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Let me pray about that.

This well meaning phrase parrotted by Christians has always annoyed me. It is usually an easy way out for folks who just don’t want to say ‘no’. I always wonder if they are really going to sincerely take the question to the Lord, or if they are just buying time to make a decision, which [...]

4Apr2009 | Jim | 0 comments | Continued
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Is Dell 4 hour on-site service worth it?

For this evaluation, we’ll be comparing:
PowerEdge R200
Intel® Celeron® Processor 430 at 1.8GHz, 512K Cache, 800MHz FSB, No Operating System. I also included 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB single SATA HDD.
Hardware Alone:
Starting Price        $749
Instant Savings        $210
Subtotal        $539
Hardware and 3 year 4 hour on-site 7/24 IT mission critical hardware / software support:
Starting Price    [...]

1Apr2009 | Jim | 2 comments | Continued
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Why the perception of compliance certification is not always reality.

I’ve toured several data center facilities since I’ve been involved in IT. I’ve also been a direct and indirect customer of many of them. First let me say that I am happy that there are standards available that help us to measure quality control and accounting practices. Without these standards, there would be no chance [...]

1Apr2009 | Jim | 0 comments | Continued
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The Internet Killed The Radio Star (or why i think that traditional media is dead)

I think it is pretty obvious that CDs are soon going to be all but replaced by downloadable digital content, and it’s only a matter of time before the format war in this space is settled. Digital downloads are too disruptive to the traditional media marketplace for them not to be placed on top. Physical [...]

31Mar2009 | Jim | 0 comments | Continued
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Why In Person Customer Support Is More Important Than Ever, Or How Hastings Book Store Lost My Business

Even with all the options available to me online, I still enjoy going into a book store and holding a book in my hand before buying it. This is unfortunately becoming more and more difficult for me to do. Sites like Amazon and Half.com consistently beat brick and mortar bookstores on price and customer service. [...]

22Feb2009 | Jim | 1 comment | Continued
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How to change the port in sql server management express (ssms)

I chased my tail around for awhile on this before finally coming across a post on google… those crazy folks at Microsoft decided that rather than using the standard IPAddress:port with a colon, they would use a comma instead! So… when you’re using SSMS to connect to a Sql Server on a non-standard port… this [...]

15Oct2008 | Jim | 0 comments | Continued
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Techno Apathy

For the most part, new technology fails to excite or impress me. Don’t get me wrong… I’m always interested in technology that genuinely makes a difference in our lives… but I haven’t come across much of that lately. I’m frequently asked by my friends, and sometimes my family members to give recomendations on various toys [...]

5Sep2008 | Jim | 0 comments | Continued
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Decision making within the life cycle of complex systems

Matt and I were talking today about the role that decision making plays in our lives… and I mentioned how when you’re younger, you have fewer decisions to make… but they are more critical, while as you age, you have a greater number of decisions to make the older you get (until it plateaus at [...]

19Aug2008 | Jim | 0 comments | Continued
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Momentum as one of your greatest assets

A few months ago, I had a friend who’s car would not start while he was visiting me at my house. Fortunately it was a stick shift… and anyone who has driven one of these knows what it means to ‘pop’ start it when the battery is dead. For those who have not had the [...]

14Aug2008 | Jim | 4 comments | Continued
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Hosting Provider Challenges

1 year.
That’s about my average stay at any given hosting provider. I think it must be timed with hosting software product releases or something, because it’s actually pretty spooky… but it always seems like right around 1 year renewal is when I inevitably start looking for a new relationship. Like that car that ran great [...]

3Aug2008 | Jim | 2 comments | Continued
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