PlanetMike’s Technology Journal Tips and tricks to get technology to work for you, by Michael Boyd Clark

I was just reading my friend Derik’s blog. He was saying he regularly googles himself (no, that’s nothing dirty) to see if he is the top “Derik” listed. So of cource I googled myself, and I’m not even the first page! One problem is that Michael Clark is a very common name. If I google my full name Michael Boyd Clark I come up first. It turns out I really messed up my home page’s title, by putting “PlanetMike.com” as the title. I changed that to Michael Clark, and we’ll see if that helps me out. I also noticed I didn’t even have my own name on the home page of the site! I’ve fixed that too.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. This allows you to read my newer articles without having to visit the site again. Thanks for visiting! Mike

Posted under Site-details

A new version of the WordPress Blog System has been released. I’m updating my other WordPress based web sites, and am seriously considering switching to it for PlanetMike, away from the Blosxom system.

Posted under Technology

The podcast categories in iTunes only show the first 1500 podcasts. So my wife’s podcast no longer shows up in the Arts and Entertainment category. Do you think Apple underestimated the popularity of podcasting?

Posted under Technology

One of the local TV stations decided it was their right to annoy me by calling me at home for a “survey.” Luckily I wasn’t able to answer the phone to talk with their computer’s pre-recorded drivel. I have emailed their “Community Relations” department with a complaint about them not taking the high road by not honoring the Do Not Call list. I do acknowledge that our stupid members of Congress watered down the Do Not Call list by allowing “surveys” and politicans to continue to call numbers despite being on the list. It will take someone with real guts to get the DNC list strengthened.

Have you signed up for the Do Not Call list yet? It’s quick, and it does help reduce legitimate businesses from calling. But the scam calls have continued, both surveys and politicans, and non-profit organizations who simply want to help themselves to your money. Like the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police. Ugh, I pay my taxes, then they want to beg me to give them more of my cash? Most of which goes to the company doing the fundraising, and not to the police. Give me a break. It’s my phone, I’m paying for a non-published/unlisted number, and I’ve signed up for the DNC list. Don’t call me if I don’t know you.

Posted under Advertising

I’ve just signed up with Technorati. Yeah, I’m late to the game. Technorati Profile.

Posted under Site-details

The super-duper really handy mergelog program compiles just fine under OS X 10.4.2, if you remember to add a “sudo” before the “make install” command.

Posted under Technology

I needed to run the Dantz Retrospect Backlup client onto my new Apple XServe G5. The problem is that the G5 doesn’t have a monitor. You can install packages through the command line on the server. Simply ssh into the box, then run the installer command. If you want to log into the box with a graphical interface, as is required for programs that don’t provide a package, Apple recommends you buy the $299 “Apple Remote Desktop.” That is a lot of money for a one time use.

Then I remembered that OS X 10.4 includes a VNC server in the system. On Tiger clients, its in the Sharing system preference pane. On Tiger server, however that option is not available. So I decided to install a VNC server.

1. Download the OSXvnc server application. http://www.redstonesoftware.com/vnc.html

2. Copy the OSXvnc application to your XServe’s /Applications/ folder. I did this by sharing the root level of the hard drive, logging into the XServe (Apple-K) from my computer, and copying the application into the /Applications/ folder. Then I disconnected from the drive, and turned off the sharing of the root folder.

3. Ssh into the XServe.

4. I then ran the OSXvnc program by typing “sudo open /Applications/OSXvnc.app/” You should be prompted for the system password.

5. Then using a VNC client (I recommend Chicken of the VNC, available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/) I connected to my XServe. I was prompted with a standard OS X login box. I logged in as a user with administrative privileges.

6. Then I ran the Retrospect Client installer. It prompted me for for a few things (Retrospect password) and then restarted the server. Once the machine restarts, you will be disconnected from the VNC server. You’ll need to re-enable it if you want to log in again through Chicken of the VNC. You can enable OSXvnc to come up automatically when the server starts up, but be sure to set a password if you do that. You can also change the port that is used.

That’s all there was to it. I saved $300 through two open-source applications.

Posted under OSX-tiger

I just paid for my first bit of advertising of PlanetMike.com. I bought 100 pixels at MillionMovingPixels.com. I have the top left corner of the page. Can you tell what the icon is? It is my cat Curious, rotating in place . That page is going to look incredibly busy when it has a few more sponsors.

Posted under Advertising, Web-design

A great article I wish I had written: Why “Click here” is bad linking practice.

Posted under Web-design

I’m looking into getting a new phone number for use at home, so of course I’m looking at VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solutions. I’ve found three so far that seem viable. Skype, Gizmo Project, and Vonage.

1. Skype. I’ve had a Skype screen name for about a year, but during a system upgrade the password got lost. Now I can’t log into the account. And the Skype system doesn’t have my email address listed with my account. An email into “customer support” got no response. So, no, I don’t think giving Skype (or Ebay, who just bought Skype) any money is going to happen.

2. Gizmo Project. I signed up for a free account and it works pretty well. I paid $15 for three months of inbound calls, and calls come straight through pretty quickly. The biggest problem is that calls only go into voicemail if the client is connected. So when I am traveling between my home and my office, anyone that calls gets a busy signal. Not acceptable.

3. Vonage. The biggest VoIP provider. It has gotten pretty good reviews from friends who use it. They have several different calling plans. The question I have is why do they need to differentiate between residential users and business users?

An unlimited minutes home plan costs $24.99 per month. An unlimited small business plan costs $49.99 per month. What?!? Does it cost Vonage more money to make a connection to a phone number during the day (when most business calls are made)? Or do “business” calls sound better? Or connect more quickly? So I wrote to Vonage to ask what the difference is:

> What's the difference between a residential plan and a business plan?> Besides the obvious stuff like minutes and things. Is there a> service-level agreement difference? Taxes are different? Or is just> a different name for different levels of minutes to use?

The response was:

> The main difference between our Business and Residential plans is how> you intend to use the service. Our Residential plans are intended for> standard residential use only, and are not intended for home-office> environments. Our Business plans are to be used for businesses in small-> to-medium sized environments.>> For full plan details please visit our website at: www.vonage.com. For> complete details on the usage of Vonage service, please review our> Terms of Service at: www.vonage.com/features_terms_service.php.>> Please note that inappropriate use of the service can result in> immediate termination or an upgrade in plan without notice.

The Terms of Service page (which does limit a lot of your rights) had this to say:

> 2.2 Residential Use of Service and Device. If you subscribe to Vonage's> residential services, the Service and the Device are provided to you> solely for residential use. You shall not resell or transfer the> Service or the Device to another party without our prior written> consent. You are prohibited from using the Service or the Device> for auto-dialing, continuous or extensive call forwarding,> telemarketing (including, without limitation, charitable or> political solicitation or polling), fax or voicemail broadcasting> or fax or voicemail blasting. We reserve the right to immediately> terminate or modify your Service if we determine, in our sole and> absolute discretion, that your use of the Service or the Device is,> or at any time was, inconsistent with normal residential usage> patterns. In addition, you will be required to pay our higher rates> for commercial service for all periods in which your use of the> Service or the Device was inconsistent with normal residential use.>> 2.3 Small Business Use of Service and Device. If you subscribe to> Vonage's Small Business services, the Service and Device are provided> to you as a small business user. You shall not resell or transfer the> Service or the Device to another party without our prior written> consent. You are prohibited from using the Service or the Device for> auto-dialing, continuous or extensive call forwarding, telemarketing> (including, without limitation, charitable or political solicitation> or polling), fax or voicemail broadcasting or fax or voicemail> blasting. We reserve the right to immediately terminate or modify> your Service if we determine, in our sole and absolute discretion,> that you have at any time used the Service or the Device for any of> the aforementioned or similar activities.>> 2.4 Business Plus Use of Service. If you subscribe to Vonage's Business> Plus services, the Service is provided to you as a small business user.> You shall not resell or transfer the Service to another party without> our prior written consent. You are responsible for supplying, operating> and supporting the standard SIP based Customer Premise Equipment for> use with the Service. We reserve the right to immediately terminate or> modify your Service if we determine, in our sole and absolute> discretion, that you have at any time used the Service for any of the> aforementioned or similar activities.

So basically, they have the power to increase your service plan if you use a residential plan inconsistently with “normal residential use.” What?!? As long as I stay under my plan’s minutes what does it matter if I use all 500 minutes the first day? Or if I am on the unlimited minutes plan, why should it matter?

So for now, I’m going to look at new cell phone plans. VoIP for now doesn’t look like the right match for what I want.

Posted under Technology