blindsquirrel.org

Ever since I upgraded to OS X Tiger (10.4) my web browsing has had a really irritating delay when I use my PowerBook at home.  I never really noticed it when I would connect to other networks as I traveled.  I tried all the tricks out there; run my own DNS server, use Verizon’s name servers (4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2), etc. which only seemed to provide short term gains.

Yesterday Apple released 104.8 to update various issues, but this one caught my attention…

“Resolves performance issues that could occur when connecting to a Comcast network.”

Hang on, I use a Comcast network at home.  So I upgraded to 10.4.8 and the difference in my web browsing is noticeable.  The problem for me was never how fast the web pages downloaded, it was always how long it took to actually look up the web page I was trying to get to.  Now the “looking up…” piece is immediate and web browsing is back to where I expect it and where my last remaining WindowsXP box performs.

Thanks for the update Apple.  That was the only issue I had with using my PowerBook.  Nice job.

Tonight I helped my daughter with her 5th grade Science homework.  Thank God my wife was there because I never did well in school and after reading her homework questions I realized that I probably still wouldn’t be a good student.  For some reason my brain is just not wired that way.  I can figure out just about any technical issue or read technical manuals cover to cover in an evening, but I always found things like doing homework very difficult.  Thankfully my wife is a huge egghead and was able to greatly simplify the answers that I would have given or we’d never get any sleep.

Looks like HP is making it profitable for their top lawyer, Ann Baskins, that quit today. Dunn had identified her as one of the internal leaders of the leak investigation. How better to punish one of the main players involved in the pretexting scandal than 3.7 millions dollars. Accountability is a joke.

I’ve been running with the new hard drive for 5 days now and can add a little more info to the experience.

• Battery life has not changed, which is very good news. I figured that since the drive spins a little faster (5400rpm instead of 4200rpm) it would consume more power. It may, but it isn’t noticeable to me.
• Heat seems to be the same. As with battery life, I expected the faster drive to generate more heat, but it seems to be the same. Another plus.
• Noise. It is a little louder than the stock Hitachi 80GB that came stock with my PowerBook. Not so much when seeking, but there is a constant “whir” that you can hear if the room is quiet enough. I’d never notice it at work or any room that has other sounds going on, but I can hear it when there is no other noise.
• Speed. Everything feels a little faster, but it’s not an in-your-face kind of speed increase. It’s a pretty subtle increase for day to day web browsing and email. When I really notice is when I do heavier lifting like iPhoto or Photoshop Elements. There is no doubt it is faster when dealing with large files. Even the larger videos I watch with iTunes are a little smoother now. I have had problems playing HD content without it getting a little choppy in the past but it seems to hold up better with the faster drive.

Overall I’m still very happy with the upgrade and am glad I did it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is even slightly technical and not afraid to open a computer. There are some great guides online for replacing the hard drive, so print them out, including the screw guide, and go for it. I knew going in that a move from 4200rpm to 5400rpm would only be a slight increase in speed, but I couldn’t find a big enough 7200rpm drive. I think the biggest one I found was 100GB. Not enough of a space increase for me to open the case.

Our littlest one turns 7 today. Unlike Megan, Bailey showed up a the typical, chubby, “Gerber” baby. She was louder from the minute she was born. She and her sister could not be more opposite. Bailey is definitely more of an in-your-face type of person and you’ll never wonder what she’s thinking – she’ll let you know. She’s our little comedian and we’re very proud of her. I can’t believe it’s been 7 years already.

I bet there are some great people there, but their government seems a little squirrely to me. Hey, sound familiar?

N. Korea, blaming U.S., rejects new six-nation talks.

I realize Apple has been going after products that use the word “pod” in their name, but to try to stop the term podcast for using it is crazy.  I’m sure people are already using the word iPod as a general term instead of the product from Apple, much like Xerox is used for copying, Kleenex is used for tissues, etc.  But why stop the word podcast?  Why lose that association?  The world has too many lawyers.

Verizon wired my local CO 1 year ago for their FIOS service. 3 months ago there was a crew of guys digging in everyone’s yard to get ready for the fiber that would need run. And that’s how it sits today. No fiber. No time-line for FIOS. No idea when it will be ready according to Verizon.

But a funny thing happened while I’ve been waiting for the FIOS the last 12 months. Comcast got better. Where my speed tests used to barely show 2-3Mbs, I am now getting anywhere from 6-13Mbs depending on the time of day. I think it might be too late for FIOS unless they come up with some kind of monster deal to get us to switch. I’ve heard that Verizon spends a lot of money to provide FIOS to your home, yet here I sit, an early adopter just begging for the next big thing, and I’m not so sure I care any more. Now, when they can also go after Comcast with all of the same, or better, TV channels, we can talk. Where Comcast is still weak to me is with their delivery of digital channels. There is still way too much analog happening and I’m sitting here with a HDTV looking for more content. So Verizon still has a chance, unless Steve Jobs and Apple beat them to my TV first. Between the future iTV (which may not matter much to me since I already have a Mac Mini hooked up to my Sony HDTV with HDMI) and future HD delivery via iTunes, things are about to get interesting.

For some reason I agonized over which theme I would use for this site and ended up with one called White As Milk. It has really grown on me because it is just so clean. If I had one thing I would like to see changed, it would be that right now everything centers on the page and I would rather have it more left justified to eliminate all of the white space on the left. Other than that – killer theme. Thanks to Azeem Azeez for putting it together.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for paying less at the pump.  But, the only thing I worry about is as the prices drop, people’s interest in alternate fuel solutions seems to drop as well.  Will the lower prices turn our attention away from finding a better solution?