Intermittent

I may sometimes, possibly, in intervals, sporadically, periodically, and intermittently post things I might, conceivably, likely, peradventurely, and probably feel are of interest. These topics will range from technology, business, entrepreneurship, politics, food, wine, but is not limited to any of these aforementioned things. heh.

Houston Outage Restoration Updates Hurricane Ike

clock September 16, 2008 10:45 by author Solburn

Here are the PDF files posted by CenterPoint Energy as of 8pm on 9/15/2008:

By ZipCode: 

Ike outage ZIP_9.16_8PM.pdf (67.50 kb)

Zip_Codes_9.15_8pm.pdf (57.70 kb)

 

I will try and keep this updated as often as I can.

Stay safe!

 -H


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Update Progress on Page Load

clock September 10, 2008 13:26 by author Solburn

Complete Source Code: AJAXEnabledWebSite6.rar (14.19 kb)

Jeez you would think this would have been easier to find! Here is what I was looking for:

I wanted a "modal pop up" showing an animated gif and some text that says "Page is loading...". The parent page undeneath the pop up will gray out and the user will not be able to interact with the parent page until the page is done loading, at which time the pop up goes away. Here's the important part. I need this to be kicked off when the page loads.

I am coding in .NET and AJAX is an option.

The first options I tried were CSS/Javascript driven. Basically I found some that were very close, but divs wouldn't cover the whole browser (for me) especially if I could scroll. This was my favorite solution though: Snippets:_Howto_Grey-Out_The_Screen.

There are MANY MANY examples of AJAX ModalPopup but none of the examples I found online worked both when the page was loading and then went away when the page was done rendering. ModalPopup works best with a click event.You would think this.ModalPopup.Show() in Page_Init and this.ModalPopup.Hide() in Page_LoadComplete would work, but it didn't for me.

After pouring over all of those examples, I was led to the UpdateProgress control and the UpdatePanel for .NET's AJAX. I continued to encounter the same issues as I did for the ModalPopup control. It required an event to fire it off and Page_Load wasn't going to work for me. I continued my search and finally found what I was looking for. I found it in a forum post and here is the code base I used:

This code here is NOT modal.

 [code]

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<script runat="server">
    protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(3000);
        TextBox1.Text = DateTime.Now.ToString();
    }
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">
function delayLoad()
{
document.getElementById("<%= Button1.ClientID %>").click();
document.getElementById("<%= UpdateProgress1.ClientID %>").style.display = "block";
}
</script>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
    <title>Untitled Page</title>
</head>
<body onload="javascript: delayLoad()">
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server">
        </asp:ScriptManager>
        <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server" UpdateMode="Conditional">
            <ContentTemplate>
                <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
                <div visible="true"><asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" OnClick="Button1_Click" /></div>
            </ContentTemplate>
        </asp:UpdatePanel>
        <asp:UpdateProgress ID="UpdateProgress1" runat="server" AssociatedUpdatePanelID="UpdatePanel1">
            <ProgressTemplate>
                Waiting..............
            </ProgressTemplate>
        </asp:UpdateProgress>
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

[/code]

Here is my code with an animated gif and modal:

[code]

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="_Default" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

    <script runat="server">
        protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            // code to do when button is clicked
            System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(3000);
            TextBox1.Text = DateTime.Now.ToString();
        }
    </script>

    <script type="text/javascript">
        function delayLoad() {
            // simulates the button click event
            document.getElementById("<%= Button1.ClientID %>").click();
           
            // shows the updateprogress control
            document.getElementById("<%= UpdateProgress1.ClientID %>").style.display = "block";
        }
    </script>

    <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
    <head id="Head1" runat="server">
        <title>Page Load Gray Out</title>
        <link href="StyleSheet.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
        <!--[if lt IE 7]> <style type="text/css">@import "ie6.css";</style><![endif]-->
    </head>
   
    <!-- call delayLoad on onload to test -->
    <body onload="javascript: delayLoad()">
        <form id="form1" runat="server">
        <div>
            <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server" />
           
            <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server" UpdateMode="Always">
                <ContentTemplate>
                    <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
                    <div visible="true"><asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" OnClick="Button1_Click" /></div><br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                   
                    &quot;Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium
                    doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore
                    veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
                    voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
                    consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque
                    porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
                    velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore
                    magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
                    exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi
                    consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit
                    esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
                    voluptas nulla pariatur?&quot;<br /><br />
                </ContentTemplate>
            </asp:UpdatePanel>
            <asp:UpdateProgress ID="UpdateProgress1" runat="server" AssociatedUpdatePanelID="UpdatePanel1">
                <ProgressTemplate>
                    <%-- This div is the "modal" part --%>
                    <div id="progressBackgroundFilter"></div>
                   
                    <%-- This div shows the animated gif --%>
                    <div id="processMessage">
                         <img alt="Loading" src="images/ajax_loader.gif" align="middle" />
                    </div>
                </ProgressTemplate>
            </asp:UpdateProgress>
        </div>
        </form>
    </body>
    </html>

[/code]

Complete Source Code: AJAXEnabledWebSite6.rar (14.19 kb)

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BlogEngine.Net vs, Blogger

clock August 6, 2008 07:49 by author Solburn

Vino HAGI like BlogEngine.Net. I really do. This blog runs on it. But I have decided to pursue my wine blog on Blogger. The reason is basic and simple. I want to use Google's Adsense on my wine blog, Vino HAG. Maybe one day I will be one those people that will have such a huge following that all I need to do to pay my bills is blog. That would be almost as good as playing golf for a living.

You would think that BlogEngine would make adding Adsense to the blog easy, but to date, I have not been able to make it work. I am using version 1.3.1 and they are currently on version 1.4. Frankly, I am tired of trying to get it to work. I know for a fact, that by the time I might be able to figure it out, I could have already had my wine blog up and running with Blogger and Google's Adsense and Analytics. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what I did.

So why did I ever use BlogEngine.Net in the first place? Hmmm... a few reasons. It looked really slick and I'm a programmer (.Net) by profession, it was free, runs on .Net, and fairly easy to set up and get rolling. It was actually fun learning the things BlogEngine.Net could do too. Since it is open source, many people had made add ons like the Slide Show extension. Someone actually made an Adsense extension too, but alas, I could never get it to work.

Anyway, if you like wine and get a chance, check out Vino HAG.

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Vista and USB Device Drivers

clock June 11, 2008 10:17 by author Solburn

Unrecognized Device ErrorIn my experience, this has been for USB device drivers.

On Vista, if you have successfully installed drivers and your device is STILL not recognized, go to the device manager and look for unrecognized devices, then right click on it and have Vista find the best driver. It should now find the driver and install it correctly.

OK, this is twice now that I have tried to get USB drivers installed on Vista. Both times there was a driver specifically built for Vista and both had installers that are supposed to just do it for you. One was on my home PC which is now a Vista 64bit machine and the other is my laptop which is a Vista 32bit machine.

First was the WG111T wireless adapter from NetGear of which I have blogged about previously on my PC and the second is my Sky Caddie on my laptop.

The makers of Sky Caddie, Sky Hawke Technologies, has done a fairly good job at automating many of the tasks required to use and keep a Sky Caddie up to date. It has client software (sort of, it runs in a browser) and when you connect your Sky Caddie it will perform an update check and update the firmware as needed.

I was on a road trip, had my laptop and my Sky Caddie and wanted to download a course I would be playing to my Sky Caddie using my laptop. I downloaded the Sky Caddie software which includes the drivers and successfully installed everything I needed. At least that was what the install process reported back to me.

Now I can plug my Sky Caddie in and away we go. Doh! The Sky Caddie client can't find my Sky Caddie even though it is plugged in using the USB port and turned on. Since I had this issue with the WG111T wireless adapter, I checked the device manager. And there it was... USB device not recognized! I right clicked on it and "updated the device driver" and let Vista find the driver. A few seconds later, the driver is installed and my Sky Caddie is now recognized.

For some reason, and I am thinking it is a permissions issue, installer software has not been able to install the correct driver for their own device. I think this could be 1 of 3 things: Vista won't give permission, the installer software was not coded correctly to get permission, or simply a Vista bug.

I will repeat the first paragraph:

On Vista, if you have successfully installed drivers and your device is STILL not recognized, go to the device manager and look for unrecognized devices, then right click on it and have Vista find the best driver. It should now find the driver and install it correctly.

My golf buddies and I ended up shooting par. +3 on the front 9 and -3 on the back 9 =)

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Netgear WG111T wireless adapter driver for Vista 64 bit

clock May 29, 2008 09:46 by author Solburn

Netgear WG111TSkip to the end of the post for the solution if you don't want to read my trials and tribulations.

I had the same issues MANY other users have had which basically means the adapter didn't work. Netgear has a software/driver version 2.1 that is Vista compatible, 32 bit or 64 bit, is not specified as far as I could tell.

Before I try any of that, let me see if the device manager can just "find" the driver it needs. Negative. Alright, move on.

I downloaded the software/driver and ran it on my newly upgraded Vista Ultimate 64 bit PC. The software says it installed successfully and to plug my wireless adapter in. OK, done. Waiting... waiting... nothing. No blue blinking light indicating my connection to Life, ur I mean, the Inter-tubes.

Hmmm... alright double click on the shortcut the installer put on my desktop. It pops up in a flash and then disappears, goes away. Huh?

Ok, reboot and try again. Negative. Uninstall and reinstall Netgear software, then reboot. Negative again. Ok, search forums... nothing helpful except the knowledge that I AM NOT ALONE.

Alright, one of the suggestions was to use the Win XP drivers. Alright, I'll try that but FIRST, let me uninstall the current version. And one more thing, let me go to the device manager and see if the software at least loaded the drivers correctly. Negative.

Weird. Alright, so on a whim, I tried one more time to let the device manager "find" the latest driver. IT WORKED! and now I have an Internet connection!!! Blue blinking light and all... Woo hoo!!!

So WTF. The Netgear software loads itself but is not able to load the drivers for the WG111T adapter. Whatever, I don't really care as long as I can connect.

So here's the solution:

Download and install Netgear's version 2.1 software/driver for the WG111T adapter.

Reboot.

Uninstall the Netgear software (not sure this is necessary, but I did it)

Go do the device manager, find the WG111T adapter in the list, right click on it and update the driver. Let the Device Manager "find" the best one.

This worked for me and I hope works for all of you too.

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Upgrading to Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit from Windows XP 32 bit

clock May 29, 2008 08:37 by author Solburn

Windows Vista Upgrade AdvisorI decided to take the plunge and upgrade from Windows XP 32 bit to Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit. It's not really an "upgrade". It's actually a brand new install as you can't really "upgrade" from a 32 bit OS to a 64 bit OS.

Windows has a downloadable compatibility tool called the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. You download it, install it, and then run it. This program will scan your system and basically point out your likely hood of being able to upgrade to Vista. Make sure you have all your periphials plugged in too. If there are any issues, the advisor will try and help you resolve them.

My self built rig is at least 4 years old and here are the specs:

Antec Piano Black Computer Case (It's beautiful =)
Thermaltake PurePower 430-Watt Power Supply
Asus K8V SE Deluxe mother board
One of the Athlon 64 bit processors (I forget which one)
1GB of RAM (all this time I thought I had more)
NVidia GeForce 6600 GT Video Card - 128MB, AGP 8X
Net Gear WG111T Wireless Adapter
Maxtor 60GB HDD 7200rpm IDE - primary
Maxtor 320GB HDD 7200 IDE (was a SATA drive, more on that later) - secondary
A Sony DVDRW
A Lite On CDRW

When I first ran the Upgrade Advisor (the UA) I had a Maxtor SATA 320GB HDD as my secondary drive. The UA had an issue with the SATA drivers. This was the only issue that came up for me, nice! Since I also had the equivalent Maxtor HDD as an IDE drive, I just swapped them out and ran the UA again. After that the UA was happy.

Tangent... I bought an external enclosure for the Maxtor SATA 320GB HDD and use it as my "off-site" back up. Do you have a back up plan? It was always my plan to have one as an internal back up and the other as an external back up.

I proceeded to back everything up to the secondary Maxtor and also the off-site back up drive.

I decided to take the plunge, popped in the Vista disk and rebooted my PC. "Hit any key to load from the CD", hit a key and away we went. After reinstalling Win XP several times over the life of this PC I expected this install to kinda suck, so my expectations were LOW.

I was presented with a screen asking where I wanted to install Vista. It recognized my 2nd drive (which is a good thing!) and that was an option. It also showed my primary drive, but with only 28GB available, meaning that 32GB was in use from Win XP and the existing data. I chose my primary drive expecting the install to just overwrite everything on the primary disk.

Surprise! A dialog box popped up saying it will save all that data as something ".old" - OK or CANCEL. Wow, that was nice of Vista. I didn't want that though, I actually WANTED Vista to just overwrite everything. I clicked cancel and looked at my options. Well there is an "Advanced" link that opens up a few more dangerous options which are good to hide from noobs, like "format drive". I chose that and formatted my primary drive and then installed Vista there.

I totally expected to have to sit there and baby sit the install process. Wow! and I mean WOW! That was it. I didn't have to do anything else. It ran throught the install process, rebooted when it needed to and then when it was done I was asked to choose an icon, a user name and password. No EFFIN WAY! So painless.

So the welcome screen pops up after I log in. There are lots of pretty things to look at but it is clear not all the drivers are loaded. I don't have sound and I don't have an internet connection. Let's just say I had already found and put all the drivers I needed on my thumb drive and then loaded all the appriate drivers and everything, so far, is working as expected.

The NetGear WG111T was a challenge and from what I have read online it has been a challenge for many many people, especially for those running Vista 64 bit. I have a solution and will make a separate blog post about this.

I still need to install a whole bunch of software too, but first (after getting internet access) I activated the OS and then did the Windows Update. I'll post more here if I come across any issues.

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Windows Mobile 6.1 The Good, Bad and Ugly

clock May 28, 2008 11:11 by author Solburn

Windows Mobile

T-Mobile Shadow Windows Mobile 6.0 to Windows Mobile 6.1 Upgrade

T-Mobile posted an update OS for the Shadow from Win Mobile 6.0 to Win Mobile 6.1. I backed up all pertinent info from my phone to a safe place (my 2GB MicroSD storage card of which I removed from the phone during the update!), downloaded the update and ran it.

The update itself was painless, but whenever you update your OS on a Win Mobile phone, all your non-default settings are nuked. So all my email accounts have to be set again, all my ring tones have to be added and reset again, and even my Fave 5 was refreshed. If you had any MS Docs, Xcel files, One Notes etc, all gone unless you backed them up.

Even all of my custom software like Yahoo's Go 2.0 and Google Maps have to be reinstalled. If you were smart enough to save the cab files onto your storage card then you won't have to download them again.

So the good the bad and the ugly.

The GOOD: I noticed a few things that I really liked. It seems to manage the power consumption better, it manages connecting to and using WiFi better, and there are some cool GUI enhancements; particularly when trying to type a symbol.

There are also some changes to the T9 which I think are mostly on the good side. It now capitalizes "I's" when the "I" is stand alone. But it no longer recognizes "don't" and instead thinks the word is "font". It is an algorithm thing of course, but "don't" is a word that is used FAR more than the word "font". I've personally never used the word "font" in a text message.

The over all use of the Shadow feels a little faster... to start. More on that in a bit.

The BAD: They added another GUI layer to the Fave 5 options screen. Now you can "circle" around to the various options for a Fave 5 person like, text, email, call, etc. of which all are now just icons. The interface is clunky and slow and takes too long to load. I'd just as soon use the drop down menu they had before because it was fast and you don't have to decipher the meaning of the icons.

The UGLY: There is a memory leak somewhere. Over time, when someone calls, I can no longer see who is calling because the screen becomes a blur of overlapping text and images. I can sometimes make out a name, but that name is sometimes the person that I last spoke to, instead of the person that is calling.This memory leak also causes the entire phone to slow down doing any function at all, even just locking the phone. It also causes the phone to forget the correct ring tones that it should be using. Soft resets do not work. I have to completely take the battery out and replace it and then turn the phone back on.

The memory leak takes about a day and half or less to be really annoying. Not sure how long I'll keep version 6.1 on my phone. This is a DEAL BREAKER.

Read the official comparison between the Windows Mobile versions if you like.

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Whale Power - Inspired Blade Design

clock May 19, 2008 10:38 by author Solburn

Whale Power - Inspired Blade Design I am a technology nerd/geek/aficionado whatever. I LOVE new technology breakthroughs and I have a feed from Christian Science Monitor where I read about the latest and greatest everyday.

This article has to do with blade design and I mean fan blades. Inspired and field tested by Mother Nature this latest breakthrough will have an unprecedented impact in our daily lives.

Dr. Frank E. Fish (yeah, that's his name), a biologist, noticed, on a figurine of a hump back whale, the bumps on the front edge of its fins. "He was intrigued and decided to investigate."

His whale inspired blade design has been tested and patented. The benefits are amazing:

  • These use about 20% less power, even at high pitch angles, drag is low.
  • They Work more efficiently at lower speeds. Think wind turbines.
  • The stall angle of traditional blades is 16 degrees. The new blades don't stall until a 31 degree angle! These blades provide more lift.
  • Stalls can be violent cause damage to the blade and the engine they are connected to. With these blades, the stall is gradual and virtually eliminates the violent stalling.
  • These blades are even more quiet.

 

How does this help us and what are the possible applications for this technology?

  • For all of you Earth Huggers out there, wind turbines. Read Whalepower's full article regarding this.
  • Car cooling fans, cooler engines means more efficient engines.
  • Computer fans, quieter and more efficient. Cooler computers use less power.
  • Airplane wings. More lift for faster take off using less fuel. Less drag making planes more fuel efficient. Plane turbines, increased blade angle allowing more powerful turbines while using 20% less energy, again saving fuel. Decreased chance of wing stall with a gradual stall, increasing safety of plane.
  • Of course virtually EVERY cooling fan, home, office, industrial. One company can now make a 5 bladed fans that are more efficient than their traditional 10 bladed fan. This is a huge savings on Earth's resources and energy.
  • Helicopters: commercial, medical, and military. They all become more safe, faster and more efficient.
  • Submarines now become quieter, faster (less drag) and more maneuverable. Obviously a huge advantage for our military subs.
  • I wonder if these blades would make better blenders? Margarita anyone? Cool

 

Anyway, this is just an amazing discovery. Whalepower's wind turbine test comes to a close this year. I can't wait to see the results.

On a side note: I'm a true believer in the power of Mother Nature. She has already discovered the best and most efficient way to do just about everything. It's up to us to decipher her workings. Keep your senses open. You may discover something too!

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Yahoo Mobile and Yahoo! Go 3.0 Beta

clock May 16, 2008 08:58 by author Solburn

Yahoo Go! 3.0 BetaI have a T-Mobile Shadow and it uses Windows Mobile 6 (6.1 now). Yahoo has a mobile solution they call Yahoo! Go. Here's their official description, "Yahoo! Go is today’s essential solution for anyone with a mobile phone. It’s an all-in-one offering that lets you enjoy the best of the Internet on your phone—for free. Send an email, upload photos, download a map, search for answers, check stock quotes, or get breaking news—all that and much more is available through Yahoo! Go."

Blah, blah sounds like a lot of fluff and essentially it is. I've been using Yahoo! Go version 2.0 for about a year now and I tried out version 3.0 yesterday. The ONLY reason I used Yahoo! Go version 2.0 is because it automatically synchronizes my phone contacts with my Yahoo address book.

This feature is actually awesome and works VERY well. I can add/edit/delete a contact on my phone and the changes are reflected in my Yahoo Address book. And it works in reverse too. I can add/edit/delete a contact in my Yahoo Address book and the changes are propagated to my phone. SO FREAKING SWEET!

Here's the key to this whole thing too. The contacts are STORED on my phone AND my Yahoo address book. In version 3.0 this feature doesn't exist at all.  They've replaced it with Yahoo! oneSearch which searches my Yahoo Address book, but requires a connection and is SLOW because the EDGE network is SLOW.

Uh, hello?! I use my phone to communicate with PEOPLE, not the Inter-tubes.

I don't want to have to rely on any sort of connection to be able to get someone's contact info. This is a total DEAL BREAKER. I won't ever use 3.0 unless the feature is added in.

So, I like the new 3.0 interface but it has too many useless features like 2.0 does. The only feature that I require is Address Book synchronization. The would be "cool to haves" are Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Calendar, and Flickr. And they should all be optional, meaning we can remove/add them as desired so the actual Yahoo! Go program starts up faster.

The Finance, Sports, Headlines etc. are worthless to me.

Please Yahoo, please please add the Address Book Sync feature into 3.0 or don't ever let 2.0 die =) Thanks!

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Zune 2.5 Software Update

clock May 15, 2008 07:07 by author Solburn
There are 3 different related topics in this post. The Zune 2.5 software update, the Zune Media Collection Reset Tool, and getting the Zune software to minimize to the System Tray using Tray It!.

Zune 2.5 Software Update

Zune Sorting by Release DateI installed the latest version of the Zune software, version 2.5. I didn't read any of the release notes because I always like to see if I can figure what updates have happened. In this case, there were a few very notable changes. There are actually many more very cool new features that I have not mentioned that have been added too.

The track numbers are larger and the song that is playing is easier to see now, due to being highlighted in a higher contrast pink (pink? really?) color.

Sorting! That's right, you can finally sort the 3 different columns!

The Artists column sorts alphabetically in ascending or descending order.
The Album column sorts in 3 different ways: alphabetically by album name, grouped by artist alphabetically, and lastly by release date (grouped by release year).
The Song column also sorts in 3 different ways: by album track number, alphabetically by song name, and lastly by song rating.

The sorting was something that bugged me and I'm glad they finally got it added to Zune.

You can now right click on an album and "Find Album Info" which you could do in the Media player but was lacking in the Zune. If I was missing album art or song names, I used to open WM and use it to find the album info. All of that same functionality is now available in the Zune software.

  

Reset Zune Music Collection

Zune Reset Tool After the software update, one of my albums that I didn't have song names or art for was updated automatically. The end result was that many of the songs were listed twice. I also still have a few albums where the song names and the actual song that is played is off. The point being, I really wanted to rebuild my song list and hopefully during the rebuild, these issues would get fixed.

How do I get the Zune software to rebuild the list??? How about using Microsoft's own Zune Media Collection Reset Tool? Download it and run it. Easy as pie. Oh and it does exactly what it says it will do. It causes the Zune software to rebuild the song (and any other media) list.

Well did it fix my issues? The duplicate songs in an album, the song names that do not match up to the song that is being played? Yes and no. It fixed the duplicate song issue but not the other. Maybe it's not the Zune software. Who knows? At this point I am not willing to take the time to find out.


Minimize Zune to System Tray

Zune in System Tray I listen to music pretty much all day at work and it is annoying to have the Zune software taking up space on my Task Bar when it is basically a program that should be running in the background. I did a little google search and Tray It! seems the way to go. It's a nice little program that you can set to start automaticlly on start up. It then looks at the programs currently sitting in your Task Bar and gives you the option to "Place in System Tray" (right click on program name) and then remembers your settings. A nice little piece of softare that just works. Nice.

I am glad I have a Zune. I love my music, the pictures I have on it, and the movies that I have on it. I travel frequently and basically life without it sux.

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NIN - Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

clock May 9, 2008 07:45 by author Solburn

NIN The SlipMany of you that have been following the DRM war know that DRM is dying. Many artists are skipping the middle man and distributing their music for free. NIN is one of those artists and has released The Slip for free and as you can see from the image, encourages me:

  • remix it
    share it with your friends
    post it on your blog
    play it on your podcast
    give it to strangers
    etc.

So as instructed, I have posted it on my blog, sharing it with my friends and giving it to strangers.

The Slip mp3 90MB

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How to: Zune Movie Music Pictures Air Plane RIP DVD FREE

clock May 5, 2008 08:23 by author Solburn

Zune I went to Chicago this last weekend and that required a flight on an air plane. I never fly without my Zune, NEVER. The older lady (70's) next to me saw my Zune and said, "What is that for?" My reply, "It has music, pictures and movies." "Movies?!", she said. "Oh, yeah", I reply. Oh yeah, movies. 

For all those that are googling this how to: Key words: How to Rip DVD's or movies for a Zune into an MP4 or mpeg-4 format for FREE. =)

I used to only listen to music and look at pictures that I have loaded. Some time in the past two weeks I decided I wanted to load movies. I know Zune supports MP4 and I knew of a few DVD rippers that I could try. After much research and many attempts here is how you rip a dvd into an mp4 format for your Zune. And as you would expect, someone else has already posted step by step directions on how to do this. For some reason it took me a while to find this post:

Anders.com : Converting DVD movies for the Zune using Windows

This post includes links to the FREE software you will need to rip a DVD movie onto your Zune. The directions are clear and come with screen shots although the screen shots may be a bit different than the ones shown, you'll be able to figure it out easily. I think the most important part is making sure that the ripping of the DVD goes into a SINGLE file i.e. "NO FILE SPLITTING". If you miss that step, than the conversion to an .mp4 (mpeg-4) format will not work.

The first movie I converted using the above software and directions was "300" and you get to choose the quality of the conversion. I did a conversion to "MPEG4 QVGA 1024kpbs Stereo/128kpbs." Which I didn't really know what all that meant except it is the high quality video and sound. Well, it turns out it is wide screen and the audio is excellent! There was only a couple of darker scenes where the Zune couldn't handle the levels of black. The fights scenes, the audio, were just awesome. I was really impressed.

I also ripped and converted a second movie "Snatch" of which I have not watched yet. I chose a lower quality conversion, "MPEG4 QVGA 768kpbs Stereo/128kpbs", basically 768 to 1024. When I watch it, I'll let you know how the quality is.

Some other details too: "300" is 5.5 GB raw and after converstion to 1024 kbps mpeg4, it is 833 MB. "Snatch" is 3.4 GB raw and after conversion to 768kbps mpeg4, it is 554 MB.

All in all, I love that I can rip movies to my Zune. I have gen 1 30 GB Zune and because I like it so much, I want the Gen 2 80 GB Zune. I hope this helps and happy ripping!

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It's who you know...

clock May 1, 2008 09:07 by author Solburn

I guess I'm in a reflective mood. There were two photo road trips that were simply amazing. The first was a GLoF endorsed trip to Frederickburg (Fburg) and Enchanted Rock (end of February). The second was a trip to New Gulf (end of March).

What was it about those two trips? First and foremost, it was the people I was with. Second, it was what we were doing.

Jenns LocksJennifer Lynn, a free spirit, genuinely sweet, and more private than anyone realizes. She's the pioneer, the trailblazer, the scout, the glue that binds (or the Ring that binds them all? =). She regularly takes photo trips solo, exploring all the unknown corners of Texas, get's amazing photos and shares them with us. New Gulf was one of those places. On the road to Fburg, she shared a row of abandoned homes that are a perfect place for photos, that she had found a few weeks earlier.

EphemeralDarkhairedgirl (DHG), enigmatic, quick witted, and a lover of music. An expert at wooing the masses with her self portraits (read the comments on her photos) and just as adept with her other photos. Her and Jennifer are BFF's and DHG is as private as Jenn is, if not more. With our little group she was quick to laugh at my lame jokes and throw out quick witted jabs (always in a nice way) when any of us got out of hand.

GroovehouseGroovehouse a chivalrous dark knight. Smart, observent, and loyal to those who matter. He's normally the quiet observant guy in the background, but on these trips, he was out there. Many times leading the way and setting the pace for our photo ops.

Let it be said too, all of them are great photographers and each with their own distinct styles. Feel free to take a look at their photostreams as proof. I've learned lighting, framing and post processing techniques from every one of them. And with Groovehouse, he uses many different types of lenses, so I've learned quite a bit about those too (Fish Eye, 50mm). Just being there and watching them work their photo magic is as good as seeing the final result. The different angles they shoot from, the subjects they shoot and discussing their thoughts on a photo as their taking them, is all priceless knowledge.

We spent both trips listening to great music, having fun with engaging converstations and more often than not, laughing our asses off. All this while doing something we have a passion for, photography. For me, this was a wonderful to start off the New Year.

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you TCK! And a special thanks to Jenn for being the Trailblazer and the Glue.

TCK Por Vida!

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How I grew my social network...

clock April 30, 2008 09:49 by author Solburn

Dramatic Angel 02I'm recently divorced, less than a year officially, more than a year unofficially and it was about that time to start meeting new people. So how does one start? Good question.

I already had a twitter account, but that was for different reasons than meeting people. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn were all at the top of the buzz list. MySpace creeped me out so that was a no. Facebook looked cool and LinkedIn was fine too. Hmmm, signed up for both, made some connections but I was not "feeling" it. What next?

I am an amateur photographer. Well that's a hobby and I bet other people like it too. I decided to google "Houston Photography". Several sites popped up and I looked through a few of them. Laanba's blog, Photine, caught my attention and really ended up being the linchpin to my entire social network. I read (present tense) all of her posts and she always has something going on in her life and also knows a great deal about the Houston Photography scene. In addition to that, she had a Twitter widget on her blog and I started following her.

I finally sent her an email and introduced myself and told her about my love of photography. I was a COMPLETE NEWB to the online world of photography and said as much to Laanba. She replied with an email that might have been 3 pages long. It was FULL of useful information including links to Flickr photo groups I should join, alternatives to Flickr, and other useful blogs.

I decided to join 3 Flickr groups: Houston, Houston Flickr Weekends, and Houstonist.

A few things happened simultaneously. I was following Laanba on twitter and started following other people she was following to follow the conversations and I started making Flickr contacts. I was also introduced to Yelp during this time, but more on that later. At this point, there are quite a few people I "knew" online through both twitter and Flickr I hadn't actually met yet.

I went to my first Flickr meet up and met Laanba for the first time, Crossmage, and KinjoTx (and a few others). My second meet up I met Jeff Balke, Groovehouse, Erin1225, StephanieDancer, TxTamz, and deji_01 (and a few others).

As you might imagine, most people are on more than one social network site. Many of those people are also on Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and Yelp.

So through twitter and Flickr I "meet" Fayza. Fayza worked for Yelp and had been twittering about Yelp. I had already heard of Yelp and already had an account, but didn't really do much with it. I check it out again and find out that it is more a social site than I realized. They have Events, both Yelp events and UYEs' (Unofficial Yelp Events).

I went to my first Yelp event. I met Fayza, Cory O., Shao-Tai, AND The_Fuzzball and Erinen31 at Poison Girl. Groovehouse was at this meet up too. The_Fuzzball has a Flickr group called the GLoF (Glorious Ladies of Flickr) and I am invited to join their group as a DMC (Devoted Male Consort), of which I accept.

Through GLoF I meet in person JenniferLynn, DarkHairedGirl, CyberToad (and through CyberToad ChristineBPC), and AggieChristine (and a few others).

I also ventured off with Fazya and Cory O. to an Austin Yelp event and met many people in Austin whom are still contacts in my Yelp world.

As you can see, my social network has grown fairly quickly (it took about 3 months) and exponentially, all from a simple google search and an email to Laanba. There are many more that I have not mentioned too. I count all of these people as friends and naturally I'm closer to some more than others, but I wouldn't hesitate to do what I could for any of them. These are all good people with similar interests as mine. I am privileged to know them all.

With the growth of my twitter, Flickr, and Yelp accounts, Facebook and LinkedIn have now become more useful to me too.

All this from a simple search and well written blog. Thank you Laanba! My life has been rich with social activity because of your blog and your help.

So how does one start? I say google your hobby and see if anyone else in your area does the same thing.

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New Orleans Jazz Fest 2008

clock April 28, 2008 08:51 by author Solburn

I've had several events this year that make it a more memorable year than I have had in a VERY long time and it's not even May. Jazz Fest makes the list and I almost missed it.

As always, the thing that really makes something memorable is the person or persons you are with. So, in addition to a thanks to Acura, a special thanks to Meagan. She's a free spirit and is one of the few people I know that can REALLY just "roll with it". We were lost in the dark, somewhere in Louisana, during a rain storm and we still didn't have a place to crash that night. Awesome. =)

So, the beginning... I bought a brand spanking new Acura RDX near the end of January 08. Some time in March, Acura sent me an invite to go to Jazz Fest 2008. This included two tickets to the event plus two VIP passes to Acura's VIP tent. I had no intention of going since I'd never even heard of Jazz Fest (I know, I know...). I asked Andrea (my ex) if she wanted the tickets and she was like, "Hell Yeah