tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82917622012-02-16T04:29:37.026-06:00echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.comBlogger5101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-27828160371140051452011-09-21T13:30:00.001-05:002011-09-21T13:30:17.721-05:00

Halloween costume: Shitty old man. Shave top of head bald for receding hairline, but keep mullet. Shave beard except for mustache. Get plaid pants size 44 that fits over pillow stuffed beer belly. Accessories include coke bottle glasses with chain, cane.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-56213628005749191312011-09-20T13:53:00.001-05:002011-09-20T13:53:46.204-05:00

Trying out the Blogger app for the iPhone. Quite basic so far; no links, formatting, etc. Maybe simple enough for my needs.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-35032694652853909682010-02-13T21:15:00.000-06:002010-02-18T21:26:11.912-06:00

I had a breakthrough in my lucid dreaming experiment last night. One of my reality checks is to see if I can put my finger through my hand; if I can then I'm very likely dreaming. Well, last night I did a check and I could put my finger through my hand! However, I knew this wasn't possible and I kept doing it until I made it my finger not go through my hand. So, although I convinced my dreaming

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-51702577014609612192010-02-12T21:10:00.000-06:002010-02-18T21:15:04.641-06:00

So, I've been getting a salad from the cafeteria for the past few days and they charge by the ounce. Then I thought it would be interesting to rank all the food in the buffet by density, to be able to get the most volume of food for the cheapest. Then I thought this would be a good project for another day.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-19047890519782090942010-02-10T20:51:00.000-06:002010-02-18T21:03:28.709-06:00

I switched my work computer to use the Dvorak keyboard layout. I did a quick test to see my typing speeds. For comparison, I can type 60 words per minute using the usual QWERTY keyboard. As of today, I can type 16 wpm on the Dvorak. I'll let you know if it improves.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-61901760270665305182010-02-09T20:21:00.000-06:002010-02-18T20:51:04.317-06:00

I finally completed my first case mod. It actually only took about 8 hours (after 5 years of thinking about it). I wanted to put it in a small chest I had, but it was an inch too small for the microATX board I was using. I went to the thrift store and found small box with a removable glass front. After a bit of drilling and sanding, everything seems to be working. I'll have to monitor the

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-82059036430417876472010-02-03T18:03:00.003-06:002010-02-03T19:14:14.681-06:00

In seems like in most things I do in life, I get to a certain point and quit for some reason. I'm trying to figure out if it's motivation or lost of interest. However, these don't seem to explain it since I usually start seeing the benefits in the projects at the time I quit, which I would think would motivate me more. For example, this blog. I'm able to post quite a bit and then stop, but after

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-15161946358551617932009-07-09T21:45:00.009-05:002009-07-09T22:42:35.272-05:00

Alright, I think I'm back this time. I have many stories to tell, but I've already forgotten them. I'll start with this ...Short story, if you have a dripping shower, follow this post.Long story. The shower head was dripping for a week or two, so I figured I should look into it. For some reason, I assumed it was a bad O-ring on the classic pull out handle. First I turned off the water supply from

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-47762194950698174672009-04-29T18:09:00.002-05:002009-04-29T18:12:14.288-05:00

I'm testing the mobile Blogger app right now. And it appears to be working! Maybe I'll start posting more regularly.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-20745019545832650492009-02-28T16:10:00.001-06:002009-03-02T16:13:03.876-06:00

I spent the entire day sleeping off yet another illness. I don't know how you feel about being human, but I think it sucks.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-26219401650621707822009-02-27T23:59:00.001-06:002009-02-28T16:30:05.247-06:00

I worked from home today ... and yes, I actually worked. It's amazing how much you can get done when you really like what you're doing. I spent a solid 8 hours coding in SQL. The amazing thing is, I was able to produce an application that we asked IT to develop last year. They said it would take 6 months and cost over $200,000. Needless to say, I'm now working on an email to my boss.Also saw

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-12883120040069435082009-02-26T23:59:00.000-06:002009-02-27T08:40:16.557-06:00

I've been struggling to decide if I should stay with Blockbuster Online or switch to Netflix. I've been a long time Blockbuster customer and get currently get more than the highest tier offers for half the price. I've been holding out for when they get free online streaming similar to Netflix. My thought was that once they get it (and I've been waiting a long time), I'll still be a "valued

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-11746605799089631142009-02-24T22:21:00.002-06:002009-02-24T22:33:53.834-06:00

Alright, it's no excuse, but I finally got my MacBook back running after the power cord snapped in half. So we'll see if I can keep up with the blog this time.The two projects of greatest concern to you are probably my beginnings into Cocoa (for the purpose of making millions in iPhone apps) and developing a web application that Google will want to purchase.But first, I have to take out the trash

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-77687583627816501062008-12-06T21:18:00.000-06:002008-12-06T21:22:25.344-06:00

Whenever you open a non-liquor gift, loudly proclaim, “Oh, great, how the fuck am I supposed to drink this?” They’ll know what to get you next year.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-56861102655355064842008-09-24T22:30:00.000-05:002008-09-24T22:58:08.560-05:00

I was dragging yesterday ... I only got 3 hours of sleep Monday night, figuring I could make it up on the flight Tuesday morning, but that didn't happen. So I fell asleep at 9:00 last night. Now the cool thing is I think I've officially trained my body to only need 6 hours of sleep, because I woke up at 3:00 this morning and was wide awake, even after being exhausted.On my way back to the hotel,

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-89820270778892730802008-09-23T22:11:00.000-05:002008-09-24T22:30:46.750-05:00

I don't need to rehash my opinion on flight attendants, but c'mon! I don't need to be interrupted from a much needed nap to be asked if I want 30 cents worth of Pepsi.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-18032450963308967092008-09-22T19:48:00.001-05:002008-09-22T23:28:30.558-05:00

Now that I have a working laptop, I'm finding that I rarely use the office desktop. The problem with this is that I use Microsoft Money, which is only useful on a single machine and has severe limitations with online access of your personal finance information. Since 99% of my online time is on the laptop, I'd like to have this information where ever I am. So, I've been doing some research into a

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-86285225455472542232008-09-21T19:46:00.000-05:002008-09-22T19:48:28.575-05:00

Wow, over a month without an update ... where is my discipline?

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-72690265177833820932008-08-16T22:52:00.000-05:002008-08-19T23:00:23.822-05:00

I went paint balling today. I gotta say, it's incredibly fun. Like most things fun, it's just a bunch of adults pretending to be kids. But it is interesting to see how some people take it to extremes. I spent about $50 for the day, but there were some people spending hundreds on all sorts of things like grenades and mines.The very last game we played was capture the flag, and after crawling

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-75351453003317190312008-08-15T23:47:00.000-05:002008-08-19T22:52:27.174-05:00

I heard an interesting story today about the reCAPTCHA word verification appearing on sites lately. Very cool.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-18059989284773638972008-08-12T22:32:00.000-05:002008-08-12T22:33:14.139-05:00

... And we're back.Sometimes you just need a break from things, and other times things just break you. Over the past 17 months, I've been wondering if I should come back here and continue. Perhaps I should change format and get all weird on you. But then I was reading some of my past posts and saw how cool it was to have a history of my daily activity ... not at the tweeter level, but just

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-82595557560632199002007-03-15T23:46:00.000-05:002007-03-15T23:58:42.267-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that I lost my PSP. So now I've got to figure out if I buy another, or get a DS to play around with. I normally watch video, possibly listen to music and access the internet, and play a few games, which both can do. I do like the hackability of the PSP. I'll have to see if the price has any sway on the decision.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-57334916396451306422007-03-15T23:33:00.000-05:002007-03-15T23:46:03.694-05:00

Ohhh, my back is sore. Karl gave me a snow blower, but it's meant for a few inches, not 20. So, needless to say, my back is sore. I might have to look into getting a used snow blower for next year, but I can't believe how much they are. Instead of paying $500 for a decent used one, I'm considering seeing if the neighbor would take $10 each time I use his.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-14391794580136436222007-03-15T23:27:00.002-05:002007-03-15T23:33:31.293-05:00

Wow, the company actually shut down today. Granted, we probably have 16 inches of snow with more coming down. But, c'mon, it's only snow.Anyway, I took the full day to do some database cleaning on both the server and production PC, and a lot of transfering of files between the two. My movie collection is getting quite big. I like that.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-44804617025601326082007-03-15T23:27:00.001-05:002007-03-15T23:27:24.240-05:00

It started snowing pretty hard today. The last time my work closed due to weather was back in 1989. At about 11:30, the dude came over the intercom and suggested we go home ... done.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-43854605145211193872007-03-15T23:20:00.000-05:002007-03-15T23:26:10.196-05:00

It started snowing pretty hard today. The last time my work closed due to weather was back in 1989. At about 11:30, the dude came over the intercom and suggested we go home ... done.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-38683939674366285472007-02-27T23:05:00.000-06:002007-03-15T23:20:31.746-05:00

I got the hardware from uControl today. Since I already have an ADT system, this new module is supposed to simply snap into the system board ... and actually, it was quite simple. I was working on it during the evening, so I unplugged the horn (which I forgot to hook back up, now that I think about it). About an hour later, I had a web controlled, fully internet and cell monitored security system

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-64330213145048160682007-02-18T13:10:00.000-06:002007-02-19T15:00:54.752-06:00

I got up this morning at 6, giving me 3.5 hours of sleep, but yet I feel fine. I think I've finally conquered this sleep thing. I think what's more important than the amount of sleep is the schedule of sleep. I go to bed at midnight every night and wake up at 6. This routine is why I haven't crashed yet. Sure my brain isn't repairing and organizing, and they say I'm shaving years off my life, but

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-69287254117134833172007-02-18T13:01:00.000-06:002007-02-18T13:10:48.539-06:00

Oh man, what a day. Now that I'm sleeping between 5 and 6 a night, it sure makes the days long. Not in a bad way, it just seems that I'm doing a lot more (which I guess is the point). For example, I got up and did house chores for 4 hours, studied for 6 hours, hung out with family for another 6 hours, and then played Xbox for 2 hours. (A good way to get major progress is to host a coop game and

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-13374765293588949902007-02-18T12:57:00.000-06:002007-02-18T13:01:27.371-06:00

Black Licorice1 oz Sambuca1 oz KahluaMix and serve neat.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-72897979249073166542007-02-18T12:51:00.000-06:002007-02-18T12:57:36.808-06:00

As I convert movies on my main computer, I FTP them over to the Xbox, then use the Xbox to FTP them over to the server (I'm still trying to figure out why my PC can't see the server). But my router seems to occasionally lockup when moving these 2G files (at a snails pace of 1M/s, which is another story). I've done the usual troubleshooting, but to no avail. I guess it's just a feature of an old

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-52180375649452812112007-02-18T12:41:00.000-06:002007-02-18T12:51:16.177-06:00

I use ADT for the home security monitoring. A while back, I got Vonage and the security worked sometimes and not others. So someone came out and said that ADT rarely works with VOIP, and I should get the "cell backup". I told them to install it and thought I was good. Well, a few weeks ago I noticed the panel was displaying a failure to communicate code. Long story short, the ADT guy came out

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-89657258222413527492007-02-18T12:36:00.000-06:002007-02-18T12:41:20.924-06:00

I officially started the mass conversion of all my DVD's to the server. It takes my machine between 3 and 4 hours to convert one movie, running at 100%. My goal is to get four converted each day. I'm starting with the official DivX Converter, which so far can convert 80% of the movies. I'll either need to find another application to convert the other 20%, or store the set of VOBs for each

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-29655694559817420082007-02-18T12:31:00.000-06:002007-02-18T12:36:29.950-06:00

Aw man, I stayed up pretty late last night. Karl and I finally got some game time in. Here's a tip for you all: If you're at the very last guy and Karl wants to play coop from the beginning, don't do it. I lost my checkpoint and now have to go through the entire game again. I guess there's worse things.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-38380973198259085422007-02-17T13:58:00.000-06:002007-02-17T14:04:49.173-06:00

I'm slowly getting back into a routine. I was able to watch two movies tonight. I probably should be doing house things, but I figure as long as I can maintain warmth in and critters out, I'm doing alright.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-67122762525555371722007-02-17T11:44:00.000-06:002007-02-17T11:54:16.592-06:00

I've been having some problems with Mobil (Xbox) playing movies from zion (server). I recently reconfiged the samba users on zion and thought Mobil just didn't have access anymore. But I still could browse zion. I would queue a movie to play, Mobil would recognize it was a divx file, but then abort procedure. Maybe Mobil had read only permissions. So I change the directory to public executable,

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-51377717355270833602007-02-17T11:41:00.000-06:002007-02-17T11:44:16.599-06:00

Hey! Nothing broke in the house today!

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-13567254190533082442007-02-06T23:54:00.000-06:002007-02-07T00:12:18.823-06:00

Knapper's in London and I've been meaning to get him some info on where to find me some absinthe. After a little nagging from him, I figure it would be easiest to post it here. So here you are Knapper. Don't feel obligated to do any of this.Gerry's Wine & Spirits has a large selection of absinthe. See if they know where to get an absinthe glass. If you have time, could you also get a list, or

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-67623327293783161502007-02-06T23:41:00.000-06:002007-02-06T23:54:10.381-06:00

Ah yes. I love this house.I woke up to no running water. Went to the basement and found the main water pipe was frozen. Alright, this sucks. So I get the hair dryer out and start thawing the pipes. I left the laundry tub faucet on and could see water dripping out as the ice melted. At some point I heard the ice clanking around, which I thought was a good thing because that means I'm getting

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-68728927455525621102007-02-06T23:31:00.000-06:002007-02-06T23:37:33.544-06:00

The network is still down. I called Comcast (again) and they said 20% of customers in my area are experiencing problems. When asked what was causing it, they said because it's been so cold (-15 degrees), lines are snapping and they can't repair them fast enough.This got me thinking. One argument that Comcast uses to bash DirecTV is the idea you can't watch TV during bad weather. I so wished I

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-79435026597874726922007-02-06T23:27:00.000-06:002007-02-06T23:31:08.634-06:00

Saturday nights (late, late nights) have turned into gaming night. Karl and I have set it up to play some Xbox Live. I think it's been four weeks now, and we have yet to play together. The first three weeks, "something else" came up for Karl. Tonight it was me that didn't attend. My network went down, and I ended up spending two hours trying to get it back up. I've been doing a lot of file

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-44857901729998430252007-02-06T23:16:00.000-06:002007-02-06T23:27:47.627-06:00

I learned something today. Something very useful. Because I work at a large company, we have very strict internet blockers. I can't check web-based email, access web-based storage, nor view photo or video sharing sites. Somebody on digg mentioned that some administrators only block the domain name and not the IP address, either because they're lazy or leave them open for their friends. For

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-54296657725901561292007-01-31T22:56:00.000-06:002007-02-06T23:15:34.313-06:00

So, I've been following the Mooninites story, as has everybody else, so I won't retell it here. I'm not quite sure where I stand. Is it bad or good? Are they terrorists in that they instilled fear and panic, or was it a brilliantly planned joke that somebody didn't get? If they stuck stickers all over the city, I doubt there would be a story. We know what a sticker can do ... stick. But a device

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-52437323803671368832007-01-31T15:49:00.000-06:002007-01-31T16:02:27.221-06:00

I officially started studying this week. The exam is at the end of April, so this gives me about 3 months. The good news is that, including this one, I only have two more. There is hope ...I've also been decreasing the amount of sleep I get to see where a good balance of sleep deprivation and daytime alertness. Right now I'm at 6 hours. I'll probably remain here for a few weeks to see how it pans

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-84170312511019187982007-01-30T21:31:00.000-06:002007-01-30T21:44:31.031-06:00

I found my flash drive today. It was missing for at least two months. This gives me hope that my PSP is hiding in the house somewhere.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-38341677520452364622007-01-30T21:18:00.000-06:002007-01-30T21:31:30.654-06:00

Sunday's have kind of evolved into cleaning day, which is the worst possible use of time. I mean, can you imagine Martin Luther King vacuuming? Or Morpheus washing his whitie-tighties?By the way, Weather Man is not worth watching.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-14436335762404689712007-01-30T21:10:00.000-06:002007-01-30T21:18:17.675-06:00

I met some friends at Ichiban, a Japanese steakhouse; expensive as hell, but fun and tasty. We then went over to an English-style pub. Since I'm such a world traveler, I can say their attempt at getting the atmosphere right was valiant attempt, but you could tell it wasn't old and lived-in.Which reminds me ... Knapper is on London right now, and I'm suppose to send him some details on my next

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-60423624903384502492007-01-29T22:18:00.000-06:002007-01-29T22:28:51.125-06:00

So, as I was surfing the internet last night, I came across secretwalltattoos. Like many good sites, I came across this a few years ago, but forgot about it. So I was inspired and did my own. I of course didn't have my camera and had to rely on the cell phone (possibly the only time that a phone camera would have a good application, knapper). And naturally, I don't have the tools at the moment to

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-75280464739603996952007-01-29T22:13:00.000-06:002007-01-29T22:18:49.605-06:00

I brought my GPS device down with hopes I'd be able to find a cache. No such luck. After the all day meetings and eating dinner with everybody, it's about 9:00. And last time I tried to find caches during nightfall, I came dangerously close to getting eaten by an alligator. Well, a night surfing the internet isn't a bad second place.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-75121298270652742592007-01-29T22:05:00.000-06:002007-01-29T22:13:04.761-06:00

I'm in Phoenix and it's pretty nice, with temperatures in the 60's. I didn't find my PSP, so I was reduced to listening to music on the iRiver. Our meeting was at one of the infinite country club's in Arizona. It's actually pretty cool with massive stonework, leather libraries, stocked bar, billiards room ... I think I'd join if it weren't for the 80 year old pricks.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-5122529079059674382007-01-29T21:35:00.000-06:002007-01-29T22:05:12.226-06:00

I'm leaving for Phoenix tomorrow and was going to convert some diggnation to watch on the plane using my PSP. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it. It seems as of late, I'm misplacing things more frequently. I'm pretty sure I'll find it sooner than later, but there's a part of me that thinks I left it on the plane during my last trip. That would really suck, not only because of the replacement cost

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-38268270827794709492007-01-29T21:25:00.000-06:002007-01-29T21:35:16.476-06:00

I finally got around to bottling another batch of brew. An alarming find was that the final specific gravity of the beer was around 1.01, which according to the alcohol by volume formula, only produced 1.6% alcohol. Not that I'm brewing to get drunk, but it'd be a nice side effect of tasty homemade brew.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-55135217321376817362007-01-18T21:52:00.000-06:002007-01-18T21:55:28.706-06:00

I still can't get the Windows machine (where I do all my movie converting) to see the Linux server (where I want to host the converted movies), nor the other way around. Right now I'm using the Xbox to transfer the movies, since it's the only thing that can see all machines on the network. So I've queued up the latest 6 movies to transfer and I'll see if it's done in the morning. Remember, for

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-18142317628797491572007-01-18T21:49:00.000-06:002007-01-18T21:51:59.020-06:00

Arg ...

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-28818116039838258412007-01-16T13:31:00.000-06:002007-01-18T21:49:23.576-06:00

Ever since the new benefits at Blockbuster, I've been converting movies like a fiend to fill the server. Since I'm on the 3 out plan, I can return these to the store to exchange for 3 more, giving me 6 for the week. Plus, with the two free coupons a month, I figure I'll be accumulating 26 movies per month, almost one a day. All for $20 a month. I know I could download them all for free, but this

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-67567804719162050402007-01-16T12:43:00.000-06:002007-01-16T13:30:00.260-06:00

I went over to Knappers house to fix his computer. He was installing a Kodak photo program and got the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on every reboot. After booting from the Windows XP install disk, we copied the DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, and SYSTEM files from c:\windows\repair to c:\windows\system32\config. The repair directory contains these 5 files from the time Windows was installed (

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-4420711355210633822007-01-16T12:37:00.000-06:002007-01-16T12:42:16.125-06:00

So as I was finally relaxing at home, I thought of another project I'd like to do. I have several very old laptops laying idle. My idea is to mount one of them onto the wall in the kitchen. I'd use this mainly to display Google calendar and other things, like grocery lists and recipes. I just have to find the easiest applications to use and integrate. I'll probably install a fairly small linux

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-16024359495812032992007-01-16T12:33:00.000-06:002007-01-16T12:37:17.708-06:00

I stayed up pretty late tonight (it's actually well into Sunday) , and passed Gears of War on the 360. By pass I mean finished the story on Casual, the easiest level. To fully "pass" the game, you need to complete all "achievements", which include finding secret objects and playing a lot of people online. All in all, an excellent game.I'd also like to point out that I surpassed Karl in yet

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-70711189714391171712007-01-16T12:27:00.000-06:002007-01-16T12:31:37.097-06:00

I checked on my recent batch of brew and things don't look good. I originally set the primary fermenter on the concrete basement floor, which brought the temperature to 55 degrees, too cold for an ale. I have since moved it to a different room onto carpet and now its up to 65 degrees, perfect for an ale. But I haven't seen any fermenting activity. So either the fermenting happened quick and I

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-36214926125917471032007-01-16T12:19:00.000-06:002007-01-16T12:26:57.149-06:00

A pretty historic day in the family. Karl('s wife) had a baby girl today ... Marek Athena. Exciting times.On a tech note, the hospital had free wifi (but you still can't use cell phones). This is good because there's a lot of down time when staying several days in the hospital room. I guess he's been listening to Pandora. I've given this site a third try, and it's a neat idea. I'm not sure it

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168520996163285402007-01-11T07:05:00.000-06:002007-01-11T07:09:56.630-06:00

I've been waiting until TiVo shares got to $5.00 and I was going to buy a few hundred. It was creeping down everyday, getting very close (lowest was $5.05) and then they officially announced that they were going to be putting their interface on Comcast's DVR's. It shot up close to $6.00. In my opinion that's still undervalued. One of these days I'm going to pull the trigger, buy the shares, and

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168520689313748942007-01-11T06:58:00.000-06:002007-01-11T07:04:53.100-06:00

It's good when work goes by quick. I'm back doing a little coding and the day flew by. Because I'm not busy enough as it is, I started looking at learning Python. (I'd put a link in to show those not familiar that Python is a programming language, but I'm using the Konqueror browser which Google (Blogger) doesn't support.) The main reason for wanting to learn Python is that XBMC supports it.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168520273837780612007-01-11T06:49:00.000-06:002007-01-11T06:58:02.710-06:00

I was able to play a little Xbox Live tonight. And as expected, it was quite fun. I still find it amazing that you can online with up to 8 people from anywhere in the world, and game play is as seamless as playing offline. Rarely any lag, glitches, hangs, or disconnections. I'm sure a lot of work went towards building that network, so why is mine taking so long?

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168433252307243352007-01-10T06:33:00.000-06:002007-01-10T06:47:39.046-06:00

I was able to get to the homebrewing store yesterday to get some supplies. I made a batch of Aussie Light Ale. I want to set up a section on this site to track my batches. I guess yet another reason to switch from Blogger and host it myself. Until I do, here's the ingredients.Malt Extract: 3.3 lbs Gold LME, 1 lb DMESpecialty Grains: 8 oz Carapils Malt, 8 oz crystal 10L MaltHops: 1.5 oz Tettnang

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168309290155460892007-01-08T20:10:00.000-06:002007-01-08T20:21:30.560-06:00

Karl got an Xbox 360 for Christmas and has been raving about Xbox Live. I have been purposely not getting one, for the same reasons I didn't get the original Xbox for a while. Mainly because with my exams, I don't need any temptation to not study, but also just the whole time factor. Gaming can be quite expensive in terms of evenings. I have probably over 80 games for the Xbox, and I've really

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168301650186725612007-01-08T18:10:00.000-06:002007-01-08T18:14:10.440-06:00

I received a reminder of Blockbusters new feature. Currently I get three movies shipped using their online service, and get 2 free in-store rentals a month. Their new promotion involves returning the movies to a store, they mail them for you, and you get 1 free in-store rental per mailer. Plus, I can still use my 2 free coupons. So essentially I'm getting double the movies. This just in time for

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168301423981958902007-01-08T18:05:00.000-06:002007-01-08T18:10:24.193-06:00

I got around to installing Ubuntu on the server. It actually was quite easy. I ended up having to burn 3 copies before it worked, and even then it didn't install all packages. Luckily, it was enough so that I could boot it and finish the install over internet. I then got Samba up and running so that the Xbox can see it. I started moving all my movies to the server from the various other computers

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168301139167541022007-01-08T18:00:00.000-06:002007-01-08T18:05:39.583-06:00

In preparation of having a functional server once again, I decided to re-examine my movie converting process. I fired up DivX Converter and noticed there was an update. Now, DivX Converter isn't the best tool. For one, there's only a few properties you can change, which makes it an easy tool for one-click converting, but there's no flexibility if you run into issues. Anyway, they had a new

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168300843257579332007-01-08T17:58:00.000-06:002007-01-08T18:00:43.316-06:00

The home server has been down for some time. I was running a full version of Mandriva, but it was just bogging the ancient machine. I now burned a copy of Ubuntu Server. It's suppose to be a snap to install. We'll see about that.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1168300657878480792007-01-08T17:50:00.000-06:002007-01-08T17:57:38.163-06:00

Alright, so I missed a few more days. I'm really trying to get into a routine and get my nightly posts in. I guess it's fitting that it's a new year and I'm resolving to do this blog.Anyway, we had some friends and family over for the eve. It didn't get too out of hand this year. Everyone either left or went to bed before midnight and there were only three of us still around. We ended up watching

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1166837504252227442006-12-20T19:27:00.000-06:002006-12-22T19:31:44.453-06:00

I found out today that I passed my exam. I learned that the level of excitement of passing is far less than the disappointment of failing. But I'll take little happiness over extreme sadness. With this one out of the way, I only have two more to take to be done. And due to the schedule, I won't have anymore fall exams, only spring.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1166837265725517702006-12-14T19:25:00.000-06:002006-12-22T19:27:45.796-06:00

I was talking to some people today about my home network, on how I watch movies and listen to music using my Xbox to stream from the server. Nothing really too exciting, but they were impressed. It made me want to actually get some more work done on the network.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1166837060458336612006-12-13T19:20:00.000-06:002006-12-22T19:24:47.686-06:00

I flew into Hartford today for work. One good thing about plane rides is that I either get caught up on my diggnation or my sleep. Since I didn't have time to transfer any podcasts to the PSP, the sleep was great. I threw on my headphones and woke up when we landed. Since the plane didn't crash, I have proved that it's alright to keep electronics on during landing. Perhaps I'll submit a report to

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1166838030805663772006-12-11T19:37:00.000-06:002006-12-22T19:40:30.853-06:00

Well, another weekend went by and I didn't get to the home brew shop. I really need to get some sanitizer to brew another batch. I got a monthly kit for a gift and now have 7 kits to make. Hopefully the crushed grains are still good. What am I saying? I could brew some beer with lawn clippings and I'd still drink it.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1166836833100166912006-12-10T19:18:00.000-06:002006-12-22T19:33:33.073-06:00

I took an exam back in October. Results should be coming out next week. I can only hope it'll be good news.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1166836726779158402006-12-08T19:11:00.000-06:002006-12-22T19:18:47.610-06:00

I went to a Christmas party tonight. We went to eat and then to a musical. I'm sure the award winning show was great, but the nap I took during it was better. The slumber was probably induced by the amount of alcohol that was downed. We ate at an Italian restaurant, so naturally I ordered several sambuka's. The drink is usually served with three coffee beans and anything else is considered bad

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165553072361482402006-12-06T22:42:00.000-06:002006-12-07T22:44:32.653-06:00

I saw a fish house on the lake tonight. That's either dedicated or stupid.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165376119214318422006-12-05T21:25:00.000-06:002006-12-05T21:41:56.403-06:00

I was going through my Discover account and came across a transaction with "Devon Morseview Drug Chicago IL" as the description. I called them up and they didn't have any record of the transaction. So I called Discover to dispute. They put me on hold for about 30 seconds. They came back on, told me they contacted someone over at Devon and said it was an entry error. The whole call took less than

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165375503036222152006-12-04T21:11:00.000-06:002006-12-05T21:25:03.860-06:00

After some motivation from Knapper, I upgraded my TCF checking account so that I could start using their online bill pay for free. There's probably about 5 checks I have to mail every month, so I've already saved almost $2. I'm all for efficiency and not taking for granted when things run smoothly. I'd have to say that TCF was both efficient and smooth. I walked in, didn't need to wait, rattled

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165258026667808972006-12-03T12:43:00.000-06:002006-12-04T12:47:06.733-06:00

Yet another lazy Sunday. I'm starting to feel a bit guilty not getting a lot accomplished, but it's so fun having fun.It's hard getting back in the habit of updating this blog, especially when I'm currently not getting a lot of projects done. I don't think I want to stop posting, but I might change the format (frequency and content). We'll see ...

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165257794514256882006-12-02T12:40:00.000-06:002006-12-04T12:43:14.940-06:00

It's been a few months since I played my Xbox. So I finally got to put in a few hours tonight. Black was the game of choice. Along with Xbox, I also enjoyed a little Sambuca. It's an Italian liqueur with anise flavor. Between Sambuca and absinthe, I'm in licorice heaven.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165006334438918842006-11-30T14:50:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:52:14.523-06:00

I took today off, mainly to wait for the hot water heater installer, but also to try and catch up with a few projects (and also I have a lot of vacation to use before yearend). One project was to put lights in the huge pine tree in front. This thing is thirty feet tall. It was cold and windy, and I was standing on a 10 foot ladder with a 10 foot pole with my 7 foot reach ... almost made it to the

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165006222711061632006-11-28T14:48:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:50:23.510-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about personal finances lately, mainly trying to get back on top of things. It seems that during the study season, this is one area that I let go, probably because it doesn't need daily attention. Thanks to Knapper, I now have a few personal finance blogs in my feeds. Knapper also has been talking about possibly putting together a personal finance site, maybe with more

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165006091719582442006-11-27T14:46:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:48:11.763-06:00

The more I use digg.com the more I like it. At first I was just reading the front page and didn't find a need to create a profile, then I created a profile and starting digging articles. Then I started looking at the upcoming stories, playing with their visualizations, and adding friends. This is an incredible idea and seems to work good as long as, by definition of the site, users continue to

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165006000633678992006-11-26T14:45:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:46:40.710-06:00

Another lazy weekend. We watched some old home videos of a Jamaica trip. It got me thinking ... I've need to transfer all these tapes to the computer (I need to get the network running smoothly), I have to either get a new video camera or fix the current one, I need to shoot more video, I need to edit more video, and I need to start working out again.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165005919462182202006-11-23T14:44:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:45:28.063-06:00

It's easy to take for granted when things work smoothly. I compiled about 20 pictures of London using Picassa and put them on my flash drive. Karl uploaded about 30 pictures to Google's Web Albums using Picassa. Then after the Thanksgiving meal, I easily upload my pictures to his album and we used somebody's wireless laptop to display a slideshow through S-video to the TV. Brilliant.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165005841005207042006-11-22T14:43:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:44:01.110-06:00

Talk about a large vehicle ...

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165005771405878002006-11-19T14:41:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:42:54.256-06:00

This was the first weekend since my exam that I could really relax and do whatever I wanted. It seems like I'm really behind on a lot of projects. I got through my pile of periodicals and watched a few movies. I still have about 4 beer kits to brew. I need to start posting about my tech projects again, but I guess I actually have to do my tech projects.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165005698379349192006-11-14T14:40:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:41:38.496-06:00

The first day back in the routine of work. I think I can officially say that I have no jet lag. I think staying on the roughly same sleeping schedule (+/- 4 hours) sure helped. Towards the end of the London trip, I could feel my body wanting to shift sleeping patterns, but it's all mind over matter. Anything longer than 4 days would have been difficult.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165005638410255662006-11-13T14:39:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:40:38.530-06:00

The day went by quick and now I'm finally back home. The past week sure seems like a whirlwind. I'll let you know tomorrow if I have any "jet lag".

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165005545358302472006-11-12T14:37:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:39:05.496-06:00

Today was the day I returned to the States. Because it's actually 2:00am here in Hartford, I'll keep this brief. I was supposed to arrive at 11:00pm, but of coarse there were delays. I'll sleep for a few hours and then get into the Hartford office, do a presentation on something, and fly back to Minnesota Monday evening. (One of the reasons I went to London was that the airfare was only $80 more

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165005263197641002006-11-11T14:30:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:37:03.883-06:00

We got to London early today and attempted taking a double decker bus tour. We sat up on the open top to get good views. I think it would have been more enjoyable if it wasn't 30 degrees and windy. The tour had predetermined stops where you could get off, look around, and wait for the next bus running every 20 minutes. This is a good idea except when you see something midway between stopping

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1165004992168924852006-11-10T14:24:00.000-06:002006-12-01T14:29:56.513-06:00

It sure gets dark here early. We ended up going into London in the afternoon. Without the internet, the public transit would be slightly confusing ... I kinda take that back. I'm the type of person that likes to research options before hand and come up with a plan. Karl is the type of person that likes to take the probable plan and deal with obstacles as they come. So, I think if you just threw

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1163111662571214102006-11-09T16:34:00.000-06:002006-11-09T16:34:22.883-06:00

Wow, seven months since my last post. I apparently got out of the routine of posting nightly, and apparently one thing lead to another, and now it's November. I suppose a brief update regarding the last few posts might be good ... I ended up not taking the spring exam and sat for the fall exam, which was last Thursday. There, all caught up.As a treat, more an opportunity, I booked a trip to

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1144722843414889842006-04-10T21:25:00.000-05:002006-04-10T21:34:33.450-05:00

Well, it didn't take long at all. I had a nice leisurely day yesterday, and today my project list picked up right where I left it several months ago. Actually, it grew quite a bit. I guess it will keep me busy.The first project I want to tackle is to finally get the network in order. It's currently in a state of "barely working". I need to run a lot more wire, tweak the hell out of the current

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1144722350994977332006-04-08T21:16:00.000-05:002006-04-10T21:25:51.403-05:00

Some friends I haven't seen in a long time came over tonight. It was good to see them. It seemed like we all picked up conversations with ease that we had months ago, as if we saw each other yesterday.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1144721807260710682006-04-07T21:15:00.000-05:002006-04-10T21:16:47.390-05:00

I accidentally took my advice and came to grips with not taking an exam this sitting ... and I had a pounding headache all day from last night.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1144721675046864262006-04-06T21:12:00.000-05:002006-04-10T21:14:35.406-05:00

Still no final word on the exam. I'm going under the assumption that it's not going to happen. I better come to grips with it soon. The sooner I do, the more time I have to do other projects.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1144345836631035002006-04-05T12:50:00.000-05:002006-04-06T12:50:36.756-05:00

I'm receiving word of all the people that have been calling the admissions office on my behalf and it still sounds like I won't be taking the exam later this month. It seems that this situation has received attention at other levels of my company and of the CAS office. From what I can gather, several people from within my company have called, which prompted the CAS to reconsider my situation.

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8291762.post-1144345502074157872006-04-04T12:39:00.000-05:002006-04-06T12:45:02.146-05:00

Another bad day. I called the head of admissions and told him my story. He said it was unfortunate that somehow my application literally got lost in the mail. He also said that the registration deadline was March 15 and they don't give exceptions to that rule. I find this incredibly ridiculous. I can see having a deadline so they don't have applications coming in at the last second. But an honest

echohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10343033316616996888noreply@blogger.com0