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Forum (BBS) Shutdown

 Articles, News, The Rant, Web Site Updates  No Responses »
Jul 202011
 

The forum is currently shutdown. I wish to thank all of my members for their time and effort at making my community a clean and safe one, but the task of administrating a “General” technical support forum on my “personal” website was too great. It has been a great few years and I am sorry to let it go, but time has got the better of me recently. It makes me sad that I have to let a piece of my web site go with such great support of my readers.

Update: Please note, all of my Windows services guides will remain and stay updated with my findings. This post only is about the “BBS” or “Forum” section powered by SMF, not the entire domain. This post should also not be thought of as a disservice to Simple Machines Forums or discredit their software in any way. The volunteers working on SMF are awesome, but they seem to have been faced with much more then I can imagine “behind the scenes” and frustration on their part was worked through, but it was just a bit too late to try and recover on my end.

What is this all about?

I, Charles “Black Viper” Sparks, is shutting down the BBS/Forums section of my domain. This comes as a result of many issues from all aspects of hosting and moderating comments coming from the entire world as well as my original intentions of providing this service from the start. I am only one person.

What was the original intention of the BBS (Forums)?

Simply put: To provide a public access way for my visitors to ask questions about Windows(R) Services and allow me to answer them and be displayed to the planet.

“Write once, read by many” has been a philosophy crafted by me ever since I was a child.

When I first started creating my internet presence in 1998, I was blown away by the simple concept and realities that I could write something once and have the entire world read it in seconds. Seriously, that power is awesome when you think about it. Since that time, I have learned an enormous amount of self taught information about how the internet works, HTML and PHP, as well as computers in general and I wanted to share that knowledge with everyone for free. A lofty goal if you really think about that one also. :)

Over the last 3.5 years, in order to help people in general areas and reduce my one-on-one communication methods, the forums went from “something that only I really wanted” to “something that forum members use and respond to others”. What?

What “one-on-one” communication methods?

Email and Instant Message to name a couple. I even recieved technical support questions via Snail (Postal) Mail. No, seriously…

I have this lame stat in a few locations, but, when I shutdown the entire domain in 2005 (I had no “public” way to answer questions), I received, on average, 200 emails per day while my email server (of which I setup, configured with spam filters and viri detection) dumped 6,000 per day. At that time, I served zero ads and made little to no money for my time. It was a hobby that I enjoyed until it became too much work for nothing but a couple emails saying “thanks”.

I tried to reduce this “one-on-one” communication by offering a “FAQ” to my visitors and, unfortunately, most people ignored it because it was easier to spend 10 minutes writing an email then 5 minutes scanning a FAQ to get an answer.

What solution did you come up with?

When I brought back my domain in 2007, I wanted to squash this type of communication and decided on SMF forum software http://www.simplemachines.org/ to provide this “service”. I spent many hours researching what software to use as well as “looks” and ease of administration. Simple Machines Forum won my heart. I have spent 1000′s of hours behind the scenes administering this software and comments and it is extremely easy to do… What if it was complicated?

What has happened between 05FEB2011 to 12FEB2011 to question the intent of the forums?

Crib notes: After 12 years, I finally decided to make the leap from static HTML files and content on my main domain to be transfered into a “CMS” (LOL? My initials…) or Content Management System type of environment.

This is because it takes a crazy-insane amount of time to update static content using a HTML editor. The less time I spend “working in the background”, the more time I can spend writing content that people care about. No, not tweeting telling everyone that I am stuck at a red light, but content that people wish to read. My guess is that 99% of the people using the internet care very little about how it works. As such, over the last 12 years, 99% of the stuff that I have been doing is completely worthless to the average domain reader. Bummer.

I decided on WordPress http://wordpress.org/. Not much went into this decision except the simple fact that lots of people use it. I decided to convert my random “news updates” on my domain to individual posts in WordPress. I was impressed (pun?). The extreme ease of adding and updating “pluggins” as well as the act of updating WordPress software itself is amazingly easy. In contrast, the other CMS system I decided on for each of my 1200 static service pages was MediaWiki http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki. Over several months (since around June 2010 to August 2010), I messed with MediaWiki and that software is a nightmare to administer and to even write a page. It took me a very long time to get that wiki up and running with no support from anyone. I actually respected SMF forum software a lot due to my experience with MediaWiki. WordPress took hardly anytime at all to get off of the ground.

As such, I started converting “all” of my static content available on www.blackviper.com, over to WordPress. This act alone ran me into many issues that I had to solve “behind the scenes” as no one really cares.

What issues has BV had converting the domain to WordPress?

Simply put: My (long) term goal is to have a single login as well as offer up a completely ad free environment for my dedicated readers.

By request, I implemented a “plugin” for WordPress to only serve ads to users that are not logged into the “blog”. I had issues setting up this “free” plugin that I found, but had exactly the capabilities that I wanted outlined here: http://planetozh.com/blog/my-projects/wordpress-plugin-who-sees-ads-control-adsense-display/?cp=all#comment-141494
I finally figured out a workaround, but it took around 15 hours to do so. That is 15 hours of me troubleshooting, not 15 hours of real-time, and I sent off $20 via PayPal to the author.
For awhile, I had contributing members on the forums (+1 post) display no ads. This is an effort to give back to my members. However, I do not like “multi-signon” anywhere and do not expect my forum members to deal with it either, so I want a “single login for everything” on my domain.

What happened? (February 12, 2011)

I have previously looked for “bridges” to link MediaWiki as well as WordPress to SMF 2.0.

However, “zero” plugins are supported due to the fact that SMF 2.0 is currently not “released”, meaning not good enough for final release and never has been recommended for a “production” site (I have experienced only a handful of bugs that only were a result of my lack of understanding how things were intended to work, not the fault of the software). As such, nobody wants to make a “free” plugin for software not in “final” form. I wish to explain right now that I have used SMF 2.0 on my BBS for around three years, since public release of the beta around March 2008. This whole time, I have waited for some method to link other CMS’s and have a single signon and administration aspect, as well as “final form”.
Today, Simple Machines gave this tidbit to the public: http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=421547.msg2948711

And I quote from the link above:
At this time, legal matters related to the upcoming license changes have prevented us from making a final release of SMF 2.0.

Update: SMF 2.0 has been released, but just a bit too late for me, unfortunately: http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=437328.0

Explain legal matters?

While I was searching for a bridge to link WordPress and SMF 2.0, I discovered the reason why in the last year, I cannot find something: SMF license prohibits this type of stuff. It is not “compatible” with the GPL and as such, no supported bridge can be made for legal reasons. Also from what I understand, “SMF Final Release” will change the license for this to happen and be able to legally do what I need to do… however, I need to say that this software is made and supported by “volunteers”, meaning, no one is getting paid. They do what they do because they enjoy it and the software is free.

What was your reaction to this information?

In all honesty, from all that I have done in the background, this piece of information made me pissed.

I wanted to lash out at SMF and give them a piece of my mind. Yet, I would be complaining to volunteers that do not get paid for their efforts. As such, instead of being a complete jerk and probably bringing up more issues by complaining about it, I decided to consider shutting down the forums.

Shutdown the forums? What? How can you even consider such a thing?

When I converted a couple popular pages over to WordPress, comments on my guides already started. In only 48 hours, one person already posted a technical support question related to Windows Services and I answered it. This simple act alone completely invalidates the entire reason for the forums to exist as stated in my “original intentions” at the top of this page. Not only do I have to administer my “blog” (damn, I hate that word), but I have to administer software (BBS) that, who knows, will even exist in a year and I may need to “convert” the BBS to different software in the future. The forums are not anywhere close to the content of WordPress, so too many clicks are needed to get to the answer. I need to cut my losses.

Why not convert to a different BBS software now?

I have spent thousands of hours behind the scenes administering the BBS.

I honestly have no desire to start from scratch learning how to do it on different software, let alone the fact that even the ability to perform such an action is completely up in the air due to “importing SMF 2.0″ is not supported as it is, once again, not a final release.

Another reason is that I am offering to answer “technical support questions” generated by everyone in the world on a forum operated by one person. Anyone with common sense should immediately understand that is an impossible task and I thought I could do it. Thankfully, I had forum members answer questions on their own, but I have a hard time with this. I never expected this to happen and it never was in my thoughts or intentions that it would happen.

What about the members?

I love my forum members.

In all honesty, I was scared from day one starting these forums up and every step of the way, my members have supported me, for nothing but a thanks, just like what I received for so many years and I cannot formulate enough words to communicate my appreciation for it.

But you have a billion people online…

This stat inflated that thought: Most Online Today: 20. Most Online Ever: 362 (November 01, 2009, 12:10:07 PM)

When I offered the ability for logged in users to the BBS to not have ads on my static HTML pages (that turned into dynamic PHP), the count of people visiting the “forums” was greatly inflated. In reality, only about 20 people visit the forums on any given 24 hour period… not hundreds.

Can you just allow “someone else” to deal with the forums?

Simply put: No.

I am the Master on my domain and if you would happen to gather three people in a room, those people will have a hard time agreeing on anything, let alone “proper” methods of administrating or “right and wrong” and the complicated matter of the internet’s “anonymous” aspect making people be jerks because they can. As such “ultimate power” has stayed with me throughout the life of my domain and I wish to keep it that way. I have zero desire to “manage” several people on something like this.

A few valued forum members have posted quality information and answers for absolutely nothing, with nothing to motivate them except a few thanks from me. I cannot ask nor do I feel right, bringing up the option to any of them to continue their efforts alone because I do not want to do it. The “cost” of keeping these forums up and running is difficult to calculate. For 2.5 years, I hosted the forums on a DSL line in my house that was $95 per month, but for the first time ever, I will state what financial compensation I have received as a direct result of the forums…

You serve ads on the BBS (Forums), isn’t that enough?

Average amount of money I have gained from Google Ads served off of the BBS is around $0.75 US per day.

I offer “no product” for sale, no tangible thing to make money.

So, are you asking for more money to keep the forums up?

No.

At this point, money is not my motivating factor in shutting down the forums.

Can I rip everything and make my own forums or have you send me the database?

No.

Ever since day one, I have stated that “Posts and Topics appearing here are the opinion and property of The Poster.” Meaning, I have zero right or authority to allow anyone else to duplicate the content and take it anywhere else. I have no desire to ask 1400 forum members with 1 post and over, permission to duplicate or redistribute their content. Period. It is not an option. I never redistributed the posts on my CD/DVD and I am not going to do it now.

I thank you, kind reader, for your support over the years and understand this decision came with much heartache and pain.

-Charles “Black Viper” Sparks

http://www.blackviper.com/

Originally drafted on the BBS on 13FEB2011, reposted/reformatted 20JUL2011 here.

 Posted by Black Viper at 11:30 AM

Diablo 3 No LAN Play Rant

 Articles, The Rant  No Responses »
Jul 072009
 

Introduction

For many years, I have been a fan of Blizzard’s Diablo Universe. I have spent a chunk of my life playing the Diablo franchise and I must say, I enjoyed every minute. Unfortunately, while wandering around on Slashdot.org today, I discovered some disturbing news…

The issue

Diablo and Diablo 2/LOD had LAN support built in. This enabled people to play on a local LAN for various reasons… LAN parties are a big one, but why I did it was for different reasons. After I discovered that XP (the unit of measurement that allowed a character to advance) was multiplied by how many players were in game, I started playing with 8 computers.

Unfortunately, according to this interview on Slashdot and several other sources around the internet, LAN play will not be available in Diablo 3. What?!?

Quote from the article:

Slashdot: Can you tell us about the multiplayer aspect of the game, in terms of Battle.net and the possibility of LAN play?

Blizzard: We’re not supporting LAN play. We’re basically focusing on making the best multiplayer experience we can, and that’s all through Battle.net. There are tons of features we’re going to be supporting both for cooperative play and competitive play. One of the things we can talk about with the new Battle.net is security. Fixing some of the problems we had with the earlier Diablos — item duping, cheating, and griefing — we’re going to be addressing all of those things with the new Battle.net, as well as some pretty awesome competitive play ideas we’re working with right now. So that’s going to be the biggest advance, especially for previous Diablo players, to see all these we’re planning. It going to be really awesome.

I am well aware that this “news” is old in an internet time scale, but I have been looking forwarded to LAN play in Diablo 3 ever since I watched Blizzcon 2008. It just so happens that I wandered through Slashdot and discovered this interview in mid 2009. When checking out the link, I was thinking it was a “pre” interview for Blizzcon 2009… not old news.

The Reasons

I am well aware of the reasons behind this decision.

  • A “secure” environment
  • “Reduced” cracks and cheats
  • Less coding due to not needing a “local server” to handle the details

Now, lets look at this a bit more.

A “Secure” Environment

With Diablo 2/LOD, a person could create “Closed” and “Open” characters.

Closed characters were only available on Battle.net and the character information was stored on their servers. It also should be noted that if you failed to login for a predetermined amount of time (if I recall correctly, it was 3 months) those “secure” characters were deleted. Meaning, all of my “USWest” characters are long gone (I actually checked sometime in 2003).

Open characters could play local LAN or coop play as well as on Battle.net on specific open character servers (usually riddled with the standard issue “trained” characters or duped items). I only created open characters with LOD and did not play on Battle.net once. I also still have all of my open character save files backed up many different times through various upgrades, etc. I even fired up Diablo 2 LOD several months ago with one of my high level characters to see how it played out on Windows Vista. I could not do that with any of my closed characters… Now, how “secure” are those closed servers? Not very in my humble opinion.

“Reduced” Cracks and Cheats

Anyone that has been gaming at least 2 hours will figure out this: No such thing as a secure gaming environment exists. If a company creates it, it WILL be cracked/cheat ridden within hours of release (and maybe even sooner). It is a sport for some, a challenge for others, and a magnet for some people that just cannot play as the developers intend, and thus a “market” for those people willing to spend the time cracking Blizzard games or any other companies games.

Let’s take World of Warcraft as a prime example. Blizzard has done well with World of Warcraft in the fact that they have had several million players and have had “little” issues with gaming cracks and cheats…

Wait… lets completely ignore bots, glider, macros, gold spammers, key loggers and other cracks and cheats that plague the world. Let me put this in other terms: no LAN play with Diablo 3 forces me to use Battle.net just to put up with the exact same crap as I have with World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games. Diablo “map” hacks, Warcraft 3 invisible players, etc. “Secure” environment? Really… does anyone actually believe this?

Even some games have “secure” servers that have anti-hack code on the client and server to attempt a “nice” playing environment. Does it really work? Has it ever? Then why bother?!? It is an illusion put in place by game companies to help “reassure” legit players that they are not playing cheaters while invading my privacy to “validate” my game files. Can this ever be guaranteed? I did not think so.

Less coding due to not needing a “local server” to handle the details

Really. This cannot be the problem. Many games have available a “local” server. FPS games, RTS games, etc. Cutting out all of the Battle.net “match making” and chat rooms cannot be all that difficult. I did find is pretty high on the lame scale that even with a local LAN game and a very capable computer that “warping” of characters and monsters and “lag” in Diablo 2/LOD. This was only magnified on Battle.net with, what I had at the time, a dial-up connection. Even with that rather large issue, LAN was the only way to play.

I am unaware if Diablo 3 will include a “single player” mode of gameplay or if Battle.net is going to be the only way to enjoy the game. If it is included, it cannot be that hard to code it to send the location information out to client systems and have those client systems display said information.

The Bummer Factor

Not having LAN play forces me to connect to servers that I have no control over. I cannot count the amount of times in 5 years that the servers were down with World of Warcraft when I wanted to play. Lets just take today for an example… their “weekly schedules maintenance” time is right now… 5AM to 11AM. For those that are ready to scream “ZOMG, get a life for six hours!” I want you to realize that I have no choice in playing. I cannot play during their down times, their network maintenance or random stability issues resulting in server crashes after every damn patch that could last weeks, and right after retail release… it was months of lag and disconnect problems. I want local LAN play that does not base its “ability to play” around someone else’s maintenance schedule. I want to play when ever I wish… excluding those power outage times. :)

As an example, what would be your reaction if your favorite TV show aired at the exact same time every week that your cable/satellite provider happened to be performing maintenance. Would it actually be your favorite show if you cannot watch it?

It also means that I need to connect through the internet to game servers hundreds of miles away to play Diablo 3 with my wife that is sitting at a distance of FIVE FEET! Even in this world of technological marvels we have today, that just seems extremely lame to me. Blizzard, I beg of you… give me the option of LAN play! I do not want to deal with server stability issues months after retail release. It seriously is a big downer and if you really think that “all will be figured out before then,” you are kidding yourself.

Hellgate: London

Do I even have to mention this?

Hellgate: London had a single player game. Single meaning just that… server less and no LAN support. Multiplayer support, through Flagship Studios servers, lasted just over a year and the company hit hard times and disappeared. Now… do I have multiplayer support for Hellgate: London? No.

Am I suggesting that Blizzard will have an epic fail with Diablo 3 if they do not include LAN play? Of course not. However, I would hope that they would look to the failures of past Blizzard employees and reconsider offering local multiplayer capabilities… just in case. :P

Additional Epic Fails:

StarCraft 2: No LAN support

August 27, 2009 @ ~ 7:00 P.M.: Battle.net authentication goes down for World of Warcraft. Stuck at “connecting”. Good thing I decided to switch from my regular account to a Battle.net one before it was “mandatory”. Grats to me also for deciding that Thursday would be another “guild gaming” day. Today “would” have been the first one… IF I could actually PLAY!

Conclusion

Even though this unfortunate information will not stop this fan from purchasing Diablo 3, It does stop me from getting multiple copies… Okay, maybe I will dual box. :) Now that it is 11:01 AM PST and the World of Warcraft servers are back up, I am going to get back to playing my characters.

Black Viper

July 7, 2009

Revision History

July 7, 2009: Initial release

July 14, 2009: Added Hellgate: London blurb.

August 27, 2009: Epic Fails

 Posted by Black Viper at 3:40 AM

Perfectionist Rant

 Articles, The Rant  No Responses »
Feb 212008
 

The Pursuit of Perfection… Failed?

Introduction

Subjective content, meaning opinion based methods of evaluation, leave quite a sour taste in my mouth. In a math class, either the answer is wrong or right. Their is no “fuzzy logic” involved. Even though my English skills, I feel, lack the hard hitting efforts of many professional writers (and, lets face it, my grammar really is pathetic, but at least I know that), I try real hard to get my point across without any fluff.

The issue

For an assignment in my English class, I was commended for my writing style, presentation, and all around quality writing. We were tasked with creating a short essay about a “trait” that hits home with the writer. I picked perfectionism.

Several events lead up to the final product that I submitted, but at each step along the way, I was praised for my writing and that I should have been placed in a “higher” English class than what I was presently attending.

My “Thesis Statement” received a “check plus” along with a penciled “excellent” and was used as an example of how a thesis statement should be constructed in front of the whole class. The instructor did not say who wrote the other examples, but mine was first up to bat and she mentioned me by name:

—–

Being a perfectionist has not only lead me to increased stress, but also has magnified the complexity of the simplest of tasks.

—–

It took me a couple of hours to craft that one single sentence. No, seriously… and people wonder why it takes me forever to pen guides and post them. I read and reread my work a thousand times before it is deemed “good enough” to publicly post.

Even this quote penciled on my rough draft from my instructor all led me to believe I had created a “perfect” paper. One to go down in history. A masterpiece with no errors. (Haha!)

Charles – your writing style is clear and strong. Developed examples and events flow together seamlessly because of your transitions. No changes necessary – just submit a “clean” copy.

So what did I receive on the assignment? A 46 out of 50. 92%! What the?!? An “A”, but just barely. Bleh!

Anyway, here I offer before you an unedited/modified version of my final draft for you to read. It, of course, contains errors that my instructor did not catch the first few times around and that I missed after reading it a million times (noted by “sic”). That is okay, after all, it is not a perfect paper and it is worth noting that grammar and spelling was not a basis of evaluation. It may even strike you with some comic relief. I can laugh about it now, but at the time I received my grade results, I was pretty ticked off.

Only three paragraphs are presented here as the original document had and the assignment required. Personally, I would have broke up the body into several more and lengthened it considerably, but there was a “minimum and maximum” amount of words as a requirement. I barely made it… the maximum, that is.

—–

September 25, 2006

Thoughts of a Perfectionist

Some people strive for a flawless, chiseled body. Others try compulsively to claw their way to the top of the corporate ladder in search of the perfect career. I focus my efforts in a completely different manner. Being a perfectionist has not only lead me to increased stress, but also has magnified the complexity of the simplest of tasks.

Several years ago, I had vast white walls in my home I desired to cover with framed artwork. The void immediately above the television, up to the ceiling, was particularly bothersome. I preceded to take multiple, redundant measurements to place the picture directly in the center with the precision of a math professor, ensuring the image was not only level, but the surrounding area was equal in all respects. This labor was not measured in minutes, but hours. Even after the frame was attached to the wall surface, I stepped back and examined my handy work (sic) from many different angles, as if I were using the eye of a police detective at a crime scene. Although no one would ever notice even the slight (sic) offset of the artwork upon the wall, I would know, and that drives me to perfection. That drive continues on, being visible throughout my written words. Even though the Internet is a dynamic, evolving entity, I feel the written word can last forever. Recently in the work place, I was tasked with updating a training manual. This manual assisted new employees with not only understanding what their job entailed, but a step-by-step guide defining exactly what actions to perform to get the required tasks completed. This manual was not originally written by me. As such, I could not deal with just editing it because, not only were their (sic) multiple errors throughout the actions required, but the lack of formatting consistency was also common. As my frustration increased, I realized that the only way for me to be content to place my name on the manual, was to completely rewrite it from scratch. In the same way, if it were possible for me to rewrite my computer software without spending a lifetime doing it, I would. Since the default configuration for most software sold has many more features than needed for my daily tasks, I turn to doing whatever I can to have my computer equipment perform efficiently and remove as many unused features as possible. I have spent thousands of hours tweaking software to ensure not only that the functions that I use perform well, but that other tasks still can be accomplished without any detrimental effects.

Each of these situations are only touching the surface of how my thought process propels me to ensure perfection, as I view and examine the minute details of every situation. My mind never is at rest, but always thinking of ways to make things better, ultimately causing increased stress levels.

—–

Conclusion

Even though it took me a long time to vent about this (I have been wanting to do so for a long time now), my gripe still holds true and will for any foreseeable future: English is a bummer of a class.

Black Viper
February 21, 2008

Revision History

February 21, 2008: Initial release

February 24, 2008: Added small blurb, stating that I know about errors that exist in the document… that my instructor also missed. :)

 Posted by Black Viper at 4:57 AM

Tweaking Rant

 Articles, The Rant  No Responses »
Mar 232007
 

Introduction

For several years, I have been advising people on how to tweak their systems for performance. I have also been challenged many times over my advice. In 2007, I am sure this will be no different after I finish posting my Vista information. Sometimes people laugh, cry or plain get angry over my recommendations… but in all instances, they are looking at it from the wrong perspective.

The issue

This is a good example of “way after the fact” information being posted: Anandtech forums. For another example of “way after the fact” is this rant you are reading as the original post is dated September 1, 2005.

Now, lets look at some facts. From the Microsoft web site: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP Home Edition are:

  • Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
  • At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
  • At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP Professional include:

  • Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
  • At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
  • At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk

I posted my Windows XP Services information on July 1, 2001 (I had an MSDN subscription to test the OS’s before retail release). XP was released shortly after in October 2001. At that time, a computer with more than 512MB of RAM (and “more than” = 1GB+) was rare and considered high end. Yet, on the post listed above, the posters “low end system” is actually running 2.5 times more memory then the minimum required and 25% more then the recommended. Now lets look at a bit more…

From the Microsoft web site for Vista requirements:

Home Basic:

  • 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 512 MB of system memory
  • 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

Premium, Business and Ultimate:

  • 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 1 GB of system memory
  • 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

Now, taking into consideration what the original poster had in mind on Anandtech forums… it means that in 4+ years, 2GB RAM modules will be… cheap, and systems sold in 2011 will be more then qualified to run Vista vice systems as we see them today. So based on the post, a Vista system built today would perform better with 1GB (2 times recommended for Home Basic) or 2GB (2 times recommended for the other flavors) of memory vice the Microsoft recommended value of 512MB/1GB? Duh? Wow, nice news flash there, yes? The poster even admitted the system was poor at running XP… but that is the configuration Microsoft recommended… and I posted tweaks for, not a system that was going to be built 4 years later with 16 times the minimum memory amount.

I put my Windows XP configurations online in 2001 and in 2007 with a dual core CPU and 4GB of memory standard… they are not valid and not needed? Duh? However, take that over clocked 300Mhz system they used as a “low end” benchmark and knock it back to 233 and hit it up with only 64MB of memory… then my “savings” for disabling unneeded services using 12MB to 70MB would be very important. The forum post showed that upon fresh install, the OS was using 90MB of the 160MB… more than 50% of the memory for the OS… Just like the example coming up!

I tested a system with Vista Home Basic and upon first boot, the OS was using 350MB of memory. It was knocked down to around 205MB or so after being on for several hours. Now… wait… lets just say “256MB” for easy math and a good average number. So, that means that the OS is using 50% of the memory available on a 512MB system? Using XP as an example, that would mean XP on a “recommended” system would only use 64MB out of the 128MB… that sounds pretty good to me! The forum post verifies that fact with a memory usage from 85-90MB down to 57-66MB. However, if you throw 3+Ghz CPU and 2GB at the OS, it will increase the performance of the system… another “duh?”

Price wise, it is correct to throw more memory at the system. However, back when 300Mhz systems were mid range, 1GB RAM modules were not $89.

Checking out Newegg.com like the original poster did… I see 2GB modules for around $150-$200 each… so to fill a system with 4 slots and 8GB, it would cost $600. In a fit of irony, I cannot even find any 4GB Ram Modules to even price compare those (to go in line with my 16x recommended value above for Premium, Business and Ultimate). Would you rather save a few bucks and tweak your 1GB system down a bit in memory use or wait 4 years because 2GB modules will “be the norm” and go down in price… only you and your wallet can choose.

Also, upon the release of Service Pack 2 for XP, I put up this message:

Saturday, October 16, 2004 @ 7:03 PM PST

I have updated my Windows XP Services Configurations and Windows XP Services Information pages to include additional Service Pack 2 information. I still have several more pages to place online before I can call it complete. However, I wanted to provide another update of my findings. All dependencies have been updated and are accurate.

For the most part, Microsoft took 3 years to create a “default” configuration for Windows XP Services that took me only one month to test and post on July 28, 2001. Several services that I previously recommended to be disabled are either gone or disabled by default after the installation of Service Pack 2.

So it sounds to me that my “Safe” setting with lots of crappy services (such as messenger service) was the right choice in 2001 but lacking in “performance value” in 2005? Duh again?!? Maybe because after the installation of SP2, the “Safe” and default were really close… so the gap closed? Yeah, I thought you would agree with me. :)

These recommendations also were coming off the heels of a reader dumping Windows 98/ME (*shudder*) and skipped Windows 2000 due to being marketed as a “business” OS. Those same 98/ME systems did need help in getting the memory down a bit to a reasonable level.

Also, my “Safe” configuration turned out to be the one that SP2 uses? Why not “Bare-bones” you ask? Because for a dedicated system doing specific tasks as the Bare-bones was fully capable of, does not equal a “general purpose computer system for the masses.” That, of course, is once again: “Safe.”

I have since removed my “Power User” and “Bare-bones” service recommendations for XP:SP2 (SP1a is still there though) as they are way out of date and no longer required as SP2′s “Default” is pretty good, but “Safe” still can do better. Also, I am no longer using XP as my desktop OS so I cannot use it daily to confirm the do’s and don’t or what services are “required” for daily, normal use.

I state many times throughout my information the pros and cons of performing speed modifications to a system. I post “Power User” and “Bare-bones” not because they are for everyone, but only for reference because that is the configurations “I” used! Me! BV! This is also the reason I always recommend “Safe” for everyone else. I know what it is like to break a system and the frustration of getting it back. I have worked with Windows Services for many years and fielded thousands of E-Mails with regards to the information I posted. I know what each does and their value pertaining to me. In no way can I possibly predict what is good for you. That is why I list the “Safe” configuration and recommend it beyond all others.

Conclusion

Anyway, I would love to be able to predict the future and “tweak” my systems OS performance for something built 4 years later that will still be valid, but my crystal ball is broke…

I am not here for a pissing contest. If you do not like my tweaks, feel free to not use them.

Until next time a rant is placed online about me, maybe benchmarks will be done on systems “in the now” and valid benchmarks at that and not almost 4 years after the fact. I will, however, tweak Vista for systems built today, and not for systems built in 2011.

Black Viper

March 23, 2007

Revision History:

March 25, 2007: Cleared up “minimum” and “recommended” settings. Changed “180MB” to “160MB” as the original poster stated.

April 1, 2007: Corrected a typo.

 Posted by Black Viper at 3:34 AM

AMD vs. Intel Rant Take 2

 Articles, The Rant  No Responses »
May 122004
 

Introduction

After originally posting my AMD and Intel Rant on July 30, 2002, many items touched on have become extremely out of date. I decided to take a “second look” at what both AMD and Intel has accomplished recently and hopefully provide a vision for the future.

This Rant, as with the other ones, may contain some rather random and fragmented thoughts, and many of the “facts” are my observations and beliefs. Do not be discouraged. Read on.

Why no AMD?

Some people have asked me, “Even though you have a few computers, why are none of them AMD based?!?” Previously, I stated that “I do not like AMD.” The reasons behind that statement is outlined in my previous Rant. Before posting my view on AMD and since that time, I have watched AMD closely as to the products they are currently providing as well as what direction Intel is heading.

Each of the points I noted almost two years ago will be discussed further and I will reevaluate my feelings with currently available information.

Stability

Before July 30, 2002, I observed numerous E-Mails from users of AMD products. Almost all of them stemmed from “stability issues.” For example, an underpowered power supply or “cheap” components. No one can get anything done if a computer crashes all of the time.

Since that time, both AMD, VIA, nVidia and Intel chipsets have became much more stable and I feel computer manufactures are now taking steps to provide better quality components to reduce support costs. The problems that I read in my E-Mail daily no longer sound as much like it stems from a poor chipsets choice anymore. In fact, almost all of them are caused by virus ridden systems and “spyware” of some description. However, that is a topic all on its own.

Power Use and Heat

As I outlined before, AMD has a history of high power usage and heat dissipation problems, which in turn contribute to stability issues. However, the tables have turned drastically since July of 2002.

Intel’s release of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition set a new record for power consumption and heat generation. Yes, it does perform well, but at what cost? According to this document: , the AMD 64 FX-53 2.4 GHz hits around 89W of power dissipation. In contrast,
Intel’s documentation on the P4 3.4 GHz EE, page 69: lists 102.9W. That is a pretty large difference when considering how small each of the chips are. However, in that same document on page 69, Intel’s “normal” P4 3.4 GHz with only 512 KB cache is comparable with AMD’s CPU at 89W.

Cost

Cost of a new computer purchase has been a large factor in the decision making process of what components are included and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Only a small percentage of people can afford (or are willing to fork out) $4000 for the latest computer components. Many people have E-mailed me stating the cost vs. performance factor while attempting to reverse my opinion. Even though AMD’s cost vs. performance ratio has been good in the past, the AMD 64 changed that upon release. Limited production due to a new fabrication process of the 64-bit CPU’s increased AMD’s cost and therefore increased the price for the end user.

As of this writing (12MAY2004), AMD’s FX-53 CPU at 2.4 GHz is listed on newegg.com at $765 in a retail box format. In contrast, the Intel P4 3.2 GHz EE is $915. Yes, Intel’s offering is much more money and all things equal (both CPU’s mentioned perform well against each other), AMD should be considered as a viable option. But there is more…

The AMD 64 3400+ is listed at $416 and Intel P4 3.4 GHz is $415. One dollar is relatively insignificant when it comes down to total system cost. However, with this information on hand, it reduces the “cost vs. performance” argument to a moot point.

As a side note: I have no affiliation with newegg.com, but have purchased several products from them and been completely satisfied in each case.

Performance

Almost all current benchmarks available on various technical web sites and reviews of products place AMD and Intel neck-and-neck. AMD is better at some things, Intel is better at others. This is how it should be.

GHz is not everything. That is very true. Previously the single most important reason I have not chosen AMD to power my latest gaming system is because of their “PR Rating.”

“But it looks like it can go 300 miles per hour!”

With the Athlon XP, the “blah+” rating was marketing hype to attempt to compete with the GHz battle. Think about this: If a car company placed “V8+” on a four-banger, even though it “performs like a V8,” wouldn’t that raise some eyebrows? People have E-mailed me stating that the “PR Rating” actually is not comparing it to P4′s at all, but previous architecture AMD CPU’s. Funny thing is that type of comparison is not in any QuantaSpeed white paper or FAQ. In fact, I could not find out “what” the actual meaning of the model number spec is!

Model Number Madness

In a strange twist of the plot, Intel announced it will provide a “Model Number” comparing each CPU in its own class and discontinue using clock speed as an indicator, even though it will still be listed on the box. More information is here:

In light of this information, I have to give AMD credit for at least coming up with their PR Rating in relation to some performance figure. 3200+ gives some easy indication of what you are getting. However, I was not happy with them placing the same “Model Number” on CPU’s that had slightly different configurations, such as bus speed, cache or even socket. With that in mind, a model number, I feel, should be an “at a glance” indication of what you are getting. No one should be required to dig deep into the manufactures web site to figure out exactly what they want or what they are getting.

Intel will be using a three digit number 3xx, 5xx, or 7xx, to differentiate its product line. Unfortunately, the confusion between different CPU’s, even in the same family may still exist in the future. From Intel on April 2, 2004: (Source page)

A higher number within a processor family can indicate more processor features, more of a specific processor feature, or a change in architecture. Note that in some cases, a higher number processor may potentially have more of one feature and less of another.

Further additions to the confusion factor include (again from Intel): (Source page)

Processor numbers are also not a measurement of performance.

My opinion is that the marketing geniuses on both sides of the processor fence have no clue how to sell to the “average user.” People look for “numbers” (higher is better) or “catchy phrases” like “Extreme Edition.” Metal names have also been used to describe a “better product” than a previous model, such as Platinum or Gold. Everyone should

know that Platinum is “more valuable” than Gold, so the average person would naturally assume that a “CPU Platinum” is better than “CPU Gold.” However, computers have many factors that contribute to overall performance.

I feel that AMD and Intel should both provide different “names” for their family of CPU’s. The “next generation,” whether it be a different fabrication process (130nm, 90nm, etc.), dual core, or even a virtual CPU function (Hyper-threading) should be immediately obvious to the average person. Even though HT on a CPU box does indicate the features, ones without it, a different size cache, and even different sockets are all labeled “Pentium 4.”

Currently, Intel is going to release a different core with the Pentium 4 designation and add a “number” to it. As stated above, straight from Intel, higher is not always “better” but does indicate “different.” This seems like a step in the right direction, but could obviously (to me) be tweaked a little bit better.

Even though I am not fond of AMD keeping the “Athlon” name in there 32/64-bit cross over, at least they added “FX” and even “51/53″ to the CPU to indicate the different revisions.

Which ever CPU you choose, do research on each of the manufactures web sites and try to sift through the hype. It could save you some money in the long run and possibly answer some questions you may have later on.

But you can over-clock it!

I do not support over clocking any system component. Thus, this is not an argument “for” AMD, “against” Intel or vice-versa. Intel chooses to not make it “easy” to over clock their CPU’s to reduce their support costs and return/replace instances from people that do not know when “enough is enough.”

I do admit that a “different-from-norm” cooled CPU and components, as in water-cooled, is a great idea and a super geek way to go! The amount of time, effort and money to get a system up and running reliably is quite a task in itself, but obtainable, nonetheless. Oddly enough, the same person that “saves” $100 on a CPU will go and get 4 case fans, a water cooling system and pretty neon lights when they could have spent that money on a “faster” CPU and quality components to wrap around it . If your over clocking efforts fail, you will have to spend more money on replacing your fried components.

64-bits

AMD has made massive improvements in the last couple of years to their products. Taking a big gamble on 64-bit computing really spun Intel around. Intel stated recently (I cannot find the source, now) that 64-bit computing is not required on the desktop. This is the kind of statements that tickle me. Software cannot use the extra functionality until hardware is available, but hardware is difficult to justify when no software will run on it! I still love Mr. Bill Gates statement about 640KB is all the RAM that anyone will ever need. Then came Windows. :) (Yes, it is a joke).

Currently, very little support is available for the 32/64-bit AMD hybrid when it comes to actually using the 64-bit capabilities. According to various information available on the internet, Service Pack 2 for Windows XP may change that. What features will be available and to what extent 64-bit computing will be supported is still very much up in the air and rather vague as to the details. However, the Athlon 64 is backward compatible with Windows XP running at 32-bit.

Do not confuse Intel’s Itanium/Itanium2 server line with AMD’s Athlon 64 or Opteron . They are very different and much more costly.

With AMD’s recent track record and their forward thinking aspect on 64-bit computing, even though little support for it is currently available, they are driving progress and AMD should be commended for it.

Choosing an Athlon 64 is difficult decision to make. Should you also look to the future of desktop applications and take the 64-bit plunge while still being able to use your existing applications? That is entirely up to you and your wallet.

Conclusion

I thank you for making it this far in my second look about AMD and Intel. I am sure that, from the comments and “facts based on opinions” that I have, I am going to still get flames from the AMD supporters, even though most of my previous arguments have been revisited. I am not trying to tell you never to get AMD. I want you to be happy. Whether you get an Apple, AMD or an overly priced SGI, I couldn’t care less. Just remember that if you ask for my opinion or recommendations on a subject, you will get it… whether or not you agree with it is totally up to you.

Has any of this “new” information changed my mind about AMD? Almost. I am not going to run out tomorrow and build up an AMD powered computer, but in the near future, I could very well do so. Even though my harsh “I do not like AMD” statement is no longer valid, both AMD and Intel are currently “on the line” and could fall either way.

Only time will tell how each will end up.

Black Viper

May 12, 2004

 Posted by Black Viper at 3:23 AM

My E-Mail Address Rant

 Articles, The Rant  2 Responses »
Mar 022004
 

Introduction

My current E-Mail address listed on the Contact BV page has served me well. It has been in use for over five years. However, in the last ten hours, I have received three times more virus infected E-Mail’s than I have received legitimate correspondence. Not to mention the spam that my server automatically blocks.

The Good

  1. People that contacted me five years ago can very well do so today with no fears that the E-Mail will be bounced.
  2. I am rather attached to it. This fact can also be considered a bad thing.

The Bad

  1. With Outlook Express and Outlook, the “default” configuration is to “automatically place” E-Mail addresses into the address book of people that the user has replied to. Even though it would take more time and effort than I would like to spend to discover exactly the amount of people with my current E-Mail address in their address book, my best guess is over 3000+ in only the last two years searching for “RE:” in the subject line of my archived E-Mails. This does not include those that could have added me without “replying to my reply” or discount those not using the previously mentioned E-Mail clients.
  2. Way too many viruses and worms of the past, present and future, take advantage of Outlook Express and Outlook by using those particular E-Mail addresses listed there to attempt and send an infected E-Mail to the rest. If that was not bad enough, most of them also pluck a random one out of the address book and “spoof” the from address, leading to my next comment.
  3. To further my discontent, E-Mail server/system administrators still insist on their systems to “automatically reply” to the above mentioned virus infection attempts. This is either done at the E-Mail server itself, or what ever virus protection service they use. Sometimes, these automated systems even include the virus in the bounced message!
  4. spam. Isn’t that enough reason to make my old address go away? When I first started this web site, I placed, as I do now, a “mailto:” link on the Contact BV page. Having my domain on a server that I did not have the “privilege” of administering (until it was way too late) caused my E-Mail address to be sucked up by the multitude of E-Mail harvesting robots out there. More on this in “The Ugly.”

The Ugly

  1. spam. Even though I have become completely disgusted with the various virus attacks floating around the Internet, spam still is way up on the list of “The Ugly” things the Internet has brought. Since I was unaware of the dangers (until it was way too late) of “publicly publishing” my E-Mail address on the site, I am sure it is widely distributed throughout the spamming community. I currently use several tactics to make the junk “appear” to go away (E-Mail server configuration, client configuration, etc.) it still uses my bandwidth and resources to block the junk. Something that I am not very happy about.
  2. In only the last 96 hours, my server has dealt with over 400 spam messages. 100 per day. 4 per hour. Those are the E-Mails I do not see and only a few get through. In the grand scheme of things, this amount may not seem like a lot, but the fact of the matter is, I have never used my domain’s E-Mail address to sign up for anything online. Ever.
  3. Clueless Internet users have “signed me up” for various things, such as newsletters, that they “think” I might be interested in. This happened much more frequently when the particular administrators of those lists did nothing to “verify” the E-Mail address that was signed up actually desired the information.
  4. Even a few people have signed me up for various “adult” information, either a sad attempt at being funny, or just a malicious way to “get back” at a total stranger on the Internet. Either way, my coveted E-Mail address ended up on even more lists.

The (possible) Solution(s)

I have spent lots of time and thought as to what I could do to curb this growing issue. I have already spent many hours, days, and weeks on end of geeking time to combat the flood of unwanted electronic commerce that ends up in my lap every day.

  1. I could remove my E-Mail address totally.
  2. I could discount it as “something that must be dealt with” and get over it.
  3. I could create a “contact form” for my readers to use.
  4. I could “cycle” my E-Mail address.

I could remove my E-Mail address totally.

Pro’s:

  • None

Con’s:

  • I find this to be the worst possible solution.
  • I feed off of kind words in my E-Mail box as fuel to keep me going. If those encouraging words and “thanks” were no longer available, I would drop the web site off of the internet and not look back.

I could discount it as “something that must be dealt with” and get over it.

Pro’s:

  • None

Con’s:

  • This solution is not in my nature. I have a hard time sitting down and “giving up” because of the “abuse” of an important form of communication today and in the future.
  • This will only fan the flames for ultimately turning to the “remove” solution.

I could create a “contact form” for my readers to use.

Pro’s:

  • E-Mail harvesters cannot get the E-Mail address because the actual “sending” is done by the web server, not the reader.
  • The E-Mail address the contact form “sends the message to” is not public.

Con’s:

  • I have always felt this solution as not the best that it can be.
  • I find it extremely impersonal and I feel that people should “contact me” with what ever utility they desire, meaning E-Mail client.
  • Some enterprising spammers have wandered web sites “looking” for these type of forms to send spam to.
  • My replies would have to come from a “publicly accessible” E-Mail address of which invalidates the purpose of the contact form.
  • No way exists, to my knowledge, to “confirm” that the senders E-Mail address typed into the form is valid or correct (meaning, the same person that wrote the message is in control of the E-Mail address).

I could “cycle” my E-Mail address.

Pro’s:

  • If a spammer, infected system or malicious reader decided to attack the address, it would only last as long as the cycle.

Con’s:

  • Depending on actual cycle (one month, one year), a reader may become confused as to why my E-Mail address suddenly became “invalid” even though they have contacted me before with success and my domain is still online.
  • If, for some reason, a spammer got the address, it could mean “multiple spam related attempts” to send information to my network, effectively creating more of an issue than what is being solved.

The Workable Solution

With no doubt in my mind, I have to do something.

  • I believe a combination of a contact form and cycling addresses will solve much more problems than it will create.
  • It is also technically feasible to create a “bounce” message on my server for invalid addresses and in that E-Mail, include a link to my Contact BV page with the latest information.
  • Even though I know it is possible, how to do it and if it is worth while to do so, will require more geek time on my part to research and experiment.
  • Logging “sent” messages must be conducted to reduce (report) abuse.

With hope in my heart, I wish to create a solution that attempts to regain a small portion of my sanity, as well as allow my readers to interact with me.

Black Viper

March 2, 2004

Revision History

March 2, 2004: Initial release

 Posted by Black Viper at 3:43 AM

Abuse Rant

 Articles, The Rant  No Responses »
Dec 072003
 

Introduction

For several months, I have been attacking my bandwidth problem from a totally different angle than I recently have. I was optimizing images, cutting down on all “extra” content, and compressing content for faster download time. However, after looking through my log files, that was not enough.

The issue

Many legitimate people use different tools to make their personal internet experience a positive one, namely:

  • The use of “download managers”
  • “Offline browsers” or synchronizing a page (or complete domain) on a schedule

However, these type of tools put stress on a server for really no purpose.

I have witnessed in my log files, particular readers downloading my complete domain (all 700+ pages) and all images every 24 hours. Unfortunately, this is also the exact “signature” that “content thieves” have. These particular instances have also downloaded all content, regardless if it has changed from the previous access.

Another point to make is that these particular readers could be coming from the United States, or from a variety of other countries.

The solution

I have made a conscious decision to ban all download managers and offline browsers, due to abuse of my network.

I have also banned access to my network from various foreign countries at a very low level.

Furthermore, I have banned access by IP addresses that use automated spidering software that choose to ignore robots.txt file. In only one hour, I captured an IP address from the Netherlands spidering all of my content while masquerading as a “valid user.”

Those three items have resulted in a large decrease in bandwidth usage. This also has the positive result of allowing my “legitimate” readers greater bandwidth and faster access while they surf around my content.

The backlash

I understand the implications of my decision. I know that I could possibly ban legitimate users of my content. However, the extreme measures I took was based on an overwhelming amount of abuse. No actions that any web master can take to solve the many issues that plague a public network, such as the internet, comes without risk.

I, however, am willing to take that chance.

On the positive side

Initially, I was wanting to block access to my web server as, under normal conditions, this is the server that uses the most bandwidth. However, I also was wanting to ban particular countries access to my E-Mail servers. This would require a large amount of time to create access “rules” and requirements for too many different situations.

Why, you may ask? The main reason is several countries tend to “generate” much more spam than others (Note: Even though the United States is a very large generator of spam E-Mails, many of them are “bounced” off of servers located in a different country). Sifting through my previous E-Mail archive, I have never received a “legitimate” E-Mail from any person located in several of them. However, a large amount of spam is relayed through these particular foreign countries.

I have also witnessed many attempts at sucking my complete domain, including images, from particular countries. The only thing that I can conclude is these are actions related to attempts at Copyright violations and bandwidth theft.

I have since blocked several countries access to my DNS servers. This has several “good” effects:

  • Sending an E-Mail to any address requires a DNS lookup to “discover” the mail exchangers address for the target domain.
    • Blocking DNS queries from an IP address range stops the query and the E-Mail cannot be delivered.
      • That will effectively ban all spam being relayed from unsecured servers located in a country because of the lookup failure.
  • I have recently modified my web server to “change” the address by which my domain is accessible from.
    • If a particular user accesses my domain directly by IP address, it will redirect to the default domain, which will require a DNS lookup.
      • That redirection, if stemming from a banned country, will result in no further access to my content because of the lookup failure.

Conclusion

Extreme measures are not even a solution for everyone. Some people and companies require relationships with countries around the world.

I am not one of them.

I have some rather dedicated readers in several locations that contact me often, to include:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Europe
  • Germany
  • Mexico
  • United States

Those locations listed above, will never be banned completely.

Black Viper
December 7, 2003

Revision History

December 7 , 2003: Initial release

 Posted by Black Viper at 3:07 AM

Copyleft Rant

 Articles, The Rant  No Responses »
Nov 302003
 

Introduction

As with any of my various Rants, this will contain randomly generated thoughts that have been swimming around in my head for days, weeks and even months. As a side effect, it may seem fragmented to the casual reader but understand this: This document is drafted with passion and feeling for the subject at hand.

I, by any stretch of the imagination, am not a lawyer. What is contained in this document are my feelings and opinions on a touchy subject based on extensively pouring over what is deemed legal documents and attempting to come up with a solution to my particular problems in the best way that I can.

The issue

When my domain first came online on February 14, 1999, I had absolutely nothing that anyone else would ever want to duplicate. It mostly consisted of random babbling (and still does) with plenty of personal opinion.

This changed after publicly posting my Windows 2000 Services documentation and Services Configurations. It was originally intended as a means for me to remember what my system configurations were after a clean install of the operating system and why I chose to place them in a particular state. In short order, it became a popular resource for professionals in the IT field as well as home users wanting additional information on a cloudy subject.

When my information started to become popular, I was ecstatic. I could not believe I actually posted information that was useful to someone other than me. I enjoy helping people with their problems and found great satisfaction in E-Mails directed at me, complementing me on my hard work.

On February 1, 2002, my exotic paradise became clouded for the first time by a web site seemingly copying my information and opinion practically verbatim. I was crushed, enraged and felt I was stabbed in the back by a stranger with no regard for other people’s property. The main thing that annoyed me to no end was that my descriptions of the various services contain plenty of my opinions. As such, tons of “I’s” are included to denote that fact. What results from this is the “sound” of my opinions coming from someone else’s mouth. Scary as it seems, I did not and still don’t like it one bit.

Shortly after that time, I started to consider Copyleft as a solution. I figured if people were going to duplicate my hard work, I may as well give them permission to do so. In a round about way, authorizing my helpful information to be duplicated in an effort to “get the word out” to more people than what I have the resources to do. The idea seems sound, but has its own problems.

Later on down the road (call it the information super highway, if you must), I did a search on Google.com for one of my “specially formed sentences that only I could possibly come up with.” The result was several additional instances of Cut and Paste Writers calling my information their own. Again, the ego was crushed and I became outraged, posting my Cut and Paste Writers Rant (removed in 2007) in an effort to lash out at those that choose to disregard copyright law. I also wrote different versions of E-Mails to the particular contacts for the domains. Some I asked nicely to please remove the unauthorized information. Others I threatened with a legal battle.

The back lash was predictable: The “nice” E-Mails resulted in “screw you.” The legal action threats resulted in “screw you” and “screw you some more.” However, several instances are noted that the information was removed as requested. More often than not, a new page was posted “slamming me” for protecting my rights.

Another form of theft

After transferring my domain over to my own server equipment, I started to notice instances of my images being “inlined” by other web sites. This indication came about because some images were being served “more” then the document that actually contained them. Being how HTML was originally intended to share information with “trusted” clients and servers, a person can inline an image on their own domain, thereby causing no stress on their server but actually sending the request to another. This is done, most notably, with banner advertisements.

One instance in particular, was a forum post on a foreign web server that inlined every one of my Windows XP Install guide images. Each time that page was hit, 40 requests for images were sent to my web server. Now, if these were the “thumbnail” versions with links to the full versions on the domain, it would not have upset me as much as what actually was occurring. Each of the inlined images was the full version. So, in short, tons of bandwidth was being sucked off of my server with me getting nothing for it.

Since that discovery, I have banned all inlined images on all domains. Unfortunately, that also blocks Google.com’s cache. More on that subject on a later date.

Copyright

Copyright exists the moment any document is published (http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html). It all boils down to rights given to the original author for compensation and credit for the effort put forth to draft the document in question. However, there is a catch.

Even though a document is protected by Copyright law, there is very little a person can do if a document is duplicated without permission unless it has been previously registered with the United States Copyright Office (). From what I understand, this basically “proves” the origin of a document and allows the author a legal leg to stand on for violations.

I wish I had a crystal ball to have been able to see it all coming.

After the discovery of my information being redistributed without my permission, I spent many weeks trying to figure out what I could do to solve my problem. The end result had me filling out forms and sending in a registration fee (http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html) for the particular information in question. At that time, my original information had already been through a couple of revisions and I noted that fact on the form. As a result, my request was declined because I was not registering the “original” information. Okay, but I could, under Copyright law, register the modified document and state it as such with the original publication information included. This also required an additional fee (http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html). After finding this out with a phone call from a representative of the Copyright office (several months after the application was filed and after another revision had already been posted), I needed to dig further into the mess to find out what other options I could have.

To add to the troubles, there is no “blanket” rule to allow for web publications. Essentially, when I would modify the information, I would need to resubmit the document to the Copyright Office with an additional fee (http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html) to retain my rights. With the dynamic nature of the content on the domain and the amount of money it would take to “officially” retain my rights on the 730+ pages that I have, it was beyond the trouble and what I felt I could afford.

Another stone to toss on the pile is the question of damages.

What if I did register my documents? Would I be able to afford to go to court to fight for my rights? Where would these proceedings be? Would they be in the state of the violation? How about if the violation was committed in a different country? How much could I possibly receive from a settlement? So many questions, not enough answers.

My feeling of damages is this: I have none.

The only thing that is hurt is my pride and ego. Watching the traffic logs on the site and knowing my information is helping others, though, is priceless. I am sure, however, a US Court would not see the priceless nature as I do so clearly.

Their must be another way.

Copyleft

Copyleft is, by definition, just the opposite of Copyright law. It, more specifically the GNU Free Documentation License, was drafted with the philosophy that free software should also be bundled with free documentation. From my understanding of the current license, it allows anyone to copy and redistribute a document with a limited but powerful set of rules. Most notably would be giving credit to the original author and allowing modifications by anyone without monetary compensation but still retaining all rights to the original material.

This poses a whole new set of problems.

Releasing the information under the FDL is a great idea, in theory. However, in recent months, I have been working a totally unrelated issue with the Open Source Software package by the name of Apache. Apache is an outstanding web server that I legally use for free. Along those same lines, the documentation for Apache is worked on by possibly thousands and viewed by millions of people around the world. The problem comes from trying to find information or a “different spin” on configuring this program. Using Google.com and searching for Apache information is difficult, at best. I know that the original document is located at apache.org. However, many other web sites have mirrored that information. From personal web sites to Universities, over and over again, I would select a “new” link, just to be whisked off to the same information that can already be found at apache.org, only formatted for that particular web site.

Extremely frustrating as it has become, it also warned me of additional problems that could come from my information being allowed to be distributed. Most notably, the problem of “outdated” material that is no longer valid. I would have no way of knowing what sites have redistributed my material and no way of “forcing” them to update the information with the newly drafted release on my domain. I only would be able to hope that they would follow through and check for updates when they are able to do so.

Translations of the information I have is also a problem. Being how I only know English (and, sometimes, that is questionable in my writing), I have no way of knowing whether or not something was “lost” in the translation or the person translating the information misinterpreted my meaning.

Torn between the better of two evils

So, on one side, I have the option of spending a great deal of money defending my ego. On the other, I have the option of releasing my hard work without ever knowing if it is helping people or actually the cause of more confusion.

What is a small time web geek to do?

Black Viper

November 30, 2003

Revision History

November 30, 2003: Initial release

March 15, 2007: Corrected a few errors.

 Posted by Black Viper at 3:37 AM

The Free Beer Rant

 Articles, The Rant  No Responses »
Jul 272003
 

FREE BEER!

Now, obviously, I am not offering free beer or ever going to on this website or any other. However, I have placed this web page here for educational purposes to guide my readers in understanding the various Social Engineering techniques that are out today, and attempt to get you to do something you would normally not do. Please, read on…

Introduction

Social Engineering has been around since the dawn of time. The whole idea is to trick people into doing something that they would never wish to do if they actually knew what was going on! These types of attacks on unsuspecting users have caused people to go to web sites they would not normally do, give up their passwords, delete files they should not, or even purchase products that they would never need.

Virus Attacks

One of the largest Social Engineering attacks today is regarding viruses. Viruses normally propagate to other users by having the recipient execute malicious code and, in turn, infect their computer and send it to other people around the globe. Many viruses of recent history have used Social Engineering tactics to ensure a large number of unsuspecting people spread the virus payload. Two examples include the Anna Kornicova virus and the “I love U” virus. Each prey on peoples desires to see a candid picture of a celebrity or the human desire to find out the identity of an anonymous person with a crush. The best defense against such an attack is knowledge. Do not open attachments from people that you do not know and questions the content from people that you do know. Many viruses, such as the Klez virus, make it look like the content is from someone you have already had dealings with. Before sending any E-Mail attachment, I send a different E-Mail first explaining the contents. If that particular E-Mail is not there… the E-Mail with the attachment never came from me. More information on how you can protect yourself and examples of these E-Mail viruses are located on my Email filtering guide. Plenty of security awareness information is available at http://www.cert.org/ and http://www.symantec.com/.

Banner Advertisements

A disturbing trend in the online advertising market is to disguise banners and pop-up ads as system messages. From “You are broadcasting your IP address” to “Pay $20 to stop these ads forever!” Each rely on the user to click the ad and travel to a site asking for your personal information or even for you to send them money. If everyone ignored these false indications, they would no longer be effective and naturally, they would go away. An example would be that a spammer sends a messenger service message to your system claiming that they would “remove these ads” and that you would “never receive them again” if you go to X web site and even on occasions, send them money for a program to disable the messenger service. However, you can do the exact same thing in little time using the tools you already have available. Visit this page for more information.

Telemarketer

Telemarketers have been around, seemingly forever. I tend to find this particular marketing technique more intrusive then many advertising schemes of today. I screen all of my calls with an answering machine and, when I so desire, I pick up the phone to tell them to “put me on your do not call list and never call this number again!” I have been hung up on more than once. Some telemarketers’ even claim that they know “how much your long distance bill is” and many other false statements. When questioned as to what it “really is” or attempt to substantiate their claims, many telemarketers back peddle (sic) and say anything from “we cannot release that information” to “it is confidential.” If it is so confidential, how did they get it?!?

A National Do Not Call List is available for everyone to use as well as several state run listings. More information can be found on the FTC’s web site at and donotcall.gov.

spam

An extremely overwhelming amount of Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) is always in my inbox. Each could contain grand claims of “earn $3000 a week at home” and “Lose weight while sleeping.” Spam marketing works because people open the E-mails and head off to the spammers web sites where they in turn, sell your information and valid E-Mail address to other spammers and marketers. Many times, labeling the particular person as “a live one.” Even with the limited amount of response, the cost of sending millions of E-Mails is nothing compared to the commissions spammers get from “leads” dealing with mortgage loans or medical prescriptions. Even though many spammers attempt to fool filters by adding garbage characters at the end of the subject line, you can easily identify and delete them.

Passwords

No legitimate reason exists to require you to send your password to anyone over E-Mail, the phone or any other way. 100% of the time, a means to “reset” your password is available without the need to send anyone your old one… or your new one. Stop this fraud by reporting such instances to your game server administrator, your ISP or your corporate IT department depending on what type of information is under attack. Even the strongest password is useless if easily handed out to the wrong people for any reason. Keep your personal information and your passwords confidential and protect them as you would any valuable documents.

Conclusion

Even though this information only deals with a handful of the possible intrusive techniques of Social Engineering, I hope my intentions of education hold up. Knowledge is power. What you do with that power is totally up to you.

Black Viper

July 27, 2003

Revision History

July 27, 2003: Initial release

 Posted by Black Viper at 4:37 AM

Impossible Questions to Answer by E-Mail Rant

 Articles, The Rant  3 Responses »
Mar 252003
 

Introduction

I admit it. I enjoy people contacting me and asking technical questions. I also enjoy sharing my knowledge with strangers (people that do not contact me but surf on in) as well as, sometimes, the desperate people asking me for help as a “last resort.” As with anything, this also has its limits.

This page contains “all too frequent” questions that are “Impossible To Answer by E-Mail.” The reason behind this is not to make anyone angry or shun people from contacting me. What it is an attempt at is to “answer” some of those questions that I do not have time to reply personally. Most of these E-Mails are novel length. Some are two sentences like “My computer crashes. What is wrong?” Regardless of the content, I fail to have enough time to remotely diagnose, sometimes, extremely complex issues. Often times, I will equate technical information to a car. People can relate to cars much better than “complicated” items like computers. In reality, I am not mechanically inclined.

Usually, the exact amount of information that I would need from the writer is the exact same information they would need to figure it out for themselves. I do not know how many times I have attempted a reply and asked items like “What kind of components does your system contain?,” only to get an answer like “Dell.”

Quick Links

1) My system performance is slow. Should I upgrade?

2) Why does this game (software) not work?

3) I have AOL (Earthlink, MSN) and…?

4) My internet is slow. What can I do?

5) My computer crashes. What is wrong?

6) Do I need these particular files (insert list of files here)? Can I “safely” delete them?

7) What security measures do you take for your network, web site, and / or computer systems?

8) I cannot remember what tweak I applied 3 months ago from a different web site to break my system, but can you tell me how to fix it?

9) I have a 1500 node network, 2000 users, and numerous server and advanced server systems. Why can’t I log in to the domain controllers on a few of them?

And the ever popular one

10) I have searched google.com, scoured forums, mined news groups, and asked everyone I know, including the neighbor kid for an answer to my problem. Can you help?

Answers

1) My system performance is slow. Should I upgrade?

Performance is completely in the eyes of the beholder. It seems to me that, if you are unhappy with the performance of your system and you are asking “other people” for opinions on if you should spend money on the computer or not, yes, you should upgrade.

If the system does exactly what you want and you have no problem with running Windows 95 on a 486, then who am I to say “What you should do?”

As far as what components you should swap out… way too many factors are at play for me to give exact information on the needed change.

With a car in mind, should you:

  • Use “higher grade gas?”
  • Change out the exhaust system?
  • or just swap out the engine with a larger one putting out more horsepower?

Is all up to you and your wallet.

2) Why does this game (software) not work?

I have no idea. I am not a programmer, nor am I employed with any software (or hardware) company or developer. What I am is a geek that enjoys making “other people’s software and hardware run better.”

The best thing to do is contact the publisher of your software package for technical support. No, I do not have every companies’ web site memorized, nor do I know who published your game. The usual recommendation is to look toward the back of your manual for contact information.

I usually equate this question to dialing a random phone number and asking the answering party “How come my car does not start?”

3) I have AOL (Earthlink, MSN) and…?

Please contact your “major ISP” for what ever issue you have with them. I have never used any of the “Big Guy’s” services, nor do I plan on it.

4) My internet is slow. What can I do?

Get cable/DSL connection, change to a different ISP, or move your home.

Upgrading your service to “broadband” is the simple answer to this question. If you are wishing for faster always on connection, DSL and cable is the only way to go. Check around your local area and your phone book for more information as “unless you live within 5 miles of my house, I cannot recommend a local ISP for you.”

Understand this: most “phone companies,” if you are on a dial up, will not help you in computer connectivity issues.

Changing to a different ISP is not all that big of a deal. If you are truly angry at your current providers service, by all means, vote with your money and go somewhere else! Most ISP’s have “free trial periods” for 30 to 90 days. Test out the service. See if it is better or worse.

Moving is another option… drastic, but effective.. as long as you check to ensure broadband is available before hand. :)

5) My computer crashes. What is wrong?

It could be anything. I have absolutely no way of knowing exactly what is wrong with your system. Some causes of instability are:

  • Cheap components
  • Poorly written software
  • Outdated device drivers
  • Under specification power supply
  • Faulty components
  • OS “upgrade” installations
  • or even operator error

The best way to solve these issues are:

  • Do not purchase cheap hardware just to “save a buck.” Really, you do get what you pay for.
  • Avoid “beta” software or ensure that you back up all data before attempting a new installation of any software package.
  • You must ensure that you are using the latest drivers provided by the manufacture of your hardware. I cannot guess what drivers you need for your system. Either contact your system vendor or computer system builder.
  • Ensure that your power supply can provide enough juice for your system. 300 Watts was an insane amount of “extra” power… now, anything below 400 Watts is “not recommended” by me unless you have very few components installed.
  • Faulty components can cause all sorts of problems. Take it to a qualified technician (for a price). I cannot possibly tell you what is wrong from my house.
  • I never recommend anyone to “upgrade” their existing OS installation with a newer one. I always recommend a clean install. I even had one person contact me that told me they went from Win95, Win98, WinMe, then on to installing XP and “are having problems.” This does not surprise me in the least bit.
  • Be careful. Think before doing. Check the next question.

6) Do I need these particular files (insert list of files here)? Can I “safely” delete them?

I am not about to tell you that you can “safely” delete files. That is flame bait if I ever heard it.

Not long ago, when I was learning the computer in’s and out’s, I would randomly delete system files “just to see what happened.” Help files, strangely named .dll’s, temp directories… you name it, if I could see it, it was a target. As a result, I spent many late nights reinstalling the operating system. Just for your information, a few programs I have encountered actually required the help file to be available or it would not even start. I found that out the hard way.

With the low cost of storage (CD-R’s and CDRW’s) and even hard drives, there is no reason to save 5 MB by deleting a help file. Save yourself plenty of headache and do not even bother.

7) What security measures do you take for your network, web site, and / or computer systems?

Answering that question is like placing a sign on the front door saying “The door is locked. Either go around to the back or look under the welcome mat for the key.”

Security is what you make of it. Some people do not run virus scanners or firewalls. Even others leave valuable accounts (like admin) completely open with no passwords because “no one else lives in the house.” As long as you connect your system up to a larger network (as in, the internet), you are vulnerable to attack.

If you wish to have a secure system, do not install an OS, unplug it from the modem, disconnect power and lock it away. That is, of course, as long as you do not post a sign up.

8) I cannot remember what tweak I applied 3 months ago from a different web site to break my system, but can you tell me how to fix it?

If you cannot remember enough to tell me what you did, how do you expect me to do anything about it?

9) I have a 1500 node network, 2000 users, and numerous server and advanced server systems. Why can’t I log in to the domain controllers on a few of them?

Yes, I have received several E-mails such as this one. If you are an “IT PRO” in charge of such a large network, you should not be relying on some stranger across the Internet to answer issues such as this. Even though the amount of systems or the specific problem changes, I cannot help you out if “you are in a corporate IT environment.” I am not employed in the “IT” field, nor dealt with any domain controller issues personally.

I equate this message to the manager of a new car lot dialing a random phone number and giving the answering party the following information “I have 1500 new cars, 40 mechanics and countless manuals: Why don’t 20 cars start?”

And the ever popular one:

10) I have searched google.com, scoured forums, mined news groups, and asked everyone I know, including the neighbor kid for an answer to my problem. Can you help?

No. I am not psychic, nor do I have a magic wand to wave around and make everything better.

Black Viper
March 25, 2003

Revision History:

March 25, 2003: Initial release.

 Posted by Black Viper at 5:27 AM
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