davlan

Thunder Gmail - Web Login Required (Failure)

2010-04-07T00:54:00.003-04:00

First time I've experienced this after using thunderbird for at least a year. A good search for very helpful and it came up with these two links which is the basis of my post:

1. http://www.ginside.com/2009/2986/gmail-fix-web-login-required-failure/
2.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/11/05/fix-gmail-imap-invalid-credentials-or-web-login-requires-failure-error/

As a reminder for me this is how I fix my problem.
1. Head to https://www.google.com/accounts/DisplayUnlockCaptcha
2. Successfully unlock my account with that link
3. Login to gmail from web interface and go to Gmail » Settings » Browser Connection > Always use https
3. If using googleapps. it seems this can happen when you do not enable ssl(enforcing ssl for domains) at domain settings-->General - SSL (check enable ssl)

Apparently no option was selected in my case. That is probably the problem. Dunno how it became unselected but these are one of those internet glitches that happen.

Another reason Health Insurance Companies Need to Die

2010-04-02T10:51:00.005-04:00

Let me tell you of the story about the HIP Health Plan of New York an emblem health company. It's one HUGE LIE. Supposely they were a non profit from their ads month ago. Guess what; they are turning FOR PROFIT.

Secondly, For this year they jacked up the insurance over 50 dollars compared to last year PER MONTH. So to lock in a cheaper rate for this year I change health insurance companies. I started on the 15th of the month and cancelled on the first of the month paying for a full month. After 3 months of not getting a pro-rated refund which I was assure I was suppose to get. They have finally denied refund because they stated it's a mistake because the plan I was in starts on the first of the month.

How does your mistake make me pay 15 days in advance and continue to bill me for 15 days without refunding those 15 days of service that I OVERPAID. Freaking SOBs. I can't wait for a public option so I can ditch these motherF*#KING insurance companies

uniqlo heattech long john situation

2010-02-04T18:54:00.003-05:00

I am a little perturbed by uniqlo. I like the brand and fits me very well in general. Anyway on the 30th I went in to look for the heattech long johns cause it was bitter cold and I really can't wear pants cause the cold winds will just freeze my legs without layering. Imagine my surprise when I can't find it after circling the whole 2nd floor TWICE. I finally gave in and ask an worker bee there and they told me there was a few SMALL heattech long johns(2 in fact) only to see one guy holding both the last two in hand near I was circling a while back.

I go through the trouble and email uniqlo to see what the inventory situation is since the guy in the store wasn't that helpful. I received a response monday 2/1/2010 that none will arrive till next fall/winter. Bummer but what can you do right and I am definately not a small.

I went in TODAY and they have like ALOT of SMALL olive waffle heattech long johns. However there was ONE medium which I snatched and just bought.. Before I went on line I went to a lady in the back to ask again. Is there any other sizes of Long Johns in the back or somewhere. Of course she says... all you see is what we have (well obviously that's not true since some guy told me otherwise just 5 days ago.)

I left really annoyed. I do try to check every week for sales and the thing is... on more than one occasion they will have like no medium sizes of their sale items except like S,L and than suddenly 2 weeks later; the same item, medium size shows up. Wonder what uniqlo's strategy is?

drupal amazon_store error

2010-01-28T11:35:00.000-05:00

warning: call_user_func_array() [function.call-user-func-array]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback, '' was given in /www/public/includes/form.inc on line 372.

warning: array_shift() [function.array-shift]: The argument should be an array in /www/public/sites/all/modules/amazon_store/amazon_store.module on line 1602.

Seems to be cached. Disabling cache fixed this but apparently the cart is cached for anonymous users so anything you add goes to an empty cart. Gave up on this as a patch for this did not fix my issue in addition to the fact it requires some theming.

P.S
warning: Missing argument 1 for _system_themes_access()

was the effect of upgrading the amazon_store to 2.x-dev without running cron afterwards.

This Emotional Life

2010-01-24T22:44:00.002-05:00

watch this show. It gives a nice wide lense onto alot of similar pbs shows on inspiration, mental health, etc.

http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/

I might buy the pbs but the few keys I am getting into is

1) Start meditating again but work this into excercise schedule.
2) Happiness has a greater occurance in people with social circles. Whether religion, fellowship, support groups. Increase and make the network substantial.
3) Happiness is contagious. Be more happy with my friends.

Some useful link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/pbs-this-emotional-life

Republican Scott Brown WINS!

2010-01-20T00:51:00.007-05:00

Great. Finally the pathetic senate health care bill will not be passed by the cowardly President Obama. Yes it is self defeating to have a party against real universal health care be elected. However it's better than some quasi party trying to fake a horrible senate version of the health care plan that our children will pay for. We already have a war our children will pay for.

This only gives me hope that Obama will not be elected. We need real advocates and real change we can count on. Clinton looks so good at this time it's absurd.

Actually I just realized that you do not need 60 votes to pass legislation. Why the hell did I allow the network television to change how the senate works to move legislation. This is freaking ridiculous. Just pass the house health care bill with 51 votes and it's done. I am definately not voting for a democratic senator(you hear me Schumer) of New York that continues this charade.

2009-12-28T09:17:00.001-05:00

so weird. This morning I got an email that 205.203.134.197 made 57 connections to my server. An ip whois shows it originates from DOWJONES.COM. I think the financial markets are in trouble!!

President Obama - Change we cannot count on

2009-12-23T19:06:00.005-05:00

I am watching channel 13 on pbs and for me to have him actually say the senate version is 9/10 of what he wanted all along... This is the worst president for change. This is just like bush but less effective and more lies. Give me a President Howard Dean anytime. Thank you.

Fujitsu u810 windows 7 rc to rtm

2009-12-19T12:02:00.002-05:00

I updated my evaluation copy (release candidate) also known as beta to a retail version of windows 7 ultimate yesterday on my fujitsu u810 and it was a nightmware. It took exceptionally long because I have no room on my drive. I basically followed the tip at http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/3075/how-to-upgrade-the-windows-7-rc-to-rtm/ which after removing alot of space on my fujitsu with 768swap successfully ugpraded to retail in about.... over 4 hours.

However my perfectly working evaluation copy of windows 7 turned out to a fairly broken u810. First thing I noticed was my mouse button was moving in opposite directions. I move it right it actually goes left.

I got a weird fingerprint message about deleting credentials to use the device only to delete the fingerprint record and find out i cannot add a fingerprint because it says it requires a application to use.

My rotation is broken button is definately broken.

So I finally decided it shouldn't be difficult to just remove the fujitsu drivers and fix it that way. No luck. Now my pen doesn't really work. Rotation is not working. The led light for keyboard definately does not work. Fingerprint is not working because now I need an application which windows was handling it in the evaluation copy. Yes I tried compatibilty mode for the vista software even though it detects it as windows xp.

Well I hope this helps someone. I imaged the evaluation so I'm going go back and restore everything. From there I'm just going to have to stick it out for 6 months and hopefully fujitsu comes out with window 7 drivers.

Windows Update Problem - 403 - Forbidden

2009-12-11T02:25:00.006-05:00

I received this error after a successful windows update a few days ago and checked today to get:

403 - Forbidden: Access is denied. You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied.

Here's what I did which did not solve the problem:
-Deleted the windowsupdate folder
-reregistered windows update components here - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/956708
-Used windowsfix here - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058
-kinda did this before I realized it was for windows 95 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/245142

Here's how I finally fixed it:
I checked my windows update log file at : c:\windows\WindowsUpdate.log
noticed this line near the end:
FATAL: Update required for C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuweb.dll: target version = 7.2.6001.788, required version = 7.4.7600.226

internet searched wuweb.dll and found this solution at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914226

it fixed my problem but my system didn't have iuctl.dll file and I skipped part 1 because i don't have automatic updates enabled. I did have to use the unlocker program on the file wuweb.dll to change it to wuweb.old however because it was locked but that and changing the file Iuengine.dll was the solution. I was able to revist windowsupdate.microsoft.com again and there was an active x notice which I installed and now showing updates again. Unfortunately the title of that solution applied to "Windows Update has encountered an error and cannot display the requested page" would be a difficult one to fine. Hope this post helps someone.

ps. This might also work: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949104 which is to reinstall the windows update agent again cause the update corrupted it.

red t-shirt transferred color from sweat to shirt

2009-12-05T00:01:00.003-05:00

It was a really nice shirt too. One which I wear to the office. You believe that sh$t?! The red t-shirt basically transferred color because of my sweat?! This is the first time I experienced this and now I got reddish streaks on my armpit area of the shirt. I am soaking it now but it's still red. UNBELIEVABLE.

Running Nose with alot of Mucus

2009-10-25T05:39:00.002-04:00

For the last 3 days my nose just won't stop with the mucus. It's ridiculous and quite sick. it's actually still running right now. I'll just using the internet or on my desk and a slightly thicker than water run down to my mouth... The annoying thing is if I'm bundled up and outside it's not as bad however if I'm at the office it comes down every hour or so or even less after I blow the sucker all out of my nasal passage. I did some nasal irrigation which I thought helped but I don't know. The only fortunate thing is I'm not coughing up a storm which is infrequent at best but the nasal mucus is another freaking story. ARRRGGGHHHH

Fame - the tv series

2009-09-25T07:54:00.003-04:00

It's funny how the mind works. As the fame movie is opening soon I can't for the life of me remember one single episode of fame - the tv series. I would be around 8-9 years old? Just feeling a bit sad and not nostalgic cause I can't remember anything about the show...

phpmyadmin attack

2009-09-21T01:35:00.002-04:00

another reason why you should not extract files that retain the default structure. here's a list of addresses for phpmyadmin someone tried to access unsuccessfully

/mysqladmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/phpMyAdmin2//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/phpmyadmin2//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/myadmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/MyAdmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/myAdmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/phpAdmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/phpadmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/mysql//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/pma//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/phpmyadmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1
/phpMyAdmin//setup/config.php?type=post HTTP/1.1

I particularly like this agent used:
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 5.1) Opera 7.01 [en]

Thanks for the visit. 217.145.96.131

the acorn attack

2009-09-18T22:48:00.005-04:00

I am a little confused with the whole acorn scandal. Not that what a few office workers have done was wrong but what's with the whole federal funding thing and sustained conservative attack on the organization; is so effective it seems. Seriously does the government shut down when their employees are corrupt? I mean we all know we have corrupt members in our government.

Obviously all this controversy is clear evidence there is a conservative bias more than there is such a thing as liberal bias. I feel sorry for the poor. They cannot catch a break and they even criticize the few organization that would support them for a better standard of life. Oh well.

I just tried to enter publisher clearing house sweepstakes

2009-09-16T23:47:00.003-04:00

and major FAIL. If you are reading this... the pch.com or publisher's clearing house online entry is a complete joke. Maybe I was entering with the wrong browser but I do not think so. I went through dozens of screens by skipping the offers only to return back in the progress screen. Than the entry seemed to disappear by redirecting me to some other website like for surveys and stuff (WHERE IS MY ENTRY?). So after doing all of backs and going further back into the history I gave up because it never verified my entry. It was a very confusing experience. No big loss since the end date is in february 2012. That is Over 2 years!!! to wait to know if you won. At least it caused me to make a very hateful blog post about it.

Hand Tally Counters

2009-09-15T01:13:00.002-04:00

I know there are more things going on than to just post about hand tally counters but I've been seeing it in the train and it's sort of freaking me out. The first time it was when I saw a very petite caucasian with very light blue eyes who's muslim speaking to another person on the subway while she frequently press down on a mechanical hand tally counter. It has annoyed me but than I noticed another time when an asian was using a digital hand tally while on the subway. An internet search shows that religious individuals use this to count prayers... but I don't see any praying going on... So confused. Anyone know another reason?

Officelive basic domain renewal no longer free

2009-09-11T13:13:00.004-04:00

I hate that I seem to be in the dark about the change in officelive basic. I was able to snag a domain when officelive offered domain registrations free with their service. I guess with the economic climate as it is; they would cancel the domain renewals which they had already done for new officelive basic customers for over a year? (they have stated at that time they will honor free renewals for older customers). I am just disappointed. I was lucky enough to check on my office live account and saw the clear message about domain renewals no longer free but if I didn't...

Sad thing is I would have known if I use my microsoft email account registered for the domain but since that's not my primary account (I now see they sent the mail out 08/04/2009 but two months doesn't seem like enough time). Since checking today and it giving me a 2 week time period to transfer; I did it on my lunch break. It was quite confusing. The registry key they gave didn't actually do anything at the transfering registar. The registry key is specific to http://www.melbourneit.com.au/cc/godirect/. Then there is the odd process where they change the registry key after having to register with their site. You would think; that was the key to use to transfer the domain after unlocking it.

No it was actually the show password section of the domain which reviews an "authinfo" password to use. Alot of multiple steps and I still have to wait for the email to accept transfering the domain. oh well. You can't get much things free nowadays...

Been a very gloomy day especially since it's september 11... everyone seems very solemn.

An enjoyable walk

2009-09-09T23:34:00.003-04:00

I enjoyed my walk today. First thing first. I saw a ferengi. More specifically Grand Freaking Negas Zek played by Wallace Shawn. I actually internet searched the guys name because I'm not that much of a star trek geek... I am sure wallac shawn didn't appreciate being recognized on the streets for this one part even though I've seen him in plenty of other sitcoms... It was at 6th avenue and 9th street (toward 10th street). On spotting, I muttered Holy cow; I dunno why. I headed to broadway.

As I was at balthazar restaurant by spring street... I noticed half a block from like 56 crosby toward 40 crosby (the parking garage) a long tent was setup and at the end near the parking lot there was a ramp for a camera being setup. There was also a bunch of young punkish? models? in black clothing coming out of a black van (a band?). Very mysterious but unfortunately I didn't get to figure it out though it seemed like the biggest thing going on in the neighborhood today.

Shucks... without pictures I feel like this was a worthless post... I am still saving for the nokia n900. That's going to be my phone/organizer. I cannot freaking wait.

Peace Lilly Hydroton Failure Number 4

2009-09-07T20:35:00.005-04:00

Pictured above is my last attempt to convert a peace lily from soil to hydroton. This is the 4th failure to date(and last) but I am still not sure what the problem is. The problem seems to be that the smaller pot versions(the ones with alot smaller leaves and white flowers) have really thin roots unlike the larger leaf peace lily varieties (which had no problem because the roots are bigger?). Anyway what worked with the larger peace lilies didn't work with the 1st attempt. The second and third attempt was in the basement which incurred a great deal of rot even though it was in a well drained pot.
The last attempt was to try again but with better ventilation. The problem might have been I was a bit too agressive in removing the soil the root was holding on to. The really thin roots didn't seem to have much problems in the bowl for the first few hours because it was stiff and lively but after an hour it limped and remained limped till what you see there. I think it's because there wasn't enough hydroton all around the thin roots and so with too much empty space it dried up but very little rot this time.

I did kept a few outside leaves which is still alive in another type of water soil. It's weird because there wasn't much roots in them and they recover so well so I guess the roots do like alot of moisture. I'll post a picture for you to see the idea. It's been in the pot for 2 months now so it should survive. Maybe this will help someone with some problem with the smaller leaf (peace lilies).

I probably won't buy another of the small peace lilies again but if I did I'll probably leave the soil alone but when I repot each year; snip a few of the edge shoots even without roots and it should grow fine if the above is repeatable.

Getting things done

2009-09-05T01:13:00.003-04:00

After many years of procrastination and hoarding behavior; I finally had a friend suggest to me a "David Allen" series that might help so he lent me his tapes. I am really not that much of a fan of self help tapes. I remember doing a trial for "Kevin Trudeau's Mega Memory" and was not entirely satisfied that I returned it. Not surprising later he was fined and went into the whole natural cures gimic. The thing with self help books and tapes is it's usually derived from two sources. One is it's either religious based or second it's using basic skills we have already know but applying it. The thing with religious base is it's dumbed down and I am not surprised it works for a great deal of people. The technique generally implies you shift your burden to someone that can't fail. I do not think that's particular helpful to society when you speculate what can only derive from taking such advice. You somewhat lose a level of responsibility to society in general and you kinda just make a pact with yourself.

Anyway David Allen's series is interesting. I spent 3 hours tonight going through the whole thing and I'll probably try to repeat it several times like the Kevin Trudeau thing. The only real interesting I got from it is the tickler file system. I like the idea because you can do a lot with 43 folders in front of you and I am the type that frequently snooze events a day hoping to finally get to it but it may lose effectiveness after a few days. Nothing really I don't know actually, it just kinda puts every thing I was told that will help into a long lecture.

After writing all that; I seem to somewhat diluted the point of this post... That is of course it's a skill to get things done and not to procrastinate. Filing things is always a problem for me cause it gets overcomplicated fast and than I can't find something without taking a lot of time... So simplify your life and just get things done. A lesson we should all take.

2009-09-03T01:15:00.003-04:00

I had kinda a weird day today. Not less than I think a month ago when a women snapped a picture allegedly of a man masturbating in the train... I thought to myself; I ride this everyday and never seen something like that in 10 years. Imagine my surprise when at 9:30ish pm at atlantic-pacific street there was an african american hand deep in the genetial area obviously masturbating. Ironically there was on the other end of the seating area an african with a baby stroller obviously seeing what I saw. Credit goes to the fact they didn't move but dunno what's up but it seem the masturbating guy was really tired cause he stoped. than rested on his knees and started up yet again?!

So I guess people really do masturbate in the trains. A little earlier I think I caugh a gossip girl scene at like 28th? street and 6th avenue but I didn't think it was worth stopping and try to look for some sort of celebrity I can recognize.

Alpaca - an infomercial

2009-08-29T12:14:00.002-04:00

I am watching Pets.tv and I want to scream. What sane person is going to believe this junk about alpaca. Mathematically it's not realistic to even suggest an alpaca can be worth 1.5 million dollars because you will never recoup that investment based on the fiber the alpaca produces. Basically by suggesting it can be worth that much; it gives the impression an alpaca is worth more than a wool producing sheep. NO. Do anybody still remember the ostrich farm thing. These are not pets unless you consider a sheep/goat a pet. I wanna dump my tv when all I can see is shows like this.

omg Teddy Kennedy Dies

2009-08-26T01:49:00.001-04:00

Couldn't sleep and went on yahoo only to read such bad news. Now I definitely cannot go to sleep.

6 dollars for a 2 dollar lottery ticket

2009-08-25T00:10:00.002-04:00

Typically whenever the lottery goes over 100 million; I will buy 1 dollar. Pretty frugal but realistic. So it's 254 Million and I go to a local convenience store for a 2 dollar ticket... I do not happen to have 2 singles but I did have a 1 dollar and 5 dollar bill. Is it stupid that I gave him the 2 notes and expected 4 dollars back? The guy happen to give me a weird look which in thinking about it thought it was a bit unnecessary especially since I have the need to apologize too much for the littlest things.

A few other things:
Saw a beautiful 6 feet 4? women dressed in a kinda plaid shirt with sleeves tucked to near elbow with like a thick yellowish wide skirt with near knee high brown boots. She seems outta place but than I've been seeing alot of beautiful women around the city for some reason.

Speaking of which I am noticing a bit too many people on broadway from 8th street to prince with carboard signs asking for money.

Pulse Pen by Livescribe - Thoughts

2009-08-23T02:19:00.004-04:00

Been seeing a lot of this pen recently but I've also seen a similar idea like over 5 years ago... Do anyone remember the same technology that never took off? As someone who has a real problem with organization and an over need to make excessive notes that's replaced and than re-noted again... I really cannot recommend this.

Basically this technology is highly independent on special paper and even if it's not... it's very reliant on ink like most pens are... I always have a problem getting ink refills for my specialty pens so I really hope people not get driven into this asinine hype over a pen that requires specialty items. It might be different if the paper companies are willing to incorporate the special dots that make the pen very useful in every circumstance where paper is available.

I have read that you can print paper but it seems unreliable to the original printed paper. Besides the other problem I have with the pen is the battery it uses. Is it user replacable? I don't care if the reviews say it can last a week. If you are using this religiously can can pay through your nose in specialty paper to make it work as it should than what's the battery replacement strategy? Just thinking of this pen reminds me of my logitech bluetooth headsets... Guess where that is now?

Just buy a tablet computer. Best ones are just under 3 pounds and with "Windows 7" you really will use it a lot more because of the handwriting recognition and better tools. The only problem still is battery power and screen size. Basically I'm still waiting for a 24 hour battery life :P with around 7-9 inch tablet that has to be under 3 pounds and everything in my life will be much simpler.

Universal Healthcare and fake Controversy

2009-08-21T21:26:00.007-04:00

I cannot believe I am making another stupid post over universal health care. All the news channel is useless. Seriously the ABC, CBS, NBC is a bunch of "liberal" junk media and I always get offended that the major news networks can be considered anything useful for a realistic discussion of the Healthcare Crisis in America. I get that they want the money for advertisements to change public opinion but it's cruel to discuss health care as it's a political/monetary issue.

It's so easy to get health care pass. Just state the obvious when there is misinformation spread through the major networks:

1. Medicare will bankrupt the government and without universal health care; your current medicare will be gone forever!!!
2. If you are against universal health care; it means you are against
- Medical care for veterans
- Medical care for the poor
- emergency medical care in hospital
3. If universal health care is another entitlement it means the people against it are against SOCIAL SECURITY and will try to remove it from your benefits
4. You are against health care for the disabled.
5. You are for the fact that if you lose insurance after a medical condition like cancer; no private insurance will want to cover you.

Once you pound the facts that the same people against universal health care means only 1 out of 10 will have insurance in america than you will have universal health care. 1 out of 10 meaning if you make at least 5 times more than the poverty level. Do you know what is the poverty level for a single individual???? It's $10,830 for a single person. Also if you make less than 100,000 dollars a year; the chances of you losing everything you have at this moment in time is almost 100%!

Hey I'm serious here. It's fine if you are young and under 30 (which means you are usually healthy) and nold enough for medicare. If you are none of the above; you are gambling with your livelihood!!!! Forget about medicaid or other government health programs for you because the same people arguing against health care wants those programs GONE!

The supreme court considers it cruel and unusual punishment to deny health care for the criminals in the system. So basically the extremely poor; the completely disabled; and criminals have coverage when you have to decide as an option what type of medical coverage you can afford. You people are insane if you are against universal health care. You are insane to have any friends against universal health care.

Indian Spice Stain - Why so stubborn?

2009-08-19T08:34:00.006-04:00

On my brand new t shirt.... I think it's tumeric specifically but I used some madras spice (a blend of indian spices) in some simple tomatoes for my spagetti and while I was eating on the sofa at night; two very tiny drops of the sauce fell onto my brand new t-shirt. They are a devil to remove it seems. I even hand washed the tshirt that night after a while but it's kinda noticable yellow spot on solid blue. Washed it again (I even pretreated the spot overnight) and it's still there...

Left some hydrogen peroxide this morning but I think I might actually have to dry it in the sun to see if it fades away... or so an internet search says. Might actually have to drop by the store and get one of those stain pens but quite honestly if It didn't come out with detergent already and spot cleaning very shortly after the stain... don't know if it will be very helpful.

update: didn't seem to do anything so I started with hydrogen peroxide 3 percent and wd40. I didn't keep both of them on very long because obviously hydrogen peroxide has bleaching action and I do not want to deal with an oil stain from the wd-40 (btw talc/baby powder really does remove "oil" looking stains but took a few applications). both still didn't do something but i put it out in the sun yesterday and it got lighter but I can't be sure if it wasn't from the hydrogen peroxide, wd40 since stains always look darker when wet. Still noticable actually up close. Didn't really appreciate someone telling me it could be a tomato stain... Only because I get confused easily.

Window XP audio problems

2009-08-14T19:03:00.005-04:00

it's been so frustrating the last few days. My audio is acting up in the most annoying way. Almost all audio; that is the voice/dialog is severely reduced to the point it's almost mute but the music itself is working just fine. I tried to reinstall my audio drivers. When that didn't work I changed from my audio card to the integrated sigmatel audio but no dice. The same problem so I tried to remove divx/xvid codecs and reinstall. Than I tried to reset my media player preferences.

None of that works. Well guess what the problem was? It seems my Plantronics Audio 90 Multimedia Stereo PC Headset is broken. I use another earphone and I can ear just fine but my headset can't produce dialog. That's the weirdest thing ever. Though I suppose it could have been the fact that my chair rolled over the cable a few times...

Drupal Cron run failed

2009-07-30T19:44:00.004-04:00

Very interesting situation. I love drupal (not sure why) even though if you add even a few modules the load time becomes snail pace. Also any sort of shared hosting environment and it can break down with database connect issues so it's a pain. Forget about getting even a dozen logged on users on a shared environment because depending on the modules... you will get booted out of your hosting provider. Enough complaining; done. Reason for this post is for my recent problem. I tried to run cron and it says:

Cron failed.

I tried to run it again and log says:

Attempting to re-run cron while it is already running.

Oh really? I'll wait a while and a few hours later I try again and get this message:

Cron has been running for more than an hour and is most likely stuck.

Well the server seems fine... not high load so I internet searched and the solution appears to be to disable the update status module. I ran cron successfully. I re-enabled update status module and ran cron again. Successful. Great. Problem solved. At least for Drupal 5.19

For Drupal 6.13 you will have to modify /modules/common.inc.
Look for Line 2637 and change $semaphore = variable_get('cron_semaphore', FALSE); to $semaphore = FALSE;

Remember to run cron and with success; revert the change.

Blocking Domain tools / whois.sc / Aboutus.org

2009-07-30T00:37:00.013-04:00

There is nothing more disgusting than a website that crawls your site and than create snapshots of it so they can sell it people. That's domaintools.com for you and I've been blocking them for over a year with these ip blocks which are not effective as from a recent search yielded results just 2 months back.

I'm using the entire arin blocks assigned to them in iptables which is far more effective:

Name Intelligence uses compass communication Direct Allocation. Blocking entire compass communication ip range because they seem to added 1-2 additional ips to them which is not listed in arin.net.

64.246.160.0/19
216.145.0.0/19

Name Intelligence using Spry Network 66.249.0.0/19. You can block entire spry network or just below which is assigned to name intelligence

66.249.16.0/23

Excessive indeed but since these ip seems to be a hosting provider no big deal but I will monitor the logs to tweak this but I doubt I will. I don't have a problem with archives.org anymore; only because I sent a certified letter for them to remove any existing data of my domains and stop archiving in the future because a robots.txt doesn't really remove your information. It just prevents them archiving from that moment on. In which case when the robots.txt is gone the archiving will continue and the old data will still be there. Very disappointed with that organization.

Anyway here's a work in progress of the ips that I am seeing them since July 2009. I'll update this if I can:

64.246.161.30
64.246.161.42
64.246.161.190

64.246.165.10
64.246.165.140
64.246.165.150
64.246.165.160
64.246.165.170
64.246.165.180
64.246.165.200

64.246.178.34

64.246.187.42

66.249.17.123
66.249.17.159

216.145.5.42

216.145.11.94

216.145.14.142
216.145.17.190

Almost scammed near Cooper Square

2009-07-18T20:07:00.005-04:00

This is the first time I almost got involved in a crime/scam on the streets of Manhattan. This is a new one though so get ready to read closely. I was walking at Cooper Square between east 7 toward east 6 (just across from the village voice office in the park area.) and some black guy quickly walks ahead of me. Suddenly he sees a bus (I saw out of service flashing) and he runs toward my direction to presumably catch the out of service bus. Suddenly I notice a nick on my right hand and glasses fell on the street. Funny how this jerk is holding glasses. I say sorry by impulse though I don't see how I could have touch anything of his. He is around 20-30s? with stupid chin hair, picks up the glasses and says it's cool.

I take no notice of him anymore and walk across the street a little further off the Village Voice and I look back and notice the asshole walking toward me showing me the broken glasses with a very large crack on the left lense(not possible by the way from someone who's had over 10 pairs in the last 10 years. The mostly polycarbonate and very rare glass lenses do not crack like that unless it's fake). I do not realize this but I was not having any of that and continue walking saying it's not my fault.

The jerk than has the nerve to tell me to watch my back. You believe that crap? So be careful. Unfortunately nothing can be done because it's a victimless crime. That's so sad that garbage like that can go do shit like that so next time though I'm tempted to call 911 just so something can be done and definately safer cause garbage like that is always violent. Oh well, that's a new one.

Windows 7 on a tx2500z

2009-07-17T23:24:00.010-04:00

After loving the performance on a u810 I decided to wipe out my tx2500z and put in windows 7. I tried to use acronis true image to create a backup on the u810 and than use universal restore on the tx2500z... That didn't work out and I reinstalled it manually.

Everything installed fine but it was a bit unstable even running all the windows update. Make sure to install the optional updates which has a lot of drivers. The problems at that point was freezing, crashing, and general instability. Typically at this point I set advance options to best performance (except for thumbnails). Disable windows defender, windows search, turned of disk defragment schedule, unclick indexed c drive, ip helper service, in display I turned off automatic background to one and everything is working much better. After calibrated I notice there was one device undetected and after installing the hp buttons, I installed ENE CIR Receiver(the remote) which resolved that device. Some other minor tweaks but after activating it seems to be functioning with some quirks. The major one seems I can't go to system properties->performance options->click change(virtual memory) causing both system properties and performance options screen to not responding.

It seems my problems are with a bad cluster/sector on my hard drive... After a few hours scanning and automatically repairing my hard drive which took over an hour everything is working better but I did install the hp graphics driver which is older than what is installed by windows 7 for good measure.

Update: I reverted windows 7 because I still have odd quirks of tray icons not loading and programs still suddenly not responding. The main problem actually was truecrypt is not compatible yet and because the tx2500z can handle speeds just fine in vista. I did test acronis true image can make a perfect backup of windows 7 (just not universal restore).

Citibank sucks so bad

2009-07-17T14:47:00.003-04:00

Seriously Citibank is one lousy bank. I've been trying for the last 2 days to login to citibank online banking. Guess what's happening? I login with a username and password; I enter the information and it reloads asking for my password. I enter my password one more time and I get a "For Your Security", For your security and protection, please re-enter your passwords to get the information you requested. With my current id listed I enter password (third time now) and I go back to the original sign on page with my userid listed asking for my password.

Here's the funny thing. I couldn't get out of that userid because whenever I try to change it'll ask "for your security" with my user id entered and asking my password. Finally I have to open another browser and ask my friend to try. He could sign in and than hahaha; he couldn't sign off because he couldn't find it on the account page. THAT IS UNNECESSARY FRUSTRATION PEOPLE. Needless to say citibank continues to be the one bank I will never trust a large amount of money with.

a godaddy ripoff report

2009-07-13T12:54:00.003-04:00

This is an anniversary of how godaddy.com ripped me off with a service called "Domain Alert Pro Backordering". The price wasn't that expensive if it manages to successfully backorder a domain since it includes the registration and at that time I wanted to watch a particular domain. For an extra 10 dollars to be able to order an expiring domain is a pretty big deal but that never happened because it failed twice. First on the domain that I wanted and second on a domain expiring that month. Since a failure means a domain is renewed for a year.

The caveat is that the backorder system is only a years service. If you are just setting it up to watch one domain than you will most likely lose out in the godaddy system which other people can place the same backorder. So now after the first year you must pay a 5 dollar additional year auction service for the backorder to work. Than if your backorder is still not done in 3 years you lose that credit.

Well after getting suckered by godaddy I no longer use any of their services except maybe promotional items for domain transfers where I save a few bucks but than I immediately transfer 30 days later so godaddy will not hold my domains hostage because they really make money off their useless services. Not their domain registration which just sucks you in. If domains are important to you I suggest you find a dedicated domain registration provider.

Windows 7 on fujitsu u810

2009-07-12T17:05:00.005-04:00

I am quite happy with myself. I manage to install windows 7 v7100 evaluation copy on my fujitsu u810 also known as the u1010. After giving ubuntu remix a try I was glad to find that windows 7 installation was quick. It seem to have went quicker than the ubuntu version which is very fast. Everything is working well. Once I rebooted I did windows update and try to install some of the drivers/utilities but did hit a snag on a few items. I had to manually install the FUJ02B1/FUJ02E3 because for some reason it was at first undetected and after it was detected manually the device had a problem(I did a uninstall because of an error) so I looked up the file in the /drivers directory folder (fujitsu install packages extract there) for that particular device and installed it.

I also receive this odd "error in cuisdk initialization" when I tried to rotate. At first I thought it was the button driver/utility installation problem in xp/vista but I realized it was actually a video driver problem. I installed the vista version (choose compatibility mode option when it fails regularly because it's not designed for windows 7) and it selected override the current version which was 8.5 or something to the 7.14 version. A reboot later and I was auto rotating by swivel or manually rotating by button; no problems.

Second issue was the fingerprint driver. I actually installed it using the optional updates section along with a few other hardware updates in "windows updates" and setting up the device in windows 7 (it has it's only software). It was very quick and painless setting up one finger... just not sure if it was more secure than the free asus version I was using in xp/vista.

For some reason I was receiving Error 0x80072EE2 in Windows Update after updating fine the last 2 times. I took the time to correct my world time which was fast 4 hours and Windows Update worked again. Isn't that weird that it would work 2 previous times on the wrong time? Maybe a quirk.

Extremely happy about it. It's very fast.... I don't have to tweak any settings so far but than it's a clean system. I imagine after installing adobe and office it might slow down but it would be acceptable if the boot times and rotating is as fast as it is now.

Readyboost seems to be a problem. It's probably cause of the interface of sd/cf reader which makes it unsuitable and in fact it did not detect the sd card readyboost capable at first but auto-magically some time later; u810 says the sd card will work but may be unsuitable.

Young Kids are so fashionable nowadays

2009-07-12T12:41:00.003-04:00

I can't help but notice a lot of young people on the trains heading to Brooklyn are very fashionable. They are wearing those tight fitting clothing. Though It seems like a lot of them may be europeans and very model-esk; more males though. Do not know what is going on as you generally do not see a lot of people dressed like topshop past 36 street in Brooklyn. Rent and neighborhoods are generally better but the commute is a bit long.

Turning out to be a productive week...

2009-07-10T12:53:00.003-04:00

maybe more like somewhat productive... I installed ubuntu remix on u810 and got the touchscreen to work at spareinfo.blogspot.com. Initially nothing I did with the directions got the touchscreen to be calibrated corrected till I scroll down to the manual files to edit. The second time I updated the latest patches before following the directions and it was only slightly miscalibrated. However seeing as cellwriter is ok... but was missing microsoft onenote... I decided to try windows 7 in the weekend.

Manage to drag myself to Bryant Park at 42nd street to sign up for contest at Bank of America and State Farm. Only got a cheesey red bag with a basic cardboard fan which was better than a person at Bank of America dragging me out the line to have me fill out the contest form cause I got nothing but a sales pitch... BOOOOO!!!! She was cute though.

Signed up for hosting at vpslink.com. It should be much better than what I have now though I've never actually managed a virtual server before.

Michael Jackson - Will Miss You

2009-07-07T13:34:00.006-04:00

Can't help but watch the Michael Jackson memorial televised live at the moment. I really wanted to register for the tickets on friday even though it was unlikely that I would ever get a ticket to to fly to the memorial... (isn't that strange?)

It's very sad people bring out the fact, Michael Jackson was a pervert but he seems like someone completely messed up by his Father and while he obviously love his mother; he probably found her too weak to prevent the sadness in his love. So he gives more love than he could ever receive and was taken advantage of because of that unbridled love. I do not believe in the accusations against Michael Jackson because it wouldn't only be one person who ruined his entire reputations where you have lawsuits against the catholic church that amounted to dozens of individuals. Though I do not believe one can just settle a lawsuit to prevent criminal charges... what a sad world money trumps justice right?

Anyway. I just wanted to say Michael Jackson is the single person who has contributed more to good feelings to the African community worldwide than any other person in history. This includes Martin Luther King, Jr. as he simply was the figurehead in an completely American movement that simply cried out for anyone at the time. Sadly; I think he will be the only one in my lifetime to make such a difference in the world. I wish there is more people like him. Who else can contribute music that is more about love in people than just a love song for a girl/boy? Maybe except John Lennon. Never have I been to his concert but if there is another person like him... I will not hesitate in the future.

I should say the memorial was really badly done. I only caught a few minutes and befuddled when John Mayer performed guitar. I had to say that after watching a youtube clip of Michael Jackson's daughter; it just confirms how sad this private event should have remained private.

Krod Mandoon

2009-07-07T00:57:00.003-04:00

I watched all six episodes yesterday at a friends house and thought it was hilarious. Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire is probably the least inventive, least inspiring tv series out there that has some decent production value. The problem probably is the abusive use of sterotypes out there but it's funny in that it does not pretend to be a serious storyline which is always endearing. I liken it to southpark, family guy, american dad in quality but you can't get away with some of the stuff you do in animation without the jibberish nonsense thrown in for comedic effect.

Also quite frankly it seems kinda slow or that it went by really fast without much content that it could most probably fit in a youtube series more appropriately if it couldn't find a studio but the production would be much poorer... maybe. Very enjoyable to wind the brain down after a stressful holiday.

A Pathmark Debacle - Line Skipping

2009-07-04T00:10:00.005-04:00

I just got back from Pathmark which is a very affordable 24/7 grocery store in the neighborhood and I am extremely pissed off. I only had like 10 items and occasionally when you go at before midnight it gets packed especially before a holiday like July 4th. I was ok with this because I needed an ingredient to make something.

So today it just happens there were 3 cashiers. 1 closed about 2 minutes after looking for a line to wait in. So there was basically two lines left so I waited at the one labeled express line (12 items or less lighted up) even though the person in front of me had like a whole cart filled with items but I let it go cause it's the holidays and it's not that big of a deal... so I wait a little longer this was not unusual.

Well... some lady who's maybe in late 20's to 30's (her white face seems pretty worn) with a belly comes in and tells the spanish couple that it's an express line so they kinda drag their cart to the first isle which basically announced it's a cash only line. I didn't really complain cause hey she did have like a complete cart fill and maybe 100 plus items. Now comes the strange part. I do not recognize this woman in front of the spanish couple. The spanish couple let another person with a cart of two items in which was fine (their perogative) but I asked the previous couple was she before you??? OMG this BITCH just cut in front of me with a freaking line formed behind me of over 4 people. I confronted her and you know what that bitch said? She said something to the effect she was pregnant and she had kids at home waiting. I mean it's not her fault that she didn't know people was waiting in line. For one thing she might be at best 3 months pregnant and the tummy can just be the fact she's fat. She didn't care about the people waiting and she put her stuff on the checkout I told that old lady cashier about it. The old lady cashier didn't freaking care and I do not blame her cause sadly I might just do the same if it's a really bad day and nearing midnight.

So she paid for her stuff and left. I paid for my stuff and left but now I can't sleep cause I hate the world because there's so much trash in this world. I should have captured a picture of that lady and complain to a manager but who am I kidding. I could never do that but I really should.

2009-07-01T21:55:00.004-04:00

Weird things are a float:

1) I was at the 40th street jack's 99 cents south of the mid manhattan annex library and I actually heard a lady asking one of the workers if they have mosquito nets...

2) My asus wl-520gu router consumes only 2 watts but my samsung window mounted air conditioning unit takes 90 watts to just run the fan. My regular tower fan only takes 30-40 watts.

3) Wlny tv 10/55 (channel 10 on cablevision) keeps on showing a pro-life movie that repeats like the very poorly done partial-birth abortion they had years ago with ousted senator Rick Santorum. This time with guest Stephen Baldwin. Seriously? You going to make a rational/educated argument with someone like Stephen Baldwin? Anyway; disappointed so I finally channel blocked the channel. I always find it strange that an independent channel will produce these shows but they never produce the better argued pro choice. People cannot actually think 50 million unwanted children can really do the things they are arguing about but I digress.

4. I won a 40 dollar valued Salsa Set... No joke... it's really just 4 cans of salsa but it will still take 10-12 weeks to receive.

5. I now have 3 KitchenAid Timers. Two old 4 button ones and one 2 button model. Only the red (4 button) model was loud. The other two is basically junk.

6. I saw some man trying to feed a squirrel just opposite the former circuitcity in 14th street (there's like a small section of green space in the roadway) and I was about to say something (along the lines of rabies) but I let it go. Who tries to feed squirrels with their hands nowadays?

7. Saw a rainbow that seem to end very near the place I live while I was walking back at 8PM. That's 8PM!!!

water and mold...

2009-06-28T19:30:00.003-04:00

I left some boiling water in a glass cup in the basement near some plants. After a week I checked it and notice that while the water is still clear... there are two tiny distinct fuzz balls (mold) in it... scared me out of the mind.

Nothing going on even though I was invited to gay pride but that was kinda weird... The mosquitoes in Brooklyn are brutal for the last week. Beware the Asian tiger mosquito... I go out in a yard for less than a minute and I was attacked twice or more...

2009-06-26T01:39:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe Michael Jackson died. The same day as Farrah Fawcett which is really strange news near the end of the work day. So I spent most of the night watching the news and I thought oh... well I might as well take this time to install debian on a nslu2. I have alot of success in that department with unslung and openwrt... Oddly enough it felt as if a third of the internet was down as a few sites was all hard to reach.

This always happens though. I think it's going to be easy and I think I read all there is to the installation till I miss one entire paragraph. The most important paragraph being that it takes about 4 hours to install. OMG. I am at this posting only 79% installing of the base system. I thought it was going to be a simple flash like maybe 15 minutes (tops) and than I go that 5 hours configuring it or just messing around that might cause me to reinstall, etc.

Wish there was better documentation for the debian installation. First thing one should write for the debian 5.0.1 installation is that it will take 4 hours with the current installation method of flashing the firmware with a debian installer or a quicker and easier installation with a manual installation. Not too surprised however with the lack of documentation especially for someone going from windows to an linux environment. It would have been so much appreciated if someone list instructions in windows to flash firmware and manually fdisk the drive/usb drive but it was rather scattered as I did another few internet searches for next step guides. All which was lacking in a few details. For example. Why would one list network connection as a requisite when you really need an active internet connection. Coming from an unslung/openwrt installation I flashed in a stanalone method with a laptop connected to the nslu2. Not helpful.

Can an adult drink expired baby formula?

2009-06-24T11:54:00.008-04:00

I just did this morning... I used it as an ingredient in my morning drink consisting of orange/banana/yogurt/protein mix. It came out to fill my cup, 3 times and I finished it off with my morning vitamins. For the record I do not suggest this to anyone since I do not need a lawsuit (YOU CAN GET SERIOUS ILL OR DIE). I am just saying I did it. The expiration on the can was July 2005. The baby formula is 8 fl oz labeled Enfamil LIPIL "a blend of DHA & ARA-Nutrients Found in Breast Milk" with Iron. It's milk based infant formula baby's first 12 months... I also had a cup of homemade Kombucha because I read/heard somewhere to drink some (vinegar or yogurt but kombucha is pretty similar) to prevent food poisoning... I have no proof of this or scientific evidence either.

How did I get some expired infant formula? Good question. I was helping my friend move and they were going to throw it away so I was like... that's such a waste... Not the smartest thing but I still have about 4 cans left. If you see posts dated a month from now I'm still alive. However if there are no posts... please don't gossip about me near my grave. I'll post a picture of the tin when I get home

High Interest Private Loans for Students

2009-06-21T23:19:00.002-04:00

I always have problems watching PBS when they discuss loans because I always thought it to be unbelievably stupid for anyone to get a loan more than 8 percent. It's always strange that people keep balances on their credit card at 18% till I wised up about bankruptcy. A light bulb went up on my head and I was like I get it now.

However NOW on PBS was doing a story on High Interest Student Loans. How student loans are not protected by bankruptcy and a person's interest caused their loan to be multiplied 5 times. Fortunately my parents thought me well because when I was in college doing loans like the federal loans (stafford). My memory might be bad because it was 8 percent back then because they did not have fixed rates. My loan rate was a a few percent of the prime rate so it was not cheap by any means. The current rate for stafford loan is much cheaper than what I was had to pay after college.

Either way I thought it was absurd there is no law in the books to prevent a student loan from doubling the original loan or at least tripling because these are educational loans. Maybe it's the socialist in me but education is far too important to be destroyed by it in the form of debt.

2009-06-21T04:42:00.003-04:00

so it's nearly 5am and I can hear the rain outside. Today is going to be a not so good father's day... Completely off topic but yesterday I saw matthew modine at the wholefoods in 24th and 7th avenue near the bread section at like 3:20pm. Speaking of whole foods I'm freaking pissed off... I was really tired going in so of course i head to the cheese area in which there's some cubes and toothpicks. Well I saw some toothpicks in a Creme Brulee Ramekins so I just took one there and ate a piece.... Than like 15 seconds later I guy comes around me and reaches for the toothpicks in one of those see through plastic containers where you turn a wheel and one falls out. I was like SHIT. Annoyed the crap out of me and I really want to go make a scene oh how you can just have easily have a regular cup and mark it as trash rather than a ramekin.

Anyway the economy must be weighing really heavily on me because I couldn't for the life of me purchase a very nice wool super 120 suit at daffy's. Actually the style had alot of pin stitching and I wanted a extra traditional interview suit just in case. My first suit has alot of moth damage which I should realy post a picture. Forget about the fact I saw a moth flying around near my closet but I guess that didn't give me enough cause to do something about it. Now I will but even though there are several tiny holes in my old suit... the other shirts in there which I am really glad about.

2009-06-19T01:05:00.003-04:00

I am very surprised by the recent protests in Iran... I didn't think the people had it in them but if you read behind the protests the facts are that the opposition leader isn't that much different than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; at least where foreign affairs are concerned. Watching the news (videos/pictures) and I cannot help think most western countries are not immune to what's happening in Iran. The military of any Government is trained to follow orders much like local police so dictators don't just appear. They exist because the circumstances allow it.

Anyway less politics and more personal stupidity.... I spent wednesday night installing ubuntu remix (on my sub notebooks) and re configuring my network. That carried over the night into morning which is self destructive since I was completely exhausted during the day. Even several cups of coffee wasn't able to prevent me from quite literally falling asleep while someone was talking... fortunately that embarassment usually perks me up a little even though it already pose a threat to my employment.

The fujitsu u810 is such a pain getting touchscreen calibration working. I spent several hours in ubuntu and even though installation was a breeze. It's funny how xp/vista does not work if the bios is set as touchscreen but touchscreen calibration in ubuntu needs it set as touchscreen. Which was moot since I couldn't get it working. Friday will be different hopefully since I'm heading to bed right now.

National Association of Professional Women

2009-06-18T01:11:00.002-04:00

I received a letter inviting me to be a member of the national association of professional women. Actually I should say one of my online alias was which was exceptionally strange since I generally do not use it for anything reputable. A google turned up this link: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/938499/national_association_of_professional.html. Mental note not to join any organization requesting membership on the phone or mail.

2009-06-16T23:08:00.001-04:00

Thought this was funny but the delivery was lacking somewhat

2009-06-16T00:26:00.005-04:00

Stupid things:

1) I go to a neighborhood 99 cents and up store in brooklyn and ask if they have a butane for gas lighters. The guy says we do but hold on for a minute (he had custoemrs) I wait 5 minutes and remind him and he shows me some ronsonol lighter fluid... I shake my head and I say it's the one for the gas lighters and the guy seriously pop the yellow tip upwards; connect to the refill end of a lighter and say; "See". Was he just being an idiot or is he really that ignorant?

2) I forgot to bring my wallet to a local walgreens after bagging the merchandise so I tell the person, I'll be back in 10 minutes because I'm realy close. I come back in 10 minutes and the guy doesn't recognize me so I tell him I'm the guy that was just here 10 minutes ago. He rings me up again but he forgets I gave him a coupon and raincheck... He doesn't know where he puts in and a manager comes in to override. WTF? 10 minutes and it wasn't even busy.

3) Not to be beaten by eating some canned clam chowder that is over it's expiration date (5 years); I've started to finish up some canned ensure (meal replacement) that's only 3 years old. So far so good after 12 hours.

2009-06-14T09:16:00.003-04:00

Been having a few bad days lately. karma's such a bitch whenever I say bad things or in my case write some not so nice things. Recently had a canker sore that took 4 days to go away. Interesting note that the mouth sore mouthwash has 1.5 percent hydrogen peroxide as active ingredient while I have a large 3% bottle in my cabinet (though it probably wouldn't have so much foam).

Some funny things lately:

1) Walking at 81st and 1st avenue? I saw a police officer writing a ticket (there was already a ticket there) on a ups truck near the corner. When he was finished; as he was walking to the police car across the street to 82nd the ups man at the light heading to the opposite street says; "Are you done?". Eerily enough as I was down to 76th street a traffic officer in orange overcoat seems to be ready to write a ticket for another double parked ups truck.

2) I bought murray pomade because it was recommended to me as a cheap wax that works; solved a 10 year mystery of what that smell I was smelling in the 90's while on the train.

The Jews of Sheepshead Bay

2009-06-09T14:37:00.002-04:00

I hate having to say bad things about a particular group since it ultimately reflects poorly on myself... I am kinda sick of the Jewish People in Sheepshead Bay. These are the most racist, discriminating, arrogant pieces of garbage in the area. The neighborhood itself is great with nice houses but if you ever have the displeasure to speak to these people... It's like one huge cult here with many on public assistance and the temples.. Don't go on hearsay but do go on and try a dialog and you will be surprised.

Why am I ranting? Yesterday Assemblyman Dov Hikind stated the city-owned Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay should be only for JEWS even though the SAME number of "gentiles" died during that period. What's with the holocaust survivor mother not saying anything about persecuting the dead non-jews as they were nothing? Why not just forget the whole holocaust thing so the city doesn't waste money on a holocaust for half the victims. RIDICULOUS

Citibank Thank you Points - Now a Joke

2009-06-06T06:29:00.002-04:00

I really do not know what's going on with Citibank. I really really hate Citibank but I still have no idea why I keep an account with them anymore. I reasoned it was no big deal because I do not actually need to maintain the account so much and closing it really doesn't help me too much... I already have one huge bundle of services (No brokerage account) that has no fees but I would never get a brokerage account. Their Smith Barney thing is a huge money waster of fees (get fidelity or something).

Anyway I was o.k. with the February 2009 changes of Thank You Points listed at the consumerist. It doesn't really apply to me since I do not see how I would be delinquent other than my one credit card which I use rarely. Anyway the recent changes listed on my June Statement was that of Thank You Points Expiration which is 3 years. Seriously there is nothing to buy or redeem with Thank you Points that are worth it except for the 100 dollar gift cards at 10,000 thank you points. It costs 25 dollars to purchase 1000 thank you points. Isn't that freaking ridiculous? Basically it will cost you 2,500 dollars to buy a 100 dollar gift card.

What this means is the rich really does get richer(or at least stay that way) while the middle to lower class will get much less. Actually this will basically squeeze out all the low income from benefiting since a normal citibank bank account with product/services can get you 800 thank you points while for an ezchecking at 300 thank you points you will just barely make it for your reward in 3 years. I am still 15 dollars on my citibank dividend card at 1 percent to cash out at 50 dollars (it's been 2 years now). I am basically saying I will no longer participate in any reward program from citibank since it's too much work unless you use it as your single source of financial instruments. Now that would be ok but Citibank really is worthless. I have to send at least 3 bank mail to get an answer to a question because the first 2 will get generic replies which I already know the answer to till you have to be firm and get someone competent. Let's not even talk about calling because the customer representatives are wrong half the time. The whole point of the bank mail is that the representative takes the time to read and make sure the answer is accurate. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.

Chris Christie vs. Jon Corzine

2009-06-02T23:02:00.006-04:00

New Jersey is such a lost cause. I can not understand why anyone believes that Christie wanting to cut taxes across the board to solving the economics of New Jersey. Watch the garbage state become bankrupt and the government without police officers and fireman because that's what low taxes and less government means. Of course he could take in lots of debt and unbalance the books and let the next Governor fix everything. That's what every politican does really. If you finally get a huge surplus you use it all and plunge the government into debt cause you would not be re-elected.

Geico Auto Insurance - SUCKS

2009-06-02T22:06:00.002-04:00

Please do not even consider geico auto insurance. I've had them for a while and they are pretty bad. I'll list a few things. The first being that the telephone representatives are not nice and they are not on your side. You can test it for yourself. Ask if you can pay over the phone with a credit card. Chances are that they will say they do not accept it even though you can pay online (it's also not listed on their mailed policy). If you state you want to use a credit card of someone else; the representative can be quite agressive. For example stating why would you do that; are you the primary driver or not or something to the effect they will discourage you from paying by just saying they cannot accept it at this time.

The representatives over the phone are unfortunately trained to give you a hard time on some things and misinform so I would RECORD all conversations and expect to file a complain with the attorney general of your state. For example they may imply they will pro-rate your insurance if you transfer the insurance carrier. THAT IS NOT EXACTLY TRUE! Make sure you paid in full for the 6 months to get that prorate even though they should know after confirming your account. Even in the situation they may not refund depending on your payment. RECORD EVERY CONVERSATION ON CONFIRMATION OF INSURANCE CANCELLATION and INSURANCE TRANSFER. You really want this information if you want to go to court to recoup costs of say in NYC. Example if there is any lapse in your insurance due to an insurance error you will be responsible for a daily fee. Read the liability section of the nyc dmv site here. They will actually guilt you on the fact you been a long customer and they treated you well even though they couldn't beat the rates of the competitor for all that time... arggh. Frankly I find getting insurance with a local agent than say progressive over the phone. Why is that? Guess the only problem is making sure the agent is licensed in your state and calling the policy to make sure it's actually valid.

Having a car in new york city is such a pain in the ass. You gotta worry about fees and returning your car plates and imagine having your plates stolen... Gotta go to the police for that one.

General Motors Bankruptcy - Lost Cause

2009-05-31T23:08:00.005-04:00

I saw a few "round table" discussions on Sunday about the positives of the GM Bankruptcy of it being leaner, meaner, blah blah blah. I couldn't stand it. It's the same lame agenda of misinforming the public into a bull market so they can take advantage of the long term investors. Sure they might be competitive when they finally cut the expensive union benefits comparable to the Asian car makers to 30-45 dollars an hour but that's not news. Regulation always make a business less competitive because without regulation they can commit illegal activities that harm health at worst or make things cost more. Unions can obviously raise costs and make firing much difficult to the point of a very long and costly legal process.

I couldn't stomach watching when some panelist said GM would want the government out of the business so they can make better business choices. What? So GM fails and require a bailout but once they are bailed out the government should leave so they can make the same mistakes again for another bailout?!

I do not really see a solution however. Every time I look at the mileage of the new cars; I scoffed when a recent ad shows an impressive 36 miles an hour. My sedan in 1995 can easy do 25 miles. What's an extra 10 miles an hour when gas goes back to 4 or higher(like in Europe.). I think GM can only be saved when it can surpass 60 miles or at least beat the prius. I do not see electric cars to be much of a solution (though better) even if they can run at least 100 miles an hour per charge because those batteries are so expensive... They never tell you how many charges that will last or how their capacity might go down with use.

Grips - If you are driving

2009-05-31T00:29:00.003-04:00

It was a beautiful day on Saturday May 30th and perhaps it was wasted on a short drive in brooklyn. So here's a post for those sob drivers I observed today.

1) Is it really ok for you to beep someone when you are the 4-6 car from the intersection.
2) Is it really ok to do a broken U turn 300 feet from the intersection slowly when a car is behind you. OBEY THE F*#KING FLOW OF TRAFFIC. It's not like you are walking 3 blocks to get back to where you need to go.
3) There is no reason to beep a car that doesn't accelerate as fast you want it to in a residential area when the light changes every other block?!

It's the weekend not damn freaking rush hour!

the case for fsock

2009-05-29T16:14:00.003-04:00

I know security is high on web hosting but is it really necessary to only enable fsock to port 80 and not a few other ports. Bluehost only allows port 80 and claims on their help faq that it is required for bandwidth tracking but allows a 30 dollar additional yearly fee for a dedicated ip which will open up the rest of the ports. Arggh. Why do hosting companies do this. Netfirms is even more ridiculous. They use to allow fsock to other ports since at least december 2008(I am pretty sure) but now only port 80. Not that it really matters since their hosting is exceptionally unreliable due to their databases always overloaded spitting out errors from any content management system. Sigh. Now I can't even park a few dozen websites and use fsock to send out emails from google apps with my domain.

When did web hosts do this? Can't they understand their email features are practically useless and it helps everybody when people can fsock out to their own smtp servers. The horror.

Dental Implants around NYC

2009-05-29T06:45:00.013-04:00

This is an odd post but here's some general information about Dental Implants in New York City. It may be useful if you are shopping for one and you hate dentists like I do. There are few choices in fact; one of the better features of a Metropolitan Area as great as New York City.

Here is a guide for one Implant for the molar(last 3 teeth on the ends. upper or lower). Most will lose a molar due to problems with a root. Always ask whether an implant can occur on the same day you extract a tooth as this will cut down on follow up visits and costs since your time is money.Hopefully not before a very long root canal that cannot save it otherwise you may have some other options since some accidents which involve losing teeth may be covered by your insurance. That's not the topic of this post so let me get back to it.

The best option is actually not the Dental Schools around NYC which is basically Columbia University and New York Dental School. They do have some odd pricing:

-Columbia will charge around 650 for the implant which includes an intial visit which includes an electronic xray panorama of the whole jaw. The whole visit shouldn't take longer than an hour. This of course does not include the intial registration (takes a long wait and another appointment at the implant department on another floor). The horrible thing is that they will charge 90 dollars which is a standard consult which may be ok but this is another appointment even though that dentist will be there in the initial visit?!?. That would be ok if the crown wasn't around 1500 dollars. Very odd pricing and why hospitals are such a pain in the ass. Every doctor charges a high amount so insurance will cover the lesser amount. Make sure to state you just want a implant consult or they will charge you the 90 dollar registration where a student will do a regular exam with xrays.

-New York University College of Dentistry have similar policies. You do the initial registration and get assigned a student doctor. That student doctor will refer you to the implant department. Make sure to state you want just the implant consult which is free for the first visit. Implants for the molars are slightly in cost than the regular front teeth. The fee is 1025 for the implant and 1375 for the crown. Think if it's just the front teeth it will be 650 for root/crown.

Reasons you may not want to go to the dental schools is because it's designed for them to do more work than you need. The most important of which is a bone graft. There is a general practice of misinformation where they state that once you pull the teeth bone reabsorption will happen. That's when you lose some of the jaw because the teeth is no longer there. That is slightly true after the 6 month period but during this period and it does not take long (after around 2 month of the extraction) for enough bone to grow back for an implant since there is a variety of screws in length/width. It is in this situation where a same day extraction/implant may not be possible whereas the front teeth can be done most of the time. That's 6 months for the bone graft which cost an additional 150-500 dollars and a 6 month healing process. An additional 6 months for the implant healing before they can make a crown. One of the better options is hopsital clinics. I strongly discourage dental schools because any dental work is not restorative in the true sense. They are destructive in the sense that the tooth gets grind down enough to apply fillings. Therefore any work is really up to the dentists because some fillings are unnecessary as teeth does have the ability to heal itself in some capacity.

-Mount Sinai Hospital Dental Clinic is a large clinic but unfortunately involves some of the largest wait times. Their implant fees are 750 for the implant and 750 for the crown. The consultation fee is 100 dollars but if you get the implant it's part of the 750 for the implant so the total out of pocket is 1500 which is cheaper than the dental schools in nyc. The problem comes down to the fact it's basically one person doing the implant and the wait to see him can at the worst of times be 2 hours and a half from your appointment time. It is a hospital after all and there are emergency cases. The clinic itself suffers from the same bureaucracy but fortunately you are reading this. The appointment to do the implant is done as a form of contract with an administrator. You do not speak to the general appointment number of the clinic and you should request to speak to the person responsible for the clinic. Oddly enough the clinic number does not go to the appointment front desk but some sort of back office which may not even be in that clinic. Their other fees are very reasonable at a sliding scale so if you are low income it is probably more affordable than dental schools. They are affiliated with NYU dental school since Mount Sinai is a Teaching Hospital but the actual general dentist in the clinic is not a student which is a plus though this may not always be the case for certain situations.

-New York Methodist Hospital has a smaller dental clinic but their rates are very competitive. The cost is 650 for implant with a 100 dollar consult fee. This is a general plus for the brooklyn area since it is near park slope. It does not suffer from the administrative overhead in the other dental alternatives like registration and you get served from a real dentist. I would rate this as a first choice unless you really want a larger dentist office feel (whatever that is).

Notes: You really do not need a panorama for a implant consult of one teeth. Almost no insurance I know of will cover implants which is the usual question but if you anticipate an implant you may get some coverage from dental insurance but with the rates, exclusions, prior conditions leading to a implant, and the dreaded waiting periods... Good luck. These are all rough estimates of the pricing(I can be off by a hundred or more) and you will need to confirm the final costs(be patient. getting through the phone systems of the dental schools is RIDICULOUS). The benefits of the above is that they do not have any post care fees of the implant which some local dental offices trying to rip you off. Bone graft fees are very difficult to determine since it is variable. The 6 month healing of the implant does not include a denture so you still would not be able to eat there. The consult fee is really just about looking at an xray of the missing tooth area and feeling the gum area. Hope this is helpful.

Why I never liked California...

2009-05-27T12:24:00.003-04:00

I am saddened by the recent California Supreme Court decision concerning prop 8. Not so much that it defined marriage between a man and woman much to the dismay of some of my gay friends. This is more an academic legal issue and the cusp of what America should be.

The legal standpoint is very valid in the decision of the state supreme court of california and what can go wrong when a states sovereignty violates fundamental rights all individuals should have. On the issue of fairness and what marriage means legally. This isn't an issue of institution and what family means because fundamental rights means the rights every individual have that is protected by the law. As a single person I will pay taxes and much of those taxes will be used to pay child services, education, and everything related to families and children. By legally imposing those taxation which will never benefit me because I am single or choose not to get married is wrong. However at least I have that option; Not so with my friends. Independence after all was based on large part to unjust taxation (remember boston tea party?).

It is a very American thing to be appalled by this ruling and the federal constitution was crafted without the word GOD in it. It's meant to protect citizens from tyranny of the majority or minority (such as the king). After all there are legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government as a checks and balances. It is very sad that our society is so governed by religious views and revisionist thinking that they fail basic history/civics and rationalize their beliefs at a detriment of society. As an example; I still read articles where GOD was written into every state constitution and therefore we are a christian nation. How can one rationalize a freedom of religion in our Federal Constitution?

The United States already fought a Civil War over slavery which was a State Issue. The idea that marriage can cause strife from the "right wing" is treason. After all it's only a choice or "right" if that option exists. In conclusion I am thankful I will never live in California... The idea that a ballot initiative can overturn/enforce a legal issue is so nauseating that I wonder if the majority in that state will ever define religion as only that of christian/mormon denominations...

In the Heights

2009-05-25T13:30:00.002-04:00

Do not miss the In The Heights - Chasing Broadway Dreams on Wednesday, May 27 at 8 p.m. Specifically channel 13 in nyc. What you might want to catch up on is the web series on youtube from usnav. The guest stars are worth the few minutes even if you do not enjoy it and the odd reference of Camp which I saw when I was in a film festival. Anywhere here's a link for the first episode and one clip I like:

I really love Allison Janney.

2009-05-23T03:18:00.003-04:00

Seems I am oddly the only person not anticipating the release of Terminator Salvation. Christian Bale is an excellent actor but just like "The Dark Knight" which I found overly long and didn't have enough time to fit everything just right. The theatre will mostly be packed even after a month of release just like The Dark Knight. It's just something missing.

The thing is I can't go with the whole Terminator Salvation storyline. Not to say there cannot be resistance after a nuclear holocaust... but let's be realistic. You can maybe make some guns underground but to actual produce any weapons to damage terminators like the first movie... you need an industrial complex and resources which there won't be. The machines after all won't have a blackmarket for you to get anything.

The explosions will be spectacular but when I saw that oil tanker exploding in the previews over the massive terminator... It jumped the shark in believability.

Were the world mine

2009-05-21T00:21:00.003-04:00

is not so good on the small screen... Some movies or performances I should say just do not translate into the small screen for some reason. I manage to see it at a friends house early but it just wasn't the same. I am still hoping my dvd will be somewhat different so maybe I'll be surprised.

I caught Glee because someone recorded it but it did not flow as well as I hoped. Maybe it was over expectations once again but the story telling and background story is somewhat dull and uninspired.

I think I will have to blame this on rock of ages productions. The episode 8 was amazingly funny and worked well in every regards. I always like the references of scooby doo, title of show, doogie howser, dr. horribles singalong, and of course sWing awakening. Check out the episode 7 reprise and the excellently executed episode 8.

the blooper reel:

2009-05-20T08:20:00.002-04:00

really odd. I installed a virus scanner (avira) that is low load and once I use it with say vlc media player or acrobat reader the memory and cpu spike so high that the tablet functions got disabled. The usb dialog will pop-up near the traybar periodically saying it detected a device that has an error and the touchscreen is basically dead.

Anyone know a fix? I had to re-enable the swap drive and remove the virus scanner to get it working properly. The readyboost has really poor performance.

Things that just happened...

2009-05-19T23:25:00.003-04:00

A few strange things have been happening that I thought was odd.

1) I went to H&M in 34th street at around 7pm and I saw two police officers with two asians? in handcuffs walking out near the escalators. I have never seen this happen before.

2) I saw the collapse at the Hong Kong Supermarket at Pike St. and East Broadway on Saturday. I oddly wished I had my slr to take some pictures and was planning to come back to take some pictures but I never got the chance. Fortunately someone else did at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ritzphotos/ They closed off such a large area...

3) I found out someone I kinda know was in gay porn. They do exist.

4) I walked from columbia university to atlantic avenue and I was fine till I sat down.

The problem with opendns.com

2009-05-17T00:10:00.002-04:00

I had to ditch opendns.com once again as my dns name server. It previously had to do with speed but I was willing to overlook it for some statistical information on dns queries and what domains was requested. Good way to snoop on what people in your private network is doing but since it is just me... the appeal is just not there. I was initially excited with blocking categories but it turned out to be a huge joke. Yes people voting on domains so you can block their category is useful but it's about as useful as their phishing protection. More times than I can remember; firefox blocked more domains on their voting list than opendns did. There's also the major problem of no one voting for domains which quite frankly there should be more than one person after a domain has been added for over a week which is often not the case. Then there are those that vote based on religious and political beliefs. Ruins the whole system and I blame the staff for not just deleting the users after finding a pattern but I guess it's becoming a lot like wikipedia.

Anyway the final straw came from the very annoying flash lag. It will frequently freeze my firefox and periodic nonloading of requests was a bit too much but I held in there for 2 weeks. I suppose I might go back to do some statistics when I open my wireless network more but I could not have my visitors annoyed by the slowness issue. That would reflect badly upon me.

So basically my name servers are back to 4.2.2.1-4.2.2.6. They always performed better than the default verizon dsl name servers which had started handing out name suggestions on bad domains. I still use dns-o-matic which is a opendns.com service. That now is one very useful service and I recommend that to everyone who wants to manage dyanmic ips with host names.

2009-05-15T00:00:00.002-04:00

Check it:

I have not seen an asian sing with guitar in a very long time if ever since I cannot recall. Hoping him success.

New York City has Soft Water

2009-05-12T01:22:00.007-04:00

Dunno if I ever found the answer but forgot but I just saw a commercial about a hard water cleaner so I did an internet search. Hopefully the answer hasn't changed since 2003 but this pdf at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstat03.pdf answers the question quite well.

Here's some quotes in case you do not have a pdf reader:

Q: Is New York City's water "hard"?
A: Hardness is a measure of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water. The calcium and magnesium in the water ("soft" water), the easier it is to create lather and suds. Depending upon location, the hardness can be 1.0 grain/gallon (CaCO3) for the catskill/Delaware System, and 5 grains/gallon for the Croton System. New York City's water is predominantly "soft."

I suppose from this explanation nullifies an answer online that suggests pipes will change the hardness of the water. This should apply to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island but the term "predominantly" used is confusing.

I like this test at http://homerepair.about.com/od/plumbingrepair/ss/testhardwater_2.htm. I definately have soft water.

Handwashing my clothes

2009-05-10T01:36:00.007-04:00

I have been recently washing my clothes by hand. Just my shirts (neck and wrists) because I generally wear cheap t-shirts. I am not sure why I have not tried earlier since my parents been doing it before I was born; but I am getting pretty good results. A lot of clothes I have simply dulled beyond belief and alot of yellowing on the wrist area and neck... this is probably my fault because I really can't wash my clothes after just one wear with no sweating. So basically I guess they have been yellowing while in storage because I would think I would never leave it that yellow otherwise.

At first I was internet searching for some hand powered tools to make things easier like the Hand Powered Portable Washing Machine which is basically a plastic barrel with a very cheap plastic base. Watch this video:

I was laughing so hard even though the review was favorable because the stand was jerking all around and I can quite easily tell it would break in a few uses. Regardless from the video it was just turning it a few times and there was some pitch about pressure but the guy said on the youtube video that if you turn the screw to seal off the barrel on top; that it might actually go through.... (what?)

Anyway I do not see much difference between buying a large protein powder canister (5 pounds?) and just putting a clothing inside and just use my leg rolling it back and forth or even just shaking it by hand for a few seconds which is just as effective as hand cranking that plastic barrel a few turns. The reviews are somewhat mixed as well in how clean it gets clothing.

However my week experience has made me an expert and from the global knowledge of the internet at my disposal I came into the following pointers that might be interesting to everyone and even myself should I get bored with it and want to give it try later in my life.

1. Do not use too much laundry detergent or you will spend large amounts of time rinsing it out.
2. Do not try to use dish washing liquid as it may contain bleach. Some have reported using it with no problems but while the dish washing liquid may not "bleach" your clothes. Bleach will eventual wear out your clothes causing holes to appear easier.
3. Shampoo is a possible alternative in a pinch but baby shampoo or clarifying shampoo is the best bet since they hypothetically contain less chemicals.
4. Woolite is not the best detergent to hand wash as their ingredients are actually quite harsh. Ivory Snow is also not entirely compose of soap flakes nowadays. Simple castile soap may be better when laundry detergent is not available.
5. Pretreating by applying laundry detergent in very diluted strength on the problem stains is helpful
6. Soak the clothing for an half hour is helpful.
5. Suds is very important so agitating the water is very helpful to cleaning.
6. Tough stains require the actual hand washing. Meaning you must rub the dirty spots together in the water for the suds to work into the area and out.
7. DO NOT TWIST or WRING the clothing.
8. By all means swoosh the clothing and knead the clothing by pushing or one hand squeezing.
9. Watch some youtube videos about hand washing clothing for visual aide.

I seem to have a problem with rinsing which I guess results in more water use versus using a machine. However I am pretty confident I am removing more detergent hand rinsing than the machine is doing. The key again is not to use too much detergent and it will come down to experience. I am enjoying it so far. The main problem is actually the moisture from the drying since I leave it hanging in the bathroom and there is no ventilation there. I was thinking of a 400 dollar 3 in 1 air conditioner/dehumidifer otherwise mold is a problem. Hope that's helpful for anyone reading. Clothes will last longer and cleaner. I do not know if I will do underwear, socks or pants however.

Verizon Automatically updating DSL modem Firmware

2009-05-09T13:05:00.006-04:00

This is probably no special news to verizon users in the new york area. In fact I actually read this in the dslreports forums but I decided to replace my really old verizon westell modem (which is just a modem that predates the 2100). Why? The old modem model B90-36R516-01 is quite big compared to a 6100 (twice in size of the modem and power brick). Anyway after just one day of being connected online and set in bridge mode it had the annoying blink red internet light but functioning just fine. Imagine my surprise when I woke up today and saw the internet blinking green instead of the regular red and off.

Apparently in the middle of the night sometime when I wasn't using the internet the modem just upgraded the firmware to "Proline DSL Model" with the trademarked verizon logo with red theme. Firmware at 4.04.03.00 and Transceiver Revision at 7.2.3.0. Fortunately the new firmware automatically connects to the internet with the handle "newdsl" (what's the password?) so I was able to find the details of setting it to bridge mode in the new interface.

For future reference the information I would need is:
login: admin
password: password
ip: 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.0
walled garden: 192.168.1.1/verizon/redirect.hml

The walled garden is a forced registration screen that might come up. This is similar to why I dumped a netgear router wg614 because it wouldn't allow me to setup anything until it detected a WAN connection. Incredibly annoying. For the netgear situation it was 192.168.1.1/CA_HiddenPage.htm to disable the wizard.

Rock of Ages Productions - Youtube edition

2009-05-06T01:16:00.003-04:00

In continuing my broadway series on youtube. ROCK OF AGES. A wonderful broadway show which I saw and fortunately they also have a youtube channel. The main show account provides some amusing backstage shorts likes this one:

However the most enjoyable is the creative juices behind rock of ages productions.
Here's the first of 7 that has aired.

The seventh episode is the best with special guest stars of a show now off broadway but still on tour that is just amazing. I will go into that next post.

Myspace Cancellation Spam

2009-05-03T12:25:00.011-04:00

Feeling more annoyed than usual probably from the rain today. Not too long after cancelling my myspace account; I have been getting numerous spam like daily from greatbirdsite.com, titaniumnetworksllc.com, visitsee.com, hesayyes.com, bestsitemap.com, isuperform.com, internetsalesdata.com, hotclickbank.com and visitsee.com, cckmm018.com, and internetaccessonline.com to my yahoo account. Why am I making this baseless accusation? Well this email was used exclusively for myspace believe it or not and I've not given this email for over 3 years under any circumstances as I've now used gmail since their spam filters are amazing.

If there was an easier way of marking them as spam when I get them over popmail it would be great but since they do not have that function unlike gmail imap which is configurable in thunderbird; I am stuck logging in daily to mark it as spam. This has been going on for a week. Myspace.com sucks.

I have tried contacting yahoo.com but they are particularly unhelpful since I only have the enable spam option which is already enabled. They actually have the nerve to ask me to contact the isp of the spam messages by the "Received" line of the full internet headers. I WOULD NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM IF THEIR MARK SPAM WORKS! Is it so impossible to understand??? Basically i've been forwarding them daily(and marking them as spam) to mail abuse and asking them to enable some option to send all messages to spam if they are not from my contacts list... Here's hoping for some solution before I remove their smtp/pop account from my email client.

Update: The only solution seems to be go back to classic version of yahoo and block the domains so it doesn't reach your inbox. Mark spam doesn't work and yahoo does not care at all. Very disappointed.

This is block domain email spam list:
wonkwonkrs.com
wonkwonkfive.com
bestsitemap.com
visitsee.com
greatbirdsite.com
titaniumnetworksllc.com
hesayyes.com
isuperform.com
internetsalesdata.com
hotclickbank.com
cckmm018.com
internetaccessonline.com
lovejustright.com
bestfindfree.com

Verizon DSL unblocked port 80?

2009-05-02T13:37:00.002-04:00

I had pretty given up on setting up a web server really on my verizon dsl in new york because they have been blocking it since code red virus which is like over 7 years? I did setup dynamic ip hosting with port forwarding for some demonstrations but imagine my surprise when I read a forum post in dslreports.com that someone mentioned that verizon was slowly removing the port 80 block.

It's UNBLOCKED!!! I can not seem to find any internet searches that verified my outcome but than it could also because of my recent phone problems where a telephone repair man said I had a short and would get the Central Office to change my circuit.

Great news right? Too bad they block the smtp port 25 but I thought this was a worthy of a blog post since I'm so excited.

Interesting Scam

2009-04-28T10:37:00.003-04:00

Hello,

My name is Jonathan Domshos, the Marketing Director of World Shipping Inc., I`m here to inform you that you are the lucky winner of the 2009 mail lottery from "World Fitness Enterprise". For this 2009 lottery the "World Fitness Enterprise" gives away 10 brand new
2009 Nissan Altima and you are one of the lucky winners. Please visit our website in order to claim your prize and receive all the information on how to pick up your car.

Note: "You must be over 18 to be eligible for the pickup. Also you will have to answer a few questions in order to receive your prise.
Please not we may ask you to prove your over 18. Got to our website and ask one of our support agent what you have to do in order to complete this steps."

When you talk to our support agent you must give them this verification code:

Very clever since it basically directs you to a worldwide shipping business http://word-shipping.org and you fit the large bill for delivery of something. Very interesting but this email corrects the previous email where it was a 2004 Nissan Altima. Funny how things work out.

I particular like the following email:

Mystery Shoppers is giving you a chance to get paid for shopping and dinning out. It offers a history of results providing services including - professional shopping services - which can increase your customer loyalty, improve your competitive positioning and increase your employee productivity.

Mystery Shopper have assisted many multisided retail and service industry companies in motivating their employees to improve service performance, resulting in elevated gross sales, reduced overhead and increased profits.

By combining your specific objectives, our field experience gathering customer service data through surveys, unannounced service evaluations, (Mystery Shopping), and "real-time" reporting solutions. We are currently recruiting people in your area to help evaluate some company and retail outlets which will be made known to you when you are our staff fully.

Examples of details you would be reporting to us are:

1) Smartness of the attendant
2) How long it took to get services
3) Customer service professionalism

Your Identity would be kept confidential (Mystery shopper) you would be paid $300 for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance.

FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP-CODE:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
MOBILE NUMBER:
OCCUPATION:
EMAIL:

NB: Your contact detail will be used in sending you a check payment that will consist of your $300 payment and the funds for the evaluation/shopping, so make sure you provide us with a valid data.

We care and we share. We will be expecting to hear from you Mystery Shopper www.mysteryshop.org © MSPA, 2009

I really like the identity theft by replying to the yahoo account of this sender but mysteryshop.org is such a scam anyway. All mystery shoppers are employees of the company they mystery shop for.

Swine Flu Blues - Broadway Series

2009-04-27T17:55:00.004-04:00

With the threat of a pandemic and the recent news of swine flu in New York; I am stuck at home for at least the next few days. I usually would take walks around the city but there's too many people so I will have to settle for my lovely area around my home. Since I am bored I wanted to make people aware of some wonderful videos on youtube. I am a huge broadway fan. This includes off broadway and whatever is affordable that's listed on the village voice so I am always giddy when I see broadway themed movies on youtube. I should begin with a series called broadway on youtube but let's start with my favorite. The previous broadway show "The [title of show] Show". Here's their website and youtube channel.

Here's my favorite's:

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio - Loud

2009-04-25T01:14:00.006-04:00

Loud isn't a good word. I should say very nosiey. My initial internet search proved quite accurate to say the least because the experience was like being in a room with the microphone turned up too loud. Which happend actually. I went in around 7:45 and because of the type of music which will be playing; they set up some seats before the stage and everyone was subject to feedback sounds which was not pleasant but oddly eerie. I am sure it would be quite enjoyable if I was drunk or at least a drink in me but I did not want to get alcohol.

After being stuck with that audio feedback for an hour; the show started at around 8:45pm which I was a little thrilled. In fact Lou Reed voiced a few words(fire, living fire) but the high volume feedback and audio distortion made it unbearable. I kept hearing him signal to the sound man on the back, top area to go up and the volume indeed was too much for a few people because they just left never to be seen again. Industrial music is a great term for my experience because I had to put my hand on one of my ears because the noise really hurt. It was funny to see The sax person and the line processing guy with long hair get into it a little with the sterotypical head jerking and sax jerking but there was just no break from the electronic sludge... I mean seriously 45 minutes and no stop at all. On a side note the saxaphone actually started to sound better but the line processing and feedback was too much. You couldn't even see much of Lou Reed who was center seated behind some stuff which blocked his torso area which just happens to be where he would be playing the guitar.

In conclusion I left at around 9:30pm very disappointed. I am not sure how many people actually paid for the show because the guest list was actually pretty large though I know a few came just because of Lou Reed who probably never heard of his Metal Machine Music Album before. I am thinking the music would be great as an art exhibit or even a backdrop to some art piece with a woman walking around with a bat breaking up car windows... lol. Anyway I was talking to my friend and I thought it would be great to hear it while very lightly stoned cause it will probably give you some vivid thoughts but be sure to have someone with you. My friend said he took a nap and believed he heard the devil so he's going to hell or something... Weird right?

Here's a picture of the stamp at the Gramercy Theatre:
It's smudge cause I washed my hands a few time. Will probably go again but maybe bring an slr because no flash photography makes automatic cameras poor choices.

Edit: found a review: http://www.spin.com/articles/lou-reed-unleashes-metal-machine-music-nyc but our performance had an extra sax person who was a friend of Lou Reeds. These reviews always disappoints from my actual experience and I wonder if this really helps a magazine when it's not helpful critique but I suppose without a good review; they alienate the talent... Double edge sword.

Metal Machine Trio - WTF?

2009-04-23T13:39:00.002-04:00

Ok it's kinda weird but I got a hold of some Metal Machine Trio Tickets for free for their two day show in Gramercy Theatre and I always have to do a internet search and all it came back was like feedback... What the hell is with the instrumentals...

Never been to a show where there's no lyrics so I'm a little confused about the venue. I can only assume we would be standing and standing and listening to electronic instrumental music without lyrics seem odd... Youtube didn't come up with any videos but what audio type videos were not flattering.

Anyway if you do not see another post about this I did not go but it would be interesting to just go and see what's going on. I cannot see this show being sold out based on the music currently available...

Teabagging Republicans

2009-04-15T22:10:00.005-04:00

Well today was the most embarassing display of a protest by the conservatives/republicans and if it wasn't so hilarious I would be quite annoyed. Yes let's shrink big government when it's not convenient but by all means bankrupt the government by passing entitlements like medicare and wars in the middle east. It's socialism when the rich gets taxed but it's ok to pay social security benefits and provide medical assistance to the currently retired. Old people are really selfish. Unfortunately I was in a restaurant where some very vocal old senile men was making disparaging remarks about President Obama as if they have any solutions other than low taxes and deregulation. Right that's why the financial meltdown didn't happened.

Argggghhhhh. I hate how people can be educated but care only about their own interest or worst; the uneducated who care nothing to improve their outlook beyond anything that contradicts their beliefs. Coincidentally there was way too much coverage for the new archbishop in new york. I think that is unnecessary along with the large amount of school closings for jewish holidays in nyc to be fair.

Why is Cupid 2009 still on the air?

2009-04-14T23:03:00.002-04:00

I watched Cupid the tv series last week and it was pretty horrible. Today I catched a few minutes and it is worst to the point of intolerable... I finally tracked down the series which I remember watching previously that had similar plots and guess what? It was called "CUPID" in 1998. The difference between the old series and this new series is HUGE. Everything clicked in the old series and I was disappointed when it no longer aired but I do not have the same opinion for this new series.

The only disappointment is that the creator is the same so it's intened as a remake but where's the dvd release for the old one? Can't wait for it because it was great.

The Rock of Ages does rock it

2009-04-14T01:06:00.012-04:00

The show was very enjoyable.

Easter Sunday Shopping

2009-04-12T12:32:00.004-04:00

Going to do some more shopping today. Yesterday I went to Kohls and used a 15 percent off and a 5 dollar coupon on a 7 dollar and 60 cent shirt. What a bargain. Unfortunately they did not apply the 15 percent first in order. Their shopping system deducted it after the 5 dollar off which I thought was pretty neat so you do not have to waste time worrying about giving it in order like some other stores which has these stackable coupons. Basically the 15 percent off was 33 cents and I ended up paying close to 2 dollars for it.

I also got another 75 off 100 coupon from old navy. I already have about 2 months of underwear because initially it was 4 for 12 dollars and than they had clearance last week for 2.99 each... That and socks was the only thing that I got however with a 75 off 100 the leather sandals for 20 off seems like a great deal.

Marshalls have been a bummer the last three weeks and everything in their clearance section was bare or just not worth the discount. You see a few torn up clothes for 5 dollars and I am thinking... who actually buys this? Weird.

Miracle Potting Soil has worms

2009-04-11T00:26:00.002-04:00

Imagine my surprise. To be fair I bought the Miracle Potting Soil for Fruits and Vegetables. Probably not the smartest thing I did but I used it to my houseplants which is why I know. I completely cleaned my Peace Lilly of most of the dirt and put it in a pot. As I started to change my potting soil today I noticed them. I was a bit alarmed... If it was in a garden I might be happy but not when it's a houseplant where they are not necessary.

IDT Energy Scammer in Brooklyn

2009-04-10T17:07:00.002-04:00

Received a knock on the door with some guy dressed in a very unfitted suit with IDT badge around his neck asking if I wanted to save money on my energy bill. I suppose this is better than someone dressed like a utility worker with a fake badge. First thing I said was I was not interested

what's the point of expotv.com?

2009-04-08T23:36:00.004-04:00

I was thinking of a cheap pair of leather sandals and old navy seems like a good idea because with a discount it would only be 10 dollars. The problem is I bought the cheap 2 dollar or so plastic sandals that really sucked. Imagine my surprise when a search brought up a video from expotv.com. What a ridiculous piece of garbage coming out of these people. Last time I couldn't even walk a full block around the block without being in pain let alone 3 miles... Also plastic straps are not comfortable and these stupid slippers break. Mines did but than it could be because I am a man and these old navy sandals are very thin and no cushion. Kept slapping me on the back of the feet as I walk. However to my dismay some guy also gave it 5 stars.

So anyway. Just another rant for a stupid website that is absolutely no help at all.

Rock of Ages

2009-04-07T23:12:00.002-04:00

I decided to pick up my rock of ages tickets at the theatre at around 6:50pm and I was like wow. Why is there like a press thing going on cause you have a bunch of photographers with people handling the lines. I didn't know what was going on so I left because I had a few days to pick my tickets up. Don't quite know what's the difference between between opening day with the fact they already began performances a month ago...? I dunno. One of these days I'm going to grab someone in theater and ask them what it's all about.

What is the deal with Old Navy Boxers?

2009-04-07T02:54:00.004-04:00

Old Navy is having a sale on Old Navy Boxers. 2.99 dollars for various prints and sizes. My problem is I brought the medium which is for 32-34 and I am a 33 waist(though I can pull off 32) but it was way too big. Maybe I have skinny legs or butt because I than went to get a small and it fit perfectly. I think I have a regular body but their small is 28-30 inch... Anyone else have this problem. This is a 2-3 inch difference in comfort and I cannot believe people wear their boxers that loose if I follow their sizing at my 32 waist for medium. I had purchased their 3 pack boxer briefs in medium and I can say that it was a little bit too tight at the bottom which further infuriates me because if anything the medium should be fit just right.

Silly you think but I had a discount and it's not fun buying alot only to have to exchange it. Very disappointed because obviously you shouldn't return the one you tried out... or could you? NO NO. please don't.

The Bodies Exhibition - Seaport

2009-04-07T02:03:00.002-04:00

This was a very rainy day but relatively stopped by 6:30. I have not been to seaport in a very long time. The last time I was there Structure was there along with sharper image (now express men, restaurant). Ironically abercrombie and fitch store is still around even though I never understand why they kept those wooden shades all over the store...

Very warm day and I somewhat enjoyed my experience. Mary Roach was there for the book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex and I did not exactly follow some of her jokes... A very few people took pictures and there was an authorized recording of the event which always puzzle me because I've never found any recordings of book signings that I have been in.

After she was finished talking at the podium and people was lining up for the autographs I went into the exhibit only to be asked for coat check because I had one of those long cane umbrellas and a somewhat oversize bag. Which was a good thing because I wore a coat overestimating how cold it was and sweating like a pig. The whole exhibit did take me around 2 hours mainly because I went about reading all the plaques even the projects on the wall (which I do not quite get). I didn't really bother asking some of the volunteers? with white lab coats that was helping people understand some of the exhibit. Each room had it's own separate body in various poses. At the first room I was a little uncomfortable but after the second room I felt better. Each room details specific areas like digestion, metabolism, reproduction. The last few rooms were the most interesting. There was a room of infants and various embryo/stages of pregnancy. There was a room with veins, blood vessels, arteries which was the most colorful of the exhibit. The last 2 rooms were the bodies cut up in sections to show how it would look in an mri and some various diseases with some genetialia for good measure. As I was exiting I had to ask one of the lab coat person sitting by the volunteer table where there was a body that showcased various surgical implants. I was like what's the story with that? How did this asian get such expensive implants on him because it was alot like joint replacement, cranium surgery and the guy was like it done after his death.

I did not sit down to leave my comments because it was already about 9:15. I probably left alot out like how some rooms have one preservation but the skeleton removed into a pose to distinguish how the organs, etc is without the bone. Was definately interesting and worth going with someone whom you can't figure what else to talk about.

I won A ticket to Bodies: The Exhibition

2009-04-03T02:10:00.002-04:00

I vaguely remember entering this contest on the village voice website and got called about the good news. Unfortunately I realized it's only on for that day (which is a bit inconvenient) and for 1 ticket. The time being 7pm to 10pm is also a little weird because it normally closes at 7pm from their website but they have a special book signing featuring Mary Roach. I think I would go but from the website they do not allow cameras into the exhibition.

I have a real issue with events prohibiting photography or video recording. Simply because a human being has no way of remembering much of their visit except maybe they were there after a time. I have half a mind to sneak in a hidden video recorder and film my experience but I'll have to settle for this short rant. It really becomes what's the point? but I am just old and my memory is poor...

Frontline - Health Insurance

2009-03-31T21:22:00.004-04:00

Wow. what an eye opener. I am only 22 minutes in and I am scared shitless. Fortunately I am well aware of new york city health insurance companies and policies. For example in NYC it is only a 6 month preexisting condition and they cannot reject you for insurance for any preexisting which I could only assume is for the rest of the states. However it is ridiculous that it's allowable any health insurance can permit 18 month preexisting before coverage with a 600 dollar a month policy till it will cover you. OMG.

I will never leave NYC now because how can you have such backward states and where are these politicans doing for their citizens in these cities. If there's no universal health care in 10 years I will immigrant to one that has it. I cannot see myself losing everything to one health crisis... RIDICULOUS.

BTW. our politicians get the best coverage of all. So now you know why they don't care about your welfare because nomatter what happens they will always have better coverage than you can ever get.

Mysterious case of Polyester

2009-03-30T22:07:00.008-04:00

As the summer approaches I spent the last few weeks shopping at Marshalls for some activewear. The last few summers have been brutal and I was hoping some new activewear would help until I started searching for the phrase "hot weather fabric" and I somehow hit into a snag.

It is kinda weird because all the guides for snowboards or athletic wear have polyester as the recommended base layer for breathe ability and wicking. All the under armour is basically polyester so I am thinking the recommended natural fibers like cotton is a joke because I have worn cotton in orlando and it's ridiculously uncomforable.

Even more confusing as I went through the various links seem to confirm and contradict. So based on what I read I came to a few conclusions:

1) Cotton is "natures" most breathable fabric. However sweat will soak into cotton and when wet it will cling to your skin causing it to increase heat buildup. Lightweight is better like that of underwear but regular t-shirts (NOT to be confused with lightweight short sleeve shirts) can be quite thick/heavy. Avoid sweats in summer.
2) Fabric's ability to breathe is now engineered into the weave of the clothing. So the fabric description on the tag is not that important as even microfiber can be labeled 100 percent polyester. So if it's polyester make sure it's intended for the right weather.

Some caveats with polyester is that in a fire... not a good thing to be wearing polyester as it will basically melt on your skin... ohhh.

So hopefully this helps some people because it was annoying to read some idiot screaming no polyester in the summer without going further into it. Though I have not seen much of any polyester clothing since at least the 1990's. Only high end excercise wear nowadays(where are these people buying their clothing from?). I actually found a short sleeve shirt that's made of modal and some spandex and it felt great. I guess the problems with all these breathable and wickable clothing is the sweat stains involved which just demonstrates their selling point but that can be a con that is not justifiable.

Excellent link Here. Feel free to add anything interesting.

Chimney Scam - Brooklyn, NY

2009-03-28T13:14:00.004-04:00

I have the most unpleasant wakeup call from some stupid woman trying to scam me into a chimney clean because allegedly the fire department have it on record it was not done for 40 dollars. WTF. I told her to stop calling or I would call the police and guess what she did after I hanged up. She called back?!

OMG. Who actually falls for this crap?

Hickory Bacon - The Grease

2009-03-27T11:54:00.003-04:00

I bought a Mr. Bar-B-Q Cast-Iron Ribbed Fajita Platter Set a while back which was unseasoned. I went through the trouble of seasoning it with canola oil only to have it fail extremely poorly. My own fault that I tried making eggs on it. The stickiness was ridiculous. I re-seasoned again and am going through the trouble of using bacon. Well after going through 3 pounds I realized that the grease I was dumping in the sink was a really bad thing to do because it clogs up the pipe. Really stupid right? I am not really a bacon fan at least not after eating some Tyson Hickory bacon. The package shows a lot of meat probably because only the bottom portion is showing but it's basically fat. A far cry from turkey bacon which I've had before.

Well if you manage to drop by this post the correct way is pour it into a used yogurt container or any plastic container that cannot be recyled and throw it away when it's full. You might also re-use it but let me tell you why I will not reuse fat again.

I went through the trouble of making simple chicken thighs in a Lodge Logic 3-Quart Pre-Seasoned Chicken Fryer which actually turned out pretty good. All the fat melted out revealing just the meat and it came off the bone. It tasted excellent. The trouble came after draining the oil in a bowl and into the refrigerator it went. It basically solidified with the yellow fat layer on top and a lower brownish gelatin on the bottom. I thought this would make great chicken stock for a soup... Boy am I stupid because I had to throw it away after eating just a little cause of all fat.

I can basically forget becoming a cook. I have no talent.

Openwrt Woes

2009-03-23T12:23:00.003-04:00

My router was giving me problems for the last month. I have a wrt54gs version 2 and it was working pretty well with openwrt 7.09 but the internet connection kept failing. Most often when the phone rings which I believe the wireless is buggy so not only does it cause my internet connection to reconnect it completely disables my wireless. Really nasty.

I was too lazy to go through the openwrt update to openwrt 8.09 because the webif interface would not accept the firmware. It did however accept dd-wrt. I find it works pretty well in the last 2 weeks. However it seems all these firmwares becomes progressively bad over the weeks particular with internet connection reliability and wireless. I hope to go back to openwrt because I am use to editing files when I connect through ftp, telnet, or ssh. DD-WRT is uneditable unless you setup jffs and it just seems a little weird even though it has a much friendly interface than the webif implementation in openwrt.

The only funny thing with dd-wrt is the dnsmasq and dhcp server implementation. There's no point to have both running when dnsmasq does both. However somewhere in the firmware it automatically grabs a resolve file which are the dns servers. Any good expert in internet connectivity will tell you that dns server is the most important because alot of isp dns servers are either bad(slow requests or failed requests) or to make some money divert your dns requests through their search engines (verizon dsl does this) or worst. After much time which was unusually long the resolve.dnsmasq file gets their servers from the web interface even if you disable it in the basic setup. Basically I had to enable dhcp server in basic setup and add my 2 static dns servers. Save it and than disable the dhcp server. Weird right?

However I realize reliability is the most important issue... If dd-wrt gives me weird problems I will migrate to tomato firmware and do with less flexibility.

Ultreo Toothbrush Bankrupt

2009-03-18T09:08:00.005-04:00

After using the Ultreo
sufficiently enough to write a review I find out the company is bankrupt which is probably why it discounted itself in december.

I am very disappointed in the news as the toothbrush and ultrasound really works. It has given me a clean that is quite noticable but requires some time to get use to since the directions calls for water for bubble action (which is difficult on the top teeth). Perhaps if it had made a better slimmer toothhead it would have been a better seller but with the economy as it is I am not too surprised.

Unfortunately this means I need to find another toothbrush to supplement my dental hygiene when my current one dies. I am tempted to buy some spares since the price is decent at the moment however since it did nothing to lessen the need for flossing I will pass and look for a better alternative. I am leaning to the Rota Dent but I would hate to have to find a dentist that sells it to get a lifetime warranty.

Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa

2009-03-17T13:06:00.002-04:00

Apparently there is a huge difference between 70% and an Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate ( 3.5oz / 100g ). It's incredibly difficult to finish a 3.5oz bar. The more you know.

OMG - Automan

2009-03-15T16:48:00.002-04:00

Wow. A blast from the past. I do not remember a single episode of automan when I last saw it maybe at 2nd to 3rd grade which would make me around 9 years old but I remember the odd glowing ball and sharp lines that materialize into a car. It's been on my mind rarely when trying to go back into my past on what I actually spent watching on tv. Once again it just illuminates why no child should watch tv because it serves no real purpose.

NYC Stampede

2009-03-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

All because of America's Next Top Model. Ridiculous. Like any of the winners in any of these model contests ever got more than 5 minutes of fame.

Amazon Kindle 2

2009-03-10T23:51:00.008-04:00

So I'm watching Nightline on ABC channel 7 in brooklyn and they are talking about amazon and their CEO. Of course they mention Kindle2 and I'm forced to make a post about it because I actually saw this maybe 50 year old on the 4 subway train using it about a month ago. I admit it looks much better than kindle 1 but it still pales behind the Sony PRS-700 Reader Digital Book Portable eBook reader. Well of course it does not have the ability to download the New York Times which is why it's so popular.

However as someone with a small tablet computer smaller than a Lifebook T1010 it seems like a better way to go except for the glare. So now I'm wondering how many people actually have the kindle and carry a laptop along with a smartphone.

HIP Health Plan of New York - Bill Payments

2009-03-06T17:35:00.003-05:00

Very annoyed with HIP Health Plan of New York. The customer representatives in 55 Water Street are very incompetent to say the least. The training is awful especially when it comes to any plans other than direct monthly payments to them. So for example company group insurance plans, government health insurance plans, or Cobra. I know this because unfortunately I seem to be the one helping people with health insurance. In one particular case I went to help apply for New York State Insurance because of a qualifying event (a spouse was laid off and their household income was just below the qualifying amount) but the representative said they weren't sure she qualify because she no longer has a job even though I explain to her "HOUSEHOLD" and "qualifying event" in which case she just rushed us out with that barely 2 page (double sided) form. It infuriates me that this incompetent young african lady can't understand and help fill out the form because it does require information like previous insurance dates (with hip which they had the information) and the waiting room was completely empty. What a lazy incompetent ass lady. Anyway it was filled out and she was approved a month later which btw I do not know how people who can't speak english can navigate health insurance at all but than spanish speakers probably won't encounter much problems or people with medicare.

Now concerning bill pay. I setup bill pay and found out it takes 12 days for them to cash from the scheduled date which is long but it could just be citibank (citibank sucks btw and I would never use them for billpay). Anyway everything was going well because hip has a 30 day grace period but than a bill reminder letter arrives saying the bill was not paid 4 days after it was cashed. Of course a call reveals it's fine but it's just annoying that a large insurance company doesn't have more flexible payment options or send notices that are accurate as of the date. The deduct from checking is not friendly due to it's pull date (losing interest and the float).