scott

Furniture

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I have been on a small spending spree since I moved to furnish my apartment. After my most recent round of acquisitions I am almost done. I have a new love seat couch that I find more comfortable to lie on than to sit on but it is nice either way. I have a new computer table that doesn’t wobble when i touch it. That and the most of the cables can be hidden in it. My last purchase was a nice computer chair. I have wanted a nice chair for some time, but I had been going back and forth between wanting one and willing to spend the money on one. The final deciding point was the $50 chair I got from Bed Bath and Beyond was killing my butt and my back, so I took the plunge. I got a new Herman Miller Celle Chair. It isn’t as nice (nor as expensive) as the Aeron Chair I had for almost 6 years at my last job, but it is dam close. For a desk chair it wasn’t cheap but compared to what i had been sitting on for several years it is really nice.

Next up for me is the coffee table I have been talking about for ages. That is another expensive purchase so I have been hesitant to get it, but I am about to pull the trigger on it. Now all I need to do is buy some nice paintings and stuff for my walls and the new apartment will look awesome!

Johnnie Walker Blue

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Today I finally cracked open a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue that I brought back with me when I was in France over the summer. It was worth the wait. I wasn’t daring enough to drink it straight but it was really nice over some ice. I am almost upset that I liked it. By liking it, I now have another potentially expensive habit. Now all I need is a library, a few plush leather chairs, fireplace and cigars or pipes and I will be in the stereotypical old man lounge.

Blue is best

The Day Off

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I took today off. I had no plans, I just wanted to take a day off and relax. I haven’t had a day off in a while and I have tons of vacation to burn. I cleaned up my apartment, did some shopping, and other totally useless stuff to relax all day. It felt good. The down side is now I have to goto bed and then get up for work tomorrow. I didn’t answer my blackberry all day, but I did glance at it before and saw I had about 40 legitimate messages I need to look at. 🙁

Back to the grind tomorrow.

10.5 Compatible Applications

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Since I was upgrading to Leapord I knew there might be issues with the new OS and applications I typically use. So when I was upgrading this week I also got a small portable hard drive that I replicated my existing Tiger install onto using Carbon Copy Cloner in case I need to use applications that don’t work with the new OS. I am glad I did that since there are several key applications that I use that don’t work just yet. So far out of everything I use the following don’t work or have trouble working with 10.5:

ecto: 2.x doesn’t work so thankfully I am writing this with a trial beta of 3.0.

Missing Sync for Palm: It doesn’t work, and Mark/Space recommends waiting until a working version comes out. They claim this will happen in the next 90 days.

PGP Destop 9.x: Pieces of it might work according to the forums I read, but it was recomended not to try to use it since it might cause issues with encrypted disks I have. A beta of the latest version that will support 10.5 is supposed to come out in November, so that means in 30 days or so.

Daylite 3.5: The awsome support guys at Marketcircle have a beta (3.6) that will work with Leapord but hasn’t publicly released it. They said if you ask nice they will give it to you. Since I was dealing with someone regarding a problem with syncing in 3.5.x I asked for and got a copy of 3.6. Unfortunately all the problems they were able to fix for me in 3.5.2 are back in 3.6 (or what appears to be the same issue). I can use the application but I can’t sync with Apple sync services. Another separate post on this is pending since using this program is changing how I am productive. The breakthrough was when they released version 3.5 with access to sync services, but as I said more on this later.

Mactheripper: I am not even sure if this application is supported anymore but I love it. Unfortunately it crashes allot now. Not sure what to do with it just yet.

12 Minutes

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In NYC yesterday it was dreary and wet. Not the nicest way to end the week. Why then did I decide to go wait on line at the Apple Store for the OS 10.5? Stupidity perhaps. The need for the latest gear, maybe. I was semi surprised to report that I ended up on a line that went halfway around the block. When 10.4 came out I had a similar experience at the SoHo store. History did repeat itself though, and even though there was a huge line and it was raining from the time I got on line to the time I walked out of the store was only 12 minutes. Now that is efficiency.

I can report that Leopard installed on my Macbook without any issues. Saying that I need to go back a week for a second. My Macbook is nearing the 1 year old mark. Typically I simply sell my Mac laptops at this point and get whatever the latest is out there. The funny thing was that what is out there new right now is only .16GHZ faster than what I currently have. Every other specification is the same on the current Macbook’s. So I instead of selling the Macbook I purchased the extended warrantee, upgraded the RAM to 3gig, and put a new 250gb hard drive in it. With a new hard drive installed I simply ran a fresh install of Leopard. So far so good.

More news in the next few days. And yes I hope to begin posting again!

Ipod Classic

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I know, my recent posts have been all about new gear. I like writing about it. It is my guilty pleasure. So sue me. Well, actually don’t sue me. That would be bad! As readers of this site know i am perpetually upgrading. Some things more often than others. My iPod has been one of those things that I haven’t needed to upgrade in almost 2 years. (2 years in November). I had a nice basic black regular iPod 60 gig. The 80gig wasn’t that much larger than my 60gig to warrant an upgrade, and no other new wiz bang feature came out to get me to upgrade so my trusty iPod stayed with me. When Apple announced the new iPod Touch i was tempted to go with one of those, but at 18gig I wasn’t sold, but when I heard about the 160gb classic. That was another story. I can keep all my photos, music, some movies and all my documents on that.

Today i checked apple’s website and saw that the 160gb models were now “available to ship within 24 hours”. That is a usually sign that they have them in stock at the store. I swung over to the 5th Ave Apple store on the way home and within 10 minutes i was walking out with my new classic 160gb iPod (silver). Apple sure knows how to get people in and out of the store if they are buying a popular item and are willing to get an email of their receipt (credit card’s only). I don’t mind, it is faster and i am down with it.

I am now syncing the new pod with my iTunes. Then it will be time to load up the drive with my docs and stuff. After that I need to wipe my old one and get it up on ebay!

Oh, and a shinny easily scratch-able iPod is not complete with its nice protective mylar case. My new Agent 18 clear case is now on order. I just hope i don’t scratch the pod before i get it. The old case on my 60gb served me very nicely so i have high hopes for this new one! And yes i will pimp products if they actually do what they are supposed! These Agent 18 cases are awesome. My old iPod looks brand new since it has stayed in that case.

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VMware Fusion

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I haven’t written about it for a while, but I am still heavily relying on virtualization on my Macbook to do almost everything. There are several work programs that must run in Windows, plus Quicken for my personal stuff, etc. I am sorry to admit that I upgraded to Parallels 3.0 right before VMware announced the pricing and pre-ordering of Fusion back in June. When VMware announced pre-order of Fusion I also got that. Lets face it i haven’t settled on either product just yet.

I have been using Parallels since they announced their product, and upgraded since I couldn’t wait for the final version of Fusion. Parallels 3.0 has some nice features, like multiple snapshots (like VMware Workstation, but not Fusion), and the ability to open windows files from the Mac OS. That is the dilemma. Now that Fusion is out, I am running it. I will admit it is noticeably faster (to me) than Parallels. That and the fact that i can use all the existing VM’s i have (and i have allot) is very compelling. I just wish Fusion could do some of the things Parallels can do (multiple snapshots and launching programs from the Mac OS). If it had those two functions it would be the perfect product (for now). Even with those shortcomings, i will say that Fusion is the only virtualization software currently running on my Macbook. Parallels has a new beta out that addresses some of their performance issues and other features so i may switch back, who knows.

With all my existing VM’s, my use of VMware Workstation on windows, and ESX server at work I am firmly wanting the decision to use Fusion over Parallels to be good a no brainer! Right now that isn’t the case, but the performance difference (to me) keeps it running on my Mac.

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Tivo HD

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For a few years I have been using a computer based DVR. I would like to say it was cheaper than a Tivo, but in the end the hardware costs were probably more, but I didn’t have any monthly recurring costs. The other major advantage was that I could do whatever I wanted with the recordings since there wasn’t any DRM on them. The downside within the past two years was that I have a nice 40″ LCD HD TV that I am not getting much benefit out of since I am not using it with HD. That was why back in March I got a HD DVR from my cable provider, RCN. I personally disliked the device. It only held a small amount of HD content. The screen would go blank when you fast forwarded too much with HD content and then took almost 10 seconds to come back to normal all while you hear what is going on in the background. It just seemed like a half baked device, but it did HD so I kept it.

Between March and July when I moved my computer DVR got used less and less until right before I moved I wasn’t using it at all. In July Tivo announced an affordable HD Tivo, and the FCC rules allowing anyone who wants a CableCARD to ask for it from their cable provider. It was perfect timing for me since I was moving. My new place also has RCN, so I didn’t want their HD DVR again so I asked for a CableCARD, and went out and ordered an HD Tivo. I had Tivo for over 3 years before I went to a computer based DVR and that wasn’t until my Tivo died. I did go out and buy a Tivo Series 2, but it wasn’t the same by then so the series 2 actually sits in my closet to this day unused. Having a Tivo again I remembered how much I liked that device! No tinkering involved. For a while I liked the flexibility of a computer based DVR, but now I just want a product that works. That is part of the reason why I have a Mac at home and no windows PC anymore. I tinker enough at work, that I don’t want to have to at home. That is why I am very happy with my new Tivo!

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Xbox 360

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Just this week I ebayed my Wii since I didn’t use it that much. It sat in the box for a month after I moved, and sat idle for 2 months before that at my old place. I was able to get a great price for it with the 2 games I bought, so off it went. I figured I would put that money back into savings, but that was not in the cards. Halo 3 comes out in a few weeks, and as much as I am not a huge gamer, I do play Halo. I will go through phases of heavy play, and then nothing for months. I have been like this for years. If it wasn’t Halo 2, it was Halo, or Half Life, or Dume, Duke Nukem, etc. I play till I get dizy from all the movement. I know I shouldn’t do it but I do.

It was because Halo 3 is almost out that I went out and bought a new Xbox 360. I picked up Rainbow Six Vegas to hold me over until Halo. Vegas is cool, but hard. The Xbox graphics are fantastic, but I am still not sure if $349 plus tax is worth it to play Halo! Right now I don’t care, I am just going to pre order Halo now!

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Hosting Changes Afoot

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It’s September, so that means hosting provider changes! I don’t know why but both my blog hosting service as well as my general website hosting provider were both setup in September. That means annual fee’s are around the corner, so if i want to make changes i have to do it soon. Well Typepad did have an issue about 2 years ago so I now renew in November for them, but my hosting provider Site5 renews in about a week. I need to decide if i want to renew with them for another year or make changes to my hosting services.

I would like to cut back the amount i am paying for web services so i am thinking about alternatives. I like Site5 but my needs have changed over time. I ended up not using their free setups of linux apps like WordPress. I used Gallery for a while but just recently messed up my config and didn’t really use it enough to warrant the expense. With a blog site like this one on Typepad, having another site is a bit redundant especially if i don’t ever update it. Typepad now offers the ability to setup regular pages on my blog so i might create a version of my regular site here. That means i only have to get an email provider and keep Typepad as my main web presence. I have also been thinking of buying Flickr Pro so i can use it like i was going to use the Gallery application. With the cost of the mail hosting, and Flickr Pro, vs regular hosting with Site5 i am saving a few bucks. I am getting less features, but I am getting better functions out of the features I am using, so I am planning my migration away from Site5. The only thing that takes a little thinking is how to move my mail to a new provider without loosing any mail. Fingers crossed.

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