Built-in Malware Protection is Best

Interesting scrape with Flashback malware last night. Safari browser on mac locked up, asking me to install new (bogus) video player version. Restarted Safari and it came right back up again, still not letting me use any other windows. Used my other mac to get more info--quickly identifying problem as Flashback. I went through detailed removal instructions at CNET (from 2012) and there was nothing to be found--could be new variant. Then I did a lot more browsing and found out that Mac's now have 3 levels of built-in malware protection (started in 10.6.7).

https://discussions.apple.com/message/22603815#22603815

Unless you have Java enabled (JavaScript is different and safe), or give permission to something that just pops up (never do that unless absolutely sure), or run questionable programs (e.g. pirated or BitTorrent) you are pretty safe. I ran software update (which invisibly runs Malware Removal Tool), and an hour later the malware was gone.

Built-in malware protection is definitely the way to go. 3rd party "virus" protectors on PC's are incredible resource hogs IME, and money hogs too since they require annual subscription fee. And those companies have inherent conflict of interest wrt dissemination of new malware (which makes my suspicious mind wonder who their friends are) to make you keep renewing. Apple does not have that conflict of interest (at least on a supported system). Years ago on PC's I tried two of the most well know virus protectors and felt they were worse than malware. Harder to remove also.

Another good idea is to have a second computer.

Having Dropouts in your Media Interface ?

People like me trying to build whole house digital entertainment systems become very familiar with the dropouts that may occur when you have any HDMI connection other than the most basic (media player to TV with 6' cable).  You'll begin to see problems when you have HDMI switches, HDMI active splitters (don't even bother with passive splitters),  ethernet HDMI extenders, longer than 15 foot cables, and so on.  I've seen hundreds of pages of complaints and occasional successful solutions at premier AV websites.  These dropouts may occur constantly, or irregularly.  For me, they've always been irregular, and recently have been 1 or so dropouts per hour, sometimes rising above 10 per hour.  I think I now have the situation better under control (I now see about one or so dropouts in a whole day hours could go by without getting one, but then I could get several in one hour) and may get even better as I perfect my system further.

Here's a pretty good introduction to HDMI problems and the most basic ways of fixing them.

BTW, the whole reason for the complexity that makes HDMI dropout prone is copy prevention systems like HDCP and their endless need for timely handshaking to be absolutely positively sure nothing is being copied.  That was the primary engineering requirement for HDMI.  The second goal seems to have been the requirement that users must buy expensive computerized switching and distribution gadgets when analog video only required simple mechanical switches.  Industry likes that for two reasons.  It discourages people from doing exactly what I am doing, and instead have the satellite or cable company provide the multi-room capabilities for you (which limits your AV network to their sources, and forces you to pay them for your multi-room capability).  Make users into sheeple, in other words.  And the second is that for those users who refuse to be sheeple, make them pay through the nose to do the least little extra thing.  I have spent several thousand dollars on HDMI switching and distributing equipment and cables over the last 8 years that I've been using HDMI.  Much of that was problematic and had to be replaced with even more expensive stuff.

I recently replaced my old 4 way active splitter (from 4 years ago, and it was getting flakey, with dropouts and noise persisting sometimes for a minute or more) and my Oppo HMDI switch (which seemed fine, but was less than easy to use) with a very nice professional grade 4x4 hdmi matrix switch.  Matrix switching is and incredibly nice feature, I now would not want to live without it, and I love this switch (at least functionally).  And I recently set up two new ethernet-based HDMI extenders in addition to the one I set up last year.  Sadly my two OWlink HDMI extenders have died, they were the least dropout prone of any extenders I have used and they spoiled me.

Unfortunately this did not, at first, make the increasing dropouts situation go away at first.  But I improved the situation greatly when I switched currently unused outputs (displays) to inactive inputs.  Notably the situation improved when I did this for the living room, not currently being used.  The living room is still running on old unshielded Cat6 while every other room that needs an extender is using my latest Cat6a Shielded connections (at least mostly).  So having that connected to the same source as other rooms seems to lead to dropouts.  I need to bring up that extension to my new standard, and make all cables as short as possible.  I've recently ordered a whole bunch of new ethernet and HDMI cables for that purpose.

Here's a company that makes a variety of interesting products to fix HDMI connections.

Update: My dropouts have almost entirely disappeared since I replaced a 25 foot tangle of Cat6 STP with a short 3 foot piece of my new standard, Cat6a STP (same as used in the attic).  I did have to make the HDMI cable slightly longer, from 3 feet to 5 feet, so this required the purchase of two new cables (5 foot HDMI and 3 foot Cat6a STP) which I just received recently.  I also ditched the audio inserter that inserts digital audio (from coax) into a DVI interface to produce an HDMI signal...that's a troublesome process (both digital streams must remain in sync) and the adapter itself is not professional grade and had frequent problems.  The ultimate solution to analog-video-to-hdmi would be a brand new DVDO (to replace my 10 year old unit) but I haven't sprung for it yet.  Unlike my older model, the new one takes care of the audio insertion internally and has a true HDMI output rather than DVI.  The analog-to-HDMI lets me watch my harddrive recorder and SVHS machine on the whole house network, it's actually one of the things I use most.

Headlights are too bright nowadays

I was thinking all the excess glare I was getting at night from headlights coming towards me, especially on realtively dark roads, was a result of my cataracts.

Well now that I've had cataract surgery in one eye (and there is a fantastic improvement in my vision, generally, I could not have imagined seeing so much more) I see it isn't so.  While the eye with the new artificial lens gets far less glare than the other, there is still considerable glare from headlights on darker roads.

I think car headlights have simply gotten too bright, and this is a serious problem which should be fixed.  You can see that the headlights on older cars, with original non-halogen incandescent bulbs, are far less bright.

Perhaps there should be several levels of brightness, not merely 'high' and 'low', with the middle levels automatically chosen based on ambient brightness.

It also doesn't help that cities ubiquitously are trying to save money by not installing streetlights and/or not maintining them.  Likewise with lighted street signs.  Cities should not be playing with our safety this way.

Samsung Galaxy's Inaudible Default Ringtone

My lady friend was calling.  She had gone straight to my home from work (despite previously saying she would wait for me to call and then come over, don't hurry, etc).  She left a phone message and a text message.  She finally gave up waiting and went to her house.  I was busy navigating and making those often tough even though highly constrained decisions in a supermarket.  Trying to figure out what kind of doggie treat would be best for her daughter's dog.  Why is the smallest box of Milk Bone (tm) four pounds?  And I completely missed her call.  I got home only to find those messages on my phone.  I called, and she angrily told me to forget having her come over that night.  Why hadn't I answered her call?  Only after my worst begging did she relent and come over.  I was successful, fortunately, but it was a close call.  The next day I went into surgery.  I would have felt terrible had this date not worked out, and it nearly didn't.

The culprit was the highly ignorable default ring tone of the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Samsung apparently picked this ring tone because it sounds cool, and that's how they want people to think about Samsung.  We're just as cool as those other guys, they're always trying to remind us.  Well thanks, guys, for putting your corporate image promotion above my needs.  (Putting corporate image promotion above user needs is the underlying drive in many of the things I hope to criticize here.  It happens all the time.)

The whole point of a telephone ring tone is to be audible.  Coolness is second.  A ring tone has to cut through the fog, rise above the Muzak (tm) and crowd noise, so you will not miss that critical call.

What does the trick IMO is the plain old fashioned Bell System (tm) bell.  (Those Bell System people of long ago came up with the best answer for then-available technology, and much of their design is still the best, never excelled, and typically not even equalled with far more advanced technology.  Only by holding the feet of fools and marketing directors to the fire can we go forwards.)

I had to go through nearly all of the default selections in the Samsung/Android before getting to Chime, the one that seems best to me.  I figured the one I wanted would have Bell in the name.  Chime looks like it's going to give a wind chime sound, exactly what I'd like least.  Maybe they're trying to obscure the legacy of this bell sound by calling it chime.

Why Computer Critical

This blog will take a critical look at all things computerized, and technology in general.  I'd already started writing down a few of my gripes about smartphones in another of my blogs (VeryDeepLeft), but it was obvious such gripes, while consistent with my world view (I'm critical of everything...and especially those things you are not supposed to critical of), was off topic in a blog primarily about things political.  So this blog is an extension of the critical worldview into the realm of technology.

I am no luddite*, in fact I am quite often an early adopter, I use more diverse technology than most people can even imagine, and I've been programming computers for a living for 35 years in scientific and engineering applications.  In my work, my goal is to make things work, to do what people want, without being limited by the limitations or inconveniences of the ubiquitous bad design of computer languages, operating systems, etc.  I hold my nose and do what needs to be done.  In contrast, other computer programmers I have known simply refuse to do anything that doesn't suit their aesthetic preferences, which can often be quite fine.

(*Btw, Luddites were very fine people, skilled weavers and such, who objected to generally poor quality goods produced by early industrial technology, as well as how it was putting them out of work. You could say I do strongly sympathize with their position.  But I don't oppose new technology, that battle has been lost, I merely believe it should be done correctly in the fullest sense.)

But this is not to say that bad design doesn't bother me greatly.  It does, and that's why I've started this blog, to call out bad design in technology wherever I see it (which is basically everywhere), not in the hope that people will pull back to another kind of life, singing campfire songs, say (though that might be nicer than what we have now in many ways), but that future designers will do better, and not have their best ideas squashed by incompetent management either.

So this blog is being written in the hope that things can and will be made better, as soon as possible.  It is my intent that all the ideas presented here be freely available and actually used by all, including even greedy corporations (so long as they don't patent them so others can't use them).  I explicitly declare all the new ideas presented here (if there are any) to be in the public domain, and use is strongly encouraged by all.

I have been inspired by many others who have previously a critical eye at the usability of technology.  The book The Inmates Are Running The Asylum is an eye opening book, for example, though I don't necessarily endorse the solutions author Alan Cooper suggests.  I'm fond of the ideas of Edward Tufte with similar qualifications.  And so on.