Busto

Not sure who else may read this and/or experiencing the same problems, but I haven't been able to access anything in Facebook or Twitter for the past 24 hours.

Booooooooo.

Amazingly, had this happened just two years ago, I'd be extraordinarily nonplussed. Today, with all the people I keep up with through those portals, it's a bit more unsettling.

Apparently, I asked for a side of crank to go along with my coffee this morning.

The Real Technical Help Flowchart

H/T Skidoo.

This method has worked for ages upon ages of tech support and bad service calls.

Old-School Thingamabobs

100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About

(Geek alert)

I find it funny that there are several items on this list that I still have the kids do from time to time, but I often remark how they do things now technically that I would have never dreamed of doing when I was younger, whether it involves the digital camera, DVD player, a cellphone, computer, or other high-falutin technogadgetry.

Of course, there are still some old school things they do - just last week was an exercise in cash and currency which I was doing to help Alex with some math exercises. It's a lot more tangible than trying to explain Online Banking.

Posted using ShareThis

Giving in to the Dark Side

In this case, I was probably the last person I know to adopt the technology.

I am now on Twitter. You may commence with the mocking.

I signed up for multiple reasons.

1. For traveling or events where I'm trying to find or talk to a bunch of other people, it'd be really convenient. It would have been useful in April, and will probably come in useful in Vegas in a few weeks.
2. Since a bunch of folks are using Twitter for updting from the WSOP, I figured it would be good to add. With Tweetdeck, I can actually keep them all organized - and it works at work and at home.
3. I'd thought I would use it to put out articles I would write for Examiner. However, this reason isn't valid anymore, as i decided to drop both columns last week. I wasn't really feeling the energy to get them going again. At this point writing about politics has become more depressing than anything else, and since I won't be in Vegas for the whole Series I didn't have much of a plan left for the games column. So, I ended them.

So, while reason #3 isn't valid anymore, reasons 1 and 2 are still OK, and I am on there as gaexaminer - I picked the handle thinking reason #3 would be the main focus of using it, but I don't feel like changing it.

Meh.

Baked

Normally, at 4:20, this would be a good heading to have.

However, it's four-twenty IN THE FREAKING MORNING, so it's not a good thing.

OK, it could be a good thing at this time, but really it's not.

I've been up not because I was playing poker, or out having drinks, or on a trip, or out partying, or any other form of debauchery.

I'm awake because this little laptop decide to crash approximately nine times today while I was trying to do research and write my portion of a paper for my Capstone class which I was supposed to upload tonight so we could present a workable draft for review and discussion after Monday's class.

It took me almost eight hours to do the research required for what amounts to a page and a half of writing, because this computer seems to have forgotten just how to allocate memory, and has decided to adopt to attitude of Oliver McCall by just shutting down at random points, which kick-starts a long, painful boot and recover each time.

It took 30 minutes to download and open a simple Excel document from a SharePoint site - which is about as good an example of fucked-upness I can think of.

Like many other things, I'd been hoping this computer would just make it until graduation. It's looking more apparent it won't make it until May unless a minor miracle occurs. Given how much I've worked it, it's not much of a surprise, but it is still one more annoyance I didn't fricking need right now.

Looks like I'll be trolling on eBay for a refurbished model again - I did that a few years ago with an old Dell, and it worked well for a while, so perhaps I can find a decent one for under $200 (if current auctions are a sign, I should be able to get around that price point.

And no, even though it is 4:20 and I did just complete an assignment, I am not celebrating with a bowl. Unless you count ice cream - though generally the munchies come AFTER the bowl, not in the bowl.

Much closer

H/t Otis:

Apparently, I don't ave to drive all the way to Ocala, New Orleans, Biloxi, or Tunica for a live poker fix.

Harrah's Cherokee in North Carolina (just up I-985 and US-23) now has electronic poker tables. All of the tables are automated, with no dealers - they belong to PokerTek, a company I had invested in a long time ago when they became featured in some Atlantic City roms, before being featured in Excalibur's room.

So, instead of driving 5-6 hours or a live fix, it's now less than three hours away.

Not bad...not bad at all.

Able Cable

As I'm going through my taxes and trying to plan for the future, I'm also trying to determine again how best to leverage my time outside of work and school in an effective manner.

More and more, I've been spending lot sof time on the computer, whether it's for poker (which is less than before, but come May will go back up) or for several of the web pages I've begun writing for. After graduation, I'll also be hoping to do some independent work for programming or development for other folks - every penny counts.

Here is Georgia, the only option is generally AT & T, but should I make the move back to New York then one of the possibilities might be Time Warner Internet Service. Between writing, poker, and any other consulting/development work, I might have a big need for fast, reliable service. Time Warner high speed internet is pretty prevalent in the parts of New York I would consider moving back to, especially if I'm able to bundle everything together and achieve some sort of measurable savings - not just Time Warner internet, but also cable service, VoIP, and on-demand services.

It might be worth it - especially if I'm stuck paying a few thousand a month for an apartment.

New Math

Written: 20 earned of 20 possible.
Programming: 21 earned of 22.5 possible.
Participation: 12 earned of 15 possible.
Group Project: Cannot be less than 14 earned of 20 possible.

I have two programming assignments that can be done as written assignments, which would realistically get about 13 out of 15 points.

For this class, B is 80-83.

My total is 80 points out of 92.5, with one remaining programming assignment to go.

The one which I've been wrestling with for months, and can't make work because I can't develop a login script or new user script to be used in my ASP.NET forms.

But, I think I already have enough points for a B. At least a B- most certainly.

It's not worth the stress. Not with two grades of at least A- (and maybe A) already in the bag.

Perhaps I should just say...FUCK IT.

What do you think?

Re-posting from Railbirds - one of you might find this fun.

Do you want to assist Railbirds in taking over the world? We are looking for skilled professionals and amateurs to help us develop the site, make it look better, and extend it to other languages than English as well. All applications are equally welcome - Railbirds is going to be the BEST site for any poker content, the BIGGEST poker community in the world, and a place where EVERYBODY wants to be!

Programmers needed
We need programmers to fix bugs and to code new features for us. The site is in dire need of new tech staff, and if you have what it takes, don't hesitate to apply! Full-time positions available, as well as on-demand positions.

You need to be skilled at object-oriented php5, MVC, MySQL, XHTML, CSS, caching and htaccess rewriting.

Ideally, you'll also have knowledge of some framework, complex databases, Linux, Subversion, Samba, and (S)FTP, but these skills are not necessarily required.

Send an email to railbirdjoe@gmail.com with your Railbirds user name if you want to apply or if you have any questions. Include a description of yourself, and your CV detailing your experience and skills.


Graphic artists needed
If you are a skilled graphic artist, this is for you. We need experts to create new images for every new feature, promotion, graphic update, etc. that we make here on Railbirds.

You need to be able to work quickly, and to deliver easily changable graphics in multiple formats. Choice of tools is up to you. We need designers to create designs for new features and parts of the site, as well as promotional artists to make promo images, icon sets, and many other things for us.

Knowledge of CSS and XHTML is a big merit.

Send an email to railbirdjoe@gmail.com with your Railbirds user name if you want to apply or if you have any questions. Include several samples of your work, a description of yourself, and your CV detailing your experience and skills.


Beta testers needed
Are you good at spotting errors? Do you enjoy blaming tech for obvious mistakes? Is your activity on Railbirds enough to qualify you for Railoholics Anonymous? If you are, we want you to beta test for us!

Beta testers get access to all new features earlier than everybody else. They get to play around with the site - and they get lots of influence over the look and feel of new additions.

Send an email to railbirdjoe@gmail.com with your Railbirds user name if you want to apply or if you have any questions. Include a short text on why you think you would be a good beta tester. No novels please.


Translators needed
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Parlez-vous Français? Czy mówisz po polsku? Railbirds is going multi-lingual!

Yes, that's right. Finally, those of you who don't have English as your first or preferred language will be able to access Railbirds in your native tongue. The site will need translation of menus, instructional texts, the FAQ, and everything else.

Send an email to railbirdjoe@gmail.com with your Railbirds user name if you want to apply or if you have any questions. Include a short description of your language skills and how you would be able to participate.


Foreign language prorails needed
With new languages coming, we need people to moderate them as well. Are you a good pick? Do you log in on Railbirds a lot? Is being a prorail one of your biggest dreams?

Fluency in English and at least one other language required. Communicational skills are a must, and previous moderating experience is a welcome merit.

Send an email to railbirdjoe@gmail.com with your Railbirds user name if you want to apply or if you have any questions. Include a description of your past experiences as a moderator and a short text describing yourself.


Questions? Want to apply?
If you have any questions regarding this or would like to apply, please contact RailJoe at railbirdjoe@gmail.com! I would prefer to discuss things over email, not over PM, and I would be grateful if you'd oblige me in this.


So...
I have HUGE plans for 2009 - they're absolutely 100 % magnificent! I have plans for ranking, for loads of freerolls and guaranteed tournaments, many promotions, an enormous amount of new features, and of course some long-awaited bug fixes. And much more!

Join the Railbird army today!

Early Presents

I've had my current cellphone number for six years through the same carrier. The phone unit I've had, however, has been beat up terribly through the years.

In addition, we started getting tired of the limited features available, and I wanted a phone with more fun features to use.

I've looked at iPhones and third-party dealers, but the need wasn't too great until last month when Kim's job situation went a bit kaflooie.

Yesterday, we finally fixed the problem, and decided to get a new plan with AT & T (which has the rest of our communication stuff anyway). Since we both needed new phones, we went ahead and got the last two phones they had in stock of the Samsung A767 Propel.

This was the phone as we first got it, six years ago. Smiple, did it's job, but not too sturdy and not a lot of bells and whitsles.

This is the phone we switched to, under the same plan, with several years of heavy wear, lots of tear, dropping, tossing, and chewing by two-legged and four-legged creatures. I'm still learning how to use the camera, so blame me for the meh quality. It lasted a long time, and had the ever-loving shit kicked out of it, but it mostly served us well.

This is now my new phone - with the same number as before.

This is Kim's new phone, with a brand new number.

The geek in me is very happy. I sat down with it last night to work on a deal and was actually able to type a halfway decent message with it the new phone - in my e-mail - and for some bizarre reason I was incredibly pumped.

I think it must have been the keyboard, and not the fact that there's a demo of Guitar Hero III on the phone. Or the fact that it seems really shiny and we like shiny things.

I might test out doing a post from it this weekend, or test out uploading pictures from the aquarium tonight - Georgia State is having a special aquarium night for students, staff, and family with discounted tickets, so we'll get to show the beluga whales the new toys.

Alex, though, is still too young for the phone, even though both of the kids wanted to grab them immediately.

At least it's one thing taken off the must-do list for us.

As for the color - I like green. Shut up.

Sad Day

You know what sucks? Coming home to find that the hinge on your laptop is totally busted and the screen doesn't fold well, now turning it into a completely immobile computer because it won't fit in a briefcase or close properly.

That's fine, if you are at home.

I was not planning on being home tonight. I was planning on being out, with the kids, with coworkers and other campaign folk, and being online/chatting/posting at the same time, during the night.

Let's just say this throws a wrench into my plans.

Hopefully I can get something working tonight - after the last few months, I think I'd have some serious withdrawal if I didn't have a working computer with me.

Blech.

Curse you, Gateway.

Spreadsheets take a lot of time

No, this is not the work of me trying to break Microsoft Excel last week. But damn, I wish I had the idea.

FEED ME!

So, right now, I think I've got it narrowed down to two semi-correct feeds compared to eight or nine jumbled feeds.


Sometimes, I really hate Google. In this case, because they own Feedburner.


Anyway, here are the correct feeds:


1. http://feedproxy.google.com/FrancasePlace - seems to catch most subscribers, but not all the page views

2. http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/GNzo - the exact opposite of #1

I've tried navigating through the code so they all read the same, yet still it does not seem to work.

Between battling this and battling horribly in my Thursday night programming class, I think I need to step away from writing any code, applet, servlet, bean, or script for a day or two.

That will be amazingly easy tomorrow, between the Making Strides walk, lector training at church, and an OktoberFest festival all on Saturday. As for today, I have a meeting scheduled with my advisor regarding that dreaded Thursday class which has been absolutely horrendous so far this semester.

I think I might be getting close to a burnout stage.

Thank God the BoDonkey is kicking back up to allow me to focus on something a little more fun.

Phone fling

Last week, I wrote that I needed a new phone. For the past few years, I've used a pretty simple Nokia phone, and it's served me pretty well despite getting banged, thrown, dropped, chewed, and lost repeatedly.

I wasn't looking for much last time I went phone-shopping. Texting and basic phone needs were enough for me.

That was in 2003. In 2008, I'm looking for something a bit more complex. One of the phones I've started looking at is the Nokia N96, released just last month, which I can use with my current T-Mobile service if I wished.

The N96 has a lot of the features that I've decided I'd like to have in a new phone - full-service browser, GPS, 5-megapixel camera, video upload and connections to Google Accounts, and an RSS reader. So, I could theoretically spend all day trying to read the thousand or so posts y'all do each day while also trying to write to each of the three sites I'm actively writing for as well as all the case studies I do for school. The swing-out keyboard would help significantly.

I'd like for the next phone I get to be a pretty smart phone in terms of what I can do with it, and this appears to be a possibility since I could also keep my current account without having to switch providers (which probably wouldn't be too bad, but it's one less thing to worry about.

Prehistoric Futuristic Smashing

If we got this for Alex for Christmas, I think his head would absolutly explode in delight.

Kota is in some respects a largish (32 inches tall, over 36 inches long) version of the Pleo. While the Kota Triceratops Dinosaur appears to have fewer sensors he can sense motion and touch, move his head, and blink his eyes.

While Kota will make stomping sounds when you (or your kid) jump on his back, he is unable to walk on his own.Kota Robot Baby Dino, Oct 2008

If we had the space for it, or the budget ($300????), it might be something to consider - but yikes.