Asian Eats and Movies

I’m up in Sydney at the moment working on a project in the AWU’s National office for a few days. Staying with my girlfriend and catching up with friends. Not much time for socialising due to the project so my apologies to any that I didn’t run into on this trip. The last few days/nights … Continue reading “Asian Eats and Movies”

I’m up in Sydney at the moment working on a project in the AWU’s National office for a few days. Staying with my girlfriend and catching up with friends. Not much time for socialising due to the project so my apologies to any that I didn’t run into on this trip.

The last few days/nights have been Asian’d to the max – we had Japanese at Tsukasa on Thursday night, then Thai for lunch at “Eating World” (one end of China Town and half a block from the office) on Friday. Friday night we caught up with friends for dinner at a Chinese place on Pitt St before heading in to see the movie “Hero” (sort of a successor to Crouching Tiger – it’s a brilliant film and well worth seeing).

Saturday lunch was Chinese take-away while working at the office (told you I was busy :) so it was a rather enjoyable change to sit in a pub in Erskineville drinking beer and having pizza for dinner on Saturday night :)

Damned Snobby Nokia

So, I total the old HD, then my laptop starts having problems, culminating in a complete hard disk failure (format, load O/S, load apps, load backed up data). As if all that weren’t enough, my cellphone decides it’s above the rest of the world and refuses to talk to the network. I can connect for … Continue reading “Damned Snobby Nokia”

So, I total the old HD, then my laptop starts having problems, culminating in a complete hard disk failure (format, load O/S, load apps, load backed up data). As if all that weren’t enough, my cellphone decides it’s above the rest of the world and refuses to talk to the network. I can connect for 2 to 5 minutes, then it’s had enough and does the cellular equivalent of “Talk to the Hand”…

*sigh*

Fortunately I have an old Nokia 5110 floating around for emergencies like this. It’s still got cellular network monitoring software on it (NetMon) so it’s kinda wierd to use on a day to day basis :)

Don’t Buy DELL Equipment

Way back in 2000, I purchased a DELL laptop over the web and, once it arrived, I was very happy with it. Given I was using it all the time for my work, I took out a 3 year “Next Business Day” onsite warranty. Perhaps the luckiest thing I’ve done in quite a while.

After about a year of operation, I started to experience problems with the keyboard. The 8, I, L and . keys would just stop working – nothing – all the other keys were OK but those would just not produce any characters. I cleaned it out, tried again, same problem. Eventually, things would work again. I called DELL support and they decided to send over a replacement keyboard. This seemed to help for a month or so, then the problem came back.

Over the next few months, DELL replaced the motherboard, keyboard, RAM, etc a number of times. Eventually, they told me that they would be giving me a free warranty replacement unit as they were giving up trying to repair it.

Not bad – I can put up with that…

About a year or so after getting the new replacement laptop, the mouse buttons near the bottom of the trackpad start to come loose. Out comes a DELL service tech to replace the wrist guard and touchpad.

Some time later (about 1.5 years after getting the new unit), I start experiencing new problems. Strange behaviour, etc. After a few calls to DELL, I’m able to catch the problems “in the act” and get concrete evidence for tech support. They send out a new motherboard and RAM.

All seems fine for a while, then the mouse buttons near the bottom track pad start to come loose again. Call DELL, explain the problem, out comes tech with new equipment.

At about the two year mark, the CD/DVD-player in the laptop just ain’t cutting it. I’m trying to rip my CD collection to MP3 for my home system but can’t read the majority of them (they work fine on other equipment). Call DELL, try a few things, out comes a tech with a replacement CD/DVD drive.

Now, a little over two years since I first received the laptop as a replacement, it looks like the hard disk has packed it in. I started getting Windows XP blue screens with spontaneous reboots. Call DELL and they advise it could be new software, convincing me to use System Restore to roll back the config to before these problems started.

I’ve done that, but it’s made no difference as I’ve had the blue-scren+reboot thing a few times. It’s also come up “No Boot Device” a few times. Now it just won’t boot at all :(

So, in short, DELL’s tech support service is really really good (especially when you’ve got a good warranty :) but their products are absolute shite! I’ve had more go wrong with these two units over about 4 years than I’ve had across *ALL* the other laptops and desktops I’ve ever owned.

As the Technology Manager for one medium sized organisation and the Technical Director of smaller one, I’m able to influence the buying decisions of a lot of people & systems (plus I’m always being asked by family & friends re: recomendations, etc). Suffice it to say that I’ll not in any way be recommending DELL equipment! At one location, we’ve ordered a total of 12 laptops in the past year or so – they’ve all been Toshiba – funny that.

Death Walks Close

I’ve just been told that a friend died yesterday. I’d met Sarah at a couple of parties and we’d hung out here and there. It was early days but I was getting to know her and her boyfriend Rob – fun people, lots of smiles and energy. Rob had picked her up from work and … Continue reading “Death Walks Close”

I’ve just been told that a friend died yesterday. I’d met Sarah at a couple of parties and we’d hung out here and there. It was early days but I was getting to know her and her boyfriend Rob – fun people, lots of smiles and energy.

Rob had picked her up from work and they were driving home. A motor cyclist slammed into the car and Sarah took the full force of the blow. She didn’t survive. Rob’s in hospital and is expected to be out soon.

The last time I saw Sarah was at a friend’s on Sunday arvo, hanging out after a party the night before. Sitting on the floor, silhouetted against the daylight outside, smiling and laughing with everyone.

Life’s full of unexpected things – remember that and make the most of every day you have.

DELL Sucks :(

My DELL laptop is having problems once again (seems to be the hard disk and/or motherboard this time). Can’t these guys produce a machine that just freakin well works and lasts for more than a year or two??? I’ve written it up over in the Soap Box area as Don’t Buy Dell Equipment

My DELL laptop is having problems once again (seems to be the hard disk and/or motherboard this time). Can’t these guys produce a machine that just freakin well works and lasts for more than a year or two???

I’ve written it up over in the Soap Box area as Don’t Buy Dell Equipment

Nykolai’s Doing Well

Spoke to Nykolai’s teacher this morning and she told me that he’s doing extremely well with his work. At the start of the year, he was practically on level 0 with his reading and only getting about 6 out of 100 with his spelling. Now he’s on level 20 and is getting 79 out of … Continue reading “Nykolai’s Doing Well”

Spoke to Nykolai’s teacher this morning and she told me that he’s doing extremely well with his work. At the start of the year, he was practically on level 0 with his reading and only getting about 6 out of 100 with his spelling. Now he’s on level 20 and is getting 79 out of 100. This is a most dramatic turn around and we’re all very happy about it.

Of course, the down side to this is that I’d promised to get him into go-karts if he did really well at school this year. Guess it’s time to go find a place that teaches kids how to drive :)

Bye bye HD

Confirmed with Greg at Holdies today that I would not be progressing the repairs on the HD (he wasn’t surprised). Now to try and save some money to get another car…

Confirmed with Greg at Holdies today that I would not be progressing the repairs on the HD (he wasn’t surprised). Now to try and save some money to get another car…

Lest we forget? Too late!

We call it “Armistice Day” but it’s also known as “Rememberance Day” and also “Veterans’ Day.” Whatever it’s name, it serves as a time to honor those who have died in war, no matter where it was fought, whether it was a “real war” or which side they served.

The day started in memory of the end of World War 1 when the leaders of several countries signed an agreement to stop fighting. The signing took place at 11am on November 11th, 1918. The thought was that there would be no more wars because the horrors of WW1 would stop anyone thinking war was an answer.

Less than 21 years later, World War 2 broke out. Since its end, there have been very few days without some form of fighting occuring on the planet.

Now we’re in the middle of what could very well become known as Vietnam 2. Just as Vietnam turned into a disaster for the USA in the 60’s and 70’s, so too could the situation in Iraq.

Lest we forget? Too late – it would appear that we as a whole have forgotten entirely – our illustrious leaders certainly appear to have… :(

The Price of Rebuilding

Just found out that it’s going to cost about $4,500 to repair the old HD (new rails, panels, gear, respray, labour, etc). That’ll take the total investment to about $7.5k (not including rego) for a $3k car which, when all’s been done, is still a pain in the butt to drive on wet roads.

Just found out that it’s going to cost about $4,500 to repair the old HD (new rails, panels, gear, respray, labour, etc). That’ll take the total investment to about $7.5k (not including rego) for a $3k car which, when all’s been done, is still a pain in the butt to drive on wet roads.

Lest we forget

Today is “Rememberance Day” where we take a minute’s silence to remember those who have died in war. If we truely wish to honor them, shouldn’t we stop sending people into pointless military actions (eg: Vietnam, Iraq, etc)? It’s sad that we seem to have forgotten that which we’re supposed to never forget… Lest we … Continue reading “Lest we forget”

Today is “Rememberance Day” where we take a minute’s silence to remember those who have died in war. If we truely wish to honor them, shouldn’t we stop sending people into pointless military actions (eg: Vietnam, Iraq, etc)?

It’s sad that we seem to have forgotten that which we’re supposed to never forget…

Lest we forget…