More notes about the internet portion of the service:
* The wireless component of the Verizon-supplied router is junk. As described in the previous post, it doesn't work properly with the Dell wireless software. Additionally, the signal strength on it is pretty weak compared to the standard Linksys WRT54G found all over America.
* Dial-ups - Not included
* Webpage - You get 10Mb, and addl space costs extra.
* Webmail interface is pretty good, but has ads on the page, and has some annoying bits. One example - If left alone for around ten minutes or so you are logged out, and must re-log-in to check for new mail. I haven't found a way to disable or increase the time-out period.
* Newsgroups (Usenet) - Not included
* FTP - BLAZING FAST
* Bittorrent - pretty fast as well
* DNS - I don't recall the term for this, but some ISPs override the proper DNS protocol of the Internet, and effectively hijack DNS when they think it won't hurt anything. Specifically, if I'm web-browsing, and enter an address that doesn't exist (usually due to a typo), then instead of my seeing a proper and informative (to me anyway) error presented by my web-browser, Verizon will show me a Verizon-branded page with suggestions for where they think I was trying to go, or where they recommend I go. This VIOLATES internet networking standards, and as an IT professional that relies on accurate, predictable, and informative error messages this sort of thing is a major annoyance. Many mainstream ISPs do this - Verizon isn't the only company doing this, but it is a bad practice and should be stopped.
I think that sums up my comments on the internet service. If I think of more, I'll add them later on.
TELEPHONE -
There's not much to say about the phone service. It works. It sounds fine. The install includes a battery back-up mounted on the wall in my garage, that provides phone service for up to 8 hours in the event of a power failure - pretty slick. The service includes Caller ID, Call Waiting, and Voice Mail.
* Verizon took nearly two weeks to get the Voice Mail working properly. During that period I called Tech Support about the voice mail at least 4 times. On every single call the support agent I spoke with was friendly, seemingly competent, and every single time I was given a different explanation for the problems. Some of the explanations seemed believable, others seemed as far-fetched as Howard The Duck. During all of this I was also having issues with the TV part of the package, and increasingly losing the Wife Acceptance Factor battle, so I was growing more and more frustrated when one day the voicemail mysteriously started working properly. Go figure.
* Speakeasy had a kludgier VOIP service, apparently contracted out to another provider, but they offered many more features and flexibility with the service. The feature I miss most is email integration. With SE's VOIP, you could control all sorts of phone-functions from your PC - you could view real-time logs of phone activity, place calls from the PC, pulling phone numbers from your Outlook address book, have voicemail messages emailed to you, etc... Verizon offers none of these features.
TELEVISION -
* Before ordering FIOS, I compared my existing situation to both Comcast Cable and Verizon FIOS. I compared features and price, and compiled a comparison chart.
While researching the options, I phoned both Comcast and Verizon to ask questions about the services. The Comcast agent was clueless, compared to Verizon's phone-rep, and this influenced my final decision. Well, multiple Verizon reps told me before I ordered, as well as after the service was installed, that TVs that lacked a digital set-top box would only receive channels 1-49, essentially local channels and public access, and nothing else. The Verizon website states that a cable-ready TV tuner will only receive local channels - 1-49.
At the end of the installation, I discovered the TVs received no signal at all without the set-top boxes. The installer suggested that I might need to use a digital adapter like those the government has issued coupons for. These are the adapter boxes necessary to receive digital broadcasts on an old analog TV.
So I hooked one up, and still received no signal.
After a few calls to Verizon, I found a tech support rep that seemed to know what she was talking about. She told me that only QAM256 tuners would work, and that Verizon had very limited tuners available and with those I would get only the local channels, but because I couldn't use the TV without one, Customer Svc would provide them for free. Naturally Cust Svc was closed.
The next morning Customer Service insisted they couldn't provide the boxes for free; they were $4/month each. But to compensate me for the aggravation, they agreed to credit my account with a $30 discount for 6 months. Fair enough. (This was much longer and harder to achieve than it sounds. I was on the phone for a LONG time.)
So I ordered 6 adapter boxes. (Technically, DCT-700 units.) I already had 3 set-top boxes. The DCT700s were for various VCRs and TV Tuner cards in PCs.
Two days later I received the adapters, hooked them up, and hated them.
Ultimately, I gave up on the idea of setting up a DVR on a PC (Goodbye MythTV). We abandoned the possibility of recording TV on our VCRs. And I returned all 6 digital adapters, and added a Verizon DVR set-top box instead. The final result will be a little bit cheaper than when I had the 6 adapters, and is much easier to use. It also takes up less space and most likely consumes less electricity.
*OnDemand - the free OnDemand offerings are lousy compared to Comcast.
*Picture quality - MUCH better than Comcast.
*Set-top box - comparable to Comcast (both use Motorola equipment), but I think it is slightly better.
*Many more music channels than Comcast.
*Seems to have a TON of HD offerings, but I don't have an HD TV and don't really care about this.
======================
Now, 3 weeks after the install (installed April 13, 2009), I've figured out the wireless quirks, settled on the right equipment for my TVs, and the Voicemail problem has been fixed. Now that everything is working, I'm perfectly satisfied with the service, and would recommend it.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Reports from a recent Verizon FIOS installation
Last Monday I worked from home while a Verizon technician installed FIOS service at my house. I"d placed the order in late-March, and was eager to check out the promised upgrade in speed for my internet connection.
My FIOS package includes Internet, television, and phone service.
Internet -
I ordered the 20/5 internet service (20Mbps download, 5Mbps upload). The package also includes 10Mb of webspace; I added an additional 50Mb of webspace for another $4.95/month.
I didn't notice any dramatic increase in speed while web-browsing. This is probably due to a couple of factors. When surfing the web, the pages you view are sent to you from web servers located remotely. Those servers are attached to the internet through an internet connection, just as your own PC is attached through your own DSL, cable modem, etc... Even if your connection is the fastest connection possible, you won't receive data any faster than it is being sent to you, so if the connection at the other end is slow, you'll wait. Another probable explanation why I didn't notice blazing speed at first is that my main desktop PC at home was purchased in 2000, and isn't a real powerhouse. So, web-browsing didn't bowl me over, but was perfectly acceptable.
I maintained a couple of websites on the Speakeasy servers. Before cancelling the account, I needed to retrieve the files from SE's servers, and upload them to Vz's servers. The FTP transfers were unbelievably fast! That DID blow me away.
Then, a few days ago the latest version of Ubuntu was released. I started up a uTorrent session, and managed to get a full copy of the new Ubuntu .iso very quickly. And with my increased bandwidth, the torrent activity doesn't impact the phone, so I've been sharing the Ubuntu iso for several days for others that need it.
A couple of years ago I registered an account at DimeADozen.org. DAD is a torrent sharing site for concert recordings. DAD enforces a strict upload/download ratio, mandating that users upload as well as download. I always had trouble sharing enough to maintain my ratio, due to my pitiful upload speeds with Speakeasy. Once FIOS was hooked up, I logged in to DAD and started sharing a few concerts until I'd uploaded about 20Gb, putting my ratio well into the green.
Part of the FIOS installation required the replacement of my trusty Linksys WRT54G wireless router with Verizon's branded Actiontec router (MI424WR Rev.D). The Actiontec takes a coax feed from Verizon, and splits that out to all of the computers in the home. It broadcasts wireless, including WPA2, and also has a 4-port 10/100/(1000?) wired switch built-in.
The management GUI in the router is very-full-featured, and pretty nice, although it isn't perfect. I've got to admit I was very, very surprised at how much flexibility and control the user is permitted. I'd expected Verizon, the giant corporate overlord, to lock that sucker down tight.
The Actiontec introduced a problem with my wireless network though. After it was installed, 3 of the 4 laptops in my home could no longer use the wireless internet connection. Those laptops could establish a wireless connection, but would then drop the connection in under 5 seconds, and then immediately begin connecting again. This cycle would run continuously unless the wireless was disabled. The signal strength was perfect. The 4th laptop was fine. (Note - 2 of the 4 belong to my employer, don't get jealous!)
After trying all usual approaches (change wireless frequency (channel), reset the router, update the wireless driver software on the laptop), I hit upon an unlikely solution. Configuring the laptop to use the Windows wireless software instead of the Dell wireless software solved the problem.
(Will continue later, with additional comments, concerning the phone and TV service.)
My FIOS package includes Internet, television, and phone service.
Internet -
I ordered the 20/5 internet service (20Mbps download, 5Mbps upload). The package also includes 10Mb of webspace; I added an additional 50Mb of webspace for another $4.95/month.
I didn't notice any dramatic increase in speed while web-browsing. This is probably due to a couple of factors. When surfing the web, the pages you view are sent to you from web servers located remotely. Those servers are attached to the internet through an internet connection, just as your own PC is attached through your own DSL, cable modem, etc... Even if your connection is the fastest connection possible, you won't receive data any faster than it is being sent to you, so if the connection at the other end is slow, you'll wait. Another probable explanation why I didn't notice blazing speed at first is that my main desktop PC at home was purchased in 2000, and isn't a real powerhouse. So, web-browsing didn't bowl me over, but was perfectly acceptable.
I maintained a couple of websites on the Speakeasy servers. Before cancelling the account, I needed to retrieve the files from SE's servers, and upload them to Vz's servers. The FTP transfers were unbelievably fast! That DID blow me away.
Then, a few days ago the latest version of Ubuntu was released. I started up a uTorrent session, and managed to get a full copy of the new Ubuntu .iso very quickly. And with my increased bandwidth, the torrent activity doesn't impact the phone, so I've been sharing the Ubuntu iso for several days for others that need it.
A couple of years ago I registered an account at DimeADozen.org. DAD is a torrent sharing site for concert recordings. DAD enforces a strict upload/download ratio, mandating that users upload as well as download. I always had trouble sharing enough to maintain my ratio, due to my pitiful upload speeds with Speakeasy. Once FIOS was hooked up, I logged in to DAD and started sharing a few concerts until I'd uploaded about 20Gb, putting my ratio well into the green.
Part of the FIOS installation required the replacement of my trusty Linksys WRT54G wireless router with Verizon's branded Actiontec router (MI424WR Rev.D). The Actiontec takes a coax feed from Verizon, and splits that out to all of the computers in the home. It broadcasts wireless, including WPA2, and also has a 4-port 10/100/(1000?) wired switch built-in.
The management GUI in the router is very-full-featured, and pretty nice, although it isn't perfect. I've got to admit I was very, very surprised at how much flexibility and control the user is permitted. I'd expected Verizon, the giant corporate overlord, to lock that sucker down tight.
The Actiontec introduced a problem with my wireless network though. After it was installed, 3 of the 4 laptops in my home could no longer use the wireless internet connection. Those laptops could establish a wireless connection, but would then drop the connection in under 5 seconds, and then immediately begin connecting again. This cycle would run continuously unless the wireless was disabled. The signal strength was perfect. The 4th laptop was fine. (Note - 2 of the 4 belong to my employer, don't get jealous!)
After trying all usual approaches (change wireless frequency (channel), reset the router, update the wireless driver software on the laptop), I hit upon an unlikely solution. Configuring the laptop to use the Windows wireless software instead of the Dell wireless software solved the problem.
(Will continue later, with additional comments, concerning the phone and TV service.)
Monday, April 06, 2009
Uncommonly good
Following my occasional and usually depressing ritual, I sauntered over to my 401k management webpage this morning, curious to see just how dreary things looked today. While there is still much lost ground to make up, I was happy to see something very unusual:
Go, Baby, Go! Daddy (and children) could use new pairs of shoes, really!
Go, Baby, Go! Daddy (and children) could use new pairs of shoes, really!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Learn Something New, March 2009 Edition
BlackBerry Server installations.
Judging by the hits I found on Google, it seems very, very common to encounter this error when starting the BlackBerry Manager software on a BlackBerry Server:
"Failed to open the default message store using the MAPI profile "BlackBerryManager". Please review the log for details. You will not be able to send messages from the BlackBerry Manager by email".
This seems common among new installations (like mine), and probably among installers that don't know anything about BlackBerry (like me).
I found countless responses on forums to people encountering this error. All of the responses were friendly and informative, and all of them explained that the BlackBerry service should run as a particular account, and that account needs specific user permissions (on the BlackBerry and Exchange servers), and also needs particular permissions in Exchange.
That's all nice, but even having configured everything properly, I still received the above error whenever I'd start BlackBerry Manager.
SOLUTION: If the BlackBerry Manager software is run by the BlackBerry admin account (normally BESadmin), there is no error.
I had logged in to the server as an administrator, and then tried to run the BB application. If I used the 'Run As...' option to start the BB program as the BB admin account, the program started fine. If instead I just ran it normally, as an account that was NOT the BB admin account, I did see the error.
Maybe this will help someone out there.
Have a nice weekend.
Judging by the hits I found on Google, it seems very, very common to encounter this error when starting the BlackBerry Manager software on a BlackBerry Server:
"Failed to open the default message store using the MAPI profile "BlackBerryManager". Please review the log for details. You will not be able to send messages from the BlackBerry Manager by email".
This seems common among new installations (like mine), and probably among installers that don't know anything about BlackBerry (like me).
I found countless responses on forums to people encountering this error. All of the responses were friendly and informative, and all of them explained that the BlackBerry service should run as a particular account, and that account needs specific user permissions (on the BlackBerry and Exchange servers), and also needs particular permissions in Exchange.
That's all nice, but even having configured everything properly, I still received the above error whenever I'd start BlackBerry Manager.
SOLUTION: If the BlackBerry Manager software is run by the BlackBerry admin account (normally BESadmin), there is no error.
I had logged in to the server as an administrator, and then tried to run the BB application. If I used the 'Run As...' option to start the BB program as the BB admin account, the program started fine. If instead I just ran it normally, as an account that was NOT the BB admin account, I did see the error.
Maybe this will help someone out there.
Have a nice weekend.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
My new personal savings plan
He-who-should-not-be-named suggested them, Obama made a skirting reference to them, and now I've devised my own spin on the matter - my own Personal Savings Plan. Now, my idea is nothing as exotic as some tax-deferred, annuities-based, windfall-whatzy-dinger sophisticated financial derivative instrument.
No, I've come up with an idea brilliant in its simplicity. I charge myself $1 to spend money. That's it. Every single time I spend anything, whether it's a $0.50 candy bar, a $0.99 MP3 from Amazon, the water bill, or a mortgage payment, I charge myself $1.
I take that $1 and move it to my left pocket. When I return to my bedroom later that day or evening, I take the money from my left pocket and stick it in my change cup on my dresser.
I've been doing this for about a month, and I'm averaging about $10/week. Granted, that's not a huge amount, but it's more than if I wasn't doing this, and had I begun saving this way when the Wii was released, I'd have enough saved to purchase one by now.
And this is easy enough to actually do. Plus, unlike my 401k, the money saved won't decrease in value to 2005 levels. What goes into the savings cup, STAYS in the savings cup. (Apologies to the Las Vegas tourism commision.)
No, I've come up with an idea brilliant in its simplicity. I charge myself $1 to spend money. That's it. Every single time I spend anything, whether it's a $0.50 candy bar, a $0.99 MP3 from Amazon, the water bill, or a mortgage payment, I charge myself $1.
I take that $1 and move it to my left pocket. When I return to my bedroom later that day or evening, I take the money from my left pocket and stick it in my change cup on my dresser.
I've been doing this for about a month, and I'm averaging about $10/week. Granted, that's not a huge amount, but it's more than if I wasn't doing this, and had I begun saving this way when the Wii was released, I'd have enough saved to purchase one by now.
And this is easy enough to actually do. Plus, unlike my 401k, the money saved won't decrease in value to 2005 levels. What goes into the savings cup, STAYS in the savings cup. (Apologies to the Las Vegas tourism commision.)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A small thing I found funny.
Yes, I know Obama is a good guy, and that 'Change' (as in ' is coming to Washington' ) could be translated as 'Competence' just as easily as any other meaning. But this was too easy a dig....
I just read this on the Recovery.gov website FAQ:
Q: Who runs Recovery.gov?
A: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act establishes an oversight board of inspectors general (the watchdogs of government) called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board....
The RAT Board ?????
$787 Billion dollars will be doled out, overseen by the RAT Board.
Hee hee hee...
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Odds and Ends
Latest happenings -
On January 19, I took, and passed, Microsoft's MB2-633 certification exam, focused on Installing and Implementing Microsoft CRM v.4.
***************************
Last Tuesday I was fortunate to attend a seminar covering Enterprise Storage Performance Assesment. The speakers were very interesting, especially Richard Lary, CTO of TuteLary, LLC. All attendees were given 8Gb iPod Nanos!
I've spent the last few years unintentionally collecting an assortment of cheap mp3 players. I have a 30Gb Dell DJ, gen 2. It has ample capacity, but the firmware is lousy, and Dell killed the product after about 2 years, so it's unlikely any new firmware will ever see the light of day unless the Rockbox people make something happen.
I have a Coby 512Mb player that I bought a few years ago because it was $9, and I could use it as a USB memory stick.
Five or six years ago I bought a Rio One for about $60. It has 32Mb built-in, and also a 128Mb compact flash card slipped in to attain the max capacity of 160Mb. The firmware on that player wasn't so great either, and by today's standards the player is physically enormous, about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
A few months ago Slickdeals.net listed a couple of different refurbed Sansa MP3 players for about $13 - a 2Gb Sansa Express, and a 1Gb Sansa Clip. I bought one of each, and I have to admit they are very nice players, without a doubt the best of every player I had up until last week. The Express can be expanded to a max of 4Gb using a MicroSD card.
Finally, I can use my T-Mobile Dash as a media player, with a maximum of about 2Gb of storage.
Then last week I was given the iPod Nano. First, let me get the negatives out of the way:
At the ripe old age of 40, I've begun hitting the gym. Since the last week of November I've been going to the West Orange JCC fitness center regularly. Working out isn't as boring as I expected it to be, and I feel pretty good. Sometimes it's a downer when I see other folks in far better shape than I am. One time, while waiting for a turn at the bench press, I noticed the behemoth I was waiting on was using much larger weights than I use. When he finished, I compared what he was lifting to what I lift. I ordinarily bench press 55lbs. This man(?) was lifting 270lbs. Yikes!
***************************
SiriusXM -
In late 2003 I subscribed to Sirius satellite radio, and immediately loved it. I evangelized for the service to anybody within earshot. I bought receivers for my car, my wife's car, and my house. I gave a receiver to my Dad, my father-in-law, and my brother. I stopped listening to terrestrial radio entirely, and rarely listened to my CDs.
This continued until this past November, when Sirius and XM began to merge their channels and staff. Since then I've been hugely disappointed with the service and the company. My favorite station was eliminated, and I'm not thrilled with the replacement, but am still trying to give it a chance. My second-favorite channel is still around, but seems blander than it was previously.
I used to be able to email the on-air staff, and they responded. Over the last few weeks, every email I've sent has been answered (sometimes automatically) by 'Customer Care', with no mention that the email was or wasn't delivered to the actual staffer I tried to contact. Given that I've not received any replies from the on-air staff, I think the messages are not being delivered to them.
I recently received an email from Sirius declaring that there will now be additional charges to listen to the internet stream, and the monthly rate is also increasing. I can 'lock in' my current rate, at least temporarily, if and only if I buy a long-term contract now.
Through a roundabout way, I managed to finally reach a handful of the DJs via email outside of the proper channels. The DJs are all very friendly and receptive, still. It's Corporate that is being so awful. I'm torn as to whether or not I want to bag it and cancel the service.
***************************
Laptop troubles -
I don't know when this started, but my laptop is no longer capable of charging batteries. I've got an Inspiron 8500; I think it's about 5 years old. For the most part it runs just fine. BUT, Dell designed the unit so that if you connect an AC Adapter other than the official Dell adapter, the laptop runs in a low-performance capacity (i.e., slower), and also does not charge the battery. My laptop now runs in that condition, even with the proper AC Adapter. The BIOS reports 'Unknown AC Adapter'.
I've tried 3 different batteries, and 4 different AC Adapters (all Dells). No luck.
I suspect there is a bad connection between the power jack and the motherboard, but I am nowhere near skilled enough with a soldering iron to repair this. It's a bummer.
***************************
Over the weekend I watched the Super Bowl with my father-in-law and Nate, while Jess and Maren stayed at home. The game was, of course, very exciting. Nate, unfortunately, wanted very much for the Cardinals to win, and became pretty frustrated through the course of the game. Oh well. He liked the Bridgestone commercial with the Potato Head couple.
***************************
More later.
On January 19, I took, and passed, Microsoft's MB2-633 certification exam, focused on Installing and Implementing Microsoft CRM v.4.
***************************
Last Tuesday I was fortunate to attend a seminar covering Enterprise Storage Performance Assesment. The speakers were very interesting, especially Richard Lary, CTO of TuteLary, LLC. All attendees were given 8Gb iPod Nanos!
I've spent the last few years unintentionally collecting an assortment of cheap mp3 players. I have a 30Gb Dell DJ, gen 2. It has ample capacity, but the firmware is lousy, and Dell killed the product after about 2 years, so it's unlikely any new firmware will ever see the light of day unless the Rockbox people make something happen.
I have a Coby 512Mb player that I bought a few years ago because it was $9, and I could use it as a USB memory stick.
Five or six years ago I bought a Rio One for about $60. It has 32Mb built-in, and also a 128Mb compact flash card slipped in to attain the max capacity of 160Mb. The firmware on that player wasn't so great either, and by today's standards the player is physically enormous, about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
A few months ago Slickdeals.net listed a couple of different refurbed Sansa MP3 players for about $13 - a 2Gb Sansa Express, and a 1Gb Sansa Clip. I bought one of each, and I have to admit they are very nice players, without a doubt the best of every player I had up until last week. The Express can be expanded to a max of 4Gb using a MicroSD card.
Finally, I can use my T-Mobile Dash as a media player, with a maximum of about 2Gb of storage.
Then last week I was given the iPod Nano. First, let me get the negatives out of the way:
- 8Gb Capacity - I've got several hundred CDs, as well as mp3 files I've downloaded, both legitimately and otherwise. I need at least 40Gb to store ALL of my music.
- Proprietary iPod connector. I don't believe there is any technical reason Apple couldn't have used an industry standard mini-USB connector for the iPod's connector. But instead the iPods use a non-standard connector that requires special iPod-only cables and accessories. If I lose or break the included cable, I've got no way to transfer data to/from the Nano, and also no way to charge the Nano, until buying a likely-overpriced replacement.
- REQUIRES iTunes. I spent nearly 2 full days trying to make my Nano work properly in a Linux world. I tried various methods, including using OpenSuse 11.1 and Amarok, straight file copies (drag and drop), and even installing VirtualBox and Windows XP SP2 with the intention of installing iTunes there. I finally gave up and swapped my Windows XP hard drive back into my laptop, in order to use the iTunes installed there. Upon attaching the iPod I was informed that I would need to upgrade the installed iTunes in order to use the iPod. I THEN learned that I couldn't install the new iTunes because I was out of hard drive space. The aggravations continued through the third day until I finally managed to free up enough space that I could not only install iTunes, but also successfully sync with the iPod. AAgghhh!!!
- The iPod Nano is undeniably, unbelievably COOL! I don't mean cool in the sense that it enhances your image or popularity. I mean it is a neat device. It's fun to mess around with. It appeals to my appreciation of fine engineering, electronic gadgetry, etc... The device is great.
- Cover Flow - I've seen this on TV ads, but didn't really appreciate it until playing around with it in person.
- Capacity - yes, this is listed in negatives also. 8Gb is not enough for me. BUT, 8Gb is 4 times greater than my 2Gb Sansa, and aside from my unreliable Dell DJ, the largest capacity player I've got.
- Games - yep - the iPod can play games, and includes 3 impressive games.
- Photos - the player can display photos and videos. It can tell when the player is turned on its side, and reorients the screen appropriately.
- Shake to skip - if I want to skip a song, I can shake the player to jump ahead to the next song. I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds pretty neat.
At the ripe old age of 40, I've begun hitting the gym. Since the last week of November I've been going to the West Orange JCC fitness center regularly. Working out isn't as boring as I expected it to be, and I feel pretty good. Sometimes it's a downer when I see other folks in far better shape than I am. One time, while waiting for a turn at the bench press, I noticed the behemoth I was waiting on was using much larger weights than I use. When he finished, I compared what he was lifting to what I lift. I ordinarily bench press 55lbs. This man(?) was lifting 270lbs. Yikes!
***************************
SiriusXM -
In late 2003 I subscribed to Sirius satellite radio, and immediately loved it. I evangelized for the service to anybody within earshot. I bought receivers for my car, my wife's car, and my house. I gave a receiver to my Dad, my father-in-law, and my brother. I stopped listening to terrestrial radio entirely, and rarely listened to my CDs.
This continued until this past November, when Sirius and XM began to merge their channels and staff. Since then I've been hugely disappointed with the service and the company. My favorite station was eliminated, and I'm not thrilled with the replacement, but am still trying to give it a chance. My second-favorite channel is still around, but seems blander than it was previously.
I used to be able to email the on-air staff, and they responded. Over the last few weeks, every email I've sent has been answered (sometimes automatically) by 'Customer Care', with no mention that the email was or wasn't delivered to the actual staffer I tried to contact. Given that I've not received any replies from the on-air staff, I think the messages are not being delivered to them.
I recently received an email from Sirius declaring that there will now be additional charges to listen to the internet stream, and the monthly rate is also increasing. I can 'lock in' my current rate, at least temporarily, if and only if I buy a long-term contract now.
Through a roundabout way, I managed to finally reach a handful of the DJs via email outside of the proper channels. The DJs are all very friendly and receptive, still. It's Corporate that is being so awful. I'm torn as to whether or not I want to bag it and cancel the service.
***************************
Laptop troubles -
I don't know when this started, but my laptop is no longer capable of charging batteries. I've got an Inspiron 8500; I think it's about 5 years old. For the most part it runs just fine. BUT, Dell designed the unit so that if you connect an AC Adapter other than the official Dell adapter, the laptop runs in a low-performance capacity (i.e., slower), and also does not charge the battery. My laptop now runs in that condition, even with the proper AC Adapter. The BIOS reports 'Unknown AC Adapter'.
I've tried 3 different batteries, and 4 different AC Adapters (all Dells). No luck.
I suspect there is a bad connection between the power jack and the motherboard, but I am nowhere near skilled enough with a soldering iron to repair this. It's a bummer.
***************************
Over the weekend I watched the Super Bowl with my father-in-law and Nate, while Jess and Maren stayed at home. The game was, of course, very exciting. Nate, unfortunately, wanted very much for the Cardinals to win, and became pretty frustrated through the course of the game. Oh well. He liked the Bridgestone commercial with the Potato Head couple.
***************************
More later.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
(239) 482-3803
My home received a phone call from (239) 482-3803 today. A silent, 2-second voicemail was left for me.
A quick and simple Google-search on the number returned a 4-page message-thread listing other people's experiences with this number, explaining that the callers are trying to scam people somehow. http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-239-482-3803
I haven't returned the call, and advise that anyone receiving a call from this number ignore it, and don't bother talking to the people at the other end of the line.
A quick and simple Google-search on the number returned a 4-page message-thread listing other people's experiences with this number, explaining that the callers are trying to scam people somehow. http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-239-482-3803
I haven't returned the call, and advise that anyone receiving a call from this number ignore it, and don't bother talking to the people at the other end of the line.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
A screenshot with CONTRAST
I don't know what the best term is to describe the conflicting feelings this screenshot provokes. Cognitive Dissonance is the best I've come up with.
I've had that wallpaper on my monitor for a while, and just noticed the juxtaposition of it, with the weather applet running in the corner.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Learn Something New, January 2009 Edition
For several years I've been tinkering with Linux. I'm not at all an expert, but I often have fun playing around with various distributions, and for the last few years I've tended to lean toward Suse (since Suse 9.0, I think).
My Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop came with a 30Gb drive, that I immediately re-partitioned when I received it, allotting 15Gb to Win XP, and 15Gb to Suse 9.1. Over the last several months the computer grew increasingly awkward to work with due to my filling the drive, and reluctance to delete things - I'm a pack-rat in the computer realm as well as in Real-Life&trade .
So after a great deal of searching, I recently managed to find a 2.5", non-SATA, 7200rpm hard drive I could use in my laptop. (I found the drive at Grassroots Computers in California. I think the man that helped me was named Jeff - very friendly, very helpful.)
I was too busy to do anything with the drive when it arrived in early-December, but about a week ago I installed the drive in the laptop, and decided to install the latest version of Ubuntu. For a few years now Ubuntu Linux has become very popular, and I've read many accounts of people having no trouble at all with it.
For about 5 years I've been installing various flavors of Linux on my laptop, and have always had difficulty getting the wireless network card to work properly and consistently. I hoped that the newest Ubuntu (v8.10) would detect and use my wireless card perfectly. To be fair to the community of Linux developers, as I understand the situation the manufacturer of my wireless card has obstructed the development of the necessary software to use the card with Linux.
My wireless card is a Dell TrueMobile 1300. The Dell TrueMobile 1300 is based upon the Broadcom 4306 chip, and the Broadcom company has obstinately refused to provide any technical information to the Linux community despite several years of requests. Broadcom won't provide the needed software themselves, and have refused to provide the information necessary for others to write the software.
This is a common aggravation among Linux users. The problem is so widespread that the Linux world developed a handful of software methods to use the Windows XP drivers in Linux. There is a commercial app called Linuxant. There is an opensource, no-cost app named NDISWRAPPER. I think there are a couple of other similar apps also. Each of these applications allow a user to use the driver that was written for Windows XP on his/her Linux-based system.
Unfortunately there is another wrinkle to be considered. Typical home and small business wireless networks use encryption (security) for the wireless connections. From least secure to most secure, the possible encryption schemes include: WEP (64 bit), WEP (128 bit), WPA, WPA2.
The wireless networks in my home and in my office are both WPA2.
After installing Ubuntu on the laptop, nearly everything worked perfectly. BUT, WPA2 did not work properly. I probably could have found a solution given enough time searching the 'net, but I didn't feel like putting in the required time and effort, and I'd read about the new OpenSuse 11.1 release, and was excited to give it a try.
So Sunday evening I installed OpenSuse 11.1 to the laptop. Almost everything on the laptop worked, but again the wireless card wasn't right. In fact, under OpenSuse 11.1 the card wouldn't work at all. This was very disappointing of course.
I spent some time last night and tonight trying to find a solution, and tonight came across something so simple I assumed there were additional required steps that had been left out of the instructions. I was wrong - the fix really was as simple as the document I found stated.
The solution was found here - http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43. The wireless card on my system, running a brand-new install of OpenSuse 11.1 (32-bit), and using a Dell TrueMobile 1300 (Broadcom 4306 rev 02), worked immediately after entering the single command:
sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware
That's all I had to do. I didn't have to find the Windows driver and download it. I didn't have to manually edit any configuration files, or init.d files. I didn't have to mess around with modules, or install any extra applications. The default Suse installation already included whatever it needed, aside from the copyright-protected Broadcom firmware, which is obtained by using the command above.
I can now use my laptop, running OpenSuse, on my WPA2-encrypted wireless network in my home and office.
Pretty cool. If anyone from the B43 team read this, THANKS!
My Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop came with a 30Gb drive, that I immediately re-partitioned when I received it, allotting 15Gb to Win XP, and 15Gb to Suse 9.1. Over the last several months the computer grew increasingly awkward to work with due to my filling the drive, and reluctance to delete things - I'm a pack-rat in the computer realm as well as in Real-Life&trade .
So after a great deal of searching, I recently managed to find a 2.5", non-SATA, 7200rpm hard drive I could use in my laptop. (I found the drive at Grassroots Computers in California. I think the man that helped me was named Jeff - very friendly, very helpful.)
I was too busy to do anything with the drive when it arrived in early-December, but about a week ago I installed the drive in the laptop, and decided to install the latest version of Ubuntu. For a few years now Ubuntu Linux has become very popular, and I've read many accounts of people having no trouble at all with it.
For about 5 years I've been installing various flavors of Linux on my laptop, and have always had difficulty getting the wireless network card to work properly and consistently. I hoped that the newest Ubuntu (v8.10) would detect and use my wireless card perfectly. To be fair to the community of Linux developers, as I understand the situation the manufacturer of my wireless card has obstructed the development of the necessary software to use the card with Linux.
My wireless card is a Dell TrueMobile 1300. The Dell TrueMobile 1300 is based upon the Broadcom 4306 chip, and the Broadcom company has obstinately refused to provide any technical information to the Linux community despite several years of requests. Broadcom won't provide the needed software themselves, and have refused to provide the information necessary for others to write the software.
This is a common aggravation among Linux users. The problem is so widespread that the Linux world developed a handful of software methods to use the Windows XP drivers in Linux. There is a commercial app called Linuxant. There is an opensource, no-cost app named NDISWRAPPER. I think there are a couple of other similar apps also. Each of these applications allow a user to use the driver that was written for Windows XP on his/her Linux-based system.
Unfortunately there is another wrinkle to be considered. Typical home and small business wireless networks use encryption (security) for the wireless connections. From least secure to most secure, the possible encryption schemes include: WEP (64 bit), WEP (128 bit), WPA, WPA2.
The wireless networks in my home and in my office are both WPA2.
After installing Ubuntu on the laptop, nearly everything worked perfectly. BUT, WPA2 did not work properly. I probably could have found a solution given enough time searching the 'net, but I didn't feel like putting in the required time and effort, and I'd read about the new OpenSuse 11.1 release, and was excited to give it a try.
So Sunday evening I installed OpenSuse 11.1 to the laptop. Almost everything on the laptop worked, but again the wireless card wasn't right. In fact, under OpenSuse 11.1 the card wouldn't work at all. This was very disappointing of course.
I spent some time last night and tonight trying to find a solution, and tonight came across something so simple I assumed there were additional required steps that had been left out of the instructions. I was wrong - the fix really was as simple as the document I found stated.
The solution was found here - http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43. The wireless card on my system, running a brand-new install of OpenSuse 11.1 (32-bit), and using a Dell TrueMobile 1300 (Broadcom 4306 rev 02), worked immediately after entering the single command:
sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware
That's all I had to do. I didn't have to find the Windows driver and download it. I didn't have to manually edit any configuration files, or init.d files. I didn't have to mess around with modules, or install any extra applications. The default Suse installation already included whatever it needed, aside from the copyright-protected Broadcom firmware, which is obtained by using the command above.
I can now use my laptop, running OpenSuse, on my WPA2-encrypted wireless network in my home and office.
Pretty cool. If anyone from the B43 team read this, THANKS!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A Good Day
This week I'm on vacation from work, but not on 'a vacation'. That is to say that I am not going into the office, nor doing any work from home for my employer, but I haven't gone anywhere and haven't planned any special activities. I'm simply taking a few days off from work. I AM trying to get as much accomplished as possible during this unusual free time.
Today was a very nice day. I planned on waking up early this morning and going to the fitness center to work out, and then going to the mall to get new glasses. At the end of the year I sometimes get new glasses to use up remaining money in my flexible spending account (FSA). As for the fitness center, I've been working out every few days for the last month or so, and it's not nearly as bad as I expected. Today, however, I overslept and didn't work out after all.
First thing in the morning I tried to determine if the optical store I usually use was in my current insurance plan. They weren't. I then called some people, searched the internet, and found an eye doctor to use that was in my plan. Her office was closed until January 5, however. Next, I called the administrator of the FSA, and learned my FSA year doesn't end until May 31, so there is no urgency as far as getting new glasses and spending the money. One task knocked out already!
At this point it was about 10:30am. I checked moviewatcher.com, and saw Bedtime Stories was playing nearby at 11:45am. Nate and I got ready, and took off for the theatre with a couple of PB&Js stuffed under my jacket. We both liked the movie a lot. It felt to me like the traditional Disney flicks I'd see when I was a kid.
After the movie, we got my car a Deluxe car wash. The car came out looking great. Unfortunately every once in a while the car wash folks break the ashtray door on my console. I don't know how they do this, but it happens occasionally, so when we got home I spent about 15 minutes in the driveway fixing the ashtray. (This isn't really a huge deal, but is annoying. I need to remove the center console and re-attach a spring to the side of the lid, and then put everything back together.)
Once I'd fixed the ashtray and put the car back together, I went in to the house, and proceeded to help Nate build his brand-new Legos set that grandma gave him for Chanukah. -- Lego Racers - Ring of Fire! Everything came out great, and Nate had a blast playing with the car. I'll try to remember tomorrow to take some pics of his latest creation and add the pictures to his page.
Once we finished with the Legos I made dinner for Jess, Nate, and I. I'd picked up some wonton soup, and we had a Cashew Chicken kit that I simply needed to add chicken to and prepare.
After we ate dinner it was just about time to get Maren from her Nana's, where she'd been having a party with Nana all day long. One of my favorite movies is High Fidelity. One of my Chanukah presents from Jess was her taking me to see the High Fidelity stage production, performed at our local Jewish Community Center. I had no idea how the movie could be transformed in to a musical, but it was great. During Chanukah Jessica gave me the Original Cast Recording from the play, and I popped it in to the car stereo on the trip to get Maren. It was great too.
As alluded to in a previous post, I'd been searching for the Logitech S510 keyboard/mouse combo all year. This item has been discontinued, and given that, given the state of the economy, and given that we are in the time period immediately after a terrible Christmas shopping season, I've been hoping to find the product heavily discounted somewhere. Microcenter is only a little farther than my in-laws' apartment, so before heading out to pick up Maren I thought I'd check Microcenter's website for the S510 and see if they had any left, and what the price was.
Once I loaded up my web browser, though, I thought to check Target first, as Target is closer. Target had the S510 on sale for $37, much cheaper than their usual price of $61. So I swung by Target and bought the keyboard/mouse bundle for myself before picking Maren up.
Next I picked Maren up, and she was unusually happy. She was just in an unbelievably great mood, and she spent the drive home telling me about everything she and Nana had done all day long.
Finally we arrived home and Jess put Nate and Maren to bed while I ripped my new CD and copied the files to my music repository.
Distilling my day to the core, I:
* Took Nate to a movie
* Got a new toy I'd been wanting for a year, on sale
* Built a lego set with Nate
* spent some quality car-time with Maren
* had a nice dinner at home
* got to listen to a good new CD
It's been an excellent day.
Today was a very nice day. I planned on waking up early this morning and going to the fitness center to work out, and then going to the mall to get new glasses. At the end of the year I sometimes get new glasses to use up remaining money in my flexible spending account (FSA). As for the fitness center, I've been working out every few days for the last month or so, and it's not nearly as bad as I expected. Today, however, I overslept and didn't work out after all.
First thing in the morning I tried to determine if the optical store I usually use was in my current insurance plan. They weren't. I then called some people, searched the internet, and found an eye doctor to use that was in my plan. Her office was closed until January 5, however. Next, I called the administrator of the FSA, and learned my FSA year doesn't end until May 31, so there is no urgency as far as getting new glasses and spending the money. One task knocked out already!
At this point it was about 10:30am. I checked moviewatcher.com, and saw Bedtime Stories was playing nearby at 11:45am. Nate and I got ready, and took off for the theatre with a couple of PB&Js stuffed under my jacket. We both liked the movie a lot. It felt to me like the traditional Disney flicks I'd see when I was a kid.
After the movie, we got my car a Deluxe car wash. The car came out looking great. Unfortunately every once in a while the car wash folks break the ashtray door on my console. I don't know how they do this, but it happens occasionally, so when we got home I spent about 15 minutes in the driveway fixing the ashtray. (This isn't really a huge deal, but is annoying. I need to remove the center console and re-attach a spring to the side of the lid, and then put everything back together.)
Once I'd fixed the ashtray and put the car back together, I went in to the house, and proceeded to help Nate build his brand-new Legos set that grandma gave him for Chanukah. -- Lego Racers - Ring of Fire! Everything came out great, and Nate had a blast playing with the car. I'll try to remember tomorrow to take some pics of his latest creation and add the pictures to his page.
Once we finished with the Legos I made dinner for Jess, Nate, and I. I'd picked up some wonton soup, and we had a Cashew Chicken kit that I simply needed to add chicken to and prepare.
After we ate dinner it was just about time to get Maren from her Nana's, where she'd been having a party with Nana all day long. One of my favorite movies is High Fidelity. One of my Chanukah presents from Jess was her taking me to see the High Fidelity stage production, performed at our local Jewish Community Center. I had no idea how the movie could be transformed in to a musical, but it was great. During Chanukah Jessica gave me the Original Cast Recording from the play, and I popped it in to the car stereo on the trip to get Maren. It was great too.
As alluded to in a previous post, I'd been searching for the Logitech S510 keyboard/mouse combo all year. This item has been discontinued, and given that, given the state of the economy, and given that we are in the time period immediately after a terrible Christmas shopping season, I've been hoping to find the product heavily discounted somewhere. Microcenter is only a little farther than my in-laws' apartment, so before heading out to pick up Maren I thought I'd check Microcenter's website for the S510 and see if they had any left, and what the price was.
Once I loaded up my web browser, though, I thought to check Target first, as Target is closer. Target had the S510 on sale for $37, much cheaper than their usual price of $61. So I swung by Target and bought the keyboard/mouse bundle for myself before picking Maren up.
Next I picked Maren up, and she was unusually happy. She was just in an unbelievably great mood, and she spent the drive home telling me about everything she and Nana had done all day long.
Finally we arrived home and Jess put Nate and Maren to bed while I ripped my new CD and copied the files to my music repository.
Distilling my day to the core, I:
* Took Nate to a movie
* Got a new toy I'd been wanting for a year, on sale
* Built a lego set with Nate
* spent some quality car-time with Maren
* had a nice dinner at home
* got to listen to a good new CD
It's been an excellent day.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Ruminating on the 'death' of Windows XP
Yesterday I read that Microsoft has extended the cutoff date for sales of Windows XP, again. I've seen countless articles discussing this, read a few, and had coworkers discuss the topic with me. The consensus seems to be that this is evidence of the failure of Windows Vista.
This has me wondering why Microsoft (or really, any publisher) needs to kill old versions of software at all.
Ever since I was a teenager I wished car companies could continue producing certain classics, even years later. I'd love it if it was possible to still buy a 1976 Delta 88 convertible, or a 240Z, or a first-generation RX-7, new. But as recent events show, car manufacturers incur large expenses, and it would be untenably costly for them to produce extra models. It would also run afoul of various safety regulations, certainly - a 1976 automobile won't meet 2009 auto safety regulations.
Software is different. There aren't any safety regulations concerning Windows. And the cost of producing and reproducing the software is inconsequential.
I'd think Microsoft could simply produce any version of any software they've ever produced and sold, and keep them all avaialble pretty much eternally. If for some reason a person wants to buy a copy of DOS 5, where's the harm in that? If somebody sees a compelling reason to want Vista, they can buy it and install it in place of XP, Ubuntu, or whatever they had previously.
If a person or company wanted to use XP, they still could. If Microsoft felt that XP was no longer competitive in the marketplace, they could produce a newer OS, such as Vista, to comepete with the other OSes available. If Vista, Windows 7, or whatever else bested the competing systems, then MS would make money from it. If people decided to NOT buy the newer system, they could either buy XP, or something from a different publisher. In that case, Microsoft still has a shot at collecting money.
Instead, we have a situation where Microsoft will ONLY offer Vista, and if a buyer doesn't like that, they need to either try to find some 'sneaky' way to procure XP, or legitimately buy some other OS from somebody other than Microsoft. Microsoft also has to deal with the PR and marketing hurdles in their way as they try to extend the sales-life of XP without looking like Vista was a failure.
I don't see the sense in this. If Microsoft instead sold anything they've ever sold, to anyone at anytime, they wouldn't be in this situation. I don't see a downside.
Of course, I'm not a sales/marketing person, and my brain simply doesn't work the way theirs do. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, and Sales/Mktg are from some planet in the Alpha Centauri system.
This has me wondering why Microsoft (or really, any publisher) needs to kill old versions of software at all.
Ever since I was a teenager I wished car companies could continue producing certain classics, even years later. I'd love it if it was possible to still buy a 1976 Delta 88 convertible, or a 240Z, or a first-generation RX-7, new. But as recent events show, car manufacturers incur large expenses, and it would be untenably costly for them to produce extra models. It would also run afoul of various safety regulations, certainly - a 1976 automobile won't meet 2009 auto safety regulations.
Software is different. There aren't any safety regulations concerning Windows. And the cost of producing and reproducing the software is inconsequential.
I'd think Microsoft could simply produce any version of any software they've ever produced and sold, and keep them all avaialble pretty much eternally. If for some reason a person wants to buy a copy of DOS 5, where's the harm in that? If somebody sees a compelling reason to want Vista, they can buy it and install it in place of XP, Ubuntu, or whatever they had previously.
If a person or company wanted to use XP, they still could. If Microsoft felt that XP was no longer competitive in the marketplace, they could produce a newer OS, such as Vista, to comepete with the other OSes available. If Vista, Windows 7, or whatever else bested the competing systems, then MS would make money from it. If people decided to NOT buy the newer system, they could either buy XP, or something from a different publisher. In that case, Microsoft still has a shot at collecting money.
Instead, we have a situation where Microsoft will ONLY offer Vista, and if a buyer doesn't like that, they need to either try to find some 'sneaky' way to procure XP, or legitimately buy some other OS from somebody other than Microsoft. Microsoft also has to deal with the PR and marketing hurdles in their way as they try to extend the sales-life of XP without looking like Vista was a failure.
I don't see the sense in this. If Microsoft instead sold anything they've ever sold, to anyone at anytime, they wouldn't be in this situation. I don't see a downside.
Of course, I'm not a sales/marketing person, and my brain simply doesn't work the way theirs do. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, and Sales/Mktg are from some planet in the Alpha Centauri system.
Monday, December 15, 2008
I'm no math expert, but this is interesting...
Was 'window-shoppping' online today, and glanced at a product I've wanted for about a year - the Logitech S510 wireless keyboard and mouse combo. Last spring Target had this for about $50, this past weekend they had it priced at $61. Now, that's not the direction I've been waiting for, but today I found the item online:
The image is a bit small, but clicking on it shows it full-size. In a nutshell, the item is described as ' (*regular $51 - $11 mwave instant discount = $45, while supplies last!) '. Now I'm no whiz, but how does $51 - $11 = $45? And then, for our further amusement, the price is listed as $36.76!
======================
Unrelated - I realize it's been over two months since my last update, and I have plenty to write about now. I'll hopefully get this thing updated soon with other news. I should really learn about RSS. Maybe this blog can notify any interested readers when there is a new post, and you won't have to just check occasionally. Wouldn't surprise me if it can do that....
The image is a bit small, but clicking on it shows it full-size. In a nutshell, the item is described as ' (*regular $51 - $11 mwave instant discount = $45, while supplies last!) '. Now I'm no whiz, but how does $51 - $11 = $45? And then, for our further amusement, the price is listed as $36.76!
======================
Unrelated - I realize it's been over two months since my last update, and I have plenty to write about now. I'll hopefully get this thing updated soon with other news. I should really learn about RSS. Maybe this blog can notify any interested readers when there is a new post, and you won't have to just check occasionally. Wouldn't surprise me if it can do that....
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Lots of catching up to do here
Originally tried to write this last November, and never finished it:
============================================================
Wow. It's been a month since my last post. I may talk a lot, but those occasions are certainly infrequent here.
A few weeks ago I loaded my brood into the car for a weekend trip to Pennsylvania. On Saturday, October 18, 2008, we drove to Reading to attend the Too Many Games videogame festival/exhibition. We didn't get our act together and pull out of our driveway until much later than I'd have preferred, and arrived at the show maybe an hour or hour-and-a-half before closing. When we arrived, there were only 2 stand-up arcade games, the LAN-gaming section was deserted and being disassembled, and the hall was mostly empty. I was disappointed, but I did get myself a copy of Katamari Damacy, new, for $15, so that was some consolation.
While Nate & I checked out Too Many Games, Jessica took Maren to a nearby outlet mall. Once the TMG show was over, Jessica returned to pick Nathan & I up, and then the 4 of us drove to Philadelphia to meet my extended family, where we were celebrating my cousin Chaim's son, Shmoel's, Bar Mitzvah on Sunday morning.
We met everybody for a late dinner in Philadelphia. My cousin Lisa (Chaim's younger sister), whom I hadn't seen in many years, was there, and greeted me with the question "So you just turned 40?" Aaaiggghhh! But it was still fun to see her. Also there was my cousin Jeff, Chaim's older brother. I think I hadn't seen Jeff since my wedding almost ten years ago. We had a lot of catching up to do, and do it we did - The dinner ended at about midnight. We returned to the hotel, and hung out in the lobby talking until 4am!
I went to bed, and at about 8am we drove to the synagogue for the Bar Mitzvah. Once the Bar Mitzvah and ensuing luncheon and photos were finished, we piled back in the car to return home, and possibly arrive only somewhat late for Nate's soccer match.
On the trip out of town, we'd stopped at a McDonald's so Maren could use the facilities, and while there we all grabbed a bite to eat. Once back on the highway, I realized I'd left my sunglasses at the McDonalds. I called them, and they said they'd put the sunglasses aside for me, and I could retrieve them the next day on my way back home. About 30 minutes into the car trip home, Jessica realized something problematic. We had left West Orange, driven to Reading, and from Reading gone to Philadelphia. Philadelphia to West Orange didn't take us anywhere near the sunglasses!
-- Picking up where I left off, three months ago. Will try to recall the events as best I'm able to. --
You can imagine the route from home (West Orange), to Reading, to Philly, as forming the top two lines of a diamond, and the direct route from Philly back home as forming the bottom two lines of the diamond.
In order to get back to the McDonald's, I essentially drove from the bottom point of the diamond, near Union, NJ, straight up the state, right through the middle, on two-lane state highways, to get back to the McDonald's, located at the last exit off of Rt. 80 before leaving NJ. The drive took most of the day, and was very scenic, travelling alongside the Delaware River for a while. We stopped for lunch in a neat little town along the way. It was small, had lots of antique shops and restaurants, and was near a railroad bridge and, I think, Rt. 31. I *THINK* the city was Phillipsburg, and I *THINK* we ate at Rocco's.
After a very nice drive, we made it to the McD's, I retrieved my sunglasses, and we headed home, arriving about an hour later.
============================================================
Wow. It's been a month since my last post. I may talk a lot, but those occasions are certainly infrequent here.
A few weeks ago I loaded my brood into the car for a weekend trip to Pennsylvania. On Saturday, October 18, 2008, we drove to Reading to attend the Too Many Games videogame festival/exhibition. We didn't get our act together and pull out of our driveway until much later than I'd have preferred, and arrived at the show maybe an hour or hour-and-a-half before closing. When we arrived, there were only 2 stand-up arcade games, the LAN-gaming section was deserted and being disassembled, and the hall was mostly empty. I was disappointed, but I did get myself a copy of Katamari Damacy, new, for $15, so that was some consolation.
While Nate & I checked out Too Many Games, Jessica took Maren to a nearby outlet mall. Once the TMG show was over, Jessica returned to pick Nathan & I up, and then the 4 of us drove to Philadelphia to meet my extended family, where we were celebrating my cousin Chaim's son, Shmoel's, Bar Mitzvah on Sunday morning.
We met everybody for a late dinner in Philadelphia. My cousin Lisa (Chaim's younger sister), whom I hadn't seen in many years, was there, and greeted me with the question "So you just turned 40?" Aaaiggghhh! But it was still fun to see her. Also there was my cousin Jeff, Chaim's older brother. I think I hadn't seen Jeff since my wedding almost ten years ago. We had a lot of catching up to do, and do it we did - The dinner ended at about midnight. We returned to the hotel, and hung out in the lobby talking until 4am!
I went to bed, and at about 8am we drove to the synagogue for the Bar Mitzvah. Once the Bar Mitzvah and ensuing luncheon and photos were finished, we piled back in the car to return home, and possibly arrive only somewhat late for Nate's soccer match.
On the trip out of town, we'd stopped at a McDonald's so Maren could use the facilities, and while there we all grabbed a bite to eat. Once back on the highway, I realized I'd left my sunglasses at the McDonalds. I called them, and they said they'd put the sunglasses aside for me, and I could retrieve them the next day on my way back home. About 30 minutes into the car trip home, Jessica realized something problematic. We had left West Orange, driven to Reading, and from Reading gone to Philadelphia. Philadelphia to West Orange didn't take us anywhere near the sunglasses!
-- Picking up where I left off, three months ago. Will try to recall the events as best I'm able to. --
You can imagine the route from home (West Orange), to Reading, to Philly, as forming the top two lines of a diamond, and the direct route from Philly back home as forming the bottom two lines of the diamond.
In order to get back to the McDonald's, I essentially drove from the bottom point of the diamond, near Union, NJ, straight up the state, right through the middle, on two-lane state highways, to get back to the McDonald's, located at the last exit off of Rt. 80 before leaving NJ. The drive took most of the day, and was very scenic, travelling alongside the Delaware River for a while. We stopped for lunch in a neat little town along the way. It was small, had lots of antique shops and restaurants, and was near a railroad bridge and, I think, Rt. 31. I *THINK* the city was Phillipsburg, and I *THINK* we ate at Rocco's.
After a very nice drive, we made it to the McD's, I retrieved my sunglasses, and we headed home, arriving about an hour later.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Busy weekend, lots of fixing going on
This weekend I've been, and am still in the middle of, fixing several different things.
A client software installation went less than perfectly Friday, so I've been working on that from home. I've made progress, but it isn't complete yet.
Outlook Express on Jessica's PC suddenly stopped working properly 10 days ago, and I've been trying to figure that out since last night. So far, no dice there.
AND, the most fun has been our dryer. Late last week we noticed that the dryer produces no heat. Last night I took the dryer completely apart, ultimately determining the failed part was something I could have removed and changed by just removing a small panel on the front. (A thermal fuse. Also, it's advised to replace a thermostat along with the fuse, so I'll be changing the thermostat as well.) But, the work was already done. I took advantage of the situation and vacuumed out every nook and cranny of the machine. It's MUCH cleaner now, inside and out. I'll order the replacement fuse/thermostat tonight from RepairClinic.com, an outfit that gave me outstanding service a few years ago when I performed a different repair on the same dryer, and should receive the parts Wednesday.
Something tells me I won't be allowed to reassemble the dryer on Thurday during Yom Kippur, so the repair job is probably not happening before the end of the week.
Gotta go to soccer now - Nate's team, the Sharks!, will be taking on the Rams today.
A client software installation went less than perfectly Friday, so I've been working on that from home. I've made progress, but it isn't complete yet.
Outlook Express on Jessica's PC suddenly stopped working properly 10 days ago, and I've been trying to figure that out since last night. So far, no dice there.
AND, the most fun has been our dryer. Late last week we noticed that the dryer produces no heat. Last night I took the dryer completely apart, ultimately determining the failed part was something I could have removed and changed by just removing a small panel on the front. (A thermal fuse. Also, it's advised to replace a thermostat along with the fuse, so I'll be changing the thermostat as well.) But, the work was already done. I took advantage of the situation and vacuumed out every nook and cranny of the machine. It's MUCH cleaner now, inside and out. I'll order the replacement fuse/thermostat tonight from RepairClinic.com, an outfit that gave me outstanding service a few years ago when I performed a different repair on the same dryer, and should receive the parts Wednesday.
Something tells me I won't be allowed to reassemble the dryer on Thurday during Yom Kippur, so the repair job is probably not happening before the end of the week.
Gotta go to soccer now - Nate's team, the Sharks!, will be taking on the Rams today.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Visual Studio 2008 form-design tip for the inexperienced
I've just encountered a seemingly trivial hurdle, and thought I'd add the solution here in case others run into the same problem. Google searches turned up more complex solutions, to more complex problems than what I was running into.
When I dragged a label control on to a form, the label was not re-sizable. I could play with the size properties - height, width, Max/Min heights and widths, all I wanted, to no avail.
Turns out, there is an 'Autosize' property. Once I set that to False, I could adjust the size of the labels normally.
When I dragged a label control on to a form, the label was not re-sizable. I could play with the size properties - height, width, Max/Min heights and widths, all I wanted, to no avail.
Turns out, there is an 'Autosize' property. Once I set that to False, I could adjust the size of the labels normally.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Making up for lost time.
I've gone a month since the last time I posted here, and this is the third post tonight. It's Feast or Famine!
Last June I decided I wanted to learn C++, in order to port a software app to my smartphone. As expected, I never really followed-through, and the project went nowhere.
For the last couple of weeks things have been frighteningly slow at my job, so instead of spending my days reading Slashdot and waiting for the phone to ring, I decided to try and learn C#. (Why C#? It's what my company is beginning to use for development, and they are in need of C# programmers.)
I started with a short, slick book called 'Microsoft® Visual C#® 2005 Express Edition: Build a Program Now!'. I'd purchased the book months ago, primarily because it was $5, so I had it handy. The book was useful to teach how to use the Visual Studio 2005 software, but it didn't really teach the C# language at all, so by the end of the book I'd written several neat little programs by following the steps in the book, but still didn't know C# at all.
After I'd finished that book last Friday, I went to Borders and bought 'Head First C#'. This book is excellent! It's actually fun to read. (Really!) The book is entertaining, interesting, and informative. It's well-suited to a beginner like me. I assume that an experienced programmer woould be frustrated by the lack of depth, but for anyone trying to learn programming from scratch, I can't recommend this book enough.
I'm on page 89, and several times so far I've found a bit that was so funny I had to recite the text to Jessica. And, she actually found the bits funny too!
The authors host an online forum for readers of the book as well. The discussions on the forum discuss exercises in the book and clarify things for confused readers. There are listings of corrections for early printings. People can post questions and get answers from other forum members. People can upload their own programs for others to download and review.
The whole thing is a lot of fun.
Maybe, just maybe, I'll pursue this to a conclusion, and actually learn something...
PS: There was nowhere above to really fit this in, but Visual Studio is a very neat program. It's always fun to bash Microsoft, but I've now played around with both Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio 2008, and VS is just an excellent program. The intelligence this program contains is remarkable. It just blows me away.
Last June I decided I wanted to learn C++, in order to port a software app to my smartphone. As expected, I never really followed-through, and the project went nowhere.
For the last couple of weeks things have been frighteningly slow at my job, so instead of spending my days reading Slashdot and waiting for the phone to ring, I decided to try and learn C#. (Why C#? It's what my company is beginning to use for development, and they are in need of C# programmers.)
I started with a short, slick book called 'Microsoft® Visual C#® 2005 Express Edition: Build a Program Now!'. I'd purchased the book months ago, primarily because it was $5, so I had it handy. The book was useful to teach how to use the Visual Studio 2005 software, but it didn't really teach the C# language at all, so by the end of the book I'd written several neat little programs by following the steps in the book, but still didn't know C# at all.
After I'd finished that book last Friday, I went to Borders and bought 'Head First C#'. This book is excellent! It's actually fun to read. (Really!) The book is entertaining, interesting, and informative. It's well-suited to a beginner like me. I assume that an experienced programmer woould be frustrated by the lack of depth, but for anyone trying to learn programming from scratch, I can't recommend this book enough.
I'm on page 89, and several times so far I've found a bit that was so funny I had to recite the text to Jessica. And, she actually found the bits funny too!
The authors host an online forum for readers of the book as well. The discussions on the forum discuss exercises in the book and clarify things for confused readers. There are listings of corrections for early printings. People can post questions and get answers from other forum members. People can upload their own programs for others to download and review.
The whole thing is a lot of fun.
Maybe, just maybe, I'll pursue this to a conclusion, and actually learn something...
PS: There was nowhere above to really fit this in, but Visual Studio is a very neat program. It's always fun to bash Microsoft, but I've now played around with both Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio 2008, and VS is just an excellent program. The intelligence this program contains is remarkable. It just blows me away.
Coach Steve (No, I'm not kidding!)
A few weeks ago I received an email from a commissioner of the town soccer league. It seems Nate was on one of 4 teams that had no coaches, and the league was desperate. They were asking if anybody would volunteer to coach a team.
I replied that I was completely ignorant of soccer or coaching in general. Hell, my idea of being athletic or active in any way is walking across the den to retrieve the remote control. BUT, if they wanted me anyway, I'd do it.
So, I'm now the Coach of The Sharks, Sunday 1-2 Division, Mountain Top League In-House Soccer. (Check out that gut!)
Nate and I had to attend a family function the day of the first game, but I've got a fantastic assistant coach, and he took care of things far better than I could have. The picture above is from our second game (we won the 2nd game, fwiw). Nate had fun at the second game too.
Since becoming Coach, I've gone to a Coachs clinic and also a Parents clinic, and I've learned a bit about soccer. I'm still not really knowledgeable, but I'm not as ignorant as I was previously. And coaching the team is fun.
I replied that I was completely ignorant of soccer or coaching in general. Hell, my idea of being athletic or active in any way is walking across the den to retrieve the remote control. BUT, if they wanted me anyway, I'd do it.
So, I'm now the Coach of The Sharks, Sunday 1-2 Division, Mountain Top League In-House Soccer. (Check out that gut!)
Nate and I had to attend a family function the day of the first game, but I've got a fantastic assistant coach, and he took care of things far better than I could have. The picture above is from our second game (we won the 2nd game, fwiw). Nate had fun at the second game too.
Since becoming Coach, I've gone to a Coachs clinic and also a Parents clinic, and I've learned a bit about soccer. I'm still not really knowledgeable, but I'm not as ignorant as I was previously. And coaching the team is fun.
What's going on? (aka, I'm clueless)
The talk for the last week has been the impending meltdown of the United States financial system.
I'm a pretty smart person. I try to keep up with the news, more than most Americans I think, and probably to my emotional detriment. On the other hand, I was never a very interested student during school, and I tend to have little interest or aptitude for financial matters.
As far as the financial crisis goes, I have to admit, I just don't get it. I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, and this isn't a rhetorical device to make a point. I honestly don't understand the crisis.
As far as I can tell, on a huge scale, enormous banks made a lot of unwise loans, to people that were unlikely to be able to meet their obligations and pay off the loans for their houses. Then, a too-large number of those borrowers were unable to pay the loans, and those unfortunate people lost their homes when the banks foreclosed.
So at this point in the story, the banks now have a bunch of homes, when they'd prefer to have money. And a bunch of people have to find somewhere to live.
This scenario resulted in a bunch of banks facing bankruptcy, or needing to sell themselves to somebody with deeper pockets.
Question: I have no connection to the in-trouble bank. Why/how does this affect me? Other than a general sense of compassion for a failing business and the soon-to-be-out-of-work bank employees, why would I care? Bad stuff happens all the time; what makes this a special case?
OR: I do have dealings with the bank. I'm a borrower - undoubtedly somebody else will buy the loan, so I still need to make my payments - how am I affected?
OR: I do have dealings with the bank. I'm a depositor - the FDIC will cover me up to $100,000/account, right? And if I've somehow acquired that much moolah, surely I'm sensible enough to not keep more than $100,000 in any single account, I'd think. So, again, where's the problem?
Given the above, what's the rationale for the government to step in and give $700 Billion to the banks? The Daily Show last night played a clip from, I think CNN, stating that amount equates to 2000 McDonalds apple pies *per US citizen*. I think the apple pies run 2 for a dollar. If so, and if my off-the-cuff math is correct, that works out to $1000/person.
So, $1000/person?
Seems to me, IF Congress and the rodents at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave can give out $700B to help the economy, sending $1000 to every taxpayer in the country would probably stimulate the economy, and help substantially more than giving that amount to Lehman and JP Morgan.
Again, I really don't know what I'm talking about here, and to be fair I haven't taken any time at all to try and learn about the problem yet. I've been busy, and the idea of reading economics webpages sounds about as much fun as washing the paint out of a roller after painting my den.
But sooner or later I guess I'll have to read up on this, just so I'm not ignorant when I hear the economic disaster discussed in my presence.
In a more perfect world, the crisis discussed around the water cooler would be the failure of the Sega Dreamcast, or the inability of the Saints to put Denver away last week. Oh well...
I'm a pretty smart person. I try to keep up with the news, more than most Americans I think, and probably to my emotional detriment. On the other hand, I was never a very interested student during school, and I tend to have little interest or aptitude for financial matters.
As far as the financial crisis goes, I have to admit, I just don't get it. I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, and this isn't a rhetorical device to make a point. I honestly don't understand the crisis.
As far as I can tell, on a huge scale, enormous banks made a lot of unwise loans, to people that were unlikely to be able to meet their obligations and pay off the loans for their houses. Then, a too-large number of those borrowers were unable to pay the loans, and those unfortunate people lost their homes when the banks foreclosed.
So at this point in the story, the banks now have a bunch of homes, when they'd prefer to have money. And a bunch of people have to find somewhere to live.
This scenario resulted in a bunch of banks facing bankruptcy, or needing to sell themselves to somebody with deeper pockets.
Question: I have no connection to the in-trouble bank. Why/how does this affect me? Other than a general sense of compassion for a failing business and the soon-to-be-out-of-work bank employees, why would I care? Bad stuff happens all the time; what makes this a special case?
OR: I do have dealings with the bank. I'm a borrower - undoubtedly somebody else will buy the loan, so I still need to make my payments - how am I affected?
OR: I do have dealings with the bank. I'm a depositor - the FDIC will cover me up to $100,000/account, right? And if I've somehow acquired that much moolah, surely I'm sensible enough to not keep more than $100,000 in any single account, I'd think. So, again, where's the problem?
Given the above, what's the rationale for the government to step in and give $700 Billion to the banks? The Daily Show last night played a clip from, I think CNN, stating that amount equates to 2000 McDonalds apple pies *per US citizen*. I think the apple pies run 2 for a dollar. If so, and if my off-the-cuff math is correct, that works out to $1000/person.
So, $1000/person?
Seems to me, IF Congress and the rodents at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave can give out $700B to help the economy, sending $1000 to every taxpayer in the country would probably stimulate the economy, and help substantially more than giving that amount to Lehman and JP Morgan.
Again, I really don't know what I'm talking about here, and to be fair I haven't taken any time at all to try and learn about the problem yet. I've been busy, and the idea of reading economics webpages sounds about as much fun as washing the paint out of a roller after painting my den.
But sooner or later I guess I'll have to read up on this, just so I'm not ignorant when I hear the economic disaster discussed in my presence.
In a more perfect world, the crisis discussed around the water cooler would be the failure of the Sega Dreamcast, or the inability of the Saints to put Denver away last week. Oh well...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Learn something new, Windows Mobile 6 Edition
I just noticed the below post in my list of blog entries, listed as a 'DRAFT'. I dont' know why it's a draft and wasn't posted. I can only state that the linked-to solution I write about didn't work for me, and until I factory-reset the phone several months later I still had the Windows Live email choice. Maybe that's why I never finished the original post...
FROM September 17, 2008:
=====================================
Last June I bought a T-Mobile Dash smartphone, running Windows Mobile 5. Last September, the phone was stolen, and the replacement used Windows Mobile 6.
While setting up the replacement Dash, I clicked on the Windows Live icon out of curiosity. Partway through the Windows Live setup I decided I didn't want to use Windows Live.
Unfortunately, ever since then there was an entry in the Messaging application to check Windows Live messages. Once I tried to delete the entry, and couldn't figure out how to do so. This afternoon I decided to look online for a solution.
I found a few pages with instructions for removing the Windows Live entry. All provided this solution:
***********
open Windows Live in Start - Programs on the device. In the Menu, select Account Options and select Switch Accounts. This will remove all emails from your device. When done, the EULA page will appear. On that screen, make sure you select REJECT. Windows Live setup will stop and you will be taken back to WL main page - The page with Live Search and the Sign-in to Windows Live link. Check in Messaging and Windows Live mailbox is gone.
***********
FROM September 17, 2008:
=====================================
Last June I bought a T-Mobile Dash smartphone, running Windows Mobile 5. Last September, the phone was stolen, and the replacement used Windows Mobile 6.
While setting up the replacement Dash, I clicked on the Windows Live icon out of curiosity. Partway through the Windows Live setup I decided I didn't want to use Windows Live.
Unfortunately, ever since then there was an entry in the Messaging application to check Windows Live messages. Once I tried to delete the entry, and couldn't figure out how to do so. This afternoon I decided to look online for a solution.
I found a few pages with instructions for removing the Windows Live entry. All provided this solution:
***********
open Windows Live in Start - Programs on the device. In the Menu, select Account Options and select Switch Accounts. This will remove all emails from your device. When done, the EULA page will appear. On that screen, make sure you select REJECT. Windows Live setup will stop and you will be taken back to WL main page - The page with Live Search and the Sign-in to Windows Live link. Check in Messaging and Windows Live mailbox is gone.
***********
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