Circuitbomb.com

I’ve always despised trying to theme my Windows desktops into a sleek and sexy looking console.  It always seems like for the most part I’d have to install some software, which may or may not overwrite some system files.  In the past, when I did try to theme my desktop there was always a deal breaker.  For instance, a program like Photoshop which I use extensively would inherit parts of the theme ending up as a mess and difficult to use.  I didn’t mind Windows Gadgets too much, but it always seemed like the rest of my Windows environment shunned their existence.  It wasn’t until coming across a post on LifeHacker that I found out about a little platform called Rainmeter.

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There’s nothing like a book.

I’m not talking about what a book teaches or imparts to a reader.  I’m talking about the book itself.  The physical binding of paper with a story or teachings written within it. There’s nothing else like it in the world. For centuries books have been written, handed down and passed to others.  New books have been written, some reprinting the older works and others entirely new.  Books aren’t a trend, they are one of the most important creations ever to be used by humanity aside from language itself, and probably the wheel.  While my opinion on the conceptual creation of written or printed-on-paper literature is certainly subjective, there is one fact most people would agree on; that books are important.

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Ok so, many of you who visit my page are probably thinking “What the heck is this design change?”

Well to be honest it was unexpected that it would need to be changed.  It would seem that the theme (Arras) I had been using had a vulnerability I was unaware of which allowed for some file uploading, and as you can imagine, ended up with my site having a directory full of web shell scripts.  Luckily my host is a super awesome elite system administrator and the individuals who uploaded the malicious scripts didn’t get any further than that.

Shout out and thanks to my host and pal Werner for the dedication to his craft and keeping my web spaces safe for all these years.  You deserve more thank you’s I could ever possibly muster to write.

The web is an amazing place.  There’s so much information available to people, and it increases exponentially.  Aside from the sheer amount of information out there, there are many people who make it their career to present that information to others in a useful way.  By useful I don’t only mean in a way that feels familiar or logical to people consuming the information, but rather people who want to present and maintain information beautifully. Beautiful information, its certain that the majority of us would rather not spend a lot of time in dank, dirty, litter strewn places in the physical; that mindset reflects how we want to interact on the web, on our devices and machines.  While we want more and more to consume on the web, it takes a certain amount of effort to provide or contribute it; literally and beautifully.

The web is awesome, but the web can be even better.

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Just a note:   I’m not a lawyer or market analyst.  This article represents my opinions as a gamer.

The PC gaming versus Console argument is old, really old.  There are a slew of obvious pros and cons when it comes to choosing your platform for gaming.  But when it really comes down to it, which will actually win out?  When it comes down to it, what platform is the best, not strictly because of hardware and software capabilities, or games released; but rather what platform is best for the consumer?

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The recent statements from Carrier IQ that they are not logging keystrokes, or recording personal/private information being passed in and out my mobile devices may be true.  But that doesn’t mean I want this software on my device.

Lets look at this picture for a moment.  Here, an organization (the carriers) decides to install network diagnostic software on a device without the consumer knowing about it.

Without the consumer knowing about it…

Let that sink in.  When you purchase a desktop computer, or a laptop computer, do you get this same type of software installed with…Windows?  What about Linux?  Does this type of software get shipped on your Mac in OS/X?  Yes, similarly, but your notified, or even given an opt-in for the process (e.g. A problem has occurred.  Would you like to send this [report] to [company] ? Yes / No).  We see his sort of functionality in Windows when problems arise, we see this sort of thing when browsers crash and the vendor wants information about the crash.  So why is Carrier IQ getting so much heat about their diagnostic software?

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