Month: June 2007

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-30

  • Just had guests leave. Resuming beer drinking. #
  • @epodcaster tv news? #
  • @epodcaster our internet crapped out here too. Out in Houston too. #
  • @epodcaster probably a construction crew taking out a backbone. It would happen on occasion when I worked with t-mobile. #
  • @steverubel Activations is a small part of customer service. T-Mobile, for instance, trains new hires for 1 mo. before they take a live call #
  • It would be too costly to hire more reps for activations, or cross-train for a one-time activations spike. #
  • Wireless customer care can set up a queue to deal with spikes in activations. #
  • I’m beat. Going to shower and hit the hay. #
  • Finished yard sale. #
  • Taking change collected during legislative session and converting to gift card at a coinstar machine. #
  • Damn, machine being serviced. 5 minutes. #
  • Going to car wash to vacuum the van and wash it. #
  • Sitting in carwash. Need to shower and get ready for drive-in movie tonight. #
  • It has started pouring. Drive-in shows movies rain or shine, but I don’t want to watch in the rain. #
  • What gets me is I just washed the van. #
  • Rain came down hard. Streets flooded. #

Flooded Street



Flooded Street

Originally uploaded by shainelee.

We had some heavy rains here in Mission, Texas for a short period today. It was enough to flood our street. It should drain in a few hours. This is why hurricanes and heavy rains upstream on the Rio Grande are a concern around here.

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-29

  • Oops, rotavirus. Actress says it’s very contagious. #
  • To be continued. Patient was stiff on stretcher with tremors. #
  • Eating pozole. #
  • @podcastpickle what kind of work? #
  • Watching The Office. #
  • That’s awesome. Podcastpickle can staff a project just by twittering. BEHOLD! The power of social media. #
  • @seekground we hear you #
  • It’s early, but I’m going to bed. Maybe I’ll get up earlier; maybe. #
  • good morning #
  • Good belated morning. I’ve been awake for a long while, but forgot to wish you good morrow. #
  • @seekground go home. Sneak out while it’s early. #
  • @doctorlinguist good thing it’s Friday. You only need to endure up to quitting time. #
  • @conniereece newsfeed bankruptcy #
  • My dns is shot in south texas. Road runner. #
  • I finally understand Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. #
  • DNS still out. Maybe I can do something offline. Thinking. #
  • DNS still crapped out. I’m leaving. #
  • Going to grill turkey burgers and hot dogs to celebrate iPhone Day. Not really. We just want burgers and hot dogs. #

Better Results



Better Results

Originally uploaded by shainelee.

Last time I checked my blood pressure, I was feeling a bit tired. When I saw the diastolic over 80, I worried as it’s in the pre-hypertensive range. I feel better today, and had a better reading.

Both sides of my family have a history of heart disease. One side has a history of diabetes, which can lead to heart disease. Prevention is probably the best life hack I’ve got so that I’m not falling apart when I’m older. I want to enjoy my retirement money, not spend it on health care.

Donate to Luckofseven.com

Whurley recently posted a request to help out his buddy Noel Hidalgo who is planning a trip around the world to be funded by the online community. He only has a few days until 07/07/07 to raise $7,777.77 to cover his expenses. As of this moment, he is 42% funded at $3,300.45.

I admit, I fell for it and donated a little bit of money. The concept intrigues me, so I have added the ChipIn badge to my sidebar to help out. If you have a few dollars to spare that can go towards this project, chip in.

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-28

  • Just changed distributor cap and rotor on old aerostar. Been dreading it. Not built with maintenance in mind. #
  • @doctorlinguist will you get an iphone? #
  • Made soup with pork bones and veggies. Added steamed rice. Enjoying after dinner coffee. #
  • Having fun watching dog dealing with a bit of peanut butter he got. #
  • Good morning #
  • Ordered more moo cards #
  • Pawn shopping for a camera tripod. No luck. May just end up at Target. #
  • Hi newmediajim. #
  • Watching Mexican novela. Army helping flood victims. Rotovirus in one of the refugees. #

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-27

  • A quick stop at Stars Drive-In for burgers. We’re bad. #
  • Plans to go to wes-mer drive-in theater this weekend. #
  • Returned dvds to video store #
  • Kid is able to force fluids from nose to eyes. Usually water. Supposedly most people’s ducts don’t allow this. #
  • @scobleizer twittergrams are awesome! #
  • Good morning #
  • Unloading van of stuff from storage to sell this weekend. #
  • There are a bunch of bees in the shed. There may be a hive/nest in there. #
  • Came back from a walk at the park. #
  • Hitting the shower. #
  • Just added last of the free syncs to plaxo. Really tempted to add State account for outlook syncing. #

My Hopes for the iPhone

I have some hopes for what the iPhone will do for mobile phones and the Internet. I like the cool interface that Apple put on the iPhone, but I’m not going to shell out $600 for the phone in addition to spending money to break my contract with T-Mobile. I already have Internet, email, pictures, music, and other features on my phone. In short, I have nothing to gain and plenty to lose by jumping networks and getting a new phone.

Yet, I do hope that the iPhone is wildly successful for very practical reasons. First of all, if the iPhone is a wild success, it will set the bar high for competing brands. Somebody coming to the end of their mobile phone contract might consider jumping networks unless other wireless companies can offer a phone that approximates or surpasses the iPhone’s coolness factor. That is what I want. I want my wireless company to offer better phones.

Another thing that I hope will occur as a result of a successful iPhone launch is that more websites will start to consider people on mobile phones when providing content. There are plenty of WAP sites out there, but many popular blogs don’t bother offering WAP content (mine does). Just because a phone CAN download graphics and format pages properly, it’s a pain on a tiny screen. A lighter version of blogs and websites would be a great modification to cater to the millions of iPhone users expected. It would really help me on my tiny SmartPhone screen.

In the end, even if I would not buy an iPhone for myself, I am pulling for its success. So, if you are on AT&T, I urge you to go out and purchase an iPhone and make it a big success. After that, use it to do EVERYTHING. Your actions will benefit you and eventually every other smartphone user. You are at the forefront of pushing technology forward. Thank you in advance.

What exactly is New Media?

I’ve spent some of the time I would have spent blogging here on blogging and building the groundwork for the new RGV New Media Group. In the past few days, I got the domain, added Gmail as the MX, created a Facebook group, created a Myspace account, created an amateur logo, a Youtube account, and I forget what else.

After working with the San Antonio Podcasters Group, I came to recognize that we need that type of group here. The benefits are many from being part of a group like this, such as friendship, networking, collaboration, and learning/teaching opportunities. In my experience, belonging to a group such as this improves everybody who takes part in some way.

I’ve been looking around other sites and have noticed that there is not a clear consensus about what exactly new media is. It has to do with Internet technology and social media, but it’s not social media. Although new media can utilize social media, the two are not exactly tied together. For my own understanding, it seems that New Media is the use of traditional media in new ways.

I would like to know how you define New Media. Wikipedia doesn’t really seem to know what it is with any certainty. What are the components of New Media that make it distinct? Why isn’t New Media the same as Social Media? Please comment.

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-25

  • Can you send me links to your favorite mobile sites? e.g. m.facebook.com #
  • @lrivers thanks, I drank the kool-aid #
  • Watching “The Fountain” with the mrs. #
  • The Fountain is too damn artsy. It gets in the way of the story. #
  • @michaelverdi I’m having trouble with The Fountain. I’m not following the fantasyland sequences. #
  • Having Jalapeño Chicken at Quick Wok. #
  • Today’s fortune: acting on a good idea is better than just having a good idea. #
  • Getting movies #
  • Out on an errand. #
  • @scobleizer do you really want 1,000 comments per post? #
  • Done for the day. Headed home to my people. #
  • We are going to watch Bridge to Terabithia. #
  • Tostadas for dinner #

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-24

  • Outside with the family. #
  • Contemplating a job offer. #
  • Tocayo = mexican spanish for name twin #
  • Laughing that hometown is always in the news for police actions, but you can never find a cop. #
  • Mobile youtube m.youtube.com does not work on windows mobile 6 on t-mobile dash. #
  • Mrs mata made me a sandwich. Oh yeah, she loves me. #
  • Wondering if I could sleep with automatic hammock swinger. #
  • Talking about actors who died on the set. Brandon Lee, the guy who played Aries on Xena, etc… #
  • What did the white grape say to the purple grape?

    Breathe, dammit! #

  • What did the candybar say to the lollipop?

    Hello, sucker. #

  • Just found out what exactly mollejas are. They are tasty, but I never found out what part of the cow they are. Pancreas and thymus. #
  • Now discussing benefits vs caveats of eating liver. #
  • Contemplating eating tripas (cow intestine) tomorrow. Mmm, crispy tripas. #
  • Oh, now conversation has turned to menudo. All this tasty food. #
  • We have fireflies! #
  • this must have been a rough week. I’m the only one twittering on a saturday night. #
  • Talking with an illegal alien about life. #
  • Good night #
  • Having watermelon with lime and salt. #
  • Considering whether kool-aid with sugar is better than soda with high fructose corn syrup. #

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-22

  • @newmediajim Hi. Thanks for the greet. #
  • I too have made the switch from @secretcameraman to @shane #
  • @shane people spell my name like yours. Telemarketers say “shay-nee”. I’m past getting upset anymore. #
  • Shane-o main-o #
  • @shane had to accept being called chain by my Mexican friends (sh sound not used). #
  • Need to create a press release for RGV New Media Group. Thinking. #
  • Doing some shopping. #
  • @mdeleon how do you cash in on text link ads? #
  • The tweets will pick up around 5 pm #
  • We just split a huge watermelon I got at wal-mart for 3.68. I love summer. #
  • I might have a blogging job, maybe. It’s in spanish, which is fine. #
  • @marc1919 axing the rgv new media ning site. Got rgvnewmedia.org instead. #
  • At HEB doing an errand. #

Tech Job 6-20-07: Remove Virus

Starting Information
I was recently hired to remove a virus from a computer. The client stated that he clicked on a video link on Myspace that required special software to view. Afther this, the browser had excessive popups and would redirect to one of multiple spyware/virus removal sites when visiting Yahoo claiming that the laptop was infected with the w32.myzor.FK@yf virus. Upon inspecting the laptop, I verified the symptoms and also found LimeWire installed. Customer had been told by another tech that he would have to use the recovery CD and should back up any important files prior.

Procedure
Knowing that LimeWire is the devil, I uninstalled it before proceeding. Then, I gathered as much information about the infection as possible. Most viruses and malware have some form of identification. A taskbar popup would identify virus w32.myzor.FK@yf as the cause of the problem. A google search on that particular string revealed that it is a fake virus from a fake anti-virus program. The “virus scanner” pesters users into thinking that their computer is loaded with viruses and then redirects the browser or opens popups to anti-virus websites where the user can purchase the remedy. A Google search on removing this faux virus resulted in Symantec instructions on manual removal of the malware. These instructions were outdated as the registry keys cited were not present. Other sites had similar results for manual removal. One removal tool cited in several reputable tech forums is smitfraudfix.exe. I downloaded the tool onto a thumb drive and scanned it for viruses before using it on the afflicted laptop. The tool effectively removed the malware and deleted the Video ActiveX Access Program folder.

End Result
The problem was completely resolved without any loss of information or the need to run the recovery CD as the owner had been told. Instructed user to avoid installing software to view video and to purchase an anti-virus.

Paring of the News Feeds

The Problem
I let my news feeds get unmanageable. I had something like 110 different feeds. I’m cutting back now, although I’m still at 75. I think I got so many feeds because I would subscribe to them based on what was going on in my life. When I was learning all about David Allen’s Getting Things Done, I added GTD feeds. When I was working at Austin during the legislative session, I added political feeds. I had financial feeds. I added blogging feeds to make the best of this blog.

The problem is that I’ve moved on to new things, but the feeds stayed. So, I’m figuring out what it is that is important to me now and have started cutting back on the feeds. Here are the ones that are getting cut:

Feeds to Cut

  • Feeds that no longer apply to my current life situation. Self explanatory.
  • Feeds that post too frequently. There is no way I can keep up. Trying to do so kills so much of my time. 50 time-saving posts a week kills a lot of time. Feeds are supposed to save time, not make it easier to waste it.
  • News. I figure that if it’s important, people will talk about it.
  • Feeds I don’t get. I have to admit, I subscribe to feeds based on one post that may have made sense. Sometimes, however, I don’t get the writer beyond that one post.
  • Feeds for stuff I can easily Google. If the posts are that good, they’ll show up on search results, right?

Feeds to Keep

  • Friends. Rather than shoot emails at each other, it’s easier to read their blogs.
  • Local feeds. I’ve got to know what’s going on locally.
  • Feeds that are relevant to my life now. I need a constant flow of ideas for my current projects.
  • Exploratory feeds. Some feeds are a great source for research into things I want to try before I get there.

UPDATE

I cut my feeds down to 50. I’ll keep it steady there for now.

Twitter Updates for 2007-06-21

  • I love microsoft. I just got hired to remove spyware from a laptop. Cha-ching. #
  • I fixed the computer. Was a faux virus. Tricks people into buying a phony spyware remover. #
  • @epodcaster Never done it before, but would love to have something somebody wants. #
  • Just posted a couple of tail lights for chevy trailblazer on ebay with video. #
  • Trying to understand the Higgs Boson. Not gonna happen. Going to bed. #
  • Hello world #
  • @mdeleon your comment has been freed. #
  • Photos from my video camera have funky colors on the mac. #
  • Trying media-convert.com #
  • Media-convert worked. It’s an extra step, but at least I can edit video on the mac. #
  • Thinking of recreating my awesome soup. #
  • @epodcaster I paid retail for my camera. There are some on ebay that look like it, higher resolution, for same price. Diff brand. #
  • @mdeleon my awesome soup is caldo in which I pan fry chkn in olive oil with herbs prior to putting in pot. #