Focused on a whim

9:20:46 AM EST
AOL Journals is a fine product.  But I have decided to move to a new address until AIM Pages blogs is ready.  Please come visit me over here http://alankeister.wordpress.com.




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1:24:49 PM EST The always amazing AIM team launches AIM Share!!!  Check it out.  You can add the bookmarklet to make it easy.  Just click on the browser toolbar to share the page you are viewing.




(http://share.aim.com/share/aimshare_files/promo.jpg)


I think this could be a first step towards several very cool products.

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1:15:26 PM EST It has been a very long time since I've posted anything but here I go again.  Just like the earlier posts, any new posts will be completely and entirely focused on whatever strikes my interest at the moment. :)  Now on to the thought of the moment...

Over the last few days, I've seen several articles and posts such as this one about password security.  Someone realized people use the same password across many web sites (gasp!).  I hope this isn't really news to anyone:

"The number of passwords and logins web users need makes it inevitable they will re-use phrases, warned the International Telecommunications Union."

How much do those people make?  Two easy solutions come to mind, one mentioned in the article and one is my very own invention (I think...don't we all hear things and then later recall it believing it is an original thought?). 

Solution 1:  Develop your own system for generating passwords by combining your password with the name of the web site.  Here is what I mean...take your standard web password, insert the first and last letters of the web site you are viewing and insert them as the second and fourth letters or your password.  Viola!  You have a new unguessable password. 

Need an example?  Let's say your standard password is "alan" and I am registering for journals.aol.com.  My password for becomes "ajlsan".  I used the "j" and "s" from journals.  Try cracking that! 

OK, maybe you can.  But if I started with something other than my name such as str8tobed, it would be pretty hard.

Solution 2:  Use Roboform.  I did a pretty comprehensive evaluation of password and identity managers earlier this year.  Roboform is the best by far.  There are a number of password managers that have the same features but Roboform is the most convenient by far and we all know .  It can auto-generate random passwords and then remember them for you for each web site.  It can make it easy to fill out forms when you shop or register for a site.  It remembers your multiple identities (you have real and fake personas, right?).  It is one of a very small number of products where I have paid for the full version. 


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8:02:59 AM EDT
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing Elliott Smith I have been running AIM Pro most of the week to try it out.  Several people have asked me what I think of the client.  I like it!  It satisfies all my basic needs for instant messaging.  I like the clean visual look and feel and the responsiveness.  The outlook integration and security are nice plusses.  Many people seem to share my opinions.  But wait, performance of startup and signon are SLOWER than Triton.  There are no personalization options like buddy icons.  It doesn't have my favorite feature, the What's New indicator and doesn't support plugins very well.   Hmm.  Maybe that's not so bad for me.  It does have a nicer UI, doesn't it?  Take a look at the side-by-side screenshot and tell me what you think.  After looking closely, I think there is very little difference.  So, what do I really like about AIM Pro?  I'm not sure any more.  How about you?  Leave me a comment with your opinions.


<image removed to eliminate the horizontal scroll>




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3:55:29 PM EDT My brother-in-law, John Batiste, was on CNN today criticizing the Iraq war planning and called for Rumsfeld to resign.  John retired from the Army last year after a tour of Iraq and Bosnia.  He's a smart and thoughtful guy.  Check out some followup articles and see if you agree with him.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201114.html?sub=AR

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060405/NEWS01/604050330/1002/NEWS



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12:22:23 PM EDT This certainly fits into the "why didn't I think of that" category.  Simply roll it over to change the timezone.  If it didn't cost so much, I'd buy one.

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001192.php


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3:31:33 PM EDT There is a very entertaining podcast of Ben Saunders, who in 2004, attempted to be the first person to make a complete crossing of the frozen Arctic Ocean all alone. This one ranks high on my list of crazy daring feats. Ben has a great sense of humor which adds a lot to this one. Check it out at http://itconversations.com/shows/detail254.html.  If you are a fan of the very excellent "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage", you will like this.


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9:32:57 AM EDT
Feeling Hopeful For some time, I have been interested in pursuing an MBA to learn how businesses really work.  I have come very close to enrolling a couple of times but never pulled the trigger because of the time commitment.  I have come to realize that focusing on my job and of course having fun are higher priorities than going back to school.  I think I have found a good alternative to b school in an idea called the Personal MBA.  The idea is you read, study, and discuss some of the best business books on the market.  I came across a site today that seems to have a very good selection of books to help get me started.  The site is http://www.joshkaufman.net/personalmba. 

One of the books caught my eye right away.  It is "Now, Discover Your Strengths", by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton.  I have always believed that taking advantage of opportunities is more important than fixing problems.  This book applies the same idea to your business life and management style.  I have ordered it and can't wait to read it.  Let me know if you are interested in joining me to read and discuss the book

Update:  I'm most of the way through th book.  I'd give it a C at best.  There is a lot of fluf.


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7:20:40 AM EST Especially for the AOL folks, this is an enlightening talk in Podcast form by Yahoo!'s chief.  He talks a lot about Yahoo strategy.  I think he has it right.  Yahoo will continue to be a force on the Internet.  http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail844.html

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9:13:39 PM EST
Feeling Chillin' I've been a member of Audible.com since 2000. At two books a month, that's a lot of books. Not to mention books from my wife's audible account that she doesn't use - maybe 10 per year. If you have a long commute of 30 mins or more, you should subscribe.  It is worth every penny.

Here are my top favorites:

FIVE STAR

***** A Game of Thrones, Storm of Swords, Clash of Kings all by George AA Martin. These are simply the best Fantasy books. Listen to them in order.  Hours and hours of a great story.

*****The Pleasure of Finding Things Out - Richard Feynman - Wow! Funny and informative

***** Huckelberry Fin - Mark Twain - A great reader speaks this one - I had forgotton how funny Twain can be.

***** Freakonomics by Steven Levitt.  An Economist shares interesting research results.  A great listen with surprising results.

***** Hope and Honor by Sid Shachnow.   What can I say?  This is the story of LeeAnne's father's life.  It is really good.

FOUR STAR

****Endurance - an amazing true story

****Undaunted Courage - Stephen Ambrose - another great true story about Lewis and Clark

****Memoirs of a Geisha

**** The Colour of Magic and Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchet - very funny fantasy books.

****  A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.  A very funny account of Bill's hiking adventure.

****  Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.  Life in a poor Irish family through a child's eyes.

A guilty pleasure. I wouldn't recomend this to a general audience but I really enjoyed it...

***Timeline - Michael Crichton

Several people have asked me if I can fit a whole audiobook on my iPod.  Are you kidding?  Yes.  The amount you can fit depends on the compression and quality.  I use Audible format 4 which I think is about 64kbps bit rate.  Most books are from 6 to 10 hours of speech and are as much as 300MB of data.  At that rate, my 30GB iPod can hold 90 books or more than a month of speech.  Even the lowly shuffle that Audible gives away holds about 20 hours of speech.


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