Beyond

Panic set in at kkomp.com office when first it was discovered that the blog posts were no longer being notified on Facebook, followed by the discovery that Ping.fm had vanished. In the broadcasting social-network’s place was a Go-Daddy advertisment but no ping.fm dashboard.

kkomp.com use ping.fm’s free broadcasting notification service by means of a plugin attached to the WordPress blog which you’re reading now. This plugin allows notification of any new posts to be sent to ping.fm, and then subsequently onwards from ping.fm to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, FriendFeed, Plurk, and the like.

I immediately Googled for any further news; of which there was none, and consulted Twitter. I was told that ping.fm were having domain problems. During the short rally of tweets the ping.fm site reappeared and seems to be back to normal operation. I have no idea how long exactly the site was down for: All I know is that it was for somewhere between 0 and 36 hours.

This post is partially news and partially a request for further enlightenment: If anyone knows any further details then perhaps they’d be good enough to add a comment below? Is there an ongoing problem or was it a one off outage? How long were they down for? … And other information of that nature.

From the current apparent fault with the data supply to unreliable WordPress Stats Counter it would appear that Google Analytics use this counter’s data source as a source of information and data in the case of those blogs using WordPress software such as mine:

Yesterday (Saturday 13th September 2008) I noticed at mid-morning (British Summer Time) that the WordPress Stats Counter indicated that I’d only had 3 visitors since midnight. Assuming that I was in for a bad day I checked with the StatPress plugin I run, which indicated that I’d had ** visitors; still rather low for a Saturday; but it happens, and I got on with the day - Mainly online with IzeaFest.

Later in the day I noticed that the WordPress Stats counter still said that I’d only had 3 visitors, and again just before midnight. I checked with StatPress; which said that I’d had over ** original visitors; lower than usual for a Saturday, but reasonable. I checked Google Analytics; which also indicated that I’d had only 3 visitors.

Either this was the worst day I’d ever had and StatPress was an utter liar; or something else had gone wrong.

Today (Sunday 14th September 2008) I checked the WordPress Stats Counter in the morning; which said that I’d had zero visits; I also checked Google Analytics, which said same. I checked StatPress which indicated ** original visitors.

I checked all three again in the afternoon: Zero, zero, **; and again just now: Zero, zero, ***.

Verdict: The unreliable WordPress stats counter has broken down completely; and since Google Analytics has also started indicating that my blog is being mass-boycotted; I can only make a logical deduction that Google Analytics get their data from WordPress Stats Counter - Which has NEVER agreed with StatPress, and which displays inconsistent results; such as registering a hit on a particular page via a search engine, but failing to show that the target page has received that hit. Such as displaying a number of hits on a number of pages; but displaying a figure lower than the sum of the total number of pages in the final hits tally for the day.

While StatPress does show my own visits to the site as well as others and includes them in its final total, whereas WordPress Stats Counter ignores my own visits; I can tell you as a total certainty that I do not spend the entire day repeatedly visiting my blog to notch up visits. (That would be sad!)

So - Google Analytics: A very good service; but with a poor source for the information it gathers: Making it not so good.

OR could it be that I am not getting any hits; yet StatPress is generating them from thin air; including IP addresses, countries, browsers, operating systems… I doubt it very much. That is the alternative explanation.

I foresee someone commenting that StatPress also records the number of pageviews, visiting spiders, and RSS hits too: I can distinguish between shades of colour and between blue and orange. I’m not colour-blind. (I just use a black-and-white monitor. ) I can also read - In fact I’m rather good at reading. I have qualifications in English Language and Mathematics, in addition to General Science, Physics, and Electronics. Therefore I think I might have noticed beforehand: Thanks for thinking of it though.

I’m not overly impressed with Google if my theory is true; and it seems that it is from the evidence available. - Though having said that the service they give is free; so I suppose beggars can’t be choosers. - But I’d have expected better nevertheless, considering that they use the word "analytics", yet base such upon less-than-accurate data. That appears to be a bit cheap and tacky to my liking if indeed it is the case - Although having said that they must have to get the data from somewhere; and on the face of it this would appear to be a logical source were it not seemingly inaccurate.

WordPress do state that their calculations and data are generated using complex algorithms; therefore seeking to reverse-calculate the results may lead to a different answer: However in my mathematical learning if an equation reversed gives a different figure to the original data then either the equation or the method of operation are faulty; complex algorithms or not. - A bit like saying 1 + 1 = 3.14237 because I used a complex algorithm to work that out; so don’t be surprised if you can’t verify it by reverse calculation such as 3.1427 - 1, which doesn’t equal 1, as it should if the equation or the data were correct.

That’s it for now then: It’s late, but I thought I’d record this observation for posterity; considering that I’m sitting on my posterior typing this. - No; talking out of it is for mainly a percentage of the people who use blogspot.com and the like. (Do I hear a hornet’s nest stirring?)

If I’m wrong about any of this then I humbly apologise to those concerned; but I think I may well be onto something.

On that note I’m outta here.

In the post I made earlier entitled “A Geek’s Toolkit Supplement: Loaded USB Drive ” I spoke of what I described as “branding files”: Files that I add to the operating system to indicate that I am supplier, builder, and maintenance tech for a particular computer.

I can hear your brains whirring; so before you start thinking that I’m up to something naughty I’ll show you exactly what I mean. Oh yes; this only works if you have Windows XP installed, so don’t go trying it with a Linux or a OSX installation and then comment that I’ve messed up your operating system or “I can’t find those files in Ubuntu!” - “It doesn’t work with Leopard!” You’re quite right; it doesn’t - So be forewarned.

If this information has already been added to your operating system by the manufacturer then I suggest it best to just leave it anyway.

(Why are you playing about with your computer like this anyway? What do you hope to achieve? Oh well; your problem, not mine.)

The aim of the exercise is to customise Windows XP’s general tab in the System Properties dialogue box that you call up by right-clicking the My Computer icon and selecting Properties.

This customisation involves adding support contract information and a logo. It involves using only Notepad and whatever program you like to use to create a 256-colour bitmap.

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OK let’s start with the details: I won’t tell you exactly what details I put for computers that I build; so for this exercise we’ll assume that these details are regarding a computer built by the Acme Computer Corporation:

The computer is a Datamax, model 55102. Support line is 1-800-ACME…

Open Notepad and type the following text, replacing the example with your company’s details etc:

[General]

Manufacturer=Acme Computer Corporation

Model=Datamax 55102

[Support Information]

Line 1=Call 1-800-ACME for technical support

Line 2=  support [at] OMG [dot] acmecomputer [dot] com.invalid

Line 3=500 Billion Byte Drive

Line 4=Pixelgraphicsville, USA

Save this file to %windir%\Windows\System32 as Oeminfo.ini

Create a 256-colour bitmap of your company’s logo that is no more than 96X96 pixels in size. Save this file to %windir%\Windows\system32 as Oemlogo.bmp

Yes I deliberately soiled the picture: ‘Better safe than sorry.

To see the results either right-click on the My Computer icon or press the Windows and the Break key simultaneously.

And that’s how it’s done - No registry edits, no hacking into anything. This is a white box system builder’s trick; but it’s no massive secret. The files aren’t permanent anyway; if you remove them or reinstall your operating system the dialogue box reverts to default.

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Being a geekette; that is a female computer designer/builder, as well as a blogger, I often get asked by my girlfriends (And some of their boyfriends too - Shh!) to pop over for a cuppa and attend to some problem they’re having with their computer. Most of these problems turn out to be software-related, so it’s always a good idea to come prepared - Although I can download most of what I need from the internet, sometimes their internet connection is not working for whatever reason, and more than one is on dial-up - Which can make downloading a program a 2-hour job in itself.

To combat this I have a 1Gb USB flash drive with most of anything I might need on it; plus loads of links to anything useful on the internet itself that might be useful which I haven’t bothered to include because I probably won’t need it.

A Topless and Bottomless Photo of Me

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I pop the cord from which the USB stick hangs around my neck, and go to sort out their issues.

I mainly have program installers in the form of .exe files on the USB drive: These are always useful. I also am able, in a worst-case scenario, to provide them with a temporary internet connection via my mobile device, for which I also carry a USB bluetooth dongle to plug into their computer on the rare occasions where it is necessary; such as an instance a year plus ago where a friend somehow lost the driver for their network interface device and was unable to communicate with their router as a result: I removed the old driver which was faulty but obviously didn’t have that particular driver on the USB device; so I set up a temporary internet connection via my mobile phone/bluetooth and downloaded a new driver, installed it - Target neutralised.

The items I have on my USB drive are listed below: I’m sharing this with you as I’m assuming that as a geek you too get called out to similar situations; but being unable to fix it on the spot you end up taking their computer home, doing the work in your spare time, and returning their computer at a later date; which causes inconvenience to both parties.

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The files I carry around on my USB device are as follows:

1. AVG Anti-virus.exe installer: You’d be mightily surprised how many people don’t run an anti-virus program! They might find that their computer slows down with use; and, not realising that it is caused by the registry getting cluttered with crap among other things, they start removing programs which they think are unnecessary in order to attempt to get the machine to speed up again, one of those “unnecessary” programs being their anti-virus program.

2.. A free anti-spyware program; such as AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy - For the reason stated above or that they didn’t even know what spyware was etc. The latest AVG antivirus has built-in spyware-protection, but that protection is not exhaustive, so it’s always a good idea to install extra spyware protection supplemental to that.

3. Free FTP clients in .exe installer format, such as WS-FTP-LE and FileZilla: They do occasionally come in handy.

4. Diagnostic programs; such as Core Temp.exe, Diskcheckup.exe… I know; rather than listing them all here I’ll show a picture of all the icons below and to save a lot of my time I’ll let you Google for them all.

Obviously the folders are of my own making: Batch Files contains some useful batch files that I wrote or copied, Dragons Websites contains the URLs of the websites of the millionaire entrepreneurs from the BBC series “Dragon’s Den”, Glint(Program) contains the .exe file of the Glint System Monitor program, KK contains pictures which I use regarding Kustom Komputa; Suppliers, Parts, and Circuits contains URLs to suppliers of computer hardware components, plus a few electronic circuits, Web Shortcuts contains hundreds of various useful URLs, Websites contains copies of all my website files from some of my various sites, WP Plugins contains some useful WordPress plugins. Some of the files, such as DSC00* are photos from my mobile phone. aports.zip shouldn’t be on there as it’s a program that contains malware. OEM Exel and OEM INXP are folders containing branding files which I add to the OS to indicate that I am supplier, builder, and maintenance tech for a particular computer. The file “Kustom Komputa” is a copy of some files from my Kustom Komputa website. WP Themes contains WordPress themes. The Folder “Self-Installing Scr” contains a number of screensavers that I created and which automatically install on the computer upon activation of the .exe file thereof. (No malware involved.) The folder Paint.net contains the program Paint.net, and the folder “Sounds” contains some alternative Windows sound effects as spoken by the Daleks from the BBC TV series “Dr Who”.

There are also a number of shortcuts which you don’t normally see on any Windows desktop. These shortcuts; such as “Sound Recorder“, “Volume Control“, “Command Prompt“, “Device Manager“, and “Sleep or Hibernate” are described on this site, including the method to create your very own icon(s).

So that’s pretty much it: Carry this lot plus your own personal files around on a USB flash drive and you won’t go far wrong.

HTH (’Hope That Helps.)

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BEWARNED: BT’s new Home Hub could cost you nearly twice as much as advertised as an existing BT customer; and you won’t know that you have to pay extra until after you receive the unit:-

Home Hub v2.0, released in July 2008

Last week I was looking at the BT website and I noticed that they had brought out a new model of the BT Home Hub router - a version 2.0. http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/homehub2.html It had a stylish curved polished black plastic design and 4 ethernet ports. I decided that I was going to have one, as the one I was currently using was white which clashed with the colour of the rest of my equipment, was chunky and fairly ugly in comparison, and I was using both ethernet ports out of the 2 available and would prefer an additional 2 ports for future expansion.

I rang BT and eventually managed to get the Indian at the other end of the phone to understand what I was saying and take my order. He said that I’d have to pay £44.99 for it, (About $90USD) which I thought was fair (That was half-price as an existing BT customer.): I’d had the existing BT Home Hub (V.1.1) free with the full package including VOIP phone, unlimited bandwidth, and their biggest and most expensive residential phone package. The VOIP phone uses a separate BT telephone number on the same line, and was channeled over the internet from the BT exchange; thus the cost of calls was allegedly cheaper. (As well as worse quality.)

(*Note: The recent BT Home Hubs; 2.0 and above, require a working voltage of 15 Volts. The older BT Home Hubs, before 2.0 require a working voltage of 9 Volts: Therefore if you’re replacing an old Home Hub with a new 2.0 or greater, you would probably have problems with it, if it works at all, if you don’t use the power adapter supplied with it and use the old one instead. (I don’t advise using the new adapter with an old Home Hub; although it may or may not work as a temporary measure. (Then again it might damage the old Home Hub due to over-voltage - I don’t know and I don’t intend to experiment in this area.)))

Today I received delivery of my new BT Home Hub; exactly as described in their advertising material. It was a snitch to set up; the only thing I had to do really was replace the old mains power adapter with the supplied adapter; as the new hub ran on a voltage of 15 Volts, whereas the old one ran on 9 Volts. I already had the required software installed, (I don’t use their free Norton security software as it’s ineffective resource-hogging crap. I only use the BT Desktop Help software.) and it picked up and worked a dream. I then realised that I hadn’t attached the VOIP handset’s cradle or configured it to work with my existing handset. The existing handset was white - Hmm; a new one would cost me so I decided I’d live with it until I had enough spare balance to buy a new black one.

I removed the cover from the cradle socket on the new hub and it suddenly hit me that there was no way that my old cradle was going to fit. I checked the package for a new cradle but none was supplied. I phoned BT. :

The Indian went all through the most stringent interrogation for identity verification; and then said he’d transfer me to the relevant department; who did it again. This time I was talking at last to a Brit - Yippee!.. But my happiness was short-lived:

The reply was that they don’t supply a new cradle separately; and that I’d have to buy one along with a new handset for £35.99 (About $70USD)> I said that this was a con: I already had a perfectly good handset; all I needed was a cradle which should have been supplied with the new hub: I’d like a free cradle by itself or I’d be taking the matter to the Office of Fair Trading. I’d also like BT to make it clear in their advertising that the new router would require a new cradle and handset BEFORE the customer chose to buy it; or I’d be taking that matter to Trading Standards as well.

To cut a long story short she wouldn’t budge; so rightly or wrongly I went ahead and ordered and told her that I’d be referring the matter to the relevant powers that be - Which I’m about to do.

If you’re a BT customer and you’d like a new BT Home Hub 2.0 with a usable cradle and phone included; the cost isn’t £44.99: That’s a con - You can’t use your existing handset as the cradle won’t fit. The true cost in total is £80.00 approximately. (Somewhere around $160USD.)

Another example of Bullshit Telecom’s dishonesty and unethical advertising.

They WILL be sorry: I’ll make sure of it!

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Today I had a tiny tweet-up with jaditelefae; who suggested that she’d make me a looney-hat so that the local weirdo riff-raff element could have something better to talk about other than how I was  making myself an outcast from their idea of society by striving to be a success and that I was a tight bitch because I refuse to “lend” them any money toward their drug and alcohol habits.

They’re not all like that round my way, but there are a number of that type; as is probably the case in many if not most neighbourhoods worldwide.

(Jaditelefae’s internet connection is currently down; which is why she’s not currently around online.)

On a different note; I thought the Olympics were to blame for two days of the worst visitor-figures for my blog ever. The figure plummeted from the norm down to a single-figure amount on Friday, only to my surprise to do even worse on Saturday. (Yesterday.):

Today, however, the trend has fully reversed: I have already seen the best visitor count ever when I last looked at 2PM, and with almost half the day still to go from thereon  I’m hoping for a landslide count at the end of the day.

Many thanks to all of you who’ve visited.

Today I was up at the crack of dawn since I never really went to bed last night, and I did an all-nighter optimising and improving this blog and my computer: So here’s to dawn; whose crack I was up at.

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So that’s all for now: Enjoy what’s left of the weekend and keep visiting kkomp.com: There is/are usually new post/s every day.

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As you may or may not be aware; I’m constantly attempting to improve and/or update this blog in as many ways as I can. Current news items relating to technological issues in particular have been the main thrust of the recent posts, although I do intend to broaden the scope somewhat in future to cover more electronics (Basic/theoretical/practical electronics.), and other subjects, as well as introduce more categories.

Also in the near future I intend to start up a mailing-list as well as a separate subscription-only mailing-list. To accomplish this I have bought an extremely efficient plugin from Tribulant Software : I know that there are various online services that take a subscription and manage mass email distribution on your behalf; but to be honest I fail to see the point when, for less than the price of a month’s subscription in some cases, one can buy this plugin as a one-off including support, and target neutralised; no more fees to pay.

To add - There is an issue with the Kontera WordPress plugin: This was discovered by Antonie from Tribulant Software today when helping me install the mailing list plugin. I quote:

 ”Unfortunately there seems to be a problem.”

I’ve informed Kontera about this: Their autoresponder says they’ll be in touch in the next 3 working days.

Also the (free) plugin called “Simple Tags” caused a fatal error in the server when the plugin was installed the first time. (By me.) It may well be the case that “Simple Tags” causes a fatal error to occur even when installing a few of the free plugins too.

-So I’ll be looking at starting a free mailing list within the next few days, and then a subscription-only list thereafter.

Other news:

You’ll notice I’ve at last tidied up the top of the index page; which appears to be by far the most popular page to date - Hopefully those who turned up to have a laugh at it will now beam in admiration at it: OK I know that’s going a little too far… That logo; it changes colour and brightness slowly: The “kkomp.com” part changes between almost black and pink & black. The “Taking you beyond the comfort zone.” part starts off purple, goes black and almost illegible, goes bright and pink; then it cycles slowly through again and stays pink - Just in case you were wondering what actually was going on but didn’t have the time nor patience to sit watching it in zomboid style.

Moron Newsletters More on Newsletters:

Of course; all this type of thing will appear in the free newsletter in future, rather than a post in the blog itself.