Disqus - Latest Comments for kf6nvr

Re: How to fix URL-shorteners (Scripting News)

kf6nvr — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:46:35 -0000

This was the main problem I saw with this solution, actually. But here's the catch:

Regular Joe user wants to create a short link. Site YYY.com, seeing the light of the short URL future, has shortlinks for all of their stories via ZZ.com/xxx. They control YYY.com and ZZ.com, so can keep ZZ.com up as long as they want. This is great and something Company YYY is providing for all their users. I suspect this is actually the use case Dave envisions, but _every single site has to implement it_ -- that won't happen.

Tech savvy Jane user wants to create a short link. Site RRR.com is old fashioned and only has one set of URLs: extraordinarily long ones. Jane creates JJ.com (using the above method) and creates links to RRR.com. These are Jane's links and these links will work so long as Jane wants. This helps Jane as she can grow her own brand, track how her own links spread, etc, but hurts RRR.com when Jane closes down JJ.com. Jane doesn't care, though. This is not so great, overall, but Jane would prefer this.

Real world users are stuck with link rot at some point. But as Louis Gray pointed out in a recent Google Reader comment, very, very few old links are clicked on.

Re: Amazon AWS Pricing: Not So Competitive at the Low End?

kf6nvr — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:26:55 -0000

The Reserved Instances are definitely a great way to save a lot of money on EC2 and make it feel much more like a normal dedicated server.

I completely agree with you on the backups, too. My host makes it fairly easy as I get the same amount of backend FTP backup space as I do on the dedicated server, but it's _only_ accessible from the dedicated server (see the problem with that?).

And yes, I still use a dedicate server. For now, the reason is that I have 6 IP addresses with a bunch of domains pointing at them, which has certain advantages for SEO (not that I bother much) and service separation (e.g. not all of the domains are mine). For me, it's still cheaper to run the dedicated server for personal use because of this. If it was just me and one domain, I would have switched long ago. :)

Best of luck with your move!

Re: GIS: Stress ;)

kf6nvr — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:42:16 -0000

You aren't anymore. It's been removed.

Re: Adding Google Friend Connect is an example of how hard it is to join the 2010 web

kf6nvr — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:00:51 -0000

Does the "main stream" really need to know how to install such things as Google Friend Connect? (or any other new widget, for that matter)

That is, shouldn't they just be using a turn-key solutions that already implement various back-end things? I'd argue that adding something like GFC to a web site is something for the geeks and not something for the plumbers, teachers, or bar owners (though, in reality, most people know a little something about plumbing, teaching, or mixing a drink -- but all of those things have been in our culture for much, much longer and this example is more like making the pipes, classroom, or the glassware).

Re: About Me – 2008 Edition

kf6nvr — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:33:41 -0000

I'm glad it was of use -- too bad it took so long to find, though (part of the problem I was trying to solve -- heh).

Re: DHhell Over?

kf6nvr — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:27:49 -0000

That's unfortunate and it's what we often heard from folks at DHL. Problem is, DHL never seemed to solve that problem and now, at least in the US, they won't be doing domestic shipments. Perhaps that means service will be better because there will be less work?

Re: What Ever Happened to FlashMob Computing?

kf6nvr — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:53:50 -0000

It's been a while -- but I'm pretty sure I used virtualization to boot up two of the CD images. It's all command line. I had install and run linpack to get benchmarks -- that's the standard for high performance computing benchmarks.

I suspect it didn't make it very far because mixed systems and mixed hardware tend to pull the entire cluster down to the weakest link. A purpose built system, on the other hand, can actually end up being cheaper -- at least for real use where reliability matters.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see other attempts especially as high-way multi-core systems become mainstream (e.g. 16+ cores).

Re: Jeep Pic

kf6nvr — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:34:54 -0000

Just as it says on the side: "Wrangler 4.0L Sport"

Re: Why Hulu Should Embrace Boxee

kf6nvr — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:58:47 -0000

I got here late -- but, your photos really put emphasis on the point I've been trying to make: what's the difference between using Safari or Firefox and using Boxee?

Which begs the question... how can Hulu actually block a particular browser? That's basically what it's doing... Not the technical how, but with what right do they have to do that sort of blocking? Seems to me Boxee could easily enable playback in other ways to circumvent this... hopefully it doesn't have to resort to that. After all, in each case, Hulu is simply flash content to be played back in a flash browser. I can even use the flash browser on the PS3, which is designed for TV use...

Re: Happy Friday the 13th!

kf6nvr — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:04:23 -0000

Indeed! I remember that. Triskaidekaphobians probably don't much like this year... we're having another Friday the Thirteenth in just under 4 weeks. Of course, they probably aren't reading this entry anymore, considering the number of references to thirteen (well over thirteen occurrences now...).

Re: New Kindle 2 Features Fail Us

kf6nvr — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:13:32 -0000

Interesting! Somehow, I missed that. We relied on the memory card for putting other stuff on to the Kindle we tried given we have no access to it's wireless. (We do have coverage, but not Sprint coverage and it apparently doesn't roam.)

Thanks!

Re: louisgray.com: I Just Marked All Facebook Ads as Offensive. So Should You.

InternetStrategist — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:01:55 -0000

While annoying ads do sometimes work (like the head-on, apply directly to the forehead ads), as a user I'd much rather see ads for what I'm interested in and as an advertiser I would gladly pay for ads being displayed next to RELEVANT content. That is the bug.

Search ads convert because someone is actively searching for something. Content ads rarely do because curiosity rarely ends up completing a purchase. Really targeted ads next to the right content can convert even better than search! That happens when the content is announcing that product or service or about buying it.

Branding for the sake of branding is a strategy for businesses with VERY deep pockets - not for small businesses that need to focus on immediate sales - or at least sales that will be completed very soon.

Re: louisgray.com: I Just Marked All Facebook Ads as Offensive. So Should You.

kf6nvr — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:14:08 -0000

Irritating, yes. They're ads.

If the advertisers had their brands on them, though, they'd be getting amazing coverage. Much of marketing is about coverage and discussion, good or bad, because it creates awareness. Just knowing about something is a big part of the battle of selling it. Negative impressions are still impressions.

And, they are still paying for them (unless it's pay-per-click). Presumably they wouldn't be paying for ads that don't work. But paying for ads that annoy people? Isn't that their job?

Re: louisgray.com: I Just Marked All Facebook Ads as Offensive. So Should You.

InternetStrategist — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:57:10 -0000

You've pointed out precisely what is WRONG with the ads; the impressions are all negative! They are costing advertisers money while annoying any potential customers they could generate and at the same time irritating the Social Networking sites end users too. FAIL all the way around.

Re: Fun Map Finds

kf6nvr — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:55:55 -0000

Wow, that's interesting. I knew about the incident but had no idea where it was. Cool!

Re: louisgray.com: I Just Marked All Facebook Ads as Offensive. So Should You.

kf6nvr — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:50:19 -0000

You know what's ironic about this? You must have looked at and read the ads to mark them. And then, you've engaged with them. This means the ads are having an impression. Exactly what they want. (Though I have no idea the companies behind the misleading stimulus ads are, so there's nothing lasting... but still.)

And, for the most part, I agree. I end up flagging ads as offensive, misleading, and repetitive all the time. It doesn't seem to help enough.

Re: Bittorrent: The Slow Download Method?

kf6nvr — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:48:39 -0000

FYI: The original post was from almost 3 years ago...

Re: Bittorrent: The Slow Download Method?

kf6nvr — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:29:24 -0000

Thanks for the comment, Jon. Unfortunately, most of your examples are about why various industry groups give torrents a bad name: people like you. Every example you gave is, in most cases, an illegal example. I know of no legal service that distributes movies, tapes, or records via torrents (there could be some, but I haven't heard of them -- Amazon, Apple, etc. all use content delivery networks and services). The legal download services don't need to because they know that a great content delivery network will beat the performance of a torrent every time -- day 1 and day 10,000.

Although I haven't tried in over a year now (and I doubt a torrent would have gotten me Windows 7 faster than the 15 minutes it took directly downloading it), but I tried for half a decode or more to get torrents to work out well. They never did. So, I stopped bothering. For grabbing the latest Linux ISO or updates it's always been faster for me to go for the direct download link.

It may very well be faster for illegal downloads. This is simply because there isn't a legal, direct download link available. When doing calculations, that doesn't count -- for me.

Back to the original point -- I give a bad name to torrents for technical reasons. These are certainly not the reasons that music lawyers give a bad name to torrents for. People using torrents for illegal purposes give torrents a bad name for that. And, from what you've said, that's you.

And, it most definitely was not Vuze -- that's a new name for Azureus that didn't exist when I tried torrents last -- or even when I originally made this post.

Re: New Kindle 2 Features Fail Us

perlgurl — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:19:07 -0000

I see the college market as "private cost" and the lower grades as "public cost." And that was sort of my intention: let the students already paying for their textbooks (and who have a vested interest in not losing them, etc.) drive the first few generations, and also hopefully bring the cost down enough such that students in the lower grades could conceivably use a Kindle (or similar device) for school much like they would a graphing calculator. Provided the school could back up the originals textbook files, they could license them in bulk. Schooll library loan could go digital on certain items. It seems to me like a no-brainer. The consumer market is much harder to crack, and much more cost-conscious.

Re: New Kindle 2 Features Fail Us

kf6nvr — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:10:54 -0000

I really like your comments on the textbook market. The resolution would have to be higher and the screen would have to be a bit larger (though the device may already be big enough for a larger enough screen). The search and annotation features would have to get better. But, given the cost of text books is often nearly $100 a piece, if they were $60 on the Kindle, the device would pay for itself in just a few of quarters. And if it reduced the weight of text books, it would pay for itself in lower health costs. Even in high school -- and lower grades -- the weight of text books has started to cause back problems. Replace them all with a device that weighs under a pound and doesn't have the problem of falling out pages? Yeah. That works.

As for #2... The consumer fiction market really needs the used book market as well as the lending book market. Why can't I check out a book for the Kindle at my local library? I can do this with audio books and physical books (and DVDs, etc.) -- all for free. Why not e-books? As with music, DRM shouldn't exist on them, but even if it did, the lending and used sales could readily be tracked.

Re: Don't boycott Kellogg (Scripting News)

kf6nvr — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:17:15 -0000

Well, if they're going to drop folks for reasons like that and if the reason is so they aren't supporting activity they think is bad for kids (or others) to idolize, then they should at least be consistent: drop anyone caught smoking tobacco, too (or even drinking a beer). I doubt they do that. And they certainly aren't doing what you said in p4, which is what they should do -- he certainly can get more kids to do good things than bad things.

Re: About Me – 2008 Edition

kf6nvr — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:01:39 -0000

That's pretty crappy considering the nature of the trouble I had with them.

But, I've not spent a dime with them since. And will continue that way. Between Amazon and Dell (even for non-Dell brands), I can usually find a better total price, anyway -- or at least one that's good enough.

Re: Crazy Weather: Record High and Record Low

kf6nvr — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:02:59 -0000

Crazy. We'd heard that about the year before last -- there had been virtually no snow up here. We're hoping this year will have plenty, though, so we can ski lots. :)

Re: Archos: Model Number Confusion

kf6nvr — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:01:20 -0000

Thanks for the comment. A while ago I switched over to Apple players. Although they don't have nearly as many features (though the iPhone/iPod touch are getting there), they have been simply better for me.

I've always respected Archos for providing a very feature rich product at a reasonable price. It's interesting to hear that they are still rough around the edges and may not be as user friendly as they should be.

Re: Crazy Weather: Record High and Record Low

kf6nvr — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:32:06 -0000

Uh huh. It certainly seems like a perfect example of the type of climate that used to almost never be seen.