10.24.07
Posted in Linux, SAnToS at 8:47 pm by Todd
Sorry, this blog entry was delayed while I tried to get the details cleaned up.
Quick Summary: Gentoo takes a long time to install and get right but it works great!
Gentoo was my last hope for getting Linux installed on my new HP Compaq nc8430. I had tried Ubuntu (and KUbuntu), OpenSUSE, and Fedora. All came up short in some way or another.
For several years I have been using Gentoo Linux on my Dell laptop and have been quite happy with it. But it does take time to get installed and configured. Put another way, if you want to install Gentoo, you better be ready to take time and effort. So I decided to take the time and effort in hopes that it would work.
I decided to dive in so I downloaded the 2007.0 CD and started installing. Everything was smooth until I tried to get all the kernel configurations correct for my hardware (I chose to configure my kernel instead of using genkernel). There was nothing I couldn’t get fixed but I did have to configure, build, and test several times before I got something that worked for my hardware and software. From my experience and knowledge about the community, this is fairly typical.
Some struggles:
- Getting sound to work properly: Not sure what the final solution was (I was not methodical about fixing this) but I got it working properly.
- Getting the ATI drivers to work properly for dual-monitors: This took quite a bit of trial-and-error but finally figured it out. I ended up using the proprietary drivers (boo).
- Getting flash working: It really is a pain that Adobe/Macromedia can’t create a 64bit version of flash that will work with my 64bit version of Firefox. My workaround is to use Opera for all flash related sites. I was also able to get Firefox to use the 32bit Flash plugin by installing and configuring nspluginwrapper.
- Getting the framebuffer support and gensplash working: I still haven’t gotten this despite several attempts. More work is necessary to figure this one out.
- Getting hibernation/sleep working: I started to work on this and had to switch back to real work. At some point I will come back to this.
Some great things I learned:
- 64bit computing is not ready for mainstream. Or put another way, the software is not ready. Even bleeding-edge software from Gentoo is not quite stable in many ways. But my least favorite is that Adobe has not released a 64bit version of Flash.
- NetworkManager works great for dealing with wired and wireless connections. I think everyone should use it for laptops (or other machines that move around).
- Gentoo documentation and forums are some of the best around. I was really disappointed in the OpenSUSE, Fedora, and Ubuntu communities. The just don’t have the level of documentation as Gentoo has (ok, that is just perception not a statement of fact).
After all the hard work I finally have a working 64bit laptop running Gentoo. I still have a few things to work out but it is usable.
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10.23.07
Posted in Manhattan, Restaurant at 9:10 pm by Todd
Tonight was my first real experience at Della Voce (I have been in and out of that place over the last couple weeks helping to get the computers setup). Kari and I were invited to a private dining experience at the restaurant that was part marketing and part practice (for the staff).
Overall, it was great! The food was fantastic. The atmosphere was wonderful. And the service was very good.
I should warn everyone that this is not your normal Manhattan restaurant, although it is very typical of high-end restaurants in other large markets I have been to. What I mean to say is that most places in town are like Applebee’s, Chili’s, or Carlos O’Kelly’s (funny that I picked out three chains that have apostrophes in the name). Noisy, bland, and adequate service is the best way to describe them. When I go to these types of restaurants in town, the staff usually means well, but they aren’t trained as professional wait staff (usually high school and college students just trying to make a buck). For example, I really get annoyed when I am having a discussion and the waiter interrupts to ask how everything is going. Or when I have to try to find our waitress for 10 minutes just to get a clean fork. Those are signs that the staff is not as professional as they should be.
Della Voce is much different. The style is eclectic and modern, the music was fun and soothing (odd combination when I write that out), and the service was professional. Kari and I could carry on a conversation and not be interrupted constantly. I never had to ask for more water and when we had made our selections on the menu, the waitress was there waiting to take our order. Kari was also very relieved that when she made requests to leave things off, the waitress didn’t act like it would be a big hassle (she actually smiled and said sure). Big bonus points in Kari’s book.
Just in case you wanted to know, I had a crab cake, mozzarella, and tomato appetizer, the Italiana pizza entree, and a chocolate cake with vanilla gelato for dessert. Kari had a spinach salad for an appetizer, a stuffed trout entree, and peach cobbler with cinnamon gelato sans cobbler for dessert. Can’t wait to try more of the menu.
Noah and Melvin, you have created a great restaurant that will soon be a favorite to many in Manhattan. I know it is my favorite already.
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10.22.07
Posted in Manhattan, Restaurant at 9:30 am by Todd
This week will mark the opening of Manhattan’s new restaurant, Della Voce. It is an italian bistro started by two K-State alums, Noah Reagan and Melvin Watson. They will be opening their doors on Wednesday, October 24th 2007.
I have been friends with Noah for more than 15 years. He has had an amazing professional career so far at restaurants in Paris, Boston, and Houston. He has also worked in the Tiki Hut and the Four Seasons in Costa Rica.
I am very proud of him and know that his restaurant will be very successful. And I am not just saying this to get free food (which is always a nice gift, Noah).
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10.15.07
Posted in Customer Service at 9:49 am by Todd
Ever since I was old enough to receive mail, I was getting junk mail. And ever since I got a phone number, I was getting tele-marketing calls. And ever since I got an email address, I was getting spam. And if you can’t tell by now, I don’t like any of them. So today, I am going to document how I am dealing with these daily annoyances.
First, the low-tech way to deal with junk mail is to open them up, shred anything that has personal information on them, and then return the rest in the business reply envelope that they provide (unless it has a unique number on the envelope or they don’t provide one). I have heard that this really doesn’t do any good but I don’t completely agree with the argument. In my view, every time I send their junk back, it costs them more to market in this way (direct marketing, aka junk mail). So by me doing this, I cut into their profits. And I think if others did this as well, they might notice. But that is just the start.
The next thing in the process is to get removed from the pre-screen offers of credit. You can do this at OptOutPrescreen.com (run by the major credit reporting agencies). Simply fill out the online form, which will remove you for 5 years, and then send in the printable form to get removed forever. I sent this in today and helped Kari get it done as well. Hopefully, this will make a difference in the coming weeks (if I remember, I will let you know).
The third phase will be trying to get the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) to stop selling my name. Although this is looking like a rip-off since they charge $1 to be removed from the list (seems unfair and unethical – although I can’t make a comprehensible argument at this point). I will have to look into this more (or get assistance from my many, expert readers).
Once you have dealt with junk mail I suggest getting rid of tele-marketers. This can be done by using the national do-not-call registry. Simply fill out the form (up to three phone numbers can be entered along with an email address for confirmation purposes), confirm once the email arrives, and then repeat in 5 years. Today, I just renewed my registration as well as added my cell phones (mine and Kari’s), although I don’t think this is necessary.
Now, the hard part, dealing with spam. I have tried several things in the past and here are my suggestions. First, use an ISP or mail host that filters spam from email. It is best to use someone that allows you to configure the sensitivity and allows exceptions. My main account is hosted by K-State and they do this for me.
Second, I suggest using an email client that can filter spam as well. I use Thunderbird but many email applications do this now. It takes some time to train them but once trained, they are very effective. I think I get 20-50 spam emails per day and only 2-10 show up in my inbox. The rest are filtered into my spam folder (which I go through on a regular basis to make sure the training is correct). You can see this drastically improves my day.
Last, I suggest protecting your email address online. Don’t post it to forums, mailing lists, drawings, etc. This is just inviting spammers to harvest your address and use it. And if you need to post it, try to obscure it in some ways. For more on this practice see this as well as the Wikipedia article on it.
With all of that said, I don’t think you can completely rid yourself of these annoyances. For example, spam filtering can only get you so far and you will just have to deal with the rest. And there are loop-holes in the do-not-call list like charities and the annoying political calls. But I have noticed a difference by being on the do-not-call list so it is working. Hopefully this helps a little bit. And for more information (at least in the US), visit the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection web to learn more.
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10.12.07
Posted in Programming at 2:22 pm by Todd
I just came across what I would like to call a checklist for a great project (the blog author obviously isn’t a real project manager or they would have felt the same way). So if you are a project manager, make sure that you can satisfy all of them. If not, at least satisfy my favorites (2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 17, and 19). A similar list can be found here.
Ok, I lied, the original authors are correct that they are all signs of a doomed project. But they are very funny for anyone that has worked on a software project. Enjoy.
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