August 27th, 2010 | Author: J.W. Watts
Good morning cubicle monkeys, it’s finally Friday !!!
Got the next comic online and I think I’m finally starting to get into a groove that I can maintain. I’m sure there will be hick-ups along the way but I’m trying to keep it to where, at a minimum, I’m posting two comics per week. I guess we’ll see how that goes. I also still have not made a decision on the whole Google adwords issue, I’ll be chewing on that one through the weekend though so by Monday I should have my mind just about made up.
I also want to remind everyone to PLEASE hit those top list vote links on the right of the page, once a day, on every visit. The vote stats get reset every month which means for about the first week Cubicle101 has an excellent chance to make it into the top 10 comics which puts it in direct view of several thousand web comic readers every day. The voting process is painless, I promise, I’ve checked it all out first hand. As last time when the stats get reset again I will put out a call to arms to remind everyone.
I also have a side project going right now that will be done pretty soon. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I love a good argument no matter the subject. The project I’m working on is nothing short of a possible firestorm due to the subject matter. That’s all I’m going to say on it for now, I will release more details as the unveiling nears. That’s all for now, enjoy the comic, VOTE, and stay tooned for more !!!
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August 26th, 2010 | Author: J.W. Watts
I…am…dumbfounded…
A few posts back I had mentioned all huge pain in the ass online advertising is. If it’s not one thing it’s another and all the while you’re occupied they’ve got their hands in your pockets. At least that’s been my experience thus far, I’m sure it gets worse. In particular I mentioned an issue regarding Google and their policies on the display URL shown in the ad and the actual landing page URL. So far, out of all the ad companies I’ve been through (big and small) Google is the ONLY one that has this particular policy in place.
It states that the display URL must match the domain name of the landing page URL, hence a display URL of www.Cubicle101.com could have any landing page URL you want as long as it includes/begins with www.cubicle101.com. The problem for me is that I’m running 3 domains on one web server account, and Cubicle101.com isn’t the primary domain, therefore the landing page is Uberwatts.com/cubicle101 which to Google translates to uberwatts.com which does not match with the display URL of cubicle101.com. Getting dizzy yet?
So, after pleading with Google, trying to get them to see the error of their policies and informing them that none of their competitors have such ridiculous policies, they refuse to budge on the issue. This means my ads will not be approved to run on their ads network for which I have $100 credit that did not cost me a dime. So I’m left with the following options:
1. Give in to Google’s policies and advertise Cubicle101.com with a URL that has absolutely nothing on it nor anything to do with the comic (which is false advertising and is also against Google’s policies).
2. Have my web hosting company change my primary domain to Cubicle101.com, which will result in me having to migrate all kinds of shit, up to and including rebuilding/restoring SQL databases, numerous application installs and reconfigurations, and for my trouble I get around 48-72 hours of downtime while every DNS server across the net updates the change.
3. Tell Google to get bent, close my AdWords and AdSense accounts and continue to use other services that shape their policies around common sense. The upside to that one is not having to look at the Google ads I’ve been running anymore. I’ve been less than impressed with their ability to serve up related content based on what little bit of crawling the service does, and judging by the amount of clicks I’d wager none you out there are too fond of it either.
It’s a toss up at this point, and I’m going to have to do some more research into the issue before I call heads, tails, or it quits. Anyone care to start a pool and take bets?
August 25th, 2010 | Author: J.W. Watts
Happy hump day cubicle monkeys, time to get strapped in for a long day. Wednesdays have always been a drag for me even when I’m not busy. For some reason they always seem to drag out. Anywho, as promised the next comic is online and the next one will be getting posted on Friday. After that they may slow down slightly as a lot of set work has to be done on the next few comics and as always the script is forever changing as I progress.
In addition to the comic being posted I wanted to riff on a few news stories that I stumbled across this morning.
The Washington Post – Defense Official Discloses Cyberattack
Now it is official: The most significant breach of U.S. military computers was caused by a flash drive inserted into a U.S. military laptop on a post in the Middle East in 2008. In an article to be published Wednesday discussing the Pentagon’s cyberstrategy, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III says malicious code placed on the drive by a foreign intelligence agency uploaded itself onto a network run by the U.S. military’s Central Command. “That code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems, establishing what amounted to a digital beachhead, from which data could be transferred to servers under foreign control,” he says in the Foreign Affairs article.
“It was a network administrator’s worst fear: a rogue program operating silently, poised to deliver operational plans into the hands of an unknown adversary.”
Now, I’m not certain just where they are getting their network administrators from, but speaking as one myself my worst fear is not malicious code running around on my network. Why? Because that I can hunt down and fix once I know it’s there. No, a true network admins worst nightmare is people. People cause these kinds of problems by not following security protocols or simply by ignoring the fact that something is wrong and just going on about their business. As Ron White so eloquently put it, you can’t fix stupid. However, this being a mostly military issue, what they can do is revoke security clearances and bust the person responsible down to a private, first class, latrine cleaner.
Our next tale of fail comes to us from Sweden.
The Local – Schoolgirls Fined For Bugging Teachers Lounge
The pair, who are in their mid-teens, came up with the idea after finding a key to the staff common room. They bought basic bugging equipment in a gadget shop, waited until the end of the school day, and planted the device in the staff room. The girls, who attend a middle school in the capital, planned to listen in on a meeting the following day at which teachers would decide their grades.
They were hoping to glean information that would enable them to get their grades improved. The plan might have gone off without a hitch if one of the girls in her enthusiasm had not revealed all on Facebook, according to Metro. The girls were prosecuted for trespass and arbitrary conduct and fined 2,000 kronor ($270) each by Stockholm District Court.
This is a story that’s becoming all too routine and is the main reason I have such a grim outlook on the future generations being raised today. Thanks to the ignorance of one of these girls, they will both now suffer when it comes to things like finding an employer. It could also effect their chances of attending college, all because of a FaceBook status update. And don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way condoning the bugging of the teachers lounge but this story illustrates how intelligence can quickly give way to ignorance, especially among the young.
In the end though, I say you have to blame the parents at some level for not teaching their children what privacy is, what it means, and why there is really no such thing as privacy online, especially on FaceBook. And if the parents are unaware of these things themselves then they are doubly at fault as they are clearly not involved enough in the upbringing of their children. My two cents.
The Sydney Morning Herald – Eye wired open
WHEN Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence decided to have his badly damaged eye removed from its socket, he chose to replace it not with a prosthetic, but with a wireless camera. The decision, he says, was easy. ”Every person I know who’s lost an eye immediately thinks, ‘I should think about getting a camera,’ ” he says.
Although so far, Spence is the only person who has actually acted on the notion. In a world first, Spence and a team of engineers and eye specialists developed an eye-camera, a miniature camera and wireless transmitter fitted into his eye.
I’ve been reading about this guy for a little while now, however the last time I saw an article on him the eye was still in the engineering stages though they had a working prototype. Now they have the beta version completed. I’m sure there are a large number of possible applications for something like this and biotech companies are probably going to jump all over it once it’s been refined a bit more. I personally just think it’s cool. Steve Austin would be proud.
That’s all for the news trolling, time to get back to the grind. On a final note however, I know a lot of you out there are using FireFox as I do most of the time. If you have not done so yet, install the FireFox 4 Beta. The built in sand boxing is a blessing, especially if you’re like me and have to keep about a dozen windows and tabs open while at the helm. Posted a screenie below and the link above will take you right to the beta download.
August 24th, 2010 | Author: J.W. Watts
Cubicle monkeys, I do believe we are now witnessing what will be the fall of Steve Jobs and the iPhone. Apple has once again stirred up a hornets nest with news yesterday that it has filed for patents on the iPhone and iPod that will not only make it illegal to jailbreak the devices but will also allow for Apple to have unprecedented back door access to every iPhone/iPod Touch sold (for now only in the US but will most likely translate to other markets). If you want to read the contents of the patent that was filed you can find it HERE.
So what could be so bad about this you ask? CNet’s Steven Musil did a nice write up on the subject so I’ll just pull from his post and you can let your imagination run wild.
The company has applied for a patent, titled “Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device,” that covers a series of security measures to automatically protect devices from thieves and other “unauthorized users.” Unauthorized users apparently applies to those who engage in jailbreaking, which allows devices to run apps not approved by the company producing the operating system–such as Apple, the main target of such bypasses.
Now, no matter where you stand on the jailbreaking/carrier unlocking debate, as an opener it doesn’t sound all that bad. Then the article continues…
The application also describes a variety of measures that could be used to help identify the unauthorized user, including the activation of a camera that could capture and geotag the device’s surroundings, and perhaps current user, and transmit that information to a remote device:
In some embodiments, an unauthorized user can be detected by comparing the identity of the current user to the identities of authorized users of the electronic device. For example, a photograph of the current user can be taken, a recording of the current user’s voice can be recorded, the heartbeat of the current user can be recorded, or any combination of the above. The photograph, recording, or heartbeat can be compared, respectively, to a photograph, recording, or heartbeat of authorized users of the electronic device to determine whether they match. If they do not match, the current user can be detected as an unauthorized user.
So let me get this straight. Not only do you want to make it illegal for me to do what I want with a $600 phone I paid for, but to further add insult to injury you want patent protection to now SPY ON ME at will??!! Have you lost your @#$%ing mind??!! This violates our constitutional rights in so many ways I can’t even begin to list them right now to say the least. I personally say there is no way this will be allowed, and if it is allowed I’ll be bashing my iPhone with a ball-peen hammer and sending it’s mangled carcass directly back to Steve Jobs himself. I would recommend all iPhone owners follow suit, that is unless you just like randomly being profiled and spied on by the likes of Apple and AT&T.
I seriously do not understand this thought paradigm that Apple has recently taken. It’s obvious that Apples’ previously successful business model of keeping everything secretive and closed from outside developers, due to it’s small yet loyal customer base, is no longer viable in the new more popular Apple that in recent history has been gaining ever more market share and edging in on the profits of the big boys like Microsoft and Google. Personally, if I were on the Apple board I would seriously have to start asking myself if Steve Jobs is still good for the company with the direction he’s trying to take.
At some point Apple has got to come to terms that not a single technology company to date has ever been able to keep everything they develop completely closed off and under complete control and still survive as a business. Once you develop something and you put it into the consumer arena, just let it go man, because it’s gone. People are going to do things with these devices that you never intended, it’s called development. You can’t get pissy because someone else thought of something you didn’t, and without your expressed permission.
If your hardware and software require THAT much control, then don’t sell them, rent or lease them. When you maintain the ownership of the product you have complete control of who, what, when, where, and how it will be used. Of course we all know what Steve’s thinking, “I’ll just change the user agreement to give me legal grounds to force my will on the end user”, the only problem with that is eventually you will have to change the user agreement to state that the end user maintains no ownership of the device or the software on it after they’ve paid out up to $600 to get the phone. How many people do you think are going to jump on that wagon?
The arguments could go on and on but at this point I think it’s best to see where all of this goes before we start really debating it. Needless to say this is going to be an issue that I and many others will be watching closely as more develops. And with that, it’s back to the drawing board.
August 23rd, 2010 | Author: J.W. Watts
Good morning cubicle monkeys, grab your cup of joe and get strapped in for mundane Monday. As promised, a new comic is posted, the next one will be posted on Wednesday so mark your calendars. Keeping this post short as I’ve got a lot to get done today. Stay Tooned !!!