Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Presidential Poll
I just found this site called PollDaddy that let's you create your own on-line polls. I've set up a free account (they have three account types available, and I went with the free one) and put together a poll, mostly to see how it works. This is a presidential poll to see how visitors would vote in the 2008 presidential election. I've included most of the more popular candidates, but not all of them.
As an aside I went to http://www.vote-smart.org/ where they have a list of close to 100 candidates (that's a guesstimate). That's the reason I didn't include more candidates. This isn't meant to be a scientific poll, it's just for my own personal curiosity. So, take the poll so I can get an idea of who likes what candidate. One vote per person, please.
As an aside I went to http://www.vote-smart.org/ where they have a list of close to 100 candidates (that's a guesstimate). That's the reason I didn't include more candidates. This isn't meant to be a scientific poll, it's just for my own personal curiosity. So, take the poll so I can get an idea of who likes what candidate. One vote per person, please.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
My New Laptop
I've been using my new laptop for a couple of weeks now, and I've finally started forming some opinions about it. I thought I'd take some time and try to put those opinions into words and jot them down here.
First, some of the good things (always lead off with the positive, so you don't sound totally negative). I really like the screen. I've got the Inspiron 1420, and it turns out that the '14' in '1420' represents the screen size. I actually thought that a 14" screen would be way too small. However, it also turns out that my previous laptop was apparently something like 12" or 13", because this is a much larger screen than the old machine I had. So on that point, I was pleasantly surprised. I also got the glossy screen, and I like the look. If you've compared the typical LCD screen with the 'glossy' screen (or whatever they refer to it as) you know what I mean. The LCD screen has a 'foggy' look about it. The 'glossy' screen looks more like a monitor, and I think it makes it easier to look at, and it's basically 'easier on the eyes.'
There are also four USB ports, which is nice. I don't plan to be using more than two at a time in most cases, but there are times when you might need more than two. Lots of devices use USB and who knows when you'll want more than two of them to be connected at the same time? There have been times when I've had two USB memory sticks hooked up to a machine, and wanted to connect a third device (a camera, or something similar). So having four ports is nice and probably means that I won't have to find a USB hub to connect extra devices. There is also a Firewire port on the left side. I've never used a Firewire device and it's possible that I never will, but it's nice to have it there, just in case.
I've also got a S-video output port. I was really excited when I saw this, and had high hopes about using my computer as a basic Home Media system. However, I've tried using this, and haven't been able to get anything to show up on my tv. I don't know if I've got to set the resolution to a particular setting or if there is something I have to do to enable the S-video output. I haven't been able to find much info from the docs, other than that I have an S-video connector on my machine. If anybody knows what I need to do, let me know, 'cause I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to be able to watch videos that I've downloaded on my tv rather than watching them on my glossy 14" screen.
I've also got Bluetooth. However, I don't own anything that does Bluetooth. I've got an older cellphone, and it doesn't do Bluetooth. Nothing else I own does Bluetooth. So I can't tell you anything about that, except that my machine is supposedly capable of communicating via Bluetooth. Someday, I'll get a new cell phone, and it will probably have Bluetooth, and then I can start playing with it and give more info on whether or not it works. But till then, those are the basic positive points for this machine.
On the down side... I don't like the physical locations of most of the I/O connections. The fact that they put the sound I/O on the 'front' of the machine seems nice at first, but it quickly turns out to be inconvienient. I tend to lay down (or recline) when using my machine, and the front (or face or whatever you want to refer to that portion of the machine as) tends to rest on my stomach. This isn't a problem, unless you happen to have a headset plugged in. Then it's a problem. The connector then jabs into your stomach, and you have to worry about either damaging the connector or keeping things at an angle that keeps the whole contraption from poking you in the stomach.
At the same time, the power connector now plugs into the side of the machine. In the past, it plugged into the back of the machine. For whatever reason, I tend to like the power connector to plug into the back of the machine. I can't give a definite reason why I like things that way, but I do. So if I'm using my computer and putting it in my lap, the combination of the audio I/O being in the front and the power being in the left side of the computer for some reason bothers me. I don't like it. This could be just a personal preference, and others might feel that they like it this way. But for me, it's an annoyance.
I also don't care for the keyboard (my old laptop had the same layout, so this is a continuation of my dislike for the old laptop's keyboard). The layout is non-standard. No, I don't mean that the keys are laid out differently for typing. The keyboard is the typical QWERTY layout. But the other keys are not standard. DEL, HOME, PAGE UP, DOWN, etc, are all laid out differently than the typical keyboard. I've got a Dell laptop that I use at work (it's a Latitude, I think). I use it in a docking station, but that doesn't matter. The screen is 14" just like this one, yet the keyboard is laid out differently The keys I just mentioned above are laid out just like they are on a standard keyboard. If they can use a standard keyboard layout on that machine, why can't they do it on this one? As far as I can tell, they're the same physical size so why does the 'cheaper' Inspiron have a screwy keyboard, while the more 'upscale' Latitude machine have a standard keyboard layout?
And then there's the built-in synaptics pad. I've always hated those things for one reason: they never turn off the "tap" function. And it's always set to be too sensitive, so any time that I happen to brush against it, the pad takes it as a "click." Sometimes that doesn't matter, but sometimes it does. And this complaint doesn't just go for Linux machines, it goes for Windows machines too. But in this case, no one at Dell bothered loading the necessary drivers and interface so that I could configure it the way I like. So I was forced to go hunting around, and eventually I found some drivers and an interface (ksynaptics) that allowed me to configure it to my liking. Turn the tap off, enable the vertical scroll, and disable the horizontal scroll. Now the only thing I don't like about it is the fact that there isn't any "buffer zone" between the buttone and the pad. On my old machine, there was a definite physical barrier between the buttons and the pad, and you could feel it. On this machine, there's nothing like that. So you can go looking for the buttons and end up hitting the pad instead. You can actually go sliding off of the button onto the pad. Fortunately I can turn off the "tap" function, or I would really be hating the whole thing, and would have to resort to using a mouse. As it is, all that happens when I miss the button is that the cursor goes sliding around the screen off of the object I wanted to click on, and I have to move it back to what I was aiming for. A pain, but no show stopper.
As a sidenote, this month's "Linux Journal" has a review of Linux laptops, and this one (the Inspiron 1420) is featured in the review. One of the things that they point out is that this machine is available with either Windows or Linux installed. If you get the Windows version, there are more options available. You can choose between two different video cards, you can get a much larger hard drive (the max on the linux machine is 160 Gig but the max on the windows machine is 300+ gig) and the Win machine offers a built-in webcam, whereas the linux machine doesn't. I don't know why the big differences exist between the two machines, but I had no intentions of giving my money to Microsoft just to get a machine with slightly better hardware. Plus, what's the point in paying for Windows, then basically deleting it?
Still, all in all, it's not such a bad computer. It's lightweight, and I got the larger 9 cell battery, so it has a relatively long life when I'm using it unplugged. Battery time does vary, depending on what I'm doing, but that's always the case. I've got a Logitech webcam for the incredibly rare occasion when I might want one. I would have liked the option of getting the distro of Linux that I preferred (I like Mepis over Ubuntu, but if forced to choose between Ubuntu distros, I would have preferred Kubuntu over Ubuntu). For the money, it's not bad at all. I haven't used very many Linux laptops (or many laptops at all for that matter, outside of Dell machines) but if I had to rate it based on what I know (and that's all I can rate it on, to be honest) I think I'd give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. Let me know what you think...
First, some of the good things (always lead off with the positive, so you don't sound totally negative). I really like the screen. I've got the Inspiron 1420, and it turns out that the '14' in '1420' represents the screen size. I actually thought that a 14" screen would be way too small. However, it also turns out that my previous laptop was apparently something like 12" or 13", because this is a much larger screen than the old machine I had. So on that point, I was pleasantly surprised. I also got the glossy screen, and I like the look. If you've compared the typical LCD screen with the 'glossy' screen (or whatever they refer to it as) you know what I mean. The LCD screen has a 'foggy' look about it. The 'glossy' screen looks more like a monitor, and I think it makes it easier to look at, and it's basically 'easier on the eyes.'
There are also four USB ports, which is nice. I don't plan to be using more than two at a time in most cases, but there are times when you might need more than two. Lots of devices use USB and who knows when you'll want more than two of them to be connected at the same time? There have been times when I've had two USB memory sticks hooked up to a machine, and wanted to connect a third device (a camera, or something similar). So having four ports is nice and probably means that I won't have to find a USB hub to connect extra devices. There is also a Firewire port on the left side. I've never used a Firewire device and it's possible that I never will, but it's nice to have it there, just in case.
I've also got a S-video output port. I was really excited when I saw this, and had high hopes about using my computer as a basic Home Media system. However, I've tried using this, and haven't been able to get anything to show up on my tv. I don't know if I've got to set the resolution to a particular setting or if there is something I have to do to enable the S-video output. I haven't been able to find much info from the docs, other than that I have an S-video connector on my machine. If anybody knows what I need to do, let me know, 'cause I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to be able to watch videos that I've downloaded on my tv rather than watching them on my glossy 14" screen.
I've also got Bluetooth. However, I don't own anything that does Bluetooth. I've got an older cellphone, and it doesn't do Bluetooth. Nothing else I own does Bluetooth. So I can't tell you anything about that, except that my machine is supposedly capable of communicating via Bluetooth. Someday, I'll get a new cell phone, and it will probably have Bluetooth, and then I can start playing with it and give more info on whether or not it works. But till then, those are the basic positive points for this machine.
On the down side... I don't like the physical locations of most of the I/O connections. The fact that they put the sound I/O on the 'front' of the machine seems nice at first, but it quickly turns out to be inconvienient. I tend to lay down (or recline) when using my machine, and the front (or face or whatever you want to refer to that portion of the machine as) tends to rest on my stomach. This isn't a problem, unless you happen to have a headset plugged in. Then it's a problem. The connector then jabs into your stomach, and you have to worry about either damaging the connector or keeping things at an angle that keeps the whole contraption from poking you in the stomach.
At the same time, the power connector now plugs into the side of the machine. In the past, it plugged into the back of the machine. For whatever reason, I tend to like the power connector to plug into the back of the machine. I can't give a definite reason why I like things that way, but I do. So if I'm using my computer and putting it in my lap, the combination of the audio I/O being in the front and the power being in the left side of the computer for some reason bothers me. I don't like it. This could be just a personal preference, and others might feel that they like it this way. But for me, it's an annoyance.
I also don't care for the keyboard (my old laptop had the same layout, so this is a continuation of my dislike for the old laptop's keyboard). The layout is non-standard. No, I don't mean that the keys are laid out differently for typing. The keyboard is the typical QWERTY layout. But the other keys are not standard. DEL, HOME, PAGE UP, DOWN, etc, are all laid out differently than the typical keyboard. I've got a Dell laptop that I use at work (it's a Latitude, I think). I use it in a docking station, but that doesn't matter. The screen is 14" just like this one, yet the keyboard is laid out differently The keys I just mentioned above are laid out just like they are on a standard keyboard. If they can use a standard keyboard layout on that machine, why can't they do it on this one? As far as I can tell, they're the same physical size so why does the 'cheaper' Inspiron have a screwy keyboard, while the more 'upscale' Latitude machine have a standard keyboard layout?
And then there's the built-in synaptics pad. I've always hated those things for one reason: they never turn off the "tap" function. And it's always set to be too sensitive, so any time that I happen to brush against it, the pad takes it as a "click." Sometimes that doesn't matter, but sometimes it does. And this complaint doesn't just go for Linux machines, it goes for Windows machines too. But in this case, no one at Dell bothered loading the necessary drivers and interface so that I could configure it the way I like. So I was forced to go hunting around, and eventually I found some drivers and an interface (ksynaptics) that allowed me to configure it to my liking. Turn the tap off, enable the vertical scroll, and disable the horizontal scroll. Now the only thing I don't like about it is the fact that there isn't any "buffer zone" between the buttone and the pad. On my old machine, there was a definite physical barrier between the buttons and the pad, and you could feel it. On this machine, there's nothing like that. So you can go looking for the buttons and end up hitting the pad instead. You can actually go sliding off of the button onto the pad. Fortunately I can turn off the "tap" function, or I would really be hating the whole thing, and would have to resort to using a mouse. As it is, all that happens when I miss the button is that the cursor goes sliding around the screen off of the object I wanted to click on, and I have to move it back to what I was aiming for. A pain, but no show stopper.
As a sidenote, this month's "Linux Journal" has a review of Linux laptops, and this one (the Inspiron 1420) is featured in the review. One of the things that they point out is that this machine is available with either Windows or Linux installed. If you get the Windows version, there are more options available. You can choose between two different video cards, you can get a much larger hard drive (the max on the linux machine is 160 Gig but the max on the windows machine is 300+ gig) and the Win machine offers a built-in webcam, whereas the linux machine doesn't. I don't know why the big differences exist between the two machines, but I had no intentions of giving my money to Microsoft just to get a machine with slightly better hardware. Plus, what's the point in paying for Windows, then basically deleting it?
Still, all in all, it's not such a bad computer. It's lightweight, and I got the larger 9 cell battery, so it has a relatively long life when I'm using it unplugged. Battery time does vary, depending on what I'm doing, but that's always the case. I've got a Logitech webcam for the incredibly rare occasion when I might want one. I would have liked the option of getting the distro of Linux that I preferred (I like Mepis over Ubuntu, but if forced to choose between Ubuntu distros, I would have preferred Kubuntu over Ubuntu). For the money, it's not bad at all. I haven't used very many Linux laptops (or many laptops at all for that matter, outside of Dell machines) but if I had to rate it based on what I know (and that's all I can rate it on, to be honest) I think I'd give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. Let me know what you think...
Labels: Dell, laptop, linux. Ubuntu, Mepis
Sunday, November 04, 2007
DHL redux
Well, I finally got my laptop, no thanks to DHL. In fact, it seemed as though they didn't want me to get my computer. I called them Thursday morning to find out what to do so that I could get my laptop, after one or two failed attempts at delivery. According to DHL's website, it had already been delivered. I knew better. I tried to find out what I would have to do to get it. I asked if it could be delivered after 4:30 since that was when I typically got home from work. I was told that they couldn't make appointments for deliveries. I was told "We can't make appointments for deliveries. If we made an appointment to deliver something at 4:30 then we wouldn't be able to make a pickup we had scheduled for 4:30." Apparently it's possible to schedule (or make an appointment) a pickup, but not a delivery. And I didn't want a 4:30 appointment, I only wanted a delivery made after 4:30.
Anyway, on Thursday afternoon, I rushed home, and got there about 5 minutes before DHL showed up. Amazing. But when the driver when to get my laptop out of the van, he couldn't find it. He actually looked at me and said "I delivered it to someone else." I couldn't fucking believe it! I guess their website was right, it had been delivered Tuesday, but not to me! Incredible. Then he asked me if I would be at home for a while. I told him I'd be there until he came back with my laptop. He said it would take about 10 minutes, and he took off. He showed up about 10 minutes later, with my laptop. I had expected that the box would be opened, but it wasn't. I have no idea where my package had spent the past two days. It had to be signed for, and I would expect that the people signing for it would realize that they hadn't ordered a laptop. And if they did sign for it, why didn't they open it? Who knows what the fuck was going on? I can only say that if I ever order anything again, I will pay extra to make sure that DHL is not the carrier. They appear to be a bunch of fucktards.
So I finally had my computer. When I first powered it on, it seemed to take quite a while to boot up. Apparently, since it's a Dell, it goes through some "gyrations" on the initial power-up. The first screen you're presented with is an EULA that you have to agree to in order to go any further. Naturally, I agreed. I didn't mind, since I had ordered the system with Ubuntu.
After this, I had to set up a user account. Ubuntu comes with no root account set up, so in order to do anything with it, you have to set up a user account. Once this was done, I was able to log on normally. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Ubuntu comes with Gnome as the window manager. When I used this in the past, I didn't really care for it. I preferred KDE. It seems to be more configurable, and I like other things about it. I think it's mostly an aesthetic thing, I can't explain it any better, but that's the way I feel about it. Anyway, I decided to give Gnome a chance.
Since I was used to the KDE menu layout, and had been using MEPIS instead of Ubuntu, it took a little time to get used to the not-so-subtle differences. Also, it seems that the MEPIS distro came with more apps installed. One of the things I've noticed about Ubuntu, based on the live CD's I've tried, is that it seems to come with fewer apps than some distros. One of the first things I had to do was to start installing the software that I was used to using. Synaptic (which is what I had been using on my old laptop) was included in Ubuntu, so I started out by installing things that I normally use. Since I tended to use KDE, a lot of the applications tended to be KDE apps.
Still, I plan on trying Gnome, and giving it a fair chance. But to be honest, old habits die hard.
Anyway, on Thursday afternoon, I rushed home, and got there about 5 minutes before DHL showed up. Amazing. But when the driver when to get my laptop out of the van, he couldn't find it. He actually looked at me and said "I delivered it to someone else." I couldn't fucking believe it! I guess their website was right, it had been delivered Tuesday, but not to me! Incredible. Then he asked me if I would be at home for a while. I told him I'd be there until he came back with my laptop. He said it would take about 10 minutes, and he took off. He showed up about 10 minutes later, with my laptop. I had expected that the box would be opened, but it wasn't. I have no idea where my package had spent the past two days. It had to be signed for, and I would expect that the people signing for it would realize that they hadn't ordered a laptop. And if they did sign for it, why didn't they open it? Who knows what the fuck was going on? I can only say that if I ever order anything again, I will pay extra to make sure that DHL is not the carrier. They appear to be a bunch of fucktards.
So I finally had my computer. When I first powered it on, it seemed to take quite a while to boot up. Apparently, since it's a Dell, it goes through some "gyrations" on the initial power-up. The first screen you're presented with is an EULA that you have to agree to in order to go any further. Naturally, I agreed. I didn't mind, since I had ordered the system with Ubuntu.
After this, I had to set up a user account. Ubuntu comes with no root account set up, so in order to do anything with it, you have to set up a user account. Once this was done, I was able to log on normally. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Ubuntu comes with Gnome as the window manager. When I used this in the past, I didn't really care for it. I preferred KDE. It seems to be more configurable, and I like other things about it. I think it's mostly an aesthetic thing, I can't explain it any better, but that's the way I feel about it. Anyway, I decided to give Gnome a chance.
Since I was used to the KDE menu layout, and had been using MEPIS instead of Ubuntu, it took a little time to get used to the not-so-subtle differences. Also, it seems that the MEPIS distro came with more apps installed. One of the things I've noticed about Ubuntu, based on the live CD's I've tried, is that it seems to come with fewer apps than some distros. One of the first things I had to do was to start installing the software that I was used to using. Synaptic (which is what I had been using on my old laptop) was included in Ubuntu, so I started out by installing things that I normally use. Since I tended to use KDE, a lot of the applications tended to be KDE apps.
Still, I plan on trying Gnome, and giving it a fair chance. But to be honest, old habits die hard.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
DHL Delivery
Apparently, these are the morons that are supposedly attempting to deliver my laptop. I can't speak about the entire company, but the local yokels are apparent idiots.
I got an email from Dell Saturday stating that my laptop had been shipped. Great! Monday evening, I got a call on my cellphone. I answered and found myself on the receiving end of an automated call. It was from DHL and they were calling to let me know that they were going to make a delivery on Tuesday. Great! Then came some menu, and I needed to select 2 and write down some info. So, apparently I took too long to find something to write with and by the time I got everything together, I was disconnected. Not a big deal, I thought.
Tuesday, I come home from work, hoping that they would make a late delivery. I get off at 4 PM and I'm usually home by 4:30 if I don't run errands or get bad traffic. Well, I got home, and naturally, there was a tag on the door. They had made the delivery around 11:30 AM. Just my luck. But again, no big deal. There was a number to call on the tag.
I call the number. Of course, I don't get a human. At some point, I get to enter my zip code. This transfers me to another number, I guess. Anyway, the phone rings. And rings. And rings... Eventually, it times out, and I get disconnected.
I call again. All the above happens a second time. I call a third time. Finally a human answers. And the first thing she wants to know is: What is my zip code? This is the info I have to enter to get to talk to a human, and the first thing this human wants is my zip code. What the fuck?
I give her my zip, and she transfers me to the local idiots. I talk to some guy, and he wants an invoice number, which is on the attempted delivery notice stuck on my door. I give him the number, and he asks if I live at some address nowhere near where I live. I say no, and repeat the number. He reels off the same address. I say "No" and give him the actual address. He starts talking, and whatever he's saying makes no sense to me. I finally ask him "Are you talking to me or someone else?" He says he's taking to the driver. I'm wondering why the fuck he's talking directly into the phone then. Who knows?
I tell him to schedule delivery the next day (today, Wednesday) between 4:30 and 5:00. He says fine, and I think all is well.
Today, I get home, and there's an attempted delivery notice on the door again. It's got the same invoice number, and apparently they tried at 4:10. That is nowhere close to being between 4:30 and 5:00. So I call the 800 number again. And again. And again. By now, I'm sort of pissed. I finally get someone, who wants my zip code (which of course I already entered on the phone so that I could get to a human). I get transferred to my local moron again and tell him what's going on. He seems a little surprised that they tried delivering early. I told him I don't get home till 4:30, so a 4:10 delivery is no good if I have to sign for it. He says not to worry, he'll get the driver and have him make the delivery before 6:00. Fine.
Well, this is around 4:45. I wait, and 6 comes and goes. 7 comes and goes. Hell, so does 8. At 8:30 I say fuck it and take a shower. Now, I get to go through all this shit again tomorrow. I know that after several unsuccessful delivery attempts, they'll return the package to the sender. That means my laptop ends up going back to Dell if these morons can't get their shit together well enough to make a simple delivery somewhere between 4:30 and whenever. If this happens, I guess I'll end up calling Dell and requesting that they ship it via anyone other than DHL. Stay tuned. And wish me luck.
I got an email from Dell Saturday stating that my laptop had been shipped. Great! Monday evening, I got a call on my cellphone. I answered and found myself on the receiving end of an automated call. It was from DHL and they were calling to let me know that they were going to make a delivery on Tuesday. Great! Then came some menu, and I needed to select 2 and write down some info. So, apparently I took too long to find something to write with and by the time I got everything together, I was disconnected. Not a big deal, I thought.
Tuesday, I come home from work, hoping that they would make a late delivery. I get off at 4 PM and I'm usually home by 4:30 if I don't run errands or get bad traffic. Well, I got home, and naturally, there was a tag on the door. They had made the delivery around 11:30 AM. Just my luck. But again, no big deal. There was a number to call on the tag.
I call the number. Of course, I don't get a human. At some point, I get to enter my zip code. This transfers me to another number, I guess. Anyway, the phone rings. And rings. And rings... Eventually, it times out, and I get disconnected.
I call again. All the above happens a second time. I call a third time. Finally a human answers. And the first thing she wants to know is: What is my zip code? This is the info I have to enter to get to talk to a human, and the first thing this human wants is my zip code. What the fuck?
I give her my zip, and she transfers me to the local idiots. I talk to some guy, and he wants an invoice number, which is on the attempted delivery notice stuck on my door. I give him the number, and he asks if I live at some address nowhere near where I live. I say no, and repeat the number. He reels off the same address. I say "No" and give him the actual address. He starts talking, and whatever he's saying makes no sense to me. I finally ask him "Are you talking to me or someone else?" He says he's taking to the driver. I'm wondering why the fuck he's talking directly into the phone then. Who knows?
I tell him to schedule delivery the next day (today, Wednesday) between 4:30 and 5:00. He says fine, and I think all is well.
Today, I get home, and there's an attempted delivery notice on the door again. It's got the same invoice number, and apparently they tried at 4:10. That is nowhere close to being between 4:30 and 5:00. So I call the 800 number again. And again. And again. By now, I'm sort of pissed. I finally get someone, who wants my zip code (which of course I already entered on the phone so that I could get to a human). I get transferred to my local moron again and tell him what's going on. He seems a little surprised that they tried delivering early. I told him I don't get home till 4:30, so a 4:10 delivery is no good if I have to sign for it. He says not to worry, he'll get the driver and have him make the delivery before 6:00. Fine.
Well, this is around 4:45. I wait, and 6 comes and goes. 7 comes and goes. Hell, so does 8. At 8:30 I say fuck it and take a shower. Now, I get to go through all this shit again tomorrow. I know that after several unsuccessful delivery attempts, they'll return the package to the sender. That means my laptop ends up going back to Dell if these morons can't get their shit together well enough to make a simple delivery somewhere between 4:30 and whenever. If this happens, I guess I'll end up calling Dell and requesting that they ship it via anyone other than DHL. Stay tuned. And wish me luck.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
A New Laptop
Well, I spent most of Wednesday on the phone with various people, trying to take care of all the little after-breakin details. The officer who responded to my call said it would be nice if I could provide them with the serial number of the laptop. Naturally, I couldn't. Not many people keep up with that sort of stuff, it seems (as a side note, I think that it would be a good idea to take the time to copy serial numbers down and put them in a safe place for future reference, just in case). So I spent the morning on the phone with Dell, trying to get in touch with someone who could possibly help me. Amazingly, it only took two phone calls, although I had to navigate all these voice menus. No more pushing buttons, now you get to speak your choices.
The first phone call ended up taking me to a guy named Ethan. He was apparently here in the US, but couldn't help me with my problem. He tried to transfer me to someone, but after a moment or two, the line went dead, and I was disconnected. But at least he had told me where he was routing my call (Customer Care, which is buried down in one of the submenu you get when dialing in). I was eventually able to find the Customer Care option and selected it. I was connected with a women whose name I couldn't quite make out, but she spoke with a definite accent. However, it wasn't too difficult to understand her, so it wasn't so bad.
She wasn't able to provide me with much help though. No matter what I told her (name, address, phone number, whatever) she said she couldn't find any record of my purchase (which did occur in Feburary of 2003, in all fairness). While talking to her, I stood up and wandered over to a drawer with lots of papers in it. I started just randomly looking through the papers, and lo and behold, I found the invoice slip for my computer! I was definitely amazed. I gave her the info from the slip and she was able to find the necessary information for me. Great!
I called to police department and gave them the numbers provided by Dell (they have two: the Service Tag number, which is essentially the serial number, and an Express Service Code number). This number will go out to all the pawn shops in the area, so they can be on the lookout for my laptop. I can't imagine anyone stupid enough to take a hot laptop to a pawnshop, but who knows, if you're stupid enough to break into a house in broad daylight, maybe you're stupid enough to try to pawn the items you stole.
I then called my insurance agent and started that process going. I don't know exactly what's going on at this point, because I haven't heard anything from anyone, but eventually someone from the insurance company should get in touch. Hopefully with a check.
Because I couldn't wait for the check (which I know is coming, I just don't know when or for how much) I decided to go ahead and order a new laptop. I decided to go with Dell, not because they're such a great company or anything like that, but because I get a 10% corporate discount with them, and they offer a laptop with LInux installed. That means that I don't have to buy a machine with XP or Vista installed, which means I don't have to pay the so-called "Microsoft tax."
They only offer one machine (Inspiron 1420) with Ubuntu installed (I'd prefer Kubuntu if I had a choice). So that's the machine I'm getting. I don't know anything about it, or why they only offer the 1420 and not any other models, but so be it. I made a few changes in the base system (more memory, upgrade to the CD/DVD writer, and I forget what else), but in the end it sounds like a decent machine. I'm hoping that everything will work ok with this install of linux. I'm assuming that it's been pretty well tweaked to work on this particular hardware, but I think I had read of some problems. Hopefully there weill be a foroum somewhere for Dell usere with Ubuntu.
I had been using Mepis, which, like Ubuntu, is Debian based, but has some differences. One major difference for me will be that I have been using KDE desktop manager for most of the time I've used Linux (which is why I'd prefer Kubuntu, since it's KDE based). I have used Gnome (which is what Ubuntu uses). I guess if I don't like it or can't tweak it to my satisfaction, I can install KDE. But, just for the hell of it, I'll give Gnome a try and see what it can do (in fairness, it's been four years or so since I last used Gnome).
So now, I'm just waiting for my new laptop to come in. I don't have a delivery date yet from Dell, but from everybody I talk to, they're usually pretty fast. Hopefully in the next week I'll have it. They have a factory only about 20 miles away, so shipping should be a breeze (assuming I get it from that factory). When it comes in, I'll start writing about that experience.
The first phone call ended up taking me to a guy named Ethan. He was apparently here in the US, but couldn't help me with my problem. He tried to transfer me to someone, but after a moment or two, the line went dead, and I was disconnected. But at least he had told me where he was routing my call (Customer Care, which is buried down in one of the submenu you get when dialing in). I was eventually able to find the Customer Care option and selected it. I was connected with a women whose name I couldn't quite make out, but she spoke with a definite accent. However, it wasn't too difficult to understand her, so it wasn't so bad.
She wasn't able to provide me with much help though. No matter what I told her (name, address, phone number, whatever) she said she couldn't find any record of my purchase (which did occur in Feburary of 2003, in all fairness). While talking to her, I stood up and wandered over to a drawer with lots of papers in it. I started just randomly looking through the papers, and lo and behold, I found the invoice slip for my computer! I was definitely amazed. I gave her the info from the slip and she was able to find the necessary information for me. Great!
I called to police department and gave them the numbers provided by Dell (they have two: the Service Tag number, which is essentially the serial number, and an Express Service Code number). This number will go out to all the pawn shops in the area, so they can be on the lookout for my laptop. I can't imagine anyone stupid enough to take a hot laptop to a pawnshop, but who knows, if you're stupid enough to break into a house in broad daylight, maybe you're stupid enough to try to pawn the items you stole.
I then called my insurance agent and started that process going. I don't know exactly what's going on at this point, because I haven't heard anything from anyone, but eventually someone from the insurance company should get in touch. Hopefully with a check.
Because I couldn't wait for the check (which I know is coming, I just don't know when or for how much) I decided to go ahead and order a new laptop. I decided to go with Dell, not because they're such a great company or anything like that, but because I get a 10% corporate discount with them, and they offer a laptop with LInux installed. That means that I don't have to buy a machine with XP or Vista installed, which means I don't have to pay the so-called "Microsoft tax."
They only offer one machine (Inspiron 1420) with Ubuntu installed (I'd prefer Kubuntu if I had a choice). So that's the machine I'm getting. I don't know anything about it, or why they only offer the 1420 and not any other models, but so be it. I made a few changes in the base system (more memory, upgrade to the CD/DVD writer, and I forget what else), but in the end it sounds like a decent machine. I'm hoping that everything will work ok with this install of linux. I'm assuming that it's been pretty well tweaked to work on this particular hardware, but I think I had read of some problems. Hopefully there weill be a foroum somewhere for Dell usere with Ubuntu.
I had been using Mepis, which, like Ubuntu, is Debian based, but has some differences. One major difference for me will be that I have been using KDE desktop manager for most of the time I've used Linux (which is why I'd prefer Kubuntu, since it's KDE based). I have used Gnome (which is what Ubuntu uses). I guess if I don't like it or can't tweak it to my satisfaction, I can install KDE. But, just for the hell of it, I'll give Gnome a try and see what it can do (in fairness, it's been four years or so since I last used Gnome).
So now, I'm just waiting for my new laptop to come in. I don't have a delivery date yet from Dell, but from everybody I talk to, they're usually pretty fast. Hopefully in the next week I'll have it. They have a factory only about 20 miles away, so shipping should be a breeze (assuming I get it from that factory). When it comes in, I'll start writing about that experience.
Labels: Dell, Gnome, KDE, Kubuntu, laptop, linux. robbery, Ubuntu
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Happy Fuckin' Birthday
It's been a while since I posted anything. I always take forever to post. I have all sorts of excuses, most of them pretty good, in my honest opinion. And to be totally honest, a week ago I had actually put some things together so I could post them. I'd done some work on my laptop, upgrading the hard drive and making it dual boot so I could run either Linux or XP on it. It was an older Dell laptop, and I was really happy that everything worked so well, and so I had started writing up the whole procedure I went through, along with the very few problems I encountered, in hopes that it might help others trying to get the Microsoft monkey off their backs see how easy it was to get linux up and running on older hardware. I was holding off on posting it because I wanted to make sure I got all the details right, in case anybody actually tried to follow my lead.
Well, I never got a chance to post it and now it really doesn't matter. Yesterday (which was my birthday, by the way) when I got home from work, I found my backdoor kicked in. When I went in the house, the first (and almost only) thing I found missing was my laptop. It had been sitting in the middle of the coffee table in the living room. Now there's just a big empty space (it's not really that big, it just feels that way). They left my iPod and the other stuff that was sitting out (a USB mouse, which wasn't attached at the time, several USB cables, a pocket knife, a web cam which wasn't attached). But they did take my headset (which was plugged in) and my reading glasses, which I had laid on the keyboard and had partially pushed the lid down on. They also apparently went into my bedroom and took a flashlight off the nightstand, but left my Leatherman(TM). Who knows what goes through the mind of a petty thief, or if indeed they even have a mind.
I called the cops, which I hated doing. I live alone and am pretty messy, and so I had to explain that most of the mess was mine, not the thief's. He took my statement and called the local CSI unit (but it's not called CSI here). They took pictures and checked for prints and asked around the neighborhood, and that was pretty much it.
I had actually planned on taking the day off yesterday. It was my birthday and I usually do that as a treat for myself. But I have a project due at work on Friday and it's not going well. So I went to work. Now, today, I'm taking the day off. I've got to fix the backdoor and call my insurance agent and try to find the serial number of the laptop so I can give it to the cops so they can be on the lookout for it, yada yada yada... If I had taken my birthday off, someone (me) would have been here, and my house probably wouldn't have been broken into and I'd still have my laptop. I'm really pissed about my laptop being stolen. I put some work into getting it tweaked like I wanted it. A linux desktop is typically much more customizable than a Windows desktop and I had customized mine the way I wanted it. The only good thing (I guess) is that everything was password protected so they'll have some trouble actually getting into it. And even if they manage to get into it, they probably won't like linux.
Another great thing that happened yesterday is that my girlfriend apparently forgot it was my birthday. Not a call, not a card, not even an email saying "Happy Birthday." That's really all it would have taken too, just a two word email. I would have been happy with that. I spent the weekend just before my birthday doing her favors. Friday night I did her a favor and helped her move a sofa for someone. Saturday I did her a favor and moved more furniture from her house to the landfill. And Saturday night, which we usually spend at my place, I did her a favor and spent it at her house because her son was going to need a ride somewhere and I had to make sure she stayed awake long enough to actually give him a ride. But three days later she can't do me a favor and remember my fucking birthday.
So here I sit, in a major funk (another great reason to take the fucking day off and not get my project done by the deadline). Happy fucking birthday, eh?
Well, I never got a chance to post it and now it really doesn't matter. Yesterday (which was my birthday, by the way) when I got home from work, I found my backdoor kicked in. When I went in the house, the first (and almost only) thing I found missing was my laptop. It had been sitting in the middle of the coffee table in the living room. Now there's just a big empty space (it's not really that big, it just feels that way). They left my iPod and the other stuff that was sitting out (a USB mouse, which wasn't attached at the time, several USB cables, a pocket knife, a web cam which wasn't attached). But they did take my headset (which was plugged in) and my reading glasses, which I had laid on the keyboard and had partially pushed the lid down on. They also apparently went into my bedroom and took a flashlight off the nightstand, but left my Leatherman(TM). Who knows what goes through the mind of a petty thief, or if indeed they even have a mind.
I called the cops, which I hated doing. I live alone and am pretty messy, and so I had to explain that most of the mess was mine, not the thief's. He took my statement and called the local CSI unit (but it's not called CSI here). They took pictures and checked for prints and asked around the neighborhood, and that was pretty much it.
I had actually planned on taking the day off yesterday. It was my birthday and I usually do that as a treat for myself. But I have a project due at work on Friday and it's not going well. So I went to work. Now, today, I'm taking the day off. I've got to fix the backdoor and call my insurance agent and try to find the serial number of the laptop so I can give it to the cops so they can be on the lookout for it, yada yada yada... If I had taken my birthday off, someone (me) would have been here, and my house probably wouldn't have been broken into and I'd still have my laptop. I'm really pissed about my laptop being stolen. I put some work into getting it tweaked like I wanted it. A linux desktop is typically much more customizable than a Windows desktop and I had customized mine the way I wanted it. The only good thing (I guess) is that everything was password protected so they'll have some trouble actually getting into it. And even if they manage to get into it, they probably won't like linux.
Another great thing that happened yesterday is that my girlfriend apparently forgot it was my birthday. Not a call, not a card, not even an email saying "Happy Birthday." That's really all it would have taken too, just a two word email. I would have been happy with that. I spent the weekend just before my birthday doing her favors. Friday night I did her a favor and helped her move a sofa for someone. Saturday I did her a favor and moved more furniture from her house to the landfill. And Saturday night, which we usually spend at my place, I did her a favor and spent it at her house because her son was going to need a ride somewhere and I had to make sure she stayed awake long enough to actually give him a ride. But three days later she can't do me a favor and remember my fucking birthday.
So here I sit, in a major funk (another great reason to take the fucking day off and not get my project done by the deadline). Happy fucking birthday, eh?
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Weird Family Stuff
I just rented "Superman Returns" or whatever it's called [the new one with Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor]. I watched it once and now I'm watching it again. And right off the bat, the second viewing triggered a memory for me [I think the first viewing triggered the same memory, but I was more interested in watching the movie than writing this, so that's why it took a second viewing to trigger the writing of this memory].
Without giving too much away, here's how the movie goes: We see the bedroom of an old woman. In the room with her, are two dogs. I don't know the breed of these dogs, but they remind me too much of a dog my grandmother had. And that's the memory that got triggered. It occurs about two or three minutes into the movie so there isn't much to give away, is there? Sorry.
At some point in the latter part of her life, someone gave my grandmother a small dog. One of those really small, yammering, yipping, little dogs. The type that old women like to own, the type that they like to put ribbons in the hair of, the type that I've always wanted to stomp on like a bug, and just crush the life out of it. That's the kind of dog that someone gave my grandmother. And she loved it.
The first thing that she did was to name it. She named it after her second daughter. My grandmother thought that the dog twitched her ass in much the same way that her second daughter twitched hers. Actually, on this, I have to agree. Both of them could shake that thang... And shut up about me watching my aunt twitch her ass.
For whatever reason, my grandmother really loved this dog, and she kept her [the dog] until the end of her [my grandmother] days. Yeah, the dog managed to outlive her. After my grandmother passed, I don't really know who took care of her dog; by then, I'd moved away and didn't get back as often as I should have. But while I was home this past summer, my mom did tell me a story about the dog.
At some point in the not too distant past, the dog finally passed. I still don't know who had her [I just never bothered asking, no big deal to me at the time], but I know it wasn't my mother. Maybe one of her sisters was the caretaker. In any event, my mom and one of her sisters [not the one with the twitchin' ass] ended up at the site of my grandmother's grave with the dog's carcass. According to mom [and to the best of my memory], the dog was in a bag in a box. My mom and my aunt were able to dig down about one and a half feet before hitting my grandmother's outer perimeter [I'll be honest; I can't think of what it's called. Not coffin, not casket, it's farther out than that.]. At that point, they realized that the box wouldn't fit into the hole they'd dug. So, according to mom, they took the bag out of the box and put that in the hole and covered it back up.
I really don't know if that's the sort of thing that should be going on in the cemetery of the family church. Hopefully if they had gotten caught, someone eventually would have looked the other way and let them off. Thanks to my mom and my aunt, my grandmother and her dog are resting together [hopefully] until the end of time. But I can't help but wonder what is going to happen centuries in the future when some archaeologist eventually stumbles upon the grave site and finds them. I can only hope that by that time, the statute of limitations on whatever crime my mom and aunt might have committed will have expired.
Without giving too much away, here's how the movie goes: We see the bedroom of an old woman. In the room with her, are two dogs. I don't know the breed of these dogs, but they remind me too much of a dog my grandmother had. And that's the memory that got triggered. It occurs about two or three minutes into the movie so there isn't much to give away, is there? Sorry.
At some point in the latter part of her life, someone gave my grandmother a small dog. One of those really small, yammering, yipping, little dogs. The type that old women like to own, the type that they like to put ribbons in the hair of, the type that I've always wanted to stomp on like a bug, and just crush the life out of it. That's the kind of dog that someone gave my grandmother. And she loved it.
The first thing that she did was to name it. She named it after her second daughter. My grandmother thought that the dog twitched her ass in much the same way that her second daughter twitched hers. Actually, on this, I have to agree. Both of them could shake that thang... And shut up about me watching my aunt twitch her ass.
For whatever reason, my grandmother really loved this dog, and she kept her [the dog] until the end of her [my grandmother] days. Yeah, the dog managed to outlive her. After my grandmother passed, I don't really know who took care of her dog; by then, I'd moved away and didn't get back as often as I should have. But while I was home this past summer, my mom did tell me a story about the dog.
At some point in the not too distant past, the dog finally passed. I still don't know who had her [I just never bothered asking, no big deal to me at the time], but I know it wasn't my mother. Maybe one of her sisters was the caretaker. In any event, my mom and one of her sisters [not the one with the twitchin' ass] ended up at the site of my grandmother's grave with the dog's carcass. According to mom [and to the best of my memory], the dog was in a bag in a box. My mom and my aunt were able to dig down about one and a half feet before hitting my grandmother's outer perimeter [I'll be honest; I can't think of what it's called. Not coffin, not casket, it's farther out than that.]. At that point, they realized that the box wouldn't fit into the hole they'd dug. So, according to mom, they took the bag out of the box and put that in the hole and covered it back up.
I really don't know if that's the sort of thing that should be going on in the cemetery of the family church. Hopefully if they had gotten caught, someone eventually would have looked the other way and let them off. Thanks to my mom and my aunt, my grandmother and her dog are resting together [hopefully] until the end of time. But I can't help but wonder what is going to happen centuries in the future when some archaeologist eventually stumbles upon the grave site and finds them. I can only hope that by that time, the statute of limitations on whatever crime my mom and aunt might have committed will have expired.
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