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I’m not an economist.  I’ll never claim to be.  I do however like to speculate on things that are going on and share my thoughts on hot topics.  The price of gas is notably going back up again and has been for the last month or so.

Prices here in the St. Louis area are hovering around the $2.50 mark. ($2.80 for premium which is what my car uses)  I guess I can say that I am officially confused about this whole thing.  I’ve read a few articles on this subject and I’m seeing different conclusions.  Tonight I read an article on Over valued Oil over on Forbes website that claims that the supply of oil is increasing beyond the demand and we should expect to see a correction of prices at the pump.  I could buy into that but looking back, a lot more affects the price per barrel than just supply and demand.  Beyond that, is the demand for oil really decreasing?  The Forbes article says they are cutting the expected world oil consumption from 2.2 million barrels a day to 1.8 million.  But does this include the number of barrels stockpiled by emerging powers like China?  China appears to be increasing its storage capacity which seems like a good plan while oil is so “cheap” right now.

Now as I mentioned before I think there is a lot more than supply and demand when it comes to the price of oil.  Right now the price per barrel is pegged to the dollar.  Over the last 10 years, the US dollar has fallen 33% which in my mind, suddenly makes oil a lot cheaper for people in Europe.  And why wouldn’t it?  One Euro is getting close to $1.40 US.  How expensive do you think things will get if suddenly the dollar isn’t the national reserve currency anymore?  Think about how bad it would be if oil reached 150 euros/barrel.

People complained last summer when gas was $4/gallon but how long after prices dropped again did it take for people to start picking up SUVs and trucks with low MPG ratings?  I guess maybe I should put my blinders on like the rest of this country and just assume that when the Dems say that large deficit spending is gonna bring us out of this mess that it actually will.  Maybe then I could actually sleep at night.

I haven’t really dug into the Media Center that much which is kinda surprising because I use my main desktop at home on my 37″ TV in my living room.  As I mentioned in a previous post, this is how I manage to get by with no TV service.  What I can tell you is that setup for Media Center is really pretty simple.  They have wizards to adjust your screen resolution and setup your libraries for where your media is stored.  There is also the option for recording TV if you have a video card equipped for all that.  Very cool.  Something I don’t find very cool is the lack of out of the box file format support.  Support for things like avi and mkv files is not automatically built-in.  I’m sure I can download the necessary codecs and make it all work but after a long day of finding drivers for my legacy hardware on their new version, its the last thing I want to do.  If VLC can play about anything why can’t Windows?

Some of the streaming features that are in beta look pretty neat.  Being able to stream 3 seasons of Arrested Development is neat.  With a remote control, the windows 7 media center might make for a slick setup.  I’d like to see support for setting up downloads for video/audio podcasts built in as well.  It would be slick to pull down my favorite revision3 shows and click onto them with my remote.  I’m also surprised that as media center matures that Microsoft hasn’t put it on a tiny stand alone box that comes with a remote as a way to compete with apple tv.

What are you guys using for your media center needs?

Okay so this definitely took a lot longer than I thought and again I am going to blame this on the fact that I went with the 64 bit version of Windows 7.  I’ve had my SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 since I built my first computer back in the late 90’s.  For me it has been everything I have needed.  Its supported my surround sound needs through 4 or 5 different desktops now.

The problem with using the 64 bit version is A) you need find a 64 bit driver and B) it has to be digitally signed.  Creative cut support on this card several years ago and never made a Vista driver.  This one took a lot of hunting but I found a driver that works.  You can download that here.  I extracted the folder to my desktop and then opted to go into the device manager and choose update driver on the multimedia audio device.  Then point the wizard to look in that folder and it will install the driver.  Simple enough right?  Maybe, maybe not.  If you experience errors because it is an unsigned driver, try downloading and installing Ready Driver Plus.  It will add some voodoo magic to your boot-up to turn off the requirement for signed drivers.

Now you should have sound!  Good. Great. But my surround sound doesn’t work.  Its only 2 channel.  To work around this, install the Creative Audio Console.  For me, I had to set the speakers in the Creative audio console to 4/4.1 and then go into the Control Panel –> Hardware and Sound –> Manage Audio Devices –> Configure, and set it to 5.1 sound.  Not sure why but then all my speakers would then make sound during the test.  When the Creative audio console was set to 5.1 my front right and front left made no sound.

If you find this a bit much to go through, maybe you should just pony up around $40 or $50 and buy a sound card from this decade.  For me though its a bit about the challenge, and a lot about the fact that it was my first ever sound card and I’ve never left it behind.

Well I finally got around to installing Windows 7 RC1 and so far so good.  I am running the 64bit version so I have several drivers I need to dig for.  I haven’t done anything with it yet but I wanted to post my first victory, getting my old linksys wireless card to work.  I couldn’t find any drivers for my Linksys Wireless – G PCI Adapter on the manufacturer website but after some persistent googling I found a driver that works.  For those that are curious my card is the WMP54G Ver. 4.0.  Since the driver files needed are so small I decided to host them from my site so you don’t have to keep looking either.  Feel free to download them here. 

As I continue on this little adventure I’ll be sure to post more info on where I got my drivers, what I like about the new version, what I hate, and whether or not I will keep this on my main computer.

Well apparently the BlackBerry Curve has taken the lead for the beginning of 2009.  I find this a bit strange since I am a recent convert from BlackBerry and am eagerly awaiting for my upgrade eligibility with AT&T.  I can’t wait to get a newer iPhone.  I got a used 2G phone from a friend that got a newer iPhone and haven’t thought twice about ditching my blackberry pearl.

One of the biggest advantages is having an Internet browser that doesn’t suck.  I can actually load web pages and use the web with my iPhone.  The larger screen with the ability to zoom in and move around the page with a flick of the finger is great.  The blackberry browser is a bit weak and cannot load a lot of pages that I like to visit.  One thing the iPhone does need to get is support for flash.

Another thing I appreciate is not being subject to RIM outages.  When the BlackBerrys at work suffer RIM outages, I’m still getting email and surfing the web.  I’m still vulnerable to AT&T outages (hasn’t happened to me yet) but it eliminates a second point of failure for me.

The app store is something I don’t think I could be without again either.  There are some quality apps and games that I just couldn’t get with my BlackBerry.  Granted, you have to sift through thousands of shitty fart noises and useless apps like the iHandy Level.  The possibilities seem to be endless though.

I know the iPhone is more expensive but its my only phone line and I’m willing to spend a little money on something I use every day.  Some people spend several thousand on ATVs that they don’t ride everyday.  I prefer to use my money on something that affects me regularly.  Maybe you should too.

Tonight I watched a little talk that gives some good advice on finding jobs.  It’s kinda tech oriented but it gives some overall good advice for people looking for jobs.  It may be a lot of things you may have read or heard before but sometimes I think people need a little refresher.  Something to pop on and listen to while you do other things like laundry and dishes.

Not to long ago, a position for a tech was filled at my job.  With the current market, there were plenty of applications and resumes.  I got to look through some and sit in on a few interviews and here are some of my thoughts on some of the things that caught my eye.

1. Make your resume pop

I seemed to pay more attention to resumes that weren’t total template based and looked identical from the stacks of resumes passed to my desk from my boss.  If you couldn’t get your resume trimmed down to 1 or 2 pages, chances are I got bored or just skimmed it.  Make your resume short, sweet, and to the point.  Highlight your strong points and stop adding fluff.  Keep it oriented toward the position you are applying for.  If you are applying for a help desk position, I don’t need half a page about what you did for the grocery store you worked at while going to school.  Also use a readable font.  I saw a resume that was in 1opt or smaller (which kept the length down) and passed over it because it was to hard to read.

2. Be passionate about your field

If you don’t love what you do, get out of it.  This was one of the points hit on in the video.  There were several people that are trying to get in to the computer field without having a passion for the job.  I’m not saying you have to be a total nerd but chances are, if you aren’t tinkering at home at least some of the time, you are not a go getter that is going to stay on top of new technology.  Most careers require a little time out of the office to stay competitive and if you are doing something you love, this will be easy for you.  There were several people that interviewed that did not show interest in the field in general and we were looking for go getters.

3. Dress appropriately

Generally its good practice to over dress for the position.  Every interview I have been on, I’ve worn a suit, even when being interviewed by people wearing jeans.  Its all about presenting yourself as a professional.  Can’t afford a suit?  Khaki pants with a button down shirt and a tie.  You don’t have that either?  Well go buy it.  It takes money to make money.  Someone showed up wearing a shirt with a school logo on it which gave the impression that this person is not quite ready for a professional environment.

4. Be confident and prepared in your interview

There were plenty of people that lacked in this area.  My boss went through an entire interview with someone that hardly looked up from the table.  Make eye contact.  Smile.  Most likely the people interviewing you will be the people working with you and are not interested in someone they can’t carry on a conversation with.  As far as being prepared, bring a pad of paper and pen to take notes.  Have a list of questions for your interviewers and check them off as they are covered in the interview.  If there are any left, you are prepared for when they ask if you have any questions.  Most likely you will be nervous and will not remember things you wanted to know.  This also shows that you are detail oriented.  Bring extra copies of your resume.

5. Have good references

If your resume says you have references upon request, have several typed copies of your references with you at the interview.  I tend to send a list of references with my resume but extra copies are always good to have.  Also make sure to let your references know you are listing them as a reference and make sure that they will be a good reference.  Our position came down to references and one of the final two had a terrible list.  One of the references for the applicant not hired did not list the persons last name, just an initial.  Another when called didn’t know they were a reference and the third reference did not have a working phone number.  Not a good position to be in.

6. Contact after the interview

The interview may be over but it doesn’t stop there.  Send your potential employer an email thanking them for taking the time to meet with you.  This is not only courteous but it shows you can follow through.  If you do not hear from them in a day, call them.  Let them know you are still interested in the position and check to see if the position was filled.  Call every couple days until you are offered the position or it is filled.  Persistence pays off.

Read an article today from Business Insider today that dumbs down what exactly Mr. Geithner’s plan is to “fix” this mess.  Unfortunately, the chances of this actually fixing things is very slim.  To sum it all up in layman’s terms, he wants to change preferred stock to common stock to make the numbers look better without dumping actual money into banks. (at least for now)  This of course places responsibility right on the tax payers if more loans start defaulting.  So by fudging some numbers, the hope is that it will inspire some confidence with nothing to back up that confidence.  I suppose that might work because we the people don’t seem to pay attention to what is actually going on unless it immediately affects us.

A good example of this was demanding that the car companies build more fuel efficient cars.  No one cared before gas rose to about 1/4 of what a gallon costs over in Europe.  If cap and trade gets pushed through you can bet we’ll all start complaining about our electric bills too.  But not many people are talking about that.  Mark my words, we will be if this goes through.

Is anyone else sick of all this fuzzy math?  We’ve been doing it for years though, especially with the budget, and the biggest tool for that has been social security.  I’m sure Bush did it too (although probably not as well) but possibly the best example of fuzzy math is the myth of Clinton’s surplus.  Its easy to say you had a surplus when you convert public debt to inter-government holdings while also borrowing heavily from social security.  Then you can tell everyone about how the public debt has gone down and ignore that the deficit is really a combination of public debt AND inter-government holdings.

Maybe we need to rethink who is in charge of our treasury….