Good customer service: Suddenlink

Company: Suddenlink, TX
Product: Internet (Cable)
Customer reps: Multiple.

Called Suddenlink to get my internet connection restored at home since
the existing one went with my roommate. Took three calls, but overall a
very pleasant experience.

Call-1: Jessica: Explained to her that I needed a new connection at home
- but we already have everything hooked up. She understood right away
that they didn't have to send a rep out to disconnect (roommate's named
connection being transferred out) and immediately reconnect.
Unfortunately the call dropped.. Jessica, if you read this: I tried to
have them connect me back to you, but they wouldn't?

Call-2: Kayli: Explained everything I had said to Jessica. Took some
back and forth before she agreed that they didn't need to send out a
technician because everything was already setup. (She placed me on hold
for a bit, so perhaps she did indeed talk to Jessica). Once that
happened, the rest was straightforward. Gave her my info, told her the
plan I wanted setup. She waived the installation fee because they didn't
need to send out a tech (Thank you!) Told me to wait 10 minutes and
reboot modem and call them back if I couldn't get back on line. This
call took maybe 15 minutes.

Call-3:Daniel: Like Kayli mentioned, I wasn't able to get back online.
So called their tech support. Daniel said that it was because the modem
was not registered. Asked me for some details (MAC id etc), punched it
in, transferred the existing equipment into my name and remotely
rebooted it. Problem solved and I was online!. This call took about 15
minutes.

So in all, 30 minutes to have the connection go live. Albeit, it was
faster because they didn't have to send out a tech to manually pull/push
a connector to places. I was happy with the customer service folks. So
good job Suddenlink!

Suddenlink - your pricing tiers for no-contract cable internet service
is a bit strange, but that's a post for another day.

Good Customer Service : Satechi

Company: Satechi
Product: Soundfly SD
Customer Rep: Jackie

I bought a Soundfly SD device from Amazon about a year ago. Over the
year, I managed to misplace the remote. I emailed Satechi customer
service to ask them if I could buy a new one.
To my surprise, after I gave them my order number, they mailed me (USPS)
not one, but two remotes completely free.

Hat tip to you guys. You made one customer very happy.

Cinnamon Gnome Shell Fork using Muffin

==Cinnamon Gnome Shell Fork using Muffin==

One of those wonderful headlines that says a lot but appears completely
bizarre and alien if you don't know what it all means.

Allow me to break it down:
GNOME[1] : This is the GNU Object Model Environment : a basic Unix/Linux
desktop environment

GNOME Shell[2]: This is the core technology/environment starting with
GNOME version-3

Fork[3]: A fork in the Unix world is where a certain software package
gets copied and modified by another developer - who then takes on the
responsibility of maintaining the code belonging to that branch of the
code. At the point of the fork, both the original code (say A) and its
fork (say B) are the same. After the fork, both A and B will (mostly)
travel separate development paths.

Muffin[4]: The name given to the fork of the Mutter window manager,
which was the base window manager (the software program that draws the
windows/screen on a display) for Gnome Shell

Cinnamon[5]: A fork of the Gnome Shell environment.

So what does this all mean? Basically, Cinnamon, the fork of Gnome Shell
now uses Muffin as its Window Manager.

If you want to read all about this development, go here:
http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=119

[1]: www.gnome.org
[2]: live.gnome.org/GnomeShell
[3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_%28software_development%29
[4]: https://github.com/linuxmint/muffin
[5]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutter_%28window_manager%29

TeXnic Center : Auto complete = CTRL+SPACE

The default key combination to autocomplete in TeXnic Center is
CTRL+SPACEBAR

You can change this by going to Tools>Customize>Keyboard. Under Category
Select All Commands and then scroll down the list to the command
EditCompleteWord.

However, beware that you don't overwrite some other functionality.

The people behind Stephen Hawking's IT

Meet Intel application engineer Travis Bonifield and Graduate Assistant Sam Blackburn, the people who keep Dr. Hawking's Computer and software running so that he can still talk to people.

Baking Vegetables

I came home this evening and felt like making something with the vegetables in the freezer. I decided I would try to bake them. Not knowing anything about timing and temperature for baking vegetables, I gave my friend LadyParadox a call and asked for advice. Based on her advice, I made ...

"Baked Vegetables with Indian Spices"

Here's how to make it.

You will need:

• A place to make it
  
• The place (preferably a kitchen) should have an oven and you should have permission/rights to use the place for the next one or more hours. If you get kicked out of there in 30 minutes, you're going to find it difficult.
• A refrigerator that you can put stuff into would be also nice to have access to.
  
• A baking dish/pan/rack that can be used.
• Non stick cooking spray + Aluminium foil OR non-stick aluminium foil. (That's the British spelling of the metal that has the symbol Al. Deal with it.)
  
• Vegetables - whatever you feel like using (more importantly, these should be vegetables you want to eat). I used Cauliflower and Carrots. (bought frozen & cut from the local Walmart).
  
• Spices: I used the following powders - coriander, turmeric, chilly, minced garlic, ginger, salt, a pinch of garam masala and a pinch of chicken curry masala. Use what you want, this is meant to be easy to make.
• Yogurt
• A timer/stopwatch

The How To Do It.

• Step-0: Obtain the vegetables if you don't already have it.
• Step-1: Cut/slice/dice as you desire. Defrost the vegetables if required. Do not defrost with heat since you don't want them to start cooking already.
  




• Step-2: Mix the vegetables with the Yogurt + Spices throughly.




• Step-3: Marinate by putting it in the refrigerator (if possible) for 30 minutes to an hour.




• Step-4a: Start heating up your oven to 350F.
• Step-4b: Remove marinade from fridge and mix throughly.
• Step-4c: If using baking pan + aluminum foil: Grease the foil with a light coating of non-stick cooking spray.
• Step-4d: Spread the marinade onto the pan. Make sure its well spread out in a single layer.





• Step-5a: Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes. (Time this!)
• Step-5b: After 20 minutes, check, and then place in broil mode for upto 10 minutes - check/mix/turn things around to ensure everything stays mixed and does not burn.




• Step-6: Remove from oven and let cook to touch.




• Step-7: Once it has begun to cool, mix the spices and the vegetables again and let it sit.




• Step-8: Serve while still warm. I recommend serving with tortillas on the side.




• Step-9: There is no step-9. You're done!

Hat Tip to LadyParadox