Personal

Blocking the "Green Meanie" Popup Ads

Mark Treadwell — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:32:49 GMT

I am not sure why it took me so long to implement, but I finally had it with the Vibrant Media IntelliTXT in-line text advertising and their intrusive pop-ups. You have probably seen them yourself. They are the highlighted green words with a double underscore present in many news and blog pages. While they generate money for those sites, they are as irritating as hell, so I decided to remove them.

I opened a web page which I knew would display the Vibrant advertising. A few seconds after the page displayed, the green meanies appeared. That indicated a remote Java script. Viewing the page source HTML, down at the bottom was a pretty clear text comment: "start Vibrant Media IntelliTXT script section". Target found. Well, that was easy.

The script source link was to the IntelliTXT web site, so it was clear that blocking that web site would stop the green meanies. I use IE8, so I went to the Internet Options, Security tab, Restricted sites zone icon, Sites button. I added the following to the restricted sites list: *.us.intellitxt.com. While I was at it, I also included *.tacoda.net to block their behavioral tracking.

Do it yourself for free.

Note: I know there are many add-ins which will do this for you. I try to run the computers in our house with a minimum of software which needs regular updates.

Update: I also added *.kontera.com to block their "blue meanie" popup ads.

Upgrading to a Kindle 2

Mark Treadwell — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:31:11 GMT

As I wrote a couple of days ago, my wife and I got a pair of Kindle 2 book readers. While she started fresh, I had a little work to move my book content over to the new unit.

When I ordered the two new Kindles, they showed up under my Amazon account as my 2nd and 3rd Kindles. Once the units arrived, we enjoyed our out-of-box experience, which was on par with the excellent Zune packaging. The Kindle took recycling to a new high since essentially everything but the cling wrap, the protective cover instructions, and the quick summary card was paper-based. I ended up disposing of all the Amazon packaging in our paper recycling bin.

I prepared for the transfer of my content with a backup of all the Kindle document content to my computer hard drive. I copied everything to a My Documents folder. When you hook up a Kindle via USB, it shows up as a standard USB drive. The Kindle documents directory holds all your content.

After copying my books to the computer, I deleted them from my Kindle 1 in preparation for selling it. To clean up before copying everything to the Kindle 2, I deleted the blog files since new versions would be downloaded when I synched up. I also deleted the My Clips files, since they were an experiment on my part that contained nothing of interest. One lesson learned here was that the Kindle 1 Mobipocket eBook Auxiliary Files (the ones with a .mbp file extension) seem to be different from those on the Kindle 2. When I copied them, none of the associated documents would open. Once deleted and the unit restarted, everything worked fine.

I like keeping a backup of all my Kindle content on my main computer, since my Windows Home Server will make an image backup as well. That way, a restore will be easy.

Swapping the Kindles around with the Amazon management interface was straightforward. The only issue with my wife's Kindle was reading the tiny serial number (miniscule gray text on a brushed aluminum back) and typing it into the text box. For this, I can only blame aging eyes, .

After the first day of use, the results are positive for both of us. My wife likes the convenience. We bought four books she wanted and downloaded them wirelessly without a hitch. She like reading it one-handed and its thinness is a big plus for her when compared with some of the weighty paper books she has toted around for years.

I like the Kindle 2 for all its improvements over the first version -- size, weight, layout, etc. I really like that they shifted to a micro USB port so I can use the same charger as my cell phone. That is one fewer thing I need to take on trips. I miss the switch to turn off the cellular modem. While the menu interface is OK, it is not as convenient when I am in an airplane. The four-way controller is a big improvement over the previous scroll wheel. It took a bit of adjustment to shift from the two-key sleep activate/deactivate to remembering to use the slide switch. I wish they had made the switch a little easier to move. That switch is the only means to control power -- a brief slide will shift it in and out of sleep mode, holding it 5-10 seconds will power the unit off, holding it for more than 15 seconds will reset the unit. That reset function is your only way out of a freeze-up, since they removed the reset button, the keyboard reset and the ability to access the battery.

As we use the new readers, I will post our longer term impressions.

Update: I thought my backups were along the lines of a good standard computing practice, but this and this concerns me. I read the Amazon terms of service and do not see where they say they will do remote deletions, so I agree that Amazon appears to have violated their own terms of service since the books were purchased in good faith. This is not a Kindle deal breaker, but I will continue with my computing precautions for all my electronic content.

Kindle 2

Mark Treadwell — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:31:32 GMT

As a happy owner of an original Kindle, my wife was always asking me about its convenience. I take the reader on business and personal travel and find it much easier to read it one-handed when compared with any book. Everywhere I would read a book, I have no problem reading the Kindle. I find it convenient on airplanes, though having it off during takeoff and landing is bothersome. I have quite a bit of free content, or I had it converted for free by Amazon.

The Kindle 2 is out now and she wants one. She wants one so bad, she wants two so we can both have one. I demurred for a time because of the cost. Amazon has now done what I wanted them to do when they introduced the Kindle DX -- they dropped the price of the Kindle 2 by $60!

At $299, I can weakly rationalize away an upgrade I do not exactly need as a mandatory requirement to keep up with my wife technologically. After all, I can use my reader as a remote example to help her with hers should the need arise.

Recommended.

I Was CompuServe 73700,3344

Mark Treadwell — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:28:18 GMT

My first remote computer access outside my home was via CompuServe in 1985. I sat at my original IBM PC and connected via a Hayes Smartmodem 1200 to the service. I spent lots of geeky time sucking text through that modem and its replacements. I used CompuServe from all over the country as I traveled, and even internationally a few times. It worked great and kept down the long distance phone bills.

Remember those? Back in the day, we had to call long distance to a company's bulletin board service (BBS) to get info on hardware and software updates. Mind you, you could not buy things that way, just read about them and maybe get a patch.

That octal user ID was a function of the PDP-10 architecture of the original system. That worked great as long as things moved through slower modems. I recall things getting clogged up as the cable modems arrived.

I even tried Prodigy, God help me, and found it slow and clunky. I heard too many AOL horror stories to ever try the service -- though I got lots of CDs from them. Both CompuServe and Prodigy worked well as long as you stayed within their sandbox. Go outside the box, and things got harder. I ignored the CompuServe 2000 stuff entirely and stayed with what became known as CompuServe Classic. I canceled my service in early 2004. I recall that it was not easy, and required several phone calls. You could not cancel online. My last email from that account was from an old Fawcette newsletter telling me how to "Build a Longhorn App."

CompuServe really had no way to compete with the wilder and wider web. The fact that it has hung on this long says that the miniscule support was still covered by the few people who still paid real money to use it -- probably because it was familiar. No more. Goodbye. It was fun.

LCD Screen Drawings

Mark Treadwell — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:59:35 GMT

My children's artwork adorns the walls of my house in several locations. It is regularly replaced with the most recent efforts, since the preschools seem to excel at a multitude of different craft projects. At home, we favor crayons and washable markers, but we keep close control of them.

This evening my three-year-old decided to climb up Daddy's chair and get onto my desk. A ball point pen beckoned from a pen holder placed far from a child-accessible edge. The canvas -- two 19-inch LCD screens. She seemed pleased with her art work when I came in, but I certainly was not.

I tried several cleaners unsuccessfully, but then had great success using full-strength isopropyl rubbing alcohol. I have been meaning to clean them for awhile. I just did not want to get around to it for this particular reason.

Technorati Tags: LCD, cleaning

Our First Zune

Mark Treadwell — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:29:02 GMT

My wife and I were talking by phone while I was at a store when she mentioned that she wanted an MP3 player for use around the house. Easy in-car use was also a requirement. I went to the music player display case to see what was offered. A full 80% of the boxes were various flavors of iPods. The rest were Zunes with a couple of Samsung units.

Since I have a bad opinion of Apple DRM and iTunes lock-in, I bought her a 4GB pink Zune and brought it home. My wife loved opening the box and playing with all the bits. We both agreed that the out-of-the-box experience was great. She went off to do some grocery shopping while I handled the task of installing the software and getting the thing running.

The great hardware happiness died an ugly death during the software installation. The process was agonizingly slow. The software prepared the computer for installation three times. The Zune software appeared to get installed three or four times, although I knew those were small support programs, then ... reboot! What? What does a simple music player need to restart the entire computer for? While writing this blog post, the software also automatically ran Microsoft Update without my permission and contrary to my Microsoft Update system settings. Very rude!

The total length of the install seemed like I was installing Microsoft Office and Visual Studio at the same time. It took nearly a half an hour on a computer with nothing else running and no other load on the broadband modem. I can only assume the 33MB of dedicated files are supported by numerous other changes -- and all this on a fully updated Windows XP system. I actually ended up with multiple restarts for multiple updates. I was disappointed the install process was so miserable, but grateful it went forward with no errors.

Happily, my wife saw none of this and was soon listening to a few of our CDs I had ripped previously. She dutifully listened to the music that came with the player, then spent some time learning the Zune software deleting it all. She judged it all to be crap. The only artist she recognized of the bunch was Bare Naked Ladies and that was only because they sang a song for Disney's movie Chicken Little.

She loves the size, feel, and interface of the Zune. That part of the experience was great. The car kit just worked with no problems. She is happy, and that was a primary goal of the purchase.

Technorati Tags: Zune

Merry Christmas

Mark Treadwell — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:02:17 GMT

... to everyone at GeeksWithBlogs and those elsewhere reading. Enjoy the season with your own traditions and religion, whether you celebrate the birth of Christ or not. Enjoy!

Our Christmas Toy Experience

Mark Treadwell — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 04:40:51 GMT

Technorati Tags: Christmas

As I noted previously, I have now retired from military active duty. I am taking the Christmas season off to relax before going back to work for my new career out there in the Real World©®. That means I have gotten the opportunity to spend much more time with the wife and kids.

Thursday morning, while the girls were in school and the little one was napping, my wife and I took the time to open and assemble all the kids toys for Christmas. We did this early to avoid a late night on Christmas Eve, or the crisis rush on Christmas morning. It took us much longer than we anticipated due to the nature of this year's toy packaging adventures.

We intentionally avoided the infamous clamshell death plastic this year. The closest we came were with a pair of nicely packaged GE headsets for use with our cordless phone system. They had a paperboard back that was easy to cut open -- no plastic cutting required. The toy boxes took much longer than anticipated to open since the manufacturers seem to have substituted complex folded cardboard secured with miles of cellophane tape to replace the hated plastic clamshells.

The full-view packaging designers win the raspberry award this year for their use of wire twist ties suitable for towing. These things were so thick that our Fiskars scissors, normally a match for any consumer packaging, failed miserably. I had to resort to my Craftsman wire cutters, though I wondered if I might need something bigger. The stiff, machine-tightened wires were impossible to undo by hand even when we had full access to them behind their nefariously complex packaging. Be ready with your own heavy-duty implements of destruction in the coming days.

We have been buying stuff over the last 6-8 months, as items became available. We have found many of the things we chose are now not available, or available on Amazon or EBay at astronomical markups over what we paid just months ago (a $40 toy was selling for $175).

Our son emerged from his nap and demanded to do some preliminary play testing of things his sisters would be getting. He gave a double thumbs up to a few items, but his clear favorite was Pat Pat Rocket. Since he is just on the verge of walking, we feel he will not spill the beans before Tuesday.

Post-Christmas Update

The Pat Pat Rocket was a hit with all the kids, but we found that little hands could not pry open the top to play with the figures inside. I remedied that with a sticky tape tab they could grip, but a better design would be appreciated by parents. It also falls into the category of toys which are too loud.

GeoTrax Rail and Road System Grand Central Station by Fisher-Price: Recommended; another big hit. We left this one in the box and assembled it on a bedroom floor while the girls were busy elsewhere. It is a big hit on available floor space, so we had to be careful where we put it. The assembly was pretty easy, but I see the engine will be chewing through lots of AAA batteries.

vtech ABC Food Fun: Not recommended. It is too loud, comes on randomly even after it is supposedly powered off automatically, the door is hard to open, it is too easy to accidentally hit a mode button, and the magnet pieces are hard for kids to align correctly to make it work. Other than that, it briefly held the attention of a three-year-old.

Strange Amazon Connection

Mark Treadwell — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:33:41 GMT

We got a very strange recommendation from Amazon for our four-year-old.

We do not understand it either.

Migration Reconstruction

Mark Treadwell — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:56:36 GMT

My apologies to anyone cruising through who finds the code snippets disrupted. I still need to get things updated after the GWB migration to SubText. The new skin will take some adjustment!