I know this has happened to you. You are away from your computer, having a conversation with someone and you think to yourself, "I've got to google that later..." But by the time you get to your computer and open up the web browser you've completely forgotten what it is you were going to google! UGH! What's worse is that, you KNOW there was something you wanted to look for and thought to yourself at that moment "that would make for some good surfing later..."
This is my biggest computing pet peave right now!
I've come up with a couple thoughts on how to help overcome this. But I'm still looking for a good solution so please post ideas, I'm going nuts here....
On my browser, I set the start page to blank. The reason for this is because it used to be one of my webmail pages. Of course when it comes up with that, I'm going to log in like I have a million times before and start browsing my spam. Of course, this distraction kills any chance of me remembering what the heck it was I opened the browser for in the first place.
I've also played with the idea of keeping a voice recorder on me at all times so I can take notes during my day. But even though I think this makes sense, when I first tried it, I was ridiculed unrelentingly because I was trying to 'look cool'. Plus I never got into the habbit of checking my voice recorder so months later I finally did google how much tickets were for that concert that was last week.
Other than that, I'm out of ideas. Maybe I need to upgrade again because if my web browser loaded just half a second earlier, maybe I'd remember what it was I wanted to look for.
Hey John, how about a Walleteer for this??
Just some random ramblings from a guy who's day job is Tech Support but real life is Diving.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
LG VX5200 with Verizon as a cel modem
I recently went through a bit of a roller coaster on getting my new LG VX5200 to work as a usb cel modem with my laptop using Verizon wireless.
End result - pretty darn cool!
I first bought a cheap cable on ebay.
I then got the drivers from this site
I plugged it in and my laptop picked it up and installed it with seemingly no problem.
I then configured a new dial-up connection (manually) with the following settings.
Set it to dial #777
User Name: "phone#"@vzw3g.com
Password: vzw
It connected, but VERY slowly.
I thought this was something to do with my service but it turned out to be a bad cable.
I tried using bitpim with the cheap cable and it could never detect the phone.
I finally got frustrated, went to BestBuy and picked up Pix'n Tunes for $30. This is actually a pretty cool package especially if you have friends and family that have different phones. It comes with 6 partial cables that fit different phones. I was able to use one for me and one for my mom (with another usb female to male extension cable).
With this new cable, everything works fine. The service through Verizon just uses minutes so for me it is great for nights and weekends especially. It connects at 115k and is very useable for email and light surfing. It is also pretty useable for remote control apps like logmein, especially if you crank down the color depth to black and white.
I hope someone out there finds this write-up useful. It kept me from buying an expensive smartphone like a Treo 700, Treo 650, Samsung SCH-i730 or Verizon XV6700.
I think this was a good solution considering the price and I already had a laptop. $30 for the LG VX5200 after rebate and just the cheapest phone plan they offer.
End result - pretty darn cool!
I first bought a cheap cable on ebay.
I then got the drivers from this site
I plugged it in and my laptop picked it up and installed it with seemingly no problem.
I then configured a new dial-up connection (manually) with the following settings.
Set it to dial #777
User Name: "phone#"@vzw3g.com
Password: vzw
It connected, but VERY slowly.
I thought this was something to do with my service but it turned out to be a bad cable.
I tried using bitpim with the cheap cable and it could never detect the phone.
I finally got frustrated, went to BestBuy and picked up Pix'n Tunes for $30. This is actually a pretty cool package especially if you have friends and family that have different phones. It comes with 6 partial cables that fit different phones. I was able to use one for me and one for my mom (with another usb female to male extension cable).
With this new cable, everything works fine. The service through Verizon just uses minutes so for me it is great for nights and weekends especially. It connects at 115k and is very useable for email and light surfing. It is also pretty useable for remote control apps like logmein, especially if you crank down the color depth to black and white.
I hope someone out there finds this write-up useful. It kept me from buying an expensive smartphone like a Treo 700, Treo 650, Samsung SCH-i730 or Verizon XV6700.
I think this was a good solution considering the price and I already had a laptop. $30 for the LG VX5200 after rebate and just the cheapest phone plan they offer.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Healthy Geek Recipe - Soylent Salad V1.0 aka Spinach Smoothie aka Salad Slurry
Salad bothers me. It takes too long to eat, it doesn't have a whole lot of flavor, and I guess I'm a messy eater because I always end up wearing bleu cheese or ranch afterward.
The health benefits are a given - tons of easily absorbable essential nutrients and it keeps the system running smoothly. Over the years I've tried to get in the habbit of eating salads but I've just never been able to stick to it, until I figured out the Spinach Smoothie (or Soylent Salad or Salad Slurry).
The concept is simple. Take whats good about the salad and just get it over with. Change your perception of salad into more of a medicinal thing instead of an eating experience.
Here's the process, buy a blender or a Magic Bullet
, go to the store and pick up some greenery, add some water, liquify it, then chug!
What's needed -
Before -
After -
I personally like the Magic Bullet because it gives that spinach a nice frothy texture. This drink is perfect for geeks because you can whip one up and chug it while your waiting for some files to download. Chug your dinner during the cutscenes in that game your playing.
Of course this recipe is easily modified. Get creative. Use what you have. No tomatoes? Ketchup is a vegtable (hot sauce is too right?) Use those packets you've been saving from the drive thru, what the heck.
Throw in a Red Bull for kick and flavor. Why not, you don't drink them for the flavor anyway.
Adding a Chalupa might be going to far, but maybe not. Try it and let me know. It might just be not too far enough.
McDonalds almost had it right when they put a side salad in a cup a while back. They just didn't follow through with the concept.
The only downside of this is all of the grossed out looks you get from people that actually like eating salad. But whatever, the ends justify the means (Constructive Machiavellianism at work).
Finally - salad for geeks on the go!
The health benefits are a given - tons of easily absorbable essential nutrients and it keeps the system running smoothly. Over the years I've tried to get in the habbit of eating salads but I've just never been able to stick to it, until I figured out the Spinach Smoothie (or Soylent Salad or Salad Slurry).
The concept is simple. Take whats good about the salad and just get it over with. Change your perception of salad into more of a medicinal thing instead of an eating experience.
Here's the process, buy a blender or a Magic Bullet
, go to the store and pick up some greenery, add some water, liquify it, then chug!What's needed -
Before -
After -
I personally like the Magic Bullet because it gives that spinach a nice frothy texture. This drink is perfect for geeks because you can whip one up and chug it while your waiting for some files to download. Chug your dinner during the cutscenes in that game your playing.
Of course this recipe is easily modified. Get creative. Use what you have. No tomatoes? Ketchup is a vegtable (hot sauce is too right?) Use those packets you've been saving from the drive thru, what the heck.
Throw in a Red Bull for kick and flavor. Why not, you don't drink them for the flavor anyway.
Adding a Chalupa might be going to far, but maybe not. Try it and let me know. It might just be not too far enough.
McDonalds almost had it right when they put a side salad in a cup a while back. They just didn't follow through with the concept.
The only downside of this is all of the grossed out looks you get from people that actually like eating salad. But whatever, the ends justify the means (Constructive Machiavellianism at work).
Finally - salad for geeks on the go!
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Mojave Desert Trilobites part 2 - Amboy, CA
We made it back!
We set out at about 10:30 to the Mojave Desert. Luckily it was a very gloomy day in Riverside County which is great for a couple of pale computer guys headed to a place where they certainly aren't normally welcome.
About two and a half hours later we got off Interstate 40 at Ludlow and turned onto world famous Route 66. Not all that much there except for a coffee shop, gas station, mechanic, and motel so we kept cruising on through the desert.
Soon we came upon some interesting features in the desert.
(Apologies for the low-res camera pics)
It seems this dark volcanic material came from the Amboy volcanic crater. Very eerie actually to have this dark terrain suddenly appear in the middle of this sandy desert. Kind of an alien landscape feeling.
Anyway, right after we passed Amboy we saw the mountain that we figured had the trilobites. Not so obvious desert trails were the only way to get to where we needed to go. Needless to say, Reela was eager to introduce his new Tundra to offroading.
We started in our normal geocaching approach to navigation - the most direct route is a straight line. Who needs roads?!?!?
Well, eventually, we did. It was fun at first, then it got kind of hairy, then it looked pretty bleak, then all of a sudden we found the road again and it was fun again!
So by the time we make it to where we figured was the closest we could get to the fossils we were more than ready to get up the hill, or so we thought.
We started up, then continued up, then made basecamp for a while to catch our breath, then continued up some more. This is not the kind of terrain to take lightly. Climbimg up loose boulders with buckets, hammers and packs gets harder with every step.
We were expecting to find more traces of other peoples diggin's. So unfortunatley we headed up a little higher than we needed and had to make our way back down to the greenish-grey layers of slate that turned out to actually contain the trilobites.
Well, after a couple hours of cracking rocks, this is one of the things we found.
It's kind of hard to see, but there is an impression of a trilobite in there. We found some other interesting bits as well. So even though we didn't get any museum quality fossils, we didn't get skunked either.
So we headed back down the mountain working an entirely different muscle group and made our way out of the desert.
On our way back, we were flagged down by stranded British photographer named Ian who had gotten his car stuck in a sandy railroad access road. Poor guy, 90 degrees or so in a foreign country and the only help he could get is a couple of smelly, dirty computer geeks.
We determined that the only way out for his car was a professional tow truck so we got him back to Ludlow's aforementioned gas station. We hope you made it out of there Ian!
After a lengthy driving discussion about the world's problems and our solutions we finally made it back home to our wives waiting with our diet food (Yikes that was rough. I felt like we deserved a nice greasy burger after that mountain). Still though, those Lean Cuisine Panini's are pretty darn good for so few calories.
But all in all a great trip which we are looking forward to making again (especially since we found out from this post that we were actually not parked at the right place and you could pretty much walk up to a richer fossil bed :)
We set out at about 10:30 to the Mojave Desert. Luckily it was a very gloomy day in Riverside County which is great for a couple of pale computer guys headed to a place where they certainly aren't normally welcome.
About two and a half hours later we got off Interstate 40 at Ludlow and turned onto world famous Route 66. Not all that much there except for a coffee shop, gas station, mechanic, and motel so we kept cruising on through the desert.
Soon we came upon some interesting features in the desert.
(Apologies for the low-res camera pics)
It seems this dark volcanic material came from the Amboy volcanic crater. Very eerie actually to have this dark terrain suddenly appear in the middle of this sandy desert. Kind of an alien landscape feeling.
Anyway, right after we passed Amboy we saw the mountain that we figured had the trilobites. Not so obvious desert trails were the only way to get to where we needed to go. Needless to say, Reela was eager to introduce his new Tundra to offroading.
We started in our normal geocaching approach to navigation - the most direct route is a straight line. Who needs roads?!?!?
Well, eventually, we did. It was fun at first, then it got kind of hairy, then it looked pretty bleak, then all of a sudden we found the road again and it was fun again!
So by the time we make it to where we figured was the closest we could get to the fossils we were more than ready to get up the hill, or so we thought.
We started up, then continued up, then made basecamp for a while to catch our breath, then continued up some more. This is not the kind of terrain to take lightly. Climbimg up loose boulders with buckets, hammers and packs gets harder with every step.
We were expecting to find more traces of other peoples diggin's. So unfortunatley we headed up a little higher than we needed and had to make our way back down to the greenish-grey layers of slate that turned out to actually contain the trilobites.
Well, after a couple hours of cracking rocks, this is one of the things we found.
It's kind of hard to see, but there is an impression of a trilobite in there. We found some other interesting bits as well. So even though we didn't get any museum quality fossils, we didn't get skunked either.
So we headed back down the mountain working an entirely different muscle group and made our way out of the desert.
On our way back, we were flagged down by stranded British photographer named Ian who had gotten his car stuck in a sandy railroad access road. Poor guy, 90 degrees or so in a foreign country and the only help he could get is a couple of smelly, dirty computer geeks.
We determined that the only way out for his car was a professional tow truck so we got him back to Ludlow's aforementioned gas station. We hope you made it out of there Ian!
After a lengthy driving discussion about the world's problems and our solutions we finally made it back home to our wives waiting with our diet food (Yikes that was rough. I felt like we deserved a nice greasy burger after that mountain). Still though, those Lean Cuisine Panini's are pretty darn good for so few calories.
But all in all a great trip which we are looking forward to making again (especially since we found out from this post that we were actually not parked at the right place and you could pretty much walk up to a richer fossil bed :)
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Cool stuff in the Mojave Desert! - Amboy Trilobite Roadtrip
and now for something completely different...
My fellow geek friend Reela and I are headed for a trilobite hunt tomorow. A good hobby for a couple of geeks that need a break from staring at our monitors.
Our quest for info on this was pretty extensive and pretty much google-based.
This site has a great write-up from start to finish on how to find some trilobites.
The Bureau of Land Management has some good info on the area as well. Lots of rockhounding and even some gold out there as well. But heed the laws regarding claim jumping!
I'm looking forward to checking out Roy's. I'm betting this place will come in very handy for us. Not too many gas stations in the middle of nowhere.
Yep, it is the middle of nowhere. This google map is proof of that.
I'll follow up later with our results.
My fellow geek friend Reela and I are headed for a trilobite hunt tomorow. A good hobby for a couple of geeks that need a break from staring at our monitors.
Our quest for info on this was pretty extensive and pretty much google-based.
This site has a great write-up from start to finish on how to find some trilobites.
The Bureau of Land Management has some good info on the area as well. Lots of rockhounding and even some gold out there as well. But heed the laws regarding claim jumping!
I'm looking forward to checking out Roy's. I'm betting this place will come in very handy for us. Not too many gas stations in the middle of nowhere.
Yep, it is the middle of nowhere. This google map is proof of that.
I'll follow up later with our results.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
4. Constructive Machiavellianism
Machiavelli has been identified with the idea of 'the ends justify the means'. There has always been a negative connotation to this train of thought, but I don't think this is necessarily the way it has to be interpreted.
The concept of reverse psychology is a great example of this. This tact is often employed by parents trying to get their kids to do something, very often for their own good. "Go ahead, stick that paperclip in the power outlet and see what happens." They'll never do that again. If they live, they've learned a valuable lesson. Did I mention I'm not a parent?
Many information technology people, IT drones such as myself, employ this tact daily. Even after we've told a user how spyware will make their computer unusable, they persist that they really want to know more about that miracle weight loss drug. "Sure then, go ahead and click yes on that pop-up". The next morning when you get that call about their computer taking a half hour to boot up, you know they've learned something and you won't have that conversation again (and most likely the immediate friends of this person). In this case, you have to break some eggs to make an omlette.
The same goes for the larger scheme of things in an organization. Managers have to make unpopular decisions frequently for the larger good of the organization. A manager might have to not add needed personnel to a department but only to be able to maintain salary needs for veteran staff that may, in the end, add more equity to the entire organization.
In another situation, a supervisor may push an employee into doing work that they don't necessarily enjoy, but will eventually allow this employee to move up in the organization, while the employee that was not made to do this less enjoyable work will stay in the same place in the organization and not move up. The manager employed Constructive Machiavellianism to move an employee up that in the end will benefit the entire organization and all of it's employees.
As long as the means are just, using a Machiavellian tact is not a bad thing. Constructive Machiavellianism if utilized virtuously can go a long way toward furthering your cause.
The concept of reverse psychology is a great example of this. This tact is often employed by parents trying to get their kids to do something, very often for their own good. "Go ahead, stick that paperclip in the power outlet and see what happens." They'll never do that again. If they live, they've learned a valuable lesson. Did I mention I'm not a parent?
Many information technology people, IT drones such as myself, employ this tact daily. Even after we've told a user how spyware will make their computer unusable, they persist that they really want to know more about that miracle weight loss drug. "Sure then, go ahead and click yes on that pop-up". The next morning when you get that call about their computer taking a half hour to boot up, you know they've learned something and you won't have that conversation again (and most likely the immediate friends of this person). In this case, you have to break some eggs to make an omlette.
The same goes for the larger scheme of things in an organization. Managers have to make unpopular decisions frequently for the larger good of the organization. A manager might have to not add needed personnel to a department but only to be able to maintain salary needs for veteran staff that may, in the end, add more equity to the entire organization.
In another situation, a supervisor may push an employee into doing work that they don't necessarily enjoy, but will eventually allow this employee to move up in the organization, while the employee that was not made to do this less enjoyable work will stay in the same place in the organization and not move up. The manager employed Constructive Machiavellianism to move an employee up that in the end will benefit the entire organization and all of it's employees.
As long as the means are just, using a Machiavellian tact is not a bad thing. Constructive Machiavellianism if utilized virtuously can go a long way toward furthering your cause.
Monday, May 01, 2006
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