Broadcast #5 of T&A's Chicken Lips is in the can.  We are DJs at the local community radio station here in Salida: KHEN-LP 106.9 (website).  You can catch our show, T&A's Chicken Lips, on Wednesdays at 8 am Mountain Time in Salida or streaming on the World Wide Web.  It includes a weekly audio "editorial" on computers called "Computer Kernels from the Chicken Lips." The "column" appears in text form below and is pretty close to what I read on the air.

Attached is a low quality (48kbps) copy of the show.  Where is the audio? Check enclosure or Attachment(s) links at the bottom of this entry for the audio!

Here our play list:

Computer Kernels from the Chicken Lips

May 7, 2008
Random News Tidbits

Well folks, we had a nice vacation last week, and I successfully avoided getting on my computer for most of the trip.  I guess I only got online for about an hour here or there, but the rest of the time was out spending time with friends and mother nature.  And as always, getting back into town and back into the work groove has been a challenge, but I'm slowly settling in.  Unfortunately, I don't have a cohesive topic for Computer Kernels this week, so instead I'll just go over some interesting news stories I've collected over past few weeks.

I'll start with one of the news stories I read that kinda grated on my nerves.  Apparently, Creative Labs has decided not to offer full support for some of their sound hardware in newer operating systems such as Windows Vista.  A developer by the name of Daniel_K worked up some hacks to fully enable the hardware, but received a "cease and desist" from Creative Labs  As far as I'm concerned, Creative Labs should be in the business of producing computer hardware, and should fully support their hardware on future mainstream operating systems.

A couple of news sources were reporting on test tube meat.  I thought McDonald's chicken nuggets had enough fake stuff in there, but not enough for PETA.  Apparently PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) is offering one million dollars to the first scientist that can produce lab-grown meat in bulk.  Somehow I doubt vegans are going to get into eating something that came out of a test tube, but whatever.  It will probably taste better than the highly processed TVP or Texturized Vegetable Protien.  An earlier article suggests work is already progressing on test tube meat.  Look for it on store shelves within 5 to 10 years.  For now, I think I'll stick to my locally raised organic vegetables and grass finished beef!

In an update to a Computer Kernel I did a while back on open source music... A number of months ago, Radiohead put their In Rainbows album out over the internet first.  In a novel move, Radiohead allowed users to decide what they wanted to pay for it.  I think I paid about $10.  Although you have to pay for it, Radiohead has also released source tracks, allowing their fans to remix their music.  Check out radioheadremix.com.  Meanwhile, Nine Inch Nails is giving away their new album free.  As Trent Reznor says, "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me".  I guess Trent decided to upstage Radiohead.  Look for some Nine Inch Nails and more Radiohead in one of our future shows.

Lastly, I'll mention that I've gotten into the Facebook social networking site recently.  We'll talk more about social networking in a future Computer Kernel.  I'd should also mention that KHEN now has a Facebook page, which allows you to interact with our other DJs on Facebook and find out about other KHEN events.  You can find a link to our facebook page on the KHEN website at khen.org.  While you are there, be sure to add yourself as a fan of KHEN.

We appreciate any feedback you have on our shows thus far.  Thanks to all our listeners.  We sure are having fun with this.

We also did a shout-out to Mr O'hara's 3rd grade class and Ms Baglione's 6th grade class on Third Mesa, Hopi Reservation.

Broadcast #3 of T&A's Chicken Lips is in the can.  We are DJs at the local community radio station here in Salida: KHEN-LP 106.9 (website).  You can catch our show, T&A's Chicken Lips, on Wednesdays at 8 am Mountain Time in Salida or streaming on the World Wide Web.  It includes a weekly audio "editorial" on computers called "Computer Kernels from the Chicken Lips." The "column" appears in text form below and is pretty close to what I read on the air.

ANNOUNCEMENT: We will also be subbing in for DJ's Gary and Linda for their show Hot Wings from 3-5pm Thursday (tomorrow, April 17, 2008).

Attached is a low quality (48kbps) copy of the show.  Where is the audio? Check enclosure or Attachment(s) links at the bottom of this entry for the audio! NOTE: The recording got damaged a ways into the program. (I'm working on fixing this!)

Here our play list:

Computer Kernels from the Chicken Lips

April 16, 2008
Go Phish

If you have a computer, you’ve encountered Spam. We get loads of e-mails suggesting ways to enlarge body parts that we may or may not have. But there’s an even larger problem sitting in amongst all that unsolicited junk e-mail. It’s that e-mail that appears to be legitimately from a company you do business with… like your bank. They offer a link you can click on to resolve some sort of problem with your account. The problem is, when you click on the link, while it may seem you are visiting that company’s website, you are actually visiting a scammer’s website that is cleverly disguised. Any information you enter goes into that scammer’s database.

Back in the day, these e-mails were obvious fakes. Things like misspellings gave it away. During these early days of phishing, I actually managed to get phished. I received an e-mail that appeared to be from PayPal stating that there was suspicious activity on my account. When I arrived at the website, it prompted me for a username and password. The next screen asked me for information such as my social security number and my checking account number. Since I had already provided PayPal with much of this information, I suddenly realized something was…phishy. I had inadvertently given the scammer website my PayPal username and password, and thankfully realized what had happened before I provided them with any more info. I immediately changed my password on the legitimate PayPal website.

Recently, we got a phishing email warning from the Heart of the Rockies Chamber of Commerce. Chaffee County residents are now apparently being targeted. The issued warning was probably a result of people receiving e-mails that look like they are from the local bank, because I recently received one such phishing e-mail from a local bank, one we don’t have an account with.

Here are some tips to avoid being a phishing victim:

• Check the “Address” field in your browser window after clicking on any suspicious e-mailed link. If the website address is not recognizable, there’s a good chance you are being phished. For example, if you are visiting a domestic company’s website, make sure the address ends in .com!
• The latest versions of FireFox and Internet Explorer have phishing filters built-in. Make sure your phishing filter is enabled.
• Most companies do not ask for sensitive information, especially after you’ve already registered with their website. In general, never disclose sensitive, non-public personal data to an unsolicited request.
• If you ever have a question about the legitimacy of an e-mail, contact that company by phone to ensure the request is legitimate.

If you do manage to get phished, immediately contact the companies for which you provided information. For example, if you accidentally gave out your credit card and bank account, contact the issuing bank immediately. If you gave out your social security number, contact the three credit reporting agencies and ask them to issue a fraud alert for your identity protection.

Be careful out there in cyberspace… If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Don’t be like upcoming singer Eva Moon, and buy into all those offers of cash from Nigera.

Chicken Lips #1 is in the can!  We just completed our first broadcast of T&A's Chicken Lips at the local community radio station here in Salida: KHEN-LP 106.9 (website).  You can catch it at 8 am Mountain Time in Salida or on the World Wide Web.  We certainly messed up a few times, but it was fun regardless.  I forgot to hit record at the start of our show, so we have a partial show attached.

Being such a geek, I plan on staring a regular audio "editorial" on computers called "Computer Kernels from the Chicken Lips." The "column" appears in text form below and is pretty close to what I read on the air.

Attached is a low quality (48kbps) copy of the show.  Where is the audio? Check enclosure or Attachment(s) links at the bottom of this entry for the audio!

Here our play list:

Computer Kernels from the Chicken Lips
April 2, 2008

If you get a Denver Sunday paper solely for the funnies like I do, this week’s Dilbert column may have confused you. Dilbert had a sly way of humiliating his boss during the comic book conversation. Dilbert to boss: “Congratulations. You’re the first human to fail the Turing Test.” Not coincidentally, this past Sunday, the term “Turing Test” was the 43rd most popular Google search term! (Well behind “wrestlemania results,” but stil…) So if you don’t know what it means, you aren’t alone. So what is a Turing Test, and does it mean anything to the modern computer user?

From Wikipedia “Turing test is a proposal for a test of a machine's capability to demonstrate intelligence. And a man named Alan Turing first described the test in the 1950s.

If you ever use the Internet on a regular basis, you’ve likely been the subject of a reverse Turing test. These tests are used to prevent automated spam systems from registering on a target website and filling it with spam. So during registration, the website reverses the Turing Test roles… the stupid computer, generates an image a distorted pass code and asks you to enter it back to the computer. The hope is that there is enough randomness and distortion in the image such that another computer cannot decipher the text in the image. The most common technology is CAPTCHA (which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart).

As hackers work on cracking CAPTCHA, be on the look out for more reverse Turing tests as you register around the world wide web. And if any one ever claims you have failed a Turing Test, now you know. They are really questioning your intelligence!

As I've mentioned before, we have a very cool local community radio station here in Salida: KHEN-LP 106.9 (website).  I've been spending many hours straightening out the KHEN computers, the KHEN network, and getting their radio automation software up and running.  It's fun working with all the good folks down at the station.

Just last night, we did our first radio broadcast on KHEN-LP 106.9 Salida, CO.  The DJ for a program called Chick's Voices was out of town and asked us to sub for her second hour.  (With a name like KHEN, shows names generally have something to do with chickens.  My favorite show name is "Mechanically Separated."  )  We were pretty darn nervous, but started relaxing a bit towards the end.  Attached is a low quality (48kbps to protect artists' interests) copy of the show.

Where is the audio? Check enclosure/Attachment(s) links at the bottom of this entry for the audio!

Here is our play list:

I got this in an e-mail and thought it funny enough to post.  It is interesting to note, for our Southern friends out there, that there are rednecks everywhere...

It's in a Jeff Foxworthy style, but I am unable to actually figure out it's source.  It probably started as a chain, went back and forth a few times, while folks added their own lines to it.  We had to add the last line.  :-)  Unfortunately, our employers don't truly understand the meaning of Powder Day.  Well, here goes...

You are a Coloradoan if...

1. You switch from 'Heat' to 'A/C' in one day.
2. You know what the 'Peoples Republic of Boulder' means.
3. Your sense of direction is: towards the mountains and away from the mountains.
4. You're a meat-eating vegetarian.
5. The bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane.
6. You're able to drive 65 miles per hour through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without even flinching.
7. You take your out-of-town guests to Casa Bonita even though you would never go there otherwise.  (I haven't been here yet!!)
8. You think your major food groups are granola bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.
10. You think that sexy lingerie is wool socks and flannel PJs.
11. You know all 4 seasons 'almost winter, winter, still winter and spring blizzards
12. You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a CU/CSU victory.
13. You know the 'correct' pronunciation of Buena Vista or Salida.
14. Your car insurance costs more than your car.
15. 'Timberline' is someplace you have actually been.
16. You know what a 'Chinook' is
17. You know what a 'Rocky Mountain Oyster' is.
18. You know what a 'fourteener' is.
19. ...But you don't know what a 'turn signal' is.
20. Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning rod.
21. You have surge protectors on every outlet.
22. You can never figure out why your out-of-town guests faint from altitude sickness on a picnic to the mountains.
23. When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.
24. People from out of state breathe 5 times as often as you do.
25. A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.
26. Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.
27. Thunder has set off your car alarm.
28. You have an $800 stereo in your $300 truck.
29. You think a red light means 3 more cars can go.
30. Where we're going, we don't need roads!!
31. You know where the real 'South Park' is.
32. You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.
33. Driving directions usually include 'Go over_________ Pass.'
34. You've checked for ticks.
35. You've dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka with a hood.
36. April showers bring May blizzards.
37. You've gone snow skiing in July and... You've played golf in January and... They were in the same year!
38. You've urinated on the Continental Divide just so it could run into both oceans.
39. You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both down stream.
40. You know what a down slope and an up slope weather pattern is.
41. You actually understand these jokes and send them to your Colorado friends.
42. You can drive over a 12,000-foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can't get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.
43. You (and your employer) knows what "Powder Days" are.

Hope this made you laugh...

In recent news, Teresa and I celebrated Teresa's birthday with a trip over to Lyons, CO, doing some snowshoeing in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, and visiting Oskar Blues for some outstanding blues music and phenomenal beer.  Watch for photos, and maybe a more detailed post later...

Anyone interested in owning a piece of history?  You can now own our 26 ft 1972 Holiday Rambler for a bargain price... approximately what we paid when we bought it, even though we've made many improvements.  We lived in it full time for a while and everything works.  For it's age, it is in phenomenal shape.  We are getting rid of it because we don't really have a use for anything this big.  More info here:

http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/531725966.html

Let us know if you are interested.

Own a classic piece of history: 26 ft, 1972 Holiday Rambler, four season (extra insulated, plumbing runs thru enclosed flooring that also houses the heating ducts), no leaks, we've sealed the roof, replaced much of the plumbing, new 10gal water heater, in great shape and everything works! AND a built-in BLUE VELVET SOFA and tie-dyed curtain, just bring your own velvet Elvis painting! It's great for someone who wants to use it as temporary housing or a hunting/fishing cabin. It has 4 brand new tires (1 year old, only traveled from Denver to Salida, CO) and we're including insulated plywood skirting to go around the bottom to keep it warmer in winter.

In more ways than one, we are back.  Back from our Thanksgiving whirlwind family tour and back from the dead...

Stepping back in time, before we headed out for our Thanksgiving trip, we did a little trip down to Taos, New Mexico to participate in the Taos Balloon festival with Salida friends Doug, Trish, Lum, Steve, and Mike.  Check out more beautiful photos in our gallery.

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Teresa and I successfully completed our Thanksgiving whirlwind family tour, flying to Atlanta for a week (photos here and here), then visiting everyone in Florida for the second week (photos here and here).  We managed to visit nearly all of the immediately family within the span of two weeks.  It was intense experience.  Next year we may have to spread it out.  Still, it was good to see all the family.

Our travels did include some fun stuff.  We got to finally see the Georgia Aquarium with Teresa's sister Sue and her family who were passing through Atlanta.  It was an interesting facility, with some beautiful marine life on display, but it definitely felt a bit commercialized (IE this exhibit brought to you by...).  In some ways it felt like a celebration of Atlanta corporations as much as it was about the marine life. 

We also made a side-trip to Solomon's Castle on our way down to Ft. Myers... in the middle of no-where Florida, an artist built his own castle in the middle of the swamp and filled it with his own eclectic artwork.  The names of the pieces were pun-riddled and hilarious.  It was a fun, kitschy detour.

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During our time in Ft. Myers, we visited Edison and Ford Winter Estates.

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On our way over to Boca Raton, we took the more southernly US-41 route, spent a night in the tiny town of Everglades City, and rode bikes through Shark Valley... it was a nice break between families.

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Unfortunately, upon our return, Teresa came down with the flu.  I got it as well, but thankfully, I was 48 hours behind her so we could take care of each other on our worst days.  I forgot how miserable flu could be.  Each of us had one really bad day... headache, fever, chills... suicide seemed like a nice treatment option!  <sigh> It seems nearly every time we travel now-a-days, we get sick on one end of the trip or the other.    Now we are just dealing with lingering coughs.  But we're finally back, and in reasonably good health.

While both of us were getting over the flu, Salida got hammered by some beautiful winter storms.  Thank goodness.  Our local ski resort opened 3 weeks late due to lack of snow, but they got 70 inches in 4 days and were able to open the entire mountain or so within a week's time.  There is still lots of snow on the ground.

In other news, I've finally broken down a purchased a few web cams.  We've got one we use for video chat with Skype.  I even bought one for my family so we can video chat.  I also bought one that that we've configured for our back yard web cam.  Be sure to check it out around sunset/sunrise for the wildlife that wanders through our yard.

Tanda Enterprises WebCam

We'll leave you with some shots we took around our home...

It's good to be back home. 

Happy Holidays Y'all!

PS Keep looking for our 2007 holiday e-card. 

Every now and then, a really amazing, yet simple product comes along that just blows your mind.  This is probably old news to many of you, since it's showed up on digg.com, among other sites, but it is so impressive, I just have to share it:

http://www.yoshiritsu.com/sentol/

http://www.whynotbe.com/

A simple bottle opener, but one that is so easy to use, it's downright elegant.  Leave it to the Japanese to figure this stuff out.

A friend up the street bought a bunch of these to give away as gifts.  He handed one to us while enjoying a home brew. Check out the packaging.  About the only thing in English on the package is the bottle they show in the picture.  I guess that's better than Engrish.