Some miscellaneous thoughts, notes, and observations, in no particular order...
First, my collection of Star Trek mugs sold on eBay, which really surprises me. There's been very, very little demand for Trek collectibles these days, if the traffic on eBay is any indication -- last I looked, which was a week or so ago, there were over a thousand items, and I doubt that even one-tenth of them had any bids (in fact, there was a brief in yesterday's Washington Times with a quote by William Shatner -- he also noticed that the Trek franchise is in a big slump lately, something that Shaw and I have been discussing a bit lately as well). I'm pleased that someone else who can actually enjoy the mugs will be getting them. A little extra cash and (hopefully) a boost in my eBay rating will also be nice pluses.
I got spammed by AT&T yesterday -- and it appears to really be from AT&T, not from someone pretending to be AT&T. What's the world coming to? Could it be just a coincidence, considering that I dropped AT&T as my long distance provider just a couple of weeks ago? One has to wonder.
Did a little searching yesterday and confirmed my suspicion that OS X has inherent problems with USB devices -- the articles I found were in reference to input devices, but if my experience is any indication, the trouble extends to storage devices as well. I'll be keeping an eye on this when I begin to contemplate my next computer purchase, needless to say. That won't be for some months yet, so I'm not too worried about it right now.
The old iBook is all cleaned up and ready to be sold -- I had an interested buyer, but I haven't heard back from him, so it looks like he's going to pass. The iBook will probably be going on eBay this evening.
The cable Internet went out again last night, probably due to an electrical storm we had moving thru the area. Fortunately, it came back up again this morning when I cycled the modem. Still, this is kind of annoying, and I have to admit the temptation to ditch Comcast and switch to DSL is coming upon me again... not to mention which, it would also be a good excuse to disconnect the cable TV as well. Television is evil. Well, 98% of it is, anyway.
Anyone have problems with cordless phones and WiFi in the same house? My new WiFi router operates on the same frequency as my cordless phone (2.4 GHz), and if I'm on the phone in the living room, I frequently notice problems with the connection -- the other day, Chad had to hang up and call me back because the call was breaking up so much. The problem seems to clear up if I move into the bedroom, which is closer to the telephone base and farther away from the WiFi router. Obviously, the only real solution is to buy a 5.0 GHz cordless phone, since that's the only solution that lets me buy new toys. :-)
Received a PowerPoint presentation from Rob yesterday with some slides taken in Iraq. Rob was opposed to the war but still believes (as I do) that Hussein had WMD's. The slides he sent were a pretty good indication of how easy it is to hide stuff in the Iraqi desert. These troops were digging up a Foxbat that Hussein had completely buried in sand and rubble. A Foxbat is not a small piece of equipment to hide -- but even so, it took US troops several months to find this one. Hiding chemicals and germs would be a much easier task, so it's not really all that surprising -- yet -- that we haven't found any. If we still haven't found any in six or twelve months, my feelings will probably start to change. If anyone would like to see the slide show, please feel free to drop me a line. It's pretty interesting. (Rob also reports, btw, that when he was in Iraq during the Gulf War, the tactics were even more cynical -- the Iraqis often kept their weaponry, fighters, and so forth in archeologically significant locations, hoping that they wouldn't be attacked there by U.S. forces for fear of damaging historically significant locations and/or items. That's revolting, but not really surprising.)
Posted by Zathras at August 6, 2003 10:57 AMHmm. I have no problems with my phone & router, even though they're on the same range as well. My router caused no problems when I was at your house either, iirc...however, the first router I bought, the one that was malfunctioning, *did* screw up signals, and my previous cordless phone setup would make things unstable as well. :p
If you're going to go for a new phone, I highly recommend going for one of those new ones like mine that has dual handsets (see Amazon.com link)... You can check messages with either the machine or each handset, don't have to run into the other room to answer the phone (as you'd have one in charger by your chair, the other in charger in your bedroom) clarity is perfect, and you can attach headsets to the handsets if you like. I *love* this phone.
You might be able to get one cheaply on eBay, but with something that might interfere with other electronics in your house, I highly recommend getting it retail. That way, if it has issues, you can just return it. :*)
Posted by: Moggy at August 6, 2003 01:45 PMI have problems with DSL and phone on the same line. You heard what I sound like over the phone - everyone thinks I'm talking like Bob Dylan.
Aweeebaaa Skeeeeebeee Timmeeesthaaayareachingin'
Posted by: Shaw at August 6, 2003 04:09 PMOh wait, I think I sound like that off the phone too :(
Posted by: Shaw at August 6, 2003 04:09 PM"I have problems with DSL and phone on the same line."
Do you have filters on all of the lines that aren't connected to your DSL modem? I ran into mega-issues with my DSL *and* phoneline before I installed the filters.
Posted by: Moggy at August 6, 2003 05:10 PMI was just kidding about buying a new phone (hence the emoticon). I don't spend enough time on the phone to justify buying a new one -- I barely spend enough time on the phone to even *have* a phone. :^) I'll probably just stick with moving to another part of the house when I get phone calls, or turn off the router while I'm on the phone.
Your voice always sounds fine on the phone to me, Shaw, but then, I'm usually paying attention to what you're saying, now what you sound like.
Posted by: Zathras at August 6, 2003 08:04 PMI do have filters on each phone ...um, I THINK. Of course, I have a cordless phone, phone and fax machine, dsl, and a whole buncha electrical stuff all in one corner - so, who knows - all I need is to throw in a Speak and Spell in the corner and ET PHONE HOME.
Well, at least yer payin' attn. to what I'm sayin', Parrish. Quite a few others don't...
Posted by: Shaw at August 6, 2003 08:17 PMI also have some static cling on da phones. Worse than an old UHF station broadcastin' from backwoods West Virginia...
Posted by: Shaw at August 6, 2003 11:10 PM"I also have some static cling on da phones."
Thank you, I now have an amazing mental image of a guy trying to make a phone call with a freshly-washed red sock. *snicker*
Posted by: Moggy at August 6, 2003 11:25 PMOne fact that I have only heard once in the media is that chemical and biological weapons have a limited shelf life - a maximum of 5 years. That means any weapons Iraq had in the gulf war in 91 were useless by 1996. There was no need for paperwork that they were destroyed, because they would have been useless anyway. With lousy Iraqi manufacturing, probably only 3 years.
That means the only weapons he has now would have to be ones he made himself after 1998 - and had to make them in spite of import restrictions and UN weapons inspectors.
It's one thing to hide the weapons themselves. It's another thing to hide an entire chemical and biological weapons manufacturing plant, which he would have to have done if he had any WMD's today.
Posted by: Matt at August 7, 2003 01:10 AM