Archive for February, 2006

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Hard Drives and Movies

Tuesday, February 28th, 2006

Originally I was offered a small hard drive a few months back. Today I received two. They are both 20 GB in size and handy for backing up files. I need to learn a thing or two about Norton Ghost.

I got an email today that Wal-Mart is allowing us to pre-order Harry Poter and the Goblet of Fire on DVD. It comes out on March 7th. I figured that I would go ahead and preorder. Unfortunately my Wal-Mart card couldn’t be processed. I called up the 800 number and found that I still had a credited balance of $1500. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to speak with a human and figure out what the problem is.

The Chronicles of Narnia is due to come out on April 4th and can also be preordered too. Both Harry Potter and Narnia were running around the same time and I unfortunately missed them both in the theater. At least the DVD’s cost less then a trip for two at the movies.

Posted in Computers, Entertainment | 6 Comments »

Software Installation

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006

I’ve been installing the basics for my computer. Here is a quick rundown of the software in my toolbox.

Along with these come a slew of device drivers and the like. I’m sure I’ll remember a thing or two in the upcomming weeks that I forgot as I need them. For now, this is a lot to get me up and running just fine.
I got VS.Net 2k5 a while back when I went to the launch party by Microsoft.  I have been waiting for the rite moment to get a new hard drive for a few months now.  When I got the software, I decided I would wait until I got a new hard drive.  I would rather start with a clean slate and have everything working fine.  I was much impressed by the installation.  It still took a few hours like the previous versions, but I didn’t have to reboot my machine at all.  Amazing.

Visual Studio 2005

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Weekend Stuff

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006

I got the HDTV from wall-mart that I was looking at. I tried to purchase on my wal-mart card, but the purchase was denied. Even though I had over $1500 credit on it, it had a $350 credit limit. I went ahead and purchased it on my debit card instead and asked the folks to refund me the extra funds as a check in the mail.

Apparently, I already had HDTV capability on my DVR box. Everything was showing up in black and white with red/purple dots. It took a while to figure out how to switch the box (Explorer 8000HD) from standard mode to HDTV. I had to press INFO+GUIDE to get the settings to show up. The only option displayed was Standard Mode. One time, I did something else for a moment and then looked at the television to see that the settings had changed on its own to HDTV. I quickly grabbed the remote and confirmed that I wanted HDTV. Things worked. I found that later when trying to hook up the DVI cables, my cable box had them blocked, so I stuck with the RGB component cables.
Things show up so much clearer now. Even my DVD player seemed to have HDTV capability since the picture looked so crisp. I doubt it since I only connected it to the television with a normal yellow component cable rather then the RGB component cables known for HDTV. I was able to hook my computer up through S-Video. I tried the DVI with the computer, but apparently my video card treats regular VGA as the primary output. I would hook up VGA to the TV, but I get better resolution on my monitor.

I also picked up a hard drive this past weekend. I reinstalled my operating system. Windows complained that I had activated it one too many times. Interesting, as I had not reinstalled it since I received my computer a few years ago. Calling the toll free number, I was able to chat with a nice woman with an Indian accent. I was able to get in after that and it’s been a constant event of installing, patching, and upgrading software.

I got four new tires for my car and an oil change. It only took four hours and seven hundred dollars. A woman came in asking the people to squeeze her in. She thought that they were putting other people in front of her. I went over to the mall while waiting and picked up a book of over two hundred su doku puzzles. I only got a few puzzles done before I was completely bored.

Posted in Computers, Finances | 1 Comment »

What a weekend

Tuesday, February 21st, 2006

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HDTV and XBox 360

Monday, February 20th, 2006

My plans on purchasing an HDTV have changed a bit.  Rather then going with the 42″ plasma monitor, I found a nice 26″ with true HDTV resolution.  The other one was 1024×1024.  I went through a few more stores today and thought about a few things.  Plasma screens are fragile.  LCD has a better lifespan, and more light weight.  My current regular television is 27″.  Larger televisions get a bit pixelated if you really take your time to look and scrutinize.  LCD is cheaper.  I couldn’t tell the difference between the two with brightness, frequency of updating, or colors.

Something I did notice is that various LCD televisions have different color to them with the same picture.  I found a really nice one that has very vivid colors from RCA.  The whole outer edge is also black, which makes it a bit more to my liking rather then going with all of those silver ones.  This television also has many different inputs for SVideo, RGB Component, DVI, etc.  I should be able to hook my cable box rite up to it as well as a computer if I wanted to.  I’m still doing some research on the whole thing, but I think I have my mind set on this one.

I purchased a new TV stand for the living room from IKEA.  It fits nicely in the corner and opens up the room a bit more.  All of our components are closer to the television now.  Upgrading to the HDTV shouldn’t be a problem when the time comes.  I’ve still got to break up a few more boards from the old entertainment center.  That thing was on its last legs from being moved so often.

In related news, the XBox 360 seems to be an item that is hard to get your hands on.  There seem to be bundles ranging anywhere from 299 up to 899.  For 299, you can get a box with a wired controller.  399 you can get a box with a hard drive and wireless controller.  The more expensive packs come with games, services, and lots of accessories.  My interest is an XBox 360 ($299), 2 wireless controllers ($50 * 2), a wireless network adapter ($100), hard drive ($100), Media Remote ($30) and a game – Kameo: Elements of Power ($50).   $680 total.
The crazy thing though – is the price.  That’s the price of a computer. I am sure I could find a bundle to bring some of that price down, but that is not the point.  It’s come to that day when entertainment is valued so highly in our lives that we are willing to pay for it.  I still want the system, but its just … high.  Even eBay auctions are high on there prices as well.

I wonder what the XBox 360 can actually do besides your run-of-the-mill games.  Can I surf the web and check email?  Does it have a word processor or spread sheets?   It’s got some tough computing power, I am sure.  I just want to be able to do some computing stuff with it if I can.

Posted in Entertainment | 1 Comment »

HDTV Purchase Nightmare

Saturday, February 18th, 2006

I’ve just gone through a night mare. I’m still just exhausted from the experience. I’ve recently got my tax refund on payday, so I have over $6,000 to my name at this moment. What better way to spend it then invest in a nice HDTV?

I’ve trodden along with my mother in-law going to different stores and comparing prices and features. I finally settled on a 42″ plasma HD Monitor from AKAI for $1497.76. I went into Sam’s club, picked up one of many tickets available under the television and went to the front to purchase it. I headed over to customer service afterwards to pick it up. Unfortunately, there was only 1 television in there inventory and that was the floor model.

After a half hour of store employees running around and figuring out what to do, I was left with a refund of $1572.65 including taxes. Since I purchased it with my debt card, they could only refund in cash. The cashier started counting money and quickly ran out of hundreds and fifties. I’m there looking at the pile of money dreading the fact that I would be carrying it all out in an overstuffed wallet.

“Don’t worry, we can just call the bank if I don’t have enough”, she said. “More time”, I thought. In the mean time, my mother in-law and niece were waiting outside in the van for me. I came up with an idea and asked if it could all be put on my Wal-Mart card. “Just pretend that you cave me all the cash, and then take it all back as a payment on my card”, I said. After thinking about it, she agreed that it would work.

So in the end, I walked out with an over-paid Wal-Mart Credit Card and a form to file a complaint. It took me a while to find that form as well, as it was well hidden behind a display at the exit. I spent a minute trying to reach back far enough to grab it.

I’ve got such a head ache from this. My wife started rubbing my temples and it helped relax me much. Still, I feel like I went through all of that hell for no reason. Next time I’ll go to customer service first if I make a purchase like that in Sam’s Club again.

The cashiers computer should have picked up the fact that there were not any television models remaining. Even if the floor model was available (which it wasn’t), the computer should have flagged it as such and directed the cashier to confirm that I did want it. Customer service should have been able to issue a ticket of some kind to me to let me come back when the televisions did come in stock again so one would be reserved and paid for in my name. Someone should have removed all tickets under the display model once all available inventory was sold out. I should have been given some form of compensation for having gone through this ordeal.

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I got crashed

Thursday, February 16th, 2006

What a long ride home.  It took almost two hours from work.  I approached a stop light.  I waited my two seconds and looked both ways with my turn signal on.  Just as I start to press the gas, I was hit from behind.  I put on my hazard lights and got out.

Niether of our cars were damaged.  The driver apologized and said she pressed the gas instead of the break petal as she approached me.  She also mentioned something about her child in the back seat.  I didn’t really pay any mind to it.  As long as there was no damage, I was ok and left it at that.

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Girl Scout Cookies

Wednesday, February 15th, 2006

Girl Scout cookies arrived at the office today.  Originally they were supposed to come in on Friday.  I’m a bit strapped for cash until then.  I was allowed to bring mine home on good faith.  It seems that they know where I work.

In other news, my tax refund from the IRS hasn’t arrived yet.  They advertise that it takes 5 – 7 days.  I did mine on Last Sunday morning.  I figured that they mean business days, but it’s been eight business days since I submitted everything.

I guess I shouldn’t have been paying so much attention to it.  I check my bank account every day in the morning, after 2pm and after 4pm.  I’m down to four dollars and some change.  The amazing thing is that I’m still above zero.  I’ve fallen so low in the past year that I’m usually five to six hundred dollars in debt every two weeks.  So any day now, I’ll get a tax refund on top of a full pay check.

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Power Up

Monday, February 13th, 2006

My wife’s new power supply came in the mail today.  The dimensions of the box look small enough to fit in her computer.  I even saw the extra power adapter on the back for her old speakers to plug into.

I just need to find the time when she is sleeping and I am awake at home.  I need to swap out the standard power supply that we purchased to get her up and running in the meantime.  I also need to put in the CD and DVD drives back in.  The standard power supply is too large for the drives to fit in along with them.

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Office vs. Cube

Saturday, February 11th, 2006

I found that I have an option to take residence in an empty office where I work. It’s been empty for about a year now. As one of the senior members, I found it odd that I wasn’t asked if I wanted to move into it from my cube. In the past, I have been asked regarding other cubes that are next to the windows, but I’ve always turned them down.

I have the largest cube, and it is quite comfortable. I can see the windows from where I am and it is just across the hall from the team lead. An office would be nice. It’s a status symbol of sorts. It gives the impression that you are important along with seniority.

The office in question does not have any windows. There are not any windows to the outside world or even any that look at the cube farm. There is a bit of privacy I guess. I can even lock the door as I wish to keep my laptop and other possessions safe when I go out to lunch or go home at night.

The team lead has told me that it feels like she is working form a basement in her office. Even the sound of the air can be bothersome at times. Still, she has not opted to move out of the office and into the cube farm.

These are the things that I ponder about.

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