8.27.2005

My nephew, Logan bad boy Robinson

Logan Robinson - Richmond Beach, WA - riding the tug boat.


August 27, 2005

My Niece Leah

Leah Robinson @ ~9 months.



Brother & Sister Hanging out

Logan & Leah chilling at gamma's house.
August 27, 2005

Logan Watering the Plants

Papas new Jeep

Logan and the talking bottle opener

Logan with the "talking bottle opener.
August 27, 2005



My 40GB iPod

Who want's it? I'm *this* close to ditching it.

Thank goodness for backups!!!

Can you believe this is the system that Frys Electronics uses to manage their store inventory. Can you say OS2 [LOL]

State of the art computing at Fry's Electronics.

August 27, 2005

40GB ipods for sale on eBay [price comparison]

Here's what ipods are going for on eBay.

eBay - 40 gb ipod, 40 gb ipod Apple iPod, iPod 40GB 10 000 songs, iPod Photo 60GB 15 000 songs items on eBay.com

the ipod situation 08.27.2005

the ipod situation 08.27.2005

---update to the update---

Ok. So after coming to the conclusion that I'm done with Apple for good, I went to Frys Electronics to check out alternatives and a bunch of other stuff that I wanted to check out as part of my latest R&D effort.

The good news is that after I purchased a replacement 12v universal Power adapter for my Wolverine Six Pack (a 40GB HDD with slots for all popular memory storage (e.g. MMC, SD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, etc) and connected it to my laptop. After doing some archiving, I started to browse around and was able to locate a backup copy of my iTunes music collection. I'm not sure if it's an exact mirror image of what was stored in my ipod, but I'm in the process of copying the files back to my laptop (about 25 GB) directly into my iTunes music folder. Hopefully I'll be able to recover everything that got wiped out on my ipod. I'm still leaning towards an ipod replacement, but time will tell.

---update---

I'M TOTALLY SCREWED. I'VE LOST MY ENTIRE MUSIC COLLECTION AND I CAN'T GET IT BACK!

I just got off the phone with a support rep from apple and after explaining my situation, which was a challenge in itself, as the support is fee-based [yuck], although after I quickly explained my issue, the sales rep did answer a bunch of my questions, listed to my extended explanation, and offered up some pointers to avoid this in the future.

So now the question is do I endeavor to re-populate my iPod or do I consider ditching Apple and itunes in favor of a more "flexible" solution. I'm really leaning towards the latter, as I don't like the idea of being locked into Apple's proprietary technology. Sorry Apple, I'm not impressed.

Anyone want to buy a 40GB ipod? Will probably sell to a colleague or post on ebay.

I'm really bummed about this. sigh...

---end update---

Summary: It appears that I've lost my entire music collection that was stored on my iPod. I'm not a happy camper right now and am on the verge of ditching apple. About to run the gauntlet of the apple phone support because I really want to speak to a human about this issue. I will also probably cut and paste this entry and email to support@apple.com (or whatever their support email is).

last known total ipod.content
~6000 songs
~4-5 albums purchased through itunes

The sequence of events leading up to this post:

1) purchased a little over a year ago
a) created account on itunes: brianeisenberg@comcast.net

2) converted entire cd library to ipod - couple hundred cds

3) ipod and itunes authorized for dell latitude d800
a) ipod / itunes worked great for the majority of last year

4) because I'm paranoid about data loss, I copied itunes Music folder to external HD for archival purposes [I need to check and see if I still have this archive...yikes!!!]

5) de-authorized laptop before performing the next task

6) reinstalled laptop os [winXP] and I choose to NOT install itunes and store my music (roughly 6000 songs) on my laptop, as it is a work laptop.

7) A couple months pass and I've been using my ipod exclusively in my car with my alpine stereo system (with ipod adapter). I also use it when I travel, but that's about it.

8) I recently decided to re-install itunes on the same work laptop that has a relatively fresh install of WinXP on it.

9) Downloaded and installed itunes 4.9.0.17 yesterday.

10) Connected ipod to laptop via firewire connection

11) ipod updater kicks off and gives the usual "do not disconnect" message

12) updater churns for a while

13) updated finishes, "ok to disconnect" msg displayed

14) disconnected ipod and tried to browse my collection directly from the device

15) SHOCK AND AWE - THERE ARE NO FILES ON MY IPOD AND NOTHING IN ITUNES. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!

16) Reconnected ipod, confirmed that it shows up in itunes as a recognized device [yes], and attempt to do another update. Also logged into itunes (after a couple of failed password attempt, submit lost password request. successul. change password. login to itunes, don't see any on my purchased music there. change email address in itunes from my comcast account to my gmail accout.

17) login again with new email address and pwd.

18) still no luck

====

APPLE PLEASE HELP ME!!

I'm already really annoyed with the effectiveness of the Alpine KCA-420i adapter and my Alpine CDA-9833 head unit, which is really crappy with replicating the ipod menu options, browse functions, and the most important thing - the click wheel. I purchased this unit just before the 2005 model year Alpine decks came out, and I did see one with an interesting "horizontal" strip that appears to allow one to mimic the scrolling capabilities of the click wheel by moving your finger over the pad/strip from left to right. Supposedly, the faster / slower you move your finger, the faster / slower you will scroll (very similar to a laptop mousepad).

Anyway, back to my ipod support escalation. Cross your fingers.

As blogging grows, companies eye legal pitfalls - Yahoo! News

This is kind of scary...hmmm...

News article from Reuters on impact of blogging on corporate america

Flag at Washington Monument

Flag Washington monument

Dust devils on Mars - pretty cool stuff. compliments of nasa mars rovers.


Image from Nasa Mars Rovers site
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(GIF Image, 1024x256 pixels)


Cephalopholis miniatus

Miniatus Grouper - juvenile.

Currently shored up in my 60 gallon reef tank.


OMFG!!! I think iTunes just wiped out EVERY SINGLE SONG IN MY IPOD. WE'RE TALKING OVER 6000 SONGS.  Posted by Picasa


The evolution of a non Microsoft Desktop running inside WinXP... Posted by Picasa

8.26.2005

Cephalopholis miniatus

One of my latest acquisitions - I recently purchased 3 juvenile Miniatus Groupers, which are some of the coolest fish I've ever had.



Sea Apple - orphan that I picked up from my LFS

Sea Apple - currently in my 60 gallon reef tank

2005 Subaru WRX STI

Some random books that were lying around on my coffee table.

Google Zeitgeist - see what the most popular search queries are on google right now

Google Press Center: Zeitgeist

Google Guide: Help with Searching

just stumbled across this...hmmm...

Google Guide: Help with Searching


My 55 gallon reef tank Posted by Picasa


Center section of my 75 gallon reef tank Posted by Picasa


My 60 gallon reef tank - sailfin tang center, brain coral - bottom center, blue menkii starfish (lower right).  Posted by Picasa


closeup of green star polpy colony - which is now starting to grow on the front of my tank - see lower right section near time stamp (which I need to turn off on my camera( Posted by Picasa


18" view of left side of my 75 gallon reef tank - anethlia colony - center left, metallic green bullseye mushrooms upper left, green star polyp colony lower riht. Posted by Picasa


same as previous pic with flash on Posted by Picasa


~18" view of mid section of my 75 gallon reef tank. Green bubble in forefront, Anthelia in upper right, flowerpot leather middle - above bubble, sea apple (reddish - purple thing - center right. Posted by Picasa


Anthelia growing on a glass mason jar. Don't ask...an experiment gone awry...but this does look kind of cool. Posted by Picasa


Mid section view of My longnose hawk fish - note the distinct patternss. cool eh? Posted by Picasa


Anthelia colony - 75 gallon reef tank Posted by Picasa


Closeups of mushrooms - 75 gallon reef tank Posted by Picasa


Another view of my hawk fish with flash on Posted by Picasa


Glimpse of my Longnose Hawk fish. One of the coolest fish in my tanks. Posted by Picasa


One of three of my recently purchase Minneatus Groupers - juveniles I was able to purchase at a great price at my LFS. Can't wait to see these guys grow. Posted by Picasa


Semi distored view of 2 of my mushroom colonies in my 75 gallon reef tank. Red and purple species on right side and green/yellow species on left side.  Posted by Picasa


Green Bubble with flash Posted by Picasa