Blogger (Blogspot) Posts Mysteriously Converted to Drafts (and no longer live)

Recently nearly 100 of my posts stopped appearing on this blog.  When I accessed the dashboard directly (on blogger.com), all these posts (some with more than 15,000 views) had been converted to “drafts,” and thus no longer appeared live on the blog.

What the hell?!

Putting them back up was a simple matter of ticking the box next to them in the “Posts” view and then clicking “publish,” but how long have they NOT been accessible via the web?!

Super lame.

The only thing I can think of is that I updated Windows Live Writer (the program I use to actually compose blog posts, since the Blogger compose window is so abysmal), so perhaps that had something to do with it?!

Whether is was Microsoft’s fault or Google’s, it still sucks, so I’m posting this in case it happens to anyone else.

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Google Drive is Preventing My PC from Shutting Down

…and Google doesn’t seem to care!  There are posts from years ago on the Google forums, and responses from Google admin saying “we’re looking into this,” but the problem still exists (in Win 7 and Win 8).

(screenshot from BleepingComputer.com – click for link to thread)

I have tried uninstalling/reinstalling Google Drive, but to no avail.  And it’s a serious pain in the butt, because every time you do this, in order to associate a folder with Google Drive, the drive has to be empty (you can’t associate a folder with any contents).  So once you’ve reinstalled Google Drive, you have to create a new folder, associate it with Google Drive, dump all the contents of your old Google Drive into the new folder, rename the folder, and then wait for Google Drive to figure out what the hell just happened (update sync database).

In a thread discussing problems with Piriform’s CCLeaner and Google Drive, I found this information:

When the Google Drive application is running, it creates a directory under C:\Users\Chukhung\AppData\Local\Temp with a name like "_MEI54082" (the last five digits of the directory name change every time the Google Drive application is started). Within this directory are a large number of subdirectories, DLLs, and what appear to be Python files. This directory disappears when the Google Drive application is shut down manually.  [. . .] I'm guessing that Google Drive gets seriously confused when CCleaner partially deletes the contents of this directory.

This seems like a pretty decent guess as to why this is happening, but I’m not sure what to do about it (other than to always manually shut down Google Drive before shutting down the computer, which isn’t exactly an ideal solution).

I will update this post if I find a solution, but in the meantime, feel free to post your thoughts/solutions in the comments!

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Filter Bubbles:

The internet is bringing us closer together, right?  Breaking down walls, helping us live in harmony, helping us to understand people outside our environment and safety zones, etc., etc. Right?

Wrong.

It’s like The Offspring said: “You Gotta Keep ‘em Separated.”  I’m not going to go all conspiracy theory here, and suggest that “the powers that be” have a sinister motive for delivering filtered search results (outside of maximizing their advertising dollars), but the effect is the same.  Even though we may search the exact same terms as someone on the other side of the planet (or even just in a different income tax bracket or socio-political sphere), we live in separate worlds, and the algorithms and filters that deliver our search results and news feeds not only keep us separated but increase the rift.

Here is a fantastic TED Talk on the subject, delivered by Eli Pariser.

My buddy sent this to me back in May.  I decided to see what’s been happening, if anything, to fight this trend since Mr. Pariser gave his now (somewhat) famous presentation.

Turns out, not much. [frown] Google, Facebook, Bing, and just about everybody else are still working to feed you the information that is, well, you… and they are keeping you separated from those outside your bubble while doing it.  Boo, internet!  Boo!!!!

I did find this though…

DuckDuckGo.com claims to provide you with search results sans filtering.  You simply get what you search for.  Here’s a nice little presentation page on why they do what they do (basically, an illustrated recap of the TED Talk on Filter Bubbles by Mr. Pariser).

Remove Attachments in Gmail to Conserve or Free Up Space

My Gmail account is currently nagging me with the message:

“You are almost out of space for your Gmail account. Once you run out of space, you will not be able to send or receive any emails until you delete some items. You can view our tips on reducing your email storage or purchase additional storage.”

Yes, I realize they give us a “free” service, but in turn, we basically turn over our entire online life for them to comb through and profit from.

So I ask: why is there no option to remove attachments from e-mails?  The ONLY way to get rid of an attachment is to get rid of the ENTIRE e-mail to which it is attached.  The current workaround is to forward the e-mail to yourself and un-tick the attached file, then choose “delete this e-mail” from the drop down menu to delete only the e-mail with the attachment (not the entire thread).  The e-mail will remain in the correct thread (albeit in the wrong order), so you can keep the text but get rid of the space-hogging attachment.

However, to do this with each and every attachment that I’ve received since February of 2007 (when I switched full-time from Thunderbird to Gmail) would take me WEEKS!

One can only assume that the THOUSANDS of requests being COMPLETELY IGNORED on the Google Suggestions site asking for this feature (simply delete attachments) is a thinly veiled attempt to make money by getting people to “purchase more storage.”  Not only does Google make a little scratch, but users are literally “more invested” and thus more likely to utilize and stay with the Google suite of cloud-based software.

However, now that I am up against this “near-the-end-of-my-storage-rope” predicament, I think the effect is the opposite of what Google is gambling on (the laziness of most users, and the likelihood of people just clicking and buying more storage).  I am more apt to re-evaluate how tied into Google I am.  Would I rather have Google own and control all my e-mail and it’s content, or should I considering moving back to a desktop-based e-mail system (that would still allow me online access via my hosting portal)?  Time to do some serious thinking about my communication and storage needs.

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The World of Streaming Radio

I just drove across the United States listening to internet radio the whole way.  Not broadcast radio, streaming media.  In fact, I actually changed my route from a rural highway (it was pretty early in the day, but it didn’t really matter in the pitch black of night) to a major interstate loaded with cell towers just so I could pull 3G.

Slacker became my friend.  Pandora was there too.  I tried out doubleTwist’s radio, but you can only utilize their stations (not build your own), so I quickly abandoned them for my radio purposes (still love their sync!!!).

I like how Pandora’s thumb up and thumb down rating systems works WAY better than Slacker.  It’s also pretty lame that there’s a limit on banned songs/artists with Slacker’s free version.  I understand not being able to FF past a certain number of songs in a free version, but not being able to eliminate things you don’t want to hear next time?  That’s ridiculous.

I found myself listening to music with Pandora, and comedy with Slacker (“Mitch Hedberg Radio” wound up playing a lot of Hedberg, Jim Gaffigan, Patton Oswold, Jerry Seinfeld, Lewis Black, George Carlin, and Brian Regan, so I was pretty happy with that station).

I quickly ran out of podcasts as I haven’t ever really been very religious with any source.  I had a couple I’d downloaded previously (Coverville and Fresh Air), but only a couple.

I tried to find a decent Podcast App from the road.  Evidently people only download Podcasts from their computers.  This seemed incredibly odd to me (that there weren’t any good programs to find and download podcasts from your phone).  The best I could find was Google Listen (still beta in Google Labs), and it was pretty abysmal.  It was easy to find the podcasts I wanted, but Listen uses a proprietary player which was evidently coded by a third grader with no thumbs.  The player randomly skips back to the beginning at any given moment, and there is no way to easily get back to where you were, as once that happens, the position of the slider corresponds to absolutely nothing.  There are FF and REW buttons that skip forward/back at 10 second increments, but using the buttons almost always results in the podcast going all the way back to the beginning (again, regardless of where the position shows on the timeline).

Luckily, if you wait for the podcast to fully download, you can find the files in a folder marked “com.google.android.apps.listen.”  They are without a file extension, and named as a random group of numbers (like songs on an iPod) to prevent you from finding and playing them I suppose.  I simply clicked on the files with Astro or AndroFile and selected open as music and was able to listen to the podcasts.

So while Google Listen does a good job of finding podcasts and downloading them, it’s pretty useless in playing them.  I have NO IDEA why they feel they need to add a player to the app.  Just download the damn file and let me play them with my player of choice!  Perhaps it’s Google’s way of trying out a music player they’ll be launching, but right now it’s just super annoying.

So I drove across the United States listening to the interweb.  Pretty cool.  There were a few times when I lost 3G in the bowels of Kansas, but for the most part I was able to keep listening.  Only a very few times did I lose my stream, and it was usually only for 20 or 30 seconds.

Viva la revolucion!

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Logitech Revue: First “Full Internet” TV Box (not really)

People have been anticipating the release of the first major-brand box to use Google TV.  The “big thing” that Google is touting, the reason why they are “better than the rest” is access to the entire web (not just access to a few streaming or VOD sites).  The actual quote from the Google TV website is: "TV, apps, search, and the entire web ... together at last."

However, Google just confirmed today in a press release that Hulu will be blocked from their service, so “the entire web” really means “not the entire web.”

Google does claim to be in negotiation for use of Hulu with their service for Hulu Plus customers.  We’ll see how that goes.

Just thought you’d like to know.

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Google Finally Makes Multiple-Account Sign-In a Reality

Today I was finally able to use Google’s “official” multiple accounts sign-in.

I have quite a few Google accounts, because I administer and use quite a few online entities (for music, for film, for personal, for business, etc.).

It’s extremely frustrating when Google tries to streamline my online user experience by associating everything, especially now that they’ve been snatching up various other online accounts (like YouTube) that have even more log-in identities.

For instance, when, I’m Dan Beahm, producer of the film Leading Ladies, I don’t want all my “Dan Beahm the musician” stuff getting sucked into that wormhole.  If I’m working with online YouTube content for the film, but checking my personal e-mail, I run into all kinds of problems (one account taking over the other, one account kicking me out, etc.) because I have separate log-ins for my Film-centric YouTube account and my totally personal e-mail account (which is associated with my personal YouTube account, not my musician YouTube account or my film YouTube account).  See how this can get very annoying and confusing very quickly?

Previously the best way to avoid this was to use multiple browsers (a pain in the ass) or a plug in called Cookie Pie (which always made me nervous and didn’t always work).

Supposedly Google has now stopped cock-blocking multiple-account functionality by allowing for multiple-account sign-in.  If this works, it’ll be a dream come true.  Hopefully it will allow me to be logged into one account without letting the world know that I’m also logged into another account (or accidently posting something under the wrong identity), because anonymity in certain situations (preserving the identity of the man behind the curtain) is an absolute necessity for using the service (it’s the whole point).

Simply go here and make the appropriate choices to use this functionality.

https://www.google.com/accounts/

I’ll keep you posted as to how it goes.

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Time Zones with Google Calendar and Synced Devices

I take a call in Denver from someone in LA who wants to set up an appointment (in LA) with me at 3pm.  I put it on my Google Calendar which syncs to my Android phone.  When I get to LA, Android/Google thinks they’re doing me a favor by “updating” all my appointments with my phone’s new time setting, so now my calendar is telling me the appointment is at 2pm (since I placed it on my calendar in Denver, where the time is off by an hour).

Why won’t Google fix this massive problem?!  Why did they set it up WRONG in the first place?  Everyone is complaining about it.  Who doesn’t travel these days?  Why would you ever enter an appointment time into your calendar for the WRONG time (to adjust for time zone shifts)?!  This issue is a result of Google “helping” us, when in fact it ONLY causes problems.

I can’t think of a time when this “shift all my appointments” could POSSIBLY be helpful.  If I place an appointment on my calendar, it’s for the time zone of where I’ll be for that appointment.  I’m not ever going to “accidentally” be in a different time zone.  I guess MAYBE this could be helpful for a phone appointment, but not so helpful that it’s worth screwing up the rest of my appointments as soon as I land in a different time zone (you SHOULD just be able to tick a box to select a time zone for an event if you want it to shift according to whatever time zone you’re in).  I also shouldn’t have to set up an appointment and think, “Hmmm.  Now what time zone will I be in compared to the one I’m currently in?  Now, adjust for the time zone, and I should actually enter the appointment into GCalendar at XX:XX time.”  Stupid.

There is a new “world clock” plug in that will display multiple time zones, but it does nothing to fix the issue of Google adjusting all your appointments when you enter a new time zone.

This seems like an INCREDIBLY easy issue to fix, so why the eff isn’t Google fixing it?!

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Google Docs Are Complete Garbage (and making me very angry)

Answer me this: what good are documents that you can never access? I have been trying to get my 20+ person film production staff to use Google Docs over the past two weeks. No fewer than three times a day am I unable to access Google Docs. Not only that, but none of the people in our domain can see the documents until they are actually "shared" with each specific individual ("share with everyone" has never, ever, ever worked). What a pain in the ass to have to make sure I select each and every person I want to be able to access each document with (since "share with everyone" doesn't work).

I am soooooo sick of this screen:



Google, you are slipping. Big time. I'm actually thinking about using MS Live Mesh for document sharing. Pay attention, Google. Fix yer shit.

Mozilla Thunderbird Wishlist

I am loving my Thunderbird/Gmail setup, but there are some things that I really wish Mozilla would improve with Thunderbird. Here are a few of them...

Mozilla TBird Portable Wishlist:

1. Message Opens in Window, NOT POP-UP!

I have no idea why this bugs me so, but it's like Andie MacDowell lives in Thunderbird.

2. Accepting shared SSL certificates

I check my e-mail securely from my various hosts. However, the SSL certificate is a shared certificate; it belongs to my hosting service, so it doesn't match my domain name. I appreciate that TBird asks me if I want to continue with the non-matching cert, but it SUCKS having to sit there and click "ok" for every pop account that is like this. Why can't TBird remember the certs that I have ok'd so I don't have to click ok EVERY FREAKING TIME? Not only that, but if you get distracted and forget to click ok, your mail server times out. Very annoying.

3. OK-ing Pop Up Messages

Similar to #2. I wish pop-up messages didn't prevent TBird from continuing to function. If I'm doing something else, and TBird pops-up a message in the background, all my mail servers time out. Lame.

4. Cross Account Search and Filter

Why in the world can't you search across accounts and folders?! I can appreciate the fact that there are situations where you might want to search only within one account or folder, but at least an option to search all mail and folders (including Spam and Trash) would not only be nice, but it's necessary. WTF?

I realize there are some add-ons for this, but shouldn't something like this definitely be integrated?

(4/3/8) This is really starting to piss me off. If I know somebody sent me something, I have to manually search multiple folders (Spam, Trash, Inbox, different accounts, etc...) to see if I can find the message. Just make a "search all folders" function, dammit. This is almost a deal breaker. I'm so frustrated right now that I'm considering switching back to Gmail, especially since someone just turned me on to "business Gmail."

5. Remember Recipient's HTML Preference

When you send an e-mail, if you haven't designated your recipient's "HTML or Text" preference in the address book, TBird pops a window to ask how you'd like to send the message (plain text, HTML or both). Why not make a simple "remember this?" check box so I don't have to go into the freaking address book to get TBird to remember how the recipient should receive e-mail?

...more to come as I think of them!