Public Access Television

Actually, I did not expect that there would be so many people interested in Public Access television. I figured I would be in someone's office or a dark room watching a slide show on public access regulations. I was pleasantly surprised at the turn out of 20+ when I went to orientation for TVACCESS21 here in Charlotte. The staff trainer was knowledgeable and quick to answer questions and offer suggestions. Why am I learning about Public Access Television? I am doing leg work for a friend who would like to get a show on in this market. But after the experience, it gets the mind going to think you could learn to use real equipment and produce content that has your opinions in public view.

The requirements are enough to stop people from coming up off the street and screaming for an hour. But they are not so cost prohibitive as to stop someone interested in the process from taking a few classes over the course of a couple months, completing a few projects, volunteering on other programs, then screaming for an hour. For a one time membership of $25, you can get instruction in control room operations, directing, producing, and basic studio operations. For an a extra $60 -90 per class(4-6 x 3hour sessions) you can get more in depth training in other topics - Screenwriting, Final Cut Pro, Webcasting, etc. I cannot speak to the caliber or rigor of the instruction but the price is right to get training in something that everyone on the Internet is doing so poorly.

Of course, you supply the crew and they all have to become members and go through the free classes. So it pays to make friends with others who may be recording before or after you, in case you need to someone certified to run a camera or direct the action.

All in all, an interesting evening. Check out the www.richardbrownshow.com for public radio and television in action.

Viva la Frech Stuff

Last night, we made it out to Georges Brasserie in South Park. For all intents and purposes, it was the upscale casual dining experience you would expect along side Del Frisco's and Brio Grille. The dining was good - oysters fresh, wine palatable. No stands outs as far as food goes as we only had hors d'oeuvres. Raw bar chef was a little heavy handed on the sashimi special but I like hunks of fish as well as slices. I will post a review on Yelp if we make it back for food. The seating in the bar area is low which makes it feel more casual somehow. Looking up at people involuntarily makes you sit back in a more relaxed position.

Wine of note: 2005 Saint Jean Du Barroux L'oligocene

Food of Note: Oysters from Raw Bar

Then, of course, it was off the Amelie's, our mid evening and sometimes late night haunt. We followed somewhat familiar routine of sharing a french press and leaving with a salted caramel brownie.

-- posting to remember

High Percentage Interrupt Time equated to VMWARE Memory Issue

Just something that came up.

Error: Using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager, an alert was generated that % Interrupt Time had exceeded a threshold of 10.
Environment: Windows 2003 Server 512 MB RAM, 1 CPU, 10 GB free HD Space running Tomcat App Server.
Impact: Although server and service still running, web app would not serve pages.
Notes/ Troubleshooting: Memory was not exceeding threshold on the server; Paging was not above normal.
Resolution: Allocate more memory to VM.
--
P. Alston

Parental Controls Post

First let me say for anyone who stumbles upon this, I don't have kids. So my perspective on parental controls is probably skewed towards the child more than the parent. Controls are a drag. Tracking web history and restricting others is initially frustrating and confusing for the user/kid and the administrator/parent. It does demand vigilance and participation by the parent to provide a safe environment for your family. So partially I had to adopt a mindset that was not my own.

But controls are a part of life. My company blocks websites and protocols to protect data and decrease liability. Auditing Web history and/or keylogging is a bit heavyhanded for industry but the if the circumstances warrant it to protect the company asset, so be it. The changes below are not transparent. The child/user will know they are being restricted.

Administrator to the Computer
Whether Windows, Mac, or Linux, always, always create a low privileged guest account users. It is safer and more secure for the computer and the user/child to have to ask if a program should be installed versus having to remove it later. How to do this in Vista is very simple from the start but that is not where most people approach security. So here is how to do it from the middle.

First of all the must be at least one Administrator account. In most cases, this is the only account. So instead of making the user setup all their Favorites and move documents around, we are going to setup a new Administrator and reduce the rights of the initial user/child's account.

In Vista:
Setup new Admin Account
Start-> Control Panel->User Accounts
Chose Manage another account
Chose create New account give the account a name like Admin or Dad.
Make that account an Administrator.
Log off.

Alter previous account:
Log in as the new Administrator i.e. Dad
Go back into the User Accounts
Start-> Control Panel->User Accounts
Chose Manage another account
Chose the account you wish to reduce the permissions for.
This time choose Change Account type and select user Standard User.
Then choose Setup Parental Controls
Here you can do a lot of things -
You can setup items like web filters, track activity, and prevent the use of certain programs like Limewire.

File Downloads and Program Installs
As a standard user, the child/user will not be able to install any software. Which is a good thing. Extra software means system bloat. System bloat means slower computer and more chances for viruses and malware. You will have to install every piece of software which means you "know" what applications, companies, and some extent people yours kids are interacting with.

Auditing Web History
In order to audit the web history of a user, you have to save it for some duration. This includes preventing it from being deleted.

Start-> Run
From Tech Support Forums:

There is also a "Turn off "Delete Browsing History" functionality" setting in the group policy for XP (run gpedit.msc under User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer) that can be set to disable this functionality.

Note: This works in Vista as well, but only effects Internet Explorer. So if the user is using Firefox, Safari, Opera, Maxthon, or any other web browser this will not work. This is why you have to prevent the users from being Administrators to the machine so they cannot bypass your efforts.

You can view the web history in activity reports in User Accounts Control Panel, or logging in as the child/user and view it in Internet Explorer.

End of Part One....

Links:
How to keep tabs on my Teens:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/Help/961FFB00-E793-41B3-BD35-B00442F6A0D71033.mspx

Pulled Chicken and Broccoli Slaw

Too easy to forget but this will remind me next time.

Pulled Chicken:
Split Chicken Breast
Half an Onion (Sliced)
2 cloves Garlic (crushed)
1 cup Barbecue Sauce
Chicken Broth (to Cover)
Hot Pepper Sauce (to taste)
2 Tbl Apple Cider Vinegar

Add all ingredients to crock pot, cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Remove lid, two fork shred the chicken, remove bones.
Cook on High for 30 minutes to reduce sauce.

Slaw:
Broccoli Slaw Mix
1/2 cup Coleslaw Dressing (Bought or made)
Make when chicken goes into crock pot. Refrigerate for 8-10 hours.

Serve with Hot Pickles, Dijon Mustard and Tomotoes.

--
P. Alston

Known but just now Realized Creepy Revelation

Check out www.google.com/history. Here you can step back through your Google searches to enlighten or embarrass yourself. In past searches, I have needed to find homepathic flea remedies (for the dogs), various IT related searches on which my job depends, and it seems I cannot spell even the simplest of words - masculine. (No Jokes.) While I knew that Google was retaining search information, I never wanted thought I could be faced with it so easily. I envisioned long court battles and special prosecutors who would only receive blacked out versions of the most relevant bits of my online life. Now I am faced with the ability to retrospectively review my late night lookups whenever I want or don't.

Windows XP Tip: Search AD Shortcut

Looking up people in Active Directory can be really useful especially when you are new to an organization. This was readily available in 2000 so obviously it should be complicated in XP?!? So not must to say here just a link to give you some functionality that you thought you already had.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/WindowsXP/AdminTips/Network/GiveXPabilitytosearchActiveDirectory.html

Enjoy.