CyberCafe

I've been wanting to run a cybercafe for a very long time now. There have, though, been two barriers: Startup money and profit.

The first, can be surmounted, but figuring out how to make a profit with a cybercafe in the US has proven to be more problematical.

Looking at similar projects in the past, the only ones still around make their profits in some other way and just happen to have internet access. This is wholely unacceptable for the spirit of the idea. And taking significant losses is unacceptable in business, no matter what you're doing.

Now, just today, an idea struck me on how to make it work: Showcase Advertizing. Basically, you make the Cafe, add terminals, and then solicit various companies to pay you to showcase their brand name in your cafe. Whether it be IBM, Microsloth, or Novell, you rent out exclusive advertizing rights for the sponsor. They get to redecorate, put up posters, set up a demo station, and they control the advertizing on the screens and commercials shown on the terminals. The Cafe runs the terminals, the coffee, and charges for internet access, while the sponsor gets (almost) exclusive brand inundation to the customers. This would be perfect for product launches, advertizing campaigns, and to train sales and marketing people for dispatch into the arena of major conventions.

You could have a small logo for the actual company running the place and the rest of the advertizing space taken up by the sponsor's ads. Screensavers, banner ads, paint schemes, etc. would be controlled by the sponsor, a little like those advertizing cars you see now and then or like the big ad space on public busses.

With the sponsored ads changing often, the visitors get a change of scenery and with the same company running the coffee and net access side of things, there is an internal consistancy for getting your work done.

Anyone want to start something like this? Commen here or email me through the contact info to your left.

Spam

In order for spammers to keep spamming, someone must be buying it. Does anyone know anyone who has bought or better, routinely buys stuff from spammers? I'm really curious. I've yet to meet anyone who does this nearly enough to make it worth the time of the spammer... yet... they continue. Who (specifically - Don't telle me idiots) buys this stuff? Really. Who?

Information wants to be free

Take a look at the statistics on the home page over at SourceForge.net. Of the top 5 most downloaded programs in the last week (and for many weeks) the top 4 are all file sharing applications. The fifth is a nice, free replacement for an overpriced image editing program.

Mr. Universe: "They can't stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet

Like the reviewer, I thought this might be a "Holy Grail" of tablets - small, open source, etc... but alas... This is not the case.

So uhh... Look. Here's a tip for mobile hardware makers: It's a mobile device. This means we want to use it away from things like... power outlets. Three hours of battery life is simply unacceptable. Also, a little more beta testing would have been nice.

It's too bat that Tapwave screwed up and went under. They had the right idea.

MIT Media Lab: $100 Laptop

MIT Media Lab: $100 Laptop

Ok... According to the web site, "Please note that the $100 laptops?not yet in production?will not be available for sale. The laptops will only be distributed to schools directly through large government initiatives."

What the hell are they thinking?!?

They're building a laptop that is cheap, and has all the basic functionality 99% of us really need, it can be crank-powered, and includes USB, WiFi, and mesh networking. What kind of crack are they smoking that they think it would be a bad idea to sell these to the general public for a little more money?

I'd GLADLY pay $200 for one of these! Take my money, and use the extra $100 to buy one of these for some poor starving kid who is probably going to use it to run a 419 scam or something.

The point is... this thing has a few features I have been looking for for YEARS. Why do I like laptops? Because they don't tie me down to my desk. This one not only had wireless networking built in but has a goram CRANK to charge it. I'd practically give my left nut for one of those! With this thing I can go out into the woods and actually bring books, notes, and projects I am working on with me. I'm no longer limited to just a couple hours of work if I want to take a few days away from civilization. It's simple, efficient, and does exactly what I need: A little more than a PDA and not quite a desktop replacement.

You'd think the folks running this project might get a clue that they have something here that a lot more than starving kids in thirdworld nations are interested in.

Ideas...

For those who know me, I'm an idea person. I have lots of ideas and I'd love to be an entreprenneur if only I could raise the startup capital for my ideas. But alas, I may not be poor, but I certainly don't have the finances to start the companies I want to start.

Last night I was hit with a serious (for me) bout of insomnia and I decided to throw some of my ideas on a simple web page. If you're interested, check them out at http://biz.datasquire.net. If you would like to fund any, please let me know. If you decide to use any of my ideas without my inclusion all I ask in payment is one copy of each product you make using my ideas or, if it's a service, that I get in free. (You get the point, I think. I just want access to what you did with my ideas...)

So why can't I get funding? Simple. Venture capitalists generally only fund projects where first the founder is completely dedicated to just that project and nothing else. I don't want to run any of these (with the possible exception of the first on the list) for the rest of my life. I want to get the company started and sell it off and move on for the most part. Second, they only fund people who have already been very successful in the field they need funding for. Well.. I don't have that kind of background so I'd need to rely on someone who had complete faith in me and well... no one with that kind of money is likely to take that kind of risk. So.... I open this out to others who would like to partner with me.

Enjoy.

Wearables... KISS, Please...

I've done yet another looksee around the web looking for a decent wearable. Still nothing decent out there. Here are a few clues in case anyone reading this might want to put together a commercial system... First, ditch the tablet displays. Save them for PDA's or ...tablet computers. They're NOT for wearables. Second, use a hardware design for your processor that is scalable, common, and will support modular additions. There are plenty out there... x86 compatible, embedded systems, PalmOS compatible, etc. Don't re-invent the wheel here. Third, make it functional first. Forget all those neat PAN and experimental networking technologies. They look nice, but what people really need is something web enabled that will handle WiFi and well... good old fashoined ethernet. And arm-mounted keyboard and a handheld pointer are all you needfor input. Voice activation should be made simple. You don't need a full versoion of Dragon Dictate on a wearable. Fourth, find a decent HMD. This is the most expensive part. In order to make it affordable, you're going to have to settle for 640x480 probably. Design your GUI accordingly and remember that most displays are going to bounce as the user walks. I don't care WHO you are, you aren't going to be reading small text in 1600x1200 while walking. Until we can get implanted displays it's just not feasable. Light, unobtrusive, and stable are your key words here. Fifth, modularity is your friend. Hot-swap batteries, USB, bluetooth, and SDIO. Sixth, simplicity in software. Easy install and uninstall of software. Perhaps a package manager. Easy moving of files to and from your desktop. Easy sync. Lastly, open development environment. Handspring made history with the Visor in hardware open standards and ...go figure... no one ever copied them! Rather they got tons of third party modules ready to roll when the actual product shipped. Palm, Linux... these are open operating systems. Development environmants exist. Add your standards to tone of these. That's it. Now, go forth and build commercial systems.

Dr. Schunke to Gizmodo: Delete Me : Gizmodo

Dr. Schunke is being a royal prick. Just for that: Fuck you, Dr. Schunke

Slashdot | Users Reject MS Independent Study Claims

OK. Here's my take on it: You want to set up a server for your small company. You have DSL and a LAN. You want a web page, email server with spam filters, mailing list for customers and another for staff. Additionally, you want a file server internally and an extranet for your remote users. You have 10 employees. With Windows: MS Windows 2003 Server: $1,199 (Server + 10 licenses) OR MS Windows 2003 Small Business Edition with 5 licenses PLUS 5 more: $1,499 + $489 Norton Antivirus Corporate: (10-pack) $913 Norton AntiSpam: With Linux: Your choice of Linux distros: FREE LAMP system for web, extranet, etc: FREE SpamAssassin: FREE Clam Antivitus: FREE Installation: Windows: 2 days at $100/hr x 8 hrs = $1600 Linux: 2 days at $100/hr x 8 hrs = $1600 Suggested Routine Maintenance: Windows: 1-3 hours on-site every 2 weeks: $100-300 Linux: Scripted, cronjob, and remote maintenance: 3 hrs setup ($300) plus 1 hour every month for a checkup: $100 Emergency Repairs: Windows: At least 2 hours on-site, typically 3-4 hours at $100/hr - Typically 1-3 times a year. Linux: Typically 1-2 hours remote or on-site, minimum 1 hour.- typically once or less a year. Major Software Upgrades: Windows: 4+ hours, on-site Linux: 2-4 hours on-site Security: Windows: Requires firewall plus a (usually commercial) antivirus solution. Encrypted remote access costs more. Susceptable to virii from workstations. Linux: Built-in firewall, free encryption utilities, antivirus available (Linux is very resistant to virii), more agressive security tools available and free. Workstations: Windows: $199 per user, plus Norton Antivirus. Approx. 1-2 hrs per user setup time. Requires: Fairly new PC. Linux: FREE OS. Approx 2 hours initial setup (NIS/YP), plus 5 minutes automated install per user (thin client, boot-to-CD). Requires: Almost any PC with CDROM and LAN. Do the math. Linux sometimes takes a little longer to set up custom stuff (there is a LOT more of ir and there are a LOT more choices), but it requires MUCH less maintenance and licensing fees.

Gizmodo Served Cease and Desist by Lawyer for Sony Ericsson.

Gizmodo, one of my favorite blogs, just got a Cease and Desist order from the mouthpiece for Sony Ericsson.
Full story here.
Here is the message I'm sending to the lawyer:
(Via web form, CC'd to Sony Ericsson's web contact form) Dr. Maximilian Schunke, LL.M. Göhmann Wrede Haas Kappus & Hartmann
Dr. Schunke;
Your Cease and Desist order to Gizmodo has done nothing to improve my opinion of your firm and of your client, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications International AB.
Althought I do fully admit that you and your client were well within your rights to send the notice, I protest on the grounds that it was not only the wrong thing to do, but also was sent to the wrong entity.
Sending that notice is NOT enforcing copyrights. It does nothing but make you look obnoxious, rude, condescending, and bullish. In short, it makes you look like a shoolyard bully, picking on the little guy because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. By attaacking the news outlet, you are going after the wrong entity. Go after the leak from inside, not the news people who are doing their job.
Your notice has sent a clear message: That Sony Ericsson is nothing but one more giant corporation with no care at all for the consumer, nor the small media companies many of your consumers trust for timely information. You have affirmed my long time hatred of lawyers, but most of all...
You have single handedly convinced me to NEVER AGAIN purchase ANYTHING from Sony Ericsson.
Sincerely,

Brian Chabot
Not that I think it'll do anything..... but it felt good to send it.

Getting Rid Of Spammers

I have an idea that should work to get rid of spammers. I know it's been tried before, and a lot of people are against it, but.... First you set up a Realtime Blacklist (RBL) system. With this, people can report spam, and like SpamCop, the headers are checked, parsed, etc. and IP addresses used by the spammer identified. After a certain number of complaints from a certain number of different complaint sources, the IP is added into the blacklist database. There it would sit, for a predetermined amount of time... a set period since the last valid complaint. Not to put it to use... With most blasklists, the IP is blocked from connecting to the mail server or used to filter email. Not in this system. Here, the IP is not just blacklisted, but blackholed. In essense the IP's are blocked at the *router* of the user of the RBL. This doesn't just stop the spam, but it puts a damper on ANY online activity of the affected IP address. This would prevent ANY traffic from going past users of the RBL to or from the spammer's sites. This might include the spammer idly surfing but it also includes things like networking with other spammers, collecting their profits, etc. Overkill, you say? Perhaps. Legitimate users on the same IP? Good source of pressure to stop the spammer if you ask me. The Internet was built on the idea of cooperation. The vast majority of people on the internet do not like and do not want spam. Thus blocking it is cooperating with the vast majority of users out there. There are plenty of other advertizing methods both online and off, and it is the spam that pisses people off. This majority got many of the larger online companies to move against pop-up ads. Why can't we do the same with spam? Block them at the router I say. Blackhole the SOB's and cut off all their communications. They'll learn. If they don't want to play by the accepted rules, they don't get to play at all.

Pet Peeve

Why must all the IP's in Vietnam have the identical reverse resolve of localhost? Isn't that kinda dumb? And most of Malaysia reverse resolves to tm.net.my or to nothing at all. Standards, people! Standards!

Need a job in NH?

DynDNS is hiring! Yes, Jeremy. This one's for you.... I think you're the only one who reads this journal.

Going after Spammers...

With the new job, one of my primary functions is in locating spammers on our network and terminating their accounts. This is something I do with extreme prejudice and a little bit of joy in knowing the spammers' accounts are nuked.
As part of my job, I roam the net in search of any info I can find to help me out in this. In this search, I hear a lot of spammers saying they are CAN-SPAM compliant. You know what? They are not. CAN-SPAM requires commercial mass email to include the following:

1. NO forged headers. This includes the From: and Reply-To: headers.
2. A working, obvious, and easy Opt-out method.
3. The physical mailing address of the sender.
4. The Subject line may not be misleading, and if the content is of an adult nature, the Subject line must have an obvious way of stating such, like "ADV-ADULT" or something.
5. The addresses are NOT allowed to have been "harvested" or guessed. (This is a long winded way of saying you pretty much need to opt in or have some prior business relationship.)

This law applies to your email if it is commercial in nature and if it originates in, passes through, or is delivered to any computer in the USA. This means that even if you live in Romania, send mail from there through proxies in Argentina, and they advertize your web site in China, if these spams get to an American, you are responsible for complying. "So what?" you ask, "I'm not in the USA." Sure. But if you ever decide to visit, you can probably be prosecuted the moment you set foot on US territory.

It you are really running a legitimate business, I don't see how it would be that hard to comply with CAN-SPAM.

Oh yeah... Here is an example of a company that says they are compliant but is not: http://www.strategicnetmedia.com/
They seem to have used harvested addresses and also do not include a physical address. Additionally, it is the mailer's responsibility to maintain the working opt-out method. Violating the terms of service for a company that hosts something vital to your opt out method and then having them find out and terminate that account is not a responsible way to maintain this opt-out mechanism. Besides, even if the spam was CAN-SPAM compliant, spamming is against the terms of service for most internet companies and you WILL lose your access. Were you legal? Perhaps. But you need to follow more than just local laws here in cyberspace.....

You need to play nice with others.

Sad News fopr Wearables...

It's too bad really. Xyernaut is one of the few companies with the resources to make a kick ass wearable.... and now they screw it up financially.... EETimes.com - Xybernaut fires CEO, COO amidst scandal allegations

I got a job!

The good news is that I am employed again! I now work as an IT Forensics Analyst at an amazing company. This is definitely a good fit. The only problem is my workload is a little low at the moment, to I end up with a lot of free time that in order to keep busy I end up surfing around all too much. I've been told this will soon change though. Any way, more later. I've been working on getting some ideas fleshed out regarding context-aware computing, mobile P2P applications (the legal sort), and GUI's for low resolution displays (VGA and QVGA).

Why hasn't anyone done this?

For years now, I've been interested in wearable computers. I'm often awed by the power of the hardware out there and the capabilities of the software that is available, but despite all these advances, I'm surprised no one has made a wearable computer for the masses. Honestly, I don't think it would be too hard to make, either. So for the world to see, I now present my own ideas of what I wish someone would make. I present these ideas to the public under no license whatsoever. I disavow any copyright to these ideas, so I leave those with the resources to make something like this without claim to any intellectual property rights for myself. All I ask is first that someone makes something like this and, second, if it proves to be profitable, send me one. You can find contact info in my Blogger profile. So.... here are my ideas:

• The main unit: It doesn't have to be ultra tiny, but should be able to be belt-worn. 3 lbs with one battery is about the top limit. Here are the features the main CPU should have, hardware wise:
  1. Mini-IDE interface internally to use laptio hard drives. (shock-mounted!)
  2. SD/MMC or SDIO expansion slot.
  3. Keyboard and pointing device connectors. USB is fine, and so is bluetooth or other RF. The pointer should be pocketable and the keyboard could even be one of those PDA thumb pads. No Twiddlers. Only geeks like them.
  4. Video output of at least 640 by 480. This should go to a Head Mounted Display (see below).
  5. Two, hot-swappable battery connections. Sometimes you just need limitlessly expandable power.
  6. Ability to recharge the battery while hot, from an AC outlet or 12v DC car plug. As a mobile solution, a car charger is mandatory. A Solar recharger would be a nice bonus.
  7. Full duplex audio, at least 16-bit stereo.
  8. Synchronization ability via network or USB. Setting it up to emulate a USB removable media storge device would be easiest. (like a myriad of mp3 players out there.)
• The Head Mounted Display. Arm-mounted displays or other tablet like displays are over rated. A wearable needs a HMD.
  1. It HAS to be light weight
  2. AND unobtrusive.
  3. Minimum of 640 by 480 resolution, color.
  4. It could have an LCD in the main unit with a fibre optic connection to the eye piece.
  5. Mountable to glasses.
  6. Integrated ear piece or headphones and microphone.(Like the Jabra ones for cell phones)
  7. The display should cover about one third to one half of the user's field of view.
  8. It should be adjustable between eyes, top, bottom, or center of the FOV, and left, right, or center in either eye.
  9. Adjustable brightness, contrast, color, and focus.
• Modular Accessory Hardware. These items should be optionally available or might be built in.
  1. Wired Ethernet jack
  2. WiFi networking
  3. Bluetooth (Might be better to build this in.... but could be modular)
  4. GPS
  5. Digital Camera (mountable to the HMD would be nice...)
  6. Cell Phone
  7. POS/Inventory/Data Collection tools such as bar code scanners, credit card/smart card readers, and receipt printers.
• Bundled Software. Some things you just need to have.
  1. Integrated Development Environment: So users can port/write their own software.
  2. Control Panel with setup wizards
  3. Easy Software installation and removal. (Package Manager)
  4. Security Control Panel: Detailed settings for ALL security functions.
  5. Multi-user login, possibly with single-sign-on support for networked computers.
  6. Basic networking stack with utilities such as ping, traceroute, nslookup, etc.
  7. Personal Information Manager: Must sync with Outlook, Yahoo, Mozilla, Evolution, etc. Extra bonus if integrated with GPS, cell phone, or other software.
  8. Remote Applications Software: X Server, RDesktop, VNC, etc.
  9. SSH
  10. Web Browser: with SSL, tables, frames, cookies, etc. supported.
  11. Email client: POP, IMAP, and SMTP support.
  12. Basic Office Suite: Text document editor, spreadsheet, and presentation software.
  13. Desktop/Server synchronization via USB or network.
  14. Media Player
  15. PDF reader
  16. Network File Sharing: SMB, NFS, etc.
  17. Personal Area Networking: Tiny web server to send out business cards, or greeting info, scanning for other systems, PIM and GPS integration, etc.
  18. A few simple games... Solitaire comes to mind...
• Optional Software: Other stuff it would be nice to have.
  1. GPS Mapping system
  2. Photo browsing for digital camera
  3. PGP/GPG Encryption
  4. Instant Messenger
  5. SIP Phone
  6. POS
  7. Inventory and Data Collection
  8. Custom Police and other Emergency Services applications.
  9. Language Translator
  10. Speech Recognition
  11. Speech Synthesis
  12. Location-Aware (GPS) PIM, System settings, and Networking.
  13. Location Aware Photo Comments
  14. More games!
  15. PAN-enabled and Location-aware games!
• Marketing: How you marlet this wearable will go a long way to your profit margin.
  1. Business Executives on the go, or who need privacy.
  2. Hip, 20-somethings and teens.
  3. Data Collection
  4. Mobile POS Systems.
  5. Field Service Technicians
  6. Military
  7. Emergency Services
  8. As a Thin Client

Not too bad, I think. The problems I see are that most wearable manufacturers are catering to a very small niche market and still making their systems way too expensive and generic without marketing to the general public at all. Make it Hip and easy to use and it will sell. Make the development environment open sourced and people will write software for it. Make it affordable and it'll go like hotcakes. The above suggestions could likely be manufactured so that the final retail price would be in the $1200-2000 price range and replace many laptops and PDA's. Why buy a $300 PDA and a $2000 laptop when you could get this neat, stylish wearable that functions as both and more for only $1500? Now, somebody please make this. Please?

Style over Substance...

Remember when I said I had had enough of USB thumb drives? Well someone just came up with one that is as much an artistic statement as a usable drive. It's still pretty crappy, but it's VERY pretty. Check out the Beetle Drive.

Things I Don't need to see any More of...

With the recent CES show in Las Vegas, and last months gadgets reviews, there are some things in the tech arena that I think we have quite enough of, thanks. USB Storage Devices: Yup, when the Rubber Duck USB Drive came out, I thought it was a herald that things had gone too far, but nooo.... it was followed by the Sushi Drive, the Real Thumb drive, etc, etc. The recent combination USB and SD card drive was kind of unique, but I think this has been done to death. MP3 and other Portable Media Players: iPod was kind of neat. The slew of ipod-killers was good to bring the price down, but come on. I do NOT need a self-powered laptop hard drive to play videos on a 3-inch screen, thanks. I complain enough about postage stamp "Large" videos of movie trailers enough. Don't bore me with yet another reason to squint. Or even worse, I can't get into the hype of yet another MP3 player at all. Look, I spent $50 at Walmart for mine, and it's 12-hour battery life on a single AAA and 512MB SD card are plent to fill my needs. There is absolutely NOTHING special about yet another knockoff of these. Shuttle PC's: They've been around for years now. Nothing new nor exciting here. Move on. Game Consoles: Playstation, XBox, whatever. You're limited to the resolution of your TV, which, IMO sucks. No wonder the XBox's 4-year-old Celery PC inside looks so good. It's running in less than VGA resolution! Each and every one of these has identical controllers, and assinine games with no plot, crappy acting, and often, really bad graphics. Time for something new. Cellphones that do everything else: Oh, yay, another cell phone that plays MP3's or takes pictures, or can be used to read email or browse the web. Listen, I'd rather see a good wearable computer with serious HMD that can also be used as a cell phone. I've been waiting for one of these since about 1995. I don't think I have ever had a want for a cell phone that is also a camera. What am I going to take a picture of, the guy next to me? Keyboard-Video-Mouse user interfaces: Again, how about something new? Voice activation has gone nowhere in ohh... 4 years. Monitors still either weigh 50 pounds or are LCD's that are massively overpriced for the space they save. Where did haptiv interfaces go? How about eye trackers or location based computing? There is so much potential for exciting new gadgets out there that hasn't been tapped in several years. Since the economy tanked, no one is going out on a limb to produce anything REALLY new any more. It's not like it can't be done either. The technologies that have improved since then made it so these things can not only be done but can be done cheaper and better than in the '90s. How about some REAL new tech? Someone? Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?

Special Offer

Special Offer: I'm now offering Managed IT Services for small business office parks and apartment complexes in the greater Nashua, NH area. This is the future of IT and could be a major selling point to draw the best tenants. But act now, because this offer will go away if I get a sizable contract!

The perfect Linux PDA

LinuxDevices has an article on the things that should go into the perfect Linux based PDA. I think this is an excellent list. In fact, I think this should be a check list for any mobile computer. Recently, I began compiling a wishlist for a wearable computer that closely mirrirs what the author of this article suggests. I'm not sure if anyone reads this blog, but if anyone out there has the clout to make it work, I have some pretty detailed ideas on how to make a perfect wearable computer for the masses. I'm not talking about something that only the military and a few high tech companies will be interested in. I'm talking about something that will fit between a PDA and a laptop and appeal to the average electronics consumer. And be easily used by them. In fact, I'll be more than willing to not only share my ideas, but beta test the product for bugs and usability. All ask for in return is one of the products that uses my design. The final consumer wearable, in my design would retail for under $1200. And if a good price can be gained by buying the parts in bulk, probably even less.