Square Zebra

AMD vs XPSP2

As most of us has moved over with a SP2 updated for those of you running non-Intel machines. But there have been a few problems for some. More specificly those with an "AMD64-based processor in a hardware configuration that requires the mpegport.sys (driver) to be loaded."

The problem doesn't’ affect all AMD64-based users (only those with that specific driver running). The fix will most definitely be a software issue (as will the fixes to other, so far unreported DEP-incompatibilities) and my guess is that it won’t be long until we see it. - Article

More information from Microsoft Knowledge Base.

How to fix:
You may be able to resolve this issue if you configure a DEP exception. To do this, follow these steps:
1 - Click Start, click Run, type Sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2 - On the Advanced tab under Performance, click Settings.
3 - On the Data Execution Prevention tab, click Hardware and software DEP enabled for all programs except.
4 - Click Add, type the path of the Mpegport.sys file on your hard disk, and then click OK two times

Did you know there were city bloggers?

Well most of us already knew of the whole city blogger community... but apparently CNN just figured this all out.

Many blogs, like Gapersblock.com in Chicago and NewYorkish.com in New York, focus on just one metropolis. But this summer, a site called Metroblogging.com launched a network of blogs for major cities including Chicago, New York, San Francisco, London and Vienna - Article

Now I'm not dissing the article because of it's news'ability. It is packed full of information. It's just really old news.

And you thought your GF was passive aggressive...

Oh yeah baby! I have found my new cyber role model.

"The Hong Kong company Artificial Life, which developed the new game, says the girl will appear as an animated figure on the video screen of a mobile phone... On top of a general subscription, men will be charged a fee to buy flowers and gifts for the virtual girlfriend. If players neglect her, she will refuse to speak... unlike other computer games, it seems that cash, not skill, will enable players to climb the different levels in the game." - Article

I wonder if the creators of this game are the same folks that wrote the Rules book.

New Blog for the Wannabe

In order to avoid cleaning my house over the weekend... I created a new blog: Rubis Bleu

One odd thing I did notice was the lack of writer blogs. Another thing - ever notice the majority of writers are alcoholics? I might do a study on alcohol and its effects on ones editorial skills.

Microsoft Pifias Sociales...

Love em (me) or hate em (all my x's) - This is just to funny to pass up....

"Microsoft has also managed to upset women and entire countries. A Spanish-language version of Windows XP, destined for Latin American markets, asked users to select their gender between "not specified," "male" or "bitch," because of an unfortunate error in translation." - Article

One would think, that with all the work visas MS passes out, 1 of the 20,000 could translate English into Spanish.

Bear Necessities:

"SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday.

It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge." - Article

Dating with Thai Food

Last weekend Elaine, my CPA/former co-worker at DE took me out for dinner and a movie as a Thank You for 'cat sitting' while she has been traveling this last year. After much deliberation and hunger... we decided to get some Thai food in lower Queen Anne. Now what is so interesting is when we walked in both of us commented on ... "awe, this is such a nice, quiet, pretty, candle lit, romantic place. We should have dates bring us here!"

10 Minutes later, much to our surprise, a Projection Screen TV magically appeared. So while loving couples basked in candle lit romance surrounding them.... they could watch CNN as well?

Romance, TV, and Thai food... That's a date every girl dreams of having.

XP SP2 Program Errors:

Just an FYI - The latest list of programs that are still not compatible with SP2. - List

Most can be fixed by manually opening the ports: Directions on how to do this on same link.

Marketing Ninnies:

I have this weird love/hate relationships with most marketing departments. Love because they are usually the most creative groups to be involved in. Hate because more stupid ideas come out of these departments then anywhere else in a company.

Two cases in point:

1 - So … in an attempt to slice market share from Apple, the Real Networks Marketing Department came up with the BRILLIANT idea to run a three-week clearance sale on its digital inventory of music.

As Seth Godin wrote in the Purple Cow … a low price strategy is the last refuge of a marketer who is out of great ideas [Purple Cow, page 106]. - Blog

2 - It seems the marketers behind the new Resident Evil computer game sent out unsolicited SMS messages to cell phones users telling them their phone was infected with the T-virus. People panicked. The Register points out it isn't the first time marketing ninnies have done this. - Blog

To paraphrase a friend, (a Director of Marketing no less!), told me the other day, "Most of these companies need to slash 40% of their marketing personnel and stop hiring people who shop for Hello Kitty lunch boxes."

XP SP2 Delivery:

Updated Schedule for XP Service Pack 2 (SP2):

8/16 - Release to Software Update Services.
8/18 - Release to Automatic Update for users running Windows XP Home Edition only.
8/25 - Release to Automatic Update for all Windows XP users including those running Windows XP Professional Edition; release to Windows Update for interactive user installations.

- Thanks Frog Blog