Well it was bound to happen, Vista really just bored me. I know it was supposed to be the greatest “WOW” for Windows since VB3, but it just got old for me, no real “WOW” for me that I haven’t had in Linux or Mac for a while - and I won’t be doing away with it, just not devoting a big workstation for it, bare-bones is the plan so I can do some screen-casts for Vista customers.
Enter Ubuntu (7.04) - a very nice release, good features, and I must say, a much quicker install than Vista was for me, even doing all the updates Ubuntu - it was done in quite a flash, so having 200GB drive on board, I started the process of backing up the iMac, and getting all my Music & Photo’s rsync’d off to the linux box, onto music now, all 29GB of Photos backed up (yes yes, im a photo bug) - but Ubuntu runs really smooth, even have a DVD on behind me now.
I also think I figured out the Router problem, was moving the power strip it’s on today, and the plug was falling out! So I changed it to a wall plug, and it seems to have stabilized quite well thus far, but I was starting to think between the Mac’s the DIR-655 did not agree with it, but so far it’s all leveled out, even the Wifi on the Ubuntu box works great - so a fun day as far as all my nerdy stuff is concerned.
Mothers day was actually yesterday @ the coast, had a nice lunch, hung out with my brother and his family, twas fun fun 
but now I head into the new week, Monday and Tuesday night both taken up, probably each night this week are going to be taken, as a few people want to chat with me about things, but hopefully I’ll get some work done, and get a few gigs lined up for the month in the way of extra cash, as I am eyeing a 80GB iPod @ Apple.com - $249 (after my $50 gift card applied) so basically the price of the current 30GB iPod - so pretty excited about the possiblity, as I have the cable to hook it into the TV so would be cool to watch some flicks on the big screen 
Anywhoo - rambling more and more, so going to go now and read some email, watch elf, and write a script or two for screen casts, may even record some voice work and then play it back as I work out the video recording.. I know a wild night. Night Folks.
So the day seems to be slowly coming to a close, so let’s start back a 2 mornings ago, since there are a few things I left out which I am excited about - namely cPanel 11 - it’s the newest release of the control panel I use on my servers, and wowza, its a leap better than ever - I put the “Current” branch on my test box for a little field testing, and must say - performs nicely even over a T1 thats got high-use mid day, things like Ruby on Rails, WebDAV, new Ajaxerific user front-end, etc. going to be a awesome upgrade for customers, very excited to be testing it right now.
Fast forward back to today - had dinner with my friends, got to chit-chat and catch-up a bit, had some delicious steak - and good conversation, was nice to seem them both - as it seems anymore its harder and harder to find some time for hanging out, but today I seemed to find it in abundance, as after leaving their place at almost 11pm, I made it to the theater about an hour before Spiderman 3 started, and hung out with Jake and his friends - was a good group for watching a movie.
Now as for the movie, I am not going to say “And then Peter DIED!” (well except for that one time) - but I will say as the man next to me said “What was with all the love story!?” LoL - now don’t get me wrong, in the 2h 20m of the film there is a lot of action, some amazing special effects (ie Venom) but the storyline is about love, forgiveness, etc. not that its bad, just not quite what I was expecting - but I stayed awake thru it, so apparently it wasn’t all that bad
Coming out of the theater I saw Lilith from Fluxar along with Mark and Joseph who I knew out of their group, my group of course kept going towards the door lol - but said hello chit-chatted for a second or two, then said goodnight, and of course everyone didn’t realize we’d be getting out of a movie after 2:30am, and thus suddenly no one wanted to go hang out at Denny’s anymore 
but I’ll survive.
So what does today hold for me? Well I am hoping a touch of sleep - dragging a little, as I got a brief nap this afternoon before my evening began, but I could use a few hours more… so for starters a nap here shortly, then the day will happy I suppose So I wish you all a happy Friday, remember, relax, and breathe.
Well after being a PalmOS nerd for a number of years, I have made the move from my Treo650 to a T-Mobile Dash (WM5 Smartphone) and so far so good. I had really desired a strong PalmOS based phone, but features like Wifi, upgraded Bluetooth, and a better camera seemed to be a impossiblity as Palm like other ‘phone’ makers sold out, they made phones for “Providers” for instance the Treo680, while you can get a unlocked version, they only provide the full range of colors to Cingular customers - or the Treo700p, only for Sprint/Verizon - granted for features like EVDO - but why not a GSM/EDGE version with the new camera etc. for loyal users?
So instead of waiting for Palm to make a move, I researched the options T-Mobile had to offer, and the Dash made the most sense, providing me with a 1.3mp camera that takes decent shots and new bluetooth and integrated wifi - decent battery life, built in Internet Explorer browser, Java (which runs Gmai’s App Wonderfully) and slowly but surely I’m going to customize this device out, now granted I have 13 days to find some earth shattering thing to make it “bad” and return it, but so far good sound quality, works with my headset perfectly, only other test is for the road in using it’s BT to link the MacBook Pro to EDGE/GPRS and see if I can get online from anywhere.
Another perk to this upgrade is a upgrade to my package, got the following upgraded:
- myFaves 1000m + Nights/Weekends
- 400 Txt/Pic messages
- Unlimited T-Mob-to-T-mob (useful for family calls)
- 5 Faves (for friends/customers houses/cells)
- T-Mobile Internet + T-Mobile HotSpots (their new all-in-one internet plan) - Starkbucks here I come.
So not too shabby, monthly bill went up only about $15 - granted it’s higher, but compared to the overages I have gotten for going over 600m - a small price to pay.
But watch the Flickr for more camera pics from the phone, so far so good! Have a good Tuesday folks.
Since I got on MySpace I never seemed to get into the “social network” feel of it, in part the site is clunky, ad-ridden, full of spam, porn ads, 12 yr olds half naked, etc. etc. thus why my own MySpace profile totes the banner “MySpace = Evil” just never could get used to it.
So the other day talking to JS he mentioned Facebook, and thus I decided - “oh heck - why not, couldn’t be worse” and so far I must say, I enjoy the sheer simplicity of it - clean layout, simple features, and has been snappy response wise - granted I don’t have my “massive” friends list (lol) but, I’m doing okay with my current 2 contacts, who knows, maybe more soon
In other news, signed up for an account with the printer to do some test prints, so far the interface is pretty easy, and they offer a drop-ship method, which I’ll test out to see how it looks/appears/operates - but 30×40 being my largest print size, very excited indeed, I want to find a great photo to take up that amount of space, and be a little bit of an investment, but pretty excited, just need to figure out pricing (come on folks!)
Anywhoo, just running exhausted lately, so going to walk away from the PC for a bit, maybe loaf on the couch - or pass out and goto sleep (whichever comes first) - so have a good Tuesday Evening folks, take care.
Posted on 10 April '07 by Chuck Brown, under basic goodness. 1 Comment.
First quick comments on Vista…. “eh?” for Windows lovers, don’t get me wrong, it is snappy, looks better than Windows has in a while, some decent features out of the box (Windows Home Premium) - but already had some ‘issues’ - the LCD I purchased is 1080P with the use of the DVI cable, however it never works consistently without my old faithful CRT hooked in as a second monitor - so a tad frustrating.
But all in all, not horrible, but definitely not ready for prime time - don’t think I’ll be making it my primary workstation any time soon for now I’ll settle with Linux, Mac, and WinXP
That’s my tech two bits. Back to work.
On Tuesday most media formats (music/movies) release new content, so usually you can hit iTunes, Real Store, MSN Music, etc. and have all the latest content thrown at you - well with iTunes 7 released last week, and the new Movies store, I was waiting to see what was in store today - and the iTunes pricing saddens me.
I purchased Pirates of the Carribean last week for $9.99 - and the quality is awesome, however - I could of easily purchased it on DVD for that same price when it hit the bargin rack at Target, Best Buy, etc. - same goes for new releases, while $14.99 isn’t a bad deal for Pirates of the Carribean 2 pre-order, the question comes to mind, why not just buy it in stores? I suppose for the non-nerdy person, its a quick and easy way to get a DVD -> iPod, but more and more companies are making that easier to convert your DVD’s into iPod compatible formats - even more so if you own a Mac, but Windows and Linux users both have methods out there as well.
So what makes more sense? $14.99 a hit for a video in which you get no special features, no disc to loan a friend, heck no disc to play on your TV - or say $49.95 for a application for your Windows/Mac/Linux station which converts that same priced DVD you bought in-store into a iPod ready piece of greatness?
Honestly, I think if iTunes wanted to get a larger cross section of nerds (not doubting they already have some buying) - but they should offer 2 versions of each video, the full priced DVD style download (special features, etc) for the DVD price, and a light “Movie Only” download for a lesser (under $10 price) similar to how they do their music purchases - but thats just my morning rant, I need my fruit loops. Have a good day all!
One thing I have had holding me back in the realm of Mac as a full-on workstation is Spreadsheets, I use spreadsheets from everything from budgets, quotes, server management, etc. etc. Well Google spreadsheets is quite simply perfect. Granted I can’t “print” yet, as my printers are not “Mac Friendly” yet (R340 fund is now open, send money!) - but its awesome, had to run some numbers this morning, hit the bookmark in Firefox, and whammo, started laying out formuals, and such - works wonderful.
It also exports to XLS so on my Treo I can easily open, edit more - and take with me on the go, granted I’d love the system to have a “Mail XLS File” so I could email my phone (yes my phone has its own email addy) and have it with me vs. sync’ing - so I requested it as a feature, but for a limited “test” it’s very nice, good features, good speed, and good rendering. Enjoying it very much!
