Fixing Rhapsody

I recently had an issue where I was no longer able to download tracks from rhapsody (after reinstalling rhapsody as I couldn't get an upgrade to work at all). Luckily, rhapsody has a really good tech support "live chat" line which was able to help my solve the problem. So I'm going to document the steps I took here (as I had to do this to both of my computers...and one just did a normal update).

DISCLAIMER: I believe you will lose the DRM for any tracks you have downloaded (I'm not sure if this only applies to rhapsody..so be warned...but it doesn't bother me as I only use rhapsody). I highly recommend burning the tracks first (if at all possible).

Steps:

• First, verify you are set to download tracks first (duh...I of course did this before contacting support, but they mentioned it so I thought I would too as it must happen). Go to Tools -> Preferences --> My Library
• If you still can't download, do the following
  1. Close Rhapsody
  2. Click on windows button and click Run
  3. type %windir%\system32\ and click ok
  4. Find the mcs.rma file and delete it
• If you are still unable to download files, follow the steps outlined here --> Link. I had to do the one where you renamed the DRM folder (then magically I could download files again).
  

HTC PPC-6800

So, I've had the "new" HTC PPC-6800 from US Cellular for a while now and thought I'd give some things as to what I do and don't like about it.

Let's start with the good points:

• You can charge it with a computer via a standard usb cable. (Awesome for charging it at work without having to buy another power cord).
• Synching the phone's data with a computer. This is awesome.
• The sheer amount of programs (a lot free) available for windows mobile
• Comes with all kinds of adapters (usb & headphone splitter and a 2-usb splitter)
• Internet explorer mostly works (don't try to open really intense websites though as it will totally freeze your phone...same goes for really large word docs...or pasting from internet explorer into word).
• Very easy to sync with an exchange server for email and calendar.
• Decent camera (panaramic mode is really cool)
• Bubble Breaker is very addicting
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• You can use the phone as a modem for your computer...very cool...as long as you don't mind the connection speed.
  
• Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional
  

Now the bad points:

• Runs Windows Mobile. While not the greatest software, it still outweighs most of the competitors
• The splitter for headphones uses the small headphone jack (not a "normal" sized jack)
• Phone seems a bit sluggish at times
• Not really usable without a stylus (as far as the touchscreen). This is where the below Spb Mobile Shell comes in to save the day though (see below).
• The keypad takes some getting used to as there are not any "spaces" between the keys. It's really easy to hit the wrong keys with my fat fingers.
• When going to use live messenger, it makes you add all of your "contacts" from your hotmail account to your phone's contacts. VERY ANNOYING. I don't really want all of those in my phone, so I had to setup a new email account just to avoid adding all kinds of unneeded contacts to my phone's phone book.
  
• Price (I believe it's like $250).
• Doesn't come with a JVM already installed (which you pretty much have to have to run half the programs out there).
• Haven't heard of any plans by US Cellular to update to Windows Mobile 6.1. If they don't they may lose my business next time around though as this is pretty much a "free" update to Windows Mobile 6 users, but the way I understand it your service provider must still provide it to you (I think both Sprint and Verizon are updating their PPC-6800 based phones for their customers).
• Data transfer rate is relatively slow (I only get around 80 kb/s).
• Not enough program memory

Now the programs I recommend getting:

• KeyPass PPC (and the desktop version. I sync my password databases between the two). What I did for this is put the key file on the phone itself and the actual password database on the storage card. This way if the storage card is ever lost or stolen, there is pretty much no way anyone can open your passwords file.
• Spb Mobile Shell
• Spb Pocket Plus

All in all, I am very pleased with the phone and like it much better than the old Razr that I used to have.

Fun / Addicting Web Site

I recently found a new web site which is very fun named Crush or Flush. It's an interesting way to meet people and can be quite addicting. One of th best parts is being able to nicely view the site with your mobile phone. Below is a brief description of Crush or Flush:

Crush or Flush is a fun, safe, and easy way to meet people, chat, and stay in contact with friends using your cell phone or your computer (PC or Mac). Getting started is a no-brainer. First, upload your face pic, add a description, and create some tags that describe who you are (ex. booty shaking, being awesome, or kung fu master). Get creative, express yourself. Second, let us know if you are looking for a woman, a man (or both). That’s it, you’re profile is done and you can start Crushin’ and Flushin’ people.
You browse people by gender, age, location, and interest (tags). If you find someone you like ‘crush’ them. If not, ‘flush’ them. Don’t worry… they’ll never know you flushed them so no hard feelings. If you Crush someone and they Crush you back… that’s called a Mutual Crush. You’ll both get a text message letting you know that you both like each other. You can then text chat without giving up any of your personal info. No one ever gets your real name, cell phone number, or e-mail address. Later on, if you want to exchange digits on your own, that’s your deal. Ball’s always in your court.

Looking for an internship

Anyone looking for a college internship should checkout this post. It's an interesting way to locate some of the best internships.

Real Estate Jobs

Here's a link to an interesting post about locating real estate jobs and mortgage broker jobs. Check it out: Link

Still wasting money

Another example of our dear friends in congress wasting our money: This is a house resolution which has been introduced:

H.Res.1120 Supports the establishment of an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Championship playoff system in the interest of fairness and to bring parity to all NCAA teams.

Why does congress seem to like to worry about sporting events instead of..oh...say the economy, or gas prices....

Another video about business funding

Here's a link to another video about Merchant cash advances. Don't know why but this stuff is kind of interesting to me.

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v70433952NjNfBmA

Video about Small Business Funding

Check out this video about small business cash advance and credit funding. Kind of interesting.

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v70435116MaybRmD

My Firefox AddOns Part Redex

Just thought I'd update the add-ons I currently have installed on Firefox.

• Adblock Plus
• del.icio.us Bookmarks
  
• Favicon Picker 2 - useful to add favicons to the bookmarks bar items
  
• Firebug
• Greasemonkey - used to change the horrible del.icio.us interface
  
• iMacros for Firefox
• Live HTTP Headers
• Smart Bookmarks Bar - hides the name of items on the bookmarks bar
  
• Tamper Data
  
• User Agent Switcher
• Web Developer
• YSlow

* Updated 03.18.2008 : added del.icio.us item

Favorite Dan McCarney Quote

Just found my favorite quote ever made by Dan McCarney and thought I'd share it.

"Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say why not? When I took this job I said why not Iowa State? Why not winning? Why not bowl games? Why not sellouts? Why not national respect? Why not us? Why not here? Why not the Cyclone family?"
-- Dan McCarney

Run the dang country....

Just a quick post here, but what the heck is a senator doing asking questions about NFL policy. I think he should have much more important things on his mind at this time in our country's history than "what happened to the spygate tapes"? If I was a Pennsylvania resident, I'd be contacting his office telling him that to.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225539

Online Games

Needing something to do in your free time (like that really exists anymore)? I found another cool site for online games. Head on over to: http://www.bigfishgames.com/online-games/ to check it out.

Ajaxian Game

Haven't played it yet, but looks awesome



Vox Imperium

Yet another usefull oracle sql statement

Found another oracle sql statement that comes in handy, The following statement will list all tables that are owned by the myschemaName, along with some interesting facts about each table.

select * from all_tables
where owner = 'myshemaName';

Oracle Timestamp

Interesting note on using timestamps in Oracle. Trying to set a timestamp field (my_timestamp) by using the following sql will NOT work correctly:

update my_table
set my_timestamp = '01-JUL-2006'

This will end up setting the timestamp equal to July 1, 2020 and something. So, using the following sql will work,

update my_table
set my_timestamp = TO_TIMESTAMP ('01-jul-06 14:10:10.123000', 'DD-Mon-RR HH24:MI:SS.FF')

Not sure if this is due to some nls* settings or something, but don't have time to look into it.

More randomness today

Well, I'm obviously in a random mood today as I'm posting a couple of items that I wouldn't normally have. So, here goes the next two:

First, a joke that broke up the montony of my day:

Dont Lie to yout mom!"

John invited
his mother over for dinner. During the meal, his mother couldn't help
noticing how beautiful John's roommate was. She had long been
suspicious of a relationship between John and his roommate, and this
only made her more curious.Over the course of the evening, while
watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more
between John and the roommate than met the eye. Reading his mom's
thoughts, John volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I
assure you, Julie and I are just roommates."About a week later, Julie
came to John and said, "Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've
been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose
she took it, do you?" John said, "Well, I doubt it, but I'll write her
a letter just to be sure."So he sat down and wrote "Dear Mother, I'm
not saying you did take a gravy ladle from my house, and I'm not saying
you did not take a gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been
missing ever since you were here for dinner."Several days later, John
received a letter from his mother which read: "Dear Son, I'm not saying
that you do sleep with Julie, and I'm not saying that you do not sleep
with Julie. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her own
bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now. Love, Mom."Lesson of
the day...Don't Lie To Your Mother.

And second..a great link. I can't wait for this guys dvd to come out..I will definately buy it. (note: be sure to turn your sound WAY up.:)

Today's interesting factoid from the wrapper of my oatmeal

On average, each year, each American consumes:

1. 117 pounds of potatoes
2. 116 pounds of beef
3. 100 pounds of vegetables
4. 80 pounds of fruit
5. 286 eggs

The only one that kind of surprised me was the eggs.

My Firefox Addons

Just thought I'd give a nod to the addons I currently have installed in Firefox. 

1. Performancing - Lets you post to your blog from inside of firefox, via a WYSIWYG editor.  This is pretty much the only way I have been posting to this blog.
   
2. User Agent Switcher - A necessity if you are using firefox. Sets the useragent of your browser to a different browser. Useful when browsing sites that only allow internet explorer access.
3. Web Developer - If you are any kind of web developer, this toolbar is a MUST.  There are too many features to list here, go and check it out for your self.
   
4. Adblock - self explanitory
5. Orbit 3+1 - This is a theme and I love the look!
   

NBA Question

While watching the Suns/Lakers NBA Playoff game last night, I had an interesting thought come into my head. Let's pretend for a second that I (you) were either the coach or owner of an NBA team.  Your team is now down by 1 point with 4 seconds left in the game, and it's your ball.  If you could have any current NBA player take that shot, who would it be?  This question totally floored me for one reason, the answer I came to is one that I didn't think I would.  The player I decided on is a player that I really don't like or care for.  Initially my answer was, "oh easy, LeBron James..he's finally grown into his shoes now with his last second heroics in this year's playoffs and become a superstar."  But, I the more I thought about it, I knew I had to switch who I would want to take that shot...my new answer was........Kobe Bryant. Don't know why, but I think if I had an interest in the game, that is who I would want controlling my fate.  Just my 2 cents. If anyone out there reads this, respond with who you would want to take the shot (I don't actually pretend to think anyone reads this other than my wife:).

My Poker Progress

Well, last night was a good night for me, I won a sit-n-go and also won my heads-up match against Big Poppa in the MySportsRadio Heads-Up Tournament. 

We'll start with my sit-n-go win.  I was just passing time while waiting for Big Poppa to get off from work so we could start our match and figured why not enter a sit-n-go to get some hands in first.  Well, being that I have a limited bankroll, I entered the $1 6 max sit-n-go on Titan Poker.  I won a couple of smaller pots early on.  The player to my left got a huge chip lead very early on, so I had to play a little more conservatively than I normally would have.  Around the middle of the tournament, I ended up doubling up off of the big stack (still the player to the left) which put me in the chip lead.  I then promptly lost that lead back to him after my turned top two pair lost to his rivered straight. Oh well, I promptly took all the chips back from him (and more) a few hands later and eliminated him in 3rd place.  When we got to heads up I had about a 3:1 chip lead, which I used to cruise to a victory.  Oh yeah, a profit of a whole $3.80...I rule.

Now,  for the real match of the day, my heads up war (not a battle...a war) with Big Poppa.  Wow, it was definately a draining match.  I went from huge chip lead (1800- under 200) to a huge underdog (200-1800) and back again.  I was finally able to bust out Big Poppa to emerge victorious.  I had to go all-in twice in a row once when I got down to under 200 in chips, and luckily for me, I caught good cards both times.  My next match is with Unimpressed (3 time winner of the email/message board tourney).  I think I'm going to have my work cut out for me. I'll let you know the results of that match as soon as it happens.  Also, if I get time tonight, I may post some hand histories from my battle with Big Poppa here (at least some of the more important hands). But we'll see as I'm heading out to Prairie Meadows tonight to eat with my little brother so the night might disappear into being void of time.