Cable w/HD is installed

Posted by Greybeard on Mar 9th, 2007 in Technology and Music | Comments Off

It’s been a lot of work,  but the Cable is up and running.  It took three visits for the tech’s to get the video installed correctly,  and it took me about two day’s to get my network all back online.  (Mostly because I was trying to do it without using a router)

To say just a little about it right now;  I’m not totally happy with it.  The HD service isn’t that clear,  and Charter’s billing system SUCKS!  It seems that they’re wanting to bill  me a lot more that we agreed to when I ordered it on the phone.

Worst of all,  everyday that we’ve had the service,  3 days in a row,  some part of the video service has been down!!!

You’ll probably hear more on this later.

 ~~GB

DSL and Sat. are dead, Cable is alive, HD signal on the way

Posted by Greybeard on Mar 7th, 2007 in Technology and Music | 0 comments

Well,  the DSL connection went away today,  replaced by a 3 meg cable connection.  Part of the cable package is digital cable ( including HD),  so the Satellite is now toast also.

The cable Inet seems faster,  (it should, the DSL was only 256K),  and the cable TV seems a little clearer on the HD set than the Satellite.  We’ve yet to see how the HD looks on Cable,  (the HD cable box is suppose to come in today).  We did get HBO, Showtime, and MAX as part of the package though (basically free for one year).

I’ll be doing a Sat to Cable comparison sometime in the future,  right now we’re just getting used to the changes,  and trying to get my network all sorted out with new IP’s and such.

~~GB

Dregs of the Earth = Spammers

Posted by Greybeard on Mar 5th, 2007 in Technology and Music | Comments Off

Looks like the spammers are starting to zero in on the comments area of my posts.  I’ve been taking the time to delete them,  but I guess I’ll have to start looking at ways to Blacklist them.

~~GB

More adventures of the Video Cadet

Posted by Greybeard on Mar 4th, 2007 in Technology and Music | Comments Off

Finally got sick of trying to deal with Direct TV.  We tried every thing we could think of to get them to offer some,  any kind of deal where we could reasonably get HDTV over the satellite.  I finally gave up and called Charter Cable.  They gave me what sounds like a good price with HD included.  Much cheaper that Direct TV,  (and Direct TV kept telling me that HD wasn’t available in my area). 

Actually the TV signal was a little more that Satellite,  but included in the deal was their 3 meg. cable internet.  (sounds like a good replacement for my 256K DSL line)

Combining the two,  it costs me about 7 dollars a month more,  but I get HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime,  plus 10 or 11 HD channels,  and a big boost in Internet speed.

Yet to be determined: What kind of picture quality will I get?  One thing for sure,  it can’t be much worse than the picture I was getting over satellite.

Oh yeah,  and it in a month or so,  I’ll be able to add telephone service the package, with free long distance, for another 15 dollars.  (we see about that when the time comes)

To be continued:

~~Cadet Video

Flawed thought process VS anti-gun thought

Posted by Greybeard on Mar 3rd, 2007 in Shootist, Technology and Music | 0 comments

This all started with the ice storm, resulting in the power outage.  After about 24 hours without power, (no heat, little light, no Inet, no TV, etc.),  I decided it was time to hook up the generator.  My normal (pre-move up north) method was to 1. (most important!) Disconnect the house’s Main Breaker.  2. Roll the generator to the door of the pole barn,  and plug it into the power panel in the barn thru a dedicated 30 amp, 220V breaker.         3. Throw the barn’s main breaker  4.  Fire up the generator, and turn on a light in the barn.  5. Turn the barns main breaker back on, thus feeding power back to the entire house. 

This method worked quite well downstate,  for basic services. Since the main breaker was always disconnected first, there was no danger to the incoming powerline workers, and I had plenty of power to run my furnace,  a few lights,  my well’s pump, and a radio.  Even a small hotplate or coffee pot if need be.

When the power issue first popped up here in the great North,  it was summer time and wasn’t really much of an issue,  we used a few candles and ate sandwiches.  Winter,  changed the issue a bit.  It get’s cold up here!!!

(At this point we approach my ”flawed thought process)  Consider now,  I’m a retired Skilled Trades Machinist/Mechanic,  and a retired Novell Network Administrator, NOT , an electrician.  (Though I -have- apprenticed a few times with electricians)

Having not been overly concerned with the summer power outage,  I didn’t make time to set up the 220volt connection for the generator.  Needing the power , not having the parts, and not being able to get a truck out of the driveway,  I decided 110 volts would do.  Actually it would do quite well, because we don’t need the 220V for a pump at this house, (city water).  Taking proper safety precautions  to protect the linemen,  I pulled the generator to the open door of the garage,  and plugged the 110 outlet into a newly dedicated inlet on the garage’s power panel.  After all,  all I needed were a few lights,  power run the electricals on my “gas” furnace,  and power for the refridgerator/freezer. 

I started the generator,  flipped the proper breakers,  and bingo,  the furnace kicked on!  But wait,  why didn’t the refridgerator start up,  and why did only certain lights in the house work???  (flawed process arises)  It had to be a problem with the wiring in the house’s electrical panel!  I pulled the cover and checked all the connections,  then all the grounds, everthing looked good.  To my neophyte electrical mind,  (I supposed I didn’t really  think it through), something was totally weird!  I had put power onto the panel’s grid,  but only some of the breakers were able to use the power.  (Of course, the refridge was one of the dead breakers!)

IT HAD TO BE A PROBLEM DEEP WITHIN THE PANEL!!!   (flawed thought process, f.t.p.)

After grumbling way to long,  I called the electrician who helped me install the panel,  ready to gripe at him.  Using F.T.P.  I had to be right!   Yeah, well,  to make a long story a little shorter, he quickly explained;  the way the electrical panel is set up,  there are two power bars,  and if you follow the breakers vertically down,  every other breaker,  is on a different power bar.  (DUH!! that’s how we get 220volts, by combining the two 110 volt power bars with a  double space breaker)  (Begin to feel stooopid)  One of the two power bars was being fed by the incoming 110V from the garage,  thus powering every other breaker in the panel!!  (My downstate 220V connection was powering both power bars, thus, every breaker)  I swapped the breaker NOT powering the fridge,  with the one directly below it,  and bingo,  cold food!!

F.T.P. =  Thinking I understood how electricity powers my house,  in a bit greater detail, that I actually did.  Not logically thinking the entire problem through,  the basic problem was actually self evident to anyone willing to put a little bit of thought into it.

NOW,  the connection to Anti-gun freaks!

*People who think guns are bad -may- not be truly evil,

*People who think the Second Ammendment only applies to  the Military, might still be saved,

*People who think that getting rid of guns will end pain and suffering in the world, don’t necessarily have to be idiots,

*People who think a woman should submit to rape rather than defend herself are,,,,,, No,  this one doesn’t apply, these people are truly warped!

Through my bout with flawed reasoning,  I’ve become (just a tiny bit) more compassionate and understanding of people who hate guns.  Either through the thickness of their skull,  poor parenting,  brainwashing,  or just lack of understanding,  they are just not aware of the truths of the world.  With compassion and education they -may- be salvageable.

Long live the Second Ammendment and FREEDOM!  And a BIG THANKS the the Linemen and women who helped get our power back on!!!!!!!!!!

~~GreyBeard