SodaStream

After several trips to the mother ship for resupplies (also known as CostCo), I bought a SodaStream machine.

The idea is simple: You can carbonate your own water and add flavoring, and thus have your own soda ready made when you want it.

The benefits are:

• No lugging around large bottles or cases of canned soda
• No storing large bottles or cases of soda
• Reduced packaging and less trash
• Cost savings per liter

However, what convinced me is that I can control the amount of syrup that is used and the level of carbonation. I really like my soda extra carbonated.

Anyway, I bought the kit that has the samples and started experimenting that day. While the flavors are not an exact match for the brand name sodas out there, it is very comparable. I also love that extra shot of carbonation that I can add to my soda. Right now, my favorite flavor is the diet root beer. The teenagers really like the energy drink.

Whether this move will result in cost savings is yet to be determined, but I am really liking the convenience. I can see this would be a great solution for many people, and it is certainly a greener solution when it comes to the environment.

Another Reason I Love Technology–Scanning Pictures

I dropped off my nephew and my youngest son at their Grandmother’s house today. To my surprise, my Mom had several of the old photo albums out and ready for me.

I had asked a long time ago for my Mom to scan some of the old pictures for me so that I can have a digital copy. Well, she is ready to do it.

So, we sat down, and I went through three of the oldest albums and pulled pictures for her to scan. I can’t wait to get the digital copies.

Here is one of the ones that my brother had scanned many years ago, and I hope to get several others done. My Grandmother, on my Dad’s side, was a very special person, and it really is great to have even just a couple of pictures of her along with the many others in my family.

Twenty years ago, to get a copy of a simple picture like this would have taken a week or more, and it would have involved trusting it to the photo center. They would have to make a negative of the picture, then print out a copy. The quality of the copy would also be less than the original despite the best efforts of the photo shop. The original would also tend to deteriorate over time as it faded.

Today, a high quality scanner is easily affordable by most people and can scan and generate a digital copy with practically no deterioration of the image. Time? About 3 to 5 minutes. Also, it is very unlikely that the original will be lost, and once it is in a digital format, it will never fade.

Ultimate Cell Phone?

So, what would a geek like me want in the ultimate cell phone?

Well, the list is long as… well, you know how the bad joke goes.

I would want:

• Lots of storage for my apps, songs, and videos. I have 32GB on my current phone, and it seems sufficient.
• A rocking camera. Over 10 MP would be awesome.
• Totally indestructible – OK, that will never happen, but you won’t see me buy a phone made entirely out of glass ever again.
• Waterproof – how many phones have been destroyed because of spilled soda or coffee?
• Great apps.
• Multi-tasking OS.
• 801.11n WiFi support.
• Of course, it has to support the latest Bluetooth standard.

This one comes pretty close to meeting all of my desires, and exceeding some of them. Of course, it will come in more colors than hot pink, but hey, I am open minded.

Bonus: Running Mango would be nice… I have to admit that I am loving Windows Phone 7.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/26/fujitsu-toshiba-announces-au-is12t-the-worlds-first-mango-phon/

Being the Point Man–It Takes a Special Breed

A friend of mine was recently talking about our time in the military. He said something along the line of, “Very few people have the personality, the skills, and the experience to take point.”

His statement brought back many memories of my time in the military and some recent job experiences in IT.

I spent a great portion of my time in the military working in the jungles of Central and South America. Breaking brush and working the point was extremely hard work, and very few people can actually do it. To work the point, you have to be at the top of your game. Every now and then, somebody thinks they know enough and are good enough to take point. This meant that the second guys that are on his flank really need to step up their games to not only do their job but watch the newbie point person to make sure he didn’t stumble into trouble.

For example, I watched a newbie point person brush up against a Acacia tree while on a patrol. The Acacia tree is usually a fairly small tree that is really more like a tall bush with thorns. The thorns are an issue in themselves, but what really makes this tree a huge concern is that the thorns are hollow and the plant has a symbiotic relationship with ants that have horribly painful bites. In this case, the ants swarmed out to defend their home and crawled all over the newbie point person and the people trailing behind him (he led them right through it). In moments, clothing and equipment fly off the everyone as they try to get the ants off of them, and you have naked soldiers running through the jungle screaming out loud and cussing. For those that don’t know, it is hard to be stealthy and do the job of a top notch military unit when some of your people are running around naked and screaming in pain. An experienced point person will see an Acacia and stop, point it out to everyone around, and proceed carefully around the Acacia without touching it.

There are many potential problems that a point person needs to know about and be prepared to stop others from stumbling into them.

The same is true in IT. Senior IT staff have the experience of stumbling into problems in their past and are able to help an organization work around potential pitfalls. An organization can’t just throw anyone into a senior position that doesn’t have the proper skills, experience, and personality to really lead the team through and around potential pitfalls.

You really don’t want IT people running through the cube farm naked and screaming. It is bad for morale.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

In the last couple of years, I have seen a couple of friends fight through identity theft problems. I have to admit that their experience has changed my take on PII and being so lax when it comes to protecting the information.

First, I did a little digging as to just what is considered PII. While many of us immediately jump in with our Social Security Number (SSN), I don’t know if that is really considered PII anymore. However, I am not about to suggest that you give it out. So, let’s go through a few:

• Full Name – Well, this might seem crazy, but think about it. How many friends know your full name, including middle name? While it is a matter of public record, it isn’t well known. Also, many of us use shortened names (nicknames) in our everyday lives.
• Address – This is also publically available information, but it is also used as a means of proving identity.
• Phone Number – With the advent of cellular phone numbers, this is not as easy to get as it used to be in the past. BTW, what happened to the white pages that they put on out on our front door steps every year? Well, nobody uses them anymore as everything is online, and it is easier to find somebody online that in a big thick book. When talking about phone numbers, there is the old fashioned landline home number and there is the new cellular phone number as well as other phone numbers that we might have through online services such as Skype and Google Voice.
• Mother’s Maiden Name – This is a very common one when it comes to a means of proving our identity online and on the phone. Yet, it is also very easy to get through public records.
• Name of the Street Where You Grew Up – This is used more and more by companies as a means of proving identity.
• Name of Your First Pet (also Favorite Pet) – Another new one used by companies to prove your identity.
• Name of the City Where You Were Born – Again, often used, but easy to research and find in public records.
• Name of Your First School – Another new one used by companies to prove your identity. BTW, this is a pretty tough one to find in public records.
• Email Address – This one can be pretty good if you have multiple email addresses and only use a particular one when working with finances. Personally, I have 23 different email addresses. I know, it is overkill, but it is also nice when it comes to protecting which one I use for finances.

It really annoys me when I call a company and enter my account information and then they start in with the twenty questions treatment. However, I recognize that they are only trying to protect my account against fraudulent use. They need to be comfortable knowing that they are talking to the right person.

Now, looking at the above information, it is pretty clear that we really don’t have a great deal of PII that is really safe from those that would try to steal our identities or even just get into some of our accounts and steal our money. Very little of our PII is really private anymore.

Suggestions:

This is a tough one. I have been contacting all of the companies that I work with and asking if they have the ability to use a special password to access my accounts when calling into their call centers. Obviously, most of them have passwords that help protect online accounts, and many of them require use of secret questions (see above) when accessing their online services. I have even noticed a couple of my credit cards have started setting cookies on my computer and then asking me lots of questions if I try to access their service from any other computer than my standard computer.

I strongly recommend pushing back when people ask for information that they don’t need.

I had a long talk with my Dentist the other day because of his sign-in sheet. They wanted my name, phone number, email, and address when I signed in. I understand that the goal was to see when information has changed, but he didn’t understand that having it all written down on a sheet that others can read and access is crazy. After our talk about the privacy of patients and how important it is to protect PII, he removed the sign-in sheet.

Microsoft Data Protection Manager 2010 Book Review

Back when I worked at Mindsharp, Steve Buchanan worked on my team. Steve was great to work with as he is extremely bright and loves the technology as much as I love it.

Anyway, recently, Steve sent me a copy of his first book. DPM is an interesting product and is really a great solution for many organizations, so his book on DPM hits a sweet spot in the market. I read through the book over a couple of weeks while I was traveling. I have to say that I am impressed.

The book addresses the topic very well, and the book is an easy read. There is no going off into left field discussion theory. The book is focused and clear, and most importantly, it does a great job of explaining how to take advantage of the features of DPM. While it may be a bit pricey for some, I think it is well worth it. You can order it here from Amazon.

I don’t recommend many books, but I have to recommend this one. Steve, if you are reading this, you did a great job!

My First Attempt–Tamale Masa

I love tamales. It is one of my favorite times of the year when the whole family gets together for Christmas Eve and we make tamales like… well… like it is Christmas Eve.

Earlier this year, I ran out of tamales and decided to make some on my own for the first time. Well, the first time, cheated and went to the store and bought some pre-mixed masa, then added some chili powder to get the flavor that I wanted.

This time, I decided to go for it and make my own. After I put my leaves in the sink to soak, I gathered my ingredients and went to work.

Ingredients:

• 3 3/4 lbs. of Masa
• 3 Tablespoons paprika
• 3 Tablespoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon cumin seeds (grind them up or you can replace with powder)
• 3 Tablespoons chili powder  (Gebhardts is the preferred)
• 3 Tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 cups corn oil
• Water – about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts or so (I replaced part of it with chicken broth, however, if you are making pork tamales, you can use pork broth from when you cooked your pork. In this case, I made chicken tamales)

Steps:

1. Mix the dry (meaning, not the oil or the water) spices above into the Masa until it is completely mixed.
2. Add your oil and a few cups of broth or water to get your mixture. Work the mixture with your hands to make dough. Add water (or broth) a cup at a time and continue working the mixture until you get the right consistency.

Note: Consistency of the mixture is vital to make sure it spreads well. It can’t been too thin or too thick. The rule that I keep hearing is that it should be like thick thick peanut butter.

At first, I was a little worried about the mixture being too hot, but it worked out almost perfectly. Next time, I think I will add some diced green chilies to the mixture.