• 725 views 21.03.2006 No Comments

    Bowled last night. Not so good, I had a 125, 135, and 155 (my average is 145). Pretty inconsistant. We were lucky to win one game, and the series, only be cause John (one of the three on our team) bowled a 202 that game, so we won by 71 pins, which clinched the series total as well.

    I have two different ways I can hold my ball, each seems to work equally as well, so when I start sucking, I usually change my hold and it seems to help for a while, until that hold starts to suck, and I have to switch back. I’m fairly certain that’s not how the pros do it. I need to alter my style so I can have one technique that works every time.

    I’ve currently got a straight ball, but I’d like to get a hooking ball (if you don’t know, when you see a ball curving dramatically, it’s at least partially because the ball is specially designed to do that, the balls the bowling alley provides are straight balls, so you really have to put spin on them to get any curve). I’ve been waiting to try and improve my consitency with the straight ball before I add more variables with a hooking ball, but maybe the kooking ball will force me into something completely different so I can try starting from scratch.

    Anyway, not much else is new, rowing and eating and drinking as usual, hoping to keep that body fat on a negative slide. Starting to think about what alterations to make to my diet, and I’ve already also started moving the weights around a bit more, so hopefully I’ll be able to measure some small increases soon.

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  • 3,245 views 20.03.2006 No Comments

    This is part of my series on How to Install Windows Applications Silently.

    The registry is used in Windows to store configuration information. The registry contains ‘Hives’ which are like database files that each focus on a different catagory of settings, and each hive contains keys, which may have subkeys, which have values associated with them.Their are many occassions when you may want to ‘pre-populate’ a registry key, change an existing key, or even remove an existing key for an application you are installing. An example would be a program that stores it’s licensing information in the registry. Instead of having to manually type in the serial number each time you install a program, do this once, and then find where that registry key is stored, and copy it. You can then pre-populate this key when you install the program, saving yourself the hastle of tracking down the information and entering it by hand. Read more…

  • 1,858 views 20.03.2006 No Comments

    Frame 1 Frame 2

    Read more…

  • 1,122 views 19.03.2006 No Comments

    Haven’t checked in for a bit, so here’s a catcher-upper. Friday was St. Patricks day of course, I took the day off and met my siblings downtown. I walked to the bank (probably 1.5 miles), then kept walking down KK until it was time for the bus to come, I made it to Clement, just past the new Outpost, so based on how long it took, that should be just shy of 3 miles. Met Josh at BW3’s, was filled pretty much to capacity. Mooched off their pitcher of Bass, then we moved down the block to Brothers. I recognized the inside, can’t remember what it was called when I was there last. We had Guiness there, and my brothers friend kept ordering shots. I’m not big on doing shots, especially whiskey, but i ended up doing three shots of Jameson (Irish Whiskey). My sister joined up with us there, and I think I had three Guiness before we moved on. We ended up getting picked up by someone in a university van to take us to Champions, which is near Oakland and North Ave. Had another Guiness there and then we decided it was time to get some food, so we walked over to Pizza Man. Hadn’t been there in probably 15 years. Got another Guiness there while we waited for a table, and then noticed that Josh was petering out. He got to BW3’s at 11am, so he already had 4 hours of drinking before I even got there, and it was now showing. So, Cristin and I decided we better get him out of there, so Josh’s friends stayed, and the three of us caught a taxi back to Cristin’s place.

    We needed some beer (at least Cristin and I) so while they went up to her apartment, I went across the street to the Metro Mart to get beer. I picked up some Beemish (got a free T-shirt for it!) and headed back over, and then even though I asked before I left, I couldn’t remember what apartment she was in! I was able to get into the building (people are to trusting when they let you follow them through security doors), and I knew the location of her apartment on the floor, I just didn’t know what floor. So, I tried 7, nope, 8, nope, then I thought, 10 sounds kind of familiar, bingo, found ‘em. Then of course we debated how a cell phone would have simplified things, but I just hate phones, and don’t want to pay $40-$50 a month for the three times it might come in useful. So, now that I’m back from the store, we decide not to order out, but instead, get some steak and potatoes, from the store I was just in. so, Josh decided he needed a walk and headed over. Dinner was delicious, and Val (sister-in-law) stopped over after work to pick up Josh, and give me a ride home (thanks again Val!).

    Waking up Saturday morning, I had a headache. I only had 6 beers I think, must be the three shots that did it. So, I was moving pretty slow all day, missed my morning row for the first time in about a month. I did get out for a walk at 6pm, and by then was feeling pretty much normal again.

    Got up this morning, ready to see what my weekly measurements are. My belly’s feeling flatter (I’ve always got my hand on it now like I’m pregnant or something, just appreciating the change) so hopefully the Chinese lunch and St. Patrick’s Day didn’t set me back to much. Here’s the results:

    • Weight: 52lbs (down 3.5lbs)
    • Body Fat: 16.5% (scale says 17%, caliper says 16%)
    • Belly: 34″ (down a full inch!)

    I think the scale may be losing it’s reliability, I heard that the lower your body fat, the less reliable those are. I have a hard time believing I could loose 3.5lbs, and a full inch of belly, yet no body fat, so I will probably have to rely a bit more on the caliper measurement.

    At this rate, it’s possible I could reach my weight and body fat goals by next week, and the waist measurement a week or two after, so that would put me almost two months ahead of schedule, pretty amazing since I was thinking shortly after setting the goal that it might be to aggressive, and maybe I should cut it back. I’ll need to start thinking about what I’m going to do next. I’d still like to loose more body fat, but I think I should start focusing more on building more muscle. So, I think I’ll prepare a more aggressive workout schedule (while still allowing proper recooperation time), and recalculate my calorie needs to stop the weight lose, and promote muscle growth (more calories, yay!) To keep body fat from going back up, I will still continue with cardio work, and I’ll be careful about the type of calories I’m consuming, focusing on natural foods much more, and a higher percentage of protein than I have been.

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  • 3,846 views 16.03.2006 No Comments

    This is part of my series on How to Install Windows Applications Silently.

    This program doesn’t have silent install options, so I use AutoIT to install it. Here’s the AutoIT script:

    $title1="AbsoluteFTP®"
    
    Run  ("aftp18.exe")
    WinActivate ($title1)
    WinWait  ($title1, "Welcome!")
    ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
    WinWait  ($title1, "Select Directory")
    ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
    WinWait  ($title1, "Install Icons?")
    ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
    WinWait  ($title1, "Select Profile Options")
    ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
    WinWait  ($title1, "Ready to Install!")
    ControlClick ($title1, "&Finish", "Button1" )
    WinWait  ($title1, "Success!")
    ControlClick ($title1, "View ReadMe file now", "Button3" )
    ControlClick ($title1, "OK", "Button1" )

    Read more…

  • 34,032 views 16.03.2006 11 Comments

    Introduction

    When you manage a large number of computers, it becomes necessary to install software in many different circumstances. Many of these applications require a number of things be done after they are installed, such as adding licensing information, configuring options, adding components, etc. When you deal with many applications, it can become difficult to remember each and every tweak that needs to be done, and it can be time consuming to do them every time. For this reason, any time I have to install software on a computer, I spend the time to create a distribution point that contains a ’silent install’, which is basically a script that installs and configures the software automatically. This takes a little more time upfront, but in the long run it will save you plenty of time and help eliminate many hassles. Read more…

  • 12,468 views 15.03.2006 23 Comments

    I’ve modified the Joe’s Simpsons Quotes plugin to make it work with other quotes as well. The code is cleaned up quite a bit, and should be ready to go (it’s working great for me!). The plugin currently has quotes from The Simpsons and from Seinfeld, but it’s easily customized to your liking. See the included Readme.txt file for installation instructions, and let me know what you think!

    Version 2.0 now makes it easier to add quotes of your choice as ‘packages’.

    ***NOTE*** Version 3 now available as JPF Quotes WordPress Plugin

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  • 1,344 views 15.03.2006 No Comments

    So many people talk about losing weight fast. The truth is, losing weight is relatively easy, and you can do it quickly, if you know how.

    It seems more and more these days, people are walking less, prefering instead to use modern technology to help move them around, from automobiles to elevators. We even have wheelchairs that can ’stand-up’ to raise a person to a more normal height. It almost to the point where we don’t need legs anymore, especially some of the lazier, and undoubtedly overweight people. Read more…

  • 835 views 15.03.2006 No Comments

    Got up at 6:30 this morning, and got the row in with the standard ‘Daily Show’. I then returned a movie to Blockbuster before heading off to work. I subscribe to Blockbuster’s online plan, which is just like Netflix. I used to subscribe to Netflix, but Blockbuster had a lower price at the time, and also gave free coupons for their stores, so I switched. Now, I get a free movie in the store every week. Well, lately I haven’t been to happy. I’ve got about 10 items on my list, 6 of them are listed as available, yet nothing is being mailed. I’ve had this problem for a while now. I was on the 8 disc month plan, but noticed I was only getting about 3 on average at a time, so I dropped my subscription to 3. Before doing that, I complained to their customer support, all they did was give me a coupon for a free movie. So anyway, now I’m paying for 3 at a time, and they aren’t shipping me anything. I go to the store with my free coupon, and their’s nothing interesting there (which is also why I only have 10 movies on my list). I see talk about how peer-to-peer trading is affecting movie attendance. Bullshit. Their’s nothing worth seeing in the theater, that’s the problem. I walk down the ‘recent release’ wall in Blockbuster and 95% of it is crap. Stack on top of that Blockbusters inability to meet their obligations in my membership, and I’ve had it. I’m dropping Blockbuster all together, and I’ll go without for a while (and I rarely go to theaters, to many obnoxious kids).

    I like to speak with my wallet. If I’m not happy with a company or service, I’ll stop giving them my money. I got tired of the restaurant that was across the street from me a few years back (well, tired of one of the owners actually), so I stopped going. Less than two months later they closed their doors. The gas station  west of my house could never keep paper for receipts in their pumps, and the credit card readers hardly ever worked. I stopped going there, they closed that same summer (now owned by a different company). Not happy with something, don’t give em your money, even if it means going out of your way. Let your dollars speak, they speak louder than you think.

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  • 1,998 views 14.03.2006 No Comments

    These are actual quotes taken from federal government employee performance evaluations.

    1. Since my last report, this employee has reached rock-bottom and has started to dig.
    2. I would not allow this employee to breed.
    3. This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definite won’t be.
    4. Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.
    5. When he opens his mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet.
    6. This young lady has delusions of adequacy.
    7. He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.
    8. This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
    9. This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts the better.
    10. Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together.
    11. A gross ignoramus – 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus.
    12. He doesn’t have ulcers, but he’s a carrier.
    13. I would like to go hunting with him sometime.
    14. He’s been working with glue too much.
    15. He would argue with a signpost.
    16. He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.
    17. When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell.
    18. If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he’s the  other one.
    19. A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on.
    20. A prime candidate for natural de-selection.
    21. Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.
    22. Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming.
    23. He’s got two brains cells, one is lost and the other is out looking for it.
    24. If he were any more stupid, he’d have to be watered twice a week.
    25. If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you’d get change.
    26. If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean.
    27. It’s hard to believe he beat out 1,000,000 other sperm.
    28. One neuron short of a synapse.
    29. Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled.
    30. Takes him 2 hours to watch 60-minutes.
    31. The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.