More changes for the blog

Today, I made a CNAME record for blog.nztechie.com so it would point to my Google-hosted blog. I was advised by my domain host that it would take 4 hours. However, it seemed to propagate instantly and my blog was now under the nztechie.com domain.

I updated the links on the nztechie.com homepage to reflect the new URL for my blog. I also updated the RSS feed which I had recently added to my website.

Since the change, my Blog title graphic is not operating as it used to. I have temporarily reverted it back to the previous text title until I resolve the problem.

On other matters, when I use my Motorola V3x and record a video in better, or best mode, it will not be accepted by Youtube. It will also not be played by Apple Quicktime, or by the Nokia Multimedia Player. Tonight I purchased a 1GB Transflash MicroSD card from Harvey Norman (NZ$35). The specifications for my Motorola V3x call for a maximum external memory of 512MB. The unit appeared to detect and utilitse the full 1GB of storage available.

The extra MicroSD card did not extend the maximum video recording time of 3 minutes. I am contemplating using one of the online hacks to extend the video time.

As appears to be standard among smartphones, including my last Nokia 6680, the V3x seems to have trouble using music on the memory card as a ringtone. I moved my ringtone from the memory card into the main phone memory.

Using the Motorola V3x with Windows XP as a mass storage device does not seem to play as well as my Nokia did.

Useless Information: When Coca-Cola began to be sold in China, they used characters that would sound like "Coca-Cola" when spoken. Unfortunately, what they turned out to mean was "Bite the wax tadpole"

Another Year, Another Cake

To celebrate my birthday this year, Mum, dad, Charlene, Nick, Carlos and Anisha joined me for a birthday dinner at the Lone Star restaurant in Manukau City. Anisha and I went their straight after work and arrived at 6.30pm.

Before the main course, we ordered a couple of the Lone Star Loafs. Tastes really nice, but when they put the bread out they never give you any bread plates, you have to ask for them. For dinner I ordered the Cajun Chicken which I had enjoyed so much on my last visit to Lone Star. Mum organised a small birthday cake which we had after dinner.

For my birthday Anisha bought me a book on Windows Server 2003, an eau de toilette body Cologne, a mini torch light and a bottle opener.

Mum bought me the external FreeAgent 320 gigabyte hard drive that I had requested, along with a pedometer with a built in radio.

Charlene, Nick, and Carlos gave me a NZ$50 Harvey Norman voucher, along with some interesting shooter glasses, and a selection of reminder note hangers for door handles!

All my grandparents sent me money, including Grandad Tennent. Carole and Steve Shirley also sent me a cheque. I received a card from Warren and Jean.

I received birthday wishes on my Facebook profile from Geraldine, Jarod, and Lyndon. Trish sent me a text message wishing me a happy birthday also.

I am now currently in the progress of transferring all of my DivX, Mpeg, XviD movies, and my photos and videos from my 250 gigabyte external drive attached to a Linksys NSLU2 NAS Storage Link to my new 320 gigabyte external drive.


Video: Lone Star Bar and Cafe - Manukau City

Useless Information: Beijing boasts the world's largest Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.

A strole to the Mall

Last night, Anisha said that she wanted to go for a walk to the mall today if the weather was good. It was a cracker of a warm day today. After breakfast, we put on our walking shoes and went to the Botany Downs shopping centre.

Anisha had various family members that she wanted to buy presents for, so we spend a lot of time doing that. Anisha bought herself a new handbag from Farmers. Anisha told me that she had bought me some clothing for the India Diwali. I picked up something from Pagani for her, which I will give to her on the appropriate day.

I bought Anisha and myself an Ice cream from the New Zealand Natural stand in the mall. Anisha spotted some plastic bag holders at the centre. She didn't have any cash on her. I gave her NZ$10 to buy one.

I went to Harvey Norman and noticed that they had a Freeview FTA Decoder (Zinwell) on special for NZ$199. As my birthday is coming up, I'm considering buying it for myself as a birthday present.

After Harvey Norman, we went to Kmart. I am in need of some jeans, so I picked up a couple pairs of cheap jeans. They were NZ$20 each. When I buy jeans, they always end up being too long and I need to get them adjusted. That cheap NZ$20 each for jeans turned into almost $NZ80 after taking into account the NZ$36 I had to pay to get the lengths adjusted. I had 8cm taken off from the jeans.

We bumped into Alan Murray while at the shopping Centre.

After we had walked home, I went through my old jeans (ones which I have not worn for about 7 years, when I was a lot smaller) and found about 10 pairs which no longer fit me. I found one old Billabong pair in good condition. Just for fun, I asked Anisha to try them on. They fitted perfectly. Now Anisha has another pair of jeans!

Later that night, Anisha and I let off the fireworks that we brought from The Warehouse on Friday. We had bought The Big New Box, the Backyard Blast, and the Roman Candle Box. We were impressed by most of the fireworks, with the exception of the smaller Roman Candle fireworks.


Video: Setting off the Fireworks at home

Useless Information: A 13-year-old boy in India produced winged beetles in his urine after hatching the eggs in his body.

An Agent and a Lone Star

Anisha's brand new Seagate FreeAgent hard drive had gone kaput. She had a lot of photos on it, and they were in jeopardy. From various methods and sources, we managed to restore about 80% of them, but the drive was dead.

We took the drive into Harvey Norman Botany Downs and explained the situation to their customer service. The guy we dealt with plugged the unit into three separate computers and it detected the drives without a problem. This was the initial behaviour we experienced on our PC's at home. I asked the gentleman to attempt to copy some files off the drive for five minutes. The drive failed and was no longer recognised after performing this test.

The Harvey Norman representative recommended having the drive with a Western Digital unit. He stated that he already had another dead Seagte drive in for repair, and that he uses Western Digital himself. Harvey Norman have the WD Mybook at the moment, which is a good unit as a replacement. Harvey Norman are going to attempt to recover the data, but their team on site hardly has the capability of a full data recovery.

Anyhow, Harvey Norman will try and recover the data and give us a call to see how it goes. It has not been successful. We may or may not have them approach Seagate to perform a data recovery on the drive. I'm personally feeling that the units firmware or connectivity has died somewhere and that the data could be recovered if the drive was removed from its casing. I'd be pretty sure that the unit would contain a standard hard drive.

I went to Just Cuts to get a style cut. Just Cuts are running a promotion where if you refer someone to Just Cuts, you can get free movie tickets.

We went to The Warehouse and Anisha had the idea that we could buy Carlos a little gift. After much discussion, we decided on getting some little bath toys which squirted water. We were ambushed by Eric Hart who was on duty, and I spoke with him for about 15 minutes. After talking with mum, she let us know that Carlos already has these bath toys. We returned the bath toys to The Warehouse and went to Kmart and picked up a toy box (Anisha's idea) instead. We then dropped it off to Carlos.

Later that night Anisha and I went to the Lone Star Bar & Cafe in Manukau. We had been to the one in Newmarket and were quite happy with the food. For my main I had Cajun Chicken, while Anisha had Dixie Chicken. We borrowed the family Entertainment Guide, which included a discount for a free main when another main is purchased. After a few drinks, and a Lone Star bread, this bought the total down to NZ$46. A very reasonable sum for a night out. We also saw Joe who used to work at CTRL-ALT-DELETE (Datacom Cafe) while dining. He is still working in Botany Downs.

Useless Information: In 1991, during an attempted political coup on Russian President Boris Yelstin, food supplies had dwindled down at the parliament buildings so they ordered Pizza Hut to deliver pizzas.