Today is Memorial Day in the US.  It is a great time to get outside and do those outdoor things that a cold spring has held us back from.  It is a time for grilling, playing games and spending time with family.

However, it is “Memorial” Day.  We are supposed to remember something on this day.  We are supposed to remember those who had fought and died for our freedoms.

In addition, we should remember Our Creator Who gave us the ability to win and keep those freedoms.

These are things we should never forget on any day.

This is a SR338455A58Z post.

Synopsis:

The winds of change are blowing all around the world. Political uprisings and upheaval in all across the Middle East are garnering worldwide attention. The same kind of thing has been happening in China, not that any outsiders are allowed to see, however. The rise of the Internet as a universal communication tool has aided dissidents around the world in organizing protests and political activities, but the Chinese government isn’t having any of it.

Read more: http://technorati.com/technology/article/googles-gmailunder-attack-in-china-again/

OK, the “Geek Monday” is a bit tongue-in-cheek, as it isn’t my intent to have a regular Geek Monday like we have Geek Fridays.  However, there may be others wondering what to do now.  If you get your blog back, or even if you don’t, how can you move it from Blogger’s blogspot.com web hosting to one of your own.

I’m assuming in this exercise that your blog has real content; that is, I’m assuming it is not really a spam blog (“splog”).  Google’s algorithm for detecting spam is seriously flawed, and the review process cumbersome to deal with.  While the former is almost always going to be a given, combined with the latter makes it an exercise in frustration when the false positive is on your particular blog.  The below steps probably aren’t going to interest you anyhow if it is a splog because, frankly, it involves real work and some desire to keep real content and probably isn’t going to be of interest to the leeches in our society called “spammers”.

Some of this may lean towards the technical, therefore I’m going to give a standard disclaimer that this is not a “one size fits all” situation.  Different web hosting services have different ways of doing things.  They are different.  That’s why they are different companies.  Otherwise, they’d all be the same.  Same with domain name registrars (be sure they are ICANN accredited).  Shop around.  Check the Better Business Bureau (BBB, which can be found at bbb.org).  Check resellerratings.com.  Do a Google search for their name and the words “review”, “scam” and “rip-off”.  This blog is not responsible for anyone’s lack of due diligence.  The below procedures may change in an instant with a change of technology, merger of companies or a cataclysmic event.  Following all procedures to the letter do not guarantee any measure of success, SEO rating, health and wealth of the blogger, sanity of said blogger or a healthy marriage and family.  This blog is not responsible for loss of SEO or income for moving blogs, loss of leg or limb or loss of life resulting from following said instructions.  It is highly suggested that individuals pull out their brains, find the Common Sense button and ensure it is on, then firmly dock the brain back into the head before proceeding.  You have been warned!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Well, if you are shopping for gadgets this time of year, be aware of some fuzzy marketing specs.  While marketing has always manipulated numbers to make their products look good, reading the Gizmodo article on why most hardware specs are BS (they don’t say the polite “BS”, though) makes you realize they have taken stretching the truth to a whole new level.  Actually, I’d call it out and out lying.

Will We Choose "awe" or "shock and Awe"?

I have published a new article on Associated Content.  I know it has been some time, but in memory of 9/11, I felt it was important.  Here is an excerpt:

Religions in various forms have struggled with the issue of evil.  In particular, why does evil happen to people who seem good?

9/11, now officially known as Patriot Day, was a defining moment, particularly for Americans everywhere.

Time and chance happen to all (Ecc 9:11; cf Lk 13:1-5).  Like those who were killed at the Tower of Siloam in Jesus’ day, those who died in 9/11 weren’t necessarily any more evil than anyone else.  However, notice Jesus’ warning, "but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (vv 3, 5).  That is just what happened 40 years later when Jerusalem was destroyed.

So, is there a lesson in all of this, or is it all just meaningless and random acts of evil? What are good people to do?

I want to point out some "coincidences" on this ninth anniversary of 9/11.

You can read the rest here.

Yes, I am still going over my iPhone, learning new bits every day.  At the same time, it is stories like “The dirty little secret about Google Android” on TechRepublic.com that make me even more glad I did not go with a ‘Droid.  The main reason, if you recall, that I didn’t go with an Android was because it Skype gets queued up to be killed in order to free up memory after it gets put into the background.

The irony is that it appears, at least according to the article, Apple has as much with loosening up control of telecoms as Google, if not more.

Yes, that Apple.  Of course, even more ironic is that they did it using AT&T, the ex-monopoly.  Apple controls the phone, and AT&T controls the service (OK, that’s a bit of an oversimplification, but essentially true).

Don’t’ get me wrong.  I love open standards.  I was an OS/2 guy at one point, after all.  However, even I, like everyone else, need to get work done at some point.  For now, it appears that the iPhone and AT&T combination is what fits that need.

As a result of the “shambles” of what was the Open Handset Alliance, telecoms in the US are reconsolidating their base, which is bad for consumers (sound familiar?).

Of course, Apple is still a proprietary closed system, but at the moment it seems to beat out the chaos by separating the technologies of the device and the carrier.  Android was supposed to push that envelope even farther, but on an open platform.  It seems for now that it has been setback by the telecoms reverting to the old model and putting proprietary software on the devices.

When you look at why it is that open standards have not lived up to their promise, though, the fault seems to rest squarely upon Google.  Google has come from behind, only to wind up being yet another arrogant service provider.

For example, can you say “Google customer service” without busting out laughing?  Since I am on Blogger, I am well aware of Google’s “customer service”, if it can even be called that.  No phone calls.  No emails.  Use their blog and get ignored for the most part, except by other users looking for the same answer.

Of course, Blogger is a free service.  However, the problems are not limited to free services:

When asked about customer support for Goggle Apps, Aisle 7′s Harris says: "They hardly offer any. Their policy is unless the service is down you can’t call them."

Bristler says he was nearly driven crazy by what he calls Google’s "arrogant and complacent" view of customer service.

~ O’Neiil, Shane. (11 Aug 2010). Four Reasons Not to Use Google Apps.  Retrieved on 3 Sep 2010 from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203098/four_reasons_not_to_use_google_apps.html?goback=.gde_126258_member_27070554.

It’s a shame, really.  I sometimes think Google has become its own worst enemy.  True, it isn’t as bad as Yahoo was prior to the Microsoft bid, but still there are some that are up in arms over some of Google’s practices and lack of support.

Frankly, I don’t think the open standards issue is dead.  However, this appears to be a pretty serious setback, and it might be unconscious for a while.  I expect that another concerted effort will appear to move more towards a European model where you actually own your own phone (what a concept, huh?), and you can connect to any carrier.  Aside from the CMDA/GSM issue, I consider this a Good Thing ™.

However, it appears that it will have to happen without Google.

Commodore USA announces the PC64, an Atom-powered PC in a replica Commodore case — Engadget

Last week, I was kept busy by one particular client.  Their network drive failed, so I diagnosed that it wasn’t getting power.  They had backups going, but they did not know where they were.

So, I took the drive home and started to literally break it apart.  Why they would make a drive that you have to break the cover on to get to the inside is beyond me, frankly.

I didn’t get quite that far, though, as the client called back.  They got ahold of the person who’d setup the backups, and they wanted me to get the data from the backups.  Luckily, the backups were Acronis, so I am familiar with the software, and everything should be fine.

So, another trip.  I fire up Acronis.  The latest good backups were 2009.  All of them since had been failing.

So, back home, break the drive, pull the data, put it onto the new drive.  And, another trip.

Well, there are some lessons to be learned here:

1. A backup plan is only good if everyone knows the location of everything.  They may not know the technicalities, but at least know what drive(s) things are on.

2. A backup plan is only good if it is reviewed regularly.

3. A backup plan is no good if no one knows the backups are failing.

4. A backup plan is no good if no one knows if you can restore the data reliably.

5. A backup plan that cannot be found is only as good as the paper it is written on.  In addition, if there is no paper, its relative worth still holds.