Water Water Go Away

After eight passes with the wet/dry vacuum it looks like we may finally have a reprieve from the water woes. Basement is still damp so I have turned on the dehumidifier. Maybe tomorrow will be event free.

Looks like I am going to be scheduling some crack repairs this Spring. The foundation wall on the driveway side is getting quite bad.

It Lives

I really hate having to say this but Microsoft has done a good job with its Windows Live Essentials 2011 applications.

I have had so many bad experiences with Microsoft's one-off applications in the past that I was wary when downloading and installing Windows Live Movie Maker for a project at work. The download wasn't horrible but the install took quite a while - even on my fairly quick work system.

I started the application, dragged the video to the workspace and was able to start trimming right away. The responsiveness of the application on my 64-bit Windows 7 was very nice. I have used Movie Maker and other video editors in the past. They all seemed to take forever to process each task only to end up with the audio and video out of sync by the time the project was done. WLMM did hiccup on occasion but recovered well. In the end I had a very decent video with titles, captions, transition effects and credits. WLMM also allows you to add in audio clips, choose where they start and how long they play for as well as apply affects to the video to give it that old-timey look or many other looks.

The only things I think would make it better would be if you could split the audio from the video and zoom in on the video or parts of it for an extended period of time. These features were available in previous versions and are much missed now.

Additionally, you can add in static photos or images to your project. You can then add captions to your photos, some transition and visual effects as well as some audio to make for a great photo slideshow to share with friends and family.

Once done with a project WLMM allows saving to file, burning to DVD and even posting directly to YouTube and Facebook along with many other options.

Overall, this product is fantastic for both home and business use as long as the project does not require any of the missing major functions. Those can be done using other applications though if necessary.

I would recommend Windows Live Movie Maker to anyone who is running Windows Vista or Windows 7 with a decent amount of RAM and processing power. It will work on any system that meets the OS minimum specs but will run much better with 4GB of memory or more.

Water Water Everywhere

The season of wet is upon us. The thaw had started melting snow enough to flow into my basement through the cracks that are spread every year by the ice. I was hoping that it would be a slow thaw so it would only trickle in and dry up but that is not the case. This morning on my way out the door I peeked down the basement stairs only to find a growing puddle starting to wrap its way around the foot of the stairs.

Luckily, we are prepared for this so I grabbed by handy dandy wet/dry vac and got to work on tackling the pooling waters. I filled the vacuum and had to cart it over to my wash sink to empty it before I even got the majority of the water sucked up. This was my fault as I had drained out my sump hole the week before and forgot to empty the vac. Round two allowed me to get the rest of the water off the floor and from behind the pipe where it collects after coming in the crack in the wall. Being the considerate fellow that I am, I emptied the vacuum so my wife would have a fresh start for tackling the mess throughout the day.

The weather forecast calls for a steady rain throughout the day, diminishing later this afternoon. That means that we will still be clearing water out of our basement well into the evening. Hopefully it only stays on the one side of the house and does not back up the storm and sewage lines into our wash sink. Either way, we will both be stressing all day about it and with the warming trend we are having it will probably be a frequent event for the next month or so. ARGH!

from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

Water Woahs! Great Greening.

Johnson City municipal water supply is the hardest water I have ever had to deal with. We have had so many issues with our faucets and plumbing crusting over from the lime scale that we should have invested in CLR. We have had our faucets replaced in both the bathroom and kitchen sinks. We have had the pipes replaced in both rooms as well. My wife is diligent in her battle with the hard water stains in the bathroom but the kitchen has been a tougher war.

 

As a solution we decided it was time to invest in a water softener. At the same time we decided it would be nice to have an energy efficient tankless water heater. After shopping around, doing some research and talking to some people we contacted Auchinachie Plumbing. This past Monday Auchinachie installed a Navien hot water heater & Kinetico water softener & fixed our other minor plumbing issues. It took about 8 hours for the two service technicians to get it all installed, adjusted, tested and the other items fixed but it was worth it.

 

I have to say that I am loving the non-chlorinated softer water. My wife really enjoys the fact that she has hot water for as long as it takes to wash all the dishes, take showers and do both the kids baths. Having my bathroom sink and bath drain properly is a plus. These were really worth the investment and will hopefully be worth it for years to come.

 

I still have my old water heater in the basement until I find a home for it. Perhaps I will put it on Craigslist. Out with the old and in with the new.

 

Since we moved into our house we have completed a bunch of energy efficiency improvements:

• Added solar panels
• Replaced the refrigerator
• Replaced the washer and dryer
• Replaced the furnace
• Replaced the hot water heater

We are getting greener every day and saving money in the long run because of it. Our electric and gas bills are fairly low compared to those around us. The investments are definitely paying off. The next big investment will be a hybrid vehicle of some sort for me to drive to work during the cold months of the year. During the summer I even ride my bike to work to save on fuel costs and to get excercise. I would not consider myself a green freak but I do appreciate the benefits it has for me, my family and the earth around us.

 

 

SuperUser For Me and My Droid

The lifespan on my Motorola Droid is dwindling. The Droid 2 and Droid X have been out for a while. The Droid X2 and Droid 3 are on the way. The Motorola Droid Bionic is soon to follow. Oh, what to do with my dusty Droid?

Hmm.. let's start hacking. I know that there have been ways to root the Droid for quite some time but I have been trying to behave. After all, it is my primary means of communication. What would I do if I bricked it?

Luckily, I was successful with using SuperOneClick to root my phone. After rooting I then decided to over clock the slow CPU using SetCPU. Both of these wonderful apps are available from xda developers. All I had to do was sign up, download them and follow the instructions. I had a couple of minor issues with SuperOneClick but these were resolved by following the discussions in the forum. Thank you xda.

My phone runs quick (800 Mhz) and smooth. The problems I was having with it slowing down to a snails pace is resolved. My applications respond better. Overall my experience is much better now.

Modding is not something everyone should attempt. You need patience and persistence as well as the ability to follow directions carefully. That being said, I will be looking forward to getting my next Android phone so I can mod the heck out of my Droid by installing custom ROMs. Hopefully it lasts that long.

Mashed Bo Tay Toes

I am so ecstatic with the current state of technology and equally frustrated with it. Working with government agencies who are trying to create applications using old technology and procedures is a disappointing process. I know it is tough to stay on top of current technology with the speed at which it innovates but that is no reason to not try. Luckily for us these groups are starting to listen to their target audience about what is truly needed and what we can do without. That being said, the journey is still painful.

Current technologies can work so well together when mashed up utilizing free and open source APIs provided by companies that are coming up with the innovations. Being exposed to so many varied and powerful web technologies makes me a little biased regarding the current state of applications and sites we are forced to use to report data and set up campaigns. I am not saying that I have all the answers or even that my suggestions are all good but I would like to see each agency hire someone to assist them in determining a direction for their projects to go that would access current technologies, benefit end users and be easy to integrate for their programming staff.

A simple thing like grabbing the Google Maps API to integrate real world GPS coordinates into a data collection application to populate geographic routing information when we have to do mobile dispensation would be invaluable. Using the same API to create an efficient delivery route when you have all the addresses you need to distribute items to would also be outstanding.

Mashing up multiple applications to create a complete solution for a problem is the direction the government needs to be headed towards. Creating these one off applications that cannot even talk to each other even though they have overlapping data pools is outrageous and a huge waste of time and resources for their target populations. I know government is not the only group in this situation but with the reduction in staff and the threat to cut services it is the one that will affect the most people. If only they had started their planning for programs and applications with this in mind the cuts in staff would not have hurt so much.

Where we go from here is uncertain but I am hoping to work much closer with our various government agencies so we can get their systems talking to each other. This will reduce time and errors caused by multiple data entries for the same information as well as progressing towards usable solutions for staff and better serve the general population. At some point agencies may even progress to using HTML5 web applications that can be scaled and used across multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets, netbooks and PCs.

Living on Cloud Google

Today I implemented Google Cloud Print on my PC. The configuration is actually quite simple and the concept is great. Google's implementation is a bit lacking on the mobile devices though. I can only use Cloud Print from GMail and Google Docs but only if I access them from my mobile browser. Really? Two applications and then only through the web interface?!?! Google, you build fantastic applications. You create easy to use APIs. You have a huge audience yet you create something useful but neutered to the point of being a pain to use.

I know that most everyone is saying 'Why print? Aren't we reducing paper?'. Of course I don't think we should print willy nilly but there are times where it is necessary and useful.

• I need a hard copy on my desk when I get to the office so I can sign it and get it out the door. I cloud print and it is sitting waiting for me at the printer.
• A co-worker needs a contract updated and printed ASAP. You are sitting in a conference and can update the contract in Google Docs, send it to your networked work printer and you save his bacon.
• I am using a Google Cloud Print connected app on my phone for creating a grocery list but my wife prefers hard copy. I send it to my home printer and she is off to get me my treats.
• I am working at a mass point of dispensing event and I need to be able to send a receipt from the data collection survey to a connected printer so the client can have a record of their visit. Yep.. cloud print it.

As you can see, printing is a necessary evil and having access from your mobile device make it a bit less painful. To make all this work:

1.  Google needs to make the API available - DONE
2. Users need to decide that this is a useful tool - I'm In
3. Developers need to use the API and get their apps updated to print reports, lists, etc - Any Takers?

I think the ability to print to the cloud is becoming a popular trend. Google, do it right. Do it quickly. Get 'er done.

When It Rains It Pours And Pours And Pours

My wife and I have had the worst time of it for 2011 already. Our newborn was hospitalized for a week with pneumonia after trying to fight off a head cold. Our toddler spent a few days in the hospital for dehydration after a bad bout with the GI bug. My wife and I have also been hit with these infections. She has had a much worse time with them than I since she is still recovering from the delivery of our son. This all came about after we were so happy to have been blessed with our happy, healthy children.

It also seems like our house is bad luck for us. We have been through multiple water events - some much worse than others but all of them stressful. We are attempting to correct some of the plumbing issues to remedy the leaks, hard water and other problems. Being a fire sign, I can understand my issues with water but this is ridiculous. We are hoping that fixing these issues changes the luck of the house but things rarely work out that way for us.

So this weekend we perused the cars at the mall. I think we decided that a Prius would be my next vehicle in a couple of years. I get in my car today and guess what? Yep, the check engine light was on. This will probably be a small thing to fix like a cracked head or bad transmission. I will keep you posted.

Maybe I am just being paranoid but it seems like whenever we do something that affects our lives in a positive way there are many new roadblocks that jump up to slow us down. By the time my wife and I die we will be the strongest people in the world because whatever doesn't kill us ....

Update: My wife has a horrible head cold, my son has a lower GI issue and my daughter has a fever. Yep. We cannot wait for this 'season of disease' to be over with. We had better have a comfortable, healthy spring and summer for putting up with all of these illnesses.

Stay Healthy

Update: My check engine light was diagnosed as a leak in the intake venting system, i.e. my gas cap needs replacing. The cost for that is over $100 including the diagnosis time. Oy! In addition I had them check out why my environmental controls blower fan only worked on the two highest speeds. Turns out the resistor was bad. Cost to fix including diagnosis: over $150. Two minor items to replace and $200 worth of diagnosis time. BTW.. they had my car in the shop for less than two hours. I should have invested in an auto diagnostic tester but it probably wouldn't have helped with these items. If only automobile technology could catch up to to the point where your car can tell you what is wrong or, preferably, what is going wrong so you can get it fixed before it becomes trouble.

At least these are minor items to deal with (knock on wood). Keeping my fingers crossed that my car lasts another 10 years so my eldest daughter can get some use out of it. Since it only has 39027 miles on it and its over 10 years old now it should last as long as we keep it in good repair.

Weather Or Not

The weather in upstate NY has been incredibly brisk as of late. Instead of snow we have crusty ice pack laying on the ground, stacked high in plow hills at the corner of parking lots and covering just about every rooftop. Sidewalks are icy and slick between the sporadically shoveled spots. Roads are generally cleared, although a bit narrower in spots due to the snice piles, at a huge cost to the area municipalities.

With all this cold weather my skin has dried out so much as to make my biometric scanner nearly unusable for logging in unless I lotion up my hands just before using it. The capacitive touch screen on my Motorola Droid is touchy about my crusty, dried, callused finger tips. Typing with my hardened finger tips is hit or miss at times. So much so that it is generally quicker to just use the voice to text capabilities. The greatest tool for this weather has been my fingerless gloves and mittens for times when I just need to touch type as I am freezing in my poor car waiting for it to warm up on these single digit mornings.

Technology is created based on the 'best possible conditions' at times. Great techology takes into account all conditions and tries to give you the best possible results or at least a decent work around.

Google Me This, Batman!

Where would I be today without Google?

If you know me you know that I am a Google fan. I was hooked immediately to the great search results and functionality of Google.com. After that I was invited by a co-worker to the beta of Gmail and stopped using all other personal email clients. I use Calendar and Tasks to keep track of my personal routine and to track the time I have worked on client projects. I develop web sites and found Analytics an invaluable tool. The Google Voice beta came along and I got my number. It has been such a powerful and useful tool for filtering calls as well as notifying me on my work and personal phones by using the one phone number. I use Picasa for my personal photos to share with my friends and family and I use the PC app to edit, organize and upload. I use BlogSpot (obviously) to post in two different blogs - one for family and this one. I use Reader to gather all my feeds for viewing online and on my phone. I use Chrome for my browser for its compliance, innovation and speed. I have setup Google Apps for Business to connect to my personal domain. I have dabbled with iGoogle although really have no use for the portal but I have recommended it to others who find use for customized start pages. I have used Google Docs when I needed a document editor in a pinch. I even got in on the CR-48 and Google TV testing.

The main thing I really like about all of the apps I have used by Google is that they are all connected by my Google Gmail account. Many are integrated or allow sending and sharing data with each other. This suite has been so helpful to me that I do not know what I would do without it. I know there are similar applications available. I know that some are better and some are worse and some are just different. I also know that for me the speed of Google development just blows my mind. Coming from the world of Microsoft and how slow they are to update, change or innovate the speed of Internet application development by Google is infinitely better.

Google Android OS is amazing in the same vein as all other things Google are to me. It does everything I could want. The speed of development and innovation is perfect for my never ending thirst for the better, new and different. I cannot believe sometimes where I am today with all the things I wished my feature phone could do and now I am doing that and more. Individuals and companies are developing incredibly useful apps for the phones and tablets. The usefulness factor has grown so quickly that I am so excited about what is around the corner.

For all the things that Google has developed and discontinued they have always done two things well:

1. Learn from the project and the journey
2. Look into the future to find the next thing

Did I mention that this is all FREE. Yep, I have not paid a cent to Google. There are items that you can pay Google for such as Google Apps for Business if you have enough users or want to use advanced features. There are also various Google appliances and products you can choose to buy but generally these are for advanced features or to have an in-house Google Search engine, etc.

Yay, Google! Keep it coming. Keep your users involved and wowed. May the force be with you.

Spiceworks! I'm Lovin' IT.

Let me count the ways that I love Spiceworks!

1. Documentation - The User Portal allows me to create wysiwyg help documents for myself as well as my clients.
2. Helpdesk - The ability for my clients to quickly login using their AD information and log a help request allows for great communication and responsiveness to their issues.
3. Inventory - Network scanning of systems for WMI information allows me to get a great view of my current systems as well as the new systems that show up on my networks.
4. Reports - I can run reports on anything in the system. Reports are easy to create and customize.
5. Community - A huge IT community of like minded people help each other readily and provide answers to questions about Spiceworks and about any other question - both technical and non-technical.

These are just the things I use the most in Spiceworks. There are plenty of other as you can see here: http://www.spiceworks.com/product/. And did I forget to mention that it is all FREE! That is right - Free. Doesn't cost a cent to use. You can pay for a version that strips out the ads if needed but even that is ridiculously cheap.

Document, Document, Document!

In my many years of working in the Information Technology field I have not found anything more valuable than proper documentation. Whether it is found on the Internet, provided by a vendor, part of the products help file or created by a poor IT tech who had to figure it out the hard way - it is the single most important thing to getting the job done.

I try to make it a point to document everything and always get bit in the a$$ when I forget. Having documentation is particularly useful when you have to go back and install something again for another users. Why go through the pain of figuring out each bug and brick wall all over again - refer to the documentation and get it done. If steps have changed in the documentation for any reason, for god's sake, update it. The next poor schlub will thank you.

Documentation is especially important when it comes to user facing knowledge bases. After I have helped a client once go through the steps I always create a document for future use. I learned this the hard way - why type up the same email instructions over and over again each time a customer asks how to do something? Create a document, make sure it is in a searchable system, copy and paste the instructions in an email and pay it forward. Heck, if it might be useful for everyone or you think your users need a gentle reminder how to do something send it to them all has a helpful tip. Most will thank you for it.

A final note - knowledge is power. Don't be an arrogant a$$ about the knowledge. Sharing is caring. Put it out there. Let others have access to your documentation. You aren't doing anyone any favors when you hold your knowledge for hostage. Empower your coworkers and clients. This will allow you to focus on new problems instead of rehashing the old ones over and over.

Document well

Keep it up to date

Store it in a searchable system

Share it with everyone

Lather, rinse, repeat

Tools I use for documentation: Atlassian Confluence, Spiceworks, and MS Word if necessary.

Educations, Trainings, Webinars - Oh, My!

New Year, New Horizons!

I have a dozen new applications or systems that I need to find time to educate myself on. Luckily there are webinars, documentation and classes to attend. Sadly, time is the enemy here.

Trying to find time to FOCUS on these trainings is tough. Dedicating time to leave the office for training would be good but there are too many other things that demand my attention. When 'following' along with a webinar I am too easily distracted by other problems that arise, other tasks I need to complete, emails and phone calls that come in as well as the general lethargy that rears its head when trying to follow along on something that I have not 'bought into'.

How many hours in a day, week, month, or year should we all dedicate to education? To the general upkeep of our skills? To the expansion of our minds and universes? I believe that 30 minutes a day should be focused on this task. Anything over 30 minutes chews into my regularly scheduled 'programming'.

When a new task rears its head it would be nice to take the time to learn more, prepare for and document the result of said task.

Documentation! That is a topic for tomorrow.

Purview? Peppy?

Purview defined: range of vision, insight, understanding, or cognizance
I hope to attempt to understand the world around me, share my insight (or lack thereof), and think, think, think about what ewe due too, me.
The story of Peppy: Once upon a time (late 1999), I was hired to do Y2K work for a local government organization. In order to notify others of our current location or planned destination we used a magnetic name board. Letters for the magnetic name plates must have been tough to find because when they attempted to find enough R's for my last name they came up way short, but they had plenty of P's hanging around. To make my name they used two P's with added leg pieces to substitute for the R's. These added legs did not survive long and like a mean child, someone pulled the legs off my R's leaving P's hanging on the board. PERRY became PEPPY and the name stuck.
Additionally, many people somehow thought my first name was Joe (instead of Jim) and so Joe Peppy was born.

Hello, World!

Hola a todos!

Bonjour tout le monde!

Ciao, Mondo!