Author: Kent

Reader, writer, arithmeticer. Proprietor of Newsome.Org, a tech, music and life blog.

Roadrunner Blues

jkOnTheRun, another Houston guy, has an interesting post about his recent troubles with Roadrunner.

His descriptions of his calls with various tech support technicians are as humorous as they are frustrating. I know well the feeling you get when you identify the script they are reading from and know exactly where they are trying to lead you (almost always to the door that says “not our problem- call someone else”). The problem is that there are only a few alternatives for broadband internet access. DSL is too slow and unreliable. No one uses that DirecTV satellite internet stuff. For me, it’s either Roadrunner or Roadrunner. Fortunately, after a very rocky start, my Roadrunner connection has worked very well.

I have been a Roadrunner customer since the service became available several years ago. JK’s experience brings back memories of those early, frustrating days. I called more times than I can remember trying to get the cable light on my cable modem to stay on. After I wrote may scathing posts to the Roadrunner newsgroup to no avail, I finally called the President of Time Warner Houston, who had been a client of mine, and begged for help. Finally some guys showed up and got me up and running.

Since then, and for most of the past 4-5 years, Roadrunner has been very reliable for me. Only once or twice in the past couple of years has my service been down- and then only for an hour or so. In fact, I didn’t lost my internet connection during Hurricane Rita.

So while I still have bad memories of my prior wars with Roadrunner, my service at the present is stable and reliable. Knock on wood.

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Thinkpad Tablet: Arrival and First Thoughts

This is the fifth part of my Thinkpad Tablet PC adventure. Part 1 is here, part 2 is here, part 3 is here and part 4 is here.

After a ball of confusion courtesy of Lonovo’s wildly unreliable order status page, my Thinkpad tablet PC arrived on Tuesday. The second battery arrived the next day.

Here are my initial impressions.

It is very light- which will be a good thing when travelling. It is even lighter than the Fujitsu I was using- and it has a lot more features, most importantly a keyboard.

Set up was simple. I added the security key to my wireless network and the computer connected right away. I updated Windows and Norton Antivirus, installed Office 2003, updated it, and imported my RSS feeds and bookmarks. In less than 2 hours (most of which was download and install time), I was up, completely updated and running.

A very nice touch is that the battery comes charged, so you can get started right away.

The screen is bright and clear, the trackpoint is firm and easy to use (I like it a lot better than a touchpad) and the keyboard is excellent as you would expect from a Thinkpad.

The conversion to and from laptop to tablet is easy and the connection between the computer and the monitor is very firm and sturdy.

It is easy to hold in your lap and use, whether in laptop or tablet mode.

This computer is going to be fun and easy to use when I travel. So far I am completely pleased.

I’ll post at least one more review after I take it on the road, but so far I give it high marks.

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Jukebox, Annotated

You know the drill. Open up your jukebox of choice, point the shuffle feature to your entire library of songs and list, without exception, the first 10 or so songs that play. Each week, I add a little commentary about some of the artists, songs, albums, etc.

That’s the Day – Dale Watson (Cheatin’ Heart Attack) (1)
Union Square – Tom Waits (Rain Dogs) (2)
Cowboy Romance – Natalie Merchant (Tigerlily) (3)
One Good Year – Said Cleaves (Broke Down) (4)
Makin’ It Natural – Dr. Hook (Doctor Hook) (5)
What You Want – The Mertons (Girandole) (6)
End of the Party – The English Beat (Special Beat Service) (7)
Night Riders Lament – Jerry Jeff Walker (Ridin’ High) (8)
Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’ – Allman Brothers (Idlewild South) (9)
Girl About a Song – Jonathan Gregg (Blue on Blonde) (10)

(1) Dale makes good, real country music that sounds like the stuff I heard on the radio as a kid. There’s nothing particularly notable about this song, but I’m real happy there are people who still make this kind of music.

(2) My buddy G-Man and I went through a phase back in the late 80s during which we listened to Tom Waits almost exclusively. I love his great songwriting and his ragged howl. This is a fine example of both off of a great album. Sadly, that howl became more and more unintelligible over the years until it turned into just noise sometime in the 90s. I don’t buy his new records, but I love his old ones.

(3) I run sort of hot and cold on Natalie. Just when I decide her songs are too generic, I hear one like this one that’s so wonderfully wistful. This is a fine song that is going onto my current MP3 CD so I can listen to it in my truck.

(4) Slaid makes good, melodic Americana music. This is a mighty fine song about trying to get your stuff together. In one way or another, that’s what we’re all doing.

(5) I have always liked Dr. Hook. After the famous Cover of the Rolling Stone, this is probably my favorite Dr. Hook song. Because of the drug-related content, I won’t play this one for my kids. But it’s a clever and funny song.

(6) The Mertons are exactly the kind of band that makes alternative country (which is a little more ragged and rock influenced that Americana) my favorite musical genre. This is absolutely one of my favorite records and will certainly end up on my Top 50 list. Highly recommended.

(7) I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard this song- the one that really turned me on to new wave music. This is one beautiful song that I will always associate with my discovery of a lot of fantastic new wave bands back in the 80s.

(8) A fine song off of one of JJW’s two great records from 1976. He was a little rougher back then- more of an outlaw than an Americana statesman. My favorite JJW record is the much overlooked A Good Night for Singin’ from that same year.

(9) A funky guitar driven romp off of one of the best albums by the greatest rock and roll band of all time. This song rocks in a way that simply didn’t exist pre-Allmans. If you can listen to this song and sit still, you better check your pulse.

(10) I can’t recall how I found out about Jonathan Gregg, but this is the best song on a fine album.

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TIVO Deathwatch: No Netflix Deal

nailcoffinEngadget reports that Netflix has abandoned its efforts to reach a deal with TIVO to facilitate movie downloads.

The problem: the Hollywood cartel won’t grant the necessary licenses to allow movies to be distributed via download to a TIVO. As Engadget points out, everyone and their dog knew this would happen when the Netflix/Tivo deal was first discussed.

As I have said before, I have loved my TIVOs- even though my primary soon to be obsolete HD TIVO is sputtering to a premature and not uncommon death as we speak. TIVO’s efforts at grabbing for a rope while the waves crash around it was noble at first. Now it’s just sad.

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Friday's Link: Make a Police Sketch

Ultimate Flash Face lets you create a sketch of a face by selecting various facial features- sort of like a police sketch artist would. I tried to create a sketch of someone I know, but I couldn’t get it just right.

It’s still a neat diversion worth a few minutes of web time.

Bonus link for Friday night surfers: NPR is going to webcast a Son Volt concert at around 10:00 p.m. central time tonight. The show hasn’t started yet, but I’m tuned in and waiting.

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3 Things I Remember About: 1968

This is the fourth in a series.

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(1) I was in Mrs. Rivers’ third grade class at Cheraw Primary School. When we misbehaved, we had to stay in the classroom during recess (by far our favorite part of the day) and write “I will not do [bad act] again” 100 times on a sheet of paper. One day just after I finished writing what I would no longer do 100 times and was headed for the door, the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. Without thinking, I said a word I had heard an older kid use. I had no idea what the word meant, but as soon as I said it, all hell broke lose. I was sent to the principal’s office to wait as both of my parents were called to an impromptu conference. It was the infamous “f word.” I can’t recall if I was told what it meant at the time, but I knew for sure that I shouldn’t say it again within earshot of a teacher.

(2) I distinctly remember when Robert Kennedy was assassinated on TV. I am not certain if I was watching it as it happened or watching as it was replayed later in the day. I do know that I was the one who told my grandfather about it.

(3) And of course the defining event that year was my dad’s death on November 14. I wrote a little about that day in Five Days in April.

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Friday's Link: Netvibes

I have used My Yahoo as my primary news and information page for many years, and overall I am still very happy with it. With the increasing presence of blogs and other RSS content on the web, however, I have found that many of the pages I read regularly have RSS feeds that can be read via feed readers or other RSS aggregators. In fact, My Yahoo now allows you to add RSS content, and I have done so. But My Yahoo stuffs the RSS content into the existing My Yahoo layout and configuration. That’s not a bad thing, but sometimes I think it would be nice to have more control over the layout and the way content is displayed.

Now comes Netvibes. This free web service lets you create a personalized page, similar to My Yahoo, with any RSS content you like. It’s still in beta, so it’s a little rough around the edges and the true potential lies in what the developers may add in the coming weeks and months. So far, so good, however. It has a very flexible and configurable interface. If you sign up and get login information (which is not required to begin using the service), you can access your page anytime and from any computer (again, much like My Yahoo).

You can easily add content and move it around the page until you get the perfect display. Better yet you can import OPML files as well. You can even import, download and listen to podcasts without any additional software (though I have not tried this yet).

If you use Gmail for email, you can integrate your email account into your page and access your email instantly.

The developers have a blog where you can read about the current and planned features. It’s a work in progress for sure, but keep your eye on Netvibes.

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Thinkpad Tablet: On Closer Review

This is the fourth part of my Thinkpad Tablet PC adventure. Part 1 is here, part 2 is here and part 3 is here.

The good news is that I received a package from Lenovo. The bad news is that is wasn’t my Tablet PC. The worse news is that I have no idea when the PC will ship. Very frustrating.

The package contained only the copy of OneNote that is supposed to come with the PC. Of course since the PC doesn’t have a CD player, it will be a challenge to install it when the PC finally arrives. That’s not a big deal, though. What is a big deal is not knowing what year, much less what week or month the PC will be shipped.

Upon further (and much closer) review of the shipping email from Lenovo (see Part 3), it says that “part of my order” shipped and the part is this lonely copy of OneNote.

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To make matters even more frustrating, the Lenovo order status page helpfully reports that my order is in “Packing” and has been for days. Packing must take a long time since the same chart indicates an estimated shipping date of 11/8/05. I conclude from all of this that none of these dates or status designations mean anything. The PC will show up at some unknown future date. Unless I want to call Lenovo again and try to get someone on the phone with whom I can successfully converse, that’s all the information I can count on.

The verdict: My once great desire for this computer continues to diminish. If I had a shipping date I could count on, that would help- even if it was a month or two away. The uncertainty is highly frustrating. The new Gateway tablet continues to call my name.

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My Favorite Records:Billy Hill – I Am Just a Rebel

This is the sixth part in my series of favorite records.

When I lived in Nashville from 1982-85, one of my favorite musicians was John Scott Sherrill. I saw him and his band many times at the Goldrush and other local watering holes. While he is one of the most successful songwriters in Nashville, I can find very little John Scott Sherrill the performer’s music on CD, or even LP (occasionally you can find some 45 promos on eBay). The one recording that is available is the only record by Billy Hill, a band he was in in the late 80s with fellow Nashville great Bob DiPiero and some of Nashville’s other legendary songwriters and session players.

The Album, I Am Just a Rebel is a virtual clinic of real country music songwriting and playing. Too Much Month at the End of the Money is the kind of songwriting that would have been a huge hit had it been recorded by one of Nashville’s marketed stars. Just in Case You Want to Know is a bluesy country tear jerker that you can imagine playing on the jukebox while you drink away your sorrows. One of the best and most unusual covers ever is a countrified version of the Four Tops’ Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch. You’ve got to hear it to believe it, but it works. My favorite song on the record is either the beautifully forlorn Drive on By or the country-rocker Rollin’ Dice.

There’s great writing and great playing on this record. It’s pretty obscure, but fortunately it’s available at Amazon and perhaps elsewhere.

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Thinkpad Tablet: Shipping Surprise

This is the third part of my Thinkpad Tablet PC adventure. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.

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When I got home tonight I had an email from Lenovo telling me that “all or part” of my order has shipped. When I went to the Thinkpad web site and checked my order, the information page reported that the computer has shipped. The extra battery is treated as a “related order” and still has the very confusing dual notation of “2 weeks” and 11/9/05 (more than 2 weeks). This is no biggie, as the computer is the main thing I want, and I can wait a week or two for the extra battery.

I should have the computer on Thursday. In sum, Lenovo’s web site is a little confusing and the order status page isn’t terribly accurate, but the computer shipped 22 days after I ordered it and, given the demand and the estimated shipping dates, that is pretty good.

I’m satisfied with the time to ship. After Thursday, we’ll see how I like the computer.

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