The Consumerist posted five warning signs that a Craigslist rental listing is probably a scam. As a landlord looking on from that side of it, I generally agree with it. Here’s a landlord’s take on avoiding Craigslist rental scams.
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Mimic Systems Spartan: Apple II emulator for the C-64
The Mimic Systems Spartan was an elusive bit of C-64 hardware that made it Apple II+ compatible. It’s one of the more interesting Apple II clones of the 1980s. People thought of it as an Apple II+ emulator for the Commodore 64, though it wasn’t emulation in a modern sense.
Mimic Systems took out full-page ads in all of the Commodore magazines, starting in late 1984, promoting the product heavily.
The problem with it was that you couldn’t buy one, at least not in 1984 or 85. The Spartan finally appeared in 1986, and at that point, not many people wanted one anymore. So Spartans are exceedingly rare today.
But it actually seemed like a decent idea. In 1984, that is.
An SSD data loss issue–and how to prevent it
Longtime reader Dan Bowman–probably my very first reader, come to think of it–sent in this article from Infoworld regarding SSDs and data loss in power failure.
It’s not theoretical. I’ve seen it. I also know how to prevent it.
Avast 8 is out and already well-regarded
Avast 8 is out, and the initial reviews are positive.
If you use Avast, either as your primary or as your secondary AV, updating it is a good idea. One critical improvement is that virus database updates happen more frequently now. There’s no such thing as too frequently when it comes to database updates.
Use Secunia PSI to keep all your programs up to date with minimal effort
Did you know Adobe released three Flash updates this month? And that every last one of them was absolutely, positively necessary? (At the time. They’re cumulative.) Seriously, you need a computer to keep track of all this stuff.
Secunia PSI is a free program to keep track of these updates and pull them down and install them for you. I’ve written about it before, but not in any depth. I downloaded it to a machine that didn’t have it, and it scanned my system, found four out-of-date programs–it knows about 3,000 pieces of software–and updated three of the four without me doing anything at all. It’s dead simple. Download it, install it, accept the defaults, and let it run. If you can’t get by without the four horsemen of the security apocalypse (Quicktime, Flash, Acrobat, and Java), at least Secunia PSI will ensure you’re running the least insecure–I’m not calling any of those security nightmares any word that would suggest they’re good–version of each.
If you’re running Windows, go download it and install it, please. It’s not a substitute for antivirus software, but it’s a tool that can close the security holes that antivirus software can’t protect you against. Really, you probably need both.
My nocturnal-minded son
My preschool-aged son and I were running errands one evening when his mind tracked towards our dog and the last time we put her in the kennel.
This was a subject of great concern to him, which reminded me of how great it would be to be four again.
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Internet Explorer 10 is out for Windows 7
Microsoft finally released IE10 for Windows 7 after a long development cycle. Conspiracy theorists think it had something to do with Windows 8 sales. Whatever the reason was, it’s out.
Allegedly, you can slipstream it using these official instructions. I’ll give it a whirl the next time I have to install Windows 7. If you want to slipstream all the other updates, here’s how. You can skip the IE9 part if you slipstream IE10.
In defense of telework
I work from home one day a week. Most of my coworkers do as well.
So I was interested when I read about Yahoo! doing! away! with! telecommuting! (with apologies to The Register. I couldn’t resist.)
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We don’t need more H1-Bs, we need more immigrants
H1-Bs are a popular topic in Washington. Tech companies want them, since it lets them get the benefits of offshoring without actually offshoring, and politicians want them because companies want them, and they talk about luring the best minds to the United States as a side benefit. It’s such a great deal, they say, they want to bring in five times as many of them as they used to.
The problem is, they don’t stay. H1Bs aren’t about immigration–3% of H1B workers stay in the United States.
Barnes & Noble’s fate is just more evidence that being better isn’t enough on its own
There’s news today that B&N’s founder is looking to buy the store’s retail and web business, but not the Nook business, and the Nook business could be spun off or even discontinued, but whatever happens, it’s likely to be de-emphasized.
My family owns two Nook Simple Touch e-readers, and we like them, but they have one very big problem.
I got a $25 Nook gift card for my birthday. I’ve seen a couple of books I wanted in the past 3 months, but nothing available as a Nook book. As I recall, all of those books have been available for Kindle.
The Nook is the better device, and I’m not sure it’s even close. But better hardware and better technology isn’t enough. You have to have something to buy. Especially when the consumption device is break-even or near-break-even. I remember, some 20 years ago, having a conversation with a friend. My Amiga was a much better computer than his unremarkable Dell PC, but he retorted, “None of that matters if you, you know, like having software!”
A year later, Commodore was out of business. Twenty years later, Dell is struggling, but by Commodore standards, Dell’s bad years would have been pretty good.
I’m impressed with the Nook tablet range too, but there again, being locked in to what Barnes & Noble has to sell makes me hesitant to buy one. Will everything I want to run on a tablet be available for it? If I’ve learned one thing over the last 20 years, it’s that when in doubt, you’ll be better off going with an open system over a closed one.
So, with no books to buy, one of our Nooks spends the bulk of its time displaying library books; I loaded the other one up with public domain e-books and other stuff I converted into epub format to keep handy. We’re happy, but neither of these uses makes B&N any money.