• Belinda Carlisle (former front woman of the Go-Go’s)
• Chuck Wicks (country singer and boyfriend of dancer Julianne Hough)
• David Alan Grier (comedian)
• Denise Richards (actress)
• Gilles Marini (actor)
• Jewel (singer, girlfriend of fellow competitor Ty Murray)
• Lawrence Taylor (football player)
• Lil’ Kim (rapper)
• Nancy O’Dell (host of Access Hollywood)
• Shawn Johnson (17-year-old Olympic gold medalist, youngest ever competitor)
• Steve-O (from Jackass)
• Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple Computers)
• Ty Murray (rodeo star, boyfriend of fellow competitor, Jewel)

While I have discussed the show a few times before, I have never had a mad urge to blog about the actual non-pros that go on the show. However, when you throw Steve Wozniak on there, I almost feel obligated to do so.

For those unfamiliar with “Woz”, he co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Jobs, but he left the company to pursue his interests in being a philanthropist.  While I have a feeling he will be one of the first eliminated this season, there is still something oddly compelling about seeing one of the “Kings of the Geeks” out there dancing away.  I also think it is an interesting testimonial to how important computers have become in our lives that one of the original home computing people is now considered a “star”.

As for some of the others, I’m not that surprised by them, most of them are low tier celebs, but Jewel?  What the heck!  And Lil’ Kim?  Will she be able to stay out of jail long enough to finish the season?  Steve-O, well, apparently he’s sober now, but we’ll see.  While they grabbed some more recognizable names this time, they sure went with ones with checkered pasts, too.

I am also hopeful that perhaps we can skip all of the insanity over Cheryl Burke’s weight that we suffered through last time.  How dare that woman balloon all the way up to a size 4!  I am also sure Harold Wheeler and the Dancing with the Stars Band will be there to make me miserable with their butchered versions of songs.  Either way, I am sure I will “watch” (more like I only look up when someone is actually dancing) and find something to complain about.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Steve Wozniak On Dancing With The Stars Season 8

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Ever since the iPod event in September 2008, rumors about Steve Jobs’ health have circulated due to how painfully thin he looked.  On January 5th of this year, Mr. Jobs released a letter saying that his weight loss was due to a hormone imbalance.

Today the news has changed slightly, and it is now being reported that Steve Jobs will be taking a leave of absence from his duties as CEO of Apple until June of this year. He lists his reasons as unwanted attention, and new knowledge that his health problems are more complicated then first suspected.

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

I can’t think of any other CEO that is more tied to their company than Mr. Jobs.  If you say “Apple”, you immediately think of him.  I don’t think that even Bill Gates of Microsoft was ever tied quite as heavily as Jobs is.

Trading of the Apple stock was halted in after hours trading when the news broke, and has since reopened with a quick decline of over $6 a share.  I find this unfortunate as I am sure Mr. Jobs has left an excellent team in his place while he works on his health.  You can also rest assured that the 2009 product line up has already been locked in at this point, and I think the earliest we might see issues is in 2010, if not even later.  Due to long manufacturing leads, this is almost a certainty.  We also all have to remember that he does not do these products alone, he merely oversees them, it isn’t like he is sitting in a back room crafting the next iPod design of putty himself… wait… he just might, who knows.

I wish Mr. Jobs a speedy recovery, and I would certainly hope that everyone gives him the space he needs to concentrate on his issues.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Steve Jobs Takes Leave of Absence From Apple

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A couple of weeks ago I got infected with a rogue malware that tried to impersonate something called Anti Virus 2009.  Well, after fighting with it for 9 hours, I finally got it removed. During the course of the battle, it prevented me from installing needed software, and also kept me from going to sites that would allow me to read up on how to fight it.

This was followed about a week later with another bout with something called sagipsul which kept taking over my browser.  It wasn’t horrible, but it still took about 11 hours to fight back.

This morning I got hit with VirusRemover 2008, and that something had to do with sagipsul showing back up again.  At this point I am going to wipe the system and start over.  It is costing me more in time than the money it will cost me to just start over.

I have had it with these people, and I am going to be writing to my Congressmen about coming up with some way to prosecute people who do this.  They are extorting people with strongarm tatics similar to those used by the mafia in protection rackets.

I’m fed up, I’m angry and these criminals are costing me money and productivity.  That NEVER makes me happy.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Malware Is Getting Out Of Hand

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While I was writing up the Macworld keynote address for StarterTech, I was anxiously awaiting to hear all about the new models of the Mac Mini.

… I’m still waiting.

The Mac Mini is a Mac that comes with no keyboard, mouse or monitor and is perfect for people like myself who want to transition to Mac, but don’t want spend over a thousand dollars on an iMac.  The Mini was last updated in August of 2007 with two models that ran $599 and $799 respectively, and are still available in the exact same configurations that they had at that update.  So, now you are paying the same price for hardware that is woefully out of date as seventeen months might as well be a decade in computer component terms.

Over the past two weeks I have suffered two vicious malware attacks on my work PC that have cost me a combined total of 20 hours to repair.  I was all set for an updated Mac Mini, as just about every Mac rumor site agreed it was going to happen today, but, alas, it didn’t.  There wasn’t one word spoken about the only true entry level Mac computer.

I know I have said in the past that I was finally ready to switch to a Mac out of frustration, but this time I actually had my money at the ready… literally.  I had been saving for a new Mac Mini and was ready to order it this afternoon when it was announced, and yet it never came to be.  Why in the world has this poor, forgotten child of the Mac family been looked over yet again?

Apple continues to boast about how their market share has grown, and thay sold a record number of Macs last year, but they continue to forget about those of us who are nervous about switching.  With Windows Vista now being about the only option on new PCs, and Windows 7 looking as another iffy system, now is the time for Apple to strike and gain a huge portion of the installed user base.  Yet they continue to churn out $2800 laptops like the 17″ MacBook Pro they introduced today.

People always tell me that when you work out the math that Macs don’t cost that much more, but I decided to do a comparison.  I tried to rebuild a 20″ iMac as a Dell computer.  I went with a Vostro 220 Mini Tower, and copied the processors, the  amount of RAM, the hard drive size, one optical drive bay and so on.  When I was all done, the iMac was $1,199 and the Dell I configured was $679.  Gee… which wins?

In these economically difficult times, we need the Mac Mini, or something similar.  Apple is going to have to continue to have an entry level unit for the converts and the totally new customers alike.  I know Apple makes good stuff, I own multiple iPods, but as someone who is responsible for multiple computers, I have never been able to rationalize spending the money that Apple wanted me to.  If they want to continue to keep their growth going, they are going to have to consider what they can do to lure in budget minded buyers.

I’ve often speculated that maybe Apple fears growing too big, but with the success of the iPhone, and it now being introduced at Walmart, that is a difficult argument to stand by.  I have also wondered if they did this as to make their buyers feel like they were members of some elite club… again I point to Walmart and the iPhone.

So what is it, Apple?  Why do you shun the Mac Mini like it is the child you never wanted, and meanwhile you also shun your average day buyers who are cost conscience.  Wake up and smell the coffee, Apple, you could have a market share that dwarfs your current one if you would just try to remember the lower end purchasing market once in a while.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Mac Mini – The Forgotten Apple Child

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One of my guiltiest television pleasures is the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch.  As I’ve discussed before, I have no clue what really drives these men to do this insanely dangerous job, but to be honest I don’t really care as they keep doing it.  And the season 5 premiere in April just can’t come soon enough.

For those unfamiliar with the show, it follows the King Crab and Opilio Crab fishing seasons in the Bering Sea off of Alaska.  While it doesn’t sound that dangerous at first blush, you will change your opinion quickly after just a few minutes of this show.  It is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, and it not uncommon for one or more ships to sink each year.  According to the official blog of Deadliest Catch season 5, a cod fishing ship, the Katami, was lost in the same area as the crab fishers with 4 survivors and 5 fisherman losing their lives back in October.

Yesterday I was mentioning to my family that I wondered how the new season was shaping up, and which ships and captains were out this year.  As curiosity got the better of me, I decided to snoop around the Web to see what I could find out.  Luckily on December 23rd, the official blog anticipated my curiosity and posted about the ships being in for the holidays, but with no hints as to which ships are out there this year.

So, being a nosey person, I decided to search some more and located the official websites of some of the ships.

Cornelia Marie – They were out fishing for sure, but no mention if Capt. Phil Harris had returned after his health problems last year.  As he is still pictured on the front page, I am suspecting he is back.

Early Dawn – There is next to no information on this boat, or Capt. Rick Fehst.

North American – Season 4 was the first season for this ship, and its captain, Sten Skaar.  Their site has very little information, and I really couldn’t guess either direction if this boat is even fishing, let alone on the show this year.

Northwestern – Their site really doesn’t spell out that they are out there, but seeing as Sig Hansen and Edgar Hansen have somewhat become the poster boys for the show, along with their ship, it is doubtful that they wouldn’t be out there.

The Wizard – Captained by Keith Colburn, their website doesn’t seem to be updated very often, so no clue if they are even out fishing.

Time Bandit – Andy Hillstrand and Johnathon Hillstrand co-captain this ship, and while the site states they are in port for the holidays, no clue if they are on the show this season.  As Discovery Channel just showed a video on their site of the bothers promoting the show, I think this is another safe assumption they are on this year.

In short, I think Cornelia Marie, Northwestern, The Wizard and Time Bandit are safe bets for season 5, while Early Dawn and North American are up in the air.  My biggest question is if Phil is back on the Cornelia Marie, but I have a feeling there is really nothing that would stop him from fishing.

If you have never watched the show, give it a try.  It is oddly engrossing to watch these men battling the elements, the crabs and, at times, each other.  And for those of us who are already addicted to the show… is it April yet?

UPDATE: See information on Deadliest Catch Season 5 Adds A New Boat

UPDATE 03/24/09: The Deadliest Catch Season 5 Premiere Announced

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Deadliest Catch Ramps Up For Season 5

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I went home on Wednesday afternoon to do some work, turned it on and was greeted by a blue screen of death. After several attempts, I couldn’t even get it to boot into safe mode, so I called Dell support for some help. They couldn’t have been nicer, and tried everything under the sun to get me up and running, but the final conclusion was that it was a physical error and hopeless. They expressed me a new hard drive that arrived on Thursday, and I was back up and running.

I took the old hard drive to a local tech company, and they couldn’t get the drive to do anything, so all my data was lost. Luckily this isn’t my primary computer and what was lost was fairly trivial stuff, but still a huge pain in my behind to set up a computer from scratch again so soon after having done it.

The most disappointing thing was that just two days before I had signed up with a new off-site backup service, and I was in the early stages of backing the entire system up. I’m a bit concerned since this happened only 2 days into the process that it might be to blame, so I am just foregoing installing that again and will ignore what ever was saved. I am not going to name the service since I can’t be sure that it was the cause, but I had never used them before, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt and not disparage their name on this blog.

So, now I’m stuck. I tried installing another off-site companies software, and it wouldn’t properly install. DocSyncer, which I’ve used to back up documents to Google Docs, is calling it quits on June 20th, so that won’t even be an option for me. I’ve always been nervous about backing up stuff to a hard drive in my house because if there is a fire, I’m still out of luck, so I’m not sure what to do at this point.

How does everyone else back up their files? Do you do it locally, or do you do it off-site?

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Hard Drive Failure

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Microsoft had finally upped their offer to $33 a share from the $31 they initially offered, but it seems Yahoo wanted $37 a share.  Steve Ballmer finally decided it wasn’t worth the games, not the protracted fight it was going to be, so he has opted to move on, leaving Yahoo to their own devices.

Where does either company go from here?  Who knows, probably plodding along on the same paths they already were.  I still can’t quite grasp why Microsoft wanted this deal so bad, but that si for them to know and the rest of us to never learn.  I for one am just glad this is over so it won’t be in the news every five minutes.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Microsot Walks Away From Yahoo

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The plans consist of HP providing XP recovery discs to business customers who wish to downgrade from Vista for an undetermined amount of time. Lenovo will be stick with XP recovery options through January 31st of this year. However, Dell is taking the cake and promising XP, for possibly a small extra fee, through 2010, when Windows 7 is expected.

This information may end up being moot as Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, hinted to a conference in Belgium on Thursday that Microsoft may just extend XP themselves if customers demanded it. Um… I could be wrong, but when the computer manufacturers start telling you that customers want it, you may have the consumer vote you’ve been waiting on.

While many commenters on my previous Vista posts have been telling me it’s all about how the users use it, I think that is part of the problem. XP, for all of its flaws, was pretty straight forward for the common user, and, sad to say, but you need to design for them still, they are still a large portion of the consumer base.

I think of the other huge problems was the lack of computability with older peripherals. Notice I said above that HP was going to be doing this for their business customers? Well, think about a large corporate office. Printers… scanners… networked drives… UPS supplies… peripheral after peripheral, and Vista not being compatible with that many of them. Many people said, “Oh, just buy new!” Er… I’m glad you think companies have never-ending tech budgets! As a small business owner, I have 3 printers in my office alone, and my key one, an HP LaserJet 6P has served me well for years… and would not work with Vista. So if I buy a Vista-based computer, I have to also budget for a new printer? I think not.

Microsoft thought of no one but themselves when it comes to Vista, and I think that concept is now biting them in their collective behinds, just as it should.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Computer Makers Tell Microsoft To Take A Hike

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So why did I go with this system?  Numerous reasons.

- Windows XP was available on it.  That was a huge reason.

- Dell Vostros ship without trialware, making for a much more pleasant experience.

- Kick ass screen.

- Did I mention it comes with XP?

- Dell had an amazing sale on this model last week.

So, what all did I get done to it?

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2.0GHz, 800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache
• 15.4 inch Wide Screen SXGA+ display with TrueLife LCD
• 2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM
• 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
• 120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+R write capability, w Roxio Creator

It also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, built-in webcam, SVHS out, 4 USB 2.0, Ethernet port, etc, etc… and for the price of a MacBook Pro, I could have bought two of these.  So, sure, it is still Windows based, but for the price I got this at, it was hard to pass it up.  Oh, and I love the keyboard, it has great action.

So, there you have it, another PC laptop, and I am turning my old one, which still has some life in it, in to a media streamer for my D-Link DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player, which I will be reviewing soon.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Dell Vostro 1500

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“A work in progress”?

You spent five years in development and you have one year of real world release under your belt, but it’s still “a work in progress”.

Wow.

I instant messaged my ever-allusive friend, M, since she was the one who had the issues that set off the article the other day that I wrote. Once I filled her in on Mr. Ballmer’s comments, she replied with ‘”this car that you are driving down the highway … it’s a work in progress” -crashes into divider-’. I had to give her points for the analogy.

Could someone else tell me when something that is this mission critical to the way something works is allowed to be released to the public as “a work in progress”? Mr. Ballmer has basically told you that you are working with a Beta version of the program, but they let you pay for it. How kind of them.

I really cannot understand why people are not more outraged by this. Is there any other time in your life you would accept a sub-par product that costs hundreds of dollars, and you allow the manufacturer to describe it as “a work in progress”? Somehow I doubt it.

M made another very valid point when she said to me today, “but that’s exactly the point, a computer is like a car. The only difference is that instead of maintaining your life, the computer maintains your livelihood, and there’s a big connection between livelihood and life, so the difference is very minuscule.”

For me, this couldn’t be true.  Every cent I earn is earned via the computer.  Whether it be my online store, my eBay auctions or my writing, my entire livelihood is derived from being on a computer, and that means “a work in progress” is not acceptable to me.  I should not have to “learn” to do tweaks, I should not have to turn off features so it will work in an acceptable manner, I should not have to sacrifice a chicken to it to get it to boot, and it certainly should not be “a work in progress”.

One thing people have to remember is that the majority of computer users are not like the people who have no problems with Vista.  The people I know who say this are computer savvy individuals, but you have to remember we are the minority.  Why do you think places like Geek Squad exists?  It’s not for us, it’s for people like M.  Mind you that she is an exceedingly intelligent person, and talking to her sometimes makes me feel like I’m about 10-years-old because I can’t comprehend some of the things she discusses, but when it comes to computers, the roles reverse.  She is indicative of the common user; they don’t know this stuff, and I’m sorry, it’s not their place to.  Your operating system should be the most basic thing possible because everything relies on it, if it starts acting up, you have a very expensive paper weight, so how about making sure you take those people into consideration and you don’t release “a work in progress”?

For those new people out there, “M” is real, she just prefers her name not to be spread all over the Internet… it hinders her nefarious plans

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Windows Vista Is “A Work In Progress”

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