Wednesday, October 25, 2006

100th Post Spectacular

As I said before, this is likely way too self-centred, but I don't care. It's my blog, my post and your right not to read it.


Blog! The Blogging Blogger's Blogged!
This was my second attempt at a web-presence (therevolution.net/liam) and, in hindsight, this is a much easier one to maintain. In general, I just spout off about the internet.
Three teeth, one low, low price
I do my fair share of post-extraction whining
Milk in the tooth-hole and other horror stories
More whining, but it sure did hurt.
Into the bowels of the bowels of the library
Ah, the library book sale. I'd been to one in Lethbridge before, but it wasn't on the same level. Not even close.
Sean broke his alarm clock
Sean told me how and why he'd broken his alarm clock and I fictionalized it, although, according to the comments I received, it wasn't too far from the truth.
THE EVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
My rant against the proliferation of gratuitous sexuality in the media. Probably nothing original or different from what's been written thousands of times before, but it was genuinely felt.
Father's Day
Is there any holiday (other than Mother's Day) that is as richly-deserved as Father's Day?
Wake-up Call
A pre-natal scare taught me that nothing is as scary as the unknown.
Old Neighbour, New Neighbour
Since we moved in the middle of August, I haven't been Rob's neighbour physically, but we're still Beaver leaders together and he'll always be my neighbour, at heart.
Baptism by... um... God?!
I saw Father Roger this weekend, after a summer where he was in Ontario, doing some scholarly stuff. It was nice to see him again.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I- umm...
I was sick of not having anything new to report on the lack of promotion, so I posted this to get it out. It still didn't make the waiting any better or easier.
Something Else
I like this story. It made me happy to write about pining without actually pining.
100 things? Really? Wow.
This post was a marathon. I now know how hard it is to come up with 100 things about myself. At some point I should review these and find out how many are still true.
My Books
What else? They're my books, although this list is disgustingly out-of-date.
Slowps from the slopes
An updatey-type post. "35 Squat-thrust" penance. Ah, I'm such a card.
The Annual Great Halliburton Summer Picnic
More than just about anything, I miss the Picnic from Halliburton.
The Family Dog
Arr, Jack, you're a rogue and you'll never change. Thank God.
Damn Rights, You're Sorry!
Wow, so much rage. I'm so glad I like my job, now.
Hockey Cancelled Due To Pansy Participants. Next Week Cancelled Due To Pedicure
I never did go back and play with those guys.
How did I get so behind - or Schrodinger's catsup
A long updatey-type post.
Software Development
I could have made that program so much simpler if I'd known what I know now. Still, it works… or did, anyway.
The Johnstone House/A fairly innocuous laundry room, unt…/And this is the tree that we see whe…
Three posts dedicated to a photo-tour of the condo.
Lillian
Good ol' Lillian. A constant joy.
I'm just about even with those bastards
I still haven't replaced the sweats, but I got a backpack (BACKPACK!) for Father's day.
A study in contrast
Now Preston and Lillian look identical when they grin.
Seizure
Just going over this post, I cringe. Thank goodness that part is over.
Back at work
Wow. After all the stewing over whether or not I would get the promotion, my reaction to the positive news was surprisingly underwhelming.
BisonWeb
And Team BisonWeb continues to spread its influence to all the dustiest corners of the World Wide Web.
42-10
This game is easier to read about when I consider it was against the eventual Super Bowl runners-up, but then I remember that it was Loserville and I just feel worse.
Battle of Alberta
I am an MS Paint Wizard.
Phenobaby no more!
Lillian came through that one like a champion.
Super Mario Bros: The End
A time-waster, but I enjoyed writing it.
Nicholas Johnstone: Game Designer
This one still makes me chuckle from time to time.
Required Cognates
Preparation for the next post.
Hank Ilesic
"This is the stupidest f#cking post ever!"‹punt› -Hank Ilesic
Lest We Forget
Remembrance Day is coming up right away, again. This time, I at least have my uniform.
If God were a typist
Few things are nicer than new electronics. I still love my keyboard.
Well, it's official
Last season was, to quote Gregg Easterbrook, "Cover-your-eyes awful." This season is better so far, even if I can't see much better than 6-10 or 7-9.
Boys, We’ve Hit the Jackpot
I wonder how that cream would taste right now…
Blast from the Past
A semi-fictional story about a turning-point in my life.
Another oldie
a.k.a. Liam tries his hand at ensemble-cast mystery/detective story.
Lillian's Baptism
So much to look forward to.
Not exactly on the Christmas list, but...
Ahh, Fingers… I miss your personality, but not your late-night hijinx.
Annual Goal
a.k.a. "Down in Flames, the Liam Johnstone story"
Song of Susannah
A book report.
Yesterday, I learned that one of my co-workers was...
It's still true. I wonder if that guy ever got a clue.
The Magician's Nephew
Another book report.
A Feast for Crows
Another book report.
Minigoal #2
If I'd had time to keep this up, minigoals would have been the way to go. Ah well… maybe next time.
Stupid Sprite!
At least I've replaced the Prydain Chronicles.
The Dark Tower
Another book report.
So, yeah, the car
Mom gave us her car and I blogged about it.
Welcome to "The Fold"
More reading goal postings
Memories of Ice
Another book report.
Three years?!
Sentimental reminiscence of meeting my wife.
Three New Books as Stories Unfold
I didn't want to read sado-pseudo-porn, so I gave up on Kushiel and crew.
Anansi Boys
Another book report.
Shaman's Crossing
Another book report.
Winter Camp as seen by a Leader of Beavers
My synopsis of 2006 Winter Camp.
Valentine's Day
I defend the "Romantic Holiday".
Minigoal update or: As the Slacker Turns
More goal-speak.
Queen of Demons
Another book report.
A New Job: I'll really be "Intuit"
Turning a corner. A big one.
Resigned To It
Quitting sucks.
"I quit." "You're fired."
Firing people is worse.
At Least the Milkshake was Tasty
A car crash outside my home interrupted some sweet frozen treat.
This Time Next Week
The final farewell to Halliburton.
A little family history for you
Auntie Anne and Cousin Mike let me know about some family history.
See? Sharp.
A fairly standard updatey-post with some funny hand-stabbing comments.
WHAT?!
Haiku error messages.
California Dreamin'
Pre-California jitters.
Once more, into the books
Another library book sale, this time with synopses/justification for each book.
Now, was that so hard?
A review of turning 30.
The 2006 Texans Draft
A review of the Texans' draft.
Milestone Number One Reached, Four Days Late
Goal stuff.
With the first pick of the franchise's first draft, the Texans pick...
Review of the Texans' first draft.
But That Was Long Ago
Reminiscences of my University time.
Canceled
50 books was too much for this year.
My Pod, i-Poddius
Gushing over new technology. [since broken]
Innovation meets technology
Gushing over new technology. [since broken]
Distraction by Bat and Jeff
One of the many stories I've concocted to mould my son.
The Eye of the World
Another book report.
Intuit Spotlight Award
Yay me!
Updates, updates, updates
Updatey-type post
Wizard of Earthsea
Another book report.
Keyless entry? Sure..
What happens when brute force wins out over stupidity.
How Can it Only Have Been a Week?
An unpublished post chronicling the shift in perspective over a week of house-hunting.
Weekend Updates -- WITHOUT Dennis Miller
Updates on buying a house.
A Change in the Wind
Philosophical murmurings
Mr. Darwin's Shooter
Another book report.
101 in 1001 -- in the spirit of ripping my wife off
101 goals in 1001 days
The Wizard of Oz
Movie review
Backseat Quarterback
Another book report.
Week 1 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Lamentable loss.
Week 2 vs. the Colts (or – This Sh!t’s Getting Old, Fast)
Disastrous outing.
Week 3 With no Rose-Coloured Glasses
Record-settingly bad.
Broken tablet, broken heart
Alas, my tablet is broken and on its way to repair.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Broken tablet, broken heart

The very day that I started looking into some of the things that people are doing with Tablet PCs (some of the more interesting are meeting note-taking, signing faxes, various art projects and photo-manipulation), I got a horrible phone call from my wife, telling me that the computer would not start up.

I got home that night and discovered, to my horror, that the tablet would not load a sys file. Not too worrisome. I have tech support, I have several avenues for system restore, and I have a wealth of knowledge, both on the internet and in my head for file-recovery.

I called tech support and after trying some things, we discovered that the only possibility was a destructive restore. I mentally shrugged, being a veteran of computer holocausts* and just wanting the computer to work so I could start getting into some of the things I'd researched.

*holocaust - a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.

The next day, compiling- and deploying-time (really quite a bit of my time is spent waiting for the changes that I've made to compile and deploy on a web server -- take, for instance, this blog-entry -- it was made during various compile-and-deploy sessions) was spent pulling files off of the tablet with the use of a knoppix live-Linux CD, onto my USB Flash Drive and onto the work computer. These are burned onto a CD. I managed to recover about 85% of my wanted files, pretty good for a kaputz hard drive.

Then came the challenge of restoring the computer. I started off with the restore CDs that shipped with the computer, but they failed. They could not see the hard drive. Then I tried with an MSDN copy of Windows XP Tablet edition. That didn't work either, for the same reason. Then I tried a Win 98 startup CD. I used this, and created an appropriate partition on the hard drive. Then I went to format the drive. 28 hours later, the computer was still trying to recover lost allocation units, leading me to the conclusion that the hard drive is irretrievably broken.

Fortunately, I have warranty, and Gateway is sending a coffin with which I may ship the carcass of my dead computer back to them. They will revive it with Frankensteinian precision, and ship it back to me, similarly free-of-charge and I will once again have a computer that accepts penly input.

God, I miss that machine. (Cinderella's You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone plays in the background)

Next up: the 100th post spectacular in which I revisit my posts. A self-serving, narcissistic look at the past year and a half.