Deckchair takes flight in Oregon

Deckchair takes flight in Oregon

Comments 0 Comment

Oh happy day!In a recreation of the original flight by Larry Walters in 1982, a man in Bend, Oregon repeated the feat this weekend. Here’s a bit I enjoyed:

Even at two miles high, Couch said, he could hear cattle lowing and children talking. He heard gunshots, which worried him. A black butterfly flew past. He passed through clouds. He said they were fluffy.Couch stopped when he was down to a gallon of water and just eight pounds of ballast. Concerned about the rugged terrain outside La Grande, including Hells Canyon, Couch decided to come back to earth.

Man I love Oregon! Story link

Intel 965 chipset + Vista + 4 gigs ram – saga resolved!

Intel 965 chipset + Vista + 4 gigs ram – saga resolved!

Comments 0 Comment

I call the Intel motherboard support guys, and they were very good – probably some of the most knowledgeable front-line phone crews I’ve ever run into (and I’m not saying that just because I work there). I’ve only had to call them about 3 times, but every time they are right on the money and know exactly what obscure feature of the SATA raid controller I was trying to use, strange chipset interaction, etc and have some clever way to do what I was trying to do by pointing me to an article/whitepaper.

First they tell me to try a Microsoft patch: KB929777 (for those who want to know/try it). This is a manual patch, so I go and download it (did you know you must download the patch from the machine you’re trying to patch? The Windows Genuine verifier tool actually re-directs the website to the matching OS download (and not show you the other versions) based on the WGA response code. I did it from my XP laptop and got the 32-bit version which wouldn’t install on my Vista box. So I download it from my Vista box and you get the 64-bit version. I personally think this is colossally stupid because what if you need a patch for a machine that can’t use the internet/boot properly/etc – sigh) but no luck.

Another call to Intel’s support and we back and forth the info, and he nails it right off. He asks what bios version I’m using (ver. 1687) and says, Ahh, well, the 965 chipsets have a known problem we just discovered with these last two bios revisions.  Turns out there is a bug in the bios (as I predicted) that shows itself if you have 4 gigs/4 sticks of ram in at the same time. You must go back to bios ver 1669 before they introduced the problem. Well, upgrading a bios is easy as pie, but rolling back a bios requires a multistage process of setting a recovery jumper, burning a cd, etc (go to support.intel.com and look up article 023360 for the process) then go download an old version of the bios 1669 by going to your board’s update page, scrolling down to the bottom and select “This product has Previously Released software” then download version 1669. Flash your machine, and voila! Super-fast machine. But not only that, I did a test. It took ~1:45 sec to boot with 3 gigs using bios 1687; but with bios 1669, the same 3 gig setup takes ~0:45 sec. That sounds like more than one problem, but anyway…

So, there’s your answer. Go to bios 1669 and wait for a bios update after 1687 that specifically mentions a fix for this 4-stick/gig problem.

Intel 965 with Vista and 4gigs of ram

Intel 965 with Vista and 4gigs of ram

Comments 0 Comment

Well, well.  I installed a very beta Vista application I used to use, and low and behold – it goofed up my system something fierce. Unfortunately, uninstalling left buckets of configuration problems that I could fiddle with for hours, or in the same time just backup and re-install. I chose option 2. But something strange happened. When I tried to run the install DVD again, it took 5-10 minutes between each dialog box – mouse was slow, screen repaints were painfully visible, etc. Everything was going at a horrible snails pace. What happened?! I did my last install in like 20 minutes.

I methodically unplug all my devices until I get back down to the bare system board (no effect), then on a whim I take 2 gigs out – since I’d recently upgraded from 2 to 4 gigs of ram.  Maybe those were bad sticks of memory. Voila – super-fast again. Huh? I try different combinations of the sticks, and the same result. It’s not bad ram, it’s the fact there is 4gigs total ram. I start looking on forums and sure enough, other people are having similar problems. Seems there are various motherboards that are having this problem when they upgrade from 2 to 4gigs, or in some cases, 4 to 8gigs. Extremely slow system responses, etc but pull the memory out and it works like a champ. I downloaded the latest bios and flashed it, but it didn’t fix the problem. Guess I’ll have to wait or order another motherboard. This isn’t a huge problem as 2 gigs has been more than adequate for everything I’ve been doing so far; but now I have 2 extra gigs of really nice DDR2 800mhz ram sitting around waiting for a bios patch. Bogus. For the record it’s a DG965OTMKR motherboard (which I really love b/c of it’s built in SATA raid, etc)

It’s Summertime, Summertime, sum-sum-summertime

It’s Summertime, Summertime, sum-sum-summertime

Comments 0 Comment

Summer is here. Summer is great.

Summer is always way the heck too busy.

I find my daily social calendar gets double and triple-booked more often than a flight from Cali to New York on Christmas eve. Current events about to come up in the next 3-4 weeks: A trip to Alaska for a friend’s ordination and hiking in Denali, daily running excursions, wine parties, roller-derbies, church picnics, BBQ’s, more ordinations (3 in total!), weddings, hiking friends/groups, beach trips, movie nights, bachelor parties, journals to read, house parties, local festivals about every weekend, folks visiting from out of town, last Thursday, first Thursdays, weekly brewpub meetups with coworkers/friends, great local summer bands to go see just about every night, personal coding projects, climbing and hiking clubs I’d like to get involved with (I want to climb Hood and St. Helens), taking photographs, etc, etc, etc. I seem to turn down 4x the number of things I can make it too. It’s been wearing on me a bit. As a person that loves their quiet and down time, I usually find that by summer’s end I’m ready for a couple long months of rainy indoor activities.
Still, all this activity has brought another interesting set of questions with it. See, every year up till this one for the last 4-5 years, my summer has been figured out. I was usually doing stuff at a parish, hospital, or other seminary assignment. But now my time is all my own, and I find myself kind of floundering as to how to spend my time. I have been doing a lot of running lately to get back in shape, and as I was thinking about it a priest friend’s sermon came to mind. In one homily, he simply asked, “What will you do with this one, beautiful, wacky life you’ve been given?” It really sums up the question I’m asking myself. So. Where will it be?

Denali jokes

Denali jokes

Comments 0 Comment

Here’s a joke I used in Denali on the park bus ride – got a good laugh:

The ranger gets on the bus and informs us to enjoy the park, but that we are indeed in bear country. While everything should be perfectly safe, we should take a few precautions. First, make noise while you walk so bears can hear you and get out of your way – try wearing little bells on your backpack/etc. Secondly, if you do encounter a bear, bring pepper spray. If the bear charges you, give it a full dose in the face. Finally, watch for bear droppings. Bears are territorial, so if you see bear droppings, odds are good they’ll be back so move through the area quickly.

A fellow camper asked how we recognize bear droppings. “Oh, that’s easy,” said the ranger, “they’re the droppings with little bells in them and smell like pepper spray.”

Alaska

Alaska

Comments 0 Comment

I’m up in Alaska right now. This last week was one of my best seminarian buddies ordination to the priesthood here in Fairbanks. A couple of us flew up for the ceremony and ensuing revelry. It was a great ceremony and went wonderfully.

It was also my first trip to Alaska as well. Unfortunately, I only have had an extra day or two to go around and see the sights. I went to the University of Alaska and the museum (highly recommend). Went out to see the Alaska pipeline, the large animal research center with musk-ox and reindeer, ate at a lot of greasy spoons (with reindeer meat sausage), went to North Pole, Alaska (most amazingly bad tourist trap I’ve yet visited), and drove down to Denali. I have one day to do a trip through Denali, then next day I catch my flight back home. Sigh. Where does the time go?  Hopefully I’ll get some good pictures tomorrow. Haven’t gotten out of town to take many so far since we’ve been doing ordination activities.

Link day

Link day

Comments 0 Comment

I’ve been really enjoying the site Neat-O-Rama – lots of very fun articles, clips, pictures.

Microsoft releases their super-cool Surface technology. A large touch-screen surface you interact with. While people have been doing several things like this for years – this is the first commercially available product (vs. super-expensive one-time custom builds). One was in a bar table and the whole bar used laser-lights that would interact with whatever was set on it.

Another cool invention was a non-touch digital butler you hang on the wall.  When integrated with your home via sensors, it updates you with all kinds of events that are happening around your house.

Full kudos to Microsoft on putting all these together in a great looking package. Head over to their site and see the demos.  The interface interaction is very much like the one you see in the movie Minority Report. But in my mind, enhancing device interaction is even better – everything from putting digital cameras on the surface and having the pictures appear/download onto the surface from it, to cel phones, to video, to zunes swapping music by simply surfing through the piles of songs/images that come off and dragging them over to the other devices on the table, etc.

Only 2 downsides: it will cost $5000-$10,000, and people are already fretting over possible patent lawsuits on multi-touch displays by various individuals/companies (Jeff Han http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65) – not the least of which was Apple where Steve Jobs mentioned their touch-tech was patented 3 times in a row during his talk when he announced their iPhones.

Still, this has been something just waiting to come and has finally arrived.  I just hope our antiquated IP laws don’t kill great things like this before they even take off.

Indy 500!!!

Indy 500!!!

Comments 0 Comment

Oh happy day!  The 91st running of the Indy 500 was on Sunday. It was kind of an anti-climactic running this year with it stopping for several hours of rain delay and then being called after more rain 50 or so laps before the end. However, local Oregon hero Danica Patrick got 7th. She is from Lake Oswego and has gotten a reputation for being a fiery personality.  She got her start racing carts at a cart track my old boss practices at just a few miles from here.

But I love watching the race – more now than before. Mostly because I grew up in Indiana and it always brings back fond memories of finishing chores with my brothers/dad, or having a BBQ or some-such while the tv or radio played the race in the background. On days during the race, if you drive through Indianapolis, you can easily hear the race 25+ miles away from the track.  The thunder and roar of the Indy cars is that loud. It’s called “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” because it still has the largest attendance and worldwide radio/television audience of any single-day sporting event.

Even as a kid, you could see the state bend itself as Indy approached. We had neighbors who’d paint their trucks with ‘Indy or Bust’ and drive down. Radio stations go nuts with their latest hair-brained Indy contests (on contest involved singing “Up, up and Away in my Beautiful Balloon” for 3 hours in the porta-potty’s at the track). One fellow shaved the radio station’s call letters in his hair, etc. Folks would talk before and after about the race. But it really was always about getting together and watching the race, BBQ-ing, having a few beers, and enjoying the first big event of summer together. Makes me all nostalgic.

On a different note, a lot of Linux folks raised money to get the Linux penguin put on one of the cars.  Unfortunately the Linux car #77 was the first to crash and finished dead last. There’s some irony there for you race fans.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/29/linux-car-first-to-crash-at-indianapolis-500/

Laptop saga takes a sad turn

Laptop saga takes a sad turn

Comments 0 Comment

After being to their repair depot 2 times, my new HP laptop’s problem of overheating and randomly shutting itself off is still occurring.  The third time is the charm and now they’re building me a new one. I got a free upgrade out of the deal, but I still would just rather have had this one working. It’ll be 2-3 weeks for them to build me a new one.

Kudos to HP for building the new one.  They could have easily said: “Sorry must be software or your applications or whatever” and not done anything; much like some poor apple folks got when their MacBooks exhibited similar problems. So, as long as it ends well, I’ll be happy.