Monday, March 31, 2008
Outlook Rules & ActiveSync Deadlock
It appears that running Outlook rules at the same time as Activesync is synchronizing Outlook/Exchange to your Microsoft SmartPhone causes a deadlock. (Or, at least, a screen that says "25 minutes remaining" for half an hour.)
Cozumel Resorts
I feel obliged to post this, sharing info and all that.
Just had a great spring break vacation in Cozumel. My first, or maybe second, in a warm place.
Stayed at Melia Cozumel Resort, north end, west coast. Pleasant, all inclusive.
Nice swimming off Melia beach, although many rocks to stub feet on. 1 lobster, 1 crab, under said rocks.
Nicest aspect of the Melia, for me, was that it was next to the El Cozumeleno resort. A pier or jetty in front of the El Cozumeleno created a sheltered area of clear water with great snorkeling, whereas the water in front of the Melia was cloudy, caused by small surf on beach.
Net: if you like beach, Melia is fine. If you like snorkeling, El Cozumeleno better. But the short distance between the two resorts makes it almsot moot - just a few houses.
A similar note for people who, like me, like snorkeling and SCUBA: the Hotel Park Royal, at the south end of the island, is right across the street from the Aqua World dive outfit.
Just had a great spring break vacation in Cozumel. My first, or maybe second, in a warm place.
Stayed at Melia Cozumel Resort, north end, west coast. Pleasant, all inclusive.
Nice swimming off Melia beach, although many rocks to stub feet on. 1 lobster, 1 crab, under said rocks.
Nicest aspect of the Melia, for me, was that it was next to the El Cozumeleno resort. A pier or jetty in front of the El Cozumeleno created a sheltered area of clear water with great snorkeling, whereas the water in front of the Melia was cloudy, caused by small surf on beach.
Net: if you like beach, Melia is fine. If you like snorkeling, El Cozumeleno better. But the short distance between the two resorts makes it almsot moot - just a few houses.
A similar note for people who, like me, like snorkeling and SCUBA: the Hotel Park Royal, at the south end of the island, is right across the street from the Aqua World dive outfit.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Ruby Lee of HP did NOT inspire my work on P6 SIMD / MMX
Minor annoyance.
I was clicking around Ruby Lee's website, looking for graduate students to hire for a summer internship, when I saw this:
(1) This could be interpreted as saying that Ruby Lee takes credit for inventing SIMD instruction sets, leading to _I_n_t_e_l_ implementing MMX. Or (2) that she was one of many pioneers in that field.
Statement (2) is probably true.
Statement (1) is false. I was there, at the start of MMX, and earlier, when we were calling it P6 SIMD. I have several personal claims to fame in this regards: (a) I am responsible for MMX being 64 bits rather than 32 bits; (b) I am responsible for MMX being placed in the floating point register file, as a way to get around OS context switch issues; (c) I was told to destroy the slides for P6 SIMD, after P6 decided not to do it, but instead I sent the data to Israel, which helped kick off MMX; (d) after the i750 video chip was cancelled, driving back in a car with Bob Dreyer, we decided that we had to do something like P6 SIMD or MMX, because the special video chip was gone. This led to the FP register state. (e) I handed out pieces of swiss cheese at the wrapup dinner for MMX, protesting the irregularity of the ISA. I should have had those pieces of cheese bronzed.
With 100% certainty, I can say that I was never aware of anything Ruby Lee or HP were doing during the development of MMX.
HP was so far out of my field of vision that I don't know when HP shipped multimedia. I vaguely remember email from Konrad Lai about it about a year before MMX shipped - as P6 was being wrapped up (without MMX), as P55C was locked and loaded(with MMX), and as P6C (with MMX) was ready to follow P6 swiftly out the door.
Why were we later, when I suspect that we actually started first? Mainly, the usual: the company is a big slow dinosaur (although capable of reacting really quickly when under threat).
Fred Pollack was the manager who encouraged me to work on P6 SIMD. If Fred knew about HP's work, maybe HP deserves credit. However, Ruby's NSF bio says she worked on it 1992-1996 - P6 SIMD may actually have started earlier than HP's work on SIMD multimedia.
I personally credit the i750 video processor guys for the SIMD instruction set architecture. All I did was show how to integrate it into a general purpose out-of-order processor. And protest the stupid restrictions that were placed on it - we should have had all combinations of {8,16,32,64} {unsigned saturation, saturation, no saturation} {+,-,*,<<,>>}, etc. as well as less regular combinations such as unsigned+signed giving unsigned, unsigned+signed giving signed.
---
This isn't intended to be a criticism of Ruby. Puffery is to be expected in university brag letters, etc.
I was clicking around Ruby Lee's website, looking for graduate students to hire for a summer internship, when I saw this:
- But that's not to mention a third innovation that Lee brought to the industry. She also led the way in creating a set of multimedia instructions that build directly into the core native language of the computer the ability to handle multimedia of all types -- images, voice, animation. _I_n_t_e_l_ later adopted the idea, which consumers saw when the company began advertising that its chips had multimedia-accelerating "MMX" technology. Now essentially all computers use the technique, allowing multimedia to be an everyday part of computing.
(1) This could be interpreted as saying that Ruby Lee takes credit for inventing SIMD instruction sets, leading to _I_n_t_e_l_ implementing MMX. Or (2) that she was one of many pioneers in that field.
Statement (2) is probably true.
Statement (1) is false. I was there, at the start of MMX, and earlier, when we were calling it P6 SIMD. I have several personal claims to fame in this regards: (a) I am responsible for MMX being 64 bits rather than 32 bits; (b) I am responsible for MMX being placed in the floating point register file, as a way to get around OS context switch issues; (c) I was told to destroy the slides for P6 SIMD, after P6 decided not to do it, but instead I sent the data to Israel, which helped kick off MMX; (d) after the i750 video chip was cancelled, driving back in a car with Bob Dreyer, we decided that we had to do something like P6 SIMD or MMX, because the special video chip was gone. This led to the FP register state. (e) I handed out pieces of swiss cheese at the wrapup dinner for MMX, protesting the irregularity of the ISA. I should have had those pieces of cheese bronzed.
With 100% certainty, I can say that I was never aware of anything Ruby Lee or HP were doing during the development of MMX.
HP was so far out of my field of vision that I don't know when HP shipped multimedia. I vaguely remember email from Konrad Lai about it about a year before MMX shipped - as P6 was being wrapped up (without MMX), as P55C was locked and loaded(with MMX), and as P6C (with MMX) was ready to follow P6 swiftly out the door.
Why were we later, when I suspect that we actually started first? Mainly, the usual: the company is a big slow dinosaur (although capable of reacting really quickly when under threat).
Fred Pollack was the manager who encouraged me to work on P6 SIMD. If Fred knew about HP's work, maybe HP deserves credit. However, Ruby's NSF bio says she worked on it 1992-1996 - P6 SIMD may actually have started earlier than HP's work on SIMD multimedia.
I personally credit the i750 video processor guys for the SIMD instruction set architecture. All I did was show how to integrate it into a general purpose out-of-order processor. And protest the stupid restrictions that were placed on it - we should have had all combinations of {8,16,32,64} {unsigned saturation, saturation, no saturation} {+,-,*,<<,>>}, etc. as well as less regular combinations such as unsigned+signed giving unsigned, unsigned+signed giving signed.
---
This isn't intended to be a criticism of Ruby. Puffery is to be expected in university brag letters, etc.
Am I paranoid, or do I just have a REALLY slow PC at work?
For quite some time now I have been complaining about the slowness of my laptop PC at work - especially when compared to similar computers I use outside work.
The slowness often manifests itself when I power up from standby, hibernate, or completely off.
I often blame the slowness on virus scanners, etc.
But I wonder: could my laptop be occupied by a rootkit?
Note that I don't say "malware such as a rootkit". Possibly it could be a rootkit placed by bad guys.
But possibly also it could be a rootkit or other monitoring software placed by my employer's IT Security people. This comes to mind because of patent applications 20070083739 Processor with branch predictor and 20070083735 Hierarchical processor, invented by me, assigned to and prepared by Centaurus Data LLC and related companies.
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=11&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=glew.IN.&OS=IN/glew&RS=IN/glew
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=12&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=glew.IN.&OS=IN/glew&RS=IN/glew
Am I paranoid? Or do I just have a really slow system? And are virus scanners and other cruft really wasting as much time on other people's conputers as they seem to be on mine?
The slowness often manifests itself when I power up from standby, hibernate, or completely off.
I often blame the slowness on virus scanners, etc.
But I wonder: could my laptop be occupied by a rootkit?
Note that I don't say "malware such as a rootkit". Possibly it could be a rootkit placed by bad guys.
But possibly also it could be a rootkit or other monitoring software placed by my employer's IT Security people. This comes to mind because of patent applications 20070083739 Processor with branch predictor and 20070083735 Hierarchical processor, invented by me, assigned to and prepared by Centaurus Data LLC and related companies.
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=11&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=glew.IN.&OS=IN/glew&RS=IN/glew
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=12&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=glew.IN.&OS=IN/glew&RS=IN/glew
Am I paranoid? Or do I just have a really slow system? And are virus scanners and other cruft really wasting as much time on other people's conputers as they seem to be on mine?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
SmartPhone blog disappears?
I was about to post about how happy I am with my new SmartPhone - and, indeed, I am very happy. It does everything I bought it for:
Evetually my post evaporated. So much for it being saved automatically.
So, not everything is hunk dory. But I am still happier with my SmartPhone, my AT&T Tilt (HTC 8925) than I am with any laptop or tablet PC I have bought or used recently.
- phone
- synchronze with my calendar, so I don't have to use my PC to figure out what meeting I ned to go to.
- Slow PC. Bad virusscanner
- E.g. my SmartPhone beeps me awake at 6am, I roll over, and look at whether I have a 7am, 8m, 9am, or whatever meeting. I.e. my SmartPhone has made it safe to sleep in?
- pen input with Transcriber
- wifi web browsing a bonus
Evetually my post evaporated. So much for it being saved automatically.
So, not everything is hunk dory. But I am still happier with my SmartPhone, my AT&T Tilt (HTC 8925) than I am with any laptop or tablet PC I have bought or used recently.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
More Toshiba TabletPC woes
Monday, sitting at my desk, programing with Rajeev, I powered on my Toshiba. Hallelujah!!! The beeping problem occurred - Rajeev is my witness. Now I have two witnesses, my wife and Rajeev.
I even managed to video the password dialog box behavior: as if a key were stuck. Select all, empty, and it keeps being pressed. (Unfortunately, I just disabled the phone that has the video recorded - now I'm not sure how to transfer the video. Ah, maybe I can switch SIM cards.)
The beeping was at a low frequency - say 2 per second. When I opened windows, such as the password dialog box, the frequency increased - say 4 per second. (These estimates are approximate and relative, not accurate and absolute.)
After beeping for 5 minutes or so - during which I video'ed the effect, and clicked around - eventually it stopped all on its own.
Prior to this episode, the TabletPC had been connected to power but idle and/or in standby for perhaps 4 hours. This is frequently the case: I rarely have the problem when I boot fresh or power on. (Rarely - but I have had it in these circumstances.)
Possible new observation: the problems always start recurring after plugging in to my Toshiba doc. However, once started, they persist, intermittently, even though using my non-dock power supply.
So far NWCS Toshiba support has replaced my keyboard, fan, and motherboard. What's left? Power supply - the frequency shifting according to activity level of PC suggests this could be a problem.
I even managed to video the password dialog box behavior: as if a key were stuck. Select all, empty, and it keeps being pressed. (Unfortunately, I just disabled the phone that has the video recorded - now I'm not sure how to transfer the video. Ah, maybe I can switch SIM cards.)
The beeping was at a low frequency - say 2 per second. When I opened windows, such as the password dialog box, the frequency increased - say 4 per second. (These estimates are approximate and relative, not accurate and absolute.)
After beeping for 5 minutes or so - during which I video'ed the effect, and clicked around - eventually it stopped all on its own.
Prior to this episode, the TabletPC had been connected to power but idle and/or in standby for perhaps 4 hours. This is frequently the case: I rarely have the problem when I boot fresh or power on. (Rarely - but I have had it in these circumstances.)
Possible new observation: the problems always start recurring after plugging in to my Toshiba doc. However, once started, they persist, intermittently, even though using my non-dock power supply.
So far NWCS Toshiba support has replaced my keyboard, fan, and motherboard. What's left? Power supply - the frequency shifting according to activity level of PC suggests this could be a problem.
Open Letter to AT&T about Pay-per-Use Charges
I recently purchased an AT&T Tilt, and am happy on this first day. I have requested a voice plan, but no data plan.
I am told that I should ensure that AT&T *not* provision the data plan, to prevent expensive pay per use fees. Apparently certain WM6 applications connect to the data wireless network by default. I have disabled such defaults as much as I know how to do, but I still wish to give AT&T this directive: I do NOT wish to use data, even as pay per use.
I *do* wish to use voice, according to my plan.
I *do* wish to use SMS text messaging.
But I do *not* want to use any data facility - no web browsing, no email access - using AT&T's data wireless network.
AT&T customer support assures me that there is no such pay-per-use data access; but other users tell me there is. I wish to make my desires 100% clear. I will protest such charges if they occur.
I am communicating this to AT&T every way I can imagine:
a) through AT&T's web page based "email"
b) by phone to AT&T customer representatives
c) by paper mail
I am blogging this at http://andyglew.blogspot.com/2008/03/open-letter-to-at-and-pay-per-use.html for reference.
I am also preserving this email on my blog because AT&T's &^&^#!!@!!@@ web based email can only accept 1000 characters. I editted out words to make it fit on AT&T's site, but am providing the full reference here. I suppose this is my new BKM for customer service sites that do not give you enough room to write a full question: fill in their webform, and provide a link to a website where they can see more details. I would not put detals such as account numbers on blogger; I wonder if a sufficiently secure mechanism could be created.
I am told that I should ensure that AT&T *not* provision the data plan, to prevent expensive pay per use fees. Apparently certain WM6 applications connect to the data wireless network by default. I have disabled such defaults as much as I know how to do, but I still wish to give AT&T this directive: I do NOT wish to use data, even as pay per use.
I *do* wish to use voice, according to my plan.
I *do* wish to use SMS text messaging.
But I do *not* want to use any data facility - no web browsing, no email access - using AT&T's data wireless network.
AT&T customer support assures me that there is no such pay-per-use data access; but other users tell me there is. I wish to make my desires 100% clear. I will protest such charges if they occur.
I am communicating this to AT&T every way I can imagine:
a) through AT&T's web page based "email"
b) by phone to AT&T customer representatives
c) by paper mail
I am blogging this at http://andyglew.blogspot.com/2008/03/open-letter-to-at-and-pay-per-use.html for reference.
I am also preserving this email on my blog because AT&T's &^&^#!!@!!@@ web based email can only accept 1000 characters. I editted out words to make it fit on AT&T's site, but am providing the full reference here. I suppose this is my new BKM for customer service sites that do not give you enough room to write a full question: fill in their webform, and provide a link to a website where they can see more details. I would not put detals such as account numbers on blogger; I wonder if a sufficiently secure mechanism could be created.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Toshiba Portege M400 TabletPC Issue - Vista activation problem / reinstall
I was mailing the below to myself, using Gmail as a log, when I realized that maybe other folks with Toshiba problems might like to learn what I have learned - e.g. the Reboot-Tap 0 sequence to get to the Toshiba Recovery Partition - and I think there is nothing sensitive here.
---
At 6:30 pm, just before supper, keyboard problems:
a) when rebooting (restarting) the machine beeped for circa 20 seconds - circa 45 beeps. (it hasn't done this for a while - still haven't figured out pattern).
b) having logged in, I tried to use first FireFox, then Internet Explorer, to go to http://www.barkzone.com/.
"www." typed in ok
but everytime I typed "b" it acted as if a weird control key had been typed. nothing more went into the URL. by the time I got to "r" it was as if I had typed the windows key followed by "r" - bringing me to the "Run" menu.
now this gives me a theory - it is as if the Windows key was stuck. which is a bit of a surprise, given the Toshiba's keyboard, where the Windows key is at the top next to the function keys.
I powercycled, hoping to clear up the above problem, and got a new problem:
c) Rebooting got me to the login screen. When I tried to login, first on my usual account "glew", then on "glew-admin", I got a dialog box with the following error:
"The Windows Vista Ultimate Product key you typed is invalid for activation"
with options such as to buy a new product key.
Well, I never entered a product key, since Vista was preinstalled. But I have heard rumours that the product key may be needed again if the computer is changed, e.g. if the motherboard is swapped as my motherboard was, in attempting to fix the keyboard problems that have plagued me since I got the computer.
---
I contacted Toshiba support at (800) 457-7777.
After the usual questions - their records of what repairs have been done is inaccurate, I corrected them but I doubt that my corrections were recorded - they told me to reinstall from scratch. I had no particular need to preserve anything on the laptop - thank goodness for Gmail - although it will be annoying to have to reinstall patches, FireFox, etc., which took me the best part of a day when I first received my computer.
Here's the "magic" to reinstall:
Reboot (power cycle)
Tap "0" (zero)
This will show the "booting Windows" progress bar, but will get to the Toshiba Recovery Wizard (running out of the hidden recovery partition). Answer the questions, ad you can reinstall the OS.
The recovery partition also has utilities to repartition the drive, etc.
So now this reinstallation from scratch is in progress.
---
Summing up my rather annoying experience with this Toshiba Portege M400 so far:
I received it before Xmas.
Unfortunately, I didn't actually start using it until the New Year. This was unfortunate because the 15 day return policy had expired; if I had powered it on immediately, I would have returned it immediately, along with all the accessories (dock, etc.) I bought.
MORAL: start using immediately, to test in the return window
MORAL: don't buy accessories until you are happy with a device. Returning them is just additional hassle if the P is unsatisfactory.
When I finally powered it on, there were two big problems
a) the fan was the loudest I have ever heard in a laptop
b) the machine beeped loudly for several minutes while booting.
Later, various attempts to type at the keyboard showed that the 5 or 7 keys were stuck. 555555555555555....
I believe that the keyboard being stuck is what caused the beeping.
My first calls to Toshiba service resulted in On-Site Warranty Service being sent to me (I paid extra for that). This is how I learned that On-Site Warranty Service is rather useless for a non-business:
a) they would not come out on the weekend to my home
b) I cannot stay home all day to await them
c) they cannot come into my place of work.
I suppose they could park in the company parking lot, and I bring my PC out to them.
Instead, I got Toshiba to put me in touch with the off-site service center in Portland, NorthWest Computer Support. They are "only" a half hour's drive away.
I dropped off my tablet PC at NWCS. They kept it for a week, and replaced keyboard and fan.
After a week or so, I picked up my repaired computer. It seemed to work fine. However, once again I did not use it intensely for a week or so. When I started trying to use it - installing FireFox, etc. - I realized the keyboard problem was still occurring.
A few days later I brought it back to NWCS (after phoning Toshiba). This time they kept the machine for 2 weeks, replacing the motherboard.
When I received the machine repaired for the second time, I tried using it immediately. I noticed that the keyboard problems and/lor beeping during boot still occurred sporadically, but could be tolerated - e.g. it beeped for 20 seconds, not 20 minutes. I am also just resigned to the fan noise.
This was the state until today, when I got the Vista activation error, and when Toshiba told me to reinstall. Which I am doing.
---
Sigh - it isn't so much the reinstall that sucks, as the follow-up. For example, I really need to make new recovery disks for the reinstall, since I think the activation code may be different. Reconfigure network, etc.
If I could return this Toshiba, exchanging it for a different model, I would. I suspect that some of the problems may be due to having gotten a relatively maxed out machine:
Toshiba
Portege
M400
_I_n_t_e_l_(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7600 @ 2.33 GHz, 2.33 GHz
Memory (RAM): 2039 MB
Windows Vista Ultimate (32 bit)
Product ID: 89580-OEM-7332132-00182
104GB disk (at least on main partition)89.8GB free
7200rpm.
---
At 6:30 pm, just before supper, keyboard problems:
a) when rebooting (restarting) the machine beeped for circa 20 seconds - circa 45 beeps. (it hasn't done this for a while - still haven't figured out pattern).
b) having logged in, I tried to use first FireFox, then Internet Explorer, to go to http://www.barkzone.com/.
"www." typed in ok
but everytime I typed "b" it acted as if a weird control key had been typed. nothing more went into the URL. by the time I got to "r" it was as if I had typed the windows key followed by "r" - bringing me to the "Run" menu.
now this gives me a theory - it is as if the Windows key was stuck. which is a bit of a surprise, given the Toshiba's keyboard, where the Windows key is at the top next to the function keys.
I powercycled, hoping to clear up the above problem, and got a new problem:
c) Rebooting got me to the login screen. When I tried to login, first on my usual account "glew", then on "glew-admin", I got a dialog box with the following error:
"The Windows Vista Ultimate Product key you typed is invalid for activation"
with options such as to buy a new product key.
Well, I never entered a product key, since Vista was preinstalled. But I have heard rumours that the product key may be needed again if the computer is changed, e.g. if the motherboard is swapped as my motherboard was, in attempting to fix the keyboard problems that have plagued me since I got the computer.
---
I contacted Toshiba support at (800) 457-7777.
After the usual questions - their records of what repairs have been done is inaccurate, I corrected them but I doubt that my corrections were recorded - they told me to reinstall from scratch. I had no particular need to preserve anything on the laptop - thank goodness for Gmail - although it will be annoying to have to reinstall patches, FireFox, etc., which took me the best part of a day when I first received my computer.
Here's the "magic" to reinstall:
Reboot (power cycle)
Tap "0" (zero)
This will show the "booting Windows" progress bar, but will get to the Toshiba Recovery Wizard (running out of the hidden recovery partition). Answer the questions, ad you can reinstall the OS.
The recovery partition also has utilities to repartition the drive, etc.
So now this reinstallation from scratch is in progress.
---
Summing up my rather annoying experience with this Toshiba Portege M400 so far:
I received it before Xmas.
Unfortunately, I didn't actually start using it until the New Year. This was unfortunate because the 15 day return policy had expired; if I had powered it on immediately, I would have returned it immediately, along with all the accessories (dock, etc.) I bought.
MORAL: start using immediately, to test in the return window
MORAL: don't buy accessories until you are happy with a device. Returning them is just additional hassle if the P is unsatisfactory.
When I finally powered it on, there were two big problems
a) the fan was the loudest I have ever heard in a laptop
b) the machine beeped loudly for several minutes while booting.
Later, various attempts to type at the keyboard showed that the 5 or 7 keys were stuck. 555555555555555....
I believe that the keyboard being stuck is what caused the beeping.
My first calls to Toshiba service resulted in On-Site Warranty Service being sent to me (I paid extra for that). This is how I learned that On-Site Warranty Service is rather useless for a non-business:
a) they would not come out on the weekend to my home
b) I cannot stay home all day to await them
c) they cannot come into my place of work.
I suppose they could park in the company parking lot, and I bring my PC out to them.
Instead, I got Toshiba to put me in touch with the off-site service center in Portland, NorthWest Computer Support. They are "only" a half hour's drive away.
I dropped off my tablet PC at NWCS. They kept it for a week, and replaced keyboard and fan.
After a week or so, I picked up my repaired computer. It seemed to work fine. However, once again I did not use it intensely for a week or so. When I started trying to use it - installing FireFox, etc. - I realized the keyboard problem was still occurring.
A few days later I brought it back to NWCS (after phoning Toshiba). This time they kept the machine for 2 weeks, replacing the motherboard.
When I received the machine repaired for the second time, I tried using it immediately. I noticed that the keyboard problems and/lor beeping during boot still occurred sporadically, but could be tolerated - e.g. it beeped for 20 seconds, not 20 minutes. I am also just resigned to the fan noise.
This was the state until today, when I got the Vista activation error, and when Toshiba told me to reinstall. Which I am doing.
---
Sigh - it isn't so much the reinstall that sucks, as the follow-up. For example, I really need to make new recovery disks for the reinstall, since I think the activation code may be different. Reconfigure network, etc.
If I could return this Toshiba, exchanging it for a different model, I would. I suspect that some of the problems may be due to having gotten a relatively maxed out machine:
Toshiba
Portege
M400
_I_n_t_e_l_(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7600 @ 2.33 GHz, 2.33 GHz
Memory (RAM): 2039 MB
Windows Vista Ultimate (32 bit)
Product ID: 89580-OEM-7332132-00182
104GB disk (at least on main partition)89.8GB free
7200rpm.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Example of AT&T Wireless Bad Customer Service
Here is a "chat" session, in its entirety, as I attempted to place an order on AT&T's website:
There are no timestamps up above, but this spread out over a 30 minute period. I.e. I got no response from AT&T's chat support system, in more than 30 minutes.
I understand why companies like "chat": it is easier to a help person to multiplex, supporting multiple people, via chat than phone. But no response in 30 minutes?
Oftentimes I have multiple questions, as above. It might be easier to send this via email, but no, they only provide chat support.
I'm happy enough with chat support - it also allows me to multiplex - but I *do* wish that I could enter multiple lines in the text box. AT&T's submitted every time I hit enter, alt-enter, ctl-enter.
But at least AT&T's chat app allowed me to cut and paste this example...
---
Still more background:
I have spent pretty much all morning trying to place this order. At work. I don't care if work complains - I am submitting this to get a phone that I can synch with my Outlook calendar (if IT allows) - i.e. I consider this work related. If company IT did their frigging job, I wouldn't be wasting my time on this.
I have spent all morning because AT&T's website keeps resetting my order. I want a family plan, and just to upgrade my own phone in that family plan. But every time I do that, it decides to give me an individual only plan. After lots of clicking, I can figure out how to persuade it to leave the plan unchanged, and upgrade the phone - but the moment I click on something, it loses all of that effort and I have to start over.
Not only does AT&T have lousy web chat customer service, but they also have a badly designed website.
I would not be using AT&T Wireless, except for 2 reasons:
(1) AT&T works inside my employer's buildings. Verizon doesn't.
(2) AT&T has GSM. Verizon doesn't.
I really wish that I did not have to use AT&T, although the reasons above outweigh
(a) AT&T's lousy service, compared to Verizon's better service and better webpages
(b) AT&T has lousy coverage elsewhere, e.g. at the Oregon coast, where Verizon does better. There are places in Oregon where only analog works - but I can't get analog from AT&T any more.
(c) AT&T has much worse coverage, requiring much more expensive roaming charges, in Canada than Verizon.
But, as usual, you can't mix and match your wants.
---
Why do I post this? A vain hope that somehow, making complaints about AT&T visible might give them incentive to improve.
---
Oh, did I mention that I have had to log into AT&T Wireless' account page circa once every 15 minutes? I wish that I could say that it was a security related timeout; it seems, rather, to just be caused by colliding cookies.
---
I eventually found a way to email a comment to AMD. Of course, it wasn't real email - it was one of thise annoying web forms - "Choose an inappropriate topic for your email", "Choose an inappropriate subtopic for your email", "Enter text in form".
The text box seemed to indicate a 1000 character limit. So I cut & pasted this blog items' URL. But I also cut and pasted the entire blog item's text. The webform accepted it, no matter the putative text limit.
But, of course, all newlines and formatting was lost in the submission: all of the text appeared as a single paragraph.
A pox on all stupid webform and database designers!!!
---
Did I mention that I was half-way through this process last night when AT&T took their webserver down for service.
TOOK THEIR WEBSERVER DOWN FOR SERVICE????!!!!!! What sort of penny-ante company doesn't stay up 24x7 in this day and age? OK, so I can't really call AT&T penny ante - but I can say, with justification, that they aren't really playing in the web era.
---
Finally, taking a completely different path into AT&T's website - not beginning from the link that my company had sent me, but coming in through my existing account online - I was able to find a phone number.
The phone support person blames my issues on the Cingular to AT&T transition, and has reportedly "updated my code" to indicate that I am allowed to stay with a family plan when upgrading my phone.
OK, this makes the problems understandable. Annoying, and inexusable, but understandable.
- Andy Glew: So, I am about to place my order. Can you see my "cart"?
- Andy Glew: In case you cannot, I am
- Andy Glew: a) have an existing account - Family Plan ...
- Andy Glew: b) am upgrading my phone, to a refurb tilt
- Andy Glew: b') am adding a data plan for tilt
- Andy Glew: So, my questions:
- Andy Glew: Q1: I want to make sure that our phone numbers will stay the same: me (503-XXX-YYY4), my wife (503-XXX-YYY5)
- Andy Glew: Q2: I want to make sure that caller ID for my wife will read her name (Rhonda Patten), not my name (Andy Glew). ---- currently it reads Andy Glew for both lines; could never get that fixed.
- Andy Glew: Q3: my wife is not at all certain she wants to change phones - but since the new phone is free, why not get it? ---- So, I want to ask: can she move SIMM card between old phone and new phone? ----- both are AT&T phones.
- Andy Glew: Q4: do we keep old SIMM cards? Or will you be sending us new ones?
- Andy Glew: Those are my questions. Is there anyone there?
- Andy Glew: ??
- Andy Glew: I am going to assume that there is nobody there. Great Customer Service, AT&T!!!!!!
- Andy Glew: Adding one extra line, so I can cut and paste the conversation to my blog.
There are no timestamps up above, but this spread out over a 30 minute period. I.e. I got no response from AT&T's chat support system, in more than 30 minutes.
I understand why companies like "chat": it is easier to a help person to multiplex, supporting multiple people, via chat than phone. But no response in 30 minutes?
Oftentimes I have multiple questions, as above. It might be easier to send this via email, but no, they only provide chat support.
I'm happy enough with chat support - it also allows me to multiplex - but I *do* wish that I could enter multiple lines in the text box. AT&T's submitted every time I hit enter, alt-enter, ctl-enter.
But at least AT&T's chat app allowed me to cut and paste this example...
---
Still more background:
I have spent pretty much all morning trying to place this order. At work. I don't care if work complains - I am submitting this to get a phone that I can synch with my Outlook calendar (if IT allows) - i.e. I consider this work related. If company IT did their frigging job, I wouldn't be wasting my time on this.
I have spent all morning because AT&T's website keeps resetting my order. I want a family plan, and just to upgrade my own phone in that family plan. But every time I do that, it decides to give me an individual only plan. After lots of clicking, I can figure out how to persuade it to leave the plan unchanged, and upgrade the phone - but the moment I click on something, it loses all of that effort and I have to start over.
Not only does AT&T have lousy web chat customer service, but they also have a badly designed website.
I would not be using AT&T Wireless, except for 2 reasons:
(1) AT&T works inside my employer's buildings. Verizon doesn't.
(2) AT&T has GSM. Verizon doesn't.
I really wish that I did not have to use AT&T, although the reasons above outweigh
(a) AT&T's lousy service, compared to Verizon's better service and better webpages
(b) AT&T has lousy coverage elsewhere, e.g. at the Oregon coast, where Verizon does better. There are places in Oregon where only analog works - but I can't get analog from AT&T any more.
(c) AT&T has much worse coverage, requiring much more expensive roaming charges, in Canada than Verizon.
But, as usual, you can't mix and match your wants.
---
Why do I post this? A vain hope that somehow, making complaints about AT&T visible might give them incentive to improve.
---
Oh, did I mention that I have had to log into AT&T Wireless' account page circa once every 15 minutes? I wish that I could say that it was a security related timeout; it seems, rather, to just be caused by colliding cookies.
---
I eventually found a way to email a comment to AMD. Of course, it wasn't real email - it was one of thise annoying web forms - "Choose an inappropriate topic for your email", "Choose an inappropriate subtopic for your email", "Enter text in form".
The text box seemed to indicate a 1000 character limit. So I cut & pasted this blog items' URL. But I also cut and pasted the entire blog item's text. The webform accepted it, no matter the putative text limit.
But, of course, all newlines and formatting was lost in the submission: all of the text appeared as a single paragraph.
A pox on all stupid webform and database designers!!!
---
Did I mention that I was half-way through this process last night when AT&T took their webserver down for service.
TOOK THEIR WEBSERVER DOWN FOR SERVICE????!!!!!! What sort of penny-ante company doesn't stay up 24x7 in this day and age? OK, so I can't really call AT&T penny ante - but I can say, with justification, that they aren't really playing in the web era.
---
Finally, taking a completely different path into AT&T's website - not beginning from the link that my company had sent me, but coming in through my existing account online - I was able to find a phone number.
The phone support person blames my issues on the Cingular to AT&T transition, and has reportedly "updated my code" to indicate that I am allowed to stay with a family plan when upgrading my phone.
OK, this makes the problems understandable. Annoying, and inexusable, but understandable.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Push Cell Phones should be a Tool, not a Status Symbol
For the last umpteen years, my reviews have contained paragraphs of the form "Andy misses too many meetings and annoys important people". This *has* been career limiting.
I've long had this problem, but I had it solved for a few years via a technical crutch: I had our calendaring software send me a message, a page, just before the meetings. I find it hard to ignore the beeping, buzzing, or vibrating of a pager or cell phone.
A pager or a cell phone works for me, whereas I have a demonstrated ability to ignore whatever notifications Microsoft Outlook throws at me on my laptop. My laptop sound is nearly always muted; my cell phone may be on vibrate, but at least I still notice it. My laptop does not have vibrate. I carry my cell phone everywhere; I do not carry my laptop everywhere.
Why does this no longer work?
Because of IT, and information security.
(I say frigging not as a pejorative, but as a term of endearment: because I work in computer security, I understand the motivation, although I do not necessarily like the consequence.)
IT does not want company email or calendar pushed to devices that the company doesn't own. Potential security holes: the very meeting titles may give away Top Secret information, while the meeting information may contain a phine bridge number and an access code, allowing somebody who came into possession of a lost device to listen in.
IT therefore wants such information to be kept only on company owned devices; or. at least, on devices where company IT can remotely cause all sensitive information to be erased if the device has been lost or stolen. LoJack for PDA phones.
So far, so good - this sounds reasonable.
But, budgets being what they are, the company will not pay for a secure push cell phone for all employees who want one. In particular, they won't pay for a secure push cell phone for me.
What if I'm willing to buy my own phone, and allow company IT the remote access they require for security? Budgets again: the company won't pay the fee for connecting me to the corporate network via BlackBerry or the like.
What if I am willing to pay for phone, *and* the service? Oh, no, we can't do that...
The net upshot is that only bigshots have push cell phones with calendar and email synchronization. The use of such a push cell phone has become a status symbol. People will ostentatiously poke at them during meetings.
I resent them their status symbol, because I am the sort of guy who needs to use something like a push device as a tool. But I am thwarted by IT at all points.
I know how to create my own tunnel through the corporate firewall, evading their restrictions. *I* don't do this, because as a security wonk I think it would be wrong, but I know people who have done so. (Fortunately, I know nobody doing this at the moment, and the folks who did this all moved on to companies with less annoying IT departments.)
---
Yes, I know the saying "It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools."
(1) Yes, I am a poor craftsman, when it comes to getting to meetings on time. As for my actual craft, computer architecture, I am one of the best in the world - and - it is my ability to concentrate on my work, ignoring all distractions, that results in me missing meetings.
(2) This saying is stupid. Jack G. Ganssle said it quite well, at Embedded.com 03/19/07:
I've long had this problem, but I had it solved for a few years via a technical crutch: I had our calendaring software send me a message, a page, just before the meetings. I find it hard to ignore the beeping, buzzing, or vibrating of a pager or cell phone.
A pager or a cell phone works for me, whereas I have a demonstrated ability to ignore whatever notifications Microsoft Outlook throws at me on my laptop. My laptop sound is nearly always muted; my cell phone may be on vibrate, but at least I still notice it. My laptop does not have vibrate. I carry my cell phone everywhere; I do not carry my laptop everywhere.
Why does this no longer work?
Because of IT, and information security.
(I say frigging not as a pejorative, but as a term of endearment: because I work in computer security, I understand the motivation, although I do not necessarily like the consequence.)
IT does not want company email or calendar pushed to devices that the company doesn't own. Potential security holes: the very meeting titles may give away Top Secret information, while the meeting information may contain a phine bridge number and an access code, allowing somebody who came into possession of a lost device to listen in.
IT therefore wants such information to be kept only on company owned devices; or. at least, on devices where company IT can remotely cause all sensitive information to be erased if the device has been lost or stolen. LoJack for PDA phones.
So far, so good - this sounds reasonable.
But, budgets being what they are, the company will not pay for a secure push cell phone for all employees who want one. In particular, they won't pay for a secure push cell phone for me.
What if I'm willing to buy my own phone, and allow company IT the remote access they require for security? Budgets again: the company won't pay the fee for connecting me to the corporate network via BlackBerry or the like.
What if I am willing to pay for phone, *and* the service? Oh, no, we can't do that...
The net upshot is that only bigshots have push cell phones with calendar and email synchronization. The use of such a push cell phone has become a status symbol. People will ostentatiously poke at them during meetings.
I resent them their status symbol, because I am the sort of guy who needs to use something like a push device as a tool. But I am thwarted by IT at all points.
I know how to create my own tunnel through the corporate firewall, evading their restrictions. *I* don't do this, because as a security wonk I think it would be wrong, but I know people who have done so. (Fortunately, I know nobody doing this at the moment, and the folks who did this all moved on to companies with less annoying IT departments.)
---
Yes, I know the saying "It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools."
(1) Yes, I am a poor craftsman, when it comes to getting to meetings on time. As for my actual craft, computer architecture, I am one of the best in the world - and - it is my ability to concentrate on my work, ignoring all distractions, that results in me missing meetings.
(2) This saying is stupid. Jack G. Ganssle said it quite well, at Embedded.com 03/19/07:
It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools. That phrase sounds wise and profound. It's wrong.
Perhaps Noah could build an ark with nothing more than an adze. Few boatbuilders since have managed such a feat.
...It's a demanding craftsman who blames his tools. And then he discards the bad ones, sharpens those that are dull, and adds additional tools where a need exists.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sick and Tired of Machines Slow to Come Out of Standby
I am sick and tired of getting to work, docking my laptop - and not being able to do anything for 15 minutes.
This seems to happen when my laptop has been in standby overnight, and has not been connected to the network. Once it comes of standby at work it goes into a mode where the disk clicks madly, and everything runs like molasses, if it can be said to run.
Although the display comes up quite quickly, after less than a minute, nothing useful can be done for a much longer time. I understand that the folks who design things such as standby think that it is important to get the display up really quick, even if stuff is slow after that - byt 1 minute to display, and 15 minutes to useful work, is ridiculous.
It took 5 minutes to get to the point where my laptop started trying to enable the external monitor. 3 minutes more until my desktop was proper on external and internal monitor.
At about 4 minutes I ran CTL-ALT-DEL to get task manager. It took 3 minutes until I got the chance to press a button to get task manager, and 2 more minutes after that until I got to see the task manager.
Once I saw the task manager, I looked at top CPU consumers and PF Delta (recent PageFaults). I wish there was an I/O delta, but there does not seem to be. I swa processes such as the following:
scan32.exe
svchost.exe
cisvc.exe
naPrdMgr.exe
BESclient.exe
icdesk.exe
McScript_InUse.exe
It appears that most of the running and page faulting processes are related to virus scanning, with patching (BESclient) a close second.
I conjecture that the virusscanner's "cache" of recently scanned files has expired, and it is rescanning everything that needs to be open / which was open when I went into standby.
This sucks!!!
This seems to happen when my laptop has been in standby overnight, and has not been connected to the network. Once it comes of standby at work it goes into a mode where the disk clicks madly, and everything runs like molasses, if it can be said to run.
Although the display comes up quite quickly, after less than a minute, nothing useful can be done for a much longer time. I understand that the folks who design things such as standby think that it is important to get the display up really quick, even if stuff is slow after that - byt 1 minute to display, and 15 minutes to useful work, is ridiculous.
It took 5 minutes to get to the point where my laptop started trying to enable the external monitor. 3 minutes more until my desktop was proper on external and internal monitor.
At about 4 minutes I ran CTL-ALT-DEL to get task manager. It took 3 minutes until I got the chance to press a button to get task manager, and 2 more minutes after that until I got to see the task manager.
Once I saw the task manager, I looked at top CPU consumers and PF Delta (recent PageFaults). I wish there was an I/O delta, but there does not seem to be. I swa processes such as the following:
scan32.exe
svchost.exe
cisvc.exe
naPrdMgr.exe
BESclient.exe
icdesk.exe
McScript_InUse.exe
It appears that most of the running and page faulting processes are related to virus scanning, with patching (BESclient) a close second.
I conjecture that the virusscanner's "cache" of recently scanned files has expired, and it is rescanning everything that needs to be open / which was open when I went into standby.
This sucks!!!
Friday, March 07, 2008
TTN
A new TLA especially suited to computer architecture at the large microprocessor companuies that I have worked at:
TTN. Time To Numbers. Specifically performance numbers.
TTN. Time To Numbers. Specifically performance numbers.
Formex
I have a confession: I told a manager type guy at work that I needed to write a spreadsheet to prepare some hardware estimates. So, I wrote a spreadsheet programming it in Perl.
Actually, I am reviving a tool That I first wrote in undergrad circa 1984- a sort of free form spreadsheet. Not WYSIWYG in this incarnation, but could/should be. Actually started (re)writing it this summer. Formex = Formula Expander. I am quite happy.
Actually, I am reviving a tool That I first wrote in undergrad circa 1984- a sort of free form spreadsheet. Not WYSIWYG in this incarnation, but could/should be. Actually started (re)writing it this summer. Formex = Formula Expander. I am quite happy.
Thunderbird (map Interface to Gmail.
I got sick and tired of Gmail's web interface, but I want to use it as my mail store-since amain has already outlasted of my PCs.So I installed Thunderbird. Imap to browse on the Gmail server; it appears that can use POP to back up the email, albeit without tags/ labels.
The mapping of Gmail tags/ labels to Imap folders sucks. Gmail needs some sort of structure for its tags.
The mapping of Gmail tags/ labels to Imap folders sucks. Gmail needs some sort of structure for its tags.
TabletPC pen enables Gmail.
I have finally started using my new Tablet PC, and I am happy!!
I have used Gmail for my personal, non work stuff, for Years I but have always hated its interface: too much mouse clicking.
With the pen, fiddly I can use it.
Ironic that I just installed the Thunderbird Imap interface to G mail.
Heck, the TabletPC may help me write more on this blog. If only I could carry this Tablet every where - but since I also have a work laptop, that's a bit too much. OQO?
I have used Gmail for my personal, non work stuff, for Years I but have always hated its interface: too much mouse clicking.
With the pen, fiddly I can use it.
Ironic that I just installed the Thunderbird Imap interface to G mail.
Heck, the TabletPC may help me write more on this blog. If only I could carry this Tablet every where - but since I also have a work laptop, that's a bit too much. OQO?
Google Personal Accounting
I used to be an assiduous user of Quicken for my personal accounts. I found that I could easily enter my receipts on my pen computer (originally a Compaq Concerto, later a Toshiba Tablet), and on myKyocera SmartPhone.
But then a series of unfortunate events caused me to fall off the diligent accounting wagon:
a) my employer, stopped allowing us to use our personal computers at work - so I could not do my accounts, e.g., at lunch. (Well, actually, I could, but who wants to carry two laptops/tablets around).
b) my Kyocera SmartPhone\ did not die, but it refused to work at my desk at work in Oregon. Only AT&T/Cingular phones work most places at my work campus. So I switched phone companies and, in the US, this meant that I switched phones. My wife and I still miss our Kyocera.
We have not found another software package that allows receipts to be entered on our phones. Actually, even if we had, we have not found a phone that we like using as a smartphone- mainly because we have not found another stylus based phone, and we hate teensy weensy keyboards.
c) the last straw was when my desktop died a few years ago. It had not be been backed up for quite a while. Although I talked about disk recovery, I basically just gave up on accounting.
Now I want to get back on the wagon. So this morning before work I googled far accounting software. Quicken of course - in both Quicken Online, and offline versions, the latter with a web entry option.
Now, I want to be able to enter accounts offline, when not connected to the net. E.g.. in an airplane. But I also want to be able to enter from other then my main PC, e.g. from my phone the way I used to. And I also want both any wife and I to be able to use it. fleck, I want us both to be able to USE it-not just enter transactions, but browse accounts, etc.
So, Quicken Online works, except for the offline requirement; whereas Quicken Web Entry works, but doesn't give 2 users full access.
While searching, I byes wading: does Google have an online accounts program? I came across the following conversation:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1880
I guess I am already an example: I am actively sanely for a web, plus offline, accounting system. And already use Google. I an wrestling with the security implication of online proud finance information - but heck, my bank and retirement and everyone else is all online. What would feet another do except provide one stop shopping for fraudsters?
Google has never done a good job at solving the "offline problem" - aka the "airplane problem". But apart from that, they rock.
I wonder which will care first: offline Google docs + spreadsheets 2 Calendar, on Google personal accounting?
But then a series of unfortunate events caused me to fall off the diligent accounting wagon:
a) my employer, stopped allowing us to use our personal computers at work - so I could not do my accounts, e.g., at lunch. (Well, actually, I could, but who wants to carry two laptops/tablets around).
b) my Kyocera SmartPhone\ did not die, but it refused to work at my desk at work in Oregon. Only AT&T/Cingular phones work most places at my work campus. So I switched phone companies and, in the US, this meant that I switched phones. My wife and I still miss our Kyocera.
We have not found another software package that allows receipts to be entered on our phones. Actually, even if we had, we have not found a phone that we like using as a smartphone- mainly because we have not found another stylus based phone, and we hate teensy weensy keyboards.
c) the last straw was when my desktop died a few years ago. It had not be been backed up for quite a while. Although I talked about disk recovery, I basically just gave up on accounting.
Now I want to get back on the wagon. So this morning before work I googled far accounting software. Quicken of course - in both Quicken Online, and offline versions, the latter with a web entry option.
Now, I want to be able to enter accounts offline, when not connected to the net. E.g.. in an airplane. But I also want to be able to enter from other then my main PC, e.g. from my phone the way I used to. And I also want both any wife and I to be able to use it. fleck, I want us both to be able to USE it-not just enter transactions, but browse accounts, etc.
So, Quicken Online works, except for the offline requirement; whereas Quicken Web Entry works, but doesn't give 2 users full access.
While searching, I byes wading: does Google have an online accounts program? I came across the following conversation:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1880
I guess I am already an example: I am actively sanely for a web, plus offline, accounting system. And already use Google. I an wrestling with the security implication of online proud finance information - but heck, my bank and retirement and everyone else is all online. What would feet another do except provide one stop shopping for fraudsters?
Google has never done a good job at solving the "offline problem" - aka the "airplane problem". But apart from that, they rock.
I wonder which will care first: offline Google docs + spreadsheets 2 Calendar, on Google personal accounting?
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