Where We’ve Been April 17, 2008
Posted by jim in Geeky stuff, RV.add a comment
Below is a map of where we’ve been since our initial break-in trip the middle of December. If you’re interested in creating a map like this go to http://www.epgsoft.com/index.html. In addition to being able to create a map like this that you can then insert into your blog, email, home page; there is also a rather nifty campground map that allows you to search for campgrounds. Thanks to Chris Guld of blog.rv.net for his post on this.
Garmin Nuvi 350 — Bad First Impression June 29, 2007
Posted by jim in Geeky stuff, RV, gps, rants.add a comment
One of many decisions my wife and I made when we decided to become fulltime RVers was to purchase a gps unit. I have been reading several blogs and made a decision to purchase a Garmin Nuvi 350 when the time was right. That time happened last week as we were getting ready to go to Chicago. After remembering our nightmare of getting around in Chicago during a trip last year, we decided to purchase the Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS at a local Wal-Mart. I had decided upon this unit based upon reviews of the Garmin unit that praised the superior windshield mount and best routing software.
All I can say is if this is the best the industry has, I’ll wait until Apple develops an iGPS unit before I buy another one. The windshield mount just isn’t going to work. I’m either going to superglue it to the windshield or find another mounting option. (BTW, the optional mounting disk is useless — it just won’t stick any where on my wife’s Dodge Ram truck’s dashboard.) The maps are so full of errors that I sincerely hope that no one has to use these for anything important. The maps had our hotel as well as two adjacent hotels and a shopping mall misplaced. It told us to take an Interstate North when the map directed us to the Interstate South. The maps had towns on the wrong side of the road and street names that did not correspond to actual signage (for example, Park Street on street signs showed up as 37th street on the map).
I do wish that the people doing the reviews would try out these units out in the wild – especially in smaller cities and in the countryside. I realize that keeping maps updated is a huge undertaking, but as GPS units proliferate, I’m certain that the units with the most accurate maps will seize the biggest market share. From what I’ve seen from my first trip with the Garmin Nuvi, Garmin will not be that market leader.
Broadband, Travel Trailers, and Retirement December 21, 2006
Posted by jim in Geeky stuff, Retirement.1 comment so far
Before I decide what software I’ll be using during retirement, I suddenly realize that I have taken my current low speed broadband access for granted. My wife and I are planning on purchasing a travel trailer and using it a lot. I’ve suddenly come upon the realization that I don’t know whether I’ll be able to have any sort of broadband access while we’re using the travel trailer. Does any one have any experiences with internet access while travelling with a travel trailer and/or RV?
I’m retiring — from my job, but not this blog November 26, 2006
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I’ll be retiring in about another six months – end of May to be precise.
This will bring about a change to this blog. I’ll be concentrating on the technology side of this blog — the “geeky stuff” — to how my computing habits will be changing as I move from having most of my software purchased by work to having to provide my own software. I’m sure that this will mean that I’ll be trying to move to web based solutions, some of which I’ve “played” with previously. Now I’m going to have to decide whether online software such as Google Documents and Spreadsheets will provide me with what I need or whether I’ll need to find some offline solution such as Open Office. I’m certain that I’ll no longer be able to afford Microsoft Office, so it will be goodbye to favorites such as ClearContext. I’ll sorely miss Outlook and the add-ins that I’ve grown comfortable using.
Now — on to finding out how I’m going to compute in retirement.
zoho writer test to blog August 24, 2006
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Here I go again — testing another app to use to post to my blog. This time it’s zohowriter. I’ll get you updated as my testing continues.
Google Pages Problem June 29, 2006
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Has any one else had any problems accessing Google Page Creator? I keep on getting the following:
Google Page Creator is having a little trouble right now.
This is not because of anything you did; it’s just a little hiccup in our system that will hopefully go away soon. We apologize for the inconvenience, and recommend you try reloading this page.
I’ve tried it with IE and with Firefox with the same results. If you’ve figured out a way to fix this, let me know. I’m a big fan of Google software and it just aggrevates me that I can’t even try this out.
writely.com — update March 11, 2006
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As noted in an earlier post, I had started to use writely.com as my web-based word processor. And as promised, here is an update.
Simply put, writely.com works. I now use writely.com instead of w.blogger as my primary document creation tool for my blogs.
Let’s hope that the acquisition of writely.com by google does nothing but enhance it’s value. (I just noticed on the writely.com site that until writely becomes integrated into the google world, they are no longer accepting new users.)
hngry.com – open for business March 11, 2006
Posted by jim in Geeky stuff, Un-geeky stuff.1 comment so far
For those of us who truly enjoy eating out, hungry.com is now open for business. Although the site has some rough edges, it looks very promising.
The site allows a person to build a database of their restaurants including hours of operation, notes, pricing, favorite meal, and rating. Then, you can use this site to pick a restaurant based upon your preferences for that meal. Futures include plans to enable sharing among the site’s users.
Highly Recommended!
Google Desktop Search — R.I.P. March 7, 2006
Posted by jim in Geeky stuff, rants.add a comment
I loved google desktop search (gds). It saved me many times when I tried to find something either on my hard drive or in my mailbox.
Unfortunately, my company decided that the latest version was a threat to company information and has banned its use.
From what I’ve read, I understand my company’s stand against the normal version of gds, but google has provided an enterprise version that seems to remediate the privacy issues that rightfully concern my company. Unfortunately, it appers to me that my employer seems to think that desktop search is one of those fads that will not last. (I seem to remember the powers that be saying the same thing about the internet about ten years ago.)
So, I’ve uninstalled my friend (gds) and have now installed yahoo’s desktop search software. So far, I haven’t needed to really exercise the software, so I don’t have any opinions regarding the value of Yahoo’s software versus gds.
Community Wireless — Revisited March 7, 2006
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Since my last post, I’ve been without home internet access. A lightning storm took out the wireless tower that connects my house to the internet. After several false starts, the local municipal utility people finally fixed all the problems and I now have broadband again.
For now, I’m absorbing the pain of being an early adapter since I really believe that having this type of internet service is the only way that people living in rural areas can get reasonably priced broadband. The pain was considerable since our household now relies on the internet for a lot of activities such as banking, bill paying, etc. This just really points out how access to the internet is now a one of those things that you can live without, but you really don’t want to. I feel fortunate to live in an area with a local government who believes that reasonable internet access is a service that they need to provide since the private sector has failed to provide this service.
