General information is posted here
November 28, 2007
Danes are not Dutch
First - I know it has been forever since I posted anything, but a rather interesting set of events occurred, and I just wanted to clue everyone in. I have had long standing arguments with friends about the differences between Danes (which I am proud to say I am one of), and the Dutch. A while back I finally created a power point presentation that spelled out the differences. I recently had the pleasure of meeting a fellow Dane, and I shared my presentation with him. He asked if he could share it with some people, and apparently this little presentation has become suddenly quite popular. So I have decided to publish an html version of the presentation here for everyone to enjoy.
Point your IE6 or higher browser to http://www.petermadsen.com/danes
And learn about the many differences between these two great cultures.
Posted by pmadsen at 03:46 PM
February 26, 2007
The dreaded test entry
For some reason, the last entry I published is not making it to my RSS file. So, this is a test to see what will happen.
Posted by pmadsen at 09:03 PM
October 20, 2006
I wish they played this when I saw them last week
Posted by pmadsen at 11:33 PM
August 05, 2006
A real quick film review
1. I am a NASCAR fan
2. I am a Will Ferrell fan
Do you see where this is going?
Yesterday, I was at the 10:55 am opening of Talladega Nights, and I have to say that both my wife (who is not a NASCAR fan), thought the movie was very funny. It is not a laugh riot, and there are some points where the film is a little slow, but overall it was quite good. My friend Lou and I were surprised that NASCAR would be involved with the making of this movie. If you have seen the trailers, you might think the same. While the film certainly makes fun of the 'good old boy' culture of the south, the racing scenes are actually filmed fantastically. There is one scene, where the camera starts from behind and above the car, moves through the back window, past Rick Bobby, out the front window and ends on the opposite corner above the car. Of course it was all done with computers, but it was still very cool.
The point - the racing is taken seriously - and so it makes sense that NASCAR would approve.
If you liked Old School, or Anchorman trust me you will like this movie as well.
Posted by pmadsen at 10:49 AM
May 28, 2006
How not to run a business - part 2
A while back, I had written about a horrible customer experience I had. Yesterday, I had another.INTRO: My brother and I are trying to open up my parents pool, things are going smoothly until all the electrics stop working and a puff of smoke comes out of the plug my father put on the original filter 30 years ago. Not wanting to re-do all the electric, we figure we will go to an electrical supply house to see if they have a replacement part for this very old and very strange plug type. We go to AC ELECTRIC in Smithtown.
STORY: We get there 30 minutes before closing and we show the jackass (oops did I say that) the plug and tell him we are trying to fix the electrics for a pool.
HIM: I don't know what that is
US: uhm, its a plug (In fairness I should tell you that it is a very strange looking plug with 3 round prongs each about 1/8" round, and I have never seen one like this in my life except on our pool. It would insert into the outlet and then get screwed down to form a weather tight seal. It looks very much like this one that I found in under a minute on google)
HIM: What do you need?
US: Uhm, a replacement?
HIM: I don't know what that is
US: we tell him the story again
HIM: I got whatever you need
US: We need a plug
HIM: what amps and volts
US: 15 and 120
HIM: Most pools are 220
US: 15 and 120
HIM: well, most are 220
US: right, well ours is 15 and 120
HIM: Cause I got whatever you want
he goes in the back and brings back the completely wrong part
US: Thats not what we wanted, we need to replace this - we show him the part agian
HIM: I don't know what that is
US: we tell him the story again
HIM: I got whatever you need
US: ok, look we need all the parts to build a box a cover a new outlet and plug
HIM: Is this for outside
US: Yes, it is for a pool
HIM: What size box? 3/4 or 1/2 inch?
US: I don't know, a regular box...1/2 inch should be fine.
he goes in the back and comes out with a 3/4 inch box
US: This is to big
HIM: ok, 1/2 inch then?
US: Yes, and the outlet, and a plug and a weather cover since this is going outside and it will be near water because it is for a pool.
HIM: Look guys, I am just trying to close up here, I got whatever you want, just tell me what you want.
US: we tell him the story again
HIM: ok
He goes in the back, and I hear him say to one of his buddies
"These motherfuckers don't know what the fuck they want"
I tell my brother
My Brother: (in a very loud voice) FUCK HIM
We walk out.
So, if you want to be treated like shit and cursed at, I strongly suggest you go to AC Electric for all your lighting and electrical needs.
EPILOGUE: We got to ACE Hardware, and they have nothing. We go to Home Depot and they have an entire kit for $25, that has the box, the outlet, and the weatherproofing.
Posted by pmadsen at 09:34 AM
May 16, 2006
Day 2 In Seattle
Today was day 2 of the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2006. The day started with everyone talking about the weather. It was absolutely perfect. It was in the 80’s with zero humidity. Like I said perfect.
At the conference the day started with breakfast and an interesting conversation with 2 guys from England. They are using Groove for sharing SharePoint document libraries with their clients. Cool stuff, that I played around with tonight at the labs. Unlike last night when the labs where packed, we pretty much had the run of the place with the Microsoft guys wanting to know if we wanted to play xbox with them (we said no).
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After breakfast we packed into a room and listened to the keynote address by the Nerd King. It was fairly bland, and while I am certainly a fan, the man is no rock star. Here he is the richest man in the world, and yet he looks and acts like any of the hundreds of geeks sitting in the audience.
After the keynote it was time to hit the first seminar of the day. Charlie and I have gone through the list several times, and we have done our best to make sure that we hit different events. So I went to an overview of Web Content Management, while Charlie went to Designing and Developing Composite Applications. |
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After that seminar it was lunch time. Now, supposedly there are only supposed to be a 1000 people at this thing, but I think it is way more then that. In fact, there where so many people that several hundred of us went across the street to the Bellevue City Hall where we were treated to a southern bbq style lunch. The food was ok, but the lines where horrible. The building and surrounding park where really beautiful, and there is something relaxing about sitting in this park, the sun shining and looking at snow covered mountains in the distance. | |
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Crappy picture of the snow covered mountains behind the best buy |
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After lunch, Charlie and I both attended a seminar on Blogs, Wikis and RSS – it was not the greatest. The presenters were young, and nervous and they spent way to much time on what blogs, wikis, and rss is and not enough on how it is hooked into SharePoint. Our experiments in the lab, seem to indicate that they are fully hooked into everything – especially RSS. After that it was time for the final seminars of the day. Charlie went to a search technical drill down, and I hit records management and compliance. Now I know very little on this subject, but it was actually very cool to see how MS has this all hooked up and running in SharePoint. I played around with it tonight, and I can see where a lot of clients may want this. | |
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So the day ended with a stroll back to the office and then dinner at a Mexican Restaurant. |
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I immediately recognized it as the restaurant we (Brian, Greg and I) would park in while Brian would run into this Starbucks. |
Posted by pmadsen at 12:36 AM
May 15, 2006
Seattle and Sharepoint
I am going to be in Settle for 5 days at a Microsoft SharePoint Conference. I decided to just jot down random notes from the trip.
Sunday May 14, 2006
The car service picked me up at 4:30am. The driver is Jim – he is a good guy, and it is nice to see him. We get to LGA with plenty of time of time to spare. I am bumped to first class, so the trip should be pleasant
Flight down to CLT is uneventful, and I have slept almost the entire way. CLT is packed out, and it is only 8:30am. There is a posting for my flight to SEA that all passengers must check in. I still have first class, but instead of 4A I am in 1A, the crappy bulkhead. When I get on the plane I instantly see there is an equipment change, and we have gone from a 321 to a 319, so I am no longer mad about the seat, and am just happy to still be in first class.
I sleep, I read, the trip again is uneventful, and I get to take a couple of photos of the mountains. The last (and first) time I was in
I am staying at the Hyatt Regency in
Charlie and I ate a late lunch at a local restaurant. I had a good Hefenwiezen and a burger.
At 5:30 we walked over to the convention center. We are two of the first people there. Cool stuff – a briefcase, and a nice pen and binder. We go into the main meeting room, and there are row after row of computers.
There is a lot of beer (Alaskan Amber – very good) , wine, water and soda is available and some really nice food and cakes. Charlie and I grab 2 diet cokes and fire up a couple of SharePoint labs running on virtual machines. Our first reactions to the new version are mostly positive. The app is clearly still in Beta, as we 
both cause crashes very quickly. We are talking to the guys sitting in front of us. They are from
Some Microsoft guys stop and ask us if we are coding. We look up, and decide to be honest:
US: Yes
THEM: Cool
Tomorrow is keynotes from Bill Gates, and then 3 lectures. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Posted by pmadsen at 08:59 PM
February 08, 2006
How not to run a business
I needed to order a basic wire rack shelf system for work. We have one from a company called Nexel so I figure I can order from them. I explored their horrible 1998 website, find all the components I need, and fill out their webform to get a quote.
3 days later no calls, emails, nothing. So I call them, and I am told very matter of factly that:
“we have a $300 mimium, so that is why no one got back to you”
“can I order your rack from a distributor?” I ask
“of course you can, there are loads of companies on the internet that sell our stuff, or look in the yellow pages”
long moment of silence
“uhm, can you give me a couple of web sites?”
“oh, I don’t have that, you’ll have to search”
I hung up.
If owned that company, I would have fired the person on the spot.
Posted by pmadsen at 10:32 AM
February 06, 2006
'Sensitivity' can have brutal consequences
'Sensitivity' can have brutal consequences.
Interesting article out of the UK
Posted by pmadsen at 12:57 PM
February 05, 2006
We are all Danish now...
Remember to buy Danish goods, to show your support for free speech against the insane rampaging mobs; here’s a list of Danish products: End The Boycott.
Posted by pmadsen at 06:17 PM
December 12, 2005
Richard Pryor
I was sad to see that Richard Pryor died over the weekend. I am not sure how most people will remember him. Either as an actor or stand up comedian or that guy who set himself on fire. While I liked the movies he did with Gene Wilder, especially Stir Crazy, I will always remember him as a stand up comedian. I remember going to the Centereach Movie Theater (now long gone), with my friends to see Pryors stand up film. The theater was filled with mostly black people, and Pryor was throwing around the N-word like it was nothing. My initial un-comfort at laughing soon went away, and like everyone else in the theater, left knowing that we had just seen a comic genius.
Of course, I also remember the classic routine that Pryor did with Chevy Chase on SNL. Chase was interviewing Pryor for a janitors position, and was doing a word association game with him. The two men were soon trading racial slurs back and forth. Pryor ran out of slurs and resorted to calling Chase a honky. Chase retaliated by using the N-word, and Pryor responded with the now classic “dead honky”, and was hired on the spot. It is to this day, one of my favorite all time SNL moments.
Like most comedians, Pryor struggled with inner demons while making us all laugh. The world is a better place for him, and he will be missed.
Posted by pmadsen at 03:53 PM
December 03, 2005
Forbes Fictional 15
Every year Forbes publishes the list of the top 15 wealthiest fictional characters. This guy is doing alright for himself.
Posted by pmadsen at 01:06 PM
November 26, 2005
Construction 2002
A few years ago my web site was dedicated to a large construction project we did on our house. I took it down a long time ago when I started playing with Mambo and Movabletype. The strange thing is, I still get a lot of people asking me about it, so for all of you who asked here it is. I have also made it a permanent link in my top nav bar. Since I do not want to fix the navigation in the construction site, I am opening it in a new window.
Enjoy
Posted by pmadsen at 03:50 PM
November 18, 2005
And now the comment floods have opened up
I have been slammed by porn comments. Luckily, my site required approval before publishing a comment, so the "gay anal animal porn" sites did not make it to my site, but the emails have been tough to keep up with, so now - no more comments.
Won't someone please start just killing these sons of bitches.
Oh by the way, F Porterhouse!
Posted by pmadsen at 02:40 PM
October 03, 2005
3 and half sleepless nights in Seattle
Just back from a training seminar in Seattle and wanted to share a few observations.
1) The Seattle/Bellevue area is very beautiful. We stayed in Bellevue and drove to Seattle each night. Driving across one of the 2 floating bridges, we caught site of Mount Ranier, and it was breathtaking. The bridges themselves are amazing, but we couldn't seem to figure out how they work with rising waters. We caught half a game at Safeco Field. Hands down, the nicest stadium I have ever been to.
2) Seattle itself is a beautiful city, and while it did rain one day, it was also really beautiful another. The Space Needle is very cool, but I have to admit being a little nervous. The wind was really ripping and so we where doing a little swaying. We had dinner in the restaurant, and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I was really expecting a 'tourist' meal, but it was actually very good.
3) Now the bad. We stayed at the west coast hotel in Bellevue. It was okay as hotels go, but on the last night one of my colleagues had his room broken into. The bastards got his mac, pda, sneakers, glassses, sunglasses, his phone charger, briefcase, and memory fob. Luckily his headphones and ipod where in his briefcase, and he had his camera. The police told us that 2 crack heads got out of prison recently and have hit 24 hotels rooms in the past few weeks. The hotel had crappy security, and while sympathetic they didn't seem overly concerned (in my opinion). My friend now has to deal with insurance companies and the fear that some data may be pulled off his computer that can be used to steal his identity. The experience is making me really rethink what I have on my laptops
4) The real reason to be there of course was for the training class. The class was a requirements gathering boot camp that was given by Construx. Construx is owned by Steve McConnell who wrote the book Code Complete. I think most developers have read this one. The class was first rate and Construx really knows how to run the class. The whole experience was first rate, and I would strongly recommend you check them out for your training needs.
Posted by pmadsen at 08:17 PM
August 21, 2005
Spam
I received an email today from paypal, telling me that there was some strange behavior on my account, and I should click on a provided link to verify some information.
It was so real, even the return addresses seemed authentic to me. But... there was a nagging voice in the back of my head telling me not to do it. I opened Mozilla and logged onto paypal directly. There where no messages, no warnings, nothing to indicate that something was wrong. There was a message saying to be aware of spoof emails, and if I received a suspected spoof I should forward the message to paypal.
So, I forwarded the message and a short time later I received the following from paypal:
Dear Peter Madsen,
Thank you for writing to PayPal regarding the email message you received
that appeared to be from eBay.
As you may have already suspected, this email was not sent by eBay.
These emails, commonly referred to as spoofs, are sent by fraudulent
sources posing as eBay in an attempt to collect sensitive financial
information or passwords.
Please know that PayPal and eBay is committed to the security of our
sites and our members. We review every report we receive and forward all
vital information on to the appropriate authorities for further action
and tracking. We work actively and aggressively in partnership with many
agencies, ISP's and law enforcement groups to support their
investigation of these fraudulent entities. As a public company, we rely
on the same agencies you do to pursue these fraudulent activities. You
may also wish to contact your ISP or email service provider for further
information or instructions.
Now that you have received a spoofed email, your email address has been
collected by a fraudulent source. As a result, you may continue to
receive spoofed emails for some time as these groups move from ISP to
web hosting sites setting up fraudulent email addresses, fake sites and
sending spoofed emails. PayPal and eBay has enacted several preventative
measures and increased information available on both sites help pages to
help educate our members in spotting fake emails.
In the future, we advise you to be very cautious of any email appearing
to be from eBay or PayPal that asks you to submit financial information
such as your credit card number or any type of password. As for eBay,
they will NEVER ask you for certain financial information such as
passwords, bank account or credit card numbers, Personal Identification
Numbers (PINs), or Social Security numbers in an email. All sensitive
information should be submitted on a secure page located on the eBay or
PayPal site.
If you have any doubt about whether an email message is from PayPal,
please forward it immediately to spoof@paypal.com. For eBay spoofed
emails, please forward those to spoof@ebay.com. Please do not respond to
it or click on any of the links in the email message. Please do not
change the subject line or edit the email in any way.
If you have already entered sensitive information as mentioned above,
you should take immediate action to protect your identity and online
accounts. If you only clicked on a link inside of a spoofed email, you
may also want to run a security scan on your computer. eBay has a help
page with valuable information regarding the steps you should take to
protect yourself. Below is a link to this page:
http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/index.html
Once again, thank you for alerting us to the spoofed email you received.
Your vigilance helps us ensure that PayPal and eBay remain a safe and
vibrant online marketplace.
Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal, an eBay Company
So, I was right, but I am mad, because for one split second I thought the email was legit. I wonder how many people fell for this, and is there any way to stop these sons of bitches.
Posted by pmadsen at 04:15 PM
August 18, 2005
Bike for Sale - One more try
Well, I am going to give it one more try. I came real close to hitting my reserve the last time. So, this time I have lowered my reserve, and hopefully the bike will go. I have already gotten an inquiry about the bike so maybe this time it will sell.
The bike is for sale again: link to ebay
Posted by pmadsen at 08:32 AM | TrackBack
July 26, 2005
Pretty cool FLICKR mod
Check out the Flickr mod here and start creating your own unique banners or something with it.
Posted by pmadsen at 06:02 PM | TrackBack
This explains how all those crappy bands gets on the radio
Sony BMG Apologizes For Payola Involving J. Lo, Avril, Good Charlotte, Others
The highlights:
The payola has got to stop — that's the word from New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who on Monday announced a settlement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which has agreed to cease its "pay for play" policy.
For instance, the program director for Buffalo, New York's WKSE-FM received several flights (to New York, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with guests) in exchange for adding Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" (in July 2001), Good Charlotte's "Hold On" (in November 2003) and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" (in August 2004) to his station's play list.
In response to one such offer, a program director e-mailed the label, saying, "I'm a whore this week, what can I say?"
"Our investigation shows that, contrary to listener expectations that songs are selected for airplay based on artistic merit and popularity, airtime is often determined by undisclosed payoffs to radio stations and their employees," Spitzer said. "This [BMG settlement] is a model for breaking the pervasive influence of bribes in the industry."
Sony BMG acknowledged that fraudulent practices and payola took place and called it "wrong and improper."
Posted by pmadsen at 02:35 PM | TrackBack
July 04, 2005
Dana Gould - Comedian
Posts always come in 3 - much like celebrity deaths.
I found the official Dana Gould Website and there are tons of audio and video downloads, including his album Funhouse. If you don't know who this guy is, I strongly recommend you check it out. Dana is one of the executive producers of the Simpsons, and trust me, a very very funny guy.
Posted by pmadsen at 11:08 AM
June 13, 2005
How Debbie and I saved a pigeon
Okay, this is a true story. On Friday morning, there was a pigeon sitting on the street in front of my house. I thought it was odd, but went about my business, and went to the store. When I came back the pigeon was gone, and I figured end of story. As I pulled into my driveway however I realized I was wrong. The pigeon was now sitting on my front stoop. I figured he would fly away as I approached but I was wrong (again). He just kind of hopped away. It was then that I realized two things. The first was, there was something wrong with the bird, and the second, he was a homing pigeon. He had bands on his legs, which I recognized.
The bird hopped away, and came to rest on my front lawn. I felt bad, because we have a couple of cats that patrol our neighborhood, and I figured if one of these cats decided to patrol my house, there would be one less pigeon in the world. So...I went and got Debbie, and we cornered the bird, and Debbie picked him up, and we placed him in a box. So, now I have this bird, and I am supposed to do what with him? I call my vet, and quickly explain the story. The receptionist gives me the phone number for a wildlife association, which I call. I get a pre-recorded message, that basically tells me nothing.
Meanwhile, Debbie has given the bird some water and birdseed, and I am figuring I am screwed. So, I decide to go online. After searching for a few minutes, I find the following site. Debbie and I pickup the bird and read the bands. I quickly learn that the pigeon was born in 2005 and is part of the “Islip Homing Club”. I call the phone number and to my surprise a very nice gentleman answers. I give him the story, and details from the birds band. After a few minutes, he gives me the number of the owner. Turns out the bird is owned by a guy named Cliff, who lives about 1 mile away from me. I call him, and surprise number 2, the guy is home. Well, 10 minutes later Cliff is at my house. He tells me the bird has been missing for a couple of days, and had been chased off by a hawk, as Cliff was training him. He told me the bird was okay, just very tired and very hungry. He thanked us, and took the bird home.
And, that my friends is how Debbie and I saved a pigeon.
Posted by pmadsen at 08:41 PM | Comments (1)
May 07, 2005
Confusion continues to reign for some over the term podcasting
For the most part, people agree on what podcasting is and is not. However, some people still seem confused. The Wikipedia has a pretty good definition of what Podcasting is.
To summarize, a podcast is “radio content” that can be downloaded onto any device that can play mp3 files. Of course you do not have to “downcast” your file as an mp3, but that is the accepted format.
Posted by pmadsen at 10:51 AM
April 22, 2005
New Coldplay single
I just heard the new Coldplay single “Speed of Sound” and WOW. This sounds great, and it shows a natural musical progression for the band. I am sure a lot of fans will want another “clocks” but I am glad the band has not done that (at least with this single). If you like Coldplay - I promise you, you will not be disappointed.
Since radio sucks so bad in New York I am listening to KEXP Live (90.3 in Seattle) via iTunes radio. That is where I heard it. The song came out 4 days ago, and I had no idea. Like I said, radio in New York is for the birds (except Bill Powers on the bone in the morning).
So, now we wait for the complete album from Coldplay. It will be out on June 7. A report on the New Zealand Herald says that the future of EMI Records is resting on this album. Based on previous sales, and the musical progression from Parachutes to A Rush Of Blood To The Head (10 million copies), I think EMI will be okay.
Posted by pmadsen at 10:43 AM
April 05, 2005
In Charlotte
Once again in beautiful Charlotte, North Carolina from Tuesday 4/5/2005 until Thursday 4/7/2005.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the weather is a 10.
Posted by pmadsen at 01:13 PM | TrackBack
April 02, 2005
CNN.com - Neil Young treated for 'dangerous' aneurysm - Apr 1, 2005
CNN.com - Neil Young treated for 'dangerous' aneurysm - Apr 1, 2005:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Rocker Neil Young was treated for a “dangerous brain aneurysm” this week but is expected to make a full recovery, his agent said Friday.
Young underwent “minimally invasive neuroradiology” treatment Tuesday at a New York hospital and remains hospitalized.
Posted by pmadsen at 08:02 AM
April 01, 2005
If you are in NYC and looking for something to do...
My buddy Dan turned me onto the Ashes and Snow website. There are some amazing images on the site taken by Gregory Colbert. There is an exhibition of his photos at Hudson River Park’s Pier 54 @ West 13th Street until June 6, 2005.
The photos on the site are very cool, and I am looking forward to checking out the exhibition.
Posted by pmadsen at 08:23 AM | TrackBack
this can't be true - but it is...
I am not trying to turn this into a love fest between me and Nick C, but I thought this was very cool. The two squares labeled A and B are exactly the same shade of grey.
Nick’s site has the links to the proof and explanation. I wanted to see for myself. I have an application on my windows machine called eyedropper that allows me to examine graphics at the pixel level. I fired it up and sure enough both the A and the B squares have the same exact RGB value.
The B Square values – 
The A Square values – 
By the way, the artist toolkit that comes with your mac has the same eyedropper tool functionality built into it.
Posted by pmadsen at 07:49 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 29, 2005
geourl
I was reading Nick’s posting over at Primordial Ooze about geourl. From a geek factor – cool, otherwise, I don’t really get it. The real reason for this post of course, is to continue to try out BlogJet, and I wanted to learn more about trackback pings.
Posted by pmadsen at 08:59 AM | TrackBack
March 26, 2005
PSP
I am a sucker for cool things, and the PSP (PlayStation Portable) is pretty damn cool. So, when I found myself in Best Buy last night, and they has PSP's in stock, well...you know what happened. Three hundred and fifty dollars later I had a PSP, a new game, and a cable I was told I would need.
This afternoon, I set the whole thing up, and was blown away by the look and feel. I realized the cable I was told I would need, would only be needed if I was going to transfer music and videos from a pc to the unit. Since I don't have a pc, and I do have an Ipod, the cable would have to go back. I went through the setup screens, and started to watch one of the music videos on the included disc. That's when I noticed something strange on the screen. It appeared to be a set of dead pixels. I turned the unit off and as the screen went to black my fears where confirmed. There where several dead pixels in the lower left hand side of the screen. So, I packed everything up, went back to Best Buy, and half expected an argument. Well, the girl behind the customer service counter could not have been nicer. She took the cable back, and exchanged the unit. She also told me that she had heard that up to 30% of the units have problems with dead pixels. Now, I have no idea if that number is correct, but several people have posted reviews on Amazons website complaining of issues with dead pixels.
So, I took the new unit home, plugged it in, and, dead pixels. This time the dead pixels where in the upper left hand side of the screen. Back to Best Buy. The girl was actually surprised to see me. I told her that I wanted to return the whole thing, since I didn't want to keep making trips back and forth. She refunded my problem, with no problem. I asked her if I was the only person returning PSP's. She again related the 30% figure, and informed me that they had gotten 300 units to sell, and had already gotten a large number of returns. She told me that some of the employees had gone through several units before getting one with no dead pixels.
Since, Best Buy offers a $39.99 2 year protection plan, that includes dead pixels, I would assume that anyone returning a PSP should have no issues with Best Buy. Costco was selling a bundle for $319 that included 2 games, so that was a good price, but I cannot vouch for there return policy. At this point, if you are going to buy one, I recommend that you plug it in, at the store, and power the unit on and off several times. The dead pixels will be very evident as the unit turns off. You will see what looks like dust on the screen, but it will be under the glass cover.
Good Luck.
UPDATE: 3/28/2005 Apparently the dead pixel issue is pretty big. 1up.com story
Posted by pmadsen at 08:30 PM
March 22, 2005
In Charlotte
In Charlotte, North Carolina today (3/22/05) through Thursday (3/24/05) - if you care.
Posted by pmadsen at 02:17 PM
March 19, 2005
The New Computer Is Here
Well, it actually came quicker then Amazon said. My new 17“ Powerbook actually arrived on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, I was going to Charlotte for 2 days on Wednesday, and had to be up by 3:15 am in order to catch a 6:50 am flight out of LaGuardia. That meant it was straight to bed after eating, paying bills and packing. I was home around 11 pm on Thursday, and had an 8 am dentist appointment the next day, so no time for the new toy then. By the time I got home on Friday, I could barely stay awake, so the computer would have to wait until Saturday (today). Can you imagine how mad I would be if I had paid for next day or overnight shipping, and then let the thing sit unpacked for 5 days. I would not have been happy.
Anyway, here are the requisite unpacking a new computer picture.
Posted by pmadsen at 02:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 13, 2005
Motorola V3 RAZR
I am currently listening to The Trooper from the album “Rock In Rio” by Iron Maiden
Well, I caved into the constant nagging voice in my head that tells me to buy cool (read expensive) gadgets. This phone has to be one of the best reviewed phones on the planet. I think the worst thing I have read about this phone is that the buttons are to small. I have average size hands, and I have no problem with the buttons.
I went to Cingular today, and after being assured that I could return the phone in 30 days no questions asked, I bit the bullet and bought the phone. It ain't cheap my friends, but a $100 mail in rebate makes it a lot more palatable. So, the great Cingular experiment begins. I had AT&T many years ago, back in the day when they where the only game in town. As time went on they really lost there luster, and just couldn't compete. I jumped to Verizon for a few years, and when the TREO 600 came out, I jumped to Sprint. The TREO is a little pokey, but overall I was satisfied with it. As time went on I sort of realized that I don't need to carry a full fledged PIM everywhere I go, but as it is built in the phone I was stuck. The TREO is BIG. It does not really fit in your pocket very comfortably, so I decided to start looking for something a little smaller.
I only had one hard requirement. The phone had to have bluetooth. Why, you ask? Simple, 3 reasons, I want to synch with my MAC, I want to be able to use the phone handsfree in Debbie's car (Acura TL), and I want to be able to use the phone as a modem with my new HP 4700 PDA.
So where are we at so far. Well, phone quality seems to be very good. I made a few calls from home and was impressed with the quality. So far so good. I have not yet tried to synch with the MAC or the Acura. But... come on you saw it coming... for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get the modem/pda combo to work. I was able to pair the devices with no problem, and the PDA does seem to be connecting wiht the phone. After a lot of research on the web, it seems that there are several different theories on how to make this work. None worked for me. I suspect, it may because I have not signed up for a Cingular data plan, but I am just not sure. Tech support was closed for the weekend, and several attempts to add a data plan to my account via the web all failed. This is pretty much a deal breaker for me, so if I can't get it to work, the phone goes back. Which would really break my heart, since it is without a doubt the coolest phone I have ever seen, let alone owned.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE 3/13/2005 9:30am EST: This should really fall under the research before you buy rule. Which, by the way is a credo that has pretty much guided me my whole life. As my friend Brian tells me “you enjoy the hunt way more then the kill”. So this morning I decided to try out iSync with my mac. I was able to pair the phone with the mac via bluetooth - no problem. I sent a file from the phone to the mac no problem. However - no iSync support. A 30 second check of Apples website shows that all motorola phones will work with iSync as long as you're using a USB cable. What the hell is that!!! I am not happy. I am currently listening to All The Young Dudes from the album “Live” by Cybernauts
UPDATE 3/13/2005 11:16am EST: As if you cared - I am currently listening to Alt hvad du vil vide from the album “Ud af Doren” by TYG. So, first really cool and successful test with the RAZR. I was able to pair the phone with the Acura. Luckily, I had the quick start guide that comes with the car - remember the days when the quick start guide was - key goes here - anyway, I paired the phone and the car, and had my brother call me. With the stereo going, the RAZR rang first, then the car stereo muted itself, and a message appeared on the dashboard showing me the number of the person calling. Press the answer button on the steering wheel, and we where talking. He came through the stereo system load and clear. After an initial breakup, he said I was quite clear as well. I did notice that I had to talk a little loader then normal for him to hear me, but it worked. Damn it. I really want to keep this phone. If I can figure out the dial up from the PDA the phone is a keeper. Apparently, I cannot iSync with any Motorola phone via Bluetooth. I can move files back and forth between the phone and the mac. So, if the dial up can be figured out, I have achieved 2.5 of my 3 bluetooth goals for the phone. And I am currently listening to Always from the album “Egyptology” by World Party - it is foreign band day at my house.
One last thing - sorry - if you know my cell number you can still call me - I currently have the TREO forwarding to the RAZR.
UPDATE 3/19/2005 12:00pm EST: Kind of forgot where we are at, and I am to lazy to re-read everything. This is the final update on the RAZR. After a couple of calls to Cingular technical support, they hooked me up with the codes I needed to use the phone as a bluetooth modem. So I got that going, and it works very well. The big test was this week. I was in Charlotte for 2 days, and the phone worked great. Reception was fine, modem worked. I have to say the clarity and reception on the phone is very good, but the volume is way to loud. Even turned way down, the volume really is high. But if that is my biggest complaint then I guess the phone is a keeper. So, now I just have to get a new phones for Debbie, and my folks, add them to the plan, and get my sprint cell number transferred, and cancel sprint.
Posted by pmadsen at 01:29 AM
March 12, 2005
New computer on it's way
I am getting more involved in the podcast community, and so I find myself in the position of needing some updated hardware. I currently have a 15“ 1.25 GHz powerbook (the titanium version). I love this thing, even thought it has been in the shop 3 times in a year and half (bad display, broken bluetooth, and a bad usb 2.0 port). However, there are times when I just find using Windows software easier. So, the workaround for that is I am running an old Dell tower in the spare room. It has Win XP SP2, 512meg ram, and a 40 gig hard drive. I run it headless, and I use terminal services and RDC on my powerbook to connect to it. Running wireless (802.11g) in the house, I am always amazed at how great this works. If you are a mac person, but find yourself needing the occasional windows app, I strongly recommend that you look into this as a possible solution. I had tried virtual PC and lets just say, it was painful - and the $250 I paid for it could have gone to better things.
The only problem, is that using the 15” screen on the powerbook is a little limiting. in addition, Debbie, has been wanting to learn how to use OS X, she wants to surf, and email, manage her shuffle, and stream xm radio and her old g3 333MHz woth OS 9.2.2 just isn't cutting it anymore. So I decided to upgrade to the latest 17“ powerbook.
These things pretty much come loaded out of the factory, and the latest 17” is about $800 cheaper then the 15“ I have today. I decided to shop around, pretty much knowing that everyone will have the same price. I was very pleasantly surprised when I found the computer on Amazon. Why was I surprised - well first no sales tax, so there is a $250 savings, and secondly, Amazon has a $200 rebate on the computer (ending on March 15). So, by buying it from Amazon I saved $450. That my friends, is amazing when you are talking about buying the latest and greatest from Apple. There prices are controlled and locked. Some places will throw in an ink jet printer (no thanks), or a memory upgrade, since I am going to swap the single 1 gig chip in the 15 with the 512meg in the 17 so I don't need that either. But saving cash - sign me up.
Oh by the way, I joined Amazon's Prime program, and paid 3.99 for overnight shipping. Now the hard part - waiting.
Posted by pmadsen at 09:32 AM
What the hell
Woke up this morning, and there has to be 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground. I didn't read anything about this so I suspect that it caught a lot of people off guard. Luckily it is saturday, so no one really has to go anywhere. Pictures to follow.
UPDATE 3/15/2005 11:36am EST: Here are a few photos from yesterdays surprise storm.
Posted by pmadsen at 07:45 AM
March 11, 2005
What is podcasting
My buddy Dan has come up with a great definition of podcasting and I have decided to share it with all of you.
Podcasting is breaking the model of appointment oriented radio. Both satellite and terrestrial radio have time when music and shows are played and if you miss it you miss it. With Podcasting you can pause, fast-forward, move to a new show or song and then return back to what you were listening to. The way it works is that an individual records a show on there computer and converts it to an MP3. They upload it to a web site and add it to a RSS feed. This is a syndication technology that people that read Blogs use. Then my RSS reader or aggregator pulls down shows that I subscribe to. Real simple on both sides. This has been going for nine months and there is already close to 4,000 shows. The nice thing is there is no FCC involvement so anything goes. NPR and other major media outlets are jumping onboard.
Posted by pmadsen at 10:56 PM
February 25, 2005
Life in a Slab House - Part 2
I am currently listening to DSC-2005-02-17 from the album “NY trip update. From the 40th floor of the NY HIlton” by Adam Curry
Well, the plumber was here. We (Debbie and I) had gone through a series of tests last night, turning zones on and off, turning the hot water on and off, and so on. The goal of all of this was to try and isolate where the potential problem was. We basically timed the times that the oil burner would go on and off, and how long it would run.
Everything On | |
| 5:50 pm | 5 minutes |
| 6:00 pm | 1 minute |
| 6:05 pm | 2 minutes |
| 6:15 pm | 2 minutes |
| 6:18 pm | 1 minute |
| 6:38 pm to 6:49 pm | Debbie In Shower |
| 6:57 pm | 1 minute |
| 7:00 pm | 3 minutes |
Everything Off | |
| 7:01 pm | Heat off |
| oil burner never came on | |
Turned heat on in main house | |
| 8:00 pm | Heat on - burner ran for 7 minutes |
| 8:18 pm | 5 minutes |
| 8:34 pm | 4 minutes |
| 8:40 pm | 5 minutes |
Turned off heat on in main house, turned on heat in bedroom | |
| 8:56 pm | 7 minutes |
| 9:19 pm | 3 minutes |
| 9:36 pm | 3 minutes |
| 9:53 pm | 4 minutes |
Turned off heat on in bedroom, turned hot water back on | |
| 10:14 pm | 4 minutes |
| 10:50 pm | 4 minutes |
Our conclusion, the hot water, main house and bedroom zones are okay, so we must have a leak in the heat system in the original zone in front of the house. So the plumber comes today and after a little while, he comes to the conclusion that the problem is with ... the hot water. Well, in the long run problems with the hot water is probably going to be less expensive then problems with the hot water pipes. The plumber is going to come back on Monday or Tuesday and pressure test all of the pipes. Once that is done, we will know definitively what the problem is, and then put together a solution. Stay tuned.
Posted by pmadsen at 06:09 PM
February 24, 2005
Life in a slab house
Those of you who know me and Debbie, know about a lot of the issues we have had living in our home. We have put a lot of time, blood, sweat, tears and money into this house, to make it what it is today. Today, more tears, more aggravation, and more money. How much money, I am not sure yet. It appears that we have some problem with either the hot water system or the heat. It appears that a leak has developed in a pipe. The oil burner has been running for about 1 minute, every 5 to 10 minutes, and that my friends, is unusual. Now, under most circumstances that is not such a huge deal. You go in the basement, find the leak, cut the pipe, and you are done. 
Our problem is compounded significantly by the fact that our house is built on a slab, that means no basement. Nope our house is on concrete, and all our pipes are underneath that. Got a leak? See if you can find it, jackhammer the floor, hope you have the right spot, dig through the dirt until you find the pipe, and fix the leak. We had a leak many years ago, and we where very lucky to find a plumber who was able to find the leak and repair it.
Now we have a new issue, and we are not sure where it is. This of course is pretty upsetting. and we are more then a little freaked out. Our original plumber has dropped of the face of the planet. Luckily, we have new guy, and he is quite good also. He is coming over in the next day or two, and we will have to put together a plan to fix it. I know whatever the plan is, it is going to be expensive, and worse, the house is going to get torn up (again). I'll keep you posted.
Posted by pmadsen at 08:19 PM
