Posted by Ed:
Joe and I made the leap to video last night by recording at our local public access studio. Episode 40 “Selling on eBay” was recorded in audio and video form. We’re still working out how we will distribute the video files so stay tuned to this blog and our website 2gnj.com for details.
Posted by Ed:
I’ve been using NoScript since it had been recommended by Leonard some time ago. I have to say that it does a great job at eliminating unwanted scripts from running, but is it worth the aggravation it causes? I continually get frustrated with it when I am trying to enter data in a website (such as commenting on a blog) and I go to hit the submit button and nothing happens. I then realize that I have noscript running and I need to allow scripts on the website I am on. So I allow scripts for the page and noscript immediately reloads the page! Now I lost all of the information I typed in and I get frustrated.
I agree with Peter Smith who writes: “Does NoScript make Firefox safer? Sure. Is it worth the hassle? No. For some reason, paranoia seems to be cool among Web geeks, but for the most part, it is totally unwarranted unless you’re sending and receiving sensitive data. Most typical Web surfers who install this extension remove it after the novelty wears off. “
I still have NoScript installed and will continue to use it, but in a limited fashion. I currently have “Allow Scripts Globally” enabled so that web pages appear as they are intended. I turn it back on when I go to youtube, visit a myspace page, or do blind google searches.
Posted by Ed:
I’m sitting in an arena in Battle Creek MI waiting for my son to compete in the regional gymnastics competition, and everywhere I look in the stands is a kid with a Nintendo DS. I can’t believe how popular these things are. I understand that they communicate wirelessly, they have two screens. Hence the initials DS (dual screen). They are also touch sensative, so it really is a neet gaming tool.
Because of this competition, I will be posting our latest podcast episode later today. Sorry for the delay, but it has been edited and approved by Joe. I just need to get an internet connection to post it. In the mean time, you can go to www.2gnj.com and watch the video of me showing you how to subscribe to the show.
posted by: Joseph Hershey
Ed and Joe run through quick howto on howto subscribe to 2gnj podcast. what what. go to http://www.2gnj.com .
Posted by Ed:
Today I was freeked out by an easter bunny walking across my screen. I know and expect different behavior from my computer based on experience of use, and having a bunny walk across my screen is not a part of that. At first I thought I might be infected by the Microsoft exploit known as the “Vulnerability in Windows Animated Cursor Handling.” Then I find out that it was just Netvibes. Easter eggs are all fine and good when you go searching for them, but having something happen that is unexpected is bad judgement. I had been using netvibes for my RSS aggregation for quite some time now, but now I will be less inclined to use them now that I know that unexpected things will happen. I know that it was all in fun, but I think they could have chosen a different method of spreading the Easter cheer.
4/9/2007 Update:
Netvibes responded to my complaint (rather quickly) with the following message:
“The Easter Rabbit was a surprise just for the Easter day, you will now never see him again.
We will keep in mind for in mind your feedback in the future before doing any events surprises.
We are sorry for the annoyance, for any other problem, message or suggestion, do not hesitate to contact us, we will answer you as soon as possible.”
I think we may talk about this on the 2 Guys Named Joe Podcast.
In week’s podcast, Joe and I talk about posting videos to Youtube. I began posting videos to youtube as a way to share my recordings with the cast members of the Second City Detroit training center. It has become quite a viral thing because I send a link to each cast member, and they in turn send the link to their freinds. Its almost like a pyramid scheme in that respect, but way more fun. With keywords, you don’t need to tell anyone about the posting. People can just ind it with a search.
Keywords make a big difference. I posted 10 videos, and within minutes I had several views on one video in particular. That video had the keywords “American Idol” in it. So you can imagine why it was found so quickly. If you have posted any videos on youtube, let me know how you were able to make it more visible.
Posted by Ed:
I use a blackberry. What’s a Blackberry? My Blackberry is a cell phone, email tool, time manager, mobile internet device, time waster, time saver, and overall addicting device. My Blackberry is addicting because every few minutes I get the feeling like I need to check my email. Being able to receive and send email at any time of the day is a good and bad thing because it can become addicting. It is so addicting that it has been called a Crackberry instead of a Blackberry. Sometimes you just want to be disconnected from the world. I remember my days working for a summer camp and being out in the wilderness canoeing down the Ausable river. We had no connection to the rest of the world, just a peacefulness and tranquility of the wilderness and the river around us. My happy place is on that river and when I am feeling overwhelmed, I bring my mind back to that river and the calmness. My mind drifts and peace fills my mind and thoughts, and then “BUZZZZZZZZZZ, BUZZZZZZZZZZZ” from my Crackberry. Oh, I got another email from a Nigerian telling me a sob story about a ton of money he wants me to help him make. So much for going to a happy place when you have a constant connection to the world.
Posted by Ed:
My son wanted a Sony PSP video game device. He said “please please please, can I have a PSP?” I explained to him that he has not proven to be responsible enough to have such a device. He has a tenancy to leave things laying around and then losing them or damaging them. I told him that he would need to earn the money for it and ask for gift certificates from relatives. Over a brief time, he was able to acquire enough money to purchase a PSP and was very happy with it. He took it everywhere, even in the bathroom. On this particular Sunday in March, he had to use the restroom and perform the number 2. Normally he has a carrying case for his PSP, but on this day he decided to store it in his hooded sweatshirt pocket (you know the one with a whole on both sides to warm your hands.) As he stands up to wipe his nether regions, the PSP slips out of his pocket and all he heard was “ploop.” Ploop is the sound a PSP makes when it enters the soiled water of a toilet bowl.
My son comes out of the bathroom very distraught, and hands me a PSP that does not smell too good. As he tells me what happened, I immediately instruct him to take the battery out. The best thing to do is remove any possibility of power short circuiting the device. We dried it off and I told him that we will need to let it dry for a few days before we try to power it up again.
Tonight was the night to see if it would still work. It has been 3 days, and it was time to give it a try. He put the battery in and turned on the device. The familiar PSP logo appeared on the screen and he was ecstatic. “IT WORKS!” He yelled.
My son learned a couple things from this.
1. Always keep your electronics away from the toilet.
2. If your electronic device gets wet while the power is off, pull out the battery and let it dry.
Posted by Ed:
This is a follow up post to my Best Buy Geek Squad experience. Last week I called the Geek Squad to get a status on the repair of my Canon SD100 camera. The repair was going beyond the estimated completion date, and they had not contacted me. The Geek Squad employee at my local Best Buy store told me last Friday that she would send an escalation request to the repair center to get a status.
Today I walked into the Best Buy store at lunch time to get the status, and the Geek Squadder was very quiet. He checked his computer screen for a bit, scanned the service order barcode, made some funny faces, and then pulled out a “No Lemon Replacement” form and told me that the camera was being replaced. I was stunned and elated because I was expecting to wait even longer for the repair. I originally payed $350 for the camera, and they gave me an equivalent camera for that same price. I walked out of the Best Buy with a brand spanking new Canon SD750 (see photo.) You better believe I purchased the 4 year replacement warranty on this camera too. Thank you Best Buy and the Geek Squad.
What do you think, should we include this experience in the podcast too?
Posted by Ed:
My digital camera broke recently, so I decided to take advantage of the 4 year replacement warranty I had purchased 3 years ago at my local Best Buy store. Standing in line at the Geek Squad counter, my mind started drifting back in time to when I purchased my camera. I really wanted the Canon SD100 because of it’s small size and the amount of features it had. The salesman attempted to sell me the 4 year replacement warranty, and just as I was about to say “NO!” he informed me that it would cover the replacement of the rechargible proprietary battery. So the $60 I would pay for the warranty up front would cover the cost of the battery after it dies. So I agreed.
(Still waiting in line and the amount of people behind me is growing. The Geek Squad staff is oblivious to the number of people waiting.)
I start to remember the first time I took this camera in for service. It was missing a screw and the battery was starting fail. The Geek Squad guy informed me that they would need to send the camera in to have the screw replaced and I would not have it for several weeks. The screw was minor, so I decided against it.
(I have now been waiting 20 minutes and the line behind me is 10 people deep. The Geek squad has no problem answering phone calls while all these people wait. It seems that phone callers take priority over line waiters.)
So if I did not get the screw, at least they could replace the battery for me. The guy then informed me that the battery was not covered under the warranty and that I would need to purchase a new $60 battery. I was livid, and I said “When I bought this thing, the salesman told me that the battery was covered. That’s the only reason I bought the service contract to begin with!” A supervisory Geek Squad guy noticed my pissed offedness and came over to diffuse the situation. He informed the other Geek Sqadder that the battery was covered and promptly replaced the battery for me. I was satisfied about the battery, but disappointed that they could not just order a screw without sending the camera in.
(Finally it’s my turn 30 minutes later to talk with the Geek Squadder)
Now I am no longer in line dreaming about my past Geek Squad experience. I am at the counter describing my current problems with my camera. I informed the Geek Squadder at the counter of the three problems I had with the camera (Shutter would not close, the screw was still missing, and the battery needed to be replaced again.) The battery really didn’t need to be replaced again, but I figured I may as well since it’s going out for service and I only have 6 months left on my service contract. Why not get my money’s worth? My order as estimated to be complete by 3/6/2007. As of this post 3/9/2007 my camera is still not finished. I also have not received a call informing me that it will be late. I have a nice website that I can visit, but it just says “REPAIR IN PROGRESS.”
Stay tuned to see how well the Geek Squad does with my camera……..
