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Well what a wonderful day today.  Apparently both the DLink DWL-1000AP Wireless Access Point and the generic 10mb network card that was connected to the WAP gave up the ghost today.

I’m really not sure what happen.  It was working fine this morning when I left to go on my bike ride.  However, when I got back about 2 hours later the network was down.  I tried the usual things like powering down the WAP, resetting, etc.  Nothing world work.  I finally admitted defeat and went to staples to buy a new WAP.

I bought the Linksys Wireless-B Broadband Router (model number BEFW11S4).  This is a major upgrade from that old DLink WAP.  The DLink 1000AP is just a wireless hub where as the Linksys is a WAP, 4 port switch, and broadband router all in one.  I’m only using the WAP and switch features. 

The network is setup like this:

Internet via dialup modem

Linksys router

Then there’s a desktop and a laptop that have 802.11b wireless nics installed.

So that’s it for the network.  I know it’s not the fancy but hey I like it.  There are a few nice features of the Linksys wap that I really do like.  It’s mainly the nice browser based control panel.  The DLink had a browser based control panel but it sucked horrible and lacked many features. 

Security wise the Linksys is a bit better.  Basically, I use a four pronged prevention method.  First, I change the SSID from the default.  You need to know the SSID to get onto a network so if you use something original it’s harder for someone to get in.  Second, I disable SSID broadcasting.  This keep the WAP from announcing itself to the world.  This means to connect to the network you have to know the SSID since you can just wait for the WAP to tell it to you.  Third I use WEP encryption.  WEP is flawed and useless but it’s at least another layer to make it harder to get into the network.  Forth and final, I use MAC address filtering.  I tell the WAP to only let my two wireless cards on the network and to ignore any others.  Again MAC spoofing is really easy but it’s another layer of protection.

These 4 things make the network more secure than if you just left everything out in the open.  Of course I live out in the country so location alone makes me pretty secure.  I highly doubt there are that many people, if any, that are going to go war driving around here.  This is rural so hackers aren’t going to waste their time out here.  They know 1) 90% of the population is old farmers that don’t have computers 2) any that do probably have macs or old compaqs and no wireless networks and 3) there’s no broadband out here so if they do find an open network they won’t be able to steal bandwidth to download illegal software, music, etc.

Dan Bricklin has written an interesting essay on what he calls “Societal Infrastructure Software.”  Dan Bricklin is one of the co-creators of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program.

The essay entitled “Software That Lasts 200 years” is about this so called “Societal Infrastructure Software.”  That is software that is part of the infrastructure of society.  Things like programs for controlling traffic lights, IRS databases and programs, software for power plants, etc, etc.

Basically, this essay is about the idea that the development and usage model for these software systems needs to be thought of in a different light from the current commercial nature in which we have.  This is definitely some very interesting reading to say the least.  I’ve actually discusses some of these ideas and issues in my Social and Ethical Issues in Computing class at college.  That was probably one of my favorite courses because it did make you think about serious things.

Dan points out four specific areas of software development that should be thought about:

1) Testing and licensing of software engineers
I’m definitely a supporter of the idea of having software developers be licensed professionals.  Such as with doctors, architects, lawyers, etc.  Now I’m not saying that all programmers must be tested and licensed.  Since that does destroy the entire idea of hobby programming, etc.  However, for software systems that will be used or effect the public I think you should require that it be done by properly trained and licensed professionals.  I sure don’t like the idea that software running an nuke power plant could be written by any old joe programmer. 
2) The needs for standards bodies to publish best practices and enforceable rules
Sure there are standard bodies like IEEE, W3C, etc that publish standards.  However, these are really just standards for working together.  Things like TCP or HTML are standards but they’re about just providing set ways for people/systems to share information.  There really aren’t any standards out there that tell a programmer that he/she must do mandatory checks of incoming data to prevent buffer overflows and that failure to do so would prevent you from using the software.

3) Ways to inspect the work and check for problems
Similar to number two when you have standard bodies that have specifications and requirements that are enforceable, you then need a way in which to verify the proper creation of the software.  Just as there are building inspectors there should be software inspectors.  When software is created for the public society there should be trained professionals that can look at and test the system for compliance before it’s ever used. 

4) What to do when things go wrong
This goes back to the first point about software running a nuke plant.  I’d like to know that a properly trained and licensed developer wrote the software.  That way when something does go wrong he can be sued, be fined, have his licensed removed, etc.  That alone provides a major incentive for the developer to take the extra time and make sure they didn’t make any mistakes.  This is very much why there should be a professional level for software development.  There has to be a level of accountability to protect the public.

I really do think that the software development world need that credibility that you get as by having a professional organization. I busted my rear off and graduated with a degree in Computer Science.  For all the work I did I still have to compete in the job market with people that may have learned their skills from reading books like “Teach yourself C++ in 21 days” or “Learn Visual Basic 6 in a week”.  Not to say there is anything wrong with that for some software dev jobs.  However, it still does make me a bit upset.

I mean sure being a licensed doctor or bar certified lawyer doesn’t means you are guaranteed a job but it does help because you only have to compete with a much smaller and higher skilled group of individuals.

Now people will probably reply with something about how that’s what certifications like the CNA, MCSE, A+, etc are for.  Let’s be honest here people.  Just about anyone can pass those tests and again they don’t provide the benefits that a professional organizations would for the points discussed above.

So take some time and read the essay.  It’s a must read in my opinion.

The New York Times has an article about The Family Guy returning.  They make you register to read but it is free.  In fact you can just fill in junk info (a fake name and email address) and click submit and then they’ll let you read the article.

Anyhoo… It gives some background on the show and the creator but that’s not that important.  If you fan of the show you already know all of that!  If you’re not I feel so sorry for you.  It’s a great cartoon and you’re missing out.  I have to be honest and say it’s actually better than the Simpsons.  While there are plenty of lowbrow comedy moments that anyone will get the writers do have a tendency to use more jokes and gags that require a certain level of knowledge.  They regularly make wise cracks about famous but not well known individuals.  So younger audiences will still laugh but many probably don’t really know what the jokes about. 

There are some quotes from a Fox executive about the show being revived and that’s really what I think is the important part of the article. 

quote:

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Network executives say scheduling played a role in the show’s initial failure. “It was moved around and put on Thursday night against `Friends,’ a difficult time period in which it never grew,” said Gail Berman, the Fox network’s president for entertainment. “But we loved the show’s irreverence. I thought it was wild. It’s very in-your-face humor. Very bold.”

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I think this is probably the first time I’ve ever seen a TV exec almost admit that they might not have been right.  I say that because Gail doesn’t outright say “We screwed up” but she make the point that they didn’t really give The Family Guy a good chance and in TV exec speak that does roughly translate to “We screwed up.”

So, it looks like The Family Guy will be back probably next summer.  The article says early spring or summer 2005 so we can assume that it will be summer during the off season.  You know they won’t put it with The Simpsons on Sunday where it belonged in the first place!  If they did then they would be basically admitting they did screw up and you know no TV exec would allow that to happen.  They’ll put it in some stupid mid-week timeslot that won’t give it good ratings.

Oh well enough of my ranting.  I’m just glad to see the show come back.  I guess I should go buy the DVDs sometime.  There are two volumes out.  There were only three season of the show so Volume one contains seasons one and two and Volume two has season three.  They’re only like $40.00 each so it’s a great deal.

Found this over at Scoble’s site.  Microsoft has a new blog portal on their Microsoft Community site that lists all the blogs of MS employees.

At least it appears only the employee blogs that discuss Microsoft technologies and software.  But then hey that’s what I want to read anyways. 

It’s pretty cool because they have a nice search system for finding both blogs and individual posts in the blogs on tons of topics.  You can just look for posts or blogs on everything from asp.net to xbox.

but the best feature of all has to be the RSS feed at the site.  It’s contains the most recent 50 posts from all the approximately 350 weblogs they have on the list.  That’s awesome to get a ton of great info in one single feed.

Wired News has a really interesting article on the burnout the many bloggers suffer.

It’s sort of a compilation of the trials and tribulations that many bloggers go through.  The stories ring very true in my mind and I’m sure it does for many other bloggers out there.  It can be rather difficult to do a weblog.  If it’s more than just a personal diary type blog that is.  For those people it’s more of a personal issue and there isn’t the pressure so much to write about important topics.  However, for people that focus on certain topics and begin to get a following they start to feel a pressure to perform. 

Readers expect new and important content often.  That can be a problem with you are bored or there is a lack of new and interesting news in the topics you normally cover.  Like for me technology has been pretty boring lately.  There’s nothing going on that I hear or read about that makes me jump up and say “I need to blog about that!”

Then you have to take into account the fact that I’m not a professional writer/journalist that is paid to do this.  This is a hobby I do in my free time.  When I’m drained from real life I don’t want to even think about having to go and write something in the blog.

Like this week for example.  It’s been rather stressful and there have been some issues I’ve had to deal with that just fried my brain.  I’ve been in no mood to even spend time online.  I know if there are any regular readers, which I doubt there are many, they probably get rather disappointed not to see me make a post all week.  I’ve though about how I should write something new but I refuse to allow this site to take over my life so I just don’t.  I’d rather have some bored readers than end up so tired of doing the site that I close it down like some bloggers do.

So check out the article it’s a pretty good read.

Sorry it’s a little late but…

I just want to wish all my fellow Americans a Happy and Safe 4th of July!

God bless America and especially every person that is out there making our country and way of life safe.  I thank each and every one of the service men and women serving.  You’re doing a hell of a job and I’m proud of you!