Windows Live has this cool thing where it reminds you about your contact’s birthdays (the “Birthday Calendar” I think…). And yes, I’ve come to rely on this feature. Unfortunately, I can’t quite bring myself to trust the system completely, so whenever I get the alerts, I also get this nagging doubt that it’s not really that person’s birthday and that I’ve really just misentered their contact info…

Wow Windows XP is showing it’s age…the RTM installation disc I have is reacting badly to the >127GB hard drive I’m trying to install on…(yes, I know the way to correct this is to use SP1…which is why I’m slipstreaming SP3 onto a new installation disc right now…)

Hey! xcopy on Windows 7 seems to have a new option: /J (“Copies using unbuffered I/O. Recommended for very large files.”) Cool!

Command just used to build the Windows XP with SP3 disc: oscdimg -n -b"amd64\boot\ETFSBOOT.COM" -lWXP_VOL_EN_SP3 -t04/14/2008,07:53:59 -g -h -maxsize:4096 "E:\CD Build\windows_xp_sp3" "E:\CD build\windows_xp_sp3.iso". I’m probably a short DVD burn away from finding out just how wrong that was…(much later)…hey, that actually worked!

Oo…coool…Windows XP does have regional settings for Filipino…too bad the timezone stuff doesn’t have one (instead I end up guessing…”it’s close enough to Singapore, right?” note that this results in the timezone being "Malay Peninsula Standard Time")

Who makes & sells a DVD drive that can’t play DVD’s?!?!?! I mean, I could sort of understand a bare OEM drive…but these are boxed retail drives from HP! Grrr…

Now playing: (nothing but the sound of computer fans)

• Disaster movie parody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW2qxFkcLM0
• I live in the orange building in the background :) : http://twitpic.com/e5ggu
• Hey, I was *there* back at the beginning of July! : http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/good_brakes/
• Interesting site...don't like the pay part though, since it's simple enough to get all the information yourself : http://www.spokeo.com/single/search?e=jstults@live.com (via http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2009/08/how-to-figure-out-if-youre-dealing-with-a-nutcase.html)
• Cool explanation of differential (used in cars) : http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=4642
• Not sure any of these really apply : http://graphjam.com/2009/08/26/song-chart-memes-have-girlfriend/
• Interesting application...I doubt my TV supports it though : http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090829/windows-7-application-controls-backlight-ordinary-webcam/
• Oh no! Squid! : http://scienceblogs.com/bioephemera/2009/08/the_ultimate_squid_self-portra.php
• Someone has too much marketing money : http://channel9.msdn.com/forums/Coffeehouse/488414-Do-you-bing/
• We don't have fancy IP phones at work. I've thought that it'd be a good idea to actually upgrade to modern technology, but this post (and especially the comments!) has been making me reconsider that idea... (update: surprise! guess what phones we're getting now at work!) : http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2009/08/25/9883078.aspx
• Amusing : http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/rotated_images/huh...never knew this was how a sewing machine worked : http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/sewing_machine/
• For some reason the geek in me wants one of these trash cans now : http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/advances_in_trash_cans/
• Ah, to be a kid again. Although going this far might be a bit too much. : http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/lego_house/

Now playing: Pete Samples – Yours Makes Mine – 04 Between Exhales

So back at the end of June I headed up to Seattle to hang out with my friends Emil & his girlfriend. First goal: stop by Leavenworth, see the faux-Bavarian-ness, and have Emil's girlfriend eat one of the pig legs (there’s an actual German-ish name for it that I can’t remember…) that had been recommended to her by her coworkers (co-interns?) at Microsoft. It was…larger…than anticipated. Leavenworth was fun in a ludicrously touristy way, complete with the crazy thick crowds. Second goal: get to Grand Coulee Dam and check out that engineering marvel. It’s definitely impressive! And the laser show at night was really cool. Third goal: stop at Lake Chelan and see that “gateway to the North Cascades”. That was less interesting for me, but it was still a nice chance to get out of the car for a bit. Yeah, there was lots of driving on this trip :). And all of this was just on the weekend!

So after that weekend I had another 2 days up in Seattle, so I did touristy stuff around the city. Got to finally the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project (EMP), general downtown (was looking for the SafeCo office, but I couldn’t remember the address at all, so it ended up just being just wandering over dozens of blocks), and the wharf area. Also stopped by Pike Place Market, the University of Washington campus, Gasworks Park, and took the Ride-the-Ducks tour. So lots of stuff, and lots of fun!

And lots of pictures :). But here are a select few; the full photo set can be found in the Seattle, WA Vacation (2009-06) album.

US-2 on the way out to Grand Coulee Dam

Grand Coulee Dam itself, as seen from the top of the extension added to accommodate the third powerhouse

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall screen-thingys at Seattle Center

Space Needle (and a little bit of the Experience Music Project (EMP))

Seattle waterfront, seen from a pier on the wharf

Hill in Gasworks Park, Seattle, plus a bit of the tops of the remains of the gasworks

Now playing: Learn Filipino – Book 1, Disc 1 – 12 Pronunciation-Malumay-03-82*
* Note on now playing: yes, I’m trying to multitask, and no, this probably isn’t a good idea…hehe…but it’s now abundantly clear that my mapping of sounds-to-language needs mountains of work…

So it's cooler here in Portland. Yay! Now, I know I should really follow up the previous link post with a picture post, but here's another link post anyway. And I could probably put more commentary here in the introduction, but meh? why bother?

• Not sure why these little miniature cities amuse me so much, but here's one made from staples.
• Interesting idea regarding meetings. Not sure it really applies to me anymore, since I don’t really "create" stuff anymore, but I still dislike meetings.
• Huh, wonder if there’s any truth to this comic/graph. Of course, I'm probably the wrong person to talk to about verifying the presence/absence of truth there…
• And as a sort of sick, twisted, follow up to that, there's this disturbing link. It's sad (and more than a little scary) what the mind will do to a person. :(
• In more depressing news: see this funny quote & think about its truth/falsity.

Now playing: Emm Gryner – The Original Leap Year – 04 Your Sort of Human Being

So it's kind of hot here in Portland now. Consequently, going outside would be…annoying (I don't care what people say about "dry heat", it's still hot)...which means it's another inside fun day. Unfortunately there's only so much movie/tv watching one can do before becoming bored, I (finally) finished rereading Cryptonomicon again and don't have any other books lined up yet, and I've spent my hour studying (and getting frustrated by) Tagalog, so onto website stuff. The easiest thing of which to do is write another post. So, here are the links:

• Uber cool! (via Bink.nu)
• Having worked in a large organization, ostensibly on a 'large' project, news like this no longer surprises me.
• I like this comic, but have this sneeky suspicion that my liking of it would be misinterpreted if anyone I actually knew visited this site (other than the bots that I'm making friends with...hi search engines/hackers/spammers/content theives!)

Now playing: Josh Ritter – Golden Age of Radio [Bonus CD] – 01 Come and Find Me

Okay, okay, so these are all from Fleet Week rather than the Rose Festival itself. I can’t help it; parades get to be boring, and the International Rose Test Garden is too busy.

HMCS Algonquin, HMCS Nanaimo, HMCS Whitehorse, USS Shoup during Fleet Week in Portland. Note the fact that 3 Canadian Forces vessels were present, and only 1 US Navy ship was...

No ships in this one. Instead, there’s the esplanade, interstate highways, the Oregon Convention Center, and Liberty Center (where I work). Yes, this shot (& posting) is just a gratuitous attempt at showing people where I work. And I know it’d work a lot better if I wasn’t on the 3rd floor, which is conveniently hidden behind the concrete of an interstate ramp and 1/2 mile of buildings.

Steel Bridge with TriMet MAX train. See! It wasn’t entirely cloudy that day!

USS Shoup in profile against part of downtown Portland.

The Canadian Forces ships again. HMCS Algonquin, HMCS Whitehorse, HMCS Nanaimo (not visible; hidden behind HMCS Whitehorse).

Now playing: Emm Gryner – Science Fair – 06 Good Riddance

• I will was *not* be this pathetic when I'm on vacation in the middle of no where (thank you cell phones & tethering)
• Oooo...legos...
• Having flown again, I support this
• As a response to Emil's Youtube video, I give you this link
• Pretty…
• umm...interesting?
• Cryto news
• Pretty city...both intact & probably while burning

Now playing: The Consumer Goods – The Terminator Rules

New! Improved! Now with inline hyperlinks!¹

• Thieves!
• For some reason this makes me nervous about spec'ing out anything... (via http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2009/06/01/bug-psychology.aspx)
• Some people might consider my apartment bad, but this is ridiculous (note: "some people" are wrong in this case; my apartment has its electronic contents nicely organized).
• Apparently all I need to do to shed the whole nerd/geek image & become "cool" is go blow stuff up & walk away. Umm...sure...
• Mmmmm...doughnuts...
• Fun with locks! (yes Emil, you have a long ways to go with your bump keys) (via http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/locks_arent_really_effective/)
• -dsr-'s comment is hilarious (read the post first of course)
• Having this many email accounts actually isn't that impressive if you know a little about Exchange 2007 & Windows PowerShell...such as:
  for($i = 0; $i –lt 6000; $i += 1)
  {
  new-mailbox -UserPrincipalName "Me$i@ntldr.net" -alias "Me$i" -name "Me$i" -database "Storage Group 1\Mailbox Database 1" -OrganizationalUnit 'examples' -DisplayName "Me $i" -ResetPasswordOnNextLogon $true
  }
  (warning: for the kids following along at home, I don't actually have an Exchange Server anymore, so I haven't tested that command. and even if it's error free, why would you want 6000 accounts?!)
• Interested in Bing? Wondering how good the results are? Someone set up an interesting comparison site. (via http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090607/bing-vs-google-vs-yahoo-blind-search-engine-test/)

 

Extra special bonus feature:

So I got the following email message from my mom last week:

See your Mom on YouTube!!

and was immediately filled with a weird curiosity and a sick terror wondering if this was somehow going to be one of those horribly embarrassing videos where people just do stupid things (& (usually) get hurt). Fortunately it was just moderately embarrassing and for work. :P So I'll share my link love (rofl! hahaha...like that's worth anything...I've seen how many pages down into the search results some visitors have had to go to finally stumble across this site!), and everyone can check it out: http://www.youtube.com/tcpllibrary

Extra, extra special bonus feature:

So, there's been a bit of speculation lately about why I blog (& why it's increased lately). The general consensus amongst other people seemed to be that it's because I'm lonely & am seeking attention. LOL! Duh, it's a blog. That's like saying the sky is blue because of light's refraction through the atmosphere. ...err... maybe not quite that metaphor. Whatever...was going more for the whole "that's the way it works because that's what it means to be that" thing... (actually, there was a bunch of additional context around the whole question that makes it interesting, but I'm trying to avoid the whole emo-teen-agnst-livejournal vibe because I'm a mature technology professional maintaining a professional Internet self-marketing presence (haha...okay, so really I'm just too lazy to create & install a black-text-on-black-background DasBlog theme :P))

¹ Rose Festival/Fleet Week 2009 pictures coming later this week...or next...hopefully I'll be more punctual with this year's photos than I've been in previous years.

Now playing: Sebastien Grainger & the Mountains – Sebastien Grainger & the Mountains – 10 American Names

So, apparently there's some confusion about what the picture in the last post was. Something from someone about "dude, why’s there a picture of an airplane crashing into a white tower with a grey skeleton walking by." Ahem.

IT'S A FREAKING WIND TURBINE! See! Here's what they look like when complete! :

Here, maybe it'll help more if I show a bigger panorama (click for large size so the white things sticking up in the background are more visible):

(ignore the car in the picture; it's not really relevant to the windmills/wind turbines (sorry, I still think of them as windmills & have finally gotten tired of correcting myself) that are under construction.)

Also, I'd think that following the link to the XKCD comic would be a bit of a tip-off as to what the picture was off…never mind the direct reference to Don Quixote (the inference of which the comic leaves "as an exercise to the reader"). Whatever. :)

Now playing: Maybe Smith – Animals & Architects – 02 Hearts Like Bears

Thank goodness Don Quixote was here! Knocked the top right off the fearsome turbine-alien.

Now playing: Wintersleep – Welcome to the Night Sky – 04 Weighty Ghost