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April 21, 2010 >>

What's New at Experts Exchange
Way too much to list individually

Editors' Choice Articles
The Page Editors' cream of the crop

My Way or The Highway
Apple sticks it to Adobe, developers

Tip From the Mods
The Experts Exchange Lexicon

Nata's Corner
Passwords, Facebook and changing jobs

New Certificates
New certificate holders, through April 17

What's New at Experts Exchange

Member agreement and privacy policy: Experts Exchange has released updated versions of the Member Agreement and Privacy Policy. Please take a few minutes to read through them.

RSS feed: Experts Exchange has built a RSS feed for articles as they get published. You can add it to your reader by using the following: http://www.experts-exchange.com/articleFeed.jsp.

A note from the Badgers: A couple of months ago, the Mark Twain Badgers, coached by our inimitable Netminder, won their local season-ending basketball tournament. Experts Exchange sent congratulations to the Badgers in the form of t-shirts with a familiar icon on them, modified slightly. Thanks came from the 7th-graders to Randy Redberg, EE's CEO, and Creative Director Mark Barbir, who designed the shirts.

First screencast answer: willsherwood asked a fairly straightforward question about optimizing a PDF, and captainreiss gave him an answer the good old-fashioned way. When that didn't work, captainreiss used a screencast to show the steps, and got the Good Answer! email -- the first one that involved using EE's latest system.

New Geniuses: Seven members of Experts Exchange have earned Genius certificates in the past four weeks. hielo's fifth Genius certificate is in HTML. aneeshattingal registered his fourth Genius certificate in SQL Server 2008. Two members each picked up their first certificates in Exchange: Akhater and shauncroucher. Earning his second Genius certificate was mkline71 in Windows 2003 Server. Finally, earning their first 1,000,000 points were _agx_ in ColdFusion and Jonvee in Windows XP. Well done by all!

Milestones:

• TheLearnedOne has earned over 14,000,000 points in his career at Experts Exchange. He is one of only two EE members with more than 2,000,000 points in five different zones.
• In picking up his fifth Genius certificate, hielo went over the 11,000,000 point plateau.
• nobus, peter57r and BlueDevilFan have each earned 9,000,000 points overall.
• LSMConsulting has earned 8,000,000 points overall.
• Chris-Dent has earned 7,000,000 points in his career.
• emoreau is the 45th member of EE to earn over 6,000,000 points overall.
• Merete has earned 5,000,000 points overall.

My First Million: Reaching the 1,000,000 point level in March 2010 were shauncroucher, Akhater, CGLuttrell, kaufmed, that1guy15, Zoppo, tgerbert, darkstar3d, CarlWebster, robberbaron and mikebernhardt.

Kudos: Who says EE is strictly high tech? waforbes100 had a question about rubbing alcohol that lherrou answered, and he posted this: "I am so satisfied with your answer! Experts Exchange for Life!!"

Joeller was having problems with importing into Oracle, and slightwv took a couple of weeks to help him out. The result: "slightwv stayed with the question through thick and thin through repeated setbacks due to the Oracle setup and the specifics of ESRI's arcSDE, to enable the import to be carried out successfully except for the ArcSDE spatial indexs then pointed the way to resolve the issues that prevented that import so they could be imported manually. A very positive learning experience."

ablove3 got assistance from matthewspatrick in resolving a problem with a pivot table and chart: "This is quite advanced for me, BUT I'm going to study it until I understand exactly what you did. I appreciate this a great deal MatthewPatrick. You experts make me so happy, because I get to learn from you. I can't find this in a class. I just have to take what you do, open one of my many excel books and figure it out. I only hope to be a least half as good as you are one day." matthewspatrick also got great reviews from fitaliano when he helped out (along with capricorn1) in a question about getting a query to work: "I am impressed by the response speed. I love this website! matthewspatrick was particularly thorough, thanks!"

sdugar was having problems getting a server to send mail, and somehow got Java Zone Advisor Venabili to help: "Many, many thanks for the continued help and support. I appreciate your genuine desire to reach out and help. I would definitely recommend you for the one of the most helpful, fast and nice expert on Experts Exchange."

mplungjan was also on the receiving end of a nice note from jbun on getting a solution to an AJAX variable question: "Thank you. I've been working a month trying to get this solved. This is my first question to EE and am very pleased. Maybe now I can sleep at nite without going over possible solutions to this problem."

Fun and games: rindi found an article about installing Linux on a badger, while ModernMatt found a solution to traffic cameras, and some social commentary to go along with it.

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Tips From the Moderators

The Experts Exchange Lexicon

>> EE - Experts Exchange; it denotes either the site itself or the ownership and management
>> TA - Topic Area; called "zone" on the site, they were called Topic Areas for so long that a lot of people still call them that
>> CS - Community Support; it refers to either the specific topic area or to the Moderators, who handle the questions in the CS topic area, as a group, or to the group of CS topic areas. Also, CS-G: Community Support-General
>> ZA - Zone Advisors are members who "watch" their TAs, helping members get answers to their questions. Because they're mostly more senior members, they are familiar with which Experts know what subjects.
>> PE - Page Editors are members who provide editorial and technical assistance to the authors of Articles.
>> MC - Member Comment; a comment left in a profile by either a Moderator, Administrator or Zone Advisor that is sent directly to the member. They're only visible to the Member and the Mods/Admins/ZAs, so don't worry that a lot of people are going to see it.
>> PAQ - Previously Asked Question; when a question is PAQed, it is closed, and points are refunded or awarded. PAQ also refers to the database of stored questions and answers.
>> CV - Cleanup Volunteer; a member who spends time going through abandoned questions making recommendations about their closure.
>> RFA, RA - Request For Assistance or Request Assistance; this refers to both the button in a question that allows a member to ask for the Moderators to look at a question, and to the request that is automatically posted in the CS zone.
>> NQ - Neglected Question; a question is marked as neglected when it has gone 12 hours without a comment being posted. When a question becomes neglected, one or both of two things happens: a request for the Moderators to find the asker more help is posted automatically in CS; and a notice is sent to DEs (see below) asking them to look at the question.
>> DE - Designated Expert; members who have a Guru certificate can choose to become Designated Experts in the zones they have the certificate in. When they accept, they will receive notifications of NQs (see above) in those zones, and are eligible to receive bonus points for answering the questions. DE status can also be assigned by a Moderator, but it still must be accepted by the Expert.
>> OFD - Open For Discussion; a week after a question is closed, comments posted to it are OFD comments. They cannot be accepted as the answer (since the question is closed), and they appear at the bottom of the thread. You shouldn't use them to ask a new question either.
>> RA - Request Assistance. Usually refers to the button in questions and articles. Automatically posts a request to the Moderators in the CS-G zone.
>> SME - Subject Matter Expert. A new acronym gaining a little traction, it refers to an Expert who does not have any particular privileges, but who is recognized by the ZAs and PEs as someone with expertise in a zone.

Editors' Choice Articles

The following articles were designated as Editors' Choice by the Page Editors. For additional information on Articles and making sure your masterpiece is up to EE's publishing standards, check out the Article Guidelines and Article Tips zone.

Exchange 2003 - Activesync Connection Problems FAQ
by alanhardisty:

Printing a Calendar with Access
by harfang:

Disk drive reliability overview
by dlethe:

Configure Exchange 2007 or 2010 to relay email for an additional domain.
by demazter:

Outlook continually prompting for username and password
by demazter:

Calculating Distinct Counts in Access
by matthewspatrick:

My Way Or The Highway

An editor by trade, a writer by avocation and an Expert by some cosmic practical joke, ericpete puts together the newsletter for Experts Exchange.

We were all ready to sit down and write a column about confidence -- and overconfidence among techies when the word came down from Apple that it is building software that allows developers to incorporate advertising into their mobile applications, and Apple will share the revenue.

But there's a catch: if you're going to build an app, not only does it have to go through Apple's sometimes quirky evaluation process, but the terms of Apple's developer agreement include the prohibition on Adobe Flash, signaling the disapperance of whatever vestiges of civility between the two companies remained. Simply put, the agreement -- and you have to agree to it before you can download the development kit -- says that not only does Apple have the right to approve your application, but it has the right to tell you what tools to use to build it.

Now, if it sounds like we're being a little bit critical of Apple, you're probably right, which means we're also likely to be left off the list when it comes to developers (not that we want to become an iPhone developer), because there's another clause: "Press Releases and Other Publicity. You may not issue any press releases or make any other public statements regarding this Agreement, its terms and conditions, or the relationship of the parties without Apple's express prior written approval, which may be withheld at Apple's discretion."

Be it beyond us to suggest that Apple is overconfident in thinking that the iPhone or iPad (announced a couple of weeks ago while we were busy with the Expert of the Year issue, just in case you missed it) is going to take over the world. For one thing, after over 25 years, Apple's strategy of combining hardware and software into a sole-source bundle has earned it about eight to ten per cent of the laptop/desktop market, depending on who you talk to; those numbers have been pretty constant for quite a while, and even Windows 7 -- which will have been publicly available for six months tomorrow -- is kicking the Mac's butt in the marketplace. The iPhone? It still has a ways to go before it catches the Nokia line.

So there's not a lot of evidence that the Apple strategy will work; it might, but Damon Runyon observed that "the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that is the way to bet." We don't think Apple has the kind of swiftness or strength to push aside popular development tools like Adobe's or Microsoft's -- no matter how devoted its fanbase is. (Editor's note: Apple did eventually back down -- but here's hoping he doesn't use Flash.)

There are a few signs that the armor is cracking. The one we like the most is a little app for the iTouch and iPhone that lets you bypass AT&T, which has the exclusive right to sell the iPhone in the US -- and is the very reason my better half doesn't have one (they won't discount the iPhone to us for another six months or so because we have a contract. How dumb is that? They could get a new contract out of it, but no... ). Let that be a lesson to the folks at The Phone Company: you may think you're getting a lot of business by signing up with Apple, but you're going to eventually get the business from Apple.

Another is the approval by Apple of Opera Mini for the iPhone -- which would seem to be a direct competitor to Safari. Of course, it could also be a sign that Apple doesn't consider Opera much of a threat to its market share compared to Google, which has that "competing telephone operating system" thing going on.

Which brings us back to the point at which confidence goes past overconfidence and right into downright blind arrogance, and we're beginning to wonder about the good folks in Cupertino. Steve Jobs has been nearly sanctified by an adoring press that routinely forgives his tantrums over all manner of offenses, but it seems as though there is a point at which a company that is a minor player in almost every market should reconsider its attitudes toward the people who develop applications for, not to mention actually use the products the company wants to sell.

Then again, Apple may just not care what anyone thinks. If they keep selling out of product, why should they?

More News and Notes

An income? There's an app for that: After soaking up nearly $60 million in funding without any visible business plan, the good folks at Twitter have given an indication of one: they bought an app that sells for $2.99 at iTunes. Twitter has around 105 million users (though, as noted, the number of active ones is a lot smaller); if half of them bought an iPhone and bought the app, Twitter would still be upside down by around $10 million. Interestingly, Tweetie -- the new Twitter asset -- was rejected by Apple when it was first submitted. Three other signs that Twits aren't going away soon:

• Google has added Twitter archives to its search.
• The Library of Congress is saving every Twit beginning with the first one.
• Twitter is going to sell advertising -- for a while anyway.

We can only wonder if the next nuclear test-ban treaty will be negotiated in 140-character chunks; if it isn't, we're sure we will read about it.

In requiem: Meinhardt Raabe, the coroner of Munchkinland. Not a single frame of computer generated graphics in the whole film. Also, Dr. Henry Edward Roberts, whose do-it-yourself MITS Altair 8800 inspired the youthful Bill Gates and Paul Allen to start their little software company called Microsoft. And may not quite be dead yet: Circuit City and CompUSA. (Thanks, Susan!)

From the FAIL list: The claims made by the movie, recording and software industries that they're going broke due to piracy. One wonders how many appeals are going to be filed in the coming months. Unfortunately, the British Parliament hasn't gotten the memo yet.

If ribbons have you tied up in knots: Tolomir sent us a note about UBitMenu, a little tool that adds classic Office type menus into Office 2007 and Office 2010.

This just in: In case you missed it, Apple released the iPad a couple of weeks ago (amid some criticism and joined shortly thereafter by a German competitor), and while sales were predictably brisk, the company has also postponed shipments overseas until early May, citing supply issues. Apple will have no such problem in Israel. Despite the nice numbers, not everyone was impressed, and there were a few people who poked fun at it. Unless you happen to be a developer, though, the terms of service aren't completely onerous.

Besides the obvious "respond to all the hype" reasons, most people were pretty candid about why they were buying an iPad, but one thing is certain: none of them were buying it because it works with inexpensive batteries. Also lost in all the kerfuffle: the inevitable patent infringement lawsuits.

Stands for "Hidden Payola": Three people have been arrested in Germany in connection with allegations that they paid kickbacks in order to sell Hewlett-Packard equipment to Russian law enforcement agencies.

A flood starts with a few drops of rain: We wonder how many of the people who are writing about things that happen in China are government employees. Just a thought. In any case, the Drowsy Panda is still trying to figure out this whole InterWeb thing -- even while dissidents are annoying the government at every turn. One thing they do have down, though: DDoS attacks against companies and the people who report about them. The Russians go after countries, though the Chinese are getting the hang of that tactic too.

Not that anyone we know will go looking for it on the web:... but don't be surprised if Pamela Anderson finds a per-click way to make good on back taxes.

The thrill is gone: James Gosling, widely credited with being the father of the Java programming language posted a message that requires a lot of reading between the lines in announcing his resignation from Oracle, which bought Sun Microsystems in January. Maybe he wasn't in line to get season tickets to Warriors' games.

Sign of the Apocalypse: Mattel is creating a "special edition" of Scrabble for the British. No, it doesn't contain extra Us. Also, Indian companies are outsourcing ... to the US; and a Florida man is being sued over a negative review on eBay (thanks, Anita!)

Nata's Corner

We have all been hearing for years how important it is to change your password fairly frequently, but now along comes Cormac Herley, a senior researcher for Microsoft, who says that it probably isn't worth the hassle, which is why nobody ever does it. Herley makes a compelling case (why bother to change the password if you're going to click on that phishing email?), but he says that the best thing IT people (and website owners, and software companies, and on and on) can do is make it a lot easier, and do a better job of telling people why they should change them. A security breach at RockYou last December also shows why: People apparently think it will never happen to them. Still, even Microsoft thinks enough of changing passwords to include it as one of the safety tips it offers for financial transactions on the web.

Like a lot of people (except my other half -- he has turned down at least a dozen invitations), I'm on Facebook, but I'll admit that I'm beginning to get a little bit tired of cutesy farm animals from long-lost acquaintances. I do have a few conversations with a couple of relatives, but mostly I just read what other people post, instead of posting things myself. I like my privacy, and Facebook makes me a little nervous sometimes, so I was glad to see someone write a Facebook survival guide for the baby boomer types. I'm also glad that after all the horrific stories we've all read that Facebook has built a safety center. Good thing, too, because Koobface is back.

Speaking of viruses and such, I saw a couple of other items that should make us all be a little more careful. The first is that nearly nine out of ten companies in the Fortune 500 have at least some computers that are compromised by the Zeus virus -- which would seem like a realy dangerous thing except that the AV companies all protect against it. What's bothersome today is that the virus is now capable of attaching itself to PDF files. The other bit of news is that researchers have found ways to put viruses into .zip files in a way that avoids detection by AV software.

New Certificates