The Most Bizzar Political Message I've Ever Heard

A couple of days ago I found a message on my home phone from a local guy named Dell Schanze. It was one of those automated messages that political candidates use when they are running for office, and want to get their message to as many people as possible.

Dell, or Super Dell, as he likes to be called, started slinging mud almost immediately at two other candidate, all of which are running for the Governor of Utah. When ever someone leaves a message on my phone, Vonage provides an audio file I can download and listen too on my PC. I thought hey, this is too good to pass up, I wanted to share the message with a few friends.

I created a Twitter post which included the URL to the MP3 file of the message on my web server. A few people responded, and apparently Robert Gehrke, a writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, wrote a story about Schanze and his message, and included a link to my MP3.

While I think it's cool that the Trib writer used the link to my file, I would have appreciated a heads up, and even some attribution (as I'm doing in this post). Thanks to Russ Page, I was able to move the file to an Amazon S3 server so my blogs bandwidth isn't all chewed up.

The audio is interesting, funny, and has since been changed to be a little less abrasive. Sorry Super Dell, you won't be getting my vote.

superdell.mp3

'Super Dell' launches Super Attack against Huntsman - Salt Lake Tribune

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Nerdtacular 2008 Was A Blast

I'm in this video a few times, and so is Tyler Whitaker. I really want to thank Scott Johnson for a great time. Please take some time to visit Scott's website, MyExtraLife, read the comic, watch a video cast, buy some stuff.

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CouchCast With Bungee Labs

Join us as we talk with Ted Haeger (Director, Developer Programs) from Bungee Labs.

From their website:

Platform-as-a-Service is a single environment encompassing the entire web application lifecycle from development through delivery.

Visit CouchCast.org for all of our shows. Come and be part of this sometimes wacky, sometimes funny, and sometimes techie podcast. Hosted by Robert Merrill, Matthew Reinbold and Thom Allen.

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Some Cool Things About WordPress 2.6

WordPress 2.6 was release a few days ago, and I wanted to point out some really cool features. The first thing I noticed was plug-ins are separated by those that are Active and those that are Inactive. There is also a button now to select all inactive plug-ins and delete them, giving you the ability to remove all those plug-in you don't use any more, but are too lazy to remove from your server.

The next thing I noticed was this little bubble next to the Plugins link on the Dashboard. Now I'm alerted when ever a plug-in has been updated by the author, which helps me keep the installation secure.

Something that has been around since the last version, is an auto-update feature for plug-ins. If a plug-in is hosted in the WordPress repository, you can automatically get the latest version and have it updated on your server without ever leaving the comfort of the administrative tool. Cool!

The next little trick is the WordPress Theme Preview. Now you can click on a theme you've installed and get a glimpse of what you can expect to see with your current content. It uses a LightHouse type affect. I also use a plug-in called Theme Test Drive to accomplish the same task, only I get to see it full size and live. There are some drawbacks to using this plug-in, the number one thing being if you change the sidebar plug-ins, it changes your main theme, so beware.

Finally, XMLRPC is turned off by default. This feature allows blogging clients like ScribeFire, ecto or, Windows Live Writer, to post content to your blog without actually being logged in to your WordPress site. This feature could be exploited, allowing someone to hijack your blog, so most users won't mind. But it does affect your ability to use services that auto post to your blog. Make sure you understand the security risks before turning on.

Please upgrade and keep your sites safe.

[Update: Joseph Scott from Automattic corrected my statement about XMLRPC, in a comment below. Here is what the WordPress 2.6 Blog Post says about the XMLRPC feature: "Remote publishing via XML-RPC and APP is now secure (off) by default, but you can turn it on easily through the options screen." So there is a possible security risk, according to this statement, but maybe the code can't be exploited.]

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CouchCast With Integratechs

Integratechs: Best Practices in IT Outsourcing. Eric Hansen and Terrance Crowe from Integratechs will join us to discuss current and future trends in IT Outsourcing. http://www.integratechs.com



Visit CouchCast.org for all of our shows. Come and be part of this sometimes wacky, sometimes funny, and sometimes techie podcast. Hosted by Robert Merrill, Matthew Reinbold and Thom Allen.

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New Movie; WarGames: The Dead Code

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about WarGames turning 25 this year, and how MGM is coming out with an updated version of the movie. Today I wanted to let you know about the sequel, WarGames: The Dead Code. It's supposed to be released in theaters the same day as the 1983 version is released on DVD, July 29th, 2008.

I watched the trailer (I wish I could have legally embedded the trailer, but you can watch it here), and it seems to be a cross between 24 and The Bourne Identity. I hope I'm wrong.

The problem I think the sequel will face, is the original movie used technology that was brand new, only a few geeks even knew what a modem was, or how to interact with terminals. Today, you carry computers a hundred times more powerful as the one Matthew Broderick had in his bedroom, in your pocket. The computer shouldn't be the draw this time, but I think the story is written that way. And, the terrorist angle has been played to death. I was really hoping for something a little more original.

I'll be sure to follow up with a review of the movie.

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CouchCast With Jayce Hall

Jayce Hall comes on the show to tell us about the Second Annual Utah Open Source Conference happening in August this year.

The Utah Open Source Conference 2008 will be held at the Salt Lake Community College, Redwood Road campus from August 28 - 30, 2008.

Visit CouchCast.org for all of our shows. Come and be part of this sometimes wacky, sometimes funny, and sometimes techie podcast. Hosted by Robert Merrill, Matthew Reinbold and Thom Allen.

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War Games 25 Years Later

On July 29th, MGM will release a 25th Anniversary edition of War Games. This movie was an icon to geeks the world over. We longed to find an open line with our war dialers. Finding some unprotected computer system and taking a look around was the ultimate prize.

By the way, a war dialer was a program that automatically dialed numbers and checked for a modem tone on the other end. If a tone was found, the number would be captured for later use.

I must admit my VIC 20 and Commodore 64 paled in comparison to Matthew Broderick's computer of the day, but I didn't let that stop me from trying to hack into a few computer systems myself.

Most of today's kids would not get the significance, or even care that your could, connect to other computers through the phone. Bulletin Board Systems, or BBS for short, were the precursors to public Internet access. BBS's allowed people to share information and files, start discussions, and were basically very early social networks.

The movie didn't have any impact on technology, but it did give the audience a glimpse of what the United States Government was using to run its defense systems. The WOPR, a mainframe type computer, depicted in the movie as a very large metal box with a bunch of LED lights, was the master mind, or central computer. This computer took on a life of it's own, when a young kid, played by Matthew Broderick, some how finds a back door using a war dialer, and starts a war simulation.

Eventually the computer completes the simulation, but nearly started world war three in the process. The movie plays on the attitude, and fear, most Americans had at the time, about an all out nuclear war with the Russians. Interesting how the use of geeky technology was used to make some sort of political statement.

If its been a while since you've watched War Games, go rent it, or download it. If you've never seen the movie before, go rent it, you'll be glad you did. But most of all, buy the anniversary edition when it comes out at the end of the month.

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Star Trek: The Experience To Close

Captains log, star date, well, today. It's sad to learn that Star Trek: The Experience will be closing its doors at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 1st.

This attraction was a unique opportunity to see Star Trek memorabilia, get sick on a few rides, and spend some of your hard earned cash in the souvenir shops. I was able to take a couple of photos with a Borg and a Klingon Woman when I was there not too long ago. It was a blast. I really hope CBS listens to the fans and finds a new home for the attraction in Las Vegas, and even expands it. Great time to do this with a new movie coming out. I really hope the fans aren't screwed again by Paramount and CBS.

Long Live Star Trek!

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