Sys Admin Tales » Gear

What’s in my backpack?

Tom Thrush — Mon, 17 May 2010 04:09:44 +0000

Every time I’m heading out the door, I throw a heavy backpack over my shoulder and drop it into my car with a thud.

What’s in this bag I lug around to each client? Of course there’s my HP tc4400 Tablet PC and battery charger, but there’s a whole lot more, in no particular order:

Small TechNet binder (Contents will be another post).
An assortment of small screwdrivers for laptops and PCs alike
Cables: 7′ Ethernet, Cisco serial, USB to PS2 converter, USB to serial, iPhone charger
160 external hard drive, USB (for moving files and dumping images)
Leatherman
A small handful of unlabeled customer access badges and keys
Three USB thumbdrives (1GB, 2GB (BitLockered) and 32GB)
Small metal business card holder
Sharpie and blue pen
Tape measure

Now I’m part of the iCrowd

Tom Thrush — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:35:22 +0000

I finally caved and bought an iPhone. The tipping point was that my Verizon contract was up and I could save about $25/month by going to AT&T. (A friend of a friend is the store manager.)

It also helped that the iPhone 3Gs came out, offered a mature OS with a landscape keyboard and the big surprise, cut and paste.

I must say I’m rather enjoying the new phone; finding new Apps is rather addictive. The interface is pleasing and mostly intuitive, iPod functions are nicely done and most importantly, ActiveSync with Exchange works quite well.

I was rather dubious of the AT&T network, but so far so good.

More on being in the “iCrowd” later…

Mobile Tweeting with Pocketwit

Tom Thrush — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:59:01 +0000

Many months ago I joined the Twitter nation (tthrush, but don’t expect much, I mostly lurk) and eventually added a Twitter app to my cell.

At first I tried Twobile, but the interface was a bit lacking and the it could’ve been little quicker.

I’ve since settled on Pocketwit, another free client, this time from Google. The interface is elegant and the usability is top notch. If you’re using a Windows Mobile phone, I highly recommend trying this out.

Dell now posting Outlet deals on Twitter

Tom Thrush — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:15:32 +0000

Thanks to G4TV for this nugget:

Dell is now offering Outlet deals via Twitter. You can follow here: http://twitter.com/DellOutlet

Update: Check out who the Dell Outlet is following, there are more deals to be tweeted.

Get your Cylon here!

Tom Thrush — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:03:50 +0000

Okay, this is too cool not to post: ThinkGeek has affordable Cylons for purchase.

I ordered one a few weeks ago and while anciously waiting I received a call from my brother-in-law thanking me for his new arrival. Since he was the last person I ordered stuff for, his shipping address was cached. So in my purchasing frenzy I didn’t notice, but as a fellow geek I was happy “Cy” had a good home.

Anyway, after ordering another one, I now have one of my own. And no I don’t move it around making noises or anything (at least when my wife’s around).

Geek Envy

Tom Thrush — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:09:11 +0000

Okay, I thought I was one of the cool kids for getting a 24″ LCD. But whiIe checking out the SBS Dvia Blog today I see this: Four 24″ monitors on a Vista system. If only I wasn’t spending money on food and gas…

Hand me my Sceptre

Tom Thrush — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:06:48 +0000

My new 24" Sceptre LCD monitor just arrived, in fact I’m looking using it now while writing this post. What I replaced was a very nice, but old and power hungry, 21" Dell Trinitron CRT which is now on Craigslist as I write.

I bought it from CompUSA for $329.41, with shipping and no tax (you’ll have to pay tax if you live in Illinous I imagine). During my three month search, I examined numerous comparison shopping sites, but couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, a 24" LCD with reasonable specs at a decent price. Last week while drilling down through the selection of LCDs yet one more time on PriceGrabber I found the Sceptre LCD. I’ve seen Sceptre LCD televisions at Costco, but they were usually sub-par. This monitor had some pretty good reviews, so I took the plunge.

I’m happy to say this is a nice looking, quality monitor and of course at 1920×1200 there’s a huge viewing area. All-in-all this product has my recommendation!