…

Bluemonkey: mah computer is being slow
Bluemonkey:
Ozzyfrog:
Bluemonkey: thats better
Bluemonkey: now it is playing music
Ozzyfrog:
Bluemonkey: i swear it takes it at least 30 seconds to start playing
Ozzyfrog: lih
Bluemonkey: lih at lih
Ozzyfrog: lol at lih at lih
Bluemonkey: lol at lol at lih at lih
Ozzyfrog: lih at lol at lol at lih at lih
Bluemonkey: lol at lih at lol at lol at lih at lih
Ozzyfrog: ROFL at lol at lih at lol at lol at lih at lih
Bluemonkey: …
Bluemonkey: I doubt it.
Ozzyfrog: ok
Bluemonkey: are you actually rolling on the floor laughing?
Bluemonkey: and if u were, how are u typing?
Ozzyfrog: The computer was rolling too
Bluemonkey: I see.
Ozzyfrog: indeed
Ozzyfrog: (i think he believed it)
Bluemonkey: lol
Ozzyfrog: lih at lol
Bluemonkey: lol at lih at lol
Ozzyfrog: lih at lol at lih
Ozzyfrog: at lol
Bluemonkey: lih at lih at lol at lih
Bluemonkey: at lol
Bluemonkey: lol
Ozzyfrog: lol at lih at loh at lih at lol
Ozzyfrog: lol
Bluemonkey: lol

As Ozzyfrog succinctly put it, “our convos have reached at new level of sillyness”. At least it wasn’t in the ‘eternal’ group chat, which has been kept alive now for about 5 days. Oh, for the record, “lih” is an acronym for laugh-in-head, a more truthful display of amusement than the overused “lol”. In this case, “lol” actually meant “laugh-out-loud”. Yes, Ozzyfrog was rolling on the floor, with the computer as well. It’s quite skilful, in fact.

Ozzyfrog’s [new] blog

Well, I figure all folk should know that Ozzyfrog, not content with earbashing the world from one source, is now offering rants in stereo! LOL, ok, he just began a new blog. I’m guessing it is more of the same stuff that we have been seeing on Ozzycaiphas, but obviously Ozzyfrog will be the sole editor. Anyway, I am glad to see that I am already in the blogroll . Good luck with your new venture Ozzyfrog, I look forward to reading more of the “disease” to come.

Infernal IMAP, Sadistic SQL Server, Worrisome Word

Well, it seems that my computing gremlins have returned to make my experience hell. I thought I was finally rid of them, after a stage where my laptop broke every four months. Well, for Christmas, I got new, updated gremlins. In their quest to destroy my mind, they have taken it upon themselves to trash my programs. Here we go:

I’ve heard people say good things about IMAP, which is an email delivery protocol that offer push email, reliable transmission, and good security. I have been using POP3, another protocol, to have messages from my Gmail account downloaded to my computer, into Outlook. This was all working well for me, but it wasn’t push email, so Outlook needed to run a send/receive before messages were actually delivered. IMAP is push, and I figured instant delivery was reason alone to get it, as well as the other reasons. So, I went along and changed my protocol to IMAP. Sure, it took a while, since Gmail uses custom settings for all its ports and encryptions, but that wasn’t too hard, as there was a helpful setup guide.

Sure, all sounds good right? Wrong, it has created another data file in Outlook instead of using the current one, which means that all my lovely integration was gone. Instead of having one data file that contained all my tasks, contacts, appointments, notes, events, etc. as well as email, it had split. This was really annoying, since the effortless integration between my mail and organiser was gone. Furthermore, IMAP didn’t actually download the messages properly, only the headers, which meant that every time I visited my inbox, it needed to communicate with the server to find out what was in the mailbox. Then, to read an email message, it then needed to download that message. Overall, it was excruciatingly slow (ok, that was an exaggeration, but an Australian ADSL connection is quite slow, compared to the instant response from something already on my computer), and Outlook frequently stopped responding by downloading headers and messages. There were some other problems with it, but I can’t be bothered whinging about them right now. Fortunately, I have rid myself of the infernal IMAP and have returned to my faithful POP3. That problem is solved. However…

I have been having a fair bit of trouble getting SQL Server working properly. I am sure it has nothing to do with trying to install a server-class application on a notebook, and is just the computing gremlins at work again. Now, I do a fair bit of programming, and recently have started building decent data-driven applications. For this I have been using SQL Server Compact, an excellent solution for small-scale applications, based on SQL Server, but with a greatly reduced footprint and requirements. This was all fine for building client applications, but now that I am doing web development, BluemonkeyBlockLand, Visual Studio has decided that SQL Server Compact is not sufficient. Fine, I thought, I also have SQL Server 2005 Express on my computer. Peculiar; although I have the management and configuration tools for SQL Server 2005 Express, the actual application seems to be missing. I reasoned that the tools may have installed with the Compact edition, and so would still need to get SQL Server. I downloaded the installer for SQL Server 2008 Express. And that’s when the fun really began.

Well, the installer takes a couple of minutes to configure itself; so what, I have time on my hands. It then launches into a full-blown installation manager: very nice; it looks a lot like a high-end server product, and this is the free Express edition! I run the environment-checking tools to make sure my system is ready. Turns out I need to download Windows PowerShell, which is a new Windows shell meant to replace the archaic DOS Command Prompt. Personally, I haven’t ever used it, but I’ve heard it’s an improvement. Also, it integrates with the .NET Framework, which I love and adore. (Back to the story) That was fine, I now passed all the criteria and was then ready to install. And that’s when it finally hit me how much this was marketed for servers. The language used in the confirmation dialogs was enough to send me chickening out, not wishing to mess up my laptop too much. With my tail between my legs, I retreated away, whimpering, from the scary server application ready to install on my laptop.

Later on, I was talking with Gizmolio about it, and I realised it wasn’t anything to be worried about. I went back to the installer, got it all ready and- cannot find installation resources. Great, now it cannot find itself, and hence it can’t install. I think that means back to the drawing board, since I have no idea where it put the installation resources, and cannot be bothered manually trawling through my hard drive just to find them (I can’t search for it, since I have no idea what it is called). When my spirit has recovered enough from being crushed, I might try again.

On a lighter note, and this isn’t really a problem, more of a peculiarity, the default document name in MS Word is now no longer Document1. It is, in fact Document2, for reasons totally unknown to me. It is just one of life’s mysteries that exist purely to confuse me, and of course, another reason to blog. Now, congratulations for reading this post, which I have managed to ramble through to 931 words so far, as well as everything I type after that number, which I won’t count since that will just enter an endless cycle of repetition. Anyway, thanks for reading, and keep commenting, pingbacks, etc. Ok, I will just write one more thing, the word count is now exactly, precisely, absolutely, completely, accurately, (more stalling adjective words (and brackets that help alot)), truthfully, (I love thesaurus!) equal to 1000.

Designing intelligence- evolving the concept of life

Hooray, strap yourselves in for a highly philosophical musing on the nature of life. In particular, I want to explore evolution and intelligent design. Faith is often a very tricky topic to discuss, but I will do my best. I think I am a spiritual person, even though I don’t strongly adhere to any particular faith. I think everyone should have their own philosophy, so I’m not forcing opinions on anyone, just making some observations and discussion. Science seems to be the predominant faith among people these days, but there are some areas of the whole universe explanation that just don’t work.

What about evolution? Sure, it looks good as a grand theory on how arrogant humans are the best animals on the planet, but just why does it work? The classic debate is eyes; while this is certainly not the only interesting situation, it is one of the most compelling counter-arguments to evolution. Darwin’s Theory of Evolution revolves around the maxim “survival of the fittest”. Exactly what made the primitive eye “fittest”? Considering the primitive eye was just a splodge of photoreceptive chemicals, how would this help? These first eyes would only be able to tell the difference between “night” and “day” as they were too crude to recognise anything useful. These organisms don’t have any form of night/day cycle, and survived without knowing the time, why would they suddenly need to know? Since “eyes” offered no advantage to the survival of the organisms, the organisms that possessed eyes would surely die out due to their mutated genetics. Evolution appears to be wrong.

Perhaps the cause of the eye truly is God, ahem, playing god; aka “Intelligent Design” (ID). I don’t think this is the answer either. It was most likely just chance that made this happen. Sure, there is a slim chance, but it could happen, and obviously did happen. But arguing evolution in this instance is poor science. Obviously there is no advantage in having such a crude eye, and it is just luck that it survived. I don’t believe in Creationism, although there is nothing wrong with it. Evolution has a lot of appeal to scientific minds, but if one examines it closely, it does not satisfy the keen observer. Intelligent design seems to be a compromise between them, but is accepted by neither. The true “story of life” is impossible to tell, as anyone can make “evidence” support their own faith.

• Creationism is simple: everything was created by a higher power, and any evidence that suggests otherwise is just a test of faith. Which, in this day and age, lots of people have failed.
• Evolution is simple: everything is derived from simpler states, and all happens because of definable “rules” and “laws”. In a modern and chaotic world, people like the comfort that some things are always the same; the laws of nature. The evidence obviously proves this to be so?
• Classical mythology is simple: everything is built out of elements, which make all objects different. All objects have a patron deity, which watches over and guides them. It is just common sense that things work this way, there is no need for evidence.
• Nihilism: everything is nothing.
• Various other-ology, -ism: truncate, squeeze, squash, and generally shout loudly until the evidence is in a suitable state to support your grand theorem.

Anyway, that’s about all I have time for, but I hope this has been interesting. I want to hear you replies, comments, pingbacks, deblatogs, but don’t start any flame wars or I will be upset. Everyone can and does have their own philosophy in these situations, so respect that, all the while reflecting upon and considering your own. If anybody likes this, I will unleash some more of my philosophy upon you, but for now, let’s just see everybody deal with this.

This message will self-destruct

You know, everyone who doesn’t like Vista often cites reasons like the increased resource requirements, the flashy useless GUI, the compatibility issues, whatever pops into their head at the time. Their big favourite is the UAC, that extremely annoying screen-darkening and popup that happens when the computer gets nervous and modest. If you so much as glance at the hard drive, up comes UAC asking whether you really want to do that, or whether it can just go home and cry.

If this post is going nowhere, wait for this: I have a challenge. The UAC is certainly not the most annoying feature in Vista. No way! That doesn’t even come close! Imagine the shock and frustration I experienced when I was told my computer would self-destruct, and there was nothing I could do about it! Windows Update had decided that it needed instant gratification, and since it is software and not a dog, I can’t just pat it or give it some treats. So, I watched helplessly as my computer’s life neared end.

What a joke! See here the promising defusal kit, the Postpone button, mercilessly confiscated from my use! And there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth at the impending doom. Instead of outfitting me with a defusal kit, they armed me with a pistol and a single bullet… for the quick way out… Isn’t it amusing how the package it as “Restart now”?

Well, I think that’s the end of that little episode, so, as always, let’s hear about your own near-death (or rather just death) experiences.

PS: Go Inspector Gadget!

I have a cunning plan: BluemonkeyBlockLand

Well, I have decided that I am going to make my own website. As you may have guessed, it will be called BluemonkeyBlockLand (For any stalkers out there, you have undoubtedly already seen my bored attempts on google pages and google sites). I am going to build this website from scratch, so that I can make exactly what I want.

For the web devs out there, be informed that I will be writing it in ASP.NET 3.5, as it is, in my opinion, a superior platform to php (it has built-in AJAX support). I am also too lazy to learn php, and being able to write all interactive content in a .NET language really accelerates the development process.

For the non-techies who just want to know what to look forward to, here is a rough rundown of features I want to include:

• A three-column, modular layout, featuring two sidebars.
• A hybrid forum/blog engine that emphasises thread-based posting, feedback, and discussion.
• An integrated chatroom/IM client that allows users to chat with other users of the site, as well as discuss specific topics in depth.
• An efficient AJAX user interface that updates page contents more easily and quickly.
• Any other ideas that readers think would be good.

I want the website be a really good place for discussion, about all topics. As said before, it will be a blend of blog and forum.

I must go now, but stay tuned for more details as the development schedule kicks into action!

party-type-thing and general post filling

Today is the occasion of my 16.07th birthday. I am having a party-type-thing. YAY. Anyway, we shall be watching movies, eating food, and having general merriment. Unfortunately some people couldn’t come, so they get -100 score. This is basically a filler post so that Hatkirby doesn’t complain about me going missing, but I shall update this here blog, saying how wonderful it all is. Tamasys, AtlanticSlamon, Ozzycaiphas, I expect to see pingbacks by the morrow detailing just how wonderful the party was! ps: Yay for links!

UPDATE: Tamasys took line honours with the first post, followed later by Ozzyfrog’s post, which went into a bit more depth. Caiphas and Atlanticslamon are slack and are yet to post.

Crazy Japanese Stationery

With several years of experience hosting Japanese homestay exchange students, I know for sure that Japanese people have the most innovative, creative, useful, and just plain weird stationery. The stimulus to this post was a recent parcel I got from one of our previous guests, containing, among other things, some erasable highlighters. WOW. Sure, everyone knows you can erase pencils, and erasable pens are fairly common if you look (especially in Japan). Erasable highlighters are an extra step in the progression of awesome.

Now, I haven’t even started on origami yet. Needless to say, origami is extremely amazing, wondrous, awe-inspiring, and many other benevolent adjectives. Now, one would normally consider a paper crane to be a decent effort in origami construction. Needless to say, making 1000 cranes is a tremendous achievement; so good in fact, that you are granted a wish for completing it. A famous story is that of Sadako Sasaki, who suffered radiation poisoning after the Hiroshima bombing in 1945. Extremely sick and nearing death, she decided to fold 1000 paper cranes, so that she might be visited by a crane and have her leukaemia cured. She worked day and night folding paper cranes. She only folded 644 cranes, before she became too weak to fold one more crane, and died soon after. Her friends completed the senbarazu (1000 paper cranes), in her memory. The paper crane, especially senbarazu, is a symbol of world peace.

On a lighter note, there are many other amazing origami constructions. Recently, I found out how to construct polyhedrons with origami. Starting with a modular component, I built disks, cubes, triangular hexahedrons, and stellated octahedrons. The crowning glory was a stellated icosahedron, which used well over 30 pieces of paper to construct. Here is proof that I have too much time on my hands.

The next wave

Ok, I will start by admitting that this blog has fallen into negligence. To rectify this, I have decided to start posting more often. I have a wealth of new ideas waiting to be blogged about (Ok, that was a bluff, but I will quickly figure something out, I hope!), so expect some new, hopefully interesting new material here. I think I will start with some easy topics, and might move into some more complex ideas. I want to deliver you, the reader, something more carefully considered than most blog posts.

Oh, and hopefully they are higher quality than this one.