Stop the Ride... I want to get OFF!

Currently, I am sitting here half watching the girls in their gymnastics class and the other half checking email and solving problems. Last night I came home about 6'ish, ate, washed the kids, tucked them into bed, cleaned the kitchen and went to bed. Seriously, I was in bed by 9:30. I am getting to work about 7am and not leaving until 5:45pm, every day. It is non-stop from the time I walk in the door until I shut the laptop down to call it a day. And I have to work this weekend... uhhhh...I have had to work two out of the last three weekends. This reminds me of the times at Cori where we were moving the facility from Beaverton to Hillsboro. That was really tough and long. Working long hours and moving at 110% all day used to not effect me as much back then... Of course, I was a bit younger.

The bad thing is that I have so much on my plate, I am starting to miss deadlines. This is really upsetting to me since I am the kind of person who is always early to an event. (Which really pisses my wife off - I like seeing the "20" at the movies"... twice) I am starting to loose track of projects, even though I use SharePoint to track things, and it just seems like there is a lot of hurry up and wait. One of the main reasons for my projects and tasks to be slipping.

Yesterday, I was in my GO-GO-GO mood and then someone pulled the plug on my work. This made we wonder around for a few minutes trying to find out where I need to be shifting my focus. "Hard Reset... Okay... Let's try something else.... Like trouble tickets, yeah..."

I just wish I was able to pass some of the daily crap that has to be done to someone else, so I would have time to focus on the more important tasks at hand.

All I need is some time, money, and effort.

How to Unblock Attachments in Microsoft Outlook 2007

Yesterday I was being very frustrated by Outlook blocking access to attachments. So, I thought that this would be a good post for the new month. How to unblock attachments in Outlook 2007!

Allowing executable extensions give you more freedom but less security (I've seen viruses pass AVs before). I would recommend allowing unsafe attachments just for a specific email, and undoing it after downloading the attachments. Of course make sure the email is from a trusted source and still treat it as if it's a virus by default (i.e. scan it, look for patterns in the email body, etc).

I'm sure you've seen before "Outlook blocked access to the following potentially unsafe attachments: xxx.exe". I found there's very little documentation out there on how to lower the security level or allow a file a know source sent you. You'll find below the registry hack to allow specific file types Outlook blocks by default. There's also a kb article about it and as the article mentions make sure you backup your registry before you start editing it.
Run -> regedit and go to :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security
1. Backup your registry first. Right click and select Export.
2. Add a new String Value called: Level1Remove

Level1Remove
1. Edit it and save the value data to the extension you wish to allow (add a semi-colon delimiter for multiple extensions).
Ex: .bat or .bat;.exe;.scr

1. Restart outlook (no need to restart your computer) !
Here is the KB for some further reading. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829982

Enjoy your new freedom.

Sticking It to the RIAA

For the past week or so I have been really debating about purchasing a couple of MP3s from Amazon. BUT, I do not want in any way to support the RIAA. I don’t believe in what they are doing and feel that they have TOTALLY destroyed the record industry. Music is no longer something that someone can enjoy, it is something that has to be approved and licensed and blessed by the almighty RIAA. It almost feels like something you have to listen in private in the basement where no one knows what you are up to.. That is just wrong! So, as you can tell, I am a bit pissed off about the whole thing.

So, apparently I am not alone in my utter hatred and disgust for the RIAA. However, there is a website for artists that do not support the RIAA and lets you know which one is safe and which ones are not. http://www.riaaradar.com/search.asp I was a bit disappointed that my dearest Siouxsie was in support by the RIAA. But, that is something that I will have to seek guidance on.

There is hope and I thank the artists for choosing not to support the RIAA. This is the only way for them to die a slow and painful death.

Game Review: Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey (Wii)

Synopsis
Meet and interact with the popular Disney Princesses while expanding your creativity and exploring important themes, such as courage, friendship, trust and discovery. Customize your own unique heroine character and enter a thrilling adventure through four fun-filled levels. Help these amazing princesses restore order in their enchanted kingdoms and overcome the forces of evil.You can makes friends and interact with Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White and Jasmine. Each Disney princess in the game has a different story and magical world that is waiting to be explored. As you create your own princess character, you'll be able to choose dresses, accessories, hair, skin tone, eye color and even her name. With beautiful levels to explore and exciting adventure elements, this is one game sure to please the princess in you. – Best Buy

This is my first entry for the New Year and look at what it is… a Child’s Game… Go figure.
Well, let’s get into it.

We rented Disney’s Princess Enchanted Journey on the Wii for the girls. You get to play as your own customized heroine, taking part in an adventure and helping the Disney Princesses to restore order in their kingdoms. There is Areil, Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White, and even Belle at the very end. This game is more geared for girls of the pre-teen set, as you can clearly see. Since my girls are both under 5 and had a hard time with some of the puzzles. This is where daddy’s gaming skill came into play. But, I do have to say that once they figured out what each other’s strengths, one worked on moving the character and the other worked the magic. This game would be great for some father – daughter bonding time.

However, the game play is only worth one or two times through and therefore only should be a rental and not a buy. Sorry…

F.U. to the RIAA!!!

UI saw this on Engadget and I just have to say... WTF???

"Sure, we've heard RIAA-admiring lawyers affirm that ripping your own CDs is in fact "stealing," but it seems the aforementioned entity is putting its money where its mouth is in a case against Jeffrey Howell. Reportedly, the Scottsdale, Arizona resident is being sued by the RIAA, and rather than Mr. Howell just writing a check and calling it a day, he's fighting back in court. Interestingly, it seems that the industry is maintaining that "it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into their computer." Ira Schwartz, the industry's lawyer in the case, is arguing that MP3 files created on his computer from legally purchased CDs are indeed "unauthorized copies," and while we've no idea what will become of all this, we suppose you should go on and wipe those personal copies before you too end up in handcuffs." -http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/29/riaa-suing-citizen-for-copying-legally-purchased-cds-to-pc/

So.. Let me get this straight. It is illegal if I wanted to copy a little Siouxie to my iPod from my CD collection. Wait a sec.. I purchased these CDs, before mp3s were popular or even an electronic format, so I can listen to the music whenever and wherever I want. This means that anyone that purchased MP3 players before the days of i-Tunes is in violation of this ridiculous law.

So, This is what I will be doing to protest.
I will not be purchasing any new albums.
No one will give me any new CDs as presents.
Everyone that I know and talk to should boycott buying any new albums or MP3s.

I think that we all should give the RIAA a BIG F.U.!!!

Goodbye 2007

Well, Another year is winding down and I am looking forward to seeing what 2008 brings. Don’t get me wrong. 2007 has not been all that bad. There has only been a few “issues” that we as a family have had to deal with.
1. Dad has cancer, but recovering nicely.
2. Dad also is having heart issues, but the doctors felt putting in a defibrillator/pacemaker was a good idea. – verdict is still out on this one.
3. My youngest had to go under the knife to remove an infection that was encapsulated.
4. A friend of mine, from a former company, had a heart-attack. I hear that he is doing okay, but since he does not return my message I don’t know for sure how he is doing… But, I did get a Christmas card from him and his family.
5. The cat decided that pulling out her stitches after her surgery was a good idea. This caused a secondary infection which caused her to stay in her kennel for a week and $300 dollars that I really did not need. But, she is doing fine now and is warming herself by the fire.
I think that is about it…

Work is going well, lots of projects and new technologies that I can put my hands in. New EVA 8100, HP 7000c Blades (dual “Quad”-cores), POE switches, and a ton of other things.

I still am working as the Infrastructure Department, since my supervisor left to take a job in Florida about 6 months ago. Good news is that we are trying to hire a person to give me some relief. It was sort of funny this morning, I was talking with my boss and saying that things are getting done, just slowly and that I am getting use to the work load. Just a little funny…

I have finally got to hook up the Wii. Let me tell you. It is very cool. I see what people say about the difference in playing the Wii verses everything else, you need to be standing with nothing around you. The games that I have are Wii Sports and Wii Play. We sports is lots of fun and even the kids and Liz enjoy playing Wii Bowling and Wii Golf. I can see what the Xbox means about doing exercise while playing is just wrong. After playing a full round of tennis, I realize that I am working up a sweat. The Wii is lots of fun for all.

We also had snow on Christmas. The girls really enjoyed themselves and loved watching the snow cover the trees outside. They both scored from Santa, ranging from a princess MP3 player to a digital camera to a Hello Kitty purse.

Hello 2008!

Game Review: The Orange Box

I am a big fan of the Half-life series by Valve Software. Here is a company that produces some really great games that have a lot of replay value. To this day, I still play Counter Strike and Day of Defeat for the PC. Games that are many many years past their prime. But, they are still good with a great following.

I was excited to play “The Orange Box” for the 360. Here is a single disk that contains 5 games - Half-Life2, HL2 Episode 1, HL2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. I did not get into Team Fortress or Portal, only had 5 days on the rental. Prior to renting this, I own and have finished both Half-Life 2 and HL2 Episode 1. I really wanted to play Episode 2 and it did not a disappoint.

It picked up right where Episode 1 left off, so I would suggest that you start from the beginning and work your way through from the beginning. The graphics lived up to the Half-Life 2 Source engine. The AI was fairly intelligent, even on normal. It certainly lived up to the HL2 name. I would highly recommend playing this game and this series. And this is a great way to do it. Valve provides you the entire series for one price. Take home message: Good Graphics – check out the water, Puzzles are similar to the rest of the series, and good replay value.

If you do not have Half-Life 2, this is a buy!

Tis The Season for Stupid People

Today is Black Friday and people are clamoring in the stores for all of their holiday shopping needs. Shops are crowded, people are rushing around, and just generally being stupid. This is why I generally work today. No one is around and I actually can get stuff done. However, I did have to drive by a Best Buy and noticed that there is a lot of people who forgot their manners this morning and how to be polite. Cutting in line, is something that really pisses me off. This is not China, lines ACTUALLY mean something here. For example, waiting for the person who is waiting for another person’s car to move out of a parking space. Honking and carrying on just makes you look stupid and impatient. Along those same lines, Driving… Don’t wait until the last possible second to change lanes. Or if you know that the lane ends, move over sooner. It really pisses me off when we are all moving along in traffic and some dipshit thinks that he is too Fucking self important to travel with us commoners. He has to Zoom in the ending lane and cut in front of another car. Causing us all to hit our breaks. (You’re lucky I don’t own a gun for doing shit like that) Another group of people who really piss me off - People bathing in perfume. They have no consideration for other people senses. One squirt goes a long way! You don’t have to use the entire bottle. We don’t care how much you paid for it. By the time you drench yourself in it, you smell like a strip club. (Yes, I have been to one or two in my day) And finally, this one goes out to the great unwashed… When you are in a public place make sure that you don’t smell. Do the rest of us a favor - Water! Use it! and… Deodorant, not optional.

Take home message.
1. If you want to get somewhere sooner, leave the house earlier.
2. Take a bath, we all don’t need to smell you!
3. Play well with others and be nice.
4. Think! Don't be Stupid!

Maybe I am being a little overly sensitive and am using the holidays as an excuse for people and their behavior. But, it does seem to get far worse around the holidays.

You know... This is all coming from a guy who has a mug that says "Warning... DOES NOT Play Well With Others!" It has to be really bad for me to Rant about it.

Winterborn - Acoustic Version

Bought a Wii....Weeeeeeee!

On Thursday, I joined the Wii Club. I was not intending to buy anything, honest!

Here's the story...

I was in CompUSA with a co-worker, he was getting a wireless router for home, and while we were standing around the checkout counter, I was joking with the sales rep about never having any Wiis. "Well, Sir, we actually have one..." So, out comes the Disney Visa - right after I called the wife.. (Hey, I know that I would be a dead duck if I came in without asking)

Here is how that converstation went -
Me: What would happen if I came home with a Wii in hand?
Wife: Did you pay for it?
Me: I can take it back.
Wife: Where are you at?
Me: CompUSA
Wife: Why
Me: co-worker needed something and we were at lunch.
Wife: Okay... But that is it..

So, I bought the Wii and Wii Play. But, here is the kicker...

I CAN'T OPEN IT UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to me! (I mean the Kids!)

Elcomsoft turns your PC into a password cracker

I saw this and just had to post it...


"You know all that talk about GPUs being the new CPUs? Well it's not just a lot of hot, ventilated air. Thanks in large part to the launch of development kits like nVidia's CUDA, Russian outfit Elcomsoft has just filed for a US patent which leverages GPUs to crack passwords. Their approach harnesses the massively parallel processing capabilities of modern graphics cards to make minced-meat of corporate-strength password protection. An NTLM-hashed Microsoft Vista password, for example, can now be cracked in 3 to 5 days (instead of two months) using a simple, off-the-shelf, $150 graphics card -- less complicated passwords can take just minutes. Dial the GPU up to an $800 GeForce 8800 Ultra and Elcomsoft's approach will crack passwords at a rate some 25 times faster than existing CPU-only approaches. Yippee?"
http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/24/elcomsoft-turns-your-pc-into-a-password-cracking-supercomputer/

Wholly cow. I really hope that the Government does not grant their patent. So much for those strong passwords...What's the point??!!??

10 Ways to Work More Securely

I was surfing last night and found this Microsoft article about Security in the work place. It is very simple and easy to do. He is the Top 10 List –
Best way to protect company data.
I feel like Letterman…

Number 10: Use the Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook 2003
Number 9: Encrypt e-mail messages when appropriate.
Number 8: Don't open questionable e-mails.
Number 7: Encrypt files containing confidential or business critical files.
Number 6: Use password protection on your screensaver.
Number 5: Lock your computer when you leave your desk. It is really easy (Windows+L)
Number 4: Use network file shares instead of local file shares.
Number 3: Don't enable the Save Password Option.
Number 2: Use strong passwords.

And the last and most Novel idea
Number 1: Work with your IT department.

But, it seems like people either don’t want to take the time or simply don’t care. Being a System Administrator, it is really hard to protect company assets without the assistance of the user population. (Without becoming an IT Nazi – and nobody wants that!!!)
http://www.microsoft.com/AtWork/getstarted/worksecure.mspx

New Poll Released!

It is time for you to vote on "What do you use for gaming?" Are you a PC or Console Gamer? Perhaps you do both.. Here is your time to tell the rest of the world.

Finished Halo3

Well... On Thursday I finished Halo 3, after only about 6 hours of gameplay. As I stated earlier, I was on easy. Walking through the entire game, checking out stuff, new weapons, learning to fly, etc... Now for bumping it up a level. The ending was setup very well for being the ending of the saga. (I will not spoil it for anyone) This game put me much more involved than most other games, with the exception of Oblivion. I connected with the other NPCs (non-player characters) and felt that it was my duty to protect them at all costs. The AI on the harder level is actually significantly more difficult than the easy level. They will actually come after you, even when you are trying to recharge your shields. Funny story, I was hiding behind some boxes and several of those little guys (grunts) came charging after me with grenades. They got to where I was and the grenades went off, killing all of the them and me. Talk about overkill for a suicide bombing. One would have effectively taken me out.

Great game - well worth the money - and a MUST OWN!

HALO 3 - ARRIVED!!!

I was asked.. "So, Steve, when did you get your copy of Halo 3?" Well, I had restrained myself to purchase it on Tuesday from Costco, instead of waiting in line at Midnight.. (really good deal - $49.99)

Currently, I am playing the campaign on easy. So, I am literally walking through the game. Just until I get a feel for the controls and how things work.

First Impressions

It looks like a Halo Game. Halo 3 looks like Halo and Halo 2, except bigger and better. The graphics are not as graphically stunningly-awesome like BioShock or Gears of War. I didn't go "holy crap, look at that water". However, it is totally smooth. The frame-rate is clearly the number one priority of their graphics engine. There's no tearing, no drops, no slowdown. It's just smooth and seamless.

The story picks up literally minutes after Halo 2 ends. This, of course, means that you should familiarize yourself with the storyline if you want the game to make sense. The dual wielding (two guns) option, combined with the addition of a pile of new weapons makes the mind work much more than with Halos 1 and 2. You're constantly asking in the back of your mind, "is this the right combo for what might be coming. Namely the FLOOD!" Also, you'll need to watch the reaction of the enemies, as they are funny. It's a really solid game.

Oh, one other thing you can do Single Player is you can play cooperatively single player online. If anyone sees me online in Xbox Live I'm "verylost" and I'm happy to play if the family is asleep.

Satellite Dishes attached to the roof.

As most of you are aware, I have been riding my bike to and from work. I find it a good way to get some fresh air and it is far cheaper on the wallet than driving. In fact, it takes me less time to ride the ye‘old bike than to drive the truck. But, that is a conversation for later.

So, there is not much to do while in my travels, so I look at the various houses that I pass and noticed a trend. Satellite Dishes mounted to the roof. Not in the side of the house or flashing (like mine when I had Satellite), but in (through) the shingles.

Does this seem like a good idea???

Shingles move, not much, but they still move. What happens when those holes become wider from wear and tear. Can we say ROT?

Get Cable! Then you will not need to even lose sleep about having a bunch of holes in your roof. OR if you do not want to get cable, it is not that much harder and looks even nicer if you mount the satellite dish into the flashing hanging down from the roof.

I Broke My Laptop...

It was a warm Friday afternoon around 3-ish and I was humoring the notion of dual booting my laptop with Vista. But, first, I have to partion my drive to make space... So, on a mission to find a disk partioning tool, such as Partion Magic. I ask my fellow colleagues for such a disk... And there is my first issue. "Hey Dude, do you have something I can partion my drive with?" Well here is a disk that may work, but I am not sure. TO his credit, he did have a disclaimer on the cd. I boot to CD and check out this version of Bart PE. Naaaa. Nothing that will solve my dilemma. So...

I Reboot...

Unable to load Operating System... Are you kidding???? I did not do anything!!! Reboot again... Nothing....

NNNNNNNnnnnnnOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You hear from the other side of the room.. "You have your data backed up to the network, right???" Uh.. Network??? Yeah.. no...

So, I am rebuilding my laptop with XP and Vista. Why? Why not..

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Directions on Exporting and Importing from Excel to Outlook

Importing an Excel List into Outlook Contacts

You only need to do this if you already have the email typed into an Excel Spreadsheet. If you have the addresses written down but haven't already typed them into something, go to my directions on how to add Contacts in Outlook and start there. If you have an Excel Spreadsheet set up, then read on.

1. Right click on the Import Spreadsheet Template and choose Save Target As and save it somewhere on your hard drive.
   
2. Open the spreadsheet that you have already created.
   
3. Open the Import Spreadsheet Template that you just saved.
   
4. Copy the column of names from your spreadsheet and paste them into the Import Spreadsheet Template. If you didn't separate the names in your spreadsheet into first and last columns, then just copy the one column and paste it into the LastName column.
   
5. Copy the email addresses from your spreadsheet
   
6. Paste them into the template in column BE (that's way over there!) If you have two email addresses for some students, the second address can be pasted into column BG on the template.
   
7. Save the template spreadsheet.
   
8. Then save it again following these directions.
   

   		File
   		Save as
   		Click on Save as Type and choose Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt0
   		Name it and save.
   		Say yes to the message that pops up asking you about format
   		Then close the spreadsheets. (It will ask you about saving again. You can say no.)

9. Now you are ready to bring it into Outlook
   
10. Open Outlook and click on Contacts. (You can set up a separate folder to keep the parent email from getting mixed in with the other.)
    
11. Choose File
    
12. Then Import and Export
    
13. In the new window that opens, choose Import from another program or file
    
14. Click Next
    
15. Scroll all the way down to Tab Separated Values (Windows)
    
16. Click Next
    
17. Browse to find the .txt file where you saved it in step 8
    
18. Click Next
    
19. Select Contacts (or the folder in Contacts that you set up if you used a folder)
    
20. Click Next
    
21. Click the Map Custom Fields button
    
22. When you see the new window scroll down to find EmailAddress under Value and scroll down the Field side to find E-mail and click on the + to expand
    
23. If you don't see EmailAddress under Mapped from next to E-mail Address then drag it from the Value window to the Field window where it is in the window. Do this for E-mail, E-mail 2, and E-mail 3.
    
24. Click OK
    
25. Click Finish
    
26. Now you should be able to go into your Contacts and find the new addresses.
    

Exporting a Contact List from Outlook

Once you have all the email addresses in your Contacts, you may want to share those with the other teachers on your team. Here is how you would do that.

1. Open Outlook and go to Contacts
   
2. Click File
   
3. Select Import and Export
   
4. Select Export to a file
   
5. Click Next
   
6. Scroll down to the bottom and choose Tab Separated Values (Windows)
   
7. Click Next
   
8. Select Contacts (or the contacts folder you want to export)
   
9. Click Next
   
10. Browse to find where you want to save the file and name it with a .txt extension
    
11. Click Next
    
12. Follow steps 21, 22, and 23 above.
    
13. Click Finish
    
14. Now you are ready to follow the Importing directions above on your team teacher's computer.
    

Putting a signature on your email

If you would like to add an autosignature to all of your email messages (like the one I have below) follow these simple steps:

· Open Outlook
· Choose Tools
· Then Options
· Select the Mail Format tab at the top of the window.
· Click the Signature Picker button at the bottom
· Choose New
· Next
· Type in the signature that you want to show up in your email
· Then Finish, OK and OK again.

You might want to send yourself an email as a practice run to see if it shows up and looks the way you want it to. You can always go back in and edit it.

Keyboard Shortcuts

This week's tip is for those of us who like shortcuts. Here is a list of Keyboard Shortcuts. These are things you can do by clicking the mouse a few times, or you can do them quickly with a couple of key strokes. Some of you may not find them useful, if not, keep on doing it the way you've been doing it! I've tried to put the ones I use most often at the top of the list.

Windows Program Key Combinations
CTRL+A: Select all the items in the current window
CTRL+C: Copy
CTRL+X: Cut
CTRL+V: Paste
CTRL+Z: Undo
CTRL+B: Bold
CTRL+U: Underline
CTRL+I: Italic
CTRL+SHIFT+>: Makes the font larger
CTRL+SHIFT+<: Makes the font smaller
CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
ALT+F4: Quit program
SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently

Dialog Box Keyboard Commands
TAB: Move to the next field in the dialog box
SHIFT+TAB: Move to the previous field in the dialog box
SPACEBAR: If the current field is a button, this clicks the button. If the current field is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current field is an option, this selects the option.
ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)
ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button
ALT+underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item

To Copy a File
Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.

To Create a Shortcut
Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

General Folder/Shortcut Control
SHIFT+click+Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

General Keyboard-Only Commands
F10: Activates menu bar options
SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object)
ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu