Rebecca Black, best video ever

There, I said it.
I think that the Rebecca Black music video "Friday" is one of the top 10 Music videos of all time. Yes, I don't like it personally. I am 45 years old and I don't give a shit WHICH seat you choose while "kickin it" and the fact that you wake up with makeup on both scares and annoys me. BUT, I am not in 8th grade. Also, learn to sing in tune so that you don't need that dam auto-tuner that makes you sound like a robot. Yeah, I can't sing either, thats why I don't have a music video.

This is a music video by an 8th grader about her weekend. For the love of Xenu, let her have her innocence. She isn't worried about the economy, or the (false) threat of terrorists, or about her weight, or her kids, or her retirement, or, or, or. She is singing about what goes on in her (clearly privileged) life. Is that SO offensive? She loves Justin Bieber (that no talent little puke) she likes makeup and probably watches iCarly on Nickelodeon (but who doesn't? amiright?)

What is SO offensive about her innocence? Yes, its totally unrealistic, she will go grow up someday and realize that, but does it really hurt to let her be a teenager? Why so much hate? I don't get it.

Anyway, her video has 100+ million views, prolly just jealousy.

Why I’ll never buy motorola

Read this article about the latest generation of Android handsets from Motorola and why they are so hard (maybe impossible) to hack.

OK, THATS why I wont buy motorola headsets anymore. Moto is saying that if I purchase their phone that I can not then subsequently upgrade, modify or otherwise play with my phone. So you SOLD me a phone for $500, and I cant play with it? Ok, I only paid $200 cash and the rest is on my two year Verizon contract, but still, I AM paying for it. And about that two year contract…

I bought my Motorola Droid (which DOES take custom kernels) the first month it came out. I got it on a two year contract. One year later Motorola has end of lifed the phone and I can longer get support, maintenance or upgrades. Uhh, hello? You sold a phone on a two year contract and EOL’d it after one year? Ok, that’s not cool, but at least I know how you roll and I can act accordingly.

Enter the next generation Androids from Moto. So you buy one today on a two year contract, and in 12 months Moto stops support, THATS when Google comes out with Android 3.1 and it fixes some big bugs and has some great features. Tough. You can’t install unauthorized kernels so you don’t get the upgrade. You can only install OS upgrades (kernels) that come from Moto, and they EOL’d your handset.

Yeah, THATS why no more Moto for PaulC.

Its like buying a new Ford truck and saying “Hey, nice engine, but I want to put a Cummins in it.” and Ford saying “No, you spent $40k on that truck, but we say you can’t replace the engine.” I get that you can’t do that on a lease, but I am talking about a purchase. Or even closer to home, you buy a Dell and 12 months later Microsoft comes out with a security patch and you can’t install it because Dell has EOL’d your computer.

See this is why you don’t want your hardware manufacturer (Motorola) supplying your operating system (Google). Imagine if Motorola said “you can only install applications that we approve”. And really that's not such a stretch, I mean that's what they are saying with the signed kernel. Yeah, then you would have Apple.

At first I thought “this MUST be a Verizon thing.” But if that were the case, why doesn’t Verizon require Samsung, HTC, and others to use a signed kernel? Nope, this is all Motorola.

The Droid X has been rooted…

Reading that headline you might be thinking “Great PaulC, welcome to 2 weeks ago.” BUT, lemme ‘splain.

The new Droids have a new feature called “efuse” that is built into the CPU. Efuse is used to confirm that the kernel on the phone is valid, if its invalid the phone can be bricked. NOW, Motorola DOES use efuse for its latest Android handsets BUT they don’t use the brick feature, they just boot into safe mode. That means that if you install an unauthorized kernel, the phone won’t boot until you replace it with an authorized one.

As you can imagine the interwebs are all a twitter over this, and many pundits have opened up cans of false bravado by the case and said “Ahh, but this is just another small issue that our brave hackers will over come in our fight against tyranny!” And now that the new handsets have been rooted they point and say “SEE! We have overcome!”

Not so fast dingus malingus.

Yes, the new Android handsets from Motorola have been rooted, and that is AWESOME. It took hard work, intelligence, perseverance and a probably a fair amount of caffeine. Now users can install root applications on their phones. Want to wirelessly tether your laptop to your phone? Root your handset and install the software. Done. Right? hmmm…

The problem is that rooting does NOT let you install new kernels, efuse has NOT been defeated, just sidestepped. So if you want to install tethering and get rid of that horrid moto-blur crap and change the font, you can. BUT, if you want to install a new kernel, then you are screwed.

It has been said that efuse uses an encrypted boot loader. That means that motorola uses the private key at the factory to generate a fingerprint  for the kernel, and the CPU in your handset uses a public key to verify the fingerprint. Read that again. Yeah, your fucked.

Does that  mean that efuse will NEVER be defeated? Nope, but it means that we are still a long way off.

Read this article to find out why you care.

New Google voice features

SO,

now that Google is finally integrating the integration of the VOIP provider that they purchased, we can now get some of that voice over IP love in Google voice that we have been craving.

The "call phone" button just showed up in my GMail today, so thats cool, I can call people from within GMail. yeah, I guess thats cool, I have a microphone and a headset, so why not. BUT, when I go to google voice and look at my settings, I now have the option to route inbound calls to GMail. So when you call my cell phone number, it will ring at my desk, my cellphone, my house, and now on my computer in GMail all at the same time.

Shhhhhh, do you hear angels singing?

Add to that the fact that Google opened up Google Voice to the (North American) public recently, and of course the tight integration of Android and Google Voice, and you have a nice little communications subsystem at your disposal.

How cool?

WAY cool.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Google Voice and Gmail Mix to Make U.S. Calls Free (pcworld.com)
• Check Your Local Airport for Google Voice Phone Booths (googletutor.com)

Bruce Schneier on security

Bruce Schneier’s blog “Schneier on Security” covers everything from cryptography to terrorism and in this day and age I would call it a “must read” for every American. Period.

He’s pretty level headed and many of his posts talk about how the government uses “movie-plot threats” to keep people afraid and to appear as if they are doing something useful.

Anyway, he has a new article on CNN that I would consider required reading, so read it. :D Here’s one of the many money quotes:

“But even as we do all of this we cannot neglect the feeling of security, because it's how we collectively overcome the psychological damage that terrorism causes. It's not security theater we need, it's direct appeals to our feelings. The best way to help people feel secure is by acting secure around them. Instead of reacting to terrorism with fear, we -- and our leaders -- need to react with indomitability, the kind of strength shown by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.

By not overreacting, by not responding to movie-plot threats, and by not becoming defensive, we demonstrate the resilience of our society, in our laws, our culture, our freedoms. There is a difference between indomitability and arrogant "bring 'em on" rhetoric. There's a difference between accepting the inherent risk that comes with a free and open society, and hyping the threats.

We should treat terrorists like common criminals and give them all the benefits of true and open justice -- not merely because it demonstrates our indomitability, but because it makes us all safer.

Once a society starts circumventing its own laws, the risks to its future stability are much greater than terrorism.”

Peanut Butter

Ok, you know that I loves me some peanut butter, but I really hate hydrogenated oils (well, hydrogenated anything really), so I have been buying natural peanut butter lately; saltless, sugarless abomination. Its actually pretty unpalatable and makes me want to punch a baby. BUT, if you lay down some honey on your toast, THEN the natural peanut butter, its all good.

The problem with natural peanut butter is that the oil separates and you have to stir it in, no big deal I guess. See, the thing is that by the time I get to the bottom, its all dry, prolly because I failed to properly mix in the oil. :(

Well I found a solution to my peanut butter problem! (thanks Wired How to Wiki) When you get home from the store, put your natural peanut butter in the cupboard upside down, then flip it every day. Well, I am too antsy, so I flip it twice a day, but you get my point. After a couple of days when you open your jar of peanut butter its all mixed up! I still give it a quick mix “just to be sure”, but there is no dry part at the bottom anymore.

Related articles by Zemanta

• A Natural Benefit to Peanut Butter (finarelli.com)

YAPR #2

Or “Why is your site so dam slow?”

I can not believe how many sites take more than 10 seconds to load, its absolutely astounding. Pay attention and note how many times you have to wait for a page to load, its unacceptable.

I get that there may be some congestion in the pipes and that will slow down the interwebs, but that is rarely the problem, its almost always bad site design. When I go to a page and I see a “Loading…” I immediately close the browser and skip that site. If you have a message that means that you DESIGNED your site to be slow.

I get that some sites need to run an application and will therefore be slow, for example almost any game site (kongregate for example), but when I go to a blog or other information site there is just no reason for it. For example, I went to the Mary Lou Retton site (don’t ask) and it throws up a “Loading” message for about 15 seconds. Really? REALLY?! And this site isn’t TOO bad, at least it shows the main content and its only loading a small portion (Achievements), but why would you rub my nose in the fact that your site sucks? Why not just load in the background and NOT point out to me how bad you suck? And while I am picking on Mary Lou’s site, note that when you navigate on her page the entire page flashes and reloads, but only the center content changes, so why not just change the center div?

Its unacceptable, I have a 16mbps internet connection and all you are trying to do is show some text and a few 50k images and I have to WAIT?

 

YAPCA

So Andy and I have had several discussions lately, and as you would probably predict, we end up using the same argument to make the same point in multiple discussions. So we started naming them. Hey, it made sense at the time, and in fact, its a handy shortcut. For example in our discussions regarding the Verizon early termination fee, I used both the Dvorak Keyboard argument as well as the Star Trek argument.

So here is the first “Yet Another PaulC Argument”, the first one that I will document is the “dvorak keyboard” argument, and it goes like this:
Two years ago I switched to the Dvorak keyboard, I no longer use a QWERTY keyboard layout. There are many stories out on the interwebs about how the QWERTY keyboard came to be, but the fact is that its inefficient, regardless of how it came to be. For example, with your fingers in the home position on a QWERTY keyboard you can type 300 words, on a Dvorak keyboard you can type an astounding 5,000 words without moving your fingers off of the home keys. Turns out that its pretty easy to switch your keyboard layout, so I switched. Dvorak is superior in every way, and since I switched my hands no longer hurt from typing and I can type even faster. OK, here’s the punch line: I already know how to type QWERTY at about 80 words per minute, so why switch to Dvorak? Because the QWERTY layout is so inefficient and stupid that it offends me.

So the Dvorak Argument is basically that inferior technology is offensive to point that it may actually need to be shunned. But of course it can also be applied to non tech issues.

For example, Andy and I were discussing cell phones (get ready for it Jim) and I applied the Dvorak Argument to the iPhone. Is the iPhone a great phone? Almost certainly. Will I ever buy one? No. Its a closed system, it can’t multitask, the screen resolution is low, etc. So while its an acceptable phone, these technical issues (which many people just don’t care about) are enough to make me not want to use it. So rather than go through the entire justification, I just called the Dvorak Argument shortcut. 

An example of a non technical discussion was the Smart Car. The U.S. version of the smart car is a tiny, slow, expensive car that gets 43 mpg, the EU version gets 69 mpg. Yes, the EU version gets 26 more miles per gallon. Why? Because its a turbo diesel. The Volkswagon TDI gets 50 mpg and its a real, full sized car that costs the same as a “Smart Car”. So, I won’t buy a smart car; Dvorak Argument.

Cookbook errata

Everyone go  get your Malecha Valek Family Cookbook, I’ll wait here.

Got it?

Good, turn to page 346 (note that page 347 is “Chocolate Revel Bars” so I KNOW that you have it bookmarked) make the following changes to the recipe “Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies”:
It should be 12 oz chocolate chips, not 6
recipe is missing 1 tsp salt (kosher is best, no iodine taste.)

That is all.
Carry on.

p.s. If you are reading this wondering why you don’t have a cookbook, please contact your local Malecha Union Rep and they will get you one. I myself have 6 that I am more than willing to distribute to the  faithful.

StoneKettle Station

Every week or two I cruise through my list of “Recommended sources” in Google reader. Sometimes I get lucky and find a good blog, but I rarely find a GREAT new blog, and I FREQUENTLY find really bad blogs. Part of the problem is that I tend to fall on both sides of almost any issue. :(

Guns. Love ‘em. Gimme. Want. BUT, I don’t want to carry it around and I don’t want YOU to either.  They are just such great gadgets aren’t they? 40,000 psi? 2,700 feet per second? 6,700 joules? And they come in lever action? And advanced optics?! All that and they are LOUD! I mean COME ON!

Abortion. Yeah, don’t do that please. Its REALLY hard on a person’s brain, really, please think LONG and HARD before you do it, but really, its your choice and I’ll support it. But again, please get help from a mental health professional if you decide to do it, its a brain buster and pretty depressing. :(

War? Hate it. Never, ever do it, especially when its unjust and you lied about the reasons. And if you THINK you have a good reason? You don’t. But if you’re going to do it, then lets. Get. It. On. Don’t dick around, don’t lie, don’t blame the military, just man up and do it. And when its done, support the men and woman that you sent off to die. Every dam day you get your ass out of bed and say a silent prayer to those who answered the call. And when it comes time to pay their benefits that you promised, you better pay up.

I could go on. But here’s the problem: Google has me pegged as a Right Wing, homophobic, toothless, gun carrying, woman hating, bible thumping, drunk. Ok, I do like to drink, but who doesn’t? So when Google reader recommends blogs to me, they are very likely to be technically what I like “ohh! shiney gun!” or “ohh! new algorithm for calculating similarity between two seemingly unrelated text sources!” or “ohh! how to use your Arduino to control your thermometer” But almost always politically batshit, well, in the case of technical blogs they are almost always neutral, but gun blogs have to be read with the greatest of care, you might step into a big steaming pile of fascism. :(

So this week Google recommends the blog StoneKettle Station written by Jim Wright Chief Warrant Officer, USN RET, lives in Alaska, his personal motto is “Don’t be a dick” (which as of right now I am co-opting, T-shirts need to be printed). He seriously thinks that he can become Ultimate Emperor of the Universe, CLEARLY batshit as I will beat him to it and never give up the post.  Tool. MUST be a raging homophobic giant douche bag that… Well, wait  his profile lists “SciFi”, “Space Exploration” and “Military” under “interests”, ok, well that's all in the good column. Pfft, I’ll bet his favorite movie was “Twilight”, lemme check… hmm “Serenity” and “McClintock”, “McClintock” is my favorite movie of all time, yes Andy, ALL TIME.  Probably a troglodyte that can’t read, his favorite book is probably “Mein Kampf”, oh, I see that ALL of his favorite books are sitting on the shelf next to me and many are on my kindle. Huh, “Dune” is first on the list and I see a few Heinlein in there too…

Hmm, I guess I better read his blog…

After spending the better part of three hours reading his blog (dude can write) I have decided that this is the rare gem that Google has thrown my way. Its not one of those “yeah, I’ll add it to reader and read it I guess” its a “I need a new category to put this in so that I don’t miss an article.” He is not a PaulC kind of blogger, he’s more of a “I have something to say and will take as many dam pages as it takes” kind of blogger. Its refreshing, and frankly very odd; that genre of blog usually makes me think “I feel like I should read this, but its sssoo BORING”, whereas Jim’s blog makes me think “HEY! Where the hell is the next article?!” Well, that and “No more cats dammit!”

Just cruise through his blog and see for yourself, very entertaining and informative. There is one problem though: dude likes cats, and I don’t mean in a “honey fire up the bbq” way either, I mean in an Andy way. :( Weirdo.