Technology

Bootable USBs

As you know, most PCs now-a-days do not have an optical drive. CDs and DVDs were the standard for installing operating systems onto a machine.

Not only that, but diagnostic and anti-virus utilities also need to be loaded without the interference of the hard drive installed operating system.

What to do? USB. I was able to create 4 such bootable USBs, but there's an additional problem. BIOS versus UEFI.

My understanding thus far is that the BIOS-Boot USB treats the USB like a hard drive; complete with a boot sector and operating-specific formatted partitions with specific files placed at specific locations.

The newer UEFI-Boot USBs are more like CD-Roms; while there maybe a boot area and specific files needed, specific partitions are not required.

The two are obviously not compatible. On top of that, there are some mentions that UEFI-boot USBs will only work with USB 2.0 and up. Thus far, my creations of bootable USBs has been trial and error.

If the source ISO expressly points to itself as a CD-ROM device, you need a special USB-burn tool to create it. Further, your BIOS may have to be configured to specifically look for UEFI versus BIOS boot USBs.

My solution, until USB 1.0 is deprecated, is to bring my external CDROM->USB device and both my boot USBs as well as my DVDs.

Which ones? I have Linux Mint 18 (just released), Ultimate Boot CD, Hiren's BootCD, and Kaspersky's Rescue Disk 10.

The Best Linux v. Windows Description I’ve Ever Heard

I’ve found that the best way to describe something is to use terms and subject matter that everyone knows: food. More specifically, in this example, I would like to use food recipes.

Now, most people I talk to subscribe to the notion that “you get what you pay for”. In fact, I know on certain things, I do. But those things are physical items, such as a cheeseburger or a cell phone.

Operating systems (like Windows and Linux), however, are not physical items. Sure, you got a DVD at the store when you bought Windows, but you are holding the DVD which contains the operating system, not the operating system itself.

You can’t peel the operating system off the DVD, put the DVD down and still be holding the operating system. Just like you can hold a piece of paper that has a recipe on it, but you can’t hold the recipe itself.

I know this may seem trivial, but really matters. In fact, let’s make it even simpler: someone gives you a piece of paper with their facebook page address on it.

To copy it, you don’t need another piece of paper, you can just memorize it (or put it into your cell phone) and still be able to tell someone else later.

You don’t have to pay for another piece of paper (or DVD in the case of an operating system) to give someone else that information.

In fact, Windows can even be downloaded from Microsoft onto your computer without having to buy the DVD from them (although they will still charge you for the operating system file).

But let’s get back to the recipe analogy. Microsoft Windows is kind of like the 2016 Betty Crocker cookbook. You go to the store and buy a book full of Betty Crocker approved recipes for public consumption (no pun intended).

If you have a problem with one of the recipes, you can contact the company. They might send you an updated recipe in a week or two...or they just might tell you to wait (and pay more money) for the 2017 Betty Crocker cookbook for the ‘updated’ recipe.

What if you loaned the book to a friend and they tore a page out of it and you didn’t realize it until a year later when you no longer speak to that friend. Well, you can buy another book.

Linux is different. Linux is like a community recipe club. Every so often, you might get together and trade recipes and let others know of how a recipe could be improved. Such a club might charge a small fee or even be free to join.

You might even get a family recipe which has been handed down for years which puts Betty Crocker’s ‘good enough for the masses’ recipe to shame. Lost a recipe? No problem!

Someone else in the club probably has it and can give it to you again...for free...maybe even same day!

Even if you know someone with the Betty Crocker recipe book, giving you the recipe out of it may be considered (by Betty Crocker) as a low-tech version of “piracy”.

“But I’ve never heard of Linux. I only see ads for Windows”, this is exactly like saying “But I’ve never heard of the <insert name of community 3 miles away> Recipe Club. I only see ads for the Betty Crocker cookbook”. That’s true.

Betty Crocker uses some of the money you have graciously spent on their book and get out to more people, to get them to spend money on their book as well.

Contrarily, the community recipe club doesn’t charge money for membership, so they often are unable to spend money on advertising. Word of mouth may be sufficient.

I guess this is a long way to say “You don’t need to blow your money on the “Betty Crocker” solution. I can get you free membership to the Linux community.

You don’t even have to pay for getting rid of malware and viruses. So far as I’ve seen, I’ve only heard rumors that Linux viruses may exist.

If you are looking to get infected with viruses and malware, I can direct you to a place that sells Windows.

Definitions: Geek v. Nerd

So, This has been on my mind for years (if not decades): What are the differences between a Geek and a Nerd? Here's that I think:

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First, I'll tackle Nerd:

Pros (Strengths): I believe a nerd is someone who can research and learn anything they are given. They focus on getting to know the topic inside and out.

Which makes them a jack-of-all-trades in knowledge, but mostly about things that others have already documented.

Cons (Weaknesses): Such diversity of knowledge means there is no real focus on a specific topic. Physical activity is not part of the skills set, but Sports stats very-well could be. Social interaction may be set aside to focus on learning more about a variety of subjects.

I see a Nerd as someone who is deciding what they want to do in life.

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Now for Geek:

Pros (Strengths): Geeks hyper-focus and specialize on a topic. They will be proactive and find answers that no one else has found. Although the term would have not been used decades ago, 'Fitness Geek' is beginning to replace 'Jock'.

Cons (Weaknesses): They tend not to do well in other school subjects. With exception of 'Fitness Geek', Physical Activity also eludes them. Social interaction may be set aside to further focus on that topic of choice.

I see a Geek as someone who knows what they enjoy and let nothing stand in their way to discover new things about it.

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Since the 1980's, I have considered myself to be an Electronics & Computer Geek.

The (supposed) Tech Skills Gap

I know it's easiest to blame the students coming fresh out of college for not gaining or the colleges themselves for not teaching the skills you deem required for the positions you are offering, but let's think about how we got to this point.

When the recent financial situation started, C-level executives decided that the easiest way to save some money was to get rid of lower leveled employees. “These low level people don't contribute much to the organization as long as we have knowledgeable upper level employees. Simple Fix!”

It was easy to just say those words without thinking of the consequences. You know, the 'as long as' part. Well, the people who are the most knowledgeable tend to be the ones that want to retire. Normally, this would be easy to deal with; just promote the person that are a level below their position and case closed. We can continue this process until an entry level job is vacated and only then would we search outside the firm.

Oops! There is no one under them to promote. Quick! Do as everyone else is doing and advertise for someone with multiple years of experience with our specific hardware/software skills and shell out as much money as you can make sure we get them over our competitors. This is all done without a thought to the original problem. Staffing the lower level to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

This has a couple effects:

What does this all mean? Well it means that those who we say our economy needs most, the technical minded people, tend to not get into those positions to help the economy. It means that firms will continue to struggle to get the best and most knowledgeable talent, which will become worse over time.

And this means that eventually, firms will be forced to learn a lesson of their own: If you get rid of your lower level staff, you will have no one to fill the positions vacated by retirees and by staff who are lured to another firm.

So please, consider hiring some entry level “junior” personnel. They tend to be cheaper than the person on top. They will come in with a fresh mind ready to absorb your unique firm's requirements. They will do their best to make sure your firm doesn't falter. Eventually, when you need someone to take the reins of the department, they will be easier to find because they will already be in-house.