Archive for the ‘Rants’ Category

Garmin nuvi 660 Bluetooth Fix

Jul 1st, 09 / 13 Comments

Kind of off the topic here, but I own a Garmin nuvi 660 GPS that I absolutely LOVE, but the bluetooth functionality just quits working all by itself every few months.

There’s an endless amount of horror stories online about this with various suggestions for a fix, but most people just end up living without the bluetooth or sending the unit back to Garmin each time the bluetooth fails until the warranty expires.

Through my own trial and error, I put together what’s needed to fix the problem yourself.

The bluetooth problem usually manifests itself as such that bluetooth becomes disabled on the nuvi, and enabling it causes the GPS to lock up or freeze.  Holding down the power button will reset it, but bluetooth is still disabled and re-enabling just causes it to freeze again.

I’ve put together a fix that contains steps to follow and a file you’ll need to replace on the nuvi 660 while it’s connected to your PC.

I hope this reaches other fellow Garmin owners that just want their bluetooth to work.  And Garmin, if you’re reading this, would you please consider providing a PERMANENT FIX TO THIS ISSUE!!??

Link to download fix:

Garmin_nuvi_660_Bluetooth_Fix.zip

Share
News, Rants, Rich, Tech

Classmates.com Can Suck My Firewall.

Mar 13th, 09 / 2 Comments

So. . . every couple months I get spammed for days straight from classmates.com because someone has looked at my page, signed the guestbook, or maybe even THOUGHT about looking at something for all I know.

Every couple months I attempt to CANCEL receiving email from them, since I could really care less about it.  I -might- care if you didn’t go there only to find out you can’t see anything without first paying them money.  I’m sure those of you that have been to the site know what I’m talking about.  The best part is, you can’t even cancel or change your email settings without first signing in and walking through 15 ads.

I don’t even KNOW what my damn password is.  I signed up 5+ years ago, and that’s the only time I was ever “logged in”.  So, since I don’t know my password, I can’t even login to unsubscribe.  Imagine a scenario where you have an email address, let’s say spongebob788@happydomain.com and you sign up at classmates.com with it.   2 years tick by and you no longer have that email address, but someone else signs up with happydomain.com, picks the address “spongebob788″, and now they’re getting your classmates.com spam, and they can’t cancel it!

Since I can’t unsubscribe, and they have NO other means to contact them other than through the website once you’ve signed in, I’m left with one choice.

-BLOCK THE BASTARDS-

That’s right, I run my own network and email infrastructure, so I looked up their CIDR range at ARIN, which happens to be:

65.243.133.0/24

Add that to your firewall, block port 25, and you’ll never receive crap from them ever again (unless they change providers, then you’d just have to add their new CIDR)

So, classmates.com – “SUCK MY FIREWALL”

Share
Rants, Rich, Stories, Tech

Roof, wrong.

Apr 16th, 08 / 3 Comments

When I bought my house, the majority of the houses on the other side of the street for that block were vacant. They all showed telltale signs of harsh Pennsylvania weather and years of disrepair. There was a surplus of better-condition housing elsewhere in town, and I often wondered how long these houses would stand before mother nature finally won.

As the market picked up, several of these houses sold and the owners were turning their new purchased run-down coal era homes into modern vinyl-sided, remodeled little wonders. Just recently, another of these battered bungalows was picked up by a family moving into the area. They propped up the rotting porch, installed new locks, and starting carrying waves of supplies and various personal belongings inside.

A few days ago, I noticed a small gathering of local folk on my front steps, staring at roof-level across the street. Apparently my new neighbors had contracted to have their roof replaced (it was in dire need), and the results we’re, well, worthy of a good solid stare.

Neighbor’s Roof

Trust me, you’ll want to click the image to see the full-size picture.

I don’t even have words at this point. I can’t say I’m a roofer, ever aspired to be a roofer, or even know a roofer, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how it’s done. I’ve talked with the owners of the house, and they do plan on seeking a claim with the contractor who performed the work, but this shouldn’t even be necessary. Who in their right mind does work like this? A half-drunk monkey on meth with 3 fingers and one leg could, and probably would, do better work.

Share
Rants, Rich, Stories