The Wandering Minstrel

I spent most of my day today customizing the new HP G60-630us Notebook PC. I have a lot of favorite utility programs that I installed today.

I also installed the software for our digital cameras but there was a glitch. My installation disk was not compatible with Windows 7. Not to worry, I found a fix on Canon’s website and it went smoothly after that.

I backed up some files from the old laptop to the external half-gigabyte drive. I use Microsoft Office for Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. I had quite a collection on the old hard drive (some were already backed up). Thanks to a tip from reader wolfwalker, I am able to connect an old external monitor and if the primary display goes black, I still have the secondary display.

The last thing I got done today was to install the software drivers for my Kensington docking station. It was quite painless and worked instantly.

I figured that was enough for today, but there are a lot more files and utilities to bring over. I’m using the new computer and setup to post this.

By the way, Windows 7 is a lot like Windows Vista with a few additional annoyances. No blue screens of death so far.

When I get up in the morning, I consult my list of RSS feeds to see the latest posts. I got to DrJim’s Every Blade of Grass blog and saw that he would be setting up for the annual ham radio Field Day contest sponsored by the American Radio Relay League. I asked The Better Half if she would like to take a drive down to their setup site at historic Fort MacArthur “Topside” in San Pedro and meet up with DrJim - something we have been meaning to do since we found out we’re practically neighbors. So, we drove the short trip down there and finally got to meet up.

In the clickable image above, DrJim and I are chatting about the amateur radio satellite communications setup he was setting up for the contest. When DrJim finishes the setup, he will have a couple of uplink/downlink antennas mounted on the stub tower with full azimuth and elevation control. The satellite communications will allow the United Radio Amateur Club to claim the bonus points for including his operation in the list of stations.

Today, the new HP G60-630us Notebook PC showed up. I had to replace the old Dell laptop because the display was getting dim on one side and eventually failed in a ’soft’ way - that is the display would start out fairly bright, grow dim on the right side of the screen and eventually would go black. I can restore it by turning it off, letting it rest for a few minutes and reboot it. It’s good for a few minutes after each cycle then goes black again. Using the above method for small windows of data transfer, I was able to backup many files to the 500 gigabyte external drive, mostly photos but some data files as well. There are still more to go.

I chose HP rather than Dell this time because I used them at work before I retired last year. In the last five years of work, I had both desktop and laptop units. I liked them both.

The new unit comes with Windows 7 and has a 2.2GHz Intel Pentium processor, a 320GB hard drive, WiFi, a full-sized keyboard with numeric keypad and a 5-in-1 digital media card reader.

Now the fun begins. I have my work cut out for me the next few days customizing, installing my favorite apps and just getting used to the new stuff.

I guess I’m pretty much a geek according to this chart . . .

From NRO via Breda.

Several months back (a year maybe?) my digital keyboard gave up the ghost. I have been thinking about a replacement, so I went on-line and ordered this one. It’s a Yamaha PSR E413 61-key synthesizer. It got very good reviews and was priced around $270 USD including shipping and accessories. Plus, it’s way more sophisticated than the 15 year old keyboard that crapped out.

I started playing piano when I was five years old and I have almost always had a piano or organ, so I sort of missed having one around. I’m looking forward to learning all the features of this nice new shiny rig when it shows up in a week or so.

I know this doesn’t relate to the gun and classics oriented discussion normally seen here, but it does have a built in gunshot sound effect. Does that count?

Clickable image.

Last month, I changed my subscription to American Rifleman to receive issues on the Internet. I just got the email notifying me that the March Issue was ready to be viewed. All I had to do was click on a link in the email, input my member ID and name plus entering an authorization code which was printed graphically on the authorization web page.                 Clickable image: User Interface.

After using the interface they provide and browsing the magazine, I am glad that I converted to electronic issues for several reasons. First and foremost, I have no magazines stacking up in the garage that have to be sanitized (i.e. shredding personal information printed on the address block) before recycling. Next, All the text can be brought up in a window where I can cut and paste items such as “Armed Citizen Reports” or other text that I would like to share with others via email or on this site. Not the last of a list of nice features is the absence of the binding crease in two-page graphics - you see the whole image sans creases and staples.

I am also a life member in the American Radio Relay League (Amateur “HAM” Radio). I sent an email to them earlier today asking if my monthly copy of QST could be delivered electronically. I am waiting for a reply, but I suspect they do not have the means yet. I cruised their member services website and could not find anything about electronic publication.

Actually, I’ve had the SwishMax 3 Flash creation software installed on my computer for quite some time now, probably several months. I just started using it today, having overcome the phobia associated with upgrading from the old package. You get used to using something and since it’s comfortable, you avoid the change - like breaking in a new pair of boots.

I dug up the source from my “Glock around the clock” project from last November and invested a little time learning the new tool set. I figured that I should rework an old package rather than starting something from scratch. I got it going a while ago using the Flash creator.

Another thing I wanted to mention is the on-line tool that I developed for embedding Flash objects on our websites. I upload the object to the server and then specify the URL of the object to my on-line tool, which then generates a JavaScript Embedded in PHP script, plus the JavaScript that I use to invoke the object instance in the web page. All I have to do is input the required parameters, hit ‘generate script’ and copy/paste the code it generates to the server and the embed tags in the post. Flash, produced this way, seems to work with most of the browsers out there, although if it works with IE and Firefox/Mozilla then that’s 95% of the users that come to this site. If you DON’T have JavaScript enabled, you won’t see the animation.

Did you ever misplace your wireless cellphone? You want to call it so you can go toward the ring tone but you misplaced your wireless. That’s a catch 22 if there ever was one.

Check this out:

We’ve all misplaced our keys or wallet at some point. Likewise, we’ve all hunted for a misplaced cell phone. The easiest way to find a cell phone, of course, is to call it. You will hear your phone and be able to find it.

That’s easier said than done sometimes. Many have abandoned their landline and rely solely on a cell phone. In that case, make a quick visit to WheresMyCellPhone. Enter your number, and it will ring your cell phone. It’s just the helping hand you need!

The site does not share or store your phone number. But you can block your number if you wish. If someone else accidentally enters your number, your phone won’t ring.

http://www.wheresmycellphone.com/

Hat tip to my long time buddy, Frank N.