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"Murphy was an optimist!"

Wait for it! October 2, 2007 2:05 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Humor, Philosophy, Politics, Touchy Subjects
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“Why does a dog wag its tail? Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail was smarter, the tail would wag the dog.”

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Get a piece of $54,000 this week! October 2, 2007 9:57 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Contest, Of Interest
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Darren Rowse of Prologger fame is giving away USD$54,000 in celebration of Prologger’s birthday. Subscribe to the feed to be informed. The first giveaway was posted an hour ago. It is 12 copies (to 12 people) of Aaron Wall’s SEO Book ($79 value). Simply comment "I love SEO!""I LOVE SEO!" on Lara Kulpa‘s post The First Giveaway Begins within the next 6 hours.

UPDATE: Laura points out that case is important. Pay attention to the details and follow instructions to a T bloggers!

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Why I could never work in an office again #6243 October 2, 2007 9:20 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Programming
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I am most productive when burning some Sandlewood.

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Consultants – Warranties October 2, 2007 8:52 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Programming
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Every now and then you get a phone call that goes something like this "That code you wrote for us a year (or more) ago doesn’t work anymore. We were thinking of doing more work with you but if we can’t get this fixed we may have to go with someone else." The proper answer is "No problem. That will be $x per hour to troubleshoot since we do not currently have a contract." The real answer is usually "ok. I’ll look into that real quick." because a) you know darn well the real answer will send them packing b) you are a nice guy and like them and c) you haven’t yet reached a level of financial stability to be blowing off customers (note: you’ll fix c if you use the real answer more often).

When your code doesn’t change and after a length of time it suddenly doesn’t work, the problem is almost always with the web host or the client. Sometimes they have discovered a very well hidden bug but rarely. In my case, the permissions on the directory which the application used to upload files had changed to not allow for uploading. How do permissions magically change? They don’t.

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HOAX Your next battery might last 30 years! October 2, 2007 6:52 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Gadgets, Technology
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The US Air Force Research Laboratory has invented an environmentally sound battery that can last 30 years and it could be available in the next 2-3 years.

The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. … Although betavoltaic batteries sound Nuclear they’re not, they’re neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so (do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste). … The best part about these cells are when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If all goes well plans are for these cells to reach store shelves in about 2 to 3 years. [Source]

Ooops. Remember, even if you are busy, check your sources! BoingBoing Gadgets explains. Until I can find something more redeemable than this, I’ll assume that Next Energy News is a farce.

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Today’s Computer Utility Recommendation October 1, 2007 10:04 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Security, Software, Technology
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Have you ever unexpectedly been unable to move, delete or rename a file because of a "file sharing violation?" Perhaps you have been frustrated by one of these messages:

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Cedrick ‘Nitch’ Collomb has written a fantastic program to deal with these annoying situations without even having to reboot the computer! It is called Unlocker 1.8.5 and I highly recommend adding this to your toolkit! I also encourage giving Cedrick Collomb a paypal donation. It’s worth it!

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My poor daughter October 1, 2007 6:54 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Daily Life, Family, Of Being Dad
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Dad needs to hang out with a hairdresser for a couple of days.

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