Disqus - Latest Comments for Tyler Puckett

Re: Google Traffic

Tyler Puckett — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:49:40 -0000

Charlotte, NC has Traffic (but only for interstates: I-77, I-85, I-485, and I-277). It doesn't seem to be terribly up-to-date, but it's good enough. In Charlotte during rush hour, roads like South Boulevard and Harris Boulevard tend to be more congested than Interstates, especially during the morning rush hour, so I think Google Maps Traffic should also include traffic info for roads in towns as well. It looks like Charlotteans should watch the local news or visit the local news' website before heading out, since Interstates normally have some minor merging delays, but they normally don't become a "parking lot" like South Boulevard and other major roads.

Re: Spam Hassles

Tyler Puckett — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:52:24 -0000

Do you use Akismet? It seems to be pretty good in terms of fighting spam, at least on my blog; I get a good amount of spam comments, but not too many legit comments, and Akismet is pretty good at catching the bad stuff. Also, are you running the latest version of WP? If you're not using 2.1.2, then you need to upgrade. The latest version has more security features that help block spammers.

Re: 2007/06/30/pownce-invites/

Tyler Puckett — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:43:09 -0000

I'd love an invite!
tylergpuckett@yahoo.com

Thanks in advance

Re: http://www.geardiary.com/2006/12/19/data-drive-thrus-tornado/

Tyler Puckett — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:36:16 -0000

You could just use a cat 5e crossover cable and set up a simple "network" and would have the same product that's cheaper, 2x the speed (assuming both PCs support Gigabit Ethernet), and much less overhead than USB.

Re: http://www.geardiary.com/2007/01/12/gear-diary-mobile-edition-is-now-live/

Tyler Puckett — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 20:12:13 -0000

I know, Alex King does the best WP plugins available, right? :) He definitely deserves a BIG plug. Great job on the site, keep it up Judie! :)

Re: Apple 15″ MacBook Pro Review

Tyler Puckett — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:14:16 -0000

Mr. Spera, You have listed many facutal inaccuracies in your comments. Some are small, and easily missed. However, some are pretty big.
The first one I saw was you listed the Ethernet port as 10/100. In fact, it is 10/100/1000 (Gigabit), and has been standard on all 15 and 17" PowerBooks/MacBooks since 2001-ish.
Also, you state students using a Mac is a bad decision. I disagree, as I am a student and I use a Mac. I have a 12" Powerbook. Here, at UNC-Charlotte, all the computer-related classes I have taken use the exact same system you review here, but in OSX, not Windows. That's right, in Charlotte, NC, every computer class I've taken (be it Business Computing, C++ Programming, or Network Engineering), all use Macs exclusively. Also, I know of several companies in this area that use Macs. I'm not saying Windows isn't more prevalent (it most certainly is), but Macs definitely aren't only for "graphic designers or advertising agencies" as they have been in years past. OSX is a beautiful multipurpose OS that can do everything Windows can, it isn't limited as OS9 and earlier versions were. Times are changing :)
Additionally, Apple has made Servers since before the iMac. Currently, they're called XServe and XRaid. They're among the most powerful servers available. They run OSX Server edition, and are "mildly" popular (in relation to Macs in general). They power iTMS and the Apple site, obviously, among other sites. Our entire university of 24K students are served from a cluster of XRaids and XServes.
Also, iWeb (like the rest of the iLife suite) isn't really targeted for people like us that handcode our websites and upload them via SSH. It's targeted towards home users who want to set up a cutesy little website without ever having to touch code. That sounds cliched, but iWeb won't even allow you to edit code. The option isn't there. Needless to say, I've never messed with it. I don't want to create a family website. It's just not for me, nor for you as I gather :)
Additionally, You say Only Win XP SP2 will work because of EFI. Actually, what's going on s when you run Boot Camp, Boot Camp creates a header partition before your OSX partition that is in effect a /boot partition in Linux. This partition includes the Boot Camp Boot loader, and also translates the EFI-based firmware into what is effectively BIOS, which Windows can understand. No version of Windows can understand EFI. The reason Apple requires SP2 isn't because of EFI (because no version of Windows can use EFI, including Vista), but I'd guess because of drivers. The drivers Apple provides are made for SP2, and in order to cut down on customer service calls they just said "SP2 only" to cut down on confusion.
I'm not trying to call you dumb or anything, I'm just trying to hopefully rectify some errors. I know you're new to Mac, and I'm not a mean person so I don't believe in being hateful. Hope you enjoy Mac-dom :) Tyler

Re: Apple 15″ MacBook Pro Review

Tyler Puckett — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:19:55 -0000

Also, there is an application that is supposed to allow you to read and write to NTFS drives. I haven't tried it, as I'm on a PowerPC Mac, but it's worth a shot. It's located here: http://code.google.com/p/macfuse/ and called MacFUSE. :)

Re: Apple 15″ MacBook Pro Review

Tyler Puckett — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 10:21:26 -0000

Mitchell, Thanks. I hope I didn't come across as holier-than-thou or anything else, I was just trying to point out some misconceptions. Indeed, a lot of people are under the impression that iLife should be the be-all, end-all suite for users. If it was, they wouldn't make Shake, Photoshop, Aperture, Final Cut Pro, or even Final Cut Express or Dreamweaver. I see you've switched to Mac entirely minus games, congratulations :). I think that in a year or so we'll see more games ported to OSX natively much more quickly because of the Intel chips, it'll be much easier to port them over.

Re: Huge Zune Give-Away

Tyler Puckett — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:17:29 -0000

Microsoft is about to double the Zune's market share by giving away 50 Zunes ;)

Re: Huge Zune Give-Away

Tyler Puckett — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:58:58 -0000

:) No hard feelings intended.

Re: Technology � the great disconnect

Tyler Puckett — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:04:09 -0000

I love your comment at the end: My lawn mower doesn't run! Hah. It's so amazing how you can fix his remote control without too much difficulty, which absolutely bewilders him, and he's able to fix your lawnmower without too much difficulty, which bewilders you. Simple definitely is a relative term. :)

Re: The Tornado File Transfer Tool Review

Tyler Puckett — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:55:47 -0000

Could you not just buy (or make) a Crossover Ethernet cable? They're definitely not $60 and all they require is setting up a peer-to-peer LAN between the two machines to copy files. Of course, that only supports 100Mbps (unless both machines has Gigabit Ethernet support), so it may be slower than USB 2.0 (though I doubt it, USB 2.0 has a LOT of overhead associated with it). Another alternative is connecting the two machines with a FireWire* cable, which in this case will act just like a Crossover ethernet cable, and will work at 400Mbps (which, in spite of it's lower number, is faster than USB 2.0; there's much less overhead with FireWire). *FireWire == IEEE 1394 == i.Link

Re: The Tornado File Transfer Tool Review

Tyler Puckett — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:11:09 -0000

I'd be willing to argue that Ethernet is more prevalent than USB in older machines. I know a ton of older laptops and even desktops that have 10 or 10/100 Ethernet jacks and no USB (or only USB 1.1) ports.

I guess I'm talking from the perspective of a Mac: All recent Macs have USB, Ethernet, and FireWire ports. With Macs all you have to do is plug them up with an Ethernet cable (crossover or straight-through) and it automatically sets up a LAN. Firewire works the same way. Macs even have a Target Disk Mode where you can connect both Macs with a FireWire cable, boot one into Target Disk Mode, and it will appear as a removable drive on the other machine.

Re: http://www.geardiary.com/2007/03/26/smartphone-insurance-worth-it/

Tyler Puckett — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:51:44 -0000

Ah, but you have to consider this: was paying the $5.99 every month plus the $50 deductible cheaper than buying a new phone? They really make a killing on us; between contracts, insurance, and exorbitant rates, EVERYONE in the cell phone business is getting rich...

Re: http://www.geardiary.com/2007/03/26/smartphone-insurance-worth-it/

Tyler Puckett — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:08:39 -0000

So true...why do we have any kind of insurance, really? We may need it, we may never need it.

Getting back to your point, if the phone broke let's say three months in, you'd still have the manufacturer's warranty (unless you did something outside warranty coverage). I've never bought a smartphone (I have a cheapo Palm z22 and an even more cheapo Nokia 6102i). To me, I think the insurance isn't worth it when you have cheapo phones, because many times the deductible is more than a comparable phone would be. For instance, I'm pretty sure I could get a Nokia 6102i off eBay for less than $50. It all depends on your circumstances, I guess...

Re: The Power Docking Station Review: de-clutter your desktop

Tyler Puckett — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:40:05 -0000

Very cool device! Definitely VERY useful when you have a cell phone, a PDA, an iPod, and a Bluetooth headset you need to keep charged on a dorm room desk (as do I) :)

Re: My Adventures in Vista, part 2

Tyler Puckett — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:19:53 -0000

I actually use cron jobs and rsync to backup to an external drive. It works well. I'm not sure if cron and rsync are installed on Windows, it is on all UNIX-like OS's like OSX and Linux, though. It doesn't use a proprietary backup format, it just syncs files. Seems like the best way to go IMO...

Re: Syncing Windows Mobile with Outlook on a Mac

Tyler Puckett — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:38:42 -0000

If you want to stay on the Mac side to sync, try PocketMac's PocketMac. They have a lite version that does pretty much everything you'd ever need to do for $15, with the pro version being $40 I think. Mark/Space's Missing Sync works well too. Both products interface with iSync, so it works very nicely. It stinks there's not a free way to do it that I'm aware of, but these companies to a great job.

Re: And I Thought The Fun Was Over - My Maxtor Madness Part 2

Tyler Puckett — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:55:03 -0000

You might try putting the drive in a desktop using an IDE cable and performing a low-level format.

Re: And I Thought The Fun Was Over - My Maxtor Madness Part 2

Tyler Puckett — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:48:32 -0000

That also came to my mind. Older revisions of IDE only recognized 128GB. Did your enclosure originally come with a drive installed? It is possible Maxtor used an older rev of IDE in order to cut costs, thinking nobody would take out their drive to insert another one?

That still doesn't explain it working fine with Maxtor-branded drives, though...

Re: Shhhhh… it’s Judie Lipsett’s birthday…

Tyler Puckett — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:59:15 -0000

Happy Birthday!

Re: Need a boost? The Tekkeon myPower Go MP1500 Review

Tyler Puckett — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:43:42 -0000

Does it require rechargeable batteries, or will standard AA cells work in a pinch?

Re: http://www.geardiary.com/2007/04/26/chicken-fried-what/

Tyler Puckett — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:35:35 -0000

In NC, we have deep fried Oreos, deep fried Bananas, deep fried Moon Pies, etc. Pretty much anything that is available is deep-fried at the local flea markets and fairs :-)

Re: Thermaltake iXoft Fanless Notebook Cooler Review

Tyler Puckett — Sun, 06 May 2007 14:08:15 -0000

Could you run a program like CoreDuoTemp and give us temperatures of your laptop?

A BIG concern with passive "coolers" like these is that they actually insulate heat into your laptop, causing it to overheat, possibly dangerously.

I'd really like some temperature tests before I seriously consider purchasing one for my PowerBook. Thanks!

Re: The Belkin Compact Surge Protector Review

Tyler Puckett — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:39:36 -0000

Why does this thing have those "wings" on it? Do they serve any purpose at all?

Re: The Belkin Compact Surge Protector Review

Tyler Puckett — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:14:12 -0000

Judie, ah that makes sense if you don't want to mount it, just let it sit freely.

Re: Take the No Reboot Challenge

Tyler Puckett — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:28:13 -0000

I have a Palm Centro that I have had to hard reset once because the Handmark application caused a reset loop.

Other than that, it's been rock-solid stable. I'm extremely pleased with the device.

Re: 17″ iMac announced prematurely by Apple or merely wishful Photoshop?

Tyler Puckett — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:30:45 -0000

Apple has always sold an iMac with a 17" screen to educational institutions for $899. This isn't really news. They've done it since the eMac was discontinued.