Tony's Blog

In Savannah

2009-02-25T20:27:00.005-05:00

Being on vacation actually gives me a chance to play with HDR photography again. What does everyone think of this one? This is of the entryway to Wormsloe Plantation, which was the plantation of Noble Jones hundreds of years ago. The actual original structures are basically in ruins, but the four hundred oaks that line the entryway actually make the visit worthwhile.

We're staying in The Marshall House in the Historic District of Savannah. I think its technically a B&B and technically "Haunted", but its been a pretty comfortable stay and I'd recommend it for a not terribly expensive stay (or we're just in the off season) and location alone.

Why Wendy Is So Sweet

2009-01-29T22:39:00.003-05:00

Look what she got me! If you know how much I love Domos, getting one in pink was a great surprise today. They've got them at Target special for Valentine's Day!

"Little Mountain"

2008-09-11T21:50:00.008-05:00

Hey Everyone, long time no see. Thanks to everyone who gave me warm wishes for my 30th birthday.

I'm on vacation at the moment so i've actually got a little time to make a post. Believe it or not, I've actually be doing a lot of blogging - just not for my personal blog. If you want to see what i've been up to, check out http://www.runningdogleague.com/. Its my professional/technical blog - part of the reason that I haven't been making any technical posts on this blog anymore. As you'll see, I've actually be doing a fair amount of posting over there.

Today Wendy and I stopped by a historical site most people in the US should be easily able to recognize from the back of a nickel (the non-state nickels) - Monticello. It was a cloudy day - and pictures/video are not allowed from inside of home, but outside on the grounds.

For those who are not history buffs - this is the home of Thomas Jefferson. Unlike historic Williamsburg in Virginia - this is the actual home - not rebuilt, not a recreation in the proper location. Granted, only a subset of items inside the home are original, but considering the home fell out of Jefferson's family's hands for a large number of years - and it is over 200 years old - its in pretty good shape.

One of the most interesting points you see in the home is Jefferson's love of technology/gadgetry - I was a little surprised myself. A lot of what was in the home was custom designed by Jefferson himself, including a clock that includes hour, minute, second hand, and day of the week. A circa 1800 copy machine - well, it reproduced strokes of a pen as it was written. Jefferson made copies of every letter he wrote according to the tour.

The two biggest disappointments were the fact that it was so overcast today and that a tree that was suspected to have been planted by Jefferson himself died over the last few years and was cut down just 6 weeks ago.

And yes, I did take the photo above. :)

In A World Without Infomercials

2008-07-28T21:00:00.002-05:00

We're living in a world with two kinds of people. Those who remember that there was a point late in the evening when television stations actually stopped broadcasting shows and those who had no idea.

In conversing with my younger brother, who is 8 years younger than me, I came to the realization that he had never seen a station sign off because most tv stations had moved to a 24 hour format (many complete with infomercials instead).

Here's an example of one from my hometown - and it feels really familiar. Are we better off now to have infomercials? Are you under 35 years old and remember these? If so, you're going to be in the minority soon. Anyone else remember these?

X-Files: I Want To Believe (That This Movie Will Be Good)

2008-07-27T14:30:00.002-05:00

So, if you are the average moviegoer, you're probably reading this blog post in between your 3 and 4th viewing of The Dark Knight. Maybe you're waiting in line to see it in IMAX. Regardless, believe it or not, there are other movies out there right now.

X-Files: I Want To Believe actually opened on 7/25/2008. Thats over 6 years since the final X-Files series episode and 10 Years since the first X-Files movie came out. Now, I was an X-Files fan as much as anyone, and like most I started to lose interest around the same time David Duchovny did (and then shortly thereafter left the show). An introduction of new lead agents (one of them that used to be the T-1000) and at the very end bringing back Mulder in the last episode to try to help explain and wrap up all the mythology that had more or less already been revealed was about as satisfying as the final episode of Seinfeld.

So, with a release date one week after the movie with the highest grossing weekend of all time and existing fan base that is mostly disillusioned with the show, how could this movie possibly do well? And why now? Why release this movie so many years later?

Well, I saw the movie last night - and to be honest, I liked it a lot. Not more than the Dark Knight, and it isn't the greatest film of the year. But to be honest, it is a well written, generally good episode of the X-Files. If you go in with the expectation that Chris Carter and crew had another good, well produced and funded, non-mythology episode set 6 years later than the final episode of the series, you'll be pleased. Parts of it are fun, there are surprises, no major explosions. Fans of the show will be pleased, and it is a good thriller even if you aren't a major fan. As Wendy put it: It was nice to have our friends back again and see them together.

I think its just unfortunate that with the Dark Knight taking everyone's attention that this will be ignored by most people. Granted, we went to an 11:30pm showing, but the other 5 people in the theater seemed pleased. Oh, and apparently there is something after the credits according to what i've read - I didn't stay around and watch, but let me know if you wait for it. :)

The Dark Knight - IMAX

2008-07-20T21:38:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I'm still alive.

I saw The Dark Knight at IMAX today. Wow, that was pretty awesome. If you haven't seen it yet, go.

Truck Update - As Requested

2008-04-17T20:09:00.005-05:00

Yeah, I'm bad about updating my blog. Thanks for the nudge Jen. :) Here are some pictures of my truck taken a few days after the purchase. Its taken a bit of getting used to. Its only 6" longer than my Bonneville was, but its quite a bit higher off the ground and wider. So, i'm honestly not very good at parking it, but i'm doing pretty good on the road now.

I ended up replacing the stereo within a week of the purchase - the stock radio had no way of hooking up an ipod and the fm transmitter just wasn't a good option. The good news is it sounds WAY better now and the ipod works fine.

Its really nice to have the bed of the truck for transporting anything now - and i'm no longer concerned about buying something and the "what if it fits in my car?" I've had so many times. I know its obvious, but when all you have are passenger vehicles, it comes up all the time. I so wish I had this truck when we were moving.

I can't wait for summer now, since I'll actually have air conditioning in my vehicle. Its been almost 6 years since I've had it.

Truck Purchase

2008-03-19T21:58:00.002-05:00

Most of what I got was pro truck, but i'm getting it on Friday, so please hold any anti-truck comments. Pictures will be up after I get it!

Shopping for a New Vehicle

2008-03-10T19:47:00.002-05:00

Going against my better judgement - there are a number of things I'm looking for a new vehicle.

1. I'm looking for a truck. And by those who drive SUVs, those are not trucks. Those are SUVs. I'm looking for a Pickup Truck. A Nissan Frontier in fact. Now I know i'm not getting a "truck" in terms of 900hp with 1 millions lbs of torque and can haul a house. I'm not a SUV guy, but Wendy and I are tired of having 2 passenger vehicles when trying to pick up or move anything. Every once in a while, you just need a bigger vehicle. It seems to happen a lot more for us.
2. I'm potentially looking at new instead of buying used. The price difference between new and used in terms of the year range and model i'm looking at honestly aren't really that different. We're talking about $3,000 difference - trading for about 40,000 and 3 years (and loss of factory warranty) on the vehicle as well as a few features.

This truck is pretty close to what I want - except the color possibly.

What are the downsides of all of this?

Well obviously the payment, but what i'm sure any sane person would bring up the issue of gas prices these days. My only thought to that is that my commute to work is pretty short - and this is at least a mid-sized truck instead of a gigantic one. It is rated at 14mpg/19mpg highway, which I know isn't awesome, but based on my current driving habits, I drive much less than 10,000 miles a year. If gas prices do go up, I'm obviously going to be somewhat screwed or just have to drive as little as possible. Yes, I've considered leasing and i'm still thinking about it, just in case gas prices to shoot way up.

If I could get the same vehicle in diesel, I'd be all over it. Unfortunately, there are no midsized trucks or compact trucks that come in diesel in the US.

Does anyone have any serious thoughts about this? :)

New URL for Blog and Grand Theft Walrus

2008-01-06T12:32:00.001-05:00

I've moved my blog to http://tonysblog.real-family.com/. The old URL will still work (I think permanently), so you don't have to change anything, this is more of an FYI.

I finally saw The Simpsons Movie. As I expected it wasn't going to be AMAZING - more like a longer, more dramatic version of a tv episode. Some of it drew on material from the late 80s/early 90s of the Simpsons (especially the Christmas episode). Anyhow, it is interesting to see how they still have this kind of staying power, but here is a screenshot of the funniest part of The Simpsons, which I can understand how it would it only be funniest to me.

I haven't the words....

And a screenshot from the game. I didn't play any GTA beyond GTA2, but I almost had to stop the treadmill I was laughing so much.

New Song on Left Hand Side as well.

Best of 2007: Pop

2007-12-23T19:53:00.000-05:00

I was actually watching MTV today because they there playing videos (correction, MTV doesn't actually play videos, turns out it was MTV Hits) - and every top pop video was about love lost or being separated. And I just don't mean the video, the lyrics for the most part matched. I'm glad I'm not that into current music - I'd be crying myself to sleep every night. Even right now I'm going to have to change the channel to not fall into a serious depression.

Maybe thats why there's so many emo kids out there - but they must listen to this in quiet as I'm sure they wouldn't be caught dead listening to this stuff.

Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of good music that came out this year, this just wasn't a showcase of it.

Did You Know This?

2007-12-06T19:22:00.000-05:00

First of all, Henry V is freaking awesome. I wasn't much into Shakespeare at the ripe old age of 12 when I saw it for the first time, but stroke of luck my older brother Jason had just entered high school and in Marching Band played the music from this movie. I don't know if it is just because music and movies that you experience when you are young have a greater impact and hold greater meaning to you over time, but especially the music of Henry V I still listen to from time to time. I haven't seen the movie in a few years but I've got to pull out the DVD and watch it again.

But more importantly, why I post. Who else knew that Christian Bale was in Henry V? Keep in mind this movie came out in 1989. Even though he doesn't have a name in the movie (credited as boy) - I still remember his role clearly. Look for him at 1:43 in the youtube clip above during the famous St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V.

And if you haven't seen Henry V, you are seriously missing out.

Updates In General - Random Post

2007-12-04T22:41:00.000-05:00

I had a few weeks there where work got a bit of control time wise, but now I'm back to normal.

My sister moved to New York City fairly suddenly. Everyone wish her luck!

Something intesting technical wise that I've been working with is Windows Deployment Services, specifically for Windows XP. Vista is fairly easier to deploy using it, but XP is certainly possible. There's a real lack of documentation, and most people are going to get tripped up with many parts of it if used. This is supposed to be an upgrade for RIS, which honestly I felt was always too cumbersome to use.

I'll write a lot more about it, but WDS comes with a program called imagex, which creates .WIM files that are a lot like ghost images, but are file based, not sector based, meaning you can do things like reapply the image to a partition and keep the majority of your data. I know RIS had something like this, but were you able to create and use these files outside of RIS? :)

I'll write a lot more detail about how to use WDS later - I'll try to come up with the most detailed guide on how to use it with a single image that you could install on multiple HALs.

My boss Anthony recommended that I watch Primer. The movie is mainly dealing with time travel, but honestly I can't see any way that anyone could understand this movie the first time through without a guide. It is very smart - I can tell that, but I'm going to need a 3 or 4th time through. There's a lot of WTF??? going on, thinking that scenes must have been cut from the movie, but once I watched all of it, I realized that my brain must be in a for a world of hurt. I'm sure now the movie makes sense, but I'm going to really need to think about it. I read the movie was made for $7000, which even makes Clerks look a high budget movie ($32,000). But nothing in the movie looks wrong to me. It just goes to show a smart movie can be made for not that much cash.

Wow, I've never seen her look so 80s

2007-12-04T22:39:00.000-05:00

That being said, Stevie Nicks is still awesome. But look at her hair!

On a side note, it seems a little sad to see her holding a baby as I just read that hse made a conscious decision not to have children (or get married) in order to keep Fleetwood Mac together.

Anyhow, she's awesome. She does some backup vocals for Vanessa Carlton on her new album. I could have picked out her distinctive voice in a heartbeat.

Boo to Subway

2007-12-02T20:37:00.000-05:00

Just a warning to everyone - if you go to Subway like I do, and get their wraps because they are low in calories - they've changed the wraps without telling anyone!

The wrap itself used to be 110 calories - and its now 330 calories! Thats nearly 100 more calories than just getting bread. And for those watching carbs, you also might as well just get the bread, seriously.

Its a bad move for Subway, considering the majority of their promotions push about how they are a healthy alternative to fast food. Shame on them.

The Perfect Movie

2007-11-12T18:20:00.000-05:00

For me, there isn't just one perfect movie. Some movies when I watch them are just so well executed and done so perfectly though, they just stand out to me. Even my favorite movies I know aren't perfect, but some movies - while not my one favorite movie to beat all other movies are so perfectly done I can't imagine them being any better. The shots are flawless - the music is amazing.

Lost in Translation is one of those movies. Some people may watch this movie and think it is boring, but the style, characters, the visual imagery, and the music make this movie amazing. It came out in 2003, so it might just now be starting to be forgotten, but if you haven't seen it I wholehearedly recommend it.

Why I Don't Like Sony

2007-11-11T21:06:00.000-05:00

I refuse to knowingly buy anything from Sony. In fact, I think the only product that I have in my house is a dvd-writer in my desktop, and I felt bad in buying it. I'd rather buy a gas guzzling vehicle at this point than support Sony.

Here are the previous examples of issues i've had with Sony:
Romance and Cigarettes
Casino Royale

Sony likes doing things their own way. Their own standards - and all of their equipment works together great. But only with itself. Its been this way as far as I can remember. Beta vs. VHS. Mini-disc vs CD. Memory stick vs. Any other memory card Standard (SD, Compact Flash, xD, etc). Sony was on the losing end of all of these battles. Yes, they had limited success, but people that purchase their electronics are left out in the cold for any kind of interoperability with other products in the future. Sony even puts anti copy technology in their DVDs so that they have bad sectors in them and other issues so that may DVD players and computers can't even play them. And it doesn't even stop people from copying the DVDs. :)

And to top all this, Sony products generally cost substantially more. I'm not saying that they aren't quality products, they generally are good. I'm just not going to buy all Sony products for the rest of my life so that everything works together.

And now HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray is being backed by Sony primarily. I don't care of Blu-Ray has a larger capacity, and technically slightly higher quality of picture. If Blu-Ray didn't exist, HD-DVD would already be the standard and I'd already have the player. But with Sony being a movie studio now, some movies are going to ONLY be on Blu-Ray in the future. Some will only be on HD-DVD. Some will be on both. Blu-Ray players are in the ballpark of $300 at the cheapest. HD-DVD players are on special for $99, but are more commonly found at $200. I really think HD-DVD will become the standard (and I predict it will be) because.

1. Sony does not play well with others.
2. HD-DVD will cost less for the movies, players, and burners in the long term.

Sure, there are a lot of Blu-Ray players because of the Playstation 3, but if I were to buy a gaming console, it would be a Wii or possibly an XBox 360, never anything by Sony.

Suspend Your Disbelief - HOUSE PICTURES

2007-09-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

Before I lose some friends here, I took the time to post a complete walkthrough of our new house.

Where can I find this?

2007-07-22T15:24:00.000-05:00

For whatever reason, some artists have a slightly different version of a song that is released as a single, and then it is nearly impossible to find the often superior version of the song since it was never on an album. Whether it is the Voodoo Economics Remix of Desire from U2 (which is a nice change from the original, but I wouldn't call it superior), or in the case of the video linked here Only Love (The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty) from Sophie B. Hawkins. I literally have not heard this version of this song since high school (I graduated in 1996). Thanks to Youtube, I can at least see the video and hear the radio version of the song(and you can too). Sure - the album version which I have the CD for actually is pretty decent, but this version is way better. Hearing this seriously takes me back. Does anyone know where I can get a high quality digital recording of this song in this version?

Oh, and my parents are coming to visit on Tuesday, so I'm forced to do a good cleaning of the house (and i'll take pictures of every room before then) I'll finally come through!

Always Underpromise and Overdeliver

2007-07-09T22:39:00.000-05:00

If I only listened to myself. As Mrs Smith pointed out, I fell back on my word about posting any pictures of the house. Here's picture #1. Once you walk in the front door, after the
entryway, this is pretty much the first thing you see. The living room isn't finalized yet as we are getting a nice flat screen once it is delivered As I clean up each room, you'll see another post with another room. Since we're seeing Harry Potter And the Goblet of Fire at IMAX tuesday night (at midnight), I've got a feeling no pictures will come tomorrow, but hopefully the day after that.

What, all this time and all I get is this lousy post?

2007-07-05T21:52:00.001-05:00

I fraking love this movie. Holly Hunter is at her peak of craziness in the grave digging scene from a Life Less Ordinary. If you haven't seen this movie, you probably won't get it, but it is fantastic.

The new house is clean so i'll take pictures and post them this weekend. Consider that a promise.

We've Moved

2007-05-23T21:33:00.000-05:00

Well, we are moved into our new house. I'll take some pictures once everything in unboxed (hold your breath for about 1 year).

And today's thought of the day is - why can't anything just be easy for me?

See: http://tonyvreal.blogspot.com/2006/01/what-does-v-stand-for.html

Chuck Norris

2007-05-12T19:43:00.000-05:00

Open Question to Netflix

2007-05-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

Oh, Netflix, why must you tease me? You've got me watching Coupling Season 1 through your "Watch Now" Service, but you don't have Season 2. And just to taunt me more, you've got Seasons 3 and 4 available.

Thats right folks, they've got seasons 1, 3, and 4 on Watch Now, but not season 2. Whats up with that?

Netflix - Watch Now!

2007-04-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

Since Netflix had started offering some subscribers the "Watch Now" online streaming movie option instead of getting DVDs in the mail, i've been hoping to become one of those lucky few that have had this option. I know everyone will be able to do it starting in June, but I hope not to wait until then.

For everyone that doesn't now about the program, basically for every dollar you spend per month, you can watch one hour of movie. The movies appear to be using DRM from Windows Media. The quality is honestly pretty darn good for streaming video. So far I've only watched Clue and SherryBaby. Using our standard, non High Definition television on my HTPC, I couldn't tell the difference between this and a DVD.

Here's the positives about the service:
1. Good video quality. Might not look as good on a HDTV, but we aren't at that level in terms of internet bandwidth.
2. With approximately 20 hours per month IN ADDITION to the normal DVDs in the mail, this is truly a value added service that the competitors don't offer.

And the negatives:
1. Small video selection. Most of the movies are older movies, but there as a few more current selections.
2. The DRM is a pain. I had to first upgrade to WMP 11 (which I don't think was absolutely necessary), but then I had to change a number of different settings and rename a couple of DRM license folders. Truthfully, it just a 5 minute pain for me, but I could see the average Netflix using getting frustrated and giving up.
3. Normally DVD features like subtitles are nonexistant of course.
4. Since this is a streaming service, any inconsistencies in your internet connection will cause skipping or hanging in the movie. I only saw the movie have to catch up once or twice during Clue, but generally not a big deal. There were no skips in SherryBaby. It might have been an encoding problem in the original rip of the movie.

I recommend using the service once it is available to you if you have Netflix. I just hope there are more movies available soon.

Motolora Q Vs. Blackberry 8703e

2007-04-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

A couple months back, I had the thought of trying out the Motorola Q. I had used the Blackberry 7250 for about a year and then last November upgraded to the Blackberry 8703e, which was a vast improvement.

Here are the big advantages of the Motrolora Q:

1. Small, thin and lightweight.
2. Runs Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition, so it doesn't require a separate server. It can use Exchange Activesync directly.
3. Has a mini-SD slot for expansion.
4. Can stream video. I even had it set up to stream all my programs I had recorded from my DVR anywhere I can had decent cell phone reception. That was pretty sweet!
5. Has a working full speed Nintendo Emulator. I used this feature like crazy. Having all of these classic Nintendo games available anywhere was amazing.

The bad:
1. Battery life was amazingly bad. We are talking 8 hours tops not even making calls. With an extended life battery I could get thought an entire day with really light use. I found myself charging it all the time.
2. Generally it could not make or receive phone calls. The phone almost never rang in the same places my Blackberry had no issues - for example my desk at work.
3. The interface, while I could figure it out in a few days is not very intuitive and would be a hindrance to the average user.
4. The standard holster is very flimsy.

In the end the inability to make and receive phone calls made me switch back to the Blackberry 8703e. I thoroughly do not recommend the Motorola Q unless you are a glutton for punishment and don't care about using it as a phone. Truthfully if you aren't getting email on it, or are just using some personal email account it would be only poor, not terrible. It is too bad though since it has so many cool features.

Work/Life Balance

2007-04-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

I fully endorse the idea, it doesn't matter who you are reading this, that having a good work/life balance is necessary in order to really have happiness. You really can't work 80 hours per week and still be happy. It just isn't possible. It doesn't matter who you are, if you are working too much, do not do it for an extended amount of time. I know this seems obvious, but that is what I've been up to. I'm not saying I've been working 80 hours a week since my last blog post, but it has been 60 hours a week minimum. I've just had it, and for the time being I'm not working outside of my normal hours at work for a little while.

Much has happened since the "guy love" post. I've been promoted at my job, we've been trapped by snow in the mountains, and we're buying a house. We won't close until mid-May, so as soon as the place is ours, we're put lots of information on here. Until that point in time, here's a teaser of a view from the backyard. :)

Oh, and the song on the left hand side is updated. Tilly and the Wall - Bad Education.

Why aren't you watching Scrubs?

2007-01-21T00:51:00.000-05:00

Since Scrubs was put on Comedy Central, we just can't get enough of it in our household. The latest recent episode was entirely a musical - but I have a feeling this song was written first and they built the episode around it.

Never Leave a Man Behind!

2007-01-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

Possibly the greatest 8 minutes of movie making.

The Blue Screen of Death Fallacy (Tech Post)

2007-01-07T12:21:00.000-05:00

Notice: For whatever reason the newer blogger interface isn't letting my format this post - So just pretend that there are logical breaks in it.

Everyone hates the Blue Screen of Death (or BSoD) that Windows has when it gets certain errors. Here's an example from Windows XP. I always read whenever there a mention of Windows going anywhere except on a PC - like into a car or home automation, etc about how their car is going to crash just like the computers running Windows. Of course this is coming from the Mac fanboys and Open Source Propeller Heads.

Do I have any problem with Macs or Linux? Of course not, I'm only referring to the nuts - not those who have a level view about the role of each operating system. I think Macs are wonderful and being able to run nearly any x86 operating system on a Mac I think is fantastic - if not overpriced. Mac OS X is great and once it gets even more mainstream and more applications and games are written for it I think it has a great chance of taking over. Right now I believe if it wasn't having to be bundled with Mac hardware, it would be about a 50/50 split in the OS market. Linux - well, with Ubuntu it is getting closer to actual home user use but unless you take even more away from the command line and have a good central source for documentation, it'll never reach the mass market. Over the last 10 years, it has come a long way and based on the rate of maturity, it about another 10 it will be all the way there for your grandparents.

Back to my original topic on hand. I've only initally tested the final version of Vista Business so far, but in all honesty people need to stop picking on Microsoft for blue screens at least. You don't have to agree with the way they do things, but I see maybe 3-5 blue screens per year. I'm talking with Windows XP. Now 3-5 may seem like a lot, but considering I work in IT and work on hundreds of computers regularly, that % is actually pretty low. The most common reason for a BSoD? Hardware. Bad RAM, a dead hard drive, the file system getting corrupt because of a bad Hard Drive. I think think the OS throwing an exception like that when there is faulty hardware is that crazy - honestly I'd like to know when hardware is failing.

Windows got its reputation for the BSoD because of Windows 95/98/Me. The move to XP was so substantial for the home market because once the core became NT based, the systems became a ton more stable. Working with the Win9x core in retrospect was a nightmare because of a lack of stability that everyone just dealt with.

Back when I was using Windows 95 and 98 (never ME on my personal stuff) I would have to back everything up and do a reinstall of Windows every 9-12 months just to have a level of stability. Installing applications and it just seemed the age of the OS install caused instability that only a reformat would fix. I've had my current install of Windows XP Professional installed on my home computer since I upgraded my system last. That was December of 2003. Yes, thats over 3 years and I have no intention of doing a reinstall unless I have to, which doesn't seem likely. I've upgraded plenty of hardware since then save the motherboard and processor, but there's been no reason to do a reinstall. It has been rock solid for this long.

But what about spyware and viruses, you ask? Windows XP gets those by the truckload! Microsoft did a good job with XP in being stable. Was it the most secure? No - I'm not denying that. It wasn't designed for internet security in mind. The problems it solved with stability were then replaced by spyware and viruses. Yes I run antivirus - I'm not stupid. It just runs in the background and gets updates daily. I have a router on my network to act as a basic NAT firewall. Spyware? I have a bad habit of running IE as my default browser, although I use Firefox a lot as well. Guess what? No spyware on my computer - never really has been any. I even run my computer an administrator. Am I lucky? No - I'm just not stupid enough to click on stuff I know to be spyware. On my work network no one gets spyware anymore unless for some reason someone granted them local admin permissions - which is really uncommon. They only use IE as a browser - and IE6 for the most part at this point. And now Vista by prompting you for your password before you do anything that can alter your system (much like how Ubuntu does it) the chance of getting spyware would even be less.

So from my experience in using Windows if you:

A. Use some sort of hardware firewall (or at least software - but I don't recommend that alone)

B. Don't run as a local administrator for everything (or use DropMyRights on your web browser honestly) or run Firefox

C. Run some reputable antivirus

D. Have decent hardware

E. Have a small dose of common sense

You should have next to no issues with stability. I honestly haven't.

Windows XP as the flagship OS from Microsoft has been out since October of 2001. Thats over 5 years ago. Can't we just get away from the rumors that the BS0Ds come hand in hand with Windows? I'm not a Windows fanboy despite what this post appears to say. My only point is that the reputation Windows has gotten since XP was released is somewhat uncalled for and while based on some truth, does not properly reflect how mature of a product it really is.

Kinda New Look

2007-01-07T00:42:00.000-05:00

I'm surprised you are reading this. After nearly 2 months with no post, you've found your way here. First of all welcome to the pseudo new look. Blogger did a pretty good job of updating my template out of force but I still had to fix some things it doesn't look exactly the same. It is a lot easier to add content and make changes to the layout so I'm pretty happy with that.

I will be adding more content to this soon and have more frequent posts. Consider this to be a New Years Resolution.

As for now - I've added music to my page (no i'm still not a myspace junkie). You won't ever hear it by force, I'll just mention it if I change out a song. I'll start with a fairly unknown song that I love. Its "It Isn't Easy To Live That Well" by The Headlights. To hear it, click the arrow by the link that says "Click Arrow to Listen" under the music header.

Welcome to 2007.

Casino "Sony" Royale

2006-11-19T20:19:00.000-05:00

The wife and I saw Casino Royale last night. This will show how young/old I am, but I've been very familar with the Pierce Brosnan Bond since I first saw Goldeneye. Yeah I've seen other Bond movies (they are all in my queue in Netflix at this point) but other than Sean Connery none of the other Bonds seemed believeable.

Daniel Craig I had my reservations about since he was in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, but I was willing to give him a shot.

The Good: Casino Royale is a combination of amazing action and a really long game of Texas Holdem. Trust no one and just hang on for the ride. The first chase scene alone had amazing jumps that I had a hard believing anyone could do - but still found myself believing.

The Bad: Every electronic actual product made in this movie was made by Sony and they made a point of showing it. Every laptop - a Sony Vaio. The digital camera - Sony. The phones - Sony Ericson. The dvd player - Sony. The DVD-R that shows security footage - Sony brand. I know it is Sony Picutures but lets just say it was a little distracting. I think I saw Sony tattooed across Daniel Craig's ass - or wait, maybe that just would have fit in.

If you haven't seen it yet, I'd recommend seeing it in the theater. It is a little bit long at over 2 hours, but the action makes a lot of it go by quickly. If you a woman, I'm sure you'll drool over Daniel Craig - and if you are a guy, I mean - c'mon - it's a James Bond movie. The movie has an actual plot since it was the first book by Ian Fleming about James Bond that was never made into a movie. Its definitely the best Bond flick in years.

And on a side note - did anyone notice that some of the scenes shot in Italy were the exact same locations used for Star Wars Episode II - like where Anakin and Amidala get married?

Don't forget "The Fountain" comes out this Wednesday. It looks amazing.

Still working too much

2006-11-14T22:52:00.000-05:00

So, all I have to report is tech stuff.

The coolest tool I've seen all year is VMWare Converter. Basically this program will take a live computer while it is running and virtualize it into a VMWare Machine. It will be instantly bootable and all you have to do is install VMWare tools and it is will be instantly usable.

Did I mention that since it is in beta still it is free?

The steps are practically so self explanatory there is very little to even mention. That is, if you have used VMWare before.

Only Mostly Dead

2006-10-30T22:25:00.000-05:00

"There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do. "

Well, we didn't die in the Apex Chemical Fire and I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've been so fracking busy with work that I've had little to no time for anything personal really. In my evenings I'll come home and work on something for work from home. My weekends have been my only solace and i've been so burned out I didn't want to do anything. Last weekend I got an extra hour of daylight savings time but since I was working all weekend it didn't help much. Many IT jobs are like this, and it isn't going to be like this forever, but it just wasn't what I signed up for originally. I'm willing to do it, I just need a break for a week or two to get back into it.

For those of you under a rock, Battlestar Galactica is freaking awesome. If you haven't seen it, just watch the mini-series (Season 1 disc 1). Its three hours of your life - thats all. If you don't like it, don't watch anything more - but thats all it should take to get hooked. I know I mentioned it in a blog post before, but really - if you aren't watching this - why not? It's even moving to NBC mid-season.

Watch out for "The Fountain". This movie looks REALLY good. I am going to be there on opening day.

And thats it. Life is just uninteresting when all you seem to do is work. Maybe I just feel that way because I am going on 3 hours of sleep and working all weekend.

Apex Chemical Fire

2006-10-08T14:57:00.000-05:00

In case anyone else is wondering, we were not directly affected by the chemical fire in Apex. The chemical plant is 8.8 miles away, but we were not very far away from the evacuation zone. Green Hope High School is very close to us - and was the main location for those evacuated to go to in the morning after the fire. Thanks for everyone's concerns.

Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs

2006-09-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

Most of the information I've found about reviews of Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs I haven't found to be terribly accurate. Normally I am with everything on Steven Bink's Website, but in this case theres wasn't a lot of info. People commenting on the article were even mentioning how based on screenshots you couldn't even use ping out of the box. I installed it and found it to not be true. Granted, I did a full installation of it, but it was there.

For those who haven't haven't heard of Windows Fundamentals, basically it is a stripped down version of Windows XP designed for use with older computers with lesser hardware. Windows firewall is still built into it and all of the basic features for business users were still in it. I haven't tried installing much software on it yet, but without any software loaded on it. As long as you have software assurance on a Corporate Version of Windows XP, you can definitely utilize it. It even uses the same product key. I haven't really seen too many limitations on it, but it is just missing some tiny features. Games are gone. Add/Remove Windows Components - well there aren't any to add. And it seems to utilize memory a little bitter - which is probably just because it isn't running as many services.

Here's some of my screenshots from it:

No More Analog TV

2006-09-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

I've said before to most people I see using the old rabbit ears on the televisions that at some point the FCC is going to be stopping the broadcast of analog signals. What this means is that those people using older tvs that aren't using Cable or Satellite are soon just going to be seeing snow on their TVs.

Now, the date was originally December 31, 2006 - which is what I had been telling people for a while - but this date was updated this February to now February 17th, 2009.
Source: http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html#whatisdate

"Congress passed a law on February 1, 2006, setting a final deadline for the DTV transition of February 17, 2009. Most television stations will continue broadcasting both analog and digital programming until February 17, 2009, when all analog broadcasting will stop. Analog TVs receiving over-the-air programming will still work after that date, but owners of these TVs will need to buy converter boxes to change digital broadcasts into analog format. Converter boxes will be available from consumer electronic products retailers at that time. Cable and satellite subscribers with analog TVs should contact their service providers about obtaining converter boxes for the DTV transition."

I really don't think if you have cable or satellite anything is going to have change since they can convert this in their equipment before it gets to our houses.

I'm hoping we'll have a new tv before then so we don't have to worry about it. The only question is - how does this affect my htpc since I have 2 tuner cards that accept cable input?

Anyhow, everyone just keep this in mind if you are getting analog broadcasts.

Gatlinburg Trip and I'm on the 'roids

2006-09-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not posting very much as of late. I've been fairly busy with work over the last month and as of this week, the wife and I have been in the Smoky Mountains, which doesn't make me want to spend time blogging. We're still here, and I'll do a quick post.

The biggest thing on my mind right now is 3 weeks ago I picked up poison ivy, which I had never been in contact with before. I was trimming a tree in my front yard - and I was in contact with what I thought was just sap on the tree. I wasn't in immediate need to wash it off, which I'm sure was my mistake. Looking back, there was an ivy growing on the inside truck of the tree. I thought I had just been bit by a few mosquitos, but a week later - it started getting fairly bad. At this point it was only on my left leg and right arm. I started taking over the counter stuff for poison ivy and tried several different methods of controlling the itch.

We left for our trip, and despite pleas from Wendy, I didn't go to the doctor before left. I really don't like going so I avoid it at all costs. Finally Wednesday of this week, I agree to go, because, well, it kept spreading more and more and more - to the point it scared me.

I went in, got a 2ml shot of steroids - and I'm now on oral steroids to hopefully curb the reaction to the poison ivy. It's better but still not good yet. The best part almost passing out from the shot (not from nerves, some other reaction). Here are some pics of the poison ivy - but they aren't automatically shown for those who don't want to see them.

Leg
Arm

Lets just say it has spread to a lot of other areas in addition to these places.

We're having a great time in Gatlinburg though - spending our 4th Anniversary (I can't believe it is 4 already!) and my birthday here. I do consider myself lucky that I've got a wife that in addition to having fun on this trip, she just wants to go back to the room and watch Season 2 of Battlestar Galactica - I consider myself very lucky. :)

We've been hiking and just spending good time here. I'll post more pictures from the trip when we get back. We are going to Dixie Stampede tonight - which should prove to be interesting. Hope everything is going well with everyone.

Additional Treadmill Computer Pictures

2006-08-09T19:15:00.000-05:00

I actually can't believe I had a request for more Treadmill Computer pictures, but here we go. I wasn't excited about taking one too bright because it was going to show off the terrible paint job I did in my office this weekend- but here we go:

View from the front again, but this time much brighter. You can easily see the mouse on the handrest of the treadmill and vaguely see the computer behind it. Next is the view from the side - where you can all the messy action is. I don't technically need a keyboard, but it helps sometimes. How else would I ever be able to potentially blog when on the treadmill? The speakers are amazingly loud and the subwoofer honestly makes a huge difference as well. I've got it all resting on some storage containers that I added because of cable length. Maybe one dayI'll get a table or shelf for it.

And here's the picture from the view of me on the treadmill. Digital photography of any monitor or tv never really looks right, but trust me it looks a heck of a lot better than a standard tv. Plus it is a lot bigger.

Just for proof that this really is running Windows - here is a screenshot from the desktop. I need to really either put this on the wireless connection or just get a long network cable.

My Treadmill Could Use A Mousepad

2006-08-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

I've had some seriously bad luck with DVD players that I use with my treadmill. Maybe it is because I buy the cheapest ones on the market or I buy free ones('buy free"?), but since my current one had the cover off, and I had to work with it oh so carefully and put my fingers in it to line up the disc right I felt like it was time for to replace it.

Then I had this brilliant idea. I had an extra computer (of course, don't we all?) and an extra dvd drive. I even had an extra 17' monitor. My tv I had been using was only 13". And of course my extra set of speakers I had been plugging my ipod into from time to time.

Yes, I know I'm a serious dork, but if I just plugged in a network cable I could surf the web while on my treadmill. Someone is going to tell me to pull the plug and get away from computers, but that person wouldn't see the beauty of this. My monitor is somewhere in between a high definition television and a normal tv - but much much closer to an HDTV. I'm running at 1280x1024 resolution - which looks really really good on the monitor. When I'm not using the computer I hit the power button and but the computer in hibernation mode, consuming almost no power at all. I simply hit the button - wait about 20 seconds and I'm back up and going again.

I just wish I had more space for the mouse. :) I can't believe I didn't do this a long, long time ago.

Driving Post

2006-08-08T21:32:00.000-05:00

First of all, look very closely at the sign in this picture. It is very "elite". Yes, I'm a dork, but I did take it going 80mph.

And check out the craziest car commercial I've ever seen. It is for the Isuzu Gemini- and it is from the 80s. Most of this stuff couldn't have used too much computer graphics based on the age.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3688185030664621355

It is really insane - you have to see this.

Romance & Cigarettes

2006-07-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

No hidden meaning behind the title of this post - just the name of a movie that nearly no one in the states has seen or even heard of.

You know that feeling when you are anticipating something but keep getting denied it? When you want something even more because you can't get it? Thats how this movie has been for me. Romance and Cigarettes was supposed to be in theaters last August, but due to some trouble after the merger between Sony Pictures and United Artists, this movie had some trouble with distribution. Delay after delay eventually made it seem like it would never be released. Keep in mind the movie had been long since finished.

Then I discovered the distribution overseas was totally fine. It was released in theaters in the UK sometime in March if memory serves me right. I figured eventually things would follow suit here - no dice. On July 17th, it was released on DVD in the UK. Thats when I made my move.

I preordered Romance & Cigarettes on DVD from Amazon UK for about $25 and had it shipped here once it was available. One week later, it was here.

Now, before I talk about the movie, let me go over the cast:

James Gandolfini
Susan Sarandon
Kate Winslet
Steve Buscemi
Christopher Walken
Mandy Moore
Mary-Louise Parker

....and there are more recognizable people in this as well. Produced by the Coen Brothers and directed by John Tuturro. Regardless of plot, this movie has lots of big, current names in it and I'm surprised no one has a made a bigger fuss of this. Here's a link to the trailer in quicktime.

And I just found this today - here's the kicker:
"One of the most deliciously fresh American films of recent years. Kate Winslet is marvellous"**** Film Of The Week TIME OUT

Keep in mind even to this day you can't easily watch this in the US. "One of the most deliciously fresh American films of recent years". And yes Kate Winslet is marvellous in this.

Now, it isn't immediately obvious, but this is a musical of sorts. I want to warn anone that might seen this that it is very raunchy and disjointed, but does have a firm plot - and does break out into song at really unusual moments.

Here's a summary of the plot from imdb without really giving too much away:
-----
Romance and Cigarettes is a down-and-dirty musical love story set in the world of the working class. Nick (James Gandolfini) is an ironworker who builds and repairs bridges. He's married to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), a dressmaker, a strong and gentle woman with whom he has three daughters. He is carrying on a torrid affair with a redheaded woman named Tula (Kate Winslet). Nick is basically a good, hardworking man driven forward by will and blinded by his urges. Like Oedipus at Colonus, he is sent into exile and searches to find his way back through the damage he has done. In an imaginative, humorous, and touching way, Romance and Cigarettes explores the cost and value of a relationship through life and death. When the characters can no longer express themselves with language, they break into song, lip-synching the tunes lodged in their subconscious. It is their way to escape the harsh reality of their world - to dream, to remember, and to connect to another human being.
-----

Thats about right - think Raizing Arizona meets Moulin Rouge! meets some really dirty movie. I wasn't into the musical portion of things as much as I was with for instance Moulin Rouge!, but it still worked. I know a lot of people aren't going to like this movie (my wife started watching it and conveniently found a way to leave the room)

James Gandolfini - I think really a great performance from him and have never heard him sing before. I last saw him in a Coen Brother's film - The Man Who Wasn't Really There and thought he did a great job in both - with very different roles.
Kate Winslet - it is no secret that I think she is fantastic in nearly everything I've ever seen her in - and this is the dirtiest role I've ever seen her in. I'm imagining this is a lot of acting on her part. :) There is no nudity - unlikely many other movies she's been in but still a big departure from most other things I've seen her in.
Steve Buscemi & Christopher Walken - their parts weren't very big in the movie - but honestly I think theyshould have a part in every movie.

I'm not going to reveal more about the plot but I'm just going to close in saying that
1. Yes - it is definitely worth watching
2. Be prepared for something very, very weird.
3. If bad, overtly sexual language (I don't just mean profanity) makes you uncomfortable this movie isn't for you.

The DVD - other that previews - has no extra features. None, unless English subtitles are an added feature.

***If you get the clever idea that you want to buy this from Amazon UK - feel free but just make sure you have a region free dvd player (or one that reads Region 2) or find another way to remove the region coding.

And while I am writing about movies, I'm putting my final plug in for "An Unfinished Life". This movie is great, on DVD now, and needs to be seen if you haven't seen it. I don't care if you try to tell me you are boycotting all Jennifer Lopez movies since Gigi, make an exception for this one. She just happens to be in this movie.

Digital Picture Frame

2006-06-24T23:29:00.000-05:00

I've tried in the past to make my own digital picture frame. With many of the ones out there not terribly expensive, but actually having monthly fees per month (which is insane). Prices have really fallen on units like these, so what I did wasn't a tremendous cost savings, but it does allow you to customize it to your liking and mine can actually do a lot more if I feel like doing some upgrades.

Before we moved to North Carolina, I had built a larger one out of an old internet appliance called an I-Opener. It was a 10" passive matrix display, and loud. On the plus side, I had it running Windows Server 2003 and it had a wireless usb connection to the network. Not bad for a computer running a 200Mhz processor. By alas, it was too loud for my wife to accept in the living room and it just didn't look right.

I'm not going to go through a serious step by step process with pictures because what took me about a month last year, only took my an evening and I got it going.

The digital picture frame you see above is make up of only 4 parts.

1. An 8" LCD TV. I chose the Buslink 8" LCD TV because I could get it for $90 after coupon on buy.com. An 8" screen will fit exactly into a 5x7 frame. This is definitely the highest priced item.
2. Sandisk SDV1-A . Truth be told, I went as cheap as I could on this. This is simply a digital card reader for display on the tv. It doesn't matter what I model you get as long as it support RCA video out and it will do a slideshow. If you want to get really fancy, some of the card readers for televisions support things like music and video. I went with the one that was $18 after coupon on buy.com. I think I must have bought one of the last ones they had but you can get it elsewhere.
3. A memory card. You don't need a very big memory card, and the ridiculously small ones that comes with new digital cameras work fine unless you need a really large variety of pictures. Lucky for me I've got a couple compact flash cards just collecting dust and I pulled out my 256mb and popped it in.
4. Any 5x7 frame that is to your liking. I chose a black one at target that about $20.

Total cost: ~$128
I also picked up some hooks that I screwed into the back of the frame to mount the tv onto it. The best part of the tv is it already has a stand built into it to keep the picture from up! I plugged everything together and discovered I had no way of turning the tv on. So I drilled a small hole for the remote control sensor on the tv and had it up and going. The Sandisk card reader has a remote of its own so thats how I know how 2 remotes for this thing.

Like I said, I had it going in one evening. My only regret was not getting the proper tools so the wood around the hole for the remote sensor is a little bit raised on the front and I had to take a sharpee to it to make it black again, but I'm okay with it. For some reason, that imperfection is a lot more obvious in a photo than real life so I'm not posting it with the flash on. :)

Since the tv supports rca in, I could conceivably hook up anything to it in a pinch. I could put a dvd player up to it and bring it into the bedroom since we don't have a tv in there. If I wanted to get real fancy, I'd mount the card reader to the back, but at this point since all of it is black it really doesn't look too bad.

Definitely a lot quieter (virtually silent) and better looking than the i-opener turned out last year.

On no, the humanity......

2006-06-17T23:53:00.000-05:00

Updated 6/21/06

Ok Folks, I'm doing it and you can't stop me. Top 20 movie list in no particular order. It's my list so I'm making the rules. Movie series, no matter how long count as 1. This is probably more interesting to me that to anyone else reading this - but I've tried to pick out movies that I've that are really "Tony" movies as my wife would say. If you haven't seen anyone of these, I of course recommend them since they are my favorites and I'll defend my choices.

If you don't see something really high on the list and you think I'm nuts for forgetting it, I probably just forgot and I'll add it in later. That is unless it didn't make the cut. Miss anything, let me know.

Top 20 List
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Gattaca
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Star Wars (from best to worst - Episode V, IV, III, II,VI,I)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended)
The 5th Element
Raising Arizona
Moulin Rouge!
A Life Less Ordinary
Hudson Hawk (thanks Zigzag!)
Total Recall
Adaptation (updated 6/21/06 - Thanks Dan!)
Highlander
The Shawshank Redemption
Rob Roy
Lost In Translation
Garden State
L.A. Story
12 Monkeys
Star Trek (II,VI,VIII,IV,VII,III,IX,X,I,V) - Ordered from Best to Greek Tragedy

Honorable Mentions
The Matrix (first one only)
Edward Scissorhands
Strange Days
Die Hard I and III
Big Fish
Harry Potter Series
Goldeneye
Frequency
Real Genius
Office Space
Super Troopers
The Green Mile
Before Sunrise (and Before Sunset)
Terminator 2
The Bourne Identity
Playing by Heart
Love Actually
Finding Neverland
A Guy Thing
Dark City
Pulp Fiction
Titus
High Fidelity
Field of Dreams
Back to the Future Trilogy (how could I forget this?)

Edit: Forgot Hudson Hawk and BTTF.

Try making a list yourself. It is harder than you think!

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

Saw This on Craigslist Free Stuff Today

2006-06-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

I seriously found this on craigslist today
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/zip/171156794.html

Free cat! Looking for pure white cat to replace.
Reply to: mailto:sale-171156794@craigslist.org?subject=Free%20cat!%20Looking%20for%20pure%20white%20cat%20to%20replace.Date: 2006-06-13, 3:51PM EDT

We have had this cat since it was a baby, but unfortunately my family has decided, with our new political/social beliefs, that it just no longer fits in with us. We're looking to find a replacement cat, preferably a kitten. The only requirement is that it must be pure white, no blotch of black or yellow or red in it. Anything less than 100% white will not suffice. The temperment of white cats is calm, thoughtful, intelligent, whereas that of the black cats is aggressive and demanding.

· this is in or around Raleigh
· no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

171156794

It has since been deleted from Craigslist, but WOW. Just WOW.

Microsoft Time

2006-06-09T21:51:00.000-05:00

Just at techie thing, but look closely at the % I've downloaded so far of Vista Beta 2. I've always made fun of their time estimates, but know I know their programmers were on crack when determining any numbers estimating time. This is not a doctored image.

Jump Into the Mower

2006-05-27T20:15:00.000-05:00

Other than most likely insects - I just want to warn that that nothing dies in the blog entry, despite what the title suggests.

People always hear my complaining about the size of yard we have for mowing reasons. Normally they ask me how long it takes to mow it with my push mower. I think my answer has always been 4-6 hours. Today - I did the whole thing by myself in one day. With 2 breaks of a few hours the answer is 11 hours. I really need to get a riding mower. Probably without breaks it was about 7.

There's a lot of insects and other debree that fly out of the moving as I mow so I'm kind of used to either:

A. Insects jumping/running/flying out of the way.
B. Leaves, grass, and sometime some insects and other things flying out of the mower. Sometimes the insects are totally fine. Sometimes they are bees coming to get me. (See my first blog posting)

Anyhow, with about 2 hours left in moving, I see something small HOPPING away from the mower. Turns out it was just a baby rabbit. If blogger stops screwing up I'll post a picture of it.
Now I understand survival instict so I'm glad it was hopping away and not, well - coming out of the mower. I clearly didn't want it to die.

I go on with my mowing after it was very far away and all of a sudden I see it hopping towards the running mower and me. Thinking it will just go some other direction - I keep mowing. No such luck.

I stopped the mower just in time for it to be literally within 1 inch of the side of the mower. Maybe it thought the mower was its mother, who knows.

Jewel Kilcher

2006-05-22T18:04:00.000-05:00

I get on music kicks from time to time. One artist or another - and then I play it until I'm sick of it. Then I add it to my collection and play it from time to time.

Right now, it is Jewel. Yes, that Jewel. Not any of the stuff from the mid to late 90s though. She just released an album a few months ago(not that I could tell that from the radio here - I'm sure it is being overplayed whereever you are at and I'm just a dork - I don't care) In my opinion, this is actually a GREAT album. I don't care if some of it is very pop - I just think it is good.

0304 - the second newest album was a big departure for Jewel from her older stuff - Intuition and Stand were good in their own rights - but I get the impression that she was trying to go way commercial (or was it supposed to be sarcastic?) based on the videos. I still like the songs, but 2 Become 1 was a much better track off the album. I just couldn't get into the dance type stuff from her as much.

The latest album is "Goodbye Alice In Wonderland". The best tracks on it are the two singles released so far - the title track (Goodbye Alice In Wonderland) and Again and Again. Also listen to Drive to You and Satellite. Heck, I listen to the whole album straight through. I'm not going to let whether the radio is playing this or not ruin this for me. All I'm saying is check out the album. It seems a closer return to what is known as Jewel and to me is just tons better.

On the last track of the album is an interview where she says she has over 500 songs written and when making the last album she just picked from her "collection" and recorded them. Maybe I don't know much about musicians but I'd classify her as a "songwriter" by that!

Anyhow to sum up - I still liked her stuff from the 90s - but in my mind this is her best album yet. And I'm doubting the radio will eat it up.

And once again the free 2 weeks of RealRhapsody is alive again. No CC required, no valid email address needed. And you can hear this album on there.

Like Jewel or the new album? Put it in the comments. Don't like it? I don't care, but also put it in the comments.

Oh, and here the video for Again and Again on youtube. :P

Myspace Rant

2006-05-14T19:55:00.000-05:00

I don't think myspace is a fad necessarily - but I think people need to take a serious look at how readable their profiles are.

I'm not on myspace. Will I ever be? I don't know - I just don't see what the big deal is. It seems like it is all about getting as many "friends" as possible and throwing as much crap on your profile page as possible. If I wanted to list out all of my interests, throw a song in the background, list my top 8 "friends" i've linked to, and allow people to put whatever comments they wanted to on my profile for me and others to read, I'd join myspace. Like I said, I just don't get it.

Back to my biggest issue- the design element. When I first made a couple of webpages back in the mid to late 90s - I'll admit they were hard to read and lacked design. Here is an example that is apparently still up on AOL (ha!). And to think, that was the REDESIGN to make it look cleaner and better. I'll fully admit it is bad.

It is very important when making a webpage to make the text readable - so, I don't know - people can read it. People are new to design tend to put more stuff on the page and care less about how usable it is.

Here's my brother's myspace profile. Jason - is that a Nelly Furtato video on your blog? :)
Anyway - I'm going to give him an A on myspace for keeping the text readable. Black background with white text. An easy ready.

Here's my sister's myspace profile. B for design because of the background image. Still kind of hard to read the text.

But here's my point - these are my examples of good myspace profiles. Many are even harder to read.

And honestly, I don't want to open up a webpage and hear the same song everytime I go to it.

Someone give me a convincing argument to start a myspace profile. I'm not saying I've got the best looking blog out there, but I just don't want to put that much crap on one page.

Karma

2006-05-07T12:49:00.000-05:00

Last night Wendy and I were driving to go grab some dinner and movie and I pulled over for the first time in North Carolina. Just for the record, I have expired plates in Illinois that I'm taking care of next week.

I apparently was doing 64 in a 50 work zone - although it is the road right by my house and I guarantee there was no one working - it wasn't like I was endangering anyone.

For the first time in my life I was pulled over and got a warning. Every other time I've been penalized within the maximum sentence of the law. I am still amazed.

Looks like Karma finally caught up with me - in a good way.

Expensive IPod Speakers

2006-05-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

Expensive IPod Speaker Docks

I was out at Linens and Things yesterday picking up my $14 toaster oven (since I am a deal hunter – I’m not that domestic), I noticed for the 100th time another place selling ipod speakers that most ipods can plug into for upwards of $100. For instance. I really feel that’s highway robbery. So in the spirit of doing it yourself and Make Magazine, here’s my guide to making your own ipod speaker setup. I made mine from existing parts I had, but you can expect to spend no more than $30 with a small subwoofer.

First, you need to start with an ipod.

Now I recommend the 60GB Ipod Video in Black, but any model will work with this setup, even the Nano. I’ll even go so far as saying this will even support whatever apple puts out next. In fact, this is so universal it will work with non apple mp3 players as well. Take that apple.

Next go out and find a set of computer speakers.

I went with an old set from most likely the late 90s. You can tell from all the marks on it that these are definitely not brand new. Keep in mind mp3s were not as popular then, and even though it doesn’t say specifically it is compatible with the ipod, trust me – it still is. Those crazy people at Altec Lansing must have been really thinking ahead when they designed these to work with a product that didn’t even exist yet! :P

Once you have a set of general computer speakers - take a look at the connectors on it. You should have two connectors that are going to be used at this point in time.

First of all the power connector. (You power connector might look slightly different than mine)

You may have seen this power connector on many of your household electronic items.

And the audio connector. Also referred to as a mini stereo plug.

You me be surprised to find that this looks a heck of lot like the headphone connector you use to plug into your ipod already. Hmmmmm.

First, plug the speakers into a wall electrical outlet. If it doesn't fit the plug might be polarized - and you should just turn it around and try again. Don't be a Hero! If you can't figure this part out get some assistance.

Then plug the audio connector from your speakers into the ipod. You should feel it snap easily into place.

Here's a closeup of the audio connector properly installed.

And Voila. You've successfully created your own home speaker system for your ipod or other audio player.

You can trick it out some by adding the kickstand case to have your ipod sit up on it's own. Play some tunes of your own and rock out without paying the big bucks.

Wasp update

2006-04-02T17:43:00.000-05:00

Yeah, one started buzzing around my office about 10 minutes after I posted last. How the heck did it get in here????

I used Hornet and Wasp Killer spray without testing it first. I managed to kill the guy (I hope - he appears to be dead - i'm giving him some time) but what I neglected to do was to test the spray first. It is a foam (didn't know) for outdoor use only. Needless to say- I made a mess.

Part of me just wants to close all the windows and just turn the A/C. I don't care this makes me a wuss(it does) - I just have a phobia of being stung by anything especially after what happened last summer. And to me, wasps just look more poisonous. Is that crazy?

Blog Mega Post

2006-04-02T14:52:00.000-05:00

Obviously I haven't posted in a while - sorry all. I've been extremely busy with work over the last month and my internet connection hasn't been all in all that reliable. Good times. This post will go in no particular order for topics, so hang on.

I started this blog shortly after being stung by bees back in last August I think. Based on my current research - it was actually yellow jackets (a member of the wasp family - not W.A.S.P. even though I live in the Bible Belt). Anyhow, we've got more wasps that we had last year but weren't giving us much of a problem. The wasps are paper wasps - and are not especially dangerous or aggressive, but still a huge pain.

Our wasps have the long, creepy legs but are more burgandy in color. Anyhow, these buggers either find a way to pry open a panel of our awning - or it just cracked out the other day on its own and they wanted to start nesting these. I went outside yesterday and wanted to just enjoy a day off in 85 degree weather - and was surrounded by these guys.

They just aren't in the picture since it was later in the day. So today - I went out, bought a ladder and hammered the opening shut. I knew they could come out at any time and the ground wasn't level so I didn't do a spectaular job closing it up, but it should hold for a little while. I'll drive some more nails in later.

So, I haven't seen the nest yet (it is early in the season, it may not even be well formed yet) but i'm assuming I've now got wasps trapped in my attic. I got 3 bug bombs and put them up there about 3 hours ago and hopefully any suckers up there are dead. I'm going to have to check later in the evening when they'd be sleeping if anything (or really angry).

I forgot why, but I was checking out Back to the Future at Wikipedia (I think I was looking up something about the flux capacitor) I skimmed the article - and I discovered something that was brand new to me - maybe everyone else already knew this - when the producers of Back to the Future couldn't get Michael J. Fox to play the part of Marty - they cast Eric Stoltz instead and filmed about 1/3 of the movie. Then, when they figured out that they cast the wrong person - MJF's scheduled opened up enough to put him into the movie.

I'm sure that it is mildly embarrassing that he got cut out of such a big movie - but I think he's a great actor and i'm just curious to see the video sometime.

And this part of the blog should only reach one person really (Jason - my brother) - but Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime II has recently been release. Who knew that all these years later they'd finish the story (i'm assuming). We all knew Mary had committed suicide and was not actually murdered because of the end credits of Operation: Livecrime - I wonder if they'll reveal it on this album. Those guys from Queensryche are some weird guys. :)

Oh, and now that it is getting warm here, i'm releasing I once again don't have money to buy air conditioning for my car. I spend a good chunk of the tax return on other car repairs for both of our cars. Great.....

Thats all I got for now. My internet connection has died a number of times while I'm writing this so I better get this out there before it goes down again. Ignore any extra proofing errors in this one. :)

Vista

2006-03-19T13:11:00.000-05:00

I'm testing out the February CTP of Vista (5309) and it seems okay, but I just don't see much of an advantage of these new features. When XP first came out I simply turned off many of the enhancements.

Yes, like always I see the advantage for those who don't know how to navigate around in Windows- but other than the 5 year olds who haven't used Windows in the past - who doesn't know how already? Plus those 5 year olds will catch on just fine to anything you show them.

The funniest part so far for me -

It looks as if they actually broke Solitare. Yes, Solitare that for the most part which has gone unchanged for over ten year other than card backings does not work on my build. I can't even open it up. :)

I give it 10 stars. Excellent job Microsoft.

Walk on the Ocean, Step on the stones

2006-03-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

Today for work I had to go to One Tree Hill (Wilmington), North Carolina. The job wasn't especially hard, but it just takes 3 hours to get there ultimately. So, in an 8 hour work day, 6 hours would be spent driving. Well, the way I drive maybe 5 hours.

We've lived in NC for 7 months now - and I still haven't been back to the ocean. Since I was literally 3 miles or so from the ocean, I figured I'd just go home later and stop by.

I know it is no big deal, but when you can just take 30 minutes out of your day to take a walk on the beach as a change of pace, it is actually pretty awesome and clears you head, at least for a minute. It's even better when it is a nice late winter day in the 70s. :)

As far as One Tree Hill goes I'll totally admit I watch a variety of teen shows on the WB - including Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, and Smallville. If you aren't watching those, you are missing out. One Tree Hill I know is supposed to be set in North Carolina, and is filmed in Wilmington. I can only sort of tell by being in the city, but then again it isn't like I was visiting the locations where filming takes place. http://onetreehillfans.com/maps/ (link doesn't work right now but I bet the site will come back up.)

I know I'm a dork. Shut it. :)

Greetings from the Smoky Mountains

2006-02-25T16:04:00.000-05:00

Wendy's 28th birthday was on Wednesday. We celebrated it that day, but in our normal tradition we also went on a trip to the Smoky Mountains, to Gatlinburg more specifically. Normally we stay at the Fairfield Inn on River Road, but it was sold out so we looked around online and found the Best Western Zodor's Inn . It is on the other side of town but still within walking distance in Gatlinburg.

Normally we like to hike when we are here so we did a fairly easy uphill trail to Laurel Falls.

What you can't see by the second picture is that I sprained my ankle pretty bad and I could hardly hold myself up. The trail wasn't especially rough - I wasn't even tired or anything. The worst part about it was I had to walk the 1.3 miles back down with a sprained ankle. Needless to say, when we finally got back to our hotel it was getting pretty bad. I could hardly walk. We just relaxed in the room for a while and went out to dinner but no more hiking the rest of the trip and my inability to walk stifled what we could do the rest of the day.

The 2nd day i'm a bit better and can walk in my dorky looking shoes. Hiking is still out of the question and with an ankle support wrap and painkillers I think we can at least walk around.

Kids

2006-02-17T18:50:00.000-05:00

For my job, from time to time I have to go to the remote sites and actually fix problems. This time, I had to go about 80 miles away to Greenville. I was informed that Greenville is sometimes referred to as G'vegas. Maybe I wasn't there long enough, but all I could tell was the traffic was bad. I am so used to having to visit some of the smaller towns, I guess. The only real correlation I found with Las Vegas was "Hooker Street" that I came across but it was just a residential area. Maybe thats where they live. :P

One of the locations I had to go to had a lot of kids there (it is part of what they do). Kids being like 3- 5 years old I'm betting. So I have to fix a computer riddled that is with spyware and almost nonfunctional. IE is messed up making parts of windows not work. The important part of this story is that it was taking a while and I was in a room with all these kids.

When I got there, all of the kids where taking a nap. I figure this was going to be easy. Then after they start waking up, they find someone new in the room so they start chatting it up with me. I may have kids in a few years, so I figure I should probably at least interact with them. I just really have almost zero dealings with kids these days.

It went mostly fine, except for one or two kids. One kid asked me what my name was, so I told him. They he started calling me "Fifi" and asked me if I was a boy or girl. He said he seemed surprised because he thought I was a girl. Maybe it would have went better if I said, "Neither - I'm a Man"

The "Fifi" thing started catching on some with the other kids. Once that finally died down another kid came up to me and told me he didn't like my ears and wondered why I didn't do anything about them.

I love the honesty of kids and their lack of a filter.

Sooo warm and Imogen Heap

2006-02-16T18:58:00.000-05:00

First of all, let me say - it has been downright 70 degrees the last 2 days. I am sooo happy with this. It is going to be 40 tomorrow I think so this is going to be short lived. Still - very very nice. Why couldn't this be on the weekend? :)

I've listened to some songs from Imogen Heap recently. She is/was the female lead in Frou Frou, which many people may recognize from the song "Let Go" featured so prominently on the Garden State Soundtrack.

I can't get "Hide and Seek" out of my head. I know it was featured on the O.C. at some point - it couldn't have been that long ago. I don't watch the O.C. at all so I don't care. :) Anyhow, the song is fantastic. In the unremixed version - it still is very electronic - but only vocals. Wonderful effects. At this point I'd say I almost like it as much as "Always Forever" from Donna Lewis way back in the mid 90s before it was overplayed. Here's to hoping that it doesn't get crazy with airplay (unless it already has done so). My wife knew the song somehow (I think it was playing at VS) so everyone probably already knows it.

I don't listen to the radio at all - seriously. If this song is being overplayed where you at, let me know I'm several months behind. If you've listened to the song and like it - let me know. If you haven't listened to the song and listened to it by going to the myspace link in this post, let me know. If you didn't like it, let me know too :)

And IT people (Nudging Rich...) - M$ is offering a Second Shot on many MS Cert. Exams so go out and take some tests. I'm planning on doing at least 1 or 2.

Screw you Netflix

2006-02-11T15:05:00.000-05:00

On the left hand side of my blog if you scroll down a little bit, you'll see my Netflix Queue - at least the first 5 movies. That list really not changed much if at all in the last month to month and a half.

You would assume that I haven't been returning whatever movies I have out, but actually no - it isn't the case. I've been getting - albeit slowly - the movies that are lower in my queue.

I contacted Netflix and they just gave me this:
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Dear Tony,Thanks for your message.We have the latest releases as soon as they are released by the studios every week. I'm sure that you will be happy with our selection as we have over 55,000 titles to choose from.Unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee the availability of any of our titles. With No Due Dates, our inventory fluctuates constantly.If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.Thanks,Bonnee,Netflix Customer Service .
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Rich sent me this link as I was about to reply to them: Frequent Netflix Renters Sent to the Back of the Line . I was curious about the Terms of Service they had anyhow so I decided to read it.

So, here's my reply to Netflix:
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Thanks for the reply.

It would have been more accurate I'm sure in my case had you mentioned your TOS
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We reserve the right to allocate and ship DVDs among our subscribers in any manner that we, in our sole and absolute discretion, determine...In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service . As a result, those subscribers who receive the most movies may experience that (i) the shipment of their next available DVD occurs at least one business day following return of their previously viewed movie, (ii) delivery takes longer, as the shipments may not be processed from their local distribution center and (iii) they receive movies lower in their queue more often than our other subscribers. Other factors that may affect delivery times, include, but are not limited to, (i) the distance between the distribution center from which your DVD was shipped and your delivery address, (ii) the timing of your placement or adjustment of movies in your queue and (iii) circumstances impacting delivery by the U.S. Postal Service.
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My question is this: if I cancel my account and then resubscribe later, can I expect to get movies any faster because of giving priority to members who receive the fewest DVDs?(i'm assuming new subscribers wouldn't be penalized right from the start). Maybe I'll just keep my accounts for 2 to 3 months at a time and then cancel and resubscribe. :)

It just seems silly that I can't get new releases for over a month with a service that I pay for each month when I can just drive down to local Blockbuster video and have the movie to be guaranteed in stock. I have no problem giving SOME priority for subscribers who only get a few movies a month, but this is ridiculous. I guess I'm make sure all of my friends read the fine print in the TOS before subscribing.

Thank you for your time, and don't forget that there was a question in there.

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I'll post whatever reply I get back here. Maybe I'll switch to Blockbuster's Online Service.

Here is the Netflix Terms of Use . Just be sure to read it before subscribing. If you don't rent much, it won't affect you much.

I'd be happy to just not be penalized for renting more than they'd like me to. When they say "Unlimited" they should probably mean that.

Name the Movie

2006-02-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

This should be mind blowingly easy - I haven't seen the movie in a while but I keep thinking about these lines for whatever reason.

Repeat - this should be very very easy for some. :) So someone better get it. I've given all of you plenty to work with other than the names.
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Eskimo! [Name Omitted] underlined a lot of things in this copy of Moby Dick, but I believe the word ``Eskimo'' underlined all by itself, is the key to understanding [Name Omitted]'s pain. On the surface, [Name Omitted] was the vivacious young lady we all knew her to be, but her soul was in Antartica! Freezing with the knowledge of the way fellow teenagers can be cruel, the way that parents can be unresponsive. And as she writes so elequently in her suicide note, the way that life can suck! We'll all miss Sherwoods little eskimo. Lets just hope she's rubbing noses with Jesus!

Is this turning out weak, or what? It was at least 70 more people at my funeral.
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That movie is so good. I better Netflix it soon. Speaking of Netflix, if anyone looks at my queue on the left hand links of this blog, you'll notice it isn't changing much.

This isn't because I'm not getting movies. It just turns out that my top 7 picks are just unavailable for the last month or 2. Anyone else having problems with availability with Netflix. Whats the deal?

SageTV Updates

2006-01-28T10:01:00.000-05:00

Warning - this is boring if you don't like tech stuff. I've tried not to be overly technical, but I think I've failed at that. :)

For those of you who don't know, for our television at home I use a computer to control all of it. The idea is basically the same as Tivo, except I don't have montly subscription costs and a lot of control over how a lot of it works and to make additions and changes to it. The downside is it probably costs a little bit more over time - depending on how long you keep Tivo of course. If I don't upgrade this computer for another year or so, I think I'm coming out quite a bit ahead. I've had it for a while.

The hardware I'm using is a custom built older computer - in this case an Athlon 1.4Ghz with 256MB DDR memory, and a 30GB and 120GB Hard Drive. It is underclocked to like 1050Mhz and I've removed some of the active cooling because this computer is sitting in the living room and loud = bad. Especially since this is the only form of technology I've put into our house that my wife won't let me pry it away from her now. Needless to say, she's become quite attached to having this.

The software I am using is SageTV. I've been using it for about a year and a half. It does Electronic Program Guide updates, Schedules Programs to Record, and Does timeshifting (pause and rewind live TV). It has lots more features and custom addons (I can schedule programs to record from a web browser anywhere on the internet) that I think make it better than Tivo. There are other pieces of software that do the same sort of thing, most notably BeyondTV and MythTV. I've actually tried them all as well as some others and let me put it to you this way. This was a hobby for me to try to set up for about half a year trying many different free pieces of software and trying to do it as inexpensively as possible. I got more done as far as setup goes in one night with SageTV with better results than in 6 months with the other pieces of software. Looking back, I bet BeyondTV will work just fine as well and actually has some other cool features SageTV doesn't have, but I'm now hooked on SageTV.

Anyhow, on to what I've changed on it. When I originally built it, I only put one TV Tuner into it because - well at the time it cost me about $90 for it and it would be functional with just one. It was also one of the only components I'd have to purchase at the time and my cheapskate nature would not allow me to pay for more. The TV tuner I chose was the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250. If you've never purchased TV Tuners before for a computer, you may have never heard of them, but trust me they are the standard in this field. I'm not saying there aren't better products out there, but since they are so popular most software supports them. This card has done me well and is at the center of making things work as far as the tv goes.

So in December I ask my wife if she'd rather have a new remote control or an additional tv tuner card in the computer. Like I'm sure you may ask as she did - whats the advantage of another tv tuner?

With one tuner and SageTV - you CAN do 2 things at once - meaning you can watch a show while recording another, but the one you are watching has to already be recorded in the past. This is kind of like having a vcr - and like a vcr - you can watch something as you record something else (if you know how to work your tv right and don't have a cable box or satellite) but unlike a vcr - you can't watch something that is showing right now as you are recording something else. This is because in order to do the timeshifting you are contstantly recording what you are watching - even if you don't keep it. In fact, if you were to put another tv in the room, you'd find what you are watching isn't even exactly live - there is a momentary delay in what you are seeing compared to the other set.

I've just put in a Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150. This tuner may sound like a downgrade from the older tuner, but I picked it up for $65 from Amazon. So, cheaper, and a lower model number - it must be a lesser product, right? From what I can tell from the comparison chart on the Hauppauge website - I'm going to say no. It might cost them less to make it but looking at the features and from what I've already witnessed - they are really about the same. If I were to build another system or start today I'd just get 2 of the 150s. Maybe 3. I'd also get the MediaMVP unit - well, I won't get into that right now. If someone wants to know more about this stuff, let me know.

The results? Well first of all let me say it was ridiculously easy to add the 2nd tuner in. I just popped it into the pci slot, attached another cable connection to it from my splitter, loaded the drivers (and updated them) and then added another video source in SageTV (and programmed the channels in it). With 2 tuners, the game changes dramatically. I can now record 2 live programs at once. So, if my wife schedules something for a time she isn't home but I am - I can now watch something else without cancelling "Martha" or "Judging Amy". Not that i'm ever home at those times. I also, and this kind of seems odd to me, but works - can record 2 shows at the same time AND watch another program that i've already record. I didn't even notice any stutter in the playback. This is most likely because the 2 tuners both have hardware encoding so the only video i'm playing back and decoding is the recorded show. Now I can finally schedule The Daily Show and My Name is Earl (still haven't seen it) to record and not interfere with previously committed show and Wendy can still record The District every day while not interfering with Judging Amy.

The ironic thing? I don't really watch that much tv really. I've barely even watched any this week at all. But nowI'm not forced to make that choice if two things are on at once. Anyone got any favorite show recommendations to check out? :)

To continue my SageTV is the coolest rant, it appears that someone has developed a SageTV to Video Ipod convertor piece of software for free. It watches for new recordings, coverts them, and adds them to iTunes so that when you plug in the ipod - your recorded shows are on there. Since I now have a video ipod, I definitely am going to test this out. I'll report on it if it cool. I should have some of the shows recorded encoded and put on the ipod today.

And - for Christmas - my wife did buy me(us) a new remote because the one we have we got for $6 and is wearing out. It was a crazy slick deal since it is a programmable remote that uses fm instread of infrared for transmission. I decided on wanting the ATI Remote Wonder Plus - because it has decent range and looks versatile - but it was on backorder around Christmas. I still haven't gotten it yet, but it says in stock at the ATI Store so I should really look into that soon.

Cheers everyone, thanks for making it through this more techie post. I'm off to test tv shows on the video ipod!

I am Ninja or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

2006-01-26T23:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, it is totally stupid but check out http://www.askaninja.com . I read about it somewhere, but it was totally taken to an even funnier level with Amanda Congdan of Rocketboom. It was a couple of days ago, so just check out all of the Rocketbooms until then. (link on left with my other links of note.)

We are back from Illinois. It was good to see everyone but it is definitely good to be back home.

Also I just finished watching Dr. Strangelove.

Weird, just really weird. Parts were funny, but still quite stange. Really early acting role for James Earl Jones. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but definitely really forwarding thinking in movies for it's day. I probably would have loved it if I had seen it in 1964. I'd recommend the rental because I think it is one of those movies you just have got to see sometime.

Greetings From Starved Rock

2006-01-21T00:11:00.000-05:00

Hello from our one day getaway at a favorite of ours, Starved Rock - where we are usually anything but starved. We haven't seen snow so far this year, and this was no different when we arrived.

But just a few hours later and voila....

We couldn't have picked a better day for snow here at the lodge.

That snowball hits the tree to the left deadon only seconds later. And for those of you who are trying to hack the planet, here is info on the wireless here. :) Ok, more of a just a picture of one of the access points.

Leaving for Illinois Tomorrow

2006-01-15T20:49:00.000-05:00

And I can do is pack pack pack. I am the worst packer I know. It could take me all day to leave for a week. It doesn't matter how much time I have, I'll never get enough sleep before I travel anywhere.

Better go back to packing. See some of you soon!

Greeting from Nascar Central

2006-01-11T23:19:00.000-05:00

I'm in Charlotte tonight because of work - and I miss my wife.

And thanks Rich for finally watching TikibarTV - I've converted at least one person! :)

And Frank may be the only one that appreciates this other than Wendy, but I found a Cheddar's Restaurant in North Carolina - I think there's just one in Charlotte and thats it!

The Irony

2006-01-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

I should have been prepared for this, but somehow I wasn't. Because of listening to podcasts - I've listened to very very little popular music in the last 6 months or so. Thats really a long time when I think about it. Wendy listens to classic rock and country mostly so it isn't like I'll hear anything current (non-country) with her.

So, the ironic thing is that now I've got this new ipod, and I'm realizing that I haven't listened to much music at all lately. Still very useful for podcasts of course. So I've decided I'll start listening to lots of music again along with the podcasts - for a good balance. :)

Ok, so RealRhapsody is something i've used in the past for 2 months or so (a year ago) - because I was able to get it for free. But it was a pain to cancel after the free trial and they have a credit card on file so you have to call to cancel. RealRhapsody, for those who don't know - is a streaming music service that has a pretty large music library - the only hitch is it is streaming, not something you are downloading and keeping and moving to your ipod, etc. And you have to be on the computer or with a device that is supported that talks to your computer. It is unlimited music though while you have the service.

Many people are savvy and use applications like ReplayMusic to record the music and make them into mp3s, but i'm not specifically promoting that.

Anyhow, if you go to to http://listen.com/index.jsp?pid=hondaUltra

Click the blue Get my free pass button and wait for the short Honda ad to finish playing. When the ad finishes, click Begin 14-day FREE Rhapsody Trial.

Don't even worry about entering a valid email address, that part doesn't really matter believe it or not. This free trial doesn't require a credit card, and since they don't get any personal information really, it gives you an idea of what it is. It is definitely great for free. :)

This is how I'm going to start listening to some current music of the last 6 months. Geez, I feel like I was in a coma or something! Anyone have any recommedations of their favorite new song/arists of the last 6 months or so? :)

Finally Got the Ipod!

2006-01-05T22:02:00.000-05:00

UPS tracking said it wouldn't come today, but it finally did!

I know tons and tons of people have these, but these are still the coolest. I cannot believe the image and video quality on the not so tiny lcd. I can't imagine watching an entire movie on it, but maybe a tv show. I better download some more video podcasts other than Tikibartv and Rocketboom (I will not like those again - they are already on my links on the side). The video quality is just soooo sharp.

What I just still have a hard time grasping is how small they are, even my huge 60gb ipod video.

Maybe I'm just a noob at this, but I don't have the nano or mini or anything. This is the full size, real deal, largest 5th (current) generation you can get. I think the nano and mini would be too small for me. I never thought when I was describing what mp3s where to people in 1996 that I'd ever have something like this!

I don't get excited by much, but this worked. Now I just need to see how I'm going to hook it up to my car stereo. It is going to take this thing hours to copy over the 5264 mp3s that I've just imported into my library. Maybe I'll have a little time. :)

Movies and My Social Security Still Doesn't Seem So Secure

2006-01-04T21:47:00.000-05:00

Today - The Island and Murderball

The Island - I don't want to reveal too much about the movie - but it definitely has a twist. The first half I thought was awesome and the second half is pretty good. I guess the first half is more about the storytelling and the second half - all action.

Here is what you won't find on IMDB trivia as of today. Steve Buscemi, who is awesome as always, plays a relatively minor role. This isn't giving away much, but I noticed the woman that plays his wife, looked really, really familiar. Then I figured out that she like the woman that his character is trying to convince her new wedding ring's diamond was not actually a diamond. Turns out to be the same actress, Shawnee Smith.

Here's some shots of Armageddon - it was hard to get them both in frame since both scenes are really short, but you get the idea. She was the woman in the bar in Armageddon that he is trying to pick up before the FBI bring him to NASA.

And here's the Island - I tried to call the main characters as well in frame for the shot so these wouldn't all seem so separate.

Somehow this gives me some continuity. I'm thinking that Michael Bay (director of both movies) just like the actors a lot and had to put them back together. I wonder if anyone else noticed this? It just somehow makes it more believeable for them to be together in this.

Overall - The Island was a good, but not an amazing film. Still very good. It makes me want to go to the Island. :)

Murderball is one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time. From imdb: (Murderball is) A film about quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby in Mad Max-style wheelchairs - overcoming unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece

I couldn't describe it much better than that, but it really is so much more. I learned a lot about quadriplegics and what they have to go through - and I'd like to say got a hope as to how many of them feel. All of them had such excellent stories. I recommend fully.

In my real life - I finally have my NC Driver's License with an awful picture that I have to live with until 9/8/2013. And when I pushed about my SSN problem, they had me call the main DMV headquarters in Raleigh. They told me all they can do is put a note on their license that they have to show proof of SSN next time they renew.

I'm so glad I have my middle name on my Driver's License now. Totally worth the extra trip.

I'm going to call the local Social Security office and see what can be done.

NEW IPOD TOMORROW! :)

What does the V stand for?

2006-01-03T21:40:00.000-05:00

I went to the DMV, which is the "Division" of Motor Vehicles in North Carolina. We've been in this state since July, and since we have 60 days to get a North Carolina driver's license, I figure I should wait until the week before my wife's license plates expire in Illinois. Of course.

The DMV here is so busy, they recommend appointments and I couldn't get in until today. I need the license to get my wife's car plates for North Carolina because the car is my name only. Ok, no big deal. I totally forgot about needing to study for the test. I had been warned by so many people that it is tricky here. I guess I was distracted because Wendy's car had a flat tire yesterday and while she was at work I took care of it, throwing my schedule somewhat off.

So, after studying from midnight to 2am, reading the book cover to cover, and feeling very nostalgic of cramming for tests in high school - I got all the necessary materials and documents and headed to the DMV.

- Of course, no line - heck, I didn't even need an appointment really. I talk to somewhere there and he looks at all my stuff. He asks me what the "V" in my name stands for, and I tell him "Vincent". Then he asks me to prove it, which apparently I cannot do since my Social Security Card, Driver's license, and pretty much everything else I have on me does not have it listed. And no, I cannot leave that detail off of my new license. GREAT. What if I didn't have a middle name? :) This guy also had a bunch of small computer problems, and asked me if I ever lived at Rose Lane. Um, noo.....

But he wants me to do all the tests to get it over with, I just can't get a license until I furnish proof with some official document (birth certificate, etc) which I don't have with me. The test - as it always is - was supereasy. I didn't get anything wrong at all. I don't know why I freak out about these things.

So, I'm prepared to leave and have to come back, and the last guy I'm talking to keeps punching in things on his computer. He also asks me if I live at Rose Lane. No again of course. Here's the kicker:

MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IS ALREADY REGISTERED TO SOMEONE ELSE IN NORTH CAROLINA WITH THE DMV!!!!!!!!!!!

Their solution - since I am showing my social security card now - I'm fine (other than having to come back to prove my MIDDLE NAME FOR SECURITY REASONS) and this other person will have to show proof of SSN next time he's in.

I'm feeling really, really secure about identity theft right now.

On a lighter note, if you look to the left, I've added my netflix queue to my blog, so you can see what i'm about to watch. I know, I know, the fonts are all inconsistent along the left bar. I'll fix it later. :)

New Year's Resolution(s)

2006-01-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

I resolve to, in no particular order.

1. Blog more. Not one post per day,but definitely more than I have.
2. Continue the workout routine (like everyone else, I know) that I was doing before I moved to NC. I've put on a bunch of weight, and I'm honestly unhappy about it. It isn't that terrible, but I've got to get back where I was and go further.

I'll be back to blog more on a regular basis. Oh, and I purchased a 60GB Black Ipod with Video today. Thanks to all who got me Amazon GCs for Christmas to make this a reality. It should arrive in a couple of days!

New Person After 7 Years?

2005-12-10T22:41:00.000-05:00

I've heard and read that your body regerates all of your cells over a period of seven years, so effectively you are an entirely new person physically than you were that long ago.

I don't know what this is supposed to mean. It usually means as much to me as much as the phrase "You are one in a million" since that would mean that there are 1000 people just like you in China. Yes, I've said that before too. I prefer to believe that who I am as a person has been based on all of my experiences up until now - not that I am a totally different person.

I decided to google some things from early on the internet, or more specifically posts I mean in the mid 90s.

Here is a post I made on 4/20/1996

Reading it, it has to be me that made the post, but I don't even remember doing it at all.

Another one, with some information that proves it to be me (boasting about having a Mark VI Saxophone - and implying it was mine even though it was a school horn then). The amazing part is that reading my post I learned something supposedly about the Mark VII saxophone - I don't even know the information I posted.

Zigzag should definitely take a look at these posts since he is in them too. Nothing incriminating though. :)

The posts aren't terribly important. What was important to me is that I don't even remember making them at all, which is hard for me to grasp. I wonder if this is what people who read their journals from many years ago feel.

One thing is for certain - for better of for worse, I am a different person than I was in 1996.
The past may be gone forever - and whatever the future holds, our todays make the memories of tomorrow.

Life as an Icehouse

2005-12-05T22:31:00.000-05:00

80s song I'm listening to now - Electric Blue from Icehouse. Totally 80s, totally love it. For those who haven't heard it - and i'm guessing you were born after 1980 if you haven't heard it - you can go to Amazon and hear a clip of it. I love this power ballad stuff and I wish it would come back.

If you like or dislike U2, the Pope, George W., Tony Blair, or Oprah OR you have a head, shoulders, knees, or toes - check this out - it has sound but should be safe for work. Requires Flash. I think it is funny, not Tiki Bar funny, but good enough to keep in your head.

Wendy and I saw Walk the Line this weekend. The story seemed very similar in ways to Ray - drugs, cheating, life on the road, etc. I think I liked it better to be honest.

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon both give AMAZING performances. And when I say performanances - I mean the singing and respective sting instrument playing. I knew Phoenix did his own vocals -but I didn't know both of them did their own singing. Phoneix learned to play guitar on his own for this role and Witherspoon learned auto-harp(wha?). Either way, go see it. I'm sure I've hit expectations up but they both did great jobs and you can really tell they put a lot of work into it.

Oh, and head and shoulders, knees and toes.

Tiki Bar TV

2005-11-28T18:27:00.000-05:00

Go here now

Or subscribe to Tiki Bar TV in the podcasts in iTunes. It is a video podcast that has been around since about March.

These people are unbelieveably funny. Each episode is a recipe for a drink - and although I don't drink - it doesn't matter. They are crazy.

No admittedly, LaLa is a very hot woman that is in most episodes, but when they are trying to decode and internet post about their show and she says she is a l33t h4x0r. Oh, LaLa, you had me at l33t h4x0r.

Here's Johnny-Johnny and Dr. Tiki followed by the main 3 cast members all together (and Drinkbot :) )

Just see the show. You don't need an ipod to see it, I don't have one. Totally worth seeing. I know these are just some friends screwing around, but I hope to see more of them in the future. My only complaint is they only do one per month - but I prefer the quality over quantity.

These guys are great - just subscribe to them on iTunes. :)

The Forest that is Ours

2005-11-22T21:44:00.000-05:00

Sunday Wendy and I ventured into our backyard - we just aren't 100% sure where it ends.

It finally is starting to look like fall around here. Good thing too - since it is practically thanksgiving. I think it was still in the 80s last week, but is generally starting to get colder. Also, I think it really has only rained maybe 4 or 5 times since we've been here. Thats once a month at best!

This is right out our back door off the deck.

All this is literally just a couple hundred feet out of our backyard - I know - everyone gets it - we live in a forest.

This last one is leading back into the backyard.

On a totally unrelated note - I got the EVDO service from Verizon to work on my Blackberry for work - it was basically released today I think. I ended up giving a code that I read on a forum to verizon tech support - they had no idea what it was - and after upgrading the OS on it the speed is much faster!

And I've been practicing the new sax - I'll post some actual pictures of it soon. It is a little more worn as far as the finish goes than I expected, but still very nice. I am no out of practice. The first time picking it back up I felt at about the 7th grade level. Now I've progressed to maybe where I was coming in as a freshman in high school. I think this really will take at least half a year to get close to where I was before. Hey, it's a hobby at least that I have other than computers.

Omega or Model 162

2005-11-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I bought an Alto Sax off of eBay.
Click here to see the auction itself.

My "Vito" - while being tried and true and surviving a couple of floor races down third hall as well as going through 4 years of marching band in high school (twice - in 5th grade it was purchased from a graduating senior from Marian Catholic) I told myself I would not play it anymore until I had something decent to play on. Besides, I was tired of gluing the octave key back on the neck of the horn using superglue and rubber bands to keep it on.

That was 1996, and I haven't played since. I would like to say it is because I didn't have something decent to play on - but if it were important enough to me I would have saved up and bought something before now. I was also convinced I should just invest in a Selmer Super Action 80 Series II or III, a vintage Mark VI, or possibly a more recent Reference 54 (supposedly designed as close to the Mark VI as possible and new). My thinking was, well, these really won't lose value all that much.

Then I realized I don't have like $3500 to get one of these. The cheapest Mark VI I saw that was in decent shape was like $1900, and that was fishy.

So I started looking at other models while still keeping an eye on the Paris models. Then I saw the Ebay post (link above) for a Selmer Model 162. This is definitely made by Selmer USA (different company almost entirely than Selmer Paris) and I know it isn't going to be as good of an instrument, but guess what? I haven't played in 9 years, which is around as long as I played. So while I'm not going to be a beginner, I feel like its going to at least take me about half a year so I can be at least in the same range as I was before - or maybe longer. I think this will be good enough for me, at least unti I decide I'm more serious about playing on a regular basis. I would have killed to have something like this in high school.

I was hoping the auction would not have been bid on much because it wasn't referred to as a Selmer Omega (which it may or may not be - someone know? - most Omegas I've seen online were engraved as such) but the serial number matches some of the Omega range. Either way, I agree with the ebay subject of the auction - it look beautiful. I just hope it sounds okay - which is going to be hard to tell not playing almost for a decade.

So, the instrument should be coming either late this week or early this week. I'm surprised by how little places there are to buy reeds online - there are a few. I'm so excited to go out and get some No 2 (yes - I should have no endurance at all by this point) Vandoren Reeds. Maybe I'll quickly get back up to 3 or 3.5s, but I expect it is going to take a couple of months of practice.

BTW - reeds appear to be almost twice as expensive as I would get them 10 years ago. At least I only paid (well, I'll be making interest free payments to paypal for the next 6 months) $750 instead of $3500 for the saxophone.

I'll post some pictures and thoughts about it once it arrives.

I want a pile as tall as a man and 8 feet wide!!!!

2005-11-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

Ok, most men are taller than this pile.

I saw posted in the "free" section of Craigslist - Free Firewood. http://raleigh.craigslist.org/zip/110006537.html

The post is still there. All you can haul. Try me. :)

Granted, we don't have a truck or anything, so we just took both of our cars.

We don't have anything other than a fire pit in the backyard to burn the wood so I think this is going to last us a while. I'd call that a Slick Deal! It may have been a 20 minute drive out there and the back seats of both of our cars and trunks are full of pieces of bark and needs to be cleaned now, but we're happy.

I Hope Your Speakers are Turned all the Way Up

2005-11-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

And you are at work - whoever you are! :)

I won't leave the audio up for long - but this commercial has been stuck in my head. And now it will be in yours. If you didn't hear the sound, use a different web browser, install Quicktime, or turn your mousepad upside town. And if you are checking out my blog using Firefox on an etch a sketch - put it above your head and shake it to reboot.

I know they are playing this in NC, but I heard this in Illinois at least once before I left. I'm not sure it is nationwide, but Lance Crackers certainly has a weird idea of a commercial.

If you want to hear/see the commercials with Adam Corolla - go to http://www.lance.com/html/play/play_radio.aspx

Everything is Illuminated

2005-11-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

Wendy and I saw Everything is Illuminated on Sunday - after Jason (my brother) said that this movie was generally funny. I think he is just remembering parts of this movie because by the end the movie is definitely not funny.

I mean it did have its "premium" funny moments - overall it was people coming grips with their parts and learning things about their ancestors - and understand more about themselves because of it. I'd recommend going to see it, but keep in mind it is about the Holocaust - so despite what people tell you - while it does have fun moments, it definitely has a serious tone throughout the whole movie.

Today I went to the Microsoft Kick off event for SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005. I'd say I definitely got some out of the SQL portion - some definitely either cool new features in 2005 or ones I just didn't know about in 2000. The Peer to Peer database replication I saw would be nothing short of amazing in a bunch of circumstances. Maybe 2000 did this but I could see a lot of applications utilizing this. Plus the free copy of SQL Server 2005 standard and Visual Studio Standard 2005 (I think) was a nice touch. I'm not a developer so the Visual Studio portion was mostly lost on me.

And this isn't exactly exciting but we got a new kitchen table and chairs (since we didn't have any actual chairs for the other table - they were broken and thrown out in the move). So that kitchen picture a couple of posts ago is now out of date. I guess I'll have to post a new one soon.

And to all of you that are living further north - it was in the 80s today. HA :) Finally part of the reason that I'm leaving here. I'm sure it was unseasonably warm, but I still enjoyed it.

Some Download Links, Movies we've seen, Etc.

2005-11-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

First of all, for those of you that play current versions of Grand Theft Auto - the classic verisons of the original GTA and GTA2 and are available for free download. Thats free and legal. It is probably cheesy by today's standards but I honestly could not get into the first person point of view violence. These are all from a top down perspective. I like these better overall.

Anyhow, go to http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/ to get your free download for PCs.

The King Kong trailer is available now. I think it has been out since the 3rd. I hadn't seen much of anything about the movie so far, but it does look quite good in my opinion. For those of you who don't know this is Peter Jackson's next production after the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which mean we should trust this will be high quality of some kind. Watch the trailer and see for yourselves.

Wendy and I got tickets to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the local IMAX theater on the Saturday after it opens. I haven't seen anything in IMAX in years, let alone a major motion picture - so I hope that goes well.

We also saw Shopgirl last night. This was a little bit sad, but a very good, well acted movie. It was written by Steve Martin and trust me - this is anything but a comedy. Good acting all around. To me it was on caliber with L.A. Story from Steve Martin as well. I really seem to like movies that he writes - although I totally predicted it would also be set in L.A. Don't expect to leave the movie with any warm, fuzzy feelings but you won't be totally depressed either.

The plan today is to see Everything is Illuminated today, but it's really nice outside (supposed to 80 today!) so we'll see if that happens or not.

Surprise Visit

2005-11-01T21:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my Dad gave me a call saying he was going to be here today! He was going to be in the area on business so he just got here a little bit earlier to visit Wendy and I. He just saw our place, we talked a bit, and went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Est, Est, Est. I think the left the B off of those words, but what do I know?

The food was pretty good and they had cannolli :)

I'm just going to post some pictures of our place mostly for my family which has not seen it other than Frank and my Dad as well as some pictures from today.

Just some general pictures of the interior of the house.

He got to rent a converible for work - How interesting. But I guess it is still mid 70s in November so I can't complain! I guess I live a sheltered life but its my first ride in a convertible with the top down - um, ever. What a rock I live under.

An Explanation and A Life Less Ordinary

2005-10-29T10:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, I figured 3 things might have happened from my last post referring to someone's "trash novel".

1. No one would have read it. I see now that that didn't happen. :)
2. People would have seen the movie where I had placed the long quote from, therefore getting the humor of why I referred to anything as a trash novel.
3. The writer might have gotten offended - but I was hoping this wouldn't happen.

So, Cindy - my apologies for referring to what you are writing as a trash novel. I honestly hope what you write goes very well and I do hope you get published. Truth be told, I think even the thought of it came from trombonekenny's comment on your blog. - If you've seen "A Life Less Ordinary" and maybe you have, the running joke about Robert's "trash" novel I found hilarious at the time, because everyone seems to be able to predict the end of the book based on absolutely no information - even though he hadn't written it yet and he had given them about 3 tidbits of information. I guess looking back its just a running joke with myself - maybe Sarah will understand what I'm meaning too if she rents it this weekend and shares my sense of humor. :)

So, seriously, best of luck on your book. I was not meaning to offend at all and I could see how you might take it that way. I could never seriously write any book, especially a work of fiction. I'm just not creative enough.
---------------------------------------------

So, for those of you who knew the movie - fantastic.....for those of you who haven't even heard of the movie I recommend renting it since it is fantastic. Truth be told, it is a romantic comedy in some respect - and it has some pretty big actors in it (Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, etc). It is a little twisted, but an excellent movie nonetheless. I give it 4 stars.

Wendy and I saw "The Weather Man" which was a little slow but rewarding overall. I think almost entirely filmed in Chicago. I'll post something about it later tonight.

Guess the movie....without using Google

2005-10-26T21:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, everyone try to guess what movie this is from without using google or other means. I wanted to see who is l33t enough to remember this. (This should be easy). You get extra points if your wife is writing a trash novel (you know who you are), therefore the motivation for the clip. Tell her to worry about google's cache :) I'm totally kidding. Anyhow, on to the movie snippit:
------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERT: She's the secret daughter...of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy, right? I mean,that's why Marilyn was murdered.So,the young girl grows up in an orphanage...unaware of her incredible parentage. Years go by. She's beautiful. She's smart She's successful, OK?

MAN ON RIGHT: Then what?

ROBERT: Well,then... Then she gets sent to London as U.S. ambassador.

MAN ON LEFT: Where she discovers who she is...and also unravels the secret of the Nazi gold...hidden underneath the embassy.

ROBERT: Uh,yeah.

MAN ON RIGHT: It's kind of obvious, Robert.Of course it's obvious, guys. It's a trash novel.You buy it in the airport, you take it on holiday.
------------------------------------------------

To prove you've actually seen the movie, tell me the profession of the men on the left and right. They are the same.

Big shout out to my sister Lana who turned 23 today. Happy Birthday Lana!!!
And here's your surprise - a picture of you on the internet...... :) Its the most recent one i've got.

Scottish Music

2005-10-25T21:05:00.000-05:00

And I don't mean James Doohan in Star Trek II playing Amazing Grace on Bagpipes for Spock before he is about to shot into space and soft lands on the Planet Genesis.

Check out this song: http://www.sevenworlds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Downloads/StrangeComfort-DavidWilliam.mp3

Its a free download from the artist's website for those who are superlegal. Its the full song.
The artist is David William - and he's Scottish. So - Scottish music. It still sounds fairly amateur and not overly produced but I'd say this guy definitely has got talent. I hope someone signs him so that he actually gets heard. http://www.davidwilliam.co.uk/

So how did I hear about him? Off of a podcast. I have 100% stopped listening to the radio. When I told everyone about mp3s when I first found them on the internet in August of 1996 - like the first week my freshman year in college - I know it would change everything. I've been listening to mp3s for over 9 years now. I'm saying right now those who are not listening to podcasts that you will eventually, one way or another. Some of the podcasts are being rebroadcasted on Sirius Satellite.

I don't care if you are in technology, you will one way or another be eventually affected by this. I can't see how this is a fad - there is enough different topics to listen to for everyone. I'm just glad there is almost zero advertising in it thus far. I open up iTunes, update my podcasts....and burn them onto a cd to listen to in my car for nearly a week.

So yeah, it is costing me like 10 to 15 cents per week - I have no problem with that. If I had an ipod - I'd be all over that.

I watched all of the episodes of Firefly now - and I am wanting more. Go out and see Serenity folks - it is worth watching and convinced me to watch 14 episodes of a show that was cancelled midseason. Poor marketing destroys some real talent from doing well. Maybe Serenity will allow this to be furthered.

I also had done a 3 paragraph tirade about "Proof", which was distributed in the poorest fashion I've ever seen. Great promotions back in August/September, and then it doesn't play in but a couple of spare theaters nationwide.
To recap my unposted post - good movie - a lot of parallels to A Beautiful Mind. I like this better. Gwyenth Paltow's acting is amazing in this. Everyone else is ok, but she is fantastic. After View from the Top I figured she had a screw loose, but this was fantastic. And it is set in Chicago.
EDIT - APPARENTLY BLOGGER DECIDED TO SAVE MY OLD POST AND POST IT WITH THIS-

And to anyone reading this - is adult life anything like you thought it would be growing up? I'm 27 now and realize my 20s won't last much longer. Is life just about going to work and daily activities? I'm sure everyone is thinking this. Reality has to hit each of us in a different way.

Maybe I should watch Office Space again.

Saw "Proof"

2005-10-22T20:06:00.000-05:00

Last night Wendy and I went to see "Proof". I'm imagining a lot of people have seen trailers for this back in like August. I'm not even going to bother figuring out who did the distribution for this movie - but they are awful. This movie is only playing at one theater in the Raleigh area (we have like 10 movie theaters). Considering that I saw trailers all over the place before movies and on tv - why do all that work and don't do a wide release? It wasn't even available until the end of September at the earliest.

So anyhow, the movie. Gwyneth Paltrow - whom in general i'm not overly fond of, but don't have any serious issues with. Maybe it was "View from the Top" or something else, but she's definitely done movies I haven't been overly fond of. But there's definitely a lot of movies she's done that have been great as well. I guess the jury's out.

I don't want to give a lot away about the plot - you can go to IMDB for the basics. But overall I'd say the movie was quite good but had a lot of similarities to A Beautiful Mind. I liked Proof better though. The best part of the whole movie was Paltrow's perfomance. The plot was okay but thin at times. I've never seen here act better in my whole life. Anthony Hopkins was good as always, but not a huge departure from what he normally does.

I'd say go see it if you can. This movie is not going to do well in theaters, because well, it isn't in very many theaters.

Spreaking of the theater - instead of standard concession stand it had a Starbucks like thing and had options of getting wine or beer. I think you can get coffee at the theater. Didn't Kramer used to sneak coffee into the theater? :) How weird is that?

Carving Pumpkins Like a Pro

2005-10-18T21:32:00.000-05:00

Apparently Dremel has got a tool for carving pumpkins. Here is a link to it on Amazon

Hey. I thought it was cool. If it wasn't out of stock I'd consider getting one.

And there's a new James Bond. I've got mixed thoughts about this. Pierce Brosnan and Sean Connery are the only realy true Bonds to me. Obviously Connery because he was the original and he's just so damn cool, but Brosnan because the first Bond move I really saw was Goldeneye and still my personal favorite.

I heard a lot of people who were being cast for the role as Bond - Ewan McGregor was my personal choice even if he wasn't right for the role. Just because I want to see Ewan McGregor in as many movies as possible because he is so awesome.

For those of you that are running Exchange 2003 standard and need a larger information store Exchange 2003 SP2 is supposed to be out tomorrow October 18th. It might be available for download here. There's a mess of new features and fixes and if you are coming here to get your tech news I'd be really surprised.

Does anyone know had to add an RSS feed to blogger.com blogs? :) I'd like to put up my netflix queue so people can see what I'm watching right now.

I'm bad luck, but its okay

2005-10-17T22:02:00.000-05:00

So, for those of you who haven't heard (and live under a rock or don't live around Chicago) - the White Sox are going to the World Series for the first time since 1959. Now, I'm a die hard Cubs fan, but when one my home town teams is going to the World Series, I have to take notice.

Here a picture of me and Wendy at a Cubs game that Rich took us to in June. Amazing seats. Thanks again Rich!

And by a die hard Cubs fan I mean that if I were going to watch a baseball game - that would be it. But I'm no sport fan by any stretch except when home town teams are doing well.
And I can live with this. Besides, there are no major league teams in North Carolina.

To my point - I'm bad luck. Nearly every game I've gone to in my life the team I'm going for loses - seriously. Its almost 100%. Now, it hasn't been that many games in my life and it always is a good time, but still.

I guess as far as baseball goes, I have to leave the state for things to go better. We'll see if they win the series. I'm sure they will now that I'm gone!

If you haven't gone out to see it, go see Serenity. It is Sci-fi and pretty good. Its not amazing by any stretch, but its convinced me to watch all of Firefly, the now cancelled series it was based on (same characters, continued storyline, etc.). I'm off to go watch that on the treadmill now.

I'm back and New Digital Camera!!!!

2005-10-16T21:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know its been forever since I've really blogged anything and I'm sure that no one is reading this, but the reason I haven't been around is -

1. My internet connection is been whack lately. Ended up being a problem with signal strength - and while it is working now, who knows who long it may be up.
2. I'm lazy
3. I forgot what 3 was for.

So - I posted earlier about the coveted Canon Powershot A620 - a 7.1MP point and shoot from Canon that is what i'm considering to be their top of the line point and shoot model. At least in the category I'm looking at. Digital SLRs are nice and I'd get one if it was in my budget. The Canon Digital Rebel XT is my personal choice for one of those, but I'm happy with what i've got now. I am coming from using a Canon Powershot A70, which I purchased in July of 2003 and has been a great camera and I still love it.

First of all I got it for $329 shipped - I'd like to see someone find that price right now on it. I got it from Dell with some coupon codes from Techbargins.com. It came to $304 (normally $399) - but after tax and shipping it was $329. I ordered it on Monday the 10th. With 3+ weeks estimated for shipping I was not expecting anything soon. I was surprised when it it showed up at work on Friday October 14th. Wow Dell, not bad.

I immediately noticed 2 things about the camera when taking pictures - The response time is like 3 to 4 times faster when taking pictures than my A70 - and the swiveling LCD is nice for all kinds of reasons. Lets reviews some spec of where I was coming from and where I went to with key features -

A70/A620
3.2MP/7.1MP
3x Optical Zoom/4x Optical Zoom
CF Memory/SD Memory

I'm sure there are more additional features, really too many for me to list in my quick review. Things like additional scene modes (fireworks, indoor, kids and pets, foliage, etc) , a movie mode at up to 60fps, etc. The biggest things I can saw is it's ability to focus isn't necessarily better, but tons faster. Even reviewing pictures on the LCD is tons faster. Also, for those of you who haven't seen this - the LCD can swivel out so lets say you are taking a picture of yourself and another person - who hasn't done this on a vacation? - you can actually see yourself on the LCD as you are taking the picture of yourself. And since the LCD folds back in completely it is protected from scratches when not in use.

I'm also really excited about taking some shots and being able to actually crop them and still blow them up and look good. Thats the only reason I went for the 7.1MP version as opposed to the A610 which I think is 5MP and somewhat less costly.

Ok, on to some sample shots. I'm sure that these won't show off all the features of the camera, but its still a good way to show some of it.

Note: I don't think any of these shots are actually at full res - so take it with a grain of salt. I don't blogger will not muck with any image you upload. You should be able to click on the picture to get something at least slightly higher res. Checking after I posted this images that were 5MB were uploaded and are now 200kb, so clearly you aren't seeing the image in all of its glory. Maybe I'll hit up Rich for some real hosting soon. :) I really have to start blogging more to justify that.

This first shot is the only one that blogger actually let me put up with the "large" picture setting. Its a picture of my backyard (yes, this is really my backyard) facing back towards the house. You obviously can't see the house obscured by the trees. Does anyone else feel that crazy lens thing happening when the eye of Sauron is looking for Frodo in the Fellowship of the Ring and he tells everyone to get off the road right before the Ringwraiths show up? Ok, just me.

A shot of the front of the house as taken from partly up the driveway with my trusty(or is that rusty - kidding) 1995 Pontiac Bonneville! I've actually been pretty happy with the car other than air conditioning issues and other minor things that have come up. Lets hope it lasts a couple more years!

The next two shots are to show its macro ability. I know the coin isn't in focus from top to bottom, but I was taking it an angle in a relatively low light situation on my desk. The 2nd picture was also somewhat low light, but it was outdoors before the sun had completely set. Neither of these photos have been cropped - this is how close I was to the objects.

Sorry To All Who Have Been Checking This

2005-09-24T23:17:00.000-05:00

I just realized I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'm going to take some pictures of our new place out in NC for everyone to see. My sister-in-law was here for the last week so things were thrown a little bit off in general.

In the meantime, does anyone have a preferred mp3 organizer? I'm going to give iTunes a chance to just organize the files in folders, but methinks it is not going to organize it the way I wants it to. :)

New Haircut Experience

2005-09-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

My mother is a hairdresser and I've never paid for a haircut in my entire life. But now, moving several states away, I can't just wait for a visit home to get a haircut anymore.

And I was going crazy with my hair and it was looking really bad.

I finally set up an appointment with a stylist that Wendy had gotten a haircut from and had a good experience.

I know this is normal stuff for everyone else, but for this freak, it was a new experience.

$30 for a haircut people tell me is high, but I can't imagine paying less for that skill level of the stylist. I'm going to go back. Overall a good experience and my hair is now shorter again.

Just got back from the Smoky Mountains

2005-09-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

Wendy and I had our third anniversary on Wednesday 7th, followed by my 27th birthday (man am I getting old!) on the 8th. By the way, if anyone is thinking about getting me anything - I'm saving money together to get the Canon Powershot A620, which I think now will actually be released very soon instead of in October! Of course I'm not asking anyone to get me this, just any Amazon GC in any amount will do. :)

We went out to Carrabba's for dinner on our Anniversary because Wendy's father Mike had given us a gift card to go out to eat. Thanks Mike!

On Thursday we made the drive to Gatlinburg, TN. Part of the reason that we moved to North Carolina was so that we'd be closer to our favorite vacation area. Well, the trip is approximately 5.5-6 hours now, which I guess is closer, but not as much closer as we thought it would be. Still, always a good time. We listened to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the way there and back. (well, about 9 hours of it total out of 20). Guess we'll finish it on another trip.

We didn't do anything too out of the ordinary, but we decided to finally hit Clingman's dome, which is either the highest or second highest point in the Smoky Mountains, depending on what you are reading. We talked about doing it before but it was always too Smoky - big surprise.

This is Clingman's Dome

Isn't the view from on top awesome? I'd suggesting clicking on the picture to really see the mountains in the distance. It is about a .5 mile hike but the incline is kind of difficult. Keep in mind at that altitude the air is a bit thinner.

The next day we ventured to the Andrew Bald Trail because in a book it was listed as one of the top ten trails in the US to go on and was classified as "EASY". I may be out of shape but I don't think it should have ever been classified as easy. This trail starts basically at the bottom of the paved trail up to Clingman's dome, some 20 miles of road up the mountains.

A bald is an area in the mountains where trees do not grow. I wouldn't say there were NO trees, but definitely much less.

I'd show you some pictures of the actual trail itself but lets just say we both look pretty crabby from it. It was quite rocky for most of it and the there were tons of flies on the way down. If you decide to take the trail make sure to bring plenty of water and don't be afraid of all of the flies and gnats. Wendy said she felt like Frodo carrying the one ring up to Mount Doom.

Needless to say, we were pretty tuckered out after that one.

I also fell in the Little Pidgeon River, but thats something I am not going to expand on. :) Come to your own conclusions.

Picked up the Window Motor...

2005-09-02T21:05:00.000-05:00

And I'll be putting it in tomorrow morning. At Rich's suggestion I'll take some pictures of the process. They'll probably even help me put Humpty Dumpty back together again (aka my door panel).

Everyone cross your fingers that I don't have a garbage bag over my drivers side window when i'm done. :)

Cars are Dumb and my first talks on Podcasting.

2005-09-01T20:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, first of all - I'm sure everyone is up in arms about gas prices right now. I know a lot of it has to do with Katrina and there are a lot of tragic things going on with it, but i'm going to focus on the gas prices and then to my car breaking.

First of all - I just paid $3.29/gallon for gas since premium was all that was available. I had about 1/8 of a tank left so I just had to buy gas. Last night, Wendy had her low fuel light on so she had to get guess. At 9:45pm there is a line to get guess that costs over $3 and people are going nuts. Heres what I don't get - there are rumors of a shortage because of pipelines being down so everyone goes out and gets a ton of gas - not everyone could have possibly needed that fuel that day and were just topping it off. I heard of someone that bought like 8 5 gallon gas cans just to be sure that he didn't run out. 40 gallons of gas? I guess that would last me a couple of weeks. ($40 x $3.29) = $131.60 just for perspective. Is it possible a gallon of gas is going to keep costing more than a gallon of milk? :)

Ok, my real beef. I'm actually not terribly upset about the gas really - my window motor in my car died for the driver's side window. I get unreasonably mad about my car and i'm afraid I took it out on my wife a little bit. So to add insult to injury as it is over 90 degrees reguarly - I have no air conditioning and now I can't roll down my drivers side window. I've opened up my driver's side door panel and i'm almost 100% its the motor, which is going to be appox $75 to replace, if I do it myself.

GREAT. :)

Ok, on to podcasting. If I had something to really talk about I'd be able to fill up this blog on a daily basis. I could never do postcasting - at least not regularly - I don't speak clearly enough and way too quickly. My shows would be like 5 minutes long but back in 20 minutes of material. I guess that would save on downloads.

For those you who don't know what podcasting is, simply put it is people recording whatever they want in an audio format and then posting it on the web in a form that is easily downloadable. Usually this is in the form of an RSS feed going to an mp3, etc. The easiest way to listen to the most popular is to get iTunes and after installing it subscribe to some of the top 100 podcasts. If you have an ipod it can automatically update the podcasts you want to listen to.
And i'm sure there is other software that works well at doing this.

Now basically most of these are radio shows. I'd recommend some of the better put together ones to listen to and honestly in my mind stay away from the really commercial ones done by bigger companies (like fox and whatever or cnn or nbc). Adam Curry , whom I remember very clearly from his MTV VJ days in the 80s and early 90s is one of the major founders of podcasting in general and his Daily Souce Code is very entertaining and talks in a lot of detail about podcasting in general. He also hosts a show on Sirius I think once a week that goes over the best podcasts.

The Dawn and Drew Show is my favorite podcast so far and is one of those guilty pleasures. Basically a very entertaining married couple that podcasts out of their farmhouse in Wisconsin. It doesn't sound like it would be great but they such and interesting dynamic. If you are offended by language or somewhat graphic talk this probably isn't the one for you but worth giving a chance anyhow - it's very addictive. And just in the last couple of days Drew just quit his job so that can make podcasting their full time jobs. Isn't that crazy?

Podcast Alley is also a great place to check out other podcasts.

This Week in Tech or "TWIT" is a good all around technical podcast and is pretty lengthy every week. Stays quite current.

There's even a MuggleCast for you Harry Potter fanatics.

Don't have an mp3 player? Doesn't matter. Just download the mp3s directly from the sites and listen to them on your computer or burn a cd if you want to listen to it elsewhere.

There's plenty of good topics to listen to. Even Ebert and Roeper do their weekly reviews and I think I saw a Catholic Insider podcast. Just check out iTunes and Podcast Alley and I'm sure you'll find something you like.

Because it's my birthday, my love, and I wants it!

2005-08-30T18:21:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've found a new toy to lust after with near as much desire as Gollum for the one ring. Its also yet to be released.
This is the Canon Powershot A620. DPReview has got some information on that and its little brother the A610. Other than Canon's website for Powershots and Amazon's preorder page, I really haven't seen too much about it. It is 7.1MP, has a 4X Optical Zoom, and is going to retail for about $400. I've got a Canon Powershot A70 that is about 2 years old now and I'm really itching to upgrade.

For me - downsides are this takes SD instead of Compact Flash so I'll have to purchase some new memory cards and typically Compact Flash cards cost less for most space and can get bigger. I downloaded an sample image from canon's site and it was over 5MB for a single image. Looks like i'll be getting 100 shots at best on a 512mb SD Card. Maybe i'll get a couple.

And it looks like my lenses are not going to work with the new camera as it can take the lenses the G3, G5, and G6 camera can take. Anyone in the market for a Canon Powershot A70 with a wide angle and telephoto lens? I can throw in some Compact Flash cards to make it worth your while. Of course, this isn't on sale until I get my Powershot A620 and that doesn't come out until October 10th.

But I am seriously drooling. I think I'd get an ipod but this too me is just too cool.

CVS Must Hate Me by Now

2005-08-27T02:22:00.000-05:00

CVS is a drug store that is primarily on the east coast, but ironically there was one back in Rantoul, IL when we lived there (last month). I had read on Slashdot that there was a disposable camcorder that CVS was going to start offering, and that people were interested in hacking it since the disposable cameras they were selling had been hacked. I was surprised to find out that they also had disposable digital cameras as well!

Ok, what does disposable really mean. What it comes down to is normally you would pay $30 for the digital camcorder and another $12 to get that developed onto dvd. Max 20 minutes of footage. So basically $42 to get 20 minutes of footage. Its kind of pricey if you ask me and the quality as I found out is not great (definitely not dvd) but certainly passable to watch as a download clip on the internet. The digital cameras were $10 with no LCD and $20 with LCD. Keep in mind once you develop the cameras/camcorders you don't get them back and have to purchase again.

I was in the middle of moving so I didn't pay much regard to any of this since money was tight and I couldn't find it in any CVS. Then after I was in a CVS for other reason - I found a CVS that carried all of these different items. One week later I read the camcorder is hacked! http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/08/cvs_camcorder_u.html

So I rush out and buy one of these things, not thinking anything other than "Cool" and "Fun". Its smaller than I expected (i'll post pictures when it isn't 3 in the morning) and seems pretty cool. It even came with a $5 off coupon for the digital camera with lcd! I end up making a cable following these instructions (its the same cable as the digital camera - bonus!) and spending a good part of a Saturday afternoon buying a soldering iron and learning how to solder. The cable is made by destroying the end of a parallel (printer cable for non geeks) and a usb cable (can't help you there if you don't know that is) and doing some bending and soldering. When all was said and done it was a recognized device.

Saturn2 is a program that was made to download the files right off of the camcorder and voila - a $30 digital camcorder. The quality is honestly so so, but my digital camera can't take 20 minutes of footage and this can. If I get some web space to upload to (nudge nudge Rich - hook me up) I'll put some videos up to show the quality.

Next post - my experience with the disposable digital camera with LCD. Good news - its hacked! But not nearly as easy as I thought it would be.

You're Not Chinese??? and Insurance Games People Play

2005-08-25T19:41:00.000-05:00

These are the words that prospective neighbors of ours said to my wife when she answered the door. Not "hello", not "Hi, We're looking at buying the house next door", just "You're Not Chinese!" The ladies apparently looked at the owner's name and just assumed.

My wife and I went out tonight with a friend she has made at her work and her boyfriend. The couple was very nice and we went to Carrabba's for dinner (this is heartily recommended if you have one in the area). Other than going to boss's house one night, this was our second social visit we've had since we've been down here.

So, information about insurance, not that anyone cares about this but me. I've had a certain company all my life. Lets just say their name rhymes with "Hate Farm". Its been a good run since I've had their insurance since I started driving. Well, we move here and they tell us due to speeding tickets we've had we're going to increase your premiums by 50%. We need insurance though, so looked at the tickets at I had one on there that was dated 3/2000, which is like 5 and half years ago! They are only supposed to take tickets 3 years or newer and all the older ones are not looked at. I was in freaking college in 2000 and not even dating my wife, whom we are celebrating our 3 year anniversary next month.

What were you doing in March of 2000? I mean, c'mon! The reason it showed up was the conviction date was 7/2003, so it still barely was on the record and will continue to be there until 7/2006. This is because it was an out of state ticket that I could not find information on where to pay it since I had lost it and finally tracked it down after 3 years. So, I called the Illinois DMV. No help of course. Called the state of Missouri (where the ticket was from) - they can't change anything, but suggested calling the court where I got the ticket. Of course, I have no idea what court it was and asked for the number.

They give me a wrong number.

So after doing a long internet search I eventually found a number that I knew would be wrong but could direct me to the right place. After explaining my situation to 3 people, I eventually got to someone that could talk with me. Their answer was - we can't change sealed files without an attorney - and that probably wouldn't help anyways since you didn't really plead guilty until you paid it in 7/03. GREAT

So I call back the insurance company and get the real scoop. Apparently the state of North Carolina changes taxes on insurance and you get penalized and have to pay additional taxes for insurance if you have any points on your license EVEN FOR TICKETS IN OTHER STATES. So basically, if you get pulled over anywhere and get a ticket for any reason, North Carolina is getting a cut. And it makes me want to hold out on getting our plates registered for our cars to give them as little money as possible.

It makes you think twice about how much that fine is really and makes me willing to hire a lawyer to dispute any ticket and go to court for all of them.

End up, I ask how much different I'm paying for having this ticket and the insurance company said about $80 every six months. Its not that big of a deal but it will happen 3 times total when it really shouldn't.

The good news is at least this insurance period their paperwork is all out of whack and they don't appear to be charging us for having any tickets.

Haha. I wasn't about to correct them.

"Hate Farm" - I'll see you again for another face off in 6 months.

Posted Using IE 7

2005-08-22T19:59:00.000-05:00

Ok folks.

here my quick review of Mac OS X 10.4 for x86: You need SSE3 and the hardware support to really do this. Most articles I've read said you should just get a Celeron D and supported motherboard in order to do this, but since I'm a cheapskate, this just isn't going to happen. However - if you do go do it - go get Deerpark, which is a beta version of Firefox for x86 -Safari definitely has issues if you aren't running SSE3, and I'd read similar things.

On to Vista - so far definitely more stable than the Alpha version I tried earlier from WinHEC, but the driver support seems limited - during my install it asked to put in legacy "translation - probably 2003 or xp drivers) for an Intel Pro/100+. I'm thinking, yeah, Intel Pro/100 - what a crazy piece of hardware. Also, on an Athlon 1000, it's definitely not the fastest thing in the world.

Overall, prettier UI. Greatly expanded event log? I'm suprised I've heard no one else report this. It appears to also have categorized events based on things like Microsoft Parental Control (wha??) and Task Scheduler and what not. Other interesting features are a somewhat improved Remote Desktop Connection (I don't know about connecting to it yet).

I even saw Shadow Copies - which might even run on the Workstation OS. That would be interesting for people that delete documents or make bad changes - and want to use up most of the hard disk in backups. Might help the parents though. Note: I know this is useful but I don't do anything actually useful on my computer.

Is it bad that I instantly take a new M$ OS and put it right back on Classic View? Classic view is just so much faster on all hardware and I haven't gotten additional functionality from the other views. But thats me.

I was severly disappointed to find the the mention of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign which was always referenced in the about Internet Explorer is now gone. Of course this is a reference to Mosiac, which apparently going from version 6 to version 7 is no longer true. YEAH RIGHT.

The more I think of it, the more I think Vista server and Pro in beta form at least are the same product with just some registry keys changed. Maybe the shadow copy service will be gone, but I'd really be surprised if RRAS shows up in Pro. If I were a developer sharing the same codebase between 2 products, I'd imagine it would make the most sense just to develop them both at the same time and cripple the non server products more and more, with Vista Home Edition being the most crippled of them all.

UPDATE: I'm logged in via RDP in the post. Its what you'd expect from Remote Desktop Except it support weird redirection for other things like smart cards. The login screen is also prettier.

Which is my word for Vista - Prettier so far but no added functionality that I can really tell. Well, tabbed browsing in IE but we've had that in Opera and Firefox forever.

Next Post - all about Podcasts - why you should listen to them and why they are making me want to buy an ipod. Doesn't anyone have any other software that makes it really easy to update on other mp3 players?

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (that sounds redundant) on x86!

2005-08-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I managed to make it work. I'd like to tell you I'm making this post from Safari, but it just isn't the case. I was able to get Safari to come up and most devices on my computer were recongized, but Safari wasn't stable. My best guess is some of the addins for it were being emulated for ppc and it just crashed because of it. I'm not expecting 100% functionality anyhow since my processor doesn't have SSE3 anyways.

The trick was to get a different copy of dd.exe and follow the intructions on the previously mentioned website. The hard drive I put it all on myseriously stopped being detected in the BIOS, but I'll try more later - maybe i'll even post some screenshots of that and Vista if that ever gets done being downloaded.

CVS Digital Camera, Tiger on x86, and My Stupid Server

2005-08-14T22:04:00.000-05:00

Today - while stopping to get Benadryl to stop the itching from the bee stings, I decided to pick up the CVS disposable digital camera with LCD because I had a coupon for it. Its normally $20, but it was on sale for $15. My coupon was not supposed to work with another offer but the cashier scanned it anyway making it $10. What a slickdeal! I had to sign up for a CVS card, but thats not terrible to do anyways.

Now the ugly cable I made that works with the Camcorder also works with the Camera, and it was detected as a Digital Camera inside of Windows but I didn't get the software that allows the pictures to be taken off work, as of yet. I'll try some crazy hacks on my $10 digital camera. I wonder what the specs are on this thing(i've read appox 1.3MP)

And despite valiant efforts to get my computer to run Mac OS X 10.4, it just wouldn't boot off of the hard drive. See instructions on what I am trying to do here: http://www.uneasysilence.com/os-x-proven-hacked-and-running-on-an-ordinary-pc

Since the torrent took well over a day to download, I'll keep trying doing this. Its really kind of exciting because supposedly with the right hardware everything runs, including ppc designed software.

Also, if anyone decids to try to get a Promise Supertrak 100 to work in Windows Server 2003, don't bother. It may appear to work over time but eventually somethere goes wrong. At one point today I thought I had zero data from my mirror set even though I didn't change anything in the array. I took a Promise Ultra66 card from another old server and just doing software mirroring now. Of course I probably shouldn't trust the IBM hard drives in there anyways.

Wendy and I found the underground hive today, or I guess more like the hole for it. There were bees going into and coming out of it. Good times!

Just Moved to North Carolina and BEES

2005-08-13T19:24:00.000-05:00

My wife Wendy and I just moved to North Carolina from Illinois about 3 weeks ago. We went from renting a pretty large duplex to a somewhat smaller home, but with a nearly 5 acre yard. Suddenly, I'm responsible for mowing a big yard.

No big deal, with all the costs of moving we can't afford to get a riding mower, but I still got a self propelled that works pretty well. Well, now that I figured out how to make the propelling part work on its on. Last time I mowed, well - I got stung by a bee for the first time in my life. I've had a huge fear of bees for as long as I can remember. Not that I have any good reason - just I figured I could be allergic or something. It wasn't all in all that big of a deal.

So this time I'm mowing approximately the same area and I get stung AGAIN. Hmmm....now i'm thinking i'm either:

A. I'm really unlucky
B. I'm mowing low flying bees - and the ones that survive are really angry
C. There's an underground beehive

I go back inside, relax for a second, and then go back out there. This time I'm really, really careful looking closely for any bees that appear to be in the area. I see none, and relax for a little bit. As I approach the area where I was stung earlier I think that the coast is clear because well, I don't see any bees. I can finally focus on the task of finishing mowing for another3 or 4 hours without having to worry.

Suddenly and without warning I'm being stung by somewhere between 9 and 10 bees. Some of them repeatedly. I didn't this was possible but as I was swatting them off, then were coming back! I ran off and screamed like a little girl and got back into the house - where I found there was still a bee in between my sandal and ankle still stinging me. I threw him outside and I figured it was probably time to stop mowing.

So I guess my answer has to be C. After I mustered enough courage to go back out there and put the mower away so it wouldn't get rained on, I found a small, but possible entrance to an underground behive. Does anyone know the right way to get rid of these? I mean, I don't mind getting stung once by one bee each time I mow - but getting a dozen stings on my legs pretty much incapacitates me for the day.

I wouldn't say I did anything important today but I did figure out how to add wallpapers and ringtones to my LG VX4650 phone. I didn't want to pay Verizon's $3 or $4 for a ringtone that I'd have to rebuy if I lose, so $43 later for a data cable and a couple of hours of tinkering with the software and drivers and I'm there. QPST and BitPIM seemed to both be needed to make this happen, but ultimately I only need QPST to keep doing it. I'm post step by step instruction at a moment when I've got more time.

Also to be posted soon - the CVS digital camcorder hack that has been posted in many other locations - http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/285/1 gives a good step by step process of one way to do it. I made a cable out of the centronics end of a parallel cable and a usb cable, both of which I had lying around. The video quality isn't that great, but hey, for $30.

I'll check in later on.