Chromebooks

I've been a professional computer guy since the late '60s. Obviously, I have seen a ton of changes. What used to cost millions of dollars and take up thousands of square feet of air-conditioned space now fits in your pocket. I've worked or played with most iterations of these technical advances. Even though I'm now retired from the IT industry, I still play around with technology. I have a couple of laptops, a couple of tablets, numerous smartphones and smart home stuff. 

This post is about my latest technology purchase, a Chromebook. For the average home user who wants a real keyboard and a decent size screen, this is the way to go. A Chromebook looks like a standard laptop. For the most part, Chromebooks are cheaper, often faster, and simpler than a Windows or Mac PC. Software and security updates are automatic, seamless, and current. They typically have better battery life. The one I bought (on sale) was $199, has a 10-hour battery and weighs about 2¹⁄₂ lbs. Yes, a Chromebook is a niche device but all technology fits a niche. There are no devices that fit every need or everyone. The Chromebook's niche is pretty big. 

The simple explanation of a Chromebook is a laptop that only runs the Chrome browser. That was never completely accurate and it becomes less accurate as time goes by.  Chromebooks run ChromeOS instead of Windows or macOS or Linux. Because ChromeOS is a lightweight operating system, a Chromebook can provide good performance on less powerful, cheaper hardware than Microsoft or Apple. Because most of the computing happens on the web or cloud, there is also no need for a big local disk or SSD on the devices. 

Here is the bottom line question. If you fire up your PC or Mac then immediately open a browser like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or some other, then stay in that browser almost all day or session, a Chromebook may be for you. Even if you leave your internet browser on occasion to run a native Windows or Mac program, a Chromebook may still be for you. Many of those native PC or Mac programs have a web or Android app versions or equivalents. If not that, maybe a Linux program. ChromeOS can run all of those. The Linux stuff is slightly more complicated but not too daunting especially if you have a techie friend or family member to set it up. 

There are some industry-specific or niche software products that only run on Windows, macOS, or Linux but most home users don't need them.  

While I've only been using my Chromebook for a couple of weeks, I have found zero times I needed to fire up my Windows laptop to perform a task. Like most of you, I stay in the Chrome browser most of the day. I'm typing this in the Blogger web application. I have installed a couple of Android apps which ChromeOS uses by default in place of the web version. I have also turned on Linux and downloaded one app so far. That app is GIMP, mostly to test Linux and also because I have used GIMP to edit photos in the past. I suspect 95% of ChromeOS home users will never need to mess with the Linux option. 

While I can do most of my daily tasks on a phone or tablet, I also need a real keyboard. Partly because I do a fair amount of writing, like this blog, and partly because I grew up with real keyboards. First with typewriters (kids, ask your grandparents what a typewriter is), then on keypunch machines and computer consoles, then on computer terminals, later on, PCs and laptops, and finally on my new Chromebook. There are also times when a bigger screen is preferable. 

If you are in the market for a new PC, you owe it to yourself to check out Chromebooks. You may be able to get a cheaper, faster, lighter device that meets your needs. Do a little research, check with friends, run by a Best Buy and test drive one. 

wjh

When Did Ignorance Become Desirable?

We live in a country where ignorance seems to be a desirable trait. Sometimes even celebrated. We've all heard someone say "I'm not a (fill in a type of expert), but I believe (or know) the opposite of the experts." Another oft used phrase is "I don't use or know anything about that new-fangled technology". They then laugh about it. Sometimes they make up some stupid example to prove their point. 

Of course, this trend has been exasperated by the GOP in general and Trump in particular. They deny climate change. They repeal environmental regulations. They push old and outdated industries. 

In the private sector, parents refuse to vaccinate their children. They believe a former Playboy Playmate over the thousands of doctors and health scientists. This is an especially egregious and selfish denial since many people cannot be vaccinated because of age, allergies, compromised immune systems, or major disease. Those people depend on the healthy population to keep diseases at bay. 

There is a trend towards ignoring actual facts. If the facts don't line up with a person's beliefs or opinions, they can be ignored. It matters little how much factual evidence there is. In the same vein, any media or news organization that a person disagrees with is wrong, even fake news. Again, it makes no difference how many facts back up the story. 

I have probably mentioned this before but I spent my entire adult working in the information technology profession. I wrote and maintained many computer programs and operating systems during that time. I was often disappointed that those programs didn't perform as I wanted but rather exactly how they were written. Opinion and wishes had no effect. 

It is the same with facts. By definition, a fact is true. Of course, mistakes are made and sometimes what is thought to be a fact is later proved wrong. At that point, it is no longer a fact. Interpretations of facts can differ. Facts can be manipulated to prove a viewpoint by withholding some of the facts, emphasizing only those that support the view and other techniques of persuasion. Regardless, a fact cannot be outright denied. That is a lie. An example of a fact is that it was 65° yesterday. An opinion or interpretation is that it was warm yesterday or maybe it was cool. The opinion is open to debate, the actual temperature isn't.

This premise becomes even more convoluted in our legal system. Something can be wrong but not illegal. It can be illegal but not provable. Even then, there are facts. It is the only interpretation that differs. 

As the saying goes, you get to have your own opinion, you don't get to have your own facts.

Research the issues of our times. Ignorance is not bliss, it is ignorance.

wjh

Climate Change

My biggest problem with climate change deniers is, if they are wrong and we continue to pollute and abuse the environment, we may be doomed. If on the other hand, those who embrace climate change are wrong, there is no longterm harm done. Their programs to slow, halt, or reverse the effects of man on the climate have no real downsides.

Some of us are old enough to remember when air pollution, especially in major cities, was pretty common. Los Angeles actually did have a "brown LA haze". My hometown of Jacksonville often had a terrible stink from the paper mills. The DFW area still has ozone alert days but not as many. I'm sure many of you can remember other areas where air pollution was a problem. 

The climate change deniers claim that the measures needed to reduce carbon emissions are financially crippling. That financial strain will be more severe for the US than others, particularly China and India. In fact, the renewable power industries create thousands of jobs. The technology research also has benefits in other industries. Solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, thermal, and other energy sources are already competitive with most fossil fuels. Coal is no longer financially viable for new plants and most older coal plants have been or are being shuttered. The biggest problem with the new energy sources is the lack of infrastructure to get the energy from where it is produced to where it is consumed. We have been building pipelines and railroads to deliver coal, oil, and gas for decades. Our solar and wind generation sites are new and not as well connected. 

The scientists and climate change believers have mostly done a terrible job of convincing the populace of the real dangers. The main problem is that it is complicated and slow moving. The raw data is solid and mostly undisputed. The problems arise when the historic and current data are put into the numerous models. It is almost impossible to precisely predict when, where or how much that the climate change will affect the Earth in general and specific locations. It is also difficult or impossible to determine what percentage of our current warming is due to mankind and what percentage is normal climate fluctuations. It is not impossible to measure and predict trends.

We also have the alarmists and doomsday faction who think the world will end next week if we don't stop all carbon emissions immediately. They are no more useful to the discussion than the climate change deniers. Hyperbole is very rarely useful or convincing in the long run.

As usual, those in the middle of the discussion have the best chance to come to a workable agreement. Those who question (not deny) climate change must be willing to accept that the data indicates our global temperatures are rising. They must also be willing to accept that the polar ice caps are shrinking and the oceans are rising. Those are provable facts from measurements and photographs. The debate might be about what caused this and is it a trend or a climatic cycle. It can also be debated what part man played in this. 

Neither side can continue to summarily deny science that does not fully support their views. Any study funded by a person, group or institution that has a financial or political stake in how we deal with climate change must be taken with many grains of salt and skepticism. That goes for studies funded by the fossil fuel industry, by alternative energy companies, and even by the Sierra Club. Claims about the benefits of "clean coal" by the coal industry are suspect, just as the benefits of wind power by a wind turbine company are. 

As I've mentioned in other opinion pieces about current behavior and its effect on the future. Except for maybe nuclear war, none of these issues will directly affect me. I'm too old for climate change to destroy the planet before I'm gone. I do have children and grandchildren. I would like them to have a long, healthy, and happy life. I hope they don't look back on our generation and blame us for ruining the environment and wonder what in the hell we were thinking.

Let's give cleaner energy and other anti-pollution measures a chance. What could it hurt?

wjh

Net Neutrality

As part of the Republicans march to eliminate every regulation that big business opposes, we move to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). They are about to eliminate one of the pillars of the open internet. A practice that has been in place since the inception of the internet.

That pillar is net neutrality. Many people have no idea what that means or how it affects then. Simply put, internet providers like your cable or phone company can not discriminate against or favor any content. They can't charge more or less for providing Netflix over a local startup content. They also can't throttle or favor one content provider or website over another. All traffic is treated the same. 

The technicalities are more complicated, but once the content is on the backbone internet, it is all treated exactly the same. Getting the traffic onto or off of the backbone is where different levels of service have always been allowed although. It is the "last mile" or last 50 ft. or the cell network that we pay for. Netflix and Google have a need to dump mass quantities of data onto the internet backbone, so they have huge and numerous network pipes to do that. On the other hand, I have a TV, phone, tablet and PC which don't require huge bandwidth so I pay less for my connection. 

I realize that this is a technical issue and most people don't understand or care about the issue. You will care once net neutrality is eliminated. Internet providers such as Comcast, AT&T, Time-Warner and others will be able to discriminate. They can charge more, prioritize, throttle or maybe even refuse content. An example would be Netflix. Many of the big internet providers also provide content that is delivered over their infrastructure. Either their own or on their cable/satellite TV services. So, they give priority to their own content and provide it for free. Netflix content get's throttled unless they pay a ransom. Netflix will pass that increased cost onto its customers. Will the internet providers reduce your cost because Netflix or YouTube are paying more? Of course not. 

There are other potential problems. Small startup companies may not be able to pay extra or may not get volume discounts to be able to compete with the big boys. 

Net neutrality gives everybody a chance. The big guys and the small fry. It's elimination only favors the big internet service providers. It is a typical Republican deregulation move. The big corporations profit and the consumers pay. The FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, is a former Associate General Counsel for Verizon. One of the companies that will profit from the elimination of net neutrality regulations. Enough said. 

wjh

Kroger Automation

A few weeks ago Kroger updated the software on their self-checkout stations. They are very annoying. By the time I can attach two reusable bags to the frames, it asks 5 or 6 times "are you using your own bags?". The attendant now has to come to your station and scan their badge to approve beer & wine purchases. It announces the price of each item and immediately tells you to place the item in the bag. On produce, when you enter the PLU # or name, it repeats every number or letter you key in. It repeats your total bill when you hit the "pay now" button and then proceeds to give excruciatingly detailed instructions on how to check out. Of course, Chatty Kroger Kathy reminds you to remove your bags and take your receipt before leaving, multiple times. Please and thank you apparently aren't in the new vocabulary.

I realize that the self-checkout kiosks need to verbalize some instructions, especially for newbies. But do they have to browbeat the customer and not allow even a nanosecond to elapse for an action to be completed before a scolding? "Resistance is futile."

I know, why don't I just go to a human cashier? The main reason is that I normally ride my bike to the grocery store. That means I have a limited amount of cargo space. It also means that the ride home is easier and safer if the load is balanced. It doesn't have to be exact, but I don't want 25 lbs. in one sack and only a bag of chips in the other. I might tip over. Cashiers and baggers have no clue about that. They are used to putting just a couple of items into those plastic bags. Besides balance, when you load up two reusable bags there is a good chance that the crushable stuff will wind up on the bottom. It gets even more crushed during a bumpy bike ride home. I don't have shocks on my bicycles.

So you see, I'm stuck between two dilemmas. I either put up with an annoying automated bitch or less than competent bagging.

The old self-checkout software was OK, only annoying at times, not always. I wonder how many marketing, design, and psychology geniuses worked on this new improved customer interface? Or maybe they just let the antisocial geek programmer in the back of the IT department write it without any input. Either way, I'm sure nobody involved with the upgrade actually uses self-checkout.

I fully realize that this is a first-world problem but hey, I live in a first-world country.

wjh

Windows 10 Second Impressions

When I last left you, I was just a few days into playing around with Windows 10. Since then I have continued to play with it. I am still not enamored with it although it is not terrible. I have used Win 10 probably a little more than expected because I am having problems getting Linux loaded on my new HP Pavilion x360. To be honest I haven't spent much time researching those problems. I have a little lack of incentive since I still have a working Linux Mint system. I also have not done extensive or structured testing on the Win 10 system, just day to day stuff that I normally do. I have mostly been using Chrome with a few detours to Firefox and Edge. I'll first address those items I outlined in my "First Impressions" post. Since the first review about two weeks ago there a have been a couple of automatic updates released by Microsoft. 

• Secondary (child) menus don't appear to still open behind primary (parent) menus so maybe this is either fixed or I haven't recreated the exact same scenario. Maybe fixed.
• Touchpad edge scrolling does still not survive a boot. Not fixed.
• I haven't noticed the mouse pointer disappearing in Chrome windows. Maybe fixed.
• Chrome is still slow, but so is most everything else.
• I haven's started Internet Explorer 11 again so I'm not sure about any past problems. I don't expect to ever use IE. I never did on Win 7 or 8 except to download Chrome.
• Cortana is still not great but seems better. To be honest I haven't used it much since Chrome is usually running and I can ask Google. It does respond to "Hey Cortana" now without having to click the microphone. She is still a little location challenged. When I ask what's the weather, I get the local weather. If I ask when is sunrise, I get search results for sunrise/sunset calendars, even if I ask when is sunrise in Bedford, TX. OK Google knows the correct answer.
• Touchscreen is hit or miss with Chrome windows. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Touchscreen does work in other apps, including other browsers. Not fixed.
• The task bar still does not appear sometimes when the pointer is dragged to the bottom of the screen. It also doesn't disappear sometimes when it should. Has happened with Chrome and Firefox. Not fixed.

• As far as I can tell there are still no extensions or add-ons for Edge browser. That makes it unusable for me. Not fixed.
• Long press on the "back" arrow still does not display a list of recent pages. So you still are limited to going back one page at a time. Not fixed.
• I haven't imported any bookmarks again so I don't know if they still get imported backwards. There is still no option to import an exported bookmarks file. Still no bookmarks manager either. Not fixed.
• I haven't noticed anymore clickable links that were not clickable. Fixed. 
• Google Play Music, My Music still shows blank tab in Edge (play.google.com/music/listen). Other play.google pages are OK but not my music library. Not fixed.
• Google Blogger now works. No unsupported browser warnings and in the edit mode I can switch between Compose (plain text) and HTML modes. The edit tool bar is also visible. Fixed.
• I haven't seen anymore pages that didn't render correctly so I'll say - Fixed.

Some new stuff cropped up as I puttered around Windows 10. I downloaded Firefox browser. It does not appear to run much differently from Chrome, maybe a touch faster. I have had a few problems with Firefox. It wants me to update Flash in order to run a few sites and wouldn't run the sites. I haven't done that yet. Chrome and Edge did not show that message and ran the sites just fine. I also had a problem with Secure Connections Peer Certification for some HTTPS: sites. Turned out to be a setting in my avast! security software. I didn't have that problem with Chrome or Edge. I don't know if it is a Mozilla or avast! problem or just an incompatibility. The problem and fix are documented on the Firefox support forum.

I cranked up Edge to see about some of my previous issues. See above about those. What I can say is that at least on  one night, Edge was running much faster with a couple of exceptions. Most sites and pages loaded pretty fast. Some of those notable exceptions were Google sites. Now I'm not saying Microsoft would purposely slow down a major competitor's sites but it is fairly easy to do. I remember back in the dark ages when I was coding operating system stuff we sometimes had to put timing tricks into our programs. We didn't do it to punish our competitors but rather to sync up devices that ran at different speeds and/or had no or limited buffering. OK, sometimes we would slow down some smart ass application programmer's stuff just to make him rethink his code and work harder. Never once his application got into production, then we helped tune it. I digress.

I have one more gripe. As I mentioned, Windows 10 has had some updates since it was released. The first one was very big. My problem is that I either missed the notification of the updates or there were no notifications. I learned they were there when I restarted or powered up my PC. Now updates are great particularly when they close security holes or fix usability bugs. They are not great when you need to fire up the PC and quickly get something done. It can take forever to download, install, reboot (maybe a couple of times) and load all the changes. I have mentioned this before, but I am spoiled by Linux. Every update is optional, you actually have to enter a password to install them. There are no giant cumulative updates with multiple components bundled together. Here's the other big advantage, with the exception of kernel updates, there are hardly any changes that require a system restart. I think it is about time for Microsoft to figure out how to upgrade software without these giant download, restart, update cycles. I hate when I want to quickly startup my PC and do something and it takes 10 or 15 minutes to boot because of Microsoft maintenance. Oh, and to make matters worse you get that "do not turn off your PC"  message on the screen. I have changed the option in the update & security settings to notify me to schedule a restart when system updates are available. Don't know if this will rectify the problem when I power on the PC. Just to make matters a little more exciting and unstable I also signed up for "Insider Builds". That's early receipt of updates and feature changes. Since Windows 10 is not my primary OS I figured it might be fun. 

Performance on Windows 10 seems to vary greatly from one day to the next. I know many things can contribute to that, some outside Windows, but I never noticed these fluctuations on other PCs or operating systems. I do tend to have the same apps and browser tabs open every day, so the workloads should be fairly consistent. I haven't done any in-depth analysis on this problem. 

Nothing has really changed since my first impressions. Windows 10 is probably OK if you just crank up a browser to do Facebook, Twitter and email. If you don't use any browser extensions you may even be able to use Edge. The other candidate for users would be those who like new, cutting edge, often aggravating stuff. If you need your PC to boot up and work as expected, maybe wait a little while longer before plunging into Windows 10.

Meanwhile, I'll be trying to figure out how to get Linux onto my HP x360. I can't blame those problems on Windows.

I'm sure there will be a third impression when things get better or worse with Windows 10.

Happy computing.

wjh

Windows 10 First Impressions

This is a short list of my impressions, problems and new features that I have encountered in my first few days with Windows 10. The PC is a brand new HP Pavilion x360 Convertible with a Celeron CPU, 4GB memory and 500 GB HDD. It came with Windows 8.1 installed. On Monday morning I got notification that the Windows 10 update was ready so I kicked it off. I did an upgrade, not a clean install. I didn't time it, but the upgrade took quite awhile. Although it seemed slow, there were no errors. When the upgrade completed, the system booted up fine and all my stuff was still there. 

To set a baseline, I had installed very limited software or loaded very few files to the 8.1 system. I did install the Chrome browser and avast! security/anti-virus. I was also not very impressed with the performance. I was not too concerned since I primarily use Linux Mint. I had not installed Linux since I knew the Windows 10 upgrade was imminent and I still have another working Mint PC. No sense complicating things. Once I am sure Windows 10 is solid, I will carve up the disk and install Linux Mint beside it. 

I will break this review up between Windows 10 and Edge, the new Microsoft browser.

Windows 10

• Windows 10 does not appear any faster than 8.1 although I have not done any formal timings or benchmarks.
• Some secondary (child) menus do not open on top (in front) of their primary (parent) menu. An example would be the advanced mouse properties window opens behind the Mouse & Touchpad Devices window.
• Speaking of the touchpad, edge scrolling is not a default. I selected that option in settings and clicked apply and OK. That turned the edge scrolling on but the change was gone after a boot.
• The pointer has disappeared at least twice in a Chrome window. If you move it around, the clickable fields will highlight and are indeed clickable. A restart of Chrome did not fix it. A reboot did bring back the pointer.
• Chrome in general is slow.
• Internet Explorer 11 showed as an unsupported browser in Blogger although it mostly worked. The "Preview" banner did not show when a post is previewed.
• "Hey Cortana" is no "OK Google". It fails to use location on some queries when it would be appropriate. 
• Cortana woke up a couple of times when I didn't ask her to. After reboot it didn't recognize any voice requests. Actually the microphone quit. Don't know yet if it's hardware or Win 10. It started working again, kind of. I have Cortana set to always listen but she doesn't. I have to click the microphone.
• Touch screen stopped working in a Chrome window. Couldn't scroll or click. I'm getting the impression that Windows 10 does not like Chrome or anything Google. Touchscreen still worked in other windows.
• Occasionally the task bar will not become visible (pop up). Minimizing or reducing the window on screen usually fixes problem. Again happens when Chrome is onscreen.
• This is just my prejudice, but the hotkey to change from one desktop to the next is ctrl+Windows+arrow, the ctrl+alt+arrow changes the orientation of the screen (landscape, portrait, right side up, upside down). The Windows and alt keys are right next to each other plus, ctrl+alt+arrow changes desktops in most Linux distros. Needless to say I have hit the wrong combination several times.

Edge

• Edge does not seem any faster than Explorer 11
• There are no extensions yet for Edge. That is a real problem. No password managers, Pocket or Evernote clippers, etc. Once you use a password manager you tend not to remember passwords especially if you have the extension generate them. I'm sure most of us have browser extensions we can't live without.
• Long press on the "back" arrow does not display a list of recent pages. You have to click the arrow to go back one page at a time.
• Bookmarks imported from Chrome were backwards. Bookmark toolbar, folders, and sites within folders were reversed. z-a not a-z. There is no bookmark manager and no option to import bookmarks from an exported file. You can manually move sites/folders on toolbar or in bookmark the list, but that is tedious. I saw some posts where people used the Chrome or Firefox bookmarks manager to resort their favorites into descending order prior to importing to Edge. Seems like a like a pretty poor workaround and a major gap in the Edge product.
• Clickable links on some sites/pages turned out to not be clickable. 
• Google Play Music, My Music shows blank tab (play.google.com/music/listen).
• Google Blogger does not work. Post edit pages show only HTML, not plain text input. No text edit tool bar displayed. There is no button to change between raw HTML and plain text. This is make Blogger unusable unless you are a real nerd. I know HTML and sometimes use the raw HTML view to fix something Blogger didn't interpret correctly but it is damn tedious to produce a whole post in HTML.
• A couple of web pages did not render correctly, at least the first try. The NWS forecast page was one (http://forecast.weather.gov/).

This is by no means a thorough or complete list of problems. I'll update any problems that I find a solution or alternative for. 

Overall Windows 10 looks better than Windows 8 and eventually will probably be OK. I like the return of the start button and the ability to open multiple desktops. It's about time for that feature. If you come from a Unix, Linux or Mac environment you are probably used to this feature. I first used it in the early 90's on Unix workstations so you see Microsoft was very slow to the table. 

If you need a stable system I would suggest sticking with what you are currently running for a little while longer. If you are like me and don't mind tinkering with glitches and/or have a another stable real or virtual environment go ahead and take the plunge. I plan to play with Windows 10 stand alone for a couple more days before installing Linux Mint beside it on the new HP.

Stay tuned.

wjh

Android ART vs Dalvik

Quickly, my take on Android's (Google) runtime ART vs Dalvik. This is not a bits & bytes scientific analysis, just my impressions. I just upgraded a Nexus 7 (2013) to Android 4.4.4. On that note, I think Google took their time on rolling out the OTA updates to Nexus devices.

I will confess that I am an old school big iron dinosaur. As such, I am prejudiced toward ahead of time compiled executables vs just in time compilers. Admittedly part of that prejudice is because back in the day it took several minutes to hours to compile a program. Even low level assembler code took time to assemble and link. There was no way we would compile or assemble our code every time we wanted to execute it. I realize that languages, compilers, hardware and everything else have changed. Still, in my view it has to be better and faster to invoke an executable module rather than code that has to go through a compile step before the device knows what to do with it. I also assumed that already compiled programs would be smaller than code that still needed compiling. I have not checked this.

So, what's my take on ART vs Dalvik? I switched to ART months ago. I switched for the reason mentioned above plus I tend, and like, to try new stuff. I almost immediately noticed that it took longer to install or update apps. That is not a big deal. Unless you are updating several apps and need the full resources of your device immediately. I have noticed that when upgrading Android OS that it takes much longer for the "optimizing apps" step. I've gone through two upgrades since switching to ART. This too is not a big deal. How often do you upgrade Android releases?

The one thing that bothers me is that, at least at this point, the ART option does not seem any faster at run time. Maybe this is because ART is not as mature as Dalvik. It doesn't seem to matter though since Google is slowly eliminating Dalvik, so ART better get better.

I will always try the new stuff and will usually let my prejudices/experience prevail. With the technology we have now, already compiled should always beat not yet compiled. Unfortunately the difference is negligible or non existent at this point. At least to old human eyes on a Nexus 7 (2013).

I'd be interested in hearing from real world folks who have gone through this change. Any significant improvements or degradation with ART?

wjh

Is Linux Mint 17 a Viable Windows XP Replacement?

I know some of you are reading this on a computer that is still running Windows XP. That would be the now unsupported and unsecure Windows XP. It has always had security holes, but now Microsoft won't even try to fix those bugs. On top of that, your XP PC is probably too old, too slow and too under powered to be upgraded to Windows 8 or even Windows 7. That means a new PC. I may have an alternative for you. If you are a home PC user who typically does email, Facebook, Google searches, Twitter, types a few documents, etc., you can probably get by with Linux. There are a couple of compelling reasons for Linux. The first reason is that it is free. Not only the operating system, but all the application software most people need. It is secure. It is constantly being updated. It requires far fewer CPU, memory and disk resources than the newer Windows releases.   

Linux Mint 17, code named Qiana, was released on May 31st. You can read the particulars here in the Linux Mint blog. I installed the 64 bit Cinnamon version on June 3rd and except for a couple of minor items, I have reinstalled my modifications and software. So far there have been no problems. The install of the vanilla version is simple and relatively fast. If you are a Windows user you will be amazed at the speed and ease. The most time consuming part is the download of the installation file which is about 1.3 GB. Once the file is downloaded and burned to a DVD or USB drive the actual installation can be done in less than 30 minutes. 

Everything you need for normal home PC use is included. There is the Firefox web browser, LibreOffice which can do almost everything Microsoft Office can do, music and video players and utilities. All the stuff you're familiar with on Windows and all free. There are thousands of other apps available if you need more stuff. 


I have been running Linux Mint since release 11 in 2011. I am extremely happy with the product. I know that "Linux" scares many people. With the progress of Linux in general and Mint in particular over the past few years it is no longer scary. You can even install Linux Mint and still keep your Windows XP system and have both on the same PC. Before installing Mint you can test it out by booting from a USB drive or DVD. 

Linux Mint 17 is a good choice because it is a long term support (LTS) release and will be supported and updated until 2019. If you are willing to take a chance and invest a little time, this may be a way to extend the life of your old PC. So if you are still running Windows XP or even Vista give Linux Mint a try. 

Even if you are not trying to extend the life of an old PC, Linux may hold some interest for you. I admit that I am a geek and for about  35 years I was a professional geek, so this stuff is fun for me. If you don't feel comfortable plunging into the Linux world on your own, you probably know someone who could install it and get your PC up and running. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

wjh

The Ebb and Flow of Technology

I've been around technology since circa 1970. I spent my entire career running and programming computers. Needless to say I've seen exponential changes and advancements in the technology. Except for maybe warp drives and transporters, computers and technology have advanced beyond what even the science fiction writers could dream of just a few years ago. It was an exciting career. The faint of heart or those who didn't embrace constant change need not apply. This post is not to detail the specific advancements and changes but rather to give my view of the general ebb and flow of the industry.

When I started my career in the late 1960's all the computers were huge and in a special room. The input data came in via punched cards, paper tape or magnetic tape. The output was punched cards, magnetic tape or printout. No one except for the computer operator ever touched a computer. There was no real time updating or instantaneous results. Applications were processed once a day at the most. Maybe by Wednesday morning you would know what happened on Tuesday by reading the printed reports. Computers and data processing were only for large companies.

Within a couple of years there were a few CRT terminals introduced into the landscape. These CRT's, aka dumb terminals, were big and expensive. Initially they were for inquiry only. The information available was usually a very limited subset of that on the printed reports from the night before. They could only display a few lines of text, no graphics or color. CRT's were few and far between. A department might only have one or two for several people. All the computing was still done in data center.

The next step was a wider distribution of CRT's with bigger screens and the addition of input data. Now people in the user departments could add, delete or edit data directly into the computers. Applications were still typically only updated once a day, usually overnight. Most everything was still centrally located with a very few terminals connected by primitive and slow phone line networks.

A couple of companies like Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) began selling smaller computers. These systems were for smaller companies or for specific applications. They were still company or department systems with maybe a terminal or two. Batch processing still was the mainstay.

The model of a central data center with dumb terminals prevailed until the mid to late 1980's. By then mini computers, personal computers (PC) and faster networks came on the scene. Computing began to migrate from the big central computer room towards the desktop. By the 1990's the dumb terminals were almost completely replaced by PCs. Many were still connected to a big computer for some information but once the data reached the PC it was reformatted, combined and manipulated by the desktop computer.

More and more processing was moved from the big mainframe computers to mini computers to small servers to desktop PCs. It seemed to be a race to get applications to the smallest computer possible. This was not necessarily the best strategy but it was the popular trend. I'm not sure when this trend reached its peak but it was probably in the early 2000's.

About then, companies started to move back towards more central control of data and applications. Instead of huge water cooled computers they installed several smaller servers, often in racks, networked together. Part of this was economics and part was for security and control.

In the past couple of years we have seen an explosion of cloud storage and computing. This is a more centralized approach than local servers or even company data centers. Now instead of a corporate computer there is a national shared data center run by Google, Amazon, Microsoft or any number of cloud companies.

As we move again to more centralized storage and processing we need less computing power at the desktop or our mobile device. So even though your smart phone is more powerful and has more storage than a PC of a few years ago it couldn't function without all the cloud data and computing. We will never go back to days of completely dumb terminals but we may be headed toward less smart desktop and mobile devices.

As networks get faster and cloud computing gets cheaper there will be less and less reason to compute or store locally. An example is the new prices for Google Drive storage. You can now get a terabyte of storage for $10/month. That's probably less than the electricity to power a local TB disk drive. Besides the storage you can use the cloud servers computing power to run you applications. This post is being written, edited, previewed and published in a web browser tab. None of it is stored or processed locally on my PC.

The Chromebook and Chromebox are today's equivalent of the old dumb terminal. They are dependent on a big computer center to do useful work. While everything has gotten faster, bigger (not physically), cheaper and more available we seem to be migrating back toward a centralized computing model. Will this be permanent or is it just the latest phase (fad) of computing technology?

There will always be ebb and flow from central to individual. Companies like centralized for control and security reasons. Individuals like decentralized and local for the freedom and customization. There is also the cost issue. Are a couple of big data centers cheaper than hundreds or thousands of smart desktops or individual devices?

Regardless of the technology or cost issues, never underestimate the effect of social trends. Many a CEO will adopt a new technology direction because it is the popular thing to do. He/she may have read in Forbes or seen on CNBC that everyone is now doing whatever the technology du jour is. It doesn't matter if that strategy is right or cost effective for their company. Individuals are the same. It's trendy to have a MacBook or iMac but if all you do is email and Facebook it is very expensive overkill. Get a Chromebook for about a $1,000 less.

So in the last 40 years we have gone from behemoth central computers with dumb terminals to mini computers to local servers to desktop PCs to web browsers to national cloud data centers with limited function desktop and mobile devices. Will we continue the shift toward centralized computing or will there be a trend toward individual computing? Technology advancements will have much influence on this but so will social pressure.

The pendulum always keeps swinging, it never stops moving. Only the direction is in doubt.

Got any predictions?

wjh

Nexus 7 2013 Review

by Bill Holmes

A quick review after a couple of days with the new Nexus 7 2013. This is not a detail review of the specifications or scientific study of the performance. Just my impressions of the new tablet.

I bought the original Nexus 7 2012 version when they first came out last summer. It was my first tablet. I have used it extensively almost every day for the past year. I used it to read all the news, comics, blogs, RSS feeds and social media sites that I previously kept up with on my PC. It was much easier than sitting at a desk or balancing a hot laptop on my lap or squinting at a small phone screen. I could sit in a recliner and read all the stuff I wanted to on my Nexus. Even short videos were OK to watch on the 7" screen.

When the new model was announced I decided to upgrade and give the old one to one of my sons. He is an iPhone user so I'm hoping he sees the benefits of Android and the choices in that community.

So, on with the review -

The new processor is noticeably faster. Everything is faster and smoother. It also seems to run a little cooler. No stop-watches or thermometers were used to verify this.

The new N7 is lighter and thinner. It's not a huge difference but it is noticeable. When I opened the new one and compared the weight with the old I thought, not a big deal. Then after holding it for an hour or so while reading stuff I realized it is a big deal. The lighter, thinner difference is a welcome improvement.

The speakers are better but the sound quality is still pretty bad. It's OK for a news or instructional video but for music, TV or movies use earphones. Better yet, Chromecast to a TV.

The notification LED is nice but not a big deal for me.

The rear camera is a very appreciated new feature. I know, holding up a 7" tablet to take a picture is a little awkward but sometimes that's what is handy. As is always said, "the best camera is the one you have with you".

I am getting significantly better battery life even though the new N7 has a higher def screen, faster processor and more memory. Not definitive yet but it's looking like almost twice as much. Some may be due to Android 4.3. I only updated my old N7 to 4.3 a few day before the new one came and obviously I haven't used it much since the new one came. So, maybe the old N7 is doing better. I'm very happy with the battery life on the new N7.

Again not scientific but it appears the WiFi radio is better. The other night at a softball game I was able to connect to a Lowe's public WiFi. I've been at that softball complex many times with my old N7 and never even detected the Lowe's WiFi. The connection was a little shaky but it did work. The Lowe's I connected to was across a couple of softball fields, a couple of soccer fields, a five lane highway and the huge Lowe's parking lot that has two restaurants between it and the sports fields. I also detected a school WiFi that is even a little farther away. I didn't connect to that, it's secured. So, either the N7 WiFi radio is better or Lowe's has a really powerful transmitter.

I was not particularly pleased with UPS and their delivery. It was a knock and drop. I was home but by the time I got to the door the delivery person was gone and the N7 package was at my door. I live in an apartment complex and I'm not thrilled with a $250 purchase being left at my door. Several people walk by every day, there are landscape and other workers around. It was delivered at 10:00 AM. If I was still a working guy, it would have sat outside (in 100° heat) for eight or more hours. The complex office is less than 50 yards from my unit. They gladly accept packages for tenants and keep them in an air conditioned room.

The transition to the new N7 was relatively painless. After a couple of Android updates you sign in to your Google account and your apps start downloading. That can take a while depending on the number of apps installed. I have around 100. You may need to enter user IDs and passwords the first time you open an app. You may also need to go into the settings on some and reenter your preferences.

The transition process gave me even more appreciation for the Google infrastructure. Most of the Google stuff works just like before on other devices. I also appreciate those apps that have a cross-platform sign in or are cloud based. They work just like before once you sign in. Those apps that don't have a user ID require some configuration effort. I had to reenter stuff on some weather sites and re-select all my favorite comics in my comics app. There were a couple of others too, but certainly not a big deal.

There are a couple of apps that don't seem to play well with the new N7 &/or Android 4.3. Nothing important. The ones I've encountered seem to have to do with the new screen resolution.

So, bottom line I'm glad I got the new Nexus 7. The old one is still a great device and I hope the offspring enjoys it. The new one is a significant upgrade. If you want/need a 7" tablet, get a Nexus 7. If you have a 2012 version, consider upgrading. If you want to save a few bucks, find a 2012 model. They're both very good devices.

wjh

Google Chromecast

by Bill Holmes

Monday 7/29 was my lucky day. Right after I installed the Android 4.3 OTA update on my Nexus 7 (2012) I went to the mailbox and found a Google Chromecast. Here's my first impression of the Chromecast.  

• The install is a breeze. I used the Chromecast setup app on the N7. I checked the setup website on my PC but got a message that maybe it wouldn't work because my OS isn't fully supported (I run Linux Mint). The install and setup took less than 10 minutes including fat fingering my WiFi password the first try.
  
• I didn't try Netflix yet, but YouTube and Google Play Music & Movies/TV work great on the N7. There is no way to cast from the Android Chrome browser yet.
• The Google Cast extension for Chrome on the PC is pretty much unusable for video. The video barely moves, more like a slide show, and the CPU usage goes through the roof. Despite the bad video the audio plays normally. The high CPU usage was mostly due to Chrome GPU processes. WiFi network usage wasn't too bad but then again not much video was actually being transmitted to the TV.
• When I chose full screen for the videos the TV screen would go black but the audio kept going. As soon as I exited full screen on the PC the picture reappeared. Don't know if this is a Chromecast or Linux problem. I tried several websites with video all with the same results.
• The video on the PC screen was also moving very slowly. It didn't seem to matter what quality I set in the Cast extension. 720p high bit rate, 720p and 480p are the three options. 
• Pandora and Google Play Music websites cast OK. The album cover graphics moved very slowly on Play Music when I expanded them to the large size. CPU usage is medium to low. I didn't try Play Movies/TV web sites.
• I kept losing the connection between the PC and Chromecast when I tried to display pictures stored in the cloud. Both Google Drive and SkyDrive had problems. The rendering of the pictures on both the PC and TV was extremely slow.
• The YouTube website has a Chromecast icon right under the video on the bar with all the other controls. This works great. It automatically goes to full screen on the TV. No delays and good quality video with insync audio. Since the streaming is handed off to between the cloud and the Chromecast dongle on the TV, there is no CPU usage problem on the PC.

This is only a first blush review but I think it's pretty clear that there is a huge difference between native support and just getting a Chrome browser tab cast to your TV. The Chrome browser Cast extension is a Beta release, so some problems are to be expected. I realize this is a bigger obstacle because the PC or mobile device, the TV and WiFi LAN are involved during the entire cast. There is work to be done. I'll be interested to see how other users do with different PC operating systems and WiFi networks. 

There will be other apps and websites that get native support. Pandora is already announced as coming soon. While Google Play Music & Movies/TV apps on Android have native support, the web sites don't yet have it. I'm hoping that the apparent popularity of the Chromecast will encourage many other app and website developers to add native support. I've already seen some articles that indicate this may already be happening.

Bottom line it was a worthwhile purchase. It's a bargain at $35 and I ordered mine while the three months free Netflix bonus was still in effect. That made the Chromecast price $11 plus tax and shipping. I bought it for YouTube access since that's one thing Roku doesn't stream. YouTube on the TV works great with the N7 and PC. I would have loved it if the casting from a Chrome browser tab worked but maybe some day. There are a lot of websites that have video I would like to watch on the big screen without using an HDMI cable between PC and TV. One small bonus was that the USB to Micro USB cable that came with the Chromecast is longer than the one that came with the Nexus 7. Since my TV has a USB outlet close to the HDMI connections I used the old N7 cable for that and now use the longer cable for charging the tablet. That gives me a little more slack for the times I need to charge and use at the same time. I also now have another AC to USB charging brick. Every little bit counts in the life of a geek.

wjh

My Life With Technology - Chapter 2.1

Southbound 

by Bill Holmes 

After spending a few weeks helping to get the remote data center up and running in Dalton, Georgia I was on the move again. I had a couple of weeks back in Atlanta and then I was off to Valdosta, Georgia. That was a move from one end of the state to the other. Dalton is on the Tennessee border and Valdosta is straight down Interstate 75 on the Florida border. In 1970 Valdosta had a population of approximately 30,000. There were an additional 25,000 in the county. I lived in Valdosta close to ten years and went through several technology and life changes. Let's get started with getting started.

I only made two trips to Valdosta before the permanent move. Although I'd driven by it many times while going between Florida and Atlanta, I never stopped except maybe for gas on the interstate. The first time I went with my boss to meet the data center landlord and a few of the officers at First National Bank of Valdosta. They were going to be our first and largest customer. I much later learned that the meeting was actually my audition. If the bank leaders didn't like me they had the option to ask for another data center manager. I guess I passed the test. My second trip from Atlanta to Valdosta was primarily to find a place to live. My third trip was the final move. 

I found an apartment that was a big upgrade from my studio in Atlanta. My new place had vaulted ceilings (actually an uninsulated roof), a separate bedroom, a real kitchen and an area for a dining room set. There was one problem, I didn't have any furniture. I had been living in a furnished apartment since college. I owned a small TV, radio, some kitchen stuff, towels, bedding and clothes. Everything I owned easily fit into my luxurious yellow 1968 Buick Opel which was just slightly bigger than a VW Beetle. To get started I bought a card table and two lawn chairs for my dining room set, one real chair for the living room, a couple of TV trays and a lamp. My parents had a folding bed that they gave me. I also did what every self respecting single guy did during that time. I acquired a couple of cement blocks and some 1 x 10 or 1 x 12 boards and made a TV stand. As you can see I was living the high life.

For the data center we leased the second floor of what had been the FNB Valdosta building. The bank had built a new building two blocks down the street that had a parking lot and drive-in teller windows. The first floor of our building was occupied by a stock brokerage. The landlord was the manager of that brokerage. Our space was about twice as big as we needed but I think there had been some good old boy dealings involved plus it was probably cheap. Second floor office space in downtown Valdosta was not in high demand. At one time our space had been the bookkeeping department, the employee break room, a bathroom, some storage and the board room for the bank. The old board room had wood paneling and plush gold carpeting. We didn't even use that room at first. I had a few weeks to get the office ready. We had to have electrical and HVAC work done. The bank had recommended vendors  for those jobs and we followed those recommendations. We had to have the data line and regular business telephone line installed. I set up an account with the local office supply store. First National Bank of Atlanta (FNB) sent us surplus office furniture and a keypunch machine. The IBM computer equipment and the specialized supporting equipment, supplies and forms were ordered through FNB's purchasing department. I also had to interview and hire the staff and a janitorial service.   

This building had an elevator but it was old, small, not maintained and not included in our lease. The stairs were narrow and had a 90˚ bend. Somehow we had to get big, bulky, heavy and expensive equipment up to the second floor. The solution was to remove one of the windows and use a crane. The windows weren't wide enough, so part of the wall was also removed and a new window frame built. Of course there were utility poles and lines between the street and the building. The equipment would have to be hoisted over the power lines and then lowered to the window height. There were five pieces of IBM computer equipment. The 360/20 CPU, 1403 printer, 2501 card reader and 1419 check sorter that was shipped in two pieces. There were also a couple of big boxes for the cables. The CPU and sorter parts were the biggest and heaviest. To do this crane job we hired Bubba and Sons Incompetent Crane Service on the recommendation of the Valdosta bank and/or the landlord. The computer equipment was delivered to our site on a flat bed truck. The Bubbas attached a rectangle metal platform with railings on three sides to the crane hook. When the platform was brought to the window, the side without the railing was rested on the window sill, the platform tied off and the equipment rolled into the building onto a small wooden ramp that had been built. They got the card reader and printer in without too many problems although there were some close shaves with the utility lines. The fun began when they loaded up the CPU. They got it to the window opening OK and tied off the platform. When they got the unit part way into the building the platform kicked back toward the street. Luckily it stopped before the CPU went crashing to the sidewalk. We now had a 360/20 balancing between the window sill, a small ledge and the platform. Oh, did I mention that Bubba, Jr. rode the platform up and the CPU had his leg pinned. Of course he didn't have a safety harness on. After much discussion and cussing the Bubbas decided to get another smaller crane to raise up the front of the platform. By this time we had a pretty big crowd watching this drama. We also had the police and fire departments on the scene. The building was at the intersection of two major streets in Valdosta. Amazingly the Bubbas got the platform righted and eventually got all the equipment inside the building. That small ledge was clad in some kind of metal sheeting which was now dented and crinkled. The 360/20 had a bent cover panel and some gouges in the bottom frame. The IBM Customer Engineer (CE), that's what IBM called their hardware maintenance folks, had already called his bosses to find out how to file the proper paperwork for a smashed CPU and order a replacement. What should have taken a couple of hours wound up being an all day affair. I wish I had pictures but this was way before cell phone cameras. I'm sure there are photos somewhere. I looked at the building on Google Maps Street View but all evidence of our adventure is gone. The utilities are now underground, the windows and building facade have been renovated. 

Even after we got all the equipment inside we weren't home free. It took the CE a couple of days to get everything installed and tested. As it turned out it all worked OK in spite of the bumpy ride. No harm, no foul. Bubba, Jr. had a bruised leg but no serious damage except maybe to his pride.

The data line installation went smoother than it had in Dalton. It was all Bell/AT&T so there was less finger pointing. We got a real data phone (grey) rather than one modified on site. We still had the 4800 baud microwave oven size modem that we supplied.

In addition to normal office supplies and equipment, like adding machines, we had several pieces of specialized computer and check processing support equipment.

Carriage Control Punch & Tape

Carriage Tape in Printer

Printer Ribbon

Impact printers like the IBM 1403 used carriage control tapes to determine the length of the forms. The tape is a loop of reinforced paper with holes punched in it that indicated where the printer should stop after a carriage skip, as opposed to a carriage space. Stock fanfold paper (green bar) might only have a top of form punch in the tape, typically channel one. Other forms might have total and subtotal lines that could be skipped to. There were 12 channels on the tape, so a form could have 11 different skips plus top of form. The "skip to channel n" was under program control. Carriage tapes were typically the length of the form although for some very short forms we would double or triple the form length and duplicate the punches. The tapes had to be punched, cut to length and the ends glued together to form a loop. There was a special piece of equipment to punch the holes. There was special IBM carriage tape glue too, probably very inexpensive, but any strong glue that didn't get brittle or tape would work. We only had about four or five different forms so only about four or five different carriage tapes. Large data centers, like FNB Atlanta, may have hundreds. These printers also used special print/ink ribbons. The ribbons were about 15 inches wide and I don't know how long. The ribbon was continually moving and reversed direction when it reached one end. They were pretty expensive and you had your choice of black ink.

Check Tray

We also needed check trays and a check tray cart/rack to put them on. Our check trays were plastic with a sliding metal partition to hold the checks tight when the tray was less than full. They were similar to punch card or mail trays. The rack was placed next to the check reader/sorter so we could easily move the trays around as we processed and sorted the checks. Our cart only had three shelves, not the six in the picture below.

Check Tray Rack/Cart

 
We had a small manual desktop MICR printer so that we could make batch separators and end of run items.  Batch tickets (separators) were placed between each batch of items. The batch tickets were bright yellow and oversized. They had a special routing number preprinted on them that indicated to the sorter program to pull batch totals. We would print the dollar amount of the batch on the ticket. The sorter program would calculate the items and compare it to the batch ticket total. The difference would be printed, either plus or minus. If it was zero the batch was in balance. If not we figured it out. The end of run tickets signaled the program to pull totals for the last batch, total run and end the program.

There was one other diabolical piece of equipment for check processing and that was the jogger. A check jogger is a high powered vibrating rack. It was used to get the checks ready for the reader/sorter. It would get all the bottom right edges, the leading edge, of the items lined up so the sorter could feed them more easily. The compartments were approximately handful size. The area where you put the checks was wood to reduce the static electricity and maybe reduce the noise a little. I call it diabolical because it was so noisy. It even had a dial so you could adjust the intensity of the vibration and noise. It may have even had a This Is Spinal Tap 11 on the dial. The joggers, check sorters, printers and computer hum are the reason I now have tinnitus and hearing lose.

Jogger

We also had a forms decollator which removed the carbon paper, remember that, from multi-part continuous forms. We printed most of the reports on multi-part forms. The main account balance report (trial balance) was printed on four part forms. We removed the carbon paper before we sent the trial balance to the customer banks. Other reports were printed on two or more part forms. A couple of forms we left intact, depending on the bank, because they would make notations on them. We had a simple two part decollator so if it was more than a two part form we had to make multiple passes. There were fancy decollators that could separate up to six part forms. They were great when things went well, but usually at least one carbon paper ply would break or one copy of the form wouldn't stack correctly. You would have black hands and maybe a smudge or two on your face after decollating a few boxes of forms.

Decollator

Eventually we got all the equipment in place, the data line working and a staff hired. We made some test runs with fake documents and some FNB Valdosta items. The staffing was three people, including me, on second shift (3:00 PM to 11:00 PM), and one more on third shift (11:00 PM to 7:00 AM). More on that later.

There was another part to the startup of our data center, that was to get the account numbers, balances, service charges, fees and other information loaded into our systems in Atlanta. That was either done manually or programmatically in Atlanta. It depended on whether the bank had been processed by another provider or was still manual.

I realize that this chapter doesn't include a lot of new 1970 technology but it does include some adventures and points out some supporting equipment. Every piece of equipment wasn't transistorized or program controlled but they were all important.

Next chapter we'll fire up the new Valdosta data center for real. We'll get going on the journey that took me through the next ten years of my technology career. While I never again almost dropped a computer from the second floor, I assure you there were other exciting adventures. We will be stationed in Valdosta for several years but there will be many technology and other changes.

wjh