Apparently, I am going to get some “pain”.
Posted by Tyler in events, Old Town Computers News on February 3rd, 2012
A Marathon of it.
We here art OTC are feelin’ pretty damn proud that we get to hang with the likes of Dan Clark, Aaron Duran, Kielen King, Scott Dally, and OMGWFTBBQ Rick Emerson for a OPB-style fundraiser for one of the best culture PDX podcasts, Geek In The City. I’ll be on from 10pm to 11pm.
Details are here on their site. Tune in and chuckle. Donate and win fabulous prizes too!
Ustream page is here, which will be on the homepage once the Marathon starts.
Congress says SOPA, Senate says PIPA, The Internet says FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU….
Posted by Tyler in Uncategorized on January 12th, 2012
So for those of you who follow OTC on Twitter and Facebook, you might have heard us ranting about these bills that have been working their way around our great nation’s capital, and you might be saying to yourself “Those guys at OTC talk in so many freakin’ acronymns (I mean, they can’t even say their own name, fercrissakes), and now they want me to learn another one? Pfssh. Breaking Bad is on Netflix, I’ve got more important things to do.”
STOP THAT. IF YOU <3 THE INTERNET, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT THIS, AND THEN DO SOMETHING.
The EFF breaks it down pretty well.
Lifehacker rounds it out, and give some links for action.
And The Register explains why you might not have heard of this yet.
Basically, SOPA/PIPA are two faces of the same bill crafted by Big Media special interests that would, if enacted, break the Internet is a serious way. Don’t believe me? Fine. Believe these guys:
- Ebay
- Mozilla
- Wikipedia
- WordPress
- Marc Andreessen – Founder of Netscape
- Sergey Bin – Founder of Google
- Craig Newmark – Founder of Craigslist
- Jerry Yang – Founder of Yahoo!
- etc etc etc
Full list here, which is worth a gander for all of the big names on it. To contrast, here’s a list of supporters, which has such TECHNOLOGY GIANTS as:
- Beachbody, LLC
- UFC
- Minor League Baseball
- aaaaand… True Religion Brand Jeans.
So I know this post has been a 12 gauge of linkshot to the face, but one more is this: SopaOpera, a site which will tell you whether your elected officials are for, against, or undeclared on these bills. If, after reading the above material, you think this bill is a really bad idea, then please contact your Senator/Congressperson to let him/her know that voting in favor of either of these bills is supporting terrible legislation, and they should really think twice about it.
Hokay, enough heavy political stuff. Here’s a snowboarding crow.
There’s a party going on. A geeky party.
Posted by Tyler in Uncategorized on December 9th, 2011
And you are invited. Via pgc3.org:
The Portland Geek Council of Commerce and Culture (PGC3), the same organization that brought you the 2011 Geek Olympathon, is throwing their second annual holiday party on December 16th. Last year’s Geeky Wonderland was an incredible success, so this year the PGC3 returns with the Epic WINter Formal! This FREE event is open to the public, with special performances, activities and door prizes provided by many of the PGC3 organizations.
Several of the member organizations will be performing onstage, including gloriously geeky sets from Critical Hit Burlesque, Cognition: The Robot Uprise,PDXYAR, The Unscriptables and Sock Dreams. Plus, you’ll be able to practice your epic dance moves to the musical stylings of Reverend Mrs. and DJ sets provided by Mr. Romo and Michael Grimes. You can also spend your time time enjoying some free-play classic video game cabinets (thanks to member organization Ground Kontrol), or just chat with any number of pirates, trekkies, browncoats, wallflowers and ninjas that are certain to be in attendance. Costumes are encouraged, so don your geek-inspired yule tide garb and join the fun!
Door prizes will also be awarded, donated by Geek in the City, Guardian Games, Ground Kontrol, Backspace, Jupiter Hotel and many others. A special VIP section, featuring retro game consoles (provided by Ground Kontrol) and a private cash bar, will be reserved for any attendee who donates $5 at the door. All proceeds will go to benefit the Children’s Healing Art Project.
The PGC3 Epic WINter Formal starts at 6pm and goes until 2am. DJ’s will be spinning music between 6pm – 10pm, with stage performance running from 10pm – 1am. It will be held at the Someday Lounge (21+) in beautiful Old Town Portland. There is no cover charge.
Get geeky, get down. See you there.
OTC’s App of the Month: Keepass
Posted by Tyler in App of the Month, Helpful tips, Software on November 22nd, 2011
It’s the holidays. A time to look back on the year. A time for reflection. A time to realize that, one again, you probably spent the whole year long using the same password, which is the digits “123″ and your dogs name, which, thanks to the unending privacy-obliterating efforts of Messr Zuckerberg, I can probably find out in about 30 seconds of Googling.
However, nobody likes to be lectured about passwords. We are not here to do that. We are here to make it really easy to be way better at it. Enter KEEPASS, your new best friend in security. From their site:
What is KeePass?
Today you need to remember many passwords. You need a password for the Windows network logon, your e-mail account, your website’s FTP password, online passwords (like website member account), etc. etc. etc. The list is endless. Also, you should use different passwords for each account. Because if you use only one password everywhere and someone gets this password you have a problem… A serious problem. The thief would have access to your e-mail account, website, etc. Unimaginable.
KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish). For more information, see the features page.
Is it really free?
Yes, KeePass is really free, and more than that: it is open source (OSI certified). You can have a look at its full source and check whether the encryption algorithms are implemented correctly.
(Yes, I totally did just copy/paste blog cheat right there. I’m a busy guy, okay?)
So that is all well and good, but keeping track of this database file might be a little bit of a hassle. Well, combine Keepass with Dropbox, and you are never without all of your passwords! It also has browser integration Chrome, Firefox, and IE, and with most browsers adding online sync for extensions, this also means you can have all your passwords available in your browser on a (secure) computer. Pretty slick, eh? This is what we use in the shop, and it’s super useful for us. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
GREAT GOOGELY MOOGELY! Hard drive prices are KUH-RAZEE right now.
Posted by Tyler in Hardware, Helpful tips, Old Town Computers News on November 4th, 2011
So we had linked to some articles on twitter (@otcpdx) about how the flooding in Thailand were leading to some big spikes in hard drive prices. Whelp, we are now seeing those prices through our distributors right now. Ouch. Here’s an example;
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500G SATA3 7200rpm 16MB Hard Drive
Price on August 1st = $52.00
Price as of today, November 4th = $120.00
Like I said, ouch.
So we hate this as much as you do. Hard drives are something that we sell a lot of, and we often need them to be able to get you back up and running. A lot of larger manufacturers and system builders (read: Dell) are going to just spread that cost across whole systems, but if all you need is a hard drive and not a whole computer, you’re going to be stuck with that whole cost jump.
But we want to help you out, so here’s our plan for you going forward until prices stabilize (estimated to be sometime in Feb/March):
- We are going to drop our standard markup as low as we can possibly go for replacement drives on repair work. We gotta cover cost + shipping, but if you need a hard drive to replace that failing drive that sounds like it’s playing the castanets, realize that when we give you the price, we’re probably not making any money on the drive itself.
- We have scoured our graveyard for drives that can be replaced under warranty, as well as used drives that pass all S.M.A.R.T. tests and will take a full zero-write and/or format. We will be selling these drives to customers who need them for repair work at their pre-spike prices, but be advised, we won’t be able to offer any warranty* on re-certified/used drives, as replacing them with new drives at current prices would be a huge hit.
- We are going to make sure that everybody gets a quick little spiel about best practices to extend hard drive life (e.g. be gentle with them, don’t run excessive defrag routines, keep em cool, etc), regardless of what service you came in to get.
So in advance, we are sorry for the price jump, and we hope it’s over soon, but we’re gonna get through this. Together.
*used part warranty is only 30 days anyway, so it’s not that big of a loss. All other used parts will continue to have regular warranty.
Channels, Frequencies, and Bands, OH MY! Some tips on Wireless Networking.
Posted by Tyler in Hardware, Helpful tips on October 24th, 2011
So I was reading this post today and thinking about some of the tricker wifi setups we’ve had to do for clients of OTC’s, and I occured to me that it might be helpful to the Internet if I gave a pithy explanation of some issues folks run into when setting up WiFi, particularly in crowded and/or business environments. So here are a few headeses upeses:
- 13 channels? More like 3. - I feel like I’ve linked to this Wikipedia section before, but the long and short of it is that channels 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12 are essentially one “channel” for your AP to broadcast on. Switching from channel 2 to channel 3 isn’t going to do you a whole lot of good if that area is saturated. If you have a wifi ap/router that is capable of 802.11n and 5GHz, as well as devices that support that, use it, as it’s waaaaay better. Don’t have an n-only network? Dual-band wireless AP/routers like this one will allow you to have both b/g and n clients at the same time. Be careful, though, some wireless products will call themselves “Dual-Band”, but what they mean is you can set it to b/g OR n, but not both simultaneously. Current rule of thumb is if it costs less than $100 and says it’s dual-band, it’s BS.
- Can you hear me now, little iPhone? – Wifi is a two-way communication street. The metaphor I like to use is this: You and your buddy each get megaphones, and have a conversation. You can get pretty far apart. Then someone takes away your megaphone, and gives you instant bronchitis. All of a sudden, you’re in a Verizon commercial. You with bronchitis is an iPhone/Droid/Netbook/mobile device with battery concerns. Manufacturers need to manage power consumption, and making the wifi antenna in your handheld transmit clearly over long distances is a pretty big battery drain. So it’s going to have much worse reception than your 17″ laptop with a 15-cell battery, even if you can see the signal of the network (aka hear the guy with the megaphone). This will cause a connection to be established at a slower speed whcih leads us to point three…
- The 21st Century Tragedy of the Coffee Shop Commons – Unless you’ve got some serious Cisco sh*t all up onz, your wireless hardware probably does what all wireless hardware does; it only operates as fast as it’s slowest link. As signals get weaker, the access point will step down the speed of an associated device to certain tx/rx speeds, to improve signal latency. So an iPhone that is 15 feet from a wireless device might connect @ 54mbps, but at 50 feet, it might connect at 2mbps. And once that iPhone is connecting at 2mbps, everything is connecting at 2mbps. Ouch.
- The Golden Rule: $10 for Each Connection - So you just opened up a coffee shop, and you’ve got 50 seats. At any give time, you’ve got half your customers connecting to your free wifi. And you dropped $49.99 for something off the shelf at Office Depot. Whelp, I hope your Baristas like power-cycling your wifi, because they are going to have to do it 4-5 times a day. If you want 20-30 people using your wireless at once, then you’re gonna have to spend some moolah for it to be reliable. I could get into the technical deetz, but this post is probably a bit TL:DR anyway, so just take our word for it; $10 for each connection. And don’t forget, that guy that comes in every day with the MacBook Pro is probably two connections, as you know he’s got a 4S in his pocket that is probably associated with your wireless too.
So that’s that. Hit us up @ info@otcpdx.com if you have any questions, or want us to give you a hand with your wifi setup.
Valve, OTC, Dark Horse, GK, and TFAW. You need more? WHY U SO GREEDY?
Posted by Tyler in events, Old Town Computers News on October 21st, 2011
Hey folks, I have tweeted and Faceplaced about this, but I figured I’d put some more details up here for anyone who is interested. You should definitely come out, it’ll be a good time.
What: Valve Presents Signing With Michael Avon Oeming, Andrea Wicklund, Ted Kosmatka, and Bay Raitt
Where: Hollywood TFAW – 4133 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland, OR 97214
When: Saturday, November 12 from 7-10 pm.
October 19, 2011, Portland OR–Things From Another World (TFAW) welcomes creators from video game giant Valve Games to their Portland, Oregon location November 12 from 7-10 p.m. Join Michael Avon Oeming (Powers), Andrea Wicklund, Ted Kosmatka, and Bay Raitt as they debut Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories from Dark Horse Comics, and purchase your copy before the official release date of November 16. Not only will guests enjoy complimentary food and beer (with valid ID), but also free in-store console and PC gaming courtesy of Ground Kontrol, Old Town Computers, and Valve. Plus, attendees can enter to win an original piece of Oeming’s artwork from the book!
For 15 years, Valve has defined the cutting edge of video games. Now Valve joins Dark Horse Comics to bring three critically acclaimed, fan-favorite series to print in a hardcover collection of comics based on Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress, and Portal. With more than 200 pages of story, Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories is a must-read for fans looking to further explore the games they love, or comics readers interested in dipping their toes into new mythos!
“There’s a lot of overlap between comics and video game fans in Portland,” said TFAW Senior Director of Retail Operations Andrew McIntire. “Our Valve signing is going to be the perfect storm of these two media–plus, we’re really stoked about including on-site gaming into the mix.”
Be sure to pick up your copy of Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories before it’s available anywhere else! Meet the creators behind some of the most exciting games–and comics–in the world at TFAW in Portland November 12 from 7-10 p.m., and play games like Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress, and Portal 2. Follow Twitter.com/TFAW for more updates.
Cold & flu season? Dishwash your keyboard.
Posted by Tyler in Deals, Helpful tips on October 18th, 2011
No, like, SRSLY.
I’m sure that some of you have heard the little chestnut that your keyboard is dirtier than a toilet seat. You probabaly said “Ewww, gross!” Then you immediately went back to eating your onion bagel whilst Facebookin’. And when you were in rapt attention to the latest “Donwfall/Hitler is mad about something” parody video, you were just a bit slow on draw to get your hand over your mouth with that sneeze.
I will admit, it does sound like a Internet-factoid, possibly debunked on Snopes. I mean, a toilet seat? Come on, that’s just a bit hyperbolic. And you’d be right. Your keyboard isn’t as dirty as a toilet seat.
It’s as dirty as FIVE TOILET SEATS.
So, now that you are thoroughly disgusted (we really know how to treat our blog readers, eh?), you might be asking “Well, what the hell can I do about this?” Well, if you’re rocking the ol skool non-wireless desktop keyboard, you can just throw it in the dishwasher. Now, please be sure that you don’t have batteries anywhere in your keyboard when you do this, and be ready to let it dry our with a fan on it for about 48 hours afterwards. But this works, we’ve done it in the shop, and it is sooo satisfying when it’s all clean.
Now, it goes without saying that running your laptop through the dishwasher might not be a good idea. But never fear, OTC to the rescue! If you’d like to do a little “fall cleaning” on your laptop keyboard, just come on down to the shop, mention this blog post, and we will wave our 1 hour minimum service charge and do a laptop keyboard cleaning for 1/2 hour of labor, or $30. We’ll disassemble your keyboard, give it a good blast with our air compressor (no need to waste compresssed air cans), then give it a thorough cleaning with q-tips and rubbing alcohol. While we’re at it, we’ll give your heatsink/fan assembly a good dusting as well, making your lappy run cool and quiet.
Did I just gross you out and then try to get $30 out of you? Maybe. But if your had to choose between holding five toilet seats for a day, or shelling out $30, what would you choose?
A Public Service Announcement RE: Computer repair “hookup”
Courtesy of http://www.theoatmeal.com/comics/computers
Look, we get it. Hollywood has spent the past 20 years telling you that all we need is a fridge full of The Dew™ , a T1 connection to the NSA mainframe, a bad button-up paisley shirt, and possibly some rollerblades, and us “computer guys” are totally happy. In fact, we don’t even think of this as a job! We’re just surfin’ the digital wave! Hauling ass down the information superhighway! Jackin’ into THE MATRIX©, man! It’s understandable that you think that when your buddy/neighbor/son/daughter/etc is done with a full day of working on a Ruby-to-Scala migration/Exchange Server upgrade/painstaking sector-by-sector data recovery/hand-building 15 new workstations for a design firm/etc, that of course you would be more than happy to figure out why streaming Netflix keeps getting choppy (hint: it’s because Silverlight sucks).
But we are also nice guys and gals for the most part, and often the stereotype of Internet Badass/Meatspace Wussy holds true, so a lot of the time when you say “Hey, could you take a look at something real quick with my computer?” we go along. And some of us (who have probably not been doing this for quite as long) are generally happy to do so. But I would beseech you to consider the following:
- When you ask these favors, realize that you are asking the equivalent of “Would you mind cooking my dinner?” to a chef, or “Would you mind doing my taxes?” to an accountant.
- 99% of the time, with enough detailed information (read: specific descriptions/error codes), you can find the solution yourself. True, it will take you 3-4x as long, but do Ol’ Ralph Waldo proud, and get your self-reliance on.
- Not all “computer guys” are bench techs. A CSS/Javascript ninja might not have the faintest clue as to why your computer is flashing that Blue Screen of Death all the time, and nor should he, because he’s probably using a Mac.
- Your buddy who “knows all about computers” might actually not know as much as he thinks he does. And that can be awkward, when the original problem was a $75 fix, but now, thanks to his ministrations, is now a $350 repair.
Now, do we, the hardworking folks at OTC, have a horse in this race? Um, yeah. Hells yeah. We have folks come in, from time to time, ask us our opinion, take up some time at the counter, and then say “Well, I have a buddy who knows all about computers, so I think I’ll ask him to help me out first. Thanks for the help!” This does not sit so well with us. But we genuinely do want to help, so we are torn. And we like saving da monies as much as the next person.
But the next time your computer is giving you fits, remember this; your computer genius buddy would probably rather be playing Battlefield 3 than uninstalling your 15 browser toolbars, or cleaning Cabernet out of your macbook topcase/keyboard.
OTC’s App of the Month
Posted by Tyler in App of the Month, Software on October 5th, 2011
We’re going to try and give you some more info here on some useful stuff for maintaining your own computer and getting the most out of it. So without further ado, the App of the Month!
NINITE – http://nininte.com
This is probably one of our favorite apps for shop work. It is essentially a one-click installer for all of the most popular free apps out there for your PC. You go to the site, select checkboxes from a list of apps, and once you have selected all the apps you want, you click the “Get Installer” button at the bottom of the page. This downloads one executable, which downloads and installs the most recent version and installs all the apps you selected. It never asks you to agree to the EULA. It never asks you to install Ask.com toolbar (which is amazing to me that it still exists). Just get all your favorite apps installed, and saves you a grip of time in the process.
There is also the Ninite updater. It is a system tray startup item that will monitor the versions of all your selected installed apps, and check to see if there are newer versions. This is also genius, as you’re probably running Adobe Acrobat Updater, Sun Java Updater, Flaqsh Updater, and constant notifications from apps that there is a new version out. This takes care of all of that with one systray app, freeing up memory.
We cannot recommend this software enough, it saves us tons of time here in the shop, and eliminates so much of what is annoying about free software that is available online. Go give it a try!
