We Go to Mega to See What All the Fuss is About Simple file sharing, completely and utterly simple. What is problematic in this case is that when tested on Apple devices, this website come up as "An app will be available for your device soon" (with no option to go to html) and on the iMac with 10.6+ and Safari, you get the annoying registration loop load screen, where nothing happens but the little spinning icon at the end of the page. If this is the case, then Mega has already cut out 30-40% of the market for users of the Internet in-general.
What I find comical about this whole situation is that Kim.com founder has already agreed to open no more sites LIKE megaupload.com (which was closed due to US pressure over copyright infringement). This site is similar but not close enough to get him into trouble, and it is based on a format that is already out there. As it is nothing spectacular, and seems to be widely promoted via news outlets, (when would a hacker/copypirate/website builder ever get this kind of attention, with the exception of murder??), and the number of users has ballooned as people stop to check it out and are required to enter personal information to continue. For us, a few things went wrong, and we finally had to get a look on our PC. I guess nobody likes Apple over there at Mega, our Safari experience locked up, and would load for HOURS, if not days. *We turned it off after about two hours.* And on the iPad we get nowhere.
So, with the publishing of a new website closely related to, but not specifically made from, megaupload, the company in this case garners media attention because the court (feds, rich people, whathaveyou) has no recourse against his server in New Zealand and can't shut him down, and the government of NZ has not agreed to extradition of prisoner treaties. What all this media attention is doing is giving this website all the users it needs to become a thriving solution for passing files. What is little known is that it will be highly likely that the "encryption" used in this system will be broken before very long. There are many many more powerful computers in the world, and as they work faster, they do all kinds of things faster. A passcode can be broken or bypassed, encryption can become broken, etc. And by encrypting and passing liability off, the next stop for the "file police" depends on the IP address. *And if you're already being spoofed, hijacked, or bounced from, it is likely they will come to your door FIRST.* In any case, this is not a rant about security, but rather a concern that this site is garnering so much attention solely on the impact of the news, so if you want to see it, bring a PC.
There have been numerous posts and blog articles concerning the ability of the end-user to get around the Iphone passcode feature in the event that the user has forgotten the passcode. While there is still no known way to get the passcode to "Reset" without deleting all of the user data, it is quite possible to access the content on the phone, and even to download pictures and other data for free. We have tried a program, and no this is not an endorsement, that will allow the user to easily access the data on the phone, even when the phone is locked. We tried critiquing different methods to get around this problem when faced with a customer's phone with a forgotten password and severe water damage, which required testing the features and attempting to save the user's data.
While the numerous methods found online did not bear fruit, such as using iTunes, or Diskaid. (Both asked for the passcode!) We did find a gem of a program ($99 Full version cost notwithstanding) that not only allowed us to gain access to and save those precious picture files, but allowed us to save much more content in the full version. We found a workaround in the trial (free) version that allows you to save all of your pictures. The amount of data this program can find is truly amazing. If you wish to learn more, see the youtube video below! Download link to the program and procedure on how to get your pictures (the free version only allows a look) are in the description of the youtube link! :)
So this week is a new low in customer service, as more companies attempt to implement ill-conceived methods of combating increased "social engineering" by hacker groups and others attempting to gain access to the processes used by the companies to handle everything from credit card processing to basic access keys. This becomes a problem because now when people like me call to attempt to get an access key for a client, there is a disparity to the level of service I am getting, and what I should be getting. For instance, in order to gain access to a client's BIOS, I was forced to call (S**y) and was told that I could not get access from them because I did not have a proof of purchase. (The computer is years old, probably has seen multiple buyers, and who knows where the original purchase could have been. *Probably the company, come to think of it...*) I was further directed to a "Premium Services website" that would take my credit card for some time with a technician. Prices were, no lower, than $40 US.
But without the proof of purchase, would I not be able to pay for the service I required???
I could only imagine the hassle if I had paid first! In any case, I will be officially boycotting this company, as it seems that perfectly good drives are dying and in order to get help many people are getting forced to pay for a company to properly support its products. This is an issue that is growing, and it will only get worse.
Due to the inability of some to get low-credit, business startup loans, there has been more and more need for low-cost and free business processes and functions. One of the biggest of these is credit-card acceptance, and others include websites and website design, software and hardware development, and of course, business lines and corporate data handling software. Many of these items can be found online for free or low-cost and have been on offer from many websites for a fee or subscription. With any luck you will soon be able to find a resource for free and low-cost business resources on a page related to this blog, but for now, look at weebly.com, and ipage.com. These two in conjunction with each other produce a moderately powerful website experience, with easy website design, for very little money and very little in the way of setup. Just about any user can produce and design a web-page and correctly optimize for search engines with the proper key-words.
Hope everyone had a wonderful time hunting eggs with family and friends! In this post I would like to discuss the latest trend in employment, asking for Facebook passwords. It is similar to a urine test to sit on a computer all day. Why would you have to allow that level of scrutiny?
This is just one more occasion where there is just too much anal-retention and not enough intelligent management left within the companies beginning to use this practice. It amazes me that what I find humorous would be used to judge me or anyone else's ability to perform any job function!
The best way to refuse this of course is to simply state you do not have an account.
The trends in this and other areas of technology this last few months has been concerning, as many Americans do not realize the issues that will arise when the individuals in power begin to data-mine the people. I for one will keep my data off the cloud unless I absolutely need to share it, and even then, there are methods for transfers that do not require me to give up intellectual property. This is one of the biggest under-addressed concerns of the new technology that we all take for granted. What happens to our property and civil rights when it is all up in the "cloud"?
Happy Belated Thanksgiving! We spent the holiday home with family, and we hope you all were able to do the same! We give thanks to our customers and the others who support us this year and we hope you all have a happy holiday season! Remember, the best way to get ahold of someone is still the phone! :)
Mad Science Lab, LLC, remembers those supportive friends and family who made it possible for us to get this far! We are now ready for investments and SBA loans, and we only have you all to thank! If you are an investor, or know someone who would like to be in on the ground floor of this great endeavor, make sure you let us know! We would love to give all our customers ACTUAL PRESENTS!! :) Again, thank you all for your support!
With all the International attention garnering over space and the next frontier, we should address the possible lunar outpost in the near future. International treaties and Space Law does not prohibit private organizations and people from developing and claiming land on the Moon or other interstellar body, as long as the land is for use. (Meaning someone has to be using the land and occupying. Much like the early settlers of the North American continent sorted land use in the West.) This policy made the time decidedly adversarial, with people "jumping claims" to gain more land and resources in new areas. With the development of technology for space stations and other components, strategies for development are now within the grasp of Mankind.
In order to develop the Lunar module, one must remember that most of the module will have to be usable component parts to make it usable on the Moon. An umbrella-like structure with booster rockets at the hinges would not only provide the extra thrust to escape orbit but would also provide retro-rocket to open the structure prior to landing. Built as a structure, the "umbrella" could support a wider area, allowing possible mining in an atmosphere, and allowing the development of mining to secure atmospherically secure tunnels, which would allow easy creation of tunnel-based future settlements. (The applications for prisons alone could be ideal, as methods for escape would be very limited indeed.)
The first major development in the strategy for creating the 100 Year Starship would be development of bases for material processing outside of the major part of the Earth's gravity well. This limits the force required to escape orbit, as well as limiting the need for the ability to leave and re-enter an atmosphere, which allows the ship design to be completely reconsidered as a means to travel through SPACE as apposed to atmospheric hops.
Once the development of the technologies for bulkhead parts is developed, there can be more creation on the design of the ship, major welding crews could be employed, as the first materials would be used to secure the mining tunnel's entrances with air-locks. This would be the first clear option for mining ability if the geology holds up. So...what do we do now? We need another manned mission to the Moon. If the US government has it's way, we will be back there soon, we just need more public funding. This is one subject that I could easily spend a lifetime building and developing, funding and growing. We could have a Lunar base in place in under 5 years with just a little funding, the issue of course will be finding the money in this economy. Who wants to live on the Moon? Would you? We would need welders, we would need geologists, and some of the best things could be discovered on the Moon, who knows what is up there? We are exploring funding options at the moment, as growth and exploration is always the driving force behind science, we strive to explore unknowns that confront us.
The 100 year spaceship, either one of the worst follies of our time, or one of the most advanced ideas we have had as a world community, this ship would be in space for 100 years. First of all, there would be significant issues to overcome as there will be no mini-marts to stop at along the way for gas, and the trip could end up very, very short given ANY miscalculation in trajectories. There are technologies in exploration and development right now that could significantly assist in the process of space flight, from human suspended-animation to advanced propulsion engines!
There is one significant issue that might keep the ship from launching in the first place. Significant development of virtualization technology that would allow 100 year ship type explorations from a location on Earth. And if the exponential increases we are currently making in advanced technologies continues at the current pace, there will be no reason to send a ship of this size into space, because by the time it is built, there will be far better methods and technologies available. (This of course would mean that we had rounded our advanced technologies into bundles that can be used by everyone, because as it stands now, with lawsuits and espionage accusations, there will be very little cross-product cooperative integration without obvious resistance from the owners or companies in charge of developing many of the products that should be "free for use". So, back to our 100 year starship. We may be able to freeze our crew, but not have to send them into space in the first place (we have robots to gather data for our sims, right?). And that data would be of course filtered by whatever parties had the greatest interest in it. Our 100 year starship budget would probably be better served continuing unmanned exploration until we can determine where to best put the resources available. (An astroid with high gold content, maybe? :)
Reference articles:
See our twitter stream for referencing articles
@MSL_LLC
There are few things in this world more creative and fun to imagine than the Mad Science Lab. For many of us it conjures images of the white lab coat or Frankenstein rising from the slab. In this case, imagine laser beams and high-energy particle experiements. Now if you were to walk into our current facility, you would wonder if it were a real lab or a computer warehouse. Do not be fooled! We do more than computers here! :)
As one of the first people to view the company website in its infancy, please feel free to comment! I am looking for all creative and useful opinions! If you comment, we will know! :)
|
RSS Feed