Technology

Visa, MasterCard or OTHER!

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I am an American Express Card holder. I am happy about that. Amex treats you right. I don’t remember any major problem (nock on wood) with them as a credit card company. I do remember all the good things they have done when I have had problems. Sometimes without me even asking. That is good service. Yes I pay allot for that service, but isn’t that the point?

Because I am so happy with my Amex I have decided long ago that I don’t need any other card. I mean I have a charge and credit card with Amex. Well since my bank has given me a Debit card allong with my ATM card I figure I can use that if I ever come accross a place that does not take Amex. I must say that I have been known to leave stores when they don’t take Amex. If you want my business you should take a credit card that huge portions of he popuation have, and the vast majority of stores take. Being cheap about the percentage point or two that Amex charges over Visa/Mastercard is just petty and looses my business. I got that attitude from my dad. He had a Visa card that he never used. I remember on a few occasions where we would leave stores if they didn’t take amex, even though he could use the visa card. I am the customer, I want to pay in a legitimate way using this card. If you won’t accomodate me, I am leaving. And leave we would. I am like my dad (even though sometimes I don’t like to admit it). We can both be stuborn. he a bit more than me, but as a customer I am right. Aren’t i?

I am here in Maine. More on that later. The inn I am staying at has WIFI. I was like cool. I have 2 hours to kill so let me get online and check my mail. Yeah, that didn’t work. Why you ask? Well the wifi company doesn’t take Amex. I was a bit miffed but then said ok, this is why I have my debit card anyway. So I broke out the debit card and punched in my digits only to get rejected. The credit card authorization company does not recognize my debit card as a valid MasterCard. So I am stuck with no WIFI. I am actually cool with that, but I am really pissed at a company that makes it so difficult for me to use there service. OK, I know everyone DOESN’T take amex, so I use my debit card, and you STILL won’t take the dam card. Come on. I am still not going to run out and get a Visa or Master Card. I will spend my money at a place that is willing to take it!!!

Fishing For Treo’s

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Today started out very very bad. How bad you may ask? Or you may be thinking come on Scott, everything is dreary to you… Well today was not good. It started out normal enough. That was until I was swiping my metro card to get on the subway. I heard the subway pulling in, so like any normal New Yorker I rushed down to try and get on the train. I actually get caught in the closing doors. Normally this is good because that means I have a good chance of making it on the train. In this case I did in fact make it on the train. But just as I was in the train I realized I wanted out. Why? My Treo that was on my belt was no longer attached to the belt clip. I had felt it and heard it come off as the doors slammed into me. I thought I saw it go down the crack between the train and the platform but I couldn’t tell. My fingers almost got caught in the door as I tried to get out.

My reaction surprised me. At first I was like, screw it. it is just a phone. I wasn’t even going to go back and look for it. Then I realized I have allot of information on it that I don’t want others to get. So I got off at the next stop, and went back uptown to try and find the phone. When I returned to my home station I was happy to find the Treo lying face down in the dirt next to the tracks. I was actually glad it was there. If it was in the middle of the tracks it would be soaked in water. If it was on the platform someone could have stolen it.

I went to the token booth and asked for help. The really nice lady there was like “honey don’t worry, you are the second person today with that problem” she assured me she already called for a special crew to come out to retrieve it. Sure enough about 45 minutes later 2 guys from the MTA show up with this cripping device and pull my Treo and battery cover out of the dirt. Turns out the cover came off when it crashed.

The good news is that the Treo actaully works. Besides some minor (i am a perfectionist with gear so to me it feels like major) cosmetic defects aside the phone was fine. No damage to the screen at all. I was actually plesantly surprised. Why? I don’t think of palms as rugged. My Nextel Blackberry I carry for work is rugged. I have dropped it at least twice on the subway platform or stairs and it has been fine except for some scratches. The Treo seems like a device that wouldn’t wear well. I am glad I was wrong.

The first thing I did when I got to work was password protect the device when you power it on. This was to calm my stolen data fears. next I need an encryptiion program, and something to encrypt the data on my SD card. Overkill? Maybe, but I want to protect myself, especially since this deviec is with me almost all the time and it is small enough that it can “go missing” quickly. Case in point today.

Rebuilding The Mini

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I rebuilt my Mini today. I wanted a fresh install so I can try using some linux/unix server programs on it. I am using my Powerbook as my main computer now, so I don’t really “need” the mini as a desktop anymore. But I like it and want to use it.

I am planning on trying to use it as a web server, and maybe a MySQL server, and more. We shall see if I get around to doing that in my spare time.

Jayson also got a mini. Turns out Bob needed a high end desktop for someone quick and Jay volunteered his for use. We tend to trick out our computers in our department so they may not be bought as high end box’s but they end up as them. Bob said to order a replacement box for Jayson so jay suggested the mini. He got a computer he wanted and we saved the company $400 compared to buying a new dev desktop box. Made sense to me! I hope he likes it. I am such a convert now:) It is really scary.

Phone Switch

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I switched back to the Razr today. I like the smaller phone when I am in and around the office. I don’t need the big Treo for going back and forth to the computer room or a meeting. When I am traveling or not the office I like the Treo so I can use email, and use the PIM, etc. I really don’t see getting rid of one of them. Both fit a purpose. And no a small phone like the Razr and a regular PDA wont work for me either. Tried that. I like the Treo keyboard and when I use it I want it to be a phone also. I just don’t need it all the time.

Technology Certifications

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I loved this post on slashdot. The poster asks why IT certifications are good. Some very interesting points of view. I am in the industry, and I have no certifications. I am not saying that is good or bad. I have just seen tons of people with no experience and a certification (or little experience) think they know everything. As I said when I did contracting, some MCSE’s wouldn’t know a domain controller if it fell on their head. And other guys I know with no certification but years of experience would be (and often are) the first people I call for help.

I guess what I read from this is a certification is nice, but nothing beats experience. Having both is really great also.

Virtual PC For The Mac

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I have tried Virtual PC for the Mac before. I think it was version 5.x or 6.x. I don’t remember. It is hard to imagine that I have been using a Mac long enough to have lived through 3 revisions of software but you never know.

I was on MSDN today to download Beta 1 of Windows Vista for a developer (all 2.4gig or so of it that will take 2+ hours on a 4+ megabit link) when I saw MSDN had Virtual PC for the Mac 7.01 online. I decided to try it again. I am still a skeptic, but I figured I would look at it and see if it was of value. Right now I am installing Windows XP into a new Virtual PC 7.02 install. The concept of XP on a Mac is nice, but the slow speed may not be worth it. I may just have to wait for x86 Macs.

Man this install is taking forever…

SATA RAID?

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Not all RAID cards are made the same. This is especially true for SATA raid. I have deployed over 2 dozen SATA & IDE RAID servers in recent history (mainly SATA, but a few IDE box’s). My recent opinion of them is that they work great until the break. When they break they break hard. You begin to wonder if RAID ever worked right when dealing with SATA RAID. Then you go back to an HP (or even Dell) SCSI RAID server and after 10 minutes of using it, you feel like you found religion or something.

I have used Promise & Adaptec 2 & 4 drive SATA Raid cards and both kind of suck. I have used many Adaptec cards on numerous servers and I have had nothing but problems with them. Today marked the 4th 4 drive 2410SA card that has killed a server. Hey Adaptec, when a RAID card capable of RAID5 loses a drive, it is supposed to continue to function. That is the whole idea of RAID5. Not sure if you know that from the performance of your cards. When losing a drive (1 out of 4 btw) the RAID array is supposed to stay up, the server should continue to function, and when you reboot you are not supposed to have a blank configuration on your card.

Also is it written somewhere that I cannot find that says the 1210SA card does not support hot swappable drives? Because if I buy a server that allows for hot swappable drives, I expect my RAID card (even if it is a cheap SATA card, hey it is still RAID) to like rebuild when I put a new drive in a machine. Oh and it would be really nice if the card would rebuild without being told to. I mean Dell, & HP cards do that. Why do I have to invoke a rebuild every time we have a bad drive?

I will be honest I was surprised that I have had such problems with the Adaptec cards since I am generally a fan of their products. I just don’t know if SATA RAID is not fully baked in general? I have been a fan of SATA for a while. it is a great cheap alternative to SCSI, but a RAID system should be reliable. I can understand if you lose drives quicker on a cheaper SATA system, and that happens all the time for me compared to SCSI drive systems, but the problems I have been seeing go beyond just dead drives. So far the only cards I have seen that show signs of progress are the 3Ware 2 drive cards, and some new embedded RAID cards on HP SATA servers. Ironically Jayson tells me the HP cards are in fact Adaptec or Intel. Go figure.

Definitions are thanks to a great little site called Wikipedia!

Back On The Grid

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I would have written about my return to work, but I got back and things were so crazy I was unable to write about anything. I am back now. Things are busy as ever. I need another vacation.

I am back connected. You don’t truly know how reliant you are on some technology until you are without it for a while. Then you don’t realize how much you may want to do without some technology until you return to it and find it more of a nuisance than helpful. For me I am less of a fan of IM than I was before I was disconnected. I like IM, but it gets really annoying when anyone can interrupt your thought process when writing something by popping up on your screen. There are several people I know who know no IM etiquette. Going without my mobile phone was a bit harder. There were a few times I wanted to make a quick call and couldn’t. The first thing I did when I landed on Wednesday was see if I had VM. I only had a manageable 7 of them. Not bad for 6 days. Unfortunately I had like 500 emails when I got home. I could do without email (or some email) for a while, but it is still something that I use and is helpful more than harmful.

Now that I am back online, I hope to get some more writing done.

Replacing Outlook Update

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I have not been 100% successful at getting rid of my Microsoft PIM. I am still using Entourage for Calendar and Tasks. Thankfully I am not using outlook for anything anymore. The apple PIM (address, iCal, etc) do not sync categories with my Treo, and all other (non MSFT) alternatives have one draw back or another. So instead of buying another package that will work but still be lacking in one or two key areas I decided to stick with Entourage (i already bought it) and live with its drawbacks for now. I sync address book contacts from entourage and address book via a sync conduit. That lets me keep my Treo updated, and have Mail, Bluephone Elite, and iCal have the latest contact information also.

So far this setup has been working out for the most part. I am also doing 99% of my day to day “office” work on my Mac now. I still use my Thinpad and desktop computers for specific tasks, but my Powerbook is now truly my main computer, and I wouldn’t have it any other way (right now).

Sold A Mini

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Kai bought one of my Mac Mini’s last week. He was eyeing the Mac for a while, and I think me selling Chris my old powerbook sent him over the edge. I got a decent resale price, and Kai got a deal off of what he would have paid in the store. Win Win! From what he says he is already a fan, and doesn’t know why more people don’t use OS X. I agree with him.

He wont admit it, but his mini is now his primary home computer. Next up is converting Jayson. Converting Danny may be a lost cause!