2009-03-10

Tech Tuesday

Ever since I moved into this condo, I've thought about getting a laptop. While the TV is easy to watch from my computer desk, it's not the most comfortable of chairs. And there are times when I would love to be online out on the balcony, or on the sofa, or in the bedroom. The BlackBerry Bold is somewhat handy, but have you ever tried to write a blog post on one? Not fun.

So, Sunday, I finally decided to pull the trigger. I bought a little
Acer Aspire One. (Not this exact model, but close.)

This is not a review of the Acer. I've only had it for two days, so I cannot give it a fair review.

This is the story of how it all went down.

I had been talking to a co-worker, Ann, about getting a laptop. And then I mentioned the whole "
netbook" thing. I was flip flopping between getting the $2,000 or the $350 netbook. Sunday I decided to go with the netbook, so I ran to Micro-Center around 1:00. After I putzed around the store for a while, but finally picked the model I wanted, got a wireless device, and was walking to service to get them to install the anti-virus (no CD-ROM drive on the little guy when I ran into Ann and her boyfriend. They were heading back to the laptop center. So we hung out until the machines were ready, and I gave them a lift home. Then a quick stop (HA!) at the grocery store, and I was finally home at 5:00.

Groceries put away, and at 5:58 I opened the wireless device. And realized INSTANTLY that it wouldn't work for me. (I needed to put the device between my DSL router and my desktop. So the device needed both an IN and an OUT. It only had an IN.) The store closed at 6:00. Crap! So I set up the computer instead. And at 6:50 I thought of Best Buy. And they closed at 7:00.

Screwed again!

But Monday, I got the right bits, and setup was a breeze.

During the setup, you have to name your access point. I can see "Kyle" and "Carly" and "Lutz Café". Boring. What should I name mine? "Virus Hive"? "Den Of Inequity"? I hope neighbor's appreciate my new access point name: "I Watch You Shower".

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like scaring the neighbors. One wifi connection in my apartment building was named 'Rose' so I named mine 'Hi Rose!' just to throw the fear of the wifi stalker into her.

J.J. in L.A. said...

My 25" tv died in October so I went with a 32" HD tv. 2 months, 3 cable companies and a million tech support calls later, I had the service.

I had an Acer desktop (refurbished) for 11 years. I loved that machine...

Cora said...

Pfffft! "I watch you shower" Hee hee. Do you watch hot, steamy, sexy, candle-lit bubble baths too?
;-)

Actually, you reminded me of my sister and her husband just now. They were talking about an uncovered window they had in their bedroom and whether the neighbors could peek in or not, and my sister said, "If the damn neighbors look in and see us naked, that's their problem! I'm not going to feel sorry for them!" Yet she's terrified the same neighbors will look over the fence and see dog poo in the backyard! Hee hee hee.

Ms. Florida Transplant said...

OMG Scope, that is so freaking hilarous. I have to rename mine something funny now. Great idea!

SkylersDad said...

Brilliant access point name Scope! I am a boring geek that named his NCC1701

Cowguy said...

The machine I use the most here (5 puter household) is an Acer laptop. Good stuff for the money Scope.

Asphodel said...

I wanted to say something but then forgot it when I read poobombers comment... Did Rose message you back by changing her name or something?

And oh yea, thumbs up at making everyone in your building quiver!

Scope said...

I hope the little Acer works out for me. I went inknowing it had limitations. Part of it is test driving it to see if my parents could live with the limitations, or if they should go full laptop.

Poo - the article that gave me the idea the guy's neighbor was pissing him off. So he changed his routinely to insult the guy or suggest that his wife was sleeping with the UPS man. .aybe he lived in Candy's neighborhood*

JJ - Doubt I'll get those years of service, but I can hope.

Cora - My tele-SCOPE doesn't reach far enough to see into your bath. I will just have to use my imagination. Until I fly out there some weekend, that is.

MFXP - Go right ahead. The idea is far from original. You may want to use, "Beware Of Dogs". :-)

SkyDad - That sounds like an ENTERPRISING access point name to me.

Cowguy - Yeah, the price point had me intrigued. Now comes the question of will I use it like I thought I would?

* I'm in no way suggesting Candy sleeps with the UPS man. Read her blog entry for details. On BlckBerry in subway tunnel. Linking is impossible.

Lisa said...

You could be nekkit cleaning guy... I mean, if you actually do clean nekkit... if you don't, maybe you could take one for the team (the team being the neighbors of course) and start cleaning nekkit. Hey, everyone should do their part to keep the world an appalled, er, I mean happy place.

Anonymous said...

When I lived in the hetto(see cuz we couldn't really afford the g anymore) I had wifi and I had a password but that doesn't stop some people from trying to hack so I named my connection, at the advice of my IT manager, Virus Plant. I don't know if it worked.

Hope you like the new laptop!

Candy's daily Dandy said...

Thank you for clearing that up Scope. Let's Just reiterate the point, I do NOT sleep with the UPS man! Thank-you very much.
I wrote a post about some "townie" gossip I had heard titled, "Desperately Dirty Housewives". Check the archives on that if you don't believe...

Now see, after all that I forgot what I was gonna say anyway.

Sassy Britches said...

Okay, I'm TOTALLY changing my name now. It doesn't take much to keep me entertained, does it?!

If I lived in a condo, I might pick something like, "Try A Ball Gag #304" or something equally nutters.

Anonymous said...

Damn! Now I have to go rename my network! The two single guys in the condo above ours have theirs named "Go Irish" 'cause they're both from Notre Dame. Ours sounds so boring now. *sigh*

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear IT people have probs with computers, too! As for me, i live in BUFU, ND. Ours is named Qwest 2000...original, huh?

I believe, Scope, that many of the people in your building might enjoy you watching them! Ever think of that?????

Tash said...

That's a great name. It's just the right amount of creepy and neighborly.

Lisa-tastrophies said...

Someone in my area named his "I Download A Shitload of Porn". It's not even a secured connection...but somehow I don't think a lot of people are using his wifi :-)

Morgan the Muse said...

I like that. I would love to come up with some smart ass thing like that. That one would definitely make them think before they logged on, or at least, make them laugh. Whatever.

Bea said...

i had a friend who i kept missing every time he was online, so we had several months of conversation by changing our user name. it worked pretty well.
after awhile you should change it to things like
"yes, you." and "i used to use that shampoo as well!"
creepy, but in a good way!