Rantings of a Nerd

My Way News: "'Our nation is on the threshold of new energy technology that I think will startle the American people,' Bush said. 'We're on the edge of some amazing breakthroughs - breakthroughs all aimed at enhancing our national security and our economic security and the quality of life of the folks who live here in the United States.'"

Maybe this is how massive change looks? I remember the personal computer's introduction into out lives. Heck, I make my living off or that change. I can only imagine what energy independence would look like.

Internet News Article | Reuters.com

Mac users, "welcome to teh suk."

So someone noticed that there is a virus that can attack macs if people are stupid enough to open the attachment offered to them using iChat. It is just amusing that this makes news.

EFF: DeepLinks

The RIAA, like any tyrant, will take as much as the people give them, and then demand more. Well, they are demanding more. It is time to say no more. I have personally cut down on the music I buy from major labels. I still buy some, but nothing like I once did.

I will admit that podcasts take up much more of my listening time than music these days. I wonder what the RIAA will do when it is easy for everyone, and I do mean everyone, to get their etertainment on demand without purchasing media? I think they will try to sue and disable the internet. They are now trying to disable my CD-ROM drive by saying it is illegal for me to rip the CDs that I have had for 21 years. ( 21 years, can that be right? Are some of my CDs old enough legally drink? I am getting old. Maybe it is only 20 years, but either way. Wow, they have been on the shelf for a while.)

Sorry fellas, I have the CD in my house and the means to rip it easily into my ipod. 75% of my ipod is music that was ripped from my CD collection. I am not going to pay you again for something that I already have.

CNN.com - Mazda to lease gasoline-hydrogen car in Japan - Feb 15, 2006

Nifty. Finally some traction with things other than gasoline. Not that this will be on the market any time soon, but it is neat that we are moving that way.

The Flying Luxury Hotel - Popular Science

I have not seem something like this that fires the imagination in a long time. This would change how people look at leisure travel. Imagine the possibilities.

KR Washington Bureau | 02/13/2006 | Robots are saving American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan: "One-third of the Army's combat ground vehicles are supposed to be unmanned by 2015. The Navy is under orders to acquire a pilotless plane that can take off and land on an aircraft carrier and refuel in midair. Robotic submarines also are planned. "

Wow, 1/3 of the ground vehicles are to be unmanned in 9 years. I can only wonder how this will be achieved. I am guess now would be a good time for anyone with a good idea for a robot vehicle. I am thinking of the DARPA contest contestants. Not just the winners.

Test Dowload. This is a test, just ignore this post.

Quiet Hybrids Pose an Invisible Risk - Motor Trend News: "It was during her first trip out of the driveway on a warm August morning that Sant'Anna learned about one of the dangerous drawbacks of driving a hybrid: It's so quiet that pedestrians can't hear it when it's starting up or idling, and they often walk right into the path of the moving vehicle."

I have almost hit squirrels at least a dozen times in my Prius. My son has said they they think I am their god in a giant silver acorn, but I am betting it has to to with the silence. There is something about being able to run 20 mph and have no sound other than the tires. I am very aware in parking lots and intersections that people probably can't hear me.

The next big safety feature that will be require will be an annoying sound device that must sound while the engine is electric only. My neighbors will love that at 5AM.

Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.com: "'Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant to our discussion today,' Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Stuart McGill said, referring to what he called the 'misperception' that the United States can achieve energy independence."

Okay, I am not sure here but I think the crack dealer just said that there is no way to live without his crack. Call me silly but other oil companies are trying to create alternative energy sources like hydrogen and alcohol. Apparently Exxon isn't trying. Okay. That makes it easy for me. As a consumer I know which oil companies I will knowingly patronize. (I know that Exxon may actually be selling or refining the fuel that I purchase elsewhere, but when faced with a choice that I can see, I will just keep on driving to Shell or BP.)

United Press International - NewsTrack - Scientist predicts 'mini Ice Age'

No crazier than any other theories. Though I will admit in my mind it explains global temperatrue changes much better than global warming theories that blame industrialization. the theory that global temperature change is due to the Suns changing output fluctuations would explain a lot.

People tend to think that the environment is stable and things like the sun are constant. the fact is that the universe is constantly changing.

Defense Tech: Facial Armor Rears Its Ugly Head

Cool.

I don't think anyone who reads my blog thinks that I am in love with my comcast DVR. Well after multiple freezes and the fact that it generally doesn't record what it is supposed to record Comcast showed up to swap out the DVR with a new one. I suppose I need to do this as a time line in order to track this wonderful event:

Friday late morning: Comcast Representative shows up and quickly hooks up new DVR and rushes out of the house. Total time on scene 5 minutes.

Having an ill spouse and work to do I just accepted the installers word that everything was fine. That was mistake number one.

Friday late afternoon: The DVR is deciding to reboot itself every few minutes and I notice that it is full of programming. It becomes apparent that this is not a new DVR, but one that was removed from a customers house who was having problems. I call comcast. Comcast says that the box has not been added to our account. That blame goes to the installer. We are informed by comcast that this box is for the wrong area. (Whether that is correct of not becomes a great point of contention for the rest of the weekend.)

Later Friday afternoon: The box is still rebooting itself and no one seems to know what kind of problem. I ask just to get my old box back. I may freeze sometimes, but it worked. I end up with a supervisor who seems to suddenly take a great interest in this, but is unable to simply find the box that was removed from my house and a promise that someone will be out Saturday with a new one. The supervisor says to call her early Saturday Morning, she will be in the office at 6:45AM and will be there to solve this.

Saturday morning 8AM: Called the Supervisor, her voice mail states that she is not working until the afternoon. Call the main number and get a fantastic run around but no results.

Saturday mid-morning: Get a call from the supervisor that she is working to find us a HDDVR, but they have had a meeting that there are some very big problems with them and they are having problems finding one. She promised to call us back.

Multiple calls later Saturday: At this point it become a blur but there were multiple calls which ended up with a scheduled appointment for Sunday Morning getting a DVR delivered.

Sunday Mid-Morning: (This is day 3 here folks...) With a window from 8 to 11 AM I get a call after 10 that they are on the way, but they say that they do not have a HDDVR, and have a regular HD Box that will work. Not the best situation, but frankly I don't care at this point and just want the thing working.

Sunday late Morning: Installer arrives and spends 1.5 hours diagnosing the box and discovers that it is not in the proper "Head In" (note, that may or may not be the way it is spelled, I just know that a "Head In" is something like a Hub for cable and it is located in my area. There are multiple versions of the "Head In" and this box is not in the right one.) The installed did a fantastic job of troubleshooting and did not just hook up a box and accept, sure enough, his patience paid off when the thing decided to reboot itself again.

Sunday Early afternoon: The box has been changed, and did I mention that my cable modem has been out since 8AM. Since that is comcast as well it is not a great weekend for them. The installer is getting ready to leave and he takes the time to check my cable modem signal and he gets a call from his supervisor that they have a HD DVR and he is bringing it over. After a short discussion the installer and his supervisor decide to meet half-way.

Sunday Slightly later early afternoon: Minutes after the installer leaves to go meet his supervisor another supervisor calls and says they are trying to solve the problem and apologize for not have the installer come out today. I correct him and he is shocked that someone is there.

Now comes the best part...
Sunday Just Slightly later early afternoon: I get another call from another supervisor at the same time as supervisor who didn't know anything was going on. She was incredibly helpful and even managed to diagnose the cable modem problem. (It was my whole neighborhood and maintenance had to fix it.)

Later Sunday: the installer returns an hour later and installs the DVR. As it turns out, it is an old HDDVR, single tuner. Not what I had, but it appears to be working. The conjecture is that it came out of their test room since it had some programming on it.

As the installer is leaving I call the female supervisor back that was both competent and helpful. We go over my bill and discover that I have been overcharged for equipment for years. I have a large credit coming and it will probably be more than a months bill.

So bottom line... I found 2 employees at comcast that were able to do their jobs. This should have never happened. It should have been solved in 15 minutes on Friday when the First Installer arrived. The number of errors is ludicrous but I hold no grudges for the 3 days I lost to comcast. I was going to be home anyway, I just wish I could have been doing what I wanted rather than sitting and waiting.

We shall see how this goes, but I now have an old Single Tuner HDDVR. I shudder to think what would happen if I called and said, "Hey, I am paying $10 a month and I want the 2 tuner DVR like everyone else who is paying $10.)