Month: March 2010

Hey, I Can Talk To My Computer Now

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So, this is interesting first post for me. I am writing this, well not really writing this, in fact I’m actually dictating this. For quite some time I have been eyeing the Mac when speech dictate software. This month I finally broke down and bought the software. It is not often that I spend $200 on a piece of software. This software however, peaked my interest enough for eagle on order it. So far, saying this paragraph hasn’t been the most seamless thing in the world, but it is the first one that I am trying. This is one of those things that I have to a try for a while to see if it really is worth using.

It is funny, this is one of those features are what computer that my dad has been asking for for 10 years. He can’t understand why after so long, and so much technical progress, you can’t just simply speak to a computer. I know if I show him this he will want to give it a try, but won’t like the side effects of using such a system.

Well, for a first go round it is taking longer to speak than it would have taken me to write this post, but it was interesting.

7 Years

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In some ways it is very hard to believe that I have been blogging for 7 years, but my first post ever was March 23, 2003. So much has changed in my life since then. So much has changed period. I don't post as often as I would like but here I am 7 years later still writing.

Here is to another 7 years!

Rain Day

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I had another horrible night of sleep last night. I am not so sure if this sleep CD (well MP3’s of a CD) that I just bought is working. Not the best $9.95 I have spent. I am going through a bought of restless sleeping. Every few months I get this, I just want it to be over.

Today was at least a work from home day. That meant I could sleep an extra hour before having to get ready for work. I was glad to be home today since the weather was horrible. I had a packed day from 10AM onwards. I didn’t finish up my last email until about 7PM.

I didn’t do much afterwork. Since it was nasty I stayed in. Ordered food in, and caught up on some personal emails and TV. Why is it that I live and die in email for work but can be horrible in contacting my friends via email!

Not much else to report, but as I was catching up on my posts this past week I told myself to take a few minutes each night and try to post something. As much as I dont miss my hour long commute from Bayside, I do miss the 20-30 minutes each direction on the railroad I could get writing in. Of course I will take my 15 minute commute over an hour any day.

Canceled Plans

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So my plans to see my dad got canceled at the last minute. Apparently he got a cold this weekend. When I called he didn’t sound to hot and he didn’t want to get me sick. There was also the not wanting to drive to get me and the computer either. We decided it best to reschedule for next week.

My dilemma was it was 11AM and I was awake and fully dressed on a Sunday. For me that is an accomplishment if I am not planning on going anywhere. I ended up going into Manhattan to do some shopping for a bit and then I headed home in the mid afternoon. I cleaned up my apartment and decided to take a crack at my task list to do at home that I have been ignoring.

Overall a nice relaxing day. Hoping this week at work wont be too hectic, but I have to goto NJ in the middle of the week so I am not so sure.

Tech Support Day Tomorrow

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I am in the process of setting my parents up with a new iMac. For years I have been trying to get them to switch to a Mac. They are on their 3rd computer in like 4 years and having problems. That number is a bit misleading. They had a 3 year old machine that finally went and we got them an HP desktop. The on board video went or was slowly dying on that and there was no expansion slot so about a year or so ago I ordered them a new Dell desktop. Unfortunately over the past few months they have been having huge issues with it. It is all software based, and I could probably wipe it and restore it and all will be good but the thing has Vista, and it would take a large amount of time for me to do that.

I was surprised that my dad asked about if it was time for a Mac. Way back when the Power PC Mini was out I gave them one to try. Unfortunately it was slow and it spoiled his views on the Mac. I think his work friends convinced him it is easy and fast. That on top of all the issues he was having made it the right time to get them to switch.

The new 21″ iMac arrived at my apartment on Wednesday. I am installing some basic programs now, and my dad will come pick it up tomorrow. I will go over to his place and move his files over and setup the machine for him. Hopefully that will be uneventful.

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Friday Again

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Nothing to out of the ordinary went on today. I did go into the office. Friday’s is typically a work from home day so that was a change of pace. I worked from home yesterday and I don’t normally do that on a Thursday so I decided to go in today. I didn’t have to but I figured why not.

I got to goto cold stone for some ice cream since it was so nice out. 3 of us took a break in the afternoon and walked to the one on 42nd st. That place has too much showy crap (less singing, more making my ice cream) but the ice cream is good.

I ended up staying at work till after 6 cleaning out my inbox. I was successful so i was happy for that. Now time to relax for the weekend.

eBay Items

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I go through phases where I sell a bunch of stuff on eBay. I always say eBay is my enabler to buy more gadgets. It is kinda true. I sold 3 things this week and I boxed them up and they will ship out tomorrow.

I am parting with my G1 that I bought second hand in December. I was hoping to like Android and that T-Mobile would have worked by my apartment and at work. T-Mobile didn’t work well in either locations and I wasn’t such a fan of Android so far, so I am sticking with my iPhone and AT&T even if I have signal issues at work. Honestly I had this G1 sit around for a while since I only used it for about a week in December but was lazy to sell.

I am also selling my Archos 5 Internet Tablet. This was another Android experiment. I was hoping for something with a bigger screen than the iPhone to use as a tablet. Well I wasn’t a huge fan. It was a great device but, just not for me. I am going to wait for the much larger iPad instead.

I am also finally selling an extra magic mouse that I got by accident.

Next up on the to sell list is some larger stuff.

March 16, 2010

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Today I am 36 years old. I don’t feel that old. Today was a generally typical day at work. I had a bunch of meetings, but was able to get out for lunch with 2 other guys to semi-celibrate my b-day. We went to a pizza place that was in an old converted church near work. It had decent food.

After work I went home and met my parents for dinner. They took me to the Crab House in LIC. I like that place. We had a nice dinner. I didn’t get my present since my mom isn’t finished with it. She is knitting me a blanket for my couch. My dad was lame and forgot to get any bday cards. I am not normally a card fan but he usually gets funny ones.

As birthdays go this was normal. It was a nice day, but nothing spectacular. That is the problem with most birthdays. They aren’t bad, but they have so much hype and then generally underwhelm.

Happy Pi Day

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Last year someone pointed out that 3/14 was Pi day. Normally I would think that was cute and not really care. But this was March 14th. My birthday is March 16th. Since I was in High School I always said my birthday was like a 3 day holiday since 3/15 had famous references by Shakespeare (i know a reach but i was taking lit classes at the time in HS so it was in my head), then my birthday and then St. Patrick’s day. Now here I am being told that there is a 4th day that has some meaning right at the beginning of this so called holiday.

On Friday I was talking to another Scott at work whose birthday was next week and i mentioned there was some significance to the 14th but I couldn’t recall what. Wikipedia helped solve that question. To celebrate Pi day I had Pizzaria Uno. I had an individual pie!