Archive for 2008-06

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Injury, Meet Insult

2008-06-29 23:15

Parked the car on the street near the T the other day.

  1. We forgot to check the parking signs. We got a parking ticket.
  2. We apparently forgot to lock the car. Someone stole our CDs, phone charger, etc.

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

JFGI

2008-06-27 14:43

When discussing things with a coworker, came up with JFGI to replace RTFM.

Of course it’s been done before…

Posted in Development, Personal | No Comments »

Readability

2008-06-25 23:40

Changing my default browser fonts to Cambria, Calibri, and Consolas has made a world of difference when it comes to how readable things are.

Posted in Development, Personal | No Comments »

Corner Case

2008-06-24 22:27

Saw the first of what will be 2 baseball games in less than one month yesterday. Since I was thinking about corner cases, I got to wondering.

What happens if the pitcher ‘pitches’ the ball, but it doesn’t get past home plate?

The example I’m coming up with is if he basically rolled the ball toward the plate. I guess the degenerate case is if he dropped the ball straight down while on the mound.

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment »

Technology

2008-06-24 16:47

Some technology we’re considering for our move:

SlingBox: Some of us are addicted to TV. Some of us are addicted to watching the New England Patriots. We’re wondering if we should attempt to make break from said addiction, or to figure out ways to feed it while we’re there.

Portable DVD Player / Video iPod: Some of us are addicted to Dora. We’re not really interested in breaking that addiction cold turkey at this point. When all else fails, we want a way to keep a toddler quiet on long train trips, of which we foresee taking lots of.

File Server: We’re geeks, and we like our technology. Notably, all of our pictures and video need to be stored somewhere. We’re currently creaking along with an old desktop in a closet, but we want something that is quieter, more reliable, has more storage, is easier to back up, is upgradable as our storage needs increase, and consumes less power.

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment »

Technology Advice / Demos Wanted

2008-06-24 11:46

Anyone have any experience with SlingBox?

Anyone have a video-capable iPod they can lend us? We want to make sure we can administer Alex his dose of crack sedatives Dora through one of these or if we he ‘needs’ a portable DVD player.

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Application Needed

2008-06-24 11:44

Facebook (or someone) needs to come up with an enterprise version of their software, just like Google has the Google Mini Search Appliance.

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments »

Lessons in UI: Audio Feedback

2008-06-21 15:44

Or… how my friend got a $470 hot water heater for free.

Excerpts from an email:

[At the store]
> ... the cashier scanned the heater,
> her register beeped.

[At home]
> Somehow, the water heater wasn't
> on the receipt at all. I chuckle to
> think of how a Home Depot store
> manager is going to explain that
> someone walked off with a
> 6 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot water
> heater without anyone noticing...

I’m betting the scanner beeped (it recognized a bar code) but failed to transmit a bar code that the cash register understood. The cash register probably displayed something on screen to notify the cashier of this, but they were too busy scanning other things to notice. What should’ve happened is that the barcode scanner should beep once (bar code recognized) and the cash register should instruct the bar code reader to emit a second ‘good, bar code understood’ or ‘bad, bar code not understood’ tone.

Posted in Development | No Comments »

Introduction

2008-06-21 15:12

I guess we should tell you a bit about ourselves.

Both DDV and I are in our mid-thirties, and have a 2 year-old son, Alex. We currently live in Boston (Cambridge to be specific) and are planning to move to Winterthur in early October, 2008 for approximately 2 years.

I’m a computer geek (among other flavours of geek). We’re moving because of my job; when I heard that an office was opening in Switzerland, I volunteered to go over if they ever needed someone with my skill set.

DDV is a lawyer by training and a stay-at-home mom by choice. She intends to stay at home with Alex while we’re in Switzerland.

Our spelling is coloured by the fact that we all learned to spell (well, those of us that know how to spell learned to spell) in Canada.

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Out With The Old, In With The New

2008-06-18 00:34

I have a feeling that this will be a common theme that will be running through the move process.

This weekend, during the search for all the documents we need to get me a work permit (my university transcript? really? That was so 10 years ago) I threw away a lot of the paperwork from the last immigration process I went through (Canadian –> American).

One of the things we’ve learned over the last few years is that it helps to have duplicate official copies of anything official such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, transcripts, etc.

I find it ironic that one of the documents needed for the process is a photocopy of every page of our passports. The photocopier at work has a prominent warning that one shouldn’t copy official documents such as, say, passports.

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

Alt-Tab Not Working in Terminal Services Client

2008-06-17 20:42

Short Version

Make sure the Terminal Services service is started on your local computer.

Long Version

After rebuilding my system post-crash, Alt-Tab no longer worked when I was remoted into my work computer using Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe). At first I thought it was because I’d update to Windows XP SP3. I tried to edit the properties of the .rdp file that I was using, ensuring that the Local Resources tab’s Keyboard settings (Apply Windows key combinations (for example ALT+TAB)) were set correctly (I tried both In full screen mode only and On the remote computer).

I finally found the solution buried in a forums.microsoft.com post (anyone else notice that these pages, as found by Google, seem to have issues loading?). I had to look through Google’s cached version of the page. I’m reproducing it here in case anyone else has the problem.

  • Make sure you’re running as an Administrator
  • Start | Run | services.msc
  • Select the Terminal Services service.
  • Right-click | properties
  • Set Startup type to Automatic. Click the Start button if necessary.

If you found this post helpful, please click an ad.

Posted in Development | 4 Comments »

A Conversation With Alex

2008-06-17 19:15

A: Daddy?

N: Yes?

A: Alex go home and see mommy?

N: Yes, we’re going home to see mommy.

A: Can Alex watch Dragon Tales?

N: Yes, you can watch Dragon Tales.

A: And Alex can watch Dora?

N: Yes, you can watch Dora too.

A: And Alex can watch Family Guy?

N: Uhm… you can watch Dragon Tales or Dora.

Posted in Parenthood | No Comments »

Countdown has started

2008-06-16 04:10

We’ve declared our intention to move by October 1.

If things actually fall into place, it’s doable. The list of things that needs to fall into place keeps growing. It’s daunting, but the thrill of the game/adventure is mounting. I’m going to look for books about Switzerland, moving there and anything else useful now, maybe that will help me feel less buffeted by the winds of change.

3.5 months…

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

Hitting the Ground Running

2008-06-11 23:59

One of our priorities for this move is to have it go fairly smoothly. For example, we don’t want to move to temporary housing and then an apartment. While we don’t mind disrupting our own lives, we don’t want to disrupt A’s life (he’s our 2 year old son).

That said, one if the difficulties seems to be that in order to get anything Swiss (cell phone, bank account, apartment), one needs a residency permit, which one only gets a few weeks into living there.

Because of this, it seems like hitting the ground running is a difficult, if not impossible thing to do.

Do we have the wrong perception? Is there a way to accomplish what we want to do? Or is this just a time to go with the flow of the country we’re moving to?

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

DDV Signing On

2008-06-09 22:06

Hi World!

The family is moving to Switzerland and starting up this blog. Blogging is new for me, so we’ll see if it helps to tame the inevitable chaos or at least keep the crazy mostly at bay.

I intend to use this blog to note our steps taken in moving, steps we should have taken in moving, how we deal with settling in and how we’re doing in CH. I also think this will be a great way for interested parties to keep track of the possibly mundane details of our move, our new home and us while we spend the next couple years in Winterthur.

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

Hello World

2008-06-09 04:51

My wife, son, and I are moving to Winterthur, Switzerland from Boston, USA.

Consider this our attempt at a journal, attempt to provide advice, and cry for help, all rolled into one.

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

Genius

2008-06-03 22:47

Temple Bar: Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream. Best. Ice. Cream. Ever. E.v.a.h!

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments »

Mini-Hunt

2008-06-03 22:20

Part of our Mystery Hunt team (Codex Writers) wrote a mini-Mystery Hunt for the rest of our Mystery Hunt team (Codex… uhm… Hunters) last weekend. It was a lot of fun once things got started. It was very educational to write a hunt… both as a puzzle writer, an editor, an organizer, and as a techie. At some point, I’ll blog about the lessons learnt from the exercise.

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

Installing Windows XP in N Easy Steps

2008-06-03 22:18

It’s been a while since I last rebuilt my laptop. This time, I didn’t lose much. The big stuff (notably, pictures) resides on the file server, and a lot of stuff is under source control.

  1. 02:48 2008/05/26 Install Windows XP from CD. Set up Dvorak keyboard, regional format options, administrator password, etc.
  2. 03:09 2008/05/26 Set up my account, password, and login method.
  3. 03:14 2008/05/26 Insert driver CD. Start installing drivers. Notably, the ones for network cards.
  4. 03:15 2008/05/26 Set screen resolution, some other display properties.
  5. 03:20 2008/05/26 Set mouse acceleration and other input device properties.
  6. 03:29 2008/05/26 Reboot. Revel in the fact that I have 53.1GB free hard disk space.
  7. 03:34 2008/05/26 Realize wireless still isn’t working. Look for ethernet cable.
  8. 03:38 2008/05/26 Start the Windows / Microsoft update cycle.
  9. 03:39 2008/05/26 While that is happening, start going through the Control Panel.
  10. 03:50 2008/05/26 Microsoft Update is messing up. Add microsoft.com to the trusted zone.
  11. 04:02 2008/05/26 Reboot.
  12. 04:04 2008/05/26 Start downloading SP2. Why not SP3? Ask Microsoft Update.
  13. 04:13 2008/05/26 Firefox (might as well use 3.0 RC1).
  14. 04:21 2008/05/26 Reboot.
  15. 04:29 2008/05/26 Microsoft Update.
  16. 04:29 2008/05/26 Firefox extensions (AdBlockPlus, Flashblock, Customize Google, oops, Google Browser Sync doesn’t work… back to 2.0, Tab Mix Plus, Faviconize Tab, gTranslate).
  17. 04:52 2008/05/26 Connect to file server, map network drive, printer.
  18. 05:00 2008/05/26 Install Trillian, YGG.
  19. 05:28 2008/05/26 Beyond Compare.
  20. 05:28 2008/05/26 Microsoft Update.
  21. 05:28 2008/05/26 Subversion.
  22. 05:36 2008/05/26 7zip.
  23. 05:36 2008/05/26 Reboot.
  24. 05:50 2008/05/26 Microsoft Update.
  25. 05:50 2008/05/26 svn co Playpen.
  26. 05:51 2008/05/26 ActivePerl, WPP.
  27. 05:57 2008/05/26 Reboot.
  28. 05:59 2008/05/26 VS.Net 2008.
  29. 06:01 2008/05/26 Music library.
  30. 10:14 2008/05/26 Reboot.
  31. 10:24 2008/05/26 MSDN.
  32. 10:53 2008/05/26 Patch VS.Net 2008.
  33. 11:01 2008/05/26 DivX, FileHippoUpdater, TrueCrypt, SpecSharp, ZoneAlarm.
  34. 11:15 2008/05/26 PowerCommands for VS.Net 2008.
  35. 11:18 2008/05/26 nant.
  36. 11:21 2008/05/26 GhostDoc.
  37. 1!:30 2008/05/26 Microsoft Office 2007.
  38. 13:13 2008/05/26 Neuter Windows Media Player connecting to the internet. Play music for the kids.
  39. 13:13 2008/05/26 Start Visual Studio.Net.
  40. 13:14 2008/05/26 Microsoft Update.
  41. 15:02 2008/05/26 Realize that I’ve been forgetting to note reboots.
  42. 15:02 2008/05/26 Ensure mini-hunt stuff is back up and running.
  43. 15:02 2008/05/26 SF Fedora font.
  44. 15:07 2008/05/26 Auto Gordian Knot, CCleaner, Consolas font, Dave’s Quick Search Deskbar, Exact Audio Copy, Foxit Reader, Handy Registry Settings.
  45. 15:12 2008/05/26 iTunes, iTunes Scripts, iTunes Windows COM SDK, iTunes Library Updater.
  46. 15:12 2008/05/26 Lame, Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator, Name Clip, Outlook on the Desktop, PDF Creator, DVD Decrypter, Tweak UI, URL Run, URL Run Add-In, VPN, XVid.
  47. 15:40 2008/05/26 Reboot.
  48. 15:45 2008/05/26 I have the wrong VPN client. Uninstall.
  49. 15:45 2008/05/26 Stamp 2.8
  50. 15:45 2008/05/26 Install custom keyboard layout (yes, even more custom that just plain Dvorak).
  51. 15:59 2008/05/26 Flash, Shockwave. Go through IE self-configuration first.
  52. 16:06 2008/05/26 Mike’s Ad Blocking Hosts File.
  53. 16:06 2008/05/26 Notepad2. Replace notepad.exe.
  54. 16:11 2008/05/26 SysInternals.
  55. 16:17 2008/05/26 Keyboard shortcut for Password Safe / subversion integration.
  56. 16:34 2008/05/26 Palm desktop. Outlook conduits.
  57. 17:18 2008/05/26 Quicken, Palm software.
  58. 20:21 2008/05/26 My VS.Net Macros.
  59. 20:26 2008/05/26 Run FileHippo.
  60. 20:29 2008/05/26 Run CCleaner.
  61. 22:21 2008/05/27 Configure Trillian.
  62. 22:21 2008/05/27 Trillian spell check, message split plugins.
  63. 22:27 2008/05/27 Computer is sluggish / sound is weird. Reboot.
  64. 22:37 2008/05/27 Keyboard shortcuts for FireFox, IE, Beyond Compare, Trillian, DevEnv, Command Prompt.
  65. 23:02 2008/05/27 Configure command prompt.
  66. 23:24 2008/05/27 Configure subversion.
  67. 23:36 2008/05/27 Configure DQSD.
  68. 23:49 2008/05/27 Configure Google Browser Sync.
  69. 23:50 2008/05/27 VPN.
  70. 00:08 2008/05/28 Reboot.
  71. 00:19 2008/05/28 Windows Media Player Controller.
  72. 08:55 2008/05/28 Dell Drivers
  73. 08:58 2008/05/28 WinZip
  74. 08:58 2008/05/28 Uninstall 7Zip.
  75. 09:00 2008/05/28 Uninstall Bonjour.
  76. 09:04 2008/05/28 Uninstall some Windows components.
  77. 09:20 2008/05/28 Reboot.
  78. 20:45 2008/05/28 Import VS.Net settings from work. Put under source control.
  79. 20:57 2008/05/28 Put visual theme under source control.
  80. 21:08 2008/05/28 Move the IE temp cache. Curse MSFT for forcing you to log out for the change to happen.
  81. 21:36 2008/05/28 Remove some MS Office components.
  82. 21:37 2008/05/28 Skype.
  83. 21:43 2008/05/28 Configure Firefox. Put under source control.
  84. 21:52 2008/05/28 Web cam software.
  85. 22:39 2008/05/28 Microsoft Sucks. They insist on installing MSOCache for office installations. 1GB of redundant data.
  86. 00:04 2008/05/30 Configure display for blind-Nick.
  87. 00:04 2008/05/30 More Start Menu keyboard shortcuts.
  88. 00:04 2008/05/30 Configure iTunes. iTunes shortcuts.
  89. 00:07 2008/05/30 Cleanup KB / Service Pack uninstalls.
  90. 00:07 2008/05/30 No Skype at startup.
  91. 00:28 2008/05/30 Attempt to run as a power user.
  92. 00:30 2008/05/30 Configure TweakUI.
  93. 23:57 2008/05/30 Configure VPN.
  94. 00:49 2008/05/31 Clean up Start Menu.
  95. 16:48 2008/05/31 Toddler Keys after Alex rediscovers opening my CD tray.
  96. 17:32 2008/05/31 Tangentially related: uninstall U3 from my thumb drive.
  97. 18:16 2008/05/31 Reboot.
  98. 21:09 2008/05/31 Tweak more Explorer | Tools | Options | View settings.
  99. 21:31 2008/05/31 Clean Startup stuff.
  100. 12:23 2008/06/01 Set up BlueTooth sync with Palm.
  101. 14:30 2008/06/01 As Administrator: Run [playpen]\tools\Registry\Windows Tuning - Tweaks.reg.
  102. 14:33 2008/06/01 As Administrator: Fix path.
  103. 14:39 2008/06/01 As Administrator: GPEdit.msc | Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | System | Turn Off Autoplay.
  104. 22:03 2008/06/01 As Administrator: Tweak services.
  105. 22:44 2008/06/01 Put startup stuff in current user, not all users so that stuff doesn’t run in the admin account.

Posted in Development, Personal | No Comments »

Big Boy Bed

2008-06-03 22:15

Alex has been keeping insane hours lately (going to bed at 01:30 and waking up after 09:00). Overall, his sleep pattern has been just plain horrible. We’ve decided to have him sleep in a “Big Boy Bed”. We’ve dismantled his crib, put his crib mattress on the floor, and put a gate up in his doorway to keep him from wandering the house in the middle of the night (though, maybe we should just let him come to us in the middle of the night when he needs to). We’ll see how this goes…

Fizz recently blogged about something like this with a picture captioned “Epic Fail”. We’re officially worried.

Aside: It’s humourous to me that FireFox, which is basically my blogging tool, thinks “blogging” is spelt correctly yet “blogged” isn’t (nor is “spelled”… it prefers “spelt”).

Posted in Parenthood | No Comments »

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