# Friday, 13 February 2004

Another Portland Nerd Dinner has come and gone. Fortunately, this time I got pictures to savor the day a little longer.

Being the last PND that we will likely see Rory at for a while, it had a special meaning for all in attendance. Chris Sells brought a fabulous piece of artwork and allowed all to sign the back as a memento to Rory.

This PND seemed to go longer than usual. It may have been the fine cuisine, the excellent company, or the brawl that nearly started nearby, but something just kept the attendees enthralled with the meeting.

Rory, we’re going to miss you while you are gone. We just may need to get a cardboard cutout of you to stand in!

Friday, 13 February 2004 00:29:40 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Comments [0]
# Saturday, 10 January 2004

Well, it took me three weeks to get them posted, but our Christmas party pictures are now available in an album at http://photos.theclaussens.com.

I decided to try out the nGallery package to post the pix. It appears to be very straight-forward and has all of the features that I might currently require. Being able to 'bulk' upload the pictures turned out to be a real time saver.

Now I need to start creating albums of other life events!

Saturday, 10 January 2004 00:15:21 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Comments [0]
# Friday, 09 January 2004

This is now my third post on these things (first, second). In the first, I mention my interest in getting one of these; in the second, I take my Christmas present back to Fry's and wait for another try.

What do you know? Microsoft announces a likely related product at CES this week! I knew there was a reason it must not have worked out. Now, if I can build a Windows XP MCE machine and not have to buy one of those less customized versions out there.

Friday, 09 January 2004 23:25:52 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Comments [0]
# Tuesday, 06 January 2004

Wow!! What incredible weather we've had this year. Portland is not used to getting more than a couple of light dustings of snow over the winter, but this year, we have full ice and snow storms going on.

Last week, we got the first snow. I think it was Tuesday night (December 30th). Jesann and I were watching a movie and realized that there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground. We shut off the movie, bundled up, and headed out into the night. It was amazing how much of the neighborhood was out after 10pm to enjoy the snow.

We trudged over to the nearby high school and couldn't resist the chance to build a snow person. Admittedly, Jesann did most of the work. Between her gloves and skill, she was much better suited to the task.

Next, New Year's Day came with a new batch of snow. I had to work in the morning, but when I arrived home, it was time for us to go out and enjoy. First, we went to the local Elmer's restaurant for a great breakfast. Then we began the shopping - we visited as many places as we could. Unfortunately, the local 'big' shopping center, Washington Square, shut down at 4pm - right after we arrived.

Finally, today has had snow, sleet, or freezing rain coming down almost constantly. As Rory points out, there are some real Snow Nerds out there... I know - we are they. Despite our lack of 'rig', we had to go out to enjoy it all once again.

More than likely, when we wake up tomorrow it will be raining and wet once again. This last week has been one to remember, though.

Tuesday, 06 January 2004 13:08:54 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Comments [0]
# Monday, 05 January 2004

As mentioned previously, I have put together a new computer. I dropped an AMD 'Barton' 2500+ on to a motherboard called LAN Party NFII Ultra. The compelling features of the MoBo were built in RAID and high speed FSB. It also has two LAN ports, surround sound, and all of the other 'cool' features that it should.

With 1.5GB of memory and more than 300GB of HD space, I've got some room to grow. I've partitioned the drives into seven segments to keep things better organized and to make backing up easier. Also, in that I've dedicated about 100GB for creating virtual PCs to use in development or general experimentation.

One thing that I found fascinating after building up the machine was the weight. over 50 pounds of PC in one tower box. Not exactly a portable machine :-).

Finally, maybe the most enjoyable new aspect is the addition of a third monitor. As previously discussed, I've been using two monitors for several years. Now, I can keep the 'monitoring' apps (IM, ActiveSync, Process Explorer, etc.) running on a third screen and use the full resolution of the other two for email, internet, debugging, and all other primary tasks.

Monday, 05 January 2004 13:08:54 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Comments [1]
# Wednesday, 31 December 2003

It is strange to think that it has been twenty-four days since I wrote something here. Especially when I consider how much has happened. I expect that I will need to add to these bullets, but here is the quick summation:

  • Got the new PC built and running - what a pleasure to drive!
  • My office is getting in really good shape - I know that there are many of us computer types that get a bit disorganized in the physical world. I'm trying to fix that to some extent and have made some real progress toward that goal.
  • We had our 'annual' (second year) Christmas gathering - about 25% more people than last year and it went off without a hitch! My wife, Jesann, does a fabulous job of entertaining.
  • Had a great Christmas season - I tried to get a media player (HP ew5000) for myself, but it wouldn't power up and Fry's didn't have a replacement. I will probably get a different one eventually.
  • Portland finally got a good snowing on - Jesann and I even made a great snowman on the field of a nearby high school.
  • Only five days 'till Winter Term begins - now to just finish organizing my office and computers; Will I have time to repave the notebook and server?

Nearly every one of these bullets deserve their own entry. I will get working on that over the next few days.

Wednesday, 31 December 2003 14:21:09 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Comments [1]
# Sunday, 07 December 2003

Well, sure enough, more was wrong with my PC than just the video card. Maybe the card caused problems with the MoBo, too. In any event, I'm finally getting around to putting all the parts together that I've had and building a new PC.

In and of itself, that's some cool news... I've been looking forward to doing this. On the other hand, I wasn't thinking that FINALS week would be the best time to do it. Oh well; Always good to challenge oneself, isn't it?

When I'm done, I'll have a lot of space to breathe. I'm dropping a total of 640GB of hard drives and 1.5GB of memory into this thing. I plan to mirror 560GB of the hard drives so end up with a 'mere' 360GB of usable drive. In any event, I'll have a million times the drive space as my original Apple II had (I had two floppies) and something like thirty-four thousand times the memory.

Now it's time to get to work.

Sunday, 07 December 2003 20:59:27 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Comments [0]