Rants and Raves

If you’ve got a home network, and you happen to have a server machine you should consider setting up one of your machines as an NTP server and synchronizing all you other machines to it.

Just do a quick Internet search on W32Time and NTP if you’re using a Windows server; that will give you information on how to setup the server to synchronize to a reliable time source (if you have a GPS receiver you could use that), how to make it synchronize every few hours (to keep the clock accurate), and how to make it broadcast time on your network and allow other machines to synchronize to it.

Then simply change you time server synchronization settings on all your other machines and appliances to synchronize to your time server.

The Windows time service is actually a very flexible and well thought out piece of software; though to change the setting to what you probably want you’ll have to use the registry editor (or course on a *nix machine you’d have to use an editor and understand some equally arcane syntax).

Tags: Computers, Software, Technology, Windows by roger
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When I really ran my own business I used to keep receiving logs for anything I ordered, it was a nice way to track everything, but when you don’t generate purchase ordered and all the additional supporting paper work it would be a lot of trouble…

What I do now is use the task list in Outlook (you could use any task list).

Essentially when I want to order something I create a task entry; when I order it I update the task entry; when I get the shipping information I update the task entry and update the “end” date and put in the tracking number (if I have one).

It’s a really convenient place to gather all the information together in one place for an order so that you can quickly refer to when it was placed, where it was placed, when it’s due, how it was shipped, etc and it really doesn’t take much more time to copy the information over from a web site or email into the task (then you can file the email away and only refer to it if you have a problem that needs to be resolved).

Once you have the item, confirmed it’s what you ordered and isn’t defective — just delete the task and  free up room for your next order.

It works as well for mail and phone orders; just you generally don’t get a lot of updated information.  If you want to keep the task information for your records, just copy and paste it into an email and send it to yourself — you consider using OneNote.

Tags: Shopping by roger
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My web site actually contains a great deal of information, it’s just you won’t find links to any of it (except my BLOG and my gallery) on the home page…

It’s not because I’m lazy; when I choose to share information I’ll provide the URL to obtain it from — there’s no need for random individuals to have access to my resume’, contact information, etc… the information is posted for MY CONVENIENCE, not telemarketers, spammers, and head-hunters!

Tags: General by roger
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In case anyone is wondering… the answer is NO.

I don’t get any incentive for including links to other web sites or praising products.

I BLOG to share what I know with people I know to help you — not help my pocket book.

As always you’ll get my untainted opinion here — whether you wanted it or not. lol

Tags: General by roger
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Discover has the “Open Roads” card that gives you 5% cash back on gasoline and automobile maintenance charges.  There is a catch, you only get 5% on the first $100 per month, and after that you don’t get very much cash back at all.

The card still makes sense for gasoline purchases since as long as you’re careful to use it for the first $100 in qualifying expenses per month and then pocket it until your next billing cycle.

The rewards are paid by crediting to your Discover account, check, or electronic deposit in $20 increments (so every four months if you maximize your benefits); or you can elect to “double” your rewards by selecting gift cards — which makes sense if you’re going to be something from one of the retailers anyway.

The application process is quick and simple (like most credit card companies, they don’t really want you to tell them anything, they get it all from the credit reporting agencies).

http://www.discovercard.com/

Tags: Credit Cards, Deals, Finance by roger
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From July 1, 2008 until September 30, 2008 Chase is offering 5% cash back on eligible travel and entertainment purchases.

So beyond the 3% cash back on certain categories they always offer; and 1% on all other purchases you can now get 5% cash back for a limited time on airline, hotels, rental cars, and fine dining when you spend more than $300 per month (that should be easy to do with any of those in the mix, particularly if it’s business expenses).

You do need to opt into this program, and if you haven’t gotten a letter from Chase inviting you, I’d say just go ahead and call 800-603-2265.

If you don’t have a Chase Freedom MasterCard or VISA, then maybe you should consider taking advantage of their services and rewards.

NOTES:

• If you want cash back, you maximize your reward by waiting until you have $200 because you get a check for $250! Other than that some of their travel and give cards are pretty good deals if they would save you money that you would have spent otherwise.
• Discover is apparently running a promotion as well. I’m not a Discover card holder so I don’t know the specifics of it.
• My picks for cards are: Citi Rewards Dividend (Citibank); Chase Freedom Rewards (Chase); and Citi Cash Returns (Citibank). There are also a few other cards that give good rewards provided you do a great deal of business with particular vendors.
• I would stay away from Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Capital One — their cards generally don’t pay bonuses or use some lame bonus programs.  And while you might want a credit card from your credit union, it’s unlikely they will have a decent reward program.
• Beyond rewards, many credit cards also provide rental car insurance, warranty extensions, lost/damage protection on items you buy, etc.  It’s always advisable to read the benefits that come with your credit card; many financial institutions off great benefits just because very few people ever bother to read the literature that comes with their cards and take advantage of the programs, so it really just makes them look good in all the comparisons and doesn’t end up costing them much at all.

As always, remember you can use credit cards to your advantage as long as you use them wisely.

Tags: Credit Cards, Dining Out, Entertainment, Finance by roger
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I’m not sure this is something that occurs to everyone, but I use SVN to version control my web pages. Essentially I treat my web pages just like a “software project”.

You do need to be mindful of files that you want to exclude from source control and/or transfer.

But I find the combination of SVN and FileZilla works great to take a local working copy of my web pages, maintain versioning, and push them out to my hosting facility.

While it’s not quite “one click” — it’s fairly simple to do, and it allows you to roll back changes easily.

Tags: Computers, Internet, Software, Technology by roger
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I’ve upgraded my BLOG software to Word Press version 2.6 (from Word Press version 2.5.1); it went without any hitch, mostly likely because I haven’t customized anything to speak of.

You can get a free BLOG from Word Press; but if you want full control of your BLOG software, you’ll probably need to install it yourself.

While there are other BLOGing solutions out there, I highly recommend Word Press!

http://wordpress.org/

Tags: Blogging, Computers, Internet, Software, Technology by roger
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I’ve found that the 2GB SD Cards that Micro Center gives away (with coupon) are worth what you pay for them…

They are SLOW, and my camera complains about them (it doesn’t complain about the PQI, Kingston, or Patriot card I have which are all FAST).

Just a word of caution, consider what you’re going to use the cards for before you buy the really cheap ones (of course if you get them free, by all means).  The good cards are only slightly more expensive than the crappy ones (yeah, we’re probably talking about 15% but that’s $1.00 for a 2GB card).

Tags: Hardware, Technology by roger
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Well, my new point-and-shoot camera arrived early this morning… and I charged the battery (a little over two hours for a complete charge, they ship it totally dead).

I’ve taken a couple indoor pictures (that’s generally the worst conditions for color/focus/etc)… INCREDIBLE. The pictures outside are also exceptional considering we’ve got a marine layer with quite a bit of haze in the air…

For less than $150 delivered this is really a nice camera…

My initial things I like / dislike about it:

Likes:

• Price
• Rechargeable battery pack (reasonably priced replacements as well)
• Resolution – 8.1MP, overkill for a point and shoot
• Color – vivid to lifelike
• Size – though it may be a little too small
• On/Off Switch – it’s a slide, not a button (great design)

Dislikes:

• Absence of view finder (you have to use the LCD, I’m used to holding a camera to my eye; and most cameras in the class don’t have a view finder)
• Doesn’t ship with an SD card, but you can use the internal memory (actually, maybe this is a plus — they’d ship it with a tiny SD card like other camera manufacturers and what would be the point)

For the number of “features” that the camera has, they’ve done a good job simplifying the interface… the instruction manual really doesn’t do the camera justice.

If you know anyone in the market for a point-and-shoot camera, I’d say this is one of the best deals around (for one with rechargeable batteries).

If you’re untested, I got this from Vann’s – it’s obviously a close out (half price), they only have Silver in stock (no black or what ever the other color is this was offered in).

Tags: Technology by roger
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