Monthly Archives: April 2006

Stupid me, I upgraded the kernel

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I try to tell myself, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Unfortunately I don’t always listen. Periodically I update my Linux server to get the latest updates. Unfortunately lately I’ve been bitten by bugs in the kernel when I upgrade. The problem arises from the fact that I’m running software RAID-1 and those that work on the kernel don’t seem to use it and therefore put out updates that break using RAID. I think it is great that people spend their own time putting out updates, but it is a little frustrating to keep having the kernel break. This is the 3rd kernel update I’ve done that has broken. It doesn’t appear that I’m the only one with this issue as evidenced by some posts I’ve read. I’d really like to get the security fixes in the kernel, but I need to think harder the next time a kernel comes out before updating. (Wasted 2 hours on this, good thing I had nothing else to do.)

Where’s the D drive?

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I’ve been listening to Black by Christpher Whitcomb and as I was listening today, my ears perked up when I heard that one of the characters had an iMac. It was described as being chrome and ivory, so I was trying to figure out if it was an iMac G4 or G5. Yeah, I realize I’m a geek for even thinking about that. A little bit later, the author describes how the character put a CD into the D drive on the computer. Hmmm…I’ve been using Macs for 18 years and I still haven’t seen a D except when using Virtual PC, but I’m sure the author wasn’t talking about that.

Free email addresses used for business

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For years, I’ve had my own domain (next week makes 8 years), so I’ve always had a personalized email address. I fully understand that not everyone is as lucky as me and can’t handle their own email. When I first setup the domain, only Network Solutions existed and you had to get someone to host your website and domain. Since the introduction of different registrars for domain names, domain names are not only cheaper, but in order to win your business companies provide services such as email forwarding. The company I use, GoDaddy charges less than $9 per year for a domain and includes email forwarding. What is email forwarding? Well, it allows people to send email to joe@example.com and have it goto a yahoo.com, gmail.com or whatever email address to make it look more professional. Furthermore, many of the free email providers let you set your return address to be joe@example.com instead of joe123@yahoo.com. So what am I getting at? I’ve dealt with lots of people that use free email addresses (I have no problem with them and even have a few of my own that I rarely use), but to me, it seems that if for $9 a year you can get an email address that doesn’t look free, wouldn’t you do it? Of course this is my opinion and I’m sure some people have valid reasons for using free email addresses for business.

Bummed about MacBook Pro 17"

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I’m glad that Apple released the MacBook Pro in the 17″ model, but am bummed that the specs are much better than the 15″ MacBook Pro. Specifically, it comes stock with a 2.16 GHz processor, 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, 8x Dual Layer DVD Burner and a FireWire 800 port. I plan on getting the 15″ MacBook Pro, upgrading it to a 2.16 GHz processor with a 100 GB 7200 RPM drive which will bring the price to $2899. The 17″ model (you can choose the 120 GB 5400 RPM drive or 100 GB 7200 RPM drive for the same price) is $2799 which is $100 AND includes the 8x vs 4x DVD burner and a FireWire 800 port. I do use a FireWire 800 drive everyday for backup, so I’ll miss the port. Even though I’m disappointed, I’m still going to order the 15″ MacBook Pro soon. Hopefully Apple will drop the 15″ price or make the 2.16 GHz processor standard before I order.

Do I smell that bad?

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I realize that I don’t usually shower until the afternoon as I work from home, but I don’t think I smell so bad that it would cause my neighbors to sell their houses. Lately, we’ve noticed a number of houses in our neighborhood up for sale with some sitting for awhile. Maybe it is just getting close to summer and people think it is the right time to sell to cash out or maybe it is just too expensive to live here. I just hope that they get top dollar so that if/when we ever decide to sell, we also can get a nice sale price.