Year: 2010

If Vista is a dog, I’m a hairy monkey

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I just got finished reading an article involving Steve Ballmer and Vista, and I can’t help but find it patronizing lol.Windows Vista was a huge success: for Windows 7!

Microsoft did with Vista, something they *should* have done by XP Service pack 2, if not with XP itself. For eons developers have been doing *nasty* things with Windows, and either through compatibility requirements with 9x, or sheare developer incompetence, there has also been a lot of software that, should we say, is little evolved beyond Win32s or the MS-DOS style. Some of the commercial apps I’ve seen over the years, I am actually shocked will run under XP, let along Vista and 7—despite everyone’s gripes, it’s one of the things MS gets right.

Most of the more verbose complaints that I’ve heard about Vista, are not the OSes fault. More often it falls upon the realm of stupid application developers, flaky software, or stupid users. Microsoft has also been about as smart on handling the conversion of users, from a DOS model to a proper NT model, to a more modern NT model (read modern as in post 1960s), as the government is about spending  <_<. Most of the software issues have ironed out by brute force, there is just no choice, because Windows NT 6.1 (7) is not that far from NT 6.0 (Vista).

Considering that it had to happen eventually, either by a painstaking multi-generation (of users) process of evolution and education, and that the general brain damaged failure of Vista to win users hearts,  is almost the quintessential Microsoft recipe for success: a mixture of bait and switch with the old triple-E.

Windows 7 is not Vista, and it makes sufficient adjustments to make most people happy. After enough time of having to deal with Vista, everything but the stupid users (and bogoware) have largely caught up, plus you have the appeasing impact of Win7, mated to the users already knowing how to ‘live’ with Vista.

The positive aspects of what Vista has done for 7s success, could not have been more valuable, if Microsoft had planned it before the whole blackcomb/longhorn/vienna thing was even worked out. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was planned.

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I’ve spent the last few hours, working on my tactics guide. I had decided to throw out what I did for my tactical compendium and start a new, as it would be much easier then stripping out the [SAS] parts. My tactical guide, is completely my own product, and a reflection of my operating experience.

So far out of about 2 1/2 days, there are about twenty pages covering stacking, breaching, entering, clearing, and searching rooms in great depth, as well as door handling, dealing with causalities, shot placement, securing contacts, and a lot more. Except for the P/L and comms sections, the material is already covers everything an seasoned NCO should know in their sleep. [SAS], eat your heart out….

Among my personal work, are over a dozen original illustrations that I’ve created to accompany the guides text. My favourite of which, serves to explain the strong/weak side thing:

This image may not be used for any purposes without MY permission!

I also sent that drawing to someone in [SAS], who was suitably and utterly confounded the ever loving hell out of on that particular issue. How he got so confused, was during the environment in [SAS] at the time, mostly created by the folks now holding officer ranks in NTF, or Sgts stripes in [SAS], and a rather sickening mess behind it. As to explaining the tactical matter: what’s so damn hard about strong/weak side…. it’s so simple that a child could understand it.

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It’s funny, how Willow and Corky wrestle, and I look at Coco, and just say, “Someday we’ve gotta retire to our own island”, and she just stares at me, as if to say what the hell are you talking about lol.

Fw: Cucumbers anyone?

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This is part of an e-mail in my recent backlog, and thought I might note it here:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber.  Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower?  Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds?  Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long.  The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool?  Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite.  Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache?  Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8.. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don’t have enough time to polish your shoes?  Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge?  Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don’t have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa?  Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don’t have gum or mints?  Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a ‘green’ way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel?  Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won’t leave streaks and won’t harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake?  Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

I wonder if the bit about the garden and hangover are true; someday, I’ve gotta try the stainless steel—it’s always a megapain to clean stainless steel appliances! Although for many cleaning tasks, I have to admit that baking soda is a little miracle worker in many regards, hmm wonder how that would work on steel…

Thermal terror

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Shortly after startup this afternoon, my desktop suddenly shutdown! After booting her, the panel sounded with a beep code that I’m unfamiliar with, and displayed a message about having overheated.

I’ve never monitored the system for more than GPU temps over the years, so I’m not familiar with the normal operating temp in this case. However, I’ve noticed the system has been more prone to unusually heavy impacts from loads it’s used to. After doing a bit of web searching to see what the wintacular options are, since I’m more familiar with BSDs stuff, I installed a program called SpeedFan. The operating temperature being displayed was an average 48/49C CPU and 61 Core, with the system sitting otherwise ‘at rest’.

After shutting down for a “Deep cleaning”, the systems running at my equivalent of idle, has been running about 54C CPU/58C Core. According to Intel, my processor shouldn’t be exceeding ~62.5C. The fans were impeccably clean, even though my last time at it was quite a while ago. Really the only bad thing, was the amount of grime near the frontal intake; but I’ve seen this system run with much worse build up there (plus a fan in need major clean up), so I know there’s little impact possible. Running any games, brings the systems up to low to mid 60s in the CPU and Core readings, respectively.

So either make closer inspections of the fans, or be ready to deal with something rotten in sink land. I’ve sent my brother a message asking if he’s any thermal grease laying around, just in case. I’m going to try putting the machine through its’ paces a bit for now. My next experiment will likely be to  adjust the hookups and run her under an open case….

and I forgot just how nasty this machines case was to operate on o/.

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Something that has been resting on my mind for a while of late, for some reason; it’s just a small piece of wood that a friend gave me many Christmases ago. I’ve never forgotten what she said, the note scribbled on the back is dated 2004. and I’ve hung on to this little thing all these years, keeping it close to my most personal stuff, ike my fathers dog tags. Maybe it’s not worth a red cent to any thief, but I’m a sentimental cuss. Her words remind me, that as far short of the mark as we may fall, we can still make an impact for the better in peoples lives, and try to be better than we are.

Today, a different friend said something that brought that memory back to my mind. So I got up and fetched the memento out of my things, reading the back again, and the verse that is quoted on the front side. For some reason, I have never looked up the rest of the psalm that goes with that verse. Shameful really, when you consider that the book of psalms was one we had done in bible study together, lol. About ten or twenty minutes ago, I finally looked up the entire thing:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 91

I think that is something I needed to hear. Coincidence or mental automata driving it, I don’t know, but it came at a rather precise moment.

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Now this would be a rather handy solution, if my laptop had some more expendable key to re-purpose as a compose ey. The right alt keys closeness to the arrow cluster, makes it a very handy way to “Go back” in history using any program that behaves like a web browser. And I couldn’t live without using my menu key to quickly access spelling corrections in pidgin >_>.

However if I could make xmodmap or something else to bind meta+menu into acting as a compose key, that would work.quite nicely.