The Linear Canvas

A reader on my blog contacted me recently. He asked for my help getting his music files from a Fostex VF-16 to a computer, and specifically to the digital audio workstation (DAW) software, Cakewalk Sonar. I have a VF-16 and I use Sonar as well, so I have lots of experience with that configuration. I have owned a VF-16 since about 2000 or so. I bought it at Peeler Music in Toledo, Ohio. I tried several digital multi track recorders before I found this one. I made the right choice, no doubt.

This made me curious about the optical transfer options as well. I’ve never had any need for them, having always used the SCSI port on my recorder. As a result, I had only limited knowledge of the S/PDIF and ADAT features. I started learning about, and experimenting with, the SAVE PGM option using both the ADAT and S/PDIF outputs. I also found a used ADAT interface for my computer. I have very seldom used the LOAD PGM option.

There are two connections for copying the files from the VF-16 using the three protocols, SCSI, ADAT, and S/PDIF. ADAT and S/PDIF share the optical connections on the VF-16. ADAT and SCSI are somewhat antique methods. So if you don’t have one of these devices, your only option might be eBay or a used parts store.

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An associate brought to my attention that there is an already exploited flaw in all versions of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader (formerly known as Adobe Acrobat Reader). Not neccessaily dismissing his concerns, but wanting to verify for myself, I did a little investigating of my own.

I found that there is a problem with rigged Adobe Acrobat PDF’s files, but not PDF’s in general. The file has to be created by a person that knows the file is compromised. Just opening the e-mail will not activate the rigged PDF. You have to open the attached file to do that. There is always a danger opening files from people you don’t know and/or with messages that make no sense to you. If you are prone to do that for some reason, then that’s a dangerous practice, in any case.

The flaw allows the creator of the file to remotely access affected computers. Obviously that would allow the individual to steal personal information and/or create a Zombie computer that could spread the file by hijacking e-mail addresses and resending the infected file to others, usually without the computer owner’s knowledge.

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(This also can affect other programs in Windows including Apple’s iTunes)

When you start multiple downloads at once, the default behavior in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, 6, and 7 is to only allow two downloads to proceed at one time. I would suspect this is more about the chance that you have a low bandwidth connection by default, which nowadays is rare. I personally like to download as many files as I can when there are multiple files that I want. Usually it is my podcast of The Stephanie Miller Show, which comes in three parts that have a file size of over thirteen megabit each.

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I bought a Pinnacle PCTV HD Card (800i)PCI TV card several months ago. I liked it so much, I took it back and got my money back.

I looked around for another card or a USB tuner. The price kept me away from the USB tuners although some of them had features like internal memory that made them somewhat attractive. All HD tuners had the S-video inputs, plus NTSC and ATSC tuners. Still, there was the main deal breaker for me, a lack of clear-QAM support for unencrypted digital cable reception.

Pinnacle is the only manufacturer that currently has a clear-QAM High Definition TV tuner, in my price range. The USB tuners in the Pinnacle line were basically the same product as the PCTV HD Card because of the software, except they were external. Against my better judgement, I bought another PCTV HD Card. It was cheaper.

I didn’t have any problems at first. I immediately updated to the beta version of the software that allowed clear-QAM reception. Besides the fact that I never watch TV, everything was fine. Then came an upgrade from Pinnacle that promised to add features that would have been very helpful. I tried to upgrade but it failed. That time I was able to revert to the previous version.

I had some trouble along the way and had re-scanned all the digital channels on my cable. It left me with several hundred blank channels and the software was acting up when I would edit it. So I decided to update to the latest version of TVCenter Pro. What happened next was a lot of work and never a reward, until yesterday.

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I got a call one afternoon at work recently that the Access database application that I had built for invoice and production tracking would not work. Since I knew that they were going to replace our file server and several of the desktops, it was no surprise to me. The previous workstations had only Access 2002 Runtime installed on them. The new computers had a full version of Access 2003 installed. The IT tech told me that they kept making a shortcut to the application on a new workstation and nothing had worked.

It had been a few months since I had worked on the database, so I was a little rusty at troubleshooting the problem at first. After looking at it for a few minutes, I inquired about the name of the new server computer, The tech said that the name of the server had changed,

That was part of my problem. The Link Table Manager showed all tables that were in the application backend on a computer called columbus31a. The files were copied to the new file server called columbus-931. All I had to do was update all the network paths to reflect the name of the new server in the application frontend’s Link Table Manager. I had to update a few links, for some reason, all by themselves. When I would select all links at once and update,  the process would stop.

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I have subscribed to many magazines over the years. Many of them have been computer related. I began receiving Run Magazine, Compute!, and Compute!’s Gazette back in the nineteen eighties. I read every page and saved most of these magazines for years. I always said it was for reference, but it also reminded me of a time when I had a whole lot of fun learning and playing.

After I threw away my Commodore 64 magazines, boxed up my C-128, and bought a PC, I determined that PC Magazine seemed to be a straightforward computer magazine without as much marketing hype as some of the others. I had been subscribing to PC World magazine and determined at one point that PC World was following a path to less information about PCs and more about entertainment products. About this time, another magazine I was reading, Maximum PC, was in a rush to please its corporate marketers by acquiring more subscribers which included those that can barely open a PC, let alone build one. I dropped both PC World and Maximum PC.

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I leave two computers, a file server and an MP-3 server, on all day and until recently, all night as well. It was just as much that there was no real need to have them on at night as about how much electricity they used, that I decided to do something about it. I sometimes use my file server before I go to work in the morning, so I wanted to be able to restart the computers individually. I don’t think I need my MP-3 server on quite as early.

I searched the Internet for Windows shutdown information and I found several options. I was surprised to see that no one was really talking about this issue at any length. I discovered that I could use scheduled tasks in Windows to auto-start a shortcut or a batch file I created containing the Windows shutdown command to shut down the computers at a designated time.

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I always use a Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) switch because I have two computers at my desk and want to switch conveniently from one to the other. I have been using an older PS/2 style KVM. With all of the USB peripherals that I have, I thought it was time to switch to a USB KVM and shut off the PS/2 ports on my computer. I was also having trouble with the new multimedia keys on my keyboard being recognized through the USB to PS/2 adaptor that came with it.

What I found were two types of USB KVM’s. In both cases the video is still on a standard VGA cable. One type is a PS/2 to USB converter KVM. It accepts older peripherals using PS/2 connectors and converts them usually to two USB cables, for two computers. Nothing wrong with that, but it does not fill a need for me. They are usually the cheapest USB KVM style, but I am not sure I get why in that case you would want to not use the built in PS/2 ports? A cheaper PS/2 KVM would fill that need I would think.

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Some times I am not the life of the party. I don’t have much fun around some people because I don’t do the coffee, cigarette, alcohol, overeating, gambling, religion, and never question authority thing that is seen as the American ideal for men (and women) these days. I’m no prude and I wouldn’t deny those things to the countless addicts who depend on them to avoid withdrawals, hell, divorce, or jail time.

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I did some research recently on digital music servers with the intention of buying one that mostly just streamed audio as opposed to video and audio. Video would have been acceptable, but that would have been an extra bonus had I found one I liked that had it. Most models worked about the same. The music server acts as a go between for your computer which supplies the files a little at a time (streaming) to the music server over a computer network. The music server has the appropriate jacks, usually RCA connectors, to play the music it receives from the computer, over your stereo system.

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