The update to my PDA included unlocking the GPS chip. :)
I tried it out with Google Maps.
Error message: Please log into something or other that Google offers, before configuring Google maps.
I log into that. Then try my hand at configuring Google Maps.
I'm outside --- not a cloud in the sky.
About twenty minutes later I get an error message. "Weak GPS Signal".
If it can't locate satellites outside, then what was unlocked???
I guess I should be glad that Verizon didn't charge me an early termination fee.
Monday 29 June 2009
Tuesday 16 June 2009
On installing a hard drive
I realize that brick and mortar retail stores make money from selling services, not products. Still, there is no reason why two different sales people --- different stores --- with the same retail chain, tried selling the wrong cable for my internal hard drive.
What I needed was a SATA cable. To make thing simple for dummies --- like the MCSEs techs used by that retail chain --- they are color coded. Specifically, red with black ends. They are not gray. They are not silver. They are not six feet long. The power cord is sold in a different package.
Next door to that "superior computer service" big box retailer, was a big box office retailer, whose customer service has typically been only slightly better than that provided by TicketMaster. Not only did Office Depot have the SATA cord, but two reps apologised for not having the power cord that is needed. (Management is stupid to think that somebody that needs a SATA device cable, doesn't also need the SATA power cord.)
I ended up buying the power cord from a place that repairs computers. Typically, it doesnt' sell parts. A US$10.00 sale is a ten dollar sale. Furthermore, their thinking is that when I need to take a computer to be fixed, they will be the ones who fix it.
With a motto of "If we can't fix your computer, we will buy it", that repair shop might be promising customers more than they can deliver. On second thoughts, most software issues can be fixed by migrating to Linux, and using the FLOSS equivalent.
What I needed was a SATA cable. To make thing simple for dummies --- like the MCSEs techs used by that retail chain --- they are color coded. Specifically, red with black ends. They are not gray. They are not silver. They are not six feet long. The power cord is sold in a different package.
Next door to that "superior computer service" big box retailer, was a big box office retailer, whose customer service has typically been only slightly better than that provided by TicketMaster. Not only did Office Depot have the SATA cord, but two reps apologised for not having the power cord that is needed. (Management is stupid to think that somebody that needs a SATA device cable, doesn't also need the SATA power cord.)
I ended up buying the power cord from a place that repairs computers. Typically, it doesnt' sell parts. A US$10.00 sale is a ten dollar sale. Furthermore, their thinking is that when I need to take a computer to be fixed, they will be the ones who fix it.
With a motto of "If we can't fix your computer, we will buy it", that repair shop might be promising customers more than they can deliver. On second thoughts, most software issues can be fixed by migrating to Linux, and using the FLOSS equivalent.
Saturday 13 June 2009
Digital TV Transition
On 10 June my TV claimed I could receive 19 over the air analog channels, and 20 over the air digital channels.
At around 9.00 PM on 12 June, my TV claimed I could receive 8 over the air analog channels, and 9 over the air digital channels.
Of the analog channels, one was a notice from dish network advising me to get a new smartt card to continue watching the channel. A second analog channel was one explaining how to isntall, and configure convertor boxes, digital TV, and your VCR and analog TV to the convertor box. Angel Network, Univision, and the like comprised the rest of the analog channels. (All of them are either low power, or repeater stations.)
So what happened to the other eleven digital stations? What happened to the analog stations that were not digital on the tenth, and are neither low power, nor repeaters stations.
Turns out that with digital broadcasting, the transmitters are also broadcasting at a lower power. Furthermore, once propagation effects kick in, coverage is much smaller than with analog transmission.
I got rid of cable a couple of months ago. (More precisely, I requested cable TV service to be terminated. The cable company claims that they did so. My bill from them --- which is for Internet service --- appears to confirm that position. However, I can still pick up roughly 70 cable channels, if I connect the TV to the wall outlet. I discovered this trying to figure out why my talking VCR wasn't working properly. It was still connected to the cable wall outlet. I had never connected it to a cable box.)
At around 9.00 PM on 12 June, my TV claimed I could receive 8 over the air analog channels, and 9 over the air digital channels.
Of the analog channels, one was a notice from dish network advising me to get a new smartt card to continue watching the channel. A second analog channel was one explaining how to isntall, and configure convertor boxes, digital TV, and your VCR and analog TV to the convertor box. Angel Network, Univision, and the like comprised the rest of the analog channels. (All of them are either low power, or repeater stations.)
So what happened to the other eleven digital stations? What happened to the analog stations that were not digital on the tenth, and are neither low power, nor repeaters stations.
Turns out that with digital broadcasting, the transmitters are also broadcasting at a lower power. Furthermore, once propagation effects kick in, coverage is much smaller than with analog transmission.
I got rid of cable a couple of months ago. (More precisely, I requested cable TV service to be terminated. The cable company claims that they did so. My bill from them --- which is for Internet service --- appears to confirm that position. However, I can still pick up roughly 70 cable channels, if I connect the TV to the wall outlet. I discovered this trying to figure out why my talking VCR wasn't working properly. It was still connected to the cable wall outlet. I had never connected it to a cable box.)
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