A Critical Review of MacKeeper

Back about the time I decided to buy a new Canon EOS Rebel T-3 digital SLR, I started to actively search for ways to trim the memory usage on my iMac (2.66 GHz Intel Core Duo, using Mac OS X).  I found some interesting things I could do myself--including removing duplicate copies of my entire (voluminous) photo library--but I turned to MacKeeper for some extra help to free up even more memory.  Here's a how MacKeeper describes itself to potential buyers.

"What is MacKeeper?

MacKeeper is like 911 for your Mac. It’s an easy way to manage routine tasks and keep your Mac secured, clean, reliable, fast and attended!

What makes it so special?

MacKeeper is a bundle of most important system utilities for performing different tasks on your Mac. It will rescue you from numerous apps and dozens of customer support centers!"

While I liked its simple user interface, its constant critical, "red alert-style" warnings soon became increasingly annoying.  I'd fix everything, then a few days later it would tell me that my system status was critical.  I knew this was nonsense, simply a marketing technique to make its non-tech savvy users feel a breathless need for its "magic."

As it did free up gigabytes of memory, though, I was patient..at first.  When MacKeeper sent me an invitation to do a review in exchange for an upgrade, I foolishly thought "Sure, why not?" and shared my thoughts in a quick and dirty online review.  That was a mistake.  The upgrade immediately caused problems with what they call their binary cutter, creating one of those false critical system warnings.  Their advice finally?  Just ignore it, because it's not a bug.  That, of course, begs the question...if it's not a problem, why does your MacKeeper tell me the sky is about to fall?

Here's an example of the "helpful" tech chat they offered me.

You: That's fine, but there's apparently a bug that should be addressed.

Vincent: I don't think it's a bug.

Vincent: In case if those junk files are in use I'm not surprised you can't remove them

You: Hello...

You: I'm supposed to give you remote login info, so you can check this issue...

You: 485 116 209 (remote id)

You: Ready for password?


Dear Karl B. Erickson, We are terribly sorry for all the inconvenience you have faced. In order to deal with the situation in the most efficient way we decided to offer you a remote control session. Our technician would connect to your computer and make the necessary steps - this is absolutely risk free, you would be able to spectate all our actions and we ensure you your privacy and personal information safeness. It usually doesn't take more then 10 minutes. If you agree to our offer, please follow instructions from the link below. http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/remote_support Then please start a live chat in Mackeeper application or from MacKeeper official website http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/support_livechat and describe your issue to agent. If you are not willing to accept this offer we will do our best to deal with the issue in other ways, but it could take longer.Thank you for cooperation, ZeoBit customer support department.

You: Ready?

You: Waiting...  Support, are you there??

You: MAX, are you there?

You: signing-off in ten seconds...

As you can perhaps gather, ZeoBit customer service and tech support came across along the lines of the clueless Barney Fife of the software support world.  But the fun had only just begun.

Today, I realized with unbridled joy that MacKeeper had sent yet another update.  What new problems would I find?  I was not to be left disappointed.   The new warning message coming up repeatedly today is copied below.  Despite numerous attempts to clear, which included changing system preferences, no luck. It comes up as often as mosquitoes on a camping trip.

MacKeeper wants to use your confidential information stored in "com.zeobit.MacKeeper.ZeoAccount" in your keychain."

Try as I might, I can't get the new warning to go away for long.  I am just about fed up with MacKeeper and will likely be deleting it shortly--if they can't fix with an...update.  Gulp!

Some Other User Friendly Articles on "Techie" Subjects:

Resetting the iPhone

Internet Ramblings

Taking a Small Bite Out of a Big Microsoft

Update (1):

• Are you also having problems MacKeeper's latest update?

  
  

  
  

  The Singing in the Wood: A Critical Review of MacKeeper

  singinginthewood.blogspot.com

   ·  · Share

  • • 
      

      MacKeeper Hi Karl, please try to reinstall MacKeeper, download the version to install from mackeeper.com. This should fix the problem, also apply to out support for more details.
      

      2 hours ago · 
    • 
      

      Karl Bjorn Erickson Reinstallation completed with no effect on the problem.
      

      2 seconds ago · 

Update 2:

Per MacKeeper's suggestion this morning, try deleting the program, then reinstalling it.  So far, it does seem to work better.  (One potentially new security vulnerability has been shared with MacKeeper.)

Update 3:

I've long since stopped using MacKeeper.  In case you were not aware, there is a legal settlement in-the-works with regards to this product.

A Day Hike to Lake Pamelia

Wild Rhododendrons in bloom around the lake.

Trying to get in better shape, I recently took my kids on a day hike to Pamelia Lake in Oregon's Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area.  It was a lot of fun, and I thought I'd offer some quick notes to readers (and reminders for myself) who may be interested in trying it in the future.


The first thing to bear in mind is that this is a limited access area.  This means that a special wilderness use permit must be picked-up first at the Detroit Ranger Station.  You will also need a parking permit for the trailhead.  As of 2012, the use permit was free, but the parking pass was five dollars.  If you don't like surprises, you may want to call ahead to reserve the permit.


The Pamelia Lake Road, leading to the trail head, is located about fourteen miles east of the ranger station off of Highway 22.  It's paved most of the way, but it is a single lane.  Use caution also due to the irregular road surface which can cause underside damage if you try to go to fast.  (No comment on how I know this.)  


The hike itself is not that difficult, but it's probably not fair to call it easy either.  Moderate difficulty is probably the most accurate description.  Make sure that you bring more food and water than you think you'll need, and remember that weather conditions can change quickly, so bring appropriate clothes (and sunscreen).  The pleasant sound of Pamelia Creek accompanies the hiker for much of the way--a good reminder to stay hydrated!

Two and a half miles later, the winding trail deposits the hiker on the lake's west side with impressive views of Mt. Jefferson to the northeast and wild rhododendrons gracing the lake's shoreline.  It's a great place to sit and relax for a while.


It may be helpful for the reader to pause here and take a quick look at our journey online, bearing in mind that there is no GPS signal in these woods, so the iPhone's mileage figures are not as exact as usual.  You'll see that we went around to the east side of the lake for quite some distance.  This was an enjoyable hike, with picturesque waterfalls and geese gathered on the lake's eastern shore, but we lost the trail completely at the end of that stretch.  

A more experienced hiker would have been able to successfuly ford the streams and follow the trail's path beyond and up the steep foothills to where the path intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail.  (You'll note that this section of trail is actually running parallel to the PCT, which lies a short distance to the east.)


The only last suggestion I'd offer is to watch your way carefully. There are a number of poorly marked and intersecting trails on the lake's western side.  It's easy to get a little turned around and find yourself going in a circle--not exactly filling the hiker with wonderful feelings of accomplishment.  If you get confused or lost, it's best to return to the lake to regain your bearings.  


I hope the reader finds this information of some value.  It's a great little hike for those of us in the beautiful Willamette Valley.  


(Here is one more link that may prove useful!  Particularly good explanation of the trails in this area.)



New:  You may also enjoy "Injured and Alone."  

A Note for Readers Concerning Future Interviews

Lunch with Emir (and John C) in 2008.

Begining almost exactly a year ago with Sean Astin's interview, I have endeavored to offer new interviews on a quarterly basis.  Recently, I thought I'd ask a distant friend of mine, Dr. Emir Shuford, about answering a few questions--only to learn that he passed away late last year.  


This is probably as a good a time as any, then, to suspend all further blog interviews for the time being.  I'll likely return to them after the completion of my current novel.  As Frodo said," I feel thin; like too much butter spread over a piece of toast."  Time to pull back just a bit!

Fortnight for Freedom in the Pacific Northwest

Usually, it's somewhat amusing to listen and read reports from within the liberal ranks of the secular media when it comes to their clumsy and ill-informed analysis of matters pertaining to faith--Washington Post, for example.  Many don't even seem to have a working knowledge of the Bible in terms of its mere literary value; it's a stinging indictment  on the state of public education when the media gets away with so much.  The reporting is so exceedingly poor and biased lately on these issues that I find myself turning more and more to conservative networks such as Fox News or Catholic networks such as EWTN.  After NBC's recent creative soudbite editing, Raymond Arroyo is a breath of fresh air.


This brings us to The Fortnight for Freedom, a 2-week event from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Below is an excerpt from their site on the aim and goal for this endeavor.


The fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, are dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome.  Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action will emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. Dioceses and parishes around the country have scheduled special events that support a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty.


With our eyes on the Supreme Court this week, I hope Catholics will remember the fight for religious freedom and stand up for what is right and just.  As Saint John the Baptist stood up against King Herod and as Saint Thomas Moore (an ancestor of my wife, by the way) stood up against the outrageous claims of King Henry VIII, we're also responsible for standing up today for what is right and just and should be capable of articulating and defending the Church's position concerning the sanctity of all human life--from conception through natural death.  If you don't believe this...then you're not really Catholic at heart.  You may be a "cultural Catholic," but if it's not rooted in your heart, you might as well join the local Elk's Club.  Sanctity of life is a fundamental and non-negotiable component of the Catholic tradition.  (For an insight into my feelings on Obama Care, see the following letter to the editor from This Rock.  Please also see The Coercive Attack on Free Speech.)


If you haven't already seen it, I invite you to watch this well done video, Test of Fire.  I hope and pray you will do what's right and take a stand for religious liberty this election season.

A Suggestion for Oregon State Hiring & Promotions

I usually steer clear of topics dealing with my office life in the shadow of the capitol mall (shrouded in mystery and excitement that it is--not!).  Since this isn't an issue likely to yield too much controversy or grumbling, I've decided to voice my thoughts.  In fact, most of you will probably be asleep by the time you reach the last paragraph.  As a state employee for fifteen years within two of the largest state agencies, I think I know just a little about hiring and advancement within state agencies, and I'd like to talk about one particular concern today.


Background


If you have ever looked at the current state government employment opportunities, you know there are a lot of choices out there.  (If you haven't completed an application recently, expect your first electronic application submission to take you a minimum of an hour or two.)  There are external and internal openings, but the issue I am discussing today really applies to both of those categories.  Recently, after being particularly excited about a job opening that was a perfect fit for my communication background, I was dismayed to learn that I was competing with the nice gentleman already performing the duties of the job.  Since I had no interest in competing with him, I made the decision to withdraw my application.  This kind of thing happens more than the public likely recognizes, and I suggest it's a significant waste of state employee time and resources.  



The Problem


I realize that, when it comes to the state hiring/promotion process, there are complex reasons for all the processes and procedures state human resource employees and management must follow--the union contract and privacy concerns account for much of this.  That said, I'd encourage agency management to consider creative ways to give potential candidates an informal heads-up that the open position for which they are applying may have them competing with the person who is already doing the job in question.  I'm confident that I'm not the only state employee who finds these hiring situations a little annoying for two main reasons.

First, it seems in poor form (to me anyway) to compete for a position with the person currently engaged in performing those same exact duties.  I'm not sure I'd go so far as calling it rude...but let's just say it doesn't seem particularly neighborly to me.  (This is why I make a point of withdrawing my applications in these situations.)

Second, it's my understanding that within the vast majority of these scenarios, the person currently competing for his/her own position--e.g. wishing to make the transition from a limited duration or work-out-of-class to permanent--is hired for the permanent.  This is only common sense.  Bringing someone on board who can immediately hit the ground running, saves a lot of time and training funds.  It raises a question, though.  In not disclosing this in some way up front, how much time and effort is being wasted by employees applying for a position such as this?  When you multiply the lost employee hours by the number of instances of this across state government each year, you could probably fund a small Oregon State Agency with the identified savings--but this is a personal observation only and unrelated to my number-crunching by day.

I know that it's not an easy question, and, if HR were to do too much too quickly, they might be legitimately accused of not having a legitimate and open hiring process, but I'd suggest that the agency look at this issue for creative solutions that meet state requirements.  Of course, HR staff will counter that each employment interview is an opportunity for new experience and "professional development," but this really just obfuscates the procedural and practical challenge at hand; no one wants to waste their time applying and interviewing when the pre-selected employee is already "waiting in the wings."


A Solution?


One possible solution might be a method of self-disclosure by position candidates in this particular situation.  Perhaps a private website, for instance, could serve as a place where people trying to make the leap from a temporary, rotational, or work-out-of-class could publicly disclose that they're competing for the same position in a permanent capacity.  A second and related strategy to counter this problem (and others), as suggested by a friend of mine, might utilize rotating interview panelists from different state agencies.  In other words, you might have Department of Revenue employees serving as panelists for Employment Department interviews--and vice-versa. 

Pentecost Sunday Reflections Upon Speaking in Tongues

On this Pentecost Sunday, I thought it might be a good time to share some thoughts on speaking in tongues.    A good place to begin would be today's reading from John 20:19-23.


On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

My own background on this issue--well before our journey to the Catholic Church--has also been a great influence.  As my grandfather was a minister and my great aunt a medical missionary to Africa, this was an issue that came up from time to time.  The Charismatic understanding of speaking in tongues always troubled them.  I remember one account, for instance, of missionaries coming back from the field and visiting a church where speaking in tongues was being practiced.  They hurriedly left, as I recall, because they heard most profane things being said in one of the obscure languages of the mission field.  

When I worked in the late 1980s in Seattle for an Assemblies of God Church, I also had an experience that will always stick with me in a most negative way.  I was on my way back to Seattle Pacific University after work and riding beside me was a colleague from the church.  I remember as the bus neared the Freemont District where I would exit, my seatmate began to loudly "talk" about church and faith.  He wasn't actually speaking to me at all, but was using me as an excuse to witness to those on the bus.  We should all be willing and able to articulate our faith in public, but there is something very disagreeable about excited and disingenuous expressions of faith like this.  Like the way I see many  of those on the Charismatic side, their faith seems to my perspective to reflect something more akin to emotionalism than reason.

As we read in 1st Corinthians 14:28, speaking in tongues without an interpreter is contrary to the teachings of Saint Paul.  Speaking in tongues, then, is a ministry tool (to address a specific manner of need in spreading the Gospel) which focuses more upon the hearer than the the speaker.  That is, the speaker is trying to share the Gospel of Christ with someone of a different culture.  The act of speaking in tongues is to convey the Gospel, as opposed to "puff-up" the speaker, conveying true humility rather than pride, and spreading and strengthening the people of God.

The above does not mean that all those who practice speaking in tongues are doing something wrong and contrary to biblical teachings, but it does, at the very least, suggest strong caution.  I'll agree that it is a difficult and complex topic.  There is, for instance, the case of Heidi Baker in Mozambique.  Unless it's all a fabrication and a lie--which I don't propose--God is performing wondrous and powerful acts of healing through this diminutive woman.   Of course, this is the mission field, the truly legitimate place for speaking in tongues.  It's truly challenging to address such a deep topic in a blog post, but I offer my thoughts and reflections on this topic only as points for your consideration.

In conclusion, below is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says on this important topic.

Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.

Observations on Kaiser's Emergency Triage

The other day my wife presented serious symptoms at the Skyline Kasier Permanente facility in Salem, Oregon.  Although her symptom presentation suggested the possibility of a serious medical condition--e.g. stroke or possible blockage in the brain--we were directed to wait an hour before a nurse saw her.  As soon as she was seen, the care was wonderful.  I can't stress that enough, in fact.  

Still, as this is the second time we have experienced a serious triage error at Kaiser Permanente, we think it's important that people know they should press to be evaluated by a health professional if symptoms suggest an emergency.  "Assembly line medicine" can still be a serious concern even at the best of facilities.  You are ultimately the best advocate for quality care and continuity of care, and sometimes you must be willing to escalate things to the next level.  I'm sure glad we did.