Ugh. Just had this horrible conversation with a Comcast “Tech” named O-Jay who was unable to help me set Comcast’s webmail as my default email application. If you’re trying to do this too, don’t waste your time. Download Thunderbird or some other email client.

When you install most email clients they ask when you first run the application, “Would you like this to be your default email application?” Installing the toolbar from Yahoo does this for Yahoo mail, as does Google’s gmail, and I’m sure MSN Live Mail also can set itself to be your default. The goal here is so that when you click on email links on various web pages your browser will automatically open a “Compose Message” window with the recipient’s email address already typed in and sometimes even a subject if the link was created to insert one. All you have to do is type your message and press “Send”.

This should be available with Comcast’s webmail also. It can’t be that hard to do. It would be a little easier if their tech people understood your question instead of pasting parts of a script to the chat session that are so far off the mark you just want to reach through the pixels and poke the guy in the eye.

Also, know that before I got to chat with OJay I was forced to go through a series of “Frequently Asked Questions” and some not-so-frequently asked questions in an attempt to solve my problem before I had to tie up one of their valuable tech people to figure this out. The “troubleshooting” section was almost as far off the mark as OJay but I was unable to capture any of that part of this time-wasted effort.

My chat session with OJay the tech support guy from Comcast:

Terry > Want to set Comcast webmail as my default email application in Internet Explorer.OJay > Hello Terry_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is OJay. Please give me one moment to review your information.OJay > Excellence is not our aim, it is our standard. It is great to have you on chat though I am sorry that you had to take your time to do this, I understand your concern and would like to apologize for this inconvenience.  I am very happy to get in touch with you and I am here to provide you the best resolution to your concern. My name is O-Jay.How are you doing today?

At this point I realized that I should probably INSTALL COMCAST’S TOOLBAR! I thought, maybe, I could fix this myself before OJay could find someone else to answer my question. This can be done by going to http://www.comcast.net/toolbar3/ and following the directions. In the middle of the install it said all of my browser windows had to be closed and asked if I wanted the program to do it for me. Why not? My chat session with OJay was in a Firefox Window and I was trying to install the toolbar in IE7. Oops. When I answered “Yes” Comcast’s Toolbar install closed EVERY browser window, including Firefox. So I lost contact with OJay. Interestingly, once the toolbar was installed it restarted all my browser sessions, including the chat session with OJay. Although, according to the chat window he had left the conversation. I guess he had another problem to solve.

OJay > Analyst has closed chat and left the room

There was a survey to follow. Was the chat session helpful? LOL. Was the tech able to solve my problem? More LOL.

Oh! Now I have a Comcast toolbar on my WORK computer. I went to a web page that had a sample mailto: link to try it out. Unfortunately when I clicked on the link, kind of as expected, my browser loaded a “Compose Message” window using Gmail.

I think I’ll stick to Gmail for work and Yahoo for personal mail. If you can get Comcast webmail to be recognized as a default email application then please let me know. :)

(Picard) “Mr. LaForge, have you had any success with your attempts at finding a weakness in the Borg? And Mr. Data, have you been able to access their command pathways?”

(Geordi) “Yes, Captain. In fact, we found the answer by searching through our archives on late Twentieth-century computing technology.”

(Geordi presses a key, and a logo appears on the computer screen.)

(Riker looks puzzled.) “What the hell is ‘Microsoft’?”

(Data turns to answer.) “Allow me to explain. We will send this program, for some reason called ‘Windows’, through the Borg command pathways. Once inside their root command unit, it will begin consuming system resources at an unstoppable rate.”

(Picard) “But the Borg have the ability to adapt. Won’t they alter their processing systems to increase their storage capacity?”

(Data) “Yes, Captain. But when ‘Windows’ detects this, it creates a new version of itself known as an ‘upgrade’. The use of resources increases exponentially with each iteration. The Borg will not be able to adapt quickly enough. Eventually all of their processing ability will be taken over and none will be available for their normal operational functions.”

(Picard) “Excellent work. This is even better than that ‘unsolvable geometric shape’ idea.”

(Data) “Captain, We have successfully installed the ‘Windows’ in the command unit and as expected it immediately consumed 85% of all resources. We however have not received any confirmation of the expected ‘upgrade’.”

(Geordi) “Our scanners have picked up an increase in Borg storage and CPU capacity to compensate, but we still have no indication of an ‘upgrade’ to compensate for their increase.”

(Picard) “Data, scan the history banks again and determine if their is something we have missed.”

(Data) “Sir, I believe their is a reason for the failure in the ‘upgrade’. Apparently the Borg have circumvented that part of the plan by not sending in their registration cards.

(Riker) “Captain we have no choice. Requesting permission to begin emergency escape sequence 3F . . .”

(Geordi, excited) “Wait, Captain I just detected their CPU capacity has suddenly dropped to 0% !”

(Picard) “Data, what does your scanners show?”

(Data) “Apparently the Borg have found the internal ‘Windows’ module named ‘Solitaire’ and it has used up all the CPU capacity.”

(Picard) “Lets wait and see how long this ’solitaire’ can reduce their functionality.”

(Riker) “Geordi what’s the status on the Borg?”

(Geordi) “As expected the Borg are attempting to re-engineer to compensate for increased CPU and storage demands, but each time they successfully increase resources I have setup our closest deep space monitor beacon to transmit more ‘windows’ modules from something called the ‘Microsoft fun-pack’.

(Picard) “How much time will that buy us ?”

(Data) “Current Borg solution rates allow me to predicate an interest time span of 6 more hours.”

(Geordi) “Captain, another vessel has entered our sector.”

(Picard) “Identify.”

(Data) “It appears to have markings very similar to the ‘Microsoft’ logo”

(Over the speakers) “THIS IS ADMIRAL BILL GATES OF THE MICROSOFT FLAGSHIP MONOPOLY. WE HAVE POSITIVE CONFIRMATION OF UNREGISTERED SOFTWARE IN THIS SECTOR. SURRENDER ALL ASSETS AND WE CAN AVOID ANY TROUBLE. YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS”

(Data) “The alien ship has just opened its forward hatches and released thousands of humanoid shaped objects.”

(Picard) “Magnify forward viewer on the alien craft”

(Riker) “Good God captain! Those are humans floating straight toward the Borg ship with no life support suits ! How can they survive the tortures of deep space ?!”

(Data) “I don’t believe that those are humans sir, if you will look closer I believe you will see that they are carrying something recognized by twenty-first century man as doe skin leather briefcases, and wearing Armani suits”

(Riker and Picard together horrified) “Lawyers !!”

(Geordi) “It can’t be. All the Lawyers were rounded up and sent hurtling into the sun in 2017 during the Great Awakening.”

(Data) “True, but apparently some must have survived.”

(Riker) “They have surrounded the Borg ship and are covering it with all types of papers.”

(Data) “I believe that is known in ancient vernacular as ‘red tape’ – it often proves fatal.”

(Riker) “They’re tearing the Borg to pieces !”

(Picard) “Turn off the monitors. I can’t stand to watch, not even the Borg deserve that.”

Opera just released version 9 of their browser. Most people that discover it’s features never go back to IE. I’ve personally been using it for more than 5 years and I’ve never had a desire to go back. Some websites still insist on using IE-only special effects on their pages so every once in the while I have to compromise and load IE (hopefully those designers will wake up and realize Microsoft does not own the Internet).

Curious about Opera’s new features? Opera browser: Features

Some of my friends thought they would have to pay for Opera to unlock it or that it was shareware. Opera released their browser as a free app back in September 2005.

PG&E’s website today told me that I was using an unsupported browser (I use Opera most of the time). As I was trying over and over to work around the problem they prompted me to fill out a satisfaction survey. I answered all of the questions with “Excellent” because they had to do with user friendliness. However, at the end it asked for a comment. This is what I wrote:

Your website tells me that my preferred browser (Opera) is not supported. This is sad since it happens to be the fastest browser, the most secure, compared to IE and Firefox, and the most “standards compliant” browser available. Everyone has rushed to support Firefox because of media attention but a superb browser such as Opera, which has been around years longer than Firefox, is passed over again and again. It would be nice if the web developers of this generation would get up to speed and get on the same page as everyone else. Stop supporting incompatible browser technologies created by Microsoft developers who want to create their own version of the Internet.

More people need to complain when their preferred browser isn’t supported, particularly if it’s one of the top alternatives (Opera, Firefox, Safari for Macs, or Konquerer for Linux). These guys need to realize that the world is not made up of just Bill’s boys. The law makes special accomodations for disabled people, maybe we need to get similar laws for people in a minority computing category like Macs or Linux. A law needs to be written that says any website must be compatible with any standards compliant browser. Making an IE only website only limits your exposure. When will web developers realize that?

An article in the Fresno Bee announced today that there is hope for Technology people in the Valley:

Web site to help Valley tech growth

I’ve been mowing around looking for performance statistics to compare against. I haven’t really found anything solid but I did find some information that might help other users in their quest for a server operating system.

Here is a chart comparing FreeBSD with Linux and Windows 2000. As a general reference it’s not too bad. I did notice the date of the file is January of 2002 so keep in mind that it’s way outdated. Microsoft and Linux have made advances that improve on some of the criticism in this comparison but many of the facts still hold true. The chart gives a good overview but additional research should be done before making any major decisions.

FreeBSD Waters Are Easily Waded isn’t a comparison but gives a good overview of the nature, history, differences, and advantages of FreeBSD. The article was published in December, about a month after FreeBSD announced the release of version 6.0.

More to come…

Caught the link to this article through the LXer.com feed: Build a hotspot with complete in-house control.. We’ll show you how….

I haven’t looked at it that close but on the surface it looks helpful if you’re thinking about doing this. I would call it required reading.

In looking around for the best open source operating system to run a web server I’m leaning toward CentOS. I considered Novell’s SuSE Linux but ultimately basing my decision on the fact that CentOS is a rebuild of the oldest Linux distro around, it’s completely free, and has no plans to “go Red Hat” on me anytime soon. SuSE would be an excellent choice too, and they do offer a free version at openSUSE.org, but I’m paranoid about future support and a possible flip-flop on the free version. My opinion on Novell isn’t based on any facts, just my own unsubstantiated fear of corporate decision making and their uncertain future intentions. CentOS, on the other hand, builds their distribution on the source code available from Red Hat, released freely as required by the GPL license.

Linux Magazine reviewed CentOS in their April 2006 issue (available as a two page PDF on their website). Keep in mind that CentOS, even though they won’t mention the name on their website, is a rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat posted their own review of version 4’s first year: Risk Report: A year of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4

Another option I’m still considering is FreeBSD, a direct descendent of Unix, rather than a clone. A base install of FreeBSD will likely outperform most popular Linux distros, but the features and supported hardware might be obstacles later. FreeBSD has been used by Yahoo (see Yahoo! And FreeBSD) since their early beginnings and continues to be used for their webhosting (and likely other services). Hotmail started on FreeBSD and ran on it for almost two years after Microsoft’s aquisition of it. FreeBSD seems like the way to go, but my reservations lie in it’s reputation for being slow in supporting third-party software. I’ve personally experienced this at work when I built a HylaFAX server using FreeBSD. The most difficult part was figuring out how to install support for the multiport adapter I wanted to use. The Diginet multiport was an old piece of hardware and I assumed there would be no problem getting it to work — I was wrong, but eventually achieved success after a lot of research and long nights at the office. The fact, however, that Yahoo is still using FreeBSD is very encouraging and I haven’t ruled it out. FreeBSD’s inclusion of CVSup makes it slightly more desirable because it’s an excellent utility for distributing and updating files from one server to another, a method that would be handy for creating an off-site mirror backup.

Right now I’m going back and forth between FreeBSD and CentOS. I’ll play with both before making a final decision this weekend. I also need to consider my resources and other people that will help support my project when I’m not available. One that might get involved in the project is a Red Hat fan, so the scale is tipping to that side. My other thought behind CentOS is that if my needs grow, and I decide I want a commercially supported OS, it will be easier to move to Red Hat’s enterprise distro from CentOS. It’s basically the same truck, the paint is just a different color and it comes with a warranty.

Most of my friends know I’ve been tinkering with different “distros” for quite a few years now. I have used different versions of Red Hat and SuSE in dual-boot setups and installed a few others that didn’t stay on my computer for more than a day.

On Saturday my XP box was still nagging me about being low on disk space. It was down to about 200 MB and I had spent hours combing through programs I could remove to free up space — every session I manage to clean up 50 or 60 megs but it still doesn’t keep XP happy, it still nags with the pop-up warnings.

Anyway, Linux has been making leaps and bounds the last couple of years. Red Hat is going strong with their enterprise Linux products, Novell bought SuSE, a German company responsible for the second oldest Linux distribution, and Ubuntu, the new Debian-based sytem, has gained wide acceptance recently. So I decided to take the plunge. No more dual-booting, no more tinkering — this is for real. I downloaded the latest free version of SuSE Linux 10, burned the CDs, and installed it on my now-former-XP box.

I knew the hardware detection would be a lot better than in the past when I’d played around with it. To my absolute suprise SuSE recognized every peice of hardware in my PC including the wireless network adapter and my TV capture card. Yeah! My biggest hesitation had been over compatibility and the fear I wouldn’t be able to watch TV on my computer.

I’m with Novell on their predictions. I think within another year, maybe two, Linux will be easy enough to install and use that it will become much more common-place than in the past. Experts have been arguing over it’s adoption for a long time. I think the time is nearly here.

Read Novell still running Windows on ZDNet. It won’t be for much longer.

That’s one of three “Sayings from Chairman (Steve) Jobs,” just prior to forming the “Macintosh Division” with over 80 employees in 1983.

I’ve never been a Mac owner, never even used one, but I admire what Jobs has done over the years and would salute him if given the chance. I don’t consider myself a pirate but it sounds like a great idea to live by.

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