It's election day in Canada, and if you haven't voted yet, stop reading, go vote.


I unfortunatly will not be voting this year, being in the US, the only riding I could really vote in is my parents, and I have no idea what issues are at stake there.


The Leader of the Bloc Mr. Duceppe sounds rather like the Borg in this interview saying "They will comply," refering to the needs of a siting minority government to win favours with other parties to pass bills. I don't know if I like the idea of a Conservative minority government where the Bloc's votes in parliment might actually matter.

Yesterday I received a support message that had been sent to four seperate addresses (support@overnet, info@edonkey2000, feedback@edonkey2000, support@edonkey2000), which I hate. Secondly the email WAS ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS, which I hate. Thirdly the email had the phrase 'I would pay for your software if...', which I hate (I have heard it many many times before, have helped the people resolve the issue, looked back in a month and surprise surprise no account under their address.).


Let me reiterate a few facts

- Small company

- Freeware/Adware download

- Registration is cheap



So let me give you a few pointers, these hold true for all interactions with customer service/support people, but are especially prevelent when you have not paid for the software or support.

• Make one and only one attempt to contact the apropriate person, use your better judgement as to what that is (which email address, phone number, etc). If no response is received within an acceptable time (minimum 3 business days) it is permissible to try again.
  
  
  
  • There are several problems with attempting to contact more than one person. If the same person receives more than one copy of the same message, best case they are annoyed, worst case they waste their time answering both. Multiple recipiants of the same message may notice it went to other people, and assume someone else has replied already, and file the mesage un-read/responded.
    
  
  
• DO NOT TYPE IN CAPS, it is considered yelling, it is 10% slower to read, and is generally interpreted as rude and impatient.
  
• Make your best effort to properly use the language you are conversing in. Use the full form of words ('are you' rather than 'R U' etc).
  
  
  
  • I would far rather work through trying to help some German guy using a web translator than someone who had learned proper English, and just chooses not to use it. A lot of the short forms can also end up being confusing depending on their context.
    
  
  
  
• Try to avoid using slang.
  
  
  
  • I was helping a gentleman from Texas a while back, and he kept using what I would assume is local slang, and I really had no idea what he was asking for. It made the corespondence like twice as long as it needed to be since he would email me, then I would reply asking for clarification on what he was asking for
    
  
  
• Be polite, this is especially important if you haven't paid for anything.
  
• Explain your problem, and what you think should be happening.
  
  
  
  • I have received countless emails where the person describes something like 'Help my download is going at 20K/s', I really have no idea what they want... Do they want the download to go faster? slower? stop?
    
  
  
• If it is a software issue, include the version number you are running
  
• If applicable include some basic information on relevant systems (Operating System, computer specs, etc).
  
  

Gee, I've got a GMail account and I've already seen Fahrenheit 911, We had thought about going to see it Tuesday night at midnight but it wasn't going to work out with peoples schedules.


So I finally saw it last night, it was quite good. A couple things were really touching/scary. Some of the moments post the Florida elections were a lot more powerfull than I expected.


The film asked a lot of good questions

I just read through ACM Queue's'Blaster Revisited' article, and I am willing to say unequivocally that it is the most interesting thing I have ever read in Computer Science. The article examines from two primary points of view (that of the IT team, and an end customer's) the entire life cycle of dealing with the blaster worm. It provides technical detail, insight into where problems existed, and enough 'personal' information to make it a really worth while read.


One tool that I really think would be useful in this sort of situation would be a client -> server based firewall routine. All machines on a corporate network would run some sort of thin firewall running with basically no restrictions, machines can do whatever they wish in terms of connections, but it is reported upon with varying levels of granularity. In 'calm' times the granularity would be rather low, just sort of keeping an eye on what the network is doing. The firewall software would make special note and report any previously unseen application that requests a network connection, or an application that requests network information in a new way (for example, if iexplore.exe started making UDP requests to the local network, or a new application tester.exe started initiating remote connections), all of this information could be viewed in real time by the network administrators. Granularity, reporting and restrictions could be modified as network situations develop, in the case of the Blaster worm, the Network Administrator could push out a rule stating 'Accept no incoming connections on Port 135 and report the event to the master machine', or to help track down infected machines 'Allow no outgoing connections on port 135, and should the attempt be made inform the master machine, disable the network connection and prompt the user to phone technical support'. It seems that this sort of a centralized method of dealing with issues is already prevalent in the anti-virus world, but I have yet to see any sort of cohesive system for network wide firewalls.


With reference to the experiences of 'Mona' this really seems like a difficult issue to handle. She had admittedly paid bills late several times in the past, which often serves to reduce leeway in many situations. I think more training and better communications between the IT team, and the customer service department could have done a lot to alleviate Mona's problems. One of the first questions asked when approaching a situation like this (from the IT prospective) is 'Who is going to be effected', answering that should have resulted in a call to the customer service team. The customer service team should have moved from that into a meeting where quick decisions could have been made on how to deal with the issue (ie. grant all customers a grace period of 48hrs past the time when the issue is fully resolved).


Finally, I do have one disagreement with the substance of the article. On page 5 the following paragraph appears:

2. The company. The utility company lost more than $1 million in revenue that would normally have been generated from the pay systems during the time they were down. Current projects had to be tabled during the Blaster crisis because everyone was needed to mitigate the situation that Blaster caused. Overtime pay put the quarterly budget over the top, affecting bonus calculations. Those workers who were involved daily were challenged, overworked, and frustrated.

I feel stating lost revenue at $1M is extreme and false. As pointed out in point #1 Mona was not able to pay her bills during the outage, and as such the amount of her bill is probably included in that $1M. However, the first point also states that she paid her bill, in full, once service was restored. The amount of her bill was not lost income, it was merely pushed forward a few days, the amount of income that was actually lost is equal to the amount of interest the utility would have earned on the amount of her bill between when she would have paid it (baring the blaster incident) and when she did end up paying it. Likely no more than a few cents.

Well, I have a GMail account, but I don't actually plan on using it. My boss actually offered me an invite last week, but I turned it down as I am already happy with my current email solution (when it isn't crashing, hmm) Bloomba. I decided last night that I should probably pick up an account if only to reserve my username, so I did.


First thing I noticed right off the bat, the thing is flipping fast. Way way faster than Hotmail, Yahoo mail etc. Its just pretty freaking fast. The privacy advocates have of course gone crazy screaming out the evils of GMail, I can see what they complaining about, but don't know if I would take it quite as far as they are. You can see one site here.


Once I get the opportunity to invite someone I will probably give it to Laura W. She used to always run out of space on her Hotmail account so I figgure she needs it most.

McDonalds is running a big promotion right now, buy a Big Mac and get a free song download from Sony Connect. I was hungry, I can think of at least one big label song I want, so I went for it. At the end of the meal I noticed I hadn't received any sort of indication of how to receive my free song. I asked a few employees how to get my free song and finally received a verbose answer 'No', this occured while I was standing no more than 3ft from a 6ft tall promotional bill board advertising the campaign. I just posted to the McDonalds contact us page, I guess I will see what they have to say.


After seeing promotions on television for your free song with Big Mac promotion I visited the aforementioned restaurant to get a Big Mac combo. After I finished my meal I realized that I hadn't seen any sort of promotional insert or peel off either in the bag or on the Big Mac box. I asked the employee where I would find the appropriate information, he shrugged and suggested I speak to the manager. I asked at the ordering counter “How do I get my free song with the Big Mac combo”, and pointed at the 6ft sign to my immediate right, she replied “let me go ask the manager”, after a few moments she returned “No” was her reply. When pushed for further information she said 'were not running that, or were not giving them out, or we are out or something'. I asked why the sign was there, she just shrugged. Why are you running a national campaign to promote this program, then refusing to give away the appropriate items in store?



This was the first time I have been to a McDonalds since seeing 'SuperSize Me', It will probably be my last visit for a long while.

I clicked on one of the banner ads at /. today for Server Beach. It looks pretty good. High bandwidth, not much support, but it is available on a per ticket basis if you need it.

Okay, Well I am continuing to look for a dedicated (not co-located, sorry). I thought I would keep a running log here of the sites I look into.

eServers.ca - The site looks pretty professional, and the prices are pretty good, but confuse me some of the more expensive plans have less bandwidth available than the cheapest one... The grammer on the site is horrible "This solution is available for medium and small size business.and will make you benefits from the same technology used by web hosting companies. . I am also really distrustfull of sites that have 'live' support/sales whatever but no one is there...

Canada Web Hosting - This place looks good, it is where preinheimer.com is currently hosted. However their plans really don't come with much bandwidth, and I am currently working on getting a quote from their supplier.

datahive - This is looking pretty good, little less bandwidth than I was hoping for, but assuming the support is good, definetly worth looking into.

Chinook Computers - Umm, I don't know anyone who runs windows for a webserver, except them.

WeDoHosting - My domain used to be hosted there, then they started deleting files off my account without informing me, not looking to go there again.

Webserve - I really don't think it's apropriate to supply dedicated servers with RedHat's new desktop offering...


More to come later.

I am reading a lot of stories on slashdot about communities, states and even corporations taking new interest in setting up free WiFi in parks, community meeting places, and such. (such as WiFi Gone Wild for example).


I am wondering if there is also an increasing percentage of the population lucky enough to live near these new free WiFi hot spots that don't have to pay for internet. There is WiFi in Union Square (like two blocks from the office) and some apartment buildings are around the park. So if I was living in one of those, I would just point my pringles can antenna at the park and get free internet.


On that note, I am still looking for a good PCMCIA card that has an external antenna option. I would like to get a real antenna to play with.

Hey All, I need help!

I am looking for a co-loctated or dedicated hosting solution. I have spoken with a few of my friends, and have gotten mixed information. Chris S. has suggested a managed solution, so I can concentrate on my business, and not mess around with the gritty details of keeping up to date with patches and such. Tom S. has suggested a more independent solution, since I should be able to handle most of what crops up myself.


I have had live chats with two hosts already
Rackspace - Expensive managed solution. I have heard great things about their support techs, but their plans start at $350US/mnth with 100GB of transfer.
EV 1 servers - Much cheaper, but I am really on my own. They will assist if the box goes down, but other than that I am really on my own (patches, security updates, etc). The basic plan doesn't even come with SSH installed...? Plans start at $70 1000GB transfer per month.


I am really looking for something in the middle, I need some backup should things go wrong, and perhapps some help initially securing the box.


Hosting in Canada would be preferred.

Well I picked up Fire Emblem on the weekend and am enjoying it so far. It reminds me a lot of Advance Wars 2 or Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance. But it has its own charms. When units die, they are gone, for good (unlike FFTA where you either get them back at the end of the fight, or you can bring them back mid fight), weapons degrade (which is a PITA btw). and such.


However, I do have one big problem with the game, long 'story' bits between fights. Seriously like 3-4 minutes of people talking to each other between fights. This would be fine and all if this was a GameCube or X-BOX or PC game, but its not, its a GBA game. Which means that when I am playing it I am probably on the go (travelling to or from work usually) and hence want to play, not read. I guess when it comes to handheld games I really want a high action to story ratio.

Hey All,


You have probably noticed the google ad banner over there on the left side. It probably isn't there to stay, I just think it is kind of cool. The ads it displays are dependent on what kind of content this page is showing. So if I write about buying a new car, it will probably show some stuff about buying cars, If I turned into a sex feind and wrote about sex every day, well, I think you can guess where that is going.


The technology they are using to do this is all around pretty cool. I am still very curious about some of the smaller details like:

- Does it weight content near the top of the page more heavily than content at the bottom when it comes to choosing an ad

- How does weighting on current terms work

- Does where I put the ad on the page effeect the ads it shows

etc.


Anyways, I think it is pretty cool.

I signed up at Ok Cupid! last night for some fun. it was pretty interesting.


The problem with most dating/matchmaker sites I have seen is you sign up, then they sit you down for like some 50 question form that you have to fill out, and the questions can be kind of tedious.


Ok Cupid on the other hand has you answer like four questions then drops you into the whole mess. You of course have to answer more questions to improve your matches, but they are fed to you one at a time, and vary from the common place to the utterly bizzare.


I really joined looking for an Activity Partner rather than a date, but the site does seem pretty fun. Way more fun than filling out those matchmaker cards in high school.


Laura has already pointed out that when showing you your matches, it shows you the 100 best out of 1000 random people. Which means that you probably aren't seeing your 100 best overall.


Okay, I admit it, I really just made this post to see what the ad sense banner would do

I have a lot of passwords.


I just sat down to think of all of the accounts I could come up with off of the top of my head. 40 different accounts.

Some Stats:

4 online banking accounts (I have 4 banks)

10+ Work accounts

7 passwords just to use my own machines (various things on them).


That was just sitting down for a minute and writing it all down. Unfortunatly I don't have 4 different passwords. I have a bunch, but less than 10. This means that if the security is comprimised on one account, all the other accounts where I use the same password are also immediatly at risk.


Solution:
Password Safe. Basically you tell it what all your passwords are, and come up with one (more) password to secure it. It stores all of your passwords via some ultra-secure algorythem locally on your machine. When you are using your computer you enter the password into the program, then double click on the apropriate account, the password is copied to the clipboard, and you can just paste it into the password box in the program or on the website. Its all pretty easy.


I am currently going through and trying to increase my own personal security by creating new secure passwords (via its handy random password generator) for the sites that are important to me.


I would really recomend that anyone out there who spends any time online at all look into this software.

I've had a couple occasions to use Ethereal in the past week or two, and I have been really impressed with it.


Times I have used it

1. Figguring out what my mail password is. Basically, I had no clue what my password was, I typed it into my mail client a long time ago, and forgot. So I started up Ethereal, told it to start recording, and told Bloomba to check for mail. I got something that looked a lot like this:
+OK Hello there.

USER paul@preinheimer.com


+OK Password required.

PASS thispasswordsucks

+OK logged in.

LIST

+OK POP3 clients that break here, they violate STD53.

Obviously I picked my password right out, and I knew what it was.


2. Determining exactly what string our client sends to the server. We wern't sure if it was .53a or .53.a or 0.53a etc. So I just turned on Ethereal again, and found out. It was pretty darn easy. The stream looked like this
GET /install.php?page=lang&client_type=20&client_version=0.53a&


installer_version=2.0&lang_code=1033 HTTP/1.0

Host: install.overnet.com

User-Agent: NSISDL/1.2 (Mozilla)

Accept: */*

I did a certificate in network administration a while back, but all that stuff is pretty trivial to figgure out if you do much with the web