Author Archives: anachostic - Page 61

I Never Really Believed in Curses Until…

Posted by on February 6, 2010 No comments

…I started travelling.  There’s some pretty bad mojo brewing up whenever I want to go back to my home state.  Last time, I was delayed a day and it was because I took the last flight out and because of previous delays, it was impossible to make my connection.  This time I scheduled the first flight out, meaning I got up at 2:45 in the morning to get ready.  Despite the plan that I could be bumped to later flights and do to people what they did to me the first time, the flight was still a no-go.  Thank you, blizzard.

And I thought I did everything I was supposed to.  I checked the flight status before I went to bed and when I woke up – all good.  When I checked in, I asked “any news?” – no, the flight is still active.  I got to the gate and within 10 minutes I hear my name paged.  Damn it, I know what this is about.

Similar to last time, I could make my first leg, but the second leg was cancelled.  I had the option of going to the first airport and trying to get on the next flight at 5:30.  That’s a 10-hour layover with a great chance of the flight either being overbooked or cancelled.  No thanks.  So after rescheduling for tomorrow,  back home I went.

I call the car rental company and modify my reservation.  Apparently, when you take one day off your reservation, you’re not in the “special rate” anymore and it suddenly costs you over $100 more.  So a brief check on Yahoo and I’m now renting from another company.  However, I’m still out $5 for my brief time of parking at the airport.  And gas, and time.  Luckily, no hotel reservations to change like last time, where they knocked me for $90.  I swear, companies make the most money when their customers are miserable.

The Biggest and the Bloatedest

Posted by on December 19, 2009 No comments

My personal domain name is up for renewal.  I’ve been with Network Solutions as my registrar for a very long time, 15 years, maybe.  A whole lot of low-cost registrars have popped up during that time, but I always stuck with the leader.

Now, recent re-evaluation shows I don’t really have a need for any of the services NetSol offers, so why should I be paying a premium price for their services?  Let’s take a look and see what the cost of renewal is with NetSol.  I just want to renew my domain.

This is where NetSol has really shot itself in the foot.  Not only is it a premium-priced registrar, it seems they are so money-hungry, they want to take every attempt to get more out of you.  After clicking renew, I am taken to a series of advertisements about other things I should be buying.

First, a pitch to add additional domains.  These are variations on my existing domain.  No, I don’t see any need to have three more domains with less-recognizable suffixes (or TLD’s for the technical). No thank you; next.

Next, a pitch to make my registration details private ($9/yr).  Other people have complained about this before.  Why should I have to pay extra for privacy?  And had I bought extra domains, multiply that $9 per domain.  Next!

Next, a pitch for web hosting.  New domains, hmmm. ok.  Existing domains, you probably already have hosting.  If you were transferring a domain, that would be another valid opportunity.  But, no.  I’m fine where I’m at.

Next, a pitch for forwarding web requests, mail hosting, custom website design (even if you selected no web hosting), and an SSL certificate.  Jesus, isn’t this simple renewal request ever going to end?  This is four full pages of advertising! 

Then, finally, you get to see the price of renewal: $35/yr.  4x the amount of other registrars?  For what?  4 pages of ads when you renew?  Now, you can see that NetSol has been overtaken by salespeople and scammers.  Granted, there are discounts for multi-year renewals, which is how I’ve stayed with NetSol as long as I have.

The way I see it, when you click renew, you should be taken straight to the shopping cart where a line item shows the domain(s) for renewal.  Under the line items, a line with a checkbox for each of these offered services should be shown.  Clicking the checkbox would expand the section to let you choose which renewing domains will get the service.  Obviously a “Learn more about service” link would be provided.

That’s quick, simple and to the point.  One page, all options available.  Instead, NetSol is afraid that if they don’t shout the features and prices at you in a full page ad, you might not take them up on their overpriced services.  In the virtual world as well as the real world, overselling, overhyping, and shouting drives me out the door.

Farewell, Network Solutions.

The Quickening II

Posted by on December 18, 2009 No comments

Like a bad sequel, I get to continue a story that should have ended.  As I discover some things in Quicken I don’t like, I check the opinions of blogs and Quicken’s own support forums and I am saddened by what I learn.  I guess none of my gripes are new, but they are mine.

I’m sure I’m going to have lots of fun matching transactions as time goes on.  I’m convincing myself that the real numbers matter starting next month – a fresh month of a fresh year.  But right now things are off.  One of my accounts had to have an adjustment posted to make it match with the last bank statement.  That worries me.  As I cleaned up the categories for my transactions, I found that when I would categorize a transaction as a transfer, it would helpfully create the other side of the transfer for me, duplicating a previously-downloaded transaction in another account.  So with all the credit card payments I categorized, I suddenly had a massively negative balance in my checking account.  More cleanup…

As I worked through these various screens I found myself missing a Microsoft standard: the Back button.  I remember years ago when I tried out the Zune at Staples, I thought to myself, “MS loves the Back button.”  The Zune has one.  And you know, it is the easiest concept for anyone to understand.  I also was a little weirded out at how some screens are windows of their own and some are in the main window.

And continuing with UI issues, I found the little things to be the most annoying.  Like being unable to resize columns.  The text in a column is truncated, but you can’t expand the column to see it.  You have to mouse over each row to see the tooltip.  I’m slowly getting used to Quicken’s way of doing subcategories – using a colon.  Money had that format as an option, but I turned it off.  The UI, overall, is definitely from another line of thinking – and not very much in line with Microsoft’s design recommendations.  I’ve had the argument before about how being consistent with Microsoft design helps a user understand your application quicker.  The additional time it is taking me to understand how Quicken works is a fine example of this.  Holy crap, I just discovered that some (4) popup windows I thought had closed actually didn’t.  They’re in a pseudo-taskbar at the bottom of the main window.  Good god.

Now the bigger issues.  The biggest being that the filtered view in the register does not maintain the proper running balance.  It shows a running balance of the transactions shown.  This makes the filtered view useless, but Quicken users have been living with it since the feature was introduced.  That’s nearly a deal-breaker, but I’m going to stick it out.  The other big one is there is no transaction entry form (that I can find).  You have to enter all your info directly in the register.  This brought back a very distant memory of when I first used Quicken and I didn’t like that method of entry.  Money provided a more presentable form for entry and it was a significant selling point.  Money also allowed the option to enter transactions Quicken-style.  Funny how Money tried to implement a more Quicken-esqe experience and ended up being the one that failed.

I feel a bit sad that Quicken is now the only major player in this software category.  Mostly because I know they can never make the changes needed to satisfy the MS Money crowd without ruining the experience of legacy Quicken users.

The Quickening

Posted by on December 17, 2009 No comments

So I’m at the 7th and final stage of grieving: acceptance.  I have accepted that Microsoft Money is gone and will not be coming back, so I must move to Quicken.  It’s not without trepidation that I purchase Quicken and try to recapture the enjoyment of tracking my finances with a new program.  I had used Quicken a long time ago and was not as pleased as I was with MS Money, which is probably why I’ve used Money for over 10 years.

So I’ve gotten Quicken Deluxe 2010 installed and the first thing that pisses me off is that it has put icons on my desktop.  Not just one icon, which is tolerable, but 4.  One for the application and three sales pitches.  This is a terrible first impression.  One shortcut is to a co-branded version of FreeCreditReport dot COM – one of the biggest scams out there.  One is for their BillPay service, at $10/mo.  Even Wachovia, a premier bank, only charges $6/mo for integrated BillPay.  Unless Quicken doesn’t have 2-way integration with Wachovia, which is practically a dealbreaker for me.  MS Money had it. (Turns out, yes, Quicken does support online payments through Wachovia)  The final offer is for a typical rewards credit card provided by Chase.

First Launch: I am prompted to “Get Started”.  I have to enter my banks and their login info so Quicken can download transactions and whatnot.  I’m mildly impressed.  In MS Money, this was a separate step after setting up accounts.  It picks up my Wachovia account without a problem.  Then I do my Chase account.  Oops, there was a problem.  It says to try again later.  So I think, “Maybe it should be entered as a WaMu account, since that’s where it was originally opened.”  Nope.  Not found there.  It’s later now, so I try again under Chase.  Quicken crashes.  Ok, my impression of this program is sinking fast.

Second Launch: I get all of my accounts set up.  And I am quite impressed with how well it handled ALL of my accounts.  If I had a login for it, Quicken handled it.  I got my loans entered and the wizard was pretty easy to work through.  I browse through the preferences and set a few things to my liking, like two-line registers.  Now, I am downloading transactions for an account that doesn’t have real-time transaction updates.  And it’s frozen.  However, I was able to close the window (X) and it seemed to be a successful update.  We’ll see how that turns out on the others… ok, three of the four I had to close the window, but they seem current.  Not sure of this is going to be an annoyance or it’s just a fluke.

I’m going to give it an honest try, since I have no other choice, really.  I’ve tried GnuCash and that was definitely a step down.  So we’ll see how quick things get.

The “have it” habit

Posted by on December 1, 2009 No comments

At dinner tonight, I had the opportunity to train a new employee.  Not directly, but because nothing I ever do is simple, they got to experience exceptions to the order-taking routine.  At the close of the transaction, I was going to say something to the effect of “Enjoy your employment, lucky person” but decided against it.

As I ate, I considered this a little further.  I’m (still) employed.  I’m doing ok.  But at the same time, I’m a responsible employee and a quick learner.  I could have that job!  And since I’m still employed, I’m more desirable to employers because it shows I can keep a job.  I should have that job.

But what kind of flack would I take for doing something like that?  I’d be taking jobs away from someone who really needs one.  “You already have a good job.  Stop hoarding the jobs, jerk.”  This transitioned my thinking into class warfare: the “have’s” and the “have not’s”.  I think this needs revision.  It’s the “have not’s”, the “have enough’s” and the “have more’s”.  See, I want to advance from “have enough” to “have more”.  And I could, because I’m not currently in the “have not” crowd.

But like I said, that’s not really fair.  The rich get richer, as they derisively say.  I would be suppressing the “have not’s” – the class below me – from advancing to the “have enough’s”.  So, in order to spread some of the wealth, I will take that job.  And another.  And maybe another.  Then I will outsource my jobs to another person who could not get the job on their own.  Wait, it’s not really outsourcing, is it.  Insourcing?  No, not that either.  No, it’s reverse subletting.  I am going to sublet my jobs at a lower wage and take the difference as a “convenience fee”.  It works for property, why not jobs?

But as usual, I’m so far behind the times.  Of course, this is already done with day laborers, contract positions, and other temporary positions.  But those are all handled by businesses.  Businesses run by rich people.  The “have more’s”. Once again, I’m getting held back by the man.  It’s so hard to get ahead anymore.  Woe is me.

Philosophical Murder

Posted by on November 27, 2009 No comments

Man: “I can’t date a woman who smokes.  Do you smoke?”

Woman: “Only on a rare occasion.”

Man: “Then you mean to say yes.”

Woman: “Ok, wiseass.  I can’t date a man who has killed another person.  Have you killed anyone?”

Man: “Gee, I don’t know.”

How would you know?  I let that big SUV cut in front of me on the highway.  Did that give the driver the extra time needed to get to where that pedestrian was run over by a big SUV?

Trip Log 11/26/09

Posted by on November 26, 2009 No comments

In a previous blog entry, I took a ride to a local beach, but at the time the beach was closed for renovation, to be reopened in the fall.  Well, now it’s the fall and I headed back out to see all the new and great changes that I’d nothing to previously compare to.  It was a little late in the day, partly cloudy and about 65 degrees.  I got a few blocks and decided, no, I am not going to make this trip without insulation.  So I turned around and got my riding jacket’s rain liner, which is a great wind breaker as well.

Back on track, I realized, it’s pretty cold.  But I pressed onward and I made good time because of my comfort level at higher speeds.  Maybe a little over halfway there and I noticed there were some actual clouds ahead.  If it started raining, I would be in a huge amount of trouble in this temperature.  I got under the clouds and the temp dropped even further.  But, no rain.

I made it to that park again and as fate would have it, the beach is still under construction.  So, a good 1 and a half hour ride in the cold and wind for nothing.  I need something to cheer me up.  Oh, you poor thing.  Have a donut.

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Thank you, I will.  That will have to do for now.  It’s now mostly cloudy and the temperature drop I had earlier under the clouds is the new normal.  So I slipped on my 2nd pair of slightly warmer riding gloves and blasted back home.  So cold.  So tired.  So disappointed.

Trip Log 11/22/09

Posted by on November 22, 2009 No comments

Today was a beach trip.  To a different beach, on a different route.  That meant (oh boy) Interstate travel: 60 minutes at 70+ mph in chaotic conditions with a good wind.  I could see that there were storms to the north and south, but I seemed pretty safe in my path.

An uneventful trip to the beach and a fairly empty parking lot.  I had just gotten off the bike and gotten to the walkway when the parking authority vehicle pulled in.  I walk back to his truck and asked if he could break a $20 for the meters.  He told me not to worry and kept right on going.  Slow day, I guess.

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So I got my pictures and took a leisurely ride up and down the local roads.  Not much traffic and what was there was casual.  Stopped at a local place to have a lunch.  The sandwich was not as I would have expected.  What is the deal with sticking a huge pile of meat between slices of bread?  You can’t get your mouth around it and all you taste is meat.  There’s a balance when making a sandwich: the meat-to-bread ratio (or meat-to-bun as I originally termed it for fast food).  You don’t want the flavor of the meat to be lost in the bread, nor do you want excess in the other direction.  Some places just don’t get it.

I did bring along the Zune HD, but I didn’t get to do any Internet surfing.  All the available networks were secured, insulting, or both.

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So, I guess I won’t be going back there.  I should have had the burger.

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Cooking

Posted by on November 15, 2009 No comments

Ahhh.  I just had a great meal, and I cooked it myself.

I hear you now.  “What?  Mr. I-eat-fast-food-three-meals-a-day-and-somehow-keep-living… cooks?”  That’s right.  And on top of that, I’m good at it.  No, I’m awesome at it.  I know this because I eat what I cook, and I’m one picky bastard, so my cooking must be awesome in order to meet my standards.  Tonight it was a simple, fairly healthy meal of steak and rice.  Ok, chopped steak and rice.  Ok, it was actually hamburger and rice, only it was made so awesome it could have been steak.

Some of you might be saying, “Rice?  that’s so bland and boring.” or “I can’t eat rice, they look like maggots.”  Well, if you were eating with me, you’d be eating it because I make it right.  And I’m going to share the recipe.  There’s a special ingredient you might need to go to the store to buy, but it’s worth it.  Now, here’s the ingredient list:

  • 2 cups Rice
  • 1/4 stick of butter

Yeah, I know.  It’s awesome.  You people who think you have a bowl of maggots in front of you aren’t going to complain when that larvae is coated in a thick layer of butter.  And rice is boring?  Try eating my rice with chopsticks.  That’ll keep you busy.  And thanks to the wondrous power of butter, it’s awesome.

Now, the entrée: steak/burger/whatever.  There is a special art to seasoning beef before cooking it.  I’ve seen plenty of marinades, rubs, and spices, but I know what I like.  After all, I eat at Outback and Longhorn enough to get a taste of good seasoning.  So, here’s my custom seasoning blend for my burgers:

  • Salt

If I wasn’t already employed, I’d be opening my own restaurant.  I’m saying, it’s that good.

I remember when I first moved out and had never cooked for myself before.  It could be the reason why I eat out all the time.  But anyway, I took the time and mastered the art of cooking.  All you people who say “I’ve never cooked.  I can’t even cook a burger.  Fire scares me.”  Here’s my step-by-step instructions to cooking a burger:

  1. Shut up
  2. Buy a George Foreman grill
  3. Cook a burger

I was going to write a book on this special technique, but figured the information is better in the public domain.  If you fail to cook your burger properly, simply follow the directions again.  Pay close attention to the first step – it’s the most critical.  If you can’t get a good burger after five attempts.  Throw all your George Foreman grills away and just disregard steps 2 and 3.

I’ll have to take the time someday to explain the killer grilled cheese sandwiches I make, but I’ll close with a tip on making tea drinkable.  If you don’t like tea, it’s because you don’t have enough sugar in it.  It’s that simple.  In fact, I’ll bet you can eat concrete if you have enough butter, salt and sugar available.

Killing Creativity

Posted by on October 9, 2009 No comments

I am getting so old.

The pieces are finally coming together to allow me to start recording again.  Windows 7: check.  New Cubase 5: check.  Now we’re ready to configure the recording setup.

Using an Emu 0404 as input, I have two mono inputs for my use.  Outboard, I have a Mackie 1642 that will do mixing duties for traditional gear.  It has 4 mono busses, so I routed two of them to the 0404’s inputs.  That will let me selectively choose what inputs I want to record.  Aside from having a cable plugged into the wrong port in the back, it was a snap.  The physical is simple.  The virtual is a little unknown to me, which is where I felt old.

The request I wanted seemed simple: I did not want to monitor the input.  If I wanted to monitor the input, I would do it through Cubase, which would send it to the main output.  Obviously I want to monitor the main output.  Reading through documentation (ugh), I found some diagrams that seemed to explain what needed to be done.  The 0404 talks to the input and the speakers through physical connections.  Cubase talks to the 0404 (not the input and not the speakers) through virtual connections – ASIO connections.

So after a good hour of tweaking, I got the routing correct and working.  Then, just to prove to myself that I understood what was going on, I reset everything to defaults and started over.  But after resetting everything, it worked without any tweaks.  So now I don’t even know what to think.

Bottom line is, I’m not doing anything musical tonight.  No wonder those that can afford studio time just do it.