A Way of Living

Religion will play a role in the upcoming presidential campaigns. On one side is the incumbent who will use his religion as a ploy to garner votes. On the other side is a man who lives by and for his religion.

A question we should ask ourselves is 'what is Religion?'

For some it is a deep immersion into a belief and a faith. For others it is something to avoid. We all have our intricate reasons for selecting our own path.

The real reason for Religion is to provide people with a set of rules. If the rules are followed, a society becomes stable; it grows and prospers. The Ten Commandments, for instance, are a common sense set of rules. They keep a society from decaying into chaos.

These societal rules are simple....
- Care for others and treat them with respect.
- Be humane in your treatment of other creatures.
- Protect those who are weaker.
- Help those who need help.
- Earn your way in life and others will respect you and reward you.

I call it the religion of 'being a human being'.
Embrace it. Live it. And we will all be better for it.

Thank you Steve Jobs

I was never the Apple groupie as several of my friends were.

Through the 80s, 90s and 00s, we were impacted by significant technology shifts.

- IBM brought computing into businesses
- Microsoft brought computing onto our desks
- Apple brought computing into our hands

Each company had it's guru, visionary and driving force, without whom, these changes would not have happened.

Today, it is appropriate that I write this short tribute on my iPad.

Thank you Steve. We will always ponder what other wonders you could have brought us if you had the time.

Rest In Peace.

Are we?

"Ultimately, the thing that is super important in the grand scale of history is 'Are we on the path to becoming a multi-planet species or not?'" [Elon] Musk said at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in San Diego this week. "And if we're not, that's not a very bright future," he added. "We'll simply be hanging out on Earth until some eventual calamity claims us."

What made our country great was our perserverance and our drive; we could out-think, out-run, out-maneuver, out-anything anyone anywhere anytime. When President Kennedy told us to go to the moon, we did. In an era before serious computer technology, it was skill, intelligence and guts that got us there. Our entire country was proud! We had no equal anywhere. We were the best and after the moon landing, we knew it.

In contrast, our leaders now want us to be just another face in the High School Yearbook of Nations. You all know those faces - not the valedictorian, just the many unexceptional faces.

Is this really what we want America to be?

My Guardian, My Protector,.....

Thank you  to my Guardian Angel, God, Jesus, my Mother,....  for helping me bring my father home safely.

Your intervention saved me and so also, my father.  You helped us get home safely.

Thank you for being there when we needed it most.

Obama said Osama's Dead!

Obama said Osama's Dead!
Obama said Osama's Dead!
Obama said Osama's Dead!
Obama said Osama's Dead!
Obama said Osama's Dead!
Obama said Osama's Dead!
Obama said Osama's Dead!

There's a nursery rhyme in this somewhere....

Lost

Usually, I try to write a lengthy story to convey my perspective and my opinion.
In this case though, straight-forward is the best approach.

About 4 nights ago, a stray cat wandered into our garage.  I fed it - it ate a lot.  In the morning, she was gone.  The next night she reappeared and we repeated the process.  This time I was able to inspect it with a flashlight.  It was very thin and seemed very old.  When I touched her she would purr.  Even in her state she understood compassion and caring.

She did allow me to touch her and I could see that she had been spayed and micro-chipped.  We borrowed a chip reader and informed the Humane Society. 

Over the next 2 days, we tried to feed her and found that she just could not keep the food down.  My wife carefully fed her baby food, a bit at a time - this did not stay down either.  So, the following day, my wife took her to a veterinarian.  The cat has since passed. 

Through the Humane Society, the veterinarian was able to get in contact with the owner.  The back-story is that the owner moved into a building which did not allow pets and gave the cat to someone who was to take the cat to the Humane Society.  Instead this very old cat ended up in our driveway, emaciated, in dire need of help.  IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THIS WAY!

When will people begin to have compassion for their pets?  When you take a pet you assume a responsibility.  It is not a disposable item!  You need to make this personal commitment or not take a pet at all. 

Iris' (yes, we named her) life should not have ended by being lost and searching for help!

The Wisdom of the Holy Man

I recall a time when we looked to our elders for wisdom and guidance. There was a time when that wisdom and guidance came from the church elders; when the religious leaders could show us the right path. This was a path of compassion and concern for your neighbor, a love for your country and a desire to do the right thing. I've never really been a church person; but I do adhere to and believe in the Commandments. And I do believe that God is guiding and watching us. Yes, I do believe I have a guardian angel -- I know that during times of young naive stupidity something or someone intervened to protect me (several times).

Disregarding the Jeremiah Wrights, the Christian Church in the US tends to possess the wisdom from the likes of Billy Graham. Maybe this is because Billy Graham is such a driving force and by sheer will he imparted common sense and wisdom into our preachers.

I know very little about the Muslim religion, aside from what I see on television and read in print. However, it seems to me that if a religious leader wanted to build a site for the gathering of all religions, he would first understand the effect of certain actions on those religions and furthermore on the surrounding community.

Here is an ABC News article which gives some interesting insight into Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/ground-mosque-imam-project-ahead-interest-national-security/story?id=11589316

He seems to be sincere in his desire. But, there are several factors which need some further attention............
My expectation is that he should have a better understanding of the US, the country which he wants to embrace. 9/11 was a horrendous act and it was carried out by devout Muslims. He understands this. He also understands that if all of this were entirely reversed and Christians had carried out a similar attack in a Muslim country, and then built a large Church near the site of that attack, it would be as much a 'spit in the face' as this mosque is to us. I also doubt that naming that church after a former christian conquest would be accepted either. The original Cordoba mosque in Spain commemorates a military conquest. If his goal is to embrace our country and further the acceptance of Islam, then the initial decision should have been to place it somewhere else and call it something guiding such as the "Friendship Mosque".

Now it seems that no matter how this situation plays out, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf has created a situation where there are no winners. That was some great wisdom and guidance Imam.

Hmmm.... Or maybe I should say Well played Imam.

A Battlefield Trophy

I was recently listening to Hugh Hewitt - as I usually do on my way home from work. Hugh made an observation: no one would have allowed a Shinto temple to be built at Pearl Harbor (I've paraphrased this). Now I've let this sink on for a few days and it's time for me to comment.

The September 11th attack on the Twin Towers really was this generation's Pearl Harbor in significance.

We now face the reality that this same enemy will build a huge memorial to this horrendous act at Ground Zero.

Let there be no mistake about this! If their desire is to make amends or to build a bridge, there are solemn and sincere ways to do this. By building a multi-story mosque, they are planting the flag of the conqueror on the battlefield of the vanquished!

Wake up New York City!!!

Bungling and Fumbling - Leadership American Style

Where are the leaders?

On April 20th, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
It did not require a great deal of intelligence or education at that time, to see that this was going to be a truly devasting environmental event!

What it required was swift action from our leaders to get the hole plugged and begin corraling and capturing the oil.  But, for WEEKS, nothing happened....  As Obama put it - "BP has to deal with it".
It wasn't until 2 months later, that the President actually went to look at this MASSIVE problem!

The Government then compounded the effort to contain this by assigning an incompetent Coast Guard Admiral as overseer, by refusing assistance from other countries, and by piling on a huge bureaucracy of federal agencies which have no ability to fix anything.

From the top down, there has been no leadership!  At any time, the President could have stepped up and allowed a bypass of the Jones Act to allow for outside assistance!  He could have become a leader rather than one of the flock.  This is what we expect of our President.

In fairness, we need to include all of the Senate and the Congress, as well as all the environmental groups, and all the oil companies in our derision.  Where is the outcry from the Republicans, from the Sierra Club, from Greepeace,....?  Where is the technology which the oil companies are supposed to possess to address this?

They all should be very very very very ashamed!  You are a despicable lot for not stepping up and speaking up!  THIS IS NOT A REALITY SHOW!  IT IS REAL LIFE AND DEATH AND SUFFERING!

Al Gore one-liners

To the masseuse:
"is it hot in here or is it just global warming?"

To a visitor:
"Oh, that's my polar bear rug!"

The Mist: an Observation....

We are now into the 6th week of the BP oil disaster.
BP is struggling. No one seems to have noticed that none of the other oil companies are stepping up with technology to fix this!

This must mean that none of the deep-water drilling oil companies have the technology to handle this! That is frightening!

The Mist

Suddenly the air about you is filled with a fine mist. The small brown droplets begin to stain your skin. The smell is acrid.

You try to cover your mouth and nose. Each inhale pulls drops into your lungs. You can feel them in your throat. Your lungs start to burn. You try to take shallow breaths but you cough some and then begin to gasp for more air. Each breath brings still more drops into your lungs. Breathing becomes more and more difficult.... your gasps for air become more prolonged. Breathing becomes agonizing.

The end of your life is agonizingly painful! Your skin burns, your lungs sear. In your last moments, you see the bodies of your friends and neighbors around you - each succumbing to the same fate. About this scene is the lingering brown mist.

Any living creature that encounters this mist faces the same horribly agonizing death.

As the mist moves along, it leaves the bodies of the dead - 100s, 1000s, 10,000s, 100,000s, .........

This is a chemical agent attack! AND it is currently happening in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico!

.

What's To Come.....

I am now counting myself as a member of the uncounted community.... those that are not really unemployed but can no longer count on a steady paycheck. The US unemployment rate is at 10%. Some analysts say that if you count my group then the unemployment is nearer to 19%. This is a shocking statistic. Even more so when you are the 1 in 5 that is not earning a steady salary.

Do the people that embraced the Obama euphoria ever sit and reflect on what they have wrought?

We are now a year into his presidency and so far, his accomplishments are minimal. Sure there has been a lot of hand-shaking but really not a lot of actual accomplishments.

- More than a trillion dollars went into the first stimulus - it really was nothing more than the democratic party paying the debts they owed for years and years of promises.... it was not intended to address the economic issues.

- Then came the second trillion dollar stimulus which propped up the failing car industry - an industry made up of poor leadership and bad decisions.

- Now it is time to spend another trillion dollars on a healthcare reform bill. This is a bill which, similar to the tax code, no one can understand. The question still lingers.... why not just enroll everyone into Medicare? Medicare does work and the infrastructure for it is already in place.



BY THE END OF THIS YEAR, THE DEMOCRATS WILL HAVE SPENT MORE THAN 3 TRILLION DOLLARS! AND still I don't see a steady paycheck in my near future.

And what about those campaign promises?

Infrastructure: As the president acknowledged during the presidential campaign, our electrical, water, sewage, road and transportation infrastructure is failing nationwide. Initially, he said that creating jobs to repair and upgrade would get people back to work and boost our economy. Of all the statements and promises, this one makes sense. But, sadly, it is not being pushed forward.

Afghanistan: troops are dying daily; yet there is no decision on what to do - stay in, pull out???? Petraeus speaks and the politicians ignore him.

Iran, North Korea, Trade - again, no decisions, no action!

And, no one is complaining! No one is talking about this! If this was Bush administration (I backed his first term, but not his second), it would be editorial fodder.


As an example of more ineptitude;

Here in Hawaii, the unemployment fund is running short of funds. Yes, we are a 'Blue' state and as such, the solution being proposed is to increase the employers unemployment tax from about $1200 per employee per year to more than $12,000 per employee per year. What an absolutely absurd idea!

And for an idea which is even more ludicrous, I give you this one. A financial group in the UK has come up with the novel idea of adding a transaction tax to all financial transactions. It seems that the cause of the global economic meltdown may have been caused by frivolous financial transactions, so by taxing these, it may serve as a deterrent in the future. So, in addition to taxing my earnings, taxing my purchases, and taxing me for having employees, they now want to tax my financial deposits and withdrawals!!!!???

A Despicable Act(s)

Yesterday, a hazmat team was at the Diamondhead campus.  The staff and students had reported a foul smell.  They found an animal carrier containing a dead dog.  The entire carrier had also been wrapped in a tarp.  

What a strange way to dispose of the dog.  No matter the circumstances surrounding the death of this dog, it should not have been dumped in a field.  It was a very despicable act!  They could have buried the dog or taken it to the Humane Society for burial.  There is no excuse for handling it in this way!

Then it seems that most people tend to NOT do the right thing.

About a week ago, we saw several people walking up the hill near our house.  Several small groups of people kept passing a dog which seemed to be searching the hillside.  My wife and I initially assumed the dog belonged to someone that was walking nearby.  But it soon became apparent that the dog was alone.  I was able to leash the dog and we gave it food and water.  Of all the people passing by, not one person even took the time to check on the dog - no one cared! What has happened to compassion?  What a statement this lack of action says about human nature in general.  I have come to believe that the percentage of people who will stand up and just do the right thing, is actually very small.

Somehow I wanted to lead into the Michael Vick discussion, but I could not find a smooth transition....  After all the sheer cruelty and brutality that this man inflicted, he now seems destined to become even more glorified, more famous and more wealthy than he ever was.  In the press conferences and the interviews, he only speaks of the impact that dogfighting had on his life; he has never stated that he has any remorse for his actions.  It is obvious that he has changed very little.  He was not punished for his actions, he was rewarded for them!  

Web: White collar or Blue collar? An Observation

Yesterday, I attended a one-day Writing for the Web class. Mostly, I took the class for personal reasons; to improve my blogging and to be more effective at modifying my web sites.

The class was completely full - about 35 people. At the start of the class, we had to introduce ourselves and give a snapshot of why we were in the class. About 90% of the class were there to become web designers as a career track!

Does this make you wonder, as it does me, that the entire web world is becoming more of a blue collar profession? I now see job postings for web designers at about $18/hour. That is now on par with a CDL truck driver.

At one time, higher education meant less competition in jobs. And as a result, a higher earning level. We are beginning to see that these technical skills are now fundamental skills which most people need to possess. They are no longer what sets you apart from the pack but rather, what allows you to become part of the pack.

State Furloughs

The economy sucks!
By now we all now this; the nightly news' employment and layoff statistics verify this.
People are getting laid off, businesses are closing and people are taking salary cuts everywhere!

Here in Hawaii, the Governor has decided that, to alleviate the budget shortfall, all state workers should take a weekly furlough. One day a week, off without pay. The alternative would be to reduce the number of state employees.

Well as usual, the union is not happy with either choice. AND, of course, they have no alternate plan. Their only plan is to take the state to court!

What yanked my chain today was this: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090623/NEWS01/906230344/-1/NEWS01
Search for 'thousands of cards'.....

The union is launching a campaign. They want state workers to distribute cards to places where they do business.

By doing this, they are saying that they have more value than anyone else and therefore must keep their income untouched, no matter what happens to everyone else! What a selfish elitist attitude!

HGEA, you suck!

To Jimmy Page....

I imagine that you had expected a resurrection of Led Zeppelin to bring back the glory of past years. Certainly you would have sold out stadiums and arenas. And you would have created a new following of Led Zep fans. It would have been tremendous and glorious.

I saw Led Zeppelin in Chicago, in 1975. By then, I had seen most of the great bands (and I saw many more after). But, there was absolutely nothing which could match that concert. The raw power and energy - it was phenomenal.

Over the years I have collected some concert footage of Led Zeppelin. The quality is lacking in some but what comes through in each one is the soul of Led Zeppelin - the endless talent and showmanship.

I am certain that this is what Jimmy and Co. wanted to relive by touring again.

In my collection of footage are some that are unique - Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and Aerosmith, Jimmy Page and Counting Crows..... and then we recently watched Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis closing the Olympics. Each of these is also great to see again and again, not because it is Led Zeppelin (they are not), but because of the talent showcased in each clip. I've watched these many times and I think there is an idea, a concept here which you should explore.

Jimmy, bring your friends into the studio, into small venues and play. Capture this and produce a DVD - I am certain the outcome will be intense; it will capture the talent and the soul of Led Zeppelin. Make your own tribute to the Greatest Band - I will buy it!

A Fan

Links in a Chain

As I look back on the chain of past events, I sometimes wonder why their correlation was not apparent to me. My father is convinced that it all stemmed from a car accident so many years ago. I did not think so; but then the cause, as the Brain Scan showed was very real and physical. The scan showed extensive scarring on the frontal lobe of the brain. By the time it was discovered though, many years had passed and there was nothing to be done but deal with what was to come. Even if we had discovered this much earlier, we don't know if anything would have gone differently.

I am writing this because I need to. Maybe this will also help someone else.

Sometime after graduating college, the tension between my mother and I grew more intense. As the years passed, there were bouts of paranoia where she was convinced that people were conspiring against her. This caused friction with neighbors and acquaintances. Don't get me wrong; there were also some very good days. My father had to suffer through this more than I since I was away for most of these years. As she got older, she refused to see any specialist and her doctor misdiagnosed most everything. She did not want to move into my home, even though she knew it was necessary. Her obstinacy was a consequence of the disease - dementia causes the mind to seek comfort in familiar surroundings. I know this now.

It wasn't until about 6 months prior to her passing, that we finally had a true diagnosis. She had Frontal Lobe Dementia. The path to finding the real diagnosis was an ordeal in itself - it is a trail of incompetent doctors, doctors who diagnose by 'googling', doctors who just don't think before they act, and doctors who are everything you want healers to be - this in itself is another story.

In the last months, my mother would hear sounds and misinterpret them to be something directed at her. We tried a multitude of pain medications to control the neck and head pain that she had. I know the pain was real - she had compression of C1 and C2 vertebrae, probably caused by that car accident. And she may have had pain from her Dementia as well. No one really knows the full spectrum of symptoms. Food lost its true taste - what she liked before, she now hated. This could have been a result of the medication as well though. Interestingly, the high blood pressure which she had most of her life went away. As the days passed, she ceased to even attempt to walk - it was a chore for her to stand and walk the length of the bed. We began serving her meals in bed and we placed a commode next to the bed. Later it came to a point where I had to lift her up and onto the commode. I became the parent and she the child. Persuasion was not possible - she had to be treated and handled as you would a child.

Shortly after my mother's Dementia diagnosis, I met with the local Alzheimer's Association. They provided some information on how the disease would progress but did not offer any real help in getting assistance and giving us any real direction. It was purely by chance that a nurse suggested I contact one of the Hospices. We found a hospice which allowed us to keep my mother at home, they provided a hospital bed in our home. This was a real Godsend at the time when we needed it most. My mother's last three months were in 'at home' hospice care. By the time hospice had started, my father and I had become very strained from lifting and moving my mother to care for her. There were times when she and my dad ended up on the floor, rugs and floors became soiled - the constant cleaning was a chore. Hospice taught us how to care for her in the hospital bed. We were provided with bandages, salves and a suction machine to clear her throat. We received the proper tools and instruction on their use.

In the last few weeks, she lost the ability to chew and swallow. We transitioned from whole foods to pureed foods to baby foods in a couple of months.

Words became arbitrary - she made no sense and she did not understand us.

It is the most terrible thing to watch someone that you love and care for endure this. It is a strain to care for them 24 hours a day without a respite.

There were certain events which occurred when they were supposed to. I was able to move my parents in with my wife and I just weeks before her dementia worsened. We found hospice just as the strain was physically affecting us all. 'At home' hospice is covered my Medicare - this meant that my mother received loving care by her family - and the care was supplemented by medical professionals. The financial cost on my parents was small.

Thank you for coming to our aid when we needed you St Francis Hospice.
Thank you, my wife, for being there when I needed you.

Mother, please rest in peace. We miss you and remember you always.

Your son.

Breaking News

January 14, 2009 approx. 8pm.
The Safeway on Kapahulu Avenue.
We witnessed (by counting) at least 15 police cars and 1 ambulance in the parking lot. We also witnessed the coroner's van leaving the parking lot. Crime Scene tape was up in the parking lot near Burgers On The Edge and we observed police taking statements from many people.
With this amount of presence, the event must have been a shooting and the presence of the coroner's van indicates a fatality.

Turns out that this was a domestic dispute gone very bad. The woman asked someone at Safeway to call 911 because her life was in danger. A plainclothes police officer intervened, the man released a pit bull on the officer and the officer shot the pit bull. Dog did not die. Man was arrested.

Stewardship....

As the saying goes... We are the Stewards of this Earth.

In reality, there are very literally, millions of things which require our attention and our concern. Being at the top of the food chain, having opposable thumbs and the capability of speech, we have assumed by default, the role of the caretaker of this planet and all that occupy it.

From being 'green' to concern for the polar bears to sponsoring orphaned children, there is more than enough demand on those of us willing to give some time and money. My wife and I have done the weekly beach cleanups, we recycle, and we donate our time, our money, food and clothes to various causes. But, we have found a cause which has embraced us and we it.....

The climate where we live is temperate and fairly mild. So, it is an appropriate environment for orphaned and discarded animals. Dogs tend to get picked up and handled very quickly... however, cats tend to become feral within a couple of weeks after being dumped. There will be people who jeer us but be aware that feral cats stem from poor stewardship by people - these animals are just trying to survive. We have even witnessed someone dumping a very tiny kitten - how did they think this kitten would even have a chance at survival?!

Why do we take care of feral cats - the answer is very simple. It is the right thing to do!

Election Day 2008

- 11/08/2008 -

"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." This saying seems like a good place to start.

I recall the mid-1970s - the oil crisis and the long lines at the gas stations.... gas prices soared (in 1970s prices)... then came the 1980s and we had another oil crisis.... the 1990s had another.... and now we are in it again!

The government slowly addressed these crisis by implementing minimum mileage requirements for vehicles. But there was never a real effort to shift into some other technology. We always reverted back to V8 Trucks and ever larger SUVs. Whenever the gas crunches hit, the US car makers report huge financial losses and go to the government for a bailout -- and the government eventually does. So, these companies (mostly GM) take the money and they retool their plants, they re-engineer their vision and they bring to market the next ultra-enormous SUV. Where is the common sense?

What other companies can continually 'miss the mark' and still survive? There are efforts by some very small companies (GEM, Tesla, etc.) to develop true electric vehicles. These companies need the funding, not GM!!!!

What made me rant today was that I heard a bit of a recent Obama speech, in which he urges President Bush to extend the bailout plan to the US carmakers! How f*****g absurd!

What really needs to happen is that the CEO of GM, G. Richard Wagoner Jr., gets fired without his parachute BEFORE any bailout happens! We need to stop rewarding poor job performance -- AND THIS REALLY IS POOR JOB PERFORMANCE! What is most disheartening is that, considering GM's influence in the marketplace, they could be the overriding force to shift from low-mileage gas vehicles to a REAL alternative. But, we all know that the motivation, again, is pure greed!

- 11/04/2008 -

Mostly I want to just get this recorded to have a say in this historic day.....
The first polling place (in NH) just closed about 5 minutes ago.

I have some concerns that Obama is just too junior in politics to be the Commander in Chief. And of course, I have concerns about Biden and his real motivation to having accepted the second place award. But, one of my friends, who is not a citizen, presented an interesting perspective to me.... Basically, over the two Bush terms, the World has acquired a 'bad taste' for America. The World is looking for a dramatic change to give them a reason to accept US again. I do believe that is true.

My concerns though still stand. I do believe that McCain would be the best choice for President. His integrity and honor seem to be lost on the majority of the population.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day!
An Obama win will bring jubilation and a rebirth of sorts. A McCain win will bring lots of introspection and 'What Happened?' moments.

Technology: Good, Bad and Ugly

Disclaimer: these observations are based upon my experiences.
And UGLY does not refer to aesthetics or appearance.
....................................................................................................................

Sonicwall CDP6080 - GOOD! [6/22/2009]
I've spent several weeks evaluating this product. The product is marketed on two levels; file-level backups and image system backups.
The file-level backups work well and the users ability to restore files is reasonably intuitive. The server application backups work well with SQL Server, MS Exchange and Active Directory. The image backups for servers works well - but for PCs, the image backup is sorely lacking.
Sonicwall uses a repackaged Acronis product and has neglected to implement the version which allows for a Workstation Universal Restore, even though it is available from Acronis.
My biggest issue with the product though is the lack of bandwidth throttling or backup scheduling for the agent. When you first install and start the agent, depending on how much data you select for backup, the CDP agent will consume a substantial amount of bandwidth. However, once the initial PC synchronization is done, the continuous file backups has very little impact on PC or network performance.
Overall, the product is good... But with a little more tweaking, it could be great.

Western Digital My Book Essential Edition - I attached it to a Windows XP Home SP2 PC. I shared the drive but all attempts failed with a message indicating a failure of permissions. The key part of the message, though, is "Not enough server storage is available to process this command". After a couple of hours of internet searching, I found the answer.... It is a matter of increasing the IRPStackSize - here is the regedit import:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters]
"IRPStackSize"=dword:00000015

Copy this regedit and save it as IRPStackSize.reg, then run this on your PC.

AVENTAIL EX-1500 SSL-VPN Appliance - VERY GOOD IN ITS DAY!
We replaced our Aventail box with a Sonicwall 2000 SSL-VPN Appliance a couple of years ago. We've been wrestling with what to do with the old Aventail box.....????? This has led me to download FreeNAS and OpenFiler. If your prospective NAS box is a standard off the shelf PC, I am sure that both will work fine. But, I had problems with both downloads. FreeNAS had several issues which stopped it from booting; I worked through these and found that it could not write to the USB stick as it touted. The problem is most likely because it cannot write to a single device when there are multiple USB ports. OpenFiler does not support USB sticks so that test ended quickly.
If anyone has had success re-allocating an Aventail appliance, please let me know.

DELL PE6850 - EXCELLENT!
All of the Dell Server hardware is very good. Over the years I have worked on Compaq, HP and IBM servers. For the most part, the Hot Swap drives never really worked in true Hot Swap mode. About a month ago, I had a drive failure on a Dell Poweredge 6850 running RAID5, the server logged the error. I set the drive to Offline, pulled the drive from the server with the OS still running, screwed a new drive into the carriage and inserted the drive into the server. The PERC controller almost immediately began rebuilding the drive.

D-Link G700 Wireless Access Point - VERY GOOD!
After years of installing strictly the Netgear WG102 Access Points, I recently encountered a D-Link G700. I like this product very much. I am very impressed by it's distance and strength in a dense office environment; it, by far, outperforms the Netgear WG102. [Note: while the WG102 is PoE capable, the G700 is not.]

LaCie 1u Rack-Mount Ethernet Disks - VERY GOOD!
Had the 1TB disk in play for more than 2 years and it has performed without failure. Recently installed the 2TB model also. Both are used to backup a server farm and therefore handle a lot of stress from multiple servers simultaneously.
UPDATE: The 1TB version recently stopped responding (after 2 years of constanst use). I spent several days corresponding with LaCie on this and never received an appropriate response. I did find several restore image files on their site though.
My system is the 4 Drive version and there is only one version which works:
LaCieEDdiskRestore-4HDD_5.0_no_pdf.iso
To apply the OS:
1. connect a monitor, keyboard and USB drive to the LaCie Disk
2. boot from drive with LaCieEDdiskRestore-4HDD_5.0_no_pdf.iso image
This image will...
format the first drive
create a base partition with the embedded Windows XP
then format the remaining drives

Netgear FVS124G VPN Routers - UGLY!
Even with the latest firmware, these routers frequently lose their configuration. Not reliable!

Netgear GSM7324 - High failure rate - BAD!
Because of its price point, we initially deployed many of these. Within 2 years, we had a 50% failure rate.

Companies that rely on user forums for customer support - BAD and UGLY!

Netgear WG102 Wireless Access Points - GOOD!
Only occasionally have issues. Overall a good product and good value; especially when paired with Netgear's unmanaged PoE switches.

From My Perch.... Humorous Observations AND....

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While driving the other day, a car passed by with a cone stuck between the front wheels. The driver was oblivious to the noise it made......

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A few years ago, I went to the DMV to renew my license. At the counter, you have to present your paperwork to the attendant and then the attendant administers the eye test.
The attendant told the man in front of me to look into the eye test machine and read line 5. The man stepped up, placed his face against the viewer..... about a minute of total silence passed and then attendant said "Out Loud!". The man then read the letters so that the attendant could also hear them.

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The toilet paper in the restroom of our data center is made by Kimberly-Clarke.
The roll is labeled "Professional Grade".

Wonder what the career track is for this...

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Words That I Like:
'kleptocracy' - heard on the Dennis Miller show
'annoising' - used by my wife to describe someone loud and annoying


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Things I Do Not Like:
The phrase "It's only business" is NOT acceptible when you are a small business!

The Cats.....

It all began rather innocently years ago. Our dog had recently passed. A mother cat had given birth in our garage. We captured the three kittens. One was turned into the Humane Society, one managed to escape and one we kept. Kiki became the first.

During nightly exercise walks, we noticed and then later, began to feed the stray cats we encountered. One thing led to another and we became involved in the Feral Cat program. We assist with capturing stray cats and having them neutered. And we feed them of course.

M&M was one of the tiniest strays. She looks sort of like a miniature Puma. M&M became the second.

One day this large striped dopey cat showed up at our feeding area. Extremely friendly, cuddly and just a rag doll of a cat. Paws is just such a carefree guy. He likes to slam into your legs to let you know he is there ready wanting affection. We were concerned that his easy acceptance of strangers and his dopiness would be his downfall, so Paws became number three.

M&M has a brother - all black, slightly cross-eyed and knock-kneed rear legs. He is very skittish and untrusting. As such, he tends to run without looking. One day he was struck by a car. At the time, the damage looked to be a dislocated rear leg. Over weeks, he recovered somewhat and when we were able to catch him, he became number four.

All the while, another cat kept coming to to our house - he had decided to adopt us. He was just a monster grey and white cat. He had a 'take no crap' attitude. For a few years he lived outside and I am not sure when it happened and I'm not sure I know what number he is. But once he came inside, he quickly became my wife's protector and constant companion. While Peeno took over the bedroom, the others were relocated to the lanai. Peeno never played well with others.

The lanai is a very nice cat play land. Lots of places to hide and play. Protected from the weather yet open enough to watch the surroundings.

These days diabetes has robbed Peeno of his muscle tone and of his 'take no crap' attitude.

We love them all and are happy that they've all become part of our family.

Current Events

I feel that I should post some comments just so that my views can judged in the future.....

- The Bailout; it seems that no one just took the time to consider what would happen if the government did nothing.... it took three attempts at the bailout bill, it grew from 3 pages to over 450 pages, and during that passage of time, the public sector began handling the situation. And what did we get with this bill? An incredible amount of debt and more pork! Has anyone considered who will need the next handout?! GM?

Addendum (10/6/08): President Bush explaining today's drop in the stock market - [paraphrasing:] we passed the bill, but we still need to figure out how to implement it...

Addendum (10/11/08): GM is now looking for a bailout or a buyout. Poor senior management!

- Automakers; every decade since the 1970s, we've faced a gas crisis. We've watched the price of oil steadily increase for decades! To date, none of the US automakers has stepped up to bring an gas-alternative to the marketplace. Why is it that Toyota can engineer the most prominent hybrid vehicle and the rest of the automakers have not stepped up? More and more SUVs continue to roll off the production lines. It just makes no sense! It cannot be said that we suffer from a a lack of engineering skills - we humans, have the capability to overcome any technical obstacle - it comes down to purely a lack of desire to address this. But, it's not just the US automakers who we should blame. With the success of the Prius, logic would lead us to expect that Nissan or Mazda would have developed their own hybrid also. Not so though. This train of thought now leads me back to bailouts. Mark these words.... GM needs to re-tool a plant to produce their new Volt electric vehicle. I suspect that soon there will be talk of an assistance package to GM to do so.

Addendum (10/7/08): Tesla motors seems to be on the right track; I hope they can translate their technical success into a vehicle for the common people.

Technology: My Background

I've been doing all of this technology stuff for many years (yes, that gives me the right to call it stuff). I've always tended to be the technical 'go to' guy. Often, I developed new products at the 'bleeding edge' of technology - but it always seemed to work out. I think this comes from my perspective that there is usually real solution to a technical problem; it's just a matter of pushing through the obstacles. Isn't this what also makes the work fun? The challenge makes work interesting and rewarding. I pity people who just go through the motions at their jobs. There needs to be a passion and fulfillment in your career - otherwise, why do it?

The Opening....

The idea of blogging is something that has taken me some time to embrace. I see it as being akin to keeping a journal or diary. And that, like exercise, requires dedication and commitment. We shall see how I will do at this, over the long run. I have no expectation that my voice will sound louder than another voice; mine is but one of a multitude.

I intend to use this blog to present topics and discussions which are important to me and to present information which may be useful to others.... In some cases, I will most likely, say something which will put off others. But, keep in mind that this are my views, my experiences, my thoughts and not someone else's. We are all different and our differences are brought about by our own life's experiences. So, that is it.....

And in case you are wondering, the blog is named for Peeno, our diabetic cat.