 Going to Alaska! Unalaska to be exact... :) Posted on
6/27/2008 10:17 PM |
We're going out the Aleutian Islands... to a faraway place where birds live, the winds blow hard, and you can't there by car.
Unalaska or bust! Where is Unalaska? Click on the link below...
I'm super excited and somewhat unprepared - I haven't even started packing. We leave tomorrow at 5:30ish. :)
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| Resetting the IE behavior of allowing a program to execute Posted on
6/16/2008 6:06 PM |
On my vista machine, I find the IE security dialog that prompts the user to Allow a program to run very helpful. I typically don't allow anything to run unchecked.
A few months ago, I was quickly trying to get something done and accidentally selected the "Don't show me the warning for this application again" option.
I clicked ok and everything ran fine. However, I wanted to uncheck that option (so that I would always be prompted). I couldn't find a way to reset the security dialog setting.
After searching around for a bit, I found the location in the registry where the setting is saved. The following was taken from a registry export for the app that I wanted reset...
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Low Rights\ElevationPolicy]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Low Rights\ElevationPolicy\{B1DB9C6D-CCD2-405E-89BE-F3580307E120}]
"AppPath"="C:\\Program Files\\SomeApplication"
"AppName"="SomeProgram.exe"
"Policy"=dword:00000003
Remove the key representing the application ("{B1DB9...") and ... tada... you'll be prompted the next time around. :)
-Maurice
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| Being a homeowner... Posted on
5/19/2008 4:06 PM |
Being a homeowner has been an interesting learning experience. Long gone are the days when I could just pick up the phone and tell someone else that something was broken, and with a little scheduling magic, it was fixed.
I'm the landlord now. I'm responsible for fixing the broken things. I've tried to offload some tasks on Ksenia and Asta. Ksenia has helped a ton...
Asta on the other hand... she's not so helpful. Makes me wonder if that dog is ever going to earn her living around here.
Well, all things aside, its been a fun experience being a home owner. It seems every week we learn something new about the house. |
| The Undercoat War Posted on
3/30/2008 12:33 PM |
It's been a long time since I've lived with a dog in the house... and ever since Ksenia moved in and brought along little Asta, I've been wisely reminded of the work required to keep a shedding dog's hair in check.
Asta, who has lived her entire life in sunny LA, has always had a beautiful, thin coat that probably had minimal changes to the undercoat. After all, life in Redondo Beach was fairly easy and consistent. Warm during the day, cool in the evenings.
Fast forward to her new life in Seattle... all of a sudden, Asta's body is forced to deal with the concept of seasons. As a result, she's undoubtedly had the biggest undercoat of her life.
I could easily sworn a month ago, that Asta was about 20 pounds heavier than her normal self. Her undercoat was bulging and making her look much bigger than her "summer petite" look.
The downside to being a warm dog? For the dog... nothing. For the dog owner... well, she starts dropping hair everywhere. The stuff just floats up, gets into your nose, builds in corners, and just makes things look messy.
It's a full scale war now.
I'm resolved to fighting the battle with all the tools available. :)
That means vacuuming and the addition a really great brush specifically designed for the shedding problem. We just bought a Furminator and after 1 use, there is no doubt that we will now gain an upper hand in the ongoing battle.... it came recommended by 2 friends... and now I'm passing on the recommendation. The best price I could was on Amazon...
Here's to fewer dust bunnies!
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| Singlehanded sailing video ... taken with a kite Posted on
3/25/2008 11:30 AM |
I'm going to have to add this to my list of "don't forget to do this when you have your own sailboat" list.
In fact, this may be a good training aid for race practices. I'm curious to see how well this type of setup would work if you just tied it off to a leeward rail. The only potential danger to the system would occur when the boat slows down to the point the kite can no longer fly. Interesting, nonetheless.
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| New modem looks good so far... Posted on
3/5/2008 12:42 AM |
Sunday night, I switched out dsl modem. The new modem, a 2 Wire 2701, appears to be much more stable than the M1000. Nearly 3 days later and I haven't seen a single hiccup.
Overall, I don't particularly like the 2 Wire's interface. In order to make it more of an "advanced networking" modem, the ui has been considerably dumbed down. It seems that some rather simple steps to get "advanced" things done are gated by silly ui and bad design constraints (i.e. why can't I pick a static ip for a dmz zone passthrough instead of their preferred way of forcing the dmz host to setup dchp). Goofiness if you ask me... but hey, as long as the modem is up and running... and not locking up every day... I'm happier.
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| The worst DSL modem ... ever ... Posted on
2/29/2008 12:55 PM |
For months, I rented a DSL modem from Qwest. For the most part, it worked like a champ. It would occasionally lock up. However, that happened maybe once every 4-5 weeks. Not great, but it was tolerable.
I decided to stop renting and buy one.
The new modem is a serious piece of crap. It locks up every day. We have to proactively reboot the modem at least twice a day. Avoid Qwest’s M100 if at possible.
Later this weekend, I’m replacing the phone with a newer “advanced networking” dsl modem. Let’s hope this one works better...
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