My Continuing Fight with .NET Remoting

So I went for the sleep option around 3:15am. I should have picked option two (coffee) because my brain was still way too active to let me fall asleep. I kept thinking about different options to try. In any case, I'm a couple of steps close to getting my solution to work. For one of our systems, we have a set of COM objects that are hosted in COM+. These objects are exported through COM+ / DCOM to several clients across a LAN / WAN environment. The clients create an instance of a broker object exposed through COM+, and then use that broker to create instances of other server business objects (SBOs). Each of these instances is intended to hold state (they connect to a variety of ERP and database systems, so opening and closing them often has a high transaction cost). Our objective with this project is two-fold. First, the client that activates these distributed components is Wonderware's InTouch 7.x. The license costs for our customer are getting a little high, so they are looking to replace the InTouch client with a .NET client written in C#. I had originally considered using XML Web Services hosted in IIS to wrap the functionality of the SBOs. This was before I learned that the SBOs held state. XML Web Services is a stateless architecture, so it wouldn't due for accomplishing our task. So that is why I chose to go the .NET Remoting route. I'm still going to use IIS to host the remoting component, as it will save me time by acting as the hosting control, provide security, and also take care of channel and load management.


So after banging my head on the wall last night, I got this far: I have a Client Activated Object (CAO) that is hosted by IIS. I've written the web.config file to expose the CAO. I used "soapsuds.exe -nowp -ia:MyRemoteCode -oa:MyRemoteCode_Proxy.dll" to generate a meta-data proxy for the remote object. I created a client that registers the remote object, and then creates an instance of it. So far so good. Here is where the trouble starts though. I create a second remoteable class that also inherits from MarshalByRefObject. This one is instantiated by making a method call on the first remoted object. However, when the client calls "firstRemoteObject.GetSecondRemoteObject()" I get a type mismatch error on the return type. Evidently, the meta-data generated by soapsuds.exe doesn't exactly match the typing information passed back by the remote call. So this is where I am stuck tonight. I spent the day working on another project, so I haven't been able to touch it yet. If I can stay concious long enough I may try again tonight. If I get it solved, I'll post sample code.

CAOs hosted by IIS that implement COM Interop Interfaces

Wow, did I have an intrigueing assignment today. I have a client that is going to be developed in C# (Microsoft .NET technology). This client is going to remotely access another .NET assembly on a server machine, across the network. The server side assembly is going to be client activated (CAO), and the CAO needs to expose the functionality of a COM component through interop. I thought I could just create a class that inherits from MarshalByRefObject and implements the interface of the interop component.... but NOOOOOO! Couldn't be that simple could it? So instead, I'm sitting here at 2am still banging out the intricacies of creating and passing references around across application domains. So far, I've learned that implenting the interface for an interop component is seriously bad news. Forget about remoting your object after you've done that. Next, don't every install the .NET Framework 2.0 beta on your primary development box. It did me the courtesy of modifying all of my IIS virtual directories to automatically select the 2.0 revision rather than the stable 1.1 revision. So now I need to manually select 1.1 for all existing and newly created virtual directories. Thanks .NET 2.0. So now my stickler is trying to figure out how to get two remoted objects that are hosted in the same application domain to interact. Not a simple task so far. More on this wonderful story once I get a cup of coffee... or sleep.

Election Day

Today is election day! I spent two hours waiting in line to cast my votes, but I'm glad that I did. So if you haven't done so already, go out there and cast your vote! I don't care if you are for my candidate or against, I would just like to see every American do their civic duty and vote.

Fun Weekend

Like I said before, the week was pretty stressful. Fortunately, Jenn and I had a fun, stress free weekend planned. Corbin was going to spend the night at his grandparents' house while Jenn and I had a night to ourselves. Saturday, we met with Jenn's folks and dropped Corbin off, then headed down to have lunch / dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Normally we don't go there, as there is usually a two to three hour wait. The food is sooooo good though. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, and we figured we might have a good shot of getting in quick since we would be between the lunch and dinner crowds. We were right on, and got in after just a fifteen minute wait. I had some outstanding meatloaf, and Jenn had the tenderloin. And, of course, we brought home some delicious cheesecake (me: Boston Creme, jenn: White Chocolate Rasberry Truffle).

We stopped at Blockbuster on the way home to grab some movies: Mystic River and The Day After Tomorrow. Mystic River was pretty good, but my parents had absolutely raved about the movie. We didn't think it was quite rave worthy (we figured it out in the first 20 minutes), but it was still pretty good. The Day After Tomorrow wasn't all that great. Some of the special effects were impressive, but there just wasn't a story there. It was like Deep Impact, in that it dealt with the end of the world. However, Deep Impact was much better in that it focused on how we deal with death. How we come to terms with our lives, and what we would do if we knew our own end was near. TDAT wasn't like that at all. In TDAT, it was just an action flick about cheating death. Much less entertaining.

As we were watching the movies, Jenn and I indulged in something we haven't been able to in a while: alcohol. We don't feel that it would be appropriate to drink around Corbin, so we haven't had hard drinks in a while. So with Corbin away for the night, we decided to go for it. Jenn got together with her old friend The Captain, and I enjoyed some vodka and tonic. It was nice to be two adults for night rather than two parents.

This morning, we realized just how much Corbin brings to our lives. The house was quiet... too quiet. We really didn't have a whole lot to do either. Corbin fills our days. Sometimes it is hard, but he brings so much joy for the two of us that we are ready to go pick him up and get back to being parents again.

Stressed

Work life has gotten pretty hectic for me lately. I've made it known that I'd like to have more responsibility at work. I'd like to move into more of a leadership role. I got what I asked for, and then some. I currently have eight different customers that I am working for. That means I get to spend about one hour a day focusing on each customer. The schedules for each of these projects are extremely tight too. Due to the number of projects and their schedule, I've been working some pretty long hours (53 hours last week, 15 on Friday alone). It is like a dance trying to give all of these folks (the customers) the impression that I am 100% dedicated to them, when in reality I hardly have time to do anything for them.

One good thing, though, is that all of these projects are interesting. One project is to upgrade a visual basic application that connects to an OS390 mainframe computer. Another is to upgrade an application from an InTouch 7.0 HMI to a .NET Client written in C#. Another project is to install better vision system cameras for reading a 2-D barcode on a part. Project numbers four and five are technical support for manufacturing lines that we have already put into production. Project six is to perform subtle upgrades on one of the first, and most successful projects I have done at Flexware. Project seven involves XML Web Services communicating to handheld Windows devices embedded in a barcode scanner. And finally I have some fun sales stuff to do for potential customers. I really wish that I could take the time to pick one, or maybe two of these and just focus on it, but I know that I am doing a more for our company by spreading myself around. The more jobs I can work on, the more money that we make. Plus, this is giving me the experience I need to be a leader within the company.

So, yeah, I'm a little stressed right now. This kind of stress is sort of good in that it shows how much business we are doing. My only fear is that it will take away from my being able to spend time with my family. I'll have to keep a close eye on my hours, and I know that Jenn will give me a gentle reminder if I ever start spending too much time with work, and not enough time with her and Corbin. My family comes first in my life, work can wait.

Craziness at Jimmy Johns

Today was a very busy day. I was all over the place at work. By the end of the day, I was over on the West side of Indy for a meeting with a client. I was hustling to get back to class. Tonight was our last meeting for Marketing class, and we had a final presentation to do. I needed some food to get me through, so I stopped at Jimmy Johns on the way. When I stopped in the JJ, I gave the lady at the counter my order for a sandwich. The conversation went like this: JJ LADY: Where do you work? ME: Flexware. It's a software development company. JJ LADY: Are you going to work or coming from work? ME: Coming from work, but going to class JJ LADY: That's cool. Want a party platter? ME: Umm... no. JJ LADY: It's free I didn't know what to say. I looked at the guy doing the dishes, and he was just nodding his head, that yes, it was free, no strings attached. So I got to be the hero by bringing 35 free Jimmy Johns subs to class. Turns out, they screwed up the scheduled at JJ. They made the party planner, but the order wasn't due for another week. They either had to get rid of the food, or throw it out, and I was the only person in the store at the time. What a windfall!

Bonzai!

On our trip to the zoo, we also went to the White River Gardens. They were holding an exhibit of banzai and ikebana. It was really interesting. It was also a nice, quiet change of pace from the zoo. Corbin was asleep, and hardly anyone was in the gardens. The zoo was a mad house of kids running around in their costumes. The zoo was dressed up for Haunted Zoo Weekend, and the kids were there for the first day of trick or treating. It was neat to see so many excited kids running around in their costumes, but by the end of the day, we were ready for a break. The gardens were just what we needed. The banzai and ikebana display was really neat. I had always thought that banzai was a shrub trimming hobby. I never realized that these were full size trees growing in pots! One that caught my eye had very tiny flowers. I tried to take a picture of it, but the detail of the flowers didn't come through in the picture. Once outside, the tranquility of the gardens was very relaxing. Corbin woke up when we were about half way through our stroll. It was a nice way to wind down before the drive home. Hopefully we can make a return trip to the gardens in the spring, and catch all of the plants as they bloom.

How the electoral college system works, and a little bit of history.

Re-Factored

Looks like Bill O'Reilly is about to get knocked down a peg. I know several folks that enjoy listening to this right leaning topics commentator. It seems that Bill has a dark side that doesn't come through on "The Factor". The Smoking Gun has the full documentation of the complaint against him by a Fox News producer. Read on for some interesting gossip.

Political Opinion

How can you not be involved in some political discussion lately? With the election just weeks away, the political arguments are at a fevered pitch everywhere you turn. Invariably the subject of lunchtime chatter at work turns to the candidates at the various levels of government. Jenn and I even have a little back and forth while we are at home. Jenn and I disagree about who we are going to vote for, but I'm really proud of Jenn for the amount of thought she has put into her vote. I get frustrated with folks that blindly vote for a particular party. I have a lot more respect for someone that has taken the time to familiarize themselves with the platforms and topics, and who has a definitive reason for voting for a particular candidate.

Lately, I have heard a lot of rumbling at various places to the effect of, "If you are a good Christian, you must vote for George Bush." I disagree (I used different words the first time I typed this up, but I'm trying not to be inflamatory). I believe promoting my personal, religious beliefs is a burden that I must personally bear, not one that my government should enforce on the population. The beauty of our system of government in America is that we have the right to disagree with one another. It is the variety of cultures, beliefs, values, and morals that makes our country so great. If we promote a government that attempts to restrict those freedoms, then we are tearing apart what makes our country the envy of the world. To say that any one religious group has a duty to vote for a particular candidate seems ludicrous to me. The only case where I can see that being a viable argument were if a candidate was making an attempt to outlaw a form of religion.

George Bush is running on a platform that harmonizes with many of the beliefs of the Christian Right. If you feel that those beliefs should be enacted and enforced as law, then by all means vote for Bush. But don't feel that you are any greater or lesser of a Christian based on who you vote for. God loves all of his children equally, regardless of political affiliation.

HDTV

We've been subscribing to the HDTV service from Insight in our area for over a year now, and while we haven't had any technical problems, I feel that the content still has a long way to go. There are currently a handful of HD stations available:

• HBO-HD
  
• SHOWTIME-HD
  
• NBC-HD
  
• ABC-HD
  
• CBS-HD
  
• ESPN-HD
  
• Discovery HD Theater
  
• Bravo-HD
  
• PBS-HD
  
• HD-NET
  
• HD-Movies
  

And the pricing is a little crazy too. It's $13 a month to rent the HD Digital set top box with DVR (Motorola). When you rent the HD box, you get NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and Bravo in HD. For an extra $10 / month you can add HD-NET, HD-Movies, ESPN-HD, and Discovery HD Theater. That's $2.50 a channel. HBO-HD will run you another $10 (you get the standard set of digital HBO's as well), and SHO-HD is $13. Essentially, if you wanted to subscribe to every feature available in my area, and rent only one box, your total cable and internet bill would run in excess of $180 / month. Mine currently sits at $117 (digital box, digital subscription, HBO, Starz, internet). If all you were interested in getting were the 11 HD stations, you would be paying:

• $40 Digital Subscription
  
• $13 HD Receiver rental
  
• $10 HBO
  
• $13 Showtime
  
• $10 HD-NET, HD-Movies, ESPN-HD, Discovery HD Theater
  
• TOTAL: $86 / month + tax!
  

That's nearly $8 per channel! Even more discouraging is that there is very little network programming that is broadcast in HD. What you end up with are standard resolution programs that have been upconverted to HD resolution. This looks terrible, as you end up with all sorts of distortion, tracing, jaggies, and artifacts. America's Funniest Home Videos is notoriously bad, as they are upconverting the already poor video from home cameras.


I say all this bad stuff, yet we're still paying for the service. Why? The content that does come in HD is amazing! The difference in picture quality between the standard def CSI and HD CSI is amazing (we love CSI). I'm hoping that we get FOX soon, as I know that they are broadcasting over the air HD, as are UPN and WB. I guess it is all just a matter of time.

Howard Stern on Sirius Radio

I like my Sirius radio. I listen to it throughout the day while I am at work, and have it on the road in my car. Today, the announcement came out that in January of 2006, Howard Stern will switch to broadcasting on Sirius. Well, that's great for folks that listen to him, and I'm sure it will do wonders for Sirius stock price and subscription rates, but I don't listen to Howard. I got to hear all about the big news all morning, though, as the music was interrupted every half hour to announce that Stern is coming to Sirius. This was really irritating. Every station was running the announcement, and it ran every half hour. I couldn't get away from it. What's more, all of the stations staggered the announcement, so I would hear it on one station, flip to another, and hear it again! Just as a reminder, his show won't start for more than a year. Why do I need this constant reminder right now?

Political Ads

I've been sort of sitting the fence on the race for Governor this year. Mitch Daniels came into our office, and I wasn't really impressed with him. Kernan seemed like a pretty good guy, and I generally agree with the Democratic party platform, but I really didn't have strong feelings towards either candidate. If anything, I was leaning towards Kernan. Then, the latest round of negative ads came out from the Kernan camp bashing Daniels on the IPALCO stock matter. Negative ads don't motivate me to vote for either candidate. In fact, they usually make me dislike the candidate that sponsored the ad. So this knocked Kernan down a peg in my mind. Then, Daniels came out with the ads explaining the IPALCO situation, and then saying that he would not run any negative ads in the campaign. He ends the ad by saying something to the effect of, "Let's show em' we can win without the negative ads." That really struck a chord with me. I really dislike negative ad campaigning. I don't think it does anything to help the election, and I really wish all politicians would stop using them. Tell me why I should vote for you, not why I should not vote for your opponent. So after this round of negative ads, I'm leaning a little further towards Daniels, if for no other reason than to send a message that I'm tired of negative ad campaigns.

Debate Spoof

The two candidates for US president recently had a debate on the subject of foreign policy and defense. Jenn and I watched the first hour, then got bored and switched off to something else. We had even less tolerance for the Vice Presidential debates. I saw this clip on the web the other day, and it cracked me up. The guy spoofing Bush has the voice down. If you couldn't see him, you would swear it is our commander in chief.

Favorite Magazine

My favorite magazine is WIRED. I can't get enough of it. It contains a variety of current events and opinion stories, usually with a technology bias. I look forward to getting each month so that I can check out all of the latest drool-worthy gadgets and the latest in technology trends. It's almost like a fashion magazine for geeks. I managed to get my dad hooked on it too, and I've been using some of the articles as references form my MBA course. I highly recommend that anyone who enjoys technology, the internet, or computing pick up a copy and read through it. You just might like it.

Tooth Issues

A couple of years ago, I broke off one of my teeth in my sleep. Jenn and I were living in the apartment at the time, and in the middle of the night I woke up from a weird dream when I heard a loud popping sound. My jaw was a little sore, and my mouth felt funny. I went to bathroom and saw that I had broken my tooth!

I had a lot of dental work done when I was younger. I had spacers, braces, fillings, and veneers on both of the secondary upper incisors. The teeth with the veneers were very small, much smaller than the rest of my teeth, and it resulted in a large gap between the teeth. The veneers were there to fill in the gaps. Well, it was one of the veneered teeth that I broke. I don't know exactly what I did, but I can only imagine that I had been working my lower jaw in my sleep, and just got into a weird position that put too much pressure on that tooth. I had planned to visit a customer a couple hours away that morning, and there was no way I could miss the appointment, so I stuffed the tooth back into place in the morning and just prayed that it would hold through the day until I could get to the dentist.

I had a late appointment with the dentist that day, and I found out the extent of the damage. The tooth behind the veneer had broken off almost below the gum line. This is bad, because it makes putting on a crown very difficult. There was very little tooth left to work with, and it was a small tooth to begin, so there wasn't much room to plant the anchor for the crown. The alternative would be to install a bridge, which would mean filing down the two neighboring teeth, a canine and an incisor, and using those to anchor the bridge. That wouldn't be any fun, so my dentist and I decided to try the crown. So far, it has worked out pretty well.

Anyway, the whole reason I bring up this story is that I had a checkup with the dentist this week. All of my teeth were doing fine, but the pocket between the gum and the broken tooth has opened up quite a bit. This is usually a sign of periodontal disease. Bacteria can get lodged in the gap between the tooth and gum, and that will cause plaque build up, and kill the gum and tooth. The broken tooth has always been sensitive since the crown was installed, but I took care to make sure I brushed it, and occassionally flossed. During past checkups, the pocket was bigger than on other teeth, but nothing the doctor was worried about. This time, though, I could tell the probe was going a lot deeper, and it hurt a lot more.

The next step is for me to go in to the dentist in two weeks to have "therapy". This involves injecting an antibiotic between the tooth and gum. This will help to kill the bacteria, and hopefully give the gums a chance to heal and close the pocket. There are other alternatives as well, but most are pretty painful. I could have root planing performed, where they would essentially sand down the edge of the root, and possibly trim the gums a bit. That hurts just thinking about it. So hopefully the antibiotics, and some more focused hygiene effort on my part will help get it done. Interestingly enough, Lysterine is a highly effect, non-prescription way to fight the problem as well.

I'll post an update once I get the antibiotic treatment. Wish me luck!

I know this is a crappy picture, but this is Pat H., our facilitator for MGT 541 - Advanced Marketing Management. She is very friendly, quick to smile, and a little bubbly. She is also extraordinarily proud of her daughter, who just graduated from medical school. It looks like the next six weeks should be a welcome relief from the rigors of Statistics. This is good, as our next course will be another long one in economics.

Perspective

I recently had the opportunity to interview several people for some contract positions we have open. It gave me a bit of perspective, a lesson I did not expect to learn. There were four candidates for the job: an Indian woman, an Indian man, and two American men. The difference in the attitudes was amazing. I don't know if I can truly attribute it to nationality alone, but there was clearly a difference in the way the interviews went. Both Indian interviewees were very good. I came away from the interview with a sense of the drive they had to get a job, and the effort they were willing to put in. Each had worked several contracts before, and in the meantime between jobs, had secured a variety of certifications. The Americans, on the other hand, were more relaxed. I didn't get a sense that they took the interviews as seriously. There was no sense of immediacy. To be fair, one of the American interviewees was currently employed, and was only "testing the waters".

The perspective I gained is that, perhaps we need to take a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are. The USA is an amazing place to live, and these interviews reminded me that this truly is the land of opportunity. I may sometimes feel envy that I can't drive a luxury car, or that I don't have some of the latest gadgets. When I sit here now and think about it though, how blessed am I to have all that I do? Jenn and I own two cars and a home, which we can easily afford. We didn't worry about Jenn leaving her job to take on the full-time work of caring for Corbin. We have so much that others in the world would consider luxuries, but we take them for granted.

I am glad I had the opportunity to do these interviews. It gave me the chance to reflect on my situation, and be grateful that I am an American.

Book Review : "How to Win Friends and Influence People"

On the suggestion of a colleague, I read the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. I had to swallow my pride and tread through the self-help section of the bookstore to find it (all the while thinking "I am such a loser to buy a book on how to make friends"), but it was worth the effort. The book is laid out as a set of lessons on how to build relationships, get folks to agree with you, and lead people without resentment. In large part, these are lessons in humility. Although this may often be mistaken for being whipped, humbling ourselves before others can often lead to gaining their trust, and ultimately their loyalty.

This book was originally written in the 1930's, and some of the language is telling of the books age. The points made are solid, and although they are often "no-duh" type comments, they are nonetheless excellent points to review from time to time. Most of the examples in the book relate to selling and salesmanship, but they are equally applicable to anyone else that deals with people in their day(and who doesn't?) As you read through the book, the examples given to reenforce the tips given are somewhat idealistic and utopian. Most examples lead to the person being promoted to president, making millions, or becoming the exceedingly famous. While such outcomes cannot be expected in all cases, I feel that anyone could expect to improve their social interactions in at least some small part through the practice of these suggestions.

Listed below are the main points made within the book.

Part One
Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

   1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
   2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
   3. Arouse in the other person an eager want. 

Part Two
Six ways to make people like you

   1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
   2. Smile.
   3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
   4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
   5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
   6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely. 

Part Three
Win people to your way of thinking

   1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
   2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
   3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
   4. Begin in a friendly way.
   5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
   6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
   7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
   8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
   9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
  10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
  11. Dramatize your ideas.
  12. Throw down a challenge. 

Part Four
Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

   1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
   2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
   3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
   4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
   5. Let the other person save face.
   6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
   7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
   8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
   9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest. 

I would highly recommend that anyone take the time to at least skim the book (perhaps the next time you are at Barnes & Noble).

Dinner

I've been craving a good greek gyro for a while now. I think the Olympic Games sparked my hunger. It got me to thinking about greek food, and how long it had been since I had a good gyro. I checked out the phone book to see if there were any good greek restaurants nearby, but I was out of luck. There was a rumor that the only one nearby had recently closed. I remember Queen Gyros in Kokomo was a good place to run in and get a quick gyro. It looked like you might catch something there (disease or bullet, your choice) but the food was great. Tonight, as we were trying to decide on where to go to eat, we wandered by Opa! It is a nice little greek fast food chain. It hit the spot perfectly. I had some spiced lamb on some delicious pita bread, a caesar salad, and I topped it off with a little baklava. Mmmm boy! I'm all set for some sleep now.

Vancouver by night. This is the view outside of my window right now.

Vancouver Trip - Day 1

Today is my first day of the Vancouver trip. I don't look that bad considering I haven't slept in almost 36 hours. My flight this morning was at 6am, and I had to be at the airport before 5am. That meant leaving the house no later than 4am. So I figured I had better start getting read to go at 2:30am. I usually stay up a little past midnight most nights. I thought it would be futile to get just two hours of sleep, so I stayed up the whole night. I had class the night before, and I didn't get home until past 10pm. That gave me a bit of time to spend with Jenn before she went to bed. I played some video games for a couple of hours, then hit the shower to start my day.

My flights went really well. Two of my coworkers, Hack and Andy, left yesterday. They actually missed their scheduled flight and had to take a later one. They arrived at the airport at 5am for their flight, the same one I took today, only to find that the line for security was wrapped clear around the ticketing area. There were well over 500 people in line, and they were not able to make it through in time for their flight. They were able to find a later flight that left at 4:30pm, and made that one.

I was much more fortunate. I arrived at the airport to see only two folks in front of me at the ticketing / check-in counter. The security line was nearly empty, and although I received the usual airport mollestation (remove shoes, belt, fold pants down, etc.) the security check went very quickly. I read a book as I waited the remaining hour to board my flight. I had a brief layover in Chicago on my way, and that was uneventful as well. I guess Monday is the bad day to travel, and Tuesday is the good one.

Once here, the guys picked me up at the airport and I got checked in at the hotel. We then grabbed a bite to eat at the A&W restaurant on the first floor of the building we are working in, which is right next door to the hotel. It is fortunate that we won't need to do much driving, as the streets and traffic are pretty confusing.

My lack of sleep is really starting to hit me now though. I would love to just lay down and take a nap, but I know that would be bad. There is a two hour time difference, and if I nap now I'll never sleep through the night. I closed my eyes for part of the flights, but I wouldn't qualify it as sleep. I got some rest out of it, but the seats are so uncomfortable that you can't truly sleep. My arms and legs fell asleep at one point, and I had some serious pins and needles action as I tried to get the blood flowing again. I'm not sure what our dinner plans are tonight, but I'm thinking I had better grab a cup of joe as part of my meal to make sure that I don't fall asleep to early. I'll also need to be very certain that I get the alarm set before my head hits the bed. Otherwise, I run the risk of not waking up in time!

That's the update for now. I'll have more info as the week presses on.

There is Andy, toiling away at his station.

MBA 326 at IWU

I'm taking classes at Indiana Wesleyan towards earning my Masters in Business Administration. We meet every Monday evening from 6-10pm for our workshops. The program is divided up into several courses, each course spanning several weeks. We only take one course at a time, which is nice as it allows us to concentrate on just one subject at a time. Tonight we finished up Advanced Statistical Analysis. It was a tough one for several students, but I think I managed to get through it successfully. Next is Advanced Marketing Management. All of the students in my course will stay together as a group, called MBA 326, and we will take all of the courses together.

As part of our coursework, the MBA 326 group is subdivided into smaller work groups. Each group is responsible for working together on group assignments, papers, and presentations. I often meet with my group outside of class, other on-line or in person, to work through some of our major assignments. I'll chat with Jenn about these folks, but she has never met any of them. Tonight, since I had the new webcam with me, I decided to take some pictures to fill in the gaps.

Dr. Dele (Dele is short for Oladele, his first name). He was our instructor for statistics.

A look at the class, from my seat for the day. (modified seating due to presentations)

My Work Group
Octavius	Nael	Megan (on left) and Rita (on Right)

These are the folks I spend time with every Monday night.

New Toy!

I've got a new toy to play with. I'm taking a trip to Vancouver this week, and I wanted to be able to stay in touch with Jenn and Corbin. I stopped at Target and picked up the GE/Jasco MiniCam Pro with Audio. It is a tiny web cam that mounts on my laptop monitor. It was only $30, which was a good deal too. Now I can do some video conferencing from Canada with the family.

Television Sucks

I'm really unimpressed with the quality of television programming lately. Jenn and I are sitting here, and I'm trying to ignore Big Brother 5. I think the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy have it right: Television is the Drug of the Nation. Jenn is addicted to reality TV, and I'm always astounded at the stupidity of the "stars" of these shows. Big Brother 5 is a prime example. People on the show are basing their decisions on, I kid you not, a pinky swear. A pinky freaking swear! I can't remember a time, even in grade school, when a pinky swear had any merit. To see grown adults basing their decisions on such a moronic form of contract totally boggles my mind.

Now The Apprentice is on, another reality show where the contestants try to earn a job from Donald Trump. Seeing as how the Trump empire recently filed bankruptcy, I'm thinking this may not be the wisest move in the world. Prior to either of these shows, the pilot for "Joey" was on. It followed in the same footsteps as friends. That is to say, it made up for poor acting and worse writing with a thick layer of laugh track. Ugh...

There are only a few programs I enjoy watching on TV anymore. I like watching some of the specials on Discovery and TLC, because I can actually learn something interesting. I like watching Last Comic Standing because it makes me laugh. I enjoy CSI for the suspense and intrigue. Otherwise, I'd rather be on the PC, browsing the web, keeping up on current events, playing video games, or in some way keep my brain active. Television just seems like brain rot lately.

Funny Blog

My Aunt Marta referenced me to this blog. This poor woman seems to be having some family issues. The way she writes is a riot too.

Four years at Flexware

This week marked my fourth year with Flexware. It has been a pretty wild ride so far. We've gone from a run down blue pole barn to a brand new building that we built. I've had my gripes at Flexware, like any employee does at any business, but overall I've been treated very well. I've made new friends and enjoyed the company of an old friend. I've also learned an incredible amount. Before I started at Flexware, all of my development expertise was on UNIX based systems. I was a whiz at X-Windows and C coding, but I had no idea what I was in for. I had to quickly acclimate myself to the Microsoft way of programming. It was a bumpy start, but before I knew it, I was certified as a Visual Basic developer, and developing some fairly interesting applications. Now I would consider myself a whiz at the Microsoft way, and I'm working towards becoming a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer using C# and the .NET Framework. I've also learned how to interact with interesting pieces of equipment. I've worked with barcode scanners, vision equipment, marking stations, stencilers, printers, presses, etc., etc. Just about anything and everything you might find on the shop floor with an ethernet or serial port. The variety of things I see in my job keeps it interesting.

I'm working towards my MBA now, and I'm hoping it leads me to even greater things. My goal is to become a proficient team leader and project manager. This week, I took some of my first steps at Flexware towards fulfilling that goal. We have an existing customer who we worked with to create a part tracking system. Unfortunately, the system never worked to the customer's satisfaction. The customer withheld their last payment. We have argued that it is a case of buy-in by the operators, and they have argued that the system simply doesn't work. Flexware has never abandoned a project, and we weren't going to make this the first one. I had a meeting this morning with our company president, and several other folks intimately involved with the project. The previous team lead has now been tasked with one of our new opportunities, and is not available to continue on this project. This is giving me the opportunity to assume the roll of project lead.

I'm really excited about this opportunity, and I'm a little scared at the same time. I know that this is a big deal, and it means a lot to Flexware as a company that we wrap it up and satisfy the customer. I also know that the deck is stacked against me. We have an angry customer, angry sub-contractors, angry-operators, and a budget that has been completely exhausted. Somehow, I need to find a way to get the system to a point where the customer is satisfied, and at the same time not break the bank. And I need to do all of this before the end of the year. It won't be an easy task, but these are the kind of opportunities that I want. This is going to be my first real test to see if I am going to make it as a project lead. I get started on Tuesday. I'll give it my all and pray for the best.

XNC

The latest round of political conventions have me worried about the future of our country. I watched portions of both the DNC and the RNC. I just can't understand the level of excitement and enthusiasm that the delegates to the conventions have for their candidates. I can't help but think of fanatical cults, such as those led by David Koresh in Waco, TX, or The People's Temple that led to the Jonestown massacre. The folks at the convention hang on every word of the speaker, and erupt into chants and cheers at the end of each sentence. It is really frightening how much the conventions resemble the rallys of fanatical religious cults. Should I feel this way about a candidate? Am I missing something that these folks have figured out?

I know that the conventions are just a show, and I figure that the delegates are showing this level of zeal in the hopes that folks will think "Gee, if they love him that much, maybe I should too." Unfortunately, that is the same tactic that works in the cults that have led to mass suicides. Is The United States headed towards mass suicide? I certainly hope not. That is the impression I get as I watch the conventions though. Neither candidate truly told me anything that would convince me that they would be exceptionally fit to steer the world's number one super power for the next four years. In fact, I was convinced more to NOT vote for a candidate based on what I heard. From Bush's speach, his comments that he would never allow for the consideration of Gay Rights really turned me off. It really disappoints me that our government would continue to propogate methods of discriminating against any person. I thought we learned that lesson in the last millenium. Not that Kerry had anything better to say. He bragged on a questionable war record, and bashed his opponent. Is it any wonder that fewer americans turn out to vote each year?

Both candidates have bragged on questionable material (Bush: Employment, Kerry: War Record). Neither has convinced me that they deserve my vote. So who do I vote for? Do I throw away my vote like I did four years ago and hand-write Nader on my ticket? No, I refuse to that again. Do I skip election day altogether? No, I have a patriotic duty to exercise my right to vote. So what do I do when I don't feel either candidate is best for the job?

Right now, I'm leaning towards Kerry. I've seen what Bush will do with a presidency, and I don't want four more years of our nation picking fights. During his term, Bush formed an "Axis of Evil" list that really jeopardized the US. He managed to piss off not just middle easterners, but North Korea and Cuba too. I agree that the move to attack in Afghanistan was the right move, but I disagree with our preemptive strike on Iraq. You're free to disagree with me. That's the great thing about living in a free country: we don't always have to agree.

This November, fewer than half the nation will participate in the vote. Of those folks, roughly half will be satisfied with the outcome of the election. What happens when only a quarter of your population is happy with the man elected to represent the entire nation? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. As for me, I'll just cross my fingers that we're not all getting fit for our purple jammies and black Nikes just yet.

Getting Old

I'm getting old. A few weeks ago, I really hurt my back picking Corbin up out of the jumper. My back hurt for the entire next week. I did the same thing a couple of months ago playing volleyball. I took a couple of weeks off from volleyball to let my back heal. Last night was my first night back. Now my shoulder is sore. I went to the doctor last Tuesday to see if I had really done something wrong. He felt really bad about telling me, but he said that I was just experiencing some of the normal things that happen as you get old. I'm not ready to be old yet. I still like to play volleyball, stay up late playing video games, sleep in on the weekends, and generally be a kid.

I guess I don't feel like a kid all the time. During class, and when I'm at work, I feel like an adult. Otherwise, I'm still an eight year old on the inside. I watch cartoons and play Nintendo. I like the comics section of the newspaper the best. I always thought that becoming a dad would be that defining moment when I started to feel like an adult. Well, it didn't happen. Now I'm looking forward to when Corbin can pick up a controller and play Nintendo with me. I look forward to waking up Saturday mornings with our boy to watch cartoons.

Unfortunately, my body is giving me reminders that I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I don't get over soreness in one night anymore. Now it takes a few days, if not a couple of weeks. If I try to play more than a couple of hours of volleyball, my body starts to complain. Some of it has to do with the fact that I'm not in the same shape I was in during high school. I'm sure that if I was exercising every weekday for two or three hours like I did in high school, I probably would heal a lot faster. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time or the desire to do that anymore.

Hopefully, I can learn my limits and not get sore like this every week. Maybe all of this soreness will result in my being a little strong. Maybe it's a good thing. I'd rather not be sore, and I'd rather not be getting old. As long as I'm a kid at heart, though, I think I'll always feel young.

Make with the Funny

Jenn and I really like Last Comic Standing. Our favorite comedian is John Heffron. He cracks both of us up. Unfortunately, I identify with too much of his routine. Like the part about playing video games for four hours, going to bed, and waking up in the middle of the night thinking "I know how to get past that boss now!" This is season three of Last Comic Standing (LCS) and John is back with the rest of the cast from his season to take on the season one folks. John Heffron won the second season contest, and he looks poised to do it again.

At the end of last season, they showed some of the clips of comics that didn't make the cut. I was surprised to see someone that I recognized. Mark Britten, better known as The China Man, was in the group of cut performers. Jenn and I went to see him with at a local club, and I about fell out of my chair from laughing so hard. He was really funny. Part of his act is a spoof on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unfortunately, now that Arnold is the governor of California, everyone was doing impressions. Mark only had a couple of minutes to impress the panel, and he made the mistake of using the tired Schwarzenegger routine. It's a real shame too, because his other material is really funny. He also does a lot of the voices for characters in cartoons. Mostly anime stuff, like Dragonball Z. After the show, I got an autographed card that had some of his stats. I've posted the both sides of the card below.

A big welcome to the Kingery Family, who have now entered the wild and wonderful world of blogging.

Sleepy

Man I'm tired. I had to get up this morning at 4am to make it to a customer site. We were rolling out some changes to the way that their manufacturing line ran. We had some pretty bad problems that resulted in several lines being down for a couple of hours. Having a bunch of angry supervisors steaming down your neck is not a comfortable position to be in.. especially when you are short on both sleep and caffeine. We did get the problem figured out, but that was some extra stress I didn't need. One of my coworkers was there, so we both sweated it out.

It's now close to 8pm. My day won't be done for another two hours. I'm in class right now, and in about five minutes we are going to start taking our fourth exam of our statistics course. This will be our terminology exam. I think I'll do fairly well, and I've done pretty well on the exams so far. I've scored a 55/55, 55/55, and 51.5/55 on the exams so far. We have another exam in two weeks, and that will be the last one of the class.

Right now, I'm looking forward to a soft, cool pillow. Nothing like the feeling of crawling into a cool, comfortable bed when you are totally exhausted. This might be one of the few nights where I don't struggle to get to sleep before midnight.

Losing Control

I've finally lost control... of my Yahoo! Bulk E-mail folder. My primary e-mail address is at Yahoo, and to this point I've been able to avoid a lot of spam. Yahoo provides a bulk mail folder where it automatically files anything that looks like spam. Occassionally it puts a real e-mail in there, and I checked it every once in a while to see if I had missed something. I was getting about 30 spam messages a day, which meant I could do a quick scan to see if anything important was in there.

Within the past couple of weeks, that has totally changed. I don't know if my e-mail address made it onto some super spam list, or what happened, but I'm receiving well over 100 spam messages a day now. I don't have time to wade through the screens and screens of junk in my bulk mail folder to check for valid mail anymore. This is pretty sad. So if you send me something, and I don't reply for a very long time, try again. It may have been put in the wrong folder, and I never saw it.

The Phelps Phenomenon

Michael Phelps is an unbelievably talented swimmer for the USA olympic swim team. He could be the best all-around swimmer the world has ever seen. In the run-up to the Olympic games, the media had targeted Phelps with an incredible spotlight, marvelling at the possibility that he might beat Mark Spitz's record of seven golds. Then, the media started to focus on themselves. "Michael, can you handle all of this media attention?" "Michael, will you be able to perform to these incredible expectations?" "Michael, can you be happy with anything less than 8 golds?".

Why can't this guy just go swim and love his sport? Why does the media have to make a circus of the Olympics and of themselves? Reporters are falling over themselves to try to find a crack in Phelps, to show that he is still human. Well... he is! No one deserves the kind of pressure that he has been put under to perform in the Olympics, and it is amazing that a 19 year kid can maintain the level of composure that Michael has shown so far.

Today, as I was reading through the most popular news on Yahoo!, I saw this story. I had to shake my head in disgust. Michael Phelps was beaten by Ian Thorpe, largely regarded as the world's best 200-meter freestyle swimmer, in the 200-meter freestyle. Why was I disgusted? Not because Phelps lost (he got the bronze, and set an American record in the process), but because the article had the audacity to claim that Phelps might be seen as a failure in these olympic games!

This seems to happen every Olympics. An athlete with amazing abilities is made into some type of super-being by the media, and then completely torn apart when they show the slightest crack. In the last summer games, it was Marion Jones and her efforts in track and field. In 1996, it was the tiny gymnast Dominique Moceanu. In 1992 we had the Dan and Dave decathlete hype from Reebok.

One year, I'd love to see the olympics in pure form: for the glory of the sport and game. Forget the announcers, forget the hype, forget the athletes as individuals. Instead, let them be anyone and everyone. Let the athletes compete for the pure joy of exceling in their sport, and for competition. Let us watch the games, and let us be amazed at what we are capable of. I'm tempted to hit the mute button during some events. Maybe I'll try that to see if I enjoy the coverage any better.

Irritated

I'm irritated. And not just by a sore back. A couple of news stories have come out recently that really bother me. The first comes from the Indianapolis Star newspaper. A while back, there was an unfortunate accident where a child on a bus stuck his head out of the bus window, and was killed when he was hit by passing tree. The bus driver was traveling close to the shoulder of the road to avoid a dead raccoon. The boy, wanting to get a better view, stuck his head out of the window. A tree that had grown very close to the road struck his head and killed him nearly instantly. The driver was traveling about 30mph, certainly a safe speed for any road.

The mother of the child has decided to sue the school, the bus driver, and the state. This really gets me angry. The mother has my condolences. It certainly cannot be easy to lose I child. When I think of how it would feel to lose Corbin, well, it just isn't something I want to even think about. Still, at some point people have to take responsibility for their actions. Her son stuck his head out of the window of a moving vehicle. This is unsafe under ALL conditions. However, the case is trying to show that the bus driver was driving recklessly and without regard to safety, and was not properly supervising the children on the bus. She is sueing the school for using school buses that allow the window low enough for a head to go out, and she is suing the state for not properly maintaining the roads. This is just ridiculous. Here we have someone trying to cash in on their misery. Worse yet, no matter if she wins or loses the case, tax payers are going to lose. Not only will we pay for the extraordinary court costs of defending our school and our state, but we will likely pay for upgrades on our buses to prevent the next moron from sticking his head out.

What happened taking responsibilities for your actions. Sure, the kid had ADHD. But if your kid isn't smart enough not to know that his head belongs inside the bus, then you should probably be driving him to school yourself. Lawsuits such as this one really bother me because they are completely unnecessary and never help anyone. Will a settlement of a few thousand dollars help the mother feel better? Probably not. Will having the all of our buses retrofitted to look like prison vehicles help her get her son back? No. Our schools are already modeled so closely to prisons that students are beginning to behave like criminals. We give them message after message that says they can't be trusted to behave properly, and after a while, they begin to believe it. Look at the metal detectors at schools, random drug searches and drug testing, daily police patrols of the halls and facilities, windows locked and bared with iron gates, and large chains used to secure the exits. Are these places of learning, or temporary prisons where we send our children while we go to work?

I really feel badly for this mother who has lost her son. I hope that she is able to find some peace in her time of grief. Filing a lawsuit like this will not help her to find that peace, and will likely make her feel much worse than if she just accepted that her son made a bad decision, resulting in his death.

Movie Review - Hellboy

I've been slacking off on my movie reviews. We watched three movies last weekend, and I've only written about one. Here is number two...

At the beginning of Hellboy, we are thrown back to the heat of World War II. Hitler is desperate to gain an advantage over the allies, and has enlisted the assistance of the great sorcerer Rasputin to search for magical and mystical artifacts to assist the war effort. Rasputin attempts to open a portal to another dimension and call for the "7 Gods of Chaos" who would then destroy the world. Rasputin's plan is foiled an american scientist leading a group of marines. The scientist is acutely aware of the power of the artifacts that Rasputin seeks, and makes every effort to prevent the apocalypse from happening. During the brief time while the portal is open, a strange demon-child escapes the other dimension. Meet Hellboy

The rest of the movie takes us along with the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) and their mission to defend the earth against the forces of chaos. The american scientist adopted Hellboy as his son, and their relationship is tested by the typical struggles that a father and son have as the child reaches maturity. Hellboy is different in that he ages in reverse dog years, or one year for every seven human years. He has one arm that is made of brimstone, and horns sprout from his head. He keeps the horns filed down so that he can blend in better, but his bright red skin is a dead giveaway.

I really liked this movie. I liked the type of humor used. This isn't an overly sophisticated movie. Hellboy doesn't try to fight using high tech weapons or intricate martial arts. Instead, he just puts the beat down. It's a nice change from the Matrix style fight scenes which are the current Hollywood fad. Hellboy is an interesting character too. He has more of a background than some of the other recent superhero movies (Catwoman, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). He is in love with another member of the BPRD team, but can't seem to get the relationship to workout. He has a soft spot in his heart for cats. And he isn't perfect at everything he does. Hellboy is rough around the edges. One thing that Jenn commented on after the latest Charlie's Angels movie was that, the characters are too perfect. They are always on, always over the top, and always perfect. Hellboy isn't. I really liked his character for that.

Don't be put off by the title. This is a fun popcorn movie. I think anyone who enjoys a superhero flick from time to time will really enjoy this one.

More Radio Hoax Coverage

The radio hoax guy is slowly gaining more national attention. One of my favorite websites, Fark, had the story here.

1. Washington Times Article
   
2. MSNBC Article
   
3. The Indy Channel
   

All of the local television and radio networks have covered the story. This guy is really messed up. One of the posts on the Fark site included this information.

From -- atomic_99

This man is INSANE. I was reading a Something Awful thread about a guy who was actually sent a long e-mail from this guy detailing what they'd have to do to win a radio contest. That he'd have to duct-tape himself to the creepy pizza-face guy and a third stranger, they'd have to lay together in bed in a motel for a whole day, they'd have to shave each other's bodies completely, they'd have to give each other extreme wedgies. This man is a whole new definition of CREEP. Find the thread on the SA forums if you can.

Oh, and the kicker: This creepy bastard says that "He's the victim."

This guy needs some serious medication. I tried to find the source article over at SomethingAwful, but I had no luck.(as the title implies, the website SomethingAwful is not for the faint of heart. Enter with caution.) As I hear more on this, I'll continue to post updates.

UPDATE: I found an article on Fox 59's website that sounds a lot like what atomic_99 mentioned in his Fark post. Eeesh, the creepiness deepens

Movie Review: LXG

I watched several movies over the weekend. One was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. This movie was entertaining, but it didn't really break any new ground. Going in, I thought this was going to be a truly bad movie. I was surprised that it wasn't as bad as I thought, but I still wasn't all that impressed either. For the majority of the movie, I was kind of confused as to exactly what was going on. The special effects were nice, and but you can't make a movie on special effects alone.

The movie is built around a collection of legendary characters: a vampire, Dr. Jekyl / Mr. Hyde, Dorian Gray, The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, and Alan Quartermain. Each of the group has been assembled to combat a mysterious person named The Fantom. The Fantom is attempting to start a world war, and the league has been assembled to stop him. I'm pretty sure that's as far as they went on the story. The characters are never developed beyond their name. One thing that surprised me is that the vampire is able to go out in daylight. I suppose there are different stories of how vampires operate. In any case, it has only been two days since I watched the flick, and I'm hard pressed to come up with any other, more interesting observation from the movie. Some of the special effects were a little overdone for my taste. That's saying something.

If you are hard up for entertainment this weekend, LXG will pass the time. You probably won't remember it by the time you have to turn the disc back in though.

Radio Contest Hoax Update

I spoke with Detective Harmon of the Indiana State Police today about the phone call we received a week ago Sunday (07/25/2004). He took some notes from me about the phone call. He said that they probably would not concentrate too much on the folks who only received a call, but he would definitely use the information to bolster their case against him. Evidently there many folks who actually went to his place, a lot more than the four mentioned in the original article. That's pretty sad that this guy would humiliate folks like that for his own entertainment. The detective indicated that he was going to concentrate on those folks that went to his place, and make sure that the guy was put away for a long time. Det. Harmon thanked me for the extra info. I'll keep my eyes on the news for when the court case starts, and post another update then.

Freaky!

This past Sunday I we got a really weird call in the morning. It was 7:30am, and Jenn and I were still in bed. The phone was ringing, and I just handed it to Jenn. She handed back to me. On the phone, the man said he was Scott Roddy with WGLD radio. He said that they were running a contest called the Summer Days Challenge. He said that I could win the car of my choice, plus taxes for a year, if I completed the challenge. The challenge was to go to a house in downtown indy and be tickled for ten minutes. I wasn't fully awake yet, but I remembered that we were supposed to be greeters at church at 11, so I said I couldn't participate. He thanked me and hung up.

Tonight the local NBC affiliate, WTHR Channel 13, ran a story about a man who was caught running a hoax radio contest. He attempted to lure people to his home. The hoax asked the people participating to come to a house in downtown Indy and get naked. The prize varied from $50,000, $5,000, or a free car. He was caught when several folks called a local DJ to see if the contest was real. The man was soon found out. You can read the story from the link.

I think this guy called our house!!!! I'm kind of freaking out right now about it. I called the state police, and they said I would need to contact the Fishers P.D. to report it. They won't open until 8:30am, and it's not an emergency so I'm not going to tie up the 911 system. In the morning, I'll give them a call and report what happened. I'm really glad that I didn't fall for the scam. I just wish I had been more awake so I could remember more of the details.

Computers

I'm a technology enthusiast. I like gadgets, electronics, and just about anything "high tech". As such, I've been exposed to several models of computers over the years. A recent slashdot poll asks what the most reliable computer you've ever had was. For me, it would have to be my original Gateway P100. Surprising answer, I know. After all, Gateway is infamous for making machines built to fail. They don't have quite the noteriety of the embarassingly poor PackardBell machines that disgraced so many desktops.

Growing up, we had an Atari 1040 ST. My dad and I would sing along with it as it would boot up. You would think this machine was stamping out license plates for as much noise as it made booting up. We had another PC prior to the Atari (Trash 80? I can't remember), but the first one I remember using extensively was the Atari. I even made a science fair project out of it. The color display on it was pretty high end for the time, and we could play a couple of games on it. I'm not really sure what my dad used it for, but it was a fun toy in the house.

When the Atari finally expired, our next PC was an Macintosh IIsi. This is definitely the hardiest machine I've ever seen, as it still works to this day. I remember playing Warlords on that machine for hours at a time. This was the first machine I was able to access the web on as well. We had a 9600 baud modem. We had AOL as our service provider, but there were also a series of BBS numbers we could dial. This was when the web was still an unfriendly, pioneering place where Gofer was the tool of choice for finding information. And forget anything as cushy as Netscape or Internet Explorer. This old PC is currently at my grandmother's place, collecting some dust. I'm sure it would still power on and run though.

The first PC I actually purchased on my own wa a Gateway P100. This was Gateway's first offering that included the new Intel Pentium 100 MHz processor. It was a blazing fast machine at the time. A lot of folks have had trouble with Gateway, but I must have received the one good one. This is the PC that got me through college, and I seriously abused it. It travelled with me back and forth to school in what could only be called "loose" packaging (aka, all of my clothes in a pile around it). It was ripped apart, put back together, tinkered with, and developed on. The old Intel chip has been replaced with an Evergreen AMD K6-II 400MHz upgrade chip. It has a bastardized assortment of RAM to total 96MB. It's run a variety of operating systems, both open and proprietary. Yet it lives on, currently tasked at running the arcade cabinet in my basement.

I got kind of cocky after my first year at school. I had a bit more knowledge on the major components of a PC. I had heard several of the folks in my dorm talk about building their own home-brew computers. I thought, no sweat! I can do this. I somehow talked my dad into letting me purchase all of the components and put it together. I sold him on the fact that I could build it for half the price he would pay buying one. It was a AMD K6 based machine. Unfortunately, I never really understood the intricacies of setting the voltage switches on the motherboard to match the processor. The machine worked well for a while, but I kept getting calls from my dad about strange noises coming from the machine. I assumed it was just the hard drive read head moving around as it swapped out memory pages. This wasn't the right diagnosis, and eventually all of the smoke was let out. I tried to do a frankenstein job on it later, but there was no reviving this boat anchor.

In college, I used Sun SPARCstation 5s. These were pretty much a staple for the labs in college. I got really familiar with these over my four years. They all seemed pretty bulletproof, but I never really did anything to stress it out. Still, surviving the abuse that only college students can apply is a pretty good testament to their reliability.

Since working at Flexware, I've used several Dell Inspiron laptops. The graphics are nice, but these are not great machines. Each has arrived with some form of paralysis: unable to access DVD-ROM, bad RAM, dead pixels on the screen, useless Wi-Fi card, etc. Dell is good about getting replacements in, but I'd rather have a machine that works out of the box.

Due to our issues with the Dells, we ordered a set of Toshiba Satellite laptops in bulk once. Big mistake. The machine shuts down when the internal temperature gets too hot. We could reliably cause shutdown by installing Oracle 9i client. It would get to 80% and take a nap. We'll never make that mistake again.

The latest machine I've used is a Fujitsu Lifebook, a laptop I received for my MBA program. I've been pleasantly surprised by this one. It has a nice hard metal shell, and it's taken some abuse in home. After a drop, the laptop is bent, but it still works fine. As far as reliability goes, it's been a great machine. I accidentally cut the power cable in our recliner one night, but I was able to patch that up. It has received a lot of abuse, but it keeps on ticking.

Based on my past experience, I'm still not married to any particular brand of PC vendor. Even though I got great mileage out of the Gateway, I'm not sure I could count on it happening again. I'm too much of a video game enthusiast to use a Mac (not a slight on macs, they are great machines, but they tend to be last in line for the games I play). I'm not sure where I'll go for my next PC purchase. Fortunately, that's a long way down the road. The Dell PC we purchased is running great, and will stick with us for some time. We may consider getting a laptop when we have to give the Fujitsu back to the university. The next thing I'm thinking about is a new video card for the Dell so I can get the most out of Half-Life 2!

99 Bottles of Beer

After the baptism party, we were left with quite a bit of beer in the fridge. It seems that I grossly over-estimated the amount consumption that was going to take place. Of course, when you have a situation like this, there is only one solution.....

Two Movies

Jenn and I were able to take in a couple of movies tonight. We saw The Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart, and Along Came Polly with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Anniston (the other Ben & Jen).

We watched Along Came Polly first. It was about what I expected out of a Ben Stiller movie. He plays risk assessor for an insurance company. He thinks he has his entire life planned out, when his wife cheats on him on the first day of their honeymoon. From there, his world of order, planning, and minimal risk is turned upside down by a romance with Polly, a wild girl who can't make a commitment to anything. As with any other Stiller movie, various embarassing things happen to Stiller throughout the film. There's the staple bathroom accident scene, the side-kick pet jokes, and the usual hijinks. It follows the same successful format from There's Something About Mary. Although the movie doesn't stretch any boundaries, and it didn't leave us in stitches, it was cute, clean, and entertaining. Not something worth spending $20 to see in the theater, but good enough for quiet night at home.

The Butterfly Effect was a totally different story. I really liked it, and I think Jenn did too. I'm not a big fan of Ashton Kutcher, but I would definitely sit through this one again. The movie follows a troubled set of kids growing up poor. Evan (Ashton Kutcher) is living with his single mother and his father, who he hardly knows, is locked away in a mental institution. Evan is afflicted by blackouts. During high stress, he blacks out, and has no memory of what he does in the meantime. He and his friends are involved in some terrible events in their youth, from child molestation, animal cruelty, and worse. I was kind of uncomfortable watching the first hour of the movie. The things that were happening to these kids were frightening, but possibly more so because it all seemed like it just might happen to some kids.

Evan manages to make it out of his small town to college. He excels in his psychology classes, and is consumed with figuring out how memory works. He reasons that, if he can figure out how a worm's memory works, maybe he can figure out why he blacked out as a kid. He discovers that, if he re-reads his journals that he kept as a kid, he can flashback to any point in time in his memory and live through it again. This is where the plot of the movie kicks in, as Evan realizes that he can actually change the events of the past be revisiting these memories. The rest of the movie follows as Evan tries to fix all of the horrible things that happened to him and his friends in the past by reliving those memories.

I love thought provoking films, and this one is a real brain teaser. What if you could go back in time and change the past? Would you do it? What would you change? What would the outcome be. Sometimes, seemingly insignificant choices can lead to major changes in your life. The movies title comes from the idea that even the flapping of a butterfly's wings might some day lead to a hurricane. On paradox that is hard to get by is having a memory of your life prior to changing it. Let's say that you could go back in time, and change something that happened to you. Let's say event A happened to you, and you want to stop event A from happening. You take your happy trip back through time and prevent event A. Well, now you are in a quandary. You no longer have any memory of event A happening, so you have no reason to travel back in time to prevent it from happening. If you don't travel back in time, event A happens, and we are back where we started. Greater minds than I have pondered through the mysteries of time travel, temporal dissonance, and other such thought questions, and no one has come up with a definitive answer.

Anyway, where was I. Oh yeah, talking about these movies. I give a big thumbs up for Butterfly Effect. Along Came Polly gets a "feh". It wasn't hilarious or great, but it wasn't bad either. If you can't decide what to watch, it's a good solution for filling up the time.

Good Feeling

Driving home from class on Monday nights is a great feeling. I get out of class at 10pm, and it is a fifteen to twenty minute drive home. I usually open the sunroof, roll down the windows, and crank up the stereo. It is a really nice feeling, knowing that the hardest day I'm going to have all week is done. The night air is cool, and is relaxing as it swirls through the car. The roads are fairly empty at that time of night, so I have multiple lanes of free sailing all the way home. It feels like all the stress that has built up throughout the day just melts off on that drive home. When I get home, Corbin is usually asleep, and Jenn and I get to spend an hour together before she turns in for bed. Mondays are hard, but it is such a great feeling when they are done.

Getting Excited

One of my favorite video games of all time is Half-Life. I first played this game when I was in college. I was at the local supermarket, and I saw Half-Life, Game of the Year edition sitting on the bargain software rack. I'm not one to usually trust software from a grocery store, but I had read several articles that said Half-Life was THE first person shooter type game to play. So I picked it up and went home to play. I was blown away! My computer was barely able to play the game, as it required some heavy duty 3D graphics, but I lowered the resolution and played on.

What made Half-Life so unique was that, not only did it have fantastic graphics, but the story was really engaging. You play as Gordon Freeman, a scientist working in a government lab deep underground. You are performing an experiment on an unstable isotope when something terrible happens. There is a huge explosion, and the facility is plunged into chaos. Strange creatures are appearing out of nowhere, and you are forced to run for your life. You find that some of your fellow scientist have survived as well, and together you work to escape the facility and discover what is going on. As play continues, you learn that the "accident" might not have been an accident after all. Unfortunately, the government is bent on ensuring that you don't get a chance to tell that side of the story either.

I played this game for hours and hours and hours. When I started working at Flexware, I found that the rest of the guys here were huge fans of the game as well. We'd scarf down our lunches as fast as we could so we could get back to our machines and play for an hour. The laptop I had for work blew away our home computer, and I got to experience the game in its full resolution glory. We'd all hunker down and play a multiplayer frag-fest. It was a lot of fun.

As time went on, folks moved on to other projects, and our excitement for Half-Life waned. The game was originally released in October of 1998, and other games had come along in the past six years. Along with that, folks within the company were moving on to different locations, and we got more focused. Our current lunchtime game of choice is euchre. Still, I love Half-Life, and from time to time I'd pop the CD in and play through. It was a lot like watching one of your favorite movies, or re-reading a good book. It was still a lot of fun.

Lately, there has been a lot of hype surrounding the upcoming Half-Life 2. It was originally scheduled to be released in September of 2003, but the Valve network was hacked, and the source code was stolen. Repairs and recovery from this break-in have taken a lot of time, and now speculation is that the game will be released in September of this year. Valve won't commit to any date, but have said they hope for a summer release. I'm really looking forward to the release of the new game. I've got a top rate computer at home, and I'm thinking I just might put in a new graphics card so I can really enjoy all the game has to offer.

In the meantime to the release of HL2, Valve has introduced the Steam engine. Steam is a system for playing Half-Life and Half-Life mods on-line. The system tracks who is playing, what servers are available for multiplayer games, and provides updates and patches to the Half-Life games you own. When Half-Life 2 is released, you can use Steam to buy and download the game. I decided to give Steam a try, and installed it on my machine at home. After filling out the registration, it asked if I would like to configure any games I might already own. I entered the CD-KEY for my existing Half-Life game, and to my surprise, it qualified me for not only Half-Life, but the rest of the Half-Life mods as well. This includes Team Fortress Classic, Team Fortress 2, Opposing Force, Day of Defeat, Ricochet, and a couple of other half-life mods. I had always wanted to play Opposing Force, but I couldn't force myself to spend the $50 to buy the Half-Life collection. I already had the game, and I couldn't see buying it all over again just to get the new single player game. Now I have it for free!! I've been playing it at night, and it is just as good as the original. It seems that the enemy AI is a little tougher. Either that, or I'm out of practice!

So until HL2 comes out, I'm having a blast playing Opposing Force. If you are on the Steam network, feel free to look me up!

Busy Busy Busy

Has it really been over a week since I've written anything here? It's been a really busy couple of weeks. At work, I've been toiling away on a project to convert software for the OS/2 operating system to the Windows operating system. It really helps that Windows NT and on were based on the OS/2 code, so there are a lot of cases where I simply change the name of a function call, or switch the order of the operators and the software works fine. There are millions of lines of code in the project, though, and I've been keeping very busy getting them ported over. There are four of us in the office, working on the code as a team. We're hoping to be finished with the initial conversion in August so we can begin testing to verify that we got it right.

Outside of work, we're keeping pretty busy as well. After a week off, we had our third meeting for Statistics. We had a quiz that night, and I think I did pretty well. A number of the students in the class are unhappy with the instructor. He has a really thick accent, which can make him difficult to understand. Statistics is not an easy course either, so folks are frustrated to begin with. When the instructor gives an example, it often causes more confusion than it solves, and then he gets frustrated because we didn't understand his example. We had a sub on the second week, and my classmates seemed to like him a lot better. They were trying to convince him to take over! I've contacted the university to see if there is any way we can work out a resolution to the situation, but I'm not really sure what we can do.

Tuesday night volleyball is going well. We had a record turnout this week with 23 people in to play. That meant we were able to open up both sides of the gym and play on two courts. I'm hoping that we can keep the numbers up. It is always more fun when we have more people, and it is part of the Church's mission to bring in more folks.

I'm actually kind of glad that I have been so busy lately. It makes the weeks fly by, and it makes the weekends seem longer. I love spending the weekends with my family. This weekend will be a big weekend with Corbin's baptism coming up. It looks like we will have close to 50 folks dropping in to celebrate. I'm not sure where we are going to park everyone, but I'm excited that so many people are coming. This is gonna be fun!

In Memoriam : Jack Jones

I learned that my cousin Jack passed away this past week. Jack led an amazing life. He was the first son of my dad's sister Pat. He was born with a condition that left his heart and lungs too small for his body. He was unable to exert himself much without exhausting his body's oxygen supply. His organs just could not keep up. When he was eighteen, he had a heart and lung transplant. This was an amazing procedure that, if successful, would give Jack a new lease on life. Without the transplant, Jack would have had little chance of surviving. The 24-hour surgery was a success. Jack had to take anti-rejection medication religiously to ensure that his body would continue to accept the new organs. The operation gave him the opportunity to do some things that he previously couldn't dream of. Jack was able to take a hike up a mountain, ride a bike, and be about as active as a normal twenty-something.

Unfortunately, time caught up with Jack again. His health had been deteriorating over the past few months, and rather than spend his last moments wasting away in hospital, he decided to take one last trip. He had been living on the west coast near his parents. His older sister lived in Colorado, near where he was born. They made it as far as his sister's home before Jack passed away. From what I heard, it was a peaceful passing. I know that Jack is now in a better place. He was 31 years old, 13 years older than anyone would have suspected he might live.

Jack grew up in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state. He and his family would often make trips back to Delphi to visit with the Jones clan. It helped, too, that several of the children attended Purdue University. I knew Jack only for a short while, but I have very fond memories of him. I remember that he had an easy going nature, a quick laugh, and a good spirit. He watched Travis and I a couple of times when we were younger, along with his sister Anna. I remember going on a trip to Union Station in Indianapolis with him. Jack was a terrific man, and I will cherish all of the memories that I have of him and of our time together.

Movie Review - K-19 : The Widowmaker

I must be on a movie watching spree. Last night, Jenn and I watched K-19 : The Widowmaker. Actually, I watched it, and Jenn slept through most of it. That isn't a comment on the movie, it was just a long day and Jenn passed out. Anyway, back to the movie review. I really didn't know anything about this movie. All I really knew was that it starred Liam Neeson and Harrison Ford trying their best to fake a Russian accent. I never heard anyone say anything about it either, so I really had no idea what to expect going in.

As I learned, the movie was based off of actual events that occurred back in 1961 with one of the soviet union's first nuclear attack submarines. It was at the height of the cold war nuclear arms race, and the soviets had developed a new class of nuclear attack sub to counter the american nuclear attack sub. The U.S. had already deployed subs that were capable of targeting Moscow with multiple nuclear warheads, and the USSR needed an answer to that threat. The K-19 was that answer. The movie details the events that surround the construction, testing, and deployment of that vessel. The sub was rushed through construction, and was not fully tested before leaving dry dock. Many of the crew felt that the ship was cursed. Harrison Ford plays the part of the ships captain, and runs the crew through some extraordinary drills in order to instill confidence in themselves and the boat. Following the successful test launch of a nuclear missile, the submarine is deployed to an attack zone that will target Washington D.C and New York. Just as they make way for their patrol waters, one of the coolant pumps for the onboard nuclear reactor power plant ruptures, and the men desperately try to repair the damage.

I felt this movie was very good. There are so many stories from the former soviet republic that have been kept silent for so long due to the cold war. This movie felt a lot like Apollo 13, in that a crew was faced with a sink or swim situation (no pun intended) where they were either going to repair the ship and live on, or drown trying. I would highly recommend this film, if not for the entertainment value, then for the different perspective it gives on the nuclear arms race.

Movie Review : Biker Boyz

I was flipping through the movies on our subscription list, looking for something to watch. I kind of chuckled when I saw BikerBoyz. I was pretty sure it was an awful, joke of a movie. I couldn't believe that Laurence Fishburne was in it. It seemed like such a bad flick to follow up his Matrix films with.

So, yes, I decided to watch it. As much as I wanted to hate this film, it really wasn't all that bad. I was all set to see a movie that was really mindless, and it was pretty mindless, just not to the degree I was expecting. In the movie, a young man is trying to break into the local motorcycle street racing scene. There are several clubs that get together to run illegal races. His father is the chief mechanic of the fastest bike on the streets, and the kid wants to join the group. Tragedy strikes when his father is killed by the very bike he services. The kid blames the rider (Fisherburne) for his death, and makes it his mission to take him down.

The movie wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. I'd say it was better than Underworld, which sucked worse than I expected. The nice thing about the subscription service on our cable TV is that I can watch these movies and it doesn't cost me anything but time. So if you are sitting around, trying to kill a couple of hours, and don't want to think to much, this might get you by.

Visual Studio Express

Free stuff is good! Microsoft is releasing a new variant of their Visual Studio development products. The "Express" line is a stripped down beta version of the upcoming Visual Studio 2005 products. I've been looking for a way to get a cheap copy of Visual Studio at home for a while, and this just fell in my lap. It is going to be a huge help in studying for my certification exams, and if I want to tinker around with something, I can!