Hornswaggled » Rants

Its 1996 and all is good in the world

Casey — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:08:50 +0000

If you are in the entertainment business that is.

Youtube: The silence is deafening

Casey — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:06:48 +0000

Roughly twenty eight thousand one hundred videos have been silenced. Silence can show a lack of response that reveals something significant, such as disapproval or a lack of enthusiasm. This silence however is the response.

YouTube has had its copyright issues, that is nothing new. The latest approach to appeasing copyright holders is to turn off the sound on the offending videos. These videos are automatically flagged by the automated systems and the sound is disabled. This automatic flagging that the copyright holders have demanded is creating new issues including recent news including girls singing Christmas carols and music labels ironically flagging their own material. This is going to get worse before it gets better.

Think about the number: twenty eight thousand one hundred videos. That number includes many family birthday videos with music in the background, kids enjoying some snow and people generally celebrating and mourning life itself.

Regardless of who is at fault here (RIAA & MPAA) the users are the ones that are getting hurt and YouTube is the one that will end up with the bad name.

Memory Card Failure and Data Card Recovery

Casey — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:29:05 +0000

Filed under stupidity:

I know better
I know better
I know better

Last night I popped in an SD card to transfer an important Excel file and when I opened the drive everything was gone. I went through the progression in my head on when the last time I saw the needed files and if they could of been backed up anywhere else and the answer was an unpleasant one, nope. I then remembered I had heard of some memory card recovery programs on the Tekzilla podcast and did some searching. I tried the ones that give you a trial in the way they will fully run and show you the missing files but not allow you to save them until you pay them a heft 80 bucks (this was the program recommended by Tek) and then a few others that seemed to only look for jpg’s and other image formats. I then went to Google and found PC Inspector Smart Recovery that was free and gave it a whirl. It too only found images so I went to the publisher and checked to see if they had another version for more complete recovery and they did.

PC Inspector File Recovery:

Recover deleted files from your hard drive, memory cards, even formatted or damaged drives.

This seemed perfect. I ran the recovery console and it pulled in about 15 excel files. Perfect! Now I went to open them and guess what, they are all corrupt.

Great, back at ground zero. To be continued I hope….

Side note: The original machine was sold on Craigslist that day and is the reason why the files were put onto the 4gb SD card. I have contacted the person who purchased the laptop and asked to see if I could swing by and run the recovery program but haven’t heard an answer yet. Wish me luck.

**Update**

I was able to get a hold of the guy that purchased the laptop and he was kind enough to let me take a look at the machine and run a program to restore deleted information from the recycle bin. The program took about 45 minutes to run and after a few minutes narrowing down the search field I was able to find the Excel file from over 65K files that were recovered.

So my advice is to stay persistent and you may be able to get back those files!

The Dow jump today

Casey — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:03:54 +0000

This is a bit off topic but the Dow Jones Industrial average jumped nearly 900 points today mostly in the last 2 hours of trading. While this is good for everyone that is currently worried about their 401K’s I would caution that things may not be as they appear.

Take a look at this pic from from the early 1930′s to see how the market performed then. The market went up about 10% today and if the chart below is correct we could assume we could see another 15% jump before we start the downward trend again.

Hopefully for those who are dependant on their 401k’s this chart is nothing but ‘old news’.

If you are curious what the Dow looks like adjusted for inflation over the last century take a look at this or this if you think there is someone behind the curtain.

SmartFTP why did you cheat on me?

Casey — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:16:48 +0000

No longer free after 10 years:

New License Model

Note to free users

Unfortunately, after offering a free product and a free service to millions of users for more than 10 years we are no longer able to do so. We would like to thank you for using SmartFTP and we hope to welcome you as a customer in the future. Thank you for your understanding.

To read more about the license please visit the purchase page.

License Example

A single user license – which can be used on any computer – for the Home Edition is 36.95 USD. This is a one-time fee. Included in the license is technical support and free upgrades for one year.

It may be a stretch to call this ransom but like many I have data stored within the program that I no longer have access to while being forced to pay this 36.95 to have access (ftp logins are stored within the program). This should be a warning to anyone using a free solution that the copmany can pull the rug out from under you after many years of a faithful relationship. While they have succomed to the allmighty dollar I will not forget this transgression and will look for a new provider.

*Update* I did indeed pony up the dough as I didnt have the login info for an account and had to use the program. So maybe this was there plan all along, they got me. I will begin switching things over to filzilla for now unless I come accross a better solution.

What Happens to Pandora’s Data if Shut Down?

Casey — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:05:08 +0000

I have been a listener of Pandora for the past 3 years and it has grown to be my favorite site on the internet. The RIAA has been pushing SoundExchange to increase royalty rates for web based radio and were successful in increasing this rate substantially thereby threatening to end all web based radio streaming as we know it. While there are new efforts to save net radio they appear to be hitting a wall.

So what happens to all that data Pandora (The Music Genome Project) has amassed? I would like to be able to download all the data and use in some future use. It would be a goldmine of data for the music industry. Imagine knowing what your customers like and dislike. Imagine having the ability to see exactly what types of music your customers are listening to. While I hope Pandora is able to survive I also hope that if they are forced to shut their doors the data they have accumulated isn’t locked behind that closed door.

I would love to hear other ideas on how the data could be released and used.

Are you selling your products or hiding them?

Casey — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:15:35 +0000

Lets start off by saying this post was inspired by an effort to support my favorite music site Pandora. They have come under pressure lately with the RIAA’s push for increased royalties on streaming radio. You can read more about that here. The bottom line is that Pandora and other internet radio stations will no longer exist under the new fee structures.

I love Pandora and felt like I would support their product and their fight with purchasing the Ad-free version for 36.00 per year. That price is a little high, 20 bucks seems a bit more in line but I do use the service and want to help. That said I do not need this upgrade by any means and will not benefit much by purchasing this version, its all in efforts to help them stay afloat.

I start off by going to Pandora.com and try to find something that resembles a button or image with their premium product, I find nothing even close to this. I spend about another 20 minutes going through the site and finally stumble across the Premium information on their FAQ’s. That right, its buried deep in their frequently asked questions page for some reason. Either they really don’t want to sell this paid version or they are making some serious mistakes.

What ever happened to making your product easy to find and easy to buy? You would be suprised at how many sites hide what they are selling for one reason or another and its a shame. Pandora is not the only site that has issues like this, many others do, just go check around yourself and you will be surprised.

Yahoo Uses Craigslist to hire for Hotjobs

Casey — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:32:42 +0000

Apparently Yahoo is conceeding the fact that Hotjobs is NOT the only place to look for jobs. In an ironic twist they are placing ads on Craigslist for job openings within Hotjobs.

This wouldn’t typically be news but I thought that it was funny that the self touting Leader in job search was using a competitor to find employees for themselves.

Craigslist is great if your looking for local talent and I would use that over any other service first, apparently Yahoo feels the same.

Shower Hack for more water pressure

Casey — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 04:53:11 +0000

You can hack your wimpy shower but then worry about going to jail! Heres a guide to do both.
read more about it here

Sprint KRZR Update

Casey — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:14:41 +0000

So I decided to go with the Motorola KRZR over the a900m and the RAZR. It wasnt really that easy though. So I decide im just going to go ahead and get the phone today and I call up the Sprint store to see if they have it in stock and a nice lady said yes. I wanted to make sure they had it before I drove over there. Once I got into the store the store manager walked up to me and I told him that I wanted the KRZR. He told me its not out yet, its been out for a few days now BTW. One of the other workers overheard and said, oh we have them, we just haven’t put them out yet.

The manager went to the back and came back with the phone in his hand. HE asked if I wanted to hold it and I said no, I just want to buy it. He was confused, I guess he has never had anyone in their that knew what they wanted?!? He then went to the back and picked up the phone in a new box and we walked over to the counter.

Im at the counter for about 30 minutes, some small chat, and then he says he cant sell me the phone because I have the SERO account and a company discount. He told me I have to call telesales and they can do it for me. I was still okay at this point and called telesales once I walked out the door.

Telesales fixes something in my account and after being on hold for 20-30 minutes I can order the phone. So now im getting the phone delivered to me in 7-9 days. But wait, the telesales guy didnt ask where I wanted the phone shipped and I just rented out my house to college kids. The last thing I wanted was my phone ending up there with someone signing for it and either it would sit on a counter somewhere or I would never see it. I asked for him to switch my address, “oh that cant be done”, then cancel my order, “that cant be done either”. Sprint’s suggestion is to call UPS. WTF!

I start yelling at the guy now. I dont think I have ever cursed at someone before and then I do. How can Sprint not be able to cancel and order? How can they not change an address? Are you kidding me? Im put on hold again and then he comes back and says my only option is to call UPS. I say no its not, cancel my f&ing account. I dont want the phone now. The guy transfers me to cancelations and im pissed.

I start off by apologizing for being upset but this is unbelievable that they cannot change or cancel the order. Oh BTW im paying 50 bucks more than I would of in the store but I didnt really care at the time. The lady is very nice and fixes everything right away. What I dont understand is why and how this happens.

I went to the store to get the phone now for 199.99, after 30 min they cant do it because of something in my account. (my account is in good standing, it is a technical problem on their end).
I called telesales and ordered the phone for 249.99, then they cannot change the address or cancel the order
I was transferred to the cancellation dept and the VERY nice lady fixed everything and gave me a 25 buck credit for the problems (I did’nt ask for this).

So after 3 hours and a small tirade the phone is being shipped to me. Was that all really necessary?

**Update – they sent the phone to the wrong address**

**Update – I think this phone is a bit over rated. Freezing Issues. I may return it and get the Treo 700wx**

**Update – I did end up asking to return the phone, they will send me a return pack.After 3 weeks and still no return pack I call up and ask if I can just return the phone to the store and according to her I can. So the next day before I hop on a plane I go to the nearest Sprint store and guess what, they wont take it back. It has to be returned through telesales where I ordered it.

A very long story short I have a 700wx I purchased off craigslist, still waiting for my credit on the original KRZR and am not in a 2 year contract. Overall I’m still somehow happy with Sprint but this could of been so much easier.

AD**As the cell phone becomes more and more complex learning as much about them as possible before buying one can be a big help.