A freind of mine from Austin, Tx is visiting. Actually he's living in Detroit right now, but I know him from Texas.
Today I'm splitting out early (legitimately - love summer hours!) and we're heading down to AutoShowInMotion in Philly (Bethlem actually). Should be cool to get to buzz around on the track in a corvette, hummer and the like.
This evening I think we'll head down to philly to tear it up a bit. Jess isn't very happy about it as she won't come as she has to work tommorow and its not her thing. I understand she's torn from wanting me to have fun and show my buddy a good time, but at the sametime wanting to be selfish and have me with her all evening. I'd rather she just came out and went home a little early. Oh well I don't go out very often so I'm not really concerned.
I finally had a little time to catch up this week - got upto speed on some dot net stuff and some more previews of whidbey. Won't be using msbuild likely though - won't be able to align it well with our Java efforts (nant and ant are much easier to work with for both).
I also started a little hacking on a BSP (bastard side project). It appears that my on the fly design skills are up to snuff but I've forgotten alot of c#/ado stuff in the last few months. My bsp will progress slowly I guess.
Friday, June 25, 2004
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
2 weeks go by...
No lack of intrest just lack of time... Why do things always seem to be busier than the previous week?
This week is going to be quieter than last! Really....
The Parents Visit
It would have been great except Mom and Jessica couldn't come to terms with each other. We did get down to the King of Prussia mall, and to Palace of Asia for Indian food. All in all a good visit - despite the war between the girls...
The computer saga
I ordered a 160GB SATA HD from my computer (Samsung model with 8mb of cache -silent and fast!). Only problem was I meant to order the same drive in regular IDE - my motherboard doesn't support SATA.
Options:
1 - return drive, wait a week or so. Lose 15% (~$15)
2 - purchase SATA PCI card for ~$45 at local computer store, CON: want computer to be quieter (need less components for better airflow)
3 - new motherboard that supports SATA ~$90 (ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe)
So I ordered the new motherboard and it got here fast (NewEgg rocks!).
Problems getting it booting off the SATA disk (trying not use old drives) - no NTLDR found. Windows Install painfully slow - WinXP Pro disk cracked causing read errors - but it works.
All of a sudden no more booting. Lights on, fans on but not posting. Dead video card?
Went to bestbuy and bought a Radeo 9800Pro (128MB) for $250. ouch.
Didn't work - atleast I get to return the new video card (I like my Ti4400 for now - maybe this fall I'll get a new card). Must be processor or ram.
Ordered new processor (XP 2600+), and Ram (Crusial PC2700). Thanks again Newegg. Hope its the processor thats dead - atleast then I'll have a gig of RAM instead of 512...
Yep its the processor. Boot up - right into windows - no NTLDR error!
Windows update: Service pack 1. Reboot. All hotfixes. Reboot. Driver Upgrades. Reboot. DX 9 Reboot Media Player & Bios flash. BSOD dance. (if you didn't know by default WinXP reboots when a BSOD is hit, if it occurs on boot up you end up with an endless boot->bsod->reboot cycle - be sure to turn this feature off!)
Reflashed bios back to original (download on laptop, burn to cd, boot off Win98 cd run of Cd rom). Still BSOD dance. Reinstalled Windows XP from Kirts cd - but my key wouldn't allow me to "activate", ended up using my cd dumped onto my usb harddrive to "upgrade". Added SP1 and service packs but not Windows media player or the bios update.
Endless hours I didn't have in vain. $100 upgrade ended up costing about $300 ($250 I still need to get back by returning the video card). Turns out the NTLDR error was occuring because the motherboard was trying to boot off the USB harddrive -urgh.
In the end though it was worth it - the computer is MUCH faster now!
School
Accounting for managers is much more difficult and time consuming than the marketing and finance courses were. I finally think I turned a corner upon completing this last assignment though - finally enough knowledge built up to get things to fall into place. 3 assignements down, 5 to go.
This week is going to be quieter than last! Really....
The Parents Visit
It would have been great except Mom and Jessica couldn't come to terms with each other. We did get down to the King of Prussia mall, and to Palace of Asia for Indian food. All in all a good visit - despite the war between the girls...
The computer saga
I ordered a 160GB SATA HD from my computer (Samsung model with 8mb of cache -silent and fast!). Only problem was I meant to order the same drive in regular IDE - my motherboard doesn't support SATA.
Options:
1 - return drive, wait a week or so. Lose 15% (~$15)
2 - purchase SATA PCI card for ~$45 at local computer store, CON: want computer to be quieter (need less components for better airflow)
3 - new motherboard that supports SATA ~$90 (ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe)
So I ordered the new motherboard and it got here fast (NewEgg rocks!).
Problems getting it booting off the SATA disk (trying not use old drives) - no NTLDR found. Windows Install painfully slow - WinXP Pro disk cracked causing read errors - but it works.
All of a sudden no more booting. Lights on, fans on but not posting. Dead video card?
Went to bestbuy and bought a Radeo 9800Pro (128MB) for $250. ouch.
Didn't work - atleast I get to return the new video card (I like my Ti4400 for now - maybe this fall I'll get a new card). Must be processor or ram.
Ordered new processor (XP 2600+), and Ram (Crusial PC2700). Thanks again Newegg. Hope its the processor thats dead - atleast then I'll have a gig of RAM instead of 512...
Yep its the processor. Boot up - right into windows - no NTLDR error!
Windows update: Service pack 1. Reboot. All hotfixes. Reboot. Driver Upgrades. Reboot. DX 9 Reboot Media Player & Bios flash. BSOD dance. (if you didn't know by default WinXP reboots when a BSOD is hit, if it occurs on boot up you end up with an endless boot->bsod->reboot cycle - be sure to turn this feature off!)
Reflashed bios back to original (download on laptop, burn to cd, boot off Win98 cd run of Cd rom). Still BSOD dance. Reinstalled Windows XP from Kirts cd - but my key wouldn't allow me to "activate", ended up using my cd dumped onto my usb harddrive to "upgrade". Added SP1 and service packs but not Windows media player or the bios update.
Endless hours I didn't have in vain. $100 upgrade ended up costing about $300 ($250 I still need to get back by returning the video card). Turns out the NTLDR error was occuring because the motherboard was trying to boot off the USB harddrive -urgh.
In the end though it was worth it - the computer is MUCH faster now!
School
Accounting for managers is much more difficult and time consuming than the marketing and finance courses were. I finally think I turned a corner upon completing this last assignment though - finally enough knowledge built up to get things to fall into place. 3 assignements down, 5 to go.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
working away
Yesterday and today are relatively meeting free - a great and unique rarity!
I'm utilizing the time to work through some of the paper work I need to ackomplish for some upcoming project proposals.
Looking forward to this coming weekend - Memorial day - Long weekend! Woohoo. My parents will be visiting from Friday night through Tuesday - should be lots of fun.
I'm utilizing the time to work through some of the paper work I need to ackomplish for some upcoming project proposals.
Looking forward to this coming weekend - Memorial day - Long weekend! Woohoo. My parents will be visiting from Friday night through Tuesday - should be lots of fun.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
the Silent Week
No posts this week. Eriely silent?
This week I gave a presenation to a group of abotu 200 people about the direction I have my group moving in about web application development.
In the presentation I covered why these techniques were required, what gaps there were, how we were addressing the gaps currently, and where we were going in the future.
Technology wise I focused on .NET and Plumtree, but mentioned Websphere parallelism and tools like DataDynamics ActiveReports and Coalesys PanelBar and WebMenu.
The presentation went fairly well - I feel I handled the Q&A at the end very strongly.
I also like the fact that it helps me keep my team focused on realizing the goals we have set forth.
Additionally we have a big project thats a go, as well as 7 more to estimate formally.
Went to a AA ballgame last night - Jessica's boss had purchased a luxury box at the game to celebrate the 200th new home sale by his company. We had a great time.
My parents are coming to visit next weekend as well - should be a great time. Probably going to get them to King of Prussia mall, as well as out for Indian food for something different.
This week I gave a presenation to a group of abotu 200 people about the direction I have my group moving in about web application development.
In the presentation I covered why these techniques were required, what gaps there were, how we were addressing the gaps currently, and where we were going in the future.
Technology wise I focused on .NET and Plumtree, but mentioned Websphere parallelism and tools like DataDynamics ActiveReports and Coalesys PanelBar and WebMenu.
The presentation went fairly well - I feel I handled the Q&A at the end very strongly.
I also like the fact that it helps me keep my team focused on realizing the goals we have set forth.
Additionally we have a big project thats a go, as well as 7 more to estimate formally.
Went to a AA ballgame last night - Jessica's boss had purchased a luxury box at the game to celebrate the 200th new home sale by his company. We had a great time.
My parents are coming to visit next weekend as well - should be a great time. Probably going to get them to King of Prussia mall, as well as out for Indian food for something different.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Weekend
Had an excellent weekend overall, even if my desktop decided to misbehave. It looks like something in the ide raid controller. Since the harddrives(3) are the loudest part of my desktop if they start acting up I may well just grab a S-ATA PCI card and newe S-ATA silent harddrive. I like finding excuses to get new toys ;)
Kasey the yellow lab had an excellent weekend. It was full of playing, annoying me (is it time to play yet? is it? is it?), and eating REAL bones (a pig femer and a Mamoth bone). Her behavior is getting much better as she matures a little - I'm impressed with her intelligence and she's only 8mo old.
Saturday night I had hibachi for the first time. I enjoyed to cooking style, however the food nearly killed me. Perhaps I'm exagerating slightly but it wasn't pleasant. Its suspected that I may be alelrgic to MSG.
Saw TROY on Friday night. Good movie. Brad Pitt did a great job, and it was an excellent production. No complaints, although I'm not raving either. Definetly worth seeing in the theater if you enjoy that sort of pass time.
Began working on my presentation for this thursday also - starting to get nervous, but excited at the material at the same time. I'm going to cover three main topics - IT industry (direction, undercutting, and outsourcing), my group and our response and alignment, and .NET/Plumtree.
Kasey the yellow lab had an excellent weekend. It was full of playing, annoying me (is it time to play yet? is it? is it?), and eating REAL bones (a pig femer and a Mamoth bone). Her behavior is getting much better as she matures a little - I'm impressed with her intelligence and she's only 8mo old.
Saturday night I had hibachi for the first time. I enjoyed to cooking style, however the food nearly killed me. Perhaps I'm exagerating slightly but it wasn't pleasant. Its suspected that I may be alelrgic to MSG.
Saw TROY on Friday night. Good movie. Brad Pitt did a great job, and it was an excellent production. No complaints, although I'm not raving either. Definetly worth seeing in the theater if you enjoy that sort of pass time.
Began working on my presentation for this thursday also - starting to get nervous, but excited at the material at the same time. I'm going to cover three main topics - IT industry (direction, undercutting, and outsourcing), my group and our response and alignment, and .NET/Plumtree.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
I like thursdays...
I was not looking forward to a weekly meeting this morning - blah!. I got there and it was actually a pretty good meeting, even if it was 30 minutes longer than required.
One client is a pain, they refuse to do any upfront design, or think things through. Then when things work as expected they panic and want us to undo them, which would take a considerable amount of time and effort and would be pointless.
Good news on my automated build/release initiative front: getting an almagamated source repository may not be an issue after all. Additionally one of my staff did a great job taking something that extra step for me - a welcome relief.
Jessica is great - starting to go a little nuts on planning but not to bad :)
Other good news - my RIM pager that I was sure I had lost, and I put in a request for a new one is found.
Pretty good Thursday, even if its 6:30pm and still at work.... 11hour day, no wonder I feel I got a fair bit accomplished.
One client is a pain, they refuse to do any upfront design, or think things through. Then when things work as expected they panic and want us to undo them, which would take a considerable amount of time and effort and would be pointless.
Good news on my automated build/release initiative front: getting an almagamated source repository may not be an issue after all. Additionally one of my staff did a great job taking something that extra step for me - a welcome relief.
Jessica is great - starting to go a little nuts on planning but not to bad :)
Other good news - my RIM pager that I was sure I had lost, and I put in a request for a new one is found.
Pretty good Thursday, even if its 6:30pm and still at work.... 11hour day, no wonder I feel I got a fair bit accomplished.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
places
Jessica went and looked at the Palace yesterday, but was concerned that it was a little too large ornate for our tastes. Also concerned that the construction might not be completed, so we'd probably have push out to end of April 2005... the search continues.
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