Technology

iTunes Rocks

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So I bought some more music on the iTunes store. I am not a huge fan of buying music, but getting it online from apple is flexible (i can burn to disk and use the files anywhere I want, unlike other services) and it is cheaper than buying a CD. I got Barenaked Ladies latest CD. You may have seen some of the songs listed as what I was listening to when writing this blog. It is a decent album. I found 2 songs I liked, but I think there last one (or was it 2 albums ago) was better. They are a band I would like to see in concert. Their music is funny, and they make good music.

This entry was written while listening to California from the album “Rip It Off” by Stroke 9

Lazy Day And Hardware Upgrades

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Today was a lazy day. I caught up on what I had on the Tivo. I also did some email and just hung out. I did some food shopping since they say it may snow tomorrow. I had no food left, so I figured it was a good time to do that.

I also installed 512 more megs in my new 20″ iMac. Now I have 768 megs in it. I can put a full gig in it, but apple decided to only include 256 with them machine. If I want to get a full gig, I need to remove that 256 and put a 512 meg chip in its place. The only problem is you cannot get to that memory without going to an authorized repair center. It is sealed within the machine. The other slot is not. So for now I am at 768 megs, it should be enough for now. I also put my airport extreme card into the mac. I don’t have the laptop anymore so I figured I would use it. Since my server is in the closet on wireless, I get no extra speed by leaving the mac wired to my 100megabit switch. I cannot transfer files between the desktop and server any faster than the wifi anyway. Now I just have 1 less wire plugged into the iMac.

In my free time I also imported most of my online photo album into iPhoto. Photos imported allot faster on the iMac then they did on either of my Powerbooks. I need to get photos from my parents to scan and increase my album a bit.

Also today I watched some DVD’s. I just got 2 more shows on DVD. I got Firefly on DVD. It was a scifi show that didn’t last too long on tv. It was actually very good, and I was surprised when it came out on DVD. I didn’t watch too many of them, so I decided to buy it. I also got Buffy season 5. I mocked that show for years, and then Rich gave me season 1 to watch and I actually liked it. Go figure.

This entry was written while listening to Maybe Katie from the album “Everything to Everyone” by Barenaked Ladies

T-Zones

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So the cell number switch looks like it is done and working. Besides having my voice mail reset and loosing my T-Zones internet access everything worked. I had to call to have the internet setup again and then I was off and running. Lets see if my bill is screwed up because of this. I was not under contract and hope to remain that way. I like keeping my options open.

Still enjoying my Treo 270, but the battery keeps dying at night if I use it all day. Still waiting for the 600…….. and waiting, and waiting…….

This entry was written while listening to Stacies Mom from the album “Welcome Interstate Managers” by Fountains of Wayne

Number Portability Complete

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After waiting years for the rules to take affect, and 6 days from when I made my request I finally got the SMS message telling me my cell number had transfered from AT&T to T-Mobile. It actually worked. I was beginning to doubt it for a while. But it is done. I had to setup my voicemail over again, but other than that everything seems to be working fine.

I am not sure if I need to cancel AT&T service of if it is done automatically. I hope I have to call, that way I can delay for 20 days and not pay the contract cancelation fee.

Now all that is left is waiting for Handspring to release the Treo 600 for T-Mobile!!! That and letting everyone know my number changed back to the old one again. People don’t like me doing that allot!!!

This entry was written while listening to Make It Last from the album “Nasty Little Thoughts” by Stroke 9

My Web Site And Tech Projects

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I finally went out and I am trying Macromedia Flash MX. I have used dreamweaver and fireworks, but never mastered flash. Most of my website (my regular website, not the blog) is done with fireworks, and dreamweaver after I abandoned Frontpage XP last year.

I also updated some pages on my site using fireworks. They were only minor changes, but I haven’t worked on the site (except for the blog) for a while. Long weekends are good like that. I get to do stuff that I don’t normally get time for.

My next home computer project is to setup apache on a linux box (my dad gave me his old dell desktop to use) or on my new iMac. I also want to setup MYSQL on a machine so I can access my personal DB I have from any machine and not just my laptop. I currently have an access DB. Of course I have had this project kicking around since 1999, when I worked at Datastream doing SQL work. Then I was going to make a SQL 7.0 DB. I did, but never used it. This will eventually get done.

This entry was written while listening to American Girls LP by Counting Crows

Windows 2000 SP4

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I finally began upgrading servers at work with SP4 for Windows 2000. it has been out for ages, but I have waited to upgrade. All new servers deployed since September have had it, but I did my first upgrade thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is after all 1 of 4 days that my office is completely closed. I got most of our internal box’s, but have some more to do. We have been fully patched, but just were using SP3. You should be able to just keep applying hot-fix’s and not need to do the SP’s but I don’t think that is a good idea. Eventually you need to apply the latest service packs.

Thankfully everything went well. I also took the time to deploy more machines to our internal windows update system. This will save time for my team since they won’t have to manually patch every machine. That becomes a real pain in the ass after a while.

This entry was written while listening to Bouncing Around The Room from the album “2/28/03 D1 Nassau Coliseum, NY” by Phish

Number Portability Day 5

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I am on day 5 of my attempt to change my cell number to a new provider. After being told yesterday by both AT&T & T-Mobile that all roadblocks to transfer the number have been cleared, I still don’t have the number moved. I am now being told that YES there are no technical issues, but AT&T is just backlogged and having technical problems. I was told to wait another 24-72 hours. That would put me at 6 days. I have no idea if these people are telling the truth, but I have no choice but to wait. calling them and waiting on hold for an hour is not my idea of fun and I have done it several times already this week.

Impatiently waiting!!!

This entry was written while listening to All Star by Smash Mouth

Number Tramsfer Day 3

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So I am still waiting for my AT&T number to move to T-Mobile. T-Mobile says AT&T has an issue. AT&T says my account looks fine. I am back on the phone with T-Mobile trying to sort this out. I knew the process would take time, but this is starting to be not funny. I am 6 or 7 calls into this process and I have no end in sight. The crazy thing is I understand what they are trying to do. Forget someone who has no clue. they would be waiting forever for this to happen. I am being told to call back tomorrow, and have the rep get AT&T on the phone to fix the issue at the same time with me on the phone.

So far today I have had a good rep, and a really bad one. FYI, when dealing with people on the phone always get there names. T-Mobile is good since they give out their rep id so if you have a problem you know who you spoke to before.

This entry was written while listening to Crutch from the album “Mad Season” by Matchbox 20

What I Said Yesterday

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What I said yesterday is totally true. So I waited till like 3PM today to call and check on my cell number move. Turns out the first guy I spoke with last night didn’t actually put the request in. Luckily I had the guy’s name and rep number. They were able to see that he did stuff to my account, but the number port didn’t go in. The new guy I got I got went ahead and put the request through. I am now on hold to check up on his work. This will be call #4. This does not count the time I tried in the T-Mobile store on monday. This is crazy. Does no one know how to do good service?

On a brighter note I was able to return the Treo 600 today. The moron’s at the AT&T store didn’t give me a hard time. Of course the thing was still in mint condition so they really couldn’t say much. When they asked about why I was bringing it back I told them about their network woes. The lady was like, wow that is the first I have heard about it. I was like are you living in a bubble, or do I look that stupid that you can say that to me with a straight face. I got my money back and I await the T-Mobile version of the 600. If Handspring, or Palmone follows their patter, the T-Mobile version will be out in 2-3 weeks. I am waiting…

Technology Is Not All Bad

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Just to show you I don’t gripe about everything, this new iMac rocks. I still cannot get over this huge crisp screen. I was watching the Two Towers on one half of the screen while working on a word document on the other. it is big and I still can see the text even with my less than perfect vision.

The only problem I am having is that I cannot figure out what I am going to do with the free desk space I now have since I moved the other computers out my living room.