a113n’s daily dose

It’s been a very informative and fun weekend so far, with the conference about half over. Right now I’m waiting for a much-anticipated talk by Steve Rambam.
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• Quote of the Day:
  (after some discussion regarding security and TSA, leading, of course, to Bruce Schneier)
  Guy with Question: Who's Schneier?
  Everyone Else: *gasp* *chuckle*
  Speaker: Wow. You actually had the guts to ask that. Google is your friend.*
  * (I paraphrased)
  
• Current Location: The Last HOPE (Hopper)
  
• Website: http://amd.hope.net
  
• Website Rating:
  
• Website Description: Atendee Meta-Data Project for The Last HOPE--a collection of registrant meta information during the conference
  

I lost a great mentor and friend this week, Elbert Johns Jr. He was many years my senior, but I consider him one of the few defining influences in my life. At TheArcLink, he and I handled significant progress in developmental disability programs and applications. We made a perfect duo, building on one anothers strengths. The thought that he will not be there to guide me into the future is indescribably horrifying, but just as indescribable is how grateful I am to have worked under him and gained the insight he passed on to me. I now head the helm of our organization, his vision burned into my mind, and though I know I won’t be handling the reins alone for long, I have no doubts that he laid the groundwork for me to rise to this challenge. You will be always remembered for the man of strong will and kind words Elbert.

I’ve decided Mama Bear and I will follow through with the trip to New York to The Last Hope. I believe Elbert would have wanted me to continue with these plans, it is something I have been looking forward to for a very long time. It is difficult for me as I will miss his memorial, but I will return a great deal smarter and re-energized to handle the new load that weighs upon me. I made no progress today on the various tasks I aim to complete; the day was filled with administrative duties.

No time is a good time to lose someone such as Elbert, but this is about the absolute worst. We were handling most of the registration information on a national conference, SABE 2008, and today was the last day for registrants to get a reduced rate. There are strict policies in place with our organization, as defined by our Board of Directors, that can really handicap someone. I was not even authorized to open mail. The simple things that I always took for granted because they were his duties have been laid in my lap to ensure the highest priority duties are carried out. We were developing a plan to handle his extended absence, but even these details are still in development. Indeed, the road ahead is both uphill and dreary, but I will walk it the same and emerge from a higher vantage point as a result.

I will make HOPE a memorable experience; Mama Bear and myself will enjoy ourselves and take advantage of everything we can in this new experience. Though I know his permanent absence will weigh on me from time to time, his memory makes me optimistic about what the future holds for me, my family, and the organization.

On a lighter note, my 2.0GB SD card with all of my most important passwords and documents got washed in a pair of pants. Though I was sure the SD connections would not work after being washed and dried, I thought the USB connections (I have a SD Plus, the best kind of SD card) would work. The first connection gave me the dreaded “Unknown USB Device”, but I followed the standard device uninstall/reinstall, and VOILA!, the card was recognized. I then copied all the files to the local hard drive for safe keeping and tried the card in the SD slot. It’s still kicking, though I won’t expect it to for very long, but I’m in need of an upgrade anyway.

• Current Location: Couch
  

As a learning exercise and to develop a concise, simple site management tool, I have decided to create my own PowerShell script that interfaces with WMI classes to automate various tedious tasks I perform every time a new website is added to our Windows 2008 server. The general goal of the script is to create a website with standard functionality, including a username to own the website and connect via FTP to manage the site. This site will also receive it’s own application pool to isolate the website from all the other websites currently hosted on the server.
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• Current Location: Office
  
• Website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx
  
• Website Rating:
  
• Website Description: MSDN Library, reference and resource material for Windows application development
  

When installing applications on any windows machine, I typically find myself with multiple apps to install. This never works out as easily on Windows as it does in any Linux distribution. Typical example, today after uploading the VS install discs to the server and beginning the install, I remembered the large Vista SDK that I also needed to install. Since these are both required for the same project (PowerShell cmdlet development), it makes sense that I could kill two birds with one stone–install them at the same time in parallel instead of consecutively. So while VS is installing, I start the web-based SDK install, only moments later to get the message “This install cannot complete because the Windows Installer is already running.” This problem does not exist in any distribution of Linux I have ever used. Though each distribution has it’s own package management system (yes, I know many of the newer distros are based on or directly incorporate prior package management systems, but no one denies there are several systems in use), they all allow applications to be installed in parallel. Therefore, the same scenario with only the OS changed is much more streamlined and simplified. I advocate neither Windows or Linux individually, but believe both have their place (reference my work-in-progress Windows vs. Linux article), but in situations like this, you can see how Linux seems better accustomed to increased productivity. Why can we not have a streamlined install process in Windows? I don’t expect any real answers, just a bunch of excuses traced back to a bad design; chop this up to another frustrating aspect in the world of Windows that we are forced to live with (kinda like the various crap Apple forces down our throats on the iPhone).
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• Current Location: Bed
  

So tonight I got some pizza from Mother Bear’s, bought pen styli to replace the one Mama Bear lost, and got a movie to watch, King of Kong. When I went to to pick up the movie, there were a couple of store clerks (and one of their friends) standing around discussing the movie and its taglines. Evidently we’re in for a good treat. Speaking of treats, I picked up some Starburst and Laffy Taffy. I LOVE Laffy Taffy. In the recent copy of MakeZine, I learned how to build a crude yet effective taffy pulling machine. This one I really want to follow through with, because it’s easy to build and a great way to make homemade taffy. The hard part is just picking my first recipe.

It’s funny how the really simple things make a difference between a boring night and a really fun night. Mama Bear & I don’t have to go out and spend lots of money to have a good time, we enjoy a cup of tea and a game of Tiger Woods at home. I think that’s one of the reasons I love being around her so much, I can really be the closest to the “real” me as it’s going to get. Speaking of which, great xkcd comic that is hilarious and so very true. That site is possibly the best comic on the net, nuff said.

This night is just what I need after a day like today. I spent 3 hours in a courtroom for my 30 seconds in front of the judge where I was told to return two months later. I get back to the office to deal with a crashing email issue on our server and then try to get various other websites and email clients migrated. It just seemed like one slap after another today where I try to get something productive done only to be held back by a single minute detail, derailing my whole plan. I do so much impromptu work, it just isn’t funny, but as a plus I really pushed myself to get on with the PowerShell stuff. I am currently uploading our copy of VS to the server for installation, then I can do some new, exciting code-work. Interesting enough, these VS templates I found for PowerShell require the Vista SDK, which is a multi-gigabyte download. If this SDK is needed on Vista/Server 2008, skip the DVD download and use the web-based install because its less of a network-hog & using that link you can bypass MS genuine crap. I have valid copies of my OSs, but the genuine validation process for Firefox users (of which you should be one) is far too complicated even with my tricks to shorten the process.

So come to me sweet relaxation, for this weekend is DTS catchup time (with some makeout time for Mama Bear and play time for Baby Bear thrown in).

• Current Location: Living Room
  
• Website: http://www.xkcd.com
  
• Website Rating:
  
• Website Description: Web comic of romance, satire, and nerd stuff