How to be an interesting person.

I was contemplating my own personal life and thinking about people I know when I realized; what makes your life interesting, what makes you an interesting person is not so much what you do but the sum of what you did.

I know, it sounds weird - if not just plain obvious - but think about it for a moment. So what if you have an interesting job? Isn't it far more interesting to have had the opportunity to visit Nepal, for example? So what if your house is built using the latest methods in ‘green living’? Wouldn't it make for longer conversation if it had been built in sacred ground, next to an ancient indian cemetery or burial ground?

I might be wrong or just mistaken but I thinking an ‘easy’ life hardly makes for an interesting one. If you finished your studies, married your high school sweetheart, had a kid or two and lived happily ever after, good for you. That is a good thing, I am not saying it isn't. But… How interesting would a story of your life be if put in a book? Who would want to read about you? Where's the fun? Where's the adventure? And if you find yourself thinking back about your life, like I did, and the most exciting moment you can remember was when you bought yourself your first 0Km car… Damn, isn't that sad?

Sure we all dream with a trouble-free life but you only truly lived if you managed to survive life's tribulations and have plenty of stories to tell.

Then again, that's just me. What do I know?

WTF!?

I am getting old - I know - and that doesn't make me any more accepting of other people's flaws but sometimes I wonder whether I am getting grumpier or people are simply getting more annoying.

Take the gardeners of my village for example. We have four. Their job is to keep the condominium presentable, that is, keeping the swimming pool and roads clean, trimming and caring for the grass, flowers, trees etc and doing small repair/paint jobs when/if needed.

The guys are not bad people. Rather, simple people who actually take pride in their jobs and do it well. They are also, contrary to what some would expect, quite amiable. They, however, carry their radios with them and therein lies the problem…

Why, oh, why can't they keep the volume down so they can hear their music without forcing everyone else to do so with them? I love music too but I do not force them to listen to ‘my’ music. While it would be just awesome to be able to do so, I do not turn my volume all the way to the right when I am listening to classical pieces, let alone when I am in the mood for speed metal!

Can you really be accused of being grumpy when you can't even listen to your own TV inside your home because someone else has their radio playing whatever &$%# they want loud?

I don't know… Seriously, I think I am not asking for too much; Just a better sense of living in community.

On Mankind…

“I hate mankind, for I think of myself as one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.”

— Samuel Johnson

Similarities

Am I the only one who thinks Joshua Jackson, Peter Krause and Jack Coleman look very much alike? Geez, I think these guys have been cloned!

Unsociable, antisocial or sociopathic?

I like to think of myself as a well adjusted person. I do have many flaws but I am honest, hardwoking, respectful and kind. Notwithstanding, I long for a life far from big cities and frequent social contact. I think people are, in their majority, too noisy, too dumb, too selfish and too messed up for me to waste my time with them. Mostly, I just want to stay away. That would make me 'unsociable'.

But people like this girl bring out the worst in me.

If I turn out to be more than just unsociable, I think I am justified...

Hello?! Is this thing on???

I have been feeling the urge to post again. I'm not really sure I will but the 'itch' is there and you know what the best way to get rid of an itch, right?

さようなら Linksysの! (Sayonara, Linksys!)

Sometimes I wish I knew what really goes on inside certain companies...

I understand one cannot be the "best" forever but some companies just go from "crème de la crème" to worthless in no time at all!

Sometimes it is because the company gets accquired by a bigger company, its products abandoned or not cared for until they slowly fade away. Sometimes the new company thinks they 'know too well' how to handle the recently accquired products ("Oh, yeah! Let's make this better!!!") and realize too late they were too wrong.

I guess this was the case with USRobotics, which used to produce the most inovative and reliable modems at its time and simply vanished after being bought over by 3Com.

But, what happens when a company just allows their products and customer base go down the drain? I wish I knew!

Linksys used to be so damned good! There was a time I would not think twice before recommending their products to anyone who asked. Sadly, that is not the case anymore...

My old faithful router was sent to router's heaven after a thunderstorm and, devoted to Linksys like I had been for such a long time, I started searching for a new, more advanced replacement. I ended up with a WAG54G2. Not for long, though.

First, the bloody thing looks like someone ran over an old router with a truck and instead of breaking it, just squashed it enough to make it look... different. It might look good and modern to you but, to me, it just doesn't look right.

The design itself causes a bigger issue: it gets too hot. Seriously! So hot I started having problems with it. What problems, you ask. Well, I noticed there were frequent disconnections while using it (which, for me, is all the time). I thought I ought to upgrade the firmware or something but Google-ing it a bit I found out I was not the only one having problems with disconnections. The stated reason? You guessed it: the damn router gets too hot and stops working.

Perhaps I would not have noticed the problem had I installed it in my previous apartment. I used to have a small room I used to call my 'office' and where I kept all my computers. There, the air-conditioner was always on. It was niiiice. In my new home, I get a nicer office space. Big, spacious, ample office. Gosh, I love it! Unfortunately, having such a big office also means 24/7 AirCon becomes prohibitive.

With no other viable solution to my problem, I replaced the Linksys with a D-Link and must say I am very happy, thank you very much.

I would be willing to forbear my disappointment with Linksys had it not been for other problems I had with the brand.

For example: my wireless sound bridge (WMB54G) doesn't play along with other operating systems. If I elect not to have a Windows machine at home (which is my plan), I simply can't use it. There are no known drivers for Linux or Mac.

My Print Server (WPS54GU2) does not support WPA. I am forced to WEP security for the entire network. Not that I really worry about security - in my neighbourhood everybody's got the same broadband provider and speed, noone has the time/inclination/need to try hacking on neighbour's WANs - but "why oh why" won't Linksys keep up with other vendors and provide the stupid security option everyone else does?!

I got tired of searching for solutions for Linksys problems. So that's was it. Linksys is now officially shunned from my home and my customers will definitely be buying other brands if it depends on me.

Sayonara, Linksys!