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Exit Excel 2007 when closing last worksheet

After upgrading to Office 2007, I have been bugged *every* time I closed the last worksheet using the X (close) button in the top-right corner. Unlike all previous versions, Excel 2007 continues to run with no worksheet. I did a quick search and found this nice tip. In a nutshell:

  • Click the down arrow at the right of the Quick Access Toolbar and choose More Commands.
  • Select All Commands in the Choose Commands From pull-down menu.
  • Scroll down and select the Exit command.
  • Click the Add button in the middle to add the Exit command to the list on the right. (Hint: If you want, you can select a command on the right move them up or down by clicking the up/down arrow buttons.)
  • Click OK.

Now, if you really want to exit Excel, just click the X (Exit) button on the Quick Access Toolbar instead of the X close  button.

(Thanks to Carol Bratt for writing up this tip!)

Now that you know about the Quick Access Toolbar, it’s a great place to put your frequently used commands or macros. I also like it positioned under the Ribbon which is easy to do by selecting Show Below the Ribbon.

February 22, 2010 Posted by spice3d | Software | | 2 Comments

Streaming MP3s to iPod Touch with Orb

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Orb for many years. Basically, Orb allows you to stream media off your PC over the Internet to other PCs or mobile devices. It uses the server/client model where you run the server software on your PC with the media (music, video, and photos) and the client can be a web page or iPhone app.

It’s free to use and you’ll only need to shell out money if you want the iPhone app which costs $10. (Note that there is a freebie version you can use to try it out.) If you just use the a web browser to access, it’s free.

It always *kinda* worked for me, but the one problem that always made me turn in off was that it would often grab 100% of my CPU for seemingly no reason. For years, the Orb developers seem to totally disregard this showstopping bug until now. I noticed that one of the recent builds mentioned CPU usage in the change log, so I decided to install the latest version and try it for Nth time, but this time I’m happy I did.

I’m really using this for MP3s, but I checked out a few videos and they seemed to work fine as did the photos. It still seems to have some issues with not updating playlists, but so far no CPU hogging, so I’m very happy with it and I did buy the iPhone app as well.

It’s pretty simple to install and its only gets semi-complicated if you want to stream outside your home. To do that you’ll need your external IP address and know how to open ports on your router.

I had been using Logitech’s Squeezebox, but it’s limitation is that it requires a secondary player, either hardware or software. That set up just doesn’t really work on an iPod Touch or iPhone. It’s ok in a PC environment, although things can easily get out of sync.

I’ll be putting it through it’s paces over the next few weeks and will report back if I find anything worth mentioning.

February 15, 2010 Posted by spice3d | Movies and TV, Music | , , | No Comments Yet

No customers at outlet mall

Yeah this is anecdotal evidence, but look at the available parking spaces at 2pm on a Sunday at the Camarillo Outlet mall! Normally, you would have to hunt for a space. The mall is giant–three separate sections–and this is in the middle of the main one. Yeah, *maybe* the economy has “bottomed”, but we got a long way to go to get back to normal.

February 1, 2010 Posted by spice3d | SeriouslyTrivial.com, Wall Street | | No Comments Yet

Using a Bluetooth headset in a convertible (car)

I drive a 350Z Roadster and like to listen to podcasts. Sure, I can pump it through the radio–I added an Aux jack, but you really have to crank up the volume to understand the conversation over the roar of the engine and road noise. Now, you can find plenty of Bluetooth headsets that have outbound noise-canceling–so others can hear you, but try finding one that has inbound noise-canceling–so you can hear your phone. I’ve found none. The best I could do was the Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth headset which is an in-ear canal headset and, therefore, does a reasonable job of blocking out road noise. Still, I often had the volume at or near 100%, which can’t be very good for my hearing. I also considered the Plantronics Voyager Pro, perhaps, with a custom molded ear piece from AverySound, but I just couldn’t convince myself that this behemoth wasn’t hideous. Besides it didn’t support A2DP or AVRCP so you can’t remotely control a media device.

I got a pair of Audio-Technica ATH ANC3BK noise-canceling earphones and found they did a superb job of canceling out road noise. Initially, I plugged them into the Nokia headset adapter that came with my N97. This let me remotely control volume, make phone calls, etc. albeit with a wired connection. Unfortunately, with the ATH ANC3BK’s bulky control box (including AAA battery), I looked like a Christmas tree when everything was all hooked up.

Searching for a better solution I stumbled upon the Sony DRC-BT15. It has a built-in mic and media controls. Basically, it turns standard wired headphones into a wireless stereo Bluetooth headset. (I’m pretty sure Nokia made a similar device, but I could not track it down.) The Audio-Technica earphones work great with it. The set up is still a little bulky, but eliminating the wired connection to the phone makes it much more palatable.

So until they make an in-ear canal, inbound noise-canceling Bluetooth headset, this is the best solution I’ve found. I can drive with the top down on the freeway with the volume very low and clearly hear callers and understand my podcasts. It’s probably saving my hearing as well. Of course, I only have one side plugged in, so the other side of the earphones dangles. I haven’t been brave enough to cut one side off yet :-)

January 14, 2010 Posted by spice3d | Gadgets, Hardware, Mobile Computing, Music, SeriouslyTrivial.com | , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Make gMail your default Windows email client, Part II

About a year ago I posted how to make gMail your default email client using Affixa. While that still remains a great way to do it system-wide, if you only want gMail to come up when you click a mailto: link in Firefox, I got this tip from the MaximumPC Feb 2010 issue. In Firefox, go to Tools > Options, and then select the Applications tab. Type “mailto” in top input field. From the drop down select gMail.

January 9, 2010 Posted by spice3d | SeriouslyTrivial.com | | No Comments Yet

My 2010 Predictions

First, how did I do with my 2009 predictions?

2009 Predictions

1. Lakers will win the NBA championship. Bingo! I should get extra points for this one.
2. The Celtics won’t make it to the finals. HA HA!
3. My daughter will achieve a B average. If you factor in the one-grade bump for AP courses, she did it.
4. High foreclosure rate will continue. Uh huh. Looks like it might accelerate too.
5. The median price of homes will continue to decline albeit at a slower pace. Buzzz. Thanks to govt handouts and free loans..err stimulus…median price is seeing some increases
6. We will officially enter a recession. Yuppers
7. Prez Obama will claim he didn’t know how bad it really was. Nope, but he gets no props for not using this one.
8. Apple will become “mortal”. I think we are starting to see some chinks in the armor.
9. I will get a new phone. Yes, an N97.
10. West Los Angeles home prices will finally succumb to significant price declines. Prices are down, but I wouldn’t say significantly.
11. I will gain a new hobby. Darn. Missed this one!
12. I will maintain my weight loss. Yes indeed!

8 out of 12. Not too shabby. Better than last year’s 7 or 15.

2010 Predictions

  1. Lakers will repeat as NBA champions. (Yeah, I’m going to ride this one as long as I can!)
  2. The Celtics won’t make the finals…again. (ditto.)
  3. Higher interest rates will start, particularly long-term rates.
  4. Higher mortgage rates will cause havoc in residential home sales
  5. High foreclosure rate will continue
  6. High unemployment will continue
  7. The federal government will begin to see the problem with the the stupid idea of borrowing to get out of a credit crisis. In the long run, it doesn’t work for me and won’t work for Uncle Sam. My guess is that it will manifest itself with a difficulty to sell Treasuries, which will cause rates to rise and cascade into all kinds of other problems.
  8. A US state will declare bankruptcy.
  9. The equity markets will realize, like Wile E. Coyote, that you can only remain suspended in mid-air temporarily.
  10. Apple will release some type of tablet device and it will not only create a new category, but destroy the eBook device market (e.g., Kindle, Sony Reader, B&N Nook, etc.).
  11. Firmware updates to the N97 will finally make it a flagship device for Nokia.
  12. With respect to the economy, 2010 will be a year we’d rather forget than remember. It will not be a recovery year, but a year where hard lessons should be learned. (Gawd, I hope I’m wrong on this, but I know we have to pay the piper someday.)

December 26, 2009 Posted by spice3d | SeriouslyTrivial.com | | No Comments Yet

VOIP phone hangs up after 10 minutes

For some unknown reason, in the past few weeks our ViaTalk VOIP phone started hanging up after *exactly* 10 minutes. After a little bit of searching I found this page which under the promising heading of “VoIP call disconnects after 10 minutes” had a link to this document.

I already had the VOIP unit set up in the DMZ, so that wasn’t the problem. The document also talks about turning off the “SIP ALG” method. Well, buried deep on the Dlink DIR-655 router’s Advance > Firewall Settings page, I found a SIP checkbox under the Application Level Gateway (ALG) Configuration section. I unchecked it, saved the settings and this seems to have fixed the problem! We’ll see if it stays that way. I’m hopeful. Thought I’d post this in case anyone else runs into this issue.

December 25, 2009 Posted by spice3d | SeriouslyTrivial.com | , , | No Comments Yet

Eventually, we will have to pay the piper

It’s hard to understand the quick rebound in the financial markets, but it should be obvious to even the layman that you cannot truly borrow your way out of a financial bind, which is what the US government has done. We’ve only delayed the pain that *must* be felt and probably made it worse.

“The Fed and other policymakers seem unaware of the monster bubble they are creating. The longer they remain blind, the harder the markets will fall.” Full article

–Nouriel Roubini

November 1, 2009 Posted by spice3d | Wall Street | | No Comments Yet

Nokia N97, a solid upgrade from the N95

I’ve been playing with my new Nokia N97 and am so happy I stayed with Nokia and didn’t venture off to iPhone or Palm Pre land, or even N900. It’s an awesome device. I LOVE THIS PHONE!

I just upgraded to the v20 firmware. The phone came with v12. The only major visible improvement is kinetic scrolling. This may sound like a meaningless “for show” feature, but it really does make navigating easier and more fluid. Long press of keys to get alternate characters is nice.

I’m sure there are a lot of N95 owners, like me, wondering if they should get the N97, go with the non-touch N86, or just abandon an N-series for Appleland. Well, wonder no more. The N97 kicks all other phones’ rears. I’ll try to touch on a lot of the issues I was anticipating. Happily, for the most part, my fears ended up being unfounded.

I know there has been a lot of pooh poohing the touch interface with S60 5th edition, but, generally, I think they did a pretty good job. There are a few instances where it’s difficult to navigate through an older apps UI by touch, but in those few instances you can just flip out the keyboard and use the D pad old-school style. I suspect, apps will soon adopt a 5th-ed version as some have already done.

Unfounded Fears:

  • Resistive touch screen: It not as fluid as capacitive (iPhone), but OK.
  • Responsiveness: Reasonably responsive, but can get sluggish when you have a lot of apps running–maybe Apple is right ;-) Similar to N95 experience, however.
  • Keyboard: It is fine! The positioning of the spacebar is easy to get used to. Easy to type on.
  • D Pad vs (N97 Mini’s arrow keys): It works fine and I haven’t encountered any issues. Just use your thumbnail–as I did on N95. In fact, I’d say it’s easier to use than N95’s equivalent.
  • Virtual T9 keypad: Might be easier to use than the N95’s physical keypad which requires a much harder push
  • App compatibility: Most of the apps I used on N95 have a S60 5th ed. compatible version.
  • One-handed use: You can still use it comfortably with one hand. However, since it lacks many of the N95’s physical buttons, it usually takes several more “clicks” to accomplish some tasks.
  • Size: It’s fairly compact and not really that much larger than iPhone.
  • 3G with same SIM: It worked fine using SIM from non-3G N95. (I never notice that it actually said 3G on the SIM ;-)
  • Lens cover scratching: Doesn’t appear lens cover design is different than the one that can scratch the lens based on what I’ve seen on the Net. I suspect that the natural tendency to push down and slide may contribute to the problem, so I’m going to try to remember to slide it from the side with my fingernail. Based on this video, it doesn’t look too difficult to swap it out should I need to down the line.

Nice Surprises:

  • Charges through USB port. No more proprietary power connector.
  • Less camera shutter lag than N95
  • The msg reader app is very neat! It will read SMS messages out loud.
  • Telexy’s VPN app is very cool. I was able to transfer files from a Windows share on my home network over the Internet to my phone! Their Remote Desktop Client works too, but not sure how useful it is on the small screen.
  • Initially I really missed T9Nav. It’s an app that lets you quickly find anything on your phone. The developers say a 5th ed version is not due until March! However, I found that HandyShell from Epocware has a similar feature. The difference is that it is based on what you actually type and not T9 (i.e., phone keypad) input. Since the N97 has no physical phone keypad, it works well. Of course, this means you have to use the keyboard. There is also a built-in search app that will globally for things.
  • Opera Mini works wonderfully on N97. I still don’t like the way the built-in browser’s Back function always takes you to a list first.

Tips, Tricks and Stuff:

  • Get the black version. The white keyboard on the white version has white keys and back-lighting can make the keys hard to see. Hopefully they will allow you to turn off the backlight manually in the future, which would fix the problem.
  • Watch the WiFi use since it can drain the battery quickly.
  • If you are used to the iPhone’s capacitive touch screen, the N97 requires a slightly harder press. If you don’t, you’ll find that it may interpret your touch as a click instead of a drag.
  • Beware of cases that have a magnetic clasp. I didn’t realize this and every time I would take it out of the case, the camera app would go on–even if it’s in standby! I believe it thinks I opened the lens cover. The N95 had a similar issue. I went to one of those Mobile accessories carts in the mall and tried a couple out. I found one that works. I is also magnetic, but for whatever reason it doesn’t set the camera off.
  • Leave the screen protector on! It’s always a pain to put on an aftermarket one and you never get all the bubbles out.
  • If you have to use the scrollbar on long lists, use your fingernail. If you use your finger, it tends to scroll a little as you lift your finger.
  • Speed dialing (aka 1-Touch or One Touch) doesn’t work if the number has parenthesis or dashes (spaces appear to be OK). Just take them out of any speed dialed number. If you don’t, you will get an “Invalid Phone Number” error message. This only affects speed dialing. If you select a number with parenthesis from your normal Contacts, it dials fine.
  • As I stated above, it may be best to slide the camera lens cover from the side using a fingernail instead of pressing on it and sliding. Should help to minimize risk of scratching.
  • It can get confusing when using the side unlock button because it doesn’t also make the display come on. It is best to turn autolock off (Menu > Settings > Phone > Phone mgmt > Auto. keyguard) Then, just use the side lock/unlock button to lock/unlock the keypad manually.
  • Set the Light time-out (Settings > Phone > Display > Light time-out) to as short a setting as tolerable to save battery life.
  • For Google Reader, MojoStudios appears to be on the verge of releasing a dedicated app. Can’t wait to try because the browsers don’t seem to format things perfectly. Even the Google Reader Widget For The N97 is just ok. Direct link to widget here.
  • I also have an iPod Touch 2nd gen which satisfies my iPhone lust. ‘Course, since I have an N97 I can use it as a WiFi hotspot to get Internet access :-) Also, I use my Touch to access my work Exchange email, calendar, etc. and use my phone for my personal equivalents. I like to keep them segregated.
  • Automatically scale an image before it gets uploaded Flickr. Go to Applications > Share online. Highlight Flickr and press Options. Choose Edit and then sSet Upload image size to medium.
  • Epocware makes a lot of…well..handy utilities. They are on the pricey side for S60 apps. Fortunately, I had a 30% off coupon, so I just popped for the Handy Tools Pack. Some apps I’ll never use, but in addition to HandyShell, I like HandySafePro for storing sensitive data and HandyProfiles which lets you automatically switch Profiles based on time and even location.
  • If when you press the Back button from the Music Player, it goes directly to the Standby screen, try this: Connect via USB cable and delete the following directories inside “private” on drives E and F: 101ffc31, 101ffca9, 10281e17. Do a refresh. Doesn’t seem to “stick”, however.

Email:

  • I’m using LonelyCatGames’ Profimail email client. It is arguably the best (only?) email client that supports HTML email. The build-in email client sux in a big way.
  • I’m also trying out the new Nokia Messaging. This *service* accesses your email on their server and then syncs it to your phone. This is a little unnerving because you have to give your email password to Nokia. That said, it is by far the best S60 email client I’ve used. HTML email looks beautiful! It features Blackberry style “push” email, so you get notified of new messages and they can be automatically downloaded. (Personally, I don’t like this for email.) They are rather vague about how much this service will eventually cost and honestly I’m not sure how much I would pay. Here’s the FAQ. One thing I do not like is the 10-folder limit which for any heavy gMail user is not nearly enough. Profimail has unlimited.
  • You could also use the GMail app from http://m.google.com instead of web-based client, but I’ve never liked this on a Nokia device.

C Drive Debacle:

  • The N97 has two storage drives, C and E. Free space on C is very important and there is not very much of it. However, Nokia has seen fit to store and have all kinds of things load on there and you will likely have problems very quickly.
  • It’s SO stupid when you consider that it’s got gigabytes of built-in storage on the E drive! I’m thinking this will be fixed with firmware, but it doesn’t look like it made it into v20.
  • I copied over unused files to my PC and deleted a bunch.
  • A great way to see which files are installed on C is to use the App Manager (Settings > Application mgr > Installed Apps). A list will all installed apps will appear with how much space they take up. If you don’t see the icon to the right, that means the app is installed on C. You can delete by selecting and then deleting from the Options menu. Make sure you have things backed up or can get the install files later if you need!
  • Also, go to the Ovi store and see which (free) apps are available there that are pre-installed. Uninstall them from the phone. Then, download and reinstall to the E: drive. Examples include Bloomberg, AccuWeather and AP News. This will free up several megabytes.
  • If you upgrade to v20, it really does free up more C space if you do a hard reset which wipes *everything* off your phone. To do this, on the keyboard just press caps shift, spacebar, delete, and then press the power on. Back up first and be prepared to reinstall all your apps.

Disappointments:

  • v20 firmwire:
    • got rid of Podcast-specific Recently Added list! WTF!
    • Back button on Media Player often goes back to Standby screen, not library. Look like a bug.
  • Battery gets eaten up real fast if you do a lot on the phone.
  • Uses micro-USB connector instead of more universal mini-USB.
  • I miss the many physical buttons on the N95, like pencil, C, top left and right, and multimedia.
  • Browser (including Opera Mini) doesn’t have the smooth experience of the iPod Touch/iPhone. Also, Google mobile sites don’t work as well.
  • Inconsistent use of single and double-tapping. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if something isn’t happening because of a lag or you need to click again. I suppose I may get used to it. If you think about it, Windows isn’t always consistent either. Sometimes it’s single click and sometimes it double.
  • Application UIs are not always touch or “finger friendly”
  • Letters on backlit keyboard can be hard to see if it’s not dark
  • Needs a better application launcher with more customizable spots.
  • Won’t pair with my work Bluetooth dongle, but I think it’s a Vista/Nokia issue. Works fine on XP machine at home.
  • Copy and Paste using keyboard is missing. Jeeze!!!

November 1, 2009 Posted by spice3d | Mobile Computing | , , , | No Comments Yet

And my new phone will be??? The Nokia N97!

Readers of my blog will remember that I had pre-ordered the Nokia N97 way back in May. However, due to a fckup by Nokia, I canceled the order and have been limping by with my N95-1.

Since then a lot of new contenders have been released and I’ve had time to compare and analyze. In the end, I still feel the N97 is the best choice for me. The two main reasons are the N97’s far superior camera and ability to use as a WiFi hotspot via Joikuspot.

The openness of the Nokia platform is also nice. I can automatically sync files over WiFi with SymSync and even browse files on the phone over WiFi using SymSMB. They’ve even got a Windows Remote Desktop client which I’m anxious to try. All of these products are from Telexy.

Another reason I stuck with Nokia is the auto-bookmarking feature of the podcast player. iPhone also has, but only with AAC files and since I have an automated way to create speeded-up MP3s, converting formats would be an extra manual step. It will also be nice to use a browser that supports Flash.

I got $200 off the $699 list price with free shipping, so it’s actually a better deal than my original pre-order. Plus, it will have the latest firmware already installed, so it will be a nicer out-of-the-box experience.

I strongly considered the new N97 mini, but since there is no NAM version out yet and it has no camera lens cover, I’m passing. I also considered the N86 especially since it has an 8MP camera, but I think I’d like to try the touchscreen movement and see if I can live without physical buttons.

I think what makes this an easier choice is that I already have an iPod Touch 2nd gen. As such, I have access to all of the cool iPhone apps. I actually like having two devices since one can be dedicated to mostly music and media. It would be a pain if I did everything all on one device.

Whew! Now I can finally stop being so envious of all those iPhone owners. Perhaps they will be a little envious of me now! =)

October 15, 2009 Posted by spice3d | Mobile Computing | , , , , , | No Comments Yet

It is *not* a good time to buy a home

Yup. That’s right. It is not a good time to buy a home, at least in California. “But housing prices seem to have bottomed!”, you say, and “interest rates are at historic lows!” Well, allow me to explain.

Because, homes are so expensive in California, people tend to buy as much house as they can afford; the yardstick for “affordability” being the payment. The price of the home they can “afford” is, thus, driven by two main factors: the payment they can afford and the interest rate. (I’m ignoring the down payment since that will vary wildly from person to person.) All things being equal, the payment people can afford is a constant at any point in time. This is particularly true if financial institutions learn their lesson and stop the loose credit practices that got us into this mess in the first place (i.e., ARMs, interest only, no-doc, etc.). My feeling is that, at least in the short-term, a borrower’s true ability to pay will be evaluated much more stringently.

Currently, mortgage rates are artificially low because the government is trying to encourage banks to lend to help the economy. Rates without government intervention would be much higher. Think about it: credit/loans are much harder to come by these days. In other words, the supply of money is low. So what normally happens when the supply of something shrinks? Well, the cost goes up and for loans the price is interest rates.

The government cannot keep rates low forever and there are many reasons why. The primary reason is inflation. Eventually inflation will start to rear its ugly head. The Fed will be forced to increase rates because keeping them low will only fuel inflation. My guess is that this will not happen for a year or maybe a few years, but it *is* going to happen. As the economy recovers, it is inevitable. Also, the government may have to start paying higher interest rates on the trillions of dollars of debt it is now trying to sell. If the rates on T-bills/bonds goes up, guess what? Overall rates go up.

When rates go up, the amount of the loan people can afford goes down. Naturally, this will put downward pressure on home prices. Now, although it is theoretically possible that rates will rise gradually and not cause issues, I don’t believe that is likely. Rates are likely to jump quickly because of being artificially held down like a rubber band being released before it breaks. The effect will be devastating to the real estate market.

Still arent’ convinced interest rates will affect real estate that much? Consider this: the payment on a $500,000 loan at 4.5% is about $2,500. If rates climbed to just 8%–still low by historical standards–the loan would have to be about $350,000 to maintain the same payment! That’s a 30% decline! At 12%, the amount dives to $250,000, at 50% decline! And don’t even think that’s impossible. A few decades ago, rates above 20% were common.

For me, I am ignoring the fact that interest rates are at historic lows. It’s artificial. I would rather pay 8% and owe only $350,000 than pay 4.5% and own $500,000. If rates came down, I could refinance. The person with the $500,000 loan is stuck.

Previously, I had thought that rising interest rates was going to be the catalyst for the bursting of the real estate bubble. I was wrong there. The actual cause was the rapid realization that mortgage-backed instruments weren’t really secured by the underlying assets. Still, as I’ve set forth above, the impact of rising interest rates still looms.

Special thanks to the Irvine Housing blog, whose recent post, got my blogging juices going and reminded me of my thoughts.

October 5, 2009 Posted by spice3d | Housing Bubble | , , | No Comments Yet

No AT&T U-Verse for me. Staying with Time Warner Cable…for now

I nearly pulled the trigger to switch my TV and Internet to AT&T U-Verse, but after some research I found some show stoppers. Let’s start off with why I was even considering the switch. Two things really. Much faster Internet: 24 down and 2 up (was to be rolled out in a few months) and better features on DVR, including more storage. The show-sharing capabilities of the “Total House” feature seemed pretty cool too.

So why did I decide to stay? The biggest reason is that U-Verse limits the *entire* house to a maximum of only *two* HD streams, not matter how many boxes you have. Yup, you read that right. It’s a house limitation, not a box limitation. The fine print says, “Four channels can be recorded to the DVR or viewed simultaneously: up to two can be HD.” The way they word it, it almost seems like a good thing! ;-) Anyways, that is lame. I’ve got two dual-tuner HD DVRs now. I can be watching an HD football game and recording another HD football game on my TV, and Jac can be watching an HD channel on the other TV. Can’t do that with U-Verse. In fact, she could also be recording another HD show. And this can happen *every* Sunday during football season =), so it’s not a remote possibility.

The other issue may or may not be a problem. From what I read only one DVR actually records and the others can control or playback content on that DVR. So, some people have reported that you can only pause live TV on the TV with the DVR. According to the sales guy, our area will be getting only DVRs so each unit actually records. We shall see, since my neighbor is getting the service. In any event, although each may be a DVR, the entire house is still limited to 2 HD streams max. It has got to be a bandwidth issue.

In the future, they may increase the HD cap and I’ll revisit at that time. Until then, Time Warner still has my business, for better or worse. I am hoping, however, that this competition will force them to improve the DVR features, price, Internet speed, channels, etc. Competition is good!

FYI I’m still sticking with ViaTalk for my land line. You just can’t beat this service!

October 3, 2009 Posted by spice3d | Hardware, Internet, Movies and TV | | No Comments Yet

Will extending unemployment benefits make labor stats look worse?

I think it’s pretty common knowledge that unemployment statistics are understating unemployment because they fail to count those still out of work, but have exhausted their benefits. I wonder, then, that if they extend unemployment benefits, will unemployment statistics spike as those still unemployed folks are re-added back into the system and, thus, counted again. Since it would appear that H.R. 3548 will extend benefits another 13 weeks and is expected (hoped?) to pass, I guess we will see if my theory holds water.

September 19, 2009 Posted by spice3d | SeriouslyTrivial.com | | No Comments Yet

Map an FTP site to a drive letter

Mapping an FTP site to a drive letter is very handy. It saves you the lengthy process of saving a copy of the file somewhere, booting an FTP client, logging into a ftp site, navigating to the source file, navigating to the target folder, uploading the file, closing the client, and deleting the original file. Just save the file directly to the FTP-mapped drive and you’re done. Perfect for my blog post pics!

I’ve been using FTP Drive for a while, but iTunes doesn’t like it and spits out an annoying error every time I boot it. Netdrive is a newer product and it’s free for personal use! Documentation is sparce, but set up is not much different than any other FTP client. It supports passive mode, SSL, SFTP, etc. iTunes seems to like it so, so do I.

One trick I learned as that you can add a path to the end of the FTP URL, like ftp.mydomain.com/images and the folder will become the root of the mapped drive. Very nice!

September 14, 2009 Posted by spice3d | Internet, Software | , , , | No Comments Yet

Great site to buy travel-sized products

One by one, my local grocery stores stopped carrying these individual salad dressing packets. Since all salad dressing must be refrigerated after opening, these are quite handy to use in a packed lunch. A quick Bing search and I found Minimus.biz. They specialize is selling individual portion packets for travel, office, camping, etc., including a decent assortment of salad dressing. They have everything! Cereals, shampoos, soap, playing cards, scissors…everything. The best part is that the quantities are very reasonable, that is, you don’t have to buy 50 or 100 at a time. For example, the salad dressing packets were sold in units of one! Yes, I could buy 1 one-ounce packet of italian dressing; however, I spent $20 to get the free shipping. Highly recommended.

September 14, 2009 Posted by spice3d | Food | , , | No Comments Yet

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