Switching... » Personal

Got myself an iPod touch

Richard5 — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:48:35 +0000

I’ve been playing with the thought of getting myself an iPhone for quite some time but didn’t get one because I don’t want to hack it to get it to work with a local cell phone provider. When the iPod touch was released I tought, that is the answer, anything but the phone. I’ve got a decent phone, my employer provided me with it, a Samsung blackjack (i600), with email (Exchange integration, internet and a lot more goodies. The only issue I have with it is that it runs windows mobile and takes at least 5 minuts to startup.

I’ve jailbreaked the touch to get some extra applications on it, I’ve now got email, google maps, games and more… The only issue I still run into where to find an open WiFi connection when travelling around. As there is no bluetooth or any other connectivity besides WiFi you are stuck. That was untill I found the solution!

What about creating an adhoc WiFi network between 2 devices namely my phone (which has got WiFi) and the touch. The only problem here is that network sharing over WiFi is disabled on the blackjack. But with some help I’ve got it to work and I can now surf the internet and email over the 3G connection of my blackjack using the touch. It’s almost like having a 3G iPhone !

the guy that helped me out also wrote a great guide on how to do this yourself. You will need a touch, a Windows mobile 6 phone with 3G and WiFi and some time to spend. Hope you will like it as much as I’m enjoying my new found connectivity…

Leopard has arrived at last for me…

Richard5 — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:48:06 +0000

I’ve had some issues with UPS over the weekend. Where they normally would drop off packages at the neighbors when i wasn’t home, this time they didn’t. I should have received my copy on friday, but because I was out for groceries I missed the delivery. They tried again on monday but as to be expected I was at work and no delivery was made.

I called UPS to see how we could resolve the issue. The easiest solution was to pick up the package at UPS, their warehouse was not that far away. When I arrived this morning at UPS to finally pick up my copy of Leopard, only to be disappointed again. It seemed the driver forgot to leave the package and was taking it on his round again. After some negotiations with the local manager on how to resolve the issue, we decided to have it delivered at work which gave UPS a small problem. It wasn’t on the normal route so the package had to be exchanged between drivers. I got the package by the end of the day at the office. Finally.

I’ve installed it on my test mini as soon as I got home and I’m typing this blog-post in Safari 3 in Leopard. Next step is to try and install all the DIYMacserver.com stuff and see what I’ve got to o to get it working in Leopard !

Little present for myself, preparing for Leopard

Richard5 — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:42:09 +0000

Well, just returned from Ikea where I bought a little present for myself, a new swivel chair for use behind my desk at home in the study. It’s got one of those unpronounceable names “Kläppe”. My old one was also form Ikea but that one has served it’s purpose for way too long now and is ready to be recycled.

I’ve been playing with the idea of redecorating my study. As always it’s a mess and I need to organize lots of stuff on my desk which is always to small. But playing with ideas isn’t actually getting me anywhere and the new chair gives some purpose to getting things done. Who know I might even by myself a new desk and before I even now it the study has been repainted, got new shelves on the wall and…(I start looking very dreamy)

By the way, just ordered Leopard in the online Apple Store as well. I’m preparing my test server to have a partition on Leopard for testing purposes of the DIYMacServer setup.

Out of Office…

Richard5 — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:45:57 +0000

Yes, I’m away for a while to a place that I don’t think has permanent accessible internet access. This means I won’t be responding to all your comments and questions for two weeks, but don’t dispair. If you’ve got issues and are willing to share them with the other I suggest using the forum where others are willing to repond to your needs. See you again in 2 weeks !

So much to do and so little time

Richard5 — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:40:12 +0000

Well it’s been some time since I blogged here. I even got email from some of the regulars if I was still here. I’m still here alive and kicking… Only the new job is almost everything I hoped it to be and they are keeping me very busy. I’ve got my new company car a week ago and it’s great. Although I have to confess I had to change color I wanted to get my car this year. It seemed that all the black models where sold out by the time the leasing company processed the order. I’ve now got a “cool silver” Outlander parked in front of my house.

I’ve just blogged on the other site about all the updates I missed while I was busy working at my paying job. The OSX security update, Postfix and MySQL updates can be done without a problem.

I’ll try to keep everything a bit more up to date. Hope you didn’t ran into problems because of my “absence”.

Update on the new job

Richard5 — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:22:22 +0000

I’ve got some time to spare to give you all an update on how things are going at the moment. The new job is quite exciting and I’m very busing taking all the new stuff in and learning a lot of new people. The number of my LinkedIn connections just doubled in the last month. I’ve helped with a bid, a consulting document for a client and started on creating some structure in the way they do integration projects.

One of the nice perks that come with the new job is a company car and I’ve found myself a nice one that fits the budget I had. I’ve decided on the new Mitshubishi Outlander. While researching the car I came across this promotional video which really sold it to me.

The cityscape scenery in the commercial is shot just a few blocks from my home in Rotterdam, it gives you a nice impression of the great architecture we’ve got here. Hope you like it as well !

PS: I’ve ordered a black one and I’ve taken the Rockford Fosgate audio system as well. Can’t wait to actually get it…

Update: It ended up to be the “cool silver” version. I’ve been driving it now for a month and have used it for my holiday to Italy. It was great and still is a very good drive… even on the german autobahn.

In between jobs

Richard5 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:39:43 +0000

Last time I was in between jobs I had all the time of the world and worked on some of my personal pet projects for days at a time. It was a wonderful time and I was getting a lot of things done. I was hoping for the same effect this time, to finish some of the work in migrating all the documentation to the new site and to add some new stuff I’ve got lying around.

Unfortunatly my personal situation has changed, I’m no longer the free single with no worries, I’m now a father with a small child and responsibilities (and worries included with all that). So I’m a bit disappointed, reality is a killer.

Did get some stuff done and I’m still trying to get some things done. I’ve checked the latest OS X security update, Courier Auth and the new Postfix version. Currently I’m moving the DSPAM stuff before the end of the week. Next week it’s off to San Fransisco in the USA, unfortunately it’s going to be all work and no play…

I’m off-line for the coming week

Richard5 — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 17:30:47 +0000

Sorry, I’m going to be off-line for the coming week. I’m taking a short break and I’m taking the family on a trip for the coming week. The time between two jobs is an excellent opportunity to relax and plan a vacation.

By the way, the new job is starting great before I actually started ! I’ve been asked to go to the Tibco User convention (TUCON) in San Fransisco. Which sounds like a nice trip but I don’t think I have much opportunity to see much of the town. Most of the time will be spend indoors hearing all the news on the new software and the wonderful things others have built with it. I’ll be flying in on the 30th of April and will be leaving on 3th of May. This means that the first actual day at my new job is going to take place in San Fransisco. If there is anyone wanting to meet me there is always te possibility to plan something…

Got myself a PS3

Richard5 — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:03:32 +0000

Tried to buy a PS3 yesterday and was amazed at the number of consoles available. It looks likes Sony got us enough consoles to buy, only the accessories are a bit hard to get. it is going to replace my age old PS2 which has served my gaming needs since 2001. It looks awesome and plays most of the PS2 games I have. I’m a Grantourismo fan since the beginning and I finished unlocking all the cars in the new GT HD within the hour. I really love the ability to download the demo’s which means I haven’t bought any games yet but I will in the end.

The one I’m looking forward to LittleBigWorld which looks great and the multiplayer cooperative angle of the game is something I really like.

I’ve still got a old fashioned wide screen CRT TV (but a pretty good one from B&O) which doesn’t show of the improved graphics. But I’ve ordered a HDMI to DVI cable to connect it to my 23″ Cinema Display which will (hopefully) allow my to get gaming in full HD. It will arrive in a few days and I will let you know if it works as expected.

By the way, my Playstation Network online-id is: Richard-5

Update: I’m very disappointed in Sony and Apple. In Sony for requiring all HDMI video output to require HDCP and not just for when you play a BlueRay DVD. In Apple for not having HDCP in their Cinema Displays, especially the 23″ model which they even named ‘HD’ (the one I got) to show of that it can show true HD video resolutions. When I connected my PS3 the screen was black and stayed black with the power led blinking ! I think I need to go shopping for another monitor