Got it last night. Upgraded it. Kicked it around a bit. Details coming later. I am venturing off in the snow for a firewire cable. Be back later. If not, send help!!!
Month: January 2005
The Mini Has Shipped
My Mac Mini has shipped. I should receive it right on time just like Apple said. I am actually surprised. But very happy. I should get it sometime tomorrow. Hopefully my extra ram I ordered also comes on time tomorrow. I did not get my memory from Apple. I was not paying $400+ on a 1 gig chip. I got the same memory for $220. Not saying where, but yes it is a deal. Some things just have a crazy markup on them.
Pictures and a possible review when I get it.
New BroadVoice Account
This story starts out with me wanting to configure a Cisco 7940 phone we had for our Call Manager to work with my VOIP provider. I never did get it to work. I ended up with a nice Motorola cordless phone plugged into the ATA device Broadvoice sent me. I have wanted to tinker with getting the Cisco phone to work with SIP for months but didn’t. Truth be told I hadn’t really put much effort into it until today. After tinkering with some TFTP files and some firmware updates from Cisco I was able to convert the phone over to SIP. This enabled me to order the Broadvoice service without needing the ATA adapter.
I have been happy enough with my BroadVoice account that I signed my company up for one. We have a POTS line in our cage in our data center. It costs $50 a month for the dam thing. We use it like 4 times a month. The problem is that it is a life saver to have when calling in a server or communicating a problem to others from the data center. Broadvoice’s plan for $10 a month was too good a savings to pass up. I was able to get the phone configured in 10 minutes after I got the SIP firmware on it. Now all we need to do is move the phone to our data center and setup a firewall rule to allow it to work.
Treo 650 Rumors
The rumor mill is filled with buzz about the PalmOne Treo 650 GSM version coming out within a week or so. All I have to say is “took it long enough, but WoHoo!”. I will most likely pay for the full priced unlocked version. I am so far basically happy with T-Mobile. I also do not want to be forced into a 2 year deal with Cingular. They can kiss my ass over having to pay full price for any phone unless I sign a 2 year deal. So if I don’t get a subsidized phone, why do I have to sign a 1 year deal? Don’t start telling me that a 2 year deal is needed to make up the price of the phone subsidy. They do that after 1 year. Cingular is trying to lock people in since now people can move to a new carrier with their cell number by making a simple phone call. Let me give you a bit of advise Cingular. T-Mobile has kept me as a customer by NOT being pricks about their contracts. This is from a user who has had issues with them as recent as last week. I also am not happy with their data speeds of GPRS, but I don’t want to move to another carrier and get screwed with a long term contract or a company that blatantly doesn’t care about their customers choices.
To anyone that says the non-customized version of the Treo won’t work well with T-Mobile I have to say give it up. I had an unbranded Treo 270. It worked just fine on AT&T and T-Mobile. I don’t need to wait for T-Mobile to do some GPRS tweaks and stick their logo on the phone. Unbranded and unlocked versions should work fine.
Of course I bash Cingular, but I ever do want/need higher data speeds I will be using them since T-Mobile’s higher speed data network seems years away. Dam mobile providers. None of them has just what I need/want:(
Blog Comment Span No More
This News.com article talks about what Google is doing to stop people from comment spamming blog’s in order to boost their own sites listings on Google. Looks like they will offer an HTML tag that will stop spydering links on a site. That way if you run a site you can tell google when your links stop, and when comment type links start. This is perfect for comment spam on blogs like this one.
The article mentions that Six Apart (the very nice operators of the Typepad service I use) will immediately implement this new tag on all their hosted blogs. Does that mean that people will stop spamming my comments? If spamming my comments doesn’t do anything for a persons google ranking, I hope it will stop. I know in the short term it wont stop, but I can wish can’t I?
Visiting Friends
I traveled long and far (15-20 minutes) to Time Square last night to meet Joe & Karen for dinner. Jayson & Gretchen also joined in. Joe is in NY to help Karen move, so we all decided to get together. We ventured out in the freezing cold to get some food. We ended up at the Olive Garden on Broadway near 49th Street. It was a nice low key dinner.
We were able to catch up. Joe was in a few weeks ago, and we hung out but we don’t get together that much so it was nice to have a long relaxing dinner with everyone.
Joe tried to give me a lesson on wines. He was attempting to culture me a bit, but I still do not like the taste of wine. Even though what they were drinking was not as bad as other wine I tasted, I still was not ready to begin drinking it.
We also had an interesting run in with someone while walking to the restaurant. We were on the street and we passed by Ice Cube as he was going to his limo. A bunch of people were standing around as he was walking by. We were smarter than that and continued on our way since it was SO cold out. Of course it is my luck I get to see Ice Cube but Sunday Jayson & Gretchen stood in line with John Stewart while at the Apple store. John is like my new comedic idol, and he was in one of my favorite stores. That is what I get for sleeping in on Sundays.
Joe was prodding me to come visit him sometime down south. I want to go, but I know if I go during the work week I will not relax but end up working with him at his company for a few days. I have been known to do that before. I don’t mind it, but I need a real vacation! Karen did tempt me with being able to play Halo all I want. She pointed out that I suck as bad as her in the game so I could possibly kick her ass in it. Hmm tempting!
Web Hosting Dilemma
I currently host my blog at Typepad. I have been very happy so far except for one technical limitation (i will go into that later). I host my regular (old) site and photo album site on my friend Miguel’s server. The problem is due to space constraints a few months back I don’t have the full site up there. My email is hosted elsewhere (also free).
My issue is I am at the mercy of others because of the “free” status of my service. I am looking at cheap hosting options. I have been thinking about it for a month or so. I am not sure if what I gain is worth $5-8 a month. Granted that is cheap, but free is cheaper. Because of how Typepad had me setup my domain name it also poses some issues. Most web hosting companies require you (or REALLY like it if you) use their DNS servers so they can setup all the records for your account properly. Because of Typepad requiring me to point an A record for www.Scott.ac to it prevents me from using my main domain I use (i use Scott.ac for everything including mail) to any web hosting company. I can get mail configured but it requires non standard setup from any provider. I would have to select another of my domains to use as the primary domain name. That is not so bad, but any “non-standard” setup’s worry me. Anything that requires custom configuration is asking for things to go wrong.
Jayson and I had the idea of splitting a server over at godaddy.com. For $40 a month (20 per person) you get a decent sounding setup. Granted it is a virtual server, but I have no issues with that. I am pushing VMWare with my company so why would I have issues with VMWare for my use. I am still pondering my options.
Knowing myself as I do I will dither a while longer and then make a spur of the moment decision that will not take into account most of the research I have done over the past month or so!
Mac Mini Sounds Great, Just Get Over It
I have been reading reviews questioning the Mac Mini. I just read this review and it says the same thing allot of people have been saying “the mini is not as cheap as you thing for what you get”. I have one thing to say to all these people, “get over it”. Yes it is not the most cost effective system out there. PC’s will ALWAYs be cheaper. I for one would NEVER buy a bottom of the line Dell or Gateway, but I did buy a bottom of the line (sort of, since I got the $599 model) Mac. Why, because the bottom of the line Dell, gateway or HP’s are crap. I won’t go into specific’s, but I am a m a Systems Engineer. I have worked with both Dell and HP entry level desktops. There is a reason why they are are entry level. I would never recommend them for a friend to buy. The Mac Mini on the other hand was on the market for 2 hours before I put an order in for one. Why? Generally Mac’s are quality gear. Is it the cheapest computer you can get? No of course not. is it the cheapest Mac out there? Yes by far.
I like many people already have a mouse, keyboard and extra monitor. That equals no extra cost for me. I also have a KVM so I don’t even need the extra mouse, keyboard or monitor, but I will use them. So as Steve Jobs said it is a good second computer. I don’t need the super power of a G5 tower, nor do I need the 17″ monitor that comes with the entry level iMac.
Oh and the review I referenced before said basically if you want a super small desktop you can do that with a PC. The Mini is not unique (or that is what I read into it). They are correct. Unfortunately Dell, HP, Gateway & IBM don’t sell a super small desktop. Know how I know that? I tried to do a project at work with the smallest desktop I could find from a major manufacturer. do you know what we ended up with? A semi small HP desktop that weighed in at a whopping 15lbs, vs the mini’s 3 lbs or so. Joe schmo user won’t go out and buy a no name box. I for one would not recommend a super small desktop from bob’s computing. I quoted out a small form factor box with very decent specs back in September. it cost over $900.
Why do reviewers have to Apple bash? Can anyone admit that YES Apple has a good product. it is not for everyone, but for the target audience they went after it is a good product. Lets face it, someone who wants a $300 PC won’t be getting a Mac. This Mac is for people who have a pc and want to give the Mac platform a test drive, or for Mac owners who want a cheap (relitivly) second box. Why does everything this company does have to be bashed by some people. If they cured cancer people would give them shit about it.
I am not even someone who likes everything Apple says or sells. I wouldn’t touch the stuff until OS 10.2 came out. I still have brand new PC at home, and a PC laptop along with a few desktops at work, but I was and still am open to the fact that the Mac does some (not everything) things better than a PC.
If you are going to bash a new Apple product, go ahead and bash the Shuffle. I got nothing to defend that with. I will stick with my 40 gig iPod! Thanks anyway.
This post wasn’t supposed to be a “go apple” rant, but I have read like 5 or 6 reviews that said the same thing about the mini. Why hasn’t a major brand done what apple has done with a super small nice looking desktop PC? The cube came out in what 2001. Where is the name brand competition to the cube or the mini? Really, where. I would have bought it back in November when I got my PC. Oh wait, it doesn’t exist. That is why I couldn’t buy it. Dell does not innovate, they make things cheaper than everyone else. That is why I have been known to buy Dell at work, but for myself no thanks. HP at least innovates, but they are still not as ahead of the curve as Apple is.
Lastly yes the Mini is not as cheap as $499 or $599. If you buy ram, bluetooth or Wifi it adds cost. But it is still much cheaper than the next viable mac that I would get. It is still 3lbs and 2″ thick by 6.5″ wide. Like I said, no one else can give me the same thing, so I will stick with the Mini.
Saturday And The Jets
Saturday I went to Queens to go buy a suit with my dad for an engagement I was invited to. I have (had) 4 suites, but after trying them on I realized that I have in fact gained weight in the past 6 years, so it was time to go out and buy some (a) new one. I ended up with a nice black single breasted 2 button suite. It came with 2 pairs of paints, or in case I needed a less formal grey pair for some reason. I have to pick it up after alterations in a week or so. Men’s Warehouse is easy and I think I got a good deal!
After that I trekked back to Manhattan and went to Dan’s for the Jet’s game. It was a relatively small turn out so it was quiet. Of course any get together without Nelson is nice! Coop & Pierre got to play for the first time. They ran all around and it was very funny to watch them. BTW, Coop & Pierre are two dogs. Dan’s Cooper got big. I haven’t seen him in a while, and he is not the little puppy I remember. he is still funny.
The Jets lost. I didn’t really care since I don’t like football, but it was funny to watch everyone else get upset. I have to say the way they lost was not fun. They should have had that game. Oh well…
Sci-Fi Remakes
I am an admitted fan of Science Fiction. In recent weeks and months I have been happy to read about some really interesting remakes. I read this week that they will remake the 80’s film Tron. The movie was a bit cheezy but it was still great. I can’t wait to see how it looks with some state of the art CGI.
Another remake I just read about is the BBC show Dr. Who. I used to watch that in the early 80’s. it was also cheezy but good. I guess you gotta like the 80’s cheeze. The last Dr. Who movie they made in the 90’s sucked big time. I am interested to see how the new show looks. I have liked several drama’s from the BBC in recent years. From MI-5 (spooks), to The Vice, so I hope this one is actually good.
Other remakes that have just gotten on the air are Battlestar Galactica. One of the first movies I ever remember watching was Battlestar Galactica. Of course that memory includes my dad having to leave the movie with me since I was really little and didn’t want to sit around anymore:) The mini series and the first episode on the Sci-Fi Channel were good. I have Tivo programed to get the rest of the series so I can watch it.