Technobabble – Page 10 – The Bald Heretic – Short, bald dude with a goofy beard

Ow! My aching iPod…

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First off, to all you Mac users, just save it. I don’t want to hear:

“It wouldn’t be a problem if you owned an Apple computer.”

All that means is that for the cost of the $600 I have invested in the iPod plus accessories I could have had a more hassle free deployment if I had gone ahead and purchased a Mac. And what that means for me is that my new iPod would have cost me over $2000 plus the cost of time and effort transferring my environment from Windows to Mac. Not really a solution, so STFU.

What brings this on, you ask? I’ll tell you.

In researching my options for media storage (I needed a way to offload my digital images while in Europe) I came to the conclusion that I would purchase a Photo iPod.

There are many options available for the price range of $200 – $600. These options include dedicated card readers capable of storing 20-40 gig of data or some type of portable media center device like an IRiver PMC-120 or the Creative Labs Zen.

Drawbacks…

DEDICATED DEVICE

It would be used on the trip and that would be that. I would have the investment in an item I probably would not use again until I went on vacation. And at the rate I take vacations that would be maybe two years from now. Plus the cost goes up for the rechargeable ones versus the ones you plug in.

PORTABLE MEDIA CENTER

These devices usually have a very poor form factor. Usually unwieldy and awkward and again, not much use for it once I am done.

As I am researching my options and time is growing shorter I have a bit of a revelation.
A host of heavenly nerd angels sang unto me! Apple Photo iPod!

Available in 40 gig and 60 gig versions. Compact, lightweight and proven technology. With the optional USB camera connector option it is a simple matter to connect your camera to the iPod and pull off your images for storage. It will hold thousands of pictures!

And the best part? At the end of it all I have an iPod! I can store my CD collection on one device that travels easily! Woo-Hoo!

And so you might well think, what’s the gripe? A solution was found that suits my needs and all is right with the world. Well, you might think that…but you would be wrong.

Step one. Go to Apple store and buy 60 gig Photo iPod along with additional camera connector accessory. Total cost right at $520.00. Suckin it up. Gonna solve my problems. It’s worth it. B-R-E-A-T-H-E.

Step two. Take it home and get it going.

Step three. Connect camera and pull off images to test the functionality. Instructions overly simplistic. Not getting response from the device that the camera is connected. Look at Apple site and see camera is NOT listed in support devices. Sinking feeling.

Step four. Bring full ability of my own nerdliness to bear on the problem. Come to the conclusion that camera must work and it is a defective adapter.

Step five. Go back to Apple store and explain problem. Apple rep suggests updating the iPod software. This fixes the problem and my hopes again soar.

Step six. Go home and connect iPod to laptop. Reading instructions it clearly states USB 2.0 is REQUIRED. All of my PC’s are USB 1.1

Step 7. Go to CompUSA to purchase USB 2.0 PCMCIA card for $39. Go ahead and grab a carrying case for the iPod for another $39.

Step 8. Install PCMCIA card in laptop. Install seems to go ok. Begin install of iPod and system crashes. iPod freezes up and I cannot even soft reset it.

Step 9. Call Apple Support. Get Sanjeet in India who verifies that I do have Service Pack 4 on my Windows 2000 and performs other useless checks on my system that have nothing to do with breathing life back into my one day old DEAD iPod. Sanjeet informs me that I will need to take it back to the Apple store for service.

Step 10. Drive to Apple store. On the way down the Westpark Toll Road I decide to try again to soft reset the iPod. This time it works. I make a u-turn after only passing two toll plazas and wasting a bit of my Easy Tag slush fund.

Step 11. Decide to use another laptop and install the USB 2.0 card on it. Perhaps since it is newer and running XP I will have better luck. Install of card goes well. Install of iPod causes exact same blue screen. Again, using my powers of dorkdom I conclude I have either got a defective iPod or a defective USB 2.0 card. Since CompUSA is closer than the Apple store I decide that the card must be defective and not the iPod.

Step 12. Fish the receipt, bag and packaging from the trash and go to CompUSA to exchange item for a Firewire card and a firwire cable for the iPod. I decided that I would avoid the USB 2.0 in favor of Firewire in hopes that it would work more smoothly.

As I am conducting the exchange/upgrade (this new solution is $100) I discover that somehow or another I have brought with me a CompUSA receipt dated March 23rd 2002 for a Canon ink-jet cartridge. As it turns out Cynthia was cleaning out her office and had just thrown some stuff away. What are the odds?

Step 13. Install Firewire card. Install goes well. Begin iPod install and it works! Huzzah! Start copying music. That works, too! Yippee! Decide to check the stats on the iPod. Total disk space 60 gig. 290 songs on device 15 gig available. WTF?!? 290 songs x 3mb each = lest than one gig. I figure something in one of the failed installs caused the drive not format properly or something. I do a total system reset and regain all my drive space.

Tune in tomorrow night when I attempt to load my songs back on and see what happens. I think I am past the worst of it but it remains to be seen.

It’s a wonderful world we live in…

We’re through the looking glass here, people.

I have just purchased a 60 gig Photo Ipod.
Cynthia is ripping our CD collection to MP3’s as we speak.

We have entered the 20th century.

Useful utility

I get lot’s of email asking computer questions. I am going to post some of the more nifty fixes I find for people in here in case any of you need them at some point.

Today I got an email about the Windows XP task bar. The reader/listener was saying that theirs was twice the normal size and could not be resized. Questions regarding bizarre behavior from the task bar come up alot and I find this tool to be very handy…

The Taskbar Repair Tool

Yin – Yang

My show, Technology Bytes, has made a few attempts over the years to bring a woman on board. The balance would be nice. Unfortunately we have not found the right person…yet. As hard as it is to find good talent for the show it is even harder when you eliminate 1/2 of the gender pool.

It’s not like there are no geek-chicks, either. They are more prolific than ever.

Last night may herald our ultimate success. I was at the Continental Club this past weekend and I ran into my old friend Allison Fisher. I’ve known Allison for better than 20 years. She’s been on the peripheral of my social road map on and off over the years. She’s an outstanding guitar player and she hosts Allison Fisher’s Rock-n-Roll Jam every Tuesday night at the club.

She is smart, witty and happens to be a Unix sysadmin. As we were chatting I suggested she come by the station and be on the show. She accepted and showed up last night.

I think it went pretty well. We were down two hosts (Peter and Dwight) and having an extra person could only benefit the program.

Allison is unexpectedly shy but did start to warm up and managed to field two questions during the call in portion of the show.

I think I see a fit here. I invited her back next week and we’ll continue to explore. I like the idea of fleshing out the show with a woman’s perspective. I think it can only lead to good things.

I love what I do

Two interesting e-mails today…

The first from Howard the trucker who called in last night;

Thanks for the info on last weeks show. American Idol has Simon but tech bytes has Jay. Your suggestions did work so thanks and even more thanks for not biting down too hard on me for being a little off base. You guys are the greatest. I don’t get to listen as much as I would like to as a truck driver I never know what state I will be in doing the times tech bytes are on guess I should show my appreciation during fun drive and Jay, I’m sure a lot of people know you are a big part of tech bytes, and you don’t come off as trying to be better or smarter than we less than knowledgeable when it comes to information technology, thanks again Jay and keep up the good work

I like that one for two reasons…

1. He took time to let us know we did right by him. It’s always nice to know.
2. Compared me to Simon of American Idol. I am the loveable asshole. Nice!

The other email I got is interesting because I get asked this question ALOT;

While I’m reviewing my e-mails, I hear a squeeky door open and then close. This use to happen occasionally, but today it kept doing it, over and over. What is this and how do I stop?

In case you don’t know either, it’s the sound of contacts coming and going in AOL Instant Messenger.

I forget how mystifying this whole computer thing can be for people. Thank goodness I’m here to help.

Last nights show was really good.
There was a ton of laughter in the studio.
I don’t know how that translates to the listener but WE are having fun.

Pete’s piped in news is getting better each time as he continues to tweak the sound.

Tonight’s the night…

Radio show tonight. 8-10 pm CST

Geek Gathering this Friday at Kaveh Kanes. Also the Tiara Social at The Flying Saucer. Should be a good night.

I really like Word Press. It’s intuitive and easy to configure. I will be making more adjustments to the them and the style as time permits. If you are viewing this from your friends page you should hit the link http://www.baldheretic.com just to see.

Deciding to go with an open format for a blog is quite liberating. I am taking a page from the Book of Sam. General musings and technobable.

Gettin’ props

My show, Technology Bytes, is being featured in this weeks Houston Business Journal. They contacted me for an interview and sent a photographer to the radio station .

Very exciting. This is a very prestigous publication that comes out once a week and has a subscriber base of over 50,000 readers (not to mention news stand sales and so forth).

In other radio news there are talks of going to Sirius Satellite Radio in the future. This could open things up REAL wide for the program.

Things seem to be getting rather exciting as we move toward our 10th anniversary.