Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love a good apocalypse book, and this was a good one. I liked how the story was told from a variety of perspectives, and how the same moment in time is retold from several viewpoints in various locations. I think this story may have heavily influenced the screen writers responsible for Deep Impact, but this story doesn't end at the point of impact.
I'm compelled to compare this to [b:One Second After|4922079|One Second After|William R. Forstchen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316728333s/4922079.jpg|4987669], a much more recently published apocalypse scenario that I had previously read. I enjoyed One Second After, but I thought it could have been much better. There are some distinct differences in plot. In One Second After, the population has no warning at all of the apocalyptic event. The population of Lucifer's Hammer has months of advance notice, but are not entirely convinced that the comet will hit. The event in One Second After only disabled electronics, while Lucifer's Hammer sunders the earth. Lucifer's Hammer is better in a variety of ways. I felt more connected to the characters. I felt the science had a better foundation. I felt the reaction of the public was more believable. My only gripe with Lucifer's Hammer is the part that women play throughout, and this is likely due to the time the story was written. The story was written in the mid seventies, and you definitely get the "Mad Men" vibe what with alcohol as tonic throughout, and women largely as bedroom furniture. Even so, there are some female characters with strong, constructive roles (watch for Eileen particularly).
I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend to any other fans of post apocalyptic scenarios.
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Review: Lucifer's Hammer
Journey
Journey is the third video game produced by independent development house thatgamecompany. I really enjoyed their previous games Flow and Flower. These games stretch the definition of "game", and Journey stretches that definition the furthest. In Journey you play as a...well.. who knows. Your character is an armless humanoid dressed in a robe that covers you from head to foot. Your objective is rather vague: there is a mountain in the distance, and you will journey towards it. Your interaction with the world is limited to just a few actions: moving about, vocalizing, and leaping. The world that you move through is really extraordinary, and it is fun to explore and find out just how much you can do with these limited controls. Still, this limited interaction leaves me wondering if "game" is the right term to apply here. In Flow you battled against other organisms to become king of the depths. Flower was more vague, essentially a finding exercise as you searched for enough flowers to bloom in order to open up the next section of the game. Journey offers even less direction. If you wanted, you could just tape the joystick to point forward and come back in two hours to see the credits roll.
There has been a lot of dispute about whether or not video games should be considered art. Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert has famously said that they are not comparable to film and books as art, while the Smithsonian Institute has created a traveling museum honoring the art of video games. Journey, in my view, is trying very hard to be considered art. It is an interactive experience that each person is going to react to differently. The gaming press has been falling over itself to lavish praise on this game, but I'm not sure that this is necessarily a good thing. Yes, Journey is beautiful and unique, but the "game" element here is pretty weak. Someone looking for the same sort of release that a game like Call of Duty provides isn't going to find it here, and that could create a backlash by the gaming community. The entire experience can be completed in under two hours, and many gamers might feel cheated by that.
I definitely recommend giving Journey a try, but caution to approach this as a piece of interactive art rather than a video game. Consider it a $15 door fee to a private showing at an artist's gallery.
Review: A Princess of Mars
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well, now I know what SF pulp is.
I had put this book on my to-read list some time ago, and then forgotten about it. With the movie in theaters and a free digital copy available I decided to finally do something about that. At under 200 pages this is a breeze to get through, and the chapters definitely feel episodic.
A Princess of Mars tells the story of John Carter, a Virginian civil war veteran who headed West to claim his fortune prospecting. He finds himself magically transported to Mars amid barbaric alien races pitched in constant battle.
What follows is combination Axe body spray / Old Spice commercial where John Carter exhibits supreme manliness in the face of danger, dealing death to his foes and leaving a trail of adoring fans in his wake. The story reads a bit breathless. I found the book entertaining overall, but not something I would eagerly recommend.
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Review: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Within a few pages of reading this one I started recommending it to anyone who would sit still long enough to listen. Our image of Jesus is shaped from just brief moments at the beginning of his life and the end. This book provides a humorous back story for the 30 something years we don't know about. Told from the perspective of Joshua's childhood pal Levi bar Alphaeus, also known as Biff, we hear of how Biff and Joshua stumble through adolescence and into their adulthood. The humor here runs the gamut from subtle wink to raunchy blue, and I loved it. It isn't very often that I literally laugh out loud when reading, but I enjoyed several such moments while reading this one. Highly recommend!
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Review: Time Travelers Never Die
Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Michael Shelbourne mysteriously disappears from his home, sending his son Adrian on a quest to find him. What he discovers is that his father, a reknown physicist, has managed to create a time travel device packaged much like an iPod. Adrian and his friend Dave embark on a quest to discover where in time his father has disappeared to, and why he hasn't returned.
Overall I enjoyed this book, and I would likely have enjoyed it more if I were a history buff. There are all sorts of references to historical events and people that I'm hesitant to admit I know very little about. One thing that frustrated me is that there are points in the story where the solution to a plot point or question are painfully obvious, yet the characters trudge on, completely oblivious to what should be right in front of their face. It would be one thing if these were men thrust into a completely unexpected situation outside of their normal pursuits, but these are a college professor and son of a physics genius. This is a minor quibble though.
The sci-fi element of this story is pretty light, so I would recommend this to historical fiction fans who like to dabble in sci-fi before I would recommend it to science fiction fans with a penchant for history.
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Review: Full Dark, No Stars
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
King is known for striving for high page count, so it is always nice to come across a selection of his short (by King standards) stories. As explained in the acknowledgments at the end of the book, these are stories that ask what would a real person do in this situation. There is very little of the supernatural here.
1922
The longest and possibly most difficult to get through of the stories. A study in how the torment of guilt can ruin your life.
Big Driver
This one reminded me of the exploitation film "I spit on your grave". If you were mildly famous and something tragic happened to you, what would you do?
Fair Extension
I think this is my favorite from this book. A man doomed by cancer meets a salesman who can give him an extension on his life at the price of 15% of his salary for the remainder of his years. Oh, and he has to pick someone else to be saddled with the burden of bad luck that is being lifted from his own shoulders.
A Good Marriage
What would you do if, after decades of marriage, you discovered your spouse was hiding a terrible, terrible secret? Would you be able to live with it? Would you be able to live with yourself?
The paperback edition I read also included an additional short story.
Under the Weather
It's hard not to spoil this one as it is so short, but I did like it. Would you be able to say goodbye to the one you love?
Overall, I think this is an excellent collection of short stories. Many are going to feel familiar, but King's storytelling style keeps them interesting. Also, these are told without the usual gotchas and twists. I'd recommend to anyone who is a fan of King's work, or just looking to see how dark the human soul can be.
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Night Sky Photography
I am not a photographer, but I can certainly appreciate a great photo. I'm also not an astronomer, but I enjoy looking up at the stars. Ever since moving out to the country we've had some great views of the night sky. Planets shine brightly and on a clear night you can see the faint glow of the milky way. I'd really like to be able to capture some of these views, but I'm not willing to spend thousands of dollars on a camera (at least not right now). I'd love to have a high quality telescope too, but that is a pretty low priority right now. So I've been trying to figure out if the things we have around the house might allow me to take a passable picture of the night sky.
I did a little reading to see what I would need, and it turns out you can get a respectable picture with some simple equipment. What I had on hand was my smart phone with camera (Moto DROID v1) and my son's toy telescope (Gallileo 600x50mm refractor). The functions on the Droid's camera are pretty limited. For a night image, the most critical feature is the ability to set the exposure time, followed by setting the focus to infinit. The Droid does allow setting the focus to infiniti, but there are only three exposure settings: 0, +1, and +2. We had a clear night and a bright moon, so I tried to get a shot.
Not what I was hoping for. I mean, sure, you can tell there is some light out there, and it is vaguely crescent shaped, but you can't really say whether it is the moon or a flashlight.
Tonight was another clear night so I decided to try taking a picture through the telescope. I got the telescope setup on the tripod and aimed at the moon, which was again very bright and clear. I had a devil of a time trying to get the phones camera lined up with the eye piece, and absolutely no luck getting anything in focus.
I was pretty frustrated with the results. Then I had the thought to try the Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX web cam sitting on top of my monitor. It has a very low resolution (1.3MP interpolated) vs. my Droid (5MP). I found it was quite a bit easier to align with the eye piece of the telescope and I was able to get the image mostly focused.
I was surprised and very happy with the way this one turned out. The software for the camera allows for automatically adjusting the exposure and gain, but I found I got the best image when I turned that feature off and set the exposure and gain to their lowest setting. There is a bit of ghosting here based on how the camera takes a photo.
I have yet to try this with our point-and-shoot digital camera. I think I'll have to try that next.
UPDATE: I tried my hand at using our point and shoot, both unaided and through the telescope.
DLNA
I've mentioned before that we converted our DVD library so that we could stream it over our home network. One drawback of that setup was that my main development machine had to be online to host the videos. In addition, when anyone in the house wanted to stream that content, it put a small load on my machine. I really wanted to offload those demands. I looked at the various options on the market, and settled on the Western Digital My Book Live (2TB). The WD My Book Live is a single drive NAS that is DLNA certified. We had recently purchased a Samsung SmartTV (UN55D6000) which is also DLNA certified, so I was looking forward to streaming directly from the drive to the TV with no other components in the mix.
I installed the WD My Book Live on our network and set about copying over our music, movies, and pictures to the drive. We have quite a collection, so this was a multi-hour job. When the copy completed, I switched on the Samsung TV and it immediately found the My Book on our network. It streamed our home movies, music, and pictures perfectly, but each time I tried to stream one of our movies the set would stall on the Loading screen for about a minute before giving the message "Not Supported File Format". Even more frustrating, rather than returning to the table of contents, the set immediately attempted to stream the next file in the directory, which hung the machine for another minute until it responded to the request to exit.
I searched to see if this were a known issue, and which product was the culprit. I found that each product has their own slight issues that, combined, resulted in many users complaining about the same problem. It seems that Samsung's DLNA client makes use of the DLNA server in an unusual way, although still keeping within the letter of the DLNA spec. The WD My Book Live uses the Twonky Media Server to stream content. The version of the server on the device (5.1.9) did not respond appropriately to these requests, which resulted in a failure to stream the video. Other DLNA clients, such as my PS3, stream those same videos just fine from the WD MBL.
My first thought was to figure out what file format our home movies used and transcode our movie library to that format. That is a pretty daunting task considering the size of our library though, and if it sacrificed picture quality I wasn't interested. Fortunately, I found that other users with this same issue had found a solution. It seems that Twonky recognized the issue with Samsung sets and corrected it in the latest version of their software (6.0.34). Western Digital doesn't have any plans to release an official firmware with this version of Twonky, but that didn't stop folks from finding a way to do it on their own. This forum posts describes the steps for upgrading from the stock version of Twonky to the latest revision:
http://mybookworld.wikidot.com/forum/t-305396/upgrading-twonky
The Western Digital My Book Live is apparently powered by a PowerPC CPU and runs an embedded version of Linux. After modifying the config file for the machine, it is possible to get a terminal prompt and update the Twonky software. In addition to correcting the streaming issue with Samsung sets, it also includes the ability to display album cover art. Using this new version of Twonky is unsupported, and you have to pay a $20 license fee for the upgrade. I'll gladly pay that fee for working software, although I am disappointed that Western Digital doesn't plan to release this as an official upgrade.
How to Make Your DVD Collection Streamable
If your family is like ours, you probably have a fairly sizable collection of DVDs. You have kids movies, feature films, television show collections, and potentially even home videos. Before Netflix made movie streaming mainstream, you probably thought nothing of keeping a media shelf full of DVD cases and occasionally popping one in your DVD player. It is so much easier now, though, to search for content through that Netflix interface. Wouldn't it be great if all of those DVDs you have around the house were as easy to access as your Netflix content?
Well, with a little time, a PC, and a home network, you can. There are a number of steps involved, though, so I've put together this guide on how to make your DVD collection available on your home network.
DISCLAIMER: This is a guide is intended for use with content that you *own* and have the *right* to use. Distributing copies of copyrighted feature films is against the law. Everybody behave and do good, mmkay?
Ok, with that out of the way, let's talk about the major steps in making your DVD collection available over your home network. First, there are a couple of things you are going to need:
- A Computer with a DVD drive. This guide assumes a Windows machine.
- A home network, wireless or wired
- A gaming console (PS3, Xbox360, Wii) or Home Theater PC (HTPC)
There are three major steps in going from the content on your disc to streaming to your TV, and one optional step.
- Rip the DVD content to your PC
- Transcode the content to a streaming friendly format
- (Optional)"Tag" the file with additional information
- Publish the content on your home network
Step 1 - DVD Rip
The first step is to get the content of the disc and onto your PC (otherwise known as ripping) where you can work with it. For this I recommend DVDFab. DVDFab is actually a swiss army knife when it comes to DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, but we're only interested in one feature: HD Decrypter. If you find the software suite useful, I encourage you to buy a copy, as the suite of tools is really quite nice.
When you open DVDFab you will be presented with a list of options along the left. We are interested in the DVD Copy option at the top. We then get additional options. When ripping a DVD, you can select to copy all of the contents of the disc, which includes the special features, menus, alternative languages, and other content on the disc. Alternatively, you can choose to copy just the main movie feature. Your selection will depend on the content you are ripping, but for most feature films your best option will be Main Movie. On the right hand pane of the window use the source field to select the DVD that you would like to copy from. In the Target field select the folder to copy the content to. DVD content is large, and you will want to have plenty of room on your hard drive. If your PC has two hard drives, I recommend creating a folder on the second drive for storing the DVD rips. In the "Volume Label" field name the content you are ripping. DVDFab will use the name from the source DVD label, but you are free to use whatever you like. The software will create a new folder in the target folder with this name. Finally, for best quality, dropdown the DVD size selector to choose DVD 9. This will retain a perfect bit-for-bit copy of the disc rather than performing compression. We're done here, so click the next button.
This next screen displays the tracks found on the disc and which one will be copied. DVDFab is very good about detecting which track is the feature film on the disc. However, if you are ripping a disc that contains episodes of a television show, you may find that you need to fiddle with some of the options. For now, I'll assume that DVDFab correctly selected the main track. Go ahead and click Start to get the rip going. This is a long process, and the time it takes to rip the disc will depend on the length of the content, the speed of your DVD drive, processor, and hard drive. Usually you can expect an hour of content to take about 10 minutes to rip, but this will vary.
Step 2 - Transcode to H.264
Transcoding is the process of converting from one video file format (or codec) to another. I like the Handbrake software for this step. Handbrake comes with a number of profiles that allow you to tailor the transcoding process to the device you intend to display your content on. For the purpose of this guide I'm going to assume you want to display the content on a high definition television from a gaming console, such as a PlayStation3. Select the High Profile option, as this will give you a good copy of the content for streaming without too much compression. From the menu bar, click the Video Source button and choose Video Folder. Now browse to the folder created by DVDFab when it ripped the disc. You may notice that the folder you selected now has several sub-folders: Main Movie->
Step 3 - Tagging (Optional)
While this step is not required to get your content streaming on your home network, you may find it helpful. Tagging allows you to supply additional information about the video file, such as the actors who perform, the director, date it was published, and cover art. I use a free app called MetaX to do this tagging. It isn't the easiest app to use, but the price is right and it has the features I need. First, open the video file you would like to apply tags to. You'll see it added to the list on the right. Next, select that item from the list. Now, on the left side, enter the name of the video in the search box and click Search. The app will pull up data from several tag databases that match the search term. Clicking search results will populate the fields in the main section of the app. If you don't find what you are looking for you can manually enter the details for your file. Once complete, click the check box next to each box that you would like associated with the file, or click the check mark button in the toolbar to toggle all checks. Finally, click the Apply button (shaped like an arrowhead) to apply these tags to the file. You can add several files to your queue and tag them all at once.
Step 4 - Publish
The final step to making your content available is to publish it on your local network. If you are running Windows 7, the built-in Windows Media Server software can do this for you. I've found the security settings required to get Windows Media Server to work properly to be very frustrating, so I use PlayOn. The PlayOn service runs on your PC and makes content available to your other network devices, such as other PCs, game consoles, and mobile devices. While you need to pay for a license for much of the content, the My Media (beta) feature is free to use without a full license. Again, the PlayOn software is great, and I encourage you to purchase a copy, but if you are looking to stream on the cheap, the free version will get you there. The My Media feature of PlayOn requires that you also install the VLC Media Player, which is a fantastic piece of free software for playing movies.
From the PlayOn control panel you need to configure the software to find your local files. Pull up the PlayOn settings window and go to the MyMedia tab. You need to check the box to enable the My Media feature (beta). You can then add folders to PlayOn that will be made available to your networked devices.
Start Streaming!
Now your content is published, go watch it! If you have a PlayStation3, your PlayOn server will appear as an option in the Video section of the cross bar interface. If you use a Wii you will need to open the Internet Browser and browse to the address of the server on your network. The same works for the Xbox360 or a laptop. You will be presented with a menu that allows you to select content. If you use an iPod Touch, iPhone, or Android device there are PlayOn apps.
The PlayOn interface for streaming is a little quirky, and it can be frustrating to try scrubbing to a specific point in a video. The DLNA support on the PlayStation3 is fantastic, and is a great way for viewing your streamed content.
What is a Fair Tax Rate?
As our representatives in Washington attempt to agree on a budget, one of the topics of discussion is how much tax we should pay. Specifically, should the wealthiest Americans continue to receive the tax cut put in place by President Bush?
Before anyone answers that question, I think it is important to go through the thought experiment of determining what a 'fair' tax would be. Let's say you were suddenly granted the power to decide the rate at which income tax is paid. We'll stick with income tax to focus the discussion, but there are a number of other sources of tax, including social security, medicare/medicaid, and payroll tax to name a few. First, let's look at the spectrum of income in the US. Income is typically divided into quintiles, which is dividing the spectrum into five pieces, each with equal population. The Census Bureau published the mean income for each quintile for the year 2009:
Bottom Quintile: $11,552
Second Quintile: $29,257
Third Quintile: $49,534
Fourth Quintile: $78,694
Top Quintile: $170,844
Within each quintile you will find folks who make more than the mean, and folks who make less than the mean, but the idea is that an equal number of households are making somewhere around this amount. Another thing to keep in mind is that for the year 2009, the threshold for poverty was annual income of less than $11,161 (I covered this in more detail in an earlier post).
So given that $11,161 is the minimum necessary to live, what level of taxation is fair?
One common school of thought is to impose flat tax amount, where each citizen pays the same. After all, we all are equal citizens, so we should all pay the same for that privilege. In 2009 the US government received $1.21 trillion in income tax. We'll ignore the fact that the US ran a $400 billion deficit this year, and assume that this amount of tax was sufficient for a balanced budget (along with those other tax receipts we are ignoring for the moment). The IRS received 236 million returns that year, so we'll use that as our population count. So if we divided the tax receipts ($1.21T) by our population (236M) we get $5,127.12 from every household.
Our top quintile would love that. After all, it is easily afforded, and likely much less than they pay now. Our bottom quintile is in real trouble though. They had less than $400 to spare, and are now several thousand dollars below the poverty line. As a percentage of income, the lowest quintile is paying 44.38%, while the top quintile pays just 3%.
That isn't the only school of thought though. There is also the concept of paying a flat percentage rate. So what percentage rate would we need to use across all of those households in order to get back to our $1.21T in revenues? First, we divide our population by five to get the number of households in each quintile (47.2M). Then, we multiple each quintiles mean income by the population for that quintile to determine the total income from the quintile:
Bottom Quintile: $0.545 trillion
Second Quintile: $1.380 trillion
Third Quintile: $2.338 trillion
Fourth Quintile: $3.714 trillion
Top Quintile: $8.063 trillion
Total Income: $16.042 trillion
Our revenue ($1.21T) is 7.54% of that $16T in income our households earned. If every household, regardless of income, paid that rate, the same amount of revenue would be generated. Now, of course, the math here isn't perfect because we have households earning more and less than our mean household income for each quintile, but it helps us understand how this works. Taking a look at our bottom quintile, this tax would cost them $871, which still puts them into poverty. Is that fair?
Again, not the only method for assigning tax rates. We could also apply a different tax rate to folks in each quintile. Let's say the bottom quintile pays no tax, the next quintile pays a small rate, and so on with the highest quintile paying the highest rate. This is close to how our federal income taxes are assessed now. The thinking is that those in the lowest tax bracket are least able to pay, and so they are taxed the least. Those in the upper tax bracket are most able to pay, and so are taxed the most. But how should those rates be assigned? It's a sticky matter, and this is the basis for the arguments going around about whether or not the wealthiest Americans should continue to receive a tax cut.
There is one issue that causes our current method to break down: extreme income disparity. Let's say that there are ten folks in a room, and they represent all of the income for the US. Let's also say the income breaks down something like this:
1: $5,000
2: $15,000
3: $25,000
4: $35,000
5: $40,000
6: $60,000
7: $70,000
8: $90,000
9: $150,000
10: $4,000,000
Whoa, I wanna be #10! I feel really bad for #9 though. If we assign our tax rate by quintile, #9 and #10 get taxed at the same rate. #9 and #10 represent 92% of the total income, and so it should be assumed that they should also be responsible for at least 92% of the taxes paid, if not more. Poor #9 is going to get saddled with a pretty hefty tax rate because he lives in the same quintile as #10, even though the income levels are extremely disparate. This is an extreme example. However, income disparity is real, and the trend has been for more disparity, not less. This means that in our room of ten people, we will have more folks at either extreme. What happens when 5 are earning poverty income, while 5 are earning six-figures?
An Appeal to My Friends Regarding H.J.R 6
My friends, I ask you today to consider Indiana House Joint Resolution 6, a bill before the Indiana legislature that would amend our state constitution to ban the recognition of any same sex partnership. The text of the bill reads:
Provides that only marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. Provides that a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.
I know many of my friends will agree with the first statement. Marriage is a religious term, and for you, you would prefer that the state not use this term in recognizing same-sex unions. While I disagree, I would like to instead focus your attention on the second sentence. The second sentence bars any same sex couple from enjoying the rights assigned to a married heterosexual couple under any name. I have spoken to many of you who oppose the government recognizing same-sex couples as married. In all cases that I remember, those who feel this way have had no issue with recognizing a same-sex couple as a civil union. The language of this bill would specifically deny those rights of married couples to a same-sex couple even if they agreed to call their relationship a civil union.
What does this mean for same-sex couples? There are a variety of rights that married couples enjoy that will be explicitly denied to these couples. Among these rights:
- Filing of joint taxes
- Veteran's disability
- Domestic violence intervention
- Joint parenting rights
- Permission to make funeral arrangements for deceased spouse, including burial or cremation
- Right to inheritance of property
- Next-of-kin status for emergency medical decisions or filing wrongful death claims
Many of my friends feel that same-sex marriage is acceptable, and I agree with you. Many of my friends feel that same-sex couples should be able to enjoy the rights of married couples, but should be assigned a different term from their religious definition of marriage, such as civil union. I am not aware of any of my friends who feel that same-sex couples should be specifically denied the rights assigned to their married counterparts. I am pleading with you today to consider the impact of this bill on same-sex couples in Indiana. I am pleading with you to contact your state representative and let them know that this bill does not represent your thoughts on the rights of same-sex couples.
Last Call for Google I/O
Google is running a series of contests this week to give away the last remaining tickets to the Google I/O developer conference. The 2011 conference sold out in record time, so for me, this is about the only way I'm going to have a chance to go. Yesterday was the start of the first challenge which focused on Android. Due to the time difference, the 30 minute "lightning" round 1 started during my normal lunch break, and I was able to quickly submit my answers. I was pleasantly surprised to receive an e-mail 30 minutes later informing me that I was one of 200 entrants to pass round 1 and move on to round 2.
For round 2, the objective was to create and submit an Android app that recreates the bouncing balls countdown clock seen on the Google I/O home page. Of course, today being St. Patrick's day, the clock is slightly changed to be formed of clover leaves blowing in the wind, but on non-holidays it is multicolored balls. Contestants had 22 hours to complete their app and submit, with the deadline being 9am pacific time this morning.
Now that the deadline has passed, I thought I would share my entry. I'm publishing both the source code and the APK file, so if you are curious how I made it, feel free to take a look.
- APK to install on your Android device - LastCallForGoogleIO.apk
- ZIP file containing source files - LastCallForGoogleIO.zip
Minimum Wage and Poverty
Unions, collective bargaining, and fair wages are getting a lot of press due to the attempts in several states to introduce Right to Work laws, eliminate collective bargaining for public employees, and generally reduce the power of unions. It got me curious about what the current rules were according to the Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act. What are the minimum benefits that an employer must offer?
The first item that comes to mind is minimum wage. Effective July 24, 2009, the minimum wage was increased to $7.25 per hour. There are some caveats though. If you are under 20 years of age, the employer is permitted to pay as little as $4.25 per hour for the first 90 days of employment. This falls under the subminimum wage clauses of the FLSA. That's pretty convenient for employers who look to pickup temporary help during the summer when schools are out. A fairly shrewd employer could substitute these youths for regular employees during the summer months and cut their wage expenses nearly in half. The hourly rate is even lower for those who regularly accept tips. Employers of tipped employees (anyone who receives more than $30 in tips in a month) may pay an hourly wage of $2.13 per hour, so long as the total of tips and hourly wage for the hours worked in that month at least equals the minimum wage rate.
So let's say that you are single, and you are entering the workforce after graduating high school. You are 18 years old and on your own. You canvas the town and are able to find a job with a local business. The business owner is very shrewd, and is only willing to offer the absolute minimums since you have no prior experience and no higher education. The owner offers you $4.25 for your first three months, with a pay increase to $7.25 at the end of those three months. The business is closed on all federal holidays (9 days in 2011), and is also closed the friday after Thanksgiving. You will not receive pay for holiday closings. You are permitted to take 5 unpaid sick days with short notice, and 10 unpaid vacation days with a minimum of one month notice. The employer notifies you that you may work a maximum of 40 hours in a week, but indicates that those 40 hours will regularly be available.
So how does this first year go for you? First, let's assume you work all of the hours that are available to you in that year.
Assumptions:
52 weeks in the year.
40 hours per week
13 weeks at $4.25 per hour = $2,210
37 weeks at $7.25 per hour = $10,730
2 weeks at $0 per hour (holiday closings) = $0
Your total pay for the year would be $12,940. According to the census bureau, the threshold for poverty in 2009 for an individual under the age of 65 was $11,161.
That's pretty bleak, but that is also assuming the best case scenario that you were able to work every day of the year. In the worst case scenario, where you exhausted all of your sick and vacation time at the $7.25 rate, your annual income would have been $12,070. Minimum wage is just barely keeping you above the poverty line.
Now imagine if you were coming out of high school with a pregnant girlfriend. You move in together, and the baby is born during the year. You are now a house of three. One of you stays home with the baby because the cost of childcare is greater than the wage you are able to earn. The 2009 threshold for poverty for a 3 person family was $17,098. You've worked a full-time job for a year and you are still under the poverty threshold.
I've seen several remarks indicating that Governor Mitch Daniels has indicated that $9 per hour is a livable wage. Unfortunately, I can't find any documentation of this quote, so take it with a grain of salt. Even so, a quick perusal of the job postings in a newspaper or online will show that $9 per hour is a fairly common offer from folks looking for appointment setting and phone support staff. How would that $1.75 increase in pay affect our earner? Let's assume that our worker gets that rate throughout the year, and again, isn't paid for holidays but otherwise works all the hours available.
$9 per hour x 50 weeks x 40 hours per week = $18,000 per year
That would put them above the poverty line for a family of three, but just barely. Keep in mind that this is gross pay too, not take home pay. This has to cover not just food, housing, and transportation, but medical benefits (likely not offered at this wage level), retirement savings, taxes, and all of the other expenses of life.
So what does it all mean? I don't pretend to know. In theory, the appropriate wage for a particular role is what the market will bear. We all want to save money though, so we encourage businesses to seek methods to cut costs by demanding lower prices. Labor is one option for cutting costs, and this can lead to reduced quality when those who are qualified to do a job are not willing to accept the wage offered, but those unqualified to do the job are willing to accept it.
It will be interesting to see how the legislative moves in progress in several states impact their local economies.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
There has been a lot of discussion recently concerning federal funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The CPB is a non-profit, private organization created by the federal government in 1967, and is charged with the stewardship of federal funds for promoting public broadcasting. The lion's share of these funds are awarded to local television and radio broadcasters. A much smaller portion of those funds is awarded to companies like National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Both of these companies are private, non-profit media enterprises that generate content such as Car Talk, All Things Considered, Radiolab, Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, NOVA, and others.
According to CPB's 2009 Revenue report, the CPB had total revenue of $2,643,336,000. Of that total revenue, 81.9% came from non-federal sources, leaving 18.1% of the CPB's revenue coming from federal sources, or $478,443,816. In 2007, there were roughly 138 million federal tax payers in the US (the most recent number I could find). We don't all pay the same amount in taxes in the US, but if we did, that would work out to just under $3.47 from every federal tax payer going to the CPB.
Two of the biggest issues in politics today (or any day for that matter) are taxes and jobs. The tea party, and by extension republicans, have suggested that eliminating federal funding for the CPB is one method to help reduce overall taxation and move towards a balanced budget. This has met with a mixed response across party lines. Fans of NPR and PBS have expressed concern, and have taken to social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook to plead for continued federal support of these organizations.
In my view, the majority of those pleading for continued support of the CPB are doing so because they enjoy the programming provided by NPR and PBS. I don't have any numbers to back this up, I'm basing this off of what I'm seeing from my social media streams, so this is hardly a scientific analysis. What may not be clear to these fans of NPR and PBS is how little of those federal funds are appropriated to the media enterprises. According to the CPB's Fiscal Year 2010 budget, $28,535,000 was allocated towards radio programming grants. According to NPR's records, federal grants make up around 2% of their annual revenue, which in 2010 were just over $184 million. So doing the math here, NPR received around $3.7 million in federal funds. Television is a similar scenario. The CPB allocates $71,587,500 in grants for television programming. I had trouble finding information on the portion of those grants that were awarded to PBS, but even if it is the full amount it represents a small percentage of the $571 million in total revenue that PBS received in 2010.
The funding to NPR and PBS represents a very small portion of the total funds the CPB distributes. The vast majority of funds are given as grants to local radio and television broadcasters. This is where the real impact of de-funding the CPB would be felt. By de-funding the CPB many broadcasters in rural locations who could not otherwise support their operations will go silent. These rural broadcasters are often one of only a handful of sources available in their area. Growing up, we didn't have access to cable at our home, as our home was in a very rural location. Satellite television involved very large dishes, not the Dish Network and DirecTV that you see today. The stations we could regularly receive at our home were our local PBS station, NBC, ABC, and CBS. Our home was certainly not as remote as what you might find in states farther north and west.
Given this analysis, I don't have a big problem with revoking funding to content producers, such as NPR and PBS. These media enterprises receive a very small portion of the federal funds allocated to the CPB. While any reduction in revenue is painful, to those pleading for continued funding based on their love of the programming, I say, make a bigger donation! I highly doubt that the revocation of funds to either of these media enterprises will result in the end of Sesame Street or Click'n'Clack. However, I do feel that the CPB provides an important service to Americans who do not represent a profitable investment to major network broadcasters. I do feel that revoking funds to local public broadcasters very likely might mean the difference between them staying on air or going off air. I do support the continued funding of these local broadcasters, and I hope that the CPB continues to receive funding to support them.
However, I hope that the CPB's mission is modified. Radio, in my opinion, is a medium on the death march. When do you listen to broadcast radio? At the home? Likely not. In your home, you are much more likely to be watching television or browsing the web. In your car? Maybe, or you might be listening to satellite radio, or your MP3 player. At work? Again, there has been a major shift towards streaming content over the web by office workers. Television, too, is not the media powerhouse it once was. I believe that the CPB's mission should be modified to help meet the president's call to improve broadband internet service to every American. By using the CPB's funding to retrofit local broadcasters with LTE data services (or some other data technology) more Americans will have ready access to broadband internet service. This will provide more than just a public media outlet, it provides access to the wealth of content on the web.
Right to Work
Indiana is currently embroiled in the discussion of Right To Work. Right to work is a bill put before the Indiana legislature that would, if passed, make it illegal for employers to require employees to join a union or pay union dues (HB 1468). Currently, if you are hired at an employer that utilizes union labor, you are required to join the union and to pay union dues. These union dues are often deducted from your paycheck automatically.
I've had first hand experience with this scenario. In my teens, I worked as a bagger at a Kroger grocery store. Kroger employees are members of the AFL-CIO. As a condition of my employment, I had to join the union, and union dues were automatically deducted from my paycheck. I only worked part-time, and I was paid minimum wage. My union dues were around $5.00 on each two week check, which means that for one hour every two weeks, I was sending my pay directly to the union. That was a pretty significant portion of my income when I only worked a few hours each week (between 8 and 24 depending on whether school was in session). I never met my union steward, attended a union meeting, or really felt a part of the union. Still, every two weeks an hours pay went to the union. It was frustrating! Still, the union did negotiate our breaks (one paid 15 minute break if you work 4 hours, two if you work six, and two paid 15 minute breaks plus a paid 30 minute lunch if you worked 8 hours). I believe that unions have their place, and that there is definitely a need to unionize. I believe that unions can and do provide benefits to their members. However, I also feel that our nations largest unions are no longer effective.
On the one hand, I can definitely see the argument for eliminating the requirement to join or pay dues to a union. As a teenager, I definitely would have taken the option to keep that money for myself. What I wouldn't have realized then is that, without the union, I might not be making that same hourly wage. My break times might not be paid either, or even exist for that matter. If I didn't pay those dues, I would effectively be free-loading on the union. I would be receiving the benefits of union membership without joining the union.
Attempting to make an argument on whether or not a Right to Work law is good or bad based on states that do or do not have such a law is difficult. There are many more factors at work than just the Right to Work law, such as tax breaks for the employer, or other pro-employer benefits. Those in favor of unions will quickly show statistics that demonstrate states with Right To Work laws have lower wages and high on the job injury cases than states without. Those in favor of Right to Work will talk about how employers specifically seek out states with a Right to Work law when expanding their business.
Growing up in a manufacturing town, I've heard the arguments back and forth. The unions argue for higher wages, better benefits, and better working conditions. The employers argue that the union demands are putting them out of business. The Right to Work bill is clearly an attempt to diminish the power of unions in our state. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I just don't know.
Is Barnes & Noble Scamming Groupon Users?
On February 4th Groupon ran an offer for "$10 for $20 Worth of Toys and Games, Books and More at Barnes & Noble". As an avid reader I was interested in what could be a great deal on some new books. I checked the terms and conditions and saw that the Groupon could also be used for Nook purchases, which was the clincher for me. I purchased the Groupon and registered it with my Nook.
One of the terms of the B&N Groupon is that it expires on April 10th. If you did not spend the full amount of the Groupon by April 10, the remaining balance would be reduced by $10, or to $0 if less than $10 was remaining. I was a little concerned about this as I already had a $50 gift card registered with my Nook, and there is no way to re-order gift cards on the B&N website. Unless I spent $70 on books in the next two months, I wasn't going to get to take advantage of the deal.
On February 18th my wife and I were on a date and we had some time to kill after dinner before we went to a comedy club. We stopped at the local B&N and had coffee and browsed books. I found a paperback copy of "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman for $7.99. This book isn't available on the Nook and it was on my to-read list, so I decided to use my Groupon for it. When I presented the Groupon to the cashier, he gave me a funny look and asked if I wouldn't like to get something more. He explained that any unspent amount from the $20 Groupon would be lost. This was news to me, as my understanding of the terms was that it worked just like a gift card. He went on to say that all of the Groupons used the same number, so there was no way to tell them apart. We were pressed for time to get to our show, so I returned the book to the shelf and we left without purchasing anything.
The next day, I got to thinking about what the cashier said. It made no sense that all of the Groupons shared the same number. If they did, either the first customer to use it would use it for everyone, or I could go into the store and use my Groupon over and over again. I double checked the terms and conditions. Based on the wording regarding the April 10th expiration, I was certain that the Groupon would retain the outstanding balance. I went to a different Barnes and Noble location and picked out the same book, along with "Anansi Boys" (also by Neil Gaiman). Each book was priced at $7.99. I again approached the cashier with my Groupon. The cashier looked at the Groupon and said that I had to spend a minimum of $20 before I could use it. I held my ground this time. I said that there was no minimum purchase, and the remaining balance would be retained. She shrugged and we entered the number and pin. Sure enough, the receipt showed that the Groupon had a remaining balance of $2.90. I also confirmed the remaining balance on the B&N site.
I thought about this situation some more, and it started to seem more suspect. I had visited two different Barnes and Noble locations and spoken to two different cashiers. In both cases, the cashier instructed me to spend over the $20 Groupon amount (one in order to avoid forfeited value, the other as a minimum purchase). Are the B&N stores intentionally misinforming their cashiers in order to encourage customers to spend more than the Groupon amount? If you took advantage of the B&N Groupon, did you receive similar information from a cashier?
UPDATED:
I did a little research to see if anyone else was getting the same feedback when using the B&N Groupon. This thread on one of the B&N blogs details how some Groupon users were able to purchase multiple Groupons and use them in shady ways.
In addition, I sent a support request to both Groupon and Barnes and Noble to let them know about my experience. I'm not looking for anything in return, just to inform the businesses about the confusion surrounding this deal. I received two replies from Groupon within a few hours of submitting my e-mail (wow, fast feedback!). However, the two responses conflict.
Hi Adam,
I'm so sorry you ran into some problems when trying to redeem your Groupon.
Typically, our Groupons are used in one transaction and while this was an exception, that is no reason for the Barnes & Noble staff to not be better informed.
Thank you for your feedback and I appreciate your email informing me of your experience.
Regards,
Michaela
Hi Adam,
Sorry for the confusion and thanks for your feedback. These are the universal restrictions that apply to every Groupon (unless specifically contradicted in the deal's fine print):
- Not valid for cash back (unless required by law).
- Must use in one visit.
- Doesn't cover tax or gratuity.
- Can't be combined with other offers.
- Can't use until day after purchase.
In summary, I am positive that your receipt (with the remaining balance) cannot be used for future Barnes and Noble. If it does work, please email us back so we can correct this immediately for all Barnes and Noble Groupons.
Sorry again for the inconvenience.
Regards,
Mark P.
Two messages sent at exactly the same time with directly conflicting information. Looks like the cashiers at B&N aren't the only ones confused about how this offer works.
Controlling your Home Theater PC
Last year I converted one of our PCs into a Home Theater PC (HTPC). We had moved to a rural location that didn't offer cable, and I didn't want to pay a monthly subscription to Tivo just to be able to record Over The Air (OTA) television broadcasts. I purchased a Silicon Dust HDHomerun Dual Tuner unit and connected the PC to our television using an HDMI cable. This worked really well for setting up recordings of broadcast television for later viewing. One of the hurdles that limited use of the HTPC in our household was how to control the HTPC. Using a television or DVR is fairly straight forward. Most people are familiar with a remote control and will intuitively understand how to use them. What do you do when someone hands you a keyboard and mouse instead? I made several attempts at finding a good control solution that everyone could understand.
Attempt #1 - Wireless mouse + wired keyboard
Mouse - Logitech MX Revolution
Keyboard - Logitech Wave Corded Keyboard
These were already in the house, so it was the first thing to try. It worked ok, but there were some major annoyances. The range on the wireless mouse was terrible. The mouse was very touchy about detecting movement on fabric. It either wouldn't move, or it would jump all over the screen. We didn't need the keyboard often, but it was an irritation to have to get up to use it.
Attempt #2 - Wireless Multimedia Keyboard
Keyboard - BTC 9019URF
I also had this keyboard, which I'd picked up at Fry's on sale for $40 a few years back. It is a wireless keyboard that includes a joystick for moving the mouse as well as mouse buttons (right, left, click wheel). When I originally bought it, my intention was to strap it to my treadmill so I could get some exercise while doing my regular browsing, e-mail, bills, etc. It uses some custom RF protocol for communicating back to the USB dongle. It worked fairly well when sitting close to the receiver, but the range is really poor (less than 15 feet in my experience). It also chewed through batteries like mad. The mouse would tend to drift, as the joystick sometimes wouldn't right itself. Typing was painful, as it often missed or doubled keystrokes. I wouldn't recommend this keyboard.
Attempt #3 - Windows Media Center Remote + wired keyboard
Remote - Siig Vista Media Center Edition Remote
Keyboard - Logitech Wave Corded Keyboard
After the batteries died on the wireless keyboard, we ditched it and went back to the corded keyboard. Fry'shad the Siig Vista MCE remote available for $30, so I picked it up. Like the wireless keyboard, it uses a usb dongle, but is IR rather than RF. This worked really well on our Win7 HTPC. All of the buttons on the remote work as expected within Media Center, and the family felt comfortable using the HTPC this way. It was familiar, and it was a lot less like using a PC and a lot more like using a DVR. The remote also worked within the Hulu and Boxee interfaces to some extent. The only negatives were the need to get up to use the corded keyboard, and the slight ugliness of an IR dongle at the front of our media cabinet.
Attempt #4 - Logitech DiNovo Mini
HTPC Keyboard - Logitech DiNovo Mini
I received this as a Christmas gift and it is *awesome*! The DiNovo Mini is a very small form-factor wireless keyboard with a touchpad that can be toggled to either act as a trackpad for moving the mouse, or as a D-pad. The keys on the keyboard are about twice as big as on most cell phone keypads, which makes it easy to type with. The keys are also backlit, which is great when watching something in the dark. It uses a rechargeable battery, so no stocking AAs or AAAs. It has a hinged cover so that when it is not in use you can cover the keys to keep dust and other couch detritus out. The form factor is great. Traditional wireless keyboards are pretty big, and it is awkward to keep them on the couch or endtable. This little guy fits right along side my other remotes. I only have one minor quibble with it. The record button doesn't work. There is a driver hack to get it working in WMC, but by default the record button is mapped to Windows Media Player, and will launch it rather than setting the currently selected show to record. You can either use the driver hack or manually select record to work around this, but it was a point of confusion when we tried using the remote to schedule recordings. Aside from this minor issue, I can't recommend this device highly enough. The $150 MSRP is a little salty for a keyboard (you can find it for closer to $110 from Amazon) but in my opinion it is totally worth it for making the HTPC more useful.
Mobile Data Performance in Lebanon, IN
I found myself at the Starbucks in Lebanon and decided to run the mobile data performance tests again. Same setup as before, but with some slightly different results. This time, both T-Mobile and AT&T could only manage an EDGE connection, while Verizon was able to supply a 3G connection.
For ping time, lower is better. This is the amount of time that it takes for a packet to travel to the server and back.
I think the T-Mobile upload rate on test one must have been a fluke. I've seen the SpeedTest.net tool report incorrect results like this when the connection is lost mid-test.
Given these results, if you use your mobile data near SR39 and I65 in Lebanon, IN, Verizon is your best choice for a provider.
Mobile Data Performance in Castleton
I had an interesting opportunity to do some mobile data performance testing. I have a Motorola DROID on Verizon that I carry around, and I recently got access to a Nexus One with a SIM good for both T-Mobile and AT&T. I did a little testing to see how these different carriers performed in my location. I used the SpeedTest.Net Android app. I ran the test 5 times, all to the same server (Carmel, IN - nFrame). I ran the test from my client's office in Castleton, IN. I ran the test five times each on each network. The results were interesting. Both T-Mobile and Verizon reported 3G service, while I was only able to get EDGE service from AT&T. These results are very location specific, and should not be considered a blanket reference. If you regularly find yourself in the Castleton area, these results may be useful to you.
Cutting the Cord
Last year we cut the cord to our cable provider, not out of desire, but out of necessity. We moved to a rural location that didn't offer cable services. Still, this was something that I had wanted to do for some time, and was glad to have my hand forced. My current setup is as follows:
- Win7 running Windows Media Center
- PlayOn Lite
- HDHomeRun Dual Tuner
- PS3
- Wii
- Netflix
I'm not a big TV watcher, but my wife is. She was quite surprised to see how much of the TV she really wanted to watch was available OTA. Sure, she missed being able to scan for the background noise of guilty pleasures on traditional cable networks, but not so much that we've missed paying the $100+ per month to watch them. We have a very limited "broadband" internet connection through our rural wireless provider (~1.4M down, 512K up) but it is enough that we can stream one show from Netflix. This has been a boon for our kids, who definitely would be missing Nick, Sprout, and Disney.
We setup our recording through the Win7 HTPC, and those recorded shows are available on our other sets via the PS3 using Windows built-in DLNA support, and on the Wii using PlayOn's MyMedia, which is currently in beta.
Another big project during this switch was to make all of our DVD content available on-demand. I used a combination of DVD Shrink, Handbrake, and MetaX for this project. Just like our recorded TV, that content can also be called up using the HTPC, PS3, or Wii.
It isn't a perfect solution. Bad weather knocks out both our OTA TV reception as well as our internet connection. Even with good weather, online content and services have a long way to go before it is a true competitor to what the major cable operators can offer. Asking my wife and kids to switch between Clicker, Hulu, PlayOn, Netflix, and a variety of other apps in the hopes of maybe finding the content they want to watch is non-starter. Keeping it simple is key, and that is something the cable operators have much better control over.
Net Neutrality
Net Neutrality is getting more and more press, and as our lives become more dependent on the web, the decisions made in Washington on the subject of Net Neutrality are going to be very important. As such, everyone should have a good understanding of what is meant by Net Neutrality, the pros and cons, and how it might impact you.
The concept of Net Neutrality is that every packet of data processed by your internet service provider should be treated in exactly the same manner. Whether you are watching a movie stream over Netflix, carrying on a conversation using your VoIP telephone line, downloading music from iTunes, or just browsing the web, all of that data gets treated exactly the same way. It all receives the same processing priority.
For service providers, this presents something of a problem. The current market expects to be able to purchase an unlimited amount of network usage for a fixed price. This was fine for the service providers when the typical user only browsed a few web pages and downloaded some small files. Their network could easily handle the load without causing interruptions or delays in service to any of their customers. Enter video services like YouTube, Netflix, and iTunes video rentals along with peer to peer file sharing networks like BitTorrent, and service providers find that some customers are using a *lot* more data than others. Some customers might use so much data, in fact, that they cause service delays and interruptions for their neighboring customers. What is a service provider to do?
One option is to inspect the data going across the network and treat that data differently. Let's say you are a Comcast customer. You are using BitTorrent to download your favorite Linux distribution, and you also start watching a streaming movie through Comcast's on-demand movie service. Comcast might inspect that traffic coming from your home and cause the file sharing traffic to be processed at a lower priority than your streaming video. This way, you get a nice clear picture without interruption on your movie (and so do your neighbors), but your file download might take a while longer. Many service providers already have in place systems to detect peer to peer file transfer data and throttle the speed at which that data travels their network. This frustrates the file sharers, but also limits the impact they have on other customers using the network.
That scenario is the opposite of Net Neutrality. The service provider is inspecting data and treating data differently based on what the data is used for. But hey, they doesn't sound so bad right? I mean, the service provider is just balancing the load on their network to give the best service to all customers in all scenarios, right? Well, maybe. Consider, however, if you also subscribe to Netflix. You could watch a season of Weeds on Netflix streaming, but Comcast would really prefer that you pay them a monthly fee for the Showtime premium channels. Now that they have the equipment in place to inspect the data you are sending over the network, maybe they tweak the settings for Netflix data so that the image looks poor, or you get lots of re-buffering interruptions. Eventually you get sick of it and pay the $10 per month to get Showtime and, amazingly, the instant streaming content from Comcast video-on-demand shows up crystal clear and without delay.
This is the sort of behavior that the recently passed Net Neutrality bill aims to avoid. Internet service providers aren't happy with it, as it restricts their ability to manage their networks as they see fit. On the other hand, it is an important protection against potential anti-competitive practices.
A major concern for customers is the impact Net Neutrality will have on their taxes and on their internet service bill. As with any regulation, it requires auditing and enforcement, both of which require funding. That funding will necessarily come from taxes. This might become a new tax that you see on your internet service bill, or it might come from an increase in some other tax you are already paying.
The price you pay for your service might change as well, but that isn't due to any specific language in the regulation with regard to price setting. The regulation states that any two users paying for the same level of service should receive that service equally. Without the ability to throttle certain types of traffic, ISPs may choose to instead introduce tiers of service. If you have a cell phone plan, you are already familiar with this concept. The tiers of service increase the amount of data you may use with an increase in monthly price. This doesn't prevent users from hogging the network, but it does force them to pay for that privilege.
Throttling data based on service tiers *is* permitted by the Net Neutrality bill, and is something I am already experiencing through my own ISP. I live in a very rural location, and my internet service options are limited to dial-up, microwave wireless, and satellite. I use the microwave wireless service, which offers multiple tiers of service. I pay for one of the premium tiers, which means that the data I send on the network gets a higher priority than the data of users at other tiers. For example, let's say that my service provider can handle streaming two movies from Netflix at once. My neighbor, who has basic service, starts streaming a show. Another neighbor with basic service starts streaming a show. The network is now at capacity, and both neighbors are watching a show without interruption. Now, I start watching a show. Since I have a premium tier of service, my ISP allocates bandwidth to me at the expense of my neighbors at the lower tier. My show looks fine and is uninterrupted, while their shows get re-buffered as they fight over the remaining streaming slot. Now let's say someone else with my same level of service comes online to watch a show. The two of us at the higher level of service now use all of the available bandwidth, and the lower service tier receives none. In reality, an ISP would never completely shut off service like that, but those at the lower tier would certainly see their data come through at a miserable drip.
Net Neutrality is certainly a complicated issue. Service providers need the flexibility to be able to insure proper service to their customers at a reasonable rate, but we as customers also need to be protected from anti-competitive practices by those we purchase our service from.
Password Security
Given the massive security breach of the Gawker network of websites this weekend, it is a good opportunity to review password security. Users tend to accrue many accounts across a variety of services and sites as they use the internet. You might have one username and password for your web-based e-mail (HotMail, Yahoo, GMail, etc.) and another for your online shopping (Amazon, eBay, Red Envelope, etc.). You could also have accounts for your online banking and credit accounts. Add to those the social services you use (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, FourSquare, etc.) and you can have more accounts than you know what to do with. The easy thing to do is to give up trying to remember different usernames and passwords across all of these sites and use the same one every time. This is very, very dangerous behavior, and I encourage everyone to move towards better online account security.
First, a brief discussion of why this behavior is dangerous. Let's say your name is Janet Weiss and your e-mail address is janetweiss@hotmail.com. For all of the sites you visit you use the username: janetweiss@hotmail.com. On every site you use the same password: 10041946 (your birthday). You use this same account information on every site you use on the internet: everything from your bank's website to the local message board for movie enthusiasts. Let's say that the folks running that message board aren't entirely on the up-and-up, and rather than hashing your password like they are supposed to, they store it in clear text in their database of users. One of the folks with access to this database, let's call him Floyd, can't resist the temptation and prints off a list of usernames and passwords, including yours. Floyd spots your username is your e-mail address, and tries logging into your account with the same password you used on the message board. Success, Floyd is now into your mailbox! Here, Floyd does a quick search to see what other accounts you might have. He turns up old mail that tells him all about the places you do your banking, shopping, and other online activities. He tries that same username and password at your bank and he's in! He quickly sets up a few major transfers between your bank account and anonymous accounts he has set up for himself. He regularly checks your mail and deletes any notifications you get about the transfer. A few days later, once the transfer is complete, Floyd is walking around with a pocketful of your savings.
Ouch! So what can you do to protect yourself from this sort of thing? The obvious answer is to not use the same password on all of your accounts. This can seem like a daunting task, especially if you enjoy using many services on the web. How are you supposed to remember all of those usernames and passwords?
As a first step, I recommend picking two or three passwords that you can remember. Make one a really difficult password, like a jumble of numbers, letters, and symbols that has no meaning to you. This is your 'high security' password. Only use this password on sites that you absolutely trust, and that protect your most important information, such as your bank. Be sure that if you are using this password that the site you are entering it on is using an SSL Certification (an easy way to check is to verify the web address starts with https:// not http://). Your browser might also put a lock symbol next to the URL. Your other password(s) is your insecure password. Use this on sites that you don't necessarily trust, but need an account to access. Using this password is a reminder that anything you enter on the site is probably insecure, so act accordingly. Also, assume that every place you use this password, someone else is going to figure it out and get access to the account. Never, under any circumstance, enter your critical account information (such as bank account or credit card number) on a site that does not use a security certificate (https).
Better, but still not a great feeling, right? If someone manages to figure out that 'high security' password, they will still have access to *all* of your sensitive accounts. The next step is to use different passwords on every service you use. That can be really intimidating if you use a lot of services. Fortunately, there are some tools available to help you. First, find a password manager you like, and start using it. I use KeePass, and I highly recommend it. KeePass allows you to save a username and password for all of the different sites and services you use. The information is stored in a secure, encrypted file. You can only open this file by entering a password. Pick a really strong password for this file, as it protects all of your other account information. KeePass will also generate strong passwords for you. Definitely take advantage of this feature. Once you start using KeePass (or any other password manager) there really isn't any reason to remember your individual site passwords. Just pull up the password manager and copy the password for the service you want to use to the clipboard, then paste it on the login screen.
This works great from one computer, but what do you do when you move between several computers in a day? One solution is to store the encrypted password file on a site that you can access from anywhere. I recommend Dropbox. You can install Dropbox on as many computers (and your smartphones as well) as you like and get 2GB of storage for free. Dropbox will synchronize the files you store with it across all of these machines. That way, when you add a new password to your list at work, you still have access to it when you get home. KeePass and DropBox both have apps for Android and iPhone as well, so you can load it on your smartphone and carry your passwords with you anywhere. If you don't have a smartphone, consider purchasing a cheap USB memory stick and putting it on your keychain. You can install KeePass to the memory stick and save your password file there, allowing you to carry it with you wherever you go. That way, if you stop in an internet cafe or library, you can still have access to all of your passwords.
Online security can be confusing, and it is easy to make yourself vulnerable to attack. Taking the step of using a password manager and different passwords on every site you use is a big step towards limiting your risk when using the web.