Dual Booting an Asus Eee PC 1000h

I got my new Asus Eee PC 1000h and have to say - I love it!
It comes pre-installed with Windows XP on a 40 GB partition and has a free 34.5 GB partition just begging for OS X. Here's how to do it:


WARNING: I'm not responsible for any damage, loss of data, etc. that this could do to your new machine. Use these instructions AT YOUR OWN RISK. They worked for me, but I can't guarantee they will work for you. OK - you've been warned. Still want to continue? Good...

You should read & understand:
http://www.maceee.com/how-to-mac-os-x-1054-for-the-eee-pc-901-1000h-27.html
before continuing here. Make sure you have everything you need.

1. Boot into XP

2. Verify that your Eee PC is setup like mine - 3 partitions:
40 GB
34.5 GB
32 MB
The 34.5 GB partition should be the D: drive and should be completely empty. That's the partition we're going to use for OS X.

3. Next, we want to delete the 2nd partition and re-create it as an "af" partition and make it "active." Here's the deal - once you change the active partition to the 2nd partition, your machine will no longer boot.

Ready? Here's what you do

Make sure you're on the desktop of your Windows installation.
Press WIN+R to open the Run prompt, then type DISKPART and press Enter.
Now we're going to use DISKPART to create a HFS+ compatible Mac partition that we can boot off.

Follow these next set of commands:

DISKPART> select disk 0

DISKPART> select partition 2

DISKPART> delete partition

DISKPART> create partition primary id=af

DISKPART> select partition 2

DISKPART> active

DISKPART> Exit

4. Follow the excellent instructions here:
http://www.maceee.com/how-to-mac-os-x-1054-for-the-eee-pc-901-1000h-27.html
(I DID NOT DO STEP 6)
Be sure to "Erase" this newly created partition and format for Mac OS X.

5. So, you followed the instructions and can now boot into OS X, but NOT into XP. That's OK - we're going to fix that now. You just need to modify one file:
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist. Here's my complete file (the bold faced lines are the lines I added):

<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string></string>

<key>Boot Graphics</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Quiet Boot</key>
<string>No</string>

<key>Timeout</key>
<string>5</string>
<key>device-properties</key>
<string></string>
</dict>
</plist>



You can edit this file directly from a terminal window using:
sudo nano /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

that should keep the file permissions and ownership intact and just allow you to add the 4 additional lines.

That's it!
The system will boot OS X by default, but if you press F8 when prompted, Darwin will show you a menu and you can select either Windows XP or OS X.

I'm writing these instructions using my eee pc now (OS X of course) - however, i'm doing this from memory, so, if I missed anything or there are any errors PLEASE let me know and I will fix it. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly for you, but just remember, it's only a computer and you can always fix it ;)

Andrew's New "Do"

Well, we gave in to Andrew's incessant begging... he's all set for his trip to Florida:

In the chair











The buzzer is out












Uh oh...












Yep... a Mohawk! Oy...

Almost there...

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since I got into the accident. I had my 2nd to last appointment with the dentist - molds were made for the final crowns! Here's what it looks like underneath:



Notice the implant on the right side of the picture (left side of my mouth). Maybe I should just keep this look?

Catch-22

File this one under the most ridiculous insurance policy to date. I got a call from my insurance broker yesterday to discuss my dental claims. Turns out, the dentist used "dental codes" to file the claims with Blue Cross. Silly people - don't they know that you need to use "medical codes" in order for the medical insurance to pay?

The broker asked me to have the dentist resubmit all the claims with the medical codes, and then he would be able to work on getting Blue Cross to pay the claim. Easy enough, right? Here's the catch: my dentist doesn't have the medical codes. Sounds simple enough, right? I asked the broker for the medical codes. Here's about how the conversation went:

me: My dentist doesn't have medical codes.

broker: Can they ask around and get them?

me: Um, can't you just give them to the dentist?

broker: Oh, I don't have the codes and Blue Cross won't give them to me.

me: Huh? Why's that?

broker: If I had the codes, then I would give them out and dentists would file under medical policies. Then Blue Cross would have to pay.


Ah, yes. Another one of the insurance companies methods for avoiding payouts. "Yeah, it's covered if you file the claim properly, but we're not going to tell you or anyone how to do that, sohaveanicedaybye!"

Implant Complete

I went to the dentist yesterday - I figured I would start my long weekend with a bit of pain. The worst part, by far, was getting the Novocaine injection into the roof of my mouth. After getting completely numbed up, the actual placement of the implant was completely pain free. Definitely heard some weird sounds, but none of the pain you would normally associate with crunching bone.

So, now i have a screw in my mouth that needs to fuse with the bone over the next 6 months. Very uneventful, just the way I like it. No more dental appointments until March... woo hoo!

Blockbuster Vs. Netflix

I've been a long time user of Netflix - since I got my first DVD player back in 1999 - back when Netflix was a pure rental model, not a subscription service. When they switched to their subscription model, I hated the "End of Late Fees" advertising, because, after all, you were constantly paying - late fee, subscription fee, whatever.

Anyway, eventually they got the pricing model(s) right, and I've enjoyed the service they offer for many years. The one thing that was missing was the ability to walk in to a store and exchange a movie on a whim. That's where Blockbuster could have a killer advantage. Recently, I decided to give Blockbuster Total Access a try. I hunted around the net until I found a 4 week trial of the 3 at a time Total Access Program. Here was my experience:

1. Sign up (thumbs up)
VERY easy. Up and running very quickly, first movie on its way within 1 business day.

2. In-store game rental coupon (thumbs up)
Big selling point for me. They give you 1 free in-store game rental per month with the total access 3 at a time account. That's an $8 value. Nice.

3. Selection (thumbs up)
They have both HD-DVD and Blue Ray titles available, and I found everything I was looking for.

that's where the good stuff ends.

I took my new coupon down to my local blockbuster, picked out Metroid Prime 3 for the Wii and tried to get it for free. I was asked if I had a store account, I said I have Total Access and was told the store and the internet program are 2 completely different entities. Huh?

Why in the world would they do that? What does "Total Access" mean???

4. In store Account Sign-up (BIG thumbs down)

If you are not an existing blockbuster store member, they now charge $10/year to use the store...err, excuse me, to join their non-optional rewards program. Uh, I DON'T NEED the store rewards, i get plenty of rewards from Total Access. I had never paid a fee in the past to be a "store member," but they conveniently dropped my account because it hadn't been used for 90 days or more.

I ended up leaving the store, going home, finding my old blockbuster card, and re-enabling my store account for free. What a hassle.

5. Movie Returns Via the Mail (thumbs down)

My first rentals showed up within 2 business days. I quickly watched and returned 2 of them. Then waited. It took 4 days to show up as returned before the next 2 shipped (Netflix is usually a 1 day turnaround for me). Turns out, 4 days was FAST. The next round took 10 days to show up, and even then, I had to mnaully tell the website I had returned my movies. Then I waited.

After nearly 3 weeks of using the trial service, I have received a total of 5 DVDs. That's with a queue of 15 movies and returning within 24 hours of receiving. That's just plain SLOW.

6. Customer Service (neutral)

I wrote to customer service to let them know how bad their service was and how slow things were... here's the response to my e-mail:

"I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. I've reviewed your account and see that you are waiting for three DVDs to be shipped. Here's an explanation of why this happened. If a movie at the top of your priority list is not available at a distribution center near you, the system automatically searches for the movie at other centers. If that movie falls outside of an acceptable shipping window, the system automatically searches for a movie lower in your queue that can get to you quicker. This process looks for "Available" titles 30-40 deep within your queue. We do this so your shipping times will be faster. On occasion, if your top selections are not available at a center near you and you have fewer than 30-40 "Available" movies in queue, a shipment may be skipped.

It appears this is exactly what's happening with your account. Based on the process I mentioned above, I would recommend keeping more than 30-40 "Available" titles in queue at all times. Once you take a few moments to do so, I'm certain you'll see something shipped by the end of the next business day after your queue meets our recommendations. Please let me know if there's anything else I can help with."

Huh???
So, they would rather not ship anything because it would take too long to ship? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I don't want 30 - 40 items in my queue. I had about 10 movies I wanted to see. I don't want to fill my queue with CRAP just so I can get something quickly.

So, I've given up on Blockbuster and moved back to Netflix 2 at a time for $14 per month. Even the Netflix 1 at a time unlimited was better than my Blockbuster Total Access trial.

On paper, Blockbuster could have a killer service. Unfortunately, they are trying to figure out how to nickle and dime you. It feels like they're trying to figure out just how far they can push you with fees and restrictions instead of making it a friendly, all inclusive service.

Take it from me - stick to Netflix - no hidden fees, great selection of HD movies, fast, easy service to use and excellent customer service. Why was I even thinking of leaving in the first place?

Rejected - Round 2

Got a response back from BCBS yesterday from my second grievance letter. I'll summarize:

Dear Mr. Seifer,

We already wrote and told you that we aren't going to cover you.
I've enclosed that letter in case you forgot.
Stop bothering us.

BCBS

So, now I am trying to get the insurance broker involved.
And the saga continues.