Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Travel scenes from an itinerant web designer.

This photo shows a quaint antique shop in Cerrilos, along the Turquoise Trail route in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico. This small town is a charming and friendly near ghost-town that was once known for its mining industry.

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of The Day

May this idyllic setting from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, New York, provide you with a brief respite from the from the encroaching chill of the late fall! This photo was shot in August of 2005. Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ20.

Wireless Connectivity . . . Anywhere?

As a web designer, I often love to work in public environs, especially during the pleasant summer months. However, the dream of being able to open my laptop anywhere and be instantly connected to the Web, has been . . . A dream! But that dream may soon come true. Verizon has recently launched a Mobile Broadband Wireless service that provides an instant connection in many cities in the United States. There is also a company that may be offering worldwide wireless broadband soon as well! Immarsat may make this a reality as soon as 2006. Aaaah, consider the possibilities!

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo Of The Day

Just a photo to remind you of the joys of summer . . . As the fall swiftly guides us into what may well be the most expensive heating bill season ever! This photo shop at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, New York. Camera: Panasonic FZ20.

Sony CDs, A Computer Security Risk?

It is a disturbing trend when the tools and methods of computer hackers and virus writers are adopted by multinational corporations. Sony has been quietly installing a rootkit (Rootkits are cloaking technologies that hide files, Registry keys, and other system objects from diagnostic and security software, and they are usually employed by virus or spyware, attempting to keep their implementation hidden) on millions of CDs as part of the CD player software.

According to Computer Associates, maker of antivirus software, the following vulnerabilities are exploited: "These CDs install the pest XCP.Sony.Rootkit, which is a trojan that opens security vulnerabilities through rootkit functionality. They also launch Music Player, which is a media player that phones home to Sony BMG, sending information which could be used to compile profiles of the CDs played on a given computer."

If you have played any Sony CD on your computer, you should read the full advisory on the Computer Associates website.

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

The Rio Grande bosque is the theme of this photo. This park is unusual in that its exists in the midst of the arid desert setting of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here, I caught the late evening sun as it beamed through the fall foliage near the shore of the Rio Grande.



This photo was taken with a Minolta X-570 with standard lens, polarizer, and Walmart Polaroid film. Don't laugh! The Walmart Polaroid film is actually manufactured by Agfa in Germany and is a high definition 200ASA film that has a very fine grain and enlarges well. The negative was scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V.

The Latest Computer Security Threat . . .

It seems that everyday new threats to computer security are devised. The latest threats cannot be detected by either antivirus or spyware detection programs. They run invisibly on your computer and are extremely difficult to find and remove. These new threats are called rootkits. In many cases, they are secretly installed when playing online games and can be programmed to grab information from your computer or other covert tasks.

Learn more about the dangers rootkits present here. This article discusses the exploitation of these tools by one very large corporation. Be advised that detecting and removing these threats at present requires a fairly sophisticated knowledge of computers. When will it end?

Apple Gains A Milion New Users . . .

Here is a story that I found quite interesting. It seems that Apple has gained a million new users switching over from the PC platform in 2005. This is in spite of the higher cost of Mac hardware and OS X based software. What was the deciding factor for those users? The article attributes this to the viruses and spyware that afflicts PC hardware. Personally, I don't know a single person who migrated to Mac's for that reason. It's cheaper to install a good virus program. The cost and time required to transfer from PC's to Mac's is what deters many consumers.

I presently use PC's for web design because the hardware and software is cheaper. Also, it is the platform of most Web users in general. However, my personal preference is the Mac platform, primarily because of the coolness factor. PC's remain clunky, unimaginatively designed boxes. PC laptops rarely conjure the sort of tech lust that an Apple Powerbook routinely inspires. I am amazed that not a single major PC manufacturer has created a product that carries the polished design of Apple hardware.

The "coolness factor" also applies to the OS X interface. Although Windows is more stable than ever, it still looks like it was designed by nerds for nerds. OS X makes you want to caress the screen with its simplicity, cool colors and jellybean buttons.

Good design sells. If Apple ever figured out a way to make its pricing more competitive with PC's, that great design would find its way into alot more homes!

The Good Old Days . . .

I saw a movie recently which reminded of how much the entertainment industry in general has changed in less than a generation. The movie was 12 Angry Men (1957) which was co-produced by Sidney Lumet and Henry Fonda (who also acted in a key role). This black & white film, shot in a one room setting, explores how the biases and prejudices of individuals can pervert the judicial process. The setting is a jury deliberating a seemingly open and shut murder case. With nary a special effect, violence, vulgarity or other modern cinematic tools, the movie riveted my attention from start to finish with powerful, thought-provoking dialogue skillfully delivered by credible actors. It was the most satisfying movie-watching experience I had in a long time.

Generally, I have lost interest in most modern movies and television, which now seems to cater to the most violent, lurid, banal excesses it can dig up (a trend also seen in the music industry). 12 Angry Men reminded me of how good the movie industry once was at its craft. With all the technical gadgetry and financial heft of modern movie making, it rarely delivers movies of the same class and caliber as 12 Angry Men, a low budget film shot in only 17 days.