Category Archives: Computers/Electronics

Computers/Electronics, General

10 of the most mysterious sites spotted via Google Earth

As a kid I used to love reading about anything “mysterious” out there.  Be it the Bermuda Triangle, Oak Island, lost civilizations, ancient treasures, vanished individuals (Amelia Earhart, etc.) I loved the stuff.

Still do, though at this point in my life its clear many of these so-called “mysteries” may amount to quite a bit of fanciful thinking.  For example, much as I’ve enjoyed watching The Curse of Oak Island, I do so only to scratch a childhood itch.  I first read about the supposed Oak Island buried treasure in the mid 1970’s and while watching The Curse of Oak Island I’m still fascinated to see the actual island and the places I read about so long ago.  Having said that, its become abundantly clear the only buried “treasure” this island contains is in peoples’ minds.

So, having said all that, here’s a fascinating link, via aol.com, to

10 of the Most Mysterious Sites Spotted Via Google Earth

What’s most fascinating, unlike the Oak Island treasure, is the fact that these things are visible, albeit via satellite.  Of the ones listed, this is the one that I found the most interesting:

If you watch the video found at the link, it describes the above as being in Eloy, Arizona.  Its obviously a landing strip which, according to the narrator has “no significant buildings or refueling apparatus nearby”.  The narrator states that Arizona is “overflowing” with abandoned airstrips, many of them dating back to World War II and this strip could very well be one of them.  However, it does appear remarkably well preserved if it was indeed abandoned.  If it wasn’t abandoned and it is being cared for the question becomes: By who and why?

Now, something somewhat different, 10 Places Google Earth is Hiding From You:

Computers/Electronics

Trouble in paradise…?

For the past I-don’t-know-how-many years when one talked about sophisticated and popular electronics, one of the first companies you mentioned in that respect was Apple.

But even the mighty Apple appears, at least of late, to be experiencing problems and this has translated to its stock recently losing ground.  What is the cause of these problems and is it a sign of bad things to come?  Paul R. La Monica for CNN.com explores these issues and possible ways the prestigious company can rectify its current difficulties:

What’s Wrong With Apple?

For myself, reading an article like this is seeing history repeat itself.  I’ve written several times before about the rise of the Personal Computer (PC) and the way I (and many others) back in the early days of home computers bought just about every new iteration of the PC because each was so much better than the model which preceded it (you can read the post here).  The end result was a super-hot marketplace where computer companies made fortunes on each new model, especially when it boasted faster and faster processors.

So too it would appear it is with Apple and their most popular product, the iPhone.

The iPhone was a watershed device, and that’s saying something considering how many cellular phone models were out there at the time of its unveiling.  Most were rudimentary but one stood out: The Blackberry.

You remember the Blackberry?  People absolutely loved that device and couldn’t be without it.  They loved it so much it was jokingly referred to it as a “Crackberry”.

A year or so after the release of the iPhone and despite attempts to modernize the product (including having color screens and touchscreen functions), the Blackberry was essentially done.  The smartphone of choice became the iPhone or something that rivaled it in terms of functionality.

While one can argue about just how “original” an iPhone is/was, Apple delivered a stable, beautiful product that many found hard to ignore.  Demand for it was through the roof.

With each new iPhone model released, we had more/better at our fingertips, not unlike those PCs of yesteryear.  Better processors, better batteries, better screens, better cameras, more gizmos.  You name it.

With each new iPhone model’s release, you would find incredibly long lines of Apple fanatics at those Apple stores waiting sometimes overnight to be the first to get their hands on those shiny new models when they were officially released.

And then, just like the PC, Apple hit its ceiling and the iPhone reached something of a plateau.

Look, I’m not saying there isn’t room for improvement.  One could always improve a phone’s batter or camera or get a still faster/better processor.  But the changes now, just as what occurred with the PC back then, are smaller and more subtle.  It’s been a while now since I’ve seen news stories about consumers waiting in lines overnight to be the first to get the shiny new iPhone model.  The fact is that the “old” model they have may be perfectly fine and they no longer need to get the newest version.

As I stated in that original PC article, following the release of the Pentium processor I realized the desktop computer I had was perfectly fine.  While I had been buying a new computer practically every year, I had my previous computer for over six years without needing to replace it.  Last year I finally did but not because I felt I needed an “upgrade”.  I did so because my old PC was starting to show signs of its age and glitching on me.  Because I need a computer to do my work, I decided to be proactive and get a new model before my current one suddenly died on me.

With the iPhone, Apple is trying to maintain peoples’ excitement for their new model phones but truly the changes are not all that earth-shattering.  If anything, one of their most recent “changes”, releasing a smaller iPhone like they used to have, appear regressive.

The ultimate arbiters of all things technological in my family, ie my daughters, love their iPhones and wouldn’t be caught dead without them in hand.  At one time they had a model 5 and, when the model 6 appeared, they were desperate to upgrade.  We did so and they’ve had the model 6 for close to a year now.  In that time, the model 6s has debuted and my daughters are keenly aware of it yet have absolutely no interest in upgrading.

They’re fine with what they have, just as I was fine with the PC I had for all those years.  Just as I suspect many iPhone users are fine with the model they currently have, even if it may not be the latest version of the iPhone.

Unless the next generation model iPhone, 7, really wows, I suspect we’ll not see those big lines to buy it.  At that point, Apple may have to find some other product to supplant the one that’s been, until recent times, their goose that lays the golden eggs.

Computers/Electronics

Brave New (Creepy) World

For the most part, I love technology and the advances being made.

However…

Creeps are using a neural network to dox porn actresses

The upshot of this article, written by Darren Orf and found on gizmodo.com, is that by scouring the internet for photographs and using face recognition software, some very creepy individuals are able to link porn actresses, many of whom may employ stage names and may try to keep their professional and personal lives separate, to their personal lives.

These links, by the way, may be inaccurate as facial recognition software is far from perfect though like most technological things, I can only see it getting better over time.  Regardless, this hasn’t stopped some of these creepy individuals from linking photographs of porn actresses with photographs of, say, graduation pictures or family life pictures and, essentially, “outing” women who may (emphasis on that word) also be involved in the porn industry.

Now I suppose there are those who will say: So what?  Some porn actors/actresses don’t mind being in the public eye and, indeed, promote themselves and their work.  So what if they’re exposed?

While some porn actors/actresses may indeed not mind the spotlight, there are others who may have done this as a one time lark or a short term money making job.  They never intended to make this a profession yet it will potentially haunt them for the rest of their lives, especially with people using facial recognition to “out” them.

Yet again you say, “so what?”  They got into the field, they should know the risks, right?

To which I would say: Look beyond pornography and you’ll find using facial recognition in this way is an extremely troubling invasion of privacy.

There probably are many, many situations where someone takes a provocative -and not at all necessarily pornographic- photograph.  There are occasions where someone is “caught” doing something mildly or moderately risque.  It could be a one time thing but because it was caught on camera it therefore lives forever.

As the facial recognition software improves, I can see how any “youthful indiscretions” could result in a person being searched out and, whether they like it or not, exposed for whatever actions are caught on film.

Imagine you are a reasonably well-behaved wo/man who takes your studies and/or career seriously.  Over the years you attend school, then college.  You earn your degree, get a stable job, and work hard to become successful in your field.  During that time you marry and build your loving family.

Ten years before, while you were still single and a very young college student, you attended a party and, uncharacteristically or not for the time, got drunk.  Let’s say you got so drunk you fell asleep on a couch or danced around or did something you otherwise wouldn’t had you been sober.  Your friends had a little fun with you and took pictures of your drunken escapade.  Nothing pornographic or even sexual, mind you, just young kids doing stupid stuff.  And then someone takes a photograph of this silliness and posts it online.

The photograph and the party may be a distant memory when, ten years later, someone uses facial recognition software and connects this single photograph of a young, drunken person in a silly position with you.  You’re outed and, worse still, your bosses get a hold of this information and suddenly your job and your entire career could be in jeopardy.

The party and your drunkenness (or whatever) may have been nothing more than a one time thing.  Hell, it could have happened several times over the course of those early years but you’ve cleaned up and the person you were back then is certainly no longer the person you are.

And yet because of this one photograph and facial recognition software, your present may well be affected by your distant past.

A most sobering thought.

Computers/Electronics

Data centers of the future…?

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Given the rapidly exploding use of the “cloud” for computer/smartphone related data storage, it is no wonder that large companies invested in this technology are looking for ways of making it more efficient and less costly.

Having said that, I really didn’t see this coming:

Microsoft Just Put A Data Center Under Water

The above linked article, written by David Goldman and appearing on CNNmoney, is exactly what the headline states.  Microsoft, in the interests of expanding and making their cloud services better, are experimenting with creating water tight “pods” that are put into the oceans and using them for their cloud based services.

You would think electronics and water, especially salty sea water, would not mix, but the article points out the potential benefits of underwater tech like this.  For one, these pods could be fitted with turbines and thus use the ocean’s currents to create the electricity for their use.  Given the colder climes underwater, it also solves the need for high energy use in air-conditioning server rooms.  Thus, the “carbon footprint” of these underwater units could be considerably smaller than those currently housed in buildings.

On other potential issue, the noise pollution created by these apparatus, may similarly not be a big problem as, according to the techs quoted in this article, the sounds are “drowned out” by nearby shrimp and crabs.

Read the article, it is quite fascinating and shows at the very least the future may wind up being a wild and interesting place.

Computers/Electronics

Has Apple peaked?

I’ve commented before regarding articles about the slow-down in sales of desktop computers and, going hand-in-hand with this, the idea that desktop computers may be falling out of favor or *gasp* disappearing.

I’ve noted that I don’t believe that to be the case.  There are plenty of professionals out there (me included) who absolutely need a desktop computer to do all our stuff on.  In my case, writing, Excel, Photoshop, etc.  I have a Surface which allows me to do some of that stuff as well and also carry around an iPad which I use mostly to quickly check my email and do some web-surfing when I’m away from my main computer(s).

The thing about the desktop computer sales slowdown, in my opinion, lies in the fact that these computers have gotten too good.  There used to be a time when you had to upgrade your computer, often each year, because the new model was so much better than the previous model.  For the past five plus years, however, this is simply not the case.  The processors haven’t become significantly faster.  The operating systems haven’t needed significantly better systems.  Worse -at least for the PC makers- is the fact that these computers can last years without needing to be replaced.

Thus, there simply is no cause to buy a new one if you are happy with your “old” system.

Along those lines, there has been much speculation, following Apple’s “all time record earnings” reported last Tuesday, that the company may be, despite this normally good news, in decline.

Over on Slate.com Will Oremus goes into this:

Apple May Have Peaked in 2015

I believe Apple is experiencing (or is about to experience) exactly what the desktop computer market has experienced.  Apple’s growth, to my mind, was based on each year coming out with a significantly “better” iPhone or iPad or what-have-you and they have now reached a point where there is no significant innovation to be made upward.

Sure, their new phones may have some interesting new tweaks, but the reality is that this is all these new phones have: relatively minor tweaks.  In effect, people can hang on to their “old” phones much longer now without feeling the need to replace them and, as the article above notes, Apple’s bread and butter (and bottom line) relies on the success of their phones.

So if their phones have gotten to the point where people may not feel the need to replace them each year (thus bringing in staggering amounts of cash), will their profits not take a hit?  Add to that the fact that China’s market is falling and you have the very real possibility of Apple getting their first major negative news in a very long time.

The people who love Apple and their products may scoff, but I remember not so very long ago that people absolutely loved their Blackberry phones and wouldn’t part with them.  So  much so the running joke was that the phones should be called “Crack-berries”.

The mighty can, and have, fallen.

Computers/Electronics

Global PC sales…

…they are a fallin’, according to this article by Ted Cruise for vilayas.com:

Global PC Sales Fall to Eight-Year Low

I’ve written about this and will repeat:

It’s not that PCs are suddenly undesirable to the public at large, but what is happening is that PC makers have reached a point where the products they are making are TOO GOOD.

I know I’m repeating things here (you can read one of my original posts regarding this here), but when personal computers first appeared, it seemed each passing year they got remarkably better.

As I stated in that original post, I bought a computer with an 8086 processor waaaay back when and though it was great…until a friend bought a 286 processor computer which blew that 8086 out of the water.  Then came a 386 which blew the 286 away, then a 486 which blew the 386 away, then a Pentium.  However, when the Pentium II showed up, there were fewer differences between it and the Pentium one.  Sure, your computer was a little faster, but the incredible advances between systems weren’t quite as evident.

We are now at a point where a new system comes out and we don’t really need to upgrade like we did before.  Thus, one can keep one’s desktop PC (if you have one!) for a far longer period of time.  I kept my previous PC an incredible five plus years before upgrading.  My new computer is faster but, frankly, other than more memory it really isn’t a quantum leap above the last system like, for example, the 386 was versus the 286 processor.

Sometimes, industry simply makes something so good there is little need to replace it.  Doesn’t mean the item they made is suddenly worthless!

Computers/Electronics

Infocom

Does the above word, the name of a now defunct software/gaming company, ring any bells?

It sure does for me.

Infocom was an early software developer/gaming company perhaps best known for classic fare such as Zork and its sequels and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy game.  Here’s Zork, in all its glory:

Scintillating stuff, no?

Well, for early gamers such as me, it was for its time.

Back then graphics were at best rudimentary in both computers and video games and to develop an involved, “deep” game, it was sometimes better to eschew graphics completely and design a game that worked as Zork did, with words alone.

Anyway, if you’re curious about the company, which closed its doors in 1989, you can…

Dig Through the Archives of Infocom

By the way, I found this link at the below article, by Luke Plunkett and for kotaku.com…

http://kotaku.com/dig-through-the-archives-of-a-closed-developer-1744308843

Interesting, at least to me!

Computers/Electronics

Have an iPhone…?

Are you using iOS 9?  Are you suddenly getting messages from your phone provider that you’re using up your data at an alarmingly high rate?

The problem might well be in a new feature found in iOS 9 called “WiFi Assist”.  What this item does is whenever you’re using WiFi and that signal becomes weak, this unasked for handy dandy “WiFi Assist” automatically switches over to your cellular carrier to “boost” the signal and therefore your reception.  Of course, this is at the cost of your monthly data quota.

I happened to notice this the past couple of months even though I don’t use the internet all that much on my phone and had never reached my data limits before.

Anyway, for more information, including how to turn off this annoying “assistant” no one asked for, check out the article below:

Is iOS 9 Sucking Up All Your Data?  Turn Off This New iPhone Setting Right Now

Books/Literature, Computers/Electronics, Movies, TV, Video Games

The Overwhelming Era…

Keza MacDonald offers a fascinating article, posted on Kotaku.com, regarding his frustrations with so many really, really, REALLY big/multiple-hour-killer games being available seemingly all at once:

How Are We Supposed To Play All These Enormous Video Games?

I’ll go Mr. MacDonald one better: It’s not just video games.  We live in an era where we are being absolutely crushed by the amount of recreational material we have available to us.

I know, I know, first world problems.

Still, they’re there.  We have too many TV shows, too much music, too many books, too many DVDs/BluRays, too many (yes) video games, etc. etc. etc. screaming for every single second of our free time.

Used to be that the choices for entertainment weren’t all that many.  When I was young, there were something like five or so channels on TV and the major networks didn’t air all that many first run shows, at least compared to now.  You pretty much had to see these shows when they aired or, a little later, when they were rerun.

There was so little “new” programming available for all the hours of the day that it wasn’t unusual for the local networks to replay old TV shows on “down” times such as the weekends or early afternoons.

Thus it was that I’d discover shows cancelled long before I first saw them.  Shows like the original Star Trek.  The Wild, Wild, West.  Perry Mason.  The Twilight Zone.  The Outer Limits.

Cable came and grew and suddenly you had hundreds of channels and the need to fill the time with something.  So many new shows appeared that it became impossible to watch everything you were even mildly interested in.

A confession: I’m one of the very few people out there who hasn’t watched a single full episode of what is arguably the most popular show on TV today, Game of Thrones.  It’s not that I don’t want to, its just that I never got HBO and, when the episodes were finally available to me via video release, so much had been written/talked (and spoiled) about the various plot points that it was pointless -by that time- to try the show out.

But early on I was damn curious about it and even bought the first couple of books of the series.  These books sit unread on my bookshelf, given up for the same reasons I gave up on watching the show.  Granted, its my fault I was spoiled regarding the show’s plot.  I could have resisted checking out the various spoilers, yet having seen a few -even one!- there became no need for me to play catch up on the rest.

Getting back to Mr. MacDonald, I too have video games I’ve purchased fully intending to play them but getting sidetracked and eventually letting them go, sometimes without playing even a minute of them.

With whatever free time I have I’m nearing the completion of the latest Batman game (XBox One version) but waiting in the wings are The Witcher, Forza, and a few others I may never get to.  And that’s not counting the current Grand Theft Auto game I’ve got on my computer!

By now I think I’ve made my point: We live in an era of oversaturation and we have to be more and more picky about what it is we decide to spend our free time doing.

While it is a good thing we have so many options available for entertainment, I worry about all those things we might have missed while pursuing the new and shiny.  Used to be that certain works, with the passage of time, would be given second or third looks and, over the years, people would realize these sometimes forgotten works were special.

For example, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft.  Never successful in his time, his works were re-assessed over the years and became viewed long after Mr. Lovecraft’s death as truly great works of horror fiction.

Could that happen today and with so many works competing for our time out there?  Could anyone find the free time to re-assess an older work and realize they are holding something truly special in their hands?

For better or worse, I fear that is no longer the case.

Computers/Electronics

Apple watching…

Hilarious (and foul mouthed) article by Kyle Wagner regarding yesterday’s Apple extravaganza:

A Layman’s Guide to the new iPhones, and Apple’s Other Crap

Perhaps its because of all these years of people genuflecting before the almighty Apple, but I get a chuckle whenever the proverbial worm turns (I suppose that’s a pun?).

Seriously, I use Apple products and see their value but I don’t get the crazed, breathless love some people have for the products.