Misc. Projects Including A Baby

To look at this long neglected unblog one would thing I've stopped doing things, but quite the contrary there's been so very much doing of things that there's been no time for posting. In no particular order we have:

• Installed a home security system -- No particular need, but I've always enjoyed alarms and now our home has an RSS feed

• Installed an electric garage door opener -- No more brushing off the car in the morning after a snow. Granted it's still powered by an extension cord running from the basement, but hey so goes it.

• Installed nifty iButton electronic locks -- Now the same key opens every door to which I've got access including the Swarmcast offices.

• Un-finshed the basement -- wool insulation and moisture: a winning combination. The project included a fun trip to the city trash transfer station.

• Remodeled the kitchen -- I did almost no actual labor on this excepting some tile installation with Kate, the adding of rolley shelves in the pantry, and having to eat out for four straight months.

Add to those minor projects some time spent on general upkeep of an 85 year old home, scouts and a decidedly non-zero number of hours spent at work, and it becomes clear that what Kate and I need is a baby.

Kate's due on July 28th, and we're very excited.

Autobahn Accelerator for iTunes

My company, Swarmcast, announced one of our first public releases today. Previously we've been primary selling to content providers, but now we're putting out a user facing free release. If you download our Autobahn Accelerator for iTunes you'll find your purchases from the iTunes music store come down three to ten times faster than they did before. We'll be adding support for lots of other sites (you tube, etc.) in upcoming weeks.

Sadly we've got a MacOS version done, but the installation was deemed too clumsy for the polished Mac experience, so we'll have to wait a few weeks to get that out. Windows only for now (says this Linux user).

Customer Service Call Log

Between telecom troubles, warranty repairs, botched on line orders, and marriage related changes in insurance, mortgage, and bank accounts I've spent a lot of time on the phone with customer service representatives lately. Few issues get resolved in a single call and even fewer without a transfer to another office.

I put together a sheet to keep track of who I spoke to, when, how to get back to them, and what they promised me. Now I grab one whenever I'm about to dial a 1-800 number to talk to the almost-friendly, nearly-helpful people on the other end. Besides the convenience of being able to say "On January 21st at 3pm Janice, CSR number JA5692, told me she'd ship the replacement FedEx overnight," representatives seem on their best behavior when you start out every interaction asking for their name and customer representative number.

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