When I learned that Microsoft was releasing a new revision for the Xbox 360 software, I got very excited. I really wanted to try out the new flash drive capabilities. So I started to hunt around the house for a spare flash drive. Unfortunately, they had all been claimed by various members of the family. So I started looking around for a cheap flash drive.
Well, I found a great deal on Amazon. I could get a 16GB flash drive from SanDisk for $32. Of course, it shipped with U3. But I knew how to take care of that. When the drive arrived a few days later, I simply used the U3 uninstall utility that SanDisk provided. After clearing out the partition table and reformatting the drive, I had a great new external storage source for just a few dollars.
After successfully testing the new Xbox firmware, I realized that I didn’t want to commit 16GB to storing Xbox games and game stats. So I reformatted the drive yet again. And then I decided that I wanted to build a real portable platform with it.
My needs were simple. I wanted a thumb drive that would house all of my important tools. And I didn’t want to install those tools every time I visited a new workstation. And when I stepped away from that workstation, I didn’t want to leave any flotsam, jetsam or personal data behind. I knew that tools like this existed because the U3 suite is basically a commercial (and invasive) version of what I wanted. After a few minutes, I ran across several definitions of portable applications. And I found the PortableApps.com website.
The folks at PortableApps should be commended. They have developed an open source platform that lets you use portable applications from almost any kind of portable storage device. You can use a hard drive, an iPod, a phone or even a flash drive. And lots of people have packaged apps to run on this platform. In fact, it is the diversity of pre-defined applications that makes this platform so impressive.
After installing the PortableApps framework onto my new flash drive, I set up a dozen of my most favorite applications onto the drive. In fact, I am using a portable instance of Firefox as I enter this post.
After working on this for a couple of hours, I realized just how powerful these kinds of devices/platforms can be. While it is always best to provide support remotely, sometimes you have to go to a system in order to resolve its issues. If you equip your support techs with a drive that has their most critical tools, you can increase the chance of solving problems while reducing the cost of providing that support.
I can’t wait to use this new flash drive for all of the support activities that I do throughout any given week. PortableApps, FTW!
-Roo
Month: April 2010
A Geek Goes SEO
I am a geek. And I’ve been a geek for many decades. I was playing with computers when I was fifteen. That doesn’t sound like much to adults today. But I was fifteen in 1976. I was introduced to computer technology by a math teacher who was responsible for entering teacher’s time sheets into the Montgomery County school system. I’ve been hooked on tech ever since.
In the ensuing decades, I’ve been a programmer, a security specialist, a capacity planner, an infrastructure technologist, an enterprise architect and a lot of management positions in between. But in every job, I’ve been a geek. I’ve always loved the technology. And I’ve never gotten tired of the thrill that I get when I conquer something new.
So it is with a great deal of joy that I’ve tackled the most recent challenge given to me by my wife. She is a marketing and communications specialist. But she has found herself “displaced” in the recent economic turmoil. So while she is seeking a permanent gig, she is doing some piecework. She has been doing some new blog startups and some site development for an informal network that she has nurtured over the years. And she needed someone to help her with site testing. That’s where I come in.
She needs a place to “test” some of the site designs she is working on. And so I’ve decided to set up a platform within the house. When she launches sites, we ultimately go to hosting services that are appropriate for each client. But during development of sites and concepts, she wants to test sites and test WordPress plugins (esp. SEO type add-ons).
So I’ve decided to leverage open source technology throughout the platform. Here are the components thus far:
– I am using XAMPP as a distribution package for Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl. I’ve also decided to include Tomcat – just in case she decides to leverage any lightweight Java packages.
– I am using WordPress as the blog site manager. [Note: There is a very good primer on setup of this platform here.] I’ve used WordPress for quite some time. But I’ve either used the WordPress.com site for lightweight hosting or I’ve contracted with a hosting provider. But in this case, I’m running it myself. The cool thing about doing it this way is that I finally get to play with WP plugins. And there are some exceptional plugins for WordPress sites.
– There are quite a few sites that tell you what plugins you should use for SEO tweaks. I wouldn’t dream of recommending one over another as I am so new to all of this. So what I did was use Google to compare SEO plugins. I figure that someone who knows SEO would be able to “goose” their posts on the subject. So I did an informal survey of multiple blog posts to see which plugins were recommended most often. Given a fifteen minute analysis window, I decided that the “Top 5” analysis done by PCDrome seemed quite sound. So I am beginning to test this on my lab setup. I’ll let everyone know how it turns out.
Obviously, this platform is evolving. But I do have one takeaway from all of this: don’t just trust someone who claims SEO knowledge; verify their competence by looking at the sites and successes that they have had.
-Roo
Those Who Refuse To Learn From History
Dear Senators,
One of the most important powers that our Founding Fathers vested into the Presidency was the power to establish and manage relationships with foreign powers. That power specifically includes the negotiation of treaties between our nation and foreign nations. But that power is not unlimited. Indeed, our Constitution specifically ensures that international treaties must be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate. This power ensures that the President cannot conduct foreign affairs without the overwhelming consent of the most deliberative body in our legislature. Just as importantly, the power of the Senate flows from the citizens of each state. Hence, all treaties must have the overwhelming approval of the states (and their representatives).
Given these facts, I implore you to carefully consider whether or not you will support the most recent nuclear arms treaties between the US and Russia. I have been a voting citizen for more than thirty (30) years. And in that time, we have lived under constant threat by foreign powers – including Russia. But throughout that time, we have been protected because our adversaries knew that we could and would use unimaginable force in response to direct attacks upon our nation. Indeed, our entire defense posture has been based upon the fact that our adversaries didn’t know if their actions might provoke an irrevocable response. The fear of such a response was the deterrent against direct hostile action.
However, this new treaty threatens the delicate balancing act that protects us. This treaty (and the policy delivered in association to the treaty) threaten us because we are going on record saying how and when we will respond. Indeed, the basis of the new policies seems to be that we will not respond (with our nuclear force) even in the face of chemical or biological assaults on our nation.
I’m a simple person. And if a bully knows you won’t respond to an assault, then that bully is more apt to assault you. Indeed, bullies (and tin-pot dictators) only respond to force and threats of force. In fact, most military scholars note that Europe might have avoided the Second World War altogether had European nations met the challenge of Adolph Hitler with force rather than weakness. Neville Chamberlain was wrong then. Let’s not try and repeat the mistakes that he made – especially when the possibility of unimaginable death tolls are a potential outcome. Look at what a small group of terrorists did to New York City and to the nation’s capital using two airplanes and several tanks of jet fuel. Consider the kind of civilian death toll that an emboldened terrorist group might be able to generate using NBC capabilities.
As a citizen who is counting upon the US government to protect myself and my family against all threats, I implore you to vote against this ill-advised treaty/policy.
Sincerely,
Lorin Olsen
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7