CompUSA Auctions and HP a530n Ad-Aware to the rescue, again. I picked up a case of the Ibis toolbar. It's a data tracking program that installs itself despite a firewall, pop-up blocker, anti-virus and me never accepting it. I had it on the other HP from hitting a link way down in the Google results and thought I knew when I got it. This time, not a clue.  ¶ 8/31/2005 10:56:00 PM 0 comments

  Rove does masterful job He manages to have the President connect the failing Iraq operation to gasoline prices. Nice try.  ¶ 8/31/2005 02:11:00 AM 0 comments

  When in Rome- Play the Barbarian One cop objected but it seems the rest were looting right along with the others at one Walmart. A flimsy excuse was offered.  ¶ 8/31/2005 01:48:00 AM 0 comments

  One in Eight- Republicans Out Before It's Too Late 12.7 percent of Americans live in poverty and this is the fourth year in a row that the percentage has grown.

Shrub has been good for getting poor people killed. I guess he figures this way he'll have more to work with.  ¶ 8/31/2005 01:35:00 AM 0 comments

  CompUSA Auctions and HP a530n My computer is rarely out of operation for more than a few hours so I tend to use standby rather than the power switch.

It might be just because of a particularly clean install of XP but I usually don't have to restart the computer because of chokes. I view/download a fair amount of media rich content without a problem.  ¶ 8/30/2005 11:55:00 PM 0 comments

  Seinfeld and Science Fiction Fans- Plan 9 from Outer Space A classicly bad movie.  ¶ 8/29/2005 09:39:00 PM 0 comments

  Gregory has a lust for confrontation in WH briefing room via Romenesko- my kinda journalist
Salon- That's one thing Cintra Wilson discovered after "invading" the White House press corps. She says NBC reporter David Gregory's "big soft face belies his real exasperation with the status quo and a lust for confrontation. He was, by far, the most aggressive man in front, who got the most blood on the walls in the scraps with [White House spokesman Scott] McClellan. Unlike any other journalist in the room, Gregory and McClellan seem to have a personal grudge match that would make them capable of storming out to the parking lot and taking swings at each other."  ¶ 8/29/2005 04:25:00 PM 0 comments

  Coalition Forces Kill Journalist   ¶ 8/29/2005 04:17:00 PM 0 comments

  I'm not a betting man, Mr. Jarvis, but... I was looking for something entirely different when I stumbled on this week's edition of "Why Jarvis Plucks My Nerves"

Ten bucks says that Jarvis didn't uphold the journalistic standards that he holds everybody to now when he was working for the entertainment puff-rags.

Why am I willing to make that bet, you say? Because he certainly doesn't now when he is blogging. He had recently raked Okrent over the coals for doing this very same thing and was quite unabashed about it. Something about the special nature of bloggers was his excuse, go figure.  ¶ 8/28/2005 08:16:00 PM 0 comments

  CompUSA Auctions handles the problem In a string of rants about how bad HP support is (one of my least favored favorite subjects), CompUSA's eBay store handled a PS/2 connector problem quite differently from HP itself. Another user in the same string had a similar problem that HP dropped the ball on, turning off the user on a repeat buy from HP.

CompUSA had refurbed the computer of another user, promptly dealt with the connector problem (even sending another shipping box for the return) and had completely turned around the customer's experience. Good customer service (i.e., willing to stand behind your merchandise) pays off. Another individual giving positive feedback and on a gripe-site.  ¶ 8/28/2005 07:49:00 PM 0 comments

  Geeky DIY Hack has an entirely different and earlier meaning than the one most commonly thought of today; illegal, surreptitious network compromising.  ¶ 8/28/2005 07:33:00 PM 0 comments

  I gotta start paying attention The Buzz and Blogger Booster Machine is now running ads. And not these cheesey little Google things I signed up for.  ¶ 8/27/2005 01:52:00 PM 0 comments

  More equipment needed Well, I've kinda come to the conclusion that the next big thing (already happening) is the shift from this written word to the video blog. What was once a blog will become essentially a multi-media experience.

Tightwad that I am, I gonna have to check spec's and prices to come up with a target but this is a shift that I think is a must do.

I know squat about video editing and production. This is going to be some fun (and a boat load of learning).  ¶ 8/27/2005 10:30:00 AM 0 comments

  Mr. Jarvis, this is what it is really about.   ¶ 8/26/2005 05:26:00 PM 0 comments

  Pat Boone Says Christian Way Doesn't Work "They still have this crazy notion that by just being peaceful..."


That's the way they say JC would have played it.  ¶ 8/25/2005 10:10:00 PM 0 comments

  CompUSA Auctions and HP a530n I had this strange feeling come over me, today. At first I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I had this unaccustomed feeling of tranquility. Then I realized it was because I wasn't trying to ward off computer problems with one hand while doing everything else.

I surf, I watch videos (the Stooges rule) and I manage to get some work done. I know it's just a tool but man it feels good when it works right. I don't know, it almost feels comfortable.  ¶ 8/24/2005 11:01:00 PM 0 comments

  Robertson "frustrated" I figured that but it is also why he called for Chavez to be killed?  ¶ 8/24/2005 10:29:00 PM 0 comments

  I'm listening, now hear me- thousands of lives to trade one tyranny for another I guess to people who think this passes as civil discourse by religious leaders, the misogynists they've set in power in Iraq are just ducky.

Lots of poor people have died, tyranny in an unstable region still exists but what is important is that Bushco has made money. Billions of dollars have simply vanished and hundreds of billions more have been openly paid to cronies and contributors to bring about this grand folly of a vision.

God help you if you question the guidance.  ¶ 8/24/2005 08:00:00 PM 0 comments

  McNuggets of Truth I can't believe this is still so high in the indices

Let's be honest, if Jeff really thought the conversation was so important his comments section would be displayed differently. It's kinda hard to think someone really believes something if their own actions don't speak to that expressed belief.

I've waded through his post twice and find little more than a loosely strung set of buzz phrases (hence the title of his blog?). It would be reasonable to call Jeff one of the early adapters of digital media on the web. For that reason I read him to search for the little gems of truth that can be found. After much searching I have found little.

I think it's great to be aware of a force or dynamic moving through a society. On the other hand, I also think it is important to keep things in perspective.

I will always remember that Jeff feels the remote control was a more important information tool than the Gutenberg press. Jeff once wrote for TVGuide. I think we have an idea of Jeff's frame of reference.  ¶ 8/24/2005 05:03:00 PM 0 comments

  Mullah Robertson passes judgment on Chavez This wack job long ago ceased to have any credence as a man of god. I feel sorry for all the souls that think they are getting religion by listening to him.  ¶ 8/23/2005 08:38:00 PM 0 comments

  I'm sorta gonna tell you about this I've been dancin' around the edges of this and so now I'm gonna pull a Josh Marshall by not telling you what I'm telling you about. I've kinda sideways initiated a hyper-local citizen journalism project. Not the wholly own site that I was aiming at but the potential hijacking of a grant funded site not really intended for this purpose. It has become my lab. For sure I'm having doubts about the efficacy of my unorthodox slant on these matters but I'm also seeing some of my hunches play out. I've been watching this stuff but you can't really call me an early adapter by any means. I've rejected a great deal of what has been said on this very current meme simply because it seemed like fickled hype and self-promoting fluff.

Don't get me wrong; I've got plenty of issues with MSM and I know these new digital media will rock their world. But just as with Holovaty and the Lawrence sites, it can also turn out to be the same ol' thing in new duds. I've also had some of the old beliefs about what made this the greatest job in the world reaffirmed. The things that made the job important and special, you still gotta really want 'em.

I'm not going to attempt any sort of catalog of the cultural precedents on the subject of the truth seeker. We should all know that whether you're after the absolute or just a piece of the elephant, it is all in your vision.

It is a striking irony that our society has granted each of us a better chance than most to determine our collective destiny and the majority choose not to participate. Voting is optional and most of us opt out. Most of us are uncertain about the truths that should guide us thus in a way it struck me as kinda natural with a good outcome. Who would want to live with a bunch of politicians that wanted their hands on the wheel? Of course that then leaves us open to those that would steal that self-determination empowered by knowledge.

I'm not giving up on this. I feel that I'm fortunate enough to be in a great spot for doing it. Somewhere here there's a joke about if I can't do it in this territory, I couldn't make it as a pimp at a journalists' convention. There is a commercial center, a small college and some gentrification of the urban landscape all occurring within a few blocks. And there is a mayoral race this year. If I ever want for reasons to continue, I can always look to it as a process of education and liberation.

There's been some noteworthy indicators of the course correction I'm gonna have to make. I'll begin to act more like a publisher in promoting and inducing participation. I've set up quite a few tools and I guess I should use them.  ¶ 8/22/2005 07:42:00 PM 0 comments

  CompUSA Auctions and HP a530n I'm trying to check every little thing on the computer and it is coming up pretty much roses. A floppy drive is something the other HP doesn't have and is something I've read is good to have for a Linux conversion (planned for either this machine or the Dell). It works fine and when CompUSA puts them on sale I'll have to replenish my stock.

I needed to take some pictures and had been putting it off (more on my citizen journalism project later). This weekend I finally found the time to do that and hook up the a530n to a flat screen monitor. The pictures look great on this screen with the finer resolution. CompUSA has a 17 inch LCD on sale this week (with a free printer!) at a pretty good price that even a tightwad like me would consider. This computer has just a basic video card but it does a great job for what I need. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a gamer so I can't really put the card to a test. Maybe I'll scrape something off the web to see how it works. Something to have some fun with instead of just benchmarking it.

The HP camera gave me a reason to check out the card reader in this HP computer. I used both the USB 2.0 and the SD card slot. I don't have any devices that use any of the other cards so I didn't check them. But my theory is that if the buss works for these two, the other seven will work also.

Now for the one sour note. When I got the other HP, I willy-nilly installed all the software for the HP devices (camera and PSC). This time I decided to simply try the HP software that came pre-installed on the computer for the camera. It worked fine except afterwards I got one of those dreaded undetermined device driver crashes of the computer. The crash appears to be associated with the HP software connecting to an online server (my Google home page came up with the error message).

I haven't installed any software besides the basic Real Player and Quicktime off the web. I haven't installed the software for the HP printer and the monitors are all plug and play. I haven't even installed the software for the other camera. My updates are all current, Windows and HP. I'm doing the HP ones myself since I've disabled the auto feature on that. I'm kinda at a loss on this one. I've been using the computer a bunch for other things besides the camera without any problems since then.  ¶ 8/21/2005 11:24:00 PM 0 comments

  A pair grows a pair over at CNN Cafferty spoke out against the live coverage of the BTK sentencing and Costas turned down a slot filling in for Larry King doing a Holloway/BTK show.

Maybe the professional journalists can sway CNN from becoming a Fox clone.  ¶ 8/20/2005 04:19:00 PM 0 comments

  Computer Support and Customer Service I've been reading more of the comments at JJarvis Buzz and Blogger Booster Club concerning his Dell problems. I've had my fair share of problems in the computer support area and I've come away with what I think is a little more moderate view of things. I've had recent experience with all the options; none are a shining example of value and service.

I've talked to entirely too many people in Bangalore for way too long. I've been on the phone with them and I've done the IM chat thing also. With rep's from several different companies. It just sucks.

The local build option ain't a bargain either. They all tend to buy second-string components and their systems tend to price several hundred dollars over what the big guys offer. If you luck-out and find a technically competent vendor the level of service will be higher. On the other hand, they are also prone to pulling the kind of tricks you'll find in the small auto repair shops. A recent example of that is the local that installed a $10 modem and charged $20 because he didn't want to bother tracking down the correct driver (if it will connect to AOL but not Earthlink you probably don't need a new modem).

I've made the comparison before between working on cars and working on computers. I hate to do it but you are probably better off doing it yourself. On the other hand; I wouldn't want to build a car from components and building a computer is only slightly more appealing as a value.

Update: I failed to mention a couple of things. You gotta have a little sympathy for the CSR's. They are very often dealing with folks that aren't all that knowledgeable about their computers and are likely to be venting frustration over it. The other thing is how CompUSA did go the extra mile to win me back as a customer. We're in the midst of a shakedown cruise with one of their refurbs and it looks good. I guess the point is that anyone can screw-up, it just takes a commitment to customer satisfaction to correct that when it occurs.  ¶ 8/20/2005 01:34:00 PM 0 comments

  Jeff is a whiner- I was right This guy sucks up to Jeff a little bit and then proceeds to pretty much tear down his post on Dell.

I'm probably not as soberly logical as Adam so I don't have any problem with saying that Jeff plays the buffoon often.  ¶ 8/20/2005 01:00:00 PM 0 comments

  Dell Hell, maybe, further down the river Styx is HP I bought a Dell refurb here and have been putting off calling Dell support. It works great except I have a slight problem with it coming out of standby and now might be a good time to put Jeff's take on things to a test. He might be somewhat justified but on the whole he registers on the reactive meter.  ¶ 8/20/2005 12:36:00 PM 0 comments

  I agree, New London Slime Robber barons of the railroads couldn't quite match this- we're gonna take your home, screw you on the price and charge you back rent.

Yo, if Americans haven't awakened to the need for big change in their civic life, well, I guess in thirty years after the great capitalistic reforms China can send in an army to save us.  ¶ 8/20/2005 12:18:00 PM 0 comments

  CompUSA Auctions and Overstock.com CompUSA's auction team has opened up an auction page at Overstock.com with an assortment of their merchandise thereby expanding their web presence. This can be contrasted to Circuit City closing their eBay web store and dwindling stock at the Best Buy eBay site.

I thought I had detected somewhat of a downturn in the auction activity by these retailers and had assumed it was due to cyclical influences. I also think the very low cost computer systems set for introduction this fall will change this market segment considerably. Some of that change will be in a differentiation (like Intel getting out of the budget chips) but it is kinda hard to see how the budget systems can't help but to exert a downward pressure in pricing.  ¶ 8/20/2005 09:10:00 AM 0 comments

  Pastafarians I saw the above name and decided it was time to link to this.  ¶ 8/20/2005 08:17:00 AM 0 comments

  CompUSA Auctions and HP a530n I gotta say this has gone much easier than the last HP. I haven't had one real problem with the computer yet. I had a hang-up in IE the other day but that was with four windows open (all with dynamic or active content) and the email program working. I'd have to say the system is capable and stable. I thought that more memory would be an immediate need but the video card w/memory pulls enough of the load so that there appears to be no discernible difference in performance between the a530n and the a736n with twice the memory (non-geek, seat-of-the-pants, notable coincidence; leaner and cleaner is better- for comparable software packages the a736n requires two DVD's for recovery, the a530n just one).

As we noted, there were some issues with CompUSA and they graciously extended themselves (that Elizabeth is so cool) to bring me back around. I wanted to give them a fair shot on their quality control and I was afraid they might try to cook the results by lavishing the unit with some extra technical attention. I can say that there were tell-tale signs that would indicate this unit didn't go through anything special. I am working with one of their standard refurb units and it is doing quite well.

I've cleared one hurdle, the download/install of SP2 (second computer in the last few months without a problem from SP2), and have just a couple more before I settle in. I've gone about this a little differently this time, I'm taking my time- do something, let it run and see what's up. Everything is real cool so far but I haven't loaded any of the other HP products into it. There are some known issues with redundant or overlapping drivers from HP. I believe that (and my own technical ignorance) was what caused such a hard time with the first HP. Maybe we'll get to see what CompUSA's support can do for this.

As a measure of how happy I am with this unit I'll say that the more expensive, newer model HP has gotten shoved into the back room (it's a work in progress). It's still on the network but right now the Dell and the a530n are carrying the brunt of the load.  ¶ 8/17/2005 12:25:00 AM 0 comments

  I hate to make excuses but... Face it, our government doesn't want us to know what is happening in Iraq. Bushco wants the propaganda friendly events well seen and the rest swept under a convenient mission imperative.

The other side is stupid enough to believe their own horseshit and unwittingly conspires with the neocons by killing journalists. They still haven't killed as many journalists as the coalition forces have.  ¶ 8/16/2005 09:46:00 PM 0 comments

  Link spam at Jeff's They're link spamming in Jeff's comments. He's a blog-booster so it will be interesting to see how long he allows it.  ¶ 8/16/2005 09:38:00 PM 0 comments

  Mr. Rosen argues to cap j-school enrollments " Alas, I used to teach that the world needs more critics; but it was an unexamined thing. Today I would say that the world has a limited tolerance for critics, and while it always needs more do-ers, it does not always need more chroniclers, pundits, or pencil-heads."  ¶ 8/16/2005 09:35:00 PM 0 comments

  Apple cult runs wild Sorta  ¶ 8/16/2005 06:25:00 PM 0 comments

  Via OhMyNews, Doonesbury, et al- Reality check from a Marine Rush Limbaugh, a man who avoided service during the Vietnam war (but a huge advocate of fighting in Iraq), accuses a Marine who served in Iraq of "resume padding".
"All right, we've learned a couple other things. This Paul Hackett is a trial lawyer, folks (laughing). He's a personal injury lawyer like [2004 Democratic vice presidential candidate] John Edwards. And it appears that, you know, he goes to Iraq to pad the resume, come back and run as a big supporter of the war, or at least finishing the project over there." - Rush Limbaugh. August 2, 2005

Paul Hackett did not mince words responding to Rush's words
"That's typical for that fat-ass drug addict to come up with something like that. ...Rush doesn't know squat about patriotism. He's typical of the new Republican. He's got a lot of lip, and he doesn't walk the walk. The fact of the matter is, I went to Iraq to serve my country. I left my nice house, my nice wife, by my choice because I thought it was the right thing to do. ...I think it probably says more about Rush Limbaugh than it does anybody else that he comes up with those thought processes. And I think it's indicative of today's Republican Party... They want to attack us. But the fact of the matter is, they can attack me, but I punch back just as hard as I get." - Paul Hackett. August 9, 2005  ¶ 8/14/2005 10:13:00 PM 0 comments

  Shrub says ‘‘..it's also important for me to go on with my life..'' Despite every effort by the political hacks, the grieving mother continues her vigil.

The father of her two granddaughters can't say the above.  ¶ 8/14/2005 11:23:00 AM 0 comments

  Mother knows best She certainly knows better than this:

"The morning pro-Bush rally at the site was organized by Darrell Ankarlo, a conservative radio talk show host for KLIF in Dallas, who said 'in my heart of hearts I believe that we're trying to do the right thing' in Iraq."

No real plan, just a bunch of "heartfelt" sentiments (almost makes it believable), billions of dollars squandered and thousands of needless American deaths puts my answer at "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".  ¶ 8/13/2005 09:50:00 PM 0 comments

  CompUSA and an HP Pavilion a530n The refurb computer from CompUSA Auctions arrived yesterday. I'm stripping the HP sellware off of it, burned my recovery disc and generally just settling in. Some real minor imperfections in the case but really an easier user experience (this unit was refurbed by CompUSA, the a736n was refurbed by HP). The system was loaded and working fine.

We'll take it out on the Internet now and see how it performs. Oh yeah, and download SP2.  ¶ 8/12/2005 09:05:00 PM 0 comments

  To lose our freedoms for this kind of incompetence It is how that old thing about giving up freedom for security gets neither can be absurdly true.  ¶ 8/10/2005 01:28:00 AM 0 comments

  For an old fart, Jagger's got heart So I never link to Drudge but this smells believable. I can just imagine the assault that's gonna hit Jagger now- Fox, the Blight Bling Blogs and all the old fogy jokes will be everywhere.  ¶ 8/10/2005 01:06:00 AM 0 comments

  Keep burning up the herbs and we'll burn down the cane fields Who is anybody kidding, it is an economic war. Viagra, Prozac and alcohol makers contribute big bucks to politicians.  ¶ 8/09/2005 06:20:00 PM 0 comments

  Via Cursor- as venal and corrupt, also

A second-term report card finds only Nixon faring worse than President Bush in public opinion at this point in his presidency.

  ¶ 8/09/2005 06:05:00 PM 0 comments

  I thought this would come along It was just a matter of time before somebody tried this. Face it, down through history people have formed the basic pair unit for many different reasons.

And this is why I have some rather unpopular (on the left) views on the subject of gay marriage. First let me say, it doesn't really effect me that much so I'm not as inclined to get as worked up about it as others might. I think civil unions are fine, anybody should be free to plan to associate with anyone else for as long and as involved as they both choose.

As our culture has come to associate marriage with romantic love, it has become the normative practice as opposed to the experience of thousands of years of history. It just seemed to me that gays were hoping for society to grant the legitimization of gay love when they positioned the issue such that civil unions were less desirable than marriage. I don't think you can look to society to legitimize or sanction any love.  ¶ 8/09/2005 04:23:00 PM 0 comments

  Elitist Hubris? Could be, certainly registers on that meter. There are ways to clarify sentiments in polling and this may just point to shortcomings in the polling methods.

On the other hand, Shafer has kinda got a point.  ¶ 8/08/2005 05:42:00 PM 0 comments

  Jennings Dead From Lung Cancer Some folks will get all sappy over this and leave out the real truth of the matter. Jennings had a career that reflected what happened to quite a few decent journalists.

So I ask: Would you do it for the money?  ¶ 8/08/2005 04:27:00 PM 0 comments

  Shame to share This is making the rounds on the left in various forms. I wasn't on top of Russert's slimey role as a member of the Washington establishment (in this capacity) until shortly before it appeared on the Huffington Post.

The Plame affair isn't even a speck on the map of history. The fight over the issues of journalistic freedoms and protections is epical. Wouldn't it be nice if we, as journalists, had some real heroes in this fight? Russert, Miller and Novak are three of the best weapons the other side has.  ¶ 8/07/2005 06:34:00 PM 0 comments

  Summer time and the livin' is easy... Particularly for a NYTimes reporter filing this.

The only valuable item is Rove will be in Crawford for the Stump-Trained Cow Festival.  ¶ 8/07/2005 06:24:00 PM 0 comments

  When Sen. Santorum plays you to be the fool, you're in tough shape. But seriously, have you noticed how a lot of high profile Republicans are putting significant distance between themselves and Shrub? In the case of Santorum particularly, I think the phrase is rats leaving a sinking ship.  ¶ 8/06/2005 07:50:00 PM 0 comments

  Novak channels O'Reilly Can you really blame the guy? All he wants to do is write a book that will fund his retirement somewhere other than ClubFed.  ¶ 8/06/2005 06:30:00 PM 0 comments

  Some of the truth about blogs All kinda obvious. I gotta say, beyond some rather cynical, simplistic possible motives; I've never been able to wrap my head around Jeff Jarvis' reasons for the extreme pimping of the blog. There really isn't anything new about them beyond html. And the mechanisms for maximizing those capabilities are just now stretching their legs. I kinda like that analogy made with CB radio.

Me? I'm just here to be the voice of reason and the turd in the pool.  ¶ 8/06/2005 05:49:00 PM 0 comments

  So you owe them your time off the clock? This could make organizing really difficult. I think it can be struck down but it will make an organizing attempt a whole lot more expensive.  ¶ 8/06/2005 05:11:00 PM 0 comments

  Cool Movie Action packed morality play.  ¶ 8/06/2005 02:37:00 PM 0 comments

  CompUSA Auctions- redux It took some charm, some commonality from a management perspective on the corrective action and a willingness on their part to prove the point but CompUSA has convinced me to give their auction sites another whirl.

The original sequence of events seemed like a customer service nightmare. Subsequent contacts had only served to reinforce some of the negatives and I decided to walk away from it. A little while later I was contacted by Elizabeth Bauer from the corporate office. Bauer is the web merchant in charge of stocking the eBay store and CompUSA's own auction website. The CSR I originally dealt with was nice but Bauer was charming (in that down-home sort of way that I like) as all get-out. And she didn't talk about heads rolling, she talked about corrective measures with her team. It was her team; she was proud of it because she knew they could do better. We even discussed how something like my experience could happen when the eBay store has such high positives. She didn't succeed in changing my mind at that point but she planted a seed.

Her follow-up letter arrived this past Wednesday and I emailed her Thursday morning. I knew that confirming and communicating would take some time, so I pitched shipping a test unit by the end of Friday. The time constraints and my setting the choices (either of two Athlon 64 based computers that had been at auction) would serve to limit the special case measures they might take. I felt this was a good way of getting an accurate picture of buying at the auctions.

The computer is on the way so I'll be blogging about my experiences with it. Bauer had enough faith in her team to convince me to give them a fair chance.  ¶ 8/05/2005 04:06:00 PM 0 comments

  Could you at least learn English? Rule number one when phishing, learn the native language; pidgin English just isn't very convincing.  ¶ 8/04/2005 10:42:00 PM 0 comments

  Covered it A pack of attack dogs is not what we're after. A pack of poodles or otherwise any sort of pack is not what we need. But better a rabid dog than a lap-dog.  ¶ 8/01/2005 04:53:00 PM 0 comments