Unthinkability

The is the moment in my life when I reject dogma and accept the inevitable.  I am buying an iPhone. 

I have been holding out for the Windows Mobile team to produce a winner.  I have suffered through countless mediocre Windows mobile phones while the iPhone team quietly built a phone that has EVERYTHING I WANT.  GAAAAHHH!! The iPhone has a Cisco VPN Client, an RDP (Remote Desktop Protrocol) client, Exchange Mail Server integration… and it is just plain cool.

I love my Zune, and I love the Zune software, and I love my XBOX, and I love my Windows Media Center, and I love SQL Server, and I love the .NET Framework, and I love Visual Studio.  I even love my Vista laptop.  Really! 

Alas, I have been waiting for some hint of a well-crafted mobile phone platform initiative from Microsoft, but all I have seen are vague mentions of Windows Mobile 7 operating system (with some crazy-stupid ideas about using the camera for motion/attitude sensing), and some mentions of the Zune mobile software being loaded onto Windows Mobile 7 devices.  Whatever.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  I am seizing it.  I am no longer going to wait for a Microsoft Mobile phone that rivals the iPhone.  I am switching carriers (goodbye Verizon!) and will be shelling out $2,000 over the next two years to buy an iPhone.  I’ll spend another few hundred on accessories and software. When Microsoft builds a better (or equal) phone, I will buy it.  Meanwhile, Apple is getting my money.

BTW: Please don’t e-mail me about the gPhone, that slackware piece of garage-tech that only a Ham Radio operator could love.  The gPhone has a long way to go, and will likely go the way of the Java desktop app.

Now, where do I get an automatic podcast creator app for my iPhone?

Pimpin’ Wally.  Not only is it fun to say, it’s fun to DO!  If you’re a .NET web developer, be sure to check out Wally McClure’s podcast about “Routing with Webforms.”  The dude is an accomlished author and an independent software developer, so he knows his stuff.  We could all use a bit more Wally in our lives.

My wife called me at work today asking if I knew “what was wrong with the TV.“  Our XBOX 360 wouldn’t show any video on the TV, even though she could hear the DVD.  I thought for sure that one of the kids had somehow yanked a cable out, so I told my wife that I would fix it when I got home.

After pulling out the 600 lb entertainment center and trying countless combinations of connecting/reconnecting HDMI, RGB, and composite cables, I finally concluded that the XBOX was toast.

I searched Google and discovered that I am not alone.

• http://www.justin-cook.com/wp/2008/08/06/how-to-fix-an-xbox-360-with-sound-but-no-video/
• http://www.squidoo.com/Xbox_redlight_fix
• http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ring_of_light_x-clamp_fix.htm

Alas, my XBOX is out of warranty (by a mere 12 days) and I’m not interested in paying Microsoft another $100 to fix it. (Especially when a brand new one is $200 with a fresh motherboard and a controller!)

I’m going to try the “x-clamp” mod.  Wish me luck…

UPDATE 2008-10-04 1:01 AM - IT WORKED!! Wicked good stuff.  2 hours and $7.38 at Lowes for screws and washers.  I used this method available at:

http://xe.brothersoffreedom.com/en/tutorial.php?n=xclampeng

UPDATE # 2 - 2008-10-05 - IT FAILED.  One day after “fixing” it, it failed again with the same symptoms.  Time to scrap it for a new one. Gonna go with the $199 one and use my old 10GB drive (hopefully).  I’ll have to read up on the data transfer process to keep my profile stuff.  Otherise, I’ll need to do the “fix” again just long enough to transfer the game data to a memory unit, and then to my new XBOX.  This is really lame.

Be sure to subscribe to his “Personal Netcast” podcast over at www.thedavidlawrenceshow.com to hear him talk about his Heroes gig (after the episodes have aired).

My laptop has restless Leg Syndrome.  It’s not running anything special, but it wiggles around every so many seconds. No SQL Server, no “programs” running, nothing special.  Yet, look at the Task Manager:

 

Jeez.  I wish my laptop would settle down and relax.

I am a die hard Microsoft guy.  Vista really is a complex masterpiece offering countless features that are not visible to the users. I’ve been running Vista Ultimate for two years without a hitch.  I just installed the (1 hour) Service Pack 1, so I hope that doesn’t screw the pooch.

While Vista is evolving to be a rock-solid and secure operating system… I find that I don’t need much of it. Needing Vista’s security architecture is a bit like needing Kevlar body armor.  Sure I would be safer walking around downtown wearing full battle gear, but wow it’s heavy and slow.  I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of safety for convenience.  I personally believe that Microsoft has overcompensated in Vista for the years and years of abuse, and the latest operating system is now a paranoid “end-of-the-world” nut that never leaves the apartment without a well-armed security force.

Meanwhile, Ubuntu and Google Chrome are skipping la-dee-da through the streets naked.  I am jealous of their trust and freedom.  Those bastards.

So, I am downloading Ubuntu now so that I can try it.  They’ve offered me a hit off of their huka, and I’m going to inhale.

I can’t go entirely Linux-crazy;  I am a software developer with large knowledge investments in the .NET and MS SQL spaces, so I will have to stay close to Windows for the near future.  Only time will tell…

UPDATE (2 hours later):  The Ubuntu experience is inferior.  No thanks.  I’ll stick with Vista, thank you.

My wife attended a training session at her work for a new ’super-duper computerized system’ that is replacing an old paper-based system.  Things are not going as well as they had hoped. 

So, the new computerized system looks pretty, but time and time again the trainers had to say things like:

• That’s not working yet.
• We’ve called [the vendor] and no one has called us back.
• We thought we had that fixed, but it’s not working.
• We have that one the list.

 AAACCCKKK!

Love you!

I have delevered a couple of ‘version 1′ products in my lifetime, so I understand the challenges of that first roll-out.  That’s why we “grizzled ancients” cost so much to hire.  We might not get it perfect the first time, but we track ALL of our problems, keep the process as transparent as possible for the customers, and we know how to answer the damn phone when customers call. 

Delivering a v1 product is not about delivering perfect software and then watching the money roll in; it’s about delivering a product that mostly works and answers 90% of their needs, providing confidence to the customers that you are deeply comitted to their hopes and desires for the other 10%, and that you will not quit on them and disappear.  (Ironically, that is exactly what happened to our customers when my last company closed its doors, so you can imagine that I have some deep-seated feelings about comittment, as well as some unresolved disappointment in my last company’s owners.  Never again.)

I recently recorded a a voice track for a an original musical composition called “Ode to Bacon” by Rob from The Schnauzer Radio Orchestra for Len Peralta’s Jawbone Radio.  Rob posted a brief story about how the project came together, and also posted the finished audio files for you to hear.

“I grabbed a funky drumloop I sampled a long time ago from some obscure orchestra-album, played a 2 bar bass loop and started to spread out Scott’s voice over the track.”

Rob is amazing.  See the rest of the story and listen to the end result here.�

You’ve probably seen the real tribute video to Don LaFontaine, the ubiquitous voice talent that we all grew up with.  Now, check out this brilliant stand-up routine by Pablo Fanscisco specifically about Don, “The Preview Man.” 

It is… in a world… where things… are… awesome.

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Our youngest daughter talks… a lot.  The following is an actual conversation between my wife and our 3 year-old tonight before bed.

 

toddler:                 I don’t like monsters’ butts.  Do they poop?

 

Mom:                    Everybody poops.

 

toddler:                 Do they wipe?

 

Mom:                    I hope they wipe or that would be gross.  (This said because our 3 year-old is not so good with the wiping)

 

toddler:                 They are so busted!

 

Silence for about one minute.  Mom has eyes closed hoping 3 year-old will get the hint and go to sleep.

 

toddler:                 Mom, do you want to talk about the monsters and they’re so busted when they don’t wipe their butts?