Tales of a WordPress Trojan

A couple of nights ago, as I was browsing the web, I got a pop-up message from Zone Alarm Anti-virus telling me that it had found and quarantined the Trojan-Clicker.JS.Agent.h trojan in my Firefox cache.

Now the problem with the Firefox cache is that the files in there aren't indexed by URL name so I had no idea which site I'd gotten that trojan from. The only two sites that were open in my browser at that time were Google Reader and this here blog of mine. This blog, by the way, is installed on my own website which, in turn, is hosted on a shared web hosting server in the US. A server that is expertly managed by my web host's very competent systems administrators. My website, therefore, is very secure. My blog is also secure since my version of WordPress is almost always up-to-date. This, then, was strange since neither of those sites should really have had a trojan or virus or anything else malicious on them.

Since Google Reader was the less likely trojan-hosting candidate, I thought I'd check my blogs's HTML page source to see if I could figure out what was going on. However, when I tried to check it through Firefox, the page came up "missing". That was not a good sign. This meant that it was indeed my blog that contained the trojan since it was this page's local copy (in the cache) that Zone Alarm had quarantined. To double check, I navigated away from and then came back my blog's home page. Immediately, Zone Alarm popped-up another quarantine notice. Yep, the trojan was in my blog [1].

Bugger.

Time For Some Research

I then went to the web to learn all I could about the trojan which, strangely enough, wasn't much at all. This trojan was (and still is) rather new to the 'net and, therefore, has been minimally catalogued in all the online virus databases. It was, however, mentioned on a few message boards. Unfortunately, the relevant posting on Zone Alarm's message board was incredibly useless while the message boards that really seemed to be discussing it actively were all in Russian. Google Translate helped a bit with that but, ultimately, I couldn't learn anything from those pages either.

All I ended up learning from the web was that this is a JavaScript trojan (hence the JS in the middle of its name) that either opens up a pop-up ad, places a cookie in your browser's cache, creates a connection to a couple of sites on the 'net, and/or re-directs your browser to a particular page. I wasn't sure which of these this trojan did because it never got the chance to run on my computer. I also learnt that this trojan was, for all intents and purposes, pretty harmless. The virus databases listed its threat level as low and, really, if no one had even bothered to document it in any detail on the 'net, how bad could it be?

Still, a trojan is a trojan. So I set about trying to fix the problem myself.

Do-It-Yourself

The first thing I then did was some more research. I started by checking the WordPress site for security documentation. I learnt quite a bit from there. I then went and did all the things they suggested you do to 'harden' your WordPress installation. These were things I hadn't done earlier and that was probably how the trojan had gotten into my blog in the first place.

Next, I went and downloaded (through FTP) all the files from my blog installation to my local hard drive. All the files (mostly PHP files) got downloaded just fine but one of them immediately got quarantined by Zone Alarm. "A-ha", I thought, "that must be the file that contains the trojan. I must look at this file." Unfortunately, Zone Alarm wouldn't let me (duh!).

Fortunately, this was a file that I could look at from inside WordPress' administrator's interface. Unfortunately, again, most of what was in that file was gibberish. It contained a few JavaScript functions that were weirdly named (a seemingly-random string of numbers instead of a descriptive name) and some code within those. Now, since I didn't want to mess with WordPress' code, I though I'd compare this file's code with the corresponding code from Nadia's blog installation (which, according to Zone Alarm, was trojan free). Nadia's version of this file was, indeed different from mine. As I tried to tweak the code in my version of the file, however (i.e. change my file's code to make it look like Nadia's), I must have mistyped something because the next time I tried to view the blogs they had both crashed. That is, every time I tried to load them, I got a 500 Internal Server Error error.

Bugger.

It All Falls In To Place

Fortunately, our blogs eventually came back online (did I mention that my web host's SysAdmins were really good?) and, this time, I wasn't getting any trojan pop-up messages from Zone Alarm when I visited them. However, the next day, the trojan quarantine messages were back. Oh, and now they were coming from both blogs. It was then that it occurred to me: "Dammit! The reason my code editing didn't work the first time was because I was trying to make my trojan-ridden code look like another kind of trojan-ridden code!" That is, I wasn't actually removing the trojan from my blog, I was merely changing it to look like the trojan on Nadia's blog. What I should have done was compare my version of the file to a perfectly clean version of the same file.

To get a clean version of that file, I went back to the WordPress site but couldn't find it there. I figured I'd have to go into the actual PHP source code (maintained by WordPress' developers) to do that...but that wasn't something I really wanted to get into. Then I realized that I did have easy access to a clean version of that file: I could simply install another copy of WordPress on my own website. Since this would be a new install, all of its files would be perfectly clean and trojan-free. I could then compare my file to that installation's version of that file. So I went ahead and did just that. And guess what? All of the JavaScript code in my file was trojan code. That is, the original version of the file didn't contain any JavaScript code at all [2].

Removing that was easy and now, finally, our blogs are completely trojan-free. If all now goes well, and with the help of a much more secure WordPress installation, our blogs will stay trojan-free from now on as well. Here's hoping.

Footnotes

[1] While my web host's SysAdmins are responsible for maintaining the web server itself, they aren't responsible for the stuff you install on your site. That is, the fact that my blog had a trojan in it, wasn't their fault. It wasn't entirely my fault, either. Nor was it really the fault of the people who made WordPress. It was basically the fault of the hackers who had found a way to exploit a vulnerability in WordPress that let them attach this trojan to it. That's usually how it happens anyway.

[2] Which, in retrospect, is obvious since it was a PHP file that really shouldn't have had any JavaScript in it anyway.

Two Things: Excellent Typography, About Introverts

This is my sixth post today. I'm on a roll, eh? Two completely unrelated articles this time, for which I apologize. It's just that I don't want to write two separate posts for them when, really, I just want to write three lines for each.

First, do you want to see stunning examples of typography on the web? Look no further than I Love Typography's '15 Excellent Examples of Web Typography'. I mean, like, wow.

Second, Brian Kim wrote a really good article earlier this week called 'Top 5 Things Every Extrovert Should Know About Introverts'. Being generally introverted myself, I really appreciate the fact that he's written this and think that it's something everyone (extrovert and introvert likewise) should read.

The Latest on My Tablet PC Obsession

If you've been reading this blog for a while now (that would be just you, Nadia!), then you'll know that I am rather obsessed with convertible tablet PCs. That is, I really, really, really want one. Why? Because convertible tablet PCs are everything that I want in a laptop computer at this point in time. That is, a keyboard that I can type on, a touch screen that I can write on, and a small and light form factor that I can easily carry around. The latest ones are also fast, powerful, and full-featured (ports, accessories, etc.). The only things missing in them -- a large display and a configuration suitable for gaming -- are better left to desktops anyway. I figured, therefore, that it was time for another tablet PC update. Why? Because Fujitsu and HP both recently released their latest tablet PC offerings: the T2010 and the 2710p respectively. And from all the reviews about them on the web, they're both excellent machines.

So here's my hypothetical issue (it's rather pathetic to have one, I know, but hey, if I can't fantasize about all this here, then where can I fantasize?). If I had the money to buy a tablet PC right now (let's say I won the lottery or something...God: hint, hint), which one would I get? I'm down to the following four choices:

  1. Lenovo ThinkPad X61t

  2. Fujitsu LifeBook T4220

  3. Fujitsu LifeBook T2010

  4. HP Compaq 2710p


And they're all really good. The problem is that, while they're all really good, they're all extra-specially good in different ways.

The Powerhouses

The Fujitsu T4220, for example, is the only one that has an on-board optical drive. It's also (by far) the most powerful of the bunch. However, it's also the most expensive. The Lenovo X61t, meanwhile, has the best keyboard (though the others are really good too), the longest battery life, the fastest hard drive, a really good processor, and the best extras. However, it has the the dimmest screen, no on-board optial drive, and, for the time being at least, is going through production problems. These two are also the heaviest of the bunch (though both are less than 2kg each).

The Lightweights

Meanwhile, both the Fujitsu T2010 and HP 2710p are incredibly light (about 1.5kg each), have excellent screens, good battery life, and aren't all that expensive. However, neither has an on-board optical drive (which means you have have to buy, and then carry one, with you separately) and both have low-power (i.e. slightly less powerful) processors. The 2710p also has the slowest hard drive. On the other hand, it's the only one with a wide screen. It's also the cheapest of the lost, and, apparently, has the best "tablet PC experience" of the lot as well.

Confused? Hong Kong Phooey made a really nice comparison table that shows each tablet's strengths and weaknesses graphically. That might help. The discussion below that posting is quite good too.

More Data, Mr. Spock!

Want to know craploads more? Check out the following video reviews on GottaBeMobile.com:

Or the following text reviews listed on Tablet PC Review (except for the last two that haven't been added to the listing there yet):

Analysis, Mr. Data?

So what does this all mean? Which would I finally choose? Well, when you compare the four, the first (and most obvious) grouping splits the bunch into features and raw, number-crunching performance (X61t & T4220) versus display quality and overall tablet PC experience (T2010 & 2710p). I generally prefer performance over everything else since I want to be able to edit audio & video and run processor- & RAM-intensive programs like Dreamweaver and Paint Shop Pro on my laptop. This would be true even if I did end up buying a desktop on which I could play high-end computer games etc. And, really, I don't mind the extra half-kilo of weight. That eliminates the two lightweights and narrows my choice down to the two powerhouses: the X61t and the T4220.

Next, if push came to shove, I'd probably pick the Fujitsu over the Lenovo. Why? Because, even though the Fujitsu is the most expensive of the lot, it does have the most features. If I get the SXGA screen (i.e. the higher resolution one) and up the hard drive to 7,200RPM (i.e. the fastest one; if possible), for example, I undo most of the Lenovo's advantages. I won't get the Lenovo's excellent battery life in the standard configuration, yes, but I will get the most versatility thanks to the Fujitsu's modular bay drive that can hold an extra battery, the optical drive, or, to reduce weight, nothing. And I like versatility.

Oh, and I get a few bonuses with it too: the control key is the bottom-left-most key on the keyboard (a big plus in my book), there's a touch pad instead of a track point stick, and the docking bay includes an HDMI port (which makes for better viewing on large, external monitors). Fujitsu is also supposed to have the best service and support.

So there. I've decided then. I am hypothetically going to get the Fujitsu LifeBook T4220P (the P is the more powerful of the two models) as my next laptop. Now I just need the money for it. Which basically means that I won't be able to actually get this till next year (assuming, of course, that I have a job by then). Oh, and Dell will have have come out with its tablet PC by then too. That should really shake the industry up and, as a result, I will get to make one more posting about my little obsession here. Yippee! :) Till next time...

Djembe, Geek T-Shirts

Other than this awesome djembe from Toca Percission (pronounced jem-bay, by the way) that Nadia got me for my birthday:

Djembe_small


She got me a few t-shirts too. I selected these three from ThinkGeek:

Pi By Numbers



There's no place like 127.0.0.1



No Comment



We also really wanted this one, but it was out of stock:

Come to the Dark Side



And now, thanks to Download Squad, I really want this one as well:

Balki Bartokomous T-Shirt



(*sigh*) Some day.

Tech Stuff: Screen Savers, TinyURL, UC Berkeley, Careers

A lot of people have written about a lot of good/fun tech stuff over the last few weeks. Here are some of the things I found interesting:

The excellent Smashing Magazine did a good roundup of the best screen savers available online. And, in case you missed it, they recently did a good roundup of desktop wallpapers (my favourite wallpaper site for the last few years has been Vlad Studio, by the way) and, some time ago, an extensive roundup of over 40 books for professional design and development. Pretty awesome.

Scott Rosenberg wrote about the Terror of TinyURL. I'm someone who rarely, if ever, clicks on a URL that he can't see in the browser's status bar so I know where he's coming from. And while I do understand the need for TinyURL, it does scare me.

CNET reports that UC Berkeley has now started posting entire course lectures online on YouTube (at http://youtube.com/ucberkeley). And while the are the first to do so, they certainly won't be the last. This should be fun.

Finally, Marc Andreessen has been giving lots of excellent advice about career planning on his blog. He's written three installment (plus introduction) so far, and though he comes from a high-tech, Silicon Valley background, it makes a really great read for everyone:

Enjoy :)

Connolly in Potter, Fry on the Web

Monsters & Critics is reporting that comedian Billy Connolly will be playing Zenophilious Lovegood (Luna Lovegood's father) in the upcoming Harry Potter movie 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'! That's brilliant because Connolly is an exceptionally funny actor who has just the right amount of wackiness to play this particular role.

It's cool how, despite the fact that they're playing mostly bit parts, this franchise has gotten a whole bunch of seriously talented actors and actresses [1] to act in this series of movies. All of them are perfect for their roles [2], of course, though one wishes one could see more of them. Oh well.

Fry on the Web

Speaking of fantastic comedians (which is how we started), Stephen Fry now has a blog. His first (and, so far, only) entry is about the iPhone. Apparently, he's a huge PDA fan ("I have never seen a SmartPhone I haven't bought"). Who'd've thunk? Anyway, it makes a great read and, hopefully, he'll be an active blogger. Now wouldn't that be awesome.

Footnotes

Yes, I have footnotes in a blog posting. Want to make something of it?

[1] Or, if you want to be more politically correct (Hollywood style), just "actors".

[2] Like Alan Rickman as Serverus Snape, Kenneth Branagh as Gilderloy Lockhart, Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, and Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort.

Analyzing The Ongoing Communications Revolution

The last two or three generations have all gone through some form of communications revolution or the other. From the introduction of the telephone, to the early days of the "wireless", the widespread availability of low-cost printing, the ubiquity of broadcast media, all the way to the modern day proliferation of mobile phones, computers, and the Internet. And those are only a few of the technologies that have continued to further empower, enable, and connect people around the world. There are many more.

What is important and relevant to us these days (and to this posting, of course) is the communications revolution that we're going through right now. And, as with every communications revolution, it's not just about the technology, it's about what people are doing with that technology. That is, for example, while it Internet itself is really quite remarkable, what's even more remarkable is what people are doing with it, what they're using it for, and the content they're creating on it.

Recently, Wil Wheaton wrote a good article about all this in his weekly 'Geek in Review' on the Suicide Girls website. He writes:
Communication empowers people, and an empowered people are very, very scary to the powerful upper class who hope that we’ll just go away, right after we buy a lot of crap from them that we don’t need. And holy shit are they scared right now. The revolution may not be televised, but it’s being blogged, YouTubed, MySpaced, Facebooked, Dugg and Netscaped.

The follow-up discussion about that article on his blog is good too.

Phil Plait from the Bad Astronomy Blog then carried the discussion forward by talking about the problems we face when going through revolutions:
Old media (especially movies and radio) are dying, but their death throes are damaging new media too. Wil makes this point about DRM, the RIAA, and other hurtful acronymicious things. They are scared of teh ‘tubes, so they try to make them knuckle under. It’s not working well.

And there's much more discussion about all this on the comments to his posting as well.

My own take on all this mimics what Wil and Phil are saying, of course, but I just wanted to add something that Isaac Asimov wrote in one of his essays (I don't remember which one). He said that it's cool to be living in an age in which you can actually follow the evolutions and revolutions in technology that take place in your own lifetime. Before this, things happened over a number of generations. Nowadays, Moore's Law holds.

And the awesome thing is that, the people who are able to follow these evolutions and revolutions (i.e. those who learn from the past, live in the present, and create the future -- like Phil and Wil), what do they do? They blog, they make websites, they write articles on those websites, they record and freely distribute audio and video netcasts...basically, they use all of these revolutionary technologies to, well, further the revolution. And it's not the technology revolution they're furthering, it's the social one. The one that talks about equity, fairness, honesty, peace, justice, kindness, and so on and so forth. And that, really, is what it's all about.

Seven Wonders of the IT World

I have a lot of small bits of information to share today. I guess I'll do it in bits and pieces (i.e. in separate blog postings). Here's the second tech-related one of the day.

CIO Magazine recently published an article on the Seven Wonders of the IT World and it makes and interesting read. A couple of the wonders are more "what a cool place for a computer to be" type wonders: the computer closest to the north pole and the computer farthest from the Earth. Three have to do with raw processing power: one of Google's data centers, the largest grid computing project, and the world's fastest supercomputer. One has to do with smallness: the smallest computer to run Windows Vista. And one has to do with computing: the paradigm change brought about the Linux kernel. They're all truly wonders (or, at least, CIO's definition of what makes a "wonder") and, like I said earlier, the article is good to read.

Have you noticed, though, that more and more we like readings things that have are neatly listed, categorized, and ranked -- basically, things that we can digest quickly and easily...like, er, chicken nuggets. Oh well.

Technology in Education

Universities these days are really getting into the high-tech thing aren't they? Here are two examples. First, from my undergraduate university in Pakistan:
Mobilink, [Pakistan's largest cell phone carrier], recently announced its collaboration with the country’s top-most business school, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) to provide exclusive BlackBerry® communications solutions to its campus life. [Read the Pakistan Times article]

And the second from one of Australia's top universities:
Macquarie is the first university in Australia to provide students with customised Google e-mail accounts with Gmail for staff set to follow. [Read the Computer World article]

Life With a Tablet PC - Part 2

Much as I want to get a tablet PC as my next computer (not that I can afford even a laptop power supply for the next 18 months but, hey, one can dream, right?) I worry that it might not be powerful enough for my needs. At least not in the medium-term...but more on that later. For now though, since I am a student who moves around a great deal and whose primary computer is a laptop (so it needs to go with me everywhere), I need to be as mobile as possible. I would get that mobility with a tablet PC; while its slate-mode functionality would significantly increase my productivity. I also value performance very highly -- I play computer games and edit graphics and audio -- and most high-end tablet PCs (i.e. the latest offerings from Fujitsu, Lenovo, and HP) would let me do some of that which, for the time being, is sufficient for my needs.

The problem is that, the more mobile a computer is, the less powerful it generally is. If you list computers in increasing order of power and, therefore, in decreasing order of mobility you get this:

  • Ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs) -- diary-sized, with 4 to 7-inch screens

  • Small tablet PCs -- A4 page-sized, with 9 to 10-inch screens

  • Regular tablet PCs -- ring binder-sized, with 12 to 13-inch screens

  • Regular laptops -- file folder-sized, with 14 to 15-inch screens

  • Gaming/media laptops -- box file-sized, with 15 to 17-inch screens

  • Regular desktops -- standard, with 15 to 22-inch screens

  • Gaming/media desktops -- large, with 19 to 30-inch screens (maybe even multiple screens)


My previous laptop (the one that died a few months ago) was a regular laptop. The one I am using now is a four year-old regular laptop (so it's smaller, heavier, and less powerful than a modern-day regular laptop). If I was to get a laptop next week, I would unhesitatingly get a regular, convertible tablet PC. That much is clear. Now this would be nice for a while. For quite a while, actually; that is, at least for the duration of my studies.

Once I graduate and get a job, since I would continue to use this as my primary computer at everywhere but work, I would then want to buy a large-ish external monitor for it and maybe a nice keyboard and mouse too. That would be just fine as well.

Eventually, though, there would come a time when I would want to play the latest versions of my favourite computer games and use the latest versions of my favourite resource-intensive (mainly multimedia-editing) software packages. That's when the tablet PC's lack of computing power would start to pinch (mainly the lack of a dedicated graphics card). I would then seriously consider buying a gaming/media desktop (I would be rolling in money by now, see?).

Now, knowing (more accurately: hoping) that this is how things will play out, I wonder: to avoid having to buy two computers (as if that's a bad thing), should I just buy a nice powerful laptop now instead of that tablet PC? Fortunately, my answer is am emphatic no. The fact is I do need to use a computer in two different ways and that there isn't one computer that will do both things for me (i.e. be both mobile and powerful).

What, then, was the point of writing all this? What is the moral of my little story? I think the point of writing all this is simply to say that some day, when I grow up, I am going to be just like James Kendrick :)

Life With a Tablet PC - Part 1

After reading mobility and tablet PC veteran James Kendrick's recent articles about his life with tablet PCs I got to wondering about what my ideal life with tablet PCs would be like. Before I get to that, though, check out Kendrick's articles.

In his first, 'A day in the life - a tale of two tablets', he writes about how he uses his three computers -- a small tablet PC (Fujitsu LifeBook P1610), a regular tablet PC (Lenovo ThinkPad X61t), and a media desktop (Apple MacBook Pro) -- in his work and home life, keeping them synchronized and choosing to use one over the other depending on what his work day is going to be like. In his second, 'Using multiple devices intelligently', he goes into a little more detail about how he manages to do all this intelligently and effectively.

Which, by the way, reminds me of an brilliant article posted a couple of months ago on Student Tablet PC on an electronic filing system for managing class notes, handouts, assignments, books etc. That article, 'Studying in the Humanities - Part 1: My Electronic Filing System', is a must-read for any student considering buying a tablet PC for university.

Oh, and one more fun article on tablet PCs is 'Crazy UMPC People' by Tech Art's Miles McCusker who says:
Out of nowhere, I’ve found myself hooked on reading blogs about Ultramobile PC’s (UMPC’s) and tablets-PC. I’m addicted to reading about the lives these people lead, constantly receiving, buying, using and reviewing Tablet PC and UMPC’s as well! I’m not sure where they get the money? I mean, they can’t seem to get enough of them! More annoyingly… neither can I stop reading about whole thing.

He then goes on to discuss whether he needs a UMPC or not. It's a lot of fun.

For what it's worth, my thoughts on my life with tablet PCs is coming up...

Typography: Man on Fire, Helvetica

Continuing my discussion on the use of type in films (see my previous post), I also recently read a good article on the use of subtitles in Tony Scott's 'Man on Fire'. I've mentioned this in passing on this blog before, but Speak Up does a whole lot more...and has screen shots as well :)
In Man on Fire, Tony Scott turns its obligatory subtitles into visual stimuli for the movie, intertwining -- sometimes gently, other times abruptly -- typography into its scenes. The subtitles, rendered most of the time in Franklin Gothic, are not confined to the top layer of the film, they have depth and perception, they wait for their turn and they, like their real-life actors, hit their mark as told. This, however, is not groundbreaking, many movies have used typography better and many of the visual puns in Man on Fire are reminiscent of Typography 101 exercises (How do you make type scream? You make it big and bold, silly). Nonetheless, Man on Fire achieves small, visual victories that add charisma and personality to commonly bland and uninspiring subtitles.

[Source: http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/002231.html]

If you're into typography, make sure you give it a read.

Helvetica

The Helvetica documentary is now available on DVD! I still haven't watched it and am dying to get my hands on it. Hmmm...something must be done. I wonder if it'll be available for sale in any of the bookstores here. I hope so!

Typography in HP&OTP

I love typography (and everything that goes along with it). In fact, the only bit of artistic drawing that I can do is related to the shapes and styles of words and letters (or, more generally, simple geometric shapes). Typography is also a large part of my work (website design). As a result, I visit typography websites (such as Typographica.org), subscribe to design blogs, download and experiment with lots of fonts, use lots of fonts, and so on. Over the last couple of weeks, I read a couple of interesting articles on the use of typography in Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (HP&OTP) movie that I thought I should share:

The first is by Design Observer who says:
But it's not just the villains who pull focus, for this most recent theatrical release includes an even more pronounced paradigm shift: it may just be the first film in which letterforms, once the purview of the production designer, break free and actually join the cast.

[Source: http://www.designobserver.com/archives/026935.html]

And then Perez-Fox goes on to say:
In Order of the Phoenix, the wizarding world is engulfed in a sort of media war. Since Voldemort is still underground, most of the dramatics are surrounding slander and perceptions, rather than gunslinging, so to speak. So it is fitting the wizarding paper of record, The Daily Prophet, gains a life of it’s own, and really tells the story better than ever before

[Source: http://www.perezfox.com/2007/08/10/the-typography-of-harry-potter/]

They're good articles and, if you're into this type of thing (haha, I made a pun!), be sure to check them out.

Broadband Ho!

After using a dial-up Internet connection for about a year, we finally got a broadband (ADSL) connection at home yesterday. And boy is it a relief to browse at those speeds again. At home, that is -- I'm not counting my blazingly fast work and university Internet connections. Anyway, dialup was really, really starting to get on my nerves. Especially when coupled with my horse-and-cart speed laptop. Though, to be fair, my laptop on its own isn't really all that bad. The two together, however, do not make for a happy Ameel. So: one down, one to go. Of course, I'll have to wait for about another year before I can even begin to think of upgrading my laptop. Such is life.

Three other fun tech-related things happened yesterday. First, we got a wireless router at home so, not only are we connecting to the 'net at broadband speeds, we're wireless as well. Second, I got my laptop a USB wireless LAN adaptor (duh!). And third, I got a USB hard drive enclosure for my previous laptop's hard drive. That is, having already stripped my previous laptop of its RAM, I am now going to remove its hard drive (a good, 5,400RPM, 60GB hard drive) which I will then start using as an external hard drive (for current data backups, etc.). That last thing is quite a relief, actually, since my only other data backup is on my iPod. Once again, bless Nadia for having the foresight to get me a 60GB iPod a couple of years ago! Anyway, I now need to find some good backup software to use. I guess I'll start by exploring the one that came with the enclosure and then hit the 'net. At broadband speeds. Hee.

Ooh, and one more thing. Being in Australia, I am finally reaping the benefits of the excellent electronic funds transfer system that they have here. All of the hardware we've recently bought was from an online store (Discount Junction) that saved us quite a bit of time, money, and hassle. Most cool.

In other news: Nadia and I are going to watch Die Hard 4.0 (a.k.a. Live Free or Die Hard) tonight. I'll have more on that over the next few days. We're also going to the Cure concert on Sunday. Yes, life is good these days :)

[Aside: Hmmm...I still haven't posted my Harry Potter blog entry. I started it a week ago and have been saving it as a draft since then. I shall work on that next, I think.]

Near-Term Goals for This Here Blog

There is a lot that I want to blog about.

For example, I have recently watched the following movies:

Read the following interesting articles:

Read or re-read the following awesome books:

  • Frank Herbert's first Dune trilogy: "Dune", "Dune Messiah", and "Children of Dune"

  • JK Rowling's "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows"


Started listening to some really good netcasts on TWiT, including:

Discovered a couple of really good musicians:

Bought tickets to a couple of great concerts:

  • The Cure: 12 August, 2007 at the Rod Laver Arena

  • The Police: 26 January, 2008 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground


All of which are blog-worthy items. I have also recently started extensively using the moste excellent Google Reader which is something that I really want to blog about.

Finally, aside from everything already listed above, I am now formally declaring the following topics as future postings of mine for this here blog:

  • Facebook (and social networking in general)

  • Living in Australia

  • Why blog?

  • The problem with this blog


All of which I will about write soon. I hope.

Huh?

Why have I just written all of this? Well, all this is thanks to first item on Web Worker Daily's '10 Ways to be Productive with Your Blog' which is: "Post goals". Tthat's step one done with. Let's see how the others go :)

Oh, and I have also recently added a new page to my website called '(Much) More About Me', the title of which is rather self explanatory.

Downgrading

It's hard to go back to using something older and obviously less-better than what you've gotten used to using. Okay, that was a convoluted sentence. Let me start again. It's hard to go back to using Microsoft Windows 2000 and Office 2000 when you've been using Windows XP and Office 2002 & 2003 for over four years now. That's what's happening to me at my "summer" (it's winter in Australia) internship here in Melbourne. The multinational company I'm working for is quite awesome, as is its global IT setup, but its basic software installation is still seven years old. And the fact that I'm having to spend all day using an older version of Microsoft Word (which is what I spend most of my day on) is rather frustrating.

It's not all that bad, actually. Most of the functionality I need is there and the hardware that I'm using (a Pentium-IV HT processor with 1 gig of RAM) barely even notices that it's running software (the good part about using brand new hardware with older software). I'm also using a higher resolution display so I get more screen real estate than I normally do, which is quite cool. No, all that is just fine and dandy. Actually, it's quite awesome. It's just the little things that get to me.

Styles, for example. Style functionality was a major change between Word 2000 and 2002. In 2000, you went to Format > Styles in the menu bar and got a pop-up options window that let you manipulate the styles used in the document. 2002 onwards, Format > Styles, or just clicking the styles icon in the menu bar, opens up a panel on the right side of the text editing window. This allows you to manipulate styles while still being able to work on the text itself. This change was awesome and it revolutionized the way in which I used styles. I no longer have that coolness to work with.

Copy-pasting behaviour also changed between the versions, with the newer one letting you be more accurate with your selection (instead of quickly moving your selection to include the paragraph mark after the last word and then being a pain about letting you deselect just that). Windows 2002 also made it easier to work with hyperlinks and with document versioning (accepting/rejecting all changes in the document, switching views that do or don't show markup, etc.).

While these minor things don't really make my life all that much harder (since I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts and those are mostly the same between the two versions) it does frustrate me a little every now and again. Particularly the styles thing.

All my complaining aside, I don't really blame the company for sticking with the Windows 2000-based system that they have in place right now. It's hard (and expensive) to upgrade on a global scale, especially when you're as big as they are and you want to guarantee an excellent level of technical support (which they do and are very good at). What's fun though is that, over the next year or so, the whole organization is moving to a Windows Vista setup. Office 2007's new, tabbed menu system might confuse the heck out of some people (even though it's not all that different despite appearing to be drastically better that the current one), but for the people like me who are suffering under Office 2000, it should bring about a much appreciated jump in productivity. And if not an increase it productivity, at least a decrease in overall levels of frustration :)

Firefox Add-ons

Firefox Add-ons are awesome.

For blog postings specifically, I love the fact that I have the British English dictionary add-on installed. It spell-checks everything that I type into text boxes (such as the one I'm typing into now).

Other Extensions (which is an Add-on sub-type) that I can't live without are:

  • Google Toolbar, which just makes life so much easier

  • FlashGot, for letting me choose which program I want to use for downloading something

  • DownThemAll!, for letting me download multiple links/elements in a web page

  • PDF Download, for letting me choose between displaying or downloading PDF files when I click on a .pdf link

  • Web Developer, for letting get into the nitty gritty of websites

  • ColorZilla, for letting me identify any colour that I see in the browser window

  • MeasureIt, for letting me measure (in pixels) anything that I see in the browser window

  • Tabbrowser Preferences, for letting me control my Firefox tabs better


Oh, and the Long Titles extension, which lets me read long lines of alternate text (for images), is also useful for websites like xkcd.

Actually, you know what? Firefox itself is awesome :)

Tablet PC Links

In an attempt to confirm my status as Officially Obsessed with Tablet PCs, here are some tablet PC links.

If you want news, views, reviews (in text, audio, and video), or just generally want to know about tablet PCs, then these are the sites to go to:

If, however, you are thinking of buying a tablet PC, here are a few specific links:

And if you are a student, here are some specific links for you:

There are many other sources of information out there, of course, but those are some of the most useful ones.

Updates and New Entries

I think I'll stop posting stuff about tablet PCs now (unless something new and really exciting comes up, of course). I do, however, want to end this series of posts by saying that Lenovo has just announced the launch of the X61 Tablet which is an upgrade to its X60t (the usual abbreviation for the X60 Tablet). This version, due to be launched in June, includes Intel's new Centrino Duo chip (codenamed Santa Rosa) which increases power and battery life (especially if you use Turbo RAM) and includes the draft 802.11n wireless standard. Most cool. Fujitsu, meanwhile, has announced the launch of the T4225 which is its upgrade to the T4215, also with the new Santa Rosa chipset. And finally, Toshiba has announced the launch date (everybody loves end-June, it seems) for the wireless dock-enabled version of the R400. Fun things are happening in the tablet PC space, I tell you.

Oh, and Dell has announced its entry into the tablet PC space (specifically, the convertible tablet space) but there aren't too many details about that available on the 'net at this time. And I should mention that both HP and BenQ's latest offerings (media-ready convertible tablet PCs) are quite good too. I wonder when Sony will make its entry. I guess we'll just wait and see.

Obsessed with Tablet PCs

Okay, so I'm obsessed with tablet PCs these days. I've been looking around at laptops since my old one died anyway (and am somehow, magically, hoping to acquire another one) but now that I've started looking at convertible tablets (during study breaks while preparing for my final exams) I find that I am quite obsessed with them. And truly, they are worthy of such an obsession.

Anyway, since I've done some more exploring -- during which I found out a lot more about my three favourite laptops -- I've shortened my wish list a little bit.

The Toshiba: Not Enough Horsepower

Basically, the Toshiba Portege R400 is out of the running. Why? Well, because this laptop is designed for the "mobile professional". That is, in order to gain mobility, what it gains in battery life (5 hours with the additional battery) it sacrifices in power. My biggest problem with it is its 4,800 RMP hard drive speed which, for me, is far too slow. The processor and all are still pretty good -- especially since the system was specifically designed from the ground up to run Windows Vista -- but the slower hard drive messes it all up for me. Why? Because it makes it harder to do the high-end multimedia stuff -- like sound, image, and video editing -- that I would want to do on my laptop. It only other real negative is the fact that it has no built-in modem.

On the other hand, its styling (think Apple), material and coating (think high quality grand piano) and display (probably the best among all laptops) really are quite awesome and its edge display (which is a first for laptops) is really cool too. Oh, and its as-yet-unreleased wireless dock is supposed to be incredibly convenient. That, however, is for an updated version of the R400 due to go on sale end-June.

The Fujitsu: Quite Awesome

Next we have the Fujitsu LifeBook T4215 which is really quite awesome. Everything about it is cool and it has a very good "inking" experience (i.e. when you write text on it using the stylus). The advantages it has over other tablet PCs -- and in my case over the Lenovo -- include (1) the fact that it has a built-in optical drive (i.e. CD/DVD reader/burner) but is actually lighter than the Lenovo, (2) it has a touch pad instead of a track stick, (3) its speakers are better placed (in front instead of underneath), (4) parts its keyboard are nicer (the bottom-left key is the control key and not the function key), (5) the screen can turn both ways when you go into slate mode, and (6) you can replace the optical drive with an extra battery. Two other things may or may not be advantages. First, its stylus clips in to a pen-shaped slot next to the screen. Some people find this irritating but others say its helped them not lose their pens because you can easily tell when you've forgotten to put it back. Second, its fingerprint reader is on the bottom-left side of the screen. That might be irritating to some right-handers when logging on but its coolness lies in the fact that you can use it to scroll within documents.

On the other hand, some say that the Fujitsu's weight distribution when it's in slate mode is not ideal. But that's just nitpicking because the inclusion of the optical drive and the touch pad, and maybe the placement of the control key, are the things that really matter to me. (I can balance the slate regardless of weight distribution, I rarely use the speakers anyway, and, really, I can live with turning the screen in only one direction). So, like I said at the start of the paragraph: this is quite an awesome PC.

The Lenovo: Also Quite Awesome


Finally we have the Lenovo ThinkPad X60. And what a machine that is! I've spent the last couple of days watching the video reviews of these laptops on GottaBeMobile.com and, from what I've seen, the X60 is really fabulous. It has a full-size keyboard (which includes all the extra navigation keys like Home, End, Page Up and Page Down in their horizontal grid configuration; and, even though the placement of the control key is irritating, you can get used to its positioning), excellent hardware (with lots of hardware options), and a great display (also with many different options). It also has a whole range of extras, the coolest of which are its (1) UltraDock: a mobile docking station that lets you adds lots of things to it, including an optical drive, an additional battery, and more ports, (2) its US version has a built-in WiFi (wireless broadband) card, (3) inclusion of the draft 802.11n wireless networking standard, and (3) nifty battery management software.

Other good things about it are the fact that you can upgrade the on-board battery from the standard 4-cell battery to an 8-cell one (the Fujitsu comes with a 6-cell standard) and you can add an extended battery to it too (which is wedge-shaped and clips on to the bottom of the unit) to get up to 10 hours of battery life. It also has a FireWire port that the Fujitsu doesn't have (which makes it easier to connect to multimedia devices like digital cameras) even though it doesn't have the Fujitsu's smart card and memory card readers.

On the other hand, the Fujitsu has two useful features that the Lenovo doesn't have: rubber covers for its external ports (which make it look nicer when closes) and non-slip grips on the back so it's easier to hold in slate mode. Other than that, though, they're about the same (a lot more on that in a bit).

Australian Prices

In my previous posting I quoted US prices according to which the Toshiba was the most expensive of the three systems. In Australia (where I am these days), the T4215 costs about $3,000; the R400 costs about $3,050; and the X60 costs about $3,900. That makes the Lenovo the most expensive. The Fujitsu, on the other hand, is the cheapest in both countries.

By the way, these prices are for the basic, standard-configuration systems. Fortunately, those are quite good. But when you add in some of the extra stuff (like a 7,200 RPM hard drive, 2GB RAM, a good carrying case, an optical drive, etc.) these prices cross the 5k mark pretty quickly (an near 6k for a darned good system).

Pros and Cons Recap

Now here's the problem: with the Toshiba out of the picture, I'd have to choose between the Fujitsu and Lenovo. Unfortunately, for systems that are so different in so many ways (both major and minor), they really are about the same. Actually, let me list the major differences one more time to make things a little clearer before I move on:

Fujitsu: Pros: has a track pad and an optical drive; is slightly more powerful than the Lenovo; costs considerably less. Cons: doesn't have a full keyboard (though I like its control key placement) or a FireWire port (though that's not at all essential since most digital cameras can also use the USB ports).

Lenovo: Pros: has a full keyboard, a FireWire port, lots of accessories, and a higher screen resolution option; it also includes the draft 802.11n wireless networking standard. Cons: is a little less powerful; doesn't have a built-in optical drive or a track pad; is more expensive (especially when you have to spend even more on an optical drive).

So, Fujitsu or Lenovo?

So what does that mean? Which should I choose? Well, it depends on what I want to do with my laptop now and in the near future and also how/when/where I use my laptop. Listing that down will help me figure out which pros and cons are important to me and which aren't. That should help me eliminate one of the two options.
Now I use my laptop as my primary computer. I use it to work, play games, watch movies, listen to music, browse the Internet, make websites, create/edit graphics, and create/edit audio. Basically, I do everything short of video editing...but that is something I want to do (to a limited degree, of course) on this laptop. And how do/where/when do I use it? Well, I like sitting on a chair and working on a table (i.e. not on the floor/bed/sofa or with stuff in my lap; unless I'm reading a book), I almost always use an external mouse, I usually have lots of windows open, and I takes lots of detailed notes in class. I also like to keep my laptop with me all the time.

When you put the pros and cons in the context of how I use my laptop, how I intend to use my laptop, and my current situation (I'm a student living on a budget), here's what happens:

  • The track pad/stick doesn't matter all that much

  • The higher resolution display makes a difference (+2 for Lenovo)

  • The full keyboard makes a difference (+2 for Lenovo)

  • Battery life doesn't really matter all that much (just over 3 hours is all I really need in one sitting) but the Fujitsu's 6-cell battery is cool when compared to Lenovo's 4-cell standard (+1 for Fujitsu)

  • The on-board optical drive is convenient but not essential, though having to buy an extra optical drive costs money and carrying it around may be a pain (-1 Lenovo)

  • Standard configuration cost is an issue and the Lenovo is a little more expensive to start with (-1 for Lenovo) even though I know that is because it has a better screen and keyboard

  • Processing power is not much of an issue if I'm going to customize the system, but it does matter in the standard configuration (+1 for Fujitsu)


And when you put that all together, funnily enough, you break even again. So what now? Well, you factor in two more things: time and money.

Basically, it boils down to this: if I can only afford the standard system and I have to buy it at today's prices, the Fujitsu wins hands down. It's cheaper, it has a built-in optical drive, and its screen and keyboard are good enough (they're comparable to the ones I'm using now). It's also more powerful, and buying this will give me the biggest bang for the buck. On the other hand, if I can afford to customize the system I'm buying, the Lenovo would win hands down. Its keyboard and screen are better (which is good since I expect to use my laptop for 3-4 years and this is important to me), it has FireWire support (which is nice), it includes the draft 802.11n wireless networking standard (making it slightly future proof), and its battery and lack of optical drive don't matter all that much since I will be getting the 8-cell battery and maybe the UltraDock (or, at the very least, an external optical drive).

Of Course...

Of course, at the end of the day, none of this really matters. The whole discussion, comparison, and conclusion are all just talk because I actually can't afford to buy either of these tablet PCs. In fact, I won't be able to buy one till this time next year; i.e. once I've graduated and have found myself a high-paying job. Even then, I'd be leasing the system because I could never afford the lump sum especially since my first priority would be to pay off my loans anyway. Unless, of course, I got a really, really cool job and they gave me a big starting bonus (like big consulting companies do)...but I don't think that's going to happen (mainly because I don't think I'm going to be applying to big consulting companies).

Still, it's good to dream, isn't it? :)

I Want a Tablet PC

My post-warranty laptop died a few months ago (motherboard problem...long story) and I am now stuck using my mother's ancient Compaq. This is a problem. See, I'm a techie and techies don't have/want/use crappy laptops. Actually, wait...let me clarify: this laptop is not really "crappy", it's just old. It's large, heavy, has an old keyboard, no built-in wireless adapter (it's pre-Centrino), a slow (4,800 RMP!) 30GB hard drive, a non-functional optical drive, an old model touchpad (i.e. less responsive), hard-to-press function keys (the ones that adjust volume, etc.), a dying battery, and an incredibly heavy power adapter. On the other hand, it has a great display and good quality JBL speakers. Oh, and it works. Unlike my old laptop. Anyway, so it's old which, in laptop terms (particularly to a techie) means that it's crappy. Actually, even if I wasn't a techie, having to move to anything older is, well, a bit of a pain.

So, while taking a break after today's final exam and before studying for tomorrow's, I am looking up laptops (or notebooks, as they are also called...though mine have never been small and light enough to warrant my calling them anything different!). I am also making a wish-list short-list of the ones I want to buy, the result of which is this blog post.

Now, choosing the right laptop is very difficult (it depends on what you want to do with it and how much you can afford). Fortunately, I already know what type of laptop I want to buy -- a convertible notebook/tablet -- so this makes my life a little easier. A convertible laptop, by the way, is a laptop that can switch between being a regular notebook and a tablet PC. You do this by twisting its display around and laying that flat on the keyboard, and then using a digitizer pen to write/draw on the screen itself. (Check out the sexy Toshiba Portege R400 for a demonstration. Click "Product Tour" in the Additional Information menu to access the Flash demo.)

Why?

I want this type of laptop for a number of reasons. First, they're really small and light (they get listed in the ultraportables category) and, thanks to my constant travelling -- 30-40 minutes (one way) walking and then taking a tram between home and university every single day -- I really could do with something this small and light. I was already a little tired of lugging my old laptop around and this "new" one one just makes things worse. The downside to getting a convertible, of course, is that they're rather small, with screens measuring only 12.1 inches diagonally. (That means the screen is about the size of an A4 page, by the way.) But that's okay. I am more than ready to sacrifice loss in screen size over loss in weight!

Second, I have come realize that I don't want a laptop to be my primary computer. Very few laptops laptop are able to run all the high-end games and multimedia applications (graphics, video, and audio) that I want to run. And the ones that do run them either run just one of the two (high-end MacBook Pros will run the multimedia applications but not the games, for example) or are not really "laptops" but "portable desktops" (like the high-end Alienware or Voodoo series that are designed for serious gaming enthusiasts). As a result, I am no longer looking for a laptop that is a jack of all trades machine (i.e. used for work, travel, and fun).
My overall game plan, by the way, is to first buy a laptop that I can use for work, travel, and most high-end applications and games, and then buy a desktop that I can use at home for games and multimedia. Later, I will get an Apple desktop for my music studio and a regular desktop (running Linux) which I will use as my very own file, print, web, proxy, database, security, gateway server. Hey, one can dream, right? :)

Anyway: Third, convertibles are really cool. They're incredibly useful, particularly since I am a student again and taking lecture notes on my laptop would make my life significantly easier. I take very detailed notes but I can't take them on my laptop for all my courses because some of them have too many diagrams involved (try learning macroeconomics without using diagrams!). I could, of course, draw all the diagrams in Microsoft Word (which is what I use for taking notes) but there's just never enough time to do that. As it is, Word isn't the best for drawing diagrams and pictures (I prefer Visio). Also, convertibles are incredibly cool in themselves: I mean, being able to flip your screen over and write on it with a pen is just...whoa!

The Wish List

Anyway, coming back to the point of this post: my next laptop will be a convertible tablet PC. So let it be written, so let it be done. In fact, I have already short listed my favourites in this category (in order or preference, with most of the bells and whistles included in the price):

  1. Lenovo's ThinkPad X60 (IBM/US version) which costs about US$2,500 and is really quite awesome except that it has only a TrackPoint mouse (i.e. the button mouse in the middle of the keyboard) which is something I am not used to using.

  2. Fujitsu's LifeBook T4215 (US version) which costs about US$2,700 and is a really good overall system.

  3. Toshiba's Portege R400 (Australian Version) which costs about US$2,900 and is (maybe) not as good technically, but is stylistically cooler than the others.


There are a few others too -- like Gateway's E155C and HP's upcoming Pavilion tx100 -- but they're not all that great (or quite what I want). If you're interested in finding more about convertible tablets, by the way, check out PC Magazine's listing of Tablet PCs (sort by Editor's rating to make your life easier) and Laptop Magazine's article "Tablet PCs on the Move". And if you're really interested in tablet PCs, check out GottaBeMobile.com which has full "InkShows" (video shows) on the ThinkPad X60, LifeBook T4215, and the Portege R400 (each has move than one video, by the way; most cool).

Of course, each of my top three can be further upgraded (more RAM, faster processor, faster, larger hard drive, optical drive, better dock, etc.) so, in the end, it's probably not all about specs. However, most of this talk is moot since I can't afford to buy any of these for, well, quite a while yet anyway. But, I will buy one eventually! I just hope it's sooner rather than later and, just in case, I want to be prepared :)