Netterwebs Ninja

unicorns and pixie dust

Posted: 11th April 2012 by matt in Fix It, Gadgetry, Geek, Tech, Technology, Uncategorized

Over the last several weeks I have performed one amazing technical feat after another while working on client machines. For kicks and giggles, when asked how I was able to perform these human miracles, I responded, “With the unicorn blood in my veins, and generous sprinklings of pixie dust.” Fortunately I’m not only amusing to myself, and all of them found it equally entertaining.

The purpose of this post isn’t to amuse you with witticisms though. I am going to do what most IT professionals will never do. I am going to arm you with some of my tools of the trade. All of these are free, and available for download around the Internet. I’ve put them in one place for your access.

I can’t be responsible if you break something while using them, but when used correctly you’ll be fine. This is an amazing virus killing arsenal, so enjoy the fruits of my mystical knowledge.

Avast Removal Tool – Avast is one of the most common free Antivirus tools available. It’s also the hardest to remove when it breaks. This will make life easy.

Kaspersky TDSS Killer – Every now and then a virus gets in there that conventional tools can’t remove. This is tool #1 for pulling out this nasty little bits.

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool – Another great tool by Kaspersky. Use this for big scans to root out stubborn viruses.

Malwarebytes Antimalware – Malwarebytes is your first line for virus removal. This is an amazing all in one tool for most virus removal. I usually run this twice to ensure cleaning.

Microsoft Security Essentials – A phenomenal free antivirus solution. Install this for high level free virus protection with a very small footprint. Make sure you’re not running any other antivirus programs.

Unhide – Some nastier viruses will make it seem as though all of your files disappeared. They’re there, and this tool will make them visible again.

compassion meets reality

Posted: 23rd February 2012 by matt in Personal, Random

Interesting thing happened to me after church tonight. I went out with my good friend Omar for a quick bite to eat, and while we were walking into the restaurant we ran into a homeless woman sitting next to the door. Having worked with the homeless in our city multiple times, I recognized her right away. She’s tried to take advantage of my compassion before, and been banned from stores and venues across the city for causing trouble.

I should have known better, but at the end of the day I don’t like seeing anyone cold and hungry. As we got closer she asked if we could help her out. Experience telling us that money would be a bad idea, Omar offered to buy her something to eat. She asked for a chicken sandwich. No problem. We went inside and ordered, adding the sandwich and fries respectively to our orders to help this lady out. After getting the food, we bagged it and took it out to her. She thanked us and said, “God bless you.” At that point we went inside to savage our on sandwiches. Not five minutes later, she came in the front door and marched right up to the two of us.

“This is the wrong sandwich,” she said. “I wanted a regular one, and this is spicy.”
Omar apologized, and told her that’s what he thought he had heard her say.
“No, I said just chicken. Will you take it back and get a different one?”
Omar explained that you can’t exchange food items. She marched away and went up to the food counter, telling the girl at the counter that he had ordered the wrong one, and she wanted a different one. The clerk told her that the spicy sandwich was correct based on the order, and there was nothing they could do, so she turned around and came back to our table, and said accusatorially:
“She said this is what you ordered. This isn’t what I wanted.”

At this point I’m pretty sure my jaw was scraping the foundations. Omar apologized for the confusion, and she walked out apparently unsatisfied with our level of customer service. To her credit, she came back a little while later and said thank you anyway, but my mind had already been blown. The rapidly growing homeless community in our city prompted the establishment of first a winter shelter, and later a permanent shelter, staffed by both paid workers and volunteers from church and community service groups all over town. I’ve been there many times, and am proud to give my time and money to serve those less fortunate than myself.

In my interacting with this rapidly growing community, I’ve noticed that there are different groups of people in it. Those who genuinely need help and compassion, and those who seek to take advantage of it. Sadly this woman falls into the latter category, and creates grief and distrust of those who really are suffering. Her behavior and reputation makes is harder for people to want to give, and undermines the desire of others to act on their compassion.

That’s where the dichotomy exists within me. My Christianity wanted to help. My practicality was cursing my name for being so naive. Is it the same for you? Have you ever been discouraged in giving? What do you do? Sound off in the comments.

old things made new

Posted: 23rd January 2012 by matt in Uncategorized

After years of faithful service, and two different hosts, I have made the decision to retire my site iblogmobile.info. I started the iBlog from my original iPhone back in 2007, and the site has since evolved beyond it’s original WordPress hosted state, to it’s own domain and private hosting. I’ve posted countless videos, photos, reviews, and random thoughts over the years, and it wasn’t without considerable thought I decided to retire the name and domain.

When I started the blog, it was based on my rabid fanboyism over the iPhone. It had an iPhone theme, a lot of iPhone content, and completely encompassed the name iBlog. Since then it’s become more of a soap box, purveyor of content, and the home for my reviews of various non-Apple related technology. the “i’ part of iBlog hasn’t applied in some time, the themes have long expired, and I’ve never been a great fan of the .info domain.

Some of you may recall that I decided to not renew a number of domain names I’ve owned for several years, early last year. After this grooming, I retained ownership and hosting for two domains: iblogobile.info, and netterwebsninja.com. My original vision for Netterwebs Ninja was a news and review site for consumption by a more technical and, frankly, nerdy crowd. When I realized the level of difficulty associated with maintaining a site of that nature, it eventually fell away and became my daily portal for my most frequented websites.

Once again the time for renewal has come on my two domains, and after considerable thought, I’ve decided to retain netterwebsninja.com as my single remaining domain, allowing iblogmobile.info to expire in the coming months. All of the previous content has been transferred, and my preferred them installed. My use and the general purpose of my blog will not change. The only thing different is what I’ve decided to call it. For those of my friends and family who have linked me from their own blogs, or bookmarked iblogmobile, please update all of your references to netterwebsninja.com. I appreciate your continued readership, and support on occasions I’ve needed it. I’ll see you out in the vast virtual universe we call the internet.

-Matt

more iPad testing

Posted: 12th January 2012 by matt in Uncategorized

This is a test of adding images from the iPad WordPress app. Please enjoy the image. Last time I tried this I deleted a post that took almost an entire hour to write. Much better this time.

iPad chronicle

Posted: 24th December 2011 by matt in Uncategorized

This is my first post from the WordPress app for iPad. So far this is really full of win. Thanks and goodnight.

if it had not been for Jesus

Posted: 13th November 2011 by matt in Personal, Spiritual

I’m sitting here in what should be the quiet of my living room right now, listening to a raucous party in the apartments behind us. My neighborhood, while generally quiet, is no stranger to loud music and party going, but something about it struck a chord with me tonight. I’m thankful I’m not over there right now.

To the rest of the world, partying is just another thing that people do. For me, it’s something that I don’t have to do. Yes, I have troubles and issues just like anyone else, but I don’t have to drown them out in alcohol, promiscuity, and general shenanigans. Granted, I still maintain a healthy level of godly shenanigans, but nothing that my conscience is going to have to have a talk with me about later. When I’m having a lousy day, I don’t have to turn to a bottle or a drug to try and forget. I have the privilege and honor of setting it down at the feet of the Lord, and walking away from it, knowing it’ll be alright. No, I don’t just ignore bills and expect they’ll pay themselves, be realistic, but I do know that even if the money situation is looking grim, God will come through for me. There will suddenly be a side job, a gift, or a helping hand where there wasn’t one before, and I’ll make it right on through to another day.

I’ve lived this through personal experience. All the times I’ve ever been in need my God has made a way. He has never once let me down, yet I have repeatedly failed him in my humanity. How do I know there’s nothing in this world that can fill the emptiness of man like Jesus? I walked away from Him. It was the worst thing I’ve ever done, and the loneliest time of my life. In my haste to escape His hand and will, I found myself alone, full of sorrow, weighted upon by the cares of this world, and unable to escape or satiate the longing of my soul through worldly vices. I went to bed every night dreading the day to come, and woke up with the same inner turmoil. I’m not saying that’s the way every person who doesn’t live for God feels, but it’s the only time in my life I’ve ever felt that way, so draw your own conclusions.

The old song says, “If it had not been for Jesus, where would I be? I’m so glad that the Lord saved me.” No truer words were ever spoken. Let me tell you that no matter which way I’ve imagined it, my life would be some sort of train wreck if I hadn’t finally sprinted my way back to an altar of repentance. If I hadn’t once again been embraced in the loving arms of my heavenly father, and felt the cleansing blood wash away my sins with a warm tide of peace, I shudder to think of where I would be now. I promise you I wouldn’t be typing this blog entry. I wouldn’t have found the woman I love. I wouldn’t be a licensed minister with the great United Pentecostal Church International. In all honesty, I’d probably be involved in the shadiest portions of the tech world, looking over my shoulder for flashing red and blue lights. I’ll pass, thanks.

What does God do for me that nothing in this world can compare with? You mean beside saving my soul right? Well, when medical science failed, God stepped in and healed people before my very eyes. Just last weekend I witnessed a woman stand out of a wheel chair she’d be bound to for three years, with absolutely no chance of walking again. I saw a young man I’ve known for years with severe ADD healed and off his medication for the first time in his life, living a normal and healthy existence. I’ve seen friends healed of life threatening diabetes in an instant. I’ve been hungry and without money, and answered a knock at the door to find cupboards full of groceries on the step. I’ve been the personal recipient of the generosity of men and women, as the Lord directed them to help us financially. I’ve watched God provide for my family when the only thing in our cabinets was a bottle of soy sauce in my youth. Without telling a soul we were invited to people’s homes for dinner over and over until we were able to buy food again. I live in peace knowing that having made it right with God, my grandfather is now with the Lord in a place where he feels no pain, knows no sorrow, and cancer isn’t even a memory.

I’ve survived being hit by a car with barely a scratch when it should have probably killed me. I’ve seen Him deliver the people I love from depression and sorrow deeper than can be imagined, without a single pill or doctors visit. I’ve watched limbs grow, lives change, addictions broken, and finances blessed repeatedly with my own eyes. He told me to stay still when my world was falling apart, and my wife thought I was insane, only to discover that standing still allowed us to find the door that would bless us beyond imagination. What does God do for me? A better question would be, what doesn’t He?

If it had not been for Jesus, where would I be? I’m so glad that the Lord saved me.

Is It Better?

Posted: 8th November 2011 by matt in Android, iPhone, Random, Tech

So I’m sitting here with my table full of Apple products at a Starbucks (I know, total cliche), and I start replaying a conversation I just had with a client of mine regarding the differences between Android and iOS. The topic came up, because his hard core Apple only father had recently upgraded to the iPhone 4S, but in disgust, returned it and converted to Android. This threw me for a loop, as I knew his father from various run-ins, and knew for a fact that he would rather chop off an arm than surrender his precious Apple gear.

It created a considerable conundrum in my mind regarding my beloved iPhone. My iPhone 4 is actually sitting here on the table next to me, secretly reporting back to Apple HQ via the front facing camera and a background FaceTime application, I’m sure of it. When asked what he didn’t like about the 4S, he reported that it was a pathetic piece of hardware, didn’t run very well, had a terrible battery, and he was just overall unhappy with his upgrade from the 4 to 4S. I was deeply surprised. The client then started to ask me why I preferred the iPhone over Android. At that point I knew I’d have to be objective, and not just a rabid fanboy. Because of that, I’m going to go ahead and do a rundown with you, and solicit your opinions at the end. Here we go!

Why The iPhone?

This is a pretty good question. For some, it has a lot to do with ease of use. For a long time Apple’s motto was “It Just Works”. PC die hards have always refuted that motto by questioning the need for the genius bar and extended warranties if the products just work, but I digress. This isn’t a conversation about computer hardware, but smart phones.

I got my first iPhone in 2007 with the release of the original. Through a series of events, I had a client buy me a brand new 16GB iPhone and carrying case for AT&T. It was the first smartphone I had ever owned. At the time it really wasn’t that smart, as the thriving jailbreaking community proved, and Apple was forced to make some changes, developing the App Store, and making continuing improvements to their software. In today’s market, the iPhone has all the same features as any Android powered device, deeply blurring the lines between advantage and disadvantage.

I’ve since owned many different smart phones, including Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Sidekick, and Android.

I continue to use the iPhone because I’ve more or less always used the iPhone. I like the quality of apps, I like the form factor, I like that everyone I know has the same device, and we can recommend apps and mods to each other. I REALLY like iTunes. Let’s face it, the music experience on Android is the pits. The Amazon music store is a joke, and iTunes remains the best music organization and playback software in the game hands down. I also like Apple support, which is second to none. If I don’t like the specks under the glass in my iPhone, they’ll put a new screen on there for me as long as I’m in warranty. If I don’t like this one because I feel like it’s been possessed, they’ll give me another one. Support is that good. I like that I can plug my new iPhone into iTunes, and seamlessly transfer all of my data from the last one to the new one. With iCloud, it’s now even easier. I think that’s a pretty solid description of why for me.

Why Android?

Having at one time briefly been a rabid Android user, I can objectively comment in this arena. Sure, I’m still an iPhone die-hard, but I’ve been there. There are a number of reasons why users are increasingly attracted to the Android platform.

Price Point

While this particular reason is decreasing as Apple has decided to continue to sell the previous years model iPhone at a supremely discounted rate, there are a lot of different price points for any Android user to choose from. You can go from the cheap barely smart models, to models that cost part of the GDP of some nations. Depending on what you want in the device, they have one that you can afford.

Features

Let’s face it, Android devices come with some pretty impressive features. They’ve always had a better camera than the iPhone, come in a variety if form factors, and (let’s not forget) newer models have MASSIVE screens. Sure, we thought the era of big phones was behind us, but as our phones do more and more to replace our computers, they demand more screen real estate. Android device manufacturers such as Motorola and HTC have realized this, and you can buy Android phones with screens up to 4.7 inches! Wow! On top of that, they’re all of incredible quality, generally AMOLED or Super AMOLED, and high resolution. They even sell models with 3D video cameras built in. In the feature war, Android puts a whoopin’ on the iPhone.

Flash Support

I know what you’re thinking. Who cares? Well, there are a lot of people that do. As great a web enabled device iDevices are, they still refuse to support flash. Android phones and tablets can both view flash web content, and watch flash videos in their browser. While I personally have no desire to sully my phone with the flash demon, there are people that NEED it. Sorry Apple, you lose on this one.

Business Use

Having been a business user of Android and iPhone, I have to confess that Android is currently the superior business class device. Yes, the iPhone supports everything that Android does in terms of Exchange, calendaring, etc. What it doesn’t do well, is Google Apps. Android is a Google product, so of course it integrates seamlessly into Google Apps. Mail is instant push, contacts, calendars, and all data sync seamlessly between your Apps account and your Android handset/tablet/positronic brain. Before you say, but Matt, you can setup Google as an Exchange account on your iPhone! Yes, you can. Problem is with Google Apps Premiere you have to add a complicated lock code to your phone for that sort of support on iOS. That means letters, numbers, and symbols, every time you want to use your phone. Pass, thank you. Android makes no such demand.

Matt’s Overarching Opinion?

Before you say I showed the Android platform more love in this posting, stop right there. I spent more time on technical explanations of what’s good about Android, not more time giving it praise. The fact is, for all of the robot like geeky goodness that Android can be, it’s still a terribly fractured platform. The week after you shell out your $200+ for the latest and greatest Android device, it’s out shined by a newer and better model. Support is discontinued for new devices at a seriously rapid pace, and let’s face it, the batteries are all terrible. With such massive variation in screen sizes and resolution, you’re never quite sure if an app that you just paid for is going to work optimally for your device, if at all. Also, Google has a bizarre fetish for naming their operating systems after food. Who does that?

My overall opinion is now and always has been (though once briefly lapsed in Android fandom due to radiation exposure) that the iPhone is the superior device for Joe User. I’m an advanced user, and I still love the stupid thing. I love being able to hop onto iTunes from my phone, download a song, then wirelessly sync it to my MacBook iTunes when I get within the same wireless network (thank you iOS 5!). I like that I can buy an app once, and if I remove it but decide I need it later, can re-download it for free. Not to mention my wife and I share apps without any funky pirate action involved. That’s handy.

The iPhone is a device geared toward everyone. Anyone can pick the thing up and start using it with a minimal learning curve. It has lots of goodies for the advanced users, and the entire jailbreak community for the modder at heart. Now that Apple supports every iPhone release for up to three years, and scales the pricing for older devices back as they age, anyone can afford to put on in their pocket, on any carrier of their choosing. I think that’s pretty awesome. So what’s my overarching opinion about the mobile universe? Go iPhone, or go home. You didn’t really expect any different from the author of “iblogmobile.info” did you? I didn’t think so.

Matt out.

it’s been a long time…

Posted: 19th September 2011 by matt in Uncategorized

…since I posted anything! There, now I posted something .

the death of class

Posted: 1st August 2011 by matt in Uncategorized

So here I am, spending another sporadically busy workday at the local Starbucks. One of the interesting bits about leaving the home office is that I get to people watch while I work. For those of my friends who don’t live in the great liberal state, the Bay Area especially is an interesting hodgepodge of humanity. Having grown up in this environment, I’m pretty used to the rather casual atmosphere that permeates the area. It’s a land of startups and t-shirt millionaires, so it’s kind of normal to see jeans in any given atmosphere. Even so, I fail to see a reason for people to completely give up on class. I have seen more ratted clothing, ridiculous short shorts, and mind boggling outfits in the last couple of days than I know what to do with. I’ve even seen a woman walk in with nothing more on than a man’s shirt. Seriously? When did workout clothes turn into the velour track suit worn by men and women alike? It’s not just ridiculous on men, it’s painful. Bike shorts in a restaurant? Really? If you have to pull it up or down every couple of seconds, is it really something you should wear?

I’m afraid it’s a lot worse than just sloppy Californian’s though. I honestly believe that society has forgotten what class is altogether. Ever do a Google image search for “classy” or “high class”? Unless you want to see something offensive, I recommend you don’t. I like to begin all of my blog posts with a relevant image from Google, but I’m afraid I wasn’t able to do that today. Fortunately I’m no stranger to Photoshop. Apparently the modern definition of class has nothing to do with poise, character, or grace of any sort. Classy is now an expensive state of undress. I was already disappointed by the the state of people coming and going from the coffee shop today, but after a very brief Google search, I’m downright appalled.

I am privileged to have met and married a woman of great character and poise. My wife is so classy, in the non-modern sense, that she sets a bar no other woman can hope to achieve in the current climate. I know she got this from my mother-in-law, and the other woman in her family, as they are all women of great class and poise. I can only hope that we’ll be able to pass this along to my daughter, and do our part in keeping a dying breed alive. I know the times change, but does fashion have to devolve into the stuff of comic books? One of my favorite things about Pentecost is the way that our women know how to be attractive, while still maintaining their mystery and grace. I wholeheartedly believe you can be feminine, attractive, modest, and mysterious all at the same time. My wife does it every day. Come on people, let’s try and keep ourselves on a higher plane than the animal kingdom.

the quest for the perfect shave: follow up

Posted: 14th July 2011 by matt in Uncategorized

Alrighty gentlemen. In my last post I talked about the new blade I was trying, the Schick Hydro 5, and mentioned that I would follow up to let you know how it performed in additional testing. I’m happy to announce that this is perhaps that best razor I have ever used, at a price tag that can’t be argued with. While I had great success with the Gillette ProGlide, it seems that over time either the manufacturing quality of the blades, or the toughness of my face have gone down. Not to mention the nearly $20 per four blade price tag. Having done the day after, and three day after shave tests with the Hydro 5, I can say with certainty that this will be my new razor of choice. It even held up to use a ladies razor, so I’ll be purchasing one for my wife as well. If you’re looking for a great razor at an even better price, look no further than the Schick Hydro 5.