Chuck’s Home World

Well, it snowed yesterday. It looks to be about 3 or 4 inches so it’s not too bad. Thankfully it’s happened on the weekend as well, and I’ve been sick so I had no reason to go out.

Anyway, today I’m actually feeling pretty good. I hope to get a few miles in, but we’ll have to wait and see how things go. I sure do need to start burning more calories, so I can continue to drop the weight. I have a follow-up on Feb. 23 and want to be lower than last one by at least 5 pounds.

I decided to see if I could speed up the Netbook. I’ve ordered, for Monday delivery, a new hard drive. I’m going to try out a solid state drive (SSD). I went with a drive that was not quite as large as the one I have, but I could have gone with one that was half the price (and half the size), but decided to go with the extra storage.  The SSD should give me a bit more battery life (but its lasting all day when I put it to sleep when not needed), but it couldn’t hurt to get more out of it.

Windows 7 Pro does boot pretty fast on the machine, but there are a few applications that I’d like to make run a bit faster and these are disk related applications (a couple of database and Lotus Notes based).

I should run some benchmarks before and after.  I’ll have to find some good free software to help me with that. I’m sure one or more of the computer mags I get will have one or two that I can use.

I guess I’ll end this post and talk about the Apple iPad that was just announced this past week. My overall feeling is “ho hum”, but if I got one for free then perhaps I’d be more excited. I mean, the iPod Touch was one of those things that I felt I didn’t need, but now that I have one (free from 2008 Christmas party) I really like it.  I think the only thing I really like about it is the ability to have something quick and fast to browse the web while watch TV. The netbook is OK for that, but the screen resolution on the netbook leaves a lot to be desired.

I’m in no hurry for the last one. I’ll probably do it this coming weekend. One thing to note is that Windows 7 can do a clean install with activation from an Upgrade DVD. That is good for those who need to wipe out their disk before installing – which can be a pain, but is really the best approach.

Over the last week-end I was able to do several things that needed to be done other than cleaning up the house. I really need to work on that.

I’m updating to VM-Ware Fusion 3.0 which is awesome for Mac users who need to run Windows 7 with FULL features. It is really, really great! I’m trying to buy the upgrade for $39.99 but it didn’t have my old SN in place for validation.  If you’re not familiar with VM Ware’s Fusion product, it allows the Mac to run Windows (and other operating systems) in a virtual machine.

RANT: The VMWare Fusion product is fantastic, but the upgrade was the worst experience ever. First, the system wouldn’t let me upgrade for $39.99 price. I was getting conflicting messages. First it said Congratulations you can upgrade, select the SN/License to upgrade, but it wouldn’t allow me to select my registered information. I received an error message that was overlapping and pushed down a screen and a half. I finally decided to pay the full price of $79.99 just so I could get it done. Of course I get a confirmation email that tells me I have to register the product. I just bought it from VMWare and now I have to go back and tell VMWare that I bought it. That is just plain stupid! Then in the email there is an Activation Code. OK, fine. In the software its asks for a Serial Number, not an Activation code. Why can’t they get the terms right? I mean if I need to enter an Activation Code in the Serial Number field then say so. Overall I’m very disappointed with this whole process even though I love the product.  RANT OVER.

I hope to start going back to the gym next week. I don’t think my back is going to ever get “better” but its been doing pretty good other than when I first get out of bed. I have been walking almost every day and try to get in at least 4 to 5 miles in Aerobic effort.

There are more social sites than need to be. I’ve slowed down on Twitter and Facebook. Joined Linked-In and Yammer (for work). Not sure what I’ll do with them if anything.

I’m pretty excited about my copies of Windows 7 that will be arriving in a few days. I’ve been running Windows 7 on most of my machines for a while, but it will be good to have the officially released upgrades installed. Hope to get that done this coming weekend. Next week I’ll update my BootCamp/Fusion for the Mac and I’ll be all set.

Most of the tech podcasts I’ve been listening to strongly suggest a clean install. I’ll do that on a couple of machines, but maybe not all. I’ll have to wait and see.