Archive for: July 2008

I use logmein.com.  I find it to be a good service. I have no financial interest in the service, although as I write this I think I should sign up and be an affiliate.

I have a desktop and a laptop.  Many are getting away from that combination and just working with a laptop, but I still have both.

When I go out on the road, I take my laptop.  If I am working on the Internet, I just connect directly.  But sometimes I want to access a program that is only on my desktop, like Photoshop.

Then I connect to the internet, sign on to logmein.com, and then link up with the desktop.  I can use all the desktop products.

I am certainly aware that there are multiple products and services that do this, but logmein is my favorite, and for what I described, it is free.

The reason that it came to mind today is that the video card on my desktop died.  I will put a new one in soon, but in the interim, I started the desktop and the laptop, and I am accessing the desktop through the Internet.

So I am sitting here using the desktop monitor and keyboard, but running through the Internet using the laptop.  The laptop and the desktop are a few feet away, but I am sending the packets over the Internet.

Now I know of course there are other ways to connect, but this way was already set up, and so it was the most expedient to do.

It is surprisingly quick.

Keeping computers operating and running well requires regular effort, unless you have an Apple Mac of course.

I have never had a Mac, but people I know that have one tell me the Macs work without fail all of the time, and even clean their own monitor screens, but I do not know if they are exagerating.

I had some work to do on my computers this week, so the first thing you know is that they are not Macs.  Now why would I own something that requires constant effort?  Because I also work on other people’s computers, and get paid for it.  Makes no sense to become an expert on Macs.  No money in it.

This week my monitor was going out, starting to tile, flicker, and behave badly.  So I got a new monitor.  I did not buy a new one, just asked around and got a couple of monitors that other technicians were not using.

Same problem.  hmmmm … must be the video card.  So I gave the video card a little push to make sure it was seated properly, and now there is no signal at all. So today I will put in a new video card and see if that is really the problem.

I am like most technicians, and have boxes of computer parts, boards, wires, and connectors.  I will go through the box and see if I have a video card.  I do not play video games, so any video card that works is ok with me.

My desktop continually gets reworked with new parts.  I wonder if there is any thing original that came when the computer was first put together, other than the case.

Today, in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Gail Hillebrand, a senior attorney is quoted as follows “You think when you open a bank account that the money belongs to you.  That’s not the way the bank sees it and it’s not the way the law sees it.”

I learned this lesson the hard way.  It is a long painful story, but I know now that money in a bank account is not always under my control. I argued with a bank long and hard about this point, but I lost.

The article tells the stories of various people that also learned the lesson.  They were all shocked as I was.  A most painful lesson.

I have had more client work recently.  I like to do client work for lots of different reasons.

• Clients always push me in a different direction.  They want something done differently than I have done in the past.  They want a feature that I have not used before.
• I work too much on my own.  It is good to get out and work with clients.
• Many of the clients I work with are out of town and I work with them using telephone and email.  Recent clients have been local and I have had face time.  I had to get a hair cut.

Got to go.  Client work to do.

I added the audio player plugin to WordPress today, so of course I had to add an audio. I picked out an audio I did some time ago when I was doing a daily podcast at BizIII.

A BizIII Podcast about Les Bain:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I am pained when I watch the Presidential Campaign.  It seems as a country we move to the lowest common denominator in this process.  I am not sure what it would take to rise above the current process and make the discourse more civil.

The contest between Senator Obama and Senator Clinton was brutal, and there are hard feelings even yet.

It reminds me of the notion that we fight the hardest with those that are the closest to us.

In religion:

• In Islam, the Sunni Shiite divide seems to cause as many wars as Muslims and everyone else.
• In Christianity, and Protestants and Catholics have fought throughout history and recently in Northern Ireland.

In the animal kingdom

• Lions and others are most territorial and fight each other with gusto.
• The battles of Bighorn sheep, moose, and deer are certainly dramatic.

To outsiders, there was probably not much difference between the Hatfields and the McCoys.

And family feuds are certainly common.

So I suppose it is not that unusual.

I have this fantasy that Senator Obama and Senator McCain make a joint appearance and make some of the following statements together.

1. Senator Obama is not a Muslim, and even if he was, it should not matter.
2. Senator McCain should be judged on his policies, not his age.
3. They both believe the other to be a man of integrity, honesty, and patriotism.
4. They both believe that their spouses should not be part of the campaign.
5. They will focus on ideas, and when smear tactics come from somewhere else, they will both address it as an unfounded smear.

Would that be something? The two political nominees taking the high road, maybe even calling the media to task for getting away from the issues.