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how about a book without the face
February 1st, 2009I enjoy how I can connect with friends on Facebook. Yeah, it cool that old friends from school can find you and you can reconnect to see what’s going on. However, all those requests to “Send a Fish”, “Beer Request”, “Blue Cove”, “Pillow Fight”, blah blah blah… it’s quite annoying.
So I’m thinking to myself… wouldn’t it be cool to have the same thing as facebook, without all that nonesense. Then take it a step further and allow people the option to download and install this new version of facebook on their own server so they can expand it further than the free version. It’s kind of a cross between facebook and wordpress. The big difference is that when you post on a friends page or visa versa, that act is posted on your site as well… like facebook. So you start developing this personal community of friends where people can see who you know and how you all connect.
Like it or no?
gmail sigs
January 31st, 2009I’ve been using Google’s Gmail for all my email needs for some time now. I’ve found it easier to centralize all my email into one online solution. This way I can get all my email at once AND have copies of it where ever I go. I could be at work or at home and still have all my incoming and outgoing mail available.
The biggest problem I have with gmail (at the moment) is that you can only setup one signature. If I am sending out an email from work (Tresware), I can’t use the same signature as an email I would send out from home (foyleman). I’ve written before about a great Firefox Extension I found called Gmail Signatures. It might even still be linked in the right column of this site under my list of extensions. However… AND THIS IS BIG… I’ve found it to be the cause of why I sometimes can’t save downloaded files from Firefox. Yeah, I click a file to save it, select the folder to save it in and nothing happens. I end up having to restart Firefox to get my download to save.
So with that new bit of information, I set out to find an alternative. I first came across a Greasemonkey extension that would do the same thing as the extension I just got rid of. However, it hasn’t been updated in some time and I didn’t feel like messing around with a script that might or might not work all the time.
My next find is something I am trying out now and is the reason for writing this post. It’s program called AutoHotKey. This porogram will allow you to create a key combination that automatically causes another action on your computer to happen. That action could be to run a program, open a website, or in this case enter a specific signature into my email.
The instructions for use are this:
- Download and install AutoHotKey
- Create a new plain text file anywhere on your hard drive.
- Rename this text file with an ahk extension. I created one in MyDocuments and named it gmail_sigs.ahk.
- Edit this file by right clicking it and selecting ‘Edit this Script’.
- For each signature you want to create, enter this combination:
::short text for gmail::signature to be inserted
In your case this might be:::/foyle::Thanks,{ENTER}foyleman{ENTER}http://www.foyleman.com
The entire thing must be entered on a single line, so for line breaks insert {ENTER}
Note: Make it something you don’t type too often or the signature will start appearing everywhere. For example, I had to shut off the script in order to type this entry without my signature being inserted. lol. - Save the edited script.
- Double click the edited script to run it. It will show up in your taskbar when running.
Note: You may need to put a shortcut to this script into Start > All Programs > Startup to ensure it starts up with your computer everyday. - Then when you want to enter your signature, just type /foyle (in my case) and your signature will automatically appear.
wtf cable
January 25th, 2009I found a problem with my internet connection today. I was uploading a video and the connection was horrendous. I thought perhaps something was wrong with my computer, router or something here in the office. However, testing the connection directly to the cable modem from multiple computers proved that was not the case. My download speed was averaging about 26Mb per second (awesome) but the upload speed was closer to 170kb per second (puke).
I contacted the cable internet provider and they were quickly able to tell me my connection was being limited. The next step is to send a technician out to my house to investigate the source of the problem.
We’ll see what comes of all this.
Perhaps this is why the modsonair show was so laggy this morning? Sorry 
windows 7 ain’t bad [updated 01-21]
January 16th, 2009I have a laptop specifically for work. It’s larger and not fun to carry around, but when I have to work away from the comfort of my desktop, it’s much more convenient.
Since the laptop is only a couple years old, I was forced to purchase it with Windows Vista pre-installed. I thought it would be a good way to get used to the new era of operating systems and, well, I was curious to test it out. Ugh… it wasn’t a great experience. My programs worked, but getting around the OS wasn’t at all pleasant.
Windows 7 Beta is available for free from Microsoft now and it’s peeked my curiousity again. Tie that in with a slow-running Vista laptop and I figure we have a fit. That fit is me, Windows 7 and a freshly formatted laptop.
I’ve been working with Windows 7 for about 7 hours now and I like what I see. It’s pretty easy to use and nothing is getting in my way, namely those easy to remove windows that far too often ask you if you’re sure you want to do something you wanted to do in Vista.
Although still early in my experiences with this new OS, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fresh start with something new. I’ve got everything running with little to no intervention including hardware and software including my games.
Update 01-21:
I attempted to install the OS at on my office machine (at my other office). I had to format a new drive anyway, so I gave it a go. The disk started up on start-up, showed me a pretty loading screen and that it. Nothing else. All I saw was the loading screen and it froze. I tried to install it twice with the same results.
network access from vista (win7) to xp
January 16th, 2009Here’s a tip I am tired of looking up after reformatting my computer.
Even though you may share all of your files on your XP computer, when you attempt to access those files from a Windows Vista or Windows 7 OS you may get an error that reads one of the following ways:
- Not enough server storage is available to process this command.
- Not enough memory to complete transaction. Close some applications and retry.
The solution is quite simple, even though odd that you have to do this at all.
- Go to Start > Run > regedit
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services > lanmanserver > parameters
- Create (or edit if it actually exists for you) a new DWORD value in this folder.
- Name the value IRPStackSize and make sure to get the spelling and case correct.
- Right click it to modify.
- Select the Decimal Base on the right.
- Enter a value of 16.
Note that some people recommend entering 15 first, but I always get an error and wind up stepping it up to 16 and it works after that. - Click OK to close the little window.
- Now you need to either restart your computer or, an easier method, restart the Server service which I will now explain.
- Go to Start > Run > services.msc
- Scroll the list of Services (Local) to find Server.
- Right click and select Restart to restart this service.
That’s it. You can now access those files. Hooray.
nationvoice = crooks resolved
December 4th, 2008
February of 2008 I signed up for a ventrilo account with nationvoice.com. The service was decent, but it turned out I really had no use for it. Six months later I canceled the service with them.
November 23 I was billed by them again. Their billing policy is once every 3 months, so apparently I didn’t notice the third payment I made to them after cancelation.
I attempted to contact them to resolve the matter but receive nothing from them. I then reported it to paypal. This must have gotten their attention because they finally replied to me saying that,
If someone discontinues their service or agreement with the named person (or company) the subscription was created for, then they also need to cancel the subscription, PayPal has no way to know whether your service or agreement is still in effect unless you inform them of the status.What that means in a nutshell is that should you stop the service that the subscription was originally created for, you must also cancel the subscription or it will remain in force until such time as you cancel it. Additionally, please don’t confuse your service (with us in this case) with your PayPal subscription; they are two separate things. We hope this helps clear up some of the confusion.
Basically this means, “We will trick you into thinking you have canceled your account and never refund you for additional payment made.” Or, “We are crooks.”
As a PayPal merchant, I know you can reverse payments in paypal even if it is a subscription. However if you choose not to, then your a bad business person. If you choose not to after wrongfully taking money for 6 months (more than one payment), then you are a crook.
Info about their business:
Nation Voice Communications LLC
+1.(888) 242-6486 Phone
+1.(888) 242-6486 Fax
91 W. 12th St.
Bayonne, New Jersey 07002
United States
www.nationvoice.com
owners@nationvoice.com
Yes, I’m warming up for my campaign against these guys.
Update: 12/04/08
After not receiving a response to my last email asking them if they would refund my money, I decided to take the next step. I submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. This will put a black mark on their business record and perhaps persued them into refunding me.
I also started a letter that I was going to send to ArtofWarCentral.com but didn’t yet send it. I am thinking of offering anyone who has ventrilo to switch from NationVoice to ArtofWarCentral and I will give them a free MODSonline account and a discount on their ventrilo.
Update: 12/04/08 (night)
A new employee from NationVoice called me and said he could help me last night. Either this thing could get resolved or he’s just new to the whole screwing over thing. His name was Mark and he told be I could resubmit the the contact form with my transaction ID from paypal and he would take care of it. That his bosses Justin and Craig should be able to help.
Also for the record, he confirmed that I canceled my account on May 18, 2008. I was charged again in August which I cannot receive a refund for due to the time that’s passed. I was charged again on Nov. 23, 2008 and that we should be able to resolve.
Next up if this doesn’t go well, I will contact a lawyer to see what the next step is.
Update 12/18/08
Yesterday I followed up with Nationvoice to find out what’s going on. I still hadn’t heard any news from them. Last night I received an email from them stating that a refund was granted and this morning PayPal has confirmed that for me.
Geez, it wasn’t easy but I got the money back. I will be MUCH more skeptical of subscriptions from now on. Sure, MODSonline requires a subscription and I have run into a few people who contest on PayPal the charge. And yes, our policy states we don’t have to refund you, but I ALWAYS do refund the person. I want people to think of MODSonline kindly.
It was fortunate for them that they didn’t wait another 5 days. That would have been the 30 day mark and my next course of action was to start telling my story to the computer and gaming magazines. All those magazines have a department that LOVE to hunt down and resolve such issues. And my tactic was to continually make this more and more public until it was resolved.
I don’t think I was upset so much about losing the money, or potential of losing it. I was upset that this company thought they could get away with taking the money. I probably would have fought this for $20. I felt “taken” or “scammed” and was going to make it my goal to stop it from happening again. With Nationvoice residing in my Country and State, it made it that much more feasible.
OK. So, I’m beginning to ramble here. I hope a lesson has been learned by NationVoice. A lesson was certainly learned here.
uhm
November 25th, 2008Really, sometimes you have something to say and no time to say it. Other times you have nothing to say but you have all the time in the world to tell everyone about it.
That explains the chirping crickets here on foyleman.com. Mostly, I have no time… which is a good thing. However, when I do find the time to post here, I just don’t have anything worth saying.
Right now I happen to be waiting for some video to compile so I can spare a couple minutes to write about, uhm….
Thanksgiving is coming up. For the past few years (7 years I guess) I’ve been hosting family Thanksgiving at my house. I like hosting the show, preparing the food, and all that. Going to Thanksgiving used to be boring.. not anymore.
This year is extra special. My house is built for 2 people really. It’s not that big. So 2 people and 2 dogs with a couple of things here and there makes it feels small. Add in a cousin in-law on the couch, brother and sister in-law in my office and… did I mention that I have a small house?
game-a-thon
October 18th, 2008It’s time to game for a cure. Today I will be working with a team to game for a combined total of 24 hours. The money we collect thanks to generous donationors will go towards the fight against cancer. All money received will be donated to the Texas Childrens Cancer Center.
Google 2001
October 2nd, 2008Ah, memory lane. Take a trip back to the year 2001 with Google’s anniversary search page. Google made available search results for January of 2001 in honor of their 10th birthday. I know it’s not currently 2011, but a 7 1/2 year journey back for a 10th anniversary isn’t too bad.
I tried looking myself up and found some interesting entries. Some of particular note (using google’s cached links):
- I was working for sofcenter.com posting news and managing their site. I also had a sub-site within sofcenter dedicated to mapping tutorials for Soldier of Fortune. Yup, this is where I began my obsession with helping others in mapping for games.
- I hosted my own forums on ezboard to help others with mapping. In my personal profile, I mentioned that I was working on a gaming community hub under the domain foyleman.com.
- I produced a couple of SoF maps, one of which was for a mapper’s guild that I started. The guild would have mapping contests that would promote out-of-box thinking. One such contest was to create a map using 100 brushes or less.
new patio != hot tub?
September 17th, 2008The patio is done! yeah!. Actually it’s been done for a couple weeks. When I say I’m gonna do something, I do it and I do it hard. (lol)
Really though, the patio went in nicely. I’m impressed with the end result (note to self, get pictures online). Now all I need is the hot tub I was building it for.
The hot tub is in great condition. However, there is a very small leak on one of the hoses. The tub was under warranty and the repair man already assessed the damage. I figure, great, It’s almost ready for pick-up.
For the rest of this story, I will let the emails do the telling…
August 27th
Hi Erik,Just wanted to give you status on the Spa…Spoke to the repair service today for PoolTown (Spartan Service) and they have not received all of the parts from Sundance. They receive one part, but they also ordered the next higher assembly to be able to replace that if necessary… so they are still wanting for those parts.
He hopes they will receive the parts within the next week and then they will schedule an appointment to come out. He also indicated that he lost 2 service technicians due to an accident so he asked that I be patient.
September 10th
Erik,I received a message on 4 Sep 08 from the repair service indicating that the parts have come in and they wanted to schedule an appointment. I called them back on 5 Sep and 8 Sep (732-534-4589) and each time I left a message on their machine asking to setup a date… but I did not received a return call. Yesterday, 9 Sep 08, I finally reached a “person” and he knew that my parts were in, but they were in the process of moving their office to a new location and he said he would call me back later that day to schedule… but I never received a call back.Today, I called again and left another message on their machine… Believe me, I have been trying…It is my understanding that the leak/drip is coming from one of the pump housings and they were doing to either replace the complete housing or parts within.It is up to you if you want to take it now or if you want to wait for these guys. You can take it any time you want…Please advise.
September 12th
Erik,
Finally spoke to a “person” this morning.
They promised they would come out on Tuesday to do the repair.
Will let you know what happens…
September 17th
Erik,
Not good news…
I took the afternoon off from work and waited and waited, but no one came.
I left another message on their machine.Not sure what else I can do?
I’ll keep trying…
Who’s the repair center causing all this trouble? Pool Town of Howell, NJ. You’ve heard rumors that their service was bad? Yeah, me too. Now I am a 2nd party victim.
And to think that I was considering purchasing a new hot tub from them. Image the grief I’d get out of that… of course, I’d have more to post about for your entertainment (bah, you only care about being entertained, don’t you).
Ugh. More to come, I am sure.
