Abby and Win’s Blog

Archive for July, 2008

Yesterday morning we had an earthquake. It was measured around 5.6. I was at work when it happened. At first I ignored it. I’m used to earthquakes since I lived in California for quite some time. But after 10 seconds we were still shaking. I got a little nervous and asked my co-worker “should we duck and cover” and we both laughed. We were on the second floor of the building so we may have felt it harder than the ground floor. After it stopped, I can still feel the build shake a little bit. I also got a little dizzy. We didn’t know what to do then. Should we go outside and wait for an all clear message? It’s funny how we have fire drills at work but never an earthquake drill. We went outside and saw others gathering in the parking lot. We then decided it was time for lunch.

Abby was home when the earthquake happened. I called her right away. It took a couple of times, I kept getting a called failed on my phone. After the exciting morning ended, everything was back to normal and I’m glad no one was injured.

There were a couple of data centers affected by it. I had to call Godaddy last night to cancel some stuff. I was directed to their website to cancel it on my end so that they can issue a refund. The site was awfully slow. I also noticed a message regarding the Irvine servers for Blizzard when I logged in to World of Warcraft.

Here’s more info on the earthquake – http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2008/2008-07-29-092.asp.

I just got my first bill with our iPhone 3G and was surprised to find $260 for a week’s worth of use. So I called AT&T up so I can get an explanation of the bill. I was informed that I was charged for what I’ve used the initial month, plus next month’s bill, and $72 for activation (2 iPhones). The customer service rep offered to remove the activation fee for the inconvenience. I was shocked but happily accepted. I didn’t sound upset or anything, I just need clarification on the bill. Thanks AT&T! Even though you charge a lot for the iPhone services and provide little to no service at my house, you have so far exceeded my expectations with your customer service.

I recently been playing around with Windows 2003 because we are still running Windows 2000 Server at work and may be upgrading soon. Our ASP pages are using includes to our database connection page…

<!–#include file=”some_folder/db_connection_file.asp” –>

If you were to run a page with that code on a Windows 2003 server, you may get an error similar to…

Active Server Pages error ‘ASP 0131′
Disallowed Parent Path

To fix this error, I had to do the following:

1. Create a new virtual directory of the folder that contains the files. We’ll call the virtual directory “example”.
2. Update the include syntax to use virtual instead. So you’ll have something like
   <!– #include virtual=”example/some_folder/db_connection_file.asp” –>

You may get this error with javascripts as well if you have something like…

<script language=”javascript” src=”../some_folder/my_script.js”></script>

You should update that syntax to something like…

<script language=”javascript” src=”/example/some_folder/my_script.js”></script>

I’m not a big Windows user anymore so I don’t know why it has to be done this way or know of a setting so that the old method still works. But those are the 2 changes I had to make on some of our websites to make them compatible with Windows 2003.

It’s been over a week that I’ve had my iPhone 3G. I’ll share the bad experiences first.

• Reception at the house hasn’t improved and 3G coverage in my area isn’t consistent. I find myself having to disable 3G more than half the time to get a decent signal. This was a big concern before I bought the phone because the extra $10 per phone, per month for the 3G access is a joke considering the coverage area.

• On two occassions the phone has become unresponsive, once browsing the App Store and the other surfing with Safari. But unlike any Windows OS, it didn’t crash or require a restart. I just waited a few minutes and it became responsive again. You can even hold down the power button to restart it if you can’t wait that long.

• There were a couple of downloaded Apps that crashed. Every time I used them it would try to load up and close. Reinstalling them should fix it.

• It’s great that you can search for nearby locations with the Google map. But I wish there was a way to forward the information to another phone or email. While my friend and I were out, he wanted to know if there were any Korean BBQ restaurants nearby. No problem, I was able to get all the info I needed – directions and contact info. Well he doesn’t have an iPhone but want the info. There’s no way for me to send the info to him. He had to write it on a napkin. I hope Apple or someone adds this feature soon. Same with my contacts. I miss having the ability to forward vCards to other people via SMS.

• I noticed this morning that my battery didn’t get fully charged even though I left it plugged in overnight. It only charged up to about 85%. I’m not sure if my battery is starting to act up in just a week’s worth of use. I hope it’s covered in the manufacturer’s warranty.

• AT&T does not give you the option for phone insurance as they do with all their other phones. So if you lose it or it’s stolen, what are your options then?

• Why can’t I edit my Google calendar via Safari?

• You will get interference while playing music using an FM modulator

Now for the good stuff.

• Internet experience is unmatched by any existing mobile device (other than a laptop). I love how I can just surf the internet and check emails while I wait for my food to be served at a restaurant. Having the internet in my pocket I can get directions and contact info to any business – it’s such a time saver. I can check for movie times and ratings and view trailers.

• Emails on this phone is great. I have my Gmail, Yahoo, and Exchange accounts. It’s interesting how Yahoo allows you to have iMap support on the iPhone yet you have to pay $20 annually for Pop3 for your computer.

• You can send SMS messages to another cell phone using email. I tested it with Sprint and T-Mobile. So far I’m only able to send text. I tried attaching images but they never get it. It may work for other service provider. Here’s the list of email address format for each cell phone company in the US http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/939/sms_email_cingular_nextel_sprint_tmobile_verizon_virgin.

• You can capture screen shots by pushing the power button and the main menu button simultaneously. This feature also exists in the original iPhone and iPod touch. The only requirement is for it to be version 2.0.

• On top of what I mentioned above, it’s also an iPod! I can listen to music without plugging in my headphones. It will play through the speakers.

So far, those are what stood out the first week of using it. w I have a pretty big list of dislikes, I will be keeping this phone past the 30 day trial. I can manage having the inconsistent signal at home, I’m hardly there anyway. I’ll share more things as they come along.

I was in Las Vegas for a few days to attend the Blackboard ’08 Conference. They initially assigned me to a room at the Palazzo but it was filled up, so they gave me a room in the Venetian. The room was well furnished and very accommodating.

• 2 queen size beds
• a living room
• 3 LCD TVs (1 in the front of the beds, 1 in the living room, and 1 in the bathroom)
  • 2 of which were HD with HD channels
• an automatic roman shade and curtains (remote control)
• a Brother MFC-440CN all-in-one machine (send/receive faxes, print, copies)
• free wifi access in the casino level food court, front desk area, and pool deck area

I didn’t want to leave the room and attend the convention once I got there. It’s a shame that I spent most of my time away from the room. Of all the other hotels I’ve stayed at, this has been the nicest so far. I usually stay in different hotels whenever I go to Las Vegas, but I may stay at Venetian a few more times before I try another hotel.

I took a short video of the room.