JohnMassie.com

 UPDATE – Please see the Question and Answer Article for this laptop under Article for more information!

So one Sunday afternoon not long ago I walked into a BestBuy, with one thing in mind. I was looking for the HP Pavilion DV6338se. Now, being in IT many people were in shock that I’d be buying a computer in the first place, let alone an HP. There was a deal in the paper that BestBuy had these laptops for a cool $899.99 and I needed a laptop.

So, I went in and as always BestBuy was already out of stock. So I drove to another BestBuy where the guy was all but helpful and finally was able to purchase my HP Pavilion DV6338se along with the HP Expansion Base for Pavilion Notebooks. This included a docking station with adjustable height, Altec Lansing speakers and a HP Wireless Keyboard and Mouse.

After putting up with the sales staff trying to get me to agree to let the Geek Squad look at the PC before I took it home (yeah, not happening) and them warning me that if I turn off the computer after I turn it on (the first time) that I would corrupt the hard drive and it couldn’t be fixed (uh… 1800HPInvent, restore DVD, been there, done that). So, I finally get out of the store without having to pull out my resume and references to prove that I understand what a PC is.

So, for BestBuy… I am not pleased with their Computer department. Home Electronics… whole other story, love them to death. Computers, not so much.

Well, I used the docking station the first time I fired it up. It went through a 30 minute automated setup process. At the end prompting me for some information. Well, first problem I had. Even though it completed setup and rebooted… Wireless didn’t work. So I had to reboot again to get that to function properly.

The notebook itself has features that I like. AMD Turion64x2 Processor, 1GB of Memory and DVD Burner (with LightScribe). It also has Altec Lansing speakers that produce pretty good sound. It has the “glossy” screen and 1.3MP Web Cam built into it. It is cased in a silver and white theme with a “no locking latch” design. I personally like this as the screen is shut using tension built into the hinges. This is one less small thing to break down the road.

It also has blue lighting throughout the design and touch buttons to control the media functions. One of the other added features is a portable remote that stores in the PCMCIA slot. It comes pre-loaded with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium edition with some basic applications provided by HP.

Overall, I’d give the notebook a 8 out of 10. Below you can see the major pros and cons of this PC:

Pro

• Extended Life Battery (9 cell)
• Widescreen Aspect
• Built in Webcam
• 1.8GHz AMD Turion â„¢ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-56
• 160GB Hard Drive

Con

• 6.8lbs Heavy
• Extended Life Battery is awkward when using on non flat surface
• 1GB of Memory with Vista
• Integrated Graphics

So far this laptop has done everything that I’ve asked of it. I do believe that a big limitation of this laptop is the fact that it uses Vista (which I’ll be reviewing later). Also, I think that if the notebook had 2GB of memory, there would be a huge difference with the performance (again, I believe this is due to Vista). The integrated graphics, while I am not a huge fan of, does run the Windows Vista Aero Glass interface just fine. I would still have liked to see dedicated video memory, even if it was a small portion.

This is a short overview of this laptop and my opinion. I will be re-visiting this article as I begin to do benchmarks and possibly load Windows XP SP2 onto it to see if I can see the true and real performance of this laptop. Look for a follow up article with a more in-depth look at this laptop as I have time to re-image it several times to do some testing.

In the meantime, here are the full specs from HP.com: HP Pavilion dv6338se

Later,
- J -

Feel free to leave comments or questions with an e-mail address and I’ll answer questions as fast as I can. Thanks!

So, today my friend Ben and I were discussing job titles at work. We’ve decided that we’re no longer TSAs… We’re now:

“Enterprise Information Technology Service Center Technical Support Analysts for the Controlled Substance Ordering System Implementation Team.”

I wonder if that will fit on my resume? Maybe I should put, “EITSCTSACSOSIT”… because you know acronyms are the way to go now a days. haha.

Just thought I’d share something funny…
Later,
- J -

1. This Is How It Feels To Be Free – Phillips, Craig, and Dean
2. One Life – Greg Ferguson
3. Your Grace Is Enough – Chris Tomlin

Well, we’re long overdue for a post. So much for this daily blogging thing! I guess I’m still adjusting in life and as the dust begins to settle, I’m sure that my posting will begin to become much more frequent.

Well, I’m no longer an employee of Pomeroy IT Solutions. I joined on with Cardinal Health as a part of an implementation and support team for a new project of theirs. I’m continually learning new things and coming to find that I really like the work environment. My mood has improved so much now that I enjoy the environment I work in, the people I work with and work for and the job that I do. I feel that at Cardinal my technological skills are appreciated and I’m treated with a new level of respect that I never received at my past employer.

As for the house, my master bathroom, I hated. Well, last weekend, it leaked, into my great room – which made me hate it more. Which lead to me tearing out the bathroom. I had the neighbor look at it and he thinks the great room ceiling is going to need to be replaced. I’ve gutted the bathroom and I’m going to fix it myself. I’ll post pictures as they come along. Right now, it’s just the shell of a bathroom. So the insurance adjuster is going to come out and look at it to give me a price on getting everything fixed.

That evening that all this took place, as I mentioned earlier, I was involved in a hit and run with three cars, one ran. The guy who caused the accident bolted, if the girl behind me didn’t run into me so hard, I would have been fine, but due to her running into me, I clipped the dude’s car, and she put two screw holes in the bumper. Perfection One Collision Center in Circleville, Ohio is doing the repairs. I’ve trusted them with all my cars throughout the last few years and have been very pleased. Plus they gave me a 2002 Ford Escape SUV as the rental, which is sweet.

So, at church, we’ve been talking about framing your “world view”. It has made me stop to think about how I truly view the world around me, what I’m doing with the world around me, and almost everything around me and how I view it. It makes me think about how I react, who I hang out with, what I do with my time, everything really.

I am also finding out that I’m changing. Growing up I was quite the introverted person. Now, I’m sitting on the other side of the fence and I’m very extroverted. What I’m realizing very fast is that I feel like the new church, new job, and all the changes in my life is causing me to instead of turning the page and starting a new chapter, to close the book and start a new.

I’m not who I was six months ago or even three months ago. I’m more outspoken, expressed, real, and careful – just to name a few different traits I’m seeing in my life. I’m becoming what I feel is who God created me to be, but I never allowed myself to be. As with any and every change in my life, I’m sure there will be repercussions. I’m sure people will be upset with me; I’m just tired of the games. Sure, they follow you wherever you go, but the more you can reduce them, the better. As I’ve always done in life, I’ll just keep on persevering and the issues that are coming with this change will pass.

Today’s sermon deal with where we came from and what is our propose. It touched on decisions and how everything in your life has a purpose and how each event, good and bad, can be used for God’s glory.

Lately, I’ve felt beaten down by everything going on. I find myself sometimes getting overwhelmed with happenings or drama in life. I’ve really let the enemy get to my very core and today, God shook me (metaphorically speaking).

I got to church and the worship service was awesome as always. Then we sang a song that I completely related with and adore.

This Is How It Feels To Be Free
Philips, Craig, and Dean

There is a wall that has been standing
Since the day that Adam fell
Sin is where it started
And Sin is why it held
Speakin’ as a prisoner
Who was there and lived to tell
I remember how it fell

I can here the sound of freedom
Like a distant voice who called
And beckon me to follow
Where I had never gone
And though my heart is willin’
I just stood there at the wall
Prayin’ somehow it would fall

But in a cross I found a doorway
And a hand that held a key
And when the chains fell at my feet
For the first time I could see

Chorus:
This is how it feels to be free
This is what it means to know that
I am forgiven
This is how it feels to be free
To see that life can be more than I imagined
This is how it feels to be free
This is how it feels to be free

There are days when I’m reminded
Of the prison I was in
Like a livin’ nightmare
Burning from within’
I can feel the voice of evil
I can hear the call of sin
But I wont go back again

See, once I tasted freedom
Then the walls could bind no more
Since mercy gave me wings to fly
Like an eagle I can soar

‘chorus’

Somewhere there’s a prison
Where the chains still burn
If not for the grace of God
Those walls could still be mine
So far all the captives are saved

‘chorus’

That song, I really got into. I found myself lost in the presence of God. Rejoicing because,

“This is what it means to know that I am forgiven. This is how it feels to be free to see that life can be more than I imagined!”

I knew that in that moment, God would take care of me and that I am free.

Then when I seem to be going through this spiritual low, God brought in some encouragement. I ran into my friend Josh at church (which is an accomplishment in that crowd, lol). We chatted for a little bit and then ran out and got lunch. We shared stories and talked about some deep theological things regarding Christian life. I always feel more encouraged after fellowshipping with friends who believe and have a relationship with Christ.

So, I have had an excellent day. I know that God will take care of me, if I just allow Him to do so. I’m not going to let anything or anyone get me down. See, when you have this relationship with God, that’s all that really matters. A lot of people think that they can hurt me and try, but in all reality, they can’t.

This week, I’m going to try and post one night this week after I have some more time to collect my thoughts. I would like to talk about this “Wide Angle Worldview” and explain a little more about that. I would also like to offer some thoughts on Christian living. I would also like to get up the review for my HP notebook and Windows Vista.

Well, that’s a huge update. I’m getting ready for bed and to start another wonderful work week (which I’m actually saying without sarcasm, which has been a long time since I could do that). I will try and pop on here early in the week and get those other articles posted.

God Bless,
- J -

So, if you saw a comment left today you’ll see that I am not the only John Massie out in the world. To answer John’s question, I’m the only John C. Massie that I know of, and I’m related to a John T. Massie Sr. and II. I wonder how many other John Massie’s there are out there. Eventually they’ll have to Google their name ‘John Massie’ and come across me. I guess I was lucky enough to grab the domain.

So, as you can see, everyone, I’m alive and well. The new job is awesome and the team I am working with is equally awesome. I’m making connections and hopefully some friends at the office, so I’m enjoying that.

The house, is well, having some ‘issues’ I’ll discuss in a later post. I was rear ended the other day, not my fault, the Saab is getting a new front and rear bumper this week and next. Which is cool, because I believe both had small bits of pre-exsisting damage, so that won’t be the case anymore.

That’s about it, I just wanted to post. I noticed a HUGE trend of people looking to review the HP Pavilion DV6338se Laptop. I’ll try and come up with a review tomorrow and publish it so all these people can find what they’re looking for. I’ve had it for a month now and feel that I have a good grasp on Vista and the notebook itself.

So, look in the coming day(s) for several posts… about a lot of things in and going on in my life.

Later tater,
- J -

We’re now running on the latest WordPress.

Still trying to work out the e-mail issues with WordPress. I can e-mail myself just fine but anything in wordpress refuses to send via e-mail. I’ll have to do some more digging.

Night,
- J -

Wanting to wish you all a wonderful an Happy Easter. I’ll try and post about today’s service at church.

God Bless,
- J -

1. Hellogoodbye – Here In Your Arms
2. LoveSick Radio – Boys Don’t Matter
3. Fergie – Glamorous
4. Christina Aguilera – Candyman
5. Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend
6. Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
7. 2Pac | Dr.Dre | Roger Troutman – California Love
8. Nelly Furtado – Say It Right
9. Timberland | Justin Timberlake | Nelly Furtado – Give It To Me
10. Katharine McPhee – Over It
11. Hilary Duff – With Love
12. The Click Five – Just The Girl
13. Jon McLaughlin – Beautiful Disaster
14. Nickelback – If Everyone Cared
15. Christina Aguilera – Hurt

So, this sidenote function you’ll find various things. Whenever I have short postings or reviews or whatever I can think of to fill this space, I’ll post a side-note. None tonight, but be on the lookout later this week for more.

I would like to welcome you all to the new era in the life of my blogging, johnmassie.com v.4.0. Now that I think about it, I guess it is only fitting that this is posted on 4/4/07. Why don’t we take a walk down memory lane to see how we came to this point:

1.0 | JCompGuy’s Life at Xanga.com
2.0 | johnmassie.wordpress.com
3.0 | Conversion to www.johnmassie.com hosted by WordPress.com
4.0 | JohnMassie.com version 4 with WordPress Full

I’m extremely excited to bring you all this new blog. I will be happy to put the majority of the coding issues behind me and can get back to blogging, something that in the last two years has turned into a hobby of mine. It is hard to think that just four short years ago I was sitting at my computer and began this blogging journey. As I look back today, I had no idea how much blogging would become a part of my life.

Never did I dream that one day I would release a blog that would be hosted on a .com domain and I would have full control over it. I figured it would be a pass-time in which to help me keep in touch with people. Amazingly enough I do have a small following of readers (thought I’m not sure how many are left since this last (rough) transition) that I’ve gathered over the years. I know that I’ve had this blog up and down for a while now, but I have this fully customized theme and now I have a solid base to build from. I can vouch that from this day forward, this blog will remain active and I won’t be erasing the server again.

So, I’ve been thinking about this huge inaugural post that I’ve been promising. I thought about what I would say in this “first post” to my readers. What I came up with was three points:

1. New Blog and Features
2. What’s Up?
3. What is my vision?

Well, get comfortable, as many of you know I can get winded, so sit tight and enjoy.

1. New Blog and Features
Well, as you can see, this looks, well, 100% different than my past blogs. I’m using WordPress blogging engine, the “redoable” theme by deanjrobinson.com, and various supported and recommended plugins. You will also notice to the right of this post a “sidenote” section. You can watch this space for short blurbs I’ll have regarding anything and everything.

Some of the most noticeable additions is the new links at the top right hand of the blog. Here you can contact me, find posts that I’ve deemed worthy of being called an “article” for people to easily find and read, archives for old posts, and online users to see who is online at the blog. Be on the watch for more features later in the week. I’m working on a plug-in to include all my photo albums, my latest music I’m listening to and my latest links I’ve bookmarked.

** Please note: The contact form isn’t working properly due to an e-mail issue that is currently being researched, so e-mail me directly or leave a comment. I will post a new post once this is fixed. **

2. What’s Up?
That’s a huge question for me right now. If you caught a former post (or heard from me directly) I quit Pomeroy IT Solutions on Friday of last week. Due to personal reasons I’m not releasing where I’m going to be working until I’ve been there a while and find that everything is going to work out. If you must know, there is that new handy-dandy contact form (which isn’t working right now, so hold off until I post that it is fixed).

That’s the biggest news. I haven’t been doing too much, some spring cleaning, yard work, car washing, and the normal things that come my way in this thing I like to call “life”. I did purchase a HP Pavilion DV6338SE Notebook on Sunday. It is an awesome notebook and came with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, which I’m daily learning to love. I’ll post more about both the notebook and windows vista in my forthcoming product reviews.

3. What is my vision?
So, if you were to ask me what my vision is I’d probably tell you that I’m near-sighted. (grin) As I began this “new era” of blogging I began to think about why do I blog and what in the world am I going to do with this fancy new blog. Let me share with you a little bit about what I feel my purpose for this blog is what my vision is for it.

First off, I’m very passionate about my faith (as in my personal relationship with Jesus Christ; the religion that is commonly known as Christianity and more specifically Nazarene). I think that this blog is a great way for me to share that faith and to share my testimony about what God has done and is doing in my life. As one reader put it I tend to “evangelize the evangelized.” What I mean is that you’ll find me posting on topics of Christian life and Christian problems or issues that the modern church faces. I leave the Bible debating and scientific debating to well, those people who have PhDs in Religion and Theology. I’ve always felt my spot when it comes to sharing about Christ is giving a fresh view of what it means to be a Christian and have a Christian life.

However, if you have been keeping up with my blogs for any time is that you’ll see I’m not necessarily only a “religious blog”. Sure I make in-depth posts and I talk about God and my faith but I’m not a “fire and brimstone blogger” or one who only posts devotions that came from another site or someone here to only convert you (or as I like to put it, the 5 minute sales pitch on Christianity). I’m here to share; it is up to you what you do with what I share. I am only the messenger, it is God who changes people, I alone, will never change a single person. I also feel that since I blog about more than just Christianity that it also allows people to see that Christians don’t have to be blogging or talking about God every literal waking moment to be a Christian. I’ll show you a Christian who knows God and can show that in his life without words. Reminds me of a song that my friend Tab Beechler sings called “If I Said Nothing At All”. Bottom line, I’ll show you that Christians are human and we deal with everything anyone else does.

So that’s my huge overall view, but there some other new things that you can be on the look out for. I’m planning on doing some reviewing. I stopped to think about some things that I find myself talking about to other people and one thing is people seek me out for product “reviews”. People always want to know what I think of PC equipment, electronics, cars, etc… So I figured, why not share that with my blog? I mean, I get googled all the time, why not draw more people here by reviewing products, services, business, etc… You’ll also find me talking about advice or tips (car buying, electronics shopping, etc…). I’m a slew of useless information but maybe if I share it I’ll find it to be of use to someone out there. So if I post something you find useful let me know and pass it on!

You’ll also find me talking about products that interest me, music I’m currently listening to, movies I’m watching, and TV shows that I’m DVRing (notice, not watching but DVRing… because once you have a DVR, live TV doesn’t exist… lol). I’m also a amateur photographer so I’ll also start posting different pictures as I began to take pictures again. Last and certainly not least… just plain life.

I see life as a story, each day we wake up and there is a blank page staring us in the face, it is our choice what we do with that blank page. We go through our day filling that page and at the end of the day lay our head to rest, close our book and those pages are written in there, in ink none the less, never to be edited. So why not capture some that and place it here, so people can get to know the person who writes all this.

One of my biggest pet peeves on the internet are bloggers who post information but never post anything personal. It’s hard for me sometimes to read these informational blogs and not help but wonder who is behind all of it? Who is the man (or woman) behind the curtain? So, that’s why you’ll find this to be one grab bag blog – useful information along with personal.

For those of you who are new, I promise, it will be nothing short of a wild ride. Sure, my life has it quiet moments, but 99% of the time something huge, strange or crazy is going on. I’m sure you can always find something of interest to read about.

Well, welcome back to all my current readers and welcome aboard to all the new ones!

Later,
- J – aka John C. Massie