#skynetsolutions

A friend recently complained to me about all the annoying emails she kept receiving from Facebook (mainly FarmVille). I'm sure we have all heard similar complaints. So here is a quick blog about how to stop the spam from harvesting insanity.

First, let's stop the emails which is pretty simple to do. First, obviously, log into Facebook. All the way to the right, there is a down arrow you will need to click on, then click Account Settings. On the left menu, click the Notifications button. On this page, you will be able to personalize what notifications that Facebook will email to you. This won't stop you from being notified on Facebook. You will still get all the normal notifications that you would previously have gotten, however you will not get the emails. Check the boxes you want to receive emails for, and uncheck any boxes you don't want to receive emails for. Personally, I unchecked every box, and I just visit frequently. While still on this page, you can easily click the Apps button, and then delete any apps you have installed that you don't use. You can also click on the Mobile button to set up or turn off Mobile Alerts.

Next, let's block some apps. If you don't want to know about it every time Polly Peaches harvests her garden, or if you are tired of getting asked to help some mafia clan, this is for you. Start by clicking the Facebook icon at the top left hand corner to get to your newsfeed. Now scroll down just a bit. On the left menu bar, there will be options like Favorites, Groups, and Apps (you may need to click the "more" icon to open the full menu.) Under Apps, there is an Apps and Games option. Simply click this option, and there will be invites from friends. Now hover your mouse over an invite, and an X will appear at the top right of the invite. When you click the X, it will change to show that you have hidden the request, but it will also offer you an option to "Block the Application" or "Block all Requests" from the person that sent you the invite. I usually just block the app not the person, but if you have that one friend that tries every app and always sends you requests, you might think of "Blocking all Requests from Polly Peaches." Then a "Block App" pop-up will appear. Click okay, and you're set! You won't be invited, contacted, or notified about that pesky app anymore. Your friend will not know that you blocked them or their apps.

If you decide later that you want to try out a blocked game, you can find it in this same place. There are options for apps your friends are using, new apps, and "recommended to you" apps. You can also manage blocked applications by going to the same right drop-down and clicking Privacy Settings, and then clicking on "Manage Blocking" next to "Blocked People and Apps." You can now unblock any apps or people you have blocked requests from.

This whole process can take a little while, but it is definitely worth it.

(Source: Skynet Solutions)

This past week I was lucky enough to go and hear one of America's top graphic designers speak in my home town of Tulsa. Art Directors Club of Tulsa and the Philbrook Museum of Art were responsible for bringing such an established person to come and speak.

Of course once I heard he was coming to town, I was on the bandwagon and very anxious to hear his lecture. I have always liked his snarky character and down-to-earth responses in numerous interviews, magazine articles, and videos such as Helvetica.

He started off by mentioning how nice our venue and surrounding areas are, stating “If I was giving this speech in New York, we would be in a dark and dingy old warehouse or building. You have it so nice out here, great lighting, high-res projector...” Micheal was more humble than most people would imagine. In fact, he mentioned his first kiss, which was his wife and high school sweetheart, and he quickly spout out the exact date and time of the event.

One of the portions of his speech I valued most was his sharing an experience with a difficult client. It was one of those “I got this!” moments when they landed the identity process for New World Symphony. In his mind, he had the solution already planned out. Everyone in the office agreed that it was a great identity solution and was sure that the client would love it. Michael, of course, displayed these proposal identity graphics to us, and they were indeed, very elegant, precise, and perfect logo solutions. But, as we all know, it does not matter how awesome, balanced, or aesthetically perfect a design is UNLESS the clients loves it themselves. This was the case for MANY revisions until some many moons later when he received an email from the client. This photo email was a picture of the client's desk with six post-it notes attached. Each post-it note had a very simplistic line drawing of his vision of the identity. Like most designers, this was a little difficult to accept on a Friday afternoon after trying for weeks to gain an inch on this project. It greatly discouraged Michael Bierut. He mentioned going home and talking with his wife, and he said his left-brained wife just couldn’t understand why it was affecting his overall mood throughout the weekend. We all, of course, could relate and shared a laugh. He went on saying that, “Isn't it funny how people can look at other people's professions and say, I can do that, there is nothing to that.” He backed up this statement by relating his late Friday post-it note email to the job of being a Symphony Conductor. “That looks easy; anyone can wave a stick around!” Michael went on to show us the art and precision of a conductor, and how the manuals and form of a conductor are not to be discounted. “There is a lot of process, practice, and study that goes into being a conductor.”

Coming back to work on Monday, Micheal expressed that maybe he was looking at it too selfishly and should consider another point of view. That client is super busy yet had taken the time to sketch, to the best of his ability, a concept of the logo. The client wants it just as bad as Pentagram wants to finalize its identity. So Micheal started considering his conductor research and the six post-it notes to make connections and similarities. Carefully inspecting the six line drawings, Micheal derived a perfect connection from the client drawings, music, design, and Symphony Conductor and finally delivered a winner to the client. It can be seen here:http://www.nws.edu/ The client really wanted a connecting acronym with the three letters NWS. Micheal mentioned that the conductor manual gave some insight on the shape and formality of the design. It was “like the end of a conductor wand leaving traces in the air.”

I guess the moral of this particular section of his talk was that research is key, as well as keeping your pride aside, and be willing to step back and consider several points of view.

Hearing someone as established as Micheal Bierut and Pentagram having clients send them example ideas on post-it notes make me, as well as every designer at the lecture, sigh with relief. Everyone is human, no one is perfect, and patience is perseverance.

I was lucky enough to sit very close to the front in the main lecture hall; there were so many people that they used another lecture hall with live video/audio feed to accommodate the extra people. I was also lucky enough to get a signed poster that he designed for the event. Can you tell what it says?

(Source: Skynet Solutions)

To help keep track of the bugs and fixes that get reported for our products, we have made a Mantis Bug Tracker install available: http://bugs.skynet-solutions.net Users are more than welcome to create an account on the tracker but please note that e-mail submissions or forum posts are still the preferred method of reporting bugs and feature requests.

(Source: Skynet Solutions)

After many late nights and long weekends we are pleased to announce that 0.4 is now available for download. This release includes many new web features and scripts to make management of your EasyIDS system even easier. Special thanks to Sourcefire for allowing us to include a more current Snort ruleset in the distribution. 0.4 is a beta release and we would appreciate feedback and suggestions. You can see the new screenshots here and you can see the changelog here. We are working on scripts to help with the upgrade from 0.3 and will be upgrading the documentation as soon as we can. Additionally, we hope to soon offer a few hardware products for use with EasyIDS. And finally, we have also launched our own forums to provide a central location for support and community discussions.

(Source: Skynet Solutions)

We are pleased to announce that 0.3 is now available for download. This release includes new web features and scripts to make management of your EasyIDS system even easier. 0.3 is a beta release and we would appreciate feedback and suggestions. You can see the changelog here.

(Source: Skynet Solutions)

We have released an update that makes management of your EasyIDS system a bit easier. Check the downloads page to get the update. Please report any bugs, feedback, or suggestions. You can see the changelog here.

(Source: Skynet Solutions)

We are pleased to announce that 0.2 is now available for download. This release includes an entirely redesigned web interface and scripts to make management of your EasyIDS system even easier. 0.2 is a beta release and we would appreciate feedback and suggestions. You can see the changelog here.

(Source: Skynet Solutions)