To Whom It May Concern...

We all want to be Happy...

2010-09-07T10:29:00.003-04:00

There are different ways to be happy. I like to classify them in two ways:
Fun and Satisfaction

Fun is truly a roller coaster. It seems that for every up fun gives you there is a down. You have a party... you have to clean up when everybody goes home. Summer fun... fades to autumn.

Satisfaction comes from a job well done, a life well lived, and friends to share it with. It comes from a life full of purpose and accomplishment.

The world tells us that we evolved, and as such, the only time we have is now. This begets a life of 'fun', trying to get all you can while you can.

This is sad, since a life of satisfaction can be so much fuller. Many people have been discouraged by things such as religion when they see the hypocrisy that is so prevalent. And they're right to be upset. Most religions preach traditions that have no factual basis, and drift over time, offering no lasting foundation.

So, if satisfaction is so much better, how can we find it?
It may be time to look a little deeper into a subject many find uncomfortable:
Does the Universe Have a Purpose?

Don't use Wachovia

2010-04-06T11:36:00.003-04:00

If you use software like Microsoft Money or Quicken, don't use Wachovia bank. They charge $5.95 a month for your software to automatically download your financial information. This action costs them nothing more. It's actually better for them than you going to their website. But they feel the need to charge you. (I use ING/Sharebuilder for brokerage services, Citizens bank, and Fredericksburg Bank, none of which charge me a fee for the same thing.)

Another reason not to use Wachovia? My wife went in to make a deposit, and they switched us to new accounts. We ended up getting two!!! new checking accounts, for a total of 3, and then they split our money in between them, making us have to figure out, where our money is before we can make purchases.

I've now been on hold with them for 17 minutes... and this is the second call of the day. The first time was asking about the $5.95 charge... which they told me was coming from my software company. The second call finally told me that this WAS a Wachovia charge, NOT my software company. But they had to transfer me to get it taken off.

We will be switching banks, SOON!

An update! How quaint!

2010-03-31T10:11:00.003-04:00

First, I've added a Facebook badge to this blog. (It's over there on the left with my picture.) For those of you that use Facebook, you can friend me. If you don't use Facebook, no rush... don't worry about it.

What's been happening? Well, we moved. Bought a house. Started getting it settled. Spring is coming, and so is yard work. It's about time, we're eager to get out in the fresh air after a winter of 'nesting'.

For the technical...
My linux server, running on an 800MHz CPU was finally dying. It seems that one-by-one all of my systems have been crashing lately. It's fine, it's good to start fresh again. I had another box somebody was getting rid of, with a faster AMD processor, and put the newest version of Ubuntu on it. It's already running.

But I moved my site, http://www.greatwhitedata.com/ to my Windows server for the time being. I'm running WAMP (Windows Apache mySql PHP) on it. Wow! It was actually pretty easy, just copy the site folder over and set up the virtual server in Apache.

I'll try to post more here soon.

Back up your data with Mozy and save 10%!

2009-11-24T14:15:00.001-05:00

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Just type in SAVE10 at checkout and save 10% on a MozyHome Unlimited annual or biennial subscription!

View >>

Updates... at long last

2009-11-24T09:41:00.003-05:00

Well, we certainly have had a lot going on, namely, we bought a house. Hadn't really been planning on it, but we saw it, we went for a showing, and the price was right, really really right.

Once we signed the paperwork... (some poor tree gave it's life for all that paperwork) we had work to do.

First paint... since we were going to pull out the carpets... we started with paint.

Then the carport roof needed to be redone. We started out just doing the roofing, but when we got underneath, and saw how bad the wood was, we had to replace that too.

Then we went back inside. We had to take the carpet out of the main floor... bedrooms, living room, bathroom, dining room. Underneath are hardwood floors. (Except for dining room and bathroom.) These had stains that needed to be sanded out... this turned into a 4 day project... with follow-up coats of polyurethane.

After that was move in day. We had been taking boxes and small items, so all that was left were the larger pieces of furniture. With our 26' truck, we loaded up! 2 hours to load, and 1 to unload. It's great to have a plan and be organized.

The kitchen/dining room and bathroom still need the vinyl flooring put down, but most of the rooms are functional. Then we have to go to the basement and organize all the boxes and piles of stuff that have been deposited there.

Here and there I'll work on moving the stones from around the house to the driveway area to extend that for the trailer.

In the spring we can open up the pool!!!

So, that's what we've been up to. How about you?

For pictures, you can check out my FaceBook page. Yes... I have a Facebook account... it's an easy way to keep in touch with much of my family and several out of state friends. And a good spot for pics.
http://www.facebook.com/mark.kenyon2?ref=name

Stupid Japanese Spammers

2009-09-17T16:01:00.002-04:00

I deleted a post. Not an important post, but I don't like to delete my stuff. I did so because a spammer kept trying to post comments to it. I don't know why a picture of a cute dog missing 2 legs invited dirty spam, but I think it means we're living in a sick world. Can't wait for the New World.

In other news... we're buying a house!!! Waiting for radon inspection report right now. We should be moving in November or so.

We're still planning on one more camping trip this year. But then I'll be able to store the popup at our house!

Is mobile computing the end of business VPNs and IT necessity?

2009-07-28T10:37:00.001-04:00

Phil has an interesting thought about the future of corporate IT. Take a look:
http://www.phillk.net/b2/?p=215

What have we been up to?

2009-07-20T14:47:00.003-04:00

This and that and CAMPING!!!

After last year's camping adventure (see here) we weren't sure camping was in our future. But then we found a deal, on a 2000 Coleman Santa Fe popup camper.

So, this past weekend we took it down to Pine Grove Furnace state park in PA.

So it's July in PA, and the weather was nice. But it got cold at night. I'll give you the highlights, and the funny bits.

I got out of work early Friday. The PUP (PopUP) had been loaded earlier in the week, but we had to load the food, clothes, and doggie into the SUV and hitch up.

The DW (Dear Wife) had gotten most of the gear out on the back porch, out of the rain, but real easy to load into the TV. Took a little longer, I think I was slow cause of the rain, but we got it all loaded. Then I put the bike rack on the back, and loaded the bikes. Nothing left to do but hitch up the PUP.

(Funny bit) I usually store the ball hitch and pin in the storage under the trunk of the SUV. Guess where it was at this point?!?! Yup, safe and sound, under all our gear.

I quickly pulled off the bikes (leaving the rack), and pulled out just enough gear so I could lift the floor of the trunk and get the hitch. (I keep it in a bag with the pin so it doesn't grease up anything.) Less than 10 minutes to fix, thankfully, and we were ready to hitch.

I found out the DW is very good at getting me lined up to hitch up.

So, it's wet, I'm soaked, but we're loaded and ready to go. A quick change out of my soaking jeans, and we're on the road.

The rain was lightening up, but I'd never towed this trailer while loaded with all the gear before. I was pretty nervous at every bump, and any time we kicked up a rock I was sure the PUP was falling off the hitch, but everything was fine. (Triple checking is so important.)

By the time we pull into the CG, the clouds are parting, and we've got a bit of sun. We pull around the loop, and my wife says, 'Is that the Parker's camper?' Sure enough, right behind our site, was the camper of some friends of ours. They had heard where we were camping, and decided to check it out too.

I was very careful backing into the site, and with DW's help (she's good at this part too) I got lined up nice and straight on the first try.

(Funny bit) So, it's July, and we're in shorts. We set up in about an hour, and go to chat w/ the friends. We turn in early, since it's getting a bit chilly. And proceed to wake up about every hour as the temp drops about 5 degrees an hour. (I'm guessing. I have to put a thermometer on our gear list.) Musta been in the 50s!!! We had one blanket on the bed, and no sweat shirts packed!!!

We managed to make due, we dug out some throw blankets, and the DW bundled in her jacket and 2 sets of socks the next night. (It was cold then too.)

Our packing up routine needs a little work, but I didn't worry a bit about the PUP on the way home, it handle's great. We even saw another Hyundai Santa Fe pulling a Coleman like ours with bikes in our CG, so I knew our rig would be fine too.

I realized too, that this was my first time ever camping in a trailer!!! And only our fourth camping trip in our 7 years of marriage. But we're planning on more trips.

(We'll definitely stock a space heater and blanketS before any October trip!!!)

You can see pics here!

Joel Gott

2009-04-24T09:29:00.000-04:00

Some of my readers know Joel Gott. I found out last night that he lost his battle with Colon Cancer April 9th. I don't have many details other than that. Sorry for the bad news.

With Monty Python, even this caption is funny.

2009-04-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

see more Lol Celebs

Finally getting to Ubiquitous media!

2009-03-27T12:22:00.002-04:00

So... I set up my GnuMP3d server again. What that means is I can access all of my audio over the web. Including on my new Web enabled SmartPhone (Only $74.99!!!)

So, I have my audio with me where ever I go. The cool factor, for me, is up there.

I probably won't stream music all day... it could catch up with me at some point. Perhaps my cell provider will get cranky, or my ISP at home throttle me.

I'd like to get my videos streaming though. I can access them through GBPVR's Enhanced Web Admin. But it doesn't have a very good mobile interface. Perhaps in the future?

Why IT people have free time...

2009-03-12T09:28:00.003-04:00

See honey... this explains it all!

...

Users Lie, and how to deal with it.

2009-03-11T13:50:00.003-04:00

As you learn to develop and/or program, you eventually have to deal with users. You are, after all, trying to create something people will use.

When trying to develop a tool for a user they will give you their requirements. This process has been discussed and, more frequently, mocked throughout the Internet universe.

Eventually some simple 'truths' are concluded by developers. Generally they are (and I loosely quote):
Users Lie
Users don't know what they want

The accuracy of those statements is debatable. Users don't purposely lie, they want something and they want to make sure it gets done their way and they're gonna tell you about it. Maybe just not up front.

Also, they know what they want.

So, to boil down to the truth, it comes down to:
Users don't know how to communicate what they want.

How To Deal With It
So, what do we do? In my opinion, the best way to determine what a user wants is to walk through the job they are trying to get a tool for.

This is where people skills separate the coders (write code) from the developers (create tools people enjoy using). (Again, this is me loosely defining.)

Another point to beware of, in the 'Users Lie' department comes into play when re-writing a piece of code. You will often here, 'We don't use that' with or without the added 'anymore'.

Warnings should sound. Developers don't put things into code unless they have to (or it's an easter egg, but who has time for that!!!)
Somebody, somewhere, at some time, wanted that feature.

Use due diligence to try to find out who. And then... if you are going to take it out, COMMENT. (This is where comments and version control save butts.) Make it as easy as possible for the next 2 or 3 versions to get that feature back for when the big boss upstairs does his yearly check of this part of the software and finds out that the 'Executive Report' that 'nobody uses' isn't there!!!

I'm just saying... :)

Back to Life... Back to Reality - The Return from Vacation

2009-02-13T13:20:00.006-05:00

We took a vacation. It was the first week long vacation that didn't involve relatives (no offense) since our honeymoon. We went to Virginia.

I'll like to the pics now:
http://mark.phillk.net/gallery2/v/mkenyon2/Massanutten+Trip/

Sunday - Washington DC Zoo. Lot's of cool animals.
Monday - Veg out... we drove around a bit and ate at Outback, but that was it.
Tuesday - Tubing and more vegging out. Maybe a board game... definitely eating!
Wednesday - Shopping The guys played Racquetball, not much else. (Isn't vacation great?!)
Thursday - The guys went Snowboarding!!! My first time in 10 years. It was fun, but sadly, no pictures. Later to the meeting.
Friday - Went to the pool, played more racquetball. Vegged out. Finished the second package of Oreos.
Saturday - Steph and I went on the Skyline drive for a bit. More movies and vegging out.
Sunday - Time to go home, but we didn't want to. So, let's swing by Baltimore and find Dave and Buster's. The girls did more shopping. (It's good that they're so frugal.) Then TGI Fridays.

What happened in the coffee room today

2009-01-23T14:13:00.001-05:00

I walked in to get some water, and there was a puddle of coffee on the counter, dripping down onto the floor.

Somebody had filled the water and filter, but did not put the empty pot on, instead, they left the half full pot on...

'Cleanup in aisle twelve!'

OH BOY!!! It's working!!!

2009-01-15T14:29:00.003-05:00

I've got my Digital Picture frame working at last!!!

So, I used DSL (Linux), a Dell 233 CP laptop, and feh.

I used mostly the scripts and instructions from this guy:
http://www.thewares.net/item/33

I did not use the built in sound card, but added a USB sound card.

I added an external momentary button to trigger the on/off functionality.

I added an external DPST switch to turn the 'built in' speakers on and off. They are the speakers that were in the laptop, and with a few small holes in the back, they come through loud and clear.

I took the guts out of some unpowered PC speakers that allowed for an external 1/8" jack if I want. I put that on the side, but if I did it again, I'd make my own PCB board and mount the jack on the back.

I mounted the dongle from the network card so that it is accessed from the back. I may revisit WiFi at some point.

I put a DC power jack on the back, and cut the power supply cable, wiring it to have the nice jack on the back, and it's factory jack into the laptop guts.

I mounted a USB and media card reader out the right side.

I'll post pics soon.

The scripts are run via cron to go out and sync both music and picture files. At boot up, it starts xmms and feh running through the sound and pics that are stored locally. I also cronned 2 shut-down times, lunch time and 11 PM.

Cons:
There is no nice way to shut down the unit. If I push the power button, it does a hard shutdown, and the next start does a fsck to check the drive. Then you have to reboot again.

During boot up (almost a minute) you get to see all the bios and boot up junk.

That's all for now... I was pretty thrilled.

Princess Brdie trivia

2009-01-12T15:35:00.001-05:00

We love the movie The Princess Bride. Here's a little trivia:
http://www.neatorama.com/2009/01/11/movie-trivia-the-princess-bride/

Also, in regards to the muppets:
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/21354

AoM: Dress for an interview

2008-12-19T09:36:00.001-05:00

This is pretty good advice for anytime you would wear a suit. I think I'll print out a copy and pin it on my closet door.
http://artofmanliness.com/2008/12/18/interviewing-in-recession/

AoM: How to Be the Perfect Party Guest

2008-12-18T09:19:00.001-05:00

With a few tweaks, this should be standard rule-of-thumb for all of us.
How to Be the Perfect Party Guest

Wow, this is cool. Silent Film Star Wars

2008-12-09T11:22:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mBDQXWflbM&eurl=http://io9.com/5103883/what-if-star-wars-had-happened-a-long-time-ago

Teaching sons to be men

2008-12-03T09:34:00.002-05:00

To all my friends out there who still follow this and are fathers, here is a nice post that explains what fathers need to teach their sons. (Besides what the bible says, of course.)

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/12/02/teaching-my-son-to-be-a-man/

I twitter now

2008-12-02T10:21:00.002-05:00

What is twitter? Instead of a whole blog post, it fills in the blanks. It fits in between blogging and instant messaging.

Check me out:
http://twitter.com/mkenyon2

How to be a House Guest

2008-11-19T16:00:00.001-05:00

I read Art of Manliness quite regularly. Here's a nice article about being a house guest, though I don't think you need to send money for food all the time.
http://artofmanliness.com/2008/11/16/manners-etiquette-house-guest/

How to be a Good Host

2008-11-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

This article is nice for anybody who is going to have house guests.

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/11/17/how-to-be-a-gracious-host/

Digital Picture Frame, Update

2008-11-17T15:51:00.004-05:00

So, what has been going on with the Digital Picture frame? I gave up on sound, sort of. I got a cheap ($9!!!) USB sound adapter, and guess what, it works with DSL. So, let's look at my expenses so far?

New laptop keyboard
64Mb RAM chip
PC Card Network Adapter
USB Sound Adapter

Plus a media card reader

I've been able to get a slideshow and music on DSL, so I decided I was ready to rip it apart and stick the guts in an actual frame.

I'm not done yet. I have the guts sitting in the case, but the cables hang out the back. I'm in the process of finishing the back by putting power and sound buttons, as well as jacks for connections. This is the detail work. But you can see my progress and the laptop and media card reader sitting in the case running here:
http://mark.phillk.net/gallery2/v/mkenyon2/DigFrame/

Enjoy and thanks.

The China Cabinet is done and pictures are up!!!

2008-11-13T12:25:00.006-05:00

Take a look at our album (link below) to see the progress from this:

to this:

LINK: http://mark.phillk.net/gallery2/v/mkenyon2/Breakfront/

Enjoy

In other news...

2008-10-29T17:05:00.001-04:00

We will be posting pics of our recent project, repainting the china hutch, or as some call it, the break-front.

(Part of the reason I hadn't posted the pics of the fish.)

She caught a fish!!!

2008-10-29T16:57:00.003-04:00

I'm finally getting them up.

I finally got around to adjusting them (size wise) to get them posted.

Fixed, sort of

2008-09-22T22:00:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure I'd trust it as I used to, but I'm getting the data off. Here it is, in process:

Why I don't like Dongles

2008-09-22T15:08:00.004-04:00

What is a Dongle? A dongle is a small piece of hardware that connects to a computer.

Dongles stick out in places where they can get broken. Like when you put your foot down near a computer on the floor.

This was my main Thumb drive, where I kept all the little utilities I could carry from PC to PC. It had data files, and all sorts of other goodies I used frequently.

Of course, we Montoya's, er, I mean Kenyon's, have never taken defeat easily. Let's see what we will have to work with:

Hmm... I don't think anything got shorted, I think it just snapped cleanly off. Nothing was being read/written, so we should be good. Not a lot to solder back together, but I may be able to make do. I may also be able to pick up another connector with good terminals.

Anybody ever attempt this before?

This is a broken 2Gb Kingston DataTraveler if anybody's googling for it. I'll report my results.

Our camping trip, or Surviving Hurricane Hanna!

2008-09-10T14:05:00.011-04:00

Well, we got to promised land Thursday afternoon, and got right away setting up. All was well, we set up our tent, our food tent, and then my brother got there with his wife, and we helped them set up.

2AM, my wife’s brother and his wife got there, so I gave them the extension cord and fell back to sleep.

Friday was a beautiful day. The sun was out, and Chloe was having a good time.

We hadn't staked down our tents yet, so we took care of that. The ground there was especially hard, so our arms got tired. But we did it.

After that we decided to go for a bike ride and swimming.

Steph stayed at camp with Chloe.

It was 4 miles each way, and uphill both ways as well.

We made it home, got something to eat and did some fishing. Finally got back to camp, and toasted some marshmallows. Generally, a pretty good day.

Saturday started with no rain, so we had a nice breakfast.

And then the rains started.

Chloe did not like it.

We tried our best to keep dry.

Another joyous event of the trip, the power to the park went out, knocking out our power, and the bath-house power for several hours. Thankfully that came back.

Later, we took Chloe down to the bath-house to clean her up. Along the way, she discovered a toad. When we looked away, she tried for a taste. We saved the toad, and gave her a nice bath. We took her back to camp, and put her in the tent to keep her clean and dry. That’s when she found out that toads don’t agree with her. She was sick in the tent several times before we found it. So, it was a late night in the rain, cleaning up the tent and putting our gear away for the night. Yech.

And then, the wind started… rattling the tents, and making a generally loud noise.

Sunday was better. We made breakfast and packed up.

Chloe was even happy again.

We went fishing and everybody had a good time, even if Steph was the only one who caught a fish.

So, overall it was a good trip. We learned a lot, and look forward to making the next camping trip much easier, especially by avoiding any hurricanes.

What are criminals thinking?

2008-09-09T14:23:00.001-04:00

I'd say something, but that doesn't fit.

Take this, a guy wants to rob a house while the people are sleeping. But that's not enough, he wants to make it more challenging, so he wakes them up. How to do that? Well, a trip to the kitchen and you've got... the kitchen bandit:
http://www.fresnobee.com/384/story/849202.html

WiFi on my DSL Digital Picture Frame laptop is working... I think

2008-08-04T13:25:00.003-04:00

If you read my previous post, you saw that I wanted to get WiFi networking working on Damn Small Linux (DSL), which uses a 2.4 Kernel.

My PCMCIA card (had it in my junk collection, and didn't want to spend $$ on a newer one) is a D-Link DWL-G630 (DWL G630) card. Version A1. Not A1 as in awesome, great, easy to install on linux. A1 as in the first version, of which they've gone up to version E.

There are write-ups on how to set up network cards on linux in all manner of ways. Several for this card suggested MadWifi. I could never get MadWifi to install in a way that I saw it do anything.

The best one I saw was on Leedberg.com.
However, there were a few clarifications needed in his instructions.

This card uses mrv8k51.inf as the driver.
To get this card to work with ndiswrapper, use the Win98 drivers.
DSL doesn't have DHClient. I don't know where to find DHClient, or something similar for DSL.

Now, what do I mean 'it's working, I think'? Well, I'm at work. I can scan networks. But I have a wireless router connected to nothing, so I'm not online with it, yet.

Basically, follow his directions, with my clarifications in mind, and you should be good to go. At least this far, the lights are blinking on the card.

Converting a laptop to a picture frame

2008-08-04T13:08:00.002-04:00

I recently acquired (thanks dad) an old Dell Latitude CP laptop. This is a little 166MHz, 32 Mb RAM system, nothing fancy. But it does have a 12" 800x600 16mil color screen.

So, I set out to do what I've seen others do, convert the little guy into a digital picture frame.

Important points are in bold if you want to skip through with just highlights.

I found several sites, including this one (http://www.lepolt.com/blog/...digital-picture-frame/) that pointed to Damn Small Linux (from here on out referred to DSL) as the OS of choice.

I'd played with it, but to no depth, so I rolled up my sleeves, got out a ReWritable CD, and downloaded the ISO.

First things first. DSL-N is not DSL. It is like it, but the steps online are not the same.

One of the links to download DSL led me to a site that also had DSL-N. It took me a while to realize that I did that and that was why the online steps did not work.

Scratch 2 days.

Now, with the correct version in hand I set out to set up my picture frame. Considering I didn't have a network/internet connection on the laptop yet, I was working off of CD swapping with my ReWritable. Note to self: start with Network setup FIRST!

I got a .deb package of feh, and image utility, and loaded it up, got some pictures on the lappy, and tried it out.

Only one image loaded. It was one I'd gotten off the web somewhere. None of the images from either of my cameras worked.

I tried another image viewer on the laptop, qiv. It at least gave me an error on a couple of the images... a particular package wasn't firing correctly.

I know linux has different versions of packages for images, so I set out to find one that would open my images.

I then realized that DSL was using a 2.4 kernel, not 2.6. (DSL-N uses 2.6) So, I had to be careful which packages I used so that they didn't require too much from the kernel.

Debian, from which DSL is based, has a nice collection of packages, and I found the Sarge versions worked the best with DSL. http://packages.debian.org/stable/

I also thought I might try sound on my little box. My sound card is not supported by the OSS sound system. This laptop uses a Crystal 4237B audio chipset.

I read online that ALSA (included in the 2.6 kernel, but not the 2.4) handles this by default, or at least with a little coaxing. So, on to downloading packages, one at a time, to my drive, switching the drive over to the lappy, then realizing there were more packages I needed. (When I payed attention, I could get all the required packages at the same time as the package.)

Scratch 3 more days.

I finally decided to try a couple of things. I tried the DSL-N again, since it had the 2.6 kernel. This didn't like my usb drive. So I went back to DSL.

Starting a new week, with a fresh, yet empty, DSL install, I plan to do the following:

1) Get my PCMCIA WiFi card working first!!! (This will allow for easier package installation.)

2) Get feh to view ALL my images.

3) Get Alsa to use my soundcard.

4) Get DSL to use a media card reader. (It so-far hasn't used mine.)

That's the software side of things. Then I will look into putting the guts inside a picture frame of some sort.

Travel tips and thoughts from Baltimore

2008-06-18T15:49:00.002-04:00

So, some things NOT to do when you take your wife on a romantic getaway.

1) Don't take her to a grungy Burger King as your first meal on the way down.

2) After she's stressed about not getting a decent meal, DO NOT run over a defenseless squirrel while traveling at 75 miles an hour.

3) Do not let your wife unpack all your suitcases in your room and only then ask the front desk about the air conditioner that is crackling in the corner and has wires hanging out of it.

4) After you have re-packed your suitcases to go to the new room, and preferably BEFORE you lock the door of the old room, make sure your wife still has her wedding rings and other jewelry with her.

5) Do not let them give you a room that already has the inside dead-bolt locked, requiring you to wait 20 minutes in the hallway with all your luggage while you wait for the maintenance guy to let you in.

That was the first day.

After that things went well, and we had a good time. The aquarium was fun, Cheesecake factory food was great, and we have lot's of memories.

LOL Catz

2008-06-09T11:12:00.001-04:00

more cat pictures

Follow Up from last post

2008-05-13T13:31:00.000-04:00

This is the Notice for Stephan E. Cooper.
http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000109630446X

Click on the above link or cut and paste the url into your browser's address bar.

Sad News

2008-05-12T10:01:00.001-04:00

As many of you already know, my father-in-law has been battling brain tumors for a while. He lost the fight Saturday afternoon while sleeping.

We want to thank all our friends for their support during this time.

Tommy K posts another video from Indonesia

2008-05-07T11:19:00.001-04:00

My cousin Tommy is continuing to spread the good news of an important message in Indonesia. If you don't know him don't worry. If you do, or you've heard me talk about him, check out the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOfyLh_W5Rc

Domain Specific Language, or why people think I'm a genius

2008-05-02T13:44:00.003-04:00

Let me specify right off the bat... I don't think I'm a genius.

However, when I begin to tell most people about what I do for work, their eyes glaze over, and their heart-rate slows to near-death levels. It seems overly complex to them.

Now, I'm not saying just anybody can walk into my office and take over what I do. I'm just saying that once you get over a few basic hurdles, I'm simply a problem solver.

The main hurdle is terminology. Not just learning what certain words or phrases mean, but what they mean at different times.

It may have been said, 'My home is my Domain', or some such thing. Most people wouldn't think of using the word Domain today, but if they did, they would likely think of an area they had control of. (Don't glaze over just yet.)

In the IT world, a domain would refer to a collection of computers networked and protected together.

But if you were to start coding, and happened to look at something like Monorail .Net you may run into the term Domain. Now what are we talking about?

See, that's the thing. Phrases are used loosely at times in the computer world, and using these phrases or words may confuse people who don't catch the context you are using it for.

How many people thought JavaScript has something to do with Java. And we don't mean the island, the town, the Russian cigarette brand, or coffee!

If people could understand what we were talking about, they'd be able to understand what we're talking about. Though they might not think of us as geniuses any more.

So, for those of us who may need to add a definition to our collection for Domain, here's a nice article from that nifty Wiki WikiPedia.org.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Specific_Language

Ubuntu 8.04 put to the user test

2008-04-28T16:04:00.002-04:00

I like how this guy did his test of Ubuntu 8.04. Personally, I use Ubuntu for a small server at home. But would not think of changing over any user PCs yet.

http://contentconsumer.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/is-ubuntu-useable-enough-for-my-girlfriend/

I'd love Linux/Ubuntu developers to see this and take some of the points to heart.

SD Chip to Cassette adapter!!!

2008-04-23T09:15:00.002-04:00

This thing is cool!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/a512/

Will the cassette tape ever die?
...
This MP3 player is built into a standard cassette tape, letting you use it as either a uniquely old-school-style MP3 player, or with any car cassette or cassette player to play your music. You will have no problems listening to hours of your favorite songs via the built-in SD card slot, and you can easily change to different songs if you have multiple SD Cards. If you are into retro style looks but with a new technology upgrade, this is a MP3 player worth adding to your gear.

PS. This is on my wish-list!

Monorail

2008-04-21T15:11:00.004-04:00

No, not that one, the programming language used by the Caste Project. (Click here for the Monorail page.)

As opposed to Ruby on Rails, this is designed to work with .Net. It was developed before Linq was released.

Here's a brief summary:

MonoRail is a MVC Web Framework inspired by Action Pack.

MonoRail differs from the standard WebForms way of development as it enforces separation of concerns; controllers just handle application flow, models represent the data, and the view is just concerned about presentation logic. Consequently, you write less code and end up with a more maintainable application.

Although the project name is MonoRail, we do not have any affiliation with the Mono project. MonoRail runs on Microsoft .Net 1.1, 2.0 and Mono.

One more feather to learn and stick in my cap.

My Store!! Support the site

2008-04-15T09:58:00.003-04:00

I thought I'd start an online store of media, books and music and such, that was safe of offensive lyrics. A lot of the music I have up there is instrumental/jazz/classical crossover with no lyrics. Please take a look.

The Safe Media Web Store

Another LOLCat

2008-04-07T09:46:00.002-04:00

Get the RSS feed for all of them, but I wanted to post this.

see more crazy cat pics

Why don't more guy groups rock like this?

2008-04-03T12:45:00.003-04:00

I was in the mood for something different, so I tuned into a Classical Crossover station on LaunchCast.

I found a couple of groups I really liked the sound of. It seemed at first the only groups I liked on the station were Girl groups. I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea. But then I finally found guy I really liked to listen to, Maksim, who's sound was pretty cool.

Here's the other two I liked:
Bond - Play a sample of Fuego. (Requires Real Media player.)
Imagine Classical Electric Dance done right.

Opera Girls - The didn't have as many I liked... not that I've heard them all. But they were pretty cool too.

Seen by my cell phone after memorial

2008-03-27T09:26:00.001-04:00

Gross, but funny

2008-03-24T16:40:00.002-04:00

see more crazy cat pics

Then, of course, the original...

see more crazy cat pics

I know, I know, it's an addiction

2008-03-21T16:46:00.004-04:00

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

I just had to post this

2008-03-21T16:05:00.000-04:00

see more crazy cat pics

Shirts I like

2008-03-21T15:57:00.001-04:00

If anybody wants to buy us something...
http://www.noisebot.com/i_am_the_dread_pirate_roberts_t-shirt
http://www.noisebot.com/i_battle_the_rous_s_rodents_of_unusual_size_t-shirt
http://www.noisebot.com/living_in_a_van_down_by_the_river_t-shirt

If you don't know why, that's ok.

Charge several USB devices from one AC outlet

2008-03-18T14:21:00.002-04:00

If you're like me, you have several devices that
A) Need to be charged regularly.
B) Take up an AC outlet when charged.
C) Have a USB cable they can also charge off of.

If so, I'll pass this tip along.

1) Get a cheap AC-to-USB adapter, for charging USB devices.
2) Get a cheap USB Hub and plug it into the adapter.
3) Plug your USB devices in.

Now you are charging your devices, but only using one AC adapter.

What my cell phone sees

2008-03-18T10:26:00.003-04:00

I think I'm going to start a new feature of my site,
'What my cell phone sees'

I've created a section of my gallery that will host these.

Here's the link: http://mark.phillk.net/gallery2/v/mkenyon2/CellPhone/
Here's the RSS feed for it: http://mark.phillk.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=rss.SimpleRender&g2_itemId=2204

Here's my first:

Brooklyn Brewery is Green!

2008-03-17T15:40:00.001-04:00

Many of my friends will remember this Brewery fondly. Thought the article was good.
Comment here if you like it.
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/03/70361

IT Horror stories

2008-03-11T13:11:00.003-04:00

These are beyond the old 'I stuck in the first 5 disks, and it still says 'Insert Disk'...' stories. These are IT things. From goofs to just wrong practices. Some reminders for IT people though.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/04/13/77021_16FEusergoofs_1.html
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/05/07/19FEuserintro_1.html

AT&T to pay $ for religious bias

2008-03-10T13:29:00.002-04:00

I'll simply post the link to the article here.

I'm sure the money is/was not the issue. I myself have never missed one of our conventions as it is a regular part of our worship.

Weddings, Illness, and Updates

2008-03-06T11:01:00.002-05:00

Well, since my last post, I've been to Chris' wedding, I've been sick with the flu, and I've updated my online footprint.

Chris' wedding went very well considering. Brandi, the bride, was sick. Actually, Chris was too, but poor Brandi had the flu. She went to the hospital between the ceremony and reception to get a shot to settle her stomach. But for the ceremony and most of the reception she soldiered on and looked beautiful.

Then I got it. I was down for a week with the flu, but for me it was mostly congestion and sore throat. It's been a week and a half, and I've still got a tickle in my throat.

As for updates, I updated the link for LinkedIn.com that you'll see on the left. I've added several people, and been recommended a few times. Join in.

I've also added a nice Gallery to my site: http://mark.phillk.net/gallery2/.

You'll see pics of the wedding there. This also offers slide shows, but is still hosted on my server.

Works busy, I'm trying to wrap up several projects, two of which I inherited when another guy left. But it's variety, and I like that.

Vonage

2008-02-20T12:20:00.001-05:00

I did get my refund, as promised. So far no more headaches.

Continuing Vonage

2008-02-12T11:08:00.000-05:00

Received a call from an Executive office person who discussed with me what the problem was and what I wanted. I told him that I switched my service before my January Invoice, but then received a February invoice and was charged for the February bill.

He said I had minutes used on my January invoice, which I agreed with, and did not dispute. My concern was the February invoice, during which time I did not have my phones hooked into their equipment.

He said that he would refund for February and I would see it in 3-5 business days. (I'll let you know about that.)
I think we ended the conversation amicably. I like the idea of cheaper phone service, but I'm realizing I don't care how it's delivered, as long as the service is good and the price is reasonable.

I don't think it should have taken a call to the main office, but it did, and they did resolve it. (If I get the refund.)

If Vonage can do that in the future to the point that I feel it's worth the hassle of switching back, I will.

Talk to the CEO

2008-02-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

Jeffrey A. Citron
Chairman,
Chief Strategist and
Interim Chief Executive Officer of Vonage
(732) 528-2600 (Main receptionist.)

The number listed in the last post was wrong, it was a fax machine or modem that screeches in your ear, how pleasant.

But, I figured a corporate office would have similar numbers, so I dug around and found that one listed above. You can also get into their phone directory and possibly find his extension.

I just want my money back.

BTW, I obtained that number here:
http://www.whitepages.com/search/ReversePhone?full_phone=7325282600&localtime=survey

Edit: I gave this a tag of Bad Business since I don't think I should have to call their main office to settle this. Cancelling my account should be automatic, or at least, if they don't cancel, they shouldn't charge me for service of a number they are no longer providing service for.

Don't use Vonage

2008-02-12T09:23:00.000-05:00

In an effort to keep this non-inflamatory, I'll keep it to the facts.

Fact, In July 2006 I signed up with Vonage using my broadband cable modem internet.
Fact, The sound/audio quality was terrible.
Fact, I worked with tech support and was told to lower the audio quality setting of the service. This allowed me to hold conversations, at the lower quality.
Fact, I experienced several times when my number would be unavailable to callers, whether myself or others.

So, time to switch. In January I switched to Comcast, our cable provider, to use their phone service.
Fact, Vonage caused delays porting my number over to Comcast.
Fact, I received two (2) charges from them (1 month apart) for monthly service charges, EVEN THOUGH my phone number was not being handled by them. The first charge, January's invoice, I expected, though I has hoped it would be pro-rated since they didn't give me service the whole month. The second, February's invoice, was a surprise to me.

Fact, when I called to get a refund, I was told by the customer service rep that he could not refund the money they charged from my account.

You must cancel your service AS SOON as it's working with your new provider.

The customer service rep said that if I want to try to get my money back I had to call the home office. I was told that the Vonage Home Office phone number is: 732-528-2669. It's not. Call 732-528-2600.

I'll let you know how this turns out.

Edit: I gave this a tag of Bad Business since I don't think I should have to call their main office to settle this. Cancelling my account should be automatic, or at least, if they don't cancel, they shouldn't charge me for service of a number they are no longer providing service for.

I know what happened...

2008-02-04T10:28:00.000-05:00

"I probably need some time to reflect on the game and some time to reflect on the season." said Brady. "It is extremely disappointing. This isn't something any of us prepared for." - news.yahoo.com

'Isn't something we prepared for.' Yea, I don't think you prepared for it either. It seems that when they took the lead with 2:42, the Patriots expected the Giants to roll over and let them have it.

I'll give the Giants this credit, they didn't. Hey Patriots... I'm a fan, but the Giants aren't gonna hand the Super Bowl to you. This isn't just a weekend game, this one mattered.

Venting aside, both teams played hard, very hard. But there was more aggression on the field than smart plays. The Giants defense had one play, HIT BRADY! and they did. They also made sure they did it with few enough guys so that they could cover any receivers. Brady's arm of course kept making connections, but it wasn't enough. For offense Manning passed, he ran, he weaved, Brady threw, and threw, and threw.

I saw too many plays where the Giants completed passes and the Patriots were just 2 steps away. Maybe the Patriots tried their best and the Giants really were that good, but I don't think so. I think they just wanted it more and knew what it took to get there.

Not that I know much about sports or football, but hey, we lost, I can be a little disappointed.

What happened to the Patriots?!?!?!

2008-02-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

ARG!!! 18-0 lost!!! What was that?!?!?!

The Giants were not giving up, that's what it was. They played hard. Hats off to them, see you next year.

My Review of 7-in-1 Universal HD Remote Control

2008-01-31T15:19:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Radio Shack

This remote can simplify your home theater and make it easy to control everything with one device.

Quick and powerful little remote

By M II the K from Lebanon, PA on 1/31/2008

Pros: Easy To Set Up, Durable, Nice Button Configuration, Nice Features

Best Uses: Upgrade

Describe Yourself: Tech Savvy

Primary use of this product: Personal

Haven't used it long enough to find any pros. Feel of the buttons leads me to believe the keys will stop working. (Oil builds up under the rubber.) Cleaning with a que-tip and alcohol works for that.

I'm controlling a media PC using GBPVR software. Also, Sony Receiver, Apex DVD changer, and Sharp VCR.

(legalese)

Note: When you do a review on www.radioshack.com you can have it post to your blog. That's interesting.

Techno Art

2008-01-24T15:36:00.001-05:00

Beyond simplification of life, technology is good for Art.
Take a look at this digital sculpture.

Keychains

2008-01-14T09:47:00.000-05:00

This post was inspired by Jeff Atwood's comments, here.

I have 2 keychains. One has my keys and store cards. One has my thumb drive and led flashlight.

My main keychain (with the keys) has 2 car remotes, 2 car keys, 2 house keys (our front and back doors are different locks. Have to fix that.)
I also have 2 keys for a building I frequent, a key to my parents house, and 3 store cards and a gym membership card.

It's the remotes that make it so big... 1 of my house keys has a built in led light (Key Lights brand), great for finding the keyhole when you forget to turn on the porch lights.

I usually keep my big keychain in my coat in the fall-winter months, since it bulges in my pockets. I've actually been stabbed by some keys. I only keep my thumb drive key chain in my pocket.

QA Deathmatch - Keep testing interesting

2008-01-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

This sounds like more fun than regular QA testing.
http://blog.slickedit.com/?p=209

A look at Microsoft Marketing

2008-01-04T13:49:00.001-05:00

I was thinking about some of the marketing campaigns Microsoft has been using lately and what they might mean. Let's examine them.

MS says: Where do you want to go today?
Means: More than likely you will not be able to accomplish anything in (the) Office today. Why not go for a drive?

MS says: Do more with less.
Means: We can't provide those features you want. Try to do more without them.

MS says: It's better live.
Means: This online communication thing isn't working out. Why not meet people face to face?

Those are just my thoughts.

When debugging, watch your watches

2007-12-31T13:58:00.000-05:00

I should know better.

We had a section of code where a new 'document' was created in our web app. A document in this app consists of data in various tables. So, what happens is, we start adding rows to the tables in the dataset, but before we add any rows, we turn off EnforceConstraints for the dataset.

Later, right before we Save the dataset, we run a method, IsValid, which turns EnforceConstraints back on, and checks the dataset's HasErrors.

So, our flow works like this:

CreateButton.Click
  EnforceConstraints = False
  ... add a bunch of rows, which may at times have Nulls where their shouldn't be.
  ... Nulls get filled in.
  IsValid
    EnforceConstraints = True
    ... If HasErrors, throw exception.
  Save
End Method

Now, what would happen if you put IsValid in the Watch window? That's right, EnforceConstraints would be set to True very frequently.

I'll go bandage the hole in my foot now.

A new idea in music.

2007-12-27T08:49:00.001-05:00

At least it is to me.
http://www.yourmusic.com/

It sounds like, you pay $6.99/month, and then order the CDs you want.

Has anybody tried this or investigated?

In regards to my last post

2007-12-20T10:06:00.000-05:00

Some may dislike my comments on a custom that many people cherish.

Everybody has beliefs. Some people base their beliefs on how they were raised. Some base them on what they hear at a church. The interesting thing is, many people do not question their beliefs honestly and openly very often.

I feel that I have based my beliefs on facts. Facts that I have seen with my own two eyes. There is nothing wrong with being presented with facts and coming to believe as the presenter, as long as your are testing their facts for truthfulness. My parents will confirm, I test.

I have come to believe, through non-biblical sources as well as the 'Good Book' itself, that the bible is the inspired word of god.
(2 Tim. 3:16) (also see New American Standard Bible)
Why You Can Trust the Bible

I have come to see that if you do not believe the entire bible, or add to it, you might as well not believe any of the bible.
(Galatians 1:6-9) (see also New International Version)
(1 John 4:3) (see also New American Standard Bible)
(Revelation 22:18) (see also New Living Translation)

I have come to see that God hates idols, idol worship, and using symbols, including trees, to worship him.
(Isaiah 40:18-22) (also see New International Version)

I have come to see that there is a better way to remember Jesus, and that Christmas actually DIShonors him.
(John 2:13-16) (see also Amplified Bible)
(A Birth to Be Remembered)

    Granted, Jesus’ birth was remarkable, but his early
disciples attached much more importance to what he did
and to what he taught. Surely God never intended Christ’s
birth to eclipse his life as a mature man. Yet, Christmas has
succeeded in obscuring the person of Christ in a mire of
Nativity legends and folklore.

Many people pray for god's kingdom to come, just as Jesus told us to.
(Matthew 6:9-13) (see also New International Reader's Version)
(What Does the Lord’s Prayer Mean to You?)

This model prayer says we should make God's name known. (Jesus' father)

It also states we should pray for God's kingdom to come.
Do you know what God's kingdom is or what it will do for mankind?
(Daniel 2:44) (Today's New International Version)

Perhaps we should focus on the everlasting message Jesus brought instead of giving each other gifts that will eventually come to nothing.
(What Does the Messiah's Coming Mean to You?)

You'll notice, I've used several bible translations to come to my conclusion. I've also included links in this post to resources that go into greater depth on the subjects. Shouldn't we all test our beliefs?

My thoughts exactly

2007-12-19T19:49:00.000-05:00

I had to post this. See more at http://www.dilbert.com/

>>>
Dear Dogbert,

How do holiday traditions get started? I mean, who goes first?

Brian

Dear Brine,

Traditions are started by attractive people who are not too bright. Ugly people can’t start trends, with the obvious exception of scrapping, because no one wants to do what ugly people do. And smart people are unlikely to come up with ideas such as killing a perfectly good tree, covering it with crap, and keeping it in the living room for a month.

Sincerely,

Dogbert

Cancer and Nuclear Power Plants

2007-12-10T09:02:00.000-05:00

I thought I learned about this in elementary school.

Child cancer risk higher near nuclear plants: study

Up to date

2007-12-05T11:49:00.001-05:00

To keep everybody up to date:
Circuit Assembly was great.

Steph is ok. She was only in the emergency room for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. They gave her an IV because she was dehydrated, and some medicine to settle her stomach. The doctor said it was a stomach virus and would run it's course. She's feeling better but week.

It's important to keep things up to date. But that can be hard when you have tons of links scattered throughout your blog. Like this link:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dndotnet/html/persistappsettnet.asp from a post on January 10, 2005. The page doesn't exist.

However, the page did once exist, and the Wayback machine helped me find it with this link: http://web.archive.org/web/20050909193245/http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dndotnet/html/persistappsettnet.asp

I'm taking some of the content, and I'm going to put it on my site, since it was so helpful to me.

The business trip that never was

2007-11-29T10:42:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday, Wednesday, I embarked on my first out of state business trip for CAI. We were headed to DC. We got here at 8AM, got our rental car and were on the road by 9AM. I was driving.

We got to DC and into a parking garage around 11:30 AM. Not too bad time-wise.

We grabbed some lunch, a great deli on the corner of 3 St NW and E St NW, called Jacks.

Took our lunch to the Judiciary building's cafeteria and ate. About 12:40 PM we headed up to the confrence/training room we were going to train in so we could be ready for the 1PM training.

At 1:30, nobody was there.

By about 3 PM we had found out nobody was going to be there, so we headed to the hotel and planned to be back the next morning.

Just as we pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, we get a call.
The attendees are at a Confrence out of state (New Orleans) all week.
So, instead of training in DC this morning, I'm here back at the office.

In case you didn't hear about the fire

2007-11-27T09:11:00.000-05:00

Red Lion Kingdom Hall fire
http://www.inyork.com/ci_7556528

Edit: By the way, this was not my Kingdom Hall, but one local. The day this happened we were supposed to have a brother from there give our talk.

Jump to video!

2007-11-14T13:02:00.000-05:00

I've posted pictures, hosted my own site, and done quite a bit on the internet. But I've never posted to YouTube.com, at least not till today.

Chloe Videos

I never had anything worth posting before.

Happy Blogiversary to me!

2007-11-06T14:46:00.001-05:00

Don't know if that's the word, but as of yesterday, this blog has been here for 4 YEARS!!! Wow!

Way to sell a book!

2007-11-06T14:35:00.000-05:00

I just received a free book, 'Small Business Specialist Primer', by SMB Nation Press.

It's quite a large book, I wondered 'Why get such a big book for free?'

Here's a few things I note:

No page numbers. You got the 12-2, 10-9, 8-2 thing going on.

In the section, About the Authors, one author, a lady, has this line in her bio:

Since she moved to Florida, she hasn't been to the beach.

I love the beach. I don't want to do anything that would prevent me from enjoying the beach from time-to-time. Does that mean that if I read this book, I won't get to the beach?

Perhaps my view will change as I read it.

Of Laptops and Builds, Time wasted in the development world

2007-11-01T10:24:00.001-04:00

Time is money.
Time is of the essence.
No time to kill.

Every second wasted is bad. That's the long and short of it. So, let me fill you in on how even a big(ger) development company can lost this valuable resource.

Hyper IT guys who think they know it all
If you can rush, and never miss a step, then rush. If you're gonna rush and miss key things, don't rush.

Our IT department has a procedure in place for rolling out new laptops. Backup the old one, and (within a day or two) give you the new one with all the software the developer has been using and will need. No settings are copied, but the software is supposed to be up and running.

Here's how my laptop upgrade went:
Backup my laptop - IT guy asks me when I'm working till. I tell him 5PM. I'll be by at 4:30 to backup your laptop. My thoughts are, he's gonna back it up and give it to me by 5? That's pretty good. So, 4:20 he comes and takes my laptop. At 4:50 PM I ask him how long it'll be.
"I hope you weren't waiting. I took it at 4:30 so you'ld have time to finish your other stuff before 5."

Umm.... I'm a computer programmer. Without a computer to program on, there's not much I can do. I know backups take longer than a half hour. I should have pressed for more information.

So, I get my old laptop back the next morning.

The NEXT Monday, afternoon, I get my new laptop. I'm told I can copy any data off my old laptop to the new one that I need.

I have several Virtual PCs I use for different project. We're talking several gigs a piece. So the IT guy is nice enough to put me on a separate hub so I won't have to deal with traffic/collisions on the Gigabit network. A nice little 10/100 hub.

Silly me, I Moved my data, instead of copy. Tuesday a little before noon, I go to get my SQL database running... and SQL Management Studio is not installed.

Long story short, I got my new laptop running Wednesday morning.

Poor Development Processes for Projects
I read Coding Horror daily. Here's another way a team can lose time, new people to the project not being able to come on board in a timely fashion.
The F5 Key Is Not a Build Process

Network checker

2007-10-24T13:27:00.000-04:00

This is a simple little tool, but it shows me what I want to know.
http://www.softperfect.com/products/networkscanner/

More pics of Chloe

2007-10-21T20:04:00.000-04:00

Here they are!

As a note, we will continue to add pictures to this link, so if you'ld like, bookmark it. :)

Smog

2007-10-16T08:51:00.000-04:00

A while back I mentioned the trip my wife and I took to Wyoming. One of the most stunning differences between Wyoming, and here on the east coast, was the sky.

Not the fact that you could see so much of it. Not the fact that you could see why the Milky Way is considered milky. It was simply the clearness of the air.

Landing in Philadelphia, we descended into a brown haze. I guess living on the east coast, and in NY city, I never really noticed how prevalent it was. But you literally felt like you were slowly dipping into cloudy lake water.

'Well, this is Philly', I thought.

But lately, as I drive into Harrisburg, I'm noticing the brown cloud that hangs over the city. And not just the city... but out into they nearby suburban developments, where kids play in their tiny backyards, and drink from the garden hoses fed by the river.

Don't get me wrong. I'm no tree hugger. I've wasted my share of resources. I put my recycling out. I try to re-use what I can. (I'm part swamp Yankee, and we'll save just about anything, 'just in case'.)

But I drive by myself from Lebanon to Harrisburg, a 45 minute drive. I know I'm putting unnecessary chemicals into the air. But I also feel strapped as to what I can do about it. It'll take an efficient car priced below $10k before I can join the 'green' driving elite.

And I'm not against public transportation either. But I'd have to drive to get to a bus stop, and then wouldn't get dropped off anywhere near where I work.

So, I wait, and watch that cloud every morning, spewing more out of my exhaust, but hoping I don't get any on me.

In the spirit of this post, here's an idea to make the most of your internal combustion engine.
http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Food-on-Your-Car%27s-Engine

The problem with 'Find location by Zip code'

2007-10-15T16:53:00.000-04:00

I live in an area where a zip code could be 30-45 minutes across. And I work in a different zip code than where I live. So let me lay out my problem.

Let's say I live in the western side of 'Town A'. Further west, we have 'Town B' where I work in the Eastern half.

If I do a search on my insurance company's site for doctors in the zip code of Town A, they may send me to a doctor in the eastern side of the town (remember, in this example, I live in the western side of the town.)

So, I drive 30-45 minutes WEST in the morning, to go to work. Then I have a doctors appointment, and have to drive maybe 1.5 hours (passing my house) to go to the doctor. That's just silly.

So, let's say I punch in the zip code for 'Town B', where I work, and they send me to the Western side of town. Here I'm working in the eastern side, so again it's all the way accross town. A 1.5 hour round trip.

Could I put in 2 addresses, and let our slaves of a computer figure out what doctors are in network (another issue) and on my route home.

Languages going extinct

2007-10-01T12:06:00.000-04:00

This is interesting to those groups who try to cover as many languages as possible.
Languages Racing to Extinction in 5 Global "Hotspots"

So satisfying

2007-09-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

I may have said it before, but I'll say it again. There is something so satisfying about this site: http://www.ssiworld.com/watch/shred.htm - Watch it Shred

And this one: http://www.willitblend.com/ - Will it Blend

Yes it's true... no not THAT!

2007-09-24T09:20:00.000-04:00

Yes, we're getting a new member of our family. No, not a people.

Check out our new puppy, coming home October 19th.

Oh yea... She's a Shih Tzu.

Updates to my site and blog

2007-09-21T16:40:00.000-04:00

You may have notices, that the 'Sites I Visit' section to the left has changed. This parallels changes I have made on my site.

I have added parts to my site's database, for Jokes, which I mentioned earlier. But now I also have a page of Quotes.

The main page of my site has had it's links cleaned up.

All three of these sections are not only database driven, but they also have a 'Newest!' section. This allows for you to quickly see what I've added recently.

Eventually, I'd like to do an RSS feed for Jokes and Quotes... but this is a start to simplify maintenance of my site.

Sandals and Crocs get eaten by the jaws of escalators.

2007-09-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

Never had a problem myself, but thought I'd pass this on:
Crocs, kids and escalators a bad combination?

My advice? Always pay attention to your children. Who wouldn't be careful with a two year old on an escalator anyway!!!

Protect yourself and clean up web pages!

2007-09-18T16:32:00.000-04:00

Ads!!! They're everywhere. Some of them aren't even that nice.

Here's a way to get rid of ads... it's not everything, but it helps.

http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/

Basically, it gives you a list of ad servers. You copy and paste the list into your hosts file, and whenever a page tells you to look at an ad from one of those servers, your browser looks for it on your own hard drive. But since it's not there, nothing comes up where the ad would be.

It's a little tricky, but if you have a geek handy, ask 'em to do it.

(Note: I've found a few ads that still come up. I look at the source, and add their server to the list, and viola, it's gone.)

Do you, and should you, believe everything scientists say?

2007-09-18T13:47:00.000-04:00

Most Science Studies Appear to Be Tainted By Sloppy Analysis

"We all make mistakes and, if you believe medical scholar John Ioannidis, scientists make more than their fair share. By his calculations, most published research findings are wrong."

Stick it to the man, yea!

2007-09-14T15:21:00.000-04:00

The Bank of America's ATM heist, or, Why we pay fees to get take money out.

And more words of wisdom

2007-09-07T09:11:00.001-04:00

Historic Pretzels-For-Little Debbie Swap Sparks Heavy Lunchtime Trading

Words of wisdom!!!

2007-09-07T09:04:00.001-04:00

In seattle washington it is illegal to carry a CONCEALED weapon over 8ft in length.

No more Distributed.Net!!!

2007-09-06T10:46:00.000-04:00

The RC5-72 challenge was discontinued in May. Therefore, there will be no reward for processing keys...

I'll leave the link to my stats up there for now. In the mean time, I will look into other distributed computing systems.

In fact, right now I'm trying Boinc.

Robotic telecommuting

2007-09-05T10:38:00.001-04:00

Okay, I don't like to repeat stuff, but this is something I think is worth repeating.

Meet IvanAnywhere

Why didn't somebody think of this sooner?

Wanna read Babylonian?

2007-08-30T11:16:00.000-04:00

From Slashdot:
DrJackson writes
"A new online translator that can translate Assyrian, Babylonian, Sumerian and Egyptian hieroglyphics (1 of the 3 types anyway) has been developed. This is the first time I ever saw a translator for cuneiform. Something like this would be great for translating interesting historical records like the Amarna Letters."

My system needs updating

2007-08-29T09:57:00.000-04:00

Boy, I need a new PC for my job, what do you think?

Actually, these are pictures from a site where a guy photographs old work-sites:

http://www.hebig.org/photos/

Bluetooth Headsets, Music, and Technology

2007-08-24T16:52:00.000-04:00

First of all, if I can't close a Word document, start a Remote Desktop connection, and bring up an IM window all while I have a Virtual PC running and Launchcast is starting the next song stream, then what good is this stinkin' laptop!!!

I've been listening to Launchcast lately. I held off because of fear of impacting the network here. But I came to two conclusions...

We have 100Mb network connections.
It doesn't really impact my experience.

So, I've also switched my music link to Launchcast instead of Last.FM. I just can't get away from the fact that LaunchCast is to me the best streaming music and rating system I have tried.

So, that covers Music and Technology, but Bluetooth?

I had a Jabra one-ear earpiece for my cell-phone. It worked pretty good for an inexpensive piece. I pretty much just left it in the car and used it there.

Then I started seeing these stereo Headphones/Headsets that worked with BlueTooth. I've hated being tethered to my laptop at work while listening to music, but these Stereo units were always $60 or better.

Then a couple of weeks ago I saw this: Kyocera Bluetooth Stereo Headset/Headphones

You can read my review... they work pretty good. A little tricky to figure out and get used to, but if you keep at it, they're not bad at all.

My bros wedding!

2007-08-13T11:22:00.000-04:00

We are all happy for Phillip and DeAnn as they have started their life together.

I have pics up here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkenyon2/sets/72157601262353851/