Friday, November 8, 2013

What I listen to when I miss Dad

Memorial Service Audio for Steve Solomon (Feb 24, 1942 - Sep 27, 2012)

0:00-5:40, Introduction by his pastor, Bob Childress.  
5:40-17:00, Eulogy on behalf of the family given by me.

I found myself missing Dad this morning more than usual.  So, I did what I usually do when that happens and listened to the audio from his memorial service.

The effect for me is the same every time.  Memories and thankfulness overpower grief.  I use this so often that I'm moved to share it.  I hope you are encouraged too.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Gives a verbal report when you have syntax errors

Browsing Ward Cunningham's Smallest Federated Wiki on Github this morning... ran across this:
We also have a cool automated talking (Mac only) Perl build script that uses a globally installed browserify via npm install -g browserify, it watches for changes, builds the clients automatically, and gives a verbal report when you have syntax errors.
I love this for so many reasons... but mainly because it is a reflection of someone have fun in their code base.

Friday, January 28, 2011

January sum-up

No code in this post... My wife bought me some books and I've been enjoying them late into our January nights, thanks in part to a chest cold that doesn't like when I lay down.

Inspiring story of an ex-sharecropper turned homeless, and how his path crosses someone who listens to God and acts on what she hears.

The story of Brother Andrew's ministry bringing contraband bibles behind the Iron Curtain. Andrew also listens carefully, and acts... seeing a theme here.

Very revealing picture of life in the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Engaging, interesting... filled with perspectives that were new to me.

Steve Martin's auto-biography of his stand-up comedy years. Interesting, funny, revealing story about making it as a comic. (Ok, I bought this one for my wife then borrowed it.)





Wednesday, September 29, 2010

My team is hiring

Looking for a job? Are you a mid-level to expert web developer in C#, ASP.Net and Sql Server? My team builds web apps for the Navy, and we need some help.

We have two requisitions open for web developers. The jobs are in Ventura County, CA or Kern County, CA. Please apply using the links below:

Mid-level experience:

More experience:

Friday, September 3, 2010

Activating an upgrade edition of Windows 7 after a clean install

In my experience, technical support calls are only frustrating because of vocabulary problems.  If the customer could convey the problem using vocabulary the support rep is familiar with, and if the rep can communicate the solution using words the customer understands, bingo!

I spent a good hour on the phone today trying to activate Windows 7 after I installed a new hard drive in my MacBook Pro.  I was very pleased with the outcome (I’m active!), and with the technical support rep who finally helped me.  But, to get to him, I had to convince two reps before him that what I was doing warranted further help.  The first rep in the Activation Center said I had an “invalid product key”, and that I would have to talk with customer support.  The second rep told me they no longer support activating Windows on Mac computers with a clean install, and I would have to reinstall Windows XP, then perform an upgrade install (really?)  I did not accept that answer (since it would take me the rest of the day to reinstall 2 versions of Windows AND re-setup my development machine and projects).  After staying on hold for a supervisor for a few minutes he created a case number for me with the Windows technical support team.

The key vocabulary words (for those of you who may need to call and talk to someone about this yourself) are: “Custom Install” vs. “Upgrade Install”, and using the MSDT tool to change my activation file from “custom” to “upgrade” so that my product key would work.

Here is the email explaining my experience with the Windows team:

Hi Charlie,
This is Adrian with Microsoft Windows Technical Support. 
It was my pleasure to work with you on your Windows service request [case # deleted].  I hope that you were happy with the service provided to you.
Based on our last conversation it appears that this service request is resolved and ready to be archived.  If this is not correct or if you are not happy with the support we've provided please let us know as soon as possible.  My goal is to ensure that your experience with Microsoft Windows Technical Support leaves you pleased with our products and services.
Here is a summary of the key points of the service request for your records:
ACTION:
Charlie, you were trying to activate the copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.
RESULT:
You were not able to activate Windows 7 Ultimate as got an error '0xC004f061'.
CAUSE:
You were using an upgrade DVD to do a custom installation and the activation files installed were for custom and not for upgrade.
RESOLUTION:
Charlie, we used the MSDT (Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool), changed the activation file from custom to upgrade and activated Windows 7 Ultimate.
If you have any feedback regarding Microsoft support, we would be glad to hear from you.  If you would feel more comfortable speaking with someone else regarding my service, Rajiv, my manager, would be very happy to hear your comments and suggestions.  You may reach my manager by sending an email to [manager’s email address].
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Windows Technical Support.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Geo Tracks – 12 Jun 2010

What is Geo Tracks?  My first post like this was a couple years ago, and it has been more than a year since my last Geo Tracks post… mainly because of a much shorter commute, also because I don’t have a Geo anymore!

After a year of local radio and NPR, I’m taking back my 40 minutes a day.  I purchased a cassette adapter so I’m back in business… I’ll log the good parts of my commuter listening here.

Hanselminutes 216 - Geek Relationship Tips with Scott's Wife.  Some practical ways Scott and Mo make their marriage work.  Good tips here about finances, setting expectations, assuming the best… I enjoyed it!

Hanselminutes 210 – John Lam and the Science of Fitness.  I am a couch potato right now… so hearing John Lam’s enthusiasm for using sensors to calculate his power output in watts while cycling was a bit over the top for me.  It is cool to hear about the types of sensors that are becoming available to every day Joes, and how it is becoming more acceptable, even expected, to share your data/progress in social apps like Twitter or Facebook.  Scott even jumped on the bandwagon recently by posting his LoseIt updates to Twitter.  I responded by reading about the HundredPushups and Couch to 5K programs while eating a bag of chips.

Cornerstone Simi Podcast 05/30/2010 – The End.  Francis Chan’s last message to his church in Simi Valley.  God has blessed me through this podcast, and I’m sad that Francis won’t be using this platform to teach anymore.  I’m excited to see how God will use him next though… and the good news is I have a lot of Francis messages to catch up on.

Cornerstone Simi Podcast 05/02/2010 – Salvation.  Francis compares salvation to harmonies in music, those weird 3D posters, and other things that you either “just suddenly get” or not.  He who has ears, let him hear.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Tracking SQL Server procedure and function changes

This Stack Overflow question inspired me to create a couple batch files today:

1. gen_all.cmd (creates one text file for each stored procedure and function in a database)

2. gen_since.cmd (same as gen_all.cmd, but takes a date/time parameter and only generates files for procs/funcs that were created or altered since the specified date/time)

Usage (to generate any files altered on or after Jun 5th):

gen_since 06/05/2010

I know there are some slick database change management tools out there, both OSS (Tarantino) and commercial (Redgate SQL Compare)… but I’m going to try using this simple batch file for a while as a nice, mindless way to save my DB objects as files that can be tracked in source control.