Closure ...

Like Hannibal used to say “I love it when a plan comes together”. I had such a weekend.

A. I wrapped up a magazine I’ve been working on for the last few weeks at home – she’s gone to press. I can finally have a few early nights!

B. I fully completed the installation for my end for the WLAN. I rang the “clients” up, but no one was home so I left a message – it’s up to them now when to install their end.

C. I have finally fitted one of the spanking new sporty race-syle seat into my Mini!! I’ve only had them for about 10 months collecting dust whist other tasks took precedence. I also cut brackets to fit the passenger seat, but thought I’d get one right before proceeding with the second. Luckily I did, because I had to change plan part way thru, as it wouldn’t have slid back far enough for my gangly legs. It’s also makes me sit a bit high, with only an inch or so between my head and the roof lining. This position makes the Mini feel even smaller looking over the bonnet, as well as seemingly top heavy, and my rear view mirror is now in the way on left hand corners, so I intend to lower the back mounts an inch or so maybe next weekend, and then they should be right.

Well, that was the weekend. Now it’s Monday. Back to the factory …

Virus alert !!! ?

I got this warning as an email - actually two seperate threats mentioned (not confirmed, could be a hoax? - I could not find mention on the McAfee site with a quick look) .
As I didn't want to spam everyone ...

PLEASE INFORM EVERYONE
Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it!
If you get an email along the lines of "Osama Bin Laden Captured" or "Osama Hanged" don't open the attachment.
This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe,
but mainly in the US and Israel.
Be considerate & send this warning to whomever you know.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:
You should be alert during the next days:
Do not open any message with an attached filed called "Invitation" regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer.
This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts.

It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it. If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately.
This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

Taboo - Religion

I'm not a 'religious' man of any fixed persuasion - not in the institutionalised "church" or sect sense, perhaps in an earthly spirit way, like the concept of "Gaia". Only recently I've been reading "Relelation", drawn to it I guess to see if there was something relative to the current global situation I could gleen. Well, I found this ...

Revelation 3:7
'"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The Holy the True, the One who holds David's key who opens and no one shuts: who shuts and no one opens, says this:
8 "I know your doings. See, I have provided an opened door in front of you, one which no one is able to close; because while possessing little strength you have observed My Word and served have not renounced My name. 9 "Take note: I shall make those of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are instead imposters - indeed I shall make them come and bow at your feet and acknoledge that I have loved you. 10 Because you have observed the message of My endurance, I also shall preserve you from the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole inhabited world, to put to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may rob you of your crown. 12 As for the victor, I shall make him a pillar in the temple of My God; he will leave it nevermore. AndI shall inscribe on him the name of My God, the new Jerusalem that is coming down out of heaven from My God as well as My new name. Whoever has and ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'

Well, that took me back - imposter Jews from the synagogue of Satan! Could this be the same Jews who fill Aussie TV with "sit-coms", promoting promiscuity, same sex relationships, foul language and violence? The same Jews who control and own the majority of the world's media feeding us what they want us to believe?
I'd best be careful here after what recently happened to Mr Gibson. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I don't have an ear to let me hear what the Spirit says. Maybe it's the long bearded, long haired hat wearing ultra-orthodox Jews! After all, I heard men who wear beard have something to hide!
I hope no one takes offence to this post. I was just contemplating the alleged "Word of God". Maybe I've taken it out of context - let me know if your into it, but don't try to "convert" me.
Anyway, I'm off for a shave - I have nothing to hide.

“Smart Phones” looking pretty dumb …

So what’s better than the current generation of ‘Smart Phones” such as the the uber cool Motorola Razr V3x being pushed onto consumers by the telcos at present?
Considering the V3x currently retails for around $750 AU outright, for an extra hundred or two, you can get a whole lot more!

How ‘bout a “Swiss army knife” of converged devices which fit’s in your pocket. I’ve been searching for such a device for over 12 months. A PDA phone with built in GPS running Windows Mobile 5.0 software on it’s interactive touch screen. Able to access your PC LAN, internet & email, or even make VOIP calls thu it’s built in Wi-Fi, read or create documents in popular MS apps, take a photo or video with the 2MP camera and play them back. Relax and tune into your fav FM station or choose a song from your MP3 playlist, or perhaps play a game. There are now a few of these devices around.
The first was probably the corporate aimed “Blackberry”, which didn’t really have everything I was after. The O2 range came close, but only a low res camera. Over priced on release and they haven’t come down much.
The HP IPAQ 6820 caught my eye, being the first such device prices sub $1000 AU, but doesn’t have GPS out of the box, and according to reviews, the camera quality is somewhat ordinary. I tried this device out for 40 mins or so at a local department store and was pretty impressed by it’s intuitiveness. Just like using Win XP only smaller!
The latest gadget I’m drooling over and started researching is the ETEN G500 http://www.etencorp.com/products/Communication/G500.php. It does everything the HP does (only a 1.3MP camera) plus built in GPS AND it looks WAY COOL!! About the only thing missing I can think of and could be possible, aside from access to the 3G network which both lack, is the ability to program in all the remote controls lying about the couch. Now THAT would be cool.

Other similar devices worth researching:
The Toshiba e830
Sharp W-Zero3 PDA phone Features slide out keyboard.
Imate Kjam SPV M500 – small form factor with slide out keyboard. Nice!
The Samsung SPH-H1000
Nokia N93 More a verstatile smart phone running Symbian software, wrapped around a high quality 3.2MP still/video camera. Impressive if a good camera is your priority.
Samsung XU50 – with 5MP camera!
Sony K920 – a very big phone, or a compact laptop!
http://www.dualcor.com Almost a laptop, almost a phone. Great combo device with larger screen size, making for a larger product. 2 processors run Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows XP media, giving it more versatility and features, if you don’t mind the larger form factor.

If you know of, or could reccommend any other similar devices – add them in the comments … Cheers!

Another weekend gone ..

A fairly productive yet almost uneventful weekend. Made up the Coax cables for the WLAN now I've finished off the antenna's, only to discover I didn’t have the right sized RP-TNC plug to fit my Access Point/Router, so was unable to get it all hooked up, but acquired two (one a spare) this morning (Monday) before work.

Sometime Saturday afternoon, the Broadband connection dropped out. I had a bit of a look Sat evening, but couldn’t find anything wrong my end, so headed off to bed in the hope it would come back in the morning. No such luck. After over an hour on the phone with iinet trouble shooting my setup, it was decided the fault lay at the exchange. I was informed it would probably be out until Tuesday! So, it’s back to the trusty slowband dial-up in the meantime :(. Bad timing, as I’m wrapping up ads for a magazine which should go to press this Thursday.

Last week, I ordered a Pink Floyd DVD, “Live at Pompeii” from Chaos.com, on special for just $15! A search on the Floyd reveals a catalogue of their earlier work now available on CD for around $30 each. I can feel an order coming on about once a fortnight there!! Thanks Ray, that email you sent me could turn out to be rather expensive!!

PC Rebuild

After 11 days, I finally received some parts ordered from MSY Technologies. The courier, "Fast Way" by name, but certainly not by nature, had delivered it to the WRONG HOUSE!!! Lucky I have honest neighbours. So last week end was occupied with a PC rebuild onto 2 spanking 320Gig SATA drives. I was hoping to stripe them, only to discover my Mobo does not support RAID. I had many problems which slowed me down. To start with, I had keyboard troubles. I have a wireless Logitech, which accessed and functioned in the BIOS OK, but when the message "press any key to boot of CD" popped up, it wouldn't work!! Swapped over to standard perifs. Next, I managed to install a new operating system onto drive G, which would have caused problems down the track. Once drive letters were sorted, I loaded XP onto the other drive (now C:). But when I plugged my old drive in to retrieve settings & files, that kept booting up first!

Anyway, got it sorted eventually, and while things were taking their time loading, I finished off and installed my 1.5m omnidirectional WLAN antenna, and also built 2 "client" directional brick antenna's to set up a private wireless network around my neighbourhood. Hopefully this comming weekend I'll make up the cables and get it FINALLY up and running, then I can get back onto my Mini's interior - installing the fancy race seats & trim that have sat useless for 6 months ... or maybe not?

Casualty of war ...

"Ambulance? I thought the big red X's were the targets!"

Quotes to victory - use the force.

The best weapon is the one between you ears, always keep it loaded.
A lightsabre is not a weapon. It is a tool. YOU are the weapon.
Do or do not, there is no try.
Failure only comes when you allow it into your life.
Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.
Don't listen to him, he's stupid.
Don't turn your back on them unless they’re dead.
Beer is the path to the Darkside. Drinking leads to drunkenness, drunkenness leads to beer goggles, beer googles make it hard to shoot the enemy.
Old age and treachery far overcome youth and exuberance.
The meek shall inherit the galaxy, so lets trash it while we can.
Sometimes I push it to the edge…but I always make sure to have a little fun along the way.
The Way of Death is a knife edge between Light and Dark. It is beyond the last resort. When you walk the Way it MUST be because all else has failed. When you walk the Way, you must be still, as a marble statue; you must be calm and lacking of all emotion for to walk the Way is to tempt the Dark Side, but to walk the Way with emotion in your heart and confusion in your mind is to give yourself to the Dark Side.
The Dark Side feeds on your greed, anger, and your personal feelings of doubt. However, if you master the ability to control these feeling, the Light Side will be your ally until the day you leave this material world.
"Do not underestimate the dark side, yet do no not fear it. Fear is the sure way to find the dark side triumphing over you."What is the light without the darkness.
When the long dark night comes, return to the end of the beginning.
War is not about dying for your country. It's about making the other son of a btch die for his.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes an even bigger man to make him cry.
It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it only matters if I win or lose.
To be a winner, all you have to give is all that you have.
Trust the Force, and pass the ammunition
Wipe them out, all of them!
"The Jedi Knight knows the true way of defeating an opponent is not attack, but reaction. Those who understand how their opponent's thought process works can be unstoppable."
It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it only matters if I win or lose.

Communication, am I getting thru?

"What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
Some men, you just can’t reach.
So you get what we had here last week,
which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it.

I don’t like it any more than you do."

From “Cool Hand Luke” – starring Paul Newman.

Do you want to be reached?
I get the impression most folks don't.

Bargain buy headphones ...

Harvey Norman (Hobart) have Phillips SBC HP200 headphones on special for $9.95!! Were $39.95. I aquired a pair earlier in the week for work purposes. The bass response is excellent to say the least on these oversized "cans". Whilst they don't include a microphone, I would recommend them for your general audio pleasure, particularly at this BARGAIN price.

I was hunting for a pair of the smaller "Lazer" headphones with mic for the same price, of which I have two pairs and have found excellent value. the Mic is super sensitive, perfect for Messenger so long as you can eliminate feedback when using external speakers, but none were in stock.

In comparison, the sound produced by the Phillips cans is much better, especially those deep notes you feel, rather than listen too. Very happy :) Now, back to some INXS ... and work :(

All set to go!

The Official EDGE Blog on "Live Spaces" had a major upset with the application of a global upgrade. Fortunately no data was lost, but all page formatting was lost. It has now been reconfigured with a new look and direction - a blog for EDGE agents to retrieve information and interact. Website links updated.

This "Off the EDGE" Blogspot is now intended to be more general comment on other subjects. Who knows!! Tips, hints, software, hardware, random thoughts, general drivel and things that interest me and maybe you.

Nothing posted on this site should be taken personally or in a derogatory way. It is said "sarcasm is the wit of fools." Fools also start wars and usually begin with a difference of words. It should be remembered the Australian culture can be more uncultured than some, and it usually involves putting shyte on someone!

And for now, my words end ...

Greetings

For now, a test blog to see if it meets Edge Agents future needs.
If not suitable, I will utilise it as my personal blog spot.

EDGE official blog location: http://edgetas.spaces.live.com/

EDGE Homepage: edge.ne1.net

Cheers.