Bits and Bytes

Mon - August 28, 2006

New Blog!!!

I've decided to switch to iWeb to write my blog, so this should be the last entry on the iblog version of Mindless Rambling. To go to the new one, use my homepage (http://homepage.mac.com/tcherna) or select this rss feed.

Posted at 10:34 PM Read More

Sun - August 13, 2006

And thank you for choosing AT&T

My new place has DSL, unlike the last place, which was served by fiber, and as such had its own small service center who knew all about the equipment. Not only did the DSL transfer not occur on the date of the phone transfer, I had to go through the gauntlet of the DSL phone support to be able to get my service up. That usually goes something like this:

Automated phone system: Please enter your phone number, followed by the number sign
Me: Enter phone number
APS: some menu selection and pleasantries
Me: Operator
APS: hmm. I didn't understand that. Did you say billing?
Me: Agent
APS: hmm. I don't understand that. Let me get you someone on the line
Me: (yes)
Agent: What phone number is your DSL
Me: phone number (thinking I just entered it)
Agent: If we get disconnected, can we call you on the same number
Me: no, use my cell, (give cell number)
Agent: What is the problem
Me: The modem isn't connected
Agent: What OS are you using
Me: Mac OS X. But it doesn't matter, since the modem isn't connected, and I use a router anyway
Agent: I need to transfer you to the Mac support
Phone System: Stupid pleasantries
Mac Agent: Hi what phone number is your DSL.... and of course, if we get disconnected....

This went on for some time. Apparently, I learned one thing, which is my old Alcatel modem uses the yellow black lines rather than green red, so I had to do some temporary rewiring while waiting for my new modem. Also, connecting DSL service also involves registering the account, something they neglected to do. In any case, I'm connected now...

Posted at 10:57 PM Read More

Move + 10 days and Thanks

Well, I'm in the new place. I finally got a chance to set up my iMac, so I can blog again, although I can't quite find my cable from my s230 to transfer a bunch of pictures over. Maybe I can move the card over to my other digital camera.

First of, I want to extend a bunch of thanks to some people who made this all happen:

To Steve Jobs and my boss Josh, who made this actually possible. Josh basically gave me lots of time to coordinate the move, which took a lot of time. And of course, Apple made this financially possible.

To my dear friends Sean and David, who basically got me to move to San Francisco last January. Not only did they encourage me daily, but they both helped pack my stuff in Palo Alto. They were very pleased that I decided to have the movers do more this time! But seriously, without them, I'd never have moved and bought my own place. You've both been so important to me over the last 12 months.

To my friends from Montreal whom I'm fortunate enough to have in the SF Bay area: Nicholas and Heather both have encouraged me to make the move to the city for several years now. And for the new house, they served as my real estate consultants and architects on loan. I totally appreciate the support during those panicked phone calls as I tried to figure out 'property line windows' and punch lists. To John, my old roommate and friend from Matrox, and his wife Christina for all support the whole time during the purchase process. John even drove down to SF to help me with some final packing.

Thanks all.

Posted at 10:49 PM Read More

Thu - August 3, 2006

Move Day

Here are some images from move day

The office during the pack:

Stuff arriving in the new place:

TV Stand getting assembled

The washer dryer being installed. There is a man in behind the w/d.

Here he comes out:

View from the window

Posted at 09:20 PM Read More

Wed - August 2, 2006

Move - 24 hours

Wow. Busy day. At 9:30 the Ikea men arrived to deliver PAX to my condo. Total price of PAX. $950. Total price of delivery of 700 pounds of pressboard: $125.

At noon, I wired an enormous amount of money to the escrow company. Wiring actually involves just a phone call and a few careful questions. As in, my supervisor wants to know why you are wiring a half million dollars out of your account...

At two, I spent about an hour and a half reading, initialing, signing, reviewing, dating. Oh, did I mention signing. I walked away with one package of papers, one book of warranty info, and a manual with the owners guide to every fitting in the condo. Oh, and a set of keys :-)

At 4:30, the little man arrived to assemble the PAX. He actually was little. He brought his daughter for help, which consisted of handing the right screws. I was surprised that he thought he could build the stuff alone, but he could. I helped a bit. Total cost of assembly: $230. The fact that I had to do practically nothing: priceless.

The little man at work. Note the beautiful new floor. Daughter hanging out in the corner

Either this is a crappy phone camera, or he works really really fast. And he was little. He had to jump to reach the top hinges on the 92" PAX. OK, basically, only John could reach that without a ladder, which hasn't moved yet.

Posted at 09:09 PM Read More

Tue - August 1, 2006

Move - 48 hours

Well, things are really close. The floor went in on Monday, and today the apartment was getting some caulking and painting done on the baseboards that were removed. The IKEA delivery men arrive tomorrow morning to deliver PAX, and in the afternoon the IKEA men arrive to assemble. Technically, neither are IKEA people, but little men that are contracted through IKEA. For $450, I have 700 pounds of PAX delivered and installed.

Here are some pictures of the unit over the last few weeks.

My balcony. Now with a railing.

View from the kitchen.

The balcony. I had the carpet removed and replaced with more junckers wood!

The kitchen and stairs

Not so structured wiring. I have tools and equipment to clean this up. I haven't figured out all the details, but it looks like each outlet gets 2 CAT5 cables each.

Posted at 10:51 PM Read More

Mon - May 29, 2006

A Lofty Place

Last week, I put an offer on a condo-loft just a block down from my apartment. I should get all the papers tomorrow and escrow should open. The picture below is the back side of the building. My appartment is the unit on the top right with the balcony. The second picture is a view from my balcony that I took while looking at the property. More details to come.

Posted at 11:57 AM Read More

iMac - sold

Well, it sold a couple of months ago, after two tries. The buyer the first time didn't cough up the money, or couldn't. I ended up getting a check for $534, after having to chase it down a few times because they sent it to the wrong address. Verdict: Auction Drop works, but its not as hassle free as they make you believe.

Posted at 11:48 AM Read More

Sun - March 19, 2006

A Bike and a Bay

Well, today was a really beautiful day -- dry and cool and sunny. I decided it was time to get some exercise and fresh air and got my bike in shape and did a ride that I've wanted to do for a while... from my new apartment to the Golden Gate Bridge via Chrisy Field. You can see the ride highlighted in red. San Francisco is amazing, its exactly why I moved here.

Of course, yesterday wasn't bad either -- went to the Rhone Rangers wine tasting, which was great! And dinner again at Betelnut, one of my favorites. Damn, those beans are good.

Note -- this map is really cool. The different red colors indicate the slope of the street (dark red being the steepest).

Posted at 03:32 PM Read More

iMac update: sold for $810, still waiting for check...

Title says it all ;-)

Posted at 03:27 PM Read More

Tue - March 7, 2006

Bid on my iMac part 2

Well, apparently, my iMac was sold for a nice $1000, but the buyer had a problem paying, so I found out when I went back to check were my money was that it was listed again. So you all have another chance to bid on it :-) Lets hope the new auction fetches as much.

Posted at 09:31 PM Read More

Sun - February 12, 2006

Buy my old iMac

Now that I got my G5 iMac (already out of date), I finally put my old one up for auction on ebay using Auction Drop. Its currently at $300. You can see the auction here.

Posted at 11:31 AM Read More

Sun - January 29, 2006

Drink Train

It turns out that the caltrain commute frequently has a little party arranged by Apple people for different trains up to the city (http://www.drinktrain.com). Here is a picture from last Friday. The theme was Top Shelf. We ended up using the shelf between the upper deck as a bar -- truly a Top Shelf.

Posted at 07:55 PM Read More

Wed - January 18, 2006

Moved to San Francisco

I just moved to San Francisco. Here is the new TV all nicely setup with the center channel. That's my bike on the balcony.

The kitchen is big, but a real mess

The living room again

Bedroom and really messy office:

Last Sunday, I took the opportunity to walk around the neighbourhood. Here is the ballpark just down the street.

The bay bridge:

And an iPod vending machine at Macy's

Posted at 09:22 PM Read More

What I've been doing in 2005

Of course, a big hush hush project at work to port Mac OS X to use Intel processors. We announced the first wave of hardware last week.

In case anyone hasn't seen that and that. I guess Kim won't get one of these now that he works at MS. I also did a whole bunch of work on the new iMovie: