On a whim, my mom and I saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop this evening. I didn’t have high expectations; the previews made the movie look rather dumb, and when LilPup & Spike saw it last week, they seemed less than impressed. So, I was expecting a movie full of stupid humour that I probably wouldn’t remember in a week.

However, I thought it was an exceptionally good movie. Not in the sense that it was well-written (the plot was so far-fetched that I couldn’t help but sigh), or well-made, but the underlying story was surprisingly heartwarming.

(more…)

Yay, I have my new phone! And it’s purple! :-D

After dealing with the headache of trying to get the email system working with Lupinia’s server (Sprint’s network does very awkward things with port 25 for SMTP relay, even though that’s the default in practically every email client ever written, including theirs), my shiny new phone with mobile email is working smoothly.

If you send a text message to my phone number, it will disappear into the digital void.

================

Now, because Verizon is full of fail, and delaying the porting of my old number by almost two weeks (they won’t release it without cancelling the account, and I won’t let them charge me an $80 cancellation fee), I’m going to have a temporary number for awhile. Thing is, I really like my temporary number, I like it a lot better than my old one. It’s much easier to remember.

So, I’ve created a poll (because I like polls); should I say “good riddance” to my old number and stick with the new one, or should I stick with my old number?

Click here for the poll

================

Until I decide which number I want to keep, I won’t be distributing my new number, unless you’re a Sprint customer and want to call me for free. This is only because I want to minimize confusion if I do keep my old number; considering that there are people out there who still call my original number from like four years ago, I don’t want to put out another phone number for myself if it’s temporary

I recently purchased a new cellphone, and switched providers. I intended to port my old phone number to my new line, like people usually do, but there are two issues. Issue one is that Verizon is full of fail and accidently renewed my contract when my mom added my sister to our family plan, and they charge a ridiculous early-termination fee even a week before the contract ends. So, I won’t be able to port my number for another two weeks.

Issue two is more of a cosmetic one; my “temporary” number is a lot easier to remember than my old one. I’ve had the new number for all of three hours as of this posting, and I already have it memorized as if I’d had it for a month. Plus, not that many people have my old number anyway.

So, should I port my old number, or just keep my new one?

 Loading ...

EDIT: I’m going to switch the new phone number, thanks for the input everyone.

I spent 8 solid hours fixing computers and setting up networks for a pair of clients today. And I have to go back to one tomorrow, the other one next week.

On the plus side, both clients are loaded, and expecting prices on-par with what Geek Squad would charge, but I really don’t have the patience to do this long-term. Despite the fact that this is what I used to think my career would be, I find it very difficult to care about other people’s computer problems and lack of knowledge, even when I’m being paid to do exactly that.

Oh well, at least this is better than the long-term client I had, where no matter how many hours I spent there, the job never got any closer to completion because the client was an idiot who kept wanting more.

=======================

In other news, new phone arrives tomorrow

You know how I hate cameraphones, and think most smartphones are a horrible idea? Well, I just bought one. This one, to be precise.

When cellphones with cameras first debuted, I (like many, many others on the DSL Reports forums) thought it was a stupid “gee-whiz” marketing gimmick with no practical use whatsoever, that would never sell. See how wrong that prediction turned out to be. I still feel the same way about them, and decided that I would never buy a phone with a camera in it, because I didn’t want to support this trend.

My feelings of disdain toward text messaging are largely rooted in the same principles, refusing to support a service that I feel is pointless and obscenely over-priced. In fact, my feelings toward texting can be summed up almost verbatim by this.

And, what about smartphones/internet-enabled phones? Admittedly, my dislike for those is largely rooted in the fact that the designs of such devices are so ridiculously bad that I just kinda swore off the whole “genre”. Until recently, there were three basic designs; ordinary cellphones/flip phones with extra software, PDA-sized handheld computers with a speaker tacked on, and shiny touch-screen monstrosities that become smeary and hard-to-read if you so much as look at them funny (I’m looking at you, iPhone). None of which are particularly desireable.

But, in recent months, my feelings on these have softened a bit. After seeing just how useful mobile internet access is, I started looking at other providers and their offerings. And, what I realized is that people like me lost the battle when it comes to holding out for bare-bones mobile telephones with bare-bones service. Ideally, I would love to have a pocket-sized mobile phone that, like the landline phone on my desk that I love so much, exists solely to make phone calls, with monthly pricing comparable to regular landline/VoIP service. That would be awesome. But, in the current market, it doesn’t exist. There simply aren’t any good bare-bones cellphones available anymore, and the few that do exist are becoming increasingly poorly-made. My current phone, a Nokia that I paid $40 for (with no contract discount), is actually the third one I’ve had in three years, and I can count on one hand the number of text messages I’ve sent in that time. If I actually did use text messaging, I’d probably have to buy them in 12-packs.

So, after getting over that, I decided to alleviate my involuntary twitch at the monthly pricing on cell service by planning to get data service. A relatively unrestricted internet connection is vastly more useful than text and “picture/video” messaging, and with most providers, voice-only + data is about the same price as “everything” without data.

Unfortunately, I’m probably the pickiest customer ever when it comes to cellphones. An internet connection, in my mind, requires a full keyboard, so anything lacking that is automatically out of the question. I can’t stand phones that require manual opening to make a call, which eliminates all traditional flip-phones and many side-flip models. I’ve become very accustomed to dialing full numbers from memory, and without looking at the device until I’m finished (to make sure it’s right), so phones lacking 10-key number pads and phones that primarily rely on touch-screens are also out. And, since it’s a phone, and not a f***ing MP3 player, anything with prominent music buttons is eliminated simply to keep me from getting angry “crush, kill, destroy” urges every time I look at the damn thing.

I hadn’t really looked at phones in awhile, but while I was in Pittsburgh, I tagged along with to go to the Sprint store to replace his phone. He already had one in mind, the Samsung Rant, and while he was getting it, I spent a good deal of time playing with the display model. The result? I actually like it. Not in an “oh, I guess it’ll do” way, but I genuinely like it. It has the basics down quite well, it’s easy to navigate, and while it does have extra BS like a camera and an MP3/video player, all that stuff stays out of the way and out-of-sight unless you actually want to use it.

So, does this mean we can text-message you now?
In short, no. In long, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…
As I mentioned above, I did not get any sort of text messaging plan on my new phone. And I’m not going to. I purchased a data plan instead, because it can be used for things other than point-to-point mini-messages. And, as soon as the phone arrives and is activated, I’m going to figure out if I can block text messages with Sprint like I currently do with Verizon. If not, I’m going to demand quarters from anyone who text-messages me, and I’m not joking about that.

However, I didn’t get a data plan just to have an easier time looking things up on Wikipedia. One of the biggest selling points of that extra monthly charge, and this phone, is the ability to send and receive email, using any email server I want. And, I happen to own a mail server. So, I have a dedicated email address for mobile communications, and whenever I’m away from home for extended periods (like, at a con), I’ll check my primary accounts via mobile as well.

But, I can’t email from my phone, so that’s no better for me!
Actually, you probably can. Text messaging is basically email, and with most providers (I know this works with Verizon), you can send text messages to and from email addresses as seamlessly as you would send to a phone number. You can even store email addresses in your contacts, with or without a phone number! Wow!

So, to sum this up:

You still can’t text-message me, but you can email my phone now.

And, what would that email address be? Well, this is a public post, and the last thing I want is a bunch of spam coming to my phone. So, we’ll be sneaky about this.

The username can be a number of things, and still reach me, thanks to the wonders of aliasing. Valid values include “mobile”, or my phone number in 10-digit form (area code and number, with or without hyphens, but no spaces). You can also prefix “mobile” with one of my names and a hyphen, like “natasha-”. The domain is also flexible, and can be any of the lupinia.* domains I own (there are five), as well as either of the softpaw.* domains I own (there are two).

Hopefully, the spammers will be sufficiently confused by that paragraph. By my calculations, there are 56 different combinations that work, in hopes that this will be easy for everyone to figure out. If you’re not sure whether you have a valid combination, try it anyway; as long as the domain is right, it’ll reach me anyway (just not to my cell), and I’ll correct you if it’s not correct.

===============

TL;DR Version: I have a new cellphone on the way, and you still can’t text-message me, but you can email me, and my mobile address is buried in a paragraph above to keep it safe.

Edit: A few people have expressed confusion over the above paragraph explaining my mobile email address(es). I’ll post the real ones in a friends-only post later, but due to how intelligent spam bots are, the above description is the closest y’all are getting in a public post. Sorry. If it’s too confusing, just message me.

On my way home from Pittsburgh, I stopped at the big travel plaza in Breezewood, as I always do, but I noticed something different since my last trip. They now have their own security officer. This facility isn’t particularly big, but they now have an old guy in a fake-cop uniform who drives a Security truck around the parking lot all night. And, apparently, he’s as bored as I imagine he would be, because when I pulled up, he spent a very long time watching me and driving a slow circle around my car.

Well, after grabbing a drink and such inside, I started wondering what the weather was like where I live. They were calling for a big snowstorm to blow through this area that night, and I wondered if I was going to hit it. Last time I came through this travel plaza, I used their overpriced internet kiosk to check weather reports, but that seemed silly, so I decided to fire up my laptop to find some free wi-fi.

After a few minutes of checking a couple access points, I found one, and proceeded to check the weather (completely clear skies for the next 6 hours, and I only had 2 hours of trip left). I also checked an email account out of boredom, but the whole process only took about ten minutes. So, I shut down my laptop, and started to leave, but I then remembered that my laptop case rattles like crazy, so I pulled up next to a gas pump to relocate it to my back seat.

Apparently, the aforementioned security jerk had been watching me the whole time, and had nothing better to do, so he was following behind me at a slow pace. He pulled up next to me, and gave me a really nasty stare. Didn’t get out of his truck, didn’t roll down the window, he just sat there and gave me the evil eye.

So, I did the only thing I could; I gave him the cutest, flirtiest wave I could muster (with a wink, for added effect), then got back in my car, and casually left the parking lot. No clue how he reacted, but it amused me

==========================

In other news, today’s snow storm is the first time since last February that my hometown has had snow that stuck. The same town where, five years ago, four-wheel-drive was an undebateable transportation necessity. Trippy

On this site, there’s a rather thorough directory of links to external sites, in a variety of categories. And, I’m always looking for improvement in applications I’ve written.

Currently, links in the directory launch in the same window/tab. I’ve been deciding whether or not to change them to launch in a new window/tab, which is a trivial change code-wise. This would keep the Lupinia site open while browsing other sites, and make it easier for visitors to return here after visiting external sites from our link directory.

So, if y’all could vote in this poll to help me decide whether a change is desirable, I’d appreciate it. And, if anyone has additional suggestions, I’d appreciate those as well. Thanks!

 Loading ...

My close friend Syme and I went to watch Obama’s inauguration, and holy crap, what a day! It was like the entire day was one long adrenaline rush; Syme and I didn’t have a chance to sit down from the time we got out of his car at the Metro station at 7:30, to the time we sat down for lunch at 15:30.

The day started with a trip to Starbucks, and heading over to the College Park metro station (an excellent choice, we learned later, because the other choice had run out of parking spots long before we left). Thankfully, we already had fare cards, because the line to purchase them was over an hour long

Our train ride was crowded, but light-hearted. We chatted with someone working for one of the vendors in the downtown area (who looked and smelled like he’d had a few drinks already, but he was coherant), and there was a lively black lady leading the entire train car in patriotic songs. It was awesome, despite the entire train being shoulder-to-shoulder. We got off at our stop, where we encountered a station that literally had no visible floor, it was completely filled to capacity. And, to make things worse, we were there when this happened, and the DC police officers in the station committed the cardinal sin of crowd control by making this announcement: “We need everyone to clear the platform now, there’s been an emergency”. There wasn’t a riot or anything, but it did make a lot of people rather panicky.

Once above-ground, we began the Walk That Wouldn’t End. We were trying to get to the National Mall, but we couldn’t seem to find a way in; every cross-street we went to resulted in us going to another one even further up. After walking nearly 16 blocks, we finally made it to the mall, and worked our way through the crowd to the base of the Washington Monument. The view of the big screen wasn’t great, but it didn’t need to be; we were there. Before things go started, they showed various noteworthy people arriving, which made for an interesting demonstration of group mentalities. When Bush or Cheney appeared on the screen, the entire croud booed. When a member of the Obama or Clinton families came on the screen, the entire crowd cheered.

The ceremony itself was what everyone saw on TV. What wasn’t shown was the aftermath - the entire National Mall attempting to vacate through the same two streets. We ended up standing still for like two hours, just waiting to be able to exit. It was kinda fun though, because we ended up next to a lively bunch of guys who started singing lots of fun songs. And, there were people climbing on top of the porta-potties. And families who were really getting into the mixed, joyful atmosphere. Unfortunately, after awhile, the overall feel of the crowd started to become tense, until we were finally able to leave.

Every open restaurant within a 10-block radius of the mall was utterly slammed, and the metro stations were more full than on the way in, so we went up to Dupont Circle for a classy lunch (where we met up with a friend of ours who was working nearby as an audio tech for one of the balls) and a bit of shopping, then headed back to College Park. Our detour worked to our advantage, because we were able to catch a train that had enough room for us to sit down, before we swung by the two primary stops and filled the train to capacity.

Overall, it was an incredible experience, and I had a wonderful time. I didn’t get many good pictures, but the few I did get will be posted soon.

While driving up to symelion’s house this evening, I flipped on my radio to listen to Virginia State Police, figuring it’d be interesting tonight. Unfortunately, they were fairly over-staffed at that time, so not much to listen to - 6 patrol cars responded to a vehicle “driving erratically”, for example.

However, as I approached the Capital Beltway (loop highway surrounding DC, and the point where inbound highways will be closed tomorrow, for those not familiar with the area), I heard a very interesting call. The dispatcher announced a lookout for a semi truck for “possible suspicious behaviour/cargo”. Suspicious behaviour calls are always fun to listen to.

A couple of units said they were responding to the area where it was likely to be, and after awhile, another unit (a young guy) broke in with a lot to say. It seems he’d been driving parallel to the truck for about two miles, but since the truck wasn’t doing anything noteworthy, he had no probably cause to link it to the APB. After going back and forth with some details to verify that it was, in fact, the correct vehicle, he asked for further details on the call.

Apparently, some girl at a truck stop along I-95 had called this guy in saying that he “looked and acted like a terrorist”, and that he smelled like kerosene and fertilizer, and she was concerned about his truck’s cargo (implying a potential truck bomb). The dispatcher sounded very incredulous about the call, and the officers talking about it on the radio very obviously didn’t want to pull the guy over for this. The talkative young one even said “We can’t just pull this guy over for that, we have no probable cause whatsoever”.

So, after awhile (and after gaining seven units total following this truck), the trucker got onto the Beltway, and then onto I-395, a highway that basically just runs from the Beltway into DC. The young officer said “Alright, let’s inspect this guy’s load and get it over with”.

Things were quiet on the radio after that. They ran his license and plates (standard procedure for anything), no warrants, all valid. But, right before I reached my destination, they closed the call with this gem:

“We’ve gone over this driver’s paperwork, and inspected his truck and trailer, so we’re going to go ahead and clear this as ‘unfounded’. No sign of suspicious odors or activity from the driver, no sign of suspicious cargo. Request permission to meet with the caller in person?”

The dispatcher agreed, and that was the last I heard of it over the radio. I feel sorry for that poor trucker, but I have to say I’m glad that officers responding didn’t freak out at “omg a brown-skinned truck driver!”.

So, remember how I bought a bike the other day? I haven’t even been able to take it for a test ride yet.

On Friday night, when I actually bought the thing, I neglected to buy an air pump for the tires. So, after spending all that time fiddling with the shifter adjustments, I couldn’t even take it for a real ride to see if I got it right. No big deal, though, I figured I’d just get one the next day.

So, on Saturday night, I went to Wal-Mart and bought what I thought was the best pump they had. I brought it home, and immediately had a very difficult time getting the nozzle seated properly on the valve. It took about ten minutes to even get it on there in a way that allowed air to go into the tire. So, I started pumping up the front tire, and it seemed to take a very long time. Oh well, it must just be a smaller-capacity pump than I thought. I inflated the tire to about 60psi (max on these tires is 70, and I’m heavy), and when I gave it the last pump, the innertube exploded. Quite loudly. I have a hard time believing that it could do that at a relatively low pressure like that, and my pump was a royal pain anyway, so I decided to take it back and get another one.

I returned to Wal-Mart to exchange my pump, and brought the valve stem from the dead innertube with me to make sure that my next one would be a proper fit. While in the bicycle section, I noticed that they have a much bigger selection of innertubes than I thought, so I figured I’d go ahead and get one. I didn’t know the exact size, because I hadn’t planned on getting one at Wal-Mart, but they seemed to be pretty universal, so I grabbed a 26×1.75-2.15″ (biggest they had, since they’re big tires) as well as a nice mini-pump that included a frame mount.

Upon returning home, I started to replace the tube on my front wheel, only to find that the old one was 26×2.3″. Now, I don’t know a whole lot about bikes, or innertubes, but I really didn’t want to find out the hard way that .15″ makes a difference. So, I didn’t even bother unboxing it. I turned my attention to my rear wheel, and noticed that the valve stem had gone sideways somehow. Despite my best efforts to re-align it, it wouldn’t budge, so I took the tire off of the wheel, rotated the tube, and re-seated the tire. Yay. I started inflating it, everything was going peachy, except that, as the tire became more firm, the gauge on the pump continued to read 0. Great. I inflated the tire to a point where it didn’t collapse when I sat on it (no clue what that point is), and decided not to bother returning the pump. I want to get a real compressor here at the house at some point anyway, and if it acts properly inflated, what do I care about the number?

So, I went to Wal-Mart for the third time that night, returned the innertube, and called it a night. I want to hit a bike shop soon anyway, I’ll just get it then.

I was going to do it today, I even got up bright and early for a change, only to find that over the few hours of sleep I got, the rear tire had completely deflated. Apparently, I punctured the tube in the process of trying to fix it. And now I have to deal with the god-awful process of removing and re-installing the rear wheel in addition to replacing two innertubes. That kinda killed my motivation to actually do anything with it, so I went back to bed and slept through the day. Screw it.

Oh, and the pump I got, with its handy-dandy frame mount? It requires built-in water bottle holder mounts, it’s not the clamp-on style, and my bike doesn’t have those mounts (yay for weird frames). So I can’t even mount the thing.

I know it’s been way too cold to ride anywhere lately, but I wanted to at least take the thing around the block a couple times, ya know? I didn’t buy it to decorate my living room, and since I haven’t actually ridden a bicycle in over nine years, I wanted to get a feel for it again before it gets warm and I get the urge to go on a long ride.

========================

(more…)