Tech|Gnosis

I am not impressed!

For the longest time, i was a happy customer of Cogeco cable internet. i would go as far as recommending it, not for its blazing speeds or low prices (neither of which are true) but for the pretty good dependability and stability it has proven to be capable of in the last year.

until… i tried updating to the latest version of the ’security services’ package they’ve been pushing. all along i’ve been satisfied with their branded antivirus/firewall product, never having any issues for the entire time (no viruses, easy to configure firewall, etc), so i was hesitant about following through with the upgrade.. it wasn’t broken, didn’t need fixing. those nagging reminders finally got to me and i allowed the upgrade to start.

first, my laptop - somehow the upgrade did not finish completely and i had to uninstall completely. after a re-install it wouldn’t validate my installation - could not find a connection. it said i had 7 days to sort it out. odd, everything else works just fine.. no connection problems whatsoever. it ended up on the back burner for now.

then i decided to update my desktop/gaming machine. earlier that day the utility company had been around installing ’smart meters’ in our neighbourhood which caused my computer to shut off abruptly, causing all kinds of problems. as i rebooted, i thought i may as well update the Cogeco security suite.. after the install i got that familiar ‘no connection found’ validation message. EXCEPT.. nothing worked, no connection, no network. i couldn’t even troubleshoot my router because i couldn’t connect.

AT LEAST my ubuntu linux partition on the same machine works flawlessly so its not an equipment problem.. which now leads me to believe COGECO SECURITY SERVICES works by effectively borking your (Windows) internet connection totally and completely.

::UPDATE::

‘netsh winsock reset‘ followed by a reboot was the fix.

i haven’t had much to add here recently.. i completely blame it on facebook status updates.  being concise has a certain appeal.

nathalie got to see her birthday announcement (and photo) on the morning news, which was pretty exciting for her.  she definitely had an interesting reaction..  excitement tempered by shyness.   i’m looking forward to her birthday parties.. one is tonight, for family and friends of ours..  and the next one coming up is for her friends, and we’ve got Turkey Rhubarb (children’s musicians) coming to perform.

at long last, the 8BitLibrarian has succumbed to peer pressure and has joined the ranks of.. well, the rest of society. Bowing to repeated solicitations of “what do you REALLY do?” and “Gaming Librarian? For real? What IS that??” ..our friend 8BitLibrarian is now POOPing his opinions for us to add to our RSS feeds. hm. not sure if i want POOP in my feed!

apparently he defines the acronym on his blog, however i don’t remember exactly.. it might be “pre-owned office products” or “permanently out of print”

just kiddin’. welcome to the world o’ blog, guy

in time with a series of recent updates to google mail here’s a quick tip:

If you’re a user of google mail, Canadian, and loyal to our national linguistic heritage (British English) you may be wondering why your mail account has not been updated with the new ”Forwarding and POP/IMAP“ settings menu item. the trick is to set your language to ”English (US)“ or the IMAP feature does not appear.

La voilà!  i’m ready to IMAP and learn to speak American at the same time!

the new ALPHA release of opera 9.5 (kestrel) is insanely fast!!

first i decided to give it a try, though i was wary of an alpha software product running on my main machine at work.  the last thing i wanted was to be forced to rebuild my browsing environment (or worse, my whole system) because of curiosity.  the installation went quite well..  it was quite simple to install a ‘parallel’ profile, so my current, stable version of opera would not be affected in any way.  thats good, because i am still using 9.23 for all email.

right away i noticed the new engine, re-done from the ground up..  it feels different, its hard to describe.  like driving a new car.  it does everything FASTER from start to finish.   pages were being churned out one after another, i was opening a ridiculous number tabs while stress testing..  opera was up to the task and performed admirably.

on the other hand.. i noticed a few page display irregularities, mostly with broken scrollbars.  unfortunately one of my favourite sites, bloglines beta, does not work well with this alpha - but thats ok, because i was running my stable version at the same time (for email & comparing some sites with 9.5 alpha)

so check it out here

i love libraries.  i love used bookstores.  i love antique/rare book shelves.  i love new book stores.  if i wasn’t such a procrastinator, i’d read everything.

it’s crazy how i managed to find work in an academic library, diggin up books i’d never find elsewhere (and on my lunch break…)

it makes me think sometimes.. about what future possibilities lay in waiting for me.

this procrastination has got to end soon!

this morning marked the official beginning of the ‘overloaded and/or miscalulated demand for wireless and/or ethernet bandwidth/firewall/DNS/server-maintenance’ season once again.

with students lining up to complain about lack of wireless internet service, and myself and a few student consultants being completely in the dark about a cause, we had the opportunity to repeat ad nauseum the obvious fact that apparently there was a problem with the wireless networking.  added to that was the unexpected condescension from a certain network analyst not believing there was any sort of problem at all.

long story short..  time wasted, work delayed.  there’s always tomorrow..

p.s.  when i’m NOT the focus of a rant about technical problems, i’m ALLOWED to rant about someone else’s just like anyone else!  (although very out-of-character for me..)

two things i absolutely must mention today…  i’ve stumbled upon some very handy sites.  one which feeds my urge for feeds, feeds, and more RSS feeds, and another that compiles a growing list of web APIs and mashups, with a variety of curious, fantastic and interesting results.

first is the Bloglines Beta. i have  been a user of bloglines for a while now, and with the improvements and opening of the beta version, it’s now easier and prettier.

second, if you like web gadgetry & all things mishmashy & web 2.0 then take a look at ProgrammableWeb.  as an added bonus at no additional cost to you, here is an example of what can be done by creating an interface which combines several web resources - FlashEarth

ok before you panic (or celebrate) allow me to explain the title..

this has been a pretty crazy summer so far for myself & family.  most of it had to do with change.  moving from one home to another, then again 6 weeks later, and then again (and hopefully finally) last week.  this week saw our department move our offices from 3rd floor to 5th floor, which fortunately wasn’t too traumatic for me as i’m not as much of a packrat in the office as i am at home!

in addition i finally gave up my car,  which i should have done long ago.  after 2 thefts/recoveries my poor ‘98 plymouth neon never drove or felt quite the same.  now that i’m driving a KIA Rio hatch, i’m amazed at how different the road feels!  being able to have a little extra storage space while not sacrificing comfort or vehicle size has also been fortunate.  i’m officially in love with my KIA!

we’re settled at home and unpacked, for the most part.  its a very stressful feeling, knowing that a move is impending, so being able to finally relax and enjoy life once again is a real load off our shoulders (pun intended).  *note to self: exchange the 32″ RCA CRT for something lighter!!   holy moly that TV is a backbreaker to carry.

if i seem to be whining (i admit i do that from time to time) its not without a tinge of guilt - as soon as i think about what it is that seems to be such an inconvenience to me, i’m reminded of those who cannot enjoy the luxury of having a home, a vehicle, a family, and a life of peace and comfort.  but thats another story.

Poor James Hetfield.  Airport security officials in UK detained the Metallica frontman after being alerted to his “taliban-like” facial hair.  During questioning, he was eventually able to convince the investigators he was a rock star.

It’s sad but true.  Hetfield was heard explaining that he had to be at Wembley Stadium for the Live Earth event, and that ”nothing else matters“ which further raised suspicions.  After the whole matter was resolved, Hetfield was quick to dub them unforgiven.

Yahoo News story.