Pesticides and birth defects.

April 8th, 2009

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I bet anyone reading this will have some questions.

First, I have not been posting to this blog, real life happened again.

Second, new comments have not been published; this is due to spam and that I have it set to all posts moderated. I don’t like using any kind of spam protection but fear that I will have to resort to it. Recommendations can be sent to blog@nardella.ca don’t bother commenting it wont get published. I am also considering taking on a volunteer or two to help me go through all the spam in order to get the real comments that were submitted during my absence published.

Third this post has nothing to do with software, in fact that was the only mention of the aforementioned topic. That is because I felt the need to express some of my thoughts and feelings regarding the title topic.

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Now on to the meat. I was listening to CBC radio today and there was a story about a study coming from UC Berkly. Apparently the study concluded without uncertainty that there is a nation wide (USA) direct link to the use of pesticides and birth defects.

This sucks no doubt about it. But what can be done?

Cut out pesticide use?
I think that that would vastly reduce the efficiency of our agriculture endeavors. And potentially worsen the food shortage problems.

“Wont somebody please think of the children!”

Indeed think of the children, instead of having to live with a potentially debilitating birth defect they will have to try to live with a potentially deadly risk of starvation. Which sounds more preferable?

Now that does not mean nothing should be done about the problem.  On the contrary I think everything possible should be done with the exception of elimination the use of pesticides.

I think we should consider the following options:

A cessation of any increase of use of pesticides.

Research and development of  less harmful pesticides.

Research into ways to chemically neutralize pesticides after they have performed their function or to develop pesticides that can easily be neutralized.

Research into the genetics of birth defects and weather pesticides are causing genetic mutations, and weather some parents are less likely to conceive a child with a birth defect despite pesticide exposure.

Anyway that’s just my thought on the research study.

-Edward Nardella

P.S. Is that they way I sign my posts? I forget.

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The Anti-Virus War: A good pratice

December 28th, 2008

Another way to help reduce the chance of getting a virus on your computer is to manually scan incoming files. Now you may know that each anti-virus software uses a different database and that no database is complete, the solution to this at least in part can be to use multiple databases. I have found that for small files the best way to do this is to use Jotti’s Malware Scan website. What happens is you upload your file to the website and then the server runs a virus scan using 20 different anti-virus applications and tells you if any of them found a virus.

I find that this is possibly the most dependable way to determine weather an individual file could pose a danger. Have you used Jotti’s Malware Scan before? if so; was it a good experience? How you you determine weather a file that you have downloaded poses a threat?

-Edward Nardella

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The Anti-Virus War: Scanning and Removal

December 26th, 2008

So you may be wondering when I am going to get to actual anti-virus software; the stuff that provides all-in-one protection. Well I have news for you. I have no plans to cover such software; I find that they cause more problems than they solve. Take for example what may be the most widely known software suite; I loath it, it is constantly updating the user about threats and security holes that aren’t really as serious as it implies. Then there is an anti-spyware program included with PCs and Laptops sold by one of the biggest computer manufacturers, I had a customer who’s computer would not boot properly if this software ran at boot.

Any kind of active protection besides a firewall tends to be problematic in my experience. Luckily enough many of the companies that produce and sell this software have trial versions without a time limit but limited. It is this lac of features that (ironically) improves the usability of the software.

Norton Security Scan: Is a scanner and remover, once a week or on demand it will scan and remove viruses and other nasty stuff, it will not remove the not so nasty stuff for you like evil cookies. Otherwise it does NOTHING just sits in its little corner like a good little child.

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition (Available through Google Pack): Is pretty much the same thing as Norton Security Scan but for spyware specifically.

Trend Micro Housecall: Uses what I believe to be one of the most powerful databases in the industry, and the cool thing is it runs from your browser on demand. You never have to worry about updating it because the database is on their server. But you can only run it on a computer that is connected to the internet.

I know that there are more applications to help scan for and remove viruses but these are the ones I have encountered and stuck with. What do you use to kill those viruses? Sound off in the comments!

-Edward

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Google Chrome: Minimalist Design for a Better User Expierence

December 24th, 2008

There was a lot of talk and excitement when Google Chrome was announced and released; like Firefox 3.0 I downloaded it at the first opportunity. I know many people who installed it and used it for a bit then forgot about it. Unlike these people I continued to use it and still use it.

I like it very much and find the minimalist UI (User Interface) pleasing and easy. Performing different functions in the browser have become for me completely intuitive. Home page is a grid of pages that I visit frequently with a bookmark bar at the top and at the bottom a link to a detailed searchable history.

From there things only get easier, there is only one place to enter text no matter what it is you are looking for. Type it in and as soon as you enter the first character it comes up with a list of suggestions, a combination of searches and web pages. Even if you don’t have something bookmarked just having visited a page increases the likelihood that it will come up. For example if you visit this site often then type in “B” then blog.freesoftwareforkaren.com/ may very well be the first in the list.

Bookmarking a page is as simple as clicking a little icon next to the current address, that is it. But wait! There’s more; that is if you want. When you click the little icon then the bookmark is added to the same place your last one was, if you don’t like that a box with the ability to change the folder has already appeared you can also use this box to rename the bookmark or delete it. If you can’t be bothered to do any of these things then just ignore the box it will go away at an appropriate time, if you want it back just click that little icon again and the options reappear.

Tabs can be easily reorganized changing the order is actually a pleasant process, instead of a tiny little arrow pointing to the new tab destination when you click and drag it the tab that it is replacing moves out of the way making room. Or if you choose to drag the tab away from the tab bar then it will become its own window. You can also drag tabs from other windows into your current window.

There are a few minor bugs that I do not like, namely some minor incompatibilities with complex sites like server control panels and other fancy interfaces. I also have had some audio problems with the browser. Finally when you have a ton of pages open it uses lots of ram. There are some others but they are so minor I can’t think of them.

Oh and one last really cool thing, if one page causes the browser to crash then only that page will need to be closed the rest are safe.

Have you tried Google Chrome? If so what do you like and dislike about it?

-Edward

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Add More Desktop Space Without Extra Screens

December 24th, 2008

Working with a single, normal , 19 inch LCD screen is a lot like working in a library with  a desk the size of a single sheet of paper. If you are taking notes from an encyclopedia you open the encyclopedia memorize the notes then put your notepad on top of the encyclopedia and write your notes. If you want to see some of both at the same time you move your notepad so it only covers part of the encyclopedia.

Working on a computer with a single display is a similar experience, you can view a internet browser and text editor at the same time but not the whole of your web page or document. Many people opt for getting a bigger, higher resolution display or a second display. This solution is optimal for situations where you have enough money and desk space. But if you are working with a laptop or don’t have enough money then what are your options for improving efficiency?

The solution has been built into Linux for a long time; it is called virtual desktops. Here is the idea: you have multiple desktops each with their own set of windows and programs running in them. You can switch between them with a single key press or mouse click.  This is like having multiple screens which you can only look at one at a time. Or if we return to the library this would be like other desks situated around you far enough apart that you cant see them all at once but close enough that you can switch between them in an instant.

While not as great an improvement as an extra screen which would be like another desk right beside thee one you already have, virtual is an improvement for some situations.

So as for setting this up you have a few options:

  • There is VirtuaWin; this seems to be the most popular and has the greatest amount of features and fewest bugs.
  • Then we have WindowsPager; is somewhat newer and seems to have all the features of VirtuaWin with one pro and one con: It has a somewhat more user friendly interface but it is still in the testing phase of development so it will be more prone to problems.

Tell me and the readers about your desktop setups in the comments section.

-Edward

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The Anti-Virus War: Firewalls

December 20th, 2008

There is more to fighting viruses changing your behavior patterns and educating yourself. There are different kinds of software programs to help defend yourself.

A personal favorite of mine is the firewall; they come in several forms:

  • Firewalls that are included with your operating system.
  • Third-Party software firewalls.
  • Firewalls integrated into network routers.
  • Hardware firewall appliances.
  • Firewalls that are installed outside of your home or business; usually at your ISP or your nations internet gateways.

Firewalls block data either travelling in or out of your computer or network. Often times firewalls can be used as a buffer in which a virus scanner works. Other times firewalls are used to block all traffic except to and from spesfic locations, from and to spesfic programs or traffic of a certain format.

Do you use a firewall? If so what type do you use?

-Edward

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Free Software Websites: Gizmo’s List

December 19th, 2008

Gozmo’s List is the self proclaimed “Wikipedia® for Freeware”. I think it meets that description pretty well with a few exceptions:

  • While anyone can contribute the editors are appointed volunteers.
  • There is a more standard user discussion forum.
  • Coverage is not as exhaustive as Wikipedia.
  • Everything is organized in a neat and orderly fashion.

The site is execellent, and I expect to be writing about software I find on it frequently. It looks like a great source for finding alternatives to expensive solutions.

Also in the footer of every page they have issued a request for “Drupal and CSS specialists” with: “a strong background in CMS or CSS”; If any of you  meet that description then head on over to their contact page and submit your application under the first category. Also I would appriciate a mention that you found out about the position from this site should you contact him.

-Edward

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A Note on Uptime

December 19th, 2008

Well as you probably know the blog was unavailable for nearly 6 hours recently.

While difficulties such as this can not always be predicted and thus adverted the damage at least partially can be. To do this I have the following resources for you:

  • A twitter account http://twitter.com/Free___ForKaren where as long as twitter is up you should be able to get updates.
  • Wordpress.com version http://freesoftwareforkaren.wordpress.com that will be used in the case of a longer downtime.
  • Updates may also be available at http://freesoftwareforkaren.com.

With those links you should be able to get uninterrupted content from my blog.

Now bacck to normal content (I hope).

-Edward

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Thankyou WordPress Community

December 19th, 2008

This is just a short note to give thanks to the people who (in the #wordpress channel on the freenode.net irc network) stay online just to lend a helping hand. They helped save this site I couldn’t have done it without them in the timely manner that I did.

-Edward

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Songbird is to Music as VLC is to Movies

December 18th, 2008
VLC media player on Windows Vista

VLC media player on Windows Vista

Well not exactly, there are significant differences in what the two software programs do and how their interfaces function. What I am truing to get at with the title is that like I think of Songbird as the best program for listening music, I think of VLC media player as the best program for watching movies.

First of all as it is rather weird lets cover the name, VLC originally stood for VideoLAN Client (LAN being an abbreviation of Local Area Network). VideoLAN was a project that was to consist of a server and a client (sort of like a waiter (server) and customer (client) in a restaurant) VLC was the client portion of the project. The goal of the project was to create a way to stream (broadcast) video over a LAN. Eventually all features in the VLS (VideoLAN Server) were implemented in VLC and VLC became knows as VLC media player. After this transition VLC media player informally became just VLC; thus making the name almost completely meaningless except for historical purposes.

You may wonder why I went into such detail about the name; the reason for that is simple. Now you know what a client and server are.

What makes VLC such a good media player? The fact that it will play almost any media file after installation without any configuration or addition of supporting files or programs… just install and run.

Often times when I am trying to watch a DVD on a laptop I have never used I am faced with either a proprietary and limited DVD playing program or Windows Media Player which often can’t play DVDs without installation of additional files or software. When faced with this situation I just install and run VLC.

VLC also has lots of other interesting features including but not limited to:

  • Ability to broadcast (stream) live and stored video.
  • Ability to receive video broadcasts (streams).
  • Can convert from and to various formats.
  • Highly detailed upscaling.
  • Changing aspect ratio.
  • Cropping.

That last feature may not sound cool but it is, have you ever watched a video in full screen that not only has black bars on the top and bottom but has them on the sides too? VLC can fix this with its cropping feature.

-Edward

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