Bryan's Weblog of Stuff

New Balance 858 Review

It’s been about a 10 days since my most recent pair of shoes, New Balance 858s, showed up on my doorstep. This is the third pair of New Balance 858s that I’ve owned, dating back to last summer. As I mentioned recently, New Balance is looking for people to review their shoes, in exchange for a free pair of shoes. Since I love my New Balance shoes, I figured this is a no-brainer, so here it is…

I originally got into the 858s after being fitted at our local New Balance store. Compared to the shoes I had been wearing (also New Balance, but 2+ years old), the 858s felt like an absolute dream to my feet. They provided a nice, cushioned ride, good stability, and breatheability. All of my training last fall, and my first two races were run in these shoes. By the time I was ready for new shoes, there was little doubt what they were going to be…more 858s.

Before purchasing my next pair, I did go back to a local running store, just to try on some other brands. I’ve worn New Balance exclusively for several years, and wanted to see what else was out there. But those other shoes ended up being too narrow, or just weren’t as comfortable, and I ended up with my second pair of 858s, this time the all black 858s.

My second pair saw me through 5 more races, my first 30 mile week, and my first 100 mile month. They took me on short runs, long runs, and carried me around the track for 800m and 1600m repeats. Not once have my 858s ever mistreated me with blisters, and for that, I am eternally grateful. But the good times couldn’t last forever, and so it was, two weeks ago, I had to start looking for a new pair of shoes…a pair to carry me most of the way through my half marathon training. Fortunately, deciding which shoe to get was very easy—I went online and ordered the exact same thing—New Balance 858s.

By Bryan at 11:41 PM , in Reviews - Permalink
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Two Zune Family

I’ve been meaning to mention that I bought a Microsoft Zune last week—a black, 8 GB Zune. My previous Mp3 player experience was with a 40 GB Creative Zen Jukebox Plus, or something like that.

This purchase was my materialistic reward for reaching my weight goal of 185. Of course I met that goal two months ago, but I just couldn’t decide what to get—my only requirement was that I be able to run with it.

Within 10 minutes of using my Zune, I knew that I had to get one for Julie. Fortunately, her 30th birthday was just around the corner, and I hadn’t bought her gift yet, so that evening I ordered her a pink, 8GB Zune.

Naturally, we’ve got a Zune Pass, and have both loaded up our Zune's. I’ve also set up a number of podcasts, and have started listening to them on my drive to and from work. Why I wasn’t doing this before, I don’t know.

Anyway, we love them.

By Bryan at 1:53 PM , in Reviews - Permalink
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The EasyDNS Saga Conclusion

what I would like to offer as compensation for your inconvennience is a new domain or renewal of a domain with your choice of service level. Please let me know if you find this acceptable and how you would like to proceed.

I guess I will go ahead and stick around a while longer, seen as how I don't have anything expiring for at least 8 months.

By Bryan at 11:11 PM , in Reviews - Permalink
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Potential DNS Provider & Registrar
RegisterSite.com looks like it has potential. Yearly cost per domain name is the same - $35 for domain registration, and it includes advanced DNS functionality.

Of course, I could just go back to doing DNS myself.

By Bryan at 11:29 PM , in Reviews - Permalink
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Last week, I initiated a domain transfer from Register.com to EasyDNS (openSRS). I paid the $15 invoice (which extends my domain registration out another year) at the same time, as I want nothing holding things up. Typically, within a couple of hours, I would get an email from openSRS, asking me to confirm the transfer. Once that is done, I would then get an email from Register.com asking me to confirm (usually within a couple of hours of confirming the openSRS email). After a couple of days it would be done. But not this time.

5 days and several emails later, I had yet to receive the confirmation email from openSRS. Being that EasyDNS is a reseller for them, that is who I emailed for information. Time and time again I was told I should be getting the email later that day. I never got it. Finally, I explicitly asked for them to contact openSRS and make sure the order had made it to them. Same bit of run around, with a "if it hasn't arrived by tomorrow, let us know and we will contact them." That wasn't good enough, seen as how I was asking them to contact them today. So I ask how I can get ahold of openSRS directly. A little while later, I get a reply saying they had contacted openSRS and there had been an issue with the transfer request, so it was resubmitted. What do you know, shortly after that, I get a confirmation email. I confirm. A little later, the confirmation email from Register.com. Oops, they are having problems. I contact their customer service. They responsd, saying to confirm the transfer in the body of an email reply to them. I do. Today I get an email back saying it has been rejected due to my domain now being expired. So now, I must pay Register.com $35 to renew, instead of the $15 to EasyDNS. Had it gone through like it was supposed to, everything would have been complete before the domain expired, and I would not be out the extra $20.

So I email Register.com and EasyDNS, letting both parties know all the details, and letting Register.com know that if I must pay the $35, they will never get another cent from me or anyone else whose decisions in this area I influence. I then let EasyDNS know that should I be forced to pay the $35, and should they not pick up the added cost I am incurring, they will not get any of this business, and that I would begin transferring all of my domains elsewhere -- for DNS service and domain registrar service.

So far I've heard from EasyDNS. They see two solutions:

There are two options at this stage - we can issue a refund for the $15.00usd paid to issue the transfer, or you can contact Register.com and find out how long they will hold onto your renewed domain before they will allow it to be transferred away - the time frame is usually 45 days.

Well, I replied, reiterating what they need to do to keep my business. We'll see what happens, in the meantime, I will begin looking for a new company to provide DNS service, and as domains register via EasyDNS/openSRS come up for renewal, I will be transferring them elsewhere.

By Bryan at 10:39 PM , in Reviews - Permalink
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Minority Report
I just finished watching Minority Report for the first time. I had heard very good things about this movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is not to say that it is in fact a great film, just very enjoyable to watch.

If you haven't seen it, go rent it, or maybe even buy it. I did, and am glad.

It's time for some sleep, perhaps I'll write more in the morning. That is, if there is time before I am off to see The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers :-D. You know, there is a B&N right next to the theater, so perhaps I will stop by afterwards and see about picking up a copy of the collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick that contains The Minority Report, which of course is what the movie, Minority Report is based on.

By Bryan at 12:51 AM , in Reviews - Permalink
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