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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Koobface for Mac

     The ever proper Mac computer is now facing web-threats like the rest of us, it seems.  An early release of the Koobface worm has been found on several Mac computers, expanding the size of the Koobface botnet into a much broader spectrum.  (Source: ZDNet)

Chrome OS

     So, I’ve been hearing all sorts of buzz for the last couple of years about Google’s Chrome OS.  But where is it?  It seems Android, a far more complicated OS, has been on a faster track for development, so what’s holding up Chrome?

     I’ve decided to investigate.  Since Chrome OS is open source, and the development environment suggested by its developers is Ubuntu 10, I’m going to try my hand at compiling Chrome OS, then I’ll get back to you loyal Digital Fruit Customers and tell you what’s going on.  Its investigative journalism at its best, pure experience.

     So, wish me luck!

Help Increase Web Presence

     This is a call-to-arms, a request for assistance, the gentle nudge of a friend.  Digital Fruit is in the middle of a campaign to increase its web-presence, and anyone who frequents this site, please, link either to digitalfruit.biz or digitalfruitblog.blogspot.com.  Any link will help, but if you post about something you read on the blog, or something cool you see on the site, and tell other people about it, that helps a whole heck of a lot more.  So please, help your local neighborhood tech geek, and pass a link.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

First Model for sale!

     So, against the better suggestions of the website I'm hosting the sale of my 3D models, images, and textures, I'm selling my first model on-line.  The link is here: http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=373884. Its a model of a troll head I did in Blender, so if any of you use blender, and aren't too interested in having to create your own content, think about picking it up.

New Software Added to Our Arrsenal

     So, in our efforts to do the best quality video production we can, Digital Fruit has acquired a new program for computer graphics.  We've added Daz 3D Studio to our array of 3D production tools, and so far, we're impressed with the setup.
    The best benefit I've found to using DAZ Studio 3 Advanced is that it does the icky stuff for you. Not many people want to spend hours and hours setting up the perfect rigging, or even just a decent rigging, for a mesh. That, and not everyone feels they have the skill to do all the work of designing a whole 3D scene.  DAZ Studio takes all of the guess work out of it.  And even with just the free models downloadable from the website, there is a heck of a lot that can be done with this program.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Office Suite Winner

     So, way back on August 4 I wrote a post about office software suites and which one I liked most.  So, after almost three months working with most of the options(the 30 day trial of Microsoft Office 2010 expired in September), I have come to the conclusion that my original decision still stands.  IBM's Lotus Symphony takes the pick.
     Why? Because of its ease of use.  Since that article, I have helped a customer who knows little about the workings of computer software to streamline his business paperwork using Symphony's spreadsheets, I've started writing a novel using the documents part, and I've really been looking for a reason to create a presentation using the slide show, but can't really justify it.  So after all of my experience using Symphony's charts, spreadsheets, page layouts and calculations, it just flows well, like Microsoft Office used to once upon a time.  Plus, any need I've had for Symphony as of yet, it has worked like a charm.  So, congratulations IBM, you're the winner.

No Smartphone, But Maybe a Tablet

     I'm still getting all the buzz about the latest smartphones, and how they're going to replace all of our traditional computers.  I still think this whole bit is bunk.  Smartphones just aren't capable enough to replace all the computing needs a of a modern person.  So, needless to say, I'm not considering a smartphone in the near future.
     What I am considering, though, is a tablet.  Now, once again, tablets are not a full-on computing device.  It will never replace the use of a full tower PC.  But as a companion device for recreation and display, I think I could do a lot with one of theses.  Especially with a personal cloud system. 
     Think of it.  All of your personal data and applications stored and run off of a small home server, or even better, a serious server. and the tablet just used for input/output and display.  You could play games, even some serious games. Web surfing, business presentation, and, of course, reading and video.  With a display stand, video in other parts of the house other than the living room and computer office space would be easier than ever.  Personal wi-fi would make it all simplified.  The possibilities of these little tablets could be amazing.  That kind of convenience really attracts my attention.
     But I'm not sure I'm considering an iPad, I'm not a fan of a closed system.  I'm a tech geek who really likes to modify, so I'm definitely going for something android driven if I buy it soon.  There are a couple of options I'm looking at already.
     First on my list is the Dell Streak.  Though much smaller than any of the other tablet options out there at the moment, it seems to be way more capable of mobility, which fits better into the way my life is going at the moment.  With a 5" screen and the mobile Android OS, it does seem more like a smart phone, but I like the idea that it has access to the mobile market place.  Also, there are a myriad of connection types.  The lack of wireless N connectivity is kind of depressing in such a next generation device, but forgivable.
      The only other option near release at this point is the Samsung Galaxy Tab.  With much more impressive stats, this tablet with a 7" screen looks more appealing, but with my experience with Samsung phones, I'm really iffy about it.  But as I said, the specs look really nice.
     So, I'm going to keep on to these tablets, keep my fingers crossed, and hope that good things happen.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

More Lax Security from Facebook

     Again, the notorious Facebook.com has added another security hole to their already shoddy site.  You know all those fun Zynga games you play?  They've been leaking out your personal information.  Even more than they already were.
     Over the last year, Facebook has been found to care so little about the personal information of it's customers that it has been signing away your information to any advertiser that pays to put an ad on their site.  But now the information is leaking out from the games you play through the site.  Farmville, probably the most popular of the games on the Facebook site, has been leaking out the names of people playing, and a list of any friends they have on Facebook. (See ZDNet, and The Wall Street Journal).  With all these breaches in our security, and the fact that only ten people police the whole online Facebook community, this should be something everyone should be jumping ship on.  This kind of lax attitude doesn't need to be re-enforced, or it will only get worse.
     (For more discussion of Facebook creepiness, see this Halloween article on ZDNet.)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Finally Fraud Fighters

     Just a quick announcement, we got the fraud fighters section of the Digital Fruit website up and running.  For a quick link, its here:  http://digitalfruit.biz/techsupport/fraudfighters.  I hope to be able to set up a shorter, more memorable link soon, but I've no idea how long that will take.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Possible Alternative to Facebook

     I know it is a bad thing to get your heart set on an internet start up, but after reading an article in CPU magazine, and this article on MaximumPC.com, I'm starting to get a little bit excited about the prospects of the Diaspora project.
     The thing that excites me the most though is how well thought out the idea is though.  To make transition easier, the programmers of Diaspora haven't limited the system to just those using Diaspora.  Anyone can tie their current Facebook or MySpace or Linkdin page to their Diaspora node, and their friends on Diaspora can see all of their profile information.
     Though not quite to a public release yet, I'm hopeful.  This may be a system I can get behind.  If, after reading the article above you feel interested, head over to www.joindiaspora.com, and check out the project.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ah Ha!

     Now the truth really comes out!  Back in June I gave a scathing review of what Microsoft has touted as the end all motion control system for a video game console (article here).  And I still stand by that review.
    But the murky waters of why Microsoft would shell out all of the cash and time to develop such a terrible idea for a device are beginning to clear.  In a statement here http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/dl.aspx?id=139046, we find that Microsoft probably didn't spend all that much in R&D on the Kinect project.  Its probably just a side step from the LightSpace project that Microsoft Research has been steadily developing.
    Whereas the Kinect sounds stupid to me, this LightSpace project has some serious potential.  Think of the scenes from Iron Man, where Tony Stark just starts working some mad computer mojo without any input device.  That potential for computing in the future will make the development effort now well worth while.  So, here's to the LightSpace project, and every geeks dream of a better computing world.

New Edition to the Fleet

     So, Digital Fruit is adding yet another site to our fleet of maintained domains.  The Chico, California Costume shop, Masquerade, had launched a new website and we at digital fruit will be maintaining it.  The site is right here at masqueradestore.biz.  If you're from the Chico area, you should head on over and check out the shop, any one else, just go to website and ogle the pretty pictures.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Helping to Stop Internet Fraud and Hacking

     While Digital Fruit is by no means the greatest authority on internet fraud and malware, it is something we deal with on behalf of our customers.  And, in the attitude of prevention being worth a pound of care, I've finally gotten something started for the Fraud Fighters section of digitalfruit.biz.  I'll hopefully have it up by tomorrow night, and then we can discuss what this part of the sight will really be about.
     What we have started right now is a listing and review of several internet ads that seem to pop up on just about every sight you go to.  Some of these ads are from legitimate business, most are from people just trying to scam you out of hard earned dollars you've worked so hard just to get, and would probably like to keep, I'm sure.  I'm hoping that this list will start to grow into something that our customers will appreciate and use, and that it will help keep people from getting duped.
     Till next time, I'll catch you on the flip side.

Andrew

Friday, October 8, 2010

Tech Talk: I Hate CSS

     I know that not everyone out here is a programmer or a web guru, but I'm pretty sure that any one visiting this site has used the internet (dramatic pause), good I knew you had.  Well, today's rant is on the annoyances that always seem to crop up when I'm designing a new website.
     And the problems always come from Cascading Style Sheets.  Don't get me wrong, CSS is certainly better than things used to be, (anyone remember inline styles?),  but there is still a lot to be desired in my book.
     The more I work with Cascading Style Sheets, the more I realize that the system seems to be backwards.  When trying to float a group of objects to make your site a little more elastic for different screen sizes, you have to declare the last one first if your list is floating right.  Why not just design the dang system to look at the object, see it floats right, and then check for other right side floaters after it, sticking them in a line behind the first?  Its seems like a simple concept to me!
     That, and the general lack of ability to center any of your content simply.  There are a million different ways to get you content to center for special situations, but no easy way to simply say, 'hey, center that image in the middle of it's block!'  That is annoying.  You would think it would be easy just to attach it to the other inline element properties, and just set an inline-align property, making anything inline centered within it's box.
     And one other thing I would have to change about CSS while I was at it, I would make sure that CSS properties were a bit more clearly defined.  Some of the properties you can use in it are just plain baffling.  I can still remember when I was a young web new comer and I was reading the HTML 4 Bible, and trying figure out how to change the bullets on a bulleted list.  And I can't imagine how many people have had problems trying to figure out what in the heck the clear property does.  Self-documenting code is heaven-sent, and more and more groups designing these languages should try for it.  Yes, most of CSS is self-explanatory, but it isn't really that complicated of a mark-up language.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Digital Fruit, the Next Generation!

     So, just a really quick celebratory post announcing the start of the second generation of Digital Fruit.  My daughter Alice was born on the third of this month, extending our happy family to a total of three!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Digital Fruit Artwork For Sale

     So, Digital Fruit Animation has just recently set up an account with www.the3dstudio.com to be able to sell CG work that we have completed to anyone who wishes to purchase it.  All of these proceeds will be going to help Digital Fruit Animation build a better studio situation, and feeding our ravenously hungry render farm to complete CG work more quickly.
     So check out our section at The 3D Studio, and see if there isn't anything you like. 
See my stuff at The3dStudio.com

Jerusalem 2111 Sketches

     Though I don't have any scanned into the computer yet, I've gotten 25 sketches of different parts of the Jerusalem 2111 project done.  I'm hoping to have many more done by the end of the week, and have some more preliminary work done to show off.  I'm also requesting photos from a friend who will be going to Jerusalem shortly.

10 To Guard 500 Million

     It's a laughable joke.  Really it is.  The idea that 10 employees could watch over the accounts of 500 million people that are constantly logging in and updating and checking and etc...  but apparently that is what Facebook thinks is sufficient.  In one of the largest growing websites of our times, Facebook has ten people to watch over all of us.  And the claims these ten people make about how effective they are set them in a position to rival Superman.
     But in true Orwellian style, the doublespeak is readily apparent.  Stating the Koobface gang has an extensive botnet that's stealing $35,000 dollars a week (see this ZDNet article), then claiming that they are keeping pace with attackers and that only one percent of people using the service have ever been affected by malware from the site(see Threatpost.com).
     As I said before, a joke.  There is no way that only ten people have sufficient ability to monitor all of the traffic Facebook garners, correlate with law enforcement to combat hackers, handle customer service issues, and develop new systems to be able to prevent future attacks.  As some one starting a small web start up and probably biting off more than he can chew, I would have trouble trying to pull this off with a system of only 500 customers, so ten for approximately 500 million.  Not possible.
     Facebook needs to wake up and realize that they can't keep ignoring their customers and that they can't keep ignoring their position as a global hub of information.  They need to take their responsibilities seriously.