WhackArnolds – Technology, Politics, Pop Culture, Life commentary delivered hot and fresh!

What operating system (OS) you use is much like a religion to people these days. Mac people remind me of Catholics. The most glaring similarity is that they believe in getting told what to do in every way and tend to look down on all other religions. Windows people remind me of Baptists or Episcopalians. Those folks tend to examine their faith, but still don’t see any problems with some of the teachings, even when they are right there in front of them. Then you have the Linux types, and these people are atheist/agnostic. The truth is, in the computer world there is no better OS.

Don’t get me wrong here, I am a fan of each platform for different reasons. Macs have great usability tools that are just perfect to have, and example would be the magnification using CTRL + Scroll or the screen capture that is baked in perfectly into the OS. Windows gives you games and a ton of programs that make life easier. Windows 7 finally brings some of the Mac-style sugar to the OS and increased stability and ease of use. Linux brings open free software and a more stable environment. But, let’s face it, all of these platforms have their bugs and their security holes. They are computers!

The biggest thing that Macs and Linux distros have going for them is that they don’t have enough units out in the world to be a viable option for hackers. That’s it! There are plenty of Mac security flaws, but Apple markets to people based on the notion that they are more secure. The problem with that is that they are probably more insecure because they refuse to talk about security issues they might have. Instead they release these gigantic security updates and announce it with vague language much like iPhone application updates. If you don’t go around clicking nonsense, you are safer on Windows. At least you know what’s out there, on the Mac side a hacker group could have a hack and no one would know about. Linux on the other hand is probably the most secure, especially since most hackers are using Linux. On top of that, Linux developers are crazy about their programming and are always making needed tweaks.

Bottom line is, no one is truly safe on any platform. Knowledge is really the power here, and since Apple tries to sell to the less savvy clientele, they are probably the most vulnerable. Windows after that and finally Linux. Also, why do hackers attack Windows anyway? Most Windows owners have less money. Mac people clearly have more cash on hand! Can you imagine a Mac virus or root kit? All those rich folks out there buying Macs, that’s a goldmine. This phenomenon of people hacking Windows is either because of lazy hackers going for low hanging fruit or stupid hackers who don’t know where the money is. It is very similar to the way middle and lower class people fight each other when it comes to politics and end up voting against their own interests. Why bother going after the big fish when the small weak fish are right here next to me.

I was planning on starting this post off nicely and without vitriol, but I don’t think that is going to be possible.  I currently own a Linksys WRT54GS2 router and thought I was going to be happy with it, but now I am disgusted with Linksys altogether.  Here is the story behind my new boycott for Linksys and all of their products.

Since I started working with home networking, I have used Linksys for my routers.  The main reason for this was because of brand recognition and some reviews I have read about their products.  I had a Linksys WRT54 for a very long time, but I had to get rid of it when WEP got hacked.  I have told countless friends to purchase Linksys products as well, and I never had a problem with doing so either.  That was, of course, until I purchased the WRT54GS2 router.

I came home and installed the router like any other and thought I was fine.  I got on my PC and Mac, which are wired, and everything was super fast as expected.  Then I decided to try setting up a WPA AES wireless environment.  That was when I realized that my connection speeds were ridiculously slow.  Not only were my wireless speeds slow, I was also having problems on the desktop machines.  They were now running slow and at first I thought it was because of my ISP throttling me.

After tons of investigation and speed tests, including DNS speed comparisons, trojan checks, and checks for network compromises I realized that the speeds were fine if the laptops were not actively sending outside data packets.  That was when I thought it was a bug in the implementation of WPA2 on the router.  I reset the router to a factory clean shine and still had the same problems.  My final conclusion is that Linksys has hosed the wireless interface for this router version.

I have been online for days now and I have seen countless people baffled as to why their speeds were so slow.  I had no other option but to write a blog post and hope that others find and read it.  I have vowed to never again purchase a Linksys router, or any other Linksys product.  I am going to go out tomorrow and purchase a Netgear router and say farewell to Linksys for good.  Additionally, I will be informing everyone that I come in contact with, and who asks me for advice, to never buy Linksys products.

I have installed firmware updates, disabled IPv6, shut down IP Helper services, turned off windows tuning protocols, and tested packets using wireshark.  After all this I have to say that the Linksys WRT54GS2 is crap and I can’t trust any other Linksys routers.   Buy Linksys products at your own risk.

Steve Jobs, the greatest of all time, once asked, “Who would want to watch video on their phone/mp3 player?”  This was one of the classic, ‘no one wants it until we have it ready for release’ approaches that Apple uses all the time.  It’s pretty stupid, especially when the tech media eat it up and go nuts about how ridiculous it sounds.  Well, I am curious about why people would buy music from iTunes.  I just don’t get it, it doesn’t seem like it would be worth the time to do it.  Let’s look at some of the pros of using iTunes.

1. First off, the system is pretty sound and it’s designed to milk you of your cash in small increments.  It’s so easy to use, find music and click buy…bam there’s your music.
2. The software works perfectly with your iPhone or iPod.  What’s better it automatically syncs your music across to the devices.
3. You are already used to the interface and have no interest in changing because change is scary and scary things are too scary.

Ok, there you go three things that are keeping you from broadening your horizons.  I couldn’t think of anything more than those, if you do feel free to comment and let me know.  iTunes works well and works with your devices, but what about listening to stuff you don’t want to buy?  I guess you could use Pandora, Last.fm, Rhapsody, or you could use MySpace music.  These are great, but they aren’t all that great when you look at them.

Pandora was the greatest thing since sliced bread, heck I use it from time to time and I am listening to it on my iPhone right now!  Last.fm is like Pandora for kindergartners, so that isn’t worth the time.  Rhapsody, is pretty good in that you can listen to whatever you want, but once you end your subscription you are up shit’s creek and that just stinks.  MySpace music is, well, MySpace.  If you enjoy poisoned ads that will infect your PC, then go ahead with that noise.  So, what’s left?  Zune and Spotify of course!

Just so you know, I am by no means into getting my knees dirty for Microsoft but every now and again they do something not dumb.  The new Zune is quite a beautiful piece of hardware, on top of that it is part of the Zune store which is simply sick!    Picture this, being able to download whatever you want and listen to it on your device and get ten songs per month that you can keep forever?  That would be awesome, and I can hear you Apple fanboys hoping now, “Maybe Apple will give that to us in a couple years and I can massage Steve Jobs’ sack”.  Well, this is a Microsoft thing.  Zune Pass gives you this deal and I think this is how music should be distributed.  If you don’t have a Zune, you should think about getting one, unless of course Apple pulls the douche out of their butts and goes to a subscription model.  Who knows, apparently pigs do fly so Jobs could get some cool back.

What about Spotify?  Well, Spotify is basically a Zune Pass, but without the downloading thing.  Spotify is an internet streaming site much like Rhapsody, however you only stream the music and it’s fricken free.  I think this service, once it comes to the US and is legit will change things a lot.  I just hope that the record execs don’t decide to prove that they’re inadequate as they usually do these days.

I am interested in the news about Hulu charging for content.  Why would I be intrigued about something so lame?  Well, truth be told, big media companies need to come to the conclusion that no one wants to pay more to watch a television show.  That’s right, all these programs are on tv for free over the air or on cable.  With the prices that people already pay for cable television and the seemingly endless amount of stupid channels, it’s not hard to believe that no one wants to pay another subscription online.  I know for a fact that this guy won’t be paying to watch Hulu.  I’d rather spend some money on converting my PC to a DVR or buy a Tivo.

The only real reason I go to Hulu is because the show is online with fewer advertisements and usually the commercials that they do run are better.  The sad part about this whole move is that Hulu will probably make some good money, even with their traffic greatly reduced.  When I used the site I would Like/Dislike the commercials, and I know I am in the minority there!  I wish them luck on this change, but not really.  I hope they fail royally and all these stupid companies can open up their minds and get creative.

I think there is going to be a significantly uptick in piracy the moment Hulu starts to charge.  I expect to see more shows getting put up on Vimeo, YouTube, and sites like that.  BitTorrent is going to start rocking even more than it is now.  I would love to have a sit down with some of these suits that think they have the internet solved.  I bet they have their MBA degrees on the wall in nice frames.  What a bunch of idiots you guys are.