Not too long ago my family and I went on vacation to Jekyll Island, GA. While there I sent postcards to my girlfriend back here in Ohio. I sent one post card each day, for a total of seven postcards, starting on a Monday. I wrote the send date on the post cards, to remember when I wrote each one.
   The first post card did not arrive until that Friday... which surprised me. Maybe the island was slow to get its mail out onto the mainland? I can't believe it took that long.
   The next thing that surprised me was that the postcards arrived out of order. I have no idea how this happened, unless the postcards took different routes. Maybe one was delivered more quickly than another?
   On each postcard I wrote my girlfriend's address in large print, and my return address a little above in much smaller print. The address I wrote on each card was exactly the same. For some reason though I ended up getting one of the postcards delivered to my return address... It was a bit torn up and said that her address was not valid. At least that's what I can make out, it wasn't very clear.
   The last and most disheartening thing is that one of the postcards never made it. So out of the 7 postcards I sent, only 6 arrived. This is a pretty high failure rate... at 14.3%. I've rarely had trouble with USPS in the past, and I wonder if this just has to do with the fact that it was a postcard.
   Beware, mailers! Your postcards might not make it!

   I wonder what happens to undelivered mail... do they just trash it? Do they burn it? Do they save it? I want to find that postcard! If anyone knows what they do to undelivered mail, let me know! Also, what do you think they should do to it?

   I find it very cool that both USA and NBC have full episodes online. I do not find it cool that they have between 6 and 7 advertising interruptions during the episodes. I watched the first several episodes of The Office online, before they had the ads. It was really nice to see the show and not be bothered by the stupid ads.
   Then they put in two or three ads, which still was not too bad. They then bump up the amount to 5 or 6... for a 23 minute show!? That is a ridiculous amount of advertising for a half-hour spot. Not only that, but they force you to watch an ad before the video even plays. And to boot, they have the ad play for 30 seconds, and then make you physically click a "Click to Continue" button to resume the video.
   I don't know about you, but I find it very annoying. If I watch TV, I don't have to press a button to move on from the ad to the actual video. Now that I say that, they'll probably implement it.
   I don't really know how the USA network ads work besides the fact they make you watch one before your video starts... even if the video clip is 30 seconds long. Yes, they make you watch a 30 second ad before you can watch your 30 second clip.
   The fact that these networks model their online advertising on their TV advertising is just annoying. There have to be more unique, less interruptive, and more creative ways to advertise. I don't want to see an ad before I start a video. I don't want to see 6 ads in the course of watching one episode. I mean, if the show is 23 minutes, and there are 6 ads, that comes out to one ad playing every four minutes (or less).
   Until these networks figure out a better way to do their advertising, I'll be downloading their shows via alternative methods. This not only allows me to watch the shows uninterrupted, but also means I can take the show with me, even to places I can't get internet.
   If these networks were really serious about their advertising, they'd find a way to make sure the advertisements are seen, even if the show is recorded or downloaded. I think product placement would be a great start. Non-intrusive video overlays also come to mind. Watermarking the video with a brand name, the same way they watermark it with NBC or USA... That'd be 30 minutes of continuous advertising, not to mention it would be there no matter how it was seen.
   That is, unless someone develops a watermark removing program. I would really like to see that software... that would be some impressive code.
   I can't wait to watch Burn Notice season 2 and Psych season 3 (both USA Network shows). I figure, as long as I'm watching their shows, it shouldn't matter how I view it.

   I don't like the word "power user," mainly because it makes me feel like I need to be egotistical to use it, but I do use the computer pretty heavily. I do more things than your average user, and do even the average tasks more aggressively than "Normal Joe" does. Along with this usage comes a few thoughts:
   Software can be annoying. Let me rephrase that, poorly designed and implemented software is downright frustrating. I think this sentiment carries over to all parts of life, but this is most evident to me in the software world because I use it nearly every day for large amounts of time.
   Sometimes software is well-designed and even performs well... for certain input. Other times, it's hard to say whether it's poor hardware, software, or some combination of the two... perhaps the software not communicating with the hardware correctly.
   For instance, I am copying files from a Windows Vista Business machine to a Windows Server 2003 box (both x64). The file transfer rates are awesome when the file size is relatively small, say up to a gigabyte or two. I can easily get between 6-9MB/s either way.
   However, when I copy a file (or a group of files where each one is) around 7GB, the transfer speed degrades considerably. The speed starts off around the 6-9MB/s mark, but the transfer speed slowly creeps down. It's currently hovering around 2.5MB/S. So the speed drops to between 1/3 to 1/5 of the speeds I get with larger files.
   I have seen some information about the Vista SP1 updates to the copy engine. I didn't do much benchmarking before I upgraded to SP1 to be able to notice, so I can't really say much there. One thing I am not certain of is if the copying they do is on the same hard drive, different hard drives, or even different machines?
   Network activity, I/O on the machines, and OS differences can all affect the transfer speeds, but this is a recurring issue. I check again now and the speed has dropped to 1.98MB/s and is still falling.
   I have found a few articles ("Workaround for Slow Large File Copying and Transfering To and From Vista PC", "Workaround for Slow Large File Copying and Transfering To and From Vista PC") that I am reading and will try some of the suggestions they make. These transfer speeds are just too slow.
   There are also a few other programs out there that claim to increase the efficiency of file transfers. I plan to test a few of these out and see if I can get any better data rates. Robocopy and Teracopy are the programs I will test out.
   Another thing I would really like for Windows to have is a "Pause" button for file transfers. Less essential, but another feature that would be nice to have is "Resume." Ever been transferring a large file and had the network cut out, power outage, or something similar? It would be nice to not have to copy the 95% of the file that made it through the first time.
   This also pops up with internet downloads, which is why I use FlashGet as my download manager. It allows resuming and pausing, as well as keeps a list of recently downloaded files. FlashGet also significantly improves download speeds by opening multiple connections to the server. This can boost your speed by a ridiculous factor.
   I'll post again when I test out the software and give those articles a good read.

   I am using Visual Studio 2008 and currently stepping through a program using the debugger. When I hover over some of the numeric values, I see the number but it is displayed in hexadecimal. This can be useful in some cases, but I would really like to just view the decimal number.
   To change from Hexadecimal to Decimal takes a couple steps, but it's pretty quick. Go to Debug->Windows->Locals(or hit Ctrl+D,L) which brings up the Locals window for the variables that are currently in scope.
   You can then right click on any of the variables listed there and uncheck "Hexadecimal Display" if it is checked, or check it if it's not and you want to have hexadecimal numbers displayed. This will be a IDE-wide change - not just for that variable.
   I was not able to find this setting in the Tools->Options menu, which surprised me. If there is a better way to make this change, please let me know.
   The page I used to figure this out is Did you know... You can view numeric values in hexadecimal in your debug windows - #150 on Sara Ford's WebLog.

   So this is my first ever post using the Dvorak Keyboard Layout. I will post more like this when I have more time to type so slowly!
   This has taken forever but I am already getting a bit faster. Hooray for new things :-D

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   I recommend checking out Joe Schriner. He's a 2008 Presidential candidate. I actually heard him speak tonight, and got to talk to him one-on-one for a good 10-15 minutes. Who can say that about another candidate? His speech and view for the world (more than just America) is the inspiration for this piece. I'm going to look into him more soon! I would encourage you to seriously consider voting for him!
   My last blog talked about Evolving a hobby, and now I'd like to talk about something similar that's really been on my heart and mind recently.
   This year I met a group called Saint Paul's Outreach. Through them I've gotten to experience what a Christian community is really like. It's definitely not the easiest thing in the world, but then again, is anything in life worth having going to be easy to achieve? Through this group, I've grown a lot, and am still growing. I've really gotten to know God better, too. But what that means is I see how God factors into my everyday life.
   For the first two years of college, I thought that God was someone there to pick me up when I was feeling blue, and didn't even figure going to church was that big a deal - I can be religious and godly on my own time, yeah? What I've found through SPO is that to be a Christian, you really need a group of brothers, a band of believers, who can be there with you. People who believe the same thing, will push you to become a better person, will hold you accountable in living your faith.

   Christianity is not a lone-ranger faith. Jesus had 12 disciples... which shows that community is the foundation of what he preached (maybe it's praught?). Without these people to help you reorient yourself when you blunder, it becomes impossible to right yourself. You'll become lazy, or prideful, or narcissistic. America is a testimony to this today. Our individualistic society prides itself on not needing anyone else; on doing everything yourself. To some extent this is good, you should be able to take care of yourself - but in the same way, you should also know that you are not capable of doing everything. Talking about America in that light is cliche, I know, but there's some truth there.
   Along with the knowledge that community is important is that you need to really live what you believe. For Christians, this means doing everything for God. Now, this may sound really silly, right? What's God done for me recently? I need to do stuff for myself too, don't I? The question is, what hasn't God done for me recently? I have a house, a college to attend, (microwavable) food to eat, and a computer to use! Now, you can think that all this stuff is outside God's handiwork, but then again... who created the matter out of which the things you have are made? (Hint: God) God!
   Realizing that you owe everything in your life right now to God is pretty humbling. Then, add the fact that Jesus died for our sins, and I feel rather unworthy. That's part of the mystery of God... the fact that he loves us at all. He certainly doesn't need too. That's part of what love is about - it's given freely, when not necessarily deserved. [I don't do this topic justice at all. To read more about what Jesus' dying really means, and how it actually affects you, I'd suggest Mere Christianity. CS Lewis relates what Christs' death really means and he does it such that everyone can understand it.]
   So, if God is done so much for me already, what can't or won't he do in the future? He can do anything! As such, I constantly pray to God and say, "Lord, I am putting this all in your hands. Any success I have is attributed to you." But what about the failures? Well, thing is, we don't always do what God has in mind (even though we think we're doing what he wants) and who says that God can't use failure to strengthen us? (Hint: Not me!)

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   I enjoy writing. In fact, I have enjoyed writing much longer than I have been a programmer. Lately, I've done a lot more programming than I have writing, which I feel I need to change.
   I enjoy writing for several reasons. One, when writing, I think my thoughts through more completely, as I try to present them in a way others can understand them. This is a huge bonus of writing! There are hundreds of times a day when I think a fragment of a thought and just store it away. When writing, I get to present my thoughts, and in doing so, I work through them more fully so they make sense when I write them down. This not only helps the reader understand, but it also helps me understand what I really think. I would associate it with doing math in your head.
   In a store, you might see a "25% off" sign for something that costs 17.99$ (I could have sworn I wrote a blog about how I think it makes more sense to place the $ sign after the amount...). In your head you might think it will amount to something like 3 bucks off. But only when you take a little bit of time to think - "25% off 100$ is 25$. 20$ is 1/5 of 100$. 1/5 of $25 is $5. So 25% of something a little less than $20 will be a little bit less than $5." In fact, 25% off 17.99$ is ~4.50$ off.
   You can get a vague idea of what the idea is, but until you spend a bit of time thinking it through, your thoughts won't be very clear.
   Another reason I enjoy writing is that it's great mental exercise. Just like running or weight-lifting can help improve your body, writing and thinking can really help keep your mind healthy. I know it's been shown that people who read and do puzzles are mentally better off as they age than those who do not. It's comforting to know that this sort of effort is worth it!
   A third reason is that communication is probably the most important skill a person can have. Without words, speech, or some sort of communication, we do not have society, groups, or even family. Writing often helps improve one's communication ability, and this can only help. Good writing skills are very important in the professional world, where documentation, emails and all sorts of other things depend on the ability to communicate well.

   One problem I do have is organizing my thoughts well. My mind likes to skip all over the place and one of the most amazing things I can think of is writing a long piece that has a well-defined objective and solid supporting paragraphs. Usually, I read something and think "... what in the world was that guy meaning to say through the whole thing? Wow... he really did have a goal in mind." This is another case of my mind wandering and losing focus on the task at hand. It's something I am working on all the time!!
   I am hoping that writing more will help me organize my thoughts better, present them effectively and in a way people can understand, and, most importantly, be a lot of fun!
   I have a lot of thoughts, so I don't have lack-of-material as an excuse. Once again, it all comes down to making the time to do something I enjoy. Time management is also an area I need to improve upon... but then, who doesn't? For instance, I should be studying right now for my Programming Languages midterm at 10:30am (in just over 7 hours) or sleeping... but I am doing neither! Oh well, sometimes the writing bug strikes, and I don't like to ignore it!

   I have a Theory Number One - and that is about Computer Memory, more specifically memory management.
   I recently upgraded my computer to have 4GB of RAM and to run on Vista x64, so it can take advantage of all 4GB of memory. Now, I've noticed that since I have more memory, even when idling, between 2GB and 3GB is used.
   How could I have these same programs running on XP with 2GB RAM and but only have my memory utilization be around 1GB-1.5GB? This is where my theory comes in!
   Theory Number One on Computer Memory: The more memory a computer has, the more a program will use, regardless of whether it really needs it.
   In laymans terms: If it's there, they're gonna take it!
   Here's a graphic that illustrates this well...


   Why Firefox should need 983MB RAM to browse the internet escapes me. It could also very well be the extensions I have installed that ramp up that number.
   According to my theory, Firefox is using it because it's there to use. That sounds like a fair assumption. Humans will take money if it's there, so why not computer programs and memory?

   PS. I've not done scientific testing, but I am right. If you don't think so, then I say the burden of proof is on you.

   PPS. If more science were like this, life would me much simpler!

   I am extremely annoyed. Frequently, for some reason, when I am listening to music or watching a video, the sound (not sure about the video) will glitch. By glitch, I mean skip, crackle, pop, or otherwise distort. I know I am not the only person having this problem, as you can see by following the link above.
   If my computer has gone into screen saver mode while playing music and then I move the mouse or hit the keyboard to bring the login screen up, I also experience the glitching then. This is very frustrating.
   For one, I listen to music quite a bit. Having the audio popping all the time literally stresses me out and makes the experience quite un-enjoyable. The fact that this glitching occurs when using different programs (I use Winamp and VLC most commonly) is an indication that it's something with Vista's Sound stack + other software. I did not have this issue at all when I used XP. I have experienced this problem on both x86 and x64 editions of Vista Business.
   This annoying "feature" of Vista, along with the DRM'd-to-hell video playback lead me to advise you to stay away from Vista for the time being if you do a lot of media-ing. It could be that programs like Winamp and VLC aren't updated to be 100% vista compatible yet, but I still think there's something to do with how Vista's sound stack handles everything.
   Now, don't get me wrong, I like quite a bit about Vista, but seeing as the features that most consumers would use most (audio and video) are kcufd up, I'd wait to get Vista if you don't have it yet.
   Reminder to self: Talk about the annoyances of UAC sometime.

   As my last blog indicated, I installed Service Pack 1 for Vista. Let me tell you a bit about my experience.
   The installer says it's going to take a while and might restart my computer several times (why, I do not know). Okay, I'll just go read or something. I let the installer run, it reboots my computer and gives me a message to the effect of:
"Installing # of 3: ##%
Please do not turn off your computer"
   Okay, no biggie. So I fall asleep for an hour or two. I see then that the round indicator that indicates something's happening is not moving and it's stuck on 0% of part 3... The hard drive light on my case is also continuously on... not blinking, not off, but just on. Okay, I'll let it go for a while.
   Seeing no change in the state of things I decided to reboot (if it ckufs it up, I can just system restore... or reinstall Visa (hooray)). Luckily, it started where it left off and then got to 74% of part 3 (of 3). I decide to watch a movie while the thing runs. I come up part way through the movie (There Will Be Blood is loooong) to check out the progress. It's frozen again!?!?!
   Hard reset and I go downstairs. I come back up again and the login screen is there. I take this as positive evidence that the service pack finished installing.

   So, the SP1 installer froze twice while updating my OS. That is really lame. How else has it performed? Well... I don't think I've noticed anything huge. Well... it did kill my printer, but a reinstall of the latest drivers fixed that.
   I have some weird issues with Vista in general (they occurred before SP1. Sometimes when I boot up the computer I have no internet connection. When I check out my Network and Sharing Center, it makes it out like I don't even have a connection at all. When I try to disable the LAN port, it runs one of my processors up to 100% for a long time and eventually does nothing helpful.
   I also use Logitech Setpoint to manage my keyboard and mouse. There'll be times when I reboot my computer only to get the message "Setpoint has encountered a problem and needs to be reinstalled." Oh, why thank you for the ever-so-helpful message! Usually when this error occurs something else has gone wrong.
   For instance, today I reinstalled Setpoint (I am getting really sick of Logitech's faulty bluetooth implementation in particular) because I got that error and then try to get onto the internet by booting Firefox. Well, goodness me, the program link cannot be found?
   I look in the Program Files (x86) folder and see that no files are there... So I reran the installer, which luckily worked. I just now noticed that the SQL Server Management Studio program has gone missing. HOW DO PROGRAMS SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR!!!???
   EDIT: It looks like all SQL Server is gone and so is Java. I forgot to mention that I'll be using a Java app in a webpage, then shortly thereafter I'll suddenly not have Java anymore... WHAT IN THE HECK!? Disappearing software really really scares me.
   In short, I am sick of stuff just not working. I have no way to tell if it's one program taking out lots of stuff with it (I'm looking at you SetPoint) or if it's some fault of the OS.
   I should not have to install the same program over and over and over. I should not have to reboot three times to get my internet and software working again. I should not have to clean up after my operating system's messes. I should not have to lose hours a week because of glitchy drivers.
   There are days when I don't know how anyone can manage a computer if they don't know much about it. Too much crap goes wrong all the time. How does anyone successfully maintain a workable OS install? I don't think it's possible in the long run.