JJ The Random

Brushes Off The Dust

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:21:00 +0000

Well, it's been too long since I wrote here. There really are too many reasons to list here about why I haven't been posting much recently. I do need to try and write at least once a week. However, I don't want to talk about the fact that I haven't written.

I want to talk about my beautiful lady-friend, Kayla. She is hands down the love of my life, and my soul mate. It's crazy to think we've only known each other for about 2 months and been a couple about a month and a half. Yet hands down, I know she's the one. We connect in every way possible, and I not only love her like I've not been hurt in the past. I love her with such an intensity I didn't think possible.

Fate has literally brought us together, and so far it's been an amazing trip. I feel like a teenager in love. I feel young, vibrant, and alive. Our life is already filled with so much love, and it only grows with each passing day.

Playstation 3 Horizontal Lines Fix

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:53:00 +0000

So I had another issue with a game system, this time it was my PS3. It was showing horizontal lines, similar to if you viewed at tv or old crt monitor in the background of a home video. So initially I did the usual trouble shooting. I checked cables, reset the PS3, and restored it. When none of this worked I did some research and found a ridiculously simple fix that I have decided to post about hoping that people might find this before they try what I did and lose game data.

For the reference, I have the PS3 hooked up to a tube tv with Component (red, green, blue) cables. According to what I've read if you have a HD TV and are using a HDMI cable you won't have the issue.

Here is what happens, and how to fix it.

The PS3 is simply ground looping if you are experiencing this problem. So basically if another device (including cable TV) is grounded and hooked to the TV, you'll end up with horizontal lines, and possible buzzing in audio. All you have to do in order to fix it is either tear out the ground plug on the PS3 power cable, or use a 2-prong adapter.

I personally used a spare adapter and it took care of the problem.

Stumble Upon and realizing what people do with posts

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:49:00 +0000

So, I know I haven't updated in a while. Mostly because I haven't had a lot to write about, plus a full time job doesn't leave much time for following hobbies. In any case, I've been using Stumble Upon a lot recently, and I've discovered something. Not only do people steal ideas from each other on blogs, but they will outright steal posts, word for word. I know that there are unoriginal people, but you spend enough time online and you realize that the number of people is rather large.

Nintendo Wii Freeze and Obnoxious Beep Fix

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:52:00 +0000

So, I have a Wii. I love it like no tomorrow. Game play is insanely fun on it, and it's a great social gaming system. My girlfriend and I have been playing Lego Star Wars recently, and after about 20 minutes of game play, it would freeze and make a loud obnoxious beeping noise. A little research on the internet lead to no answers. I wasn't sure what calling Nintendo would actually accomplish. So, I decided to use some compressed air on the vents. Voilà! It fixed the issue.

I understand that there could be other issues, a game disc with some error, etc. However, just because the Wii doesn't feel hot (mine didn't) doesn't mean that it isn't overheating, or at least not getting proper air flow. So if you run into this problem, go grab some canned air, and give it a shot. It's a cheap and VERY effective fix.

I Wish You Enough

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:17:00 +0000

These are not my words. The author is unknown, and something I would like to share further.

At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane’s departure and standing near the door, he said to his daughter, “I love you, I wish you enough.”

She said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy.” They kissed good-bye and she left.

He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied.

Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing.

“Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?” I asked.

“I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, ” he said.

“When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?”

He began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.” He paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more.

“When we said ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them,” he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Good-bye.”

He then began to sob and walked away.

Author Unknown

DD-WRT and the WRT160

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:44:00 +0000

So I returned the WRT110 as suggested by the Linksys tech rep, and bought the WRT160. With some help from King Arthur I have DD-WRT running on it. I decided not to even bother with the stock firmware, considering what my needs are. What I was not counting on was just how GOOD DD-WRT is! I mean, I was expecting improvements, but not the geeks orgasm I got after seeing DD-WRT for the first time, and doing all the work I needed to do. Talk about the ability to tweak and fine tune just about everything a router is capable of.

If you consider yourself very comfortable with networking stuff, and haven't seen DD-WRT yet. Go and check it out, you won't go back to the stock firmware. There is a list of routers it works with, and I believe a black list of routers it doesn't as well.

Go check it out here.

Linksys WRT110

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:44:00 +0000

Due to a lack of budget, and quite frankly being sick of hunting. Instead of picking up the Linksys WRT160 or even going back to the Netgear WPN824, I picked up the WRT110 from Linksys. Now, at the moment my current network allows for a few options. Basically the new router is a wireless access point, and then hardwired to just one PC. I had set up the WRT110 a few different ways, and was never quite happy. I finally found a perfect spot and great setup. I turned on my girlfriends laptop, got connected, and was thoroughly impressed with the performance at the outer range of the signal. Gaming without lagging off of a regular router, not bad at all.

However, there came a really big hiccup. I turned on my laptop, tried to connect, and apparently put the router into a panic, because it didn't know what to do with my laptop. I called Linksys tech support and we were on the phone for an hour and half trying different configurations. After all the phone calls, I was told to return the router to the store. Which is something I believe I am going to be doing today.

While the Linksys was working, the wireless was incredible. It was just attempting to connect a second laptop made it go haywire. I'm thinking it's just bad quality control. However, it's still made this router hunting enter a second week.

Wireless Router Hunting

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Well, I've been hunting for a new wireless router which has been the reason for a lack of update this time around. We are switching to cable internet soon...so the all in one outdated router is needing to go. This is leaving me to want to try and be ahead of the game when we switch. I started with the Netgear Rangemax WPN824 which worked extraordinarily well for two days, and then went down to in it's range. I'm not sure why this happened, but it had be returning the router to Wal-Mart and deciding to go and see what Best Buy had to offer. So my next router was the D-Link DIR-615 N Router. I figured after hearing some good things about D-Link routers, and the range of Wireless N, that this would be a good choice. I was dead wrong. The signal kept dropping every couple minutes after a network reconnection. So, with this discovery on the same night I went out to exchange the router.

I was hoping for the Belkin Wireless N, but Best Buy was out of stock, and I wanted something then so I went with the Belkin Wireless G+ MIMO. While this fixed my range problem, I was suddenly faced with an issue I haven't had since I was using dial-up. That problem was lag, and not just minor lag. There were major lag spikes. I decided that this problem alone wasn't worth returning the router. I wanted to see if simply moving closer with the wirelessly connected laptops would fix the spikes, thinking that perhaps it was due to only the distance. It turns out that the distance only makes a difference in how bad it lags. Even within a decent range in the same open area (about 15 feet from router) that it still lags, even noticeably, just on a smaller scale. However, it's still bad enough to be bad performance.

So yesterday, I brought the Belkin back, and was debating on the Linksys WRT110 and the Netgear Rangemax N WNR834B. It was a hard decision to make, the Linksys has extremely mixed reviews, and initially I had the first Netgear I bought was great, and this was supposed to be better. I bought the Netgear, got it home and set up, and found out how wrong I was. It drops it's service altogether. Even from the computer that is hardwired to the router, I can't access the router 100% of the time. Out of times accessed, It's been about 40% of the time saying that the router is unavailable. Also, the signal seems to drop worse than the D-Link I had tried.

This has been a hell week of testing routers, and my next one will definitely be a Linksys, and after research, most likely the Linksys WRT 160 N the reason for this is that it supports DD-WRT which is an open source firmware that unlocks more features to supported routers.

All along in this trial and error process I have been reading reviews, which has lead me on my decisions. It's unfortunate that for the most part, there aren't great low end routers. Currently with the DSL it's a modem and router combination, and the firmware is amazing. Great features for what it is. However needing better wireless signal and needing a device that is stricly a router all while on a budget has left me all the wiser. I highly suggest going with more expensive routers if you can afford it. Do your research first, know what you need the router to be capable of, and then go buy it.

I should be able to update soon on the Linksys WRT 160 with DD-WRT firmware.

EDIT: I am aware that my current Netgear can be flashed with DD-WRT, but from what I've read, there's a big risk of bricking the router. Not exactly an option for me right now. As far as I can tell the WRT160 should be a nice easy flash. I will of course try it with the stock firmware first, but go to DD-WRT if I find any problems.

Weird Quota #01

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:57:00 +0000

So, as it goes, I have returned to work. My old boss rehired me and today was my first day back. Of course, it couldn't be a first day back without something a bit absurd happening. Usually my work life is pretty mundane, I don't get a chance to see the type of customer that you'd find talked about over at Not Always Right, that is, until today.

Ok, so here's the setup. The bathrooms at work are just an open bathroom, one toilet, one sink...the toilet is not in a stall.

I had gone to use the restroom, and realized the soap was low. I decided that while I was there to fill the soap. I was pouring the soap and a man opened the door. I had told him I was just going to be a moment. He kind of just stood in the doorway for a moment, then apparently decided he was going to go pee anyway. He started heading for the toilet, and thankfully before I started hearing a stream of pee, I was out of the bathroom.

Yup, interesting first day back.

Hmm..Weather and The Trip

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:05:00 +0000

Well, all week long the weather report has gone between being rainy all day to being part cloud/sun and scattered rain showers. While I've been a little hesitant about this, I'm pretty damn sure it's still going to be the plan for the coast. I have a backup in case the weather IS bad, but I have a feeling I have just enough luck to at least make for a good morning and afternoon. So, we'll have to see how it all goes. Considering what the weather report has been for the past couple of days, to what has actually happened, I'm pretty confident on taking the chances. Now however, to go back to sleep for a little while.

WANTED (possible spoilers)

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:35:00 +0000

So yesterday I saw Wanted in the theater. I still keep wondering where I sit with it. It ultimately feels like it was a good movie, but could have been far better. Angelina Jolie's performance was a bit under her usual, and admittedly, I'm a fan of hers. Morgan Freeman is the bad guy in this movie, and he swears. I haven't seen many movies with him in it just three others; Bruce Almighty, The Shawshank Redemption, and Batman Begins. His character fits him at first, but when it becomes known he's the bad guy, that's when he goes street.

I've also played Assassin's Creed and I felt some idea stealing going on from the game. Mainly, a brotherhood of assassins formed long ago. There were some other smaller things that reminded me of the game as well, but that is the biggest similarity.

The main character Wesley, played by James McAvoy is well done. I enjoyed how he portrayed going from his office job to being offered training for being an assassin. Some of the supporting cast surrounding Wesley was well done as well, some of the scripting however, was not. A big thing appearing in the movie for a joke was, "you're the man" but I haven't heard people really use that for a few years.

I felt it was barely worth watching in the theater. If you haven't seen it yet and want to see a good action movie, my suggestion is to wait for The Dark Knight to come out and see Wanted when it hits DVD and rent it first.

Playing with Photoshop 1

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:43:00 +0000

Well I was playing with some new brushes in Photoshop and came up with this background. I have a 1280x800 resolution so that is what it's set at. Feel free to download it from here.

Scott's World

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:37:00 +0000

My friend Scott Voegtlin has just created a blog here. Good wishes to him and his blogging world.

It can be found here, What's Going On In Scott's World.

Hot Air Balloon Neatness

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Annually in Quechee, VT there is a hot air balloon festival. Appropriately called, "The Quechee Balloon Festival." It's rather enjoyable even if you don't get to ride in a balloon. Great food, good music and entertainment, really interesting vendors, and of course hot air balloons. Pictured above is something I saw for the first time two years ago, and again this past festival over Fathers Day weekend. It's a single seat, with the fuel tank strapped to the back, and the heating element just a foot or so over the occupants head. It seems like it'd be a hell of a way to fly, however you'd have to have a good pair in order to fly it I would think.

The First Post

noreply@blogger.com (JJ The Random) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:30:00 +0000

It's often hard to figure out what to do for a first post. In fact, I created this blog a few days ago, and realized that I did not have a first post idea at the time. After a bit of job hunting, for the girlfriend and a few conversations. I believe I have an idea. However, this post is purely opinion of mine, just the thoughts about the economy around here.

I myself am working for a local DJ, hosting karaoke for him at various events. It's fun, and the pay is good, but the downside is that there just is not enough work right now. I took up the offer in January, knowing that time of year is slow and was hoping that summer would pick up, but it has not. So, in order to try and actually make a living, I have been job hunting. A few hits with phone calls back and a handful of interviews, but largely misses and even those interviews don't land the job.

My girlfriend whose current job is as a Customer Service Manager at Wal-Mart hates her job more and more every day. It came to a halt yesterday when she went in at 9 in the morning and they asked her to come in at 3. So, thinking that this was illegal she did not go in. We even asked various people both of us knew. I was surprised and shocked to learn today, that there is no such law protecting your work schedule, or more specifically the amount of time required before they change your schedule for a day of work. Surprisingly, Wal-Mart did not fire her for this.

We live in an area that's pretty rural with a "city" about 20 minutes driving time from here. Jobs are pretty limited as to what you can do, so your options are schooling until you have your masters (Because anything less than that anymore doesn't cut it.), work until you die, or figure out a business you can start yourself.

In any case, she too has been job hunting, and she's been going places that I have not. This has lead to an interesting discovery. Places that once had great starting pay, can no longer offer the same. The economy is going down hard, and it's hitting so many levels. It's very scary to see what is going to be happening.

My old boss has offered a job back for me, but unless they can offer a better pay and enough hours to make it worth the trip, I'm not sure I'll take the offer. On one hand money is money, on the other gas prices are getting very scary, and when I was working before, I was losing money to gas since I used my vehicle for deliveries.

I really hope things look more positive soon, I'm usually a pretty optimistic person, but for the time being it's getting harder to be so optimistic.