Random Traffic Through Nick's Brain

src="http://www.varacalli.com/pictures/misc/Harvard-Square-Looing-Up-At-Wordsworth-Book-Store-2006-10_small.jpg"
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alt="Photograph: Harvard Square: Looking Up, Wordsworth, Cambridge, 2006-10, © Nick Varacalli."
title="Harvard Square: Looking Up, Wordsworth, Cambridge, 2006-10, © Nick Varacalli." />Maybe there are a limited number of mannerisms and personality traits in the world.
Maybe there are a limited number of mannerisms and personality traits that I can identify and remember.
Anyway… I was struck over the weekend of how MW talks like HWE when she’s excited.
Also, SW reminds me of AA when she asks a ½ teasing question.

For some reason, every time lately I have to remember how old I am, I think “35″ instead of my actual age. I think fatherhood is making me feel older.

Speaking of this weekend, despite it being a ski weekend, and despite the beautiful ski conditions, neither of us got to go skiing. Alex’s night-wakings had us both too tired to think that either of us could ski safely. We’re hoping this settles down soon.

Do not give him a spoonful of yoghurt until after he has finished chewing (well, gumming) and swallowing the Cheerio you just gave him.
Otherwise he will try to swallow, gag on the Cheerio, and end up coughing and sneezing yoghurt all over the room and your face.

This public service announcement brought to you by an idiot newbie parent.

They seem to be making fun of slow / low intelligence / low socialization skills. It’s lame.
I don’t think the judges are any better or worse than in previous years, other than having one more year of listening to thousands of bad singers.
I blame the editing.

I’ll rag on the contestants that have overly high expectations some other day.

Boston Restaurant Week is March 4^th to 9^th. Unlike years past, we’re not going to many dinners since it’s past Alex’s bedtime and we don’t want to line up a week of babysitters.

On the bright side, Alex and I can meet you for lunch. Who wants to have lunch with us?

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alt="Photograph: Harvard Square: Looking Up, Copper, Cambridge, 2006-10, © Nick Varacalli."
title="Harvard Square: Looking Up, Copper, Cambridge, 2006-10, © Nick Varacalli." />I’ve experienced marketing departments at a variety of companies. I’ve also watched the marketing departments at companies that friends and family have worked at.
I’m starting to think that unless the product is ground breaking and sells itself, marketing is the most important part of a business.
Even when the product sells itself, marketing needs to be able to stay out of the way.

At CompanyA the product was great. I don’t think that’s what made the company successful. The marketing department was ruthless. I’ve never seen a hungrier set of marketeers. They’re the type of people I want to work with when I get back into the work force.

At CompanyB the product was good. As far as I could tell, marketing was hopelessly inept. They never figured out who to sell to or what exactly to sell. At one point a threshold was met requiring the client to pay us more. The client complained and we meekly agreed not to charge them. Lame.

At CompanyC the product was average… basically, providing consulting services. Marketing would sell to anyone and everyone. Before observing this, I would’ve thought this was great. Lots of sales equals success. Now I know better. The small, rinky-dink sales don’t make money. They cost money. First, some of them actually cost more resources than they are worth. Second, and more importantly, it prevents employees from working on juicier contracts.

Live and learn. Live and learn. I just wish I learned quicker.

Executive Summary

Rename IcePick.exe to IcePick.ex_. If you came here through a search engine and this was useful, kindly leave a comment.

Long Winded Explanation

We got a Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 for Christmas so we could beam images of Alex to friends and relatives in far flung places. It’s a pretty good web cam, but it has one very annoying design issue (which, bless their souls, Microsoft obviously touts as a ‘feature’). It has a “Windows Live™ Call Button. This button, which takes up most of the top of the web cam, launches Windows Live™ Messenger’s Live Call feature. If you don’t have Windows Live™ Messenger installed, it dutifully pops up a message box asking you if you want to install the software. Click on the image for a full sized version.

This message box pops up every single time you hit the button. There is no “don’t ask me again” check box, or option to turn the prompt off.

The problem is, the button takes up over 1/3 of the top of the webcam. If you try and adjust the camera to better frame what it sees, unless you are very careful, you are going to press the darn button. It’s downright maddening.

I searched the web, found one or two other complaints about this issue, but no solutions. I emailed Microsoft technical support about the issue, and I got a nice, polite, and completely wrong answer. After a bit of sleuthing on my own, the solution seems to be quite easy. It doesn’t even require messing with the registry as I originally thought it would.

To disable the Windows Live™ Call Button on the Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000, simply rename IcePick.exe, found in C:\Program Files\Microsoft LifeCam\ (or wherever you installed the LifeCam drivers) to IcePick.ex_.

If you came here through a search engine and this was useful, kindly leave a comment.

16 or 17 years ago, if I’d been lucky enough to convince an 18 or 19 year old girl to stay at a hotel with me, I’d've been psyched… would’ve meant I’d be… well… lucky.

Now, if we’re lucky enough to convince an 18 or 19 year old girl to stay at a hotel with us, we’d be psyched… it means we’d be lucky enough to have a babysitter.

This blog is now getting over 100 pieces of comment spam a day. If you comment and it doesn’t seem to go through, email me privately and I’ll push it through. Otherwise it’s getting difficult to look through all the spam for incorrectly flagged real comments.

To keep Alex from getting everything messy when eating solids, make sure he’s looking up while eating. Dangle keys, rattles, or any other shiny, interesting, and noise-making toy above his head just out of reach.

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alt="Photograph: Alex, Hand, Christmas Tree, Cambridge, 2006-12, © Nick Varacalli."
title="Alex, Hand, Christmas Tree, Cambridge, 2006-12, © Nick Varacalli." />We’re trying to get Alex on a regular schedule of waking time, naps, and bedtimes. So… unfortunately, we are now those people. For evening / night events, you’ll probably see either one or none of us from now on. On the good side, hopefully Alex’ll sleep longer so we can get more sleep. Eventually Dina and I hope to spend more time together doing quiet things like reading and puzzling together.

On one hand, I’m looking forward to this. Obviously looking forward to more sleep. Looking forward to more family time.

On the other hand, I’m sad that the phase of our life where we can lug Alex around with us to anywhere and everywhere is over.

Hunt is over. Thanks to his wonderful grandparents, Alex got to play at home while Dina and I hunted.

• We hunted with ACME, though, at some point, realizing it was an evil hunt, we switched to VILE. Though, someone did suggest we rename ourselves Uninvited.
• I had a lot of fun. I liked the hunt overall. I wish we were a bigger team so we could’ve seen more of the hunt. I was a bit disappointed at times because of our lack of manpower / progress. Dina had less fun than I did. I find it interesting the way our tastes in hunts differ.
• I felt I contributed a lot more this year. Maybe this hunt was easier, maybe the puzzles suited me better, maybe it’s because the team was smaller, maybe I’m getting better as I hunt more.
• Had some fun times. Best. Interaction. With. HQ. Ever. I request a call from HQ:
  
   
  
  Me: Hello. This is VILE.
  
  HQ: Your answer for “Choose Your Weapon”?
  
  Me: Ensheferator (Sheffi, the puzzle constructor was in the room)
  
  HQ: Pardon?
  
  Me: Ensheferator
  
  HQ: Uhm…
  
  Me: Would you like me to spell that?
  
  HQ: Uhm… Sure.
  
  Me: Ensheferator: L. O. A. D. E. D.
  
  HQ: Yes! That is how you spell Ensheferator. That is correct.
  
   
  
  That’s the first time I ever heard them repeat a guess out loud.
• I’m peeved that they schedule the hunt wrap up meeting at the same time as the Pats game.
• We figured that the easiest way of sharing videos with our remote solvers was uploading them to YouTube :-)

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alt="Photograph: Harvard Lampoon Building, Cambridge, 2006-10, © Nick Varacalli."
title="Harvard Lampoon Building, Cambridge, 2006-10, © Nick Varacalli." />Went walking in Harvard Square last weekend. It was a beautiful, if not atypical, January day in Boston. Temperature was 20°C / 65°F.

Life changes. When I was younger… even when I was younger in Boston I loved visiting the comic store, music store, bead store, and soak up the general goth vibe. Now… it just doesn’t fit my life. I’m out of touch with music and comics. I don’t have time to bead anything any more. The goth vibe is fun, and I’d still like to decorate that way… either myself at the tattoo and piercing parlour, or our humble abode… but I’m realistic enough to think that it’d ever happen.

What I look forward to doing “when I’m older…” changes. As a kid, it was buying truckloads of candy. A while ago, it was to have a coolly decorated place to live, surrounded by books and music. Now? Hard to say… I think I’m still in transition… ask me again in 6 months.

• src="http://www.varacalli.com/pictures/tokyo-2005-03/Japan-215-of-396-Dina-notices-blossoms-2005-03-26-to-2005-04-03_small.jpg"
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  alt="Photograph: Dina Notices Blossoms, Tokyo, Japan, March-April 2005, © Nick Varacalli."
  title="Dina Notices Blossoms, Tokyo, Japan, March-April 2005, © Nick Varacalli."
  />It’s spring here in Boston. High today is supposed to be 65°F / 18°C. I saw a mosquito yesterday while cleaning out the basement. I think I saw some buds on various plants / trees when I was out walking yesterday.
• Sometimes I get off my lazy ass by starting slow and seeing how far I can build up. Other times, I just set arbitrary goals and hope to meet them. Yesterday was more of the latter. Sometimes I keep my goals quiet and have my own private little victories. Other times I tell lots of people so they can support me (and, really, so they can shame me if I don’t reach them… much more of a motivation to me). Again, yesterday, and now today, is more of the latter.
  
  I signed up for Bradford Valentine Race on February 10^th. 5 miles. $17.60. I also signed up for Boston’s Run To Remember (which should be scenic) on May 27^th. ½ marathon. $45. What’s the worst that can happen to me? A crippling heart attack, right?
  
  Since I tend not to like waste on inefficiency, the costs of the runs, though small, is also encouragement for me to run them. Anyone want to join me?