Random thoughts on Life, Music, and Beer.

Monaco on Flickr and Google Maps

Thursday, August 30, 2007 - 10:08 AM

Continuing with my Google Maps/Flickr integration project, i’ve added photos from the second leg of Carrie and my honeymoon in Monaco.

There’s a big cluster of photos in the Japanese garden, so I suggest clicking on the larger map and zooming in to see them all.

Nice on Flickr & Google Maps

Sunday, August 26, 2007 - 04:14 PM

Well, I haven’t updated much since I talked about finally posing on Flickr - I’ve been a little busy.  First, I’ve added to the Flickr page, this time a glimpse of Carrie and my honeymoon in France, a few shots around the hotel where we stayed in Nice.

But, wait!  I’ve also been busy playing with Google maps, so not only do you have the photos on Flickr, but you can see exactly where these shots were taken:

Slowly Joining the 21st Century

Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 12:01 PM

George Krueger, now on Flickr.

In many, many ways, I’m way above the curve when it comes to the “interweb”.  I was online before there was such a thing as http://www - who here remembers dialing into a local BBS to access your email and usenet?

But on the modern web (I love how the young-uns, the “blogosphere”, and the ever clue-less media call it Web 2.0 - to some of us it’s more like Web 6.0), it’s taken me a while to adapt.  It took me forever to convert the old web page (which was hand written in straight HTML to the very end) to a content management “blog” format.  (It’s funny how my old site was like a blog in format way before there was such a thing - just, like I said, done by hand in HTML).

But I’m slowly progressing, I’ve finally got my Flickr account set up!  I do plan on eventually getting more up there besides Anubis, but for the time being, you’ll all just have to deal with looking at the most handsome cat in the world.

Network Problems

Monday, July 23, 2007 - 09:08 PM

It’s really amazing that whenever I’m running my bit torrent client (Transmission), my Earthlink DSL keeps dropping it’s connection.  I don’t seem to have this problem any other time, except when I’m running torrents.

Is Earthlink purposely doing this to discourage torrent users?  I know there are a lot of people out there who download copyrighted material using file sharing applications, and maybe Earthlink is trying to cover their asses when the RIAA or MPAA comes calling (or, more likely, their lawyers), but this is just ridiculous (and highly annoying).

The thing is, there are legitimate uses for any file sharing program, including bit torrent.  I don’t use it for downloading copyrighted material.  I only download live music, shared legally, by bands that allow people to tape and trade their shows.  (Yes, there are a lot of bands that allow this, not just the jam bands - check here if you’re unaware of this.)

Some open source software uses bit torrent as a distribution method.  These are just a couple of examples of legitimate uses of bit torrent (and other file sharing systems).

So why does Earthlink feel the need to kill my DSL connection when they notice I’ve got torrents running?  This isn’t something I can call up their tech support and say “My DSL goes out only when I’m downloading files via bit torrent.” “Unplug your DSL modem and shutdown your computer, then wait 30 seconds and reboot and plug your modem back in.” “Um, no.... This only happens when I’m downloading torrents.  I reset my modem, like, every five minutes.” “Sir, go to System Settings and click on Network...” “Arrrrggg!” CLICK!

I can’t be the only person this is happening to.  Who can I complain to about this?  I can’t call Earthlink, their tech support is useless, and their customer service is, too (both outsourced, by the way - regular readers will know my feelings on this).

Signs of aging

Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 12:01 PM

We all occasionally have those moments when something stirs something inside of us, and we realize that we’re getting older, and that life is just racing along.  I had one of those moments today.

What sparked it, you ask?

Today, on WXRT, the Saturday Morning Flashback feature was 1995, the year after I graduated from college.

Saturday Morning Flashback was for the year after I graduated college.

Yikes.