:: anne in the attic ::

Create Your Own Countdown

:: Sunday, September 30, 2007 ::

So I was browsing Dell's website today, trolling for laptops, as I'm sort of in the market for one. I was checking out their new Vostro, and was configuring one with my specs to see if the power I needed for film editing could come in under my budget. [Very close, and you can still get the Vostro with the XP OS, which is important.] When I hit tech support, which has reached scandalous proportions in the pay-for-services commodities, I laughed out loud when I read the "Dell Recommended" level of tech support. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Okay, so, A: WTF? The "Gold" level of support is "North American-based"...?!! So that means all you dumb slobs who cheap out at the silver level [or less] get to talk to some bastard in India who barely speaks English and just wants to hang up on you? No, get the "Gold" support so you can talk to some bastard in North America who barely speaks English and just wants to steal your bandwidth! Hilarious. Oh yeah, and "fast access to advanced technicians," as opposed to what? The snail-paced access to moronic technicians we're used to? What a deal!

And [in the tradition of the Car Talk guys], 2: When did initial [say, 30-days initial set-up and basic troubleshooting] support become an extra? Dell really has hit rock-bottom in the service department. I remember talking to the guy who was tricking out my specs for the studio XPS desktop [just in under $3,000]-- he didn't seem to give a shit, assumed I knew nothing about what I wanted my computer for, and was quite rude about it. Oh, and he got it wrong, overcharged me... long story, another day, but in the end I had to replace a component and I never got my $250 rebate, either. Evil advertising. But I have my machine, and although it has a ghost or two, it functions pretty much spot-on, considering how much I ask of it. But back to support. I didn't get any. I called twice [and after navigating the auto-menus and asking a couple of config questions, got put on hold for 20 minutes or so each time, after the tech says in that deadpan thousand-yard voice that really is rhetorical anyway-- "Can I put you on hold" and before you can answer "ye--" there's music piping into your ear], went online [where they send you an automated email response from a menu of things that are close-but-no-cigar], and finally rendered myself enough of a solution to live with what I had going on or fix it later through research. I guess that's what they hope for anyway-- somebody who is resourceful enough not to bug them about anything. They ship you a hunk of metal and plastic, they get your money, and it's sayonara, sister.

So this truth in advertising made me laugh sardonically and I had to share the irony. It's just been that kind of a week. I've been laying low, getting a lot of small projects done. I miss Demonoid for now, but I have enough to do without them as a temptation, and I'm sure they'll be back soon [here's hoping]. Dad and his wife are headed up from California for a visit the end of this week, and I've done a lot of tidying [moving piles, filing records, categorizing CDs & DVDs,... folding laundry!!]. Work is really picking up-- October is one of our heaviest times. And the rain is back-- the 5-day forecast says all week. Good times.

:: Anne 5:25 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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Took the DSL speed test here, and got these results:



Not bad; Qwest advertised 1.5 Mbps down, so I'm about half a meg short on that one. The first test was worse-- about 786Kbps. Lately I have suspected that someone was stealing my bandwidth, as I don't have it locked. I have a wireless router near the edge of my house on the street side. So I could have made a "hot zone" either for people in the hostel two doors down who happen to find it, or for the neighbors who have not just found it, but are using it regularly. I don't know categorically, but I know it's not my firewall or other settings on my pc.

I really want a new laptop, but can only afford a middle-of-the-road one right now. Of course, the one I want is a decked out speedmonster, but what can I say? The studio pc has me spoiled. All I really want is to be mobile and still have the power to edit film and perhaps even record live music. I'd like to spend more of the winter in the loft where it's warm instead of the cold, cold studio [by choice-- I don't heat it, but it gets enough from the rest of the house]. I have a lot of editing to do this winter, as well as transfers, which would keep me running back and forth from the loft to the studio. Ah, well, if it's supposed to be, then it'll work out.

*****ADDENDUM Wednesday, Oct 3rd:
Taking the DSL speed test at different times of day yield varying results, which should not be the case, if no one is piggybacking my connection.
Last night:


And today:

:: Anne 8:03 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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R.I.P. Demonoid 24 September 2007.
We'll miss you, get well soon!

:: Anne 11:05 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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First, click on the image to enlarge it. Pick a black dot and stare at it, then jump from one to another....

:: Anne 12:22 AM [smartass remarks] ::
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Just posting a signature I made so that I can link to it in another forum....

:: Anne 11:56 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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I'm officially on vacation.

So I spent the evening in the studio doing a little design work just for fun. I happened to photograph a burned out house this afternoon~ and it permeated my thoughts enough to become the next EP cover idea. I've got a title song in the works for it, and I'd include another 4 songs or so. It's a very strange idea, I know.

I could easily do a short run through Disc Makers, but first I need to check out mastering software [for all you non-techies, that's different from recording software in that it deals with normalizing the volume levels of all of the songs on a CD so that they're somewhat homogeneous]. I have a Sony mastering demo plug-in that says it works with Sonar [a Cakewalk prog], but I'm not sure if it will work with Home Rec XL. It will take time I don't have right now to find out....

This weekend is the Eugene Celebration, and I'm staffing a booth for a couple of hours tomorrow, and then Monday I'm headed to Corvallis to have morning coffee with mom and then hang out with an old friend ~ another one of my Virgo buddies ~ for the day. This is our annual birthday hang-out, which we usually seem to manage, being that our birthdays are a week apart [well, a week and a year]. Mine is the 12th and I rather like the feel of 42. Another friend of mine says, "If you like your forties, just wait ~ you're gonna LOVE your fifties!" Shit, I hope I make it.

:: Anne 12:56 AM [smartass remarks] ::
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Made the perfect breakfast this morning, thought I'd share it with everyone:
This morning was just what I needed. Stayed in bed until nine, roused gently by my two dependents, along with the warm, diffused light from the skylight above the bed, soft fresh white linens and the sound of a distant train. Then, I had some wonderful french press Cafe Mam organic French Roast while I did a couple of quick chores for 20 minutes or so, while having a first listen to Ben Harper's new album, Lifeline. After that album, I put on Ray LaMontagne's Till the Sun Turns Black while making vanilla cinnamon pancakes and more coffee. The pancakes turned out perfectly, thanks to random happenstance, and my beloved cast iron skillet, but this particular one was the piece de la resistance. It was so beautiful, in fact, that I couldn't bear to put anything on it.

Yesterday was barbecue day, it seemed, and it was pretty hot out there. Fortunately, I was able to slake my thirst with some very nice (and fun) folks at the end of the day with some Sheaf Stout and excellent food. Hm, being a bit toasted may have had something to do with how late I slept in.

The week after next is my third vacation week of the year, and I have some visits planned, as well as the annual camping jaunt into nearby woods. Found out last week [how could I forget?] that I had actually bid on [and RECEIVED] the week in December I'd been wanting, so I can now relax about it. Plans are already in the works for that week, too.

Choir has started up again after a year's sabbatical, and it feels like everyone is energized and ready for what's next. I have finally finished mastering the concert DVD from two years ago, and am now setting up for duplication [for which I may use a service, as my studio's not really set up for duplication and it takes mongo time]~ I just want to get it done and done right, so I can distribute it, satisfy everyone who's been waiting, and move on to the big doc project and focus all of my energy on that.

Fall really is in the air. I love that feeling.

:: Anne 12:17 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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