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Planet Arslinux (20 unread)

madmanX: holy blog necromancy batman

Posted: November 10th, 2008, 5:04am CET

pI just realized how long its been since I have updated this thing. /p pThings have been rather hectic lately, ever since moving to the new gig they been keeping me insanely busy with all the projects that have been lined up. So far we got almost all of the major stuff done and it will hopefully slow down for us to catch a breath./p pThe house is still coming along and we have not moved into it yet. The outside of it is pretty much done, the only thing that is left is all indoor stuff. At this point I am really sick of painting#8230;/p pSchool has been going ok, I can#8217;t believe we are almost half way through the program already. It feels like I just started it. I still need to find some time to dante#8217;s three classes I need to make up./p pAs far as side projects, I really haven#8217;t had time for anything. I have had no time to really work on this blog and come up with a custom theme. I haven#8217;t had time to try and work honing my webdesign skills or anything else. I am hoping once the house gets finished and we move in that will open up some free time to pursue other interests. /p pThat#8217;s it for now/p
Aaron Thul: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2008-11-09

Posted: November 10th, 2008, 4:59am CET

ul class=aktt_tweet_digest liWatching a movie from NetFlix on my Mac under safari, I am glad NetFlix finally has this working. Join the beta now: a href=http://ping.fm/aNnfJ rel=nofollowhttp://ping.fm/aNnfJ/a a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/987538848#/a/li liLast night was truly outstanding, to bad I was way to tired to stay up for Obama’s speech. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/991640051#/a/li liThe DIA was fun, more fun was running into some other friends that happen to be there too. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/996845716#/a/li /ul
aragirn: Things kids say…

Posted: November 7th, 2008, 9:24pm CET

pLast week the school#8217;s itinerant counselor was in and gave a lesson in problem solving and decision making to one of my classes. The basic scenario was: you#8217;re stranded in the desert and have access to a limited number of supplies that you can recover from your wrecked vehicle. A magnetic compass was among the possible items to take./p pCounselor (C): #8220;Do you think a magnetic compass is important for survival?#8221;br / Student (S): #8220;No.#8221;br / C: #8220;Why not?#8221;br / S: Because you don#8217;t have a refrigerator, duh!#8221;/p
stonetable: Home Again

Posted: November 6th, 2008, 7:08am CET

pHome from New York City. Short trips like this are always a little tiring. So much activity crammed into a short period of time. This was my second trip to a href=http://www.ad-tech.com/ny/Ad Tech/a. I#8217;m a techie at heart and don#8217;t consider myself much of a salesman. That puts me in the minority at a trade show like this./p pI#8217;ve always had an eye for business. When I wrote software for the tanning industry, I would often talk to salon owners about what they did and what they needed. I even spent several nights working behind the counter, so I understood how their business worked./p pOver the years, I#8217;ve become a little more comfortable stepping out of the technical role. It helps that I#8217;m passionate about the work I do and firmly believe we have a technically superior system. I designed it from the ground up and for the last four and a half years it#8217;s been my baby. As the company grows and I step into more of a management role, I delegate more and slowly put the tools into the capable hands of the team we have built and continue to build./p pI met many of my clients/partners at Ad Tech or the after party. It#8217;s always a pleasure to put a face to the name. In some cases, there were people I#8217;ve been working with for nearly five years that I met for the first time yesterday./p pA good trip, good food, and good people. I passed a href=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1011812/Diane Neal/a from Law amp; Order: SVU on 7th avenue (I#8217;m such a Lamp;O fanboy). I had my first New York style hot dog. I ate my first (and possibly last) oyster. I celebrated Obama#8217;s win in Times Square./p
Hellion Prime: Vacation Teaser Pics:

Posted: November 6th, 2008, 6:59am CET

br /Okay, here are some teaser shots of the trip so far. Peek behind the cut if you want to see. a name=cutid1/abr /br /img src=http://pics.livejournal.com/laptop_mechanic/pic/001s2btx alt= /br /br /br /Here's a shot of an orca playing with its food...err... trainer. br /br /img src=http://pics.livejournal.com/laptop_mechanic/pic/001s1190 alt= /br /br /This is the Convair F2Y SeaDart seaplane fighter. Yes, a seaplane fighter. It was not a success. br /br /img src=http://pics.livejournal.com/laptop_mechanic/pic/001s0w8r alt= /br /br /span class=galpicdesThis is the HMS Surprise, a replica of a British Royal Navy frigate. It was used in the film Master amp; Commander. Behind it you can see the submarine B-39. a Foxtrot class submarine formerly of the Soviet Navy. /spanspan class=galpicdesbr /br //spanbr /br /br /br /br /br /
stonetable: Live from Times Square

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 7:58am CET

pWe walked through Times Square earlier this evening, hours before the first poll closed. The crowd was large and people were still filing in. Hours later, after the post-trade-show meetings and work were done, I sat down and watched the acceptance speech in awe. A block and 31 stories away, I could hear the people cheering./p pFear of crowds be damned. I left the hotel and let the noise be my drummer./p pIn Times Square, the people cheered and cried. Chants of #8220;Oh-bah-ma#8221; and #8220;Yes-we-can#8221; rang clear. Cars honking. Passengers waving. Signs waving. Camera#8217;s flashing. Strangers embracing in celebration and saying, #8220;we did it.#8221;. We. A victory for us all. Ethnicity, sexual preference, gender, citizenship, it did not matter./p pEmpowerment./p pI was overwhelmed by the surge of emotion, of hope and possibility. I teared up several times, looking up at the digital billboards proclaiming the historic news: Barack Obama, President-elect. Never in my thirty-three years have I seen or experienced anything like this. It looks like my generation has its Lincoln or Kennedy. A catalyst for change, a driving force for prosperity. It#8217;s about damn time. Maybe the US can shed it#8217;s reputation as the biggest dickhead and start working with the world instead of trying to cram our ideologies down its throat./p pCelebrate and cheer now. We#8217;ve a lot of work to do. We still have bigotry and intolerance to fight and a long road to walk before we can hold our head high and be proud of our record of human rights. At least now, we#8217;re on the right road./p
Hellion Prime: ON VACATION!!!

Posted: November 4th, 2008, 7:48am CET

On the ground in San Diego. Tired now. Sleep time.br /br /*thud*
stonetable: In the Big Apple

Posted: November 4th, 2008, 7:35am CET

pI made it to New York City with minimal difficulty today. Court went smoothly and traffic was light, so I made it to O#8217;Hare with enough time to catch an earlier flight. One shuttle and subway ride later, I found the Westin and checked-in./p pI met my co-workers for dinner at a href=http://qualitymeatsnyc.com/Quality Meats/a, followed by a href=http://www.the4040club.com/index.cfm/MenuItemID/406/MenuGroup/%5FHome.htm40/40/a, where we co-sponsored a VIP party for the trade show. A fun night, and I got to meet several people I#8217;d only known via email or instant message./p pFeeling a little dead tonight. My original flight was canceled and American Airlines decided they needed to call me at 4:15AM and 4:45AM to make sure I knew about it. Between that and the flight I managed about four hours sleep today and tomorrow#8217;s going to be another busy day. Here#8217;s to hoping the beds here are comfortable./p pIt also looks like I#8217;ll be staying over an extra day, so home again on Wednesday. I#8217;m already missing Andrea and our menagerie of pets. I hear the dogs have been camping out at the front door all day and night, waiting for my return./p pI sent in my absentee ballot a couple weeks ago. If you haven#8217;t already, please go vote and make your voice heard. I think we#8217;re on the brink of seeing some real change happen and that makes me feel pretty damn good./p
stonetable: In the Big Apple

Posted: November 4th, 2008, 7:35am CET

pI made it to New York City with minimal difficulty today. Court went smoothly and traffic was light, so I made it to O#8217;Hare with enough time to catch an earlier flight. One shuttle and subway ride later, I found the Westin and checked-in./p pI met my co-workers for dinner at a href=http://qualitymeatsnyc.com/Quality Meats/a, followed by a href=http://www.the4040club.com/index.cfm/MenuItemID/406/MenuGroup/%5FHome.htm40/40/a, where we co-sponsored a VIP party for the trade show. A fun night, and I got to meet several people I#8217;d only known via email or instant message./p pFeeling a little dead tonight. My original flight was canceled and American Airlines decided they needed to call me at 4:15AM and 4:45AM to make sure I knew about it. Between that and the flight I managed about four hours sleep today and tomorrow#8217;s going to be another busy day. Here#8217;s to hoping the beds here are comfortable./p pIt also looks like I#8217;ll be staying over an extra day, so home again on Wednesday. I#8217;m already missing Andrea and our menagerie of pets. I hear the dogs have been camping out at the front door all day and night, waiting for my return./p pI sent in my absentee ballot a couple weeks ago. If you haven#8217;t already, please go vote and make your voice heard. I think we#8217;re on the brink of seeing some real change happen and that makes me feel pretty damn good./p
evarlast: I Use Opera

Posted: November 4th, 2008, 1:24am CET

pPeople make fun of me, but I don’t care. I use a href=http://www.opera.com/download/Opera/a. Its faster. I use javascript heavy sites like google mail and bloglines and in Firefox and Internet Explorer these sites are slow to load, slow to use, and make my browsers eat upward of 30% of the 2.5G of ram in my a href=http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Latitude_D820/4505-3121_7-31792100.htmlpoor laptop/a./p pI know the google lovers say “CHROME!” but after reading the a href=http://coderrr.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/google-chrome-privacy-worse-than-you-think/privacy policy/a, I can’t handle it. Opera is years more refined and has the options I need. I do miss noscript, my favorite firefox plugin, but with the ability to enable or disable Java, JavaScript, plugins, cookies, sound, animated images, and even refers, just by pressing F12 and selecting one of these options, I’m fine with using Opera. Did I mention it is fast? I also love the saved session state./p pa href=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/operapopup-20081030-201654.jpgimg title=operaPopUp_2008-10-30_20-16-54 height=282 alt=operaPopUp_2008-10-30_20-16-54 src=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/operapopup-20081030-201654-thumb.jpg width=232 //a /p pTwo things I missed when I moved from Firefox to Opera were the smart bookmarks which I had configured in Firefox to post to my delicious account and to subscribe to a feed using bloglines. It turns out Opera has custom buttons./p pAfter a href=http://erlang.no/content/delicious-opera-buttons-0finding the Del.Icio.Us custom buttons/a, I was able to make my own for bloglines./p pa href=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/operacustom-20081030-201735.jpgimg title=operaCustom_2008-10-30_20-17-35 height=40 alt=operaCustom_2008-10-30_20-17-35 src=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/operacustom-20081030-201735-thumb.jpg width=206 border=0 //a /p pa href=opera:/button/Go%20to%20page,%22javascript:location.href='http://www.bloglines.com/sub/'+location.hrefs/bl/a lt;—drag this link to your Opera menu bar/p pJust drag this link into your menu. I like to name my s/bl for subscribe with bloglines. I like tiny abbreviations so that my menu doesn’t fill up./p pa href=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/firefoxbookmarkbar-20081030-201848.jpgimg title=firefoxBookMarkBar_2008-10-30_20-18-48 height=25 alt=firefoxBookMarkBar_2008-10-30_20-18-48 src=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/firefoxbookmarkbar-20081030-201848-thumb.jpg width=763 border=0 //a/p img src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/jrwren/~4/441528034 height=1 width=1 /
Aaron Thul: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2008-11-02

Posted: November 3rd, 2008, 4:59am CET

ul class=aktt_tweet_digest liI swear I am not a caffeine addict but I just ordered over $100 in coffee. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/977351856#/a/li liI just ate way to many chocolates, I will have to run a LOT at the gym tonight. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/979200438#/a/li liJust updated the software on my BB, I wonder what new things it will do. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/979730758#/a/li liAt Black Lotus brew pub listening to a great band. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/979919821#/a/li liI am very upset that an essential accessory to my Halloween costume will not make it due to the company screwing up. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/982387012#/a/li liIf you are going to Necto tonight raise your hand. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/983661507#/a/li liToday has been a nice relaxing day at home after weekend full of Halloween parties. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/986739141#/a/li liJust finished the book When you are Engulfed in Flames. What to read next??? a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/986806613#/a/li /ul
truck: A trip to Carson National Forest

Posted: November 3rd, 2008, 3:51am CET

pI#8217;ll start this out with a photo, because we all know a picture is worth a thousand words./p pa href=http://www.flickr.com/photos/macktruckturner/2997968336/ title=Carson National Forest by Anthony J. Martinez, on Flickrimg src=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/2997968336_afe575f7b2.jpg width=500 height=159 alt=Carson National Forest //a/p pa href=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/2997968336_911d2dea3c_o.jpgClick Here for size HUGE/a/p pThe purpose of my trip to Carson NF, on the very same weekend many Texans took to the outdoors for the opening weekend of the general deer season, was to try and fill my antlerless elk tag for Unit 5B in New Mexico. My Dad and I set out a little later than we had planned, but drove straight from San Marcos, TX to Carson NF, NM. Considering the distance we made pretty good time, but that is pretty easy to do when you swap drivers every few hours and only stop to fill up with gas./p pWhen we arrived, the scouting began. Being out in a national forest the day before your season opens does wonders to give a man energy. Armed with a map, binoculars, and a few other odds and ends, we set out in search of elk sign. Unfortunately, I didn#8217;t see, hear, or smell any sign of elk at all. That could have been a result of fairly high temperatures, or I could have just been looking in the wrong places./p pAt any rate, we identified a watering hole at the end of a draw between two fingers with plenty of trees and figured that was as good a place as any to hunt. Morning on opening day came real early, and real cold. A solid hour and a half before the sun even thought to grace us with its presence, we were in an position to overwatch the watering hole and the surrounding areas. Several hours passed, and the only signs of life were a few pickup trucks heading to their hunting spots, waiting a while, giving up, and leaving. Hunger struck, and I called the hunt#8217;s end. With such total isolation from normal noise, if anyone within several miles had taken a shot at anything, the sound would have made it our way. The only gunshot heard all day, was me shooting a leaking tank so it would vent, and I could safely transport it to a dumpster./p pWhile I did not fill my elk tag, the trip was still fun. I hadn#8217;t been outright camping with my Dad in well over a decade, and as father-son bonding goes, you really can#8217;t beat a hunting trip to the mountains./p
stonetable: We fear opening the door because of what is lurking behind it.

Posted: November 2nd, 2008, 4:54pm CET

pA somewhat long, personal post about divorce, life, love, angst and real-life drama below the cut. You have been warned./p pspan id=more-474/span/p pIn August of 2007, I met someone on Absolute Write who would forever change my life. We talked about life, writing, and anything else that came to mind. We exchanged advice on each others then current relationships. Over the months, she and I became good friends #8212; connecting on a deeply personal level. We flirted innocently at times, but neither of us held hope or delusions of more than friendship. I was married to Dena and she was in a long relationship, not to mention living in different countries./p pI did a lot of soul searching between the months of August and November. I came to several stark realizations. I#8217;m a #8220;the glass is half full#8221; kind of guy, always trying to look at the positive side of any situation but the truth was that I was unhappy and had been so for many years. I had several bouts of depression and for a while relied on Zoloft to get me through the worst period. I told myself that it happens to everyone. I was lying to myself and I couldn#8217;t keep doing so. Meeting Andrea online had added to my inner turmoil but in a good way. It gave me a healthy dose of much needed perspective. I came to a realization: I would rather be alone than living with someone I wasn#8217;t happy being with./p pDena and I had several difficult conversations. Neither of us were happy. A few things became clear throughout these discussions. We were both depressed by our situation. We laughed and cried together as we remembered the happier moments of our marriage against the backdrop of reality. It wasn#8217;t easy, for either of us. I couldn#8217;t promise that we would be able to fix things, and that made it more difficult for Dena. It took away her hope that things could be fixed, but I had to be honest with her and myself about what I was feeling./p pMy parents divorced when I was eighteen, staying together mostly for the benefit of my brother and I. They stayed married for far too long and the scars of it show on everyone involved. I did not want to repeat their mistake and stay married for the sake of being married. Call it selfish, but if you aren#8217;t happy with yourself how can you be happy with someone else? You might look content on the outside but you feel dead on the inside./p pMarriage is about two adults coming together as individuals, but does not mean abandoning who you are. Some people went as far as saying I should have lied and pretended I was happy. That wouldn#8217;t have been fair to either of us./p pThere are doors we#8217;re afraid to open because they might reveal something we don#8217;t want to know or aren#8217;t ready to accept. When faced with such a barrier, you can either turn back or move forward and face whatever harsh reality lurks on the other side. I spent too much of my life taking the easier path. I didn#8217;t want to hurt someone else#8217;s feelings so I swallowed my pride, accepted the blame, or pretended everything was okay. The door opened on the 11th of November, 2007.br / Home from a business trip, Dena and I had emthe/em talk. I wasn#8217;t happy. She wasn#8217;t happy. I couldn#8217;t tell her that everything would be alright. I told her I didn#8217;t know if we could work it out. It wasn#8217;t easy on either of us and in the end she packed some of her essentials and left. With her she took family that I had come to love for nearly a decade and would never see again. Parents, grand parents, aunts and uncles, sister, niece and nephew. It#8217;s one of the more difficult aspects of getting divorced. You don#8217;t lose the person you married to, but also their family that has been your family as well./p pThere were two distinct reactions when my friends and family heard that we were getting divorced. There was the #8220;I#8217;m so sorry, if there#8217;s anything I can do please let me know#8221; camp and the fellowship of #8220;I see#8230;#8221; followed by weeks or months of silence. Most were supportive and knew me well enough to know that I#8217;m not prone to making life-altering decisions on a whim and for that I am eternally grateful. There were bad days where I was moody, quick to anger and for that and to those I may have offended, I#8217;m sorry./p pFor the first time, I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas alone. Andrea and I continued talking. Her relationship was in as good a condition as mine was and we commiserated over our circumstances. I was growing stronger mentally. For the first time that I could remember, my fingernails grew long. The compulsive urge to clip and chew was gone. I cleaned house. I cooked meals. I wrote. I was happy and content.br / None of this is to say anything negative about Dena. We spent many happy years together and enjoyed the life we had. In the end, we changed as people and grew apart. You don#8217;t just stop loving someone, but love, as cliche as the saying goes, isn#8217;t always enough. I wish her well and hope she is successful in her life./p pIn early January 2008, Andrea came to visit. The original plan was for her to stay a week or two and then I would drive her back to Canada. We eventually ran out of excuses about the weather when the ice was melted, the sun was shining and she was still here. The friendship we had online grew and developed into a strong bond of love. We#8217;re happy and looking forward to our future together./p pAccusations and assumptions of cheating and infidelity on my part were thrown around. I understand why people have thought that and accept that by some mores I am guilty. Those people will continue to believe that and I see no reason to try to change someone else#8217;s mind. I live my own life and I can still look myself in the mirror every morning and know that, while I#8217;ve made mistakes, I#8217;ve done the best I could./p pTomorrow, the 3rd of November 2008, I will officially be divorced. Dena and I will walk our separate ways one final time. It#8217;s been nearly a year in the making and the road getting here hasn#8217;t been easy. There have been hurt feelings on both sides. For my part in her pain, I#8217;m deeply sorry. I hope tomorrow#8217;s decree will help ease that burden.br / A few people have thanked me for being so candid and blunt about such a deeply personal experience. I#8217;ve done so because the process of writing is cathartic. If the words speak to you or help you through your own difficult transition, all the better. The divorce process can be long, painful, ugly and expensive. It#8217;s easy to hold grudges and bear ill will towards the other party. Instead, remember what you do have: a future of your own crafting. Anything is possible, you only have to dream it./p
evarlast: GTK# in Visual Studio 2008 on Vista x64

Posted: November 2nd, 2008, 1:02am CET

pYes, I am crazy. Why would any programmer want this combination? I think it is a combination of wanting to work with the best tools, in this case Visual Studio 2008 and CodeRush and wanting to target Win32, OSX, and Linux all at once. The very nice part is that thanks to the hard work of other people, you don’t even have to run in Mono on Win32./p ol li div align=leftInstall the GTK# SDK br /You can get it from here: a title=http://medsphere.org/projects/gtksharp/releases/2.10.4/gtksharp-sdk-2.10.4.msi href=http://medsphere.org/projects/gtksharp/releases/2.10.4/gtksharp-sdk-2.10.4.msihttp://medsphere.org/projects/gtksharp/releases/2.10.4/gtksharp-sdk-2.10.4.msi/a br /The project page is here: br /a title=http://medsphere.org/projects/gtksharp/ href=http://medsphere.org/projects/gtksharp/http://medsphere.org/projects/gtksharp//a br /Thanks to the good folks at medsphere for maintaining this windows installer. Presumably they use this in their applications./div /li liCreate a new Windows Forms Project in Visual Studio. br /a href=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/newgtk-20081030-195428.jpgimg title=newGTK#_2008-10-30_19-54-28 height=548 alt=newGTK#_2008-10-30_19-54-28 src=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/newgtk-20081030-195428-thumb.jpg width=813 border=0 //a br /Its fine to keep 3.5 framework selected. Mono supports the core parts of 3.5./li liRemove the references to System.Windows.Forms.dll/li liAdd reference to atk-sharp, glib-sharp and gtk-sharp in the following paths: br /C:\Program Files (x86)\Medsphere\Gtk# Runtime\lib\gtk-sharp-2.0\atk\atk-sharp.dll br /C:\Program Files (x86)\Medsphere\Gtk# Runtime\lib\gtk-sharp-2.0\glib\glib-sharp.dll br /C:\Program Files (x86)\Medsphere\Gtk# Runtime\lib\gtk-sharp-2.0\gtk\gtk-sharp.dll/li liChange your Platform target to x86 from AnyCPU in the project properties. br /a href=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/projecttarget-20081030-200011.jpgimg title=projectTarget_2008-10-30_20-00-11 height=431 alt=projectTarget_2008-10-30_20-00-11 src=http://jrwren.wrenfam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/projecttarget-20081030-200011-thumb.jpg width=690 border=0 //a/li liWrite some test code/li pre class=code[spanSTAThread/span] spanstatic void /spanMain() { spanApplication/span.Init(); spanWindow /spanmyWin = spannew /spanspanWindow/span(spanquot;My first GTK# Application! quot;/span); myWin.Resize(200, 200); myWin.Destroyed += spannew /spanspanEventHandler/span(myWin_Destroyed); spanLabel /spanmyLabel = spannew /spanspanLabel/span(); myLabel.Text = spanquot;Hello World!!!!quot;/span; myWin.Add(myLabel); myWin.ShowAll(); spanApplication/span.Run(); } spanstatic void /spanmyWin_Destroyed(spanobject /spansender, spanEventArgs /spane) { spanApplication/span.Quit(); }/pre liRun the applicationbr / /li /ol pEnjoy your 3rd option for a pure .NET programming GUI Toolkit on Win32. Winforms and WPF are great, but GTK# does fill a certain niche./p img src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/jrwren/~4/439503693 height=1 width=1 /
Hellion Prime: PSA: Battery Recall (HP, Toshiba, Dell)

Posted: October 31st, 2008, 3:43am CET

Here we go again, y'all. More problematic Sony-made batteries. br /br /This time around it looks like a fairly low total number of units compared to the untold millions last time, but here's the breakdown of the models affected: br /br /font size=2bHP Pavilion/b: dv1000, dv8000 and zd8000br /bCompaq Presario/b: v2000 and v2400br /bHP Compaq/b: nc6110, nc6120, nc6140, nc6220, nc6230,br /nx4800, nx4820, nx6110, nx6120, nx9600br / br / /fontfont size=2bSatellite/b: A70/A75, P30/P5, M30X/M35X, M50/M55br /bTecra/b: A3, A5, S2br / br / /fontfont size=2bLatitude/b: 110Lbr /bInspiron/b: 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, 5160br /br /br /More information can be found a href=http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09035.htmlhere/a. /fontbr /br /
evarlast: Dr. Strange HoH: How I Learned To Love Perl and C#

Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:45am CET

pIts no secret that I came to C# after doing lots of a href=http://www.perl.org/Perl/a. I treasure my Perl experience. Many claim that Perl is a href=http://www.codeplex.com/codeendeavortemplate/SourceControl/FileView.aspx?itemId=73769amp;changeSetId=4500unreadable/a, but I argue that the language is as good as the programmers using it. I’ve seen pages of equally unreadable a href=http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/trunk/PHP/a, a href=http://www.dotnetnuke.com/VB/a, and yes, even C#. I’ve used a href=http://search.cpan.org/src/OLIMAUL/Digest-CRC-0.14/lib/Digest/CRC.pmPerl libraries as references for how things work/a. Many Perl libraries are examples of great highly readable code. emLanguage doesn’t matter./em/p pa href=http://perldoc.perl.org/Perl’s documentation/a is a testament to open source languages. I learned Perl with perldoc installed an the a href=http://perldoc.perl.org/perl.htmlperl man page/a. It taught me the Perl way of a href=http://perldoc.perl.org/perldsc.htmldata structures/a and as I got more advanced I ran into Arrays of Arrays(AoA), Arrays of Hashes(AoH), Hashes of Arrays(HoA) and Hash of Hashes(HoH). These are all defined in the a href=http://perldoc.perl.org/perllol.htmlperllol perldoc/a./p pSome of the most confusing Perl that I ever did read or write was confusing because instead of building explicitly named types, convention was relied on too much over configuration and everything was just a HoHoHoHoHoHoH. I think it was a joke about Santa Clause./p pAll that said, there are times when you really want a HoH or a HoHoH or a HoHoHoH. That is Dictionarylt;string,Dictionarylt;string,stringgt;gt; or Dictionarylt;string,Dictionarylt;string,Dictionarylt;string,stringgt;gt;gt; or Dictionarylt;string,Dictionarylt;string,Dictionarylt;string,Dictionarylt;string,stringgt;gt;gt;gt; for you non perl types./p pA little over a year ago, a href=http://weblogs.asp.net/leftslipper/default.aspxEilon Lipton/a wrote a a href=http://weblogs.asp.net/leftslipper/archive/2007/09/24/using-c-3-0-anonymous-types-as-dictionaries.aspxpost on using anonymous types as Dictionaries/a. I rather liked it, but That was just a H (Dictionarylt;string,stringgt;).#160; I recently had the need for a HoHoA./p pI’m not advocating using this code or ever writing code like this. In fact, I discourage it. If you can find a way to do the same thing but with compile time checks, please do that instead. The problem with using anonymous types as dictionary literals is that you won’t know until runtime that you have made a mistake. WRITE YOUR UNIT TESTS!/p pre class=codespanpublic static /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanstring/spangt; ToDictionary(spanthis object /spansource) { spanvar /spandict = spannew /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanstring/spangt;(); spanvar /spanprops = source.GetType().GetProperties(); spanArray/span.ForEach(props, p =gt; dict.Add(p.Name, (spanstring/span)p.GetValue(source, spannull/span))); spanreturn /spandict; } spanpublic static /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanIList/spanlt;spanstring/spangt;gt; ToDictionaryOfStrings(spanthis object /spansource) { spanvar /spandict = spannew /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanIList/spanlt;spanstring/spangt;gt;(); spanvar /spanprops = source.GetType().GetProperties(); spanArray/span.ForEach(props, p =gt; dict.Add(p.Name, (spanIList/spanlt;spanstring/spangt;)p.GetValue(source, spannull/span))); spanreturn /spandict; } spanpublic static /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span,spanstring/spangt;gt; ToDictionaryOfDictionaries(spanthis object /spansource) { spanvar /spandict = spannew /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanstring/spangt;gt;(); spanvar /spanprops = source.GetType().GetProperties(); spanArray/span.ForEach(props, p =gt; dict.Add(p.Name, (spanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span,spanstring/spangt;)p.GetValue(source,spannull/span).ToDictionary())); spanreturn /spandict; } spanpublic static /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanIList/spanlt;spanstring/spangt;gt;gt; ToDictionaryOfDictionariesOfStrings(spanthis object /spansource) { spanvar /spandict = spannew /spanspanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanIList/spanlt;spanstring/spangt;gt;gt;(); spanvar /spanprops = source.GetType().GetProperties(); spanArray/span.ForEach(props, p =gt; dict.Add(p.Name, (spanDictionary/spanlt;spanstring/span, spanIList/spanlt;spanstring/spangt;gt;)p.GetValue(source, spannull/span).ToDictionaryOfStrings())); spanreturn /spandict; }/pre pYes, you have to call the right method, it isn’t magic. Yes, these extension methods pollute all objects with their clutter. They do work when you need them though!/p pre class=codespanvar /spanthings = spannew /span{ Humans = spannew /span{ Johny = spannew/span[] { spanquot;Guitarquot;/span, spanquot;Docksquot; /span}, Gina = spannew/span[] { spanquot;Dinerquot;/span, spanquot;Payquot; /span} }, Dogs = spannew /span{ Sparky = spannew/span[] { spanquot;beerquot;/span, spanquot;baseballquot; /span}, Toto = spannew/span[] { spanquot;witchquot;/span, spanquot;kansasquot; /span} }, Marsians = spannew /span{ Marvin = spannew/span[] { spanquot;death rayquot;/span, spanquot;moon laserquot; /span}, Quato = spannew/span[] { spanquot;speechquot;/span, spanquot;powerquot; /span} } }.ToDictionaryOfDictionariesOfStrings(); Assert.IsTrue(things.ContainsKey(spanquot;Humansquot;/span)); Assert.IsTrue(things.ContainsKey(spanquot;Dogsquot;/span)); Assert.IsTrue(things.ContainsKey(spanquot;Marsiansquot;/span)); spanvar /spanhumans = things[spanquot;Humansquot;/span]; Assert.IsTrue(humans.ContainsKey(spanquot;Johnyquot;/span)); Assert.IsTrue(humans.ContainsKey(spanquot;Ginaquot;/span)); spanvar /spangina = humans[spanquot;Ginaquot;/span]; Assert.IsTrue(gina.Contains(spanquot;Dinerquot;/span)); Assert.IsTrue(gina.Contains(spanquot;Payquot;/span)); spanvar /spandogs = things[spanquot;Dogsquot;/span]; Assert.IsTrue(dogs.ContainsKey(spanquot;Sparkyquot;/span)); Assert.IsTrue(dogs.ContainsKey(spanquot;Totoquot;/span)); spanvar /spansparky = dogs[spanquot;Sparkyquot;/span]; Assert.IsTrue(sparky.Contains(spanquot;beerquot;/span)); Assert.IsTrue(sparky.Contains(spanquot;baseballquot;/span));/pre pa href=http://11011.net/software/vspaste/aGood times.a href=http://11011.net/software/vspaste/a/p img src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/jrwren/~4/437467653 height=1 width=1 /
Hellion Prime: First Aluminum Macbook Upgrade.

Posted: October 30th, 2008, 6:22pm CET

Got the first one in for a 2GB -gt; 4GB upgrade. br /br /8x 00 Phillips screws later, the bottom panel is off. Top SODIMM came out easily enough, but the bottom one is a bit tight. I am not looking forward to having to remove stripped screws once a customer tries this themselves and screws it up.
Hellion Prime: Thoughts on Storm from the Shadows.

Posted: October 29th, 2008, 5:30pm CET

br /I just finished the a href=http://www.webscription.net/p-914-storm-from-the-shadows-oopsie.aspxoopsie/a copy of Storm from The Shadows, the new David Weber Honorverse novel. If you havent read it yet, then I'd suggest not looking behind the cut. br /br /br /a name=cutid1/aHere are some of my thoughts on it, in no particular order: br /ulliThis isn't a main line Honorverse novel, so we don't actually see much of the Salamander in this one. This is the sequel to the emShadow of Saganami/em, so we see lots more of the characters first shown there. Aivars Terekhov, Helen Zilwicki, and others from HMS emHexpuma/em are there. Terekhov gets frocked to Comodore and is put in command of a squadron, however. Everybody else gets promoted too. Something about showing bravery and initiative in combat, you know./liliDavid gives us a brief explanation of what's going on with the story line changes. He explains that Honor wasnt supposed to survive the Battle of Manticore, and that he was going to advance the clock 20 years and have her children be the key players. But the timetable on the whole Mesan Plot was advanced early, so here we are./li/ululliThe Talbot Cluster is going to be encorporated into the new Star Empire of Manticore, which will have a new goverernment system patterned on the old Star Kingdom's. I assume that the areas of the old Silisian Confederacy that Manticore inherited will be brought into the government in much the same way. So we get a whole new Parliment to play with./liliThose lousy stinkin' Mesans have been very naughty boys and girls. Turns out they've been pulling strings with everybody, not just the Manties and the Peeps. We were getting impressions of this in the last novel, but now its much more pronounced. And there are whole new depths of control behind the people at Manpower. Layers of an onion, as it were. All in the name of some as yet unknown plans of their genetic master race. They managed to get the Solarian Navy's verson of a bastard child of Pavel Young and Edward Janacek assigned to the Talbot Cluster, and he has a very dim view of quot;neobarbsquot; like the Manties. Can y'all guess where this is going?/liliYup, after some lovely underhanded manuvering by the Mesans (basically they picked a system in the cluster that elected NOT to join the Star Empire, and used it like they used Monica the first time around, only no free BCs from Tecnodyne this time around), he opens fire on 3 RMN DDs in PARKING ORBIT with cold impellers and blows them right out of the water. As you might imagine, Admiral Gold Peak is less than amused by this, and sails in with her full squadron of emNike/em class BCs, demanding that the Solarian ships surrender. The Solarian Captain will be damned if he lets this silly neobarb aristocrat tell him what to do, and steadfastly ignores the hints that the neobarbs are several orders of magnitude better armed than his supposedly invincible SLN warships. Right up until the light speed sensor arrays the Manties deploy are used to direct several multi-drive missles right to his flagship, blowing it apart right around him. His second in command is much more reasonable./liliOh, and the Mesans have a new means of interstellar travel that doesn't use impeller wedges or normal hyper space at all. And its much faster. So their little dispatch boats can cover ground much faster than anybody else. And they're building some apparently bizzare warships of their own too, now that they cant use Haven or Manitore to punch out the SLN wall of battle after the unplesantness in the Mancitore system./liliHer Imperial Majesty,, Elizabeth I of the Star Empire of Manitcore is finally begining to smell a rat, after some persistant persuasion by Honor and her husband./liliThe wormhole junction in Torch WAS fully mapped out by Mesa, dispite documentation to the contrary. This leads me to belive it goes someplace really interesting. I think we'll be finding out where soon. There was also mention of the Mesans using the ships and people they quot;recruitedquot; from Haven after the dismantling of State Security in an attack on Torch. I think that will be detailed in the sequel to emCrown of Slaves/em, however./liliThe Mesans are scared shitless of Apollo and the weapon advances it represents, and will be..taking steps... to eliminate the problem./li/ulullinbsp;The next mainline Honorverse book is apparently done or near done. So we will hopefully not have long to wait./li/ulbr /
Hellion Prime: Macbook Data Transfer Fail.

Posted: October 27th, 2008, 3:59pm CET

So you want us to transfer data from your old mac to your new 13quot; Aluminum Macbook, eh? Sure, we can do that. br /br /Wait, damn. We're gonna have to do this the hard way, since your new toy is missing FireWire. Stupid Apple. We'll have to pull the old drive, copy the data over to our server, pull the new drive, and copy the data to it, then put them both back together.nbsp; Or I suppose we could do it over ethernet. but this is 20GB of data, and I don't have all damned week to wait. And neither do you. br /br /Sigh.
Aaron Thul: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2008-10-26

Posted: October 27th, 2008, 4:59am CET

ul class=aktt_tweet_digest liMy Halloween costume arrived and it is from the same source as the Purple Power Ranger costume img src=http://www.chasingnuts.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif alt=:-) class=wp-smiley / a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/971415376#/a/li liMany questions about the costume and I will post pictured once it debuts on the 31st. I love Halloween. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/972412266#/a/li liOn my way to David and Paul#8217;s for dinner. Must I hit every red light? a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/972781056#/a/li liI think I am going to watch Dr. Horrible this weekend. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/974233207#/a/li liOut having a drink at Pronto. The bar is pretty quiet for a friday. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/974517318#/a/li liWas just at Masquerade on Elmwood, next stop is Drag Queen Massacre at the Mansion. I love this time of year! a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/975611374#/a/li liMassacre at the Mansion was an outstanding party. a href=http://twitter.com/AaronThul/statuses/976284505#/a/li /ul

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