Marc on Winmail.dat file issue in Lotus Notes workaround (finally)
Anthony Holmes on Winmail.dat file issue in Lotus Notes workaround (finally)
Tony on Ticketmaster and Mondial Assistance Marc on Mortgage Insurance - Predators? Marc on MetroPCS phone for Michelle or why limited competition and walled gardens suck
Our fave made-up… (no, no that’s all of them) silly… (no, no that’s all of them) powerful… (no, no that’s all of them) dangerous… (no, no that’s all of them)… NEWEST! (OK, that’s pretty close) religion seems to have some defectors that have something to say about it.
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This post was written by Marc
on June 21, 2009 at 10:09 am
You may already know that I am not a fan of Comcast. AT&T is kind of OK but their high prices, relatively slow speeds and lopsided upload download speeds bug me a lot. Recently I’ve begun having issues where the DSL line kind of goes on vacation but kind of doesn’t. Seemingly at random, the DSL light on my 2wire 2701HG-B Gateway turns read and flashes, (Internet light turns off) and then things synch up again. This is usually only enough to cause my surfing to pause, my VPN can most time weather this abuse. When it can’t it’s a nuisance to deal with, especially when conversing real time with someone on IM and then getting pitched off my company network.
I’m really chomping at the bit for either an over the air network or … anybody else to enter the market and give me a choice. I was running through options a couple of weeks ago and found that there is NO choice available in my area.
I’m pretty sure all of these numbers below should be zero for a healthy network. Maybe it’s my modem, maybe it’s AT&T’s network. All I know is that I will have a couple of hours of troubleshooting and chatting with customer service folks ahead of me when it finally ticks me off enough to commit to the mission of getting this addressed (again).
Nearly 30,000 ATM Cell Header errors and 69 ISP Connection establishments in less than a week seems like a bad thing.
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Posted under Retail Experiences, Tech Stuff
This post was written by Marc
on June 15, 2009 at 4:46 pm
First, I have to say that I dislike dogs. Specifically I dislike dogs that can take me in a fight. I have no issues with lap dogs and other smaller pets unless they are yapping at me.
In fairness, my neighborhood is not that bad. We only have 3 barkers around and they at least seem to spend some time indoors so I don’t have to listen to them 24 x 7.
Still, do not be that neighbor! A neighbor with a barking dog is akin to a neighbor who likes to “share” his music with you ALL THE TIME. It’s not pleasant, it’s like living in a trailer park where folks don’t seem to know any better.
Many years ago I wasn’t sure if I was a cat person, a dog person or neither or both. After years of exposure to ill-trained dogs accosting me as a paper boy, as a cyclist (both motor and pedal), as a jogger and of course in the many, many social contexts where “don’t mind Rex, he doesn’t bite”, I have come to the conclusion that I am at least not a dog person. Being around my wife’s cats for so many years has shown me that they are, in every way, a preferred pet for a modern household.
For folks who claim their dogs are clever, I’ll give them that. But I
would also rate dogs as being about as clever as a Vic 20 (look it
up)… with a *lot* of dust on the mother board… in a very humid
location. Sure you can tell it what to do, and most of the time it
will, but every now and then they just.. well.. don’t. Problem is, when they go off, they are designed a) to be outdoors and b) to hunt and kill prey. Neither of those two facets of their nature really blend well with being inside a civilized home.
After reading recently about another kid getting his/her face ripped off by the family pet, and to the tune of the mindless barking of the neighbor’s dog, I became curious about just how dangerous it is to have a modestly tamed but not so bright large carnivore loose in your house.
The statistics I was able to cull indicate:
From CaliforniaDogBites.com (yeah, yeah, I know.. lawyers..):
“Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States seeks medical attention
for a dog bite. There are approximately 800,000 bites per year in
the United States that require medical treatment. Most of the victims
are children, and most of them are bitten on the face. “
From DogBiteLaw.com:
“A survey by the national
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (”CDC”)
concluded that dogs bite nearly 2% of the U.S. population — more
than 4.7 million people annually.”
It seems that getting killed by dogs is much less frequent than I expected. Most of their impact comes from maiming folks:
“In 2007, there were 33 fatal dog maulings in the USA.” (also from DogBiteLaw.com)
This last is, admittedly, an aberration as I believe it’s double the norm, but I was specifically looking for 2007 info where I could find it as I believe that would be the most recent year for which statistics would be available and published.
To be fair, the sources above are biased. Looking at another source you can see a spin put on the statistics that have them appear much less menacing. Of course, my point is that dogs are an anachronism, something we should have left behind when we invented doors. Whether someone is injured because a dog is attacking them or just bowling them over because the animal is big, very strong and not so bright doesn’t really make much difference to the person being injured. And don’t get me started on the damage I see in folks’ homes and cars due to their pets, but that *is* their choice, just like smokers and people who don’t pick up the trash in their homes, it’s a lifestyle choice.
That’s my rant, the sound of barking (and to my mind mistreated) dogs seems to be an inescapable part of suburbia. I really don’t understand the appeal but I suppose I just like to enjoy peace, quiet and safety. Gotta go, my cat wants to be petted…
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Posted under Opinions
This post was written by Marc
on June 9, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Combining my love of time-lapse photography with astronomy, this video captures something that is surprisingly not highlighted very often.
In it you can clearly see the center of our milky way galaxy, long considered the entirety of the universe (we are so damn egotistical) rising to zenith over a star party. A star party, for those who don’t know is when a bunch of astronomers, amateur and otherwise, gather together to share equipment, knowledge and the sky with each other. I have yet to attend one of these.
I find the video absolutely awesome. Our own galaxy is roughly 100,000 light years across and that it is just one of about 30 galaxies that comprise the “local group” of galaxies and all this is just a tiny fraction of the galaxies out there… it can make your heart skip a beat just trying to conceive of it at all.
Here is our galaxy for your viewing pleasure.
Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.
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Posted under Astronomy, Very Cool
This post was written by Marc
on June 1, 2009 at 7:34 am
I thought I’d take a moment and note the podcasts that I’m currently enjoying.
There are a LOT of excellent podcasts and there are also a LOT of terrible ones. iTunes’ ratings help somewhat but, just like movie critics, you need to know the reviewer’s biases before you can really trust that their reviews are relevant to you.
If you know me, then maybe you know some of my biases and can figure out based on that if you’d enjoy any of these.
These are listed in order of preference from my favorites to the ones I like enough to listen to if I have the time. Yes, there are 39 of them, no I don’t get to listen to them all all the time. But I like having the option to listen to what I want, when I want.
Part of the reason some shows are more highly rated than others is that they are brief. I have more opportunity to listen to short shows (5-20 minutes) than the longer ones (1-2 hrs) so they get listened to more often.
Some of the podcasts are video podcasts and it again comes down to time available. I can easily listen to a podcast while driving, but a video podcast pretty much demands your full attention and so the opportunities to view them are much more limited.
Also, some of the shows are actually recordings of University courses or are infrequently produced, this will push them down in my frequency of listening and give them a lower rating. Keep in mind that I really like EVERY podcast below otherwise I just wouldn’t bother downloading it.
Just drag any of these to your iTunes podcast window and it will be added so you can check them out.
The Skeptic’s guide to the Universe – This is my favorite podcast of all. They publish regularly on Saturdays. They just published their 200th podcast and I’ve heard every single one of them. A group of intelligent folks discussing current issues with a critical (and often comical) eye. This is what you wish all folks were like when they get together to talk about things.
Slashdot Review – SDR News – Another podcast that I never miss. Published 5 times a week. A short 10 – 15 minutes podcast that’s great for keeping up to date on the latest news in the tech world.
60-Second Science – Roughly 60 second highlight from the world of science from Scientific American.
60-Second Psych – Roughly 60 second highlight from the world of psychology from Scientific American.
Astronomy Cast – A MUST LISTEN if you are at all interested in Astronomy. Start by listening to the back episodes. While they do cover some current topics much of the show is discussing various aspects of astronomy that will be valid for a long time to come. They’ve walked through the planets of the solar system (one per show), black holes, dark matter, interstellar distance, the shape of the universe and on and on. Fascinating stuff. Fraser Cain acts as the everyman asking questions of Pamela Gay, a physics professor with a great talent for clearly explaining the mysteries of the universe.
Are we Alone? – Science Radio for Thinking Species – Put out by SETI this podcast deals with plenty of topics beyond those to do with the SETI mission. Both the hosts, Molly Bentley (rowrrr!) and Seth Shostak offer intelligent discussion and well prepared and entertaining interviews. This is another show that I really look forward to.
Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena – Fairly short (usually under about 15 minutes) summaries of a particular topic. You know how you hear something and think “I wonder if that’s true?”. Well Brian Dunning get’s off his butt and does the research to provide a relevant and useful summary of the topic at hand. Often enough to satisfy your curiosity on a topic but a great launching point if it’s a topic that you have an interest in.
Quirks and Quarks Complete Show from CBC Radio – This is a generally science show, very polished and features interviews with folks on relevant topical science issues and discoveries. The host has a great skill for putting the interviewees at ease and fleshing out the relevant details of the topic at hand.
The Finer Points – Aviation Podcast – if you’ve ever thought of becoming a pilot or already are, you’ll enjoy this podcast. Start at the first one and work your way forward. Each is a 3-5 minute lesson that covers everything from aerodynamic theory to cockpit resource management to taking advantage of ATC resources. Good information and great reminders.
American Freethought – Very well reasoned podcast on topics from an Atheist perspective. Both the hosts are thoughtful in their commentary. If you are of a religious bent you probably won’t appreciate their candor concerning yours or anybody else’s beliefs. But if you can think rationally, you’ll appreciate their perspective. I think they are pretty fair in their assessments and largely non-inflammatory in their expression.
Clark Howard’s Call of the Week – A single call from the Clark Howard show that is thought to be of particular interest. I find it is useful for me about half the time.
Clark Howard’s Rip-Off Alerts
– This just helps me stay on top of the latest scams. As a fairly regular Clark Howard listener I often listen to about 2/3 of this podcast before moving on as much of his advice is common sense that I’ve heard him express before.
Science @ NASA feature Stories Podcast – Great 5 minute or so topical podcast that is essentially Dr. Tony Phillips reading his print article. Great for anybody who is interested in what NASA is up to.
The Clark Howard Show – I enjoy Clark Howard but after listening for a while you begin to get a good sense of what he’s going to say. But for particular topics I’m interested in his viewpoint. So I don’t automatically download all of his shows (2 hours a day… way more than I can hope to listen to). And I “get” (a button in iTunes) only the shows that I think will be novel for me based on the downloaded descriptions. It’s also just the right length for me to listen to while using the rowing machine. I don’t like wearing earbuds when I row and Clark’s voice carries nicely over the sound of the machine.
The Economist – In case you haven’t realized it, there is a world beyond America’s borders. The Economist offers great news and editorial insights from a perspective unlike that which is available from American media sources. Also, listening to the UK perspective on American issues is very eye opening. They’ve broken their podcast down into individual one article podcasts rather than a single podcast to cover the entire week. This is free and more than enough for me, but they offer paid subscriptions for WAY more articles if you’re interested.
Freethought Radio – from the “Freedom FROM Religion Foundation” (ffrf) this is a podcast of the radio broadcast that is hosted by the co-founder of the FFRF and her husband, a former preacher-turned-atheist. They are not ANTI religion but rather they are for both separation of church and state and for critical/rational thinking. This would be a good perspective for religious folks to consider. If you are OK with the government sanctioning religion, would you be so OK if it weren’t *your* particular sect that was the “winner”?
Skepticality – Science and Revolutionary Ideas – this is a pleasant podcast put out periodically and generally focuses on a single issue or interview. Swoopy and Derek are well regarded in the skeptical community and this podcast justifies that regard.
The Skeptic’s Guide 5X5 – This is targeted at folks who are interested in understanding skepticism from a logical perspective. You could take this podcast into a classroom and use it as a great launching point for discussion. Basically you have 5 skeptics talking for 5 minutes on a topic such as “logical fallacies” or “ad hominem attacks”.
IT Conversations – I actually am a paid subscriber. This is their free feed. There is a WIDE variety of stuff covered. My favorites are their keynote presentations from various conferences as well as Dr. Moira Gunn’s “Tech Nation” show. The original mission of IT Conversation was to capture pretty much ALL tech seminars and presentations in America if not in the world. After all, after the presentation is done it often just disappears, it is great to be able to participate in these presentations that I could never afford (either in time or in money) to attend.
Scientific American Podcast – About 20 – 30 minutes, Steve Mirsky often has relevant insights and interesting guests.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Video and Audio Podcasts These are very short videos highlighting current activity at NASA including the Cassini mission and the Mars rovers. This lets you keep up on stuff that is usually ignored by mainstream media because it isn’t “NASCAR”.
The Amazing Show starring James Randi – Although production of this show has fallen off a lot lately, this show has James Randi discussing his life experiences. Relevant for anybody in the skeptical community.
The Finer Points – Aviation Videos – Like the audio podcast, the finer points videos are brief videos covering specific topics in aviation. Very useful when visual aids are required to help get a point across. I find these complement the audio podcasts very nicely.
Cato Daily Podcast – Cato is a think tank and offers perspective on current political and economic issues.
Spill Movie Reviews – definitely an adult podcast, these guys live and breath movies. If you are curious about whether you a movie is worth investing your time in, this podcast can help greatly. They offer some much longer shows as well (LEOG – League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen, Cold Ones) which, while entertaining, are just too long for me to fit into my schedule. If I had more time or less interests I would probably listen to those too. As it is I just delete those.
Slacker Astronomy podcast – This USED to be a great podcast. It had 3 folks including Dr. Pamela Gay (from the Astronomy Cast podcast above) and was put out fairly regularly. But when Pamela left the show the production became somewhat inconsistent. I recommend listening to the earlier podcasts for great Astronomy information. For the current ones, I listen to any that have Dr. Doug Welch. He has a great sense of humor and is a font of knowledge and a real treat to listen to.
AOPA Never Again – I think this is now defunct but it is an audio version of AOPA’s “Never Again” column where pilots write in to tell about bone-headed or unfortunate situations they’ve encountered in hopes of helping other pilots avoid making the same mistakes or recognizing bad situations. Getting the existing podcasts is well worthwhile.
Camera Dojo: Digital Photography Enthusiasts – more targeted toward folks who do photography for a living, these podcasts are nonetheless useful for picking up nuggets for those of us who snap only occasionally. Kerry is the glue that keeps things together while David is somewhat more flamboyant…
TEDTalks (Video) – These are brilliant. Simply brilliant. There are so many that I doubt I’ll ever see them all and keeping up is not possible for me. But these almost always impress me. These are brilliant people who are given 18 minutes to speak about a topic that impassions them. There are some short comic or musical ones too and those are always worthwhile too.
The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures Podcasts – These are infrequent and about 90 minutes long. An expert on some topic astronomical will fascinate you. I usually listen until somebody puts their kid up to the mike in the Q&A portion.
David Allen Company Podcast – Also infrequent, usually a 5 minute pep session on a particular aspect of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” methodology. I enjoy the refresher.
EFF Line Noise Podcast – Too infrequent, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s podcast will keep you up to date on their trying to keep overly intrusive government or overly controlling corporation activities and the EFF’s efforts to keep them in check.
Humanist Network News – Would be nice if this was produced more frequently. A pleasant podcast presenting information and issues from a humanist perspective.
Mr. Deity (video) – A laugh and a half. Picture “Woody Allen” meets god. I understand these podcasts are presented in biblical forums to stimulate discussion.
This I listen to immediately after I watch the show:
Battlestar Galactica Podcast – Now defunct as the series is over, these are meant to be listened to as the episode plays. I find that distracting so I listen to them a day or so after having watched the episode. The executive producer’s insights very much enhance my appreciation of the series as he explains what he was trying to accomplish and why things are presented in the manner that you are seeing. This same kind of interaction was what made me a fan of Babylon 5. Understanding what is behind the show adds a tremendous dimension to the experience.
These I listen to periodically. The entire session is available but I don’t want to listen to it all in one go. I typically listen to one every couple of weeks or so.
Rhetoric 10: Introduction to Practical Reasoning and Critical Thinking – Obviously a little chemical entertainment is involved in this lecturer’s make-up but that does not detract from the very interesting approach to a world view that Rhetoric offers.
Virgil’s Aeneid – Audio – I enjoy classical literature and don’t spend enough time on it. Classes such as this, that can be enjoyed during my commute are absolutely wonderful.
English 117s: Shakespeare – Spring 2008 Audio – A bit choppy due to the missing copyrighted works and the student questions that are not captured by the microphone but overall worth the effort.
History of the International System – If you enjoyed James Burke’s “Connections” series you’ll probably appreciate this lecture series explaining how we all end up getting along economically and politically.
That’s it (for now). The great thing about podcasts is that you can go back and listen to old ones where it’s relevant and you can skip forward as you see fit or if something is not of interest. Also, you pick up your show just where you left off. I haven’t listened to my radio in… I don’t know how long. The only reason I turned it on before was to make sure it was still working. The control of time-shifting my listening to my schedule is too powerful to allow me to go back to “the old way”…
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Posted under Astronomy, Aviation, Metaphysics, Movies / TV, Opinions, Photography, Podcasting, Science, Skepticism, Very Cool
This post was written by Marc
on May 28, 2009 at 9:47 am
*** Update May 8, 2009 ***
Verizon finally did see fit to release the OS 4.5 update and, so far, it appears that it is addressing the issue for us. We set a date of May 15 (approximately 3 weeks after upgrading) as our “OK Date”. This means that folks in our pilot group would have gone 100% longer than before without a recurrence of their messages vanishing.
So, while the memory does still dip significantly in the devices I’ve seen, it appears that the updated OS is addressing the worst of the memory symptoms. Kudos! From the below you could see I was entirely not expecting this.
*** End Update May 8, 2009 ***
We have been having a problem for a while know that has surged to the forefront of our corporate consciousness at the beginning of spring break (April 4, 2009).
Folks on that day began reporting in droves (basically about 5% of my total blackberry user base) that some or all of their email had disappeared, many on that Saturday, but many others on the days after that.
In looking into the issue I discovered that our Blackberry help desk has been fielding similar issues on the order of (anecdotally) 5-10 such incidents per week.
The problem has been largely experienced by our 8830 users. Made more awful by the fact that only this past summer we upgraded most of our handhelds to the new 8830 model.
Facts that I have at my disposal:
This is what I am thinking:
RIM is insistent that the issue is resolved in the 4.5 OS. Since Verizon is our primary service provider and they’ve been unable to certify the 4.5 OS for their devices for about a year now, this is not a reasonable solution for us.
Plus, it seems that there are a fair number of other Blackberry users out there who are encountering this issue regardless of their handheld version or OS.
What needs to happen:
Specs for reset application:
Since it is going to be necessary to create a workaround to allow folks to use their devices with the security of a corporate email system (i.e. messages not disappearing) I need to find or create a reset application that -
That’s what I have. So far I’ve gotten to the point where I can produce a “Hello World!” app on my handheld. Let’s see how long it takes to address this workaround.
We’ve been working unproductively with RIM – they keep wanting us to delete applications / themes etc.
We’ve been working with Verizon, they’re promising the 4.5 OS RSN (Real Soon Now).
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Posted under Blackberry, Opinions, Tech Stuff, Work Portfolio
This post was written by Marc
on April 16, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Back in October, 2008 I picked up the Sunbeam Therapeutic heating pad from ebay. The price was much better than I was able to find either locally or even on my normal shopping haunts on the “intertubes”. I was able to get this new for about $150.
Let me say, in no uncertain terms, this is one of the best purchases I have made in recent memory.
Unlike a normal electric blanket, this heats from the bottom so the bed is thoroughly warm when you get into it, and you are comfortably warm as you lie in it.
You just set it to preheat the bed (I find at least 15 minutes before you want to turn in) and you will not believe how great it is to slip into a warm bed every night.
I’m also able to keep the house and room temperature cooler at night with no decrease in comfort. And, as you’ll see below, the cost of running the heating mattress pad is vastly less than that of running the little room heater that I use in our master bedroom and obviously less than that of using the furnace to keep the whole house warm when you’re going to be ensconced in your bed all night.
As if that’s not great enough, both sides of the bed are independently controlled so his and her (or his and his… hey I’m not judging) preferences can be met. I don’t need much if any heating after I get in while Michelle likes things a little warmer for longer.
But wait! That’s not all! (picture a ginsu knife ad) Each side has 3 zones that can be heated independently. So if your feet get cold but your torso or head are fine then you need only heat that part of the bed. You can heat any of the zones from nothing through 10 different levels. And hot is pretty danged hot. The most we’ve ever played with is level 6 and I’ve settled on level 3 as my maximum.
I keep mine set for head – 1, Torso – 2, Feet – 3 while Michelle keeps hers set as head – 1, Torso – 2 and Feet – 6.
The control is wireless. Of course the mattress pad and the control unit need to be plugged in but the wiring can be completely inobtrusive. Here are some pictures of how I have it set up in our master bedroom. One warning, the remote can sometimes not communicate properly with the receiver unit. When you press any of the buttons, the receiver will make a beeping sound. If you don’t hear this then your command wasn’t sent. Just press another button and press your original again and it will work. I usually turn the pad off and then on again to be sure that it’s set to what I intended it to be.
There is no danger in this, the mattress pad will shut off automatically after 10 hours anyway if you somehow manage to leave it on. And the receiver unit has a light on it representing each side of the bed (sort of the way a stove light lets you know the burners are on). If you crouch down and peek under the bed you can assure yourself that the mattress pad is on or off.
You are sleeping on a mattress pad with wires in it. If you really try you can feel them. There’s no getting away from that. Sunbeam has seen fit to make the pad reasonably thick so I have not found this to be an issue.
As you may or may not know, we had some furnace issues during the cold snap that we had recently. Partly due to the “Sunbeam Therapeutic Mattress Pad” I did not have to rush to address the issue. I had no worries about us being uncomfortable. Add some well-placed space heaters and the furnace is merely an inconvenience rather than a crisis.
The following power tests were done with the unit in “preheat mode” which I understand means full blast. It is very difficult to make claims about power consumption at any point in time as all six zones seem to operate independently of each other. So the peak consumption is created by me letting the pad cool off, then setting both sides for full power.
The results comprise reasonably reprsentative winter use of this mattress pad. i.e. we used it every night and many nights even left it on all night long.
RESULTS
Elapsed time: 546 hrs (about 23 days)
Measured Maximum Consumption 1 side on preheat (Watts): 63
Measured Maximum Consumption both sides on preheat (Watts): 128 (don’t ask why it’s not quite double the single side, the results were the same regardless of which side was the single side)
Measured Consumption when not in use (Watts): 2
KWH: 4.23
Cost –
Actual (for duration of test): $0.44
Daily: $0.01 (rounding involved here)
Weekly: $0.12
Monthly: $0.53
Annual: $6.49 < -- Take with a grain of salt. We will probably only use for about 5 months a year.
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Posted under On the Home Front, Tech Stuff
This post was written by Marc
on April 12, 2009 at 9:04 am
