Hackintosh…

So I got my issue with my new, used, hand me down laptop (A Dell Inspiron 8600).  The problem was a bad CD/DVD drive.  I took it to Jafferson Computers in Ann Arbor, MI and they fixed it up right quick for me.  Here’s a plug for Jafferson…they’ve been great to me.  Ask for Mateen if you ever need help…

So not being satisfied to go back to a Windows world I was determined to try and install Hackintosh on my computer over the weekend.   I will admit, I was a little skeptical and didn’t think I would have much luck.  Given my experience with Linux, etc… I was expecting even worse (if that’s possible).  I was expecting some major command line conjurring, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I downloaded the Jas 10.4.8 SSE2 & SSE3 DVD iso from a poplar torrent site (Ahoy Matey) and burned it from my Mac and popped it in my dell.  It took right off, popping up on the install menu.  Using a walk thru from the OSX86 wiki  I just followed the directions.  It took me three atempts to get it to install correctly (let me explain).  There are several options specific for your computer that you are allowed to choose.  The first install attempt I installed every option except the Titan Driver (for the video card).  Upon re-booting it the computer frooze on the white apple boot screen.  I thought the problem might be with the video card, so I installed again…this time with the Titan Driver selected.  Second reboot didn’t even get that far….after the initial screen the display went all crazy so I knew it was a video card problem that time.  So my final attempt…. I decided to only install the basic drivers…no extras.  And upon boot up…It worked like a charm.

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t believe it.  I kept waiting for it to crash…or blow up…or something.  After all I don’t have the best luck with Tech stuff.  But it worked, OS X (10.4.8) was loaded up, It came with the essential programs (Itunes, Mail, Safari, etc….)  But that was it.  I still had video card issues.  I was stuck in a 1024X screen resolution and when you moved windows around you could see there where some rendering issues.  I also had no internet connection.

So I had to get my wireless connection and video card working if this was going to be viable.  This was the most frustrating part of the process.  Who do you call for help on these kind of issues?  You have to rely on the support of the community.  Luckily enough, the community around the OSX86 is very good.  I was able find how to fix my issues relatively quick by doing searches on google.  All the info was on insanelymac’s forumns, though strangely enough something is screwed up with their forumns in general.  The only way to search them is really from your browser search engine.

I was able to download an installer that got my wireless network working as well as a installer to get my video card going.  In all it took me about 2 hours.

The only downside is (and you could say it’s a big downside)…the Hackintosh wireless connection for some reason will not connect to my WEP encrpyted connection.  I tried all the other ones and they wouldn’t work either.  So for right now my wireless network is wide open.  I’m still going to work on that.

So bottom line…the process was really easy.  I’m not a hacker, not a programmer, not even really good with tech stuff.  But I was able to figure it out and follow directions.  If you got an extra computer lying around and want to see what the Mac OS is all about give it a try…you can even do what I did…partition your current hard drive…keep Windows on one partition and OS X on the other.

Yes….I did keep windows on one partition.  It never hurts to have a backup.  I trust Macintosh, but Hackintosh…I’m still learning.

Here are some pics in case there are any skeptics.  And Yes, Hackintosh is the full OS X, not some skin or whatever running on top of another OS.

Stress, Management & Leadership

I have no idea why I seem to be posting on business/work related stuff lately, but that’s what’s on my mind so I’m going with the flow.

I had a good conversation yesterday with a couple guys I work with about managment/leadership etc…

One thing we talked about is how your Manager/Leader deals with you when you come to them with problems or when an issue comes up.

Here’s some examples we’ve experienced as subordinates that leave you less then confident in your Manager/Leader.

1. Manager/Leader goes on a tirade, yelling screaming about the issue…making statements like “We’re not doing our job”, “We’ve got to do better”, “We’ve got to work harder”, etc…

First – Most people like don’t like getting yelled at, and once the yelling starts they automatically shut down.

Second – By the manager/leader immediately going into yelling/screaming/tirade mode it simply reinforces to his/her subordinates that they do not understand the issue and have no solutions to offer, but simply to yell. (Maybe this is their idea of motivation???)

Third – Most people want to do a good job, want to succeed. Be-littleing their work ethic, knowledge or ability doesn’t motivate them. Give them the tools they need to do the job. Communicate to them the expectations. Here’s a great idea – Make the expectations reasonable. When they’re not met work out a plan together to reach them.

Fourth – By separating yourself from the solution you’re reinforcing an us vs. them mentality. It comes off as being arrogant and does nothing to build moral or team work.

I appreciate managers/leaders that admit they don’t have the answers, but are more then willing to sit down with you and work through the issues to some type of solution.

Next Scenario

2. You go to your manager/leader with an issue. They don’t give you the time, attention you feel the issue needs or they say they’ll help but do nothing.

I’ve had this happen to me on a number of occasions with one manager in particular. It’s very frustrating. I’ve lost all respect, confidence in this individual and he has become essentially useless to me. I no longer go to him with my issues, because there’s no point. I feel like I have to figure it out on my own and I do.

Works out great for the leader/manager – He gets to take credit for all the success and he’s not culpable for any of the mistakes. Maybe that’s what he wants…

Last Scenario

3. This happened to me today, which prompted this long discourse. My immediate supervisor is under an extreme amount of stress and he’s flipping out today. He’s a yeller, a curser, a not my problem, it is what it is, woe is me, I need more help, we’re setup to fail, type of guy. Very smart…very good at what he does, but hard to work with because he rubs people the wrong way.

So my problem… I’ve set across the cubicle for him for the last three days not doing much. I’ve offered to help, which I’ve been given small things to follow up on and closed out in a matter of hours.

Delegate… Learn how to let other people help you. I think most people fail at this because the initial investment is a difficult one to make when you’re already swamped. But the payoff is worth it. Take the time and walk through where you are at and what’s got to be done and let someone help you. No…It’s not easier to do it yourself.

Last thing…Deal with your stress in a way that doesn’t stress people out. I can’t stand to talk to supervisor. Every “What’s up” leads to a 10 minute conversion about how everything is F*****d up. I don’t need your stress…I’ve got issues of my own to deal with, plus you’re wasting time…that apparently you don’t have.

Organize…manage your time…Manage your todo list…plan ahead…you can’t always do the Urgent Task first or you’ll never get out of operating in that Urgency mode and you’ll continue to run around putting out fires. A little planning up front saves a lot of time and headaches later…especially if it’s stuff you know you have to do, you know you have to get out….and then wait.

I like to get ahead of the game…so I can play around bit…as you can tell.

The worst luck…

I swear I have the worst luck ever…

As mentioned in an earlier post.  My mother-in-law got a new computer thereby passing her old Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop down to me.  I was so excited to get my hands on this thing.  I just love messing around with new gadgets.  Now the computer worked fine when it was handed over to me…fine that is when you consider all the usual glitches etc… associated with a Windows machine that you just decide to live with (Yes that’s a jab from a Mac fan).   So being new to me I had no plan on living with the little bugs that drive me crazy.

I’ve wanted to try Linux for a while now so was looking forward to the opportunity.  I swear I must have tried every livecd distro out ther, but I couldn’t get anything to work with video card (Nvidia Geforce Go5200).  To me that’s pretty lame…  I think I’m giving up on my Linux pipe dream.

So giving up on Linux I just reformatted with Windows XP.  It took me a whole day I swear, manually installing all the dell drivers (I didn’t have the Dell Recovery Disk).  Then it took several hours to install all the windows upates.  I went to bed and the computer was a clean, mean, machine.

Yesterday…got a call from my son.  The computer stopped working.  Stuck on the boot screen, keeps cycling through the boot screen no matter what you do.  I thought I could fix it when I got home…but no luck.  I can’t get the thing to do anything.  Not even boot from a CD…any CD I tried.  Something is screwed up.  I feel terrible because this was going to be my sons laptop and now it’s bricked.  I’m also really mad at myself because anyway you cut it… I bricked it.  (Though I swear I did everything right and it’s not my fault).

So I’m pretty mad today.

My wife’s going to take it to a local computer store and see if they’ll look at.  I don’t want to spend much money on it.  Looking on Ebay and Craiglist they’re going for about $200-300.  I’m thinking something went out…video card, motherboard, CD/DVD drive.  Probably not worth replacing.

What really makes me mad is that after giving up on Ubuntu I came across another idea yesterday that I was extremely excited about trying.  Can you say Hackintosh???

Check out this site…pretty interesting.

I’ve just decided that the Tech God’s hate me…  But I don’t know why I’ve sacrificed enough blood, sweat and money to them.  You think they’d show me a little love.

Maybe there just jealous that I have an iphone and they don’t.  I don’t know.   But I give up…   For now.

Weekend Update…

Had a good extended weekend.  I thought it was going to be a relaxing one, but it didn’t quite turn out that way.

On Friday we drove to flint and spent the day with my family.  Had a good time hanging out with my mom and dad.  Even though it was cold me, my son, dad and brother went out in the yard and played some soccer.  That was a blast.  My old man smoked one that caught me on the inner thigh…it stung for about 10 minutes.  Later on while I was backing him down he took a swipe at the ball and kicked my legs right out from under me….knocking me down on my Arse.  But we gave them a run for their money…they couldn’t keep up with the young and conditioned (and better looking) side of the Brennan branch.  They called the game short or Conner and I would have smoked them.

My dad got a new set of golf clubs over the offseason, which I’m completely Psyched about….because that means I’m getting a new set of clubs.  I think he’s going to give me his set of Ping Eye 2 Copper Irons.   Can’t wait for the golf season to begin.

We left a little earlier then expected due to the white out in our neck of the woods.  It took us like 3 hours to get home.  Then I shoveled the 6-7 inches of snow that fell.

Saturday was cool…first thing I did was shovel the remaining 2-3 inches of snow that fell since the night before the wall.  After that we went to the mall for some walking.  (Let me just say my wife wore me out).  We walked around that mall 4 times in about an hour.  I was sweating…panting…back hurting.

Messed around with a new computer in the afternoon….no I didn’t buy one.    My mother-in-law gave us her old Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop (She got a new Mac).  I’m going to put Linux (Kubuntu) on it.  Didn’t have much luck so far.  I think my father-in-law did a number on the computer, so I’m going to do a fresh install of Windows XP first, then I’ll try again.  I have no idea what I’m doing…I hope that works.  Anyway it gives me something to play with.

On Sunday church was great…afterward I went home and messed with the computer a little more then just when I gave up and was about to relax my wife called.  Her and her mom went to Ikea and bought a ton of stuff.  So you know what that meant…I had to put it together.

I only got to one thing the rest of the night…a bed we bought for my son.  It took me about 4 hours to put together his frame.  I must say it was easy…but time consuming.   For the first time I didn’t screw anything up…  My family was even more impressed.  They kept coming in and saying…”You’re doing a good job dad….and we haven’t even heard you yell yet”

Funny thing happened when we were all done…  My son said, “Dad… I’ll give you five dollars if you want it?”  [He gets 5$ for allowance]  “Why?” I said.   “Because of all the work you’ve done for me.”  I thought that was cute….he meant it…and he understood the work it took to put it together.  That made me feel good.  [I should have taken his $5....no I shouldn't have]  But I told him to keep his money…I was happy to build the bed for him because I loved him.

So long weekend…Busy weekend…but it was a good one.

Life, Life, and more life….

I was just thinking about the word life today.   Examining my own life and realizing I need more of the life of God, life of spirit living inside me,  living through me.  I need to listen to and hear and read words of life.  I need life to be like a well springing out within me.  I came across the verse in Isaiah 53:10 – fitting for this week.

Still, it’s what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

Complaints…

What’s the right way to complain about something?  Is there a right way?  Should we even complain?

I think so.  But even a complaint given in the right way is often times received in the wrong way.

I’ve been having issues with one department at work lately, that has a serious impact on how well and effective I do my job.  I’ve repeatedly tried to work with the right people to make the best of a bad situation, but this week I finally felt it was necessary to complain about it and voice some frustration.

I thought I was very fair.  I clearly communicated my frustration with the “System” and how it is not working properly for me, for the company and how changes need to be made.  I also mentioned that it was possibly somewhat related to me…I was open to taken some blame…but I’ve never received any feedback or direction saying that I needed to change something on my end.  I also said that the biggest problem in my opinion has nothing to do with skill, but is related to attitude and desire….which is the 100% truth.  I even offered to sit down with anyone and work through ways we could improve the system together.

I only talked to the director of the department and one of the manager type people about this intentionally.  There was no need to involve my bosses or even all the other people in the department.  I don’t want to stir things up or cause any ill will, I have to work with these people.  I just want the system to be fixed.

Well what do you think happened to me today?

I was in that department talking to a good friend of mine.  One of the guys that also works in the department (That was not included on my frustration/complaint thing) walks by and says to me…

“What you doing down here?  You come to show us how to do our job?”

Nice…

I can see that my message was well received.

And this is why that department will continue to under perform and  continue to cause delays, costs and mistakes for our company.  And this is why I should have never complained in the first place…and why no one else complains…because that department does not care and refuses to change.

But I couldn’t take it anymore…someone had to say something….someone had to take a stand.

Every urge within me says to fire back another volley… to further drive home the point…to further clarify the issue the message.

But I won’t for now…to do so would be only out of my pride and ego and that’s not what this is about.  I’ll wait…I’ll continue to work…and I’ll watch.  And If things don’t get better I’ll continue to complain.  Because sometimes you just have to do it…even if it’s painful.  Maybe eventually something will change.

Good Commercials…

I’ve stated somewhere before that I love having a DVR.  I think it’s mainly for two reasons.  1.)  The ability to time shift my viewing habits and watch my favorite shows when I’m available to watch them.  2.)  The ability to fast forward through all the commercials.

I know the latter has commercial/advertising people concerned.  Corporations spend big dollars to advertise their brands and their products on tv.  On a positive note to the consumer, it’s the commercials that make the programming free.  (Unless you have cable I guess, but that’s a whole other topic.)

I’m curious to see how this develops as we move closer towards an “on demand” media world.  Networks putting shows on line to watch but the experience just doesn’t work for me.  Hopefully…eventually they’ll allow you to download their content (for free – like it is over the air) and watch it when and where you want to.  But I imagine the problem in their mind is control – if they put the content in the hands of the users they will fast forward or more then likely erase the commercial advertisements all together.  Just go on the pirate bay tomorrow and search for tonights episode of Lost – I imagine you can find a pristine HD version in a matter of hours.  It’s a shame users have to go that route to watch their favorite shows when they want too, but it shows the potential and capability the media moguls have to get their content in the hands of users.  If they were willing to change, or amend their distribution model a bit and be smart about it I think they could even make some more money out of it.  But let’s be honest…it’s not all the corporate media companies faults.  I think a lot of blame lies on the shoulders of the people creating the ads that people work hard to ignore.

Yesterday I had a few spare minutes and so I was messing around with my Iphone.  I went on youtube and watched a few videos.  I don’t watch it that often, but when I do I’m always impressed by the creativity expressed in the videos.  Yesterday for instance…I watched a 2 min 30 sec video of a company that created an air canon to blow out birthday candles from like 200 feet away.  It was great…I loved the excitement and energy from the people.  Then I got to thinking…Essentially, I just watched a 2 min 30 sec commercial on my own time, on purpose and the company didn’t have to pay a dime for airtime or really do anything special to get me to watch it.  They just made a good commercial.  Youtube is full of that stuff.

Which got me thinking…if companies make good, interesting, exciting, funny commercials I don’t mind watching them.  We all do it right…we enjoy watching the ads during the Superbowl.  Even while fast forwarding through commercials on my DVR if I see one interesting I’ll stop and watch it.  Maybe it’s a trailer to a movie that catches my attention, or my favorite Mac vs. PC adds.

There’s some untapped potential here that I think good make everyone happy.

Why I wrote about this today?  I have no idea.

Job Satisfaction…

I had the opportunity to have a meet and greet type breakfast with my company’s CEO today.  I’ll be honest I was kind of looking forward to it.  I can’t say that I know him well or he knows me well.  But we’ve been in enough meetings together and such that we both know who the other person is.  And I think he’s a good guy…I think he’s good for the company.

That said I was very disappointed with the breakfast/meeting.  I was expecting it to be more conversational-get to know you kind of stuff.  Where he would want to find out some stuff about me and vice versa.  Non-work related stuff like family, kids, hobbies interests.  Unfortunately that didn’t happen.  We got a 30 minute state of the company address with some bullet points and anecdotal stories of how he is different from our last CEO.  And how we’re headed in the right direction. And how change doesn’t happen over night.  Blah blah blah…yada yada yada.

There was a period opened up for questions/concerns, but with no relation basis established…who really wants to ask a tough question.  So most of us sat there, smiling and nodding.

So that experience just set my mind of thinking about workplace culture and things like job satisfaction today.  Here are some random thoughts…

I think one of fears of all employees is that they are just a name, just a number – that they are not known – and if they are not known they are expendable or at least not valued.

I think the workplace needs to be thought of in terms of a marriage – between employee and employer rather then a social contract.  I think a lot of employees are not satisfied with their jobs, with their companies because the job has lost it’s romance and has become a grind.

What can companies do to woo their employees and keep the romance alive?  I think successful companies understand this and actively seek out ways to “romance” (For lack of a better word) their employees.

Bad Habits…

So I’ve been thinking about bad habits today.  We all have them.

Some of us bite our nails when we’re bored.  Others twirl/mess up our hair, maybe pick your eyebrows out with your fingers.  OK…maybe I just do those things.

One really bad habit I’ve gotten into over the last few years is the way I talk about myself.  I’ve recently become aware that I am very negative and tend to talk down about myself or what I’m doing.

This isn’t really healthy and I don’t always feel that way and I’m sure it makes other people a little uncomfortable…so I’ve got to stop.  It’s ridiculous.

I haven’t always been that way so I don’t know when or how I started doing this.  I think I’ve always had some self-esteem/self-confidence issues and I’m sure that’s part of it.  I also think it’s like one of those defensive mechanisms you use…it’s like you want to give people permission to not like what you do And you don’t want to get hurt if they don’t like it…so if you tell yourself and them from the beginning it’s bad…nobody loses anything and it was exactly what you expected it would be.

I also think along the line I’ve made an overcorrection.  In the past I  probably have been a little arrogant and over confident about things.  Learning humility is one thing…but forced humility is the same as false humility.  There’s got to be a balance somewhere.

So I’m learning…

I believe it was Ghandi that talked about life as this great experiment.  We do this, dabble with that, add to and take away from trying to find just the right solution.
So I’m trying to break a habit…

Talk positive about myself.  Talk positive to myself.  Allow other people to talk positive about me.  Accept congratulations, appreciations and thank yous.

So for you friends of mine…if you catch me in my bad habit.  Feel free to straighten me out.

Friends…

It goes without saying I think.  We all need friends.  We are relational beings right, that crave and feed off the interactions and energy of others.  In friends we find comfort, identity, purpose, and encouragement.

What makes someone a friend?

My daughter (11 years old) set up a myspace account for my dog  (Mac).  She was bored one day and thought it would be a good way to pass the time.  In the process of setting it up she must have forgotten to make the account private so that means that anyone can find it.  Which has been very interesting for me, since my daughter used my contact information.

You would think that a static myspace account of a dog would not attract to much interests, but you’d be surprised by how many friend requests I receive.   What’s up with that???   I’ve probably received over a hundred emails from people wanting to be Mac’s friend.

This whole web 2.0 thing can drive a person crazy.  Everyone wants to be everyones friend.  We’ve gone friend crazy.

Which raises an interesting question.  How do you define a friend within today’s culture?  Is a social network of friends across the intertubes as real then the old fashioned flesh and bones friend across the street?  Are they any less important?

I appreciate my friends (Real ones that is) and I enjoy the richness they add to my life.  I’ve also enjoyed sharing other aspects of my life and learning things about their life through the web.

I’ve also come to value the “friends” I’ve met online and do consider them to be real friends, I read their blogs, play video games with them, etc…. I might not even recognize them if we bumped into each other in the grocery store, but they are my friends.