Archive for July, 2008


Not renewing my MSN Direct subscription on my Garmin GPS

7/11/2008

My MSN Direct subscription on the Garmin StreetPilot c580 I own is nearing its end. When I bought it there was a promotion that offered the service free for a year so I tried it out. What the service does is alert you of traffic, gives you gas prices for local fuel stations, presents movie times/theaters and so on.

The cost is $49.95 a year. Way too much. It should be $19.95. They also offer a one-time cost of something like $200 (or near there) which supposedly lasts for life (or at least a few years until something else comes along).

Here’s my experience using the enhanced MSN Direct services on the StreetPilot:

Has to be plugged in for it to work

This is a huge, huge design flaw. You want to use your MSN Direct services, but in order to have them work the unit must be plugged in (because the separate, yes separate, antenna to receive MSN content is inside the plug). All well and good I suppose. So what’s the problem? The problem is that it makes your battery worthless. What good is having a GPS that can operate by battery if it must be plugged in to use specific features?

Reception spotty at best

The reception absolutely sucked. There were times I couldn’t even get a signal on I-275 in Tampa Florida. And I-275 is a major highway.

Granted, with periodic firmware updates the MSN reception was improved - but how many people would know to do this?

Firmware updates a huge hassle

When you apply a firmware update that has anything to do with the MSN content, you must first update the unit from your computer, then boot it plugged in for the MSN update to apply. The update will not complete until you boot it like that. Very, very stupid.

You do not have to do this for any other update. MSN is the only one that makes you do this crapola.

Gas price updates are rarely current

I don’t know who is updating the gas prices on the MSN service, but at best you may only find 2 stations that were updated “today”. The rest are “yesterday”, “3 days ago” and beyond. This information is worthless. In addition there are many stations the MSN Direct service simply doesn’t include.

Again, I live in a metro area of Tampa. There are stations everywhere (a heck of a lot more than 2).

Traffic updates are rarely current

I have received traffic alerts and “entering scene of accident” alerts. About 80% of the time it’s a false alarm. The supposed traffic is almost never there. The accident scenes it reports got cleared hours ago.

Weather warnings are absolutely worthless

A weather warning that happens on the c580 with the MSN Direct service goes like this:

“Severe Weather - Hillsborough County - 8am to 2pm”

That’s it. It doesn’t say what the weather warning is. It only reports that there is one. So what the frig is it? Heavy rain? Hail? Falling cows from the sky? You don’t know. And neither does the MSN Direct service.

Is there anything good about the MSN Direct service on a Garmin?

Not really. It renders your battery worthless. The reception is a far cry from the outstanding GPS reception (which is perfect). Updating it is a pain in the ass. The gas prices and traffic updates are both outdated information the moment it’s presented. The weather warnings are useless.

Does common sense rule over anything MSN Direct could report to you?

Yes, absolutely.

Per the gas price stuff:

There is no web site (not even gasbuddy.com) that has been able to accurately show all available options to you concerning where to shop for the cheapest gas. Stations are missed in the list all the time, and the plain fact of the matter is that you know where the cheapest gas is by finding these stations yourself.

Per the traffic stuff:

If you know the lay of the land you can avoid nearly all the traffic. Using GPS this is really simple: Don’t take the highway. Instruct the unit to “avoid highways” and take the longer way home. Or alternatively take some non-highway roads and some highway. Mix and match. Do whatever you like. You’ll learn the roads and be able to predict when/where traffic happens. While it’s true you won’t get it right 100% of the time, your personal experience far outweighs any traffic report MSN could tell you.

IN ADDITION: Your local radio station probably reports traffic regularly. They will have to-the-minute accurate reports.

Per the weather stuff:

A quick look at wunderground.com, weather.com, or weather.gov before you head out is all you need to do. Or carry a battery-powered weather radio with you. Or if you’re really smart, a hand-held GPS with weather radio like the Garmin Rino 130. Weather radio is free by way.

Per the movie times/theaters stuff:

I’ve never used this feature and I don’t think anyone else would find it particularly useful either. Better to just check online before heading out or just look at the local newspaper.

In conclusion…

The single most useful thing with the MSN Direct is the traffic alerts. But they’re not accurate and late to the party when reported. Maybe if it was more timely (and I mean a lot more timely) I’d consider renewing.

The second most useful thing is the weather alerts. But they’re worthless because they don’t provide any relevant information.

Like the title says, I’m not renewing. What’s the point if the information presented isn’t current and moreover worthless?

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me like pie

7/12/2008

Because some people are interested in this stuff, here’s some pie charts for statistical crapola concerning my site.

Monitor Resolution Share

mon-res

Lots of people out there still using 1024×768. Interesting.

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Browser Share

browser-share

IE still rules the roost as most-used browser for people who come here.

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Domain Tracking

dom-track

What’s interesting to note here is that Apple has visited my site enough times to be shown in the chart. This is probably because I wrote about how much the Apple Store in Tampa sucks donkey nuts. Oh yes, they read that. :-)

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Operating System Tracking

op-sys-track

Windows XP is still #1. And it looks like Pac-Man.

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smack on forehead

7/14/2008

I decided recently to let the gates open and allow open commentary on my YouTube vids.

Big mistake.

In less than a week there were YouTards all over my vids posting stupid comments. And of course most of them landed on the guitar videos from YouTard guitar experts.

Last night I went thru all the videos (again), deleted all the comments (again) and set each video to no rating/no comments allowed (again)…

…and it’s going to stay that way. :-)

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testing the new windows live writer

7/15/2008

There’s a new version of WLW and one of the additions is more “border” choices for images, including “Reflection”.. let’s try it out.

2620157537-7f02998953-o

Ooh.. aah.. :-)

Geez it’s almost getting to the point where you don’t even need an image editor anymore. Just use WLW!

– edit –

Here’s another image that shows the reflecty stuff better:

rich

Pretty slick, eh?

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bits for 7/16 ‘08

7/16/2008

Got an update for my Garmin StreetPilot c580; it’s now at version 6.50. This update fixed something to do with an “overlap” in map data of some kind(?) Whatever it is, the unit seems to route faster now (always good thing).

Been trying to get on the treadmill twice a day, and have had success a few of those days (it’s so hard to work up the nerve to exercise in the morning.. know what I mean?)

Been keeping good communication with the ex-gf (the one I last saw in person 14 years ago). She makes me happy and happiness is good. I truly appreciate the fact she’s so nice. It feels great to know her again.

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technorati guitarist

7/17/2008

I got not one but two e-mails from Technorati stating that I requested a password change - but I didn’t make the request. I thought they were spams at first but they were legitimate. It was for the username guitarist.

I said to myself “Did I register that username way back in 2005?” Turns out I did, so I said “COOL!” and updated the profile. Rock on. I put a profile pic of myself and a link to my blog.

So to whomever sent a request to Technorati to reset the password, thanks! Ha! :-)

Geez, I wonder how many really want that username? Sorry, can’t have it. :-)

(Note: For anyone that wants to connect up with me on Technorati, I use menga.)

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back to sugar - one week later

7/17/2008

Well it’s been one week and I haven’t had a single taste of sugar substitutes. No Splenda, no Equal, no sucralose, no aspartame.

Here’s what I have to report:

It is nothing short of amazing how much better I feel. I’m now more energetic, I can focus better (both mentally and visually), I have more color in my skin, I’m more alert and I feel great.

I’ve realized a few things:

All sugar substitutes are bad. Nothing I have done per my diet in the past has had such a profound impact as giving up “diet” stuff altogether.

The only reason I gained weight in the first place is because I WAS LAZY. It had almost nothing to do with what I was consuming. Now that I’ve increased my treadmill regimen I can definitely see the difference - even with sugar - in only a week’s time.

My body needs sugar. No, not pounds and pounds of it (obviously), but to not have any is bad. My body reacted badly to no sugar. Synthetic sugar is not the answer.

As obvious as this sounds, exercise is the answer. There is absolutely no diet solution that exists that will ever replace good old fashioned exercise, period.

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extreme(ly old)

7/19/2008

I was checking out guitar videos on YouTube and came across one that showed Nuno Bettencourt playing riffs. Then I wondered what happened to the band Extreme (that’s the band he was in).

Before continuing, let me tell you why I looked up info on how this band is doing.

Extreme was the band in the day as far as musicians were concerned. Even the hardcore metalhead dudes said things like “Yeah, they’re okay” which translates to “I’m a metalhead so I can’t say I like Extreme but they’re really cool and awesome musicians”. All the guys who were oh-so-metal couldn’t deny the fact that yes, this band wrecked in a very good way.

Well evidently the band is back together (3 of the original members anyway) and sound pretty much the same way they did in the 90s. According to their MySpace page they’ve got gigs lined all over the place so I guess they’re doing all right. And a new album will appear in August. Will it sell? No clue. Time will tell on that one.

For a bunch of guys in their 40s they do well.

This also makes me realize that at the time they gained first success they were in their early 30s.

This makes me feel young. :-)

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i3 coming back to me

7/20/2008

image21 Recently I sold my Garmin StreetPilot c340 being that I didn’t need it anymore. But then a bit a paranoia set in to the tune of “If my c580 ever fails and I’m somewhere where I have no clue where I am, I’m screwed.”

Said honestly I wouldn’t be screwed, per sé. I could eventually find my way home but I’d waste a lot of gas in the process. So I called up my sister (who is currently in possession of the i3) and asked if she could mail it back to me, so she is.

I find it necessary to have a backup because I wholly admit I’m hooked on GPS. Yes, I can drive without one (did that for years) but once you drive with it, being without just sucks. :-)

Originally I bought the i3 way back in 2005. It still works. The USB port is a little bit wonky now (you have to jiggle it somewhat to get it to connect proper), but the fact it still works almost 4 years later is amazing.

The cool part about the i3 is that it only needs 2 plain ol’ AA batteries to operate. With “Normal” mode enabled (WAAS disabled) you get about 4 to 6 hours out of the batteries.

I plan on buying a 2GB Micro-SD card so I can (hopefully) fit the entire USA map data set in it. Granted, it will be older v7 maps but since it’s a backup I’m not overly concerned about that. As long as it works and can route me home that’s all that matters.

It’s also cool that the i3 is small enough where I can just toss it in the glove box and leave it there until I need it.

Yeah I’d probably find the “wheel-and-click” very annoying to use as the i3 doesn’t have a touchscreen, but hey it’s not costing me anything and if it can still boot up, grab a signal and get me where I need to go, that’s fine by me.

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project updates (or lack thereof)

7/22/2008

I gotta admit I’ve been pretty lazy recently concerning my personal projects. I have musical and biz stuff that needs to get done and haven’t even started on it.

Frosted Side

Frosted Side was supposed to be done in June and now it’s almost August (ugh). In all honesty I could probably have everything completed in 2 days but there’s a crapload of programming involved. I am not the type of person to deploy something incomplete concerning web site stuff (although sometimes you have to out of necessity).

Compared to when I previously did FSP it’s now a whole lot easier. But like I said there’s a ton of programming crapola to take care of and it’s really tedious work. Yes, it is actual work. Bleah. :-)

GPS widescreen splash screens

I need to get widescreen versions of my GPS splash screen super-pack done. This is yet another one of those tedious things and will take several hours to get done. But once done I don’t have to do it again (thank God).

Music

I’m enjoying the DigiTech GSP1101 and have recorded a few quick tunes with it. At this point I’m sorta/kinda straying away from the synth and getting back into guitar stuff since I now have a rack unit that.. y’know.. sounds decent. :-) Bear in mind the GSP1101 is the first piece of actual electronic guitar gear I’ve bought in years, and it’s really nice to have electronic stuff that actually works for a change.

There’s a small possibility I might be advertising for a vocalist to get some tracks done. But I’m going to be super-picky about who I choose for this. Here in Tampa I have the advantage of a lot of people to choose from, but the disadvantage is that a shitload of them don’t mesh with my mindset. Most don’t understand that I do not want to form a band, rather just get some studio tracks finished. If the finished tracks have some worthiness to them, then I’d entertain the idea of dealing with the drama that is a band.

Even the thought of “band” still gives me nausea.. bleah. But hopefully I will encounter the right sort that mesh with me correct so we can make good things happen. Time will tell.

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