Updates from September, 2003 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • adam 22:05 on 2003/09/30 Permalink  

    More hellacious child treatment 

    CNN reports:
    After spending nearly three weeks alone and surviving on raw pasta, mustard and ketchup, a 2-year-old Jacksonville, Florida, girl was in good spirits Tuesday morning at a hospital, officials told CNN.
    The mother was where, exactly? And what would have happened if the father hadn’t tried to find out what was going on???
    At some point, we need to start beating the crap out of these neglectful parents – they need to get just the smallest idea of what they’re doing to their kids. Maybe if we hand cuff them, put them in leg irons and put them in room by themselves for three weeks with no food. Yeah, that just might work.

     

  • adam 21:28 on 2003/09/30 Permalink  

    A clue for town and city planners 

    When you put signs up for roads and other things, how about putting them up where they can do some good? Like, instead of putting them back in the bushes, put them ON THE ROAD. Or instead of putting small little signs, make them big and easy to read, especially while driving.
    My favorite one is the signs that are nice and big, but either on the wrong side of the road from the road that the sign is for, or are set waaaaaaaay back from the intersection, so you don’t even get a chance to read the sign until you’re halfway through the intersection.
    And this is how I spend my days now.

     

  • adam 20:34 on 2003/09/28 Permalink  

    Another contender? 

    Oliver Willis joins the fray. Which fray? That whole election for President thingee.
    Now, I can’t speak for everyone else, but given his stance on porn, wings and mixed drinks, I’d say he can’t lose. Or win ;)

     

  • adam 21:14 on 2003/09/24 Permalink  

    Awwww, how cute…. 

    Just watched most of the season premiere of “Ed” on the telly. I liked it the first two years, so I’m hoping they can keep things going for another year at least – it’s a good show. If you remember that short lived show, “Providence” – which started the same year as “Ed” – then you’ll understand when I say that “Ed” is a man’s “Providence.” It’s nice to see that Ed and Carol Vessey hooked up and all that.
    It was interesting to see “The Daily Show’s” Mo Rocca as the dog breeder – especially since I wasn’t expecting to see him there.
    The big question: didn’t Mike and Nancy – Ed’s friends – have a kid? What happened to him/her???

     

  • adam 07:51 on 2003/09/24 Permalink  

    Foot fetish 

    :abby: has a thing about shoes. If they’re not hers, and are ridiculously big, she wants to wear them – including my size 14′s, which are almost as big as she is.
    She also likes – or, rather, loves – having shoes on. First thing in the morning, she’s grabbing whichever of her shoes are handy, matching or not, and insisting on wearing them. It’s cute at 8:00, but at 5:00, well, not so much.

     

  • adam 01:24 on 2003/09/22 Permalink  

    New TV season starts again…. 

    I was completely unaware that most of the shows start back up this week. And it wasn’t until I saw an ad for the new season of Alias that I realized just how much I want the shows to start RIGHT NOW.
    Some of the shows I’ll just watch when I can, but others will be taped if there’s a chance I’m going to miss them – sometimes I wonder how much of by brain power and storage potential I’m wasting on dealing with the story lines and background info on the shows/characters/whatnot. I’m sure it’s a lot – but I guess as long as I get some use out of it, then it’s all ok in the end, right?
    Anyway, with a lot to watch and not a lot of time, I’m thinking more and more how useful a TiVo would be. Can’t afford one though, so I’m going to experiment again with my old Power Mac 9500, a TV tuner card and AppleScript. Sure, the video I managed to record in the past wasn’t exceptional – but it was passable, and that’s all I care about. Especially since it means that I can copy the show to my laptop and watch something while I “eat” my lunch. Or when I’m stuck in traffic (thanks to the power invertor I keep in the car).
    Sure, I’m a tv-addict, but at least I”m showing some adaptability….

     

  • adam 01:19 on 2003/09/22 Permalink  

    Long time no blog 

    Yes, I know I’ve done some small posts lately – but nothing to major. I’ve been hella-busy, what with only seeing the kids a few hours a day because of work, and some freelance work that’s been hot and heavy of late.
    Every now and then, when I’m doing something at work, I think about something I could post – and then I forget about it completely. I think it might be time for me to start syncing my Palm up with my PC laptop so I can use the off-line web browser and post to my blog that way – it’s not as convenient, but it’s a little easier then hi-jacking someone’s computer when I’m at a clients location.s

     

  • adam 09:32 on 2003/09/20 Permalink  

    Power Mac G5: photography 

    Power Mac G5 portraits. Kinda cool. Some really nice shots.

     

  • adam 22:27 on 2003/09/16 Permalink  

    So very jealous 

    One of my old computers – a Mac Color Classic – got put on the curb today for tomorrow’s (or Thursday’s) “Big Pickup” by mistake. I didn’t find out about it until it was way too late – that baby was just plain GONE.
    I’m a little miffed about it. So if you live in Milford, and picked up a big black computer bag and discovered a Mac Color Classic in it, you wouldn’t want to consider returning it to it’s home, would you? I might be able to scrape together a reward…. :)

     

    • deanne 01:21 on 2003/09/19 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Ah, the Color Classic. My husband has one of those. You would think it was gold-plated or diamond-encrusted, or at least lavendar-scented. He loves the damn thing, but it just takes up space in the closet… You’ve just given me an idea on how to get rid of it. *evil grin*

  • adam 22:10 on 2003/09/12 Permalink  

    Johnny Cash and John Ritter: RIP 

    Just found out about the “Man in Black” and “Jack Tripper” passing away. Wow – two John’s passing away on the same day – odd.
    “Three’s Company” was a part of my growing up – it was already in heavy re-run rotation then, I think – and I’ve always enjoyed a little bit of country as done by Cash. I was more than a little disappointed when Mtv didn’t give him an award this year – I’m not saying he’s Mtv material, but he’s made a huge impact on the music world and that rendition of “Hurt” – a Nine Inch Nails song, by the way – was pretty dang cool. I never saw the whole video, but it was pretty moving too.

     

    • Johnny Lover 15:08 on 2003/09/14 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Such a sad, sad day! They were both amazing men.
      Check out my site:
      http://www.BooksUnderReview.com/Arts/Music/Styles/Country/Bands_and_Artists/C/Cash,_Johnny
      Love,
      Mandy

    • emily 22:50 on 2003/09/16 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I never really listened to Johnny Cash, but I am very sad about his death. I watched John Ritter on “Threes Company” every chance I could. Such a sad day this was for everyone.

    • Jodi 00:58 on 2003/09/19 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      i love john ritter. i have watched him while growing up, and i will continue to watch him. i wait up to watch the three hours of re-runs of threes company, and i will continue to do so. he is the funniest man that i have ever watched on television. i honestly have said for years that he is by far my favorite actor. he will always be in my heart. it is so sad to see such a wonderful actor pass. we will miss him dearly.

    • Big MIKe 12:00 on 2003/11/20 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      WHATZ up people

  • adam 22:27 on 2003/09/11 Permalink  

    Neat toy! 

    £150,000 for ‘ultimate boy’s toy’
    The ultimate “boy’s toy” – a high-speed land and water vehicle – has been launched on the River Thames. A car that turns into a boat – that’s nothing new. A car that does 100mph+ on land and 30mph+ on the water – now that’s news.

     

  • adam 08:03 on 2003/09/11 Permalink  

    Day of remembrance 

    You know what today is, so just reflect. I myself plan on turning off the tv and radio – I can’t stand what some people are saying, and what others say brings tears to my eyes.

     

  • adam 06:54 on 2003/09/11 Permalink
    Tags: dell, inspiron, , support   

    Dell support sucks 

    I have this Inspiron laptop that I bought not too long ago – some of you might actually remember me mentioning it. Since I bought it, I’ve used it for a bit of everything, espeically since my new employer offers CITRIX access to our data – sort of a GUI terminal type thing, harkening back to the days of room-sized computers. Ahhh, the memories.
    Anyway, I’m having some trouble witht a new RAM module for the computer – it doesnt’t seeem to work to make a difference about how I put it in – it just doesn’t work. The guy at Dell made me basically take apart the whole computer to figure this out – including taking out the CD/DVD drive, wireless card and hard drive.
    Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t that seem a little overly cautious?

     

    • Daniel 22:33 on 2003/10/27 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Rather than simply say DELL sucks, I’ll stick to the facts.
      My DELL notebook (lemon) has had 15 part failure/replacements in the last 19 months.
      That’s 1 failure every 38 days ( or 0.8 failures per month). . .
      ________________________________________
      SUMMARY of 15 FAILUREs/REPAIRs of notebook originally purchased for $4208 :
      Replaced 1 time: Notebook (Service Tags: for i7500: 2H0440B, for i8100:93DH811) 05/30/2002;
      Missing: 2nd battery missing with 2nd notebook replacement
      despite Two batteries were purchased with 1st notebook;
      Replaced 3 times: Motherboard: 05/20/2002,06/06/2002,12/16/2002;
      Replaced 3 times: CD/DVD drive: 03/22/2002,03/25/2002,05/21/2002;
      Replaced 2 times: Hard disk drive: 03/21/2002,05/22/2002;
      Replaced 2 times: Keyboard: 05/22/2002,05/24/2002;
      Replaced 1 time: Lid latch: 05/22/2002;
      Replaced 2 times: Video card: 1/10/2003,5/9/2003 ,
      Malfunction: video problems and system lock-ups (since received) due to infamous
      infinite loop in nv4_disp.dll ( NVIDIA video card device driver ) for over 12 months
      (May-2002 to May-2003); problem persisted since system was received
      May-2002 ; finally, after much protesting, DELL replaced
      NVIDIA GeForce2Go with ATI Radeon (5/9/2003)
      Malfunction: 22-Oct-2003: LCD back-light is switching OFF after startup;
      back-light failed 5 days after 3-year-complete-care-warranty expired 17-Oct-2003
      and DELL refuses to fix it, despite the video problems I was having for over 12 months.
      ________________________________________
      And how about that “Award Winning Support” ( LOL ).
      I want to barf every time I see one of those c o r n-b a l l DELL commercials
      about how “rock-solid” DELL computers are. That has not been my experience.
      I have also (like countless others) run the gauntlet through DELL’s
      tech support.
      If you call DELL tech support, you will get the royal run-around. DELL will:
      (1) tell you that other customers don’t have the problem.
      (2) give you some lengthy exercises to perform; and if the problem
      takes a while to reproduce, all the better
      (3) shift the blame to video card, disk drive, chip manufacturer, Microsoft, or you
      (4) perhaps guess at a part to replace ( usually the wrong one )
      (5) tell you to re-format the hard disk (this is their favorite), and
      (6) re-install the operating system (this is their 2nd favorite….
      hee hee hee….that’ll keep ‘em busy for a while).
      (7) remove and re-install device drivers
      (8) disable various operating system features (lame)
      (9) reduce performance settings and / or resolution / or power options
      (e.g. disable auto Power-Down)
      (10) download and try one of a dozen different driver versions
      (11) and generally, wear you down ( especially with the
      poor English of the Tech Support persons in India and Asia ), and
      (12) hope you will become discouraged and go away
      _______________________________________
      I’ve owned about a dozen computers over the past 20 years that total,
      ALL PUT TOGETHER, did not have the total number of problems that
      this one single stinkin’ piece of DELL lemon has had.

    • David 16:03 on 2003/11/26 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      My brother has had the worst time with his desktop. Nothing but problem after problem. All your descriptions of Dell’s support are so true. They are terrible and give you scripted responses and no long term solutions. I wonder if Michael Dell is aware of all these problems. I’m sure he is and doesn’t care becuase we are not corporate customers. Thats why he left the support center in India for home support. The only way we can make him feel the consequences is if we all spread the word about Dell’s crapy products and support and warn others not to buy from Dell. Eventualy they will start feeling the affects. I will never again buy or recommend another Dell. I will also tell my friends not to.

    • dorsy 06:06 on 2004/01/14 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      you’re stupid its obvious that the system is irreliable and you haven’t demanded for a replacement of your system? thats stupid. In the first place if you noticed something is wrong within first 30 days you should have immediatly ask for a replacement cause by SIMPLE LOGIC new computer should not act that way cause ITS NEW It barely got a dust inside the system. Tsk tsk tsk. Most of you got no I.Q.

    • richards 06:11 on 2004/01/14 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      It ain’t over cautious.
      1.) Its a laptop and all of the parts is close to each other
      2.) Electricity roams the entire PBC including that part.
      3.) Imagine the history of the word “bug” in the computer.
      Now can you see the logic behind? everything is possible and probable. I had a problem once that my keyboard aint working with my Inspiron laptop. What we did is we just removed the modem and it worked again. Its definitely because of excess power in the modem which can’t dessipate even if you turn the system off.

    • fik 02:16 on 2004/04/28 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I think your issues are END user issues. IS IT JUST A COINCIDENCE THE 4% OF DELLS SYS RESULTS IN A SUPPORT CALL 97% OF THOSE CALLS ARE RESOULVED. i FIGURE THESE WEB PAGES ARE FROM THAT .03% NOT TO BAD FOR HARDWARE MADE BY PEOPLE.. CHECK THE STATS FOR YOURSELF

    • Earl Finder 13:07 on 2004/04/29 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I agree that Dell has issues with their tech support; all companies (Microsoft? Apple? LOL) seem to these days. But, IMHO, Dell makes one of the best machines out there…no I never worked for them, but I work with them all the time ( the machines, that is…) No laptop is ever perfect; “the parts is close together and so they have to much energy that cant be dessipated (sic)”…Yes there are video card issues, but I’m sure Dell would be glad to replace a defective machine if only the End User can prove that it’s defective…No company, however, can replace a defective End User!
      “Dude, you got a Dell!!”

    • Harry Green 01:17 on 2004/12/03 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Dell … If you have to deal with a human at Dell you waste all the savings that you were getting on the hardware by buying direct. If you get it right the first time OK.
      Don’t ever try to resolve an order. Just cancel it and reorder on the web
      Dell customer service is the bottom of the barrel.
      Buy from local suppliers who care or catalog resellers like CDW or PCConnection, but don’t do the Dell.

    • Daniel 23:32 on 2005/07/13 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Rather than simply say DELL sucks , I’ll stick to the facts…
      Consider this nightmare experience (below) with the first and last DELL I’ll ever buy…
      NOTE:
      You can read Daniel’s list of complaints on his website.

    • renee 18:24 on 2005/07/20 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      a little late into the response for this entry.. but i googled “dell laptop keyboard doesn’t work” and got this site… i have had to call dell over 10 times for things i had no control over… like monitor having lines through it and the harddrive not working and my favorite… it was missing the internal wireless card we ordered with it.. recently, my keyboard and touchpad has completely stopped working all together. i am figuring my next call to dell will be in about 15 minutes

    • Rich 02:31 on 2006/03/25 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      The xps 600 is not different it is the same old junk as every other Dell. Don’t buy the hype you will be very sorry like me.

    • cajuntx 12:12 on 2006/04/03 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Hello,
      Just a note is reference to the Dell tech support.It is real bad.I have decided that I have to get really hateful in order to get my point across to them.They ask the same questions over and over again.
      I would rather go to to the dentist than call DELL tech support.
      OK NOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS IS PLEASE SEND ALL THESE POST AND ANY OTHERS TO DELL THROUGH EMAIL OR WHATEVER MEANS TOU HAVE.
      There is power In numbers .So do this and let them know of there stupid move to save money by hiring over seas is actullay losing them money.I will never buy another Dell if it is not fixed.

    • gary thomas 08:37 on 2006/06/26 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      i have tried many times buit no results, i am unable to get many progams to work, i think it is the windows programs. don’t ask for help as they can’t help very poor personnel.

    • Tim Andrew 15:02 on 2006/10/29 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      My new Dell laptop cannot go onto a wireless connection. It did for 2 days. Dell wants 99.00 to fix it, and Microsoft wants 35.00. What happened to warrantees? Both companies are too big, and too independent, and both companys SUCK.

  • adam 12:09 on 2003/09/10 Permalink  

    Parental Haiku 

    What’s that smell, my sweet?
    Rotten food? Roadkill skunk? Dog?
    Alas, it’s Code Brown.

     

  • adam 18:54 on 2003/09/07 Permalink  

    Public Service Announcement 

    This is a public service announcement. If you are male, and have actually considered wearing Speedo type underwear out in public, and you ARE NOT doing it at a swim meet/practice – then go home and don’t leave the house until you receive further instructions. Appearance in public – especially a water park geared towards families and children in particular – is punishable by laughter and pointing from others and humiliation on your part.
    And for the love of everything sane, if you do happen decide to go out in your Speedo in public, make sure you shave down some of the hair in your “nether” region – you look frelling stupid with the package all bulging, then the pubic hair all spread around it.
    It’s just not right – I don’t care what YOU think of it.
    Thank you for your time, you may resume your regular web surfing.

     

    • Anonymous 22:12 on 2004/12/04 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      world is so prude now, before everybody was wearing speedo type swimsuit

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