Marcus Hamaker is The Sleepy Geek

Many of us geeks have a reputation for being the Mr. Fix-it of the group and our families. Like many others in my boat; I have taken that to the next level and started a small business on the side. When you start out you want to have 100 customers the first week but you quickly learn that this isn’t reality and your goals change.

In my case time management is the issue because I have a young family and still have a full time 9-5 job. Customers come and go and hopefully a few will stick as regulars. I am lucky to have a small company that trusts me with most of their IT and so continue to do regular jobs for them. Most recently I was asked to install a file server for them and as I started to configure this server with folder rights and nested groups it was very apparent that the managers would need access to me.

I can’t be available for them 24/7 and they know that. But what if they need something done quick and aren’t sure of the best way to reach me? Wouldn’t it be nice for them to have one go to location – a single point of contact? In the large corporate world when supporting end users this really makes them feel more secure and so why can’t I do the same for my customers?

I was looking for simple and I found it. osTicket is an open source ticketing system that can be installed on your domain host much the same way that WordPress is. Most of us have the knowledge to create parts of this or perhaps even all of this but do we have the time to invest? osTicket let’s you concentrate on your core business, be it general IT services, web development for different clients or even support for your own web site/service. You can customize how it contacts you after a ticket is created and that’s what I like about it. You don’t have to give out your email, phone number, home phone, etc. If you are like me you most likely have already but this takes the onus off the customer to remember all of those coordinates and simplifies their experience. The KISS model succeeds again.

Far too often I get caught up in the details with this sort of thing. Not looking for the most simple solution I look for something that is the coolest or the most geeky in my case – to me they are synonymous.

It’s a little disappointing to see that you have been excluded from the list when you are trying to use someone’s service. I can still search by going to the home page and finding Montreal but when I first went to the page and saw this… wow!

(click to enlarge)

Of course I am writing this on my Blackberry. What kind of test would it be if I didn’t? At first glance I really don’t see anything different mainly because the UI didn’t change so I took a run over to their site and the major updates include:

• Easier sign in process
• Added support for HTTP authentication on password-protected self-hosted blogs
• Improved the app’s ability for bug reporting and feedback
• The file browser now remember the last opened folder

This doesn’t look like anything flashy but when you consider the extra steps some of us had to do when first setting up our copy then you realize that the HTTP authentication is really a nice touch. If you had trouble in the past using WP for Blackberry then I would give it another run. No longer are you required to verify your XML-RPC setup, now simply put in the web address, the user name and password.

There are also some bug fixes to note:

• issue when modifying the properties of a picture attached to a post
• start up issue on the splash screen that causing the app freezing
• issue on the Stats view when a post title contains more double quote characters

I didn’t know that WP was freezing my Blackberry but now that I think of it  I have seen it freeze on start up. Usually I assume that when loading WP it was just too much for the Blackberry to handle processor or memory wise so I didn’t give it a second thought. Nice to see that handled.

All in all, still solid. You can see their post about it here where they have a slide show featuring some of the changes.

Have fun with it. Nice to be able to write from a remote location.

Geek on!

These small laptops or netbooks are a great idea. Small, light, portable and relatively cheap. My father bought one about a month ago so they can check their email while on trips and so I have a chance to use it while we are here this week.

It does everything you need it to do. Pretty much good for checking your webmail and browsing for information about what ever area you are visiting. We have used it a few times to do just that, but it’s interesting to me that you can’t do much more with it. I suppose you could use it to store pictures because it does have a USB port and a ton of storage for it’s size (230GB). But storage is about it.

This thing tagged in about $300 CAD so if you compare to an iPad in Canada you are looking at $549 for the 16GB model. So which is worth it? Neither unless you need a slightly larger screen. What am I getting at here? The iPhone or really any smartphone that you are comfortable with.

I think that you would be good in spending your money on an iPhone and then you have wireless 3G coverage to browse wherever you are. Even if you are out of the country you still have wifi, something you would have to find with the netbook anyhow.

Some things to think about.

I couldn’t take a whole week off could I?

I will be taking a week off doing this :)

See you in a bit, and geek on for me!

Rogers officially has released the iPhone 4 date which is this Friday like we all assumed it would be. Now how do I fenagel myself on is the question!

A note on pricing reveals that there is a good chance that it is the same as the US but I assume with a 3 year contract like the US. This is from the iPhoneinCanada blog.

Short of taking next Friday off I don’t think that I am going to be able to get my hands on one before I leave on vacation. Friday is iPhone 4 launch in Canada and Saturday morning sometime before the air wakes up I plan to be on the highway towards the Maine coast. Being from Montreal Wells Beach is only 5 hours away (if you haul ass) and I have been going since the wee age of 3.

NOW… The reason my doubt arises is due to the lack of information from Apple or Rogers at this point. In an article written by iphoneincanada.ca I learned that Rogers has release an internal memo to its employees that indeed the iPhone is coming and to “be prepared” but no official outside word as of yet. At this point in the game in the US AT&T had released official information, had a quick way to check eligibility, had confirmed a price and setup a pre-order process. None of these have happened here in Canada. Not that I really am concerned personally with the other Canadian carriers but it hasn’t happened with any of them.

I work for a company that deals with Rogers and so I get a employee plan through them. I contacted my corporate rep this week (ok, this is the 3rd time in the past month I have emailed her – I feel guilty) and she told me that from what she heard they are only getting 50 iPhones for their ~30 store operation. That’s freekin’ nuts! This is where my assumption of a long wait comes in. I know that Apple has had some throughput problems but a release date with no phones is pretty ridiculous and leaves a sting.

Doesn’t mean I won’t get one, just have to wait extra long. Wish me luck :)

Geek on!

Okay everyone knows (who cares) about the iPhone attenuation problems when you bring the 2 antennas on the left side but what is Apple gonna do about it?

Let’s see if this is what the press conference is about today. It can be followed here:

1. ISmashPhone
2. Gizmodo
3. Engadget
4. GDGT
5. cnet
6. ZDnet

Let’s hope that Apple doesn’t dig themselves a larger PR proverbial whole today. To be honest I am not that scared of the technical problem, I am more scared of a company that denies there is one. With bated breath!

Geek on!

Update – forgot to mention what time!

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (July 17th)

Turns out some of the posts that I read online yesterday were right. I had no idea it would work but it did!

Whoa Marcus – backup the story a little there! This is what happened to my Blackberry Bold 9000

Yesterday I had just arrived at work and was looking through a few things when I got a call on my cell from one of my colleagues. I pick up the phone and try to answer without luck. The small ‘hourglass’ which is actually a spinning dial on the Bold was going like crazy – and so I couldn’t do a thing! I missed the call and decided to sit the phone on my desk and let it figure itself out. After 10 minutes passed by I got fed up and tried a myriad of reboot attempts to be finally done with a battery pull. Gave it a standard 15 seconds and then put the battery back in.

Now at this point normally the phone’s red LED comes on, it loads up for 5 minutes and everything is cool. This time – NO RED LIGHT :(

No matter what I did I could not get the phone to start up. I tried to take the battery back out and replace it, tried a buddy’s battery, tried plugging it in to the USB on my computer, tried plugging it into the wall, tried resting it on the cradle and all with or without the battery. Nothing! I am thinking dead phone now. This sucks – my Bold couldn’t get me another few weeks until I can get my hands on a new phone (still kinda hoping for an iPhone 4).

Looked at a bunch of articles online and there really wasn’t much out there if even the red LED didn’t come on. It pointed to a dead phone for most people. A couple did mention that they took the battery out of their unit, left it unplugged and didn’t touch it over night and when the plugged it in the next morning it worked.

In the end I had nothing to lose so I gave it a try and sure enough, the BOLD IS BACK!

Remember this if you have a Blackberry. I can only assume that even when you pull the battery there is some residual power left in some of the components and until that is gone it could remain frozen.

Good luck with your problem if you are having one!

If you know me then you know that I have been cheering for the Dutch side in the World Cup because my dad is from Holland and I am one of three in the first generation Canadian on his side. Too bad we lost yesterday but it wasn’t their best showing in my opinion. The ref seemed to take the momentum of the game but if nothing else he was consistent!

What am I getting at with my gadgets? Yesterday while watching the game I was at the cottage up north with some friends and we caught the game via satellite. Since putting that thing up 10 years ago I have seen the dish cut out only 2 times and that was in VERY bad weather. Wouldn’t you know it in the cover of the blazing sun the satellite cut out in the 105th minute. “Please stand by while we establish a satellite signal”. AHHHHH! WTF is that?

Just lucky enough though to have my satellite radio with me. Slammed the XM on the home dock and tuned into ESPN to listen to the game. Well commented and for the 15 minutes that I was without video I was saved. Great to have it there for the music but even nicer to not have missed anything in the big match.

Now I get a chance to relax from sports for a while. I am a huge Montreal Canadiens fan and when the Euro or World Cup is on I am completely into that as well. We have fun as a family with it but it’s far to stressing for a passtime :)

What sucked? Not being in a sports bar downtown to watch the game where it wouldn’t have cut out.

What was awesome? Forgot about the game in 15 minutes because I was at the cottage and on the boat by then having a blast with friends and family :)

Geek on!