Thursday, March 19, 2015

Internet Virus Alert



WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Institute for the Investigation of Irregular Internet Phenomena announced today that the majority of Internet users are already infected by a virus that causes them to believe, without question, every groundless story, legend, and dire warning that shows up in their inbox or on their browser.  The Gullibility Virus (as it has been labelled) apparently makes people believe and forward copies of obvious hoaxes relating to cookie recipes, e-mail viruses, taxes on Tweets, and a plethora of get-rich-quick schemes and horror stories.

"These are not just readers of tabloids or people who buy lottery tickets based on fortune cookie numbers," a spokesman for the Institute said.  "Most of them are otherwise normal people, who would laugh at the same stories if told to them by a stranger on a street corner."  However, once these same people are infected with the Gullibility Virus, they believe everything that they read on the Internet. And the worst part of all, according to the researchers, is that they don't even know that they've been infected.

"My immunity to tall tales and bizarre claims is all gone," reported one weeping victim.  "I believe every warning message and sick child story my friends forward to me, even though most of the messages are anonymous."

Another victim, now in remission, added, "When I first heard about Utopia, I just accepted it without question.  After all, there were dozens of other recipients on the mail header, so I thought it must be true." It was a long time, the victim said, before she could stand up at a Hoaxees Anonymous meeting and state, "My name is Jane, and I've been hoaxed."  Now, however, she is spreading the word.  "Challenge and check whatever you read," she says.

Internet users are urged to examine themselves for symptoms of the virus, which include the following:

The willingness to believe improbable stories without thinking. The urge to forward multiple copies of such stories to others. A lack of desire to take three minutes to check to see if a story is true.

"T. C." is an example of someone who has been infected for several years. He told one reporter, "I read on the Net that the major ingredient in almost all shampoos makes your hair fall out, so I stopped using shampoo."  When told about the Gullibility Virus, "T. C." said he was going to stop reading his e-mails so that he would not become infected, too.

Anyone with symptoms like these is urged to seek help immediately. Experts recommend that at the first feelings of gullibility, Internet users should rush to their favorite search engine and look up the item tempting them to thoughtless credence.  Most hoaxes, legends, and tall tales have been widely discussed and exposed by the few remaining rational members of the Internet community.

You can innoculate yourself aginst this insidious virus by using reliable on-line sources, including:

Snopes Reference Pages at https://www.snopes.com

The Urban Legends Web Site at https://urbanlegendsonline.com

Lastly, as a public service, Internet users can help stamp out the Gullibility Virus by sending copies of this message to everyone on their contact list. Remember, ignorance can be cured with knowledge, but stupid can't be fixed.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Leap Seconds


I have a fascination with time that many feel is overly obsessive. There is a natural rhythm to the Universe and it is easy enough to adjust our clocks and calendars to keep in sync with it. When I was a child, it was quite normal to have wind-up clocks that drifted several minutes in a week. The phone company had a number you could call to obtain the correct time so that everyone could keep their clocks in sync with each other. When I was 10, Santa Claus gave me a Hallicrafters shortwave radio:


My parents let me string an antenna wire across the back yard and down the side yard which allowed me to pull in stations from around the world. One of which was WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado, which provided a time signal synchronized to Coordinated Universal Time (the descendants of this station are used by the ubiquitous "atomic" clocks that stay synchronized automatically).

When I was 12, Santa Claus gave me a Seiko watch that had an adjustable movement. Over the next year I tweaked it ever so slightly until it could stay in sync with the UTC time signal for almost a month before it drifted off by a second. When I was 16, I built a digital clock/calendar with 8-segment LED displays built with some mail-order components from Digi-Key. It used the (US) 60 Hz AC line frequency to maintain its synchronization, but it, too, would have to be manually synchronized back to WWV periodically.

The Universe moves in a precisely defined manner that trickles down to our Solar System. The Earth revolves on its axis while it orbits the sun which orbits the center of the Milky Way every 240 million years (or so).



From the dawn of Man's desire to track the days and nights and seasons and tides, the underlying goal has always been to accurately track the movement of the heavens. Now that Man has achieved the ability to do so in the most accurate way possible, I find it ironic there is now a movement to abandon this Universal time and ignore it from now on.

Our society has become so dependent on accurate time-keeping that a change of only one second can wreak havoc with computer servers and GPS satellite systems. On June 30, 2015, at 23:59:59 UTC, the next second will be 23:59:60 instead of 00:00:00 (which will still follow one second later). This is needed to insure that the primary mandate of aligning Man's time-keeping to the Universe is followed. The fact that almost all time-sensitive systems will globally have to hiccup in lock-step, however, presents a logistical nightmare for many system administrators. It would be so much easier to just ignore the Universe and start using Man's "better" system, but would easier be the correct approach to something as important as time?

I have always taken great comfort in knowing that my timepieces are all in lock-step with the rest of the Universe. Without the leap seconds that have been added since 1972, my watch would be 25 seconds too fast, which is way too upsetting to even think about. The thought of it being off by a whole minute in another 50 years or so is positively unbearable (okay, so maybe my relationship with time is more obsession than fascination).

A couple of years ago I was worried sick that the powers-that-be would decide to just ignore the leap seconds and drift farther and farther away from the natural order of things. But they did the Right Thing and they will do it once more in June. Hopefully, when the issue comes up again in another few years, cooler minds will continue to prevail.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

New Year's Resolution


"One of my New Year's resolutions is to post to this blog each and every day during the coming year."

Well, that didn't last very long ... five days to be exact. Which is why I quit making these silly old resolutions a long time ago.


Over the years, I have learned that if I set the bar low enough in the first place, I will succeed more often than not.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Internet Addiction


Twenty years ago, I hung out with about fifty folks in IRC chat rooms. At the time, "Internet Addiction" was a frequent topic for discussion. It was generally agreed that spending 24/7 on the Internet was not, in itself, a bad thing, it was all in how you managed its use within your daily life.


Today, there is a constant stream of distractions available from uncountable sources. Whether your time is spent on Facebook or World of Warcraft or just viewing random videos on YouTube, there is no reason to be bored when you're not working or studying or otherwise occupied. There's a virtual cornucopia of entertainment out there in the cloud. But when your entertainment buzz starts to interfere with your real-world life, then perhaps it's time to put down the mouse and step away from the computer.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Ancient Times


On occasion, I come across something that makes me feel really old. Like this photo of the Altair BASIC operating system on 1" paper tape:


My first programming language was BASIC and I stored my programs by punching holes in rolls of blank paper tape. When I wanted to run the program again, I simply loaded the tape into the reader and read it back in again. If I made any changes, of course, I had to punch a new tape to save them.

Today I do the same thing, but I load the program from a hard drive or a thumb drive or the network. There are still eight bits in a byte and they still serve the same purpose, but the underlying technology for manipulating them is totally different.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

RTFM


Maybe it's because I'm an avid reader that I like reading the instructions that come with pretty much anything you can buy or use. I’ve often been accused of being a “cereal reader” since I find enjoyment in reading the blurbage that adorns these packages. I’m not sure why most people seem to have an aversion to reading instructions, but they cheerfully proceed to start using something without even referring to the idiot-proof “Getting Started” sheets that are handily included. Instruction manuals should not be the course of last resort when all else fails, but the path to enlightenment and knowledge before the journey begins.

As the complexity of products has increased, so has the length and detail required for the instruction manuals. Everyone has a smartphone, but how many have actually read the 200 pages of instructions that come with it? When stymied, of course, many users will Google a solution and try to follow the steps to see if that helps. Most of the time, it does. Sometimes, it does not. While there is almost always a YouTube video providing the answer to any question, who makes these videos in the first place? More than likely, it was someone who has read and understood the instructions.

When looking for answers to questions that haven’t been yet asked, it’s important to qualify the source of information. If I buy a computer, I can generally find a PDF hardware manual, a PDF owner’s manual, and a PDF technician’s manual – all available from the manufacturer. If I install peripheral products, I can find similar documentation from the respective manufacturers as well. If I install an OS such as Windows 7, I can tap into a veritable black hole of knowledge from MSDN for thousands of different modules and functionalities. I can still RTFM, but it has grown to tens of thousands of pages that get updated every few months or so (at least in the area of computer technology).

If that new software you want to use comes with a 700 page instruction manual, you should read the instructions before even buying the product. It costs nothing but time to learn what it can and cannot do. You may even discover that it’s not what you really needed all along. Thoroughly perusing the complicated assembly steps before beginning may help you finally understand why Tab A has to fit into Slot A in the first place. Or not. All you have to do is read.





Friday, January 2, 2015

Cat Grass


I planted some oats and wheat in a cat-decorated planter from Joseph Enterprises, Inc. From the makers of the infamous Chia Pets, the Cat Grass is designed to provide a pleasing mixture of roughage to aid in the cat's digestion and help with any possible furballs. After only a week, the grass is already nearly five inches tall and ready for serving. Yum :)






Thursday, January 1, 2015

A New Beginning (Again)


Each New Year's Eve, I sit back and review the past year. I relive those moments where I did things that I should have done as well as those that I should not have done. January 1, 2015, is the dawn of another year. One where I will try to avoid making the same mistakes I have made before and look for creative ways to make new ones. It is said that we learn from our mistakes; by that measure, then my past year was a very good one indeed.

This blog has languished for nearly 7-1/2 years. I've decided that it's time to dust off the cobwebs and breathe some life into it again (so-to-speak). One of my New Year's resolutions is to post to this blog each and every day during the coming year. Some of it will be trite, most of it will be boring. I'm writing for me and myself and just because it's visible to the World doesn't mean that you have to read it.

Happy New Year!