tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47523342703769016872024-02-19T23:45:16.710-10:00The World according to CheebertI've setup blogs in my lab, on job sites, you name it. But this blog is just for me.Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-24410596151370702652011-12-26T21:36:00.001-10:002011-12-26T21:36:40.919-10:00Disaster preparedness:WaterBob tub linerThe number one problem during disasters is the lack of potable water when the power is no longer available to run the city pumps. The downside to filling a tub is that the water is open to air and contamination. Great for flushing toilets, but keep in mind a person needs at least a gallon per day per person. <br /><br />Perhaps I'm being a bit paranoid, but having an extra 100 gallons of potable water before the city water goes away is priceless. My only bitch is that this is a single use system.<br /><br />http://www.waterbob.com/Information.do?forward=preparedness<br /><br /><center><a href='http://blog.hawaii.edu/malamahonua/files/2011/12/4BA7BD0C-0EA7-4125-9895-6F81F26B3E5F1.jpg'><img src='http://blog.hawaii.edu/malamahonua/files/2011/12/4BA7BD0C-0EA7-4125-9895-6F81F26B3E5F1.jpg' border='0' width='250' height='333' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-32667338596802750342011-03-11T12:58:00.001-10:002011-03-11T12:58:58.869-10:00Easy to embed rss feeds into your websiteI wanted a way to keep my web pages fresh, but also delegate content creation to several people, AND not go through the maintenance hassles of a full CMS. The answer I found is a set of tools from rssinclude.com.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blog.hawaii.edu/malamahonua/files/2011/03/AB1B7EFD-1C12-4AFD-8AD8-377480D731BA1.jpg'><img src='http://blog.hawaii.edu/malamahonua/files/2011/03/AB1B7EFD-1C12-4AFD-8AD8-377480D731BA1.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />The free version has a few limitations but can still let you yank rss feeds by category or tags from just about anything. In my case I have a nice simple Wordpress blog that I can delegate content creation on, and assign each person specific categories to use. Then I do selects on those categories and put them on the topic specific web pages. Since I turned on moderation I have the opportunity to approve the content before it goes public. However once I approve it, the content magically appears on my website.<br /><br />As you can see on the image above, it doesn't matter what language your rss feed is in, and it works just fine with images too.<br /><br />Check it out, simple but yet still dynamic content, all without the pain of something like Joomla or Drupal or Plone.<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-77188738524930565602011-03-08T22:16:00.001-10:002011-03-08T22:16:27.327-10:00The nook color really can be a tabletSo not long ago I decided I wanted just a little more from my color nook, for you see under the hood is actually an android tablet. However, Barnes & Noble has locked away the coolest parts in favor of a nice stable eReader.<br /><br />Like cell phones, Barnes & Noble is selling these eReaders as a loss leader (well nearly at cost I think) in hopes of getting you to buy a bunch of ebooks over a period of many years. A locked in audience of people who can only buy very profitable eBooks from them.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />However, rooting the color nook opens the color nook to the world that is the Android Marketplace with thousands of fairly cool apps available. Like Angry Birds, Skype, and so many more. However the Color Nook remains fully functional as a Nook, but with a whole lot more toys under "extras".<br /><br />The whole procedure is fairly simple, but has to be followed very closely. The hardest part is taking the disk image and writing it to a micro sd card.<br /><br />The procedure goes this way:<br />1. Fully activate your nook<br />2. Make sure the Color Nook has been upgraded to version 1.1<br />3. Boot the Nook from the sd card<br />4. The Color Nook will shutdown when done<br />5. Remove the sd card<br />6. Restart the Color Nook<br />7. setup google talk and configure your gmail account on the Nook.<br /><br />The full procedure is at http://forum.androidcentral.com/barnes-noble-nook-color/54069-guide-how-root-your-nook-color.html#post530373 but you have to signup on the site in order to get the Urls for the pieces.<br /><br />So far quite a few things off the Android Marketplace work just fine. You just need to get used to using soft keys to replace the buttons not on the Nook.<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-40817724079655007432011-01-24T23:02:00.001-10:002011-01-24T23:02:58.986-10:00Green archiving systemhttp://www.hit-storage.com/ is a German company that produces an optical storage system that breaks the boundaries of archiving. What makes them so different is how they're able with the same hardware to be both network attached storage and also a multi tiered archiving system.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://www.hit-storage.com/'><img src='http://blog.hawaii.edu/malamahonua/files/2011/01/29CE4CF6-9AFD-4A77-9321-53A223AB3F99iphone_photo.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='128' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />So first off this is an optical based system designed for long term reliable storage. Unlike spinning disks, blu-ray media is designed to stick around For 100 years and this company addresses media reaching the of life by using commercial off the shelf components. So when ultra-violet ray replaces blu-ray, you slide in the new drives and start the media transition process to the new media.<br /><br />During the demo, we tossed 600 Meg of photos and videos onto the NAS front end, and then purposely trigger an archive event. (archiving is triggered by business rules..I.e. File in existence for at least 6 months and untouched for a month; before the archive is normally triggered. So while the file stubs are still there and still searchable, post archive size of then same collection dropped to 600kb.<br /><br />An extremely flexible and scalable system, I'm really looking forward to finding some funding for this archiver.<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-48480570001187320582010-12-13T07:23:00.001-10:002010-12-13T07:23:04.076-10:00American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall 2010 meetingSo it's the opening day of AGU in San Francisco and the geophysics world has turned out in force. It's a bit weird for an IT geek to be here, but since SOEST is a major player, I figured it was about time to see what's happening. After all my school turns into a ghost town during the conference with a huge portion of our researchers and grad students presenting talks and posters here.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blog.hawaii.edu/malamahonua/files/2010/12/9D823DDE-5A25-4C5A-8E7F-9EB1455A38F20.jpg'><img src='http://blog.hawaii.edu/malamahonua/files/2010/12/9D823DDE-5A25-4C5A-8E7F-9EB1455A38F20.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />With over 18,000 oral and poster presentations being presented over the next 5 days, scientists will be presenting talks on "Frontiers of Geophysics" and emerging earth science policy.<br /><br />Different from trade shows, AGU is a massive collection of presentations in a peer review environment, where it's the duty of senior scientists to rip into theories being presented. Also very different is how huge areas are set aside for young scientists to put up posters about their work. To say that the plotter at SOEST was busy this week is an understatement, with a large number of folks on the plane with me carrying plastic poster tubes on board.<br /><br />Different too is the number and variety of sessions. With track topics like: geodesy, global environmental change, natural hazards, hydrology, biogeosciences, seismology, and many others;this is certainly one of the largest gatherings of earth and space scientists I've ever seen.<br /><br />Considering just how much it gear this community purchases, my role as an IT analyst at SOEST means I need to learn their language, their needs and wants. Funny how IT analysis forces you to become a "jack of all trades" since you can't automate what you don't understand. So if you're looking at finding a green market for your it goods, well maybe you should be here too?<br /><br />http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm10/<br /><br />Brian Chee<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-64343805922094712452010-12-09T10:00:00.001-10:002010-12-09T10:00:53.276-10:00Email time machine...nudgemail.comI'm not passing judgement, but a whole lot of us use email as a reminder..a reminder that tends to get lost in the masses of other emails. Nudgemail is simply a service that will accept emails from you and resent them back at your chosen date and time.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />It's not meant as a way to send spam to other people at a certain time, but rather a way to get an important email back into the today section of your inbox. For example:<br /><br />Forwarding an email to tomorrow@nudgemail.com is self explanatory. You can also do things like jan5@nudgemail.com to put that task off till the new year.<br /><br />If you really need a nag-o-gram you could also set it for hourly@nudgemail.com or weekly, monthly or yearly. It also accepts everymon@nudgemail.com or numerical dates like 07022011@nudgemail.com to perhaps have a reminder to send me a birthday greeting..hint hint...<br /><br />With a large collection of variations available, I'm sure it won't be long until someone comes up with a VBA script for outlook to ask nudgemail to resend anything that comes in while set in vacation mode.<br /><br />The nudge commands don't have to be in the address like either, it could be sent to nudge@nudgemail.com and the subject could be the desired time frame.<br /><br />Oh yeah, busy at the moment, send it to snooze@nudgemail.com and it will come back in an hour...the snooze time is of course configurable.<br /><br />Brian Chee<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-20799624652983969262010-10-17T15:15:00.002-10:002010-10-26T05:00:25.879-10:00Just what do users perceive when they say the network is slow?"The network is down" or "my Internet is slow" have become the modern version of "the sky is falling". The reality is that every time you open even a simple web page, you are in reality opening a closely knit collection of pieces flying in from a huge number of locations via numerous Internet byways and highways all converging in your browser. Simply put, that simple web page may consist of hundreds of parts from dozens of locations all over the world.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The first piece is a dns (domain name service) query that turns a URL into a true Internet address, that currently takes the form of four numbers separated by dots. Something like looking up a business name in the yellow pages to get their phone number. If the yellow pages are missing, you can't call the business unless you have the number memorized or written down someplace like a Rolodex/address book. This is the number one reason why tech support folks ask you to open a command box and type something in like "ping 4.2.2.1" which is a well known address on the Internet. This quickly tells them if your computer really does have a problem with your internet connection or just a problem looking up addresses from the dns service.<br /><br />The next issue is that most modern web pages are made up of pieces from lots of different locations around the Internet. If one of those locations is having a problem, it could easily affect the rest of the web page.<br /><br />So finally I'll get to the point...I just stumbled across a piece of software that let's you measure the performance of all the pieces that make up a web page, not just the start and finish. It's a great tool to help web page developers determine what pieces or snazzy web components are hurting their "perceived" performance.<br /><br />Checkout dynatrace for Microsoft windows machines at <a href="http://ajax.dynatrace.com" target="_blank">Dynatrace.</a><br /><br />If you just want to get some simpler numbers that just tell you how long it took for a web page to start, finish and what was the overall size, then checkout <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1743/" target="_blank">Lori (life of request information)</a> <br /><br />Both are free tools that can help you put your finger on your "chicken little" problem.<br /><br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-58554870039070035752010-08-23T11:31:00.001-10:002010-10-17T15:16:45.928-10:00Apps good enough to justify a new iPadI purchased my WiFi only iPad because it so perfectly matched a need for a project that I'm doing with the University of Hawaii School of Nursing; but along the way I've been discovering a whole passel full of really kewl apps that continue to dazzle me. I know, I know, I've already written about how Apple is using Foxconn, the world's largest sweatshop, but human rights issues can be fixed (I hope).<br /><a name='more'></a><br />So some apps that have just caught my attention and why:<br /><br />Flipboard:<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1953.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1953.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1954.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1954.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />These two screenshots are from a new iPad ONLY app that's called "Flipboard". Simply put, it aggregates RSS feeds from things like Twitter and Facebook, but also gets info from a growing list of magazines, and other social sites. The really nice part is that it brings back the glossy magazine format that we all love, and makes RSS feed civilized. So far this is a free app, and I for one am going to dump the twitter and facebook apps off my iPad in favor of this very slick piece of software.<br /><br />Stanley/Bostich Level:<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1955.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1955.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />This looks funny since it was designed for the iPhone not the iPad, but yet it just works. This free app is from Stanley Works and turns you iPad/iPhone into a level. Sounds a bit mundane, but a buddy just whipped out his iPhone while still holding onto the edge of a whiteboard we were hanging and voila...level...<br /><br />In the same category but not free is Measures HD that combines a bunch of tools into a single app. The plumb bob is amazingly good and it even has a seismometer. <br /><br />Measures HD:<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1956.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1956.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1957.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1957.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Next up is a deceptively sophisticated application that turns your iPad into a clapper for filming. What makes this amazing is that you can synchronize multiple iPads/iPhones together so that the clocks all match....it also outputs your shot history AND notes (voice and or text) to Final Cut XML, HTML or csv and emails it to you. What makes this amazing is that a professional system might put you back $15k but this is $20. Though you're going to have to shell out another $40 if you want the iPad to be able to synchronize to the SMPTE clock interface on your professional video camera.<br /><br />Movie Slate:<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1958.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1958.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />I'm sure by now that you've seen the skins that are selling for iPhones and their ilk. However, if I'm going to plaster something onto my phone, I want it truly to represent me, and not hundreds of other folks. Well Zagg has a free app called "Photopad" which gives you basic cropping, color correction, and a few special effects like solarization. What you can do afterwards is what's fun, you can specify the type of phone/camera/etc that you have and push/twist/shrink/etc your photo until it's sitting just right, and then order a high res color sticker print for you device. It's not cheap, but you can now truly personalize your tech just for you.<br /><br />Photopad:<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1959.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1959.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />My last rant for this entry is that I love music and I want it when I travel without having to fill up my hard disk with mp3's...Pandora has been my answer for quite a while and the iPad Pandora app even goes as far as putting out lyrics and liner notes from the album.<br /><br />Pandora:<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/1960.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/08/23/s_1960.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-66382815886088506512010-07-09T20:51:00.000-10:002010-10-17T15:17:07.743-10:00Record 4 tv shows at a timeIt's all about finding something to let your mind escape and the television world has been fighting for your viewing time. However why is it that the two or three shows you are looking forward watching are scheduled at the same time. So while Tivo is a great solution, i'm just plain cheap and so far have refused to fork out the recurring charge. My answer has been a Windows 7 Ultimate machine running Windows Media Center, but I've got to admit the open source MythTV was an extremely strong contender for my home media center. Media Center is also available on the home premium edition. Extenders from vendors like Linksys make inexpensive and silent boxes for the living room, while the Windows 7 machine sits in your home office. <br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/07/09/2592.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/07/09/s_2592.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='166' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />Similar to Tivo, Myth TV and Windows Media Center both download up to two weeks of program guide and allow you to record Programs based upon titles instead of a set time and date like old fashion VCR like recorders. So if something changes and delays your show, well maybe you only get the first half hour or not at all. So as long as the cable company adjusts the program guide, you still get your show. I still end up tweaking recording times by telling Media Center to start a few minutes early and stop a bit late. <br /><br />The best part is that the Windows 7 version of Media Center is capable of supporting four tuners at the same time. The big question is how to get beyond channel 78, especially the HD channels. I can get to a few unencrypted channels, but to get premium channels without cheating you're going to need to rent a "CableCard" from your provider.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/07/09/2593.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/07/09/s_2593.jpg' border='0' width='209' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />These cards look just like the old PCMCIA cards used in the last generation laptop, but are used here to cache the encryption keys for your premium channels. There are two types, a single stream version and another for multiple simultaneous streams. So at this point (June 2010) i'm running a pair of USB Aver Media tuners, but there is an alternative.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/07/09/2594.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/07/09/s_2594.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='238' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Ceton corp is just about ready to ship it's quad tuner InfiniTV 4 tuner card that can utilize the new multiple stream CableCards. http://www.cetoncorp.com/products.php<br /><br />So while they aren't cheap ($399) and the CableCard is going to cost you somewhere in the $2-6 range (you still have to pay for premium channels) to rent the cable card. Still cheaper than buying four tuners and four cable cards. <br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-35670077114092782372010-06-19T16:58:00.000-10:002010-10-17T15:17:24.905-10:00Personalize your gear..You can get mp3 players etched with your name, you can order the Flip video camera with your own image plastered over the camera...but now i've stumbled across an iPad app that let's you skin lots of your electronics with very little effort.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/19/2191.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/19/s_2191.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='122' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/19/2192.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/19/s_2192.jpg' border='0' width='104' height='190' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />http://store.theflip.com/en-us/products/MinoHD120.aspx<br /><br />The "borrowed" images are off the Flip website where they're showing off how you can skin your camera with just about anything you have a picture of, and this is the first place that I ran across that had custom skins.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/19/2193.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/19/s_2193.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Photopad by Zagg is a free photo retouching app that can also use your images to skin a variety of personal electronics. What you see above is how I stuck my school logo onto a Flip Mino HD video camera. If the device has multiple sides to skin you are given the choice. You use the standard multitouch controls to resize, rotate and position anything from your iPad photo album, but it seems only one image per side.<br /><br />With prices somewhere in the sub $20.00 range, this might be the new corporate reward.<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-45600929621952076712010-06-16T23:05:00.000-10:002010-10-17T15:17:43.603-10:00Should we pay more attention to fair trade electronics?A friend of mine tweeted about the insane working conditions at the company that makes iPhones....such stories make me pause to figure out if any of my other electronics are made by foxconn.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />"This is the epicentre of operations for Foxconn, China's biggest exporter, which makes products under licence for Apple using a 420,000-strong workforce in Shenzhen. They have 800,000 workers country-wide." ( from dailymail story)<br /><br />http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285980/Revealed-Inside-Chinese-suicide-sweatshop-workers-toil-34-hour-shifts-make-iPod.html<br /><br />Since the rumor mill is saying that the droid tablet is getting very close...maybe I should consider electronics made in a more humane facility and just pay a bit more. Just like how i try to buy free trade coffee.<br /><br />Brian chee<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-62843066462827128362010-06-16T21:50:00.000-10:002010-10-17T15:17:59.704-10:00Win2k8 R2 SP1 and why it will rock your worldSometimes the naming for a service pack just can't do it justice. The press corp received an early introduction to where the changes in service pack 1 will take us.<br /><br />My favorite feature is called RemoteFX and while it could be described as an iterative upgrade to Windows Terminal Server, the ability to time share server installed graphics processors will give thin clients a massive boost. Thin clients give a huge security boost while reducing cost and desktop footprint, but they've traditionally stank at 3D graphics. The catch is that blade servers don't have slots for graphic cards and only a few graphics cards have even been tested if you have pci-e slots. All this will change but for now only one thin client is ready to ship.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/17/66.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/06/17/s_66.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='127' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /> <br />http://thinlinx.com/about/about.html#about_news<br /><br />This little Australian company was highlighted during demonstrations at the recent Tech-Ed conference in New Orleans. What we saw during the demo was a mix of 1080p video (Avatar...) and 3D AutoCAD drawings all running on a Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 reference box on the table. It's certainly very early in the game, but it's certainly got a ton of promise. <br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-5017001381628690262010-06-12T21:02:00.000-10:002010-06-12T21:21:40.810-10:00Another reason why Apple isn't enterpriseOver the years i've tried out a great number of portable computers that started with machines like Kaypro, Osborne, and Timex in the old Z-80 days; Toshiba, Dell, Acer, HP as more modern examples. Common to all the so called enterprise solutions was almost a fanatical need to repair broken units as quickly as possible. I ran a Toshiba repair facility in the mid 1980's with average repair time measured in hours rather than days. Right down to having parts depots actually housed in adjoining warehouses to the Fedex depot in Memphis. The standard practice was to ship a special cradle box to the customer so that laptop would survive shipping and an overnight pickup label. Turn around back to the customer has been as little as 3 days total, and as many as 5 days.<br /><br />So why is it that I spent extra to extend my Apple MacBook Pro warranty an extra two years but yet Apple is claiming that the motherboard was going to take 7 days to arrive. They're also saying that the 3rd party hard disk and ram were going to potentially void my warranty, and that the dent on the corner of the laptop would also. So as I understand, only a perfectly stock and perfectly intact machine is eligible for warranty repair. All this from the corporation's actual store and from their certified repair staff. The local repair center is telling me that ignoring the upgrades is going to be a favor...<br /><br />Well it was Windows Vista that drove me from the PC platform, but it looks like the idiotic service attitudes of Apple might very well drive me back. Things like 24x7 support lines and timely repairs just aren't optional if you want to play in the enterprise IT world, and it sure sounds like Apple isn't very interested.<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Honolulu,%20Hawaii,%20USA&z=10'>Honolulu, Hawaii, USA</a></p>Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-38152031463951840342010-06-05T11:03:00.000-10:002010-06-05T11:03:00.786-10:00Why airline loyalty is importantSo for about $40 savings the Microsoft travel agency stuck me on continental where I don't have premier status. They stuck me in the middle seat on a 7.5 hour flight direct from Honolulu to Houston...on a 100% full flight. Then having to do an OJ Simpson run through the airport in Houston to make my connecting flight from Houston to New Orleans. Joy.<br /><br />The only nice thing is that Continental still feeds us in cattle car class...though it was Jimmy Dean egg&cheese bagels, and they did a pretty good job of watering us.<br /><br />So i'm certainly looking forward to United and Continental getting the two systems merged. It would be great if United treated cattle class better and continental learning scheduling from United. Well at least they didn't lose my checked bag, though they did manage to tear off one of the handles.<br /><br />Well more from New Orleans and the Microsoft Tech Ed conference.<br /><br />/Brian chee <br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=New%20Orleans,%20louisiana,%20USA%20&z=10'>New Orleans, louisiana, USA </a></p>Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-39975219344768682912010-05-31T21:53:00.001-10:002010-05-31T21:54:45.146-10:00Not worth the paper they're printed onI just heard from a friend that his grumbling on his personal blog got him passed over for a job, even though his qualifications were far superior to the other applicants. http://bit.ly/ckioAP<br /><br />Well I wanted to grumble in support of all the amazingly talented networking engineers I've met over the years that haven't wasted their time on pieces of paper. Too many corporations have been led by cfo's that are so impressed by their pieces of paper that they think promotions, hiring, and bonuses must have pieces of paper to make them worth while. Apparently too few IT managers are willing to evaluate good projects, and almost no one i've met is willing to let their people use community service and professional projects as a way to judge skills as a alternative to certificates.<br /><br />I would also like to say that on projects like Interop, that my experience is that my learning is exponential in comparison to traditional classes. I also learn better because there are large and immediate ramifications to the quality of my work on such projects.<br /><br />Well i'm done venting...<br /><br />Brian chee<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Honolulu,%20Hawaii,%20USA&z=10'>Honolulu, Hawaii, USA</a></p>Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-37788929581050068772010-05-30T12:31:00.001-10:002010-05-30T13:07:39.992-10:00Are we really remembering what those in uniform really do for us?On this Memorial day we sit back in our armchairs watching television, grilling, and other fun things. However we still have a whole lot of people in uniform out in harms ways. But wait, not everyone in harms way is in uniform. For every person out on the sharp point of the stick is literally hundreds of civilians and non-combatant military working towards supporting our way of life. <br />
<br />
I'd like everyone, even those who aren't American citizens to stop and think about those that help keep us all safe...give thanks to them on this Memorial Day.<br />
<br />
Brian chee<br />
<br />
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />
<div class="blogpress_location">Location:<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Honolulu,%20Hawaii,%20USA&z=10">Honolulu, Hawaii, USA</a></div>Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-72928371686384921762010-05-22T19:07:00.000-10:002010-10-17T15:18:32.781-10:00Zagat for iPadThe age old question is all the harder to answer if you're not familiar with the city. I've used AAA tour books, and the paper versions of restaurant guides...but just thumbing through a guide means you tend to lean towards the first thing you find. <br /><a name='more'></a><br />However if you're tired and just want a quick bite, it soon turns into a mental exercise to figure out just where the closest any-restaurant is, much less what kind of food will excite your taste buds. The default always seems to be the hotel's restaurant which always seems to be bland and overpriced.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://www.zagat.com/Content.aspx?PrimNav=Mob&CT=mobile_iPad'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/22/s_2344.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />This is where I wish I had gone for the 3G+WiFi version of the iPad since it also includes gps in the mix. The zagats guide can help you find hotels, restaurants, services in your surrounding area. So I'll be staying at the intercontinental for the Microsoft Tech Ed conference and discovered that Mike Serio's Po-Boys & Deli is just down the street. Also available for the iPhone, this app works well, and even better if it can utilize the gps location services.<br /><br />So is this worth $9.99/year? The jury is still out...but you can download it from iTunes or head to their website for more info: http://www.zagat.com/Content.aspx?PrimNav=Mob&CT=mobile_iPad<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-53276494177153156162010-05-21T18:13:00.000-10:002010-05-21T18:13:28.746-10:00The road of broken promises in the world of long term storageAnyone that has been in the IT biz for any length of time have seen the sorrow of lost datasets on storage media no longer supported. 8" floppies, 5.25" floppies, 9 track tapes, 14" or 5.25" optical worm drives...the landfills are filled with the skeletons of a multitude of "long term storage systems". <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/21/1932.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/21/s_1932.jpg' border='0' width='220' height='224' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />The challenge is really about identifying the next storage technology in time to budget for conversion. It also means that you need to make darn sure the data is worth migrating. Is it because of a regulatory issue like sarbox, or is the data of something that could never be reproduced? <br /><br />Is Holographic Versatile Disks the next thing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/21/1933.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/21/s_1933.jpg' border='0' width='200' height='200' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Honolulu,%20Hawaii,%20USA&z=10'>Honolulu, Hawaii, USA</a></p>Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-48330706552617762772010-05-21T07:35:00.000-10:002010-05-21T07:48:35.846-10:00We're being translated to PortugeseSo while the book on Cloud Computing that Curt Franklin and I wrote together is selling well; it has recently been contracted by a Brazilian publisher to translate it into Portuguese for sale into the south American markets. We are stunned and pleased, especially as Taylor & Francis (crc press) is heading towards sending us a contract for a second book on cloud security.<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Computing-Technologies-Strategies-Ubiquitous/dp/1439806128/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271362973&sr=8-1<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/21/1028.jpg'><img src='http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/21/s_1028.jpg' border='0' width='500' height='500' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Brazil&z=10'>Brazil</a></p>Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752334270376901687.post-58604198366494352802010-05-20T20:25:00.000-10:002010-05-20T21:53:07.832-10:00Hello WorldSo even after setting up dozens of blogs, wikis, etc for work...this is my very first personal blog. I get to pontificate about things i like, dislike, stumbled over, or went gaga over.<br /><br />This is also where i'm going to post my predictions of where I think technology is moving to.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />Brian "Cheebert" Chee<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br /><br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kaneohe,%20Hawaii,%20USA&z=10'>Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA</a></p>Brian Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003140828741289794noreply@blogger.com0