Prepare for a Houston Freeze with The Five P’s
According to the National Weather Service, a freeze warning is in effect for Harris county. While Houston is known for its hot, humid summers and mild winters, temperatures below freezing and even snow and sleet aren’t unheard of. Having spent many years in Houston and in Northern climates such as Maine and Minnesota, here’s my (unsolicited) list of what you should and shouldn’t do.
1. Pets
- DO make sure the pets have adequate shelter or bring them inside. This should be the first thing on your list. Pets are your responsibility and there’s a special place in Hell for that shrug off cold temperatures when it comes to their pet’s well-being.
- DO NOT run to Prissy Poodle and buy Scraps a sweater vest and booties. They don’t want it and they don’t need it. If you feel the need to play dress-up, buy a Barbie.
If all else fails, you can use your pets to insulate your…
2. Pipes
- DO disconnect and drain garden hoses. People tend to forget about this one. Simply disconnect the hose and “walk out” any residual water. If you’re one of those people that bought a cute, little wind-up hose reel then you have extra work to do. My suggestion would be to put that cuteness in the garage.
- DO insulate pipes in unheated areas. Frankly, you should have done this soon after your bought the house. Not only to protect yourself against a freeze, but also to reduce your energy bill. A few dollars and a few hours spent on pipe insulation can be quickly recovered by turning down your water heater’s thermostat when you’re done.
- DO cover garden spigots with an insulation kit. They’re inexpensive insurance and available from any decent hardware store.
- DO wrap exposed pipes with heat tape and insulation according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don’t know where the master shutoff is, find it. In Houston, it’s very common to see a pipe coming out of the ground, in to a valve, in to a garden spigot, and then in to the house.
- DO NOT assume that insulation on your exposed outdoor pipes is enough. Insulation does not magically create heat!
- DO NOT put heat tape on every garden spigot. You’re only interested in the master coming out of the ground. If you don’t know where it is or can’t see exposed pipes coming out of the ground, you’re probably okay for short freezes. When the plumbers aren’t busy helping the people that didn’t bother to prepare (and charging them a fortune), call one and ask them to give you the low-down on the ins and outs of your system.
After all, if your pipes are busted then you can’t water your…
3. Plants
- DO make sure plants are properly watered. Dry plants are more susceptible to cold damage. Let’s not get crazy, though. Just water them as you normally would.
- DO cover up bedded outside plants with a breathable material. Old sheets and light blankets work just fine for short periods.
- DO bring whatever plants you can inside. Even if it’s just to the garage. Leaving that potted ivy on the back porch during a hard freeze will result in damage to the plant and an endless stream of mind-numbing tales from friends and family about houseplants that they managed to kill over the years.
- DO make sure that you have enough mulch applied around trees and in plant beds.
- DO consider building a cold frame using inexpensive lumber or PVC to save some time.
- DO NOT cover your plants in plastic. They need a breathable material!
- DO NOT rush outside to plant a Christmas tree farm. It takes a great deal of time and effort to run a successful tree farm and it will probably violate your deed restrictions.
With the plants all nice and cozy, let’s focus on your…
4. Property
- DO make sure you have jumper cables handy. The Houston heat is really hard on our car batteries. Often times, however, we don’t know our batteries aren’t up to par until a good cold snap hits and forces them to work a little harder and pushes them over the edge.
- DO find and eliminate drafts in crawl spaces and attics with insulation. Think of a draft as “anti-insulation”. Not sure if you have a draft? A lit stick of incense will tell you! Just be careful not to light yourself or your house on fire.
- DO use old towels to help stop drafts near your doors and windows. Keeping warm air in and cold air out is the name of the game. Another stick of incense will help here.
- DO test fire your furnace. Make sure it comes on and stays on for at least 15 minutes. If you haven’t had an HVAC professional inspect your system in the last 12 months, call and make an appointment!
- DO NOT rush to the hardware store and buy rock salt or de-icer. Sure, in some parts of the country those are necessary evils, but not here. Using this stuff in Houston will kill your grass, tear up your concrete, and make you look silly.
- DO NOT bother putting plastic on the windows or other silly things. Again, if you live in an area that gets three months of sub-zero temperatures, howling winds, and snow measured in feet then you’re in the market for those things. We just don’t need to go to those extremes in Houston.
Assuming you didn’t burn the house down with incense, we can finally take care of…
5. Personal
- DO dress in layers. While it may be cold in the morning, it could very well heat up nicely in the afternoon. If you’ve ever braved truly cold temperatures, you already know that layers are the answer.
- DO keep a gallon or two of fresh, bottled water on hand. If something does go wrong, it’s nice to have a little backup.
- DO donate the old coats, jackets, gloves, hats, and other items you bought in a panic the last time there was a freeze warning to a local shelter or other organization that helps our city’s homeless.
- DO NOT wear a pair of shorts and a coat. Are you hot or are you cold? Either way, you obviously ignored my advice on dressing in layers and no… it’s not your imagination… other people ARE mocking you.
- DO NOT rush to the grocery store and buy as much bread, milk, and other sundries as you can fit in your SUV. In the exceptionally unlikely event that you’re shut-in for more than 24 hours, you can almost certainly get by on what’s already in the fridge, freezer, and pantry until things get back to normal. In the worst case scenario, you can always use your hurricane kit. You DO have a hurricane kit, right?
- DO NOT assume your SUV or other fancy-schmancy all-wheel, traction controlled, anti-lock, NASA-engineered vehicle qualifies you to actually DRIVE the damn thing when the roads are a little bit icky. Unless you’ve spent three of the last ten winters someplace North of Kansas, stay home.
- DO NOT attempt to save any fallen snow in your freezer. It’s snow. Snow is a little bit of dirt with some ice on it. You keep food and vodka in the freezer and the last thing you need is a bag of frozen dirtwater in there.
So there you have it. No matter what you do, be sure to enjoy it while you can!
MotoCLIQ vs HTC Magic (G1)
Okay, so I’ve had my new Motorola CLIQ from T-Mobile a couple of days. Now, everyone knows that I’m a big Android fan and I’ve been rocking an HTC Magic (G1) for a while. Unfortunately, my G1 has a little hardware issue that makes the touchscreen, well… touchy. I waited for T-Mobile to introduce another Android device with a full keyboard and the CLIQ was it. I ordered online, had it in my hands two days later, and here are my first impressions.
What I like the most…
Better Performance
The CLIQ is simply a faster, more responsive phone than the G1. Even though the specs aren’t radically different between the two devices, the CLIQ leaves the G1 in the dust.
More Memory
The G1 has a significant flaw in that it only has 256MB of ROM and 192MB of RAM. When the Android 1.6 (Donut) release came out, there was suddenly a great deal of concern about whether or not future Android versions would actually fit in the limited space. The CLIQ, on the other hand, sports 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM. Problem solved!
Better Touchscreen
Even though the CLIQ’s screen is a hair smaller, it more than makes up for it with a touchscreen that easily rivals my iPod Touch (which I consider the gold standard for the mobile touchscreen interface). The seamless front panel is also a welcome improvement as it makes pulling down the notification tray a little easier (for me at least).
MotoBLUR
I’ll start by saying that not everyone will appreciate MotoBLUR. However, if you are an avid Facebook, Twitter, and/or MySpace user then you’re likely to find a lot to love about MotoBLUR. More than simply an aggregation app, MotoBLUR touches exist throughout the phone. Kudos to Motorola for embracing the open nature of Android. Let’s just hope they stay on top of upgrades.
Improved Battery Life
With my G1, I couldn’t go more than about 6 hours before I needed to plug in. Not so with the CLIQ! Not only does the CLIQ sport a larger battery, but even with MotoBLUR running it seems to use what it has more efficiently. Don’t get me wrong! I still carry a charger with me just in case, but I’ve felt safe leaving the phone OFF the charger overnight (gasp!) and I woke up to a happy phone.
Five Panels
Those of you that are familiar with Android already know about the panels. For those of you that aren’t, think of a panel as your PC’s desktop. It’s a place to put widgets, shortcuts, and so forth so that you can “flick” between them. It eases the pain of a cramped smartphone screen. With the G1, there were three panels. The CLIQ, on the other hand, has five panels. Ahhhh… breathing room!
Standard Headphone Jack
One of the monumentally stupid design decisions related to the G1 was the exclusion of a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. In order to plug in a pair of headphones you had to first plug in a silly, little adapter. I hate silly little adapters. Fortunately, the CLIQ has a nice, standard headphone jack right on the top which is just where I like ‘em.
Improved Signal
One unexpected benefit to the CLIQ is an improved cellular signal. I consistently get a bar or two more than the G1 in all my usual hangouts. Nice!
Nice, Loud Speaker
While playing around with Gmote, I discovered that the CLIQ has a nice-sounding and PLENTY loud speaker built in. I don’t use the speakerphone a lot and I certainly don’t play music that way very often, but it’s nice to know that the CLIQ can handle those tasks without sounding too tinny or a lot of distortion.
What I dislike the most…
The Lock Button
Okay, seriously Motorola? You give me a lock button. Great! But why would you put it opposite the volume control? It’s a 50/50 chance that I’ll turn my phone’s volume up or down when all I really wanted to do is lock my phone’s screen. That shouldn’t have made it past the first round of usability testing.
The Keyboard
Reviewers and users have praised the CLIQ’s keyboard, but I’m not a big fan. I like the bigger keys and I could get used to the squishy feel, but there’s a weird lip below the bottom row of keys that gets in the way and a standard QWERTY keyboard layout is sorely missed. I like the G1’s keyboard much, much better.
The USB Port Location
I’ll admit that the G1’s USB port location (the bottom) really spoiled me. It meant that I could handle the phone while it was charging (which, unfortunately, was almost all the time) without much hassle. With the CLIQ, however, the USB port (which is one of those hateful little micro USB numbers) is on the side and it makes using the phone as it’s charging very clumsy. Oh, and while I’m at it… kudos to Motorola for giving us the cool 120v to standard USB adapters, but what the hell is up with the 2-1/2 foot USB cable? That thing barely makes it from my outlet to the nightstand!
The USB port on the side instead of the bottom (makes handling while charging tough)
No Donut For You!
When Android 1.6 (Donut) came out, I was pleased to see a new camera and camcorder interface, a much nicer marketplace, VPN support, and a text-to-speech engine along with all the improvements. Sadly, the CLIQ ships with Android 1.5 (Cupcake) which is what I would consider the bare minimum for any Android device. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Motorola simply looked at the timing of when the phone would be on the street versus when Android 2.0 was due and made the decision to skip Android 1.6. Don’t let me down, Motorola!
In the end, I honestly feel like the CLIQ is a worthy successor to the G1. I don’t regret my decision to upgrade given that my G1 was a bit of a problem child and MotoBLUR does rock the house. If the CLIQ were a little thinner, had a full, 5th row keyboard, and the lock button and USB ports were moved then I’d rate this phone a 9.5/10. As it is, however, I’ll give the CLIQ a 8/10 and a home in my front pocket.
Posted on Oct 23 2009 in | Comments (0) | PermalinkExploring Joomla
Anyone that’s done any significant amount of web work in the last ten years has almost certainly been exposed to one or more Content Management Systems (CMS). Years ago, I explored the options available and ultimately started using Expression Engine. The good people at EllisLab have done a great job with Expression Engine and I recommend it to my clients.
These days, however, money is tight and I continually strive to find tools and practices that will keep costs down and allow me to deliver quality sites. The $249 price tag that Expression Engine carries for a commercial license is fair given what the product can do. However, many of my clients have a hard time swallowing that cost. What I need (and what my clients need) is a CMS that’s powerful, flexible, and low cost.
That’s where Joomla comes into the picture. Joomla is a PHP-based, open source CMS and Model-View-Controller (MVC) web framework. The Joomla team has been hard at work for the last few years delivering quite an impressive package. For me, it represents an excellent solution. First, it’s PHP-based which is great since over 80% of my web application programming is done using PHP. Second, it’s open source software which, as anyone that knows me will tell you, I’m a huge proponent of. Finally, it provides an MVC framework which isolates business logic from input and presentation.
Obtaining and installing Joomla was a drop kick. Grab the ZIP, extract it, and upload it to the root of your site. Next, you’ll create an FTP account (optional) and create a MySQL database. All that’s left is to fire up a browser and the web installer will guide you through the rest. Assuming you’re comfortable with those concepts, you can be up and running in about 15 minutes. Not too shabby!
Once you’re up and running, you’ll need to take some time to orient yourself with Joomla’s approach and terminology. If you’ve used a CMS before, it should look pretty familiar. Still, I had to do some reading and play with it for a couple of hours before it all clicked. Once I got the hang of it, however, I immediately started to see what a great tool Joomla is and while it will take more research and experimentation, I can easily see recommending it to my value-minded clients.
Posted on Aug 28 2009 in | Comments (2) | PermalinkThe iPhone Versus Android
I’m generally not one to rail against a company or their products simply because they are big or popular, but this is a great example of why I’ll stick with my Google G1. To be fair, Google has exercised their right to remove apps from their store, too. As with most things cell phone related, however, you have to pick the least of all evils and, for now, that’s an Android-equipped device in my opinion.
I’ve had my T-Mobile G1 loaded with the Cupcake version of Android for a little more than a month. It’s a solid device with tons of useful (and usually free) applications available. I’ve also been with T-Mobile for over five years and on average I’ve found their service to be reliable, their rates reasonable, and their customer service to be helpful. Call me a fanboy, but I’ll be answering with my G1.
Posted on Jul 28 2009 in | Comments (0) | PermalinkUbuntu on the HP Mini 1000
Back in January, I picked up an HP Mini 1000 netbook (the 1035NR to be exact). I wanted a small, light, ultra-portable PC that would bridge the gap between my Blackberry and my (much) larger 17-inch HP Pavilion laptop. I carry the Blackberry everywhere, but despite some excellent 3rd party applications such as Opera Mini, the Google Mobile suite, and so forth there are still significant functionality gaps. The larger HP is a great laptop, but it’s a bit of a beast to haul to the bookstore or local pub and the battery life is fairly limited.
No, what I needed was something about the same size as a hardback book (or even a little smaller) with decent performance, a crisp display, adequate storage, and great connectivity. After a little research into this ever-growing market, I settled on the HP Mini 1000. Not only is the HP Mini a stylish, well-built netbook, but it offered the best keyboard and touchpad I could find, a nice, bright 10 inch display. The approximate $100 price premium was, in my opinion, offset by how easy it was to upgrade the RAM from the standard 1GB to 2GB, the Hewlett-Packard brand name (which is quickly becoming a standard in my household), and the little extras such as Bluetooth, built-in webcam, and great audio playback.
At the time, HP only offered the Mini 1000 with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Now, I’ve logged thousands of hours at the helm of Microsoft tools such as Visual Studio running, of course, on Microsoft operating systems. By and large, I have relatively few complaints other than the fact that while I consider Visual Studio a world-class development environment, I still don’t consider Windows an industrialized operating system particularly from a security and administrative perspective.
These days, you can buy an HP Mini 1000 with a customized version of Ubuntu. It looks slick and, from what I hear, improves overall performance, but is also crippled in that you can’t do rudimentary things such as open a terminal. Fortunately, Canonical Ltd. has stepped up to the plate with their Ubuntu Netbook Remix which is essentially the same Ubuntu we know and love, but with netbook-specific optimizations such as improved Intel Atom processor support in the kernel and a fancy, gnome-based launcher. Say what you will about Ubuntu, you simply can’t deny that Canonical has done a great job developing and promoting a fine distribution.
The installation was as smooth as can be from a USB thumb drive. In less than an hour, I had an (almost) fully functional netbook running the latest version of Ubuntu (Jaunty Jackalope). I had strong WiFi performance, an easy-to-navigate application launcher, VASTLY improved performance and memory utilization, and a MUCH smaller hard drive footprint. In fact, the only real hardware problem was that my audio devices appeared to stop working. To be specific, the PC speaker stopped working, but the headphones worked fine. Some quick reading on the always helpful Ubuntu forums had that problem licked in no time at all, however.
I’m sure there are some of you mumbling, ”That’s great, but what can you actually DO with Linux on a netbook?” The answer, my furrowed brow friend is, ”Anything your netbook can do!” I can go anywhere I want to on the Internet, take full advantage of VOIP telephony, edit Microsoft Office documents, listen to music, and even play a game or two. Don’t believe me? Why not try it for yourself? If it’s been a while since you’ve given Linux a whirl, I think you’ll be surprised at just how far the ever-maturing community has come. Sure, there are still some issues to be dealt with here and there, but if you don’t mind earning that “geek” label that your non-technical friends and family have given you then why not download it and give the Live CD a whirl? I dare you!
Posted on May 18 2009 in | Comments (0) | Permalink