Vonage, Weekend, and Work

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/30/06 at 02:04:27 pm

It’s nice to have a solid 3 day weekend to hang out at home and get things caught up. On Friday night I went to Grand Casino in Hinckley, we mainly went for the incredible buffet but I played a few bucks in the slots. I didn’t come out rich… again.

I also ordered Vonage on Friday night to replace the overpriced basic telephone service I get from Qwest. I pay WAY too much for a standard phone line with long distance, it’s getting ridiculous. Not only will I be on the bleeding edge with true VoIP telecom service (+ points to my geek ego) but I’m going to save a lot of money with Vonage. It’s going to cost just under $30 after tax compared to the insane $60+ I’m currently paying with Qwest and I’ll have all of the features and services I have now. I’ve always wanted a VoIP service but thanks to my rural area and the unavailability of conventional broadband solutions it just wasn’t possible until just recently when cable internet was launched. Qwest still has no immediate plans to bring DSL to the area, Losers.

Tomorrow is the big day, I’m definitely anxious to get started. I’m really looking forward to the new job and working in that area. I’ve been looking at health clubs and such around my work; I may get a membership and start working out before or after work,
I really need to get into better shape.

Microsoft buys Massive

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/27/06 at 10:04:40 pm

Ars Technica -
In-game advertising has made great strides in the last few years. Though it still has its seedy side, the technology is now attracting deep-pocketed corporate sponsors who see video games as a great way to reach a young, male demographic that is watching less and less TV. If any sign were needed to show that the in-game advertising industry has gone mainstream, it was given this week as news broke that Microsoft was set to acquire Massive.

This is a great article on Microsoft and their purchase of Massive. It goes over the details on what Microsoft plans to do with their new Cash Cow.

Click here to read the Ars Technica article: “Microsoft buys Massive”

Well this is fun

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/26/06 at 07:04:24 pm

Tomorrow will mark my last day at SatCom. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to change jobs, the place is really starting to stress me out. However I really believe that this new place is going to offer everything that I want out of an occupation. By now most of the management know that I’m leaving, and I can tell that some of them aren’t too happy about it. In fact over the last week I’ve been put in some of the worst campaigns and it’s making the little time I have left very long.

The job change is going to cause some financial problems for the next couple months. I’m going to be switching to a whole new pay schedule so it’s going to take a while to get everything settled. Also due to the fact that I have a hard time standing my current employer I’ve been purposely missing a lot of hours lately, which means that money is already tight.

I know that in the end it will all work out, it always does. I’m just the kind of person that overly concerns himself with details. I think this trait goes real well with my personal insecurity. Writing about my problems such as this one often allows me to manifest new solutions. That’s why you will see me rant about something and then I’ll never post a follow up on what happened. Chances are the problem was resolved.

Anyway I think the idea I had behind this post was to ramble on about how I’m running out of slacks and I need to buy a couple pairs of pants this weekend. The ‘This is fun’ title was derived from me trying to find something to wear this morning… However things (such as this post) don’t always turn out they way they are supposed to.

Take a look at this

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/23/06 at 01:04:08 pm

I was working on a project today and I stumbled upon a great interview with Italian Professor MirKo Tattarini and artist Michael Cina. In the interview Mike stated “If you focus on the new trends, you are already behind in creating new ideas.” I think this is honestly a new favorite quote. I’ve always been a firm believer in thinking outside the box rather then following a trend. Even though this interview was about Cina and Young’s artwork this concept could and should be applied to anything and everything in society.

Anyway it’s a great interview with a couple of my personal favorite artists and it does a great job in defining what thinking outside the box really means. If you want to learn more check out the interview by clicking here

New law requires some businesses to secure their WiFi networks

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/21/06 at 07:04:52 pm

Ars Technica -
One New York county has solved the “problem” of unauthorized access to unsecured wireless networks by passing a new law. Businesses operating in Westchester County will soon need to turn on security settings for their WiFi networks if they are used to access financial information for their customers.

As an avid Wardriver I think this is a great idea, laws like these should be put in place all over the country. The innocent hobby of Wardriving has been given such a bad reputation over the last few years and I think by having laws like this would clear up the difference between Wardrivers and wireless deviants.

Click here to read the Ars Technica article: “New law requires some businesses to secure their WiFi networks”

TPS Reports

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/19/06 at 07:04:25 am

I can honestly relate to most of the situations seen in ‘Office Space’, the insane rush hour traffic, drone working environment, 8 bosses… I think what I’m looking forward to the most with this new job is the fact that most if not all of the problems I have with my current employer will magically drift away.

On another note, my Easter weekend went well; I think I got enough candy to build a chocolate house. I also received a snazzy new Fox wallet as an Easter gift. I ended up taking Monday off work. I felt my weekend was cut short due to the fact that I had to work Saturday and was out on Sunday so I decided to extend the weekend another day.

Lenovo looking to become a household name

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/17/06 at 11:04:22 am

Ars Technica -
Since its acquisition of IBM’s personal computer division last year, Lenovo has moved steadily to build its brand cachet in the US. That’s a tall task for Lenovo, which outside the geek cognoscenti is a largely unknown quantity for US consumers.

The company made its name building low-cost PCs in China, but has designs on challenging Dell and others in the lucrative US and Western European markets. The deal with IBM allows Lenovo to continue using the IBM logo on its PCs and laptops, which makes sense, as it marries a well-known and respected brand name to an unfamiliar one. In a somewhat surprising move, Lenovo has dropped the IBM branding from all of its PCs and laptops, with the exception of the ThinkPad…

I still have mixed feelings about the Lenovo takeover. In this article they explain some of the goals they have with the former IBM product lines. The goals are good but I’m still skeptical about what the outcome will be. Anyway it’s a good read, take a look.

Click here to read the Ars Technica article: “Lenovo looking to become a household name”

New Projects

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/15/06 at 05:04:11 pm

I thought it would be nice to have the ability to easily access everything on my file server here at home from virtually any location. I’ve been meaning to work on a project like this for a while now and I recently had some time to get it done.

My file server ‘Cerebellum’ runs Windows Server 2003 so I needed to find a software solution that was fully compatible. I settled on Abyss Web Server, Abyss is a wicked small directory serving application that is extremely easy to setup and use. The best part is the fully functional X1 version of Abyss is available for download for free.

It took about 4 hours to get everything going. That includes the DynDNS setup, port forwarding, a little design work and a simple login script. It really didn’t take long at all and once I got the kinks worked out with my router everything else went without a hitch.

You can take a peek at Cerebellum by clicking here. I won’t publicly release the login for obvious reasons, not that the login is secure by any means at the moment but it will keep honest people out. So if you want to actually get in to browse the server you need to contact me for the login.

Copyright © 2008 Markus Langenfeld. Some Rights Reserved.
Version 26, Powered By WordPress & Professionally Hosted With A Small Orange.
Disclosure Policy | XML Sitemap