Posted by mikeg on May 7, 2009
I recently signed up for TriplePlay and during account setup I had an option of porting the number or getting a new one. Porting a number meant a 2-3 week delay for getting an HD cablebox and because my new HDTV was already installed I decided to get a new number. I specifically asked if I can port my number later on and the response was positive and didn’t mention any fees.
I don’t use my home phone that much, but the new phone number we got is getting all kinds of crazy calls: from services trying to sell us something to people trying to reach previous owners of this number. I got fed up and decided to port my old number that didn’t have any of these problems.
Called up Optimum and they told me that there is a $40 fee to “buy the number from the other company” and $34.95 fee for a technician to come over and “install” my new number. When I pressed for details about what it means to “install” my new number the gave in and waved the installation charge, but were not willing to wave the $40 fee even though it wasn’t mentioned when I originally signed up.
I ported that number at least 3 times before without any charges. Pretty ridiculous. Interestingly enough there is not that much outrage on the web about this. This is one of the only links i found: http://text.dslreports.com/shownews/Cablevision-Charges-Excessive-Fee-For-Phone-Number-Transfers-91543
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Posted by mikeg on January 23, 2009
- angle of screen on MBP
- no Alt+ accelerators on dialogs
- Alt+Tab
- Funky behavior of Finder and delete functionality
- No easy way to copy path of folder form Finder
- no page down on keyboard and shift+page down doesn’t select text all the way down
- behavior of Finder (delete of files moves selection to folder which looses my place, move, ovewrite folder)
- no way to paste path of folder into File Selection dialogs
- many apps do not remember last Folder
- Insane Shift+Arrow select behavior in Finder and other places
- Eclipse
- no support for Alt+ which makes Find/Replace dialog hard to use
- inconsistent Shift+PageUp/PageDown
- Command is used for Copy/Page, Ctlr+Tab is used to switch b/w docs, Alt+Shift is used to select boundaries — too many “finger gestures”

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Posted by mikeg on January 20, 2009
API is very simple which brings complexities. Doesn’t allow upload of images, only reference of existing files that are internet accessible — that is why I am using S3.
Issues with Smush.it
- Cannot upload the image to Smush.it, have to reference existing internet-accessible image
- Cannot download only specific images, have to download all images in the batch
Logic
- Allow drag and drop of files or pointing to directory
- Create a “timestamp task” — used by Smush.it to download all images associated with current batch
- Helper uploads to S3 “smushit” bucket — need to think about not overwriting
- Once all uploads are done, it tells Smush.it where to find the images
- Once Smush.it responds about all the files we display the savings and allow user to download (Future: allow user to choose which file to download, in reality it will still download the files but will not overwrite)
- Based on user’s choice we either overwrite or backup existing images
Future: allow to compare 2 images
http://www.nochump.com/blog/?p=15
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Posted by mikeg on November 18, 2008
I probably don’t understand something, but it just doesn’t sound right:

VMware Fusion which is running WinXP/IE6 takes up consistently less CPU than Firefox. It seems to me that “virtualization” is somewhat more complex than HTML parsing… but that’s probably just me.
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Posted by mikeg on November 13, 2008
In order to be productive you need to find “matching” software. Below is the list that worked out for me. Development Software is outlined in a separate post.
- Outlook — Entourage 2008 (see my previous post)
- Windows Live Writer (blogging software) — Ecto. Very capable alternative with a few nice features, but issues with multi-level bullets. All posts about “Switching to Mac” are created using Ecto
- Remote Desktop — Microsoft developed Mac version
- Roboform (password manager) — 1password
- You can read reviews here
- It is also able to import most of Roboform data
- Evernote is available on Mac
- SnagIt — Jing. Free product from the same vendor. Simple and handles most tasks.
- ZoneAlarm (or any other firewall) — Little Snitch.
- http://www.transmissionbt.com/
http://www.johnhaney.com/backdrop/
http://freelanceswitch.com/working/35-absolutely-essential-mac-apps/
http://smileonmymac.com/TextExpander/
http://osxdaily.com/2006/12/04/mainmenu-mac-maintenance-made-easy/
http://www.koingosw.com/products/macpilot.php
http://www.opendoor.com/DoorStop/
http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/
http://www.flip4mac.com/
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/productivity_tools/think_freeverseinc.html
http://www.donelleschi.com/stickywindows/
http://iweinfuld.blogspot.com/2008/08/update-svn-on-leopard-to-play-nice-with.html
http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/08/16/enhance-productivity-multiple-monitors/
http://www.usingmac.com/2007/11/21/mac-os-x-leopard-200-productivity-booster-hotkeys
http://www.naschenweng.info/2008/04/12/microsoft-project-plans-on-os-x
http://www.pocketmac.com/blackberrydownload.php
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Posted by mikeg on October 22, 2008
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Posted by mikeg on January 9, 2008
I was visiting www.fave.com (I use them for bookmarking) and Norton kicked up the following warning:
Scan type: Auto-Protect Scan
Event: Threat Found!
Threat: Downloader
File: C:\Documents and Settings\Mike\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\DTKTQ6BK\gnida[1].swf
Location: C:\Documents and Settings\Mike\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\DTKTQ6BK
Action taken: Clean failed : Quarantine failed : Delete succeeded : Access denied
Date found: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 9:21:56 PM
I was a bit surprised that Norton found a threat in SWF file, but after a few searches it seems to be a real issue:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/spywaresucks/default.aspx
http://seo.mhvt.net/blog/?p=180#more-180
I usually do not download anything sketchy, so it’s good to be reminded that Norton works!
P.S. Judging by the name, it was created, or was intended to imply that it came from Russia. “gnida” is not a very nice word in Russian.
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Posted by mikeg on January 6, 2008
Just noticed that Skype allows you to link myspace account. It’s probably one of the newer features. Interesting…

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