Windows 7 is not Windows 7.0

I’m not sure how Microsoft has arrived at this milestone.  But it’s not the first time they’ve done this.  If you remember Windows 3.1, or 3.11, or even have seen the actual version number of Windows 95, 98, 98SE, or ME as ver 4.X, you might think that Windows 7 is accurate.  It seemed pretty logical, as Windows XP was version 5.1, Vista is version 6.0, then Windows 7 is 7.0.  Right?  No.  Windows 7 is NT version 6.1.  Which seems a bit odd, but then there’s that NT thing.  Oh, yeah, NT.  Remember NT 3.1?  No?  That’s where NT started.  There is no NT 1.X or 2.X to be found (I’m sure they exist in some format at Microsoft, but just like a 1983 Corvette, it was not made for public consumption).  NT was released as NT 3.1 to match the then current Windows 3.1 consumer software in 1993.  NT 4.0 was released just after Windows 95.  Windows 5.0 (er, Windows 2000) was release between Windows 98SE and Windows ME.  When Windows XP arrived as 5.1, it seemed like a logical step.  Microsoft was heading in the direction they wanted, to get three operation systems (consumer, business, and server) under one kernel.  Okay, this was working.  Even Windows XP64bit shows the same version number as Windows 2003 Server, so obviously, things had come full circle.  And now Windows Vista and Server 2008 have the same version number, which would lead you to think that Vista would work better than it does.  Which brings us to Windows 6.1for Windows 7.  Still with me?  Which also leads to me believe that Microsoft sees the dogma of Vista being just as strong as ME.  Another build that needs to be buried as fast as possible.  Maybe Microsoft should have named it Windows Revista (Spanish for magazine). 

After the party…

Last night was a surprise.  Not that the party was a surprise, but that some friends that I had meet just 10 years ago, celebrated my 40th as if the party hadn’t stopped since we meet.  Some couldn’t make it, because babies sometimes come before they’re expected; and some showed up for the first time in years.  This was a lot of fun, and something I’d been missing the past few years.  We’re going to do it again real soon.

Where am I going with this?

Autumn has come to the Carolinas.  I drove down to my parents house this week, and noticed how vivid the trees have become in the past couple weeks.  Most of the trees here are everrgreen (like a pine) so seeing the trees change colour is a less drastic that when I lived in New Jersey.  The lawn changes shade too, since most “grass” here is not typical grass but more of a vine, and it turns brown in the fall.  Oh, that thing about Tara having a red lawn, yep, that happens here when the winter rye grass starts to fade.  It’s pretty damn sharp.

Drug commercials and their side effects…

Drug commercials are stupid.  Most of the time is spent describing the side effects of the medication.  Here’s a warning that will cover everything.

“Warning: This medication might cause death, or some other less dire side effects.  Consult your doctor and attorney before taking this medication.”

Nuff said.

Insane…

Let me start out by saying that “Insanity” is the act of repeatedly doing a task, expecting the outcome to be different.  This isn’t entirely the case here.  My neighbor has a very nice garden.  She has such a small amount of grass, that she probably could cut it with a pair of scissors. 

“Sad is the day that you have to strap an internal combustion engine to your body to rake the leaves”

She’s at it again.  Now, mind you that I don’t even do yard work, that’s for George the hired hand.  So there she is, at it doing it all.  But I really think the blower is overkill, and the matter that she blows the pine straw, dust, and leaves halfway into the streets that boarder her corner lot.  If it makes her happy, all the better.  I’m just amused about it anyway.  She’ll never win, nature will overcome us all.

Homing in on 40…

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to make of this. 
People say that many have a “mid life crisis”.  I’m not calling it a crisis; it’s more of a reassessment of my past and possible future. 
I think of the first 20 odd years growing up around NYC, not realizing how good I had it, and not having accomplished much (who really does?).  My 20s would bring upheaval and turmoil to my life (for which I’m grateful in some respects).  My 30s brought a genetic disorder to the surface (that had been bothering me since I was 20) that stopped me in my tracks. 

I’ve since managed to get a grip of myself, straighten out several things that languished unfinished for years, and am now looking at the possibilities that lay before me. 

I’m finding material possessions are lame and a burden.  I’ve given up the typical desktop computer for a laptop.  It took a few tries; an iMac, then a Powerbook, and now a small PC laptop.  I’ve weeded out most of my LPs and CDs down to MP3 files and my iPods.   I scrutinize all my clothing once or twice a year.  If I haven’t worn it, to the charities it goes.  Ditto on the shoes, though they just get tossed.  It takes some time getting past the typical “you need this” mentality that is typical of Americans.

I’d like to be in a relationship, but that will come when it happens.  I’m not going to go looking for it to happen.  I have a couple of really good friends in my life, and my relationship with my family is about as good as it gets. 
J

This takes some balls…

http://www.smartusa.com

I’ve seen this car before “in town”, but never going down Indianapolis I-20 at rush hour until today.  Yes, they drive a convertible Smart.  I’m sure it also makes a Miata look big.  I have no problem with this car, but I have a problem with all the BIG SUVs lurking around here in the metro area.  I traded my 240SX convertible because I got ran off the road by an old man attempting to get out of the way of an oversized Jeep.  Had I gone over the embankment, decapitation would have been the best way to go.  Yes, I do miss the convertible, and I’ve been toying with the idea of getting another (Miata, Z4, XJS, another 240SX) but nothing this small.  There are some real laws of physics that just can’t be overcome with human engineering.  Mass is one of them, and this car doesn’t have it.  Space (distance) is another, there’s just no crumple room.  Period.

I need a drink…

It’s 10pm, do you know where your parents are?

My phone rings, it’s 10pm.  It’s usually one of two thing 1) “Bernice” is calling because he’s bored.  2) Somebody is dead.

No, it’s MY MOTHER and she has another computer problem.

Let’s start from the beginning.  Oh, about 1992? My father buys a computer (these were the days of DOS mind you).  I’m away at college discovering my freedom.  My cell phone rings.  My mother asks “what’s DOS”.  “Nothing” I tell her, “don’t worry about it”.  “Do I need it?” she asks.  Huh? “Why are you asking me about this?”  “Well..” she says, “I was cleaning the computer..”  “Mom, computers don’t need cleaning.”  She continues, “and I deleted a folder called DOS.  Did I need that?”  “No, you don’t need it.”  I tell her.  “Then why doesn’t the computer work anymore?”  she said with some astonishment.  “Because you deleted DOS!” At this point I’m getting angry because I had configured the PC to run without floppies, a task in those days.  “Then I need it?  Right?”  “No (I said calmly), you don’t need it NOW because you deleted it AND it will have to wait until I come home in a few weeks.”

Flash forward to tonight.  Her laptop crashes, again.  All her desktop icons, files, and folders have disappeared.  She calls TECH SUPPORT.  “I have a problem, all my stuff on the desktop is gone.”  Did you try restarting?  “Yes.”  What did you do before you lost all your stuff.?  “I closed Photoshop (mind you she doesn’t actually have Photoshop, it’s Elements) and everything disappeared.”  Then what did you do?  “I did a System Restore”  Several expletives later, I regain consciousness and walk her through the process of relocating her desktop target to the D:/ drive which was purposely done because of her using System Restore. 

I’m sure I’ll have to Ghost back her OS partition when I visit next weekend.

Shit happens…

…then you see something like this in the night sky

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