Microsoft rewards for using Bing

I don't know if it's new from Microsoft but I've been offered reward points for using Bing search engine from Microsoft.

It is actually more than using Bing.  You can get points for buying stuff in the Microsoft App Store, renting movies, etc...  They say that you'll get 1 point for each 1$ spent.  Using Bing, you be awarded 30 points per day, per search if you meet some prerequisites.

What's the catch?  There seems to be none or at least it it the same as Google's reward program where you answer some questionnaires in exchange for credits on the Google Play Store.

With Microsoft, you can exchange points for credits on your Xbox Live account, Skype account or send them to the Special Olympics, Care, First, or other helping associations.

You can even enter some contests to win an Xbox One S or a Surface Pro.

For more info, log into your Microsoft account and see the rewards section: https://account.microsoft.com/rewards

Tell me what you think...

iOS 11 Beta 4 almost bricked my iPhone 7

As usual, I have installed the beta version of the next iOS version on my iPhone 7.

As I was controlling my Apple TV 4 with my phone, using the shortcut in the Control Center, I had to enter a code ID for buying a movie on the iTunes Store.

All was going well, as usual, until the iTunes Store asked me to enter my 3 digit number from my credit card to confirm the transaction.  So I left to get my credit card and it took a few minutes.  Meanwhile, my iPhone 7 went into sleep mode as it was waiting for the keyboard input for the Apple TV...

When I came back, I unlocked my iPhone, as usual but the screen was all blurry and nothing was reacting to the touch events.  I pressed the Sleep button and it was the end.

The iPhone was completely unresponsive.  I tried to reboot it, call it with another phone, pressed several times on the button but nothing was happening and the screen stayed black,

Ultimately, I used the VoluneDown+Sleep buttons, pressed for a good 10 seconds and the device finally rebooted.

If you're stuck on your iPhone 7, the VolumeDown+Sleep buttons will save the day!

Note: The bug has been reported to Apple.

What now with Ubuntu moving to Gnome?

After watching Freedom Penguin with Matt Harltey, about Ubuntu moving to Gnome 3 and leaving out in the dust the good old Unity, it got me thinking...

Why would Matt choose this thumbnail for his video...  And then... What is missing in Ubuntu or any other distros...

The keyword: Integration!

Ubuntu is great at one thing: Operate your computer.  It's easy to use, it's free, it's secure.  No arguing about that.  But there is one thing missing in Ubuntu (or any other distros):  There is not integration between the softwares (Apps!), no integration of devices such as your webcam.

Take for example your webcam.  It is surely supported by Ubuntu.  The default application for it is Cheese, which let's you record video in OGG format... and that's it...  A few video effects are available but nothing more.

To flourish in this global integration of the the Internet of Things, Ubuntu should propose a webcam app that would let your record and stream, add a few videos effects and cool overlays.  Social network would be integrated "out-of-the-box" to you could share your videos easily with your friends.

Of course, you can install OBS (Or ScreenStudio...) for streaming, OpenShot for video editing but you have to know about these specialised applications.

Current desktops are outdated by todays standards.  Everything is connected, everything can be shared...

What I would like to see in a new distro would be something like this:

• Better integration with social networks
• A webcam recorder, mixed with a video editor and better ways to share the videos
• Better support for mobile devices, e-readers, music players..
• It's own social network, driver by the users
• A music/audio editor for musicians
• A photo editor, installed by default, fully integrated, supporting filters and overlays...
• A sync system between computers (or devices) running the distro.
• The ability to share the desktop over the TV (using the Apple TV, Chrome, Roku...)
• A remote access easy to use when helping out over the phone
• Document templates ready to use, easy to find...
• Integration of smart devices such a Hue light bulbs, smart watches, external drives, etc...
• Plugins, widgets, News feed, etc...
• And the list can go on and on and on...

After installing a brand new Ubuntu on a computer, the only thing it can do is launch app.  Nothing more.  Maybe Canonical was trying to do that with Unity8, but it did not work.

And you, what would be the feature you would like to see on a distro?

From Pebble Time to the Striiv Fusion Bio 2

As we all know, the Pebble smartwatches are a thing of the past.  I did owned the Pebble classic and the Pebble Time.  After the Fitbit acquisition of the Pebble company, I was a bit worried that my lovely Pebble Time would turn into a nice light paper weight...

In my search for an alternative smartwatch, I did review the whole internet for the next best thing.  The main features I was looking for was battery life time and a good notification system.  I don't really care for health tracking data.  It's nice to know how many steps I did today, but I am more into getting my notifications on my wrist.

This got me to think about on how I was using my smartwatch...  Basically, I look at the time, read my notifications and that's about it.  Even if the Pebble Time can display thousands of watchfaces and supports many apps to play with, the main usage is still looking at the date and time.

So I started to consider those trackers/smartwatches having less features but providing a good battery lifetime, a good readability and displaying notifications from my iPhone.  And the price became an issue as I did spent a few bucks on those fancy watches...

I finally found the Striiv Fusion Bio 2.

As I said earlier, the price became an issue.  I actually bought the Fusion 2 for 50$ (CAD) at Best Buy...  I did get lucky and got the Fusion Bio 2 instead for the same price.  For some strange reason, the package did show the Fusion 2, but the content was actually the Fusion Bio 2 priced at 100$ (CAD).

This is mainly a health tracker but it does have some nice features:  30 days battery lifetime, displays all notifications from my iPhone, heath tracking data is a nice and this is a touch interface so no more buttons.  The Fusion 2 is small and good looking.  It does everything beside heart rate monitoring.  Since I was lucky enough to end up with the Fusion Bio 2, I do have also the heart rate monitor.

Look at the detailed features here: https://www.striiv.com/pages/striiv-fusion-bio-2

Compared to the Pebble Time, it does lack apps and custom facewatch but it does it's job nicely for a fraction of the cost.  For 50$, I still get the time, notifications and alarms.  I have a better battery lifetime (5 days to 30 days...).

It was nice to have all these possibilities with the Pebble Time but in the end, I did not need them that much.  Was it worth it the price?  I don't think so...

So if you're looking for a nice alternative for a good price, check out the Striiv Fusion (Bio) 2 at your nearest retailer...

Fitbit buying Pebble: What will happen?

If you've read the news this week, it seems that the Fitbit company will buy Pebble.  From a business point of view, it does make sense.  For the Pebble community, it may be the end...

Currently, the smartwatch market is saturated with all kinds of products from all major brands like Garmin, Apple, Fitbit, Pebble, just to name a few.

Apple is targeting the high-end use with its Apple Watch.  Not a bad product, but the price may actually drive away a lot of people.  Other manufacturers are more into health monitoring like Fitbit and Garmin.  Even Pebble has moved into this health market with the Pebble 2 and the latest firmware available for almost all Pebble smartwatch.

If you are running, swimming or climbing the mount Everest, there is a lot of choices available for a smartwatch.  Let's be honest, I'm not part of that market, like 80% of the population.  I have nothing against training but having a device dedicated at providing me my health stats is not my cup of tea.

That's where the Pebble smartwatch was shining.  A cool smartwatch, with apps and a few extra features.  I don't care about my heart rate, I want to reply back to my tweet with my watch.

The Apple watch and the Google Gears do implements those "Dick Tracy" features but at a higher price.  For around 150$, Pebble can do it (and the battery lasts for a week...).

My main concern is what will happen with my Pebble Time...  If Fitbit shuts down the whole Pebble ecosystem, my Pebble Time watch won't work anymore...  No more updates, no new apps, no new watchface...

Currently, there are not alternative to the Pebble, for the same features, for the same price.

Let's hope that we have a few more years ahead of us before we are forced to use a "HealthWatch" instead of a "SmartWatch".

Best of iOS, Android and Windows 10

When you are looking to buy a tablet, there are so many choices available.  I personally own an iPad 4 (iOS), an Asus Memo 10 (Android) and recently the RCA Cambio (Win10).

I can safely assume that I have enough user experience with all three major operating systems on mobile devices.  With iOS, I've been a user starting with the iPhone 3GS and I do appreciate the Apple ecosystem.  I also got my hands on on several Android devices mainly tablets.  Windows 10 is a bit new to me as I always used Ubuntu on my computer.

My main factor when choosing a mobile device is the experience.  I do not care about the CPU speed or device weight.  All that matters is the user experience with the device and how well it will integrate into my daily tasks.

Let's compare the three of them from my point of view...

Apps

The diversity of available apps is amazing on all of them.  iOS and Android do have a few featured apps that is not available on Windows 10 but on the other hand, Windows 10 being a full operating system, you do have access to more apps and software.

I would consider the three operating system on par, with a slight advantage to iOS for providing great apps like GarageBand or iMovie out-of-the-box.

Store

The Apple AppStore, Google Play and Microsoft Store are great.  They do provide a way to search easily for an app, a movie or anything else.  I would consider that Google Play and Microsoft have a slight advantage over Apple and they to provide more suggestions and searching for something is easier...

Online accounts

Interacting with your online accounts is a must these days.  iOS and Android are clear winners on that level but I can also say that Windows 10 is not far behind.  The notifications are well implemented on all three OSes, but there are a few missing players on Windows 10 (Side note: Instagram finally made it on Win10 last week...)

Online files, movies, music

Accessing data, movies and music on a remote storage is something that Windows 10 can handle without any issues.  In second, Android does have a few apps that do the job and in the last place, iOS where you need a specific app to reach those file.

Fluidity

One of the worst thing for me is when the device is lagging.  You start an app and then you have to wait for it to be ready...  only to find out that it does lag and you have to wait...

iOS is almost flawless on that level.  Even my old iPad 4 is still fluid after many upgrades and whatever app I may used.  In second, I would choose Windows 10 over Android.  Surprisingly, on my cheap RCA Cambio tablet, Windows 10 is fluid and smooth.  The only lagging experienced was with some heaving 3D games pushing the limits of the hardware.  With Android, I've always been disappointed had all devices I've had or tried, the apps are slow to open, the keyboard is often unresponsive as I type.

Maybe it's just me, but Android is far behind in terms of fluidity, even with a 300$ tablet...

Updates

Not much to say here: iOS and Windows 10 are clear winners with frequent updates.  As for Android, it all depends on the brand you got and it's has safe as the weather forecast.  I think that an old Nexus 7 is still being updated by Google but it was so slow that I gave it to one of my kids...

Integration

When speaking about integration, I mean interacting with your life.  iOS is amazing on that level has you can even copy and paste from your iPhone to your MacBook (if you have the latest...).  Start browsing on your iPad and continue on your iPhone later one.  Apple has made an amazing job at making it work, easily.

Android does offer a great alternative with Chrome and ChromeCast.  There is no true ecosystem as on a computer, you have Google Chrome mainly.  So it's a matter of integrating your Google account more than having dedicated devices.

Windows 10 does fall behind as there is no serious integration between devices and computers.  Of course, since it's Windows, you can actually installed whatever you need to make things work.

In the end...

Overall, they are all great, depending on what you want to do.

• iOS: Amazing apps for media creation, best ecosystem, long term updates
• Windows 10:  Smooth and fun.  On a tablet, it's the best of both world.
• Android:  It's Google!  If you live by Google, this is the way to go.

Personally, I would recommend iOS for casual stuff and when it should just work.  For more serious stuff like working on douments or creating softwares, Windows 10 is the way to go.

I do like Android, but it has often disappointed me to a point where I won't consider buying another Android device again.  iOS and Windows 10 are sure bets in my mind as opposed to Android.

Google Pixel against the exploding Galaxy Note 7: Best timing ever!

For the last few weeks, we heard about the exploding Samsung's phone, the Note 7.  It's one of the worst case scenario a company can face.  It's bad for Samsung, it's bad for the industry and it's bad for the consumer.

Currently, Samsung is the best alternative to Apple.  Google has it's Nexus/Pixel line but consumers are always comparing the Galaxy's with the iPhone.  There is a good chance, in the next few months, that consumers will shift to another brand for their mobile device simply because of this bad event.

Some will consider Apple's product, some will consider the next best in line.  Since last week, all we hear, all we see is the new Google's Pixel phone.  For Google, the timing could not have been better.  The Android fans won't hesitate to move to the Pixel for this  reason:  The affordable devices may explode, so a pricier device should be safe.

We all know that this reasoning is total BS, but deep in the subconscious mind, that how it will sound.  This false impression of security toward a pricier device will help Google's share on the market.

There is still something strange about this case:  How come Samsung never saw this coming?  I mean, they have qualified engineers, they have the knowledge and the experience with mobile devices and batteries...  It is a bit awkward that such a knowledgeable company cannot figure out what is happening.

Some may even see a conspiracy as I said earlier, the timing could not have been better for Google and the Pixel.  I won't go in that direction as it is pure speculation, but I still wonder.

Read your news feed and all you see is about the new iPhone 7, the exploding Samsung's Note 7 and the amazing new Google's Pixel...

What about my iPhone 7 after 2 days...

I was one of the lucky one to get my hands on a new iPhone 7 last Friday.  When I say lucky, I mean that only two devices were shipped to my local Rogers reseller and I was chosen for one of them.

I took the time to explore the new toy as I already had an iPhone 6.  Basically, they look the same with a few differences...

The buttons are a bit smaller on each side and the finish is as always very smooth.  They both weight the same and have the same size.  The only difference I could notice was the camera that is not exactly that the same place as the iPhone 6.  They are so alike that the iPhone 7 does fit (almost) perfectly in the iPhone 6 case.  I had to be creative and carve the camera hole to fit the iPhone 7.

Apple should remove some stock apps

I do enjoy the latest version of iOS released this week, iOS 10.  The upgrade process went flawlessly on my iPad 4 and on my iPhone 6.

While doing some cleanup in old apps I had on my iPad, I was shocked to discover that Photo Booth was still there, hidden in one of the folders...  Some stock apps should be removed from iOS, at least, merged into other apps or functionalities...

Photo Booth

Seriously, who has even ever used this app.  With today's better alternative like Snapchat or Instagram, there is really no need to maintain this app on iOS.

iBook

I do like to read, but not on the iPad or iPhone.  I much prefer use my Kobo Glo device as it does a much better job and prevents my eyes from itching.  This app should be downloadable, like Pages or iMovie.

Podcasts

Listening to podcasts is not really my thing.  The feature itself should be integrated into iTunes and the Music app as a sub-section instead, making audio listening merged into a single place.  The same functionality should be also integrating into the Videos for video podcasts.  Basically, download from iTunes and listen in Music, watch in Videos...

Security researchers are trying too hard?

There is a lot of research done about security these days. If you follow tech news daily, there is always an article about some new ways to hack a computer or your mobile device.

Personally, I'm not that paranoid about security issues. I do update my passwords regularly and I stay alert when someone is sending me an unknown link. I do share some data with Apple and Google as I consider that this is not such a terrible problem trying to improve their products.

Security researchers have found that by listening to the sounds of a hard drive, hackers can steal your passwords and sensitive data...

http://www.techspot.com/news/65959-sounds-hard-drive-makes-can-used-steal-data.html

This is technically possible but so impractical to put in place. There are so many hoops to go thru that it is hard to consider this a security threat.

Basically, anything that can produce a signal of some sort can be used o transmit sensitive information. My Pebble Time watch could be used to transmit data by flickering some pixels colour. Any smartphone could embed sensitive data while playing music in such a way that it is inaudible for the human ear.

Transmitting can be easy but there is a big catch: There must be a receiver listening. So you need to "infect" the transmitting device which can prove to be difficult. Then you have to find a way to receive the information. When there is proximity factor involved, such as a 6 feet range, it's hard to consider the issue as a major security concern.

Research is essential, but let's keep our paranoia to a reality level...


Patrick Balleux
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https://twitter.com/patrickballeux
https://youtube.com/patrickballeux
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Rediscovering Gnome, moving away from Unity

While testing other desktop managers on my laptop running Ubuntu 16.04, I've accidentally broke my installation.

The main culprit is me as I did force a few things to happen.  Ubuntu has been my main distros since 2004.  The passage to Unity did upset me a little bit but I got used to the new interface and eventually, I liked it.

Today, I wanted to try out the other desktop manager available in the Ubuntu repository.  I could not get a decent performance from KDE, but others like XFCE and Mate were running smoothly on my old laptop.

Eventually, I've tried Gnome...  I was expecting something similar to Mate with a few bells and whistles on the top.  It's not a lightweight desktop but it does have its charms.  I must say, I do like this desktop metaphor way more than Unity.

The way I understand it, an app is meant to run in full screen all the time.  That is something that I do like in OS X as a full screen app is considered as a "new" desktop space.  That's exactly how Gnome 3 does work.

Of course, you still can have multiple apps running in the same desktop space, but I hate switching between apps as I do prefer everything to be maximized.  The the Unity Desktop, you can have multiple desktop spaces but you have to pre-configured the layout.  In Gnome, desktop spaces are dynamic so if you need one more, just go to the last desktop space.

Another great feature of Gnome is the Gnome Shell itself.  It does support Extensions that can be added at the top and I've found a few plugins that made my day. 

Finally, I just re-installed the Ubuntu Gnome from scratch to ensure that nothing from Unity would survive on my laptop.  It is a bit more flexible than Unity and does provide a lot of features.

You can download for free at: https://ubuntugnome.org/

Are you lazy for not learning the command line?

Last week-end, I was reading a blog somewhere on the Internet about Linux and how easy and powerful it is.  Mainly, the text was targeted at Ubuntu, but I'm pretty sure it would apply to any main distros.  

In the comments, readers were starting another (sigh) flame war between Windows, Ubuntu and OS X (oh, sorry, macOS).  This is my guilty pleasure:  Reading those endless comments about how one is a sheep and an another one is a zealot.  One comment did catch my attention as it was stating that if you are too lazy to learn simple commands to execute in a terminal, you should not be allowed to use a computer...

I am a power user and I do use the command line quite often.  Assuming that someone is lazy because he or she does not care about some advanced possibilities is simply senseless.  Too all power users out there:  YOU ARE NOT GODS!

Being interested in computers does not make you a special person.  There is no point at displaying your knowledge, assuming that anyone below your technical level is a complete idiot.  Let's be clear: the time you spent learning about advanced scripting by copy/pasting from the web, others have spent that time on something else.

Even if I do use my computers to do some development, I do enjoy using my iPad for it's simplicity.  There are people out there who really do not care about automation, scripting and other geeky stuff.  All they wanna do is use a computer as they drive their car or watch T.V.    

Laziness is not taking the time to help others with simple issues that you know how to solve.

Knowledge is meant to be shared...

Are you having too much meetings?

You are reviewing your schedule at the office and suddenly receive an email inviting you to a meeting.  Your presence is mandatory for a full review of the current issues concerning a major client.  We've all been there, attending meetings with 30 people, wondering if your presence was actually useful.  I tend to avoid those meetings as most often, they are a waste of time and energy.

Meetings can be powerful tools when used properly.  Before planning any meeting, start by considering those questions:

1 - What is the main goal of the meeting?

2 - What should be accomplished at the end of the meeting?

3 - Who will actually and actively act on the decision taken during the meeting?

Over the years, I've followed a few simple rules to make these meetings effective and productive.  There three kinds of meetings:  Issue meetings, Follow-up meetings an Informative meetings.

Issue Meetings

These meetings are meant to find a solution to an issue.  They are often critical and can last up to 2 hours.  Only the main leader and the main resource should attend.  The idea is to find a solution as fast and as effective as possible.  Those two persons are the main actors in the situation and are those that will take direct actions to solve the issue.  

At then end of the meeting, concrete solutions and ideas should be on the table,  A short summary can then be sent to all team members using emails.  Do not send "FYI" as it does imply you are sharing the information to be polite but it does not really matter if people reads it or not.  Ask for comments and suggestions in your message, involving everyone in the process without having 98% of your resources wasting their time. 

Follow-up Meetings

A follow-up is short and sweet.  All team members are attending and a team leader is the one doing the talking.  This is not the place to find a solution or o discuss about personal goals. They are often referred to as scrums in the software industries.

Basically, the team leader is asking each member:  What have you completed, what are your working on and what issues are you facing?  In about 2-3 minutes, each member will report her/his current status and the team leader will dispatch new tasks if any decisions must be taken.

A follow-up can be executed in less than 15 minutes each morning.  This ensures that everybody is on the same page and that all team members had a chance to report any issue.  In the event that an issue has been raised, the team leader can then schedule an issue meeting for the main actors on the stated issue.  

Informative Meetings

   

An informative meetings is a big announcement.  It often last around 30 minutes and everybody is invited.  The meeting agenda is planned ahead up to the minutes and a written summary is available.  Those meetings are used as way to communicate important decisions an should not last more than 30 minutes.

Consider using other means of communications ff the main subject is a big "FYI".  Informative meetings are a more personal approach of communicating with a large group of people when the news is important.

In the end...

Anything else is a social gathering and a time waster.  A meeting is a work process that should be effective and profitable for business and for the employees.  The less people attending, the better it is.  The shorter it is, the more effective it will prove.

I always plan my meetings a bit shorter than they really are.  Assuming that I will require a full hour with another colleague, I will schedule the meeting for 30 minutes instead.  I know it's a bit short, my colleague knows it's a bit short...  This puts a bit of pressure on getting straight to the point and avoiding stories about our last week-end party.

Try it for yourself and let me know how it worked out for you and your team.

Have a nice day!

The new Apple TV 4, is it worth it?

For Christmas, we bought the new Apple TV 4 as a family gift.  We already had the previous model, the Apple TV 3 but having the possibility to play a few games on the big screen was appealing.

The main usage in our home for an Apple TV is to watch some movies over Netflix, explore the newest YouTube videos and rent a movie on iTunes, once in a while.  Nothing fancy in general.  We do have a NAS drive in the network where we keep our old DVD movies (ripped into MP4 files) as some of them are starting to degrade with time.  Of course, some home movies and pictures are also part of the collection.

As for gaming, we are casual gamers.  We've been considering having a gaming console in the living room for a while but investing 400$ into a device that we would rarely use was a major issue.  And considering the price of a brand new game at 80$ was out of the question.  What we wanted was something simple, not too pricy and fun.  For our family, the Apple TV 4 was the perfect fit. 

We selected the entry model (32 gigs) as it was on sale at 179$.  

The initial setup was easy to execute and in a matter of minutes, we were already browsing the AppStore for something cool to try out.  You probably already know about the technical details of this new device so I won't go over them again.  It's slick, it's cool and it works!

The pros:

- The remote is connected with Bluetooth so no more pointing to the device.  This is quite handy as we can hide the Apple TV 4 behind the TV set, having less stuff on the tv furniture.  

- The AppStore already has tons of apps and games available for free so you already have a major entertainment value out-of-the-box.

- Apps and games are at the same price as those for your iPhone/iPad.  The priciest games we could find was around 12$ which is less than a used Xbox game.

- Some apps/games that you already bought for your iPhone/iPad are available for free has the purchase is universal.  This is a major advantage as we had already a few games available without shelling out more money.

- Navigation is intuitive and easy to use.  Even our 7 years old got the hang of it in just a few minutes.

- The iOS Remote app is compatible meaning that you can still navigate on your Apple TV while the main remote controller is charging.

- Plex and a few other multimedia apps are available to play your content from your NAS drive. (Finally!)

- Bluetooth headset can be used thus letting someone watch a movie without disturbing the others.

- Some games do support multiplayer mode, relying on iOS devices as remote controllers.  Instead of having kids blinded by their iPod, they were all playing together in the living room having fun and interacting with each other.

The cons:

- You need to buy dedicate gaming controllers for iOS and they are not easy to find at your local store. (At least in my home town)

- The in-app purchases in some games are annoying and it's easy to slip with the touch remote control  when selecting a new game.

- Major titles are still missing in the AppStore. (Probably it will take a few months to get on par with the iOS AppStore).

- Apps cannot be organized into sub-folders like on iOS.  It can get messy as you add more and more apps or games on the main screen.

- Also, you cannot have multiple pages of your main screen as on iOS.  You end up with a really long list of apps.

- Siri is not available in all country or languages.  This is a bit annoying for it is probably a matter of months. (We speak French Canadian at home, supported on iOS but not on tvOS)

- Text entry is really annoying and Bluetooth keyboard is not compatible.  The best option for now is to use the Remote app on an iOS device.

- Multi-users for the Game Center do not seem to be supported, meaning that achievements are all under my personal account.

Overall?

If you're not into gaming but looking for an all-in-one entertainment system, the Apple TV 4 is a sure bet.  Some features are still lacking but should be available eventually as the new ecosystem will mature.  Having an extra (more classic) controller is optional but strongly recommended in some games.

For the initial price and considering the cost of the games, it's way cheaper than an Xbox, PS4 or a WII-U.  No CD/DVD to handle, completely integrated into the Apple ecosystem and much smaller than any devices connectors to your TV set (beside the Chromecast, of course).

If your are considering purchasing the Apple TV 4, go for it.  Especially if you already have iPhones or iPads.

Again, false claim on my Youtube video

Remember last year, I had to fight a few copyright claims on some of my Youtube videos?  It happened again on my ScreenStudio channel...

This time, the claim is from a company called AvangMusic.  They are claiming copyrights on a video I created for ScreenStudio using iMovie for iOS using their Trailer templates.

Here's the video:

Just a simple trailer video for my personal project ScreenStudio (http://screenstudio.crombz.com).  This company claims to hold copyrights on the audio of this video.  The actual owner is Apple (http://apple.com) and their licence clearly states that their audio samples and soundtracks are royalties free.

Again, this video was blocked and cannot be monetized with Youtube ads.  I'm not losing millions of $$$ on this, but it's a loss I do have to endure anyway.  Imagine that you would create a vial video, with thousands of views but your monetization would be suspended under the false assumption that this company, AvangMusic, are the copyright holders.

Youtube needs to do something about this.  It's not hard to identify that this audio track is from Apple and do not infringe any copyrighted materials on the planet.

I did take time to tweet @avangmusic about this issue and also sent them an email.  Still no feedback from them or Youtube.

I'll post more as things will develop in the next days...

Until then, I'll hashtags a few tweets with #stopstealingmyvideos on Twitter.  If you have faced the same issues with @avangmusic or another companies, use the same hashtag so we can join our voices again that crazy problem.

Yes, I'm mad!

Will robots ever replace us?

While watching a movie with my girlfriend tonight, about robots becoming sentient, I was wondering if that scenario was plausible.  This is not about the technology or even about the possibility.  It's about motivation, human motivation.

The main story is always about a civilization using robots to do the dirty work.  At least, do the stuff that we, humans, consider as annoying.  They do the dishes, take care of the dog, bring us a beer and answer the door.  You know, really important and annoying stuff.

In reality, they will probably be used...  I mean actually, they are used in dangerous works like bomb disarming or for car manufacturers to assemble auto parts faster than any meat bag.  They are not smart, but they are fast and never get tired.

Could it be possible that one day, they will get smart enough to replace us?  I'm seriously thinking that it won't happen.  Not because it's impossible to create a smart machine or that we will continue to evolve and always be superior to a machine.  

The smart robots will never roam the surface of the earth simply because we won't build those robots.

For the last 10000 years, we have been creating tools to survive.  And you know what?  We're good at it.  We have found out that Information is the most critical piece, after food and water.  Humans are inextricably inclined in gathering information, sometimes to a point where basic survival instinct is put aside for a moment.

First, we created the language, then the writing.  When technology was more advanced, we were able to share information over a long distance with the invention of the telegraph and the telephone.  Today, we don't even need to talk to someone to learn something new. Just grab your smartphone and query the web.  Almost all human knowledge is accessible in just a few seconds.  We are actually at a peek where data can be acquired faster than we can process.

The next step is almost unavoidable:  making the connection directly into our brain to access available information.  

If you don't believe me, consider that 15 years ago, having access to the Internet from home, on a PC, was a revolution in human history.  5 years ago, we were finally able to get access using smartphones.  The whole Internet in our pocket, everywhere and anywhere...  It wasn't close enough, today, we now can browse the web from our wrists with smartwatches.  A step closer to our grey matter.

We won't stop until we reach our synapses.  And then?  It will be about storage.  The major issue will not be accessibility but the persistence of the information aggregated.  Remember Johnny Mnemonic?  That's more likely to happen than "I, Robot" or "Automata".

The race is not about having devices doing the work for us.  It's about gathering more and more information.  The more you know, the more you are, the more you will survive amongst others...

It's already happening.  Corporations are more powerful when they know about their potential customers.  Where they go, what they eat, what they think.  Eventually this hunger for knowledge will be shared by individuals, if not already the case.  Humans will forget about robots and will put energy and money into technology that will enhance their capacity to process more and more data.  Sentient robots may never see the light of day, but the dawn of the human-machine will surely happen one day.  

Hey, Hollywood!  The next block buster movie will be: Dawn of the Cyborgs!   Scarier than anything else as it will probably happen in less time than expected.

Vampires: Things to consider...

There is a huge fascination with supernatural dead people in the last few years. We can all relate to the Twilight saga where vampires were shown as romantic beings...

Assuming that they would be real in our universe, I am still confused about the fact that girls are so attracted to them. Of course, this happened with the Twilight saga and has nothing in common with previous incarnations of vampires we've seen.

There are some things to consider with vampires, even if they are romantic, cute and shine in the sun:

A vampire is dead, thus cold to the touch

It only gets out at night, meaning that no family picnic, no holidays at the beach, no fun at the pool...

Some girls are complaining about their boyfriend asking for sex... Imagine if their boyfriend would have to fight the urge to kill for blood

A french kiss can be dangerous with those fangs

Your house would always be in the dark... Depressing...

Always the same meal: blood! No fancy dinner, no eggs and bacon, no fruits and veggies...

They must have a really bad breath at the end of the day, drinking all that blood

No selfies to put on the web as camera cannot see them

"Sorry honey, I was drunk" while looking at the dead body in your basement...

Cuddling would always be dangerous. You never know...

"When I was young..." would always refer to something that happened before your grandpa was born.

The list can go on and on. Living with a vampire must be really boring and disgusting.


Worst would be a vampire smoking weed... Can you imagine them with munchies? I wouldn't want to be around...

Anyway, glad they do not exist...

Patrick Balleux

Making money online, part 3...

A few months ago, I registered myself with PaidViewPoint.com to answer online surveys in exchange for some cash.




The way it works is that you get a few cents for each survey answered. When you have accumulated over 15$, you can withdraw the money.

At first, I had easily a survey each week to fill in. It was easy, taking just a few minutes each time. It was an easy way to make some profit and could be used to pay for my online services and web hosting.

After a few weeks, new surveys became scarce. I had reached around 8$ and was hoping that I would be lucky enough to reach the 15$ threshold to get my hands on some money.

As of today, I have accumulated around 13$ and still waiting for another survey to complete the first withdraw. Overall, I've been registered for 11 months, filled many surveys and still got nothing in my pocket.

If I ever reach the magical 15$ limit, my yearly income is so low that it does not worth the effort. In that time, PaidViewPoint.com surely made something with my surveys...




My girlfriend did the same experiment with another survey provider that I can't remember the name. In her case, many surveys kind of crashed after providing information for around 20-30 minutes. Most surveys never got completed and she could never retrieve was was done. As me, she will probably never put her hands to the promised profits.

Lesson learned: Online surveys do not pay. Not even a dime.

I had my suspicions from the start that there was a trick in the hat. If it was so easy to make some money, everybody would do it. My experiment was more about sharing the experience with you than actually becoming rich over night by filling online surveys.

Mission accomplished! Now I know, now you know!

See my initial post when I started this experiment: Making money online, does it work?


Patrick Balleux

Alien abductions: things to consider

The other night, I was having a discussion with my girlfriend about alien abductions.  We had watched the movie Dark Skies (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387433), thus the source of our discussion.

As we were talking about the plot of the movie, it came to my mind that many "facts" surrounding alien abductions simply do not make any sense.  As a software developer, I see things logically in their simplest forms.  This is quite mandatory when designing a new software architecture that will mimic a real life process...  But let's get back to our little friends.

From my point of view, aliens coming from another world, located at 65 light-years away, making experiments on some innocent people doesn't work.  I may be wrong, I may be right.

If they are more advanced than us, how do they lack the same progress in morality and ethics?   Even our savage human race has come to realized that experimenting on animals is cruel and immoral.  There is still a long way to go on this subject but things have changed for the better in the last 50 years.  Why would they lack at this level while outperforming us on everything else?

Assuming that any resources is limited (fuel, minerals, raw material) anywhere in the universe, what is the benefit of traveling 65 light-years, abduct a few people, and travel back.  Even worse, some do get back to earth after a few days...  Do researchers go in the woods, find a few rats, experiments on them and bring them back to their natural habitat?  The cost (in resources) would be astronomical just to do a few experiments...  

Another thing... The alien abductors would be far more advanced than us AND relying on a physical examination with knives and scissors?  Ever heard of X-ray, MRI?  It simply does not make any sense.  

And the morphology of the aliens...  They have big black eyes suggesting that they live somewhere in the shadows where light is scarce.  I wonder how big their eyes are... They must be huge!  If what is depicted as "black" is the iris of their eyes, how do they adjust to different level of lights?  They must be easily blinded by any source of light like the sun, a lightbulb or even a candle.  

Also, their head is so huge, how can they stand up at all?  They are described as being small in height. That would mean that the mass of their head could be half the mass of their entire body.  They would have to constantly struggle to keep their balance.  Let's not forget the impact of gravity.  A higher gravity force would prevent them from just waking around and a lower gravity force would have them swinging around like drunk aliens.  Their morphology would simply prevent them to wander around on our home planet, at least, easily.

Some will argue that they are the result of living in deep space without gravity.  That would explain part of the problem.  If their body has adapted to living in space, without gravity, there would be other visible adaptations.  Their head should be round like a ball.  Their legs would have transformed into arms loosing their primary function to walk.  Their eyes would have moved to the top of their heads as moving in 3D space, instead of just moving in a 2D space, would be more efficient.

Maybe something is going on, I don't know...  But the story of aliens, traveling back and forth to earth just to put some probe into our butt, doesn't fit.  

The universe is build around the same idea:  take simple stuff, put them together to create a more complex one.  The alien abductions stories are doing it wrong: making a simple story from a series of complex theories.

I feel better, now! ;)

Always the same chords...

If you're a musician, you probably already know that many songs often use the same chords.  This will lead to some tune sounding a lot like others.

Mathematically, it is expected.  With only 7 basic chords (C,D,E,F,G,A,B) to create a song, you will eventually reach all the possibilities even if you have variations, a different tempo and different words.

Almost all pop songs have a 4/4 tempo.  This will translate into 4 chords at most for each lyric sentence.  Of course you can have more or less but for a basic pop song, the number of chords for each sentence will vary between 1 and 4 chords.

Look around on the web for guitar chords and you'll be surprise how simple it is.  For each lyric sentence, with 4 chords, you get a possibility of 2401 variations.  But you can't just put random chords together to create a nice melody.  Realistically, you may end up will only a hundred variation if you feel adventurous.

Last weekend, I was learning "All About That Bass" from Meghan Trainor on my guitar.  Not really my kind of song but it's catchy and my daughters are crazy about it.  I usually play classic rock and blues.  Seeing me trying one of their favourite songs was a family event.  :)

As I was learning the tune, I was having a hard time singing as I was always confusing with "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes.  Both songs do use the same basic chords (A, Bm, D/G).  When you listen to both of them, you can clearly hear that they sound alike, "What's Up" being a bit slower.

We finally decided to create a mashup of both songs, just for fun.

Next time you hear the new hit on the pop chart and have a feeling of "Deja Vu", you now know why!

Patrick