Skip to content

Why do I sometimes have to dial a 1?

15 August 2006, 10:37 am

I live in the 703 area code, which is Northern Virginia, the area near Washington DC. Sometimes when I call a 703 number, I have to dial a 1 before the 10 digit phone number. Sometimes I don’t. There is no rhyme or reason to when I need the 1.

Area code 571 is generally cell phones in Northern Virginia. You don’t need a 1. If you remember that 571 is “local” to 703. How do places like New York City handle all these area codes? Remember Elaine from Seinfeld in area code 646?

Area code 540 is central and Southern Virginia. Some regions of 540 need a 1, some don’t. Unless I know in advance where in 540 the number is, I don’t even know enough if I should guess with the 1 or not. 540 near 703 does not need a 1. Isn’t all phone switching done with computers nowadays? Why is this even necessary? Either always require a 1, or since it’s a computer, let the system figure it out. If the 10 digits I just dialed needs a one, have the computer system add it in, and then redial. If I added in a superfluous 1, have the system take it out. Making me hang up and redial is ridiculous.

Filed under Technology.
1 Comment

Re: Mac Server Series: Initial Set Up

15 August 2006, 6:48 am

In Mac Server Series: Initial Set Up Brian shares the first steps in a video on setting up a Mac as a server. He works for a web host that lets you send them a Mac Mini, and then you can run your web sites and email off of it. I priced it out, and it is definitely cheaper (and less expensive) then my current hosting provider, Rackspace. I think using a video to show the steps is a wonderful marketing idea.

Filed under Advertising, Buy-a-Mac, Web-design.
Comments Off on Re: Mac Server Series: Initial Set Up

Re: iTunes MP3 Conversion

14 August 2006, 1:21 pm

In iTunes MP3 Conversion the steps are given to convert audio files to MP3. I’d love to know why iTunes can’t import or manage aiff files. Anyone?

Filed under Technology.
2 Comments

Funny blog comment spam attempt

13 August 2006, 11:18 pm

While clearing out the spam that has accumulated on one of my blogs (and been successfully caught by WordPress’ Akismet spam filter) I saw this gem:

Bush’s ties to Israel go back to debt consolidation and reduction

WASHINGTON If there’s a starting point for George W. Bush’s attachment to Israel, it’s the day in late 1998 when he stood on the hilltop where Jesus is thought to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and, eyes brimming with tears, read aloud from his favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace.” “He was debt consolidation and reduction emotional. It was a tear-filled experience,” said Matthew Brooks, a debt consolidation and reduction Jewish Republican who

The underlined portions were links to some idiot spammer’s web site. It came from IP address: 70.84.176.58. I found several other similar attempts, from the same address.

Danish star delights Birmingham City boss

Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce was pleased with his poker betting signing, striker Niklas Bendtner after his poker betting goal in the opening Championship game of the season, just days after joining on loan from Arsenal.

Filed under Spam.
2 Comments

Re: The value of AppleCare

13 August 2006, 2:58 pm

Aaron Adams in The value of AppleCare gives a great example on why Applecare pays for itself.

I agree, AppleCare is invaluable if you have a portable. I’m not as sold on AppleCare for desktop machines though. Desktops aren’t subjected to the same torture of being lugged around in bags, being dropped, being carried by one hand, etc… My office now has AppleCare on every laptop we buy, and I think well over half of our laptops have had to go back to Apple at least once in their three year coverage period. The iMacs and Emacs are running along fine, no AppleCare on them.

Filed under Buy-a-Mac.
Comments Off on Re: The value of AppleCare

WordPress Titles

12 August 2006, 9:38 am

In WordCamp: SEO speech it is suggested to “Modify your title tags to say the title of the post entry first and then your blog name. (or remove your blog name from the title tag all together).” So I removed the blog name from the title on the template on one of my other WordPress driven sites (ShowBizRadio). Unfortunately, the home page then did not have a title at all. I added this code to the header.php template, and all is well:

<title><?php
if (is_home()) {
echo 'ShowBizRadio: Theatre information for Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland';
} else {
wp_title('');
}
?></title>

Filed under Web-design.
Comments Off on WordPress Titles

Re: Classic Goes Out with Nary a Whisper

12 August 2006, 9:11 am

In Classic Goes Out with Nary a Whisper Chris Adamson wonders if anyone will really miss Classic mode on the new Intel Macs.

I don’t think most people will miss Classic. I had to rebuild my Powerbook a few weeks ago, and I decided not to install Classic at all. There were a handful of games I wanted to be able to play, but I really haven’t missed them at all.

There are ways to run Classic on Intel Macs. One useful page is VNC, Basilisk II, and SheepShaver: 3 Ways to Run Classic on an Intel Mac.

Filed under OSX-tiger.
Comments Off on Re: Classic Goes Out with Nary a Whisper

Warning: The Commonwealth of VA DMV Web Site does not support Safari

9 August 2006, 2:56 pm

If you want to see your tax dollars in action, try visiting the state (commonwealth) of Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles‘ web site using Safari. Under OS X 10.4.7, Safari 2.0.4, you can’t scroll the page so much of the content is missing. Their contact page is missing a close anchor in the top menu bar, so most of the page is a link. The site worked in Firefox on the Mac, but it was still visually broken. I emailed a comment to them.

Filed under Web-design.
Comments Off on Warning: The Commonwealth of VA DMV Web Site does not support Safari

Joy of all joys, I get to use MS Frontpage for site maintenance

5 August 2006, 12:24 pm

I recently was asked to join the web team for my church Occoquan Bible Church. The site runs on Miscosoft servers, IIS 6, and Front Page web hosting. Ugh. I did my first tweak to the site today using regular FTP and Pagespinner. Boy, the code was sloppy. I don’t know how much of it was past designers and how much of it is Front Page being “helpful.” Does anyone out there have any experiences they can share with me about converting a site from sloppy html to clean XHTML but still using FrontPage? My gut thinks it isn’t worth my time to try to clean anything, I should simply post the info I need to post.

Filed under Technology, Web-design.
Comments Off on Joy of all joys, I get to use MS Frontpage for site maintenance

Re: ProCare: It’s about time someone noticed

1 August 2006, 8:33 am

I just called the staff at the Apple Store Clarendon to get clarification. They said it is per person, and they don’t really track how many computers you bring in, but if you were to bring in a different computer every day for the “annual cleaning” service they’d suggest I purchase more ProCare accounts. And if I buy 4 ProCare cards, I get the fifth for free. So, yes this is a good value. Because the times I really need to talk with a Genius, I really need to talk with a Genius. And being able to schedule appointment for the next day is handy, as opposed to having to wait up until midnight. Thanks for the clarification Jake.

Original Message: MacMove is recommending the Apple ProCare card for better access to the Geniuses at the Apple Store. The major problem is you have to get a Procare account for each computer that you want covered. So for my small office of around 20 Macs, we’re talking an extra $2,000/year. At that rate, it’s cheaper for me to simply buy a new Mac when one dies. It’s simply not worth it to be able to schedule Genius appointments up to one week in advance. Whenever I’ve needed a genius, it’s been needed immediately.

Filed under Buy-a-Mac.
3 Comments
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »