Robert Ackerman gave a fascinating description of the design and operation of the Allen array of radio-telescopes for SETI. The project is in its early stages. We hope to hear from Robert again.
This month the newsletter is on line, as a PDF corresponding to the printed version.
Note that we now have an index of several years of the Prez Letters with topics listed. It's in the table of contents - check it out.
We all have 'em and I am no exception.
My computer has to produce output - if it isn't in working condition I can't get output so I don't fool with it. So my bias is to get it working and to leave it alone.
I'm biased: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But I'm biased towards a set of favorite tools to keep it fixed:
A defragger runs at 1 in the morning - daily.
On Friday I ERUNT, and then Acronis backup to a 160 GB drive that has 3/4 of a years' worth of backups.
The backup drive is so full that I have to make room every month or so. The drive is my file cabinet in case I delete a file and discover later that I need the file. In practice this hasn't happened for years.
Another bias is to keep the computer lean and mean.
Ccleaner helps keep it lean.
Running Avast! Boot-time scanner and Google: WINDOWS LIVE SAFETY SCANNER both keep the bad guys out or squish them if they creep on.
My bias for safety reasons is Firefox because the infection risk is less than with IE, but when I sense that things aren't going right, the URL is transferred to IE for verification.
I am biased against new programs, no matter who is pushing them. Recently a big outfit was touting a "free" scanner, but when it showed up that the program was not a free scan, I wiped it out completely by going back 15 minutes to an Acronis backup before the test. Thus there was no trace of the program or the places it might leave remnants at the entry points into the programs.
Antivirus programs have to insert themselves into multiple key access points and take about a 20% toll on speed, so it is worth the effort to assure that those choke points have only one active element and not two or three from prior "uninstalled" anti-virus programs. This is one of the key ways a computer gets slowed down and my bias is to go to great lengths to clean all of the choke points. This is one thing that a "repair" does for the XP operating system.
I'm based against companies that, after all this time, still hand a neophyte user a CD of hundreds of drivers and expect a non-computer professional to select the drivers necessary.
I'm biased that the manufacturer does not put the items on its website but expect you to pay $30 to a second-party outfit to do what is necessary to recover after a crash or reload. They are ALL bad and I don't know of any manufacturer that has had the guts to stand up and fix the problem. I'm going though the problem for the 20th time in the past 12 months and I'm tired of it. Dell, HP, Compaq are still fresh memories.
Call it bias when a manufacturer does not give you the CDs to restore your computer but relies on a special partition on the hard drive to be activated to restore to factory. Trouble is that when your hard drive goes defective, you have to mail or phone to the manufacturer for the media they left out. It is good for a week or so and always too many bux. And the manufacturers that rely on outside services to provide the drivers needed by a computer being reloaded - for-fee services that often do not work properly. So they take your money and provide such a mish-mosh of spaghetti code to get at the supposed solution. The whole system is a rip off.
And then there is the manufacturer that will put in a power supply that is just big enough for the computer that is sold but is not large enough to add a second hard drive when there are provisions for the cabling or the cabling is left out so that no matter what you do, you need a new power supply and additional wiring when upgrading to a second hard drive. Don't buy cheaply!
And then there is Microsoft that doesn't have enough clean-up diagnostics that delve deeply enough into the guts of the XP operating system to assure that the fat and bloat are removed.
And then there is my standard rant about the Microsoft support window that is left over from Windows 95 that is so small that many displays are worthless for lack of full visibility.
This covers yet another bias.
A note of thanks: SPAUG is a volunteer organization and it seems to be doing well because the necessary jobs are broken up into very small pieces.
Carl Moyer usually picks up the PA system, sets it up, and delivers it back to my home late at night.
Bill Young often assists wherever and also set up the chairs.
Maury Green is the person to be called when things are gong poorly and helps with whatever.
These are not Planning Committee members. One that is, Bev Altman, on a continuing basis, keeps the membership entries correct and phones laggards if they have not renewed. Thanks to all.
A word about the slide scanner: This can be the one of greatest things that SPAUG has ever done or an expensive disaster. It all depends on how we present it and how it meets the needs of the members.
One of the sticky points is how do we get the device from place to place. It is composed of a scanner driven by a laptop - which eliminates the need to be installing software wherever the device goes.
What we need is a unique individual with a lot of patience to:
Deliver the scanner house to house and train the recipient;
Be at home as smaller batches are run;
Agree to do the scanning for others.
You have to keep in mind that the production per hour is about 50. When you factor that into the mix, the slow scan rate means that a collection of 3000 slides will take 60 hours of elapsed operating time.
Also, having each user supply their own external USB hard drive is probably a good way to avoid swamping the laptop.
Keep in mind that the scanning of the slide is very precise and very fine so it takes a lot of drive space and time per slide.
Do we have any volunteers?
Robert Ackerman gave a fascinating description of the design and operation of the Allen array of radio-telescopes for SETI. The project is in its early stages. We hope to hear from Robert again.
