Out of Town

Yes i know I've been bad about posting lately. Sorry about that. I've been very busy and had personal issues that were more important that playing with my website.

I'm going to be a disappointment yet again because tomorrow at noon i'm heading for the Big Apple for some training, on a software package. It's a four day class and I'll be spongeing up all I can. I may post in the evening if I have time. I'm not making any promises though.

Since flying me back Sunday costed the company the same as flying me back Friday night, I elected to spend the weekend up there with my brother. He lives in the city. He's lived there about 5 years, perhaps 6 now and I've never been up there to see him. We've gotten together for family trips and what have you, but I've not seen his place. This will be fun. I imagine he'll enjoy showing off his pad and town. He's 24 so I'm sure he's proud of what he's accomplished. I can't say I blame him. That's not an easy city to win and he did. Considering we both grew up in Nebraska and a very rural part of northern California, we both do very well in the city. My sis is very much a country girl. Go figure.

So we'll hit the town and stuff. I'll take my camera and get some pictures. I've flown into NYC before and drove through it to get to other locations, but never actually spent any time in the city itself. This should be a lot of fun, especially since I'll have two excellent guides. Not only my brother, but his girlfriend who grew up in the city.

Well I better go pack.

Growing Pains

They aren't just for teenagers. I've been experiencing them myself lately. This time rather than being physical and emotional, they are just emotional.

But unfortunately, just as it was during those teen years, my brain has a hard time making good sense of the new pieces.

Also, just like a teen, that's no excuse for my poor judgment.

I've grown some big “muscles” lately and boy have I been trying them out, unfortunately, also accompanying those muscles are big feet and hands tripping me up and making me a clutz.

What's worse is trying to figure out what made me do those moronic things. Pride? Ego? Ignorance? All of the above?

Bottom line those things are all a part of me. We all have those not so great qualities, but the trick is to hold the bad ones in check with good judgment, respect and compassion. All things I've been neglecting. My idiocy has been running unchecked.

It's not like I've been running around being evil but I have caused a lot of damage lately. Damage that hurt others. Namely Melly. That damage hurts me too. I don't like hurting people, especially those whom I love very deeply.

When I hurt others I feel so tremendously guilty. Makes me want to go hide in a hole. Protect the world from me. I know I'm very hard on myself. I'm a perfectionist.

Melly said something extremely important to me yesterday. She said I always have to be right. When I'm wrong its a major blow to the core of me. The Army says, “Be all that you can be.” I want to be more. The problem is I hurt others in my pursuit of that goal.

If I'm wrong I'll drive the conversation so that it minimizes my wrongness. I'm a master of excuses. I can weave an excuse into an elaborate scenario until it no longer looks like an excuse anymore.

Am I proud of this? No I'm not. I really didn't even realize I have been doing it. But I'm constantly looking for a way out of being wrong. Or if I can't I try to bring those around me to the same level so then I can say, “it's not just me.”

I have a lot of work to do. This isn't going to be easy. How do I “fix” myself so I'm not striving to always be right? I think the key lays in not making excuses for myself. There is nothing wrong with being wrong as long as you are compelled to make amends and repair the damage done. Making excuses does not do this.

Working to make yourself a better person is a noble goal. But you have to really DO it, not weave elaborate excuses that do nothing but make things worse.

You're Probably Infected By A Virus If...

The symptoms in the bulleted list below are rarely caused by anything except a virus, so if you detect any of these issues on an end user's PC, you should feel confident in suspecting virus infection.

• The user received an e-mail with an odd attachment and opened it with unexpected results, such as the appearance of odd dialog boxes or a sudden degradation in system performance.
  
• There is a double extension on an attachment that the user recently opened, such as .jpg.vbs.
  
• An antivirus program is disabled for no apparent reason (perhaps with an X through its icon in the notification area), and it cannot be enabled. The system may also report an error condition.
  
• An antivirus program will not install on the PC (or appears to install, but then will not run), but other programs will.
  
• Odd dialog boxes or messages appear onscreen.
  
• Several files are missing, especially those of a common type. For example, some viruses have a side effect of deleting all graphic files of a particular type.
  
• Someone tells the user they have recently received strange e-mails from them containing random attached files or a virus.
  
• The PC starts performing actions seemingly on its own, like moving the mouse pointer, opening or closing windows, running programs, or opening and closing the CD tray. This is a symptom of someone actually using a back door to operate the PC, rather than a symptom of the existence of the back door.
  
• You notice the presence of new users with full security permissions that you know you did not create, or you notice inappropriate permissions assigned to existing users. Again, this is more often a symptom of back door hacking than virus infection.
  
• The mouse pointer changes to some different graphic.
  
• Odd icons appear on the desktop that the user did not place there, although the user has not installed any new applications lately that could have placed them there.
  
• Strange sounds or music plays from the speakers for no apparent reason.
  
• File sizes or date/time stamps have changed on files that the user knows he or she did not alter.
  
• A program that was used successfully recently has disappeared, and the user knows that he or she did not uninstall it.
  

Thanks to Melly for this list. Kisses love!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

My boss had his annual haunted house again this year. When I started helping out a few years ago it was pretty wild. It seems to be dropping off, but we still have fun anyway.

We aren't gory or anything like that. We get a lot of kids who come through, so often the masks are enough to creep them out.

I hid in a cave for a bit. It was pitch dark. They'd reluctantly enter talking about how they couldn't see anything and then BAM! I'd turn on the strobe light. Sometimes I'd becon them forward, "Come! Come into my cave! I won't bite!" Then as they turned the corer (our cave was a U shape) my buddy would jump out in his skeleton outfit and yell, "But I will!" (bite that is)

I got tired of hanging out in the dark after a bit (plus my mask is hot!) so I took it off, but left on my cloak (which I made myself BTW) and led the poor unfortunate souls through the Den of DOOM! Muahahaha!

It was fun. Hope you enjoy the pictures I took.

ENTER THE GALLERY

What is more important?

The group or the individuals who make up that group?

Before you answer lets pause and think about this a moment. We are talking about Holism vs. Atomism. Holism (I think it would be more appropriately spelled Wholism) emphasizes the whole system. Atomism (derived from breaking things down to their atoms) emphasizes the qualities of the individual parts.

Before we jump into debate, note that both are compatible and necessary. A hydrogen atom has it's properties because of it's WHOLE nature, but without the individual neutrons, protons and electrons, it wouldn't be possible to have the atom at all. Or better yet, a brick by itself isn't much, but put a lot of them together with mortar and you have yourself a wall!

Atomism tends to get more attention because as humans we like to think of ourselves as individuals. We are unique and special. We even, to a certain extent, want to believe that without us the world around us just wouldn't be the same.

Holism is something engineers have to think about. When I build a network I cannot concentrate on one piece of the puzzle at a time. Well, I can, but it's very inefficient. Better to look at the WHOLE picture and plan accordingly. Anyone who has done a budget knows this philosophy as well.

The reason this has been on my mind lately is because my office has taken a bit of an Atomistic view. It has splintered into departments. Not as much of a big deal for larger companies, but we are not a big company. The departments do not work together to solve company problems. They are concerned more for their needs. In a business where each department needs to assist the others, this causes a lot of strife and bad moral.

There were many reasons for the office to fall into “atoms”, but one of the causes was a new and faulty work flow. The way data is distributed through the office was built over time with no structure. It was also built by those who had to implement it, not necessarily those who needed it. In short the processes are inefficient, designed for or by the wrong people and the system is not being utilized to it's optimum efficiency and never will in its current state.

That's where I come in. I noted a couple months ago about a big project I was hoping to get approved. Well I did and I'm the project leader. As far as upper management is concerned the primary goal is installing and setting up a new CRM package. However, that is my secondary goal. My primary goal is to get the office working as a team again by helping design new, efficient and usable work flows.

I have assembled a team of “super users” from each department, including managers (mine is one of them). By detailing our current work flow I can do two things. One, I can see where there are weak points and work on fixing those areas. Two, I'll be able to design the application/database to work with our needs.

The first is very important to me. Part of the reason our current system has so many points of failure is because it was not designed with the users of the system in mind. They looked at the WHOLE, but not the INDIVIDUALS. A great number of “great” features were not used or slowly phased out. Pieces were added on after the system was in place, making them inconvenient and thus not used. If during their normal work flow they are asked to do something out of the way, it's not going to stay in favor and will eventually fail.

Just as a network has to be analyzed and planned before implementation, so must business work flow. When building a network I need to know what will be on that network. Will the applications and traffic warrant 100 megabit hubs and switches? Will there be a need for fiber optics? What is the future growth potential? Etc. etc. Any good engineer HAS to do these things. Planning is necessary to the success of a project.

To use another analogy, do you know why Compaq and IBM computers are so popular among businesses? Not necessarily because their parts are better, but as a whole they are better. Let me explain. Compaq and IBM (and likely other OEMs) build and test their configurations rigorously before offering them up to the public. That's why there are only a few configuration options. Those are the tested and known to be “good” configurations. Others may work but may not be as efficient or stable.

“Good” is highly subjective. Whether it's a person, computer or process, the needs will be different from one person/department/company to the next. You can build a computer with all the “best” parts, as reviewed by other users on the Internet, but that doesn't mean those parts will create a WHOLE “best” computer. The “best” memory might not work on the “best” motherboard.

The same applies to businesses and processes. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made so that the WHOLE is a success. The whole work flow could be disrupted because one department wants something special that will cost the company thousands of dollars and will require customization. That INDIVIDUAL need will have to be pruned to save the WHOLE process.

In a business especially, the bottom line is the business. The WHOLE is the goal of everyone. If it's not the whole starts to fail. I'm sure you all can apply that same philosophy to many other situations in our lives. Atomism and Holism cannot work alone. They work together to produce a dynamic system that can evolve and grow. Hold to one alone and that system is doomed to fail.

Price Update

I've updated my Entertainment PC page with updated pricing. I'm trying to hit it once a month as prices change. I'll also modify things slightly if better or less expensive options come out.

I also noted my displeasure with the WinDVR2 software. I do not want to be held responsible for suggesting a product that frankly I feel is junk. Maybe others have had better luck with it. I did leave it on the list however as it is a valid (debatible) software choice.

I get a surprising number of hits on that page, probably due to the fact I list the part numbers (which many online retailers seem to neglect for some reason). So I get hits from people looking for more info. I hope my page is of some help.

Since I don't have the money to actually BUILD these systems and test them in the real world, it's all just numbers and letters on a page, but if you are insterested in me spec'ing out a custom machine (no case mods please), let me know. I'm always up for a challange, plus it keeps my hardware knowledge sharp.

Strings, Uncertainty & Infinity

(disclaimer: I don't have a degree in Physics, Mathematics or Philosophy. The idea I am presenting are not fact. Actually none of the references I used are established as facts. However my ideas are based on my interpretations of theories that are widely accepted as true or highly likely. Keep this in mind, Newton's theories have been considered fact for roughly 350 years. They are now easily shown wrong. They are VERY close to the truth, but not 100%. His theories fall apart at the macro (galactic interactions) and micro (atomic particles) levels.)

I've tossed out a theory of the Omniverse. The Omniverse is infinite and is made up of an infinite number of universes. Michio Kaku states in his book 'Visions', “At present, the fundamental problem with sting theory is that millions of solutions of the theory have been found, but none which precisely matches the known spectrum of quarks, gluons, neutrinos, etc. Many people have despaired of ever finding all the solutions of string theory to find our universe.” I contend they will never find all the solutions because there are an infinite number. This plays right into my theory. But before I get too head of myself, let me explain String Theory, as I understand it.

At its most basic, String Theory states that everything is made up of vibrating “strings”. Their frequency, vibration, determines its properties. Quantum particles are made up of these strings. There should be an infinite number of frequencies, and thus an infinite number of particles. This is what troubles the string theory physicists. If there are an infinite number of solutions, they cannot determine if the theory is correct or not. They need to solve it with the variables that produce the properties that are present in our universe to do this. At present that is the only way we can know with any certainty that the theory is correct.

So String Theory would give us a fundamental understanding of the foundation of the universe. With that understanding we should be able to understand why the universe acts as it does. Steven Hawking has commenting that knowing the theory to everything would be like knowing God. He's right. With that level of knowledge we could do nearly anything. Many String Theory physicists actually do not feel that their solution will be the theory of everything, but just the next step. Only time will tell. We don't know what exists outside our universe. Will String Theory tell us? Perhaps not 100% but it can give us glimpses.

String Theory can calculate millions, perhaps an infinite number of universes. Who's to say they don't exist? There is nothing that states our universe is the perfect one. Many, including Hawking have suggested that because we are here it's proof that ours is the best because of the extremely sensitive thresholds of our physical universe. But with an infinite number of quantum particles couldn't another universe, with totally different physical principles , be created? That universes Newton might come to different conclusions than ours because of the different particles that make it up. If Sting Theory is correct however, those strings would be fundamental to any of the universes, successful or full of a soup made up of quantum particles that cannot interact in a constructive manner.

The Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle fits in here nicely too. Basically it states you cannot ever know anything for certain without observation/interaction. The classic example is Schrödinger's Cat. This poor cat is in a box. You don't know if it's alive or dead. Without looking in the box you can never know for sure. But rather than leaving the answer in limbo, the answer has to be both. The cat is alive and dead at the same time.

If there are an infinite number of solutions to String Theory then there has to be an infinite number of universes created from that uncertainty. Our universe is far from perfect so it makes logical sense that there has to be more. An infinite number of experiments looking for the perfect universe.