daniel gray's shed of geekbooks

No Water in the Basement

Woo hoo!

We made it through that last storm with nary a drop of water in the cellar. My basement waterproofing efforts held up to this one. The weatherman says there's more rain headed our way. I have my fingers crossed that we'll be able to ride this next storm out, too.

I've been planning to add a second sump pump, but I'm not quite sure if the existing drain pipe can cope with the flow in the midst of a torrential downpour. Right now, it handles two downspouts, in addition to the sump pump.

If I added a second drain line to the street, I'd have to crack the curb and the sidewalk. I can't say I'm keen on that idea ... not to mention the mess of digging a new trench through the front lawn. Urgh.

Home Surveillance System Update

I’ve been intrigued by hidden surveillance cameras since I first looked at the market last fall. At the time I planned to install a surveillance system here at ranchero indebto by late spring. Now that things have thawed and spring is officially underway, it’s time for me to kick my surveillance system research into high gear …

As I wrote back in November, my surveillance system needs are simple:

I don't need to bust an evil nanny, wayward spouse, or errant child. I just want to keep an eye on what's going on out in the yard from my home office. The goal for my surveillance system is to know where the kids are, what the dogs are up to, and whether the mail has arrived. If the kids are making fun of the mail man as the Rottweilers tear him limb from limb, I want to know about it, ASAP. A surveillance system would bring that piece of mind.

While I initially thought a three camera system would be ideal, I'll probably pare that back to start. A single camera surveillance system ought to fit more readily into my non-existent budget. And although I'd much prefer a wireless camera, I may end up with a wired system to hold down the cost.

Come to think of it, it might not be a bad idea to put an inexpensive camera in down in the basement to watch for flooding. Now there's a candidate for the world's most boring web cam! (We made it through yesterday's storm unscathed, BTW.)

With any luck, I'll have an update in the next few weeks ...

Batten Down the Hatches and Man the Sump Pump

With a massive storm headed up the east coast today, I read Jeff Partridge’s piece on Weathering the Storm with great interest. I’m easily distracted on days like this, as I spend my time with with one eye on weather.com and my ears tuned into the sound of the sump pump. I rode out most of the storm in my office, but when the thunder started to rumble, I shut down the PC and headed inside …

While the computers in my office are plugged into uninterruptible power supplies, I don't like to temp fate in an electrical storm. I got into the funny habit of shutting off the computers during thunderstorms a long long time ago. The galaxy wasn't far far far away, but it was before the days of PCs.

Twentysomething years later, thunderstorm breaks are still part of my standard operating procedure, uninterruptible power supplies or not. But these days, work doesn't grind to a halt ... I just pick up the trusty rusty old iBook and head to the couch to work wirelessly.

Storm Predator looks pretty cool. I'd try it out tonight, but it doesn't run on OSX. With my PC shut down for the night, I'll have to download the demo in the morning.

Poster Printing

There's nothing quite like a big flashy printed poster to get out the word. Whether they're covering a construction fence in Manhattan or plastered all over your small town, color posters are a time-honored marketing device. But over time, the methods used to print posters has changed dramatically--from the traditional serigraphic spot color methods to today's state-of-the-art seven-color digital on-demand presses.

Continue reading "Poster Printing"

AT&T CallVantage VOIP Marketing Effort a Dud?

Let me just start out by saying that I've been a very happy AT&T CallVantage VOIP customer for the past nine months. While it's only been about a year since the CallVantage roll out, it turns out that AT&T nipped the VOIP marketing campaign in the bud, just months after it was launched. That nipping may have lead to the marketing effort's dud status.

I was perturbed after reading an article on news.com. Concerned that my VOIP service of choice was about to go by the wayside, I buckled down and updated the geekbooks.com VOIP Plan Comparison, with 36 VOIP plans from 9 vendors.

But finding a replacement for the service only served to stoke my inquisitive nature. I wanted to know why CallVantage was on the rocks. And I wasn't about to settle for a reporter's interpretation of an analyst's opinion. I wanted to do my own homework.

Putting on my Jimmy Olsen hat, I went to the SEC's EDGAR database to see if I could dig out the AT&T document that was referenced in the article. After a bit of sleuthing, I found AT&T's 10-K, filed on March 10th, 2005.

Here's the passage that spells out the CallVantage VOIP subscriber tally:

We currently offer our AT&T CallVantage(SM) VoIP services to consumers wanting area codes and local numbers in portions of 39 states and the District of Columbia. The service offers enhanced information services, including advanced call management capabilities and special web-based features. Although our decision on July 22, 2004 to shift away from mass market services has curtailed our ability to market this product, as of December 31, 2004 we had approximately 53 thousand AT&T CallVantage VoIP services customers.

Now I'll agree that 53,000 customers has to be a disappointment. But I was taken back by the "curtailed our ability to market this product" statement. So I pulled down the brim of my cub reporter's hat and went back to work. It wasn't tough. Tracking the company's consumer VOIP marketing efforts is a snap when you can simply peruse the database of press releases.

Here's what the string of PR looked like from the Spring of 2005 through the end of the year:

• April 19, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to New York
• April 26, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Boston Area
• May 17, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Serve The Western United States
• May 27, 2004 - AT&T Adds New Features and Enhances AT&T CallVantage Service
• June 3, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Atlanta Area
• June 3, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Chicago Area
• June 14, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Expands to Serve 10 Major Markets in Florida
• June 30, 2004 - AT&T Continues National Deployment of AT&T CallVantage Service
• July 12, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in 100 Major Markets
• July 19, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in New Hampshire
• July 19, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available In Northern Kentucky
• August 19, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Expands to 21 New Markets in Seven States in Nationwide Deployment
• August 20, 2004 - AT&T to Spur Growth of AT&T CallVantage Service
• August 25, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Online@Amazon.com
• September 1, 2004 - AT&T to Offer AT&T CallVantage Service with Adelphia High-Speed Internet Access
• September 15, 2004 - AT&T Adds More Advanced Calling Features to AT&T CallVantage Service
• September 29, 2004 - Circuit City Signs On To Sell AT&T CallVantage Service
• October 11, 2004 - Linksys to Deliver New Home Networking Options for AT&T CallVantage Service
• October 13, 2004 - TigerDirect.com Now Marketing AT&T CallVantage Service
• November 8, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Offered Online At Buy.com
• November 10, 2004 - Office Depot to Market AT&T CallVantage Service
• November 30, 2004 - Home for the Holidays With AT&T CallVantage Service
• December 16, 2004 - AT&T Makes AT&T CallVantage Service "Family Friendly"

If they stopped marketing after July 22nd, it would be tough to tell. Perhaps it will just take a bit of time for the SBC merger to settle down before they begin to actively market CallVantage once again. Perhaps not. That's why I'm glad I updated my VOIP Plan chart ...

Free Photo Prints

Who can say no to free photo prints? After all, saving money on photo processing is one of the most popular benefits of digital photography. When you shoot digitally, there's no need to print the bad photos. Toss the blurry snap of Fido, forget the out-of-focus shot of little Tommy, and lose that picture of Uncle Harry with no forehead. Once you've sifted down to the cream-of-the-crop, it's time to find a great deal by checking out these ten free photo print offers ...

Of course, there's more to it than just that initial offer ... but still, those free prints are a great way to test out a photo lab before you make the big commitment. This (finally) struck me as obvious, when I updated the geekbooks.com chart of online photo print labs this week.

Free photo print offers are extremely popular. Here's a sample of what I found:

• 10 free photo prints - ImageStation, PhotoMama, Snapfish, Yahoo
• 15 free photo prints - Photosite, Shutterfly
• 20 free photo prints - Clark Color, ClubPhoto, York Photo
• 30 free photo prints - dotPhoto

When you start printing the good photos, It's likely that you'll end up making more prints of the best shots. So you've got to look past that initial free photo print offer and see how much your passion to print will cost over time. The per-print price is one thing. The shipping and handling charges are something else, altogether.

Watch out for photo labs that try to lure you in with low photo print prices. Check their shipping charges ... they're likely to make up the margin there. Free photo prints are a great enticement to try out an online lab. In the long run, however, you may find the labs that offer inexpensive flat rate shipping (such as Winkflash and Photocheap) to be less costly.

T Mobile Sidekick Rebate & Free Ringtones?

When I wrote about the T Mobile Sidekick service outage earlier this week, I was just a bit miffed. (But not nearly as miffed as some of my fellow T Mobile Sidekick users.) I mentioned that T Mobile was handing out rebates in the form of service credits. Today, the T Mobile made the Sidekick rebate official, in the form of a $20 credit. And they hinted at free ringtones ...

Being without email and the Web was pretty tough to take. I was thankful that I wasn't on the road at the time ... because when I'm on the road, I rely pretty heavily on my Sidekick, and rebate or not, I'd be quite irate. I was planning to call T Mobile to ask for a rebate just as the email arrived.

Onto the ringtones ...

The Sidekick is a polyphonic device, capable of playing excellent ringtones. But there's been a dearth of decent free ringtones for the Sidekick. Well, at least free ringtones that I'd load on my Sidekick.

Today's note gave me hope that, not only would I get a rebate from T Mobile, but that I'd be able to download some new free ringtones for the Sidekick.

Here's what they said:

Dear Valued Sidekick User:

T-Mobile USA and Danger, Inc., developer of the hiptop wireless solution that powers the T-Mobile Sidekick, confirm that full service has been restored. As such, you can effectively use the e-mail, Web and Instant Messaging (IM) functions on your device as you normally do.

We sincerely apologize for this interruption in your Sidekick service. In recognition of the inconvenience, we will be providing you with a $20 credit on your next bill.

Additionally, to thank you for your loyalty, we will launch a "Customer Appreciation" Section in the Download Fun Catalog in the very near future. In this new section, you will be able to access great new content - free! We will e-mail you with details when they become available.

Once again, thank you for being a loyal T-Mobile Sidekick customer,

Your T-Mobile Sidekick Team

Keep those lovely pictures of Andrew Jackson coming and bring on the free Sidekick ringtones!

Reducing Our Dependence on Foreign Oil

It's about time we got our collective geek together and did something about excessive energy prices. Having grown up during the 70's gas crisis, you woulda thunk that it all would have been solved by now. (Yeah, right.) This is a backwards world we live in, but I have some crazy ideas on how we can change things.

Most cars are too heavy because they rely on metal frames and bodies. Make the vehicles lighter and the can use smaller and more fuel efficient forms of propulsion. Big family movers (ie: minivans and SUVs) should be shaped like aerodynamic squashed eggs, with lightweight, yet ultra-sturdy bodies made of high-tech foam and carbon-fiber.

First we need to make them light. Super-light. After that, an energy-efficient means of propulsion will be key.

Today's hybrid gas-electric cars are a great step in the right direction. While I don't drive a hybrid, a number of my friends own various models of the Toyota Prius ... And they love them. This month's Consumer Reports states that 94% of Prius owners would buy another ... topping the chart of all the cars surveyed. Now the Prius is interesting, but it's not really my cup of tea. The new Honda Accord Hybrid, however, is positively intriguing. Not only does it deliver significantly better mileage than the standard model, it also provides better performance.

Hybrids have drawn heat in some quarters for not delivering their EPA mileage. (When I first wrote about hybrids last summer, I got a rash of emails from folks eager to debunk the virtues of hybrid technology.) While there are certainly environmental issues, much of the shortfall comes at the hands, no make that the feet of the drivers. It's an educational process ... folks have to learn how to drive for the best mileage ... as with any vehicle.

All that controversy aside, it's likely that hybrids are not the long-term answer. For the majority of folks, they might not be the short-term answer either. While fuel cell technology looks promising, it's still many years away. In the meantime, innovations such as biodiesel stand to shake things up without turning the world upside down.

Until all cars deliver great mileage, we need to take care of and drive those cars that already do. Ten year old Honda Civics that get 30 MPG shouldn't be allowed to die an early death. Rather, they should be rebuilt and restored.

The same goes for those clanky old VW and Mercedes-Benz diesels ... rebuild 'em, convert to biodiesel, and turn Rock the Casbah up to eleven on the sound system, I say.

Will AOL Become the 800-Pound Gorilla of VOIP?

The buzz has been out there for weeks. It became a roar today when CEO Jonathan Miller announced AOL's upcoming VOIP solutions at the Spring 2005 VON Conference in San Jose, California. Pricing specifics have yet to be announced.

AOL enters a market crowded with competitors, as it makes the big play for consumer-level VOIP services. With a customer base still largely rooted in the dialup world, AOL's VOIP offering will ring hollow and land with a thud in the mailboxes of the 56K set. With so many customers yet to make the jump to broadband, can the company expect success in the VOIP market any time soon?

AOL will use technology from Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based Sonus Networks, including the Sonus GSX9000 Open Services Switch, Insignus Softswitch, and the Sonus Insight Management System. Level 3 Communications of San Jose will provide the backbone.

See also: VOIP Plan Comparisons

Tmobile Sidekick Connection Problems

My usually trusty T-Mobile Sidekick wasn't so trusty today. It wouldn't connect with the Internet for beans. I couldn't get my email or access the web while I was out on the road. But it wasn't just the Sidekick itself. There were some really weird problems accessing the desktop interface through my PC, as well.

Intermittent connection problems are a way of life with the Sidekick. (I can sit in one place and have three bars one minute, and then no connection at all ... within seconds.) But those are usually only a passing problem. Today's lack of connection is the worst and most continuous I've experienced.

Maybe it's all Paris Hilton's fault.

When I logged into the T-Mobile website and went to the desktop interface to update my calendar, it appeared blank. This freaked me out, because I had recently spent the better part of an hour entering all of the boy's spring soccer schedule--two leagues' worth. The games appeared sporadically as I flipped between weeks. Most odd, I'd say.

I was miffed, but didn't think much about the problem. But the more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became. I'm of the mind that T-Mobile (or any wireless carrier) should offer refunds for down time.

My suspicions were confirmed when I checked out the Danger websites. The hiptop forums have a lengthy "Official Update: Danger Service Degradation" thread.

I've held back on upgrading my original black and white Sidekick to the spiffy new color Sidekick II. Two and a half years after launch, and the original Sidekick is a bone fide high-tech antique. My upgrade just might be to a Treo ... and on a different network, at that.

UPDATE (3/9): Seems like service is back today, at least for me. I've been lurking on the message boards to keep up on the buzz. It sounds like T-Mobile has been kicking up $5 to $30 service credits to irate Sidekick owners, along with free chunks of time.

I haven't called T-Mobile yet to put in my claim, just yet.

Steel Buildings for Recreation?

Steel buildings can fulfill a wide variety of roles - from agricultural and industrial to aeronautical and recreational. While the D-I-Y Shed and Barn pages have been primarily focused on wooden structures in the past, I've been doing an increasing amount of research on steel buildings, of late. I'm particularly interested in the use of steel buildings for indoor soccer facilities.

It takes a substantial structure to house a regulation-sized field. FIFA's laws of the game specify that 50 x 100 yards is the minimum size for a full-sided soccer pitch (for a non-international match). The maximum dimensions for width and length are 100 yards and 130 yards, respectively. Stuffing a soccer field into a steel building is non-trivial, as it requires a structure of considerable size.

Fabric membrane structures present one of the most common alternatives to steel buildings in recreational settings, in terms of the speed and economics of construction. High-end structures of this type look more like works of modern art then circus tents or bubbles.

RAID Array

What is a RAID Array and why would you want one? (Hint: you have lots of important stuff to store and little tolerance for losing data.)

RAID stands for redundant array of independent disks. RAID Arrays use multiple hard drives that share or replicate data across the individual mechanisms. (The acronym originally stood for redundant array of inexpensive disks, back in the day when big fast hard drives were wickedly expensive. Over time the price of storage has dropped dramatically as the definition morphed and inexpensive grew to be independent.)

Fault-tolerance and data-integrity are the primary advantages of RAID Arrays over large individual drives. (Overall performance is a significant benefit, as well.) When you write data to a RAID, the data is instantly backed up, as it is written to two drives. If one of the drives in a RAID goes south, the data should be secure on its counterpart. In a proper RAID Array, the bad drive can be pulled out and replaced with a new unit, in a procedure known as hot swapping. As the term implies, this is all done while the unit is up and running.

While RAIDs are most often hung off of network servers, they are sometimes connected to individual workstations used for data-intensive tasks, such as high-end image retouching for print work, 3D animation, and video editing. RAID arrays are most commonly connected with FireWire, SCSI or FibreChannel to maximize data access. Units are typically configured to store terabytes of data. Yuh huh ... terabytes.

RAID was originally conceived with five levels (1 through 5). Over the years, the specification has grown to encompass new levels, while other levels fell out of favor. (RAID Level O was an oddball, as it merely sought to share data across two drives with no provision for redundancy.)

In the near future, RAID Arrays will be as common in the connected home as the refrigerator is today. With an ever-burgeoning number of big beefy files to store, families will turn to home RAID units to safeguard their digital movies, music, and family memories.

Data Recovery Survey Results

Here are the results from the data recovery survey I ran back in 2004. While some of the numbers don't quite add up, it provides an interesting snapshot, nevertheless. Of the 110 Gnomies that responded to the survey, three quarters had experienced lost data due to a bad hard drive; just over half of the respondents had their data backed up.

1. Have you ever lost data to a bad hard drive?   Response Total     Yes 74.5% 82     No 25.5% 28 Total Respondents   110 (skipped this question)   0

2. Did you have your data backed up?   Response Total     Yes 54.2% 58     No 45.8% 49 Total Respondents   107 (skipped this question)   3

3. What media do you use for data backup?   Response Total   Tape 16% 16   CD 66% 66   Another HD 54% 54   RAID 9% 9   Removable Media 19% 19   Other (please specify) 4% 4 Total Respondents   100 (skipped this question)   10

Other - 3 backed up to DVD, while one backed up to an external FireWire drive.

4. Have you ever used a data recovery service?   Response Total     Yes 22.7% 25     No 77.3% 85 Total Respondents   110 (skipped this question)   0

5. Was the data recovery service successful?   Response Total     Yes 36.4% 16     No 31.8% 14     Partially 31.8% 14 Total Respondents   44 (skipped this question)   65

6. How much did the data recovery service cost?   Response Total     <$100 19.5% 8     <$250 14.6% 6     <$500 4.9% 2     <$750 9.8% 4     <$1000 7.3% 3     >$1000 19.5% 8   Other (please specify) 24.4% 10 Total Respondents   41 (skipped this question)   68

Five used a free data recovery tool.

7. Were you pleased with the data recovery service?   Response Total     Yes 48.7% 19     No 30.8% 12     Somewhat 20.5% 8 Total Respondents   39 (skipped this question)   70