Jump right in
The news about Microsoft's major security update, SP2, has been mixed. I've read about some of the holes, some of the incompatibilities, but also, some of the benefits. A couple of days ago, I decided to finally take the plunge and apply the update that I've had in my hands for a few weeks now. I got my update by CD - having ordered it immediately after it became available. But I held off installing it until I could see how it worked on some other people's computers. A couple of my friends who use me as their computer resource were having some difficulties with their computers. I noticed that both of them had already downloaded and installed the SP2 update.
It turned out that neither of their problems was related to SP2; and having had a chance to examine the update on their system, I decided it was time to take the plunge. Well, it's been two days, and nothing has broken yet. I was pleased to see that, upon installation, the Security Centre recognized that I already had ZoneAlarm installed, and the Microsoft program left it intact, not even asking whether it should apply the Microsoft Firewall. That's a refreshing change from what I'm used to seeing. I was also pleased that the security centre recognized the Avast! anti-virus program, and correctly reported the version number; and that it was up to date.
Except for having to retrain ZoneAlarm regarding my lockdown preferences, I found the security centre to be quite well organized. And the popup-stopper integrated into IE's browser does a better, and more intuitive job than the Popup-Stopper was doing. So far, it's defeated every popup/pop-under I've encountered, without blocking access to secondary windows spawned through legitimate interactions. My initial impressions have been quite favourable.
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Modest little Anne
Anne ... straight from the hip is one of the blogs featured in my list at right. Anne is a thoughtful young woman, currently living in the eastern U.S., but previously from Los Angeles. She wants to be back there, involved with Hollywood productions. For now, she's a researcher for the HBO program "The Wire". Look for her name (Anne Hefley) in the credits for the show.
Anne ... straight from the hip is one of the blogs featured in my list at right. Anne is a thoughtful young woman, currently living in the eastern U.S., but previously from Los Angeles. She wants to be back there, involved with Hollywood productions. For now, she's a researcher for the HBO program "The Wire". Look for her name (Anne Hefley) in the credits for the show.
My first Yiskor
As part of the Yom Kippur service, I took part in my very first Yiskor service. It didn't take long, but it was a different experience. It's like the first time you see an 'R' rated movie... you have ideas of what it might be like, but you're not an adult yet, and you just have to live with the images of your imagination until you experience the real thing. Yiskor wasn't an earth-shattering experience, but it was touching. I noticed my sister crying, and she was the one who had made light of the service only days earlier.
In typical male fashion, I had given no prior thought to Yiskor, which meant that I hadn't thought to get a memorial candle ahead of time. Fortunately for me, my mom had an extra candle at her home, and I ended up using that. I must remember to get one of my own for the next time.
As part of the Yom Kippur service, I took part in my very first Yiskor service. It didn't take long, but it was a different experience. It's like the first time you see an 'R' rated movie... you have ideas of what it might be like, but you're not an adult yet, and you just have to live with the images of your imagination until you experience the real thing. Yiskor wasn't an earth-shattering experience, but it was touching. I noticed my sister crying, and she was the one who had made light of the service only days earlier.
In typical male fashion, I had given no prior thought to Yiskor, which meant that I hadn't thought to get a memorial candle ahead of time. Fortunately for me, my mom had an extra candle at her home, and I ended up using that. I must remember to get one of my own for the next time.
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
How was it possible yesterday to blog about a movie without mentioning the occasion... my wife's birthday! We had a lovely day. She went to breakfast with her son while I attended sabbath services; then it was off to lunch and a movie as a threesome. We returned home for a quiet afternoon, followed by dinner out. Then, what was to be a quick visit with my mom (so she could wish happy birthday to my wife) turned into an impromptu movie night.
All in all, a pleasant day!
How was it possible yesterday to blog about a movie without mentioning the occasion... my wife's birthday! We had a lovely day. She went to breakfast with her son while I attended sabbath services; then it was off to lunch and a movie as a threesome. We returned home for a quiet afternoon, followed by dinner out. Then, what was to be a quick visit with my mom (so she could wish happy birthday to my wife) turned into an impromptu movie night.
All in all, a pleasant day!
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Happy New Year!
I often think about the future. The distant future... like in the Zager and Evans song "In the year 2525". I imagine we all think about it once in a while. Well, according to the Jewish calendar, we've just begun the year 5765. Wouldn't it be cool if some biblical scholar would re-release the song, using the same year markers, but writing lyrics in the context of the timeline of Jewish history. I might just buy the CD!
I often think about the future. The distant future... like in the Zager and Evans song "In the year 2525". I imagine we all think about it once in a while. Well, according to the Jewish calendar, we've just begun the year 5765. Wouldn't it be cool if some biblical scholar would re-release the song, using the same year markers, but writing lyrics in the context of the timeline of Jewish history. I might just buy the CD!
Credit where credit is due
Thanks to Daniel Codres of www.pixelchain.com for creating a really neat FREEWARE utility for grabbing frames from video streams and video files. Because of his efforts, I won't have to spend so long trying to figure out how to get thumbnails for my "Comic Relief" section. For those of you who have actually visited those sites, you might remember I had this graphic
representing one of the videos. It pales in comparison to this image
don't you think?
Thanks to Daniel Codres of www.pixelchain.com for creating a really neat FREEWARE utility for grabbing frames from video streams and video files. Because of his efforts, I won't have to spend so long trying to figure out how to get thumbnails for my "Comic Relief" section. For those of you who have actually visited those sites, you might remember I had this graphic
representing one of the videos. It pales in comparison to this image
don't you think?
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Weir'd
I was really enjoying the Bell Canadian Open, until about the 70th hole. I got the ominous feeling the Canada's favourite son would find a way to blow the lead. Fuck if I wasn't right. And fuck if he didn't find a way to blow advantages in the first two playoff holes.
I guess I don't really know whether he lost the playoff, since I nearly kicked in the TV when he hit into the water on the third playoff hole.
Fuck!
I was really enjoying the Bell Canadian Open, until about the 70th hole. I got the ominous feeling the Canada's favourite son would find a way to blow the lead. Fuck if I wasn't right. And fuck if he didn't find a way to blow advantages in the first two playoff holes.
I guess I don't really know whether he lost the playoff, since I nearly kicked in the TV when he hit into the water on the third playoff hole.
Fuck!
Cool video
My sister sent me a video via email. It's really funny - funny enough to be featured in my comic relief section - except I've run out of allotted space for hosting on my server. I don't want to pay more for space, and don't want to remove any files that are already on the server. If you're interested, drop me a line requesting the video (it's approximately 3MB in size), and I'll send it to you. It's called "Get outta my car".
My sister sent me a video via email. It's really funny - funny enough to be featured in my comic relief section - except I've run out of allotted space for hosting on my server. I don't want to pay more for space, and don't want to remove any files that are already on the server. If you're interested, drop me a line requesting the video (it's approximately 3MB in size), and I'll send it to you. It's called "Get outta my car".
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Monday, September 06, 2004
Go get em, Tiger!
As I write this post, Tiger trails Vijay by two strokes after six holes in the final round of their tournament. Whichever golfer finishes ahead of the other (even if by some strange quirk of fate neither of them actually won this tournament) takes the world #1 golf ranking.
But there's a story that hasn't been told. Last year, Vijay won only one fewer tournaments than Tiger, and actually won the money race. Today, going into the last round of this tournament, Vijay has won five times to Tiger's lone victory. EVEN IF TIGER RETAINS HIS #1 RANKING, he will almost certainly lose it next year. That's because the ranking is based on a two-year moving average of results, and over a two year period, Vijay has won nine tournaments to Tiger's six (not counting today's result). That will come back to work in Vijay's favour next season.
But for today, I personally would like to see Tiger's record streak remain intact.
As I write this post, Tiger trails Vijay by two strokes after six holes in the final round of their tournament. Whichever golfer finishes ahead of the other (even if by some strange quirk of fate neither of them actually won this tournament) takes the world #1 golf ranking.
But there's a story that hasn't been told. Last year, Vijay won only one fewer tournaments than Tiger, and actually won the money race. Today, going into the last round of this tournament, Vijay has won five times to Tiger's lone victory. EVEN IF TIGER RETAINS HIS #1 RANKING, he will almost certainly lose it next year. That's because the ranking is based on a two-year moving average of results, and over a two year period, Vijay has won nine tournaments to Tiger's six (not counting today's result). That will come back to work in Vijay's favour next season.
But for today, I personally would like to see Tiger's record streak remain intact.
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Did you hear the one about...
I feel foolish about not posting this earlier. Have you ever been in a situation where someone tells a joke, and then, a few minutes later, someone laughs at it as the punchline hits them?
Or you're in a conversation, and you can't think of a witty comeback, and then a few minutes later, you think of the perfect thing to say, but just can't figure out how to fit it into the current stream? Well, that's what I'm about to do...
Yesterday, at the wedding reception, the food being served was not chosen with the Jewish diner in mind. Virtually none of the entrees, as originally served, was even remotely acceptable to even a mildly observant Jew. One of the people at the table, completely innocently and in the spirit of humour, urged me to imagine the dish was something other than it really was. He told me of trips he had taken to Africa (he's someone who does charity work for African organizations) where some rather exotic meats were served. He jokingly said he just thinks of it as chicken.
As soon as he said that, it reminded me of a movie I had seen many years ago, about some high-society dining club where patrons spent a king's ransom to be served exotic (and federally protected) species of meat. I wanted to say something to him right then about this movie... but I didn't remember the name of the movie, or anything about the actors. It would have been pretty lame to respond to his comments by saying: "That reminds me of a movie I once saw". Such a response would have led to followup questions, questions for which I would likely have no answers.
So, anyway, not being one to let things like this go, I came home and went to IMDB to look up the movie. Does anyone know how difficult it is to find a movie when you don't know the title, or the actors, or even when it was made? I gave up after only a few moments of searching.
The next morning (today, Sunday), I turned on the TV just in time to see an ad for the very movie I was thinking about! No kidding... the TV hadn't been on more than 10 seconds when the ad appeared. Apparently, the movie, The Freshman is playing on Monday evening on one of the cable movie channels. Is that freaky, or what!
I feel foolish about not posting this earlier. Have you ever been in a situation where someone tells a joke, and then, a few minutes later, someone laughs at it as the punchline hits them?
Or you're in a conversation, and you can't think of a witty comeback, and then a few minutes later, you think of the perfect thing to say, but just can't figure out how to fit it into the current stream? Well, that's what I'm about to do...
Yesterday, at the wedding reception, the food being served was not chosen with the Jewish diner in mind. Virtually none of the entrees, as originally served, was even remotely acceptable to even a mildly observant Jew. One of the people at the table, completely innocently and in the spirit of humour, urged me to imagine the dish was something other than it really was. He told me of trips he had taken to Africa (he's someone who does charity work for African organizations) where some rather exotic meats were served. He jokingly said he just thinks of it as chicken.
As soon as he said that, it reminded me of a movie I had seen many years ago, about some high-society dining club where patrons spent a king's ransom to be served exotic (and federally protected) species of meat. I wanted to say something to him right then about this movie... but I didn't remember the name of the movie, or anything about the actors. It would have been pretty lame to respond to his comments by saying: "That reminds me of a movie I once saw". Such a response would have led to followup questions, questions for which I would likely have no answers.
So, anyway, not being one to let things like this go, I came home and went to IMDB to look up the movie. Does anyone know how difficult it is to find a movie when you don't know the title, or the actors, or even when it was made? I gave up after only a few moments of searching.
The next morning (today, Sunday), I turned on the TV just in time to see an ad for the very movie I was thinking about! No kidding... the TV hadn't been on more than 10 seconds when the ad appeared. Apparently, the movie, The Freshman is playing on Monday evening on one of the cable movie channels. Is that freaky, or what!
Saturday, September 04, 2004
I could have danced all night
Just got home from the reception. Long story short... great reception, great choice of music, great exercise.
There are probably some at the party who laughed under their breath. There may have been some that laughed out loud. I don't care. I had a great time. Normally, when my wife and I go to a party that features dance music, we do two or three slow ones, and maybe one fast one. That's all my wife's knees and hips can usually bear. Tonight, for whatever reason, she was able to dance two slow dances and three or four fast ones! Incredible. But what was more incredible was my level of energy. I usually sit not-so-still when she gets to the point where she's tuckered out. Not-so-still as in "dancing in my chair". Tonight was different. When I got the urge to dance, I danced. Whether she joined me or not didn't really matter.
I left the party thoroughly drenched in sweat. I have never been that wet without being immersed in a pool, bathtub or shower. But it was FUN! Perhaps the sight of me dancing circles around her was what got my wife on her feet more than normal. Whatever the reason, our dancing was intimate and my insane solos were uplifting.
Not to mention the number of calories I must have burned tonight!
Just got home from the reception. Long story short... great reception, great choice of music, great exercise.
There are probably some at the party who laughed under their breath. There may have been some that laughed out loud. I don't care. I had a great time. Normally, when my wife and I go to a party that features dance music, we do two or three slow ones, and maybe one fast one. That's all my wife's knees and hips can usually bear. Tonight, for whatever reason, she was able to dance two slow dances and three or four fast ones! Incredible. But what was more incredible was my level of energy. I usually sit not-so-still when she gets to the point where she's tuckered out. Not-so-still as in "dancing in my chair". Tonight was different. When I got the urge to dance, I danced. Whether she joined me or not didn't really matter.
I left the party thoroughly drenched in sweat. I have never been that wet without being immersed in a pool, bathtub or shower. But it was FUN! Perhaps the sight of me dancing circles around her was what got my wife on her feet more than normal. Whatever the reason, our dancing was intimate and my insane solos were uplifting.
Not to mention the number of calories I must have burned tonight!
I now pronounce you...
It was a beautiful ceremony. A girl who attends my wife's church got married today, and we were invited. I have to say the minister performing the ceremony was so good. His words to the bride and groom were insightful and relevant. He also did an excellent job explaining how young marrieds have this exhuberance about this day that is sometimes lost over time, and that the best marriages are those that keep that spirit alive. My wife and I had a civil ceremony only at a local wedding chapel. There was no religious aspect to it, because neither of us would have felt comfortable getting married in the other's place of worship; nor would be have felt comfortable in any kind of religious middle-ground.
We've been married 14 years, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat; but it was really uplifting to hear such words as part of a religious ceremony. After the ceremony, I made a point of approaching the minister to congratulate him on his selection of hymns and messages. He then surprised me by saying that the whole thing was taken from the original 5-books (translation - the Hebrew bible) because the original wedding ceremonies, as described in the original books of the Old Testament, just couldn't be beat.
Old Testament or New, the words were perfect, and the ceremony was lovely.
The reception begins in about an hour, so I guess I should start getting dressed up again!
It was a beautiful ceremony. A girl who attends my wife's church got married today, and we were invited. I have to say the minister performing the ceremony was so good. His words to the bride and groom were insightful and relevant. He also did an excellent job explaining how young marrieds have this exhuberance about this day that is sometimes lost over time, and that the best marriages are those that keep that spirit alive. My wife and I had a civil ceremony only at a local wedding chapel. There was no religious aspect to it, because neither of us would have felt comfortable getting married in the other's place of worship; nor would be have felt comfortable in any kind of religious middle-ground.
We've been married 14 years, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat; but it was really uplifting to hear such words as part of a religious ceremony. After the ceremony, I made a point of approaching the minister to congratulate him on his selection of hymns and messages. He then surprised me by saying that the whole thing was taken from the original 5-books (translation - the Hebrew bible) because the original wedding ceremonies, as described in the original books of the Old Testament, just couldn't be beat.
Old Testament or New, the words were perfect, and the ceremony was lovely.
The reception begins in about an hour, so I guess I should start getting dressed up again!
Having fun tonight!
I've spent the past few hours working on my blog template. I hadn't noticed, but the provider of my guestmap service had bit the dust... clicking on my map took you to one of those domain resellers - you know the ones - they cybersquat on every domain that used to work and is now defunct, trying to get you to buy the name back from them.
Anyway, my guestmap provider was gone, and I don't want people to click on dead links on my blog. So, tonight, I found a new guestmap provider, and linked them into my page. I wasn't happy with the artwork they provided for their link, so I used my rotating globe image instead.
I also was getting annoyed with my archive list. There were several reasons for this. First off, the list was getting long. Even after having converted from a weekly archive to a monthly archive, the list was still fairly long. Second, the list was being shown in the format "01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003". It would look so much better just saying "January 2003". And lastly, the archive links were being displayed from oldest link to newest link. From my experience, people are more likely to want to read the more recent posts than the less recent ones, so why should I force them to scroll down to the bottom of the webpage to get to the most recent archives.
And speaking of scrolling to the bottom of the page, it was getting quite annoying that my main blog page was expanding further and further down, as new archives were added.
Tonight, I fixed all my pet peeves at once by:
Check out the archive menu on the right to see what I mean.
I've spent the past few hours working on my blog template. I hadn't noticed, but the provider of my guestmap service had bit the dust... clicking on my map took you to one of those domain resellers - you know the ones - they cybersquat on every domain that used to work and is now defunct, trying to get you to buy the name back from them.
Anyway, my guestmap provider was gone, and I don't want people to click on dead links on my blog. So, tonight, I found a new guestmap provider, and linked them into my page. I wasn't happy with the artwork they provided for their link, so I used my rotating globe image instead.
I also was getting annoyed with my archive list. There were several reasons for this. First off, the list was getting long. Even after having converted from a weekly archive to a monthly archive, the list was still fairly long. Second, the list was being shown in the format "01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003". It would look so much better just saying "January 2003". And lastly, the archive links were being displayed from oldest link to newest link. From my experience, people are more likely to want to read the more recent posts than the less recent ones, so why should I force them to scroll down to the bottom of the webpage to get to the most recent archives.
And speaking of scrolling to the bottom of the page, it was getting quite annoying that my main blog page was expanding further and further down, as new archives were added.
Tonight, I fixed all my pet peeves at once by:
- changing the date format to "human readable" format
- reversing the display order (now the most recent month is listed first)
- creating a drop-down menu for the archives, so the archive list doesn't affect the blog page length
- creating a link within the menu to bring me back to the main page
Check out the archive menu on the right to see what I mean.
Friday, September 03, 2004
Getting political
I normally keep my politics to myself, but today it's a different story. There was a letter to the editor in the Globe & Mail about recent terrorist threats against French journalists in response to France's ban on religious head scarfs.
It makes a very valid and striking point... when was the last time Christian or Jewish terrorists threatened to kill innocent French citizens over this ridiculous French-government policy? It just goes to show how low some people will stoop to get their 15 minutes (and 72 virgins).
I normally keep my politics to myself, but today it's a different story. There was a letter to the editor in the Globe & Mail about recent terrorist threats against French journalists in response to France's ban on religious head scarfs.
It makes a very valid and striking point... when was the last time Christian or Jewish terrorists threatened to kill innocent French citizens over this ridiculous French-government policy? It just goes to show how low some people will stoop to get their 15 minutes (and 72 virgins).