Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
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28
Aug
2008
Adobe’s Customer Service Grade
A few weeks ago, I got a macbook pro, as previously mentioned, and partially left the world of windows (my media center PC is still a PC). I found out (before I made the switch) that Adobe will allow you to swamp from windows or mac when you chance PCs if you already own their software (considering the price of photoshop, this was a big factor).
So, sure enough, I contacted them and spent about half an hour on the phone taking care of the swap. I had to fax a “letter of destruction” to them after the call and the cost of the swap was only the cost of shipping the new software to me. All and all, at this point I was fairly happy.
I faxed the form saying that I would destroy the windows copy of my software and waited for the new software. Two weeks passed… No word… finally, I went online and submitted a request for an update on the status. Four days passed, and I received an e-mail response that they needed an order number and the Serial # for my software. I had givent he case number for previous call in the status request… I sighed a bit and replied back with the extra requested information.
Before I got a response, literally the same day, the software arrived. There was never any communication to let me know it was coming. I had to sign for it and yet had no idea it was coming. If I didn’t work at home, of course, I would have missed it.
So, kudos to adobe for allowing me to trade in my windows copy for Mac, but you get a C for communication.
4
Aug
2008
One Month With The iPhone
After the post about considering a mac, I feel like I’m confessing to a religious conversion here!
Yes, I was one of the sheep who stood in line on the day the new iPhone 3G came out. In my (admittedly slim) defense here, I have had the same old motorola V400 for 4 years. I haven’t been under contract to AT&T for two years! I resisted the urge for a new toy because I was out of contract and that made me feel all giddy inside. I could drop AT&T anytime I wanted. And yet I didn’t. So, it was kind of a moot point.
The iPhone appealed to my inner geek. It does cool things and it goes wherever I go, and no, I don’t have to have any of them, but you live once.
A month later, not a lot positive or negative to report. It does what it’s supposed to. It’s a good phone. I can check my e-mail on the go. I can pull up a map and find places I need to get to. Even get directions to get there from wherever the heck it is I am now (love that). In time, it appears an app will come to make it a true GPS navigation device (if the rumors hold out). I’ll have to see the prices before I decide how much that means to me. Right now, I don’t travel enough here in the states to worry about it.
The only bummer is that when I travel overseas, if I use any of the data services (web, e-mail, maps, etc), I will pay out the nose for them. I mean, literally, hand over an arm to read a few emails if I don’t get wifi access. I’ve considered popping the sim in my old phone just for that possibility (i.e. don’t carry temptation wth me).
For the record, I only stood in line an hour. My timing (between work and dinner) was perfect and I missed the early and later crush of people. The truly amazing thing is I was at Northpoint mall on Saturday, and there’s still a line!
4
Aug
2008
Will My Windows Become History
That’s something I never thought I’d say. I’m actually considering a mac. I don’t mean that in a negative way, just that sometimes I’m a creature of habit, and I’ve spent over a decade using Windows based PCs and most recently laptops.
I’ve had a fujitsu for nearly three years now. I still love the picture on this laptop. It’s incredible, when it’s not crashing. And the bad thing is I’m fairly certain it’s the integrated graphics that’s giving up the ghost on it. I won’t bore with too many details, and after I mended from the hard crash this morning, I thought maybe I could delay it awhile longer, but I just had another abrupt crash that’s making me think maybe I shouldn’t be so optimistic. I’ve burrowed my way through the lists of laptops. Mostly looking at the ones I halfway liked when I looked for this one, and I”m not finding any windows based ones that are saying anything to me.
I’m really seriously thinking about a macbook pro. How nuts am I? The only thing I need to look into more is the possibility of getting a license for CS3 which I bought last year for the mac. Supposedly it’s possible. I also need to look into what the mac equivalent of MS Money is…
10
Apr
2008
Up In The Air
I’ve added a ton of photos to the Egypt Gallery tonight and over the last couple of days. This is something considering I had to swap out the hard drive on my laptop yesterday. I don’t know if it was a serious issue, but I had a file go all corrupt on me and windows crashed. It restarted, but I did a couple of drive tests from seagate that showed something was up. It was possible “merely” re-formatting would have taken care of it. No thanks, not worth the risk – I got a new drive, re-installed my OS and all my software and copied my files off the old one. Only lost one replaceable file. So, not bad. Next week I’ll take time the time to either reformat and re-test it or to call and find out about RMAing the drive which I’ll just use as yet another back-up drive.
Anyway, glitchy tech aside, I hit a stride with photos this week. I’ve got a lot to go, but I’ve posted some more from the Nile boat trip, the temple at Edfu, and I’m working through Luxor now.
After two days on a boat, Luxor was what the doctor ordered, a mix of western food and yet still with the awe inspiring temples from antiquity. The funny thing is, these photos of the temple at Luxor are as close as we ever got. It was an option to visit, but this, as striking as it looks, so paled to most of what we had seen or would see in the way of temples. And by not going, it held off the temple overload a little longer!
The first morning in Luxor is when the magic happened. My first experience with hot air ballooning. It was an experience that a week later I would claim as the highlight of the trip for me, and still something I look back on kindly. If you had asked me, I would have said, and still would, that I don’t like so much air between my feet and the ground, but my travels are very much about stepping outside those comfort zones. And it was ever so worth it. I don’t know when/if I’ll ever do it again, but I suspect I will, and I know I’ll treasure the memories. There are literally a ton of balloon photos, I’ll share a couple. I’d love it if you guys would pick your favorites and comment back with them. I want to pick a couple for prints and I just can’t choose.
No Cares
Over The Valley Of The Kings
Hanging
28
Jan
2008
Not So Exotic Bugs
The last few days in Egypt, I had a cough, which was particularly rough when we got back to the smog of Cairo. I thought the smog was what started things, but as I looked back, it started before we returned to Cairo. Still, when I got back, it did improve (so was likely worsened by the smog). And since then, I kept waiting… for it to… get better… And it hasn’t, so I set up an appointment with my doctor.
Went in today and she’s fairly confident it’s a virus. She said she that something is going around and she had the same symptoms. Being a virus, there’s not much to do for it. Over the weekend, I started having symptoms that usually go along with a sinus infection (which I’m unfortunately too acquainted with). For that reason, she gave me an antibiotic. And she gave me advair to help with the symptoms of the cough, which are taking their toll. It’s a strong cough, especially at night, so rather tiring after 2+ weeks.
So, here’s to recovery….
On the positive side, as I reported yesterday, I’ve used the down time for some monotonous tasks, namely the copying of all my CDs to MP3. I’d like to say I was working on my photos, but they’re languishing as I’m not feeling it right now.
Last night I tried out some more media library software. This one is looking like a winner. I’ve got another 29 days of the trial, but if things continue as they have, I may not need that long to try it out. For anyone interested, I’m testing J. River Media Center. I’m really liking the interface – very smooth. It’s obvious (and credited) that it’s based on windows media player, but it’s definitely beyond it.
First off, I was thinking I might need a faster router when I was using windows media player. Songs playing off of my network drive would occasionally stutter if I had several things going on the network at once. The router may need replacing anyway, not new, not top of the line, but not the total problem, apparently. As I’ve used this Media Center for two days now, and I didn’t even have issues when I was very actively using the home network today.
And so far, I’ve really only played with it’s music features. It can also handle videos and photos. Still open to other suggestions but looking favorably on this if it continues to function well.
