Month: May 2008

Anthro Desks Rock!

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On Tuesday I received my new Laptop Cart (its like a mini desk for me). I wanted something I could wheel a computer or TV on that I could keep in my bedroom. I don’t have a TV in there, and there is no fixed spot that would be good to keep one. I figured having something that I can move would be cool. I had been using the 19″ LCD TV I won at my company holiday party on a plastic cabinet that has wheels, but it is really flimsy. I order the cart from Anthro. They are the same company that I got my computer table from. The Laptop Cart even matches the computer table. See mom, I do pay attention. Anthro makes some fantastic stuff.

2008-05-08_imac_unboxing_01 2008-05-08_imac_unboxing_10 My New iMac

It took me 20 minutes to assemble the cart. Now I need to setup the TV on it when I get some time. With the cart order I also bought some cable management kits for my computer table. The cable management kits are an idea so simple that I haven’t seen many other companies offer. The desk is modular so it took me 10 minutes to add the cable management. It was so simple and looks so much better than cables tied together with velcro. I love companies that actually make good stuff that works! I would recommend them (and I have) to anyone.

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My Attempt At Social Networking

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I announced last week that I gave my two weeks notice at work. Lets face it, once I gave notice there was a whole lot less to do at work than there was before. That is saying allot when one of the reasons I am leaving in the first place was I am bored. One of the things I have wanted to do but never really had the time was to sign up for one of the social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace, etc) and search out long lost friends. I have used Linkedin for several months, but that is more for professional use than anything else, so I wanted to try one of the real social networking sites out. If you knew me you would think I would be one of the first people to use a site like that. I am in the technology field after-all, and a fan of the new and interesting. For some reason I have been slow to adopt new online social concepts like online dating or social networking. I think it was because when I was actually interested in that stuff I was so far ahead of my time that everyone I knew would make fun of me about it. Now it is acceptable.

I signed up for the two big sites Facebook, & Myspace. As it turns out I already had a Facebook account that I never did anything with so it was easy to start using. My initial assessment of both sites follows almost exactly a study I read about both sites. It basically did a study of who uses both sites and said that there are distinct general demographic differences between the two. After my brief experience I am believing in what I read. I am not going to get into the details, but I ended up using Facebook. Myspace looked like it was designed by a 16 year old, and was too busy a site for me. It seems most of the people I know thought the same thing. After a brief search I only found one friend on Myspace and that was because I knew she was on it. Within 20 minutes on Facebook I saw like 30 people I knew.

Too me the whole idea of using a site like Facebook is to find friends who I have lost touch with. I had a list of a few names I wanted to look up. I actually suceeded in finding a few people, and in the process found several others I had not thought about. The funny thing about this process is you end up getting invites or hello emails from other people you may not have found, but who have found you. Here in lies the problem for me. I am horrible with names. It is hard to remember a name of someone you knew 5, 10 or even 15 years ago. I have already had to reference my college and high school yearbooks to verify that I knew someone. Sad I know, but it is true.

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Six Weeks Wait For a Watch Band

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When I turned 30 my dad gave me his vintage 1969 Omega Speedmaster. I haven’t used it much since I have always been afraid of damaging it, even though my dad wore it in surgeries for 30 years. In the few months that I did wear it I began to scratch the underside of the steel watch band. It was scraping against the desk when I typed. I have a similar problem with the Titanium X-33 I use as my day to day watch.

Recently I have wanted to wear the Speedmaster Professional more often, but I don’t want to mess up the original band any more than I already have (I really haven’t damaged it, but with continued use it will be messed up). I decided to go and try to buy a leather band that I can swap for the steel one I currently have. Well that was easier said than done. I went to Tourneau on Saturday and was basically told if they could get me a band it would be 6-8 weeks. I say if because since they couldn’t find the serial number on the watch they couldn’t validate that it was authentic. They claim that Omega won’t let them order anything without a serial number. I informed the lady that watches as old as the one I have don’t always have the serial number on the outside. For some reason I read that older models had the number inside the watch, if at all. She said it didn’t matter. I just shook my head as I provided my contact information in the hopes that Tourneau can order the band. If they can, I have no idea what color it can come in, or how much. I just don’t get some businesses. Is this company thinking in their head and saying lets take a loyal customer who has paid a premium for a product that double digit percentage of the population are stopping from buying (yes with mobiles and other electronic devices less and less people are buying watches) and make it harder for them to pay money for an accessory. It sure feels like that.

Oh and to be clear, I will blame the store not the manufacturer in this case because the sales lady didn’t handle the situation well at all. Places have to learn how to treat their customers better.

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Trying Moveable Type 4

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I have been continuing to play around with blogging software on my web hosting account. I finally decided to no longer be lazy and try an install of Moveable Type. WordPress is was easy to install on my hosting account because my provider Site5 offers a simple install script that takes about 2 minutes to run. You need to know nothing about linux software installation. I on the other hand know a little (not much but a little) so I decided to stop procrastinating and try the personal edition of Moveable Type. I was surprised at how easy they did make the install from the last time I tried to do it. Of course that was 2 versions and several years ago.

The point is I was able to get the software installed with no major issues. So far it looks good. I am comparing Moveable Type with WordPress, and my currently hosted blog at Typepad. What I am noticing is that Typepad has allot more bells and whistles built in, vs either of the other platforms. For example, the widgets make life easy. Moveable Type & WordPress both have widgets but neither of them are as nice as what Typepad offers. That of course is only my opinion.

The verdict? Well it is probably too early to say, but besides the cost involved in hosting my blog with a service provider like Typepad on top of my normal mail and site hosting I think that Typepad is still better. The major sticking point I have right now is that I cannot use custom themes with the current package I have on Typepad. I don’t really want to pay the extra fee per year to get the ability to use custom theme’s, but I want to play around with them. I am leaning to just trying out the themes I want on the MT4 install I just did, and if I find one I really like I can always pay to upgrade Typepad.

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Weekend Update

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Friday night I went out with a ton of people from work. It wasn’t an official going away party for me, but it felt like it. We ended up at Windfall to start. We hung out there for a while until the crowd thinned out. After that about 6 or 7 of us went to a Japanese Karaoke place. I am not a fan of Karaoke, but I had a good time. I cannot confirm or deny if I sang anything.

We started drinking around 5pm, and I finally stopped around 11:30pm. Starting early like that can kill you. I rested most of the day Saturday because of it. I did run out to do a little shopping. See a future post about the antics involved in getting a new watch band.

Saturday night I meet up with Danny to see Iron Man. I haven’t wanted to see many movies in the past few years, but I have been waiting to see this one. It looked fantastic, and I was also a fan of the comic when I was growing up. The movie was really good. Afterward we went to Heartland Brewery for some drinks and dinner. I shied away from the drink after Friday nights festivities.

Today was a hang at home and relax day!

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What Do You Get a Two Year Old?

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My nephew Zach’s birthday is in under a month. That means I am thinking about what to get him. I don’t even attempt to get him the most outrageous present. That is reserved for my dad to come up with something crazy. My problem is I can never think of what my niece or nephew would want for a present. I rely on input from my sister, otherwise I would never have thought to get a 5 year old a printer for her birthday. Zach is only two so he will probably get some traditional two year old gift. My issue is I don’t know what that might be just yet. It is always fun to shop for him, but I need guidance:(