Where have I been?
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
I feel bad for letting everyone down here, after graduation and immediately working full-time I felt swamped and pretty much let this thing go. However I feel bad for not keeping up the blog, and miss blogging about tech news and etc, so I'm going to make a serious attempt at keeping it up. Let's say it's one of my New Year's resolutions.
I need to figure out the direction of this blog again, since I don't want to keep it too broad, but I'm thinking electronics/internet/technology seem like the same place that this blog has always been and maybe I'll keep it there.
Anyways Happy New Year to one and all, and expect more of me soon.
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 7:53 PM 39 comments
It's done, I finally have High Speed!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
After about an hour on the phone with Time Warner Cable, I finally managed to get internet directly to my apartment. It took a lot of going back and forth figuring if I was in the system, or how my landlord had the apartment listed as, but in the end it got done and here I am. The speeds for the Earthlink Cable (rebranded Time Warner) are pretty good, I'm getting 10mpbs down and 512kbps up, so that's not bad. As well, I'm splitting the signal, and I'm getting free basic cable. I also get some channels like ESPN2, MSG, Spike TV and the Food Network, but I'm wondering if I got a box I could get all the basic stuff.
I hopefully should be able to update the poor blog more, now that I have a stable connections, but hopefully all the stuff I do won't get too much in the way.
So yes I'm still alive, and sorry for the month long absence!
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 3:54 PM 2 comments
Labels: Brooklyn, Internet, Random
Need some supplies for the office? Try these Staples coupons
Friday, June 15, 2007
Yep once a month I bring you guys a different store with some new coupons from my friends at the Coupon Chief and since my company orderes a lot from Staples I thought you guys might be interested in the Staples Coupons they have over there. Things like free shiping, 40% gifts for Dad for Father's Day are all up there so why not check it out? CouponChief.com doesn't just have Staples coupon codes they have tons of other so check them out just in case.
Enjoy the codes!
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 5:51 PM 4 comments
Labels: Deals, Free Stuff
How is it this difficult to get internet in Greenpoint!
I'm stuck in Internet limbo, since Verizon's too far away from my house to give me any reliable connection and Time Warner's playing phone tag with me trying to service my house for cable, so I can get internet.
Therefore, I'm in Queens on my friend's laptop using the wireless. It's not my computer but I'm getting my internet fix at the moment.
I miss not being able to do my Payperpost so often, or report on news and opinions as they come out, so I feel like I'm being the curve a bit. Hopefully once I settle things with Time Warner I'll have a bit more posts up, but you never know with my busy schedule.
Alright coupon time, more tomorrow!
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 5:21 PM 4 comments
Labels: Brooklyn, Internet, Time Warner, Verizon
Problems with Spyware?
Monday, June 11, 2007
If anyone's used computers in the last couple of years then they must've heard or have experiences with spyware. I know I sure have, but if you don't know what spyware is they are little programs that install themselves on your computer to do various things. Most of the spyware out there doesn't do much in terms of terrible things to your computer, but they steal your system ressources which makes your computer slower, can install popup adds at random places and only allow you to go to sites you want.
What can you do to find out if you have spyware or to remove it? Well you need a spyware program to remove or kill it. Spy Sweeper Is The Most Award-Winning AntiSpyware Software out there, and having known from using it myself it's one of the best if not the best anti-spyware programs out there. Spy Sweeper has all the features you need and updates itself automatically, so you really can't go wrong since it fights the latest spyware infections as they come out. Can't go wrong making sure you have your computer safe as most people know about viruses but don't understand the importance of spyware. To be sure you don't have spyware you need a tool like Spy Sweeper to monitor your system and keep it running clean.
Check it out and post your thoughts on Spyware? Any infections? Cleaned up anyone's computer lately? Post your thoughts,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 10:08 PM 8 comments
Yea I'm around again
I'm back again for a couple of days in the city again. My internet sucks (what's new) or I haven't had access to some at all so the postings have been slimmer than I expected. However I have called Time Warner and am expecting some service from them soon.
So what does that mean in the mean time? You just get less rants (I mean news and opinions) from me.
However, tonight I do have a nice article for you guys. Any fan of Linkin Park will know who Chester Bennington is, and there's a really good article on Identity Theft on him. It was posted by Wired maybe a week ago, and I read it and I have to recommend it. It's pretty interesting to read about Identity Theft, especially of a star, and someone that people love like Chester.
Alright more later, hopefully soon but you never know, lol
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 9:01 PM 0 comments
Labels: Internet, Music, Random, Tech
My Verizon DSL experience
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Yep, blogging from my house, with my DSL finally working. However, not all is sunny in Greenpoint, since my DSL is pretty shitty to tell you the truth. On Tuesday Verizon came in and redid the wiring of my house. Ok cool so that means it'll be ready by later tonight. Tuesday comes and goes, no DSL signal. Finally Wednesday and somehow in the evening I get signal. Woohoo I got signal! I start playing around, downloading, running a speed test showing I got 1900 kbps (out of my advertised 3000kbps) downstream with 360 kbps upstream so I'm like ok this will work. However by the morning I'm out of sync again. Luckily I had called Verizon sending in a DSL tech on Tuesday to fix my connection.
Thursday morning arrives, and so does the DSL tech (at 11:30am when I work at 12, but that's another story). He's like wow no wonder you're not getting sync you're 17,000 feet from the CO (the DSL central office, where the DSL originates from) and they're giving you the highest residential grade. I'd need to be within 10,000 feet for 3000kbps service or 15,000 feet for 1500 kbps, therefore I'm assed out. So he bumps me down to 768kbps/168kbps up/down, which I'm not too happy about but it means 10$ less per month so I'll take the hit. Later that night I was hitting 1500kbps tho so I was happy they didn't completely bump me down, but then I ran a speed test this morning and I wasn't surprised to see some nice low speeds of 184 kpbs / 124 kbps, meaning I had below my expected speeds but I had a steady signal.
So what are my options, well with me and my roomate sharing this connection (just installed a NETGEAR router), I have to get a decent connection, downloading files at 22kb/s won't cut it in this day, so I'm going to have to go cable. Cable however has to be serviced at my apartment, which is in the second story of a house behind an apartment building, and it's going to take 2-3 weeks. So I can't switch until then. My hope is that they service my apartment soon, so that by the time my 30 day trial with Verizon is up I can switch to cable and get anywhere up to 10mbps down and 512kbps up, which would be faster than my original speeds with DSL but I'd have to pay 45$ per month.
The trials and tribulations of Internet. Well, at least using crappy DSL is better than Tmobile EDGE. Alright enough for now, I'm going to bed.
More tomorrow,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 12:48 AM 21 comments
Labels: Brooklyn, Internet, Verizon
You have to love The Police
Friday, June 01, 2007
Ah The police, what a great classic band, now who hasn't listened to a song from the police cd or something on the radio. I grew up listening to Sting and the police's songs, from Roxanne to Every Breath You Take, which is my favorite police song btw, it's really classic and nostalgic whenever you play a song from the police cd at home. My parents, you see, where really big Sting and by association The Police fans, in fact they went to go see them in 1980, which is before I was even born during one of their first world tours in Montreal. Of course I don't have a ticket stub but my parents have told me about it and it was easily of their most memorable concerts. I mean who wasn't in love with Roxanne at the time?
Well since they're reunited again and come out with a new compilation CD I guess their new world tour isn't out of place. I think it's great because I think it's the first time in years that The Police is coming to Montreal as the whole band. Sting made some appearances but never with the group after they broke up. They're going to be there at the end of July, so hopefully I'll be able to get my parents some tickets, since I'll be slaving away in NYC.
Do you absolutely love the band The Police? Are you ecstatic that The Police are going on a new worldwide tour? Have you ever seen The Police on a past tour? You should take this opportunity if you have either seen them on this worldwide tour or on a past tour. We want you to discuss the concert including all the details, how much fun you had and why you love the band so much! If you have seen a concert from this tour, you can discuss the differences in the performances (positive tone only please.) You also need to discuss the new compilation CD of their greatest hits and which song on the cd is your favorite.
Gotta love this picture, it's like it's still the 80's again,
Anyone else got any stories about the police? What's your favorite songs from them? Post your thoughts,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 5:08 PM 0 comments
Labels: Cool Stuff, Montreal, Music
Looking for a hotel in Europe? Here's some tips
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Having traveled around Europe with my friend a couple of years ago I got to experience a great number of sites and hotels, some good, some bad. I must admit we were younger and on a budget so we weren't living large however we did manage to find hostels using the internet or the word of friends who've traveled around before. The pitfalls of those methods is that sometimes these sites don't update their hotel lists, don't have telephone numbers, and can leave you without a place at a random time of night.
That's why now if I went back I'd take a look into a trusted name like Expedia or Orbitz. They have some nice listings for great places like Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, all the places I've been too, and it's nice because there can be some shady places in Amsterdam and you won't know until it's too late. Most of these online places have a map search for the area you want to stay in, specials on specific hotels, pretty much a good resource for hotel listings. They should all have plenty of listings on other cities but why not go with what's popular.
Anyways that's my new site for the day, enjoy it on the last of my holiday,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 12:20 AM 1 comments
Some nice memorial day deals at Circuit City
Pretty boring day early on for me since I didn't have any plans like the beach or etc for my memorial day however it became a pretty good day after my friend dropped by. Right before he dropped by, I found out about Circuit City's memorial week sale where some video games were getting reduced to $9.99 such as Kingdom Hearts 2 and Fight Night : Round 3 along with Half-Life 2: Episode 1 going from $19.99 to $4.99. I literally went to 3 CC's in Manhattan to find me Kingdom Hearts 2, at $9.99 for the original non-greatest hits version it's worth it.
After that I came back, relaxed, and then went out to this dinner in South Williamsburg at 95 Broadway (can't recall the name of the place). I shouldn't say dinner since it looks cheap but it's actually a pretty expensive place, serving cheeses, fine wines, lamb, etc. I also had some Tasty D-Lite after, which is is this local Frozen Yogurt chain.
All and all a great way to wrap up this weekend, more news as the week pics up,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 12:04 AM 0 comments
Labels: Deals, Holidays, Video Games
Customer Relationship Software
Sunday, May 27, 2007
I know Memorial Day Weekend is not the time to be talking about CRM or Customer Relationship Manangement software but why not take a look into something new while you actually have time to look at it. I've dealt with installing software for users for years, and the toughest thing about dealing with software for people not familiar with software is making it easy to use. Most people will take simpler software, like iTunes, over a fully featured suite with all the bells and whistles. That's why having crm software that's easier to manage for your employees so that they can do what they're trained to do, which is get sales and make money. AIMpromote can help you with this, so why not take a look, could easily boost the producitivity of your sales people making you more money. Why not take a look and see if it's worth it for you, they have a nice comparison chart to show you as well.
Enjoy,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 3:41 PM 0 comments
Labels: Business, Marketing, Software
Memorial Day Weekend
It's actually really nice to have a long weekend every once in a while. I must admit I haven't done anything really productive yet I've been enjoying it pretty well. Yesterday went shopping, bought a new DKNY watch, bought some sheets, made a nice stir-fry at my ex-girlfriend's place, went out and then meet some girls at the bar.
May not seem very interesting to you guys but that's exactly how I want to spend my weekends, just relaxing, shopping and having fun. However next few weekends I'm going to have to work and study, so that's going to suck big ass.
As for something interesting to you guys, here's the Top 5 Worst Ipod Knockoffs Ever on TechEBlog or for those who love video games and cartoons there's a funny collage from Destructoid HERE
As per usual post your comments and enjoy your weekend!
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 3:03 PM 0 comments
Labels: Digital Players, Holidays, Random
It's that time again - Free Coupon Codes from CouponChief
Friday, May 25, 2007
I know many of you guys who read blogs probably shop online now too. It's an extension of just using the internet so why not save some money using online coupons codes doing what you'd be doing anyways. For me I've been looking around for a laptop and since I don't like Apple Macbooks the only other laptops that look asthetically pleasing are Sony Viao's. The whole Sony website has some decent Sony Coupons which can save you a large chunk of change when you're looking into a thousand dollar plus laptop. There's also some deals on other Sony products, so check it out, can't hurt right? If not check out the rest of the coupon codes on CouponChief.com, I'm positive you'll find some store you like shopping at.
More news or free stuff later,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 3:10 PM 4 comments
Labels: Deals, Free Stuff, Shopping
Internet at work and free phone giveaway at Engadget
I'm making good on my promise to blog for two days in a row so here I am typing away. I'm finished work for the day, it wasn't too busy and we close at 1pm on Fridays so I get a nice early start to my weekends. I'm also using the computer of our secretary to blog since they have high speed and they're coming to install our high-speed on Tuesday, which cannot come fast enough.
Apart from that I did some minor bank stuff and went to school, pretty boring stuff but it had to get done.
Since I'm too lazy to write any opinions right now, I'll just forward you the link to a contest on EngadgetMobile for a FREE NOKIA N75. Yep, all you need is to post a comment and you're entered. Why not could be worth it.
Alright I'm going to work out, after some more coupons for the month.
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 2:33 PM 0 comments
Labels: Cell Phones, Free Stuff, Random, Work
More news from PPP - Payperpost Direct Launches!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Man, I wish I wasn't so busy at the moment so I could take in more fun with the guys at Payperpost. They seem to always have something new up their sleeve, especially with the new upcoming Birdo release they've released Payperpost Direct. It's a new concept from the people who allow to get paid for blogging when you'd do it anyway to cut out the middleman and get paid directly by the advertiser. For example, if an advertiser likes your specific blog, he can click on the badge (which will get installed tomorrow, see prior post) and pay whatever you think a post on your site is worth. This cuts out the man in the middle when your blog is directly generating the content and the sales lead.
I think it's another step in the right direction, I've seen other competitors of Payperpost do this but it seems that their prices where either way too high or too low. This seems to be more customizable and a better bang for the buck on both sides of the coin, us bloggers can charge what we think we're worth and advertisers can pay a nominal service fee instead of 50 to 100% of the post. It doesn't make sense to not do this if you have some specific blogs or places you'd like to target and you already know they're involved with Payperpost Direct. I think it also stimulates the bloggers to have higher quality content and to promote better, in order to get the right advertisers and visitors to the site, making it more attractive and raising the price you could charge.
I'm all for it, and will install this tomorrow, what you guys think? Who's doing it or not? Speak your thoughts.
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 11:00 PM 4 comments
Labels: Blogs, Internet, Marketing, Payperpost
Verizon DSL needs to hurry up!
I'm sorry for the pause again in the blogging. My verizon DSL is coming Tuesday, and it's terribly hard to blog from my phone. Sure it gets on the internet but EDGE is so slow and having 2 or 3 things load at the same time kills my speeds. The fact that I've been so busy with my new job and the extra jobs I've been doing on the sides doesn't help.
To all those who are still there for me, I appreciate the support. I just wish I could keep you guys informed on what's going on with me, or what I think about anything in the Tech world more often however I've just been so busy. I also have been dealing with HP in terms of repairing a broken laptop, so that's another story I have to tell you guys, but until then I'll give u guys an update on my friends at PPP and I'll have a blog post tomorrow when I get to access some decent internet at LIU (my old school which is a 10 min walk from my job).
Until tomorrow,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 9:42 PM 0 comments
PayPerPost HDTV Tuesday's
Monday, May 14, 2007
I haven't heard anything new from PayPerPost in that last little while since I've been so busy graduating and finishing track while moving into Greenpoint (see previous post) I haven't checked in with Ted and the gang at PPP. Well whenever they're not trying to get more ads on blogs for us posties they're busy organizing contests to keep us busy. They've launched an event every Tuesday called HDTV Tuesday's where you cna win all shows of great prizes, such as Apple TV's, PS3's, and the grand prize and HDTV at the end of the month.
That's pretty spectacular, since they're already hooking us up with oppertunities, money for blogging and now we can earn prizes for just blogging to make money and getting lucky. I have to give out a shoutout to the guys at Bid4Prizes.com for making all this possible. I've spoken about them a week ago so check out my post and go visit them if you have the chance. As for me, I'm going to try to find that opportunity, maybe I'll get lucky and win something nice, since today I can win a Slingbox, Nintendo Wii, Yamaha Surround Sound System or a Logitech universal remote. If you don't know what those are you need to read this blog more often, but until then good luck!
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 10:44 PM 1 comments
Labels: Free Stuff, HDTV, Payperpost
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Yes I'm blogging from my new apartment in Greenpoint, unfortunately this is tougher than usual since I have to use my valuable and trusty T-mobile EDGE data connection through my phone.
I live off McGuinness Blvd, and I must admit I love the area my place is in, it's very open, clean, non dingy and accesible by car and bus/train pretty well. I think I might not be able to get DSL, which would suck since it's only 14.95 a month for the 1st year. I can deal with that price for internet but would hopefully avoid $30 a month then 40 after 6 months.
Apart from that I've been working and settling into things, we'll have to see how much I like things in a couple of weeks after I become fully intergrated into the workforce. I'll have a set schedule so I'll be able to blog more.
Check out here for more, and hopefully I'll have some grad pictures on this blog or one of my other ones.
More tomorrow,
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 9:49 PM 2 comments
Another concept, Lowest Bidding site for prizes
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
There's a lot of sites out there that give away prizes, some for referrals, some for playing games, but here's one with a new twist. It's called bid4prizes, and you can win a prize by bidding the lowest amount on a prize. It's like a guessing game, where you bid on prizes, and they tell you if you're low, high and etc. You have certain amounts of points which allows you certain amounts of bids on the prizes, which are ad-supported to keep the guys afloat. However for $9.99 you can get an unlimited membership and have unlimited bids, which can be worth while.
So far I think it's pretty interesting, maybe tedious trying to outguess everyone, but imagine winning a BMW 3 series (my friend has one, they are some fine cars) off the internet? Sounds like something that could entice a good number of you guys. I'm going to give it a shot and hopefully get back to you. Anyone else try it? Any opinions? Post your thoughts!
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 12:25 AM 0 comments
Labels: Free Stuff, Internet
It's all over!
Monday, May 07, 2007
I had a post that I had kept in my drafts where I was debating the fact on whether I should apologize or not for long spaces between posts. After looking back at the posts, which I started writing April 27th, I realized that I shouldn't make excuses for my absence, but instead just explain how things are going and how I want to change them.
I'm finally done with school, yep, no more exams, lectures, reports, paperwork, FINISHED. I'm also done running for LIU. I haven't really been updating my blogs due to the enormous amount of work and things I've had on my plate. Hopefully, and I really hope to stick to it, will keep working on the blogs since I've come to enjoy my time blogging and the community that has followed my blog, from the Posties at PPP to everyone coming from Blogspot, or school.
So from now on it's up to me to keep this going, no excuses, no long pauses, just blog posts, tech reviews, and the occasional PPP stuck in the middle :)
-Steve
Posted bySteve at 11:10 PM 1 comments
