My Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) experiences : Luckily Amazon was wrong about its predicted Nov 3 - 7 arrival. As it shipped from Dallas, it took just 2 days for USPS to get it to Houston. I was fortunate the DVD wasn't damaged as it fell out of the flimsy cardboard box Apple used for it. Trivially simple and painless to install. Put the DVD in, click install, reboot, select English as language, accept the License agreement, and off it went, with nary a problem. When it finished, only a few minor issues. I had to "install" the drivers for my LaserJet 3800n which the Macintosh no longer knew was there, and bootup is slower, likely because of the beta McAfee VirusScan I'm running. Time Machine defaulted to wanting to backup every Macintosh volume it could see, rather than just the boot volume, so after I realized that and adjusted preferences it worked fine, but it is slower than slow. I'll have to try disconnecting from Internet and turning off VirusScan and see if that helps, or I can go back to doing a backup by restoring the Boot disk to another Hard Disk. Disappointing Apple still doesn't provide a HD optimization utility. As for BootCamp, the setup file is dated April 2007, so nothing new there. Selecting "Startup disk" no longer sees my Vista volume, but it can be selected at Bootup. New drivers are provided on the Leopard DVD for XP and Vista, and there I have 2 major issues. The drivers for my NVidia 7300 didn't install and crapped out in both XP and Vista, so it required a side trip to nvidia.com to get their Sept. 2007 drivers which worked fine. Apple a year later still hasn't provided a PC driver for its own external iSight webcam. One review said the Macintosh could now write to PC hard disks, and I did not find that to be the case for NTFS formatted volumes. Ethernet must be working better because any browser now seems to run faster under Leopard than before.

Apple has released OS X 10.5 : I've made a clone of my Macintosh Hard Drive, and checked both drives for "permissions" preparatory to installing Leopard. Amazon says my Leopard shipped, and is due Nov. 3.

Epson biodegradeable inkjet printers: I have a color inkjet printer as it's an excellent poor man's Xerox.

My Epson Stylus CX6400 had a terminally clogged printer head (soaking overnight in either
alcohol or Windex didn't help) so I bought a nice new HP Photosmart C5280 at Office Depot,
as they swapped my still NIB leftover Epson ink cartridges for HP ones. Now I fear it'll be
months till HP has a working OS X 10.5 driver.

No iPhone for me (at the moment) :
I can't put my own ringtones on it.
After the iPhone 1.1.1 update, the phone only works with ringtones bought through the Apple iTunes store or the original Built in Ones.
What if you have a public domain sound file thats not available through iTunes and you'd like to use as a ringtone? You're out of luck at the moment.
Example sounds:
Flint phone (works great on my Sony-Ericsson Walkman phone), now with a 4 Gig Memory Card
Star-Trek Warning sound (Red Alert)

Macintosh AntiVirus ? Apple is about to introduce a new version of OS X, version 10.5,
rumored for later in October 2007. Last update broke the then available major antivirus products. Fearing a repeat, I wasn't anxious to pay to renew my Norton AntiVirus 10.0, given Symantecs' failure to promise me a technology upgrade if needed with 10.5

Luckily McAfee has just released a free beta of its VirusScan, version 8.6; which it promises to be compatible with OS X 10.5. So that is what I now run with my OS X 10.4.10

Add a nice feature to Windows XP: Wouldn't it nice to be able to right click on a folder and have one of the options be "Print Listing of Contents"? Turns out Microsoft didn't include that feature but has instructions for you to add it as an always available option. Just go here.

I lost my Cingular phone:
The other day, I lost my (going on 2 year old) Sony-Ericsson w600i
(a swivel model, that had started to sometimes turn itself off when swivled) I called my cell number, and the person that answered declined to return it "I just bought it" they said.

I went to my local ATT store, and was issued (for free) (after providing the PIN for my cell number, and showing a Drivers License for ID) a new SIM, which of course deactivated the old SIM, and made the lost phone dead and useless. Luckily my account has International Calling deactivated. The new SIM was put in an old Sony T616 which is working fine until I get a new phone. That took all of 2 minutes. Checking my account online no calls seem to have been made with the lost phone.

I had backed up my address book to my Macintosh (in case I get an iPhone), so it took just a couple of more minutes to sync the T616 to my Macintosh and restore my address book.

I called 611 and was able (in exchange for another 2 year committment)
to get a FREE Sony W300i; and its already been shipped from Fort Worth.

The W300i will use the same car charger and USB cable I already have,
and adding a $20 Memory card my new W300i will allow it to hold 4 times as many songs for its "Walkman" features as the W600i had. Only downside is the low resolution camera, 0.3 megapixel), but I always have a Sony W100 - 8 Megapixel camera with me.

Or the W300i might be sold on Ebay and provide about $140 towards an iPhone purchase.

Followup: 9/24 - I could be getting my new phone delivered today if AT&T had sent it UPS or FedEx ground. 1 day from Forth Worth to Houston. NOPE - They sent it (at Extra Cost) 2 Day FedEx, so it had to be shipped by FedEx to Memphis first.

Make your Firefox even better: Two great additions to Firefox -

1. Adblock Plus Blocks banner ads and pop-ins etc Makes browsing fast again.

2. IE Tab - Run Internet Explorer web pages inside Firefox.

Check out other possibilities to enhance Firefox here. Also make sure
you're running the latest Firefox. As of today, it's 2.0.0.6

Many ways to save Money on a iPhone:

1. The $200 Apple Price drop

2. Save another $100 by buying a 4 Gig Model

3. Save $50 by buying a refurb.

4. Save $50 by using the Telesales code.

5. Save ~$150 or more by getting your upgrade phone after 18 months in
contract, and then reselling NIB on eBay.

6. Save 10% with a new AT&T credit card.

7. Save $50 to $100 by selling your old phone on Ebay.

Bell South not integrated/merged into AT&T yet ! : Despite years of SPAM from AT&T about their referral program, now that I have referred a customer (my cousin in Florida)
who is switching from MCI to AT&T (so she may get dsl); I find I don't get a referral credit or payment, because Bell South territory doesn't count.

I told my cousin that despite what she has been told, she's not getting AT&T service, because Bell
South isn't merged yet. Indeed the AT&T web pages revert to Bell South web pages after she enters her Florida phone number, and she'd get a bellsouth.net email address.

Which company is nicer to its employees?

Apple employees get a FREE iphone. Story here.

AT&T employees can get 10% off an iPhone. Story here.

An excellent recommendation for OS X on the Macintosh: The Houston Chronicle's technology writer wrote an article with all the things he'd recommend you do to make Microsft Windows Vista usable. Read it all and it could be easy to conclude Vista should be avoided.
Story here.

Intuit makes it near impossible to switch from Money: Quicken no longer will import a QIF file for a checking account or a Credit card account, which is how Money still exports data (account by account), and so there's no easy way to move from Money to Quicken. Here are the instructions Quicken gives you:

Convert Your Microsoft Money Data File

The Data Converter converts your data from Microsoft® Money 2003 or later for use in Quicken for Windows version 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. It may also work with other versions of Money. If your version of Money can copy .XML files to your desktop, then the Data Converter will likely convert your data.

To convert your data, you'll create an Account transactions report in Microsoft Money for your standard transactions and an Investment transactions report for your investment transactions. Next you'll import the reports into Quicken and add some information that will help you take advantage of several Quicken features.

Step 1: Download and Install the Data Converter

1. Download the Microsoft Money to Quicken data converter.
2. Double-click the downloaded file and follow the on-screen prompts to install the data converter.

Step 2: Start Converting

1. Be sure Quicken 2004 or later and Microsoft Money 2003 or later are both installed on the same computer as the Data Converter.
2. Click the Launch MS Money button.

Step 3: Create an Account Transactions Report

1. Create an account transaction report using the procedure that applies to your version of Microsoft Money.

Microsoft Money 2003 or 2004

1. Select Reports menu > Reports Gallery.
2. In the Pick a report or chart list, select Account Transactions.
3. Click the Go to Report/Chart button.

Microsoft Money 2005 or later

1. Click the Reports tab.
2. In the Income and expenses area, select Account transactions. If the Account transactions report is not in the list, display the advanced reports by selecting Change report settings in the Other tasks list. Select Switch from Essential Reports to Advanced Reports and click Use Advanced Reports to display the Account transaction option.

2. In the Common tasks list, select Customize. If the Reset button is not available, proceed to step 3. Otherwise, click Reset, click Yes if a confirmation message appears, and select Customize again.
3. In the Rows & Columns tab, in the Include fields area, select the Memo, Account, Cleared status, and Category options.
4. In the Subtotal by field, select Accounts.
5. Select the Show splits check box, and then click OK.
6. In the Accounts field, select All Accounts.
7. In the Date range field, select All dates.
8. Select Send to menu > Desktop. This step may take some time, depending on the size of your data file.
9. Click OK when the transfer is complete.

Step 4: Create an Investment Transactions Report

Note: Complete this section only if you have investment transactions to convert.

1. Create an investment transactions report using the procedure that applies to your version of Microsoft Money.

Microsoft Money 2003 or 2004

1. Select Reports menu > Reports Gallery.
2. Click Investments.
3. In the Pick a report or chart list, select Investment Transactions.
4. Click the Go to Report/Chart button.

Microsoft Money 2005 or later

1. Click the Reports tab.
2. In the Investment area, select Investment transactions. If the Investment area doesn't show, display the advanced reports by selecting Change report settingsOther tasks list. Select Switch from Essential Reports to Advanced Reports and click Use Advanced Reports to display the Investment transactions option. in the

2. In the Common tasks list, select Customize. If the Reset button is not available, proceed to step 3. Otherwise, click Reset, click Yes if a confirmation message appears, and select Customize again.
3. Click the Rows & Columns tab, and in the Include fields area, select the Memo, Account, Transfer account, Cleared status, and Category options.
4. In the Group by field, select Investment Types and click OK.
5. In the Accounts field, select All Accounts.
6. In the Date range field, select All dates.
7. Select Send to menu > Desktop. This step may take some time, depending on the size of your data file.
8. Click OK when the transfer is complete.

Step 5: Finish Converting

1. Close Microsoft Money.
2. In the Data Converter dialog, click the Import into Quicken button. Quicken starts when the import is complete.
3. Review your transactions for accuracy.
4. Reconcile your converted data before adding new data (the Data Converter does not retain the reconciliation state of your accounts). For more information, in the Quicken Help menu, select Contents or Quicken Help, click the Index tab, and enter reconciling, accounts.
5. See the Next Steps section for more helpful tips and information.

Next Steps

For security reasons, Intuit recommends that you:

1. Delete the Microsoft Money reports from your desktop by right-clicking the Microsoft Money reports on your desktop and selecting Delete.
2. Empty your recycle bin by double-clicking the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and selecting File > Empty Recycle Bin.
3. Add a file password to your data file by selecting File > Passwords > File, and following the on-screen instructions. Click the Help button for additional assistance.

The Data Converter groups asset and liability accounts with cash flow accounts in the Cash Flow Center. To track these accounts in the Property & Debt Center:

1. Click the account in the Account Bar list on the left to open the account.
2. Click the Overview tab and click the Edit Account Details button.
3. Select Property & Debt: Asset or Property & Debt: Liability in the Account Location list, and click OK.

If you have converted investment data and would like to download current investment quotes needed for accurate current totals, you can manually update the security symbols and run One Step Update.

To update a security symbol:

1. Select Investing > Security List.
2. Select the security you want.
3. Click Edit and enter the symbol in the Symbol field.
4. Click OK.

To run One Step Update:

1. Be sure that your copy of Quicken is registered to run One Step Update.
2. Select Online > One Step Update.
3. Select the Download quotes, asset classes, headlines and alerts option, and click the Update Now button.

The Data Converter does not convert items such as unexercised employee stock option grants (ESOGs), memorized transactions, online account activation information, budgets, classes, loan accounts, planner data, or exchange-traded options. For information about how to add missing information to Quicken manually, see the Read Me file. You can find this file in the Data Converter installation folder or by clicking the Read me.txt file in the Data Converter dialog box.

Note: Your Quicken data file contains the cost basis and price values for the bonds you tracked in Microsoft Money. However, Quicken tracks bonds differently from Microsoft Money. Quicken adjusts the number of shares in the Edit Shares Bought dialog box to reflect the number of bonds you own and the number of shares in the Quicken Transaction List to reflect correct total share information.

Time to switch from Money to Quicken While running my Microsoft Money 2007 today it offers me a discount and a rebate on Money 2008. So I go to the website (Digital River) and download it. This year for the first time Money requires authorization with an arcane long serial number. One problem. Digital River sent me a number in 5 character segments, and the software only accepts 4 character segments. I call Microsoft, who relucantly gives me Digital River's phone number. DR says, oh thats a known problem, we'll email you a new number. They do, but its also in 5 character segments and won't work. Further calls to Microsoft and Digital River provide no help. Finally got a US agent, but he is also clueless, and wants me to pay for technical support.

Now I'm trying to get a refund, and if I have to, I'll get a chargeback from my credit card.

Luckily I backed up my 2007 MS Money database to a USB Flash Drive before I installed 2008. MS Money converts any files it finds, so you cant go back, a trick they've used for many years now.

My visit to Epcot : Lots to like, lots to dislike. The admission price is just flat outrageous ($75 for one day visit). The "SOARIN'" ride however, is almost worth that price. The technology part of Epcot, has in large part been watered down for 10 year olds. The International Countries part is interesting, seemed just like the 1984 New Orleans Worlds Fair to me. A few customer unfriendly things. The cafeteria in LANDS doesn't have enough seating at lunchtime. And the Environmental rides/exhibits adjacent to the cafeteria are at odds with the disposable plastic plates and flatware and the paper cups. It was almost a 3 hour drive each way from the Miami suburb where I was staying, which (combined with high admission price) makes one want to stay a full 12 hours, despite how exhausted that makes one. Strangely the parking lot had no zone mappings (i.e. South D3) like you'd find in an airport parking facility to make it easy to find your car at end of day. The large pretty maps on the grounds always lacked a "You are Here" designation, sometimes making finding your way not as easy as it could have been. There were ample restroom facilities. Even though we weren't at Magic Kingdom, there were sufficient opportunites and places for parents to photograph their child with Beauty and the Beast or Pluto, or just about any of the Disney characters, and of course myriad kiosks to buy Mickey ears.

I try to be "GREEN": Flashlights with rechargeable batteries I owned were demonstrating seriously diminished performance (they had a right to, they were ~10 years old). I opened one up to see what sort of battery it had in it, and was pleased to find, that instead of an impossible to replace proprietary battery, it was powered by 4 "AA" batteries. I went to a local Walmart where for a reasonable price, they had Kodak brand batteries, which I put in the flashlight, and the flashlight is now better than new. Similar flashlight here.
Next, what does one do with old NiCad rechargeable batteries? AT&Ts' web site says they will accept them as part of their recycling program. One minor glitch. My local company owned store rudely refused to accept said batteries.
I just sent an email to the Store manager, and everyone up the chain of command at AT&T reporting that incident. I made sure to include Steve Jobs, the local media, and Greenpeace, so they'll know about ATTs' efforts at being "GREEN".

IPhone and WiFi networks: Last week you may have read stories claiming the iPhone was causing problems for Duke University's WiFi Network. Duke after checking it all out found the real cause! Cisco !

Story here.

Vacation in Miami and Bahamas I'm about to head off to some nice beaches, and for a moment I thought I saw the Continental Airlines Deathstar emblem on the Tail of this plane on the beach.




Actual plane story here:

More on U-Verse : Seems like its unanimous. No one likes U-Verse, the TV service over phone lines from AT&T. Local newspaper technology columnist pans it here. He failed to mention it's capped at 6.0 mbps for dsl, despite using a 100 mbps pipe. Also failed to mention that Comcast TiVo hasn't seen the light of day yet. Also failed to mention that 6.0 mbps dsl is widely available on regular phone lines now, it's called dsl Elite, and I can vouch for it, I have it, it works and its great and it's cheaper than Cable.
Last person I knew who canceled their U-Verse, then found out it took them a week to get the regular dsl back up and running, and further their U-Verse installer had bollixed up ( sabotaged?) their Dish satellite wiring in their attic, requiring an Echostar service call.

iPhone Sales - First Weekend

Late Saturday I said Apple's iPhone sales would blow past 300,000 Sunday.

I was wrong.

The Los Angeles Times says the correct Final Number
for the three day weekend is:

525,000

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-iphone2jul02,1,4774908.story?ctrack=1&cset=true


By Sunday every California Apple store was sold out of iPhones ! ! !


AT&T didnt remember the lessons of when Porting started 3 years ago, and some Activations got delayed over porting issues.

If you live on Dixie Farm Road, but Verizon goes to PORT you and
you told the computer you live on Dixie Farm Rd, it wont match !!!

And with AT&T stripping all discounts from Account and refusing to
allow iphones on Business Accounts, I wonder if the real reason is:
Is Apple getting 10% of all Service revenue from iPhones rebated?
And since there is no discount for signing up for 2 years, maybe the $150
discount one might have traditionally got is going to Apple.


LATE NEWS July 2 : WooHoo - AT&T will give me free access to its WiFi hot spots since
I have High Speed dsl from AT&T. Story here. Almost reason enough to get iPhone.

Followup July 4 : all Texas Apple stores are now sold out of iPhones. By now
we learn most folks having trouble activating their iPhone, it's due to one cause -
USER ERROR. Some want to activate on a business account - which AT&T isn't allowing and told everyone that. Others submit data that won't allow a credit check, or insufficient or incorrect information to Port a phone number from a different cellular carrier. Turns out it's not AT&T's fault in most cases in the small minority of cases where activation doesn't take only a few minutes.