Keefer Madness

Bye Bye to Time Warner Cable (Again)

// February 3rd, 2012 // 2 Comments » // Personal Crap, TV Talk

So starting next week, we’ll be canceling Time Warner Cable again. They keep inching up their rates, their DVRs are complete and utter crap and overall I’m not a fan. I always liked being with DirecTV, and we’re going back there. They have a deal right now that discounts their packages for the first two years and you don’t have to buy equipment. The disadvantages of DirecTV — including the upfront costs aren’t there right now. So why not throw our monthly entertainment budget towards DirecTV, instead of to Time Warner?

I’ve never used a DirecTV DVR (other than those that ran the TiVo software), but they can’t be worse than the clunky crap that Time Warner’s running.

Sadly, we’ll still be giving Time Warner money for our Internet connection. For now, that’s our best option at home. At least we’re diverting our TV services away from DirecTV. I’m excited for the change, and definitely won’t shed a tear at turning in our TWC equipment in a little over a week.

January 31, 2012 Kelly Clarkson DPAC (Durham, NC) Set List

// February 1st, 2012 // No Comments » // Kelly Clarkson, Local (Raleigh Durham), Music

Amanda and I were lucky enough to see the Kelly Clarkson concert in downtown Durham last night after a long spell of not seeing a single show.

Our last was several years back. Just looking it up, it was more than several years — in fact it was our first Kelly Clarkson show in Charlotte back in 2005. Wow.

Anyway, I’ll write up a full review of the show in the coming days, but in the meantime, here’s the set list she played last night at the DPAC downtown:

Dark Side
Behind These Hazel Eyes
Since U Been Gone
Gone
You Love Me
Heavy in Your Arms (Florence and the Machine cover)
Gravity (Sara Bareilles cover)
Medley – The Trouble With Love Is / Walk Away / How I Feel / I Want You
I Know You Won’t (Carrie Underwood cover)
Don’t You Wanna Stay
Let Me Down
I Forgive You
Already Gone
Breakaway
You Still Won’t Know What It’s Like
Stronger
My Life Would Suck Without You

-Encore-

Never Again (Acoustic piano only)
Because of You
Mr. Know It All
Miss Independent

Great set. Quick stats on the breakdown of tracks per album (including the medley, but not the covers and the 1 yet-to-be-released track):
Thankful: 2 Tracks
Breakaway: 6 Tracks
My December: 2 Tracks
All I Ever Wanted: 3 Tracks
Stronger: 7 Tracks

Not surprisingly, Stronger — the newest album had the most tracks, but Breakway had almost as many, with My December and Thankful being under represented. As you get more albums, it’s bound to happen. More greats tracks have to be mothballed unless you do a monster multi-hour set.

My full concert review will be coming soon.

Garmin Heart Rate Monitor on the Fritz

// January 30th, 2012 // No Comments » // Cycling, Cycling Products, Health & Fitness

Some of the most popular posts on Keefer Madness have been Garmin related — mostly about fixing and resetting various models in the Edge cyclocomputer lineup.

Well with my first Garmin Edge 305, I got the cadence and heart rate accessories. Cadence is still humming along, but the heart rate monitor has been not accurately reporting heart rate over the past couple months. Two battery changes and various attempts to wet the contacts and my skin beneath have not resurrected the reliability of the heart rate monitor strap.

Do you all have any further suggestions, or is it time to just bite the bullet and buy a replacement heart rate monitor strap. If so, another Garmin-branded one or a different ANT+ heart rate monitor?

Van Halen is Back On Top Again

// January 27th, 2012 // No Comments » // Music, Van Halen

So I said I wouldn’t go see Van Halen in concert again until they had something new recorded in the studio. Well that time is here.

We’ve heard a couple of tracks from the new album, but so far so good. “Tattoo,” the first single off the soon-to-be released album A Different Kind of Truth has really grown on me.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am for the Greensboro, NC date. I’ll be sitting front and center at my iMac buying a pair of floor seats.

A co-worker seems psyched to see them in concert and witness Edward Van Halen in all his glory live. I’m psyched as well. While I sound like a broken record — I really wish the bass work and the high background vocals of Michael Anthony were present, I’ll get over it, and enjoy 3/4 of the original VH lineup.

Below is a article that riffs on the fact that a lot of people are hyped about the band, and how surprising that is with them having been in hibernation for so long.

Van Halen is Back On Top Again

Set Up Timed Playlists & Non-Intrusive Distractions to Stay Focused and Productive at Work

// January 26th, 2012 // No Comments » // Productivity, Work

I feel like I do a pretty damn good job of staying focused most days at work, along with managing multitasking. I definitely subscribe to the Lifehacker article suggestion below to the suggestions related to a good pair of noise canceling headphones.

The other couple of suggestions are great too. Good tips and ways to keep focused and productive during work hours.

Set Up Timed Playlists and Non-Intrusive Distractions to Stay Focused and Productive at Work

Shuttle Atlantis Moves to VAB, But Only for Storage

// January 25th, 2012 // No Comments » // Space Stuff & NASA

Even with the shuttle program retired, there’s still a lot of activity related to the remaining orbiters, now all in the process of being decommissioned for display at the Smithsonian, California Science Center and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.

When I was lucky enough to get a little behind-the-scenes view of Kennedy Space Center and its facilities back in September, we got to get pretty close to the Endeavor orbiter parked in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Well they’re shuffling the Atlantis, Endeavor and Discovery.

Endeavor is moving from its recent temporary home in the VAB, where I guess it’s been since I saw in September 2011. It is now in the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 hangar, with Atlantis going to the VAB. Truth be told, all of the orbiters could fit in the massive VAB if they really had to. Atlantis is going just down the road to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center, so it’s probably going to be spending a lot of quality time in the VAB, and will probably be the last to be prepped fully for its final display space.

Is it me, or is it a little sad seeing the orbiters with bits and pieces removed? I know they’re in preparation for museum duty, and will get all polished up with display appropriate stuff, but still.

I still get a kick out of all the shuttle-related news — part of it nostalgia, and part of it waiting for the next chapter in space flight.

Shuttle Atlantis Moves to VAB, But Only for Storage

DIY Glass Whiteboard Turns Whole Wall Into Creativity Space

// January 24th, 2012 // No Comments » // Design, Home Projects

Love this, though I don’t really have a place (or need really) for it in my home office, though I think my son would get a kick out of it as well.

I could see this being utilized in a lot of offices and home offices alike though.

This DIY Glass Whiteboard Turns a Whole Wall Into a Space for Creativity

SpaceX Cargo Flight on Hold Until at Least Late March 2012

// January 22nd, 2012 // No Comments » // Space Stuff & NASA

Delays are commonplace in space flight, so it shouldn’t be surprising or unexpected that the maiden SpaceX cargo flight to the international space station has been pushed back from its February launch till at least March.

This will give SpaceX-employed engineers time to complete additional hardware and software testing, as well as software analysis at the Florida Space Coast.

It makes sense to take it slow at the beginning of these vehicles, wrinkling out as many bugs pre-flight as possible.

The company has not set an official target launch date for its Dragon cargo carrier, but the long-awaited mission is not expected to fly before March 20 and it could slip to early-to-mid April depending on what it takes to shoehorn the flight into an already busy space station schedule and to book a slot with the Air Force Eastern Range, which orchestrates all East Coast launches.

SpaceX Cargo Flight on Hold Until at Least Late March

Top 10 Tricks for Getting Better Sleep

// January 21st, 2012 // No Comments » // Health & Fitness

I pride myself on getting pretty good sleep most every day, but there’s always room for improvement, in pretty much everything we do. Lifehackers list of ten tricks for better sleep is great.

Love the pic accompanying #6, by the way. Good night!

Top 10 Tricks for Getting Better Sleep

Delta 4 Rocket Launches from Cape Canaveral

// January 20th, 2012 // No Comments » // Space Stuff & NASA

Yesterday evening from Central Florida’s Cape Canaveral, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket lifted off, shortly after, deploying a U.S. military communications satellite to support battlefield troops and unmanned aerial drones in the Middle East.

Wish I had been there to see it launch. Oh well, I’ve always got my Delta II Heavy launch back in September.

Delta 4 Rocket Launches from Cape Canaveral