A Random Panorama Image taken by Nels Lindahl

On The Kindle Fire

Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 8:04 PM
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Amazon now has a reasonably priced Android based tablet available for preorder. I’m not totally sold on the Kindle Fire. The initial price point is encouraging, but the lack of a clear upgrade path is disturbing. Will favorable economics of scale be able to reduce the price point to around $149.99? A fifty dollar price drop would certainly create substantial demand for the Kindle Fire.

Right now, I am researching keyboard options for the Kindle Fire. Will the Kindle Fire integrate with the Android Marketplace? I own a few games and I am hoping they will be transferable from my HTC EVO to the Kindle Fire.

Alternatively, I could just buy a Bluetooth keyboard for my HTC EVO and consider purchasing an HTC EVO 3D. More or less (for better or worse) I really would to be able to create weblog posts or massive amounts of prose on the go or while traveling.

NBA Regular Season Questions

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 8:16 PM
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Will anybody notice if the National Basketball Association (NBA) failed to play any regular season games this year?

Nobody really cared when the National Hockey League (NHL) skipped the 2004 to 2005 season. I think the NBA might be overvaluing their stock by about 40%  to 60%.

Consider for a moment average game attendance…

During the 2011 season 893,462 people attended a total of 41 Chicago Bulls home games. By comparison during 7 home games 782,776 attended University of Michigan football games. If a college football game can draw in over 100,000 people per game, then how does the NBA stand satisfied with a league best average of 21,791 per game?

Press Release: Help Bring a Honey Badger to Colorado Springs

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 6:53 PM
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In case you were wondering, you can help bring a honey badger to Colorado Springs. A new philanthropic website just launched tonight COS Honey Badger dot org.

  1. I plan on filling out the paperwork to form a non-profit organization in the State of Colorado.
  2. The donation section will be setup after the non-profit organization has been setup.
  3. We will solicit t-shirt designs later this month.

National park office decorations

Monday, September 26, 2011 at 7:21 PM
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Yep, it seemed like a strangely long day. Some days just seem to take longer than others. I finally got to move into my new office. The walls seemed a little empty and bland. Starting tomorrow my office walls will be adorned with posters that commemorate some of my previous visits to national parks. How many wall posters can an office handle? I’m thinking 3 or maybe 4 wall posters might work.

Will the new Fox television show Terra Nova be picked up for a second season?

Who knows when the new Apple iPhone 5 will be released?

Will Apple decide to maximize efficiencies from very large economies of scale by using iPhone 5 components to power the new iPad 3?

Weekend Activities Reconsidered

Sunday, September 25, 2011 at 7:39 AM
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Apparently, the Joni plan involves some type of activity during every day of every weekend. My weekend may very well involve a trip to Costco or maybe even Lowes.  After acquiring a Keurig Platinum B70 gourmet single cup coffee maker with 60 samples I have watched my supply of k-cups dwindle. Costco only sells a handful of K-Cup varieties. It would be nice if Costco sold a sweet variety pack. Outside of coffee considerations a trip to Lowes will probably involve looking at ceiling fans.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo + A Lunch at Rudy’s BBQ

Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 1:25 PM
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Twitter is much easier to use for capturing a single thought than taking the time build a complete mobile weblog post on the go. Here is an example from my twitter feed @nelslindahl “When will the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo get a honey badger? I’ll donate $50 to help get one.” Naturally, everyone enjoys random thoughts about honey badgers. From what I can tell only one zoo in the United States has a honey badger in captivity. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has a honey badger. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs probably should get a honey badger. I understand the zoo staff would have to stay out of the honey badgers cage, but what could be more fun than a rocky mountain honey badger exhibit?

I digress. We should turn our attention to the second part of the story. After visiting the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for a relaxing morning walk Joni and I decided to purchase lunch from Rudy’s “Country Store” and BAR-B-Q! Sure I might have had lunch at Rudy’s on Friday, but who judges somebody for having barbeque for lunch on back to back days? Joni enjoyed a BBQ turkey sandwich and some peach cobbler. I am seriously considering adding Rudy’s BBQ to my restaurants favorites list.

Rudy’s BBQ Day

Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:59 PM
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Lunch today happened to include a visit to Rudy’s “Country Store” and BAR-B-Q! Backstory: Apparently, during an early morning climb up the Manitou Springs Include a couple of weeks ago David (from England) had a singularly unique eureka moment. Within that moment of epicurean bravado David concluded that a lunch visit to Rudy’s BBQ should be scheduled.

Pros:

  1. Rudy’s sells pretty decent barbeque.
  2. I am seriously considering taking Joni to Rudy’s on Saturday after visiting the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
  3. The line service format is strangely compelling.

Cons:

  1. I do not understand why the proprietors of Rudy’s have decided to forgo selling deep fried potato products and onion rings.
  2. Enjoying the BBQ from Rudy’s did involve having to concede to several coworkers that decent BBQ does exist outside Kansas City.

Book writing update

Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 7:40 PM
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Over the course of the last few days the book writing experience has had a few ups and downs. I’m having a hard time attacking the project with the same single minded purpose I was capable of mustering when I was younger.

Rethinking Social Networking

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 8:09 PM
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While I will give pretty much any social networking technology a few moments of consideration, I’m running out of patience for both Twitter and Facebook. Participation within the social networking experience always seems fleeting and uninspired. Without any degree of contribution to the broader social discourse modern social networking seems to create a series of divergent microcosms or in some ways delusional pockets of realism. I’m pretty well convinced that giving up posting to Twitter and Facebook may be the best possible course of action.

Considering the Eee Pad Transformer as a tablet

Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 9:30 AM
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I sent a question out into the grand public square known as Twitter today. My question was straightforward, “Has anybody ever used or owned the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer tablet or the docking station/keyboard associated with the tablet?” During my custom computer building days I invested a lot of money into ASUS motherboards.  I have been looking at tablets for a while now, but the idea of being able to buy a tablet computer that can transform into a netbook is strangely compelling. Consider for a moment the advantages of having 16 hours of battery life during a road trip or airline flight.

Workforce theory revisited

Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 12:37 PM
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Well it has been one of those weeks. David (who presumes to have some type of wisdom derived from across the pond) took the time to mock my weblog with reckless abandon. Outside of the mockery, I can say that until this week I had never really questioned how hierarchical stability affects a workforce. The economy over the last few years has without question affected the modern workforce. Organizations are focused on doing more with less based on optimization strategies and occasionally lean six sigma techniques. Modern workforces are incredibility adaptive. Good managers seem to raise productivity margins every year. A workforce can naturally develop and gain institutional knowledge at an organic rate. Alternatively, with good management a workforce can develop based on planning and targeted development.

We the people: A shared memory

Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 9:58 AM
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Today the shared American public square is everywhere. Globalization and the diversification of the public mind have both united and divided our attention globally and locally. Please consider for a moment the magnitude of our converging shared memories. For the most part, I avoid writing about politics. Today however is not about politics. Transformational (convergent) events can occur in a variety of ways. Communities of place, circumstance, and interest experience transformational events in different ways. We the people of the United State of America share a certain set of shared memories and experiences. Informed by our shared memories and experiences we communicate and work within our communities of place, circumstance, and interest. Today every American community is united in the commonly shared memory of what happened ten years ago today. As a people we are still very conflicted about how to move forward while being informed by our shared past. We are still conflicted about how to dream again about a future for the United States of America that involves prosperity without conflict. We are still united as Americans, but torn apart by increasingly divergent politics. We stand at a crossroads. Together we all have to make a choice. We have to make a choice about if we will allow the shared experience of a globalized public square ten years in the making to inform our journey as we take the first step together toward that shinning city upon a hill. Together we can take the first step. We are now informed by ten years of global dialogue. Tomorrow together we can take the first step toward a future that involves walking toward a shining city upon a hill. Thanks to the globalized nature of the public square the United States of America will never be hidden. The shared American public square is everywhere; today the defense of liberty has come to the forefront of the public mind.

Taking some Stanford Classes

Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 4:16 PM
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Who thinks about career development strategies? Do people actively engage in long term career planning? Professional decision making can certainly involve utilizing career trajectory management strategies. I certainly like to think about how the future will unfold. As part of a broader career development strategy, I have decided to take a few classes from Stanford University.

Here are my answers to two of the application questions:

“Please summarize any project, program and/or portfolio management experience you have gained in previous positions, including experience as a project team member, project sponsor, or executive with project management oversight.”

With respect to summarizing one specific project I have worked on that exemplifies project/program management experience I think you will enjoy my example. My career highlight has to include the one major project that I have worked on for the better part of the last decade. I have severed as the primary project manager/sponsor for the Graduation with Civic Honors project since May 2002. The program has expanded to multiple states and is in the process of international expansion. The basic premise is fairly straightforward. I have argued that academic programs have a rich tradition of offering graduation with Honors and are capable of implementing Graduation with Civic Honors. The Graduation with Civic Honors program is the institutional recognition of civic engagement in the community during the graduation ceremony. Graduation is an incredibly important time and a major life event for most people. Recognizing individuals with Graduation with Civic Honors, helps focus the attention of a new generation on realizing the possibilities of practical programs increasing civic engagement through community involvement. Please review my answer to the first application question if you are interested in what specific skills I utilize on a daily basis.

Program References:

Carlsen, C. J., Lindahl, N., & Lindahl, S. (2004). “Civic Honors Program at Johnson County Community College.” Journal for Civic Commitment, 4th Issue, 1-9.

Lindahl, N. (2006). Graduation with Civic Honors: Unlock the power of community opportunity. New York: IUniverse, Inc.

“What do you hope to achieve through your participation through the Stanford Advanced Project Management Certificate Program?”

I hope to achieve a better understanding of what advanced project management can do for an organization and I hope to implement that knowledge on a daily basis. As a reflective practitioner interested in both business and civil society, I believe in lifelong learning and personal improvement through the pursuit of knowledge and the internalization of experiences. I would like to augment my current skillset by earning the Stanford Advanced Project Management from the Stanford Center for Professional Development. I believe the certificate program will help focus my previous public administration training from the University of Kansas MPA program related to improving efficiency, economy, and social equity. Professional project management is a powerful approach to taking ideas from the drawing board to practical implementation. I have a solid understanding of public administration, civil society, civic engagement, and knowledge management. I believe that expanding my project management knowledge base will help me leverage all of my skillsets to effectively management large operations side projects. Currently, I serve as a project manager for telephony and operations projects within larger company wide projects I serve as a business analyst type resource. The advanced project manager certificate program will help me strengthen the Graduation with Civic Honors project and improve my capacity to manage corporate projects.

Book Writing Mode

Monday, September 5, 2011 at 1:51 PM
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I just finished specking out eight chapters of content with subsections. Over the course of the next few days/weeks, I will be writing a series of essays based on the chapters/subsections. The moral of the story involves a long awaited return to book writing mode.

Enjoying Colorado Springs

Monday, September 5, 2011 at 10:02 AM
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The editors over at Kiplinger’s personal finance managzine just released their top ten value cities list for 2011. The City of Colorado Springs, Colorado happened to be ranked #4. Colorado Springs has infinatly more outdoor activities, local travel opportunitys, and scenic mountins for residents to enjoy compared the #1 ranked Omaha, Nebraska.

Salsa Gordo Perezoso del Hombre Revised Recipe Update

Sunday, September 4, 2011 at 5:42 PM
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Salsa Gordo Perezoso del Hombre Revised Recipe Update

Test kitchen recipe update v8.02

The current test kitchen version of the salsa includes:

12 scotch bonnet habanero peppers,
30 serrano peppers,
67 jalapeno peppers,
16 bell peppers,
6 poblano peppers, and
8 Anaheim peppers.

Other than the wide variety of peppers:

2 whole onions,
9 garlic cloves,
2 tablespoons sea salt,
3 bunches worth of finely chopped cilantro,
2 1/2 cups of distilled vinegar, and
204 ounces of peeled whole tomatoes (without juice).

This recipe yielded about 13 quarts of glorious salsa.

Basic Salsa Preparation Instructions

1. Make sure you have all of the ingredients and about three hours of free time to complete the cooking process. This batch included the use of a food processor.

2. In multiple food processor batches combine the diced pepper mixture with a chopped up onion and the garlic in a large mixing bowl.

3. Use the food processor to process the peeled whole tomatoes and store them in a separate mixing bowl. In the tomato-mixing bowl, pour one cup of distilled vinegar, two tablespoons of salt, and about half a cup of finely chopped cilantro.

4. Bring all the ingredients for the salsa to a boil for about an hour or simmer the salsa for two hours.

5. Of course, the salsa has to be canned, refrigerated, and stored for about a day before it is ready for consumption. Some people do not boil the salsa and just can the salsa cold, but I have found that it never has exactly the right taste without proper boiling or simmering.

Serious Weekend Thinking

Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 4:46 PM
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Maybe you guessed it from the title of this weblog post, but in case you missed the headline let me be exceptionally clear, “I have decided to devote parts of this three day weekend to thinking about life, the universe, and everything.”

In terms of intellectual development, I have decided to focus on taking a few additional classes online. If you wanted to sign up for the Stanford Engineering, “Online version of Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, taught by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig. The course runs from the 10th of October through the 18th of December, 2011. Enrollment will be open until the 9th of October,” then now would be the time to complete the registration. I completed the advanced registration option at http://www.ai-class.com/. Interestingly enough, a number of other classes are available online courtesy of the Stanford Engineering Everywhere project. I imagine the publicity of this massive online class will help Stanford University develop a large beachhead in the world of online education.

In terms of family activities, Joni and I went to the Happy Apple Farm located in Penrose, Colorado.

Joni and I also went to The Winery at Holy Cross Abby in Canyon City, Colorado.

Friday Night Cinema

Friday, August 26, 2011 at 7:32 PM
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Based on recommendations from both James and David, I decided to rent the movie Limitless this evening. Strangely enough, the VUDU video service happens to be included in the new PS3 channels area. The HDX format presents 1080p content with Dolby digital plus 5.1 channel audio.

Qwest DNS Connectivity Issues

Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 9:21 PM
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Qwest (now called CenturyLink) has been providing my household with internet service for several years now. Over the course of the last two weeks, the digital subscriber line (DSL) modem has been experiencing intermittent connectivity issues related to resolving domain name systems (DNS). Tomorrow morning a technician will be reviewing our internet systems. The modem has been running hotter than usual and restating the modem will normally restore service. An uninterruptable power supply (UPS) system both conditions the power being provided to the modem and ensures no internet service disruptions will occur.

I wonder what will be required to fix the situation…

Waiting for technicians can be tedious and annoying, instead of wasting the time I plan on focusing on studying for the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) exam.

The technician from CenturyLink was courteous and knowledgeable. Qwest had previously stipulated that we were on the edge of the DSL coverage range. To reduce degradation the technician installed a whole house filter and segmented the DSL service. Everything seems to be working.

Weblog administration updates

Sunday, August 14, 2011 at 8:45 AM
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Are you ready for yet another weblog administration update? Hey things change… what more do you expect? In terms of wildly exciting weblog administration news, the daily note format will be put on hiatus (if not completely discontinued). Please consider for a moment that within a weblog long term storage and search functions require building complete thoughtful posts. I have been toying with the idea of putting a 500 word minimum on publishable posts. Without question it would be easy to filter any posts shorter than 500 words by forcing them into a permanent draft status. The basic weblog infrastructure can sort items on the backend by day, week, month, and year. Each post should exist within a specific category of thought. In the long run, I know a weblog author has to rely on the backend systems to sort out the details.

Will the next version of WordPress allow authors to drag and drop photos into a post? Based on some recently received feedback, I have decided to try and spice up my weblog by including more images, videos, and formatting.

I have never really got into the swing of mobile weblog posts. I prefer to write during the early hours of the morning or late at night. During both of those writing windows it is easier to access a laptop than it is to pound out prose on a virtual Android phone keyboard.

Considering Cisco Certifications

Sunday, August 14, 2011 at 8:29 AM
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Over the course of the last few days, I have started working on passing the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) certification exam. As part of my professional development path, I have decided to pursue a variety of Cisco voice and security related certifications.

Fwd: I like aqua or pirate coast

Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 4:25 PM
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Fwd: I like aqua or pirate coast by nelslindahl
Fwd: I like aqua or pirate coast, a photo by nelslindahl on Flickr.

In terms of paint colors, I like Carolina Inn Club Aqua or Pirate Coast. What do you think? Maybe paint the walls different colors?

Notes from 20110807

Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 8:43 AM
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Please consider the following technology expenditure options:

Technology scenarios:

  1. Use the Sprint one year subscriber discount to upgrade from the HTC EVO 4G to a newer model.
  2. Purchase a Wi-Fi enabled tablet computer.
  3. Take no action and wait for the second generation of tablets.

Given the choice of upgrading cell phones from the HTC EVO 4G to a newer model or purchasing a Wi-Fi enabled tablet what option makes the most sense? The tablet would provide an alternative to using a laptop computer. Back on November 7, 2008, I purchased a Dell Studio 1535. My 4 year Dell warranty currently has 459 days remaining.

My Dell Studio 1535 Specs:

  1. Windows 7 Home Premium
  2. 64-bit operating system
  3. Intel Core Duo CPU T5850 @ 2.16 GHz or 2.17 GHz
  4. RAM: 4.00 GB
  5. Storage: 40 GB Intel SSD

My major shopping consideration is the ability to have access to a full keyboard.

Spicy Nacho Popcorn Review

Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 10:25 PM
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Spicy nacho popcorn by nelslindahl
Spicy nacho popcorn, a photo by nelslindahl on Flickr.

This new flavor of popcorn was horrible. I can say without reservation or hesitation that the Orville Redenbacher’s Spicy Nacho popcorn flavor was truly disappointing.

Stanford CS221: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Online

Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 8:41 AM
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Kudos to Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig for teaching a free online version of Stanford University’s intro to artificial intelligence (AI) class. The website promises that online class participants will receive a benchmark certificate. The class is scheduled to occur between October 10 and December 16, 2011. I plan on purchasing the text book and attending the class if I can manage to sign up fast enough when the online section opens.

  1. Will other professors offer popup online sections?
  2. How many participants will be allowed to take the class?
  3. Could this type of online section breakdown the admissions gatekeeping system?

Notes from 20110806

Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 7:38 AM
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Please take the time to read the August 5, 2011 S&P US credit rating report, “Full Report: United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative.” The long term US debt rating has been lowered from AAA to AA+. Anybody with adjustable interest rate financing should increase strategic saving to match future expenses. Traditionally, negative debt rating changes are followed by periods of inflation. I would suggest some type of inflationary hedge…

Q: Has this weblog developed from presenting a single poignant narrative to presenting a series of derivative summaries?  

A: Something had to give. I have been out of the game for far too long. Maybe this weblog has been on autopilot for the last few years, but now would be the time to knock on the sky and think about the sound.

 

Notes from 20110731

Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 8:22 AM
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The weblog layout (appearance) will now include a Colorado links section as a sandbar widget. Given the divergent nature of local and national news broadcasts the requirement to intentionally target the consumption of local information online was inevitable.

Western Digital makes a few different models of various network attached storage (NAS) devices. My home network has some USB attached storage that runs behind a hardware firewall. I have been considering adding a NAS device. Will having a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) matter? Serious long term data storage options will always require redundant backup schemas.

Based on a recommendation from James at work,I have been reading a fair amount of Brad Cleveland’s weblog posts and books throughout the weekend.

Notes from 20110724

Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 8:08 AM
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Sometimes expanding a series of truncated thoughts requires a certain amount of time and energy. Over the course of time, I have taken being word economic to the extreme. As a young writer, I spent hours working over my thoughts by pounding out page after page of prose. Somewhere along the way, I became overly focused on the outcomes instead of the writing process.  Grammarian considerations including form and style have become increasingly more important to me on a personal level over the years.

Extremely short version:

Joni and I spent Saturday in Denver, Colorado. We shopped at Guys and Dolls Furniture store and spent the afternoon at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. We went to the Gates Planetarium showing of Black Holes after visiting the Real Pirates (National Geographic) exhibit.

Expanded version:

Shopping for furniture has become a combination of physically examining products and performing a series of price checks on the internet. The furniture business is an example of capitalism in action. Consumers endeavor to make rational decisions that maximize value and minimize expense. In an effort to better understand the furniture market, Joni and I drove up to Denver to check out the 50,000 square foot showroom at Guys and Dolls Furniture. The showroom had a variety of furniture price ranges and staff was fairly knowledgeable.

Our trip to Denver would not be complete without visiting the Denver Museum of Nature and Sciences (DMNS). When we lived in Boulder, Colorado we were patrons of and held membership in the DMNS. After moving to Colorado Springs, we let our membership expire. In part our visit to the DMNS was inspired by the traveling “Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah” exhibit. Apparently, National Geographic has been supporting the recovery of a pirate ship off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Overall, the trip was worthwhile and entertaining.

Notes from 20110720

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 8:25 PM
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For some unknown reason my TiVo Primer stopped downloading video podcasts. For several months everything worked swimmingly. However, for some reason the TiVo Video Podcasts Download Manager was not working (in fact the TiVo did not bother to download anything). I asked the TiVo support team, “What do I need to do to trigger the video podcast season passes to download properly?”  The support technician from TiVo suggested several generic resolutions, but did not provide any real advice to resolve my specific situation. Canned responses are virtually pointless in a troubleshooting environment and TiVo should reconsider the canned response strategy. Resolution was achieved by forcing a system restart and manually (item by tiem) permanently deleting every item from the deleted items folder.

Notes from 20110719

Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 8:57 PM
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What would it take to complete a total website redesign? Over the last few years the design of this weblog has changed incrementally and slowly. The coffee cup wallpaper is really the only standard iconography included in the weblog design. I got my monthly haircut today. Sport Clips had a thirty minute wait. My HTC EVO sporting Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 had the battery power to entertain me throughout the entire wait time.

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