A new blog

Ok, been busy elsewhere.  But wanted to drop a shameless plug here for my own hosted WordPress blog.  It really is cool.  Well, the blog not so, but the software has been a blast to configure, use, tweak, and in general just play.  Have to hand it to the creator!

If you’re bored, and looking to stumble through some more random thoughts and ramblings, check out “Jim’s New World” at http://www.theczechs.net/blog/

Hope to see you there and eedback is appreciated.  It’s a bit sparse, and have more plans to grow.  I’d really like to explore more with posting photos, etc., but it all takes time.  Someday…

Bigfoot’s got the Stink Foot

I found a “review” site when I did a Google search for “Bigfoot mail spam review”. I’ve had problems for years, and guess I am not the only one. Bigfoot has, finally(!), outlived it’s usefulness. I posted the original review on the xomreviews.com site. I wanted to get the word out further… (Plus I edited some typos and grammar mistakes in the original piece…)

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Bigfoot’s got the Stink Foot

I stumbled upon this site after many, many months of issues with Bigfoot. I thought, “hey, maybe it’s not just me…” Sure enough, many other reviews here mirror my experience and sentiment.

I’ve subscribed to Bigfoot premium for many years. I had decent service at first, that has deteriorated over the years. For more than a year now, I’ve continued to pay the premium subscription fees (it auto-renews) and then start complaining.

My biggest issue is the almost 10:1 spam to “good” email ratio. I’ve continued to tune, check settings, attempting to filter and blacklist, all to seeming no avail. I’ve complained in the past, and over almost two years ago started charting the spam that gets through, versus the ones that are trapped. The statistics are amazing!

I resorted to using SpamAssassin and SpamSieve to filter the “junk” that gets through Bigfoot’s filters. I started distributing Bigfoot mail to Gmail and Hotmail. Gmail catches 100% (with no false positives in several months of use). Even my Hotmail account, which collects it’s own goodly portion of spam itself, and has caught the spam that is forwarded from Bigfoot. If those guys can do it with such success, why can’t Bigfoot make even a half-hearted attempt at improving their filtering, just using free open source tools?!?!

Makes me think one of Bigfoot’s side businesses is the “processing” of spam, and selling addresses to the spammers…

I guess with this review, I have *finally* talked myself in to canceling the account and ending the drain of money to support this service.

Appreciate some of the suggestions of others I have seen here, such as pobox.com, etc.

Good luck, from a long since satisfied Bigfoot customer. RIP…

Someone asked me…

About Sarah Palin, and since I am from Alaska… what I thought about her as the Vice President.

Here was my reply…

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Well, frankly, I haven’t made up my mind. I like her, as the Governor. She is a “real person” but has the where-with-all to do the job. Looks aren’t everything…

It is interesting to see the skew from the media in the L48. Sometimes it hits, but more often, it isn’t the same as what you see here. Their perspective on her stance, compared to what we have seen here isn’t always correct.

Ok, is she qualified…? I haven’t made up my mind quite yet.

I look at other “governors” who “made it” big time. For better or worse, Spiro Agnew; a VP from MD. Look at Bill Clinton… Huh, he made it all the way to President, and he was “just” a governor.

We fool ourselves if we think any one person in those positions control all or make all the decisions. Yes, they are held responsible, and hopefully have input in the words that come out of their mouth. But I would hope they have learned advisors. Those folks, just like the speech writers, are really in tune. It’s for the “person in charge” to sift through all that input and make something of it.

Anyway, back to the question. My take…

Truthfully, I think she can do it. I don’t always agree with her stance on some subjects. She’s done us “right”, with the “extra” dividend we are getting. Or, with her push to suspend the gasoline tax ($0.08/gal) for a year. Our gas is way out of line with the L48. Oil has dropped over 27% from it’s high. Our (in AK) gasoline has dropped only 4%. With the tax break, 6%. That is criminal. (And I work in the BP building, related to the O&G industry…)

So, can she do it? Yes, I really do think she can. She does bring a fresh perspective. Does she know all, of course not, far from it. But I really do think she can bring the outsider, the hockey mom, to the table and make a change.

In any event, as I have told my parents… we are in for a historic election no matter which way it is decided. I am glad to be here for that…

So, what do you think?

Lots to do…

And, of course, not enough time.  But what’s new about those facts?

The trip is getting closer.  At the end of this week, as a matter of fact.  Getting excited about going, but not about the 11.5 to 12 hour plane ride.

Still have a lot to prepare.  Today is laundry day, and I was planning on cutting the grass, too.  But the weather just doesn’t want to cooperate.

I’ve made a mental list of the things I want to take; not detailed, but in general.  I guess I should write up a “real” list.  I’m not taking much, but it’s all those little things that I don’t want to forget.  It’s all the “accessories” to the electronics. 

I still need to ‘configure’ my camera bag.  I know what lenses, flash, gadgets and gizmos, I’m going to take.  Still undecided on the 300mm f/2.8.  Without a tripod, that is just a lot of dead weight to lug around.  I think the 80-200 f/2.8, with the 1.4x, will work fine for the “long shots.”  Will take the 18-200 and the 12-24 zooms.  The 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye, as well as the SB-800 will make the trip as well.  I figure, with all the space left over in the carry-on, I’ll be able to throw in all the batteries and other necessities.

Not getting anything important done sitting here, so better get back to work.

Planning the trip…

Ok, so I leave in a couple of weeks.  This is like a big adventure, but I’m not going into the wilderness.  No, I’m going home to visit my family and see the old sights.

But in this day and age, I live, eat, breathe, and even sleep with technology.  I am a slave to it.  So I started looking at batteries, solar chargers, and all sorts of things to “survive” away from home for two weeks.  :))

I have a “new” camera case from Craigslist.  Brand new, and made for carry-on.  It’s the ThinkTankPhoto (is that all one word???) Airport Acceleration bag.  I got a screamin’ deal from the guy, who’s wife got it in a promotion at the camera store here in town where she works.  This way, I will travel much like I did when coming to Alaska on a vacation way back in the early 90′s; travel with “real” camera gear, not just the good ol’ point-and-shoot.

I still have to partition the bag, and figure out what I am going to take with me.  The Nikon D300, and not the D2H.  (Sorry, trusty Mr. D2H.)  Of course the 18-200mm zoom, the 12-24mm zoom, 80-200mm f/2.8, and the 10mm f/2.8 fisheye.  The dilemma is the 300mm f/2.8.  Sure it will fit fine in the bag, but there is the challenge of a mono-pod or the Gitzo.  I don’t think I want to (comfortably) haul one or the other of those.  I would only need it with the 300, and how often would I really use it.  I’ll take the 1.4x teleconverter, and maybe even the TC-201. Ok, thinking out loud, maybe I am talking myself out of dragging the 300 along.

Then there is the laptop situation.  Of course, I’m a Mac guy.  I still have my 12″ PowerBook, which is great to travel.  But I really use this 15″ MacbookPro these days; actually everyday.  I have Windows (XP and Vista), as well as Ubuntu Linux on an external Firewire drive, that I can access via VMware.  

The question is, do I drag along my “work” Dell D420?  I can access my email via the web client, or through XP and Outlook 2007 on the VMware install.  I can back up all my document files to a portable drive.  But the big thing is the email archive (personal folders) on my Dell.  What if someone needed a file I had already archived? And, to clean up my server mailbox, I archive almost everything beyond a few weeks.  Ok, I am talking myself into dragging the 3.5 pound Dell along.  :((

Batteries (for everything), compact flash, SD, adapters, chargers, portable drives, and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Good thing I don’t leave tomorrow.  Oh, wait, I have to pack some clothes, too.  

IOGEAR – GearJuice™

IOGEAR – GMP1001W6A – GearJuice™

Well, I received nice surprise today.  My GearJuice arrived from PC Universe (via Amazon) no thanks to UPS.  It would have been here on Friday, but there was a problem with the address which wasn’t resolved until too late.

Anyway, I was still smarting over the iceTECH Solar device that wouldn’t charge the iPhone, various iPods, etc.  I don’t really have much need for something to keep my BT headset alive; especially if the device is “dead.”

So I opened the GearJuice and was surprised by the size.  Nice compact packaging, lots of tips for various devices, USB AC charging adapter, and a little faux velvet travel pouch for all the goodies.

Of course, the first thing I did (even with the almost reported dead status of the battery) I plugged my 3G into the device via a male-female USB adapter.  I used a standard iPod / iPhone sync  cord.  It was nice to hear the charging tone, and the external battery was recognized and even showed it was charging the phone.  

I wondered the purpose of this included USB adapter.  Hmmm…?  So, you guessed it, I plugged the USB sync cord in directly to the battery pack.  Huh, imagine that!  Yes, you guessed it again, the iPhone did not recognize the battery pack as a charging source.

I quickly retrieved the iceTECH Solar and used the “magic” USB male-female adapter with it.  Again, with the same sync cord, I plugged in the iPhone.  Sure enough, it recognized the iceTECH solar charger / battery pack.  Plugged the other devices (that didn’t work yesterday) in via the adapter.  Amazing, they all worked!

I went back to review the included adapters and the manual for the iceTECH.  No “magic” adapter, and not mention of anything like this accessory.  If they would include that in the package, life would be good for all.

Now, I need to contact IOGEAR and see if they sell those little “magic” adapters.  :)

More to follow…

For more info go to:

IOGEAR – GMP1001W6A – GearJuice™ – Mobile Pocket Power Portable Battery for Mobile Devices.

Disappointed…

I was looking for a portable, solar charged battery backup for my iPhone 3G. While the specs for the iceTECH Solar i9005 looked enticing, I found that it just doesn’t live up to it’s claim. I guess 99% of all cell phones doesn’t include the iPhone 3G. (I haven’t checked my original iPhone, so have to withhold those comments until I have a chance to try it out.) 

At best, it seemed it could only maintain a charge within a couple of percent on two different iPod Touches, but didn’t appear to be recognized when they were plugged in to the device. The iPhone did not recognize the iceTech as a charging source, and the battery was observed to loose its charge while powered on. None of the three devices showed any increase in battery capacity when they were powered off and left connected to the charger overnight. 

I did try a Motorola Q and Razr. Both did recharge from the device’s battery source. The iceTech also worked fine with an original 4GB iPod nano, 6GB iPod Mini, 80GB iPod Video (5G). The old 30GB 3G iPod, nor the newest 160GB Classic would recognize the iceTech when they were plugged in to its USB charging port. 

The strangest thing I experienced was the 60GB iPod Photo. That device was plugged in for several hours and actually discharged considerably during the time it was connected to the iceTech. It showed it was charging, but lost almost half the capacity of the battery in the time it was connected. I should note this iPod is not defective and charges as expected with an AC adapter or when plugged in to a USB port on a Mac. 

There is an LED light that can be used as an emergency flashlight, but a “real” flashlight does a better job and is less cumbersome.  I guess you could always use it to find your flashlight when the lights suddenly go out.

The fit and finish on the device is nice, but feels a bit fragile. I don’t know how much abuse it would take throwing it in and out of backpack or briefcase; some caution is probably warranted. While the charging tips don’t give a feeling of a secure fit into the included USB cable, there is a broad selection so you should be able to adapt to a wide variety of portable electronics. 

Overall, when it works, it seems to work well. But for me, and my intended purpose, it fell short of expectations. If you are looking for a charger for “99% of cell phones” and some iPods / MP3 players with the caveats above it would be a good choice for the price.

Another day…

Another day, another attempt at a blog.  One of these days, I’ll figure it out.  I used to attempt to post once a day on the “original” Spymac.  That was fun; that was before the Frog (or whatever it was) came to town.  At first there was promise, then there was more crap than you could humanly handle.  It was all in the name of MONEY!

Oh well, I played along for a while, but it wasn’t the community, nor the home I had so loved.  Seems like almost everyone I knew drifted away.  Every once in a while you run across them.  A few on Flickr, a few on Facebook.  But scattered to the four winds, and the ether.

I don’t know what may become of this blog.  I tried a few others, but hardly post anything anymore.  Twitter is about the closest I come to blogging these days.  Your life in 140 characters.  That’s usually more than enough.  :P