I have added a new addition to the sidebar, though it seems to be acting a bit flaky at the moment. Today, as I randomly do on occassions, I went out to the USNO Naval Observatory Website to check the time. As I was looking around on the site, I came across the image source to the right, which they allow for you to put onto your website. Since my website doesn't have a lot of fun and unique things on it, I thought I would try it out.
Not sure why its says EDT when I have it coded to show EST, but currently the time seems to be right. It shows the time and rolls for 5 secs which you can also code into it. They prefer that you keep it below 10 because they are not sure what the impact would be on their servers with a lot of load. You hit refresh on the browser and it loads and clicks off again.
I also found the following statement on the website to be quite interesting.
" A note about browsers...
The running GIF clock was developed for browsers that support
Content-type: multipart/x-mixed-replace
Netscape and Mozilla do this correctly. Internet Explorer does not."
Out with IE and in with Firefox.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Long Weekend at Work
Yes it was that time of the year again for another release before OE starts. Though after being here for a bit over a year and this being my 3rd major release, I will have to say this went the smoothest of all of them and I actually got some sleep this weekend.
It started out by attempting to sleep in on Friday morning, which did not work that well. I walked into work about 12:30 pm to start getting everything lined up for the 8 pm deploy start time. All went smoothly and I was out of the office and in the hotel by 1 am Saturday morning.
Attempting to sleep all of Saturday morning til about 9:30 am, when it would be approaching that time to prepare to go in for another long day at the office. Sleep was apparently overrated because I didnt do a whole lot of it, but thats okay. Saturday morning about 10:30, I rolled back into the office to hang out for the duration of development and user testing.
Fortunately, all went fairly smoothly with very minor hiccups, by evening I was zonked and hungry. With a little food in my tummy, I rested and enjoyed my evening. I did get some much needed sleep on Sat night.
Today, as I sat through church, it wasnt a struggle to keep my eyes open and not fall asleep, like it has been in the past. I believe I will actually get to enjoy this day. I did run into the office real quick to check on the database backups and backup drive space. Fixed the issues there and its now off to see what my friends are up to. Hopefully they will be out of church soon and free to hang out, if not I will rest and relax as I much need to do.
Another Release survived.
It started out by attempting to sleep in on Friday morning, which did not work that well. I walked into work about 12:30 pm to start getting everything lined up for the 8 pm deploy start time. All went smoothly and I was out of the office and in the hotel by 1 am Saturday morning.
Attempting to sleep all of Saturday morning til about 9:30 am, when it would be approaching that time to prepare to go in for another long day at the office. Sleep was apparently overrated because I didnt do a whole lot of it, but thats okay. Saturday morning about 10:30, I rolled back into the office to hang out for the duration of development and user testing.
Fortunately, all went fairly smoothly with very minor hiccups, by evening I was zonked and hungry. With a little food in my tummy, I rested and enjoyed my evening. I did get some much needed sleep on Sat night.
Today, as I sat through church, it wasnt a struggle to keep my eyes open and not fall asleep, like it has been in the past. I believe I will actually get to enjoy this day. I did run into the office real quick to check on the database backups and backup drive space. Fixed the issues there and its now off to see what my friends are up to. Hopefully they will be out of church soon and free to hang out, if not I will rest and relax as I much need to do.
Another Release survived.
"Dog Days Rally"
Adrenaline rushes so many ways that you can find that adrenaline rush. Last weekend, I competed in a "Dog Days Rally" put on by the Bluegrass Region of the Porsche Club of America, along with assistance from the Bluegrass Minis and Central Kentucky Region of Sports Car Club of America.
Official Results can be found on the Porsche club link above. (Yes there is a pic of the winners and runner-ups) Thanks to a good driver, Ginny E, and decent navigating skills, Ginny and I finished 2nd out of 10 entrants with a score of 466. In which 300 was from a missed turned that landed us several minutes behind on one of the legs. Lucky for us, the max you can get on a leg is 300.
The winners, Phil and Lo, are actually national pro rallyists of past and are usually the ones putting on the events.
You ask: What is a Road Rally?
Simple Description: A road rally is an automotive event in which two people, driver and navigator, attempt to follow an unknown route and arrive at timing controls exactly on time (Unless a Monte Carlo Rally these are at unknown locations).
There are a lot of different types of road rallies. This weekends set of events were both Tulip Rallies. Tulip rallies have drawings to depict the direction which you are suppose to go while non-Tulip Rallies are worded directions (Ex/ Turn Right at the T). All speeds are below speed limit, and the rallies occur on back country roads with very little traffic for the most part. Usually, all rallies end up somewhere for dinner or lunch and last 2-4 hrs depending on the setup plus eating time.
Leebo's Description: (Fellow CKRSCCA member, pulled from LexiStreets Forum)
For those of you that have never done a rally... DO IT!!! The CKRSCCA has hosted a few over the years and they really are fun but only few participate.
Imagine this...
You're given a set of driving instructions that you have to follow to a "Tee". You're told to go 42mph on a country road for 6.7 miles then turn left. A farmer pulls in front of you doing maybe 15mph in his John Deer and you can't get around him for 4 minutes.
Pop quiz: How fast do you need to drive and for how long to catch up to where you are supposed to be?
Oh and BTW, there are hidden checkpoints so you better be back on track asap.
The rallies I've participated in are very memorable. It's not like autocrossing in the car/performance standpoint, but it's in the same neighborhood of having a good time.
Official Results can be found on the Porsche club link above. (Yes there is a pic of the winners and runner-ups) Thanks to a good driver, Ginny E, and decent navigating skills, Ginny and I finished 2nd out of 10 entrants with a score of 466. In which 300 was from a missed turned that landed us several minutes behind on one of the legs. Lucky for us, the max you can get on a leg is 300.
The winners, Phil and Lo, are actually national pro rallyists of past and are usually the ones putting on the events.
You ask: What is a Road Rally?
Simple Description: A road rally is an automotive event in which two people, driver and navigator, attempt to follow an unknown route and arrive at timing controls exactly on time (Unless a Monte Carlo Rally these are at unknown locations).
There are a lot of different types of road rallies. This weekends set of events were both Tulip Rallies. Tulip rallies have drawings to depict the direction which you are suppose to go while non-Tulip Rallies are worded directions (Ex/ Turn Right at the T). All speeds are below speed limit, and the rallies occur on back country roads with very little traffic for the most part. Usually, all rallies end up somewhere for dinner or lunch and last 2-4 hrs depending on the setup plus eating time.
Leebo's Description: (Fellow CKRSCCA member, pulled from LexiStreets Forum)
For those of you that have never done a rally... DO IT!!! The CKRSCCA has hosted a few over the years and they really are fun but only few participate.
Imagine this...
You're given a set of driving instructions that you have to follow to a "Tee". You're told to go 42mph on a country road for 6.7 miles then turn left. A farmer pulls in front of you doing maybe 15mph in his John Deer and you can't get around him for 4 minutes.
Pop quiz: How fast do you need to drive and for how long to catch up to where you are supposed to be?
Oh and BTW, there are hidden checkpoints so you better be back on track asap.
The rallies I've participated in are very memorable. It's not like autocrossing in the car/performance standpoint, but it's in the same neighborhood of having a good time.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway
What a blast was had today? I might be a little deaf now but I sure did have a lot of fun. Thanks to Scott B, his wife Sacha, and father Dan for letting me join them on the journey to and from the Speedway. It was a very pleasant journey as well as adventurous as Scott is familiar with the back roads from Georgetown to Sparta and takes the curves with no hesitation.
Thanks to Rachel H for meeting me at the speedway to enjoy the actual race with me. I won tickets Thursday afternoon from work, so I had to find someone quickly to join me. Thanks again Rachel for joining me and driving up by yourself to hang out with me. It was a great time. I hope you can still hear :-)
Seats were in Grandstand 6 Section O Row 4 Seats 19-20. They were right in turn 4 the farthest grandstand to the left (Looking out on the speedway). Right smack in the far corner of the grandstands. Had a wonderful view of turn 3 and the backside exit of turn 4. It was an awesome race all the way to the finish.
The trip back was not without stories. From the Speedway to Owenton, there was 5 of us in a Civic. David P joined us back to his car in Owenton.
Getting out of the grassy area of the speedway, we were sitting in traffic not moving anywhere. The driver, Scott, tired of waiting decides to take the Civic to the right. To the right of us is a line of cars with a hillside on the backside, yes on the hillside we went 40 miles/hr. It was a bit scary though I was not too afraid knowing that Scott does know how to handle his car. Probably shaved 20 mins off the time we would have been sitting in the line trying to get out.
Then we hit the back roads to Owenton and got behind a van. I dont know that words can really describe this. I might have to wait til the video is posted for you guys to view. (Will come back to this story) I will say we were all rolling in the car.
We had a nice country drive back to Georgetown and made it back home safe and sound.
Thanks again to Scott and crew for the ride and for Rachel's willingness to join me.
Thanks to Rachel H for meeting me at the speedway to enjoy the actual race with me. I won tickets Thursday afternoon from work, so I had to find someone quickly to join me. Thanks again Rachel for joining me and driving up by yourself to hang out with me. It was a great time. I hope you can still hear :-)
Seats were in Grandstand 6 Section O Row 4 Seats 19-20. They were right in turn 4 the farthest grandstand to the left (Looking out on the speedway). Right smack in the far corner of the grandstands. Had a wonderful view of turn 3 and the backside exit of turn 4. It was an awesome race all the way to the finish.
The trip back was not without stories. From the Speedway to Owenton, there was 5 of us in a Civic. David P joined us back to his car in Owenton.
Getting out of the grassy area of the speedway, we were sitting in traffic not moving anywhere. The driver, Scott, tired of waiting decides to take the Civic to the right. To the right of us is a line of cars with a hillside on the backside, yes on the hillside we went 40 miles/hr. It was a bit scary though I was not too afraid knowing that Scott does know how to handle his car. Probably shaved 20 mins off the time we would have been sitting in the line trying to get out.
Then we hit the back roads to Owenton and got behind a van. I dont know that words can really describe this. I might have to wait til the video is posted for you guys to view. (Will come back to this story) I will say we were all rolling in the car.
We had a nice country drive back to Georgetown and made it back home safe and sound.
Thanks again to Scott and crew for the ride and for Rachel's willingness to join me.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Yes I am still Alive
Wow has life been busy the past month. I just thought that when summer came around things would slow down. Some areas things did slow down while it picked up in other areas evening it all back out to just plain busy. I am not complaining though. I have had a blast this summer. I think that is the true problem. Definitely not lacking in the area of fun this summer.
Quick Highlights that maybe I will expand upon in the near future.
- Autocross season has been in full swing. Last week ending a 5 week straight stretch of autocrossing. Wow it was a great time and I have lots of stories and some videos :-)
- Last weekend, I was in a wedding of a college friend, Lindsey Lee. It was a great time and I got to see a lot of people that I hadnt seen in ages. Those that were there it was wonderful to see ya. Minus the girls that kept me up all night Friday :-P (J/K)
- This weekend has actually included me being at home for a change and resting and relaxing a bit, though not as much as originally planned.
- Today, I competed in a Road Rally put on by the Bluegrass Porsche Club and assisted by the Bluegrass Mini and CKRSCCA. It was a great time riding around in a Miata.
- Tomorrow, its off to Sparta, KY for the IRL Indy 300 race at the Kentucky Speedway. This shall be quite the adventure with some SCCA folks and then hanging out with some work folks at the track (as I got the Tix through work).
- The Honda has new tires after 69000+ miles.
Upcoming things:
- Next weekend is our last big release prior to OE. Yeepee.
- Holy cow a new school year has started which means several different things including ODK time again as well as I better start working on some applications or I will be in pulling my hair out come Oct.
- Several more autocrosses and hopefully some more Road Rallies. I think I have finally found myself a new driver or 2 :-)
Well those are the highlights. I will try to write more soon.
Quick Highlights that maybe I will expand upon in the near future.
- Autocross season has been in full swing. Last week ending a 5 week straight stretch of autocrossing. Wow it was a great time and I have lots of stories and some videos :-)
- Last weekend, I was in a wedding of a college friend, Lindsey Lee. It was a great time and I got to see a lot of people that I hadnt seen in ages. Those that were there it was wonderful to see ya. Minus the girls that kept me up all night Friday :-P (J/K)
- This weekend has actually included me being at home for a change and resting and relaxing a bit, though not as much as originally planned.
- Today, I competed in a Road Rally put on by the Bluegrass Porsche Club and assisted by the Bluegrass Mini and CKRSCCA. It was a great time riding around in a Miata.
- Tomorrow, its off to Sparta, KY for the IRL Indy 300 race at the Kentucky Speedway. This shall be quite the adventure with some SCCA folks and then hanging out with some work folks at the track (as I got the Tix through work).
- The Honda has new tires after 69000+ miles.
Upcoming things:
- Next weekend is our last big release prior to OE. Yeepee.
- Holy cow a new school year has started which means several different things including ODK time again as well as I better start working on some applications or I will be in pulling my hair out come Oct.
- Several more autocrosses and hopefully some more Road Rallies. I think I have finally found myself a new driver or 2 :-)
Well those are the highlights. I will try to write more soon.
COMPUTER WOES :-(
Oh why oh why....
So it was the modem the other day and today, I am afraid that the motherboard may be going south. Since I am not a hardware person at all and somewhat despise it, I am looking to my dear friends who love building their own computers and such for some advice and opinions.
Current Issue:
-Turn on the computer and monitor
-Monitor has screen that says the monitor is working check the cable or pc. (this has happened twice prior to today. Then today it happened 3-5 boots.)
-Tonight I realized that the mouse and keyboard also were not functioning while receiving this screen on the monitor. (Assume that was probably the case all along because I had to hard reboot the pc each time)
-The 2nd boot this morning resulted in the keyboard functioning and the monitoring scrolling lines up and down. I was able to login and reboot by knowledge of the process.
-5th bood, Kwadwo suggested unplugging everything from the pc and plugging it back in. I did and the computer rebooted and everything is currently working.
I fear turning it off because I am afraid it will not come back.
** Any clues what might be the issue?
The computer will be 4 years old in Oct. The harddrive is about 2 years old. Monitor is probably more like 8 years old. Mouse is fairly new. Keyboard...hmmm not sure which iteration this is, but probably around 3 years.
** Suggestions on fixing the issue?
Wasnt really looking to purchase a new computer anytime soon. This one suffices for what I need, it even has a DVD player in it. The only reason it doesnt have XP is because I didn't want it. Its a Windows 2000 box.
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.
So it was the modem the other day and today, I am afraid that the motherboard may be going south. Since I am not a hardware person at all and somewhat despise it, I am looking to my dear friends who love building their own computers and such for some advice and opinions.
Current Issue:
-Turn on the computer and monitor
-Monitor has screen that says the monitor is working check the cable or pc. (this has happened twice prior to today. Then today it happened 3-5 boots.)
-Tonight I realized that the mouse and keyboard also were not functioning while receiving this screen on the monitor. (Assume that was probably the case all along because I had to hard reboot the pc each time)
-The 2nd boot this morning resulted in the keyboard functioning and the monitoring scrolling lines up and down. I was able to login and reboot by knowledge of the process.
-5th bood, Kwadwo suggested unplugging everything from the pc and plugging it back in. I did and the computer rebooted and everything is currently working.
I fear turning it off because I am afraid it will not come back.
** Any clues what might be the issue?
The computer will be 4 years old in Oct. The harddrive is about 2 years old. Monitor is probably more like 8 years old. Mouse is fairly new. Keyboard...hmmm not sure which iteration this is, but probably around 3 years.
** Suggestions on fixing the issue?
Wasnt really looking to purchase a new computer anytime soon. This one suffices for what I need, it even has a DVD player in it. The only reason it doesnt have XP is because I didn't want it. Its a Windows 2000 box.
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.
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