Today's funnies

Submitted by BT from MTL
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Last May, Boudreaux married an attractive woman, Lola, half his age. After several months, Lola complained that she had never climaxed during sex; and according to her Grand Momma, all Cajun women are entitled to a climax once in a while. So, to resolve the problem, they went to see the large-animal Vet since there was no trustworthy doctor anywhere in Carencro. The Vet didn't have a clue, but he did recall how, during the hot summer, his Momma and Daddy would fan a cow that was having any difficulty breeding with a big towel. This would cool her down and make her relax. So the Vet told them to hire a strong, virile, young man to wave a big towel over them while they were having sex. This, the Vet said, would cause the young wife to cool down, relax, then climax.

So the couple hired a strong young man from the big city of Baton Rouge to wave that big towel over them as the Vet suggested. After many efforts, Lola still had not climaxed! They went back to the Vet. The Vet said for Lola to change partners and let the young man have sex with her while Boudreaux waved the big towel. They tried it that night and Lola went into wild, screaming, ear-splitting climaxes, one right after the other for about two and a half hours. When it was over, Boudreaux looked down at the exhausted young man and in a cocky manner said . . . . .

"And DAT, my friend, is how you wave a towel!"

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THE BIRDS AND THE BEES

A father asked his 10-year old son if he knew about the birds and the bees. "I don't want to know," the child said, bursting into tears. Promise me you won't tell me."

Confused, the father asked what was wrong.

The boy sobbed, "When I was six, I got the 'There's no Easter Bunny' speech. At seven, I got the 'There's no Tooth Fairy' speech. When I was eight, you hit me with the 'There's no Santa' speech. If you're going to tell me that grown-ups don't really get laid, I'll have nothing left to live for!"

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SUMBICH

A filthy rich North Carolina man decided that he wanted to throw a party and
invited all of his buddies and neighbours.

He also invited Leroy, the only Redneck in the neighbourhood.

He held the party around the pool in the backyard of his mansion.

Leroy was having a good time drinking, dancing, eating shrimp, oysters
and BBQ and flirting with all the women.

At the height of the party, the host said, "I have a 10 ft man-eating gator
in my pool and I'll give a million dollars to anyone who has the nerve to
jump in."

The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a loud splash and
everyone turned around and saw Leroy in the pool!

Leroy was fighting the gator and kicking its butt!

Leroy was jabbing the gator in the eyes with his thumbs,
throwing punches, head butts and choke holds,
biting the gator on the tail and flipping the gator
through the air like some kind of Judo Instructor.

The water was churning and splashing everywhere.

Both Leroy and the gator were screaming and raising hell.

Finally Leroy strangled the gator and let it float to the top like a dime store goldfish.

Leroy then slowly climbed out of the pool.

Everybody was just staring at him in disbelief.

Finally the host says, "Well, Leroy, I reckon I owe you a million dollars,"

"No, that's okay. I don't want it," said Leroy.

The rich man said, "Man, I have to give you something.

You won the bet. How about half a million bucks then?"

"No thanks, I don't want it," answered Leroy.

The host said, "Come on, I insist on giving you something. That was amazing.

How about a new Porsche and a Rolex and some stock options?"

Again Leroy said no.

Confused, the rich man asked, "Well, Leroy, then what do you want?"

Leroy said, "I want the name of the sumbich who pushed me in the pool!"

A funny reposted due to technical difficulties

You got to love this guy.

This is a true story about a recent wedding that took place at Clemson University. It made the local newspaper; even Jay Leno mentioned it.

It was a huge wedding with about 300 guests. After the wedding, at the reception, the groom got up on stage with a microphone to talk to the crowd. He said he wanted to thank everyone for coming, many from long distances, to support them at their wedding. He especially wanted to thank the bride's family & to especially thank his new father-in-law for providing such a lavish reception. As a token of his deep appreciation he said he wanted to give everyone a special gift just from him. So taped to the bottom of everyone's chair, including the wedding party, were an envelope. He stressed that this was his gift to everyone, & asked them to open their envelope.

Inside each manila envelope was an 8 x 10 glossy of his bride having sex with his best friend, the best man. The groom had gotten suspicious of them weeks earlier & had hired a private detective to tail them. After just standing there, just watching the guests' reactions for a couple of minutes, he turned to his best man & said, "F--- you!" Then he turned to his bride & said, "F--- you!" Then he turned back to the dumbfounded crowd & said, "I'm outta here." He had the marriage annulled first thing the following morning. While most people would have canceled the Wedding immediately after finding out about the affair, this guy goes through with the charade, as if nothing were wrong. His revenge--making the bride's parents pay over $32,000 for a 300+ guest wedding & reception, & best of all, trashing the bride's & his best man's reputations in front of 300+ friends & family members. This guy has balls the size of church bells. Do you think we might get a Master Card "PRICELESS" commercial out of this?

Elegant wedding reception for 300 family members & friends: $32,000...
Wedding photographs commemorating the Occasion: $3,000...
Deluxe two week honeymoon accommodations in Maui: $8,500...
The look on everyone's face when they see the 8x10 glossy of the bride humping his best man: Priceless...

There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's MASTERCARD!

IT Tidbits: PC World - Prince to Sue YouTube, eBay Over Music Use

PC World - Prince to Sue YouTube, eBay Over Music Use

IT Tidbits: PC World - First Look: Apple's 160GB iPod Classic

PC World - First Look: Apple's 160GB iPod Classic

IT Tidbits: Today @ PC World iPod Touch: Gorgeous and Talented, but is it Overqualified?

Today @ PC World iPod Touch: Gorgeous and Talented, but is it Overqualified?

Today's funny

Submitted by DW
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Subject: FW: Trini Beggar


Every morning John would drive by Wrightson Road and every morning he would stop and give the resident beggar $10.00. After a while John started to give the beggar $7.00. The Beggar noticing that his money has been reduced was not too pleased, but said nothing. After a while John started to give the Beggar $5.00. The Beggar noticing this further decrease became noticeably upset and decided to speak to John about it.

He stopped John one morning after accepting $5.00 and said, "Wah happening man". "yuh use to give me $10.00, den yuh cut it down to $7.00, now dis?"

John replied, "Boy, times get hard. Meh eldest boy just start university and meh daughter now in High School...so you know how it does go..."

The beggar looked at him with impatience and asked, "Exactly how much chirren yuh have boss?"

"Five" replied John

The now irate beggar asked in a tone of disbelief, "So yuh mean to tell me that is outa MY money yuh sending yuh chirren to school?"

IT Tidbits: Apple love/hate

OK, my enthusiasm has been dampened. While the new Apple line of Mac products are indeed what I reported yesterday, it is not what I actually envisioned. The biggest disappointment for me is that the iPod Touch is more a supersized Nano/neutered iPhone than an updated iPod video (nee Classic). As such, the new must have iPod will only have capacities of 8GB and 16GB in NAND flash chips. The new iPod video, now called Classic, has been redesigned and price chopped BUT it has the same click wheel interface as the previous model and not the spiffy new touchscreen. This may not be a big deal for some but it is disappointing for those of us looking to have the go to item with the 160GB hard drive, sweet 3.5in screen and super wicked interface. I just know those bastards at Apple will bring this out next Christmas so they can megabyte me until then; I won't be spending my hard earned cash on this stepping stone of models.

Now, that said, for those of you currently without an iPod of any kind, you are going to have a field day. Why? Well, for starters, the retailers and first adopters are going to be trying to get rid of the old models so prices are going to drop and sales will be on often. They simply cannot sell the last generation flagship model at the same price as the new flagship since the consumer will not pay for a model that is half the size and larger than the new one. The Nanos have also changed radically so only those not interested in playing video (soon to be the minority player buyers) will want to try to snap up the phased out colourful players. The new Nanos are like mini iPod Classics sporting a larger screen and the ability to play videos. This was a necessary move by Apple as ALL their competitors in the same price range have offered more features like AM/FM radio, voice recording and video playback (albeit on 1.8 OLED screens) to battle the Nanos dominance. I guess the other players have cut into the profits enough to force Apple to make this change.

So, my advice to you is to do your research before you buy. Weigh the cost to the features and to your needs to make an informed decision. And, if you trust my judgment, by all means send me an email and I will try to help you wade through all of this.

Ciao.

IT tidbits: Apple announces iPod overhaul; cuts iPhone price - Sep. 5, 2007

Uhm, I need to wipe up. Excuse me for a moment..... Ok, I'm back and I'm calm. I've been waiting for this for a long while. Along with a whole lot of other Apple watchers and lovers, we knew this time would come; we knew it was inevitable.

When DW gets her new iPod (yes, she gets almost ALL new technology coming into the house first), it will be the fourth of six generations of iPods this family has owned (not including the shuffle which TC was able to successfully destroy as quickly and efficiently as her uncle used to). We still have all the iPods we purchased as they may get old, bulky, have shorter battery life and less featured than each successor but they still have purpose and function. We have the bulky 2nd gen touch wheel 20GB unit, the click wheel 4th gen 40GB unit (bought mere months before the bastards added colour and then photo capability, but I'm not bitter) and a click wheel fifth gen 80GB iPod video (bought at an incredible price from our local FS thanks to a flub in another store's flyer) which DW thought she would not use often enough to make it worth the expense but now uses daily.

Steve Jobs used to seem annoyed when people asked him about adding video to the iPod. He brushed off all suggestions of such a move saying that the iPod was a music player and that is what people wanted to do with it. Obviously, his tune for his "music" player changed quite rapidly and convincingly as he recognized that those who brought forth the first video players did not do it quite right. With the iPod video, he made it easy to watch video on a handheld unit and, with the already established click wheel interface, made it easy to navigate the various video files on the unit. Then, with the update in iTunes and the iTunes store, made it easy to purchase and store new videos, TV and movies on the iPod.

Evolution and Revolution are now upon us though. Not only is wireless capability being added to one model, but the anticipated new model iPod, the iPod Touch, is being released as everyone that has followed the iPhone new was going to happen. If you have been under a rock someplace, the iPhone is a smartphone from Apple that has been hailed as the coming of the phone that everyone really wanted. Naturally, that is not quite true but it is darn close (and possible once they add the features they bloody should have in the first place). The iPhone brought to market a touchscreen interface that basically worked as advertised. It utilizes a glass screen that everything I had read says is virtually impossible to scratch (i.e. keys scraped directly across it does nothing) but super easy to smudge, thus an included cloth. It's a very nice unit to look at too but the most important feature is the one you don't actually see but runs the whole thing: the operating system.

While a lot of different phones have a lot of different operating systems, only the ones based on the PocketPC format running a mobile version of Windows called Windows Mobile 6.0 (used to be Window CE) are close to what Apple is doing now. The iPhone, and soon every other device that Apple makes, will be running on a version of their venerable Mac OS X, which itself is based on BSD, a UNIX variant. What this means is that programming and developing for all Apple products just got a whole lot simpler for those in that line of work. It also means that every device running Mac OS X just got a whole lot smarter, more powerful and most important, more extensible. That last point is what drives the Apple machine; third party add ins. Let's be honest, nothing says individuality than having the latest and greatest gadget add on to your Mac, iPod, or Nano. There is a HUGE industry built up to provide us with things we do not need but we always want to set us apart from the other people around us with the same devices. That leopard-skin iPod case does not protect it anymore than the much cheaper silicone one but, arguably, looks so much better.

Now, while I will be looking more for a nifty new leather holster for the iPod, it is the new iPod itself that has me salivating and wet like a, er, nevermind. Suffice it to say that I am excited by the prospect of new technology. I wanted an iPhone and, now that it has been hacked to work on any GSM system, I may yet get one. However, the iPod Touch is definitely on the list of next to get. DW, prepare to receive new tech. Sweet Mother!!

Apple announces iPod overhaul; cuts iPhone price - Sep. 5, 2007

Today's funnies

I must apologize as I keep forgetting to credit BT from MTL for the various laughs I've shared in the last while.

Enjoy.
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Subject: Fw: "T.G.I.F."

A Blonde goes over to her friend's house wearing a T.G.I.F. Tee-shirt.
"Why are you wearing a Thank God it's Friday
Tee-shirt on Monday?" "Oh crap!" the blonde says,
"I thought it meant Tits Go In Front."

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Thursday morning funnies

If you are not a fan of MadTV on the Fox network, you missed out on some of their funnier skits. "Ms. Swan" was one of the funniest characters ever created on TV and as memorable as Rosanna on early SNL, Mr. Robinson's Neighbourhood on later SNL or Fire Marshall Bill on In Living Colour. The character, a middle-aged Asian lady played on the known stereotypes of Asian culture in the western world but treated in a way that always had the so-called backward character coming out on top. If you can find more of "her" clips on the Internet, watch as many as you can.

Enjoy.

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Submitted by Downtown Jane

Jim accidentally dropped some cards on the floor. When he bent down under the table to pick them up, he noticed Bob's wife, Sue wasn't wearing any underwear under her dress! Shocked by this, Jim upon trying to sit back up again, hit his head on the table and emerged red-faced.

Later, Jim went to the kitchen to get some refreshments. Bob's wife followed and asked, "Did you see anything that you like under there?"

Surprised by her boldness, Jim admitted that, well indeed he did.

She said, "Well, you can have it but it will cost you $500."

After taking a minute or two to assess the financial and moral costs of this offer, Jim confirms that he is interested. Sue told him that since her husband Bob worked Friday afternoons and Jim didn't, Jim should be at her house around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon.

When Friday rolled around, Jim showed up at Bob's house at 2 p.m. sharp - and after paying Sue the agreed sum of $500 - they went to the bedroom and closed their transaction, as agreed. Jim quickly dressed and left.

As usual, Bob came home from work at 6 p.m. And upon arriving, asked his wife: "Did Jim come by the house this afternoon?"

With a lump in her throat Sue answered "Why yes, he did stop by for a few minutes this afternoon." Her heart nearly skipped a beat when her husband curtly asked, "And did he give you $500?"

Sue, using her best poker face, replied, "Well, yes, in fact he did give me $500."

Bob, with a satisfied look on his face, surprised his wife by saying, "He came by the office this morning and borrowed $500 from me. He promised he'd stop by our house this afternoon on his way home and pay me back."

IT Tidbits - WoW Forums -> I played WoW, I became a terrorist (story!)

This is some story and there are multiple links to news stories to prove that it is true. I understand the need for security and caution but we really need to wonder where our world and our country is really headed. Anyhow, if nothing else, it is an interesting read and a word of caution for us fellow travellers.

Ciao.

WoW Forums -> I played WoW, I became a terrorist (story!)

Only in Canada (and maybe only in Toronto)

Watching Breakfast Television this morning and yesterday morning, on location personality Jennifer Valentyne visited two distinctly different summer camps. Yesterday she was with the kids enjoying Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Duane Ward's baseball camp and today she is with Former NHLer Brian Trottier for a hockey camp.

Baseball. Hockey. In the summer at the same time. Go figure.

Ciao.

IT Tidbits - Who needs Windows Home Server with Linux around?

Oh the choices we have with technology today. It is overwhelming to those of us who eat, sleep and breathe it daily so how are the general masses supposed to cope? Well, the same way they have for the last decade plus some will tell you; just follow the leader. And today's leader is Microsoft so they have the most to lose when people choose NOT to follow them. Sure, Apple is still a small player in the larger scheme of things but that could all change if Steve and company would only find a way to release the OS for those of us who choose to build our own. Imagine the day we can walk into FutureShop or BestBuy or Circuit City or Fry's or London Drugs and just go to the shelf to choose or own flavour of operating system BEFORE we choose which machine we want to take it home on. Alas, that is a bit of a ways off and back in reality, we have the mess we have today.

Anyhow, I work with Windows, and I like lots of things in Windows and that Windows does, but I like choice and I like power and Windows does not offer enough of that to compete with Linux and UNIX in those arenas. Linux though proves that too much choice is not necessarily a good thing either. Apple, on the other hand, illustrates that too restrictive a choice also breeds issues. So what do we do? We mix and match until such a time we find the appropriate balance.

In our home, the computers run Windows for the simple reason that I need it for my job and it is easier to conform when one has to be on-call for work. Our PVR machine used to run Snapstream's Beyond TV but too many bugs and crashes made me turn to Vista Ultimate and the upgraded built-in Media Center components.

Stop your wretching!

The biggest thing about Vista's MCE service is that it can record a show on ANY channel, remembers that it already recorded a particular show or that it is already set to record elsewhere and, super sweet since we have one, seamlessly connects with the Xbox 360 to stream those recorded shows to another location in the house. For us that means it records in the office and streams to the big screen in the living room. Naturally, this can include other video, and music, and Live TV and FM radio (if you have a tuner installed). Some things that Vista does not include from the start that you get in a commercial product like Snapstream's BTV is the ability to compress the recorded file into other formats, to stream video over the Internet, to remote control the settings via a webpage, and to include unlimited tuners (there is a hack to do this in MCE, email me if you want it).

If I can get Linux to do all of this, I would consider the switch. I cannot, so I will not. However, if I can create a media server that Vista can connect to and utilize making it seamless to access the files from the 360, I will heartily look forward to building it. Homogeneous networks are a thing of the past and we need to embrace the change that the winds have brought.

Ciao.

Who needs Windows Home Server with Linux around?: "Who needs Windows Home Server with Linux around?"

IT Tidbits - From The Magazine - Maximum PC

I am proudly a source of information for those less informed folks looking for an upgrade, a fix, a solution to virus woes or tips on how to do things or do them better and faster. Skibum will tell you though that my greatest joy comes from spending other people's money. If I cannot have the biggest, boldest and best, then dammit, someone I know will.

In those pursuits, it always helps to not only know what is currently on sale but what is coming down the pipe from the various manufacturers. MaximumPC (formerly BOOT magazine) is one of many sources I use as my go to guide for what's next (sorry for stealing your tagline WNBA). It is not an inexpensive hobby or task trying to keep up on EVERYTHING that plugs in. Now you can get some of that knowledge for free thanks to the kind folks at MaximumPC. I am not sure what crack party induced them to do this but, they now offer back issues online in PDF format (not all of them but enough to make it worth the trouble). I have downloaded all of them already even though I own all the magazines including the special edition cash grab ones. I find the information that useful.

Of note, you can currently buy the October issue in Chapters and other stores around the GTA while the online PDF is only at August. Hey, it is to be expected that they will not cut down on store and subscription sales by stupidly putting the current magazine online for free. Like Duh.

So, enjoy. I am waiting by the mailbox for the October issue. I am building a nice little toolkit fo hardware and software tools so I can be prepared for the next frantic email or phone call (like my Dad's this weekend that he has no sound).

Ciao.

From The Magazine - Maximum PC

Today's PSA (Public Service Announcement)

This is a new feature I am adding to my ever stagnant (at times) blog. This first addition is especially fitting as I and DW try to deal with something personal. If sharing this article at least prevents something happening in your home or to someone you know then the effort will not have been wasted.

The worse thing we can do in this modern age of 2007 is to be complacent, allow someone else to take care of the problem or to bury our heads in the sand. It's time, especially for us parents, to take back our society from those that would seek to disrupt or destroy it.

As a related note, today I saw a news article about Hulk Hogan's (WWE former wrestling champion) son being seriously injured in a car accident where her allegedly was driving too fast and crashed his vehicle. Now, all of us who like a little speed (drive a Maxima and tell me you don't want to push the limit) will tell you about an incident or a near miss. I am neither condoning speeding or railing against it like the sheep currently baying at the government to crackdown on everybody. I will say that a 17-year old kid, who in all likelihood never had more than a high school driving course (instead of a professional racing one) SHOULD NOT be driving a brand new Lamborghini six-figure vehicle. Kids of privilege will have better hoopdies than the rest of us but being wealthy does not make one more skilled. Get a grip people!

OK, so today's PSA is to bring a light to addictive behaviour (i.e. eating, smoking, drinking, Internet, speeding, sex, etc.). I found this article which outlines a few things and hopefully will prove helpful to those that need it.

Good luck and peace.

Monday's Funnies

Subject: Walmart Greeter

A very loud, unattractive, mean-acting woman walked into Wal-Mart with her two kids, yelling obscenities at them all the way through the entrance. The Wal-Mart Greeter said pleasantly "Good morning and welcome to Wal-Mart. Nice children you have there. Are they twins?"

The ugly woman stopped yelling long enough to say, "Hell no they ain't."

"The oldest one's 9 and the other one's 7. Why the hell would you think they're twins? Are you blind, or just stupid?"

"I'm neither blind nor stupid, Ma'am," replied the greeter. "I just couldn't believe you got laid twice. Have a good day and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart."

You Tube Find

I found this while browsing Engadget's website. I thought you might enjoy it. Here is what they said:

Step off those treadmills OK GO, there's a new indie music video on YouTube ready to help us nerds locate our groove muscle. Spoon's "Don't You Evah" features the toxically cute Keepon dancing robot developed by Carnegie Mellon and Japan's National Institute of Communications Technology. Be sure to hang in 'til the end for the robot dance party which features Manoi, RB2000 and a Johnny Five wannabe getting tore-up from the floor-up in that mad servo style.

Pray for Peru

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people enduring the effects of that devastating 7.9 earthquake in Peru this morning. May there be strength with those tasked to find, rescue and recover those caught in nature's fury.

Thankfully, my friend's family is not near the epicenter so were not in danger; thousands more unfortunately cannot say the same. Stay tuned for information on how you can help those who need it.

Peace.

Movie review - Bourne Ultimatum

OK, if you have not seen the first two movies, go spend either the twenty bucks to buy the DVD special pack they recently released or try to find a rental place or someone you know (not me) that has them. While you can watch the third installment easy enough without trouble, it is better to have the back story of the first two movies (plus they are damn good movies).

The Bourne Ultimatum continues with the story of Jason Bourne and his struggles to both regain his memory and to make the people trying to stop him from doing so pay for doing things they should not have (you thought I was going to spoil the previous movie for you...nope). He travels back and forth through various countries as he pieces together his life. While the formula is more or less the same as the first two movies, the stakes are higher for those he is hunting as their attempts to stop him keep failing and he keeps getting closer to the truth.

I won't give any details as you really need to see it for yourself but I will say this: the hand-to-hand combat scene in close quarters is worth the cost of admission alone. How they did this shot is beyond me and I hope when the DVD comes out, they show how they got this shot in full detail. It is probably the most realistic fight scene I have seen in movies ever; it is totally believable, especially when you see the aftermath of that fight.

If you like action, and you want a little more plausibility than Live Free, Die Hard (still a fave though), give this movie a shot.

Ciao.

IT tidbits - Torrents rule!

If you follow much techie stuff, you would have come across the term torrent or bittorrent. The first refers to the actual protocol and the latter is one example of the program that utilizes that protocol. Though, bittorrent is what started it all and could be used to refer to the protocol as well, the term torrent is preferred to keep it more generic as there are many clients that you can choose from today. My preferred client is utorrent on Windows machines and Azerus on the Mac (though utorrent is rumoured to be coming out with a Mac client, at which point I will switch). utorrent is a very small download (184kb I think) for a very full featured and quick torrent client. I like the way it organizes things and without fiddling with settings, it does the job as advertised.

To make the case for torrents (and no, not for just stealing movies, porn, TV and software), you need look no further than my experience this morning in the wee hours before dawn. I was working on the final touches of my father's system that I have unfortunately had for about a month in my office (my sister's is next). For some reason it refused to install the Windows updates that it had downloaded so I went to Autopatcher (a sysadmins best friend) to get the latest files. They are having some domain issues so it took a while to track down where the files where in alternate locations. I chose to try and download the actual file at Softpedia as I have used them before. It was going slowly and they did not seem to have the June update so I went off to a torrent tracker to get that one. Well, it used 32 trackers to download the file in one sixth the time fo the actual file download. In fact, I went and got the July update (the same one I was downloading from Softpedia) from another tracker while my current download was still only at 25 percent.

That's the power of this little protocol, and the reason why the music and movie and porn and software industry hates it so much. The ability to gather these files from multiple sources is immensely useful. When everyone is online and sharing the file, it makes "sharing" a very quick exercise. Just about anything can be found in a torrent if you look hard enough for it. We routinely download TV shows our PVR missed or we forget to set to tape. I know of friends who get still-in-theatre movies to watch, though I stay away from those because they tend to be crappy transfers and DW, TC and I love to go out to the cinema. Use the link above to get utorrent (or try the original Bittorrent) and use Isohunt or Mininova to get you started on looking up torrents.

Enjoy.

Happy Birthday TC!

Today is our daughter's 16th birthday. SIXTEENTH!!!!

You know the day will come and you try to prepare for it but it still is a shock that sixteen years have past since you brought life into this world to nurture and take care of. Sixteen is a bit of a special year for many reasons. In Ontario, it means you can officially get a learner's permit (called a G1 around these parts) to drive a car, you can officially have sex without persecution (except by my foot in your ass), you are that much closer to being able to vote, you can hold your own OHIP (health) card, you can volunteer, you can work a lot more jobs, you can even marry in some parts (ahem, remember the foot, right?).

Time is a funny animal as you cannot wait for the kids to grow up and then you are looking for where the time went when they do. TC is celebrating her birthday up at Pioneer Camp in Huntsville, ON. We sent her a fax to say happy birthday. We will be picking her up on Saturday to bring her home. Her actual birthday party, a Sweet Sixteen of sorts, will be held in September and we are working to make it a very enjoyable evening for her. She has had birthdays and birthday parties before but she recognizes the importance of this one and it is VERY important to her so that makes it important to us. Family and friends, besides her classmates, have been invited to share in this event as many people have been important and instrumental in her development to get to this point in life; some more than others and I would like to thank everyone for the part they have played past and present.

To our daughter, I simply want to say that you are a bright young lady with the world in front of you. Take the time to learn about the world before venturing out into it BUT do not be afraid to take those steps into those new adventures. Your path is shifting in the sand and you have time and many choices to make before choosing it. Be knowledgeable of the past but embrace the present and look forward to the future. The past has happened and serves as experience, foundation and knowledge. The present is your existence, your new experiences and what you build on. The future is unwritten and unknown and is yours to shape as you wish. Choose well and you will never have to worry about the little things in life. We will be there to help you with the little things so that you have the opportunity to tackle the larger, more important things in life. Your Mum and I wish you all the best in the world, health and happiness as you move on to this next stage in your young life. We love you and we miss you. See you soon.

Mum and Dad

I guess that says it all.

No good deed goes unpunished.
Clare Boothe Luce

I'll be the first to admit to you that I can be a bit of a curmudgeon and a bit of a hard ass at times. Part of it comes from my Trini roots (which I am very proud of), part of it is from my upbringing (which, with a few exceptions, I am also proud of) and part of it comes from my own experiences as I went off on my own until this point in time in my lifeline. I never apologize for the way I handle certain things and, especially when ti comes to children, I believe in the old ways. Yes that does include capital punishment, it does (to a certain extent) include be seen and not heard and speak when spoken to, but ultimately it all drills down to a simple concept: respect.

As I travel through my fortieth year, I still marvel at the language that some parents allow their children to freely use around them. As an adult, living in my own place, with child, second marriage, job, bills and all that life brings, I STILL would not freely cuss in front of my mother and father. I can disagree, I can say no, I can refuse to accept or do things they request but I don't and will never feel comfortable cursing in their presence. It is no longer fear because I can take both of them blindfolded. It is an internal mechanism that my upbringing nurtured into an infused level of respect for who they are.

I had a recent run-in with a family member who I have not seen a lot of. My mistake is thinking that she remembered who I was, was infused in her upbringing with that internal mechanism that said to her "respect above all". How mistaken I was to think this because her actions loudly said otherwise. She is a young adult now and as such is welcome to make her own choices, to disagree with others and follow her own path. That said, unlike some others in her age range that I deal with, she has lost the level of respect that I expect, nay demand, of family members several years my junior. Her younger siblings exhibit it so why does she not? I do not know and frankly for all the effort I have made in the past, I no longer care. Well, this post says otherwise but you know what I mean. When I confronted her message to me as one of disrespect, I expected her to defend her position as not being so and to continue the dialogue to work things out. Instead, she chose to do what she has been infused with: drop, roll and run away. I guess that works for her but it does not work for me. I drove four hours to the hospital she was born in the morning my own mother returned home from the hospital herself; I deserve some respect. Today, she chose to block me on facebook (AKA crackbook) instead of working things out like an adult.

I guess that says it all.

Peace.

The return of the haiku

What is a haiku? Taken from a website found in a Google search it is defined there as follows:

A style of lyric poetry borrowed from the Japanese that typically presents an intense emotion or vivid image of nature, which, traditionally, is designed to lead to a spiritual insight. Haiku is a fixed poetic form, consisting of seventeen syllables organized into three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Today, however, many poets vary the syllabic count in their haiku. See also fixed form.

Ignorant ex-wife.
Leave your number, we will call.
Remain stupid then.

Brand new Dell laptop.
Faster, more space, no writer.
Same Win shite, diff day.

Old comps, everywhere.
Clean up, ship out, time to go.
Want to buy one now?

Music, food for soul.
Bitrates, grating on the soul.
Can the two work well?

Got broadband last month.
No comp to surf worldwide web.
Online bill coming.

Sometimes it is the little things.

We went to TC's camp on the weekend unbeknown to her as we lied and said we were not coming up three consecutive. The reaction was far beyond what DW and I expected. We thought she may be excited, and surprised and may even shed a tear or two. What we got was a running, rampaging teenager that loudly proclaimed she was happy to see us, thanked us repeatedly for coming up and then CRIED. No, not teared-up, not weeped... she hugged and cried on us. It was genuine emotion and it was heartfelt and real. Combined with her friends telling us that she had a bout of homesickness earlier in the week ( and was really down), we had an image of a teenaged girl that missed her home and her family. It was one of the few times in her life we will be happy she was crying.

Now, I know some of you are wondering what the big deal about that is and I would wonder with you if I were not living the reality that I am in. Our family has been through a lot over the years and no one has gone through more than our little girl. She still has to deal with the programming, conditioning and wayward direction that was laughingly offered up by my ex-wife and her family. All we can do is continue to show her that life does not have to be that way. All we can do is continue to love her unconditionally, show her right from wrong, point her in the right direction, support her in the good and bad times and be there when she needs us most.

On Sunday, she needed us. Thankfully, on Sunday, we were able to be there.

Ciao.

Facebook users open to cyberattacks, ID theft? | Tech News on ZDNet

Facebook users open to cyberattacks, ID theft? | Tech News on ZDNet

Be aware, fellow crackbook users.

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com


Well, it is one way to get rid of the ex. Think mine will cooperate?

optimus prime pc case

optimus prime pc case

Does anything more need to be said? I didn't think so.

Open Source and Microsoft Free

Open Source and Microsoft Free

I post this article partially because of personal interest int he care and feeding of all things Linux and UNIX. The other reason is because Famine has already expunged Micro$oft from all machines in his home that are used regularly. His work machines have also been wiped of the Redmond scourge and replaced with items that do not ask you the same question fifty times even though you already answered it the first time. Hmmm, makes one think that the Windows Operating System is a female entity, doesn't it? But, I digress.

Anyhow, with computers in general and, more specifically, computer parts like processors, memory and hard drives, there is no reason you could not either have a separate machine to try things out on, or to simply install a second hard drive (though I would personally install a removable drive kit if I were you) filled with open source goodness.

Go ahead, live a little. More importantly, live free!
Ciao.

It's 4AM and I am haunted.

So, DW, TC and I were watching The Bourne Identity earlier this evening when TC got up to use the bathroom. We paused the DVD and I noticed it was 10:59PM; almost time for CityPulse at 11. I flipped over to the news to see what has happened in the world today. Man, sometimes you just want to remain ignorant. Where do I start? The Taliban threat to kill the innocent Koreans? How about the floods and wildfires in various parts of the world? Maybe the catastrophic bridge collapse in Minnesota sending lots of people headed home plunging into the Mississippi river? Going local, we have the guy wanted for nearly running down a cop as he was fleeing other cops in a high speed chase, or maybe the guy who got beaten up while handcuffed to the SUV he left his rottweiler inside in the sweltering heat and nearly killed it or maybe the continuing proceedings of the arrested terrorist suspects? Why did I turn on the news again?

As distasteful and sobering the news can be sometimes, it is our duty to know what is happening in the world. That said, I fell asleep before the end of it and so did TC so we never finished the movie. TC went to bed, and so did DW and I; for a while. While DW was sawing wood, I watched a couple of FoodTV shows and found myself wide awake so I decide to catch up on my soap (Y&R rules!), clear some space on the PVR and set up the armoire that was now going to be DW's desk in the office as well as a place for more machines for me. I still have some wires to run but that task is nearly done. Cleaning up this office is taking forever but I still have my father's machine to rebuild (he bugs me every 48hrs for it), a laptop to rebuild (two actually if I can find the damn parts in here), TC's machine to clean and rebuild and a couple of other items. I may rebuild my desktop as well since it is exhibiting some behaviours at times that will get a bullet in its brain if it keeps up. Oh yeah, I also have a Blue and White Mac tower to rebuild; DW recently acquired this for me so it is a hobby unit.

Add to that the reworking of our network, building the webpage for our secret project and general other things and there simply, again, is not enough time in the day. The end of the month will be bittersweet as I took the week off to spend time with TC before she goes back to school and to really get some work done in the house. It pains me to see the place much as it was when we moved in last December. I really need an uninterrupted month to do it right but life simply does not afford me that time. Ah well, I am sure a lot of you could say the same so I'll stop my belly-aching and get back to it.

Ciao.

Things you post after the f**king vendor wakes you from 1AM to 3AM

Subject: The Penis

I, the Penis, hereby request a raise in salary for the following reasons:



* I do physical labor.
* I work at great depths.
* I plunge headfirst into everything I do.
* I do not get weekends or holidays off.
* I work in a damp environment.
* I work in a dark workplace that has poor ventilation.
* I work in high temperatures.
* My work exposes me to contagious diseases.

Sincerely, The Penis

Dear Penis,

After assessing your request and considering the arguments you have
raised, the administration rejects your request for the following
reasons:
* You do not work eight hours straight.
* You fall asleep after brief work periods.
* You do not always follow the orders of the management team.
* You do not stay in your designated area and are often seen visiting
other locations.
* You do not take initiative.
* You need to be pressured and stimulated in order to
start working.
* You leave the workplace rather messy at the end of
your shift.
* You don't always observe necessary safety regulations, such as wearing
the correct protective clothing.
* You will retire well before you are 65.
* You are unable to work double shifts.
* You sometimes leave your designated work area before you have
completed the assigned task.

And if that were not enough,
* You are constantly seen entering and exiting the
workplace carrying two suspicious looking bags.

Welcome to the world, whats-his-face. :)

I poke fun with the title only because my brother's new bundle of joy is yet to be named after being born yesterday. Follow the link in the title to DW's blog for pics and details.

Congratulations Ottawa Family! Ya done good. :)

Peace.

I love this doctor!

Submitted by KJ of Dominica (that 'lil island down south)
---------------------------------------------------------

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste
them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart
will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life
of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and
corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an
efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain?
Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy
vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily
allowance of vegetable products.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that
means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the
goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If
you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise
program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ..... Foods are fried these days in vegetable
oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be
bad for you?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the
middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should
only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best
feel-good food around!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about
food and diets.

And remember:
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride"

AND......

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition
and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting
nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and
suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Wanna Play?

Zuma®
Play Games
at Shockwave

The day is nearly over. THANK GOD!!

I know you all have had one of "those" days yourselves. I have had a few before myself. That said, today was one of those days I wanted to reboot the universe by noon and start over.

It started this morning when I got up an hour later than I usually do. As such, the child was also running behind time. It made DW run behind time because I had to sign some sheets for the clinic she was headed to but needed to speak to her about it first. With all of that going on, I forgot to send the daily morning report that my boss expects every weekday before 8:30AM. I gather up my stuff, head to the door, head back upstairs to grab my bluetooth headset that I forgot upstairs, grab the shoehorn and promptly break the handle on it. TC and I head off to the Roo, jump in and head off. I drop her at summer school a few minutes late and off to work. Oh, did I mention that I dropped the bagel and cream cheese on the way to the driver's door? That is why she puts my breakfast in sandwich bags now because I always end up dropping it.

I continue to work and, while Denison gets busy around Kennedy, I have never had a 15-20 minute delay getting through that intersection. This morning, there was no construction, no accident, no broken down vehicle, but TONS of traffic. I get through that, find a cherry parking spot despite my delay (it's now after 9:30AM) , get out to grab my laptop and then it hits me: my lanyard with security pass and security tokens are sitting on my desk in the office at home. Ok, you win. I am going home. I email my team on the crackberry that I will work from home because the universe is against me this morning and I head back home. The ride is uneventful. I knew it would not last.

I get in the driveway, head inside, take off my shoes, head upstairs, pick up my lanyard and sit down to log into the laptop for work.... which was sitting on the backseat of the truck in the driveway. F**K!! Ok, back downstairs, back into shoes, back outside, back to the truck. Let's try it again, shall we? Ok, so back in the office, just in time for the daily conference call. For the second day in the row, my partner has a case of diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain. I correct him not once, not twice, but THREE times on an unimportant item he seems intent on trying to get his wrong ass right on. I'm on call so it's on to tickets and other wonderful items. nothing special here except for small annoyances. It takes me into lunch time where I catch the news on the PVR machine as I work, chat with some folks on MSN (including Hammy in Singapore, where he is not having a great experience unfortunately) and desperately try to go out for lunch as I have a craving for Chinese. I keep getting updates and calls on tickets so my luck continues. I finally get to break away and head off quickly to get back in time for the conf call.

First stop was the bank to get some money. My workmates and I have a lottery pool and we finally agreed on what to do with our meager wininngs (four consecutive and equal ticket buys) so I needed money out for that. I then went to pick up my combo plate at Mind-Du (if I had time, the adult lunch buffet price is the same as the plate). I got in the truck and headed off to get the ticket. When I got out of the truck, I could nto find my wallet. I was wearing shorts without pockets so it was tucked into my waistband. I know I had it at Ming-Du so after I tossed the truck (and found the cap for my 8GB flash drive after months missing it), I raced back to see if I left it on the counter or, by some miracle, in the parking space I was previously parked in.

I got back into the same spot and saw a woman on the phone standing strangely at the back of her car watching me as I drove in. I ran into Ming-Du and they had not seen it and did not have it. The woman had just gotten into her car but still glanced at me. Now, normally I would chalk it up to the old societal issues (i.e. large black man, frail white woman) but something was different. I walked up to her car window and knocked on it, hoping she did not drive over my foot on her rush to leave. Instead, thankfully, she winds down the window as I ask her if she saw a wallet in the spot I now occupy. She hesitates but says she did find a wallet. I tell her it is mine and that I rushed back hoping to find it. She informs me that she already called Durham Police about it and they told her to drop it off at the station at Brock and Hwy 2 in Pickering. I tell her I can prove it is mine. She says she has to call them and ask. I understand and tell her to make the call. As she is speaking to the police, I tell her I can get proof from the truck, thinking about my insurance slip, and proceed to go to the passenger door I had opened earlier. And the universe intervenes again.

I reach for my keys in my non-existent pockets. No keys. Where did I put them? I know before I look through the windshield that they will be sitting on the seat or in the ignition. My head drops and my heart sinks. The Roo has a sophisticated alarm system that locks itself automatically after a period of time. I was sure I was now super screwed and would have to either call DW or taxi it home and back with the spare set. The universe was just f**king with me this time though as I had left the door partially open so it did not set the alarm and lock the doors. I breathed a sigh of relief and got the keys and the documents out. I showed it to the lady, told her where to find my driver's license, and she compared the two and verified to the police that it all checked out so they gave her the okay to give me back my wallet. I thanked her many times, saving me from an expensive lesson and giving the day a bit of a better path. I explained to her the day thus far and she agreed it did not start very well. She went off to the bank and I stood by the truck trying to figure out "why me?"

I started to drive off but I could not leave and not give her something. Good Samaritans too often are neither properly recognized nor rewarded, regardless if they want it or not. The lady had gone off to the bank. I wrote a thank you note on a napkin (saying it was hard to find good people around), wrapped a ten spot inside it (telling her to please have lunch on me), and placed it under her driver side wiper. I waited in another section of the lot to ensure no one else took it from the car. I finally parked near the convenience store that I had decided earlier was too much trouble to enter to buy tickets and bought my group's ticket there (plus a couple of tech mags). I then headed back home, picked up mail on the way in, and settled in for a tasty lunch, a conference call (during which DW had to call the school to let TC know I was picking her up) and the hope the universe was done with me for the day.

I headed out to pick up TC just after 3PM anxiously hoping that the Good Samaritan had stopped the bulldozer that was my luck streak, and picked her up, returning without incident. I think I can truly say, all is back to normal.

Whatever that is.

Ciao.

Go Hammy Go!

Ok, the cheer sucks and blows but the sentiment is in the right spot. To those of you in the dark, Hammy, our nephew, is currently in hot-as-ass Singapore (there goes my rating again). He went down last week to train and try out with a soccer team there. Hopefully, this is the break he needs and these people are not just dicking him around. He has a series of tests, training and conditioning to run through for the next week or so before he knows for sure. If you have ever seen him play, you know the soccer world has been robbed of a major talent, and I do not say that just as his loving uncle. Any of the countless people he has made look stupid on the field can attest to his skill level. He just needs that chance at the next level to push himself forward.

Anyhow, fate, chance, luck and the right pwople all have to combine for things to happen so I hope this is but one of many points on his journey. Our hearts and minds are with you Hammy. Give them hell!

Ciao.

Movie review - Doom

This is going to be short. I love Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and I think besides doing the action thing, he is a decent actor period. That said, he needs to put this movie in the bargain bin and chalk it up to a learning experience on when to walk away from a bad movie. You would think with a plethora of examples to choose from in terms of game adaptations (i.e. Super Mario Brothers, TRON, Tomb Raider, etc.) that the makers of this film would know what translates well and what does not. While I appreciated the scene where they went into first-person shooter mode to mimic the game, the overall flow and dialog of the movie was one big boring blob. I had it on as I was doing stuff in the office and basically saw the beginning, some deaths in the middle and the really stupid ending.

This is not even a decent time waster of a movie. Save your money, your time and your sanity by watching something else.

Ciao.

For my fellow eBay addicts!

Drowning in progesterone - The continuing saga

Today I spent working from home while the guys from Monarch (the builder of the house we rent) was in to work on the deficiencies that I submitted as part of the one-year inspection. I believe it was seven pages. I did a walk around with the guy and he commented it had been a while since he has seen a house this bad. The problem is, as he explained, the owner did NOT follow the big builder book she was given and as such, many more issues arose than really should have (PG sighting #1). Anyhow, as guys are want to do, we went about our business, each in their own area, and continued working. I only wish the other side of the equation worked as easily, but no.

So, let's start with TC. Even after getting an earful, TWICE, over the last week and a half, the child still did not get it completely. I gave her a reminder once we got home. The changes we set forth were not open for interpretation. They were not optionally. And they sure as hell were to be followed to the letter. Well, Kofi Anon went to sleep and Mephistopheles reared his head in full glory. She got both barrels with a side of glock. Nothing pisses me off than ignorance, especially in simplicity. So, when something simple can be followed by taking a few seconds extra to do something, and one chooses NOT to do it, then what you are saying is either "I don't care what you say" or "F**K You and what you say". Uhm, how about no? How about you walk funny for a while as I adjust my foot in your ass? How about that? I think she will be taking a new pleasure in taking a few extra seconds to do things correctly from now on.

Then the wife enters. As always, she seems oblivious to the fact that it takes a long time for me to build to the crescendo and a longer time to cool down from it. She brings her own brand of ignorance that just pushes my buttons and tends to push them at the most wrong of times. Uhm, like today. I have been telling her for ages to allow the gas in Max to run down so that the light comes on and she gets a much better idea of when the car would actually be running out of gas. This is so she has a good idea of distance and such when she is in an emergency need of a fill situation. Forget for the moment that we pay over a hundred bucks a year for CAA. Forget that it includes a freely delivered free canister of gas (up to five gallons I think). Her answer to that is, "I don't think it is free." Really? After I just told you it is? You know this because, by osmosis, you absorbed all the info in the CAA documents and websites you never read (after I told you to go read them)? PG sighting #2.

Continuing with DW, let's delve deeper into my parting shot/question as she walked away, "Have you checked the oil in the car yet?" "No," she answers. This would be the second time I have asked within a week. It will be the umpteenth time I have told her that she needs to, especially with an older car, check the f**king fluids in the car. I cannot fix what I do not know about. And since we have no warranty on an old ass car, it means to capture the issue BEFORE it becomes a problem. Like the issue with it really pulling to the right and shaking the steering wheel at speed (oh yeah, I meant to tell you about that). Like the issue that the tire was bleeding air (oh yeah, I meant to tell you about that). Like .... PG sighting #3.

Oh yeah, let's go back to that fuel warning light for a moment please. Did I mention that I am not sure that it has a fuel warning light? Did I mention that since she got the car, I have asked, suggested and bugged her to go through the car manual, like I did when I took it from TS? Did I mention she has yet to take the thing out of the holder (which I know because I put it in a certain way so I know)? And women continue to bitch about equality? Give me a bloody break. You may not be able to do a damn thing with it but RTFM!!! PG sighting #4.

Famine's wife is here for the weekend. I love the woman. What was I thinking of adding more to the pot? PG sighting #5. Welcome, as always Devoide. I will try not to paint you with the same brush. That is until you too start showing signs of the madness.

Pray for me.

Peace.

Vista revisted

For the love of monkeys!!

OK, the bottom line is that I still like a lot of things that Vista brings to the table, despite the issues associated with getting it all to work. That said, what the hell was Microsoft thinking when they thought it was a good idea to release the OS at this time? Trust me when I say that I am a huge supporter of moving forward and leaving the legacy behind. I applauded Apple when they drew a sand in the line and said from THIS point forward, OS9.x and previous will no longer be supported, either in hardware or software. What this did was make the customers of Apple make a hard choice: live with the existing hardware and software and features as is or upgrade to take advantage of new hardware, software and features the customer deems important enough to make the investment.

Microsoft, AMD and Intel are beholden to the big businesses that have huge investments in legacay equipment and software. With all due respect to these people...T S!!!! Look, when cars come out with specific tire requirements, we simply adhere to what the manufacturers suggest. When DVDs with component video came out, we upgraded out TVs to take advantage of the features and resolution the better connection offered. When they changed the formula for Coke... ooops, okay, bad example. You get the drift though. Only in IT do the customers really dictate the flow of things. And yes, this is how it should be to some extent. However, it severely stifles progress and ends up costing us all.

I totally agree if there is no reason for so-called progress (i.e. a USB keyboard operates no quicker than a PS2 keyboard) then I can understand a certain reluctance. Though, my chosen example is more for the convenience of connecting all the similar cables to a common point and to clean up the back panel of the motherboard. In the case of a modem, the inherent technology will never need a faster interface (i.e. PCIe) on the motherboard so manufacturers are not going to upgrade the connector on the device. As such, new motherboards requiring a modem connected will typically still have a PCI slot. It took a very long time for ISA slots to disappear completely; it will take a long time for PCI to disappear completely. I need at least two slots for my two Hauppauge MCE500 dual tuners as they have yet to make PCIe versions of the cards.

OK, back to Vista specifically. Vista tries to be all things to all people when it really should have drawn a line in the sand and ensured everything on the forward side of the line worked as advertised. Hardware manufacturers should have had proper drivers in place for the hardware they deemed necessary to work with Vista. Software vendors should have had updates and patches necessary to work the versions of software they deemed necessary to work with Vista. And standards should have been in place both in the OS and with the hardware to ensure compatibility.

Now on that last point is where I want to concentrate today. USB 2.0 and the various APCI power management standards have been in place for years. So, why is it that people are having trouble installing or even rebooting Vista when certain USB devices are plugged in? And why are droves of us, myself included, plagued by a ridiculous bug in the OS that does not allow a machine to resume after going to sleep or hibernating? I was ready to rip out my motherboard (a very nice Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 unit that includes built in Intel GMA3000 video) and take it back to Canada Computers because it was constantly freezing and not coming out of sleep and then on reboot, not posting. This is some fo the same behaviour that the previous motherboard I had in (an Asus P4C800E Deluxe with a P4 3.0GHz CPU) was exhibiting which, incidentally, prompted the change in the first place. I thought to myself, the Antec P160 case that these motherboards sat in could not possible be at issue. Nor could the power supply be suspect as I was sure to buy one that had lots of headroom (an OCZ 700W GameXstream) to power the many drives the PVR held. So, if the hardware is cherry, then the OS must not be.

I did some digging around in Google and read a LOT of forums and websites in order to arrive at my conclusion; they all basically pointed to the same issue. I went into the power settings and modified it to the Performance setting so that it shut off the monitor but it does NOT put the whole system into sleep. This works well for my system as it is rarely not doing something so not going to sleep wasn't a big deal. Since that change, the PVR has not hung once, has not missed taping a program (what it was built for) and sings along merrily. I stress tested the setup the other day and was simply amazed at what a dual core CPU offers. I was able to watch a TV show live, stream video across the network to the Xbox360, run video from YouTube with several other tabs open on Firefox, have a few other windows open AND run an encoding operation from a DVD to the hard drive. ALL at the same time and without a single blip, stutter or issue in anything running. Simply amazing.

But that is due to the hardware, not the operating system. I simply hate recommending this buggy OS because when you cough up your hard cash for either a system with it pre-installed or you upgrade your own setup by dishing out for an upgrade, you expect more than the issues you have to contend with. There have been a number of hotfixes and other updates but nothing has been released to contend with the sleep issue. For you laptop owners, that simply means Vista is not the OS for you. If the machine going to sleep to conserve energy (battery or AC) is not a big loss, then I still recommend VIsta.

Just VERY cautiously. I think one needs to do more diligence on this OS than any previous and look for issues concerning any and all of your installed hardware. It will make your transition that much less frustrating. I will continue for now with Vista Ultimate and will continue to report any yeas or nays as they show up. My next exercise is to try to get the DVRMS toolbox installed in order to automatically convert the stupid proprietary format of Microsoft's into normal MPEG2 files while also removing the commercials at the same time. This exercise absolutely choked the poor P4 as it tried to convert files while taping new ones and just could not keep up. Core 2 Duo sweetness should make this a simple exercise.

Ciao.

Not every thing is painted with the same brush

For good reason, the Jane and Finch corridor has been painted with a negative light. The numerous shootings, the death of a student IN the high school, the apparent cover up of similar incidents at the same school... there is a lot to perpetuate the stereotype of those who choose, or ar forced, to live there. My geography teacher, a Mr. Lennox Farrell, lives in the corridor and was a great mentor to me in my formative teenage years. So to should the young man in the linked story be to those at a crossroad of what to do next as they grow in this area. You are not destined to be bad; the road just looks easier down that way. Choose to be different.

Peace.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070622.wspt-grange-col-22/BNStory/GlobeSportsBasketball/#

Apparently I have a potty mouth.

As you can see from my posted rating, this website is neither for kids nor for the faint of heart. Ah well, I guess telling it like it is (and cussing off those who deserve it) gets one such a rating. hmmm, works for me. :)

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

- ass (3x) - sex (2x) - whore (1x)

Movie review: Live Free or Die Hard

Anyone familiar with the Die Hard series (Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Die Hard 3: Die with a Vengeance) and Detective John McClain will appreciate what I am about to say about this movie.

Yipee-Ki-Yay-Mutha-F*cka!!!

OK, the trailers show a fair bit of the shite that gets blown up BUT there is probably twice that left to be seen. The premise of the movie (a twist on cyber-terrorism) is actually believeable. I mean, there will be naysayers that poo-poo the possibility of anything in this movie actually happening. Hmm. Oh really? Let's do a quick examination of that thought.

• Almost all of Ontario, some bordering states and a good chunk of New York and the eastern seaboard were enveloped in a power blackout that originated as a backlash loop out of the US in a system that should never have allowed it to happen.
• The World Trade Center Towers we taken down and out.
• An airplane crashed into the White House.
• Don't get me started on how many times the various agencies, especially the Pentagon, has been broken into.
• NASA was compromised.
• Paris Hilton's sidekick was cracked.

Ok, I concede the last one was purely put in to get your attention and some more web hits but you get my point. So many things that have been impossible in theory before have been proven possible in action later. So, can a genius making a concerted effort with enough firepower and financial backing and will do what this psychopath does in the movie? You bet your ass he could. Now, that would depend on if the various systems are as stupidly set up in real life as it is in the movie. Uhm, do I have to bring up the blackout again? Californians are all too familiar with the failure of connected systems to argue this point.

Anyhow, back to the movie. It is worth the money to see on a big screen. Bruce Willis is still the guy you want guarding your back when it hits the fan hard. If he wanted to do one last Die Hard movie, I would drop the coin to see it too. Is this the best of the series? I'd say no because the first one was sheer genius, the second one was wicked thrills (and the origin of his catchphrase), and the third one had the supercool gent in Samuel L. Jackson and the across city puzzles to work out. Unlike the Lethal Weapon series, I pretty like all four equally.

The added bonus in this one is the comic stylings of the guy we all know and love/hate as Mac in the Apple commercials. Oh yeah, and a cameo/small part by none other than Kevin Smith himself. So, go out, enjoy, and try to stay out of harm's way. You never know when Big Brother is watching you and waiting to take you down.

Peace.

Happy Belated Canada Day! Happy Fourth of July! R.I.P. Gina.

Today is a bittersweet day in our household for many reasons. The ongoing saga that we are currently working through with TC. The news that Canada lost another six young people in the ongoing war in Afghanistan (all of whom where to return at month end, now will return earlier - dead). The feeling of emptiness as we remember our friend on what would have been her 47th birthday. The waiting for the next step in our journey. The realization of how lucky we are to live where we live.

In the US, our friends and family to the south, are celebrating their independence and as usual it will be done with grand flair and style. We wish everyone in America a safe and happy holiday. Be ever mindful that the peace and freedom we all enjoy in this part of the world came at great costs, often in other parts of the world. We should think of them during these blessed times and do our best to do something or give something to help in the goal that they too will be able to enjoy things as we do and far too often take for granted.

And for us at home, our own celebrations past on Sunday, let us never forget those, like the recent six, who died defending our ability to do what we want when we want how we want. We may not support the war but we sure as hell must always support our oft-maligned troops. My older brother had a 20+ year career in the Armed Forces Air Force and as much as I cracked wise on him all the time (he still spouts things like "repeat that please, over"), I am mighty proud of him.

OK, not to put a damper on things. Enjoy the holiday those of you that have it. The rest of you, get back to work, or sleep or family or whatever. Tomorrow is a new day. What are you going to do with it?

Ciao.

The aftermath

A lot of folks have been waiting to hear about T2. I'll give you the general gist of things but, naturally, certain details need to remain unsaid for obvious reasons.

T2 was all about a shift in the status quo of TC. In the last year, a lot of turmoil has been swirling around her like a hurricane wind with the same speed and destructive force of one of nature's most devastating weapons. For TC, that hurricane has been her life and those in it. Parents, family, friends, school, growing up, hormones, everything. It has been a walking maelstrom and it needed to stop BUT as in the natural physics of our life, it is dangerous to stop something moving so quickly so suddenly. Sometimes we have no choice, sometimes we have to make the right choices. I am not sure that DW and I made all the right choices but they were all done with the mindset to protect the child whilst attaining the ultimate goal of changing her path and pulling her out of the storm.

This all started last November when she left those awful, selfish people called her maternal grandparents. People I would not waste drawing up saliva to spit upon as they are so beneath my contempt for them that the effort would be wasted. The problem is that physical location is only part of the equation. While removing her from that situation is a first good step, removing them from being rooted in her mind is a whole other step. Add to that the gift that keeps on giving known as my ex-wife and you have a wonderful mix of nasty concrete that has to be chipped away without cracking the foundation.

So, in a nutshell, after discovering that TC was venturing off to places on the Net she should not have, and seeing wording not befitting a fine young lady, we decided to gift her a long length of rope to see, at first, just what she was up to but to ultimately try to get an understanding of what she was feeling and her mindset; we got a lot more than what we bargained for. Without divulging anything that could embarrass her more than what she foolishly posted online in her various posts and web pages, suffice it to say that she has a VERY healthy imagination that she keeps amazingly separate from her real life. How she keeps track of it all is beyond me because I have trouble following it all and I read comics!! This is neither comic, nor funny though, and borders on tragic and worrisome.

Once we gathered enough information, but after she finished her exams at school and passed all her courses (yea!), we decided to drop the hatchet. This has been in planning since March and the date kept getting pushed for various reasons. On Friday, we brought the house of cards down and she was in a bit of shock and then a touch of spindoctoring but we had gathered so much information, she really was got in a round room without a corner to hide in. She knew we knew everything and we explained that she had an addiction to the Net as much as someone does to crack or Meth or alcohol. The fact that it has taken her over so much (i.e. she cannot see an online terminal and NOT go online to chat or update web pages be it at friends and families' homes or at the local computer store), was proof to her addiction. The fact that even while I am yelling at her to hurry up to go to school, she has to get those last typed lines in.

So, immediately one thinks we would remove the computer from her room, right? Wrong. We are not looking for a stop for now. We intend on making a change forever. So, we left her with the computer to see what she would do. As expected, she did not so much as flinch at getting slapped down WWE style and STILL hangs out online but this time trying to avoid chatting directly in MSN as she thinks that is the main source of our information (she is wrong). She also changes the information for her blog site thinking we would not be able to follow (she is wrong). We let her do all of this to full prove to her that she has a major problem that she is currently powerless to stop. We intend to stop it for her. So, as she studies hard at summer school today (Math 10), she is onblivous to the fact that everything will be changing today. There is still some more Trini to be dished out and she should never be complacent in this household again.

Now, change is never in a bubble, so DW and I know it will be hard for us too because we have to keep up our end and do some things differently and to be diligent where she is concerned. We are fully committed to this so no matter what it takes, we will succeed in our goal. As we move forward in our goal of expanding our little family, we still have to take care of the existing one. It won't be an easy road but there are no other ones to take. One day, we hope, she can look back on this and smile knowing we did what was best for her.

In the meantime, bring da noise, bring da pain. :)

Ciao.