I have a daughter headed to college in September. That means I got to buy her a computer that she will take to school. Luckily her birthday is in July and so I could get the laptop as a gift. I just had to decide which one to get. When I started writing this blog, one of my first postings was on which computer was the best to send with your kid to college. I was sending my oldest daughter off to school at the time and decided the MacBook was the best choice.
It is now 3 years later and the MacBook is no longer an option. Apple has two models, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Each one has a number of options ranging from screen size to memory. If you are really looking for the original MacBook, you can pick up a refurbished model from MyService. I sat my daughter down and gave her a choice between the Air, Pro, or a refurbished MacBook. Naturally, she didn't want the refurb and I can't say I blame her. I told her I would give here the difference in price to help pay for tuition and she still wanted the new computer. While the Air is a very light computer, my daughter wanted something with a little more horsepower. So I got her the least expensive MacBook Pro.
A few days later, one of my oldest son's old roommates sent me an e-mail asking for help getting a computer. I have a corporate discount to one of the major laptop manufacturers and could save him about $100 on an $800 laptop. I mentioned that my daughter turned down my corporate discount option and went for the more expensive Apple computer. His budget wouldn't let him spend more than the $700 and he wasn't interested in a refurbished Mac. We played around with the configuration and kept the price withing his budget.
My daughter loves her new computer and has been using it constantly since her birthday. I will be interested in comparing the two computers over their respective lives. When I bought my oldest daughter her computer, I was confident it would last. Now I have two computers bought at the same time to compare against each other. Time will tell which is the best deal, but I'm betting on the Mac. My oldest daughter's MacBook has required an upgrade or two, but is still running strong.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Why Are College Text Books So Boring?
I was busy minding my own business today when one of my coworkers engaged me in a very important conversation. He mentioned that there are some changes happening in the group that will require me to study up on my probability and statistics knowledge. There are one or two things that I remember about the subject from my days in college, most importantly that the O-ring failure on the Space Shuttle Challenger was a major topic of discussion. We also learned that lotteries are a tax for people that are bad at math.
Knowing that I will head into work on Monday with a need to know something more than basic definitions, I pulled out my old stats textbook and started going through it. What a bore. There must be some subliminal memories it stirred up because I immediately wanted to take a nap. Oh how I fondly remember sleeping in various rooms throughout the university's library. My particular favorite room was one with several fireplaces and overstuffed leather chairs, but I digress.
My coworker is also in the process of refreshing his probability and statistics knowledge. He recommended a different book and I have to say that it looks infinitely more interesting. I cannot yet recommend it because I have yet to see the entire book, however it does look promising. My coworker is enjoying it so much, he even has gone through and done the math examples in the first half of the book.
This has me asking the question: Why are college text books so boring? Maybe it is just the classes I had to take, but there are very few text books that I ever enjoyed reading. There is one that does come to mind though and it fits nicely with the theme of my Blog: The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. It was suggested reading for one of my Electrical Engineering classes and took me two days to read. Sometimes professors do get it right but I believe that is more rare than common.
Knowing that I will head into work on Monday with a need to know something more than basic definitions, I pulled out my old stats textbook and started going through it. What a bore. There must be some subliminal memories it stirred up because I immediately wanted to take a nap. Oh how I fondly remember sleeping in various rooms throughout the university's library. My particular favorite room was one with several fireplaces and overstuffed leather chairs, but I digress.
My coworker is also in the process of refreshing his probability and statistics knowledge. He recommended a different book and I have to say that it looks infinitely more interesting. I cannot yet recommend it because I have yet to see the entire book, however it does look promising. My coworker is enjoying it so much, he even has gone through and done the math examples in the first half of the book.
This has me asking the question: Why are college text books so boring? Maybe it is just the classes I had to take, but there are very few text books that I ever enjoyed reading. There is one that does come to mind though and it fits nicely with the theme of my Blog: The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. It was suggested reading for one of my Electrical Engineering classes and took me two days to read. Sometimes professors do get it right but I believe that is more rare than common.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Fixing Cars
It is a good thing I am working from home this week as two of my cars are requiring service attention. Last Friday my wife was out running errands in her Subaru when the air conditioning went out, probably associated with our dirt-road vacation last week. Then the "check engine" light came on in the Jeep Cherokee or XJ my kids drive. I don't know how people worked on cars before the Internet.
I was notified of my wife's Subaru problem before she even got home. So I started looking on the Internet to see if there were any common problems on her car. It turns out the clutch is less than reliable. When she got home, I opened the engine, looked at the air compressor, and could immediately see that it was indeed the clutch. Unfortunately they don't just sell clutches and I needed a whole new air compressor. Too bad those things are like $700 for just the part. As I have mechanical breakdown insurance on her car, I only had to cover the deductible and so I had a professional shop take care of the repair. Decharging and recharging the A/C system seemed like too much of a hassle to deal with at home. Had I been willing to do the work myself, there were YouTube videos showing me how.
Yesterday the Jeep XJ's warning light came on. While the car still ran, it is not a good idea to keep driving it until the problem was diagnosed. I pulled out my trusty OBD II computer, plugged it into the Jeep's socket under the dashboard and read off 2 codes that were being thrown: P0171 and P0133. A quick search on the Internet said that the fuel system is running lean and that the oxygen sensor before the catalytic converter is giving a slow response. My experience with OBD II codes is to deal with the 2nd one and it should take care of the first. Further searching on the Internet suggested that the O2 sensor needed replacing. So this morning, I headed to the trusty auto parts store before work and picked up a new one. My son then helped me replace it. Then I unplugged the battery for 15 minutes to reset the car's computer. I then let my son drive the Jeep for a bit to see if the engine light would come on again. So far, it hasn't.
Cars are getting much more complex to repair on your own. However with the Internet, it is also getting easier to fix certain problems.
I was notified of my wife's Subaru problem before she even got home. So I started looking on the Internet to see if there were any common problems on her car. It turns out the clutch is less than reliable. When she got home, I opened the engine, looked at the air compressor, and could immediately see that it was indeed the clutch. Unfortunately they don't just sell clutches and I needed a whole new air compressor. Too bad those things are like $700 for just the part. As I have mechanical breakdown insurance on her car, I only had to cover the deductible and so I had a professional shop take care of the repair. Decharging and recharging the A/C system seemed like too much of a hassle to deal with at home. Had I been willing to do the work myself, there were YouTube videos showing me how.
Yesterday the Jeep XJ's warning light came on. While the car still ran, it is not a good idea to keep driving it until the problem was diagnosed. I pulled out my trusty OBD II computer, plugged it into the Jeep's socket under the dashboard and read off 2 codes that were being thrown: P0171 and P0133. A quick search on the Internet said that the fuel system is running lean and that the oxygen sensor before the catalytic converter is giving a slow response. My experience with OBD II codes is to deal with the 2nd one and it should take care of the first. Further searching on the Internet suggested that the O2 sensor needed replacing. So this morning, I headed to the trusty auto parts store before work and picked up a new one. My son then helped me replace it. Then I unplugged the battery for 15 minutes to reset the car's computer. I then let my son drive the Jeep for a bit to see if the engine light would come on again. So far, it hasn't.
Cars are getting much more complex to repair on your own. However with the Internet, it is also getting easier to fix certain problems.
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Observer Effect
I have run into a performance problem with one of my databases at work. We are constantly adding new records to the database and the system runs fine. When we try to augment the normal load with some extra data, the system slows to a crawl and I have been trying to figure out why.
I have a tool that will help me monitor performance. Every 2 seconds, it queries the program sending data into the database and asks how many packets of data are waiting to be saved. When the system is keeping up, this number is 0. When it is running slow, the number grows. Yesterday I got tied up with other things and turned my monitoring program off. I wasn't really paying close attention, but the performance seemed to increase because I wasn't watching.
This morning I wanted to see if there was a true performance increase or if it just seemed that way. I started loading data and made a note of the time. Yesterday it took almost exactly 2 hours to complete. This morning it took 1 hour and 40 minutes. I thought that was interesting and so I ran the test again. Sure enough, the second test completed in 1 hour and 50 minutes. While my monitoring of the system didn't slow things down too much, it did have an effect.
I guess you could say that the old cliche about a watched pot never boiling can be true. In Physics, this is called the Observer Effect, where merely observing something changes what is being observed.
I have a tool that will help me monitor performance. Every 2 seconds, it queries the program sending data into the database and asks how many packets of data are waiting to be saved. When the system is keeping up, this number is 0. When it is running slow, the number grows. Yesterday I got tied up with other things and turned my monitoring program off. I wasn't really paying close attention, but the performance seemed to increase because I wasn't watching.
This morning I wanted to see if there was a true performance increase or if it just seemed that way. I started loading data and made a note of the time. Yesterday it took almost exactly 2 hours to complete. This morning it took 1 hour and 40 minutes. I thought that was interesting and so I ran the test again. Sure enough, the second test completed in 1 hour and 50 minutes. While my monitoring of the system didn't slow things down too much, it did have an effect.
I guess you could say that the old cliche about a watched pot never boiling can be true. In Physics, this is called the Observer Effect, where merely observing something changes what is being observed.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Back From Vacation
My wife, son, and I just got back from 3 days in southern Utah at a nice little retreat. It was a wonderful mini vacation with a bunch of friends from the neighborhood. While I enjoy spending time in front of the computer, it is nice to get away and leave electronics behind. I did have my laptop with me, but only used it twice. Both times were to make sure I didn't have any pressing e-mails. In hindsight, I could have left it home.
Someone else planned the entire vacation for me so I just needed to show up. The place we stayed is called the Summit Chateau Lodge and is located near Brian Head ski resort. Naturally I checked out their website before heading down. They didn't mention if they had an Internet connection and so I gave them a call. The owner answered the phone and said that Verizon had data coverage in the area and he had a MiFi device that could allow up to 5 devices to connect to the Internet at the same time. That was all I needed as I didn't plan on doing much work.
As we prepared to leave on the trip, I needed to figure out what car to take. I prefer to do long drives in my sedan, but it is low to the ground and not very good on dirt roads. I plugged in "Summit Chateau Lodge" into maps.google.com and selected satellite view to see that it was a 3 to 4 mile dirt road leading to the resort. That meant my car was out of the question. As it was only 3 to 4 miles of dirt road, I opted for my wife's Subaru instead of the Jeep. While the Jeep would have been fun, the 200 miles of pavement getting to the dirt would have been less than comfortable. Besides, the Subaru Outback Sport gets much better gas mileage. Now that I am back I can say that the Subaru was the best choice. We had fun playing rally-car driver on the dirt road and my sedan would have had a difficult time making it up several steep sections without bottoming out.
Sure I could have gone on vacation without the Internet. Some of my fellow neighbors did. However it sure helped to go down prepared.
Someone else planned the entire vacation for me so I just needed to show up. The place we stayed is called the Summit Chateau Lodge and is located near Brian Head ski resort. Naturally I checked out their website before heading down. They didn't mention if they had an Internet connection and so I gave them a call. The owner answered the phone and said that Verizon had data coverage in the area and he had a MiFi device that could allow up to 5 devices to connect to the Internet at the same time. That was all I needed as I didn't plan on doing much work.
As we prepared to leave on the trip, I needed to figure out what car to take. I prefer to do long drives in my sedan, but it is low to the ground and not very good on dirt roads. I plugged in "Summit Chateau Lodge" into maps.google.com and selected satellite view to see that it was a 3 to 4 mile dirt road leading to the resort. That meant my car was out of the question. As it was only 3 to 4 miles of dirt road, I opted for my wife's Subaru instead of the Jeep. While the Jeep would have been fun, the 200 miles of pavement getting to the dirt would have been less than comfortable. Besides, the Subaru Outback Sport gets much better gas mileage. Now that I am back I can say that the Subaru was the best choice. We had fun playing rally-car driver on the dirt road and my sedan would have had a difficult time making it up several steep sections without bottoming out.
Sure I could have gone on vacation without the Internet. Some of my fellow neighbors did. However it sure helped to go down prepared.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Flight Simulators
Last week I found myself monitoring numbers on a screen. It was one of those tasks that didn't require 100% of my attention but kept me from getting any other work done. It was the perfect scenario for improving my video game skills. I went to our in-house library and picked up a copy of Battlefield 3. I started playing this game around Christmas and did a quick write-up of it. Since then, I have not been able to get back to the game and so it was fun to start playing again.
As I was on one of my work video game consoles, I had to start from the very beginning and that acted as a good refresher for me. Then I got to the mission where I stopped playing at home: a flight mission. When flight simulators first came out, I thought they would be fun. Then I played a few and they were incredibly boring and/or incredibly hard to figure out. Part of the problem with a simulator is that you are in a chair with gravity always keeping your seat planted firmly in said chair. There is no sensation of movement other than what you see and that makes it tough to play the game. When Battlefield 3 got to the flight simulator during my Christmas break, I just lost interest and went on to play another game.
This time I decided to give it a shot and I am glad I did. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the mission. In fact, I came home and had my son play it because it was so entertaining. One thing they did right is have a pilot fly the plane while you concentrated on using missiles and flares. You get to dogfight other planes and then take out ground targets. Both my son and I enjoyed it a lot. The only disappointment was that we now know they lied to us in the movie "Top Gun." In the movie they make it seem like Goose is just along for the ride and Maverick does all the fun stuff. In reality, the guy in back gets to shoot stuff too.
As I was on one of my work video game consoles, I had to start from the very beginning and that acted as a good refresher for me. Then I got to the mission where I stopped playing at home: a flight mission. When flight simulators first came out, I thought they would be fun. Then I played a few and they were incredibly boring and/or incredibly hard to figure out. Part of the problem with a simulator is that you are in a chair with gravity always keeping your seat planted firmly in said chair. There is no sensation of movement other than what you see and that makes it tough to play the game. When Battlefield 3 got to the flight simulator during my Christmas break, I just lost interest and went on to play another game.
This time I decided to give it a shot and I am glad I did. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the mission. In fact, I came home and had my son play it because it was so entertaining. One thing they did right is have a pilot fly the plane while you concentrated on using missiles and flares. You get to dogfight other planes and then take out ground targets. Both my son and I enjoyed it a lot. The only disappointment was that we now know they lied to us in the movie "Top Gun." In the movie they make it seem like Goose is just along for the ride and Maverick does all the fun stuff. In reality, the guy in back gets to shoot stuff too.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Form vs Function
I was driving in Utah this weekend and pulled up next to a beautiful black Ferrari. I have always wanted one and so it surprised my wife when I told her I would rather have my buddy's tricked-out Jeep (see the picture below). "Why?" was all she could ask once she recomposed herself. I explained that it all boils down to functionality. While I like the idea of owning a fast Italian sports car, it really isn't all that practical for the things I am doing in my life right now. I am happily married and so I don't need an expensive car to help beautiful young women see past my bald head and chubby belly. The speed limit is easily reached in even the most basic car. Yet a vehicle capable of operating in the worst travel conditions comes in handy when you spend as much time in the mountains as I do. Yep, right now I would take the Jeep.
What does this have to do with computers? Well I recently had a conversation with one of my coworkers who is in the process of upgrading one of his computers. He is really into music and so he purchased some expensive sound equipment. No, he didn't just get a high-end sound card, he picked up top-of-the-line studio speakers, mixing equipment and stuff that most normal people would never use, let alone be able to afford. While we were talking, I realized that it would be fun to do the same thing to my computer, but I don't need it. That made me think about how I really use my computer.
To be completely honest, I hardly ever really use my desktop computer. Instead, I use it to connect to other computers that are much more powerful and do the real processing on them. That means I need a fast network connection, which I already have. I also have a lot of windows open into these other servers and so it is nice to have a lot of screen real-estate. That means I need a graphics card capable of displaying to multiple large monitors. That graphics card requires a lot of memory to run well. So while my coworker built his computer for audio, I should concentrate on video.
A Ferrari is a beautiful car that most people would love to own. There are a lot of computers out there that are similar. They are really fast and look amazing. However it is important to look at your needs before buying one. If you are doing a lot of number crunching and need to be "seen" with the latest and greatest, I encourage you to get one. Otherwise if you are like me or my coworker, you might be better suited with a Jeep-like computer that is specialized for specific tasks.
Now that I think about it, I actually have both . . . computers that is. I am typing this blog tonight on my high-end Mac laptop (the Ferrari) while I also have the really fast computer with multiple large-screen monitors in my home office (the Jeep). Now I just wish I could afford both cars.
What does this have to do with computers? Well I recently had a conversation with one of my coworkers who is in the process of upgrading one of his computers. He is really into music and so he purchased some expensive sound equipment. No, he didn't just get a high-end sound card, he picked up top-of-the-line studio speakers, mixing equipment and stuff that most normal people would never use, let alone be able to afford. While we were talking, I realized that it would be fun to do the same thing to my computer, but I don't need it. That made me think about how I really use my computer.
To be completely honest, I hardly ever really use my desktop computer. Instead, I use it to connect to other computers that are much more powerful and do the real processing on them. That means I need a fast network connection, which I already have. I also have a lot of windows open into these other servers and so it is nice to have a lot of screen real-estate. That means I need a graphics card capable of displaying to multiple large monitors. That graphics card requires a lot of memory to run well. So while my coworker built his computer for audio, I should concentrate on video.
A Ferrari is a beautiful car that most people would love to own. There are a lot of computers out there that are similar. They are really fast and look amazing. However it is important to look at your needs before buying one. If you are doing a lot of number crunching and need to be "seen" with the latest and greatest, I encourage you to get one. Otherwise if you are like me or my coworker, you might be better suited with a Jeep-like computer that is specialized for specific tasks.
Now that I think about it, I actually have both . . . computers that is. I am typing this blog tonight on my high-end Mac laptop (the Ferrari) while I also have the really fast computer with multiple large-screen monitors in my home office (the Jeep). Now I just wish I could afford both cars.
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