Tell ‘Em, Kermit.
December 30, 2005
Kermit Ruffins has a song called New Orleans is… in which he ticks off a metric assload of things that help make this city what it is.
I love this song. It’s a toast to the town.
Kermit, I’d like to add another item.
Yesterday, Fiorella’s opened back up.
I have waited, literally for months now, for these guys to open. My spirits were lifted when they told me they were shooting for Halloween.
However, they reasoned that waiting, and doing things right was the way to go.
I have waited oh so patiently. Today, I finally can eat fried chicken.
And it will be good.
New Orleans is Fiorella’s fried chicken in the afternoon with a (few) beer(s) and some friends.
Verizon, Bluetooth, and the Treo 650
December 29, 2005
I’m using my laptop right now, surfing the web through my work cell phone.
Since both the Treo 650 and the 12″ PowerBook use Bluetooth, I can connect them quickly, easily, and wirelessly.
This is good and all, but I now want to be able to get online at broader-band speeds on my laptop using my phone.
Unfotunately, Verizon decided to remove the Bluetooth DUN (Dial-Up Networking) feature on the Treo. Well, they didn’t remove it as much as they really just hid it.
Help for setting up your bluetooth on either your laptop: Mac OSX | Windows.
So here’s the Verizon specific method (copied/modified from shadowmite.com) :
Pull the battery cover on the phone and do a soft reset. (This avoids trouble later)
Open up the web browser on your phone and download the patched btmanager file, save it to Applications, and also accept it into Applications, overwriting the old one.
Now once again, do a soft reset on the phone. At this point it should be working, so let’s check! Go to the home screen and run the “Bluetooth” application. Once you turn Bluetooth on you should see a new option called “Dial-up Networking“.
There it is! You now have the Dial up networking option enabled! From here what you need to do will vary to be able to use it. Every different computer bluetooth adaptor has different ways of doing things, but most also include a manual about how to use them. I’ll continue with some general instructions that will hopefully get you moving in the right direction:
First off you need to start whatever your bluetooth program is, and get it to look for bluetooth devices. Once it finds the Treo you want to search for the services it offers. You should find the Dial Up Networking service! (If you only find the Object Exchange service, pull the battery cover and do a soft reset, this sometimes happens). Once you have found the service, most bluetooth adaptor software will allow you to “create a dialup”.
For Verizon:
Username: “your phone number@vzw3g.com”
Password: vzw
Phone Number: #777
And while it isn’t necessarily the fastest ( ~10 KB/s down, ~8 KB/s up), I’ll be able to use my laptop online while on a highway, or in other wi-fi free zones.
Not too shabby. Could, and in the future, will be better.
And for the record, this is basically a mirror of shadowmite.com’s howto, for archiving / google purposes.
shadowmite.com apparently has some beta wi-fi drivers fr the Treo 650 as well.
Will have to play with that next.
.pif PSA
December 27, 2005
Ok, a friend of mine sent me an Instant Message via AIM last night.
The message was this:
did i show u what i got yesterday? check it http://(url scrubbed so dumbasses don’t click it)/Img3.pif
NEVER, EVER DOWNLOAD OR RUN FILE ENDING IN .PIF, .SCR, .BAT, OR .EXE
(unless, of course, you ask them for that certain file)
What a Difference a Year Makes.
December 25, 2005
This time last year, I was gearing up and heading to Birmingham.
It was also snowing.
This year? Well, a bit different.
I’m not going into it. No jinxing, no blogging, nothing.
So, I’m off to Chateau Willcore™ for dinner with the family.
2006 will be a good year for me, dammit.
There is a new interest, I will have quit smoking for two years now, and am determined to improve myself, in a number of ways.
Last year, I spoke of my resolve. This year, my resolve is going to punch you in your face through your monitor.
Watch.
SQUIRREL!
December 24, 2005
This is for anyone who knows Andre and Leigh‘s dogs, Freya and Joey (aka Vinz Klortho™) :
Too Much is Never Enough
December 22, 2005
I had so much to drink yesterday / last night that I blacked out.
And when I got home, I apparently thought it would be fun to play the “Let’s try to vomit on everything” game.
I almost won.
Exactly Like You
December 19, 2005
I’m going to play this song at Andre and Leigh’s wedding, it’s just too perfect.
Leigh even said that maybe they can use this for their (first?) dance song. Wow.
This song makes me happy. Puts me in a good mood.
The New Orleans Jazz Vipers – Exactly Like You ( lo-fi mp3 )
I know why I waited, (why?)
I know why I’m blue. (why?)
Waitin’ here for someone,
Exactly like you.
Why should we spend money
On a show or two?
No-one does those love scenes
Exactly like you.
You make me feel so grand,
I wanna hand the world to you.
You seem to understand
Each foolish little dream I’m dreamin’,
Scheme I’m schemin’.
Now I know why mother (why?)
Taught me to be true. (why?)
She wanted me for someone
Exactly like you.
Download and listen to it now.
Chances are, you’ll like it. I don’t know how you couldn’t.
My life, in cartoon form.
December 19, 2005
Penny Arcade has once again perfectly captured my (and many other geeks) frustration in dealing with end users.
Especially those you are related to.
I do so love the Penny Arcade.
You’re welcome.
December 19, 2005
Roop thanked me today at Molly’s.
Outside of the people in my company, nobody has yet thanked me for doing my job.
Not that they necessarily know the extent of what rests on my shoulders.
I am the lone System Administrator for a Marine Underwriting firm here in NOLA.
What is that? Well, it’s a little tricky.
To simplify it, let’s just say that we insure (and subsequently sign the claims checks of) approximately 90% to 95% of the gulf coast shrimping industry, for one.
He thanked me for doing my part in keeping our little part of the world functioning.
If I don’t do my job, I lose it. That sucks.
This is my family’s company. That means my parents lose their source of income. That really sucks.
That also means that in addition to my parents, the ~20 or so other people in my company lose their jobs. More suckage.
That also means that since we are closed, any individual or company we re-insure (which is alot) cannot proccess, and therefore cannot recieve any check they would get for damages during the storm. Über suckage.
Roop thanked me for doing my part in seeing that the Gulf Coast shrimping industry did not collapse.
This made me feel good.
I’m not asking that you think of me when you eat shrimp.
All I’m saying is this:
You are welcome. I am glad that I can do my part to help, no matter what it is, however large or small.