General

Shuffling to the gym

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I got a 512M iPod Shuffle a few days ago now that Apple reduced the price.

I always take my iPod to the gym, but I notice that I spend too much time fiddling around with playlists. I was starting to get bored with the workout playlists I set up, but I always forget to set up a new one before I go. Now that I have the shuffle, I don’t have to think about it and going to the gym is fun again.

In June 2004 I went on the South Beach Diet and by the end of the year I had lost almost 50 lbs. Since then I’ve remained at or slightly below my ideal weight of 150-155 lbs. Lately I’ve been slacking off and not going to the gym regularly, partly because of my work schedule as well as losing interest because I was getting bored with the music. The shuffle changed that.

Stupid Insurance Company

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For several weeks I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to convince an insurance company I won’t name that a) my mother died in december of last year, and b) she sold her condo several months before that, so she doesn’t need to renew her homeowners policy. I just sent them a paper documenting the sale and yet another copy of her death certificate, which I think is the third one I sent them.

New fax line

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I now have a separate fax number, so I no longer have to use eFax’s fax to email service. I found out that BellSouth doesn’t charge extra for a second number with distinctive ring with my calling plan, so I took advantage of it. Since my Brother MFC420CN supports distinctive ring, I’m able to have it automatically answer the fax number but not my regular phone number.

Catching up

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I apologize for not writing much in the last few days, but I’ve had a lot going on. Here’s a summary.

  • We’re making very good progress on the consumer product (LoJack for Laptops). The actual code is the same as the regular Computrace agent, only the installer & activation is different. I’ve been working on the new web-based activation.
  • We have a very ugly situation at the condo. At least 14 roofs need to be replaced completely out of 34 buildings and all of the rest have damage that needs to be repaired. That means another assessment. We had one just before Wilma to pay for two roofs that needed to be replaced before the storm, but now there’s a lot more damage. As you can imagine, a lot of people are pissed. Some troll posted some very nasty stuff on the web site, among other things accusing the association of stealing money for decorations and parties (all of which was paid for entirely by the president & vice president out of their own pocket without using any of the association’s money). Of course the same people who complained came to all of our parties during the holiday season and the cookouts when we had no power after Wilma and ate for free. We’re having a town meeting tomorrow night about the roofs and we expect it to get very nasty.
  • I’m still dealing with my mom’s medical bills.

It Shipped!

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It Shipped!

Originally uploaded by mike3k.

My Intel iMac is on the way. I’m getting it through Apple’s Developer Transition Kit exchange program as a free replacement for my DTK.

New Server

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LinkStation 250

Yesterday I got a LinkStation 250 to add to my home network as a media server. Setup was fairly easy and it works nicely with Macs.

It supports both SMB & AFP but I find SMB works a lot better so I’m not bothering with AFP. With SMB, I can use the host name MEDIASERVER, but there’s no host name for AFP so I have to access it by IP address. Also, AFP barfs on long file names, which SMB is able to handle. It also supports FTP, which I haven’t tried. It would be really nice if it supported NFS.

Vancouver

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Dustin Quasar Sacks is moving to Vancouver.

I love Vancouver and I’ve been toying with the idea of moving there myself. I was there last January for work and I found the weather tolerable and even pleasant, even though I’m used to a tropical climate. I prefer a ‘traditional’ city (like New York, San Francisco, etc) with a real downtown where you can walk around instead of having to drive everywhere. Vancouver is a great city to walk around in and there’s a lot to do in the downtown area. I also prefer the political climate in Canada, where there are no religious right wingnuts and the general attitudes are more sane. Since my job is in Vancouver, I’d be able to work on site instead of telecommuting.

On the other hand, I have a really nice condo which I put a lot of work into for improvements and landscaping. I like my neighbors and we’re like family here. Moving would be a huge hassle since I have a lot of stuff, plus moving two cats would be very difficult. One option would be to buy or rent a second home there and either get a roommate here and spend hurricane season in Vancouver or just rent it out and live there permanently.

Since I left New York in 1986, I never really considered anyplace home until now. I moved to Florida when my mom got sick and I always figured I’d leave when she’s gone or no longer needs help, but somewhere along the way I put down roots. I like this community and the people in the condo (except one), but I hate south Florida in general. Dealing with the jerks outside here always puts me in a foul mood. The people in Vancouver (and Canadians in general) are so much nicer.