Archive for 'random thoughts'
Starting to run out of steam, been up 12 hours, ate lunch earlier, since then I have been dragging, but it was delicious 
I am happy to report that I got a fix for the 10.4.10 update glitch in my Preferences Panel, seems the glitch was due to a corrupt config file, removed it and let the system rebuild it, works like a charm.
Added some Google Ads to the side, as well as a Google Checkout tip jar, some folks have asked for a spot to send me cash before, and since PayPal is not a fan favorite, Google Checkout is just another option - while I don’t expect anyone to send me cash, the option is there for anyone wanting to send me some to support various purchases - speaking of which I think I am going to hold off on the Mac Pro for a bit, part of me wanted to get it sooner, but really between the budget, and such - I can wait a while, if I can get some things sorted, and some issues fixed in the next month or so, maybe then, but need to get a few things wrapped up before I go and re-arrange systems.
Anywhoo - that’s my brief update, nothing major just some random bits, going to try and stay awake, but if I fail, its friday, not a huge deal, day off has been a real day off more than the last few weeks, so a extra nap seems like a perfect option Have a Good Weekend!
Well I have had a light day, one could almost say a day off, but sadly as usual, work beckons from random places, and I do need to finish a write-up for a server migration here in a bit, but all in all a light day. I have been pondering getting rid of the iMac, don’t get me wrong, it’s working great, it’s doing backups right now over rsync to the server here in-house (yay Ubuntu) - but the downside to the iMac for me, is lack of expansion.
I bought the iMac as my first jump from PPC -> Intel, and was very happy, over a year now I have had this and not a blip, so very happy with its performance, but lately I find myself doing more, running more apps, and of course working across the board with Vista/XP/Linux all at once, and I think I’d benefit from a big-daddy Mac Pro, which means of course getting Cinema displays, and since I don’t want a sexy Cinema display with a dorky Sceptre LCD, that of course means buying two 
So I priced my MacPro if I were to take the plunge and get one, $3,816.95 out the door, express shipping - and I’d have it the first of July. What does that get me?
- 4 Cores (2 x 2ghz Xeon Dual Cores)
- Bluetooth 2.0 / Wifi (802.11n)
- 1GB of Ram (upgradeable to 16gb)
- 250GB SATA (3 additional bays for upgrades)
- NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB
- 2 x 20inch Cinema Displays
Quite a package, would give me some major room for upgrades (Ram is nearly 50% cheaper buying it from Newegg for 2GB), but the upgrade functionality of the system alone, folks have upgraded out the Xeon’s for larger Dual and Quad core processors, so there is that as well, just not stuck to a certain speed/drive/ram.
Not 100% sure about it yet, while I want to find a buyer for the iMac first, at the same time I’d like to keep it around and migrate stuff off, but in the end I’ll probably just run the new backup script I wrote to rsync my folders -> sparky2.0 and see if anyone can give tips on low-level formatting a iMac, re-install 10.4.x and put it on eBay, starting at $1,000 the least I want to get out of it, but hope for at least $1200 (one can hope!).
But who knows, might not do it at all, and love my iMac for another year and take the plunge, but then again, I do want to simplify my office, reduce clutter, and be more productive… suppose I could do that other ways, but a MacPro sounds handy
Anywhoo - back to my mild-day-off, have a good friday folks.
A year or so ago I picked up a ReplayTV unit as they were having a sale, it worked great, but with a HD TV now I was desiring the joys of a Digital Recording on HD stations, well today in running the numbers, by ditching the $13/m fee of the Replay and bulking Digital Cable + HighSpeed - I could get a lower rate. So I signed up! plus the lady was nice and kicked in 6 months lower cost, discounted the DVR, gave me HD channels & HD component cables for free. Pretty slick.
I as a test setup a few of the commonly recorded shows and watched Scrubs and currently Studio60 in HD, such a nice quality of picture! Over all though, really - very happy - tomorrow I am going to have them light up one of the packages I had asked for, but didn’t get added, it adds the Encore networks on, which has some fun movies - plus tomorrow I get to call and cancel the ReplayTV service, going to of course dissect/hack up the ReplayTV hardware, and maybe get my Brothers and mine and set them up to both snag older Analog TV for fun (I’m a nerd, what can I say?)
Tomorrow also brings the laying of SOD, should be fun, hopefully only 3-4 hours of time laying it, but we have 7 people working, should go pretty smooth I hope, leave at 6:30am, so going to probably crash out around mid-night, and get a good 6hrs in under my belt, it seems to be my sweet spot when it comes to rest, so going to give it a go - also need to call a photographer tomorrow about a website, I meant to call her nearly a month ago, but just all the server bleh coming up - priorities stability over sales sadly.
I wish I could say “things are going good” but lot on my mind lately, a few things I am trying to sort out - but I can safely say - I am alive - and going into a Friday, I am prepared to unwind a bit, so I’ll say - have a good evening/good Friday tomorrow, take care - and see you on the flip side.
So far so good, got a good night’s rest, little over 6 hours, twas nice, so today thus far its been a fun day, now that hard part…. lunch. Part of me is considering ChiliDogs …. but another part is thinking Burger King.
I really need to go shopping and buy some “meals” not just “things” - though the Corn Flakes this past week were delightful.
One could hope that Steve mixed up his Keynote out of the leaked items, trying to “crush” folks who got ahold of his keynote, but on the other end, it could just simply of been meant to suck I had hoped for LED iMac’s, or new iPod, or a “Suprise here’s 10.5!” or “10.5 public-beta anyone?” but NOOOO - the 2006 replay of 10.5, Safari 3 beta, some games, really kind of “eh”.
But none the less, my 2GB of ram for MyFruit will be here tomorrow, so should be nice to have a jump from 1.5 -> 3, but it’s been nice using 802.11n on it lately, the router seems to be working, however not sure as to what it is, I need to wire in the VoIP - but I am starting to think its the VoIP or its application rules if left on it dies - 5+ days of uptime, which is a massive upgrade in uptime.
Got some headway on my project, got several elements wired in, still working on a single element that is a BIG part of it, in bringing it all together - just need to try out some options, but the only one requires buying a $80 piece of software, part of me is weary of that, so kind of sucky.
Anywhoo - a short/long day (if that makes any sense) - I need to try and wrap up here and get to bed, need to finish out this one ticket, but even that - I just want to goto sleep and finish it in the morning, so here’s to hoping for a full night’s rest- take care all.
So hit the 8pm showing of Pirates, the show started with 9 people in our group, some left in the middle due do fussy baby I am guessing, but I got to sit next to Angel who kept tickling me! (kids are silly) but it was a fun night, a mixed day, but the night totally washed away all the junk from the day and while I’d love to vent it all, part of it is just my own frustrations in things - and such is life I suppose.
The movie was good - some said “confusing” I thought it was a good flick overall, had some “made you think” spots, which my brain of course enjoyed - but by far is the dynamic duo of Jack (the monkey) and the parrot who’s the voice of the tongue-less pirate - classy indeed, but some interesting mix of mythology, action, hint of romance, and of course, Cap’n Jack Sparrow - but while leaving, I was asked what the next flick we were going to see - options were Transformers, Harry Potter, “???” - not sure what comes out next in time-tables, so I’ll hafta refresh my trailer watching
I will say this, it is WIDE open for a Pirates 4, but I have a funny feeling they may try to make it into a spin-off based upon a character who I will leave nameless - but we shall see I imagine.
Tomorrow is the final stage of sprinkler day I think, so I should probably head to bed here shortly - but knowing me, I’ll probably be up for a few hours thinking about sleeping as I work on a project or two thats hanging around in the back of my mind - one project is coming along nicely, and if I can get it done by Monday - I hope to reward myself with an iPod or Camera Lens (leaning towards lens really).
Anywhoo - have a good evening folks.
What a day what a day. It started at 6am, and progressed, got some research done on some Credit Card processing matters (no real progress, but new info), went for a MySpace advertising pow-wow, watched 3 kiddos, then came home to deal with a customer who got not 1, not 2, not 20, but 6459 pieces of spam in one day - ouch, then followed that up by going to the store for food.
Needless to say, I am tired! But I did get a odd email stating I sold a t-shirt. See long long ago, I took and made some t-shirt designs over at cafepress.com in which I only had 2-3 sales - but today I sold one. One of the #cmcentral shirts to a lady in CA - crazy stuff, but in the time since I started it I have sold a shirt or two, and with CMC stuff I sold a CMC bear or two to the site’s owner for his use at GMA week - but just odd out of no-where I sell a WOMBAT shirt.
I am slowly passing out here, so I am not going to drag this on, but tomorrow is a new day, and I need sleep - have a wonderful Friday folks.
