Category: Rant

Suggestion for Apple

I’d like to make a suggestion for Apple: If you’re going to sell an HP Printer/Scanner/Copier PSC 1510, you should make sure that HP bundles drivers THAT WERE WRITTEN IN THIS FUCKING CENTURY! No shit – I hit the “Scan” button, and it launched “Classic”, the backwards compatibility program that allows it to run programs written for the old OS 9. It then fired up some limited edition of an ancient version of Photoshop.

Come on, you guys.

Product Review: Innopocket Hard Case for Palm Treo

After wrecking my Treo at Pinckneyville, I decided the replacement (that goodness I bought insurance on it) needed a bit more protection. I got the Innopocket Magnesium Case for Palm Treo.

The case appeared to be ideal, with strong clear plastic over the screen and strong magnesium everywhere else important. Even better, the case has a good double hinge so you can get the front out of the way to use the whole device. The reviews warned me about one drawback – there is a nubbin on the back to clip into the belt clip, and when you fold back the front the nubbin touches the clear screen protector. And sure enough, there is a bit of a wear mark there. But then again, better wear on a replaceable case than on the Treo itself.

The design of the case seems to have placed a premium on access to all the extraneous bits of the phone, like the SD card and the camera. That can be handy at times. But it has also lead to a couple of drawbacks:

  • The SD card keeps popping out. Especially when the phone pops out of the belt clip and drops on the ground.
  • There isn’t anything along the top to secure the phone in place if the hinge opens, which has lead on more than one occassion to the phone dropping on the floor.

The belt clip is an interesting design and works pretty well, except when the clip itself falls off my shorts.

Not a complaint about the case itself, but more a simple observation: a couple of times I’ve forgotten that the case was closed and attempted to “touch” on the touch screen. Doesn’t work through the screen protector.

In summary: I like the case, and can overlook the small flaws. I hope it will protect the Treo, especially since Cingular cancelled my insurance for having the temerity for making a claim against it.

Today’s excitement

Ok, this is not what I wanted for today: 13WHAM-TV || Rochester – Police Searching Kodak Site for Armed Man

There were about a brazillion cop and Kodak Security cars out front, and lots of rumours flying around. When the rumour came that they were shortly going to start evacuating the building, I decided to beat the rush and leave right away.

Update:
Ok, that link went away. So I’ll just paste in the current story

No Gun Found at Kodak Park

(Rochester, N.Y.) – Police did not find an armed man at a Kodak complex on Mt. Read Boulevard. Just before 9 a.m., Kodak security got a report of a person carrying a firearm at Building 205. After police found no apparent threat, Kodak evacuated 1,100 workers from Building 205 and the adjacent Building 214.

Kodak workers will get full pay for the day, and are expected to be back on the job tomorrow.

Kodak and police are still investigating whether someone brought a firearm into the plant.

Building 205 is a very large building with industrial and office parts, and I’m sure somebody could hide something there pretty easily. On the other hand, people carry a lot of stuff in and out of the place and I’m sure somebody bringing a long object like a rolled up movie poster could be mistaken for a gun.

Anatomy of a failed plan

Radar pictureThe plan was to go up and visit my daughter. She asked me to bring my plane so we could take her new boyfriend for a ride. Unfortunately, the plane wasn’t available until 3pm on Saturday, but that’s ok because she was working until 5pm, and so we could go out to dinner and then flying on Sunday. And maybe my long distance friend Mark. So I booked it. Then came the first hitch – the boyfriend wasn’t available to go flying on Sunday after all. Oh well, we could still do dinner, and Liane and Mark and I could still go flying. And then Mark remembered a former commitment. Oh well, dinner was still on the menu, and Liane and I could go for brunch and a flight on Sunday.

At 1pm, I was checking the weather, and there were thunderstorms to the south. I thought that was ok (because storms around here generally move to the east), except the flight service weather briefer pointed out that they’re moving north. I checked the radar just before leaving for the airport, and the thunderstorms were now over Buffalo, but still a bit south of my route. I decided to go to the airport anyway, but when I got there I checked the radar again and those little red echos had moved right onto my route, and looked like they were heading straight for my destination. At this point, I gave up. The Aviation Weather site showed a SIGMET (Significant Meteorological warning) for thunderstorms in the area.

The image above is the current radar picture. If I’d left when I’d originally planned, I probably would have been landing about now. Or crashing. There is hail falling here in Rochester right now, and the dog won’t leave my side because he’s scared of the thunder.