In talking with various business relationships I have who have gotten into social networking sites like Facebook recently, one common series of complaints involves all of the 'fluff' that can be found there. Invites to multiple games each day; their home page feed littered with updates from these same games, or other apps they simply are not interested in. One worry of mine, personally is that these complaints seem to be of the, "if I can't figure out this stuff, I'll probably stop using Social Networking altogether" variety.

So I've been planning a simple blog post to detail some of the tools Facebook provides to help here. But then today, I came across a Blog challenge from Tim Ford, otherwise known as the SQL Agent Man (link). The Blog entry was titled, "Whose Blog Is It Anyway?" (link) and the challenge is inspired by the game "Scenes From a Hat" from the improv show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". I considered starting over and writing something else but then I thought to myself, I've started, so I'll finish!

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Sometimes a software uninstall might not complete fully on a Windows system, and you'll be left with an entry in Add/Remove Programs, even though the program files are no longer present. Attempting to remove the program from that list again sometimes will generate an error, and the entry will not be removed, leaving you with an annoying orphan. IntelliAdmin has a freeware program called Add/Remove Programs Cleaner (link) which removes entries from that list.

Important Note: This tool does not do anything toward actually uninstalling a program's files, shortcuts, or registry or profile data. It only removes the item in the Add/Remove Programs list, and it should only be used on a program which you know has been uninstalled, but which Windows won't remove from the list when you try via the normal means.

The Cleaner works on Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003, 2008 and Vista, and may work on Windows 7; I believe it does not work on Windows 98 (seriously, you aren't still using that, are you?) It does not require an installation; it is simply a single executable file that you run.

I got my grubby paws on a brand-new Verizon HTC Ozone at the local Alltel-turned-Verizon store on Friday, three days before the official brick-and-mortar store release date of tomorrow. It has been for sale online since the 29th, and we're not exactly talking about an Apple iPhone or Palm Pre here, so it just took a small amount of whining to get it. The Verizon store being swamped with folks taking advantage of the special deals to switch their Alltel accounts to Verizon (our situation) probably helped, too.

The Ozone is a down to business, Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone made for those who, like me, might have been considering something like a Blackberry Pearl for Verizon's 3G EVDO rev A network. However, it's known as a 'World Phone', which apparently means that it also works on GSM, GPRS and EDGE networks. Also radio-related; It is Wi-Fi enabled, so you can connect to a wireless computer network (802.11b/g) if, for example, the EVDO signal is not available (or if you happen not to have a data plan).

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Thanks to a Facebook link my friend Bev Shaw posted, I recently found SimplyNoise.com. This site has a Flash-based 'White Noise' generator which actually goes beyond white noise, to also include pink and red/Brownian noise. You can find a link on Simply Noise to a wikipedia article on what white, pink and red noise are technically speaking. From a simple perspective, though, they can help drown out the noise of daily living to help you concentrate, relax, or just clear your mind. There are desktop programs which can do this, as well as inexpensive 'noise machines' you can purchase, but I've not found anything that I like as much as Simply Noise.

However, I don't like that it's a web page. I like to keep my desktop as clean as possible while working; particularly while working on the things where I would most want to have a white noise generator running. The fewer things are on my task bar, the better. It would be a hard habit for me to break to stop closing the last Firefox instance when I'm done checking e-mail, news, or what have you. The first couple weeks of using Simply Noise, I found this to be a problem.

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This is pure troll-baiting, but I've long worked (struggled?) in a mixed Mac/PC world, and the best thing I love about Macs anymore is that, well - they are PCs. Although the price tag certainly reflects the features, my 2-year old MacBook Pro (MBP) has a dual-core, 64-bit CPU, has 4gigs of DDR2, and has the best in USB and Firewire connectivity. I fit easily into any cliquish computer-user group; Mac lovers across the cafe smile warmly at the sight of the softly glowing apple on the back of my screen, while I can share a conspiratorial chuckle with the PC-loving nerds as I boot up into Vista Ultimate.

The Problem

When sitting at my desk, with my external peripherals arrayed around me, I'm in heaven. Nothing is lacking, and there would never be any indication that I'm using anything other than a fully-equipped PC. Those who have gone back and forth between PCs and Macs know that the keyboards are not exactly the same. But my Microsoft keyboard works beautifully while my computer runs as a Mac or PC, with subtle, secondary icons on the keys to note how they work for the Apple operating system.

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A recently discovered bit of malware for the Apple Mac OSX operating system presents an opportunity to make a few brief points. I'll try not to preach. Too much.

The short version; The Peer-2-Peer file sharing networks have been discovered to be spreading a trojan horse software (link) posing as a free or cracked version of Apple's iWork 2009 (link) suite of productivity software. Apple does have a free trial version available for download for those who would legitimately like to try it out on their Mac.

For Heaven's Sake; Practice Safe Hex

Do not download from anonymous P2P networks. Forget the moral and ethical arguments entirely. These networks are simply a playground for people who would like to spread malware. All one has to do is create a trojan horse, and give it a name that suggests it is a crack for some expensive software, and off it goes. The prevalence of broadband connections means people will even download a 300 Megabyte piece of malware, which might actually be embedded within what appears to be the 'real' item claimed. The nature of most P2P networks makes it somewhat difficult to figure out where something came from, so there's little recourse when you get infected.

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Because my blog only states in the subtitle that it has "little" to do with eels, and not "nothing", I thought I would offer up two tasty tidbits, so to speak.

First, for those who love the cuddly critters, the Chesapeake Bay Journal describes efforts to help eels with breeding, migration and other such stuff, by relocating some elvers and building eelways - small, trickle streams which bypass dams, which the little buggers are more willing than most fish to swim up. Fishermen and conservationists hope these plans can help keep the eel populations up.

Eels are willing to follow a small trickle if it gets them upstream. Biologists monitoring at Conowingo captured eels with a small stream of water flowing down rip-rap near the base of the dam. This summer, nearly 50,000 small eels followed that stream up nearly 60 feet of rip-rap, into the scientists' collection trays-jerry-built devices made from aluminum cable trays that builders use to enclose electrical wires that run through office buildings.

For those more interested in the culinary pursuit of eels, I also found a recipe for Wood-grilled eel with balsamic and mint. I have to be honest; I have not actually tried this yet. But who could resist a recipe which starts out thusly;

Ask the fishmonger to clean and skin the eels and cut them into 2-inch pieces. If they're large, have the eel boned. Small eels are just as good but a bit more difficult to eat.

Bon Appétit!

For those who do not already know, I use an Apple MacBook Pro (MBP) as my primary computer. I use Boot Camp to dual boot into Microsoft Windows Vista or Apple Mac OSX 10.5 as needed. I may make a separate post about some of the issues, solutions and tools I have found in that process. However, this post is about a small issue that happens to my MBP on occasion, and which I assume must happen to others also.

At times, the battery simply will not charge. Both Vista and OSX show the charger/power supply connected and in-use, and show the battery at a level other than 100%, but both also show that the battery is not being charged. Angela (my wife and business partner) and I have numerous chargers, and we have verified that the problem lies not with them. Since both OSX and Vista exhibit the same behavior (and since the behavior is also the same when the computer is off but plugged in), it lies not with the operating system, either.

The solution, then, is to reset the System Management Controller. This is a bit of firmware on the main logic board of the MacBook which controls many functions of the computer, including battery charging. This is accomplished like so;

• Turn the computer completely off
• Remove both the power supply and battery
• Press and hold the power button for five seconds
• Reconnect battery and power supply
• Turn it all back on, and enjoy

One important note I want to emphasize is that this process should only be followed when the computer has been shut down properly. If you cannot get the computer to shut down properly, you have other issues which are more pressing than the battery not charging. Although Apple makes this caution only in relation to the MacBook Air, I think it would be wise to consider it for any MacBook, or at least to take the system to an authorized service center.

Finally, I want to note that this does not appear to help with another issue experienced by many MacBook Pro users. Many early MBP systems came with faulty batteries, which would not hold much of a charge at all. Apple had an exchange program for these batteries, which has long ago ended. There also was a software update to OSX which updated the firmware on some batteries to resolve some faulty batteries. All modern, fully-patched OSX systems (10.4+) will already have this update, and the battery itself would have been automatically updated, as well. If the battery still does not last long from a 100% charge, the best bet would be to purchase a new one.

So, I'll just have to jump in. I'm not necessarily a stranger to posting stuff online, having done so on forums, news sites and other online means since I first started a fan site for the game Ultima Online back in 1998. I've even used forums or front-page news items on some sites in sort of a 'blog-ish' way, where appropriate. But I've yet to actually start a 'blog until now.

What Will I be Doing Here?

I'm going to use this as a casual-professional 'blog mostly, to keep up on things related to my work and other things about which I care. I do not intend to do too much blogging on personal things unless they are related to other topics here; That will be more for my Facebook wall.

Who is This Guy, Anyway?

I'm sure I'll be putting up a more detailed page, but here's the short version (just in case you happen to be interested!)

My name, unimaginatively, is in the name of the 'blog, so we'll skip that. By trade, I am a software developer, specializing in database programming/design, data access, reporting and entry systems, client/server and n-tier solutions, and general desktop applications. I have developed databases, applications and web sites for our own use, and now provide those services for clients. Inkwell Creative Group, LLC, of which I am a Managing Member and the Technical Director, also provides marketing/advertising consultation, graphic design, and public relations.

We also publish Out & About, a Family Guide a free monthly paper dedicated to the arts, entertainment, non-profit groups and events going on in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Finally, as a hobby in my 'free time' I operate a small-scale, free online game called Shadowcove.

Here We Go!

So, with all that out of the way, now I no longer have any excuse to say, "Well, I don't know how to start the 'blog!"