I was always a fan of the show The West Wing. Being a person with a History degree that wants to teach social studies, this probably comes as no surprise. I thought it was the best show on television when it was on (except maybe for season 4; it was kind of a disappointment). I was sad to see the show end its run and was hoping that it would continue on with a new administration after President Bartlet saw his two terms end. Of course, ratings were down and Aaron Sorkin was no longer writing for the show, so it was time for it to go. I really miss smart TV. In a prime-time that’s filled with game shows and reality shows, a drama like The West Wing was a welcome change. Best Buy recently put all seven seasons of the show on DVD on sale for $14.99 each. How could I pass this up? I bought seasons 1-3 and will hopefully get the next 4 for Christmas (Lisa, Sarah, if you’re reading this, check with mom, she may be planning on buying these, if not, have at them :) ). I would have bought these DVDs a long time ago but they were expensive, at $50 per season, and reruns were on Bravo all the time. Now that reruns are no longer on the network and the price has dropped, I’m immersing myself with one of the all time best dramas that ever appeared on television. Seriously, this is a beautifully crafted show. I think, given a real chance, Sorkin’s follow-up, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip would have been just as good. It’s a shame the network’s no longer like smart shows. *Cue the imagery from Idiocracy*
Charter Really Sucks
I’m really fed up with Charter Communications. I’ve heard the horror stories of Comcast and even my experiences with Mediacom haven’t been that great, but Charter really gets under my skin. The past few days my 5mbit internet connection has been going really really slow. Painfully slow. I’ve run several speed tests on several different computers (a Windows Vista box, an Ubuntu box and my MacBook) and each time the speed registers at less than 1mbit. So, I’m paying over $40 per month for service that is only delivering less than 20% of what I’m supposed to be receiving? (Not to mention the fact that I’ve never gotten my whole 5mbit connection and most times it’s as if i pay for 5mbit but they only deliver 3). That doesn’t sound to fair to me. I’ve checked all the cable connections in the house to see if there might be a loose cable somewhere and haven’t found anything. So what do I do? If it doesn’t clear up on it’s own over the next couple days I will have to call and deal with an hour of a recorded voice telling me to power-cycle my modem, restart my computer, disconnect my router, stuff I’ve already done, then I’ll have to deal with the technician who will have me do the exact same things the recorded voice told me to do before they finally accept that it’s their problem and schedule an appointment to come look at it. Of course, I won’t be expecting to see an actual technician for at least 3 weeks after I set up the appointment, because that’s how Charter operates. It’s no surprise they’ve gotten a failing grade and thousands of complaints from the Better Business Bureau. So, you may be asking, why don’t I switch? The answer is simple; the Sherman Anti-Trust Act apparently doesn’t protect my city from giving a monopoly to Charter. There are no other cable companies or internet service providers (unless I want dial-up). The only high-speed net access is through Charter. I can’t wait for the day that AT&T comes into St. Peters and starts offering video and internet services. That will be a great day in the lives of many Charter Communications customers.
The West Wing
I was always a fan of the show The West Wing. Being a person with a History degree that wants to teach social studies, this probably comes as no surprise. I thought it was the best show on television when it was on (except maybe for season 4; it was kind of a disappointment). I was sad to see the show end its run and was hoping that it would continue on with a new administration after President Bartlet saw his two terms end. Of course, ratings were down and Aaron Sorkin was no longer writing for the show, so it was time for it to go. I really miss smart TV. In a prime-time that’s filled with game shows and reality shows, a drama like The West Wing was a welcome change. Best Buy recently put all seven seasons of the show on DVD on sale for $14.99 each. How could I pass this up? I bought seasons 1-3 and will hopefully get the next 4 for Christmas (Lisa, Sarah, if you’re reading this, check with mom, she may be planning on buying these, if not, have at them :) ). I would have bought these DVDs a long time ago but they were expensive, at $50 per season, and reruns were on Bravo all the time. Now that reruns are no longer on the network and the price has dropped, I’m immersing myself with one of the all time best dramas that ever appeared on television. Seriously, this is a beautifully crafted show. I think, given a real chance, Sorkin’s follow-up, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip would have been just as good. It’s a shame the network’s no longer like smart shows. *Cue the imagery from Idiocracy*
Software Suggestions
So, I have my new MacBook, and one thing I notice about Apple users is they are just as passionate about the apps they use as they are about using Apple products. What’s funny is they will argue over what text editor is better just as fervently as they do when arguing over why a Mac is better than a PC. Based on recommendations by fellow Mac users in the #habari IRC channel, I have already begun collecting applications. So far I have Menuet, Adium, Transmit, Quicksilver, Colloquy, Firefox (of course), Smultron, and Transmission. What other applications for the Mac do I need (or you think I should have)?
Brohemian Rhapsody
What do you get when you have a creative filmmaker with Frat House experiences that is also a fan of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody? Answer: This hilarious video.
Quick Thoughts
On the second day of my four-day weekend, I thought I’d update my blog a bit. After all, a break from work doesn’t mean a break from blogging, right? Since I’ve been off, nothing much has really happened over the past couple days, with one exception. My MacBook was delivered. What can I say? I love it. I’ve heard some users talk about their switch in the past and complained about how slow it was or how slow the programs were, but I’ve not experienced any of that. The OS runs great and programs are blazing fast to launch, even Firefox. I love the design of the MacBook, especially the keyboard and super-drive, compared to my old laptop. iChat is pretty sweet. I enjoyed chatting with Lisa on that. The only problem I had so far with the MacBook is last.fm appears twice in the dock and also doesn’t want to shut down (and needs a force-quit). I know Lisa has had problems with it appearing twice in the dock. Anyone else have any problems with last.fm on their Mac? I think next time I get a desktop it will be a Mac as well, but that won’t be for several years. That’s pretty much it for now.