10-14-2006 Cruisetoberfest IV

[wendym]

Renee - must admit I keep hard copies of my photos too. So have an online album as well as an old fashioned one!
Well my laptop has arrived. Got that set up no problem and connected it to the internet via my broadband no problem - very happy with everything so far. THEN tonight I tried to get the wireless stuff set up. That's when I realised the wireless router that Dell recommended only supports an ethernet connection and of course my modem is a USB connection - ARGH! Knew this wasn't going to be easy so mum will just have to wait before she gets online!
Wendy

 

[piglet33]

Renee - must admit I keep hard copies of my photos too. So have an online album as well as an old fashioned one!
Well my laptop has arrived. Got that set up no problem and connected it to the internet via my broadband no problem - very happy with everything so far. THEN tonight I tried to get the wireless stuff set up. That's when I realised the wireless router that Dell recommended only supports an ethernet connection and of course my modem is a USB connection - ARGH! Knew this wasn't going to be easy so mum will just have to wait before she gets online!
Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I just bought a laptop from Dell today too. I was checking out their website and decided to finally buy it. I wound up getting a great deal (I think) on a Dell Inspiron 9300 Laptop and used a code from the gotapex.com website that saved me 40% ($959.60). They also have $30 off the shipping and handling fee so that only cost me $19. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive. I just love getting new toys!

Reneé

 

[wendym]

Renee- I am pleased with the laptop and while my deal was good unfortunately we don't get such great codes! Good luck when the new toy arrives!
Wendy

 

[Viking]

Didn't you mix something up, Wendy?: USB and ethernet are 'wire' connections, if you want to use wireless there is no physical connection between your notebook and your modem.
I have a combo of modem/WLAN-router near my telephone-socket. It's of course connected by an ethernet-cable to my DSL-port in the wall-socket, and then it has a cable for power supply. But from then on everything is wireless. I always have the WLAN-switch of my notebook set to 'ON'. First thing when we come home is to switch on the modem/router (It's right next to the entrance. Then I switch on my notebook and/or PC. It automatically hooks up to the modem/router.
For the first contact between it can be necessary to connect them with an ethernet-cable, but I didn't need. What caused trouble was one of the firewalls in my notebook. When setting up a wireless network for the first time the installation program automatically disables the WindowsXP-firewall (It will be set up automatically again later - no need to worry), but my Sony Notebook had a Norton firewall set up without me knowing about it. I nearly went ballistic until I discovered this. Everything was set up perfectly and nothing worked. But before trying it again the next day I checked the TaskManager and found that firewall working hidden in the background. I switched it off - and was online within seconds. Unfortuantely reactivating that firewall prevented me from going online again, so I simply removed it from my system.
Make sure that after everything works OK to encrypt your wireless network. There are people roaming the streets with laptops trying to break into unsecured WLAN. If you're lucky they only surf the web at your expense, if not they may break into your computer!!!

 

[Viking]

Today I learned of a great deal through my autoclub: When I purchase an AmericanExpressTravellerChequeCard through them I wll not only save the €20 activation fee, but when I load at least €300 onto it I will get another €50($62) as a bonus. The card is as good as cash, but fully insured. If I lose it it will be replaced within 24hours with the full amount of money on it. I can draw cash with at at most ATMs or use it to pay in shops. I can always load it up with additional money online. The €70 savings are nearly as much as my annual membership fee with my auto-club (€78).

 

[wendym]

Eric – great deal with American express – we have had something similar over here too.
The problem is starting with the wireless - for the first contact I seemingly need this ethernet cable. I have only gone through the process a couple of times in between marking etc! (Typical female, trying to do too many things at once.) Once I get it “hooked” up it wouldn’t be a problem. Seemingly it’s a common problem so I am waiting for Dell and/or the ISP provider to give me a solution. I’ll certainly make sure mine is encrypted – my laptop is already telling me about other wireless connections nearby.
Once I finish these next couple of essays (my classes are going to get it tomorrow – they are pretty poor attempts!) I’ll have a go without the cables.
Many thanks for the advice
Wendy

 

[papa]

Hi Wendy Hope that everyone is having a great day. Eric I sent you a link for the local paper that shows a man that collects cars. He and his wife are sitting in a 1959 Messerschmitt. I didn't know that they made autos after the war. Mike

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

Hi Wendy,

I just bought a laptop from Dell today too. I was checking out their website and decided to finally buy it. I wound up getting a great deal (I think) on a Dell Inspiron 9300 Laptop and used a code from the gotapex.com website that saved me 40% ($959.60). They also have $30 off the shipping and handling fee so that only cost me $19. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive. I just love getting new toys!

Reneé

Renee, that is the same one that we bought not too long ago! I LOVE it! I use it in the kitchen. I can fix dinner, look up recipes, watch TV in the familyroom and help with homework all at the same time! I'm a multi-tasking guru! Enjoy the new PC!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

What a really cute photo of Haley, Renee!!

Finally back online at work. They were installing a new virus protection software so we were in and out of our computers all day. Our email has been down for two days as well so just finished reading and printing out the first 27 emails. Haven't accomplished much today except fill my desk with stuff. In between reboots of the network and the finding of 4 viruses in the network the power went out in our building so the process had to be restarted.

Back to sorting my desk -- can't do it all tonight as have to go grocery shopping for the weekend so I'm just piling and it will be here tomorrow.

Take care everyone.

Fiona

 

[Twinave]

Hi Everyone!

Reneé, Thanks for asking about me and my sister. We missed the big one this time.

Eric, I hope Mary doen't find out you left her out of the original Cruise group. That's something she is very proud of.

Went back to work yesterday, (OMG )
Saw the surgeon today, he said one more week of no lifting.

Later,
Avé

 

[Viking]

Please don't tell on me, Ave
No lifting for a week? Does this mean you're only allowed to drink light beer?

 

[usetheforceluke]

All of this talk of computers reminded me that this weekend we'll be camping with a 'computer expert'. Last time we met him was at a planning meeting and he was telling us about his new custom-built computer, as he's a 'collector' of movies.

I listened long enough to hear him say it has 40 hard drives on the thing, and knowing him, they will probably be 200 gigabyte drives. That equates to some 8 terabytes of disk space. I'm not sure exactly why he needs this amount of space, but it'll probably give him enough space to store 7,000 to 8,000 movies.

My first question was how does he handle the heat generated, and did he have his house re-wired? He said it wasn't a problem, and it was right on the tip of my tongue to say "bull....".

One of my favourite tricks when we camp with this guy is I try to get him cranked up about his computer and then sort of ease away from him back to my cooking duties and let him bore other people around him.

Jim.

 

[Viking]

Jim,
you made my day as I always considered myself crazy because of my 2,000 movies Although mine are not on harddisks but on DVDs.
We have a similar guy at the office and we also always make fun at fests to bring him together with newbies, kick off one of his favourite topics and then disappear to get some drinks or snacks, but instead of returning sneak behind a corner and watch the newbies bleeding from their ears

 

[usetheforceluke]

Well, I'm known as a 'computer guy' for various reasons, and I seem to be the recipient of massive amounts of advice and commentary on computers and the IT world in general at times.

I just turn on the BS Filter and let it all flow right over me; it's a talent that I acquired/developed a number of years ago when I had to deal with a MIL from H... She thought I was nice... I didn't have a clue what she was saying 90% of the time.

With the 'computer expert', I can usually disrupt the conversation by saying I have an 800 megabyte hard drive in my computer. and he has to stop and consider what a 'megabyte' is. If that doesn't work, I wave a cooking tool in front of him and he usually finds something to do in another area of camp.

Jim.

 

[Viking]

Jim,
I still know what a megabyte is: My cellphone has 512 of them
I just recently said to a colleague that progress is incredible. My first real PC had 4MB of memory and a 340MB harddrive, that was eleven or twelve years ago. Now my cellphone has 7MB and another 512MB on a memorycard.

But back to topic: I also like to make fun of -that's what I call them- one-dimensional people It may not be PC, but it is funny

 

[Viking]

Michele,
today I read an article about the Avalanche. This is a really versatile car - R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Do you have the 5.3 or the 8.1liter-engine?
I like the convertible truckbed, but such a car would not be fun over here at $7 per gallon.
I asked a coworker to bring me an issue of Car & Driver, but instead of the regular monthly issue he got me a buyer's guide 'Trucks, SUV, and vans'. But that's also very interesting as more than half of those cars are not available over here.

 

[usetheforceluke]

My first real PC had 4MB

Mine was an IBM XT with a 10 megabyte hard drive on it. I don't remember the amount of RAM (probably some tiny, tiny amount) but I thought that the 10 meg HD would last forever.

I'm still using a DOS based program to keep all of my recipes in order. Old habits die hard I suppose.

Jim.

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

Michele,
today I read an article about the Avalanche. This is a really versatile car - R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Do you have the 5.3 or the 8.1liter-engine?
I like the convertible truckbed, but such a car would not be fun over here at $7 per gallon.
I asked a coworker to bring me an issue of Car & Driver, but instead of the regular monthly issue he got me a buyer's guide 'Trucks, SUV, and vans'. But that's also very interesting as more than half of those cars are not available over here.

It's the 5.3 liter. We have a chapter of the Fan Club in Germany. Mostly American Miliitary. I am not sure where they are located though. We really do love our AV. We have used as an SUV and as a long bed truck...just depends on what we need to haul. One thing that I wish they had done, was made the mid-gate a 70/30 split. Then we could haul long things and still have 2 seats in the back for the boys. When hauling long boards/tables, we loose the back seat all together. I also like how the new Honda Ridgeline has a storage compartment UNDER the truck bed floor and the tailgate opens both down or to the side. As I said before I think we will always have an AV!

 

[papa]

Eric I am decloaking to say that my first computer was a radio shack TRS-80. No hard drive, it used a cassette recorder. 4 megs of memory. Back to my Klingon stealth mode. Mike

 

[Twinave]

Eric, No problem doing 12 oz. curls.

Welcome to the Flower guy! Glad to have you with us.

Nancy, Loved the books. She is SO funny! Miss the NJ girl attitude.

Mike, I used a TRS-80 in my computer class in college. Loved it.

Fading fast, bed is calling. Surgery stinks.

Avé