Scam and spam

In a previous entry, I mentioned a few things about determining spam and scam. Remember that spam and scam are two separate things. Spam tends to be in a grey area, legally speaking, because it’s not illegal, but since it is annoying for the receiver, it is not recommended from a business perspective. Also, spam can be stopped or filtered out, whereas scam is a lot more to deal with. Scam comes in like any other email, seeming as if it’s real, but in the end it leads to some form of loss of money. Be it a bounced check due to the scammer sending a false check, which leads to huge fees from the bank. Or it could be due to separate fees like more shipping than normal. Not to mention the taxes involved if the transaction is over a certain amount. Another thing about scam is that what they are really seeking is your personal information and maybe a little bit of money. I have a strong bias against this form of annoyance because it’s difficult to monitor and just because of the fact that it seems as if they are working harder than they should just to make a buck. I feel no remorse for them if they don’t get a response or they get a rude response. Nor do I feel any remorse whatsoever if they get reported to their email provider (which is usually one indicator that they are real or fake). Remember, being scammers, they would never call, instead they tend to send out mass emails.

So should I stop using email? In no way shape or form am I saying you should stop using any form of technology. We live in a digital world, where most of our communication is done on a computer. Just be careful and know how to determine what is what.

How do they both come in? Spam is easy to explain. Remember those metal pots you bought from Sears online? Right before the checkout, there was a box stating that you wanted to receive emails from them. By default it is checked and just by the fact that we are shopping, they assume we will not uncheck it. So simply make sure to uncheck that box. Legally, companies are suppose to give you an option to unsubscribe to this feature, which can be found at the bottom of the email in fine print. Scam comes in quite different. When a scammer looks for their new victim, they simply look for way to find their email because that’s all they really need. For small local businesses, this is usually a lot easier because small local business are told to sign up for free directories, which I disagree with, simply because it’s pretty much giving the scammer a free for all. There’s a reason why it’s free-no security, another reason why you keep getting similar emails from let’s say Craig’s List. If you feel that this would help you, since I have no knowledge of business, I can’t explain why it’s actually not such a great idea, try to avoid putting your email down. Instead put your phone number. Just as a note, respectable directories are like the Yellow Pages, yp.com Yelp, Google Places, Yahoo!, and other well known, well respected organization.

So how can you determine what is scam:

Financial:

The first flag that should come up is when you get an email from someone you don’t know at all speaking of money. Be it asking for money, an “opportunity”, or even a favor (which we will talk about later). Whenever someone is talking about money, you must stay attentive because only you can keep your money safe. I completely understand that we need money and trust me scammers know this quite as well. So they bank on that fact, don’t let them get away that easily.

Emails, no phone calls:

Notice, they send emails, but never call. They do this for a few reasons, mostly because they can’t do mass phone calls at once. Also, by the fact that have no idea how to write properly in English, leads me to believe that you wouldn’t be able to understand them.

Out of the country:

This indication signifies two main things. They most likely can’t write properly in English as well as it being a clear scam. If someone asks you to send them money outside of the states, particularly for a business transaction, most likely it’s a scam. The most basic rule for any business, don’t do business with someone outside of the country, unless you have spoken to them, at least on a verified phone call, if not in person.

Terrible spelling:

Terrible spelling for simple common words is a clear indication that they might be a scammer, especially outside of the country. If you haven’t noticed by now, most scammers tend to be from outside the country, so don’t try to track them down, but you can research the names that they give, which I will talk about later on.

Horrendous grammar:

I understand that we all have problems with grammar at times, but sometimes you would read a sentence and think it was just a fragment of random words. Clear indication of an obvious scammer.

Unprofessional writing:

When dealing with a business transaction, if a letter or an email has text language or all lowercase letters, this is a big red flag, at least for me. Especially when they are talking about thousands of dollars, yeah, the two don’t go together.

Sympathy:

This is my favorite one. Some scammers give you two and a half page essay on how they lost a loved one and their dying wish was this or that. First off, people don’t tend to read emails over a page. Second, and not to sound apathetic, but everyone has their own issues. We don’t want to wake up to an email about someone (who keep in mind we don’t know) who sent us an email about their dead relative. Emotions are apart of human nature and can be hard for most to retain, so they use that for their advantage. Now, personally, this is where I would just let them have it, but you may choose to just ignore it and that is normally the best choice. You can ignore scammers in all cases, but after a while you get sick of it and decide to try and get some fun out of the situation. Remember, it’s okay to say no, especially if you have no idea who the person is.

Research the person:

Sometimes, this would give you a huge insight if it’s a scam or not. In the scenario that started it all for me, all I really had to do was email the name the person was giving me because the name was of a highly respected artist who, I’m sure, had plenty of money and had no reason to scam someone. If your case isn’t one of these, just go through the check list. If you aren’t sure, ask them questions why you don’t feel comfortable, they will respond, but keep a record of the conversation and be tentative on their email. Always check spelling, grammar, and level of professionalism.

Thank you for reading. Stay safe out there and keep learning about your machine.

Waiting is the worst part

A while back, Facebook’s CEO announced that he was tired of Facebook. This lead to much distress from the younger folk, while parents seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel. The uncertainty of the social network powerhouse made me start thinking about creating my own. At first it was just something for me to do as a challenge so that I could prove to myself, as well as a kind of mock against Facebook, with all of it’s redundant ads. This took me about a month and after that I announced it on Twitter. It was also around that time that a good friend of mine notified me of an idea for a specialized social network for a certain field. So I decided to port over my already setup social network for this specialized network and then just left it to marinate. A few months later, my friend called me up to let me know that people were interested and they wanted to go ahead with it. So I went back to the code and saw that it wasn’t setup as best as possible, so after three days and three nights of rebuilding, I was ready to take care of the rest of the system. This was just the prototype, so when the originator of the idea for this project took a look at it, it was comforting to know that he was satisfied with the functionality. Course it still needed some TLC in the arrangement of it all and that’s where my friend would use his knowledge. Since then I’ve been working on it to add more functionality and making sure everything is how it should be.

Now, me understanding how if a social network is backed up by plenty of investment, it can boom, especially after our meeting, I started to get very excited, being that I would be 1/3 owner of this new project because this would also help me with my own IT business. Do I truly believe that this new project could flourish? I believe is an idea is unique, useful, and given that the idea has plenty of resources for marketing, there is a large chance that the idea could boom. The whole idea of a social network is not a new thing, there are a significant number already out there, but certain social networks that require a much larger level of security due to the data behind the wall is very sensitive and private.

So what’s the bad part? Isn’t everything okay now? Well, even though the three of us have spoken about the paper work, I’m still waiting for something to happen along those lines. I’m trying to stay optimistic, since interest was shown just a few months after the original setup and for the most part, we were satisfied with the prototype. And I already know that a few people are interested in it. I also do understand that the three of us to have other things to do, but the plan is to make it live to the public in December and there’s no sign of getting the paperwork done soon. The paperwork for any business is the most important, especially with multiple owners because all the owners have to be satisfied with the protection, percentage of pay, and just general legal agreement. We don’t even have a rough draft to see what we would have to change. I do also understand that the initial paperwork can take a while with multiple owners, but I’m just excited about this new opportunity I guess. I do also have to be careful because I had a few experiences in the past where it sounded too good to be true and it did end up being untrue. I really do want to trust my partners, especially since we would be in this together, but I tend to have difficulty trusting people, so my ears are up and I’m focused. I just don’t know. We shall see I guess, as long as I don’t lose money and my code doesn’t get stolen, I guess I could learn to cope with the disappointment.

Anyways, I’ll keep you posted. Thank you for reading.

Is if finally clicking?

Late last night I began to work on our site, just to make it better and better because that’s what it’s all about, at least it is for me. Keep in mind, I am a developer and not a designer, meaning to say I lack the ability to understand how to place objects on a page ,especially in a way that it would look the same in all cases. So here was my main problem up to last night-our site looks decent and functions stably, meaning there are no broken links, but whenever I would go to my laptop, which I did not use to develop the site, it would look different than my desktop. Why would this occur?

To understand why it would look different on other machines, we have to understand the factors of that other machine. The most obvious factor is that we have to understand that not everyone uses the same browser. For example, I use Safari, which people tend to hate for one reason or another. The two most common browsers tend to be Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Why would a different program look different if we get the same information from a site? Well, even though font type and size is important, it’s actually the font width characteristic that would drastically change the design. Let me take the time right now to say that just because of this fact, we have to understand that there’s only so much that we can do to make sure that the site look the same. What do we have somewhat of a control over?

Well, another factor is resolution. What is resolution? It’s basically the amount of pixels that fit on the screen. The higher the resolution, the smaller the pixels, making it look a lot more crisp. There are a view ways to deal with this, but I think the best way is to set a fixed frame for the site. In other words, instead of making the site dynamic (changeable) you make it static (fixed). As a developer, I work more with dynamic systems, but what I learned is that sites tend to look better on a static setup because you are restricting how the site can look. You can restrict the frame by using a style sheet and setting the body width and height. Is this a standard? Well, according to ww3 school, it actually does mention this and gives us an option to do this, which is not taken out as a standard. I can’t mention the importance of a style sheet enough because with these style sheets you set the font size, font colors, font types, along with the other characteristics of the site. The best and most efficient way to use style sheets is to have separate files and simply linking each page to that style sheet.

What if objects are clashing into other objects? There are two main reasons this would happen, the objects were incorrectly measured or you are using percentage (usually a dynamic trait) and the zoom is higher than the machine you designed the site with. For the measurement issue, try using our method of setting a fixed frame and remeasuring the distances. As for the percentage issue, simply change it to a fixed location. For example, if you are using divs, I am assuming the left parameter looks something like “50%”. Simply set the fixed frame and change that percentage to something like “400px”.

What I’m realizing and understanding more and more is that webpages are more static than dynamic. I always tried to make a dynamic site, not fully understanding how that would effect the design of the site. With a static webpage, you prevent things from clashing and you have a higher chance of things looking the same.

Let me close with my favorite geek quote, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. “-Steve Jobs

Thank you for reading.

The importance of a database

As someone who loves databases and who is also quite knowledgable of them, I decided to write a small article on the importance of a database.

First off, what EXACTLY is a database? Isn’t it just a list of data? Yes and no. Yes, you do have a list of things, but what can you do with that list is what’s really cool about databases. You can sort them to help readers see an updated list of data, as in what is most recent. You can also search for certain data. For example, if you wanted to know if you read a certain book, you can just search your list. Or let’s say you need to find an invoice for a bill, simply search for it instead of going through your huge list of invoices. But those are just the basics. Almost, if not all, social networks are built around a database, heck, most systems are built around a database. Sure, it takes a knowledgeable programmer to write the functionality, but it’s the data that enables that programming to get the job done.

Second, are all databases important? Of course! There’s a reason why you built it, is there not? Like for example a database that keeps a record of the books you read. If you are a big reader and want to some day go back and say you read certain books, you can. I believe that there is no database that is too small (nor too big) that has no meaningful purpose because even though a specific data “isn’t important” at the time, somewhere down the line it may become useful to someone else.

Third, what’s more important, the data or the code? Well, even though the script might look complex or may do special things, it’s the data that’s important. For example, if I built a system and someone stole the code, they won’t have the same use for it if they don’t have my data. In other words, they both go hand in hand. Also, if I did build a system with sensitive data in it and someone did unfortunately steal it, I might not feel too bad because I still have the data, they don’t, and it’s still safe.

Fourth, can anyone build a database? Of course! And if you feel that you don’t have enough knowledge, I’m sure you can find a good friend or relative to set it up for you. It may not be as complex as other’s databases, but it doesn’t have to be, depending on what you need it for. As long as the job gets done to your satisfaction, BUT you don’t have to limit yourself. Some time ago, I was building a small work order system (built on a database of course) and I ended up building a whole system that could manage a company from the palm of your hand (any mobile device with internet access). As an added note, you may think “Is that safe?”. My response would be yes because I built it with security in mind.

Fifth, what is the best way to build a database? I may have my preference (MySQL), but the best way depends on what you need it for, who’s building it, and what functionalities you need. Basic rule of thumb

1) Know at least what the basic needs you want to keep track of. (What you are keeping track of)
2) Pick the program that best suits your needs, depending on how advanced your needs are.
3) Pick appropriate data types. For example, don’t use integer values to keep track of dates.
4) Keep plenty of room to grow in functionality.
5) Focus on stability rather than making it look pretty. Simple is always better.
6) Make sure you always save the data and back it up.
7) Never underestimate the power of a database.

One main thing that keeps popping into my mind is that the concept of databases might seem simple, but the more I work with them, the more I am amazed by what is possible. For example, you can build your own social network, if you understand how they work. You can also put a blog (just like this one) right on your business site, without having to redirect your clients to a different site (which you want to avoid as much as possible) . That’s what I mean about never underestimating the power of a database and keeping room to grow functionality.

Another thing that I am amazed with about databases is that they seem like organisms in nature. I say this because when you build a system that gets constantly updated (deletions, insertions, modifications, or others), the data is always changing. And if you have a system where data gets moved around from one place to another, it really is amazing. Just think of a child growing up, going to college, meeting that “special someone”, moving out, getting a real job, and just living their lives. The data constantly changes, gets moved around, and the system grows into something you may have not imagined when you first set it up.

Does everyone have a use for them? Not everyone, but I’m sure there are quite a few people that have much use for them. Companies, especially, need to manage all types of data. Individuals may need help keeping organized with the information they have, be it a book list or a shopping list. Or there may be people who just love being organized and use their database to aid them in their daily routine. One individual may not have a use for them, but I do believe that there are quite a number who do, they may not know how to set it up or how to go about it, but they would like one. I can think of one big database that can aid in just about anyone’s daily life-financial records or finances.

Thank you for reading. Have a pleasant day!

Windows 8 DP

Windows 8 DP OS Analysis Overall rating: 77 /130 ~3/4
By Abel Gancsos, Computerfox Design

Date: 09/23/2011
What: Operating System
Developers: Microsoft, Corp
Name: Windows 8
Version: Developer Preview
Structure: Desktop PC
Brand: HP
Processor: Intel Core2Duo
Memory: 1.5 GB
Rating system: 10/10
Categories: Installation, first boot after installation, welcome screen, default desktop, idle memory, task manager, user switch, start button, settings, development, gaming, overall stability, security (13)
Purpose: To study the new operating structure to get an idea of things to come.
Hypothesis: Good for mobile use only. Can lead to confusion to the average user. Works best with a touch screen.
Mind set: Willing to keep on open mind, but based on past OS versions, there is a high chance my hypothesis will be proven to be true.

Obtained:

Installation:

Messy. No clean installation possible. Lots of crashes on manual upgrade. Keep in mind this is just a developer preview. If they want to help users AND technicians get things done (which I’m sure they don’t), they must fix this. Nothing is less professional than trouble installing the operating system. Despite the issues, very quick upgrade process.

Rating: (generous) 3/10

First boot after installation:

No noticeable problems. Very quick, which tells me there are no or not a lot of start up programs default with Windows. This could vary with a new machine with Windows 8 since companies put their own software on.

Rating: 10/10

Welcome screen:

I like the solid green, but I’m not sure if this could be changed and I doubt others would agree with me on the solid green. Account picture is large, which tells me that the rest of the system could also be set for large font. This would be great for elderly users, but depending on the rest of the system, that could be the only benefit for the elderly, at least.

Rating: 7/10

Default desktop:

As I thought, the desktop is of a mobile setting. Truly works best with a mobile touch screen because you can flip through the applications quicker. You may get a similar experience with a touchscreen monitor, but the average user wouldn’t have that unless technology brings us to a point where computer systems would come default with touchscreens.

Comes with a few interesting applications, including modern games. This is a plus, but I’m still skeptical in this area. For now, at least for this category, I will keep the rating empty and will mention certain things in my final note, which would reflect the flexibility of changing themes. NOTE: THIS COULD BE JUST MY BUILD, BUT THE DESKTOP WILL NOW SHOW ALL THE PROGRAMS YOU HAVE INSTALLED. This is good and bad. Good because you no longer have to look for a program, they are easily accessible since there are right in front of you, and because they have a large preview of the program so it would be easier to distinguish from one and another. Bad because it has completely changed the system, which for MANY years has been the same.

This section, so far, is my biggest concern because people will be unfamiliar with it and if you are depending on a technician that has never seen Windows 8, well then, you would be learning along with him/her. Sure they would catch on faster, but they may or may not have trouble navigating as well, so don’t feel bad.

Rating: (based on flexibility) 3/10

Idle memory:

On idle memory, it already uses about 500 MG of memory. This tells me that in order to avoid crashing, you need around 2 GB of RAM, which isn’t hard to achieve since new computers tend to come with at least 4 GB of memory. I highly recommend staying away from even the consideration of Windows 8 if you are on an older system with less than 2 GB of memory.

Rating: 4/10

Task Manager:

Task manager can be accessed the same way and has a few new things in it. Now it includes App History, where you can view the history of the applications and how much of your resources each used up. This could be used to track efficiency of applications. This could also show how bad certain programs truly are (Norton Anti-Virus).

The performance section of task manager now shows a complete overview of all resources being used. It even shows how much of the disk you have filled up and the strength of you network. Kudos Microsoft! You did something smart for technicians.

Rating: 9/10

User Switch:

Changing users in Windows 8 is very simple due to the fact that you have your profile name in the top right. Simply click on your name and click sign out or change users. This is very similar to Apple Mac OS X. I felt the need to mention that as a possible influence of the design. Note that I never used Windows mobile, but I do feel that Windows 8 works best on mobile device settings.

Rating: (open-minded) 8/10

Start button:

The start button has also changed. It is no longer a pearl by default. The action takes you back to your mobile view of your applications. The start menu (when you click start on other Windows) is now accessed by hover over start. You access your programs and files through search, which simply puts everything into a list. Or you can simply type in what you are looking for and it will search the index. You can still access your hard drive and computer files if you have My Computer on your desktop. This in my opinion is a HUGE change because many have been too use to simply clicking the start button to access any program. Also, when you hover over start, it shows your network connectivity strength and a large clock.

I feel that Microsoft was trying to make things simpler for users, but this may make many who don’t use the mobile os quite angry. Could this be a revisited to Vista? The operating system as a whole does seem interesting, but the setup is completely different. Unlike with Vista and Windows 7, where you could just follow a similar pattern in XP, users would have to spend time just learning to navigate through their files. My rating for this section is based on default settings.

Rating: 4/10

Settings:

At first look at the new control panel, it is clearly an operating system for mobile devices. Control panel now gives you the option to turn off wireless, including airplane mode. I understand that companies want to try and integrate mobile os and desktop os, I mean, what company wants to build two new operating systems each year or two? But I do feel that Microsoft went about it the wrong way because by integrating mobile with desktop without anyway to distinguish settings presented to the user, it would confuse the average user A LOT. And with the elderly category having to turn over their Windows 98′s, this would, in my opinion, force them to stop using the machine.

As of now, there is no way to change to a view similar to Windows 7. That means that there is no way to get a new computer with a similar set up without reinstalling the previous operating system. But I do understand this because if you do upgrade to Windows 8 and then change to a view similar to previous operating systems, then what would be the purpose of installing Windows 8.

You can still personalize backgrounds and other common settings, but there is no way to set a theme such as windows classic.

Rating: 4/10

SIDE NOTE: WELL, IT DIDN’T TAKE TOO LONG FOR IT TO CRASH. MY TIMING-AROUND 40 MINUTES.

Development:

Web development should be the same.

C/C++:

Program used: Bloodshed Dev C++
Program version: Newest as of 9/23/2011
Code:

#include
using namespace std;

int main(){

cout<<”This is a test on Windows 8”<

cin.get();

return 0;
}

Result: Crash.
Error: g++.exe stopped working.

NOTE: g++ failure for an operating system that should run it-no good.

JAVA:

Program used: BlueJ
Program version: newest as of 9/23/2011
JDK: Java SE JDK 7
Code:

import java.util.*;
class test{
public static void main(String[] args{

System.out.println(“This is a test on Windows 8”);
}
}

Result: Success!

NOTE: JAVA tends to be more of a Windows/server programming language so this gives some hope.

Rating: 8/10

Gaming:

Game: Diablo 2
Installation: Success. W/O expansion. Time-40 minutes
Game play graphic quality: Crashed. Would not run. N/A

Game: StarCraft
Installation: Success. W/O expansion. Time-2 minutes
Game play graphics quality: Crisp and clear. Full screen.

This leads me to believe that there may be issues with newer, stronger games, which is one thing that Microsoft users brag about against Linux and Mac users.

Rating: 5/10

Stability:

Compared to Vista (full) and taking into consideration that this is a developer preview, I would say it’s more stable. Compared to Windows 7 (full), honestly, I think it needs some patches. It gets points off for crashing within 40 minutes of installation as well as from failing to run a game from 1999.

Rating: 6/10

Security:

It does come with a built in program, but the average user would want to install a separate program, so this is a given. It still boots in root, which is the leading reason why it is so easy to install viruses.

This report is not about the anti-virus programs themselves (despite my comment about Norton), so that doesn’t play in with any of the rating.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I want to compare my experience with Windows 8 to Mac OSX Lion (DP versions). With both, I experienced crashes. Both did look fresh and modern, but in the end I was skeptical (even hesitant) with Lion. But when the official Lion came out (a long with some updates), Lion is by far my favorite OS. Why? Mostly because it’s still based on one of the most stable and secure systems that has been around since the dark ages of computing-Unix. Also, although they changed a few things in Lion, the system is still the same as the other 10 series operating systems.

My biggest problem with Windows 8 is that they didn’t just freshen the operating system up, but they completely changed it. Instead of giving the Windows car a shower, they built a space ship. I believe, for the most part, at least those that aren’t familiar with the mobile version, will be angry, disappointed, and confused. Many of them already feel illiterate, but now put a completely different system in there hands- that would be a red flag to me. Course there is the slight chance that is really would be simpler and for those who use Windows mobile, sure it would be, but the average user doesn’t use Windows mobile. They either use IOS or Android. And many of them are still using BlackBerry. Not to mention those that don’t even use smartphones, let alone Windows mobile.

I do think that Windows 8 is interesting. I don’t want to sound absolutely biased and bash Windows. That’s not what I’m attempting to do. I just wanted to write out my experience with Windows 8 as if it was a new machine, out of the box, as is with the developer preview. There is potential, but that potential works best if the design was slightly different and not completely alien. We fear the unknown (my experience with Lion), but that was when things were slightly changed. Many Windows users are still learning the old operating system and now Microsoft is forcing it’s users to start learning something else. Not a smart idea, although, what do I know, I’m just a college student who uses Mac, who has dealt with all three operating systems since he was 8 years old.

Let me close with this thought. Since the big bang of tech companies, the biggest war was between Apple and Microsoft. Many Microsoft users hate and criticized Apple (despite the fact that the bulk of them have never even touched one) for their system (really because they can’t afford one). Granted Mac struggles with games, but with other game consoles, there are many options. Here is a quote from Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, on why Apple is so unique- “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. ” This means that it’s not just how pretty it looks. Not just how it functions. But EVERYTHING. An operating system is after all a system, so you have to design it with the WHOLE system in mind, which I admit is a difficult task. But that’s my point. That’s why Apple is so unique. Now, I don’t mean to make this report about Mac, I’m just using it as an aid to help compare Windows 8 to something. We already know that it’s completely different than the previous Windows’ so it’s difficult to compare it to the past (and personally I think that would make me sound even more biased).

Flash Sites: Yes or No?

Flash Web Sites: Yes or No?

I can have always appreciated beautiful art, be it a painting, photograph, a great song, or an amazing playwright, but I’m also mezmerorized by the technical aspects of them all. Flash sites are the perfect candidate for such a topic, being that I do call myself a web developer. So what is my problem with Flash sites? In the following we will look at the pro’s and con’s together.

First, the pro’s. YES, most Flash sites look amazing, even though some of them look worse than web standards, but the stereotype is that almost all Flash websites look amazing. This is one of the main reasons why so many people want one. They can also have cool actions like visual effects and audio. Great, but what about the technical aspects?

This is where the con’s come into play. When deciding how to build a website, take these things into consideration about a Flash site:

1)Search engines have no idea what the site will contain since search engines only understand text. Trying to have a crawler go through a Flash site is like trying to learn all the languages in India. What exactly does this mean? Well, if you are a local business trying to get on the top of page rankings or are simply worried of SEO, well guess what, the best way to get all your worries slapped in your face is by having a Flash site. So in other words, if you are a business, stay away.

2)Flash sites require a program on the computer-Adobe, which means you’re already bitting your tail by making the viewers download another program. Normally, if these people search for a lot of sites, then chances are they will need Adobe anyway, but if you take the stats of these people, most of them look for games, which is different than an informative web page. This we will look at later. This means that if they don’t have Adobe, they can’t view your hard work. Again, if you are a business, stay away.

3)Since crawlers wouldn’t be able to crawl properly there are many things you won’t have at your disposal. Crawlers are little spider-like creators on the web that are used primarily to get information from sites. Not to say that they can’t produce any viruses, but chances are that these spiders are crawling for only information about the website and how many visitors. If a crawler can’t get this information due to a Flash site, then if you are a small business who is “financial aware” (who wants to save money on SEO), then you won’t know who is visiting, and all the rest of the stats. Again, if you are a local business, stay away.

Are Flash sites good for anything then? Well, let me start by saying this, technology is constantly evolving, making things fancier and in some cases better, but not all the time. Functionality is great to have with the developments, but for 90% of computer owners, they just want to use their computer and have it work. They don’t really want “Updates” and “Upgrades”. As technology evolves, especially in web design, it could help lots for the entertainment industry. For example, let’s say you have a band and you want to make a nice web page, here I completely understand using Flash to get it done, but absolutely not when it comes to a business site. What about the games as before mentioned? Lots of us get bored during work and need a break so we either pop onto Facebook or any flash games sites. Since usually we need to buy the software for games and if we just need a few minutes to ourselves, we choose not to due this, so flash designers create games and publish them to the public. For this, even I am greatly thankful, but it’s not like they are trying to market someone’s company through these games are build a site. It’s small games made to help us keep our sanity during the day.

Disclaimer: I will admit that I don’t know how to create a web site in Flash, but I am not jealous at all of those who can. I am a proud web developer that uses the web standards.

Computerfox Design

Summer 2011

Hello All, I felt the need to write an update for this year so far.

New Years Eve:

Not much happened. Worked as usual then came home and worked some more. While watching the ball drop, I had a lot on my mind, for how during this year I had a lot of life-changing decisions. Not resolutions, just decisions I had to make to better my life. I know, it sounds very much like New Years resolutions, but in the end I was very determined and nervous out of my mind for how I was going to approach them. This I will talk more about later.

School:

At the end of this semester and school year, everything went great. I finally passed Calculus 2, leading me closer to finishing my school years, for now. Just one more math course which will be easier and thereafter courses which would seem like a waste of my time. My ending GPA is a 2.44. What a great way to end the school year.

Work:

Work, sucks, not much has changed. I love working with computers and people, I just hate working for the organization that I do. Everyone advices me to go work for an actual company, but something in me just won’t let me. I understand that certain people love their jobs and I’m sure I would if I find the right one, but would that be truly fulfilling. I have this burning passion to grow this epic company that makes money, focussing on their people (clients and employees), and also doing it in a way that doesn’t seem unconventional. I know this is a huge task, growing any business is a journey, but then to do it the way I envisioned it, just adds more stress. But I have this dream and passion, which I believe if I want to live, I have to follow. I can’t explain it at all, but the only way I can describe it is that it’s like the movie “Wild Hogs”-the characters had a destination and they didn’t have any clue what was going to happen, but they didn’t care because they were chasing that goal. Or a runner running a 4 day marathon-they don’t run necessarily for the money, maybe the recognition, but mostly to prove to themselves that they can do it. I don’t know how else to explain that.

This was actually one of the decisions I had to make, but I’m happy of where I am now and just working hard to get more clients.

Vacation:

So far, I also decided to take it a bit easier this year. Being that I worked all summer since I was 12, I needed a short break before I get completely fried. I have to be honest, sometimes I do get bored and I do feel that my motivation is decreasing again, but I really needed a break.

Accomplishment so far this year:

Recently, I drove down to PA and at first I was scared out of my mind, but once I got closer there was a relief. My plans didn’t go over so well, but I just had to drive down there to get it out of my system. The adrenaline was amazing. The only bad part was that it was an effort to stay in one spot for more than a half hour, but I did it and am very proud of myself. By the time I was driving back, I had no stresses at all. This isn’t the last time I drive down there. What’s next? Probably go visit my brothers in New York, but most likely that will be with the transit.

Over all, it’s all apart of growing up, but the kid inside of me is still allowed to come out. Slowly, but surely.

Until next time, Laters!

Update

Sitting here I realize I haven’t written anything here since FOREVER, so I decided to give an update:

School:

Since another semester is gradually coming to a close, finals are coming up, projects are piling up, homeworks, and still lots more to be learned. I’m not complaining because after a few years, you kind of aspect it to be like this at the end. I call it the last mile in a 40 mile marathon. Keep it up you’ll do fine! My only worry really is of course math-Calc2. Very important that I pass this semester, considering I plan to graduate in two years and I would only have Probs and Stats, which would finish up my mathematics. Other than that, everything seems fine with school. Trying to get the last few weeks before friends graduate and move on. They deserve it, they work hard.

Work:

Work sucks, nothing’s new. Everyone has a job that they utterly despise, but I kind of expected all that to change after I hung up my hat at Stop and Shop. The IT community is getting harder and harder to survive I think because you constantly get yelled at and then your boss ends up using you because they have no idea what even HTML really is. Oh well, that’s why I’m working even harder to start up my own company. I’m not very good and I know that, but what I know now I can only get better and better through time. That’s actually why I structured my rates as such, enough to make money, but hopefully low enough to prevent clients from feeling like they were had if something goes wrong. Actually, I had an interview with some very nice people at a hospital to administer their database, but last night the doctor called me with some news. “Not now”, he said as he really petted my ego with nice and encouraging words. Thanks Dr. Faillace, you rock! Even if they were just flattery, it’s nice to hear such words sometimes.

Misc:

With the holidays coming up, I’m not really looking forward to it. A lot of personal reasons why I hate the holidays. It’s nice to have the whole family around, but that’s pretty much it. A day is just a day and holidays are just an excuse to take off from work, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but sometimes they take these holidays over the edge. It’s also nice not getting a speeding ticket this year :knocks on wood: and I don’t plan on getting another. Sure, I pretty much drive the same, maybe 5 mph less, but with lots of paranoia. Why not just drive the speed limit? I have very low patience level and nothing’s worse than having an 90 year old in a brand new Mustang in the left lane going 40 mph. If you drive slow, there is no need to drive in the left lane and having an ego issue doesn’t justify being a nascence to the rest of us. Not that I have much to say about that one…

Anyways, that’s what’s going on and I hope all you guys are doing well too. Laters!

Florida 2010

On the way back home to New Jersey, I reflect on the times I had in Florida. Good, bad, interesting, and fun, but however you would name the moment, it was still an experience that was worth having.

Let’s start with the departure from New York. It was smooth, relaxing, and boring, with the flight crew constantly interrupting the movie I was watching. So in other words, it was like having a moment with your lover while the kids keep appearing for some stupid reason. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that unpleasant, but it was quite annoying.

Next, was the arrival in Orlando. Let me start out by saying that Orlando is one of my favorite cities in Florida. I say this as a whole and I’m not just referring to Disney World. It’s hot and humid with an occasional breeze (just like the rest of the state), but it’s the people that really catch my attention. Warm and welcoming with a down to earth state of mind. The night we arrived, (I was traveling with my father), my dad was trying to learn the roads of Florida. So in other words, we spent about an hour trying to figure out where to go for the hotel, then getting to the hotel was about another half hour. Needless to say, we arrived in my piece, but when we arrived to the hotel, everything was locked. Now, any time I arrived at a hotel at night, the doors have always been open and there was someone prompt and ready to check you in. We spent another fifteen minutes trying to get the attention of this guy who was suppose to take care of us, while giving us this attitude as if we interrupted something important. Despite my bias against this one guy, I do not base everyone in Florida on this one person’s attitude. Like I said, everyone else was the exact opposite. I neglected to mention that along with each city comes an illness. Orlando was the city where I had horrible stomach cramps and acid reflex. Along with stomach issues, I was also working off bad toothaches. This fact is very important for another section.

Now we go onto Tampa. Tampa was also one of my favorite cities, with it’s vast art scene. It also has an amazing history center and a few science museums that are worth going to. The Dali museum is one of my favorites. Most people say that he was a surreal artist, I call him a gothic artist because depute the fact that he took realistic objects and put them in a different state, the state that he put them in were melancholy and dark, much like as you would see in an old movie about the dark ages. This city also had an illness. The day we went to the Dali museum, I woke up with what I refer to as vertigo-dizziness, headache, and nausea. I am quite familiar with this feeling, but only with alcohol, but I hadn’t drunk any alcoholic beverage the night before. Then the last night we were there, again I had horrible toothaches, so me being excessive compulsive,also a complete idiot, I pop 4 pain pills. Granted, I felt great, numb and completely relaxed, but when I woke up the next morning, I wake up to HIVES and tight muscles in my legs. In all honesty, I’m still working on these two things as I’m writing this post.

As I said, I screwed up and now I’m having an allergic reaction and now we are heading towards Naples. Have you ere heard of Naples, Florida? Yeah, I haven’t. My perception of Naples was that it was small, with not much to do.

So we headed out to the Everglades. The only real reason why we stopped by the Everglades was to go on an air boat ride, which ended short due to bad rain. Now, Florida has beautiful weather, despite the humidity, but when it rains, IT RAINS. So much water went into my shoes that it felt like I was in a pool, but it was worth it.

Next was Miami. Now, I hope my bias does not aid in any decision in going to this place, but I have to be honest. I did not like Miami at all, this could have been an effect of my allergy reaction, but personally, I don’t really see what the big hype is. There’s not much to do other than go the beach shop for expensive clothes, or party. Beach, I couldn’t really do, shopping, I’M ON VACATION, which means I’m here to enjoy the sites, not buy clothes, and party, well, let’s just say I don’t really party, nor was it in the proper setting. So the rest f you can go, but I don’t really plan on going back to Miami. Granted, the girls are hot in their small bikinies- that’s like saying Bob is the smartest in a group of mentally handicapped children. Besides, I bet most of them would bend over for a cookie. My other problem with the people is that most of them are self-centered and there’s too much of public drunkenness. Don’t get me wrong, I get drunk myself, but not in public. Have some pride in your person and try to prevent that in public.

Then there was Fort Lauderdale. Great city, much like a combination of Tampa and Miami. Let me ellaborate- the people were friendly and there were quite a number of things to do, but what they had in abundance were shopping malls and yahoo sailing.

Lastly, at the airport. Now there’s not much that I can say about this particular airport, which I can’t say about any other airport. Granted, they are trying to prevent drug smuggling and terrorism, but it seems as if they go overboard. I mean, my dad bought A HAIRBRUSH that looked like a switchblade. He even showed it to them before going through and the douchebags still spent twenty freaking minutes trying to see if my dad is a terrorist. Again, DOUCHEBAGS. I understand them taking my actual knife, but they expected me to pay $30 extra for a knife that I bought for $20. Toss it. Let me explain by saying that along with our computer bags, we also had our carry ons with our clothes, which we had to check anyways because the flight was so freaking overbooked. Let me end this section by saying that airports are airports and we all had our ridiculous experiences with them.

Overall, I enjoyed myself in the sunshine state, but now it’s time to go back to my old, grumpy, and senile clients, even though I wished I didn’t have to, considering my present state…..

Anyways, laters!!!!!

Give me tranquility

having a stressful week of work, i noticed i havent posted for some time again…

first off, like i said, its been a stressful two weeks at work. not hard just a lot of stuff has to be done in such a short time and thats just for half of my priority. not to mention the computer work.

any ways besides work, things have been going great. it feels awesome to be a second semester junior and life in general is interesting.

so since i dont have much to say, well, at least not gerting too personal, i would like to post some random information.

AS A WARNING PLEASE DONT TAKE THE FOLLOWING THE WRING WAY. THE PURPOSE OF THE FOLLOWING IS INFORMATIONAL AND I AM NOT TRYING TO SAY DO THIS OR THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE, even though i do agree with this philosophy…

The number 108 can be found by the following formula.
6 senses of Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin and the mind
x 3 aspects of time (past, present, and future)
= 18 x 2 characteristics of one’s heart (pure or impure). Good or evil based
on
one’s karma. = 36 x 3 preferences a person may ( like, dislike or be indifferent)

have to something he perceives through the 6 senses. = 108 potential conditions
of
one’s desires. As practices his heart and desires become pure by purifying
the 6
sense organs. Nichiren Daishonin states “Regard purification of the 6 sense
organs
as benefit. I, Nichiren and my disciples can receive this benefit by chanting
Nam
Myoho Renge Kyo.” By this process we develop the correct perception through
the
action of the Daimoku ( one meaning of Daimoku is concentration- Dai and
eyes or
vision- moku), focusing one’s eyes or perception on the objective truths
of life
(Gonhozon) – shoho jisso ( all phenomena reveal the true aspect of life).
Nam (
subjective mind and body) – the 6 senses or the 5 components used to practice-

fusion to Myoho Renge Kyo , which is everything we see as a common mortal

viewed from impurity in the 9 worlds, and viewed from purity as a Buddha
in the
10th world. Palms together over the heart symbolizes the fusion of Kyo and
Chi.
Objective truth (Law) and subjective wisdom ( faith in the Gohonzon)-Buddha
as
self. The 2 large beads at each end are the parent beads that symbolize this,
being
the father on the left (Myo)- the Law and the mother on the right (Ho)- wisdom
of
the Buddha. Our 10 fingers together symbolize the mutual possession of the
10
worlds, which fuse together and manifest simultaneously in the life of a
Buddha. As
opposed to a common mortal who manifest one world at a time (ie. Hell, anger,

rupture, learning ect.) On the Gohozon all 10 worlds are represented for
this
reason all at once.
The 4 smaller beads are the leaders of the Bodhisattvas. Covering the 4 Bodhisatvas

and the 108 beads representing desires with our hands in prayer symbolize
the
principle – Bonno soku Bodai, which is portrayed as the deity Aizen on the
middle
left side of the Gohonzon. This can mean earthly desires transform into
enlightenment. Aizen is often seen with 6 arms which serve as a means of

encouraging the believer by offering benefits ( desires) to support one’s
path of
faith.
The Fugen sutra states, “you do not need to extinguish your earthly desires
and
throw away your 5 desires. Only when you are able to purify your senses,
will your
offenses from your past lives disappear.”
The long tassels mean our chanting is spreading to the world- Kosen Rufu.
The 3
groups of 10 beads equal 3000 realms at this moment of life. The 5 balls
and the
pot shaded beads keep our benefits. The priest have 4 long extended balls
which
symbolize their status as teachers to share their benefit. #The beads receive
the
eye opening ceremony in front of the Dai Gohonzon by the High Priest so that
they
become the entity (body and mind) of the Buddha in our life to practice to
the
Gohonzon.

well i hope you enjoyed this post. untill next time, laters!!!