The “Official” Cut Over To My New Computer

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I have been spending less time on my move to a new desktop (see past posts), but I am almost done. I think I am past the point of no return. Or shall I say I am now officially working off of that computer. What fine line did I cross to let me say that? Not sure. I am doing almost nothing on that computer yet. I think what did it was moving off 90% of what was on my firewire drive (plugged into my powerbook) over to the new computers drive. The final straw was importing my MP3 collection into iTunes for windows on the new computer. All 28gigs are now working on the desktop. Fear not, I can still listen to all that music on my Powerbook. I just shared out the itunes on my desktop. Now I can listen wirelessly anywhere in my apartment.

Like I said I am still using the Powerbook as my primary machine, but everything is now a network share off of the new desktop. I am also using the desktop as the DVR I originally planned.

I am also reformatting my iPod as we speak. I am setting it up so it will sync with my PC. I have never used the iPod with a PC so lets hope it is as easy as with my Mac? With it formated for a PC (FAT32), I can use it as an external hard drive and shuttle data back and forth between work and home. I can also use it to plug into a Mac or a PC. The limitation I had with it in Mac formatted mode is that I needed to plug it into only Mac’s. It was a pain to do that.

Once the iPod cut over is completed I will need to continue to install all the needed applications on my desktop. Now that most of the data copying is over, I can focus on configuring the machine more. New computers are time intensive to setup:(

Well the format of the iPod to FAT32 went ok. I am now installing my music again using my PC copy of the files. it looks like it is taking longer than on my Mac. Not sure what is up with that.

Play Date

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I had a play date today.  I went to my sisters (AKA Morgan’s Mommy) for dinner.  They are going to Florida tomorrow to see the grandparents, so I wanted to see them before they went.  Kids have a way about making you not want to leave them.  All night morgan wanted me to play with her.  My parents were over, and she usually gravitates towards my dad, but all she wanted was for me to read to her.  I think I read He bear, she bear like 20 times in a row.  It was very funny.  But I figured if she wanted to sit still on the couch next to me for a while reading, who was I to complain.  She showed me her dancing monkey.  that was cute.  She also vacuumed for me.

That kid was in rare form.  She was not stingy with the hugs and kisses either.  Some visits you have to beg steal and borrow to get 1 hug from that little girl.  Not today.  I know I am not impartial, but that kid is fantastic.  So funny, and fun to play with.

My parents came over and we all had dinner.  My sister (Morgan’s Mommy, as Morgan likes to call her) packed.  I wont see them for a week or so until they get back.

Updatathon Set

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I am still moving files around on my new desktop. I decided to move everything off of my old 160 gig drive so I could format it fresh. It is taking forever to move stuff. I assume it is due to the age of my first IDE drive. Also I am moving hundreds of gigs, and ten’s of thousands of files. Oh well. It is almost done. If I listen to windows, it is only 15 more minutes. Once I format my first 160 gig drive I can move all the data off of my Firewire drive and format that. Currently the firewire drive is formated for the Mac. It won’t work when I plug it into a PC. If I format it with FAT32 I can use it with both my Mac and my PC’s. The only down side of that is will have to partition it logically as 2 disks. Dam FAT32 and its partition size limits.

Once all that fun stuff is done, I need to install all my applications I want on my new machine. that will be a fun and time consuming updateathon.

I know I have been droning on about a piece of metal. I have no life right now, so a new gatget or some crazy thing at work is all I got to write about. Sorry poor reader… You could be reading the news. This site is way more uplifting that the news!!!

SAW

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Today I spent time moving files to my new desktop. That is still going on. it will be a while before that machine is fully configured. Tonight I meet up with Cari and went to Outback for dinner. I tried their fried shrimp entr?(c)e. It was good.

We then hit the heartland brewery to wait for Gretchen and Jayson so we could all goto a movie. We were originally going to see the Incredibles. Unfortunately we are all retarded and didn’t buy tickets ahead of time. All the shows were sold out. In my defense I did say we should order them online before hand but got mocked by Cari for it. We ended up a different theater to see Saw. That movie was just disturbing. it was a great plot. Some of the acting was terrible though. Some crazy stuff in that movie. I won’t ruin it for anyone but it was just disturbing, but a cool kind of disturbing. Kind of like From Hell. it was crazy, graphic, and yet you sat there and took it all in!

Plan for later this week is to try and see the Incredibles.

HP, Vs Dell, Vs Gateway, Vs Etc…

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So for a while I have been thinking about if / when I should buy a new computer. My desktop has been causing major issues for me over the past few months. I have really not used it that much since I got my iMac last November, but recently I have had uses for it. It just keeps wigging out on me. I have debated going with a Powermac, another Powerbook or some combination of machines. Cost concerns prevailed and I ended up going out and getting a new PC. I still have my powerbook (writting on it right now) but my new desktop at home is an HP Compaq Presario. It has the glamorous name of the SR1230NX. This new box replaces my aging custom built AMD Atholon XP 1500+ machine that will be 3 years old next month. The new Presario is another AMD Atholon, running at 3200+. Not the fastest thing out there, but much faster than what I had.

I was shopping around on the internet, and just decided to goto best buy and get something in my price range. I got everything I needed, DVD-+R, 160 gig drive, media reader, etc. I also purchased a ATI All In Wonder Radeon 9600. A major reason for the new computer was to do DVR functions, so I needed a video capture card.

A new computer is a new thing for me. I haven’t bought (built) a computer in 3 years. Before that I was upgrading every 1-2 years. What is different about this purchase is that I went out to the store and bought a Compaq (HP) from Best Buy. I usually build them. Now a days it is just easier and sometimes cheaper to buy a model from the store. I only had 1 specific requirement for this machine. I wanted a video capture card as I mentioned. So I just bought a ATI All In Wonder card and put it in the new box. I also took my 160gig IDE drive from my old desktop and put it in this new machine. Now I have 2 160 gig drives, plus an external firewire drive on my powerbook. Man that is allot of drive space. I don’t know why I am actually using so much of it. The only thing I am really missing is more ram for the new desktop. it came with 512megs. I will upgrade it to at least 1.5gig or maybe max it out at 2 gig next week. That way I can use VMWare without a performance problem.

So far the setup of the new box has been going OK. I had a bit of trouble getting the extra drive in the box. These new machines are so small and they make it so hard to maneuver in them. I wiped the Windows XP Home edition that came with the machine and put my copy of Windows XP Pro on it. Right now all I have is a fully updated windows xp box with nero & VWMware on it. I am coping my data from the old 160 gig drive to the one that came with the box. Then I will format the old drive to start fresh. Oh I almost forgot. I also have the ATI media center installed. It has a TV program, viewers, etc. So far the software is great. It is allot better and more stable than the last version I used way back in 1999 with my original ATI All in wonder card. FYI, I still used that old 16 meg video card in my last computer. It lasted forever, but I couldn’t use the TV function because it was so buggy. I have high hopes for this new card.

Now I am off to do an updateathon of software installs on this new machine…

Blog Cleanup

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Last weekend I spent some time cleaning up this site. I went back and broke out allot of entries into more categories than work and personal. I also cleaned up the allow comments or not to allow comments options on my older posts. Now I hope not to get stupid comments from casinos or other spam comments.

By now I have had my Typepad site up for a little over 2 months. I think I am happy with how the site came out. I have refined the layout enough that I won’t tinker with it all the time anymore. The only think I don’t like is the color pallet. The original one I had I liked better. The problem is I cannot remember how I got to that color scheme. These are the stupid things I fret over in my free time:)

Wild Wild Wiki

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My department at work just deployed a wiki. I finally got Danny some time to work on it, and so far I am very happy with the results. Since getting the wiki online late last week, I have spent hours putting documentation into it. If you don’t know what a wiki is, it is a free flowing knowledge base sort of application. Check out Wikipedia for what a fully featured wiki looks like.

We are going to use our wiki as a knowledge base for all things technical. Eventually we hope to have our call center adopt the concept for the KB they have. So far I have placed a bunch of documentation into the wiki. I still have ton’s more to go. Tomorrow I will demo the site to the entire department. We need everyone to start using it, or else the concept will be a bust. I have high hopes for this. Gus is also very excited. It was his original idea to go with a wiki over other KB or forum programs.

So far the two or three people that have seen it can’t wait to use it. I will know tomorrow how well it is received by everyone.

I Need A New Mac!

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I have been eluding to my desire to get a new Mac. The lack of hard drive space is killing me. I see people in the train station (did so today again) with the 15″ powerbooks and I go “i want one”. I day dream about the power of a Power Mac when it takes a minute for my Powerbook to load a PDF.

My problem is I know I want a new Mac, but I haven’t decided what I want to get. Until then I am stuck with what I have. Now it is in great condition, but I am hitting the limits of its performance.

My current options are a single processor G5 tower, the newer 12″ Powerbook, or the 15″ Powerbook. When I make up my mind I will go and get one. You know what that means? eBay in my future for my current model.

Mac’s Are Great, But Slow

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So if you read this site you will know I am a fan of Mac’s. Now this is new for me. For years I was such a Windows snob. I was so against Apple in every way. Over the past 2 years I have become a fan of Mac’s. OS X has done it for me. it is a great OS. My Mac of choice is the Powerbook. I love them. I have had 3 of them. I upgrade quickly, especially since eBay exists it makes it easy.

So I have mentioned I love the Mac. Now the downside. They are slow. I don’t care what Apple says, my Powerbook 1GHZ with 640 megs of ram is noticeably slower than my 1.5GHZ Thinkpad with 768 megs of RAM. Now the powerbook was bought in February. The thinkpad is 15 months old. Apple always says that the megahertz doesn’t always matter. Well let me tell you, I believe them to a point. But when it takes forever (3-4x as long as it does on my thinkpad) to open a PDF file with Adobe Acrobat on my powerbook, it is slow. When I have iTunes, Firefox, and Microsoft Word open and word is sluggish to respond, it is not looking good for Apple. they can claim that Microsoft or others don’t optimize their software for their OS, but I as a user just see it being slower on a mac versus my windows PC. Now I tolerate it, but it is becoming a problem. Granted I want to upgrade to a faster powerbook, but I shouldn’t have to just because their is a faster one out there. I want to upgrade because I need more drive space, but I am also hoping that the newer machine is allot faster. The speed issue as I said is becoming a problem. What is the deal Apple?

Birthday Party Brouhaha

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I went to my cousin Arielle’s birthday party today. Well it wasn’t a birthday party really. She had her friends over for a sleep over party last week. This week was the family getting together. Now that is always an interesting thing. I took an early afternoon train out to New Jersey. I got picked up by my cousin Synde and her mom, my aunt Marian. We did some shopping for the party and headed to Synde’s house. I got there early. I didn’t mind. it gave me time to catch up with Synde, Wayne and the kids. Cerina (cannot spell any of their kids names correctly) is getting so big. She is such a barrel of laughs. Arielle is grown up also. She is 9 as of this week. I remember holding her in my arms as a baby when Synde and Wayne moved into their house. I feel old. Merric is getting big, but I am used to that now, so it is not as crazy for me.

Synde had 2 of her sisters over and their family’s for the party. Shelly and Samia. Shelly caused a huge problem by bringing Arielle a rabbit for her birthday. Now that side of my family can be flaky at times, but who brings pets to a kids party without asking the parents first? Wayne was like we can’t keep it. He was right, but Arielle was upset for the rest of the day, and Synde and Wayne were pissed at Shelly for the incident for the day.

Besides the people over I mentioned, Wayne had his “other” cousin Scott and family over. Shelly & Gill’s kids were over, along with Samia’s kids. Conspicuously absent where my parents and Samia’s husband. I am not sure what is up with my parents. They used to almost live at Synde & Wayne’s house, and now they have (in my opinion) bad excuses not to show up. It is very noticeable, to everyone but that is the way it is. My parents both have trouble with long car trips, but I really don’t think they make an effort anymore. There I said it. I have been holding that one back for a while. if my mom ever figures out the internet enough to read this site, I think she knows my opinion already.

Besides the rabbit incident I had a great time. I like seeing my cousin’s but I don’t like large or even small family gatherings. So I am usually low key at these things, but I do enjoy seeing my family. This is the group of people I have the oldest memories of.

I don’t get to see the family as much as I like. I need to get out to see Synde and the kids more. Our schedules are always crazy, and I am lazy. I am going to make an effort to get out sometimes before the holiday.

Right now I am on NJ Transit on my way back to NY Penn Station. Wayne gave me a lift to the train. Once I get to Penn I hope to get a cab home and get some sleep. I am tired, and I have about an hour till I get home.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention that Arielle got mad at me after she played with my Treo. Turns out I should have had her name in my contact list even though she doesn’t have a phone. She was not too happy that her brother had an entry and she did not. She corrected the problem and promptly returned the phone after she took some pictures. Man that kid makes me laugh!

Tonight is daylight savings time change. I need to remember to change my watch before I goto bed. At least I gain an hour of sleep tonight…