The Democrats and Republicans keep arguing about the economy and taxes but without really connecting the two. Because of the seeming disconnect I think it's necessary to go back to 'first principles', to sort of start over.
The first and most important fact, which I don't think the politicians ever mention, is that work creates wealth. If you pay me to do something -- anything! -- for you, the profit I earn on my labor is newly-created wealth. If, in turn, I then use this new wealth to pay YOU to do something for ME then you have now created wealth! Even though the physical cash is a 'zero sum' game, we both end-up wealthier for having traded services. (The same is true for selling goods.) This is the reason GDP is so important. It is supposed to be the measurement of all economic activity in our society and, all other things considered, the more activity the better. (This is also the reason that the Federal Reserve has been aggressively lowering interest rates, to try and promote economic activity of ANY KIND.)
The problem is what happens with this new wealth.
Is it put back into the economy to pay for still-more goods and services, hence still more wealth? Or is it put into savings accounts, effectively removing it from the 'active' side of the economy? Obviously, we need to have some reasonable amount of savings so that there is money available for investment. But, as Alan Greenspan correctly noted in his (post-Fed Chairmanship) autobiography, there has been a worldwide glut in savings for the past two decades. The proof: a steady decline in the interest rates available to savers.
So, for Republicans to claim we need to continue reducing taxes on the rich is clearly false. There is already far more than enough savings available for startups and capital investments. Instead, the tax policies of the past decade (cough*Bush*cough) have simply allowed the ultra-rich to redirect a significant amount of wealth into their savings -- and away from more productive uses in the hands of workers.
This isn't class warfare. It's simple economics.
The solution, I feel, is a new corporate tax based on executive pay. Ideally this would be implemented as part of a general tax SIMPLIFICATION plan. History has shown that stockholders are unable to influence or control executive compensation, so I think the government needs to weigh in.
Herewith, the new 'TOVAR POLICY' (though I don't think I'm really the 1st to say this):
Any corporation who's executives earn more than 20x the median income (of it's employees) must pay an additional corporate tax.
If an executive committee really thinks their CEO is responsible for such a large share of their profits, they'll need to pay for it. My hope, of course, is that they'll choose instead to lower executive compensation, or give raises to their employees! The point being: a larger percentage of the wealth generated by the company should go to the employees and stockholders, where it will be returned to the economy, and less to the handful of ultra-rich executives who can't possibly spend it all.
____________________
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Home Theater Acoustics 101
Excellent intro to room acoustics!
Really, I should call it an excellent summary as it has all the most-urgent things to do.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Using CHNTPW to fix weird bug in Windows 7
I just spent a good many hours trying to fix a Windows 7 machine with a ‘broken’ login. The user hadn’t changed their password (nor had it expired) but suddenly the computer insisted their password was wrong. My first thought was just to reset (hack) the password.
I had previously used the ‘chntpw’ tool to manually tweak the built-in SAM password database on Windows XP – but did it work on Windows 7, too? I carry a flash-drive on my key-chain which boots Ubuntu 10.10 so I started there. ‘Chntpw’ is in the 10.10 repository (the ‘Universe’ alternate) and I successfully installed it, then ran it against the Win7 machine’s hard-drive and SAM file. It said it had 'successfully' blanked the user’s password but Windows still reported ‘invalid password’. I also tried resetting to a new password; same result.
I then tried one of the official Windows 7 repair techniques. I booted the install disc, then selected Repair > Recovery Console. Once I had the command-line open I tried the following command which was supposed to activate the built-in Administrator account,
Unfortunately, even though this was using a ‘legit’ Microsoft process it still didn’t work; there was no Administrator login option.
At this point, I thought maybe there was a newer version of ‘chntpw’ so I booted a newer Ubuntu 11.04 LiveCD. But there was no version of ‘chntpw’ in its Universe repository. Instead I had to download the .deb from Launchpad (just google “ubuntu 11.04 chntpw”). Unfortunately, attempts to both blank and also reset the user password still failed.
Finally, I tried unlocking the Administrator account with chntpw and it finally worked! I still couldn’t login as the regular user-account but I was able to click on Switch User > Other User > manually enter ‘administrator’ (sans password) and it logged me in.
____________
Now, here's the weird bug part:
From the administator login I was able to successfully reset the user's password and login as them. I immediately saw a weird error message, something about "user profile directory c:\windows\system32\config\Desktop not found." The user's Desktop folder is not supposed to be under C:\Windows?! Also, the system loaded a generic desktop. I switched back to the Administrator login and searched the C:\Users folder. The user's original Desktop folder was right where it was supposed to be, and I noticed something unusual: There was a copy of the files off a Norton Antivirus install CD filling the Desktop. I also saw the AUTORUN.INF and, on a suspicion, I deleted it. Voila! The user's account now worked properly.
So, apparently there is an unpatched Microsoft bug wherein Windows will try to 'obey' an AUTORUN file in the user-profile directory.
I had previously used the ‘chntpw’ tool to manually tweak the built-in SAM password database on Windows XP – but did it work on Windows 7, too? I carry a flash-drive on my key-chain which boots Ubuntu 10.10 so I started there. ‘Chntpw’ is in the 10.10 repository (the ‘Universe’ alternate) and I successfully installed it, then ran it against the Win7 machine’s hard-drive and SAM file. It said it had 'successfully' blanked the user’s password but Windows still reported ‘invalid password’. I also tried resetting to a new password; same result.
I then tried one of the official Windows 7 repair techniques. I booted the install disc, then selected Repair > Recovery Console. Once I had the command-line open I tried the following command which was supposed to activate the built-in Administrator account,
> net user administrator /active:yes
Unfortunately, even though this was using a ‘legit’ Microsoft process it still didn’t work; there was no Administrator login option.
At this point, I thought maybe there was a newer version of ‘chntpw’ so I booted a newer Ubuntu 11.04 LiveCD. But there was no version of ‘chntpw’ in its Universe repository. Instead I had to download the .deb from Launchpad (just google “ubuntu 11.04 chntpw”). Unfortunately, attempts to both blank and also reset the user password still failed.
Finally, I tried unlocking the Administrator account with chntpw and it finally worked! I still couldn’t login as the regular user-account but I was able to click on Switch User > Other User > manually enter ‘administrator’ (sans password) and it logged me in.
____________
Now, here's the weird bug part:
From the administator login I was able to successfully reset the user's password and login as them. I immediately saw a weird error message, something about "user profile directory c:\windows\system32\config\Desktop not found." The user's Desktop folder is not supposed to be under C:\Windows?! Also, the system loaded a generic desktop. I switched back to the Administrator login and searched the C:\Users folder. The user's original Desktop folder was right where it was supposed to be, and I noticed something unusual: There was a copy of the files off a Norton Antivirus install CD filling the Desktop. I also saw the AUTORUN.INF and, on a suspicion, I deleted it. Voila! The user's account now worked properly.
So, apparently there is an unpatched Microsoft bug wherein Windows will try to 'obey' an AUTORUN file in the user-profile directory.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Unacknowledged problems with Intel SATA?
For a long time I've had to deal with ongoing 'flakiness' problems with the hard-drives in our Dell laptops. Recently, it got so bad that I decided I had to do something about it! The only clue I had was the large number of 'device timeout' errors in the Windows XP Event Viewer. I had previously been told (by multiple co-workers) that the messages were false/cosmetic. They were easy to check for by applying a filter to the System event-log for either source= 'atapi' or source= 'iastor'.
DRIVER UPDATE 'FIXES' ERROR, SOMETIMES
The first thing I figured-out was that some of the errors were cosmetic but only on our newer E-series laptops (the E6400 and E6410). They had always ever been setup with the older/generic version of the Intel SATA driver, 'iastor' v8.8. Once I upgraded these machines to the newer v9.6 the errors went away.
I also figured-out a relatively reliable way of testing for the error. Without explicitly testing for it, I was seeing the 'timeout' errors every 1-4 weeks under normal usage. If I left a machine logged-in and running overnight, however, it almost always reported new errors in the middle of the night.
PROOF OF LEGITIMATE HARDWARE PROBLEM
Most importantly, I was able to now demonstrate that these errors were NOT cosmetic on any of our Latitude D630 laptops. I spent about a MONTH swapping HDs between different machines, reimaging them, using the latest Intel SATA driver versus the older/default, even re-installing in AHCI vs ATA mode. The results were conclusive: the timeout errors were from the motherboard. And, the problem only occurred on the machines I had purchased between January 2008 and October 2008, i.e., it really seemed to indicate a bad batch.
Unfortunately, by this point, most of my D630s were out-of-warranty; most by just a few months. Dell was willing to replace the motherboards on all the in-warranty machines, of course, but I had a real argument with them about the rest. I pointed out how the problem seemed to be a manufacturing defect and that it had taken me a LONG time to prove. They ended-up granting me an additional 60 day 'grace' period on the warranties. So 7 of the 13 affected laptops are going to be repaired.
_________
CONSPIRACY THEORY
All of this got me thinking: Why do any of these machines show a SATA 'timeout' at all? I heard that the latest 'Sandy Bridge' chipset had been recalled because of an obvious defect in the SATA-2 controller. But is there a larger problem with Intel's chipsets? Why does the error occur on E-series laptops if you use an older revision of the Intel driver? Is it really a cosmetic error, or is it a universal problem which the newer version of the driver simply ignores?
_________
DRIVER UPDATE 'FIXES' ERROR, SOMETIMES
The first thing I figured-out was that some of the errors were cosmetic but only on our newer E-series laptops (the E6400 and E6410). They had always ever been setup with the older/generic version of the Intel SATA driver, 'iastor' v8.8. Once I upgraded these machines to the newer v9.6 the errors went away.
I also figured-out a relatively reliable way of testing for the error. Without explicitly testing for it, I was seeing the 'timeout' errors every 1-4 weeks under normal usage. If I left a machine logged-in and running overnight, however, it almost always reported new errors in the middle of the night.
PROOF OF LEGITIMATE HARDWARE PROBLEM
Most importantly, I was able to now demonstrate that these errors were NOT cosmetic on any of our Latitude D630 laptops. I spent about a MONTH swapping HDs between different machines, reimaging them, using the latest Intel SATA driver versus the older/default, even re-installing in AHCI vs ATA mode. The results were conclusive: the timeout errors were from the motherboard. And, the problem only occurred on the machines I had purchased between January 2008 and October 2008, i.e., it really seemed to indicate a bad batch.
Unfortunately, by this point, most of my D630s were out-of-warranty; most by just a few months. Dell was willing to replace the motherboards on all the in-warranty machines, of course, but I had a real argument with them about the rest. I pointed out how the problem seemed to be a manufacturing defect and that it had taken me a LONG time to prove. They ended-up granting me an additional 60 day 'grace' period on the warranties. So 7 of the 13 affected laptops are going to be repaired.
_________
CONSPIRACY THEORY
All of this got me thinking: Why do any of these machines show a SATA 'timeout' at all? I heard that the latest 'Sandy Bridge' chipset had been recalled because of an obvious defect in the SATA-2 controller. But is there a larger problem with Intel's chipsets? Why does the error occur on E-series laptops if you use an older revision of the Intel driver? Is it really a cosmetic error, or is it a universal problem which the newer version of the driver simply ignores?
_________
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Comparing old JVC KW-XR810 to new KW-HDR720
I have the JVC KW-XR810 double-DIN receiver in my car and love it. But it still has it's limitations. Most of all I miss having more EQ frequencies to play with, plus I'd like to have HD Radio. (Though I suspect HD Radio is slowly dying.)
Now JVC has introduced a new KW-HDR720 receiver which is the 'mid-range' model in their line-up of double-DIN radios. Both units are very similar and JVC has not made it easy to compare the detailed features of both units. So I have painstakingly reviewed both User Manuals and present my findings below.
older XR810 ($300 at Crutchfield)
I'm happy to see the additional EQ frequencies but wish they'd included even more. Also, I'd like to know if the bluetooth support has been improved. My current setup (XR810 paired with HTC Hero running Android 2.3.3) has inconsistent phonebook support and also is missing any audio display functionality (which I think requires AVRCP 1.4).
______________
UPDATE: Ha! No sooner had I written-up all this then I noticed the following PDF on the JVC product web-page. It shows that the KDR720 has the same level of bluetooth audio support (as the XR810) but not the phonebook support. It also looks to have superior radio-tuner performance, in general (not just with HD).
Comparison Chart of JVC Car Audio receivers
______________
Now JVC has introduced a new KW-HDR720 receiver which is the 'mid-range' model in their line-up of double-DIN radios. Both units are very similar and JVC has not made it easy to compare the detailed features of both units. So I have painstakingly reviewed both User Manuals and present my findings below.
older XR810 ($300 at Crutchfield)
- includes Bluetooth adapter
- supports HD Radio but not included
- parametric EQ has 3 bands each with 3 frequency settings
- subwoofer level can only be adjusted by digging through Menu settings
- supports Sirius satellite radio
- supports Bluetooth profiles: HFP 1.5, OPP 1.1, PBAP 1.0, A2DP 1.2, AVRCP 1.3
- separate High-Pass and Low-Pass crossovers for mains vs subwoofer
- dedicated 'Phone' button
- 'full-dot' LCD
- supports Bluetooth adapter but not included
- includes HD Radio
- parametric EQ has 3 bands each with 4 frequency settings
- subwoofer level adjustable directly from EQ window
- no support for Sirius satellite radio
- User Manual has no details about Bluetooth profiles
- no separate High-Pass crossover for mains; just 'on/off' ?
- dedicated 'Tag' button for HD Radio which doubles as 'Phone' when used with bluetooth
- old-style 'segmented' LCD lettering
I'm happy to see the additional EQ frequencies but wish they'd included even more. Also, I'd like to know if the bluetooth support has been improved. My current setup (XR810 paired with HTC Hero running Android 2.3.3) has inconsistent phonebook support and also is missing any audio display functionality (which I think requires AVRCP 1.4).
______________
UPDATE: Ha! No sooner had I written-up all this then I noticed the following PDF on the JVC product web-page. It shows that the KDR720 has the same level of bluetooth audio support (as the XR810) but not the phonebook support. It also looks to have superior radio-tuner performance, in general (not just with HD).
Comparison Chart of JVC Car Audio receivers
______________
Friday, May 27, 2011
Is Sprint coverage getting worse?
In the past month I've noticed that I lose 3G data service in lots of places, and more importantly in places where I used to have plenty of coverage. I decided to google "is sprint coverage getting worse" and learned that I am not alone. In the past couple of months there have been lots of similar discussion threads, e.g.
howardforums.com/showthread.php/1717175-Just-me-or-is-4G-coverage-getting-worse
sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=218830
The really significant one seems to be this detailed post on the Sprint Community forum,
community.sprint.com/baw/thread/66975
My initial suspicion had been that Sprint was preparing to announce their "new 4G service" here in San Diego, and that they were re-purposing existing 3G towers for the effort. Now I'm not so sure. Even in areas with existing 4G service, the coverage map has dramatically shrunk recently. The discussion on Sprint Community is too long for me to read right now but the gist seems to be that Sprint never really had full 3G coverage -- instead they were paying for 'seamless' roaming on other networks (cough*Verizon*cough) and now they're not.
I was already thinking of switching to T-Mobile for their better selection of Android phones and existing '4G' coverage. This is now yet another reason to do so.
_____________________
howardforums.com/showthread.php/1717175-Just-me-or-is-4G-coverage-getting-worse
sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=218830
The really significant one seems to be this detailed post on the Sprint Community forum,
community.sprint.com/baw/thread/66975
My initial suspicion had been that Sprint was preparing to announce their "new 4G service" here in San Diego, and that they were re-purposing existing 3G towers for the effort. Now I'm not so sure. Even in areas with existing 4G service, the coverage map has dramatically shrunk recently. The discussion on Sprint Community is too long for me to read right now but the gist seems to be that Sprint never really had full 3G coverage -- instead they were paying for 'seamless' roaming on other networks (cough*Verizon*cough) and now they're not.
I was already thinking of switching to T-Mobile for their better selection of Android phones and existing '4G' coverage. This is now yet another reason to do so.
_____________________
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Considering NAS and DLNA servers
SWITCH TO NAS BASED FILE-SHARES?
My current network consists of a 24/7 Ubuntu workstation (with a dual 1 TB RAID) and Win7 HTPC (also with dual 1 TB). I am also seeding a bunch of torrents (mostly Ubuntu distros) and hosting the Squeezebox server for the Logitech Radio in our kitchen.
I am considering scrapping the Ubuntu workstation and reinstalling it with Win7 and an SSD. I would like to save on our electricity bill and improve the file-sharing and backup. So I am investigating Network Attached Storage (NAS) options. So far the Netgear ReadyNAS seems like the best option as it's a Linux-based OS with add-ons for all the major services. Right off the bat it has Tivo and DLNA support, and there are also plug-ins for the Transmission bittorrent app as well as for the Squeezebox server. The ReadyNAS Ultra 2 has a single-core Intel Atom while the Ultra 2 Plus has dual-core.
The one thing the ReadyNAS wouldn't be able to do is host my new weather station (really just a Oregon Scientific RMS300A three-source temperature and humidity monitor).
_________
SWITCH TO DLNA BASED VIDEO-STREAMING?
I am also debating the usefulness of DLNA. One of my friends has a new Samsung plasma HDTV with DLNA support and such a thing should -- in theory -- negate the need for an HTPC (and XBMC). The problem seems to be the limited codec and encoding support in DLNA. I assume this was on purpose, to prevent people from downloading ripped content and directly playing it on DLNA players.
Fortunately there's a workaround -- a DLNA server with transcoding! Windows 7 includes Windows Media Center which already includes a DLNA server, but unless the original files are already in DLNA-compatible formats you won't be able to play them on something like the Samsung TV. I also already own the Nero 9 Suite which includes the Nero Home DLNA server, but again I don't think that includes transcoding.
Instead, I have found the following two options for DLNA transcoding:
Mezzmo, $30
www.conceiva.com
iSedora, $17 (single-device) / $48 (multi-device)
www.isedora.com
At this point the whole investigation is moot since I'm not about to scrap my primary workstation! Since it's running Ubuntu 10.10, though, it'll eventually lose support/updates and that will certainly force my hand.
_________
My current network consists of a 24/7 Ubuntu workstation (with a dual 1 TB RAID) and Win7 HTPC (also with dual 1 TB). I am also seeding a bunch of torrents (mostly Ubuntu distros) and hosting the Squeezebox server for the Logitech Radio in our kitchen.
I am considering scrapping the Ubuntu workstation and reinstalling it with Win7 and an SSD. I would like to save on our electricity bill and improve the file-sharing and backup. So I am investigating Network Attached Storage (NAS) options. So far the Netgear ReadyNAS seems like the best option as it's a Linux-based OS with add-ons for all the major services. Right off the bat it has Tivo and DLNA support, and there are also plug-ins for the Transmission bittorrent app as well as for the Squeezebox server. The ReadyNAS Ultra 2 has a single-core Intel Atom while the Ultra 2 Plus has dual-core.
The one thing the ReadyNAS wouldn't be able to do is host my new weather station (really just a Oregon Scientific RMS300A three-source temperature and humidity monitor).
_________
SWITCH TO DLNA BASED VIDEO-STREAMING?
I am also debating the usefulness of DLNA. One of my friends has a new Samsung plasma HDTV with DLNA support and such a thing should -- in theory -- negate the need for an HTPC (and XBMC). The problem seems to be the limited codec and encoding support in DLNA. I assume this was on purpose, to prevent people from downloading ripped content and directly playing it on DLNA players.
Fortunately there's a workaround -- a DLNA server with transcoding! Windows 7 includes Windows Media Center which already includes a DLNA server, but unless the original files are already in DLNA-compatible formats you won't be able to play them on something like the Samsung TV. I also already own the Nero 9 Suite which includes the Nero Home DLNA server, but again I don't think that includes transcoding.
Instead, I have found the following two options for DLNA transcoding:
Mezzmo, $30
www.conceiva.com
iSedora, $17 (single-device) / $48 (multi-device)
www.isedora.com
At this point the whole investigation is moot since I'm not about to scrap my primary workstation! Since it's running Ubuntu 10.10, though, it'll eventually lose support/updates and that will certainly force my hand.
_________
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