Pale Musings

Thoughts from a mind twisted by tech and sports

In which the customers are forgotten in the war between Cable and the Network…

If you live in Central Oregon and have been a BendBroadband subscriber, chances are you longer receive the FOX feed.  KFXO and BendBroadband have been unable to reach a mutual agreement regarding the transmission fee KFXO is asking for from the cable company.

Now, I am unsure of the fairness of the fee.  It may be 100% legitimate and fair, or FOX may be asking more than they should.  I really do not have enough knowledge to form an opinion on the matter.

I am; however, qualified to give this outlook.  I am (one of) the customer.  I do not care what the dispute is.  I simply know that FOX should come through my television set when I ask it to.

The workaround proposed by KFXO is to purchase an over-the-air digital receiver.  There are 3 problems with that, or more depending on where one lives.

  1. Why should the customer have to pay for a piece of equipment they will likely (hopefully!) never need again once the two companies reach an agreement?
  2. Who will install this piece of equipment for those (most customers) that cannot get by with it in the house?
  3. What about the fact that more and more people use their DVR’s to record shows?  It will not work with a built-in cable DVR.
  4. For those out of the city, behind hills or in valleys the tuner is not even a viable option.

Personally, I blame both companies.  Each has their claims (FOX, BendBroadband) that the other isn’t being fair.  Grow up and reach an agreement!  Compromise a bit, each of you!  Offer an extension, whatever.

This time of year is of course huge considering the NFL is getting into the full playoff swing and some of the games each weekend are carried by FOX.  Think about the customer a bit and realize that all you are doing (both companies) is losing respect and possibly customers (on the cable side).

January 5, 2009 Posted by palehorse | Miscellaneous | | 4 Comments

JavaScript == English

I was born and raised in the USA and as such, the English language comes naturally to me.  Sure, I see the idiosyncrasies such as 3 words spelled 3 different ways sounding exactly the same (their they’re there), 1 word with multiple meanings (rich, row,  tear) or a word spelled the same, pronounced differently and meaning something different (lead, bow, ..) when that is done.  Due to these traits, it has been said that English is one of the, if not the, toughest languages to really master in the world if it’s not your native language. (Note: this is a generalization and every situation is different)  The basics are easy, but to really grasp the language takes real  immersion into the culture.

JavaScript feels the same to me.  If your native programming language uses similar concepts (Lisp, Scheme) then you’re probably good, but if you are among the majority coming from a C based language (C++, C#, Java..) you will likely have problems.  Sure, the basics are easy, it looks like your C based language, but mastering it can take a lot of time immersing yourself in its culture.

The question becomes this:  In today’s web environment, is it worth it to truly master the language?  The creator of JavaScript, Brendan Eich, casts his own doubts regarding his creations future:

I don’t really believe ES4 is a demon from the ancient world, of course. I’m afraid the JS-Hobbits are in trouble, though. As things stand today, Silverlight with C# or something akin (pushed via Windows Update) will raze the Shire-web, in spite of Gandalf-crock’s teachings.

Of course the Shire-web he refers to is the current status quo, and Gandalf is clearly Doug Crockford, one of (or perhaps THE) top authority on JavaScript.

My own experience have just recently brought me to an understanding of JavaScript that makes me feel like I finally really get it.

I feel like the <pick your Latin language based country here> who learned enough English when I was young to ask how much my dinner cost, where the bathroom is and to call a cab to get back to my hotel.  Finally, moving to the USA, living, working and playing with native English speakers I get the mastery of the language.

Having made that analogy, albeit a stretched one, I think I now have enough information to say, it depends.

What?  It depends?  I’ve just read this entire piece of junk for a non-answer!?!?  Well, yes.  Nothing in this life is black and white, or at least very few things are.  This includes JavaScript!

I really do think that JS’s multi-paradigm nature means there is no one-true-subset for all to use (whether they like it or not)

I feel JavaScript will of course be around for a long while.  While the web does need an overhaul, there are too many people and pages invested in JavaScript to make some grandiose statement that Silverlight, Flash, Air or whatever will replace it.  These new, powerful and exciting technologies have found ways to work with JavaScript and it is my belief that the world (wide web) will be a better place for it.

I also believe JavaScript will evolve, kicking and screaming if necessary.  I believe it will become more powerful for the programmer.  Of course, the problem with evolving JS is browser support and browser saturation.  The platforms must support it and people must upgrade.  That is the one advantage the other technologies have, at least for the moment.

If you feel you do not have the level of mastery you should have with JavaScript, I suggest immersing yourself with Doug Crockford’s writings.  It’s a great place to start.  Use jQuery as well since a lot of the examples you find force you to use patterns you may not have already investigated.  As with all things, practice and perseverance are the key!

Good luck on your journey, Grasshopper!

December 29, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Development, Internet | | 3 Comments

My Adventures Installing mono 2.0 on CentOS 4 to work with apache via mod_mono

Apparently the good folks over at the mono project decided to discontinue binary packages for the Red Hat line of linux distributions.  It’s a shame in a way, there are a lot of those installation out there, so it would be nice to keep things updated through yum or apt-install or rhupdate, etc..

On the up side, installing from source has never been easier.  In the past I have went through many hours of trying to get the right versions of different libraries that were needed.  With the official release of 2.0 it seems much better.  I thought I would share the steps that I went through.

Disclaimer: This worked on a fairly fresh install of CentOS 4.7.  I have not tried it on 5.x, nor on any other flavor of linux (SUSE, Ubuntu, etc..) so your mileage may vary.

At the time of the install (and this writing) the current mono stable version is 2.0.1 so all references will be to that version.  Here are the steps that I went through.

Preparation

Always be prepared – Boy Scouts motto…

In rooting around the web I did find a few helpful pointers.  First, make sure you have gcc installed.  Now this is one of those duh pieces of information, but in the fairness of completeness I thought I would mention it. (Note: If you do not have gcc or bison, install them! Credit The_Assimilator’s comment)

# yum install gcc-c++
# yum install bison
Next I installed the httpd-devel package.  I had read (will find the link later) that it helps some of the installation down the line.  In my case I just use yum to install it. (Note:  httpd-devel package is required by the mod_mono compile if apxs (Apache Extension Tool) is not on your machine. credit to The_Assimilator’s comment)
yum install httpd-devel

You may also require the glib-2.0 libraries (thanks to Michael Walsh for that bit).  If you receive the error “Package glib-2.0 was not found in the pkg-config search path” you can install it via yum as well.

yum install glib2-devel

The Main Dance

Next comes the meat of the installation.  First, I downloaded the necessary source packages.  I simply used wget to snag the core mono package, xsp (mono web server) and mod_mono (apache integration).

wget http://ftp.novell.com/pub/mono/sources/mono/mono-2.0.1.tar.bz2
wget http://ftp.novell.com/pub/mono/sources/xsp/xsp-2.0.tar.bz2
wget http://ftp.novell.com/pub/mono/sources/mod_mono/mod_mono-2.0.tar.bz2

Next we install the mono core

tar -vxjf mono-2.0.1.tar.bz2
cd mono-2.0.1
./configure
make
make install
cd ..

Next comes xsp

tar -vxjf xsp-2.0.tar.bz
cd xsp-2.0
./configure
make
make install
cd ..

At this point I recevied an error (I believe it was in the make process) that the compiler could not find the file dotnet.pc.  I found that it was indeed on my system so I simply had to export the path and then finsih the compile.

export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig
make
make install
cd..

Note: Make sure the file dotnet.pc is in that location.  If not, adjust the path above.

Finally we install mod_mono

tar -vxjf mod_mono-2.0.tar.bz2
cd mod_mono-2.0
./configure
make
make install

There, easy huh?

Configuration

You may want to verify a few thigns to make sure the configuration is ready to rock.  In my case, I am keeping the mono configuration in a separate file for sanity sake.  You can do that or put it all in your httpd.conf, it’s up to you.

<IfModule !mod_mono.c>
    LoadModule mono_module /usr/lib/httpd/modules/mod_mono.so
    AddType application/x-asp-net .aspx
    AddType application/x-asp-net .asmx
    AddType application/x-asp-net .ashx
    AddType application/x-asp-net .asax
    AddType application/x-asp-net .ascx
    AddType application/x-asp-net .soap
    AddType application/x-asp-net .rem
    AddType application/x-asp-net .axd
    AddType application/x-asp-net .cs
    AddType application/x-asp-net .config
    AddType application/x-asp-net .Config
    AddType application/x-asp-net .dll
    DirectoryIndex index.aspx
    DirectoryIndex Default.aspx
    DirectoryIndex default.aspx
</IfModule>
That was it.  I hope that helps!

November 6, 2008 Posted by palehorse | .NET, C#, Development, Operating Systems | , , | 10 Comments

To Boldly Go…

…well at least my name id boldly going.  Thanks to Ariel Waldman for point this out via Twitter.  You too can go to NASA’s Kepler project site and have your name included on a DVD being sent into space on the Kepler Mission.

July 30, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Science, Space | | No Comments Yet

Adventures in piping the line in to speakers in Vista

Playback Device Properties

Playback Device Properties

Yet another interesting change in the way Vista operations deals with the line in / microphone / various other possible audio input sources.  Vista apparently uses a software level driver to adjust itself for the source of the input.  One of the side effects of this is that the sound coming in from that source will not play through the speakers or headphone jack by default.

I say by default, but it is a little more complicated than that.  In Windows XP there was a setting in the playback device properties that allowed you to monitor the input, effectively playing the sound from the line in through the speakers or headphones.  A quick look in Vista shows that this option is missing.

Thanks to this post which pointed me to the Dell Community website, I was able to modify the registry.  My screen looks slightly different than the .NET Devhammer site, but the result is the same.

[EDIT]: Dell changed their community site around and I can no longer find the thread from above directly.  Thanks to Google’s cache I’ve tracked it down again.  The key you need to find is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}000\Settings\Filter\SpeakerHp\

(note: there are many entries with that GUID, you will have to look through each of them until you find one with the 000\Settings\Filter\SpeakerHp sub key)

You just need to create a BinaryValue name EnableInputMonitor and set the value to 01.[/EDIT]

One word of warning, after making this change you may experience serious feedback if you use a headset with a built in microphone.  I found that I must turn off the monitor function before plugging my headset in, otherwise it produces ear-splitting feedback that can be heard throughout my home.  I had not realized that headset could produce that many decibels!

July 24, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Operating Systems, Windows | | 2 Comments

Spelling is very important at Microsoft

While I am not saying that spelling is unimportant, indeed we should all try a little harder to improve our spelling and grammar, the update made available to me today in Vista just blows my mind.

Update for Windows Vista (KB995020)

Update for Windows Vista (KB995020)

It’s not so much that Microsoft feels it necessary to push out an update with five…yes that is only 5… words to the English and German dictionaries, it is the fact that it is flagged as important and that it may require a reboot!  The last time I looked, checking spelling has the option to add a word that has been flagged as incorrect to your local dictionary.  One button click is required to do this.  Uno.  Eins.  That’s it!  Yet, if I accept this update, according to the informational dialog, I may need to reboot!?  C’mon Microsoft!

I decided to read the knowledge base article for KB955020.  It shows me that the five words that will be added to the dictionaries are:

  • Friendster (Is that a real word?)
  • Nazr
  • Obama (Oh c’mon, that’s a proper name!  Surely we can add that manually?)
  • Racicot
KB995020 Article

KB995020 Article

Scrolling down in the article to the resolution section I see under Restart requirement that indeed I will have to reboot my computer.  Looking further down the page to the Workaround section shows me the Add to Dictionary method which I have already deduced.  The update itself just seems a bit unnecessary, don’t you agree?

In closing, beware of KB95502 from Microsoft Update as it may require you to reboot….all in the name of proper spelling.

July 14, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Humor, Internet, Operating Systems, Windows | | 1 Comment

Wherein Joel learns the bad points of turning an appliance upside down…

Ok, so by the very title you have probably already realized that my blunder should have been obvious, but it was not.  More about the flames in a minute, first a bit of history.

We moved into our new home 2 weeks ago.  It was a move that was a long time coming.  A new (2 year old) 3000 square foot house located in a nice neighborhood with just about every amenity we could ask for save a hot tub.  What a great event!

Other than the fact that we had to move of course.

I have never liked moving.  I am horrible at it.  Sure, I can lift things, put them down, all of that.  The area of suckage for me comes from the organizational aspect.  I pack horribly and have a hard time deciding what to do next, all of which leads to exhaustion and frustration.  None of that has bearing on this story other than to illustrate my frame of mind at the time of the incident in question.

Now, dear reader, I am not attempting to excuse my lack of foresight.  Indeed I take responsibility, the decision was ultimately mine.

In the new house, all of the bedrooms are upstairs and most of the living areas, save the loft / family room, are downstairs.  In a stroke of brilliance, the laundry room was placed upstairs to cut down on the up and down trips for the unending stream of dirty clothes created by 2 adults and 2 children.  The only real issue turned out to be getting the appliances upstairs to the laundry room.

The stairway is beautifully designed with a 90 degree turn about 1/3 of the way up.  Most of the day we had struggled with this corner while hauling dressers, king and queen mattresses, a couch, a desk and other large furnishings.  Finally we came to the big boys.  The washer and dryer.

After getting the washer to the corner, we quickly realized that making the turn would be nigh impossible.  We had 2 of us on the bottom pushing it up and one on the top directing the ascent.  There was not room on the tiny landing at the corner to set it upright and get back in behind it.  We contemplated rolling it on its top, then laying up the remaining stairway and then rolling it back upright at the top of the stairs.

To our surprise, it worked!  We managed to manhandle the beast the rest of the way into the laundry room and collapse for a respite.  As we recuperated we discussed the dryer.  Its weight was a fair amount less than the washer, but the bulk was still the problem so we agreed (again, my decision ultimately) to employ the same technique that had worked so wonderfully on it’s mate.

As expected, we did get it upstairs with considerably less effort.  Yay for us!  Sure, there was some odd noises in side as we tipped it, things falling that had likely been inside pockets of washed clothing, that sort of thing.  The point was, it was upstairs and it worked!

About two weeks later as I was arriving home from work, my lovely wife and son where rotating some laundry for me.  As the duty usually falls in my lap, I was most appreciative of their efforts.  I was still on the main floor hanging up my coat and such when there was a lout *POP* from upstairs, the sound of panic and shuffling feet.

As I ascended to the top level, I could hear the voices of my wife and son. Words like “It’s on fire” and “There was a spark” drifted to my ears prompting me to dash the rest of the way.  Fortunately the fire had died out almost as quickly as it had started, and the drier power was no longer on thanks to the circuit breaker.  My son had the level-headedness to pull the vent off of the wall as well to prevent fire from going into the house vent, good job son!

It turns out that the upside-down trip had dislodges some coins that may have been inside the dryer for years, possibly.  Some of the coins became stuck on the top during the turning.  At some point, one of the coins dislodged and fell into a circuit, causing a short with a spark that ignited some lint inside the beast.

In the end, we were lucky.  Nobody was injured and no serious damage was done.  After having a repairman look at the dryer to clean it out and confirm it was working properly everything went back to normal.  The only damage was a slight ding to the bank account and some damage to my pride, but that was minimal and will quickly heal.

The lesson was well learnt and I will never again attempt to “roll” something like that.  A better lesson may even have been to hire somebody to do it, and indeed had we more notice about the move, we would have done so.  I also realize the value of having service done to the twin beasties and will put that on our annual to do schedule.

If you’ve read this far into my lengthy recount, you must truly be bored!  i hope I entertained and possibly enlightened a little.  Until next time, fair reader!

-J

June 16, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Blogging, Miscellaneous | | No Comments Yet

Lawn chair balloonist Kent Couch’s chair found!

Kent_Couch_Cluster_Balloon It has been ten months since I reported about a local business owner and cluster balloon enthusiast Kent Couch took his ride from Bend across Oregon.  After a little more than 10 months, someone finally found his lawn chair and video camera!

Congratulations to Kent!  I know that the longer the lawn chair and video camera stayed missing, the less likely that it would ever be found and reported.  I’m sure he’s quite happy about it since the camera contained the documentary of his flight from the perspective of the rider.

May 21, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Blogging, Internet, Society / Politics | | No Comments Yet

SigmaTel Sound Driver, Microphone and Vista. How do I fix them?

My current laptop is a nice Dell Inspiron 1720. For the most part, I’m pretty happy with it. There are a few things that still get my dander up, if you will, but I attribute most of them to Vista(Free up Disk Space, recognizing CD burner).

Audio Event DialogThe recent issue has been my headset jack. For a long time, each time I plugged something in to the microphone jack I would get the prompt from Vista asking what type of device was being connected. I would always leave the “Never Ask” checkbox unchecked just so I would have the ability in the future to easily use some other device.

The problem started about 2 weeks ago. I believe (although I don’t know for sure) that I accidentally checked the aforementioned option. From that point on I was no longer able to get to that dialog, and in addition my microphone would not work with some applications. Windows would indicate that it was hooked up and the level meter in the properties dialog would move suggesting that it was working; however, in applications like recording software and games using voice chat I would get no sound at all.

Searching around Google it turned out that many other people have had the same problem. The disturbing thing was that there are a lot of solutions (see the links) that solve the problem for some and not the others.

I tried most of the suggestions that I found with no luck. The one that sounded like it should work involved a check box that tells the driver to reset all popup alerts. That was a no-go as well.

Getting to Device ManagerIn the end, there was a comment that suggested that reinstalling the driver would do the trick. I downloaded the latest from Dell (which was the version I already had installed), went into Device Manager (Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager) including telling it to remove all files and rebooted. After doing so, Vista did detect my sound card and reinstalled the software. The next time I plugged in, viola! There was my dialog!

Uninstalling the Sound DriverI don’t know if it is a Vista problem or a SigmaTel problem, but it is one that should be addressed. If you’ve found your way to this page and the reinstallation method does not work for you, try some of the other links from above. There are a lot of potential solutions, one of them may be right for you.

May 19, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Operating Systems, Windows | | 2 Comments

How to fix the Outlook To Do Bar stuck loading problem

Just the other day a co-worker of mine asked me if our Exchange Server was having problems. It was not so I asked why he was asking about that. It turned out that his To Do bar in Outlook was just a big gray box with the message “Loading” displayed. He had left it for literally hours, restarted Outlook and rebooted his machine all to no avail.

Outlook To-Do Bar exampleMy previous experiences with Outlooks shortcuts and calendar lists disappearing popped to mind so I had him exit Outlook and rename his Outlook.XML file. Sure enough, it worked! When he restarted Outlook his To Do bar came back to life. He had to reset it to show the items he wanted, but everything has been fine since.

This is just another example of Outlook frequently corrupting a file it uses for UI settings. I still do not know why it seems to be so fragile. I have submitted my experiences to Microsoft but I do not know if there are any plans to make the process a little more robust. Given the importance of Outlook in today’s business world (for many companies at least) I hope that this issue will get the attention that it deserves. There are some in my company that are greatly affected by Outlook problems.

If you happen to see any weird Outlook UI issues, first thing to try, in my opinion, is renaming (and therefore rebuilding) the Outlook.XML. Good luck to all!

April 15, 2008 Posted by palehorse | Windows | | 3 Comments