous situation that might have happened, but it ends there. I don’t want to drag workplace situations into the public arena.

How I interact with coworkers also concerns me. Recently I was promoted higher into middle management at my company. I’m concerned about the dynamic my new position causes with some of my coworkers, and I’m reluctant to interact with them. After all, I can’t imagine having your boss on Facebook would be very much fun. As a result, I defriended several of my coworkers trying to be sensitive to the situation they’re in because of my new role.

So there you have it. My policy on social interaction. If you ever find me missing on your friends list, please don't take it personally.

Wi-Fi Hotspots and Theft of Your Personal Data

2010-10-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

Ever use an open Wi-Fi network at Starbucks, Panera, McDonalds or elsewhere? Do you mind sharing all the information contained your email account, Amazon account, Facebook, etc., with strangers? If so, you'll want to read this.

Last week one of my favorite podcasts, Security Now!, discussed a new Firefox browser add-on called Firesheep. That software makes it easy for someone sharing certain kinds of network connections (e.g., wireless hotspots) to access personal data maintained on several websites.

According to Steve Gibson, host of Security Now!, the following applications are included:

Amazon, Basecamp, bit.ly, eNom, Facebook, Foursquare, GitHub, Google, Hacker News, Harvest, The New York Times, Pivotal Tracker, Twitter, ToorCon, Evernote, Dropbox, Windows Live, Cisco . . . Slicehost, Gowalla, and Flickr.

Most of, if not all, these sites take precautions to make sure users' passwords are not readable when they log on. Immediately afterward, however, these sites revert to unencrypted communication using a certain methodology for tracking individual users after they've logged in.

It's at that point that it becomes fairly easy for someone else use that tracking mechanism to have the same access to the site as the person who just logged into it.

The ultimate solution is for these sites to maintain an encrypted link with users for the entire session rather than just while entering passwords.

That's going to take a while, but thanks to Firesheep, that might become a priority for each of these websites now.

Meanwhile, steer clear of open wireless hotspots unless you use VPN or some other way of securing your connection. Hotspots offering encryption known as WPA (which most home wireless users have by default) provide some protection against this hack.

Where your data is most at risk

2010-06-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Recently it came to light that Google is restricting its employees' use of Microsoft Windows-based PCs in favor of the Mac OS X and Linux operating systems. According to inside sources, this is a direct result of an incident reported by Google earlier this year in which their systems (as well as at least twenty other major tech companies) were compromised with the apparent goal of extracting private information from known human rights activists in China as well as others around the globe expressing support of Chinese human rights.

Microsoft has confirmed that one of the vectors utilized in the attacks was a specific flaw in Internet Explorer, and they subsequently released a security update to patch every supported version of Internet Explorer: versions 5.01, 6, 7 and 8. Some of these flaws have existed in their software for nearly 11 years!

There was thoughtful discussion resulting from my last post about how safe our private information is up in "the cloud," and the Google incident illustrates cause for concern. But while many worry about what happens to their information once it leaves their homes, I'm much more concerned about the wealth of information concentrated all in one place: your home computer.

Based on analyses of top security risks, it appears your personal data is more at risk on your home computer than it is on websites such as Turbotax or Google. And if your home PC is anything like mine, it contains a gold mine of information all in one place, including:

Records of financial transactions for several accounts in financial software, such as Quicken;

The means to transfer money, such as though online banking of Paypal;

Credit card information and online shopping account logins;

Several years of tax information on tax preparation software such as Turbotax.

Some fairly recent reports suggest that over half of all the PCs in the U.S. are infected with some sort of malicious software ("malware"). How can you be sure your PC isn't one of them?

Much of this malware is invited on computers by installing "free" software. Others can be installed by navigating to a web page. And still others can seek out your computer (via your Internet connection) and install themselves without your having to do anything.

The best password scheme in the world can't help you if someone has installed software on your PC monitoring everything you type. Does this freak you out? Maybe it should. Think about all the resources and tools that most companies use to keep their systems and data secure. Shouldn't we take our home computer security seriously as well?

So here are some computer safety tips:

Keep your software up to date. Most PC infections could have been prevented merely by diligently applying software patches as they're released.

Run malware prevention and antivirus software, such as Microsoft's free Security Essentials suite.

Consider alternatives to Internet Explorer, such as Google Chrome or Firefox.

Steer clear of shady websites.

Don't invite malware on your computer by downloading "free" software, or any software extensions or updates from web sites you don't know and trust.

Avoid peer-to-peer file sharing technologies such as Bittorrent, Limewire, etc.

I'd like to hear from you. Do you think the threat is real, or are the media (and yours truly) overreacting? Do you know anyone who has suffered from cyber attacks?

These shoes weren't made for walking

2010-05-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

Nancy Sinatra's boots may be made for walking, but the shoes I chose to wear during my San Antonio River Walk adventure clearly weren't. Now that I'm resting my aching (and somewhat blistered) feet on a leather ottoman in front of a comfy chair, I'm taking a moment to reflect on my day.

When business brought me to San Antonio I took the opportunity to stay another night at my own expense. On my way from the airport to the hotel I saw the cab's fare meter tick past $45 (one way). That meant that going from my hotel to anywhere was going to cost more than I had expected.

After my conference ended at noon, I was determined not to let my spirits get dampened despite the fact that there were thunderstorms, torrential rain downpours and flooding. I gritted my teeth in anticipation of the expense of a cab ride downtown.

Besides getting blisters, my day included stopping by the Alamo to pay my respects,

Walking along the River Walk (after, mercifully, it stopped raining)

Seeing a 3D movie at IMAX with 60+ frightening little munchkins (actually their screams and giggles throughout the movie actually made it more fun),

And, not one, but two Tex-Mex meals (hey, when in Rome . . .).

Despite the fact I can hardly walk, I had an enjoyable day. I only wish I had friends here to share it with.

How to Deal With Spiders

2010-04-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

With all of the creepy-crawly critters emerging as the weather warms up, I thought it would be helpful to post a flowchart explaining how I deal any type of spider. Click on the flowchart to download a copy.

Shopping Online Safely

2010-04-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

One of my readers told me that monoprice.com recently had issues with credit card fraud. I wasn't aware of that, and I'm grateful he pointed that out.

You can read Monoprice's version of what happened by clicking here.

I take for granted that people take precautions when shopping online, but there are a lot of very smart people I know who have been the victims of online fraud. There are risks whenever shopping online because we can't control what happens to our personal financial information once we pass it along.

But not to worry. You can read some tips about online shopping at this website, but I'd like to offer some advice.

Credit cards only

Never use anything other than a credit card when shopping online. You are protected by law from fraudulent charges, and most credit card companies will cover 100 percent of the charges after the investigation is complete. Generally you don't have to pay the disputed charges while the investigation is underway.

People who pay by debit card or electronic check, on the other hand, can find their bank accounts wiped out, and it could be a while before they get their money back.

Bottom line, if you don't want to (or can't) use a credit card, please don't shop online.

Minimize other risks

There are several ways that financial information can be stolen. Let's take a look at (in my opinion) the top two things under our control to prevent this.

Watch out for phishing attempts. Many people are tricked into giving up their financial information voluntarily. I like to think I'm savvy, but I've almost fallen for some of the more clever phishing attempts out there.

Keep your computer secure. Sources vary widely (and many of them are out to sell something), but a significant percentage of home computers are infected with malware without their owners' knowledge. Your computer may be sending personal information that you type to thieves. Some tips:

keep your computer software up-to-date;

use antivirus and malware detection software from a reputable source. Microsoft offers excellent protection for free.

avoid using computers to shop online other than your own.

That's all for now. Oh, and let's be careful out there!

HDMI-sore

2010-03-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

Mint.com posted this informative graphic about HDMI cables. For reasonably priced cables of all kinds, including HDMI, check out monoprice.com.

Budget Planner – Mint.com

Conclusion of the U-verse Saga

2010-01-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, a friend sent word to me, "Enough with the U-verse on your blog." Although I'm inclined to agree, I hope you'll indulge me for another update.

Although I've kept U-verse for voice and Internet, a couple of weeks ago I dropped U-verse television programming and switched back to DirecTV.

Although my service was good for the first few months, I began having intermittent picture and audio drop-outs. For a couple of weeks my Thursday night TV recordings (my favorite TV night!) were unwatchable.

My phone calls to AT&T for assistance were pleasant enough, yet time consuming. After rebooting items here and there, the problem would clear up for a couple of days then gradually come back.

Finally I asked for a technician to come out. He did come out but didn't touch anything and explained that I had too many devices on my network that were interfering with the TV.

I don't believe that was the case, but I'd invested enough time.

There are some things about U-verse that were cooler than DirecTV. They include responsive channel changes, better SD picture quality, instant on-demand and local weather alerts.

Other than the weather alerts, none of these features matter much to me.

On the other hand, DirecTV offers visibly better HD picture quality and a better DVR experience with precise control over series recordings. DirecTV currently has an open beta test of multi-room viewing, which lets multiple DVRs on the same network share recordings. So far the multi-room viewing is working very well for me.

HD, Oh My

2009-08-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

In the way-back days of high def, at least four cables (three for component video and one optical audio) were needed for each a/v device such as a DVD player, video game console or cable/satellite receiver. With three devices connected to an a/v setup, one would be forced to contend with 12-15 cables between those devices and an a/v receiver, which would switch between these video sources and a TV.

HDMI cables offer a nice solution to this problem. HDMI cables allow digital audio and video to be transmitted via a single cable. Not only are they neater and use much less space, but they are capable of sending uncompressed digital signals that are virtually immune from interference from outside sources. The result is pristine video from the devices to a TV and lossless audio to a sound system.

The issue with HDMI is that it's easy (for yours truly, at least) to have more HDMI gadgets than inputs included on typical a/v receivers. In fact, several months ago I had exhausted the three HDMI inputs on my a/v receiver and had to resort to component cables for some of my devices.

This weekend I installed the IOGEAR 4-port HDMI Switch with Remote. I was pleased to find that HDMI switches had dropped dramatically in price since I shopped for them a few years ago.

I've placed this device between three of my HDMI gadgets and my A/V receiver. After testing, I programed my Logitech Harmony One Remote Control to automatically switch to the correct input on the HDMI switch while it's configuring the rest of the settings.

IOGEAR advertises the box will switch video inputs up to 1080p and support resolutions for PCs up to WQXGA (2560 x 1536). However, some of the reviews on Amazon.com indicate that 1080p video does not work well unless connected to the first input.

With that feedback in mind, I decided to connect a couple of devices that were not 1080p capable to inputs 2 and 3 of this device along with my 1080p HD-DVD player on input 1. So far it's working well.

Pros

Inexpensive

Easily programmable with Logitech Harmony series programmable remotes

Capable of both discrete and toggle switching of inputs

Capable of transmitting 1080p video (at least on input 1)

No issues transmitting copy-protected content

Cons

Some users report issues with 1080p sources on inputs 2-4

While we're on the subject of HDMI cables, it pays to shop around for inexpensive cables. Monoprice.com has HDMI cables for less than $5 that perform as well as the $70 versions at local electronics stores.

AT&T U-verse Television

2009-08-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

[For screen shots demonstrating U-verse TV, check out the gallery.]

In terms of programming selection, AT&T U-verse is competitive with other television providers in my area for both high def and standard def content. I’ve had experience with DirecTV and Comcast, and I didn’t have to give up any of my favorite channels when I switched to U-verse. In my market the local channels are available on U-verse in both standard and high definition.

When I signed up, comparable U-verse programming packages were cheaper than either Comcast and DirecTV.

Four channels at a time

U-verse, like most modern digital TV services, requires a set top box for each TV. One quirk about U-verse is that, no matter how many set top boxes or TV’s you have, you can only tune four different channels at the same time.

That means that if you had five different TVs in your house being watched at the same time, at least two of them must be on the same channel as one of the other TVs. (Or, as an alternative, one of the TVs can watch a recorded program on the DVR, if the household has one.)

For HD customers, up to two of the four channel streams can be in HD. Some customers, depending on the distance from the U-verse equipment, may only be able to get one HD channel.

Although four channel streams for a household is plenty, the DVR needs to use those to record TV shows.Hencethe DVR can record up to four channels at the same time so long as no more than four channels are recorded or watched at once. If there are conflicts, the set top box will inform you and ask you what you would prefer to stop watching or recording.

Since I can watch or record up to two HD programs at the same time, there are times when my DVR is recording two shows at once in HD and I want to watch a third HD show on live TV. In that case, U-verse asks me to either cancel a recording or to choose a channel in standard def, rather than high-def, to watch.

Good picture quality

The most recent comparison I have with U-verse is with DirecTV. I was very satisfied with DirecTV’s high definition content, but I was disappointed with their standard definition picture quality. If it wasn’t in high def on DirecTV, I didn’t think it was worth watching.

I’ve put U-verse head-to-head with DirecTV on my home setup, and I’ve found that U-verse's picture quality for standard def (upconverted to HD) is much better than DirecTV's standard def. I assume that with the fiber optic backbone at AT&T’s disposal, it isn’t necessary to compress the TV signals as much as DirecTV does from its satellites.

For HD, I find U-verse has deeper blacks and more saturated colors than DirecTV, though both have very good picture quality. I’ve read some complaints that U-verse’s picture is too dark, but the content looks great on my home setup.

Total home DVR

Most U-verse packages include a DVR for no additional cost. If you watch TV and don’t have a DVR, you’re really missing out. The U-verse DVR has some special features, which AT&T markets as “Total Home DVR.”

With Total Home DVR, you can record programs from any TV in your home or from the Internet. You can then playback recorded programs on any TV in your home.

My U-verse DVR has a hard drive large enough to store approximately 120 hours of HD programming or more than 300 hours of SD programming. By default, the oldest recorded programs drop off to make room for new ones, though I’ve yet to come close to running out of room.

The DVR lets you pause and rewind live TV. Additionally you can set up a single recording for your favorite TV show, and the DVR will record every episode (either with or without reruns) of that show.

For recorded programs, you can skip (30 seconds at a time) or fast forward past commercials. I can get through an hour program in about 42 minutes. And for football it’s a lifesaver. I can wait an hour after a college football game starts and, with the DVR, start watching it from the beginning. By the time I skip commercials and halftime, I’m usually caught up to “live” programming before the game is over.

When possible, the DVR records a couple minutes before and after each program so that most of the time the ending is recorded even if the program runs long. You can also extend the recording to run further past the scheduled end time of the program in order to capture the possibility of programs running long due to overtime, etc.

It’s also possible to add and delete recordings from the Internet. That’s handy for when I’m working late and want to record a show I would otherwise miss before I got home.

You can also manage recorded programs and search for shows on the Internet. Although you can do that on the set top box as well, it’s actually much easier to do so on the Internet.

The U-verse DVR lacks a lot of features I used on my DirecTV HD DVR. For one thing, U-verse has no way of knowing which show I prefer to record if some of my series happen to overlap. It really stinks when a Seinfeld rerun that’s on 5 times a day preempts a recording of Chuck, for example. With my DirecTV DVR, I ranked all my shows from favorite to least favorite, and the DVR would use that to resolve conflicts should they ever arise.

It was also easier to manage recordings on DirecTV. If I want to delete 5 episodes, or an entire series, it was a cinch on DirecTV. With U-verse the easiest way I’ve found to do something similar is to forget about the set top box and use their web interface to do something similar.

Another feature I missed on my DirecTV DVR was setting up recordings by keyword. I could set up the DirecTV to record any program containing, for example, “Robert DeNiro” and it would, from that point on, record TV program in which Robert DeNiro appeared.

Weather

With Comcast I could get the local forecast on The Weather Channel every ten minutes. U-verse has its own “weather service” that allows you to view current and forecasted conditions as well as radar, satellite and a frequently-updated video feed of an Accuweather meteorologist giving a local weather report.

For severe weather alerts, U-verse will sound an alert and pop up on the TV screen a description of the severe weather condition. It’s pretty slick because it works even when I’m watching a program I recorded a week ago, and severe weather alerts don’t interfere with recordings.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, U-verse has been reliable (so far) in bad weather, and that, coupled with severe weather alerts in real-time, have been one of the features I like best about the television service.

The bottom line

Pluses

Set top box has elegant and straightforward programming guide and menus

Very good picture quality

Competitive programming choices at the lowest cost

Set and view recordings from any TV in the house

Reliable in bad weather with severe weather alerts that work well

Excellent web interface for managing recordings

Interfaces with Harmony remotes and Slingbox

No tuning delays when changing channels

DVR has plenty of recording capacity

On demand is instantly available

Minuses

DVR has fewer recording options than DirecTV

No way to prioritize potential recording conflicts

IR receiver on set top box frequently misses commands from the remote

AT&T U-Verse Initial Impressions

2009-08-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

Nearly four months have elapsed since I posted Part 1 of my review of AT&T U-verse, and I can say that I am a satisfied customer of the service. In this review I’ll detail my overall impressions with the service. I’ll talk in detail about voice, TV and Internet services in upcoming reviews.

Installation

Installation of the service can take up most of a day. It’s best to schedule installations for early mornings because the technicians can run behind with their earlier appointments.

My installation took a little over four hours. Part of that was because my existing router was interfering with the installation and the technician wasn’t aware it was still connected. Since AT&T said that they typically take 3-6 hours, I wasn’t bothered by how long it took.

As far as I can tell, the installation consists of four steps. First, the technician visits the home, confirms the order and examines the phone line and house wiring. Second, the technician leaves and goes to the neighborhood node to move the wiring to a new circuit. Third, the technician installs the equipment then confirms with the central office it is properly set up. Finally, the order is completed and the telephone number (if the U-verse voice package is selected) is ported over to the new service.

For a portion of the installation I was without data and telephone. All told I was without data and the ability to place outgoing calls for about half an hour. Incoming calls were blocked for about 2 hours during the installation until the configuration was confirmed to be working and AT&T ported my existing number over to U-verse.

Cash back promotions

When I signed up, AT&T offered $250 cash back for trying one of their top-tier packages that include voice, television and Internet for at least 30 days.

Receiving the cash back is not automatic. You have to “sign up” for the rebate on the U-verse website. Within a few weeks of my installation, I received a post card from AT&T containing instructions of how to register for my rebate online.

It’s a bit aggravating to have to jump through hoops to get a rebate, but once I signed up I received my checks (one for $200 and another for $50) promptly. You’ll want to open everything you get in the mail from AT&T for the first few weeks because the instructions, and the rebate checks themselves, can easily be confused with junk mail.

Billing and Sticker Shock

You might want to hang on to that $250 cash back to offset the sticker shock of receiving the first U-verse bill. In my case the first monthly bill was in excess of $500. After I had calmed down, I realized that the bill contained nearly two months of service (the prorated portion of the current month plus all of next month’s) for my cell phone, television, Internet and home phone.

Yes, U-verse allows you to consolidate all of your AT&T services (including wireless) onto a single bill. It was overwhelming to see how much money I spend on all these services, though that was just because I wasn’t used to paying for them all at once.

I suggest U-verse customers forego the option to consolidate their cell phone bills. The centralized billing seems clunky and reading through the bills can be confusing. I’ve also read that there can be issues with credits on cell phone bills taking a long time to be reflected on the U-verse statement, though since I haven’t had any credits on my cell phone bill, I can’t verify this first hand.

AT&T supports automatic payments for U-verse to credit/debit cards. Since it is a completely separate offering from the traditional, regulated, AT&T services (phone and Internet) that I had before, I had to sign up on the U-verse site for automatic payments even though I had already done so for my wireless and telephone/internet accounts.

I was almost late with my first month’s bill because I assumed that registering for automatic payment would take care of my first month’s balance. In order to pay the first bill, I had to do a “one time” payment through the U-verse billing website in order to settle up. That’s probably what AT&T means when it says it can take up to two months before automatic billing takes effect.

Reliability

AT&T makes no bones about the fact that U-verse isn’t as reliable as their traditional offerings. They recommend that their customers keep their POTS (“plain old telephone service”) and not use U-verse voice unless they have a cell phone or other means of backup communication.

All of U-verse’s services are channeled through a centralized hub, known as a residential gateway. A couple of obvious drawbacks with having U-verse are: (1) if the residential gateway fails I’ll be without voice, TV and Internet until the gateway is fixed or replaced, and (2) if the residential gateway loses power, none of these services will be available until power is restored.

To mitigate these concerns, AT&T included a dedicated battery-backup power source when it installed my service. It supplies enough backup power to sustain voice service through brief power outages and also provides robust protection against equipment damage due to power surges.

Most people wouldn’t miss having TV service during a power outage since, without power, they can’t watch TV anyway. But most expect to have a dial tone on their phone line when the power is out. By switching to U-verse voice, AT&T has made it clear that I will not be able to place calls from my home phone once the battery backup for the residential gateway is exhausted.

There have been three occasions over the last four months where voice has become unavailable for no apparent reason. (Since my security system alerts when the phone line is disconnected, I am painfully aware when the voice service is down.)

On one occasion I was without voice service for a few hours from about 3:30 a.m. until well into the late morning. AT&T support said that there were widespread network issues that impacted voice service in my entire area (yikes!) and that they were working to resolve it.

On the other two occasions during which I lost voice service, I rebooted my residential gateway and my voice was restored as soon as the residential gateway came back up. Both of these were within the first couple of weeks of installation, and I haven’t had to reboot my residential gateway for a long time.

I should note that, on all three occasions, TV and Internet continued to be available. I was only without dial tone during these times.

U-verse television has, so far, been much more reliable for me than either DirecTV or Comcast had been. As a DirecTV customer, my service was disrupted during heavy rains and storms, and with Comcast, my service was often out for days at a time because wet weather conditions would interfere with the signal in my neighborhood.

As someone who has been in the path of no fewer than six tornados over the last two years, the hope of more reliable service was a big reason why I wanted to give U-verse a try. I’ve been delighted with U-verse TV’s performance in bad weather, and that represents a major reason why I’m sticking with it.

Customer Service and Support

The customer support for AT&T U-verse is very good, and is much better than my experiences with Dish Network, DirecTV and Comcast. After hours support is available and obviously hosted outside of the U.S., but the technicians I’ve spoken with were fluent in English and very helpful.

The first time I called was because I thought I wasn’t receiving HD on my television. It turned out that I was, but I didn’t understand how to find the HD channels in my programming guide. (Not one of my finer geek moments.) After answering my specific question, the technician on the phone asked if he could spend a few minutes with me going over the features of how to use the set-top TV box, which was very helpful.

But the real gem of AT&T’s customer support is through the U-verse forums. These are discussion boards hosted by AT&T that allow customers (as well as technicians) to discuss specific issues with using the service offerings.

Through the forums, I quickly found the information I needed to get my Slingbox and Harmony universal remote control configured to work with the TV set top box. It also gave me pointers for setting up my Internet to use my Airport Extreme Base Station and OpenDNS configuration.

There are a lot of helpful individuals on the forums as well as a few well-meaning folks who aren’t as helpful. Most questions posted there receive accurate and friendly responses within a few hours.

Take Back the Beep

2009-08-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that, whenever a cell phone call goes to voice mail, you have to endure an inane list of options before you get to leave a message? ("If you'd like to leave your callback number, press 5 now." Who has ever left a callback number?)

David Pogue, technology columnist for The New York Times asserts that the 15 seconds spent on each voice message adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of extra minutes for cell providers annually.

Check out his article and his blog post to read about (and find ways to support) his efforts to "take back the beep."

AT&T U-verse, Part 1

2009-04-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

What is it?

U-verse is AT&T's answer to the all-inclusive packages offered by cable companies, like Comcast, that include television, telephone and Internet for a single, bundled price.

The service utilizes fiber optics to get to individual neighborhoods and then utilizes some other medium, such as telephone lines or coaxial cable, to get the last few thousand feet to the home. In my neighborhood, which happens to be just a couple of blocks from an AT&T distribution node, the connection from the fiber node to the home is made over copper telephone lines.

All of the services offered are based upon Internet protocol (IP) networking. This allows flexibility in how the services are deployed. For example, I can connect TV receivers anywhere in my house that have either coax or cat-5 (ethernet) cable connections.

The service centers around a residential gateway (RG), without which none of the other services will work. The residential gateway provides connections for TV receivers and phone lines in addition to access to wired and wireless networking. One obvious downside is that if the RG fails for any reason, I'll be without telephone, television and Internet. But more on that later.

Why I made the switch.

AT&T, trying to build its customer base in this new market, has offered a no-risk evaluation period for the product. I was able to install two HD receivers (including one total-home DVR, which I'll discuss later) for zero up-front expense.

Furthermore, AT&T promises a $250 rebate if I keep the service for 30 days. This will help, if I choose, defray the cost of breaking the last few months of my 2-year commitment with DirecTV should I decide that U-verse is "a keeper."

By bundling service with AT&T, I can save about 15 percent for TV, internet and phone services over what I was currently paying. Of course, for a little extra per month, faster internet connections (up to 18 mbps) and more extensive channel lineups are available.

Another perk of the service is that all but the low-tier TV packages include "total home" DVR capability. That allows for recording of your favorite individual programs or series. Those recordings can be played back on any receiver in your home (hence the "total home" moniker).

To Be Continued

With one week of service under my belt, I'm fairly satisfied. In upcoming weeks, I'll detail features and drawbacks of each of the services offered under U-verse.

Please stay tuned!

Scenes from the Great Recession

2009-03-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Click here to see some thought-provoking pictures that reflect the state of things today. Do you think these pictures are representative, or is it mostly hype? Let's hear your story.

Minimizing Wrap Rage

2009-03-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

The problem

Imagine going to your favorite discount store or wholesale club and buying an eco-friendly package of compact-fluorescent bulbs. Once home, you realize that you now have to contend with the tough plastic packaging that encases your product.

Some delicacy is required of the situation. After all, the light bulbs consist of toxic substances contained in glass. If you were to break one trying to open the package, a hazmat team could be required deal with the repercussions. In attempting to pull the case open at the seam it becomes clear that, even if you chained the ends of the case between two monster trucks and had them try to pull it apart, it probably wouldn't do any good.

So you go to the kitchen and get the sharpest thing you can find and begin hacking away like an ax murderer at a package that deflects blows like Superman deflects bullets.

And there you have it: all the necessary ingredients for what popular media refers to as "wrap rage."

A solution

Zibra, with its Open It! gadget, contends to equip you to get just about any package open easily and safely. This gadget is a simple one. It's not particularly cool, but what it lacks in sexiness it makes up for in practicality.

The device is constructed similar to gardening pruning shears and consists of blades made of heavy-duty steel encased and sturdy plastic handles. The top handle of the product also features a slotted screwdriver with two tips—ideal for replacing batteries in toys. The other handle features a retractable knife, which comes in handy for opening the boxes for all those Amazon.com gadgets you buy.

The gadget works as expected. It's also useful for cutting through twist ties that are often used to secure products into their packaging. The only drawback I've noticed is that it seems like the handles, when clipped closed, open on their own a bit too easily.

I can't tell you how many close calls I've had trying to open packaging before I got this, and I highly recommend this gadget for everyone.

The verdict

Open It! by Zibra can save you grief and, quite possibly, a trip to the ER. If you happen to be a parent who struggles with opening and removing toys from their packages, then you really will use this gadget.

Value: 4 out of 5

Ease of use: 5 out of 5

Coolness: 2 out of 5

It can be had for around $11. Since I bought mine, Zibra has launched a clever promotional website that's pretty fun (www.wrapragecure.com).

Product link on Amazon.com.

The shuffle: the iPod No One Wants

2009-03-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Sooner or later it was bound to happen: Apple has finally "jumped the shark" with the introduction of its new iPod shuffle (which I've parodied here). Introducing the iPod that no one may want.

Conquering the low end

With the introduction of the original iPod shuffle, Apple expanded its dominance of the MP3 music player line to include the low-end (under $70) market segment, and its efforts were tremendously successful. The original shuffle had a profile like a large USB thumb drive and had a simple interface. In subsequent generations, the shuffle evolved into a small clip that was a bit smaller than a matchbook and would clip anywhere on your clothing. All along it maintained the same simple 5-button interface.

Smaller. But not better.

In this version, Apple has moved all of the controls from the device itself to the headset and utilizes an awkward control scheme to select and play your songs. Want to use your comfortable, high-quality headset with this device? Might as well forget about it, unless you wait for an adapter that will further add to the cost of owning this device.

If you count the recessed headphone jack in the original iPhone, this is the second time that Apple has tried to make the headset a proprietary part of the iPod experience. Having to purchase replacement headphones or additional adapters adds a hidden "Apple tax" that consumers (especially unsuspecting parents) might not be aware of when they initially purchase the device.

Obsolescence: planned and unplanned

Apart from driving the sales of more hardware, it appears that Apple is needlessly driving the evolution of this product. In an excellent review, iLounge has this to say:

The third-generation iPod shuffle is one that should have stayed in Apple’s labs. It is at best a designer’s in-joke, a tip of the hat to those who once absurdly suggested that Apple would eventually release a buttonless piece of hardware, yet never actually believed it would happen.

I was one of the first people to understand what iPods meant to music when they originally came out, and now I'm convinced that Apple's iPod line—apart from the iPod touch—have peaked and are on their way out. Before long, iPods will go the way of the Sony Walkman and the dinosaur.

This is a harbinger of interesting times. Since the potential now exists for iTunes purchased music to work with non-Apple hardware, Apple has left the door open for someone else to walk through. I can't wait to see who will take that opportunity.

Apple Announces Incredible New iPod pepto

2009-03-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

World's Smallest Music Player Now Safe for Internal Consumption

CUPERTINO, California—March 11, 2009—Apple® today introduced the all-new iPod® pepto, the smallest music player ever manufactured, and the world's first music player designed for internal consumption. The revolutionary device, with an easy-swallow coating that ensures that the iPod pepto remains safe and secure in your digestive tract for up to 72 hours, holds up to 1,000 songs and is easier to use than ever. With a press of your wireless headset, you can play back songs, adjust the volume and even switch playlists as your iPod pepto journeys through your G.I. tract.

"Imagine owning a music player that you can take like aspirin and, therefore, never lose," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president if iPod and iPhone™ Product Marketing. "And 24 to 72 hours later, you can simply recover your iPod pepto from the stool, recharge, give it a quick rinse, and you're good to go all over again."

The new iPod pepto comes in white or silver and features stereo Bluetooth and a sleek, easy-swallow design with a MagSafe™ stool recovery tool for easy retrieval of the device. The iPod pepto features up to 10 hours of battery life and, with nearly a third less deadly toxins, is the greenest iPod ever manufactured.

Pricing & Availability

The new iPod pepto is now shipping with a suggested price of $99 (US) through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The iPod pepto comes with Apple Wireless Earphones with Remote and the iPod pepto Wireless Inductive AC Charger.

Roku Player: The Future of TV?

2009-03-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

In a nutshell

Once known as the Netflix Player by Roku, this is a small device that allows users to stream some (but not all) of the DVD content available from Netflix (and, recently, content from Amazon.com) to your TV over the Internet.

The Roku Player is easy to set up, and the video quality, though not quite DVD quality, is more than acceptable, even when watched on a 60" display. Currently only a small percentage of Netflix content is available online, but the amount of content is always increasing.

And you heard it here first: I have no doubt that this is the future of television.

Why I bought it

I had been streaming Netflix video to my HDTV using my Mac Mini, but after some recent OS X software updates, I noticed that the video playback would drop frames and become jerky. Also, Netflix streaming over Macs does not yet support HD. I had planned to upgrade to the new model of Mac Mini in hopes that would improve things, but buying the Roku Player is a much less expensive option. Several hundred dollars less expensive, in fact.

How it works

The Roku Player requires a high-speed Internet connection. Currently any of the Netflix unlimited plans (starting at $8.99 per month) include unlimited streaming (and at least some DVD rentals to boot). Roku recently added the ability to purchase streaming content from Amazon.com. Unlike Netflix's fixed fee for unlimited content, Amazon.com charges for individual content.

Unboxing

For $99 (plus $14.99 shipping), the player kit includes the box, an infrared remote, batteries, instructions andstandard audio/video cables. Roku offers to include HD cables for an additional $20, but I decided to skip that and place an order for very low-priced cables on monoprice.com instead.

The player includes an input for wired networking (wireless is also built-in) and has outputs for optical audio, standard video, S-video, composite video, stereo audio, and HDMI. The player supports HD resolutions up to 720p.

Setup

Hooking the player up to my wired network and to my TV via HDMI was very straightforward. The initial setup promised to take less than 3 minutes, but it took a bit longer since two reboots were required due to software updates and video settings changes.

Despite the multiple reboots, setup was pretty straightforward. Follow the instructions on the TV screen, enter a code on your computer, add some Netflix content to the "instant' queue, and you're set. Once the system had updated its software, the remaining setup took me less than 5 minutes.

First impressions

Viewing streaming content was a very good experience on my 6 mbps DSL connection. The standard definition content compares favorably with standard definition content on my DirecTV receiver.

The HD content was noticeably better than the SD content, but I noticed some digital artifacts, particularly in dark scenes. I would say that Netflix HD content almost compares with watching SD DVDs. It's not going to replace my desire for Blu-ray anytime soon, but quite an acceptable trade-off for instant gratification.

In both cases, the Netflix content (both 4:3 and 16:9) occupied as much as the screen as possible.

I didn't feel like purchasing any content from Amazon just for this review, but I did download some free content. All of the free content I viewed was displayed in 16:9 letterbox on my set. In other words, there was a black border all around my screen.

I didn't notice Amazon offering any content as HD, but it's too soon to tell whether my brief experience with Amazon is a good indication of everything it has to offer.

One annoyance with the streaming content is that whenever I fast-forwarded, I had to wait 10 seconds or so while the stream rebuffered each time I finished. I noticed this both with Netflix and Amazon.com content.

The Verdict

As I said before, this is the future of TV. If you have $114, high-speed Internet and a Netflix account, this is a nice alternative to streaming. It's also far less expensive, quieter and (I presume) less power hungry than a media center PC or XBox 360.

Value: 4/5

Ease of use: 4/5

Coolness: 3/5

Click here for more setup screenshots.

Product website can be found here.

Getting started

2009-03-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Sam's Weblog 2.0!

To see what's new, check out the guide. Looking for my old content? Never fear! It's all included in Sam 1.0.

For the Geek Who Has Everything

2009-03-01T05:27:00.000-08:00

Betcha don't have a Wi-Fi Rabbit. Just in time for Easter.

Moon Shots

2009-01-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

I took some shots of the full moon tonight. I was hoping I've learned some things in the years since I last took some moon shots. Click here to see all three in my set.

Me, on camera

2009-01-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

Got a new Flip Mino. Not sure what I'll do with it yet.

Here's one of Darrell. Not quite as exciting.

Me, celebrating my birthday

2009-01-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

Me. Celebrating my birthday by eating Spam in my underwear. (Exactly how the Spam got in my underwear I'll never know!)

Pet-Casso

2008-12-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

I have to share with you a clever Christmas present I got this year from Ken Quimby, one of my co-workers.

Here is the box cover. (Click on the image to see it enlarged.)

Here are the instructions. (Click on them to see them enlarged.)

Inside the box was an assortment of non-toxic paints, a canvas, paper and some plastic protectors. As soon as I feel brave, I may post Squatch's and Daisy's masterpieces here so you can see them.