Gee, Think.

So now it’s been about four weeks since I’ve been commuting with the Dell E1405. I’m really liking it. It’s not too heavy to carry around.  It’s not that light either, but it’s okay. The screen is big enough and that helps me avoid bad posture and eye strain on the train. I am able to actually get work done during the commute. The train ride is just long enough to allow me to edit some photos, write up a proposal, compose a blog post, or just arrange music on my ipod. Using my laptop on the train has given me an extra 90 mins a day or productivity. During this time I’m able to make progress toward my professional goals and it feels great. I am enjoying mobile productivity so much that I’m now going to look into mobile internet access for my laptop. Currently I’m thinking of getting hooked up via a verizon motorola Q phone. The Q phone looks really cool. It’s so thin and seems to have a decent screen size. It also has a qwerty keyboard which is a must for me now. I want all my letters to have their own keys! But the phone is not the real issue, I
just want to get my latop online during my commute.
I’ll write a review of that process as well.

Today is the start of my third week commuting with a laptop,
specifically the Dell E1405. When I started this trial I was unsure if
I’d be able to tolerate lugging this 14.1” viewable machine around. It
probably weighs a good 8lbs, so it is a significant extra weight in the
messenger bag. I have to walk a bit more steadily so that I’m not
bouncing the computer off my hips in some kind of abusive stress test.
Actually, my main worry is that the wear and tear of lugging this thing
to and from Manhattan through the train lines is going to shorten its
natural life. The commute lays a lot of vibration on the laptop. With
all of its delicate parts, I’m worried that something may shake loose.
As far as the extra weight in my bag, it’s fine. So far the weight is
reasonable compared with the extra productivity I get from having the
laptop during my New Jersey Transit train ride. I’ve been able to edit
pictures, compose letters, produce project analysis documents, and soon
I’ll be designing my webpages.
The seats on the train are comfortable. So far I have not seen any old
or pregnant ladies standing in the aisles, so I’m able to keep a seat
for a good 30 to 40 mins each day. I’m also not cramped while I’m
typing.
The ergonomics and social aspects of carrying the laptop appear to be in
check. Now it’s just a test of whether the machine will be able to
stand the test of time. I’ll probably sell it in another year to
upgrade to a more current machine, and hopefully it’s got another two or
three years of useful life left.

I’m having technical difficulties this morning. It’s a bit frustrating, but I’m not freaking out about it. Sometimes there’s only so much you can do! I use the optionsXpress website, and I just couldn’t get the java charts to work for me. You have to jump through a couple hoops in order to have both streaming java charts and options price data on your screen at the same time. Or at least I thought you did. I was trying to copy the internet explorer window when it was on a java charts page. This would create two identical web browsers on the java charts page. My browsers froze up at this point, TWICE. This is not the recommended method. After restarting my computer, I went back to the site to try heading to the charts page, detaching the chart window through the link on the page, and then detaching the chart from the detached page. Yeah, its a little confusing, but that seems to work. Detach, Detach, and the Clone that window to make other streaming charts. Then you can go back to the original window and use it to get quotes for options prices, or you could just use streaming charts for those as well after you find the symbol of the option you’re interested in.

This is my new workstation:
The Masterminds Unlimited Inc. Center for Excellence!!

I just started using my new Dell E1405! Man, I LOVE it. It’s fast, it was relatively cheap with the 35% discount I managed to get, and so far its great with the trading website I use. AWESOME!

The funny thing is that I had to shut it down by holding the power button on the first run!!! That’s right, it failed on the first run of the operating system! Oh well. That’s about in line with my expectations of windows.

I’ve now activated my McAfee security center which includes all kinds of reassuring sounding products like “spam killer” “privacy protector” and all that jazz. I had to restart (without holding the power button this time ) about three or four times because of the various updates it needed. I’ve got the firewall up and I’m feeling like this is a great secure platform. Oh, and it looks great with my new 19” neovo monitor! On top of my IKEA “JERKER” (HA!) desk. See picture in following post.

I just traded a mac mini and an old 17” crt monitor for this new 60GB
ipod with a nice case, and cool earphones!! If you would like to buy
this item, let me know! Only $300!! Shipping included!!

Today I realized that wordpress is an actual application. I’m starting
to get more excited about the value of my blog because I can see that
wordpress has an excellent search function that returns entries sorted
by date. For instance I can search for the name of my favorite place
and se how many times I’ve mentioned it. Since I usually accompany my
posts with pictures this doubles as a picture search as well. Quite
handy.
The search feature is going to be even cooler wheni have my posts fully
tagged. I find the list of tags on the side panel of my blog intrigues
readers and even myself. I see the categories and wonder what I’ve
written on that topic. That sounds runny when the timeline of a blog is
only a couple months, but if the blog extends over a couple years just
think of how useful that would be. You’l never be able to remember the
names of the entrires you wrote about one particular subject. A search
function, however, will allow you some real insight to your writing
patterns, topics of interest, etc. I’m looking forward to it!
What if the categories (tags) were presented in a cloud similar to the
del.icio.us website? I would like to have a couple extra visualization
features on my blog. It would be cool to have a dynamic title line
composed of the three most numerous categories. It would also be cool
to see the most recently used categories distinguished by a distinct
font, color, or other stlye. I would like some way to visualize the
most used and most recent categories. Hey, it’s possible that someone
has even written a plugin that does something like this. Have you?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I’m selling my trusty powerbook. It has served me well, but I’m looking for something a bit more portable. Here are it’s specs:

15” Widescreen
1 Ghz PowerPC G4
512 MB Ram
60 GB Hard Disk
OS X 10.3.9
AirPort Extreme WiFi card
4x SuperDrive DVD-R, CD-RW
Bluetooth
2 USB ports, Firewire, DVI, S-Video Out, Ethernet, Dialup Modem
Aluminum Casing

Casing has some small dents. Semicolon key missing. Latch replaced with custom velcro straps. Still runs like a charm.

Asking: $800

Mac Mini for sale. Purchased approximately January 2005.

1.25 Ghz Processor

512 MB Ram

32MB DDR video Memory

40 GB Hard Disk

2 years Apple Care Protection Plan

Asking: $400

Please leave a comment if you are interseted.

I think we both needed to know that we could get along while living in the same state first. Before I moved down to Jersey. We were definitely mad for each other, but the idea of marriage. No way! That was way too scary. Even though there was 18 months of water under the bridge, all of that was in the uncertain territory of the long distance relationship. I knew we would have a lot to learn about each other once we brought our lives closer together. I also knew that I needed to reassure Kitty that I could maintain a stable household, put the toilet seat down, do my dishes, etc…

It turns out that living with Kitty isn’t so bad after all! Actually its better than I could have imagined. There’s nothing like having a loving person waiting for you when you walk through the door. And if there’s a hot meal on the table, Oh Man! Heaven!

I made the move from Syracuse to Plainfield on August 15th. I left the small upstate college community in the afternoon and arrived on a sweaty summer evening around 6 o’clock. The jeep I drove was packed to the brim with my wordly belongings. A collection of old clothes, furniture, appliances, a some junk that I packed only because I didn’t know what to do with it. Unloading the car was no easy task, but it was nothing considering that I would finally be living with the love of my life. Until that day we had been separated by a 250 mile stretch of highway. Living together has been a joy. Of course there were times that we just got on each others nerves, but we had some learning to do. The main thing is that we’ve been able to work through our differences each time. I’ve got my fingers crossed for the future!

I really couldn’t have found a better girl. She’s smart, beautiful, well-organized, high-energy, and she drives a sweet convertible. In hindsight I’m not sure what took me so long to ask anyway.

We share a common love for the outdoors which has taken us on excursions into nature around Syracuse, Northern Jersey, and Western Pennsylvania. We’ve even done a couple of miles of the Pennsylvania Appalachain Trail ending in the Delaware Water Gap, which is an incredibly beautiful spot I must say.