Adventures in stupid technology
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All I want is a nice 404 page
The other day while trying to show off my website I fat-fingered the URL and got a standard 404 page not found error. Halfway through typing the URL I had expected to see this page, what I hadn’t expected was a bunch of hostgator advertisements all over it. So I did a bit of digging…
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A detailed look at Exchange Server & OWA 2010
The beta became available a couple of months ago, but I’ve just haven’t had the time to install it till this weekend. The installation is easy and straightforward if you’ve got all the requirements in place. That said, don’t even bother trying to deploy it on a fresh install of Windows 2008 64bit Server. You’ll…
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Upgrading a RainingData D3 DBMS from NT/UNIX to 2003
D3 is a PICK based DBMS system used by many government institutions and large businesses. I was recently tasked with upgrading an existing RainingData (now TigerLogic) D3 installation from a failed NT server to windows 2003. Although a bit convoluted as far as steps go, the upgrade was surprisingly pain free and straight forward. Had…
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iPhone + Twitter + Facebook + Digg = Timesuck
One thing I’ve learned by going back to school with a bunch of “Millennials” (aka Generation Y) is that these kids are definitely more up-to-date, connected and informed than my generation (Generation X). They’re in constant communication with each other through Facebook, Twitter, IMs, and texts; busily updating their various networks of “friends” on “what’s…
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TV got scared to death
A few months ago my decision to buy a plasma TV in 2006 finally caught up with me. I’d just finished watching the Blair Witch Project, when my TV suddenly clicked, popped and then turned off indefinitely. In its defense I should mention that leading up to this lackluster finale it had been suffering some…
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Keep your hardwood floors clean
My new place has hardwood floors throughout. With two cats and a litter box it can be a chore to keep it clean. Every week cat hair accumulates under tables and in corners and walking barefoot yields tiny rocks stuck to your feet…ew! I used to sweep the place regularly, but while relatively effective at…
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Bamboo Invoice: Online invoices made awesome
I work as an independent consultant while going back to school and keeping track of my customers, time sheets, projects, hours, invoices, and rates is a daunting task. That’s why I’m so glad I found Bamboo Invoice. While evaluating various other fee-based online applications (invoiceIt, etc.) that can generate invoices, I stumbled upon the Bamboo…
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Crap! Xbox 360 error E64
One and a half years after I got my XBOX 360 the DVD drive finally gave out causing an error E64 (DVD drive problem) and one quarter red on the XBOX circle of life. Prior to the E64 the DVD drive had been making a braking/slipping noise on occasion causing a disc unreadable error but…
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Xbox Media Center extender woes
When I first heard about the dashboard update on the Xbox 360 I was excited about the new Netflix feature that would allow existing members to watch streaming movies using the Xbox (similar to those roku boxes). After upgrading I found that to use the Netflix feature you also had to pay for a Xbox…
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Win2k3 Blacked out Logon Screen Fix
I recently had a Windows 2003 Server installation that ran out of disk space on the operating system partition due to known problem with Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 virus definitions (KB2007111509244948). After fixing the Symantec problem, my servers logon screen remained strangely messed up. The logon screen was completely blacked out with only the blinking…