Michael’s Techbox

I remember about 2 years ago I took a flight when the media first started hooking onto Swine Flu, and already at this stage I noticed a fair amount of people wearing masks, to protect themselves from infection. Back then I had my reservations, and recently we’ve been getting bombarded by the Media about the threat of this new deadly strain of flu (H1N1) and how we should all get vaccinated.

So I decided I would do some research because next week the country I live in Czech Republic will begin vaccinations. For starters 10% of the general population of Czech will receive a vaccine.

In my studies which really didn’t take long – I’ve realized there are 2 ways to consider H1N1.

1. What the media are telling you
2. What the statistics are telling you

I prefer to go with the statistics.

If you ask the average person – “Do you feel in danger of dying of the flu?”and yes I mean the normal kind – most people would laugh at you, and say “No the chances of me dying of the flu are rare, and there are plenty of ways to treat flu, should I get sick.”

But if you ask the same person who actively watches the news – “Are you afraid of contracting the Swine Flu H1N1 strain, most people will tell you “Sure its deadly, and I’m afraid of it, I don’t want to use public transport, and I’m worried I might catch it from someone at work or while out shopping.”

Lets just for a minute here look at who exactly is dying of what? For statistics I will use the US, because the US is an easy country to find information about.

The Flu

source : An estimated 100,000 hospitalizations and about 20,000 deaths occur each year from the flu or its complications. (http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/f/flu/deaths.htm)

Each flu season is unique, but it is estimated that, on average, approximately 5% to 20% of U.S. residents get the flu, and more than 200,000 persons are hospitalized for flu-related complications each year. About 36,000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of flu.(http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/disease.htm)

N1H1

H1N1 Deaths Reach Over 1,000 in U.S. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569392,00.html)

Nearly 5,000 people have reportedly died from swine flu since it emerged this year and developed into a global epidemic (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/23/health/main5413623.shtml)

Now wait, hang on a second…. surely an epidemic means that H1N1 is actually killing more people than regular flu? Surely it means its taking over, and surely it means that if you get it you’re likely to die?

Well lets look at another quote :

“Many millions” of Americans have had swine flu so far, according to an estimate he gave at a Friday press conference. The government doesn’t test everyone to confirm swine flu so it doesn’t have an exact count. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569392,00.html)

Something smells funny, and its not the swines!

European scientists and health authorities are facing angry questions about why H1N1 flu has not caused death and destruction on the scale first feared, and they need to respond deftly to ensure public support.

Accusations are flying in British and French media that the pandemic has been “hyped” by medical researchers to further their own cause, boost research grants and line the pockets of drug companies.

Britain’s Independent newspaper this week asked “Pandemic? What Pandemic?” (http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Disease/major_victory_with_swine_flu_scandal_191120090720.html)

These are just a few things I’ve found in my research. I think one thing people always tend to lack is perspective, especially when all you ever hear when you turn on the news is more reports about Swine flu deaths, but the perception is misleading.

If every smoking related death where reported worldwide we would have Around 5.4 million deaths a year worldwide.

How many people have died from H1N1 worldwide – nearly 5000

Drinking : 2 million a year vs H1N1 5000

Car accidents : 1.2 million a year

Child birth complications: More than 2 million babies and mothers die worldwide each year from childbirth complications.

Yes – people still drink, people still smoke, and you can still buy these products at nearly every shop in every country on this planet. Mothers still have birth, and people are born, however its worth noting at time of writing you are 400 times more likely to die at birth than dying from H1N1.

Think about that next time you shudder in fear from media panic.

Dear Sony and/or Adobe

About 18 months ago I bought a Sony Vaio VGN-AR41s. When installed with Vista home premium factory state, the notebook came with too much bloat ware to mention, but it did include at least 1 useful utility, Adobe PhotoShop Elements 5.0.  Since the laptop cost over $4300 dollars, I would have expected more to be honest.

Its now 18 months later, and I’ve done yet another clean install, this time I would like to use PhotoShop Elements, however neither Sony, nor Adobe bothered to include any installation media for Adobe PhotoShop Elements 5.0 because of this you have essentially put me, the customer in a position that is somewhere between a rock and a hard place.

I decided to save both Sony and Adobe the trouble of a support call, and decided I would visit Adobe.com to try and locate the install media, but after a while I searching I see that Adobe do not offer downloads of old versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements. Neither is there any mention of this software on the Sony site, neither Europe or World.

To resolve my issue that frankly I blame both Sony (for not including any install media with their products) and Adobe (for not providing any archived versions of products for download), I have decided to download and install Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 (Yes a fully functioning version!) This is the closest version I could find that relates to the product I have paid a premium for.

I have posted this decision publicly, because I feel it is the quickest resolution of the problem for all parties involved (a) Sony (b) Adobe (c) Me. If any Sony or Adobe representive is unhappy with the way I have dealt with this then contact me with details on how to obtain installation media for Adobe PhotoShop Elements 5.0.

“RE:” – yes the famous “RE:” you find all too often in email subject fields, but what does it really mean?

Re: means “in reference to” or “in regard to”. It is from the Latin word “Res”, meaning “thing”. You’ll also commonly see Re: in the subject lines of e-mail messages.

To understand how “RE:” became so well known and used, we have to take a step back in time to when it was originally invented and put to good use. In these times, paper was the most common means of business communication. Paper letters often did not contain pre-formatted fields for subject, body, from, etc. Even after the type writer was invented, handwritten mails were a perfectly acceptable way to communicate in business. This is pretty strange for most new school IT geeks who have almost forgotten how to hold a pen. I think it would almost be rude to write a handwritten letter to your boss. It would indeed be interpreted as an an all too personal interaction.

pre-defined fields were first introduced in print templates, after this Faxes naturally included them, Email as a protocol has at least the  From;Subject and Body fields. Lets pay closer attention here to the subject field.

You wouldn’t exactly start writing an email subject with the word – subject, would you? Or how about the email body, its unlikely you would even think about starting the main email body with “body:”. This would be silly, there is no reason to define the field to the reader, because the field is already defined. Everything in the subject line is the subject, in the same way everything in the body field is the body. If you take this one step further then since the introduction of predefined templates, there is no need to start an email subject with “In reference to”  because without a doubt whatever is in the subject line will dictate whatever is coming in the body field.

Why then do we continue to use our good friend “RE:”, I was amazed to find out a great deal of european non english speakers actually believe the meaning of “RE:” is reply.

The older generation, and those who have retained their business manners usually always start a business related email with RE, but its really totally obsolete, and has lost its practical function of setting standards on paper which was usually blank, containing no predefined fields. Since email now contains these fields, there is no reason to continue the use of “RE”. To many of us it feels informal starting a business email with anything other than RE:. I would especially still continue using “RE” if the email concerned a matter of employment.

I am also baffled at the younger generation / non english speakers who have adapted the meaning of “RE:” to now mean “Reply:” without questioning its real meaning, or offically informing the old school politer generation of the reuse of “RE:”, I’m baffled because they must think a great deal of well spoken business men are being silly starting every email with a reply.

What are your thoughts on this – should we continue to use this old RE: standard, rebrand it as offically meaning “Reply:” or ditch it completely.

These mails are worth a mention, yes the ones that flow directly to your junk email, and at first were amusing, now you look at them in disbelief, are these emails still going round? Its 2008, surely no one is that stupid to actually believe they have won a national lottery without a ticket?

The emails claim the following amazing stakes: You’ve won 1 million or more UK pounds, this can also be a US based prize, but rarely would you find livestock, food or goods are offered, usually its hard currency, and lots of it.

Besides never having entered any national lottery, you’re still expected to believe that the government is willing you pay you over a million of its hard earned money, even though you do not actually reside in that country. Can you imagine the outrage of real lottery players, should this claim even for a 2nd turn out to be true.

Surely even a blundering idiot can work out that it is indeed nothing more than a time wasting scam, which leads me to the next point. Notice the reply back emails… never an official domain, more than likely a free service such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail. EG: johnson.smith85@yahoo.es;

The last question I guess is motivation. I can only think of 3 reasons why anyone would still be willing to waste their time sending out such utter rubbish as this unbelievable trash.

1. Someone/Something (possibly a rare type of cockroach from the planet Nurtard ) wants to entice you to part with your money in some shape/way or form

2. An investigative agency, possibly debt collection is looking for you, and wishes you to respond to initiate some form of communication.

3. Some pimple pasted white skinned teenager thinks he/she might be pulling off the prank of the century if they can get any sort of response.

I would like to imagine that if you are smart enough to use a mouse and a keyboard you are exempt from falling for such a low witted scheme, but obviously there must be at least some idiots out there who seem to take part in this, or else the fad would simply die, if you are such an idiot, please leave a comment.

It all started while watching a YouTube video on the Dvorak keyboard layout, you see apparently the QWERTY keyboard layout is so badly designed that by switching to Dvorak you do your fingers a massive favor, and boost your keyboard productivity, well that’s the short version.

I then did some research into the very best alternative to QWERTY and came across a layout designed in 2006 that is an outstanding keyboard design, designed with the help of some powerful algorithms, its called Colemak, well I quickly downloaded it and got started learning the layout through a series of typing tutors.

Now I must tell you I am not a slow typer, I’ve been a programmer since forever and a day, and before that I was still using computers in some way or form. All the computers I have ever used have had a QWERTY layout, so my motivation was to gain the benefits claimed in the marketing material from the makers of Colemak and Dvorak, proven less overall finger movement and greater comfort while typing, increased speed.

I pressed on for days trying to learn the layout, the whole experience felt like trying to run with a broken leg. I thought that soon the sensation would pass, but it never did. 4 days into the experiment I have decided to switch back to using the best layout I can think of, and that’s QWERTY. Unfortunately I am just too in the mold to change, as as they say öld habits die hard”.

QWERTY is the layout I have been raised on, I started using it at 9 years old, I am now over 30, in amongst the usage, I have adopted my own unique hand position, and I have a very good keyboard and mouse relationship with this layout, frankly said – I am very happy with it. I didn’t start out learning touch typing, I have a unique style that I have adapted for my own comfort and speed. I guess, I switch positions depending on if I am typing or programming.

There is more to a switching a keyboard layout than simply just learning new key positions, this is something Dvorak and Colemak marketing fails to mention, let me explain – in amongst your comfortable typing routine are many little shortcuts and key/hand combinations that you acquire over time, lets just refer to them as habits, however these are the useful type of habits, along comes Colemak, and all those little things you do, those productivity boosters, all those little time savers are all wiped out completely, and you end up having to relearn them, much like a brain damaged invalid, you find yourself stumbling through the keyboard. It feels like you’ve had all your brain cells removed, except 2. And you are relying on these 2 brain cells to tell you which key to press next. Sometimes the brain cells give you an immediate answer, and sometimes they don’t.

But what if you have never learnt QWERTY, would it be beneficial for our youth to make the swop? This is perhaps the most valid question I can think of. Colemak might be superior in design, but QWERTY is just too ingrained for it to be replaced. Its the globally accepted layout, and thats the way it will always be. It makes far more sense for youngsters to learn QWERTY, even if it’s not the best, it is what is being used. Toy laptops all possess QWERTY layouts, and I don’t think you’ll find Colemak coming to the shops anytime soon.

This is unfortunately another example of technology being implemented not because its the most efficient, but simply because it would be too difficult to get everyone to change to a new system.

About 8 years ago I came across Tempest for Eliza, the web site here: http://www.erikyyy.de/tempest/

Actually even though the original development is quite old now, its still an interesting concept, and is a great example of what’s possible with a little creativity.

Firstly let me state that I do not hate Microsoft, nor am I anti Microsoft. I am a Microsoft Developer who earns a living from developing around Microsoft related technologies. I have loads of respect for all the developers at Microsoft who have been involved in the production of modern wonders like the C# language or for example Visual Studio 2005. Having said this I despise the way Microsoft market their products, this has nothing to do with the great efforts of all the honest people who work at Microsoft, however a lot of Microsoft dealings are blatantly dishonest,  as I am sure Apple will gladly back this statement, having just had their OSX operating system pirated by Microsoft and renamed Vista.

Over the years I have noticed the following predictable patterns Microsoft use to market their products, all of which are designed to make you and I spend more and more money on Microsoft products. Its kind of sad that we trust and respect this company called Microsoft who are proving themselves to be a greedy lot out to maximize profits from the masses.

These are the Marketing Patterns:

Releasing unnecessary version upgrades

Microsoft love doing this, and there is NO doubt that they are in the business of releasing unnecessary upgrades for their existing product line, so that you and I will be forced into a Mr Jones Corner. They use this basic marketing ploy to trick the good people of the world, because people are already conditioned to the concept that newer = better, and everyone likes to have the newest software and the best software installed. The reverse is also true, and being up to date is key to being current in this industry. IT experts are expected to be modern and not old fashioned. Companies using Microsoft technologies, communicate via email, as the general mass upgrades even the people who are wise enough to only upgrade out of necessity are eventually forced to upgrade their programs to maintain file level compatibility with the rest of the upgrade sheep.

A perfect example of this is the Microsoft Office Product. I am sure that most folks will agree, the Office 2000 product is still by today’s standards a perfectly fine product and the versions that have since emerged : XP, 2003 and 2007 somehow all tend to do the exact same thing. With the exception of 2007 which actually looks a little prettier on your screen. Its worth mentioning here that the new docx, xlsx , pptx formats are not readable by previous versions of the Office Product.

The point is that Microsoft market each release as a revolutionary way to manage your office, and each release without fail, turns out to do the exact same job as the release before. The new and advanced features are hardly ever used by the small, medium and large sized business users out there.

Naming products by date or terms that will expire.

For example Windows 2000, Office 2007, Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Have you noticed that the free technologies are versioned for example .net version 3.5 or Windows Live Writer 1.0. This is not always a clear cut truth, sometimes the rule is ignored as per Windows XP and Windows Vista. Perhaps newer products will see Microsoft steering clear of this cheap trick.

What about the Windows Millennium scam. How long did that release last – just for the turn of the Millennium right? Please ask yourself why that was, do you believe it was because the release quality of Millennium was not quite up to scratch? Perhaps at the time you thought that version would be the last to ever be released by Microsoft, and they would instead start fixing Windows like they should have years ago? Don’t you think that possibly Microsoft could have decided to release an incomplete beta to the public, accepting that the people inclined to purchase Millennium would once again be inclined to purchase XP pretty soon, and in upcoming months.

Withholding upgrades for future releases.

This is not just a theory, based on the above 2 points, and what we know about Microsoft, and also by researching the upgrade new feature lists for known Microsoft products, Microsoft could well be in the practice of holding onto already developed enhancements for future releases.

A quick example: Lets say that 2 great product enhancements are discovered, developed, tried and tested. Microsoft will break up the enhancements into 2 separate version upgrades, charging a fee to consumers for each upgrade. Please do some research into product features of Microsoft products, and you will find cases of this infringement on our rights to maximize their profits.

The deciding factor is competition, in markets where the competition factor is low or non existent, it would make business sense for Microsoft to apply this tactic, however where competition to Microsoft is perceived, naturally Microsoft cannot afford to hang onto important upgrades, and try earnestly to win the race to get these enhancements to the marketplace.

Signing us up for free testing programs.

At first glance Customer Experience Programs and Make Windows Better Programs appear to actually benefit us (the paying consumer), however a closer inspection of this methodology reveals Microsoft’s sinister motives behind such programs.  These are nothing more than brain schemes aimed at maximizing the base profits of Microsoft and Microsoft actually do away with whole testing departments thanks to our participation in these programs.

Don’t you think Microsoft, one of the wealthiest companies on the globe should put an end to getting us the PAYING CONSUMER to test their products, and instead create more jobs globally,  by employing more testers. and ACTUALLY properly testing their products.

The very fact that these programs exist show that Microsoft do not fully test their products.

They prey on the fact that we(the consumers) are so frustrated with our Microsoft Experiences that we will do ANYTHING to assist poor old Microsoft to make the whole experience better. Do you actually believe that the feedback you provide will somehow assist in the hastening of the development of computer operating systems, and by providing your participation you will actually see operating systems get to a point where they are released bug free and 100% working? I somehow doubt this very much, this sort of participation really shows how brain washed we are already. We not only pay huge fees for an incomplete product but we will gladly pay Microsoft to take on the role of a tester, AND PAY THEM FOR THIS HONOR. We will gladly help to fix the bugs so that the next version of windows or the product will contain no more bugs. But at the next release junction we are once again provided with a fresh wave of bugs, and once again are drafted into the testing role.

Let me remind you EVERY Microsoft Product is full of bugs at time of release.

Little do we know we are only enabling Microsoft to do away with the real test programs, Microsoft like a lot of companies are ignoring the test quality control phase, which results in a lot of frustration for the people who are using the software (and paying for it). Microsoft think they are really smart to have outfoxed us on this one (We pay Microsoft to test for them).

Releasing incomplete products (unpolished), and publishing lies on how great the product is.

Windows Vista says it all. 95% of Vista users feel they have been ripped off by Microsoft, having purchased a product that at first was hardly useable. A product that was so incomplete at the time of release, service pack development began the day after the release.

Another important fact behind Windows Vista is the “Wow Factor” Marketing. And the real user experience is quite far from “Wow staggering”, actually the whole Vista Experience feels like what would happen if you integrated Power point slides into the XP UI. The experience is also slower than XP. So how can this be good for computing in general? Please visit www.YouTube.com and tell me how many positive Windows Vista videos you can find.

These are just a few patterns I have noticed, if you notice anymore, please post some comments, thanks.