Verizon Phone Line problems Continue

Posted on October 18, 2006 | Comments Off on Verizon Phone Line problems Continue

It rained last night so My Phone Line went Down again.

I’m really trying to be patient about this as it is obviously a difficult problem to Diagnose, but this is getting seriously ridiculous. I work from home at least one day a week and need my phone to work properly else it costs me money.

The people who come to work on the problem (On Sunday no less!) are friendly and Polite and they do know what they are doing but  I think I lucked out with a really unusual  and intermittent problem. I’m betting they replace the entire phone line cable…

10/20/2006 UPDATE: They replaced the line from my Telephone pole to the Central Office. Last night, it rained and I still have phone service. Life is good…

Music I’m listening to right Now:
Nothing at the moment.

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Posted in Different, Rants

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Verizon Phone Service – Strike 3

Posted on October 12, 2006 | Comments Off on Verizon Phone Service – Strike 3

It rained last night. What powers of observation did I apply to figure that out? Simple, for the 3rd time since September 16th , my home phone is dead since It goes out every time it rains. I first called for service at about 8:40am, at 7:15pm, it's still dead. I'm told that they are working on it.

To make life perfect, the DSL line is spotty AND I'm attempting to  work from home today…  

Cable Modem is looking better and better…

Music I'm listening to right Now:
"Here It Goes Again " by OK go from the "Oh No " Album.

 

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Keith Olbermann on The Military Commissions Act

Posted on October 12, 2006 | Comments Off on Keith Olbermann on The Military Commissions Act

As other people have pointed out “The Military Commissions Act” passed by Congress is dangerous as it has no clear definition of what defines an “Enemy combatant”. Keith Olbermann does a fine job of explaining why this is such a badly written law and points out that it is whittling away at the Bill of Rights. He also does a great job of once again demonstrating what a complete hypocrite President George W. Bush is. This is such a “hot” issue, that he can’t schedule a time to sign it? Riiiiight… BTW, while Keith Olbermann is being sarcastic (loved the “Why Does Habeas Corpus Hate America?“), people should realize this: If something can be abused it will be. The founding fathers of the United States did NOT trust Government, which is why the codified the bill of rights. Even if the current president doesn’t abuse this (Wow, What Are the Odds?), it doesn’t mean others won’t. This is not a “partisan” issue, it’s potentially a Constitutional one.It used to be that you could depend on the Supreme Court to strike down laws like this one since it smacks in the face of the Constitution (i.e. Attempted murder of Habeas Corpus) but with this line up, who knows?
Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Crazy” by Seal from his “Seal” Album (1991). It seemed appropriate.

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Posted in Current Issues, Video

Cool Sony Advertisement

Posted on October 10, 2006 | 1 comment

Just saw this on Gothamist. It was done over a year ago, but still very cool. See the Behind the scenes movie after the break.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Did You Get My Message?” by Jason Mraz from the “Mr. A-Z” album. Continue reading →

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Posted in Cool Stuff, Different, Images, Video

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Me in a Nikon Advertisement

Posted on October 8, 2006 | Comments Off on Me in a Nikon Advertisement

Me in Nikon Advertisement
Originally uploaded by S.D..

In July, I was lucky enough to be among the 16 photographers that were chosen to participate in an advertising campaign for Nikon. It didn’t really hit me until I turned to Page 35 of Popular Photography (Janny got me a subscription) and see my face in the lower corner.
😉

My contribution is in the lower corner of the website, just left of the American Flag by Timothy Schenck.

To be perfectly honest, I think the other photographers are much better than I am, such as Timothy Schenck or Joseph Holmes (whom I saw at NYCPB6) just to name a few.

I really believe I’m lucky to be counted among such creative people.

Best viewed Large or Original.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Never Ending Story” by Limahl from the “The NeverEnding Story” Soundtrack.

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Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment for October 5th, 2006

Posted on October 6, 2006 | Comments Off on Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment for October 5th, 2006

Keith Olbermann’s comments on the President is quite telling and quite interesting as I think it’s spot on. He’s close to 10 minutes long with this one, but it is well worth listening too. This gets cut off a little at the end, but you could see all of it here. The President constantly lies about anyone that opposes him. The incidents that Keith Olbermann bring up are perfect examples of the “Power at any cost” attitude that the Republicans have.Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley from the “St. Elsewhere” Album.

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Posted in Cool Stuff, Current Issues, Different, Rants, Video

Storage issues…

Posted on October 5, 2006 | Comments Off on Storage issues…

HDMind you I really like my Nikon D80, but at the Volume of pictures I take combined with shooting RAW images and 10.2 Mega pixels, I max out my Hard disk on a regular basis.

It's down to a routine:

  1. I take photographs, attempt to download them to my PC
  2. get a nasty message saying the Drive is full.
  3. I burn a few days worth of Images to DVD
  4. A week or two later repeat step 1.

On the plus side, My images get burned to DVD fairly often, but I was thinking there may be a better way.

  • Ignoring budget constraints: The Netgear SC101. It allows you to plug this onto your network and look like a regular Drive in Windows. I like that it's low cost but currently not designed to work with windows. Also I keep reading negative things in reviews available on the Web.
  • Another option (again ignoring budget) is the LaCie Biggest F800. It has RAID support but It only has Firewire and USB 2.0, not Ethernet.
  • Yet another option is putting a Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A into the PC and mirror two drives. Might be th most cost effective way of ensuring Safe data. The RAID Card is about $75 and two Maxtor 500gb Drives are about $275 to $300 each. 

I could simply add a new HD but that would prolong the issue. Likely I'll go with the 3rd option with SATA drives. When I get a new PC (Mine is a Pentium 4 from 2001…) I could just add the drives into the new case.


Music I'm listening to right Now:
"Ever Fallen in Love?" by Fine Young Cannibals from "The Raw & the Cooked".

 

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Posted in Different, Images

New Phone

Posted on October 2, 2006 | Comments Off on New Phone

V3mIt's that time of year again to renew or change our Cell Plan. Using Verizon for more years than I can count, we gave them another shot at keeping our business. I broke down and got the Motorola RAZR V3m.

Feature Breakdown and Comments:

  • Ultra-thin design – This was a selling point for me. It's Thin, small and very light
  • Blue tooth Capable – Very handy. The blue tooth headset also works with my Laptop VOIP software freeing me of my USB tether. 
  • Voice Dialing – Nice, works via the Blue tooth headset too.
  • Speakerphone – Works surprisingly well and I've used it twice already.
  • microSD™ card slot – Might use this as I tend to go nuts with MP3 ring tones. Several people in my Phone Book get a Police Siren when the call me.
  • "Standard" USB cable – I carry everything in my knap sack and anything that can be multi purpose is really appreciated. In this case, the same USB cable can charge the Blue tooth Headset is the same one that can charge the phone via any USB jack. That means I leave the charger at home and plug the USB cable to my work computer to charge the Phone. The same cable can be used with my Sandisk Multi card reader, Nikon D80, Sony GPS-CS1, and Canon S410.

These features are ok, but of not really selling points to me:

  • 1.3M Camera – Likely not to use it much as I carry a Nikon D80 10 mega pixel camera 90 percent of the time. My 4 year old Nephew had fun with it.
  • V CAST Music and Video Service – Cute and nice if you want it, but I'll never use it as I have an IPOD.
  • VZ Navigator through Get It Now® – Maybe it would be useful outside of NYC, but another one I'll likely never use.
  • TTY Compatible
    vHearing Aid Compatibility = M3     – Good to know.
  • Meets FCC SAR limit. Manufacturer's highest FCC reported SAR 1.14 at ear, 1.56 on body.  – Read about SAR here.

All in all I'm happy with it. We did have an issue with the 1st Bluetooth headset they gave me, but they replaced it with no fuss.

Here is a detailed Review: Motorola Razr V3m Review – CNET


Music I'm listening to right Now:
"Call Me Call Me" from "Cowboy Bebop: Blue".

 

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Posted in Cool Stuff, Different

Tom Niemann’s PTLens – www.epaperpress.com

Posted on September 23, 2006 | Comments Off on Tom Niemann’s PTLens – www.epaperpress.com

PTLENS!Ok, I can't remember if I've written about this before, but Tom Niemann's PTLens is a Perfect Example of why shareware is a Good thing.

Long story short: Among other things, It corrects Lens distortion based on Camera and Lens Profile. I find it so useful and easy to use that I just paid for it a Second time after downloading the most recent version and Data file. The Data file now includes my Nikon D80.

Believe me, at $15 dollars, PTLens is one hell of a deal. If you use Photoshop or just want a good stand alone program to correct Lens distortion, get it.


Music I'm listening to right Now:
"All at once" by The Fray from the "How to Save a Life".

Image from www.epaperpress.com

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Posted in Cool Stuff

On Going Phone DSL problems…

Posted on September 16, 2006 | Comments Off on On Going Phone DSL problems…

Old PhoneVerizon usually has no issues in phone service but this week, they're really having it Bad. Thursday, something big broke and it's affecting service in this neighborhood.

It's been out since Thursday, but Oddly DSL is working (As of this writing!). They have an ETA of 8:00pm  Saturday, but I'm not betting on it. I'm sure they're working on it as best they can. 

Update: Phone and DSL back as of 11:15am. Anyone from Verizon reading this, Thanks!


Music I'm listening to right Now:
"Wild" by Seal from his "Seal" Album (1991).
 

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