New report on Canadian Border Security out

According to AP  our border is “Full of Holes”.

Of course it is, and conversely so is that of the US.  We have a VERY LONG ungaurded border between the two countries.  The report points out:

most of Canada’s 160 land and maritime border crossings have only one person at the posts.

Who cares.  The other 5000+ km of the border has ZERO people guarding.  Let’s be serious.  If someone REALLY wanted to smuggle across the border, how much of the Washington State coastline is actively protected?  What are the odds of catching someone hiking (or snowmobiling) across the border in a remote forest?  Sure, there’s a big cut line, but it’s REALLY rough terrain out there, and we’ve seen that people intent on nastiness don’t care how hard it is to do something.  If they CAN, they WILL.

Stupid press - a bit over-sensationalistic AGAIN

What NOT to do with bottle rockets

Do you remember the safety talks about fireworks etc.?  Well, a picture is worth 1000 words, so I’ll let these speak for themselves:

It takes all types to make up the world!

Found originally at: 7805.org

New Look to the Blog

What do you think?

Going to Hooters - With your wife????

Well, this guy did, and lived to blog about it :)  It’s a good chuckle.

Back to my "Using" in C#

Someone else (Jano) has posted a reason for using Using.  The fact that if you end up with an exception within the block, it still disposes of the item.  Couldn’t I just dispose of it in my catch?

This would be a cool Christmas Gift (hint hint!)

A subscription to “Before and After”  They have some excellent articles in their bi-monthly magazine.  While I’m not a designer, it would be good to read, and learn.

There’s also a “Best Of” book, which is a nice overall, one shot kind of gift

What not to wear to a party

The Coldstream Guards had a costume party celebrating the regiment’s role in the 1815 battle of Waterloo. One soldier dressed up as a Muslim suicide bomber.  A passing civilian saw him, called the cops, and it’s off to jail for you!  WHAT. WAS. he thinking?

Courtesy of MSNBC

Reuters has published their photos of the year.

Check out the photo slide show.

Get your 1TB email account, while the gettin’s good!

Tony just signed up for a 1TB email account over at http://www.hriders.com/

1TB!  Yikes!

Update:  Secret’s out!

Update in 2008 - It’s now a redirect to a PORN site… Wonder what ever happened to that email

Cool "Mind Hacks" - and other mental tidbits

O’Reilly has a new book - Mind Hacks and even has 8 of them online as sample material.  This led me to find a cool site that talks about the blindspot in the human eye. I had remembered it from years back, and here it is again.  Some cool mental stuff there.  Check it out.

Wow - the times they are a changin’

Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo has purchased the IBM’s PC division.  I remember when it was illegal to share any technology with the Chinese.   Now, they are buying the division that started the PC revolution.

Time to start summarizing 2004. 40 questions to sum it up

Some tough introspective questions which I found at Hazy Imaginings

1. What did you do in 2004 that you’d never done before?
Traveled to a foreign country for work.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Didn’t make any - not going to make any this year either
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, although some friends did.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully - No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Mexico
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
More Sleep, and time to spend going places with my wife.
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 4th - First time ever owning a new vehicle, and it’s a beautiful Toyota Tundra
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Surviving working for myself, as well as being employed, and keeping an active role in our scout troop.  It seems to get harder every year.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not spending enough time with my wife.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Knock on wood - No.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
New Truck
14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage, bills
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My new Truck
16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
Dido - Sand in My shoes
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder - Happier
Older or wiser - Wiser
Thinner or fatter? - Fatter
Richer or poorer? - Richer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Spend time with my wife.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Work
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
At home with my wife - peacefully quiet.
22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
Every Day - with living.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
Nothing memorable.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Never really hated anyone…still don’t.
26. What was the best book you read?
Sadly, I must admit that I haven’t read a book for a while.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
That some of the music my scouts listen to isn’t that bad after all
28. What did you want and get?
A chance to travel with my work.
29. What did you want and not get?
More money
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Nothing memorable.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 37.  I went out for a crab and steak feast.  It was most excellent.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More sleep
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
Conservative - consistent.
34. What kept you sane?
Nothing - Sanity is boring.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
None - they’re all a bit over rated.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Handling of the Salmon in the Fraser River by the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada
37. Who did you miss?
My Mom
38. Who was the best new person you met?
No favorites.  I met many good people throughout the year.  They all had special qualities.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
Keep the glass balls in the air when juggling
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
It was a year of making plans, setting goals, and changing ways some times, so the following words seem to sum it up well, from “Scout Vespers“:
Softly falls the light of day
As our campfire fades away.
Silently each Scout should ask:
“Have I done my daily task?
Have I kept my honour bright?
Can I guiltless sleep tonight?
Have I done and have I dared
Everything to be prepared?

Yikes - A programmer in Florida has just sworn an affidavit that he was asked to code Vote Rigging into Voting Machines!!!

Originally on the BradBlog this is also available here.  This is not your average news story, this is explosive.  I haven’t seen anything on the major networks about this.  Clinton Curtis, a former programmer for YEI could be the catalyst for some serious stuff in DC.

Excerpts:

In stunning revelations set to rock the vote from Tallahassee to Capitol Hill — and perhaps even a bit further up Pennsylvania Avenue — a Florida computer programmer has now made remarkable claims in a detailed sworn affidavit, signed this morning and obtained exclusively by The BRAD BLOG!

Mrs. Yang then told him, “You don’t understand, in order to get the contract we have to hide the manipulation in the source code. This program is needed to control the vote in South Florida.” [emphasis in affidavit]

Ah…the American way.

Update Dec 8, 2004 - More on this…

Some Excellent Suggestions for people with problems in their Code Thinking of posting on Usenet

Hey - You with the code that keeps breaking for unknown reasons:

Before you go posting on Usenet (Google Groups for the shielded ones out there) head on over…..No - RUN over to Scott Hanselman’s Do’s and Don’ts of .Net debugging.

Nothing worse than a guy that has a 2K line project that doesn’t work, posting: “I get a NullObject Reference somewhere - Can you guys help?”

Go…Now….

You’re still here?  Go!

Even my WIFE has a blog now.

Since she’s more into pictures, MSN Spaces works well for her.

She’s even got her first EVER Blog post…let’s hope it’s contagious!

Her Syndication: http://spaces.msn.com/members/akela/feed.rss

Slipstreaming XP SP2

The Furrygoat Experience (man - that’s a wierd name), points to a great article over at Tom’s hardware about creating a slipstreamed XPSP2 disk.  Good idea, but then who would be able to blame slow rollouts on?

MSN Spaces have opened up and….

are being hammered!

I’m getting lots and lots of time outs :)  But, I DO have my own space over there now, which I use for a “Photo Blog”

http://spaces.msn.com/members/dragonspeed

and the RSS feed:

http://spaces.msn.com/members/dragonspeed/feed.rss

I’m going to keep it just for photos.  It does a nice job of a feed for a photo gallery.  Something I wish we had here, but - As the old saying goes: “Beggars can’t be Choosers”, and I for one am happy with what we have here!

iTunes Available in Canada! (Finally)

Apple is selling tunes in Canada now, for $0.99CDN.  They had announced a delay, saying they weren’t going to make their November target, but only missed it by one day!  Not bad for a software/hardware company

Using Using in C#

 

No, that’s not a typo.

I’d like to find a reference to using the using keyword (not in the frame of using System….) in C#

I’ve tried googling, but how the heck to look for “using”, in the context of code, rather than as the actual verb :(  The help in VS discusses it as a way to use something that you want disposed after you’ve used it, but I don’t understand how or why I’d use it.

If you have link, or an example, can you please post in the comments? 

Thanks!

Why do I blog?

Frank Paynter asks “Why do you blog?”

I started blogging, because I had a web page that my family and friends could check out, and see new pictures. They had to check for changes.  They forgot.  Then after hearing about RSS, and Dave Winer’s pontification of the system - I could generate a feed of changes for them, and they wouldn’t have to check… Excellent. 

I found a site, and have settled here, to dispense “My Life and Things I Find Interesting” to friends, and anyone that cares to read.

I’ve been able to help some total strangers with some issues, and I’ve had people reply to some of my problems.   Now, my blog acts as a way to keep friends and family up to date, and answer and ask questions for things that I can’t otherwise find on the ‘Net.

And…..  It’s fun!

Do you BLOG?  Why?