Return to the Moon with NASA

Discovery's space blog recently shared a cool opportunity to return to the Moon with NASA...kinda. I am using it as a virtual family vacation and signed up everyone! ;->  Seriously, though, participating feels a bit like being on the ET end of Contact, which is pretty darn cool.

Vista Part Deux: "I'm Back, SUSE!"

I'll explain more at some point; and .NET and other Microsoft technologies still impress me; but for daily all-around use – mostly tabbed browsing, office apps, the usual – I've finally said, "Hasta la vista, Vista.  Ixnay XP."

I loved SUSE 6/7, and my experience with openSUSE 10/11 and Windows relegated to a VM has been great so far.

The last year and a half since I purchased Vista – then a copy of XP Pro to "downgrade" – have dumbfoundingly been the worst in my 20+ years of personal computing – without a hint of exaggeration. (Ironically, I never had such a screamer machine the rest of the time!)

Sorry, but it's the truth.  Lord knows I would love to say otherwise.  Tech nostalgia and zealotry just aren't me as much as simply calling what I see. 🤷‍♂️

Happy Birthday, Captain Kirk!

I stopped by IMDB today...just in time to notice that it's William Shatner's 77th birthday. While Star Trek isn't really my thing,... (...more a Next Generation guy, you know?) ;-) ...happy birthday, Captain Kirk!

A Guaranteed Lesson in Customer Service

If you want a guaranteed lesson in customer service – and you're in the market for a subwoofer (beyond any you've probably experienced or imagined), I highly recommend that you contact HSU Research in Anaheim, California. Buying a HSU sub (a VTF-3 HO) was an incredible experience – way beyond my expectations. Pete, Dr. Hsu, and – last but not least – Cuddles, thanks for everything!

Then there's the sub itself!!! :-D ...more to come soon. ;-)

This copy of Windows is not genuine? What!?

OK.  This is it.  I've patiently worked through many Windows Vista annoyances since blogging about my initial, positive impression of the OS; and I haven't terribly minded.  Linux taught me to put up with a lot I guess, but that is another post – with regard to Vista and Linux. 😉  Now I am downright angry, though.

Tonight I came home and expected to continue fixing a bug for work.  All I needed was Vista's VPN and RDP clients – nothing more.  Well, not even that much works tonight because Vista tells me that my copy of Windows is not genuine!

I've read about this issue on Slashdot – caused by a recent (stealth) Windows update or simply updating a driver as I recall – but never figured it would happen to me.  To be clear, the experience absolutely sucks. (...technical term for a "Was I just mugged?" customer experience, Microsoft.)

What to do?  Well, I got so sick of Vista's 15-minute, likely-infinite loop of "Windows must be reinstalled to activate", logging in, and repeating that I'm running my Dell XPS's diagnostics for a calming distraction. 🤦‍♂️  ...pretty sad.

However this plays out, I'll definitely share the Vista "experience" that awaits me!

Championship Off Road Racing Rules

I don't know much about Championship Off Road Racing; but racing is racing, and I love watching CORR whenever I catch it on SPEED.  ...800 HP trucks, sliding and flying around a dirt track with ridiculous power and speed.  I like. 👍

Ironically, CORR is often right in my back yard.  A race is coming to Chula Vista soon, and many other CORR races I've seen on SPEED were held in San Diego too.

Enough.  I'll look into attending a CORR race and seeing the power of these trucks first hand.  If I get the chance, I'll follow with a post and pics to share the experience.

In the meantime, I at least know who Carl Renezeder and Kyle LeDuc are. 😁

Winter 2008 SoCal Code Camp Dates Announced

SoCal Code Camp recently posted the dates for Winter 2008 Code Camp at Cal State Fullerton. If you develop software and live in or can get to Southern California, mark January 26th and 27th on your calendar.

Code camps are simply the most cost-effective (i.e. free), informative dev events I attend each year. They are for-developers-by-developers events, and this model produces great results in my experience.

The SoCal Code Camp gang organizes a code camp north of San Diego each winter, at Cal State Fullerton in the three years that I've followed them. They similarly hold one each summer in San Diego - usually at UCSD, although I've ironically attended fewer code camps in San Diego than up north. Go figure. (In my defense, summer in San Diego is a huge distraction!) 

Wherever you live, if you're a developer, there's a likely a code camp in your area. Check it out if you never have. You'll likely find sessions of interest to you - from basic .NET, Java, and Ruby sessions, to architecture, test-driven development, SQL Server BI, and WCF sessions. They're infectious. :-)

I plan to attend and present at January's code camp at CSU Fullerton. SoCal Code Camp indicates that it will open its site in October to session submissions; and as I learn more, I will follow with details.